As we sat down in Captain Bisette’s office, I was still stunned by the news I was just given by the District Attorney Sebastian St. Clipton. His son, and potential pony of interest, Ludwig St. Clipton, has been reported missing. Literally the day after Colton Von Gallopson was murdered in his carriage.

Which, I don’t know about you, but this already sounds kinda strange. Convenient. Somepony who knew Colton very well, according to several ponies who also knew Colton, has magically disappeared after his friend was murdered.

So, already, I’m thinking there’s got to be more to this case then meets the eye. Something about this feels kinda personal.

“Can you tell me the last time you spoke your son, Sebastian?” I asked him, holding my notepad and pen in my hooves. Captain Bisette watching our interview with a keen eye.

“It was about 2 or 3 days ago.” He told us very quickly.

“What was your conversation with him like?”

“I can’t exactly recall. All I know is, Ludwig was under a lot of pressure and stress. I could tell.”

Oh. There’s something. “What do you mean by that?” I asked him, wanting to push forward.

“His Piano Trio concert in a few months. I think he was pushing himself a little too hard. He was taking it very seriously.”

“And how could you tell how stressed he was?” I asked.

There was a bit of a remorseful chuckle that came out of his mouth. “Because I was exactly like that when I was just an ADA. I knew my son pretty well, Detective.”

“What about Colton?” Ruby quickly asked.

“Colton and my son grew up together. His father and myself were great friends as well.” Sebastian said, now sporting a sad look on his face. “I can’t begin to imagine what he’s going through right now. Have you spoken to him?”

“We’re going to. He said he just needs a day or two. He’s obviously heartbroken about his son.” I told him.

“Tryton has been through hell for a while now. First his wife dies, now his son is murdered? I’d keep an eye on him if I were you guys.” Sebastian implied to us. I wouldn’t put it past me either if Tryton took his own life after all this.

“How do you think your son took Colton’s murder?” I asked him.

Sebastian shook his head. “I think that’s what made him run off. I think he’s devastated too. I should’ve been there for him when he got the news.”

“Now, We’ve heard about the friendship between Colton and Ludwig from other Symphony members. They say the same thing that you just said. But, Beauty Brass says that, recently, the two’s relationship was kinda tumultuous. And that Ludwig was a little jealous of Colton. Do you know anything about that?” I asked him.

Sebastian sighed sadly. “I had a feeling that the two of them were not exactly on good terms lately. Colton was such a gifted pianist. A gifted performer. He could do it all. Which is why, he wasn’t exactly taking this exact concert as seriously as my son was.”

“Do you think that that could have something to do with it?” I asked him.

“I think it did.” Sebastian lamented for his missing son. “Colton had Canterlot Symphony material in his blood. Ludwig had to really work hard for it.”

“Do you know if Ludwig and Colton had any fights recently?” I asked.

Sebastian just shook his head. “Ludwig never told me anything about any arguments or fights.”

“Was there a lot he didn’t tell you?” Ruby popped in.

That question looked like it surprised him. Like he didn’t expect that coming. Bisette didn’t exactly look pleased when that question was asked.

“What do you mean?” He asked, almost looking a bit defensive.

“Well, it’s just, there’s a couple Symphony members who say that you and Ludwig weren’t exactly on good terms either. We heard about how you and your wife divorced when Ludwig was 10-“

“Enough of that.” Bisette cut Ruby off. She didn’t apparently like it that me and Ruby were digging deeper into the DA’s personal life.

“She’s not wrong.” I cut in. “Hell, some ponies even said that it came across like you were favoring Colton over Ludwig. I mean, he did help you out with that charity event years back-“

“Detective Shadow Haze.” Bisette exclaimed. But, Sebastian put his hoof up, signaling for her to stop. Good. That means he’s okay with talking.

Sebastian gave a huge sigh. “I’ll admit I wasn’t the best father growing up. Regardless of my job as an ADA, I’m the one who put my work ahead of my family. I understand completely why my ex-wife left me. I’m just surprised I got custody of Ludwig. I fully expected her to get him.” He told us looking regretful. All me and Ruby could do was sit and stare at him before he continued.

