Hush Now

The Eighth Victim

“Hush Now”

Chapter Two: The Eighth Victim

Rarity exited the club in a huff.

The rush of cold air made her unsteady on her hooves. She really should not have had that fourth appletini. She closed her eyes and drew in a slow breath and tried to collect herself. It was incredibly unladylike to chug one’s beverage and exit in a tizzy due to a fight with one’s lover, but she was so angry!

The parking lot was deserted, not another pony in sight. This was not particularly surprising. After all, it was one o’ clock in the morning and everypony who was still awake was inside partying. She stamped her hooves against the ground and let out a frustrated whimper.

Why did she have to be so difficult? Rarity had only wanted a nice night out with her lover. Was that so much to ask? She didn’t think so, and after Rarity had gone through all the trouble of putting together a nice outfit for her, that pony had shown up in her dirty work uniform! Rarity found it incredibly insulting, especially considering all the effort she had put into making her those clothes. Not to mention the ragged vest made her look unkempt and there was nothing the ivory unicorn hated more than untidiness.

Behind her, Rarity heard the crunch of gravel beneath hooves. Her ears perked up and she fixed her face with her best pout as she turned to face her fillyfriend, “Well, well. Have you come to apologize?” her voice died in her throat when she realized the pony she was looking at was not the one she knew and loved.

Rarity found herself face-to-face with a shadowy figure. The pony was dressed in black from head-to-hoof and in the dim light of the lot the white unicorn could not even make out the other pony’s eyes. “W—who are you?” she asked, trying desperately to keep the fear from her voice. She began to back away slowly, but the gravel combined with the alcohol in her system made it difficult for her to gain steady footing.

She gulped. Suddenly, the forehead of the dark pony burst into light. The spark encased Rarity in a pool of brightness, blinding her. She staggered backward. Electricity crackled in her ears and a searing current hit her flank. Her body stiffened involuntarily and tears sprang to her eyes. Her body convulsed violently before she collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Everything went black.

0 –

Rainbow Dash followed Fluttershy into the conference room to find the rest of the task-force looking exhausted and edgy. Lyra’s mane was wet and flat against her forehead. She had been rushed into the office without time for a proper shower. She chewed angrily on a glazed donut, her eyes darting around the room.

Next to her, Caramel sipped his coffee anxiously. Like Dash, he had been up for days on the Midnight Sun case and was running out of steam. On his right, Cheerilee looked excited. She nibbled at her donut, a frosted number covered in multi-colored sprinkles and Rainbow Dash wondered for a moment if she simply ran on sugar.

At the head of the room, Twilight was speaking in hushed tones to a pony that Rainbow Dash didn’t recognize. She was an orange earth pony with soft blonde tresses tied in a loose ponytail and a brown hat perched on an angle on her head. She sported a vest from the Ponyville police department. She looked upset. The matted streaks in the fur underneath her emerald eyes told Dash that she had been crying.

Doctor Whooves looked incredibly grave. He was the only pony at the table who was not eating or drinking anything. He nodded curt greetings to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as they slide into their seats. Dash leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Who is that?” she asked in a low voice, pointing to the orange pony at the head of the room. Doctor glanced in the direction of Rainbow Dash’s hoof momentarily then at Dash, before returning his gaze to the wall.

The cream-colored stallion glared at the wall, apparently deep in thought. “Her name is Applejack” he replied, staring fixatedly at the wall while he spoke, as if afraid somepony would overhear. “She’s the Chief of Police in Ponyville, seems she was the last pony to see the victim.” Doctor Whooves’ voice was skeptical and he glowered at nothing in particular. Rainbow Dash frowned and began studying Applejack.

Special Agent Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and the mild chatter died down as everypony directed their attention to the front of the room. “As you may have ascertained, there has been another kidnapping.” she said, her voice strained. “This victim is of the highest priority as decreed by Princess Luna herself.” Twilight explained, knitting her brow. A small flash ignited from her horn and a picture appeared on the screen behind her. It was a beautiful white unicorn with a long purple mane in tightly coiled curls. Rainbow Dash had seen her many times in the paper, “Rarity, the princess’ personal dressmaker and confidant.”

