Luna wasn't happy. She had tried to get her answers, even kicked off the interrogation with the first question. However, Officer Carry On seemed committed to asking non-related questions and following tangents. And now her contributions were verbally smacked aside. She was contemplating calling for a temporary halt until the cadet known as Bloodsight gestured to them from the back door of the cottage, behind and out-of-sight of Tiara Dreams.
Marble moved closer as Tiara began emotionally relating her medical school woes and at that moment Luna felt Carry On nudge her under the table. At her subtle prompt, Luna followed Officer Carry On outside. “We are most displeased with thee,” Luna’s eyes flashed white-hot. “Thou wilt-
“That’s fine!” Carry On wheeled about and faced the angry alacorn. “I’m not pleased with you either.”
Luna had been anticipating giving Carry On a thorough dressing-down for her behavior, but now she stood stock still, taken aback by the diminutive pony’s riposte. Even the Taint’s opportunistic howl for violence at any confrontation was struck dumb.
“Are we in your Palace, Princess? Do I interrupt you while you are working? Did I study to do your job? Do I give you suggestions on how to do your job?” Carry On rapid-fired rhetorically, “because right now, that is my workspace-" she thrust her hoof at the house they just exited "-and you are interrupting me. If you want to be present for the interrogation, you are going to have to accept who is in charge and not interrupt her while she is doing the very job that you asked her to do. Are we clear?”
Before Luna could respond, two noctala stallions dropped down from the black sky immediately to Carry On’s left side. Their countenances were fierce and they growled menacingly with their spears pointed at the ready.
“What are you doing here?” Carry On turned to the intruders. “Do you think that Princess Luna is so weak that she can’t handle me without you two showing up and waving your pricks? - Carry On brushed aside their spears and stepped up to the guards - Get back to your posts!”
The two guards drew back and snarled, their spears again leveled and aimed for her heart. Then Carry On heard Luna give an order in the noctala tongue. It sounded to her to be mostly the noises of a mouth forming words and a whoosh of air, with only the slightest hints of squeaks followed by a far-away sounding shriek, but it was fully understood by those facing her. Immediately the guard’s wings flared in response; they took to the air and disappeared.
Carry On turned back to Luna. “The reason I asked you to come out here is because I saw a signal from one of my cadets. I need to confer with them and after that, with Marble. Do you have anything to say to me before I do this?”
Luna opened her mouth, found she had nothing to say, closed it, and shook her head.
Carry On walked out to the woodpile, had a brief conversation with Cadet Bloodsight, then went straight back to the house, where she waited at the door. A short time later, she and Marble walked up to her. “Am I okay to proceed, Princess?”
Luna nodded once.
“Good. Follow me.”
She led Luna to a tent that had been erected and connected to the large woodpile. The tent side facing the woodpile had been rolled up to allow access. Bright lantern-light shone out from the gaps and snippets of cadet conversation, solemn and serious, leaked out.
Luna stopped, her eyes locked on the tent. She could not take another step. She could not even breathe. Carry On and Marble took two more steps before they noticed, stopped, and turned.
Carry On walked up to Luna. “It's really not necessary for you to go inside, Princess. Why don't you stay here? I’ll just be a moment.” She said quietly.
Luna nodded.
She watched them go inside the tent. The conversation between Carry On, Marble, and her cadets was audible, but Luna turned her ears so that she couldn’t hear. After the passing of a few minutes that seemed an hour-long, Carry On exited, loaded with very dusty saddlebags. A female cadet followed right behind and hustled to be properly at her left and a half-step behind. The rest of the cadets and Marble formed up behind them. Together, they walked up to where Luna waited.
“We have uncovered a body,” Carry On said. She took a breath that she didn’t need but felt that the few words she had just used were weighty enough to have exhausted her. She wanted all of her class there to witness the part of the job that was the most difficult, the most trying, but was not part of the curriculum. Telling those who anxiously wait for resolution to their deepest fears always felt heavy and exhausting. It was, perhaps, the second most important part of the job. “We believe it is the body of Silver Chalice.”
