Chief finished reading the statement to Twilight.
"... and that's what she said, Princess."
Twilight was mentally off in another land thinking about what she had just heard. It seemed insane that in the end, Twist found Twilight, not the other way around. But most importantly, Twist was back. The out-of-town police were sent back to their homes, the weather was set back to normal, Search and Rescue was disbanded, house inspections were lifted, and police went back to normal rotation.
It was a victory in the end, but something still bothered Twilight.
"If I may," Chief added. "You don't look very happy, Princess."
Twilight came back to reality and looked back at Chief. "Oh, I'm ecstatic that Twist is back! It is the best thing that could have happened!"
"...But?"
Twilight put a hoof on her chin. "But it doesn't make sense. How could a criminal so careful in taking Twist be so sloppy that she got out on her own? She's just a filly, for Celestia's sake!"
Chief put the testimonial back into its folder and into the corresponding filing cabinet with the rest of the recorded testimonies. "I don't know either Princess."
"Chief, how many officers are you keeping on active search duty for the assailant?"
Chief, still at the filing cabinet, turned around with a face of surprise. "Zero?"
"What??" Twilight responded in shock.
Chief sat back down at his desk. "Princess, you know we don't have enough officers as it is. On top of that, what do we have to help us find this criminal? We don't even know what he looks like!"
"Yes we do!" Twilight countered. "Twist gave the description of the stallion who was at the school yard!"
"No, Princess, we don't. Twist said that she has no recollection of who took her and what he/she/it looked like. The drugs came back as a positive for a strain that would cause memory loss. As far as that stallion at the school is concerned, he wasn't breaking the law. I don't know who he is, but we can't arrest him for looking at a playground."
"But Chief, that's CREEPY!!"
"Princess, our jails would be full if I could arrest citizens for being creepy. Now I'll make sure my officers keep a look out for anything suspicious, but that's all I can do."
Chief took a second to decide whether or not he would say what was on his mind, and decided to do it. "Twilight, you know I have the utmost respect for you and your job. It's something I know I could never handle. But I think it's about time you realized the difference between your ideals and your job. The job doesn't always end the way we want it to. Do I want to find whoever did this to that little filly? Of course. But I don't have the resources or evidence to track him/her/it. You might have to accept the fact that we may never catch whoever did this. That's just life, Princess."
Infuriated, Twilight flung herself out of the chair and marched towards the exiting door. "You know Chief, I thought you were on my side."
Disappointed that he couldn't help more, Chief pleaded, "I just told you I wanna find whoever did this too, but we have to follow certain..."
*SLAM*
"...rules."
Twist was sleeping. Her parents always did their best to make sure that she got a full 8 hours every night. Her mother attributed this with the good grades she received in school. Her father attributed her excellent growth spurts and the attaining of an early cutie mark. Either way, they were happy with their daughter getting good sleep.
Twist wanted to stay up longer almost every night, but she was mature for her age. She knew it wasn't fun to live the next day without enough sleep and she knew it was good to get a full night's rest for many reasons. In other ways, she liked sleeping. It meant that she could get to school earlier, see her friends earlier, eat a delicious breakfast earlier. Either way, she was happy she was getting good sleep.
She was dreaming of school again. It was the same ole', same ole', but she liked it. The educational accomplishment of getting good grades appealed to her almost as much as seeing her friends.
A creak of her window cried out to Twist's unconscious mind, nudging her slightly out of slumber. As she opened her blurry eyes, there was a figure at her window.
This is a dream, Twist thought. The figure saw the eyes of his prey open, but he knew the shining moonlight at his back would not allow her to see his face. A wet cloth was loosely placed on her nose and mouth, and her eyes drowsily closed again. When the figure was positive she was out cold, he spread his wings and flew off into the night sky; filly in tow.
As Twilight was in her bed, not even sleep would give her a release from her never ending questions. Why would the culprit leave her in the forest unattended? How could she get herself out of those ropes? Why would he not try to get her back after she escaped? How could he be so meticulous in taking her and so sloppy later? None of it made any sense and this bothered Twilight heavily.
After about an hour of rehashing the information, Twilight went back to step one. Clearly there was something keeping them back from what happened.
Maybe there is a mistake in the way I am looking at this. Go back to step one. Evidence points towards the fact that Twist was taken, and she wouldn't have the knowledge or know-how to drug herself. Even if she did, what is the endgame with that anyways? Strike that out.
So she was taken. If she never woke up until days afterwards, then there must have been some type of mind-control drug applied repeatedly.That would explain the remnants on her nose.