“Where was she taken from?” Caramel asked, flipping through his case file agitatedly. Spike had not had time to put together anything substantial, only the basic information on the victim. The purple dragon was the only one absent from the briefing, busy garnering more information for a better profile.

“A club outside Canterlot,” Twilight said, bringing her latte up to her lips magically. She took a long, contemplative sip and set the paper cup back on the podium. She had bags underneath her violet eyes and a few strands of hair were falling from her bun and onto her face. Though she never liked to show weakness, Dash knew she was pushing herself harder than anypony.

“Then why is she here?” Lyra spat, indicating Applejack. The orange earth pony glowered at her, emerald eyes glinting beneath flaxen brows.

“Ah was wit’ her at the club.” Applejack growled. She spoke in a thick Appaloosean accent, uncommon in Canterlot. Yet, even with the drawl she seemed intimidating. This mare was no hick and she was prepared to prove it.

“What club?” Caramel piped in, attempting to diffuse the situation. Over the past few months, he had gotten used to handling the hotheaded Agent Heartstrings. He had plenty of practice with feisty fillies in the Academy, after all he was friends with Rainbow Dash and she was the only pony he knew with a shorter fuse than Lyra. Surprisingly, Dash was seated quietly in the back of the room, observing Applejack with a piercing mauve gaze, sizing her up.

“The Mare-E-Go-Round.” Applejack said, averting her gaze her cheeks flushing slightly. Lyra smirked and Rainbow Dash shot her a nasty look. Judging by the slightly confused looks on the other agents’ faces, it seemed that only she and the sea-green unicorn understood the implications of Rarity and Applejack’s presence at the bar.

“So Rarity is your fillyfriend?” Dash asked Applejack. The other ponies, aside from Lyra, who crossed her fore-legs over her chest smugly, looked at Applejack with slightly surprised expressions. The orange earth pony puffed out her cheeks and glowered at the floor, nodding.

“Yah.” Applejack confessed, “We got in a lil’ dispute.” Applejack explained, “She stormed outta the club an’ Ah tried to give her some time ta cool off, ya know?” the orange pony sighed, her voice becoming choked with tears she refused to shed. “But when Ah got outside, she was gone and this huge burn mark was in the parking lot, shaped like a star.” Applejack ran her hoof across the brim of her hat in nervous habit, “Ah recognized the signature as the Hawker.” the mare looked visibly tenser, gnawing on her bottom lip.

“So you’re her fillyfriend and the last pony to have seen her prior to her kidnapping?” Cheerilee finished the last bite of her donut, licking a little frosting from her lips. “That certainly doesn’t bode well for you.” she grinned at Applejack, her green eyes sparkling. The orange earth pony looked at the mauve psychologist, her eyes widening in shock. “How do we know you didn’t just kill her and are using the Hawker as a cover-up for your domestic dispute?” she asked, giggling.

Applejack’s left eye twitched. She lunged forward, slamming her fore-hooves on the table, looking positively murderous. “Ah would never lay a hoof on her.” she hissed. Twilight lay a sympathetic hoof on her shoulder and Applejack abruptly collapsed on the table. She buried her head in her hooves, her shoulders shuddering as she sobbed. “A—Ah shouldn’t have left her.” she wept, her body wracking with her tears, “It’s all mah fault.”

The other ponies at the table shuffled papers and looked anywhere but the weeping mare. Finally, Doctor Whooves stood up and trotted over to her side, brushing his hoof along her spine. Applejack peered up at him through misty eyes, “I thought the same thing when my wife died.” Doctor admitted, “She was at that post office dropping off a package I hadn’t had time to drop in the mail when the place was attacked. I blamed myself.” his pale-blue eyes moistened a little, but he managed to keep his emotions in check. “I know now that we can’t fight fate. The point is, we don’t know why the Hawker takes his victims or what they have in common besides being unicorns. It really isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.”

“Thanks,” Applejack smiled weakly. “Are ya happy with yer life now?” she asked him.

