Equestria Noir Case 5 "Bonds of Madness"

by Jacoboby1

Chapters

Chapter 1 "School"
Chapter 2: "Bottom of the Well"
Chapter 3: "Pointing Hooves"
Chapter 4 "Murder She Done?"
Chapter 5 "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVES YAY!!!!"
Chapter 6 "Life Itself"
Epilogue

Chapter 1 "School"

Equestria Noir

Case 5

“Bonds of Madness”

Chapter 1

“School”

Dear Private Eye,

I am happy to hear about your success in Cloudsdale. Your service to your homeland and friends is something to behold. I’m glad I made the decision to invest in you, my dear detective. As a reward for your continued service to the law and your efforts to root out corruption in Equestria, I have made arrangements for housing. I am granting you a house in Ponyville so that you and your brother may have a home to call your own. Before you protest, know that I do not give this without expectation. I expect you to continue to perform to the best of your ability. Make me proud I chose you my detective.

Sincerely

Princess Celestia

P.S. I’m also glad to hear that your brother is being discharged from the hospital today. Say hello to him for me, and tell him I wish him all the best as he moves on with his life.

I probably read this letter at least a dozen times as I was riding the train back to Manehatten. I just couldn’t believe that the monarch of the entire known world was willing to give me a house. I would usually argue against such charity, but I wasn’t about to argue with somepony who could banish me to the moon. The little pony in my head was questioning why the Princess was doing all this for me.

I put that pony inside a box. How anypony can tolerate that pony inside their head is beyond me. Nothing could sully the mood today. Tailspin was getting out of the hospital today and I couldn’t be happier. I looked outside as Manehatten came into view. I could just imagine Tailspin itching to get out of that hospital.

________________________________________

Tailspin wheeled out to me in the hospital lobby. His bright blue eyes beamed at me with absolute glee. I smiled and ran to my brother and nuzzled him gently.

“Hey bro,” Tailspin said, pressing his muzzle into mine. “About time you sprung me from this dump!”

I conked my brother on the head. “I would think you would be a little more grateful.”

He rubbed his head where I hit him and he smiled. “I am, though if you hit me any harder you’ll put me back in this place.”

I looked Tailspin over; he was sitting in the wheelchair with his hind legs dangling over the edge of the seat. His dark blue coat had recently been groomed, possibly by one of the nurses. I shook my head bemused “You get the nurses wrapped around your hoof again?”

Tailspin grinned and waved to a nearby nurse. “I can’t help it if I’m adorable.”

I frowned. “You’re going to be trouble when you’re a teenager.” I turned around and started pushing Tailspin’s wheelchair out of the hospital. Several nurses cried upon seeing my little brother leave…I couldn’t blame them to be honest. Tailspin had that effect on ponies. I guess it was one of the reasons I’ve held onto him for so long. He’s my brother and I couldn’t forget about him. Everything I did was for this young Pegasus colt and I was happy to have him get on with life.

I wonder if Dad thought the same…

_________________________________________________________________________

As the train rode back to Ponyville, I looked over the pictures of our new house. Celestia was kind enough to send over pictures along with her letter and I had to say the house was everything I could’ve asked for. It was one story complex that was wheelchair accessible with two bedrooms and a full kitchen. Everything I could’ve asked for to raise Tailspin in.

Tailspin leaned over and looked at the pictures. “Is that our new place?”

nodded. “Yeah, you’re going to love Ponyville. All the ponies there are very friendly and the small town atmosphere is good for you.”

Tailspin smiled and looked up at me. “I can’t wait to see it! You talk about it in all the calls you make to me!”

I smiled and rubbed the young colt on the head. “I’m glad you’re excited, when we get there we’ll unpack everything and see about your schooling. I was planning on homeschooling you just like we used to.”

At that Tailspin frowned and looked down. I looked at my brother with eyes of concern. “Tailspin? What’s wrong?”

Tailspin turned to look at me his bright blue eyes earnest. “I, Private, I want to go to a normal school.”

My grey eyes grew wide at this sudden spout of information. To say I wasn’t prepared for this was like saying the sky was blue. I just stared at my little brother. “What brought this on Tailspin? You’ve never been to a normal school before in your life…”

Tailspin kept his blue eyes on me. “It’s just," He paused and then said, "You remember Poppyseed?”

I nodded. “Your old roommate with the broken leg?”

He nodded “Yeah, all his classmates came to sign his cast back a few weeks ago…I just saw all the friends who cared about him…I want that.”

I wanted to say no…I really did. I didn’t know if my brother could handle going to a school where everypony was normal except for him. Maybe it was just me being overprotective of him or something. Either way, I couldn’t say no to Tailspin when he wanted something that anypony would want. Friends, that’s all he really wanted.

I sighed and relented. “Alright…I’ll see what I can do…” I then put a hoof in front of him to exemplify my point. “But if it becomes too much for you…you let me know.”

Tailspin nodded. “Thank you bro!”

He pressed himself into my chest in affection. I slowly hugged my little brother, grinning. I guess he had me around his hoof too.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

“WELCOME BACK TO PONYVILLE!!!!”

That was the greeting we got when we arrived at Ponyville. This friendly welcome back was provided by Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie: your one stop pony for all your party needs.

The Pink ball of sugar powered energy was jumping up and down upon seeing me step off the train. Her bright blue eyes we’re filled with absolute joy upon seeing me.

“Private it’s so good to see you! Rainbow Dash told me you went to Cloudsdale with her two days ago and I was like WHAT!!!?? But then I heard you locked up that meanie Gilda and all was forgiven. Did I mention its soooo good to see you again!?”

I shoved a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth and said firmly, “Pinkie, there’s this brand new concept…its called breathing.”

I made the mistake of removing my hoof from her mouth. “Oh but I can’t stand being quiet! I remember when I got hit by poison joke and I couldn’t talk for almost an entire episode! It was the worst thing ever!”

Episode? I shook my head and smiled at her “Well it’s good to see you again.”

Pinkie turned her attention to my wheelchair bound brother. Her eyes lit up “Hi there! What’s your name? I’m Pinkie Pie!”

Tailspin smiled at the pink fireball. “I’m Tailspin, Private’s little brother.”

Pinkie let out a gasp of air. “Oh my gosh! Private you didn’t tell me you we’re going to bring your brother along! Now I have to prepare a welcome back to Ponyville party as well as a welcome to Ponyville party!”

Tailspin lifted a hoof to stave off the earnest earth pony. “You don’t have to do that…”

Pinkie got really close to my brother “Are you kidding me!? It would be incredibly OOC for me not to create an awesome party for you! Ooh I hope Mrs. Cake still has the oven on! It was nice meeting you Tailspin! You look so cute and it’s no wonder Private thinks the world of you! Now I gotta get going and make that party!”

And with that she ran off, Tailspin looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “Is she always like that?”

I frowned. “This is her on one of her milder days…”

_________________________________________________________

Ponyville only really had two schools, an elementary school and a high school. I was at the former just as the school let out for the day. I left Tailspin at our new house and hoped to talk to the teacher before I enrolled Tailspin.

I entered the classroom to find a young earth pony about Big Mac’s age. She was grape violet with a pink and lighter pink mane. She held this aura of sweetness that reminded me of my mother a little. I guess I recognized that aura because my teacher mother had a similar aura about her. She looked up from grading her papers and looked at me with bright green eyes. “You must be Private Eye, the new detective in town.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you must be Miss Cherilee. I was told by the principal of the school that you’ll be teaching my brother.”

She smiled at me. “Yes, and how can I help you detective?”

I decided to come clean with her. “Are you aware of…his condition…?”

She gave me a look then nodded. “Yes Private, I was made well aware of Tailspin’s medical conditions.”

“Then you know what I could be concerned about… I just want to be sure he’ll be fine here.”

She held up a hoof to stop me from speaking anymore. “You have nothing to worry about Private, Tailspin is in good hooves. I promise to make his experience here at school as free of bullying as possible.”

I nodded slowly; she really knew what she was doing. I reached into my trench coat and withdrew a small list of papers. I levitated the papers onto her desk. “Here is all the information about Tailspin, all the medication he requires and what to do if anything should happen to him.”

Cherilee smiled at me. “Tailspin must be wonderful if he has a brother like you.”

I smiled at her, accepting the compliment gratefully. “Just a word of warning… he will try and flirt with you, just so that you know before it happens in the middle of class.”

Cherilee frowned. “Oh believe me I’ve dealt with my fair share of student crushes before…”

We both laughed a little at that. I left the school building feeling a little better about the whole arrangement.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Tailspin rolled beside me giddy as ever when his first day at a normal school rolled around. He looked at me with eyes filled with glee. “I can’t wait Private! It’s going to be so awesome!”

Most colts would try to saw their legs off if it meant they could get out of school. Not my brother though, he’s been waiting for the day when he could go to a normal school for a long time.

As we walked down the path together I was greeted by a yellow filly that ran up to me. Applebloom looked up at me excitedly.

“Howdy Private! When were you gonna tell us you were back in town?” She said looking up at me.

Applejack rubbed her sister’s head as she walked to us. Applejack smiled at me “You’ll have to excuse mah sister Private. Ever since ya helped us with Big Mac, she’s been talkin about ya nonstop!”

Applebloom flushed and glared at her sister. “Ah was not!”

I chuckled. “It’s good to see you guys to. How’s Big Mac?”

Applejack smiled. “Prime tootin’ ever since he got outta that jail cell. Been workin’ harder than ever to try and make up for his jail time during that case. Sweet Apple Acres will be ready for Applebuckin’ season soon.”

I smiled “I wish you the best of luck Applejack.”

Applebloom turned her attention to Tailspin. “Howdy! Ah’m Applebloom!”

Tailspin returned the smile. “I’m Tailspin, I’m going to school for the first time!”

The yellow filly raised an eyebrow.“Ya mean you ain’t never been to a regular school before?”

Tailspin shook his head. “Nope, I’ve been homeschooled all my life.”

Applebloom looked at Tailspin as if he spoke another language. “Homeschoolin’? Why wasn’t Ah told ya could stay at home and learn?”

Applejack conked her sister on the head. “Because ya don’t have the grades to afford somethin’ like that.”

Applebloom rubbed her head in annoyance. “Just askin’…”

Applejack looked at me. “Well, it was good seein’ ya again Private, but Ah gotta pick up somethin’ with Applebloom here. Maybe you’d be willin’ to stop by the farm fer somethin’ to eat?”

My stomach growled in response. Once you’ve had one of the Apple Family’s pies, your stomach became programmed for more. I watched the two country gals walk off and smiled. Well Tailspin made one friend today. So far so good.

__________________________________________________

I watched all the other foals enter the school. Their parents or relatives were waving them goodbye. They were all used to their children staying somewhere for half a day while they worked. I wasn’t, so I held Tailspin back a little.

I looked at my brother who just stared at the school. “Tailspin…you don’t have to go ya know…I can still teach you.”

He looked at me with earnest eyes. “I appreciate your concern Private…I just...I don’t want you to have to worry about watching me all the time.”

My grey eyes turned to him. “Is that what this is all about?”

Tailspin’s head slowly nodded. “A little bit…It’s just…you’ve done so much for me and I…I’ve been nothing but a burden on you.”

I shook my head. “Don’t say that…” I gently nuzzled my little brother who pressed himself into me for comfort. “You aren’t a burden to me Tailspin… you’re the best thing to ever happen to me…”

Tailspin pulled away and nodded. “Alright…I’m gonna make ya proud bro…”

I hugged my brother one last time. “You already have…”

I let him go and watched him go into the school building. I fought the urge to run after him and take him back. Tailspin needed this…he needed to learn and this was the best setting for him. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss him terribly already.

