Status Quo

“No one wants to be treated like an object.”

“Thanks,” Daffodil said, taking a freshly made cup of coffee from my hooves. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I owe you one.”

“You owe me nothing,” I replied. “Besides, our job isn’t done yet.”

Daffodil sighed, her sorrow increasing further than I thought possible. When she had stopped crying we had brought her to her table. She hadn’t eaten in two whole days, the shakes and chill from earlier being from both hunger and maybe the start of an illness. For that reason we had put together a small sandwich for some of the stuff she had in her fridge. A light one, just to be sure.

That had taken up five minutes. Wasn’t going to complain about making sure Daffodil was okay, especially given Ruby’s threat. She was also our best source of information concerning Snow Powder’s whereabouts. Throwing to the side the fear both herself and her coltfriend had likely experienced before we broke her out was not going to help her. If I didn’t want to put my job in jeopardy and find Snow Powder, that meant making sure Daffodil was relaxed.

Obvious to most, but with my societal standing it took on an entirely different level of importance.

“I guess you are right,” Daffodil said after taking a sip of her coffee. Pulse and I sat down at her table. “If only you didn’t need to be hired at all. If I was a bit younger, getting stuck in my own bathroom would have been impossible,” she took another long sip, “I’d take strength in age over wisdom any day.”

“And I’d gladly trade similar for my eyes,” Mister Pulse said. He sat directly across from me, allowing Daffodil to see us both from the head of the table. “How did you end up in that situation? The locking mechanism was broken from outside the bathroom.”

“And not just by physical force,” I added on. “The screws were loosened up. It fell off right as I touched it.”

“That would explain why you bucked my bathroom door apart,” Daffodil replied, the tiniest bit of resentment clear in her voice. “Can’t really complain since you two saved my life. As for why I was stuck in there, well…”

Resentment turned to a complex mixture of sorrow, terror, and rage. She put the coffee cup down, nearly empty, and took a bite of her sandwich. It was followed quickly by another, and another. Probably would have scarfed it all down right there but she managed to hold it to only half. Her stomach was no doubt relieved as Pulse and I was watching it.

“Good sandwich,” Daffodil replied. Then, she scrunched her muzzle and shook her head. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just… the reason I was in there… is because of a mare.”

“A mare?” Mister Pulse asked.

Daffodil scowled for a moment before returning back to merely frowning. “I don’t know the whole thing, but I know she broke into my apartment in the middle of the night. I-I had to go in the middle of the night you see, and Snow Powder was asleep in my bed. Was a little confused, and being half-asleep I thought he had gotten up and gone for a midnight walk or something. Then, when I left the bathroom I found the lights on and…”

Daffodil closed her eyes, taking deep breaths between attempts to try and get out what she said. Her body grew more tense each time she tried, her attempts to calm herself turning against her as her breathing quickened and her already tear-stained face found more tears falling from the corners of her eyes. When they opened again, their pupils had constricted to the point it was nearly impossible to see them.

“She was right there, on my bed with Snowy tied up like he was a heartwarming present from a slaver, staring at me as if-” her lips tensed as they briefly refused to work. Her jaw moved as if somecreature had their claws or talons trying to hold it closed. “I tried. By Celestia I tried to stop her but she hit me with something and the next thing I knew I was in there. It was clear she had taken him when Snowy didn’t set me free.”

She broke back down into quiet sobs, her shoulders and ears twitching at anger from the situation. I felt my own ears lie against my head, a small frown on my muzzle. There was still some small hope up till now that Snow Powder was not foalnapped up to that point. It died with Daffodil’s recounting of events.

“Seems Ruby was right then,” I said quietly, looking over to Pulse.

“With a case of assault added on top,” he replied. Pulse waited a few seconds as Daffodil calmed down from her weeping, and then took another bite of the sandwich before her. “This mare, do you know what she looked like? Clothing, fur and mane color, cutie mark, anything that would help us recognize her?”

“Yeah, I saw her. Couldn’t find her way to our bedroom it seems, considering she turned the lights on,” Daffodil said, emotion draining slightly from her voice. “She was a unicorn, maybe Rainy’s age or a bit younger so around nineteen to twenty-one. On the smaller side but built more like an earth pony. Green and white mane, red coat. Didn’t see her cutie mark but didn’t really need to. She had something more identifiable on.”

“And that is?” Mister Pulse asked.

“A stable suit and PipBuck,” Daffodil answered. A sound left Pulse’s throat that I couldn’t quite place, his attempts at keeping a neutral expression faltering slightly as the corners of his mouth tensed. “Mostly blue with yellow numbers and lining, just like all of them have. The number on it was eighty-three.”

