Twilight Velvet's "Pseudo Facade"

by ZhaoZoharEX

Heart of Stained Glass ~ Chapter 1

Las Pegasus. Famous for its importance in film, tourism, and lifestyle. But among those things is a suave, elusive thief. Now, he is being challenged by a new police inspector. Little do either of them know, the police force aren't the only ones after the phantom of LP.

---

Las Pegasus.

It is very lively city, according to those that live there. It was very popular for tourists for many reasons. Besides the Applewood Production company, centerpiece of Equestria’s film, television and radio industry, it was home to many landmarks and vacation sites. And in the recent decade, it had become famous for a particular young celebrity.

Within the city, a small earth pony filly was snug in her bed, inside her family’s penthouse. It was very late in the evening and she was already late for her bedtime so falling asleep did not require much effort on her part. However, she did not stay asleep for too long and she got out of bed in a groggy daze, intent on acquiring a glass of water. Once her thirst was adequately quenched, she trudged back in the direction of her room. However, a shadow in the moonlight caught her attention. Present near the rooftop pool out on the balcony was a silhouette of some sort. Upon further inspection, the curious filly saw it was the figure of a stallion, wearing a scarlet cloak and top hat. Overcome with an urge to get a better look, the filly stepped closer, opening the screen door and tiptoeing out onto the balcony.

“Um, excuse me?” the little filly shyly said.

The stallion pivoted his head to the sudden voice, attention caught but with no concern. He was wearing a red mask with playing card motif and a black rimmed monocle over his left eye. Of all the things that could have happened to this naive filly, he simply smiled and turned to face her entirely.

“Why good evening, young lady,” he said in a sophisticated low voice as he presented himself with a bow. “Did I wake you up from your night’s sleep? My deepest apologies about that.”

He spoke with a suave tone, his windswept cape adding to his air of class. Such a regal image easily enraptured the young filly. “Um… Uh…”

The stallion bent down and held her hoof in his own. “No need to be afraid; I am but a humble pigeon resting after a long flight. Soon, I’ll be a thing of the past…” the stallion paused to kiss her hoof, causing her to blush. “Milady.”

Not two seconds passed before the balcony was lit by an extremely bright light, the source of which came from a searchlight attached to a helicopter that suddenly appeared behind the stallion. The luminosity from the searchlight quickly became too much for the filly and she had to shield her eyes.

“ATTENTION FACADE! THIS IS THE LPPD! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST! PUT YOUR HOOVES UP AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY!”

The stallion stood back up, chuckling as he shook his head in an amused manner as he tipped his hat. “They just never learn, do they milady? Well, it appears as though I have to cut my little rest short. Ciao!”

And with that, he ran and leaped over the edge of the building. In a panic, the filly rushed to the edge to look down, only to see the stallion gliding away from the building with a pair of wings, seemingly hidden under the cape. She could only observe as the helicopter chased after him, wide eyed and giddy from the encounter.

“Wow…”

---

The news of the latest theft spread across the city as a lone griffon dressed in his police uniform waited within the large train station. With him were two other officers, a light brown pegasus mare and a gray unicorn stallion. While it wasn’t terribly uncommon to see officers in this large terminal, they were waiting for a few particular passengers to arrive. With an unexpected delay however, all they could do was watch the video monitors playing the news reports.

“Good morning, Las Pegasus!” a khaki earth mare news reporter exclaimed onscreen. “I’m Meryl O’Knette and welcome back to LP Local News. Todays top story: Facade has struck again! Last night, the Jack of Clubs successfully stole the Locus Brooch, an emerald which is estimated to be worth around seventy-thousand bits. How exactly did he give police the slip? Apparently with soap and water! Eyewitnesses report seeing a mass of foam pour from several open windows of the Monumental Building, during which the culprit made a clean getaway in more ways than one. As usual, no civilian casualties were reported and aside from the suds, no damage was said to have occurred. Police have yet to respond for a comment on the investigation. In other news...”

The griffon wore a scowl as he continued to watch the news reports on the screen. He felt no form of contentment today and his two subordinates would be remiss if they didn’t know why.

“Boy, Inspector Gavroche sure is pissed after last night’s failed operation, eh Mounty?” the unicorn officer whispered.

“Can you really blame him, Bobby?” responded the pegasus officer. “That’s the fourth time this month that Facade made us look like idiots. He’s is making a fool out of the LPPD and Gavroche is the face of the investigation. He’s facing a lot of pressure, not to mention rage.”