The words washed over Luna, when she had expected their weight to knock her down. She knew, again, the fate of Silver Chalice. She kept expecting the truth of it to hit her hammer-like and force her to her knees. However, each expected sledgehammer revelation assaulted her consciousness with the intensity of falling leaves. It was her own lack of intense reaction that bothered her the most.
Carry On waited patiently. Her and her whole class stood silent and still. Luna exhaled, only then had she realized that she had been holding her breath. “We thank thee for…” She let her voice trail off. Everything she could think to say at that moment seemed silly or meaningless.
“Princess, May I introduce Cadet Serenity,” Carry On said, prompting the female cadet to her left to step forward. “She has an offer that I think you should hear.”
Cadet Serenity nervously bowed. “Good evening, Princess, um, I’m sorry for… I uh…” She stopped talking and squeezed her eyes shut. Her whole face pinched together in concentration. “I used to work in a mortuary as a hairdresser and cosmetician. I don't know what… I don’t think that you should see her as she... “ She looked up at Luna and took a deep breath. “Please let me try to help her appear as she wanted to be seen. Before you go in there...”
“We- I accept thy offer. I thank thee for thy service and am in thy debt.” Luna answered.
Carry On nodded and dismissed her cadets. “Marble, are you ready to continue?”
He walked up to Luna and stood by her. “Yes, I’m ready.”
“I’m ready too,” Luna said when Carry On looked at her, “and I shall abide by thy directives.”
Tiara Jolted at the sound of the door opening. Luna, Marble, and Carry On filed back into her house and dropped a set of dusty saddlebags unceremoniously on the table. Tiara recognized them, though she hadn’t seen them for years. They each then took their previous seats across from her. Tiara had recovered from her earlier breakdown, but she didn’t feel ready to continue. However, she was certain that her feelings on that matter didn’t apply.
“It’s late afternoon, you hear a knock,” Carry On said, “take us through what happened next.”
Tiara swallowed. “I opened the door to see a pony in obvious pain. Though what I suppose was more shocking to me at that moment was how closely we resembled each other: our features, our eyes, our coloring was similar, even our manes were styled similarly. Granted, her coat was pink, while mine is peach, and she had a silver streak in her mane, and I had lemon, but were so nearly twins. It was like opening the door to a mirror.” Tiara smiled at the recollection.
“And then?” Carry On prodded.
“She made known her injury and asked for help. I helped her my couch, but that wouldn’t do. It was too worn out. She practically got swallowed by it. So I fetched my spare cot and made it up by the door.” Tiara heard Marble’s pencils busily scratching away at his notepads again and she turned to look.
“Why make her wait? Why not take her to your bed?” Carry On asked to focus Tiara’s attention back to her.
“Have you ever tried to support a limping pony through a narrow, bedroom door?” Tiara retorted. “Setting up the cot was just as quick. And it allowed me to soak her injury in an ice bath.”
Carry On looked around the small room and at the door. It was the only place for a spare bed and an injured pony. “You set up her bed there, and then what?”
“I fetched my metal tub, filled it with water and all the ice I had, and set her leg in it.”
“Was it at this point that you fed her?”
Tiara shook her head. “No, she was in too much pain. I gave her a bottle of laudanum and ran out to fetch her saddlebags.” Tiara poked the dusty bags on the table. “These saddlebags.”
“And then?”
“She was now relaxed enough for me to more properly assess her injuries. I didn’t look at how much laudanum she had taken. I was too focused on trying to diagnose her injury.” Tiara dropped her head. “I knew diagnoses was out of my purview, but I was certain that she shouldn’t travel. Despite my assertions, she expressed vehemently that she didn’t want an ambulance and that she had medical resources at the palace. She just had to get to the palace”
Carry On frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Tiara looked directly at Carry On’s disapproving glare. “I know. But that is what she insisted. I thought I might be able to change her mind if I could convince her of the severity of her injury in the morning after the pain medication had worn off.”
