Speechless: An MLP Crime Romanceby AuthorQuillChaptersIIIIIII“Twilight, how long have you been sitting there?” Lieutenant Moondancer asked her best friend. Federal Agent Twilight Sparkle hadn't looked up from the paperwork pile that she’d been poring over, pushing her horn-rim glasses up the bridge of her muzzle. It’d been another hard day. The whole department was bent over backwards trying to find the manufacturer of the new drug on the market, SMILE. Apparently, the drug had come out of nowhere, after the previous drug craze, CHAOS, which had been peddled by the ‘Lord of Chaos’ Discord, had finally been destroyed. Discord had been arrested and still sat in Everfree Penitentiary, and all the samples of CHAOS that he had doled out, along with his formula, had been shredded and burned. So, the Canterlot Police Department was at a loss as to how SMILE came on the scene. Even worse, many people didn’t see it as a narcotic. SMILE, as the name implied, gave the user a feeling of unbridled happiness. Like ecstasy and other drugs that released endorphins, SMILE activated the parts of the brain that made one feel joy and laughter. The problem was, it was styled to look like a confectionary, and as such, it began to be secretly peddled to kids through candy stores with less-than-reputable owners. That is how SMILE made it into the hands of one Sweetie Belle, a 12-year-old girl. Sweetie Belle lived in the richer parts of the city, with her parents and her sister, Rarity, being highly profitable business owners. But, she went to school nearer to the slums. Why? Her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who she’d known since kindergarten, went to the same school and Sweetie Belle could not bare to be separated from her fellow Cutie Patch Crusader’s, a club the three girls had made up as motivation to progress in their Girl Scout group and earn the coveted ‘Cutie Patch’, a symbol of achievement within the troop. The Crusader’s would usually walk home from school every day, Sweetie Belle leaving first as her sister’s personal assistant, Coco Pommel, would pick her up. But, on the day of the incident, Sweetie Belle was informed that her sister was seeing to a client in Las Vegas and had to bring Coco with her. As such, there was no one there to pick Sweetie Belle up at the usual time. So, with the bit of money she’d earned having done chores for her parents the week before, she decided to frequent a candy store in that part of town, under the name ‘Flim-Flam Bros. Sweet Shoppe.’ The owners, the eponymous Flim-Flam Brothers, were more con-men than business owners. Most of their candy was pre-purchased at convenience stores, and for the one’s that they labeled as ‘exclusive’, they were near fully made by their mother, with the two brothers’ merely adding ‘secret ingredients’ to finish the recipes. These ingredients were things that should not be in candy; chili pepper extract and other unsavory items. The shop was already a public health hazard, but when the Flim-Flam Brothers got their greedy hands on SMILE, that is where the Federal Authorities got involved. You see, Sweetie Belle entered the Brothers’ shop that day, unaware of the danger she was about to face. Her mouth watered at all the ‘confectionaries’ that Flim and Flam had on display in their shop window, so with her money clutched tight in her fist, she pushed open the door to walk inside. To Sweetie Belle, the ‘ding’ of the shop’s little bell was pleasant sounding, almost like sleigh bells, which reminded her of Christmas. But, it would be more accurate to describe the sound as that of a requiem bell. Flim and Flam stood behind the counter, observing the little girl like a hyena would gaze at a baby antelope. The two had sinister intentions for the girl, that was to be sure. “Welcome to the Flim-Flam Bros. Sweet Shoppe, little one! I’m Flim, this is my brother, Flam! How can we help you?” Flim called to the little girl. Sweetie Belle smiled, skipping up to the counter, as her eyes took in all the sweets on the shelf behind the Brothers. It reminded her of the opening scene from that famous movie her troop had been shown about the eccentric owner of a chocolate factory. The opening had a candy shop owner singing about a ‘candy man’ and his sweets were arranged almost exactly as the Flim-Flam Brothers were. Little Sweetie Belle’s mind started to wonder if perhaps SHE would find a Golden Ticket that day, just like Charlie had in the movie. “I’d like some candy, please,” Sweetie Belle said to the two men. Flim glanced at Flam, who grinned evilly. “Well, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got a wide selection of candy just waiting for a special girl like you,” Flam said. Sweetie Belle placed her money on the counter in front of the brother’s, before straightening the skirt of her school uniform. “What can I get for that much money?” asked the little girl. Flim’s eyes flicked to the bills and coins that Sweetie Belle had placed down. “Hmm. For that much, you could get a sack full of our ‘exclusive’ gumballs or taffy. Though, you seem like a girl who’d want something brand new, something no one else has, right?” he asked. Sweetie Belle nodded very fast. Flam winked to his brother, before Flim reached up to one of the high shelves behind him and pulled down an unopened cardboard box. “No other shop has received this candy yet. It only just came out, but it’s so good, that it’s liable to sell out. But we’re willing to sell you a whole sack of it before anyone else.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened in excitement. A whole sack of candy that no one else would have yet? How could she pass it up? With a toothy grin, the little girl nodded enthusiastically. “Good choice,” said Flam, opening the cardboard box with a simple flick of a knife. Flim kept his eye on the young girl, his mind awash in dark thoughts. Oh yes, she’d be very, very enjoyable. Reaching into the box, Flam removed the bag full of SMILE and handed it to Sweetie Belle, his grin shark-like. “Here you go, kiddo. Why not have a bite?” The little girl nodded, and pulled out a piece of it. It looked like a chiclet of gum, but dusted with powdered sugar. With a squeal and a giggle, Sweetie Belle popped the 'candy' into her mouth and chewed. It was gooey inside, and it made her feel happy. Really, really happy! "Wowie! These are so good!" she said, scooping more of the candy out of the bag and shoveling it into her mouth. Flim and Flam smirked. "Happy to help, kiddo," they said, steering Sweetie Belle toward the door. "Feel free to come again!" The little girl nodded deliriously as she munched on the candy. Thing's went downhill after that. Sweetie Belle hadn't made it far from the Brother's shop, when her stomach began to ache. At first, the little girl thought she simply had to go to the bathroom, but then the pain intensified. It was horrible and hurt so much. Yet, her brain wasn't registering the pain, still consumed by the happy feeling that the 'candy' had had on her. However, it wasn't long until she was crumpled against the wall, holding her stomach and moaning in pain. The worst part, there was no one around to assist the little girl, until a car drove down the street and saw the helpless child. It was a beat up red pickup truck that Sweetie Belle thought looked familiar. She was correct. It was owned by Apple Jack, the older sister of her friend, Apple Bloom. The blonde farmer stopped the truck at the sight of the ill child. "Tarnation! Sweetie Belle, you okay?" she asked, leaving her car. Sweetie Belle shook her head, and merely moaned as she held her stomach. Apple Jack paled when she placed a hand on the little girl's forehead. She was clammy, and her forehead was burning. "Come on, Sugarcube. Let's get ya to the hospital." Twilight frowned, reading more of the report about little Sweetie Belle. She'd been admitted to the emergency room, and after a thorough examination, the doctor's determined that there were unknown, harmful drugs in her system and they had to get them out right away. Apple Jack stayed with her the entire time, calling her parents and Rarity and letting them know what happened. It was after the diagnosis by the doctor that Apple Jack asked the little girl how she got drugs. Sweetie Belle was scared, she didn't know. "Can...Can I have some of my candy?" she asked, pointing at the sack. Apple Jack cocked her head to regard it, before picking it up and carrying it to the little girl. Sweetie Belle smiled and gripped the sack, opening it and pulling out a single piece of the candy. Just as she did, Apple Jack cleared her throat. "Sugarcube, where'd ya get that candy?" she asked. "At the Sweet Shoppe," Sweetie Belle said, opening her mouth to eat the candy. "Which Sweet Shoppe, Sweetie Belle? Who owned it?" "Um...it was two stallions. They said they were brothers." Apple Jack's breath caught short. "Sweetie Belle, don't eat another piece from that sack! It ain't candy!" she yelped, pulling the string to call the nurse. "What? What do you mean?" the little girl asked, her lip quivering. "Those brothers, Flim and Flam? They swindled ya! They sold you drugs disguised as candy! That's why you're sick, Sugar," the farm girl said, her hands clenching into fists. "Here, give me that there sack. I'll explain things to the nurse and she'll give it to the doctor, and then we'll have ya right as rain." Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Jack, then looked at the sack in her lap. She didn't want to give up her candy. It made her happy, more happy than she'd been in a long time. But, Apple Jack had said it was drugs, and her mom had always said to never use drugs. If the candy was drugs, she should give it to Apple Jack. But, it didn't TASTE like drugs. It tasted like really sweet candy. Maybe...maybe there were only a few pieces that were drugs and the rest was candy. Maybe she could have those ones. "Is everything alright, Miss Apple Jack?" the nurse asked as she arrived. "Sweetie Belle, give me the sack," Apple Jack said again, holding out her hand. "She got that from the Flim Flam Brother's Sweet Shoppe on DeLancie! That's where the drugs came from. Those shyster's are sellin' drugs disguised as candy to kids!" Nurse Redheart gasped, and looked at the little girl, who closed in on herself with a death-grip on the candy sack. "Sweetie Belle, may I have one piece of your candy?" she asked. Sweetie Bell blinked, but nodded, and handed the one she was about to eat to Nurse Redheart. The nurse smiled, straightening up. "Miss Apple Jack, why don't you go get Sweetie Belle something to eat in the cafeteria. I want to ask her more about this candy," she said. Apple Jack looked from Nurse Redheart to Sweetie Belle, before nodding and leaving the room. "Now dear," Nurse Redheart said. "Tell me everything that happened." It was through Sweetie Belle's confession to Nurse Redheart that the report eventually made it to Twilight's desk. Thankfully, at the end of it all, Sweetie Belle was okay. The SMILE was flushed out of her system, and the rest of the sack had been disposed of, after Sweetie Belle was convinced that they were, in fact, drugs. When her parents and Rarity had arrived, Apple Jack was the first one to tell them what had happened. In an instant, the family informed the police, who'd raided the Sweet Shoppe. They charged the Brothers with child endangerment, possession and distribution of narcotics, and selling narcotics to a minor. Suffice it to say, the Sweet Shoppe would never open again. The Brother's were in Canterlot Penitentiary, and Twilight intended to pay them a visit. "Twilight!" Moondancer said again. "Hey, are you listening?" "What is it, Moondancer?" the purple unicorn asked. "You've been at your desk for over an hour now. Everyone's already gone home," the Lieutenant said, motioning around to the empty office space. It was just her and Twilight left. "Sorry. I was just taking another look at the report," the Agent sighed, pulling her glasses off and wiping them on her button down shirt. "SMILE's manufacture has increased since the Brother's got their grimy hands on it. Maybe if we pay them a visit, they could tell us where they got it." "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. You know I admire your optimism, but criminals don't work like that, especially one's like the Flim Flam Brothers. They won't offer up anything like that without getting something in return," Moondancer sighed, starting to slip her blazer on. Twilight frowned, gathering up the paperwork, and putting it in her briefcase. "Well, we have to do something, Moondancer! How many more kids like Sweetie Belle are going to be affected by SMILE?! And how many won't be as lucky as her?" "Twilight, we'll figure it out. Trust me, I'm as invested in this as you, but we need to do this right. For right now, we've been burning the midnight oil for too many days. We should both go home and rest, and then we'll start up again as soon as we wake up. I'll bring coffee and donuts." Moondancer offered with a smile. Twilight smirked, rolling her eyes, as she pulled her trench coat on and placed her hat on her head. "Okay, okay. You don't need to butter me up," she said, as the two finally left the headquarters. Pinkie Pie sat at the desk in her office, rubbing her head in exasperation before pouring herself a glass of scotch. This had been the longest, shittiest day she'd had in a while, and she ached for the drink. It started first with when she arrived. The latest reports on the that quarter's profits had been delivered to her and they had been lower than projections. The board hadn't been happy about that. Then, the bill for the renovations had hit her desk, and there were significantly more zeroes than she anticipated. Dear God, just thinking about it was about to bring her headache back. She downed the scotch in one go, and poured herself another glass. The door to the office opened and her friend, Rainbow Dash, walked in. She saw Pinkie pause mid-pour and frowned. "How many have you had?" she asked, closing the office door. Pinkie finished pouring and leaned back in her high-backed chair. "This is my second, Dashie. After the day I had, I earned this," she said, taking her time with this glass. "Well, these aren't going to do anything for your mood," Rainbow said, holding up a manila envelope. She threw it onto Pinkie's desk, before sitting in front of it, and pulling out her pack of cigarettes. Pinkie raised a brow as Dash removed one with her teeth. She held the pack out and Pinkie grabbed one for herself. The two friends lit the narcotic's, using Pinkie's silver-chromed lighter, before the pink mare flipped open the manila envelope. "There's apparently a new drug in the field," Rainbow Dash said with the cigarette between her teeth. Pinkie took a puff and flipped through the paper's. "It's called SMILE? Really? First Discord's CHAOS, and now this?" she frowned, releasing the smoke from her mouth. "From what we've heard, it's not CHAOS with new branding and some new ingredients. It's a completely different thing. Apparently it makes you feel really fucking happy. Some of the one's who've died from the stuff apparently died smiling, hence the name," Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie looked up from the envelope. "Who's been killed by this stuff so far?" "Not many, thank God. A few junkie's. But, recently, there's been a lot of hospitalizations. Mostly of kids." "What do you mean?" Pinkie asked with concern. "This stuff looks like candy, apparently, so it's being mistakenly sent out to candy stores and kids are getting hurt because of it," Rainbow Dash explained. Pinkie shot up from her chair and headed for the large wall-sized window, overlooking the lit city of Canterlot. Her blue eyes sparkled from the lights of the city, and the smoke from the cigarette clouded around her head. "What else? You wouldn't have brought this to me if it wasn't concerning us personally," Pinkie said through grit teeth. "Apparently Flim and Flam had gotten some of it. They got busted recently for it after a little girl went to the hospital," Dash responded. Pinkie looked back at her friend and scoffed. Honestly, she wasn't going to shed a tear for Flim and Flam. They had been a liability for a while now, a liability the family didn't need, and now with this, they'd proven just how careless they were. She still needed them though. If they had gotten SMILE, then they probably would know either who is making it, or where the shit's distributed. She'd find out, then she'd bring them to her parents. You don't fail the family and get away with it. "Where are they being held?" she asked the rainbow maned pony. "Canterlot Pen. The bail's set for 4 grand." "Take care of it, and then bring them to me. I wanna find out more about SMILE," she said, not even looking back at Rainbow Dash. She nodded, and headed for the door. "And Dashie? You don't need to be nice to them." "Message recieved, Boss," Dash replied, leaving the office. The room was silent once again, as Pinkie sucked on the cigarette. Her mind whirred. CHAOS, SMILE. The naming conventions were similar. Discord was still in Everfree, otherwise Pinkie would have thought he was the culprit. The Brothers had fucked up. By causing harm to a little girl, they brought the Feds down HARD, which meant more of a headache for her family. Even worse is that Flim and Flam were her responsibility, they operated in her area. She should have kept a tighter leash on them. She also should figure out who the little girl is and help her family. It's partially her fault after all. She returned to her desk and downed more of the scotch. Yup. The longest, shittiest day. IIFlim and Flam were thrown to the floor in a heap. They groaned, hearing the door close and lock. Shakily getting to their knees, they took in their surroundings and instantly paled. They'd been brought to HER office. Nothing good ever came from someone being brought to her office. "You both massively fucked up," Pinkie Pie said, her back to the brothers. She was dressed in a white button down and black trousers, her curly magenta mane tied behind her. A black waistcoat completed the ensemble, and they could see a black blazer hung on the back of her chair. "I've tolerated, key word 'tolerated', your shady operations because at the end of the day, you didn't have it affect the family. Because I thought the two of you knew better." There was a pause, as the two brother's saw a puff of smoke come from above her. "Then you two sent a little girl to the hospital. Now, your shop has been condemned, and the Fed's are investigating. Do you have ANY idea of how this will affect the family? What am I saying, of course you don't. You don't care about anything but the almighty dollar, right?" Flim and Flam glared. "You're preaching morality? How many criminal activities have you taken part in?!" they snapped. Rainbow Dash, in response, pistol whipped the two brothers. "I would be very, VERY careful with the next thing that comes out of your fucking mouths," she snarled, holding her pistol on the two of them. "Stand down, Dashie. They're just words," Pinkie said. "To answer your question, yes. I have taken part in horrible things, things that can be considered criminal. But at the end of the day, I did it for the family, for our safety and security, and I can sleep soundly at night knowing that." Finally, she turned to face them, her blue eyes burning. "You two, however, did it for no one but yourselves! A CHILD was hospitalized because of the shit that YOU sold her and because of that, the fucking FBI has agents here, in this city, INVESTIGATING!" Flim and Flam gulped, their eyes widening in fear. Pinkie Pie didn't get angry easily. She was the most outgoing of the Don's children. Limestone, the eldest and current heir, had always had a hair-trigger temper. It meant that failure was dealt with swiftly and loyalty was assured, but it also made her not well equipped for things that required a delicate touch. Maud, the second eldest, was almost the complete opposite. She was monotone almost all the time, never really extended beyond her territory, and dealt with problems that arose within it in whatever manner she needed to. But, as with the rest of her sister's, anything that threatened her family meant that all bet's were off, and Maud's anger could be as equal as Limestone's. Their youngest sister, Marble, was Pinkie's twin, but where Pinkie was outgoing, Marble was more content to stay inside and not interact with anyone. Regardless, Pinkie Pie was not easy to get angry, so the brother's on the receiving end of her anger scared them to no end. They weren't sure WHAT would happen to them. She may not be Limestone, but Pinkie wasn't one to just let harm to the family go unpunished. "Boys, let me make this very clear for you; I. Am. Pissed. Right now, I'm contemplating whether or not I just send you back to jail and let you rot. That, or put a bullet in both your heads, and save myself and my family the headache of you both." Slowly approaching her desk, she opened the drawer and procured from it a pair of pliers. "But if you both cooperate and tell me what I want to know, I might just let you both scurry away like the rat's you are." Lifting up a baseball bat that rested behind her chair, she hefted it onto her shoulder and approached the brothers. "So, what'll it be?" Twilight and Moondancer pored over the case file's for SMILE, while enjoying