Octavia looked over at the clock. She groaned. It was quarter to two: she had let herself get distracted for far too long. But every time she felt like going home, going to bed, or even just getting up, she felt like she was leaving something perfect behind. Vinyl was sitting on the couch next to her: they weren't that close, but their legs and hooves were gently touching. Octavia found it impossible to pull away.
Three short, sharp bangs on the door. Octavia jumps, startled. Vinyl frowns, and makes her way to the door. Her warmth is sorely missed. Octavia quickly follows suit.
Vinyl magicks a large, heavy baseball bat from next to her door, and then opens it a few inches, checking to see who's there. She sighs in relief, and the door opens all the way. Octavia notices she's still tense, however, and she trots up next to her, getting a better view of the pony. It's Shining Armour, and another pony she recognizes, but who's name she can't remember, or possibly never knew.
"Hello again, miss Scratch. Miss Melody." Shining greets. The other pony, a mare with a red ribbon as a cutie mark, smiles benevolently.
"My name is Red Tape: I'll be filling in for Private Eye for now." she said. Vinyl looks uncomfortable at the memory of Private. She is still bitter about her treatment. Octavia also remembers punching Shining in the jaw: the bruise is barely noticeable on his pristine white coat, but there. She feels a little ashamed: she doesn't like using her self defence training out of anger, or fear, and it never gets easier. She closes the gap between her and Vinyl, reassuring her. Vinyl instantly becomes more composed.
"Officers? It's kinda late." she says. Shining nods.
"Yes, it is. We were hoping you'd be able to answer a few questions regarding Schwartz's salt... activities."
Vinyl frowns.
"Schwartz was into salt?" she asked. Shining nodded. Octavia does her best to remember: anything to get them off Vinyl's back. All she can think of is his walks along Cancer street...
"He went to Cancer street a lot... could that have anything to do with it?" she asked. Shining sighed.
"I see." Shining replied, almost exasperated. This was obviously not the kind of answer he was hoping for. "Is that all?"
Red Tape glanced at both of them hopefully. Octavia guessed she was there to keep Shining under control. After her last outburst in the interrogation room...
"I'm afraid I don't know." Vinyl said. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, Vinyl." Octavia muttered. The quick words of comfort, once again, worked wonders on her. Shining sighed.
"Well, if you think of anything, please don't hesitate to call us." he said. He glared at Vinyl briefly. Octavia felt defeated: Vinyl was still under investigation. That letter was circumstantial, she knew... but it didn't help her friends case.
The two police ponies left.
***
"Well, it looks like we won't have to visit them separately any more." Shining commented, as he trotted ahead down the stairs, his companion quick on his heels. Red Tape shrugged.
"Can you blame them? They're quite obviously in love." she said. Shining paused, before shaking his head. He had seen too many ponies like them, and he had learnt not to assume too much.
"I didn't get the impression that Octavia had liked her that much before yesterday." he countered. "She could be keeping an eye on her... either to find evidence against her, or because she might be trying to incriminate her. Or maybe she's just using her for some easy bucks-"
Red Tape elbowed Shining, annoyed.
"You are so crude... just like Private Eye. Always thinking the worst of ponies." she said, storming ahead. "I'll get the team ready for a full inspection of Schwartz's house tomorrow morning." She added as she passed outside, the windows from Vinyls apartment lighting up the streets just enough for her way to be visible, the golden yellow light eerily illuminating her face. "Well, today in a few hours I suppose."
Shining sighed.
"I'll be there." he said, glancing at Vinyl's window as he left. He briefly saw the shadow of one of the ponies, silhouetted in the light. He frowned and left. "Looks like another sleepless night..."
***
Octavia closed the window, the chilly wind no longer cutting into the room. Vinyl yawned as she sat back down on her couch, a small bottle of cider in hoof. She flicked the cap off effectively and began gulping down the semi-chilled liquid. Octavia sat down again. She found it hard to resume their position of comfort that they had earlier, before they had been interrupted.
Her thoughts flickered back to what Shining and Red Tape had said outside. Maybe they'd find something in his apartment... or maybe they'd go back to suspecting her, or Vinyl.
Vinyl herself tipped the bottle towards her.
"Want some?" she asked. Octavia shook her head. She didn't like the idea of a cold drink on an already cold night. The memory of the wind from outside still made her shiver. Vinyl looked over at her and leaned over.
It was exactly what Octavia had wanted, but she still found herself surprised. She swallowed nervously. Vinyl seemed to look a little awkward.
"Um... too close?" she asked. Octavia said nothing: Vinyl was literally on top of her. If there had been such a thing as personal space, it had been long since thrown away.
"...no." she replied, leaning in herself to kiss Vinyl. She still tasted a little of the cider she had just drank. She smiled. Intoxicating on two levels, then. She felt like saying that, but she stumbled trying to find her words.
