//------------------------------// // Interrogation // Story: The Reject Chronicles // by Darth Pestilence //------------------------------// Faster than a gold medalist track star, Lyra liked to think, she blitzed through the buildings in town in her way between Twilight’s library and Zecora’s hut, a fresh book on beginner’s magic rattling around with her copy of ‘Ancient Tales and Legends of Equestria’s Past.’ She had felt that her stealthing around had cost her too much time, so, she had decided to throw caution out of the window and just make a beeline for the forest to make up the difference. After a couple of minutes of frantic galloping, her spirits rose when she saw the gnarled canopy of Everfree just in the distance with nothing both rolling fields in between her and it. “Finally! Soon, the answers to almost two decades worth of questions will all belong to--” Lyra’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud murmuring, and even a few cheers. Looking to her left, she saw a large crowd standing along the edges of one of the main roads that led into the town. Now, normally she wouldn’t care and would have just gone on to meet up with Robert. But then she noticed that a group of royal guards were the reason for Ponyville’s celebration. “Why are they celebrating? Did something happen?” she recalled how she had left Robert alone in the cave while she left to go and get the books that he had requested. “I better take a look… just to be sure.” Lyra pushed her way into the crowd, trying to get a look at what had gotten the residents of her home town to cheer, dread growing with every step she took. And when she finally got a good view of the guards... and their living cargo... … She felt her heart drop into her stomach. The group of guards, with triumphant smirks on their faces, carried Robert in their magical grasp. His nose was broken, a bruise there in the shape of a hoof to match. A few drops of blood fell onto the street, falling from a few wounds on his right ankle, shackles bound his arms and legs, and an expression of pain topped it off. The commentary provided by the townsfolk didn’t help matters. Wahoo! Equestria’s finest finally got one of them ugly suckers!” “If you ask me, it ain’t nearly ugly enough after what it did to Twilight!” "Or that guard it and others killed!” “It’s all downhill for those horrible monsters now!” “Eh, I bet I could have taken it single-hoofedly.” "I give it a day before the rest of those animals are caught." "I hope the others get roughed up worse!” Lyra’s legs began shaking and tears welled up in her eyes. Her friend looked like he had been beaten unconscious to within an inch of his life if the expression on his face was anything to go by. She’d assumed that the cloak would keep him hidden like he had said, but it looked like she had overestimated his skill at remaining hidden. And now, not only was a crucial key to all of her research gone, but a poor creature who had just wanted to go home was violently beaten because of some terrible, terrible misunderstanding. She felt a cry rise up her throat, and she felt the urge to scream at Robert’s captors, to defend him from them with words… and other things if need be. But then Robert’s eyes opened, tiredness and pain evident in them. This caused the residents who stuck around rather than panicking and heading for the hills when they noticed to start yelling insults at him while he looked at the remainder of the crowd that had come to see him. And then he noticed Lyra and her distraught expression as he wearily examined the bitter mob. He shook his head, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and it appeared that he had passed out once again. As the guards hauled him off into the town proper, Lyra began backing up as the crowd followed. With all of the attention on Robert, she knew she could probably get back to the cabin as soon as possible and tell the others about Robert’s capture. With that, she took one last look to make sure the coast was clear, and then she ran toward Everfree as fast as she could, no longer filled with anything resembling the confidence she had possessed just minutes prior… “I really think my magic has gotten a little stronger!” Mason insisted over John’s snickering. "Either that, or all that straining has made you a lot stupider!” John retorted. “Personally, I think my suggestion is the more plausible.” "I’m telling you, moving that vial has given me a little, but noticeable, boost!” Mason shot back. "What? Can you move a whole one and a half viles now? Maybe even... TWO vials?” John said, snickering again at Mason’s frustration. “I swear, John, once I can move a crate, I’m moving it over your--” Before Mason could finish that sentence, his, Zecora’s, and John’s heads all swiveled about to the front door, the furious, frantic knocking there startling even the latter. Their fears were only assuaged somewhat when they heard the voice beyond the door was friendly, only to be set back to uncomfortable levels when they realized how she sounded. “HELLO!? ANYPONY… HUMAN… THING… HOME! OPEN UP! IT’S ME! LYRA! IT’S URGENT! LIKE, EXTREMELY URGENT!” John rolled his eyes