cheap Chinese takeout. The opened case file lay on Twilight's maple coffee table, along with the only copy of Discord's CHAOS formula that had been submitted into evidence. "CHAOS and SMILE might not be the same, but they seem to affect the same part of the brain. CHAOS affected mood, depending on the user. Some of them became massively depressed, other's became volatile and angry and so on. But, SMILE makes the user's extremely happy, and enough of a dose can result in a rictus grin at death," Twilight said, swallowing down her bite of lo-mein. "Right, but even small doses can cause that to happen. That's what happened with Sweetie Belle; she said that after the first bite she felt SO happy. And even worse, she wanted more," Moondancer replied. "Right, that's the more dangerous thing. CHAOS didn't make the user's addicted most of the time. For Discord, it was the sick thrill of the aftermath, how their lives were affected after the drug left their system. But SMILE only takes one piece, and instantly you want more." Twilight straightened her glasses, picking up a picture of a corpse in the Canterlot morgue. His name was Flash Sentry, a former graduate of Canterlot High. He'd been the first fatal victim of SMILE. She had to feel sorry for him. No one should die so young. He'd been found in a known drug den, after having gone missing for days. When he was found, he wasn't breathing, but his face sported a haunting grin. His system contained over a pound of SMILE. "We have to get ahead of this thing, Moondancer. The city can't have another CHAOS fiasco," she said. Her fellow agent nodded. "You're right. And our only lead is the Flim Flam Brothers." "SMILE! Tell me everything about it. I want it all. Where you got it, how it's manufactured, what the FUCK it does, and why you thought it was EVER a good idea to peddle that stuff in your shit stain of a candy store!" Pinkie barked, pointing at both of the brother's with her bat. "It activates the endorphin's in the brain and makes the user experience unbridled happiness," Flam said with a smirk. "Yeah, they get so happy they die smiling," Dash scoffed from behind them. "Some just can't handle that kind of a high," the huckster said. In response, Pinkie bashed him in the stomach with the end of her bat. "That was a warning, Flam. The next one breaks your legs," she growled, before turning to Flim. "Where'd you both get the SMILE?" "We're businessmen. We don't give up names of clients." Pinkie rolled her eyes, giving Rainbow Dash a hand gesture. The blue mare nodded, before holding Flam down with a hoof on his back. Pinkie swung her bat in the air, before she held it at Flim again. "I'm going to give you one last opportunity to tell me where you got it. If you give me another bullshit answer, I'm going to stop being nice." Flim glared. "Break as many bones as you want, I won't tell you a thing," he said. Pinkie chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh Flim, such loyalty. Didn't think you had it in you." Then, without a word, she swung her bat full force at Flim's head. "FLIM!" Flam yelped, struggling against Rainbow Dash's hold. "Don't worry, he's not dead. Knocked out, but not dead," Pinkie said, approaching the other brother. "But that's an example of what's gonna happen to you if you don't start spilling. Now, do you still wanna act like tough shit, or do you want to do the right thing and tell me what I want to know?" "W-We never saw them! We got a letter put through our mail slot one day that said someone wanted to give us some new inventory. They said to meet at Canterlot Park at Midnight." "And you didn't find that suspicious?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We were losing money! The payments were being voided!" Pinkie's eyes widened. She wasn't aware of that. "Why didn't you both come to me? You know I would have tried to help find a solution. We could have avoided all of this," she said. Flam chuckled. "You said it yourself. The almighty dollar. We wanted the money as soon as possible, damn the consequences. Now, I realize what a mistake we made," he said, as Rainbow slowly eased up on her hold of him. "We don't know who they are. We were just given the offer and the place to meet at. That's how it went. And, we never found out how the stuff is made, we just got the basic effects of it. That's all we know, I promise." Pinkie sighed, passing a hand through her hair. God, could this situation get MORE fucked up? Now there was a mysterious manufacturer. Wonderful. Flim and Flam may have been idiots and only concerned with wealth, but she could feel Flam was telling the truth. Even so, they'd still hurt the family, and there were consequences for that. "You both messed up. Badly. You hurt me by peddling this stuff in my territory and you hurt the family by bringing the feds because of that peddling." Flam turned his gaze to the floor. "I won't kill either of you. You told me what I wanted to know in the end, so you saved yourselves in that respect. But by hurting the family, you hurt my parents. And they will be expecting retribution," she said. "Rainbow, lock them in one of cells and send a doctor to look at Flim." Rainbow Dash nodded, finally releasing her hold on Flam, before hefting Flim onto her shoulder and heading for the door. "Come on, smart ass," she called to Flam. Flam stood with shaky legs and followed the woman, the door to the office closing. Now, Pinkie was alone with the crushing silence, a hand passing over her tired eyes. This SMILE shit was only going to get worse before it got better, she just knew it. With a huff, she fell into her chair. God, was she tired. She needed to blow off some steam, and she knew just the person to help. III"What are you talking about? Who got them out?!" Moondancer yelled into the phone. Twilight gasped. The Flim Flam Brothers had been released? She'd had the idea that they should call Canterlot Penitentiary to set up a visit with Flim and Flam, to which Moondancer agreed. She had to admit, the Brothers were the only lead they had on SMILE. "No, I didn't know that they knew someone who would post their bail!" Twilight grimaced at that. Who would bail out the Flim Flam Brothers? "Fine, fine. Who posted their bail?" Twilight could hear the Warden talking on the other end. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! Those fuckheads were involved with them?! Oh God! No, no. Don't bother, there's no point. My partner and I will handle it." More words came from the Warden. "Yeah, fine. Okay. Sure, sure. We'll be sure to. Alright, good night." With a groan, she slammed the phone onto the receiver. "Who bailed them out?" Twilight asked. Moondancer held up a hand, stomping to Twilight's liquor cabinet. She grabbed a bottle of black spiced rum and poured it into a glass, downing it in one shot. "You're not gonna be happy," Moondancer finally said. "My happiness isn't important right now, Moonie. Who bailed them out?" "The Pie Family." Twilight gasped, shooting to her hooves. She had heard of the Pie Family. No one who lived in Canterlot didn't know the Pie Family. They were one of the oldest crime family's around. Igneous Rock Pie, the current Don, was a hard man, very set in the old ways, and not one to trifle with. If he or one of his daughter's bailed out the Flim Flam Brothers, then that could mean that they are controlling the SMILE distribution. "Rainbow Dash, the consigliere for their second youngest, went to Canterlot Pen and bailed them out. Last the guards saw, they were bundled into a car," the yellow agent continued. "Does the Pie Family deal in drugs?" Twilight asked. If they had a history of drug dealing, it wouldn't be a hard leap that they had something to do with SMILE. "No, unfortunately. Hard liquor, guns, real estate, casino's, brothels, sure, but they've never dealt drugs. I get what you were thinking though. If they did, they could very well be distributing SMILE." Twilight frowned. Their only leads were gone. They were back to square one. "The daughter's. What are they like?" she asked. Moondancer shrugged. "Not a lot is public about them. Limestone is the eldest and being prepped to take over her father's seat. She controls the liquor, guns and money. She's apparently got the personality of a chainsaw wielded by a rabid wolverine." Twilight shuddered at that. Limestone Pie didn't sound like someone she wanted to meet. "Then there's Maudelina Daisy Pie, or Maud. She's...interesting. She doesn't really have the temper of her older sister, she kind of just...exists. But she does her job well. She's got all the real estate that the Pie's own. The second youngest, who Rainbow Dash works for, is Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie. She's the most outgoing and enthusiastic of the sisters. Her territory actually includes this area where your apartment is. She controls the casinos and brothels; of course, the latter aren't listed as brothel's for legal reasons," Moondancer explained. Twilight jotted down all the names quickly on a piece of scratch paper, along with the details Moondancer gave her. "Is that it?" she asked. "There's one more sister, the youngest, Marble. She's even more reclusive than Maud. Only her family really sees her." The tip of her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth, Twilight wrote down Marble's name and then a few question marks. "Ok. Of the four, who do you think would be the easiest to approach?" the purple girl asked. "What do you mean?" Moondancer asked, pouring herself another glass of rum. "We lost our lead, Moondancer. If the Pie's bailed out Flim and Flam, then maybe approaching one of them can give us a new lead," Twilight said. "Twilight, they won't talk to Federal Agents. Not unless we have a warrant and right now, there's no concrete evidence against them." "What if one of us went undercover? Get close to one of them and find out what they know that way?" "We're liable to get shot that way," Moondancer scoffed. "Well, what else can we do? We're back to square one with the investigation, unless Flim and Flam are brought back. We have to do SOMETHING!" "I KNOW! You think I don't? I know right now we're dead in the water without the Brothers. I've already got the Director breathing down my neck about the stagnant nature of the case. But, if the Pie's are involved, we have to be careful, or things will get ugly," Moondancer sighed, downing the rum again. Twilight nodded, picking up her scratch paper again. One of the sister's had to know something. Turning the knob to shut off the water, Pinkie stepped out of her shower. There was something about being under the hot stream that helped to calm her down, and Lord knows she needed it. This SMILE situation had to be taken care of. Her