Unmarked

After his coffee break, Coltstein decided to go to a source that he had never gone to before; Canterlot Library. He had nowhere else to go, and had zero knowledge of the paranormal, so what better place than a library to find the answers he needed. The only thing he knew about the paranormal, is that it was the study of ghosts and demons, and was not a subject to mess around with. He needed to know just how powerful a demon could be, and what they were capable of.

The trip took a matter of fifteen minutes, so he paid the pony twenty bits, and proceeded into the large library, noticing nopony around. He had no idea where to start looking for anything related to the paranormal, so he decided to ask the librarian for help.

"Looking for something?" asked the librarian.

"Yes. I need books based around the paranormal," he confessed.

The librarian gave him a strange look, wondering why he was interested in such an unusual subject.

"You'll find that kind of content in the restricted area," she said. "We usually don't allow ponies back there, but seeing you are a detective, I can see it's for a good cause."

He stood confused, seeing he hadn't even shown her a badge, nor presented himself as a detective.

"How did you know I was a detective?" he asked.

She gave him a sarcastic smile.

"It wasn't hard to figure out," she replied. "Here's the key to the restricted area."

The librarian held out a key in the shape of a skeleton key. It was rusted, as if it had never been used, immediately intriguing the doctor.

"Thank you," he said, grabbing the key. "I won't be long."

"Take your time," replied the librarian, returning to her work.

Coltstein smiled, then worked his way toward the back of the library, where he found a locked door. It was labelled "Restricted" in bold letters on the wooden sign above the door. He started to feel as if somepony were watching him, as he placed the key into the keyhole, and turned the key. Coltstein pushed open the door, into a pitch-black room, where he flicked on a lightswitch, brightening up the room.

The room was frankly small, with four separate collumns, each composed with a large number of books. The titles along the spines of the books were in a different language, so he couldn't depict any of the book titles, as he worked his way down the first collumn, looking for any specific books he could read. As he skimmed over the books, he felt a strange presence in the room, and it only grew as he felt a cold chill throughout the room. The chill was cold enough to make him shiver, as he looked up, noticing the light flickering. He knew he wasn't alone.

To protect himself, he grabbed his handgun from his belt, rounding the corner, immediately coming to the back of the room. He breathed heavily, watching his surroundings with caution. He walked slowly down the back of the room, looking down each collumn, ready to defend himself, if necessary. Nothing was there, but he knew that something else was in the room with him, he just didn't know what. As he approached the end collumn, he caught a shadow in motion, and out of his fear, shot at it.

The bullet only indented the wall, as he trotted after the shadow, only to come to see nothing except an ancient looking book on the ground. The book's title was in some other language, and was plated in stone, unlike the other books, all plated in leather. The book intrigued the doctor, as he reached down to pick it up, only to be startled by his phone ringing. He put his handgun back in it's satchel, then struggled to answer the phone, due to his hooves shaking uncontrollably.

"Coltstein," he said, answering the phone.

The pony on the other line, was Cadwell.

"We managed to debunk the recording, and we caught something, but it's in some other language," assured Cadwell.

Coltstein felt a chill run down his spine, as he stared at the ancient book he had come across.

"Were you able to depict the language?" asked Coltstein.

"Yeah. It's Latin," confirmed Cadwell.

The doctor started to feel uneasy, as he continued to speak to Cadwell.

"Did you translate the audio?"

Cadwell paused for a second, due to the answer being all but disturbing.

"We did, and you were right. It's something very disturbing."

"Tell me, Cadwell. We have a filly's life on the line here."

"Alright. It was translated to this. Tell him. You die. Tell him. I take your soul.

The message made Coltstein feel sick, because his suspicions were true, and now, he knew that the case had taken a much more grim turn.

"You okay, Coltstein?" questioned Cadwell.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," he lied. "I'm going to send you a picture, and I need you to tell me if this is Latin."

"Uh, sure?" replied Cadwell.

Coltstein lowered the phone from his ear, navigating to the camera on his phone. Once he had the camera ready, he carefully took a picture of the book he had come across. Once the picture was taken, he sent it to Cadwell's phone.

"Did you get it?" asked Coltstein.

"Yeah, and where the heck are you?" replied Cadwell.

"Nevermind that," he commanded. "Is the book's title Latin? I also need to know what it's titled, if it's in Latin, Cadwell."

"Give me a sec," said Cadwell, as he looked up information on the book.

