Danger Around Every Cornerby GleamingChaptersPrologue: MasqueradeChapter I: A Stroll Down Memory LaneChapter II: AlliesChapter III: IncognitoPrologue: MasqueradeDanger Around Every CornerPrologue A police vehicle drove past the trash that littered the corrupted streets of Detrot, in hot pursuit of a convicted criminal accused of murder. The officer quickly turned her steering wheel to the right as she maneuvered around the corner, all four wheels of the vehicle splashing against a small puddle on the street. “Police! Stop your vehicle immediately or I’ll start opening fire!” The officer projected her voice through her megaphone. “Just for you guys to arrest me? Fat chance!” His hoof stepped down on the gas pedal, increasing the speed of the car. As the criminal opened the glove compartment of his car as a pistol inched itself closer to him, he reached for his gun and firmly gripped the weapon in his hoof. Directly aiming the loaded pistol at the officer, he clicked the trigger as a speeding bullet shot out of the pistol, smashing through the glass window of his adversary. The officer ducked her head down to avoid the speeding bullet. She lifted her head back up staying focused on the target, returning fire as they drove down an alleyway covered with propaganda posters and graffiti. As they were at each other’s necks, the front of her car slammed against the back bumper of his car through a steel gate and crashed into a wall. He kicked the door vigorously to escape the wreckage of broken glass and his limp body gave out on him, stumbling down onto the ground. The officer walked away from her vehicle as she slowly approached the car with her gun pointed out at the stallion. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can be held against you in court,” Trixie took out a pair of hoofcuffs and pinned him against the wall, locking the metal cuffs around his wrists. “This is why I hate the law, you never give us criminals a chance to defend ourselves.” Masquerade groaned, being escorted into the backseat of Trixie’s police car. Trixie pressed down on the gas pedal, the sound of blaring sirens and flashing multicolored lights startled nearby neighborhoods of alley cats scrounging around trash cans for their next meal whether it was rotten fish or spilled milk. She stopped the car at a red light intersection across the street from the local pizzeria before turning around to Masquerade, then parked the car in the pizzeria’s parking lot. “You’re lucky that Trixie’s boss gets in a good mood when I give him a pizza after a job well done, stay here and don’t move.” Trixie said, exiting the car and walking to the pizzeria. “It’s not like I can anyway, remember?” Masquerade gestured to the hoofcuffs, trying his hardest not to laugh. Perfect Slice’s Pizzeria was an establishment that a lot of police officers from the Detrot Police Department spent their nights cracking jokes and enjoying delicious slices of pizza, for a reasonable price of course. Trixie knew that first hoof on her first day on the job to take things seriously, while at the same time know when to have fun with her fellow officers. Pushing the double doors open, she heard the familiar warm welcome of a bell ringing. “Hey, it’s Trixie! How may I help you on this fine night?” Perfect Slice stroked his handlebar moustache. “Give Trixie an extra large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. For you know who,” Trixie leaned against the counter, pointing to her badge that had the chief investigator’s name engraved on the front of the badge. “But of course, for Private Eye!” Perfect winked at Trixie, trotting directly to his so-called “pizza experimentation” station. “You know it!” Trixie returned the wink back at him. The pizza confectionist rolled a ball of dough flat across the working station table as he tossed the dough’s flat texture into the air and spun it around on his left hoof, tossing the flat dough in his newly purchased wood oven. Warm flames inside of the oven flickered around the pizza as the yeast inside of the pizza bubbled up to the surface, and a ding sound notified Perfect Slice that the pizza was finished. “Order up! Here you go Trixie, that will be eight bits please.” Perfect held out his hoof, waiting for his payment as he placed the pizza in a pizza box. “Trixie’s got you covered, Perfect.” She reached into her saddlebag, dropping eight gold bits on the counter. “See you around, Trixie. We’re still up for our date later?” Perfect rubbed the end of his shoulder, his eyes drifting away from Trixie. “Hmm… Trixie will see,” Trixie gave a little chuckle as she left the pizzeria, and walked back to her car. Driving across the street to the police station, Trixie parked the car in the police officers’ section of the parking lot. She turned off the engine and stepped out of her car with a pizza box as she carried Masquerade into the station by the back of his head, escorting him to the security checkpoint of the station. “Is this really necessary?” Masquerade rolled his eyes, moving his long black mane out of his hair. He watched each officer keeping a close on him as Trixie took his hoof and dipped it into an inkwell, stamping it down on a blank sheet of sandpaper showing physical evidence of his hoofprint printed on it. “To keep the security at the highest echelon possible,” Trixie pointed out, putting her hoof in Masquerade’s path near the metal detector. Masquerade brushed Trixie’s hoof off with his shoulder as he passed through the metal detector. “This shouldn’t be taken seriously, I’m innocent!” “We’ll see,” Trixie pinned Masquerade’s face against the protective glass that divided the officers, and any criminals passing through the hallway. Once Private Eye’s interrogation room came into view, Trixie walked into the room with Masquerade in her grasp and Private Eye’s pizza. Trixie sat Masquerade down on a seat with his hooves still cuffed and he felt the cold metal rip his freedom away in that moment. “Trixie brought you, your accused murderer and your pizza,” Sliding the pizza box across the table, Private Eye caught the box under his hoof and inhaled the warmth of the steam from his pizza. “Thanks a lot, Trixie. I’ll be sure to call for you if things start to boil over,” Private Eye waved a dismissive hoof to Trixie as she nodded and left the room. Private Eye grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza with his favorite, extra cheese sliding down like a long strand of hair into his mouth. He scarved down all of the cheese on the slice before tossing a pepperoni down his throat. “So, Masquerade, we meet again.” “The feeling is mutual, you know that I’m innocent and didn’t kill Gold Record three years ago,” Masquerade crossed his forehooves, staring daggers across at Private Eye. Private propped his hooves on the table, with his back leaned comfortably in his leather chair supported by his arms. “You know damn well that you killed him, because Ace and his gang had a hit on Gold. Who better to take out the trash than someone of your potential.” Masquerade snarled at Private, his fangs poking the outsides of his mouth. “Me of all ponies might have a criminal record, but you can’t prove that I killed him.” Private rubbed under his chin, looking under his desk cabinet. He hurled useless documents of his overdue parking tickets, jury duty, and a child support bill until finally finding Golden Record’s autopsy report and case file. “Oh, can’t I? Take a look at these.” The scattered documents of the autopsy report and case file were strewn all across his desk, Masquerade looked at them as if he just saw them for the first time while he shook his head and banged his cuffed hooves on the table. “You better cool it!” Private Eye got up from his position and pushed Masquerade down in his seat. Masquerade took a deep breath, and knew that the only thing preventing him from taking Private’s head clean off were the hoofcuffs. He felt himself on edge with many thoughts rushing through his mind as he didn’t take his eyes off of Private Eye for one second. Sometimes I hate this guy to death, maybe he will let me off the hook this time. His reputation with the law was nothing new to Private Eye, he remembers Private Eye arresting him for car theft and burglary just to get a quick buck for living in one of the parts of South Detrot where Ace and his gang controlled everything to stay on top for years. Selling drugs and buying semi-automatics were the only things Masquerade had to afford and count on for a living. “Oh I’m cool, you were saying?” Private popped a cigarette in his mouth, grabbing his lighter and a flame formed around the lighter as he carefully lit the end of his cigarette. He smacked his lips puffing out a circular smoke ring in Masquerade’s face, “Now, let’s take a trip down memory lane… three years ago.” Chapter I: A Stroll Down Memory LaneDanger Around Every CornerChapter I:A Stroll Down Memory Lane Crowds of ponies felt the rhythm of the music flow through their bodies, the strong scent of sweat and alcohol filled the nostrils of dancers gyrating their hips on anypony who would pay a bit just to be entertained. One pony out of the bunch stood out, Gold Record sat down in the back of the night club bobbing his head back and forth as he