Chapter 10
Shield was waiting in the hospital lobby for the doctor’s report on Colgate, he was soon joined by Comet She rushed up to him with a worried look on her face.
“Shield how is she?”
“I don’t know, the doctor is still looking her over.”
“What happened?”
“Rarity and I went home, Rainbow was there keeping an eye on Sweetie Belle until we got back and when I opened the door for them to leave, Colgate was standing there with her hair matted, she had a black eye and her dress was torn.” Comet put a hoof to her mouth in surprise. “I’m assuming she was raped.” a doctor in a white lab coat trotted over to them. “How is she doc?”
“Nothing life threatening but....” he bit his lip at the next part.
“But what?”
“We found traces of semen in her vaginal wall. We’ve used the ‘morning after’ spell on her so theres no chance of pregnancy.” Shield let out a sigh.
“Can we see her?”
“Yes but don’t ask anything too....descriptive. She’s still in a very fragile state.” he said as he led the two to the hospital room.
“Relax doc. This isn’t my first rape case.” he said as the doctor stopped in front of the door. Shield opened it to see a dazed blue unicorn mare. Shield and Comet trotted over to her with sympathy in their eyes. “Hey Colgate, how are you feeling?” she looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“Better.....all things considering.”
“Look I know this isn’t the best time but we need some information so we can find out who did this and catch them.” he said as he grabbed a chair and sat down next to the mare. “Do you remember anything?” Colgate took a moment to collect herself.
“I remember leaving the dance.......I got to my house and started unlock my door....I felt a hoof grab me from behind and then...” she started to cry. Shield put a hoof on her shoulder.
“I know this is hard but did you see anything? Coat color? Mane color? Anything?”
“No....it was dark. But who ever it was has access to drugs.”
“What makes you say that?”
“They used medical grade anesthetic to knock me out. I’ve worked with it everyday since I started as a dentist, I’d know that scent anywhere.” Shield made a note of it.
“Okay that narrows the search, anything else?” Colgate closed her eyes and thought.
“I....I think it was a pegasus. I....think I felt a wing......and I think I saw some sort of flash of light. I can’t remember anything else.” she said wiping the tears away.
“It’s okay Colgate. Don’t worry this isn’t Shield’s first rape case. We’ll get him.” Comet said as she gave her a quick hug. The two inspectors left the hospital and trotted into Ponyville. “Were you serious? That you’ve had rape cases before.”
“Yeah and trust me it’s never pretty. Does Colgate have any family? Roommate maybe?”
“Yes, Berry Punch, they live right next to the quill and furniture shop.”
“That’s where were headed then.” Comet led Shield to a cream colored building located next to the shop she had mentioned. Shield knocked on the door and a maroon colored mare with a magenta mane answered it.
“Hello?”
“Morning ma’am. I’m Inspector Shinning Shield, this is my partner Comet Shooter.” he said as he held out his badge. “Would you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“S-sure, come on in.” she said as she led them inside. “How can I help you?”
“You’re Colgate’s roommate correct?”
“Yes. Why?” Shield glanced at Comet and gave a sigh.
“I’m sorry to tell you this but....Colgate was attacked last night.” Berry put a hoof to her mouth in surprise.
“What do you mean attacked?”
“She was raped.” Comet trotted over and put a hoof on the mares shoulder as she began to cry. “I know that this is a tough time, but we need some information.”
“O-okay I’ll tell you what I know. Is she-”
“She’s okay. Hospitalized, but okay. Do you know any-pony that would want to hurt Colgate?”
“No. She’s always been kind to every-pony.”
“No jealous ex-colt friend? Disgruntled client or employee?” Berry rubbed her chin for a moment.
“Well, there was Red Wing.”
“Who?”
“He was a nurse at her job. She fired him three months ago.”
“What did she fire him for?”
“I don’t know, Colgate never really talkes about her work that much. But I do remember her complaining about him a lot.”
“Anything specific?”
“No....nothing specific.” Shield got to his hooves and shook the mares hoof.
“Thank you for the information ma’am. We’ll be sure to let you know when we’ve solved this mess. If you think of anything else-”
“I’ll be sure to tell you. What room is Colgate in at the hospital?”
“C18 on the second floor.”
“Thank you Inspector’s.” she said as the two ponies got to their hooves and exited the mares house as they did a small light blue colt with a camera around his neck walked up to them.
