Back In Town

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

Back In Town

Traffic was light. The radio was playing good music. I tapped my hooves on the steering wheel as I drove. I was in a good mood that morning. The sun over Mareami was excellent and the temperature was just right to drive with the windows down.

Contributing to my pleasant attitude was the fact that it was my last day at work, or at least, my last day in Mareami. Not that I had anything against the city, but I was excited to have a change of scenery.

At the company I worked for, the jobs worked on a rotation cycle. An employee was up for transfer every three years. They would be given a list of the available locations and jobs, and if they so chose, could pick their top three choices for a new assignment. The selections were compiled and jobs were handed out. My date of rotation, October first, had come.

I hadn’t screwed up in the last three years and I didn’t think I had picked anything that was in high demand, so I was confident that I would get one of my top choices.

I came into the office. Jump Rope, the secretary, was the first pony I encountered. She had been in the office longer than anypony else. Some ponies find a place they like and start turning down transfers.

“Good morning, Jump.” I nodded to her.

“Good morning, Harv. Your transfer paperwork came in.” She turned in her swiveling chair to the mailbox and retrieved an envelope addressed to me.

In Mareami, I was an analyst. Reports came in, I read them, and I sent them to where they needed to go after that. It was a very stable job, and sometimes the reports were entertaining. I had applied to the same type of job, but requested transfer to Seaddle, Dodge Junction, or Canterlot.

Jump Rope offered me a letter opener. I slit the envelope and pulled the letter out. It read:

Harvest Peach,

Report to Field Office Ponyville no later than 6 October to fill empty position of Investigative Agent.

Jump Rope seemed startled by the expression that crossed my face. “Is there something wrong?”

I stared into space. “Yes. They’re sending me home.”

“You don’t want to go?”

“Why do you think I moved here?” I stuffed the letter back in the envelope and walked away.

I ended up at my desk. I realized that I should probably take a moment to calm down when I began slamming drawers and attracting attention from my coworkers.

I sat down in my chair for the last time, thinking over the letter I’d gotten. I’d left Ponyville because I couldn’t see myself with a future there, among other reasons. I didn’t relish the thought of visiting, much less spending the next three years there doing a job I didn’t want.

This is probably a good time to clarify that I didn’t work for any regular company. It was a government sponsored group that regulated the supernatural community that the general public didn’t know existed. It was one of those secrets the government kept that was at such a high level of security that the employees weren’t even allowed to know the name. Obviously that created some identity problems, so we’d been forced to invent some things.

Back in the day, some clever individual had branded all the employees Shades. I could live with that. It added some mystery to my desk job. The individual offices were disguised as inconspicuous buildings in major cities around the country. The Mareami office had no sign on the outside, but if any curious pony should wander in, Jump Rope would tell them we did shipping.

The need for secrecy was a given. The general public did not need to know about things like vampires, ghosts, and psychics.

My thoughts turned to the new job tasking itself. I didn’t want to be an investigative agent. Basically, it was everything you saw on detective TV shows. Go talk to some ponies, solve some cases, and maybe have a token gunfight now and again. That’s how it had been described to me, anyway. It sounded fun, but I was happy with what I was already doing. Changes of pace are overrated.

I would have liked to simply stay in Mareami than go someplace I didn’t like. Unfortunately, this is a government job and once the paperwork is filed it might as well be the word of the Princesses. I had to leave.

I sighed and finished cleaning out my desk. My job didn’t require a lot of material of my own, so there wasn’t much to take with me. I took the standard issue telephone out of my bottom desk drawer where it had sat for the last few years and replaced the bright red telephone on my desk. The phone so rarely rang that each time it did I imagined some crisis was going on. Hence, the red phone. I packed it up with the rest of my things.

There were a few ponies to see me off. I traded hoofshakes, and reluctantly walked out of the office.

Every Shade office has a barrier spell placed on it. The company employs ponies with advanced skills in magic to create them. Barriers are designed to only let certain ponies through, and you have to be built into the spell. Since I was leaving, it would soon be rebuilt without my ID in it.

When I left the building, the level of noise increased, and that wasn’t just because I’d stepped outside. I can read minds. There’s a technical name for the exact ability that I have, but I can’t spell it.

If you want, you can get the spell builder to craft the barrier in such a way that it suppressed your own supernatural abilities while you’re inside the building. Since I could hear ponies’ thoughts, I had gone for it. Otherwise, I would be trying to concentrate on reports while listening to snippets from the minds of everypony in the greater Mareami area. With effort, I could block it myself, but it was easier to not have to deal with it.

I don’t remember when I first realized that I was a mind reader. Sometimes it’s helpful and sometimes it’s terrifying. It sure got me good grades through school, but it taught me things I really didn’t want to know my parents’ sex life.

Since I wasn’t going to be there all day, I’d parked in the one hour parking right across the street. I had bought my truck off a stallion who couldn’t afford to pay for the gas anymore. I didn’t have problems with that. One of the perks of the Shade job is a gas card.

The truck was old, barely painted, and excessively large in every dimension. The previous owner had used it to play in mud holes. I didn’t find much time to do that, but it was nice to know that I could if I wanted to.

I was single. That’s part of how I could get away with the truck. It was hard to park and not fun to drive long distances on the highway, but I wasn’t paying for the gas and it was tough enough to shrug off head-on collisions. I figured there was a chance that I would eventually meet the right girl, but until then, I was going to keep on truckin’.

I climbed inside and put my belongings on the seat beside me. I paused and checked the rearview mirror. My reflection showed a green mane and sort of a roseish-tan coat. I looked like a peach, basically. Coincidentally, my cutie mark let me pick the freshest produce at the grocery store. It’s not anything I can really use at work.

After adjusting the mirror I started the engine and took one last look at the office before driving away.

I’d canceled my apartment lease, and everything I owned was in the back of the truck. There wasn’t a lot of it, but it served to remind me that it was only the second time I had ever moved. I still wasn’t thrilled that I was moving back to the place I had left from.

The long trip to Ponyville sucked. There was nothing to do but drive. It didn’t help that Mareami and Ponyville are both very flat places, but to get between the two, you have to cross a mountain range.

It was a farming community that I grew up in, and we could legitimately be referred to as hicks by ponies from the city. This is possibly why I like big trucks.

I got out of there, though. I didn’t loathe the place, but I could see that if I stayed, I was never going to do anything with my life. I went to a prodigious university and got a fancy degree. I never got a chance to use it, though, because the Shades recruited me.

Along the way, I got a call from some Shade working in communications. She said I should stop at the Fillydelphia office along the way. I asked how to get there and she told me, but wouldn’t say why I was supposed to go.

I had to turn to the detail pages in my atlas to find the place. When I got there, they confirmed my identity by taking blood. Security Shades use these nifty little devices that look and function about like a blood glucose meter for diabetics. You give them a drop and they confirm that you are who you say you are. Don’t ask me how they got a handheld device that can identify anypony just by their blood. Government secret.

Once they knew who I was, they gave me an envelope. That was it. Slightly annoyed at the delay, I got back on the road. I opened the envelope when I stopped at a hotel that night.

There was a picture of a mare, a brief biography and a short note explaining that she would be my partner when I was doing my new investigative agent thing.

I put down the note and picked up the picture. It was a color wallet-sized headshot. The mare looked young, maybe eighteen or so. She had a dark blue mane, brown eyes, and a light olive coat.

Name: Forest Song. Nice, I thought. It contrasted with my rather plain name of Harvest Peach and might add some flavor when ponies referred to us collectively. Peach and Song. Song and Peach. Harv and Forest. Eh, maybe not.

Race: Earth pony. Like me.

Variant: Lycan. I let out an explosive sigh and rolled my eyes. Damn it, why couldn’t I get a normal partner? I know the company is supposed to be an equal opportunity employer, but special needs get in the way of work, especially if she would be transforming into a wild animal every full moon. I suppose it was better than getting a vampire, though. Or a troll. That would have been really terrible.

Birth date: Unknown. Great, she was old enough that she couldn’t remember. My new partner was immortal.

Previous assignment: Strike team commander, Canterlot. Well then, not only would she be older and cuter than I, but she would have combat skills, too.

I was beginning to wonder if I would survive three years in Ponyville.

I got to my old hometown in the evening and checked into a hotel. I would have to find someplace permanent to live, but that could wait a day or two. At least I didn’t have furniture or anything like that to move with me.

Before showing up to work the next day, I took a little more time on my appearance. First impressions are important. When I was satisfied, I drove down to the office.

It was smaller than the one in Mareami. Ponyville is smaller. Even a couple hundred years after the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony were identified as local residents, the place hadn’t grown much from a small town.

I could claim to be related to the Element of Honesty, Applejack, although somewhat distantly. I guess that looking into a pony’s thoughts was the ultimate method of discovering the truth, even though what came out of my own mouth was often a lie of necessity.

The Ponyville Shade building was nondescript with a small attached parking garage and no signs to identify the business. After parking, I went to the front door. They took blood again and let me through the barrier into the office. Until someone built my ID into the barrier, I would have to be blooded in each time.

There were fewer ponies than I was used to. I realized that I wasn’t going to be just a face in the crowd, and that made me nervous. I asked the way to the station chief’s office and somepony told me. A station chief was in charge of each field office. It was a position that came with seniority. I found his office and went in.

Water Drop appeared to be as old as the oceans. In other words, his name fit him perfectly. He had an easy smile and appeared to run the office effectively. In a chair across the desk from him was Forest Song.

She looked even younger than she had in the photo. Despite that, she was also rather fetching, a feeling that I had to clamp down on quickly. Office romances are never a good idea. Not that I’d had any, I just knew from experience. Maybe I would have one of the office shrinks burn feelings for her out of my head. I did take a furtive glance at her posterior, just long enough to see that her cutie mark was a half note.

“Mr. Peach,” said Water Drop. “Good to meet you. I hope your trip wasn’t too bad.” He got up to shake my hoof. The office barrier hadn’t yet been set up to block my mind, so I got a sense of genuine interest in my well being from him.