and strolled over to the door, opening it. “You have the book ye--” Lyra ignored him, running inside and stopping at the center of the main room. John closed the door and locked it. "Where’s Robert…” John trailed off when he noticed Lyra’s disheveled state, her legs shaking and her eyes wide with tears. All three of them felt even more dread well up inside of them, Lyra’s appearance and Robert not being with her making them assume the worst. “Lyra,” Zecora calmly asked. “What’s wrong? And where is Robert?” Lyra took a shaky breath before answering. “I-I-I had gotten the books he asked for, a-and I was on my way out of town… when a group of guards walked into town, carrying Robert’s unconscious body.” John and Mason felt their stomach’s drop upon learning that their friend, the one who had known most about Equestria and had helped them avoid detection, was now gone. Captured by the military. They all remained silent, lost in their thoughts while Lyra looked at them, waiting for any kind of response. "I… I got the books,” Lyra said in a near whisper, trying to get them to say something, anything at all. “... Thank you,” Zecora finally said, and then went silent. “... What do we do now?” Mason finally asked. “Robert’s gone, and the Cloak is probably with his captors by now. Without our primary way of remaining hidden, then it’s only a matter of time before they find one of us when we go out to get food and water.” Lyra whispered something that the others couldn’t hear. “What was that?” John asked. "You… you need to get out of here. Leave before they can find you here,” Lyra spoke up. “W-What?!” Mason exclaimed. “What do you mean “leave”?! We can’t just leave Robert here! He’s the reason we’ve lasted this long!” “I’m not saying that you should leave Robert behind… just… just find a better hiding spot before they find this one, because I have a feeling that they’re gonna really, really soon,” Lyra answered. "Alright… we’ll wait till’ sundown and then head out to find a new place to hide. Lyra, I need you to be able to give us updates on Robert and find out where the cloak is if you can. Can you--” John said, before he was cut off by a scream from Zecora. "AUGHHHHHH!” She fell to her knees, wincing in pain. "Zecora!” they all cried out in unison, rushing over to see what was wrong with her. "What’s wrong?!” John asked, checking her body for any injuries. “...Runes… down…” she answered, looking at the door. And then, the door exploded, a loud boom echoing through the room as the cabin’s inhabitants were showered with splintered wood. After they stopped being pelted by fragments of the former door, they looked up to see that, calmly strolling through the now empty doorframe, was Twilight Sparkle, a small smile on her face. "Hello there,” she said in a voice that sounded like she was merely talking about the weather with a friend. “I’m afraid you four are under arrest.” Coming in behind Twilight was Rainbow Dash and Applejack, along with ten guards. "Oh, and don’t bother trying to escape. We already have this cabin surrounded,” Twilight added. “Besides, your friend will probably miss you if you leave. You’d hate for him to be lonely, wouldn’t you?” "You…” Mason said, pulling out his glove and putting it on. “You cyclops BI--!” A blast of magic shot out of Twilight’s horn, throwing him back into the wall and knocking him out cold. Using her telekinesis, Twilight removed the bladed glove from Mason’s hand and examined it for a moment before turning back to the rest of them with the same smile she had worn upon entering. "I hope the rest of you will come along without any trouble,” she beamed, her smile a bit too twitchy to pass as genuine.   “T-Twilight,” Lyra said in a shaky voice, causing the mare to look her way. “P-Please, just hear me out if you won’t listen to anypony else. This is all just one big, big, big, big, HUGE misunderstanding! The guys didn’t mean to hurt Fluttershy or attack you and the other elements, and Robert didn’t mean to mess up your eye--” "If I recall correctly, you borrowed a book about basic spellcasting from my library today, and intended to give it to these creatures. I’d like it back. Please,” she interrupted. "Twilight, listen to Lyra! These humans aren’t ‘creatures,’ they’re people with hopes and dreams and fears like you or I that merely wish to return--” Zecora said. Before Zecora could finish, however, a bright purple blast of energy shot out of Twilight’s horn and impacted the ground just at Lyra’s hooves, making the green mare jump back and almost knock down John in the process by colliding with his knees. “The book. Now. Please,” Twilight said, her smile now even more strained. “Uhhh… Twilight sugar cube… are you okay?” Applejack asked. “Yeah. That was a bit much, and I can’t believe I’M the one saying that,” Rainbow Dash said. Turning towards her friends, Twilight said, “Oh, I’m fine. Just… peachy keen. Hehehehehe…” her laugh making even the guards gulp and take a few steps back, her friends accidentally butting against them as they backed up.   