Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 29:

Shadow Flare – Undercover Detective

“-So, I think they usually put some around the cuffs and skirt ends of the clothing.” I finished my reasoning on a pair of photos of a similarly gothic designed outfit on both a male and female model, taking a light sip from my tea (It tasted like it had a hint of grape in it).

For about a half hour or so, I’ve been sitting in this tiny chair (I didn’t want to seem like a jerk when she offered me a seat.), showing Rarity the few things I noticed and knew about gothic and French fashion whilst pointing out examples from the photos on the table. I’m not exactly a good source, considering I normally just wear it purely because I liked it or it fits the event, but I did read up a bit on gothic fashion while I searched the internet for pictures, so I at least knew about the basic history of the material.  I’ve come to realize that a lot of Victorian clothing in general normally made use of frills, often putting them on edges of an outfit to make it “pop out,” I guessed; which is basically what I had just explained to Rarity.

“Marvelous…!” Rarity emitted to herself, as she continued to take notes. “What an excellent concept!”

Throughout my entire rant, Rarity was quite excited, maybe even a bit bemused. Her eyes sparkled brightly behind her orange work glasses, eager for knowledge on the material she was seeing before her. Her smile was a bit wider than her usual ladylike lift, making it obvious she was enjoying the new clothing material. She even let out the occasional giggle or excited squeal as she listened. To be frankly honest, that made me awkward. It made me feel like I was having a gossip session.

If that didn’t tell me I had her attention, her eyes scanned across the pictures of costumes as I went on did; honing her eyes on any detail I spoke about in particular before using her magic to write something down on a piece of paper beside her with her quill. She would ask a question from time to time, on what other options I had seen on a certain feature of an outfit, like buckles or symbols.  Other than that, she was all ears.

“So with that, I think that’s all I’ve got to say about the clothing.” I concluded with a breath of finality, shifting in my seat slightly once more. (No matter how I shift, my butt is not going to get used to having such a small portion of it being supported. How this chair is still STANDING under my weight is baffling enough.) “What do you think, Rarity?”

She her smile softened lightly as she finished scribbling on her notepad before looking up, scanning the pictures once more. There was a light jiggle in the air that-…..no, really. There’s something jiggling in here. What’s that noise? I glanced around myself to find the source. Nothing to be seen.

(Optional Music)

“Well, in all honesty,” Rarity began, bringing my attention back to her as she put the quill down, “all of the outfits look absolutely fabulous by mixing dark with elegance. The way these dresses are designed are especially bedazzling.” She took a light sip from her tea, not making a sound (friggin’ classy) before continuing.

“However, the overabundance of frills is a tad excessive in my honest opinion. It doesn’t allow people to be amazed by the dress or the wearer herself. A dress must allow people to see the beauty of the girl in said dress.” She waved her hoof about as she explained, pointing a hoof at the big frills on a dress, and then the girl wearing it.

“You really know your stuff.” I blinked, nodding my head in agreement. I always found the frills to be unneeded because they just got annoying when they brushed by me, but with the way Rarity put it, it made more sense to not include them. I chuckled slightly with a slight grin. “Nothing less from a fashionista.”

“Oh, please.” Rarity gave a modest smile, letting the compliment seep in. “I’m merely repeating a lesson I learned recently. My first real photo shoot with my beloved friends taught me that fancy doesn’t make a fantastic dress.”

“Twilight and Fluttershy were in a photo shoot?” I scoffed lightly. “That’s hard to believe.” Something brushed my foot. My eyes bounced downward to try and get a look at what it was. What the-?

“Oh yes!” Rarity nodded her head lightly, taking another sip of her tea. My eyes hopped back to her as she drank. “In fact, Fluttershy was a model for a short time! Very successful.”

“No way.” I shook my head, unable to stop myself from laughing slightly at the concept. That girl was way too shy to be a model. She hides from a REFRIDGERATOR, for Pete’s sake.

“It’s the truth.” Rarity argued with a light giggle. “Though she did quit soon afterwards.” The life of an idol just isn’t meant for Fluttershy.” She delicately put her teacup onto her saucer. “As for Twilight, she gave me a surprise visit when I was attending a party in Canterlot, and was complimented by a big celebrity on her dress.”

