Twilight Sparkle: Witchfinder (in training) - an semi-gothic AU

by Gamiel

3 gatekeeping and questioning

Rainbow Dash was relaxing on a nice fluffy cloud that gave her a perfect view of the track to Fluttershy‘s cottage and made it easy for Fluttershy to call for her if the former needed help even if it had not been much need for that, at least after they had resecured Rarity in Fluttershy’s basement. Ugh, why did Rarity have to be one of those whose transformation was spasmic and violent, but Rainbow Dash had to give the seamstress that she was a lot stronger than she gave the appearance of and when she had fully recovered from her wounds and transformation she would be even stronger.

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, feeling the bruise she had on her left side. In the beginning she had to constantly stop people coming over to Fluttershy to ask how she was doing, if there was anything they could do to help, and to offer her food. Rainbow Dash had firmly but (for her) gently turned them away, even if she had promised to take their well wishes, offers of help and food to Fluttershy. Fluttershy had been outright embarrassed about all the care and thought people had given her.

Thankfully Rarity had now been properly secured and people had gotten the message and stopped coming over – even if some of them had instead asking her to deliver their gifts to Fluttersy, she forgave them disturbing her well-earned lazy-time since they did it out of consideration toward Fluttershy. As she re-fixed her cloud so it was 20% more comfortable Rainbow saw that two ponies in dark-blue hats and capes was trotting toward Fluttershy’s bridge – completely ignoring Rainbow’s ‘Don’t disturb’ sign that she had placed before it – there was only one thing to do, zip down and tell them to get lost!

-x-x-x-x-x-

Fluttershy’s cottage lay at the outskirt of Ponyville, beyond its farmland and just at the edge of the forest. It was a nice house with an overgrown sod roof, probably around a hundred years old, based on the design of the main part but with some later modifications and additions. Birdhouses of many different sizes and designs hang from the cottage and the trees around it; there were also small houses for land animals on the ground and den openings in it. All-in-all it was rather picturesque and fit the description of Fluttershy as a lover of small animals in Twilight’s opinion.
Ignoring the badly written sign (Twilight could just mentally shake her head regarding some ponies penmareship) to not disturb she trotted on to the small bridge… to be stopped by a blue pony that had appeared from nowhere and was right in her face.

“And where do you think you’re going”, the newcomer said in a brash tone, “Can’t you read or are you just stupid?”

“Excuse me?”

“It clearly say ‘don’t disturb’ so you better make like a tree and leave.”

Twilight was about to tell the brash interloper the law, and why that allowed her to ignore somebody’s badly written sign in pursuit of it (she actually had some really good graph papers just for this kind of situations), when Zenith spook up: “Rainbow Dash, I presume?”

Her mentor’s comment made Twilight mentally take a step back and actually take in the pony, pegasus to be specific, and realize that she perfectly fitted the description of the just mentioned Rainbow Dash, one of their interview subjects.

“Yea, what about it”, answered the pegasus’ Zenith’s question about her identity.

“Polis, Zodiac Yard”, answered Twiligth, “I’m inspector Twilight Sparkle, this is inspector Zenith, we have some questions for you.”

“I’ve already said I’m sorry for the noodle incident. And it was not even my fault that…”

“Madam Rainbow Dash, we’re not here about that”, Twilight made a note in her note-pad, there had been no mention about a ‘noodle incident’ in the papers about Rainbow Dash they had been given, “What we want to know is about the Day Spa’s destruction.”

Rainbow Dash’s face went through a couple of different expression before steeling on what Twilight guessed was the pegasus attempt to a neutral expression.

“Why do you think I know anything about that?”

“You were the first responder, madam Rainbow Dash”, Twilight mentally kicked herself, that was a leading answer, she should have made a more open statement and seen how Rainbow Dash reacted instead of telling her what they know.

“Oh yea, I was. Not surprisingly really since I’m that Awesooome!”, that sentence put the pegasus on Twilight’s mental list of people that most likely had no idea how to actually use ‘awesome’ in its proper way – it was an irritatingly long list, “And please, I’m no madam. Just call me Rainbow Dash.”

“Madam Rainbow Dash”, Twilight completely ignored her wishes, she was here to be professional not friendly, “since we have established that you was the first one who appeared at the Day Spa after it collapsed, can you describe, in your own words what you saw and did?”

“Weeeell, I was just minding my own business, training for the next outtake of the Wonderbolts when I suddenly heard this big noise and saw the Spa shaking and crashing down. It was kind of cool you know, if you ignore that there was people inside I mean. I’d talked to Fluttershy earlier and know that she was inside with Rarity and having not seen anybody escaping the building as it was coming down I immediately flow to it and begun to dig. I found Aloe and Lotus Blossom first, since they’re only knocked out I let them lay and continued to dig until I found Fluttershy and Rarity, who was clinging to each other so grabbed them both and flow away. And all that before anybody else even had arrived, am I fast or what”, Dash flexed her wings with a cocky grin.

Twilight ignored the rhetorical question, “Any reason to why you did not fly madam Fluttershy or Rarity to the hospital?”
This question seemed to surprise Rainbow Dash, since she took her time answering, “I panicked”, or maybe she was just ashamed, “Fluttershy is an old pal and I’m a bit protective of her. And she’s rather week nerved so I reacted with taking her home, Rarity just come with. Now when you say it maybe I should’ve taken them to the hospital but thankfully so was they not that hurt. Even if Flutershy’s nerves still haven’t recovered.”

“I see”, said Twilight, “Now, there have been talks in the township about witchcraft and that’s the main reason we’re here: to find out the truth and act upon it. Whichever that means: apprehending a witch, clearing an innocent from accusation or something else. With that said I have to ask you if you know of anybody that would dislike the Day Spa or any of the ponies in it so much that they were willing to destroy a building and commit mareslaughter, if not outright murder to get to their target?”

“Eheeeee”,answered Rainbow Dash intellectually, before closing her mounth and then opening it again as to say something before looking to the side and closing it, and then opening again to finally say, “I’ve no idea at all.”

“Is that all you have to say”, asked Twilight while she wrote down: RD knows something - bad liar.

“Yes, yes that’s all. Since I don’t know nothing I mean. If I know something I’d tell you after all. But I don’t know nothing, so there’s nothing for me to tell you.”

The junior inspector decided not to point out the Pegasus use of a double negative, nor push her suspicions, her instructors had told her that’s it better to wait and allow suspects to think you’re not suspecting while you gather more evidence to confront them. Instead she said: “If you say so. Then I would say that’s all, for now. Now, if you could move so we can talk to madam Fluttershy about the incident.”

“WHAT! NO!”

Comments

[Hat Kid]

The description says Twilight Sparcle, I think that should be Twilight Sparkle

[Gamiel]

10614242
Thanks, fixed