Ponies of Interest

Chapters

Chapter 2: Top of the List
Chapter 3: Pieces of the Puzzle
Chapter 1: An Interested Third Party

Chapter 2: Top of the List

Daring and Fancy Pants stood in the silence, the only sound filling the air was the distant ambiance of the road and foot traffic on the Bucklyn Bridge above them. Daring stood frozen unsure how to respond. Here before her stood a rather wealthy looking unicorn who has been supposedly stalking her for Celestia knows how long and here he is offering her a job. Daring felt the urge to turn and fly off but she knew there would be questions left unanswered if she did. She took a deep breath, looked Fancy in the eye, and finally mustered enough courage to speak.

“You want me...to work for you? That’s why you have been stalking me?” Daring said as Fancy adjusted his glasses again.

“Well when you put it that way yes. That is why I have been watching you. I am in need of someone with your skills and expertise to better the lives of the ponies living in the city of Manehattan.” Fancy briefly paused to turn around, heading slowly over to a bench facing the river. Daring slowly followed Fancy, noticing the slight limp he had in his lower right leg, as Fancy sat down and looked out to the part of the city skyline not obscured by the suspension bridge.

“Well I’m all for helping the people and everything Mr. Fancy Pants but why do you need my help? I mean you seem like you can get info on anypony or everypony in the city.” Daring said standing next to the seated Fancy.

“While that is true Ms. Daring it is only information. Getting information is not the problem. Doing something with that information...” Fancy turned his head to look at Daring, another friendly smile crossing his face. “That’s where you’d come in.”

Daring’s eyes narrowed at Fancy. The nature of the offer started to sink in. He was asking her to be some sort of hired gun, hence why he was so interested in her military training and combat skills. “Oh...mercenary work eh? Let me tell you something pretty boy. I don’t know if you can see this but I don’t do that kind of crap anymore. Do you really think I’d go back to killing and ruining lives after what CAFO had to--” Daring was interrupted by Fancy’s hoof blocking her vision.

“Please spare me the details, I told you I already know exactly everything about you Ms. Daring.” Fancy lowered his hoof and levitated his glasses off of his face, using a cloth from his coat pocket to gently clean the lenses. “I know about the work you did for CAFO and the government. I know about the doubts you came to have about that work. I know that the government along with everyone else thinks you’re dead.” Fancy put his glasses back on before making eye contact with Daring again, the angered pegasus looked ready to kick his teeth in.

“I know that you have been trying to drink yourself to death for the past few months. I also know that you have been recently contemplating more efficient ways to do it.” As Fancy said that Daring took a step back. She didn’t think anyone else knew about that but herself. Her demeanor shifted from anger to curiosity.

“How did you know that about me?” Daring asked.

“Like I said Ms. Daring...information and knowledge is not my problem. I’m offering you a chance to do something with that kind of power.” Fancy stood back up and faced Daring. She kept looking at Fancy contemplating her options. She had no idea who this guy was or what his plans were. She could be walking into another CAFO, something she vowed never to do again. Thoughts raced through her head at high speeds, the several possible outcomes of the current offer putting her mind in a fog of confusion.

“Well Ms. Daring...are you interested?” Fancy asked. Daring took another deep breath and looked Fancy dead in the eye.

“Look. I don’t know who you are or why you are after me, but I’m done with that kind of work and I promised myself never to go back down that road ever again. Get somepony else to help you.” Daring then turned around and spread her wings ready to fly off towards the city. Before she could she felt a weighted object drop on her back. She looked behind her and saw a pair of saddle bags draped over her sides. Reaching one hoof into the left bag, she pulled out a rather large coin purse filled with gold coins. She looked at Fancy completely confused.

“I’ll take that as a maybe. For now there is 500 bits. That should be enough to get you a hotel room for about a week or so. I’ll keep in touch Ms. Daring.” As Fancy said this, Daring put the coin purse in the saddle bag and turned around flaring her wings.

“Yeah whatever.” Daring said as she took off from the ground, heading across the river and into the city. Fancy stared at her fly off into the steel and iron skyline as he walked back over to the car, the guard pony getting in and starting up the engine.

“Should we go after her sir?” The guard pony asked leaning his head out the car window.

“No leave her be. She’ll come to reason eventually.” Fancy said as he stepped into the car.

Daring walked into the hotel room closing the door behind her clutching an empty bottle of AppleJack Daniels between her teeth. She dropped her key card on the tablle, the card showing the logo of a hotel called The Celestian. While it was older than most of the modern and cutting edge hotels in lower Manehattan, The Celestian is still one of the more elegant hotels in the city. Daring whipped around the saddle bags off of her back onto the bed and started to sift through the right bag. She pulled out two items of clothing, a white button down shirt and a black blazer. Curious, she tried both on and they were an eerily perfect fit. What was more disturbing was that the blazer was fitted with several inside pockets and hidden holsters for weapons and knives. She looked down at the clothes before taking them both off and stuffing them back in the bag, as if trying to forcefully stuff out the memory of Fancy Pants and his offer.

Daring reached into the left saddle bag and pulled out an unopened bottle of AppleJack Daniels. She set it down on the bed before reaching back into the bag, pulling out the coin purse that looked to be all but emptied except for a handful of bits. She sighed and threw the purse back towards the saddle bag before sitting herself down on the bed, reaching over and picking up the unopened bottle of whiskey cider next to her. Daring slowly wrapped her hoof around the neck of the bottle and gave a quick twist, the seal on the neck breaking as the cap effortlessly twisted off. Letting go of the neck and allowing the cap to fall off, she stared down the long neck of the bottle, looking into her reflection in the golden brown liquor. Daring hated to drink. She didn’t want to drink. She hated the feeling of waking up day after day with what felt like a never ending hangover. But what she hated more was the memories that flashed before her sober mind. Memories of friends now gone. Memories of the living now dead. But what hurt her the most was the memories of love now lost. Tears welled up in Daring’s eyes, the memories ate at her emotions, slowly overwhelming her with an immeasurable feeling of grief that spread over her like an out of control wildfire. She couldn’t take it. She wanted it to go away. She couldn’t live with the sorrow, so she decided to further repress it.

Daring sniffled, let out a shaky sigh, and leaned her head back, putting the bottle up to her lips and chugging the cider. She chugged and chugged and chugged, not letting up for a second, letting the alcohol slide down her throat and into her stomach. Daring kept chugging the bottle, hungrily drinking every ounce and every drop of cider, the intoxicating power of the liquor slowly washing away the memories and putting out the wildfire inside of Daring’s head. She leaned her head back and kept chugging until the bottle was completely empty. Her head stayed back as her hoof slowly uncurled around the neck of the glass bottle, letting the container fall onto the bed. Not to long after, Daring dropped back onto the bed like a rock, her eyelids slowly closing. Her breathing slowed more and more as Daring laid her head back onto the soft pillows, her glazed over eyes finally closing. The fire inside her subsides as she goes off to a deep and restful sleep.

The command center shook as another shell from enemy artillery hit the nearby runway of the airbase. Outside were several pegasi in the air and on the ground, scrambling and fighting. It was a surprise attack, the Griffon army was on the assault, and worst of all it was at Airbase Alpha. Everyone on the base knew if they lost there, the Griffons had a direct shot at Cloudsdale. Inside the control room several pegasi were rushing around and taking information from several different monitors and radars. Maps displayed in the room showed several enemy forces converging on the base. It was complete chaos, and Daring was standing in the middle of it all. She was in front of a radar screen viewing the progress of the dots on her screen. They were getting closer to the center. Walking over behind her was Lieutenant Braveheart, a charcoal black pegasus with a steel grey mane cut at almost the same length as Daring’s.

“Corporal Do, status report!” He barked out at Daring.

“Griffon infantry just broke through the last tank line! They’re advancing to the base!” Daring turned around and looked Braveheart in the face with fear in her eyes “What are we going to do Lieutenant?!”

