The silence of the foals

In front of Luster Dawn, there was a long hallway with white walls, and black and white floortiles. With her magic, she put the cantie-rantie back in her saddlebag. Luster stepped forward and crossed the threshold. It was like going through a portal. She walked down the corridor. At the end of the path Luster could see Canterlin's crystal cage. As she walked ;she didn't dare to run; she narrowed her eyes, looking forward. Her eyes fell on a gray figure lying down.

"That's it! He's dead!" Luster muttered to herself. She was about to reach the crystal barrier. "Doctor Canterlin!" She started to gallop. "Hey, are you asleep?!" She got before the crystal. She could see Canterlin's back. He was lying on the bed. Suddenly, A smell of manure invaded Luster's nostrils. It was coming from the tiny little holes of the crystal, which served as an oxygen provider for the inmate. Her eyes fell on the toilet not so far away from the bed. "Ugh, bucking smell!" With her telekinesis, Luster took out the cloth out of her saddlebag and covered the end of her muzzle. She looked back at Canterlin.

"Have you come this early to unclog my toilette?" Still lying on the bed, Canterlin had turned his head at Luster. Then, he sat up on the bed. He raised his foreleg and pointed right at the toilet. "Commissar, I know you have a killer to hunt down. But, if you want my help, I'll require some favors". He lowered his hoof. With his other hoof he had been covering his muzzle too, with the silk sheet of his bed.

Luster nodded. She put the cloth away. "Alright. I'll see what I can do about the toilet issue". She turned around and started to walk. Then she stopped and turned her head, looking at Canterlin. "By the way, don't take it as a compliment, but I'm kinda glad you weren't killed by the dungeons collapse", she said.

Canterlin, that was looking at his toilet with aversion, turned his head and looked at Luster. He raised a hoof and shook it back and forth. "Likewise, commissar. We'll talk about that later. Now, could you hurry?"

Luster nodded again. She turned her head forward. She trotted a few steps and then stopped. She facehoofed. "What am I doing?" She asked herself, sighing. She turned around and moved back before the crystal.

"Commissar, are you teasing me?!" Canterlin looked at her. He was still covering his muzzle with the sheet. Luster shook her head. "No, doctor. I just realized I could call a service team with my cantie-rantie", Luster said. While she was speaking, with her magic, she had taken her communicator out of her saddlebag. She pressed its switch and put the device close to her muzzle.

"Comptroller, do you copy? Over" She looked at the device. "Copy that, commissar. This is the comptroller. How may I help you? Over" A voice coming from the cantie-rantie said. "Uhhh" She exchanged glances with Canterlin and then her eyes fell on the toilet inside the cage. "I need a team to unclog inmate Habel Canterlin's toilet. Is that possible right now? Over" She looked back at the device. "Uhm, commissar, I'll go there myself" The male voice sighed. "But I'll need your help to open the crystal. Okay, commissar? Over".

"Huh?" Luster expressed. She was looking at Canterlin, who was trying to flush the toilet. That only made the toilet spit out the water, splashing Canterlin's coat. He looked down at his chest. His jaw was dropped in disgust. Then, he turned around and wiped his body with the sheets. Luster laughed briefly, seeing the mess he was into. She quickly looked back at her cantie-rantie. "Sorry, comptroller? Why can't you send a team for the job? Over", she said.

The device produced a sound again. "See, commissar, right now the jailors are either dead, injured or missing. That's because of the dungeons collapse". The voice sniffled once. "Right now, I'm the last of us", he finished.

Luster, listening to him, opened her eyes wide. "O-oh copy that, comptroller. If you may come here I'll help you open the crystal. Over." Luster looked at Canterlin's cage. Canterlin had climbed on his bed. Black water was coming out of the toilet. The water was starting to flood the floor and got the Canterlin's table legs. Also the wooden supporters of the bed were getting wet. His bale of hay on a corner of the room was soaked with dirty water.

The cantie-rantie resonated. "I'll go there as fast as I can, commissar. Over". The voice said. "Hurry, the cage is starting flood". Luster warned, looking at the water on the other side of the crystal.

Canterlin, standing up on his bed, looked at Luster. He uncovered his muzzle and smiled. "I've never been this humiliated in my life!" He said. Luster looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "Yeah! This is worse than being found guilty when you aren't!" He covered his muzzle again, pressing the sheet against it with his hoof. Luster, after hearing him, smirked. "Not even you would fall for that statement, doc!" She laughed briefly. Canterlin snorted, the sound muffled by the sheet against his mouth and nostrils.

Ten minutes later, the comptroller crossed the threshold that led to Canterlin's prison. Luster, who was before the crystal, still covering her nostrils just like Canterlin, turned around and looked at him approaching them. It was a brown male unicorn. He wore square glasses and his blond mane fell on his forehead. He trotted until he was close to Luster and the crystal cage.

