Equestria Noir Case 3 "Brothers in Blood"

by Jacoboby1

Chapters

Chapter 1: B.B.B.F.F.
Chapter 2: Evidence
Chapter 3:Discovery
Chapter 4: Forgery and Prejudice
Chapter 5 Killer King
Epilogue

Chapter 1: B.B.B.F.F.

Equestria Noir

Case 3

“Brothers in Blood”

Chapter 1

“B.B.B.F.F.”

I opened my eyes to stare up at Twilight’s ceiling. I was lying on her couch. The blanket I had was long discarded to the floor. I never sat still when I slept; it drove Twilight crazy for the first couple of nights since I became essentially her roommate. She’d have to learn to put up with it for a while at least.

Under normal circumstances I would’ve leapt for joy at the thought of a mare wanting to share a house with me. But this was Twilight and she wasn’t the best roommate I’ve ever had. She would often spend late nights studying, keeping me up with her candle flickering from her room. I never complained but it was a small peeve I had with her.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that Twilight is willing to share her home with me. In fact I'm a little too grateful about it. I just found it harder and harder lately to resist the temptation to join her in for a “Private Study Session”. No pun intended.

I rolled over off of the couch and shook my head to get rid of the sleepiness. I put the blanket back in its cupboard where it belongs. I didn’t want Twilight to accuse me of being a bad guest. I looked up as Twilight descended the stairs from her room. Her mane in a state of bedhead few have ever seen.

“Morning Private, sleep well?” She said trying to be polite.

“I slept fine, though you really shouldn’t stay up so late at night” I said honestly

She shook her head “I had to send a report about last week's case to the Princess last night” She yawned a little “Sorry if I disturbed you”

I shook my head “I could’ve helped Twilight, I could’ve wrote a fine report to the Princess”

She smirked “As your assistant I can tell you that your ability to write letters is lacking. As your friend I can tell you that you should just leave the letter writing to me”

“If you say so Twi, where’s Spike?” I said looking around.

“He’s helping out Rarity today; luckily Owyloysius is capable of covering for his work” She said after fixing her mane with a brush.

I looked over at Twilight’s pet owl. I don’t know why but the nocturnal avian gave me the creeps. Maybe it was just the eyes or the fact he could only say “Who?” he was a case for another day though. I shook my head and looked back to Twilight as she went to work at her desk.

Twilight looked at me for a sec “You know that spare room is available if you want it”

I shook my head “I couldn’t ask you to do that, I’m already imposing by staying on your couch”

Twilight shook her head and smiled a little “I don’t see it as imposing, you’re a guest in my humble abode”

“I’m the one who should be humble” I said while levitating some books that fell off of the shelf.

“You sound like you have something on your mind” Twilight said looking away from her desk to look at me.

“No, nothing just got a letter from a partner of mine” I said moving on to the next pile of books.

“You had a partner?” Twilight said her curiosity kicking in on cue.

“Several in fact, this one was my protégé for a long time” I said simply

“Why’d you make such a fuss about me joining you then?” Twilight said walking to me. “If you’ve teamed up with other ponies before it shouldn’t have been a problem”

“That was...I’d rather not talk about it” I said not looking at Twilight.

Twilight was about to protest then she nodded. “I understand. Another mystery to add to the conundrum that is Private Eye” she said grumbling.

Just then the phone rang. I insisted Twilight get one in case we got a case call while away from the office. Twilight ran to answer it. She held it up to her ear with her magic. “Ponyville Town Library, this is Twilight Sparkle how can I help you?”

I let Twilight talk on the phone as I noticed a book she dropped on her way out from her bedroom. I levitated it to eye level and saw the title.

The Conundrum of Private Eye

I looked over to Twilight as she kept talking on the phone. I at least had the right to see what Twilight wrote about me. Right? I opened the book to the first page and my grey eyes scanned the writings. There were pictures of me and writings about me. Most of them were about what I did and quotes of what I said. I flushed a little at Twilight’s descriptions of me. She took great care and detail in trying to piece together things about me. The whole thing reminded me of my notebook during a case. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or creeped out about this book. I closed the book quickly and put it back where I found it.

I tried to shake off what I saw. Then I turned to see Twilight looking at me worried.

“Private!” She ran to me “My brother! He’s being accused of murder!”

“Your brother? ShiningArmor?”

“Do I have another brother I don’t know about?! Come on!” She grabbed me by the trench coat with her teeth and started dragging me out the door.

“Twilight! Twilight!” I said as she dragged me.

“What?!” Twilight said stopping suddenly

“You left the lights on and the door open” I said pointing with my hoof at the door standing agape.

Twilight flushed “Oh”

________________________________

“So where are we going again?” I said as the landscape of Equestria rolled by in the window. The Train we were on wasn’t first class but neither of us cared at this point.

“Canterlot, that’s where the crime scene is” Twilight said looking out the window anxiously.

“You said the suspect was ShiningArmor? Isn’t he the guy who got married a few months ago?”

“Yeah that was him, I just know there’s gotta be some mistake here” Twilight said leaning back in her chair.

“Tell me about him I never met the guy personally” I said taking out my notebook out of habit.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly the most social pony in the world. So Shining and I were the best of friends. He was my B.B.B.F.F.”

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever?” I said in an almost sing-song tone.

Twilight’s jaw dropped a little “How did you guess?”

“Tailspin called me that one time” I smiled and said proudly “I won the best brother in the world contest 6 times in a row”

“I’d have to see the judges on that one” Twilight said chuckling a little.

“Did Shining contact you at all about this?" I said while writing in my notebook. "Did he give any hint that he would be performing a crime?”

Twilight shook her head “He’d just got married. He and I haven’t talked much since he got back from his honeymoon by the coast. I wanted to respect his privacy as he got spend time with Cadence. Even then when I did talk to him it was only just a ‘Hi how are you doing’ more than anything else”

“So he didn’t tell you anything prior to this?” I said taking note.

“This guy didn’t even tell me he was getting married until the day of. I think he deserves a little leeway” Twilight said frowning.

“If you say so, let’s try to find out what we can” I said closing my notebook.

“Private, thanks for helping out with this case” Twilight said smiling a little, her violet eyes gazing at me. "It really mean a lot to me"

I flushed a little at that then smiled “No-no problem” Luna! I was acting like an idiot!

_________________________________

The crime scene wasn’t hard to find at all. Twilight and I found the old apartment building. It was fairly old with only a few stories and a flat roof. Twilight and I ascended the steps and I flashed my badge at the two uniforms guarding the door. We entered the crime scene and I smiled when I saw Forceps kneeling to look at the corpse.

“You sure you aren’t following us Forceps?” I said as I walked to Forceps who was bending over the body of a forest green pony with an emerald mane. I also noticed his cutie mark was of a sword.

“Nope sonny” Forceps said chuckling “I just came for the stiff”

“What have we got?” I said pulling out my magnifying glass.

Forceps stood up and looked at me “Stallion, I’d say adult and judging by his build I’d say he was a soldier”

“Do you have a cause of death?” I said examining the body with my magnifying glass.

Forceps nodded “Strangulation by magic”

“Magic?” Twilight said looking at Forceps who nodded grimly.

“See those marks around his neck?” He gestured to the faint lines on the victim's neck “They ain’t hoof marks, and there’s a little magical residue surrounding the marks. Signs of telekinesis”

I looked at Forceps “Magic leaves behind this dust?” I said using a swab to pick up some of the dust surrounding the marks on the stiff’s neck. I tossed the swab to a uniform.

Twilight nodded “Yeah, you have no idea how long it takes to clean up”

I stood up and looked at Forceps “Do we have an ID?”

Twilight looked at the corpse then at me “I know who he is, this is Sharpblade. He and my brother were partners in the royal guard”

“Did you know him personally?” I said looking at her.

“Not really, he visited occasionally but I didn’t really talk to him”

I turned to Forceps “Who found the body?”

He gestured to a uniform sitting by himself “Officer Frisk over there. A neighbor called it in when she heard a noise coming from the room”

“Thanks Forceps, if you find anything else let me know” I walked over to the uniform and he saluted. He was a young cop just out of college with a brown coat and a striking red mane. He reminded me a little of myself when I joined the force.