“Hiya Private!” I heard a voice suddenly speak up behind me.

I turned, and there was Ditzy standing there mailbag over her shoulder. I smiled at her “Hi Ditzy...”

She looked past me with those crossed eyes of hers. “You have somepony going here Private?”

I nodded. “My little brother…Tailspin.”

Her yellow eyes were laced with sympathy. “Your first time seeing him go to a school huh?”

I looked at her wide eyed. “How did you guess?”

She smiled at me. “I felt the same when Dinky went to school for the first time.”

“Who’s Dinky?” I said curious. “Your sister?”

Ditzy shook her head and gestured for me to follow her. We both snuck our way under the classroom window and peeked inside. Ditzy pointed at a periwinkle colored unicorn filly in the back row talking to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

“She’s my little filly.” Ditzy said proudly.

I looked at her, wide eyed. “She’s your…daughter?”

“Uh huh!” Ditzy replied happily.

“You’re awfully young to be having a filly…” I observed.

Ditzy looked down. “I had her when I was very young…”

“Oh,” I said, shuffling my mind frantically to change the subject. “Well, she’s lucky to have a mom like you.”

Ditzy smiled at me and looked back at Dinky, who was listening to Cherilee talking about Tailspin. “I’m lucky to have her…”

I opened one of the windows a little so I could hear and see at the same time. I watched as Cherilee let Tailspin talk.

My little brother spoke. “Well, I’m from Manehatten and I came here with my brother to come to school.”

Sweetie Belle spoke out. “You’re a blank flank too?”

Tailspin turned himself in his wheelchair to reveal that he was indeed a blank flank. He smiled. “I’m still on the lookout for my cutie mark; I hope it’s something awesome like a rocket or something!”

Cherilee smiled and gestured to a seat by Dinky. “Why don’t you take a seat over there Tailspin, we have a test today but you don’t have to take it. Just sit back and relax while the rest of you take the math test.”

Groans escaped several of the fillies and colts present in the room. Tailspin didn’t see me or Ditzy as he rolled over to his seat. I watched as Tailspin started talking to Dinky while Cherilee was handing out tests.

“I’m Dinky,” She said smiling at Tailspin. “Welcome to Ponyville!”

Tailspin returned her smile. “Well, if all the ponies in this town are as awesome and good looking as you then I’ll fit in nicely.”

Dinky flushed at the compliment and smiled at Tailspin. Dang it! Five minutes into the school year and Tailspin’s sly flirts were already coming out. The two started talking, but then I noticed a scarlet filly sitting in front of Tailspin raise her hoof.

Cherilee shook her head and came to the red filly. “Cardinal…are you having trouble reading the test again?”

Cardinal nodded a little embarrassed. “Yes Miss Cherilee…”

Some foals giggled at her, Cherilee just sighed. “You can finish your test whenever you get around to it. If you need any more help you just tell me alright?”

Cardinal slowly nodded. “Yeah…”

A rather snooty looking pink earth pony with a tiara on her head spoke. “When will that be? When my grandfoals are born?”

Some laughed at that, Tailspin fired back at the snotty filly. “You leave her alone you snot!”

The snooty one glared back at him. “What are you going to do about it blank flank?!”

Tailspin was about to roll out from his desk when Dinky stopped him. She smiled at the snooty filly. “Well Diamond Tiara, when you get better grades you can start making fun of the rest of us and not have Daddy shell out a wad of bits every year to send you here.”

An orange Pegasus with a violet mane spoke out as the rest of the class ‘oooooh’ed. “You just got roasted Diamond!”

Everypony laughed at that and Cherilee looked at both of them. “Diamond, you will keep your comments about others to yourself…and Dinky, while I appreciate you standing up for Cardinal, I don’t want you egging on Diamond like that.”

Dinky hung her head. “I’m sorry Miss Cherilee.”

Diamond mumbled something along the lines of an apology. I admired the amount of control Cherilee could exercise over her class when she set her hoof down. I smiled at the whole scene.

Tailspin looked over at Dinky. “That was amazing how you roasted her like that!”

Dinky shrugged. “I’ve dealt with bullies like Diamond before.”

Tailspin smiled. “Either way it’s still awesome!”

I walked away from the window, all my fears and doubts about the whole thing just melting away. Tailspin really was in good hooves. I looked over to Ditzy as she hovered beside me. “You got a good kid.”

Ditzy smiled proudly. “She’s really something…my little filly.”

Chapter 2: "Bottom of the Well"

Chapter 2

“Bottom of the well”

I sat in front of the school yard checking my watch. 3:00 it said…just five minutes until Tailspin was set loose from the school. I must’ve looked like a dog waiting for his owner to come home just sitting there. I didn’t care; I was excited to hear how Tailspin’s first day went.

“Oh darling I didn’t expect to see you here” I heard a rather refined voice say next to me.

I looked over and there was Rarity smiling at me. I noticed she was wearing some more makeup than usual. I wonder why? I simply nodded in the direction of the white unicorn and said “Hello Rarity, here to pick up Sweetie Belle?”

She nodded “Yes, I have a day off today and thought I’d pick up my dear sister from school today” She then sat down beside me and looked at me with her soft blue eyes. “So who are you waiting for?”

I looked at the school again “My little brother Tailspin”

Rarity gasped “You never told me you had a sibling to! What a coincidence!”

I smiled a little “Yeah, siblings can be a handful I guess. Speaking of which how is Sweetie Belle doing?”

Rarity smiled at me “Oh just marvelous darling, we’ve gotten a lot closer ever since the whole Blueblood incident. Things have never been better between us”

“I’m happy to hear you two are doing well”

Rarity then looked at me “Private…I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something”

I raised an eyebrow “And that is?”

“It’s about…Twilight” Rarity confessed

“She told ya huh?” I said flatly

She nodded her white head “Yes Darling…she was rather distraught over the whole thing though…she’s now willing to talk to you about it”

“I appreciate it Rarity…but it’ll be a while before I can talk to her”

Rarity was smart not to push the Twilight issue further. We just waited with the other parents until the bell finally rang. I stood up and looked out in the sea of fillies and colts coming out of the school. I then spotted Tailspin talking to Dinky and I waved at him. He waved back excitedly and said something to Dinky before rolling out to me.

I ran to my little brother and smiled at him “So? How was your day?”

He smiled back at me and imitated Rainbow Dash “Best, Day, EVER!”

I nuzzled my brother gently “That’s good to hear…” I walked behind Tailspin and started pushing him along. I then felt a

bump on my leg and looked over. There was that orange Pegasus from earlier rubbing her head. “You alright?”

She looked up at me “Yeah I’m fine, sorry about that”

Tailspin suddenly rolled passed me and bent down to look at the Pegasus filly. “Scootaloo! Are you alright?!” He said frantically.

She frowned at him “I’m fine Tailspin; you don’t need to follow me around every time I trip!” She then huffed and marched straight passed him. Tailspin was absolutely dumbfounded.

I smiled slyly “Looks like the great Tailspin has lost his touch…”

Tailspin shook his head trying to comprehend what just happened “I don’t get it! I did everything right! I held the door for her! I gave her my extra cookie! I even complemented her! Private! Where did I go wrong?!”

Suddenly Scootaloo stopped in her tracks at my name. She zoomed back to me and looked up at me with bright purple eyes. “You’re Private Eye!? The detective that helped Rainbow Dash!?”

I smiled at the kid “You’re Scootaloo right?”

She nodded excitedly “Yeah! President and founder of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club! I just want to thank you for helping Rainbow Dash!”

I lowered my head to the filly’s level “You’re very welcome Scootaloo and if my brother gives you anymore trouble you let me know okay”

“Private!” Tailspin said his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Scootaloo gave Tailspin a look then smiled at me “Anyways see you around Private!” She trotted off to a nearby scooter and rolled off.

Tailspin looked on dreamily at her “She’s amazing…”

I smirked “One school day and you’ve already got a crush”

“It’s not a crush!” Tailspin retorted way too fast.

“Suure my dear brother” I said sarcastically “And you looking at her like she’s an Alicorn descended from a above is just simple admiration”

Tailspin frowned “If you blab to anypony I’ll kill you in your sleep”

I laughed “I’ll let you know, I sleep with a gun Tailspin”

Tailspin sighed and we both started walking out when I saw a small crowd gathering. I noticed Applejack was there with Applebloom. I tapped the country mare on the shoulder and said. “What’s going on here?”

Applejack pointed to the center of the crowd “Ah’m not sure, Dinky and Cardinal we’re playing then Dawnbird went all ballistic and started insultin the poor filly”

I pushed my way through the crowd and saw Dinky and Cardinal standing on opposite sides hidden by their respective mothers. Ditzy was glaring at a golden colored unicorn that was standing protectively in front of Cardinal. I gathered that this Dawnbird was Cardinal’s mother.

Ditzy covered Dinky with a wing and glared back at Dawnbird “You apologize for what you said about her!”

Dawnbird glared back “Only if you keep that thing away from my daughter!”

“She’s not a thing Dawnbird! She’s my little filly! I won’t let anypony go around saying mean things about her like you did!”

Dawnbird fired back “Just keep her away from Cardinal! I don’t want her to catch stupidity from you or your daughter!”

I got between the two mothers and I glared at Dawnbird “That’s enough mam; I suggest you take your daughter and leave”

Cardinal spoke softly from behind her mother “I didn’t mean to cause trouble mommy…we were just playing”

Dawnbird turned to her daughter and her personality did a 180. “It’s alright dearest…you don’t have to stay here and be around ponies like” She glared at Ditzy and said with a voice filled with venom “Them…”

Ditzy kept her crossed eyes glaring at Dawnbird the entire time the golden unicorn left with her daughter. Ditzy turned to Dinky whose eyes we’re downcast. “Dinky are you okay? Dawnbird didn’t hurt you did she?”

Dinky shook her head “I was only playing with Cardinal…then that mean lady came out of nowhere and called me a…”

Ditzy hugged her daughter as the crowd started to leave. “You don’t have to say it again little filly…”

Dinky pressed herself into her mother and I noticed Tailspin rolling up to Dinky and he gently began rubbing her back. That seemed to get her calmed down enough for Ditzy to let her go.

I looked at the mother and daughter “If you guys ever have trouble with Dawnbird again, let me know”

Ditzy smiled and nodded “We’ll be okay Private; we’ve dealt with her before”

Tailspin looked at Dinky “I can’t believe she would insult you like that”

The little unicorn smiled at Tailspin “Thanks for being there Tailspin…it’s nice to know I got an awesome friend here”

____________________________________________

Tailspin was barely digging into his dinner that night at our new house. I looked over at Tailspin worried. “Tailspin, you haven’t touched your hay fries…what’s wrong?”

My little brother sighed and looked up at me “I just don’t understand why bullies exist. How can somepony be so mean to everypony?”

I bit into my veggie patty and spoke sagely “Most bullies do it simply for attention…others because there’s something about somepony they just can’t stand”

Tailspin fiddled with his hay fries “It just bugs me is all…I just can’t stand it when somepony hurts somepony else because of something stupid”

I got up from my seat, walked to my brother and put a hoof on his shoulder “The world is pretty messed up Tailspin…not everypony can make it out of the fire without getting burned. Now there’s something else going on is there? You wouldn’t have brought this up if you hadn't”

Tailspin looked at me with his blue eyes “Private…somepony saw my wings today…”

“What happened?” I said trying not to look at his brittle wings.