“Yeah. Kinda makes me glad I’m just an officer so I don’t have to put up with that bullcrap.”

“You and me both. And now we’re getting a new superintendent. I heard from Noncom that his son is supposed to be taking charge of the investigation since Gavroche is moving to the homicide division.”

“That so? Know anything about the Slewfoots?”

“Other than the son being engaged, not very much. I do know that he was recently promoted to Inspector before transferring.”

“No kidding? Well, at least he has experience. I wouldn’t know how to feel if they put a newbie in charge or something like that.”

“We were all newbies at some point, weren’t we? I remember when you were still in the academy and you accidentally shot the instructor in the crotch with that beanbag round?”

“Heh, yeah, he was pretty hard on me after that, not that I blame him... In any case, this should be interesting.”

The trains then arrived right on schedule and eventually came to a complete halt. The patrons waiting on the platform either boarded the train, or searched for particular friends, family, or acquaintance to disembark. The police trio stood patiently until eventually another trio of ponies exited the train with the staff aiding with luggage. All three of them were unicorns, two male and one female. The bespectacled mare was light blue with a blonde mane that was tied back in a bun. The older stallion was dark violet with a lean build and a short combed gray mane and mustache. The younger stallion was a grayish azure with a dark blue mane.

“Good morning, Superintendent Sentinel Slewfoot, Mrs. Brass Slewfoot,” Gavroche addressed the older stallion with a salute, prompting the other two officers to mimic his gesture.

“Ah, Inspector,” Sentinel said as he returned the salute. “Son?”

“Good morning, Inspector Gavroche,” the younger stallion joining in the salute.

“We at the Las Pegasus Metropolitan Police Department welcome you aboard. We would be more than happy to help you with your things.”

“Your help is most appreciated, Inspector,” Brass said popping her neck, stiff from the long train ride. “Though I do hope you expect my dear son is expecting a pickup of his own.”

“Yes, we spoke with Lord Falsetto. We have two separate carriages waiting outside. He would also like me to tell you, Superintendent Slewfoot, that he will drop by when you are settled in.”

“Very good. Bobby and Mounty, would you help Sleuth with his things while the inspector works with Brass and myself?”

“Yes sir,” both officers said in unison.

While the parents, mostly Brass, had many bags to load into their carriage, Sleuth had surprisingly few of his own, not enough to worry about space but enough to require help. Though they were thankful for a substantially less workload than they expected, the fact that he had so little with him stumped both the officers. Once all belongings were safely secure in the back compartment, the three occupied the carriage and sat down before the ponies pulling it started heading for their destination.

“Uh, excuse me, Inspector Slewfoot?” Mounty asked hesitantly.

“I’m technically off duty, you can just call me Sleuth.”

“Err, very well, Sleuth. If I may ask, I noticed you packed very lightly. You are moving, shouldn’t you have more with you?”

“Most of what’s in those suitcases are clothing and some personal belongings. See, I’m marrying Lord Falsetto’s daughter and he’s insisting I move in with them.”

“Hang on,” Bobby interrupted. “Lord Falsetto’s daughter as in Soprono Serenity? THE Soprano Serenity, LP’s biggest actress and Equestria’s number one sweetheart? Heh, you really know how to pick em’.”

“I guess so, why?”

“Whaddya mean ‘why’?” Mounty asked incredulously. “How did a police inspector get engaged to a famous teenage actress?”

“Betrothed, technically. Both of our father’s are old friends and our parents played matchmaker, therefore we came to an agreement to like, or at least tolerate, each other. Though I will admit, the prospect of marrying sompony almost ten years younger than me is a little bit… weird.”

“Oh please,” Bobby said nonchalantly. “Trust me, there have been far weirder things in this city.”

“Like that famous thief, right?” Sleuth said shifting the conversation away from his fiance. “Can you tell me what you know about this Facade? I would like to gather what little bit of intel I can about this criminal.”

The officers shrugged and Bobby pointed to a poster on the wall of the carriage behind Sleuth. It depicted a stylized drawing of the thief resembling a playing card, specifically a court card. “It’s weird but the citizens of Las Pegasus seem to celebrate him. Well, a majority of them do anyway, some of the upper-class don’t seem too fond of him.”

“I can understand that,” Sleuth said examining the poster. “The guy’s stolen many expensive things and the rich just love their conspicuous consumption.”

“We’ve always identified him from the clothing he wears,” Mounty said. “That hat, that cape, the mask, he’s not exactly difficult to miss.”

“And yet he hasn’t been caught,” Sleuth said with a frown.

