Manehatten: A Mystery Case Unsolved

Chapter 2 – The Canterlot Archives

The train rumbled loudly as the curious pair, an alicorn princess and a draconequess, sat across from each other in a private cubicle. Compared to the trip to Manehatten, the reserved seating was much more comfortable; albeit expensive, but it allowed for a sense of confidentiality. Twilight Sparkle frowned as she scanned the parchment they found for any other details.

“Ugh, nothing…” The lavender mare groaned as she placed the piece of paper on top of a nearby table that came with the room. Despite their interesting encounter, the stranger hadn’t had that much to give in terms of proper evidence. What kind of life did that pony lead, anyway?

“Oh, come off it, Twili. You can suffocate yourself in books to your heart’s content once we reach Canterlot.” In front of her sight, Twilight could see the draconeques peeling a juicy orange, but only eating the peel instead of the fruit inside. Despite the absurdity, her mind was focused on one thing only.

“Wha- You can’t call me Twili…That’s reserved for my big brother and Cadence.” She gave the draconeques a stern glare.

“No? Aww, that’s truly a shame. What to call you then…?” Discord placed his paw to his goatee in a thoughtful manner. “…How about Sparky? Your horn’s always giving off a few sparks!” The Lord of Chaos snickered as the Princess of Friendship sat there with a dumbfounded expression.

“…Sparky…? No, just…no.” She shook her head in distaste. Then again, it was better than having him use her brother’s nickname for her…

“…Well, at least not in public…” She caved in, her forehoof meeting her face.

The Lord of Chaos grinned as he reveled in his victory. “So, Sparky, what do you hope to find in the Canterlot Archives, anyway?”

‘Just ignore it…Just ignore it…’ Twilight faced the draconeques with a confident smile. “Well, since Canterlot is in charge of the royal military force as well as the keeper of all criminal records in Equestria, I plan to search for these other murder cases connected with the assassin…according to that pony, anyway. He did say that assassin was responsible for the lot of them. Anyways, through that, I might be able to track down a few of these…”fat cats”, and from there we can find out the identity of the assassin! After all, that one pony did say that they knew the assassin’s identity, right?”

“Mmm, he did say that, didn’t he?” The Lord of Chaos mused. “Well, it sure seems like you’ve got this all planned out. I guess this won’t be as much fun as I thought after all.” He pouted, slumping further into his seat.

Twilight gave a deep sigh. “For starters, this isn’t a fun matter. This involves murder; something that assassin hasn’t paid for yet.” The alicorn stared out into the window. Further on, she could see the tip of a castle; she knew that structure anywhere. Ever since she became Princess Celestia’s personal student, she had grown accustomed to living in the castle, so it was actually kind of a second home.

“Oh, look…ol’ Tia’s domain, straight ahead.” Discord droned as the alicorn princess began to gather her things.

“…You know, you don’t have to come with, if you really don’t want to.” Twilight frowned at the draconeques.

“No, no, I really would rather being dragged around than to sit around with nothing to do. It’s not as easy to entertain myself as a reformed draconequess, after all.” Discord rose from his seat to follow after.

The train doors parted as the two went through, one snaking behind the other. The structure of Canterlot was grand; a complete contrast to the Manehatten slums. The streets were paved and polished, and the structure of the buildings showed but a few flaws. This truly was a place of art and beauty, masking the cruel and disgusting hearts of the noble breed that resided here.

Discord scowled at the design. “You know, I just reminded myself why I so detest Canterlot.”

The alicorn didn’t stop, but one of her eyes looked behind her in interest. “…And why is that?”

“Well, look at it. It’s…so…perfect, and symmetrical, who wants something like that?” He gagged as offended ponies gave their own judgment by eye towards him. Of all the places he certainly was out of place in, it was Canterlot. Too bad he couldn’t summon a cotton candy cloud over their heads.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course the Lord of Chaos himself would have a problem with Canterlot. Anyways, we’re almost to the castle.”

The jewel of Canterlot; the Canterlot castle stood tall, rested on its high mountain. It was from this mountain that all of Equestria could see it, big town or small. Twilight smiled as they passed through the gates. She could still remember how nervous she was, when she first passed through those same gates. A lot had happened since then, and now she was a Princess of Friendship, united with her friends. They had a bond that no other threat could break.

Twilight Sparkle opened the castle doors with confidence. Normally she would’ve reported to a guard, but since becoming a Princess…she had a little more privilege than she’d rather admit. Trotting through the hallway, the lavender alicorn followed the path she knew by heart to the throne room, where she knew Princess Celestia would be.