“I was playing at recess with Applebloom and her friends; they wanted me to join some society all about getting their cutie marks. While trying to get our cutie marks in acrobatics I fell off my chair…everypony saw my wings…” A tear came into his eye “Everypony was just…staring at them…”

I hugged my brother close to me “Hey hey…don’t cry Tailspin. It’s okay I’m here now”

He pressed his muzzle into me and spoke a little muffled “Then that snobby one started calling me a chicken and suddenly everypony was laughing at me…”

I spoke frankly to him “You knew this was going to happen eventually…”

“Not in front of everypony in the entire class though…” He spoke as I felt his wet tears stain my grey coat. I didn’t care though, Tailspin needed me right now.

“What happened after that?”

“Dinky just…wailed on Diamond…” Tailspin said his sobs subsiding a little. “She helped me back into my chair and told Cherilee what happened…”

I smiled a little “That Dinky…she’s something alright”

Tailspin pulled away and looked up at me “Sorry bro…I didn’t mean to dump all this on you”

I ruffled his electric blue mane “Hey what are brothers for?”

________________________________________________

I gently laid Tailspin onto his bed with my magic. He always loved it when I levitated him like that. He looked at me with his blue eyes smiling happily.

I returned his smile and pulled the covers up to him and tucked him in. “You just get some sleep alright? Tomorrow is a Saturday so you can rest easy”

He nodded and then looked at me “Say bro…can I ask you a favor?”

I looked at him “Sure, what do you need?”

“Could you…I mean if you don’t mind it…”

“Asking me to dress up in a chicken suit is where I draw the line Tailspin, I still remember high school”

We both laughed at that then Tailspin’s eyes looked at me. “I…I want you to sing that song…”

I pulled up a chair and sat down looking at my younger brother “The one that I said mom always sang?”

He nodded “Yeah that one, I don’t remember her but…I always liked hearing you sing it”

I smiled at him then I opened my mouth to sing a soft melody.

Hush now, quiet now

It’s time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now quiet now

It’s time to go to bed…

________________________________________________

The new day dawned and I found myself standing in front of Twilight’s house. I wanted to knock on the door and talk to her. But every time I raised my hoof to knock on the door I just couldn’t do it.

What was wrong with me? I used to be able to talk to her all the time. When I was with her…I was willing to talk about things I never could with any other pony. I started imagining me running inside, picking her up in my hooves and pressing myself into that mane of hers. Telling her I loved her more than life itself. But couldn’t do it…I just kept staring at my hooves that just refused to go in.

“Private?”

I looked up from my hooves to see that Spike was holding the door open. “I haven’t seen you in a while” the baby dragon said “You want to talk to Twilight?”

I decided to be honest with my dragon friend “I…I’m not sure”

He nodded knowingly “I understand Private…look you know she misses you”

She missed me? What was this now? “She said misses me?”

Spike looked at me like I just said a gun couldn’t shoot bullets. “Yeah she did, she’s been looking for you ever since you left Cloudsdale”

I felt a faint blush come to my cheeks as I thought of Twilight looking for me. I shook my head and looked at the baby dragon. “Well if you see her just tell her I’m looking for her to”

“Will do” Spike said saluting, just then a blue bomb fell from the sky. Rainbow crash landed in front of me and looked up at me looking frantic.

“Private! You have to come with me it’s an emergency!”

I put a hoof on the rainbow maned mare “Calm down Rainbow, what happened?”

“Some filly fell down the well! We tried calling to her but she wouldn’t answer! I think she’s…” Dash couldn’t finish the sentence.

I nodded delving into detective mode. “Alright, take me to the crime scene. Spike you come with me too”

Spike nodded “I’ll just tell Owlowiscious to make up for my chores while I’m gone!” He ran inside. Well, this wasn’t how I expected my homecoming to be.

______________________________________________________

The well in question was an older one that nopony used. It was small and situated just on the border between Ponyville and the Everfree forest. I looked on as a large crowd had gathered around the well. I pushed my way through the crowd and came to the well in question.

Applejack was there among the crowd, she looked at me worried. “Sugercube, thank heaven ya came. The filly is down there and nopony is small enough to fit down there to get her”

I nodded and looked at Rainbow “You and Applejack get the crowd back from the well; I can’t investigate with everypony gawking at the scene”

Both mares nodded and turned to the crowd.

Rainbow spread her wings out to the crowd to drive home the point. “Everypony back off! Private is investigating what’s going on”

Applejack spoke up as well "Ain't nothin ya'll need ta be gawkin at!"

I smiled at both of them and turned to the well. I looked at the well, it was way too small for me to fit…I looked at Spike.

Spike knew exactly what I was thinking “Oh no! I’m not going down some creepy well with a dead body at the bottom!”

I smiled snidely “Well if not…I could always get a certain owl to help…”

Spike appeared with Applejack’s lasso tied around his belly. “Okay you hang on to the other end of the rope and lower me down”

I reached into my trench coat and pulled out a small flashlight. I hoofed it to Spike “Use this to help you see, tug twice when you want to come up”

Spike nodded as I took the end of the lasso in my teeth. Spike lowered himself down into the well slowly at first but soon he got the hang of it. I pulled as hard as I could to keep Spike from hitting the bottom too hard.

Spike’s rope went lax as he hit the bottom of the well. I looked down into the well. “Do you see anything Spike?”

I heard a yelp come from the bottom of the well. Spike spoke up a few minutes later “I found her! She hit her head on a
rock as she fell…she isn’t moving…”

I shouted down the well “Pick her up and I’ll pull you both up in a sec”

I heard him mumble something along the lines of “Slave driver” but I soon felt two tugs on the rope. I gestured for Applejack to help me and we both pulled hard on the rope. The two of us compensated for the extra weight and slowly but surely we got Spike up.

The body he was holding…was Cardinal’s

Chapter 3: "Pointing Hooves"

Chapter 3

“Pointing Hooves”

Spike gently laid the little filly on ground. Everypony in the crowd was whispering and some we’re fighting to get a better look at the body. I looked down at Cardinal’s body; the right side of her head was hit bad enough to kill her. She had on her school saddlebag.

I opened the saddlebag and found a small picture book inside. I opened it and discovered that it had lots of writing on the inside over the words. “My first book?” I said reading the title aloud.

Applejack looked at the book over my shoulder. “Ah remember readin that book to Applebloom when she was just a foal”

I looked at the writing; a lot of the words in the regular print had their letters rearranged into some kind of code. A lot of the words were backwards or put in patterns that made them practically unreadable. It was like Cardinal was trying to translate the words into another language, one that I’ve never seen before.

I closed the book and looked out at the crowd. “Everypony, I’m going to have to ask you all to remain calm while I get to the bottom of this”

A cream colored mare with a blue and pink mane spoke up “Is the filly…”

I slowly nodded and many ponies in the crowd lowered their heads in mourning. Lyra came out of the crowd and put her hoof around the cream colored mare. The gal must’ve been a friend of Lyra’s. I turned my grey eyes to the crowd “Did anypony see what happened?”

All shook their heads one by one until a small voice was heard from the crowd. “I saw it…”

The crowd slowly parted to reveal Dinky standing there her yellow eyes in tears. She walked up to me trying to avoid the gazes of the other ponies. Some whispered about her but they were silenced by a glare from me. This young filly didn’t need to become a gossip subject. She was a witness, and she needed to be treated with respect.

I lowered myself to Dinky’s level “You saw what happened Dinky?”

She nodded “Yes mister…”

I pulled out my notebook “Could you describe what happened?”

Dinky looked at me and I smiled reassuringly. She seemed to relax a little and then spoke in her tiny voice. “I was going to visit Pipsqueak, a friend of mine, but I heard yelling coming from over here. I ran by to investigate, and then I saw…”

“Get away from her!!” A voice shouted from the crowd. The crowd parted again and I saw Dawnbird push her way through the crowd. She ran to Cardinal and held her child protectively. She was glaring at Dinky “You just stay away from her!”

I turned to Dawnbird, Dinky was hiding behind me. “Ms. Dawnbird, I’m Detective Private Eye, I’m here to investigate what happened” I gestured to the corpse of her daughter. “I’m going to have to ask you to please step away from the body of your daughter”

She glared at me, her eyes filled with white hot rage. “What’s there to investigate?! We all know what happened here!”

I raised an eyebrow and Rainbow went about silencing the murmuring crowd. “You believe you know what happened here mam?”

She glared at Dinky “That thing killed her!”

Dinky hid behind me and started sobbing into my hind leg. I let her sob as I glared back at the grieving mother. “Mrs. Dawnbird, I understand that you are grieving, but do you honestly have any proof to back up what you are accusing Dinky of?”

“That family of theirs is crazy! Her grandmother went and killed all but one of their children when she was alive! She has the same look in her eye!”

Rainbow was about to tackle the mother but I held up a hoof to stop her. Dash gave me a look then went back to keeping the crowd calm. I looked back at Dawnbird “Mam, you’re obviously not thinking rationally. I will personally investigate this matter and will come to a conclusion”

Dawnbird fired back “That thing was always jealous of Cardinal! My perfect daughter couldn’t hope to compare to her! She had motive and she was here! What more proof do you need?!”

I got right into the mare’s face and my grey eyes matched her determination. “Mam…take my advice and leave before I have to arrest you for obstruction of justice”

Dawnbird slowly set Cardinal’s body down on the grass and glared at me. Then she glared at Dinky “Don’t think this is over for a minute…”

Dawnbird shoved her way through the crowd. Lyra made a strange gesture with her hoof at Dawnbird as she passed. Her cream colored friend simply groaned and facehoofed. The crowd slowly began to disperse as I turned back to Dinky, the poor thing looked terrified.

I spoke in a gentle voice “Can you tell me what happened Dinky?”

With tear filled eye she shook her head violently “No, I don’t want to talk about it”

I didn’t want to push the filly further then she was willing to go. I nodded and stood up gesturing for Dash to come over. I spoke quietly in Dash’s ear. “Get her home and tell Ditzy what happened, also tell them I’m inviting them to dinner”

Dash whispered back “Why are you inviting them to dinner after what just happened?”

“Because Rainbow, Dawnbird made a serious threat against them. I could practically taste the venom in her voice. I’d like to keep an eye on them in case Dawnbird tries anything crazy”

Dash nodded in understanding and began talking to Dinky. I turned to Spike who was still staring at the body of Cardinal. He looked at me with his slited green eyes. “To think I didn’t know she was dead until after I carried her up…”

I put a hoof on the little dragon’s head. “Spike, I need you to focus now”

Spike nodded at me “What do you need me to do?”

I gave him my office key “I need you to run to the office and look up everything about Dawnbird. Her financials, career, anything that could be useful. By the time you’re done I want you to be able to tell me what her favorite brand of wine is”

Spike nodded and took the key. “You got it Private, I won’t let you down!”

I turned to Applejack as Spike ran off. I handed her a phone number “This is Forceps' phone number, tell him what happened and tell him to take care of the body”

The country mare nodded her head and looked me right in the eye. “Ah will sugarcube. What are you going to do?”

I looked towards town. I could see the library from here and I started walking towards it. “I'm going to try and get another friend on board”

____________________________________________

I stood in front of Twilight’s door as the sun reached its highest point. I knew I would have to face her eventually. I knew in my heart of hearts that I needed Twilight if I was going to solve this case. Part of me still held a grudge against Twilight for forging that evidence. But I was going to swallow my pride now and face the mare I’ve grown to care for.

I reached to knock on the door when it opened by itself. I stared at Twilight as she opened the door and stared back at me. I stared into her amethyst eyes and they seemed to twinkle a little at the sight of me. I reached up and removed my hat. I never removed my grey fedora unless I was at home or off duty. I was neither, I was hoping for an apology.

“Twilight” I said simply staring at the lavender unicorn.