listened to the latest album released by one of his clients, Octavia. "It's not dubstep, but it is something," Gold Record nodded his head once the song concluded, he watched the dancers mingle with their clients then give them a quick lap dance as a part of their so called "entertainment." Neon glow sticks were waved high in the air as the ponies jumped on their hooves following the beat of the song that played throughout Detrot's renowned club, High Energy. The Aces and Eights gang have owned this club since they first came out on the scene a few years back, they struck fear into anyone who crossed their paths or betrayed them in any way. Gold kept a close eye on a group of ponies that entered through the back entrance door from a nearby alleyway. Each member of the group took a seat near the stage, strobe lights circulated around the club which gave the audience the extra jolt of adrenaline that they needed to keep the party going, "Those ponies don't sit right with me. They can't be who I think they are." The DJ spoke into her microphone in the center of her stereo system, "How's everypony doing tonight?" The audience roared in response pointing their hooves up to the ceiling. As they formed separate lines for anypony who wanted to bask in the limelight, Gold turned his attention to one of the members of the group who looked directly at him before he cut his gaze away from him. Blaring music shook the foundation of High Energy similar to an earthquake on the dance floor as the hours ticked away into the late hours of the night, Luna's glowing orb hung above the neon light sign at the main entrance. Gold Record shook his head around, checked his gold watch for the time. Aware of the long amount of time he spent at the club, he left the club through the exit. He walked through the alley, the street lights illuminate the path down the alley and onto the streets across from him. A figure in a black leather coat held a zipped sandwich bag in his right hoof, and whistled Gold over to him, "I heard that you are a famous music producer in Detrot, who has money to spend on any old thing." "All true, how do you know that?" Gold raised the question, he twitched his head to the side at the suspicious bag. "Just a hunch. I have an offer for you, I'll let you buy this reasonable amount of cocaine for 250 bits at the most. But you must be sure to pay me once I give you this. Do we have a deal?" Ace toyed around with the cocaine, he looked back up at Gold's hazel eyes. "Deal. Let's keep this little narcotics nonsense between us, alright mate?" Gold tossed down a bag of 250 bits on the cold ground, turning his back away from Ace and walked down the street to his recording studio apartment. "Yeah, just don't forget to pay me," Ace vanished into the shadows, flicked his toothpick on a trashcan. Gold Record woke up to the sun's rays flash him in the eyes, only to shield them away. His alarm clock buzzed around on his nightstand that only added more to his annoyance as he pushed the alarm clock down to the ground, metal pieces and glass smashed against the soft carpet of his bedroom, "I always detest mornings, maybe I should listen to some mu-" "Coming!" Gold threw the covers off to the side, his legs dangled on the foot of the bed. He rolled onto his stomach only to fall on the floor below crawling inch by inch across the carpet, reached his front door of his apartment and unlocked metal locks attached on the door, ultimately opening the door. "How may I help you?" Gold looked at the mare's curly well polished mane, recognizing his client holding her cello case. "Goldy, it's me Octavia! I know it has been a while since you seen me, can I talk to you about something?" "Sure, come on in," Gold closed the door as he walked into the kitchen, brought out the finest imported wine from Prance he could afford. Poured the red liquid into two glasses, he screwed the cork back on the wine bottle and made his way into the living room with both glasses on a silver tray. After he placed the tray down on the glass coffee table, he and Octavia sat closely to each other on his sofa. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Gold fiddled around with his wine glass, watching the wine slosh around the glass. "Remember that pony you met last night in the alley near High Energy?" Octavia sipped a little amount of her wine, shifting her eyes to the floor and back to Gold. "How did you know I was at High Energy, were you stalking me?" Gold pointed an accused hoof at Octavia, drinking every drop of his wine as he felt his mind started to wander. "Good heavens, no! One of the detectives that works behind the scenes alongside Private Eye, Twilight Sparkle, she used her magic to disguise herself as one of the pole dancers at the club. But about the pony you met in the alley near High Energy, was that the same pony who was in the group that you were suspicious of from the start, Ace," Octavia pointed out, sipped the whole glass of red wine. "But, why would he-" The closed door slammed into the wall as a stallion wearing a black baseball cap and a black leather coat bursts through the door, aimed an assault rifle directly at Octavia feeling tempted to pull the trigger. "Get down on the ground now, and give me your bits!" The unknown stallion lunged at Golden Record, tackled him down onto the sofa his gun still pointed at his head. Gold threw up his forehooves to protect himself as he reeled his hind legs up in the air, and kicked the stallion into the air his lower back crashed into the pillar of the wall. The young music producer charged at the attacker with his forehoof out, punched the stallion in the muzzle as warm blood ran down his face up to his shoulders. He swung his elbow back at him, the intended target rolled out of the way to grab a pocket knife from his leather coat. Both stallions exchanged punches with each other on top of the kitchen counter. Gold hunched over as his attacker kicked him in between the legs with the stallion towering over him, pressed the pocket knife against his throat and a pair of soulless eyes looked down at Gold for the intention to end his life. They promised to keep this between them, even if things got tough. Ace promised him to split the insurance money, if he killed Gold Record and made sure not to rat him out to the authorities. Octavia jumped on the stallion's back, wrapped her forehooves around his neck to cut off the circulation of oxygen to his brain. In an attempt to shake her off, the stallion backed himself into a wall as Octavia felt her back collide with the hard, cold wall. Her body slumped against the wall, and she opened her eyes to see him lunge at her with the pocket knife. Gold pushed Octavia out of the way, the knife plunged into his belly he felt the intense pain sting around the insides of his stomach. Once the knife was pushed further into his abdomen, he dropped down to the floor as drops of crimson blood began to flow out of his body that gave him extreme agony. He ran away from the scene, and escaped through the back door of the apartment. Octavia dialed the number for the paramedics on her phone, she spoke erratically to the dispatcher. "My friend was just attacked and stabbed, please hurry!" "Calm down, ma'am. We're sending medical help to your friend right now immediately!" The dispatcher contacted the paramedics, sent them the location of Gold Record's recording studio apartment. She hung up the phone after the dispatcher ended the call, her head pressed down into her hooves, "I'll be sure to tell Twilight about this, she won't stop until we avenge him," Octavia stood triumphantly, she waited patiently as the medical personnel arrived in the living room of the apartment. The ambulance waited outside of the apartment as the medics carried Gold Record out on a stretcher. Octavia rushed outside to the ambulance, brushed Gold's golden locks of his mane and whispered in his ear, "I swear to Celestia, we will find out who that attacker was and bring him or her to justice." The sound of sirens rang out through the quiet neighborhood of South Detrot, ponies nearby wondered what all the commotion was about a music producer who never crossed anypony in his life. Crickets chirped in the dead of night, peace and quiet was all that remained just eight hours removed after Gold Record was attacked by an unknown stallion who nopony met or knew about. Three colts shook three spray paint containers and giggled amongst themselves. They pressed down on the valve of the containers, sprayed inappropriate words across a long stone wall near a local bar to send a message to the Detrot Police Department. A mare in a black fedora and brown trench coat emerged from the shadows behind the three colts, they slowly turned around to a shadow that towered over them then quickly ran away from the stone wall. The mare had visible scars that ran down her cutie mark and both sides of her legs. A pack of cigarettes hovered in front of her, slipped one cigarette from the pack as she rolled the spark wheel on her lighter and once a flame came out of the lighter, one end of the cigarette lit up from the heat that the lighter's small flame sparked a small flame on the cigarette. She held the cigarette up to her lips, inhaled the smoke and exhaled a