HiE: Jack Is Back

Chapters

Chapter One: Ronnie's Musings and the First Murder
Chapter Two: Shining's Problems and the Second Murder
Chapter Three: Ronnie's Realization, Prisoner's Proposal, and Cadence Enters
Chapter Four: Shining's Conversation with Cadence, a Lapse in Killings, and Investigations into Humans
Chapter 5: Release of the Humans, A Disturbing Letter, and The Investigation Ensues
Chapter 6: A Conversation With Cadence, The Third Murder, and The News Breaks
Chapter 7: Interviews And Questions, Another Reprieve From Death, and A Loss Of Trust
Chapter 8: Rumors And Gossip, A Double Event, and An Interlude With A Scientist

Chapter One: Ronnie's Musings and the First Murder

Author's Note

Hello everyone. This is the first story that I've ever written. It combines two things that I'm immensely interested in: My Little Pony and the Jack the Ripper murders (as well as the many stories written about both). As this is my first story I hope that you all won't judge me too harshly, but if you do choose to criticize, I understand completely.

Anyway, Standard Disclaimer applies here. I don't own anything except my own original characters and plot ideas. The rest is Hasbro's (or as I call them, The Shop). On with the story!

Chapter One: Ronnie's Musings and the First Murder

Ronnie's POV

There were five of us that night as we sat in a dingy, cramped cell in the otherwise illustrious Canterlot Castle, though we didn't know it was a castle back then. However, the fact that it was a cell had nothing to do with why it was cramped. The cell was made for smaller beings. In fact, it was made for ponies. Ponies that could talk and sing and feel just like any human could. That might sound strange, but there's a good reason for that: it IS strange. It only gets weirder when you take into account the different types of ponies. There are ponies with wings called pegasi, ponies with horns who can do magic, actual magic, that are called unicorns, and earth ponies who look like the horses back home.

I had no idea how I ended up in magical pony land or where the others are from. All I knew was that we all arrived in the same spot. That's when the trouble began for us...

Flashback

"Oof!" I landed on the ground with a hard thud. I didn't even have time to get my bearings when something fell on top of me. As I winced from the impact I heard another thud to my right, and another couple of crashes to my left.

"Wh- where am I?," a decidedly male voice from above me asked tentatively, as if they couldn't tell that they were laying on top of someone.

I turned my head as much as I could towards whoever was lying on me. "Would you kindly mind getting the hell off of me?" The guy scrambled off in a hurry. "Thank you. Now who are you and how did we get here, wherever "here" may be?" The boy (he looked about seventeen or eighteen so boy indeed) was about to answer when a shout from the right distracted us.

"What is this?! What am I doing here? Who are you people? Are you kidnappers?" The woman screamed as if she was a two-bit extra in a cheap monster movie. She looked between me, the boy, and the two who were still collapsed on the ground. Her eyes swiveled to and fro madly, like a rabid dog being teased with a t-bone steak.

I raised my hands to my chest in a shrugging sort of gesture. "Ma'am , we're not kidnappers. We mean you no harm. Frankly, I'm just as scared and confused as you are," I told her. This seemed to calm her down, at least for the moment. "Now, does anyone have any suggestions on what we should do, because I'm stumped." At that moment the fourth member of our little party decided to get up.

"That was a great drink! I think I'll have another Ph-," the man paused mid-sentence. He looked around, stumbling a bit as he did. "Phil? Hey Phil, where did you go? For that matter, where's the bar?" He seemed thoroughly puzzled and yet somehow completely nonchalant at the same time.

"Ahhh!" "Monsters!" "Celestia help us!"

I whirled around at the sound of multiple voices from behind us. I couldn't believe my eyes. Standing before me were small creatures that sort of looked like horses, except that they were technicolor, had oddly shaped muzzles, strange images adorned their flanks, and some of them had wings or horns. For crying out loud, they looked like something out of a cheap Saturday morning cartoon! The woman that I'd been trying to calm down looked at the equines and started screaming again.

"What the fuck are those things?! Someone must've drugged me, I know they did. Which one of you was it?!", the lady yelled at each of us, throwing accusations faster than someone who wore tinfoil hats to protect from probing. Spittle flew from her mouth as she continued to grow more unstable. In fact, she was still screaming when I was hit by something from behind me and I lost consciousness.

###########################HiE:JiB

I woke up later with no idea how much time had passed. I looked around, hoping what had come before had been nothing more than a bad dream. Unfortunately, it was all confirmed to be real by the two equine things in front of me. They both had white fur coats from what I could see. However, much of their appearance was covered by the strange golden armor that they wore. There was a blue starburst of sorts on the armor's breastplate (is it still called a breastplate if the armor belongs to a horse, I wondered deliriously). We were in a room constructed of dark gray bricks. On the floor nearby the four people that had landed near me earlier were laid out. There was a wooden door with metal bolts on it behind the horses. I assumed that we were in a jail or dungeon of sorts and that the two in the armor were guards. As I watched, one of them left the room we were in. I decided to try questioning the other guard.

"Hey, where's that other person going?", I asked. The guard gave no answer, not even moving or acknowledging my existence. "Excuse me, sir or ma'am, maybe you didn't hear me. Can you please tell me where the the person who was just here is going?" Still no answer. I decided to be a little bolder and tap him or her on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm talking to you." At this the guard pushed me back and finally started talking.

"Get back! No one is supposed to speak with you until Captain Armor gets here!", the guard said in a decidedly male voice.

"Then why are you talking to it, Private Drill?", a voice from behind the guard uttered. He moved out of the way and allowed the speaker to enter the room. It was a white horse with a horn jutting out of its forehead. A unicorn, an honest to God unicorn! What other surprises could this place have I wondered. Judging by it's voice, it was also a guy.

"Uh ... what happened?" It was at that time that one of the others had decided to get up. It was the young looking one. "Last I thing I remember was a bunch of rainbow horses..." He trailed off as he saw the unicorn. "Holy shit! Is that an actual unicorn?! I must be dreaming or dead or something."

"You're not dead, at least, not yet." The unicorn spoke up. "However, you will be in a rougher state if you call us whorses again. That's a serious insult around here. We're ponies." At that point his horn started glowing with a weird blue aura. His helmet got covered in the same aura as it was lifted into the air as if by magic or some kind of psychic force. "My name is Shining Armor, and for the time being I'm in charge of what happens to you all from here on out. I will take you from here one at a time and interrogate you in order to make sure that you pose no dire threat to our society."
He then looked straight at me and pointed at me with his right forehoof. "You. Come with me." And with that, I was escorted out of the room.

Shining led me into a room down the hall. It looked like your stereotypical interrogation room setup. There was a wooden table in the center of the room with a chair on either side of it. The only thing missing was the small lamp to shine light in people's eyes. This made me wonder if these ponies had discovered electricity or not. I quickly put that thought out of my head as I had bigger things to worry about.

"Why don't you sit down in that chair? Make yourself at home, we could be here for awhile." Shining pulled out a chair and sat down. Not seeing any other choice, I sat down as well. "So, how about we start this off easy? What's your name and what species are you? Don't try lying because I'll know, I cast a lie-detecting spell." I raised an eyebrow at this. Did this guy really think magic is real? Then again, it would explain the strange aura and how he removed his helmet earlier. I decided not to take any chances and tell him what he wanted. He didn't look too threatening, but you never know.

"My name is Ronnie Wilkerson. I'm a male human being, and I promise that I, nor the other, pose any threat to you or your people," I said.

"That all seems to be the truth, but the verdict's still out on the "mean no harm" part," Shining said. "Now, how did you come to arrive here in Equestria?", he continued.

I took a deep breath before telling him the next part. I wasn't sure if he'd believe me, even with the lie detection. "I don't have a clue as to how I arrived in ... Equestria did you say? Anyway, I don't know how I got here. One minute I was asleep in my bed after a long day and the next thing I knew, I was falling from the sky into magical pony land." I again started to entertain the notion that I was still in bed and that this was a dream. My thoughts were interrupted by Shining clearing his throat.

"Yes, well, that as may be, until we can determine exactly how dangerous or non-dangerous you are, as well as what the other hyu-mans know, we're going to have to keep you here." Shining got out of his chair and gave a small smile. I hope that means that I won't be hurt or killed. Shining continued, "I think that this interview is about done. I'll take you back to the holding cell."

Shining walked me back to the cell. He whispered to the guard and headed out of the cell. After he had gone, the guard left and the door was locked. This was a good time for me to learn more about those that I arrived with.

##########################HiE:JiB

Jack's POV

I slipped through the shadows of Canterlot as a low-hanging fog rolled in. A predator on the prowl in the concrete jungle, I stalked through the darkness towards the corners where my prey lurks. I walked down side streets and back alleys until I saw her. She was a russet colored mare with a dark brown mane. She wore a dress with lots of ruffles, with a bottom that rides high enough to show off the fishnet stockings she was wearing on her hind legs. The cheap fucking tart was nice and pretty, but I could make her a work of art.

I sauntered up to her and engaged her with a satchel full of bits that I'd taken from a stallion that'd fallen asleep in the street. These sluts were all the same, just show them the money and they'd follow you to the ends of the world. As long as the money kept rolling in they would do whatever you wanted, from just keeping you company in a completely innocent way to blowing you in a public alleyway and swallowing afterwards. I lured her into a shadow filled nook in a nearby byway. She turned around to take off her dress as I'd requested, which gave me ample time to bring out my knife.

The moment she turned back around I slashed the knife across her throat. The knife cut through her so easily that I could feel it scrape against her spine. I started slashing at her again before her blood even had a chance to reach the ground. I hacked and slashed, bits of gristle and viscera flying through the air. By the time I was finished her throat was basically nonexistent and her face was a oozing mass of twisted, unrecognizable flesh.

In the distance I could hear somepony whistling. It was most likely the local beat officer doing their rounds. As I fled the scene before the law could get much closer, I thought of my work and how I was just getting started.

Chapter Two: Shining's Problems and the Second Murder

Shining's POV

Today was a terrible day to be me. First I had to deal with a group of creatures that belonged to a previously unknown, possibly dangerous species from Celestia knows where, and now there's a killer on the loose. On top of that, I was having problems with my marefriend, Cadence (known to the public as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza). So, if I did snap and ended up yelling at one of the hyu-mans, I think that it was perfectly within my rights as a perfectly normal member of society.

