//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: To Protect And Serve: A Sisterverse Tale // by brokenimage321 //------------------------------// If only it had happened at night. Especially if said night had been dark and stormy. That was always how stories like these began, particularly if Shadow Spade was involved. And yet, life lacks the dramatic flair that we so often crave of it--a flair that Radiance was, on most occasions, more than happy to supply.  But no--this was not a detective story. At least, not one of that sort. Even if it had been, it wasn’t the sort of story that Radiance would have wanted to embellish anyways. And so, she had to relate the events as they had occurred--and they occurred four days ago, at about three twenty-five in the afternoon. Radiance had been sitting in the big, shared office at the Canterlot PD--in fact, at the very same desk she was sitting at now, writing about the experience. She had been seated with two of the other rookies, with Copperplate on her left, and Peach Fuzz on her right. Radiance was refreshing her memory of the department guidebook, while Copper had a map of Canterlot spread before him, wandering his beat with his eyes, and Fuzz was working on one of her arrest reports. .  (All three of them were unicorns. In fact, nearly every pony in the department was a unicorn. There was nothing necessarily unusual about that--after all, Canterlot was still populated largely by unicorns--and yet, the significance of this fact did not occur to Radiance until long afterwards.)  “So,” Copper said, looking up from his map, “got any plans this weekend?” Radiance turned a page in her book. “Not in particular,” she said. “A trip to the boutique, perhaps…” Fuzz looked over at her with an eyebrow raised. “What for?” she asked. “You don’t exactly have much of a choice in your wardrobe these days…” Radiance looked over at her. “Accessories, Darling, accessories!” she cried dramatically. “I do cut quite the figure in this uniform, yes, but I could always add earrings, or a scarf, or...” Copper snorted. “You and your scarves,” he said, with a fond shake of his head. “What are you doing working here, anyways? Wouldn’t you be happier working at a clothing store or something…?” Radiance scoffed. “Only for the employee discount,” she said. “Fun, yes--but not as fulfilling as being here with you two.” Fuzz raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh, really,” she said sarcastically. “And you have your cutie mark in policing, do you?” “I do, actually,” she said. She shifted her weight, drawing attention to her flanks. The mark wasn’t immediately recognizable: three ice-blue hexagons linked together, each bearing a six-pointed star.  “I’m especially good at making magical shields,” she explained. “Runs in the family, actually. So destiny has decreed that I shall be a protector of those around me. Besides,” she continued, “I’ve led a very privileged life. All of us have, I’m sure,” she added, looking around “I mean, we all grew up in Canterlot, right?”  Copper raised one hoof. “Manehattan, thank you very much,” he corrected.  “Yes,” Radiance responded, “but you have the privilege of living and working so close to the Princesses, don’t you?” Copper opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Radiance cut him off. “Anyway,” she continued, “We have things pretty good here, all things considered--but not everypony can say that. Thus, I think it’s only fair for us to give generously of our time and our own personal safety to help protect those who can’t protect themselv—” “You can get yer bloody hooves aff me, ya founderin’ bastards!!” The three rookies jumped in surprise, then stood and looked up over the divider. The door leading from the office into the hallway outside was set with a large, glass window, partially obscured by a set of wooden blinds. Through the window, Radiance could see a writhing mass of shadows, accompanied by distant shouting.  And then, for a split-second, the shadows parted. Radiance could barely make out the silhouette of a pony, standing in profile--before a pair of shadow-legs lashed out and struck him in the abdomen, in the soft spot under the ribs.  The cry of pain rattled the pencils on Radiance’s desk.  The pony collapsed, and the other shadows pounced, horn-sparks shining through the blinds. Radiance paled. She sat there, frozen, as other officers craned their necks to see what was going on. Then, Radiance set her jaw, stood up from her desk, strode purposely down the length of the office.  