Chapters Feet slammed against the stiff hotel carpet, echoing throughout the corridor. Only the pale moon gave him enough light to see where he was going, yet that hardly seemed like enough. He had no idea why he decided to stay in his hotel room...why didn't he go down to the port, like the note told him to. He just ignored it and instead stayed in the nice, comfy bed with his lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. Now, they were probably all confused at what had happened, and scared to death for him. Tears of fear and sadness ran down his cheeks, blurring his vision, though he kept his pace. I need to get back to them ... he thought with heavy gasps, I just need to see them again and make sure they're okay .
A bullet skimmed past him, barely touching his ear. He cupped it, out of reflex, and turned his head to see how far away he was from the chaser. Three feet. Two feet. One foot. He looked ahead again and picked up speed, only to find he had ran into a dead end, with only an emergency exit and a ladder to help him out.
"Time's up." He whirled around and came nose to cannon with the loaded rifle. "You had your chance, sir." The owner of the weapon continued, "but you didn't come clean. And now that you know who's behind everything, I can't let you get away alive."
"Please," He huffed leaning against the door, "please just let me go. I need to see if my family's okay."
A sinister chuckle echoed throughout the halls as a cloud cast over the moon. "Too late for that, ol' Hourglass." the mastermind pulled the lever, sending a bullet his way. He somehow dodged it just in time and it went through the glass instead.
Before the crook could fire another, Hourglass pushed the door open, setting off the fire alarm. He looked the former friend dead in the eyes, trying not to show his fear. "You killed them, didn't you?" He asked angrily. Only a laugh in response. "Didn't you?!"
He couldn't quite see her face, but he could sense her rolling her eyes at how slow he was. "Nice work, Sherlock." She said sarcastically. "Now, let's see if you can tell what will happen next..."
"Cut!" Bright lights flashed throughout the movie scene, the two actors bracing themselves against the sudden change in lighting. "That's a wrap!" Florie Cut called out, setting aside her megaphone. She motioned to the camera crew and mic people to start cleaning up, then got out of her chair and approached the two actors. "Bubblenut, you need to work on your lines more. It's supposed to be 'You must be dying to know what will happen next, not-- not...whatever you said...." Bubblenut bowed her head respectively and mumbled and mumbled an apology the director didn't hear. "And Hubble," she continued, "act more believable."
"What are you talking about? That was the best I could do!"
"Find something better." Florie sighed, running her fingers through her purple and orange striped hair. "I need a coffee or... a ten hour energy or... something..." She grabbed her stuff and headed out the door, facing the two before she left. "But, other than that, you two did great today. Have a good night, okay?" he closed the door soon after, leaving them and the staff alone, thought the staff wasn't really paying attention to them, and all other actors had already left.
Hubble approached the girl, who was clutching her script like her life depended on it, clawing at her wildly curly hair with the other. "Good job today, Bubblenut. You were really believable."
"No no no," she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else, "a true villain doesn't mess up on their lines..." as if realizing what she had said, she straightened up, whirled around to face man with a sheepish look on her face. "I mean, thanks, bye!" He watched her zoom out of the studio, thinking her behavior was mighty odd...even for her.
"I'm afraid it's much too late already, Sweetie." Rarity sighed, trying to pull the remote out of the little girls hands. "If we wait until yet another commercial, we'll miss the airplane."
Sweetie looked at her sister with slight irritation as Timable played just behind the seventeen year old girl. "So?" She asked, "we'll just get on the next one. I haven't seen this episode before! Tim and Yvonne are trying to stop Doct--"
"Oh, I don't care who's trying to stop who with what!" Rarity huffed, finally winning the battle. She turned the TV off and placed a hand on her hip. "You can just watch it on your phone or when we get home. I swear, I never should have let Pinkie introduce you to that show in the first place."
Sweetie stood up and looked up at her, arms crossed, now sulking. Rarity furrowed her brow and brought Sweetie up herself. "Need I remind you yet again this is very important to me?"
She hunched over, looked at the floor, arms still crossed. "No...
Rarity pulled out a drawer of the short dresser the TV stood on. "Your friends are coming along as well, are they not?"
"Yeah..." She uncrossed her arms and hung them like limp noodles.
She placed the remote in and shut it with her hip." "Would it be fair to them to suddenly say the trip has be cancelled?"
Sweetie straightened herself but kept her head low. "I guess not..."
