On top of everything else, Twilight had a headache.
Clearing and repairing water mains wasn't terribly difficult for her now, but the sheer number of them that had needed attention boggled her. She was grateful to finally be done with them, and doubly so when she heard that water service would be fully restored by that evening thanks to her help, but it still wasn't enough to improve her mood. It didn't help that the trip to each one was slowed by the city's residents, shouting in her ear for answers she wasn't allowed to give.
It also didn't help that she still had questions that only a specific pair of ponies could answer. Granted, her brother didn't like it either, but he had different reasons. All this...and then a headache.
Gods, she really needed to get back to bed.
"Twily?" her brother asked.
Twilight shook her head. She had started to fall behind as they walked across the palace parade grounds. Scowling, she pulled her coat tighter around her body and trotted quicker. "Sorry. Tired."
"After all of the excitement this morning?" Shining Armor joked.
"Really tired."
"We can always come back later, you know."
Twilight shook her head again. "No, no, it's better if we get this over with now. I don't know if the colonel will have them transferred or not, and I don't want to miss my chance."
Shining Armor sighed. The sound was hollow in his body. "All right, but you're not going in alone."
She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks."
The two of them approached the detention center, stopping at the front to allow a royal guard to process them. The guard didn't pay much attention to Shining Armor, but he did take a moment to consider Twilight. For a few seconds, he looked as though he would say something to her, but he eventually waved them both inside.
The siblings didn't have any trouble finding who they were after; they just followed the trail of investigators who had beaten them there. Shining Armor moved ahead to the front of the line, where another pair of guards were standing. They merely had to glance at him before they made way. He and Twilight pushed ahead past a final set of doors, much to the annoyance of the other ponies still waiting.
Even so, there was one investigator still ahead of them. She was an earth pony, and her attention was focused entirely on one of the cells nearby. She was trying to calm down whoever was inside, but if the growls from the cell's occupant were any indication, she was not having any luck.
Twilight called out to her. "Hello?"
The other pony looked toward her. "Yes? Who're you?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, a Republic alchemist. I need to see the prisoners privately."
"Oh yeah?" the investigator asked. She stood up to her full height and considered the siblings. "Funny, that's exactly what Ah asked for from the guards outside."
Shining Armor stepped up next to Twilight. He was able to see into the cell, spotting an enraged pegasus pacing back and forth. "Is that one of the ponies who attacked the palace this morning?"
The investigator frowned, then turned to a notepad she was holding. "One o' them, yeah. They were put into separate cells. The other is down that way," she said with a nonchalant wave outward. "Ah don't s'pose you two can let me have just a few more minutes?"
"And how long is a few?"
"Eh, about twenty."
Twilight winced as her headache flared. "Sorry, no," she answered. "I can't wait that long."
To their surprise, the investigator blew a raspberry. "Pbbt, 'course not. Well, not like there's anythin' I can do to stop y'all Republic alchemists." She stood and gathered a collection of clipboards she had arranged on the floor. With an annoyed glint in her eyes, she turned and walked past them. "Just do me a favor? Don't go doing anythin' that'll scar these two into silence. Ah know how things tend to break around folks in your line o' work, and it won't do to have these two babbling over and over about whatever y'all are gonna do."
"It's just some questions. Honest," Twilight assured.
The investigator paused at the door. "If that's true, then Ah'll be back as soon as you're done. 'Til then, don't break nothin' or nopony."
Twilight's headache flared again. Oh, good, triple negatives.
As the investigator left, Twilight moved ahead to the nearest cell. She spotted the same pegasus, pacing the floor and muttering beneath his breath. Even in the soft light, the bandages wrapping his hind leg looked fresh. He had an alarming limp as he moved back and forth, but he powered through the pain, or else simply allowed it to fuel his anger. At no point did he meet her eyes.
"Frigid Drift?" she asked.
The name sparked a reaction. The pegasus's head snapped toward her, and she finally got a look into his eyes. She couldn't recall ever seeing such cold hatred, though she had a feeling that it was directed at her simply because she was nearby. Instinctively, she leaned closer to her brother, who had joined her at the cell.
"List," the pegasus continued to murmur, "all on the list, every one of you, on the list, top of the list..."
"A pegasus," Shining Armor said. "Wouldn't that make him the soldier of the group?"
Twilight leaned in close without looking away. "What do you mean?" she whispered.
"Their files, the ones we saw before heading out this morning. They mentioned that the pegasus, this one here, was the one usually responsible for any prolonged firefights. There was the soldier, the engineer, and Whiteout as the leader."
With a sudden snarl, Frigid Drift slammed his whole body against the bars of his cell. Both Twilight and Shining jumped back, watching as he reached through the bars to try and grab at them.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at him. "Wow. I don't think he likes hearing that name."
