//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Shades of Noire // by HapHazred //------------------------------// The Captain sat hunched over his desk, calmly awaiting the arrival of his visitor. He chewed briefly on a small stick of wood, his teeth grinding against the bark in a pleasing way, shredding away all the dirt and food stuck between his teeth. When he heard the hoofsteps outside, he quickly spat it out, creating a loud clang as it clattered around the bin in the corner. The tall alicorn strode into his office, her face guarded and severe. The Captain was not intimidated. "Your highness." he grunted. "Captain." The Captain stood up, his chair rubbing against the floor creating a loud, ungodly noise. "You've been messing up ponies in the dead of night, then?" he asked, his brow furrowed. Luna trotted over to the window. "We require explanation." she replied. The Captain stomped his hoof. "You went around and attacked a street gang at midnight, and don't go pretending you don't know about it." Luna felt like reprimanding the captain for his lack of deference, but her sister had made her promise to be generous. Overly generous, in Luna's opinion. "We are the protector of the night. Does this offend you?" she asked. The Captain made no immediate movement. "Celestia has never butted into my job before. And vigilantism is against the law." Luna chuckled. "We are above the law." "As long as I'm in charge here, Nightmare Moon will not be the law in my city!" The door was abruptly knocked. The Captain turned quickly, shooting over to the handle, and snapped it open. Red Tape quickly glanced at both the Captain's furious face, and the Princess in the room. She froze. "What?" the Captain asked. Red Tape swallowed. "Um... Shining Arm- I mean, detectives Shining Armour and Private Eye are following a lead at the cinema, sir." she blurted. The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. Luna eyed Red Tape appraisingly. "This is in regard to the murder of Schwartz, yes?" she asked. Red Tape nodded. "Yes, your highness." Luna smiled. "Thou should send them help." she advised the Captain, who snarled briefly. "The cinema, you say?" he asked. Red Tape nodded. "Then assemble a dozen guards, and don't waste time getting it done." *** Shining twitched his ear, desperately trying to hear the sound of hoofsteps, madly attempting to pinpoint his attackers location. Private Eye had stopped clutching his injury: it only seemed to be a flesh wound, and anyhow, he was a tough earth pony, not inclined to being incapacitated by a small cut. There had been both arrows and magical attacks: that meant that there were some unicorns out there. Shining grit his teeth, doing his best to come up with an effective strategy. If any of them knew how to undo shields, he was in trouble. As everypony in the department knew, shields were his forte. His cover wasn't exactly reliable: hollow crates and tools weren't stable, but it had held this far. He hoped that if they resumed fire, it would continue to do so. Private Eye wiped his hoof over his face, smearing blood all over his nose. He seemed to be cursing under his breath. Shining could only guess at why he was berating himself: it could be at getting hit, getting seen, or, knowing his friend, forgetting to turn the oven off. They had to make a bee-line for the other side of the corridor: hopefully the stronger stone and brick walls would hold against all attacks, barring a powerful magical strike. Unfortunately, that left them, particularly Shining himself, sprinting across the deadly no-pony's land in between. He still didn't know how they had seen them... they had been behind the screen. Maybe that meant their aim was off, that they'd have a decent chance of making it... at the very least, from here there wasn't much chance he'd hit anything on the other side. He looked over at Private Eye. Their eyes met, and like only two ponies who had worked together for years could, they understood each other. Shining's horn flickered. He leapt out of cover, his hooves clattering on the hollow floor beneath him. He heard a few shouts from the other side of the screen. As the arrows sailed towards him, he threw himself forwards. The metal tips bounced off against the crystalline shield that appeared only just in time, sending small black cracks across it's surface as it weakened. He sprinted as fast as he could behind his partner, well behind, hoping his shield would last just long enough... With a sound like shattering glass, a magical missile hit a fault point in his hastily constructed shield. A hole opened up, like a gateway to death itself. Too late, however, as Shining passed the door into a small, claustrophobic room, safe from his attackers. Private Eye panted as he secured a second door, opening it slightly and glancing through to check for incoming ponies. "Our shadows! Our shadows were on the screen!" he exclaimed under his breath. "I can't believe we were so stupid!" Shining felt like berating himself as well, now that he realized his partner was right. Anypony, or