Doctor Whooves blushed, “Yes. I’m re-married. She’s a lovely mare and I adopted her daughter as well.” he ran a hoof over the top of his spiky mane. “She’s a little absent minded, but she’s the sweetest pony I know.” Doctor smiled despite himself. Fairytale endings were few and far between, but he always felt like he had managed to find one when he came home to those twin pairs of golden-eyes.

Rainbow Dash stood up, “Enough. We have to get moving.” she reminded everypony, “Do we have any leads?” she asked Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight shook her head, “No, we still need to examine the scene.” she told her, glancing up at the clock. “It has been six hours since Rarity went missing. Agent Dash, please take Agents Heartstrings and Fluttershy to the Mare-E-Go-Round and look for any evidence as to the whereabouts of Miss Rarity.”

“Ah want to go too.” Applejack insisted, getting up and adjusting her vest. “This is my fillyfriend. Ah need to be on this case.” the orange earth pony wiped her eyes with the tip of her hoof and took a dramatic sniff. She was finished crying. It was time for action.

“I don’t think that is wise, Chief Applejack.” Twilight advised, frowning slightly. “Your relationship with the victim could compromise the case—” she stopped speaking when Applejack shot her a look that would have made a hydra cry.

“Ah said Ah’m goin’” she spat. Applejack flipped her mane over her shoulder and headed towards door. The orange mare flicked the end of her tail at the flustered unicorn as she strode out of the conference room. Rainbow Dash grinned in spite of herself. She liked a pony with guts. As long as she didn’t try and steal her thunder, she could see herself getting along with Chief Applejack.

Dash headed for the exit and nodded over her shoulder at the now fuming Twilight. She was going to solve this case if it was the last thing she did.

0 –

They took the fastest chariot available to the club to find the parking lot blocked off with yellow crime-scene tape. The CSI-team was already present, combing the scene for clues. The sun was beginning to peek from behind the clouds, covering the whole of Canterlot in a myriad of soft purples and reds as the moon receded into the night sky.

Rainbow Dash hopped down from the chariot, closely followed by Applejack and Lyra. Fluttershy lagged behind them, looking at the ground. They headed towards the edge of the crime scene.

One of the investigators, a pegasus stallion named Red Secret, marched up to Dash. He was tall and muscular with piercing blue eyes and a coat as red as a tomato. He dressed in a navy windbreaker with CSI in white block-letters stamped across the back and a matching baseball cap. His lime-green mane was pulled into a long pony-tail through the back of the hat. He sported a soul-patch and a magnifying glass cutie mark on his flank.

“Hey Dash.” Red Secret greeted her casually. His voice, like his appearance, was gruff and misleading, but Dash knew better. Red was sweeter than honey and damned good at his job. He handed each of the mares a set of plastic crime scene booties, which they tugged awkwardly over their hooves before ducking beneath the tape and joining Red Secret on the other side of the police-line.

“What have you got for me, Red?” Dash asked the investigator, flashing him a grin. She may not have the sweet mare-next-door looks that made everypony love a sweetie-pie like Fluttershy, but she knew how to work what she had to get what she needed. After all, she was bucking awesome. Red Secret shook his head.

“Nothing but my undying love for you, Dash.” he smirked. Red Secret fluttered his wings, sending a cloud of white hoof-printing dust up into the air. The agents coughed as they inhaled the powder. “There are about a million hoof-prints in that bar.” he sighed, “Here, let me take you through what we know.” Red gestured for the mares to follow him towards the giant star-shaped burn in the middle of the parking lot.

Near the burn-mark were a set of staggering hoof-prints, dusted in white powder with numbered markers next to them. “It looks like the victim came out here, inebriated, and stumbled around for a little while.” Red explained, walking alongside the prints until they came to an abrupt stop. “Seems like she was waiting for somepony.” he said. Applejack choked. Rainbow Dash glanced in her direction, but the orange pony shook her head and they waited for Red Secret to continue with his tour of the crime scene.