She slowly walked closer to me and met my gaze with her own. “Private...I heard you were back in town. I was going to see you”

I nodded “Twilight, I came to apologize”

She answered by simply nodding and saying “I wanted to apologize too”

I raised an eyebrow “You want to apologize to me?”

She nodded again her violet mane moving with her. “I’m…sorry for forging evidence to try and get my brother off the hook” She turned and sat down with her back to me. I could hear her sobbing a little. “It’s just…I was just so mad at you. I couldn't believe my brother could be accused like that” She reached a hoof up to wipe her eyes that I knew now we’re wet. “I should've trusted you, you were the professional. You knew what you were doing. I was just a meddler in the whole affair”

I shook my head and sat by her side. “Twilight, I’d be lying if I said I knew what I was doing” I looked at Twilight who looked at me. Her violet eyes red with tears. “I shouldn’t have accused your brother like that. I wasn’t thinking outside the box like I should’ve. I just looked at the evidence and not the ponies involved. I should've trusted you and listened to your opinion”

Twilight then smiled a little. I felt my heart fill up with butterflies at that smile. It was what I missed most about Twilight. I missed her at my side like this, just being with her made everything worthwhile.

I sighed and spoke pleadingly. “Truth is Twilight…I’ve missed you so much”

Her eyes went wide at this “You missed me?”

I nodded “Yeah” I looked down at my hooves “Asking you to leave was the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life. It was at that moment when you left I realized” I felt hot and embarrassed. I looked away trying to hide my grey face turning scarlet. It was then that I felt something lean against my shoulder. I turned and saw that Twilight had put her head on my shoulder.

“I've realized it to” Was all she said as she closed her eyes and smiled warmly.

She felt it to? Sweet Celestia she cared for me as I cared for her! I felt myself sweat as I looked at the beautiful unicorn laying her head on my shoulder. I then relaxed and put my chin on top of her head. I was taking in her scent, everything about her I was just drinking like sweet sweet honey. She smelled of…lilacs. I smiled in bliss as I took in her scent.

She gently took her head off me and we simply looked into each other’s eyes. She then smiled at me “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while…”

I returned her smile “So does this mean you’ll work with me again?”

Her eyes grew wide with joy “You’ll let me help you with a case again!?”

I nodded “Of course, I’ll need somepony who can perform magic like you can if I ever want to solve this. You heard about what happened?”

Twilight nodded and set to work preparing for the case “Cardinal fell down the well? Yeah I heard about that from my friend Colgate. She said you took on the task of finding out what happened”

“Right, we’re going to talk to Cherilee first. I want to find out more about Cardinal”

She filled her saddlebags with all her gear then she came up to me. “Thanks for letting me back on Private”

I smiled at her “Anytime”

She then reached up and wrapped her front legs around my neck in a hug. I turned scarlet at this but then I returned the hug. She was a little awkward with hugging me. I could tell she hadn’t been with a stallion like this before. Her legs didn’t really know where to put themselves but I didn’t care. Simply having her here with me made all the waiting to see her again well worth it.

____________________________________________________

We entered the school and found Cherilee grading papers once again. When she saw me and Twilight her eyes told me she knew. She tried to put on a brave face in front of me.

“Ahh Private, I wasn’t expecting to see you here on a Saturday” She said a little forced.

I spoke frankly “You’ve heard about what happened Cherilee?”

Slowly the teacher nodded “Yes, I heard about Cardinal” She fought tears herself “Such a waste, she had so much life ahead of her”

I levitated out my notebook as Twilight put a hoof on the teacher’s shoulder. “I have some questions to ask you Cherilee”

She nodded and looked at me “Yes Private, ask me anything at all”

“Could you tell me a little about Cardinal?” I said writing down in my notebook.

Cherilee nodded “Well, she wasn’t always the best student but she did try to get along with the other kids. I never once had a behavior problem with her”

I reached into my trench coat and pulled out Cardinal’s book. “Does this belong to her?” I levitated it in front of Cherilee who took it and looked it over.

She looked at me “Yes this is a book I’ve always seen her carry around”

Twilight looked over the book with a raised eyebrow “I used to read this book back when I was in magic kindergarten” She seemed to shudder a little at the memory. Her hoof then pointed at Cardinal's handiwork with the book. “But what’s with all the writing on here?”

Cherilee shrugged “I could never understand it; sometimes I would see her writing in that book. Crossing out words and replacing them with…gibberish”

I levitated the book back and analyzed the writing. A lot of the words we’re respelled backwards in crayon. I remembered my thoughts earlier about her retranslating the words into another language. What if maybe she was but with a language that only she could understand and see?

Then it hit me. I looked at the teacher inquisitively “Has Cardinal ever been tested for dyslexia?”

Twilight looked at me then at the book “That would explain why all her words are backwards. It’s the only way she could read them”

Cherilee shook her head at me “I never had the chance to officially test her but I had my suspicions”

I tilted my head “How come you never tested her? There are a lot of ponies with this condition that have been helped by professionals. They could’ve helped her work this out”

Cherilee replied with a huff and a roll of her green eyes. “I tried to get her tested the first couple of times I got a test that I couldn’t read at all. But every time I remotely suggested a test to be done on Cardinal I would get an earful from her mother”

“Dawnbird” I said firmly “Have you spoken to Cardinal’s father about this?”

Cherilee shook her head “I can’t because…he died when Cardinal was only a foal”

Twilight looked inquisitively at the young teacher “How’d he die?”

Cherilee shrugged “Nopony knows; only that he was killed years ago when the couple lived in Fillydelphia”

“He was killed?” I said my eyes showing my interest

She nodded “I never asked Dawnbird exactly what happened but yes, he was killed a number of years ago”

I tapped my hoof to my chin then nodded. “Back to Dawnbird, you said she gave you trouble whenever you tried to help Cardinal?”

She frowned at this “That mare is impossible, every time I try and suggest that Cardinal should get help she gets in my face about it. She insisted that her daughter was perfect in every way. That absolutely nothing was wrong with Cardinal and I should learn to be a better teacher” She groaned after saying that. “It was like beating my head up against a wall”

___________________________________

“And here I thought Applejack could be stubborn” Twilight mused as we walked down the street in Ponyville.

I nodded in agreement “There’s just something so irrational about the whole thing. Why would Dawnbird be so convinced that her daughter was perfect in every way?”

“Most mares don’t want to admit that there’s something wrong with their children” Twilight said looking at me “It’s like admitting that something is wrong with the mare that gave birth to the filly”

“I never thought of it that way” I replied “Still, you’d think Dawnbird would’ve sought help”

“Speaking of seeking help” Twilight inquired “You’re sure your contact can help us find out about this case?”

“Yeah” I said firmly “He should be able to tell us about Dawnbird’s husband’s murder”

“Who is he exactly?” Twilight said raising an eyebrow “You speak awfully highly of him”

“He’s Fenlock, Fenlock Rusty”

Twilight’s eyes became wide “THE Fenlock Rusty?! One of the greatest detectives of all time!? That’s who we’re going to meet!?”

I smiled a little “Don’t call him that to his face he already has an ego as big as Rainbow’s”

“And how do you know him?” Twilight asked still reeling over this sudden revelation.

“He taught me everything I know about being a cop. He’s the original owner of this” I gestured to my fedora “He gave it to me when I made homicide. I owe everything to this guy”

“You must really respect him Private” Twilight observed “You look like I do whenever I think of the princess”

I smiled a little “I guess you could call Fenlock my version of Princess Celestia”

___________________________________________

I entered the Violet Rose alone. Twilight insisted on boycotting the place ever since she launched a campaign to provide non alcoholic drinks there. I scanned the tables in search of Fenlock. I found the old stallion sitting alone in a booth seat.

He was about as old as Forceps, his grey mane was a testament to that. He had a pure white coat with a brown trench coat covering most of it. His brown eyes found me and he smiled at me. “Well if it ain’t my old student”

I smiled and shook Fenlock’s hoof vigorously “It’s good to see you to old timer” I said cheekily.

He grinned back at me as he shook my hoof “I ain’t that old ya damn rascal”

We both laughed and I took a seat opposite him. He looked at me with those brown eyes “How long has it been Private?”

“Almost 3 years sir” I said smiling

He frowned “I’m retired Private, ya don’t need to call me sir”

I nodded and said grinning “Okay old timer”

“Okay now you’re just being an ass like usual” He retorted

We both turned to a nearby donkey and said at the same time “No offense”

The donkey simply replied “None taken”

Fenlock smiled at me “So what can I do ya for kid?”

“I want to talk to you about a case you had” I said as I began explaining what happened. Fenlock didn’t speak much beyond asking me to elaborate on something. When I was finished I spoke firmly “And that’s why I’m here, I want to know if her husband’s death is somehow connected”

Fenlock nodded and spoke sagely “I can think of one way this could be connected”

“And that would be?” I said leaning forward slightly”

My mentor looked at me his eyes casting a serious glance “That doll Dawnbird? She was a suspect in the murder”

Chapter 4 "Murder She Done?"

Chapter 4

“Murder she done?”

I looked at Fenlock with a confused expression. “Dawnbird was a suspect in the murder case for her husband?”

My mentor nodded his head knowingly “It was about a year or two before we met. I was working homicide at the time over in Fillydelphia. Got a call that some poor sod fell in the nearby river, I get there and find this red unicorn lying face down in the river with a knife in his back” He took a drink from his mug of apple cider.

“Who was he?” I asked

“Guy by the name of Scarlet Mane, a minor league baseball player who never made it to the big time, poor sod suffered an injury just as he was about to be scouted for a major team. He was working at a grocery store before he died”

“Sounds like he traded wine for whisky…” I said

“You still use that old phrase?” Fenlock said chuckling

“You’re the one who ingrained it into my head old timer” I replied smiling.

He laughed “That I did, though you’re the pony who keeps it alive”

“How did the investigation go? Did you find magic dust on the knife?”

My mentor nodded “We did find powder but the river water contaminated the knife so we couldn’t identify it. We also didn’t have where he was originally killed so we couldn’t find any witnesses who saw the sod get stabbed. To say it went badly would be like saying the sky is blue”

I wrote all this down; Fenlock would’ve slapped me upside the head for not doing so. “How did Dawnbird become a suspect?”

Fenlock finished drinking hid cider and looked at me “Doll had a hell of a lot of motive. You’re aware of her daughter Cardinal?”

I nodded “That’s why I’m here in the first place, Dawnbird seemed…obsessive”

“That’s putting it mildly” He chuckled “One of the uniforms I sent to pick her and her daughter up came to the station with a black eye because he got within two inches of that kid and said that she looked a little shaky on her legs”

“She was going to lose Cardinal wasn’t she?”

He nodded “Her and her husband were going to file for divorce. Mostly because Dawnbird spent every waking moment with her kid and all the crazy lengths she went to prove to everypony her daughter was perfect. One thing led to another and the guy wanted out”

“What was the pre-nub? Who would’ve gotten custody of Cardinal?”

“Her husband” Fenlock said frankly “Dawnbird was a loving and doting mother but she was beyond obsessive when it came to the kid. Dawnbird would’ve lost the kid once the divorce papers were filed”

“And with Scarlet out of the way, Dawnbird would’ve gotten Cardinal right?”

“Yeah, and she did after this case was marked as unsolved. We had all the motive we could want but without proper evidence we couldn't charge her” Fenlock said simply.

I nodded slowly “You did what you could Fenlock, nopony would’ve asked anymore”

Fenlock looked at me with eyes he hadn’t used on me in a long time. He always used those eyes whenever he was about to teach me something “Private, every detective has that one case that keeps them up at night. This one is mine, and vice was yours”

I really wished he didn’t bring up vice. That one case brought down my entire career and faith in law enforcement. Fenlock was right, that case was the one that kept me up at night. My reasons for staying up were more for guilt then simple curiosity.