“We’ve tried, Sleuth. We really have. To be honest, I just don’t think Inspector Gavroche was up for it in the first place. He keeps saying he’ll double his efforts to apprehend the guy, but it never happens. I think he got fed up with it after all these years.”

“Hm… I have heard Facade is a master of disguise. Can you confirm this?”

“Oh definitely! Bobby and I have been working the case for a long time and a majority of the cases involved a disguise of some sort. His impersonations are almost flawless.”

“Have you noticed any kind of pattern? Like say, a connection between those he’d impersonated?”

Bobby and Mounty pondered for a moment. “Well,” Mounty started. “I’ve noticed the thefts always occur between one and two weeks after he sends the letter.”

“Letter?” Sleuth said with a raise eyebrow.

“Yeah, letter. From day one, he almost always sends a letter directly to the intended victim detailing the object he intends to steal and the time he intends to strike.”

“He’s got balls, I’ll give him that,” Bobby conceded.

“This is shaping up to be an interesting challenge… I think I’m gonna enjoy this.”

The grin Sleuth gave was a clear indication of his anticipation. This confused the two officers; the Facade investigation was notoriously difficult to be involved in and even more infuriating when attempts to thwart a heist would continue to fail. Why is this new guy so excited to work? Was he aware of what he was getting himself into?

They would have to find out later as the carriage approached the gates of a luxurious villa, no doubt the home of Mr. Falsetto. Once through the gates and stopping at the front of the house, the occupants of the carriage and the stallions who pulled it carried the luggage in through the doors. On the other side was a plump yellow earth stallion with a graying mane, tail, and mustache. The white suit he wore was accented with the pair of brown framed glasses adorned across his eyes. Above all else, he wore a welcoming boisterous smile.

“Welcome again, Sleuth dear boy.”

“Good morning, Lord Falsetto. My father should be by later today.”

“Yes, he has quite a bit to do today, hasn’t he? Settling into a new home and office. Really though, we all really need to get together over dinner again, hohoho!”

“Daddy? Who are you talking to?” a young baby blue mare haughtily said coming down from the stairs. “Is it the in-laws? Oh, and it looks like the dogs are here too,” she asked with a hint of condescension aimed at the two officers.

“Now now, Alto. There’s no need to talk like that, especially to Sleuth here. You’ve meet him before and he’ll be part of our family soon.”

“Whatever. I’m going to take a nap, don’t wait up for me, ‘kay?”

Alto huffed away back to her room as Mr. Falsetto shook his head. “You’ll have to forgive Alto. She’s not in the best of moods today."

“Not happy about her sister getting married either,” Sleuth added. “She hardly quiet about that.”

“Ah, she’ll warm up to you. Anyway, I will have somepony carry your things to the guest room. Would you two like some coffee or tea, maybe something to eat?”

“As tempting as that sounds, we really need to get back to the station,” Mounty said, stopping Bobby from speaking first.

“But--”

“No buts, Bobby. We’re on duty and you really don’t need extra caffeine. C’mon, let’s go.”

“Ugh, fine. We’ll see you later, Sleuth. Make sure to stop by the station, we’ll help you settle in.”

Sleuth smiled as the doors closed behind the officers before he yawned with a tired breath. “Lord Falsetto, I think I’m going to take a nap of my own if that’s alright. I couldn’t sleep very well on the train.”

“Hm? Oh yes, I understand. If you are interested, I’m taking your father to see the Kicker at the Lucky Lag. You should come with my dear Soprano, it would be a good opportunity to catch up with her over dinner.”

“Kicker? Sure, why not. I really need to see her again.”

---

The evening came and the nightlife buzzed with activity. While there were many businesses that thrived under the moon, one of the highest grossing was the casinos, in particular that of the Lucky Lag Resort. Not only was it the biggest in the city, but it offered more than just craps and poker. The main floor did bring in a lot of money, but the hotel, shops, restaurants, and entertainment wing helped to further this profit. On top of that, it was a prime location to mingle amongst the rich and famous.

For humble duke Lord Falsetto, this was practically a second home. He was a regular patron and an acquaintance to the Bounty family who owned the business. Two members of said family was the dealer at the poker table Lord Falsetto was sitting at, a young white coated earth stallion by the name of Bluff, and his mother Ante who decided to play a few rounds herself. Besides them, the only other pony at the table was a stallion who was having a hard time keeping up the two high rollers.

“I’m… I’ma call,” Ante said placing chips into the pot, a purple and two blacks.

“I’ll see that and raise you eight hundred,” Falsetto said sliding eight black chips.