“That’s the one up near the old lookout post,” I said, “on the hiking trail going from the eastern-most side of the mountain down to Manechester.”

Daffodil nodded to me before turning back to Pulse. “The stable opened up a few months back. The few I’ve met from there are decent folk. Not sure why one of them would want Snowy unless…”

She trailed off, terror eclipsing sorrow and anger. It took me a bit to figure out what she was scared to say, going through what few possibilities I could think of. For what little interaction I’ve had with stable dwellers, they weren’t bad folks but pretty gullible and naive. If they had foalnapped Snow Powder it was likely not for themselves but for somepony else. That left cryptids out of the question, and unless we learned of some deep seated hatred from another high end family then the best option that came to mind was…

…

I kept my muzzle shut and shook my head. Pulse didn’t need to say anything, it was pretty easy to reason that assumptions were not something a detective should voice or consider. With my heart beating just a little bit faster, I waited for Daffodil to respond; waited to see if I was right before going any further.

“You said your name was… Solitary Pulse?” Daffodil asked the batpony. Mister Pulse nodded. “You’re not native to the region I assume. You have this accent I can’t place.”

“I’m originally from Stalliongrad, Miss Daffodil,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

Daffodil looked at me. “I’m guessing you have not told him about the Dark Corners?”

“No. Only got hired yesterday,” I said, frowning. Her question turned what was a mere assumption into something just a little bit more. “You think this is the Mare’s League’s doing.”

“Had plenty of time to consider the options, locked in the bathroom,” she said. “The pony foalnapped was a stallion, done by a stable dweller that’s probably only heard about Brayington from secondhoof stories. Snow Powder is well known enough where he could be a target for them.”

“I believe I’m out of the loop here,” Mister Pulse said, leaning into the table. “What are these Dark Corners? Who is the Mare’s League?”

I took a deep breath in, and let it out. Given the position I had signed up for this conversation was inevitable. The Dark Corners were too well known for it to not come up at some point, especially for ponies who dealt with lawbreakers. There was a bit of relief when it was Daffodil who decided to broach the subject, after gulping down the rest of her coffee.

“Brayington has always considered itself one of the more civilized parts of the Equestria after the Last Day, but we have our own share of troublemakers here as well,” she said. “The newspapers refer to the four biggest sources of trouble as ‘Brayington Four Dark Corners’. One of them, as you just heard, calls itself the Mare’s League.”

“And you have reasonable reason to believe they are behind your stallion’s abduction?” Pulse asked.

Daffodil looked down at the table, clearly nervous. I decided to take over for her sake.

“Mister Pulse, are you familiar with Blackjack?” I asked him. “The Hoof’s Lightbringer.”

“Heard the name, but that’s about it,” Mister Pulse explained. “Never visited the Hoof in my career.”

“She grew up in a dark place, where mares treat stallions less like ponies and more like… breeding tools,” I said, the last two words choking my throat as I attempted to get them out. He recoiled in disgust, brow raised and wings briefly reaching around to cover his front. “The Mare’s League is… similar. From what I know they are a group of misandrists, and are responsible for similar incidents in the past.”

“That’s decent enough for a basic description, but those of us who grew up in Brayington know a bit more,” Daffodil replied, voice even more hollow than it had been earlier. “We do elections here just like the NCR. Been doing them for a long time, in fact. You only get one term, and it lasts for five years. Not sure how long exactly we’ve been doing it but long enough to have a few bad eggs.

“About half a century ago, maybe more, some ponies formed a new political group, all mares. Seemed innocent enough at first, was giving a lot of promises creatures liked and around that time stallions and colts just suddenly started disappearing. Green Mountain Colts couldn’t find them, and this new group started chastising them. They added police reformation to their list of political promises if their leader was elected as Brayington’s governor. Probably would have won, but then one of the foalnapped stallions showed back up. Called the group out to the entire county, and it was that day everypony realized what the Mare’s League was.”

“Yet they are still around,” Mister Pulse said. “Should their leaders have been arrested? If they hate us stallions so much, why foalnap us?”

“Those they had put in the spotlight were, but the political group called the Mare’s League was just a front,” Daffodil explained. “The real leaders are somewhere else, but either nopony has figured it out or those that did have gone missing. As for why they foalnap stallions…”

She couldn’t say it, and who could blame her. My own stomach twisted and turned just thinking about it. When it was her own coltfriend that could possibly be in these mares hooves, the worst came to mind. With her muzzle and mind refusing to work, I decided to answer for her.