“I also admit I did hold Colton in a high regard. I owed him for that charity event years back. I told him I’d be there for his concerts whenever I could be. I was that thankful for him.”

“Right. And you couldn’t be there for your own son’s?” I asked in an admittedly rude tone, which got me a glare from Captain Bisette.

There was that regretful look again. “The one thing I’m guilty of is never considering my son’s feelings. I should have been to more of his concerts as well. I don’t blame him if he hates me. I don’t know if he does or not, but I understand why.” He said with remorse in his voice.

Now, I wasn’t gonna ask this, but I guess since he’s revealing his poor fatherhood, I guess I could reveal a potential secret of his son’s.

“Sebastian, you said you know your son pretty well, despite admitting you weren’t the best father.”

He nodded. “Yes. I feel I know him very well.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

He must’ve gotten the inflection in my tone and gave a confused look. “What do you mean?”

Well, here I go.

“When we found Colton, it was revealed that he spent his last night with another stallion. He was a closeted homosexual.” I told him.

Bisette and Ruby looked surprised at my reveal. While Sebastian didn’t bat an eyelash.

“Are you sure? I had no idea Colton was gay. I never got a vibe from him.”

“Sometimes you can’t tell.” Ruby interjected.

“What does this have to do with my son?” Sebastian asked, now looking a little defensive again.

“Well, we spoke to Parish Nadermane. A fellow Symphony member, who was a good friend of Ludwig. He told us something rather interesting.”

I saw Sebastian’s eyes narrow. “Which was what?” He asked, now not sounding happy.

“That Ludwig and Colton were more than friends. They were gay lovers.” I told him point blank.

It was then that Sebastian got up out of his seat and literally went nose to nose with me, while looking angry. Ruby and Bisette looked worried that something might happen.

As for me? I just sat there and let him look at me like that.

“My son isn’t gay. You got that?” He said, pointing his hoof at me. I didn’t flinch one bit.

“Don’t you think it’s funny that your son goes missing 24 hours, possibly less than that, after his closest friend is murdered? I do.” I told him, kinda sporting a bit of a smartass look to him. He apparently didn’t like that.

“Shadow! Stop that this instant!” Bisette yelled at me from behind her desk.

Sebastian just breathed in and out to calm himself down. He looked back at me, while Ruby looked on in uncomfortableness. Can’t say I blame her.

“My son is not gay. I know him and Colton were not lovers. Now stop this foolishness, and find my son and bring him home. You hear me?” He said, now storming out of Captain Bisette’s office.

Speaking of, she stared bullet holes through me right now. Oh Celestia, she looked pissed off.

“What the hell are you thinking?! Speaking to the DA like that?!”

“You seriously aren’t questioning this too?” I asked her. “Come on Captain. Think about it. It makes sense. Colton and Ludwig became lovers some time months ago, they meet up for sex in that alleyway for 4 months now, and kept it secret. Is it REALLY out of the realm of possibility that, maybe, Ludwig did it?” I asked, raising my voice at her.

“Shadow.” Ruby said, trying to get me to stop.

“I’m telling you right now, Ludwig is at LEAST a pony of interest. I’m thinking he murdered Colton and has gone into hiding.”

Bisette continued to glare at me. “Even if it DOES turn out Ludwig and Colton were a secret gay couple, which we have ZERO proof of, why would Ludwig kill him?” She asked me, raising her voice in a typical angry police captain tone.

“I’m thinking Colton wanted to come out to every pony. And he wanted Ludwig to do the same. Maybe he didn’t want to, they argue, he gets angry and strangles him to death. He sees what he did, and then goes into hiding. Is that REALLY a bad idea I came up with, Captain?” I asked, emphasizing Captain as a way to question her line of thinking.

We just stared each other down in anger for a minute or two before Ruby spoke up.

“Both of you, cut it out!” She exclaimed. Me and Bisette looked back at Ruby’s apparent gutsiness. I was surprised, while Bisette didn’t look too amused at her.

“Look, Shadow, even if your theory is correct, and I’m not gonna lie, it DOES make sense, there was no reason to act that way in front of the District Attorney. Show some respect.” Ruby said to me.

