Unmarked

After his session with Apple Bloom was complete, Coltstein turned his attention to his newfound information about what was possessing both him and his patient. All he knew was the name; Annie. The name seemed innocent, but he knew very well never to judge a book by its cover, due to his past experiences with cold-blooded killers he had exposed in his past. Ponies he would not have expected to be the killing type, same with this demon's name. Though the name spoke innocence, it was only a mask to fool him, to blind him from the true evil that lived within this creature.

Coltstein had no idea where to even start looking for anything on the demon, but he knew who to ask once he had a chance to talk to them; his new suspect, Zecora. The doctor wasn't going to play the blame game, until he knew for sure if Zecora was the cause of the manifestation of this demon. She was a witch doctor, and could've very well given Apple Bloom some sort of medicine with properties that caused her to do something she didn't know she did, by drugging the filly.

Once again, the doctor's mind spiked, as he thought more about this supposed "medicine" that was given to Apple Bloom. What exactly was in this concoction, and was there any left? To answer these questions, he'd have to pay a visit to the Apple family, and hopefully find just enough of the concoction to run a test on. He knew many things that could easily drug a filly as young as Apple Bloom, but this was a witch doctor that he was dealing with. There was no telling what could be hidden within the liquid. He knew that searching the Apple residence wouldn't be hard to do, seeing Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith only wanted answers. Zecora however, might be more of a challenge.

He needed a warrant to search Zecora's home, but to get it, he would need solid proof that Zecora could've possibly been the cause of Apple Bloom's actions and the possession. The medicine that was given to Apple Bloom was his best shot at getting that warrant.

"Please, Apple Bloom. Let there be some of it left," he said in a low voice, as he proceeded to his next move.

The doctor stepped out of the pony cab, staring at the location known as, Sweet Apple Acres. He payed the pony twenty bits for the long trip, then listened as the cab pony trotted out of sight, back to Ponyville. The total trip had been over three hours, due to the train ride as well, but Coltstein was used to travelling from Canterlot to Ponyville frequently, due to many cases being in Ponyville's most unlikely areas. Most of those cases were mild, usually drug overdoses, foreign ponies that died of sickness, or suicide cases. Though they might have been mild, they were forever burned in his mind.

He slowly walked down the long dirt road of Sweet Apple Acre's entrance, until he finally came to the farmhouse door. Two knocks was all it took before the elderly Granny Smith answered the door. It didn't take long for her to recognize him, due to him speaking to her the night that Apple Bloom was found soaked in her friends' blood. She looked at him desperately, even becoming emotional, and he couldn't blame her. Here he was, standing before her with no answers to what she wanted to know.

"Hello, I'm Detective Coltstein," he spoke. "I'm the one running your granddaughter's case."

Granny Smith gave the detective a desperate expression.

"Have ya' found out anything?!" she replied, desperation in her voice.

Coltstein knew that he couldn't say anything, due to everything he had discovered about the case being classified information, yet Granny Smith was desperate for answers.

"I-I'm afraid I can't say, ma'am," he clarified.

"I know y'all can't, but please! I beg of ya'! Is my Apple Bloom alright?!" she pleaded.

How could he answer this question? Apple Bloom was far from alright; she was possessed by a demon, and was in danger of possibly losing her life, unless he found a solution.

"All I can say is that she is in good hooves with me," he assured. "Trust me, ma'am. I will get Apple Bloom out of that facility, but first, I need to find a solid alibi that she's innocent."

"But, she is innocent! My Apple Bloom would never do somethin' like this! Just look at her!"

Coltstein recognized the behavior of Granny Smith, due to having to deal with it multiple times in his career. He knew Apple Bloom was innocent, but a demonic possession wasn't a solid enough alibi to persuade Canterlot Police and the Royal Guard that she didn't kill her friends. He needed solid proof that the demon made Apple Bloom kill her friends, and he believed that Zecora and this medicine that was provided by her were his keys to finding the alibi he needed.

Out of Granny Smith's desperation, Applejack stepped into the picture, calming down Granny Smith.

"Why don't ya' go lay down, granny? I'll handle this," spoke Applejack.

Granny Smith agreed, and made her way into the living room, as Applejack turned to face the doctor.

"How can I help ya'?" she asked.

"Oh, excuse me. I'm Detective Coltstein. I'm the one representing your sister's case," he replied, showing his badge.

"I see. What are ya' doin' here?" she asked.

"I can't say much, Applejack, but your sister recently provided me with some information that involves something I need within your home," he stated.

Applejack looked at him strange.

"What is it? I'm sure I can get it for ya'," she said.

Coltstein recognized Applejack's behavior as something suspicious. He immediately wondered if she could be hiding something, but why would she hide critical information that could save her own sister? He decided to approach the situation with caution.

"It's something that only I would recognize, and I doubt you could find it, Applejack," he stated. "May I please come in?"

Applejack hesitated, remaining within the doorway.

"Do ya' mind if I remove some stuff from my bedroom, detective? It's some private stuff," she asked.

Bingo. Applejack was hiding something.

"Sorry, miss, but I'm going to need to see this "private stuff", seeing it could be connected to your sister's case," he said.

Applejack gave an unsteady look, moving out of the doorway, and opening the screen door.

