The silence of the foals

Luster Dawn was in front of Canterlin. The crystal barrier prevented any physical contact. Her eyes were locked with his. Canterlin was smiling. He raised a forehoof and shook it back and forth. “So, tell me, commissar, why shall you believe you deserve a nine?” he said. “Remember this has nothing to do with your plumbing skills!” He chuckled, looking down for a second.

Luster snorted. With a hoof, she was pawing the floor. “You should be thankful we didn’t let you drown in there.” While she spoke, she raised a hoof and pointed forward. Then she lowered it back on the filthy wet floor. Canterlin closed his eyes and his smile widened. Luster looked down and sighed. She stared at her lower legs. They were stained by the black water. She lowered her head more; her eyes focusing on her barrel. Her chest had dark stains too; courtesy of the splashing of the black water that had come from the before clogged toilet. She closed her eyes and sighed again. Then, she looked up at Canterlin. He was staring at her with a smile.

“Anyways, doctor Canterlin, I have been in Fillydelphia for half a day; just like you suggested”. While she was speaking, her eyes fell on the bed behind Canterlin. The mattress, which once was beige, had turned dark greenish. Then, Luster looked at the bale of hay further away from the bed, on the corner. It looked wet and like it had swelled, absorbing the water around it. Nopony would dare to eat it in that septic state. Still, in Canterlin’s room, the things that still looked somehow immaculate were his table with the books on top, and his painting on the rocky wall.

Luster eyes met Canterlin’s again. “Let me start from the beginning of my stay in the city. So after ten minutes of walking on the main street I reached the…”

“Who did you speak with?” Canterlin interrupted.

Luster sighed. She looked down. Her wings opened. With the tip of her wings, she massaged her temples. Her wings folded again. She looked back up at Canterlin. “Tell me something; is this going to be like the second time we met? Are you going to interrupt me at every sentence?” Canterlin's smile fell. He looked down and then back at Luster. “I just wanted to show impetus, commissar. I promise I’ll listen.” He raised one forehoof and, without making actual contact, ran it from one corner of his lips to the other. His ears perked up, pointing at Luster.

Luster looked up at the ceiling and then forward back at Canterlin. “Okay, you have to be patient as I explain because right now I’m mad and stinking”. Her nostrils flared for a second. Canterlin slowly nodded at her. “Right” Luster continued. “As I was saying, I reached the City Stall, right, and at first they didn’t let me in!” She said. Canterlin, silent, opened his eyes wide. “They made me wait until it was two in the afternoon and then I was allowed to enter”. Luster inhaled. “So before of that I went to the, uh, reading, no, it was, uh, the Rearing Terminal Market, that’s it! I had food and so waited until it was past two”, she said. Canterlin, looking at her, softly pawed the still wet floor with a hoof.

“Then, I was finally allowed into the City Stall. Inside, I think I stumbled with alderponies, yeah. Two unicorns they were. So one of them approaches me; we talk for a bit; and then he guides me to see the mayor, uh, mayoress”, Luster said. Canterlin opened his mouth but no sound came from it. He closed it again and nodded. Luster, who was looking at Canterlin, looked to one side and stretched her back, also straightening her hind legs. She grunted and then stood still. She looked back at Canterlin. “Okay, so we got out of the City Stall; a guard was accompanying us. The mayoress showed me a bit of the city; a fountain and a museum; then we went straight to the Stablo Headquarters there”. She narrowed her eyes, looking Canterlin in the eyes. “Hey, did I mention they have a unique accent there?”

Canterlin smiled. “I know. I remember that”. He finally spoke after a minute of being silent. Luster smiled too. She cleared her throat. “So, the mayoress with her guard took me to the Stablo headquarters of Fillydelphia, which is called Fillydelphia Ponice Department; for traditional reasons I believe”. She inhaled. “Before I could enter I had an encounter with a pegasus from here; from Canterlot”, she said. Canterlin narrowed his eyes. Luster nodded at him energetically. “Yeah, and I chased him down and well…” She looked down. Her purple cheeks turned red. “And let’s just said he confessed he followed me there”. She looked up at Canterlin. “So I ask you, in these times of war, what do you think when somepony stalks you like that?”

Canterlin looked up at the ceiling, then forward back at Luster. “Well, if he couldn’t justify his reasons, I’d assume he was a spy of the enemy; a traitor. It could be a spy of the griffons, zebras, changelings…,” He inhaled. Luster’s eyes opened wide; her blush had faded away. “… Kirins, dragons, hippogriffs, or etcetera”, he concluded. Luster pawed the floor with a hoof. She closed her eyes. “Of course, how stupid could I be?!” She expressed. She sighed. She lowered her head. “If only I had known he was a spy, I could have alerted Twilight about the changeling invasion!” Luster thought aloud.

Canterlin opened his eyes wide. He approached the crystal barrier. In less than a second, he raised both forehooves and rested them against the crystal. He was standing on his hinds, looking at the crestfallen Luster. “Hold on, commissar, was there a changeling invasion, here, in Canterlot?! Besides the one almost a hundred years ago?!” he shouted. Luster nodded once. She sighed. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Of course, you didn’t notice; neither I until it was almost too late”. She sat down on her haunches on the already dry floor. The vents up on the ceiling did a great job; absorbing the moisture left by the sewer water that had flooded the floor ten minutes ago.

