Chapter 1: The Call is Made
I've always enjoyed taking long walks. It doesn't matter if it's in a big park, a trail, or in the streets of New Colt City. My home. I've always felt so at peace when I walk around to clear my head. To clear my head of everything that goes on in my life. Whether it be some personal drama with my family or friends, or heading home when I'm done working a case after a long time. Like I'm doing right now.
Well, I guess I should introduce myself to you fellow readers. My name is Night Mist. Or Detective Night Mist as some ponies would refer to me as. I've been a private detective for about, wow, 2 years already. It's amazing how time flies so fast. I can still remember the days when I was a regular police officer working with my old partner Light Heart. Her and me were as good as partners could be. I even considered her my best friend at one point. I felt like I could go to her for anything, and she'd listen to me when I had problems. That's how it always was, I thought. How wrong I was to think that though. Oh well, you can't change the past, no matter how hard you try.
Anyway, I'm walking back to my apartment right now after I just got done working a long, long case. What had happened was, a little filly was foal napped from the park, right out from under her mother's snout. How she was abducted without anypony seeing her, I do not know. And the mother, if you could only imagine how any mother would react during a situation like that, she freaked the fuck out. She was terrified beyond belief.
Thankfully, there was a witness who saw the napping take place. He said, while he only saw the back of the stallion who abducted her, he noticed a burn mark on his left back leg. Probably from an accident in the war. Then I did what any detective does when he or she is doing an investigation. I would gather as much evidence as I possibly could, ask questions, whether family, friends, or just ordinary ponies who knew the victim, put all the evidence together, track down the suspect, eventually catch said suspect, charge him, book him, and officially close the case. That is what I do during investigations like this.
Well, I remember I talked to the mother. She told me the only suspect would be her baby daddy. Meaning, a guy who impregnated her, who wasn't around to help her in raising their daughter. She told me she even filed a restraining order against him. Why? Because, from what she said, he was stalking her and her daughter. She gave examples of her receiving letters that were filled with death threats, he would show up at her work place, where he would be escorted by security, and would constantly call her, leaving threatening voicemails on her answering machine. She seemed really scared by this stallion.
Well, after the info she gave me, I did some research on the stalker guy. I read through his personal records, and this guy had some history with some mares. He would abuse them, stalk them, like she said, and even try to set them up for some crime they never committed. Another thing I found was he had an accident when he was stationed in Saddle Arabia about 5 years ago. What was it you ask? He burned his leg as he was entering a burning building. Interesting. I also looked through his phone call records, and she was right again. He had called her house for months about 10 times a day. I even went back to her house and asked if I could look at any letters she had saved from this stalker. Well, as luck would have it, another threatening letter had been delivered to her mailbox. I read it over, and yeah, I don't think I need to tell you what was on this letter. Basic threats, saying he's watching her AND their daughter, and that he one day is going to do something BAD to her. So there was no question that this guy was indeed a suspect.
Well, I ended up tracking him down, and he ran like how a coward would run. As soon as he saw me, he bolted like a scalded dog. When I eventually caught him, I noticed the burn mark on his leg, like how the witness said. I brought him back over to his apartment, where I cuffed him to a pole, and then started looking for evidence. I also called the police. While they weren't exactly happy to hear my voice, they sent a squad car down to pick up the perp.
What I found, oohohoho, you would be laughing your ass off. Not in a "Ha-Ha" kinda way, but in a convenient kinda way. I found pictures of the mare he impregnated, and his daughter all over a "secret" room he had managed to block off. Until, I found it at least. Then, in his room, I found the abducted filly on his bed. She was unconscious. Thankfully, however, she was still breathing. So she was sedated. This fucker drugged his own daughter, so she wouldn't put up a fight. When the cops finally showed up, they officially arrested this demented piece of shit. And I got the filly out of that room, and to a hospital, where I contacted the mother. Thankfully, the filly didn't show any signs of being molested. She was just drugged to keep quiet. When the mother got there, she was crying tears of joy that her baby was still alive. She thanked me for everything I did to help her. So, it ultimately was a job well done for me.
While I was walking home to my apartment, I went through a little pizza stand. Just got two slices. I figure I should eat, seeing as how I haven't eaten since really early that morning. Mainly, because I was so focused on finding that filly, and making sure she was brought home safe to her momma. Anyway, I finally made it back home after a hard day's work. First thing I did, was levitate my trench coat, where it held my gun, which was .48 Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol, a steel chain that I would whip in a suspects face during physical combat, a pen and notepad that I would use to write down clues during an investigation, and, just in case I may have to shoot to kill, something I'm not proud of, but sometimes you have to when your perp gets extremely violent and you have no choice but to put him down, a .44 Magnum, on my coat rack. Then I would look at myself in my mirror just to see if anything has physically changed about me. Despite a little bit of pizza sauce on my lower lip, nothing really much has changed. Still have the same coat color, which is dark grey. Same pitch black coat. Same cutie mark, which is a question mark with a small magnifying glass in the top right hand corner. Same blue eyes. Still have my unicorn horn. Nothing really much has changed about myself. Physically at least.
I sat down at my little table and finished my pizza, while also whipping off my pizza sauce on my lip. However, as I finished my pizza, I saw a couple pictures on a little shelf, which had some major dust all over it. So I levitated them over to me.
Man, these bring back memories of when I was young Colt growing up in Manehatten. Well, readers, I guess I should tell you a bit about my background before I became a detective.