"Thank you. Now, could you please lead me to your sister's bedroom," he asked.

"Sure, right this way," said Applejack, leading the doctor up the staircase, to the right hallway. In the hallway there was two doors on the right side of the hall, and one lone door on the left side. Apple Bloom's was the room farthest down the hall.

Coltstein entered the bedroom where it remained the same from the day that Apple Bloom was finally caught. The bed was unmade, with the sheets folded over, the curtains above the bedroom window were pulled open, and a large amount of bows, just like the one Apple Bloom wore atop her head were scattered along the floor of the open wardrobe. Coltstein immediately knew that something strange was amidst in the room, and he needed to look around for clues.

He closed his eyes, envisioning Apple Bloom rising from her bed that morning and getting ready for the day. She rose from the bed, opened the curtains, and needed a new bow, so she walked over to the wardrobe, grabbed one and exited the room. His mind spiked immediately, because why would Apple Bloom not have a bow on? It was her thing, so why wouldn't she have been wearing one? The reason was simple; Apple Bloom didn't know that she wasn't wearing one when she had departed to sleep the night before, because she was drugged.

He expressed a smile, moving further into the bedroom, mainly toward the wardrobe. He examined every single bow for anything strange, but found nothing. Due to nothing being on the other bows, he knew that it was clear that she was looking for a particular bow, but why? It was pretty clear to him once he reached the bottom of the pile, spotting a large butcher knife coated with dry blood stains. It was sitting horizontally with the tip of the knife facing the bed.

The way he was piecing this scenario together in his mind didn't make sense, due to the timing being incorrect. He thought more carefully about the possibilities.

Ok, so I've got a filly rising out of bed, without her bow, and she was looking for a certain bow, due to the clutter. The knife was underneath the bows, meaning...

It was clear to him now that the knife had been dropped in place the night before, due to the knife's placement.

She had performed an unmarking the night before, and at the time, she was drugged, due to the missing bow, because she had lost it inbetween her time in the clubhouse, and her walk back to her room. The following morning she's not drugged anymore, and is looking for a certain bow. Why?

He thought of the situation more closely, then remembered that Apple Bloom and her friends had been doing these unmarkings for over three weeks, and that sometimes, demons can come back to haunt you after so long. That's when he figured out why she was searching for the bow she had on the night before. It was all clear to him.

The night before, she had performed an unmarking, drugged, and some time inbetween her time in the clubhouse and the trip back to her room, her bow had fallen off her head. Once she gets back to her room, she drops the knife, and goes to bed. Next morning, the effects of the medicine ware off, and she wakes to see the bloodstained knife on the floor. After that, she notices that her bow is missing after looking in the mirror on her wardrobe door, and immediately she falls into panic mode. She searches frantically for the bow, and doesn't find it, so she retraces her steps, finds it somewhere not too far from the clubhouse, and sees the horror she was unaware of, due to the bloodstains on her bow.

But, what happened the night of the murders?

The case was slowly piecing together. He knew for a fact that this medicine had some sort of content in it, designed to drug the filly. Though this was only his thoughts, he knew that he was close, and that Apple Bloom was drugged during the unmarkings. Zecora was next on his list to interrogate, but his thoughts on the "private stuff" Applejack had spoken of still stuck in his mind.

He looked around for the medicine, and unfortunately, didn't find anything. Just as he was about to give up, he noticed something strange about the bed's mattress. There was a small lump inbetween the bed springs and the mattress itself. He hoped this was what he had been searching for, as he lifted the mattress. Inbetween the mattress and bed springs, was a medium sized canister.

"Bingo," he said, grabbing the canister.

He gave the canister a small shake, hearing some content within the bottle.

"What is that?" asked Applejack.

"The key to saving your sister," he replied.

"I hope it helps, now are y'all done?" she said in a frequent tone.

Coltstein now knew that Applejack was hiding something, due to her behavior.

"Not quite. I'd still like to see this "private stuff" you told me about," he commanded.

Applejack froze, then quickly dashed out of the room, into the other room. Coltstein immediately dashed after Applejack, pulling his handgun from it's case on his belt. Luckily for him, Applejack didn't run far, and sat in her room, guarding some sort of chest.

"Applejack, what's in the chest?" he asked, holding out his handgun.

"PLEASE! SHE MADE ME PROMISE NOT TO EVER SHOW OTHERS!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Who did?!" he commanded.

Applejack fell to tears, guarding the chest.

"She said, if I ever tell you, she'd kill Apple Bloom," she spoke, sobbing.

Coltstein lowered his handgun, knowing who Applejack was speaking of. It was Annie.

"Applejack, I can assure you Apple Bloom is safe from who you speak, just show me what's in the chest," he spoke calmly.

"She'll kill her if I show you!" snapped Applejack.

"No she won't, now for the love of your own sister! Show me what is in the chest!" he commanded, stomping his hoof on the wooden floor.

Applejack moved aside, opening the chest, only for Coltstein to be struck by a smell he was too familiar with. The smell of death lingered from the chest, coming from slabs of flesh within the chest; It was the cutie marks of the victims that the CMC had unmarked.

Coltstein had no idea what to think of the situation, because once again, the case had taken another twisted turn. Now, his patient's own sister was a suspect in his most bizarre case ever.

What the hell is going on in this case?!