The Scent of the Seaby totallynotabronyChaptersChapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 1Chapter 2A dark blue sedan pulled up to the curb. It stopped behind a medical examiner’s van that was already parked there. Four people got out of the car. They all wore dark caps and windbreakers. A young Washington police officer stood behind the crime scene tape. He stood up straighter as the newcomers approached. “ID,” the cop ordered. The grey-haired man leading the other three stopped and dug in his pocket with his free hand. He held a disposable coffee cup with the other. “Hey, don’t you know who this is?” asked an older police officer, walking over. The more experienced cop turned to the man closest to the outside of the tape. “Sorry Gibbs,” he said. “Joey here hasn’t been around very long.” To his younger partner, the officer said, “This here is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. You work in the District very long, and you’ll get to know him and his team.” Despite the introduction, Gibbs handed his credentials over to the younger officer. The picture on the identification card displayed the same blue eyes and center-parted grey hair. The expression was also the same, a neutral frown. Following his lead, the other three NCIS agents handed their identification to the young cop. He shuffled through them, comparing names and faces. Anthony DiNozzo was a tall man who appeared to have spent significant time grooming his dark hair. Timothy McGee had rounded features and a receding hairline, partially hidden by his close haircut. Ziva David possessed dark eyes and a sharp widow’s peak in her black hair. The team of four agents were let past the police tape. The NCIS medical examiner was already on the scene, kneeling over the body of a man that lay nearby. Gibbs walked over and stopped near the corpse’s feet. “What’s the story, Duck?” Dr. Donald Mallard looked up from his survey of the body. “This is Petty Officer Third class Bryan Wheeler,” he said in clipped British tones. “The poor fellow appears to have been beaten to death, but we’ll have to get him back to the lab to know for sure.” Gibbs nodded, taking a sip of coffee. He glanced at the body. The torso was covered with lesions and cuts, some that tore the clothing and skin. Many of the wounds had an unusual semicircular shape. McGee typed furiously on his smartphone. After a moment, he appeared to find what he was searching for and looked at Gibbs. “Boss, I looked up Petty Officer Wheeler’s address. He doesn’t live anywhere around here.” “Combined with the lack of blood at the scene, we can conclude that he was probably dumped in this place,” added Ziva. “What do you think, Tony?” “Probably,” agreed DiNozzo. He walked over to the body and examined the strange wounds, taking a few pictures. “Ducky, what do you suspect caused all this?” asked Tony. “If I had to guess,” replied Dr. Mallard, “I would say hooves.” “He looks a little too clean to have been trampled,” said Tony, chuckling. “D.C. isn’t exactly the wild west.” He looked around. No one was laughing with him. “I believe Ducky meant that a pony is responsible,” said Ziva. “I was getting to that,” muttered Tony. “Somebody get a hold of the Equestrians,” ordered Gibbs. “They’re going to want to know about this.” McGee nodded and stepped a few paces away, raising his phone to his ear. Ducky called, “Mr. Palmer, are you ready to move the body?” “Sure, Dr. Mallard.” A young man with round spectacles came over from the NCIS medical van pushing a gurney with a body bag on it. He helped Ducky prepare Petty Officer Wheeler’s corpse for transport. Tony and Ziva continued to canvass the scene. There was not much evidence to be found, supporting the dumping theory. McGee got off the phone and walked over to where Gibbs was standing. “Boss, I just talked with the D.C. office of the Royal Intelligence Service. They’ll send someone to meet with us. I mean, somepony.” Gibbs nodded and took another sip of coffee as he watched Ducky and Palmer wheel the body away. “I know you’re not a fan of interagency cooperation,” McGee went on. “What was that I heard?” called Tony. “Who are we working with?” “It’s the RIS,” said McGee. DiNozzo frowned and turned away “At least it’s not the FBI again,” McGee said, shrugging. Equestria was discovered on the other side of the portals. The political situation was tense for a while, but gradually the human race and ponykind came to live together in harmony. Once embassies were set up across the dimensional divide, relations for the future looked bright. McGee scrutinized the paragraph he’d just typed. Under the penname Thom E. Gemcity, he’d written a few novels that had received minor fame. His stories were based on reality and centered around NCIS. It was easier to write about what he knew well. The prospect of working with the Royal Intelligence Service had inspired him to write through his lunch break to create a rough plot outline for a new book. He wasn’t sure, however, if he should include the information about the portals. They had opened years ago, and it was now common knowledge where the ponies had come from. The elevator dinged and Gibbs stepped off, heading for his desk. He and the three agents under him had a rectangular workspace with their desks arranged in the corners. The others stood as Gibbs walked in. “Boss, we checked Petty Officer Wheeler’s financial records,” said Tony. “Nothing out of the ordinary, no suspicious bank account activity.” “We are working on gaining access to his apartment,” added Ziva. “Checking over his e-mails didn’t yield much,” noted McGee. “So we don’t have any leads is what you’re saying?” asked Gibbs, looking impatiently at the three. Before any of them could reply, the elevator dinged again. Six Equestrians piled out. They were not as large as ponies from Earth, but with bodies oriented horizontally rather than vertically, getting half a dozen of them in the elevator was a tight squeeze. “I thought you said they were sending just one,” hissed Tony. “That’s what I was told,” replied McGee. Gibbs stepped forward and met the ponies as they entered the team’s workspace. “Special Agent Gibbs,” he introduced himself. The purple unicorn in the lead smiled and said, “I’m Twilight Sparkle. We came to assist with your investigation.” Gibbs glanced at the other five ponies. “There’s a few more of you than we were expecting.” “Sorry about that,” said Twilight. Her voice dropped in volume. “If this does turn out to be a case of pony-on-human violence, we believe it would be best to keep it as quiet as possible. The best way to prevent the media getting a hold of it is to solve the case a quickly as possible. My colleges can help.” Gibbs nodded in understanding, although he still didn't appear to be pleased with another agency butting in. “All right, get acquainted with my team and we’ll compare notes.” He walked back to his desk. Tony stood up. “We made an appointment to speak with Wheeler’s coworkers.” Gibbs nodded from his seat. “Get to it.” Tony gestured to Ziva and she stood up to accompany him. “Fluttershy, Rainbow, go with them,” said Twilight. “If that’s all right?” she asked Gibbs, who shrugged and turned to his computer. Tony’s face indicated that it wasn’t all right with him, but said nothing as the two ponies followed him and Ziva down to the parking lot. The motor pool attendant made Tony sign for a set of keys, and the four of them got into one of the blue NCIS sedans. “We have not been introduced,” said Ziva, conversationally. She sat in the back seat with the yellow pony. “My name is Ziva David.” “I’m Fluttershy,” said the pegasus pony. She seemed to hide slightly behind the pink mane that fell into her face. Her wings were tucked tightly against her body as if they didn’t get much use. Either that, or she was feeling apprehensive. Ziva suspected that she probably hadn’t ridden in a car very often. “How did you come to work for the RIS, Fluttershy?” the woman asked. “Oh, I’m actually just a consultant for victim’s affairs,” answered the pony. “The Service sometimes brings me in to advise on how the emotional and physical traumas should be handled. I learned how to do that by taking care of animals back home.” “What sort of animals?” asked Ziva. Fluttershy started slightly as Tony put the car in gear and it began to move. She said, “There are lots of different animals. Everything from mice to bears.” “Are bears difficult to take care of?” Ziva asked, slightly surprised. “Oh no, you just have to know the right technique.” The yellow pony smiled sweetly. “What about you?” said Ziva to the other pony. “I’m Rainbow Dash,” answered the Equestrian. With her bright blue coat and multicolored mane, the name was certainly fitting. The pony went on, grinning confidently. “I joined up with the RIS to catch bad guys. I’m the fastest pegasus in Equestria, so I’m pretty good at it.” Tony made a small noise that was either a quiet laugh or a groan of annoyance. Ziva poked in him in the shoulder. “Introduce yourself.” “Special Agent DiNozzo,” he said, and nothing more. Ziva leaned back, crossing her arms. It sounded like it was going to be a long ride to the crime scene. “Tell me more about the bears,” she said to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was still talking several minutes later when the car pulled up outside the Pentagon. The dead Petty Officer had worked there. A few interviews had been lined up with Wheeler’s fellow sailors. “Have you got your list?” Tony asked Ziva once they were inside the building. She held up a piece of paper with the names of a few people she was scheduled to interview. “All right,” said Tony, “see you later.” He turned to walk away. “Fluttershy, why don’t you go with him?” suggested Ziva. A muscle in Tony’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing. Ziva and Rainbow Dash went in a different direction. “What’s the plan?” asked the pony. “Are we going to do good-cop-bad-cop?” “Where did you hear that expression?” the human asked in wonder. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I read a lot of action novels, okay?” The two of them approached an open door marked CAPT Naismeth. Ziva knocked on the doorframe, and the man sitting behind the desk looked up. “NCIS,” said Ziva. “I was expecting you,” said Naismeth, “but what’s with the pony?” “We’re asking the questions,” said Rainbow. “It is a joint operation with the Royal Intelligence Service,” Ziva told him. Naismeth appeared to accept that and invited the two of them in. “We would like to ask you a few questions about Petty Officer Bryan Wheeler,” Ziva began. “You’ve been informed of his death, correct?” “Yes, I have,” confirmed Naismeth. “He was in my command.” “What were his duties? Who did he socialize with?” asked Ziva. “I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but he was basically a glorified copy boy.” Naismeth shrugged. He rubbed his left ring finger absently, as if searching for a wedding band that was not there. “As for the other thing,” Naismeth said, “he didn’t hang out with anyone from work. He didn’t really talk much.” “What was his access to classified material?” Ziva went on. “He didn’t have any,” answered the man. “Couldn’t he have sneaked a look at some stuff?” asked Rainbow. “We like to think we have better security than that,” said Naismeth. “What was Wheeler like?” asked Ziva. Naismeth shrugged. “I never really talked to him. I don’t know.” “Some commanding officer you are,” said Rainbow. “Aren’t you supposed to know about your people so you can take care of them better?” Ziva agreed with the comment, but was glad the pony had said it instead of her. Naismeth looked uncomfortable, but there were no more relevant questions to ask him, so the two investigators left. Meanwhile, Tony and Fluttershy sat in a small waiting area with Petty Officer Cary, a more direct coworker of the victim. “All right,” said Tony, “describe in your own words what you thought about Wheeler.” “He was kind of weird,” answered Cary. “That’s it?” demanded Tony. “You’ve got to give us more than that.” “What am I supposed to tell you?” asked Cary, throwing up his hands in frustration. “Haven’t you ever worked with somebody who was completely unnatural?” “Sure,” said Tony, resisting the urge to glance at the yellow pegasus beside him. “Could you describe exactly how Petty Officer Wheeler was different?” “Please?” added Fluttershy quietly. “Anything you could tell us would be a big help.” Cary sighed. “Well, he didn’t talk much, drank a lot of coffee, and was always writing in this little blue notebook.” The man cleared his throat and looked away. “I think he was also into animals.” Tony made a face of disgust. “Is that it?” he asked, impatiently. “Pretty much,” answered Cary. “I knew he had a girlfriend at some point, but a couple of months ago I got the feeling that they broke up.” “What was her name?” said the NCIS Agent. “Um, Joyce, I think.” Cary shrugged. “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” said Tony, his voice flat. He and the pony got up. Back in the parking lot, the four investigators compared notes. “It looks as if Wheeler kept to himself,” noted Ziva. "We searched through his desk and did not find much. He apparently had some sleeping pills for insomnia." “I think we should find his notebook,” said Fluttershy. “It could help us know more about him.” “I bet he was hiding something,” said Rainbow, confidently. “The only question is what.” “Well, it looks like we really need to get someone over to Wheeler’s place,” noted Tony. “Hopefully McGee got the authorization set up.” The four of them got back in the car. Chapter 3“Agent McGee, do you do this very often?” asked Twilight. “Searching victims’ homes?” said the NCIS agent. “Yeah, it’s standard procedure. Also, you can call me Tim.” “So if you’ve done this before,” asked the pony, “what do you do when the door is locked?” Twilight indicated the deadbolt that secured Petty Officer Wheeler’s apartment. “We visit the apartment office and borrow a key,” answered McGee. “I could…take care of it,” said Twilight, hesitantly. McGee thought for a moment. “Well, we do have authorization to enter.” He nodded to the pony to “take care of it”, eager to see unicorn magic at work. Twilight did not disappoint. Instead of brute-forcing the lock, she bent her head close, the tip of her horn nearly touching the key slot. WIth the lock surrounded by the purple glow of her magic, she delicately worked the pins into the correct combination and slid the bolt back. “That was really impressive,” said McGee. He felt like he should applaud or something. “It’s just a trick I picked up somewhere,” said Twilight modestly. The two of them entered the apartment. The lights were off and the blinds were drawn. While it was doubtful that there was anyone there, it never paid to assume. Twilight noticed McGee’s hand never strayed too far from the gun on his hip. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would shoot someone, but then she didn’t seem like the kind of pony who would join the Royal Intelligence Service. After a slow tour through the apartment turned up no unwanted guests, the pair of them returned to the main room. “You take that side and I’ll take this side?” McGee suggested. “Fine by me,” Twilight replied. Both man and pony were professionals, and no object in the apartment escaped scrutiny. After two hours, they met back up to discuss what had been found. “I’ll be taking Wheeler’s computer back,” said McGee. “Also, the guy had a massive obsession with Darbeck’s Coffee. There were dozens of disposable cups in the trash can and a heavily used portable mug on the kitchen counter.” “I didn’t find anything to indicate that he might have been killed here,” said Twilight. “There wasn’t really anything notable I saw, except for one thing.” She showed McGee a small blue notebook that appeared to have poetry written in it. “This was under his pillow,” she said. “It must have been important to him, then,” observed McGee. “What’s it say?” “Well, I didn’t think it was very good poetry,” said Twilight. “Still, it looks to me like he wrote it with a lover in mind. Listen to this.” The scent of the sea, I hope reminds you of me, When I come home from afar. If right there you be, that’s all right with me, When I arrive, that’s right where you are. “Well, at least it rhymes,” said McGee. Twilight laughed. “I guess so.” A little more seriously, she noted, “We should probably try to find out who he was writing to. It might be important.” McGee nodded. “While we’re here, we might as well go to Darbeck’s. If Wheeler was such a frequent customer, maybe they know something.” He pulled out his phone and within seconds found what he was looking for. “There’s a location nearby,” he told Twilight, showing her a miniature map on the screen of the phone. “That’s really impressive,” she said. “It’s just a trick I picked up somewhere,” said McGee. A couple of minutes later, the two of them got out of the car near the local Darbeck’s Coffee shop. One of the baristas and about half the customers were ponies. McGee wondered at that. For some reason, certain locations just caused Equestrians to congregate. That might be worth looking into for his next book. He followed Twilight up to the counter, pulling out a picture of Wheeler. “Pardon me, has either of you seen this man?” Twilight asked the two workers. McGee held the picture up. “Yeah, I’ve seen him before,” said the woman. She looked at the pegasus beside her. “He comes in here at least once a day, right Skim?” The stallion nodded. “Double latte, half-caf. Bryan’s as regular as a clock.” He frowned. “Wait, he didn’t come in today. Did something happen?” “He was murdered,” said McGee. The two baristas looked shocked. “That’s terrible,” said the woman. “Did he ever come here with someone?” asked Twilight. “Somepony,” said Skim. “The two of them were in here together every couple of days.” “What can you tell us about this pony?” said McGee. Skim thought for a moment. “It was a unicorn stallion. Medium blue coat, grey mane and tail. His cutie mark was a couple of stars. He said his name was Telescope.” Other than the physical description, neither of the two coffee shop employees knew much about the pony. McGee and Twilight thanked them for their time and drove back to the NCIS field office. The D.C. office of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was located inside Washington Navy Yard. The two of them had to show their identification several times at various checkpoints just to get back inside the office. When they arrived, the workspace for Gibbs’ team was deserted. “Why don’t we check with Ducky to see if he’s turned up anything with the body?” suggested McGee. Down in the medical area, they found Dr. Mallard and a white unicorn with a styled indigo mane examining Wheeler’s corpse. “Hello Timothy,” called Ducky. “With the help of Ms. Rarity here, I’ve managed to uncover a few surprising details concerning the Petty Officer’s death.” “It wasn’t easy,” said the pony, stepping back from the examination table. Her horn glowed, and the scrubs she wore floated off her body and hung themselves on a rack near the wall. “Miss, you have a very discerning eye,” Ducky complimented her. He lowered his voice. “I also praise you on giving Mr. Palmer some fashion advice. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” “The poor man knows nothing about style,” said Rarity. “Where is Palmer?” asked McGee, looking around. “He took a long lunch to go shopping for some fashionable things,” chuckled Dr. Mallard. “He says he wants to impress his fiancé.” “Getting back to the body,” said Twilight. “What did you learn?” “The hoof prints were most likely post-mortem,” said Ducky. “It’s like they were made in an attempt to cover up something.” “None of the wounds were inflicted to the face or other sensitive areas,” noted Rarity. “That could indicate that the pony knew Wheeler well, and was very sorry to be doing that to him.” “We’ll have to perform a few more tests to cover everything,” said Ducky. He gestured to a few samples taken from the body. “Would you mind running these over to Abby?” “We can do that,” said McGee. Throughout the entire conversation, he had never come closer than five feet to the body. He gingerly picked up the plastic bag from the tray beside the examination table and retreated. “I don’t understand how Ducky does it,” said McGee as they left the room. “All those dead bodies day after day.” “I know Rarity just avoids thinking about it by throwing herself into the task,” said Twilight. “I think it takes her mind off it if she’s working as hard as she can to get results. She’s a little obsessive about her work.” The two of them went over to the lab where Abby Sciuto worked. When McGee opened the door, loud music washed out of the room. Inside, the forensic scientist appeared to be dancing with a pink pony. “Oh, hey McGee, hey Ms. Sparkle,” said Abby, grinning. Her lipstick was black, as was her clothing, save for a white lab coat. She gestured to her Equestrian guest. “Pinkie and I were just having a little party.” “A totally awesometastic party,” agreed the pony. She and Abby toasted each other with large-size cups of Caf-Pow energy drink. McGee glanced at the balloons floating around the ceiling, wondering where they had come from. “That’s nice.” He handed Abby the bag of samples. “These are from Petty Officer Wheeler.” Abby nodded, taking the drinking straw from her mouth. “I’ll get right on them. Hey Pinkie, do you want to see the Mass-Spec machine in action?” “Do I!” exclaimed the pony. McGee and Twilight left. “Do you ever wonder if you’re the only normal one in the office?” he asked. “Always,” she replied. The two of them ventured upstairs. Ziva stood outside the door to the observation area for the interrogation room. “We brought in Petty Officer Wheeler’s last-known girlfriend,” she said. “Gibbs has her in there right now.” McGee and Twilight entered the darkened room. Tony was already there, standing among three ponies. He did not seem terribly pleased by their company. “What have we learned?” asked McGee, glancing through the one-way glass where Gibbs sat with a woman. “Her name is Joyce Bach,” answered Tony. “Up until a few months ago, she was dating Wheeler. Sounded like a nasty breakup to me.” “What do you think, Applejack?” Twilight asked an orange pony whose straight blonde mane was covered by a cowboy hat. The other pony pushed back her hat, looking thoughtful. “Well, Ah reckon Joyce ain’t tellin’ the whole truth,” she said in an accented drawl. “Ah wouldn’t mind askin’ her some questions.” “I’ll trust your instincts,” said Twilight. “You wouldn't be our lead interrogator if you didn't know something about honesty." On the other side of the glass, Gibbs got up from the table and left the room. “My turn,” said Applejack. She ambled out into the hallway. “Four legged redneck,” muttered DiNozzo after she had gone. McGee was the only one who heard him, and gave Tony a reproachful look. Gibbs walked into the observation room. “Joyce definitely isn’t telling everything she knows,” he said, nearly echoing Applejack’s statement. The pony walked into the interrogation room and pushed the door shut. The woman appeared to grow slightly anxious at the sight of her. “Special Agent Gibbs told you this is a joint investigation ‘tween NCIS and the Royal Intelligence Service,” said Applejack, her voice feeding through the intercom to the other room. “Ah hope you’ll answer a few of my questions.” “All right…” said Joyce slowly. “How’d you get to know Petty Officer Wheeler?” asked the pony. “My father and uncle are both in the Navy,” explained Joyce. “I’ve been around the military a lot, and we just kind of met.” Applejack nodded. “Why did y’all break up?” “Bryan found someone new.” Joyce sounded more than a little bitter. The pony approached the table, intent on asking another question. The woman recoiled slightly at her approach. “Something wrong?” asked Applejack. “I don’t like ponies,” answered Joyce. Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Why’s that, exactly?” “Bryan left me for a unicorn.” Behind the glass, there was a stunned silence. Tony was the first to recover. “Well, that’s a step further than don’t-ask-don’t-tell,” he said. Chapter 4“We need to find this pony,” said Gibbs. Joyce Bach had left, and the small crowd of NCIS and RIS investigators were gathered in the office workspace. “On it, boss,” answered McGee. “We’ve already got a name and description.” He pulled up the Federal passport records and ran a search for “Telescope”. His fingers flew over the keys. Almost immediately, a hit for a blue unicorn came up. McGee transferred the information to a large flatscreen mounted on the wall. The gathered crowd moved closer, looking at the screen. “This is probably who we’re looking for.” McGee read through the information listed. “He’s been living in the D.C. area for about a year now. He works at Cormack Observatory on the coast.” “Tony, Ziva, bring him in,” said Gibbs. The two NCIS Agents gathered their things and left. Gibbs departed to get a fresh cup of coffee. McGee was left with the four ponies. “I know I’ve heard of Cormack Observatory before,” said Twilight. She shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll come to me.” “Each piece of testimony we’ve heard so far indicates that Bryan Wheeler and Telescope were on good terms,” observed Fluttershy quietly. “Why would that lead to murder?” wondered Rainbow. “With that many wounds on his body, it couldn’t have been accidental,” said Applejack. “I’ve just started digging into Wheeler’s computer,” said McGee. “I, uh, think the two of them were more than just friends.” Unfortunately, it looked like Tony’s off-color comment back in the interrogation room had been accurate. McGee put up a listing of Wheeler’s search history on the flatscreen. “What in tarnation?” burst out Applejack. “Oh my,” said Fluttershy, her eyes wide. “That’s…not technically illegal, but eww,” said Twilight. “There’s something else interesting here,” said McGee, scrolling down on the list. “Look at this, ‘human-to-pony transformation spells’.” “No such thing exists,” said Twilight. “I mean, there are ways to simulate it for a few hours.” She thought for a moment. “Combine that with the other things—” “And we’ve got a real sick puppy on our hands,” said Rainbow. “Hands?” asked McGee. The multicolored pegasus rolled her eyes. “I read a lot of action novels, okay?” “Mr. Palmer, carefully, please!” said Rarity. “We’re trying to stitch him up, not cause more damage!” “Sorry,” said the medical assistant. “If you'd like, you can call me Jimmy.” “Very well then, Jimmy, just take it slowly.” The unicorn stepped back from the table. She had offered to use her extensive sewing experience to make the body more presentable. The Y-shaped cut on the torso had been made for examination purposes, and required stitching to prepare Wheeler for his funeral. Dr. Mallard, however, had suggested that his assistant could use the practice. Ducky stood back watching Palmer work. The doctor had taken off his scrubs for the day, and Rarity admired his smart attire, complete with bow tie. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” said Ducky. “How did you get into the field of medical forensics?” “Well, as strange as it sounds, I found that it was easier to clean out just one kind of stain, blood, than it was to remove the soil, mud, and grime of field work.” The unicorn shrugged. “I’ve been doing autopsies ever since. What about you?” “I used to practice on live patients,” Ducky told her. “This is much easier. They don’t complain.” The two of them shared a quiet laugh. The sliding door opened and Gibbs walked in. “Did Abby send over the results of the tests?” he asked. Ducky nodded. “Indeed she did. Rather confusing, I might add.” “Do you think you could compose a psychological profile of both Wheeler and Telescope?” asked Gibbs. “I’m trained for it,” said the doctor. “You probably want to know how likely Wheeler was to commit suicide, or how likely Telescope was to commit murder.” Gibbs nodded. “Something isn’t right. We’re about to bring the pony in for questioning to see if we can get things straightened out.” “I’ll begin work immediately,” said Ducky. Gibbs nodded and left the room. “Well, duty calls,” said Dr. Mallard. Rarity nodded and watched him walk away to his office. “Oh Jimmy?” she said. “Just a little tighter on the stitches.” Coffee cup in hand, Gibbs walked into the lab. “What have you got for me, Abbs?” “What was that?” asked Abby, shouting over the music. “He said, ‘what have you got for me, Abbs?’,” Pinkie told her. “I guess that’s his nickname for you, huh? It makes sense, Abby, Abbs.” Abby turned down the music and addressed Gibbs, who seemed unfazed by the minature party the pink pony had thrown. “Ducky found some very unusual things. The first is a sample of green hair.” Abby held up a small plastic bag with the aforementioned sample in it. “So?” asked Gibbs. “It’s pony hair,” said Pinkie. “There’s a small DNA database for ponies, and we tried searching for a match but got nothing. It’s too bad.” She shrugged. “Back at my old job, everything was much simpler. All the science and chemistry I had to do was baking-related.” “Next,” said Abby, “we have a blood sample from Wheeler.” She handed Gibbs a piece of paper with the sample analysis printed on it. He glanced at it and then back to her, clearly waiting for more explanation. “The good part is we know what killed him,” said Abby. “Sleeping pills, and a lot of ‘em. The bad part is that Wheeler had insomnia and was prescribed these pills by a doctor. He had them on hand, is what I’m saying. This could have been a suicide by overdose.” “Then why was he covered in hoof prints?” asked Gibbs. “It’s a mystery!” exclaimed Pinkie. Abby nodded in agreement. Gibbs turned to go. “Keep up the good work,” McGee continued digging into Wheeler’s computer. The ponies sat around, waiting on the human Agents to show up with Telescope. Rainbow sat near McGee. “So, what kind of action novels do you read?” he asked. “Pretty much anything, really,” the pegasus responded. “I picked up a book recently that’s actually about NCIS. Have you ever heard of Thom Gemcity?” “Uh, yeah,” said McGee. Before he was forced to elaborate, the two Agents walked into the workspace, having returned from bringing in the pony. “Telescope’s cooling off in the interrogation room,” said Tony, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. Leaving a suspect alone in the quiet room for a while was standard procedure before beginning an interrogation. The technique had been refined to a science at NCIS. “Why don’t we go get set up?” suggested Twilight. She and the other ponies departed for the observation room with its one-way glass. “Telescope was not hard to find,” said Ziva, sitting down at her desk. “He did not resist, and in fact seemed to know exactly why we wanted to bring him in.” “Dirtbag,” muttered Tony. “What is it with you and ponies?” asked McGee. “I don’t want to talk about it, all right?” said Tony. “Can we discuss something not work-related for a while?” “You’re at work, DiNozzo,” said Gibbs, walking in. Tony straightened up in his chair. “Right boss. We’ve got Telescope here and ready to go.” Gibbs nodded, and motioned for Tony and Ziva to follow him. The three of them headed for the interrogation room. McGee returned to browsing through Wheeler’s computer. Besides the suspicious search history, he hadn’t managed to uncover anything useful so far. There was still a lot to pick through, however. He opened a photo archive and reviewed a list of file names. One in particular stuck out, and McGee clicked on it. The file opened, displaying a picture of a woman. McGee glanced at the file name again and compared it to his mental log of evidence that had been gathered so far. It looked like he’d discovered a coincidence. Years of working with Gibbs, however, had taught him there was no such thing. He made a note about the file and went on. Another picture piqued his interest, and McGee opened it. His face twisted with distaste at the image. He quickly clicked on the next picture. It was nearly the same shot except for a slight difference… As he examined a third picture, McGee realized he was looking at a series of images. He continued clicking, his eyes going wider and wider with each new photo. This was serious. He grabbed the telephone. Chapter 5Gibbs stared impassively at the blue unicorn across the table from him. Based on the information that had been gathered, it seemed likely that NCIS could convict him for something, but exactly what remained to be seen. “How did you know Petty Officer Wheeler?” asked Gibbs. Telescope shifted nervously. “We were very good friends.” “How did you learn that he was dead?” Gibbs dropped a pair of reading glasses on his nose and began going through a manila folder on the table. It contained Ducky’s psychoanalysis of Wheeler, with notes from Rarity on Telescope. There were also a few photos. “Uh, Agents DiNozzo and David told me,” said the pony. “When was the last time you saw Wheeler?” Gibbs’ voice sounded bored. “Did he look like this?” The picture Gibbs laid in front of the pony had been taken of the Petty Officer’s post-autopsy body. Telescope looked away and said nothing. Behind the glass, Tony said, “Sure looks guilty to me.” There was a general murmur of agreement, interrupted by the telephone ringing. Ziva answered it. “Wait, slow down Abby.” The Agent listened for a moment, her face slowly changing to a look of disbelief. Ziva glanced at the rest of the observers in the room. She spoke into the telephone. “Gibbs won’t like it, but I agree that he should know. Thank you Abby.” McGee burst into the room at that moment, carrying a laptop computer. “Was that Abby on the phone?” he asked. Ziva nodded. “She said she got a DNA match to Petty Officer Wheeler, but—” “You’re not going to believe this,” said McGee, putting the computer down so all could see. “I found these pictures on Wheeler’s computer.” The first photo showed the man naked. McGee had thoughtfully blurred out the sensitive areas. He clicked through the set of photos one by one. The last picture in the series showed a green-coated pony where Wheeler had stood. He was smiling and had his hoof around Telescope’s neck. “How do we know this is real?” stammered Tony. “When Abby ran the green hair we found through the pony database, we didn’t get a match,” explained McGee. “But we reran it and did get results from the Navy database. It belonged to Wheeler.” “How do you get turned into a pony and keep the same genetics?” Tony demanded. “Magic,” said Twilight. “The sad part is, that explanation probably makes more sense than anything else in this case,” noted McGee. He walked over to the control panel for the interrogation room. Gibbs had a list of rules that he expected his Agents to live by. Number 22 was: Never, ever bother Gibbs in interrogation. Rules were meant to be broken, and this was important. McGee pushed the intercom button. “Boss? We’ve got something here that you should know about.” Gibbs looked up at the one-way glass in annoyance. He got up and walked out the door. “This had better be good,” he said, entering the observation room. McGee showed him the series of pictures. Twilight helped explain about the spell Telescope had apparently performed. “It takes a lot of concentration and willingness from the participants,” she said. “It’s not something you could do to a random person on the street.” Gibbs nodded. His usually calm demeanor had slipped a little during the slide show, but it reappeared as quickly as it had gone. "I'll go have a chat with him about it," said Gibbs. The expression on his face deepened slightly. The NCIS Agents knew that look well. Telescope was about to get broken. As Gibbs exited the room, Tony said, “Place your bets.” “Forty-five seconds,” said McGee. “Thirty,” responded Ziva. Gibbs walked into the interrogation room and sat down. “We found a set of photos on Wheeler’s computer. You turned him into a pony.” Telescope’s eyes went wide. “He…wanted me to.” Gibbs stared at the unicorn. “And then what happened? He just died, didn’t he?” The stallion nodded reluctantly. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to kill him. A couple minutes after the transformation, he said he felt sleepy and then…he just didn’t wake up.” “Did you try to cover it up?” asked Gibbs. “I—I didn’t want to. I didn’t want it to look like magic killed him. An hour or two later after he turned back, I left him in another part of the city, and hoped it would look like some other pony did it.” Telescope looked like he was holding back tears. Gibbs nodded. “It’s all right, you didn’t kill him.” The pony looked up. “What?” “Wheeler died from an overdose of sleeping pills,” explained Gibbs. “You’re not guilty of murder.” Telescope breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re still going to jail,” said Gibbs. “Covering up evidence is a crime.” He got up and left the room. “Thirty-seven seconds to confession,” said Tony. “Not quite a new record, but still impressive." The ponies stayed in the interrogation area. After Gibbs had gotten most of the answers, Applejack had gone in to ask a few follow up questions. Telescope may not be a murderer, but there was still plenty of paperwork for the RIS representatives to file. In addition, Fluttershy was giving him emotional counseling. She had training in how to deal both victims and perpetrators of crime. Back in the NCIS workspace, McGee was displaying the other, slightly less important thing he had discovered on Wheeler’s computer. “I found this picture,” he said, gesturing to the flatscreen. “It’s Joyce Bach,” said Ziva. “But look at the file name,” said McGee. “It says ‘Joyce Naismeth’.” “Isn’t that the same as Wheeler’s commanding officer?” asked Tony. McGee nodded. “I checked. She’s his daughter. Naismeth and his wife are divorced. A couple of months ago, Joyce changed her name to Bach, after her mother.” “Is that related to her breakup with Wheeler?” asked Ziva. Just then, Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight came back. “I’ll go over to Joyce’s place and have a talk with her,” said Tony quickly. He got up from his desk. “Rainbow, Applejack, why don’t you go with him?” suggested Twilight. “It’s always good to have partners.” Tony set his jaw, but said nothing. McGee and Ziva traded a look. They had both noticed Tony’s reaction to ponies. The NCIS agent disappeared into the elevator with the Equestrians following him. Twilight turned to the other two. “I got in contact with RIS headquarters,” she said. “I knew I’d heard of Cormack Observatory before. Some stolen equipment from there turned up in Equestria not long ago. We think it has connections to organized crime.” “Do you think Telescope is involved?” asked McGee. “Well, he does work there,” noted Twilight. “We might as well go have a look,” said McGee. Gibbs walked in. “Ziva’s going. I need you to meet the press.” “Uh, what press, boss?” asked McGee. “The ones that showed up in the last half hour asking about a pony murdering a human.” Gibbs’ voice was harder than usual, and McGee knew what he was thinking. Somehow, the story had leaked. “Do you need help, Tim?” Twilight asked. “No, I think I can handle it.” McGee sighed. “It’s just not going to be very fun.” “You can come with me,” said Ziva. “Sure.” Twilight followed her to the elevator. McGee prepared a few notes. He didn’t know how the case had managed to slip out to the media, but now his job was damage control. It was not a formal press conference, but half a dozen reporters still made McGee regret not taking more public speaking classes in college. “Here’s what we know,” said McGee, trying to sound casual. “Petty Officer Bryan Wheeler was found dead from an overdose of prescription sleep aids.” “So a pony wasn’t involved?” asked one of the news hounds. “We can’t confirm or deny that at this time,” said McGee. “Is there any truth to the story that Wheeler was living with a pony?” asked a female journalist. “There was no cohabitation,” McGee answered. “Where did you get that idea?” Are you throwing stuff out to see what sticks? he wanted to add. Without answering McGee’s question, the reporter asked another of her own. “Was there a relationship going on?” “We can’t confirm or deny that at this time.” Despite McGee’s answer, all the journalists began writing furiously in their notebooks. He sighed. “I noticed that you speak with an accent,” said Twilight. She sat in the passenger seat as Ziva drove. “I am originally from Israel,” answered the woman. “It’s fascinating,” said Twilight. “We don’t have very much cultural diversity in the other world, despite all the different species. We all speak nearly the same language and have similar customs.” Ziva turned into the parking lot of Cormack Observatory. It was located on a little rise overlooking the ocean, so the view of the stars would be unobstructed by city light. Twilight thought about the poem they had discovered in Wheeler’s notebook. While she didn’t detect any particular scent from the nearby salt water, the landscaped grounds of the observatory did seem like a romantic place to bring a lover. Ziva had arranged a meeting with the head of the observatory, a spectacled man named Benson. “We came to talk about Telescope,” she told him. “I heard that he was arrested. Whatever for?” asked Benson, peering curiously at the two investigators through his thick glasses. “We’d rather not discuss charges until we’re sure we know everything,” said Ziva. “Now, we would like to ask about the items that have been going missing.” “Well, it’s nothing really significant to national security, if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Benson. “It’s just kind of expensive. I’ve heard that there’s a good resale market for human optical equipment in Equestria.” “It’s true,” said Twilight. “I don’t think Telescope is involved, though,” said the man. “What makes you say that?” asked Ziva. “Two things,” said Benson. “First, I knew about his relationship with Mr. Wheeler. They thought they were sneaky, and thought I can’t see what’s obvious because my glasses are as thick as the lenses in the observatory telescopes.” “Did you threaten to tell anyone?” Ziva said. “No, that’s not what I meant at all,” said Benson. “Once I told Telescope what I knew, he and Bryan both opened up to me a little. I felt that I knew them both very well, and that’s why I doubt that he was involved in stealing anything.” “What’s