//------------------------------//
// A Kick to the Teeth 
// Story: Bloodhound: The Mare in the Mirror 
// by Mind Jack 
//------------------------------//

Bloodhound slept on the garage floor. She'd tried to get up, but her legs were too shaky. So she stayed there.

Her dreams were not gentle with her. They were unsteady, and unclear, but she still felt herself perish of a million different poisons, each time staring at herself in the mirror, and somehow feeling she'd cast the spell herself. 

She didn't remember what scared her awake. But when she finally returned to the waking world, she was in her actual bed, in her room. Rudy gave a startled titter at the yell of alarm she gave.

Bloodhound's heart was racing as she looked around, confused and terrified.

She almost fainted when she saw the figure next to her, until she realized it was her mother. 

Fireball was asleep, sitting in a chair, twitching and drooling slightly.

Though hesitant, Bloodhound reached over to prod her with a hoof.

After about a dozen prods, Fireball spluttered as she woke, looking around almost as frantically as Bloodhound had. But she recovered much more quickly. "Eh… Houndsy! You're up!"

Bloodhound found herself being looked over with a brisk, worried pace. It was a little comforting. But she couldn't get over the damage last night had done to her personal morale. She was about as "up" as the majority of an anthill. Her body felt like it was covered in drying cement.

"What happened to you?" Fireball demanded. "I found you on the floor in the garage, and the dressing room mirror was smashed! Was there some kind of break-in?"

Bloodhound laid back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "The killer came after me."

Fireball had clearly not expected that answer. Bloodhound had never seen the blood turn to ice in a person's veins before.

“What happened?” she asked again. There was an unmistakable firmness to her tone, but even in her current state Bloodhound knew it wasn’t being directed at her. Fireball wanted to be more of a mother, and now she was reacting exactly as a mother would. 

Bloodhound wasn’t sure if that made it easier or harder to explain this to her. But explain she did, the words pouring out before she could even process them. It wasn’t all that coherent, but it was accurate to her mental state at the time, and her mental state now. Fireball seemed to understand it just fine, which was good as Bloodhound lost the ability to speak shortly thereafter, just staring blankly upwards. 

She didn’t notice Fireball move at all until she suddenly felt her hoof touch down on her shoulder. “Bloodhound. It’s alright. You’re safe now.” Again, her voice didn’t betray much emotion, but Bloodhound had no doubt that she meant it. Or that she’d swiftly throw herself atop anypony or anything that threatened to contradict her. 

That was enough for now. “Thank you, Mother." 

Fireball nudged her. "Come on. Up you come. I know how you're feeling right now, and lying in bed won't help."

Bloodhound reluctantly allowed herself to be herded out of bed, and downstairs to the kitchen. 

Fireball made her a cup of tea. "Drink. You need something warm in you."

Bloodhound didn't really know how a hot drink was going to help existential dread, but she obeyed. It did help a little, by clearing up some of the mental and physical numbness that she felt. 

"You'll want to file a report about the attack when you get to work," Fireball explained. "I'll go with you, and show you what to do. I've done it before."

"..." Bloodhound hung her head. 

Fireball didn't need Bloodhound to speak to know what she was thinking. She put a hoof on Bloodhound's chin, tilting her head up to make eye contact. "Houndsy. I want you to think about something. Right now, you feel terrified, and humbled. Like you don't belong, because someone did something like this to you. Right?"

Bloodhound didn't need to nod.

"But look at it like this: That happened, and, you're still here. You went through a deadly attack on your own life, and you came out the other side with barely a scratch on you."

That... wasn't something Bloodhound had considered. But a simple pep talk wasn't going to scrape off the scar that the killer had left on her confidence.

"You know, Bloodhound... Sprout would be proud of you," Fireball pointed out. "Not only are you making your way in the world, but you're in the position to really do some good."

Sprout...

The name didn't make her feel better. But it did remind her why she was doing this. 

That odd feeling returned again. The one from the restaurant, when she'd interrogated Golden Lace. It was like a fire in her belly, that slowly began to boil her blood.

Bloodhound's upper lip curled, baring her teeth. She slammed her hooves on the table, making the teacup bounce and spill a little. 

