//------------------------------// // Tall Tale VI // Story: Strider // by Olakaan Peliik //------------------------------// “Move, move, move! My grandmother can move faster than that, and she's dead!” Sergeant Pepper shouted as we ran past. Technically he wasn't yelling at me since I was overtaking the others, but he was still yelling at the group collectively. Sergeant Arrow was due back in a few hours so I figured humiliating the guards that were trying to get back in shape was a good way to pass the time. Knight Gaze was out here too, but he was over on the bench press schooling an earth pony at the moment. I finished my laps and went over to where Sergeant Pepper was standing in his physical training cap, with his whistle dangling around his neck. “Strider, nice time. I wish some of the others were as fit as you. Less paperwork for me.” Pepper commented. I took a sip of water from a chilled bottle before responding. “Thank you, Sergeant. May I ask you an informal question Sergeant?” “You may,” he said, not taking his eyes off his charges. “Commander Halberd. What do you know of him?” I asked. “Just that he’s the son of a general out of Manehattan,” he answered. “But what do you know of him as a pony, not a commanding officer?” I pushed. He opened his mouth to answer but shut it quickly. “Sergeant?” I pressed. “Now that I think about it, I don’t know anything about him. He never eats in the mess hall with us and we almost never see him anywhere other than his office. He gets lots of mail though, almost all personal,” He stopped and looked at me. “Why do you ask?” I shifted my wings. “Just curious about my commanding officer, Sergeant. I haven't exactly had a lengthy conversation with him.” He nodded. “I don’t think anypony has.” “Strider, Knight Gaze!” I turned to see Sergeant Arrow had arrived early with a smile on his face. “Get your kits on and be in my office ASAP!” He disappeared into the sergeant offices door. “Well, he‘s back early,” KG commented, wiping the sweat from his brow as he walked up to me. “And he’s in good spirits. He must have found something,” I added as we departed for the barracks. Getting up to our room we put our kit’s together. KG even helped me this time. We made a racket getting back down the stairs and across the yard to Arrow’s office. Once there, Arrow had already put his findings on a board and was connecting strings to tacks. “Strider, you were right,” he said as we entered. “They did break into the Vanhoover warehouse and steal not just dozens of crossbows, but hundreds of bolts to go with them. This is where things get good.” Sergeant Arrow was smiling the whole time explaining this. “It gets better?” KG asked. “It does.” He pointed a hoof to an evidence bag a shard of glass with blood on it sat inside. “I found that in the warehouse, guess who the blood belongs to? Go ahead, guess.” “The Pegasus with the mangled wing?” I asked. “Yes! The hospital in Vanhoover only had one patient with glass related injuries, and the description matches. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an address. But we do have a signature to go on.” “A signature? How does that help us?” KG asked looking over the wall of evidence Arrow collected. “I’m so happy you asked. The signature was of a griffon, one called Whitefeather, which is misleading because his feathers are black.” “How do you know his feathers are black?” I asked. “Because he has a record, petty thieving, and a few small-time break-ins, nothing serious until now. But the reason I’m so happy about this is because…” Arrow pulled a file out of his saddlebags and hoofed it over to me. “...of this.” I opened the file to see a picture of a griffon with gold colored beak and talons, black feathers, gray fur, and tail. “You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “What?” KG asked. “Remember him?” I asked, handing the photo to KG to examine. After a moment of thinking, he answered. “This is the griffon who hit you with a trash can.” “Yeah,” I nodded. “So we gonna go arrest him?” I asked. Sergeant Arrow’s grin grew as wide as the moon. “This is the cherry on top: we don’t have to. Apparently, some guards picked him up last night for being drunk at a playground. He was to be released once he sobered up but now we have reason to hold him longer.” “Breaking into an Equestrian Military Warehouse. That’s lifetime imprisonment at least, isn’t it?” KG commented, giving the file back to Sergeant Arrow. “Actually it’s only like twenty years, but