//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: E.C.I.S Case Files: Mother's Day // by averagewriter //------------------------------// The door literally burst open, followed by a blonde stallion bathed in the freedom of sunlight. “ECIS! Freeze!” The changeling hissed and jumped away from Citrine, who had almost collapsed from exhaustion. The stallion looked at Citrine and back at the changeling, scowling. “You sick fuck, I can’t believe you can do this to her.” “I can do anything to anyone on my own fucking terms,” the changeling retorted, hissing, “So you better get that in your stupidly small pony brain.” “Why you little…” Eclipse, the blonde stallion, growled before noticing the small green energy coming from the changeling’s horn. His eyes widened in realization as he watched the green magic grow brighter and bigger. “Amber, now!” He yelled out to his unseen-as-of-yet partner and quickly jumped to the side. But he was too late. As he jumped, the changeling fired the sickly green orb at him and aimed right at his chest, exploding right before it hit and causing Eclipse to hit the wall. “Eclipse!” His partner yelled out, quickly coming out of the door and firing a beam of specialized magic for changelings at the changeling. The changeling, whose pride and ego far surpasses Eclipse’s, merely laughed and surrounded himself with a force field. A mistake he soon realizes when the beam passed through his defenses and smacked him square on the face, knocking him out, at the same time, chained him up real good. Citrine, finally free from her captor, tried to get up. It was a painful process and it wasn’t worth it, as she immediately fell back down on the floor, groaning in pain. “Hey, hey, don’t move too much,” Amber told Citrine, walking to her side. “You’re hurt real bad. Don’t move, we’ll get help.” “Fa...Father…” Citrine gasped and tried crawling, “He’s...hurt…” After so many years of silence between them, Citrine still loved her father. Even after he kept all of her mother’s things, after he stopped her from investigating her mother’s death when she grew older. Even after he removed himself from her life. “Where is he?” The mare quickly asked. Citrine pointed at a door that has not been open for such a long time that there’s dust on it. “Please...help him…” Citrine tried once more to stand up. The impact of the chair and the strength of the stomp made her body weak and broken. But her will to try and reach her dad was too great for even death to take away. Amber, seeing this, helped her up. “Lean on me, don’t put too much effort on yourself,” The policemare gently told her as she helped Citrine walked towards the door. “Hey, slow down, your hu-wait!” Citrine pushed through the door and fell down right beside her dying father. The sound of her fall did not sound pretty. “Ahh, hell… “ Two other policeponies on the scene lifted Citrine and placed her in a waiting ambulance together with her father. The critically injured mare was barely conscious. “Wi… will pa be okay?” asked Citrine with a fading voice, staring at her seemingly dead father, who was lying beside her. “I don’t know,” replied a nurse who was keeping watch over them. “But I’m sure he will…” These were the last words she heard before she slipped into unconsciousness. A green pegasus examined the body of a male unicorn. While she does have the skills of a M.E. (Medical Examiner), she prefers being a forensic scientist and studying molecules and such instead of poking dead bodies. The door behind her opened to reveal her boss, an old-looking (but not really old) earth stallion. He may look angry or grumpy but that’s usually how he looks. No one can really be sure on his exact emotions at any given time. ‘Uh, hey boss,” The pegasus greets him without taking her eyes off the dead body. “Cya, cause of death?” Came the usual question of this stallion. With a sigh, she replied, “As usual to torture deaths, bled to death.” “Torture?” The stallion asked. “Yeah, look at this,” She motioned him to come closer and pointed at the many wounds the cadaver has, “Multiple laceration wounds here and there, plenty of bruises, and here, at the neck,”-she pointed at it- “Obvious signs of choking. Damn, whoever did this must really want whatever information they wanted from him.” “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” The stallion muttered. “How about those samples Amethyst sent you? Got anything?” “Eh, Boss, you know I can’t be both a medical examiner and a forensic scientist at the same time,” she made gestures with her wings, expressing her frustration. “I mean, what happened to our old M.E?” “Don’t worry about that, Cyanide,” the stallion headed towards the door, “He’ll be here later. Now, go do what you have to do with the samples we sent you.” The pegasus saluted with her wing, “Sure thing, Boss. I’ll have the results in record time.” With a nod, he left the room. Once she was sure he was gone, a big goofy grin formed on her face as she hoofpumped. “Yes! No more talking to dead bodies!” Amber stood behind the one-way glass, the only thing in her way to beating the lights out of the changeling inside the interrogation room. She watched as the changeling continued to yell out profanities and insults at his captors. Once