Equestria Noir: Through the Looking Glass

Chapters

Prologue: Out of the Frying Pan
Chapter 1: Into the Fire
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Prologue: Out of the Frying Pan

My name is Midnight Tempest, a unicorn and I am not of this world.

To be more specific, I am not of this Equestria. I am a unicorn of moderate magical talents, but my real talent lies in how I have learned to create machinery. I am an inventor, a mathematician and a killer.

You must be wondering why I would willingly admit to being a killer, a murderer. Because by the time this book is published, I will be dead. I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. My last will and testament is to have my memoires published, word for word, so that any rumors and falsehoods about the events of these past 6 months shall finally be put to rest. But first I should elaborate on how I came to be in this new Equestria.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

My home was a lovely little place just south of a town known as Ponyville. The people there are a very friendly bunch, always happy to see a new face as they would an old friend. I wasn't born in Ponyville, or had any family there, I had just found the location to be very relaxing. In time I would find that it was also an excellent place to procure supplies for my experiments and to pursue other 'hobbies' as well.

Her name is Twilight Sparkle and she is the most talented unicorn in all of Ponyville, possibly even all of Equestria save for the Princesses. She has helped me more with my experiments, since she arrived in Ponyville a couple years ago, than in the 10 years since I moved here. She is Princess Celestia's top student, Bearer of the Elements of Magic and most beautiful pony I had ever laid eyes upon. And I fear that I may never see that Twilight again.

I had just awoke from a restless sleep, which was common for me as I would usually dream of Her, my brow was covered in a cold sweat. The sun was only now rising and there was a light mist across the ground, highly unusual as the Pegasi would usually keep this sort of thing from happening. I paid it no mind as I just told myself that the matter would be fixed in a jiffy.

I floated my saddlebags over to and rest them on my back carefully, I had filled them earlier with several bottles and had to make sure that they wouldn't shatter. Nothing more annoying than cleaning glass from a bag, or out of ones flank. I then left early that day for Ponyville, it would be the last time I would see my brightly coloured home ever again.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

I trotted through the mist, barely even giving it a second thought, until it began to grow more dense. It was even more unusual to see fog, unless it was in the Everfree Forest. I slowed my pace to a medium trot, even though I had traveled the road between my home and Ponyville many times it was best to keep my eyes open for other ponies. I began to grow worried as the fog continued to grow more dense and the light started to fade. The sun had just crested the mountains, so this didn't seem right at all. The Princesses, Celestia and Luna, controlled the sun and moon respectively and it was highly unlikely that either would make the sun fade from the sky.

I stopped in my tracks, everything was feeling alien to me. The darkness had fallen over everything I could see, which was very little at that time, and my thoughts were filled with dread. I constantly was thinking that something had happened to the Princesses, an ancient evil that was sealed away for centuries or more had awoke and was going to destroy everything by swallowing the sun. I couldn't have been farther from the truth, and nothing could ready me for what I was going to find.

Chapter 1: Into the Fire

The fog had finally thinned enough for me to get my bearings, which was in vain as I was standing in the middle of a cobblestone street. I just stood in shock as the fog continued to lift and reveal a city that I couldn't recognize. Lampposts jutted out the pavement and struggled to light the area around them, the dull yellow orb lit up the haze around it to reveal the building behind it. I could then see another yellow haze and another and another, a path of yellow orbs that dotted the street and lighting the way for travelers in the dark and fog. Yet I didn't see any other ponies, but I could hear something that was very much not a pony.

Two bright balls of light appeared from around a corner down the street and it looked as though they were coming towards me, but I couldn't move and it felt as if I wasn't even breathing. I could feel the ground beneath my hooves rumbling, the rumbling only growing more intense as the lights came towards me. Then two more lights appeared, behind the first two, from around the same corner. It was almost like they were chasing the first pair. Oh how I hated being right sometimes.

RATTATTATTATTATATTATATA!!

A third orange light came from the second pair of white lights, and the noise that came from it was so violent and startling that it brought me to my senses just in time to jump away from what I believed to be a pony less carriage. Whatever that orange light had done caused that carriage to weave to and fro through the streets, it was no longer controllable. The carriage's front right wheel mounted the sidewalk to only pop violently and send the carriage into a horrific roll. Pieces of glass and metal were launched from the whirlwind of destruction as well as other items that I couldn't identify. When the carriage finally came to a stop, it was inverted and completely wrecked. I had wanted to go over to the carriage in that instant but the second carriage had already passed me.

RATTATTATTATTATATTATATA!!

The noise was so horrible and violent, my ears felt as though they were going to rupture. I then heard the scream. I had never heard something so horrible in my entire life, until that moment. The street became eerily silent as I heard the tinkling of metal on stone fade into the darkness around me. My blood then ran cold as I heard voices from the second carriage.

"Ya t'ink we gots 'im, boss?" The first voice obviously was not that well educated if he spoke like that. "Ah ain't seein' nothin' from da car."

"It doesn't matter if you don't see anything moving in the car, you oaf," However the second voice was definately of a moderate degree of intelligence. "just make sure that the driver won't be making this mistake twice."

"Sure t'in dere, boss. Oh," The first voice sounded like he had thought of something, and it must have hurt. "can Ah use da 'splosives, boss? Dat'll keep dat pony down fer good!"

I could almost feel the joy from the first goon as he got his answer. "Yes. I think that would send a very good example to those that try to go against us. But just two sticks, we don't want to run out before the big heist." They were going to blow up that other carriage, even if there was somepony still inside. My heart began to race, what kind of pony would do something like that. It was murder, MURDER! Ponies don't kill one another, there is no reason for such a horrid act. The second carriage then back away from the first, I could hear laughter coming from inside. As it passed me for a second time I looked at the side of it and picked up what looked to be a cutie mark on it, or perhaps it was just a logo. It looked to be a magic wand with a wisp of blue sparkling magic coming from it.

KRABOOOOMM!!!!

The first carriage was enveloped in flames, the light now showing me even more of the street than I could see before. I watched in, what I could only consider at the time, amazement but that quickly turned to horror and panic. I heard a wet thud as something fell past my face and landed at my feet. When I looked down, I was sure that my face had gone pale. It was a pony, or at least what has left of the poor things hindleg. I could see part of a cutie mark but I wasn't able to figure it out before I heard screeching from up the street. The other carriage had come to an abrupt halt and I could hear yelling. "'EY! YOU DERE! WHACHA DOIN'!" The chase was on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was doing everything I could to elude my pursuers, but the carriage they had kept cutting me off at almost every corner. The alleys had also proven to be against me as the vehicle was slender enough to enter in after me.