Even if I know I’m right, I guess maybe talking like that to somepony in charge DOES seem like a not so smart idea. Maybe I should’ve been a little smarter than that.

“And Captain.” She started, getting her attention.

“Before I say this, I wanna apologize myself for the way I acted earlier with those working mares. Let’s just say, something regarding my personal life is the reason why I’m not too fond of them. That’s on me, and I should be better than that.”

“You should.” Bisette told her. Her scowl not leaving her face.

“Now, regarding this, Shadow is making some good points. All that he’s said was true. There is a possibility that Ludwig and Colton were indeed a gay couple. And looking over evidence, it does make sense that Ludwig could be Colton’s murderer.” She explained to her. Thanks for having my back Ruby.

I backed away from Bisette’s desk as I saw her breath in and out with her head in the air as a way to relax and calm down. There was a window next to her desk in the left. She slowly walked over to it and looked out the window for a minute or two. In total silence. Me or Ruby not saying a word.

“I don’t like it. No. No, in fact I hate it. I hate everything about this.” She said with her back turned to us, still staring out the window.

She slowly turned back to us. “However, as somepony who has grown up in Canterlot all her life, I can’t deny that I’ve heard of and even seen things like this. So, I guess I have to accept the fact that you have a lead that could potentially hurt this squad. Even if it is the right thing.”

I was confused now. “What are you getting at?”

She sat back down in her desk. “Shadow Haze, Ruby Glow, you both said you were from Ponyville, correct?” She asked us.

We nodded our heads. “I moved there LITERALLY not too long ago.” I said to her.

“Same with me.” Ruby said.

Bisette nodded her head. “And I’m pretty sure you know by now how diverse Ponyville is with the LGBT community. Correct?”

“Correct.” I said. “Hell, I’m friends with a mare who is a lesbian.”

“I have a few lesbian friends too.” Ruby said.

“That’s good to hear. Because, unlike Ponyville, Canterlot is a lot different when it comes to that.” She said.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

Bisette sighed. “While Ponyville is very diverse with the LGBT community, Canterlot, on the other hoof, has always had problems with homophobia.”

This sounds interesting to hear. “Really?” I asked, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of her desk. “How so?” Ruby sat in the chair next to me.

Bisette breathed through her nostrils. “Like Sebastian, I also was a fan of the Royal Canterlot Symphony. Even going back to the early 70’s when I was still a little filly. I simply adored listening to the music those ponies performed. I was there during Tryton Von Gallopson’s heyday. Every performance was a sellout. It was truly a great time for the Symphony.” She explained to us. Her front hooves were together in front of her face as she told us that. Then I saw those very hooves tighten. As if she was angry about something, but holding it in.

“A-Are you okay?” Ruby concernedly asked.

Bisette then reached into a filing cabinet drawer on the right side of her desk. She pulled out a few reports of some kind, and a photo of a young stallion who, judging from the style of said photo, looked to have been in the 70’s. So it’s obvious the guy isn’t the same as he was in this photo.

Anyway, the stallion in this photo had a lemonade colored coat, a salmon colored mane that was very long and wavy(kinda resembled the look of the 70’s at that time), and he also had a cutie mark of a flute. Even had it on him in this photograph. He was fake playing it for the camera in a comedic way.

What was funny about this photo was who was in it. There was a very familiar looking filly in this photo. The magenta colored coat and dark purple mane. Although, the filly in this photo didn’t have a cutie mark yet. She was making funny faces with this stallion at the camera.

It didn’t take me or Ruby to figure out who this guy was.

“This guy is your big brother, huh?” I asked her point blank.

“Mmhmm.” She nodded. “His name is Ocarina. He joined the Symphony back at that time. I tell you: watching him and Tryton on stage was something. He was good too.”

“Not to be rude, but what does all this have to do with Colton or Ludwig?” I asked her.

“I’m getting to that, thank you. Now let me finish.” She said to me very sternly. I just rolled my eyes for a quick sec.

“Ocarina loved the flute. It was his dream to play in Canterlot. When he finally played in the Symphony, he said it was like a dream come true.” She said, followed by a cynical snort. “That was until he figured things out.”

“Figured what things put?” Ruby asked. I was writing all this down.

Bisette paused for a quick sec before revealing, “My brother is gay, Detectives.”