Fenlock nodded his white head slowly “Still gets at you eh Private?”

I didn’t meet his brown eyes “Yeah, still does even after three years”

I heard Fenlock’s voice speak “Private, you did what you had to. You followed your instincts and kicked those corrupt cops where it hurts them the most”

I turned my gaze to Larksong who was singing a song of blissful love to the crowd. “But at what cost?”

Fenlock looked to where I was looking and then looked back at me. “You think it was worth putting her dad in prison to break up that corruption?”

I looked back at my mentor wide eyed “Fenlock you know as well as I do that vice was corrupt! I did what I had to do to stop that corruption from spreading to the entire department!”

Fenlock smiled “I figured that would be your response. You remember that case you had about a week ago with the changeling?”

I slowly nodded my head “Of course I do”

Fenlock looked at me with those eyes again “Word on the street is that you let your obsession with the case get the better of you”

I knew for a fact that “Word on the street” meant: “Whatever the hell Larksong said”. I looked up at Fenlock not knowing what to say. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. Fenlock was the one pony I respected among anypony. I hated letting him down.

My mentor kept his brown eyes trained on me “Private, somewhere down the line you’re going to have to understand. Not every case is worth sacrificing for; sometimes you have to fight another day”

I raised an eyebrow at my mentor “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Fenlock chuckled and leaned back smiling. “Would I be a proper mentor if I explained everything outright?”

I sighed “I guess not, thanks for your help anyway. By the way…did you find anything unusual about the body? Any detail can help me find the killer?”

Fenlock tapped his hoof in thought “I do remember the body smelling like olive oil though. It was a faint scent thanks to the river but I could smell it alright”

“That’s it?”

He shrugged “All I can remember now. I’ll call ya if I find anything else”

I got up from the table and smiled at my mentor “Thanks for coming around old timer”

He smiled in turn “I gave you that hat for a reason Private…don’t let me down”

_____________________________________

“Well it looks like the evidence points strongly towards Dawnbird” Twilight said as she began shifting through papers on her desk in my office. She looked at me a frown on her face “I hope Spike gets here with that file the police have on her”

We both looked up as Spike opened the door with a huge file in hand. He set it down on my desk breathing heavily “You wouldn’t *huff* believe *huff* the lines at that place *huff*”

“Thanks Spike” I said as I opened the file “What did you find out?”

Spike cleared his throat and caught his breath “Quite a bit actually, Cherilee wasn’t the only teacher that Dawnbird went all ballistic on, she’s done the same thing for five different teachers at each of the five schools that Cardinal went to previously”

Twilight looked up from where she was working “Five? She really didn’t want anypony thinking anything was wrong with Cardinal”

“There’s doting and then there’s plain obsessive” I said flipping through the file.

“That’s not all” Spike said in a tone very similar to mine when I’m entrenched in a case. “I looked into her records and found out that Scarlet’s parents were going to sue her for custody rights to Cardinal”

Twilight frowned “I guess they must’ve gotten suspicious about his death as well. It just seems too convenient for Dawnbird”

I nodded “You’re right, it is too convenient. There’s nothing we can do really until Forceps gives us the autopsy tomorrow”

Spike looked up at both of us “What’s too convenient?”

I looked at the baby dragon “I mean it’s too convenient because of the custody battles. I find it a little strange that Cardinal died when this custody battle started showing up. Scarlet also died when he tried to win custody rights”

Twilight looked at both of us with concerned eyes “You don’t think she killed Cardinal to keep her from being taken from her do you?”

“I hope not” I said grimly “I remember seeing all that grief in her eyes, as much as I hate to say it but we’re reaching a dead end unless we find a clue”

Twilight looked outside as the moon was about to rise for the night. “It’s getting late guys; we should call it a day”

I nodded and Spike walked out. I turned to Twilight “Thanks again for helping out Twilight, it’s good to have you back”

She smiled and nuzzled me on the neck causing my face to turn scarlet. She smiled at me as she turned to walk out “It’s good to be back”

_________________________________________________

I sat on the coach as Tailspin and Dinky were doing their homework on the floor. Tailspin was not the best student in the world and I caught him trying to peek at Dinky’s paper a couple of times. I would punish him myself but one look from Dinky was all it took for Tailspin to feel guilty about what he did and go back to doing his own work.

I was more occupied with the smell of muffins wafting in from the kitchen. Ditzy insisted that she make some to thank us for letting me look after them. I was looking forward to them personally. I was always a fan of muffins. For some reason she got really offended when I tried to compare her muffins to English muffins though. What’s up with that?

Just then I felt a tap on my leg. I looked down to see Dinky looking up at me with large yellow eyes. She was holding a paper in her hoof that I guessed was her homework. She smiled and spoke in a kind and sweet voice “Mister Private, could you look over my homework since mommy is busy?”

I smiled and levitated her paper to my eye level “Let’s just see here…” My grey eyes scanned the simple math problems that Dinky had to do. I was quite impressed, for a filly her age she had gotten all of the problems right without errors at all. “Very good Dinky, I’m used to seeing errors all over the place and I can’t find a single one”

“Hey!” Tailspin retorted as he was still doing his work.

Dinky smiled at me “Mommy says I’m very smart for a filly my age”

I levitated the paper back down to Dinky “That you are Dinky, keep sharpening that mind of yours and you’ll go far”

“Muffins are ready!” I heard Ditzy call from the kitchen. I watched as Dinky and Tailspin made a beeline for the kitchen. I chuckled at their enthusiasm and then followed. The two foals were already digging into their muffins. I took one off the tray and went to sit by Ditzy at the table.

She looked at me with those crossed eyes of hers “Private, I’ve been trying to get Dinky to talk about what happened but she won’t talk about it”

I nodded and took a bite out of the muffin. (Which was delicious I might add) “Ditzy, can I ask you something personal?”

She slowly nodded her grey head “Yeah, what is it you wanna know?”

I looked over at Dinky who was talking excitedly with Tailspin about the latest episode of “My Little Human”. I still didn’t understand the appeal of a show meant for little fillies and why Tailspin has developed such an interest in it. But I spoke seriously to Ditzy “Dawnbird obviously holds some kind of a grudge against Dinky and you. Could you elaborate as to why?”

Ditzy looked at me then flapped her wings in acknowledgment “Dawnbird and I, we both liked the same stallion. His name was Cobalt Masquerade. He’s Dinky’s dad”

I looked over at Dinky and then back at her mother “He was a unicorn?”

The grey pegasi nodded “Yeah, he was my first real friend in high school. He was dating Dawnbird at the time. She was always really mean to me because me and Cobalt were friends”

“I can gather that it became more then that” I said knowingly.

“When Cobalt found out about Dawnbird being very mean he broke up with her. Then me and Cobalt started dating and…Dinky is the result”

“Where is he now?”

A tear came to Ditzy’s yellow eyes “He…died a long time ago…when Dinky was two…” She started crying and that brought her daughter over. Dinky hugged her mother and spoke reassuringly to her. Ditzy hugged back and smiled. I couldn't help but smile as well when I saw just how close the mother and daughter were. Ditzy in a way, reminded me of my own mother.

“Mommy its okay” Dinky said assuring “You don’t need to cry”

Her mother smiled and wiped away a tear “I’m okay Dinky, thanks for being here…”

After we finished eating Ditzy insisted that she clean up. I made a precaution to remove anything flammable or destructible from the kitchen. Dash has told me way too many stories about Ditzy’s “antics” for me not to do so. Tailspin decided to turn in early for the night and I found Dinky sitting alone on our coach. I smiled at her and sat by her. “Seems like keeping the family together is a team effort”

She looked at me and smiled that sweet smile of hers “Mommy does get very sad sometimes. Mostly whenever she thinks about daddy”

“It’s good to know she has somepony like you to look out for her”

She nodded “It’s my job to make sure mommy is okay!”

My grey eyes looked at her seriously “Dinky, if you want to help your mom stay safe, then you need to tell me what happened”

Dinky looked down at her hooves and ran a foreleg along the fabric of the coach. “I don’t want to get anypony in trouble…”

I nodded “Dinky, if you don’t tell me then whoever hurt Cardinal could hurt other ponies as well. I need you to tell me what happened at that well”

Dinky looked up at me with large yellow eyes. She then nodded slowly “Okay, I told you I was going to visit my friend Pipsqueak right?”

I nodded and started writing what she was saying down. “Yeah, continue”

She went on “I was walking near the well when I heard the shouting. I thought that somepony was getting hurt so I ran to investigate” She hugged herself as she recounted what happened “I saw Dawnbird there, she was yelling at Cardinal very loudly. She kept calling her stupid and said other bad words that mommy says I should never say”

I tried to imagine this little filly saying a bad word and a “Does not compute” message appeared in my brain. I gestured for her to continue.

“Then Cardinal got on top of the well and started yelling back at Dawnbird. I didn’t really hear what she said but then…” She started crying as she recounted the death. “Dawnbird leaned over to her and…Cardinal slipped”

“She slipped?” I said “Dawnbird didn’t push her or anything?”

Dinky shook her head “No, it looked like she slipped on the well or something and then she fell down the well…” She covered her ears suddenly “I can still hear her scream!”

I patted her gently on the head “There there, it’s alright nopony is screaming right now”

She nodded and went on “Then Dawnbird saw me, she started saying lots of mean things to me and I ran off”

“Do you remember at all what she said to you?” I said leaning in close to the filly.

She shook her periwinkle colored head “No, I don’t remember what she said. Only that she called me something very very mean”

“I won’t ask you to repeat what she said Dinky. I’m happy you came forward like this” I said with a smile on my face.

Dinky gave me a small smile and nodded “Thank you so much for believing me Private”

I nodded “Anytime Dinky, anytime”

__________________________________________

It was in the middle of the night when I heard it.

Crash!!!

A rock came through my bedroom window and landed on my floor. I levitated my revolver from under my pillow and opened the window to look out. It was dark and I didn’t see anypony leave. I looked down at the rock and lifted it. Written on the back in what looked like paint were two simple words.

She’s next!

Chapter 5 "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVES YAY!!!!"

Chapter 5

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVES YAY!!!”

“So somepony throws a rock in your window with a clear threat on it and you aren’t arresting Dawnbird?” Forceps said as he examined Cardinal’s small body.

“I don’t have evidence that Cardinal’s death was anything beyond an accident” I said pacing the town morgue’s floor. “What do you have on her?”

Forceps shook his dark head “I hate it when you bring fillies in” He sighed somberly and gently moved Cardinal’s mane out of her eyes. “Such a waste of life”

I nodded at my old friend “I’m sorry I have to, so what can you tell me about her that I don’t already know?”

Forceps gestured with his hoof at the large head injury on Cardinal’s head. “Here’s your main cause of death, blunt force trauma caused by the rocks at the bottom of the well” He shook his head “Damn shame that she had to go like this”

“Anything unusual about the body?” I asked looking at the scarlet filly.

“One thing I did find unusual” He picked up a swab and ran it along the filly’s hoof. He held it in front of my face “Smell this”

I took a sniff of the swab and smelled a very odd scent. “It smells like Olive Oil, I recognize the scent back when I worked at Potso’s restaurant”

Forceps nodded “It’s all over her hooves, was she standing on olive oil?”

I tapped my hoof to my chin in thought. “Now that you mention it, Dinky did say that Cardinal was standing on top of the edge of the well before she fell”

Forceps smiled “I’m starting to think that this little filly’s death was no accident” He then looked at the young filly and his expression turned somber “Whatever monster did this deserves to be in here. Not this young filly who never did anything wrong”

I looked at my friend and my own expression turned somber “You have any kids Forceps?”