A sudden conclusion crossed Carry On’s mind. “When did you kill Silver Chalice?”
“That evening.”
“What?” Luna exclaimed, then covered her mouth apologetically.
“Please explain.” Carry On asked without acknowledging Luna’s interjection. Then she began digging into Silver’s saddlebags.
“She had taken nearly half of the bottle before I recognized her inebriation and took it from her. I should have noticed sooner, but I got distracted by her constant talk about her new job, which she made sound so interesting. She was going on and on about her new job at the palace and how she couldn’t wait to get there. She said her Pen-Pony friend got her the job and she couldn't wait to meet her. She kept saying it was like ‘a fairytale’ and a ‘literal dream come true’. Those were her exact words, 'a literal dream come true'. She just couldn't wait to get to the palace.”
Luna made a sound like a suppressed sneeze. Marble handed her a new travel pack of tissues that she quickly opened and put to use.
“Continue.” Carry On directed while she examined a bottle and a piece of paper that she had pulled out of the pack.
“I served the soup; by then I was famished. However, she wanted to leave when I tried to get her to eat- I guess she didn't care for dandelions -but I insisted that she had to eat something at that point. I knew she had overdosed, so I wasn’t going to take my attention off her. I told her I wasn’t going to let her leave until morning and I was prepared to stay up all night.” Tiara stopped. She took a deep breath. “I saw her lay face-down in her pillow. I saw it and knew it wasn’t good. I told her to keep her head to the side, but she complained that her neck was hurting and she just wanted to do it for a minute to relieve the pain.” Tiara shook her head, “I let her. Even though I knew the danger. I let her do it anyway. I was tired of fighting her and I thought it wouldn’t matter, but she was dead by morning.”
"You were tired of fighting, or just tired?"
Tiara rolled her eyes. "Does it matter?"
“Your answer determines the relevance. It's my job to ask the questions," Carry On gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm tired of you asking that, so maybe I'll cut to the chase! How about I start asking you all the questions that I believe you think matter!” Carry on stood and leaned in on Tiara. “Did you smother Silver Chalice? Did you physically hold her or restrain her while she slept?
“No, but I-”
“Did you give her more laudanum after you determined that she was inebriated?”
“No, but-”
Carry On was in her face now, yelling questions. “Did you administer any other medication? Did you want her dead?”
“No! No, I didn’t!”
“Then what makes you think that you killed her?!”
Tiara shot to her hooves, knocking her sitting pad across the room and slammed her hoof on the table. “Because I knew better! Because I allowed her to overdose! Because I was practicing medicine without a license! Because I fell asleep!” She collapsed back, landing solidly on her rump. “Because I fell asleep!” she angrily wiped her eyes. "She was my responsibility and she died because I fell asleep!"
Tiara couldn't stand their looking at her. She wanted to run and hide, but knew that option was denied her. She rolled to the floor, buried her face in her hooves and wept. "I fell asleep. I fell asleep."
Carry On sat back down on her seat and sighed. Marble passed Tiara tissues. After giving her the time necessary to compose herself and pick herself off the floor, Carry On lifted her coffee mug and drained it. “You mentioned coffee. Were you a coffee drinker before Silver Chalice arrived?”
Tiara sniffed and nodded.
“Did you ever fall asleep, before or since, after drinking coffee like you did that night?” Carry On asked gently.
“No,” Tiara answered after a moment of thought.
“Did you make the coffee that you drank that night?”
Tiara blinked. “No,” She answered like she hadn't realized that fact until just then. “I didn’t. She had. She did it while I was emptying her bedpan.”
Marble sighed heavily at that moment and shook his head. “Did it taste unusual?”