With her magic, Luster was holding the cloth against her muzzle. "So, comptroller, right?" She asked, putting the cloth away from her mouth. "Yes, commissar, nice to meet you". He answered. His nostrils dilated and he opened his eyes wide. He looked at the inside of the cage.

Canterlin, who was still standing on the bed, looked at Luster's back and then at the pony in front of her. "Hurry!" He said. In those ten minutes since Luster had asked for the comptroller's help, the water had swallowed his bale of hay on the floor completely. The black liquid was about to reach the mattress of Canterlin's bed.

"Right!" Luster had turned around to see Canterlin and the state of his prison. Then, she looked at the comptroller, who had walked until he was next to her. They both exchanged glances. "So how do we open this?" Luster looked forward at the crystal.

The comptroller quickly rearranged his glasses with his magic. He cleared his throat. "Okay, so we'll obviously do this with our magic only". He raised a hoof and pointed forward. "I'll pull from this side". He pointed on the left end of the crystal, then he moved his hoof to the right. "And you'll push from that side, commissar". He lowered his hoof back on the floor and looked at Luster. "Was I clear, commissar?" He asked.

Luster turned her head at him. Then looked forward. "Uh, yeah. I understand. You'll pull left. I'll push right", she said. The comptroller nodded. Luster looked up at Canterlin with wide eyes. Canterlin had taken the silk sheets off his already wet mattress. He was standing on his hinds, holding the bundle of sheets with his forelegs in an attempt to save them from the sewer water. He was looking at the two ponies on the other side of the crystal. "So?! Do something!" He pleaded.

Luster, still with her eyes wide open, looked to her side at the comptroller. "Hey! What about him?!" She raised a hoof and pointed at Canterlin. Canterlin was looking at them with wide eyes too. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I swear in the name of my mother, who I did not kill..." He opened his eyes and locked them with Luster's. "... That I will not try to escape or attack any of you, good ponies", he finished.

Luster, who was looking at Canterlin speaking, looked back at the comptroller. "Seriously, how do you ponies open this crystal and deal with him?" She asked. The comptroller looked down. He sighed and then looked up back at Luster. "Normally, this is a five or six ponies job. All unicorns". He looked forward at the desperate Canterlin. "Even then, we are scared of him. Even when we know he's wearing a magic restrictor ring on his horn". He turned his head at Luster. He smiled. "You, dear commissar; an alicorn! You are worth atleast ten unicorns!" He said.

Luster batted her eyes at him. "Okay, uhm..." She looked down and then forward. She exhaled. "Well, let's carry on with this operation". She looked at Canterlin, up on his bed, in the eyes. Flames were coming out of her eyes. "Doctor Canterlin, I swear in the name of princess Celestia and Luna..." She raised a hoof and pointed to the ceiling. She closed her eyes and then lowered her hoof. "... That if you try anything funny when we open this thing, I will kill you and then I'll eat your heart so your soul would never rest in peace". She opened her eyes and looked up at Canterlin. His eyes were wide open and his ears perked up. Also, his jaw was dropped. Luster looked at the comptroller next to her. He was with his eyes wide open too, looking at her. Luster looked back at Canterlin. "Understood? And here's my witness!" As she told Canterlin she tapped the comptroller's shoulder, who was shaking.

Canterlin nodded, closing his eyes. He frowned when the water started to wet his hind hooves, which he was standing on both two. The mattress of Canterlin was not visible anymore. He opened his eyes and exchanged glances with Luster and the comptroller. "I've given you my word, commissar and comptroller", he promised. "Besides, don't forget that I have a restrictor ring on my horn". He looked up at his own horn. It had a golden ring on.

Luster looked down and sighed. Then she looked and turned her head at the comptroller. She cleared her throat. "Alright. Let's open this barrier", she said. The comptroller nodded. "We should do a countdown, commissar, in order to sync our attempts. Still, it'll be harder for me since I'm not that powerful with telekinesis". He chuckled, looking forward at the crystal. Luster looked forward too. "You do the countdown, comptroller". She positioned herself closer to the right wall. The comptroller, doing the opposite, approached the left wall. He exchanged glances with Luster, and Canterlin, who was skipping on his bed and splashing the water. He gulped. "Okay, here goes nothing". The comptroller prepared his horn. His aura started to illuminate. Luster prepared hers too, her white magic aura illuminating her face. "In three, two, one..." the comptroller was saying.

"Now!" Both magic auras surrounded the crystal; telekinesis at work. The massive clear wall was starting to rotate horizontally on its axis. Also, the water was escaping by the edges of the crystal. Then, the hallway started to flood. Fortunately, there were sewer holes there. "Blech!" Luster expressed. The dirty water was wetting her hooves and the ones of the comptroller. She could have flown up, but she didn't. In addition, for Luster and him, the stench was worse than before.