La Femme Fatale

by bkc56

The Abduction

One couldn’t ask for a nicer day for an abduction.

The morning was chilly, but the clear sky, along with the weather schedule, said it would be sunny and warm later. With coffee in hoof, I stood across the street from Le Café Noir.

Having arrived early, I’d been observing the café for a while. Most of the clientele took their coffees then shambled off like so many zombies hoping the sacred elixir would infuse life into their muddled heads. Though some of them would continue to loiter outside the café. These were clearly the well-to-do ponies, who had nothing better to do than waste bits and time. The mares would do that fake cheek kiss thing and titter, the stallions hoof bump and laugh. Snippets of conversation I could hear tended towards the inane and pointless. Social gossip was the topic of the day. No doubt, the topic of most every day.

I finally sipped my coffee and winced. This cup cost more than my entire dinner last night, which also included coffee. And yet that cup had tasted better than this swill. Must be ponies with more bits than brains who drank this each morning. My client didn’t seem like the type to waste money this way.

Ponies were creatures of habit, hitting the same watering hole every day. Miss Chapeau had said she rotated between several such shops. Perhaps her seemingly wasted bits were actually an investment in rubbing shoulders with a different herd of Canterlot elite each day? I scowled at the liquid concoction in my cup. I wonder if she actually drinks this stuff, or if it’s just a prop she holds to help fit in better with the locals?

I glanced at the large clock outside the café. It was two minutes past the hour. My client would not be late for anything, especially her own abduction. Unless, there was something more going on here... I felt a small knot in the pit of my stomach, and it probably wasn’t the swill I was still choking down. What was left of my coffee found itself in the nearby gutter, and the cup in an adjacent trash can. I then started walking the likely path Miss Chapeau would have taken from her home.

The majority of the ponies on the roads were heading to work. Those that trotted or galloped by with a panicked expression were obviously already late. Most of what I saw were the vacant, glazed eyes of ponies heading to another day of servitude sitting at rows of desks to work at the same mundane job as every other day.

I shifted to a fast trot scanning faces as I went. I hoped to see hers any second. Perhaps she stopped to chat, setting her back a minute or two. I went through an intersection and slowed so I could look both ways. That scarlet mane of hers should be easy to spot. And she’d have a hat. I didn’t see many fashionable hats in this sea of ponies. My heart rate was increasing, and it wasn’t from exertion.

I glanced into an alley as I passed and slowed to look more carefully. There was something on the ground a few paces in. I trotted over and picked it up. It was a hat. A mare’s hat. A check of the lining showed a tag with her store’s name. The opposite side had two fancy embroidered letters stitched into a monogram: ‘JC’. Jasmine Chapeau? On instinct, I did the only thing I could think of to verify I was correct: I held it up to my muzzle and inhaled. Honeysuckle.

My client was gone. Snatched a block and a half from our meeting. I’d only missed her by a couple minutes. How could a staged foalnapping turn into a real one? I shoved the hat into my saddlebag. They’d probably had months to learn her routine, like where she got coffee each morning. But why today? Was it just coincidence, or had some information leaked out? Now’s not the time, Steel. Only one thing matters.

My hooves clattered on the cobblestones as I galloped down the alley. I emerged on the next street. Left headed towards the castle, right towards the city gates. I turned right at a full gallop and briefly stumbled as my hooves slipped. I stayed off the crowded sidewalk and dodged the occasional wagon in the street. A barked “Get outta da road!” assaulted me.

A cop on the next corner tensed at my rapid approach. As I flew past, I called out, “I need help! Follow me!” No time to slow down and look back. I hope he’s following.

I wanted to call out her name, but that would be pointless. In the noisy bustle of the waking city, I could see farther than anypony could possibly hear. I constantly scanned the array of ponies on the street, looking past the rainbow of various ponies’ coats and manes for that splash of crimson on white. So rare, even precious.

I blasted through another intersection, looking left and right. Partway down the block I glanced up an alley, then skidded to a stop, almost falling on my rump. I stumbled back for a closer look. At the far end were three ponies; a mare between two larger stallions. A crimson tail swished across her perfectly white rump. Yet they weren’t moving like a foalnapping. She didn’t appear to be resisting and they weren’t restraining her that I could see. Were they abductors or escorts? Had I been hired to be a faux-abductor or a witness? With a snort, I bolted down the alley.

It was impossible to run quietly with hooves on cobblestones. They were going to hear me. The only questions were: how soon, and would they look back? The stallion on the left was big, an earth pony from the looks of it. The smaller one on the right didn’t have wings, though I thought I caught a glimpse of a horn.

I was close, but not close enough when all three looked over their shoulders. There was no hiding my intent now. The unicorn’s horn flared with magic as he turned. I dodged right towards the alley wall. A hard scrapping blow allowed me to ricochet off for an otherwise impossibly fast dodge to the left. Just another couple paces. I could see her eyes, frightened and wide. There was no doubt now; she was not here by choice. The unicorn sneered at me.

I lowered my head and prepared to ram straight into him. Just one more stride…

There was a blinding flash, then… blackness.

Comments

[Isuvyw]

I've always been intrigued by your detective stories, and I'm glad you've decided to expand this one. Waiting for more!

[bkc56]

11619980

Waiting for more!

It's coming at a chapter a day through next weekend (10 total).

[ArcherStern]

Somedays it doesn't pay to be right.

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

A minor typo I found: A crimson tale swished across her perfectly white rump.

[bkc56]

11633136
Fixed. Thanks.