Anyway, I had already questioned the human who'd first awoken. A second one had woken up in the intervening time, so I was currently taking him to the "interrogation room" (really, why do we call it that if we do normal interviews and lines of questioning instead of interrogations?). On our way there one of my guards ran up to me.

"Captain Armor! Captain Armor!" I don't know why he was yelling, I was right in front of him. "Captain Armor, there's a report of a murder in Canterlot's East End! Somepony found a torn apart corpse off of Seedy Apple Way!" Oh, so that's why he was yelling. Looks like I wouldn't have to worry about going ballistic at the hyu-man after all.

"Alright. I'll go out to the scene of the crime at once. I trust you can escort my "pal" here back to his cell at the end of the hall." I really hope that it was a stallion, or else I might have just insulted it.

I charged up a teleportation spell and disappeared in a burst of light. Teleportation isn't as cool or glamorous as it appears to be. There's no sensation of movement or of time passing, you're just in one place one moment and another in the next. It's a blink and you miss it sort of thing. Still, it's a quick and fairly easy form of travel if you're a unicorn.

Once I arrived, I looked around to get my bearings. That's when I realized a few different things. For one, I was just a few feet away from where the crime had taken place, two, there was a terrible stench in the air, and three, there was a single flighty looking earth pony standing with a member of the guards. Of course, all of this paled in comparison to the horribly mutilated body lying nearby. It was lying face-up, meaning that I could see what all had been done to this poor pony. It's face was covered in enough cuts and wounds that if you held it up next to the remains of a pig that had been butchered by a timberwolf, you wouldn't be able to tell one from the other. The throat of the pony was almost entirely gone, only the spine and a few strands of flesh remaining to connect the head to the body. The rest of the body looked like a madpony's version of an autopsy. The skin had been sliced open to reveal the tender insides to the outside world. One lung was clearly punctured and the womb had been sliced in two (definitely a mare then, I thought). In a word, it was grotesque. My mind reeled from it all. After taking a minute to compose myself, I turned towards the two ponies who were still alive.

"What the fuck happened here?! This looks like a scene from the inside of one of those griffon slaughterhouses!", I shouted. It probably didn't help the situation any, but I felt that I had to scream or else shut down completely because of the horror I'd just seen. The guard (I believe it was Aegis Charm, but I'm not sure) seemed a bit put off by my yelling. After a minute they responded.

"Sir, Aegis Charm reporting, sir. I was walking along my usual patrol route when I heard somepony screaming for help. I ran towards the screams as fast as I could. This mare was screaming that there a murder had taken place. I admit, I was skeptical at first. I mean, sure, this is a pretty rough part of town, but not that rough. I quickly changed my mind when she brought me here and I saw the body," Aegis summarized.

"Oh it was just awful," the mare interjected. "I've never seen anything so terrible in my life. I was just walking down the street to start my 'ahem' "work", when I caught scent of a real bad smell. I decided, against what little better judgement I had, to follow the smell. That's when I found the body. I wanted to faint right then and there, but then I thought, "What if the killer's still nearby?", so I started running away screaming. Oh, I just can't imagine anypony who'd want to do this to poor Sultry Gaze!"

"Wait a minute," I said. "How do you know the name of the victim? Were the two of you close? Answer truthfully, this could be of vital importance."

"We weren't very close, acquaintances at best. I'd gotten to know her through my, um, "work". We both worked in the same profession, as well as under the same boss."

"Uh huh." I was starting to think this lady wasn't entirely on the up-and-up. "And by work, do you by any chance mean..." She cut me off before I could finish my sentence.

"Yes, I'm a prostitute, alright! Arrest me if you want, but it's one of the few ways to make good money around here without having to kill somepony!" I hadn't quite expected her to react like that, but oh well. I still got the information I was after.

"I'm not going to arrest you, you've been very helpful. So, is there anypony might've killed her becuase she owed them some bits, or because they thought they were in love with her and she didn't feel the same?"

"I already told you, I don't see why anypony'd want her dead. Plus, if was just for money or love or something, then why would the killer go to these lengths? It makes no sense, no fucking sense!" She sounded like she was starting to become hysterical, so I decided that story time was over for now.

"Alright then, one last thing and I'll let you be on your way. What's your name? We'll need it to put in our files later on, just in case we need to get in touch with you again."

"Gorgeou S. Mane. My name is Gorgeou S. Mane, but most ponies call me Georgia."

"Well then Georgia, I hope you have a good night, We'll get out of your mane now. Stay safe." With that, Aegis and I parted ways with Georgia. I instructed Aegis to wait with the body for the paramedics to arrive (why exactly do we have paramedics pick up dead bodies? Not like they can do anything to save those ponies lives) while I went to inform the princesses on what all had transpired.

##########################HiE:JiB

"And that's why Blueblood is scared of us Tia." It seems that I had come into the throne room at the tail end of a conversation between Princesses Celestia and Luna. I have a feeling that even though I didn't really hear anything, I still have a strange feeling that I'm going be chewed out about this later. The princesses looked over as I stepped forward.

"Your Highnesses, I'm sorry for interrupting but there's been a terrible occurrence. On top of the appearance of these "hyu-mans", it seems that we have a murderer on our hooves," I said in a calm voice.

"What? What do you mean a murderer? There hasn't been a murder in Canterlot in over one hundred years!" Celestia seemed incredibly upset over this, almost like she was taking this personally. Luna, however, seemed much more nonchalant about the turn of events.

"Is this not a common occurrence anymore? Before our ... sojourn away from everything, a murder was a commonplace thing that came to be expected." With that tidbit of information I am now more than ever glad that I wasn't alive a thousand years ago.

"No, Luna, murder is not a common thing. The last murder that took place in Canterlot was about one hundred and fifty years ago. You would know this if you had done that history research I suggested." Celestia muttered the last part, though it was still loud enough for me to hear. I'm honestly surprised that Luna didn't hear it, but I'm not complaining either.

"I think I read about that case in high school, shortly after I met Cadence. A stallion of unknown origin appeared out of nowhere and killed five ponies. When the guards arrested him they found no clue as to who he was or from whence he came. The townsponies revolted and formed a mob which took the stallion and threw him into a nearby river to drown. Before he was thrown in he vowed to one day return and get his revenge. It was that story that helped me decide to become a royal guard. I wanted to make sure that nothing like that happened again." Celestia frowned at this.

"While parts of that are true Shining Armor, I'm afraid that most of it is myth and legend. The truth of the matter is that while there was a murderer, he wasn't a complete mystery. I suspect he came from somewhere north of Yakyakistan given the strong accent that was present in his voice. There were no distinguishable qualities about him, he seemed to be your common everyday pony, except for one thing: he had no cutie mark even though he appeared to be middle-aged. When we captured him he seemed to be wracked with guilt, and though the citizens were angry they didn't form an angry mob and kill him." At this part Celestia's frown deepened, but she continued with her tale. "No, he did that himself. He broke a mirror in his cell and cut his own throat. I am saddened that had not been able to see that he needed help. However, the past is in the past, no matter how much we like to dwell over it."

"You're right Princess. We can't change what has already happened, no matter how much we want to." I muttered.

"What was that Shining?", Princess Celestia asked. It seems I wasn't too quiet in my admission.

"Nothing Princess. Just a bad memory." I replied.

"Oh? Then it had nothing to do with my niece?", Celestia asked innocently.

Crap. "No, Your Highness. Nothing of the sort," I answered, hoping that she would leave it at that.

"Good. Well, thank you for informing Luna and I about these happenings. You may be excused," Celestia said. I turned to leave, but Princess Celestia wasn't done speaking. "Oh, and next time you have urgent to report to either of us, please remember to at least teleport outside of the throne room. My sister and I might be having a conversation that's not intended for outside ears."

"Of course, Princess Celestia." With that I began to trot towards the throne room doors, hoping to leave rather quickly. That's also exactly when Princess Luna decided to speak again.

"Before you go Captain Armor, we have to tell you something of utmost importance. If you ever deign to break our niece's heart you shall know EXACTLY why Prince Blueblood is frightened of us tenfold." Even though Luna was whispering it still felt as though she was shouting.

"I would never hurt Cadence, Your Highness." (At least, not like she did.) After imparting these final words I galloped towards the doors, scared out of my life. No matter what happened I knew one thing for sure: I had the source of my nightmares for the next few days (or weeks), and I don't think the Princess Of The Night was going to banish them.

###########################HiE:JiB

The moon hung low in the sky and the fog rolled around my hooves as I walked softly as a whisper through the streets of Canterlot. My hooves are stained red from tonight's earlier activities. The night was still young though, and I wished to make it a double event. Most ponies were still unaware of my presence; that was something that I would soon amend. I heard somepony giggling from somewhere nearby. I turned and saw a pegasus mare in a very sheer dress.

I strode towards her slowly. "Hey, honey. Looking for a fun time?", she asked. It was ponies like this that gave me reason to exist. Streetwalkers and whores who make my blood boil by staining this beautiful world.

I looked at her with a smile and responded, "Sure, I could use a little more fun tonight." I glanced around quickly, as if making sure we were alone. "Do you think we could go somewhere more private?" She nodded and giggled again as I led her away down the endless maze of backstreets and alleyways. We stopped outside of an abandoned building, obscured in the shadow it cast. "Alright, this is good. We won't be found here," I said. "Now get on your knees quickly and there will be a bonus for you."

She replied, "Alright, but just so you know I don't swallow." She dropped down and started doing her job.

I grinned and brought out my knife. "That's a good mare. Go down a bit further." The moment she leaned down further I sank my blade into her flesh. The blood streamed out of her neck, her coat becoming matted as she struggled to pull away from me. Her struggles, however, just served to make the cut deeper as I pulled the knife out. I slashed her across the throat a few times to keep the blood flowing, then I flipped her so her stomach was showing. I cut off one of her nipples as a gift before continuing my work. I sliced open her midsection in a Y-shaped pattern and peeled back the layers of her skin, exposing her bones and organs. They were ripe for the ripping ... or the taking. I pierced her kidney and her pancreas. As for her womb, I took that with me.

I left after ten full minutes of creating a lovely scene of artistic expression for when somepony finds the body. Tonight had been very productive. I can only hope that I can have as much fun next time.