“Ah, is that so?” I casually asked, noticing that her expression seemed a bit guilty.

(Music stops here)

“The one you left for about a week ago?” I remembered this because that week my white glove was almost brown when it was washed clean on Wednesday instead of the usual Monday, and Rarity almost freaked out on me. This led to some name calling (including the “Fatbutt” name. Again, don’t ask) and then to me having a VERY sore face and stomach from being slapped with a hoof somehow.

“The very same.”

“Why the surprise?”

She looked to the side as her smile disappeared for a moment. “It was her birthday.” She admitted slowly.

“It was her birthday?” I was a little surprised by that detail. I knew they all left the day after Rarity did, but I didn’t know Twilight’s birthday slid by! I have a perfectly good copy of Ender’s Game that she’ll LOVE!

“It was.” She sighed lightly. “I decided to stay in Canterlot because I was becoming popular. Being from Ponyville isn’t exactly a “good title” in a place such as Canterlot, you see, and well…I was just being a bit selfish in my attempts to become known like a celebrity…” Rarity didn’t really bother to look at me anymore, but instead simply watched the light steam from her tea slowly swag and disappear into the air just above her cup.

“Hm…” I grunted my response, thinking about her old problem as I stirred my tea to keep my hand busy. Being a celebrity wasn’t exactly something I could relate to. I was brought into school late, my first grade level being 2nd. On top of that, it was a public school that had a low number of students in it. There were two kinds of kids in the school: The popular cool kids that were likely to be “hip” and “cool”, but were really just brats wanting attention and always got in trouble, and there were kids who were otherwise more average or nerdy who wanted to be popular. To most students, age and grade level simply defined what kind of work you would get to do.

I wasn’t exactly either one. I usually kept to myself, and never really spoke to anyone unless I had no choice, or it was someone I trusted, which were at the time only my parents. For some reason, that got me some sort of reputation around the school, and people knew my name, even though I could give a rat’s ass if they thought I was interesting or not. However this led to me being bullied, harassed, or just outright hated by other students, causing me to fight back violently, furthering my “fame” in school.

Due to this, I never really bothered to get more attention than needed by the time I got to 5th grade; and because of this distinction that kept following me throughout my whole academic career, I never had to do anything to get said attention. It was though something made me really stand out, I just never figured out what.

“….Well, how’d it turn out?” Was all I could ask. I wasn’t exactly a counselor, I know, but talking about problems to my parents normally helped me when I had something on my mind.

“Well…”Rarity bit her lip at a memory before smiling (it was a very weird expression, you have no idea) and replied. “Aside from Twilight showing off her…queer dancing talents,” Oh god, “it ended fairly well.” Her smiled brightened slightly as she recalled the end of her situation. “All of my friends got to meet the gentlecolt Fancypants, and everypony was asking for a dress like Twilight’s.”

“That’s great to hear” I chuckled as I said that. It wasn’t from relief knowing that nothing bad happened while they were in Canterlot. It was from the very concept of Twilight dancing. I…just…oh lord, that is TOO funny to imagine.

“Quite so, darling.” Rarity glanced back down at the photos, thinking once more.

I told you to stop calling me that... I kept my lips shut.

“You know, these frills do really compliment this girl’s eyeliner and eyelashes…” She was beginning to overanalyze, I think.

Once again something was rubbing by my leg. I instantly scooted my seat back slightly looking down. What the hell IS that?

Walking around my legs was a small, white cat. Its hair was very well groomed, with a small bunch tied up at the top of her head by a purple ribbon, along with her long fluffy tail having gray shading at the end. Its face was pretty wide, with green eyes, a short muzzle, and a little pink nose. It was also wearing a purple collar, studded with…are those opal stones!? I think so! There was a big, fat opal stone studded right in the middle of the collar, along with two big, round orbs on either side of it.

It ignored my gaze, circling around my legs and staring intently at my sneakers and jeans. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was critiquing my clo-

Humph

It abruptly huffed at my leg, turning around and kicking some dirt onto my shoe, before walking away from it with a stuck-up attitude.