I was born on April 18, 1993 at Manehatten Hospital. So now I'm 24 going on 25 years old. I was brought into this world by Hard Boiled, my father, and Angel Wings, my mother. I was named Night Mist because I was born on a really beautiful night that Princess Celestia had done, because her sister was banished to the moon for 1,000 years. And Mist was after my uncle Mist Shadows, who unfortunately passed away to lung cancer before I was born. He was my dad's older brother. So, in a way, he was honoring his brothers legacy, by naming his nephew after him.
However, I was not an only child. I had three older sisters who also were there that day as well. And man we're they excited when I was born. They would constantly want to hold me, with help from my father of course, they'd talk about what they would want to do with me when they got home, some included playing dress-up, and about how they would protect me at all costs from the world.
My eldest sister was Sunshine. The reason she was given that name, was because Mom said she was the sunshine of her life when she first laid eyes on her. The second one was Sweet Pea. She was named that because of the fact that my mom just adored her from the first moment she saw her. She said she was her little Sweet Pea. Then, lastly, there came Luminescence. She was named after my mom's great grandmother, who passed away when she was young.
One of the pictures had me and Lumi, that's a nickname we always called her, at a concert. I was a teenager when this happened. We went and saw Ozzy Ozpony. I was smiling in the photo, while she had her hoof up to her muzzle with her tongue sticking out like how you would see a rocker on stage do when he's playing his Rock and roll music. Lumi is the pegasus with the short blue mane and the dark purple coat. She has blue eyes, like me. Yeah, Lumi was the definition of a Rock and roll punk chick. She would blast her music in her room out loud for everypony in the neighborhood to hear, she always had her guitar on her, and quote some big time Rock legends. Her favorite rock band of all time, without a shadow of a doubt, was The Who?. She LOVED their music. Especially the song Teenage Wasteland. She would practice that song for hours, until one day she finally got it right. You know what's weird though? The word "punk" is just exaggerated on Lumi's part. She is one of the coolest, nicest, and awesomest mares you'll ever meet. She would want to hang out with the guys, play video games, do karoke, and lots of other stuff. Me and her were easily the closest of siblings growing up. She would always hang out with me as a kid, cause she said she always wanted a little brother. She would even sing to me either to entertain or cheer me up if I was sad. I love this picture. Me and her had a great time that night. And, even though we haven't talked in a while because of how busy it has gotten with my detective work, I'll always love her very much. She's a great big sister.
Then I levitated another picture. Now this one is a good one. It was me and Sweet Pea at the Manehatten County Fair when I was a little colt. She's the unicorn with a long blonde mane, light green coat, and blue eyes. We were both sitting on a bench eating ice cream together. We were both smiling big smiles. Now Sweet Pea and I also had a really good relationship. While we weren't as close as me and Lumi, I always felt that if I had to go to some pony for something really personal, it'd be her. Her name is pretty much what describes her personality. She is the absolute sweetest, most kind-hearted mare you will ever meet. Now, the only times I would remember us being really close was when she would convince me to model a suit for her. Yes, she's a fashion designer. And a damn good one. However, even though she was extremely sweet, and a good fashioned designer, that didn't mean she was the smartest mare by any means. She is the definition of a dumb blonde. She would take figures of speech literally, she wouldn't understand things unless you explained them to her in her kind of language, like in a fashion sense, and she just was, overall, completely naive. But, no matter what, I'll always love her like the big sister she was to me.
Then, I levitated another picture, and this one I remember the best of all. It was when I was out celebrating with my eldest sister Sunshine, Sweet Pea, Luminescence and my parents when I got my cutie mark. You see, one day at school, a colt, who was a friend of mine, got accused of sneaking into the cafeteria, and ruining the "mushroom surprise" that was going to be served during lunch. If you ask me, they did everypony a favor. I hate mushrooms. And everypony hated the "mushroom surprise". The reason my friend got accused, is because he was one of the students who was always vocal about how bad the lunch lady's cafeteria food tasted. He was right, but it wasn't a smart thing to do. He even told the lady, to her face, that the food, for a lack of a better term, tasted like shit. Him and the cafeteria lady had a bit of a rivaly during our school year. She even accused him of doing it. However, I knew Back Rib. While he was a big eater, he would never try to ruin a meal for everypony else. Let alone vandalize school property. So, while school was in session, I poked around for evidence. I also did some research on her when I was at home. This may sound dumb, but I got my amateur detective skills from watching my favorite TV show of all time, Law and Order.
Thankfully, one of the other lunch ladies told me she always talked bad about Back Rib complaining about the food she cooked. She even said that she said that she wanted him out of the school. That was one thing. Next, I ended up hearing a rumor, from my fellow students who heard about it from their parents, that she once got fired from a previous school, when she was yelling at a student who said to her that her food didn't taste too good. Apparently, she couldn't handle criticism. I think I heard she may have even threatened the student, but it was never proven. That was two. Also, one of the students, who was in the same class with Back Rib, said that he was in class the whole time. That was three. Lastly, and this was the big one, the nice lunch lady, who told me about her and Back Rib, brought me into the kitchen to look for clues. Apparently, not only had there been no signs of forced entry, but it looked like the "mushroom surprise" was ruined by the evil lunch lady herself. However, the biggest thing that made me realize Back Rib's innocence, was when the janitor told me that he saw the evil lunch lady run out of the kitchen to the principal's office to report the vandalism. However, he also saw her arrive to the kitchen early that morning when she started her shift, and never once saw her leave the kitchen. So, with all the facts and evidence, it lead me to a conclusion: the evil lunch lady ruined her own "mushroom surprise" and then placed blame on Back Rib to try and get him expelled. That was cold.