“The trip was all right, sir,” I said. Forest took my hoof after Water Drop. Both had a firm grip.

“Song here came to town early to find a place to go through her monthly changes. I presume you read her dossier?”

I nodded.

“Great. Song's had a tour of the building. She can show you around. Well, I’ll let you get settled in.”

Forest Song and I left his office together. I got a sense of neutral interest from her, waiting to see if she would like me or not. I hoped she would.

“So what brings you to Ponyville?” I asked.

“Change of scenery,” she replied. “I’d never worked here before, so I figured why not. What about you?”

“Actually, I’m from the area. I hated it, so I left at the first chance I got. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that I would be coming back here. I didn’t put it on my transfer paperwork.” I immediately regretted saying so. I didn’t want to come off as a whiner.

She gave me a look. “Well, they evidently needed somepony here. Sometimes the system just screws you.”

I followed her down the hallway to a plain office with two desks. One had things on it. I put my own things on the other. As I began to unpack, the door opened. Two stallions came in.

“Thought we’d come by and say hello,” said one. “Call me Lock Box.”

“We’re down the hall,” said the other. “I’m Ivory Hammer.”

“Forest Song.”

“Harvest Peach.”

Hoofshakes all around.

As quickly as they’d entered, they left again. I unpacked a little more. A couple more groups came in and introduced themselves. I began to suspect we’d see the whole office by the end of the day.

In an interlude between introductions, I got to know my partner a little better. She preferred Forest, so I let her call me Harv. She’d done the investigative agent thing before, although it had been a couple decades.

“I saw that you’re a mind reader,” she said. “How’s that going for you?”

“Oh you know, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.” As a lycan, she knew that pretty well. Being superpowered was great, but it cost you one night of insanity each month.

“How much range do you have?” Forest asked.

“I can hear a couple of miles in any direction.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a psychic that could cover that much area.” She was impressed.

“Neither have I.” Actually, I was sort of proud of that. “I have trouble with precision, though. I can’t pick somepony’s thoughts out of the crowd unless I can actually see them.”

Just then, another pair of agents came in. A stallion and a mare this time. Chapstick and Earthquake, they said.

“It’s nice to meet you. Pity it’s under grim circumstances,” said Chapstick.

Forest and I traded glances. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh, no one told you? You’re the replacements for two investigators who were killed last week.” Sunbeam and Chalk Line, I got from her thoughts. Well, that explained why they needed new agents in Ponyville. I felt like an ass for complaining.

“What happened?” asked Forest.

“Gang initiation,” said Earthquake. “Dirtbags had to kill somepony to join.” And Earthquake had been one of the first on the scene. An image of the crime from his mind flashed to me. The car was riddled with bullet holes and the two bodies in the front seat looked like Swiss cheese. Not pretty.

“Did they know who they killed, or was it random?” Forest asked.

“We don’t know yet. A few of us have a nasty suspicion that they might have.”

All four of us were silent for a moment, taking that in. A street gang who knew about Shades was nasty, indeed.

“Thanks for the heads up,” I said.

Earthquake and Chapstick left, but not before inviting us to lunch.

“Looks like finding this gang is going to be the number one priority,” said Forest.

I agreed. I didn’t know Sunbeam or Chalk Line, but she and I might as well pitch in on the efforts to avenge them.

I turned back to the things I had brought with me and pulled out the red telephone. It was a small office, so I connected it to the only phone line. Forest stared at me.

Before she could ask, I said, “It makes me feel like a superhero.” I picked up the receiver. “Hello? What’s that? They’re robbing the bank?” I put it down. “Come on! To the Shademobile!”

She stared at me some more. “When you get to be as old as I am, you start to lose your grip on pop culture. As it is, I’m doing continuing education every twelve years, and I’m still barely keeping up.”

I could tell that she did at least know who Batmare was. Still, I thought that somebody at headquarters should change the policy. Things changed too fast to be covered every twelve years. I guess I would have to be her guide to modern society.

We had lunch with Earthquake and Chapstick. They took us to a restaurant that I remembered. It was actually one of my favorites in Ponyville, although I didn’t say anything.

That afternoon, Forest and I dug into the case, going out to question ponies of interest. Since we hadn’t been around long enough to put together our own list of suspects, Earthquake and Chapstick shared theirs with us.

Being a government organization, Shades could have gotten a deal on a bulk order of cheap, cop-like sedans, but luckily somepony was smarter than that and had gotten other cars that didn’t scream “law enforcement.” Forest and I got a set of keys and she let me drive.

With some help from me, Forest figured out how to put the addresses on the list into the GPS unit in the car. It spat out directions for us. First up was a stallion named Rhubarb Pie.

Rhubarb lived in a rundown apartment building. It wasn’t a slum, but the rent was probably cheap.

“How do you want to do this?” asked Forest as we walked up to his door.

I shrugged. “You probably know better questions to ask. I’ll just see what I can dig out of his head.”

We knocked. The door was answered by the stallion himself. He looked at us and decided we weren’t cops. There was no way Forest looked old enough, and even at twenty-five, I probably didn’t either.

“What do you want?” Rhubarb asked

“We just came to ask you a few questions,” Forest replied.

“Who are you?”

At any mention of law organizations, Rhubarb would probably slam the door in our faces. I quickly said, “Census Bureau.”

Nice, thought Forest. “We’d like to know if you belong to any clubs or organizations.”

Rhubarb thought about it for half a second. I caught a glimpse of something, but he said, “No.”

“What do you do in your spare time?” I imagined that he had a lot of that, since he was home in the middle of the day.

“I…I watch TV.”

“How often do you hang out with friends?”

“What is this about again?”

“We told you, the census.”

“I filled out the form and sent it in. Leave me alone.” He shut the door.

As we walked back to the car, Forest said, “Even I could tell he was hiding something.”

“Yeah. He’s in the gang, or at least a gang.”

We visited a few more ponies of interest and didn’t turn up anything useful. Late in the day, we took what we had back to the office.

Forrest hummed musically as we went over the paperwork. I didn’t particularly mind, although I could see how some ponies might. We went over the evidence until it was time to go.

“At my last job, I moved around a lot and didn’t have a car of my own. Do you mind giving me a ride home?” Forest asked as we walked out of the building.

“I can do that,” I said. She followed me to the parking lot.

My truck was at least a foot taller than any vehicle around it, and not nearly as pretty. Forest looked at it skeptically. “That might be the largest, ugliest vehicle I’ve ever seen a Shade drive.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I grew up country, even if I’m still trying to get away from it.”

After unlocking the door and climbing inside, I popped the lock on the passenger door. Forest used her supernatural strength to jump in easily.

The window crank on the passenger side was broken off, so Forest couldn’t stick her head out the window. I think she probably would have been insulted if I had suggested it. I was thankful she couldn’t hear my thoughts.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

She gave me directions to the place and hummed a little to herself while we drove. In a few minutes we were there. I glanced at the house as we pulled up. “Are the lights supposed to be on?”

“It makes it look lived in,” Forest explained. “What would the neighbors think of a kid like me living alone?” She grinned. “Thanks for the ride.”

I gave her a smile in return. “Well, it was a good first day. See you tomorrow.”

Chapter 2

The next day, there was an office memo put out about personal weapons. Everypony, even the report-reading analysts, were authorized to carry weapons, but now that someone might be hunting Shades, it became “suggested” that everypony arm themselves.

Various threats required various weapons to combat them. In this case, all signs pointed to an equine threat, so a gun made the most sense. We wouldn’t even need anything fancy, like silver bullets.

I didn’t own a gun of my own. Sure I’d grown up with them around, that was the kind of place Ponyville was, but when I left, things changed. You couldn’t have them at college and when I went to work in Mareami, all I did was sit behind a desk.

There was a small armory in every office, just in case. In cities where strike teams were based it was substantially larger. In Ponyville, it was run by the supply clerk, the same guy who you went to see to get paper and pencils.

I showed up at his desk. “I’d like a gun.”

He put a NAG Sauer 26 pistol down on the desk in front of me.

“Don’t I get a choice?” I asked.

“No, this model is federal issue. It’s the only kind we have.” He pushed some forms at me. I dutifully filled them out. It wasn’t like office supplies where you used them up and ask for more. The guns were put out on loan. You were authorized to keep and carry them. If you fired the weapon, you had to fill out more paperwork.

I finished inking the paper and picked up the pistol to inspect it. I knew my gun safety and didn’t do anything stupid. The pistol was empty.

“Do I get ammunition? How about a spare magazine?”

“More paperwork.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

After work that afternoon, I checked the yellow pages and found a shooting range. I briefly questioned whether it was worth the paperwork, but I eventually decided that I needed the practice.

The range was in a basement underneath a firearm and firearm accessories store. Before I went down, I bought a shoulder holster to put the gun in. The federal law enforcement agencies had begun to wear hip holsters under their suit coats, but I was old school.

Upstairs, the noise had vibrated the floorboards. Downstairs, it was deafening. It was a narrow room with concrete walls. The noise had nowhere to go. My earplugs helped only a little. I practiced quickdrawing from the holster a few times.

When I started shooting, a few ponies in the basement took notice, but quickly decided that I was nothing special. Let me hasten to add that I’m nothing terrible, either.

I left a while later, mentally figuring how long it would take me to fill out the ammunition expended form. I stopped to get a newspaper. It was time to get started on finding a place to live.

Forest startled me the next morning as I was going through a few apartment listings at my desk. They’d updated the front door barrier, and I hadn’t heard her thoughts as she entered the room.

“Looking for a place?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I’d gotten lucky the last time and had gotten an apartment from an outgoing Shade.

“Just remember, there are no perfect deals. Every place has its drawbacks.”

That was true. Some were too far away. Some were too small, even for one stallion. Some didn’t have parking for vehicles like mine. Some didn’t have parking at all. Some were the site of a notorious triple homicide. I had better things to do than deal with apartment ghosts.