“Are you Inspector Shield?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Shady Daze and I think I can help you.” Shield let out a sigh.
“Look Shady, I know you want to be a cop but-”
“I’m a photographer and I can help you.”
“Okay I’ll bite, how?” he said as he rolled his eyes.
“I saw who attacked Dr. Colgate.” Shields eyes shrank.
“What? Who was it?”
“I don’t know, but I can show you.” he trotted off towards towards an alleyway with Shield and Comet behind him. “I was walking home last night when I heard some weird noises, It was too dark to see so I used the flash from my camera to give me some more light.”
“So you have his picture?”
“Yeah, it still needs to be developed though.”
“We’ll go do that after we have a quick look around in here.” Shield and Comet entered the alleyway and began poking around in the trash, Shady helped as well. “Shady, how did you know who I was?”
“Well your kind of a celebrity around here and I was wondering If I could take your picture for the Foal Free Press.”
“The what?”
“It’s the school news paper.” Comet answered.
“I don’t usually do interviews....but I’ll make an exception just this once.” he said with a smile. He moved a trash bag and found a light blue piece of fabric. “Bingo.” he picked the cloth up and put it in a small plastic bag. He continued to rifle through the trash. “Comet, I think I found something.” Comet and the colt rushed over to him, he held up a red pegasus feather. “Shady, with your permission I’d like to have that film roll so it can be developed soon.” the colt complied and took the film canister out of the camera and gave it to the stallion. “Thank you, Comet go check on Colgate, she if she remembers that Red Wing character and get that rape kit, we’ll compare it with the feather. see if theres a match.”
“On it.”
“What about me?” Shady asked.
“You’ve done enough, go home. I’ll come back later with the film okay?” he said as he put a hoof on the colts shoulder.
“Okay.” he said as he trotted out of the alleyway with a smile on his face.
“What about you?”
“I’m gonna run by forensics and see if they can dig up anything on our feathered friend, then I’ll develop the photos.” he said as he trotted out of the alleyway, Comet smiled at him. “What?”
“Nice to see your sensitive side once in a while.”
“I have a soft spot for kids, what of it?”
“Nothing. It’s just nice to see that you’re not made of stone like I thought.” Shield stopped moving and glared at the mare. “I guess you must see a lot of yourself in Shady and Scootaloo.”
“No, and I’m thankful for that. No pony should have to go through the things I have had to endure.” He then took flight leaving behind a bewildered unicorn mare. Shield landed in front of the police station to see Rarity waiting for him. He trotted up to her with an uneasy look on his face, she was talking to a pony with a cloak draped over him. As she saw him she trotted over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Shield there you are, how’s Colgate?”
“She’s shaken up right now but otherwise fine.”
“Was she really-”
“Yes unfortunately. But I have a pretty good idea who did it, I just need to get the evidence.” he then noticed the hooded pony standing next to her. “Friend of yours?”
“No. But I am an old colleague.” a familiar voice said. Shield looked at the stallion with a confused look on his face, his brain connected the dots.
“Gizmo is that you?” the stallion took his hood off and revealed his dark green friend. He trotted forward shook his hoof. “Good to see you Gizmo.”
“Likewise, I was just chatting with your friend here.” Rarity cleared her throat in a loud tone.
“Right, Gizmo allow me to introduce Rarity. She’s my mare friend.” he said as he put a hoof on her back. The green stallion looked at him in surprise.
“Really? Well I’m happy for you it’s been what three years since-” Shield made the ‘slicing throat’ gesture with his hoof. “Anyway, I’m happy for you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“This.” he then withdrew a package with a pair of odd vambraces inside of it. “Say hello to gauntlet 2.0. When I got it I decided to play around with the design a bit. I decided to upgrade it.” he said with a smile, Shield put them on his front hooves and looked them over. He aimed the ‘wing clipper at a nearby tree, the ends wrapped around it. “They’re a lot stronger and faster, also if they detect any kind of resistance they squeeze harder.” Rarity put her head closer to his and started to whisper.
“I can think of a few other uses for that.” she said as she gave him a seductive smile. Shield blushed at the statement, he then noticed a long barrel running down the right ones underside.
“What’s this for?”
“Oh....that was a request by Chief Bronze.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a.....Hoof-cannon.”
“What?”
“Hoof-cannon.”
“Speak up!” he yelled.
