Author's Note

Since I'll never get around to writing this chapter, have this recap instead.

Secrets + Revelations = Madness [RECAP ONLY]

Ventus is back on the streets as the Falcon after making a public appearance at a club in Canterlot proper, and promptly calling his butler Reginald Whitman for pickup so that "Jonathan Ventus" can be stated as being back at Lulamoon Manor while the Falcon goes on patrol.

Ventus is kicking himself for unmasking himself just to convince Smith that he knew enough to replace Pezuña Gris as a witness against him if he pulled the trigger, but sadly it wasn't enough, and now he can't be certain he erased all the details since he was in a hurry with Steven arriving soon. If Smith were to put the pieces together...

Speak of the devil, Reginald contacts him to say that Steven is calling Ventus' public line. Finding a place to talk privately, he accepts the call, turning off the voice changer.

Steven says that Smith claims he has a massive bombshell in information to share with the cops, but will only share it if he talks to Jonathan Ventus first. No cameras, no microphones, nobody in the dark room. Just the two of them, and that's in exchange for the information. Ventus' blood runs cold, but says he'll be there.

Reginald warns him it might be a trap, that Smith might have told Steven to say it so Ventus will talk about being the Falcon while unaware that all that stuff is still running. Ventus replies that Steven wouldn't agree to do something like that, and if Smith had said he thinks Ventus is the Falcon, Steven would be at the door asking for him as wanted for questioning, not agreeing to a completely private interview with the potential vigilante.

Ventus concludes that Steven doesn't know what Smith's play is, but Ventus can guess that Smith has indeed figured out he is the Falcon just from a wise-crack one-liner and a rush-job memory wipe. If Ventus plays his cards right, he can do a proper job wiping Smith's memory and make sure he can't cause more trouble. He returns to the mansion so that "Jonathan Ventus" can be seen being driven to the police station.

Upon arrival, Ventus meets with Sergeant Mitta Danza, who he remembers as having lost her best friend Ruby to Gris Grande, and how that loss motivated her to become a cop so as to help clean up Sunny Town. In her, Ventus sees the cop Smith could have aspired to be, had he not chosen to kill Gris Grande, or be on his payroll in the first place. But alas, alea iacta est. (Latin: the die is cast)

Mitta thanks Ventus for his help in bringing down Salvación Desde La Viruela and avenging Ruby's death, and leads him to the interrogation room where Smith is waiting for him, with Steven waiting outside. Steven tells Ventus that he and Mitta will be setting up a perimeter around the interrogation room to ensure no-one can overhear their conversation even by accident. Ventus thanks him for taking care of the matter, as he is worried that Smith wouldn't need to have it recorded if it was said loudly enough. With that, Ventus heads in.

Somehow, in the span of maybe two hours, Mortimer Smith looks even worse than when Ventus had seen him dragged away to be processed for murder-one, accepting bribes, as well the various charges he'd have rung up doing all sorts of things for Gris Grande. He'd have to ask Steven and Mitta about that once he was done.

Smith tries to get Ventus to outright say he's the Falcon, but Ventus is clever enough to avoid even implying it, preferring instead to focus on Smith's now-wasted potential, even bringing up Mitta and how Smith could have been like her. Smith fires back that Mitta forgot her place, saying she knew her place when she kept her mouth shut and let the people from Salvación kill Ruby to make sure she couldn't tell anyone about the gift Roneo Tharlthane had gotten for Pequeña Estrella, since the gem was highly valuable and was stolen, to boot. Had Mitta gone to the cops about the plot, Salvación would have had to kill her too.

Ventus remembers that the evidence suggested Ruby was beaten to death, and then her corpse was burned in the fireplace to hide the murder. It took Mitta revealing the location to suggest that Ruby hadn't killed herself, even if it hadn't been an accident as initially surmised.

Smith finally has had enough of the runaround and outright states that he knows Ventus is the Falcon and how: From remembering that he heard Ventus finish the Falcon's statement, and how the Falcon had repeated a line that only Ventus knew. Occam's Razor says not to over-complicate the answer, and the least-complicated answer with his fuzzy memory is that Ventus is the Falcon.

Nothing else makes sense: The Falcon can't have been eavesdropping when Smith blew up the Sunny Town Psychos, as Smith had equipment on him at the time that would've tipped him off, therefore the Falcon couldn't have overheard "Same old story, Blanks killing Blanks" when he said it to Ventus, and the differing voices makes sense when one remembers that the Falcon uses a voice-changer to avoid being identified that way.