RATTATTATTATTATATTATATA!!

I was scared out of my wits. I didn't even know what was happening other than I was being chased by what seemed to be murderers, which I wasn't wrong about either. Damnit. It became clear to me that the light I was seeing was some sort of weapon, capable of spitting out objects at amazing speeds. I only managed to think about that when I saw chucks of brick and cobblestone being perforated.

I could tell that my legs were getting very tired from all the running, but I didn't know where I was or where to go. Hope was fading away as I continued to attempt to lose my pursuers. I failed miserably, or wonderfully depending on your point of view, as I managed to get myself stuck in a dead end alley. I had turned left when I should have gone right, a sort of recurring motif in my life up til then.

The carriage came to a stop, it was blocking the entrance to the alley and my only exit as well. I fell to my haunches and backed up to the wall. I just kept on pushing with my hooves, hoping that I could maybe push myself through the wall or knock the wall down. Two dark figures then walked towards me, their silhouettes casting massive shadows on the cobblestone before me and the wall behind me. One was also hovering an object I hadn't seen before, but I had definately heard it.

RATTATTATTA!!

The shots from this new device put 3 holes in the wall next to my head. "'ho are you!"

RATTATTATTA!!

Three more holes in the wall on the other side of my head. "'ho are you!!"

RATTATTATTA!!

Again three more holes but there were in the cobblestone, very near to my nether regions. "'HO ARE YOU!! ANSWER OR I BLOW YOUR FUCKIN' 'EAD OFF!" The unicorn, he was obviously a unicorn as he had levitation magic, placed the object against my temple. It was still hot from being used and it burned into my coat and skin with great ease. I couldn't stand it any longer, the pain finally pushing me over the edge.

"MIDNIGHT! MY NAME IS MIDNIGHT!!" My voice was quivering and full of fear, and those two thugs could almost taste it. I could hear a tinkling sound from below me. I looked down, as did the thug with the weapon, to see that I had urinated all over the stone. This only seemed to make the thug happier.

"Ya see dat, boss? The li'l pony has gone pissed 'imself. Ah musta scared 'im right good." I noticed him look down, still not able to make out their faces. "Ya wants dat I kill 'im now? Please, boss, let me kill 'im." His weapon levitated down to my face, it was placed right between my eyes.

"No," The weapon wielding thug grunted most disappointingly and moved the weapon away from my face. My body then went limp as I slumped onto my side, I was so relieved. "blindfold him and muzzle him, we'll take him to the warehouse and get all the information we can from him." My body began to tense up again, the panic quickly beginning to take hold again. "If we don't get anything useful out of the poor bastard, then you can kill him in any way you choose." Oh, sweet Celestia, no.

The thug gave a more than happy grunt." Dat's mighty generous of ya, boss." He walked over to me and smacked me with the heavy end of his weapon. My world faded to black once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My head was pounding and the world around me dark. I was sure I could hear someone talking but the ringing in my ears made it hard to focus. It seemed like a lifetime had passed as the ringing finally subsided. Then the panic set in again.

"Well well, look't dat. Sleepin' Beauty 'as just woke up." The voice of that thug sent shivers down my back, the headache I also had grew in size as the blindfold was torn from my eyes. I found myself sitting under a very bright light, tied incredibly well and tight to a very sturdy chair. "Ah'm so glad ta see ya all bright eyes 'nd bushy tails. So, shall we get to what ya was doin'? Why was you dere at dat 'splosion? And most o' all, 'ho sent ya!"

It was all so much, the questions. The chase. The explosion. It had all happened in such a short timespan that I couldn't get it all straight in my head, and I was a mathematician. All I could do was look around with fear in my eyes and this look of complete confusion. It didn't help at all.

The thug came up to me and smashed the left side of my face with his hoof, toppling the chair and forcing my head to say hello to the floor. There was an iron-y taste in my mouth, so I spit it out. Blood. My own blood. "ANSWER DA FUCKIN' QUESTION! 'HO SENT YA?! WHY WAS YA DERE WHEN DAT CAR BLEW UP! TELL ME OR YUR AS GOOD AS DEAD! GOT IT! D-E-D DEAD!"

I began to sob uncontrollably. "I-I-I'm M-M-M-M-idn-n-night T-T-T-T-Tempest a-a-and I-I..." It wasn't good enough for the thug.

"'Nough wit' dat cryin'. Whacha t'ink ya is? Ah big ol' baby, dat's whacha is! Tell! Me! Why! Ya! Was! Dere!" His forehooves came down on my chest repeatedly, like he was trying to play the drums with my lungs. It was getting very hard to breathe but he stopped when the sound of a rib breaking stopped my sobbing, only to replace it with a scream of pain. "Dat's whacha get fer not coopperatin'. Which o' da uddah families sent ya, if ya tell me Ah'll make sure dat you go good 'nd quick like."

"I-I-I don't k-k-k-now what y-y-you're tal-k-k-k-ing a-b-b-bout..." Yet again, not the answer he wanted to hear.

"DONCHA PLAY DA TOUGH STALLION WIT' ME!! YA GOTS TA BE ONE O' DA UDDAH FAMILIES BOYS, NOW SPILL DA BEANS BEFORE AH SPILL YAS GUTS!!" The thug was now levitating a very large, serrated knife as he continued to pound me into the ground with his fore-hooves.

My eyes widened at the blade now hovering slowly towards my midsection. "N-n-no p-p-p-p-please! I d-d-d-don't know anyt-t-t-thing! I don't even k-k-know where I am! I don't want to die like t-t-t-this!" By the look on his face, his patience with me was finally gone. All he wanted to do now was cut me open and leave me die.

"Ya had yer chance boy'o... Shame ya had ta be so damn stubborn, now ya gonna die like a piggy..." The blade of the knife was now against my stomach. "Ah'm gunna enjoy making ya squeal." It was frighteningly sharp. The blade pulled back from my stomach, but not without leaving a large cut.

The thug smiled such a wretched smile, it made me sick knowing he was going to enjoying killing me in the worst way I thought possible. The knife drew back, ready to sinking itself into my flesh and drink my blood, as I heard hoof-steps in the distance. "Stop now, Raz. You haven't given the bastard the proper chance to come clean." If there were any other beings looking out for me, I was praying to them at that moment.

