//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Shades of Noire // by HapHazred //------------------------------// Dear Princess Cadence, I know I've sent you a lot of letters complaining about my job, because I've had a real hell of a life recently replete with no sleep and even less time fully awake. I know you love your home, and truth be told I do too, but when it comes to the sort of places I've been recently, Canterlot looks like an absolute scumhole. You'll get an idea for that in my previous letters: a killer on the loose, a manager harassing his workers, salt traders on the streets, it's no wonder my moods been as dark as a black - Nevermind. I was never one for clever turns of phrase anyway. The good news is, I won. And before I tell you I love you again, I'm going to tell you how. It was dawn. The pony who stood, tired yet unyielding in the dank, dark alleyway in the hidden back alleys of Canterlot had been woken up not ten minutes ago by his partner: he hadn't wasted time doing those normal things other ponies took for granted like eating, getting some coffee... brushing their teeth, their mane... No. There was no ordinary for this pony. It would have been an ordinary dawn. There wasn't anything scheduled for today: no fly-over by the Wonderbolts or any strange weather. No public events. Those had all come and gone in the past week. It was just Shining Armour's luck that he was staring at a corpse, then. He sniffed. He didn't feel like he had a right to complain: the corpse wasn't much luckier than he was, that was for sure. He sniffed again, this time paying attention to the smell in the air. He nodded apprehensively. Not exactly fresh, not really old, either. The pony looked pale, as the blood had drained from his face. Like a lot of corpses, actually, Shining recalled. Other than that, a seemingly ordinary stallion. Yellow coat, black mane. Had a cutie mark of a bee on a record disk. Probably something to do with music, Shining reckoned. Tonight, a musician died in Canterlot. And by the looks of things, somepony knows why, or rather, somepony had better know why. “Go see if you can ID this guy at one of the nearby record stations.” he ordered to one of the younger guardponies, breaking his train of thought. He felt the warm breath of his partner brush against his side, easy to sense in the cold morning air. “Private Eye, nothing else special about him?” he asked. The pony shrugged. “Nope. Just going over routine procedure, here. No ID, so we'll take him back to the docs for them to examine him, wait for any more info.” he said, his gruff voice blunt and unfeeling. Shining sighed. “Surely we can do better than that.” he muttered, approaching closer to the corpse. He gently lifted the body around to see the wound. He grimaced. A rather elongated slit, typical of a dagger. Shining would know: he had plenty of training in blade combat back at the academy. Which blade, however, remained a mystery. The docs would have a better idea, he imagined. Shining took out his pad and scribbled a few notes on it with a pencil. It took him about three seconds before he put it away again and stood up. “Stabbed in the back.” Private Eye pointed out. “A surprise attack probably. Or the killer managed to get real close.” Shining nodded. “Good catch. I'll make a note.” he said, and in a second his pad was out again, more notes were scribbled, and it returned back from whence it came. He tapped one of the beat guards on the shoulder. “Hey, mind taking this guy's description and running it through the Daily? Get somepony to ID him as quickly as possible. Have them running it today if they can.” he ordered. The pony nodded and began scribbling down as many details of the victim as possible, before trotting off towards Sun Street. Shining sighed. “I had hoped for a boring, regular day.” he muttered. Private Eye shrugged. “Ponies do bad things. Nothing irregular there.” he pointed out, grim as ever. “Not for me.” Shining replied as the sun rose slowly over Canterlot. _ Shining is now sitting at his desk. It is covered in documents, pictures, newspaper articles and letters. Some of them he will read. Others, he won't. He looked over at a familiar one he looks forward to opening: but he will only do that later. After work. Another letter catches his eye, also familiar. It doesn't solicit a similarly pleasant response, however. One more letter from the bane of Shining's existence. The little memo looked insignificant, but it annoyed