10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 2 - "Manehattan Crime Story"

by TP Night

Chapter 19 - Waiting / Reveal

Rarity and Shining Badge left the others in the main hall and went off to search
the rooms, to make sure no pony was hiding anywhere. The chances of that were
very small, but it was still possible, and they needed to be sure.

“Hey, Miss Rarity?” Shining started.

“Oh, just Rarity is fine, no need for the ‘Miss’. Makes me sound old.” Rarity replied
with a small giggle.

“Sorry.” Shining apologized. “Anyway, I was thinking...”

“Yes?”

“While we search the rooms for other ponies.. let me focus on ponies.
you focus on the room itself, look for anything that doesn’t fit in. I mean,
you said you’re a fashion pony, so you would know this sort of stuff, right?
You’d be able to see things that do not belong in a fashion competition back-room.”

“Oh, that was actually partly why I wanted to come along on the search.
And also simply because two pairs of eyes see more than one.”

“True. Now, these would be the rooms used by the fashion ponies.” Shining pointed
at a row of doors. “We’ll search those first, and then the rest. Not many other rooms
to search though. we have these rooms, a couple of small closets, the bathrooms,
a small DJ booth next to the stage which was empty, I checked when we passed it,
the main showroom where everypony already is, and that rich guys office.”

“Hmm...” Rarity looked very thoughtful for a moment.
“After we search the dressing rooms, let’s search the office. Maybe he has a safe
or a lock box, with something valuable. Maybe that’s what the zebras are after?”

“Possible. Could be that he has some rare gem or something, or it could be valuable
papers, like the rights to the building itself or something.”

“Exactly.”

They proceeded to search the dressing rooms one by one, finding nothing and no pony.
At least, nothing out of the ordinary - clothes, fabrics, sewing machines, thread, needles,
jewelry (both real and cheap knock-offs), shoes, hats, and so on.

Shining held up a gem-embroidered broad choker-necklace.

“These sapphires are really nice.”

“Those are plastic.” Rarity said.

“...What? No, they can’t...”

“Tap it against the table, listen to the sound. It will make a plastic sound,
not the glass-like sound of gems.” Rarity said.

Shining did as he was asked, and to his surprise, it did sound like plastic, not like gems.

“Damn... I thought for sure they were real.”

“Top quality knock-offs. Looks real even up close unless you’re an expert,
costs much less than real ones. often used in fashion shows, since the clothes only need
to look expensive, they don’t necessarily need to actually be as expensive as the look.”

“So they’re fakes, but they’re not unexpected in a dressing room on a fashion show.”

“Exactly.”

“So we move on to the next room.”

“Yes, I say we can move on. Nothing in the dressing rooms caught my eyes as
being out-of-place.”

“And no signs of any pony hiding either.”

“On to the office then.”

“Yes.” Shining said, holding the door open for Rarity. “Ladies first.”

“Oh, a gentlecolt.” Rarity smiled and exited the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the main hall, the ponies were getting restless.
Especially the rich stallion who had promised to behave.

“We have been waiting for a good twenty minutes already! How much longer is
this going to take? And what exactly are you actually doing? I demand answers!”

The stallion grunted and paced back and forth between the rows of seats.
Gun Point sighed.

“I already told you, it’s police business, It’s strictly need-to-know at this point,
and for the moment, you do not need to know, you just really want to.
When this is all over, I promise you I will tell you everything,
but right now I need you to just stay here, and if you could please calm down a bit,
that would be a great help too. You’re making the others nervous.”

“I am? I am? What about you, and your two colleagues? you are the ones making ponies
nervous, keeping us locked up in here like a bunch of hostages! Maybe you’re not even
real cops, maybe you guys are some kind of kidnappers and you’re going to demand
ransoms for us!”

“Sir, you’re being paranoid. Please sit down, take a few deep breaths, and think about it.
If we really were kidnappers, why would we take all of you? Don’t you think kidnappers
would only go for the rich ones, and leave the rest alone? You can look closer at my
badge if you don’t believe me, and maybe you’ll see that it’s authentic. I’m a real cop.”

The old stallion did as he was told, but very reluctantly. He kept his eyes locked on
Gun Point, clearly displaying distrust. Gun Point sighed again, but thought to himself,

As long as he keeps calm, this should go smoothly... The Zebra should be returning
to her normal form any moment now.. Wouldn’t surprise me the least if that stallion
turns out to be the one...

Shining and Rarity walked back into the main hall, and approached Gun Point.

“Any luck?” Gun Point asked.

“Nope, we found nothing of interest. No ponies hiding, no items out-of-place,
nothing broken. The zebra got to be one of them.” Shining replied, nodding toward
the group of ponies sitting in the room. They all looked restless, tired, some looked
irritated, and the old stallion almost looked angry.

“Question is, which one?” Rarity inquired. “I mean, it could be any one of them.”

“At the moment, I’m leaning a bit towards the old guy, who claims to be the owner.”
Gun Point said, lowering his voice so that only Shining and Rarity could hear him.

“He’s been reacting more than the others to everything, and.. I just have a feeling
there’s something not quite right about him, but I can’t put my hoof on it.”

“Well, he could just be a grumpy old stallion.” Shining said. “A lot of stallions
get that way when they get old. Especially the rich snobs,for some reason.”

“True, but still.. there’s something about this one...”

One of the janitors walked up to the group.

“I wish to speak with you. In private.”

“Why?” Shining asked.

“I said, in private.” the janitor repeated.

