The Status Quo

by AppleJared

Questions

"I know this may be a little bit difficult, but do you think you can talk about it? If you can, just tell me what happened and include every detail you can remember."

Okay. I got up on Tuesday to go to school like any other day. It was real hot and sunny, even in the morning. Mom made my breakfast, pancakes, and I went to school. Ms. Cheerilee taught most of the day on history, Post-Banishment Equestrian History, to be specific. Diamond and Silver passed notes in class. The Crusaders were jumpy waiting for recess. Snips and Snails just stared at Silver all day. The only strange thing that happened, happened at recess. I was playing around with the Crusaders on the swings. Scootaloo wanted to jump off and do trick while in the air. The rest of us were happy to not jump off the swings. Ms. Cheerilee was reading a book; that's what she did when no one was misbehaving outside. Then, I saw her give a weird look in our direction on the swings and she got up and walked to us, then went past us. Scootaloo and Applebloom were too busy arguing about what a swing-set cutie mark would mean, but Sweetie Belle saw what I saw. There was a stallion on the far side of the playground just watching us. He was outside of the fence but he didn't say anything to anyone, and he didn't look like anyone's dad that I knew, and I have seen most of my friends' dads.

I was too far away from hearing everything, but I heard a few of the things he and Ms. Cheerilee talked about. She came up and asked what he was doing or if he needed anything. He told her that he is moving to Ponyville in a few months and just wanted to see the school his colt would go to. I think she was suspicious of him at first, but after he said he was moving here she became friendly. She told him about the school and introduced herself as the teacher, then gave him a tour of the place. She got into detail with all of the playground equipment we just got. When she let him inside the classroom, Snips and Snails tried to blow bubble gum bubbles, but ended up getting it stuck on their faces. After a few minutes I saw him leave the school building. Sweetie Belle and I watched it all happen. It kinda seemed weird, him just standing there, but I guess some ponies are good with starting conversations. I asked Sweetie about it later and she said she thought the guy looked weird.

"Can you describe what he looked like?"

Yeah, he was kinda tall, but not too tall. Real light brown with a short, dark brown mane and tail. He was wearing sunglasses, so I don't know his eye color. He had a syringe as a cutie mark. He looked to be pretty young, for a father. Oh, and he was a pegasus.

"Can you remember anything about him physically that might stand out other than his cutie mark? Like scars or birthmarks?"

I couldn't see anything like that, but I guess I wasn't looking for those. He did have saddlebags on, though.

"Okay, what happened after that?"

I went home after school. Sometimes I go to hang out with my friends after school, but I had a lot of homework so I went straight home. Dad got off of work early and he got to eat dinner with us. Mom made dinner and we even had apple pie for dessert. I finished my homework around 8 and got ready for the next day. I went to bed around 9:30, like always. Next thing I know...

I could feel the ropes around me and the bark of the tree on my back. I don't know how I got there or when or how long I was out. I couldn't move and the ropes were really tight. My glasses were still on but it was so dark outside that I couldn't see anything. I took a deep breath but there was something on my mouth and nose, like some kind of powder. Every time I took a deep breath, I got kind of dizzy. I wanted to cry for help, but I knew that if I was in the Everfree, it would attract predators. I wiggled and tried to get at least one rope off. Eventually the ones on my hind legs got lose, and I got out of those. Whoever tied me there was not good at knots because I got out of them in what felt like an hour. There were two trails that led to where I was. I didn't know where I was so I picked the trail that had some moonlight penetrate through the trees. I just kept walking down this trail, hoping it would take me back to Ponyville. I tried to be really quiet so I wouldn't wake anything up, but I was so nervous I kept accidentally making noise. I remembered from science class that there were non-poisonous berries in the Everfree that were safe to eat, but in the dark I couldn't tell the poisonous from the safe berries. Every once in a while I felt like I was being watched, so I would stop and look around. I never saw anything. By the time I got down the trail a while, I could tell it was really late. I could see a little better than I could when I first woke up. When my eyes adjusted, the greens and the blacks of the nighttime forest started to separate better. I don't know how long it took me to get out, but the trail led me towards Ponyville.

When I saw the end of the trail approaching, I started running towards it. I just wanted to be out of the forest. As I saw the opening exit get larger and larger, I heard a shout from outside the exit. I was running so hard that I couldn't hear what was said, but I slowed down so that I could hear it if it happened again. As I approached the exit, I saw Princess Twilight in some kind of magical powered-up state. He eyes were turning white and there was a pink arua around her entire body. I got kinda scared because she looked really angry and I didn't know why. I thought maybe she was mad because I was gone in the forest, and I thought about turning around to avoid getting into trouble. But then I realized that I would eventually come back so I slowly stepped out of the Everfree. I thought she might zap me right there, but when she saw me, she powered down and ran towards me. I guess she wasn't mad because she seemed really glad to see me. I got really tired after it was all over, so she let me ride her back as she took me home.

"I bet it feels good to be in your own bed again."

Yeah, it sure does.

"We're all glad you're back, but I do have a few more questions."

Um, okay.

"Twist, you never saw who took you?"

No sir.

"Not even once? Did you hear him at all?"

Not even once. I never saw or heard whoever took me.

"And you never came-to until last night."

I guess so, Mr. Chief.

"Do you suspect anyone in particular, or know anyone that might do this type of thing?"

I don't think so. No one I know would do that sort of thing.

"Alright. Thank you for your time, Twist. I'm sorry this happened to you," and with that, Chief left their home.