Chapter Three: Ronnie's Realization, Prisoner's Proposal, and Cadence Enters

Ronnie's POV

I was watching Shining be berated by the woman of the group when the news broke. It had been a few hours since my 'interview' session with Shining Armor and he hadn't been back for awhile. The others were sleeping and I was debating whether to do the same. Then, as I had decided to try and fall asleep, Shining returned and he looked like he was angry about something. His mouth was set firm in a tight frown, like he was thinking deeply and was only aware of his surroundings on a outer level, while his inner mind was preoccupied with something else. He tried getting the lady of our little group to leave with him using his weird psychic powers, or whatever they are. This turned out to be a terrible mistake on his part.

As soon as she felt herself being dragged along by the strange force around her right hand. Now, I've never heard the deathly voice of the banshee, but I feel that when that lady opened her mouth that I got as close as I ever shall. She opened her mouth and proceeded to chew Shining out.

"What do you think you're doing?! Let go of me you fucking mutant horse! You think just because you have some kind of strange magic-like power that you push me around? I'm a person, a human being, and you're just an animal. A stupid, lowly animal, even if you can talk. You're meant to work for us, not against us. You work for us, and you this because we own you. We own you!" The woman shrieked like a cat being skinned alive. Shining looked completely in awe at what was happening. It seemed that this had managed to bring him back to alertness from whatever he'd been thinking about. His eyes looked around the room, glancing at each of us as if he expected us to help him after he had locked us up for nothing. I decided to take pity on him after a few more moments of awkward ranting by the woman. Meanwhile, her shouting had managed to rouse one of the others from their slumber. Oh joy of joys, the drunk woke up. He seemed to be in slightly better shape after resting, but his coat was still in tatters, and he seemed really groggy.

"Ugh ... what's goin' on? Why're you all bein' so loud? Some of us don't like listenin' to people shoutin' while they try to sleep. So, if you'd please, kindly shut up!" Well, he wasn't drunk anymore, bit rude though.

"Hey, ma'am, it's alright, calm down. I'm sure he doesn't mean you, or any of us, any harm." At least I hope he doesn't. "If you just take a moment to breathe, everything will be alright," I said. God, I wish was that were true.

"And what do you know about this? How are you so sure that we won't be harmed? Have you been here before?" She questioned me, grilling me even better than Shining Armor had. "I don't think have. I don't think any of us have been in a place like this before! This is impossible. We're in a land of fucking rainbow pony things that have imprisoned us in dungeon when we've done nothing wrong! Either we're insane, dead, or worse. So tell me again why I should be calm?!"

I had no immediate answer to that. In a way she was right. This situation was alien and new, and new things can be scary sometimes. On other hand...

"Listen, I know you're scared. I'm scared too, but that doesn't give us the right to act out like this. If we want to get through this safe and sound we need to stay calm, think things through, and act rationally. Otherwise we may never get out of here. So just calm down, please." I think my words must have gotten through to her because she took a few deep breaths and apologized to me. I noted she didn't apologize to Shining though.

"I guess you're right. If we all work together we'll get out of this mess sooner, and the sooner we're out of here the sooner we're away from those things." I noticed that Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to cause you any harm. I was just in another place in my head. I just wanted to quickly ask you a few questions and get this over with, I wasn't paying attention, and I forcefully dragged you across a room with my magic without thinking about how you'd feel. For that, I'm sorry," Shining apologized. He seemed very sincere about it, too.

A sudden ruckus in the nearby corridor attracted our attention. A nervous looking guardsman (guardspony?) rushed into the room and went straight for Shining Armor.

"Captain Armor! I have an urgent report from one of the patrolling officers. Another body has been found. She said it was like nothing she's ever seen, the throat torn apart, stomach cut open, she even said that the mare's womb was missing!" What? What in Sam Hell was going on here?!

"Private you couldn't have pulled me outside to tell me this information instead of letting the prisoners know possibly important information? It never crossed your mind to think this through instead of yelling out the news like a town crier?"
Shining laid into the guard, who started to sweat profusely.

"Wait hold on, what's this about a dead body with a torn throat? What does this guy mean by another? How many ho- ponies have been killed here? And don't say they aren't being killed, if their throats are torn open then that has to mean someone is purposely killing them! I don't like staying somewhere there's a murderer, so someone tell me what's going on now or I'm going to start throwing punches." I cut in. Shining looked me dead in the face and narrowed his eyes. He appeared to be deliberating, wondering what he should do with me. After a few minutes he sighed.

"Alright, I'll let you in on it, but only if you swear yourself to secrecy. I've already questioned you and seem okay, for the most part. I'll let the fact that you just threatened me slide for now," he said. I nodded and his horn started to glow.

"Okay Shining Armor. I swear that I won't reveal what you tell me to anyone, unless you say that they can know." Shining smiled a little and his horn stopped glowing. "I'm going to assume that you did something to make sure I keep my promise since your horn was glowing and nothing moved on its own." He nodded again.

"Right then. I'll tell you about what happened in the questioning room. I don't want anypony to overhear." I smirked at the pony pun before following him out into the corridor towards the questioning room. It was exactly the same as last time. Nothing had been moved or changed: the desk, chairs, and still no lamp. Shining sat down, as did I.

"So, the past few hours there's been something bad happening here in Canterlot. In just one night there has been two murders. They both took place in the East End of the city, and both the victims were prostitutes. Now, there hasn't been a murder in Canterlot in one hundred and fifty years, so this was shocking enough. However, the bodies of these ponies looked like they'd been butchered by a griffon chef who had gone mad. The first victim had her neck completely torn apart. The cuts were deep enough that you could see her spine. Her face was just a pool of mush that had no remaining features to distinguish her from a puddle of blood. I was called in by one of my men to look at the scene and I'll tell you now, I've never seen something like that before and I hope to never again see such a dreadful sight." By the time he had finished his explanation I had grown to slightly respect him. To have seen something like that and continue trying to question potential threats, there was no doubt that he had a strong sense of duty and some bit of bravery. Most people I know would have quit for the night right there and then, but he kept going.

"That's awful. Whoever would kill someone, even a prostitute, in such a savage manner must be a real monster," I said.

"Well, as you already heard, there's been a second murder. I haven't been to the scene so I don't know the specifics of what happened. All I have to go on now is what Private Aurum told me, and he only knows what somepony told him. Apparently another mare had her throat ripped open, and this time she had her torso cut open. Private Aurum said something about the mare's womb being missing, which means that the killer took it with them as a kind of sick souvenir or that somepony else came upon the body and stole the womb for some reason. Two murders in different parts of the same city, with signs pointing to the fact that one pony committed both crimes."

"It sounds to me like you're dealing with either a mass murderer or a serial killer," I said. "It can't be a spree killer, the murders happened in the same basic location."

"What do you mean mass murderer? And what's a serial killer?" Shining asked. He sounded worried, but looked confused. I sighed and thought about how lucky this place was to have not known about serial killers.

"If it's a mass murderer, then there's only going to be this one incident. There may a few more murders tonight, no clue how many. If there are, then they'll be done not long after each other, just like these first two," I explained. "However, if this is the work of a serial killer then I have good news and bad news. The good news is that there probably, well, hopefully won't be any more murders tonight. The bad news is that if it's a serial killer then there's going to be more deaths. They might be a few days apart, they might be a month apart. Either way, let's hope that they'll get sloppy and leave something at one of the crime scenes that you can track them with."

"What kind of Tartarus do you come from where that's a reality? I mean, sure, we've had thieves, blackmailers, arsonists, and even a couple of murderers in the history of Equestria, but to think that somepony would be willing to murder vast amounts of ponies is unthinkable." That would've been an insult if it weren't partially true. "Also, how do you know this, or is it just common knowledge?"

"There are some really bad people where I come from, that much is true, but I like to believe that they only make up about seven percent of the total population. My home is not some kind of Hell or Tartarus or whatever, it's a place chock-full of everyday people. People who can be good, people who can be bad, and people who are both. That gray area is what most of us are, myself included. I don't pretend to be some sort of hero, but I try, and in the end that's all you can do," I said. I took a breath, then continued. "As for how I know that stuff, yes some of it is common knowledge, but some of it you have to study. That's what I do; I'm a criminologist, I study how crimes work, I try to figure out what makes criminals of all types do what they do on a personal and social level so that I can try and prevent others from walking the same path. Am I perfect? No, I get angry, I make hateful comments towards others at times, and I hold grudges on occasion. What matters is that I try to do good, and I believe that balances it out. That said, if you need any help on this case I'll be here. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be your prisoner and all, but I'm good with this stuff." Not to mention that I've always daydreamed about being a detective, chasing down criminals like in the movies. It might be unrealistic back home, but here...

"Thank you for the offer, but as you said: you're a prisoner. If there's a lapse in the case then can we start to question your group again, and if we find you to be mostly harmless we'll let you go. Until then you aren't allowed outside of the dungeons, and you're definitely not allowed to help with any murder cases. I'm taking a big enough risk just telling you about this. The only reason you're hearing the case is because I felt you harm my men if I didn't fill you in," he said.

"Well, at least you're honest." I gave a small smile to let him know that I trusted him. Shining relaxed slightly at that. He got up from the chair and walked to the door.

"Well, I think it's about time that you get back to your cell. As for your group, I'll try to be more sensitive so that incidents like what happened today don't happen again."

"Thanks Captain Armor. I really appreciate that, and I think the others will as well," I said as I got up from my chair. We walked backed back to the cell and he locked the door. As I looked around the room I saw that the drunkard had fallen asleep again. The woman was sitting in the corner and looked up when I came in.

"Hey, sorry about earlier, I'm just really scared. This situation is just so alien, I feel like I'm going crazy. Before this I barely left my house, and now I'm stuck here in some weird place with talking horses, imprisoned for no good reason. I just had to let loose," She said. She was sniffling as she said it. Seems she had been crying while I was gone.

"It's alright. Say, what's your name? I just realized I never learned it." I smiled as I asked her so she knew I was a friend, that everything was okay. "My name is Ronnie."

"Mary, my name is Mary. Thanks for not being mad at me," she said. She sounded happier now that she knew I didn't hold a grudge against her for earlier.