What the hell!? I’m pretty sure my face was an expression of complete offence to what that furball had just done. I could ignore when somebody sassed how I dress. I could care less about that. But when an animal that I don’t care for, let alone a cat, disses my shit. FUCK NO.

Did that goddamned pus-

“Is something wrong, Winston?” I quickly looked back up to see Rarity looking at me with a curious look.

“….You have a cat?” I merely asked another question back to her, giving her a blank look.

She blinked, confused why I was asking before, noticing the feline walking from under the table. “Oh, you must have seen Opal.”

“Opal...?” She named it after the stone on her collar?

“Yes, she’s my pet cat.” She lightly hopped off the chair onto the kitchen floor beside the cat, crouching down to get face-to-face with the small white creature. “Mommy loves her little Opalescence~.” She cooed at her pet, making her voice very high and almost childishly silly. “Yes she does~!”

Opal wasn’t very amused; it just stared back with a bored look.

“I see…” I mumbled, giving an empty expression. Your fucking bitch of a cat just basically called my clothes shit.

I glanced at my watch with a light sigh. 8:41 in the morning…I’ll take it. I’m gonna get outta here. I do NOT like being around bitchy cats; who does?

“Well, I think I’ll go to Sugarcube Corner.” I said as I got out of my seat (Backside says HALLELUJAH). “Been fun chatting with you, Rarity, but-”

“Oh, no, no, no.” Rarity quickly protested, standing back up straight. “You can’t leave now; we need to retake your measurements!”

What…? I stopped at the door.  “…Why?”

“Because I need to know ALL of your measurements now, if I want to try making hats and shoes for you, of course!” Rarity explains curtly, walking towards the modeling platform in the middle of the showroom. “If that is the case, we may as well take all measurements again to make sure.”

Oh for the love of God... “Come on, Rarity. Can’t we just do it tomo-”

“But we have the time to do it now, so come now.” She jabbed a hoof towards the platform. “Chop, chop!”

I could see Opal under the kitchen table, smiling at my misery. I hate cats…They’re so FUCKING evil, I tell ya.

“….Damnit.” I mumbled to myself softly, putting the backpack I had just picked up back down on the coat rack before reluctantly walking towards the platform, where I’ll most likely just stand for about an hour.

I lightly groaned as I walked down the marketplace street slowly. I was right, it did take a good hour and half of another for her to finish her measurements, and allow me to leave without her whining about me being “so inconvenient.” It probably wouldn’t have been so bad, if it wasn’t for that damned cat Opal always brushing by and tickling my legs to make me flinch. Every time I did move, Rarity would lash me still again with her words.  I could have sworn I saw the damned thing smirk at my reactions, I KNOW I did! That cat is out to friggin’ get me!

It was about 10:15ish, maybe ten minutes after 10 o’clock. I pretty much didn’t need a watch to guess that. My legs arched lightly as I moved forward, the muscles still getting used to actually moving after standing still for so long. I hope Applejack and her family don’t mind if I’m late for work… I’m normally there at around 7:45, maybe 8:10 in the morning. I should probably head there as soon as possible.

I looked up at the sound of a crowd up ahead. To the right of the path, there were a huge group of ponies gathered around a house; almost all of them seemed to have been trying to talk at once to something in the center.

I blinked, wondering what it was about.  I don’t remember there being any new- Rarity’s mentioning of the thefts cut my thought off. My mind suddenly sharpened straight out of its lazy mood from being a model. Now that I think about it, I remember being here…

I pushed my glasses against my eyes as I leaned forward a little to look at the house behind the chattering crowd. Strawberry at the top… My eyes slid down to the side of the building. Grapes… This is the house where the thief struck.

….Applejack probably won’t mind. I’m already late as is, anyhow.  I reasoned as I began to walk toward the crowd, ready to ask one of the ponies in the back about what was going on.

Whoa there.

I stopped mid-stride. That’s not exactly a great idea. All of these ponies only know me because I’m allowed here by order of the princess until I can get back home. All of the accounts of weird looks and fearful communication attempts from the civilian ponies passed through my mind. They don’t exactly see me as a normal person, or rather, pony. Given a party or not, I was still an alien, so that's reason enough to fear me. Frankly, I’m kinda surprise I haven’t been run out of town from my out-worldly appearance.