He nodded “Just the one daughter who wants nothing to do with me" He sighed "Just looking at this young filly reminds me of when she was that small” He walked to Cardinal and gently set his gloved hooves on the filly’s head “Private, you make the son of a bitch pay you got it?”

I nodded firmly “You have my word Forceps”
________________________________________________

I stood in front of Rainbow and Applejack as they stood erect in front of Ditzy’s house. “Now, nopony is to go in or out of Ditzy and Dinky’s house unless they have special clearance form me do you got it?”

Rainbow made a salute “You got it Private! We’ll make sure that nopony hurts Derpy!”

Applejack saluted as well “Ya can count on us sugarcube. You focus on getting this case done and over with”

I nodded to each of them in turn “If anypony tries to get inside I want you to knock them out and give me a call. Also, I left a pair of pistols inside in case things get intense”

They both nodded as I turned to walk away. I trusted the two of them to keep an eye on things but that feeling of dread from earlier came back. The killer was getting confident; he managed to send a message to me without getting caught. I walked around town and got looks from several passersby. They were all hoping that I could solve this. It reminded me of Big Mac’s case when I first arrived at Ponyville. I just hope I could solve this before anypony else got hurt.

I was about halfway to my destination when I heard a voice trying to whisper behind me. I turned around to see a nearby bush beginning to speak. I frowned as the bush tried desperately not to look suspicious.

“There he is! Ah told ya guys he’d be on the case!”

“Be quiet Applebloom! You’ll blow our cover!”

“We were hiding from him?”

“Sweetie Belle you can be totally dense sometimes!”

“Now look whose loud Scootaloo!”

I sighed and used my magic to lift up the bush. I was greeted by the sight of Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all hidden under the bush. I gave all three of them a scolding look and their heads looked at their hooves. “What are you girls doing following me?”

Applebloom spoke up first “We’re sorry Private, we were trying to earn our cutie marks in sneakin around”

Sweetie Belle turned to her friend and squeaked “I thought you said we were going to help him out in the case?”

Scootaloo sighed in turn “So much for being sneaky about that”

I looked at the fillies sitting before me. I noticed that all three of them were blank flanked. “Alright girls, come clean with what you three were doing”

Scootaloo looked up at me with violet eyes “Well, Applebloom thought we could try getting our cutie marks in detective work”

I raised an eyebrow “So you guys were following me with a bush?”

Sweetie Belle spoke next “Well we wanted to talk to you directly but then Applebloom said we should try getting our cutie marks in being sneaky”

I shook my head “I appreciate it girls but I don’t know how much help you three can be”

Applebloom’s gold eyes looked up at me with pleading “Please Private! We wanna see if detective work will earn us our cutie marks”

“I did notice that you all are blank flanks” I said gesturing to each of them in turn “So you three are trying to get your cutie marks?”

All three spoke at once “Uh huh!”

The yellow earth filly spoke “We’re on a mission to find our special talents!”

Her orange friend spoke in turn “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

I raised my eyebrow at this “Cutie Mark what now?”

Sweetie looked at me with bright green eyes “Cutie Mark Crusaders! A society dedicated to finding our special talents and getting out cutie marks!”

“By following around random bystanders?” I said flatly

Applebloom shook her head “Well not that but, we really want to help you out!”

Sweetie thought for a moment “Yeah we could be um…Cutie Mark Crusader Detectives!!”

I really should’ve covered my ears for this next bit.

YAYY!!!!CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVES!!!!

I shook my head to get the ringing out of my ears. The three girls looked at me hopefully. In my gut I knew I couldn’t sway them no matter what I said. I sighed and relented “Alright, you three can help out just this once”

They cheered loudly and started bouncing around me in sheer joy. What the hell have I gotten myself into?

______________________________________________________

We got to the well just as the sun reached its zenith in the sky. The three crusaders were following me like a duck would its mother. I was really only humoring them. I didn’t really think they would be much help unless my case needed a cuteness factor or something.

I got to the well and looked at the three crusaders. They all eagerly waited for me to say something. “Alright, you three go look in the bushes and see what you can find”

Applebloom spoke up “What are we looking for exactly?”

Scootaloo retorted to her friend “Clues duh, we have to find out who the bad guy is!”

Sweetie gestured to the bushes “Let’s look over here!”

The three dived into the bushes and started tearing up the place. I let out a bemused chuckle and turned my attention to the well. I ran my hoof over the top of the well’s wall and then I heard a small voice speak up next to me.

“What’cha lookin fer Private?”

I turned to look down at Applebloom who was looking at the well. I gestured to the well in question “Dinky said that Cardinal slipped when she fell down the well. It hasn’t rained recently has it?”

The yellow filly shook her head “Not that Ah know of. We hadn’t had rain in a while Private. Don’t see how she could’ve slipped on this well”

She stood on top of the well and one of her hoofs gave way. She was about to fall into the well when I grabbed her tail with my teeth. I pulled her out quickly and she looked up at me grateful. “Private ya saved mah life! Thank ya so much!”

I smiled at the little filly “Just be more careful from now on”

Applebloom lifted one of her hooves “What’s this gunk on my hoof?” She took a quick smell of it “It sure smells nice”

I took a sniff of her hoof as well “No wonder you slipped, that’s olive oil you have on your hoof”

“Olive oil?” Applebloom said licking the oil on her hoof. “Kinda tasty if you get past the dirt”

I ran a hoof along the edge of the well. Sure enough there was olive oil all over it “Somepony covered the edge of the well with olive oil”

“Why would somepony cover a well in cooking oil?” Applebloom said wiping her hoof on the grass.

I nodded knowingly “Somepony who wanted to make sure a filly fell into the well like you almost did”

Her eyes went wide “That’s horrible! Why would anypony do such a thing!?”

I frowned “To make it look like an accident, our killer isn’t Dawnbird. But somepony else entirely. They wanted to make sure that whoever was here would fall. The question is why though?”

Just then Scoot and Sweetie came out of the bushes. Scoot was holding a large bottle in her mouth. “We found this in the bushes over there!” Sweetie said as Scoot put the bottle on the ground.

I levitated the bottle with my grey magic and looked at the label. “Glimmer brand olive oil? Good work girls”

Scoot looked at me with a raised eyebrow “What’s a bottle of olive oil got to do with anything?”

I put the bottle inside a plastic bag to keep it from getting contaminated “It might’ve blown this case wide open. We have our method of killing”

Sweetie Belle spoke up excitedly “You mean we’ve helped solve a case! Girls check your flanks!”

They all looked at their flanks and…blank…blank…and blank. They sighed sadly “No cutie marks” Scootaloo grumbled

I smiled at all three of them “A cutie mark will come when it’s ready to come trust me”

“What’s your cutie mark Private?” Applebloom asked curiously.

I lifted the back of my trench coat to reveal the mark on my flank. It had a magnifying glass looking at a notebook. Many detectives in my department had similar cutie marks but I always took pride in my own. “I was the second to last colt in my class to earn his cutie mark”

They all stared at my cutie mark in absolute wonder. “How’d ya earn it?” Applebloom asked excitedly.

“A friend of mine was wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He was accused of stealing the food that we were going to use for a class picnic” All three sat listening to my story with keen interest. I could tell this was something very important to him.

I went on, my tone taking on that of a storyteller. “Well, I was convinced that he didn’t do it so I did a little investigating. My friend was named Potso and he made the mistake of flirting with a filly that the school bully liked. Potso was accused of stealing the food because he was a pretty big guy and he was supposed to guard the food. I found out from the filly he flirted with who really stole the food and as it turned out it was the bully who took the food. I cleared everything up and from that point on” I gestured with my flank “I knew I wanted a career in law enforcement”

“That’s such a cool story!” Sweetie Belle squeaked after I finished “So we need to help others in order to get our cutie marks!”

“That’s not what I meant for you girls to get out of this…” I said nervously

Scootaloo sprang to her hooves “Come on girls! Let’s try finding our cutie marks by helping our friends!”

All three dashed off and I simply sighed “They’ll figure it out eventually; I just hope they do so before something bad happens”

I looked over as Applebloom came back “Thank ya again fer savin me Private”

I smiled down at the filly “You're very welcome Applebloom, you run along now”

Applebloom smiled at me and then I heard Sweetie Belle and Scoot coming back “Look Sweetie Belle! I told you Applebloom had a crush on him!”

The yellow filly suddenly turned scarlet and yelled at her friends “Ah do not!”

Sweetie Belle began to speak in a rather sweet sounding sing song voice. “Private and Applebloom sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i…”

“Yah better not finish that spellin!” Applebloom said as she took off after her friends.

I shook my head and chuckled. “Fillies, what a load of fun trouble”

I turned around and saw Twilight running towards me. “Private! Did you find anything!?”

I nodded and levitated out the bottle “Found this at the crime scene, you recognize the brand at all?”

Twilight levitated the bottle to eye level with her own magic. She examined the label with careful eyes “I haven’t heard of this brand….wait! Glimmer is the maker of this oil?!”

“How is that important?” I asked

Her violet eyes turned to me “I did a little digging on Dawnbird, her mother made olive oil before she went out of business”

I went on to explain what happened here and what I discovered. Twilight nodded knowingly and spoke again. “You think somepony got a hold of this oil and wanted to make the death look like an accident?”

I nodded “I’d bet my cutie mark on it, now we need to find out where the guy went after he coated the well in oil”

“Guys over here!” I heard a voice speak from among the bushes. I turned to see Spike among the bushes standing over rather faint pony tracks. “I was running around the area looking for clues when I found them”

I smiled at the baby dragon “Good work Spike, now we have a trail”

Spike puffed out his chest in pride. Twilight looked at the tracks and her horn glowed “Let’s see if we can’t use a tracking spell to find out where our culprit went”

The tracks glowed a faint violet and led into the Everfree forest. I frowned “Not this place again…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow “Funny, the tracks are heading off in a different direction then most ponies go”

I ventured ahead “Let’s find out where it leads, something tells me it’ll lead us to our killer”

My two companions nodded and followed me into the darkness of the forest.

_________________________________________________

“No matter how many times I come here this place still creeps me out” Spike said as he walked beside me. Twilight was leading now following the trail of glowing hoof prints as we ventured deeper and deeper into the dark forest.

I looked at the nearby trees “Doesn’t look like many ponies come here, all these plants are way too overgrown and none of the paths are clear”

“Either way this place is beyond creepy, let’s just find the killer and get outta here” Spike said looking around nervously.

I tried to look brave for the little guy but I got this dark feeling of dread. I had no idea what to expect when I ventured on this quest. I had my magic around my revolver in my trench coat just in case anything popped out.

“Oof!” I heard Twilight say as she ran into the side of a cliff. She shook her head and looked down at the hoof tracks “That doesn’t make sense, the tracks cut off as they go into this cliff”

Spike started to sweat “You think our killer is a ghost…?”

I shook my head “I doubt that a ghost would leave tracks Spike”

“Oh yeah, I knew that”

Twilight frowned and tapped the cliff with a hoof. She then put her ear to the cliff and tapped again “Private, it’s hollow”

I put my own ear to the cliff and tapped my hoof on it. Sure enough I could hear a hollow sound emanating from the cliff. “Something is behind here”

Twilight walked backward “Stand back” I did so just as Twilight’s horn glowed brightly. A beam fired from her horn and an acid like substance hit the cliff side. The acid melted the rocks of the cliff to reveal a cave entrance.

I ventured forward and lit my horn like a flashlight as we entered the cave. I moved my light around the cave ready for any kind of ambush.