Still, there was no sign of physical injury or abuse of any kind. She was given food and water, else she would have died. Her vital signs are fine, and her psych exam just shows trauma from being taken, not taken advantage of.
Since no ransom offer was given, maybe her captor was going to make her help him with a robbery, bank probably. But every bank in Equestria has every bit counted for. Not even stores have reported any robberies since she was taken.
So why go through all of that trouble just to... release her?
Twilight sprung her head up from the bed and practically jumped out. Her face went from one of deep thought to a look of anger.
"That's it."
She teleported away.
Twist's bedroom was quiet and finally free from police tape and markings. The only pony there was Twist herself and she was fast asleep. The comfort of her own bed and recognizable surrounding gave way to an unconscious grin on the sleeping small pony. As she was still sleeping, she rolled over. Her mind busy with warm dreams of being back in school; a break from what her reality had been for a while. A poof was heard from the far side of her room, slightly nudging her mind out of slumber. As she opened her blurry eyes, she saw Twilight next to her. Twist smiled, thinking she was being protected by her rescuer, even in dreams.
This is still a dream, Twist thought. I'm so happy Princess Twilight found me. Twist blinked her eyes a few times to slowly see her heroine clearly.
But something was wrong. Twilight had bags under her eyes that could carry groceries. The eyes themselves, wide open, were red from dryness and lack of sleep. Her mane was slightly mangled. Her breathing caused billows of air to escape her nose, much like an angry bull. Her magic energy pulsed around her body, emanating pure anger. Twist realized this wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare that was very much so real.
Quickly, Twilight grabbed Twist out of bed and teleported the two away.
They reappeared in an open field next to Sweet Apple Acres. No one would hear them where they were, and Twilight needed to make sure no one heard this. Twist got nauseous from teleporting and tried to not vomit. Twilight faced away from Twist in the dark field, checking to make sure they were alone. She looked up at the beautiful stars in the sky as they were the perfect foil to this unpleasant situation. She turned back around to look at Twist. The filly was about to say something but Twilight lifted a hoof to stop her.
Clearly both irritated and angry, Twilight lowered her voice as she said, "I need the truth, Twist."
Twist's body tightened up a bit. "I don't know what you're talking about, Prin"
Twilight cut her off and let some of her rage out. "Don't you lie again. You didn't escape; you were LET GO. I want to know EXACTLY what happened! Now tell me, WHAT ELSE DID YOU LIE ABOUT?"
Eyes wide open, Twist asked "How... how did you...?"
"Because it didn't make sense, Twist. Whoever did this was good enough to not leave anything behind when he took you. They wouldn't be so sloppy as to allow you to escape unless they WANTED you to. Now tell me what REALLY happened, and this time, make sure it's 100% truth."
Twist, clearly upset and afraid whispered, "He told me not to tell anyone."
Taken aback from the response, Twilight lowered her voice again. "Tell me what? Who said this?"
Twist looked at her hooves and tried to hold back the coming tears. She took her time and talked to the grass instead of Twilight. "I.. I don't know. I didn't escape like I said I did. I was woke up and some stallion untied me. I never saw his face and he told me not to turn around and look at him. He told me which trail to take and said I shouldn't tell anyone what he did."
Twilight took all of this in. She was right, Twist didn't escape. The criminal let her go.
Twist looked up with misty eyes. "But that's it! That's the only lie! Everything else is true! I'm sorry Princess Twilight!"
As Twist broke into soft tears, Twilight knew she had the right story this time. "You never saw any of him?"
Still upset, Twist answered "I.. I only saw that his coat was grey on his legs. That's it."
Twilight had softened when Twist began to cry. She was upset that the filly would lie, but she also understood why she did it. It wouldn't be fair to grill her anymore since Twist was the victim of the situation. Twilight grabbed Twist and gave her a hug.
"It's okay," Twilight said. "I'm not mad at you, Twist. Next time, just tell me the truth the first time, okay?"
Wiping her tears away, Twist nodded and managed to get out an, "Okay."
Twilight looked off into the direction of the forest. She knew what she had to do. "Sleep well, Twist."
She teleported Twist back to her bedroom, then teleported herself to the forest entrance.
As soon as Twilight got into the woods, she knew this could be the last mistake of her life. The darkness around her was a constant reminder that she was never more weak than right now. None of her regalia, none of her title, none of her friends, and none of her library knowledge could help her here. This was a place for the wild, savage, and instinctual. This was not for her.