“Then she must’ve seen something that spooked her.” the stallion explicated, walking backward and winding his hooves through one another in an imitation of Rarity’s actions. He was careful to leave the actual scene untouched. “She turned to see who it was and… BAM!” Red screamed, collapsing to the ground dramatically. The four mares stared at him in shock. Abruptly, the investigator pushed himself off the gravel and dusted off his windbreaker with a quick flutter of his wings.

“After that, the perp must have dragged her away. See?” he indicated the outline of drag marks in the gravel, leading away from the burn. Dash frowned, circling the huge star-shaped mark on the ground. A glimmer of silver caught her eye in the faint light of the sunrise. She bent down to get a closer look.

A small bug was smashed into the gravel. It was round and green with giant, black glazed-over eyes that gazed at nothing. The insect’s tiny innards were smeared into the pavement and its shimmery wings were shredded. This was not any creature Dash was familiar with, “What is this?” she asked, poking at the miniscule carcass with the tip of her hoof. The others gathered around her and leaned down to examine the remains of the bug.

“I—I have no idea.” Red Secret frowned. “I have never seen this type of bug before.”

“What a strange little creature.” Fluttershy whispered, brushing her covered hoof across the tip of its wings, rolling it over to get a closer look. “I grew up in Cloudsdale and I never saw one of these there. I didn’t see any during my stay in Manehatten either.” she said. She looked at the bug tearfully, as if sad for its untimely demise.

“Tag it and bag it.” Lyra ordered, “Send it back to the lab at the EBI. I am sure that we can get an entomologist to tell us what it is.” the sea-green unicorn said. “I am going to interview the bartender.” she told them, turning her back towards the others and trotting towards the club. She stopped and spun on her hoof, calling over her shoulder. “Red, I want you to have one of your boys send that filly’s drinks to the lab. See if she was drugged. Call me when you get the tox-screen.” Lyra instructed loudly, before rushing towards the bar door.

“Will do!” Red shouted after her. He returned his attention to the insect on the ground. “Right after I get this lil’ bugger!” the stallion grinned down his nose at the smashed bug almost maniacally. It still fascinated Rainbow Dash how excited the crime-scene ponies could get over something like dirt or a hair. It was a little creepy. “Can you get me my bag, Dash?” Red asked her. “It’s over by hoof-print number eight.” Dash followed the direction of his hoof to a black saddle-bag about five feet away.

“Sure.” Rainbow Dash said, smirking. In a split-second, the cyan pegasus flew from the spot she had been standing in to where the bag was and back again. She had barely even pushed off the ground. Dash dropped the saddle-bag at Red Secret’s side and tossed her multi-colored mane casually.

Applejack grinned at her, “That’s some pretty impressive speed.” she drawled. Rainbow Dash swelled with pride. She had always been a sucker for having her ego stroked. Sometimes, Dash wondered if she strived to be the best at everything simply to get the praise that came along with the title.

“Rainbow Dash was the fastest flier in the EBI Academy and flight school in Cloudsdale.” Fluttershy said softly, smiling gently. Dash flushed prettily underneath the praise, but she was eating the compliments up. She thanked both ponies and attempted to return her attention to her work before she fished for more admiration.

Red Secret had unzipped his bag and pulled out his camera. He adjusted the focus on the lens and took a couple of pictures of the unidentified bug before tucking it back into his saddlebag. The investigator pony gripped a plastic bag with his teeth and tugged it out, holding it out to Fluttershy. “Hold this open, ‘Shy.” he directed through clenched teeth. The yellow pegasus did as she was told and took the evidence bag from Red, holding it open.

The tomato-colored stallion fished around his saddlebag and extracted a pair of tweezers. He leaned down with the tweezers in his mouth and very carefully pinched the edges around one of the wings of the bug. He gently lifted the damaged creature into the air and over to the bag Fluttershy had open. As tenderly as possible, he dropped it in.

Red Secret returned the tweezers to their rightful place in his saddlebag and turned back to Fluttershy. He took the plastic bag from her and with a swift press of his hoof, sealed it. “That’s it, ladies.” he grinned, “Show’s over.”
“Alright. Let’s go see how far Lyra’s gotten with the bartender.” Dash suggested. She jerked her head towards the bar and Applejack nodded.