your other reason?” asked Twilight. “Well, once I heard he was arrested, I checked back though the electronic records and discovered a few interesting things. Every employee here has an ID card. You have to swipe it in a reader to get in the door.” Benson held up his own card to demonstrate. “Now, I found that Telescope’s card was being swiped more often than usual, and at odd hours. A few of those times occurred during a time when he went back to Equestria for a vacation. And…” he added dramatically “…the card has been used after Telescope was arrested and in custody.” “When did this begin?” asked Twilight. “Only a couple of months ago, a little while after Telescope met Bryan,” said Benson. “Do you have a security system?” asked Ziva. “Sure,” said Benson, “but every time the card was used, the camera mysteriously went blank.” “You didn’t notice this before?” asked Ziva, incredulously. Benson looked embarrassed. “Well, I never had a need to check the system until now.” “Can I see where the camera is installed?” asked Twilight. “Sure.” Benson led the two of them outside to where the card reader was overlooked by the security camera. Twilight closed her eyes and walked around in a slow circle. She seemed to be following some invisible signal. A few minutes passed before she appeared to find what she was looking for. “There was definitely magic used here,” she said. “The same spell to block the camera was used several times. I’ve got a feel for it, and I think I could probably sense the pony who cast it if I got close enough.” She and Ziva asked Benson a few follow up questions before getting back in the car. “How does magic block technology?” asked Ziva. “It’s all about creative problem solving,” replied Twilight. “You may not have a spell to do what you want, but perhaps you can use something else. For instance, I have no idea how to disrupt a camera internally, but I do know how to put a dark cloud in front of it. The end result is the same—no video.” “That makes sense,” said Ziva. “When I was with Mossad, we had a similar idea. The phrase ‘by whatever means available’ was practically our mantra.” “Fascinating,” said Twilight Chapter 6Tony glanced in the mirror at the two ponies in the back seat. Applejack’s hat blocked a significant portion of the rear window. “We’re just going to go in and ask her a few questions,” said Tony. “This ain’t our first rodeo,” responded Applejack. “Yeah,” added Rainbow. Tony hadn’t begun grinding his teeth yet, but thought he might be getting close. He pulled into Joyce’s driveway. The three of them walked up to the front door. “NCIS!” shouted Tony as he knocked. There was a crash from inside. One of Tony’s hands dropped to his gun while the other tried the doorknob. It didn’t turn. “There might be something happening in the back,” said Rainbow. She flared her wings and took off over the top of the house. Tony had stopped trying the lock. It was a solid, heavy door, and he glanced to the side, looking for a window or some other way in. “Allow me, sugarcube,” said Applejack. She turned away, planting her front hooves solidly. With a burst of power, her back legs kicked out and collided solidly with the door. The lock tore out of the frame and the door slammed open. Tony went through the doorway, gun up. Applejack was at his heels as he cleared the first few rooms. There were papers and other items scattered everywhere. It looked like the place had been searched. The two of them found Joyce Bach lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. There were slashing wounds across her torso. Tony paused to check her throat. Besides lacking a pulse, it wasn’t very warm. A door opened suddenly at the back of the house. “Federal Agents!” called Tony, moving forward with his gun leading. “Hey you!” shouted Rainbow’s voice. There were sounds of a scuffle. Tony and Applejack came upon the back door, which was standing open. Beyond it, Rainbow was wrestling with a brown earth pony. He wore an unseasonably warm coat, which was even more unusual as ponies typically did not bother with clothing at all. The stallion managed to gain a small advantage and threw the multicolored pegasus off. She wasn’t hurt, but it gave him enough time to draw a knife with his mouth. The sheath was strapped to his leg, concealed under the coat. “Drop it!” shouted Tony, staring down the sights of his weapon. The pony looked at the muzzle of the gun and reluctantly spit out the knife. Rainbow pounced on him from behind and put the stallion in a leg lock. “Looks like you’re in all kinds of trouble,” said Tony. He took out out a pair of handcuffs but stopped, frowning at them. “Gotcha covered,” said Applejack, pulling a set of hoofcuffs from under her hat. With Rainbow’s help, she got the stallion locked up. The RIS sent over a batch of files on the captured pony. A couple of the human and Equestrian investigators dug into the information. “They call him Swindle,” said McGee, glancing at a page of identification data. “Needless to say, he’s got prior convictions, but nothing so serious as murder.” Applejack listened patiently. “We combed through everything in the house, and found what he was searchin’ for. Joyce Bach wasn’t innocent in this, and we can prove it.” Rainbow nodded. “She was keeping a list of names of others that were involved, probably to hand over if she was ever arrested. We discovered that at the very least, she was involved in making a copy of Telescope’s employee ID for Cormack Observatory. It’s possible she was helping with the actual smuggling of stolen goods, too.” “What was her motive?” asked Ziva. “It’s possible she wanted to get back at her ex boyfriend by implicating his new coltfriend in this,” said Tony. “She said she didn't like ponies, but maybe she was willing to put that aside to work with the bad guys. I’m sure getting her cut of the money didn’t hurt, either.” “What other questions do we have left to answer?” asked McGee thoughtfully. “We don’t know who murdered Petty Officer Wheeler.” Ziva reminded him. “I think we can assume it was one of Swindle’s buddies,” said Tony. Gibbs walked through and slapped Tony on the back of the head. “Rule 8, DiNozzo.” Tony put a hand on his stinging scalp. “Yeah, boss. ‘Never assume.’ I got it.” Gibbs continued on his way to the interrogation room. Rainbow and Applejack looked like they were on the verge of laughter. Tony gave them a look. “It's a lot of rules to remember.” Gibbs met up with Fluttershy and they went into the room where Swindle sat hoofcuffed to the table. “It doesn’t look good,” he said to the stallion. “You were inside Joyce Bach’s house. You were carrying the weapon that killed her. You’re a known criminal. Do you want me to go on?” “I want to make a deal,” said Swindle. Gibbs nodded. “I bet you do.” “I know you’ve made a lot of mistakes,” said Fluttershy in her timid voice. “I don’t think you ever intended to become a murderer, though.” Swindle’s eyes dropped to the table and he said nothing. “Maybe that’s not how it turned out,” Fluttershy continued. “Maybe she tried to hurt you first. If you tell us what you know, a judge will be more willing to accept a lesser charge than murder. Don’t do it for that, though. Tell us everything you know, and maybe we can stop any more deaths from happening. It’s a chance for redemption. You know it’s the right thing to do.” Swindle swallowed nervously. “Can you promise me that? That I won’t go down for murder?” Gibbs shifted slightly. He clearly didn’t see any need to make a promise to a convicted criminal. “I promise to do whatever I can,” said Fluttershy. Swindle nodded. “All right. Ask me whatever.” “How did Bryan Wheeler die?” said Gibbs. The pony looked confused. “Who?” “Telescope’s friend,” said Fluttershy. “I didn’t know he was dead,” said Swindle. Gibbs sighed and glanced at the one-way glass. He didn’t know who was there listening in, but hopefully they would begin working on new suspects right away. Fluttershy convinced the stallion to talk through all the names on the list that had been found at Joyce’s place. It was quite a bit of information, and most of it sounded useful. Still, Gibbs began to get restless. Despite his prowess at interrogation, he would much prefer acting on the information, rather than simply receiving it. Ziva’s voice on the intercom was an almost welcome interruption. Gibbs got up and walked out of the room. “We think we know who killed Wheeler,” the female Agent told him. McGee was with her, and nodded his agreement. The two of them laid out their evidence and Gibbs had to agree that it was pretty convincing. “Get to it,” he told them. McGee, Ziva, and Tony borrowed a car and set off. “Now that we’ve got some time to talk,” said McGee, “What’s your problem with the RIS? Did a pony steal your lunch money or something?” Tony glanced at the two of them. He was backed into a corner and he knew it. He sighed. “Do you remember Claire?” “One of your exes, correct?” said Ziva. Tony nodded. “About a year ago, that CGI pony movie came out.” “Wasn’t it called Daring Do or something?” asked McGee. “I think it was a kiddie adventure movie.” “Yeah,” said Tony. “Wasn’t it also about a year ago that you broke up with Claire?” asked Ziva. “Was that somehow connected to the movie? Did she insist on going and you didn’t like it?” Tony did not reply. “Or did you like it and she didn’t?” asked McGee. Tony gritted his teeth, and still refused to speak. McGee and Ziva looked at each other and started to laugh. “You broke up over an animated movie about ponies?” asked McGee. “We all have to carry grudges about something,” Tony muttered. He glanced up at a highway sign. “Oh look, we’re here already.” The car turned into the parking lot of the Pentagon. Naismeth was surprised to see the three NCIS Agents. He looked like he was in distress. “I don’t know what you have to say, but it can wait,” he told them, “I just got word that my daughter was found dead.” “We’re here about Bryan Wheeler’s death,” said Tony. Naismeth’s eyes darted between the three of them. “What does that have to do with this?” “We’ll get to that,” said McGee. “As Wheeler’s commanding officer, you had access to his medical records. You knew he kept sleeping pills around. Maybe it wasn’t very hard to swipe some and lace his coffee with them. We know that Wheeler was known for always having a cup around the office.” “As for motive,” said Ziva, “When Wheeler broke up with your daughter, she joined up with some illegal activity in an attempt to get revenge. Even if you didn't know that, you surely knew she wasn't taking it well and probably wanted to get back at him.” Naismeth’s mouth hung open. “I was just trying to reconnect with her. She blamed me for the divorce, and I hoped to get back on her good side.” “By killing her ex?” said Tony. “Well, that kind of backfired. Once we started digging around with our investigation, whoever was running the criminal enterprise realized that Joyce was a liability. They killed her and tried to recover any clues she had that might lead us to them.” Tony punctuated his statement by pulling out a set of handcuffs. "You're coming with us." No other ponies had yet been arrested in connection with the thefts from the Observatory, but Twilight expressed her confidence that other members of the RIS would soon begin tracking them down. It was now soely Equestria's problem. NCIS's official involvement had stopped once Wheeler's killer had been found. "It was nice working with you, Tim," said Twilight. "It's good that we can all find some common ground." "The media fallout from this is going to be a disaster," said McGee. Twilight shrugged. "We need to look past the idea of 'a pony killed a person'. We're all civilized beings and should be treated the same. Species shouldn't matter." "So you support what Wheeler and Telescope were doing?" asked Tony, breaking in. Ziva elbowed him in the ribs. "I don't agree with it," said Twilight, "but my previous statement stands. It was their right." Gibbs walked in. "I just talked with the Director. We've been authorized to continue unofficial consultation on the case." He gave Twilight a rare smile. "It was good working with the RIS. If you need any help, let us know." "That's very nice of you," said Twilight. "If you ever visit Equestria, stop by and say hello." She and the other five ponies headed for the elevator. Author note: I looked around and said, "How come there aren't any NCIS crossovers?" So I wrote one. I hoped you had a good time reading it, and I'd like to thank a few people who helped polish it: Melancholy - Gyvon - BronyRanger - Altoid And yeah, a sequel is possible. Chapter 1The two college students made their way along the dark streets of Washington D.C. It was a quiet night. Even in the heart of the country’s political system, the city settled down in the early morning. It had been a long night for the two of them. They smelled of cigarette smoke, sweat, and alcohol. They were both too intoxicated to care. The woman stumbled at the mouth of an alley. Her boyfriend caught her arm to steady her. She smiled mischievously and used his grip to pull herself closer to him. “I bet you did that on purpose,” he said, smiling. “Maybe.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and spun her around. “Let’s see how you like this!” She laughed and twirled, nearly losing her balance again. The two of them stumbled a few more steps into the alley, arms tight around one another. They came to rest in a relatively stable position, standing close and kissing slowly. “We really should be getting back,” murmured the woman as she came up for air. “Yeah…” The man stiffened suddenly, raising his head to look at something over her shoulder. “What is it?” she turned her head. The two of them stared at the sprawled figure of a person lying near the alley wall. The man separated from the grip of his girlfriend cautiously and fished in his pocket for a cell phone. He turned it on and used the screen as a source of light to get a better look at the huddled form. It was a man lying on the ground. He was unmoving, and covered in blood. Author note: I've attempted to set up each chapter to coincide with each "act" in the show NCIS. After this short first chapter, the opening credits would roll. Please enjoy.