But she was a princess for Celestia's sake. She was among the ten most powerful beings in and outside of Equestria. She had magical brawn that replaced and bettered physical brawn. The only problem was, she had limited experience with the Everfree. As she knew very well, the Everfree was technically not ruled by Celestia. It was too wild, too unpredictable, and full of dark magic. Cut one tree down in the Everfree and three more popped up. Kill one wild beast, and a pack of the same kind took its place. The unicorns brave enough to try to tap into its dark magic went insane... every time.
Twilight stopped in her tracks as she thought of these things. She didn't want to go in alone. She certainly didn't want to explore the Everfree by herself, but it was her responsibility as the local princess to find who had done this. She had taken on the responsibility as a princess when Celestia allowed her to ascend. She was hoof-picked as a foal to be who she is now, and who was Twilight to refute Destiny? Except when the rubber hit the road, Twilight found the hard part of being a princess of Equestria: risking your life for the sake of your subjects.
She had to do it. Deep down, beyond the fear and anxiety, there was a filly who was taken against her will and a town that could individually suffer the same fate if Twilight didn't act. In a spot of her psyche, Twilight wanted to do this no matter the danger. Princess Twilight needed this.
She kept going down the trail.
A distance away, tucked between brush and tree branches, a pair of dimly lit orbs focused on Twilight.
Twilight had been in the forest for an hour, but it seemed like several hours had already passed. The darkness that poured around her surroundings grew more dim with every step her body drew. Trees grew bigger, the brush became thicker, the ground slopped with mud. The calls of wild animals surrounded her at all times. She began to wonder if her mind was playing tricks on her. She could swear that she saw eyes looking at her a few times. Nervous sweat dripped from her body as she cautiously continued down the trail. She kept seeing things move in the distance, but she didn't want to upset any creatures by calling out. She tried using her horn as a lamp, but it was surprisingly hard to use her magic at all. She could still do it, but it took more force and energy to keep it up. Her magic was weak here.
Twilight stepped on a twig; the breaking of which seemed to echo a warning to predators throughout the foliage. Twilight's eyes dilated as the extra adrenaline hit her veins. Her legs began to shake in place and she could hear a racing pulse in her ears. As she tried to control her breathing, she waited silently so as to hear anything coming her way. As a panic move she shot her eyes towards the tall tree canopy, hoping to find an emergency opening between the trees to fly out of. There was none.
Twilight didn't want to be here anymore. Her magic was difficult to use, there was hardly any light at all,
After being completely still for over a minute, Twilight checked the trail behind her.
There was no trail behind her. The forest had closed up behind her. There was only forward. Twilight saw with her own eyes how alive the Everfree really was, and nothing had scared her as much as that fact did. She shakily placed one hoof in front of the other to continue on. There was literally no way out now.
Twenty minutes later, Twilight approached an opening. There was a decent sized tree in the middle with ropes fallen around it. This must be where Twist was set free, Twilight thought. But behind the tree, there was a pony gathering the rope from the ground. Twilight immediately put more energy into her horn light and jumped to the side of the pony.
"Stop where you are!" she exclaimed.
The other pony wasn't surprised to see her in the least bit. In fact, he cracked an eerie smile at her. It was a stallion. He had a dark grey coat, white mane and tail, and green eyes. He had neither a horn nor wings. He looked to be older than she was, but not by too much. He was also a bit taller than she was as well.
"Can I help you, Twilight?" he asked with a cocky smirk.
"I don't know who you are, or how you know me, but you match the description of the stallion that took Twist." Twilight stomped a hoof down. "You're coming with me!"
Still sporting a smirk, the stallion dropped the rope back on the ground. "I can't do that, Princess."
Teeth clenched in anger, Twilight responded with "It wasn't a question." Her horn lit up and a beam slowly traveled to the stallion. Visually struggling to use her magic, she finally grabbed the stallion with her magic and shoved him into the tree. He put up no resistance.
"Why are you not struggling?" Twilight asked in irritation. "You are the one that took her, aren't you?"
Still calm and confident, the stallion responded. "There is no need for me to struggle, and I do not feel remorse for what I did."
Now beyond furious, Twilight screamed out, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't hurt you right here!"
The stallion, unfazed by Twilight's efforts, simply waited. Twilight walked closer to him, her eyes manically wide open. He bent his neck forward towards her ear and whispered, "Left."
Twilight looked to her left. In a spot between the center tree and a wall of trees that lined the trails, the ground started to glow a deep green. Outside of Twilight's line of vision, the stallion's eyes had a dim glow of the same color. The spot on the ground started to open up as something was being lifted from beneath the ground. Fluid of some kind started to spurt from the open ground, but Twilight could not see its color. Mud and muck began to bubble up, but there was something wrong. Twilight's heart started beating as she became very afraid of what had just been triggered.