family already had their hands full dealing with their old rivals in Griffonstone, they didn't need this added on to it. Her family. They'd deal with it in a variety of ways. Mom and Dad would probably use their connections to weed the manufacturer out. Limestone would just ride around and start breaking down doors and leaving bodies in her wake until she found someone who knew something useful. Maud would probably do the same thing just without the breaking down doors and leaving bodies part. Yet, here she was. Coming out of the shower. Sometimes being the second youngest sucked. With a heavy sigh, she wrapped the towel around her body, and set to work drying her hair. Sometimes she envied Maud and her low-maintenance bob. After a bit brushing and about a minute of blow drying, she decided to say 'fuck it' and do her full half-hour hair routine in the morning. Her hair straight, she finally opened the bathroom door. "Bwak, bwak! Hi Pinkie! Why the long face?" A yellow rubber chicken was being held out in front of the door frame and waved back and forth. Boneless was his name. "Cheese, come on. I'm really not in the mood," Pinkie said, gently pushing the chicken aside and walking out of the bathroom. The man who held the chicken was Cheese Sandwich. He was the fix-it man for the Pie's. Whenever they needed something done that no one else could get done, they called Cheese, because he got shit done. "I know. Rainbow Dash briefed me," he said with a chuckle, putting Boneless down. "Honestly, the Brothers got off easy. If it were Limestone, she would have already iced them in incredibly hilarious and physically impossible ways. But that's not you." Running a hand through his curly brown hair, he sat down next to Pinkie on the side of her bed. "Still, this SMILE stuff. God, that's the last thing the city needs." Pinkie sighed, giving him a side look. She liked Cheese. He was nice, he was a good listener, and he was funny. Really funny. To anyone else, he would be the ideal partner. Just...not to her. Ugh, that was a headache in and of itself. Cheese being the one you called to solve problems meant that Pinkie would call him sometimes to solve...special problems. Some of her family (sans Maud) weren't happy about that, calling it 'a waste of his talents.' But, Cheese didn't care. He was fully loyal to the Pies and as such, anything that ANY of them needed, he was there. So, when Pinkie called him one night with her request, he didn't hesitate. He was there for her. And then, Pinkie met Fluttershy. The first girl she became attracted to. The first girl she fell in love with. Pinkie and Fluttershy met at one of her parents casino's. Pinkie had been nursing her third shot of scotch, on the rocks, when a beautiful goddess approached her. Yellow fur, luxurious pink hair, turquoise eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, and an angelic smile. She wore a simple red dress that was modest but tasteful, with a pair of pumps. To the rest of the casino, who were dressed to the nines and where the ladies had plunging necklines, she looked overdressed. But to Pinkie, she stood out. In a sea of bodies, Fluttershy would be instantly recognizable. Yes, Pinkie was dumbstruck, and head over heels for the pink haired beauty. But unfortunately, fate was not kind. Fluttershy liked Pinkie, she did, and as time went on, they became friends. But Fluttershy, outside of the casino, was a very timid girl. She worked at the animal shelter in the city, and she was also training to be a veterinarian, and while she didn't disapprove of Pinkie's family or their activities, she couldn't understand why they did them. Pinkie tried to assure her that her family's activities wouldn't affect them, but Fluttershy just couldn't shake her feeling. She knew that if they were together that the two of them would constantly be looking over their shoulder. So, she had to reject Pinkie's feelings. But, the two remained friends and eventually, Pinkie introduced Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash. It was that decision that sealed her fate. When Fluttershy met Rainbow Dash, it was truly love at first sight for the yellow girl. The two of them hit it off instantly, and after Rainbow received Pinkie's blessing, the two started dating soon after, and still are to this day. It was after that that the arrangement between Pinkie and Cheese became more frequent. She just...needed someone to get rid of the pain. "Cheese, I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't want to talk about this. I called you to fix an issue, not have a heart to heart. So will you please just take off your pants and fuck the shit out of me?" Pinkie finally asked. Cheese smiled at her, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "Whatever you say." Twilight sat alone in her living room about 2 hours later. Moondancer had left, saying that they'd talk more about the case in the morning and warning her to not stay up too late. But Twilight couldn't sleep. Her mind still dwelled on the Pie family. Whether or not they were involved in SMILE, they were still an obstacle. Moondancer was right, however. Approaching them now, without a plan, was suicide. If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle was good at, though, it was planning. Getting up to make another pot of tea, Twilight briefly checked her phone. A few messages from the Chief, some well wishes from her parents. Oh, and a text from her little brother. She hadn't talked to Spike in a while. Twilight: Hey, little brother. What are you doing up so late? Spike: Sorry, Twilight. I just couldn't sleep. I was worried about you. Mom and Dad are too. Twilight: Spike, don't worry. I wouldn't have gone through all of that extensive training if I didn't think I could handle it. Spike: Okay, I trust you. Are you still gonna be home for Christmas? Twilight: Of course, someone needs to keep you from eating all the cookies! :D Spike: Aw, Twi! I don't do that anymore! :( Twilight: Spike, you did that the week after Mom and Dad brought you home. Don't worry, LBBFF, I'm just teasing. Now, I'm sure you have school tomorrow, so you need to get some sleep. Spike: Okay. Stay safe, Twilight. Nite. Love u Twilight: Goodnight, Spike. I love you too. Twilight shook her head with a smile, before putting away her phone. Spike had been adopted by her family when she was 6 and Shining Armor, her big brother, was about 13. His birth parents died from a car accident. They were heading to the Dragon Land's to visit his aunt. Poor Spike was only a baby. Twilight Velvet and Night Light felt so bad for the little guy, that there was no question they'd adopt him. It took some adjusting for Spike to be in a new home, with new parents, and even a new set of siblings, but Twilight and Shining fell in love with their new little brother. Even after Shining left for the military, he would send Spike and Twilight as many letters as he could. Then, eventually, Twilight left home, and Spike was heartbroken. But, he and his sister video-called almost every day, and Twilight always kept her little brother in her heart. It didn't matter that he wasn't her blood, he was her brother and that's all there was to it. The teapot whistled, and Twilight turned off the heat, pouring the scalding hot water into her 'Talk Nerdy To Me' mug with the tea bag already inside. Letting it steep for 3 minutes, and after a few scoops of sugar and a dash of milk, Twilight brought the mug back to the couch. On the coffee table was her laptop. Time to burn the midnight oil and get to planning. 'This is exactly what I needed,' Pinkie thought, gritting her teeth as Cheese thrust into her again. Just being able to let go, and focus on carnal pleasure. That's what she needed after the day she had. Her fingers digging into Cheese's back, she clenched her inner walls around the hardened flesh, earning a moan from him. "Ahah! Fuck, you know how hard it is for me to keep going when you do that," Cheese mumbled. "Then pick up the pace. You're going too slow. I want you to fuck me until I can't walk," Pinkie said, locking her legs tightly around his waist. "I don't want to hurt you," Cheese said with a sigh. Pinkie smiled, stroking the back of his head. "You won't hurt me in a way I won't like. Trust me. Just...please. Go as hard as you can," she said. Cheese looked at her, before leaning down and kissing her full on the lips. Pinkie's eyes opened wide, but before she could register the action, Cheese pulled away and began powerful jackhammer-like thrusts. She gasped, arching her back, as her fingers clawed at his back again. Cheese reached forward and took a strong hold on her straight hair, allowing him to get deeper within her. "Oh God! Yes!" Pinkie moaned, her toes curling. Cheese leaned down to suck and nibble on her neck, continuing the rhythm of his thrusts. "Mmm. That's it, cum for me, you little slut," he growled. "Yes! Yes, I'm a slut! Fuck me!" The two reaching their respective climaxes, they slumped against each other, breathing hard. Cheese gathered Pinkie in his arms, and smiled into her hair. "I won't let anything happen to you, Pinkie. Ever," he said, as sleep claimed him. Pinkie, however, couldn't sleep. Her mind returned to the kiss that Cheese had given her. She felt guilty. He genuinely loved her, and she knew she couldn't give him what he wanted. With a sigh, Pinkie waited until she was sure that Cheese was fully asleep, before pulling herself out of his arms. She tied a silk robe around her and then headed out onto her balcony, the one that overlooked the sea. The wind blew through her hair, as she looked off beyond the horizon where the moon shone on the water, bringing back memories of when she was young. Before she became known as 'the Don's Daughter'. Before she knew of their family's legacy. Before she was inducted into the family business. When she was just...Pinkie Pie. She and Marble were only 7. Maud spent most of her time with the two of them. Limestone, being the eldest, was far too busy. One day, Maud asked Pinkie what she wanted to be when she grew up. To the day she dies, Pinkie will always remember her answer with crystal clarity. "I wanna travel around the world and make everyone happy! Throw parties for people, bake yummy treats, and keep everyone smiling." Maud's answer was a sad smile, ruffling Pinkie's hair, and saying, "I hope you get what you want in the end, little sister." Oh, if only Pinkie knew then what she knew today. She rubbed her eyes of the tears that came unbidden, and let out a heavy sigh. When the sun came up tomorrow, she'd resume her responsibilities, she'd act like the grown up she is; the Don's daughter. But for now, just for a few more hours, she could let herself return to the past. When the world made sense.