"I suppose that's settled th--Oh! Oh, my!" Rarity exclaimed mid sentence; she had caught a look at the wall clock and saw it was thirty minutes till the plane took off. "Sweetie, grab the bags and help me load them into the car! We only have thirty minutes left before the plane and y chances of getting a shop in Philadelphia take off!" She took two small bags off a neatly stacked pile of five and headed out towards the dark purple Mercedes. Sweetie looked at the other five, which were all big, yet fashionable carry-ons, figured Rarity wasn't going to help her with those, and sighed, then went to carry them out to the car as well.
Once outside, she spotted Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looking at Rarity, who was frantically trying to find her keys. Rarity paused, then sighed. "I must have left them on the island...."
Sweetie waved to her friends as she pulled the first carryon up to Rarity's side. "Hey, Rarity?" She asked, "san Apple Bloom and Scootaloo help with the rest of the bags?"
Rarity looked at her, confused, then turned and saw the two girls standing on the sidewalk. "Oh," she said, as if she hadn't noticed they were there; she faced her sister again and smiled. "Of course they can. But please do hurry; I fear we might miss the flight as it is..." She trailed off and rushed inside to fetch the car keys, the trio trailing after her.
"I thought you'd be ready by now." Scootaloo said, "what, with Rarity being 'timely' and all....."
"Yeah; I.... kinda held her back....." Sweetie mentioned shyly.
"Were ya watchin' that Timeable show again?" Apple Bloom asked with a smirk.
"It's Timable ", Sweetie said, grabbing one of the carryons, "and yes I was." She handed it to Apple Bloom and the other to Scootaloo. "We should probably get these in the car before Rarity has an aneurysm." They headed out towards the car, where Rarity was waiting; they figured she ran back when they weren't paying attention, and the second they were buckled up, they were out of the driveway and heading towards the airport.
Hours later, they all fell into their luxurious suite, of which the three young ones immediately began to awe over. It had two rooms built within it, a wall separating each for privacy; each had a queen sized bed and a twin sized bed, along with a private bathroom. The main room included a balcony that looked out onto the bustling city.
"Is that a Jacuzzi?" Apple Bloom asked in pure shock as the six set of eyes faced the small hot tub in the corner of the room, which happened to face the flat screen. "Ah'm callin' dibs!" She yelled once Rarity said 'yes' to her question.
"What? No fair!" Scootaloo grumbled, "I need something to help relax my wings..." She stretched them out for what felt like the thousandth time since they got off the plane, wincing with pain as pain shot up her left wing bone and down her spine. "I think I got a kink in them, or something. I was squished against my seat for too long..."
"Rarity..." Sweetie whispered, ignoring her two friends. "How much did this cost?"
Rarity waved her hand in the air, smiling at their reactions "Oh, a little over 8,000, but really, it was no trouble at all."
At that statement, the six eyes stopped gawking at the room and instead at Rarity. "How much do you get to pay for each fashion job?" Sweetie gawked.
The fashionista smiled and walked towards the balcony. "Let's just say I get paid more than 5,000, usually. And thanks to all the money I've been saving, I'd been able to afford this, my new shop, and have more than enough left over." She opened up the glass door and pulled closed the screen, then turned and faced the girls once more. "I suppose we can rest a little and let the jet lag fade before we start looking around, hmm?"
Rarity didn't even have to finish before Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were digging out they're swimsuits and racing towards each bathroom. Sweetie was about to dig out hers when Rarity interrupted her. "Sweetie?" She said, looking down at her phone. "I believe they have that channel that broadcasts that show you and Pinkie like, and I've just heard from Pinkie that they're having a marathon starting in a few minutes."
Sweetie squealed, jumping up and down. She ran over to her sister and hugged her as tight as she could. "You're the best big sister ever!" She cheered, "I love you, I love you, i love you!" She then grabbed the remote without waiting for Rarity's reply, jumped on the queen bed, and flicked the flat screen on, which was already set on Discord Channel .
Rarity watched the other two race out of the bathrooms, laughing. They tied at the hot tub, had a small argument on who was there first, then discovered it was big enough for four small children, such as themselves. The crawled in and Sweetie hung her feet so they emerged in the water.
"I'll just be right across the way, getting dinner." Rarity announced, opening the door. "You girls can take care of everything while I'm gone, right?"
"Yep." Chorused the three.