long trail of smoke from her mouth. She took a swig of her fizzy apple cider alcohol, and looked at the red spray painted coating of letters on the stone wall. The Detrot Police Department are nothing but a punch of a-holes! "Hello Twilight, we need to talk," Octavia felt the bags under her eyes and a river of dried tears. Chapter II: AlliesOctavia grabbed today's newspaper that was dampened in a puddle, Twilight's eyes followed each word of the headline. Detrot Weekly MUSIC PRODUCER, GOLD RECORD ATTACKED! Famous music producer known around the musical industry for catapulting the careers of Octavia Philaharmonica and Vinyl Scratch, was attacked earlier today in his recording studio apartment by an unknown stallion. Paramedics arrived at the apartment, where they found a distraught Octavia crying after she attempted to fend off the attacker before Gold Record was stabbed in the stomach, and lost a large amount of blood from the open wound. We tried to interview Octavia after the attack, but she was unavailable for comment. We're being told, that Gold Record is in critical condition at Detrot General, and the attacker is still at large. Full Scoop, Detrot Weekly "You need to drive me to the hospital please," Octavia blinked her eyes and hopped into Twilight's car. "Alright, but we are going to see Private Eye after, okay?" Twilight popped open the door, slammed the car door behind her. Turning the key in the ignition over to the right, the headlights light their way to Detrot General. Her hoof stepped down on the gas pedal as the wheels of the cars rotated, and the bold smell of burnt rubber wafted in the night air with scorched tire tracks imprinted on the street. Twilight made sure to stop the car every time they saw a red light, abiding by the law was something she understood since being hired as an undercover detective for the Detrot Police Department. She put criminals behind bars not only because it is her passion and job, but it was to clean the filth off the streets. Octavia and Twilight stepped out of the car, rushed through the sliding doors at the entrance of the hospital and stopped at the front desk, "We need to see Gold Record, which room is he in?" "Room 302, third door on your right," "Thank you. I just hope he is okay!" They rushed down the hallway, made a quick right and stopped at the third door. "Oh my Celestia," Octavia slowly walked into Gold's hospital room, she stepped closer to the side of his bed. With each slow breath that Gold took, his warm breath caused a small fog cloud to appear and fade away. Various tubes connected to a heart monitor and IV solution bag on the right side of the bed as Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse approached the bed. "Gold Record is still recovering, but his injuries may be too severe." "We understand, can you keep us updated on his condition?" "Of course, we will be sure to contact you as soon as possible," Nurse Redheart nodded her head before she walked out of the room. "What we know so far is that the patient suffered internal bleeding from the attack, and his condition may be unknown. So, we will be sure that he gets plenty of rest. Take care," Doctor Horse said, he watched as Octavia and Twilight left the room. "Let's hope that Gold Record pulls through. For now, I'm going to call Private Eye to send two of his best police officers with some investigators to collect some evidence and take photos." Twilight dialed the phone number, a miniscule trail of magic pressed her phone close to her ear. "What should I do?" "You can go hang up wanted posters with an reward included. I'll call you to assist Private Eye's two officers with the case," Twilight walked to the vending machines near the hospital's exit, listening in on the constant ringing of her phone. Private Eye dunked his cream-filled chocolate donut in a warm mug of coffee, took a huge bite out of the donut. Letting out a relieved humming sound, the vibrating phone on the table quickly got his attention as Private tapped 'speaker' on his phone, and turned the volume up to a medium, acceptable volume on the speaker phone. "Hello?" "Private, it's Twilight. Got a minute to talk?" Twilight flicked her cigarette in the nearest garbage can, small embers burned away at the remaining garbage that wasn't picked up by garbage trucks. "Right now, I'm interrogating Masquerade and trying to get him to spill the beans," Private propped both forehooves on his desk, keeping a close eye on Masquerade's devilish grin. "At least it is good to hear good news today. Did you hear about Golden Record getting attacked?" Twilight saw three colts run past her in pursuit of an alley cat with a pocket knife, sadistic intentions to skin the cat alive. "Yeah I have, Detrot Weekly won't shut up about it. I was thinking that you and I send Trixie, Roseluck, and Octavia to scope out the crime scene and gather up any evidence they can find," Private crumpled the Detrot Weekly Newspaper, tossing it out in the wastebasket. "Will do, I'll tell her and you inform the others." "Okay, she'll be there." Twilight slid her hoof across the phone's slick texture under Private's name. They both hung up on each other simultaneously, Twilight averted her gaze from Octavia stapling wanted posters and a ten thousand bit reward for any information on the attacker. Detrot Police Department We are looking for anypony who has information on the attacker who assaulted Golden Record in his recording studio apartment. Anypony with information on this attacker, will be awarded ten-thousand bits to bringing this pony to justice. Name: ??? Height: 5'7 Weight: 245 lbs. Last seen wearing a black baseball cap and a black leather coat, please contact the Detrot Police Department for more information. "Private Eye and I talked it over, we decided that you will be assigned to this case with Trixie and Roseluck. Scope out the scene, collect any and all evidence that can match anypony's DNA left behind." "Yes! But, why would a pony leave evidence behind?" Octavia jumped in the air, pausing for a minute to collect her thoughts. "Criminal scum make mistakes and they don't even realize that they do, until it is too late. First thing tomorrow morning, you will meet up with Trixie and Roseluck at your Golden's studio apartment," Twilight entered the drivers' seat of her black car as Octavia joined her on the opposite side. "Okay, but what will you do?" "I'll be going incognito with Private Eye at High Energy tomorrow night," Twilight turned on the radio in the car, listening to a young stallion's angelic voice following the rhythm of trumpets playing in the background. Detrot, a city of crime, Detrot, where you can spend candy on a dime, Detrot, you are running out of time, Hoodlums and criminals running about, Cops arresting them so that they can't get out, Only to fail in shame and disdain, With little to nothing to gain, Detrot is a place in hell Chapter III: IncognitoTwo vans pulled up to Gold Record's studio apartment, as a group of investigators with detectives walked into the apartment. White flashes from a set of cameras took photos of evidence around them, cracks in the wall, and a pool of blood made up their set of evidence they scoped the scene for anything else they could find. Bloody hoofprints caught Trixie by surprise, her wide eyes followed each blood-stained print when the trail ended at the kitchen counter. "Looks like it won't take long to wrap this case up. But we need to test it at the forensics lab later, Octavia how are you holding up?" Octavia, with the instrument case hauled over her back, answered Trixie's question in the most eloquent tone. "I'm holding up just fine, thanks." Roseluck walked over to the assault rifle and pocket knife left on the floor of the apartment, "Trixie, Octavia, you might want to come over here." The two detectives gazed down at both weapons, rubbing their chins intently. "What kind of idiot leaves weapons behind?" "An idiot who wants to get caught," Roseluck snickered, sealing a bag of the cracks in the wall and drops of blood inside of small tubes. "Got that right. Trixie is getting kind of hungry," Trixie's stomach started to rumble at the thought or mention of food. "Me too. Let's head out to Perfect Slice's Pizzeria for a slice, what do you think, Trixie?" Octavia gestured her right forehoof for the other investigators and detectives to head outside. Trixie's cheeks changed to a visible beet red, rubbing her shoulder, "Oh no, we shouldn't! Perfect is probably closing shop as we speak," Watching the detectives exit the apartment, Trixie daintily rushed down the stairs out to the front doorstep. The evidence was moved into the two white vans as they closed each door that shook the vans, but noticed eventually to keep the vans steady. They patted each other on the back for a job well done, Roseluck tapped Trixie on the shoulder. "Still hungry? We should seriously head out to Perfect Slice's Pizzeria, it's not that far away," Roseluck furrowed her brow, looking intently at Trixie. "There is absolutely no way that you will drag me to go there! You guys think that I have feelings for Perfect Slice?" "Octavia and I don't think that at all. But, now that you mention it," Roseluck dragged Trixie into the back of the van, closing the