While I was at work, though, I should probably think about work stuff. It was only day two of our partnership, but it seemed to me that Forest liked to dress casually. She played up her high school looks.

Since I had a gun now, I was probably going to be wearing a lot of suit coats. I kind of liked looking professional. Plus it would help me stay warmer in the oncoming autumn.

Forest and I were about to leave on another round of interviews when the red telephone rang. I picked it up.

“Harvest, when were you going to tell me you were back in town? You don’t call as often as you should.”

I was temporarily at a loss for words. “Mom…how did you get this number?” Forest heard me and looked surprised.

“Not even ‘hello?’ After you moved away, you didn’t come back to visit even once.”

“Mom, I’m at work. You can’t call me here.”

“Your cell phone stopped working.”

“I got a new one when I moved. I’ll give you the number, but you can’t call me between nine and five.”

I got her to agree to that and gave her my number. I was tempted to give her a false one, but that obviously wouldn’t do much good if she’d managed to get the number for the freaking Shade office. Besides, it wasn’t worth the hell she would give me.

“I think your mother is a security risk,” said Forest after I hung up.

“Well, obviously she knows things she shouldn’t, but it’s never come back to bite me before.”

“We should go down to the communications department and see who was dumb enough to give out your number.” She cracked her fetlocks.

“It won’t do any good. I’ve tried to find out how she does it before. Maybe there’s something that runs in the family.” I tapped the side of my head.

Forest shrugged. “Maybe.”

We grabbed a car again and went out. Ponyville does have a downtown section where traffic is heavy, but the Shade office wasn’t in it. After a dozen blocks or so, I realized there was somepony following us.

“You see that old blue car behind us?” I asked.

Forest shifted so she could look at the side mirror. “The ’85 Clopsmobile?”

I thought it was an ’86, but whatever. “It’s been behind us since we left.”

I turned at the next available corner. So did the car. “I suppose you have more experience with this,” I said. “What do we do?”

“Don’t take too many corners, you don’t want to make them suspicious. Get us to somewhere with no traffic.”

I wasn’t sure what she was doing. If somepony was following us, I personally would have gone into heavier traffic to make picking us out more difficult. I remembered Sunbeam and Chalk Line, the dead Shades. I also wanted to have more traffic around to discourage potential bad guys from shooting us.

Meanwhile, Forest had reached into the glove box and come out with a small video camera. Just because we were in charge of regulating the supernatural community didn’t mean we used stone age technology. The camera was provided in Shade cars for whatever agents saw fit to use it for. I had occasionally watched video reports where the camera was set up on the dashboard of a Shade car to record a chase.

In the mirror, I saw that the car was still following us. We had come to a mostly abandoned industrial complex on the south side of the city. Forest set up the camera facing backwards and told me to stop the car.

The other car rolled to a stop about fifty feet behind us. For a few seconds, nothing happened. My eyes were glued to the mirror and I clearly saw the passenger poke a Woozi submachine gun out the window.

Without waiting for advice from Forest, I slammed the accelerator pedal down. To my surprise, Forest jumped out of the car.

I grabbed the emergency brake lever and jerked the car around to go back. I heard the Woozi being fired. It abruptly stopped and there was a shriek that sounded only vaguely equine.

My hoof had never left the gas pedal and the car raced back to where I had left Forest. I saw that there was blood on the inside of the other car’s windshield.

I stopped the car and got out. At some point, my gun had appeared in my grip and I didn’t know how it got there. I came around the hood of my car, hobbling on three legs as I kept the gun up, and approached the driver’s side of the other vehicle.

The driver’s door opened and Forest tumbled out on top of the driver. He was a young stallion dressed in gangster clothes. She hit him in the face and then flipped him over and sat on his back. He moaned and didn’t seem inclined to move from that position.

I shoved my pistol back in its holster and looked into the car. On the passenger was another young gangster. He was slumped across the front seat and bleeding from the head. The Woozi was on the floor of the back seat. There was blood on it, so I guessed that was what he had been brained with.

Forest raised a hoof and licked blood from it. It didn’t look like her blood. I looked away, turning to go back to our car.

I put out a call to the Shade office and within a few minutes a cleanup crew came out. They put the two stallions in a van and drove their car away. I didn’t know where they were going and unless I was shoved into cleanup duty, I didn’t care.

Forest hummed as she got cleaned up so we wouldn’t have a mess inside the car. I was struck with how utterly nonchalant she was about violence. Don’t get me wrong, I would have gladly filled out the forms for every pull of a trigger if I thought it was warranted, but I guess she’d just had a lot more time to get used to it than I’d had.

With what had happened, it didn’t look like Forest and I were going to get the interviews done that day. I drove us back to the office. The adrenalin rush was wearing off, and I had to force myself to concentrate on the road.

We talked with Water Drop at his desk. Sunbeam and Chalk Line had been killed not that far from the office and we had been followed since shortly after we left, so it seemed likely that whoever was after Shades knew where our office was. In all the reports I had ever read, I didn’t remember anything like this happening before.

“Now that we know,” said Forest, “we can be on the defensive. Let’s bring in a strike team.”

“I wouldn’t mind, but headquarters is probably not going to approve that just to take out a few street thugs,” said Water Drop. “Right now, we’re going to move up personal weapons from ‘suggested’ to ‘required’ and put out information about what to be on the lookout for. Depending on what we shake out of the two stallions you beat up today, we’ll decide where to go from there.”

Forest and I got up to go. Water Drop said, “Song, nice work today. Peach, nice work for a desk jockey.” It was a rather backhoofed compliment, but I was okay with that.

Out in the office, we had to tell the story for everypony else. I was unused to the attention and told Forest that I would write the after action report while she socialized. I’d read enough reports at my desk back in Mareami that I knew what to write.

After action report by Harvest Peach

Subject: Forest Song and Harvest Peach's violent encounter

Two stallions followed Song and Peach away from the office, possibly with intent to kill them. After traveling to a location away from the public, Song engaged the stallions in hoof to hoof combat and subdued them. Peach provided moral support and called a cleanup crew.

End of report.

Report readers reserved the right to send the report back to the writer to redo it with more detail. Investigative agents usually tried to spend as little time as possible on the reports while still putting down enough so they wouldn’t get them sent back. I figured it was my duty to make my first report minimalist to test the readers.

The rest of the day, more ponies stopped by to hear the story than had come to meet us the entire first day. My report was sent back, so I expanded it to roughly double the length and it was accepted.

After work and taking Forest home, I went to see some apartments. I looked at one that was about the size of a closet and one with the history of water leaks. I was going to go see another one, but drove past when I saw the crime scene tape was still up. I found one I liked, but the only parking was three blocks away. In the end, I settled for the tiny one and agreed to move in as soon as possible.

When Forest walked into work the next day, she wore an unbuttoned shirt over her usual t-shirt. There was a wide black velvet belt studded with silver-colored adornments under it. I assumed it was decorative, until she took the shirt off to sit down at her desk and I saw that it was actually a pistol belt.

There was a revolver on one side and spare cartridges in loops on the other. I noticed that there were a few different kinds of ammunition, presumably to kill different things.

Despite everypony now packing heat, it was business as usual in the office. The intelligence gathered from the two thugs was in. Their leaders had told them to kill off Shades. They knew where our office was, but since they were low-level grunts, they hadn’t been told who we were. Meeting Forest had been a nasty surprise. Unfortunately, that ignorance worked both ways. They didn’t know who their leaders were working with or why. That meant we would just have to capture somepony who did know. Easy enough.

The trouble with that plan was that when the two stallions didn’t come back, the ponies we were after would know something was up and take steps to protect themselves.

Water Drop called a meeting with all the investigative agents. We needed to get the information and act on it faster. That meant we couldn’t wait for a cleanup crew, and we would have to do the interrogations ourselves. He distributed Shade-published manuals about forcing information out of somepony.

Forest told me she had helped write the manual, so she didn’t need to reread it. We came up with a list of ponies to go see and set out. I read while she drove.

The manual was illustrated, in case you couldn’t visualize what it took to do something like remove an eye with simple tools. I had never practiced amateur surgery before, and didn’t really want to start, so I figured I’d let Forest handle it.

The two guys we’d captured had given a few names and locations of where their leaders might be. It was a long shot that they would still be there, but it was worth a try.

The first name on our list was Steel Bolt. He had gotten the two thugs the Woozi. There were two places he might be.

At the first address, a young mare answered the door.

“We’re looking for Steel,” said Forest.

“I don’t know anypony named that.”

Forest shifted her posture like she suspected the mare was lying. As for me, I knew she was.

“Steel Bolt, your boyfriend?” I said. The mare stuttered a little, trying to think of something to say.

“We really need to talk to him. If you know where he is and don’t tell us, you can be an accessory. We’ll haul you both downtown.”

Luckily, we had the mare shaken. If she’d asked to see a badge, we might have had a problem. That might be something to have in the future.

She said, “He’s not here. He should be back soon, though.”

“How soon?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

I went to move the car. If Steel had half a brain, he’d know something was up if he saw it parked in front of his place. When I came back, the mare was sitting in a chair in the kitchen while Forest leaned against the wall.

“This is Geo,” said Forest. “She says Steel keeps the guns under the bed.”

“Has he got anything back there now?” I asked.

“I haven’t checked.”

I went to find the bedroom. Sure enough, there were guns under the bed. Mostly pistols, a few sawed off shotguns, and a few submachine guns. It was quite a pile.

I came back out. Forest stopped talking to Geo and moved out the doorway as I came in.

“You’re better at this than I am,” she said, meaning getting information. She left the room.

“Better at what?” asked Geo.

“Waiting,” I said. “She hates it.”

“What are you going to do to Steel?”

“We just want to talk to him and find out about a particular weapons deal, although we probably should find out if those weapons under the bed are legal and arrest him if they aren’t.”