“Officer Frisk sir” the uniform said firmly.

“You found the body?”

“Yeah, me and my partner found it”

I pulled out my notebook and started writing “Tell me what happened”

“My partner and I got a call about a noise complaint at this apartment. When we arrived we heard yelling coming from the apartment. When we tried to open the door it was locked. So we yelled for somepony to open the door. Then we started hearing sounds like somepony being choked. We then bucked down the door and saw the suspect standing over the victim”

Twilight looked at Frisk “You’re sure it was my brother?”

Frisk nodded “I remember seeing his face in the paper when the wedding happened. So yeah, I’m very sure it was him”

“Did you hear any strange noises coming from the room other than the choking?” I said writing everything down.

“Aside from a pony being choked to death? Nu uh I just remember the door being a pain in the ass to open” Frisk said shrugging

I turned to Twilight “Have a look at the door and see if there’s anything strange about it”

Twilight’s horn glowed as she ran a scanning spell on the door. Her violet eyes widened after a minute. “Somepony used a sealing spell on the door, not a good one but enough to stop anypony trying to enter”

Frisk nodded “That would explain why it took two bucks to knock down the door”

I nodded and turned back to Frisk “Alright, you and the rest of the uniforms comb this area and see what else you can find, also start knocking on doors to see if anypony saw our suspect come in”

________________________________

“Twilight if you want to hang back I wouldn’t blame you” I said as we walked down Canterlot Lane.

She shook her lavender head “I’m going to help prove Shining didn’t do it”

“You have an awful lot of faith in your brother” I said observing

“Of course I do, Shinning would never do anything like this” She said firmly

I nodded and looked around at the various houses “So you said his home was somewhere around here?”

Twilight nodded then gestured with her hoof at a small house on a hill. “That’s a home they’re staying at until their house is built. Shining and Cadence want to build a house in the mountains together”

“Let’s see if the lovely wife is willing to make a house call” I said walking to the house. I raised my hoof and knocked on the door.

After about a minute there she was. Princess Mi’amore Cadenza was standing before me. She was a very beautiful pony a couple of years older than me. She had a soft pink coat and a multi colored mane with white, purple and gold colors. Anypony would stop right in their tracks if they saw her, but right now though she wasn’t looking like she was going on a night on the town. Judging by the sorry state of her eyes she’d heard the news already. I took off my fedora and looked at the pink Alicorn standing before me. Her violet eyes were already starting to well up with tears.

“Your highness, I’m Private Eye. I can tell you’ve already heard news of your husband-” The princess ran right past me and embraced Twilight. Twilight returned the hug and the two sobbed into each other's coats. I stared at the two of them then understanding gripped me. Twilight was close not only to the captain of the royal guard but royalty as well. Right now, they both just needed each other. I didn’t say anything as they cried into each other.

_________________________________

“I apologize Detective, it’s just, all so horrible” Cadence said sitting in front of me. She was sitting on a small blue couch in front of me. The house we were in was nothing extravagant, just a one bedroom house to serve as a temporary shelter until the couple had their house built. I was sitting on a small chair in front of her trying to give what little comfort I could give.

“Don’t apologize your highness, your reaction is perfectly normal” I said giving the princess a small smile.

Twilight was sitting beside her sister in law. She laid a hoof on the princess’ shoulder for comfort. “It’s alright Cadence, Private is here to help”

The pink Alicorn nodded then looked at me .Her eyes were no longer waterworks but you could tell she was going through a lot at this point. “Thank you detective, if you don’t mind I would like to be called Cadence”

“Sure Cadence” I said taking out my notebook. “Could you start with when you last saw your husband?”

Cadence nodded “I haven’t seen him since yesterday actually; he got up early this morning before me”

Twilight raised an eyebrow “I literally had to put a brick on his head to get him up one time. Shining never gets up early”

I looked at Cadence “Has your husband been acting odd lately aside from him suddenly becoming an early riser?”

Cadence looked at me “Yes actually, Shining has been acting on edge lately. Though I mostly left it up to nerves”

“Moving on: The victim was Sharpblade...do you know him at all?” I said

Cadence’s eyes grew wide “Sharpblade is dead!? Celestia....”

My eyes narrowed “I take it you knew him”

Cadence looked at me then nodded “Yes, he was my ex somepony...”

“I can guess that you two did not part on the best of terms” I said looking at the princess, Twilight was giving me this odd expression that I couldn’t read.

“No we didn’t, Sharpblade was Shinning’s friend back when he was training for the royal guard. That was how I met Sharpblade. We dated for a while then...”

“You tossed him out like last week’s hay?” I said

“Private!” Twilight said indignantly

Cadence looked at Twilight “Twilight please” Twilight’s ears flattened in relent. Cadence looked at me then spoke firmly “Yes, after a while it became apparent that I loved Shining far more than Sharpblade”

I looked at Cadence “I think I’d appreciate a little context. Could you explain how you and Shining met?”

Cadence sat back in her chair “It was back when I was a filly. My aunt Celestia said her student needed somepony to watch her” Cadence smiled at a blushing Twilight. “Shining made it quite apparent he didn’t want me around though”

“I thought you two were in love” I said

“That’s what the tabloids will tell you” Cadence said laughing a little. “Truth is we couldn’t stand each other initially. Shining would always argue with me every time the subject of Twilight was brought up”

Twilight flushed a little more “I didn’t realize I caused you two so much trouble”

“Not your fault Twilight” Cadence said smiling “We were both just too stubborn to give up on you”

I nodded writing all this down. It was more for my own sake then the sake of the case. I was a sucker for an interesting love story. “So how did you guys come to accept each other?”

Cadence sighed “One night Shining and I got into this huge argument over who would watch Twilight that night. Twilight overhears us arguing and decides to run away to get away from us arguing”

“You did that Twilight?” I said looking at Twilight in a new light

She flushed a little more “I was a filly at the time and not the brightest one at that. I thought they were arguing over something I did. I just couldn’t stand the two of them arguing and I wanted them to stop”

Cadence smiled “Good thing you did because both Shining and I found her together. Since then we realized we both cared about Twilight equally. That's...what led us together” Cadence smiled and I could see her absently twisting her horn ring with her magic. She was reminiscing, something that'll help her turn her focus away from the sorrow of the situation.

“Is that what led you two to fall in love?” I said

Cadence flushed a little but nodded “Yes, but not immediately. I was still young and I could never admit how I felt to Shining. He wouldn’t admit he cared for me either. I was afraid it would ruin our friendship or worse”

“What caused you two to finally fall for each other?”

Cadence looked at me with her violet eyes. She closed them as her memory came to that day long ago. “It was several years later. Shining went off to train to become a royal guard and I went on to become a full time princess. Sharpblade would ask me out one day and for a long time we were dating”

Twilight looked at Cadence “You never told me you dated anypony before Shining”

Cadence shook her head “It is not a good time for anypony to remember. Sharpblade wanted...more from me. I wasn’t willing to give it to him...”

I nodded “So he tried to force himself upon you...?”

Twilight glared at me but relented again at Cadence’s gaze. Cadence slowly nodded. “Yes, though when Shinning found out he was going to do it he was furious. He came storming into my room during the whole thing. Said ‘get the heck off her!’ Than he ripped Sharpblade off me and told Sharpblade that he was never to hurt me again. I’ve been in love with my knight in Shining Armor ever since”

Twilight’s eyes glowed in admiration “That’s my brother alright”

My eyes however narrowed “Gives him strong reason...”

Cadence raised an eyebrow “I’m sorry detective?”

“If I knew my wife was being stalked or something I would want to take action...”

Twilight glared at me “What are you suggesting?”

“Just saying this would give him a strong reason to kill Sharpblade. Did Sharpblade send you anything...incriminating Cadence?” I said looking at the princess.