Then she saw a hoof. Then four hooves. Then a head.
It was a dead pony. It was relatively fresh but its coat around the neck was soaked in the blood that had stained the mud it was buried with. Eyes still open and tongue hanging out, the corpse was looking right at Twilight. So shocked and disgusted by what had just happened, Twilight let go of the magic holding the stallion and vomited. As seconds past and her nausea calmed down, her heart beat did not. She turned to the stallion, standing by the tree.
Eyes wide open and near panic, Twilight asked, "What is that?!?"
His eyes still half shut, the stallion calmly responded with, "Look closer."
She slowly walked towards the dead. She held back another vomit when she got close. It was a pegasus. Light brown coat with dark brown mane and tail. Wings looked injured. Large cut at the throat and...
... a syringe cutie mark.
This is him, Twilight thought. The pieces to the puzzle were coming together faster than Twilight could handle. She turned back to the living stallion.
"You... you didn't take Twist, did you?" she asked in disbelief. "You set her free."
He simply nodded. There was a soft breeze in the forest as Twilight kept putting the pieces together, but there were many things she still didn't know.
"How did you find him? What did he do to Twist? Why did you kill him??" she asked, still in disbelief.
The stallion didn't answer. Instead he turned to walk away. He spoke towards the trail he was about to take. "You should leave now."
Twilight, was too shocked to be truly irritated by this stallion's noncompliance. She meant to yell but "I have to know," barely got out of her throat.
The stallion kept walking away. Twilight put all of her magic into teleporting him back in front of her. Once she did this, she grabbed him with her magic so as to keep him from walking away.
"What is your name?" Twilight demanded.
The stallion no longer wore a smirk on his face; he was now visibly uncaring. "Unimportant, really. You are angering him." As he finished speaking, his eyes began to dimly pulse green.
"Who is 'him'? And why are your eyes glowing?" she asked.
"You will find out both soon enough."
Twilight got a hold of herself and was done playing games. "I've had enough of you, whoever you are. I don't know if your eyes work, but I am an Alicorn Princess, and you are just an earth pony! I might be weaker in here, but you will respect me and give me the answers I want. I will use force if I have to."
The stallion's eyes pulsed a brighter green as time went on. He responded, "You are asking the wrong questions, Twilight. Frankly, by sticking your neck when it doesn't belong, you have made a terrible error. You are as foolish as you are naive if you think this is about Twist or the stallion that took her."
Twilight took his insult personally, but she hid how hurt she was from it. Two can play this game, she thought. "I have a theory." Twilight said, still magically charging up. "I think you are a vigilante who is far out of line. I think you are a murderer who is no better than those who get caught in civilization. I think you like this 'work' and you live here to savor it. I think you are scum, and I'm waiting for a reason to not either bring you in or end you right here."
For the longest time, he said nothing. He just stood there, seeing Twilight's magic and power charge up while still being completely unfazed. His mouth had not moved and his eyes stood open. He was neither impressed nor worried with Twilight's display of power.
"Are you done yet?" he finally asked. His question was so surprising that Twilight actually put away her magic. "You still don't get it, do you?" he mocked.
Twilight kept her composure. "I get that you have killed a pony. I would guess it's not your first time. Who knows how many, and for what reasons? Why shouldn't I strike you down for your crimes against Equestria?"
"Only a dictator deals in absolutes, Princess Twilight." He added, "You know, I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed in you for being so naive, or in Celestia for not trusting you with this wisdom."
"Don't you DARE speak on Princess Celestia like that!!" Twilight screamed, getting into attack position.
"Why? Will you kill me here in the forest?" he bluffed. He stared at her with his color-pulsing eyes. He knew her political and moral stances. He knew how to bend her sideways with those stances and knead them into weaknesses. Weaknesses that all politicians have.
"I don't think you will," he continued. She paused herself and got out of attack position. She had never seen this kind of mental fortitude.
"I think we both know what will happen," he went on. "Someone will eventually find out that you killed a pony here in the forest, and you won't be able to prove it was for a good cause. I think we also both know that you still don't have the political power to uphold capital punishment on your own without a trial."
Twilight clenched her teeth and they grinded against each other. Her eyes went wide open with anger. She knew what she should do. He was out of line, and she could end it before he went out of line again. He didn't operate by Equestrian laws. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't end him here. It would be an abuse of power. If Celestia found out, I might lose my crown.
