The minute Twilight stepped off the train she felt that something was wrong. It was a horrible feeling, beginning with a tightening in her chest followed by a shortness of breath. She began to feel dizzy and nervously gulped. Her eyes shot up and down the platform, trying to find a reason for her discomfort.
But in a second it passed. She took a few deep breaths and steadied herself, wondering where the feeling came from and where it had gone. But looking around she saw nothing. There was a rack of newspapers in front of the ticket office, a few benches scattered around to fill in the space. And there was a yellow stallion approaching her. “Miss Sparkle! Glad to see you again!”
She recognized him as Braeburn, cousin of Applejack. He looked the same as the last time they had met, still wearing his brown vest and matching hat. But this time, he had a golden badge affixed to his vest, over his heart.
Twilight smiled at him, although she was still on guard. “Braeburn! Happy to be here.”
They shook hooves. At first, Twilight felt more secure seeing Braeburn’s easy smile, but then she noticed something. His smile never quite reached his eyes. There was something hidden underneath his smile. It looked like… anger? Sadness? Worry? Twilight wasn’t sure, but she felt her anxiety returning to her.
Braeburn seemed to notice her watching him and smiled wider. “Sure wish it were under better circumstances. Thanks for makin’ the trip out here. Have a nice ride?”
Slowly, Twilight filtered out her anxiety and replaced it with curiosity. “Yes, actually. It was quite nice. But about this… thing you found.”
He grimaced. “Right, it’s at the Sheriff’s office right now. Shall we?”
Twilight nodded, and the two set off down the platform. From her saddlebags, Twilight levitated a notebook and a pencil. “So what can you tell me about this… whatever it is?”
Braeburn sighed. “Right, well a few of the sheriff’s deputies got a call yesterday. Disturbance call from some buffalo that went real screwy. Found it in his basement and took him in. Coroner had no idea what it was, but it was definitely a D.O.A. Dead on arrival.”
Twilight took in the information with a frown. “And it wasn’t a pony or buffalo?”
The stallion shook his head. “No. Well, maybe it was. Frankly Ah can’t say for sure.” Braeburn fiddled with his hat nervously. “Ain’t no tellin’ what it used to be.”
Her pencil froze. “What do you mean by that?” asked Twilight.
Braeburn hesitated before answering. “Well… when Ah said he was screwy, Ah meant it. Started ramblin’ on and on about ‘the truth’ and ‘his view.’ When we took him in, he kept yellin’ that soon we’d all see things his way.”
Twilight shivered. “So he’s criminally insane?”
“Rightfully, Ah dunno. And frankly… Ah dunno if Ah wanna find out.” A strange look fell on his face.
He fell silent after that and wouldn’t meet her eyes. Twilight would occasionally post a question, but his answers became short and vague, claiming that ‘Strongheart can answer that better.’ And although it took her awhile, Twilight finally placed the emotion on Braeburn’s face: fear.
Pictures flashed through her mind. She thought of pure black ponies, darker than the night itself, hidden in the shadows. She thought of the pictures of death that the ancients made, of a skeletal pony in a black cloak, leading souls to the great beyond.
Snap out of it! Twilight shook her head, clearing out her thoughts. Don’t make predictions before you see the evidence, she chided herself. As she pulled the notebook back towards her, she realized she had absently drawn a skull on the sheet.
With a scowl, she ripped out the paper and tossed it into a nearby trash can. What are you scared of? You’ve faced monsters far worse than this. Besides, this could be a new phenomenon never before seen by ponykind!”
With that justification in mind, Twilight held her head up higher. Her confidence wavered however as Braeburn came to a stop. “Well, here we are,” he said. Braeburn strode forward and held open the door. Twilight nodded her head in thanks and walked in.
The lobby itself was mostly empty, with only a few flags next to the doorway and rows of chairs at the edge of the room. An older stallion sat behind the desk, taking a report from another pony. Braeburn nodded at the desk sergeant and walked past him, into the heart of the station.
