Chapter I- Case 1 Part 1
“That’s the fifth pony gone missing this month. Fifteenth since the start of the investigation.” The pink Pegasus leader said, pinning the portrait to the board. She then turned to face her subordinates. “The subject’s name is Glimmer. She was last seen at Ponyville’s Mane Café. Witnesses saw her arrive, but nopony saw her leave. According to the owner of the café, she was a regular. Every day, came in at the same time, ordered the exact same thing. When she didn’t show up for a week, the owner got worried and contacted us.” She took a deep breath. “Now I know that none of you will be happy with what I am about to say. However, we have not made any progress on this investigation for almost two months. And that’s why the SIU has been called in.”
Muttering broke out at this, the other ponies in the room giving each other dark looks. She waited patiently for them to quiet down before speaking again.
“This will make you even more upset, but the SIU agent has requested that all other investigators be removed from the case. Naturally, we refused. Eventually, we compromised on one other detective. We have decided to keep the head of this case, FlashRain, in the investigation. The rest of you will be reassigned.”
This caused absolute uproar, all the ponies trying to talk at once.
“ENOUGH!” she shouted, stamping a hoof down. The effect was immediate, and a silence fell over the room. “I’m not any happier about this than you are. Just do as you’re told. I don’t have the time or patience to deal with your complaints.” She stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. One by one, the ponies silently left the room after her.
***
There was whispering in the office as the gray Unicorn walked in. He wore a black and silver cloak, thrown over one shoulder, with the letters ‘SIU’ embroidered on it. A sword and sheathe was strapped to his waist. The agent had a look in his face, as if he was lost in thought. His eyes had a cool indifference to them, and he was silent from the moment he walked in.
FlashRain sighed and cursed to himself under his breath, then walked up to greet the pony. “Welcome to the MPU, Agent.” He extended a hoof. The SIU agent looked up slowly, first at Flash’s face, then the hoof. Ignoring it, he spoke in a quiet voice.
“Where’s the case file?” he asked.
“Why am I not surprised…” he muttered. “Flankhole SIUs…” He passed over a folder, which the Unicorn opened immediately, and started looking through it.
“Can I get you anything?” Flash tried again. “Tea? Coffee?”
“Tea then.” He said, not looking up. “Thank you.”
Glad to be away from the awkward situation, Flash entered the break room to make tea.
“How about them SIUs, eh?” a co-worker nudged him as he walked in.
“He’s so stuck-up.” Flash angrily slammed a cup down. “It took all my self-control to avoid punching him in the face. Did you see what he did? He didn’t even accept my greeting. He’s all ‘show me the case file’ this and ‘go get me a cup of tea’ that.”
“Well, you were the one who offered the tea. And at least he said thanks.” His co-worker chuckled.
“I just might splash this on his face.” Flash grumbled as he capped the tea off. “See you around.”
When he got back, he saw the Unicorn had already taken up space on a previously empty bulletin board. His cloak and blade were on a nearby table. Flash held out the cup of tea, and without taking his eyes off the bulletin board, the SIU agent took the cup of tea, with another barely audible “Thanks.”
“Well? Find anything?” FlashRain asked.
Finally seeming to fully acknowledge his existence, the Agent turned around and faced Flash. “No. Not yet. There has to be a pattern to these disappearances that we’re not seeing.” He suddenly closed his eyes. There was silence for a few seconds, then he opened them again.
“What-?” Flash started. The agent ignored him again, pulling down one of the pictures, checking with the kidnapped victim’s file, scanning it quickly with his eyes.
“Let’s go.” He pulled his cloak on again, strapping on his sword. He headed for the office exit.
“What-?” Flash repeated weakly, hurrying after the agent.
***
“You sure about this?” Flash whispered as he drew his one-hoofed crossbow. His question was only met with more silence. The agent had led him to a house on the outskirts of town. It appeared to be abandoned, the paint peeling, windows boarded, and shingles missing. He had simply said two words when they arrived: ‘They’re here’.
He motioned for Flash to follow as he crept to the front door, drawing what appeared to be the empty hilt of a sword. However, magical vines crept their way up, intertwining with each other, to form the shape of a blade.
“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Flash muttered, checking his weapon.
The agent burst through the door, sword at the ready. The entrance was silent and dark. Flash saw hoofprints and drag marks in the dust. They were definitely recent. Breathing out to calm himself, Flash leveled his crossbow, looking all around for any sort of movement. They swept each room, floor-by-floor, but nopony was there. Just empty food crates and canteens.
“They were here.” The agent muttered. “But they’re not here now.” He struck his sword into a wall, sending splinters of wood through the air. “Dammit!”
Author's Note
Haven't really had the motivation to write lately... It's starting to come back. So here's Chapter 1.
