The Fashion of Evil

Ponyville Town Guardhouse. 6:80 PN

“Look,” Sweetie Drops fumed furiously, “Lyra and I told you, and the town guard about everything we saw at least five times now. I do not appreciate being arrested during supper and dragged down here just so you can audit us and find a way to blame us for the fire.”

Fed up with her attitude, Twilight banged the table with her hoof. “And I don’t appreciate your sour attitude,” she said with authority, “for your information, you and Lyra are both suspects in this case. At this rate, both of you could face charges of grand arson and attempted murder. I doubt you two were actually responsible, but I could still have you booked for obstruction of justice and interfering with a town guard officer.”

“You don’t scare me,” Sweetie retorted, “Just because you have a badge hanging around your neck doesn’t make you anything special.”

“Okay, then how about this,” Twilight suggested, “we write up charges against both of you, and you and Lyra are shipped off to Canterlot and tried for your crimes in the Canterlot Supreme Court, convicted, and sentenced to death via a burning at the stake. You both will be tied up to a giant wooden stake over the pyre in the justice hall at Canterlot. Princess Celestia ignites the firewood with a beam from her horn, and you both burn alive. How does that sound?”

Lyra sitting next to Sweetie, started to shake with fear. Sweetie was outright disgusted with Twilight

“Shame on you,” she spat bitterly, “Using such intimidation tactics on us. My mother always told me never to trust anypony from Canterlot. Why are you doing this? She has bad anxiety, you’re going to give her a panic attack.

“Because,” Twilight said seriously,  “I want to make it clear what will happen to you two if you don’t cooperate from this moment onward. I am not lying about having you two booked for the crime. The justice system isn’t perfect, and its flaws are used to frame and punish innocent ponies. Such tactics are also used against those who don’t help out when asked. It’s proven to be an effective deterrent against insubordination, so please, give me the information I want, when I want. Don’t throw away your lives, it’s not worth it.”

“You...” Sweetie seethed, “would have us killed just to enforce this power trip you’re on? To control us? What in Celestia’s name have we ever done to you?”

“You’re missing the point,” Twilight argued, “I won’t write up any of that paper work, but the town guard sure as hell will. I’m simply asking, well, demanding your help, they’re the ones who will see to it that you do or die. So what’s it going to be?”

“I told you we already explained everything!” Sweetie shouted.

“Allright, suit yourself, just expect to live here for a long time,” Twilight threatened, “The Town Guard doesn’t mess around. Not with suspects, not even with witnesses. It is their- I mean, our job to keep the peace and enforce the laws in Ponyville.”

“What are you getting out of abusing us like this? Why?” Sweetie demanded.

Twilight got up and slammed both front hooves on the table and leaned in real close so that she and Sweetie were face to face.

“Because,” she snarled, “I almost lost a dear friend today! She is in the hospital in a coma. And another friend was kidnapped over a year ago and she has something to do with whoever burned down the Carousel Boutique! All you’re concerned about is your little vacation, for all I know the lives of two of my friends are hanging in the balance! So if you have any decency, take the crystal or start talking!”

Both Sweetie and Lyra were taken aback by Twilight’s sudden fury. Twilight hadn’t slept in over a day and the stress was beginning to make her go crazy.

"We’ll talk, okay? Just calm down and ask whatever, and we’ll answer best we can. You haven’t even asked us anything-”

“That’s because you’ve been bitching the minute I entered the room!” Twilight nearly shouted. She was becoming more and more irrationally pissed off by the second.

“Take it easy, will ya?”

The door opened, and Chief Tibbs appeared. “Hey Sparkle, what’s going on in here?”

Twilight turned to look at him and he saw that twitch in her eye.

“Maybe you ought to take a break? There’s some hot coffee in the mess room," he suggested. Twilight worked with the Town Guard long enough for him to notice when she became overtired and started to become manic.

“....right. Thank you Chief,” then she turned to face Lyra and Sweetie Drops.

“I will be back, and when I do, I expect the three of us to have a decent, meaningful, productive conversation, understand?”

Lyra quickly nodded. Sweetie just glared back. Twilight got up, and exited the room. She slammed the door behind her, scaring them both.

• +

“They talking, Sparkle?” Tibbs asked.

“They will, they will.” Twilight breathed, “or I’ll shove a sack of memory crystals down each of their throats.”

“Calm down, Sparkle. Ya gotta be professional about this. Did you tell them that we all think Lyra’s a suspect?”

“Wait, wasn’t it somepony else-”

“Did you tell her, though?” Tibbs grunted, nodding a hint in her direction.

“Eeyup,” Twilight said flatly as she took a swig of her coffee.

• +

Twilight entered the interrogation room feeling slightly relaxed. She placed a stack of papers on the table as she sat.