“Get a hold of yourself Corporal! You lose your cool here and you give the Griffons Cloudsdale.” Braveheart turned around and flew up above the consoles to draw the attention of every pegasus in the room. “Now listen up! I just got off the horn with the General. Reinforcements are on the way, but we gotta hold the line until then. I’m going to need every combat ready officer to abandon their current posts and get geared up. Our rally point is the south hangar, let’s get out there and give our friends some cover. Now let’s move it!”

With that, all the officers in the control room dressed in combat gear left their monitors and headed as quickly as they could to the door over to the weapon lockers. As they left, Braveheart landed and started to head past Daring and over to the back of the command room. Daring watched him and got up from her post, hovering off the ground to keep up with her commanding officer.

“And just where do you think your going Corporal?” Braveheart said as he turned his head slightly looking at Daring.

“I’m going out there with you. You are going to need all the help you can get.” Daring said before Braveheart turned around to face her, his brown eyes staring into Daring’s.

“Out of the question. You need to stay here and keep the command center running.” Braveheart said before walking to the office in the back of the war room, standing in front of his private weapon locker. As he grabbed his helmet and draped his assault rifle around his neck, Daring landed behind him infuriated.

“But you can’t do this by yourself! The CC doesn’t need me, your squad is gonna get outnumbered, I can help beat these guys!” Daring said as Braveheart looked at her again.

“We don’t need to beat them Corporal, we just need to buy all the time we can get.” As Braveheart said this he walked past Daring towards the exit of the command center. Daring quickly followed.

“Well let me help buy time. I am just as good a fighter as everyone on this base!” Daring said.

“Corporal...”

“You know that better than anyone else! You know it and I know it, you won’t survive until the cavalry comes!” Daring continued.

“Corporal.....”

“WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE SEC--” Daring was interrupted by a pair of strong hoofs on her shoulders.

“DARING...” Braveheart looked Daring in the eyes again. Daring was just about to cry. She suddenly moved forward and buried her head in his neck, letting out a few sobs. Braveheart wrapped his forelegs around Daring, gently patting the back of her head to comfort her.

“Please...I don’t want to lose you...not like this...” Daring said quietly between her sobs. Braveheart backed away and looked her dead in the eyes, his hoofs still resting on her shoulders.

“You won’t. Keep it together and keep this station running or else all of us will be lost. I’ll be back. I promise.” Braveheart said before pulling Daring into another embrace as their mouths connect. Daring slowly closes her eyes, tears running down her cheek, as the two hold the loving embrace for what feels like an eternity. Another nearby explosion sends more shock waves over the command center as Braveheart slowly pulled away and walked out the exit. Daring stood there and watched. Her body locked up as she watched her commanding officer and lover walk out the door. She wanted to go after him, kiss him again, just one more time, make it last forever so she wouldn’t have to see him go. But all she could do is stand there and watch him go out the door and into the heat of the battle outside, never to be seen alive again.

Morning. The first rays of Celestia’s sun entered and filled the hotel room, its bright shine casting a bar of light over Daring’s eyes through one of the gaps in the window shade. Daring stirred in her sleep, her legs splayed out and almost limp, as she brought one hoof up to shade her eyes from the harsh sunlight. The ambiance and silence of the room was broken with the loud, harsh ringing of the phone on the nightstand next to the bed. Daring blinked a few times adjusting to the light as she moved her hoof to answer it but was stopped. Her left hoof was snagged on something. She turned her head to see what it was snagged on and saw that it was restrained by a strip of nylon rope tied around her hoof. Her eyes shot open as she tried to free her hoof from the rope, but whoever put her hoof there in the first place tied the knot good. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t get her hoof free. She looked over to the ringing phone and reached her free hoof over to pick it up.

“Hello?” Daring said as she kept trying to free her hoof.

“You need to understand things Ms. Daring. I didn’t want to do this but you need to know what it’s like to be forced to listen to somepony get murdered and not do be able to do anything about it.” The voice on the other end of the phone was Fancy Pants.

“What?!” Daring shot up in the bed and looked around the room.

“I would hurry if I were you.” Fancy said as the receiver clicked and the line went dead. Daring pulled the phone away and hung it up before the sound of a loud scream came out from the room next to Darings. Her attention shot to the door connecting the two rooms together as more loud screams and pleas for help leaked out.

Daring sprung into action, getting up on the bed and tugging on the rope. After all attempts of forcefully ripping the rope off failed, Daring bit down on the knot and started to untie it. The screaming in the room became more desperate and loud, causing Daring to work faster. She frantically bit and tugged at the knot until finally it became loose. Daring pulled her hoof out and shot up into the air as fast as she could, throwing all of her weight forward and bursting through the door. The door fell off it’s hinges as she looked around the room, anticipating the worst. But what she saw left her speechless. It was Fancy Pants, sitting at the coffee table drinking a cup of tea as his hoof reached up to press pause on the tape recorder set on the table. The screaming stopped as Fancy set down his tea cup and looked over at Daring.

“Too late.” Fancy said as Daring landed on the table staring the unicorn down.

“You son of a bitch! Where is she?! What did you do to her?!” Daring looked ready to kick his teeth in. Fancy cleared his throat and levitated a newspaper off of the nearby bed.

“It’s not what I did, it’s what her now convicted ex fiance did 2 years ago.” Fancy held the newspaper in front of Daring with his magic, pointing her to the article on the front page. Daring read the headline ‘Star supermodel brutally murdered.’ She saw the date of the paper and, sure enough, the paper was dated August 20th, 1008. 2 years ago.

“The fiance was paranoid. He was under the impression that she was cheating on him with one of the photographers. The stress of the public eye and the tabloids eventually got to him. Her name was Fleur. She died right around the same time you were sent behind The Feathered Curtain to do CAFO’s dirty work.” Fancy put the paper down and looked at Daring. She was once again taken aback by all that this one unicorn has done.

“How...how do you do all of this?” Daring asked

“Ms. Daring I assure you I will answer any questions you have but first I need your help.” Fancy’s eyes seemed to stare into Daring’s soul as he put the paper on the table.

“I know what it feels like to be helpless. I know that from experience. I’m not just giving you another job. I’m giving you an opportunity to be there in time. Together we can prevent crimes like this. All I ask for is your help.” Fancy said as Daring sat down on the coffee table. She contemplated the offer again. She knows the feeling of helplessness all too well. Of all the things in Equestria she hated more than anything it was death and destruction. She looked at Fancy and took a deep breath. She finally gave in.

“Okay I’ll help you mister. But I want answers and I want them now.” Daring said as she got off of the table.

“Splendid. I will answer any questions you have as long as it’s not too personal. And please, call me Mr. Fancy.” Fancy said as Daring walked back into her room with Fancy in tow. “Come, walk with me and I can give you the answers you seek. You might want to put on the outfit I supplied you with. We wouldn’t want you to stand out in a crowd, especially with the MPD searching for you.”

Daring went over to the saddle bags and pulled out the button down shirt and blazer she found inside the bag last night. She put on the shirt, buttoned it up, and donned the blazer before following Fancy Pants out of the room.

“Well thanks again for the bits...and the clothes.” Daring said as she exited the room.

“The coat is an Armaneigh. I knew you would like it.” Fancy said as the door to the hotel closed and the duo walked down the hall to the elevator.

Center Park bustled with life, many different earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns spending their day out in the warm mid spring air. Ponies from all walks of life frolicking in the fields, jogging on the paths, or sitting on benches and blankets enjoying the beauty of the day ahead. Walking down one of the paths was Fancy and Daring walking side by side. Daring intentionally slowed her walk down in order to keep pace with Fancy’s rather slow walking pace caused by the limp in his leg. As they walked, Daring looked around at the park, observing the hustle and bustle of the several ponies in the park from the fit and determined joggers to the little fillies and colts playing on the nearby playground.