The prison was silent for a few seconds. Luster was looking down. Her round glasses had slipped down her muzzle. Just like the saddlebags on her back, it barely hung. Canterlin put his hooves away from the crystal. He stood on all fours. “Commissar”, he called with a smile on his face. Luster looked up at him. Her gamboge eyes looked dry; they had dark circles around, and bags under them. With her magic, she rearranged her glasses. “Would you like to continue telling me what happened in Fillydelphia?” He said.

“Sure”, she muttered. She cleared her throat. “To sum it up, I met the stablo agents there and we formed teams; three teams to hunt down the Fillydelphian. Also, we explored the sewers thoroughly. Not completely though.” She sniffled, looking down again. A few seconds later in silence, she looked up at Canterlin. “So, what’s your opinion, doc?”

Canterlin nodded once. He closed his eyes. “I still don’t know who the killer’s targets are”, he said. Luster, looking at him, batted her eyes quickly a few times. “Oh, right. I remember now that I haven’t told you”. She cleared her throat. “The Fillydelphian’s preys are outsiders; say business ponies, visitors, and etcetera. He does not kill other fillydelphians. Also, he has killed more males than females”.

Canterlin, who was serious, smiled. Then he smiled wider. And after he grinned he started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Luster looked at him with wide eyes. Her jaw had dropped, as she witnessed Canterlin’s freak show. She stood up on her four alicorn-long legs. She rushed to the crystal, raised a hoof and hit it with it once. “What the hay is so funny, you mad pony?!”

Then, Canterlin stopped laughing. He had stood up on his hinds, holding his belly with his forelegs. He opened his eyes looked Luster in the eyes. “Commissar, what you have to do is as easy as pie!” He gestured with his hooves. “All you need is a bait!” he indicated. Luster lowered the hoof she had put on the crystal. Her eyes were narrowed. “A bait you say, doctor?” She asked. Canterlin nodded cheerfully. “Exactly!” He lowered his forelegs and stood on all fours. Then, he turned to the right and approached his table. Luster’s eyes followed him.

Canterlin raised his forelegs and rested them on the table. Using his forehooves, he grabbed a book on the table and opened it. He turned his head to the left at Luster and then back forward. He looked down at the open pages. He quickly turned them. “While you were gone, commissar, I took the trouble, without magic…” He emphasized the last two words, and with a forehoof he tapped his horn twice. “… To prepare strategies on the hunt of the Fillydelphian”. He sighed and stopped turning the pages.

With a hoof, Canterlin tapped the page he was looking at. Then he turned her head at Luster, who had gotten closer to the left edge of the crystal. He was smiling. “One of my theories was that he aimed at outsiders. Look…!” He lifted the book with his forelegs and showed its pages to Luster. She, two legs away, narrowed her eyes. Seconds later, Canterlin put the book down on the table. “It’s okay, commissar, you don’t need to read it”. With his forelegs, he pushed himself away from the table and stood on all fours. He turned his body to the left and faced Luster. She was looking him in the eyes.

“This bait…” Luster was saying. Canterlin nodded once. He smiled. “It can be a business pony; a tourist; whatever you want!” He gestured with a hoof. “I suggest you to ask your, uh, your Stablos here in Canterlot for help, perhaps?” he said.

Luster snorted, pawing the floor with a hoof. She raised a hoof and pointed at him. “It’s Stablo agents for you, doctor”, she warned. “Besides, in times of war, who would fall for a tourist, huh? I don’t think the Fillydelphian is that stupid”, she said. Canterlin shrugged. He raised his right forehoof and pointed at the book on the table. “I understand you don’t like the tourist idea, commissar. Believe me”. He looked up at the ceiling, raising his head. Then, he looked forward back at Luster. “So, how about a journalist?”

Luster looked down at the floor. Her eyes opened wide. She looked forward at Canterlin. “That’s it, doctor!” She pawed the floor with a hoof once. Then, she raised a forehoof and put it on the crystal. She smirked. “If you weren’t a monster I’d let you out and hug you!” She expressed. Canterlin smirked back. “A wink would be enough. If you know what I mean”. He batted one eye twice. Luster smirk dropped. “Ew, gross!” She stepped back, raising a foreleg and shaking it. Canterlin laughed.

Without saying more, Luster turned around and started to leave down the hallway of white walls, walking on the black and white floor tiles. Canterlin kept laughing for a few seconds, and then stopped. “Commissar, don’t forget that the bait must not be from Fillydelphia!” He shouted when Luster was already on the middle of the hallway; about ten legs away.

After walking for ten seconds, Luster crossed the portal that led to Canterlin’s prison. She was again surrounded by the rocky walls of the cave. She turned around, facing the entrance, and looked forward. She could see the Canterlin’s gray figure waving at her. She closed her eyes and sighed. With her telekinesis, she opened one of her saddlebags and took out the cantie-rantie. She put the brick shaped device close to her muzzle. She opened her eyes and looked at it. She pressed the switch on one its sides. The device made a static noise. She pressed a red button. “Comptroller, are you there? Over” she spoke. There was silence for a few seconds.

“Copy that, commissar. How may I help you? Over”, the male voice coming from the communicator said. Luster, who was looking at the device, looked beyond; at Canterlin in the distance. Her eyes fell on the device again. “Proceed please to lock down the magic shield. Over”, she said. “Copy that, commissar. Lock down of the magic shield in three, two, one…”

A few seconds later after the voice spoke, the entrance to the white hallway was swallowed by darkness. Luster, in front of the dark hole, sighed. Then, she turned left and headed to the exit of the caves.