With a look somewhere between frightened for her life and crestfallen, Lyra reluctantly reached inside her saddlebag, pulled out the book she had gotten from the library, and slid it over to Twilight. Twilight picked the book up. “Thank you Lyra! Now… I believe you have another book in your possession? One which Princess Celestia will probably be VERY interested in. Would you mind giving that to me too?" Lyra’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. Twilight sighed. “Oh well. I suppose you aren’t going to be cooperating anymore. If that’s the case, then allow me to inform you that a friend of yours is here to see you. Oh Special Agent Sweetie Drops!” Twilight pointed towards the door frame, drawing everypony’s attention to it. Lyra felt immediate and immense confusion as none other than Bon Bon walked in. “Wha… Bon Bon? What the hay are you doing here?” Bon Bon looked everywhere around the room except at her bestie. “Ummm… that’s the thing, Lyra. My name isn’t actually… Bon Bon. It’s… Sweetie Drops, like Twilight said. I’m also not really a pastry chef, or, at least, that hasn’t been my main occupation for some time. I’m actually… uhhh… a Special Agent of a secret… clandestine… covert Equestrian monster hunting task force called S.M.I.L.E. And… uhhh… I kind of… hehe… read your journal and… uhhh... turned you in.”   Lyra just sat there, staring at her roommate, waiting for her to laugh and say that all of this was just one big, bad, colossal joke, and that she was here to help them. But that never happened, and she simply stared at her in disbelief. "It’s alright. You were manipulated, and you weren’t in your right state of mind. I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you out of a dungeon for anymore than a few days until this whole mess is straightened out… C’mon Lyra, say something,” Sweetie Drops pleaded. Lyra began shaking with barely contained fury and sorrow as she slowly stood up, her eyes fixed on the floor. “How... long?” she asked. "How long... what?” Sweetie Drops asked, her voice cracking. "How long... have you been reading... my journals?” "Since… since I learned you were into mythical and legendary creatures from Equestria’s past.” “Years.” “Wh--what?” Sweetie Drops asked, not quite picking up what Lyra had said since her voice had been so low. “For years. You’ve been watching me, spying on me… for years. All that time, I thought you were my friend.” Lyra then began a slow, shaky march towards Sweetie Drops. “Lyra, what are you--” John cried out before being interrupted by what Lyra said next. “All that time, all those birthday and Hearth’s Warming gifts, all those Nightmare Nights dressing up in ridiculous costumes… good Faust! All that time playing with your niece! Was she even really your niece!? Was any of it real!? Was any of it not just playacting to keep your cover and your job… you… you… filthy, dirty, disgusting traitor!?” Twilight’s horn lit up with her magic again and she said, this time dropping her smile and all pretenses of being friendly for a far more fitting scowl. “Lyra, I’m warning you: stop moving towards Special Agent Sweetie Drops, or I will be forced to take--” "Your name! You couldn’t even trust me enough to actually tell me your real name! Is there anything about you that isn’t fake, backstabber!?” Lyra said, stopping to point an accusative hoof at her former ‘best friend.’ Sweetie Drops, who, despite her training, had broken into sobs at Lyra’s words and hung her head low, looked up from the ground, and with red, tear stained eyes, gritted her teeth and pointed an accusative hoof right back at Lyra. “Don’t you DARE take that self righteous tone with me, you headstrong clutz! You held more than your fair share of earth shattering secrets from me too! When were you planning on telling me you had a book like the one you’re refusing to hoof over to Twilight!? Faust, I couldn’t even find it, and I know that rat’s nest of a room of yours like the back of my fetlock! I’ve had to clean after your messes enough times!” “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d give me a big, stupid lecture about how much trouble it was and take it away!” Lyra said, her eyes now just as red and wet with tears as Sweetie Drop’s. “At least I never broke into YOUR ROOM and rifled through YOUR secrets! At least I told you what my REAL career path was! At least I let you play with my REAL NIECE! At least I told you my REAL, ACTUAL, GENUINE name, you big, fat, giant, faking traitor! I swear to Faust, if I ever have to see your ugly muzzle again, I’m gonna--!” Lyra’s threatening tirade was cut short when a spell from Twilight’s horn hit her square between the eyes. Her muscles seized up and she twitched a few times before falling to the floor in a crumpled heap. Everypony in the room was stunned speechless, all, save one very, angry looking, one-eyed unicorn. “I’ve had enough of all this,” Twilight groaned. “Guards, take them away. The Princesses will probably want to have a little chat with them.” The guards were still for a moment before they gathered their bearings and walked past her. John got on his knees and put his hands behind his head, realizing that any attempt to fight back would be useless, and wanting to avoid as much trouble as he could, unlike Mason