Twilight’s suggestion came into mind. "Turn into a pony, and they’ll probably talk to me normally..." I pondered this. But if I transform, the culprit could know I’m looking for her.

Then again, that’s already the case…

I sighed, scratching my head. Yeah, transformation it is.

First I need to find a place to transform… I continued to walk, moving past the crowd of ponies. One or two looked back at me, before going back to whatever was at the center of attention. They had narrow eyes, for some reason. Like they were suspicious or something.  Ah, forget it. They probably think I was a freak, or some crap.

I kept moving to find a hidden place to change.

I kept walking until I came to a nearby alleyway, instantly turning down the way. I stopped when I was well out of sight, glancing around myself to see if anyone was looking.

Nobody? Nothing.

I glanced behind myself to be certain. Nope, nobody.

I quickly let the image of a horse appear in my mind, slipping my glasses off and putting them in my pocket. A simple earth pony will work for basic interactions. Besides, I preferred it over having a giant bone poking out of my forehead, or two appendages on my back that feel like my arms were popped out from my sides and placed there.

I closed my eyes as I let the light flash.

Release

I instinctively fell forward, landing on all fours.

Cl-clop.

“Alright,” I mumbled, turning around back towards the crowd, “Time to see what’s up.”

Moving back towards, the crowd, I approached one of the ponies in the back. She had a light cream coat with a mane that was almost split down the middle between the colors of a deep blue and a pink color.  Her cutie mark was of three pieces of candy, so I suppose she was some kind of shopkeeper around here. Maybe she knows something I don’t?

Just play it like you don’t know jack.

“Excuse me?” I stopped behind her, getting at the top of my hooves to try and peer over the crowd.  The mare turned to me in response, waiting for what I was about to ask her. “What happened here?”

“Somepony snuck into Berry Punch’s house and stole something really important to her, from what I heard this morning.”  She answered, looking back at the crowd. Berry…Where do I remember that name?

“Is that so?” I peeked around her at the crowd again. Well, that's the victim's name. I committed the name to memory, thanking my uncle for teaching me how to act once more. In that case, there’s only one real person I can get the best information on the theft from… I nodded my head at her, giving a polite smile.  “Thank you, Miss…”

“Bon Bon.” She answered with a smile of her own. “Good to see some of the males around here have some manners.”

“Have a good one, Bon Bon.”  I just gave a light chuckle, walking by her and into the crowd. I didn’t even know there WERE many other males in this town. All I see normally are mares. Digging through the crowd and constantly apologizing to anyone I bumped into; I somehow managed to get near the front to see who was in front of the house.

“And that’s all you know?”  The mare in front of me asked. \

That was familiar. I glanced at the pony in front of me, tilting my head to get a better look. Purple mane, horn, pink highlights in her hair. It’s Twilight Sparkle, no doubt. I looked around her to see who exactly she was asking.

Standing on the front doorstep with small tears in her fuchsia eyes as she nodded her head, was a plum-colored pony. Her mane was a deep pink, with a long tail going over halfway down the length of her hind legs. She also had the cutie mark of a strawberry and a bunch of grapes.

"…."

I just blankly stared at her.

…..That’s the mare who- My mind shut off that thought before it even finished.

...

Well…Shit, that’s awkward.

“Ah, is that you, Shadow?” Twilight had looked behind herself to notice me.

“Um…” I mumbled half-aware. I shook my head quickly to get myself back into the outside world. Both Twilight and Berry Punch were looking at me, Berry Punch with a mixture of confusion and sadness on her face, and Twilight with just curiosity of why I was here.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I answered, walking forward a bit more to get beside Twilight. “I was a little curious about what happened.”

Twilight leaned towards me, whispering so only I could hear her voice. “Why exactly are you like that?”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you?” I replied, looking over to her. “I wanted to know what happened here myself, so I decided to change so no one would freak out about me being here.”

“Oh,” Twilight returned to her normal position, looking back down at her notes, “well, I was just finishing up my gathering of the facts that have occurred as of late, so I can send this report to Princess Celestia.” She spoke as she rolled up the piece of paper, putting both that and her pen into her saddlebags.

