The day after Hearth’s Warming, we were all back in Baltimare. Before we had to report back to base, I had gotten Jett some winter clothing: a white hoodie with purple fluff inside and blue trim, I also tried getting her some sunglasses—turns out that a thestral’s eyes are more sensitive to light than a normal pony’s—but she wanted some old-fashioned tinted flight goggles. She wore them on her forehead when indoors, and over her eyes when outside.
I was in my office going over all the cases that my team and I were working on. Jett wanted to hang out with me today. She sat on the other side of the room, reading her comic books and playing with her Fleetfoot figure. Dino was coiled atop one of my filing cabinets, watching Jett.
Somepony knocked at my door. “Come in,” I called, hurriedly putting my helmet on. As an NCO, I had to keep a professional appearance now.
The lieutenant opened the door. I stood for a salute, but he waved me down almost immediately. “As you were Sergeant, I'm just here with a new case for you.”
“Sir?” I asked as he levitated a new manila folder over to my already overflowing pile.
“There was a carriage found burning next to the road out of town,” he explained. “That’s a popular dumping ground for the local gangs particularly the Griffon Mafia. Responding firefighters found a body inside.”
“Anything special about this case?” I asked.
“The wagon is registered to the ex-wife of a witness that said he'd testify against the local gangs. The file was closed to us because it was an E.Q Marshals case.”
“Ah yes,” I grumbled. “The Equestrian Marshals. The division of the Guard that ignores city limits.”
No City Guard actually liked the Marshals. They handled cases like escaped convicts and witnesses protection and never told anypony anything until they screwed up and needed help. And even then, they never said more than they absolutely had to.
“Yes well, their witness up and disappeared on them and the witness’ daughter is missing. We want to know who the body is in the carriage, then find out where the other two are,” the Lieutenant explained. “I want you to consider this a high priority case. If we find this witness, we might be able to nail the Mafia...not to mention stick it to the pricks in the Marshals,” he added with a small smirk.
That certainly got my motivation up. “I'll get on this then, sir,” I replied.
“The body and the carriage are already on their way here. Oh, and your new district attorney is on her way with the complete E.Q.M file. She should be here any minute.” The Lieutenant turned, looked at Jett, who just waved a hoof at him, and he then proceeded to leave my office.
I sighed and removed my helmet. “Another family is in trouble?” Jett asked me.
I didn't want to talk about this subject but I was in it now. “It seems like it. But my fellow guards know what they're doing. We'll find them.”
Jett smiled as another knock on my door resonated through. “Come in!” I called, straightening myself out in case it was another officer.
Instead, a zebra mare walked into my office. She was skinny, but then again I haven't met many zebras so I have nothing to compare her to. Her long mane was pulled back in a ponytail instead. Zebra cutie marks are nothing like a pony’s: hers was an intricate tribal design like a swirling pair of circles, but I had no inkling what it meant. She was young, not much older than me, but her expression showed determination. She wore a business-like collar and had three gold earrings on her left ear.
“Sergeant Strider?” she asked through a thick southern accent. I nodded and shook her offered hoof. “My name is Seera, I'm the new District Attorney. I studied law in New Horseleans, then I moved here to practice.”
SHE was the new DA? “A pleasure to meet you,” I said, fighting down my surprise. “Shall we get to business?” I asked, offering her a seat.
She sat down. “Sergeant, this case is a delicate one. The witness, Brass Cog, was a weaponsmith for the Griffon Mafia, but he recently been making weapons for the Mareish Mob as well. He was willing to testify against both of the gang leaders.” She explained.
“‘Was?’” I asked.
“The E.Q.M were supposed to keep his daughter safe and with the ex-wife. But obviously last night the wife may have turned up extra crispy.” She said that with a tone of stoic detachment that some would’ve found disturbing.
“Maybe. We can't be sure yet,” I said, trying to hold onto some sliver of hope.
“Of course. But this morning the E.Q.M couldn't complete the daily meeting between Brass Cog and his daughter, so he ran.”
“Are we assuming the daughter was foalnapped?” I asked, glancing at Jett. She was listening silently, her eyes on Seera as she clutched to her Fleetfoot doll.
“Until evidence suggests otherwise, yes,” Seera confirmed.
I needed to move Jett away from this conversation. “Well, welcome aboard. Since you're our assigned DA, I'm gonna have my guards give you a copy of everything we get. Sound good?” I asked.
“Good. My office is across the way, next to the Captain's office.”