or Lyra. He remained perfectly still as his arms and legs were bound together by shackles connected by small but stiff metal rods. Zecora was of a like mind and lay with her legs stretched out on the floor as the guards came over and shackled all four of her hooves together, this time with cuffs spaced out a bit more by a slightly longer length of chain so that she could walk upright properly (if at a significantly slow pace) before putting a metal collar over her neck attached to the backs of three of the guards. The two were then swiftly escorted out, or in Mason’s case, carried. Finally, Twilight trotted over to Lyra’s unconscious body. After staring hard at the mint green unicorn with her lone eye, Twilight hung her head and sighed before shaking her head and muttering out, “You just had to feel sorry for the wrong bunch of people.” She picked Lyra up in her magic before making her way to the doorframe. On the way out, she stopped next to Sweetie Drop’s still stunned form and put a hoof on her shoulder. With an apologetic look, she said, “I’m sorry you had to see that. I should have turned down your offer to come along.” She sighed. “For what it’s worth, I thank you for putting duty to our country over your personal feelings and… I do hope Lyra gets off with just a slap on the fetlock. If you need me too, I’ll vouch for her.”   Sweetie Drops was silent for a moment before she responded. “Thank you… Miss Sparkle." “And cheer up! You were instrumental in catching three, despicable monsters who everypony though didn’t even exist who assaulted the student of Princess Celestia herself and attacked Equestria’s greatest heroes! I’m sure there’s a shiny new promotion for you somewhere in S.M.I.L.E., plus, you’ll finally be able to drop your cover and move out of Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash said. Applejack pulled Rainbow in close and whispered in her ear, “Rainbow, sugarcube, what it tarnation do you think you’re doing!?”   “Relax, AJ,” Rainbow whispered back. “I’m trying to help Bon Bon’s… errr… Sweetie Drops’ mood. She looked like she needed it.” “Rainbow… did it ever occur to that maybe Sweetie Drops doesn’t want anypony to try and lift her spirits up, especially NOT in the way you just tried just now?” “What’s the big deal? She probably IS going to get a big promotion and get assigned to some other town with a new identity after her part in bagging those weirdo hairless apes and that Zebra and…”Rainbow Dash’s eyes suddenly widened. Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Now do you see why we’re having this here conversation?” "Yeah, I do. Which begs the question: why in the hay didn’t you tell me this!?” “Rainbow honey, I just up and did!” "No! I meant… earlier! While I was saying what I was saying!” “Cuz I thought it’d be more awkward if I had to shove a hoof through your mouth and drag you kicking and screaming out of here!” “Well good job there Ms. Punctual! Thanks to your TIMELY intervention, I feel a MILLION times less like I just made a ginormous, drooling fool of myself!” Applejack hung her head and sighed before whispering, “Let’s just get out of here before EITHER of us can make Sweetie Drops feel any worse.” "No argument there.”   Rainbow and Applejack then muttered out some hasty goodbyes before practically flying out of the doorframe and to parts unknown. Massaging her aching cranium at her friend’s antics, Twilight looked back to Sweetie Drops and placed her hoof on her shoulder again. “Take care, Special Agent Sweetie Drops.” Sweetie Drops numbly nodded. With that, Twilight exited the hut, Lyra in her magic’s tow, escorted by three of the guards. As the remaining three guards in the room went about their duties investigating what parts of the zebra’s hut Twilight hadn’t wrecked, Sweetie Drops still stood there, statuesque, as though her mind couldn’t quite process that everything that had happened recently wasn’t some mad, fever dream, but all too real. When the guards began taking objects they thought fit the bill of ‘suspicious’ out of the house to seize them as evidence, Sweetie Drops shuffled, zombie like, out of the doorframe and towards the general direction of Ponyville. When she reckoned that the ancient, wicked looking trees and brush provided enough cover between her and the cabin that nopony could see her anymore, her pace quickened from a trot, to a canter, to a full on gallop. Tears trickled down her face, a few at first, and then, as sudden as the turn her life had taken in just a day, they began cascading down her face, drenching it in her sorrow. She began to yell out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” so focused on her woes and so blinded by her tears that she tripped over a log and fell face first into a pile of mud. Rather than removing her face from it completely, though, since she didn’t think she deserved to get away from the smelly, wet dirt so soon after what she had done, she only moved her nose and mouth so that she could breath. She then muttered out, “Please forgive me, Lyra. Please… forgive me…” before closing her eyes and wallowing in the mud like a sow throwing a tantrum, her tears not stopping for the next ten minutes. Pain. That was the first thing Robert felt as he awoke. Pain in his head, pain in his ribs, pain pretty much everywhere. He sat… wherever he was, for a while as he waited for some of the pain to subside. As he waited, he tried to recall why exactly he felt so bad. It didn’t take long for him to remember his capture and the beating that followed.   “Yeah, now I remember why I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” he thought to himself, finally mustering up the will to open his eyes. Looking around, he saw that he was in a small jail cell. “Fi… gures,” Robert muttered to himself. “At least I can still talk and my jaw isn’t broken.” He groaned out in pain before also muttering, “At this point, it’s probably the only part of me that ISN’T broken.” The cell itself was about eight feet wide and ten feet tall, the whole room constructed out of stone, and the only entrance being a metal door with no openings other than the less than an inch-wide space between the door and the floor. Looking at his arms and legs, he discovered three things: his wrists and ankles were still shackled, the bite in his ankle had been healed, and… he was completely naked with the exception of his underwear. Robert stared for a moment before sighing. “Of course, why not? Should I really expect any less?” He took this chance to examine his body, noticing that while there were still quite a few bruises visible, they were MUCH less severe than when they had first been inflicted. Putting two and two together, he realized that someone must have healed his injuries, at least a little bit. “Someone healed me then? Sweet, but who could have? Maybe the guards or one of the staff here?” Robert ceased his pondering when he heard the door open. He looked up to see a group of several guards standing in the doorway. "I see that you’re finally awake,” one of them said. He grabbed something from one of his associates and tossed it at Robert’s feet. It was his clothes. "We searched you for any additional weapons while you were asleep and found nothing. I’m going to unlock your shackles and you’re going to put your clothes on. Your body looks disgusting,” he spat. "Huh. That’s exactly what my ex-girlfriend told me,” Robert said with a light chuckle. Only receiving unamused glares in response, he sighed. “Tough crowd, I see.” "Just put your filthy clothes on. And by the way, if you try to run, then we’ll skewer you,” the guard responded, levitating a key over to Robert’s shackles, unlocking them. Doing as he was told, Robert slid his clothes on and stood up on his working, albeit shaky, legs. “Okay then, I assume you’re taking me somewhere?” Robert asked. The guards didn’t answer, and pulled out shackles similar to the ones that had been forced on him when he had first been arrested. After they did that, the unicorn of the group picked him up in his magic. Robert felt an oncoming rush of deja vu as his feet left the ground, and he suddenly realized something that had previously slipped his mind. “Wait a sec… you guys… aren’t you guys the same ones that got me? Well, without the commanding officer?” “What, you want another beating?” one of the guards said.   “So, where are we heading?” Robert asked, ignoring the guard’s rhetorical barb. “Oh, let’s just say you have a few visitors here to see you,” another guard answered with a chuckle. Robert frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that, but since I doubt that they’re going to drag me out back and let the townsfolk beat me up, I think I can keep calm. I’m sure that I’m just going to be interrogated or something. Ponies I know of that’d want to interrogate me… maybe the Mane Six or the Princesses?” Before long, he was in front of another metal door. As the guards went about unlocking it, he heard a gasp to his left. Turning his head to look at where the noise had come from, he saw Spike looking at him from his place in front of a large window that allowed him to peer into the interrogation room. Spike’s glare was an angry one, one that made Robert think that the baby dragon would love nothing more than to roast him with his fire. He tore his gaze away from him when the door was opened. He was levitated into the room and saw two groups of people (and ponies) that he recognized. On one side, chained to chairs that had been bolted into the ground, were Mason, John, and Zecora. They were looking at him with both relief and defeat. The other group, the Mane Six, eyed him from their chairs. Their expressions ranged from Fluttershy’s, which held fear and sympathy, to Twilight’s, who’s one-eyed gaze made his blood run cold. His shackles came off as he was lowered into his chair, the chains on those replacing his other shackles. After that was done, the guards left, closing and locking the door behind them. Nobody said anything for a few moments, which to the humans, felt like an eternity. They all merely sat there, the ponies looking intently at them while the humans tried focusing their gaze elsewhere. Finally, Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “Ha! Not so high and mighty now, are you?” Rainbow gloated, smirking at them. "I