"Aww, come on, boss. Ya said Ah could kill 'im if 'e didn't 'ave any info, and 'e doesn't. All 'e could do is cry like a babe." The thug, now known as Raz, seemed to be very upset with his 'boss'. But he quickly backed down when he was given a very aggressive look. I had also hoped it may have helped with his horrible speech. How could someone not be able to pronounce H's?

"Enough, Raz. We want to talk to him. He can't talk back if you send all his ribs through his lungs, now can he?" Raz took some sheepish steps back, looking down at the ground. "Now, let us get you sitting up straight shall we?" This other thug, this 'boss', lifted me and the chair up so I could see right into his eyes. They were evil eyes, very evil eyes. "Let's try this again from the start, maybe a bit more civilized. You are Midnight Tempest, correct?" I slowly nodded, not wanting to startle him but also not to anger him into hitting me. "Good, I am Griff. Don't bother asking what kind of name it is, it's a nickname and that's all you need to know about it."

I sat with Griff for the better part of an hour, trying to explain how I had come to be in that place at that time. "Look, Midnight, kid... you can't seriously think that I'm going to buy that story. It's one hell of a story too, you should'a been a writer kid." He turned from me and paced around slowly. "But I can believe that you ain't one of the other families goons, you're too smart to be like Raz." Raz nodded then looked at Griff with a 'Whacha mean by dat?' look. "Unfortunately, you know about us now. You know our names. Sorry kid, but your little story ends here."

"W-what? No... you can't... please d-d-don't..." Tears began to well up in my eyes again, Raz had started levitating the knife again and was walking towards me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My body had been cut up, very slowly, by Raz. He was enjoying his fun far too much as well as my screams. Though they weren't really screams anymore, more like faint whimpers. I was beginning to feel weak, it was obvious that I had lost alot of blood and it was only a matter of time before I would be meeting with the Grim Pony.

Sirens. There was a cascade of sounds pouring through the warehouse and the sirens were the loudest of them all. I could also hear the sounds of several ponies yelling, some sounded like Raz. The others sounded more professional, more police-like. Raz stopped paying attention to me at that moment, dropping the knife into the blood pooling beneath the chair. From the table he levitated the weapon that spat fire and pointed it to were the yelling came from.

RATTATTATTATTATATTATATA!!

I did not miss that sound at all, it was horrible.

Blam! Blam!

More of the same sound, but from further away and a different weapon but I could tell it was aimed at Raz as he lowered his head. I was having trouble just keeping myself awake at that point, but I did manage to see the knife just below me. I only had the one chance, whatever was happening was giving me a way to escape and no matter how weak I was I needed to take it.

I started focusing my magic but it was so difficult with everything happening at once, but if I didn't I was as good as dead.

The blade began to lift, held by the green light from my horn. I just needed to cut the ropes that held me in place. It was probably a massive mistake to try it in my condition, as I tried to cut the rope I had little control over the force I was placing on the knife. It made it through the rope very easily as well as cutting deep into my right leg. I would have screamed but I my blood-loss was making it hard to feel anything anymore, I had only moments before everything would be over. I shuffled my hind-legs free of their ropes and tried to stand, it didn't work.

I toppled forward, out of the chair, right towards Raz. He never expected me to even be conscious or alive at that point. His eyes were as wide as mine were when he lifted his weapon to my face for the first time. His lips began to move but nothing came out but a stifled scream. My magic had failed and the knife was no longer floating in front of me, I had placed my two front hooves on the hilt of the blade and began swinging it down into Raz's chest. Over and over and over, I just continued to swing the knife even after the light in Raz's eyes had vanished.

I was sure I heard voices from my left but I was too tired to even look over, they may have been yelling at me or for someone else but I had already toppled over from exhaustion. Just laying there in a pool of mixed blood, mine and Raz's. I thought I felt tears rolling down my face, but it may have just been more blood.

"Mac! We got a live one over here! And this one is in a bad shape." One of the police ponies called to his commanding officer.

"Git one o' the doc's over here right now, see if'n he can help this poor bastard." The voice sounded so far away, but it was also so very familiar.

The pony returned with a doctor and turned to Mac. "Do you think he'll make it through, sir?"

"Nnope, but we gotta try anyway..." It was the last thing I heard. My body was so cold, it was then that I knew I was going to die as everything faded to black. I hate being wrong.

Chapter 2

A nightmare.

I woke in a dark room, in a comfortable bed and my body aching like I had never felt before. Yet I was positive that everything that I just witnessed was nothing but a nightmare. It was at that point I should have realized never to get my hopes up, it only leads to disappointment and ruin.

Although my body was aching I tried to get out of the bed, yet I wasn't able to sit up very far. My legs were all cuffed to the bed frame. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me I could finally tell where I was, in a hospital room. The walls were all a sterile white, and the floors looked to be some sickly green color. There was nothing in the room that I could use to escape. The only things in the room, other than myself and the bed, was an IV tube that was dripping some clear liquid into my right foreleg and a strange box that looked to be connected to my left foreleg. It was making a strange beeping sound that was slowly getting faster as panic started to overcome my senses again.

The sound of my cuffs clanging around on the metal bed frame didn't go unnoticed. I could hear the voices of two ponies just outside the door. "Sounds like he finally woke up, call it in and see if you can find Mac. I'm pretty sure he has some questions for our little pony friend."

Questions? The thought of being interrogated for a second time sent me into hysteria. I wanted to escape, I wanted to run and never look back at this never ending nightmare. The ponies at the door were quick to respond to my violent thrashing as they came in and forced me down into the bed.

"Please, not again! I don't know anything! I don't know where I am, please don't kill me!" Even though the hoofcuffs were very sturdy, the frame they were attached to wasn't. The two ponies did their best to hold me down, but I was terrified and fear can give anypony the strength they need to fight or run. I had freed my right foreleg and managed to shove one pony away; and was ready to shove the other one off when I was pinned by a single large red hoof. I let out an sound like I had just be tackled by a whole hoofball team, tears began to crawl down my face from the mixture of fear and pain. "Please... no more... I don't know anything... please..."

The two ponies that had entered the room first quickly left, leaving me with the very large stallion and his hoof on my chest. "There's nothin' for y'all to be afraid of, y'hear? You don't need to worry about them mofia boys, but Ah will need you to answer some questions. Like, what they was doin' to you and why?" The red stallion's words managed to calm me, but not enough to stop my tears. There was also something oddly familiar about his voice, I was positive that I had heard him somewhere before but the light above the bed was making hard to see his face. I could only see part of a silhouette and even that was pushing it.