Smith surmises that Ventus revealed himself to convince him to spare Gris Grande. Ventus doesn't confirm it, but does say he'll be testifying at Smith's trial, how he threatened two street artists, which the two guys from the convenience store will support, as well as how he blew up the Sunny Town Psychos AFTER they'd been secured. Both especially supported by a hidden camera Ventus had at the time, which will blow any story Smith comes up with out of the water. Good news, though, it'll also prove that his killing of Pequeña wasn't murder.

Smith asks Ventus if he really thinks that being the Falcon makes him a hero. Ventus replies without confirming his secret that the Falcon does not do what he does out of a sense of heroism, but rather of altruism, and as an acknowledgment that there are criminals and other evils in the world that the legitimate authorities cannot reach. He points out that most vigilantes disparage the authorities, on the grounds that they take up their vigilantism under the belief that the police don't do enough. Meanwhile, he goes on, the Falcon has no problem working with police, as evidenced by his working relationship with Captain Armstrong, and feels no need to intervene in normal cases, especially if it's clear that the police has things well in hand.

Smith asks Ventus if he has a police badge, or some other symbol of authority, that would allow him to subdue and apprehend criminals. Ventus replies that Smith himself can't really ask that question, since he abused his badge in various ways on Gris Grande's orders, if not for the late gang leader's sake. Smith scoffs and asks if Ventus could confirm that Gris Grande would have stayed gone, or had even made it to prison.

After all, it wasn't just cops that were on the payroll. Lawyers, judges, even prosecutors, it would have been one hell of a show with a foregone conclusion: all charges dropped and Gris Grande free to go.

Ventus asks back if Smith really thinks that he's delivering new information. Gris Grande and Gladstone Maneur aren't the only ones with friends in high places. Smith actually laughs at this, saying that Gladstone had some pretty big connections. Not that he knew who they were, but they could really make things happen.

For example, apparently this mystery benefactor single-handedly funded Gladstone's campaign, and dealt with some of Gris Grande's more troublesome nuisances. Smith was never told how, and he suspects Gris Grande was either equally in the dark, or smart enough to know not to ask. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

Ventus silently concludes that he'll have to keep this "mystery benefactor" business to himself, as if he tells the cops about the benefactor, they might find out Smith talked, and if this person is as capable as Smith claims, not even solitary would keep him safe AND incarcerated. He'd be a dead man walking.

Ventus decides it's time to drop the act and tells Smith that he'll deal with the benefactor. After all, they must have let Gladstone go if he's lost the election, though he wishes them luck in getting Ivory Scrolls in their pocket. Besides, if Scrolls winds up dead so soon after the election, it'll blow the lid on something big going on in Canterlot, something Ventus doesn't think would benefit the benefactor in any way.

Smith replies that Gladstone losing is likely him failing the benefactor for the last time, assuming Ventus has watched Stella Bella, and that the benefactor does NOT forgive failure.

Smith continues, saying it's time for the real reason he demanded to see Ventus and then revealed to the psychotherapist that he knew he was the Falcon. At the Primal Heart, Ventus gave Smith a choice between being a cop or being a pig. Now he has a choice for Ventus to make: whether he'll end this day as an exposed vigilante, or as a murderous false hero. "There ARE no 'true heroes' in this world, doc," he tells Ventus.

The ultimatum is simple: If Ventus doesn't kill Smith to shut him up, Smith will tell Armstrong and anyone in the dark room that Ventus is the Falcon, leaving Armstrong with no choice but to arrest Ventus as a vigilante if he doesn't want to lose his badge for corruption as well as aiding-and-abetting. But he can keep Armstrong from having to weigh that option by killing Smith right now. It wouldn't be hard to make it look like suicide, and Ventus has all night to set it all up so long as he stays in the room.

After a few seconds of silence, Ventus finally responds... by laughing. Rather wildly too, at that. After getting his composure back, Ventus tells Smith that he forgot a very important factor when he set all this up.

He asks Smith if he remembers actually shooting Gris Grande. Smith says it was right after Ventus aimed the taser at him that his memories fog away into nothingness. The next thing he remembers is Gris Grande dead of a bullet in the forehead and figures it had to have been him that did it.

Although, he goes on, his first definitive memory after the fog was a bright light flashing in his face that left him a little stunned, which is strange since he was already handcuffed.

Ventus produces his Screwdriver, and just as Smith puts two-and-two together, wipes his memory yet again, this time being careful not to miss anything. He then produces a copy of his cowl's voice changer, and says in the Falcon's voice "If you do, I'LL spill," before putting the voice changer away.

