The silence of the foals

Luster Dawn, Ursa, and the other members of team three had gotten out of the Fillydelphia Ponice Department. One of the ponies closed the doors of the building behind them. They stood in front of the door. Luster looked up at the sky. It had an orange tint. She looked west. The sun was about to get behind the far away building of the Fillydelphia Museum of Art. It was a quarter to four in the afternoon.

Luster sighed. She looked on her right at the mare with the dark blue coat. "Lead the way to the sewers, Ursa", she commanded. Ursa nodded and stepped forward. She got ahead of the group and turned right. She started to move on the sidewalk of the Fairsteed Avenue. Luster and the others followed her.

They walked for five minutes down the road and got in front of the museum's Jockey steps. Instead of turning left and follow the Benjamane Flanklin Trotway, they went to the right. On a pole on a corner of the sidewalk, there was a sign: Cutie Street. They went north and then followed the road west. They circled the museum area. They passed by the Veterans Retirement Home. That building had a grass frontyard. There was a garden with flowers of all colors. They kept moving and after walking past two blocks they reached an entrance to the sewers. They approached the rusty metal gates.

The doors were locked with chains and a magical padlock. A magical padlock was an object that could be unlocked if one knew the metaphysical magical frequency. In order to unlock it, a unicorn, alicorn or other species with access to magic, had to use enough magical power but without exceeding with it.

Luster, Ursa and the three other ponies were on the sidewalk before the gates of the access to the sewers. Ursa stepped forward and got closer to the padlock. Her horn illuminated. Slowly, a laser beam approached the padlock and started to magically heat it up. The metallic object was starting to turn red. A sound was heard and padlock fell on the floor; unlocked. They chains fell too and the gates opened wide. Ursa stepped back.

A cloud of putrefaction hit the group of ponies, coming from the inside. Some of the ponies coughed and gagged. One of them, with his magic, took off his cloth legband; holding his cantie-rantie that was inside; and pressed it against his nostrils. Ursa looked at him with wide eyes. "Hey, show some respect! Put it back around your leg!" She called him out. The pony who had taken his legband off put it back on his foreleg and put his communicator back inside.

Luster sighed. "I'll go first". She started to walk, crossing the gates. The others followed. There were wide stairs after the gates that went down. Luster and the others began to go downstairs. The smell seemed to dissipate, as if opening the doors helped ventilate the place. They all illuminated the path with their horns as there wasn't a local source of light. Luster couldn't see three legs away from her hooves. She was ahead of the line of ponies that was going down the sewers. Ursa was behind her. "Commissar, be careful. De lowers steps may be wet", she told Luster.

After carefully going downstairs for a minute, Luster's hoof stepped on a puddle. "Ew!" Luster couldn't help to express. "Don't worry commissar, de water at dis level it's just from de rain", Ursa spoke behind Luster. Luster nodded. "I guess we are going to get dirty anyways". Luster and the others kept going down and the stairs ended. The floor was flooded and more smelly than before. Since Luster was an alicorn, the water only reached her pasterns. The other ponies were up to their cannons in water. Luster turned her head and looked at Ursa. "You may lead the way now, Ursa".

Ursa nodded and went a head of Luster and the three ponies behind. They started to walk but Luster stopped. "Wait everypony!" All the other ponies stopped walking. Ursa, just like the other ponies, turned her head to look at Luster. "All of you...". She exchanged glances with the ponies. With her magic she opened one of her saddlebags and took out her cantie-rantie. "... Make sure to turn on your cantie-ranties. In case we get lost here", Luster said. She pressed the switch on her device. With their telekinesis, Ursa and the others took out their communicators out of their legbands. They also pressed the switches and turned them on. A static noise echoed in the sewers. "Excellent. Let's carry on". Luster said. She put her cantie-rantie back in her saddlebag. The other ponies also put away their devices. They all started to walk again. Ursa led the single line of ponies. Luster was behind her and in the back were the other ponies.

They moved for three minutes on the sewers. Just like the stairs that went downstairs, the path was completely dark. They all were illuminating with their horns, but still it was hard to see what lay a few legs ahead. The sewer tunnels had a cylindrical shape. They were made of concrete. On the ceiling there were vents. Still, the smell was just bearable enough. Although, the water on the floor was clear. The tiles that were once white were visible.

Luster, and Ursa's team, got to a fork in the tunnels. Ursa, who was ahead, raised a hoof and pointed at the left way. She turned her head at Luster. She cleared her throat. "Commissar, de left pad would take us to de nord sector of de sewers". Then, she pointed right. "And de one on de right will take us soud". Ursa turned her body around.

Luster nodded. "Okay, so according to your knowledge of this place..." With her magic, Luster took off her glasses and put them close to her mouth. She exhaled at them and then rubbed them against her purple legband. She put her glasses back on. All the ponies, behind and in front of her, were looking at her. "... Uhm, do you think the killer have more chances to hide in the north sector or the southern?"

