The smoke was still thick, stinging at the eyes and throats of everypony around. Ambulances, fire trucks, and police cruisers were parked in a wide arc around the wreckage, blocking off the street. An hour ago, this building had been a three-story tenement building, proud white walls reaching up to the skies, dozens of lower-class families living behind the tinted windows, raising their families in the petite but affordable rooms within.
Now, it was a burnt wreck of brick, wood, and shattered glass. The firefighters had only just managed to defeat the blaze, and the last of the dead was being carried out of the wreckage in stretchers. Police officers and survivors stood by amidst the watching crowd, every eye fixed on the warped doorframe, dreading the sight of who might come out next.
Daring watched in silence as a pair of firefighters, manes damp with sweat, carried a stretcher out the door and down the steps. Sprawled across it was the burned figure of a yellow-brown crystal pony, his blue mane and beard blackened with soot, the strange crystalline sheen of his skin dirtied and scuffed, and his eyes closed. A few feet behind her, a light pink mare, her yellow mane done up in elaborate curls, collapsed to her knees and clung to her son, sobbing. Flash Sentry broke away from his position holding back the staring crowd to try to comfort her, but she did not even acknowledge his presence.
Daring turned away, her stomach churning. A curse started to form in her lungs, but the harsh dryness of her throat sent her into a coughing fit instead.
“You okay?” Phillip said, approaching and rubbing the bandage over the burns on his forelegs.
“Fine,” Daring wheezed, swallowing with difficulty.
“You two ponies are insane,” a tall unicorn with an ash gray mane and a brown-black coat wearing a firefighter’s turnout jacket, boots, and helmet said, approaching with a couple of plastic cups of water held in his magic. “Running right into a burning building without any protective gear.”
Phillip took a long, grateful drink of the cold water before speaking. “Had to try to help, Embers.”
Lieutenant Burning Embers shook his head. “I can’t deny that you helped, but next time, leave the firefighting to the firefighters. You could’ve just wound up as two more ponies to save.”
Daring swallowed the water down and massaged her throat until some of the raw dryness evaporated. "You sure this was arson?" she asked.
"We're pretty sure," Embers confirmed, looking down at the small black box with a pair of golden wire attenaes extending from the top clipped to his belt. The glass dial was turned all the way into the red zone on the right. "If this gizmo is working right, the fire was started magically."
"Lot of power behind that," Phillip mused, looking over the burnt, crumbling facade. "Reminds me of Tinderspark and the Dragon's Spark."
"So why the hell would anypony want to burn down this place?" Daring mused.
"That's the question, isn't it?" Trace sighed, sighing as he trotted up, studying the wreckage as he and Red approached. He looked over to the stretcher bearing the body of the Crystal pony and closed his eyes for a moment. "It could've been any one of these families," he mused.
"This is gonna take days to solve," Red muttered, the smoke turning his eyes a dark red shade. "And what the hell kinda bomb could do this?"
"Detectives!"
The four detectives turned to see Flash waving them over to the mare, who was looking up at them, wide eyes shining with tears.
"Basement," the Crystal mare said as they approached, tucking her son's head against her chest as if trying to shield him from what was to come next. "Look in basement. That was why."
"What's in the basement?" Trace asked quietly, bending down next to her, but the mare just turned away and continued to cry silently, shaking her head.
"Well, we're not gonna find out standing here," Daring pointed out, turning and heading for the burned-out wreckage.
"Wait!" Red called after her, but she was already disappearing into the doorframe. "Oh, for fuck's sake. How do you stand her, Phil?" he grumbled.
"I ask myself that a lot," Phillip deadpanned back. "You mates coming?"
"Yeah, yeah," Red replied, following him to the house. Trace fell into step behind them. Flash hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the other officers, then gulped and hurried after the stallions.
Phillip stepped through the doorway and beheld a long, narrow hallway, the walls scorched and crumbling, a layer of water sloshing on the tiles. The overwhelming odor of the burnt and partially melted remnants of the carpet on the floorway assaulted his nostrils, and every step audibly splashed. "Daring?" he called, proceeding through clouds of steam and smoldering smoke so thick that the air almost felt like a solid wall he had to push through.
"Down here," Daring's voice called through a doorway on the right. Phillip looked down a darkened stairway, water still running down the warped wooden stairs. Daring was proceeding through the threshold at the bottom, steps sloshing through the deep layer of water, her flashlight leading the way. The splinters of the door floated around her hooves as she proceeded, bobbing up and down like boats in a stormy wake. Phillip carefully proceeded down the steps, clipping his own flashlight to his vest.
"Why do we do this?" Red asked, following him down, the stairs creaking beneath his steps. "You two are going to be the death of both of us one day."
"Ah, shut up and get down the stairs," Trace grunted, lighting up his horn.
"You guys sure about this?" Flash called from the top of the steps.
"I've been in worse places," Daring called from inside the basement. "This actually isn't that different from an old wrecked village in Greenwhinny where I found some cursed drachmas. Wonder what happened to those."
