New Trottland Yard Case 06 - Silver Cross and a new beginning

Silver Cross

and a new beginning

Chapter 2

Sweet Hoof snorted. All these Ponies that came to the New Trottland Yard these days were really annoying her. None of them was even bothering to answer her questions, as to why they were here. They usually just looked her up and down, before moving on. The lot of them were doing something in the basement, where the special holding cells were. And their smell....

When she arrived in the morning, these Ponies were already there, and they were still there when she called it a day. Just what were they doing? Sweet Hoof could only imagine that they were building something, since they had brought in several wagon loads of construction materials. Were they maybe expanding the cells? But if that was the case, then why didn't they just tell her about it? She was the superintendents private secretary after all.

The worst thing for a mare who had everything organized like herself, was that there was absolutely no paperwork either. Not a single form was in the files that could have told her what the buck was going on. Even the superintendent had stonewalled her...

“It's none of your business Ms. Sweet Hoof. Now, where is that report I asked you to bring to my office an hour ago?”, he had said when she had asked him about it. “Curiosity killed the cat”, they said, but she just couldn't resist the temptation. On the third day after these Ponies had showed up, she decided to go downstairs and have a look.

Sweet Hoof followed one of the Ponies who seemed to work down there as the stallion passed her office. It proved to be quite easy for her to follow him, since the stallion didn't even seem to take notice of her. All that seemed to matter to him, was the sheet of paper he levitated in front of him.

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Only a few minutes later she had reached the basement floor. It was surprisingly easy, considering that whatever they were doing, was supposed to be secret. She watched the stallion disappear behind a curtain that had been put up on the far wall of the basement. Whatever was going on here, was going on behind it. Of that Sweet Hoof was sure.

But just as she wanted to step through it, somepony bit down on her tail and pulled her back. Sweet Hoof looked back indignantly, prepared to give whoever had dared to touch her tail a piece of her mind, but her words died in her throat. Four masked Ponies were staring back at her, all of them Unicorns. She took a step backwards, her ears drooping.

“Ehm... I... I got... lost?”, she stammered, forcing a smile.

The four Unicorns just continued to face her, one of them shaking his head. It was the moment when all of them surrounded her, that she knew she was in serious trouble....

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“Oh come on....”, I moaned, as I stepped out of the tenth public school in the Canterlot area. All of them had refused to take Sweet as a student so far, due to her special needs. Having a picture of me with her at all times being only one of them. Only two schools were left on my list, one of them being a school for mentally impaired foals... I seriously didn't want to put her in there.

She had problems understanding what others told her, and she was a little slow from time to time, but she was still a pretty smart little filly. Just the other day she had managed to fill out all of my tax  forms correctly although, I myself was not understanding a word they said. She had even calculated every bit I paid, in relation to my income, resulting in me getting a massive tax return...

A Pony just needed to have some patience with her. I loved the little troublemaker, but all of this was not only a strain on me, but also on my bank account. Even with the tax return I had only managed to get my bank account out of the red. The doctors I had to take her to were expensive, and my health insurance just didn't cover that. In addition to those, a whole bunch of therapists were screaming for a piece of my earnings as well...

If this went on for any prolonged period of time, I would have to give up my apartment, and move back in with my parents... It wasn't that I was regretting my decision to adopt her, but it was really hard to get by with my kind of pay....

A tug on the leather band around my neck shook me out of my melancholy. Sweet had, once again, spotted something interesting, and was now trying to get there. Ponies on the street were looking at me funny, but the harness she was now wearing was the only choice I had. If I didn't have her in that harness, which was bound to my crosses leather band with a leash, she was really hard to control.

I looked into the direction she was trying to get to, and spotted a familiar lavender Pegasus mare. Berry Wing was just coming out of a store, not spotting me as it seemed. Taking the leash into my mouth I slowly started pulling my daughter towards me. She wasn't happy about it, but relented once I put her on my back. Sweet could fly and walk just fine, but whenever I put her there, she just seemed to fall asleep...

