New Trottland Yard Case 04 - Silver Cross behind bars

Silver Cross

behind bars

Chapter 2

“What in the name of all that is holy is taking so long, superintendent? I've presented all the necessary papers to you. Inspector Silver Cross is to be executed by disintegration. The sentence was to be carried out three hours ago! If I don't do it soon, it's not only my neck on the line, you know!”, the completely concealed mare protested as she paced up and down in Gruffs office.

Gruff Tone fixed the mare with his gaze. She was concealed from head to hoof in a black cloak with red trim. Her golden face mask covered even her ears, and distorted her voice. The only two things he could say for certain, was that he was talking to a mare and that she was a Unicorn...

“Special Agent... E. I know what kind of predicament we both are in, but the council seems to have forgotten that this is an institution that seeks to find the truth before prosecuting our prisoners. It's even in the constitution. Everypony has the right to get a fair trial, even those who are charged with murder.”, the stallion relied calmly.

The mare suddenly turned, her golden mask with the star symbol of the Alicorns prophet seeming to glare at him, even though it didn't have any opening in it.

“The council does not take lightly to disobedience! They decided that this mare has to die, and I am not willing to risk my own life just so you can investigate some imaginary doppenganger! I hereby relief you of your duties as superintendent of the Yards Canterlot branch! Now get me somepony who can bring me to her!”, she screamed at him in her mechanical sounding voice.

Gruff sighed, hitting a button under his desk with a hoof without the mare noticing. A cage appeared out of nowhere, falling on the mare in front of him. The bars were enchanted with an anti teleportation spell, and would take her a while to break.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU'LL GET BOTH OF US EXECUTED!”, Special Agent E shrieked as she tried to teleport out of her prison, only to find it impossible.

“I might not particularly like Silver Cross, and you have stripped her of her rank, but she is still one of our own. You will find that the Yard does not stop investigating, especially if one our own is the suspect, until we have exhausted all of our resources. Even the council has to follow the laws, and I will not stand for an execution without trial. You won't be able to break out of that cage for a while. When you do, I will accept your apology.”, he said sternly, trotting out of the door to his office. He knew that, if he failed to find any evidence for Silvers innocence, or if she was indeed guilty, he had just forfeited his life, but he didn't care. The mare might have been a slack, but she had solved the two cases he had assigned to her splendidly.  She had never lied to him either. Even her reports on those two cases included details, that other Inspectors might have left out...

But where was he to start his investigation? Best he started at the scene of the crime. With some urgency in his step, that he hadn't displayed since he his own days as an agent, he galloped towards the holding cells. Gruff had ordered the whole place to be sealed off until further notice, so nothing should have been removed yet. Even the dead Changeling was merely put into a stasis field where it had died.

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On the way to the cells, Gruff came by the security station, deciding that he would check the tape of the prisoners cell once more before heading there. The guards inside left him alone at his request and he went to work.

After watching the gruesome execution of a prisoner in his department, he played the video in slow motion. The mare that had murdered the Changeling had concealed herself in shadows until the two guardsponies had arrived. She had plenty of time to disappear before they did, yet she chose to stay until they did. That was one more indication that something was wrong here.  Silver Cross may have been clumsy from time to time, but she was not stupid. If it had been her, she would have made a run for it as soon as her target had been eliminated....

Then there was that strange magic this Pony seemed to use. Being a graduate from the Canterlot magical academy he recognized dark magic when he saw it. So far Silver Cross claimed she didn't have the time to unlock any of the powers her cross had gained, by absorbing the Luna one, so she shouldn't be able to use this kind of magic yet. The spears were another thing. They were a mixture of summoning and shadow magic. Nothing more then actual spears wrapped in a sheath of shadows. According to what he had been able to find out while talking to one of his agents however, the Alicorn of the night had been able to fire spears made out of pure shadow.

In comparison to that, these things looked like bad fakes. But there was another thing bothering him... Just as the mare on the video disappeared into the ground, she tossed something away. The video quality wasn't good enough to see what it was, but he saw where it had landed. One might even miss that she was leaving something behind intentionally, if one did not watch the video in slow motion. Whoever this mare was, if it wasn't his Inspector, she was one damn fast bitch.

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In the cell the Changeling had been imprisoned in, Gruff didn't find much of anything in the term of clues. The body was still there, impaled on the wall by five wooden spears. Their shadow enchantment had faded so everypony could now clearly see what they really were. The ground had nothing to offer either, until he crawled under the bed of the cell. There he found the object he had seen the imposter throw away before fleeing. Grinning, he took it in his telekinesis and stowed it away in his saddlebags. Special agent Es case had just fallen completely apart...