"You don't have to come," Phillip replied, pausing at the bottom of the steps.
Flash stared for a beat, hovering at the pinnacle of the steps, then swallowed and headed down the steps, taking every step like the stairs might collapse if he put his hoof down wrong, clipping his flashlight to his shirt and switching it on. Phillip watched in silence as the younger stallion entered the basement, then followed in after him.
The basement was a wreck, detritus floating about in the filthy water. The remnants of a lightbulb clung to the socket overhead: the only light came from their flashlights, panning over scorched brick walls and the burnt remnants of the boxes and furniture that were scattered around the narrow room.
"Odd," Phillip mumbled, studying the pattern of scorch marks on the walls, like black waves running along the brick. "Looks like the fire came down the basement stairs and went towards the corner there."
"That is weird; hot air does rise, after all," Trace agreed.
"Uh..." Flash asked, studying the red coloring in the water around their knees. "Is that blood?"
Daring frowned at the scarlet ripples around her knees. "All of you, hold still," she commanded, carefully lifting herself out of the water with her wings. She studied the pattern of red across the water's surface, like an ink splot, noting the way that it flowed slowly across the floor, towards the stairs. She turned, studying the small room that they all stood in.
"This basement is a lot smaller than the house's foundation," she mused, landing next to the far wall. She pressed her ear against the wall rapped against the bricks, listening closely.
"Aha!" she declared, noting the hollow knocking sound. "There's a secret door here. The blood is flowing out from beneath it."
"How did you find that?" Red asked.
"I've had a lot of experience finding hidden nooks and crannies," Daring replied, knocking against the wall and noting the outline of the door. "There's gotta be some way of opening it.."
"You might want to move," Trace stated, a yellow aura illuminating the entire room as he charged his horn. Daring quickly dodged to the side. Once she was clear, Trace fired a bowling ball-sized golden sphere at the doorway. It smashed into the false brick, dashing the painted wood into pieces to expose the dark room within.
Daring stuck her tongue out at him. "Showoff."
The detectives headed inside, their flashlights revealing the secret within.
The secret room was nearly twice as large as the false basement, the walls free of any burns, but instead painted in arcs of blood. However, it was just as cluttered as the basement outside, though the furniture within was of a greatly different nature. Tables and chests had been knocked aside and lay like rocks jutting out from the water: waterlogged notebooks, chemistry equipment, spent shells and bullets, and broken flasks floated amidst them like the wreckage of a great sea battle.
And nearly a dozen bodies lay beneath the surface of the flood water, which was a horrid red color and reeked of copper. The pale face of a unicorn laying next to the door stared up at them with ide blue eyes, his throat slit so deeply that his head was only hanging on by a few sinews.
"Holy Mother," Flash breathed, taking in the destruction.
Trace bent down next to a sealed plastic bag filled with white powder on the floor. "This was a drug lab," he concluded.
"And guess who runs it," Red grunted, holding up the stiff foreleg of a pegasus mare to reveal the stylized "NMD" tattoed on her arm. "Maybe there's something in here that connects that traitor Star Cluster to them."
"So whoever attacked this place also set the fire," Phillip concluded, studying the blood spatters sprayed across the wall. "Probably to kill any Disciples living in the tenement and chase the others down here."
"But who did this?" Flash asked.
Daring and Phillip both looked down at the bodies, noting the slashed throats, torn chests, and gouged-out eyes, and glanced at each other in silence, each confirming the other's suspicions with a look.
“Well, whoever they are, they're definitely long gone by now," Trace pointed out.
“Wrong,” another voice chuckled.
Everypony whirled around to see a stallion walking right through the wall, which shimmered with a faint golden light. The stallion’s impeccable suit was splattered and stained with blood, some of which still dripped off of him onto the floor. His face held a toothy smile that was far, far too wide for a normal pony, but his black eyes held no sign of any emotion or life as they focused on Phillip.
“Guten tag, liebling,” Zugzwang cooed to Phillip as the walls became coated in a solid barrier of golden light, trapping them within.
The five ponies started back in shock, then went to raise their pistols, but Zugzwang’s horn was already alight. With a simple tug, all of their firearms were yanked out of their hooves and tossed into the corner.
“I go to the trouble of destroying this drug house for you and killing all the Disciples who lived here, and this is how you repay me?” Zugzwang clucked, frowning and shaking his head in a display of disappointment. "A pity I couldn't get Star Cluster, I thought he'd be here."
Daring snarled, then charged right at him, drawing her kusarifundo from her pocket. Red charged in after her, roaring in fury. The snapping of a baton announced Phillip’s entry into the fight, quickly followed by a shout of summoned courage by Flash. Trace's horn crackled as he fired a salvo of stunning spells, the golden projectiles shrieking through the air.
Zugzwang shook his head and his horn flared. With a rush of heat and light, a golden aura bloomed outwards from his body, shoving all of his attackers away and deflecting all of Trace's spells.