Fireball didn't even jump. She just watched understandingly.

At long last, Bloodhound understood that fire in her gut. She knew what it was. An unstable cocktail of grief, anger, and frustration combined to form a raging blaze of one, single emotion:

Hatred.

The fire didn't die out. Bloodhound's hooves got up from the table, despite the weight of her own inadequacy. She was increasingly finding lately that her hooves tended to know best, so she let them lead. "...I need to get dressed. Is my uniform clean?"

"Well, the washing machine is still broken. As for your uniform..." Fireball laid it out across the back of the nearest chair. It was not only clean, but freshly ironed as well. "I had no doubt you'd be ready to go back out there today."

Hearing Fireball give her that extra confidence boost was enough to get Bloodhound dressed and out the door. She refused to be distracted by negative thoughts any longer, and if anything could provide a needed distraction, it was the hustle and bustle of Canterlot's streets.

The streets were neither hustling nor bustling that morning. 

They weren't doing much of anything really. In all her years of living here, one word that Bloodhound never thought she'd use to describe Canterlot was empty. There was nary a pony to be seen on either the streets or the sidewalks. If Bloodhound's ears were as good as her nose, she'd almost go mad from sheer sensory deprivation. "I know it felt like my world was ending, but I didn't think I actually missed the apocalypse while I was out. What's going on here?"

As if in response, a window opened on the second floor of a nearby home, a yellow filly with an orange mane poking her head outside. She wasn't even looking at her though, just tilting her head to the forlorn sky. 

And then she began to sing.

"The fear, it grips us!"

"Like a miasma everywheeeeeere!"

"The doubt, it shakes us!"

"Should we just give in to despaaaaaaaaair?"

"Lemony! None of that! Come inside!" a hushed voice called as the filly's mother pulled her away and shut the window again.

Fireball picked up a delivered newspaper that had not been collected. "Oh. That's not good."

The headline read: "SERIAL KILLER ON THE LOOSE IN CANTERLOT!!!"

"I guess it was too much to expect that the press wouldn't get word of recent happenings," Bloodhound said, sighing.

But there was definitely some bustling going on outside the Canterlot Guard HQ. A massive crowd was outside, yelling what may have been demands for answers, pleading for protection, or some attempt to give information. But, all combined, it became an incomprehensible mess of shouts and screams, like crickets and cicadas chirping at each other. 

Two Guardmares were out front, blocking the crowd from just barging in the front door.

"Won't matter if I want to come to work if I can't even get inside..." Bloodhound muttered.

“Never fear!” Merri shouted from behind them, ironically making both of them jump. “Hold on, I’ll zap us inside.”

Her horn glowed, and like that they were standing within the walls of the HQ. Fireball barely reacted. “I’m surprised you have the authorization to get past the anti-magic field they put up around the building.”

“You could call it authorization, or you could call it creativity,” Merri said, not elaborating further. “Anyway, I don’t think I need to explain what’s going on outside, but what’s up with you, Houndsy? You seem even less energetic than usual.”

Bloodhound realized she was likely going to have to recount this several more times in just one morning. But perhaps repetition would make it easier, like the stalwart march of the worker ant. Oh dear. I’m making even more bug comparisons than I normally do.

Over the course of her tale, Merrilight's face slowly slackened, and Bloodhound's voice grew more shaky. By the end, Bloodhound was barely keeping it together.

When she felt Merrilight wrap her in a hug, the bottom fell out of Bloodhound's emotional state, and she almost immediately fell into uncontrollable sobbing. 

"Houndsy?" Fireball sounded confused. 

"She's not going to turn into a soldier overnight." To Bloodhound's surprise, there was actually a bit of snap in Merrilight's voice. "She almost died. Cut her some slack. She's not going to just magically feel better."

Fireball was silent.

"Sergeant Whiskey?" said a guardstallion. "If you have some time, we would like to ask you a few questions."

Fireball was too distracted to even correct him on his improper use of her old rank. "Er... yeah. I... had better give Bloodhound some space. Find me later, and I'll help you file that report."

Bloodhound wanted to say something more, but couldn't get anything out before Fireball left her side. 