"No kidding. He needs sleep more than you do."
A voice called out to them from further along. "That's enough, Frigid."
It was like a lever had been pulled. Frigid Drift instantly stopped moving so violently, then pulled his leg back into his cell. He continued to glare venomously at the siblings, but moved back to the far wall of his cell, crawling up to the single cot bolted to the wall. He wasn't truly silent: he still muttered over and over in hushed tones. In the low light of the hallway, they saw that his head had struck the bars hard enough to bleed.
Twilight moved to a cell not far from them, where the voice had come from. Inside, far less animated than the first pony, was a unicorn who was slouching. Twilight first saw the contraption on her body: an inhibitor ring was clasped tightly around her horn, surrounded by a thick plastic casing which fed to lengths of cable. The cables each connected to a harness that wrapped around her torso, then moved on to specialized braces around her legs. It was a setup that Twilight had seen before in her books. It allowed the prisoner limited movement, but prevented them from raising their forelegs high enough to reach their own head. Simple physics, with a magic blocker to bring it all together. Oddly enough, the harness had been connected over a small scarf that she wore.
The prisoner herself subtly glanced at her. Twilight noticed this and tried to look in her eyes anyway. "You must be Winter Frost, then."
Frost glanced away. She grunted under her breath.
"Winter Frost, the engineer?" Twilight continued. She gave a friendly smile, as friendly as she could manage for how grumpy she felt. "Are you the one who placed the transmutation circles inside the palace?"
"Oh, those," she muttered. "You're the third one to ask about the glyphs instead of the pipes. And you're a Republic alchemist, too."
Twilight tilted her head. "Yes. Like you."
Frost sat up a little straighter. The harness whirred as the cables were pulled tight. "Pfeh. 'Like you,' she says. Do you even know how I made them?"
"That's not why I'm here."
"Then you're not like me at all."
Twilight pressed on, her smile melting away. "It's not the circles I want to know about. It's how you placed them."
"With two-sided tape," Frost answered quickly.
Shining Armor joined his sister and stepped close to the bars. "Sarcasm isn't going to help you, you know."
"What, and being honest will?" Frost leaned forward, turned her head toward them as far as her harness would allow, and spat on the ground. "There's your honesty. You blind fools can't begin to understand what I know. You're nothing like me."
Twilight couldn't help but look at the spittle on the ground in disgust. After a moment, she sparked her magic and pulled out a small clear container she had stored under her duster. Inside the container was a fine layer of dust, barely noticeable in the dim light of the hall. She shook it back and forth until Frost looked at it.
"This is what interests me," Twilight said. "Do you know what it is?"
Slowly, Winter Frost stood from her cot and walked to the bars of her cell. The harness prevented her from standing properly, so she was forced to lean her neck forward. She gazed at the container in what seemed to be confusion. "Open it?" she asked. Her tone had changed: now she sounded curious.
"Why?" Shining Armor challenged.
Twilight shot him a look. "It's okay," she told him. As Frost stood watching, Twilight manipulated the cup until its plastic lid started to spin. She lifted the lid away and held it at an angle behind the container. "Better?"
Frost spat.
Shining Armor's hoof was there to catch it before it reached the container. They stood still for a moment before he slammed his spit-covered foreleg against his side of the bars. Drops flew and scattered along Frost's muzzle; she endured the sensation without flinching.
"Try that again," he warned, "and you won't have bars protecting you."
She scoffed, tried to wipe her face, then shook her head when her hooves wouldn't reach. "You must not be very smart, then."
"Smart enough for you, murderer."
Behind them, Frigid Drift slammed the bars of his cell again. "Hey, get away from her! If you mess with her, I swear I'll break these bars, then break you with them!"
Winter Frost calmly turned back toward the bars. "Quiet, Frigid. It's all right." Then she looked up at Shining Armor, staring at the damage to his helmet. "We're just getting to know one another."
Shining lowered his leg and stared right back.
Twilight reached over and gently touched her brother, her false limb touching his. Clearing her throat, Twilight looked at Frost again. "I'll ask a second time: do you know what this is?"
"Of course I do. I recognize my own work."
"Then you won't mind answering my questions about it."
"What, like I have a choice?" Frost deadpanned. "Don't tell me this is going to be your whole visit, because I have at least two other things to do that are better uses of my time."
Shining Armor spoke up again. "Sleeping and using the toilet aren't better things to do."
And Winter Frost shot back. "I don't know, maybe I'll use that pretty helmet of yours as a chamber pot. It might be an improvement."