still a long time,” I corrected. “Right now we're waiting on a prosecutor to come here and assist us before we go question him,” Sergeant Arrow said, looking as though he might start bouncing up and down from excitement. “Why do we need a prosecutor?” I asked. “Because we want to stay within the law while we question him. And if he lawyers up, we want to have a head start,” KG answered almost immediately. “That’s exactly it,” Arrow nodded approvingly. “So let’s take the time to go back over every scrap of evidence again with everything we have now and if we need to go find more.” “Sergeant if I might make a suggestion?” KG asked. Arrow nodded for him to continue. “Whitefeather’s file said he was living in a halfway house, correct? If there is any more evidence there, we might want to get at it first.” “Oh, I hadn't thought of that.” Arrow reopened the Whitefeather’s file. “Here it is! Five seven seven eight Redwood Road, north side of the city. Go search his room, the head of the house will be cooperative.” “We’re on it!” I said turning to the door with KG behind me. We turned the corner onto Redwood Road. Finding the house was easy enough. As soon as we turned the corner all the ponies and griffons at the house locked their eyes on KG and I. The residents moved out of our way and we went into the house manager’s office. “Hello, Gentlestallions. What can I do for the guard today? I hope none of my residents have caused any trouble,” the manager welcomed us. She was an older looking unicorn. Her originally red mane and brown coat were fading to gray. “Actually that’s exactly it,” I started. “The resident Whitefeather was arrested last night because of unbecoming behavior in public, but we’ve also linked him to a theft in Vanhoover, and assault on a City Guard. We’re here to search his room.” The old mare frowned a little. “Oh, well that is unfortunate. Do you have a warrant or something I can look at?” “No, we don’t,” KG stated. “But since this building is being paid for by the city, and is overseen by the City Guard, it’s technically our property, which means we don’t need one,” KG explained. “Oh, yes,” the manager stammered out. “Yes, of course, you are right. Follow me to his room.” She levitated a ring of keys off the wall and headed out of the office. As we followed her upstairs, I turned to KG. “How did you know all that?” KG shrugged. “Nyx has law books all over her apartment. I get bored sometimes when she is reading.” I smirked. “Spend a lot of time there, then? What do you do when you’re not reading?” “Shut up and stay focused,” KG grumbled, his eyes fixed on the mare ahead of us watching her suspiciously. “While you search the room, I'll question the manager.” “You got it,” I said, falling quiet as we made our way toward the room. The manager began to unlock the door. “Whitefeather was doing so well. He was almost done with his A.A. meetings too,” she sighed. Once the door opened, KG pulled the manager aside. “Would you mind waiting out here with me and answer a few questions while my partner has a look inside?” I walked pass them. “Oh sure,” she answered. “I always like to—” I tuned them out as I began searching the room. It was a mess, food containers and fast food wrappers everywhere. The place smelled prominently like rotting fish, which matched a lot of the containers. “This is gross,” I muttered, starting to rummage through the trash. There were a lot of empty envelopes and crumpled-up letters, most from employers denying work applications. I moved over to the closet, a griffon tailored business suit, and two boxes at the bottom. I removed one of the boxes from the closet and opened it up. Empty envelopes, all with the same address on them “4838 Yellow Rock Road Tall Tale, Equestria”. Putting the box back I pulled the other out. Opening it up, I found a Gear-Crank Model Crossbow and a bundle of bolts. “Knight Gaze!” I called. KG left the manager outside the door and entered the room. “Find something?” he asked. “That's one way of saying it,” I commented moving over to the bed to search it. I put a hoof on the mattress and pushed down to test it. Saggy from years without being replaced. KG took my place at the closet and examined the bolts and crossbow. “I doubt he was authorized for a military issue Gear-Crank Crossbow. These things are rapid-fire, aren't they?” I was moving a hoof underneath the mattress now. “That they are,” I answered. I felt some papers. “Hey, could you lift this mattress away?” KG flared his magic and lifted the mattress. We both studied what we found beneath. “Well if the crossbow wasn't enough, this is definitely incriminating.” Spread across the bedframe were pictures of the warehouse in Vanhoover, several Tall Tale city guards, shipping manifests, train schedules, and letters of instruction. “I thought rule one of being a criminal was destroy all evidence?” KG pondered. “Well it looks like Whitefeather is a pretty bad at following even those kind of rules,” I said, moving an instruction letter closer. “‘Well done on acquiring those crossbows and bolts. Deliver them to the drop and you will be compensated for your service.’ signed with an ‘H’ and that's it. Nothing else. It looks to be the most recent too.” “We need to get all of this back to Sergeant Arrow,” KG stated. I looked at him. “All of it?” “All of it,” he confirmed with a small sigh. “Well this is certainly a development,” Sergeant Arrow commented, going over the boxes of evidence that KG and I brought back. “While I’m glad Whitefeather left us a paper trail, I’m now worried who this ‘H’ character is.” KG and I were standing near the Arrow’s couch. I was looking at the ever-growing board of evidence, while KG’s attention was on something else on the floor beside him. So far, the evidence indicated that sometime after Whitefeather hit me with a trashcan he was recruited by H, to go north and break into the armory warehouse with the pegasus with the mangled wing. Then he admitted the Pegasus to the hospital for glass lacerations, then dropped the cargo in one off in the many caves on the coast between Vanhoover and Tall Tale. Then the Pegasus with the mangled wing and his two accomplices attempted to shoot me down with the same crossbows and bolts Whitefeather stole. “This is turning into something you’d read out of a book,” I commented. Sergeant Arrow took another look after finishing with a piece of twine. “Huh, it is, isn't it?” “Whose bags are these?” KG asked, pointing to a set of saddlebags sitting next to the couch. “Oh, those are the prosecutor's. She’s in the latrine. She’ll be back any second,” Arrow said, going over to his desk. “Okay, so first thing’s first. We need to put together a dossier to question Whitefeather with. Any ideas?” “Well, we want to ask about this H pony, or griffon, last. If we ask too soon we could scare him and he’ll shut up until the end of time,” I commented. “So, we ask something meaningless first. What about his previous offenses?” KG asked. Arrow was opening Whitefeather’s file when the door opened. And a very familiar white thestral entered the room. “Ah Nyx, a pleasure to see you again,” I said with a wide grin. KG stood there in panic mode, which looked a lot like his stand at attention for an officer mode, except his face was turning bright red and sweat was pouring down his head like he was in a sauna. “You too, Strider,” Nyx went over and bumped her rump against KG’s plot. “Knighty, aren't you gonna say hi?” “Hey,” KG squeaked. “Am I missing something?” Arrow asked. I turned back to Sergeant Arrow. “Nyx and KG here are in a relationship,” I explained, struggling to contain my laughter. “It won’t interfere with the investigation, I assure you,” Nyx said, shifting into business. “So where are we?” “We were just about to look into Whitefeather’s file to see what his prior offenses are.” Arrow informed her. “So we can start small with the questions, very good.” Nyx went for her bags by the couch. “If I remember correctly he has three offenses, two private home break-ins, and one pickpocket theft, which is the one he got caught for.” “What were the nature of the first two break-ins?” I inquired. “The first one was a private home, he stole a small statue and pawned it later,” Arrow read from the file. “The second break-in was another private home but he broke into a safe, and stole about two hundred bits worth of gems.” “How long did he spend in prison?” KG said looking at the evidence board. “Sentence was for ten years, but he was paroled in six for good behavior,” Nyx said looking at her files. I cleared my throat. “So who is gonna do the questioning?” Nyx pointed a wing at me. “You are.” “What?” I stammered. “Why me?” “Because you have a friendly face. Knight Gaze looks like he's ready to take ponies to the chopping block,” Arrow started. “Also because you're supposed to be learning. The best way to learn is to get your hooves wet.” “First time interrogating somepony. What could possibly go wrong?” I mumbled under my breath.