Anyway, I had Back Rib, the good lunch lady, the student and teacher who saw Back Rib in class, and the janitor tell the principle there side of the story. But what really made him believe me, was when I gave him a newspaper that I had printed off the computer. It had the story of the evil lunch lady's incident with the student at the other school. This is what proved Back Rib's innocence, and got that evil lunch lady fired and arrested for lying and framing a student for vandalism. Then, after I watched her get arrested, I felt a glow on my flank, and there it was. My cutie mark.
I was so excited to show my whole family when I got home. When I did, the first thing they did was congratulate me, and then took me out to Hayburger Hut. And we took this picture at our table. She's the pegasus with the shorter blonde mane, light blue coat, and blue eyes. My dad, Hard Boiled, was the big grey unicorn stallion with the dishwater blonde mane and blue eyes. Then, finally, my mother, Angel Wings, she was the light blue pegasus with light green eyes and black mane. As far as my relationship with Sunshine, well, she could be pretty bossy sometimes. And I understood why. She was the eldest sibling, and, therefore, she was responsible if anything happened to us. However, she always looked out for me and my two other big sisters. She made sure we were fed, clothed, and in bed on time so we would be ready for school the next morning. So, for that, I'll always love her for that.
As far as my relationship with my parents, well, I was always closer to my dad. Not that I wasn't close to my mom at all. Far from it. It's just, the reason I wanted to get into law enforcement, was because my dad was a police officer for many years, even before he met mom. He even took me one day in take your foal to work day, and I got to see him in action, patrolling the streets. Now, I didn't really see anything huge, but I knew, from that moment on, that I wanted to be in law enforcement. He was like a hero to me so to speak. Now, my mom, she was an author who wrote novels based on crimes that my dad investigated throughout his career as a police officer. So, she got me into reading. Mostly mystery novels, but she made me love reading. Also, while my mother was a really nice, sweet mare, I'm telling you right now. If you ever crossed her, she wouldn't care who you were. You could be a young colt who said something bad to one of her children, a business pony who could take away every bit from you, or a big badass looking stallion who looked like you wouldn't want to mess with. She would get up in your face and tell you off. Berate you, yell at you, and pretty much rip you a new asshole. Not to mention how tough she was. She's one of those mares where, if you got into a fight with her, to win, you'd have to kill her. You could beat the crap out of her, and she'd get back up and still want to fight. That is how tough she is. Heck, she may have been tougher than dad.
Man, those photos sure do bring back memories. I miss talking to them. But, with how busy you get when your in law enforcement, sometimes you don't have time to sit down and relax and talk to your family or friends. That's just how it is.
After I got done looking at those old photos, I decided I better go to bed. I've had a long day. Who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a much easier case to work on.
........
Yeah, riiiiigghht. No case is ever easy. I'll just be prepared for another hard day's work tomorrow. Let's just hope I get enough sleep before I eventually get called.
So, I climbed into bed, pulled the covers on my body, and prepared to drift off into slumber.
******************5 Hours Later*********************
**********'ring ring'....'ring ring'*************
I woke up, half asleep I may add, when I heard my phone ring. I looked over at my clock. It was 4:45 AM. So quarter to 5 in the morning. Well, on the bright side, I did get back home last night at around 11:40 PM. So I got a little over 5 hours of sleep. That's actually great, considering when your a private detective, you barely get any sleep at all. So, I got up, all groggy like, and made my may to the phone.
I picked it up and answered "Hello, this is Detective Night Mist. How may I help you?" I answered, trying not to sound tired, even though I kinda still was. Then the voice I heard on the other line was somepony who I thought I would never speak to again. And, frankly, I didn't WANT to speak to again.
"Hey Night, long time no see." The voice belonged to my old partner Light Heart. She sounded kinda nervous when she spoke to me. Like I said earlier. We use to partners when we were on the force together. Even though my feelings toward her are somewhat different than they were before, I can still safely say that she is one of the best police officers in Equestria today. I heard that she also has risen in the ranks of police officers, and could one day become the commissioner. She would deserve it, because she is a hard working mare. That's how I would think professionally. Cause I am a 100% professional. However, personally, I just don't really care about her like how I use to. Not after what she did.
"Yeah, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Since you got me blackballed from the force." I answered her in a non-chalant kind of way. Yeah, that is why me and her aren't exactly friends anymore. See, when we were working together, I told her I was planning on leaving the force to become a private detective. Well, she didn't take it very well. In fact, we actually got into a huge argument about why I was leaving. I told her that, while it was great that we worked together for so long, I needed a change of scenery. I felt that I could solve cases myself. Not that I didn't like being Light Heart's partner, it's just I felt like I thought that this was best for myself. Well, then she told me something that, even I didn't see coming.
Remember how I told you readers that I considered her my best friend at one point. Well, she felt something more for me. You know, when you work together with somepony for so long, we worked together for 5 years, you really get to know your partner on a personal level. We had a lot in common with each other. We both grew up with a parent who was a cop, we both grew up with some siblings, and we both wanted to be the best law enforcement officer we could be. Well, during those 5 years, I guess she ended up developing feelings for me. A "More Then Friends" kind of feeling.