"That's right Twilight. You won't kill me," he went on. "You are smart, Princess Twilight. Smarter than your mentor's wildest dreams. You know more spells than I could imagine and you could quote libraries' worth of information. I know for a fact that you are the smartest pony since your idol Starswirl was still breathing."
Surprised by his unusual and seemingly sincere compliment, she took a few steps back.
"But," he added, eyes pulsing faster. "You have one fatal flaw that gives me the upper hand. With all of the knowledge you possess, you don't know the most important part of knowledge...
"Ponies. You don't know ponies, Princess, and you never will. You don't know how they work, or why they do what they do, or what they are capable of. That is where I will always have the upper hand. I can tell a rapist from small talk in the marketplace. I can tell a serial killer by the way he trots. I can sense a kidnapper from 2 miles away. And as much as you hate it, that is the only reason why your precious red haired filly is still alive."
Twilight was visibly upset and angry. As her horn powered up, she exclaimed, "We have police and Royal Guard to fill the role of catching those criminals. Our society does not need vigilantes like you running amok. Our justice system is fair, and focuses on rehabilitation, not death. You have crossed over the line of toleration, and I will bring you into a court of Equestrian law."
As soon as she finished speaking, Twilight spread all of her legs apart in attack position. She pulled her head back, then shot it forward, throwing a pink tranquilizing beam from her horn towards the stallion. As soon as he saw this, he got into the same attack position, and from his eyes came two bright green beams that met Twilight's beam halfway. The clashing of the two magics caused a white-hot energy in the middle of the two, and upon meeting, caused somewhat of a sonic boom that shook the trees near them. Twilight was putting everything she had into this spell, but her opponent never broke a sweat. As seconds passed, the green began to push the pink back towards Twilight. Twilight, now panicking, closed her eyes to try and focus. The green came only a few inches from her horn, and upon opening her eyes, she immediately knew what he was trying to do. In fear, she cried out, "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS? YOU'RE JUST AN EARTH PONY!!!!"
Then it happened. The green beams hit her horn, which caused a small explosion. It disabled her magic completely. She fell to the ground, weak, tired, and beaten. Her horn was dysfunctional, which caused a terrible migraine. Lactic acid washed her muscles, causing pain and soreness altogether. Her eyes hurt from seeing the explosion. Tufts of her mane were fried. The victor stepped toward her, eventually standing over her.
"Not exactly, Twilight. You flaunt around your morals and standards for others to see," he rebuked. "As should a Princess do. But you lack the understanding of the price to which affords you those morals and standards. You operate on a strict code of righteousness, and always sacrifice for the good of your constituents and friends. You have lived upon a set of ideals given to you since birth. You look around with your eyes and yet you do not see. You see society and believe that there is no force that makes it the way it is. You see the status quo as free of charge."
He turned around and took steps away from Twilight. Obviously in some sort of pain, he clenched his jaw tight with a grunt.
The stallion quickly turned back at Twilight in anger. His eyes were now fully glowing green without pulse at an almost blinding brightness, and as he spoke three other voices at different pitches and octaves accompanied his words as well as drones of low frequency sound. His voice now rumbled the ground and shook the trees. The sound of timberwolves howled nearby, as if recognizing their master. A green aura filled the opening in the forest like a fog. It was nothing less than intimidating. All Twilight could do was stay on the ground and watch as this happened in front of her own hurting eyes.
Beholding what happened, Twilight cried out, "What are you!?"
"My name is Ruslan, Harbinger of the Everfree. I am beyond your comprehension."
After Ruslan spoke, Twilight tried yelling out amidst the deafening drone noises. She opened her mouth but no sound was produced from her body. Then suddenly, she began feeling the ground below her sinking. The forest was molding itself to swallow her. She tried screaming again but still nothing. There was nothing close enough to grab onto with her hooves. She tried using her magic to hold something, but it still did not work. Voices, laughter, and white noise began to deafen Twilight as the ground was up to her forelegs. Frantic tears poured from her eyes as she reached out to Ruslan for help.
Everything went black.
Twilight nearly jumped out of bed. As she regained consciousness, she took a frantic look around. She was home, but her bed was replaced by a hospital bed. Medical machines were running next to her bed and she had an IV in. Celestia was by her bedside, caring for her. Twilight lifted her head out of panic and shouted to Celestia, "How much of that was REAL??
A poof was heard in the room. Before Celestia could answer, her eyes suddenly widened at something on the other side of Twilight's bed. A presence was felt very near. Twilight turned her head to see what Celestia was looking at.
"Not much, I'm afraid," said the green-eyed stallion with a smirk.