"...there's, um, toxins, in... ahem." she attempted. Vinyl raised her eyebrow.
"We'll be fine so long as we use protect-"
Octavia spluttered.
"No! I mean, your intoxication is on several levels." she tried again.
"...'Tavi, I've only had the one cider. I'm fine."
Octavia sighs. Serves her right for trying to say something clever, trying to be smooth. Vinyl smiles broadly.
"You're adorable when you're confused." she said. Octavia felt her throat tighten: it took her a moment to realize it was Vinyl's magic undoing her bow tie.
"...I need to be up early." she said brusquely. Vinyl didn't stop.
"Well, don't go to sleep."
***
Crime didn't care about other ponies. If the guard was busy, or had been working for two days straight, it would hardly make the ponies of Canterlot pause. Unbeknownst to Shining, three ponies were lost. They had been drinking heavily, and they had stumbled into a dark, unused alleyway. A fatal mistake.
The four ruffians looked at them, marking them as easy bits. Knives slid out of their sheaths and pockets, and they walked around them, encircling them. There was nowhere for them to run.
On any other night, the Captain of the guard would have received a report of three dead or injured ponies.
On any other night, three corpses would litter the ground.
But Equestria had changed dramatically in the previous weeks.
Instantly, as if the entire street had been lit up with the intensity of a lightning strike, and a shock-wave the likes nopony had ever seen knocked the thugs back, the three lost ponies finally understood the danger they had been in. They looked up at a shadowy figure hovering above the scene: eyes glowing like stars and a nebulous mane snaking around endlessly, as if testing the walls and sky around it.
The thug ponies scrambled back, knives dropped to the floor. The alicorn landed with a tremendous, explosive bang, shattering the ground beneath her.
"Leave this place!" came the resounding cry, like thunder across a silent night sky. The ruffians were only too glad to oblige. The alicorn strode past the three, terrified ponies, momentarily hesitating as she witnessed their petrified features. She then continued on her way, stepping into the light beyond the dreary alley. She then spread her wings and soared back above the lower quarter towards the city above.
***
It must have been just after dawn. Shining armour could barely hold his fatigue in check any longer: this was probably going to be their last lead before they had to start relying on guesswork, and re-exploring previous clues. Namely Femme Fatale: Shining wasn't convinced she was blameless: her speed in calling in her lawyer was evidence of that.
There was a large chance Schwartz would have some clue in his home about the whereabouts of this Sodium fellow...
There had to be around half a dozen guards: including an incredibly tired Private Eye, and Red Tape. Shining approached his friend, grinning childishly.
"Enjoy your nap?" he asked. Private Eye grunted.
"Screw you. Do you know what it's like getting woken up by the Captain?" he asked. Red Tape chuckled.
"Well... if you feel like taking another snooze, you're still officially liable to take an executive rest due to physical ability for another hour..." she said.
"Is there really a regulation about that?" replied Private, sorely tempted to take her up on the offer. It was then that they finally saw their experts arrive, and they quickly opened the door. Stepping inside, Shining remembered the room from his previous visit two days ago. He had hoped he'd be able to pin the murder on any one of his suspects before then, but as it turned out, his decision had been the wrong one.
"Maybe if you had followed procedure and started with this, we might have already caught the killer." Red Tape butted in, as if reading his mind. Shining grunted.
"Whatever." he replied tersely. He glanced around the room he was in: he had to admit he couldn't remember much of the details, but it seemed mostly the same. The team scanned everything this time: searching through books, desks, shelves, and the bedroom, revealing all of the deceased's secrets, whether they were glorious, or as the case most often turned out to be, gloriously dirty.
About an hour must have passed as Shining searched through, once again, a massive pile of Schwartz's work documents, until he heard Private Eye and Red tape exclaim happily. He looked up, eager to put aside his boring task. He trotted into the living room, stepping around one of the ponies who were analysing the carpet for whatever reason.
"We have a possible address for a salt base." Private Eye said. Red Tape handed a few cinema tickets to Shining.
"It was Lt. Stroke who noticed: there's salt on all of these tickets, all for the same cinema." she said. Private Eye smiled.
"It may be nothing, but it'll get us out of here."
"Or it may give us the killer!" retorted Red Tape angrily. Private Eye snorted.
"Or it could just be from salted popcorn..."
"Shall we check it out?" Red Tape asked. Shining looked at the tickets.
"Worth a look. Maybe somepony there knows something about Schwartz, if he was a regular, salt base or no." Red Tape smiled.
"Excellent."
***
The cinema was quite empty this time of day: there were very few early morning viewings, after all.
Shining and Private Eye were alone. Red Tape had gone to inform the Captain of their progress. The large glass doors swung open, revealing a moody interior in the midst of cleaning. The red carpet below their hooves was stained and crumbs of food littered the place after the previous evening's business. The pair approached the only pony in the vicinity, the cleaner himself.