Twilight spoke first “This cave hasn’t seen the light of day for years…look at all the dust and moss everywhere”

“Our killer could’ve used this cave for any number of reasons” I said looking around the cave. “Probably used as an escape route…oh Celestia” I said as I stopped in my tracks.

“What’s wrong Priv-“She stopped as she looked on what my light was shining on.

Spike looked over my shoulder “What are you guys looking at?” He saw what I saw “What the heck is this place…?”

Covered with dust was a small building inside the cave. It had a dust covered sign hanging above it. The words on it are what stopped me in my tracks.

Glimmer of hope
Abortion Clinic

Chapter 6 "Life Itself"

Chapter 6

“Life itself”

I bucked open the door to the clinic and raised my gun at the empty room. The office was dusty and equipment was strewn along the floor. Twilight followed me inside taking in the whole thing.

Spike looked around “Abortion is illegal in Equestria, what’s a clinic doing here?”

I spoke solemnly “Back when I was on the force we busted several clinics just like this one. Mostly the upper crust did it to create designer fillies”

Twilight began walking around the office when Spike looked at me “Designer Fillies?”

“It was a common practice during the age of the Alicorns. Ponies would use magic to alter a newborn foal on the most basic genetic level” I lifted up an old advertisement for the clinic that was left on the floor. “When Celestia came to power she banned the practice and for good reason. There was a large amount of risk with the entire process, magic is a powerful force but any number of things can go wrong”

Spike looked around nervously “And the foals that don’t meet expectations?”

I gestured to a nearby room, where the acts were performed. “They are erased like a bad memory…”

Spike held his tail and a tear came to his eye “That’s horrible; I can’t believe somepony would kill their own foal”

“They aren’t told it’s a foal of course. The ponies here probably told the mothers that their foal was a load of tissue” I shook my head angrily “It’s sick, foals aren’t simply loads of tissue, from the moment they are conceived they are alive”

Spike put a claw on my shoulder “This really affects you huh?”

I nodded somberly “When Tailspin was born, one of the doctors asked if I wanted to…put him down”

“Because of his wings?” Spike said looking at me with his green eyes.

“Yeah, I couldn’t do it though, Tailspin was all I had. I wasn’t going to have him treated like some kind of inconvenience that could just be snuffed away”

“Private I think I found something!” I heard Twilight’s voice come from the office. I entered to find Twilight poured over some kind of folder. “I was looking over the records of this place; all the mares that came here had to sign a confidentiality agreement to keep this place a secret from the police”

“That’s common” I said knowingly “Did you find out who ran the place?”

Twilight shook her head “No, but I did find something interesting, the last patient didn’t sign the agreement. She didn’t go through with the abortion”

Spike spoke up “That’s probably why they abandoned the place. They were afraid she would blab to the police”

“Who was the patient?” I asked looking at the folder Twilight was levitating.

Twilight’s violet eyes looked to the folder and scanned the contents “Listed as a…Derpy Hooves?!”

I gaped at this “That can’t be our Derpy can it?!”

Spike spoke up “It could be a fake name, used to make sure she couldn’t be connected to the clinic”

Twilight shook her lavender head “I’m pretty sure it’s Ditzy, I recognize her signature from when she made her library card a few months ago”

It was starting to come together now. I opened my grey eyes and spoke “I know why our killer killed Cardinal…”

Both of my companions looked at me wide eyed. Twilight spoke up “What do you mean?”

“Twilight, look in the doctor’s office right now”

Twilight nodded and ran into the doctor’s office. She came back with another folder and a small picture frame. “You won’t believe this! Look at his picture!”

Spike and I looked at the picture. It was an old black and white photo but I recognized Dawnbird’s cutie mark as she was depicted in the picture. Alongside her were two unicorn ponies. They were her mother and father; I noticed her father was wearing a lab coat.

“Dawnbird’s mother and father ran the clinic jointly. I guess death was a family business” Twilight said holding up the photograph “But what does this have to do with Cardinal’s death?”

I smiled and spoke loudly “Why don’t you tell us yourself Glimmer?”

Both Spike and Twilight looked behind me as a violet pony came out of the shadows. She was significantly older than she was in the photograph. This was Dawnbird’s mother, she grinned smugly upon seeing me. “I’m surprised you figured it all out Detective”

I turned around and raised my revolver “I know all about your little scheme”

She smirked her violet eyes betraying an aura of evil. “And what prey tell was my little scheme?”

“To put it simply, revenge” I said keeping my gun trained on her “You wanted to get rid of the one link left in this place. Only you didn’t want the blood on your hooves. You spread that olive oil all over the well because you knew Dawnbird would accidentally push Cardinal over”

“And why would I kill my own grandfilly?”

“Because she had dyslexia” I said simply. I could see the mare standing before me get an eye twitch at that. “Cardinal was suffering from a mental condition and Dawnbird couldn’t get help for her. Because you convinced her that to admit that something was wrong with Cardinal is a great sin in itself”

She glared at me but didn’t say anything to that.

“But Cardinal wasn’t meant to be the only victim. You used Dawnbird’s fear of your wrath to convince her to pin the blame on somepony else. The filly that ruined your entire operation”

“You speak of that thing!” Glimmer said with enough venom to kill a bear.

Twilight retorted “How dare you call Dinky a thing!”

I held up a leg to calm Twilight down. I held my gaze on Glimmer. “You knew Dawnbird would try to kill or frame Dinky for the death of Cardinal. Your daughter who failed to deliver you a grandfilly would go to prison. Dinky would end up dead and her mother on the verge of suicide. You would get out Scott free”

Glimmer looked at me her violet eyes alight with fury “That mongrel ruined everything! I and my husband started this business for one reason and one reason only! That was to make sure that all the trash that plagued the pony race would be taken out!”

“So you had Cardinal killed?”

“Of course I did!” She growled “That stupid daughter of mine was perfect until that worthless daughter of hers came out! The stupid bitch couldn’t give birth to a proper daughter if she tried!”

“You’re sick Glimmer” I said my own voice betraying my fury “Life is a precious gift, you’re coming with me you sick twisted witch!”

Glimmer’s fury subsided and she returned to her smug self “Who would believe you? Nopony even knows this place even exists! You can’t prove I did it based on just some olive oil on the well!”

I smirked “Thank you for speaking your mind”

“What!?”

I opened my trench coat to reveal a bug on the inside. I’ve been recording this whole conversation. I smiled smugly “You’ve just confessed your sins Glimmer. You have nowhere to go”

Glimmer’s jaw dropped then she smirked “Now there’s nothing holding me back from taking care of the little thing myself” Her horn glowed a faint blue. Spike leaped to try and tackle her but Glimmer teleported away just before Spike could grab her.

He punched the ground in frustration. “She could be anywhere now!”

Twilight lifted her muzzle into the air “Do you guys smell something?”

I sniffed the air and my eyes grew wide “Gas! Twilight get us out of here!”

Spike and I grabbed onto Twilight as her horn glowed. In the split of an instant we left the clinic behind and were outside the cave. We turned around and heard an explosion come from inside the cave.

Twilight let out a breath “That was too close”

I started running off and my two companions followed me “Glimmer won’t stop at this! She’s going after Dinky!”

________________________________________

We were too late. We arrived at Ditzy and Dinky’s house and we found Dash and AJ on the ground. I noticed that two small cups were on the floor. I sniffed the cups and kicked them in frustration “Glimmer drugged them!”

Spike returned from his run of the house “I’ve looked everywhere! I can’t find Dinky anywhere! I found Ditzy passed out in her bedroom. I also found this next to her!”

He handed me a small note and I grabbed it with my teeth and set it down on the floor to read it. My eyes grew wide at the message.

If you want her

Come and get her at

1889 Dark Street

I looked at Twilight and handed her my recorder. “Take this to the police and tell them I sent you! I want a perimeter around the entire town! Nopony gets in or out!”

Twilight looked back at me as I was about to walk out “You’re going after her aren’t you?”

I nodded “I have to stop Glimmer before she can hurt anypony else”

I felt Twilight’s muzzle brush against my neck. I looked at her beautiful violet eyes. They were laced with pleading “Be careful Private, I don’t want to lose you twice”

"You won't...I promise" I gently nuzzled her back and started to walk out. I knew this was a trap, but Glimmer was going to hurt her bait if I didn’t spring it first. I ran with as much speed as my legs could give me. I had to hurry, Dinky was counting on me.

________________________________________

It was long dark when I arrived at my destination. It was a long abandoned two story house and Glimmer was standing in front of it. I glared at her and held up my revolver. “You’re under arrest Glimmer! Put your hooves in the air!”

“But if you shoot me, I’ll drop this…” She held a lighter over a trail of gasoline leading into the house. “If you shoot me I’ll drop this and this whole place will be set ablaze…with the little spawn inside”

I heard screaming coming from inside “You would murder an innocent filly!?”

“Innocent?!” She laughed “That filly is the reason my whole life fell apart! Dawnbird made a poor choice as a husband to get Cardinal’s genes from!”

“You murdered Scarlet! You murdered her as revenge for Cardinal’s dyslexia! You knew the police would suspect Dawnbird and she would be your perfect scapegoat!” I yelled back

Glimmer’s horn slowly began to glow “She was simply a convenient way of getting what I wanted”

“You’re a sick witch! Life isn’t something you can just toss aside when it isn’t convenient!”

She smirked “Let’s see you hold to your beliefs Detective. As your precious life gets in the way of getting me” She dropped the lighter.

I fired at her but she teleported away too quickly. I tried to reach out with my magic to stop the lighter. But I was too late. The fire on the lighter hit the gasoline and in the next two minutes the entire house caught on fire.

I looked on as I saw Glimmer making a break for it. I knew I could catch her; I was more athletic than her. But then I remembered that Dinky was inside. I knew I couldn’t save Dinky and catch Glimmer at the same time. I had to choose one or the other.

She’ll just hurt more ponies if she gets away

But Dinky will die!

What is one life if it means that other ponies can live?

Life is precious!

Really? You’re willing to let a criminal go to save one filly?

I’d never be able to face Ditzy or my friends again…

Is that what this is about? What good are friends if they can’t help you now?

But…

Your friends aren’t here now. They can’t save Dinky or stop Glimmer, you think your friends can help you?

They are my friends! They wouldn’t want me to let an innocent die!

What are you doing!?

I ran into the building. I was going to save Dinky no matter what that strange voice said. I bucked down the burning door and coughed at the smoke.

You’ll get yourself killed! How can anypony catch Glimmer if you’re dead!?

I told the voice in my head to shove it. I crawled under the smoke and called out. “Dinky! *cough* Are you there!?”

“Private I’m up here!!” I heard Dinky’s voice scream from the second floor. I ascended the stairs quickly I came to the door where the voice came from and tried the knob. It was locked of course; I heard Dinky’s voice again “Private I’m all tied up! I can’t get free and it’s getting really hot in here!”

Leave her damn it! Glimmer is getting away! How can you catch her if you’re dead!?

I turned around and bucked the door imagining it was that weird voice in my head. It took three swift bucks to the door before it finally gave way. I ran inside and found Dinky tied to a chair coughing at the smoke. Her gold eyes lit up upon seeing me.

“Private! *cough cough* I knew you’d come!”

I ran to the filly. The smoke was messing up my concentration so I couldn’t use magic to break the ropes. I opened my mouth wide and bit on the ropes. After a few bites they finally gave way. Dinky wiggled out of the ropes and hugged me tight. I hugged the filly as well “It’s alright Dinky, I’m here now”

She looked at me smiling, she had a bruise over her left eye but she was otherwise unharmed. I took off my trench coat and wrapped it around the filly to keep her from getting burned by the slowly growing flames. I picked her up with my forelegs and looked to leave where we came.