Geo fidgeted. She thought that they probably weren’t legal.

“Do you know anypony he hangs out with? Somepony we can go to if he doesn’t show up?”

She named a few ponies. I wrote it down in a small notebook. I kept it tucked in my hoof so she couldn’t see what I had written. With the addition of information she unknowingly gave me access to, I wrote down quite a bit more information than she said. I was even able to get a little about the ponies’ appearances.

Forest came in. “He’s here.”

I stood up but didn’t draw my pistol. Geo seemed like the type that would scream if I did. I just flexed my joints a little and got ready if I had to. Forest went to stand behind the door.

The key turned the already unlocked deadbolt. Did Steel expect it to be locked or was he not thinking about it? Did Geo usually lock it while he was gone? Had she unlocked it to let us in? I couldn’t remember.

The door swung open and Steel came in. He took a step inside and Forest slid a foreleg over his throat to cut off his air and put a hoof on his mouth to keep him quiet. In a matter of seconds, she had him on the floor, unconscious.

We borrowed the sheets off the bed and tied both his and Geo’s legs. She was probably not much of a threat, but she might get in the way. We sat both of them up against a wall and waited for Steel to wake up. Geo was crying quietly. Forest and I would let her go, but we couldn’t do that until after we finished talking to Steel in case she decided to tell his friends we were there.

Steel moaned and opened his eyes. He looked around, realized what was going on, and a panicked look crossed his face.

“You got a Woozi for a couple of guys,” said Forest. “Explain.”

To his credit, Steel didn’t play dumb. “They just wanted it, okay? They said they had some ponies to take care of.”

“That was us,” I said.

“Look guy, I’m sorry. I don’t have anything against you personally.”

“Do you know who does?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you heard anything about a large number of ponies being targeted? We aren’t the first to get attacked.”

“I’ve seen a lot of activity going on. I’ve got more business than usual.”

“Selling guns?”

“Right. And that’s all I do, no drugs.”

“Who have you been selling to?”

“It’s not like I keep a copy of the receipt. A lot of these ponies I’ve never met before. They just show up.”

“Is someone referring them to you?”

He thought for a moment. “Yeah, most of them have been coming from the Street Angels.”

“Tell us about them.”

“They haven’t been around very long. It’s mostly just roughing ponies up and small stuff. I’ve just done business with a few of them. I don’t know any of them personally.”

“Why have they been more active lately?”

“I don’t know. I’m not one of them.”

“Why did they come after us?”

Steel started to speak and then stopped. “You never told me who you were.”

“It’s not important,” said Forest. “We’re not going to arrest you, but you should really get into an honest line of work.”

With that, we left. “Why don’t we call the cops on him?” I asked after walking back to the car.

“Enforcing local and federal laws isn’t our job,” said Forest. “And if we called too many tips in, somepony would get suspicious.”

“It doesn’t seem right letting him go, especially after he sold a gun that somepony used to try and kill us.”

“I hate to use the Greater Good argument, but one small-time arms dealer isn’t worth risking the police learning that there’s a secret branch of the government out there.”

I supposed she had a point.

We went to check out the next name on the list, Chip Module. We didn’t specifically know who he was, but his name had been dropped by the two we’d captured, so we might as well go see him.

Module lived in a nice apartment building. It was a change from some of the places we’d been so far in the investigation. We used the cop bluff to get past the front desk and went up to his place.

The peephole went dark after we knocked on the door. After a moment, a stallion’s voice said, “Who are you?”

I quickly checked to see what answer he wanted to hear. “We have a message.”

“But who are you?” He was smarter than expected.

“Replacements. There’s been some trouble.”

A few seconds passed, and then the door opened.

Careful, he might have a weapon, thought Forest.

The window curtains were open and a lot of light was coming into the apartment. Module was partially hidden behind the door, in case it turned out we were there to jump him. We walked in and he shut the door.

He took us to a table in front of a window with a decent view. As I mentioned, it was a nice place. We all sat down. “Okay,” he said. “What is it?”

There wasn’t really a way we could keep bluffing. Forest pulled her gun and pointed it at him. It seemed like a decent idea, so I followed her lead.

“Actually, we were lying to you,” said Forest. “We’re the police, and we want you to tell us everything you know about the Street Angels.”

“I don’t know anything,” Module blustered, still surprised over the turned tables. Too surprised apparently to realize this was not standard for police.

“Then why did two stallions who tried to kill us know your name?” I asked.

“Wait, you’re cops? I didn’t know.” He knew that Shades were to be killed, but wasn’t told what Shades were. Now he thought we were some special branch of the police.

“Is there somepony bigger up the food chain that you’d like to turn in for a plea bargain?”

Module thought. He was in over his head and everything was happening too fast for him. He wanted out as fast as possible. Yes, there was someone he could give us. Silver Anniversary—

Before Module could open his mouth to say it, the window beside us shattered. Forest and I ducked to the floor instinctively.

Module slumped and fell out of his chair with a wet squish. Most of his head was missing. I felt a sudden rush of vomit and tried to keep it down. I was mostly successful, and swallowed what I couldn’t hold back. There was bound to be a police murder investigation now that Module was dead, I and couldn’t afford to leave clues like puke lying around in his apartment.

“Come on,” said Forest. We crawled out of range of the window and then bolted out of the apartment and back down to the street. She slowed down so I could keep pace, dialing her phone to call the office.

Forest looked up at the broken window and across at a building that was of similar height a couple of blocks away. It was an older office-type building with windows made of those thick glass blocks. We ran towards it.

“You can’t open those windows,” said Forest. “The shot had to come from the roof. You take the elevator, I’ll take the stairs.” I appreciated the chance to catch my breath. I ducked inside and pressed the button for the top floor. As the doors closed, I drew my gun and hoped nopony would stop the elevator on the way.

I stepped out on the top floor. Forest was already there, breathing only a little heavier than normal. Her gun was out, and she motioned me back into the stairwell. There was one more flight of stairs up, and then the door to the roof. The door was slightly open, letting in a sliver of sunshine.

We went up slowly and quietly. At the top, she nodded to me, and I pushed the door open wide as fast as I could. We both stepped out, covering the roof with our guns, but there was nopony there.

There was nowhere to hide on the roof. There was simply nothing there. I guessed that it was possible that somepony could have made it down to the street after firing the shot, but I doubted they would have had time to take care of their weapon, even if they were a pegasus. A city block is a 16th of a mile, and we were several blocks from Bob’s place. That was a couple hundred yards. Making a headshot at that distance required some specialized equipment.

Near the parapet closest to Module’s building, there was a large brass casing. It was a spent .50 caliber round. It could definitely have caused the damage to Module’s head. In the open neck of the casing was a piece of paper rolled up.

I pulled it out and showed it to Forest.

Forest,

Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to startle you. Who’s your friend?

Feather

“What in the world does that mean?” I asked.

Forest gritted her teeth. “It means we have a serious problem.”

Chapter 3

Back in the car, Forest was busy sending a flurry of text messages, because it was faster than calling.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” I asked.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out.”

I shrugged.

“It means White Feather is in town.”

I almost ran over a pedestrian. “What? I thought she was a story used to scare rookie Shades!”

Forest laughed. I didn’t think it was funny. “She is, but the stories had to come from somewhere.”

“How many of the stories are true?”

“True? I don’t know. But let me put it this way, I’ve never heard one that I thought she couldn’t have done.”

Great. Living nightmares, coming right up. White Feather was just about the worst thing that could happen in any given situation. She was supposedly a Shade assassin who’d quit to go out on her own. That was the kind of thing that wasn’t allowed, but she was deadly enough that nopony wanted to challenge her on it.

Stories breed stories, and in the end, nopony was sure of anything. There was no solid description of her, or any other information. That could be found in her files, but those were locked up tight. It was probably embarrassing to have a Shade give everypony the hoof and leave, and those in charge probably just wanted to sweep it under the rug.

While Forest texted, I noticed an black car with white racing stripes following us. It looked like it might have been a new Phoenix. Whoever was driving it didn’t bother trying to be covert.

I called Forest’s attention to it. “It’s her,” she said.

“What do we do?” The windows of the car were tinted and I couldn’t see anyone inside.

“Find a place to park.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Trust me.” Forest seemed confident that Feather would cause her no harm. I hoped the same applied to me.

There was a parking lot coming up, so I made the turn. The car pulled in behind us and stopped when I stopped.

The door opened and a pegasus mare got out. She was tall and also completely white. Even her eyes were pale.

She walked up to our car. “Roll the windows down,” said Forest. I gave her a look, but did as she said.

“How’s it going?” said Feather to Forest. She smiled.

“Well, a stallion was giving me important information when suddenly his head exploded.” Forest glared at her.

I did my best not to move. Feather turned to look at me. “Haven’t seen you before.” Her tone was conversational.

“I just got here a couple of days ago. I used to be an analyst.” I tried to see what she was thinking. I could tell that I was tuning in to her brain, but I couldn’t hear a thing. A pony can be taught to block their thoughts from a talent like me. She did it masterfully.

I offered my hoof carefully. “I’m Harvest Peach.” I braced for her to break my bones or something, but she shook rather civilly.

“I’m White Feather.”

“Your reputation precedes you.”

“What the hell are you doing in Ponyville?” said Forest, steering the conversation back.

“Just a job. I checked Module out and it seemed like the world could get along without him.”

“Who hired you?”

“That’s client-killer confidentiality.”

If we knew who it was, Forest thought, we might get a better idea of what’s going on here.

“Well, if you think you can help, let us know,” I said.

White Feather nodded and walked back to her car without another word.

I relaxed slightly and turned to Forest. “So did she kill Module for the money or because he was a bad guy?”

“Feather is a gun for hire,” Forest said. “She has a pretty loose set of morals, but usually only kills ponies who deserve it.”