"I... I... they tortured me... tormented me..." The trembling in my voice made it hard to talk, but I did finally stop crying as the stallion took his hoof off my chest. "They... kept asking what I was doing there... which family had sent me... and I told them I didn't know what they were talking about but that didn't stop them... didn't stop him..." My mind shifted to the pain that Raz had inflicted on me and I could see his hoofwork even now as I looked at my right foreleg. "They were going to kill me... what monster would kill another pony... where am I?" My words slowly drifted into mumbling.

The stallion had listened patiently, not moving from his spot. If I had tried to escape he easily would have blocked the door single-hoofedly. "So... they believed that you were one o' the other families thugs... hmm..." He fell silent for a moment as I lifted my head to look in his direction. "And what did you mean by 'what Ah was doing there'?"

"The... the explosion..." At the mention of just that his stance shifted, I imagined his look was that of surprise. "I had appeared... in the middle of a street... it was dark, but I had only left home a few minutes before and it was day... and the fog, I've never seen so much before..."

"An explosion..." I watched something behind the stallion move erratically before flipping quickly to his left side. A bright light flooded the room, making the one directly above my bed seem dull. "So, you must have witnessed a murder... that seems to make sense... but your story, I'm finding that hard to believe." My eyes adjusted and widened. I was looking at Big Macintosh, older brother to Applejack, and he was dressed in a brown trenchcoat and a matching fedora. I also noticed a glint of metal from underneath the trenchcoat.

"B... Big... Macintosh?" I felt such a rush of relief wash over me, I didn't think I was going to see a friendly face ever again. But, once more, I was thrown a curveball that I didn't expect.

Mac just lifted one of his eyebrows and glared at me. "How do you know mah name? Ah didn't give it to you when Ah came in... and just call me Mac... Big Mac was mah nickname at the Academy."

"B, but I know you... I've seen you around Ponyville. I've seen you working Sweet Apple Acres, we even talked a bit on Nightmare Night last year!"

"Ah think your mistaken... Ah've never seen you before in mah life, and Ah haven't seen the farm since we left Ponyville 10 years ago." 10 years? You couldn't be serious.

"Where are we, where am I? I don't remember a city like this in Equestria, not even Manehattan was so dark and gloomy like this." My mind was starting to race, I know Big Macintosh remembered me. We sometimes talked when I went to town for fresh groceries and the apples from their farm were some of the best I had ever had. "What about your sister? Is Applejack still at the farm?" Yet again, my curiosity was getting me into trouble but that was the danger of being a scientist. But this was not science I was doing, it was just asking the wrong questions at the wrong time.

"How do you know about mah sister?" Mac's expression was very dark and I was sure that his eyes were going to bore a hole through me. "Who have you been talking to? Ah swear, if you are one o' them family thugs your gonna wish you never asked about mah sister!"

I didn't think that my eyes could get any wider when Mac started moving towards me, in a violent manner. "What in tarnation do you think you're doing, Mac? We are supposed to keep him safe, not scare the poor darling to death." Another pony was standing in the doorway, wearing a similar getup as Mac but more beige than brown. "The commissioners would be right furious with us if he was harmed, and more-so if'n he was harmed by the ones meant to guard him." Applejack. The way she scolded Mac it didn't seem much different from what I already knew about them, but that changed quickly.
"Ah'm sorry, Captain," Wait, what? Captain? She didn't look like a sailor. "but he was asking questions... seems to know alot about me... and you too, AJ. He knew we are family."

"Ah see... well," Applejack gave me a very odd look, like this was something she expected. "we'll just have to take him to the commissioners and get this all sorted out." She walked to the foot of the bed and looked me over, I could see the sympathy in her eyes as she looked at the scars that now covered my body. "Are you ready for a trip to the station?"

I gave a slow nod and looked at my half-covered body, the sheet had slowly fallen off as we were talking and the extent of my scars was really showing. "Um... could I get a coat... like that ones you have... I don't anypony to see me... not like this..." Applejack nodded back and got one of the ponies outside the door to get the object.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

It had taken about half an hour to leave the hospital, my legs felt like rubber and every muscle screamed in agony with every step I took. Then the cold muggy air from outside brought some relief, soothing my muscles enough to keep me from collapsing entirely.

Outside there was a pony-less carriage waiting. A vehicle known as a car. It was most likely my scientific curiousity, but I wanted to learn all I could about this vehicle. How it was able to move without being pulled, what was used to propel such a large object. Every little thing, I wanted to know it all. But Applejack and Mac didn't seem to enjoy my constant badgering and just got me into the car.

"It will be about 30 minutes till we get to the station, sugarcube, so we'll be asking you a few more questions about that night 2 weeks ago..."

"What! 2 weeks!" My surprise caught them both off guard. Applejack just drew her head away from me a few inches, but Mac looked like he wanted to shove his hoof down my throat. This definately was not the same stallion I had met, this also went for Applejack. "I've been in that hospital for two weeks!?"

"Please try to calm down, sugar." My yelling had caused me to start coughing painfully, and Applejack was trying to get me to drink some water from a bottle that Mac had passed her from the front seat. "Yes, it's been two weeks since we raided the warehouse. Mac's team was the one that found you laying next to one of Griff's top lieutenants, Raz. It seems that he didn't expect you to escape your bindings and it got him killed, that bastard has got alot of good police ponies killed. Mah thanks to you." She lifted my hoof and started shaking it happily.

My mind felt like it had just been thrown blown apart by a sonic rainboom. I had killed a pony. "I... killed him... me?" I looked over at the blonde maned mare in disbelief and she nodded. "Me? So... I'm a killer now..." Once again tears began to fall down my face, but I wasn't sobbing. It had been two weeks and it only felt like hours in my mind since I plunged that serrated knife into Raz's chest. I could remember the feeling of his blood splashing up into my face, I could taste the blood that was getting in my mouth.

Mac was looking back with a conserned look. "Look... we aren't going to arrest you for what happened. You were bein' tortured and worse. Anypony would have done what you had to do to survive, it wasn't your fault Raz was a sick fucker."
Applejack nodded and let got of my hoof, it was a moment before I noticed it was still going and stopped it. "That's right, sugarcube. You're a hero to some of the ponies at the station, Raz was dangerous and needed to be stopped and you managed to do it. Even when almost dead." All the talk about doing the right thing and stopping a monster wasn't helping my guilt, I had never taken a life before and had never thought of taking the life of a pony. It was just so surreal to me, but the talking did seem to make the ride go by faster. It felt like only 5 minutes had passed but we were already at the New Canterlot Police HQ.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

"New Canterlot? What happened to the old one?" I was standing, okay, wobbling in the main lobby of the police station looking at Applejack and Mac. "As far as I remember there was only one Canterlot and it was on the side of a mountain, next your going to tell me there aren't any Princesses..." The looks they gave me shouted 'crazy pony!'. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." My head was spinning and I was forced to sit in the closest chair I could find, which was the floor at that moment.