Ursa looked down and then up at Luster. "To be honest commissar, dis place is too big. Just as big as de city above. Besides, dis place has a standarized design. Dat means it's almost symmetrical". She said. Luster nodded and walked past Ursa. She went a few legs ahead of the group. She turned her head at the left way and then at the right one. She looked behind at Ursa and the others. "So, none of this ways would take us to the other side of the river?"

Ursa shook her head. She approached Luster, and the three ponies behind followed her. "De eastern sewers are not connected to de western ones. In order to get to de oder side of de River Scheufill we would have to get out of de sewers to de surface and cross; since we do not have wings; either de Mareket or de Industrial bridge". She said. Luster nodded. "Got it". She looked forward, at the tunnel on the left. She raised a hoof a pointed at the left way. "I propose the following: Let's go to the north sector of the sewers". She looked behind at Ursa. "There's an exit to the surface there, right?" She asked. Ursa nodded. "Yea, commissar", she answered. Luster nodded again and looked back at the left way in front of her. "So, we'll go north and get out of the sewers. Then, on the surface, we'd go south. Is there another entrance too?" She looked back at Ursa. Ursa smiled and nodded. "Great, then let's go!" Luster looked forward and chose the left way. She started to walk and the others followed her. All of their horns dimly illuminated the path.

The left tunnel's floor was more flooded than the one behind. The water reached Luster's cannons. Ursa and the other ponies were up to their knees and hocks in water that wasn't clear anymore. They all had to move their legbands and cantie-ranties higher on their arms to avoid getting them wet. Also, the smell was worse than before. Every five to ten seconds, a pony coughed or gagged. Luster and the others breathed as little as possible. "Let's hope this doesn't rot our hooves", Luster commented. She could have flown up close to the ceiling, but she rathered suffer with the other unicorns.

After half an hour since they took the path to the left, they got to the exit of the northern sewers. On their way, they had passed many intersections of tunnels and maintenance rooms. They had checked every corner on their way. They had found some ponies underground. Among them were maintenance workers, indigents and drugaddicts. Luster and the team three had arrested a unicorn that still had a needle hanging from his foreleg. But, Luster had promised him that they would look the other way and let him go if he showed them the most common hideouts in the sewers. The unicorn had obeyed and had given them a tour. They had followed him for a while and he had shown them discreet holes on the curved walls or even ladders connected to the vents on the ceiling. After some minutes after they had found him, they had let the drugaddict go. He had galloped away; his hooves splashing the water; on the opposite way. Luster, Ursa and the other stablo agents had found the stairs that went up to the surface.

Luster and the team three went upstairs. Finally, they had access to fresh air. Ursa was the first to get out to the surface, followed by Luster and the others. They all inhaled and exhaled deeply. The gates on the northern entrance to the sewers were open; no chains or magical padlocks in sight. They crossed the gates and went outside. Despite being outside; hit by the wind; the smell was still strong. Luster raised a hoof and smelled it. Her eyes opened wide and she gagged. "For Faust's sake! I stink!" She said. She exchanged glances with Ursa and the other ponies. They also had smelled themselves and seemed very uncomfortable. They were on the sidewalk. It was already half past four in the afternoon. The ponies walking on the street stopped and looked at them. Their nostrils flared and their eyes opened wide in disgust. They could barely keep on walking near the stinky group of four unicorns and an alicorn. Luster looked at Ursa, who was in front of her. "I think it was a bad idea to get out here and move on the surface". She looked down and sighed. Then she looked back at Ursa. Then she exchanged glances with the other ponies of team three. "We really need a shower".

Luster, Ursa and the team three moved away from the northern sewer entrance. They headed west, walking on the street. Everytime they passed by other ponies they were watched with wide eyes and given disgusted grimaces. Luster and the others heard ponies gag when they walked past them. On the corner between the street they were and Brayed Street there was a hardware store. "I have an idea. About something I should have foreseen". Luster looked at Ursa. "Hey, do you have rainboots in the station?", she asked. Ursa nodded. "Yea, commissar, we haff dem in lockers". Luster nodded and got ahead of the team three. Walking on the sidewalk she approached the store doors. Above them there was a sign: Manedy Hardware Store. She looked behind her, at Ursa and the others. "Wait here", Luster ordered. The ponies stood in the corner of the sidewalk. Luster nodded at them and then looked forward. With her telekinesis, she pushed the doors and crossed the threshold. She closed the door behind her. Ursa and the other unicorns exchanged glances.

A minute later, the doors of the hardware store opened again. Luster was by the doorframe. With her magic, she was holding a brown paper bag. She looked at team three and gestured with a hoof. "I've bought myself rainboots". She moved away from the door and closed it with her magic. She approached the ponies and looked at Ursa. "If my memory serves me right, there are showers in the headquarters. Right?" Luster asked. Ursa nodded. "Yea, commissar". Her nostrils dilated for a second. Ursa bit her lower lip in disgust. "Shall we go dere now?"

"Of course, Ursa". Luster chuckled. She turned around and pointed forward with a hoof. "Lead the way", she said. Ursa got ahead of the group and the others followed her. They crossed Brayed Street and went down Fairsteed Avenue. They walked past a block and on the right side of the avenue was the Fillydelphia Ponice Department. Luster pushed the doors open with her magic and all the group went inside. One by one.

