Manehattan Homicide : The Red Laborer

D'Agosta walked across the sidewalks of Manehattan, his side arm in his holster. His destination was towards the more slums area of the city, where more homeless and poor were. They practically built their own mini-town, which was very respectable, but most of them lived below ground in the winding tunnels under the shining jewel of Equestria. It seemed a million busy ponies were out and about their daily business. He could hear car horns blaring all around him, angry ponies shouting obscenities at others, and of course the never ending talk of the ponies around him. It was a busy day, and the traffic was practically at Rush Hour. His plan was to see what he could find from the poorer ponies, but they wouldn't talk on their own. He'd need leverage. If he couldn't find anything, he'd go and do the interview with Octavia's family early.

His mind went back to Pendergast. His history is a swamp of unknowns, and he was his best, if not only, friend. They met on a case where some lizard beast had been terrorizing the Museum. It had been a long one, and pretty wild, but he still remembered one of the first ways he noticed how good of a FBI detective Pendergast was. A red painting was near the scene of crime, a sunset of something. Pendergast rambled on about it, saying that the red was the exact same shade of blood. Then he wiped his hoof across the red part of the painting, revealing that the killer had wiped blood over it. Of course, there were several other cases that proved his abilities further. But besides that, he didn't know anything about the unicorn's family past, besides his brother Diogenes, but he's a whole other wild card. One thing he knew for sure, though, was that he got results. He always got results.

He was only a block away from Pinkie's, a place where you went there for the alcohol and stayed for the entertainment. The sky scrapers around him protruded from the dirt below, their windows shining. The morning sun had only come up an hour ago, and it seemed the perfect time for the lieutenant to go and get some information. After a minute of walking, he was finally in front of the shining building. A glass window had the typical neon sign saying OPEN, but this place was anything but typical. Above the window and door was a larger neon sign portraying a pink pony throwing her forelegs up, with bold letters saying Pinkie's beside the image, also in pink. He walked in and was greeted with the hum of music, chatter, and glasses clinking. It was dim inside, but comfortable. Tables were laid all around, with a variety of ponies seated in each. There were average ponies, alcoholics, jokers, and groups of friends. He trotted past these to the bartender who stood before a long counter, stools standing around it. The place was a little more packed than usual, but that didn't mind. He sat up on one of them, and was greeted by the mare behind the counter. They both knew each other, since D'Agosta was a common visitor of this establishment. The bartender wore a cowpony hat, with a yellow mane, an orange coat, freckles, a cutie mark of apples, and sparkling green eyes. Below the hat was a brown jacket above a black shirt. She flashed a grin at D'Agosta.

"What can Ah getcha'?" She grabbed a rag and started rubbing out the inside of a mug.

"The usual, but a little less hard, AJ. I'm doing some stuff after this."

Applejack smirked knowingly. "Less alcohol? But that's your favorite."

"Haha, very funny." He started to pull out some bits, but the orange mare stopped her, one leg leaning against the surface.

"It's on the house, Vincent. You're doing business after this, and Ah might as well give ya some charity for protectin' the city." She grinned slyly, filling up the now-polished mug with soft cider from the second barrel behind her. The first contained non-alcoholic cider, and the third contained hard cider. The second was somewhere in the middle. Her eyes sparkled, and D'Agosta got lost in them for a moment. He remembered what he was doing when the glass of apple cider was set in front of him. He grabbed it and took a gulp. He raised his muzzle, foam dripping.

"Oh, and if I can' I'd like some to-go. I'm gonna need some hard cider if I want to persuade somepony."

"Sure thang, sugarcube!" She got a large bottle, put it under the third barrel, and squeezed some out. She got a cork and stuffed it inside the bottle until it was jammed in there. It was easy enough to get out, if you just used your teeth.

"Thanks." D'Agosta took another gulp, and another until the glass was empty.

"Need a refill?" Apple Jack planned on getting him drunk.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go see Pinkie on the stage real quick. Then I'll be on my way." Apple Jack stuffed the bottle of amber liquid into a brown bag and handed it to the lieutenant. Then she took his glass and refilled it, also hoofing it over to him. He thanked her before walking around all the tables to the door leading to the stage.

In a dark corner lay a black figure staring at the tan stallion and the orange mare. The pony quickly jotted something down before vanishing into the darkness beyond.

The police pony pushed open the door leading to the stage. Tonight, Pinkie was telling some pretty cheesy jokes. D'Agosta made his way through the packed tables until he found an empty one. He sat down, let out a breath, and put down his bag and mug. He took smaller sips of from the cider, getting a slight buzz. The room was vast, with a tall ceiling and long, black walls. The floor was a dark wood, and the ceiling was littered with stage lights, currently lighting up the empty stage. A crimson curtain was upon the stage. Everypony waited for the one and only joker pony to appear.