"Enough!" Twilight shouted. Using her magic, she pushed against Frost's body, who slid back until she was forced to sit. Twilight used the same magic to gently nudge Shining Armor's frame until he stepped back of his own choice. The extra power she used upset her headache even further, so she dropped all pretense. She closed the small container, then moved it between the bars until it floated in front of the prisoner's face. "I'll cut to the chase. Is this the residue of a teleport matrix?"
Winter Frost was silent for several seconds, enough time to seem genuinely curious again. She gazed at the plastic container and the dust held within, then her eyes flashed and she looked away. "Why should I bother answering you?" she asked in hushed tones. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"I have, girl. I've been getting to know you and this iron giant ever since you came in, and there is no way you will understand." She glared at her. "That is my honesty. I hope you choke on it."
Winter Frost stood, strained against her harness, and moved back to her cot. "Besides," she continued, "carrying around a teleport matrix would have been stupid once we got inside the palace. It would have taken too long to work."
That was true; Twilight couldn't deny that. She pulled back the container and stashed it underneath her duster. "What about the circles outside the palace? The ones inside the pipes? I saw the transmutation circles. That was too precise a placement for anything else, and there's no other way it could have been done."
Frost gave a short laugh. "Maybe you're the smart one!" She sat on the edge of her cot and stared at the wall of her cell. As she spoke, she idly ran her hoof along the edge of her scarf, just gentle enough to keep the cables of her harness slack. "But you're still wrong. A matrix wouldn't leave behind powder when it gets used."
Shining Armor gave a sidelong glance to Twilight, but she didn't notice it in time and took the bait. "What? Of course it would," she said.
"You're not thinking clearly. It would be scorch marks."
"It's dust. A fine dust." Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "And you'd know that if you used one."
"Oh, is that so?" Frost asked. "That must mean you're the criminal here. You seem to know quite a lot about the sabotage this morning."
Twilight's head throbbed. "Ugh! You know what? Just stay in there!"
Then Frost was at the bars again, too fast for Twilight to track. Maybe she hadn't seen it due to her headache, or maybe there was some trick, but the next thing Twilight knew, Winter Frost was at the bars and staring with a cold fury. It was so sudden that Twilight couldn't stop herself from taking a step backward; even Shining Armor had visibly tensed.
On and on Frost glared, boring holes into Twilight's eyes, never blinking. Twilight's anger gave way to uneasiness in the span of seconds. She felt the urge to take more steps backward, but was able to stop that urge. It wasn't easy. She felt like she was being studied, her features memorized by a power she hadn't yet understood. It was disturbingly similar to the feeling of something curious probing her mind when she had pushed too far all those years ago.
Then Frost spoke. Her voice was low. Dangerous. "I know who you are, now."
The words weren't anything special, but they seemed to lower the temperature of the hallway all the same, because why else would Twilight feel a chill run up her spine?
"You do know quite a lot about what happened this morning. The pipes, the glyphs, even your theory about a matrix being used. You may even be right about it. That makes me wonder how you know so much at all."
"Who are they?" Frigid Drift asked from behind them.
"You weren't in the palace," Frost went on. "You weren't part of the defense. But that idiotic colonel was, even though her alchemy would have been a better way to cut through the city streets. That means you went in her place. You saw the pipes, you saw my work...and you saw Whiteout."
"You!" Drift screamed. His voice had gone shrill, a mark of his realization. "Get back here! I'll strangle you with your jacket!"
"I'd stay away from Frigid, little one. He never liked Whiteout...but he hates everyone who stands in his way." Frost's voice dropped lower still. "And you did get in his way, didn't you?"
Twilight couldn't reply. She was stunned by the intensity of Frost's stare. Now she knew for sure that she was being studied. She took another step back, but this time it was at least by choice. She wanted to get away. Her brother took a step also, a step forward, to stand between the two of them.
"And you. That damage to your helmet. I've seen that kind of wound before. It's a miracle you're standing...but I suppose miracles can be found by all sorts of fools these days. Tell me something: when you found Whiteout, did he give you a fighting chance, or were you caught by surprise like a pup without its mother?"
Shining Armor lashed out, slamming his hoof against the bars. The clang echoed loud and clear around them, but the only pony who flinched was Twilight. After a few seconds, the two of them began to walk away, back along the cells to the doors they had entered from.
Frigid snarled at them as they passed. "Come closer, come CLOSER, you little bastard, I'll break you into pieces! Hey! HEY!"
"You know that I've broken out of every prison I've been in?" Winter Frost called after them. "It's only a matter of time. When that happens, little alchemist, your only hope will be to leave the city. I'll bring Whiteout's vengeance with me."
Twilight stopped, turned, and answered. "We didn't kill Whiteout!"
"You forced an eagle from its perch. You're just as responsible for his death as the tyrant who found him. You'll be first, alchemist. You'll be first."