“It’s okay.” Gun Point said. “I’ll go with you, sir. We can talk over there.”
He pointed at the far end of the room. “That’s as private as you’ll get.”

“Very well, I suppose that’s enough.” the janitor said, and walked to the corner
where Gun Point had pointed. Gun Point followed.

“So, what did you want to say?” he asked as they reached the corner.

“I know why you are here, and I wish to surrender myself. I am the one you seek.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Gun Point asked.

“I mean, I know you are looking for one of two zebras, able to change appearance.
I am telling you that I am the one you are looking for. I am that zebra.”

“I see, and you are surrendering... Why?”

“I have been thinking, and at this moment, that is my most logical option.
I can no longer fulfill my part of the plan here, and I assume you have also
gone after my sister, possibly even caught her already. Our plan can no longer
be accomplished, and struggling would only cause unnecessary problems,
for me and my sister, and for you as well. In short, nopony would gain anything
from it, and thus it is not worth the effort.”

“Makes sense. However, we still wait until you change back, just to make perfectly sure
you really are the zebra, and also that no one else here is your sister.”

“I wish to be moved away from the others before I change. It would only cause panic,
as they would likely assume me to be a changeling.”

“Why would you care about the others?”

“Why would I not? I am not evil, just criminal. There is a difference. I do not hurt ponies
when it can be avoided. Causing panic would only lead to problems, and possible
injuries. Thus, if you move me out of their sight and let me change without them
observing, you can avoid panic. Either let them go now, or move me to another room.
I will change back soon.”

“How soon?”

“Withing fifteen minutes, roughly.”

Gun Point waved at Shining and Rarity to come join them, and they did.

“Now, repeat everything you just said.” he instructed the janitor, who did as he was told.

Shining was the first to speak. “So, what now, boss? Do we believe him?”

Gun Point nodded. “Well, I don’t see why not. He did now things we never revealed
to the ponies here. I say one of us follow him to the next room, the others stay here
for the moment, and once he changes - if he does - we can let the others go.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll go with him.. uh, her, I suppose is more accurate.
I mean, you are a female zebra, this stallion appearance is just a temporary disguise?”
Shining said, turning to the janitor.

“That is correct. Though I currently appear male, my real self is female.”

“In any case, follow me.” Shining said, and led the way through a door.

“We’ll handle the others.” Gun Point said.

“How do we know when she’s returned to her own form, so we can release the
others?” Rarity asked.

“I’ll knock on the door three times. When you hear three knocks, that means she’s
back to her true form.”

“You do realize I have a name, and you just need to ask for it...” the janitor sighed.

“Oh, yes, right. What is your name?” Rarity asked.

“Manyzia.” the janitor replied.

“I’m Rarity. Under different circumstances, I’m sure it would’ve been a pleasure to meet
you, but as of right now, I think you’ll understand if I refrain from using that term.”

“Sure. Let’s just get this over with, shall we? When I have turned, you can arrest me
and take me to the station. I assume you’re going to want to question us.”

“Of course we are.” Shining said, as they left the room.

Shortly after, there were three knocks on the door. Gun Point approached the others.

“Well, Once again I am truly sorry for all this... However, you are all now free to go,
we have found the one we were looking for. I do need you all to leave your contact
information though, and stay in the city, just in case we need to ask you anything later.
On your way out I have prepared scrolls and quills, just write down your names,
current addresses, phone numbers if you have phones, and any other ways of
reaching you.”

“Finally!” The old stallion said, clearly still in a bad mood.
The others left in silence, or mumbling to themselves as they walked out,
each signing a scroll as they past the door.

Rarity opened the door to where Shining and Manyzia was, and instead of a stallion,
she now found a zebra mare, with a mohawk similar to Zecoras, green eyes, and a
necklace around her neck. Some kind of talisman or tribal symbol, judging by it’s look.

“So that is how you look.” Rarity said. “You remind me of a zebra friend back home.”

“Why of course, All zebras look the same to you, don’t we? Maybe your eyes are not
as refined as you think, hmm?” Manyzia sneered at Rarity.
She then added, “Now, shall we get this over with?”

Gun Point approached. “I see, you really are back to shape. Now, we never did this
officially, so here goes.” He took a small pause to catch his breath.
“Manyzia, you are hereby under arrest for impersonation, break-in, robbery,
pick-pocketing, kidnappings, on multiple accounts of each, some confirmed and
some suspected. You are to be taken into the station for questioning and placed
in a cell until trial, and after that, it’s up to the judge and jury. Will you come with
us by your own will, or do we need to force you?”

“I will come peacefully, just bare in mind, we have a lot to talk about.
I admit me and my sister did commit several crimes, but we are not the only
ones you should arrest in the end. There are other criminals involved too.”

“What do you mean? Who?” Gun Point asked.

“All in good time, I will tell you when I am reunited with my sister
in your station. Until then, I invoke my right to remain silent.”

“Very well, let’s get to the station as soon as possible, and let’s hope the others
got the sister.” Gun Point said, turning to Shining.

“Right. Now then... Gun Point, you wanna take the lead?”

“Yes, I believe I will. Miss Rarity, you walk beside her. I will walk in front,
and Shining behind. That way we have her surrounded, so she can’t try anything stupid,
like an escape attempt.”

“No need to worry, I will come peacefully. You have my word.” Manyzia said.

“Doesn’t matter, standard procedure.” Shining replied. “Now move.”

On the way out, they thanked Grey Beak for his help, as he closed the place down.
After that, they continued to the station, hoping that the others were done and
had the sister in lock-up already. The night was far from over.

Now, they had the interrogation to do...