"Why should I be mad at you? Yo just needed to let off some steam. It happens sometimes. Who knows, next time it could be me."

"Hey, did that horse say anything about when we'd be let out while you were with it? I know it's only been a few hours since we were first put in here, but it already feels like it's been a lifetime." She looked at me expectantly, as if I could make all this go away.

"He didn't give me an exact time frame for when we'd be let go. He did say that when they have enough free time they'd finish up the round questioning for us. Once they can determine that we're mostly harmless we'll be let go," I said. I was going to leave it at that, but then I remembered something. "Also,they're ponies, not horses. Apparently they see the word horse as an insult, so they call them that. Please call them ponies." I hope that she takes that to heart. If I can diffuse tensions bit by bit, then this might go by easier and with less pain. Hopefully, this would all be over soon.

###########################HiE:JiB

Celestia's POV

As I sat upon my throne reading over the many proposals and bills, I couldn't help but think about Shining Armor and our conversation earlier in the day. I was worried about him. He seemed to get spiteful and angry when we started to talk about my niece. I wondered if everything was okay between him and Cadence?

"Auntie Celestia!" Speak of Discord and he shall come. I looked up from my scrolls in time to watch as Cadence literally burst through the doors of the throne room. "Auntie have you seen Shining? I haven't heard from him in about seven hours, and one of the guards told me about the murders that have occurred, and I'm just so worried about him." Hmm... She says that she's concerned, but she's smiling like a filly who was just told she can get an ice cream.

"Well, he was here about ten or fifteen minutes ago. He seemed to be doing fine, though he was a bit worried about something, most likely to do with the murders and the huemans. Speaking of Shining Armor, how is your relationship going?" Time to see if there really was something going on here, though I hope it really was nothing and that I was suspicious about nothing.

"Oh, it's amazing Auntie. Everything is just so wonderful, I don't know how I ever got on before. I just wish we could spend every hour of the day together," Cadence said. I noted that she never mentioned Shining, not even so much as referring to him in the second person. Maybe there is something to worry about.

"That's good. I am glad that you have found somepony that completes you, my dear niece. With all the happiness you bring other ponies, I think you deserve some happiness of your own." I just hope that whatever you and Shining are going through can be sorted without my having to intervene. "Well, as much as I'd love to continue our conversation, I have paperwork to finish, and you have a coltfriend to find. Good luck to you."

"Right, thanks Auntie Celestia. Oh, and I'm sorry about the throne room doors," she said as she rushed out. I chuckled quietly to myself, and I was about to use my magic to fix the hole in the doors when I realized something. Cadence hadn't actually seemed too worried about Shining, but if she wasn't worried about him, what in Equestria could have shaken her enough that she felt compelled to burst in here and leave a hole while doing so?

Chapter Four: Shining's Conversation with Cadence, a Lapse in Killings, and Investigations into Humans

Shining's POV

I was trotting along one of the numerous identical hallways of Canterlot Castle, trying to clear my head of the things which the human (Ronnie?) had talked about. It made me sick to think of a world where such acts of violence could happen not even once or twice, but time and time again. It was as I wandering that I hear the tell-tale clop of hoofsteps behind me. I turned in time to see a blur of pink fur coming towards me. It stopped just before it could crash into me, and I recognized the shape as that of Mi Amore Cadenza ("Please, call me Cadence"), my marefriend going on five years now.

"Shining, there you are! I've been looking all over for you. I couldn't find you anywhere and I got worried, what with all this stuff about mysterious creatures and murders," she said, taking breaks between sentences to catch her breath. "I asked Celestia if she'd seen you and I still couldn't find you."

"I've been in the dungeons for the past half-hour or so. Why didn't you just go down there? You're a princess, you're allowed access down there, and Princess Celestia would surely have told you that I was going to be there," I said, questioning whether she actually wanted to make sure that I was okay, or if there was something else. "Either way, I'm okay. The murders do have me a bit shook, but it's nothing major. Now that that's out of the way, do you have something else you want to talk about, or is that all?" I really wanted to be alone right now, to process everything going on in my head.

"No, ... no there's more," she said. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I wanted to talk about what happened earlier."

"There's nothing to talk about. You made a mistake, and we fought about it. Everything's better now." I wanted nothing to do with this subject of conversation. At that moment I wished for something to come along and save me from this. "I can't forget what happened, but I can and will put it behind me. I forgive you, Cadence."

"That's just it Shining, everything isn't better. I don't like what I did, but I don't regret it either. We're going along the same path that led to this in the first place. You're becoming distant, perhaps both of us are, and we're growing further apart. I don't want our relationship to be damaged any further,but with the way things have been progressing I'm afraid that what happened might happen again," she said in a very solemn tone.

"Are you sure you're that sad about it? When I found out you seemed to be very happy, so maybe you'd like to go back to that. After all, I'm not enough for you, isn't that right? I'm never enough," I said bitterly. The words I said may have been mean or cruel, but they were true nonetheless. I hadn't been caring and attentive enough, and so Cadence had started to wander. When I found her on a date with another stallion, it had stung. It had stung, not because she'd betrayed me, but because of the love I saw in her eyes when she looked at the stallion, a love I had never seen when she looked at me. "I saw the way you looked at each other. You were only together for six months, but you truly loved him, loved him even though you were dating me. Now I'm here, playing second fiddle to a secret coltfriend that you haven't seen for seven weeks." I sighed, trying to collect my thoughts, before I continued. "I know things aren't perfect, that they haven't been for awhile, but I'm trying. I'm truly trying to be a better coltfriend, to give you the love and affection that you deserve, but at this point it almost seems futile. I'll keep trying, and I assume you will as well, but I don't know how long we can keep this up."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I hope that we can fix this and fix ourselves, because I don't want to give up on this," she said. Well, it was nice to hear that she didn't want to break it off either. That didn't mean it was true. "I do love you Shining. I know it may not seem like it, but I do." Again it was nice to hear, but how much of it was the truth?

#############################HiE:JiB

Two weeks had passed since the last killing. The nobles are trying to say that it was a non-pony creature, resulting in more of their usual hatred for the other species of intelligent life. The newspapers were worried at first, spreading semi-factual accounts of the states of the victims. However, the population of the city's East End had gotten back on the streets almost immediately after the news had broken. The ponies there were too poor to forego work for long. Many had gone back to their usual trades, albeit working in a more skittish manner than normal. Now, with the murders already starting to loom in the distance, a sense of relief was felt by many. Many, but not all. The friends of the deceased still held fear within their hearts, and probably would until the culprit was caught (if the culprit was caught). I still felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing, wondering if the murderer was truly gone, or if they were still lurking somewhere nearby.

In the meanwhile, I was put back on the human case. I continued to conduct interviews with them. Two of the humans were kind enough, not showing a single interest in Equestria or ponykind. They just answered my questions and told me a bit about their world. The other two were interesting though.

Early one morning, not long after I had returned to the human case, I strode down to the dungeons and pulled one of the group out to talk with them. He (at least I'm told this one's a he) looked to be the youngest of the group, possibly the age of a teenaged colt. He wore glasses and had a short dark brown mane, though when compared to ponies humans always seem to have short manes, so to him it maybe long. He seemed to hold a sort of curiosity about Equestria and what was going on around him. It was not unlike the one that looked to be near my age, the one that had told me about those awful things (have to stop thinking about that stuff). I sat in my usual seat in the interview room and proceeded to begin my line of questioning.

"Alright, this is just going be a short series of questions to determine whether you are a threat to Equestria and ponykind at large. Now, first question, what's your name?" I asked.

"Rick. My name is Rick M. Dilinger. I assume that because you said ponykind that you are a pony and not a horse then?" Rick asked. "Also, is Equestria the name of the city we're in, or is it the country? Is it the name of the planet? Because the only way this could be real is if this is a planet different than the one where I live. I mean, I know that they were working on ships that could take you to other star systems back home, but this is still amazing!" He just kept going and going. I decided to butt in while he was taking a breath.

"Okay Rick, thank you. Yes I'm a pony, a unicorn to be exact. And please, don't go throwing the word whorse around, it's very insulting. Equestria is a kingdom, one of many. Also, what do you mean ships that could take you to the stars?" Now I was curious. During one of the other interviews I had learned that the humans had ships capable of reaching the moon, but not the stars.

"Oh, well the World Interstellar Conglomeration, er that's a worldwide organization that deals with satellites, space travel, and other such things, was working on ships that could fly to the nearest star systems within someone's lifetime. It's incredible to think that what we thought was impossible seventy-three years ago was right within our reach. Though, I suppose that now I'm here with you guys that I won't see all of that happen for myself," he said, a bit put-out by the sound of it.

"Right." That made no sense. According to what some of the others said the human race shouldn't have been anywhere near what Rick was saying. "Well, thank you for explaining. So, do you or any of the others in your group plan to cause harm to anypony?"

"I don't know about the others , but I don't plan on doing anything except learning all I can about this place while I'm here. That's okay, isn't it?" Rick seemed to be much more relaxed at the thought of being here for awhile, so he might cause less trouble than the others if, or rather when, they were going to be released.

"Sure, that'll be alright, as long as your studies don't disrupt anypony's lives to an excessive amount, and that you don't hurt somepony while on your quest for knowledge," I said.

"Of course not. I just want to learn of your race and culture, as well as those of any other races that this place might hold. It's not everyday that you go somewhere that no person has ever seen before." Celestia, the more he spoke the more he reminded me of Twilight.

"Okay. Well, that's all the questions I have for you for now Rick. Thank you, this has been very informative. I'll have the guard outside bring you back to your cell." I was starting to suspect something, but I'd have to have another talk with the other humans first. "Oh, one last question. What time was it in on your home when you arrived? The full date, please."

"Oh, of course. It was Wednesday June 6th, 2113. And I must thank you as well, this conversation was much more pleasant than what I'd been anticipating," he said. With that, he got up from his chair and walked toward the door. Thus ended my time with Rick Dilinger. While his was one of the more curious of the interviews with the humans, it was calm and pleasant at the very least. The next interview was much less kind.

After taking ten minutes to compose myself after my interview with Rick, I went to the humans' cell and had the lady who'd snapped the other day come to the interview room with me. She (again, I'm told it's a she) seemed to have calmed down some since I last tried to talk to her.

