Fallout Equestria: The Manehatten Project

Inquisition

"Now, old woman -- you are accused of heresy on three counts -- heresy by thought, heresy by word, heresy by deed, and heresy by action -- four counts. Do you confess?"

I looked across the table at the clean-cut stallion before me. "You're kidding, right?" I asked with a laugh. "What reason do you have to put me on trial?"

"Well," the overstallion began as he tapped the file that lay on the table before him, "Let us have a look, shall we?"

He opened the file and began to read off my wrongdoings. The list began at "Trespassing," five counts, "Idle threats," a lot, and ended with "Note passing during instruction," fifteen counts. "But those aren't why you're here, Concerto." The overstallion began, "I need to know what you know about these ponies." He slid a few photographs across the table to me.

I levitated them in front of me so I could see them better. The first photo was of an elderly stallion; his mane was short, white, and tightly curled, as was his bushy tail. His coat was ebony but had faded to a dark grey with age, and two burgundy eyes peered out behind a thick pair of spectacles sat upon his wrinkled face. There was something odd about the stallion, but I could not place it, so I moved on to the next photo.

The next photo was of the odd stallion I'd seen down in the maintenance levels, Shamrock, every detail was accurate, I could even make out the faint orange glow that seemed to radiate around him. But there was something off. His eyes. Instead of the navy blue I remembered them as, they appeared to be caught between a couple colours. I moved on to the next picture and recognised the mare instantly. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" The overstallion snapped.

"Rosin? You're suspicious of Rosin?" I asked with amusement. I flipped to the last picture while saying, "Oh, that's jus-" I stopped mid-sentence.

"Not so funny now, is it?" The overstallion asked, cockiness filling his voice.

Floating in front of me was a photograph of Angelos and myself. My mouth hung agape and I struggled to find something to say. I gulped and set the photos on the table.

"Now you realise the severity of your situation, Concerto." The overstallion began with an "all business" attitude. "You see, there's a link between you five, you all were found sneaking into the maintenance sector for Generator One, unauthorised I might add, within the past forty-eight hours. The first one seen was Rosin, followed by the elder stallion, then your little winged marefriend there, then the stallion that was identified as 'Shamrock', and he then bumped into you." He gave a weary sigh. "I've been working to crack this all night and I'd appreciate it if you'd help me out here."

I sighed and spread the photos out in front of me. "Angie went in to leave me an item of importance, I went in today to pick it up. The item was a pipbuck, a Pipbuck 4500 Lambda to be specific. That's all the information I can give you. Now, my turn. Why did you get me first?"

"Well," He began leaning onto the table, "we tried to go after Shamrock and the elderly stallion, but we cannot interrogate them, as they passed away going on twenty-two years ago. Now, Rosin and yourself both took 'Advanced Magic and Spell Casting 105.' In this class, you were taught how to change your appearance. So, we have come to two conclusions: one, you or Rosin used your knowledge of this spell to change your appearance and did something to the generator, which is unlikely due to your mediocre marks and her failing ones; or two, you and Rosin teamed up and used the spell on Angelos and had her do everything, also unlikely due to your... falling out."

"What don't you guys keep track of?" I muttered to myself. "But you are incorrect, I can do no more than a pallet swap, and Rosin, as I remember, burnt out when she tried."

"So, you're saying somepony else is behind this?" The overstallion asked, disbelief plaguing his voice and an eyebrow raised.

"It's the only possibility." I began. "You're prime suspects as of right now are two dead stallions, a pegasus, a two average unicorns. Besides, even if we could pull off the spell we'd need something to reference and you said they died twenty-two years ago, so neither of us could've seen them."

The overstallion paused a moment to think. "So, if what you're saying is true we'd be looking for a magically gifted unicorn thirty plus years of age that knew both of the deceased. There are over two hundred possible suspects that could match that criteria. Do you know how long that would take?" The stallion asked rhetorically as he rose to his hooves.

"Question, Sir. What are we investigating exactly?" I asked hoping for an answer.

"After seeing the first two trespassing I sent a crew to investigate. They found that the access hatch on Generator Two had been opened with ill fitting tools. The screws securing the hatch had been stripped, so unable to get into it, we tested it and it worked fine so we filed it as an attempted sabotage. After seeing the pegasus go into Generator One I sent a team to check it, but it was fine. After you and 'Shamrock' were found down there we found no abnormalities within the generator. So, we're trying to figure out who's doing what so we can stop them and administer proper punishment." He turned and looked me dead in the eyes. "If I find you've been giving me false information, or that you tell anyone what happened here I will exile you. Got it?"

"Y-Y-Yes, Sir!" I stammered.

"Good, now go home. Don't do anything stupid." He sighed.

I saw the overstallion address a silhouetted figure before my world was engulfed by white light. I reappeared outside the door to my room in a blinding flash. I sat there for a minute trying to collect my thoughts before I noticed the light grey pegasus sitting on my couch. I looked at her and smiled. "Hey, they think we're criminals."

After filling in the details, Angelos went back to her own place to await her own inquisition. Once she was gone I remembered that I had other matters to see to. I walked over to where my bass rested and pulled out the still sealed envelope. I tore it open and pulled out the letter contained within and began to read through the very loopy cursive that only the orchestra director could have written.

"Concerto,

First, you must realise that this message will destroy itself so read fast. You're the only pony I can trust to tell this to. I fear someponies may be plotting to overthrow the overstallion, but that's not all, naturally. I fear the ponies behind it may be plotting to frame the orchestra. I saw Lookout and Sweets take Rosin for questioning, and she told me you were in the suspect list as well.

Do yourself a favour and --"

I must not have read fast enough because the paper burst into flame and was a pile of ash on my floor in ten milliseconds flat. I got the broom and swept the ashed into the trash before sitting down to ponder the situation. Who's behind this? Why frame the orchestra? Who'd want to do that anyways? This seems like something a druggie would--

"Son of a mule." I breathed. "I think I've got it."

Footnote: 35.7445636% to next level.