Chapter 2A dark blue sedan pulled up to the curb. It stopped behind a medical examiner’s van that was already parked there. Four people got out of the car. They all wore dark caps and windbreakers. A young Washington police officer stood behind the crime scene tape. He stood up straighter as the newcomers approached. “ID,” the cop ordered. The grey-haired man leading the other three stopped and dug in his pocket with his free hand. He held a disposable coffee cup with the other. “Hey, don’t you know who this is?” asked an older police officer, walking over. The more experienced cop turned to the man closest to the outside of the tape. “Sorry Gibbs,” he said. “Joey here hasn’t been around very long.” To his younger partner, the officer said, “This here is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. You work in the District very long, and you’ll get to know him and his team.” Despite the introduction, Gibbs handed his credentials over to the younger officer. The picture on the identification card displayed the same blue eyes and center-parted grey hair. The expression was also the same, a neutral frown. Following his lead, the other three NCIS agents handed their identification to the young cop. He shuffled through them, comparing names and faces. Anthony DiNozzo was a tall man who appeared to have spent significant time grooming his dark hair. Timothy McGee had rounded features and a receding hairline, partially hidden by his close haircut. Ziva David possessed dark eyes and a sharp widow’s peak in her black hair. The team of four agents were let past the police tape. The NCIS medical examiner was already on the scene, kneeling over the body of a man that lay nearby. Gibbs walked over and stopped near the corpse’s feet. “What’s the story, Duck?” Dr. Donald Mallard looked up from his survey of the body. “This is Petty Officer Third class Bryan Wheeler,” he said in clipped British tones. “The poor fellow appears to have been beaten to death, but we’ll have to get him back to the lab to know for sure.” Gibbs nodded, taking a sip of coffee. He glanced at the body. The torso was covered with lesions and cuts, some that tore the clothing and skin. Many of the wounds had an unusual semicircular shape. McGee typed furiously on his smartphone. After a moment, he appeared to find what he was searching for and looked at Gibbs. “Boss, I looked up Petty Officer Wheeler’s address. He doesn’t live anywhere around here.” “Combined with the lack of blood at the scene, we can conclude that he was probably dumped in this place,” added Ziva. “What do you think, Tony?” “Probably,” agreed DiNozzo. He walked over to the body and examined the strange wounds, taking a few pictures. “Ducky, what do you suspect caused all this?” asked Tony. “If I had to guess,” replied Dr. Mallard, “I would say hooves.” “He looks a little too clean to have been trampled,” said Tony, chuckling. “D.C. isn’t exactly the wild west.” He looked around. No one was laughing with him. “I believe Ducky meant that a pony is responsible,” said Ziva. “I was getting to that,” muttered Tony. “Somebody get a hold of the Equestrians,” ordered Gibbs. “They’re going to want to know about this.” McGee nodded and stepped a few paces away, raising his phone to his ear. Ducky called, “Mr. Palmer, are you ready to move the body?” “Sure, Dr. Mallard.” A young man with round spectacles came over from the NCIS medical van pushing a gurney with a body bag on it. He helped Ducky prepare Petty Officer Wheeler’s corpse for transport. Tony and Ziva continued to canvass the scene. There was not much evidence to be found, supporting the dumping theory. McGee got off the phone and walked over to where Gibbs was standing. “Boss, I just talked with the D.C. office of the Royal Intelligence Service. They’ll send someone to meet with us. I mean, somepony.” Gibbs nodded and took another sip of coffee as he watched Ducky and Palmer wheel the body away. “I know you’re not a fan of interagency cooperation,” McGee went on. “What was that I heard?” called Tony. “Who are we working with?” “It’s the RIS,” said McGee. DiNozzo frowned and turned away “At least it’s not the FBI again,” McGee said, shrugging. Equestria was discovered on the other side of the portals. The political situation was tense for a while, but gradually the human race and ponykind came to live together in harmony. Once embassies were set up across the dimensional divide, relations for the future looked bright. McGee scrutinized the paragraph he’d just typed. Under the penname Thom E. Gemcity, he’d written a few novels that had received minor fame. His stories were based on reality and centered around NCIS. It was easier to write about what he knew well. The prospect of working with the Royal Intelligence Service had inspired him to write through his lunch break to create a rough plot outline for a new book. He wasn’t sure, however, if he should include the information about the portals. They had opened years ago, and it was now common knowledge where the ponies had come from. The elevator dinged and Gibbs stepped off, heading for his desk. He and the three agents under him had a rectangular workspace with their desks arranged in the corners. The others stood as Gibbs walked in. “Boss, we checked Petty Officer Wheeler’s financial records,” said Tony. “Nothing out of the ordinary, no suspicious bank account activity.” “We are working on gaining access to his apartment,” added Ziva. “Checking over his e-mails didn’t yield much,” noted McGee. “So we don’t have any leads is what you’re saying?” asked Gibbs, looking impatiently at the three. Before any of them could reply, the elevator dinged again. Six Equestrians piled out. They were not as large as ponies from Earth, but with bodies oriented horizontally rather than vertically, getting half a dozen of them in the elevator was a tight squeeze. “I thought you said they were sending just one,” hissed Tony. “That’s what I was told,” replied McGee. Gibbs stepped forward and met the ponies as they entered the team’s workspace. “Special Agent Gibbs,” he introduced himself. The purple unicorn in the lead smiled and said, “I’m Twilight Sparkle. We came to assist with your investigation.” Gibbs glanced at the other five ponies. “There’s a few more of you than we were expecting.” “Sorry about that,” said Twilight. Her voice dropped in volume. “If this does turn out to be a case of pony-on-human violence, we believe it would be best to keep it as quiet as possible. The best way to prevent the media getting a hold of it is to solve the case a quickly as possible. My colleges can help.” Gibbs nodded in understanding, although he still didn't appear to be pleased with another agency butting in. “All right, get acquainted with my team and we’ll compare notes.” He walked back to his desk. Tony stood up. “We made an appointment to speak with Wheeler’s coworkers.” Gibbs nodded from his seat. “Get to it.” Tony gestured to Ziva and she stood up to accompany him. “Fluttershy, Rainbow, go with them,” said Twilight. “If that’s all right?” she asked Gibbs, who shrugged and turned to his computer. Tony’s face indicated that it wasn’t all right with him, but said nothing as the two ponies followed him and Ziva down to the parking lot. The motor pool attendant made Tony sign for a set of keys, and the four of them got into one of the blue NCIS sedans. “We have not been introduced,” said Ziva, conversationally. She sat in the back seat with the yellow pony. “My name is Ziva David.” “I’m Fluttershy,” said the pegasus pony. She seemed to hide slightly behind the pink mane that fell into her face. Her wings were tucked tightly against her body as if they didn’t get much use. Either that, or she was feeling apprehensive. Ziva suspected that she probably hadn’t ridden in a car very often. “How did you come to work for the RIS, Fluttershy?” the woman asked. “Oh, I’m actually just a consultant for victim’s affairs,” answered the pony. “The Service sometimes brings me in to advise on how the emotional and physical traumas should be handled. I learned how to do that by taking care of animals back home.” “What sort of animals?” asked Ziva. Fluttershy started slightly as Tony put the car in gear and it began to move. She said, “There are lots of different animals. Everything from mice to bears.” “Are bears difficult to take care of?” Ziva asked, slightly surprised. “Oh no, you just have to know the right technique.” The yellow pony smiled sweetly. “What about you?” said Ziva to the other pony. “I’m Rainbow Dash,” answered the Equestrian. With her bright blue coat and multicolored mane, the name was certainly fitting. The pony went on, grinning confidently. “I joined up with the RIS to catch bad guys. I’m the fastest pegasus in Equestria, so I’m pretty good at it.” Tony made a small noise that was either a quiet laugh or a groan of annoyance. Ziva poked in him in the shoulder. “Introduce yourself.” “Special Agent DiNozzo,” he said, and nothing more. Ziva leaned back, crossing her arms. It sounded like it was going to be a long ride to the crime scene. “Tell me more about the bears,” she said to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was still talking several minutes later when the car pulled up outside the Pentagon. The dead Petty Officer had worked there. A few interviews had been lined up with Wheeler’s fellow sailors. “Have you got your list?” Tony asked Ziva once they were inside the building. She held up a piece of paper with the names of a few people she was scheduled to interview. “All right,” said Tony, “see you later.” He turned to walk away. “Fluttershy, why don’t you go with him?” suggested Ziva. A muscle in Tony’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing. Ziva and Rainbow Dash went in a different direction. “What’s the plan?” asked the pony. “Are we going to do good-cop-bad-cop?” “Where did you hear that expression?” the human asked in wonder. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I read a lot of action novels, okay?” The two of them approached an open door marked CAPT Naismeth. Ziva knocked on the doorframe, and the man sitting behind the desk looked up. “NCIS,” said Ziva. “I was expecting you,” said Naismeth, “but what’s with the pony?” “We’re asking the questions,” said Rainbow. “It is a joint operation with the Royal Intelligence Service,” Ziva told him. Naismeth appeared to accept that and invited the two of them in. “We would like to ask you a few questions about Petty Officer Bryan Wheeler,” Ziva began. “You’ve been informed of his death, correct?” “Yes, I have,” confirmed Naismeth. “He was in my command.” “What were his duties? Who did he socialize with?” asked Ziva. “I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but he was basically a glorified copy boy.” Naismeth shrugged. He rubbed his left ring finger absently, as if searching for a wedding band that was not there. “As for the other thing,” Naismeth said, “he didn’t hang out with anyone from work. He didn’t really talk much.” “What was his access to classified material?” Ziva went on. “He didn’t have any,” answered the man. “Couldn’t he have sneaked a look at some stuff?” asked Rainbow. “We like to think we have better security than that,” said Naismeth. “What was Wheeler like?” asked Ziva. Naismeth shrugged. “I never really talked to him. I don’t know.” “Some commanding officer you are,” said Rainbow. “Aren’t you supposed to know about your people so you can take care of them better?” Ziva agreed with the comment, but was glad the pony had said it instead of her. Naismeth looked uncomfortable, but there were no more relevant questions to ask him, so the two investigators left. Meanwhile, Tony and Fluttershy sat in a small waiting area with Petty Officer Cary, a more direct coworker of the victim. “All right,” said Tony, “describe in your own words what you thought about Wheeler.” “He was kind of weird,” answered Cary. “That’s it?” demanded Tony. “You’ve got to give us more than that.” “What am I supposed to tell you?” asked Cary, throwing up his hands in frustration. “Haven’t you ever worked with somebody who was completely unnatural?” “Sure,” said Tony, resisting the urge to glance at the yellow pegasus beside him. “Could you describe exactly how Petty Officer Wheeler was different?” “Please?” added Fluttershy quietly. “Anything you could tell us would be a big help.” Cary sighed. “Well, he didn’t talk much, drank a lot of coffee, and was always writing in this little blue notebook.” The man cleared his throat and looked away. “I think he was also into animals.” Tony made a face of disgust. “Is that it?” he asked, impatiently. “Pretty much,” answered Cary. “I knew he had a girlfriend at some point, but a couple of months ago I got the feeling that they broke up.” “What was her name?” said the NCIS Agent. “Um, Joyce, I think.” Cary shrugged. “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” said Tony, his voice flat. He and the pony got up. Back in the parking lot, the four investigators compared notes. “It looks as if Wheeler kept to himself,” noted Ziva. "We searched through his desk and did not find much. He apparently had some sleeping pills for insomnia." “I think we should find his notebook,” said Fluttershy. “It could help us know more about him.” “I bet he was hiding something,” said Rainbow, confidently. “The only question is what.” “Well, it looks like we really need to get someone over to Wheeler’s place,” noted Tony. “Hopefully McGee got the authorization set up.” The four of them got back in the car.