doors shut and speeding off to the police station downtown. "Octavia, do you want to go with the other detectives to the forensics lab?" "Sure, but be sure to bring some food back for me." Octavia rubbed her belly, her ears flopped down at the sides of her head. "Of course, we will," Roseluck mimicked the steps in Pinkie Pie's promise, topped it off by crossing her heart and covering her eye with her hoof before struggling to keep a hold of the steering wheel. She regained control of the wheel, opening the back doors of the van as Octavia stepped out to the sidewalk with the evidence in tow. Roseluck turned the car around in a u-shaped formation to the opposite direction of the station. The wheels of the vehicle left behind skid marks of burnt rubber and a thin trail of steam, she turned her head to check on Trixie bouncing around the walls of the van like a rubber ball. "How are you doing back there, Trixie?" Trying to regain her composure, or in this case her lunch, Trixie steered the wheel to the right with her light blue aura. The van came to a complete stop, parked near the pizzeria. She grabbed a plastic bag to empty out the grotesque contents that filled up her cheeks as a river of green bile rushed out of her mouth and into the bag, letting out an exhausted sigh. "Trixie will deal with you later. Let's just get this over with." Perfect Slice's concentration broke once he heard the friendly chime of the bell. That bell always gave him something to look forward to, no matter if the next pony he serves badmouthed him without giving a hint of consideration for good service, sometimes Perfect would just stand there and smile like a mindless zombie. "Good to see you again, Trixie. You even brought a friend with ya!" "I'm Roseluck. Nice to meet you, Perfect Slice," Roseluck pulled her hoof back after Perfect placed a delicate kiss upon it. "The pleasure is all mine. What can I get for you two?" Perfect pulled out a notepad and pen from his mane. "Where did you get-" "It's better not to question it, Roseluck," Trixie touched the cold metal at the bottom of her stool, spun around happily on the stool like a happy filly playing in the snow. "Whatever object that comes out of my mane is usually an unexplained occurrence. Would you like to try two pepperoni pizzas and two egg creams?" Perfect's hazel eyes looked away from the notepad. "Actually, we were just leav-" Trixie's words only came out as muffled, incoherent sentences from Roseluck reaching a hoof over to close her mouth. "We would love that. Thank you," Roseluck pushed the azure unicorn's face, their cheeks literally brushing up against each other. "Coming right up, I'll be back in a jiffy." Perfect trotted off into the back of the kitchen with a little pep in his step, happily humming an old song his father used to sing to him when he was little. Providing happy customer was grand, Ponies would travel all across the land, Just to take a bite out of a freshly prepared dish, With every savory bite, I knew they got their wish. The pizzeria loves bringing happiness to all, Make sure to come back and give your friends a call, I guarantee they won't miss a thing, That bell warms my heart every time it goes ding. Perfect, I want you to remember me. Cherish my memory after I'm gone, please. I leave this place of business to you, I hope to see you soon, kiddo. The giddy stallion grabbed two tall glasses from the bottom cabinet under the sink, placing them down on the counter with a thud. He twirled a spoon around his right forehoof, and scooped up an one inch amount of chocolate syrup into the spoon. After the chocolate syrup was ceremoniously dumped down in the glasses, he added two-point-five centimeters of whole milk covering the syrup in its white, milky contents. He poured some cold seltzer water into the glass, making sure that the amount was similar to that of the chocolate syrup and stirred vigorously until his creation foamed up to the top. Perfect flattened a ball of dough on his cutting board, and tossed the ball high up in the air. The flat dough ball spiraled around its own center of gravity coming down towards him, balancing the rotating dough on the tip of his muzzle. "Aw yeah!" Roseluck's eyes were zoned out to Perfect, who sprinkled pepper on the pizzas, and finally added the pepperoni. She didn't pay any attention to Trixie waving a foreleg in her face, trying to snap her out of her trance. "Rose, why do you keep staring at Perfect?" Trixie wondered, her eyebrows raising up and down with curiosity piqued added to the mix. Trixie rolled her eyes, a smug grin etched across her face, "No reason. Let's not insinuate anypony of liking that grease ball, even if he has a soft heart." "See you do like him," Rose's pearly white teeth formed a cheeky grin, pointing over to the back of Perfect's grease-covered apron, showing off his flank to Trixie's open eyes. "Like I said earlier, Trixie will deal with you later," Strands of Trixie's mane blowed away from her eyes, the strong winds forcefully opening the double doors of the pizzeria. Octavia stepped onto the pressure pad of the forensics lab, a door automatically opened before her as she walked over to the police station's main computer database that tracked the most dangerous criminals in Detrot. Prying open the containers of forensic evidence, she poured the blood into the spinning test tubes and placed the weapons under the luminescent light of a microscope. A device spun three test tubes in three hundred and sixty degree motions as the computer scanned down the list of possible suspects that would match the blood type. Scrolling further down the list, Octavia spotted two names at the end results of the list. SCANNING RESULTS: Blood Types: Type A and B List of suspects reduced to two: Gang leaders and hired murderers that reside in Detrot. "This will get us nowhere to finding out who killed my friend-" Buzz! The vibrating phone moved about on the desk, its bumping around ceased to stop when Octavia grabbed the phone, "Hello?" "Octavia, I'm outside of High Energy, how are Trixie and Roseluck holding up?" Twilight spoke softly into the phone, tuning out the distraction of ponies that couldn't handle their alcohol waiting outside for the club to open for tonight. "They went over to Perfect Slice's pizzeria after we finished gathering evidence. Quick question, do you know any gang leaders or hired murderers that would want to kill a music producer?" "About that, you might want to hear this. They announced on the news that Golden Record died from the surgery they performed on him, his injuries were so severe they couldn't save him. I'm sorry," Taking off her fedora to place on her chest, she bent her head down to wish that Celestia had mercy on his soul as she backed up to the brick wall that was leading to a dark alleyway. "I'll try to come to terms with this, Twilight. For now, good luck on finding the guy, see you later." Octavia cut the conversation short, her head face down on the desk. A bouncer guarding the door to High Energy, released the red velvet rope, letting each pony that waited for hours inside of the club. He watched aimlessly for the next set of ponies, but still kept his eyes open for anypony who would attempt to get past him or sneak in undetected. Twilight closed her eyes as her horn sent a wave of magic that washed over her, completely changing her appearance into her disguise. Long black fishnets traveled up her flank and down to the bottom of her hooves, curly long mane reached the tip of her shoulders. Black roses with sharp thorns replaced her original pink sparkled cutie mark as the bouncer let her inside of the club. She started scoping out each corner of the club, her senses keeping her on high alert for anything suspicious. Nothing out of the ordinary but drug crazed, crazy ponies who enjoy partying on a Saturday night. Rowdy crowds of party goers shuffled their hooves along the colored tiles while others relaxed behind closed curtains with a stripper, neon bracelets wiggled around the raving ponies with each step that they took until they couldn't dance anymore. Squeezing herself through the crowd, rubbing against hot sweaty bodies around her. She gingerly walked over to Ace, flipped a lock of curly hair away from her red ruby eyes exchanging looks with the notorious gang leader. "Excuse me, are you, Ace?" Ace popped his collar, letting out a quick chuckle. "Yes I am, whose asking?" "I'm new to Detrot, and I was wondering if you would let me give you a little entertainment?" Twilight fluttered her eyelashes, seductive eyes caught a glimpse of his hidden bulge pointed straight up directly to her waist. "Who am I to say no to a beautiful lady?" Ace didn't have time to react once Twilight grabbed him by the wrist, whisking him off to the private backstage area and sat him down forcefully on a stool. "Let's get started," Twilight reached into her trench coat and jingled a pair of hoofcuffs in the air. She applied a little pressure on the handle, a clinking noise opened the hoofcuffs as she tucked his forelegs behind the chair, locking the cuffs around both wrists. "You are under arrest for-" Twilight quickly turned her head to four members of the Aces and Eights gang, stalking her from the four corners of the area. "Untie me you idiots!" "We will, as soon as we deal with her."