“It’s a Hoof-cannon!” Shield rolled his eyes and glared at the green unicorn. “The Chief ordered me to add it”
“You know how I feel about these things!”
“I know. Bronze is just looking out for you.” Rarity was looking at them in confusion.
“Okay what is a Hoof-cannon?” Shield pointed the vambrace at a nearby trash can, suddenly Rarity heard a loud bang and saw that there was a tiny hole in the metal can. Rarity looked in surprise. “My word that could kill some-pony.”
“That’s what it’s supposed to do.” he said in a flat tone. “Look guys, I gotta get this stuff down to forensics so I can nail this guy. We’ll talk later.” he gave Rarity a quick kiss and trotted inside the building. Rarity looked at Gizmo with a surprised look on her face. Shield walked into the forensics lab and looked at the ponies in white lab coats. “Morning fellas, I need you to run a test on this pegasus feather and the hospital has a rape kit that has to be processed. I want you to compare the two and look for similarities in the DNA strands.” The ponies nodded and took the feather and began to work on it. Shield left the room and decided to go and develop the photo’s that Shady had taken the night before.
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Back outside Rarity was walking through Ponyville with Gizmo next to her.
“So Gizmo, you’ve known Shield for a long time?”
“Yeah since the academy days, seems so long ago.” he was cut off by Comet trotting up next to them.
“Hey Rarity.”
“Hello Comet what brings you here?”
“I’m on my way to hospital to check on Colgate.” she then noticed the other green unicorn. “Who’s this?”
“This is Gizmo he’s an old friend of Shield’s from Manehattan.” Comet’s eyes lit up at the statement.
“Really? You were his partner?”
“Oh no. I’m in charge of R&D and cataloging information.” he said with a smile.
“So your at a desk all the time.”
“Yeah, it’s interesting. I’m the one that process all the information that goes through the system.” he said with a smile. “So how do you know Shield Miss...”
“My names Comet Shooter and I’m his partner.” Gizmo stared at the mare in surprise.
“You’re his partner? That’s surprising.” Comet looked at him with a frown.
“Why’s that?” she said in an annoyed tone.
“Well he hasn’t had a good track record with partners.”
“How many partners has he had?” she asked
“Other than you? One, his name was Armored Angel.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died.” Rarity and Comet looked at each other with concern.
“How?”
“Sorry classified.” he said as he adverted his gaze.
“Well how long ago did he die?”
“Around two years ago.”
“And he hasn’t had another partner since?”
“Nope. Not since you anyway.”
“What can you tell us about him?” Gizmo took a second to
“Those two stallions were the best of friends, best cops in all of Manehattan. He took Angel's death really hard.”
“How long were they partners for?” Rarity asked.
“Since they graduated.”
“What do you know about him?”
“Not much, they were best friends since they were foals, went through school together, fought crime together.
“Shield mentioned he had a mare friend back in Manehattan. What happened to her?” Rarity asked.
“Dead.”
“How?”
“Sorry, classified.”
“Ugh! Why is everything in his personal life red tagged?” Comet yelled.
“Listen missy. Shield’s life has been far from happy, he lost his partner, his mare friend. Everything! So I think he deserves to have a little secrecy.” he said as he glared at the mares through his glasses. “Just forget I mentioned anything.”
“Now wait just a second-” Comet said as she was cut off.
“Isn’t there a patient you should be seeing Inspector?” he said in a cold tone. Comet was about to protest but soon stormed off towards the hospital. Rarity glared at him in surprise. “Sorry Rarity, but I can’t talk about it. I could loose my job if I did, y’know breach in security”
“I suppose I understand.”
“Is there anyplace where I can sit down for a while?”
“There’s a library not to far from here.”
“Perfect. Lead the way.” he said as he followed the white mare.
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Comet entered the hospital in a foul mood and began thinking to herself. Ugh! What is with these Manehattan cops!? Do they not have decency over there!? She opened the hospital door to see Colgate reading a magazine, she smiled as she entered.
“Hey hows the investigation?”
“We found a few things, Shield’s over at the station running a scan on a a clue we found. I came by to ask you a few more questions.”
“Sorry but I’ve already told you all I know.”
“Not about last night, about a nurse you let go a few months ago. A stallion named Red Wing.” Colgate’s face turned sour at the name.