Yeah, that's right. She told me she loved me. And that she's had these feelings for me for a long time now. I really didn't see it coming. It was a genuine shock to me. She didn't even know why she had these feelings for me, but she just did.
Well, my mind was already made up. That, and my father told me when I was young that you should never date one of your co-workers. It will always end bad. So, I basically broke my best friend's heart, and rejected her feelings. Then, I guess because she was so angry and in the heat of the moment, she ended up telling our captain, who was named Bollock, and he was NOT happy when he heard about that. I came in the next day, and got into a huge screaming match with Bollock about my decision to leave the force. He told me if I leave the force, I'll be forever blackballed. Well, he never really sacred me anyway. So, I made my decision. I told him "I Quit" and walked out. I'll never forget when I walked out that day, the last pony I saw was Light Heart. She looked incredibly guilty for ratting me out. I just looked at her and said "Feel better now?" and just walked away. That was the last time I ever spoke to her. It was that day when my police officer career ended, and my career as private detective started.
"I guess your still mad about that, huh?" She said as she sounded guilty like she did 2 years ago.
"What do you think?" I asked her sounding all smartass like. I could tell she didn't like when I answered her like that.
"Yeah, look I'm not here to talk about what happened that day. I'm here to tell you that I've got a case for you." She said to me.
I was surprised when I heard that. "Case? I thought I was "Forever Blackballed" like Bollock said." I told her sounding confused. I heard a confident smirk from her. She must have some good news to tell me.
"Well, Bollock retired a couple months ago. And now, the new commissioner has wanted to do business with you. It doesn't matter if your a private detective or not." She told me.
"Well, who is the new commissioner?" I asked her. She did another smirking noise. Wait, no way
"Your talking to her." She said in her confident voice that I remembered she used during our partnership years ago. So, Light Heart is the new police commissioner. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. She's one of the hardest working police officers I've ever known. She must have earned it with respect and hard work.
"Well, congratulations. I always knew you'd get it." I told her. She sounded a little flustered. I guess she liked that I still had respect for her.
"Thanks. It means a lot coming from you." She said. I could tell she was blushing over the phone.
"Yep. So, what's this case your talking about?" I asked he snapping her back into reality. I succeeded. She went right back into business.
"Yes. It's down in Ponyville. Last night, a young dragon found the body of young mare. Somepony bashed this poor girl's skull in. I need you to pack your bags and head down there. Your going to meet with Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia at the Castle of Friendship. Spike will be there to tell you what he found." She told me.
I'm going to be meeting two princesses? And the hero of the crystal empire? Man this sounded big. But wait? Why was she calling me? This could be for any other law enforcement officer.
"Not that I'm rejecting this mission, but why do you need me? Why can't you just get one of your guys?" I asked her.
"We are all filled on cases right now here in Manehatten. Plus, I figured that if I wanted to reconnect with you, maybe I could give you a case, and we could be friends again." She said sounding kind of embarrassed.
I would tell her that she wanted to be more than friends long ago. So why just friends now? However, this sounded like a pretty good gig. That, and I haven't had a murder case in a long time now. Hell, most of my cases these past 5 months have been pretty lame. Not including the missing filly case though. So, I figure I'll just accept this case and move on.
"Alright, I'll accept this case. I'll head down to the train station in about an hour. I should be in Ponyville at about 8." I told her.
I could tell she was smiling over the phone. "Thank you Night Mist......it was nice talking to you again. I've missed this." She said. I could tell she was blushing again. It sounded kind of cute.
"No problem. I guess it was nice talking to you too." I told her. Wait, was I blushing? No, stop that.
"Yeah, so I guess I'll talk to you later, bye." She said, bidding me farewell.
"Yep, bye." I said as I hung up the phone.
Man, this is going to be good. I'm finally getting a huge case. And in Ponyville no less. This was my chance to really make myself stand out and make ponies notice me.
So, I took a shower, got my trench coat with my items in them, and headed down to the train station. I got a ticket to Ponyville. The lady said it would be about a 3 hour trip, but I was prepared. I also had my phone with me too. It had music that I listened to, some games, books, and others. So I knew I wouldn't be bored.
Well, I got to my seat, sat down, and felt the train take off to Ponyville. I could hardly wait to get on this case. Maybe now, this was a chance for me to really show my skills as a detective. I was looking forward to arriving in Ponyville. I knew this was going to be a time I will never forget.
Maybe also, this could reconnect my friendship with Light Heart. A part of me wanted it to be that way. But another part of me wanted to just do this alone. Well, I guess only time will tell as I go further in this case. Either way, I'm interested to say the very least.
Chapter 2: A Not So Subtle Murder (Re-Edited)
The train finally arrived at Ponyville Train Station. I got off the train, as did a lot of other ponies, and took a good look at the town of Ponyville. I've heard many times in the papers that Ponyville was "The Happiest Town in Equestria." Where everypony would wave and say "Hi" to you when you walk by them, even if they didn't know you. Or, if you walked by somepony, they'd introduce themselves to you and want to be friends with you instantly.
Well, that may be the case for most days. However, when I walked through town, most ponies had depressed looks on their faces. Probably from the fact that last night a young mare, who probably was a friend to most of, if not everypony here in town, was now dead. I knew how they felt. I can't tell you readers how many times, back when I was on the force, I lost a few fellow officers. Some died while I was on a different case with Light Heart, and some even died right in front of me. When you lose somepony, it feels like a part of your life is now gone, and will never come back, or be the same like it once was.