“Alright. Do you mind waiting here a few minutes?” I asked, standing.
“Not at all, it will give me time to study your walls,” she pointed to my evidence covered walls. I forgot about it sometimes.
I went to my door and opened it, gesturing Jett over to me. She gathered her stuff and followed. On the way towards the back of SI, I stopped at Ace’s desk.
“Sergeant?” he asked standing at attention.
“Gather the team members that are here; I know Stone has the day off. Introduce yourselves to the new DA, she's in my office, I'll be right back.”
Ace nodded. “You got it, Sarge.”
Sarge? I was about to correct him, but he left before I could. I took Jett to Otulissa’s station in the quiet part of SI.
“Oh, hello Sarge,” Otulissa chirped in greeting as I entered. “What can I do for you?”
“Where did this ‘Sarge’ thing come from?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I dunno, most the department went out for drinks on Hearth’s Warming. We just started referring to you as Sarge, and I guess it stuck.”
“So no hope of dispelling it,” I sighed.
“Not really,” Otulissa grinned.
“Anyway, I was hoping you'd watch my daughter for me for a little while.” I stepped aside and allowed Jett to peek out from behind me. She smiled shyly at Otulissa.
“I have no issue with it.” Otulissa knelt down to smile at Jett. “How about it, kid? I got face and wing paints that will be a nightmare for your dad to get off.”
Jett perked up at the idea of face painting. “Okay!” She followed Otulissa to the back of her station.
“You’re kidding about the paint right?” I asked as she walked away.
Otulissa smirked over her shoulder at me but said nothing. I shook the thought off and put my mind back into work mode, then went back to my office. Everypony except Stone was in my office.
“Alright everypony,” I said. “I hope you all had a good holiday but unfortunately, it's time to get back to work.”
“What do you want us to do, Sarge?” Ruff Luck asked.
“Ace, Mist, Ruff. Get to the garage, Gary and Hadvar should be there as well. A burned wagon will be arriving, find out everything you can. Go.”
“You got it, Sarge,” Ruff said as the three of them exited the room. The nickname was going to take some getting used to.
“Tuff, Sharpshot, Kickback. Go to the scene of the crime, see what you can find. Be thorough, bring one or two of the squints from in back with you. Go.”
“Yes Sarge,” Kickback responded as the three of them left as well.
“Oda, you’re with me. We are gonna be there for the initial examination of the body. The coroner needs to confirm identity.”
“How can he do that?” Oda asked.
“By comparing medical and dental records,” I explained as we started to walk down to the morgue.
Seera started following as well. “Ma’am, you might want to wait in Sarge’s office.” Oda tried.
“I'm not squeamish,” Seera said proudly.
“Suit yourself,” I said, leading them both over to the morgue.
When we got to the morgue, the coroner was standing in front of one of the autopsy tables. One of the freezers behind him was open, and a body bag lay inside it. I did my best to keep my lunch in my stomach.
He spoke into a recording microphone. “Comparative examination of Jane Doe three-seven-nine to determine if this is the body of a one Flower Poppy.”
He moved over to the body bag and used levitation to get the body onto the examination table. He unzipped the bag with his magic and revealed the burned, barely recognizable body of a pony. The battle to keep my lunch down suddenly became much harder.
The coroner continued recording. “Pelvic bones and remaining reproductive organs confirm the victim as female. Flower Poppy has two distinctive medical injuries recorded and one genetic defect. Remodeled vertical stress fracture on the hind leg match the victim's, cranial surgery bone scarring match the victim’s and matching surgically removed extra left rib. Based on these matching injuries, and features, I'm convinced that this is indeed Flower Poppy,” he concluded.
“Alright next thing is, was she burned alive or killed before she was burned?” I asked.
“For the record, that is Sergeant Strider observing with District Attorney Seera,” the coroner said into the microphone, before turning it off for a moment. “I'll get on that right away. I'll send you all my findings.”
“Make sure our new DA here gets a copy too,” I told him. He nodded.
One of the other SI investigators poked his head in. “Sarge, somepony in your office to see you.”
I found this odd. I had no scheduled visitors today. Perhaps Snow decided to pay a surprise visit on her lunch break.
“I'll be there in a moment.” I turned to Seera. “I trust you have some settling in to do. Set your office up?”
“I do in fact,” she nodded.
“I'll send somepony over with a copy of all the cases we are working on and you can decide which ones have priority,” I said stepping toward the door, Oda followed me out.