“Sounds good,” Red Secret agreed. “I’ll send somepony in after you to collect the glasses like Lyra wanted.” he threw his saddlebag over his shoulders. “In the meantime, I am going to get this little guy back to the lab!” Red said excitedly. He nodded his goodbyes to the mares before trotting off in the opposite direction, calling for one of the other investigators.

“I—I will go interview the parking attendant.” Fluttershy piped up, “If you don’t mind, that is.” she blushed beneath her bubblegum bangs and smiled shyly.

“Sounds good, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash concurred, giving her a curt nod. The yellow pegasus smiled and fluttered her wings, rising a few feet off the ground and gliding gracefully towards the booth near the edge of the parking lot, where some local police were already grilling a young pimple-faced colt in a red vest and cap.

The inside of the club was dingy and depressing. The floors were littered with trash, varying from paper cups to glitter and plastic beads. The walls were covered in peeling fluorescent paint and framed posters of famous musicians and models. An unlit disco ball hung sadly from the ceiling. A few members of the police and CSI-team were still milling around, interviewing a few detained patrons and collecting the last bits of evidence.

“It sure looks different durin’ the day.” Applejack commented, nudging a stray piece of confetti with her hoof. “Ah don’t think Rarity would even come here if she saw it like this.” she smiled to herself for a moment, before the corners of her eyes filled with tears. Rainbow Dash placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. The orange earth pony shook it off. “Ah’m okay. Thanks, sugarcube.”

They found Lyra sitting at the bar, chatting with an attractive earth pony. She had an extremely light brown coat, almost bordering on white and a choppily-cut birch-colored mane that fell over one eye. Her visible eye was big and green with a silver rod through the eyebrow. She wore a leather v-neck vest that was cut short to show off her cutie mark, a full lime and half a lemon on her tightly-muscled flank.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack approached the bar-counter in time to hear the bartender finish telling Lyra, “She was arguing with some filly, then she left.” she explained. The sound of hooves on wood alerted Lyra and the bartender to the arrival of the other mares. They turned to face them. “Speak of the devil. There she is.” the bartender said, pointing to Applejack. The orange earth pony frowned.

Lyra smirked at Applejack, “Lemon Lime here was just telling me about the big fight you had with Rarity and how she stormed out.”

“Ah already told you that!” Applejack snapped. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m just confirming your alibi.” Lyra retorted, crossing her fore-legs over her chest and sniffing loudly. “How can be sure you aren’t the one who killed Rarity if I don’t make sure of it!” the sea-green mare inquired, nastily.

“She isn’t dead!” Applejack screamed.

“Excuse me.” Lemon Lime interrupted, frowning. “She was in here for a good hour after that unicorn left.” she informed them, trotting over towards the register. She pushed a few buttons and the drawer flew open. She began to fish through some papers before pulling one out and returning to Lyra. “She had another beer. I recall telling her to give her lady some time to cool down before she went after her.” Lemon Lime said, sliding a receipt across the bar-counter towards Lyra who snatched it up and studied it.

“SEE?” the orange pony shouted, stabbing at the paper with her hoof. Lyra glowered at Applejack, holding the receipt out of her reach and sticking out her tongue at the younger mare. She knew it was immature, she didn’t care. Applejack growled and pushed the sea-green unicorn, causing her to nearly fall but she caught herself on the bar counter. They opened their mouths to argue but the slam of a hoof on the counter drew their attention to Lemon Lime. The young bartender shot them a death-stare that could have rivaled Fluttershy’s and they stopped fighting. Dash admired her mastery of the death-stare.

“Sorry.” Lyra mumbled, handing the receipt to Applejack. “This has to be hard for you. I’m just exhausted.” she admitted. The other pony nodded and smiled weakly, taking the paper and tucking it into her jacket pocket.

“Water under the bridge, sugarcube.” the orange pony told her. She held her hoof out to Lyra, who met it with a swift bump.

“Did you see anypony suspicious last night?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning back to the bartender. “Anypony eyeing Applejack or Rarity?”

