Twilight was pleased to see Spider Mare and Black Cat as they approached her. The princess herself appeared to be a bit shaken up (not that anyone could blame her considering the circumstances), but otherwise she seemed to be okay.
"Hey, Twilight," Spider Mare tried to greet her friend in as cheerful a tone as she could muster up on short notice. "Sorry for... well... stopping by at a time like this. Was kind of hoping we could meet under better circumstances."
Twilight simply sighed and took a deep breath. "It's okay, it can't be helped. Figured you two would show up eventually. Word of this is bound to get out."
Black Cat then questioned. "You got any idea about who or what might have done this?"
Twilight shook her head from side to side. "Got no leads at the moment. At least, not that I can share with you. The police have only just started their investigation, and I reckon it'll be a while before they finish."
Spider Mare proceeded to ask. "What about Spike, and Starlight? Are they okay? Did anything happen to them?"
At that, the young princess let out a gulp and swallowed hard. "Spike is fine. But..." She trailed off as her lips began to quiver.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what the alicorn was implying. Both Spider Mare and Black Cat exchanged nervous glances as they realized at the same time. "Starlight's missing!"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Twilight reluctantly nodded. "Her lab has been almost completely destroyed, and I couldn't find a trace of her anywhere. I hate to say it, but I don't think that's coincidence. Whatever happened last night, Starlight was part of it."
"Don't suppose there's any way you could smooth talk the police into letting us have a look around?" Spider Mare offered with a sheepish grin. "If anything's happened to Starlight, Black Cat and I really need to know. Something about all of this is giving me a bad feeling. This is starting to feel like the incident with The Rhino all over again."
Twilight took a bit of a step back as she pondered the proposal in silence. After a bit of internal contemplation, she told the two superheroes. "I'll talk with Copper Top and see what she thinks. No promises, though. And if she says no then that's the end of it. Even I can't just bend the rules for you."
Black Cat kindly replied. "We wouldn't ask you to do that for us even if you could. Any help you can provide at all would be greatly appreciated."
The young alicorn nodded once again as she promised. "I'll do my best." Then she trotted over to speak to Officer Copper Top. All Spider Mare and Black Cat could do was wait anxiously for news.
Eventually, the princess returned with what appeared to be a smile on her face. She informed her guests of the result of their sudden request. "The police haven't had a chance to look over the lab just yet, but Officer Copper Top is willing to grant you both permission to inspect it."
"Great!" Spider Mare all but leaped for joy. "Just leave it to us, we'll get to the bottom of things!"
Twilight quickly threw up a hoof. "Not so fast, there is one condition you have to abide by. Break it, and you'll be under arrest for tampering with a crime scene," She then explained. "Any evidence you find you're to share with the police, untampered with. Everything must be part of the official crime report, nothing can be left out."
"Don't worry," Black Cat reassured the troubled princess. "We'll be extra careful while we do our investigating. It'll be like we weren't even there."
Spider Mare, for her part, just put her hooves together. "Enough chit chat. We need to find out what happened to Starlight before whoever or whatever is responsible for last night strikes again! If there's some new supervillain on the loose, we need to know where they've taken Starlight and how we can stop them!"
Twilight led the way through her castle, down to the secret lab in the basement where Starlight Glimmer had frequently dwelled and worked. There was no need to open the door, it had been ripped off its hinges during the rampage last night.
Stepping inside, everypony found the whole lab to be in a state of what could only be described as organized chaos. Beakers and vials had been knocked over and had shattered, leaving shards of glass on the floor in every direction. Some chemicals had spilled out and onto the floor, leaving stains or scorch marks to indicate the remnants of their presence. A strange, almost acidic smell tickled at the nostrils. Tables had been overturned and smashed into splinters. And strangest of all, unfamiliar tracks could be seen on the carpet, leading to the decimated door and then to a hole in the wall.
The police officers on the scene immediately went about photographing everything in sight, no detail was too small to be overlooked. A few even began dusting for prints on whatever was left of the beakers, vials and tables. And two examined the strange tracks on the floor, trying to take measurements of them to see if that might indicate what they were or what had made them.
"Oh dear, what a mess," Spider Mare remarked to herself as she and Black Cat carefully stepped around the scene. "No way was this the result of some kind of accident. Somepony trashed this place, and did so in a hurry."
"Somepony, or something," Black Cat nervously commented. "Those tracks don't look like anything a pony could've made," He put a hoof to his chin. "Why do those tracks look so familiar?"
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the wall crawler spotted something. It appeared to have been undisturbed, aside from having gathered dust for a bit. Curiously, she pulled it close with a shot of webbing. Looking at the object more closely and carefully dusting it off, it appeared to be some kind of square, block-like object with small circles. "Hold on, what's this?!" She said aloud.