Seera exited SI while Oda and I made our way across SI toward my office, what I saw when I got close enough surprised me though. “Is something the matter Sarge?” Oda asked.
My jaw dropped so fast, it felt like it’d fall right off. Through the door, I could see the unicorn mare in my office. It was the same one that was speaking with Coin Shark that day. If she was here, it was bad news, but at the same time, it would be good to know who my opponent is. “Oda? You have one of those recording devices right?”
“Yeah,” she confirmed.
“I need to borrow it,” I said. Oda levitated it out of her pocket and gave it to me. Once I’d set it up so that it was underneath my uniform and the microphone was on my collar, I started toward my office. “Stay outside my door Oda, door open,” I ordered.
“Copy that Sarge,” she nodded. She might have picked up on my caution about the mare in my office.
I started the recorder in my pocket, then I walked in and greeted the mare. “Hello, miss?” I asked shaking her hoof.
“Amaryllis Lurce.” She looked the same as she did before. White coat, a red and white mane. She was still favoring a red dress and the matching white and red fedora.
“How can I help you today?” I asked moving around to sit in my desk chair.
Sitting down in one of my spare seats she started. “You are investigating a business associate of mine and I'd like to be kept in the loop,” she said plainly.
“Who would this business associate be?” I asked.
“Brass Cog. He is a very important business partner and friend, and I'm concerned for nothing more than his safety,” she said. Her speech sounded very rehearsed.
“You'll forgive my being blunt, but I'm not permitted by Equestrian Law to divulge any information pertaining to ongoing investigations,” I replied flatly. This mare wasn’t going to be getting anything over me.
She smiled sweetly, but there was poison in the sugar. “Perhaps I could provide… persuasive compensation for information on the matter.”
Bribery? I tried to hold it back—I really did—but I couldn’t. I stared at her for a moment, then laughed in her face. “Get out,” I told her as I settled down.
“Say ten thousand bits?” she cooed, leaning forward a bit and resting her forelegs on my desk, flicking her tail back and forth in a flirtatious manner.
In my head, I was still laughing, because I couldn't believe she was still trying. But, I had to make a point.
I slammed my hoof down on my desk, and stood leaning over the desk close to her, making her jump at my sudden movement. I heard Oda outside squeak in surprise.
“GET OUT BEFORE I ARREST YOU FOR ATTEMPTED BRIBERY OF A MEMBER OF THE CITY GUARD!” I roared.
Regaining control of herself, she stood and magically straightened her dress. “I have to say I'm disappointed,” she said emotionlessly, but I detected a threatening glimmer in her eyes as she glared at me. “Good day, Sergeant.”
She left my office calmly and collected. Once she was gone Oda came into my office. “Sarge?”
I sighed and used my wing tips to rub the sides of my pounding head, it made my head hurt yelling like that. “Oda, if you could please open a Person Of Interest file on Amaryllis Lurce. I have a feeling we won't be seeing the last of her.”
“She is the one we saw in the diner when we were following Coin Shark?” Snow asked.
We were on my couch in my apartment. Snow was in my hooves, leaning into me. Dinner was ready but we were waiting a few more minutes for Jett to get as much of the face paint off as she could. Otulissa hadn’t been joking. And I had just gotten done telling Snow about my particular meeting. It wasn't a case yet, so I saw no harm in sharing.
“Yeah. I have a bad feeling about her,” I said.
“Well, your instincts haven't lead you wrong yet, love. I say stick with them.”
“Yeah, you're right.” I wanted a change of subject. “So how was your day?” I asked, nuzzling the space behind her ear.
“I finally got a new roommate and partner,” Snow replied, leaning against me. “You'll never guess who it is.”
“Vanity,” I said off the top of my head.
She booped me on the nose. “No. Bad Strider.”
Wiggling my nose, I continued. “It was the most obscure pony I could think of. Who is it then?” I asked.
“Your cousin. Spartan Apple.”
I looked at her with pure disbelief. “Surely you're joking.”
“I'm not kidding. She was going to visit your office today but I guess she forgot. And don’t call me Shirley.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring the bad pun, and was about to continue the conversation.
“How's this?” Jett said coming into the room. The face paint was still there but it was mostly faded.
“It'll do.” I nodded to Jett as Snow and I got up off the table.
Snow and I had put together a vegetable and fruit salad mix for dinner. It was rather tasty. Mom always made us sit down together for dinner, I was determined to repeat that for my family.