him no end. He glared over at the desk on the far end of the room: the mare at the desk, a young, idealistic earth pony, was scribbling on so many documents at once Shining had no idea how she kept track. She probably didn't. Little naïve foal. How many of those documents would make his life a misery later, he wonders. It's then that he hears the loud voice of the Captain. “Shining! Get in my office!” he orders. The unicorn gets up and trots towards him, dutifully. When he enters the room, he notices that Private Eye is already there. He gives Shining a wayward glance. Shining knows the look: they've gotten more intel. “You two are on the case for the body this morning, right?” the Captain asks. Shining nods. “Yes, sir. We've compiled all the data we could gather, we're waiting for an ID, and establishing a possible area where he could have been attacked, narrow it down.” Shining said quickly. The Captain snorted. “Don't give me trivialities: you've got your case. Here's your victim: Earth Pony. Name of Schwartz.” he said, passing a file over to Shining. He quickly looked over the important details: job, picture, relationship status... he nodded, apprehensive. “Looks like you were right, Shiny. Music pony. Something about managing a radio station.” Private Eye commented. Shining didn't feel any pride from this confirmation, however. “Got it. We'll begin investigations right away.” he said. The Captain nodded. “Good. We'll be getting plenty of riots as it is... no need to add to it with this chaos.” the Captain said. Shining raised an eyebrow. “Why's that, sir?” he asked. The Captain glared. “My own professional opinion. Now, Red Tape sent you another memo about not sending the press everything before I get in the know. I expect you to heed that memo, okay? Now, get out of my office.” _ Once outside, Private Eye took the file from his partner. He began reading it through, scanning for any detail Shining could have missed. In the meantime, Shining passed by his desk and pocketed his letter, making sure only paper was inside before folding it. “Music company, huh?” Private Eye muttered. He pointed at a picture of the victim and another earth pony. The monochromatic picture didn't allow for any effective recognition aside from shape: but this pony looked refined, elegant, and utterly awkward standing next to Schwartz. “Think she's a co-worker?” he asked. Shining looked at her, scanning the body of the mare as effectively as he could. He nodded. “Treble clef cutie mark... it's likely. Or she's family. If we're lucky we'll see her when we get to the place he worked at.” Shining replied. “Boy, she looks awkward. Maybe she doesn't like getting her picture taken?” Private Eye suggested jokily. Shining, by comparison, was cold. “Or maybe she doesn't like getting her picture taken with him”, he countered. Private Eye snorted. “Not everypony is as awkward as you with ponies of the opposite sex, Shining. Maybe she needed to go to the bathroom, or something.” was his dismissive response. Shining glared, and snatched back the file as they exited the building, the bustling, sunny streets in complete contrast with their grim task. “Thanks for the reminder.” he snarled, but Private Eye just chuckled crassly. It was a few moments later when he spoke again. “Got hit with another memo, huh?” he asked. Shining sighed. “Yeah, again. I swear, one of these days that mare's going to drive me to murder.” he said, his voice bordering on an exasperated sigh. Private Eye laughed. “Don't let the Captain catch you saying that. He'll have you in irons.” Shining had no response to that. It was probably true. He looked up at the small, unassuming building laden with posters of musicians and composers on the walls. He gave a small smile. “Let's go and meet the suspects.” he said. _ The inside of the building was as small and cluttered as the outside. There was currently the faint sound of electronic music pulsating from through the walls, which Shining had to admit he was not much of a fan of. Private Eye, however, was gently banging his head in keeping with the beat. Within a few moments they ran across a young earth pony. Shining recognized the refined mare immediately from the picture, and after her initial surprise she composed herself admirably. “Ahem. Guards?” she asked, gesturing to their badges. They both nodded. “Yeah. We got a few questions for you: can you ID this pony?” asked Shining, taking out the image of the victim. He was right next to the pony