Smith snaps out of it, but is disoriented, wondering why he and Ventus are in interrogation, before asking if it's about the Falcon being at the Primal Heart. Ventus plays dumb, asking Smith if he remembers asking to see him before talking to the cops. Smith says the last thing he remembers was the Falcon pointing his own taser at him before it gets fuzzy, but remembers the Falcon saying he'd tell the cops about him being on the take if he kills Gris Grande. Ventus feigns sadness as he tells Smith that he DID kill Gris Grande, and the Falcon DID tell Armstrong that he knew about the bribery. But Smith is still confused.

After all, he doesn't remember anything after that. After the Falcon said he'd talk, the fog became nothing, and the next thing Smith can remember is him and Ventus talking right now.

Ventus relaxes a bit, confident that everything is safe now. He tells Smith that he was apparently traumatized by killing Gris Grande, and it messed up his head. In fact, he was babbling about nonsense when Ventus came in, something about a benefactor running Gris Grande and Mayor Gladstone.

Smith pales at this, and Ventus immediately feigns fearful shock, saying Smith is about to lose himself again and be like he was before, so he offers to give him an experimental treatment that will soothe his mind. All he has to do is relax, and just think about the benefactor and how he thinks they're out there right now.

Ventus then flashes his Screwdriver again, this time selectively removing only the memories Smith has regarding the benefactor, and of the Screwdriver. This way, the benefactor won't kill Smith, since he no longer knows anything of potential value to authorities, neutralizing him as a liability.

Before snapping Smith out of his quasi-trance, Ventus tells him he used a hypnosis trick on him to calm him down when he was getting upset. Then he snaps his fingers and Smith is back, saying he feels calm now. Ventus shows his relief, claiming it's because Smith remembers them talking before he "went under" as he puts it.

Sadly, Smith only knows about being on Gris Grande's payroll, and apparently having confessed to it, so there's no reason for Ventus to stay. That said, the mental problems he experienced means he may need therapy in the future, but it's beyond Ventus' expertise right now. He'll need to be transferred to Balkham Asylum for treatment, but Ventus says he'll argue against committing him, even if killing Gris Grande would be a point in its favor.

Outside, however, he steels himself and meets with Steven, where he tells the police captain that Smith just babbled nonsense the whole time he was in there, and Ventus couldn't make head-or-tail of it, thus he recommends that Smith be committed to Balkham, and given the full works: straitjacket and a padded cell. Probably deep in the asylum where no-one can hear his ravings. Steven nods and leads Ventus to the lobby.

Once there, Steven goes to call the asylum, and Ventus notices the television, showing breaking news.

Mayor Gladstone has been found dead in his home, and first responders suspect he committed suicide.

Steven comes back, notices the headline, and says he's about to head there once he sees Ventus on his way out. Ventus distractedly replies, "I'll meet you there," to Steven's voiced confusion.

Realizing he slipped, Ventus says he thought Steven was inviting him over to dinner once Steven was done at Gladstone's. Steven denies it, but says he'll talk to Cadænce about it before any plans are made. Ventus remarks he'll have to ask Reginald about it as well, and Steven says that Ventus will have until Steven texts him that he's left Gladstone's place to text him about the dinner plans.

On the way out, Ventus grabs Steven's shoulder, tells him he's a good cop, and to let no-one say otherwise. Steven is confused, but lets it go. In the car, Ventus tells Reginald what he told Steven, just as Steven himself calls again, this time on the line for contacting the Falcon.

Ventus responds, telling Steven he'd been following up on something regarding Gris Grande. Steven assumes that the Falcon hasn't seen the news yet, telling the vigilante about Mayor Gladstone's death, to Reginald's silent shock. Ventus says he's surprised, considering that while his investigation so far has implied a connection between Gladstone and Gris Grande, there's no reason for any survivors of Salvación to go after Gladstone, considering it was Smith who killed Gris Grande, and he's never had anything to do with Gladstone before.

Steven says he'll try to preserve the scene at Gladstone's place for when the Falcon arrives, and Ventus replies, "I'll meet you there," to Steven's surprise, as "Jonny" had said the same thing when Steven told him he was heading for the scene. Ventus just says that he was heading back to base when Steven called, and once he's topped off he'll head out to Gladstone's place and meet Steven there.

Steven acknowledges and hangs up. Ventus tells Reginald that he feels a storm coming, and is being heralded by the deaths of Gris Grande and Mayor Gladstone. Reginald replies that they'll weather this one just as they weathered the last storm, which is a reference to Cosmo Stormking's organization, S.T.O.R.M.

The inside of the car is silent as it drives through the streets of Canterlot City back to Lulamoon Manor.

T H E 　 E N D