Twilight followed him, her eyes lingering on the posters and messages affixed to the wall of the lobby. Finally, she tore her eyes away from them to not lose Braeburn. The stallion led the way through the halls of the station, past the rows of desks in the bullpen.
“Is it always this empty?” Twilight asked.
Braeburn shrugged. “Times are rough. ‘Sides, most of the deputies are out at some big court case. Real messy scene. Coroner’s there too, but he’ll be back soon.” He opened the door at the far end of the room, revealing a stairwell.
As they descended the stairs, Braeburn’s voice bounced off of the concrete walls. “The coroner said not to start the autopsy until he gets here, but he doesn’t mind if you have a look. You know, provided you put on the protective gear and whatnot. Don’t want contaminated evidence.”
Twilight nodded, briefly recalling the introduction to post mortem analysis guides she had read earlier. “Of course, I understand.” The two reached the bottom of the stairs, and passed through a door that led to a long hallway.
On the other side of the hallway was a set of double doors. A plaque mounted to the right of the doors identified this as the morgue. Twilight locked her eyes on the door, feeling her heartbeat rising again. Braeburn kept moving forwards, forcing her to follow.
As they approached, the doors to the morgue slid open, and a blast of cool air hit Twilight in the face. She shivered involuntarily. With a nervous glance at Braeburn, she entered the room. The morgue was well-lit, thanks to several large lamps that hung above each metal slab. Two large sinks lined the right side of the room while a set of heavy metal lockers lined the other. Twilight tried not to think about what might be inside of them.
Instead she focused her attention on the rows of slabs in the center of the room. Two ponies were waiting near the only occupied slab in the room. A pony sized black body bag lay on top of it. Twilight felt her stomach churn.
“You’re back.” The voice made Twilight jump. Her head whipped around, and she saw a buffalo standing nearby.
Braeburn nodded. “This here’s Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, you remember Little Strongheart?”
“Y-yes,” Twilight stammered. Little Strongheart nodded at Twilight in recognition, but she too lacked a smile on her face. Unlike Braeburn, her face was neutral.
Twilight shivered. She wasn’t sure if it was from the cold of the morgue or the strange tension in the room. Braeburn walked around to the other side of the table. “As Ah was sayin’ earlier, the body was found in the house of a buffalo who left the tribe,” he reminded her. “They couldn’t make heads nor tails of it. We called for the coroner, but he couldn’t give us a cause of death either, mostly because we don’t know what the dang thing is. If you could shine some light on this situation, we would greatly appreciate it.”
“It is a great shame what happened to Fearless Truth,” Strongheart lamented. “He was always a bit strange, but we never thought he would do something like this.”
Twilight glanced at Braeburn nervously but nodded. “Well, I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for whatever’s going on here.” She took a step forward but recoiled when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
“Be careful, friend,” Strongheart said. “Darkness lurks where your eyes can’t see. May fate forever be in your favor.”
The lights flickered briefly for a second. Strongheart offered her a small smile before backing away.
Braeburn gave his friend and odd look before shrugging. “Ah’ll let you know when the coroner gets here,” he said to Twilight. “Anythin’ else you need?”
“No, I think I’m fine,” she replied. In truth, Strongheart’s words did little to ease the pit of dread that formed in her stomach.
“Shout if you need us.” With that, Braeburn and Strongheart turned to leave the morgue.
A strange feeling overcame Twilight. She wanted to call out and beg that they stay. So she wouldn’t be alone with whatever was in the body bag. But inside, she knew this was ridiculous. It was probably just some strange animal in the bag, that was all. And she was shivering from the cold, not because she was scared. And Strongheart was just wishing her luck in a strange way.
With that in mind, Twilight watched as Braeburn and Little Strongheart left the room. Once the sliding doors slid shut, she was alone. “Alright then, just you and me.” She took a deep breath and shivered again. Twilight turned and headed for the supply closet to fetch the scrubs.
Halfway there she glanced back to look at the body bag one last time. It hadn’t moved. She frowned at that thought. Of course it didn’t move. Why would it? That’d be ridiculous… right?