before her, so he knew she could: he simply wished to see if she would. His hoof obscured her place in the picture, after all. After a brief inspection, the pony nodded. “Yes. That's Schwartz, my manager. He hasn't turned up yet, I'm afraid, he's often late.” she said, smiling wanly. Shining kept his face grave. “He won't be turning up for work today. He was found murdered in an alley, a few blocks from here.” he said. The mare widened her eyes in fright. Shining narrowed his own. Shock, he had expected. Not fright. “Oh my goodness... was it some kind of terrorist attack?” she asked. “Are we in danger?” Private Eye stopped himself from chuckling just in time. The mare's conclusion was almost pathetically over-dramatic. "Don't worry: we'll keep those commies' at bay." “No, just a regular murder for know. But we believe it was more than a mugging, so we have to run an investigation.” he explained. The mare seemed to calm down. “Oh... ahem. All right. Well, my name is Octavia... Octavia Melody. Schwartz was my manager.” she said, nodding as she talked, organizing her thoughts. Shining kept a firm eye on her. Private Eye knew the drill: he asked the questions, Shining monitored the responses. “You know why anypony might want your manager dead, Octavia?” he asked. The mare swallowed nervously. Shining took that into consideration. “Well... he wasn't the most popular pony around...” she explained. Shining didn't react: Private Eye did. “Crud. So, lot's of suspects, huh?” he muttered. “So, hypothetically, why'd you want to kill him?” he asked. Octavia's panic began to soar. “I- are you accusing me?” she asked. Private Eye shrugged. “We're suspecting you. Legitimate guard stuff. You said he wasn't exactly liked... so, why'd you wanna' kill him?” Octavia began smiling, thoughtfully as she did her best to play along. Shining was surprised by that. Most ponies either adopted the shocked attitude, the outraged act, or, if they were guilty, the unyielding panic trip. Actually enjoying the role-play was out of the usual. “Well... I can't say I know a lot about his usual affairs... but he wasn't very loyal to his... well, his friends of a romantic nature, you could say.” Private raised an eyebrow. “His marefriends?” “If you could call them that. I don't exactly know the name of the pony he was dating when he... made advances to me, but I can't imagine she'd be pleased with his actions.” she said. She glared at Private Eye. “And before you go accusing me of anything else, I rejected him. I can't speak for Vinyl, of course.” “Vinyl?” Private asked, quickly. Octavia nodded. “Yes, she's my colleague. Well... we work in the same general vicinity. She's the one making the... well, the noise you can currently hear.” Octavia explained. Private Eye nodded. “I see. Well, can you offer an opinion if Vinyl... well, if she banged Schwartz?” he asked, imitating Octavia's speech pattern perfectly. The mare turned her nose up at the suggestion. “I can't say, but I was given no hint that she hadn't.” she replied. Shining glared, scanning her face for any sign of deception. And he couldn't find any. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease coming from this pony. It got under his skin: whatever it was, he didn't like it. “I think that's all for now. Don't leave Canterlot, be a good girl, et etcetera, et etcetera...” Private droned as he caught Shining's glance. Octavia nodded quickly. “Yes... yes of course. I had no trips planned anyway...” _ “Shwarz?” Vinyl gasped, looking shocked. “Hay, I wasn't expecting that... He always looked like he could take care of himself, y'know?” Private Eye nodded as she said that, inwardly smiling at her butchered pronunciation of the name. “He was a pretty big earth pony. Did you know him well?” he asked. Shining was still examining the mare, like he always did. By comparison, Vinyl seemed much... simpler. Far more ordinary. Not exactly saddened by Schwartz's passing. She was smaller, pristine white coat almost glowing in the relative gloom of the music room, two opaque purple glasses lying on her lap. She was a unicorn, but magic was by no means her speciality. “We get the impression that not a lot of ponies liked Schwartz. Can you elaborate as to why?” Private Eye asked. Vinyl sighed and shrugged. “He had an attitude that might piss a lot of ponies off. Also, he got into a lotta' fights with this doctor pony... uhm. Doc' Black, I think it was.” she said. Shining made a quick mental note. It wasn't hard to