The lights dimmed on the audience and brightened on the stage. The curtain ruffled and a pink earth pony stepped out, her hair a giant floofy pile, in contrast to her middle class clothing (A red-and-black striped vest over a white collared shirt. Her cutie mark portrayed three balloons, and she wore a grin that went ear to ear.

She yelled out in a cheery, squeaky voice, "Heya everypony? What's the healthiest animal that lives in a pond?" This was met with attentive eyes. "The asparageese!" Laughter rang around the room, and even the lieutenant laughed at the cheesy joke.

She kept on. "What's a snake's favorite dessert? The Pie-thon!" More laughs were introduced. "What's coffee's most monstrous rival? The Tea Rex!" She jumped up at the corny joke, applause coming from all sides. D'Agosta couldn't stand anymore of her goofy jokes, so he made his way out the door. He was greeted with a wave to the bartender pony as left the cozy bar, carrying the bottle at his side. He left his mug there on the table, half full, so that somepony else could get a buzz. He already had one, and didn't want to get completely drunk. He made his way down the city to the slummy area.

The skyscrapers turned into normal shops, and the normal shops eventually turned into dead neighborhoods, buildings vandalized, with the homeless gathered around barrels of fire, and poor ponies going back to their homes with barred windows. He heard gunshots in the distance, some colts probably shooting street lights, but that wasn't what he was after. He was actually good friends with one of these poor ponies, her name being Rainbow Dash. She was a pegasus with bright-blue fur, and a rainbow colored mane. D'Agosta thought that she might have information, since she was kind of the leader of the homeless and poor around this area. She lived in a barred house, with about five other ponies who all worked together to pay rent, since they couldn't get any good jobs besides working in a factory off shore or clearing the sky. The latter is what Rainbow Dash did.

D'agosta approached the dirty house and knocked his hoof against the door. It shuddered against it's frame, not being repaired for years. He heard a bolt slide back, and the lieutenant was greeted by a dirty looking stallion, a bottle of beer in his hoof. He looked completely wasted.

"Is Rainbow Dash home?"

"Who wahnts tah know?" he asked, his voice slurred and with an accent. He would've toppled over if it weren't for the weak door frame to lean on.

"I'm her friend, D'Agosta."

"Oh, you, she's naht home." He nearly collapsed before shutting the door. Well, that was useless. D'Agosta turned around and saw the cyan-furred mare staring at her, smiling. She wore a saddlebag, packed to the brim with bits, collected from clearing out the skies. She was the most efficient pegasus in the whole city, it seemed, but she liked living in her humble neighborhood, leading these ponies. She had told him that she usually buys tons of food with the bits and throws it around to everypony. That's probably why she's popular from everypony in the area. Hobos in the tunnels, however, hated everypony. There was once a raid down there, issued from a previous mayor, but it was a failed attempt, and their overwhelming force was slaughtered. Days after the blood bath, a pony's skin was mailed to the police department, with the words STAY OUT written in blood. It was more than enough to convince them that if the police didn't mess with them, they wouldn't mess with the police. D'Agosta's idea of his current case included the underground homeless as the perps, since the surface homeless were led by Rainbow Dash.

"Hi, Vincent!" He jumped at the sight of her appearing behind him.

"Oh, uh, hi Rainbow. Mind if we, uh, have a chat real quick? Just take a walk?" He gasped deeply from the jump scare in between words.

"Sure thing, bro!" she replied cheerily. She had a large tuft of blue fur poking out from above a brown, ragged shirt. It looked like a potato sack with holes cut into it.

They trotted away from the house, Rainbow Dash dropping the bits in through the door first. Or at least D'Agosta did, but Rainbow Dash hovered above him, gulping down the contents of the brown bag. She loved cider, hard or not.

"So, you haven't had anything weird with you're friends, right?" D'Agosta stopped, scratching his neck. He felt awkward, talking about the ponies that Rainbow Dash valued so much when he saw them as... Well, homeless.

"Nothing besides you, but you're always weird." She chuckled and tossed the empty bag over the road, hitting a rundown house's window. She silently pumped her hoof up. She looked like she was getting drunk already, wobbling in the air.

"Well, it's just that a case of mine is a bit weird. A source states that there's going to be a lot more kidnappings, but there was a large party where somepony got kidnapped. It was at Octavia's family's estate. Would you know anything about it? Maybe somepony of yours knows something?"

Rainbow Dash drunkly feigned being hurt. "What do you take my friends for, killers?" She giggled before continuing, burping in the process. "I know somepony who was at the party, asking for bits. Her name was Mildew, had a green coat. I don't know where she is, though. You'll have to search." She burped again before falling onto the grass, rolling around. She really couldn't handle hard cider too well, could she?