"Don't push yourself too hard..." Applejack managed to hold me upright as I fell on my haunches instead of collapsing entirely. "Just you take a rest right here, Ah'll get somethin' for you to eat. Just might give you the energy to move around more." She trotted off down a hall and around a corner leaving me with Mac.

I was worried that he would continue his little show from the hospital but was more busy talking to other police ponies. Several walked by congratulating him for all his work, some just said hi, I heard a couple calling him by his full title Detective Macintosh. I only assumed they were his friends as he gave them a glare that turned into a grin, followed by some laughter. Applejack returned after about 10 minutes with some coffee and three of the largest apple fritters I had ever seen.

"Ah just told brass that we brought him in, we'll head on up after he catches his breath and gets some solid food in his belly." She took a bite from the fritter and washed it down with a large gulp of coffee, then gave a satisfied sigh.

Mac nodded and finished his coffee and fritter with frightening speed. "Ah've gotta head back out, gonna check some more of the leads we got from that warehouse we raided yesterday... Ah'm just glad we managed to take it without anyone on the taskforce gettin' killed this time... Trixie's boys are getting better at hiding their tracks and its startin' to worry mah boys."

"Y'all watch your back out there, Mac." Mac gave one more nod and left the two of us in the lobby. I didn't hesitate on eating the fritter, it was gone almost as quickly as Mac eating his. As was the coffee. It tasted horrible but I wasn't going to complain. I gave a satisfied sigh then a groan as my stomach felt like it was getting tied in a knot. "Y'all shouldn't of eaten that so quickly." Applejack was patting my back as I coughed and hacked from the pain in my stomach.
After a 5 minute coughing fit and my stomach settling down just enough so I could stand, I followed Applejack to an elevator at the end of the hall she had just returned from. "When we get up there, y'all will have to go alone."

"What? Why? I thought I was going to get questioned?" I turned my head enough that I nearly lost my balance.

"Well, y'all will get questioned by the commissioners and the captain that is organizing all our operations against the Mafia and it's families. She likes to learn about everything a pony like you experiences. She thinks it will help us finally track down the Mafia bosses and lock 'em up for good." The door to the elevator slide open to a hallway with a pair of doors at the end. "Well, this is your stop. Just head down the hall and give a knock, then just wait. They might still be talking."

I didn't like the idea of walking down a long hallway alone, but it only felt long. It was only about a 30 foot walk, but felt like 300. Why did they want to talk to me, I had nothing to do with what was going on. I was just one unicorn in a dangerous city, with ponies that apparently don't know who I am but I know them. It just seemed all to impossible to fathom. There was no way for Applejack and Big Macintosh to not know who I was, well unless I was in a parallel world. But what would the chances of discovering something so amazing and impossible? I reached the end of the hall and knocked like I was told, then I waited. And waited. And waited. It was a full 20 minutes before the door would open.

As the door opened I struggled to stand, my legs giving out around 10 minutes prior. I looked up at the door and fell once more, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. A lavender unicorn was standing in the doorway looking at me with a puzzled look. "Are you going to come in or do I need to drag you in?"

Twilight Sparkle, the mare of my dreams, was actually talking to me. My amazement was short lived as she actually started dragging me into the room. "W-wait! Why not just use your magic to levitate me in?" She stopped and gave me a 'crazy pony!' look, second time in less than an hour. I forced myself to my hooves and wobbled into the office. It was very large but there weren't any windows, which I found odd. Then my jaw in the floor again, with me almost following, as I saw two ponies I never thought I would meet in my lifetime. Princesses Celestia and Luna, or I should say Commissioners Celestia and Luna. Celestia gave me a light smile while Twilight shuffled me to a large couch and sat me down.

Luna walked around a large desk until she was standing only 5 feet away from me. "It is good to finally meet you, Midnight Tempest. We've been expecting you." I had no idea what I was going to get myself into.

Chapter 3

I was obviously shocked that Princess Luna was talking to me, but even more-so that she knew my name. She had a gentle smile, not something I would have expected from the once 'Nightmare Moon'. "Sister, he seems to be in a state of shock. Perhaps it was too soon to bring him to us?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, we require his help now more than later." She walked out from behind her desk and stood next to Luna, looking me over. "We are so sorry for what happened to you, we never thought something like this would happen." My mind was reeling, I had no idea what they were speaking of. I just looked at them with my jaw wide open. "Hmm... um... Twilight? Could you bring us some drinks?"

"Yes, Commissioner. One for you as well, Commissioner Luna?" Luna gave a nod, she seemed far more subdued than she was at the Nightmare Night festival. "Would you like one too, Midnight?"

My heart bounced around in my chest, she knew my name. I'm pretty sure I wanted to say 'Yes please, a glass of water would be nice' but I think it came out more like, "I... what... y-yes... water?" Twilight gave a small chuckle, oh such a sweet sound, and trotted to the other side of the room. She came back a moment later with four glasses, two filled with water and two with a transparent bronzish liquid. I would discover how wonderful that liquid really is, in time.

The water was just enough to help calm my already frayed nerves, enough at least to start asking questions. "Princesses... what is this place?"

The two alicorns looked at each other quizzically, then Celestia gave me the same look. "Princesses? That is a term we haven't gone buy in almost 200 years." Well once again, mind blown.

Luna nodded. "It was around that time that industry began to take it place in Equestrian society. At first it was slow but the discovery of a fuel source, called petroleum, off the east coast of Equestria turned it into a boom." I knew of petroleum, but there was no such deposit from what I remember. "Quickly, technology began to take control of everything. It was a great boon for the earth ponies, but soon the unicorns were relying on it too much." Luna paused for a moment to finish her drink, levitating it to her mouth. "Have you noticed anything strange about the unicorns you have seen?"

"Well," Honestly, I was too concerned with my own life at the time but the thought did come up. The driver of the car that brought me to the police station was a unicorn, but he wasn't using any magic. I just assumed that he didn't need to or didn't want to. "I'm not sure, I haven't seen many unicorns since I got here. Twilight... uh I mean, Ms. Sparkle is the only unicorn I really remember seeing." I could feel my face burning up after that little slip up.