Prologue: MasqueradeDanger Around Every CornerPrologue A police vehicle drove past the trash that littered the corrupted streets of Detrot, in hot pursuit of a convicted criminal accused of murder. The officer quickly turned her steering wheel to the right as she maneuvered around the corner, all four wheels of the vehicle splashing against a small puddle on the street. “Police! Stop your vehicle immediately or I’ll start opening fire!” The officer projected her voice through her megaphone. “Just for you guys to arrest me? Fat chance!” His hoof stepped down on the gas pedal, increasing the speed of the car. As the criminal opened the glove compartment of his car as a pistol inched itself closer to him, he reached for his gun and firmly gripped the weapon in his hoof. Directly aiming the loaded pistol at the officer, he clicked the trigger as a speeding bullet shot out of the pistol, smashing through the glass window of his adversary. The officer ducked her head down to avoid the speeding bullet. She lifted her head back up staying focused on the target, returning fire as they drove down an alleyway covered with propaganda posters and graffiti. As they were at each other’s necks, the front of her car slammed against the back bumper of his car through a steel gate and crashed into a wall. He kicked the door vigorously to escape the wreckage of broken glass and his limp body gave out on him, stumbling down onto the ground. The officer walked away from her vehicle as she slowly approached the car with her gun pointed out at the stallion. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can be held against you in court,” Trixie took out a pair of hoofcuffs and pinned him against the wall, locking the metal cuffs around his wrists. “This is why I hate the law, you never give us criminals a chance to defend ourselves.” Masquerade groaned, being escorted into the backseat of Trixie’s police car. Trixie pressed down on the gas pedal, the sound of blaring sirens and flashing multicolored lights startled nearby neighborhoods of alley cats scrounging around trash cans for their next meal whether it was rotten fish or spilled milk. She stopped the car at a red light intersection across the street from the local pizzeria before turning around to Masquerade, then parked the car in the pizzeria’s parking lot. “You’re lucky that Trixie’s boss gets in a good mood when I give him a pizza after a job well done, stay here and don’t move.” Trixie said, exiting the car and walking to the pizzeria. “It’s not like I can anyway, remember?” Masquerade gestured to the hoofcuffs, trying his hardest not to laugh. Perfect Slice’s Pizzeria was an establishment that a lot of police officers from the Detrot Police Department spent their nights cracking jokes and enjoying delicious slices of pizza, for a reasonable price of course. Trixie knew that first hoof on her first day on the job to take things seriously, while at the same time know when to have fun with her fellow officers. Pushing the double doors open, she heard the familiar warm welcome of a bell ringing. “Hey, it’s Trixie! How may I help you on this fine night?” Perfect Slice stroked his handlebar moustache. “Give Trixie an extra large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. For you know who,” Trixie leaned against the counter, pointing to her badge that had the chief investigator’s name engraved on the front of the badge. “But of course, for Private Eye!” Perfect winked at Trixie, trotting directly to his so-called “pizza experimentation” station. “You know it!” Trixie returned the wink back at him. The pizza confectionist rolled a ball of dough flat across the working station table as he tossed the dough’s flat texture into the air and spun it around on his left hoof, tossing the flat dough in his newly purchased wood oven. Warm flames inside of the oven flickered around the pizza as the yeast inside of the pizza bubbled up to the surface, and a ding sound notified Perfect Slice that the pizza was finished. “Order up! Here you go Trixie, that will be eight bits please.” Perfect held out his hoof, waiting for his payment as he placed the pizza in a pizza box. “Trixie’s got you covered, Perfect.” She reached into her saddlebag, dropping eight gold bits on the counter. “See you around, Trixie. We’re still up for our date later?” Perfect rubbed the end of his shoulder, his eyes drifting away from Trixie. “Hmm… Trixie will see,” Trixie gave a little chuckle as she left the pizzeria, and walked back to her car. Driving across the street to the police station, Trixie parked the car in the police officers’ section of the parking lot. She turned off the engine and stepped out of her car with a pizza box as she carried Masquerade into the station by the back of his head, escorting him to the security checkpoint of the station. “Is this really necessary?” Masquerade rolled his eyes, moving his long black mane out of his hair. He watched each officer keeping a close on him as Trixie took his hoof and dipped it into an inkwell, stamping it down on a blank sheet of sandpaper showing physical evidence of his hoofprint printed on it. “To keep the security at the highest echelon possible,” Trixie pointed out, putting her hoof in Masquerade’s path near the metal detector. Masquerade brushed Trixie’s hoof off with his shoulder as he passed through the metal detector. “This shouldn’t be taken seriously, I’m innocent!” “We’ll see,” Trixie pinned Masquerade’s face against the protective glass that divided the officers, and any criminals passing through the hallway. Once Private Eye’s interrogation room came into view, Trixie walked into the room with Masquerade in her grasp and Private Eye’s pizza. Trixie sat Masquerade down on a seat with his hooves still cuffed and he felt the cold metal rip his freedom away in that moment. “Trixie brought you, your accused murderer and your pizza,” Sliding the pizza box across the table, Private Eye caught the box under his hoof and inhaled the warmth of the steam from his pizza. “Thanks a lot, Trixie. I’ll be sure to call for you if things start to boil over,” Private Eye waved a dismissive hoof to Trixie as she nodded and left the room. Private Eye grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza with his favorite, extra cheese sliding down like a long strand of hair into his mouth. He scarved down all of the cheese on the slice before tossing a pepperoni down his throat. “So, Masquerade, we meet again.” “The feeling is mutual, you know that I’m innocent and didn’t kill Gold Record three years ago,” Masquerade crossed his forehooves, staring daggers across at Private Eye. Private propped his hooves on the table, with his back leaned comfortably in his leather chair supported by his arms. “You know damn well that you killed him, because Ace and his gang had a hit on Gold. Who better to take out the trash than someone of your potential.” Masquerade snarled at Private, his fangs poking the outsides of his mouth. “Me of all ponies might have a criminal record, but you can’t prove that I killed him.” Private rubbed under his chin, looking under his desk cabinet. He hurled useless documents of his overdue parking tickets, jury duty, and a child support bill until finally finding Golden Record’s autopsy report and case file. “Oh, can’t I? Take a look at these.” The scattered documents of the autopsy report and case file were strewn all across his desk, Masquerade looked at them as if he just saw them for the first time while he shook his head and banged his cuffed hooves on the table. “You better cool it!” Private Eye got up from his position and pushed Masquerade down in his seat. Masquerade took a deep breath, and knew that the only thing preventing him from taking Private’s head clean off were the hoofcuffs. He felt himself on edge with many thoughts rushing through his mind as he didn’t take his eyes off of Private Eye for one second. Sometimes I hate this guy to death, maybe he will let me off the hook this time. His reputation with the law was nothing new to Private Eye, he remembers Private Eye arresting him for car theft and burglary just to get a quick buck for living in one of the parts of South Detrot where Ace and his gang controlled everything to stay on top for years. Selling drugs and buying semi-automatics were the only things Masquerade had to afford and count on for a living. “Oh I’m cool, you were saying?” Private popped a cigarette in his mouth, grabbing his lighter and a flame formed around the lighter as he carefully lit the end of his cigarette. He smacked his lips puffing out a circular smoke ring in Masquerade’s face, “Now, let’s take a trip down memory lane… three years ago.”
