//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Forgery and Prejudice // Story: Equestria Noir Case 3 "Brothers in Blood" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 “Forgery and Prejudice” I made my way through the halls of the detention center trying to clear my head. Twilight forged evidence to try and get the blame off Shining. She’s risking jail time for obstruction of justice and lying to the police. I felt just this unbridled rage inside of me. How could she be so stupid?! I found Twilight in the waiting room she turned and saw me walking down. Her face curved into a smile “Hey Private whats-“ I interrupted her and glared at her “Outside, alley, now!” Twilight looked at me in confusion then followed me outside of the detention center. I took her into a back alley where I knew we would be out of earshot. I turned around and faced Twilight my grey eyes laced with fury. Twilight looked taken aback and she had every right to be “Private? What’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? What’s wrong is what you did! How the hell did you think you could get away with something like this!?” I said my voice quiet but my anger was evident. Twilight didn’t meet my eyes “What are you talking about?” “Don’t give me those horseapples! You tried to forge evidence to keep Shining from going to prison!” Twilight met my eyes a little too fast her voice spoke indignantly “How can you accuse me of something like this?! Shining is innocent!” “I saw the hairs Twilight” Twilight suddenly got quiet at that “Forceps told me they belonged to Ocean but they belonged to her when she stayed at the apartment. You tried to pin the blame on Ocean” “Private…I…” Twilight was fighting for the right words to say to me and nothing was coming out. “You realize what this could do to you Twilight?! You’re lucky I didn’t file the evidence otherwise you would’ve been arrested on obstruction of justice!” “What justice?!” Twilight said her voice rising “My BROTHER is going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit!” “Twilight we have to look at the evidence! The REAL evidence! All signs point to Shining being there at the scene of the crime! There was dust from his horn there from his spell!” “Maybe somepony else planted that evidence!” “Shining also had strong motivation for killing Sharpblade! Sharpblade threatened Cadence and him! Ocean may have had reason as well but she wasn’t lying about not entering the apartment!” “But the doorman-“ “I called him and he said he never talked to you! You planted words in his mouth to try and get Shining off the hook! I can’t believe you would do something so dishonest Twilight! I trusted you!” Twilight’s violet eyes were starting to water then she got right in my face. “I trusted YOU to help me get my brother out of jail! I trusted you to prove he was innocent! You were more than happy to help Big Mac and Rarity but suddenly I have a problem and you’re not willing to help!?” I returned her glare “It’s not MY job to get ponies out of jail! My job is to find criminals and look at the evidence to make conclusions based on that evidence!” “So this was never about helping ponies was it?!” Twilight said a tear falling from her eye in anger. “It was all about your hunger to find out what happened?!” “Lawyers help ponies get out of jail! I just try to put the right criminals behind bars!” “My brother is not a criminal!” “Newsflash Twilight! Ponies change!” “I really wish you would change! Can’t you see that you aren’t doing the right thing?” “Leave it up to philosophers to debate what is right and wrong! My job isn’t to debate it’s just to, again look at the evidence and draw conclusions!” “Newsflash Private! Evidence can be planted!” “Have you been listening to me at all!?” I said my rage at a boiling point. “Yes I have!” Twilight fired back “And all I hear is the most stubborn, stupid, inconsiderate jerk spouting out things that make him feel better! How he can even consider doing the things he’s did on this case is beyond me! Private Eye! You are that jerk!” “Why you ungrateful, deceitful, hateful…” “Go ahead! Say it!” “Bitch!” Twilight looked at me her eyes alight with fury and tears. She lifted her right hoof and smacked me across the face with it. “You…damn moron…” She ran off after that. Twilight swore….Twilight never swore. I held my cheek where she slapped me; I sat down on the ground and looked down at my hooves. I felt a raindrop hit the back of my neck and soon the rain came again. Rain…you’ve come again when sorrow is at my doorstep. Oh Celestia, what have I done? ________________________________________________ I sat down on a bar stool. I was nursing a grasshopper for over twenty minutes not even taking a drink. A band was playing some music in the background but I didn’t listen to it. I was too busy in my own little world to notice. I felt hollow. Without Twilight here to chastise me for drinking alcohol I couldn’t be bothered to enjoy it. I can’t believe half of what I said to her back there. I touched my cheek where she slapped me. The pain had long since dulled but I could still feel the mark there. It felt like a brand on my soul. I noticed somepony sliding into the bar stool next to me. A familiar golden coat greeted my eyes. I looked up to see that Larksong was sitting next to me. She smiled at me, her blue eyes gazing at me. I turned away from her and returned to nursing my grasshopper. “No hello? You must’ve really screwed up if you’re not even willing to banter with me” She said in her silk like voice. “I don’t have the time or desire to” I said not even looking at her. “Will you at least tell me what’s got you drowning your sorrows?” Larksong said her voice showing a hint of concern. I turned to her my grey eyes glaring at her. “I screwed up okay?! If you’ve come here to mock me about Twilight you have another thing coming!” “I already know about Twilight, Shinebadge told me what happened” I sighed and returned to nursing the grasshopper. “She just wouldn’t listen to me” Larksong put a hoof on my shoulders, I didn’t react. “You have to understand Private, not everypony can harden themselves when a case comes up like you can” “So I should’ve just let her forge evidence? Somepony would’ve found out sooner or later" I put a hoof to my face and sighed in frustration "I was just trying to protect her” “You sound more like you’re trying to convince yourself…” Larksong said in that voice where you can’t tell what she’s thinking. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I said looking at her again. “That maybe you’re just not looking at things from her point of view” I shook my head “But the evidence…” “You and I both know that evidence can be planted, sometimes the tools we are given can do more than once function” I looked at her and smiled a little “Who’s the detective here?” She returned the smile “Some days I wonder myself, do you ever think back to the old days?” I took a sip of the grasshopper “Back when I was on the force? I try to forget” “I remember we would always come to the Neigh Bar if one of your cases hit a dead end” “I distinctly remember somepony badgering me to create suicide drinks all night” I said smiling a little. She frowned at me “You never did have a sense of adventure did you?” “Not when it came to alcohol, drinking was County’s thing” “Have you heard from anypony after you left? I mean…since Vice” “Why all this nostalgia talk?” She tapped me on the shoulder “I was hoping to cheer you up, is it working?” “A little…” I said begrudgingly “I see I’m good for something around here” “Lark, what exactly are you doing here? Why are you here with me?” I said hoping to figure out something about her. She looked at me with those sapphire eyes of hers, again in a way where you can’t tell what she’s thinking. “Can it just be because I miss you?” “No” I said flatly “Then maybe I just don’t want you to make the same mistake you did years ago” “And that mistake was?” “Putting the case before the ponies who care about you” “Now you’ve circled back to Twilight, and just when I thought the alcohol would kick in…” I was about to take a sip when Larksong grabbed the glass with her hoof and shoved it aside. “As your friend I can say I think you’ve had enough” “Now what do you want me to do? Start salt licking?” “I want you to reexamine the case, this time without your prejudice against Twilight’s brother” I looked at her surprised “What do you mean prejudice?” “Shining was caught at the scene of the crime…but does that mean he himself killed Sharpblade?” “Did Shinebadge tell you absolutely everything?” I said looking at her quizzically Larksong shook her head “You’re not the only pony in town who can figure things out, but yes he did tell me most of the case” “So back to the case where should I look?” “You’re the detective…think outside the box” With that she turned and walked off. I couldn’t help but smile at her as she left. That’s Larksong for you, just when you think you have her completely figured out she’ll pull something out of her hat to completely hoodwink you. I paid my tab and walked out myself. Larksong was right about one thing, I had to look at this from a different angle. ________________________________________________________ I ended up back at Sharpblade’s apartment just as the sun was about to go down. The rain was light and my hat provided shelter from most of the rain. I looked at the building and pondered what Larksong said. Think outside the box? I walked around the building to the alleyway under Sharpblade’s apartment window. I looked up to the window. Sharpblade’s apartment was three floors up; there was no way somepony could climb up and down without somepony noticing him climbing from one of the lower levels. I looked around the ground, no signs of any feathers so our culprit isn’t a pegasi. Then again none of our suspects were pegasi so it wasn’t an important observation. I noticed a large dumpster left in the alley. I used my magic to open the lid and found it hadn’t been emptied yet. Garbage day in Canterlot wasn’t for another two days and I was lucky to find the garbage relatively untouched. It was then I noticed something. Something bright red was on the top layer of the garbage pile. It was a bright red sweater. I levitated the sweater to eye level. My eyes grew wide as I saw what was on it. It had “Cadence and Shining” written in a small heart on the front side. This sweater belonged to Shining I could feel it. To make sure I activated a DNA scan spell that Twilight taught me after Sweetie Belle’s case. Sure enough Shining’s DNA was all over the sweater. What did this mean? Why would Shining discard this sweater that was obviously important to him? It didn’t make sense for a stallion so in love with his wife to want to throw this away. I noticed something on one of the sleeves. Upon closer inspection I saw it was magic dust…but it was a deep green instead of the white that Shining had. I frowned; somepony had used a spell on Shining. My horn glowed again, this time to see exactly what spell was cast using the dust. After a minute I discovered it was a teleportation spell! Judging by the quantity of the dust it was casted twice. I thought for a moment. Then I remembered that Ocean said she saw Shining enter with his royal guard uniform. That didn't add up, why would Shining wear his uniform to a casual visit especially when he had a perfectly good sweater available to wear? Unless… Unless the Shining Armor that entered the building and killed Sharpblade wasn’t Shining Armor at all…but an impostor!