“So Mr. Fancy. Just how are you able to get all your information?” Daring asked.

“Look up to the lamp post to your right. What is that?” Fancy said as Daring shifted her attention to the lone street lamp hanging above a park bench. Mounted underneath was a small camera barely the size of her hoof fixed to watch the path ahead of them.

“It’s just a security camera. Those are in every park, it’s to help deter muggers.” Daring said as she turned her attention back to Fancy.

“And where do you think the feeds to those cameras go Ms. Daring?” Fancy looked at Daring raising an eyebrow.

“Umm...police?”

“One would assume that. What everypony doesn’t know is that those cameras feed to something much bigger than you think.” Fancy said this as he turned his attention back to the path ahead.

“So they all feed to one place?” Daring looked at Fancy curiously as he nodded.

“A machine. A machine that is run by the government that spies on everypony. Every hour of every day the machine spies, records, and analyzes the calls, letters, transactions, and even conversations of every single pony in all of Equestria. It was built in secret and only a handful of ponies in the hierarchy know about it. The project is so underground and classified that even the princesses don't know it exists.” Fancy said.

“Well how do you know about it?” Daring tilted her head slightly as Fancy looked over at her.

“Because I built it.” Daring stopped in her tracks, mouth slightly agape in disbelief. Fancy stopped and turned around to face her, the expression on his face unchanging.

“You see Ms. Daring we both share some things in common. The concept of the machine was built some time after the first Griffon insurrection almost 10 years ago. I built the machine to monitor for any hidden acts of terror, to prevent another Battle of Cloudsdale from happening.” Daring winced slightly at the mention of the battle. Fancy continued.

“It worked. It worked far beyond my expectations. I designed it to pick out the terrorists from the public but the machine sees everything. It started seeing every single violent crime around Equestria. However, the crimes it was predicting were not relevant to what the government was looking for so they put them aside. They had the machine delete any threats that were deemed irrelevant to their investigations. Just like you I developed my doubts about my work and once I started questioning their morality I was cut from the project...and just like you, the government thinks I’m dead.” Fancy said before turning around to continue walking. Daring resumed and walked beside Fancy as they both took a turn to walk to the border of Center Park heading back into the city.

“So if you were shut out how do you still have access to the machine?” Daring asked.

“I created a backdoor for myself. The machine keeps picking up the crimes but what they do is they set it to delete the information to a hidden database. I use that to get myself into the machine.” Fancy and Daring were now walking on the border of Center Park, walking down the busy city street filled with several ponies running to and fro, running their independent agendas.

“So how do you tell which one to go after?” Daring asked as Fancy Pants let out a friendly smile as he raised his hoof up to hail a cab.

“Let me show you.” Fancy said as they both got into the back of the cab.

Fancy led Daring through the abandoned apartment building until they both reached a run out apartment room. Much of it was gutted except for the several book shelves and file cabinets lining the walls of the apartment. In the center near one of the windows was a computer monitor, several sticky notes lined the plastic borders. Directly behind it was a large tack board with several photos, slips of paper, and forms pinned to the board. In the center of the board was a long list of numbers, little bits of red yarn connected some of the photos to some of the numbers. Daring took a look at the board and noticed a pattern in the list. All the numbers were nine numbers, all of them in the same order. XXX-XX-XXXX. She analyzed the board some more before turning around to Fancy.

“These are insurance numbers.” Daring said.

“That is the list. I can’t get too close to the machine without being discovered so the machine gives me this instead. That list represents the ponies about to be involved in a violent and premeditated crime.” Fancy said as he sat down at the computer, bringing it out of sleep.

“Well how can you tell when its going to happen?” Daring looked back at the list.

“That’s the drawback. I can’t get the full picture so I get the next best thing. The list puts the possible crimes in order of occurrence. The crime could happen a week from now or 5 seconds by now and we don’t even know their role in the crime. They could be the victim or they could be the perpetrator.” Fancy said this as he went through an electronic file on the computer. Daring stood behind Fancy as she watched him work.

“All we get is nine numbers. I suppose nothing comes easy. Who is at the top of the list now?” As Daring said that, Fancy bought up the picture of a lavender unicorn with a dark blue mane and a pink stripe running through the middle of her hair.

“Twilight Sparkle. She is the assistant to the District Attorney and is currently working on a rather large prosecution of a mass drug killing.” Fancy said as he turned to look at Daring.

“Well let’s see. High profile case involving a mass killing off a drug deal gone wrong. If I were her I’d be watching my back for any friends of the dealer being prosecuted.” Daring said as she analyzed the dossier on the screen.

“Very astute observation Ms. Daring but we are going to need more information if we are going to proceed. Your best bet is to start tailing Ms. Sparkle and see what information you can find.” Fancy reached into a drawer and pulled out a cell phone and a penny sized ear piece. He levitated the ear piece into Daring’s ear while she took the cell phone and placed it in her jacket pocket.

“I’ll call you if I get any leads.” Daring said as she made her way to the door. Fancy stood up before she got there and levitated a picture from a nearby filing cabinet.

“Oh and Ms. Daring. Before you go, if you need any...equipment...there is this convenience store at the corner of 110th and 7th you should consider visiting. Who knows, you might meet an old friend while you’re there.”

In the back room of the convenience store was a meeting between a mix of seven different earth ponies all surrounding a table cluttered with weapons. Near the end of the table stood Shooter, his eyes scanning the table until they focus on the semi automatic sub machine gun. He breaks a little grin and reaches over, curling his hoof around the handle and lifting it off the table. He turns his gaze over to his father next to him as he holds up the gun in front of him.

“Hey pop, what do you think about this one?” Shooter said as the earth pony glared at him.

“Do you plan on buying that?” He said. Shooter looked around briefly a little confused.

“Uh...pops I was just--”

“Just put it back on the table before someone else kicks the cutie mark off your flank.” He said with annoyance in his tone as Shooter set the gun back down on the table.

“Excuse me does anypony know where I can find the restroom?” The conglomerate turned their attention to the door surprised. Standing in the middle of the doorway was Daring, a completely innocent expression plastered on her face as she turns her attention to Shooter. A smirk forms across her face as she mentally maps out a plan to gather the stash of weapons on the table.

“Oh hey Shooter. Good to see you again.” Daring said as Shooter’s father looked at his son, completely lost.

“You know this broad?” Shooter looked at his father and shook his head. He had no idea what was going on. Daring’s focus then shifted to the mass of weaponry on the table. Everything from sub machine guns to assault rifles to pistols were laid out neatly and ready for sale. She even spied a grenade launcher at the end of the table. Daring whistled before looking back up at the group of thug ponies.

“Man you guys got some serious equipment here. Did you take all the proper safety courses?” Daring said as she took a tentative step forward. As soon as she does, everypony in the room pulls out a semi automatic pistol from their jackets, aiming for Daring ready to gun her down. Daring backed up slightly before switching her attention to the earth pony directly next to her, clutching his pistol sideways.

“No no no no.” Daring said as she shook her head. “That’s all wrong! I mean look at you, your holding the damn thing sideways. You can’t aim it and on top of that it’ll eject the shell casing right into your face.” The thug raised his eyebrow as the rest of them looked around at each other in confusion.

“Like so” Daring immediately sprung in and grabbed the thug pony’s leg, turning it upward and forcing him to discharge the firearm, sending the shell of the bullet into the earth pony’s face. The rest of them ducked and backed away in surprise. Daring capitalized on their confusion and used the thug as a shield while she aimed the firearm and fired off shot after shot, each round hitting each one of the pony’s legs. The thugs were fearing death, but the shots Daring fired were to disable, not to kill. Some tried to fire back at Daring but they either missed their shot or were hit before they could react. Each of the ponies went down as Shooter tried in vain to get his pistol out of the holster draped at his side. Once the thugs around Shooter were down, Daring whipped the thug she used around behind her and threw him to the ground, discharging the last round in the leg. Daring turned around to see Shooter cowering against the wall, holding one hoof up as a silent plea for mercy. She smirked and tucked the pistol in her jacket. She then lifted a nearby duffel bag onto the table and put a military grade assault rifle and the grenade launcher into the bag, grabbing several magazines of ammo along with them.