remember: Doctor Black was a medical practitioner who was well known around these parts of town. Not the kind of pony to get into fights. “Other sources tell us that he may have been having affairs with other ponies.” Private Eye said. Vinyl scratched her head. Was she being awkward because she was hiding something? Or because she didn't like badmouthing the dead? “Yeah... I get that. He had a marefriend, but... well, it didn't seem to matter to him.” she said. Shining noted her awkward posture, her subtle glances towards the door. “Did you ever have a relationship with Schwartz?” Vinyl looked up, a little startled. “Wh- uh, no. No way, I'm not like that.” she said. Shining glanced quickly towards his partner. One look said it all: she was hiding something. “Are you sure?” Private Eye asked. Admittedly not the most ingenious phrase he'd ever come up with, but it got the ball rolling. “No, I... uh, mean, I'm not like that... at all. I don't swing that way.” she explained, still glancing nervously at the door. Shining glanced over again at Private Eye. "Well, that answers that." Private commented. Shining decided to drop that specific line of questioning. No sense in getting Vinyl even more nervous: something about her orientation gave away that something was making her afraid, skittish. Best leave it till later, or bring her in for a longer interrogation. “I see. Thank you for your time.” _ Dear Cadence, How are you doing? I find myself constantly missing you more every day, but it brings me a lot of comfort knowing you're at least enjoying yourself in Trottingham. Me, I'm enjoying a first hoof glance at the worst Canterlot has to offer: got a murder case today. Looks a bit nebulous. Romance got mixed up in all of it, which is almost as bad as money when it comes to crime. Heh. Look at me, writing about my work as if that's all I ever do. I suppose it's true: I don't hang out a lot with other ponies except for Private Eye at the Tar Pit, but that's... more business than anything else. I got your letter. Read it three times, I think. You misspelled 'heartache'. Missed out the H. Just like I miss you. Wow, that sounded less cheesy in my head. Anyway, I can't wait for you to be back. I wouldn't trade this thing we have with anything, but it's difficult to have a relationship with letters. Horsefeathers, now I have a mental image. I'll post this tomorrow, hope it gets to you soon. Love, Shining Armour _ Evening crawled onwards. Shining found himself with a small list of suspects he'd have to check out: this Doctor Black, and whoever was in a relationship with Schwartz at the time. Still no name on that, however. So, step one was finding Doctor Black. He knew that would be easy: after all, he held regular hours and his address was a secret to nopony. He heard hoofsteps behind him. “Dinner break is over, detective Shining.” came the irritating voice of the one pony Shining sincerely held fantasies of strangling, Red Tape. “I was just finishing a letter to my marefriend. I'm allowed to do that, right? Or are you going to time my toilet breaks too?” he asked, his eyes throwing daggers at the little mare. Red Tape, however, seemed to have at least one good quality: she was brave. “Trust me, I've been starting a petition. So far nopony has signed though.” Shining had to assume that it was a joke. No way she could be serious. “Ha, yeah, good one. Anyway, I'll head. Thanks for reminding me not to sit down a second too long.” he replied drily. Red Tape ignored him. “My pleasure.” _ Doctor Black's residence was... nice. Homey. Ornate, but not extravagant. Shining had to approve of the guy's taste. A bit of dirt on the pavement, not unusual in this part of town. Some garbage here and there. But the house... the house was nice. “C'mon, stop admiring the location. It's getting late and I want my daily dose of whiskey from the Tar Pit.” Private Eye interjected. Shining trotted up to the door and knocked forcefully. “That's the spirit. Give that door what for.” “He's under suspicion of murder. I'm not doing him any favours.” defended Shining. Private shrugged. “Hey, whatever. Let's just get this investigation underway.” he muttered. Shining heard sounds of movement from inside. “You get a lead on the marefriend?” he asked. Private Eye shrugged. “The two were seen together at Joe's. Nice mare, hot. Name of Femme Fatale.” “Haven't heard that name before. She not from around here?” Shining asked. Private Eye chuckled. “Yeah, she's from Prance. Got