28 Days To Armageddon

The investigation in Transylmaneia dragged on. The keeper’s aide still wouldn’t talk, no matter what they did to her. They yelled, pled, begged, and did everything short of torturing her. But her lips remained sealed. She would not confess to anything. For, after all, she had too much on the line. Sex, beauty, and a wondrous new world, to be exact. The Grand Master did not reward those who divulged the organization’s sensitive information. The aide knew of two mares who’d been punished severely, beaten and left to die because they accidentally let something slip. Thankfully, The Grand Master had been able to tidy things up and keep the cult’s existence a secret. But the aide didn’t want to go there…she loved The Grand Master too much.

Meanwhile, the Ponyville investigators searched high and low for more clues. They questioned all the ponies at the local bank and found something interesting. It seems that the financial institution had been gifted with a 50-bit coin by Princess Celestia herself. This particular bank was well known for its excellent customer service and friendly nature. In keeping with the traditions and customs of Equestria, Celestia had given them one of these rare currencies to thank them. They were tasked with keeping it under lock and key, as these had not been released to the public yet. It was a very proud moment for the banker and his staff, who immediately got to work guarding the gift. But, one night, the bank had been robbed. Somepony had used a magical spell to whisk in and out through the walls, leaving no traces…or, so they thought.

But one swift scan from Rarity’s horn revealed thick magic residue. It became obvious that they were dealing with somepony who had no previous magic experience. A proper unicorn or potion user would understand the consequences of forgetting to clean the area. The residue would be found, and it could be tracked. So, Rarity used some of her magic and carefully placed the residue inside the portable DNA analyzer. The small incantation she used acted like something of a mystical glove. It kept her residue from contaminating the evidence while slowly feeding the suspect’s residue into the machine.

As the ponies watched, the machine beeped and whirled. It worked on a principle of weighing, displacing, scanning, and analyzing. By weighing the residue, it displaced some of the body, thus leaving behind its foundation. Then, tiny scanners swept over the concoction, thus sending it into the small computer built into the analyzer’s framework. This then compared it against 20 million unicorns, whose DNA was taken the minute they were born. So the database was kept fresh and contained lots of possibilities. Thankfully, these were all narrowed down via the electronic process.

Suddenly, the machine dinged and up came a picture of a certain mare. Mist Dawn gasped as she recognized this pony of interest. The grey fur, the yellowish mane, and the cutie mark of a key and writing quill. It was Quill Lock, the pony who’d made Twilight’s life a living hell at Celestia’s school. Mist couldn’t say she was shocked, but all the same, it was rather unnerving to know that a pony who’d professed love to Twilight could be their suspect. She looked around and noticed the confused look on everypony’s face as Quill’s name appeared below the picture.

“Quill Lock?” The sergeant asked, “I’ve…never heard of her.”

“Me neither,” Pinkie said, “and I know everypony in Ponyville. Heck, I know every tree, rock, garbage can, and bathroom in Ponyville!”

“TMI, sweetness,” Rarity chided gently.

“Sorry,” Pinkie said, blushing sheepishly, “but my point is, if Quill Lock were from Ponyville, I’d know about her. I’d have thrown her a welcome party!”

“She’s right, darlings,” Rarity said, “none of us has ever been without our own welcome party. I remember Pinkie throwing me one when I was a filly! But, I digress. Back to the subject at hoof. We’re all very familiar with the residents of our quaint little town, so…Quill can’t be a Ponyville pony!”

“She’s not Transylmaneian either,” one of the adjoining officers said, “we just put her name through our database and nothing came up.”

“So…” The sergeant said, trotting a few steps away in pondering, “…we’re dealing with somepony new. Somepony evil. Somepony…that we’d never have suspected before.”

“That explains why the locations Twilight destroyed in Ponyville seemed so interconnected,” Rarity reasoned, “Quill would have known of Twilight’s friendships and wanted to get revenge on them. The question is…why?”

“I can tell you,” Mist said.

The other ponies eyed her with a hint of suspicion. Could this pony, who claimed to be their friend, be on the side of wrongdoing? They wanted desperately to find out the answer, but the sergeant didn’t want to take any chances. As a precaution, they placed Mist into hoof cuffs and put a magic barrier over her horn. Then, they sat her down and had her explain everything. When it became clear that Twilight had spoken of Quill before, they removed all of their security measures, but begged Mist to continue.

“That’s all I can say,” Mist said, “Quill must have been Twilight’s kidnapper. She and I were together when she was taken. I tried my hardest to catch them and free her, but it was no use. Then, I went straight to her friends…and the rest is history.”

“I’m sorry we suspected you,” Rarity said.

“Oh, don’t be,” Mist responded kindly, “I’d suspect myself as well if I didn’t know the truth.”

“Yes...and just what is the truth?” Fluttershy asked, “I mean, that's why we're here, isn't it?.”

“I believe I can tell you what the truth is,” a new voice said.

The group all turned and their jaws hit the floor. In front of them, standing as straight as an arrow, was Quill Lock. The criminal sneered in their direction, smashing a hoof on the ground and nearly frightening them to death. She moved forward, knocking two Transylmaneian officers out of the way in the process. Slowly she came up to Mist Dawn, knowing that she was the pony with Twilight the day of the kidnapping.

“Oh…how sad…your friend is gone,” she said mockingly.

“That’s because you took her!” Mist growled, “then you injected her with Lycantropy and turned her into that terrible monster!”

Quill chuckled. “Oh, my dear little Mist, I was simply acting on orders. Though…getting to take Twilight out was a delicious little bonus.”

“Whose orders?!” The sergeant demanded, nostrils flaring, “tell me who the FUCK would ask you to do such a thing?!”

“I’ll let her tell you herself,” Quill said.