"You called, Celestia?" Twilight asked as she entered the throne room, followed by the rest of the Mane Six.
"Yes. I have something I'd like for you to investigate."
"What is it?"
"I have been receiving multiple reports of a strange rat figure roaming around kidnapping ponies. And nopony can seem to figure out where they went. But at the crime scenes, guards kept mentioning a disgusting odor that was left behind from the rat." Celestia explained.
"Oh good grief, rats?!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Oh get over it." Rainbow sighed.
"Enough." Twilight snapped.
"Thank you Twilight. Continuing on, I'd like you six to investigate. We've recently come across another crime scene. We've already dispatched guards to the location, but they're waiting for you six."
"We'll get right to it." Twilight said.
"Thank you, and I wish you the best of luck."
The mares bowed before turning to leave the room. But the Celestia spoke up again.
"Oh and by the way," the mares stopped, "reports also said that this rat is armed and dangerous, be on you constant guard."
The six nodded and left.
They arrived outside of the crime scene, looking inside from the outside. They moved through the crowd and underneath the border tape. Before getting within ten feet of the house, a terrible odor filled their nostrils, causing them to gag.
"Ugh, what is that- ACK!!" Rainbow choked.
"Oh... I have no idea, but its- hurgh!" Applejack wheezed.
A guard trotted over to them with masks.
"Here, you might want these." He said.
They each swiped a mask before putting them on and taking a deep breath. They look at the house in shock as the smell still stung their eyes. The guard took note of this and hooved them goggles as well. They entered the house and fright gripped their hearts at the scene. The house was totaled, blood and a strange green liquid were splattered across the walls and on the floor, windows were broken and the rest of the scene was gruesome.
It took a while for them to discover a few drops of green ooze leading to the window. Twilight stuck her head out the window and saw a trail of the ooze leading through the yard, over the fence, and through the village.
"Girls!" She shouted.
After a few minutes of following the trail of ooze, it finally led them to the last place they thought it would; the sewers.
"I'm, not going down there." Rarity cringed.
The six stared at the sewage pipe with a large amount of hesitation within themselves. The darkness of the pipe along with the ooze of the so-called "rat" that's been behind all of the ponies disappearing. With a sigh, Twilight walked towards the sewage pipe and looked towards the mares.
"Celestia gave us a job, and it's our duty to finish it. Now come on!" She demanded.
The rest of the mares sighed and followed her into the sewage pipe. Twilight summoned a light that led them through. The smell was unbearable for them. Rarity put a hoof over her mouth to hold in her vomit. Every sound, every drip, every skittering rat made them jump. Well, every normal skittering rat. They still have yet to find the one that's kidnapping all the ponies.
They wandered around the sewers for a full hour before they heard a noise. It sounded like... humming. The humming got louder as they got closer. Then there was a light which illuminated the floor to reveal a mixture of sewage and the green ooze that lead them here. They jumped out of their skin when the humming turned into cackling. Twilight poked her head around the corner to find what they were looking for.
A giant rat, standing on its hind legs, hunched over, wearing a green waistcoat and a crossbow on its back, along with two casks filled with the green ooze. And to his right was his recent victim, and to his left was a pile of them. The rat crawled near his victim's face and yelled,
"NOBODY TAKES TWITCH'S JUICE!" Then stood up and walked away.
His lair was filled with lab equipment, a small pipe dispensing his favorite ooze, pitchers, casks, and test tubes lining the shelves and tables. The only thing Twilight heard was incoherent mumbling and agreements with himself. Twitch, as he called himself, nonchalantly filled one of his casks and added a little drop of something she couldn't see, then sprinkled a little sulfur inside. Twilight jumped as an small explosion poofed a cloud in the shape of a cartoonish rat.
"Ah, sweet nectar of life... known as venom." He snickered.
His voice sounded just like a rat's would. That is if rats could talk.
"Twilight!" Applejack whispered. "Get back over here!"
Twilight nodded and backed away slowly, but slipped on some ooze. The sewer fell into silence as fear flowed through the mares. Suddenly, rapid skittering came in their direction and Twitch's head poked around the corner and look at Twilight, he turned his head to get a better look.
"Ahhh, another guest. Saves me the hard work! BAAHAHAHAHA!"
Twilight stared up at the towering rat. She'd never seen such a creature like him. He held his paw out and Twilight reluctantly put her hoof in it. Surprisingly, Twitch actually helped her up, then simply walked away, waving Twilight inside.
"I-is it okay if I bring my friends?" Twilight shuddered.
"Oh! You've brought guests! Of course, come come." He waved again.
The Six were terrified as they sat in Twitch's lair. He reached into his small fridge underneath the workbench and pulled out a large carton of juice. He opened it, smelled it, sighed, then took a large swig before sitting down in front of the mares. Twitch simply stared as he scratched his ear.
"So, what brought you to my humble home?" He asked.
"W-well, we were ordered to." Twilight said.
"What for?"
"Uhhhm." Twilight glanced over at the pile of skeletons and corpses.
"Oh, I didn't do that for nothing. They thought it was okay to steal from me and discriminate me for my stench!" He yelled.
"But, that doesn't make it alright." Twilight sighed.
"What do you have that anypony would want to steal from you?" Rainbow asked.
"My juice, of course!" Twitch shouted. "Its simply unbearable, wanna sip?" He held out the carton.
"Uhh, only if you have a cup." Pinkie said.
"Oh, hmm..." Twitch looked at his shelf and pulled an empty cask off and filled it up with juice.
Pinkie eyed the juice slightly. It looked normal enough. She took a sip then hummed.
"Wow! This is actually better than it seems!" She shouted.
"Its nothing special, only applejuice." Twitch said.
"Wait, where'd you get the apples from?" Applejack asked.
"Oh from this huge apple orchard that I found at night." Twitch replied.
"I knew it! I knew my apples were missing!" AJ shouted.
"I was thirsty, and I hate water. Plus this sewage is unsanitary!" Twitch gagged.
The six stared at Twitch, baffled at his comment of the sewage being unsanitary.
"Um, Twitch." Twilight said.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Would it be alright for you to come with us?" She asked.
"Ooooh, where are we going?"