feel like that’s a trick question,” Robert responded, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. To his surprise, he managed to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke. "Ah,” Twilight said, causing the teen to flinch. “The guards who brought you in mentioned that you have a sense of humor, I see they were correct. Now, I’ve already talked to your friends, but they all said the same things. But since they mentioned you as their ringleader of sorts, I think it’s time I ask you a few things of my own.” Robert took a deep breath before forcing himself to look into her eye. “L-Look, I’m really sorry about your eye. It was an accident, I swear to--” “An accident, huh!?” Rainbow interrupted, slamming her hooves down on the table. “Tell me, was it an accident when one of you flat out decked her in the face?” Robert took another deep breath and opened his mouth to respond, but John beat him to it. “That was different! She was standing over Robert! I thought she was getting ready to attack him!” John exclaimed. “And if we’re going to start throwing blame around, then how about you, Skittles? You attacked us first!” Mason snarled. “Or you, Rarity? You threw rocks and needles at us when we tried to defend ourselves! Or you Pinkie? You attacked Robert, and he was just trying to talk to you!” Everyone’s attention was drawn to Twilight when she chuckled, their body temperatures suddenly dropping just north of the freezing point of water. “I admit, we did attack you first, but our suspicions were hardly unfounded, and it seems like we were right to do so.” She looked directly at Robert. “Robert, was it? I seem to recall you cutting my eye open with your weapon.” John and Mason began to respond, but Robert cut them off. “Guys, please let me speak for myself.” And then he looked back at Twilight. “That was an accident. You were about to blast me, so I pulled my… shuriken out... and aimed for your... horn, but I tripped on a tree root as I threw it and my aim was messed up. I’m really sorry about that, and I promise that I’ll try to make it up to you as best as I can once this whole mess has been sorted out. I’m not sure how I can do my best to make it up to you yet, but I didn’t mean to hit you in the eye and I didn’t hold any malice towards you and your friends then and I still don’t. Again, I’m sorry things got as out of hand or hoof or whatever as they did, and if I could somehow change things so that you didn’t lose your eye, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so because I’ve obviously caused you a lot of pain and grief that you didn’t have coming and that makes me sad to see in you.” Twilight was silent for a moment, staring at him with a blank expression. The others remained silent as well, Fluttershy wiping a fear tears and snot from her nose with the back of a foreleg, Rarity and Pinkie Pie sported glances that betrayed lack of confidence.. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked like they had lost a bit of their furious edge and were now more uncertain than anything else.   And then, Twilight smiled again. “And I suppose the same can be said about Privates Sharp Spear and Flash Sentry?” Robert had dreaded the mention of those two. Though Sharp Spear was not a familiar name, he remembered the incident with Flash Sentry clearly, and he guessed that Sharp Spear was the guard who had been eaten by the Cragadile. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say. "Oh? Speechless? Was I wrong? Do you not feel even the slightest of that supposed pity and remorse you said you felt for me for what you and your friends did to them?” "Hey, lay off my friend there, cyclops! All we did to Flash Gordon or whatever his name was basically amounted to what you’re doing right now and what happened to Sharp Spike wasn’t our fault, but that stupid, dangerous as hell, forest’s! Don’t go pinning a guy’s death on us for what mother nature herself did!” Mason interrupted. Twilight slowly turned to look at Mason, and tilted her head, her expression remaining unchanged. “Oh really?” “Yes, and I wish to God almighty that I didn’t, because that wasn’t a pretty sight! We. Didn’t. Cause. His. Death. Period. He chased after us, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was stepping, he stepped on what you get when a boulder and a crocodile decide to get married and have kids. And then he was eaten alive!”  Mason shouted, slamming his hands on the table. … Even though a small part of himself didn’t wish he could forget the gruesome death, much to a shame he didn’t dare show with the present company. The room was dead quiet again save for the sounds of Mason gasping for breath after such a long, and epic, if articulate, rant. That was, until, Twilight chuckled dryly. “... Eaten by a cragadile, huh? Tell me, how long did it take for you to come up with that story?” Still catching his breath, Mason looked at Twilight like she had spontaneously grown another head and managed to gather up enough oxygen to yell out, “What?!” "How long did it take for you to come up with that story? I mean, really, a cragadile? Couldn’t you have at least used a more common monster if you’re going to try and fool us?” Mason looked at her with even more disbelief. “WHAT!?”  