“Hey, Dad?” Jett started as we started to sit down.
SHE SAID IT! I squeed internally. Calm down Strider, play it cool. I thought to myself. “Yes?”
Jett hesitated. “I was wondering. This summer, could I go to Summer Flight Camp?”
Of course, I could just say ‘Yes’, but where is the fun in that?
“Sick of me already are you?” I grinned. “I see how it is, and I had all these plans...” I started.
“No! No-no-no, that's not what I meant!” Jett tried to fix what wasn’t broken.
I was already laughing. “I'm kidding. Of course, you can go. Besides, I'm not sure how to teach you how to fly with you having those wings of yours.”
Jett pouted. “I can fly. Just not very well. That's why I wanna go.”
I nodded. “And I want you to go. But you gotta promise me something first.”
“What?” she asked.
“When school starts, you get good grades. I was always happy with a b minus or higher.” I shrugged.
“So I get good grades, and I get to go to Flight Camp?” Jett asked.
“Those are my terms. Deal?” I asked holding my wing out to her.
She hopped down from her chair to come over and hug me. “You got a deal, Dad.”
“You two are adorable.” Snow commented. Jet and I both stuck our tongues out at Snow. “You are teaching her bad habits with that!” Snow laughed.
“Like you're any better?” I asked raising an eyebrow at her.
“Shut up,” Snow said, putting more food in her mouth.
The next day. We were no closer to solving the missing witness case. But I had a feeling that once we find the father, we can find the daughter.
I was sitting with five other Sergeants in the cafeteria. It was lunchtime and I was waiting on results from the lab. We were playing a few hooves of blackjack over lunch. I was winning, for the tenth hoof in a row.
I currently had a divided hoof: both aces, one paired with a king of hearts, the other with a nine of diamonds. I was up forty-five bits, the pot was a five-bit max, and this was the last round before we had to get back to our offices.
The dealer for this hoof flipped his last card over, revealing a king of diamonds. With his previous card being a nine of spades, that made nineteen. Looking around the table, everypony revealed their cards and I showed my two hooves. I topped the dealer and won.
I collected the last of my winnings as the others grumbled. “A pleasure playing you gents and ladies. But I really must be getting back to work.”
I made my way back to my office. I was happy Grandma Galaxy was happy to foalsit Jett for me. Entering SI, I went into my office to find my cousin Spartan Apple was here, just sitting in my office.
I closed my office door. “Hey, Sparta!” I hugged my cousin.
“Hey, cousin!” She hugged me back.
“You're Snow’s new roommate and Partner as I understand it?” I asked.
“Please, you and I both know that I'll have free reign of the room,” Sparta scoffed.
“Except on inspection day,” I added.
“Yes,” Sparta nodded.
Sparta was cool. She was one year younger than me but she was always high in spirits, and quite frankly was a good actor at the best of times. When we were younger, she could start and stop crying on cue, it was freaky. She was also the cousin I was closest to.
“So why are you here?” I asked. “Don't get me wrong I'm glad you are, but I thought your dad wanted you to stay within Coltfornia.”
“I finally had it,” Sparta replied. “I wanted to get out, spread my wings. You know, see something new.”
“Okay. But you've seen Baltimare before.”
“I mean something other than property disputes and drunkards starting bar fights,” Sparta grumbled.
“You gonna go back?” I asked. I knew how much she loved her home, despite what she is saying now.
“Oh yeah. Totally. Once I complete Captain’s School, anyway. Captain Spartan Apple has a nice ring to it, don't you think?”
“Yeah it does,” I agreed. “I could write you a requisition for the reading material if you'd like?”
She shook her head. “Oh, I don't think I'll be ready for the Captain's School anytime soon.”
“So? That doesn't mean you can't start reading up. You'll be prepared for the literature by the time you are ready,” I reasoned.
She pondered it. “That's true.”
“So?” I asked pulling a requisition form out of my desk.
“Okay!” she grinned.
I started filling out the request. “So I have a favor to ask.”
“Help cover that you're dating somepony in the lower rankings?” Sparta snickered, raising an eyebrow.
“You know me so well.” I signed the form and gave it to her. “Thanks, cousin. It’ll make things easier now that you’re here. It really will.”
“Hey, anything for family,” Sparta grinned, giving me a brief hug. There was a knock on my door. Sparta and I got professional in an instant.
“Come in,” I called.
