HiE: Jack Is Back

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?