We headed back to the office, once again having our day cut short by unexpected events. We also seemed to be turning into celebrities around the office. I didn’t care much for it, and I don’t think Forest did either. I got a sense from her that she’d just been trying to fit in her whole life, but that had never happened due to circumstances. It was sort of like how I was always trying to fit in somewhere that wasn’t my hometown.

I did the report, taking the time to make sure it wouldn’t be sent back. I made sure to include the name Silver Anniversary I’d gotten from Module. Maybe it would lead somewhere.

After I dropped Forest off at her place that afternoon, I went to move into my apartment. After being in the same room as a stallion who’d been shot, running around and having my heart rate up pretty much all day, I really needed a shower.

Of course, the water hadn’t been turned on yet. I went to the maintenance office and managed to borrow a bucket. I knocked on my neighbor’s door.

A wave of fruity perfume washed out of the apartment when the door opened. A young blonde unicorn wearing ugly but probably expensive clothing stood there.

“Hello, I just moved in next door,” I said to her. “My water hasn’t been turned on yet. I was wondering if I could borrow some?”

She giggled. “Borrow some water?”

“Or whatever.” I was quickly losing the professional tone I’d started out with. I had no idea how to handle somepony like this.

She nodded to me and stepped back from the door. “Sure. Come in.”

I followed her inside. It was…pink. I practically had to squint to keep my eyes from overloading. She showed me the sink and I filled the bucket. If I used it right, I could probably bathe with a gallon.

I started back to the door. On her coffee table was a circle of some symbols and things drawn in lipstick. Another circle around it was made of lipstick tubes stood on end. I stared at it for a moment and realized I was looking at some kind of setup for enhanced magic.

“What’s that?” I asked around the handle of the bucket.

She giggled. “That’s my focus circle. I’m a clairvoyant. By the way, my name’s Kimmy.”

“I’m…I’m Harv. Thanks for the water.” I hurried out.

I almost wished I’d stayed. If I had, I could have used Kimmy as an excuse not to talk to my mother when she called a few minutes later. Then again, maybe she knew where I was and would have waited until I was free.

“Harvest, you should come see me. It’s been so long.”

“I’ve got a lot of things to do tonight, mom.”

“Come by tomorrow, then.”

I closed my eyes. “Okay, I’ll be there after work.”

I made small talk with her for a few more minutes before begging off because I was tired, which was true.

I’d had the foresight to take some soap before leaving the hotel where I’d stayed the first night. I made the water that I had work. That left me with nothing to drink. I didn’t have any food, either. I sighed and went out to find a grocery store. It was getting late, but I managed to find one still open.

I remembered the place from going shopping with mom when I was younger. There were some interesting memories there. I remembered how she would delight in me helping to select the best fruits and vegetables. That was maybe the last time I did anything I was particularly suited to. Funny how life sometimes goes.

Returning to the apartment, I opened a can of soup and heated it on the stove. That appliance was working, at least. The internet hadn’t been hooked up yet, and I didn’t own a TV, so with nothing else to do, I decided to sleep. That was when I realized I didn’t have any sheets or pillows.

Forest must have picked up on my unpleasant mood in the morning, but didn’t comment. Since our recent adventures, Water Drop decided that we should stay at the office for a while. I agreed.

We collected and compiled data, names, numbers and other things in order to figure out what we knew and what we wanted to know. We organized what we wanted to know into lists for pairs of investigative Shades to go collect.

We also managed to track down an address for Silver Anniversary, who turned out to be a griffon financial manager. The information was dutifully filed and some Shade would pick it up and go see him.

I was surprised to discover that I would rather be out and about than doing paperwork. I was happy reviewing reports back in Mareami, but once I found out what kind of excitement I was missing out on, I couldn’t think of going back. Sure, getting shot at scared the heck out of me, but that wouldn’t be happening every day, would it? After this case was over, things should go back to normal.

At quitting time, I asked Forest for a favor. If she would go with me to my mother’s place, I could use her as an excuse not to spend too much time there. She agreed.

Mom lived in a nice little neighborhood that probably hadn’t changed much in a hundred years. The houses were all fairly small and old, but well maintained and landscaped.

“You gave me the impression that you grew up in the boondocks,” said Forest.

“Mom moved here when I left for college.”

“What about your dad?”

“They divorced at about that same time. I’ve heard from him a couple of times since then. I would be okay with the same amount of contact from my mother, but that’s not what happened.”

We pulled up in front of the house. “Ten minutes,” I said. “If I’m not back by then, come in and get me.”

I went up to the front door but it opened before I could knock. Mom had evidently been watching from the window.

“Harvest! It’s so good to see you.” She wrapped her forelegs around me and pulled me in. As much as I complained about her habits, I couldn’t really get pissed about a hug.

She looked over my shoulder and spotted Forest. “Who’s that?”

She pushed past me and started down the walk. “Hello dear! Harvest didn’t tell me he brought a friend.”

Forest politely exited the truck to speak to her face to face.

“Introduce us, Harvest,” said mom, from the side of her mouth.

“I’m Forest Song.” She stuck out her hoof. “I take it you’re Harv’s mother?”

“Yes I am. How did you meet my son?”

“Coworkers,” I said. “Listen mom, I have to take Forest home and then finish setting up my new place, so I don’t have much time.”

“Can you at least stay for dinner?”

“Well…”

Mom looked at Forest. “How about you, dear?”

“That sounds great,” said Forest. She grinned at me.

You should spend more time with your mother, Forest thought as we followed mom inside. I shot her a look, but said nothing.

When we got to the kitchen, I almost felt guilty for trying to avoid my mother. She’d gone to the effort of preparing an enormous pile of chow. As much as I hated to admit it, the smell of home cooking caused my mouth to water. This was what I’d missed after being out of town for so long.

“So what have you been up to in Mareami?” mom asked.

I chewed for as long as I could before replying. “Just work. If it was interesting, I’d have told you.”

“Well, now that you’re back home you can hang out with your old friends.” She smiled.

Truth be told, I had pretty much given up on any acquaintances I had in Ponyville. That was part of giving up on the town itself. “I have friends in Mareami.”

Mom clicked her tongue and changed the subject.

Forest watched us talk. She never appeared to take very much to eat, but I realized that quite a lot of food had crossed her plate by the end of the meal. I don’t know if mom noticed or not. Forest excused herself to wash her hooves and mom set about making me a plate to take with me. She knew that I would have to come back to the house eventually to return the plate.

“She’s a good looking girl,” said mom.

It took me a few seconds, but I got her meaning.

“Mom, I work with her.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m not comfortable with office romance. Besides, we aren’t the same age.”

“She looks young, sure, but the difference can’t be that much.”

It can be very frustrating living a secret life. Luckily, Forest came back and mom stopped talking. I’m sure Forest heard the entire conversation, though.

If Forest hadn’t been there, I probably would have had to sit and catch up with mom for a while after dinner. She let us go, though, and Forest and I walked to the truck.

“I like your mom. She’s friendly.”

“Too friendly.”

“At least it’s nice to have someone.” I instantly felt guilty again. Forest probably hadn’t had a mother in quite a long time.

I drove her to the house where I’d dropped her off before. She thanked me for dinner. It almost felt like I was taking her home after a date, and I worked hard to get rid of the thought.

The next morning, they put us on Silver Anniversary. We went downtown to an office building. Not where I would be looking for gangsters, but then again, Chip Module had been pretty upscale.

Forest and I decided to show up unannounced. That made it harder to get in to see him, but more likely to give us the advantage of surprise.

We stopped outside the glass door of the office. We would need a plan to bluff our way past the secretary. I concentrated on her for a few seconds and determined that she wasn’t the kind of pony who would simply accept an excuse like “we’re friends of his.”

Forest pulled a piece of white paper off a nearby message board and folded it. “Got your badge?” she asked me.

I pulled out the realistic copy of a Ponyville Police badge that I had been issued by the Shade office. I hung it in plain view on my pocket and we walked through the door.

“You’re Red Pen, right?” I asked the secretary. I showed the badge and the folded paper. “I’m Detective Smith. This is my partner, Detective Black. We came to talk with Silver Anniversary.”

“Do you have an appointment?” As I suspected, Pen was going to follow procedure.

“They didn’t call you?” said Forest. “We have a warrant.” She showed Pen the paper, although didn’t unfold it to reveal that it was fake. “We urgently need to speak to Mr. Anniversary.”

We started towards his office door. Pen got up from her desk saying, “You can’t do that!”

Forest turned the knob and swung the door open. All three of us froze. Silver Anniversary was slumped facedown on his desk, a pool of blood spreading from under his beak and dripping on the carpet. Pen fainted.

“I’ll see what I can find,” said Forest. “You keep the secretary busy.” She walked into the office. I knelt and waited for Pen to wake up.

Forest grabbed Silver by the feathers and lifted his head. His throat had been cut. She pulled out her phone and began taking picture of the scene while rummaging in his pockets.

Through the open office door, I could see that it didn’t look like anything else had been disturbed. The window was open. It took me a moment to realize that was strange. The October weather in Ponyville was turning cold, after all.

Pen began to wake up. I moved to put myself between the door and her line of sight.

“Oh my Celestia,” she said. “Is he dead?” She started to get up.

I put my hoof on her shoulder and gently held her down. “Yes, he is. You should rest for a minute.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Forest held Silver’s cell phone and was transferring its contents to hers.

I turned back to Pen. “Tell me, do you know who might have done this? Who was the last one to go into his office?”

“The last client came in about an hour ago, but he couldn’t have killed Mr. Anniversary because I saw him show the client out the door.”

“What kind of client? What do you do here?”

“We’re a financial company. We keep track of ponies’ investments.” I didn’t detect any sense that she was hiding something. That must have been what Silver told her and what she believed.

Forest came out and shut the door. “We need to go downstairs and meet the forensics team.” To me, she silently said, Let’s get out of here before the real police show up.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked Pen. She nodded. “Okay. Somepony will be back to check on you in a few minutes.”

Outside, Forest said, “One guess who did that back there.”

“White Feather.”