griffon, would have seen their silhouettes from the cinema hall if it was darker than the corridor behind the screen. They'd have literally been centre stage. "How many shots can you handle?" asked Private Eye, concerned. Shining tapped his horn. "Six in total: I'm afraid I can't do more than that." Private Eye spat a curse. "There looked to be more than just six of them out there... and my truncheon won't handle the rest." Shining didn't respond to that: instead he tried coming up with a plan of action. "We have to get out of here. We've lost the element of surprise: we're sitting ducks in here." "Red Tape's going to have my hide for this..." Private commented. Suddenly, Shining heard a commotion: peering into the cavernous darkness of the corridor, he spotted movement: a griffon, it's talons clutching a crossbow. He fired a magical bolt on impulse, striking the bird in the chest. It crumpled, if not dead, then very seriously injured. Five. The pair dashed over the supine griffon, Private putting away his truncheon and replacing it with the heavy griffon crossbow, before taking aim into the large, open cinema room, the red chairs contrasting with the black, impenetrable gloom. He fired. Shining heard a scream. "For buck's sake, there's just two of the blighters! Kill 'em!" came a loud, arrogant voice. Shining instantly turned towards the sound and fired. Four. He missed. He ducked behind a chair, a bolt thudding into the soft, leathery padding, feathers flying in his face. He coughed, the strands tickling his nose. Another bolt, attracted to the noise, hit the ground only an inch away from his hoof. He followed the shaft towards where the shooter would have been, checked for a target and aimed... ...fired. Three. "Sodium! Mixer's dead!" came a shout. "We gotta r-" The shouting was interrupted by a scream, no doubt from the same origin as the voice itself. Private Eye was a crack shot with a crossbow. "You useless pricks! You gonna let them trespass, eh? Well I ain't!" came the arrogant voice. No doubt Sodium. Suddenly a large pony, a unicorn, was holding Shining by the neck. How he had sneaked up on him, he wasn't sure... all he knew was that his air was running out. He craned his neck towards his attacker and his horn flickered to life. Two. One. He fell to the ground again, his spine hitting the back of the chair. He rolled away from the smoking corpse, eager to find new cover. His breathing was still ragged, and spots clung to his eyes, obscuring the already dark room. He scrambled around, trying to get his bearings. Griffon with a knife... Zero. The griffon fell, clutching his shoulder. Shining got to his hooves, panting. "Private!" he shouted, eager for support. What he saw instead was the massive shape of a male griffon, all white with bright, pink eyes. He was thrown to the floor unceremoniously, his spine once again heavily bruised. "Insult me, would'ya?" the griffon screamed, raising his talon high. Those claws were designed to rend flesh. They were hunter's weapons, designed by evolution. Griffons were know, in more feral places, to eat ponies. Tore them apart. Maybe that would happen to Shining... Nothing happened: no talons came. Shining stared at the albino. The white griffon didn't move. His muscles seemed to contract as red energy flickered around his limbs. His eyes went wild. "You have the right to remain silent... Sodium." came a dark, angry voice. Shining knew that voice as the Captain. "You don't say... Captain. Aren't we on a first name basis yet, chummy?" "Shut your face. You're in deep trouble... so how about you... just... stop... moving." Sodium cackled. "Imma' still twitch!" The red electricity continued to constrict the griffon, now moving across his beak, clamping it shut. Sodium grunted, unable to fully voice his discontent. He twitched as a pair of officers grasped him from both sides, disarming him and cuffing him. Shining brushed himself down. "Thank Celestia you arrived..." "I'm going to handle Sodium's interrogation: you go get cleaned up." the Captain said, the energy around his horn dying out. He looked at his best officer up and down, checking his had no serious injury, before nodding to himself. "And not a word of anything to anypony. I'll not have you alert the press like last time." Shining nodded. As Private Eye's injury was bandaged up, Red Tape rushed towards them. "Did we get here in time?" "Only just. Shining over there was almost steak." Private said. He brushed the ponies swarming him away. "Shining, I want a word." Shining nodded. He looked over at the other survivors of the rain being carted outside: among them was the squirrely pegasus they had chained to a table earlier. He was still hurling abuse at them. "You can't hold me! I'll be out in a few hours! Ha! You'll see, you buckin' cops!" Shining narrowed his eyes, and focused his attention on Private, who was still beckoning him to come over. "Of course." "It's about those things the manager said... about the Captain." Private said quietly as the manager in question was dragged outside. Shining frowned. "You