"Mildew?" D'Agosta repeated, pulling out a notebook and a pen, writing with his mouth.

"Yeaaah, she's got a bright yellow mane and a swirly tail. She usually hangs out at Octavia's or that fashionista's place, the one with the purple swirly hair. She looks like piss." Her eyes started to droop. "Man, today was so hard. I stayed up all night working, and only now am I back. I'ma just..." She passed out onto the grass. D'Agosta left her be, since she probably wouldn't get mugged by her own ponies. He put back his notepad, threw a bit onto her stomach, and started his trek through ponies and traffic to the tailor of Manehattan. She was most likely who Rainbow Dash was talking about. Although he'd never really met her personally, D'Agosta knew about her, and of her skill. She was closer to him than Octavia's estate was, so he'd go there first.

***   ***   ***

D'Agosta arrived at the building the "fashionista" lived and worked in. Pendergast had called earlier, telling him that he'd visit Octavia, and they'd meet at Pinkie's to fill out the details of their findings. He had already told the agent of his findings about the piss pony. He waved his thanks to the taxi driver and inspected the shop. It was painted white, with a large, golden plate stating Rarity's Fashion Franchise. He put his hoof on the door and pushed it open. His senses were all assaulted, seeing a million different colored dresses, smelling the scent of air spray, and hearing the loud raking of a machine. A white unicorn stood in the middle of the room in distress, twenty different instruments glowing around her. Her purple mane, which Rainbow Dash described as in perfect swirls, was in ruins, crunched up with stray hairs everywhere. She wore a simple, white collared shirt. The cloth around her, however, was in many different sizes and colors. As soon as their eyes met, she threw every tool she hovered into the corners of the room, giving a sheepish smile of embarrassment at her disheveled state.

"Hello, officer," the white mare started in a snob's accent, "what can I do for you? A cleaning for your suit?" Beads of sweat dropped from her brow. Her horn was still glowing, and D'Agosta followed a glow in the corner of the room and saw a measuring stick going across a ponyquin.

"Well, I came here for some answers about a recent crime, not clothes."

She dropped everything, stopping her breathing. "Wha? Officer, I promise, I didn't do anything! I... I... I didn't do anything, I swear! Ask anyone, I was here all day and night! I'm innocent! Don't take me to jail with the poor ponies!" She gasped, but D'Agosta stopped her before she could keep going.

"Don't worry, Miss. It's not concerning you. I just wanted to ask questions."

"I swear I'm- Oh, uh." She stopped, her cheeks going red. "Of course, officer."

"Alright, I first wanted to ask you if you've seen a pony fitting the description I have. Her name is Mildew, with a yellow mane, a swirled tail, and a green coat. Goes by the nickname as 'Piss Pony.'" He had to add the nickname for the confusion on who he guessed was Rarity.

Oh, her." Annoyance and recognition flashed across her face, but she quickly recovered. "I've had to chase that gutter punk away from my store multiple times. She always hangs out near the door, asking for pony. Her and her kind are the scum of the city." D'Agosta winced at the final comment, since one of his best friends was a poor pony. He dismissed it with a fake wipe of his nose. This disgusted Rarity more than former fact would've. She quickly threw a tissue at him, which he denied.

"Could you give me a more detailed description of her, or maybe other locations she's always at?"

"Well, I know for a fact that she was torturing the civilized ponies at Octavia's party. I don't know much more about her other than her mane and fur color, however. I'm sorry if I'm not of much use. That rat is quite a rascal, however, always a trouble maker. If the news is correct about that murder near Octavia's estate, I'd bet that Mildew did it. Oh, and she's a unicorn as well. Might want to watch out for her tricks." She hissed out the last word. "Anything else, sir?"

"Uh, no, that's all." His first impressions of Rarity were not one's of kindness. It was quite the opposite. Everypony called her generous, but right now she seemed just the opposite. "Thank you for you're time, please report to the police if you have anymore information on this specific pony or the kidnapping at Octavia's." He snapped his notebook shut, stuffed it into his mane along with a pen, and trotted out the door. He was greeted by the bustling of the large city of Manehattan. He slowly went to Pinkie's, figuring he'd wait there until Pendergast came.

In an alleyway across the street from the boutique, a pony was shrouded in shadow. He stared at the lieutenant as he left for the bar, flipping out her horn with the glow of some magic. She had overheard the conversation, and she wasn't amused. The phone ringed two times before being answered by a wary "Hello?"

"Rodney? I need you to call D'Agosta up to the PD before he gets to his bar."

"Got it, Miss Sparkle."

The unicorn flipped the phone shut and stuffed it in her saddlebag, smirking. She was going to be damned if he started with that agent again.