Instead, she felt Merrilight's hoof on her back again. "Hey... I know it isn't easy to bounce back from something like this. And I'm not just speaking empty platitudes here."

"You're not? I-I mean, what do you mean?"

Merrilight was a true friend for not even skipping a beat after that. "Let's just say I've been through something similar back in my early investigating days."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." It didn't seem like she was going to elaborate on that either, but she did pass Bloodhound a small card. "Here. I know a really good therapist who can help with this sort of thing. Give 'em a visit when you have the chance."

"Thanks," Bloodhound said, taking the card. She wasn't sure yet if she was just taking it to be polite or if she was actually interested, as the desire for self-help often conflicted with social anxiety. But still, the gesture was appreciated. "For now, we'd better get back to work. There's gonna be more pressure to solve this thing now than ever."

"Damn right," said Starfish from the doorway. "Luckily, I've got something that may help. I got those photos from the creepy old lady developed. There's some... interesting stuff in there."

Bloodhound perked up a little. "Great! Hopefully our killer is somewhere in there."

Starfish brought them to a room with a slide projector. "Miss..." she checked the file. "Name covered by a coffee stain. Oh well. Anyway. She took pictures of every single visitor all of her neighbors got. There are some juicy ones in here."

She flicked through the slides. Matchstick greeted a lot of ponies she recognized. All of them the absolute elite of Canterlot and beyond. Bloodhound's stomach churned a little, knowing what they were probably up to. 

"To save us some time, every single pony here is in that ledger, including the ones from the invisible list," Starfish explained.

All of them? If that was the case, then Bloodhound knew full well what to expect from the rest of this photo reel. “Is… Is my mother shown in any of them?” 

Starfish paused her almost absent-minded slide scrolling. “See for yourself,” she said, flicking through a few more until…

Well, she already knew the answer just by that response, and knew she would see Fireball pop up. So it wasn’t any surprise when she did, that damning static image capturing her meeting with another pony.

Only it wasn’t Matchstick.

It was Spiderweb.

Bloodhound's mind connected to a lot of things. Spiderweb had an extreme reaction to when she'd asked about the ledger. Fireball said she had something to confess. 

She suddenly had no doubts about what exactly Fireball needed to confess. 

"Could you two keep a very important secret?" Bloodhound said suddenly.

They both looked at her, confused. "I can," Merri confirmed with very little hesitation.

"As long as keeping it doesn't interfere with my duties," Starfish agreed after a moment.

So Bloodhound told them everything; what Lace had told her in the bathroom, how her mother had been acting, and the odd response from Spiderweb.

Starfish was silent for the entire time. "...Whomever the killer is, it looks like we may have found our motive. Everyone involved in this case so far is somehow connected to that ledger."

"Spiderweb's reaction, and that photo of her and Fireball makes both of them very suspicious," Merri said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps," Starfish agreed, scowling. "But right now we need to narrow our pool of suspects. Not expand it."

They all stood contemplating for a moment, trying to come up with something.

Bloodhound closed her eyes, thinking. Surely there had to be some way to confirm that the killer was among a certain group that they knew of.

The ledger was an option. But there was no guarantee that the killer was on it. The house party guests from Sprout's murder all had no alibi, but her house was a big place in a safe neighborhood. They rarely kept the doors locked. As for the restaurant... Hm. It was a big crowd. The killer could have slipped in. But what if I could prove they didn't? "Did the restaurant have security on-staff the night of the murders there?"

"Oh absolutely," Starfish said, nodding. "Not your average civilian security either. A professional security company."

"Are they here to be interviewed?" Bloodhound asked. "I have some questions."

"They are," Merri confirmed with a roll of her eyes. "Look for the big, stuffy pricks in black suits and sunglasses."

“Will do.” That should certainly stick out.

Of course, she may have underestimated just how many witnesses were currently crammed into the building. The crowd in here nearly rivaled the crowd outside. She wasn’t that social at the best of times and now she had to wade through a veritable sea of ponies, most of whom were likely not happy to be here. 

“Excuse me, pardon me, coming through, so sorry, please don’t shove, just trying to find… ah-ha!” 