again, the stallion enters the room behind the glass, his face still showing no emotions. “What’s the status on our little friend here?” He asked. “Still swearing and thinking his changeling magic can save him,” Amber growled, staring intensely at the changeling. “Why can’t we just let the princess handle this? Heck, just throw him in the Everfree Forest with an anti-changeling magic collar.” “Amber.” The mare just rolled her eyes and sighed, “Fine. I’ll interrogate him without hurting him.” The stallion shook his head, “No, no, I’ll be the one. You did enough, let me handle this.” Amber gave him a “Oh come on!” face and just sighed. It was probably for the best, she may punch the changeling in the face and it’ll all go downhill from there. So Amber continued to watch the changeling behind the glass as the stallion exited from the room, only to reappear in the same room as the changeling with a folder in mouth. “Oh look who’s come to talk to me,” the changeling sneered at him. “What you gonna do, old man? Lecture me about the good ol’ days?” The stallion said nothing, nor did his face changed as he placed the folder on the table and sat across the changeling. “Oh, the silent treatment, huh?” The changeling chuckled, “What kind of interrogation technique is that?” The stallion ignored him and opened the folder. He pulled out a picture and placed it on front of the changeling. It was a picture of the murdered: Citrine’s father. The changeling stared at the picture, “You think you can get information out of me by just using pictures? You must be going senile.” Another picture placed down, this time, it was the victim: Citrine. “You're just wasting your time here, grandpa,” the changeling sneered. “I won’t be giving out any information.” “That’s fine by me,” the stallion replied as he placed another photo on the table. This time, it took the changeling by surprise. It was a picture of a mare, with a smile that could make a sad ponies day better. Picture was taken a day before her joining the police force. “Who’s that?” The perp asked, taking a closer look at the photo, “Is..Is that…?” The stallion leaned closer to the changeling, “What happened to you? What kind of path did you take after all these years?” “Don’t pull the guilt card on me!” The changeling yelled, “I tried my best on this damn agency but I was still disrespected. So it wasn’t a damn mystery why I left.” “But why did you have to kill? You could have chosen to live a normal life but instead, you chose to murder!” The stallion slammed his hood on the table. “Normal life? NORMAL LIFE?!” The changeling hissed, his eyes filled with anger, “You think someone like me, a creature that has been considered an enemy by most, can live peacefully without being looked down upon?” “You could have at least tried! She trusted you the most and seen you as one of us, not below us.” The stallion sighed, “And look what you’ve done to repay her kindness.” “What did I say about using the guilt card, gramps?” The changeling gritted his teeth, “Don’t you dare use her as a leverage in getting any information out of me!” The stallion moved the pictures of Citrine and her father forward, to which the changeling stared in confusion. “If you have a brain, you’ll figure this out,” the stallion said before heading towards the door. “See you later, make sure you have something to say when I get back.” He left the changeling looking at the pictures with confusion. And if he waited for a second, he would’ve have seen the changeling's face change from one of murderous intentions and pridefulness to disbelief, regret, and sadness. Charon sat on one of the chairs in the big room, anxiously tapping the table. There was a coffee cup, which had obvious signs that it got spilled, and half-eaten cookies next to him. A really nervous stallion, this gravekeeper is. He immediately stopped the tapping once the stallion entered the room carrying another plate of cookies. “What took you so long?” Charon asked him, “And why did you get another set of cookies?” The stallion placed down the cookies and took a seat next to him, “What wrong? I thought you loved cookies. I know I do.” The gravekeeper chuckled and shook his head, “I told you, that was a long time ago. I prefer muffins.” Nevertheless, he grabbed one of the sugary sweets and took a bite, “But, I still eat this from time to time…” “She’s going to be fine, Charon,” the stallion told him before taking a sip of his own coffee. “How can you be so sure about that?” Charon asked him, sounding distressed, “She nearly got killed. If those two haven’t arrived on time, then only Celestia knows what the changeling will do to her.” He sighed as he slumped down in his chair, “Who did the autopsy on the deceased while I was gone?” “Cyanide, of course,” the stallion replied. “Though she was wondering where you went. Told her you’ll be here today.” “Can’t say you’re wrong. Glad you assigned her instead of another pony, she really has quite the skills for a young mare.” They continued to finish their snacks in silence. Charon’s nervosity has obviously lessened, a small grin on his face. After a few minutes, the Stallion drank the last drop of his coffee and smiled. The very first expression he has shown on that day. “The case has been reopened.”