Sapphire Night Noire: Book 1- The Mane Inspector

Valor Slums, home to some of the nastiest minds in the Noirvale District. Compared to the rest of the district, life here is not for the faint of heart.

It's a good thing I've never been so weak...

It was a dark and stormy night as I slowly walked through the streets, watching my step as there was always at least a few broken bottles around this time of night. I was used to it thought, seeing that I had been living there for years.

I reached the apartment building I lived in, going in to the door that was labeled "Sapphire Night: Private Investigator", my home. I reached for my keys with my long, lion-like tail, unlocking the door and stepping inside. The room was exactly as I left it. The room kept dim by the worn down curtains, the flitted moonlight just barely passing to caress the two piles of papers, one completed, the other still stacking with cases. I had never thought at I could become popular, the the endless paperwork begged to differ.

I sad down and looked through a few cases. A house burglary, an attack, a runaway, sadly cases I was all too familiar with. Not that I was surprised. Such problems were common chatter among the streets in the Valor Slums,as it was it's nature.

I sighed, putting the work aside and glancing at the letter of invitation that lazed on my desk. It was a formal invitation for a part at the Dwellgood Mansion. How cliche that the private investigator gets invited to a fancy party. There would probably be a problem and it would turn out that the butler did it. It was a classic detective story, and happened surprisingly often. In fact, I considered all parties cases in a sense.

I sighed and wondered if I should even bother going to this party, seeing I would get a call for this case whether I went or not. Despite what those new spy and cop movies want you to believe, there are actual advantages and disadvantages to being at the crime scene when it takes place. Such as having a personal memory for an alibi at the possible cost of the guilty party being extra careful due to there being an inspector being on site.

I was jolted out of my train of thought by a high pitched squeal of distress! I pulled aside the curtains and looked down, to the dark ally below, where a young alicorn filly was getting the living daylights beaten out of her! I quickly opened the window and flew down, "HEY!"

The three attackers stopped what they were doing and turned to me, "What do you want?" One of them hissed.

I narrowed my eyes and growled, "I want you three to go pick on someone your own damn size! A stallion who beats up a filly is nothing more than a coward!"

The lead stallion signaled for his two henchcolts to keep the terrified filly cornered while he took me by the collar of my black trench coat and pinned me to the wall, "You wanna make something of it you silver lion tailed freak?" He used his magic to take a dagger from his belt and held it up to my throat.

A smirk snuck itself onto my face, "Lion tailed freak?" I snuck my tail behind him, "You'd be surprised how often said tail comes in handy." I swiped my tail under his legs, knocking him down, and catching the dagger with my tail, pointing it at him, "Now, you are going to let the filly go, turn around, and and go back to the hole you crawled out of, do I make myself clear?"

The stallion backed away and growled," Watch it sister, I can get you arrested for armed robbery!"

That's when it hit me, "You're slave traders aren't you?" I thrashed my tail angrily.

The stallion took the dagger back, "Yeah and this one is getting sent to the Slashmark Gang in the Eastern Lands, special delivery, so stay out of it!"

I froze, my tail stiffening at the name. Slashmarks, of course... I was all too familiar with them, and I couldn't just let a little filly get sent to those wretched criminals...

I reached inside my trench coat and took out my wallet, "How much are they paying for her?"

The stallion perked his ear up in interest, "You looking to buy her?"

I grumbled, "I prefer to think of it as a bribe to set her free, but whatever floats your boat..." I never did like that slavery was legal in the Midnight Empire, it made me long for Equestria at times, but my place was here. I sighed and opened my wallet, "How much?"

"50 Grand."

"Don't lie."

"350 bits."

I took out that much and helped the filly to her hooves, "Now scram! And don't come back!"

The stallions nodded and galloped off. I then looked to the filly and wiped away her tears, "You alright kid?" She nodded, and I sighed in relief, "Good, now listen carefully alright? You can't stay out here on the streets alright? It's dangerous. Head down High-Street until you reach the Harmony Orphanage, tell them Sapphire Night sent you alright? You'll get in fine." She nodded and I flew back up to my window, going back inside and closing the window.