Lemon Lime pursed her lips and looked around the bar. “Not really. There were a lot of regulars last night and I know most of them personally.” she said, flipping her mane. “None of them are the types to do anything like this.” the cream-colored earth pony mused. “It was also really busy. I don’t remember anypony in particular. Except…”

“Except?” Dash prompted.

“There was this one pony.” Lemon Lime furrowed her brow, concentrating on drawing her memory to the surface. “They were dressed in a dark cloak, though. I couldn’t see their face.” she said, “I remember thinking: ponies in Canterlot have a weird sense of fashion.” she returned her gaze to the three mares. “I grew up in Ponyville.” she explicated.

“Anythin’ else?” Applejack encouraged her. The bartender bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut, thinking as hard as she could. The three ponies watched in silence, praying she remembered any minute detail that could help them. Suddenly, her eyes flew open.

“They ordered a rum and coke!” she yelped.

“Do you have the receipt?” Lyra asked excitedly, hopping off the bar stool. Lemon Lime nodded enthusiastically and rushed over to the cash register. She pulled the drawer open and began searching through the scraps of paper before she managed to find the one she wanted. She rushed back to the other ponies.

“It seems they paid in cash.” she frowned, studying the receipt. “Do you still want it?”

“Definitely!” Rainbow Dash grinned. The cyan pegasus turned her head over her shoulder and shouted, “Yo, CSI-BOYS! One of you needs to get your ass over here! I got a job for you!” Dash ordered. Several ponies stared at her with wide-eyes. She raised an expectant eyebrow and it was only moments before a lanky stallion sauntered over to the bar counter.

Under the direct supervision of Lyra Heartstrings, the investigator dusted the receipt for prints before bagging it and sending it back to the lab. She then forced him to collect every glass in the bar, including the discarded cups on the floor, for examination as well. She dismissed Applejack and Rainbow Dash and told them she and Fluttershy could handle it from here. She would meet them back at the lab soon.

The two mares thanked Lemon Lime for her help and made their way back to the EBI-Headquarters.

Author's Note

Alternate-Universe. Silence of the Lambs Parody. Agent Rainbow Dash of the EBI is investigating a string of grisly murders in Equestria and needs the help of the infamous “Cupcake Killer” Pinkamena Diane Pie. [Rainbow/Pinkie]

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The second chapter! Now the story is really going to get going. I am introducing Little Miss Rarity as Catherine Baker Martin. If you never read Silence of the Lambs, I am sure you are familiar with the pivotal “pit scene” with lotion and what-not. Rarity is going in the pit. Lol.

I will give you SO many bonus points if you guess who Horn Hawker (Buffalo Bill) is. I did not tag him/her because I wanted it to be a secret!

As I stated previously, this story only very loosely follows the trilogy it is based off of. It also does not follow Cupcakes in any way, save for the idea that Pinkie Pie killed and ate ponies. I only used that moniker because I wanted Pinkamena to be a cannibal like Lector. So I am not bothering to credit Sgt. Sprinkles because honestly, he wasn’t the only one who thought of that plot. The sad thing is: I had the same idea of a bakery of horrors starring Pinkie Pie the moment I started watching My Little Pony. I was thrilled to see Cupcakes because it meant I wasn’t the only one who saw the possibility of split personalities in Pinkie Pie. ;)

I decided to make Rainbow Dash a little more docile since she is meant to be Clarice Starling, but she is still a hothead who does things without permission from her superiors. Lyra Heartstrings has been changed from a lot of fanon interpretations though. I made her the bitchy veteran character. Every cop-drama has one! I like Lyra and I needed a bitch. :D I also made Doctor Whooves less like Tennet (sorry) and more like an absent-minded professor type. He was actually based off CSI’s Grissom.

God damn I am shit at pony names. I just pull them out of my ass. If you have any cool made up ones for background characters, throw them at me. I will give you credit. Pwease? *sparkly eyes*

WARNINGS: This is a grim-dark story. There is a gratuitous amount of violence, gore, and death. There are also lesbian pairings. Please keep your silly negative comments to yourself. I will not hesitate to block/report you.

PAIRINGS: Rainbow/Pinkie

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