Internal Changeling Affairs

Chapter Six:

Tasks And Teamwork

Early the next morning, the group of friends sat in the assignment room of the CRGD headquarters each of them with a small desk of their own with Twilight Sparkle at the front of the room at the podium.  It much resembled a school classroom with a blackboard at the front.  Instead of math equations however the blackboard was covered in all kinds of writing pertaining to recent crimes and a map of the city clung to the wall just to the left of it.  Twilight stood motionless staring at the clock on the wall.  The moment the clock struck 8:00 am, a guard with a briefcase opens the door, enters the room and takes a seat at a desk in the first row.  He was a unicorn stallion with a bright saffron coat and navy blue mane with a flaming bullet for a cutie mark.

“thank you for coming, lieutenant Speeding lead” Twilight said to the guard.

“anything at all I can do to help, Twilight” he replied.  “ya know, your brother saved my plot once.  It’s the least I can do”

“excellent” Twilight said.  “OK now that everypony is here, without further ado let’s all sit down and shut the ~squee~ up!  The lieutenant has some things he would like to present to us so listen up!”

“thanks, Twilight”  said the lieutenant as he got up from his seat carrying the mysterious briefcase with his unicorn magic.  “alright, everypony.  It was a tall order to have this stuff ready on such short notice but I was able to make it happen”  Speeding Lead said as he opened the case and levitated seven all different suits and uniforms and let them hover at the front of the room.  “Detective Sparkle” he said turning to Twilight.  “would you do the honors?”

“glad to, lieutenant” she replied.  “OK, girls!  We all know why we’re here and it’s time to get down to business.  We’re all going to be working as a team but be splitting up into a few smaller separate ones with it’s own tasks.  Rarity with your attention to detail and excellent pony skills and Fluttershy with your famous stare, I can think of no better pair for investigations and if necessary, interrogations”

Twilight then used her magic to place a gray suit with a fedora hat in front of each of them on their desks along with a badge, a pair of hoof cuffs and a holster each containing a semi-automatic pistol, Fluttershy‘s having a larger trigger guard.

“Rainbow Dash and AppleJack!  I think you two would do well being our go-to girls if things get rough so you are both going to be our first responders!”

Again Twilight issued uniforms this time being the standard issue dark blue with a matching police style cap and badge as well as a fully equipped utility belt containing batons, hoof cuffs, two way radios and a .38 revolver for each.  One with an enlarged trigger guard to accommodate the wing of a Pegasus for Rainbow Dash and the other with a mouthpiece fit for an earth pony in place of the standard handle for Applejack.

“Spike and Cadence!  We’re going to have the two of you handling dispatch at our call center that we are setting up at the palace”

Again she used her magic to present to each of them a telephone headset.

“Pinkie Pie!  You the only one I know who is a qualified pedal chopper pilot so you’ll be our eye in the sky on aerial support”

Twilight then presented Pinkie Pie with a pair of aviators and a pilot helmet with a built in headset.

“Steel Piston!  After seeing how kick-plot you are at driving, I’m assigning you the task of handling the patrol coach that the department is letting us use.  You’ll be teamed up with me.  And seeming how you have already picked up a suit, it looks like we’re ready to kic-”

Rarity suddenly started to giggle catching Twilight’s attention.

“you find something funny, Detective?”  Twilight retorted.

“oh nothing at all dear.  Er, Detective Sparkle”

Shrugging off the awkward interruption from Rarity, Twilight looked around at everypony around the room.

“congratulations, everypony” Twilight said.  “we are all now working for the Canterlot Royal Guard Department!  Any questions?”

As soon as Twilight finished her question, a hoof from every single pony in the room shot up in the air.  Twilight Sparkle sighed and shook her head in disapproval and began to answer questions one at a time.

“yes spike?

“uh yeah, two questions.  Why don’t I get a gun and why didn’t you team me up with Rarity?

“because you’re too young for a gun and Rarity will be better off interviewing witnesses with Fluttershy.  Whose next?  Fluttershy?"

“um yes, Twilight.  Well, uh…is there a chance I may have to shoot somepony with this?”

“well if somepony threatens you with one and leaves you no other choi-”

“I don’t think I could get myself to do it!”

Rainbow Dash then interrupted “uh, so did everypony forget that I’m a felon or has my record been cleared somehow?"