She stepped out into the hall and began to close the door, stopping it halfway and poking her head inside again. "Oh! And if you hear a knock, just check through the peephole. It might be the bellboy with the rest of our luggage."
"'Kay." The teenager smiled, rolled her eyes, and locked the door behind her.
In just five minutes , the TV broadcasted, showing various clips of "Timable " as it did, we're having a full-out, action-packed Discord Channel "Timable" marathon! Sweetie squealed with happiness while Bloom and Scoots playfully rolled their eyes. But first, we bring you this breaking news report.
Sweetie's face immediately fell as the red letters flashed across the screen. "Awww, come on! " She cried, "why couldn't this wait till after the marathon?!"
Her two friends shushed her, as they wanted to her what the news was. A news reporter showed up on the screen, his name showing up under him in bold white letters. "This is Hucklepop, coming to you live from downtown, Philadelphia; Illinois's most trusted broadcaster." He straightened his tie and allowed himself a smug little smile before continuing.
"Oh, brother." Sweetie mumbled, getting shushed by the two in the hot tub again.
"As you can see before me, it seems like another person has committed suicide this afternoon--a struggling actor named "Bubblenut", making this the third death in a row this week. There hasn't been any criminal activity and/or raper that we've seen around here so far, but if there is, Hucklepop will be sure to let you know." He motioned for the camera to follow him as he came closer to depressed women that had purple hair with orange highlights. "Hello, Ms, what's your name?"
He shoved the microphone in her face, of which she pushed away to a comfortable distance for her. "F-Florie Cut." She answered.
"And, Ms. Florie, did you happen to know Ms. Bubblenut?"
She nodded quickly,her eyes casting down to the cement. "Yes," she sighed, "she was probably the best female villain actor I've ever got."
"Do you think you know what might have caused her to committing her own death?"
Florie's expression suddenly changed from sad and somber to angry and mortified. "Are you actually suggesting that I drove her to do that?! And right after I literally called her one of the best actors I've ever had?!" She took a step forward and made a threatening gesture at both Hucklepop and the camera crew, making both backs up, Huckle visibly regretting asking her that.
"No, no, no, o-o-of course not, Ms." He chuckled nervously and signaled to the cameraman to follow him again, this time stopping at a police officer, who was talking to a nervous Hubble. Not before stopping to show a quick second of the body, though. "Hello, Officer, Hubble," he started nodding to each respectively, "did you two know anything about Bubblenut before her---uh---disappearance ?"
Hubble stepped forward, trying to hide his shaking hands. "Well, yes." He said, "she and I were working on Florie's next big movie. We had just finished up the second shot of the climax, and Florie was telling us on what to work on. She told Bubble that she had to work on her lines and..."
"I believe that's all they need to know, Mr. Hubble." The officer interrupted. He then faced the camera, nodded and the screen flickered back to the marathon Sweetie had been ogling over earlier.
There was a prolonged silence as the girls tried to consume what they had just watched. "Well, ah ain't no expert," Apple Bloom started, "but ah don't think that was a suicide."
"What makes you think that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Didn't ya see the body?" Apple Bloom asked, getting two nods. "There was a bullet hole where her heart shoulda been. An', even if she shot herself in the chest, it looked like she had a mighty bad brusin' some broken bones as well. A where was the weapon she mighta used?"
Sweetie shifted her feet out of the tub and grabbed a towel on the towel rack next to it, started drying her feet. "She could have got on top of that building and shot herself." She suggested, then paused as she thought about that. "But...then her insides would become her outsides..."
"You know, Apple Bloom..." Scootaloo said, "you might be right about that."
Sweetie folded up the dirty towel and went to place it on the floor of the main bathroom. "Yeah," she said as she came back. "Something about that just doesn't...fit right, I guess, now that you mention it."
A knock sounded at the door and the girls jumped, Sweetie, being the closest, ran over to the queen-sized bed and tried to stay silent. "Room service!" Someone called out, letting the girls relax. Sweetie got up and opened the door, thanking the bellboy for the luggage as he wheeled it inside. He stopped as soon as he noticed the marathon on the TV. "Is that Timable ?" He asked.
Sweetie looked at the television and back at him. "Oh, yeah, they're having a 'throwback' marathon of it right now."
"I thought that show ended a while ago." He continued, ignoring the school girl and approaching the show. "This show was my childhood, dude!"
"Uhhhh..." Sweetie looked towards her friends for help, but they just shrugged helplessly.