“The similarities to Blackjack’s upbringing doesn’t stop at misandry, Mister Pulse,” I said. I searched my head for a way to explain the Mare’s League that didn’t make me nauseous. “They view stallions on a level that can be considered more… there isn’t an easy way to say it.”

“I’ve been doing this for about half my life, Miss Day,” Pulse assured me, smiling in an attempt to help me relax. It only half worked. “I’ve seen a lot; I can take it.”

His words could only do so much, but he had made his point. With another deep breath in, I locked eyes with my boss.

“They see stallions not as stallions but… a-as things to make more mares,” I said. Daffodil turned to look at me, staring in wide eyed fright at the words spilling from my mouth as if she didn’t already know this. “It’s like all they see is the reproductive organs, and none of the intelligence, emotions, or otherwise that make a stallion a stallion.”

Pulse merely nodded. He looked down at the table, his hat hiding his face from Daffodil and myself. No way either of us could blame him, after hearing what I had just said. He was a stallion himself, the very ponies the Mare’s League stole away. No amount of experience dealing with pony-kind’s darker sides made that any easier than it was.

All the while Daffodil continued to stare at me, muzzle twisted into a grimace. It was clearly aimed at me too, the kind of stare that said ‘what is wrong with you’. Did she not expect me to tell him? We had brought the Mare’s League up as a possible suspect, what else did she expect? Mister Pulse had to know who we were possibly dealing with.

“We will keep them in mind, Miss Daffodil,” he said after what felt like several minutes of silence. The disgust and horror on the earth pony mare faded as she turned away from me and back towards my employer. “Until we have evidence linking them to Snow Powder’s capture, however, we must focus on what we do know. That means figuring out who this stable dweller was.”

“O-of course,” Daffodil said, nodding to him. “Anything else you two need.”

“Directions to Stable 83 if possible, and a chance to look around your bedroom to see if the suspect left anything behind,” Pulse replied.

“Go ahead. Never been to Stable 83, but ask one of the GMC around here and they should be able to point you in the right direction,” Daffodil said, her hoof pointing across the table to a specific door.

Mister Pulse got up after that, removing his hat with his wing and bowing in the exact same fashion he had to Ruby. He beckoned me to stand with his other wing, and without a second thought I rose and trotted up to him. I took the lead, bringing Pulse to the aforementioned door, noticing how it was not entirely closed. Opening, I bore witness to the state the suspect had left her bedroom in.

It was a complete mess.

The blankets, sheets, and pillows on the bed were all over the place, thrown around without care or consideration. A bedside light had been knocked on the floor, some small dents in the walls. Certainly appeared like a scuffle had happened in here, though to my untrained eye it didn’t seem like anything in here gave us any information we didn’t already know.

It did give me a good idea of what that night must have been like though. Easy to put myself in similar shoes, with Clear as the pony in danger. Walking into our bedroom to head back to sleep after a midnight emergency, noticing the lights were on but not thinking about it too much, and then suddenly there some stranger was tying my sister up to steal her away. Whether the Mare’s League was responsible, the entire situation sent a shiver down my spine and terror pumping into my vines.

“There is one thing of interest in this room, Rainy,” Mister Pulse said. I turned to him, shocked he was able to tell that much with his bad eyesight. He proceeded to step in front of me. “Consider this your first real test. I want to see if you can spot the one thing that I do.”

“You are sure there is something in here?” I asked, just to make entirely sure this wasn’t some trick question.

“If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said anything,” Pulse replied. “You have the education, and you're an intelligent mare, but now I have to see if you have the eyes to spot what’s truly useful.”

A test, one that probably meant a lot if he kept me around after this initial job. Gaining as determined a look as possible, I nodded to the batpony and got to work looking around. My hooves moved slowly as I trotted around the bedroom, checking the wall, floor, bed, everything in my general vicinity for something that seemed out of place. Wasn’t sure if I was looking for a needle in a haystack or something that might as well have had an old world billboard with the word ‘evidence’ on it.

My brain clicked on small things at first, and yet something inside me told me they were nothing. A misplaced item, a specific dent in the wall, all clearly caused during the night of the crime but none of them lead anywhere. It was like, as soon as Mister Pulse had mentioned there was something in here, everything was fitting to be the thing that stood out. I’d imagine most ponies probably wouldn’t have found them, with the very room seeming to fight for attention.

Yet somehow my eyes landed on one thing, stuck themselves to it, and refused to let go. Pulse took notice right away and smiled.

“There is one,” he said. “Good job. What is it?”

Up to that point I had been standing up, but something in my gut told me to lay on the floor and look under the bed. I did so, and thanks to the light on the other side of the bed I managed to catch the eye of something closer to the other side. As quickly as my wings would carry me, I got from one side of the bed to the other and returned to placing my belly to the hardwood underneath me. It came just a little more into focus though not entirely, mainly due to the fact the object was dark grey.