“I’ll just hold onto these for a while until you guys get more practice.” Daring zipped up the duffel bag and threw it over her back. “Have a nice day.” She said as she departed the convenience store, leaving Shooter and the rest of the wounded thugs in shock.

“Who the hell was that?!” Shooters father barked at his son got his phone out to call the police.

Chapter 3: Pieces of the Puzzle

The sound of the late sirens filled the air as they arrived at the scene of the convenience store. Normally police squad cars with their sirens on was a normal thing in this part of town, but outside the convenience store was two squad cars and 3 separate ambulances. Whatever happened in the store, it was big and several ponies were hurt. As the squad car pulled up to the curb, out stepped Crimson dressed in her normal work wear, a blue blazer jacket that contrasted highly with her dark red fur, and a bulletproof vest underneath. She walked over to the front of the store and ducked underneath the yellow tape laid down across the entrance. She scanned the inside then shot a look over at the officer to her immediate right.

“I have just one question. What in the hay happened to make three ambulance crews to come down here?” Crimson asked, doing her best to keep calm.

“Well all we know is that there must have been some sort of weapons deal going on in the back and someone just barged in and shot the place up.” The officer said.

“Great. How many dead.” Crimson asked unwillingly, waiting to measure the massive amount of paperwork about to head her way.

“None ma’am.” The officer said as Crimson looked at him with the most confused expression on her face.

“Excuse me? None dead?” She asked as both cops made their way to the back room of the convenience store. They entered the room where the weapon deal took place before the mysterious shooter interfered and stole the two most valuable weapons in the pile.

“Yes ma’am. Whoever shot up the place was using a standard firearm, 9mm caliber. There were only eight shots fired, seven of them hitting all the victims in the leg and one we found in the ceiling.” The officer explained as Crimson circled the table, her eyes quickly darting over to a corner where two officers were interrogating Shooter.

“We were just in the middle of getting some new guns when this one mare came in and..” Shooter was about to continue until Crimson put up her hoof and separated the two officers.

“Wait wait...did you say mare?” Crimson asked.

“Yes I said it was a mare, I’ve said it like a million times to you guys.” Shooter blurted out as Crimson raised a brow in suspicion.

“Let me guess. Black and grey mane? Tan fur? Looked to be in her thirties?” Crimson rifled off each accurate descriptor of the assailant at hand as Shooter stood there shocked. All he could do was nod at each descriptor.

“Detective, you know who did this?” The officer behind her asked.

“It’s this one mare who started a fight with these thugs in the subway a few days ago, military training, some special case. It’s been giving me a headache for the past few days.” Crimson said at the officer before turning back to Shooter. “Look you’re free to go, just don’t let us catch you dealing weapons again ok?” Shooter let out a very quick nod and ran out of the store. Crimson let out a sigh of discontent as she made her way out to her squad car.

“Uh Detective should we put out a search for her?” The officer asked as Crimson walked to her squad car.

“While I would love to I got too much paperwork to deal with some ex marine going around kicking the crap out of every crooked crime pony in Manehattan. Just tell any officer who happens to see this kind of activity again to tell me directly, I’ll deal with it from there.” Crimson instructed the officer as she got into her squad car, turned the ignition key with her magic, and drove off back to her precinct.

Daring looked around to make sure nopony spotted her on the fire escape stairs. While ponies living in the apartment do go up and down them for shortcuts all the time, Daring didn’t want anyone to notice her purpose for being up on the apartment. Over in the building across from her, Daring was aligning a small camera towards a particular window, securing the camera on the brick with a special adhesive. Daring took a break from setting up the camera to curl a pair of binoculars in her hoof, holding them up to her face and looking over at the window she was targeting. Sure enough, sitting at a nearby table reading the newspaper, was Twilight Sparkle. Daring put away her binoculars and readjusted the camera to point at her apartment window, keeping it level with the ground. Once the camera was perfect, she pressed a small button at its base, causing a small green light on the top of the camera to turn on. She backed away and checked the wiring she used from the small lamp above the apartment window she was currently in front of to see if it was supplying ample power for the device. She checked and double checked again before backing away and clicking on the small earpiece in her left ear.

“Fancy, the camera’s all set up. Are you getting the feed?” Daring asked looking around to make sure nopony was looking as she grabbed her saddle bags and made her way down the fire escape. Back at Fancy’s apartment, he quickly brought up the monitor to supply the wireless feed from the camera. Before long, it popped up on screen.

“Yes Ms. Daring, the feed is coming in nicely. Your eye into Ms. Sparkle’s home life is now open.” Fancy said as Daring jumped off the rest of the floors, flaring her wings to slow her down, resting her hooves against the concrete ground with a soft clop.

“Good. Let me know if there is any movement. I need that apartment empty if I’m gonna get the info on her I need.” Daring stated as she walked down the street, spreading her wings ready to fly before hearing Fancy chime back in on her earpiece.

“Well if that is the case Ms. Daring you might be in luck. Ms. Sparkle is leaving her apartment right now.” Fancy said, the monitor he was viewing showed the lavender mare exiting her apartment.

“I guess it’s my lucky day then.” Daring said as she looked back up at the building and lifted up into the air using her wings. She slowly elevated herself onto the level of the window of Twilight’s apartment, resting her hooves on the window sill and pushing up gently. To her surprise, the window gradually lifted open and she snuck into the unicorn’s apartment.

Inside Twilight’s apartment was humble enough, nice furnishings, royal Canterlot colors everywhere, and the occasional family portrait on display in every room. Daring cautiously walked across the floor, as if something was going to jump out at her, as she went from room to room searching for any sort of physical paper information on her assignment. When she stumbled across Twilight’s home office in her bedroom, Daring couldn’t help but smirk at the large number of file cabinets and folders neatly arranged on the small desk. She quickly went up to the cabinets and began searching, looking for anything and everything that reveals more information about Twilight. Thankfully the search was fairly easy as everything, as Daring has mentally noted while following her, was very neat and organized. She took the folders containing the information she needed, leaving the rest behind, as she casually stuffed the folders into her saddle bags, walked over to the window, and flew off. As she flew off, she stopped in the air to look at one form from the folder. On the form in the upper right corner was an address, the address to the District Attorney’s office. If anything, Twilight was probably at that office right now. Daring put away the form and flew off towards the inner city as fast as her wings could take her.

Twilight stepped off the elevator and casually strolled over to her office near the corner of the building. She hummed a gentle tune to herself as she set her bag next to her chair, removing the contents inside and organizing them on the desk in front of her. She sat at her desk and started to go through the several case files laid out in front of her as a gentle tap on the open office door draws her attention away. At the door was her brother, Shining Armor.

“Morning sis!” Shining Armor said in an upbeat matter.

“Oh, morning brother.” Twilight said, stifling a yawn as she greets her brother.

“Stay up late again?” Shining walked into her office, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“It was only a few hours past my normal bedtime, I’ll be fine.”

“Really? I believe those were the exact same words you said before you started showing up late while working on the last case.”

Twilight chuckled nervously, doing her best to shrug off the sad but true remark. After so many cases, everyone but Twilight seemed to notice a pattern involving her and high profile cases.

“Look sis, I know you are working hard and I know you want to move to bigger things but it takes time and effort.” Shining said as Twilight took her attention from her work, looking at her brother with a slightly peeved look.

“So when I did get hired to be your assistant DA, you tell me to give it all I got. Now you are telling me to put less effort into my work?” Twilight said, raising her voice a little.

“Well, that isn’t exactly what I...” Shining was interrupted as his sister got out of her chair a little, clearly more agitated.