"Can you direct us to the owner?" Shining asked. The cleaner grunted, gesturing towards a door at the far end of the hall. The pair went away.
The owner was apparently a small, angry looking pegasus poring over a pile of papers. Shining leant over him.
"Canterlot Guard. We have some questions."
The pegasus slowly looked up, as if he had been told a joke.
"Guard? You bein' serious?" he asked.
Private Eye slammed his hoof onto the table.
"You're joking, right? We could have you in the slammer if you don't cooperate immediately, punk." he snapped. Private was at the end of his rope. The pegasus grinned.
"You know, you should check with your cap' if you want to come in here, chum. We got protection from some powerful ponies..."
Shining frowned. Suddenly, he figured that it might not have been salt from popcorn on the tickets. What was worrying was how confident this guy was, lording his obviously criminal ways over them.
"We're here about the salt trade." he asked. The pegasus shrugged smugly.
"I don't know anything about that, officers."
Lying. He didn't even have to check his body language to know. This guy was dirty. They had just struck gold.
Salt was once used as a currency, in olden times... like gold was now.
"You're under arrest." Shining declared, nodding at Private Eye to secure the pony. The manager began backing off, his confidence beginning to fade. It always did.
"Wait, I'm serious! You'll be lucky to have a job after this!" he exclaimed. Private Eye put his hoof on the pony's shoulder.
"Are you resisting arrest?" he asked. The manager flew into a rage.
"The hay I am! There's no way you two are gonna-"
His head hit the table before he could finish his sentence, and the cuffs were on him an instant after that. Private Eye looked over at Shining.
"What? He said he was resisting arrest."
Shining didn't bother responding: he had no problem with Private Eye knocking out a crook. He turned to examine the room: his eyes scanning the entire place. There was the door they had come in... and another that doubtless led behind the scenes of the cinema.
"Let's take a look around. Cuff him to the chair." Shining ordered. Private obliged, shifting the pegasus as close to the chair as he could, and then clicking the hoofcuffs around the arm of the table, judging it harder to move or break than the chair. Shining didn't complain about this choice. He gently pushed the door open to get a view of what was behind.
The corridor beyond was empty and basic. Crates and tools littered the place: as well as the odd sack. Shining already knew it was salt: as far as he was concerned, he had found his prey. He crept forward, priming his magical blasts for use. No sense in being caught off guard.
"You sure you want to go in without back up?" asked Private.
"Give them five minutes and they'll have cleared out... anyway, Red Tape will have told the Captain where we are. I doubt we'll be alone for long."
The wooden planks felt like they were on the verge of creaking. Shining cut upon one of the sacks with the tip of his horn. Salt spilled across the floor like water.
"I think we've got them." he said. He turned around quickly: he heard the floorboards shift as hoofsteps beat across them. He tried scanning the corridor, without success. They weren't alone.
"Was that one of them?" asked Private.A second passed and nopony moved.
Shining looked over at the massive white screen he stood behind: on the other side would be a room filled with opulent looking red seats, covered with crumbs hidden in the gloom. Shining swallowed. Anything could be beyond there, anything at all...
"If it was one of them, let's hope they haven't found our prisoner yet." Shining whispered.
"...we should have moved him outside, huh?" asked Private. Shining wasn't sure what to answer: on one hoof, if they had escorted their prisoner out, they would have been seen and their prey would have been alerted, but then if they had gotten out invisibly, they might be able to return with a massive tactical advantage, mainly consisting of twenty or so guards storming the place.
"Maybe." he replied.
He knew he could still do shields: they were his special talent. Most unicorns couldn't even manage one for a few seconds, but Shining could keep his going for hours, and with concentration and help they could be massive. Those ones took a while to erect, however.
Silence drew on.
"Let's keep moving." he suggested, as quietly as he could. His voice couldn't possibly have been heard by anypony other than Private Eye. The other pony nodded, and they slowly lifted their hooves up to continue their stealthy investigations.
The screen erupted with crossbow bolts and magical attacks, peppering the screen with holes, leaving only darkness beyond. Both Shining and Private quickly leapt behind some crates and paraphernalia, desperate to avoid any injuries.
"Dammit!" shouted Shining, unable to pinpoint the location of any one attacker. There was definitely more than one: between the multiple crossbow bolts and the magical blasts, they were looking at a dozen attackers.
"Horseapples!" exclaimed Private as one of the bolts grazed his leg, drawing blood. He whipped out his truncheon, despite it being utterly useless in this long distance fire fight.
Only six shots, and more than a dozen attackers. This was bad.
"We need to get out of here!" shouted Shining. Private Eye nodded. The din was unbearable.
"You don't say?"