Chapter I: A Stroll Down Memory LaneDanger Around Every CornerChapter I:A Stroll Down Memory Lane Crowds of ponies felt the rhythm of the music flow through their bodies, the strong scent of sweat and alcohol filled the nostrils of dancers gyrating their hips on anypony who would pay a bit just to be entertained. One pony out of the bunch stood out, Gold Record sat down in the back of the night club bobbing his head back and forth as he listened to the latest album released by one of his clients, Octavia. "It's not dubstep, but it is something," Gold Record nodded his head once the song concluded, he watched the dancers mingle with their clients then give them a quick lap dance as a part of their so called "entertainment." Neon glow sticks were waved high in the air as the ponies jumped on their hooves following the beat of the song that played throughout Detrot's renowned club, High Energy. The Aces and Eights gang have owned this club since they first came out on the scene a few years back, they struck fear into anyone who crossed their paths or betrayed them in any way. Gold kept a close eye on a group of ponies that entered through the back entrance door from a nearby alleyway. Each member of the group took a seat near the stage, strobe lights circulated around the club which gave the audience the extra jolt of adrenaline that they needed to keep the party going, "Those ponies don't sit right with me. They can't be who I think they are." The DJ spoke into her microphone in the center of her stereo system, "How's everypony doing tonight?" The audience roared in response pointing their hooves up to the ceiling. As they formed separate lines for anypony who wanted to bask in the limelight, Gold turned his attention to one of the members of the group who looked directly at him before he cut his gaze away from him. Blaring music shook the foundation of High Energy similar to an earthquake on the dance floor as the hours ticked away into the late hours of the night, Luna's glowing orb hung above the neon light sign at the main entrance. Gold Record shook his head around, checked his gold watch for the time. Aware of the long amount of time he spent at the club, he left the club through the exit. He walked through the alley, the street lights illuminate the path down the alley and onto the streets across from him. A figure in a black leather coat held a zipped sandwich bag in his right hoof, and whistled Gold over to him, "I heard that you are a famous music producer in Detrot, who has money to spend on any old thing." "All true, how do you know that?" Gold raised the question, he twitched his head to the side at the suspicious bag. "Just a hunch. I have an offer for you, I'll let you buy this reasonable amount of cocaine for 250 bits at the most. But you must be sure to pay me once I give you this. Do we have a deal?" Ace toyed around with the cocaine, he looked back up at Gold's hazel eyes. "Deal. Let's keep this little narcotics nonsense between us, alright mate?" Gold tossed down a bag of 250 bits on the cold ground, turning his back away from Ace and walked down the street to his recording studio apartment. "Yeah, just don't forget to pay me," Ace vanished into the shadows, flicked his toothpick on a trashcan. Gold Record woke up to the sun's rays flash him in the eyes, only to shield them away. His alarm clock buzzed around on his nightstand that only added more to his annoyance as he pushed the alarm clock down to the ground, metal pieces and glass smashed against the soft carpet of his bedroom, "I always detest mornings, maybe I should listen to some mu-" "Coming!" Gold threw the covers off to the side, his legs dangled on the foot of the bed. He rolled onto his stomach only to fall on the floor below crawling inch by inch across the carpet, reached his front door of his apartment and unlocked metal locks attached on the door, ultimately opening the door. "How may I help you?" Gold looked at the mare's curly well polished mane, recognizing his client holding her cello case. "Goldy, it's me Octavia! I know it has been a while since you seen me, can I talk to you about something?" "Sure, come on in," Gold closed the door as he walked into the kitchen, brought out the finest imported wine from Prance he could afford. Poured the red liquid into two glasses, he screwed the cork back on the wine bottle and made his way into the living room with both glasses on a silver tray. After he placed the tray down on the glass coffee table, he and Octavia sat closely to each other on his sofa. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Gold fiddled around with his wine glass, watching the wine slosh around the glass. "Remember that pony you met last night in the alley near High Energy?" Octavia sipped a little amount of her wine, shifting her eyes to the floor and back to Gold. "How did you know I was at High Energy, were you stalking me?" Gold pointed an accused hoof at Octavia, drinking every drop of his wine as he felt his mind started to wander. "Good heavens, no! One of the detectives that works behind the scenes alongside Private Eye, Twilight Sparkle, she used her magic to disguise herself as one of the pole dancers at the club. But about the pony you met in the alley near High Energy, was that the same pony who was in the group that you were suspicious of from the start, Ace," Octavia pointed out, sipped the whole glass of red wine. "But, why would he-" The closed door slammed into the wall as a stallion wearing a black baseball cap and a black leather coat bursts through the door, aimed an assault rifle directly at Octavia feeling tempted to pull the trigger. "Get down on the ground now, and give me your bits!" The unknown stallion lunged at Golden Record, tackled him down onto the sofa his gun still pointed at his head. Gold threw up his forehooves to protect himself as he reeled his hind legs up in the air, and kicked the stallion into the air his lower back crashed into the pillar of the wall. The young music producer charged at the attacker with his forehoof out, punched the stallion in the muzzle as warm blood ran down his face up to his shoulders. He swung his elbow back at him, the intended target rolled out of the way to grab a pocket knife from his leather coat. Both stallions exchanged punches with each other on top of the kitchen counter. Gold hunched over as his attacker kicked him in between the legs with the stallion towering over him, pressed the pocket knife against his throat and a pair of soulless eyes looked down at Gold for the intention to end his life. They promised to keep this between them, even if things got tough. Ace promised him to split the insurance money, if he killed Gold Record and made sure not to rat him out to the authorities. Octavia jumped on the stallion's back, wrapped her forehooves around his neck to cut off the circulation of oxygen to his brain. In an attempt to shake her off, the stallion backed himself into a wall as Octavia felt her back collide with the hard, cold wall. Her body slumped against the wall, and she opened her eyes to see him lunge at her with the pocket knife. Gold pushed Octavia out of the way, the knife plunged into his belly he felt the intense pain sting around the insides of his stomach. Once the knife was pushed further into his abdomen, he dropped down to the floor as drops of crimson blood began to flow out of his body that gave him extreme agony. He ran away from the scene, and escaped through the back door of the apartment. Octavia dialed the number for the paramedics on her phone, she spoke erratically to the dispatcher. "My friend was just attacked and stabbed, please hurry!" "Calm down, ma'am. We're sending medical help to your friend right now immediately!" The dispatcher contacted the paramedics, sent them the location of Gold Record's recording studio apartment. She hung up the phone after the dispatcher ended the call, her head pressed down into her hooves, "I'll be sure to tell Twilight about this, she won't stop until we avenge him," Octavia stood triumphantly, she waited patiently as the medical personnel arrived in the living room of the apartment. The ambulance waited outside of the apartment as the medics carried Gold Record out on a stretcher. Octavia rushed outside to the ambulance, brushed Gold's golden locks of his mane and whispered in his ear, "I swear to Celestia, we will find out who that attacker was and bring him or her to justice." The sound of sirens rang out through the quiet neighborhood of South Detrot, ponies nearby wondered what all the commotion was about a music producer who never crossed anypony in his life. Crickets chirped in the dead of night, peace and quiet was all that remained just eight hours removed after Gold Record was attacked by an unknown stallion who nopony met or knew about. Three colts shook three spray paint containers and giggled amongst themselves. They pressed down on the valve of the containers, sprayed inappropriate words across a long stone wall near a local bar to send a message to the Detrot Police Department. A mare in a black fedora and brown trench coat emerged from the shadows behind the three colts, they slowly turned around to a shadow that towered over them then quickly ran away from the stone wall. The mare had visible scars that ran down her cutie mark and both sides of her legs. A pack of cigarettes hovered in front of her, slipped one cigarette from the pack as she rolled the spark wheel on her lighter and once a flame came out of the lighter, one end of the cigarette lit up from the heat that the lighter's small flame sparked a small flame on the cigarette. She held the cigarette up to her lips, inhaled the smoke and exhaled a long trail of smoke from her mouth. She took a swig of her fizzy apple cider alcohol, and looked at the red spray painted coating of letters on the stone wall. The Detrot Police Department are nothing but a punch of a-holes! "Hello Twilight, we need to talk," Octavia felt the bags under her eyes and a river of dried tears.