“What you what, wanted to tell me? Wanted to say to me to make me feel better about being stuck in this assistant’s job always working under you? Or maybe you are saying that because you are scared I might take your job!” With that last comment, Shining was taken aback. He sat up in his chair and stared her sister down.

“Twilight you know I love you, but sometimes you can be so short sighted. I’m not worried about anyone taking my job, I’m worried about the people under me doing their job right.” Shining firmly said, his tone staying even at a contained anger. Twilight slowly sat back down in her seat.

“It has nothing to do with you Twi. I am doing the best work I can do, and if the people under me can’t assist me then you know what happens.” Twilight nodded at the last remark.

“And I suppose siblings aren’t safe from the chopping block?” Twilight asked, doing her best to bring the situation down a little. Shining sighed and got out of his chair.

“I wish that were the case. If this were some sort of accounting firm maybe, but this is much more important Twi. We serve as big a part of the justice system as any normal police officer. The safety of several ponies lies in our hooves Twi. Maybe you should keep that in your mind as you continue the case.” Shining said as he started to walk out the door. He gently closed it with his magic, allowing Twilight to slump back to work.

Unknown to either Shining or Twilight, Daring sat on the roof of a building next to Twilight’s office. She held a pair of binoculars in one of her hooves, observing the activity of the purple unicorn’s work day. Without taking her eyes off her target, Daring reached for a small thermos and poured a brown liquid into the little cap, intent on saving it for later. Her deep train of thought was interrupted by Fancy talking into her earpiece.

“Ms. Daring I thought you said you were going to stay sober for this new line of work.” Fancy said, Daring rolling her eyes.

“Relax Fancy, it’s soup. Cider bisque. How did you even know I was-” Daring retorted before she was interrupted again.

“There is a surveillance camera behind you.”

Daring quickly glanced behind her, seeing the white suspended structure with a camera pointing directly at her.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised.” Daring said, turning her attention back to the offices.

“Any update on our subject?” Fancy asked.

Daring kept watching Twilight work through her binoculars. Nothing too exciting, just Twilight filling out paperwork and going through case files.

“Well her work life is rather ordinary. Did you manage to get anything from the files I lifted from the apartment?”

“I did. It turns out Ms. Sparkle is quite the up-and-comer in the DA’s law offices. Turns out she has the highest conviction rate in her district.” Fancy stated.

“Well she did study law privately under Princess Celestia herself.” Daring muttered.

“Indeed. The case she is working on right now is pretty high value.” Fancy said, bringing a copy of the file onto his screen.

“High value?”

“Yes. A drug ring bust. Very big. It turns out she is the spearhead of the DA’s attempt to put a Mr. Jet Pope behind bars. Apparently Mr. Pope has been involved with a nasty drug bust gone wrong. Five murdered and over half a million bits of drug money missing.” Fancy noted.

“So a possible murderer about to be sent away for life. A grudge like that must be a nasty can of worms to open.” Daring said as she saw Shining walk into Twilight’s office.

“Indeed. If anything, I would put Mr. Pope at the top of our list.” As Fancy said that, Daring watched the argument between Twilight and her brother unfold.

“I would wait on that assumption Fancy.”

“Oh? You found another?”

“Yeah a white unicorn. Stallion. Blue mane. Just walked into her office, the two of them got into an argument.”

Fancy went to work, going through the several databases on his computer until he pulled up a security feed inside of the building. Using the feed, he identified Shining, having most of his information pop up in a window off to the side.

“Ms. Daring, that unicorn is her brother.” Fancy said to much of Daring’s surprise.

“That puts him as likely. In most instances of homicide the perp is often someone close to the victim.” Daring stated.

“I got a name. Shining Armor. Former head of the royal guard.”

“Former?”

“Yes, he was at the head for 6 years before deciding to retire from his job. Studied law at Hayle, got his masters, and worked his way up to District Attorney.” Fancy continued as he kept going through Shining’s files until he came across one that sparked his attention.

“Oh and he has a possible motive now.” Fancy said, his interest piqued.

“Care to share it with the class Fancy?” Daring muttered, keeping her attention on the offices in front of her.

“He is currently going through a divorce with one Miamore Cadenza.” As Fancy said that, Daring slumped off of the building’s ledge and packed her binoculars into her saddlebag.

“And let me guess, he thinks that little sis is to blame?” Daring asked.

“It would be safe to assume so. There is also a child involved, a little colt named Dawnstar.”

“Oh man that’s just rough. Divorce AND a custody battle?”

“Yes but the custody hearings won’t start until the divorce is finalized. Those factored in, it’s safe to assume that he is a possible suspect.” Fancy closed the files, saving them on his computer.

“Fancy give me an address for Shining, I’m going to drop by and investigate after I head to the courthouse, I need to dig up some more stuff on Ms. Sparkle before we make any sudden moves.” Daring sat back up on the ledge.

“Well shouldn’t you get going now Ms. Daring?” Fancy asked. As he asked, Daring turned around at the security cam, gave a wave, and held up her thermos. Fancy gave a little chuckle as he backed away from the computer.

“I guess a lunch break is in order.” Fancy chuckled to himself as he levitated a small cup of tea to his snout, taking a petit sip before setting it down and heading back to work on his monitor.

Fancy sat at his computer, working away and watching the separate video feeds that Daring set up earlier that day. The unicorn kept his focus on the screen, almost as if he had become one with the computer, pulling various files and dropping in on several conversations throughout Manehattan. Fancy briefly broke this line of concentration and pulled up one security camera feed. This one, however, was not within the main island of Manehattan or any of the surrounding boroughs. This was somewhere in Canterlot, the camera pointing at a lone house near the city wall. Out in the front was a garden, occupied by one sole pony. A lone mare with a white coat and a blue mane, the same shade of blue as Fancy’s. Fancy zoomed in on the mare working, her hooves slightly muddy from the work yet her face bright and radiant as she tilled and tended to the flowers and shrubs in the evening air. Fancy found a gentle relaxed smile creep onto his face, a feeling of content washed over him. As Fancy gradually got lost in the memories and nightmares he shared alongside her, Daring came in the apartment and stood behind him. She gently brought a hoof up to her mouth, clearing her throat and snapping Fancy out of his state.

“Ah Ms. Daring, you’re back.” Fancy said as he closed the feed.

“Who was that? Another pony on the list?” Daring asked as she took a place next to Fancy.

“No she’s....nevermind.” Fancy dismissed, causing Daring to raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Uh huh. Look I know you like privacy Fancy, and I don’t mean to intrude, but I would have a better time working with you if I knew something was bothering you.” Daring stated, leaning one hoof on the table waiting for a response from the white stallion.

“I suppose that is true. After all we have more in common than you think.” As Fancy said that, Daring tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“Well they both think we are dead and we both have lost someone.” Fancy turned away from the monitor to look at Daring. “The only difference is my someone is still living.”

“Oh....I’m sorry...” Daring solemnly said, looking down at the ground.

“Don’t be, just be glad she is safe.”

“So is she your wife?”

“Sister. The only family I had. I knew it would be trouble dragging her into this secret life so I left her behind. It’s better that way.” Fancy said this with a tint of sadness in his voice. The silence between the two lasted for what seemed like hours, the two of them lost in their own memories of love and loss.

“Anyway...the courthouse got me some more info, Pope’s grudge might be growing.” Daring stated, breaking the silence between the two.

“And how so Ms. Daring?” Fancy asked, levitating a cup of tea in front of him.

“Pope was on trial today. One of the detectives present at the scene took the stand and gave a testimony that is sure to put him behind bars. If that happens, Pope’s gang might target her for reprisal.” Daring said as she went over to a coffee maker sitting on top of one of the many filing cabinets littered around the apartment, putting a filter in followed with some ground coffee and water. Once the coffee was on, Daring pulled her phone from her jacket and set it next to Fancy, pressing a button on the front starting a recording taken from the phone.