"May I help you, sir?" Rarity asked from the doorway, holding some Burger King bags in her aura.
The bellboy turned his attention to her, his face tomato red. "Uh...yeah. no, sorry, I-I just...I don't know what I was..."
"I see you've brought our luggage in." She looked down at the cart with the three carryons that were lazily stacked on top of each other, the top one about to fall off. She grimaced at the lazy service and side-stepped the small barrier. "Thank you, sir," she said politely, 'that will be all."
He nodded, and flew out of the room, closing the door behind him. Rarity locked it with her magic and placed the dinner on the table that was across from the hot tub. "What was he doing?" She asked immediately.
"He was trying to watch the show," Scootaloo said.
Rarity nodded. "I see..." she clasped her hands together and let out a breath. "If he comes up here again, don't let him in. Unless I say so. Now, get dried off, girls, it's time for dinner."
As Scootaloo and Apple Bloom went to the bathrooms to change, Sweetie looked at her sister. "Did you hear about the 'suicide' that took place this afternoon?" She asked, placing air quotes around the word 'suicide'.
Rarity shook her head, watching Sweetie levitate one of the bags towards her "I don't believe I have, no." She swapped Sweetie's bag for a different one that had the name 'Sweetie' written across it in purple ink. Sweetie noticed the one she attempted to take had been Rarity's. "Why do you ask? And why the air quotes?"
By this time, the other two were out and grabbing they're dinners, too. They each took turns telling Rarity what they had heard on the news and Apple Bloom's theory. It was a little bit of a struggle for Sweetie to pay attention, as the episode she had been watching before they left was now playing behind Scootaloo. Once they finished, they asked Rarity what she thought of the whole thing.
"Oh, my," she mumbled, "why would that poor person do such a thing to themselves?"
"What do ya mean?" Apple Bloom asked, "they didn't do it to ‘emselves, it was a murder, plain an' simple."
Rarity shook her head, gathering the trash from the dinner. "I don't believe it was. From what you told me, it sounds like they choose to take their own lives."
"But--"
"I don't want to hear any more of this dreadful nonsense for the rest of our trip, understood?" They all nodded, each silently rejecting Rarity's wish. She smiled and began looking through the luggage for her purse. "I need to go meet with the real estate agent downtown. I assume you girls know what to do?"
"Yeah...." They mumbled.
"Good," she said, pulling out her purse and walking towards the door unlocking it. "I'll be back in thirty minutes. Remember to not let that bellboy in. Bye,!"
"Three weeks without saying anything about these murders?" Sweetie asked as soon as the door closed behind her sister. "How will we be able to let these people know? What if more pop up? What if--"
Scootaloo cut her off with a stopping motion of her hand and eyed the two excitedly. "What if we try to stop this murderer ourselves?"
1.2) Detecting Detectives
"What are you talking about?" Sweetie asked. "You wanna get us killed?"
"No." Scootaloo said, making a face. "I'm just saying; what if we get our cutie shirts for this? Think about it--Cutie Shirt Crusader Detectives! We could go around, help out ponies in need--"
"Maybe we could even get paid fer it!" Apple Bloom finished for the young pegasus. "An with Sweetie's wit, mah sharp observation skills, and Scoot's fast reflexes, we'd be the best detective team in all a North America!" The two looked at Sweetie with eager eyes, impatiently wondering what she'd say.
She looked down at the plush carpeting, mentally listing out the pros and cons of he operation they were planning to do. "....I...don't know..." she said at long last, "Don't you think that maybe--just maybe--this might be a teeny bit..." many words flashed through her mind, some being insane , idiotic , and even suicidal , ironically. "...dangerous?" She finally decided.
"Well....yeah..." Scootaloo admitted, "but it could be fun! And the chances of getting caught just add to the thrill of it all!"
When Sweetie didn't speak up after a while, Apple Bloom sighed and stepped forward. "Ya know, Sweetie, ah know yer on the fence about this whole thing, but think about it. These people think it's just a suicide; nothin' else to it. Heck, even yer sister's convinced, cause they all don't feel safe admitting there is a murderer out there, roamin' the streets. Don't cha get it? If we don't step up and try to stop this filthy low-life ourselves, who is?"
Sweetie shrugged. "The police?"
"Are they doin anythin 'bout it now?" Sweetie shook her head 'no'. "What if this guy--whoever the hay he is--keeps it up? Why wait for em to start after five or ten more people are dead?"