Crash!

The door I just came through now had a bunch of burning debris in front of me. “Dang! We’re locked out!”

I then heard a shout come from outside. I opened the window and looked down. There was Pinkie and Rarity and Twilight holding a trampoline. Pinkie shouted up at me “Jump Private! We’ll catch you and Dinky!”

I looked at Dinky who was looking down scared. “You gotta be brave for me alright?”

Dinky nodded and I gently pushed her over the edge. Pinkie and Rarity maneuvered the trampoline so that Dinky landed on it safely. I smiled but then I felt a burst of some kind of invisible force. I was knocked back and slammed into the the wall opposite the window. Debris fell on the window and my exit was blocked off.

You never could listen to reason could you Private?

I coughed violently as I inhaled more smoke.

You just had to let one little filly die and then you could’ve caught Glimmer without trouble. But no! You had to go all noble on me! I’m very disappointed in you

I used what little strength as I could muster to smirk “Life is precious, I know that now. I won’t sacrifice an innocent to make sure that I solve a case”

You truly are a fool, this town has softened you

“I don’t care, so long as…Dinky…is safe…” I felt light headed and I collapsed onto the floor. I couldn’t muster even a simply levitation spell I was so weak.

Now you will die for your sorry beliefs pony!

If I die then…I want it to be keeping another safe…twilight would want that…

I felt weak…tired…very tired…

The last thing I saw…was a violet light…then I fell asleep….

Epilogue

Case 5

Epilogue

Beep…

Beep….

Beep…

Will somepony stop that beeping? I’m trying to sleep. Wait, if I can hear that beeping. Then I’m not dead?

Beep…

I can defiantly hear that sound…I’m alive!

I slowly opened my grey eyes and found I was staring at a ceiling. My eyes came into focus and I found I could move a little. I lifted myself to a sitting position on my rump and looked around. I was alone in a hospital room; the sunlight of the morning was peaking in through the window. An IV tube was attached to my left foreleg and the beeping came from a nearby vitals reader.

I looked to see the door opening. A stallion unicorn entered the room clad in a doctor’s coat. He smiled upon seeing me. “Well, looks like sleeping beauty has awoken”

“Doctor?” I said trying to sit up again the words that came next were muffled by a cough that came out of my mouth. The doctor walked up to me and his horn glowed a soft blue. He held his horn to scan my body with magic.

“No internal damage but you shouldn’t push yourself so hard detective. Try and relax a little”

I lay back down on the bed as the doctor examined me. “How long was I out?” I said as the doctor ran his horn along me.

“Two days detective and you’ll be here even longer if you keep squirming like that”

“Sorry doctor” I said as I tried to lie still “How bad was I?”

The doctor gave me a look and I shut up. He sighed and spoke again “You suffered minor burns leaping into that building but otherwise your external body is fine. You inhaled a lot of smoke though so I’m going to prescribe some medications for your lungs. I’m also going to suggest you sleep upright for a little while to get your lungs used to breathing again. Do you smoke?”

I shook my head. I never understood the appeal of turning your lungs black with tar. Though I may have turned them black with the smoke anyways.

“That’s good, aside from that you have no broken bones or anything else too serious. Just try breathing through your diaphragm for the next couple days”

I nodded as he finished his examination. He smiled at me again “I’d say about a week’s recovery is necessary. Try not to overexert yourself Detective. You did a very brave thing back there saving that filly. But even heroes need rest”

I sighed. A whole week, I was going to start climbing the walls within the first day! I coughed a little as the doctor left my room. I noticed that my hat was on the nightstand next to my bed. I didn’t know if I was ready to put it back on my head though. Right now I could just use some sleep…

___________________________________

“Is he awake yet?”

“Don’t get so close Pinkie Pie! Ever hear of personal space?”

“Where’ve you been for the last lifetime sugarcube?”

I slowly began opening my eyes and saw five mares standing around me. Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were all standing around me. Pinkie Pie on the other hand was right in my face.

“Ah!” was my reaction to Pinkie Pie staring into my soul.

Pinkie began to hop around my bed with absolute glee “He’s okay! He’s okay!”

Rainbow was hovering over my bed her voice betraying her disappointment “I can’t believe I missed you running into a building to save Dinky! I just missed the best rescue ever!”

Applejack gave a small glare at Rainbow who came down to earth at the realization of my condition. She then looked at me and removed her Stetson hat “We’re sorry we got drugged like that sugarcube. Ah don’t know when Glimmer put that stuff in”

I simply smiled “It’s not your fault Applejack” I coughed a little “I’m just glad you girls were willing to help out when you did”

“Aww shucks” Applejack said smiling

I looked to Pinkie Pie who stopped hopping around “How’d you know that I was going to be there?”

Pinkie Pie smiled and simply said “Well, I got a twitch and a double itch in my hind leg and that means that Private is in trouble”

I raised my eyebrow “Twitch?”

Rarity sighed “The less you think about it the better darling” She then got close to my bed and smiled warmly “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I did an hour ago” I said coughing a little “Still hurts a little to breath.

“Oh dear” Fluttershy said as she hovered over to me. She gently pushed me back on the bed and spoke soothingly “You really should rest then Private”

I smiled at the butter yellow mare “I’ll be fine Fluttershy, I’m just glad you all are here to see me”

Fluttershy looked at me with gentle yet firm eyes “Just make sure you get lots and lots of rest so that you’ll feel all better okay?”

I made a show of miming the motions of the Pinkie promise “I promise Fluttershy”

Rainbow suddenly set something on the nightstand. I looked over and saw it was a book. I examined it “Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone?”

Rainbow smiled a little “Just in case you get bored” She blushed a little “I uh, have the whole series”

“Never would’ve pegged you for a reader Rainbow” I said as I laid back down on the bed. Fluttershy moved the covers over me smiling gently.

Rarity looked to her friends “Come on girls, Private needs his rest”

All five mares left me to sleep. I found myself sleeping rather soundly after meeting them. I did get up in the middle of the night and had a coughing fit but that wasn’t very long. I found myself dreaming about that violet light again.

___________________________________________

The next day I gave Daring Do a tentative read. Not the most riveting book I’ve ever read but it was interesting enough to warrant a read. But seriously, would it kill the hospital to have at least one copy of Lord of the Horn Rings?

The door opened at about mid afternoon and I saw an energetic young Dinky leap onto my bed. “Private!” she squeaked as she hugged me around my neck “You’re okay!”

I smiled and hugged the little filly back. “I’m fine Dinky, did you make it out of the building alright?”

“The doctor said she’ll be fine” I looked up to see that Ditzy had entered behind her daughter. The grey pegasi smiled at me “She only got a bump on the head but she’ll be okay”

“That’s good to hear” I said as Dinky left to rejoin her mother.

Ditzy came beside my bed and looked at me with her crossed yellow eyes. “Thank you for saving her Private, not everypony would do what you did for my little filly” She said as she gently nuzzled Dinky on the head.

“I’m just glad she’s okay” I said smiling

Ditzy reached into her bag and set an envelope on my night stand “My payment for helping us out”

I shook my head “I can’t ask you to pay me for this, you didn’t even technically hire me”

Ditzy shook her head “Detectives like you deserve to get paid” She gestured to the envelope “It’s not much but it’s what I could afford”

“Whatever you say Ditzy, just be careful from now on…Glimmer is still out there”

Ditzy looked to Dinky then back at me with a look of determination. “She’ll have to get through me first!”

I smiled at the pair of them “That you will Ditzy, you take care now”

The pair was about to leave when Dinky suddenly turned back to me. She crawled onto my bed and laid a kiss on my cheek. I smiled at her as she pulled away “My way of paying you Private” She got off the bed and walked back to her mother. I smiled at the little filly as she left. Really, she made leaping into a building to save her life worth it just to see her alive.

____________________________________

It was mid afternoon when Tailspin arrived. He was being pushed by Spike. Next to Spike looking very concerned was Twilight. She just stared at me with red eyes. She’d been crying?

She ran to me and threw her forelegs around my neck. She just started crying into my brown mane and wouldn’t stop. Tailspin and Spike got out of the room when they got the hint we needed privacy.

Twilight looked up at me with red tear stricken eyes. “You idiot!” She slapped me across the face with her hoof. “You promised I wouldn’t lose you again!”

I rubbed the red spot where she hit me “I wasn’t expecting to jump into a burning building” I smiled at her then “It’s good to see you again by the way”

Twilight pressed herself into my chest again and started crying more. I gently nuzzled her on the head. “I was just so worried” She sobbed “When that window collapsed. I thought you were gone forever”

I then made an observation “You…you were that violet light I saw before I fell unconscious”

Twilight broke away from our embrace and wiped her eyes. “Yeah, I used a teleportation spell to get you out of there” She smiled at me “Very hard when you can’t see where you’re teleporting and with all the smoke”

I gently nuzzled her on the cheek letting some of her leftover tears fall on my muzzle. “It’s okay now Twilight, I’m here for you right now. I’m alive”

Twilight shook her head “I was beyond worried about the whole thing. I knew it was a trap. I should’ve saw ahead and
went with you. Or put a flame retardant spell on you or something…”

She was cut off when I took her cheeks in my hooves. I looked right into her violet eyes. I simply said to her “Twilight, for once in your life, let me do the talking”

Twilight’s eyes simply gazed at mine and her cheeks began to blush furiously. She then tilted her head and I began to do it as well. Our heads moved closer to each other.

Our lips met and I felt electricity course through me. I tasted Twilight and she was ever so sweet. I felt her put her forelegs around my neck and I did the same with my own. I don’t know how long we sat there like that. I didn’t care. Right now all that mattered was the mare I was kissing.

We both pulled away from each other and Twilight just stared at me for five minutes. She shook her head and her face was more red then a tomato. “I kissed a stallion!” She turned around and began breathing heavily talking to herself. “Okay Twilight, just relax you can handle this. The boy you’ve developed these crazy feelings for just…” She turned to look at me then back to her blushing state.

I simply smiled “First kiss?”

Twilight slowly nodded and sighed “Yeah, you’re the first stallion I’ve ever…well…” She rubbed her hooves together in embarrassment.

I smiled and gently nuzzled her on the back of the neck. She tensed up and turned to look at me. She looked at me then back down. Her violet mane was trying to hide her blush with questionable success.

“Twilight, when I get out of the hospital, you’re welcome to come to my office again. I could use you on cases again”

Twilight smiled wide “I thought I would've scared you off…what with us, kissing and all” She blushed a little.

“Are you kidding?” I said smiling “After this case I’ve learned to appreciate you all the more” I held out a hoof “What do ya say partner?”

Twilight took my hoof and shook it “I’m in!”

I laughed as we began talking again. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy around a mare. Not in a long time. I swear I heard both Tailspin and Spike gag at the same time when they peaked in. I kissed Twilight again just to spite them.

____________________________________________

Dear Private Eye

I’m pleased to hear that you made it through this case relatively unscaved. The doctors tell me you will be our after a week’s recovery. Do not worry about Glimmer; I have my best investigators and trackers searching all of Equestria for her. If she even sneezes we’ll be there with a tissue and a pair of hoofcuffs. Right now I want you to focus on getting the rest and recovery you need. I will ask you to continue to serve as you are now. I’m very proud of you and Twilight on this case. I hope you two can continue to serve Equestria with all the honor and duty you have shown this case. One day I hope to explain to you why I’ve taken special interest in you but now is not the time. I will inform you when it is until then, keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S. If you ever think about breaking Twilight’s heart again, let’s just say that there is a lot of space on the moon.

Author's Note

Link to next case: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/47415/equestria-noir-case-6-music-of-the-night