“Detective, why did you not tell me about that conversation between you and Pope? It could have cleared his name if you didn’t say that.”

“Hey ease off, it doesn’t matter anyway. We got the guy, so what if I go off script?”

“It does matter Gilda! It matters because my job is to make absolutely sure that the wrong people are not going to jail remember?”

“Well excuse me, I thought we were on the same team.”

Daring went back over and clicked the button again, stopping the recording.

“Well it looks like something went wrong with her case.” Fancy said as he took another sip of tea, studying the phone. “But Ms. Daring, how did you-”

“Get the recording? I paired my phone with hers. I got access to her microphone so I can hear everything she says, even when she isn’t using it. As long as it’s on and has a signal, I can also use the GPS to track her every move.” Daring proudly said as she got some coffee from the coffee maker.

“Very impressive Ms. Daring. What about Shining Armor, anything on him?” Fancy asked.

“Nothing we can use.” As Daring was going to continue, Fancy pulled up the GPS locator of Twilight.

“Ms. Daring, she’s on the move.” Fancy exclaimed as Daring turned on her earpiece.

“Where is she headed?”

“She’s heading for county lockup, she scheduled a meeting with Pope. Alone.” Fancy stated as Daring picked up the phone and put it back in her coat pocket. She opened the window and flew out into the night, Fancy ready at his monitor tracking both Daring and Twilight.

The Manehattan County Correctional Facility, for the most part, was quiet at night. The vast assortment of criminals and alleged innocents alike were mostly asleep around this hour of the night, nothing to do but sit in their cells and contemplate their life choices. One cell, however, was a slightly different sight. Inside was Twilight pacing back and forth in the cell. In front of her sat a tan earth pony with a dirty dark brown mane, hooves in cuffs and clad in a standard orange jumpsuit issued to all prisoners. Pope tracked Twilight as she paced, her magic holding up one file in the air. Outside, Daring was pacing outside the county lockup, listening in on their conversation, waiting to intervene if anything happens.

“Shouldn’t my lawyer be here for this?” Pope asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

“Well I can call him if you want but that’s not why I’m here.” Twilight affirmed.

“Then why ARE you here?” Pope was getting increasingly annoyed by both Twilight’s presence and her pacing.

“I don’t think you killed those people. I think somepony else was in that house when the call to 911 was made. Somepony who told you what was said, which means that you weren’t there. Am I right?” Twilight rifled off accusation after accusation as Pope stayed silent looking at the ground. Before long, Twilight let out a frustrated sigh.

“Ok why are you hiding things from me, I’m trying to help you. Is it someone you are trying to protect?” Twilight asked as Pope looked at her inquisitively.

“So what, you’re helping me now?”

“Well somepony you care about must have known what happened that night. Maybe your little brother Fanner?” Twilight opened the folder and showed him a picture of a teenage colt, almost the same appearance as Pope. As she said that, Daring put her hoof back up to her earpiece, contacting Fancy.

“Fancy, Pope has a brother. Look in his case file.” Daring instructed hastily.

“Got it. One Fanner Pope.” Fancy stated, pulling the picture out of the file next to his computer. Daring switched channels back to the conversation between Twilight and Pope.

“So tell me. Did he see the real killer?” Twilight asked, Pope’s eyes showing signs of fear. Not fear of her, but fear of something else.

“You better let this one slide lady. I can do the time, but these other ponies...they’re evil. They kill who they want and they protect the real truth from getting out, that means they will kill me and my brother and probably you too if you keep asking questions.” Pope said as he stared down Twilight.

“Look I don’t care who these ponies are, you can trust me. We will take care of you and your brother but I need to know the truth.” As Twilight pleaded with him, Pope broke eye contact and shook his head defiantly.

“No...” Twilight let out another huff at his refusal, now taking a hostile stance and staring daggers at Pope.

“If the killer or killers are out there, I’m going to find them whether you help me or not. It’s my job. Now why don’t you-” Twilight was interrupted as Pope sprang out of the bed he was seated in, pinning her against the cell doors. She let out a yelp as she felt Pope’s hooves press down on her neck, constricting her airwaves.

“You need to shut your mouth before you get us BOTH killed!” Pope shouted at the purple unicorn. Twilight’s fearsome gaze suddenly reversed, turning into fear and panic as she stared down the enraged pony fitting to choke her out inside the cell. Outside, Daring was on her way in, pulling a collapsible baton from her jacket and extending it. She placed it in her teeth and prepared to scale the fence to get into the compound before she heard something on the other end. Two guards were near the cell when Pope lashed out at Twilight. They quickly opened the door, pulled him off of her, and subdued him. One of the guards looked back at Twilight, slowly regaining her composure from the sudden attack.

“Ms. Daring?” Fancy chimed in.

“It’s ok, she’s fine for now.” Daring sheathed her baton and started flying back towards the apartment.

“It seems you were right about Pope Ms. Daring.” Fancy stated.

“That means whoever framed Pope will be coming after her, and only Pope’s brother knows who they are.” Daring said.

“So what now Ms. Daring?”

“Things get interesting Fancy. Very interesting.”

Chapter 1: An Interested Third Party

It’s strange really. When you sign up you make a vow to protect the land you love. You blindly accept, thinking you know who the bad guys are and where your allies stand. For the moment you can tell your friends from you enemies as if they were night and day. Then the motives change. Questions are asked. But you are just forced to follow orders. You follow along and in their eyes you are a hero, but to the public you become a monster. Then the further up the chain you go, the harder it gets to tell the good from the bad. Once your own morals get into the mix you are seen as a threat, and you go from an asset to expendable. Now all of a sudden you are casted out, and you are seen as an enemy of the system. They cast you out, try to wipe you from the history books, and if you are lucky you barely get away with your life. But once you get away you realize that none of it matters. To both parties you don’t even exist anymore. The monster is supposedly dead. You could always go back to the way things were before you joined, but what if you have nothing to go back to? What do you become then?

The underground train car swayed back and forth gently as it rode along its track, the inside practically empty. A gentle roar filled the air of the cabin as two of the unicorn thugs dressed in loose baggy clothing having a conversation at one end of the car. On the other end, seated in the middle of an empty row of seats, was a lone sand colored pegasus with a ruffled black and grey colored mane. Daring was looking down at the floor of the subway, completely zoned out of her surroundings due in part to the half empty bottle of whiskey cider resting in her lap. Her fur was messy and knotted and her face looked like she hasn’t slept in days. Her eyes slowly started to close, hiding the blank look in her eyes, as the doors on the other end of the car opened. In walked 4 earth ponies, the lead one dressed in a leather jacket bumping into one of the unicorns. The unicorn shot the leather clad earth pony a menacing and threatening look as he reached a hoof down to lift up the bottom of the shirt he was wearing, revealing the handle of a small revolver tucked into his pants pocket.

“Where did you get that from a cereal box? Wanna see a real gun tough guy?” The earth pony got right in the unicorns face, looking him dead in the eyes daring him to pull the piece out. The unicorn holds his gaze for a while before backing away and walking to the other car, ushering his companion to follow him. Once both are out of the car, one member of the earth pony’s entourage walked up next to him.

“Shooter you just can’t keep doing stuff like that to these thugs on the subway man. You don’t know what kind of guys you run into down here, this is why your dad wanted us to take the car.” He said to the lead earth pony. Shooter looked back at his companion, his brown eyes shooting him a condescending look as he adjusts his jacket.

“Would you relax. I’m getting new hardware tomorrow so if anyone messes with me they will be more than sorry.” Shooter said as his eyes shifted from his partner over to the other end of the car, focusing on the lone homeless pegasus sitting all alone. “Besides, you get to make new friends on these things.” A smirk broke across his face as he started to walk over to the lonesome mare. Daring’s eyes remained closed, giving anyone who would give a second look the impression that she was in a drunken slumber.