“It seems like a baton,” I told him. “Hard to make out any specifics from under here.”

Pulse trotted up next to me, letting a curious hum slip through his voice. “Mind if I see it?”

I took that as permission to touch the evidence. Gently nudging it out and picking it up with a wing, I held the baton out to Mister Pulse. He took it in his own wing, holding it close to his face and turning it this way and that. Then… he started sniffing it.

“Knew something was under the bed, wasn’t entirely sure what,” he said. “This confirms what Miss Daffodil said. I’ve seen this type of baton before; standard issue for security in most stables. Can smell grass and dirt on it too, not to mention two ponies I don’t recognize and Daffodil. That’s enough to confirm it should not be here.”

I stared at him for a moment. When I picked it up my nose didn’t catch anything off about it, yet he had managed to gain all of that. I knew it was possible for a loss of one sense to heighten others, but the ability to discern the different ponies and elements its been in felt farfetched.

A piece of me wanted to ask how in Tartarus he had managed to get all that information, but I held it back. Questioning my new boss seemed like a bad idea, and an easy way to get fired. So, I kept quiet about it for the moment, filing it away under something that I could ask at a better point in the future.

“You didn’t believe her?” I asked him.

“Creatures can lie,” he replied. “That, and our minds aren’t always the best at remembering things correctly. This backs up her story, both on who the individual was and on how she ended up in the bathroom. Our suspect was likely too panicked afterwards to know she left it.”

I nodded, eyes returning to the rest of the room and quickly landing directly between Pulse’s legs. It was not easily noticeable, nothing his echolocation would have picked up on, but I saw it. Long, thin fibers different to that of the carpet that they were laying on. My boss’ shadow made the color of them harder to tell, but not impossible.

Beige, like rope.

“It seems Snow Powder might not have been unconscious during his foalnapping as well,” I told him. Mister Pulse looked at me, and then went to where my eyes were locked. He lowered his head to the fibers, his nose sniffing it like a canine. “Must have tried to chew his way out while Daffodil and the suspect were fighting.”

“Seems likely,” he said, pulling his nose away. “We have enough reason to look into this stable dweller.”

Mister Pulse trotted past me and out of the bedroom, and I quickly made my way back to his side. Daffodil’s eyes initially locked on us, only for her pupils to dilate in shock at the baton in Pulse’s wing. Two and two were easily put together in her head; that thing is what knocked her out.

“Thank you for your assistance, Miss Daffodil. I would recommend spending some time with your marefriend, let her know you are safe,” Mister Pulse said. He then motioned to the condo as a whole. “Might be a good idea to spend some time away from here in general, after your experiences.”

“Yeah. Yeah good idea,” Daffodil said. She got up from her seat, giving a polite bow to the batpony. “I know I don’t need to say it but… please find Snow Powder. If it is the Mare’s League I… I don’t want such a good pony to get hurt for no reason.”

“We will find him, I assure you,” Pulse replied. “Have a good day, ma’am.”

We had finished up before Mori had, but not by too much. As soon as the alicorn had joined us, Pulse decided it was worth discussing things over some food. I was okay with that; I hadn't had lunch before work due to nerves and was definitely feeling the effects of it during that time. Being the local, I was charged with finding a place worth sitting down at.

My decision was a waffle shack near the base of the actual skiing part of Equinox Mountain. Small place, run by some earth ponies who tolerated me enough to accept my caps. Being a shack, all the seating was outside, but the wind was absent enough for Mori to do whatever paperwork she needed to do without trouble. While we waited for what we ordered, we were able to exchange what information we had obtained.

“The pony at the front desk was not there the night of the abduction,” Mori explained. “Talked with the manager, and it turns out they were fired. Apparently losing the master key to the complex was the last straw in a series of dumb decisions and poor customer service.”

“Did you get a name at least?” Mister Pulse asked.

“Evening Glow. Lives on the other side of town at Thirty-Two New Farm Road,” Mori answered.

“Then we will go there after this. See if they know anything,” Pulse said. His eyes turned from the alicorn to me. “Beforehoof, however, Rainy and I found something you should all know about.”

He motioned to me, a sign to take some show of leadership. I would need that just as much as detective skills, after all, if I was going to possibly work with Mori and Aereo after this. The latter was laxed, taking a bite of their waffle and looking elsewhere. Mori’s eyes, however, were locked on me. Soul piercing, intimidating, judgmental, and I was left unable to tell if it was another case of her just being herself or showing she did not yet trust me.