“Someone higher up the food chain is hiring her to kill off the underlings. Underlings that could tell us what’s going on.”

“What did you find in his office?”

“Not much with the time I had,” she said. A police car went by us with the lights and siren on. “We’ll have to see what we can get from his cell phone.”

The way things were going, it felt like we had been kicking over one hornets’ nest after another. At some point, we were bound to run into real trouble.

We went back to the office and parked at the curb rather than going back to the garage. It was important to get Silver’s cell phone information back as quickly as possible.

There had been a stallion standing against the wall talking on a cell phone when we pulled up. He shifted his position a little as Forest and I got out of the car.

As we neared the front door, I turned to look at him, tuning in to his thoughts. I realized the phone was to his ear, but he was faking the conversation. I touched Forest’s shoulder and she stopped.

The pony saw me looking and knew I was on to him. He grabbed for a gun. Forest slammed the door open and we fell inside, the glass shattering around us as bullets flew. As I lay on the floor feeling stunned, Forest jumped up and dashed back outside. There were a few more shots and then silence.

I got up. Forest pushed the door open with her shoulder and dragged the unconscious stallion inside, through the broken glass. Her other shoulder was bloody and hanging limp.

Forest dropped him. Ponies began coming out of their offices to see what had happened. Forest pulled the stallion’s gun out of her pocket and gave it to Water Drop as he showed up. It was a small chrome-plated semiautomatic.

Water Drop studied the scene. He looked at the gun, the stallion on the floor and Forest’s shoulder. “Guess he didn’t use enough gun.”

“It was a twenty-five caliber. Lead bullets,” said Forest. She picked up a pen from a nearby desk in her teeth and carefully worked it into the bullet hole, wincing. I watched her, grossed out but fascinated.

Forest found the bullet and worked it out. She dropped it into an empty coffee cup on somepony’s desk.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I’ve had worse.” The wound was already starting to scab. She turned to Water Drop. “We need to talk. Come on, Harv.”

The three of us went to Water Drop’s office and closed the door. “He was waiting for us,” said Forest. “The guy who shot me was outside the building when we pulled up.”

Water Drop thought about it. “I suppose it could have been a coincidence and he was trying to mug you or something, but we can’t afford to take that chance.”

“He wasn’t any kind of professional killer,” I said, using experience I had gained from reading reports. “Like you said, he didn’t have enough gun. From the lead bullets, we can also tell that he didn’t know who he was up against.”

Water Drop nodded. “We’ll have to wait until we know more, but right now we have to face the possibility that someone out there knows that we exist. They don’t know all the details, but they want us out of the picture.”

“What happens now?” asked Forest.

“We’re going to have to quarantine the office. Essential personnel in and out only. More security. Everypony else is going to have to work from home.”

“How are we supposed to stay in touch?” I asked. “Their information has to come from somewhere. It’s possible our communications are compromised.” Forest nodded, agreeing with me.

“I’m going to contact Canterlot and ask for all the help we can get,” said Water Drop. “Taking care of this isn’t going to be easy or painless, but now that we know we have a problem, we can start working on a solution.”

When we left his office a few minutes later, I thanked Forest for pushing me out of the line of fire.

“No big deal.” She rubbed her shoulder. Some of the dried blood had flaked off and it was already looking better. “I hate getting shot.”

I filled out the report, not caring if it got sent back. We left together, escorted out the door by a security Shade.

On the way to drop Forest off, I mixed up my route a little, watching for pursuit. I didn’t see any.

That night, I slept with my gun beside the bed. Sure beats a teddy bear for peace of mind. The small apartment didn’t really feel secure. Despite not wanting to put mom in danger, I almost wished for my bed back home.

Chapter 4

In the morning I was awakened by a tapping against the window. I rolled over and heard a faint shout, “Come on buddy, I don’t have all day!”

Outside, a bushwoolie was on the windowsill holding a small envelope that was still almost as big as he was. I got out of bed and crossed the room to open the window. He dropped the envelope on the sill and scooted away before I could ask questions.

Bushwoolies are small, rather amorphous creatures that are fuzzy and generally not too smart. Something about living in the city also makes them kind of disagreeable.

I had never gotten woolie mail before, but I wasn’t surprised the Shades were using it for emergency communication. It was a lot harder to track than a phone call or email, and it was faster than regular mail. I picked the envelope up and opened it. Inside was some information and a list of things for me to look into.

I had breakfast and went to get started on what they needed me to do. The doorbell rang. Wary of possible attack, I kept my body to the side of the door. “Who is it?”

“White Feather.”

I paused for several seconds before asking, “What do you want?”

“I want to talk.”

“We’re talking.”

“Or we could do this face to face,” she said from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I tried to turn and face her, but she grabbed the back of my neck and pushed my face into the wall. She had a messenger bag with her.

“How did you get in?” I demanded.

“Window,” Feather replied. After getting into Silver’s high rise office, my first floor apartment was probably a piece of cake. She steered me over to the table and we sat down. The note the bushwoolie had given me lay on the tabletop where I had left it.

“I’d like to know what you’re working on,” said Feather. She picked up the envelope. I made a grab for it and tried to get up, but she twisted my leg until I sat down again.

“Why do you want to know what I’m working on anyway? I’m a nopony.”

Feather put down the note after reading it. “Well, I tried to ask this guy.” She pulled a glass bottle out of her bag with the bushwoolie from earlier crammed into it.

“You can’t do this! I’m a government employee!”

She shoved the bottle back in the bag. “But he’s just the messenger. For a nopony, you sure seem to be in the middle of things.”

“Have you considered that my partner is Forest freaking Song, somepony with tons of experience and ability?”

Feather shrugged. “Even if it’s just luck, the fact remains that you’re getting results. You probably know more than most about what’s going on.”

“Aren’t you working for these ponies? Don’t you know?”

“Sure, but I want to know how much of a hint you’re going to need to catch up.”

I couldn’t believe it. “You want to help me?”

She nodded.

“Why?”

“I’m asking the questions.”

“What if I won’t talk?”

Feather rolled her eyes. “I knew you were going to cause problems. Just tell me what you know and I’ll tell you what I know.”

“What’s the catch?”

Feather reached across the table and grabbed me by the neck, jerking me out of my seat and face to face with her.

“Listen up, asshole! I am trying to help you. Do you want to take a look at my mind and make sure I’m being honest?”

Suddenly, the floodgates were open and I was being pelted with her thoughts. I wasn’t just having a look, she was forcing them on me. I was overwhelmed and didn’t notice for several seconds that I had fallen to the table after she had let go of me.

I sat up, dazed. I’d never been attacked like that and didn’t even know it was possible. Feather had locked down her mind again, but the afterglow was giving me a headache.

I realized that I had only learned one thing from her, and that was that she was indeed telling the truth. Instead of allowing me full access to her brain, Feather had just taken that one thought and fired it at me hard enough to almost burn my mind.

“Holy hell,” I muttered. Deciding that she wasn’t going to ask again, I cleared my throat and told what I knew. “A few of our agents have been killed by a gang we think is called the Street Angels. We traced their leadership up the chain. The top two that we uncovered were Silver Anniversary and Chip Module, both of whom were killed by you. Personally, I think there’s somepony else out there, but we haven’t found them yet. I don’t know any kind of motive for trying to kill Shades, either.”

“The guy at the top of the food chain is named Settee,” Feather said.

“Did he hire you to kill everyone?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“Are you going to kill him too?”

“He paid me not to.”

“Why is he after Shades?”

“Settee is aware that the supernatural exists, and apparently knows a psychic. With what they’re up to, they were probably going to come to your attention eventually, so they decided to strike first. They contracted the gang to take hits at you, but didn’t tell them what they were up against.”

“What is Settee working towards?”

“His legal business is setting up gambling, sports betting mostly. However, he’s got something big coming up at the end of the month.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“What sporting event happens in October every year?”

Autumn in Ponyville. “The Running of the Leaves,” I said. Thinking about it, it seemed like a great idea. Loads of ponies would come to watch the race, and many more than that would be watching it on TV. With psychic help to predict the finishing order, there was a lot of money to be made.

“Where can I find Settee? And what’s the psychic’s name?”

“He paid me not to tell anypony anything that might locate him,” said Feather. “And I never met the psychic.”

“But if he paid you for silence, then why did you tell me what you just told me?”

“Loophole in the contract. He didn’t pay me not to tell you about what he was up to.”

“But why are you telling me this at all?”

“I don’t like him,” said Feather. She stood up and turned to go. “Have fun.”

Did that mean that she did like me? What had I done to deserve that?

After White Feather was gone, I picked up the envelope and reread it, scribbling on it with a pen to add the information I had just learned.

I grabbed my laptop and began looking for pictures of Settee. It wasn’t easy to decide which one I was looking for, but I eventually narrowed it down. He was an older pegasus, maybe sixty. The top of his mane was bald, but the sides still held some hair. He didn’t look like an evil mastermind, but then, they rarely do. Especially if they’re named after a synonym for a couch.

I printed out the picture and a map of the city. Then, without bothering to get dressed, I went next door to see if Kimmy was home.

Seated on Kimmy’s couch, surrounded by her pink décor, I was suddenly less confident that my idea would work. She smiled and asked if I had ever used a focus circle before.

“No. I’ve never tried to home in on somepony like this.”

“Maybe I can help,” she said.

I placed the picture of Settee and the map of Ponyville in the center of the circle. Kimmy adjusted a few things and told me the circle was ready.

I closed my eyes, concentrating. A focus circle was a little bit like an antenna. It could both send and receive. Magic users could use a circle to direct their energies more easily, and psychics could use them to help fine-tune their visions.

I had a vague idea of how to use a circle, but had never done so before. As I concentrated on it, some of the voices in my head began to fade out. Little by little, I whittled it down to just one. It was practically labeled "Settee."