“Geez guys,” the third player said folding.

“Better luck next time, sir,” Bluff said as he burned the top card of the deck. “It’s pretty hard to compete with them. Here is the flop.”

Flicking his left hoof, Bluff laid down three cards which were the queen of clubs, the eight of clubs, and the ten of hearts. As the third pony left the table, no longer interested in trying his luck, the remaining two took a look at their hands. Ante was a professional player and kept an A grade poker face despite her excellent odds of winning with the cards she had. Lord Falsetto however took prolonged sips of his drink, a subtle tic Bluff identified as him being nervous.

“I’m going to raise a thousand,” Ante said placing more chips into the pot before taking a sip of her own drink.

“I shall call that.”

Bluff burned the next card before laying the fourth community card, the four of diamonds. “Here’s the turn.”

“I’m going to call.”

“I’ll raise fifteen hundred.”

Bluff’s eyebrow raised a bit with intrigue. Lord Falsetto was more confident in this bet, meaning the turn card was one he needed. Bluff burned the deck again and laid out the last card, the jack of clubs. “And the river. My lucky card too.”

Ante smirked at her son’s comment and took a sip of her drink before placing two thousand into the pot. “Raise.”

“I’ll see that.” Falsetto placed twenty-five hundred.

“Ooh, it’s getting real now,” Bluff remarked.

“Fine. I’ll go all in.”

Falsetto swallowed. Was she bluffing? And if so, did he dare call it? In the end, he decided to go for it and went all in as well.

“Time for a showdown. Let’s show our hands.”

Both ponies revealed their cards. Unfortunately, Falsetto’s risk was not well spent as Ante’s ten and nine of clubs trumped his two aces. A straight flush is difficult to beat. It wasn’t as if he lost a huge chunk of his cash anyway, not with his income.

“Jack of clubs is the house’s lucky card too,” Ante chuckled.

“Ah well, better luck next time. Say, how about another round of drinks?”

“DADDY!” yelled a pink earth pony standing behind Lord Falsetto. Her mane, an icy white, was pulled up into an elegant bun, and she was dressed in an elegant blue satin dress and orange sandals. Aside from some light eyeshadow, the only thing she wore on her face was an irritated frown.

“Oh, Soprano. You're here early--”

“Don’t give me that crap! You've been gambling again. And just how much have you been drinking tonight? What would mom say?”

“Nice to see you too, dear,” Falsetto chuckled, as did Bluff and Ante. “I don’t suppose the you being here means the Slewfoots are as well.”

“Of course you change the subject… Fine, yes they’re here. Sleuthy and his parents are in the dinner theater. You weren’t there so I went to look for you. Guess how long it took.”

“Uh, five minutes?”

“Six minutes?” Ante snarked.

“Six minutes, one second?” Bluff also snarked.

“Your closest without going over,” Soprano said to Ante. “Let’s go, they’re waiting and the show is going to start soon.”

“Ah, I suppose I should go. We really should do this again, Ante--”

“Daddy, no!” Soprano clutched the collar of her father’s firmly with her teeth and pulled him away from the table, the middle aged stallion surrendering at this point.

“Have fun you two, say hi to Contralto and the kids for me,” Ante smiled in a singsong voice. Once she lost sight of the two ponies, the mare stood up and yawned. “I suppose I should go and see if Kicker is ready."

"I think you mean 'take off', mother," Bluff smirked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mommy is a bit tipsy, son," she responded with a wink. "Bluff deary, why don’t you prepare to punch out. It’s been a long day for both of us.”

“Sure, let me close up the table.”

Back in the dinner theater, Soprano and her disappointed father found their seats and joined with the rest of their families. The parents of each group all shared a larger table while their offspring held two different tables. One was occupied by Alto and her boyfriend Baritone, a suave khaki pegasus that spoke in a slight Prench accent. The other was taken by Sleuth with a seat reserved for his fiancee.

“Glad to see you didn’t get lost,” Sleuth said as a flustered Soprano sat down beside him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just a little mad at my daddy,” she responded with a huff. “Caught him gambling again.”

“It is a casino, Soprano.”

“And a theater, a hotel, a restaurant, I could go on.”

“Okay, okay. Just take a deep breath. We’re here to have fun tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, have you ever seen The Kicker before?”

Sleuth took a sip of his wine. “I can’t say that I have. Why?”

“No reason,” Soprano giggled.