Stuffy pricks sighted. Two bulky ponies in black suits stood against the wall, surveying the crowd as if they were still on detail. She couldn’t tell if they had sighted her yet on account of the sunglasses, which they would likely continue wearing into the night. So she cleared her throat just to avoid being rude. “Excuse me? Sirs?” 

They took no such measures. “What do you want?”

"I'm with the Watch," Bloodhound explained. "I just have a few questions."

"You that broad from the papers?" The stallion who hadn't spoken seemed suddenly interested. Bloodhound subconsciously labled him Stallion Two.

"Erm... Possibly? I didn't read it. Anyway, you two were on duty during the restaurant murders, right?"

"Yeah. We were," Stallion One confirmed. "Why?"

"Did you have all entrances and exits covered?" Bloodhound asked, a little too insistently.

"You accusin' us of lettin' the Mare in the Mirror in?" Stallion Two snapped. 

"Er... I'm assuming that's the nickname given to the killer, but... no. I'm actually hoping you didn't. Did anyone unexpected arrive at the restaurant at any time?"

"No. They didn't," Stallion One said in a dull tone. "We had every door covered. Even the kitchen, and the back door. Situation normal all night. Everypony was where they should be."

Bloodhound brightened. "Thank you! You have no idea how helpful that is!"

Their brightness level remained neutral. "You're right. We don't," Stallion Two confirmed. But Bloodhound had already left. 

She practically skipped her way back to Merri and Starfish. "I've figured something out!"

Both sat up. "What is it?" Merri said eagerly. "Come on! Spit it out!"

"Well, I spoke to the security staff," Bloodhound began. "They said that no one unexpected entered or exited the restaurant. So the Mare in the Mirror—"

"The what?" Starfish said, puzzled. 

"The killer," Bloodhound corrected. "Don't interrupt. Now, they couldn't have entered during the party. Sure, they could have entered before it, but then they couldn't have left without being seen."

"Okay?" Starfish said, confused. "Couldn't they have just teleported in or out during the power outage, then?"

"No!" Merri realized. "Because then they'd have taken the glyph off of the junction box! There would be nothing stopping them from doing it, and it would erase a good deal of their presence."

"Well, that isn't certain," Bloodhound admitted. "There are some little hiccups. Like how and when they enchanted the steam hoods and placed the power pop glyph. But it does mean that it's quite possible we can narrow our suspect list to the staff and guest list at the restaurant that night!"

"That's… still a big pool of suspects," Starfish said with a sigh. "But it's smaller than all of Canterlot. Well done, Bloodhound."

Bloodhound nodded excitedly. But her mind was still racing. Something didn't add up, but she couldn't figure out what.

The door opened behind them. "The hosts are ready for you in room six," a guardstallion announced.

Starfish nodded thanks. "Right. Let's see if we can't get to the bottom of this."





The three mares had drastically different attitudes at being in an interrogation room.

Golden Lace had, perhaps, the healthiest reaction. She was seated calmly, next to a stern-looking purple stallion with a powder blue mane, who wore a black business suit.

"Good morning, ladies," Starfish greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"You don't have to answer that," the stallion said in a snooty tone.

"I'm aware," Lace replied.

"This is ridiculous!" Aphrodite snapped, clearly furious. "You guys show up at my place and practically march me into an interrogation room! You don't seriously think one of us did this?"

"Please calm down," Starfish said calmly, notably dodging the question. "We just want to ask a few questions."

"You don't have to answer any of them," the lawyer informed.

Flip kind of just laid there.

Bloodhound cleared her throat. "Are you alright, Flip?"

Flip didn't respond for several seconds, then shook her head.

"Victims three and four were her parents," Merri whispered.

Bloodhound's heart broke for the mare, knowing exactly what she was feeling right now. The guilt. The helplessness. The weight of her limbs. How she'd even managed to come here today, Bloodhound could not guess. She wished she could comfort her, but couldn't find the words. I promise, I am going to stop whoever is doing this.

Starfish and Merri tried asking several more questions, but each was met with total stonewalling by their lawyer. So Bloodhound fell into contemplation. 

That feeling from earlier still bugged her. Something felt off about her theory that the killer had to be on the restaurant guest list. 

