New Trottland Yard Case 05 - Silver Cross and Sweet Potato

Silver Cross

and Sweet Potato

Chapter 4

That night, I didn't spend in my luxurious suite in the Celestias Pride hotel. Instead, I slept in the guest house of Crudena, with Sweet at my side. The three Constables had not left for home either, even though I would have preferred it that way. Two of them patrolled the town, while the third stood in front of my door. I just hoped they did get some rest themselves....

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I had a dream that night. It was a very strange one, for I had never been in the Canterlot  Council building. I could only imagine that this was how it had looked during the Alicorns rule. I was standing in the middle of a really big room, which had walls that were made out of white marble. At the far wall were three thrones that looked like they were lined with red silk. On the left one of them sat a dark blue mare, her mane sparkling like the night sky.

I was in awe at her beauty as she stood up and came trotting up to. She moved with such a care and elegance, that stunned me. When she had reached me, I noticed her Cutiemark of a crescent moon.

“We commend thee, Silver Cross. It took our previous bearer almost two years to come here for the first time.”, she said as she looked down on me. I was used to other Ponies being bigger than me, but this mare was freaking huge! My muzzle hanging wide open must have been an indication of my confusion and awe. The mare waved her hoof in front of my face a few times, trying to get my attention.

“Huh, what? Oh, ehm sorry. Never seen an Alicorn before... Or at least never a full sized one.”, I apologized, falling down onto my haunches.

“It does not matter. Thee have gained our attention, little one, and that is why we brought thee here.”, she said with a gentle smile on her face.

“Excuse me? How did I gain your attention? I didn't do anything special.”, I argued, cocking my head in confusion. The Alicorn in front of me lay down to be on eye level with me, and began to chuckle softly.

“Thee has done something extraordinary. Thee has taken in a filly, even though thee knew it would mean a lot of trouble for thee in the future. We approve of that. During our rule, we had many duties. Beside raising the moon and wandering the dreams of our subjects, we also wandered the dark streets of our realm and looked for lost children and see them safely home. Vampires and other demons are no new thing in Equestria either. More then once did we have to fight them, and we invented powerful means to do so. We brought thee here to grant you one of those powers. The may choose.”, she elaborated, summoning several dark blue orbs with her horn. Each of them showed an image of something.

There were eight orbs floating in front of me, and the Alicorn in front of me only nodded reassuringly.

A dark sword, a dark spear, some kind of strange dark globe, a picture of two identical Ponies, a Pony seemingly running very fast, a Pony lifting a boulder, a dark shield and a pair of amber eyes were depicted on the orbs. The Alicorn of the night didn't offer any explanation of what they meant, even when I asked her.

Putting a hoof to my chin in thought, I began pondering my options. I could identify at least two of the orbs easily, having seen Shadow use those powers in battle. The spear surely stood for the shadow spears she fired at Broken Cross in rapid succession, while the dark globe was most likely the symbol for the quite useful shadow walk. An ability with which Shadow Cross had been able to appear and disappear at will. As far as I understood it, it was some kind of teleportation, only that it didn't have a range limit like the regular version....

Two more began to make sense in my mind. The Pony lifting a boulder could been a the trait Dancing had used to beat me in the hoofwrestle contest and break my leg in the process, while the running Pony could be the one giving Broken her freakish speed. I certainly wasn't good at choosing, seeing as I found pros and contras for each of the powers that I had already identified. But I was also intrigued by the ones that made no sense to me yet. So, to stall, I asked a question.

“Say... I fought a Changeling named Broken Cross. She had similar powers like the ones you're offering me here so...”

“Do not worry. Broken does not have my cross. There are abilities that all of them share however. If our sister would decide to see you, she could offer you a few of these as well. If you took two of the same, that one trait would be twice as powerful, since it would be powered by two of us instead of only one.”, she explained, still smiling. I sighed.

“OK, look... I kinda can't stop thinking about you as “Alicorn of the night” or “that Alicorn”. Before we go on, can you tell me your name?”, I asked, still playing for time.

“Most certainly. Thee may call us Luna, if thou wishes to do so.”

Luna. Now I knew for certain that I was in the actual presence of one of the legendary Alicorns. That left Celestia, Cadance and their “prophet” Twilight Sparkle....

“One last question before I decide.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can I have two of them instead of one?”, I asked sheepishly. Luna seemed a little taken aback at that, but started laughing nonetheless.

“Thou predecessor was afraid of us, yet thou talks to us as if we were just another Pony. We like that. Just this once, we will grant thou wish.”, she chuckled.