Chapter 3“Agent McGee, do you do this very often?” asked Twilight. “Searching victims’ homes?” said the NCIS agent. “Yeah, it’s standard procedure. Also, you can call me Tim.” “So if you’ve done this before,” asked the pony, “what do you do when the door is locked?” Twilight indicated the deadbolt that secured Petty Officer Wheeler’s apartment. “We visit the apartment office and borrow a key,” answered McGee. “I could…take care of it,” said Twilight, hesitantly. McGee thought for a moment. “Well, we do have authorization to enter.” He nodded to the pony to “take care of it”, eager to see unicorn magic at work. Twilight did not disappoint. Instead of brute-forcing the lock, she bent her head close, the tip of her horn nearly touching the key slot. WIth the lock surrounded by the purple glow of her magic, she delicately worked the pins into the correct combination and slid the bolt back. “That was really impressive,” said McGee. He felt like he should applaud or something. “It’s just a trick I picked up somewhere,” said Twilight modestly. The two of them entered the apartment. The lights were off and the blinds were drawn. While it was doubtful that there was anyone there, it never paid to assume. Twilight noticed McGee’s hand never strayed too far from the gun on his hip. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would shoot someone, but then she didn’t seem like the kind of pony who would join the Royal Intelligence Service. After a slow tour through the apartment turned up no unwanted guests, the pair of them returned to the main room. “You take that side and I’ll take this side?” McGee suggested. “Fine by me,” Twilight replied. Both man and pony were professionals, and no object in the apartment escaped scrutiny. After two hours, they met back up to discuss what had been found. “I’ll be taking Wheeler’s computer back,” said McGee. “Also, the guy had a massive obsession with Darbeck’s Coffee. There were dozens of disposable cups in the trash can and a heavily used portable mug on the kitchen counter.” “I didn’t find anything to indicate that he might have been killed here,” said Twilight. “There wasn’t really anything notable I saw, except for one thing.” She showed McGee a small blue notebook that appeared to have poetry written in it. “This was under his pillow,” she said. “It must have been important to him, then,” observed McGee. “What’s it say?” “Well, I didn’t think it was very good poetry,” said Twilight. “Still, it looks to me like he wrote it with a lover in mind. Listen to this.” The scent of the sea, I hope reminds you of me, When I come home from afar. If right there you be, that’s all right with me, When I arrive, that’s right where you are. “Well, at least it rhymes,” said McGee. Twilight laughed. “I guess so.” A little more seriously, she noted, “We should probably try to find out who he was writing to. It might be important.” McGee nodded. “While we’re here, we might as well go to Darbeck’s. If Wheeler was such a frequent customer, maybe they know something.” He pulled out his phone and within seconds found what he was looking for. “There’s a location nearby,” he told Twilight, showing her a miniature map on the screen of the phone. “That’s really impressive,” she said. “It’s just a trick I picked up somewhere,” said McGee. A couple of minutes later, the two of them got out of the car near the local Darbeck’s Coffee shop. One of the baristas and about half the customers were ponies. McGee wondered at that. For some reason, certain locations just caused Equestrians to congregate. That might be worth looking into for his next book. He followed Twilight up to the counter, pulling out a picture of Wheeler. “Pardon me, has either of you seen this man?” Twilight asked the two workers. McGee held the picture up. “Yeah, I’ve seen him before,” said the woman. She looked at the pegasus beside her. “He comes in here at least once a day, right Skim?” The stallion nodded. “Double latte, half-caf. Bryan’s as regular as a clock.” He frowned. “Wait, he didn’t come in today. Did something happen?” “He was murdered,” said McGee. The two baristas looked shocked. “That’s terrible,” said the woman. “Did he ever come here with someone?” asked Twilight. “Somepony,” said Skim. “The two of them were in here together every couple of days.” “What can you tell us about this pony?” said McGee. Skim thought for a moment. “It was a unicorn stallion. Medium blue coat, grey mane and tail. His cutie mark was a couple of stars. He said his name was Telescope.” Other than the physical description, neither of the two coffee shop employees knew much about the pony. McGee and Twilight thanked them for their time and drove back to the NCIS field office. The D.C. office of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was located inside Washington Navy Yard. The two of them had to show their identification several times at various checkpoints just to get back inside the office. When they arrived, the workspace for Gibbs’ team was deserted. “Why don’t we check with Ducky to see if he’s turned up anything with the body?” suggested McGee. Down in the medical area, they found Dr. Mallard and a white unicorn with a styled indigo mane examining Wheeler’s corpse. “Hello Timothy,” called Ducky. “With the help of Ms. Rarity here, I’ve managed to uncover a few surprising details concerning the Petty Officer’s death.” “It wasn’t easy,” said the pony, stepping back from the examination table. Her horn glowed, and the scrubs she wore floated off her body and hung themselves on a rack near the wall. “Miss, you have a very discerning eye,” Ducky complimented her. He lowered his voice. “I also praise you on giving Mr. Palmer some fashion advice. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” “The poor man knows nothing about style,” said Rarity. “Where is Palmer?” asked McGee, looking around. “He took a long lunch to go shopping for some fashionable things,” chuckled Dr. Mallard. “He says he wants to impress his fiancé.” “Getting back to the body,” said Twilight. “What did you learn?” “The hoof prints were most likely post-mortem,” said Ducky. “It’s like they were made in an attempt to cover up something.” “None of the wounds were inflicted to the face or other sensitive areas,” noted Rarity. “That could indicate that the pony knew Wheeler well, and was very sorry to be doing that to him.” “We’ll have to perform a few more tests to cover everything,” said Ducky. He gestured to a few samples taken from the body. “Would you mind running these over to Abby?” “We can do that,” said McGee. Throughout the entire conversation, he had never come closer than five feet to the body. He gingerly picked up the plastic bag from the tray beside the examination table and retreated. “I don’t understand how Ducky does it,” said McGee as they left the room. “All those dead bodies day after day.” “I know Rarity just avoids thinking about it by throwing herself into the task,” said Twilight. “I think it takes her mind off it if she’s working as hard as she can to get results. She’s a little obsessive about her work.” The two of them went over to the lab where Abby Sciuto worked. When McGee opened the door, loud music washed out of the room. Inside, the forensic scientist appeared to be dancing with a pink pony. “Oh, hey McGee, hey Ms. Sparkle,” said Abby, grinning. Her lipstick was black, as was her clothing, save for a white lab coat. She gestured to her Equestrian guest. “Pinkie and I were just having a little party.” “A totally awesometastic party,” agreed the pony. She and Abby toasted each other with large-size cups of Caf-Pow energy drink. McGee glanced at the balloons floating around the ceiling, wondering where they had come from. “That’s nice.” He handed Abby the bag of samples. “These are from Petty Officer Wheeler.” Abby nodded, taking the drinking straw from her mouth. “I’ll get right on them. Hey Pinkie, do you want to see the Mass-Spec machine in action?” “Do I!” exclaimed the pony. McGee and Twilight left. “Do you ever wonder if you’re the only normal one in the office?” he asked. “Always,” she replied. The two of them ventured upstairs. Ziva stood outside the door to the observation area for the interrogation room. “We brought in Petty Officer Wheeler’s last-known girlfriend,” she said. “Gibbs has her in there right now.” McGee and Twilight entered the darkened room. Tony was already there, standing among three ponies. He did not seem terribly pleased by their company. “What have we learned?” asked McGee, glancing through the one-way glass where Gibbs sat with a woman. “Her name is Joyce Bach,” answered Tony. “Up until a few months ago, she was dating Wheeler. Sounded like a nasty breakup to me.” “What do you think, Applejack?” Twilight asked an orange pony whose straight blonde mane was covered by a cowboy hat. The other pony pushed back her hat, looking thoughtful. “Well, Ah reckon Joyce ain’t tellin’ the whole truth,” she said in an accented drawl. “Ah wouldn’t mind askin’ her some questions.” “I’ll trust your instincts,” said Twilight. “You wouldn't be our lead interrogator if you didn't know something about honesty." On the other side of the glass, Gibbs got up from the table and left the room. “My turn,” said Applejack. She ambled out into the hallway. “Four legged redneck,” muttered DiNozzo after she had gone. McGee was the only one who heard him, and gave Tony a reproachful look. Gibbs walked into the observation room. “Joyce definitely isn’t telling everything she knows,” he said, nearly echoing Applejack’s statement. The pony walked into the interrogation room and pushed the door shut. The woman appeared to grow slightly anxious at the sight of her. “Special Agent Gibbs told you this is a joint investigation ‘tween NCIS and the Royal Intelligence Service,” said Applejack, her voice feeding through the intercom to the other room. “Ah hope you’ll answer a few of my questions.” “All right…” said Joyce slowly. “How’d you get to know Petty Officer Wheeler?” asked the pony. “My father and uncle are both in the Navy,” explained Joyce. “I’ve been around the military a lot, and we just kind of met.” Applejack nodded. “Why did y’all break up?” “Bryan found someone new.” Joyce sounded more than a little bitter. The pony approached the table, intent on asking another question. The woman recoiled slightly at her approach. “Something wrong?” asked Applejack. “I don’t like ponies,” answered Joyce. Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Why’s that, exactly?” “Bryan left me for a unicorn.” Behind the glass, there was a stunned silence. Tony was the first to recover. “Well, that’s a step further than don’t-ask-don’t-tell,” he said.
Chapter 4“We need to find this pony,” said Gibbs. Joyce Bach had left, and the small crowd of NCIS and RIS investigators were gathered in the office workspace. “On it, boss,” answered McGee. “We’ve already got a name and description.” He pulled up the Federal passport records and ran a search for “Telescope”. His fingers flew over the keys. Almost immediately, a hit for a blue unicorn came up. McGee transferred the information to a large flatscreen mounted on the wall. The gathered crowd moved closer, looking at the screen. “This is probably who we’re looking for.” McGee read through the information listed. “He’s been living in the D.C. area for about a year now. He works at Cormack Observatory on the coast.” “Tony, Ziva, bring him in,” said Gibbs. The two NCIS Agents gathered their things and left. Gibbs departed to get a fresh cup of coffee. McGee was left with the four ponies. “I know I’ve heard of Cormack Observatory before,” said Twilight. She shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll come to me.” “Each piece of testimony we’ve heard so far indicates that Bryan Wheeler and Telescope were on good terms,” observed Fluttershy quietly. “Why would that lead to murder?” wondered Rainbow. “With that many wounds on his body, it couldn’t have been accidental,” said Applejack. “I’ve just started digging into Wheeler’s computer,” said McGee. “I, uh, think the two of them were more than just friends.” Unfortunately, it looked like Tony’s off-color comment back in the interrogation room had been accurate. McGee put up a listing of Wheeler’s search history on the flatscreen. “What in tarnation?” burst out Applejack. “Oh my,” said Fluttershy, her eyes wide. “That’s…not technically illegal, but eww,” said Twilight. “There’s something else interesting here,” said McGee, scrolling down on the list. “Look at this, ‘human-to-pony transformation spells’.” “No such thing exists,” said Twilight. “I mean, there are ways to simulate it for a few hours.” She thought for a moment. “Combine that with the other things—” “And we’ve got a real sick puppy on our hands,” said Rainbow. “Hands?” asked McGee. The multicolored pegasus rolled her eyes. “I read a lot of action novels, okay?” “Mr. Palmer, carefully, please!” said Rarity. “We’re trying to stitch him up, not cause more damage!” “Sorry,” said the medical assistant. “If you'd like, you can call me Jimmy.” “Very well then, Jimmy, just take it slowly.” The unicorn stepped back from the table. She had offered to use her extensive sewing experience to make the body more presentable. The Y-shaped cut on the torso had been made for examination purposes, and required stitching to prepare Wheeler for his funeral. Dr. Mallard, however, had suggested that his assistant could use the practice. Ducky stood back watching Palmer work. The doctor had taken off his scrubs for the day, and Rarity admired his smart attire, complete with bow tie. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” said Ducky. “How did you get into the field of medical forensics?” “Well, as strange as it sounds, I found that it was easier to clean out just one kind of stain, blood, than it was to remove the soil, mud, and grime of field work.” The unicorn shrugged. “I’ve been doing autopsies ever since. What about you?” “I used to practice on live patients,” Ducky told her. “This is much easier. They don’t complain.” The two of them shared a quiet laugh. The sliding door opened and Gibbs walked in. “Did Abby send over the results of the tests?” he asked. Ducky nodded. “Indeed she did. Rather confusing, I might add.” “Do you think you could compose a psychological profile of both Wheeler and Telescope?” asked Gibbs. “I’m trained for it,” said the doctor. “You probably want to know how likely Wheeler was to commit suicide, or how likely Telescope was to commit murder.” Gibbs nodded. “Something isn’t right. We’re about to bring the pony in for questioning to see if we can get things straightened out.” “I’ll begin work immediately,” said Ducky. Gibbs nodded and left the room. “Well, duty calls,” said Dr. Mallard. Rarity nodded and watched him walk away to his office. “Oh Jimmy?” she said. “Just a little tighter on the stitches.” Coffee cup in hand, Gibbs walked into the lab. “What have you got for me, Abbs?” “What was that?” asked Abby, shouting over the music. “He said, ‘what have you got for me, Abbs?’,” Pinkie told her. “I guess that’s his nickname for you, huh? It makes sense, Abby, Abbs.” Abby turned down the music and addressed Gibbs, who seemed unfazed by the minature party the pink pony had thrown. “Ducky found some very unusual things. The first is a sample of green hair.” Abby held up a small plastic bag with the aforementioned sample in it. “So?” asked Gibbs. “It’s pony hair,” said Pinkie. “There’s a small DNA database for ponies, and we tried searching for a match but got nothing. It’s too bad.” She shrugged. “Back at my old job, everything was much simpler. All the science and chemistry I had to do was baking-related.” “Next,” said Abby, “we have a blood sample from Wheeler.” She handed Gibbs a piece of paper with the sample analysis printed on it. He glanced at it and then back to her, clearly waiting for more explanation. “The good part is we know what killed him,” said Abby. “Sleeping pills, and a lot of ‘em. The bad part is that Wheeler had insomnia and was prescribed these pills by a doctor. He had them on hand, is what I’m saying. This could have been a suicide by overdose.” “Then why was he covered in hoof prints?” asked Gibbs. “It’s a mystery!” exclaimed Pinkie. Abby nodded in agreement. Gibbs turned to go. “Keep up the good work,” McGee continued digging into Wheeler’s computer. The ponies sat around, waiting on the human Agents to show up with Telescope. Rainbow sat near McGee. “So, what kind of action novels do you read?” he asked. “Pretty much anything, really,” the pegasus responded. “I picked up a book recently that’s actually about NCIS. Have you ever heard of Thom Gemcity?” “Uh, yeah,” said McGee. Before he was forced to elaborate, the two Agents walked into the workspace, having returned from bringing in the pony. “Telescope’s cooling off in the interrogation room,” said Tony, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. Leaving a suspect alone in the quiet room for a while was standard procedure before beginning an interrogation. The technique had been refined to a science at NCIS. “Why don’t we go get set up?” suggested Twilight. She and the other ponies departed for the observation room with its one-way glass. “Telescope was not hard to find,” said Ziva, sitting down at her desk. “He did not resist, and in fact seemed to know exactly why we wanted to bring him in.” “Dirtbag,” muttered Tony. “What is it with you and ponies?” asked McGee. “I don’t want to talk about it, all right?” said Tony. “Can we discuss something not work-related for a while?” “You’re at work, DiNozzo,” said Gibbs, walking in. Tony straightened up in his chair. “Right boss. We’ve got Telescope here and ready to go.” Gibbs nodded, and motioned for Tony and Ziva to follow him. The three of them headed for the interrogation room. McGee returned to browsing through Wheeler’s computer. Besides the suspicious search history, he hadn’t managed to uncover anything useful so far. There was still a lot to pick through, however. He opened a photo archive and reviewed a list of file names. One in particular stuck out, and McGee clicked on it. The file opened, displaying a picture of a woman. McGee glanced at the file name again and compared it to his mental log of evidence that had been gathered so far. It looked like he’d discovered a coincidence. Years of working with Gibbs, however, had taught him there was no such thing. He made a note about the file and went on. Another picture piqued his interest, and McGee opened it. His face twisted with distaste at the image. He quickly clicked on the next picture. It was nearly the same shot except for a slight difference… As he examined a third picture, McGee realized he was looking at a series of images. He continued clicking, his eyes going wider and wider with each new photo. This was serious. He grabbed the telephone.
Chapter 5Gibbs stared impassively at the blue unicorn across the table from him. Based on the information that had been gathered, it seemed likely that NCIS could convict him for something, but exactly what remained to be seen. “How did you know Petty Officer Wheeler?” asked Gibbs. Telescope shifted nervously. “We were very good friends.” “How did you learn that he was dead?” Gibbs dropped a pair of reading glasses on his nose and began going through a manila folder on the table. It contained Ducky’s psychoanalysis of Wheeler, with notes from Rarity on Telescope. There were also a few photos. “Uh, Agents DiNozzo and David told me,” said the pony. “When was the last time you saw Wheeler?” Gibbs’ voice sounded bored. “Did he look like this?” The picture Gibbs laid in front of the pony had been taken of the Petty Officer’s post-autopsy body. Telescope looked away and said nothing. Behind the glass, Tony said, “Sure looks guilty to me.” There was a general murmur of agreement, interrupted by the telephone ringing. Ziva answered it. “Wait, slow down Abby.” The Agent listened for a moment, her face slowly changing to a look of disbelief. Ziva glanced at the rest of the observers in the room. She spoke into the telephone. “Gibbs won’t like it, but I agree that he should know. Thank you Abby.” McGee burst into the room at that moment, carrying a laptop computer. “Was that Abby on the phone?” he asked. Ziva nodded. “She said she got a DNA match to Petty Officer Wheeler, but—” “You’re not going to believe this,” said McGee, putting the computer down so all could see. “I found these pictures on Wheeler’s computer.” The first photo showed the man naked. McGee had thoughtfully blurred out the sensitive areas. He clicked through the set of photos one by one. The last picture in the series showed a green-coated pony where Wheeler had stood. He was smiling and had his hoof around Telescope’s neck. “How do we know this is real?” stammered Tony. “When Abby ran the green hair we found through the pony database, we didn’t get a match,” explained McGee. “But we reran it and did get results from the Navy database. It belonged to Wheeler.” “How do you get turned into a pony and keep the same genetics?” Tony demanded. “Magic,” said Twilight. “The sad part is, that explanation probably makes more sense than anything else in this case,” noted McGee. He walked over to the control panel for the interrogation room. Gibbs had a list of rules that he expected his Agents to live by. Number 22 was: Never, ever bother Gibbs in interrogation. Rules were meant to be broken, and this was important. McGee pushed the intercom button. “Boss? We’ve got something here that you should know about.” Gibbs looked up at the one-way glass in annoyance. He got up and walked out the door. “This had better be good,” he said, entering the observation room. McGee showed him the series of pictures. Twilight helped explain about the spell Telescope had apparently performed. “It takes a lot of concentration and willingness from the participants,” she said. “It’s not something you could do to a random person on the street.” Gibbs nodded. His usually calm demeanor had slipped a little during the slide show, but it reappeared as quickly as it had gone. "I'll go have a chat with him about it," said Gibbs. The expression on his face deepened slightly. The NCIS Agents knew that look well. Telescope was about to get broken. As Gibbs exited the room, Tony said, “Place your bets.” “Forty-five seconds,” said McGee. “Thirty,” responded Ziva. Gibbs walked into the interrogation room and sat down. “We found a set of photos on Wheeler’s computer. You turned him into a pony.” Telescope’s eyes went wide. “He…wanted me to.” Gibbs stared at the unicorn. “And then what happened? He just died, didn’t he?” The stallion nodded reluctantly. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to kill him. A couple minutes after the transformation, he said he felt sleepy and then…he just didn’t wake up.” “Did you try to cover it up?” asked Gibbs. “I—I didn’t want to. I didn’t want it to look like magic killed him. An hour or two later after he turned back, I left him in another part of the city, and hoped it would look like some other pony did it.” Telescope looked like he was holding back tears. Gibbs nodded. “It’s all right, you didn’t kill him.” The pony looked up. “What?” “Wheeler died from an overdose of sleeping pills,” explained Gibbs. “You’re not guilty of murder.” Telescope breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re still going to jail,” said Gibbs. “Covering up evidence is a crime.” He got up and left the room. “Thirty-seven seconds to confession,” said Tony. “Not quite a new record, but still impressive." The ponies stayed in the interrogation area. After Gibbs had gotten most of the answers, Applejack had gone in to ask a few follow up questions. Telescope may not be a murderer, but there was still plenty of paperwork for the RIS representatives to file. In addition, Fluttershy was giving him emotional counseling. She had training in how to deal both victims and perpetrators of crime. Back in the NCIS workspace, McGee was displaying the other, slightly less important thing he had discovered on Wheeler’s computer. “I found this picture,” he said, gesturing to the flatscreen. “It’s Joyce Bach,” said Ziva. “But look at the file name,” said McGee. “It says ‘Joyce Naismeth’.” “Isn’t that the same as Wheeler’s commanding officer?” asked Tony. McGee nodded. “I checked. She’s his daughter. Naismeth and his wife are divorced. A couple of months ago, Joyce changed her name to Bach, after her mother.” “Is that related to her breakup with Wheeler?” asked Ziva. Just then, Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight came back. “I’ll go over to Joyce’s place and have a talk with her,” said Tony quickly. He got up from his desk. “Rainbow, Applejack, why don’t you go with him?” suggested Twilight. “It’s always good to have partners.” Tony set his jaw, but said nothing. McGee and Ziva traded a look. They had both noticed Tony’s reaction to ponies. The NCIS agent disappeared into the elevator with the Equestrians following him. Twilight turned to the other two. “I got in contact with RIS headquarters,” she said. “I knew I’d heard of Cormack Observatory before. Some stolen equipment from there turned up in Equestria not long ago. We think it has connections to organized crime.” “Do you think Telescope is involved?” asked McGee. “Well, he does work there,” noted Twilight. “We might as well go have a look,” said McGee. Gibbs walked in. “Ziva’s going. I need you to meet the press.” “Uh, what press, boss?” asked McGee. “The ones that showed up in the last half hour asking about a pony murdering a human.” Gibbs’ voice was harder than usual, and McGee knew what he was thinking. Somehow, the story had leaked. “Do you need help, Tim?” Twilight asked. “No, I think I can handle it.” McGee sighed. “It’s just not going to be very fun.” “You can come with me,” said Ziva. “Sure.” Twilight followed her to the elevator. McGee prepared a few notes. He didn’t know how the case had managed to slip out to the media, but now his job was damage control. It was not a formal press conference, but half a dozen reporters still made McGee regret not taking more public speaking classes in college. “Here’s what we know,” said McGee, trying to sound casual. “Petty Officer Bryan Wheeler was found dead from an overdose of prescription sleep aids.” “So a pony wasn’t involved?” asked one of the news hounds. “We can’t confirm or deny that at this time,” said McGee. “Is there any truth to the story that Wheeler was living with a pony?” asked a female journalist. “There was no cohabitation,” McGee answered. “Where did you get that idea?” Are you throwing stuff out to see what sticks? he wanted to add. Without answering McGee’s question, the reporter asked another of her own. “Was there a relationship going on?” “We can’t confirm or deny that at this time.” Despite McGee’s answer, all the journalists began writing furiously in their notebooks. He sighed. “I noticed that you speak with an accent,” said Twilight. She sat in the passenger seat as Ziva drove. “I am originally from Israel,” answered the woman. “It’s fascinating,” said Twilight. “We don’t have very much cultural diversity in the other world, despite all the different species. We all speak nearly the same language and have similar customs.” Ziva turned into the parking lot of Cormack Observatory. It was located on a little rise overlooking the ocean, so the view of the stars would be unobstructed by city light. Twilight thought about the poem they had discovered in Wheeler’s notebook. While she didn’t detect any particular scent from the nearby salt water, the landscaped grounds of the observatory did seem like a romantic place to bring a lover. Ziva had arranged a meeting with the head of the observatory, a spectacled man named Benson. “We came to talk about Telescope,” she told him. “I heard that he was arrested. Whatever for?” asked Benson, peering curiously at the two investigators through his thick glasses. “We’d rather not discuss charges until we’re sure we know everything,” said Ziva. “Now, we would like to ask about the items that have been going missing.” “Well, it’s nothing really significant to national security, if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Benson. “It’s just kind of expensive. I’ve heard that there’s a good resale market for human optical equipment in Equestria.” “It’s true,” said Twilight. “I don’t think Telescope is involved, though,” said the man. “What makes you say that?” asked Ziva. “Two things,” said Benson. “First, I knew about his relationship with Mr. Wheeler. They thought they were sneaky, and thought I can’t see what’s obvious because my glasses are as thick as the lenses in the observatory telescopes.” “Did you threaten to tell anyone?” Ziva said. “No, that’s not what I meant at all,” said Benson. “Once I told Telescope what I knew, he and Bryan both opened up to me a little. I felt that I knew them both very well, and that’s why I doubt that he was involved in stealing anything.” “What’s your other reason?” asked Twilight. “Well, once I heard he was arrested, I checked back though the electronic records and discovered a few interesting things. Every employee here has an ID card. You have to swipe it in a reader to get in the door.” Benson held up his own card to demonstrate. “Now, I found that Telescope’s card was being swiped more often than usual, and at odd hours. A few of those times occurred during a time when he went back to Equestria for a vacation. And…” he added dramatically “…the card has been used after Telescope was arrested and in custody.” “When did this begin?” asked Twilight. “Only a couple of months ago, a little while after Telescope met Bryan,” said Benson. “Do you have a security system?” asked Ziva. “Sure,” said Benson, “but every time the card was used, the camera mysteriously went blank.” “You didn’t notice this before?” asked Ziva, incredulously. Benson looked embarrassed. “Well, I never had a need to check the system until now.” “Can I see where the camera is installed?” asked Twilight. “Sure.” Benson led the two of them outside to where the card reader was overlooked by the security camera. Twilight closed her eyes and walked around in a slow circle. She seemed to be following some invisible signal. A few minutes passed before she appeared to find what she was looking for. “There was definitely magic used here,” she said. “The same spell to block the camera was used several times. I’ve got a feel for it, and I think I could probably sense the pony who cast it if I got close enough.” She and Ziva asked Benson a few follow up questions before getting back in the car. “How does magic block technology?” asked Ziva. “It’s all about creative problem solving,” replied Twilight. “You may not have a spell to do what you want, but perhaps you can use something else. For instance, I have no idea how to disrupt a camera internally, but I do know how to put a dark cloud in front of it. The end result is the same—no video.” “That makes sense,” said Ziva. “When I was with Mossad, we had a similar idea. The phrase ‘by whatever means available’ was practically our mantra.” “Fascinating,” said Twilight