“Now, the things I want to ask,” Twilight began, “For the last two days, a pony by the name of Photo Finish and her entourage have been in town. They are under suspicion for being involved in the fire.. What do you know about them and have you been involved with them at any time in your lives?”

A quiet minute passed. Lyra cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak when Sweetie silenced her with a mean look.

“Don’t you dare interfere with her,” Twilight snapped, “Go ahead Lyra, what is it?”

Lyra wanted to speak, but was too afraid to. Then again she hardly spoke to anypony at all.

This isn’t working, Twilight thought, screw it, I'll get her memories on a crytal.

“Okay, Lyra, if you don’t want to say anything, you don’t have to. What about you, Sweetie Drops? I saw that look you gave her. I know you have something to tell me. What is it?”

“We don’t know Photo Finish,” she replied, “well, not personally anyways. At the most, we attended her fashion shows and exhibitions here in town. Lyra has had a weird fascination with Photo Finish. Whenever Photo Finish is in town, Lyra joins the flock of ponies who follow her around until she leaves. You know how they get about celebrity ponies. It just so happened that one day, Lyra came face to face with her and Fluttershy four years ago, you know when Fluttershy modeled for her. Photo Finish gave Lyra her autograph and Lyra got her picture taken with the two of them. Now she keeps it as shrine in our home. Her obsession is ridiculous.”

Twilight examined Lyra inquisitively while she listened. Lyra stared down at the table in shame. Sweetie was putting her down.

“Why are you speaking about her like that? Aren’t you two really close...friends?”

“Why does it matter to you?” Sweetie shot back, “That’s our private business. Lyra is messed up in the head. Sometimes I have to set her straight.”

“Right,” Twilight said with tension. She gathered Sweetie was controlling Lyra. But their relationship wasn’t what she wanted to dig up.

“When did you two first hear about Photo Finish?”

“We read about her in the local newspaper about six years ago, in the fashion section. And every now and then, there’s something about her in the fashion or photographer magazines.”

“What about Rarity? What’s your relationship with her?” Twilight asked.

“She’s just a stuck up twat,” Sweetie spat. Twilight resisted the urge to lay a hoof upside her head. she continued talking, “Rarity think she is better than everypony all because she tries to act regal. More than once Lyra has been kicked out of her shop, and Rarity threatened to sue us when Lyra accidentally knocked her into the mud, ruining her dress.”

“What do you mean accidentally?” Twilight demanded.

Sweetie shrugged, glared at Lyra. “It was an attempt to give her a hug. Lyra, for some reason thought Rarity was connected to Photo Finish, so for her it was like interacting with Photo Finish herself.”

“Right...” Twilight didn’t know where to go with this. “But overall, there was never any real dispute between you and Rarity?”

“No, not really. She wasn’t worth my time. Nor Lyra’s.

“I see.”

Twilight continued asking questions until she grew impatient with Sweetie Drops' sour attitude and constant dodging of questions, and of course her intervention every time Lyra tried to speak up.

“You know what, this isn’t going anywhere,” Twilight sighed in frustration. She looked at the clock. it was getting late.

“Damn right it isn’t going anywhere. You have the wrong ponies. How about you let us go now?”

“In due time,” Twilight snapped, “Chief!”

“What is it, Sparkle?” Chief Tibbs asked when he entered the interrogation room. “Any luck with these two?”

“No, sir. I would like to have them separated so I can speak with them one-on-one. Sweetie Drops has been preventing Lyra from speaking at all, which leads me to suspect that she’s controlling her.”

“Hold on a minute!” Sweetie snapped, “What are you doing? You can’t split us up, Lyra needs me!”

“Actually, we can,” the chief barked back.

“Lyra!” she shouted as two guards entered the room. “Say something, dammit! Tell them they’re lying!”

Lyra mustered up the courage to speak. “Up yours, Bon Bon.”

Sweetie Drops' eyes widened with surprise, then she was filled with outrage.

Twilight took that as a major sign, and the guards grabbed Sweetie and hauled her off the bench.

She screamed and shouted as she was forcefully dragged out of the room. During the ordeal, Lyra just sat and stared down, cringing and fighting back tears until the officers dragged Sweetie Drops into the hall and slammed the door behind them.

The door slammed shut and the room fell silent.

“What about her?” the chief asked, nodding at Lyra.

“No, I still want to speak with her,” Twilight said, "Sweetie Drops refuses to let her speak. From now on, I want them completely separated and isolated from one another."

“Very well. By the way, Sparkle, I’m authorizing you to get memory and magic samples from them and use whatever means necessary to ensure their cooperation.”

“Thank you, Chief.”