“sheesh!  If your arrest record didn't involve firearms then you can-”

“ooh!  Ooh!  Pick me!  Pick me!  Pinkie Pie said.

“what, pinkie?”  Twilight answered.

“don’t we need like some kinda super official ultra professional training before we can be cops?”

“we’ll be fin-”

“I’ve never even used one of these!”  Fluttershy screamed in horror.

“Ya shoulda pared her up with me, Twi”  Applejack said.  “I’m probably the only pony here who can fire an’ reload any piece ya send my way”

SSSSSSSCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!  the blood curdling shriek of lieutenant Speeding Lead dragging his hoof down the blackboard to get everypony’s attention was enough to turn the darkest coated of ponies as white as Rarity.

“everypony suit up and head down to the indoor firing range!”  he shouted.  “You’ll all be pro snipers within the hour!  Move it!”

The Lieutenant was not joking as it did not take long at all for everypony to be able to hit their marks and reload in record time.  Fluttershy and Rarity were the two least experienced with firearms but they proved to be quick learners.  It had been years since Pinkie Pie had used a shotgun on her parents’ rock farm but she preformed as if she had just fired it yesterday.  Applejack had always used anything and everything and was a natural with the six shooter.  Rainbow Dash started off somewhat rocky but had quickly gotten back into the groove.  Steel Piston used to work security at the Glowplug County power plant so he was accustomed to such hardware.  Twilight Sparkle, being the sister of the guard captain had taken advantage of countless opportunities to practice while spending quality time with her brother and was even going so far as to fire at multiple moving targets simultaneously.

“damn!”  Rainbow Dash said.  “check out special agent Sparkle!”

“Thanks, Raninbow” Twilight replied as she twirled her .45 M1911 before re-holstering it.  “ok!  Does everypony feel confident that they can handle their gat?”

“this is way more fun and intimidating than my party cannon!”  Pinkie Pie squealed with delight.

“wow, Twilight” Fluttershy said staring at the glock 9 in her wing as if it were the love of her life.  “I never knew how it felt to hold one of these.  I just feel so…so…powerful”

“okayyyyyy” Twilight interrupted apparently weirded  out by Fluttershy’s comment.  “I think it’s a safe bet that we’re all ready to check out the reports and get to work.  We’ll go back to the assignment room to go over the clues”

After an hour of reviewing witness reports and crime scene photographs they were finally ready to take a look at the only physical evidence that could be found.  The projectile that was removed from Shining Armor’s chest.  At the very sight of the now mushroom shaped hunk of copper coated lead that could have been, or still may in fact be the reason for Shining’s death, Twilight could not help herself from needing a paper bag to breath in and out of.  After Twilight had finally calmed with the help of Steel Piston rubbing her back to comfort her, they removed the slug from the evidence bag to study it.

“so this is a .38 caliber” Steel pointed out.  “this caliber was standard issue where I worked for security.  But the amount that the hollow point has expanded isn’t consistent with a standard .38 revolver.  It mush have had a lot more power than that”

“well, since we don’t have the actual weapon used, this is all we have that we can work with”  Twilight said.  “but it’s time!  Everypony team up!  Here’s the plan.  Officers Apple and Dash, you two go take to the streets and talk to everypony you can and see if you can find any information that could help”

“yes ma’am! Rainbow Dash replied.

“and for heaven’s sake, Dash, don’t be too rough on anypony!  Twilight warned.

“I can’t promise that, ma’am!” Rainbow replied as she brought her right hoof up in salute.

“Spike and Cadence!  Report to the palace call center.  You two are our means of communication and dispatch.  Look for any leads you can find and inform us as soon as you do!

“you got it, boss!”  spike answered.

“Detectives Fluttershy and Rarity!  Here is a list of witness names and addresses from the reports.  They haven’t been interviewed yet.  Get any and all information out of them that they have!”

“you can count on us, dear- er, Detective Sparkle” Rarity replied.  “we will not let you down!”

“Pinkie Pie!” hit the chopper and get a hold of the other teams if you see anything suspicious!

“yes, ma’am sir ma’am!

“Detective Piston!  You and I are going to take the patrol coach to double, triple and quadruple check the crime scene!  Let’s move it!”

Each team exited the front door of the CRGD headquarters and went their own separate ways to find the identity of the pony behind the trigger and the sinister plot to compromise the entire nation’s security. End Chapter Six