Okay, I could hear him. Now what? I searched for some clue that could tell me where he was. I pondered my mental map of Ponyville. After several minutes, I was beginning to get frustrated. Suddenly, I felt another presence in the circle, but on my side of it.

I realized it was Kimmy. It was somewhat uncomfortable to be sharing a vision with a neighbor that I’d known less than a week, but I could feel her quickly sizing up the situation. After a few moments, I felt the couch shift as she moved and I heard with my ears the sound of a pencil scratching on paper.

Kimmy touched my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw a mark that she’d made on the map.

“Is that it?” I said.

“That’s really impressive,” she said.

“You aren’t so bad yourself.”

“I’m good with finding things, but finding one pony out of so many is really good. What do you do for a living?” she asked.

“I fight crime.”

She smiled. “We should team up.”

I wasn’t in charge of recruitment, but she did have some talent. “I’ll have to get back to you on that. Right now I have some business to take care of.”

I said thank you and went back to my place. On the internet I found a closer view of the area she had marked. I checked it against a list of property that Settee owned. He had a house there.

I felt unprofessionally excited as I dialed Forest’s number. When she answered, I simply said, “We need to meet.”

She understood as well as I did that no wireless phone was ever truly secure. “My place,” she said.

I said I would be there and hung up. I got dressed as quickly as I could and drove over. Forest was waiting for me when I got there. She climbed in and we took off again. Just in case the truck had been bugged, we opened the windows and turned up the radio to mask our conversation. Not being paranoid enough had gotten us into this situation, so we might as well go all out to compensate.

“Feather visited me this morning. She wanted to talk.”

Forest looked surprised, but didn’t interrupt.

“She told me we’re after a stallion named Settee. Working with my neighbor, I was able to find him.” I handed her the map and a sticky note with the exact address written on it.

“Your neighbor?” Forest asked.

“Long story. Anyway, he’s home, and I think we need to get some ponies together and go visit him.”

I expected her to argue or point out something that I had missed. She was far more experienced, after all. Instead, she nodded and pulled out her phone to make some calls.

Shortly after that, we were meeting in a public park near where I had traced Settee to. Water Drop, Lock Box, Ivory Hammer, Earthquake, Chapstick, and a few other Shades were there. We spoke in whispers and used creative body positioning to avoid exposing ourselves to lip reading.

Plans were quickly made and we drove away in separate directions. In a coordinated move, we would all arrive at the house simultaneously. After that, it depended on what kind of defenses there were. It wasn’t much of a plan, and I think everypony was nervous about implementing such a thing on short notice, but we didn’t have time to be more thorough.

Forest and I had been assigned to drive past the house beforehand so I could attempt to determine if Settee was still home. It had been close to an hour since Kimmy and I had found him, and there existed a possibility that he had slipped away.

I sat in the passenger seat of the truck while Forest drove. I wanted to be able to put my full attention on the house. It was easier to pick up Settee now that I knew what his thoughts sounded like. As we rolled past, I heard him. Our plan was working.

When the time came, we pulled up outside the house. There were six of us covering the front door, and some more at the back. When Forest heard the glass in the back door break, it was her signal to buck open the front door.

The heavy wood door slammed open, nearly falling off its hinges. I went through the open doorway right beside Forest, both of us with guns drawn. The others covered the rear.

We found the stairway and started up. The other group concentrated on the main floor. At this point, I would have expected to find somepony in the house. Even an alarm system. Instead, it was dead quiet, with the lights shut off.

We covered the second floor, checking all the rooms including closets. There was nopony there. Furthermore, it didn’t look like anypony had been there recently. The beds were made and there were no clothes, toothbrushes or anything else that might indicate that somepony lived there.

We came back downstairs and met with the other group. They hadn’t found anything either, so we went back to our individual cars and left before somepony called the police to report breaking and entering.

I felt like a fool. Our only lead, a lead that I’d come up with, had been a dead end.

“What the hell were you thinking?” said Forest. “You tried to get help from your neighbor?”

“She pointed me to a neighborhood where Settee owned a house. I’d call that helping.”

“You said yourself that Settee has a psychic. She could have led you there just to throw us off.”

“What are the odds that I would move in next door to his partner in crime?”

“They’re predicting gambling odds. Do you think it’s so farfetched that they could know beforehand where you were going to live?”

She had a point.

Forest told me to turn the truck and around and take us back to my place. When we got there, she didn’t even bother with a knock before kicking in Kimmy’s door much the same way she had done at Settee’s house.

Kimmy wasn’t home. We did a quick check of the place. Nothing appeared to be missing like she had packed up and left. Still, it didn’t prove anything. Her whole apartment could very well have been a ruse.

The focus circle was still on her coffee table. Looking at it, I got an idea.

“What are the odds that she protected herself to stop me from finding her?”

“Probably pretty good.”

“Still, we won’t know until we try.” I sat down and resumed my place in front of the focus circle. Forest closed the door, hopefully concealing the splintered frame.

It took almost ten minutes, but by concentrating on Kimmy’s face, I was able to track her down. I didn’t know where she was, but by the looks of it, it was a mall. She was buying more pink things.

“I found her,” I said to Forest. “I don’t know where, but she’s shopping. Of course, that could have been set up, too.”

“Any other ideas?” she asked.

“I’d like to try for Settee one more time. Maybe the results will be different without Kimmy here to change things.”

I was able to get a lock on him a little more easily this time. It felt very familiar, and I soon realized why.

“He’s back at his house.”

“We’ve got four Shades covering the place,” said Forest. They should have seen him go in.” She dialed one of them and put the phone on speaker for my benefit.

“We didn’t see anything,” said the phone. It sounded like Earthquake.

“Can you check?” I said. “I can see him. He’s sitting in the living room watching TV.” It was the exact same picture I had gotten from earlier.

I heard the sounds of ponies moving and then Earthquake came back. “There’s nopony here. We checked the lights, and the electricity isn’t even hooked up.”

It suddenly hit me. “It’s like a recording! Somepony took a few of Settee’s thoughts and set them up to play in a loop.”

It was slightly confusing, even to me, to be mixing telepathy and electronics terms, but everypony understood. Suddenly, the case had taken a new step forward.

Chapter 5

It was possible that Kimmy had been suckered by the thought recording just like I had. Of course, it was still possible that she was in on it. The Ponyville Shade office didn’t have anypony on the payroll who was qualified to examine the magic behind the recording, but I was told that they had a local guy who occasionally contracted with them.

We met up at Settee’s house. Forest, Water Drop and I were there. We’d had to sneak in covertly. The neighbors were probably getting jumpy with all the strange ponies around.

The expert showed up. He was a skinny grey unicorn who looked like he didn’t smile much.

“Hello Forest,” he said. “I didn’t know you were around.”

I looked between the two of them. “I didn’t think you’d ever worked in Ponyville before,” I said to Forest.

“I haven’t. She indicated the unicorn. “Granite here travels a lot. We’ve crossed paths several times.”

Granite turned away without glancing at me. He conferred briefly with Water Drop before going to work. He laid some magic-making objects out on the floor and arranged them. It looked more zebra than unicorn. As we watched, he walked around the room for several minutes touching various things before returning to his items on the floor.

“How long is this going to take?” I asked Forest, perhaps a little too loudly.

Granite’s head come up. “Fuck you. I’m here to do what you can’t, so if you don’t have anything helpful to say, then shut up.”

I was about to reply, when Forest pulled me into the kitchen.

“Are all witches bitches?” I muttered.

“Granite’s got an attitude, but he usually produces results. He’ll find something for us,” Forest assured me. We sat down at the table and waited. She hummed a little to pass the time.

Several minutes later, I heard the door open and close and then Water Drop came into the room.

“Granite didn’t find anything related to your neighbor,” he said to me. Forest and I had collected a few of Kimmy’s things to give to Granite so he could figure out if she was involved.

“There could have been some kind of cover spell to mask her involvement,” I said.

“Could be, but he didn’t find anything in that regard, either. For now, we’re going to tentatively cross her off our list of suspects. Oh, and Granite deactivated the thought loop you were picking up.”

That put us back to zilch.

As I approached my apartment’s front door later, I stopped and went back to Kimmy’s door. It was closed, but the frame was still splintered so it couldn’t be secure. I knocked.

The peephole went dark and then she opened the door.

“Hey Harv. Sorry, but this isn’t a good time.”

“What’s wrong?” I felt a little guilty that I already knew. I was also nervous that she might discover my involvement.

She pointed to the broken door frame. “Somepony broke in, but they didn’t take very much, just a few random things I had lying around.”

“That’s weird.”

“You want to know what’s really weird? I used my circle to track them down, and they were at that place that you found earlier today.”

I felt a lot more guilty and a lot more nervous. “Really? Do you know who it was?”

She shook her head. “No. Besides, it was just some junk that they took. I didn’t want to go looking for whoever took it. They might be dangerous.”

“That’s probably good thinking.”

She nodded. “Anyway, I called building maintenance and they should have a new door for me by tomorrow.”

“That’s good.” We both stood there for several seconds in silence until I couldn’t stand the awkwardness anymore and said goodnight.

I felt guilty as hell for not only breaking in, but lying to her face about it. I also felt guilty about being so fearful that I would get caught.

Police we were not, and we couldn’t exactly go around getting a warrant to obtain evidence every time we suspected somepony of a misdeed. Still, I told myself, it was for the better since Kimmy was no longer suspected of involvement with Settee.

I slept fitfully, expecting everything from a vengeful Settee to a vengeful Kimmy to come crashing into my apartment. I worried about White Feather too, although I told myself that if she wanted me dead, it would probably be over before I could do anything about it.

In the morning, the bushwoolie mail carrier was back, this time with four armed escorts. Admittedly, their tiny blades were about the size of those little sword-shaped cocktail picks, but it was probably better than nothing.

I thanked the mail carrier and asked how he was doing. He gave me a rude gesture and left with his bodyguards.