The house lights dimmed in the theater and the stage spotlights focused on the center of the curtains. “Fillies and gentlecolts, the Lucky Lag is once again proud to present, all the way from Vanhoover, the magician with the most kicks, Theeeeee Kicker!” Everypony applauded as the curtains parted to show a zebra dressed in a maroon suit and top hat emerging from block of false ice, jumping through as if shattering it. The applause continued as he landed on his hind hooves and stood up, throwing his front hooves in the air and bowed to the audience.

Kicker then brought up a hoof, gesturing for the applause to stop, which it did after a couple seconds. He then walked nearby to a small table with his props, stopping just short of being within hoof’s reach. He then took off his top hat to reveal a spherical object balancing on his head before flicking his hat onto the table. After using his right hoof to take the object off his head, he displayed it for all to see, revealing it to be a bowling ball. Then, as if to dispel any doubts, he dropped it to the ground, which caused a loud bang one would expect from a heavy object.

“I don’t know what they’re putting in the hair gel to cause that to happen.” A small chuckled emitted from the audience. “Well, it’s good to be here in Las Pegasus again. Good to be back in familiar territory. I’ve been traveling across Equestria for most of my career, and I’ve met many different folks and just about all of them were amazing. However, there was one that stuck out in my mind, we talked a bit and she started helping me out with my act. She came up on stage with me for the first time and displayed a little talent of her own, I was impressed, we’ve been a team ever since. Fillies and gentlecolts, please help me welcome the lovely Soubrette!”

The crowd applauded yet again when a blonde scarlet pegasus danced from backstage and curtsied when she was right next to Kicker.

“How you doing tonight, Soubrette?”

“I got a new dress,” she responded pointing to the sparkly green dress she was wearing, being noticeably bouncy on her hooves.

“Oh, yeah I see that. You seem a little jittery tonight, though.”

“Sorry, I was trying out my new cappuccino machine. Got it as a gift along with some flavors, which I ended up having a cup for each so I’m a little hyped up on caffeine.”

“Ah. How many flavors did you get?”

“Seventeen.”

Kicker opened his mouth, but paused as though his mind tried to process his next words. This beat got another chuckle out of the audience, as did his odd expression when he did a double take at Soubrette’s prancing in place.

“Well… I think we’re switching you to decaf next time.”

“They were all decaf.”

“...It’s not worth questioning,” Kicker said, speaking to the audience. “How about we put all that energy to good use? Now Soubrette here is going to go into the audience to pick out a volunteer. In the meantime, I’m going to pick up this deck of cards here and give it to these stellar young ladies in this front table here. I would like for you three to check to make sure it is a plain, ordinary deck, shuffle it and make sure it’s random.”

Kicker and Soubrette continued their routine, pulling a volunteer from the audience. The card tricks performed were fairly standard and simple, including one where he made the cards cascade from his right hoof. Simple card tricks were a staple gimmick for many illusionists, but they still managed to get a laugh and even a small wow from the audience. Or at least most of them as Sleuth was wearing a bored expression on his face.

“What’s the matter, Sleuthy?” Soprano whispered as she looked over to him. “Not enjoying the show?”

“I wouldn’t say that yet. It’s only about five minutes in. But I feel like I could be doing something more useful than just sitting here. No offense to you or your family of course.”

“Do you have something on your mind? Is something bothering you?”

“Probably has something to do with the phantom thief, am I right?” Bluff approached the table, still in his casino uniform. Sleuth glared the dealer’s grin, not sure about this unfamiliar stallion.

“I feel like I’ve seen you from somewhere,” Soprano said to Bluff. “Did we meet before?”

“No, not really. But I did see you earlier when you picked up your dad.”

“Oh… Oh yeah.”

“Name’s Bluff Bounty by the way,” Bluff said running a hoof through his curly brown mane. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Miss Serenity.” Bluff flashed a grin and winked, causing Soprano to blush a little with a smile, further annoying Sleuth.

“Excuse me, buddy,” the police pony growled through his teeth. “but is there a reason for why you are standing there, flirting with my fiancee?” He put more emphasis on the word ‘fiancee’ than he normally would in the hopes that Bluff would wise up and stop bothering him. However, it didn’t deter him much; if anything, Bluff saw it as a challenge.

“As a matter of fact, I have two reasons,” Bluff said without losing his grin. “First, the young lady here dropped something of her’s back on the floor.”

Soprano’s ears perked as Bluff reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a heart shaped locket pendant. The four quarters of the heart consisted of a different gemstone: a ruby, a sapphire, a citrine, and an emerald. These gemstones were held together with polished platinum, inside of the interior being a mirrored locket, albeit a currently empty one. For such a fancy locket though, the neck string was a fairly cheap looking leather strap.