Celestia gave a slow nod and turned to Twilight. "Give him an example of your magic, Twilight. Maybe he will understand after seeing it in action." I wanted to say that I had already seen her magic, but that was the old Twilight, the other Twilight's magic.

She gave a silent nod and pointed her horn at the Sister's desks. Several objects began to levitate in the familiar purple glow but I was more surprised that this few objects were actually making Twilight sweat. About ten seconds later she drops the objects back onto the desk and fixes herself up. I hadn't noticed it but the uniform she was wearing made her look pretty damn sexy. A dark blue jacket that was decorated with pins and other things of the like, plus a matching hat that she used to cover her horn. Very simple but very attractive, at least to me.

I looked at the ponies in the room with a rather astonished look. "You see sister, even he is surprised at her skill with magic." Luna was going to be sorely disappointed after saying that.

"Um... well... I am surprised, that I truly am..." I looked at Twilight, then at the Princesses. "But I'm actually a bit more disappointed in that display. It seemed rather difficult to lift only a couple dozen small objects." I decided to try and stand, maybe a foolish idea but something I really needed to do. Wouldn't get stronger if I didn't move more. "Your story makes it sound like unicorns are losing the ability to conjure magic, this... this should be impossible."

Celestia lifted an eyebrow as I stood. "You must understand, Midnight. This is not the Equestria you are from, Luna and I used our own magic to bring you here. We had to pull you through the boundaries that surround and separate our space and time from yours." My mind began to reel again, but this was something I could understand. Something scientific in nature, even if magic was used to get the result. "You're in a parallel world, Midnight, and before you ask how we knew of you." A piece of paper levitated from Celestia's desk and hovered before my face.

I was looking at a note that I had taken many years ago, it had calculations on how to infuse magic into multiple objects. The concept was to give earth ponies and pegasi the ability to use magic, in limited forms as the energy in the objects would be spent after a finite number or uses. "This... this is impossible... I lost these notes years ago. Just up and disappeared from my lab without a trace, no signs of forced entry or anything else taken..."

"Yes, well... sometimes the process we used to bring you here can happen naturally. A natural weakness in the boundaries that surround our worlds, anything small enough to fall through it will find itself in another place. It just so happened that this paper landed right on my desk that night." Celestia levitated the note to the couch and let it fall gently on the cushion. "We knew of your work that night, and since then we have been trying to bring you here to help us. But first, we want to see your magic."

My magic? Back home my magic was seen as exceptional, although I could never be as talented as Twilight was. "If you really want me to... anything specific you want to to do?"

Luna smiled again. "Just start with the basics, levitate as much as you can."

"As you wish..." My eyes closed and my head lowered, my horn began to glow an emerald green. The objects on the desks began to levitate first, then the books followed. All the books did. Next was the couch behind me and the table, with all its drinks. I opened my eyes to see the looks of shock and awe from everyone. "I'm not one to brag but this, this is not a difficult task." The light from my horn faded and the objects were put back in their places. "I've learned a fair amount of spells over the years. I even managed to make a new one but that is a very difficult spell and not something I would want to show you here."

I spent about an hour displaying my magical 'prowess' to the Commissioners and Twilight. In the end I was regretting it, my body wasn't even close to healed yet and I could feel the effects of it as several spells faltered and failed. I was sweating heavily and was about to collapse when Twilight came over and propped me up with her hooves. "Are you alright?" She gave me a quick look over and her expression became that of worry. "You've pushed yourself too hard, your nose is bleeding heavily."

So it was. Though it wasn't doing that until she was holding me up, like she was. I had never seen her face or eyes so clearly before and something in my head must have burst. I blushed and raised a leg to wipe my face. "I-I'm sorry... I'm still very tired and... you're right, I pushed myself too much..."

Luna walked up next to Twilight and gave me a look. I knew that look. She knew. But then again, how could she not. She gave a sly smile and looked at Twilight. "Captain, I believe that we have talked with him enough for tonight." She turned to look at Celestia, who just gave her a nod then she turned back to Twilight. "We believe that Midnight should remain in your protective custody for the time being, Captain." Twilight looked about as shocked as I did at the suggestion, but wasn't given time to argue the matter. "This is an order. He will be safer in your hooves than any others at the moment. Also, he might be able to show you some ways to improve your own magical talents."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight, reluctantly, obeyed her orders and escorted me out of the office. We walked silently through the station until we reached an area they called the 'garage'. A cavernous space that housed what looked to be hundreds of cars. Twilight then spent about 10 minutes looking over random vehicles before choosing a plain black car. Needless to say, they almost all looked to be black in that light. "Get in." She gave me a stern look and I just did as she said.

The drive to her place seemed to be taking forever, with constant turns and sometimes we would go through an intersection we had just seen a few minutes prior. "I don't want to sound like I'm complaining or anything... but aren't we just going 'round in circles?"

Twilight looked at me for a moment, then nodded. "You noticed it then? I drive like this everyday on my way home." Her tone was very serious and made me feel a bit worried. "In the last 2 years I have been... targeted by the Mafia. They've made 5 attempts on my life since I became Captain and took charge of the investigation's on them."

"5 attempts? Like, trying to kill you kind of attempts?"

"That's right. I wanted to tell the Commissioner that you would be safer in another ponies care, maybe Applejack or Mac's, but... if you can help me with my magic then it just might be worth it."

"Worth it? You serious?" I began to rub my forehead, there was a storm brewing in my head and it was only going to get worse. "You're putting my life on the line just so I can teach you few more magic tricks? I don't feel comfortable with this arrangement, I wasn't even asked to do this. Just told to do it. I want nothing to do with what is happening here, I just want to be sent back home."

The car came to a stop and Twilight turned to push he hoof against my throat. "The Commissioners brought you here to help us. We need you to cooperate. Do you think I wanted to be put in charge of this investigation? I didn't even want to come to New Canterlot but I'm here anyways. Life isn't fair, Midnight. We don't get what we want, we only get what we need and right now we need you. I need you."

I sputtered and nodded. "A-alright... I'll do what I... can. Can't... breathe..." I could feel my eyes rolling back into my head and Twilight could see it. She quickly lowered her hoof and gave me a shameful look.

"I'm sorry... everything has been so stressful the last couple months." She started up the car and continued her random turning routine. "We've lost many good officers to the mob, not just in firefights but some have left to join up with them. A couple of them used to be friends of mine." I could hear the bitterness in her voice and knew this was a painful subject for her so I chose not to pursue it any further. Not right now anyway. "We'll be at the apartment in a couple minutes. I know you're wondering why I was making so many random turns. I do it to confuse and make it difficult for cars to follow me home. Every attempt on my life was at my old homes after the mob had followed me there. I also tend to drive a different car everyday to try a throw them off my trail."