I finally made it to my destination: The Castle of Friendship. Here, I was going to meet with Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Great and Honorable, Spike the Brave and Glorious about what has happened. I knocked on the door, waited a few seconds, until I was greeted by a mare, who looked a little bit older than I was, and had a light pink coat with purple and teal mane and tail. She greeted me with a warm smile on her face.
"Hello, you must be that detective Celestia contacted. I'm Starlight Glimmer. Welcome to Ponyville, and the Castle of Friendship." She said nicely while also raising her hooves to show the outer layer of the castle. It looked pretty cool on the outside, but let's see what it looks like on the inside. I extended my hoof to her, which she excepted, and shook hooves with her.
"Yes, I'm Detective Night Mist. It's nice to meet you." I said to her. She smile again.
"Nice to meet you too. Well, come on in. I'll take you to Twilight and Princess Celestia. They've been eagerly awaiting you." Starlight said, looking as she motioned me to come in. And when I did, Sweet Shit, did this castle look even bigger on the inside. There had to have been over 50 rooms in this castle. It's fucking crazy.
As I followed Starlight through the castle corridors, she looked at me, all of a sudden, in a worried kind of way. Like she was about to deliver bad news.
"Spike's really scared, you know? He hasn't come out of his room, since he found the body. I feel so bad for him." She said looking sad for her friend. I did have a feeling that Spike would get scared. Anypony who finds something as traumatizing as a dead body, I don't care who you are, you'll be scared out of your mind, until you've gotten use to seeing dead bodies, like me. She continued talking to me.
"So, if it's not too much trouble, could you please go a little easy on him? I mean, he is just a kid, you know." She asked me. She seemed very concerned for her friend.
"Not to worry. I will make sure I don't make Spike too uncomfortable. I wouldn't do that to a kid." I assured her. She smiled, happy knowing that nothing was going to make Spike worse.
Anyway, we made it into the main room, of the building. It looked big. I saw a map of Equestria, about seven chairs, and two very important ponies who wanted to see me. I was standing in the presence of royalty. Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, and one of the co-rulers of Equestria, the mighty Princess Celestia. Standing next to Twilight, was a scared, timid looking baby dragon. This was Great and Honorable, Spike the Brave and Glorious. Who was looking anything but Brave and Glorious right now. Not that I'm criticising him. Everypony, even the bravest of brave ponies in Equestrian history, have gotten scared before. I'm just stating the facts.
Celestia greeted me with a warm hearted smile on her face, as she does with everypony in Equestria. I immediately bowed to her and Twilight out of respect.
"Hello Detective Night Mist. Thank you so much coming." She said to me.
"Your welcome, your highness." I said to her as I came up from my bow to her.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mister Night Mist. I'm glad to be talking to one of Equestria's every day heroes. It's truly an honor." Princess Twilight spoke next. It felt pretty damn good to be called a hero by somepony of royalty, even though I don't refer to myself as one.
"Thank you for the compliment Princess Twilight, but I'm no hero. I'm just a stallion who does my job. You guys are the real heroes." I said to them. They laughed a little bit.
"I can see modesty is in everypony. And please, just call me Twilight." She said to me. She must be kinda modest as well, seeing as how she wouldn't want to be called Princess. I guess she was right.
"Okay. So, what is the reason you have called me here today?" I asked them. They both looked at each other with a sad look on their face. Then looked at me with a semi-serious look. Princess Celestia spoke first.
"It's just awful. Last Night, a young mare was found dead in an alleyway near the Ponyville Hospital. She was found by Spike here." She said pointing to Spike, who was now hiding behind Twilight's tail. He looked scared as hell.
Then Twilight spoke. "He came in here, running into my hooves, and told me what happened. I've never seen him so scared in my life." She said. She then got behind Spike, and guided him toward me with her wing. He looked a little fidgety, and scared to speak.
"Are you ready to talk to the detective, Spike?" Twilight asked. He still looked scared, but he nodded. He then started to snivel a little bit, with some quick sobs mixed in. Twilight wrapped her wing around Spike in an effort to comfort him. She must really care about Spike very much. Not just in an assistant kind of way, but in a family kind of way. A little brother kind of way. Kinda reminds me of when my sisters would comfort me when I was sad or scared.
"It's okay Spike. It's okay." She said comforting him as best as she could. Starlight and Celestia had looks of concern on their faces as well. Maybe I should try to.
I put my hoof on his shoulder. He looked a bit surprised when I did this, but he did look me in the eye when I did it.
"Listen Spike. I know your scared, but I promise, every thing is gonna be okay. I need you to be brave for me, alright? It's gonna help me find the pony who did this. Can you do that?" I asked him. The other ponies smiled a bit when I did this. Spike, while still looking scared, he put on a brave face.
"I wanna help." He told me. I smiled when he told me this. I then levitated out my pen and notepad from my trench coat, preparing to ask some questions. I just hope I get some good information out of him.
"So, what were you doing last night, before you discovered the body?" I asked him. It took him a little bit to gain the courage to answer.
