chapter 2: twilight.

On the other hand, Twilight was having a wonderful day. She was studying about the supposed afterlife that many reported seeing with books from the royal library. It was actually quite intresting. and then, Princess Luna burst into the room.

"PRINCESS TWILIGHT!" Luna shouted in her royal Canterlot voice. Twilight jumped up, startled out of her trance.

"What? What? Wheres the fire?" She jumped up and ran over to Luna, dropping her book on the floor. Luna laughed.

"Don't worry, there isn't a fire. But there is something that I need your advice on." Luna said, her mood quickly turning serious.

"This better not be about those timberwolves in the castle. Just tell the guards to wave torches-" Twilight was cut off.

"We got rid of the timberwolves. This is about something more serious." Luna said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"What?" Twilight said. Luna sighed.

"Today I went into everfree for a bit of a walk. In the everfree, I found a pony. Not anyone we know, but a...monster, I think you could say about it. It's covered in wounds, and has rams horns. And the worst thing is" Lunas voice dropped to a whisper "It has no cutie mark. It looks as if it is supposed to have one, but it has been removed from its flesh." Twilight gasped. Taking someones cutie mark was a serious crime. It was a evil thing, and there were only a few cases.

"Can you bring it in here?" Twilight asked cautiously. Luna nodded. She brought in the thing and Twilight got a firsthand look at the pony. The wounds seemed to come from several different things, not just one. She examined the horns and wings, hesitant to look at the cutie mark, or what was left of it. The blood red horns seemed natraul, but the wings were obviously not. They seemed to be sown on. This made Twilight shudder.

She went to look at the cutie mark and gasped quitley. It was horrifying. All cutie mark removals were, but this was especially brutal. She doubted this pony would ever be able to walk on this leg properly. Luna looked on, sadly.

"I came to ask if you have any information about this, and if you would allow it to be treated here." Luna said sadly.

"Of course!" Twilight said, astonished that Luna thought she needed to ask permission.

"I have a few books on this sort of thing that might help. And if i don't I can always ask for help from the royal library. Now, could you take her down to the hospital wing? ill be there shortly with info." Twilight said matter-of-factly. Luna nodded and headed out the door with the strange pony.

Twilight looked on her bookshelves for books about different equestrian species, cutie marks, and manuals on cutie mark care, and crimes involving cutie marks. This was a horrible thing. There were only five documented cases of complete cutie mark removal. And this would be the sixth. This was something horrible and psychotic. Twilight considered contacting Celestia about this, but realized that she already had too much on her plate, and Luna had probably already talked to her about this. Twilight took the books that looked promising, and floated them down to the hospital wing with her magic. Luna was waiting for her in front of one of the rooms. The pony was nowhere in sight.

"It's in there." Luna gestured to the door with one hoof, and opened it. Twilight followed Luna through it, and saw the pony.

"I forgot to mention that when I found her, it's wings were dislocated. I put them back in their sockets, but she wont be able to fly without pain for a few months." Luna said, a troubled look on her face.

"She wont do anything without pain for a couple of months." Twilight said quietly. They fell into the a silence as Twilight pressed her lips together and Luna furrowed her brow. A strange pony appearing in the middle of everfree with horns and no cutie mark. Today was quite a strange day.