Shooter walked over to the mare and stood over her, reaching out a hoof to grab the bottle of alcohol resting in her lap. In an instant, Daring’s hoof shot out from it’s idol position, her arm hooking around Shooter’s hoof holding it in a vice like grip. Surprised from the sudden move from the defenseless mare, Shooter tried to pull his hoof out of the mare’s grip and after several failed attempts Daring released the startled thug just as quickly as she grabbed him. Shooter took a few steps back, still in shock at the sudden change in behavior of this seemingly harmless mare. He shot a worried look back at his posse, all of his companions standing still mouths agape as to what happened. They all slowly worked their way up to Shooter as he retook his position in front of Daring.

“Nice bottle. Applejack Daniels. Didn’t bring enough for all my friends though. Maybe we need to teach you a little lesson about sharing?” Shooter asked as he leaned his head down to meet Daring at eye level. There was no response from Daring other than her closing her eyes slowly slipping back into the supposed drunken slumber.

The gang circled around the pegasus, the few ponies behind Shooter cracking their necks before one reached forward to grab Daring. Just as fast as she acted the first time, both of Daring’s hoofs wrapped around his arm pulling him into a painful hold. Another pony from the gang jumped forward to help him but was met by a perfectly timed kick to his snout by one of Daring’s legs. Daring used the leverage gained on the first thug she grabbed to pull herself out of the seat and once standing she threw her temporary hostage to the ground. One of the two remaining thugs charged her only to be met by one of the vertical aluminum poles as Daring sidestepped the thug completely. As Shooter launched at Daring, she met his attack by slipping around him and wrapping both forearms around the earth pony’s neck. As she applied the grip, it caused Shooter’s airways to constrict. He flailed his hooves around, gasping for air to no avail as he slowly slumped unconsciously to the floor of the subway.

Daring released her sleeper hold and stepped back from the four large earth ponies she just took down with little to no effort, the gravity and panic of the situation starting to set in. She ran a hoof through her hair as she looked around the subway car, her eyes immediately coming to rest in front of a security camera. She didn’t notice it until just now, meaning that the entire scrap was caught on tape. To make matters worse, she just gave the Manehattan police department a face to look for. She felt the subway come to a stop and took the opportunity. She quickly left the subway car and fled the scene as fast as her hooves would take her. As Daring worked her way out of the subway and onto the streets of Manehattan, a couple of police officers on the platform enter the subway car Daring just exited.

The apartment was dark. The only sign of life in the otherwise abandoned building was the light glow of a computer screen in one room. Inside the room sat the computer emitting the light, casting shadows behind the rather large unicorn seated in the computer chair. Any light not being cast onto the unicorn lit up the tack on board behind him. On the board were several photos of many different ponies. The arrangement of photos was divided by a long strip of paper containing several series of numbers connected to each photo by a piece of red string. The white unicorn behind the computer was monitoring the several security cam feeds on his screen, his eyes scanning for something in particular. He focused on one security feed from the subway systems and freezes frame on the feed. On the feed was Daring Do, staring directly into the camera. As the unicorn floated a glass of water up to his lips, a unicorn in a suit walks into the room and clears his throat to get the attention of the blue haired unicorn behind the computer.

“Sir I have some news concerning the asset you are following.” The guard pony said as Fancy Pants turned his attention to him, using his magic to adjust his monocle.

“I heard. I have been watching the feeds all night. It appears that our asset has dug herself into a little bit of a hole.” Fancy Pants said as he got out of the chair to face the tack on board, reviewing some of the rather new photos placed on the board.

“There was a search called for her by the MPD shortly after two officers saw the gang. They were interviewed and they used the footage to get a positive ID. It appears that they have connected her to a few murders in the past few months.” As the guard says this, Fancy turns away from the board and goes over to the computer, pulling up the security feed for the Manehattan police and flipping through the several rooms in the building.

“Well at least we know they won’t get a clear ID on her, after all she is listed as deceased. That and the several aliases she created. Where is she now?” Fancy Pants said as he flipped through the camera feeds.

“The search was fairly quick. They found her hiding in an alley somewhere in Northtown not to far from the subway stop she got off at. She is currently being detained in the homicide office.” The guard said flatly. Fancy Pants flipped the feed to the detainment room of the homicide office and, sure enough, there was Daring. Sitting alone at the moment in the room slowly tapping her hoof on the table waiting for one of the officers to interrogate her.

“Well I believe we have gathered all that is necessary to know our little asset. It’s time to strike while the iron is hot. Knowing her she is probably going to escape that office, once she does I want you to approach her and get her to the meeting location. I will do the rest of the talking from there.” Fancy Pants said, adjusting his monocle once again.

“I’ll send the car out right now.” The guard said in response as Fancy sat back down in his chair.

“Good. Give me a call when you have her.” Fancy Pants said as his attention returned back to the monitors. The guard gave a nod and left the room, leaving Fancy Pants to return to his close analysis of the monitor. As he watches the feed of Daring, he notices two officers enter the room. One was a griffon while the other was a steel gray mare with a navy blue mane. The two pulled up some chairs and sat on opposite ends of the table, flanking Daring on both sides. Fancy typed some inputs on the keyboard in front of him, pulling up files on both of the officers.

“Let’s see. Detective Gilda of the MPD. 20 years old entering her 2nd year of service. Currently working homicide.” Fancy Pants scans through the dossier put up on his screen briefly before moving over to the steel grey mare. “As for you. Detective Crimson Jones of the MPD. Age 35 entering 6 years in the homicide department, 10 years of service overall. Fair amount of prestige to allow a rookie like Gilda onto her cases.” Fancy took a sip of water as he goes back to the live feed. “Ok Ms. Do...let’s see how you escape this one.”

Daring sat in the middle of the room as she watched the two officers enter. Her eyes remained fixed on the griffon officer, feeling slightly intimidated by the look that Gilda was returning her. Both of the detectives took a seat as Crimson cleared her throat gently before Gilda got up from the chair and slammed her talons down on the steel table.

“You know you have a pretty long rap sheet following you. We ran your hoofprints and we connected you to 5 other killings in the past 4 months. We have enough evidence to put you away for life pal and if it wasn’t for the fine and suspension I would get I would drop you right now sister! So tell us! Why did you kill those--” Gilda’s tangent was interrupted by Detective Jones slamming a hoof down on the table. Crimson shot the griffon a mean look before slowly continuing.

“Gilda we want to interrogate the suspect not intimidate her. Why don’t you take a coffee break and review the case notes I got this one.” Crimson said as Gilda huffed out in disapproval. The griffon obeyed her superior and left the interrogation room, leaving just Daring and Crimson. Once Gilda was out, the steel grey unicorn pulled over the TV in the room and switched it on. Putting a tape in the tape deck, the detective fast forward to the point where Daring defended herself against the gang of thugs. She pauses at the point where Daring is staring into the security camera and looks over at the pegasus in question.

“Those are some pretty good moves.” Crimson said as she rests both hooves on the table. “Now normally I would just say lucky action or maybe you study in martial arts but that degree of combat for a pegasus? You made it look effortless. Military grade even.” The sound of the word ‘military’ was enough to get Daring to make eye contact with the detective.

“You have a very keen eye detective. Not everyone can spot that kind of thing unless they have either seen or experienced it before.” Daring said in a scratchy voice. Crimson got up from her chair to walk over to the water cooler, getting a small cup of cold water and handing it to Daring.

“I was on the SWAT team before moving to homicide. My father was also a royal guard for Celestia just like his father before him. You can say it’s in my family. So what about you? Judging by your combat style I would like to say Army Spec Ops...but being a pegasus I’d have to guess CAFO?” Crimson asked as Daring took a large swig of water. Daring looked at the detective as she set the little paper cup down.

“Look...it’s kinda obvious that I am down on my luck...they attacked me and I defended myself and I don’t care what your machines say I didn’t kill anypony.” Daring said, her voice now clear again.