Discord scanned the castle décor. He already said plenty about the town itself, he wasn’t going to even start with the castle. Despite his disgust, a portion of him preferred a bit of harmony and order now, thanks to him having proper friends who wouldn’t backstab him without a second thought.

Twilight beamed as she took sight of her mentor. “Princess Celestia!”

Princess Celestia blinked for a moment out of surprise before her eyes relaxed. “Twilight.” The two embraced for a moment before the elder broke it. “…And how is everything over in Manehatten?”

Twilight winced for a moment before she proceeded to levitate her notes out of her bag. “Well, the structural condition is to say the least…it’s devastating out there. Ponies are living in shacks that could topple on top of them at any moment, and the food situation is scarce as opposed to its thriving main district. We need to send help, immediately.”

The Sun Princess nodded. “…I understand. I will send a support team of guards to aid them as soon as possible. Thank you for checking on this for me, Twilight.”

The lavender alicorn shook her head. “It was my pleasure to serve my duty as one of Equestria’s princesses. Although, Princess Celestia…I have a question.”

Princess Celestia blinked. “What can I do for you?”

Discord snatched the parchment from Twilight’s saddlebag. “Well, during our little errand in Manehatten, we caught wind of an assassin that…got away, so to say. Twilight here wants to find that pony. Do you know of any assassin?”

The Sun Princess frowned. “…I don’t know of any assassin. If there was one in Manehatten, surely I would’ve known.”

Twilight blinked. “Wait- you know nothing of this, Princess?”

The elder alicorn shook her head. “I’m sorry that I do not have the answer you seek. Perhaps you may be able to find out through a different source…although little information passes by without my knowing.”

Discord grinned. Maybe things weren’t going be so easy after all.

The lavender alicorn sighed. “If it’s all the same, may I search through the Canterlot Archives for anything regarding this pony?”

Princess Celestia nodded. “You may search if you wish, but I fear you may not find what you’re looking for.”

The two continued on down towards another hall, to the library of libraries, home to hundreds of magic spells and legal documents; including criminal records. It wouldn’t make any sense to not find anything there, right?

The Princess Twilight Sparkle groaned as her head slammed into another desk. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing on this pony, or their criminal cases. Was that stranger in the Manehatten slums just making fun of them? Was there ever really an assassin?

There had to be, otherwise what truly happened to the Superintendent of Manehatten? How was he killed? She groaned again at the possibility of it all, yet in all the legal documents of Equestria, she found nothing regarding their mysterious assassin.

Discord reveled in the alicorn’s pathetic state. “And you thought you had it in the bag.”

“Just…shut up, Discord! I don’t need it right now!” Her head slammed into the desk again.

The draconequess yawned before he rose up to stretch himself. “Well…we could always double-check ourselves if there was really an assassin or not by meeting the pony!”

“I would love to, if I could find any darn evidence!” Twilight frowned, looking through the papers on her desk once more.

“No, I mean actually meet the pony, not having to go through the boring process of finding the fat cats.”

Twilight had enough. “I would LOVE to, if I could only find out who that pony is!”

“Shall we go, then?” Twilight felt a tap on the back of her head. With great reluctance, the lavender alicorn turned towards the Lord of Chaos. “And how exactly are we going to find this pony without any evidence?”

“Well, we know the time and location. Manehatten slums, 4 or 5 years ago, right?” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Wait, you mean- time…We’re going to travel back through time to find this pony?!” If she hadn’t used a similar solution for one of her previous problems, Twilight might’ve thought the notion to be ludicrous. Either way, it held great risks for both the present and the future if they ended up changing anything…

…But that wasn’t on the lavender pony’s mind right now. “Discord…you’re a genius! We can easily find the pony by going back, finding out the identity, and then make them pay for their crimes now!”

The draconequess grinned. “So, ready to spread a little…chaos? I’ll need official permission before I use my powers to benefit Equestria.”

Twilight nodded. “Discord, take us back through time. We find to know who this assassin is!”

“Yes, ma’am!” The Lord of Chaos threw his paw and claw into the air, a dark form of magic building up through the two detectives. Twilight felt a chilly wind blowing through her mane as her body was lifted up into the air; the world around them becoming a sea of clocks.

“Okay…Mmm, not that one…” The draconeques checked each clock in his general area, the lavender alicorn following behind with a puzzeled expression. Not too far from her, Twilight spotted another glowing clock, displaying the year she recognized only as the year they were searching for.

“Discord, I found it!” She levitated the object in her magical grip, causing the Lord of Chaos to turn around with a grin.

“Oh, goody! Now we can really have one heck of a time!” His eyes flared with excitement and mischief, the lavender alicorn pursing her lips in uncertainty.

…This was going to help them, right?