Maybe I should focus less on what they did, and more on what they couldn't do. Alright. Let's take it question by question, and figure out what's wrong. What can't possibly be true if the killer was on the restaurant guest list?

Hm. Starfish, Merri, Aphrodite, and myself were the last ones to arrive, and no one left. Any doors leading outside the dining room were covered by guards. So anything outside the dining room shouldn't have been possible. Not only would security have seen them, the other guests would've noticed their absence.

So what part of the crime couldn't have been done in the dining room?

Suddenly, Bloodhound piped up. "I have a question!"

"They don't have to ans—"

"Yes yes, I'm aware sir. You're doing excellent!" she assured. "But my question is for my fellow constable."

"Eh? Me?" Merri barely stopped her chair, which had been leaned back so she could put her hindhooves on the table, from falling over.

"Yes, you. You were the one who found the rune that caused the blackout," Bloodhound reminded. "Where was the fuse box?"

"Outside, by the back door," Merri replied slowly. "Had to deal with that big lug staring at me."

Suddenly, Bloodhound smelled someone nervously sweating. She wasn't sure why yet, but it was a sign that she was on the right track.

"I see. I see." Bloodhound wracked her brain. So none of the guests could have caused the blackout. Could the killer have somehow? "One last question. Those security guards, were they hired just for the party, or are they always there?"

This question was directed towards the three suspects. The lawyer started to speak up, but before he could…

"They're always there."

Flip slowly pushed her head up off the table. Her shoulders sagged, and getting up had seemingly allowed gravity to make the bags under her eyes worse. "My parents owned that restaurant. They like…liked, having the ability to throw their peers out, or refuse them entry on a whim."

The lawyer sulked. "You didn't have to answer that…" he muttered.

Bloodhound's last puzzle piece fell into place. The killer couldn't have placed the rune in the fuse box before the party. 

No one should have been able to place the rune at all.

But there is one person here who has shown that they could have.

"Sometimes fashion emergencies require a little bending of the laws of spacetime!"

"Aphrodite," Bloodhound said. "When you brought the three of us into the restaurant, you somehow got us past all security, and without anyone outside seeing us. How did you do that?"

"Whoa! H-hey!" Aphrodite got out of her seat, actually lifting into the air to hover above them. "You don't think I did this? That'd be crazy! You're crazy, Bloodhound."

Now that the accusation had been made, the smell of nervous sweat tripled, and only a third of it was from Aphrodite. "I'm not sure yet," Bloodhound admitted, leaning back in her seat. "But you're the only one who could have placed the rune that knocked out the power. If you have an alternate explanation, I would love to hear it."

She was met with very different reactions. Flip shot to her hooves, eyes wide, looking at nothing in particular. Lace's lips tightened, looking nervously over at Aphrodite, who slowly lowered back into her chair, eyes starting to tear up, and lower lip quivering. The lawyer said something, but no one was really listening to him, even though they really should have been.

Merrilight stared at Bloodhound in something like awe. "Did… did you just catch the killer?"

"Bloodhound!" Starfish said scoldingly. "May I speak with you outside a moment?"

Bloodhound frowned, but allowed herself to be led out of the interrogation room. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Not… necessarily," Starfish admitted. "But any one of those three could ruin all three of our careers, and if you get too intense, the lawyer may end the interview altogether."

"But… I have solid evidence!" Bloodhound protested, honestly angered at being chastised like this.

"No. You have evidence, but it can easily be denied as coincidence," Starfish corrected. "Be more careful!"

Bloodhound growled a little in frustration, actually making Starfish take a step back. "I'm onto something! I know I am! You saw how they reacted! Even if none of them are the killer, they know something. We need to get them to talk!"

Starfish hesitated. "The only reason I can think of that they'd keep quiet about something like that, is if the truth would be horrifically embarrassing. Death is often preferable to the scorn of one's peers in Canterlot."

"So what if we make the consequences for not talking even more embarrassing?" Bloodhound waved a hoof vaguely in the air. "You can't let them push you around like this just because they have pull."

Starfish bit her lip, letting out a long sigh through her nose. "It's a gamble."

"We only need one of them to talk," Bloodhound reminded. "If we can get one of them to tell us what happened, maybe the other two will open up."