Fifteen minutes after they crossed the threshold, they were back outside. They all, included Luster, had taken a hot shower with lots of soap to get the smell off their bodies, . They had rubbed the soap especially on their legs. They had put on their waterproof boots. Luster was next to Ursa. The ponies of team three were behind them. Ursa looked at Luster on her right. "Commissar, shall we walk on de surface and head to de soudern sewer entrance?" She asked. Luster raised a booted hoof and rubbed her jaw. She turned her head and looked at Ursa and at her two pairs of boots. Then her eyes went forward and swept the streets. Some of the random ponies walking on the streets stopped for a while and stared at the group. "I think we should move down the sewers. We have been given enough weird looks", Luster said. "The closest entrance is the one we have just gotten out, isn't it?" She asked, looking behind at Ursa. The dark blue coated mare nodded. "Yea, commissar. It's de northern one, closer to Manedy's store".

They turned left and walked down Fairsteed avenue for a block. They crossed Brayed street, and walked past Manedy's Hardware Store. They reached the northern entrance to the sewers. They had walked for five minutes since they left the Fillydelphia Ponice Department. Luster, who was in front of the team, sighed. "Here we go again". She turned her head to look at Ursa and the other ponies. "Please remind me; when we reach a fork; to follow the correct tunnel; in order to go south". She said. Ursa nodded.

Luster, Ursa and the other ponies went downstairs to enter the sewers.

At six o'clock in the afternoon Luster Dawn and the team three went back to the ponice station. They had explored the southern network of sewers. It was pretty much like the northern sector. Knee deep water for Ursa and the team three, and cannon deep for Luster. On that sector they didn't find anypony. It took them thirty minutes to get from the entrance of the northern sewer to the exit south. And then another half an hour to come back to the ponice department, that time walking on the surface of the city.

Luster, Ursa and the others approached the doors of the building. Luster looked at Ursa. "I'll see if I can explore the sewers on the other side of the river with team two", she said. With her telekinesis, Luster opened the doors. She entered first and then Ursa and the others got inside the Stablo headquarters of Fillydelphia.

Luster and the team three walked on the hallway of the building. They had taken off their rainboots and left them near the entrance. Ursa and the ponies of her team headed to the meeting room to work on strategies against the fillydelphian serial killer. The other ponies went ahead of Luster and Ursa. "Do you know where I can take a nap here?" Luster asked Ursa. She, in the middle of the hallway, pointed at a door at the end of the corridor. "Dat's de nursery, commissar. Dere are a couple of beds inside", she had told Luster. Luster nodded and headed to the end of the hallway. Ursa got inside the meeting room and closed the door behind her.

Luster approached the nursery's door. She had walked past the stairs that led to higher floors of the building. She knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened. In front of Luster, there was a nurse. She, instead of wearing a blue and yellow legband, was wearing a white one with a red cross. She opened her eyes wide when she looked at Luster. She put a hoof on her chest. "Oh, good evening, commissar. May I help you?" She said with a smile.

Luster nodded. She smiled at her and then looked down at the black and white tiles of the floor. She looked up at her again. "I was wondering if you have a bed free right now", she said. The nurse turned her head and looked behind her. Inside the room, a few legs away from them, a completely white bed was visible. The nurse turned her head forward, back at Luster. "Yes, I've got a free bed commissar. Would you like to use it?"

Luster chuckled. "Uh, yes. I'd like to take a nap". The nurse nodded and moved away from the door. She pointed at the bed. Luster stepped forward and got inside the room. The door was closed behind her by the nurse's magic. Inside, there was a desk, some pillows, a metal cabinet and two beds. The nurse went to sit on a pillow before the desk. She smiled at Luster and pointed at the vacant bed. Luster looked to her left, at the pony lying on the other bed. She opened her eyes wide. It was the Stablo agent she had seen guarding the doors of the City Stall four hours ago.

He looked at Luster and he raised his head a little. "Good evening, commissar. Sorry for not getting up", he said weakly. Despite he had a white coat, he looked sickly pale. "Nonsense. Don't worry about it", Luster answered. With her magic, she took her saddlebags off her back and put them on the floor next to the bed. She approached the free bed and got on top of it. The beds were two legs of distance from each other. Luster lay in the same pose like the other pony; lying face down. She stretched her wings, opening them wide. She turned her head at him. She smacked her lips and yawned. "What happened to you? I just saw you earlier today guarding the doors of the City Stall".

"Uhm, well, it seems I have a back condition and I shouldn't stand still too much", he said. He was also looking at Luster. "What about you, commissar? Are you okay?"

Luster, with her eyes narrowed, nodded. "Yes, totally okay". She yawned again. "What's your back condition?"

He looked up at the ceiling. "It's called sway back. It's something really common for us fillydelphians and..."

"Oh", Luster said softly. She stopped paying attention to what he was saying. She closed her eyes.

Everything became dark and silent.