Waving off his loud question, Twilight said, “The point is, I’m not dumb enough to fall for that sort of thing. I know you all killed him. Besides, cragadiles don’t even live in this part of Equestria. As you no doubt well know, they prefer more humid, boggier locales a tad bit closer to large enough sources of water to sustain them than a temperate forest like the Everfree could possibly provide. I’ll give you points for creativity, though, if you REALLY wanted to out there, I’d have gone for poor Private Spear to have been done in by something like an Ahuizotl or, heck, even a Changeling. Since those two things don’t exist, you couldn’t possibly top them if fantasy is your chief concern.” His lungs finally making a full recovery, Mason’s brain struggled with how to reply to something like… that. His gut reaction was to say something along the lines of, “Last I checked, Sparkle, we humans weren’t supposed to exist either, and then we mopped the floor with you six so bad that you lost an eye!” However, since he REALLY didn’t feel like purposefully ticking Twilight off again after how well that worked the last time, and because he and his friends were trying to convince the ponies that they were innocent, against a VERY great desire, he bit his tongue and just decided to shut up, figuring that cooler heads like Robert or John or Zecora could get this bitter, delusional idiot to see that they weren’t threats. “In a way, aren’t all four of you threats?” he heard a voice say in the back of his head that he hoped to God didn’t somehow get out through his mouth during this tense conversation.   “Miss Sparkle,” Zecora said after remaining silent for most of the exchange, “I admit, I am a stranger to your land and am only slightly more accustomed to it than my human friends, but back in the lands where I hail, I was taught that before charges could be leveled against anypony, or human in this case, there needed to be evidence of a sufficient nature. So, I humbly ask you, what, aside from hearsay from the Royal Guard, would lead you to believe that my friends, are even capable of committing the terrible deed you accuse them of?”   Twilight turned towards Zecora and said, in a matter of factly tone, “If you must know, the Royal Guard haven’t released all the details of their investigation into the matter yet--” "But I see they have somehow already reached a conclusion,” Zecora said, narrowing her eyes. “Such magic would be the greatest I have ever heard of.” “Be that as it may, I’m sure when they’re done, they’ll have MORE than enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your friends had a bit more of a role to play in Private Spear’s demise then they’re letting on. Speaking of shadow, even if the Royal Guard’s findings were inconclusive or corroborate their ridiculous story to a T, I know for absolute certain, that there’s a whole other reason to think your friends aren’t the frightened, scared little angels you’d like us to think they are. Tell me, Zecora, are you magically sensitive?” Zecora remained silent, tilting her head and raising a brow. "I mean, I assumed you were after you made two circles of runes around your cabin. One to keep possible predators out, and another to keep guards out. That was quite clever of you… assuming I’m correct and you were the one to make them.” Zecora’s head rightened up and she nodded. “Yes. I did craft those runes, and I am magically sensitive.” Nodding, Twilight said, “Good. Glad to see my educated guess was correct. So, anyways, have you ever noticed any magical energies from any of them? Any magic at all?” "Yes. I did. In fact, just recently, Mason and John have begun showing signs of magical growth. And while it is not much stronger than that of a foal’s, they are steadily growing faster than one. I suspect Robert will likely begin showing magical growth as well very soon.” Twilight’s smile returned. “But didn’t you sense anything else? To tie things back to what I said about shadows, have you noticed anything… darker about your three friends?”   Mason tensed up, remembering the dream where he had conversed with Freddy. A serial killer that killed children in their dreams for fun was now a part of him, and now that he knew this acquired aspect of his could be sensed… he didn’t know how he was going to explain it if he ever had to, which, he feared, would come sooner rather than later. To his sides, John and Robert had reached their own conclusions, realizing that they both had dark presences inside of them. Robert was intertwined with Batman. Who, while cool, had a vengeance and dark personality that made him mentally unstable to the point of ultraviolence at times. John was intertwined with Harry Potter, who had gained dark power and even personality traits from Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard to ever live. "It seems like they know what I’m talking about,” Twilight commented, taking note of their terrible poker faces. “But since they probably won’t talk about it, I’ll tell you. You see, I can sense two magical signatures in all three