Chapter II: AlliesOctavia grabbed today's newspaper that was dampened in a puddle, Twilight's eyes followed each word of the headline. Detrot Weekly MUSIC PRODUCER, GOLD RECORD ATTACKED! Famous music producer known around the musical industry for catapulting the careers of Octavia Philaharmonica and Vinyl Scratch, was attacked earlier today in his recording studio apartment by an unknown stallion. Paramedics arrived at the apartment, where they found a distraught Octavia crying after she attempted to fend off the attacker before Gold Record was stabbed in the stomach, and lost a large amount of blood from the open wound. We tried to interview Octavia after the attack, but she was unavailable for comment. We're being told, that Gold Record is in critical condition at Detrot General, and the attacker is still at large. Full Scoop, Detrot Weekly "You need to drive me to the hospital please," Octavia blinked her eyes and hopped into Twilight's car. "Alright, but we are going to see Private Eye after, okay?" Twilight popped open the door, slammed the car door behind her. Turning the key in the ignition over to the right, the headlights light their way to Detrot General. Her hoof stepped down on the gas pedal as the wheels of the cars rotated, and the bold smell of burnt rubber wafted in the night air with scorched tire tracks imprinted on the street. Twilight made sure to stop the car every time they saw a red light, abiding by the law was something she understood since being hired as an undercover detective for the Detrot Police Department. She put criminals behind bars not only because it is her passion and job, but it was to clean the filth off the streets. Octavia and Twilight stepped out of the car, rushed through the sliding doors at the entrance of the hospital and stopped at the front desk, "We need to see Gold Record, which room is he in?" "Room 302, third door on your right," "Thank you. I just hope he is okay!" They rushed down the hallway, made a quick right and stopped at the third door. "Oh my Celestia," Octavia slowly walked into Gold's hospital room, she stepped closer to the side of his bed. With each slow breath that Gold took, his warm breath caused a small fog cloud to appear and fade away. Various tubes connected to a heart monitor and IV solution bag on the right side of the bed as Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse approached the bed. "Gold Record is still recovering, but his injuries may be too severe." "We understand, can you keep us updated on his condition?" "Of course, we will be sure to contact you as soon as possible," Nurse Redheart nodded her head before she walked out of the room. "What we know so far is that the patient suffered internal bleeding from the attack, and his condition may be unknown. So, we will be sure that he gets plenty of rest. Take care," Doctor Horse said, he watched as Octavia and Twilight left the room. "Let's hope that Gold Record pulls through. For now, I'm going to call Private Eye to send two of his best police officers with some investigators to collect some evidence and take photos." Twilight dialed the phone number, a miniscule trail of magic pressed her phone close to her ear. "What should I do?" "You can go hang up wanted posters with an reward included. I'll call you to assist Private Eye's two officers with the case," Twilight walked to the vending machines near the hospital's exit, listening in on the constant ringing of her phone. Private Eye dunked his cream-filled chocolate donut in a warm mug of coffee, took a huge bite out of the donut. Letting out a relieved humming sound, the vibrating phone on the table quickly got his attention as Private tapped 'speaker' on his phone, and turned the volume up to a medium, acceptable volume on the speaker phone. "Hello?" "Private, it's Twilight. Got a minute to talk?" Twilight flicked her cigarette in the nearest garbage can, small embers burned away at the remaining garbage that wasn't picked up by garbage trucks. "Right now, I'm interrogating Masquerade and trying to get him to spill the beans," Private propped both forehooves on his desk, keeping a close eye on Masquerade's devilish grin. "At least it is good to hear good news today. Did you hear about Golden Record getting attacked?" Twilight saw three colts run past her in pursuit of an alley cat with a pocket knife, sadistic intentions to skin the cat alive. "Yeah I have, Detrot Weekly won't shut up about it. I was thinking that you and I send Trixie, Roseluck, and Octavia to scope out the crime scene and gather up any evidence they can find," Private crumpled the Detrot Weekly Newspaper, tossing it out in the wastebasket. "Will do, I'll tell her and you inform the others." "Okay, she'll be there." Twilight slid her hoof across the phone's slick texture under Private's name. They both hung up on each other simultaneously, Twilight averted her gaze from Octavia stapling wanted posters and a ten thousand bit reward for any information on the attacker. Detrot Police Department We are looking for anypony who has information on the attacker who assaulted Golden Record in his recording studio apartment. Anypony with information on this attacker, will be awarded ten-thousand bits to bringing this pony to justice. Name: ??? Height: 5'7 Weight: 245 lbs. Last seen wearing a black baseball cap and a black leather coat, please contact the Detrot Police Department for more information. "Private Eye and I talked it over, we decided that you will be assigned to this case with Trixie and Roseluck. Scope out the scene, collect any and all evidence that can match anypony's DNA left behind." "Yes! But, why would a pony leave evidence behind?" Octavia jumped in the air, pausing for a minute to collect her thoughts. "Criminal scum make mistakes and they don't even realize that they do, until it is too late. First thing tomorrow morning, you will meet up with Trixie and Roseluck at your Golden's studio apartment," Twilight entered the drivers' seat of her black car as Octavia joined her on the opposite side. "Okay, but what will you do?" "I'll be going incognito with Private Eye at High Energy tomorrow night," Twilight turned on the radio in the car, listening to a young stallion's angelic voice following the rhythm of trumpets playing in the background. Detrot, a city of crime, Detrot, where you can spend candy on a dime, Detrot, you are running out of time, Hoodlums and criminals running about, Cops arresting them so that they can't get out, Only to fail in shame and disdain, With little to nothing to gain, Detrot is a place in hell
Chapter III: IncognitoTwo vans pulled up to Gold Record's studio apartment, as a group of investigators with detectives walked into the apartment. White flashes from a set of cameras took photos of evidence around them, cracks in the wall, and a pool of blood made up their set of evidence they scoped the scene for anything else they could find. Bloody hoofprints caught Trixie by surprise, her wide eyes followed each blood-stained print when the trail ended at the kitchen counter. "Looks like it won't take long to wrap this case up. But we need to test it at the forensics lab later, Octavia how are you holding up?" Octavia, with the instrument case hauled over her back, answered Trixie's question in the most eloquent tone. "I'm holding up just fine, thanks." Roseluck walked over to the assault rifle and pocket knife left on the floor of the apartment, "Trixie, Octavia, you might want to come over here." The two detectives gazed down at both weapons, rubbing their chins intently. "What kind of idiot leaves weapons behind?" "An idiot who wants to get caught," Roseluck snickered, sealing a bag of the cracks in the wall and drops of blood inside of small tubes. "Got that right. Trixie is getting kind of hungry," Trixie's stomach started to rumble at the thought or mention of food. "Me too. Let's head out to Perfect Slice's Pizzeria for a slice, what do you think, Trixie?" Octavia gestured her right forehoof for the other investigators and detectives to head outside. Trixie's cheeks changed to a visible beet red, rubbing her shoulder, "Oh no, we shouldn't! Perfect is probably closing shop as we speak," Watching the detectives exit the apartment, Trixie daintily rushed down the stairs out to the front doorstep. The evidence was moved into the two white vans as they closed each door that shook the vans, but noticed eventually to keep the vans steady. They patted each other on the back for a job well done, Roseluck tapped Trixie on the shoulder. "Still hungry? We should seriously head out to Perfect Slice's Pizzeria, it's not that far away," Roseluck furrowed her brow, looking intently at Trixie. "There is absolutely no way that you will drag me to go there! You guys think that I have feelings for Perfect Slice?" "Octavia and I don't think that at all. But, now that you mention it," Roseluck dragged Trixie into the back of the van, closing the doors shut and speeding off to the police station downtown. "Octavia, do