“You can’t seriously think Shining would kill over something as foalish as this! This is my sister in law we’re talking about here!” Twilight said getting up from her couch to march over to me. I stood up as well and returned her glare. “That was years ago and you don’t have proof that Sharpblade threatened Cadence”

I frowned “I’m not accusing, merely speculating”

“Well don’t speculate without proof Private! Or did you forget your own words?” Twilight said her brows furrowed

“You got any other good reasons why a body of Shining’s enemy is dead at a scene he was at?” I said my own brows furrowing

“Again, you don’t have proof so don’t accuse my brother!”

“He’s already being accused I’m just trying to figure out if he could have done it”

“Newsflash Private, not everypony agrees with what you think all the time”

“Why you inconsiderate little-”

“Go ahead! Finish that sentence Preventus!” She said incredulously

“Nopony calls me Preventus!” I said my fury reaching a boiling point.

“Preventus! Preventus! Preventus!” She said in a mocking sing song tone that made me want to strangle her.

“Why I outta smack you ar-”

Suddenly I felt like I was hit in the neck by something small. Suddenly I looked at Twilight and...Oh boy. It was like every flaw I could think of about Twilight just melted away. I was in the presence of a goddess among ponies before me. I gazed into her violet eyes and swam in them like the ocean. Her coat glistened like stars in the night sky. I drank in her every feature and I felt my heart beating like a brass drum. She returned my gaze and slowly smiled as well. It was probably the most beautiful smile, no wait it was THE most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.

“Twilight, I’ve never noticed...how...beautiful you are...”

Twilight smiled in turn “I’ve never noticed how handsome you look Private...”

I could drink her essence in fore- wait! What the hell!?

We both shook our heads as the effects of whatever just happened wore off. Twilight glared at Cadence who was holding a hoof in front of her mouth trying not to giggle.

“Cadence!!” Twilight shouted indignantly

The princess giggled “Sorry, old habits die hard...”

Chapter 2: Evidence

Chapter 2

“Evidence”

“Could somepony please explain what just happened?” I said looking from a giggling Cadence to a fuming Twilight.

Cadence smiled at me “I have the power to reinforce the love two ponies have for each other”

“Which she shouldn’t have used on me without asking!” Twilight said still fuming

“You can create love?” I asked looking at the pink princess curiously.

Cadence shook her head “Nopony can create love; I simply remind the two ponies why they fell in love with each other in the first place. My power doesn’t work if the love isn’t there” She finished that last bit with a smirk.

Twilight and I looked at each other then quickly turned away. Suddenly my coat felt hot with embarrassment. Did I love Twilight? If what Cadence said is true…Damn it! Why was I so concerned about this? So what if Twilight feels strongly for like I do her? Did it help with the case? Hell no.

I looked at Cadence “Before this whole incident began you said Shining was on edge? Can you think of anything that would cause him to act like that?”

Cadence tapped her chin with her hoof then shook her head “I can’t think of anything aside from…” She looked at Twilight then back to me.

“Aside from what?” I said my eyebrow rising.

Cadence looked down at her hooves “I wanted to tell Twilight this later but…”

Twilight looked at her sister in law with a worried expression “If you and Shining are in any trouble Cadence…”

Cadence shook her head “No it’s not that” A smile slowly came to her face “It’s actually good news”

Twilight smiled “Well I’m here now so tell me, so what’s the good news?”

Cadence smiled a little “Well, Shining and I…we’ve been together for quite some time and we…bore fruit”

Realization dawned on both me and Twilight, our eyes became wide and we both said at the same time “YOU’RE PREGNANT!?”

Cadence smiled happily “Yes, I was looking for the opportunity to tell you Twilight”

Twilight looked dumbfounded “Whe-when did you find out!?”

“Only about a week ago, you’re going to be an aunt Twilight” The princess said smiling with glee.

Twilight’s jaw dropped “I’m….you...and Shining…me...an aunt...Oh Celestia”

I caught Twilight with my leg before she could faint on the ground. This was obviously a shock to her. I know I would be shocked if I found out my brother and foal sitter were doing it. I gently wrapped a shocked Twilight in my magic and set her down on the couch. She was muttering incoherently about the craziness of it all.

“Will she be okay?” Cadence asked looking at Twilight worriedly.

“I haven’t seen her this dumbfounded since she tried to watch Ponception” I said dryly. I turned to Cadence and I was back in detective mode. “You don’t mind if I look through some of Shining’s things do you? I could find a clue as to why he’s been on edge”

Cadence nodded “I’ll take you to our room then”

We walked into a small bedroom. The place had a simply twin bed and a desk. Nothing extravagant but then again this was only a temporary place for the couple. I looked at Cadence “The desk belongs to Shining?”

She nodded “Yes, he uses it as a letter writing desk mostly. Keeps up with all his friends in the guard”

I walked to the desk and used my magic to open the drawers and began sifting through the contents. Nothing inside was of much interest, in between bills, letters from comrades in the guard and love letters to Cadence that I left unopened to respect the couple’s privacy nothing stood out. Then I got to the bottom. I lifted the letter before my eyes and read it.

Shining

You have no right to Cadence and you know it! I will never forget how you stole her from me that night! I won’t stop until she is mine once again. Shining, I know we were friends once but this is the ultimate act of betrayal. Marrying the mare I love and making a public spectacle of it! Have you any decency left anymore? I want you to know I will not stop pursuing her until the day one of us is dead!

Your former friend

Sharp blade

“Sounds like Sharp blade didn’t know when to back off” I thought to myself. I put the letter inside my trench coat and kept digging, I found more letters from Sharp blade, all spouting out words that were laced with hatred and feelings of betrayal. Looks like Shining took great care in hiding these; I almost missed several of them in the drawers. So this confirmed my theory about Shining being on edge because of Sharp.

I looked around the room some more and found more letters like them, no responses from Shining though then again CSU might find them at Sharp’s apartment. I turned back to Cadence “I think I’m done here, I’m going to go talk to Shining over at the detention center”

She nodded and her violet eyes looked at me in earnest “If you do see him, tell him I still love him”

I nodded in turn “Even if he killed Sharp?”

Cadence looked at me then down on her hoofs then back to me. “I can’t explain it Private, but I know in my heart Shining didn’t do it”

My expression was neutral “I’ll see what I can find out from him then”

Cadence looked at me “Also, keep Twilight safe for me will you?”

This caught me off guard “Sure, of course I will why wouldn’t I?”

Cadence slowly smiled then turned around “My spell only works if the love is there…”

The room suddenly felt like a furnace.
____________________________________

It was a long and awkward walk to the detention center. Neither I nor Twilight was willing to talk about what happened at the house. I gave Twilight the letters to occupy herself with reading them. I wasn’t in the mood or the mindset to dwell on Cadence’s spell. So we just kept walking silently until we got to the detention center.

Once inside a guard told us where Shining was being kept. Twilight ran like as if a Manticore was chasing after her. I followed behind and we came to the visiting area. On the other side of the glass was Shining armor. He was a stallion a bit older then I was. He was tall, had a dark blue mane and deep blue eyes. His horn was a sectioned horn like mine and he was well muscled from years in the royal guard. Twilight ran up to the glass. “Shining! Please tell me you didn’t do it!” She said in a pleading voice.

His blue eyes turned to her “Twilli! It’s great to see you!” He smiled “I’ve been hoping to see you again though not like this”

“You didn’t answer my question you idiot!” Twilight said indignantly “Did you kill Sharp blade?!”

Shining Armor shook his head “No I didn’t! I don’t remember what happened but everypony thinks I killed him!”

I gently pushed Twilight aside and looked at the guard before me “Shining Armor, I’m Detective Private Eye; I was hired to help solve this case”

Shining looked at me then realization hit his face “So you’re the detective Twilley wouldn’t stop talking about”

“Is that right?” I looked at Twilight, her face flush with embarrassment. “Shining you say you didn’t kill Sharp Blade?”

“I didn’t kill him! I hated the guy’s guts but I didn’t kill him!”

I looked at Twilight “Twi, let me talk to him alone”

Twilight was about to protest when she caught a look from Shining, she relented and stepped out. I turned to Shining and sat down in a chair opposite him.