Stone opened the door. “Sarge, we got a lead on Brass Cog.”
“Duty calls,” I sighed to Sparta. She saluted, then exited my office and SI.
“Fill me in,” I said to Stone.
“Well, you know how yesterday just before you left for the day, you put me and Oda in charge of finding Brass Cog?”
He wasn’t wrong. “Yeah. I remember.”
“Well, we started looking into his records and who he made weapons for. He made one for the leader of the Itailian mob.”
“What do we have on the Itailian mob?” I asked looking at their section of my wall. “Hmm. Not much actual criminal activity. They mostly just make business investments, help the businesses in their area, or buy out the ones that aren't working.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking that the Itailian mob won't be one of the ones that Brass Cog will be testifying against. They might have some info we can use.”
“I doubt they do,” Stone commented. “And I don’t think they’ll work with us. Criminals and Guards don’t normally get along. It’s kind of in the job description.”
“Still it might be helpful having a feather in with one of these organizations. An inside source,” I pondered.
“I think that would be a bad idea Sarge,” Stone suggested.
“Perhaps you're right. I have work for you though.” I thought it best to give Stone something to do while I'm gone. “Stone, I need you and Oda to go through every dealing Brass Cog had with the gangs. And give Gary any and all weapon designs recovered from Brass Cog’s home. See if he and his squints can make sense of them. If any other leads come up, bring them to Seera immediately. And if I'm not here, ask her what you and everypony should do next. Understood?”
“Understood, Sarge.” Stone saluted hurried out of the room.
I looked back over to the Itailian mob section of my wall. The boss’ hang out spot was a restaurant over on forty-ninth. I gathered my helmet and proceeded to sign out of SI.
I was watching through the window of a restaurant called Saucy Mama’s. I could see the Itailian mob boss through the restaurant window from my position across the street, an earth pony mare named Amore Dolce. She was not young but far from elderly. Her mane and tail were pale red and pale blue, while her coat was blonde. She sat in a booth toward the back of the restaurant, reading a book with reading glasses on. Every once in awhile a waitress would come by and refill the glass of red wine she sipped at.
The population of civilians in the restaurant was at a low before the dinner rush. I made my approach, crossing the street and entering the restaurant. I wasn't exactly discreet; wearing a full set of City Guard armor turns heads. I went over to Amore Dolce, but I wasn't the first to speak like I had planned.
“I was beginning to wonder when you were going to come in. It's rude to spy on ponies Sergeant,” she said to me in a thick Itailian accent. I saw what looked like a gold bracelet on her foreleg, but I'd guess it wasn't gold but something else, the color was off. I hadn’t seen it from across the street.
“In my line of work, sometimes it's necessary,” I said.
“I suppose that's true,” she said and removed her reading glasses, squinting at me. She waved over a large earth pony that must’ve been her bodyguard; he was almost a full head taller than Stone and twice as wide as me. “You obviously came here for a reason. Am I in trouble?”
“I actually came here because I think you can help me. And I think that there is a possibility, I can help you.”
Her eyebrows lifted slightly to indicate interest. “Then perhaps introductions are in order?” she suggested.
“Sergeant Flame Strider, Special Investigations, Organized Crime Unit,” I recited the full title.
“Amore Dolce. But if you're in charge of Organized Crime, then you know exactly who I am.” She gestured for me to sit.
I removed my helmet before sitting. “I do.”
“So what, exactly, do you think I can help you with?” she asked. She seemed cautious, and she had the right to be, but she definitely seemed interested.
“Brass Cog,” I said bluntly. “He is supposed to be testifying against most of the local gangs, but I suspect that you and yours are not among them.”
“You would be right. Brass Cog was practically family. Whenever we worked with him, we paid in full and then half that. Never rushed him. In return, he gave good quality. He never accepted it but we also offered him protection free of charge.”
“He made an item for you didn’t he?” I raised an eyebrow.
She grinned and nodded. “This.” She held up her bracelet and tapped it. A mini crossbow formed out of the metal, already loaded with a small dart.
“Impressive,” I nodded. “So where is Brass Cog?”
Amore tapped the bracelet again and the weapon disassembled. “I might have an idea where Brass Cog may be hiding. But first. How can you help me?”
“Does the name Amaryllis Lurce mean anything to you?” I asked.
Her face turned to one of hatred. “Indeed, that name means something. She came to Baltimare four years ago, from Celestia knows where, and demanded that all the crime families pay her tribute. Any pony that disagreed with her died.” Her hooves shook. “My brother was one of the ones who refused.”