"So, this is just going to be a standard interview. What is your name, and do you or any of your group plan to bring harm to anypony while you are here?" I asked.

"My name is Mary Rudgiker. I don't plan to hurt anything for the duration of my 'stay' here. In fact, I plan to interact with you all as little as possible," she said. Well, at least she wasn't as rude as she was last time. "I just want to get out of here and back to my home as soon as possible. Back to where there aren't talking animals that come in all the colors of the rainbow." Never mind.

"Right. Anyways, next question. Before you were brought here, what time was it? The full date, if you please." Time to see if my suspicion was right.

"It was November 15th, 1957. I hope that that information helps you to get me home," Mary said. She stood up. "Are we done here? I'd like to go back and get some sleep."

"Of course. I'll have a guard escort you back," I said. Once she was gone I sighed and started to think about what I'd learned. These humans had been pulled from multiple points in time, not just space as I'd initially thought. The power required to do something of this magnitude was enormous. This considerably narrowed down the list of suspects from the Equestrian side of things, though I wasn't entirely convinced that the humans had nothing to do with this. A human outside of their group may have done something to bring them all here. Still, these humans were okay (for the most part). Tomorrow morning I would meet with Princess Celestia about having them released. Then I would start looking further into who could've done this. I just had to hope that nothing else would go wrong.

Chapter 5: Release of the Humans, A Disturbing Letter, and The Investigation Ensues

Ronnie's POV

I was awakened from my sleep by the sound of a bell. I slowly sat up and looked around. I saw a unicorn guard ringing a small bell of the type that schoolteachers used to have. Standing behind her was Shining Armor. He strode forward as the other humans and I woke up and looked at the two ponies in the room.

"Good morning everypony. I'm sorry if I interrupted your sleep, but I have some news I think you're going to want to hear." I noticed that Mary and the kid (Rich I think his name was?) both looked expectantly at Shining. "You are all to be released soon. We're still finalizing all the paperwork, but that shouldn't take ore than a day or two. I will ask that you stay within the settled areas of Equestria. There are a lot of dangerous places in and around it. Other than that, you're free to go. We will be checking up on you every once in a while though, just to make sure that nothing's wrong," he said.

"It's about time!", Mary said. "We've been in here for nearly three weeks. Tell me, have you had any luck with finding us a way back home?" I noticed that the drunk (still don't know his name) nodded, though whether it was about being freed or wanting to know about a way home was unclear. Shining shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid that with all that's been going on we've only recently started to look for a way to return you all to where you came from. It may be a while before we can do anything to get you home. These types of spells are very hard to pull off, and we'll need to try and account for all of what could happen and what could go wrong before we even attempt to cast the spell," Shining said. It looked like he had something else on his mind, but he left it unsaid. "Just hang tight for a bit longer. Once the paperwork has been filled out you'll be free as birds."

Having finished what he came here to do Shining turned around and left, though with the notable difference of there no longer being a guard staying just outside the door. I turned towards the others, deciding to make a bit of conversation since we were now awake with nothing to do. We were all too excited by the news to go back to sleep.

"Hey, Rich, how about that? Soon we'll be free to do as we please. What are you thinking of doing when you get out?" I asked. He frowned as he turned toward me.

"My name's Rick, not Rich. Also, why are you taking an interest in my plans now? We've been locked up together for a few weeks now and this is the first time you've spoken to me. You usually spend your time talking to Mary or the ponies," Rick said. The sad thing was that he was entirely right. I had talked with a couple of the others, but never with him.

"I'm sorry for calling you Rich. I'm also sorry for not talking to you until now. I didn't feel like there was need to, but that's no real excuse to ignore you. Still, we're talking now, aren't we?" I silently hoped that would be enough to quell him.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he said. Afterwards there were a few moments where nothing was said. I felt like that might've been the end of us talking, and it would be the last time we'd ever have a connection to each other. Then, as I turned to walk away Rick spoke up. "So, where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" I turned and looked at him. There was no signs of ulterior motives in his eyes, just a strange sort of curiosity. It took me a while to answer because of how abrupt the question had been. I decided that there was no harm in telling Rick a little about myself.

"I'm originally from Muswell Hill in London, England, though I've lived in the United States since I was eleven," I said. I figured that would be enough to satisfy him. "Why are you asking?"

"Oh, I just wanted to learn a little about everyone. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Rick asked.

"Of course not, I was just asking for curiosity's sake. I'm sure you can understand that," I replied. That seemed to clear everything up, and Rick moved on to one of the others. Thus ended my time with him. I sat back down on the floor of the cell and wondered what the rest of this place would be like, and if the ponies would be welcoming or not.

############################HiE:JiB

We were all awake when Shining Armor came down to us two days later. He looked at us with a smile, likely feeling happy for us now that we were going to be free, and him free of us. I can only imagine that this hasn't been easy on him. He and a few unknown guards escorted us out of the dungeons, through elegant and opulent halls, and through a set of large doors. It seemed that we had been held in a castle of sorts. I wondered who might live in it and who the rulers were, but not for long. Not long after we made it out of the castle a group of ponies galloped towards us with notebooks and cameras.

"Well,it looks like someone tipped off the reporters that you all would be getting out today," Shining said. "I'm sorry in advance if any of them bother you too much." With that Shining and the guards helped us move past the ever-moving wall of reporters trying to get a scoop. Multiple voices yelled at us as we went by.

"Captain Armor, can you tell us what these creatures are?" "Can they talk?" "Who and what are all of you?" Captain Armor, is it true that these are just a mutant breed of Diamond Dog?" "Where do they come from?" The questions were as redundant as they were endless. Cameras flashed in our faces everywhere we looked. Shining Armor looked at them all and prepared to tell them something.

"Attention everypony, please listen up. The individuals behind me have been through a lot, so I would appreciate it if you could kindly leave them be for now. I'm sure if they ever want to give interviews then they'll seek you out, but for now can you just agree to calm down and go back to your respective offices?" Shining looked over them all, waiting for nods and words of agreement. One by one the media ponies left, albeit with frowns on their faces. Well, most of them left. One who had been stuck in the back of the crowd stayed behind and made his way toward Shining Armor.

"Captain Armor, can you tell me anything about those murders from a few weeks ago? I've been holding off on writing anything about it in case there was a bigger story there," the pony said.

"I have nothing to say about any criminal investigations at the moment. The moment that we have something worth telling I or another member of the Royal Guard will make a statement to the press. Now, if you'll please be on your way my group here needs to get going," Shining replied.

"Well, could you at least tell me why one of our photographers managed to get a picture of Princess Cadence on what seemed to be a date with somepony other than you? Our readers would really appreciate it." At this Shining's expression darkened a bit. He stepped forward, closing some of the distance between him and the reporter.

"What's your name, sir?" Shining asked in a calm polite tone. Somehow that made the question more threatening than if he had said it in a angry voice.

"It's um, it's Yellow Factfinder, Captain Armor," the reporter stammered back.

"Well, Mr. Factfinder, I would remind you that what Princess Cadence does in her private time is nopony's business but her own. She can see whomever she wishes. As for me, I'll be happy as long as I'm not being antagonized by rumor-seeking ponies that work for newspapers that push sensationalist stories that barely have room for the truth," Shining said in a quiet voice, his eyes gleaming with dark thoughts. It was strange to see him like this after so long of only seeing him being nice and kind, as if a strange inverted version of him had stepped in for a minute. "This conversation will of course remain off the record, correct?"

"Yes, of course Captain Armor." Yellow was starting to sweat. You could feel the tension and nervousness in the air.

"Well, if I can't help you any further then we need to be on our way. Have a nice day." With that Shining and the guards led us off the castle grounds and to a nearby hotel. It was a quaint little place called the Gallop On Inn, and was owned by a kind looking mare with a ruby coat and light-purple mane.

"This is where we'll leave you. As you're a group of innocent creatures who most likely don't have any legal Equestrian currency on you the ruler of our land, Princess Celestia, has seen fit to give you each two hundred bits. These should allow you to live for a month or two while you try and find a stable source of income while you're here. Of course, we hope that you aren't stuck here long enough to need long-term employment, but we simply have no idea how long it'll take to get you all home, or even of we can. So, take these bits as not only a way to obtain goods without money of your own, but also as an early apology if things go wrong." He looked solemn as he said this, as though he had already given up on the hope that we might return home. However, no one else took notice of this and gratefully took one of the bags of money. "I hope that none of you run into trouble, but if you do just try and find one of the nearest guard stations. Other than that, just try and adjust to your current situation," Shining finished. He and the guards left the hotel, and we were left on our own in a strange world far removed from our own.

############################HiE:JiB

Celestia's POV

Another day had gone by, another two hours of listening to the nobles debate governmental disputes amongst themselves without coming close enough to a resolution. Total executive power meant nothing if everything just went in circles and never made it to you. Then would come another four hours of listening to petty squabbles and disagreements in court. Most ponies didn't visit the Day Court for help anymore because of the attitudes of said nobles. The nobles would come in, lay out their accusations against the others, tell all their arguments, then leave before I could do anything, their conflict to be forgotten and then started anew within the week. Those who did visit Day Court usually came for the same reasons as the nobles. It took all the strength and control I had not to interrupt them and offer simple solutions that they had overlooked. I did not want to become rude and unsympathetic in their eyes. So, day after day, four more hours of arguing, yelling, and waiting patiently for it to end. When the end came I waited for any ponies occupying the throne room to leave before stepping down from my throne, laying down, and simply relaxing for a few minutes. Today, however, was different. I had just started descending from my throne when I heard I knock on the door.

"You many enter," I said. The door to the throne room opened to reveal a mail pegasus with a package in her mouth. She walked up to me and gently dropped the package to the ground.

"Delivery for you, Your Majesty," she said in a chipper manner. I tried to thank her but she left before I could. I looked down at the package laying on the floor. It was a yellow shipping envelope with my name on the front in bold letters. There was no return address or anything else that might've helped me determine where it came from. I backed up a few feet and picked it up using my magic in case it was anything dangerous. It opened with relative ease, and inside was a letter. The letter was sloppily written, as if the writer had been rushed, and there were numerous spelling errors.

