HiE: Jack Is Back

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.