I read the mail. Water Drop had been successful in getting national headquarters in Canterlot to acknowledge that we had a problem, but other than logistical support, nothing was being done yet. I liked that “yet” on the end. It implied that we might actually get help, albeit eventually.

The other news was slightly more promising. A stallion had tentatively been identified as the leader of the Street Angels. More information was to follow.

I spent the rest of the day processing the data that had arrived in the mail. That evening, I got a call from Water Drop.

“Pick up Song and come meet with me. I’ve got a job for you two.”

He hung up before I could ask what was going on, so I got my keys and did as ordered.

“We think we’ve found where the Street Angels are headquartered,” Water Drop said to Forest and me from across a picnic table in the park. “The two of you are the best pair of agents we have, so we’re sending you.”

“Just us?” I asked.

“Also, no guns. We’re not trying to make them feel threatened.”

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “They’ve been trying to kill any Shade they can, and you want the two of us to go in there unarmed?”

“I said before, you’re the best. Neither of you have been working here long, but between mind reading and tail kicking, the two of you have proven yourselves.”

I sighed. It was wrong of me to be arguing with the boss in the first place, but what he had to say made sense. Forest and I probably were the most qualified. That didn’t make me feel any better, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Water Drop told us where to find the Street Angels. He asked us to leave our weapons with him. I checked to see if we were out of public view and then took my jacket off, removing my shoulder holster and gun.

Forest took off her pistol belt and also drew out several knives that I didn’t know she had. We left the pile of stuff with Water Drop and got going.

As we drove, Forest guessed what I was thinking.

“Cheer up,” she said. “At least if they kill you, it will be quick.”

The building wasn’t much to look at on the outside. There was a stallion lounging on the front steps when we pulled up.

“We want to see the boss,” I told him. He glanced at us and decided that we weren’t cops, although between the young-looking Forest, me in a business suit, and the ugly truck, I could see his confusion in trying to figure out exactly who we were.

“Go in,” he said.

In the hallway just inside the door was a big minotaur. He rested his hands on a submachine gun hanging on a strap in front of his muscular chest. We repeated our request to him.

He disappeared into a room for a moment and I caught a little of the conversation. They still had no idea who we might be, but they figured two ponies couldn’t be very dangerous and decided to let us in, for a laugh if nothing else.

Inside the room was a desk with a stallion sitting behind it. There were two other ponies standing behind him, armed with submachine guns. On the desk was a cordless telephone, several stacks of cash, and a few small packages filled with white crystals.

There were two more ponies, again with guns, standing to either side of the door who frisked us when we came in. “Watch it,” said Forest, but let the patdown finish.

“Who are you?” said the stallion at the desk. This would be Bob, who Water Drop had told us about. Sounded like a fake name to me, but I wasn’t here to check his ID.

“I’m Harvest Peach. This is my assistant, Ms. Song. We’re here about your boys trying to kill us,” I said.

“That’s not what I asked,” said Bob.

“You want to know who we are?” I told him the address of the Shade office.

He nodded. “I’ve been wondering when I was going to get a response out of you. I figured it shouldn’t take more than a few hits.”

“That’s just it,” I said. “Do you have any idea how widespread our business is? Do you have any idea what it is?”

“I was told ice. You’ve got some kind of high tech way to produce it.” He thought we were making methamphetamine on a high-class industrial scale.

I laughed at him. “Drugs? You think we’d bother with that? Tiny operations like yours have no idea where the real money is.”

That touched a nerve. He leaned forward. “You still haven’t really told me who you are.”

“We import,” I said. “Anything. Mostly it’s hardware. The Chineighese are always willing to sell, and when the Hooviet Union broke up all their stuff went on the market. We’ve got small arms all the way up to missile systems.”

“That’s not what I was told,” said Bob.

“Look mister, I feel sorry for you. You might think you’re bringing in big money, but my paycheck last year will get me anything I want. Hell, I even thought about buying into the Canterlot Wondercolts. Are you a hoofball fan?”

Bob apparently was not. He stared at me.

“What I’m saying here is that you aren’t big enough to worry about. I want your boss.”

“What are you talking about? I’m the boss.”

“Then where are you getting your information? Who told you we were cutting into your product?”

“It’s a contract. We’ve got a guy.”

“Where can we find him?”

Bob shook his head. “This has gone on long enough. You two rolled up in that crap truck outside, and you haven’t said anything that I’ve believed so far. You’re two psychos who thought you could just walk in here and shoot your mouth off, right?”

I couldn’t think of a response quick enough, so I gestured to Forest and said, “This is our head of security. She’ll tell you what you need to know.”

Forest nodded, playing along. “Did you notice how your ponies started dying once we figured out what was going on? Did you really think we’d have all those weapons and not use them? What makes you think that we’d come in here without the firepower to back up what we’re saying?”

“I haven’t seen it,” said Bob. “I’ll bet nopony even knows you’re here.”

Just then, the phone on his desk rang. Bob looked at it and then picked it up. He listened, surprise coming to his face. He looked at me. “It’s for you.”

I tried to keep my own surprise off my face. I took the phone. “Hello?”

“Harvest, what are you doing in that den of sin? Didn’t I raise you better than that?”

“Right.”

“Get out of there right now! Make sure to call me back.”

“I will.” I gave the phone back.

Thinking quickly, I said, “See? We even planted listening bugs in this room ahead of time. We’ve got the weapons and the technology to crush you and your whole operation if we wanted to. Why don’t you tell us what we want to know before I have to call in a dozen ex-Royal Guards to kick your ass?”

After all that masterful lying, Bob actually gave us very little. He knew the name Settee and he gave us one location where he might be. Disappointing, but it was something.

I was on my cell phone as soon as we left the building. “Mom, how do you do that?”

“Do what?” she asked innocently.

“Look, someday we’re going to have a long talk about this. In the meantime, thanks a lot. Love you, mom.”

Forest and I drove back to the park with the information. Water Drop quickly organized a group of us to go investigate. Once again, it would be Forest and I going in.

The address turned out to be an upscale apartment building downtown. The place we were looking for was on the eighth floor.

Water Drop and four or five Shades took up positions in the hallway. I knocked on the door.

Settee opened it. He looked about like his picture, an older pegasus. He said, “Can I help you?”

“Tax services. Surprise audit.”

“What are you talking about?” He seemed more incredulous than worried. The fact that he didn’t seem concerned about a pair of unexpected ponies interrupting his illegal activity made me worried.

“It’s about your revenue from sports betting,” I said. “This could take a while. Can we come in?”

He looked at us warily, but stood back from the door.

“Right,” I said after he shut the door. “We’re also looking for any partners you might have, like psychics.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Settee said.

Forest grabbed him by the neck and got nose to nose with him. “Psychics. Predicting the future. Killing Shades to keep us out of your way.”

Something happened just then. It seemed like telekinesis – and a lot of it – despite the fact that Settee was a pegasus. There was a flash and Forest went flying across the room.

Hearing the crash, Water Drop and the other Shades threw open the door. Settee gestured with his hoof and the door slammed shut again, the lock clicking. He turned to look at me.

I was unarmed, and in way, way over my head. I did the only thing I could think of. I charged at him. He brushed me aside and I slammed into the wall a lot harder than I could have on my own.

As I lay there on the floor trying to figure out if my back was still in one piece, I realized something. As the two of us had come together, I’d felt the pressure of whatever it was he was doing. It was some kind of mental ability. Maybe Settee was some kind super psychic and could do it all; see gambling odds, perform non-horned unicorn-like tricks.

I got up slowly. At least I was better off than Forest. When I’d hit Settee and bounced off, it was just a glancing blow. She’d been practically knocked through one of the inside walls of the apartment.

I had the beginnings of an idea. With a little concentration, I could block out the thoughts in my head. I’d never tried making things go the other way, but there was no reason I couldn’t. Other than not knowing how, that is.

Settee looked at me, waiting for me to charge him again. The fact that it was exactly my plan probably should have been taken into consideration before I did it. Still, when I ran at Settee again, I tried as hard as I could to block out anything psychic. When I hit him, it felt like I ran into a solid wall, but this time I didn’t go flying. I’m not sure who was more surprised.

He readied another psychic punch, but this time I concentrated on reflecting it rather than blocking. The energy hit Settee and knocked him off his hooves—straight out the eighth floor window.

I ran over and stood among the shards of glass to look down. Settee’s wings flared but he was still tumbling and didn’t catch any air before hitting the pavement. The backup Shades were on the scene in a moment. It didn’t look like he would be a problem anymore.

I crossed the room and helped Forest get up. It looked like she’d broken a few studs when she’d hit the wall.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said.

“Neither have I.”

We unlocked the door and let everypony else in to search the place for anything we could use. Someone found Settee’s records and we sent them back to the office. Some analyst would pick through them and find out exactly Settee had been planning.

The cleanup crew collected Settee and confirmed that he was dead. The last thing we wanted to do with this guy was take chances.

I sat with Forest as other Shades combed Settee’s place for anything of value. Out the window I could see the rooftops of Ponyville slowly growing shadows as the sun began to set.

“So,” said Forest. “How was your first week back in your hometown?”

I thought for a moment. “Better than I imagined.”

That evening, I went to see my mother. She invited me in and we sat in the living room around the coffee table while dinner finished cooking.

“How do you always know where I am, mom?” I asked.

“A mother always knows.”

“That’s pretty vague.”

“Harvest, you seem skeptical for somepony with abilities of his own.”

“You know about that?” I asked, surprised.

Of course I do, she thought. “How about that girl you brought with you last time. Would she like to date a mind reader? Mares love stallions that are good listeners.”

The kitchen timer went off. Mom got up and went to check the food.

I called after her, “Forest is a few hundred years old and changes into a wolf.”

“There isn’t anything wrong with that. You should have her over for dinner again.”

Not likely, I thought.

“What was that, dear?”

“Nothing, mom.”

Author's Note

Thanks to metalIusionismagic for helping me polish this.

If you liked this story and the idea of Shades in general, be on the lookout for more!