Chapter 6Tony glanced in the mirror at the two ponies in the back seat. Applejack’s hat blocked a significant portion of the rear window. “We’re just going to go in and ask her a few questions,” said Tony. “This ain’t our first rodeo,” responded Applejack. “Yeah,” added Rainbow. Tony hadn’t begun grinding his teeth yet, but thought he might be getting close. He pulled into Joyce’s driveway. The three of them walked up to the front door. “NCIS!” shouted Tony as he knocked. There was a crash from inside. One of Tony’s hands dropped to his gun while the other tried the doorknob. It didn’t turn. “There might be something happening in the back,” said Rainbow. She flared her wings and took off over the top of the house. Tony had stopped trying the lock. It was a solid, heavy door, and he glanced to the side, looking for a window or some other way in. “Allow me, sugarcube,” said Applejack. She turned away, planting her front hooves solidly. With a burst of power, her back legs kicked out and collided solidly with the door. The lock tore out of the frame and the door slammed open. Tony went through the doorway, gun up. Applejack was at his heels as he cleared the first few rooms. There were papers and other items scattered everywhere. It looked like the place had been searched. The two of them found Joyce Bach lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. There were slashing wounds across her torso. Tony paused to check her throat. Besides lacking a pulse, it wasn’t very warm. A door opened suddenly at the back of the house. “Federal Agents!” called Tony, moving forward with his gun leading. “Hey you!” shouted Rainbow’s voice. There were sounds of a scuffle. Tony and Applejack came upon the back door, which was standing open. Beyond it, Rainbow was wrestling with a brown earth pony. He wore an unseasonably warm coat, which was even more unusual as ponies typically did not bother with clothing at all. The stallion managed to gain a small advantage and threw the multicolored pegasus off. She wasn’t hurt, but it gave him enough time to draw a knife with his mouth. The sheath was strapped to his leg, concealed under the coat. “Drop it!” shouted Tony, staring down the sights of his weapon. The pony looked at the muzzle of the gun and reluctantly spit out the knife. Rainbow pounced on him from behind and put the stallion in a leg lock. “Looks like you’re in all kinds of trouble,” said Tony. He took out out a pair of handcuffs but stopped, frowning at them. “Gotcha covered,” said Applejack, pulling a set of hoofcuffs from under her hat. With Rainbow’s help, she got the stallion locked up. The RIS sent over a batch of files on the captured pony. A couple of the human and Equestrian investigators dug into the information. “They call him Swindle,” said McGee, glancing at a page of identification data. “Needless to say, he’s got prior convictions, but nothing so serious as murder.” Applejack listened patiently. “We combed through everything in the house, and found what he was searchin’ for. Joyce Bach wasn’t innocent in this, and we can prove it.” Rainbow nodded. “She was keeping a list of names of others that were involved, probably to hand over if she was ever arrested. We discovered that at the very least, she was involved in making a copy of Telescope’s employee ID for Cormack Observatory. It’s possible she was helping with the actual smuggling of stolen goods, too.” “What was her motive?” asked Ziva. “It’s possible she wanted to get back at her ex boyfriend by implicating his new coltfriend in this,” said Tony. “She said she didn't like ponies, but maybe she was willing to put that aside to work with the bad guys. I’m sure getting her cut of the money didn’t hurt, either.” “What other questions do we have left to answer?” asked McGee thoughtfully. “We don’t know who murdered Petty Officer Wheeler.” Ziva reminded him. “I think we can assume it was one of Swindle’s buddies,” said Tony. Gibbs walked through and slapped Tony on the back of the head. “Rule 8, DiNozzo.” Tony put a hand on his stinging scalp. “Yeah, boss. ‘Never assume.’ I got it.” Gibbs continued on his way to the interrogation room. Rainbow and Applejack looked like they were on the verge of laughter. Tony gave them a look. “It's a lot of rules to remember.” Gibbs met up with Fluttershy and they went into the room where Swindle sat hoofcuffed to the table. “It doesn’t look good,” he said to the stallion. “You were inside Joyce Bach’s house. You were carrying the weapon that killed her. You’re a known criminal. Do you want me to go on?” “I want to make a deal,” said Swindle. Gibbs nodded. “I bet you do.” “I know you’ve made a lot of mistakes,” said Fluttershy in her timid voice. “I don’t think you ever intended to become a murderer, though.” Swindle’s eyes dropped to the table and he said nothing. “Maybe that’s not how it turned out,” Fluttershy continued. “Maybe she tried to hurt you first. If you tell us what you know, a judge will be more willing to accept a lesser charge than murder. Don’t do it for that, though. Tell us everything you know, and maybe we can stop any more deaths from happening. It’s a chance for redemption. You know it’s the right thing to do.” Swindle swallowed nervously. “Can you promise me that? That I won’t go down for murder?” Gibbs shifted slightly. He clearly didn’t see any need to make a promise to a convicted criminal. “I promise to do whatever I can,” said Fluttershy. Swindle nodded. “All right. Ask me whatever.” “How did Bryan Wheeler die?” said Gibbs. The pony looked confused. “Who?” “Telescope’s friend,” said Fluttershy. “I didn’t know he was dead,” said Swindle. Gibbs sighed and glanced at the one-way glass. He didn’t know who was there listening in, but hopefully they would begin working on new suspects right away. Fluttershy convinced the stallion to talk through all the names on the list that had been found at Joyce’s place. It was quite a bit of information, and most of it sounded useful. Still, Gibbs began to get restless. Despite his prowess at interrogation, he would much prefer acting on the information, rather than simply receiving it. Ziva’s voice on the intercom was an almost welcome interruption. Gibbs got up and walked out of the room. “We think we know who killed Wheeler,” the female Agent told him. McGee was with her, and nodded his agreement. The two of them laid out their evidence and Gibbs had to agree that it was pretty convincing. “Get to it,” he told them. McGee, Ziva, and Tony borrowed a car and set off. “Now that we’ve got some time to talk,” said McGee, “What’s your problem with the RIS? Did a pony steal your lunch money or something?” Tony glanced at the two of them. He was backed into a corner and he knew it. He sighed. “Do you remember Claire?” “One of your exes, correct?” said Ziva. Tony nodded. “About a year ago, that CGI pony movie came out.” “Wasn’t it called Daring Do or something?” asked McGee. “I think it was a kiddie adventure movie.” “Yeah,” said Tony. “Wasn’t it also about a year ago that you broke up with Claire?” asked Ziva. “Was that somehow connected to the movie? Did she insist on going and you didn’t like it?” Tony did not reply. “Or did you like it and she didn’t?” asked McGee. Tony gritted his teeth, and still refused to speak. McGee and Ziva looked at each other and started to laugh. “You broke up over an animated movie about ponies?” asked McGee. “We all have to carry grudges about something,” Tony muttered. He glanced up at a highway sign. “Oh look, we’re here already.” The car turned into the parking lot of the Pentagon. Naismeth was surprised to see the three NCIS Agents. He looked like he was in distress. “I don’t know what you have to say, but it can wait,” he told them, “I just got word that my daughter was found dead.” “We’re here about Bryan Wheeler’s death,” said Tony. Naismeth’s eyes darted between the three of them. “What does that have to do with this?” “We’ll get to that,” said McGee. “As Wheeler’s commanding officer, you had access to his medical records. You knew he kept sleeping pills around. Maybe it wasn’t very hard to swipe some and lace his coffee with them. We know that Wheeler was known for always having a cup around the office.” “As for motive,” said Ziva, “When Wheeler broke up with your daughter, she joined up with some illegal activity in an attempt to get revenge. Even if you didn't know that, you surely knew she wasn't taking it well and probably wanted to get back at him.” Naismeth’s mouth hung open. “I was just trying to reconnect with her. She blamed me for the divorce, and I hoped to get back on her good side.” “By killing her ex?” said Tony. “Well, that kind of backfired. Once we started digging around with our investigation, whoever was running the criminal enterprise realized that Joyce was a liability. They killed her and tried to recover any clues she had that might lead us to them.” Tony punctuated his statement by pulling out a set of handcuffs. "You're coming with us." No other ponies had yet been arrested in connection with the thefts from the Observatory, but Twilight expressed her confidence that other members of the RIS would soon begin tracking them down. It was now soely Equestria's problem. NCIS's official involvement had stopped once Wheeler's killer had been found. "It was nice working with you, Tim," said Twilight. "It's good that we can all find some common ground." "The media fallout from this is going to be a disaster," said McGee. Twilight shrugged. "We need to look past the idea of 'a pony killed a person'. We're all civilized beings and should be treated the same. Species shouldn't matter." "So you support what Wheeler and Telescope were doing?" asked Tony, breaking in. Ziva elbowed him in the ribs. "I don't agree with it," said Twilight, "but my previous statement stands. It was their right." Gibbs walked in. "I just talked with the Director. We've been authorized to continue unofficial consultation on the case." He gave Twilight a rare smile. "It was good working with the RIS. If you need any help, let us know." "That's very nice of you," said Twilight. "If you ever visit Equestria, stop by and say hello." She and the other five ponies headed for the elevator. Author note: I looked around and said, "How come there aren't any NCIS crossovers?" So I wrote one. I hoped you had a good time reading it, and I'd like to thank a few people who helped polish it: Melancholy - Gyvon - BronyRanger - Altoid And yeah, a sequel is possible.
Chapter 1The two college students made their way along the dark streets of Washington D.C. It was a quiet night. Even in the heart of the country’s political system, the city settled down in the early morning. It had been a long night for the two of them. They smelled of cigarette smoke, sweat, and alcohol. They were both too intoxicated to care. The woman stumbled at the mouth of an alley. Her boyfriend caught her arm to steady her. She smiled mischievously and used his grip to pull herself closer to him. “I bet you did that on purpose,” he said, smiling. “Maybe.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and spun her around. “Let’s see how you like this!” She laughed and twirled, nearly losing her balance again. The two of them stumbled a few more steps into the alley, arms tight around one another. They came to rest in a relatively stable position, standing close and kissing slowly. “We really should be getting back,” murmured the woman as she came up for air. “Yeah…” The man stiffened suddenly, raising his head to look at something over her shoulder. “What is it?” she turned her head. The two of them stared at the sprawled figure of a person lying near the alley wall. The man separated from the grip of his girlfriend cautiously and fished in his pocket for a cell phone. He turned it on and used the screen as a source of light to get a better look at the huddled form. It was a man lying on the ground. He was unmoving, and covered in blood. Author note: I've attempted to set up each chapter to coincide with each "act" in the show NCIS. After this short first chapter, the opening credits would roll. Please enjoy.