"Me, Big Mac, and Discord were playing Dungeons and Dragons last night at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac's home. We do it every week when we have time off from work." He smiled kinda sheepishly before he spoke again. "I kicked butt in that game last night. Though, Discord won't admit it." He then went back to looking worried. "Well, then me and Discord left. He went to Fluttershy's place, and I walked back alone. And when I was walking back, I went past this alleyway. Then I-I F-f-f-ound---" Spike kinda trailed off because he was getting a little emotional, having to recall such a traumatic experience just 24 hours ago. Twilight wrapped her wing around Spike again. I felt so bad for this kid. What he saw must have really messed him up. And who wouldn't it mess up?
"It's okay. Just take your time." I told him. Spike started to regain his composure. He had some tears in his eyes as he spoke.
"I found blood at the entrance. So I followed it. And......I found her. And she--there was BLOOD EVERYWHERE. It was on the walls, the floor, and all around her. And her face looked like it was in pieces. I thought I was gonna see parts of her brain fall out. She was beaten so bad." Spike said crying his little eyes out. Starlight joined Twilight in comforting Spike, as she wrapped both her hooves around the trembling, terrified dragon. Celestia just looked at Spike with sympathy and sadness. Why did this have to happen to a young kid? This could have happened to anypony else. So, why him? He eventually started to calm down as he looked back up at me with the tears in his eyes.
"I'm very sorry that happened to you Spike. However, I have just a few questions. So, when you found the body, did you see anything else? Like hoofprints? Symbols? Anything?" I askd him. He looked like he was trying really hard to remember. I wouldn't blame him if he couldn't.
"Well, when I found her, I saw some writing on her body. It said....." He stopped speaking, looking as if he wasn't supposed to say what was on the body. Twilight and Starlight looked at him as a way to give him permission to say it, as this was an appropriate time too.
"Yes?" I said to him.
"It said "SLUT", "WHORE", "CUNT", and "SKANK". I think it was written in red lipstick, or something." Spike said looking guilty that he had to use language like that. It was okay though. As I said, this was an appropriate time to.
"Anything else?" I asked him, just wanting to make sure.
"Well, the only other thing I saw, was some symbol on the wall in front of her. It had a C in front of a money symbol. And it has an X over it. Then, I just ran home as fast as I could." Spike told me. Hmm, this sounded like, whoever did this, it was personal. The body beaten to a pulp, which I have yet to see, the writing on the body, and the symbol with an X over it. This sounds like somepony wanted to hurt this mare. I'm gonna have to get to the crime scene. I guess I've gotten everything out of Spike. I closed my notepad, ending my discussion.
"I think that's about it. Thank you Spike. You've been a big help." I said to him, while patting his head. This kinda calmed him down a bit. Twilight and Starlight let go of Spike and gave me a smile. A smile that said "Thank you for being compassionate with him." I smiled back to them.
"Well, now that I have this information, I'm gonna go investigate the crime scene. Thank you for the info." I said to them, about to leave the castle.
"Wait." Princess Celestia told me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. She must have something else to tell me.
"Yes, your highness." I answered her.
"I want Twilight to go with you." She told me.
"WHAT?" I said, as did Twilight and Starlight at the same time I did. Why did she want Twilight to come with me? I could handle this myself. No disrespect to Twilight though.
"Yes. I think this case will be closed faster, if Twilight works with you, Night Mist. I get you may like working by yourself, but my student is one of the most brilliant minds you'll ever meet. And I think she will be a valuable asset to you." Celestia said. Twilight smiled excitedly when she heard her teacher say this.
"Okay Princess Celestia. I'll do my best." She answered her teacher. Celestia gave a confident smile.
"Thank you Twilight. Now, because he's been a detective for a long time now, he will be the one in charge if this mission. Do everything he says. Am I understood?" She asked her student, who nodded, understanding that, I guess now, I'm in charge of this assignment. Now I'm going to have to make sure Twilight Sparkle doesn't get hurt while on this case. Just more pressure added.
"Night Mist, you don't have a problem with my decision, do you?" Celestia asked me. I guess it was pretty obvious what my answer was. You think I'm gonna mouth off to a goddess like Princess Fucking Celestia?
"I guess not. Don't worry, your highness. Me and Twilight will get this case closed faster than you can say "Go." You have my word." I answered, while bowing to her in respect, as did Twilight. Spike looked like he wanted to say something. But was having trouble saying it.
"Do you need anything else, Spike?" I asked him. He then looked all serious and brave when he looked at me and said what he wanted to say to me.
"I wanna come too." He answered. Twilight was not happy when her assistant/little brother said that. So she answered him.
"No way. Not after everything that happened to you last night. You should stay her with Starlight." She said, while pointing to Starlight.
She nodded in agreement. "She's right Spike. You need to stay here and try to forget about what happened last night." She looked pretty serious when she said this. She also must care very deeply for Spike.
However, he wasn't gonna give up just yet. "I know what happened. And I'll admit, I'm still scared out of my mind. But, I want to help this mare too. I want to get the pony who did this. Even if I'm still scared, I want to help." Spike said. He must have gotten so scared last night, that he wants to help find Justice for this mare. Like, he feels like he wants to be a valuable asset just like Twilight. That he can be a big help too.
Twilight didn't look happy when he said that. "Your in no condition to help Spike. Your traumatized. You'd just make yourself worse." She said, not too pleased with her friend.
Spike still, apparently, made up his mind. "How do you know I will, unless I try?" He said to her. She also made up her mind as well.
"I don't want to take that risk. Do you know how horrible I would feel if something worse happened to you?" She said getting more angry with him.
"Nothing will happen, because now I've got both you and Mister Night Mist with me. So what difference does it make?" Spike said angrily.