“You say you didn’t kill him but two witnesses will testify that you were there with the body how do you explain that?”

Shining shook his head “I was going to meet him today but it wasn’t to kill him”

“Cadence let me look through your drawers”

“How is she?” He was as desperate for answers as I was. But I wasn't going to let him slide out of my questioning.

“Don’t change the subject Shining, I found letters in your drawers that were from Sharp Blade. Many were dating back to months before the wedding, all threatening and degrading both to you and your wife”

Shining looked at me “Yeah, I got the letters and I was going to talk to him about it this morning”

“To tell him to back off?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t kill over it”

“I already told you I didn’t kill him!”

“Then who was the pony two officers will testify was in there at the exact hour Sharp Blade was killed”

“That was me but I didn’t kill him!”

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know, I just remember going to the apartment and then…blank”

“You don’t remember?” I said suspiciously

“I know you don’t believe me. Nopony does but I don’t remember what happened between me arriving at the apartment and me standing over my former friend’s corpse”

I wanted to believe him, but temporary amnesia is not exactly a solid alibi. I didn’t have enough evidence to get Shining off the hook so I decided to approach from a different angle. “So if you didn’t kill him, is there anypony else who would want to kill Sharp Blade?”

The white stallion thought for a moment “Sharp Blade was never the friendliest pony but I can’t think of any enemies he might’ve had”

“Did he have any friends I can talk to?”

“He did have a mare friend at one time but I don’t think they're seeing each other anymore”

“Can you give an address to find her?” I said sliding a piece of paper under the glass. Shining lifted a pen with his magic and began writing it down.

“This was her address the last time I saw her. Her name was Ocean Breeze, she’s a soap maker”

“How do a soap maker and a guard get together?”

“Beats me, their relationship didn’t last though. Only a couple of month’s worth”

I took the paper after he was finished writing “Thanks, I’ll see where this leads”

Shining looked at me as I got up. His blue eyes were searching me. “Tell me, is Cadence alright?”

I didn’t say anything for a bit then the words came out “She still loves you”

I stepped out of the room without saying another word.
_________________________________________________

“I can’t believe you would put my brother through all that!” Twilight said as we walked down a canterlot street.

“I got the information and that’s what counts Twilight” I said flatly

“What counts? Private this is my brother we’re talking about! You can’t treat him like a criminal!”

“According to the evidence we’ve gathered so far it’s starting to look like it” I said, again flatly

“Don’t you have a heart? My brother could go to jail because of this” Twilight said looking at me

“Not my problem”

“What?!”

“I said it’s not my problem if he goes to jail or not”

“How can you say that Private!? Shining is my brother he would never do anything like this!”

“Newsflash Twilight, ponies change”

“How can you be so insensitive!? Don’t you care whether or not ponies go to jail or not!?” Twilight said getting right in front of me.

“I do care, though I can’t argue with evidence Twilight. If the evidence points to Shining being the murderer then that’s that”

Twilight’s violet eyes flared with rising fury “I’m not going to stand here and let you accuse my brother of something he didn't do!”

“Then find the evidence! Twilight the first rule of detective work is that ponies lie! Evidence can’t lie!” I marched on not even bothering to look at Twilight.

I knocked on the door of a small house at Canterlot Lane. The door was opened by a pretty young mare with a short blue mane and soft coral colored coat. She had a cutie mark which depicted a piece of soap. She looked at me with coral colored eyes.

“Can I help you?” She said in a rather rough sounding voice.

“Are you Ocean Breeze?” I said

“Yes and you are?”

“I’m Detective Private Eye; I’m investigating the murder of Sharp Blade”

“Sharp Blade is dead?” She said inquisitively

“Yes and I would like to ask a few questions” I said simply

“Come in then, I won’t have any clients in a while”

She had me and Twilight sit on a coach the place smelled strongly of soap and oils. I might want to come back here after the case to sample some products. I watched as Ocean sat in front of us in a chair.

I explained to her what evidence we had and spoke “Where were you this morning when Sharp Blade died?”

Ocean looked down then back up “I was…at the apartment when he died”

“You were there?!” Twilight exclaimed in astonishment. I to was surprised at this.

Chapter 3:Discovery

Chapter 3

“Discovery”

“What were you doing there at the apartment Ocean?” I said holding my notebook out.

“I was going to tell Sharpblade to stop pursuing Cadence…” Ocean said her rough voice giving little away.

“You knew about the letters Sharpblade had been sending to Shining Armor?” Twilight said looking at the coral colored mare.

The coral colored unicorn nodded “Yes, I have known for a long time”

I looked at Ocean curiously “Could you describe your relationship with Sharpblade?”

Ocean sighed “We started dating about a month back but we’ve known each other for years. We both grew up in Canterlot and I was his friend as a child”

“When did you two start becoming more then just friends?” I said

Ocean was quiet for a second; I could notice her left front hoof was shaking a little. “When Cadence happened…”

“Sharpblade and Cadence were in a relationship for a while before she started dating Shining” Twilight said her hoof on her chin in thought.

Ocean glared at Twilight “All he could ever talk about was Cadence this and Cadence that! How beautiful she is! How wonderful and loving she is! How damn sexy her flank was on a moonlit night! He never even once thought of the mare that stood by his side all these years!” Twilight shrank a little at that outburst. I felt I might need a change of barding.

My eyebrow rose at this “And after Cadence broke things off with him he ran to you for comfort…”

Ocean’s eyes were downcast “Yes, for a while anyway. But it wasn’t long before Sharpblade started talking about Cadence again…We broke up soon after I brought it up with him”

“So why were you at his apartment then? You said you’ve only been dating for a short time”

“I was going tell him off for dating me while on the rebound. But when I arrived there early this morning I found Shining entering the apartment building. I didn’t want to talk with the husband of Cadence” Her hoof started shaking again at the mention of Cadence. “So I left”

“You’re sure it was Shining?”

Ocean nodded “Yes, he was wearing his royal guard uniform. I’d recognize the uniform anywhere. Sharpblade wore one just like when he was in the royal guard”

________________________________________________________________

“Did you see the glare she gave me?” Twilight said as we walked out of Ocean’s apartment after the interview. “She looked ready to kill me”

“I’m guessing some grudges can never be let go”

“You think she could’ve killed Sharpblade?” Twilight asked looking at me.

I tilted my head in thought “She did have motive certainly, but I didn’t see anything at the crime scene that could point us directly to her. Though she does have a very strong motive to kill Sharpblade and she looked ready to kill”

“Love really is a double edged sword isn’t it?” Twilight said sighing

“’For it can create eternal joy but also bring about eternal sorrow’” I said smiling

Twilight’s eyes grew wide “How’d you hear that?”

“Alder Pony? He’s one of my favorite writers”

“Mine to! I didn’t know you were into reading” Her eyes sparkled a little

“You were always too busy with your nose in books to notice I was reading some of the ones you threw aside” I said snidely

Twilight flushed a little “It’s nice to know I’m not the only egghead in the world”

I looked at Twilight and smiled “Reading is a skill that should never be lost to the ages”

Twilight frowned “Okay you totally stole that from Canterson”

I laughed as we trotted on.
________________________________________

We stopped in the center of Canterlot Lane I turned to Twilight. “Okay, I’m going to run by the morgue and see what Forceps found, you go and investigate the crime scene again. This time look for anything that could trace us to Ocean being there.

Twilight nodded “I’ll see what I can find”

I looked over Twilights shoulder and saw a sight I didn’t want to see. There sitting at a café’s table was a white stallion with black spots on his body. A cutie mark of a pair of dice was on his flank and he sported a grim expression. I nodded to Twilight as she walked away.

I walked to the café and sat down in front of him. His green eyes looked at me with something between pity and loathing. I can imagine my eyes were more leaning toward loathing.

He finally decided to speak “Long time, no see Private”

“Vegas, I thought you were in Fillydelphia” I said my voice level

“I’m on leave, something you should consider once in a while” Vegas said looking at me with some contempt.

“What do you want Vegas? I’m in the middle of a case” I my eyes returning the contempt with a vengeance.