Twilight's eyes seemed to widen upon spotting the object in Spider Mare's hooves! "It's some kind of recording! A tape!" She then lit up her horn. "Of course! Starlight must've been keeping notes on whatever she was researching! And if there are tapes, there must be a recorder somewhere!" Soon, she pulled out the aforementioned object. It was worn quite heavily, even rusty a bit around the edges. Yet it still seemed to be holding together more or less.
Just then, a police officer gave a shout! "I think I found something! Looks like a stash of some sort. The attacker must've not known about their existence." And in a matter of seconds, other officers were bringing up a small collection of tapes. There were no dates or markings on them, and many of them were just as dusty as the one Spider Mare had found.
Twilight quickly used her magic to prop up one of the overturned tables that had been spared destruction. Then she set the recorder down on said table. "These tapes might just be a clue," She commented with concern, then proceeded to request. "Spider Mare, give me that tape you found. I'll bet it's the first one."
Spider Mare obeyed. "Let's hope we get some answers out of it." She, Black Cat and the police all then watched as the tape was inserted into the recorder. With the click of a button, audio started to play.
In an instant, the voice of Starlight Glimmer flooded the lab as the tape played on. "Is this thing working?" She could be heard asking in an uncertain tone of voice. "Twilight says I should make audio logs of my research, for the sake of future history if nothing else. I don't really understand why that's necessary, but I suppose it'll give me something to focus my thoughts on during my research. Beats talking to myself all day."
There was silence as the tape continued to roll, and Starlight's voice continued to be heard. Her tone sounded almost like a monologue, yet it was possible to detect the faintest hint of passion within it. "Well, I guess this is the first of what may be a long series. I'm... not entirely sure what to expect. However, my research has led me to this current project. What, I pray, may be the first step towards the betterment of ponykind. A way to cure physical ailments. With the backing of a client who wishes to remain anonymous, I have secured funding to begin research and development."
The tape then stopped and the recorder clicked off. Twilight took it out and set it aside. "Seems promising so far. These tapes might provide an insight into Starlight's thoughts as well as her research. It might tell us who could've wanted to come after her."
Several more tapes were played in quick succession on the recorder, many of them being relatively short and coming and going without fanfare. But there was one tape that caught the attention of everypony who was listening.
"I think I've found a lead! A breakthrough!" Starlight's voice could be heard excitedly exclaiming! "Lizards can regrow their tails if they lose them. With just a little bit more research, I'm confident I can isolate the exact genetic code of the lizard that makes such a thing possible. Then I should be able to duplicate it, copy it to pony DNA! Just imagine: A world where you could regrow an arm, a leg, maybe even an eye or a horn! Oh, my client would be so happy to hear that! And I could regain the hoof I lost, no more prosthetics!"
When that tape clicked off, everyone in the room became very silent. None more so than Twilight, whose shocked expression conveyed more than words how she felt to hear about such things.
"I didn't think Starlight would actually go through with something like that!" Spider Mare thought to herself as a knot began to form in her stomach! "I don't think I'm gonna like where the rest of these tapes are going. This is starting to sound like experimentation gone horribly wrong."
Sure enough, another tape was played that seemed to confirm the web slinger's worst fears. When it clicked on, Starlight's energic tone of voice all but overwhelmed its listeners! "FINALLY! I'VE ACHIEVED A BREAKTHROUGH! I'VE COMPLETED THE DNA SPLICING!" Gradually, after a lot of excited prancing, it was possible to hear the unicorn scientist settle down ever so slightly. "Now I just need to find a way to perfect the formula for my serum. Once I do, I should have a concoction that will be valid for a field test. If my hypothesis is correct, the serum will bestow upon its drinker the ability to regain a lost limb."
Twilight removed that tape a moment later and set it aside. Then she turned her attention to the one tape she had yet to play. "This is the last recording," She informed everyone. "No telling what we'll hear, but I have a hunch this is the lead we've been searching for. Everypony, cross your hooves and hope for the best."
The last tape soon clicked on, detailing the results of an "experiment" Starlight chose to conduct on herself. "Nerves are a bit unsteady. Otherwise, everything is proceeding as expected. Here goes nothing!" Starlight could be heard saying, before the sounds of something being guzzled down were heard. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was probably drinking the serum she had mentioned in the previous tape. "Doesn't seem to be working. Either there is a delay, or the serum is a dud."
Then, a sudden and frantic scream could be heard, alongside heavy panting from Starlight (who sounded like she was in terrible pain)! The screaming and panting eventually subsided though, as she could then be heard happily shouting! "It... works! It actually works! I've made a breakthrough! This serum could be the answer to pony kind's problems!" All the while, the sounds of a hoof being used could be heard.
Without warning, though, the tape took an ominous turn as Starlight's voice abruptly cut off! "I... can't....H-HELP! HELP!" The last thing heard on the tape was a deep, guttural roar, followed by the sound of thrashing and the breaking of glass!
Gasps filled the room as the tape clicked off and was removed! It was clear to all that the cause of this crime was Starlight herself. Her own research experiment had unwittingly unleashed a monster!