The Framing of Marble Pie (DISCONTINUED)

Twilight could barely keep her eyes open. It had been 3 hours, with no activity. Just a sleeping Fluttershy. A few moments of thinking made Twilight want to leave. She had prepared to get up, before hearing a sound. It sounded like a loud tapping, then a smash. Twilight heard Fluttershy gasp, clearly alerted by the ruckus. Twilight looked to the door. It looked fine, but was cruelly pushed open. There, stood a pony, with a shiny, curved object in her mouth. It slightly reflected the waxing moon, before being spit out of the pony's mouth, with a small clink on the floor. Twilight watched the pony. In the darkness, she could make out that the pony's pelt was a brownish color, and she had some sort of metal headgear on her head, which covered all of her face, mane, and neck, except her glowing, amber, eyes. Her red and magenta tail was cut short, and she also had a scabbard strapped on her left flank. The end of it had a handle coming out. Twilight automatically knew who this intruder was.

Sword Stance!

Sword Stance looked around, an angered fire in her eyes. She spotted the bedroom in which Fluttershy sat, most likely cowering in fear, and walked close to it. Twilight looked back into Fluttershy's bedroom, surprised to see the pegasus had vanished. Twilight was confused. She hadn't seen Fluttershy come out. The brown swordsmare advanced on the door. She quickly walked in, ready to attack. Suddenly, as she entered, Twilight heard a loud bang, as a black object hit Sword's headgear. The intruder let out an amused cackle, and jumped from where the object came from. Twilight heard a terrified shriek, from Fluttershy.

Twilight, still invisible, ran up to the door to see what happened. She saw Sword Stance on top of Fluttershy, holding her, now unsheathed, sword to Fluttershy's neck. Fluttershy was clutching something in her hoof. It looked to be a frying pan.

"Silly little filly," Sword hissed, a bit annoyed. "My headgear had better not be dented because of your petty attempt at saving yourself. It's not meant for your poor excuse of a weapon." As the pony spoke, Twilight could see small droplets of spit come out with her words.

Fluttershy looked surprisingly smug. Suddenly, Twilight remembered.

The Safety Device!

Twilight was relieved. Although, the guards should've been there by now. Well, it didn't matter. Twilight had to help Fluttershy. Now.

A magenta beam erupted from Twilight's horn, hitting the murderer. Fluttershy ran out of the room, not knowing what had happened. Sword Stance pulled herself up, clearly angered by the assault.

"Come out, you piece of dung!" Sword challenged. "Did that wimpy pegasus hire you? Are you a royal guard? Whoever you are, I'll kill you! Just face me, like a true warrior."

Twilight was considering it, until she had thought it over. This wasn't a duel. This was stopping a murderer. She shot again, hitting Sword again.

"So, unicorn, you want to duel unfairly? Fine by me!" Sword Stance readied her sword and lunged to where Twilight stood, barely missing her, after the alicorn jumped away.

As Twilight panted, Sword Stance kept on striking towards her with the sword. The alicorn silently cursed her exhaustion which gave away her location. The brown pony turned to Twilight, as fast as lightning. Before Twilight could think of moving, Sword's hooves had tripped Twilight, causing her to flop onto her side. The murderer held Twilight's, still invisible, body down with a hoof. With the other, she held the sword close to Twilight's throat. Similar to the position in which the sword was when Sword was pinning her down.

"Reveal yourself, unicorn. I want to see your face before I decapitate you."

Twilight didn't want to give her face away to this psycho. She prepared to teleport, but Sword Stance's hoof covered her horn swiftly.

"Don't even try your teleportation spell, coward. Ya know, I'll jut kill you and look at your face when you're dead," the murderous pony hissed menacingly, bringing the sword closer and closer towards Twilight's fur.

Now the purple pony was flailing her hooves and body, attempting to free herself. Sword Stance's left hoof was the one supporting her. It was also the hoof that was holding Twilight down. Twilight struggled and struggled, trying to free herself from the strong grip in the, slightly armored, brown hoof.

For a moment, Sword Stance raised her hoof slightly. Twilight immediately attempted to get up, but was intercepted by Sword's hoof. The metal shoe that armored the bottom section of her hoof caused Twilight to fall back to the spot she was in. The room spun slightly, and Twilight felt a lot of pressure in the area. She felt like she was on the brink of passing out. The alicorn looked to Sword Stance, and saw the brown pony looking at her face. Twilight looked to her hooves. She could see them! The spell must have stopped, when Twilight got hit in the head.

"Ah, the princess of friendship. What a wonderful way to m-" Sword Stance had stopped. There were multiple voices and hoof steps coming from the living room. Sword Stance cursed under her breath, and quickly ran to a roll of tape. She laid her burning gaze on Twilight. The alicorn stared back, very frightened. She squirmed backward, still very confused from the hit. Quickly, Sword Stance ran to Twilight, covering her horn, mouth, wings, and hooves in the tape. The pony stared for a moment, then turned to the closet in Fluttershy's room. Sword Stance quickly pulled out a large filing cabinet. The pony slammed the bedroom door and blocked it with the cabinet. Immediately, Twilight heard pounding hoof steps coming towards the door. Harsh  knocking came from the other side, as well as a deep voice, demanding, "Royal guard. Come out immediately!"

"We will use brute force, if required," another voice said, in the same tone.

"Not if you wish to see your wittle Ponyvillle Princess in one piece, you won't," Sword Stance replied, adding a fake accent to her voice.

"Princess Twilight?" The guards asked, in unison, not expecting to find that Twilight was a hostage. "L-Let her go, immediately!"

Sword Stance turned to Fluttershy's bedside desk. She pulled out a piece of paper and a quill from a drawer. "I will, I will," she answered, clearly not paying much attention to anything but her paper and whatever she was writing.

The guards were silent now. Most likely thinking of ways to convince Sword to let Twilight go. Twilight started to squirm toward the door, hoping to somehow budge the cabinet. Sword Stance put the quill down and turned. The purple pony expected to see anger in her eyes, but was surprised to see two innocent, golden, eyes staring at her.

"So hopeful. It's truly unbelievable how you believe you could possibly escape." After that, her gaze turned cold. "It's too bad hope will get you nothing, but pain. The earth pony slowly walked toward Twilight, her movements swift, yet calm. Her gaze was still cool, but, like her movements, had a certain calmness to it. She stopped next to Twilight, whom looked up in fear. Sword picked her right hoof off the ground, as if she were preparing to step, but quickly slammed it down, aiming for Twilight's head.

Everything went black.