“Came here to save your ass from doing something stupid” He said sipping some coffee.

“Are you going to tell me to back off from this case? Because it isn’t going to work in a million years”

“You really are an idiot aren’t you? A week ago you arrested royalty! Royalty! You realize how many ponies relied on Blueblood?”

“I don’t care that he’s royalty. He was a scumbag who orchestrated the capture of a young filly from her home. I’m not about to let that fly while I still breathe”

“You really don’t know when to back down and let things happen do you?”

“That’s where you and I differ Vegas” I said

“You haven’t changed a bit have you Private" He smiled wickedly "Been years since Vice”

“Don’t you even think of bringing up what happened at Vice” I said my voice a growl that would make Shinebadge proud. “Now what the hell do you want?”

“The hell I want is for you to really consider letting Shining take the fall”

“Let him take the fall? What are you getting at?”

“There are a lot of ponies who would be very grateful if you just looked the other way” Vegas said with a sneer coming to his face that made me want to buck him to the moon.

“I never look the other way, for anything!” I walked away not looking back. Vegas made me feel tainted every time that slime ball opened his mouth.

I shook my head; I couldn’t let Vegas get under my coat now. The guy was scum but he was scum that I could handle. Or at least ignore to the point where it didn’t become a problem. He opened an old scar when he brought up Vice. Just when I thought those scars were starting to heal to.
_________________________________________________

“Vegas tried to talk you out of the case eh?” Forceps said as he was looking over Sharpblade’s body.

“Didn’t work” I said

“I didn’t think so; you always were a stubborn one Private. Though you are right, I don’t trust Vegas as far as I can throw him”

“Why do you think he wanted me to back off? He said the same thing a while back with Sweetie Belle’s case”

Forceps shrugged his dark shoulders “Could be a number of things, Shining is a member of the royal guard, should he end up in jail it would be a huge scandal for the entire royal guard”

I shook my head “I’m not about to back down until this case is done though, this whole thing with Ocean is making me second guess the case”

“Well what doesn’t need second guessing is the cause of this stiff becoming a stiff” Forceps gestured with his hoof for me to come over. I did so and looked at the green stallion’s neck. Forceps gestured with a pointer to the marks on the neck. “Cause of death was strangulation by magic, done mere minutes before Shining was found”

“Anything else strange about the body aside from the very cruel way of going out?” I said looking at the stiff-I mean body.

“Well, there are very little bruises on the body so I don’t think there was much of a struggle”

“So Sharpblade let himself get strangled?”

“No, he was taken by surprise if my hunch is right. He wasn’t expecting to get strangled he let his guard down for one second and then” He mimed being choked to death which brought a nervous chuckle to my lips.

“If he let his guard down he must’ve known the pony that was strangling him” I observed.

“I hate to say it Private but the evidence really is starting to point to Shining” Forceps said. I nodded in agreement.

I returned to the apartment and found Twilight with her horn aglow. Her magic was running up and down the place like a scanner. I was again impressed by her control over her magic. I was a unicorn sure but I could never hope to do the kind of magic Twilight was capable of. Best I could hope for was scanning spells which I was always good at. Twilight on the other hoof could teleport, scry, and perform great magical feats like another pony would breathing. I tapped Twilight on the shoulder and she turned to look at me.

“Any luck?” I said hopefully

Twilight nodded “Quite a bit actually, I talked to the doorman and both Ocean and Shining were seen in the building at the time of the murder”

I raised an eyebrow “Funny, Ocean never mentioned going inside the building”

“I was curious about that to” Twilight said turning to a small table she laid out “Then I found this”

Twilight held up a small business card it was for Ocean’s soap shop. “The doorman remembers her leaving this behind at the front desk. She was talking about her business with him before left”

“So she left the building then what?”

“I looked outside in the alley just below the window and found more magic dust”

“I do remember Ocean being a unicorn”

“She used magic teleport up there”

“How do you know that?” I said looking at the odd device.

Twilight held up a plastic bag with a hair the same shade as Ocean’s mane. “Found it window cill. Luckily the wind didn’t blow it away”

I smiled “This evidence proves that Ocean was here but did she perform the strangulation spell as well?”

Twilight nodded and held up a plastic bag with a small amount of powder in it “I found it on the floor, cleverly disguised as dust bunnies”

“This could get Ocean put away for life, and with her strong motive the courts would be more than willing to convict her”

Twilight looked at me expectantly “So does this mean Shining’s off the hook?”

“For now this puts the whole case in a brand new light, but yes the evidence seems to sway from Shining to a setup”

We walked back to the Detention center and we presented the Police with Twilight’s newfound evidence. It would take a while for Shining to get off the hook but once it was revealed to be a setup the cops were more lenient with the guy.

Twilight sat next to me in the waiting room. “This is great, Shining will be home soon”

“I’m happy for the guy in all honesty” I said looking at Twilight

“Thanks for helping Private; I’m sorry I argued with you so much on this case”

“You were personally involved; I probably would’ve gotten mad to if somepony tried to accuse Tailspin of a crime”

“What crime can a foal perform that would cause so much trouble?” Twilight said bemused

I frowned “You’d be surprised”

Twilight got up from her seat “Well I’m off to talk to Shining, I’ve got a few words to say to him about my future niece/nephew”

I nodded “Good luck, and word of advice. Foals are trouble until you give them enough cartoons”

Twilight smiled and trotted off to the visitor’s wing. I leaned back in my chair. For some reason I couldn’t relax, there was something too…right about how this case wrapped itself up. I shook my head, I was worrying over nothing. Shining was going to be free and Twilight was happy. Then why couldn’t I shake the feeling that something was wrong?

I looked up and saw Forceps walking toward me his face grim. “Private, may I have a word?”

“Sure” I got up and walked with the old dark stallion. We walked into a hallway and Forceps made sure Nopony was listening in. I looked at the old stallion with my eyebrow raised “What’s up?”

“Private, that hair you found…it was…” Forceps looked to be searching for the right words.

“It did belong to Ocean right? She was at the apartment right?”

Forceps nodded “Yes, months ago”

I looked at Forceps confused “I don’t understand…”

Forceps shook his head “I had CSU run a check on the hair compared to Ocean’s hair…the lengths don’t match”

“What do you mean they don’t match?” I said inquisitively

“I mean it like I say it, the hair you found is significantly longer then the mane Ocean has now”

“Ocean’s mane was longer before?”

Forceps reached into his lab coat “Much longer, take a look at this photo from last year when she got her license renewed” He held up a picture of Ocean and he was right, her mane was much longer then it was when I saw her.

“So the hair we found…?”

“Was from months ago, and the dust we found was also from months ago”

“So she never did go into the apartment on the day of the murder…she wasn’t lying”

Forceps nodded grimly “This evidence…has been forged”

Chapter 4: Forgery and Prejudice

Chapter 4

“Forgery and Prejudice”

I made my way through the halls of the detention center trying to clear my head. Twilight forged evidence to try and get the blame off Shining. She’s risking jail time for obstruction of justice and lying to the police. I felt just this unbridled rage inside of me. How could she be so stupid?!

I found Twilight in the waiting room she turned and saw me walking down. Her face curved into a smile “Hey Private whats-“

I interrupted her and glared at her “Outside, alley, now!”

Twilight looked at me in confusion then followed me outside of the detention center. I took her into a back alley where I knew we would be out of earshot. I turned around and faced Twilight my grey eyes laced with fury.

Twilight looked taken aback and she had every right to be “Private? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong is what you did! How the hell did you think you could get away with something like this!?” I said my voice quiet but my anger was evident.

Twilight didn’t meet my eyes “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t give me those horseapples! You tried to forge evidence to keep Shining from going to prison!”

Twilight met my eyes a little too fast her voice spoke indignantly “How can you accuse me of something like this?! Shining is innocent!”

“I saw the hairs Twilight” Twilight suddenly got quiet at that “Forceps told me they belonged to Ocean but they belonged to her when she stayed at the apartment. You tried to pin the blame on Ocean”

“Private…I…” Twilight was fighting for the right words to say to me and nothing was coming out.