I“Twilight, how long have you been sitting there?” Lieutenant Moondancer asked her best friend. Federal Agent Twilight Sparkle hadn't looked up from the paperwork pile that she’d been poring over, pushing her horn-rim glasses up the bridge of her muzzle. It’d been another hard day. The whole department was bent over backwards trying to find the manufacturer of the new drug on the market, SMILE. Apparently, the drug had come out of nowhere, after the previous drug craze, CHAOS, which had been peddled by the ‘Lord of Chaos’ Discord, had finally been destroyed. Discord had been arrested and still sat in Everfree Penitentiary, and all the samples of CHAOS that he had doled out, along with his formula, had been shredded and burned. So, the Canterlot Police Department was at a loss as to how SMILE came on the scene. Even worse, many people didn’t see it as a narcotic. SMILE, as the name implied, gave the user a feeling of unbridled happiness. Like ecstasy and other drugs that released endorphins, SMILE activated the parts of the brain that made one feel joy and laughter. The problem was, it was styled to look like a confectionary, and as such, it began to be secretly peddled to kids through candy stores with less-than-reputable owners. That is how SMILE made it into the hands of one Sweetie Belle, a 12-year-old girl. Sweetie Belle lived in the richer parts of the city, with her parents and her sister, Rarity, being highly profitable business owners. But, she went to school nearer to the slums. Why? Her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who she’d known since kindergarten, went to the same school and Sweetie Belle could not bare to be separated from her fellow Cutie Patch Crusader’s, a club the three girls had made up as motivation to progress in their Girl Scout group and earn the coveted ‘Cutie Patch’, a symbol of achievement within the troop. The Crusader’s would usually walk home from school every day, Sweetie Belle leaving first as her sister’s personal assistant, Coco Pommel, would pick her up. But, on the day of the incident, Sweetie Belle was informed that her sister was seeing to a client in Las Vegas and had to bring Coco with her. As such, there was no one there to pick Sweetie Belle up at the usual time. So, with the bit of money she’d earned having done chores for her parents the week before, she decided to frequent a candy store in that part of town, under the name ‘Flim-Flam Bros. Sweet Shoppe.’ The owners, the eponymous Flim-Flam Brothers, were more con-men than business owners. Most of their candy was pre-purchased at convenience stores, and for the one’s that they labeled as ‘exclusive’, they were near fully made by their mother, with the two brothers’ merely adding ‘secret ingredients’ to finish the recipes. These ingredients were things that should not be in candy; chili pepper extract and other unsavory items. The shop was already a public health hazard, but when the Flim-Flam Brothers got their greedy hands on SMILE, that is where the Federal Authorities got involved. You see, Sweetie Belle entered the Brothers’ shop that day, unaware of the danger she was about to face. Her mouth watered at all the ‘confectionaries’ that Flim and Flam had on display in their shop window, so with her money clutched tight in her fist, she pushed open the door to walk inside. To Sweetie Belle, the ‘ding’ of the shop’s little bell was pleasant sounding, almost like sleigh bells, which reminded her of Christmas. But, it would be more accurate to describe the sound as that of a requiem bell. Flim and Flam stood behind the counter, observing the little girl like a hyena would gaze at a baby antelope. The two had sinister intentions for the girl, that was to be sure. “Welcome to the Flim-Flam Bros. Sweet Shoppe, little one! I’m Flim, this is my brother, Flam! How can we help you?” Flim called to the little girl. Sweetie Belle smiled, skipping up to the counter, as her eyes took in all the sweets on the shelf behind the Brothers. It reminded her of the opening scene from that famous movie her troop had been shown about the eccentric owner of a chocolate factory. The opening had a candy shop owner singing about a ‘candy man’ and his sweets were arranged almost exactly as the Flim-Flam Brothers were. Little Sweetie Belle’s mind started to wonder if perhaps SHE would find a Golden Ticket that day, just like Charlie had in the movie. “I’d like some candy, please,” Sweetie Belle said to the two men. Flim glanced at Flam, who grinned evilly. “Well, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got a wide selection of candy just waiting for a special girl like you,” Flam said. Sweetie Belle placed her money on the counter in front of the brother’s, before straightening the skirt of her school uniform. “What can I get for that much money?” asked the little girl. Flim’s eyes flicked to the bills and coins that Sweetie Belle had placed down. “Hmm. For that much, you could get a sack full of our ‘exclusive’ gumballs or taffy. Though, you seem like a girl who’d want something brand new, something no one else has, right?” he asked. Sweetie Belle nodded very fast. Flam winked to his brother, before Flim reached up to one of the high shelves behind him and pulled down an unopened cardboard box. “No other shop has received this candy yet. It only just came out, but it’s so good, that it’s liable to sell out. But we’re willing to sell you a whole sack of it before anyone else.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened in excitement. A whole sack of candy that no one else would have yet? How could she pass it up? With a toothy grin, the little girl nodded enthusiastically. “Good choice,” said Flam, opening the cardboard box with a simple flick of a knife. Flim kept his eye on the young girl, his mind awash in dark thoughts. Oh yes, she’d be very, very enjoyable. Reaching into the box, Flam removed the bag full of SMILE and handed it to Sweetie Belle, his grin shark-like. “Here you go, kiddo. Why not have a bite?” The little girl nodded, and pulled out a piece of it. It looked like a chiclet of gum, but dusted with powdered sugar. With a squeal and a giggle, Sweetie Belle popped the 'candy' into her mouth and chewed. It was gooey inside, and it made her feel happy. Really, really happy! "Wowie! These are so good!" she said, scooping more of the candy out of the bag and shoveling it into her mouth. Flim and Flam smirked. "Happy to help, kiddo," they said, steering Sweetie Belle toward the door. "Feel free to come again!" The little girl nodded deliriously as she munched on the candy. Thing's went downhill after that. Sweetie Belle hadn't made it far from the Brother's shop, when her stomach began to ache. At first, the little girl thought she simply had to go to the bathroom, but then the pain intensified. It was horrible and hurt so much. Yet, her brain wasn't registering the pain, still consumed by the happy feeling that the 'candy' had had on her. However, it wasn't long until she was crumpled against the wall, holding her stomach and moaning in pain. The worst part, there was no one around to assist the little girl, until a car drove down the street and saw the helpless child. It was a beat up red pickup truck that Sweetie Belle thought looked familiar. She was correct. It was owned by Apple Jack, the older sister of her friend, Apple Bloom. The blonde farmer stopped the truck at the sight of the ill child. "Tarnation! Sweetie Belle, you okay?" she asked, leaving her car. Sweetie Belle shook her head, and merely moaned as she held her stomach. Apple Jack paled when she placed a hand on the little girl's forehead. She was clammy, and her forehead was burning. "Come on, Sugarcube. Let's get ya to the hospital." Twilight frowned, reading more of the report about little Sweetie Belle. She'd been admitted to the emergency room, and after a thorough examination, the doctor's determined that there were unknown, harmful drugs in her system and they had to get them out right away. Apple Jack stayed with her the entire time, calling her parents and Rarity and letting them know what happened. It was after the diagnosis by the doctor that Apple Jack asked the little girl how she got drugs. Sweetie Belle was scared, she didn't know. "Can...Can I have some of my candy?" she asked, pointing at the sack. Apple Jack cocked her head to regard it, before picking it up and carrying it to the little girl. Sweetie Belle smiled and gripped the sack, opening it and pulling out a single piece of the candy. Just as she did, Apple Jack cleared her throat. "Sugarcube, where'd ya get that candy?" she asked. "At the Sweet Shoppe," Sweetie Belle said, opening her mouth to eat the candy. "Which Sweet Shoppe, Sweetie Belle? Who owned it?" "Um...it was two stallions. They said they were brothers." Apple Jack's breath caught short. "Sweetie Belle, don't eat another piece from that sack! It ain't candy!" she yelped, pulling the string to call the nurse. "What? What do you mean?" the little girl asked, her lip quivering. "Those brothers, Flim and Flam? They swindled ya! They sold you drugs disguised as candy! That's why you're sick, Sugar," the farm girl said, her hands clenching into fists. "Here, give me that there sack. I'll explain things to the nurse and she'll give it to the doctor, and then we'll have ya right as rain." Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Jack, then looked at the sack in her lap. She didn't want to give up her candy. It made her happy, more happy than she'd been in a long time. But, Apple Jack had said it was drugs, and her mom had always said to never use drugs. If the candy was drugs, she should give it to Apple Jack. But, it didn't TASTE like drugs. It tasted like really sweet candy. Maybe...maybe there were only a few pieces that were drugs and the rest was candy. Maybe she could have those ones. "Is everything alright, Miss Apple Jack?" the nurse asked as she arrived. "Sweetie Belle, give me the sack," Apple Jack said again, holding out her hand. "She got that from the Flim Flam Brother's Sweet Shoppe on DeLancie! That's where the drugs came from. Those shyster's are sellin' drugs disguised as candy to kids!" Nurse Redheart gasped, and looked at the little girl, who closed in on herself with a death-grip on the candy sack. "Sweetie Belle, may I have one piece of your candy?" she asked. Sweetie Bell blinked, but nodded, and handed the one she was about to eat to Nurse Redheart. The nurse smiled, straightening up. "Miss Apple Jack, why don't you go get Sweetie Belle something to eat in the cafeteria. I want to ask her more about this candy," she said. Apple Jack looked from Nurse Redheart to Sweetie Belle, before nodding and leaving the room. "Now dear," Nurse Redheart said. "Tell me everything that happened." It was through Sweetie Belle's confession to Nurse Redheart that the report eventually made it to Twilight's desk. Thankfully, at the end of it all, Sweetie Belle was okay. The SMILE was flushed out of her system, and the rest of the sack had been disposed of, after Sweetie Belle was convinced that they were, in fact, drugs. When her parents and Rarity had arrived, Apple Jack was the first one to tell them what had happened. In an instant, the family informed the police, who'd raided the Sweet Shoppe. They charged the Brothers with child endangerment, possession and distribution of narcotics, and selling narcotics to a minor. Suffice it to say, the Sweet Shoppe would never open again. The Brother's were in Canterlot Penitentiary, and Twilight intended to pay them a visit. "Twilight!" Moondancer said again. "Hey, are you listening?" "What is it, Moondancer?" the purple unicorn asked. "You've been at your desk for over an hour now. Everyone's already gone home," the Lieutenant said, motioning around to the empty office space. It was just her and Twilight left. "Sorry. I was just taking another look at the report," the Agent sighed, pulling her glasses off and wiping them on her button down shirt. "SMILE's manufacture has increased since the Brother's got their grimy hands on it. Maybe if we pay them a visit, they could tell us where they got it." "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. You know I admire your optimism, but criminals don't work like that, especially one's like the Flim Flam Brothers. They won't offer up anything like that without getting something in return," Moondancer sighed, starting to slip her blazer on. Twilight frowned, gathering up the paperwork, and putting it in her briefcase. "Well, we have to do something, Moondancer! How many more kids like Sweetie Belle are going to be affected by SMILE?! And how many won't be as lucky as her?" "Twilight, we'll figure it out. Trust me, I'm as invested in this as you, but we need to do this right. For right now, we've been burning the midnight oil for too many days. We should both go home and rest, and then we'll start up again as soon as we wake up. I'll bring coffee and donuts." Moondancer offered with a smile. Twilight smirked, rolling her eyes, as she pulled her trench coat on and placed her hat on her head. "Okay, okay. You don't need to butter me up," she said, as the two finally left the headquarters. Pinkie Pie sat at the desk in her office, rubbing her head in exasperation before pouring herself a glass of scotch. This had been the longest, shittiest day she'd had in a while, and she ached for the drink. It started first with when she arrived. The latest reports on the that quarter's profits had been delivered to her and they had been lower than projections. The board hadn't been happy about that. Then, the bill for the renovations had hit her desk, and there were significantly more zeroes than she anticipated. Dear God, just thinking about it was about to bring her headache back. She downed the scotch in one go, and poured herself another glass. The door to the office opened and her friend, Rainbow Dash, walked in. She saw Pinkie pause mid-pour and frowned. "How many have you had?" she asked, closing the office door. Pinkie finished pouring and leaned back in her high-backed chair. "This is my second, Dashie. After the day I had, I earned this," she said, taking her time with this glass. "Well, these aren't going to do anything for your mood," Rainbow said, holding up a manila envelope. She threw it onto Pinkie's desk, before sitting in front of it, and pulling out her pack of cigarettes. Pinkie raised a brow as Dash removed one with her teeth. She held the pack out and Pinkie grabbed one for herself. The two friends lit the narcotic's, using Pinkie's silver-chromed lighter, before the pink mare flipped open the manila envelope. "There's apparently a new drug in the field," Rainbow Dash said with the cigarette between her teeth. Pinkie took a puff and flipped through the paper's. "It's called SMILE? Really? First Discord's CHAOS, and now this?" she frowned, releasing the smoke from her mouth. "From what we've heard, it's not CHAOS with new branding and some new ingredients. It's a completely different thing. Apparently it makes you feel really fucking happy. Some of the one's who've died from the stuff apparently died smiling, hence the name," Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie looked up from the envelope. "Who's been killed by this stuff so far?" "Not many, thank God. A few junkie's. But, recently, there's been a lot of hospitalizations. Mostly of kids." "What do you mean?" Pinkie asked with concern. "This stuff looks like candy, apparently, so it's being mistakenly sent out to candy stores and kids are getting hurt because of it," Rainbow Dash explained. Pinkie shot up from her chair and headed for the large wall-sized window, overlooking the lit city of Canterlot. Her blue eyes sparkled from the lights of the city, and the smoke from the cigarette clouded around her head. "What else? You wouldn't have brought this to me if it wasn't concerning us personally," Pinkie said through grit teeth. "Apparently Flim and Flam had gotten some of it. They got busted recently for it after a little girl went to the hospital," Dash responded. Pinkie looked back at her friend and scoffed. Honestly, she wasn't going to shed a tear for Flim and Flam. They had been a liability for a while now, a liability the family didn't need, and now with this, they'd proven just how careless they were. She still needed them though. If they had gotten SMILE, then they probably would know either who is making it, or where the shit's distributed. She'd find out, then she'd bring them to her parents. You don't fail the family and get away with it. "Where are they being held?" she asked the rainbow maned pony. "Canterlot Pen. The bail's set for 4 grand." "Take care of it, and then bring them to me. I wanna find out more about SMILE," she said, not even looking back at Rainbow Dash. She nodded, and headed for the door. "And Dashie? You don't need to be nice to them." "Message recieved, Boss," Dash replied, leaving the office. The room was silent once again, as Pinkie sucked on the cigarette. Her mind whirred. CHAOS, SMILE. The naming conventions were similar. Discord was still in Everfree, otherwise Pinkie would have thought he was the culprit. The Brothers had fucked up. By causing harm to a little girl, they brought the Feds down HARD, which meant more of a headache for her family. Even worse is that Flim and Flam were her responsibility, they operated in her area. She should have kept a tighter leash on them. She also should figure out who the little girl is and help her family. It's partially her fault after all. She returned to her desk and downed more of the scotch. Yup. The longest, shittiest day.
IIFlim and Flam were thrown to the floor in a heap. They groaned, hearing the door close and lock. Shakily getting to their knees, they took in their surroundings and instantly paled. They'd been brought to HER office. Nothing good ever came from someone being brought to her office. "You both massively fucked up," Pinkie Pie said, her back to the brothers. She was dressed in a white button down and black trousers, her curly magenta mane tied behind her. A black waistcoat completed the ensemble, and they could see a black blazer hung on the back of her chair. "I've tolerated, key word 'tolerated', your shady operations because at the end of the day, you didn't have it affect the family. Because I thought the two of you knew better." There was a pause, as the two brother's saw a puff of smoke come from above her. "Then you two sent a little girl to the hospital. Now, your shop has been condemned, and the Fed's are investigating. Do you have ANY idea of how this will affect the family? What am I saying, of course you don't. You don't care about anything but the almighty dollar, right?" Flim and Flam glared. "You're preaching morality? How many criminal activities have you taken part in?!" they snapped. Rainbow Dash, in response, pistol whipped the two brothers. "I would be very, VERY careful with the next thing that comes out of your fucking mouths," she snarled, holding her pistol on the two of them. "Stand down, Dashie. They're just words," Pinkie said. "To answer your question, yes. I have taken part in horrible things, things that can be considered criminal. But at the end of the day, I did it for the family, for our safety and security, and I can sleep soundly at night knowing that." Finally, she turned to face them, her blue eyes burning. "You two, however, did it for no one but yourselves! A CHILD was hospitalized because of the shit that YOU sold her and because of that, the fucking FBI has agents here, in this city, INVESTIGATING!" Flim and Flam gulped, their eyes widening in fear. Pinkie Pie didn't get angry easily. She was the most outgoing of the Don's children. Limestone, the eldest and current heir, had always had a hair-trigger temper. It meant that failure was dealt with swiftly and loyalty was assured, but it also made her not well equipped for things that required a delicate touch. Maud, the second eldest, was almost the complete opposite. She was monotone almost all the time, never really extended beyond her territory, and dealt with problems that arose within it in whatever manner she needed to. But, as with the rest of her sister's, anything that threatened her family meant that all bet's were off, and Maud's anger could be as equal as Limestone's. Their youngest sister, Marble, was Pinkie's twin, but where Pinkie was outgoing, Marble was more content to stay inside and not interact with anyone. Regardless, Pinkie Pie was not easy to get angry, so the brother's on the receiving end of her anger scared them to no end. They weren't sure WHAT would happen to them. She may not be Limestone, but Pinkie wasn't one to just let harm to the family go unpunished. "Boys, let me make this very clear for you; I. Am. Pissed. Right now, I'm contemplating whether or not I just send you back to jail and let you rot. That, or put a bullet in both your heads, and save myself and my family the headache of you both." Slowly approaching her desk, she opened the drawer and procured from it a pair of pliers. "But if you both cooperate and tell me what I want to know, I might just let you both scurry away like the rat's you are." Lifting up a baseball bat that rested behind her chair, she hefted it onto her shoulder and approached the brothers. "So, what'll it be?" Twilight and Moondancer pored over the case file's for SMILE, while enjoying cheap Chinese takeout. The