"I--"
"We could be saving peoples lives , Sweetie. We'd literally be helpin' them have longer, healthier lives instead a dying a sad an' scary death. Even if we don't get our cutie shirts, wouldn't that be enough?"
Sweetie waited for Apple Bloom to continue, though, once she discovered she was done, took a deep breath. "Yes." She said, full of confidence. "Let's do this."
===
Florie held her head in her hands, still trying to get over what she had just witnessed. She was shocked and traumatized, but didn't dare tell the news staff what she had seen. "Florie?" Hubble asked, slowly approaching her.
She raised her head to reveal her running mascara and ink-black hands, where most of the mascara had rubbed off. "Yeah?"
He hesitated, looked around too see if anyone else was paying attention to them. Luckily, the few stragglers left behind were all still gawking and crying over Bubble's lifeless body, and they were three feet away. "What did he say to you?"
Florie looked to the side then back at him nervously. "They just asked me who I was and how i knew Bubblenut, is all."
Hubble's expression darkened and he pulled her aside even more. "No, Florie." he whisper-shouted, "what did he say to you?"
Florie gasped as she realized what Hubble meant. That shadowy figure she saw last night with Bubblenut; him closing in behind her. The gun ringing out and the sick sound of her body hitting the pavement. he had gone to pick up said weapon when he had saw the only witness; her. His cold grey eyes as stared her down without saying a word. She knew then, in that moment, that the next victim would be his only witness. Her.
She started to cry again out of pure fear and Hubble patted her back comfortingly, nodding in compassion. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up so soon. You must be traumatized." She leaned over and started crying on his shoulder. Even though he was a germ-o-phobe, and everything in him was screaming to get away from her snot and tears, he stayed put. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He paused, taking a quick look at the body, which the police were now carrying away. He looked back at the shaken director then closed his eyes. "...I hope..."
+++
"So, how are we gunna do this?" Sweetie asked staring at Rarity's laptop screen in the second bedroom. Bloom and Scootaloo were looking over her shoulder at the map of Philadelphia that was currently on the screen. "I mean, we can't just go around and ask people if they're a psychopath, right?"
"Duh." Scootaloo responded. "We're gonna investigate the people at the scene first. That'll probably help us out the most."
Sweetie nodded and opened up a drawer, grabbing a piece of lined paper and a pen. "Okay, so...the people they interviewed...."
"There was two of 'em." Apple Bloom said, "Florie Cut an Hubble, a struggling actor."
"...ruggling....ack........ter...." Sweetie voiced, finishing up what she was writing. She put the pen aside and opened a new tab to try and find out more information on the two. Unfortunately, as soon as she hit enter for 'Florie Cut', her phone started to ring. She looked at her friends then tried to see past the closed door to where her bag was.
She went to grab it, answering it on the fourth ring. "Hello?"
"Hi, Sweetie Belle," Rarity's voice came, only the tiniest bit of annoyance laced throughout her words. "I fear this might be taking a tad longer than expected. This agent is...well...she's being very difficult on where to put my shop."
In the background, Sweetie could hear someone knocking on hollow wood. "You almost done? Ready to make a deal?" A muffled voice asked.
"Uh...yes! Just a moment, please!" Rarity called back. To Sweetie, she continued, speaking softer than before. "She's also very pushy....but I'm not sure how to let her down nicely." Sweetie blinked, no sure what the point of this call was. "I just wanted to let you know I'll probably be back an hour later than expected. I want you three in bed and asleep by the time I'm back."
Sweetie hesitated; if she wanted them asleep, it would mean they'd have to stop they're research now . "Uhh....sure...yeah, we can do that..."
"Sweetie? Are you up to something?" Rarity asked immediately. "I know that tone in your voice and the way you hesitated usually means trouble."
Sweetie began to mentally freak out, as she didn't particularly like to lie, especially to her sister. "No, of course not!" She said, forcing a happy tone, "we're just watching the marathon and I got distracted, is all. Okay? Okay. Love ya! Bye!" She quickly hung up the phone and relayed the news to her friends.
"Can't we just pretend to sleep?" Scootaloo asked, "It's worked before and it could probably work now."
Sweetie hesitated, thinking out the possibilities. Most of them were bad, but, at the same time, she felt like they wouldn't get another chance to do this again. "I guess..." Sweetie said finally, "I just hope Rarity doesn't see what we're trying to do..."