“You realize what this could do to you Twilight?! You’re lucky I didn’t file the evidence otherwise you would’ve been arrested on obstruction of justice!”

“What justice?!” Twilight said her voice rising “My BROTHER is going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit!”

“Twilight we have to look at the evidence! The REAL evidence! All signs point to Shining being there at the scene of the crime! There was dust from his horn there from his spell!”

“Maybe somepony else planted that evidence!”

“Shining also had strong motivation for killing Sharpblade! Sharpblade threatened Cadence and him! Ocean may have had reason as well but she wasn’t lying about not entering the apartment!”

“But the doorman-“

“I called him and he said he never talked to you! You planted words in his mouth to try and get Shining off the hook! I can’t believe you would do something so dishonest Twilight! I trusted you!”

Twilight’s violet eyes were starting to water then she got right in my face. “I trusted YOU to help me get my brother out of jail! I trusted you to prove he was innocent! You were more than happy to help Big Mac and Rarity but suddenly I have a problem and you’re not willing to help!?”

I returned her glare “It’s not MY job to get ponies out of jail! My job is to find criminals and look at the evidence to make conclusions based on that evidence!”

“So this was never about helping ponies was it?!” Twilight said a tear falling from her eye in anger. “It was all about your hunger to find out what happened?!”

“Lawyers help ponies get out of jail! I just try to put the right criminals behind bars!”

“My brother is not a criminal!”

“Newsflash Twilight! Ponies change!”

“I really wish you would change! Can’t you see that you aren’t doing the right thing?”

“Leave it up to philosophers to debate what is right and wrong! My job isn’t to debate it’s just to, again look at the evidence and draw conclusions!”

“Newsflash Private! Evidence can be planted!”

“Have you been listening to me at all!?” I said my rage at a boiling point.

“Yes I have!” Twilight fired back “And all I hear is the most stubborn, stupid, inconsiderate jerk spouting out things that make him feel better! How he can even consider doing the things he’s did on this case is beyond me! Private Eye! You are that jerk!”

“Why you ungrateful, deceitful, hateful…”

“Go ahead! Say it!”

“Bitch!”

Twilight looked at me her eyes alight with fury and tears. She lifted her right hoof and smacked me across the face with it. “You…damn moron…” She ran off after that.

Twilight swore….Twilight never swore. I held my cheek where she slapped me; I sat down on the ground and looked down at my hooves. I felt a raindrop hit the back of my neck and soon the rain came again. Rain…you’ve come again when sorrow is at my doorstep. Oh Celestia, what have I done?
________________________________________________

I sat down on a bar stool. I was nursing a grasshopper for over twenty minutes not even taking a drink. A band was playing some music in the background but I didn’t listen to it. I was too busy in my own little world to notice.

I felt hollow. Without Twilight here to chastise me for drinking alcohol I couldn’t be bothered to enjoy it. I can’t believe half of what I said to her back there. I touched my cheek where she slapped me. The pain had long since dulled but I could still feel the mark there. It felt like a brand on my soul.

I noticed somepony sliding into the bar stool next to me. A familiar golden coat greeted my eyes. I looked up to see that Larksong was sitting next to me. She smiled at me, her blue eyes gazing at me. I turned away from her and returned to nursing my grasshopper.

“No hello? You must’ve really screwed up if you’re not even willing to banter with me” She said in her silk like voice.

“I don’t have the time or desire to” I said not even looking at her.

“Will you at least tell me what’s got you drowning your sorrows?” Larksong said her voice showing a hint of concern.

I turned to her my grey eyes glaring at her. “I screwed up okay?! If you’ve come here to mock me about Twilight you have another thing coming!”

“I already know about Twilight, Shinebadge told me what happened”

I sighed and returned to nursing the grasshopper. “She just wouldn’t listen to me”

Larksong put a hoof on my shoulders, I didn’t react. “You have to understand Private, not everypony can harden themselves when a case comes up like you can”

“So I should’ve just let her forge evidence? Somepony would’ve found out sooner or later" I put a hoof to my face and sighed in frustration "I was just trying to protect her”

“You sound more like you’re trying to convince yourself…” Larksong said in that voice where you can’t tell what she’s thinking.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said looking at her again.

“That maybe you’re just not looking at things from her point of view”

I shook my head “But the evidence…”

“You and I both know that evidence can be planted, sometimes the tools we are given can do more than once function”

I looked at her and smiled a little “Who’s the detective here?”

She returned the smile “Some days I wonder myself, do you ever think back to the old days?”

I took a sip of the grasshopper “Back when I was on the force? I try to forget”

“I remember we would always come to the Neigh Bar if one of your cases hit a dead end”

“I distinctly remember somepony badgering me to create suicide drinks all night” I said smiling a little.

She frowned at me “You never did have a sense of adventure did you?”

“Not when it came to alcohol, drinking was County’s thing”

“Have you heard from anypony after you left? I mean…since Vice”

“Why all this nostalgia talk?”

She tapped me on the shoulder “I was hoping to cheer you up, is it working?”

“A little…” I said begrudgingly

“I see I’m good for something around here”

“Lark, what exactly are you doing here? Why are you here with me?” I said hoping to figure out something about her.

She looked at me with those sapphire eyes of hers, again in a way where you can’t tell what she’s thinking. “Can it just be because I miss you?”

“No” I said flatly

“Then maybe I just don’t want you to make the same mistake you did years ago”

“And that mistake was?”

“Putting the case before the ponies who care about you”

“Now you’ve circled back to Twilight, and just when I thought the alcohol would kick in…”

I was about to take a sip when Larksong grabbed the glass with her hoof and shoved it aside. “As your friend I can say I think you’ve had enough”

“Now what do you want me to do? Start salt licking?”

“I want you to reexamine the case, this time without your prejudice against Twilight’s brother”

I looked at her surprised “What do you mean prejudice?”

“Shining was caught at the scene of the crime…but does that mean he himself killed Sharpblade?”

“Did Shinebadge tell you absolutely everything?” I said looking at her quizzically

Larksong shook her head “You’re not the only pony in town who can figure things out, but yes he did tell me most of the case”

“So back to the case where should I look?”

“You’re the detective…think outside the box”

With that she turned and walked off. I couldn’t help but smile at her as she left. That’s Larksong for you, just when you think you have her completely figured out she’ll pull something out of her hat to completely hoodwink you. I paid my tab and walked out myself. Larksong was right about one thing, I had to look at this from a different angle.
________________________________________________________

I ended up back at Sharpblade’s apartment just as the sun was about to go down. The rain was light and my hat provided shelter from most of the rain. I looked at the building and pondered what Larksong said. Think outside the box?

I walked around the building to the alleyway under Sharpblade’s apartment window. I looked up to the window. Sharpblade’s apartment was three floors up; there was no way somepony could climb up and down without somepony noticing him climbing from one of the lower levels. I looked around the ground, no signs of any feathers so our culprit isn’t a pegasi. Then again none of our suspects were pegasi so it wasn’t an important observation.

I noticed a large dumpster left in the alley. I used my magic to open the lid and found it hadn’t been emptied yet. Garbage day in Canterlot wasn’t for another two days and I was lucky to find the garbage relatively untouched. It was then I noticed something. Something bright red was on the top layer of the garbage pile. It was a bright red sweater.

I levitated the sweater to eye level. My eyes grew wide as I saw what was on it. It had “Cadence and Shining” written in a small heart on the front side. This sweater belonged to Shining I could feel it. To make sure I activated a DNA scan spell that Twilight taught me after Sweetie Belle’s case. Sure enough Shining’s DNA was all over the sweater.

What did this mean? Why would Shining discard this sweater that was obviously important to him? It didn’t make sense for a stallion so in love with his wife to want to throw this away.

I noticed something on one of the sleeves. Upon closer inspection I saw it was magic dust…but it was a deep green instead of the white that Shining had. I frowned; somepony had used a spell on Shining.

My horn glowed again, this time to see exactly what spell was cast using the dust. After a minute I discovered it was a teleportation spell! Judging by the quantity of the dust it was casted twice.