She reached out a hoof for the doorknob, but, before she could open the door, it swung open of its own accord. Radiance looked up, yelped in surprise, and backed up a few steps.  “May I help you?” said Captain Hard Case, his voice eerily quiet.  Captain Case was said to be part Earth Pony--and Radiance believed it. He was a little short for a stallion, but every inch of him was thickly muscled. And not the sort of muscles that Radiance saw in all her magazines, but the sort that would make it exactly clear who would win in a fight when it came to blows.  Radiance, two inches shorter than him, looked up and swallowed nervously.  “I… I thought I saw…” she said.  Captain Case shook his head decisively.  “Nothing to see here, Rookie,” he said. “Suspect tried to take a swing, had to be taught a lesson. That’s all.” Radiance gulped, and tried not to notice the small splatter of blood on the wall behind the Captain. * * * Copper shoved a doughnut in his mouth. “Yeah,” he said, spraying crumbs everywhere,  “but what are you going to do about it?” Radiance had grown up coming to Doughnut Joe’s with Father and her siblings. In fact, it was here that she’d first spotted a policemare in her uniform, which sparked a burning light in her heart. Even so, she rarely indulged in Doughnut Joe’s signature product; she usually preferred a slimming bran muffin to a sugar glazed with sprinkles. After all, she’d worked hard for this physique, and she wasn’t about to let it go for just a little sugar.  That was under normal circumstances. Today, she was halfway through a six-pack of chocolate crullers.  “Yeah, I know,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “I know he’s the Captain, and I’m just a rookie.” “And you didn’t actually see what happened,” Fuzz added.  “I know, I know,” repeated Radiance. “But still--there was no call for that sort of treatment…” Fuzz shook her head. “We don’t know that, though,” he said. “All we saw was the tail end of it. If he really was gettin’ rowdy, then maybe there was a reason. After all,” she added, taking a sip of coffee, “he was an earth pony. And you know those guys can hit hard.” Radiance stopped, another bite of cruller halfway to her mouth, and stared. “Earth pony?” she repeated. “Who told you he was an earth pony?”  “No one,” Fuzz said, suddenly uncertain. “I just checked the lockup rolls.The only ponies in there before he showed were a couple drunks from last night, so he’s easy to pick out of a crowd.” “They have him in lockup?” Radiance asked.  Copper nodded. “Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest,” he said. “Not exactly the sort of criminal you want wandering the station…”  Radiance and Fuzz both turned to look at him questioningly.  “What?” he asked, with a frown.  “Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest,” Radiance repeated, narrowing her eyes. “How do you know what he’s being charged with?” Copper shrugged. “I looked at his file.”  Radiance’s eyes widened.  “What?” Copper asked again. “My Coach helped me find them.”  Coach. The proper term was Field Training Officer, and it was their job to help each rookie to get acclimated to life as a real-deal police officer. But, if the coaches were teaching their rookies bad habits right off the bat...   “I could show you where they are,” Copperplate continued, interrupting her reverie. “Aren’t you even a little bit curious?” Radiance glared at him. “Copperplate,” she said icily, “those records are confidential. Only those with a pressing need for that information should read them. That’s the law.” “That’s what I said,” Copper replied, gesturing for emphasis. “But Coach says that there are rules, and there are rules.” He turned back to his doughnut. “If nopony’s getting hurt,” he said, “there’s no reason to not to bend the rules a little. Or--at least, that’s what he told me,” he added sheepishly. “But,” Fuzz said weakly, “it’s the law.”  Copper frowned. “Yeah,” he admitted, “but now we know. I mean, what are you gonna say if your Coach sends you to do a patrol in the lockup? You’d wanna know if there was a violent earth pony down there, wouldn’t you?” Copper took a dramatic swig of his coffee, signaling that, as fascinating as the topic was, he, for one, would prefer to change the subject away from his potential indiscretions. Fuzz watched him uncertainly for a moment, then turned back to her own doughnut. Radiance, for her part, looked down at what remained of her cruller, and realized she was no longer hungry.