Unmarked

Out of the smell of death, Coltstein looked at Applejack with her head hung limp. He was confused on the situation, looking at the chunks of rotten flesh within the chest. There were close to twenty separate chunks, meaning that was ten victims, seeing there were two cutie marks to one pony. The chunks did him no good, seeing he already knew how they got there and why they were there, so he turned his attention to Applejack.

"Care to explain?" he said.

Applejack exhaled a long breath, lifting her head and staring at the doctor with streams of tears running down her face.

"It all happened two weeks ago," she confessed. "I was settlin' into bed, when I caught sight of Apple Bloom walkin' toward the clubhouse. I shouted out to her, but she didn't answer me, so I decided to go after her. I made my way to her pretty quick, but I immediately noticed somethin' strange about her, just by the way she was walkin'. I followed her to the clubhouse, and remained hidden in a bush, while she did whatever she was doin' in that clubhouse."

"Out of the silence of the night, I heard a deathly scream from high in the clubhouse. I wondered if I should've made a move, but was too afraid to, so I just remained hidden, thinkin' it might've just been her and her friends playin' some game. I figured it was nothin' and walked back to the farm. I settled myself back into bed, and went to sleep, only to be re-awoken by Apple Bloom. Immediately, I knew this wasn't Apple Bloom, due to her eye sockets being black with blood-red pupils."

"I immediately questioned her, but was silenced by the sound of Apple Bloom's voice. It was dark and grim soundin', as if somethin' evil had gotten into my sister. The demonic version of my sister told me that if I ever told anypony about what I had heard and saw that night, it would kill Apple Bloom. I was too afraid to do anythin', so I just nodded my head. Lastly, the demon commanded me to store the cutie marks in that chest, and if I ever showed it to anypony, it would kill Apple Bloom, along with the rest of my family."

Coltstein was shocked, and knew that Applejack wasn't lying, due to her emotions being real, and the sound of her voice being shaky. She was in fear, scared to death. It was clear Applejack was only an innocent pawn in this demon's game.

"Please understand, detective! I had no choice, and I did this to protect my family!" she pleaded.

"I believe you, Applejack," he assured. "Calm down, you are not in trouble. You only did what you did for your family's sake, so I'm going to let you off, but I will have to come back for the chest, seeing it contains content related to this case."

Applejack gave Coltstein a hug, surprising the doctor, but he hugged her back, knowing she was troubled and scared to death.

"Don't worry, Applejack. I promise that I'm going to bring your sister home, no matter what it takes," he assured, letting Applejack go.

"Thank ya', detective," she said, sadness within her voice. "I just want my sister home!"

"With this evidence, Applejack, your sister is one step closer to coming home," he said.

Applejack smiled, wiping tears from her eyes, as she led the doctor down the stairs, and out of the house.

With Applejack's case debunked, Coltstein focused on his next objective. He grabbed his cell phone, and dialled Nurse Daisy's desk number. The line rang twice, before Daisy finally answered.

"Canterlot Mental Facility," she said.

"Daisy, this is Coltstein," he confirmed.

"Oh, hi. How goes the case?" she asked.

"It's coming together slowly. How is Apple Bloom?"

"She's fine. She's been sleeping most of the time."

"That's good to know, but I still want you to keep a close eye on her, because I've got a long trip to make."

"What are you talking about, doctor?"

"I believe I've found an expert that can give me information on Apple Bloom's demon, but they live in a very secluded area."

"I see. The police have Zecora in custody, and are on their way back to Canterlot. It's going to be about four hours."

"Perfect. This trip will be awhile, so just please keep an eye on Apple Bloom, and I'll be back soon."

"Ok. Just be careful."

"I will."

Coltstein ended the call, and placed the phone back into his pocket, as he worked his way back to Ponyville, so he could catch another pony cab. Once he was back in Ponyville, he stood on a street corner, holding out a hoof for a cab. During his wait, he noticed a small filly across the street with a bandaged flank. The filly was pink, with a purple mane and a single white stripe throughout. She also wore a tiara above her head that had five points. He lowered his hoof, and slowly worked his way over to the filly, approaching cautiously.

She didn't run, nor could she, so she just stood still, as the doctor approached.

"What do you want?!" she said with a smirk.

"May I ask your name, little girl?" he asked.

The filly gave him an annoyed look.

"It's Diamond Tiara! What do you want?!" she replied annoyingly.

Coltstein immediately recognized the name, due to what Apple Bloom had told him in their second therapy session.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions," he stated.

"UGH! That's all anypony has wanted, ever since I lost my cutie mark!" she snapped.

Coltstein was getting slightly annoyed, but he had dealt with worse before, so he continued to talk to Diamond Tiara on a calm level.

"Listen, I know you are upset, but seeing you are a victim of this case, I need you to be fully honest," he commanded.

"What gives you the right!?" she exclaimed.

"I'm the lead detective in the case you are involved in, therefore I have all rights to ask you anything related to the case," he stated.

Diamond Tiara gave Coltstein an annoyed look once more.

"Fine, just make it quick!" she exclaimed.

"Very well. Do you remember anything strange about Apple Bloom before this happened to you, such as her behavior?" he asked.

Diamond Tiara paused, thinking hard about the question.

"Not really. All I remember is both her and her friends started acting a bit differently after they came back from some trip," she confessed.

"A trip?" he said, unsure.

"It was some camping trip or something, but I'm not sure where they went, seeing they didn't talk to me much. They only avoided me," she said, her attitude starting to change.

Coltstein was unsure of how to respond to that. Apparently, Apple Bloom wasn't telling him something, something important. He thought back to the therapy sessions, and if there was anything that could give him a good clue on what kind of "strange behavior" Diamond Tiara might have been referring to. He thought hard, until he finally came to something that Apple Bloom had not described to him; the graph that her and her friends had been working on, that was torn apart by Diamond Tiara herself, along with her friend.

"Next question. Can you describe to me what sort of content was on the graph that both you and your friend tore to pieces? You had the best view, so you must've seen something," he spoke boldly.

"What are you talking about?! I never tore up their silly graph!" she said angrily.

Coltstein immediately was shocked. Had Apple Bloom lied to him, and the story she told him was just to throw him off?

"Apple Bloom told me that you tore up a graph they had been working on for weeks," he said.

"I never did such a thing! I might've been cruel to her, but I'd never be that cruel!" she claimed.

Coltstein didn't sense any bit of dishonesty in Diamond Tiara's voice, so it was clear that she wasn't lying. Why would Apple Bloom lie to him about this? Could it have been that she might've hallucinated the entire thing? The doctor thought back to the timing when Apple Bloom said she had started taking the medicine, which was one week before her first unmarking. The timing was perfect, so Diamond Tiara was telling the truth, and Apple Bloom had hallucinated the entire story of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ripping up the graph, due to her being unaware of the situation, because she was drugged.

"Thank you, Diamond Tiara," he said. "I believe you've just opened up this case more. I'll leave you alone now."

Just as he turned to cross the street again, Diamond Tiara yelled at him.

"Hey, if you could, please tell Apple Bloom that I'm sorry for everything," she said, expressing a sad look.

Coltstein nodded his head, crossing the street.