"Dear Prinsess Celestia,

I am writing to let you know that Im sorry for those killings. I am sory that I couldnt do more to their bodies but if I had stayed longer I mightve been caught. Dont worry though Ill make up for it on the next one. Ill also try and collect more souveneers to add to the one I already sent.

Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"

I found myself both terrified and baffled by the letter. On the one hoof this meant that the killer was going to strike again. On the other, I had no idea what this 'Jack' meant by souvenir. That's when I thought to look in the package. Inside, shoved into the bottom corner where it could barely be seen, was something dark and bloody. It was somepony's womb! I felt the dandelion salad I'd had earlier start to come back up.

"Guards! Guards come quickly!" I yelled. Immediately the sound of many hooves pounding their way towards me could be heard. The throne room doors burst open as a large group of guards clambered inside. They ran up and surrounded me, standing together in a defensive circle. One of the guards turned to me.

"What happened Your Majesty? Where's the trouble?" He asked.

"There was a package delivered to me that contained the womb of a dead pony. Though, I must ask how this package managed to get to me without someone checking it," I said, trying to calm my strongly beating heart. "Never mind that. I believe that something bad is going to happen soon. Please send out some extra patrols tonight. Also, could one of you please go grab Captain Armor for me? The rest of you can leave, and if you wouldn't mind taking the package with you I would greatly appreciate it." One guard broke off from the others, to rouse Shining. The rest left the throne room to dispose of the package and go on patrol. Shining Armor showed up about a half-hour later, looking slightly agitated and very tired.

"Good evening, Your Majesty. I heard that you had some trouble earlier," he said drowsily.

"Shining Armor, I've told you time and time again to just call me Celestia. Yes, there was a problem, and I fear there might be a much bigger problem before the night is through. Earlier I received a package containing this letter." I gave him the letter and waited for him to read it through. His eyes grew wide as he finished reading.

"Celestia, do you know this means? That murderer from a few weeks ago is back. We have a serial killer on our hooves!" Shining exclaimed. I understood what he said about the murderer coming back, though one thing confused me.

"Shining Armor, what is a serial killer?" I asked him. He looked at me sheepishly and responded.

"Oh, that's just a term I picked up while talking with the huemans. It describes someone who kills multiple people over a prolonged time period, or something like that. I was horrified when they suggested something that horrible could be happening here, but now I'm not so sure." Shining took a deep breath and continued. "The thing we need to focus on though is that there might be a murderer on the loose. I just hope that this letter is a hoax."

"I don't think that this is a hoax. Something else arrived in the package that proved that it really is the same culprit come back again. I told the guards to dispose of it after I saw it. It was the womb of one the victims," I said. I blinked, saw the womb again, and gagged again. Shining looked at me with concern, but I waved it off.

"Okay, so the murderer sent you a letter and a body part. That doesn't mean that they're going to strike again. It could just be a scare tactic." I narrowed my eyes. Shining seemed to not understand how serious this could be.

"Shining Armor, we need to be prepared if they kill again," I said, trying to get him to realize the danger that may be lurking. "We need to warn the guards about this threat so they can look out for--"

"And we will, we'll be prepared no matter what happens. Please just calm down, I don't want you to have a panic attack, or worse," Shining said, cutting me off mid-sentence. "I'll go and tell the guards right now before they go out on those extra patrols that you ordered." Shining then turned and left the throne room before I could get another word in. I just hoped that this would be enough to prevent any further tragedies.

############################HiE:JiB

Ronnie's POV

It had been a few hours since we arrived at the hotel. I was lounging in my room. It was too early in the day to go to sleep, yet too late to do many thing. Well, except for shopping perhaps, but I wanted to make these 'bits' last for awhile in case of emergency, so that was out. So, I was just sitting there with nothing to do when there was a knock at the door. I got up quickly and walked over, relishing the chance to do something. Standing there with a worried look on his face was Shining Armor.

"We need to talk," he said. "There's a bit of a situation that seems eerily close to things you've said."

"You're not implying that I have anything to do with anything incriminating, are you?" I questioned.

"No, of course not. It's just that a there's something you told me that may be important to a current investigation I'm a part of. I just wanted to talk about a few things with you that might help me out." His eyes shifted behind me to the room I was in. "So, may I come in?" I moved aside and let Shining into the room. He walked in and, finding there were no chairs, sat down on the floor. In an attempt to be courteous I decided to join him on the floor. "Firstly, I need you to make a vow that what's said here won't leave this room without my permission." He looked me dead in the eye as he said that.

"Of course. I won't spread word of anything you may tell me unless you give the go ahead," I replied.

"If you don't mind I'd like some kind of leverage in case you try to break my trust. So' I'm just going to take back those bits Celestia gifted you. I'm sorry to do this, but I don't know you well enough to warrant complete and utter faith that you won't betray me. This should ensure that you at least have a reason to stick with me, because otherwise you might not get enough to feed yourself or afford a roof over your head." Shining levitated the bag to himself using his magic.

"How do you know I won't just get a job?" I rebutted.

"A lot of ponies here in Canterlot are a bit too upper-class for their own good. They hardly even give work to other ponies if they're not unicorns, so they won't even consider you. You'd have to take the train somewhere else, which would cost you money. This ensures that you'll stay here and help me," Shining Armor explained. "I don't like doing this, but I don't exactly have the most trust in you. I hardly know the type of ponynality you possess. If you work with me you might be able to win me over and get the bits back."

"Alright then. Guess I have no choice," I said. "So, what's so important that you had to take all my money in order to trust me?"

"Right, well it turns out that your little theory about that killer from a few weeks ago may not have been that far off. I'm not sure that the murderer's returned, but Princess Celestia seems to think they've returned, so we're going to ere on the side of caution. A letter was sent to the castle today that was supposedly from the killer. It said there was going to be another murder. I'm of the mind that the letter is a hoax that was meant to frighten whoever received it," Shining said.

"Well, why are you telling me all of this? I'm not sure why you're being so trusting to an outsider to the case, as well as the law enforcement system around here and this world." Shining looked me straight in the eye as he responded.

"You guessed that the killer might come back, so if it is true that means you might know other things that could prove helpful to us. Also, you said you were a criminologist. I'm guessing that that's somepony who studies criminals and the like, just based on the words I can hear within it of course. If this is true then you might be able to help us with the investigation and give us some advice n this type of killer." He explained in such a precise and deliberate way that I wondered if he'd rehearsed this. "Either way, if word gets out about a mysterious killer that hasn't been seen ponies might start to speculate and start to distrust any non-ponies. So, it may just be safer for you to stick with me," Shining Armor concluded.

"Wait, if there may be a danger to me because I'm different than what about the others? Won't they be in just as much danger as me?" I wondered if Shining wasn't just making up the paranoid tendencies of the ponies to make me comply.

"Look, I'll try and see if I can spare a guard to look after your friends here, alright? I can only afford the one though, and even then I might not be able to do that," Shining said downtrodden. There sounded like there was a touch of something else mixed in with those feelings, though I don't know for sure. Still, there was little I could do and nowhere I could go.

"Alright, I'm in. I'll help you out, though I have no clue how much help I'll be," I said.

"Thank you, and don't worry I'm sure you'll be of help in some way," Shining said, a small smile starting to form on his face. However, I could see shadows in his eyes, notes of worry, and perhaps more.

Chapter 6: A Conversation With Cadence, The Third Murder, and The News Breaks

Luna's POV

The newly re-established Night Court was barren. There was not a single soul around, no pony had come to me as they did my sister during Day Court. It may have been that no pony was there because most would be asleep at this time. Or, perhaps they were still wary of me. It has only been but a scant two months since my reform at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It hurt to know that my ponies may still have been frightened of me, but I understood why. I could not think badly of them for believing that my dark half still ruled my mind, or that I may harm them, when all this was true not too long ago. It was for these reasons and more than likely a myriad of others that I sat here alone. I was therefore surprised when the doors to the court room opened up and the sound of hooves approached me. I looked up and was greeted by the sight of my niece, Princess Cadance.

"Aunt Luna, do you have a few minutes to spare?" Cadance began. "I need to talk to somepony, and Aunt Celestia is asleep." I quietly wondered why she hadn't gone to her coltfriend Shining Armor, yet didn't say so out loud.

"Yes, I am free to talk with you dear niece," I said. In truth I was happy to have anypony to talk with rather than spending four more lonely hours with nothing to do but talk to myself. "What is it that you would like to talk about?"

"Well, it's just that I've been having some troubles in my love life lately. I never expected to have problems when it came to love, after all I'm the Princess of Love, how could that be? Yet here I am, and I don't know what to do," Cadance rambled. "I was hoping that, because you see over the night and what happens therein, and because you're older than I, that you might have some helpful advice about love that I haven't thought of."

"While I am sure that I will not be able to come up with solutions to a romantic problem you couldn't solve I will still try. So, what's the problem?"

"It's just that Shining Armor and I seem to be slowly growing apart. I thought our love would last the ages, a perfect fairy tale love and life. Now though, we see each other less and less, and half the time when we do we argue. I just don't know what to do anymore," Cadence said. One would think, given the subject matter, that she would speak with fiery passion, yet I instead got the feeling of ice. It reminded me of a duke I had met before my fall into darkness.

"I see... have you tried talking with a moderator present? Then you could try to talk things out while they keep you from arguing," I suggested.

"Well, I would, but I don't want to bring anypony else into this. It's hard enough as it is," Cadence said quickly, as though worried. She caught herself, but not before I noticed.

"Cadence, are you sure everything's all right?" I asked. "Nothing happened did it? Shining didn't go out behind your back or hurt you or anything like that, did he?" I knew the chances of that being true were slim, but I felt like I needed to ask, even if just to show I cared.

"No, no, nothing like that. Shining would never do anything to hurt me, I know it," Cadence said.

"Well, in that case, what about you?" Cadence looked at me confused.

"Huh? What about me?" She asked.

"Could you have done anything to hurt Shining, even accidentally?" I asked her. I watched her movements as she answered to see how she reacted, to see if she was lying about anything.

