Fashion Frenzy

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. - J.R.R. Tolkien

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Investigator Bristle swiveled around and faced the three agents as they walked in through the doors "Sparks!" he said excitedly "you'll never guess what I found!"

"Nope," he said "so tell me."

"First," Bristle said "let me tell you about the murder. And it was pretty grisly too."

"I don't doubt that," Sparks said "what about the case Bristle?"

"Body was found about one hundred yards away from the Manehattan Theater," Bristle said still dressed in his lab coat "three stab wounds to the back of the neck, plus a throat cut. It was pretty brutal if you ask me."

"Weapon?"

"There was none found at the scene," Bristle said "but I'd say that it was something sharp like a stiletto with a serrated edge or..."

"A pair of scissors?"

"Very good Sparks," Bristle said grinning "like a pair of scissors used for fabric."

"Do you think there's any connection to the tip we got from Rarity and the murder?" Night asked turning and facing Sparks.

"Possibly," Sparks said "we won't know until we gather more evidence."

"I'll see what I can dig up," Agent Steele said "and get back to you tomorrow morning."

"Don't you mean later today?" Sparks said as they walked out of Ops.

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The Silas Pit Night Club

351 South 5th East, Manehattan

"What did you see?" Agent Sparks asked the manager of the Night Club.

"First tell me who you are?" The manager, who's name was  Fillymore retorted.

"Agents Jolt Sparks and Pearl Night," Sparks said flashing his badge "of the Northern Equestria Investigative Service."

"I heard of you Sparks," Fillymore said "you were that big hero who saved Celestia a little while back weren't ya?"

"That was last week," Sparks said nonchalantly "but it doesn't matter."

"Like hay it doesn't," Fillymore said "after this is over, you ponies swing on buy here and you'll get a free round of drinks. On me."

"Very kind of you," Sparks said "but what did you see."

"Nothin'"

"Nothing?" Sparks asked.

"Yeah," Fillymore said "I didn't see a thing, the music was blastin' my ear drums out. But, that mare," He said gesturing with his head "she said she saw the pony who was murdered earlier last night around 9 p.m. In fact, she said that she even knew him."

"What's her name?"

"Coco Pommel," Fillymore said "I know cause she was doing some work for Rarity here a few months back. She's big here in Manehattan, in case you didn't know. She did one show, one show, called Hotel Chic, and man, it blew us out of the water!"

"I see," Night interjected "and you think that she has something to do with this?"

"Well sure," Fillymore said "why wouldn't..."

"Because Rarity was in Ponyville," Sparks said "working on a completely different line. She wasn't planning on showing up this year."

"Eh," Fillymore said "you talked with her."

"As part of the investigation," Sparks said.

"Huh," Fillymore said "well then, I guess I'm out of ideas."

"Duly noted," Night said "can we talk with Coco Pommel?"

"She's not my daughter," Fillymore said "if she was, she'd dress better. I'll take you over to her."

They all walked towards Coco Pommel who was recovering from sobbing at a booth in the Night Club. Agent Night slide into it on the opposite side followed by Sparks. She looked up "Who are you?"

"Special Agents Night and Sparks," Agent Night said "N.E.I.S."

"Weren't you on the news last week?"

"Yes," Sparks said "but that doesn't matter now. We're here to help you. We're friends of Rarity's."

"You," she sniffed "know Rarity?"

"Of course," Sparks said smiling kindly "we chatted with her a little while ago."

"How is she?"

"She's doing fine," Sparks said "she's worried about you."

Coco Pommel sniffed again "That sounds like her. Always the generous one."

"That's what I've been told," Sparks said "now Coco. I know it'll be hard, but...could you be like Rarity and be generous to us? We need help finding the pony who killed the one outside. We need all the help we can get and if you could give us your side of the story. That'll go a long way in helping us out with this investigation."

"Well," said Coco Pommel "I'll try."

"That's a good mare," Sparks said taking out a notebook and pencil "start from the beginning."

"Well," Coco Pommel said "I came in at around 9:30 p.m. I arrived early because I normally don't go out for social venues such as these, but some friends of mine, Blue Swing and Sweet Banter wanted me to go out with them. So, I came in, and I didn't really know what I was doing, the music was loud and the lights were dazzling, so I put on my shades and sat on a bench by the wall. I hadn't been there, for more than a couple of seconds, when the pony who was killed came up to me and asked if I wanted to dance. I said no, but he whisked me away and we started dancing together. He actually made me feel like I was having a good time..."

She sniffed again and then went on "I actually never got his name. He was handsome, and I'd never met a pony like that before. I saw him leave at around 11:30 that night when I got lost in the dancing crowd.  I looked down and also saw that I'd forgotten my purse, so I ran back and grabbed it before heading out to see where he'd gone. He might have gone looking for me. But I saw him in a dark alley talking with another pony, suddenly, the other pony raised their hoof and knocked him to the ground. Something metal flashed in the street light, and then...then...I heard a soft groan. The other pony looked up and saw me. I ran, back into the night club, and tried to find my friends but I couldn't. I hit in the bathroom and cried the rest of the night."

"What did this other pony look like?"

"It was dim," she said "so I couldn't tell. But he was..."

"He?" Night interjected "you're sure it was a stallion?"

"Well," Coco Pommel said "not entirely. But I thought so. The pony was rather, well light colored. I thought either pink or orange."

"How could you tell," Sparks asked.

"Out of the corner of my eye," Pommel said "I thought I caught the color in the street light."

"Thank you Coco," Sparks said folding his note pad "you've been most helpful."