“Need to be a little more careful with your jewelry, young lady.”

“Y-yeah, thank you. Um, please excuse me, Sleuth. I need to go talk to my father really quick. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Soprano stood up and while carefully hiding the pendant, walked over to the table her parents were sitting at. Sleuth couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious at how elusive she was being then, but more so towards the smug bastard that was taking an unoccupied chair at the table.

“You weren’t given an invitation to sit here,” Sleuth said intensifying his glare.

“I won’t be long. But anyway, I did say I had a second reason for being here, besides that piece of gaudy jewelry. I overheard you saying you couldn't concentrate.”

“That is not your business.”

“Isn’t it? Inspector Slewfoot?”

Sleuth’s eyes shot open wide in surprise. How did this suspicious stranger know who he is? He had only been in Las Pegasus for less than a day, he didn’t know anypony else besides Soprano and her family. However it was possible, it was enough for Sleuth to put his guard up, not that it wasn’t already.

“How do you know me?”

“Your future father-in-law told me during his poker game. Guy is really talkative about his daughter, you know. Of course, when you do what I do for a living, you meet all kinds.” Bluff chuckled as he slouched in his chair. “I suppose the same can be said for you. Especially with that phantom loose. I mean, you are marrying into money. What’s to say you won’t become a target in the future?”

“And you aren’t, Mr. Bounty? I know who you are as well. Your family owns and operates the Lucky Lag and its resort.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Bluff picked an orange from the decorative wax fruit bowl at the table and started fiddling with it. “My mother and Mr. Falsetto are associates after all. One of our best customers. It only makes sense you would know. But you are right, Slewfoot: we’re both targets. I'm pretty well known in this city, especially by mares who seek to... acquire my services.”

As the inspector rolled his eyes at the dealer's, for lack of a better word, boasting, Bluff took out a handkerchief and covered the wax orange with it before removing it to reveal it was now an apple, completely genuine and edible. This raised an eyebrow of the inspector, out of amazement though he would never admit it to Bluff.

“The only difference is I actually applaud the thief,” Bluff said as he polished the apple on his vest and taking a bite. “You’re clearly new to LP affairs, so let me fill you in a bit. This city may be pretty and nice for most of the time, but it also has a dark side, as most big metropolitan cities do. You would be surprised how easily some criminals get off because of their status, money, or connections. Rumor has it that our mayor had mafia connections at some point. Facade? I promise you a good fifth of big name criminals wouldn’t be convicted if he didn’t expose them. He is a thief, not a monster.”

“And in the process, he is making the police look like buffoons for his own crimes,” Sleuth countered.

“Eh, the police were already buffoons before he came in. At least now, they’re learning to coordinate more efficiently. He is bringing them together in the name of what the police should be doing: upholding the law and keeping peace and justice.”

Sleuth stayed silent. As much as Bluff was getting on his nerves, he did have a point. He knew even before entering the city that LP’s finest were lacking in that reputation, in no small part because of Pseudo Facade. Even fellow officers Bobby and Mounty spoke to him about the decline in nine-one-one police services simply because nopony was trusting the authorities anymore.

He then started to ponder a bit. What if he could catch LP’s phantom? Give ponies a reason to seek help again, get this guy off the streets and jump start a reformation of the law? The more he thought about it, the bigger his smile became as it would not only improve his new home, but it would greatly boost his own reputation. How would it look in the papers if he was able to defeat the undefeated?

“Well, it’s about time for me to go. Enjoy the show, Slewfoot.”

Sleuth barely noticed the stallion leave and was still well in thought when Soprano came back to the table, looking a little flustered.

Kicker’s show eventually concluded and the audience cheered as he and Soubrette took their bows and left the stage. Once back stage, Soubrette gave the zebra a kiss on the cheek before heading to her dressing room. Kicker himself wished the next performer good luck before going to his own dressing room where he found Bluff and Ante.

“Well? How was it tonight?” Kicker asked in confidence.

“It was a real kick, as usual,” Ante winked.

“Oh, you flatter me senorita. And how is the master doing?”

“Delivered the pendant and spoke with the new inspector,” Bluff said reclining in the seat in front of the mirror. “I don’t know why you’re worried about this guy, though. The new inspector doesn’t look like he will offer much.”

“Perhaps not. But a good magician has to be well prepared for his act.”

Comments

[Greatazuredragon]

Really liked the chapter, but then again I do have a weak spot for Master Thieves stories.