Equestria Noir - Case #1: A Broken Family

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.