I hung up my coat and went into the kitchen, putting a mug under the brewer and watched as the dark liquid hit the bottom.

Until I heard something fly into the window.

I looked out the window to find the alicorn filly flying very unsteadily, clinging to the window edge for balance. I sighed and opened the window, "What, you need help finding it? I told you it's just down High-Street alright? Big, obnoxiously pink building, you can't miss it." The filly nodded and flew off, so I closed my window and turned back to my coffee, which was now overflowing.

"Fuck..." I swore, turning off the brewer and cleaning up the mess.

Once I was finished cleaning up, I took my coffee and poured some vanilla creamer in, as well as adding three taps of powdered sugar, the perfect coffee in my opinion.

After that, I went to the bathroom and started running the water in the tub. I figured that I had some time before the tub was full, I decided to go down to check my mailbox. I opened my door and stepped out, only to trip over, you guessed it, the same little filly from before, who was sleeping on my doormat. She woke up and looked as me as I stood back up, "What? Could you not find it?" But the filly just laid back her ears and looked away, whimpering.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead in slight annoyance, "Alright fine, you can stay with me tonight.." The filly squealed happily and sprung to her hooves, "But in the morning, I'm taking you to the orphanage." She stopped squealing, but gave me a sad look and nodded.

Deciding that I would hold off on the mail, I took her inside and, seeing how filthy she was, decided to give her the bath instead of myself. Once the tub was full, I turned off the water and put her in the tub. She flinched as the warm water touched her wounds, but she relaxed eventually as I began to wash her.

Once she wasn't filthy, I could see her silver fur very similar to my own, and her dark turquoise mane and tail, we looked like we could be related if not for the fact that her wings were the dragon wings of a native to the Midnight Empire, and mine were the feathered wings of a Quelian.

Looking closer at the wings, you could tell that they were implants, meaning that she wasn't actually an alicorn, but a unicorn with the misfortune of having out of place wings forced on her, which probably explained her unsteady flight. To force such abilities on a filly so young, it was unspeakably crewel. She also appeared to be a blank flank, meaning that she had been put down on lockdown with no chance to discover who she was.

Once she was out and dries, I noticed something very strange. There was sine metallic contraption around her muzzle. It was a kind of muzzle brace that keeps the wearer from talking, a mechanism I was sadly far too familiar with...

I took it off and out it aside, "Better?"

The filly instantly hugged me, making me flinch, "Thank you so much!" She whimpered in a weak voice.

I lightly patted her hear, not exactly comfortable with the contact, "It's no problem kid... You have a name?"

"Ghost Gale." She said, letting me go, "Most just call me Gale."

"Alright then Gale..." I put the contraption up, "Would you like something to eat?" She nodded and I lead her to the kitchen, putting in a pizza. While it was cooking, I took out a soda and put it in front of her. Bad idea, since she had obviously never had a soda and didn't know not to shake it up! She opened it up and it spewed all over the place, making her squeak!

I just sighed and grabbed a rag, cleaning it up.

Ghost Gale whimpered and shrunk down in her chair, "I-I'm sorry... I didn't know that would happen..."

I tossed the rag in the sink, "It's fine, you didn't know any better..." I took what was left of the fizzy drink and poured it in a glass, "Just don't shake it alright?" She nodded and drank it in a few gulps. licking her lips and letting out a small burp.

When the pizza was finished, I took it out and proceeded to give her a slice, which she quickly devoured, obviously starving. I couldn't help but chuckle at the childishness. Such an innocent soul was a welcomed change to the normally gritty atmosphere of the Valor Slums.

After dinner, I took the filly to my office and out her on the couch, taking out some spare blankets and pillows, letting her sleep there.

I then went to my room, putting my black fedora and silver necklace on the side table. I then went to my bed and got in, pulling the covers closer to my body. But I couldn't help but think about the filly... She reminded me of someone in a way... Someone I had kept very dear to my heart...

I shook my head and closed my eyes, "No Sapphire, don't think about it..." I sighed, "Don't get attached..." I then fell asleep, not even bothering to turn off the lights...