“Why, yes!” Tiara answered, clearly surprised, “She said she made it strong for me, but I remember that it didn’t quite taste strictly like strong coffee. How’d you know?”
Carry On pushed the pill bottle and receipt that she had found in the saddlebag across the table. “Take a good look at these.”
Tiara picked up the bottle. “Prescription sleeping pills.” She picked up the receipt, and at a glance the date leapt off of it and into her consciousness. “She bought this the day before…”
“Count them.” Carry On ordered and reached into the saddlebags and rummaged around while she did.
Tiara spilled them out on the table. “twenty-four-" She picked up the pill bottle and examined the label "-Out of...thirty.” Her brows narrowed. “That can’t be right for a day-old prescription.”
“Do you recognize this?” Carry On set a dark bottle on the table that she had found stuffed into a thick jacket’s sleeve. The bottle was about half-empty.
Tiara jumped up again. “There it is! That’s my bottle of laudanum!” She exclaimed. “Where did you find it?”
Luna now closed her eyes and shook her head.
Tiara looked perplexed. “What?”
Carry On sighed. “Tiara, you didn’t make the pot of bad tasting coffee, you don’t normally sleep after drinking coffee, six sleeping pills are missing from a prescription bottle, and your missing painkiller is in the pack of the person who just wanted you to let her leave. What does that tell you?”
Tiara’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” She banged her hoof on the table and sent the pills flying. “Stupid!” She charged around the table and yelled at the empty space where the cot had been. “I told you that you had overdosed! I told you to wait till morning! I told you to keep your face out of that pillow! Why wouldn’t you listen! You stupid, stupid, stupid, fool!” Tiara punctuated her exclamation by kicking a hole clean through her wall. Her hoof got entangled and unbalanced her, causing an awkward fall to the floor. “I didn’t need to hide your body. I didn’t need to pretend to be you and hide your death. It wasn’t my fault. It wasn't my fault!" She buried her head and wept. "I'm so, so stupid! I threw it all away!"
“Marble, Princess Luna, I think we need to have a talk outside,” Carry On stood and walked out the back door.
“Okay, I see two possibilities here,” Carry On said quietly, “first, Tiara Dreams is telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth colored by how she sees the truth. Or, two, she is highly intelligent, a magnificent actor, and playing the long game: guilty of everything, lied about everything, and planned everything the moment Silver Chalice showed up on her doorstep. Including setting up evidence to cast reasonable doubt on a murder charge.” She looked over to Marble. “What’s your take, Doc?”
“She’s smart, but not smart enough for your long game. She’s vengeful, but shortsighted. I can’t see her planning a murder, fraud, and stolen identity, scheme with the degree of intricacy that includes the possibility of getting caught,” Marble stretched his wings. “She has strong tendencies to feel overly-responsible for actions that cause harm. Also, the position at the palace that she was expecting wasn’t that glamorous, I lean strongly to the scenario that Tiara related is the truth. She tried to assume Silver Chalice’s identity because she was in need of money- evidenced by having to eat dandelion soup; she was in emotional pain from having her rightful educational honors stolen; and she was terrified of prosecution for a death she didn’t realize was accidental. I find little reason to doubt anything that she told us so far.”
“Are you saying that she is innocent? That you find no faults to charge her?” Luna asked?
“Oh, no!” Carry On chuckled, “I wouldn’t recommend to a prosecutor that she be charged with murder, nor with negligent homicide, but she is guilty of stolen identity, fraud, and illegal handling of pony remains.”
“Not to mention the charges regarding the use of black magic,” Marble reminded her, “Tiara Dreams is not a murderer, that is all we have determined tonight.”
Luna looked up at the moon shining brightly in the face of their discussion of such dark subject matter. “Officer Carry On, I think you and your cadets have done all that you can do for me.”
“If I may be so bold, Princess,” Carry On interjected, “May I have a few words with you?”
“Yes, of course,” Luna answered and dismissed Marble with a polite bow of her head. “Shall we walk?”