I widened my eyes a little bit. “Really?”

She nodded. “He came out to me and only me. Our parents were very conservative ponies. They all bought into the whole homosexuality is a crime against God thing. Me and my brother both HATED going to church, because A, it was boring, and B, all the preachers we listened to were as full of shit as a dirty diaper. Anyway, he was about 26 when he told me. I was 22. Our parents died about a year or two after I graduated High School. Carriage accident. What can ya do, huh?” She shrugged.

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” I told her.

She didn’t say anything for about a half a minute before continuing.

“So, during my brother’s time with the Symphony, he would tell me and our parents things about them.”

“Like what?” I asked. Ruby was looking interested too.

“He would tell me about how he was always in the upper row, when he really wanted to be in the front row so other ponies would see him more. He was payed less then quite a bit of the others were. He also said that the director of the Symphony would not really have a lot of time with him. More like, he didn’t WANT to have time with him.”

“Were there others who were treated like that?” Ruby asked her.

“There were two other ponies I could remember him telling us about, although I can’t remember their names for the life of me. However, that’s not the worst part.” Bisette said, now looking upset. I haven’t seen her like this. Granted, I just met her yesterday, but this is still surprising.

“One night, he was jumped. Physically assaulted by some bullshit lawyers. I’m not holding anything back when I say that they damn near murdered my big brother. They broke his leg, broke his nose, damn near crippled him, and caused internal bleeding. He’s so lucky he survived that.” She said, as she pounded her desk in frustration. Ruby have her a sympathetic look, while I just stared right at her. Still feeling sorry for her, just keeping my emotions in check.

“And do you wanna know what kind of support he got from the Symphony?” She asked us before answering herself. “ZERO! None. No pony in charge called or checked in on him. They weren’t even there when those homophobic pieces of shit were charged and indicted. They just abandoned my brother, while he had to practically fight for his fucking life. It’s just disgusting how much they didn’t care about him. He should’ve sued them.” She took a deep breath with her left hoof covering her face in anger.

“So, what happened to him? What did he do about it?” I asked. This was starting to get interesting to me.

“After he recovered, which took damn near 8 months, he did what those other two gay ponies did before he was released: He decided to leave Canterlot. He moved to Ponyville and joined the lesser known Ponyville Orchestra. Less money and not as big as Canterlot, but better ponies to say the very least. He even met my future brother-in-law, Mint Mulberry.” She said kinda sporting a small smile, but still expressing the anger and frustration she felt at what happened to her brother.

And, to tell you the truth, if anything like that happened to my big sister, Melody Rays, I’d feel EXACTLY like how she’s feeling. Except, I’d wanna hunt down whoever did it and fucking kill them.

Though, then I’d be no different then that guy, wouldn’t I?……

“Again, I’m very sorry about your brother, Captain. However, how is what happened to him relating in any way to what happened to Colton, and now Ludwig?” I asked her. Trying to sound sincere.

She tossed me and Ruby the two reports that were there with the picture of her brother.

“There’s been quite a few hate crimes involving homophobia over the years here in Canterlot. Look at the reports.” She said.

Ruby took a look at one of them. Her eyes filled with surprise. “Shadow, this one involves Beauty Brass. It says here that, one year ago, her and her girlfriend were walking down the streets of Canterlot, when suddenly, some random stallion comes up to them and starts harassing them. It then lead to him sexually assaulting her, he groped her, and then Fiddlesticks punching the guy. Thankfully, she punched him in the stomach REAL good. They ran off and told the police. The guy was arrested, but not charged.” Ruby scoffed at that last part, even muttering a “bullshit” under her breath.

Then I looked at mine. “This one was from 2010. A stallion, about 29, was mugged and beaten down by a group of teenagers, all around the age of 17 or 18. Rich, privileged little shitheads. Oh Celestia.” I said, disgusted at what I read.

“What?” Ruby said, wanting to look at my report.

“It says he was then thrown over a bridge and into the waters below. He survived with broken bones, a concussion, and a bruised kidney. Thankfully, there was a pony down there to save him. They guy who saved him called the police, but like that one you just mentioned, those little shitheads got off Scott free.” I said, also disgusted with this.