“Ugh, him! That guy is a real creep.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“He tried hitting on me for weeks, I didn’t want anything to do with him, then I caught him stealing medical supplies. I fired him ASAP.”
“What did he steal?”
“Painkillers, dental instruments and some anes-” she stopped as she connected the dot’s. “He did this to me!?” she said as she began to shake in rage
“Colgate calm down! It’s just a theory we don’t have any proof yet!” she said as she tried to calm the mare down. “Shield is examining the clues we found right now and I’m off to get the rape kit for analysis. I promise you we will find out who did this to you and lock them up!” Colgate seemed to back off at this statement. “I promise you that we will find him.” With that Comet left the room and trotted over to Nurse Red Heart.
“How can I help you Inspector?”
“I need to pick up Colgate’s rape kit results.”
“Sure, one moment please.” The white mare began to go through the files and withdrew them from the grey filing cabinet. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Comet started to read the files, she tucked the file into her bag and trotted out of the hospital towards the police station.
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Back in Ponyville Rarity and Gizmo entered the massive library. Gizmo looked in amazement at the collection, his eyes then fell upon the gorgeous lavender unicorn mare sitting at the front desk. She looked up and waved them over with a smile on her face.
“Hey Rarity” she then noticed the green stallion standing next to her. “Who’s this?” she said in a cheery tone.
“My name is Gizmo. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss...”
“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you Gizmo.” she said with a small blush.
“Gizmo here used to work with Shield in Manehattan.” Rarity said.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re a cop.”
“No, I’m in charge of R&D and information processing for the MPD.”
“What do you do for them.”
“I catalogue information for the police department. Evidence, criminals and officers. I’m kind of like a librarian for the law.” he said with a smile.
“And the R&D?”
“I design new ways for the officers to defend themselves against criminals.”
“That must take some brains.” she said with a smile.
“Well I’m not one to brag but.....I’ve got a 150 I.Q.” he said with an embarrassed look on his face. Twilight’s jaw dropped.
“Really? I’ve got a 155 I.Q.”
“Why are you a librarian then?”
“Well, I’m still a student to the princess.” it was Gizmo’s turn to be impressed.
“You’re Princess Celestia’s private pupil!?”
“Yes.” she said with a blush.
“Well it’s an honor to meet you Ms. Sparkle.” he said as bowed.
“Oh stop...Twilight’s just fine.” she said with a blush. Rarity rolled her eyes. “So did you two need help with something?”
“Just killing time until Shield is done with his analysis.” Gizmo said as he looked around the library.
“What analysis?”
“Sorry Twilight police work.” Gizmo said with a confused look.
“Yet another thing you won’t tell us about him.” Rarity said in an annoyed tone.
“What’s she talking about?” Twilight said as she looked at the two unicorns.
“Look Rarity I know, you're his mare-friend and all but-”
“But nothing, I’m tired of all the secret’s he’s keeping and you have the answers. I want to hear them!” Rarity said as she glared at the green stallion.
“Look ladies if I did that not only would my job be jeopardized, but so will Shields. If the higher ups ever caught wind of his history they would sweep him under the rug like a pile of dust.” he said in an annoyed tone.
“What do you mean? What happened to him?” Gizmo rubbed his head in frustration.
“Okay you can ask me one thing. One thing about Shield that you want to know.”
“What happened to his mare-friend back in Manehattan?” Rarity asked.
“She died, right in front of him.” Rarity and Twilight looked in shock. “He watched helplessly as she was tortured and killed in front of his eyes.” he adverted his gaze from the mares who’s eyes began to fill with tears. “That’s all I know about that operation.”
“What operation?”
“It happened during one of his missions when he was part of the APU. It was called ‘Operation Black Cloud’. That’s all I know about it unfortunately, if you want details you’ll either have to ask Shield or Chief Bronze.” the mares looked at him in confusion.
“How did he deal with the loss?” Rarity asked.
“He became a recluse, never smiled, never forgave himself for failing to protect her.” he said in a sad tone. “He was known as the ‘Phantasm of Manehattan’ he became cold as ice and unmerciful. I swear if I hadn’t seen him bleed then I would have thought he wasn’t even alive. He had this constant look in his eye like he was dead, there was no....spark behind it, just a husk.” he said in a sad tone. The ponies eyes started to well up in tears.
“Oh really?” a voice said coming from the doorway. The unicorns looked in horror as they saw an angered black pegasus stallion staring at them.
