HiE: Jack Is Back

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.