don't actually believe him, do you?" "What things about the Captain?" asked Red Tape. Shining sighed. "There were some insinuations that our Captain might be in on this operation. I don't know for sure." Red Tape looked over her shoulder. "You'd best not let the Captain hear you're talking like this." "We're discussing evidence. Nothing illegal there." Private commented. Shining nodded. "Yeah. I know he's pretty quick to arrest, but we're his best detectives." Red Tape looked unconvinced. Shining threw his hooves up despairingly. "Oh, come on, Tape! After one little accusation and all of a sudden you act like we're plotting open rebellion!" "I'm just worried for both of your careers: you may cause me headaches, but you're right about being the best. The force can't afford to lose you." Shining didn't acknowledge the compliment: he was too busy trying to contemplate the ramifications if their suspicions were correct. It seemed too dark to contemplate: after all, even though it was well known within the guard that there was very little that was innocent about their captain, he was also the best placed to deal with any and all insurrection and crime. "I'm worried for my career as well: but... well, I guess I dislike loose ends." Shining nodded. "Let's focus on Schwartz's murder first... Sodium might have left evidence around. Tape, Private, I want you two to search the place for anything. I'm going to have a chat with somepony." The three parted ways, Shining trotting confidently outside, taking one last look at the cinema: the guards had swarmed the place and all the windows were lit. All were closed but one: it hung open. Shining found it strange at first, but really, he had to admit he liked the fresh air as much as anypony, and he could hardly begrudge somepony else that enjoyment, even a criminal. From beyond his noticed Red Tape begin her search: she seemed both quick and efficient. Shining smiled as he turned and headed towards the palace. *** The queen moved aside two squares, threatening the knight, but at the same time, protecting that crucial bishop from the white rook: Celestia narrowed her eyes: it seemed that she had been falling behind on her chess skills these past thousand years. Luna, on the other hoof, seemed quite comfortable with the game. "You're being a bit sloppy, Celly." "And you're being a bit insufferable, Lulu." Celestia remarked. Luna laughed. She was still as childish as before, at least in private. Other times, she seemed to possess a wisdom that Celestia had only seen in the rarest of ponies. The door knocked. Celestia turned. "Who is it?" "Detective Shining to see Princess Luna, Ma'am." Luna stood. "Send him in. I'm sorry, Celly, perhaps I can beat you another time?" she said. Celestia smiled, eager to get away from her looming defeat and practice alone. "Of course, Lulu. Please tell me if you need anything." she said, before leaving through one of the other doors, as Shining opened his own and entered. He looked serious. Luna adopted her grandest stance. "Princess Luna... you told me that I was reporting to you as much as my Captain, yes?" Luna nodded. "Indeed. We hope you did not take this too literally... I wish only the important details." "I'm more here for a question... about conduct, your highness." Luna raised an eyebrow. "Really?" "Yes. During my investigation on the Schwartz case, we followed a lead to a drug dealer. There's a small chance... small, that my colleagues are trying to confirm or dismiss as we speak, that my Captain might have known or even protected them." Luna frowned. "We know Celestia has advocated the Captain's liberal interpretation of his duty before, but what you suggest may be going too far, detective." "I know... I guess my question is, if my Captain was guilty, well... what would you do about it?" *** The desk was now empty: the shelves had been torn apart by the two officers, as they searched for clues, words and items that could link Sodium to Schwartz, and more alarmingly, Sodium to the Captain. The open window had been closed quickly: they didn't want the wind to stir up the papers and remove the evidence they needed. It wasn't long before they had found their first piece of evidence: a bloodstained dagger. Private Eye couldn't recognize it, but he had a hunch that if they matched it up with Schwartz's wound, they would be identical. The blood on it hadn't even been attempted to be cleaned, and had dried up, patterning the blade with a reddish brown stain. It had been placed on the desk. In the hastily closed drawer was another letter: written in Schwartz's hoofwriting, like the last letter they had found. It definitely liked Schwartz to Sodium, as in it, Schwartz had been blackmailing Sodium for more bits. A rookie move that anypony could tell was a bad idea. It seemed Schwartz hadn't asked anypony for their opinion. But as for the evidence on their Captain, well... there was less of that. Hints, perhaps. Red Tape, a master of all things documented, could barely sense the trail that seemed to connect the two, hidden amidst the endless letters