opened case file lay on Twilight's maple coffee table, along with the only copy of Discord's CHAOS formula that had been submitted into evidence. "CHAOS and SMILE might not be the same, but they seem to affect the same part of the brain. CHAOS affected mood, depending on the user. Some of them became massively depressed, other's became volatile and angry and so on. But, SMILE makes the user's extremely happy, and enough of a dose can result in a rictus grin at death," Twilight said, swallowing down her bite of lo-mein. "Right, but even small doses can cause that to happen. That's what happened with Sweetie Belle; she said that after the first bite she felt SO happy. And even worse, she wanted more," Moondancer replied. "Right, that's the more dangerous thing. CHAOS didn't make the user's addicted most of the time. For Discord, it was the sick thrill of the aftermath, how their lives were affected after the drug left their system. But SMILE only takes one piece, and instantly you want more." Twilight straightened her glasses, picking up a picture of a corpse in the Canterlot morgue. His name was Flash Sentry, a former graduate of Canterlot High. He'd been the first fatal victim of SMILE. She had to feel sorry for him. No one should die so young. He'd been found in a known drug den, after having gone missing for days. When he was found, he wasn't breathing, but his face sported a haunting grin. His system contained over a pound of SMILE. "We have to get ahead of this thing, Moondancer. The city can't have another CHAOS fiasco," she said. Her fellow agent nodded. "You're right. And our only lead is the Flim Flam Brothers." "SMILE! Tell me everything about it. I want it all. Where you got it, how it's manufactured, what the FUCK it does, and why you thought it was EVER a good idea to peddle that stuff in your shit stain of a candy store!" Pinkie barked, pointing at both of the brother's with her bat. "It activates the endorphin's in the brain and makes the user experience unbridled happiness," Flam said with a smirk. "Yeah, they get so happy they die smiling," Dash scoffed from behind them. "Some just can't handle that kind of a high," the huckster said. In response, Pinkie bashed him in the stomach with the end of her bat. "That was a warning, Flam. The next one breaks your legs," she growled, before turning to Flim. "Where'd you both get the SMILE?" "We're businessmen. We don't give up names of clients." Pinkie rolled her eyes, giving Rainbow Dash a hand gesture. The blue mare nodded, before holding Flam down with a hoof on his back. Pinkie swung her bat in the air, before she held it at Flim again. "I'm going to give you one last opportunity to tell me where you got it. If you give me another bullshit answer, I'm going to stop being nice." Flim glared. "Break as many bones as you want, I won't tell you a thing," he said. Pinkie chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh Flim, such loyalty. Didn't think you had it in you." Then, without a word, she swung her bat full force at Flim's head. "FLIM!" Flam yelped, struggling against Rainbow Dash's hold. "Don't worry, he's not dead. Knocked out, but not dead," Pinkie said, approaching the other brother. "But that's an example of what's gonna happen to you if you don't start spilling. Now, do you still wanna act like tough shit, or do you want to do the right thing and tell me what I want to know?" "W-We never saw them! We got a letter put through our mail slot one day that said someone wanted to give us some new inventory. They said to meet at Canterlot Park at Midnight." "And you didn't find that suspicious?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We were losing money! The payments were being voided!" Pinkie's eyes widened. She wasn't aware of that. "Why didn't you both come to me? You know I would have tried to help find a solution. We could have avoided all of this," she said. Flam chuckled. "You said it yourself. The almighty dollar. We wanted the money as soon as possible, damn the consequences. Now, I realize what a mistake we made," he said, as Rainbow slowly eased up on her hold of him. "We don't know who they are. We were just given the offer and the place to meet at. That's how it went. And, we never found out how the stuff is made, we just got the basic effects of it. That's all we know, I promise." Pinkie sighed, passing a hand through her hair. God, could this situation get MORE fucked up? Now there was a mysterious manufacturer. Wonderful. Flim and Flam may have been idiots and only concerned with wealth, but she could feel Flam was telling the truth. Even so, they'd still hurt the family, and there were consequences for that. "You both messed up. Badly. You hurt me by peddling this stuff in my territory and you hurt the family by bringing the feds because of that peddling." Flam turned his gaze to the floor. "I won't kill either of you. You told me what I wanted to know in the end, so you saved yourselves in that respect. But by hurting the family, you hurt my parents. And they will be expecting retribution," she said. "Rainbow, lock them in one of cells and send a doctor to look at Flim." Rainbow Dash nodded, finally releasing her hold on Flam, before hefting Flim onto her shoulder and heading for the door. "Come on, smart ass," she called to Flam. Flam stood with shaky legs and followed the woman, the door to the office closing. Now, Pinkie was alone with the crushing silence, a hand passing over her tired eyes. This SMILE shit was only going to get worse before it got better, she just knew it. With a huff, she fell into her chair. God, was she tired. She needed to blow off some steam, and she knew just the person to help.
III"What are you talking about? Who got them out?!" Moondancer yelled into the phone. Twilight gasped. The Flim Flam Brothers had been released? She'd had the idea that they should call Canterlot Penitentiary to set up a visit with Flim and Flam, to which Moondancer agreed. She had to admit, the Brothers were the only lead they had on SMILE. "No, I didn't know that they knew someone who would post their bail!" Twilight grimaced at that. Who would bail out the Flim Flam Brothers? "Fine, fine. Who posted their bail?" Twilight could hear the Warden talking on the other end. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! Those fuckheads were involved with them?! Oh God! No, no. Don't bother, there's no point. My partner and I will handle it." More words came from the Warden. "Yeah, fine. Okay. Sure, sure. We'll be sure to. Alright, good night." With a groan, she slammed the phone onto the receiver. "Who bailed them out?" Twilight asked. Moondancer held up a hand, stomping to Twilight's liquor cabinet. She grabbed a bottle of black spiced rum and poured it into a glass, downing it in one shot. "You're not gonna be happy," Moondancer finally said. "My happiness isn't important right now, Moonie. Who bailed them out?" "The Pie Family." Twilight gasped, shooting to her hooves. She had heard of the Pie Family. No one who lived in Canterlot didn't know the Pie Family. They were one of the oldest crime family's around. Igneous Rock Pie, the current Don, was a hard man, very set in the old ways, and not one to trifle with. If he or one of his daughter's bailed out the Flim Flam Brothers, then that could mean that they are controlling the SMILE distribution. "Rainbow Dash, the consigliere for their second youngest, went to Canterlot Pen and bailed them out. Last the guards saw, they were bundled into a car," the yellow agent continued. "Does the Pie Family deal in drugs?" Twilight asked. If they had a history of drug dealing, it wouldn't be a hard leap that they had something to do with SMILE. "No, unfortunately. Hard liquor, guns, real estate, casino's, brothels, sure, but they've never dealt drugs. I get what you were thinking though. If they did, they could very well be distributing SMILE." Twilight frowned. Their only leads were gone. They were back to square one. "The daughter's. What are they like?" she asked. Moondancer shrugged. "Not a lot is public about them. Limestone is the eldest and being prepped to take over her father's seat. She controls the liquor, guns and money. She's apparently got the personality of a chainsaw wielded by a rabid wolverine." Twilight shuddered at that. Limestone Pie didn't sound like someone she wanted to meet. "Then there's Maudelina Daisy Pie, or Maud. She's...interesting. She doesn't really have the temper of her older sister, she kind of just...exists. But she does her job well. She's got all the real estate that the Pie's own. The second youngest, who Rainbow Dash works for, is Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie. She's the most outgoing and enthusiastic of the sisters. Her territory actually includes this area where your apartment is. She controls the casinos and brothels; of course, the latter aren't listed as brothel's for legal reasons," Moondancer explained. Twilight jotted down all the names quickly on a piece of scratch paper, along with the details Moondancer gave her. "Is that it?" she asked. "There's one more sister, the youngest, Marble. She's even more reclusive than Maud. Only her family really sees her." The tip of her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth, Twilight wrote down Marble's name and then a few question marks. "Ok. Of the four, who do you think would be the easiest to approach?" the purple girl asked. "What do you mean?" Moondancer asked, pouring herself another glass of rum. "We lost our lead, Moondancer. If the Pie's bailed out Flim and Flam, then maybe approaching one of them can give us a new lead," Twilight said. "Twilight, they won't talk to Federal Agents. Not unless we have a warrant and right now, there's no concrete evidence against them." "What if one of us went undercover? Get close to one of them and find out what they know that way?" "We're liable to get shot that way," Moondancer scoffed. "Well, what else can we do? We're back to square one with the investigation, unless Flim and Flam are brought back. We have to do SOMETHING!" "I KNOW! You think I don't? I know right now we're dead in the water without the Brothers. I've already got the Director breathing down my neck about the stagnant nature of the case. But, if the Pie's are involved, we have to be careful, or things will get ugly," Moondancer sighed, downing the rum again. Twilight nodded, picking up her scratch paper again. One of the sister's had to know something. Turning the knob to shut off the water, Pinkie stepped out of her shower. There was something about being under the hot stream that helped to calm her down, and Lord knows she needed it. This SMILE situation had to be taken care of. Her family already had their hands