“I take it you don't like her much. And would it be a stretch to say you want her behind bars?”
“I want her dead!” she snapped.
“That’s not how we work,” I replied. “But with your help, I can put her out of the game for good.”
Amore scowled. I was losing her interest. “I can see that your organization is actually helpful to the city. You used to keep the smaller gangs in line, up until four years ago. You never had to kill somepony to get them to cooperate. I'm offering a chance to take your city back from somepony who, to be perfectly honest, has a death grip on the city.”
“You sound very dramatic,” Dolce smiled at me. “But you do have a way with words, sergeant. The mares must love that about you.” She leaned back in her chair and studied me for a long time. Finally, she nodded quietly. “I'll help when I can,” she declared. “For now though, Brass Cog is hiding in a warehouse by the docks. Right next to the one the Dragons use to store their cargo going to and from the Dragonlands.”
“Thank you. I promise I'll keep Bras Cog and his daughter safe when I find the both of them,” I announced.
“I'll see what information I can dig up on our mutual friend on my end,” she said and extended her hoof.
I shook it. “And I'll do the same.”
This was possibly the dumbest idea I've had since dating Aurora. I had gone straight to the warehouse to look for Brass Cog. Alone.
The first problem was, this warehouse was large and dark. It was a maze of crates and boxes, stacked five or six high in a labyrinth. Fortunately, I have the advantage of flying over the cargo.
The second problem was that while I was busy trying to make a mental map of the warehouse and reconsidering my lack of planning, the doors burst open and three big earth ponies, all of them armed with machetes as long as my wing, rushed inside.
“Spread out! Find him!” the apparent leader, a big black earth pony with a large chunk of his left ear missing, barked. They all spread out to search, blades held at the ready.
I flew down to hide behind a pillar. I didn’t want to fight with these guys; all of them were carrying those machetes like they knew what they were doing, and I definitely couldn’t take on three of them at once. I scooped up a loose nail from the floor in my wing and tossed it into the corner, where it made a clattering sound.
“Over here!” one of the thugs shouted. All of them rushed over to the noise and began to look around.
I flew over to the next stack while they were distracted. From here I could see more of the warehouse. In the back corner, there was a large cargo container, one that looked like it has been tampered with recently. I flew down to the crate. Carefully and quietly, I opened it. Inside were scattered weapon parts, a sleeping cot, canned food, and bottles of water. Used tissues littered the ground. I went to step in and heard hooves shuffling to my left.
I ducked just in time to avoid a board being swung at my head by a copper colored pony with a silver mane. His cutie mark was of three cogs. What stood out on the pony was his right leg and hoof. It wasn’t a hoof, not really. It was a mechanical leg and claw, like a griffon's. It looked heavy. It was obvious this is who I was looking for.
“Calm yourself!” I whispered loudly, stepping back out of range. “I'm with the City Guard. I'm a friend of Amore Dolce. She told me where to find you.”
“They took her,” he sniffed, still holding his makeshift weapon with a death grip in that claw.
I watched the mechanical claw with open caution. “Your daughter,” I nodded. “I know, I need your help to find her.”
“If I testify, they'll kill her,” he cried softly.
“Not if you help us find her before then,” I whispered quickly, glancing out the door. “We'll delay the hearing if we need to. But I need your help to do that.”
He was silent for a minute. I could hear the thugs getting closer, their hoofsteps echoing off the walls. “We need to get out. Amaryllis Lurce’s henchponies are here.”
“Right,” Brass Cog nodded. He walked over to a box of weapons, all half finished and looking broken.
“Out is that way,” I pointed to the door of the crate.
“We need something to get past them,” Brass Cog replied. He retrieved a seemingly ordinary pegasus armor chestpiece, looked tailored for somepony bigger. “This is a prototype, a unicorn friend of mine was helping me work on it before I got mixed up in all of this. It was meant for the Guard anyway. Take off your chestpiece.”
I was taking a chance trusting him here, but with the thugs outside, my options were limited. I removed my chestpiece, moving carefully so as not to make noise, and replaced it with the one he had. It was close to identical to mine, except it had additional armor pieces added to just beneath the wings, and was a little heavier, I’m gonna guess that this one has a hidden surprise in it like Amore Dolce’s bracelet.
“What does this do?” I asked.
“It’s best-explained on-the-go,” he answered. “Come on!”