New Trottland Yard Case 01 - Silver Cross and the horror of Haunchington

Silver Cross

and the horror of Haunchington

Chapter 2

Superintendent Gruff Tone looked over the mail his assistant had placed on his desk this morning. Most of the scrolls were about minor disturbances in the city. He would redirect those to the Canterlot police station. The New Trottlandyard had better things to do the to look out for pick pockets, or gratify on some high society Ponies front door. Homicide and other major crimes in his departments jurisdiction. Here and there they also took care of the occasional robbery, but only if the stolen object was of great value. The New Trottlandyard was good enough so they could pick their cases after all... A scroll caught his eye. It bore the seal of his hometown, Haunchington.

“Something wrong in the good ol' place?”, he mused, starting to read the letter. It was longer then he had expected, and his face darkened with each word he read. Undead Ponies murdering their families? Was his cousin trying to pull his tail? Then again, the letter sounded more then serious. Gruff would have sent a squad of Inspectors immediately, even if only to reassure his cousin, but the publicity would have been a disaster. If the press found out the the Yard was working on such a case... They'd be in the line of fire for months!

His gaze fell upon his Inspectors personal files, and a grin formed on his face. There was one Inspector that he could dispatch. A particular mare he had wanted to get rid of for some time now. If that Zombie Pony stuff was true, there might be a good chance that this slacker would be eaten. If it wasn't then he could always deny having sent her on that mission, finally getting rid of her. For him, it was a win win situation as he stood up, taking the scroll along in his magic.

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I was lying on my couch as usual, a box from Donut Joe's on the table next to me. My job was more boring then I had anticipated when I had signed up for the Yard a year ago. The Unicorn mare, that had tested me, seemed to be personally insulted that an Earthpony passed her test. There had been no way she could deny my transfer here after I passed the test, but they didn't really trust me with any cases either. All of the Yard was made up of Unicorns, with only me as an exception. Officially it didn't have anything to do with my race that I was mostly sitting on my plot, of course. They just didn't have any “suitable” cases for me...

I was about to reach out my hoof, to grab another Donut with extra sprinkles, when the door to my office was slammed open. It was enough to make me jump into the air for a few feet, and the window in my door crack a little. After I had extracted my face from the box of Donuts I had landed in, I looked up into the stern face of my boss. Gruff Tone... Not exactly the nicest guy around, but he was the one signing my paycheck. I grinned at him, totally ignoring the icing on my face as I did so. His presence here could only one thing after all. He had a job for me.

“Tsk tsk tsk... How you ever passed the entrance exam will forever be a mystery for me.”, he sighed, throwing a scroll he had been floating in front of him onto my desk. Before I could say anything, he added,

“Congratulations, there's your first case. Solve it, or it will be your last.”

After he had left, by slamming my door so hard that my poor window finally gave out, I jumped up and picked up the scroll. I couldn't wait to see what the old stallion got for me. As my hooves unrolled it, I saw that it wasn't an assignment form. Instead it was a letter that addressed the superintendent directly. My brows lowered on my forehead until they met each other. What the hay was the boss thinking? This just had to be a joke. I was to hunt down...

“Zombie Ponies? REALLY?”, I exclaimed, slumping into my chair. I had no choice but to take the job. He had made it quite clear that I would be fired if I didn't solve this ridiculous case. Who knew? Maybe it just turned out to be some Changeling disguising itself, so the Ponies didn't see who the real culprit behind the murder was. No matter what, I was determined to solve this case and finally earn my Cutiemark in hunting down criminals!

That in mind, I put my saddlebags onto my back, strapped my guns holsters to my forelegs and went for my office door. On my way there, my gaze fell upon the small mirror that stood next on my desk. A face that was still smeared with frosting looked back at me.

A few minutes, and a thorough washing of my face in the little fillies room, later I was ready to go. As a low ranking Inspector, who was constantly in danger of being discharged, the department didn't reserve a chariot for me to use, so I would have to go by train. At least the department payed for that.

As I made my way to Dispatch, so I could get the bits for the trip and ammo for my guns, several Inspectors I passed snickered at the sight of me. The had never taken me seriously. An Earthpony in the Yard? A blank flank at that? Some of them actually saw that as an insult.

“Hey! Blank Cross! Finally got an assignment, or do you just like taking your gear for a walk?”, one of them, a sleek, blue coated Unicorn mare with a red mane asked me as we passed each other. I turned around, giving her my best glare. It must have looked funny, since she was almost twice as big as I was.

“That's Inspector Silver Cross to you, Sweet Hoof! At least I passed the entrance exam, and didn't get stuck as a secretary!”, I shot back, earning a hateful look from the other mare.