Starfish slowly nodded, and the two of them re-entered the room. "After conferring with Constable Bloodhound, it's rather clear to me that the three of you know something you're not telling us," Starfish began, voice steady as she could manage. "By my guess, a secret that could damage your reputations. But, rest assured, a few weeks in a dungeon for obstruction of justice will be just as embarrassing."

Instantly, both Aphrodite and Lace looked in alarm towards the lawyer, who had his forelegs folded in a stubborn pout. "Oh, NOW you all want my advice?"

"Enough."

It was Flip who spoke. "We…" she swallowed nervously. Her legs were visibly shaking. "We…" 

She couldn't finish her sentence, but it was enough for the other two to cast their gazes down in guilt. 

"We had a plan," Aphrodite admitted. "There was gonna be a fake crime at the restaurant for Houndsy to solve, so she could dazzle everypony."

"We hired actors," Lace confirmed, tossing her mane over her shoulder, and turning her nose up to avoid making eye contact. "They took our money and ran."

"I was doing my air routine that night to try and distract everyone and buy time, but they never showed," Aphrodite said.

Flip sat down, and finally managed to speak. "We didn't find out until the night of the party." She wiped her nose on her sleeve, sniffling. "We had to improvise."

Aphrodite flared her wings, huffing in anger and frustration. "In the new plan, I was gonna be the fake killer, and Lacy was gonna be the fake victim. That's… why I placed the rune to knock out the power."

"I tried to signal that the plan was off when I saw you walk off with Lace," Flip finished. "But… Ms. DeHeart sadly misinterpreted my signal."

"In my defense," Aphrodite said, glowering at her. "—you miming cutting your throat could have meant either 'kill the plan' or 'kill the power.'"

"True." Flip finally slumped to the table, exhausted. "I'm sorry. We really should have spoken up. But we didn't want to confuse things."

Bloodhound nodded slowly as she listened. "I understand." Though frankly I'd have been mortified if that plan had gone through. "But you do realize what this means, right?"

They all shared a confused look. Even Starfish and the lawyer. But Merri had a grim grin on her face. She knew what Bloodhound was onto. 

Bloodhound continued. "If our suspicious party with the red magic is indeed the Mare in the Mirror, as seems likely based on the three enchanted cloches found on the tables, then she'd have been identified immediately had the lights been on."

"So she took advantage of the blackout. What of it?" Lace asked.

"Oh, she did indeed," Merri piped up. "But then she struck awful quick for somepony stumbling in the dark."

"Yes. They'd have had to memorize where both victims were, before the blackout," Bloodhound explained. "Which she couldn't have done… unless she expected it."

Bloodhound watched as the horrific realization dawned in every set of eyes in the room. Lace was first, and Flip was second. Both of them were rather sharp. The lawyer was next, looking as if he was about to be sick. Starfish brought up the rear, confused slacking jaw dropping even further.

Aphrodite looked between them all. "What? What's that mean?"

Flip answered for Bloodhound. "It means the Mare in the Mirror knew about our plan."

Even the ever-stoic Lace seemed shaken. "We never discussed it with the actors. It couldn't have been them."

"Was there anyone at all, besides the three of you, who knew about this?" Starfish asked.

Bloodhound jumped as Aphrodite slammed her hooves on the table, glaring around at everyone. "No! We are not bringing her into this! It'd tear her apart!"

"We don't have a choice," Lace argued. "I, for one, am not spending the night in a dungeon to protect somepony's feelings."

Aphrodite bared her teeth. The pegasus suddenly seemed a lot bigger than she was before, to the point she was intimidating even to Bloodhound.

Lace met her gaze with no sign of being cowed. "You don't scare me."

Ever so slowly, Aphrodite backed down. "Fine," she hissed. "But I won't be part of it. I'm going home."

"Ms. DeHeart, we can't allow—" Starfish began. 

But Aphrodite simply vanished. She had been there one moment, and was gone so suddenly that it startled the whole room.

Bloodhound found her voice first. "...Who was she trying to protect?"

"You," Lace replied. "There was somepony else who knew about the fake murder. The one who came up with the idea for it."

Flip forced herself up to meet Bloodhound's eyes. "Your mother. Fireball Whiskey."