The chief exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Twilight looked and saw Lyra was scared witless.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Twilight assured her with a soothing voice. “I won’t let her bother you anymore, understand. Please feel free to tell me what you wanted to say."

Lyra looked up as her eyes filled with tears, then she started crying. Twilight stroked her mane to comfort her. Lyra cried hard for at least ten minutes. Twilight could only speculate the extent of Sweetie Drops'...influence.

“Listen, I think I’ll call it a night. You need some rest. If it’s too painful to talk about it, I can give you a memory crystal.”

“Wh-what’s that do?” Lyra sobbed.

“It will scan your mind and copy all of your memories. I can then take as much time as I need to examine what I need to look at, and spare you the pain of explaining it all. I will then erase the memory when I am done.”

“...everything?” Lyra asked, as if pleading, “You’ll see...everything?”

“Of course. Do you want to do that? I can also clear you as a suspect in this case, and prove you had nothing to do with the fire.”

Lyra nodded positively, then asked “What...what about Sweetie?”

"I don't want you anywhere near her," Twilight said firmly, "I'll be talking to her separately. And by the way, what was the other name you called her? Bon-something?"

"Bon Bon. It's her real name. But everypony calls her Sweetie Drops. Hoity Toity called her Bon Bon. She told me never to use that name."

"Right," Twilight replied.

“I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want to live with her anymore,” Lyra sobbed, “I just can’t take it anymore.”

“What do you mean? And is that why you were rude to her when they took her back to her cell?”

Lyra nodded. “She lied to you.”

“About what?”

“Everything.”

“So what’s the true story then?”

Lyra shuddered as she tried to keep the tears down, but failed and started weeping again. Her mane was a mess, and to comfort her, Twilight produced a hairbrush and stroked her with it. She also took note of some old dents in Lyra’s horn, signs of permanent damage from injuries past. Everypony knew there was something weird about Lyra, and she knew that was just the surface.

After a few minutes, Lyra managed to calm down again. “Twilight...you can have my memories. All of them. Please just take them. I want to forget...everything. Sweetie, Photo Finish, the fire, everything.”

“Right.”

Twilight opened her saddlebag and placed two crystals on the table. Each was smooth and egg shaped, and was about two inches long, one and half inches wide. Both were translucent. One was milky white, the other a vibrant purple.

She explained the crystals to Lyra:

“Okay, to make this quick and easy for the both of us, I need two things from you. One is your memories, the other is a magic sample. Both are infused with magic that will allow them to do their intended purpose. The purple crystal will scan your brain and copy your memory. The white one is for the magic sample. What I need you to do is hold each one in your mouth for approximately one minute. Can you do that for me?”

Lyra nodded.

“Well?” Twilight asked, waiting for her to lift the first crystal to her mouth.

“I...I can’t cast magic,” Lyra said shamefully, “Sweetie never let me cast magic. She said magic is evil...”

“Is that why you have chips, dents and marks on your horn?” Twilight asked.

Lyra’s eyes flickered from the resulting flashback and she quickly nodded.

“Very well. Please open your mouth. This will be just like taking your medicine, just don’t swallow it. I also cast a spell on the crystal that should give you a warm fuzzy feeling. Think of it as a ‘sweetener.’

Lyra nodded as she opened her mouth and felt the crystal rest on her tongue. As instructed, she closed her mouth, held the crystal there for a few minutes. As Twilight just explained she felt that fuzzy feeling, something she hadn’t felt in a long long time. The crystal was making her body produce the chemicals that triggered the sensation of genuine love. She felt loved by Twilight. Of course it was not meant to be that intense, but considering what she had been through the last several years. Not a romantic love, but a close friend / sisterly bond. She tried not to cry.

“Okay,” Twilight said, removing the crystal. The feeling died.

“Now, same thing with the white one, only for about five minutes.”

Lyra nodded, and went through the same procedure.

After the second crystal was put away, she asked, “What are you going to do with me now? I didn’t start that fire, honest. Please don’t burn me.”

“Relax, nothing’s going to happen to you. I only said that to scare Bon Bon And if you can’t cast magic, there’s no way you can burn down a building. Anyways I must go, I will be back in the morning.”

As if on cue, the door opened and two guards entered.

“I’m finished. Please escort Lyra to a cell in the other cellblock, and keep her separated from Bon Bon. I do not want them together in the same cell.”

“Yes, ma’am. Come on, Lyra.”

Lyra silently obeyed and followed the guards through another door.

“So, how did it go?” Chief Tibbs asked.

“I got memory and magic samples from Lyra, so she’s been good,” Twilight replied, “Can’t say the same for Sweetie, or Bon Bon as she's called. I’m going home to examine my crystals, I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Very well, good night, Sparkle.”

“Good night”

• + +