and ledgers. Still, she knew what she felt: that her Captain was guilty. It was simply a matter of proving it. "There's nothing in here... we've got Sodium. that's all we need." "Not for me." Red Tape replied. The search continued, but in vain. Eventually, as the sun dipped in the sky, the pair gave up, and left. As they exited the building into the red streets filled with the light of the darkening sun, they came face to face with the Captain, and Sodium. "Officers Private Eye. Red Tape... where do you think you're going?" he asked. He loomed over them like a monolith, growling behind his bared teeth. "We have evidence against Sodium for the murder of Schwartz, sir." Red Tape said, her eyes narrowed. Private Eye didn't need to see through ponies to know that he knew she knew. And Sodium chuckled. "Listen, chum, I didn't kill nopony." "His salt's all legalized. Private, order the guards out of there." the Captain demanded. Private and Red Tape both blanched at the thought of Sodium getting away. "We have the murder weapon, sir." Private countered. The Captain glared over at Sodium, who shrugged. "Must have been a mistake... I don't leave murder weapons around my place." Private Eye presented the dagger. Sodium didn't react. "Ain't mine." "And a letter saying Schwartz was blackmailing him." "Red Tape... Private... hand me that evidence please." The Captain ordered. Red Tape shook her head. "No." "Red? I'm sorry, I must be going a little hard of hearing in my old age... I thought I heard you disobey a direct order." "I'm sorry, but protocol dictates that as long as the investigation is ongoing, it is up to the detectives to whom the investigation belongs as to the disposal of evidence, pending approval from their superior officer." The Captain growled. "I hope you like working in filing for the rest of all your days..." Red Tape felt momentarily elated: she loved files. Private Eye swallowed nervously: he did not. "We just want to make sure Sodium gets a trial for-" "But I'm innocent, mate!" Sodium replied sarcastically. "Who are you to question your glorious leader?" "That would be Us." Luna landed gracefully between the two pairs, smiling knowingly at the Captain, who narrowed his eyes aggressively. "Oh good. Royalty." "Indeed... I hope you don't mind Us interfering." "As a matter of fact-" "Good. We think that in light of recent evidence, Sodium be taken into custody." she declared. Sodium began to panic. "W-wait a bleedin' minute!" "Princess, you're making my life very difficult..." the Captain began. Luna stopped him. "We want you to procure us the forms stating that his 'merchandise' are legal, Captain." The Captain growled. "You'll have to wait for them." The Princess trotted over to Sodium, who was cringing away from her, quite scared. Luna sighed. "We understand your concerns, Captain. We truly do: it was only a few weeks hence that I was known by a different name and brought terror to the night." The Captain nodded. "Yeah. It was." "However, We can assure you that We are no longer that mare. We can help bright peace to the night, restore it to it's former beauty... can you not see this, Captain?" Luna asked, pleading. "You have done nought but berate us for protecting the innocent, whilst you cavort with those we seek to stop!" The Captain looked around at the ponies gathered in front of the cinema: Shining Armour, Private Eye, Red Tape, a handful of officers and Sodium. He decided to ignore them. "If it weren't for scum like Sodium, the streets would be run by disorganized crime! For Celestia's sake, we need his kind to keep the rabble under control. If we didn't-" Luna cut him off. "Captain, we no longer need criminals like Sodium to keep the peace: now that We are returned, we can protect the night far better than any salt dealer. Surely you can understand? See the promise of a brighter future?" "No." Luna sighed. Shining looked back and forth at the pair, trying to gauge who would win this argument: trying to figure out who he would prefer to win. "Captain... by constantly standing in my way, you have made an enemy of Us. And yet, We would prefer not to condemn you to a life of prison for aiding and protecting organized crime." "You can do whatever you want, Princess. You'll find you were wrong." "We will not. You can either choose to retire peacefully within the week, or be forced out of office. Our patience has run quite dry, Captain." The Captain glared. "What will you charge me with to force me out? You'll find proof hard to come by." "Actually, Princess... I manage his files, and I think I might be able to find evidence, given time." Red Tape hazarded, stepping forwards. The Captain snarled at her. "You're making a grave mistake, Tape." "No, I'm not, sir." "So, what will it be, Captain?" asked Luna. The Captain eventually sighed. "...you win." *** "You're sure about the Captain?" asked Celestia, a note of worry in her voice. Luna nodded. "If he's innocent, he does a remarkable job of feigning guilt. Anyhow, he was trying to slow down my return to active duty... and that We shall not abide. We cannot work with him in power, and he is constantly distracted by my own tasks." Celestia said nothing. She peered out at the twilight sky, watching the stars begin to shine. Luna truly was a master at creating beautiful constellations. "Who are you considering as a replacement?" she asked. Luna smiled. "The same pony as you, We believe." Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Shining?" "Indeed." "He's a bit of a troublemaker." "So long as he doesn't protect salt traders." Celestia smiled. "We can only hope." *** Dear Princess Cadence This is my first letter as the new Captain of the Guard... I'm not writing this from my old desk, but from my new office, with a brand new pen. You've probably already been told about what happened to me predecessor... I think he thought that organized crime was better than disorganized crime. Whatever he believed, he was wrong. Or rather, I guess we have to say he is. So, that's how that happened. Sodium was put in prison for murder... his gang disbanded and is on the run. I'm working on bringing them in now. My other suspects are doing fine... even the annoying ones. I believe those two musicians... did I ever write their names down? Well, they're together now, which is nice, I guess. Private Eye and Red Tape have a bet to see how long it'll last. I'm staying out of it. This time at least. Femme Fatale (the mare who sent us lawyers) left for Prance after the investigation was over. We made a whole deal of making sure she wasn't tied to the salt trade. Not really because we thought she was guilty, but because she was a pain in the flank. I hope Doughnut Joe finds better than her... his doughnuts have been tasting awfully bitter ever since. And at last, your aunt (not the bright shiny one, the other one) is cooperating with us to keep the streets safer. It's a bit strained for now, but now she isn't getting told off by the guard every time she puts a hoof out of line, she's really pulling through. I joked about making her one of my officers. I don't think I have a uniform in her size though... But anyway, that isn't all I have to say. Shortly after this letter arrives is a second will follow, which is a missive recalling you to Canterlot, which apparently the Captain of the Guard has the right to do under special circumstances... and I am. There are a few matters that, as Captain of the guard, require your attention. I'd say that I wish I'd see you soon, but it looks like I won't have to wish anymore, right? See you soon, Shining *** Shining put the pen down, smiling. He looked over his list of meetings and cases... they were all running smoothly. As should be expected, what with Private Eye and Red Tape running them. Which left him with the most important item on his agenda: he opened the small box, taking care to not damage the contents. The small ring inside shimmered in the light of his lamp. He grinned, and closed the box again. He looked over at the file, titled: 'Schwartz'. He sighed. His last case had been one heck of a pain. A murder in an alley... oppressed co-workers, a betrayed marefriend, and the Griffon Cartel for an enemy. There had been no shortage of suspects, that was for sure. "I guess everything turned out all right." he muttered. Sodium... a hitherto unknown criminal already out for blood. The perfect culprit for murder...it wasn't that he had motive for murder, it was that nopony else had any reason to question his guilt. Shining resumed the evidence in his head... it was overwhelming. Not to mention Sodium's attitude wouldn't do him any favours in court... he was almost certainly going to be found guilty, and sent to jail for a good, long time. His door opened. He looked up before quickly standing to attention. "Your majesty!" "Captain Shining Armour. How do you find your new office?" asked Luna. "We hope you fit it better than thy predecessor." "Um... offices fit?" "We suppose." Shining smiled. "It feels nice." Luna nodded. "Your former Captain has moved... to Las Pegasus. He put up a struggle, but, well, he is old and We are persuasive. Did you hear about his reaction to the protests during the past week?" Shining shook his head. "I was busy with another case." he said. Luna nodded. "Ah yes, of course you were. Well, it wasn't particularly pretty: Celestia and Ourselves both had to intervene, which did nothing for Our public image." she said. She backtracked. "Not that we care... but we wish to take up the mantle of protector of the night. We cannot do this if everypony fears us." "You're here to make sure I won't, right?" Shining asked, suspicious. Luna nodded. "Yes... although we would rather you still do as you see fit... just without persecuting us at the same time." Shining smiled. "I think I can do that." Luna grinned. "Excellent. Also, I have learned that I have a niece! We hope we get along famously." Shining coughed nervously. "Ah. Yes, er... why are you telling me this?" "Well, We were hoping you'd put in a good word for us." Shining went silent. Luna grinned mischievously. "As Captain of the guard, of course." "Yes. Of course."