an attitude too, apparently. The two were always airing their dirty laundry in public. Drove Doughnut Joe insane.” The door opened, cutting their discussion short. Shining composed himself. Doctor Black was older than both of them, but still fit. Probably in his forties. Wrinkles were beginning to form under his eyes. He had a hard look about him: not surprising seeing as he had to deal with every salt addict in Canterlot. “Doc' Black?” he asked. He knew it was him, but he asked anyway. “That's right.” the pony replied. A heavy, rich tone, as if he gargled with gravel. Shining nodded. “You're a suspect for the murder of Schwartz. We'll need you to answer some questions.” The doctor frowned. “That son of a whorse got his comeuppance? 'Bout time somepony showed a little backbone.” Shining glanced towards Private Eye. As it always did, it said everything he needed him to know: that this pony just made a good case for suspect number one. “Can we come in?” Private Eye asked. The doctor nodded. “Sure thing.” he replied, backing away from the doorway. The inside was pleasantly adorned. Pictures of old friends and memorabilia from travel were dotted here and there. It looked like the perfect household, if a little poorly lit. Shining found himself wondering if he could see himself in a house like this one, raising a family amidst the chaos of this city, and life in general. He had no idea. The trio entered a small study. The shelves were covered in papers and files, carefully organized. They each had the names of several ponies on them. Shining recognized a few names: Fleur de Lis, a popular model here in Canterlot, Red Tape, the file sporting a matching colour. There was also some of the suspects Shining had aquired during the course of the day: Vinyl was there, as was Octavia, with Schwartz's file stuck in the middle. And Doughnut Joe was there too. “So, what can I do you for?” the ageing pony asked as he sat down, giving a small grunt as he did so. Shining followed suit, minus the grunt. Private Eye preferred to stand. “We got a tip from one of our ponies of interest that you often fought with Schwartz. And your reaction just now confirmed our suspicions. Care to elaborate?” Doctor Black shook his head angrily, but not because he was uncooperative. “That swine was coming to me for five years. For the first three, everything was fine, then he started getting stuff like... bruises and fatigue.” he explained. “I began to dig deeper. Salt addiction. When I confronted him, he left. I felt bad, leaving one of my patients get away to something like that... we have a lot of addicts around these parts. I learned a lot about the guy.” Black's face was darker than before. It was clear he held no kind feelings towards the deceased. “I saw him, clear as day coming on to that poor lass, the one he was working with, Vinyl. Patient of mine. She didn't take it well, and I swear not a few days later I get the girl in here with bruises. And then, I found out about the salt.” “What's this about salt? That's the second time you mentioned it.” Private Eye commented. Doctor Black nodded. “He was in on it. I swear I saw him transport bags of the stuff up and down Cancer Street. When I confronted him, he punched me. Heh. Rather, he tried. I was a heavyweight back during my college days. He didn't see me coming. He didn't come to me about that particular concussion anyhow.” Shining took out his notepad and scribbled down this information. This was getting out of hand fast: he wasn't getting rid of suspects, he was gaining them at an alarming rate. If Schwartz really was part of the salt trade, there was any number of ponies who might want to see him dead. “Would that make you want to kill him?” Shining asked, carefully scrutinizing Schwartz's face for any sign of guilt, fear, or incriminating emotion. “I took an oath, officer. I don't do harm unless they attack me, because I'm not going to take it lying down either, and he didn't attack me enough for me to kill him. I am innocent, detective.” Shining's eyes darted towards Private's. Information was exchanged. “What about Vinyl? You said she came in bruised?” “Yes. Gave some silly reason about skateboarding, of all things. Made sure there wasn't a concussion, but I'm telling you, officers... Schwartz was a nasty piece of work.” Shining took down more notes. Schwartz didn't seem to be lying, or the type to do so, but Shining had seen a lot of different ponies over the years. Some of them could fool anypony.