That made sense. Actually, it seemed rather brilliant. Simple, yet brilliant. The car stopped for a second time and I looked out into the dark to see a three story brick building. "Welcome to my humble abode." Twilight got out of the car first so she could assist me in climbing the stairs to her apartment. Of course it had to be on the third floor, and no working elevator either, wonderful.

We finally reached the third floor and entered her apartment, thank Celestia it was the first door. The place was a mess and here I thought my lab was bad. Books and papers were strewn about the place, it was obvious that she didn't have time for cleaning. "Wow... it's like a library exploded in here..."

"And this is one of the reasons I didn't want anyone here... I haven't had the chance to do any cleaning since I took this position and it's only gotten worse." Twilight motioned to a door to her right. "This shall be your room, for the time being. And the bathroom is at the end of the hall." She then pointed her hoof, past me, at a door behind me. "The kitchen is through there, but there isn't much to eat at the moment. I also don't get time to by groceries."

I just kept looking around, taking it all in before looking at Twilight. "You know... I could help you organize all of this..." I looked at the stacks of papers that covered the table in the middle of the room. "All you need to do is tell me what is most important to least important..."

She gave me a relieved look but that changed to worry. "Do you think you could do all that by tomorrow? The Commissioner's will want to..."

"No." I cut her off and gave her a very deadpan look. "I'm not ready to go back and talk about everything that's been happening here. I've only just been released from the hospital, and I need time to let everything sink in and register with my brain." Turning away from her, I walked over to a window and looked out into the city of New Canterlot. From inside, it looked like an amazing city. It had it's own beauty to it. "I may need a couple of days to get everything sorted out." My body was beginning to shake again, I wasn't going to be able to stand for much longer so I sat on my haunches and looked out into the city.

"I... understand, and I'll let the Commissioner's know of this..." Twilight walked up next to me and placed her hoof on my shoulder. "I'm sorry for trying to push you to do something like this..." She became silent for a moment and looked through the window with me. I ended up looking at her for a moment and the light coming through the window made her look so gorgeous, but she looked so sad. She turned away from the window and walked over to a desk, that was covered in even more paper and books than the table in the middle of the room. "If you do start organizing, could you start here? I'm not sure which is more important anymore so you might have to read through some of it."

I had another deadpan look on my face.

"Midnight, please. I'm being serious. I'm not trying to force you to do anything right now, but... if you read into these case files, you'll understand more about what has been happening in New Canterlot. You don't have to though, it's just a suggestion."

I looked away for a minute, then shakily got back on my hooves and walked to my new room. "I'll... think about it, Ms. Sparkle... but right now, I'm going to get some much needed sleep. If you'll excuse me." I pushed open the door and was surprised at how clean the room was. It was small but liveable, yet at that point I didn't care about anything but getting some sleep. I swear that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wasn't sure what time of day it was when I woke up, but my body felt amazing. Stiff but still amazing. I stretched as best as I could, my muscles throbbed when I tried to do anything more strenuous than lifting my legs to my chest. The best part of it all was my mind was clear and working at its best.

I wasn't being chased by a car, wasn't getting shot at or kicked or cut up with knives. I was just alone in Twilight Sparkle's apartment. The thought of being alone in her apartment made me giddy like a young colt, but that feeling quickly passed as I started to organize her desk. She asked me to start there and I hated being surrounded by a mess.

After about 4 hours I had managed to organize half the books that were in the room, I was surprised the desk hadn't collapsed from the shear amount of weight it was previously holding. I then started on the papers, but seeing as I didn't know what Twilight used them for I had no choice but to start reading them. Criminal reports. Murder investigations. Rape victims. Each paper depicted horrible and insidious events that I never thought could have existed, let alone ponies actually doing these things.

My stomach was churning as I continued to read when I finally came across a folder. Raz the Butcher. I knew I shouldn't read what was inside, I didn't want to read it. But I wanted to know what this pony had done to get his name. I realized that all I needed to do was look in the mirror, look at what he had done to me. The detailed reports on all his victims, with several graphic pictures, now littered the desk. Dozens of innocent ponies, brutalized and tortured because he thought it was fun. That was all I needed to lose the contents of my stomach.

I rushed into the kitchen, seeing as it was the closest room I could get to, and threw up in the sink. Turning the tap on I just left my head under the water, letting the coolness calm my nerves. I had even found the file on myself, the only survivor of the Butcher. I took a few sips of water to relieve the taste that was in my mouth. I needed to eat something, even after seeing those files, just so I could calm myself. Twilight was right, there wasn't much in there.

I helped myself to what I could, not wanting to deprive Twilight of her own dinner later. While I looked through the rather empty fridge, I saw a bottle of transparent bronzish liquid. It looked very similar to the drinks the Commissioners had the other day, and I wondered what its appeal could be. I levitated the bottle out and removed the cap, then gave it a small sniff. It was strong and definitely some sort of alcohol. I looked at the worn label. Whiskey. Although the smell seemed to turn me away at first, it soon became very aromatic and rather alluring. 'It must be a good drink, so let us have a drink.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't know what time it was when Twilight returned to the apartment, but it was very dark outside the window. Without those street lamps it would look to be an empty void. I was sitting on my haunches, looking out the window when she opened the door. The bottle of whiskey floating near my head. "Midnight? Are you..." She stopped for a moment, me looking back wondering what the noise was. She had a small smile on her face, very cute. "Wow, you managed to clean up this much in just a day? That's amazing, how did you do it?" Her smile faded as she looked at me, the bottle raising to my lips. Whiskey was such a wonderful drink. "Are you drinking?"

I tried to stand, but all I could manage was a stumble so I just turned my whole body around instead. "Yes.... yes I am..." The bottle floated towards Twilight. "Care for a ship? *Hic!*"

"You're drunk! How could you be drunk at a time like this! We need you to be at your best, not wallowing in self pity." She went to grab the bottle but I pulled it back, with a hurt look.

"Pity? *Hic!* I'm not... not wallowing in anything..." I tilted the bottle with my magic and downed the last of the bottle, it burned the entire way down but if felt so good. "Did you read that... that... that folder there? That one about that... butcher pony..."

"No, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet... why?" Twilight glared at me as she walked over to the desk.