“Those are only the ones I keep on me. There’s been several others like this all these years.” Bisette said with a disgusted scowl on her face. “You wanna know what’s worse about it?”

“There’s something worse then attempted murder and getting away with it?” I asked.

“Those two crimes that you just read….they happened to ponies who were out of the closet. They were openly LGBT ponies. What do you think goes through a closeted one’s mind?” She asked.

I thought about that for a quick second before I just hatched an idea. “They’d be too scared to come out because of shit like this. AND, they’d probably do anything to stay in the closet.”

“Even murder?” Ruby asked.

I nodded. “Yes, even murder. I just thought this right now: What if Colton wanted to leave Canterlot, not too explore “greener pastures”—I said with air quotes “but, he wanted to move to Ponyville? To be in a place to be accepted for his sexual orientation?”

Ruby have it a quick thought before replying, “That’s not a bad thought process, Shadow.”

“Not to mention, like you said Captain.” I said to her. “Ponyville isn’t as big as Canterlot when it comes to Orchestra. Maybe, some closeted ponies want to stay in the closet, because they like the fancy, shmancy lifestyle here. And they’re afraid of losing their star power. There could be reason for closeted ponies to wanna stay in Canterlot.”

Bisette was quiet for a moment, possibly taking this all in. “Go back to Colton’s apartment. You might’ve missed something. Maybe there will be something there to prove him and Colton had a relationship.”

“Yes ma’am.” I said in a respectful tone that showed I respected her authority.

“Right away, Captain.” Ruby said in the same way, even saluting her.

We left her office to go see what we could find at Colton’s apartment….again.

-/-Colton’s Apartment-/-

“I still can’t believe how a guy with money problems was still able to live here.” Ruby said in another room while I was searching the kitchen again. I heard her hoofsteps as she left that room to go to another.

“Maybe he had some friends who covered for him. Or worse: maybe he went to a loan shark.” I called out to her as I continued searching the cupboards again.

“Uh, Shadow? Come here, please.” She called out in a kind of alarmed tone in her voice. She must’ve found something interesting.

I stopped what I was doing and walked over to the room she was in. And boy, what a sight this was. It was Colton’s bedroom. He had a nice flatscreen HDTV, a beautiful view of the town of Canterlot, a bookshelf with many, many books on it, and a nice Queen sized bed. This is the kind of bedroom guys like me and others could only WISH we could have.

Anyway, on this bed, there was a headboard in front of it. It was a bit different than others that I’ve seen. While others had a basic one that had about 2 inches in width, this one was a little longer in width. If I had to guess how many inches it was, I’d say about 5 or 6. It also looked like it was made by hoof. Very strange.

“I feel something hollow right here. I think there’s something in this headboard.” Ruby told me, while knocking on that very surface. She even showed me the difference between the sounds on what she was talking about, and the rest of the board. The sounds were very different indeed. The part where she was knocking on was indeed very hollow, while the rest of the headboard was flat and kinda dense.

I walked over to her and closely examined the headboard. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, until I looked just a little bit closer on that very area Ruby was talking about.

“There’s small grooves there. You’re right. There is something behind this.” I told her. I knew what I was gonna do now. No need for a warrant for this.

“How are we gonna—“ I stopped her question when I punched through that very hollow area in the headboard. When I pulled my hoof back, there appeared to be a small passageway that went back a couple of inches. Maybe this hole went all the way back to the end of the headboard.

Ruby looked shocked and surprised at my powerful punch I gave the headboard. Then she giggled a little bit. “Well, I guess that’s one way to open it.” I gave her a confident grin.

“What’s this?” She said, now looking inside that very hole in the headboard. She reached her hoof in there and then pulled out the object.

It was some compact disk in a little CD case holder. There was a piece of scotch tape on the cover that read COLTON+LUDWIG.

“Wonder why Colton felt the need to hide this.” Ruby said, still looking at the disk.

“Judging from the title, I’m starting to think my little theory was right.” I said.

Author's Note

Hey every pony. I know. It’s been a WHILE…again. I’ve had a major case of writer’s block for a while now, and work has just been a bitch lately. So, anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and goodnight everybody.