of them: one normal, and the other dark. And that growth in magic you mentioned? That’s happening twice as fast to their dark magic.” Zecora was unsure how to respond, she looked to her friends, noticing that all three of them were looking distressed. "If you know as much about magic and the past as I do, you’d know that no creature in the history of Equestria has been recorded to be born with dark magic, but every villain that has ever tried to lay waste to Equestria always possesses dark magic. Why? Because they knowingly corrupt their magic with their anger and fear. And… seeing how those three have dark magic signatures, it’s only logical that they did the same,” Twilight concluded. "Okay, that is some grade a crap, lady! Before almost a month ago, the three of us didn’t even know magic was a thing, dark or not! Heck, it was just as mythical and legendary to us as WE were supposed to be to YOU!” Mason shouted. “If you wanna spout off about ‘logic,’ then tell us how in the holy hell were supposed to ‘knowingly corrupt our magic with our anger and fear,’ if we didn’t even know magic was real to begin with for most of our lives!?”   “Before I answer that question, answer one of mine since I’m the interrogator here: why should I believe you? What reason do I have to believe a claim that you didn’t know magic existed? Are you claiming to come from another world, because if you are, THAT would be the most patently obvious, purely fantastical thing I’ve heard since we got started.” Twilight took a moment to laugh before continuing. “But seriously, no. If that’s what you’re getting at, then just no. The only other explanation for dark magic is if it is forcefully injected into you. But when that happens, it is because another dark magic user put it inside of you. And since that process corrupts the host and turns it into either the villain’s puppet, or a mindless monster, then I still have reason to lock you up even if you three were as soft as doves as Zecora seems to think! And since you aren’t a mindless monster… I guess that can only mean that you all are either villains looking to manipulate us, or puppets for said villain that is planning on attacking Equestria!” All was silent, the ponies, even the sympathetic ones, hiking up their skirts and believing Twilight’s story, and the prisoners having no suitable answer for her. And then, Robert sighed tiredly. "You know what? I can’t adequately respond to that. I don’t know what’s going on myself, so how about this: you put us back in our cells and give us time to rest. We’re all exhausted from this whole ordeal, and I think some time to think would do all of us some goo--” “I thought you said you’d be willing to do anything you could to make it up to me after you did, Robert," Twilight said with an icy venom to her voice. Robert narrowed his eyes. “Twilight, to be quite honest, I think you could use some rest as well. You are getting very worked up.” Twilight’s one good eye started to twitch at that. “Worked up? Worked up?! WORKED UP?!” Robert’s eyes narrowed further. “Twilight. Calm. Down. Now. You’re getting worked up over nothing.” “Worked up over nothing?! Because of you, I had to have my right eye removed from its socket! Because of you, everyday things that I used to find so much fun and joy in just became that much more of a chore! For Faust’s sake, you have dark magic inside of you! I legally have the capacity to turn you to stone because of that alone! So don’t you talk to me about being WORKED UP!"Twilight said, rising to her hooves. Robert felt his frustration with the purple mare building, and he felt like he was about to do to her what he did to the guards that had captured him. But remembering what happened to him in that situation, and that he was trying to get them out of trouble and not into it, he decided against it. He took another deep breath to calm his nerves. "T-Twilight,” Fluttershy said in a near whisper. “P-Please calm down, you’re scary when you’re mad.” "Ah agree. Don’t be going on a tirade now because this creature is winding you up. You’re better than that,” Applejack agreed. Twilight looked back at her friends for a few moments before she sat back down. “You’re right, girls. I shouldn’t let him get inside my head. That’s what he wants.” Robert let out a sigh of frustration when Applejack turned back to him and said, “But she does have a point. Not only do ya have dark magic inside of ya, but ya also done went and made her life harder when you took her eye out.” “Well, you sicked the military after us, so I could say the same thing about all of you,” Robert retorted, causing some of the mares to frown at him. “As for the dark magic situation, as Mason said, we know little to nothing about it. We know about as much about dark magic as we do about quantum cosmology. We were just minding our own business when suddenly we just woke up here, and the next thing we know, six mares are attacking us. Now, can we please--” Robert was interrupted by the sound of the metal door being unlocked. Everyone turned to look as the door opened to reveal two ponies the humans had both anticipated and dreaded meeting: Celestia and Luna.