you want to go with the other detectives to the forensics lab?" "Sure, but be sure to bring some food back for me." Octavia rubbed her belly, her ears flopped down at the sides of her head. "Of course, we will," Roseluck mimicked the steps in Pinkie Pie's promise, topped it off by crossing her heart and covering her eye with her hoof before struggling to keep a hold of the steering wheel. She regained control of the wheel, opening the back doors of the van as Octavia stepped out to the sidewalk with the evidence in tow. Roseluck turned the car around in a u-shaped formation to the opposite direction of the station. The wheels of the vehicle left behind skid marks of burnt rubber and a thin trail of steam, she turned her head to check on Trixie bouncing around the walls of the van like a rubber ball. "How are you doing back there, Trixie?" Trying to regain her composure, or in this case her lunch, Trixie steered the wheel to the right with her light blue aura. The van came to a complete stop, parked near the pizzeria. She grabbed a plastic bag to empty out the grotesque contents that filled up her cheeks as a river of green bile rushed out of her mouth and into the bag, letting out an exhausted sigh. "Trixie will deal with you later. Let's just get this over with." Perfect Slice's concentration broke once he heard the friendly chime of the bell. That bell always gave him something to look forward to, no matter if the next pony he serves badmouthed him without giving a hint of consideration for good service, sometimes Perfect would just stand there and smile like a mindless zombie. "Good to see you again, Trixie. You even brought a friend with ya!" "I'm Roseluck. Nice to meet you, Perfect Slice," Roseluck pulled her hoof back after Perfect placed a delicate kiss upon it. "The pleasure is all mine. What can I get for you two?" Perfect pulled out a notepad and pen from his mane. "Where did you get-" "It's better not to question it, Roseluck," Trixie touched the cold metal at the bottom of her stool, spun around happily on the stool like a happy filly playing in the snow. "Whatever object that comes out of my mane is usually an unexplained occurrence. Would you like to try two pepperoni pizzas and two egg creams?" Perfect's hazel eyes looked away from the notepad. "Actually, we were just leav-" Trixie's words only came out as muffled, incoherent sentences from Roseluck reaching a hoof over to close her mouth. "We would love that. Thank you," Roseluck pushed the azure unicorn's face, their cheeks literally brushing up against each other. "Coming right up, I'll be back in a jiffy." Perfect trotted off into the back of the kitchen with a little pep in his step, happily humming an old song his father used to sing to him when he was little. Providing happy customer was grand, Ponies would travel all across the land, Just to take a bite out of a freshly prepared dish, With every savory bite, I knew they got their wish. The pizzeria loves bringing happiness to all, Make sure to come back and give your friends a call, I guarantee they won't miss a thing, That bell warms my heart every time it goes ding. Perfect, I want you to remember me. Cherish my memory after I'm gone, please. I leave this place of business to you, I hope to see you soon, kiddo. The giddy stallion grabbed two tall glasses from the bottom cabinet under the sink, placing them down on the counter with a thud. He twirled a spoon around his right forehoof, and scooped up an one inch amount of chocolate syrup into the spoon. After the chocolate syrup was ceremoniously dumped down in the glasses, he added two-point-five centimeters of whole milk covering the syrup in its white, milky contents. He poured some cold seltzer water into the glass, making sure that the amount was similar to that of the chocolate syrup and stirred vigorously until his creation foamed up to the top. Perfect flattened a ball of dough on his cutting board, and tossed the ball high up in the air. The flat dough ball spiraled around its own center of gravity coming down towards him, balancing the rotating dough on the tip of his muzzle. "Aw yeah!" Roseluck's eyes were zoned out to Perfect, who sprinkled pepper on the pizzas, and finally added the pepperoni. She didn't pay any attention to Trixie waving a foreleg in her face, trying to snap her out of her trance. "Rose, why do you keep staring at Perfect?" Trixie wondered, her eyebrows raising up and down with curiosity piqued added to the mix. Trixie rolled her eyes, a smug grin etched across her face, "No reason. Let's not insinuate anypony of liking that grease ball, even if he has a soft heart." "See you do like him," Rose's pearly white teeth formed a cheeky grin, pointing over to the back of Perfect's grease-covered apron, showing off his flank to Trixie's open eyes. "Like I said earlier, Trixie will deal with you later," Strands of Trixie's mane blowed away from her eyes, the strong winds forcefully opening the double doors of the pizzeria. Octavia stepped onto the pressure pad of the forensics lab, a door automatically opened before her as she walked over to the police station's main computer database that tracked the most dangerous criminals in Detrot. Prying open the containers of forensic evidence, she poured the blood into the spinning test tubes and placed the weapons under the luminescent light of a microscope. A device spun three test tubes in three hundred and sixty degree motions as the computer scanned down the list of possible suspects that would match the blood type. Scrolling further down the list, Octavia spotted two names at the end results of the list. SCANNING RESULTS: Blood Types: Type A and B List of suspects reduced to two: Gang leaders and hired murderers that reside in Detrot. "This will get us nowhere to finding out who killed my friend-" Buzz! The vibrating phone moved about on the desk, its bumping around ceased to stop when Octavia grabbed the phone, "Hello?" "Octavia, I'm outside of High Energy, how are Trixie and Roseluck holding up?" Twilight spoke softly into the phone, tuning out the distraction of ponies that couldn't handle their alcohol waiting outside for the club to open for tonight. "They went over to Perfect Slice's pizzeria after we finished gathering evidence. Quick question, do you know any gang leaders or hired murderers that would want to kill a music producer?" "About that, you might want to hear this. They announced on the news that Golden Record died from the surgery they performed on him, his injuries were so severe they couldn't save him. I'm sorry," Taking off her fedora to place on her chest, she bent her head down to wish that Celestia had mercy on his soul as she backed up to the brick wall that was leading to a dark alleyway. "I'll try to come to terms with this, Twilight. For now, good luck on finding the guy, see you later." Octavia cut the conversation short, her head face down on the desk. A bouncer guarding the door to High Energy, released the red velvet rope, letting each pony that waited for hours inside of the club. He watched aimlessly for the next set of ponies, but still kept his eyes open for anypony who would attempt to get past him or sneak in undetected. Twilight closed her eyes as her horn sent a wave of magic that washed over her, completely changing her appearance into her disguise. Long black fishnets traveled up her flank and down to the bottom of her hooves, curly long mane reached the tip of her shoulders. Black roses with sharp thorns replaced her original pink sparkled cutie mark as the bouncer let her inside of the club. She started scoping out each corner of the club, her senses keeping her on high alert for anything suspicious. Nothing out of the ordinary but drug crazed, crazy ponies who enjoy partying on a Saturday night. Rowdy crowds of party goers shuffled their hooves along the colored tiles while others relaxed behind closed curtains with a stripper, neon bracelets wiggled around the raving ponies with each step that they took until they couldn't dance anymore. Squeezing herself through the crowd, rubbing against hot sweaty bodies around her. She gingerly walked over to Ace, flipped a lock of curly hair away from her red ruby eyes exchanging looks with the notorious gang leader. "Excuse me, are you, Ace?" Ace popped his collar, letting out a quick chuckle. "Yes I am, whose asking?" "I'm new to Detrot, and I was wondering if you would let me give you a little entertainment?" Twilight fluttered her eyelashes, seductive eyes caught a glimpse of his hidden bulge pointed straight up directly to her waist. "Who am I to say no to a beautiful lady?" Ace didn't have time to react once Twilight grabbed him by the wrist, whisking him off to the private backstage area and sat him down forcefully on a stool. "Let's get started," Twilight reached into her trench coat and jingled a pair of hoofcuffs in the air. She applied a little pressure on the handle, a clinking noise opened the hoofcuffs as she tucked his forelegs behind the chair, locking the cuffs around both wrists. "You are under arrest for-" Twilight quickly turned her head to four members of the Aces and Eights gang, stalking her from the four corners of the area. "Untie me you idiots!" "We will, as soon as we deal with her."