"No, no, I- I- well, maybe," Cadence stammered. I looked at her pointedly. "It was a few months ago, and Shining and I were dating but it wasn't serious and was pretty open. It still is, really. So I started seeing this other stallion on the side," she confessed. "I didn't think Shining would take offence, again it's an open relationship, but he still got angry about it. I apologized, but kept seeing the other stallion with Shining's consent. You don't think he could still be bitter over that, do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you. Things like this didn't happen a thousand years ago, and I haven't had much experience in the world of modern love. Maybe Celestia-"

"Wait, Aunt Luna, please don't get Aunt Celestia involved," Cadence interrupted. "I just don't want her to know about this. It's not that I wouldn't appreciate her help, it's just that I'm not sure she would understand. I came to you thinking that you would, what with you ruling over the night time. After all, night is when ponies usually go on romantic outings, when ponies have relations and form sacred bonds of passion. I assumed that it came with the territory."

"Well, while I do watch over the night and all the creatures that find themselves underneath my starry skies, I have to say that I don't actively do so. I mainly stay back and passively oversee things. I only step in if I feel somepony needs help. So, no, I don't really have much experience in those sorts of things, dear niece," I said. "Still, let's pretend that you and I were courting each other. If you had done something like that to me I would be furious, even if I didn't show it."

"Right. Thank you Aunt Luna, for both the advice, and the disturbing mental imagery associated with a romance between the two of us," Cadence said. She turned and left the room as swiftly as she had entered. It was then that I realized that in my attempt to simultaneously help my niece and make her feel awkward as a joke that I had made an error. By embarrassing her to the point of leaving I had ensured that I would spend the remainder of Night Court alone once again.

###########################HiE:JiB

Jack's POV

My letter to the Princess had worked apparently. There were guards patrolling the neighborhood that I had done my killings in previously, as well as a few stationed in nearby areas. That was fine though, tonight I was moving on to a new location within the city. I had picked a special target this time. Not all whores looked like whores after all, and one was hiding among the city's nobility. There was a party that night amongst them, and she was going to be there. I had planned out the kill perfectly. One would think that it would be quite hard to infiltrate such a party. Only the affluent and the influential were allowed in. Luckily the ponies guarding the party took me at face value when told them that the princesses knew me. While this was true, I don't think the royals liked me much or appreciated my work, even after I sent them such a lovely gift.

I entered the house and was escorted to where everypony was gathered, a rather strange ballroom that was both garishly opulent and strikingly barren at the same time. The party was alive with all the usual hustle and bustle that I imagined would occur at these events. Everywhere I went while looking for my prey I heard snippets of different inane conversation.

"Prince Blueblood tried asking me out, but I told him that I..." "There's this amazing new designer from that awful little Ponyville town..." "I can't believe they're letting Princess Luna stay in the palace, I don't care if she isn't evil anymore, the social standings will be ruined and..." "My parents had me marry this guy, but he's less a lover and more..." "I was approached by an Earth pony who asked if I would like to go to their restaurant. As if I would go to..." "I found this strange unicorn mare scrounging outside my house, but she was gone before the guards could show up..."

Through these glimpses into the life of the wealthy and wealthier I wandered. I kept my eyes moving, searching for my prey in this who's who of the rich, the influential, and the asinine. I wandered for awhile, flitting from corner to corner, crowd to crowd, until finally I found her.

She was tall, and thin, thinner than a healthy pony looks. It's a wonder I didn't spot her before I did with her distinctive body type. Her coat was a plain white, her mane and tail a whiter shade of pink. Her cutie mark was a few small versions of her Prench namesake, Fleur de Lis. She was chatting it up with a stallion with a rich blue mustache and a monocle, another strangely tall and thin mare, this one with a light cerulean coat and an orange mane with hints of amber and vermilion. There was also a strange looking stallion with big sunglasses that I'm surprised he could see out of, a ridiculously huge pompadour, and the most outrageous way of speaking. All in all, three obstacles in the path to my target.

I stayed on the fringe of the group, always keeping Fleur within my sight. I moved closer and farther every now and then, and occasionally I had to try conversing with a partygoer so I wouldn't seem suspicious. Finally, after nearly an hour, I got my chance. Fleur left the group and headed outside of the crowded ballroom. I quickly moved to follow her out of the room and down the hall. We journeyed to the upstairs of the manor, down three corridors to a set of rooms. She entered one and closed the door behind her. I waited around for a bit to make sure she wasn't just going to come back immediately. Then I moved towards the door. A swift kick with my hind legs dispatched the door with ease.

She was looking through the drawers on a bedside dresser and wearing some sort of lacy-trimmed socks when I came in. It seems she had left in order to get ready for a lover of some sort. Well, no more. The only meeting would be with my blade. As I moved toward her she whirled around, a look of pleasant surprise on her face (possibly thinking her partner in filth had come early) that soon changed to one of shock and perhaps a touch horror creeping on the edge of her vision.

"What are you doing in here? G-get out! Get out of he-" Fleur was saying. I didn't give her time to finish. The less yelling, the better; can't afford to attract attention here, there's ponies everywhere and very few escape routes.

I drew forward quick as silver, and watched as my silver fell upon her. The blade flew across her muzzle as she was opening her mouth to continue yelling. I only managed to make a small scar on her face, but it worked as she closed her mouth in surprise at what I'd done. I didn't give Fleur time to recover as I forced her mouth open and cut out her tongue, effectively silencing her with her own blood. That wouldn't keep her quiet forever so I elected to rush through my work lest I be caught.

The initial cut to the throat was quick enough, but after another few swipes I hit bone and could go no further. Her knees buckled as the blood drained out of her. I looked her in the eye but by that point all sense of life and being had departed. She collapsed, but that was fine; it would be easier to cut her open with her chest and stomach exposed. My knees stained red as I worked on her body. With her torso opened up I could see her glistening heart, a thing of beauty in a creature of filth. I decided to take it with me so as to keep its delicacy and polish to myself, and away from those that would dirty it. As my final act I painted her degenerate face with the ebb of her life, giving her visage some sense of beauty and grace.

I left the room sometime later, having taken care to wash the blood off myself. I stopped at the end of the hallway to listen, to see if anyone were coming, but the upper floors were empty save for myself. I made my way downstairs and slipped out of the residence, thinking about what the headlines would say tomorrow morning.

###########################HiE:JiB

Shining's POV

After a night fraught with fruitless investigations I fell asleep in my office. The human (Ronnie, if he's going to be helping you call him by his name) had left late into the night, wishing to get some rest. I was still groggy, my eyes covered in a thin layer of sleep dust in the corner of my eyes, when the knocking started. The knock were fierce, and the loudness and sharpness of them seemed to say that somepony either important or impatient wanted me up that second. As I lumbered toward the door my mind went over the problems I'd been mulling over for the past few weeks, the murders, the appearance of the humans, my decision to give Cadence a second chance. I was worried that whatever was on the other side of the door would only serve to complicate one or more of these.

It turned out I was right about what was out there adding to my problems. Outside stood a guard, his face a grim mask of sadness. He held a newspaper in his hoof. He held it up to me without saying a word, and I started to wonder if my thoughts earlier had forced this into being.

Spread across the front page, in large, bold lettering, was the headline, "Model Meets Grisly End At Party!". The murderer had struck again, and in a place where we couldn't hide it to keep everypony from panicking. Worse still, he had killed a widely known public figure rather than the usual street walkers; word of this would surely spread across Equestria. The article went on to describe the state in which the pony, Fleur, had been found, who had found the body, as well as a quick rehash of the two previous murders (couldn't be bothered to snoop around and report on it when it was just prostitutes, huh?) before ending on a question of the murderer's identity. My mind turned to how there were likely many reporters waiting outside the building to ask me that same question.

I thought that my day was already going to be bad, but then I noticed that the guard still had a paper rolled up in his hoof. This one wasn't a complete newspaper, rather just a torn page from one. He handed it over to me, and what I read lowered my spirits even further.

"Royal Guard Cover-Up Conspiracy?!" the paper shouted at me. The article was by Yellow Factfinder, which made me wonder if this wasn't fabricated just to get back at me. The article questioned whether the guard would be able to catch the culprit, especially since it had been over a month since the murders started and there had been no developments. It also asked if the guard could be trusted since we had kept this information away from the public. After that is was mostly general slander against me and the rest of the guard for being inept.

I threw both papers on my desk haphazardly, not caring that some of the pages spilled and flew about, and thanked the guard for showing them to me. I left my office and quickly headed toward the exit to check if anyone was waiting out there. There were about a dozen reporters waiting, some with notepads, others with scrolls, and still others with cameras. They all zeroed in one me as soon as I set hoof out the door.

"Captain Armor, over here!" "Captain Armor just a word!" "What do you have to about the murder?" "Captain Armor, do you have any leads?" "Captain Armor, do you have any idea who the murderer is?" A thousand voices, a thousand questions, and a thousand ponies who were willing to take anything I say and make a front page story out of it, even of they had to twist my words.

I might've stayed there for a few minutes answering questions if I hadn't noticed something about the crowd. While there were certainly some representatives from good, reputable newspapers there, the majority of them were from gossip papers, rumor journals, and conspiracy rags. So, instead of giving answers that were going to be taken in the worst possible light by them, I decided to bypass all of the reporters entirely. I swept past them without a word, ignoring all the stares, the yells, and the reaching hooves. I would initiate a press conference later to relay the pertinent information to the public, but for now I wasn't too keen on dealing with it. For now though, I would simply go about finding my new partner in this affair to see what he thought about the newest murder, and if he had seen the article by Factfinder.

On my way I got more than a few strange looks, and even some glares, cast toward me. It seems that ponies weren't happy about having the news of a killer on the loose kept from them. Still, no pony tried to start an altercation, and there were no threatening acts made against me, so I didn't mind having to put up with ponies staring at me.

After a short walk, and a passive aggressive talk with a concierge to make sure that Ronnie was still staying at the hotel, I found myself standing in front of the door to his room. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. I didn't have to wait long, as not ten second after I had knocked the door swung open. Ronnie stood there, and I could tell from his face that he had heard the news about the murder of Fleur de Lis. He stepped aside, and I entered the room, ready to talk strategies for catching the culprit.

Chapter 7: Interviews And Questions, Another Reprieve From Death, and A Loss Of Trust

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8: Rumors And Gossip, A Double Event, and An Interlude With A Scientist

Shining's POV

As I was staring into the empty cup of coffee in front of me, feeling no more energized to start working than I had before, I heard a tremendous clattering outside my office door. It swung open and there stood Ronnie, the human assisting me, clutching a bag filled with some newspapers.