I grinned widely, pointing my hoof at two of the orbs that were still floating in front of me. The one with the running Pony, and the dark sword began to float towards me, disappearing into my body.

“Thou have shown bravery tonight, and great compassion during the day. We are quite sure that we will meet again soon. To activate the powers we just gave thou, think of their symbols. Train to use them, and never use them for a trivial matter, or we might decide to take them from thee again.”, she said, blurring out of existence even while she spoke.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was still dark when my eyes fluttered open. A quick glance at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand revealed to me that it was six in the morning. I reached a hoof over to where I expected Sweet to be, but she wasn't there. My eyes looked around frantically, and finally found her at the window, staring outside.

“What is it Sweetie?”, I yawned, standing up and trotting over to her side. She pointed outside with one of her wings, and I saw a bulky figure move around in the shadows. The Constables that I had brought with me where nowhere to be seen. My mane stood on end instantly and my brain jolted to full wakefulness.

“Sweetie, can you stay here alone for a while? I have to check this out.”, I whispered into her ear.  The filly looked up at me fearfully, before hugging my good leg. Sighing, I lay down on the floor so she could climb up onto my back. It probably wasn't the smartest move to take her along, but I couldn't leave her alone either.

Sneaking out into the darkness, I noticed something very odd. The sky was full of clouds, hiding the moon behind them, yet I could see as clearly as if it was a sunny day. Darting from shadow to shadow, I followed the bulky figure whom I soon identified to be the orphanages managers son, Rage Hoof.

He sneaked into one of the side buildings and soon the light inside was turned on. I stayed in the shadows, observing the whole thing. Sweet Potato was shivering on my back. If it was due to fear, or the early morning cold, I couldn't tell. I took off the jacket that said “New Trottland Yard Inspector” on it's back and put it over her. The shivering eased a little but didn't go away entirely. I just hoped that she would be OK. If it came to a fight, I would have to leave her behind. Not only would she be in the way, but she would also be in danger if I brought her along for something like that.

About half an hour after Rage Hoof had entered the building, several young fillies came there as well. They looked like they were anticipating something fun, and were chatting in low voices that I couldn't make out from where I was.

When all of them were inside, I decided it was time to take a closer look. Creeping closer, I took a look through the window. What I saw made my jaw drop. Rage Hoof, that total brute of a stallion, was dancing around in a tutu, while the young fillies stood on one side of the room and mirrored his motions....

“Ballet lessons? REALLY?”, I couldn't help but exclaim aloud. The whole group of Ponies turned towards the window, and I could see the expression on Rage Hoofs face darken. A moment later he was already galloping for the door.

I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the nearest building. Opening the door, I put down Sweet and told her to stay where she was. She only looked up at me with her teary amber eyes as I closed the door and locked it. To my surprise the tutu wearing stallion was already right behind me when I turned around again.

I got a hoof to the face that stunned me for just a second, which wasn't enough for the stallion to land another hit on me. Lunas words came into my mind, and I thought about the symbol depicting a running Pony. The world around me started to slow down as if everything was moving in slow motion. I myself could still move normally however. Dodging the blow, I landed a hit of my own and time started to flow in it's usual speed once more. Rage flew several meters through the air, before impacting on a tree and knocking it over. He seemed more then just stunned. He seemed to be quite out of it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The three Constables took care of Rage Hoof once they had finally noticed the ruckus I had caused. It turned out, that he was giving regular early morning ballet lessons to little fillies and colts in the orphanage, under the condition that they kept quiet about it. Being worried about his reputation, it was his worst nightmare when he had seen Sweet Potato standing at the same window I had seen him through. When he had tried to talk to her about it, he had, not to my surprise, tried to intimidate her, which she hadn't taken well. Threatening to report his behavior, and spreading the word that he was not as tough as he always claimed to be, the filly had sealed her fate. He had seen no other option then to beat her to death, while the other fillies and colts sat at the dinner table.

Since that was in another building entirely, nopony had been able to hear her screams. Then when Dusty had confronted him about it, he had feared that Sweet had told her what she had seen, and so he had killed her.

The orphanages manager was raging at me when we all left, promising me revenge for doing that to her lovely son. I could only shake my head as my daughter was hovering next to me.

“I didn't do anything to your son Miss. He did it to himself. Had he been true about his passion for ballet and teaching, nothing of this would have happened.”, were my last words before trotting away, Sweet Potato flying at my side.

The filly had not left me, ever since I had unlocked that door again, and I promised myself to never leave her alone if I could help it....