“Oh, I'm sure your blank flank had something to do with your passing. Good Heart always had a sweet spot for Earthponies after all.”, she retorted a smug grin on her face. Why couldn't we just pass each other once without something like this happening? I was in a good mood, since I got my first assignment, and she was about to ruin it! I decided to end this conversation with one final blow that would give her something to think about.

“You know... at least somepony would look at my flank. Yours is so bony that I could hang my hat on it.”, I shot back, turning around after confirming her slack jawed expression.

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It was already evening when I was finally on my way to Haunchington. The train had been a little late too, so I would most likely arrive in the middle of the night. I had never been there, and I didn't even know if there was an Inn in town. In the worst case scenario, I would have to go to Muzzleton and get a room there tomorrow. For now, I feared I would have to sleep on a bench once I had arrived...

“Excuse me, but is this seat taken?”, a beautiful green Pegasus mare asked me while I was staring out of the window. I didn't get what she meant at first, but soon shook my head when she motioned for to the seat next to me. Her orange tail brushed against my side as she turned around to sit down on the bench across from me. All I wanted was to loose myself in my thoughts once again, but her lavender eyes bore into me so hard, that I just couldn't seem to concentrate.

“Ehm... Anything the matter?”, I finally asked nervously. Something about this mare shook me to the core. She cocked her head before she replied.

“You are heading into great danger, yet I pity those who will stand in your way. Find your name, and you shall survive. Should you not find it, you will end up in a dark wet pit. The son of light must prevail in his trial.”, she murmured, without taking her eyes off of me, or even blinking! I felt as if I had been dipped into ice cold water at this.

“Is... Is this a joke? Has Sweet Hoof put you up to this? Besides, if you haven't noticed, I'm a mare!”, I said, my voice much less confident then I would have liked it to be, yet she just continued staring at me. After a while my eyes began to water, and I had to blink. When I reopened my eyes, the mare was gone. I jumped up, opened the door and checked the corridor, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that scattered my doubts about her existence, was the still fresh feeling of her tail brushing against me...

What the hay had she meant? She had said that I should find my name to survive whatever it was that  I was heading into. Since I already knew my name, Silver Cross, I stopped worrying about it after some time. There were more important things to take care of after all.

Opening my saddlebags, I took out a box of fresh Donuts from Donut Joe's and began to take care of them...

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“Horse-apples!”, I exclaimed as I stood at Haunchington station. It was already past midnight, and there wasn't anypony around whom I could ask for an Inn. Even the station guards office was dark. I had grown up in a small town, but even our lazy station guard had a partner for the night shift. This was horrible!

Picking my bag up with my muzzle, I trotted into the direction of the small town. If there was an Inn there, then I just hoped that I could still get a room there. Otherwise I would have to come back here and sleep on one of the benches. Not a very attractive prospect, due to the autumn cold. Nopony in their right mind would willingly sleep outside in such a weather, but knowing my luck I would have to do just that.

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About twenty minutes after I had trotted into town I sat in front of the door to the Inn. The lights of the lower floor were still on, but the front door was locked. No wonder. These countryponies most likely still believed in Nightmare Moon. Determined not to sleep in this cold, I knocked on the door energetically.

I heard a grumbling sound, and hoofsteps approaching the door. A moment later a weathered old stallion opened the door. His dark eyes looked like they had sunken into his skull, and his brown coat missed several patches of fur.

“Yes? What do ya want?”, he asked, eying me from head to hoof.

“Excuse me sir, are you the proprietor of this fine establishment?”

He burst into a fit of laughter as he opened the door to it's full extent.

“Citypony, are ya? So what do ya want, Missy?”

“Ehm... I would like to know if you have a room I could rent for a few days.”

The stallion nodded, gesturing for me to come inside.

“Sure Missy. Have six rooms right now. Not much business here anyways. Wanna have two beds or would a double bed do?”, he asked looking at me with a dirty grin on his face. I didn't get what he meant at first, until I cocked my head to my right and collided with something hard. I had to admit that it smelled rather nice.

Looking over at the object I had collided with, I spotted the mare from the train. I had accidentally head butted her, but she didn't flinch. She only turned around to me, cocking her head at me.

“Holy sweet Celestia!”, I screamed as I realized that this mare had snuck up next to me, without me noticing her. She just turned her attention back to the stallion, nodding and trotting inside, while I sat on my haunches, my heart racing a million miles an hour.

“I guess that means two rooms with single beds after all...”, the stallion said, as he helped up back to my hooves. He sounded almost disappointed, as if he had expected some hot mare action later that night. Too bad I had to disappoint him on that account. All I wanted at that moment, was to find out who that mare was, and how she had come so close to me. The only problem with that being, that she disappeared into her room as soon as she got the key, and didn't answer when I knocked.

As if my day hadn't been bad enough, the proprietor of the Inn let me pay her bill as well!