full dealing with their old rivals in Griffonstone, they didn't need this added on to it. Her family. They'd deal with it in a variety of ways. Mom and Dad would probably use their connections to weed the manufacturer out. Limestone would just ride around and start breaking down doors and leaving bodies in her wake until she found someone who knew something useful. Maud would probably do the same thing just without the breaking down doors and leaving bodies part. Yet, here she was. Coming out of the shower. Sometimes being the second youngest sucked. With a heavy sigh, she wrapped the towel around her body, and set to work drying her hair. Sometimes she envied Maud and her low-maintenance bob. After a bit brushing and about a minute of blow drying, she decided to say 'fuck it' and do her full half-hour hair routine in the morning. Her hair straight, she finally opened the bathroom door. "Bwak, bwak! Hi Pinkie! Why the long face?" A yellow rubber chicken was being held out in front of the door frame and waved back and forth. Boneless was his name. "Cheese, come on. I'm really not in the mood," Pinkie said, gently pushing the chicken aside and walking out of the bathroom. The man who held the chicken was Cheese Sandwich. He was the fix-it man for the Pie's. Whenever they needed something done that no one else could get done, they called Cheese, because he got shit done. "I know. Rainbow Dash briefed me," he said with a chuckle, putting Boneless down. "Honestly, the Brothers got off easy. If it were Limestone, she would have already iced them in incredibly hilarious and physically impossible ways. But that's not you." Running a hand through his curly brown hair, he sat down next to Pinkie on the side of her bed. "Still, this SMILE stuff. God, that's the last thing the city needs." Pinkie sighed, giving him a side look. She liked Cheese. He was nice, he was a good listener, and he was funny. Really funny. To anyone else, he would be the ideal partner. Just...not to her. Ugh, that was a headache in and of itself. Cheese being the one you called to solve problems meant that Pinkie would call him sometimes to solve...special problems. Some of her family (sans Maud) weren't happy about that, calling it 'a waste of his talents.' But, Cheese didn't care. He was fully loyal to the Pies and as such, anything that ANY of them needed, he was there. So, when Pinkie called him one night with her request, he didn't hesitate. He was there for her. And then, Pinkie met Fluttershy. The first girl she became attracted to. The first girl she fell in love with. Pinkie and Fluttershy met at one of her parents casino's. Pinkie had been nursing her third shot of scotch, on the rocks, when a beautiful goddess approached her. Yellow fur, luxurious pink hair, turquoise eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, and an angelic smile. She wore a simple red dress that was modest but tasteful, with a pair of pumps. To the rest of the casino, who were dressed to the nines and where the ladies had plunging necklines, she looked overdressed. But to Pinkie, she stood out. In a sea of bodies, Fluttershy would be instantly recognizable. Yes, Pinkie was dumbstruck, and head over heels for the pink haired beauty. But unfortunately, fate was not kind. Fluttershy liked Pinkie, she did, and as time went on, they became friends. But Fluttershy, outside of the casino, was a very timid girl. She worked at the animal shelter in the city, and she was also training to be a veterinarian, and while she didn't disapprove of Pinkie's family or their activities, she couldn't understand why they did them. Pinkie tried to assure her that her family's activities wouldn't affect them, but Fluttershy just couldn't shake her feeling. She knew that if they were together that the two of them would constantly be looking over their shoulder. So, she had to reject Pinkie's feelings. But, the two remained friends and eventually, Pinkie introduced Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash. It was that decision that sealed her fate. When Fluttershy met Rainbow Dash, it was truly love at first sight for the yellow girl. The two of them hit it off instantly, and after Rainbow received Pinkie's blessing, the two started dating soon after, and still are to this day. It was after that that the arrangement between Pinkie and Cheese became more frequent. She just...needed someone to get rid of the pain. "Cheese, I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't want to talk about this. I called you to fix an issue, not have a heart to heart. So will you please just take off your pants and fuck the shit out of me?" Pinkie finally asked. Cheese smiled at her, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "Whatever you say." Twilight sat alone in her living room about 2 hours later. Moondancer had left, saying that they'd talk more about the case in the morning and warning her to not stay up too late. But Twilight couldn't sleep. Her mind still dwelled on the Pie family. Whether or not they were involved in SMILE, they were still an obstacle. Moondancer was right, however. Approaching them now, without a plan, was suicide. If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle was good at, though, it was planning. Getting up to make another pot of tea, Twilight briefly checked her phone. A few messages from the Chief, some well wishes from her parents. Oh, and a text from her little brother. She hadn't talked to Spike in a while. Twilight: Hey, little brother. What are you doing up so late? Spike: Sorry, Twilight. I just couldn't sleep. I was worried about you. Mom and Dad are too. Twilight: Spike, don't worry. I wouldn't have gone through all of that extensive training if I didn't think I could handle it. Spike: Okay, I trust you. Are you still gonna be home for Christmas? Twilight: Of course, someone needs to keep you from eating all the cookies! :D Spike: Aw, Twi! I don't do that anymore! :( Twilight: Spike, you did that the week after Mom and Dad brought you home. Don't worry, LBBFF, I'm just teasing. Now, I'm sure you have school tomorrow, so you need to get some sleep. Spike: Okay. Stay safe, Twilight. Nite. Love u Twilight: Goodnight, Spike. I love you too. Twilight shook her head with a smile, before putting away her phone. Spike had been adopted by her family when she was 6 and Shining Armor, her big brother, was about 13. His birth parents died from a car accident. They were heading to the Dragon Land's to visit his aunt. Poor Spike was only a baby. Twilight Velvet and Night Light felt so bad for the little guy, that there was no question they'd adopt him. It took some adjusting for Spike to be in a new home, with new parents, and even a new set of siblings, but Twilight and Shining fell in love with their new little brother. Even after Shining left for the military, he would send Spike and Twilight as many letters as he could. Then, eventually, Twilight left home, and Spike was heartbroken. But, he and his sister video-called almost every day, and Twilight always kept her little brother in her heart. It didn't matter that he wasn't her blood, he was her brother and that's all there was to it. The teapot whistled, and Twilight turned off the heat, pouring the scalding hot water into her 'Talk Nerdy To Me' mug with the tea bag already inside. Letting it steep for 3 minutes, and after a few scoops of sugar and a dash of milk, Twilight brought the mug back to the couch. On the coffee table was her laptop. Time to burn the midnight oil and get to planning. 'This is exactly what I needed,' Pinkie thought, gritting her teeth as Cheese thrust into her again. Just being able to let go, and focus on carnal pleasure. That's what she needed after the day she had. Her fingers digging into Cheese's back, she clenched her inner walls around the hardened flesh, earning a moan from him. "Ahah! Fuck, you know how hard it is for me to keep going when you do that," Cheese mumbled. "Then pick up the pace. You're going too slow. I want you to fuck me until I can't walk," Pinkie said, locking her legs tightly around his waist. "I don't want to hurt you," Cheese said with a sigh. Pinkie smiled, stroking the back of his head. "You won't hurt me in a way I won't like. Trust me. Just...please. Go as hard as you can," she said. Cheese looked at her, before leaning down and kissing her full on the lips. Pinkie's eyes opened wide, but before she could register the action, Cheese pulled away and began powerful jackhammer-like thrusts. She gasped, arching her back, as her fingers clawed at his back again. Cheese reached forward and took a strong hold on her straight hair, allowing him to get deeper within her. "Oh God! Yes!" Pinkie moaned, her toes curling. Cheese leaned down to suck and nibble on her neck, continuing the rhythm of his thrusts. "Mmm. That's it, cum for me, you little slut," he growled. "Yes! Yes, I'm a slut! Fuck me!" The two reaching their respective climaxes, they slumped against each other, breathing hard. Cheese gathered Pinkie in his arms, and smiled into her hair. "I won't let anything happen to you, Pinkie. Ever," he said, as sleep claimed him. Pinkie, however, couldn't sleep. Her mind returned to the kiss that Cheese had given her. She felt guilty. He genuinely loved her, and she knew she couldn't give him what he wanted. With a sigh, Pinkie waited until she was sure that Cheese was fully asleep, before pulling herself out of his arms. She tied a silk robe around her and then headed out onto her balcony, the one that overlooked the sea. The wind blew through her hair, as she looked off beyond the horizon where the moon shone on the water, bringing back memories of when she was young. Before she became known as 'the Don's Daughter'. Before she knew of their family's legacy. Before she was inducted into the family business. When she was just...Pinkie Pie. She and Marble were only 7. Maud spent most of her time with the two of them. Limestone, being the eldest, was far too busy. One day, Maud asked Pinkie what she wanted to be when she grew up. To the day she dies, Pinkie will always remember her answer with crystal clarity. "I wanna travel around the world and make everyone happy! Throw parties for people, bake yummy treats, and keep everyone smiling." Maud's answer was a sad smile, ruffling Pinkie's hair, and saying, "I hope you get what you want in the end, little sister." Oh, if only Pinkie knew then what she knew today. She rubbed her eyes of the tears that came unbidden, and let out a heavy sigh. When the sun came up tomorrow, she'd resume her responsibilities, she'd act like the grown up she is; the Don's daughter. But for now, just for a few more hours, she could let herself return to the past. When the world made sense.