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I was bored. Being strapped to a gurney with nothing else to do then to look at the ceiling couldn't get much more boring. The soldiers, who were supposedly stationed outside, didn't come in for a chat either. What was the worst however, was that my nose was itching hard and I couldn't move my hooves to scratch!

I was just about to try and sleep some more, when I heard a ruckus outside in the hallway. It almost sounded like... fighting? What the buck was going on out there? After a while the sounds of gunfire and offensive magic ceased and it was deathly quiet again. A few minutes passed until I heard the gentle clip clop of hooves coming closer and closer. Soon after, the door opened and a completely concealed mare trotted in. Her formerly black coat was soaked in Pony blood, while she herself didn't seem to have a single scratch on her. Not that I could actually see an inch of her hide.

“What happened out there?”, I asked cautiously, already having a pretty good idea of what had happened.

“That is none of your concern. The only thing you should be worried about is your long overdue execution, Miss Cross.”, the mare said, in a low and almost insane tone of voice.

The cross on my chest began to heat up, while the blood in my veins seemed to freeze. This was the EIS agent that had come here to execute me? What was I supposed to do? There wasn't much that I could do either way. I was still strapped down, and the shield spell was preventing me from moving around too much. The mares horn lit up, coming closer and closer as it did so.

“Hey... ehm... wait? The superintendent said he wanted to investigate my case... Doesn't that mean I still have some time left?”, I asked hopefully.

“I fear not. The good stallion will share your fate after I'm done with you, for interfering with direct council orders, and because I don't like him.”

I was speechless. The boss had put his neck on the line to help me, and now he would loose it. The only thing I didn't understand was, why somepony was going through all this to get rid of me... unless....

“Identify yourself!”, I demanded when the mare was almost next to me. She seemed startled at that, cocking her head in confusion.

“What?”, she asked perplexed.

“Before you execute me, I want you to show me some kind of identification. You EIS Ponies are supposed to have some kind of mark that shows your allegiance, have you not? Show it to me!”

“There is no need for me to prove who I am to you.”, she said coldly as she prepared to release the shield spell around me. I could have pointed out that this was not a smart move, but I never interrupted my enemies when they made a mistake.

“So you are an imposter! I knew it! So who sent you? The Changelings? That miniature Nightmare Moon joke? At least tell me that before you kill me!”, I tried to stall. To my amazement, it actually seemed to work.

“DON'T YOU DARE SPEAKING OF THE MISTRESS THAT WAY!”, she exploded, hitting the shield with her front hooves where my face was. It had no effect on me at all, but I couldn't help and flinch as her hoof came towards my face.

That was all I needed to hear. As soon as she had undone the shield spell, I used all the additional strength the power of the two crosses granted me to break free. I was just fast enough to dodge the execution spell that hit the gurney where my head had been just a moment ago.

I really hoped that the crosses would give me an edge against this mare... But I was wrong. As soon as I had landed on my hooves, her hoof already connected with my rump, sending me flying face first against the wall.

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Gruff tone found a scene of pure carnage as he stepped out of the elevator. There were dead Agents and Inspectors left and light, and he almost slipped due to all the blood on the ground. How had this gone unnoticed, and who had caused this? He broke into a gallop towards the execution area, jumping over the dead bodies of several of his best investigators...

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A hoof barely missed my face as I planted my own forelegs on the wall and pushed back with all my might. I flew into the opposite wall of the room, knocking it down on impact. The air was knocked out of me, as I tumbled into the hallway.

“Note to self: Be careful how much strength I use in the future.”, I mumbled as I tried to stand up. In a blur of red, black and gold that insane mare was on me. How had she gotten here so fast? Even in a full gallop she shouldn't have been able to do that, and I was pretty sure she didn't teleport. Her hooves pressed down on my shoulders as I struggled to free myself, pinning me to the ground. Maniacal laughter erupted from under her mask.

“You're mine... YOU'RE MINE!”, she laughed as her horn began to glow again.

“NOT SO FAST!”, I shouted in her face, as my rear legs came up and bucked her off of me. I heard a crunching sound as my hooves connected, and I felt satisfied when I realized that I had broken a few of her ribs. That feeling however, was quickly diminished as I tried to struggle up again. I had knocked the mare all the way back into the room, but she was already on me again. Damn that mare was fast! I could see blood dripping our from under her mask as she charged up her horn again. The blood was green...

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Gruff Tone had reached the doors to the execution area of the building. On his way here he had passed over a hundred dead Ponies, who had been literally torn apart. A green light from inside caught his attention. It was followed by a scream that was full of pain.....