"This isn't like a giant monster attacking Ponyville, Spike. There's a murderer out there who could kill you if you he wanted. I don't want that to happen to you." She said, kinda emotionally angry. Man, the thought of losing her little brother must really scared her.
"Well, it won't happen. Why don't we let Night Mist decide? After all, he's the one in charge." He said to me. Oh great, now I have to make a decision as to who goes on this case with me, and who doesn't. I looked at Princess Celestia as a way for her to try and have these two stop fighting. So that's what she did.
"That is enough you two." She said in a really loud voice, as a way for them to shut the fuck up. They instantly silenced their arguing. Even Starlight got startled by this as well.
"Spike, Twilight does have a point. After what happened to you last night, you shouldn't be out there on a murder case, where you may see something worse. Or, even worse, get hurt in action. She's just trying to protect you. She's not being malicious. She's doing this because she loves you. And you know that." Celestia said to Spike in a scolding kind of way. He had his head down in shame, realizing the argument was unnecessary. Twilight looked a little shameful too. She didn't mean to yell at her assistant.
Celestia then turned to Twilight. "Now Twilight, I know you mean well, but Spike just wants to help. He can be just as helpful and reliable as you. As you can see, he wants to help find Justice for this victim just as much as you and Night Mist do. If he feels he can help out, then I think we should consider it. However, I do agree with what Spike said. Night Mist, since I have put you in charge of this case, I think you should make a decision. Should Spike join you and Twilight, or should he sit this one out? It's your call. Whichever one you pick, I'll be supportive of it either way. So, what your decision?" She asked me. Fuck. Now I really have to make a decision. Should I let the kid join me, and have Twilight be angry at me? Knowing, it will be difficult to work with somepony who may have ill feelings of you. Or should I have Spike stay here at the castle? Knowing that he will get angry at me, and possibly sneak out of the castle trying to find info himself, and, more likely than not, get hurt in the process without Twilight there to save him. Well, that could also be a problem. If he's with us, we could keep a close eye on him. I guess I've made my choice.
"Alright, I've made my decision." I said to everypony. They looked eager to know. Especially Twilight.
"And?" Starlight asked me. She had a right to know as well.
"Sorry Twilight, but I think it's best that Spike came with us." She frowned upon me saying that. In a really not so happy way. Spike looks happy he was going to help out. "I know you want to protect him, but I think it's just a good idea for both of us to keep an eye on him, just in case our killer saw him when he discovered the body. That's if the killer saw him. Plus, with the info he gave me on the body, there could be a chance, later on, he may remember something important he may have missed, seeing how it was all so quick. So, I'm sorry, but my decision is final. Spike will join us on this case." I explained to her the best way I possibly could. She groaned and out her hoof to her forehead. She seemed annoyed that I didn't pick her side. Well, sometimes you won't always get what you want. Whether your a princess or not.
Spike came up to me, shook my hoof, and said "Thank you Mister Night Mist. I promise I won't let you down." He said rather enthusiastically. This was where I was going to explain some rules to him.
"Well, Spike, you may be joining us on this case, but you will follow two rules if you are to be with Twilight and Me. First, you stay beside us at ALL times. Never leave our sides for a second. If you run off without our permission, you will be left off this case, courtesy of me. Second, and lastly, you will do what we say. I may be in charge of both you for this case, however Twilight is still in charge of you personally. She tells you to do something, do it. I tell you to do something, do it. Am I understood?" I explained to him. He nodded in agreement with me. Alright, he understands. I just hope he doesn't prove me wrong.
Then I looked at Princess Celestia. "I promise your highness, I will find the pony who did this, send them to justice, and make sure Twilight and Spike are unharmed in the process. You have my word." I said as I bowed to her. As did Twilight and Spike. She then bowed to us in respect.
"Good luck, my little ponies." She said to us as we turned to leave the castle. And as we were leaving, Twilight used her magic to grab my trench coat. She looked pretty mad at me.
"If Spike gets hurt at any time on this case, I'm going to hold you forever responsible. Is that clear?" She looked pretty scary saying that. Even Starlight and Celestia looked a little concerned for my well being. Spike just looked annoyed at his big sister's reaction.
"Yes, Twilight. I'm aware. And nothing bad is going to happen to Spike. I promise." I said to her as she gave me a stern look and let go of my trench coat. She started walking toward the front door of the castle to the crime scene, with me and Spike following close behind.
*****************To The Crime Scene; Alleyway Near Ponyville Hospital************
Me, Twilight and Spike finally made it to the scene of the crime. The whole area was tarped off, with dozens of ponies standing near the entrance where a couple of police officers from Ponyville were blocking them off. I'm even sure I heard a couple ponies with cameras around as well. Oh great, ponies from the media. Just what I need.
I made my way up to the stallion in uniform and introduced myself. "Excuse me, sir?" I flashed my badge to him. "I'm Detective Night Mist. I'm working on this case with Princess Twilight Sparkle and Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious, by orders of Princess Celestia." He seemed convinced.
"Right this way, sir." He said as he lead me into the crime scene. I looked at Spike, who seemed a bit nervous, but he looked like he was just shaking it off. He was determined to solve this case.
As the police officer lead me and the gang into the alleyway, I just had a feeling that this was going to be as bad as Spike said it was. And sure enough, it was.