"Hello Ronnie," I said to him, trying to sound chipper. "You said that you had some new information regarding the murders?"

"No, but I figured that was going to be the only way for me to get away with forcing my way back here. I wanted to talk to you about something I saw this morning at the hotel. You see, I've taken to perusing their little newspaper kiosk, and imagine my surprise when I see your face plastered on three different front pages." I stifled a sigh before gesturing with my hoof for him to continue. "Naturally I picked up the papers and read the accompanying stories. Do you want to explain what happened last night, or do you want me to tell you?" Ronnie asked me.

I took the papers from him and started looking through them. True to his word I was on the front page of a few of them, while in others I was featured later, although as nothing more than a blurb. Thankfully most of them were rag papers that pushed rumors, so with some luck most ponies wouldn't give them another thought. Still, I couldn't help but feel ashamed for appearing in them nonetheless.

"Nothing happened last night. I just got a little distraught over something and took to the bottle to drown my sorrows," I replied. "It doesn't really matter, and besides, I won't be doing that ever again."

"That's not what these reports say. Besides, it doesn't matter that you won't do it again. If you do a thing like this once you're forever tarnished in the eyes of the public," Ronnie said. "Anyways, I know that you're not telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth. Your ears are twitching and you won't look me in the eye."

"I'm telling you that nothing's wrong. Now, if you don't mind, I have some business that I need to attend to," I said, trying to get him to leave. I didn't want to talk about what had happened, but I knew that if he kept pushing the matter I'd blurt something out.

"That's bullshit and you know it. I've been working with you for a couple of months now and I'd like to think I know when you're lying. For instance, your ears started to droop downwards slightly," Ronnie argued.

"I'm telling you that it's nothing," I said, gritting my teeth.

"Alright then," Ronnie said. He turned and started to the door, stopping just before entering the doorway. "By the way, I had a little chat with some of your guards. They said that you were sobbing throwing bottles at Princess Cadence's balcony last night. So, either your guards cared enough about you to take you back here, or they hate you enough to make up these rumors and tell the papers about it."

"Alright," I sighed. "Get back in here. I don't care enough to argue anymore." I watched as Ronnie turned back toward me and walked forward. "Alright, so I might've gotten a little crazy last night. I had reason enough for it though," I told him. He looked at me expectantly, gesturing for me to continue. "So, last night I- well, I found Cadence in bed with another stallion. It wasn't the first time I'd seen her with him either. I'd caught them out together a while ago, but I thought it had ended then and there. Now I realize how naive I'd been."

"Shining, I, well, I don't know what to say. I know this must weigh heavy on your heart, but you mustn't let this ruin your life.You have to pick yourself up and try to move on. Now come on, we need to get started for the day," Ronnie told me.

He was right. It hurt to think about it, but I knew that he was right. I had to keep living my life. Still, it would take some time for all the wounds to heal completely.

"By the way, I couldn't help but notice that one of those stories happened to be by that Factfinder fellow. He really has it out for you. Are you sure you never did anything to make him hate you this much?"

"What? No, no I never met him before that incident at the castle gates," I told Ronnie truthfully. "Let me see that story you were talking about."

Ronnie reached into his bag and withdrew one final newspaper. It looked like all the others, my face plastered over it with a a sure to spark rumors headline. Sure enough, the big story was written by Yellow Factfinder. I read through it and started feeling more ashamed than I already was. Even though he reported them in an inflammatory way I recognized bits and pieces from the events last night. As much as I disliked him I had to admit that this was completely factual; I had been an idiot, and I had acted out in a immature and reckless way. Still, the way that he reported these events made it seem like I'm a danger to the public, and that was something I couldn't let pass. Not only that, he was laying into the guard as a whole, saying how we were grossly incompetent for not being able to catch the one responsible for the murders. That was another thing I couldn't stand for. For now though, Ronnie was right, I needed to get to work. The killer might be gone for now, but there was no telling if and when they might start again, and we needed to be ready.

##############################HiE:JiB

Jack's POV

I stalked the streets of Canterlot yet again, looking for another chance to show my brilliance. More and more ponies were staying inside now, too scared to come out even though I hadn't killed for a few weeks. Still though, those who made their trade in pleasure stalked about. They couldn't afford to stay in, for without the income from these rendezvous they wouldn't have a place to stay at all. Unlucky for them, but most fortuitous for me.

I sauntered up to one of these fine creatures of the night from the shadows, obstructing their view of me. She became aware of my presence only when I cleared my throat behind her. She turned around but didn't make any outward signs of fear or nervousness. Perfect.

"Oh, I'm sorry my dear. I was just wondering what you'd be doing out at this time? Haven't you heard about the goings on of late?"

"O-oh, it's alright. I'm a bit jumpy is all. Actually, it's because of the horrible things that have taken place that I am so nervous," she replied.

"Oh? Then I must ask again, why are you out here?"

"Well, I, um, I have a foal you see, and no employers will take me, and I've heard other ponies say I have a nice body before, so I-" she stammered.

"Ah, say no more. Well in that case, how would you like to be escorted back to your place with some extra bits in your purse?" I asked her. With each passing second she was visibly growing more relaxed. This would be easier than I thought.

"Oh, are you sure you wouldn't rather me ply my trade elsewhere? I don't want my little filly to know about what I've had to do for a living," she said with an embarrassed glow about her cheeks.

"I'm afraid you mistake my intent. I only wish to give you some bits to help you along, and make sure you get home safely. One can't be too careful nowadays, eh?" I said, knowing full well that she would relent any minute. How right I was.

"Well, o-okay then. If you insist sir. Thank you, thank you so much," she replied with a small smile.

With that she and I started walking out into the dim of the night, away from the prying stars, and towards her final bed. We had gotten naught but five feet from where we started when I pulled out my blade and started to gut her. She looked up at me with such surprise and terror, betrayal evident in her eyes. It was delicious, as her kidneys would be when I prepared them later. Under guise of darkness I took my time with my craft, filleting skin here, lopping off bits there, until I was satisfied that I'd made a lovely piece. A pool of dark crimson gathered about my feet, leaving set of prints as I wandered off. I made sure to leave my boots near a nice house, chuckling at the suspicion the find might cause. The fog settled around the area, covering my work from being found too soon, as I took my leave.

###########################HiE:JiB

The night was still young, and I hoped to work at another tart before I was to retire. I wandered along the streets, the city feeling like a near ghost town. As I flitted back and forth between the flickering street lamps I kept my eyes peeled for another target. It took longer than I would've liked, and I had nearly given up when I found an individual who fit the bill. A unicorn mare wearing a lovely coat of fuchsia, with a long horn and longer legs.

"Hello love. How are you one this night?" I asked her.

"Fine, but a bit nervous. Then, anypony would be nowadays," she said.

"Ah, well, I might know of a way to help you forgot about your worries for a bit," I told her. As I did I drew closer to her.

"Yes, well, I might find that agreeable. How about you follow me and we'll find somewhere a bit less open? Don't want to attract the attention of that awful murderer after all." She motioned with her hoof for me to follow as she started to walk off.

I followed her at a good click, never staying more than two paces behind her. She led me down a couple winds and bends before we arrived at a place where there were no lights for at least a few yards, enclosed between squalor buildings and with minimal risk of anyone coming upon it by accident. By luck, a perfect spot for my intentions.

She turned to me and opened her mouth, but I never learned what she was going to say. I had wrapped my hand around her mouth before she could utter a sound. Silently, I pulled out my knife and drew a crimson line cross her throat. Soon she had a large smile from ear to ear, and all while her mouth was trying to form some semblance of a scream. I decided to cut off one of her ears as a souvenir. I then worked my way lower and, starting at her rear, cut her from tail to tip. I even took time to break off part of her horn and stuff it in her throat, a nice little surprise for whoever finds her body. That done, I stepped back to admire my work. I imagine she had never looked more beautiful in her life.

I looked up, noticing that the morning was nearly upon me, and quickly exited the scene. As I left I swore I saw something from the corner of my eye, but there wasn't much time to ponder it. I had to make haste if I was to make it to my sanctuary without being seen by any early risers.

###########################HiE:JiB

Third Person POV

While Jack was scurrying back to his hiding place, and while some poor elderly stallion who liked early morning jogs was coming across Jack's first victim of the night, a short mare in a lab coat was looking over some papers with growing levels of excitement and concern. Her name was Andromeda, and she had just found something that could potentially change the world.

###########################HiE:JiB

Andromeda's POV

I don't know how long I had been standing there, looking at these test results. I do know that by the time of how big this was hit me my legs were getting pinchy from standing in place too long. The implications that the results held was terrifying. I shook myself out of my stupor, grabbing all the papers and galloping out of the lab to inform the Princesses of this discovery.

I rushed down the halls of the great castle, startling anypony that I came across. It was still early in the morning as I made my way to the doors of the throne room. I found myself at spear point as I hurried into the room.

"Halt! Do not move any closer to the princess!" A guard in full armor glared at me. A second stood close by, spear also at the ready. "Who are you, and what business do you have here?" Before I could reply a majestic voice carried across the room.

"Stand down Private Class. She is expected." The guard lowered his spear as Princess Luna approached. She looked tired, but still as regal as the infinite night sky. "Andromeda, how goes the studies on the humans?" The Princess asked me.

"Oh, Princess Luna. Thank you for allowing me to stay. The human research is actually what I was coming to see you about." I took a deep breath to calm myself before continuing. "You see, I was working on some of the genetic samples we acquired from the humans during their stay in the castle. So far there had been nothing of note, some things that distinguished them from the great apes of Equestria, but nothing other than that. However, after running some tests to see if there were any signs of magic that had been used on them, I noticed an odd magical signature. Nopony was able to identify it for weeks, but last night there was a breakthrough."

"Oh? Well, what type of magic was it then?" Princess Luna questioned.

"That's just it Your Highness. It's chaos magic."

Author's Note

Yes, the guard's name was a pun. Yes, I'm sorry. I ran out of guard names. Initially I was going to make Andromeda's full name Andromeda Strain, but figured that was too stupid. Too stupid, coming from the person who created "First Class, Private in the Equestrian Royal Guard".

Sorry it took so long to write this chapter. I'll better to keep up, but no promises.