"Just... read the damn thing... you'll understand..." I let the magic around the bottle fade and watched it fall harmlessly onto the floor. My body wobbled back and forth as I watched Twilight read through the file.

She didn't take long. "I... don't understand what you mean, Midnight... this is just..." She made it to the last pages of the file and let out a gasp, then looked at me with pity and horror. "You?"

I nodded slowly. "Me..." My horn glowed green again as knife began to float up from behind me. "The only survivor... me... why? Why not one of the other victims..." The knife was serrated, just like the one that was used on him and all the other dead ponies.

"Midnight... put the knife down... please..." Twilight slowly back away from the desk then towards me, cautiously.

"Why? What did I do to deserve being spared?" Nothing could hold back the tears, and the magic around the knife flickered and disappeared. The knife landed a few inches from one of my legs. "Please... tell me why I had to live..."

When the knife hit the floor Twilight moved in and embraced me in a hug. "I'm so sorry... I didn't know that was what the Commissioner's were talking about..." I wept into her chest. I looked so pathetic, but honestly since I first arrived that's all I was. Pathetic.

I wanted to change that though. The victims were all very smart, well educated ponies with degrees ranging from business to theoretical physics. As I calmed down, I pulled my face away from her to take a breath. "Did... did you notice a pattern... with the victims?"

Twilight pushed herself back, leaving her hooves on my shoulders. "Pattern? No... I didn't see anything like that..."

She needed to figure it out, it was obvious but even the most obvious answers are hard to discover. "Look over... the files again... tomorrow..." I took another breath and looked up at her with my bloodshot eyes. "Tomorrow, I'll talk to the Commissioner's... I can't let this continue..." With the strength I had left, I got to my hooves and staggered to my room. Again I fell sleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, well I presumed it was morning as it didn't seem quite as dark as the day before, I had a throbbing headache and discovered quickly how much I didn't enjoy that feeling. That, however, wasn't going to keep me from drinking. I just wouldn't drink as much next time. That was when Twilight came into my room with a set of clothes. "You should wear this. You should at least look presentable."

The was a crisp white shirt, just my size, with a black tie laying next to it. Next to that was a matching black jacket to wear over the shirt. I put them on and readied the neck tie, always a pain to put on but I had learned to tie it first before putting it on so to lessen the annoyance of it. I turned to a small mirror in the room and grinned, it was a fine looking suit. I tucked the tie into my jacket and turned to the beige trench-coat on the bed, it wasn't the one I wore when I arrive and it looked brand new. I put it on and turned back to the mirror, for a moment I thought I looked like Mac when I first saw him. I gave a light chuckle and turned to leave the room when I saw a hat in the corner. A fedora to be exact, it was well kept and seemed to be my size but it didn't belong to me. Still, I wouldn't mind having something to keep my mane from getting out of control.

"Twilight?" I stepped out of the room for a moment, she wasn't even looking at me.

"Yes? Is something wrong with the clothes?" She was looking through some of the files I had organized the night before.

"Actually, no, they're a perfect fit. Thank you." I smiled and levitated the hat out of the room. "I was wondering if I could borrow this hat for a while."

She looked up to see my getup and for a moment I thought I saw her blush. "Hat?" She saw it hovering by the door. "Oh... that old thing..." She had a sentimental look on her face as she stared at the fedora.

"I don't really need a hat for that matter, Ms. Sparkle. If you don't want me to use it that's quite alright..." The fedora then levitated back into the room.

"No!" I was a bit startled by her outburst, looking at her as she regained her composure. "No, really, it's alright. You can have it. It used to belong to my old mentor, he was an amazing detective in his day."

I nodded. "Thank you. So, what happened to your mentor?" I lowered the hat onto my head, it was just the right size.

"He retired, became too old to do the job anymore and didn't want to sit at a desk doing nothing. He then passed away about 3 years ago." I adjusted the hat so that it covered my horn while still giving me most of my sight.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I walked back into the room and took one last moment to admire myself in the mirror. I really dug what I was seeing.

"Thank you for that, Midnight."

"Not at all, Ms. Sparkle." I then walked back out and looked at Twilight. "So... what do you think?"

I did what I could to keep myself from laughing. The look she had was the same as when I spoke to the Commissioner's. I could definately see her face was flushed. "Um... well... you look, presentable... very handsome."

"Thank you, Ms. Sparkle." I grinned and straightened my posture.

"And please stop calling me 'Ms.Sparkle', please just call me Twilight. You make me sound old... would you like it if I called you Mr. Tempest?"

I cocked an eyebrow and thought about it for a second, that name didn't sound so bad but I still preferred just Midnight. "I wouldn't mind it, myself but I do prefer just being called Midnight. So... shall we go see the Commissioner's then?"

Getting to the station was faster than leaving it. Apparently, Twilight didn't mind being direct to work but was more cautious on the way home. When we entered I was getting a large amount of stares from just about everypony there. It felt a little embarrassing but kind of good, empowering really. Some even called me Detective, I didn't want to say I wasn't so I just nodded to them.

We entered the elevator and I took the time to make sure I was, 'presentable' as Twilight put it. The doors slide open and I walked just behind Twilight towards the double doors at the end of the hall. There were a couple ponies here as well, giving me the same looks I got in the lobby. Twilight then used her magic to open the door to the office, showing not just the Commissioner's but Applejack and Mac as well.

Celestia smiled as I entered the room and Luna stepped out in front of her desk, she had a more surpised smile on her face. Most likely at the way I was dressed. The door closed and I looked around the room. I grinned and gave a nod to Applejack and Mac. "Good to see you both again."

"Likewise." Applejack took up her signature pose and smiled back.

"Eeyup." Mac pushed the brim of his fedora up with his hoof and grinned.

I looked at the Commissioner's for a moment before seeing two object just to the side and behind Luna. "We assume that you are willing to cooperate, Mr. Tempest?"

"Of course." I knew at that point there was no turning back, I was taking the side I believed to be right. Justice had to be maintained and the weak needed to be protected from the corrupt. I may not be the right stallion for the job, but even one more set of hooves working to clean up a dangerous and crime-laden city was welcome at this point. "So... when do I start, Commissioner's?"

Celestia's horn glowed and the two objects hovered over to me. A badge saying I was now a Detective of the New Canterlot Police, and a revolver. I looked at the revolver and my mind cringed, but I knew I had to learn to use such a thing. Even if only for self-defense. "You start today, Mr. Tempest."

I was given a holster for the gun and put it on under my jacket, just below my left shoulder. "Perfect... and one last thing, Commissioners. Please, call me Midnight."