Red snapped his wings out and caught himself in midair. With a growl, he dove back at Zugzwang like a torpedo. "Pathetic," the unicorn sneered, easily sidestepping the attack and giving the pegasus a magical shove. Red's own momentum propelled him into the wall with a great smash and he tumbled into the water with a grunt.
Trace gritted his teeth and let out a growl that failed to completely mask his fear. His horn crackled and fizzed as he charged up a powerful stun spell, and he fired it at Zugzwang.
A circular shield, its edges decorated with strange symbols and runes, appeared in midair in front of the scoffing Zugzwang. Trace’s stun spell struck the shield with a gonging sound and was deflected back at Trace. His eyes widened in shock, and a cry of “Oh, shi—!” had just enough time to fly from his throat before his own beam struck him in the forehead. Trace’s eyes rolled and he slumped to the floor, just barely managing to twist so that his mouth remained above the water.
“Hey!” Daring shouted, recovering and leaping at Zugzwang. Her kusarifundo whistled through the air as she attacked, sending the spinning weights at his head again and again with vicious efficiency, the water around her hooves splashing loudly and spraying them both. Zugzwang ducked and dodged every attack.
Growling, Phillip forced himself back up to his hooves. Coming up behind Zugzwang, he launched the baton at the back of his hind legs, only for his strike to bounce off a conjured shield: the impact shuddered down his bones as though he’d just struck a steel wall.
Grunting, he struck again, but another shield shoved him away like he’d been hit by a bulldozer, sending him flying into the wall. His vision blurred and his head spun with the impact as he splashed down to the floor, his trilby tumbling off his head; he tried to get up again, but a hot metal cuff was suddenly slapped down onto each of his hooves, pinning him to the floor. Panting and grunting, he struggled, grunting as he lifted his head above the water, but it felt like an elephant was sitting on each of his limbs.
Through blurred vision, he spotted three Flash Sentry’s trying to get up, scrambling for the guns on the floor. A golden band wrapped itself around the stallions’ necks and their heads were violently slammed against the wall, once, twice, three times, each impact resounding like a drum beat. The three Flash’s slumped into the water, bubbles issuing from his mouth as he breathed.
A blade snapped out from beneath Zugzwang’s sleeve and he lunged as he ducked another of Daring’s attacks, aiming at her neck. She dodged to the side, gritting her teeth as she felt the blade kiss her skin. But before she could retaliate, Zugzwang snapped his hoof back, drawing the blade across her cheek. A flash of hot pain spread across her face, accompanied by the electric tingle of magic; she cried out in surprise, staggering, momentarily blinded by the shock. She surged forward and lashed out with her kusarifundo again, but the weights went through empty air: Zugzwang had vanished.
She realized that he had teleported beside her a moment later when a stun spell slammed into her head. The ringing of her skull was mercifully short, and she was unconscious before she hit the floor.
Zugzwang stood in the middle of the room, his breath quivering with excitement. He licked his lips and swallowed, turning towards the pinned Phillip with a broad smile that still didn’t reach his eyes. He strode forward, step by step, his whole body tingling, trembling like an excited child.
Phillip’s heart jumped into his throat, constricting his breathing and forcing him to gasp for air; he fought violently against the cuffs, but they didn’t give one bit. Zugzwang stood over him, straddling him, and leaned down.
“Now, listen closely,” Zugzwang cooed into Phillip’s ear. “I sent a message to the mayor earlier today, while you were busy fighting this fire I set for you. I’m going to kill her, liebling. Unless you can save her.”
“This a challenge?” Phillip hissed.
“Think of it that way, liebling,” Zugzwang purred. He kissed Phillip on his forehead, then slowly drew his nose in a line down Phillip’s body, from his neck down to his crotch, taking deep, heavy sniffs. It took all Phillip’s willpower to not flinch at every caress of the hot breath.
“Schön, schön,” Zugzwang whispered, looking up at him with a predatory stare from between his legs. He winked. “The game begins now.”
He lit up his horn and vanished in a flash of light. The cuffs trapping Phillip to the ground vanished a moment later. Panting, he scrambled back to his hooves and rushed over to Daring. "Daring, Daring!" he shouted, shaking her shoulder. She coughed and sputtered as she woke up, shaking filthy water out her eyes.
The other stallions all woke up, choking on the bloody water. Phillip hissed out a sigh of relief. "You guys okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Trace grunted, pushing his damp mane out of his face.
"Not the worst place I've woken up," Red stated, his voice thick through a bloody nose as he retrieved his pistol. "Ah, damn, I just cleaned this."
Flash slowly pushed himself to his hooves, shaking violently, sucking in slow, heavy breaths. "Flash, you all right?" Phillip asked.
"I'm fine," Flash stated far too quickly, picking up his pistol and heading for the door with his head lowered. He headed up the stairs with a blur of color, leaving Phillip staring after him in silence.