“I understand. Celestia drops people like you in other parts of Equestria, then they expect you to come back like nothing happened. But what my question is why when we ran your prints no name came up.” As Crimson mentioned that fact Daring sat back in her chair letting out a weak chuckle.

“You know it’s funny. You think of different names and identities to get yourself out of danger but the time you need a name is when you are in trouble.” Daring says raising her eyebrow slightly at the detective.

“Well I can assure you one thing and that is that our systems are very good. We’ll get your real name one way or another and once we do I’m sorry to say that you will be going to jail for a very long time.” Crimson said flatly as she got up from the table and walked out of the room, leaving Daring all by herself.

Crimson returned to her desk seated across from her griffon partner. Using her magic she started to flip through the various papers and case files that cluttered her desk. Gilda came out of an office next to the interrogation room and sat down at the desk, getting a pair of reading glasses. It was enough to take Crimson away from her attempt to organize the several files on her desk to look up at her feathered friend. “So did we get a name?” Crimson asked raising a brow slightly.

“No dice. Whoever or whatever she worked for cleaned house. No matching forms of ID.” Gilda let out a disgruntled sigh setting the file down on her desk.

“Did you cross reference every single lead?” Crimson asked.

“Yes. Every single one.” Gilda looked down at the file and slammed it shut. Crimson slowly reached out a hoof onto her desk to calm the angry griffon down.

“Hey. I know this is only your second case and I know that you want to get another good report in. But you are still a rookie, this process is frustrating for everyone including me. Just promise me you will keep your cool from now on.” Crimson patted the top of her talon as Gilda looked up at her. She let out a sigh and nodded.

“You’re right. I got hot headed back there and I’m sorry Crim.” Gilda said before opening up the case file again. “So what happens to her now that we can’t pull up a positive ID?” She said before looking down into the open file on her desk.

Crimson let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders as she levitated some of the old and unnecessary clutter in a nearby waste basket with her magic. “Well we can’t charge someone with no ID so we’re stuck with her for the next 24 hours. After that we have no choice but to hand her over to the higher ups.” Crimson reached a hoof over to Gilda’s folder and takes out the front information form with a picture of Daring attached to it. Levitating it in front of her face, Crimson looked completely lost.

“That doesn’t sound too bad I guess. I still don’t understand how we can’t get anything on her, not even an insurance number.” Gilda closed her file and looked around the paper in front of Crimson’s face. “I mean how can that happen? I thought everypony was assigned one when they were born?”

Crimson set down the form and nodded in agreement with her partner’s observation. “Gilda you do have a point but she is different. The way she took down those thugs gives me the feeling that she might be ex military. Maybe her number was covered up or deleted when she was assigned to a special forces unit like CAFO.” Crimson said as Gilda raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Uhh....what’s CAFO?” Gilda asked.

“Covert Air Force Operations unit. It’s a special division of the RAF. Judging from her combat abilities, a pegasus like that would most likely be ex CAFO. It would also be a likely reason why there is no form of ID.” Gilda nods through Crimson’s explanation before getting out of her chair and stretching her wings.

“Well maybe we can hand her over to them?” Gilda said as she folded her wings back to her side.

“I’m looking into that possibility now.” Crimson said as Gilda started to walk down the hall towards the holding room where Daring is.

“Going on a coffee run. I’ll check on our little friend on the way.” Gilda said as Crimson went back to looking at the information report, sitting in silence as soon as Gilda left the room and went down the hall. Crimson snapped out of her studious analysis of the form as soon as Gilda shut the door behind her. Gears started to turn in her head and recalled that Gilda always shuts that door. She never leaves it open for any reason.

“Gilda always closes that door behind her...that means...” Crimson whipped her head around looking down towards the entrance of the homicide office just in time to see a glimpse of a black and grey striped tail duck through the closing doors.

“Damn it!” Crimson said under her breath as she got up from her desk and weaved around the office making her way to the exit. She briskly gave pursuit to Daring and exited the homicide office as soon as Gilda burst through the door.

“Crim we got a problem! She escaped! We gotta-” Gilda stopped as she looked around the empty office. “Crim?”

Daring slipped out of the front door of the MPD looking around to make sure nobody followed her. She walked down the steps and stood on the edge of the sidewalk spreading her wings ready to take off before she was interrupted by someone waving their hand from a black car. Daring’s attention shifted to the white unicorn standing in front of the automobile. She rubbed her eyes to make sure what she was seeing was actually there. Cars were on the streets of Manehattan but cars like the one she saw were considered a luxury. Only the extremely rich could afford cars like that. Daring approached the white unicorn, hovering off the ground using her wings.

“Nice car you got there pal. Mind if you let a poor helpless pony like me borrow it for a while” Daring said while pulling off her best pair of puppy dog eyes. The guard pony didn’t budge and simply cleared his throat to speak.

“Ms. Daring my employer wishes to speak with you. Please get in the car.” As soon as the guard says her name, Daring is taken aback. Her expression quickly changes from shocked to slightly angry as she gets right in the guards face.

“Hold on a minute? How’d you know my name?!” Daring asked furious at the guard. The guard simply cleared his throat again and goes over to the back of the car opening the door.

“Please Ms. Daring. I assure you that my employer will answer any questions you have.” Daring backed off a bit and looked at the black leather interior of the car. She weighed her options carefully and looked back at the police department. She went back and forth between the car and the police before letting out a frustrated sigh. She got into the back seat and looked the guard pony in the eyes before he closed the door.

“Ok I’ll play along. But if I even get the hint that anything fishy with this ‘employer’ of yours, I’ll kick his teeth in and then I’ll kick your teeth in.” The guard did not respond and simply closed the door before getting behind the driver seat, using his magic to start the car. The automobile slowly drove off just as Crimson got out to the front steps of the department. Crimson looked around for any sign of the escaped suspect but no luck. Soon she was joined by Gilda as she scanned the area with her partner.

“Where did she go? Did you see her run or fly off Crim?” Gilda asked as she looked at her superior.

“No. She vanished.” Crimson let out a frustrated sigh and kicked the ground before going back inside. Gilda slowly followed sharing in Crimson’s frustration. “Man the chief isn’t gonna like this.”

The car slowed to a stop. Daring slowly opened the door and shielded her eyes from the rays of the now rising sun. Once her eyes adjusted she stepped out of the car and looked at her surroundings. The first thing she recognized was the Bucklyn Bridge, one of its towers looming over the small area of park near the edge of the East Manehattan river. Her eyes then focused on the single white unicorn standing facing the river. His blue mane and black raincoat slowly moved in the wind off the river. He stood there silent as Daring took a tentative step forward. Fancy’s head slowly turned to glance at Daring before turning his attention back to the river.

“It’s good to finally meet you in person Ms. Daring. I know that you have several names and aliases but that is the one you like the most am I right?” Fancy said in his normal calm demeanor as he adjusted a pair of thin steel frame glasses with his magic. “You don’t need to worry Ms. Daring I won’t tell anyone.” Daring took another timid step forward anticipating any surprise this pony has in store for her. “I’ve been watching you for a while now actually. I know everything about you. I know about your identities. I know that you dropped out of flight school. I even know about your service with CAFO.” Fancy Pants turned around to face Daring as he continued. “Your skills are just the right set I am looking for.” Daring narrowed her eyes at him and took a step forward.

“Who are you? Secret Service or something?” Daring asked ready to pounce the white unicorn if need be. Fancy used his magic to adjust the glasses on his face, his stoic expression unchanging as he cleared his throat again.

“Oh no Ms. Daring I do not work for any branch of the government. Call me an interested third party.” Fancy said as Daring backed off slightly looking a little confused. Fancy’s expression then changed as a friendly smile slowly broke onto his face.

“My name is Fancy Pants...and I would like to offer you a job Ms. Daring.”