“Daffodil was in her apartment, locked in her own bathroom. Snow Powder was missing, foalnapped like Miss Gleam suspected. Daffodil says it is a stable pony responsible,” I said. Aereo groaned and rolled their eyes, receiving a disapproving glare from his boss. “According to her, they entered her apartment in the middle of the night. She was in the bathroom, thought it was Snow Powder until she saw him tied up by the suspect. Knocked her out, broke her bathroom door, and she couldn’t get out.”

I looked to Mister Pulser, just to make sure I had gotten it all correct. He smiled at me. That was enough approval from her boss for Mori to believe what I had said. She instantly brought a pen out and started writing down what I had told her.

“Rainy Day leaves out a few key parts,” Pulse suddenly said. “Frayed rope and a baton was found in the bedroom. The latter is the same as those we’ve seen from other stables in the wasteland. I smelt two ponies on it that I didn’t recognize, one stallion and one mare. If I were to guess, one of those is Snow Powder.”

“They never learn, do they?” Aereo asked. One of his talons motioned enthusiastically into the air, showing agitation his beak did not allow for. “I figured we might be able to get away from the young impressionable idiots over here but they’re still getting into trouble.”

“I guess it isn’t unreasonable to assume this isn’t your first case with a stable dweller as a suspect,” I said.

“Yep. For ponies who were supposed to be Equestria’s future, they seem to have less grey matter than even some raiders,” the hippogriff said, tapping the top of his skull for emphasis. “The moment they hear about the Lightbringer and how she was one of them, this little lightbulb goes off in their head saying ‘hey, I can be that’. Problem comes in when you realize said lightbulb is dim, flickering, and in heavy need of replacement because they think we’re still in a state of pure anarchy.”

“They are some of the biggest idiots I’ve ever met,” Mori said. Her attention turned to Pulse, and for the briefest of seconds I swore I saw empathy in her eyes. “No offense, Solitary.”

Her words led me to look back at my new boss, one of his leathery wings pinching the end of his muzzle. A deep, tired sigh, born from a place of begrudging acceptance. I stared at him long enough for him to notice, and failed to look away in time for him to not understand the question circling through my mind.

“Though I may have been born underground in one of Stable-tech’s shelters, the amount of my life spent above ground nearly doubles it now. I hardly think I fit in the same category as our suspect,” he said. It was just as much an answer for me as it was a reminder for Mori. “I’m not a stable dweller, I’m a detective from Stalliongrad. Spent many of those years working for a peacekeeping force known as Order, where I gained the skills I use in my job now. If you want to know more, it can wait until later.”

I nodded my head. “We got a job to do first.”

“Correct,” he replied. Mori merely snorted and returned her focus to the pen and paper before her. “Besides, there are some more important things to learn. Daffodil mentioned that a group known as the Mare’s League may be responsible. Supposedly they have a habit of foalnapping stallions and forcing them into sexual slavery.”

“Are you shitting me?” Aereo asked.

“No. They're real, and Daffodil has a right to suspect them,” I answered, my gaze falling towards the table, “although…”

“Something doesn’t sit right with you about it?” Mister Pulse asked.

“It feels oddly risky for them to foalnap Snow Powder,” I said. “All of Brayington County knows who he is, considering he’s one of the first skiers Equestria has seen in about two centuries. That isn’t the kind of pony they go for. It’s somepony more like the stallion who served us these waffles, or me. Those who ponies won’t immediately question why they haven’t been around.”

I tapped the table with my hoof a couple times as I looked up towards Equinox Mountain, and then back to Mister Pulse.

“It’s also well known that they don’t view the harm of mares in a positive light, no matter who they are. Trapping Daffodil in the bathroom feels odd to me, knowing that,” I said. “Though if what I’m hearing about stable dwellers is accurate, it’s possible they didn’t know.”

“Whether or not it’s true, every option must be put on the table,” Mister Pulse replied. He smiled at me encouragingly. “Just keep that in mind for the future.”

I felt my shoulders lose some amount of tension, seeing that smile. He was cutting me slack since it was my first day, a fact I was slightly thankful for. It wasn’t something I’d have for long, especially considering the line of work we were in. Mistakes weren’t allowed when life was in harm’s way. This first case was a firm reminder of that.

Not to mention, Ruby Gleam’s own threat. I have no doubt she’d go through with it.

“I won’t leave anything out from now on,” I told Mister Pulse.

“Good. I’ll hold you to it,” he replied. He picked up his own waffle in one hoof, and took a bit of it. “These are great by the way.”

I really hope he saw my smile. It had been a long time since anypony but Clear or Dahlia complimented me for my tastes.