“So we should expect some authority showing up soon?” I asked hopefully.

“Possibly, considering how much this has happened.” Twilight replied, looking back up towards me. “But the guards are only sent out for major crimes. They only take down more minor crimes like theft when they witness it firsthand or see it; so normally it’s up to the people to resolve it.” Figures…

“Hmn” I lightly snorted at the answer I was given. So I really do have to take her down myself, then.

“In any case, I have everything I need here.” She turned to the still teary-eyed mare at the doorway, giving a small encouraging smile. “Don’t worry; I’ll do everything I can to make sure this gets stopped.”

She merely nodded her head once more, sniffling a little.

Twilight turned around, nodding her head once to me, as she walked off toward the residential area, probably to the library.

I watched her walk down the street before I lightly sighed to myself.

Now comes the hard part...

I slowly turned back to the plum mare at the doorway, who was wiping her tears out of her eyes.

Okay, just play it cool, and she won’t suspect a thing. So what if…that,* happened?* It was nothing, nothing at all. Nope. Totally not worth freaking out over.

I need to just do this already before my old mind drove me off the wall.

“Sorry for being a little rude,” I began, giving the lightest nod with a small smile, “but you wouldn’t happen to be ‘Berry Punch’, would you?”

She put her foreleg back down, sniffling once more as she answered in a slightly choked up voice. “Yes…”

“I see,” I cleared my throat, unsure how to really do this, “I don’t want to upset you anything further but could I maybe ask you a few questions on what happened here?”

Berry Punch eyed me for a moment, no longer sniffling now. “Are you trying to help me?”  She didn’t sound like she was on the brink of tears anymore.

Well, I need to talk to you to get information on what was taken so I know who was the thief, so… “I suppose you could say I am.” I replied, giving a small grin. “Some minor detective work for my investigations, you could say.”

“…” She kept her eyes trained on me, never moving her dark pink eyes away from mine own.

“…” I simply looked back, doing my best to keep my expression steady.

Keep it cool…She couldn’t have possibly have seen through me, right?

I could feel my lip itching to falter from pressure. I swallow a bit to push down a knot in my throat.

“Yes…?” I calmly asked.

“…” She merely looked at me a bit longer, before shaking her head sorry.

“Oh, um…s-sorry…” She stammered, pressing a hoof against her temple lightly. “I…kind of had a bit too much to drink last night, so I’m having a bit of a headache.”  She apologized in quiet voice, swaying slightly.

The crowd came in closer behind me, instantly worried about the woozy mare.

“Berry!”

“Are you okay?”

“What’s wrong!?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Berry gave a small smile to play off the momentary unbalance. “It’s not like this is the first time this happened.” She waved them all off lightly giving a joking grin. “I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about me.”

With a few murmurs of skepticism, the crowd began to break up, the mares going back to the usual chores.

I cocked an eyebrow for a moment. How often does she get drunk…!? I quickly pick the façade back up, looking a bit concerned. “Do you think you need a seat?” I slowly stepped toward her, ready to help her out if she needed it.

“Yes…please.” She sighed lightly before turning around and walking into the house with a slight falter. “Please, do come in Mr….uh…”

“Flare.” I finished for her, giving a light nod.  “My name’s Shadow Flare.” I thought for a moment about what she called me. “And please, no need for the Mr.”

“Shadow Flare,” She gave a small smile, though her expression seemed pained as well. “Come in, we can talk inside.”

I examined her once more. Not only did she seem to be in pain from drinking too much, her eyes were still really red. Just how long was she crying..?

“Are you sure about that?” I pressed lightly, not stepping onto the doorstep. “You seem like you could really use a nap.” I glanced at my watch. 10:27 A.M. It wasn’t even close to noon yet. “I could just come back later if you want.”

“No, no.” Berry Punch insisted, despite her still rubbing her head lightly. “Please. I really want any help I can to get back what was stolen.”

Her eyes were really pained, filled with sadness about having whatever she had lost swiped away from her home.

“…If you say so.” I hesitantly walked into the doorway and into her home; closing the door behind me. Frankly, I just hoped it wouldn’t end up in another, even more major mistake, like the first time I had “met” her.