Coltstein felt an eerie feeling come over him, as he waited for Cadwell's answer. It didn't take long.

"Holy Celestia!" exclaimed Cadwell. "Where did you find this?!"

"Is it Latin?" asked Coltstein.

"Yeah, it is. This book is ancient, like from the days before Celestia and Luna," confirmed Cadwell.

"What's it titled?"

"Little Souls. It's a book that was written during the grim days of Equestria. It's purpose was to rid demonic entities from fillies that were forced or persuaded to do evil deeds. It's supposedly cursed, and if anypony is to ever come across it, they are destined to die from their own doing."

Coltstein didn't know what to think, but it seemed as if he had found the perfect key to freeing Apple Bloom of whatever had come over her.

"Where did you find that book, Coltstein?!" asked Cadwell in a concerned tone.

"In the Canterlot Library, it was in the restricted area of the library," he confirmed.

"Coltstein, the restricted section was removed years ago," said Cadwell. His tone had lowered.

"How can that be?" he questioned.

Cadwell's tone had become serious.

"Get out of there!" commanded Cadwell. "Leave that book and get out of there, Coltstein! GO! NOW!"

The phone line cut off, as Coltstein quickly stuck his phone back in his pocket, and rushed toward the exit, only to be shocked that the door was gone. He was trapped.

"What the?!" he exclaimed, wondering if he was just stuck in a bad dream.

Through the errie silence of the room, he suddenly heard a voice that made him quiver. He turned around, only to be shocked at the sight of a large mass of black with a pair of blood-red eyes. The entity was at least twelve feet long, taking the form of a serpent, and staring into Coltstein's soul.

"GET OUT!" spoke the dark entity.

The strength of the entity's voice was strong enough to knock him to the ground, as he slithered up against the wall, the demon following his every move. Coltstein's fear was surprisingly mild, as he stared at the demon with all his confidence in his voice.

"Now, you listen to me, you monster! I promised that filly I'd save her, and that's exactly what I plan to do! If you think your threats are going to prevent me from saving an innocent soul from assured death, you apparently don't know how strong I can be in the face of wicked beasts!"

The demon didn't express any emotion, due to its face only being two red eye sockets, therefore, Coltstein couldn't tell if he was intimidating the creature any bit.

"You think you can save her?!" taunted the demon. "You couldn't save the last one, and her blood will forever be on your hooves. All you're doing is wasting your breath. Be warned, this is a battle you can't win, scum! You'd best give up, before I use my full potential on the filly!"

Coltstein watched as the demon faded into thin air, and he struggled to catch his breath. The exit had reformed in its place, so he stood back up on his hooves, grabbed the book he had discovered, and made his way out of the room, not stopping for anypony. Once he was outside the library, he immediately threw up on the sidewalk. He was immediately accompanied by other ponies, due to his condition not being the best. He looked as if he hadn't slept for weeks, and was as pale as a ghost.

"Sir, are you alright?" asked one of the ponies.

"I'm fine," he lied. "I just needed some fresh air."

The ponies could tell he was lying through his teeth, but they had nowhere to take the doctor, so they just sat him down on a bench.

"You need to relax, sir," spoke the other pony.

Coltstein gave them both a serious look.

"No. I can't rest when there's an innocent life in danger," he assured.

The ponies expressed confused looks, unaware what the doctor meant.

"Who's in danger?" asked one of the ponies.

"None of your concern, ma'am. I appreciate you helping me, but I need to get back on the case I'm in charge of."

The ponies could tell he was serious, so they did as the doctor said, and left him to be on the bench. Once the ponies were out of sight, Coltstein grabbed his cell phone, and called Nurse Daisy's office. The line rang ten times before Daisy finally answered.

"Canterlot Mental Institute," she spoke.

"Ms. Daisy, it's Coltstein," replied the doctor.

"Oh, how goes the investigation?" she asked.

"Not important. Listen, I need you to get Apple Bloom into my office ASAP," he commanded.

"Why? What's going on?"

Coltstein paused before answering.

"I fear that Apple Bloom's life is in danger," he assured. "Both mine and her's."

Nurse Daisy didn't hesitate, knowing that the doctor wasn't kidding.

"I'll get her in, just be careful coming back," she said, hanging up.

Coltstein placed his phone back in his pocket, as he breathed in fresh air.

"I now know for sure that you're innocent, Apple Bloom. You didn't kill your friends. Something made you kill them," he said, as he put his hoof up to catch a pony cab. "The question is, what made you kill them?"