I found the victim laying on her side near a farther corner of the alleyway. She was a really young looking unicorn mare. Like not even my age yet. She had a bright red coat with a dark brunette mane. Looks like everything Spike told me in his report was true. This mare was beaten to a bloody pulp. And to add insult to injury, she had crude writings on her body that looked to be drawn with red lipstick. Also, the Money C symbol with the X through it was right above her. Seems somepony must have held a serious grudge against her. Maybe her whole family.
It was quiet for a couple seconds, until I heard Twilight run to the nearest trash can she could find to throw up in. I kinda chuckled a little bit. I remember when that happened to me back when I was on the force. You get used to it eventually.
Spike turned his back to the body, not wanting to relieve the horrifying events he witnessed last night. Can't say I blame him. I don't think anypony could handle something like this.
Anyway, I found a mare standing over the vic, taking pictures of her from different angles. This must be the forensic pony. The one who studies a dead body, until they can find an official cause of death. This mare looked to be about 7 years older than me. She had a brown coat with a dark green mane. Her cutie mark was two back hooves with a tag wrapped around one of them. So, seeing as how I'm gonna be working with her, I went over to introduce myself.
"Detective Night Mist. It's a pleasure to meet you." I said extended my hoof to her.
She accepted my hoof shake. "Haley Hopkins. It's nice to meet you too."
"So, what have we got on the victim?"
"Well, victim looks to be about 21, 22 years old. The blows to the head lead me to believe that the ultimate cause of death was blunt force trauma. If I had to estimate the time of death, it would have to be at about quarter to 11 PM last night. Though, I won't know everything until I get back to my lab with results." She explained to me.
"Mind if I take a look at the body?" I asked her.
"Be my guest." She said.
I stood over the dead mares body. Her face and head were covered in blood and bruises. As I looked at her head, it looked like she had her head bashed in with a weapon. A metal type of weapon. Like a pipe or a crowbar. Whoever did this, must really know how to swing.
Next, I examined the body with the lipstick markings. Again, Spike was right. It had crude names written on her body with red lipstick. It seemed like the pony who did this had a personal vendetta against her.
Then, I took a look at the Money C symbol. It kinda looked like somepony wrote the symbol, then put an X through it to show his harmful intentions for whomever this symbol belonged to. Maybe this symbol was a family symbol or something.
Over at a trash can next to her, was her purse. Why didn't the suspect take the purse with him or her? If you have somepony cornered in an alleyway, wouldn't it be a mugger's dream to rob her? Or, was this even intended to be a robbery at all? Maybe, the suspect didn't want her money. Maybe, he or she just wanted to kill her. But, for what reason though?
I took a look through her purse. Minus a couple bits, cosmetics, and everything else a young mare may want, not a whole lot was in here. That was until I found her license. Now we have a name for the victim. Ruby Star. Another thing I found was a lipstick case. I unwinded it, and discovered it was a new one. Like it hadn't even been touched. So this one wasn't used on the body. Then, I found a couple pictures in the victim's purse. One had her with a younger looking stallion with an orange coat and a blonde mane about her age messing around with a camera. Another had her with a mare that looked a little bit older than her by about 2 or 3 years. She had a bright pink coat with a lighter brunette mane. The two were smiling and looking like they were having a good time. The last one, was a picture of her with the pink mare and two older looking ponies. One was a male who looked to be about 45. He had a red coat with a blonde mane. The other was a female who looked to be about 40 years old. She had a pink coat with darker brunette mane. She kinda looked like a combination of the two young girls. This definitely looked to be Ruby Star's family. Why else would she have these pictures on her at all times?
Then, as I looked at the picture, I noticed the same Money C symbol in the background. The only difference was it did not have the big X through it. So somepony must know this family very well. They looked to be in some mansion or something. Maybe their a really wealthy family.
Twilight eventually joined me after losing her lunch. She looked kinda embarrassed about what happened a couple seconds ago.
She rubbed her hoof and said "Sorry Night Mist. I'm just not used to seeing a dead body like you."
I smiled and said "Don't worry about it Twilight. It happens."
She regained her composure and asked "So, what did you find on her?"
"Well, she was beaten to death with a metallic object like a pipe or crowbar. After that, she had the lipstick written on her body. After that, the suspect spray painted this symbol over her." I showed her the symbol over the dead mare's body. She examined it before she let out a gasp.
"What is it Twilight?" I asked her.
"I know who this symbol belongs to."
Ok, Now we're getting somewhere. "You do? Who is it?" I asked intensely.
"The Coltingham family. They're the second most richest family in Ponyville, behind the Rich family." She told me.
I levitated the picture of the family to her. "Would this be them?" I asked.
She looked at it for a quick second before nodding her head yes to me. "The father is Prince Coltingham. The mother is Violet Springs, and the two daughters are Sapphire Rose and Ruby Star." She looked over to the dead mare again and put her hoof to her mouth in shock.
"Oh No. It was Ruby who was murdered?"
"Unfortunately. I guess we're gonna have to let the family know. Do you know where they live?" I asked her.
She nodded again. "Yes. I can show you the way."
"Alright." I levitated my card to Haley. "We're gonna let the family know what happened. In the mean time, if you find something, contact me immediately."
She looked at my card for a quick second. "Understood."
I followed Twilight and Spike out of the alleyway, so we could reach the Coltingham resident. I knew once I got there, I was going to have to deliver the bad news to the family. I can't begin to imagine what their reaction was going to be. I guess I'll have to wait and find out.