I thought for a moment. Then I remembered that Ocean said she saw Shining enter with his royal guard uniform. That didn't add up, why would Shining wear his uniform to a casual visit especially when he had a perfectly good sweater available to wear? Unless…

Unless the Shining Armor that entered the building and killed Sharpblade wasn’t Shining Armor at all…but an impostor!

Chapter 5 Killer King

Chapter 5

“Killer King”

I ran to a nearby phone booth and dialed the number for the detention center. If my hunch was correct then I didn’t have much time.

After two rings I finally got an answer “Canterlot Detention Center, this is Officer Frisk speaking”

“Officer this is detective Private Eye!” I shouted into the receiver not bothering for normal social protocol. “Has Shining Armor been released yet?”

“Yeah we just let him out, said he was going to meet his wife”

“I know this is going to sound crazy but you gotta stop him!” I said

“Are you alright Detective?”

“His wife won’t be soon! The Shining you released will get replaced by the imposter soon!”

“What imposter?” the pony at the other end asked, I could just see his eyebrows rising. I didn’t have time for this.

“It’ll take too long to explain! Contact Shinebadge and tell him I sent you! Tell him to send a squad to Shining’s wife’s house as soon as possible!”

“Can I at least ask why before you take off?”

“There’s an imposter! He’s the one who killed Sharpblade! Shining is innocent and he’s going to be swapped with the imposter at some point! If we don’t do something soon Cadence may become the next victim!”

“I understand detective! I’ll get a squad together personally!” he said firmly

“Hurry!” I said as I hung up. I ran as fast as I could towards Cadence’s house. The rain that was a drizzle turned into a downpour. I ignored the rain and focused on the task on hand. If I didn’t hurry Cadence was defiantly going to become the next victim. Twilight would never forgive me if I let that happen. It’s funny how despite all this happening I’m still thinking about Twilight of all things.
________________________________________________________

I arrived at the couple’s house just as the sky turned to darkness. I knew I had little time. I didn’t even bother waiting for the squad Frisk promised. I just drew my pistol out of my trench coat and bucked the door down.

“Private!” Cadence said as I came in my gun raised. Next to her was Shining who looked shocked at my appearance. “What are you doing here and why did you kick down our door?” She asked indignantly.

I pointed my gun at Shining. “Back away slowly…”

Cadence looked at me then at Shining “Shining…what’s going on?”

Shining looked at me indignantly “First you accuse me of murder and now you break into my own home?!”

I glared at him “Where’s Shining Armor?”

Cadence looked at me wide eyed “Private what is going on?!”

Shining returned my glare “I’m right here in case you’re blind!”

“You aren’t Shining Armor…” I said my voice low and dangerous.

Cadence stepped in front of me “What are you talking about!?”

I looked at Cadence “The Shining Armor standing behind you is an imposter”

Shining looked at me wide eyed “I’m the real Shining Armor! What kind of joke is this?!”

“You aren’t him…” I said darkly “Now step aside!”

Cadence held her arms wide to protect her pseudo-husband “Private what are you doing!? This is my husband!”

“Then have him prove it!” I said looking at Shining right in his blue eyes. “What was the message Cadence told me to give you?”

Shining returned my glare “What does that prove?!”

I smiled “You don’t know it do you? The Shining Armor I know would never forget what I told him…”

Cadence slowly turned and looked at her husband this time with suspicious eyes “Where did you ask me to marry you?”

Shining suddenly backed away from the mare “Cadence you can’t seriously be listening to this guy over me!”

“What did I say the night we learned we were going to have a baby?”

“I uh…” was Shining’s response

“What is my middle name? What baby names did we decide on? What’s my favorite color?” Cadence started firing question after question at the imposter. Suddenly what I was looking for reared its ugly horn. That’s right, horn. Shining’s horn glowed a bright green instead of the violet he’s known for. Cadence was thrown aside by the spell that Shining fired she crashed into a nearby table and fell unconscious. I kept my gun trained on Shining-I’m-Not.

I glared at the imposter “Show your true colors Changeling!”

Pseudo Shining's voice almost seemed to buzz as he spoke. “So you found me out…clever little pony…” Before my very eyes the guard captain’s skin melted off him replaced by a black almost insect like exoskeleton. The thing standing before me had long insect like wings and holes in its legs, its dark blue colored mane was hanging loosely down its side. It grinned at me with long sharp teeth and its green eyes betrayed the evil it held within. “I underestimated the tenacity of your kind…”

“Who the hell are you?” I said keeping my revolver pointed at the monster.

“I am Zazz…a lieutenant in Queen Chrysalis’ army…and you are a dead pony…” His long curved horn glowed a sickly green and I felt a force throw me across the room. I landed on the ground in the living room and groaned at the pain. I got up and pointed my gun at him. I was ready to shoot if I had to.

“So you figured you would finish where your sick queen started?” I said aiming right for the thing’s head.

Zazz laughed “You think me a mere dog? I planned to succeed where my dear queen couldn’t” he said dear in a mocking tone.

“So you thought you would get rid of what obstructed the first invasion…” I said looking at Cadence who was lying unconscious on the floor.

Zazz grinned “Our queen was foolish to target this land during such a lavish event…I opted for a more subtle approach. I planned have the two lovebirds either jailed or killed. But I underestimated just how far you were willing to go to get what you wanted pony…”

I grinned “You underestimated a lot of things just like she did, like your own disguise. You failed to put on what Shining was wearing when you went in to kill Sharpblade…”

The changeling frowned “Your kind are starting to irritate me”

“Oh I’m just getting started you bug eyed freak!” I shouted back. “Your horde isn’t here to save you! Changelings are worthless on their own…”

I felt the blast that came from the monster’s horn and slammed into the wall. I shook my head to refocus and found the changeling right in front of me. I suddenly felt tightness around my throat. I gasped for air as I was lifted off the ground. I couldn’t focus my magic so my gun fell to the floor useless.

The changeling before me grinned “What was that you called me? Worthless without my horde? You underestimated the power we changelings have…”

I was going to swear at him but it came out as a choked grunt.

“Such a foul mouth you have Private Eye…and so much sorrow within you…” His horn started glowing and I felt a sensation in my horn. That sensation turned into searing pain as I felt something crawling inside my head. It was like somepony stuck a worm inside my brain and it was crawling all over it. I managed to yell in pain.

“Get…out…of ….my …head!” I said in between chokes on my throat.

I felt something crawl in my head, I knew it was him. I tried every attempt to block what magic he had but my lack of oxygen was making it hard to concentrate let alone put up a defense from this mind probe.

“Oh…is this love I smell…and laced with sorrow as well…my favorite brand of love…” the thing grinned at me. “You lost love once…and now you’ve found it again from a different source…”

“S…shut up…”

“So pathetic…you have love before you, enough love that my kind would kill for. Yet your fear is what keeps you away from it…” It said with a voice as cutting as acid. I swear I was going to kill this monster! “Maybe I should act where you couldn’t…”

“What…are you talking…about…?” I said my fury rising to a dangerous point.

The thing chuckled and before my eyes the insect exoskeleton was replaced by my own grey coat. My grey eyes met my own grey eyes mine laced with shock and it’s laced with evil. Pseudo-Private grinned evilly “I’d be more than happy to take your place…I’ve seen everything, your memories, your hopes…your love. I can easily replace you…”

“You…wouldn’t….” I said my grey eyes seeing red

“Oh I would, Twilight will be so happy to see I am finally willing to return the feelings she harbors for me”

“You…bastard…”

“Oh we will create sweet love…sweet sweet love that I will look forward to feeding on for years to come…”

Suddenly a blast of blue hit the changeling square in the jaw. The spell on me broke and I gasped for air. I fell to the floor in a heap. When I could see again I saw Cadence firing spell after spell at Pseudo-Private. Her violet eyes were filled with a fury no being would want to see in an enemy. I stared at the Alicorn with wide eyes which were filled with a fury a mother bear would have for protecting her cubs.