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Berry Wing watched Inspector Silver Cross trot down mainstreet, with that Pegasus filly on her back. She couldn't help but chuckle a little as she shook her head.

“You really have no idea on how to raise a Pegasus....”, she whispered, making her way back to the New Trottland Yard Headquarters. While trotting through the small crowd of Ponies, who were up early to get some shopping done, she remembered her own foalhood. Her mother had always carried her on her back, whenever she had been unable to keep flying, due to exhaustion. The place between her mothers wings had always felt like the safest place in the world for her...

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Three days had passed since I had spoken to the last school principal. The last public school had refused to take Sweet in as well, so the “special” school had been my last option. Principal Frozen Heart had seemed pretty competent, but Sweet had refused to go anywhere near him. She didn't come up from behind my head during the entire conversation, and the prices for tutelage at that school would have been a killer for my bank account. Two thousand bits a month.... That was not only pushing it, but that was simply insane! I, as an Inspector, could be considered a well earning Pony, but even I only got one thousand a month. If I wanted to pay that kind of bits, I would have to take up Quickies offer, and start working at the licker again....

Not that I didn't like the place, after having spent some time there and getting to know the boss, but I doubted that it would be a fitting place for a filly to grow up...

I sighed as I trotted into the New Trottland Yard building. My vacation time had ended yesterday, so  today was my first day back at work. Wondering if my boss had any new cases for me, I checked my inbox on the way to my office, only to be surprised by it's absence...

“What the...?”, I cursed under my breath, as I looked the row of mailboxes again and again. I dismissed it after I saw that another Inspector couldn't seem to find his own inbox either. Maybe somepony was playing a prank?

The next shock came, when I reached the door to my office. The black writing on the glass window in the door, that had said “Inspector Silver Cross”, had been replaced with “Inspector Red Glow”.

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The door to Gruff Tones office flew open, and fell off it's hinges just before I charged in, with Sweet riding on my back.

“What's the matter with this, Superintendent?”, I screamed at him, with Sweet watching him intently from over my shoulder.

“I don't know what you mean. Oh, and you will have to pay for that door, thank you very much.”, he replied, turning his attention back to the documents in front of him.

“Oh you know exactly what I mean! My inbox is gone, my office is now occupied by a new transfer Inspector, and the accountants told me that my pay has been canceled. So if you want to fire me, at least tell me the reason!”, I demanded.

I was furious. I had always known that the boss didn't particularly like me, but I had never thought he would just kick me out. His casual answers didn't do anything to calm me down either.

“The... I'll pay your fucking door, just give me a straight answer. Why did you fire me?”, I demanded again. A tinge of desperation crept into my voice, as I realized all the expenses Sweets special condition caused would be left unpaid if I lost my job.

“You're not fired. You've been transferred. Report to the basement level for your new assignment.”, Gruff deadpanned, without looking up again. The basement? The only thing down there was the special holding cells... And the only guys working there, were the Ponies guarding the prisoners.... A penalty transfer? That was just uncalled for, but at least I would receive a steady pay check... The only thing I wondered was, why the accountants had said that my pay had been canceled...

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As I stepped out of the elevator to the basement, my jaw hit the ground. Instead of the entrance area to the special cells that I was used to, the whole floor was now one big atrium with walls made of white marble. Massive marble pillars stood in regular intervals to both sides of a red carpet that led right up to a reception desk. A bored looking stallion sat behind it, watching my every move as we approached him.

“You're late.”, he said, after casting some kind of spell on me. He looked very satisfied with it too, even though nothing had happened.

“Ehm... I'm sorry... It's just been such a shock to be transferred here...”, I responded, hanging my head.

“No worries, mam. I was out of line. It's just that I have an appointment in half an hour, and I would have been late if you had taken any longer. Just wait, somepony will be here in a minute to pick you up and give you the big tour.”

My head shot up as he stood at attention and actually saluted to me before leaving.

A few minutes passes, before a hidden door on the right side of the desk opened, revealing a long white hallway. What surprised me even more however, was the lavender Pegasus mare that stood there, her red eyes fixed on my blue ones.