She glared at Pseudo Private her horn aglow. “Your kind sickens me! Love is not something that can be created like food! Love is a precious gift for all of Pony kind! Now see how much fury love can bring…” Her horn fired a beam of magic at the monster. Pseudo Private shouted in pain and the disguise fell away. The monster flew against the wall and landed on the ground dazed.

I knew I had one shot at ending this thing once and for all. I ran to my revolver and picked the weapon up in my mouth. It was hard aiming with my mouth I don’t know how earth ponies do it but I was close enough. I aimed the weapon at the monster and fired twice. Both bullets pierced the beast’s head and it fell to the ground limp.

“It’s….over…” I fell over; adrenaline and lack of oxygen don’t really mesh well. I fell to the ground and Cadence ran over to me just as the police entered the building. Cadence lifted my head in her hooves as I slowly opened my eyes. “Did I get it…?”

“You did it Private, the changeling won’t bother us anymore…” She smiled at me, her violet eyes showing concern for my well being. She was going to be a great mom. I returned her smile.

“I just need a nap is all…I’ve had a very rough day…” I closed my grey eyes and drifted to sleep.
________________________________________

“You did well by us again Private, though I was hoping to congratulate both you and Twilight this time…” Shinebadge said almost begrudgingly

I looked up from the couch where I was sitting. After my short nap I felt a little better, though the mention of Twilight didn’t help. “Just me this time…”

Shine looked at me with those hard blue eyes of his and asked. “What happened in there Private?”

I shook my head “With all due respect sir I’d rather not talk about it…”

Shine looked at me then nodded. He knew me well enough to not push the issue further. “If you ever need somepony to talk to Private just give me a shout. You’re a damn good detective and I don’t want to lose you twice” With that he walked out to talk with more of the officers.

I looked over at Cadence who was embracing the real Shining Armor. They found him in a dumpster not far from the house. The couple didn’t care that it was pouring rain and ponies were present. They just held each other tight and said words that were not meant for my ears. I envied them so much; they didn’t have to hide anything. They didn’t have to worry about getting hurt by one another or lying to each other. They were just so much in love with each other it didn’t matter what happened. They had each other and that was all it mattered.

I got up from the couch and started walking out. I stepped out into the rain when I heard Cadence calling me. She and Shining walked up to me both smiling.

“Thank you so much Private” Cadence said smiling at me “You’ve really helped us”

Shining smiled and put a hoof around his wife “You’ve given us a future to have together. Thanks a lot man”

I tried to smile “No problem…”

Shining smiled “We’ll send you the money as soon as-“

I cut off the guard with my hoof raised “Just send the money when you can, don’t worry about paying me” I pointed to Cadence who smiled “Spend the money you have on your future…”

Shining smiled and nodded with understanding “I will”

I smiled at both of them encouragingly “You guys are going to be great parents I can feel it”

The couple smiled at each other then Cadence looked at me “What are you going to do Private?”

My smile faded “I’m heading back to Ponyville…there’s something I need to do…”

Cadence’s horn was about to glow again as I turned to walk away. Shining put a hoof on her shoulder and shook his head. Shining understood that I needed to do what I had to do alone.

I didn’t like what I was about to do. My heart was saying that this was wrong and how could I even think of doing this to her. But my head won out against my heart most of the time, and I started my trek to the train station. I had to do this, if not for Twilight’s sake then for my own.

Epilogue

Case 3

Epilogue

It was late at night when I got back to Ponyville. The rain didn’t let up here either but thankfully I was inside. I looked out at the rain from my office chair. It was as if Equestria itself was crying over what I was about to do. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew I had to do it for Twilight’s sake. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

The door to the office opened and I could hear Twilight’s hoof steps. I didn’t turn around to face her. “You got my message?” I said, my voice betraying nothing.

“Yeah, but Private we already solved the case…” Twilight said behind me.

“You mean I solved the case…Twilight I wanted to talk to you about your actions on this case…”

“Private! I thought I already told you I did it for my brother! The case is solved! It was discovered that a changeling was the culprit! Isn’t that enough?”

“That’s preciously the reason why you are here…you forged evidence to try and get your brother off the hook. If this were to come to light you would be arrested for obstruction of justice”

“But…Private…” Twilight’s voice was making it harder and harder to keep going. But I needed to be strong; I had to do this damn it!

“I’m willing to overlook this and not tell the authorities about what happened, however I already sent a letter to Princess Celestia about it and…about what I’m about to do”

“What are you saying Private?” Twilight said her voice choking up a little.

“I’m saying in short…I’m firing you” I said my voice flat.

“FIRING ME?!” Twilight shouted “Private how could you even think that?!”

“You’ve been more of a hindrance then an asset on this case, I can’t trust you anymore to put your personal feelings aside for the sake of the case…”

“But Private! After all we’ve been through? All we’ve done! Private I was only doing what was right!”

“You let your love of your brother blind you throughout this case Twilight! What if it turned out that Shining was really the murderer!? Could I trust you to let me put hoof cuffs on him?!" Her silence answered that question "Twilight I can’t trust you anymore…I already cleaned out your desk for you…” I gestured to Twilight’s now empty desk.

“Private…what about all we’ve done…” I could hear Twilight sobbing “The cases we solved…the ponies we’ve helped…the monsters we’ve stopped…does that mean nothing to you?”

I sighed “Frankly my dear Twilight…I don’t give a damn…”

Twilight was crying at this point…I wanted to turn around take her in my hoofs and hold her. I wanted to apologize to her, tell her I didn't really mean it. I wanted her stop crying because I couldn't stand seeing her hurt like this. But I couldn’t this was for her own good, and mine. I kept telling myself it was what needed to be done. I heard Twilight start to walk toward the door. She didn’t slam the door or anything and that’s what made this even more painful.

I then heard her voice…oh Celestia why’d she have to say something “I…I thought you would be different…”

Twilight walked out there and then, I felt something on my cheek. I reached up a hoof and felt a hot wet tear rolling down my cheek and onto my hoof. Keep in mind, the last time I really cried was when my mother died. That was years ago and I haven’t really cried since. I shook my head, what was I thinking?! Twilight let her personal feelings get in the way of solving this case. She had absolutely no right to forge evidence against an innocent pony! I should’ve fired her there and then instead of making this long drawn out speech! She was getting off easy! The police could’ve found out and arrested her! I was merely putting off the inevidetable. If I didn't fire her somepony would’ve found out what she did.

But, then the tears started flowing. I slammed my hoof on my desk. Damn it why did it have to be so hard!? I shouldn’t be crying like I am! I should be in control! I can’t think like this! She did something wrong! I should be angry at her not myself! Then…why…did I feel such…oh Celestia’s flowing mane it can’t be…It just can’t! It doesn’t’ make sense! I shouldn’t…damn it…

I sat down on the floor; a horrible realization just hit me like a slap to the face. Cadence was right…her power only works if…the love is there. I realized in that moment, that I was in love with Twilight. I started to think of everything I liked about her. Her simple beauty, her intelligence, her incredible talent for magic, her kind and caring nature...it was all floating in my brain and wouldn’t leave. I started imagining us two together, sometimes working cases other times…in more blissful moments.

But like the day turning to night I realized the irony of it all. I realized how much I’ve loved Twilight just as I’ve told her to get out of my life. I felt hollow and the tears started flowing. I didn’t care anymore, I didn’t care that it didn’t make any sense. I didn’t care that I shouldn’t be thinking about her like this. I couldn’t buck it up and take it like a stallion! I just…I couldn't…

I felt awful, I wanted to run to Twilight and apologize for everything. But after what I said to her? She wouldn’t even want to be on the same planet as me. I probably angered her mentor/mother figure as well. I could probably kiss my job goodbye but that was a minor consequence. I hated this. This wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out; I was supposed to be relived, like a weight off my shoulders or something. But no, every time I think about it’s always the same.

I got up and looked out at the rain. I realized that the rain really was reflecting my mood. I wiped my eyes to get the water out. But every time I thought of Twilight they just came back.

I can’t believe it…I found the one pony I could truly love…and I tossed her out.

Author's Note

Link to next story: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/43068/equestria-noir-case-4-skies-of-cloudsdale