//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Luck of the Draw 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	The pink pony glanced upwards.  There was nothing to see except a blank ceiling and an air vent.  As she watched, a coin dropped out of the vent.  Pinkie squealed with excitement and chased the money as it rolled down the stairs.
Inside the air ducting, Cheerilee put her bag of bits away and nodded in satisfaction.  She maneuvered around and began pushing the comatose stallion upwards.
Several floors later, the duct ended at the roof.  Cheerilee pulled the other pony out and laid him on his back.  A few light slaps to the face woke him up.
“Want to live to see morning?” said Cheerilee.  “Answer all my questions.”
The pony shouted in surprise as the mare hauled him up by his throat and dangled his legs over the edge of the roof.  As he continued to yell, she rolled her eyes and said, “Nopony is going to hear you from this many floors up.”
“Who the buck are you?” demanded the stallion, glancing fearfully at the ground.
“It’s not about me,” Cheerilee told him.  “Just know that the instant I let go, you’re going to fall.  The sooner you tell me what I want to know, the better things will go.  Now, what do you know about Silverwing?”
“He handles the money,” the stallion gasped.  Now that he had hung by his neck for a little while, it was becoming harder for him to breathe.  “He was bringing in a big deposit for a transaction.  It couldn’t go forward without him.”
Well, that explained why Cheerilee’s original mission was to take the money.  She asked, “A transaction for what?”
“Drugs.  It’s this green stuff, so we call it Grass.  It’s the latest in entertainment.”  The stallion actually sounded a little proud of that.  While mood-altering substances weren’t new to Equestria, organized groups to distribute them were beginning to pop up.
“And you store it in vegetables?” asked Cheerilee.
The stallion nodded, his face beginning to turn blue..  “If you let me catch my breath, I’ll tell you who else is involved.  Cheerilee considered that, and then pulled him back from the edge.
The stallion collapsed to his knees, breathing hard.  He glanced up and then quickly pulled a magical trinket from the pocket of his coat, activating it.  A shiny glow surrounded his whole body, and suit of metal armor glimmered into existence.
The pony stood up, suddenly more confident.  “I was about to take down Rainbow Dash!  If you’re going up against somepony like her, it's smart to be prepared for anything.  You might be strong, filly, but let’s see you get through this!”
Cheerilee studied the armor carefully.  She tried a quick front kick to the chestplate, which the stallion appeared to barely feel.  He was completely covered by the sturdy suit, helmet and all.  The mare studied the joints, looking for anything she could exploit.  Her fangs were sharp, but they had to find an edge to dig in.  She circled, searching for an opening.
The helmet appeared to turn freely.  Cheerilee wondered if there was anything securing it to the rest of the suit.  The stallion rushed forward more quickly than expected, even with the heavy suit.  The schoolteacher got out of the way and kicked at the pony's armored front leg joint.  Her hooves smacked hard against the metal, but did little damage.  
The stallion turned, having shrugged off her attack.  Cheerilee wondered if she could get her teeth in one of the seams of the armor and peel it back.  She circled again, forcing her attacker to turn in place.
The next time the stallion charged, Cheerilee stood her ground and let him plow into her.  The force knocked the mare to the ground, but she tripped the onrushing pony and he piled into her, swinging his hooves.
Catching a couple of blows to the face and chest, Cheerilee grappled with the pony, digging her fangs into a joint near the shoulder of the armor.  Other than restricting the stallion's movement, the metal suit refused to budge.
Rolling off her, the stallion got up and set up for another attack.  Cheerilee decided to try bucking again, although a little better planned this time.  She studied the armor carefully, and then feinted to the side which gave her time to line up a powerful kick directly at the stallion’s head.
The edges of the helmet and suit were not sharp, but the tremendous force caused them to slide over each other, neatly cleaving the pony’s head straight off his body.  The head, with helmet still attached, soared over the edge of the roof and landed in the dumpster many stories below.
Cheerilee nodded with satisfaction amid the shower of blood and pushed the rest of the stallion over the side.  The body joined the one already down there.  The mare glanced downward and then did a double take.  There weren’t just the two bodies she had put there herself, but five.
The dress’ anti-stain enchantments did wonders, and the schoolteacher was able to get herself cleaned up easily before going back downstairs.  On the second floor, Cheerilee met up with Smooth again.  The stallion looked somewhat nauseous, but pleased with himself.
“So how did you get the bodies down the trash chute in the supply closet?” asked Cheerilee.
“Simple,” said Smooth.  “A little liquid soap from the shelf worked great to make the chute slick enough to get them to slide easily.”
Cheerilee was sorry that she had doubted the EIA agent’s effectiveness.  She nodded.  “All right.  You’re doing a good job here.  I’m going to see if I can find the sixth pony and make sure she’s not in trouble.”
Twilight was not in her room, but after wandering downstairs, Cheerilee spotted her across the casino.  She was talking to the group of ponies at the table where Silverwing had been sitting.
Cheerilee felt a little panic.  Surely the purple unicorn hadn’t discovered a connection between the discovered body in the hotel room and the poker player so quickly?
Twilight was talking loudly, trying to keep the attention of the gamblers.  “So I’m asking if any of you might know something related to the killing I’m trying to solve.”
A couple of the ponies shrugged.  None replied.  A stallion wearing a casino employee uniform walked up carrying a fancy drink on a tray.  “Are you Ms. Twilight?  A gentlecolt over by the bar bought this for you.”
The purple mare was more than a little surprised.  “Really?” she stuttered.  “Well...okay, thanks.”
“Oh my gosh, Twilight, how long has it been?” said Cheerilee, shoving the waiter aside.
Surprised even more, Twilight said, “Wow!  Hello, Cheer-”
The schoolteacher cut her off.  “You look good.”
Twilight nodded.  “You look like you haven’t aged a bit.”
The unicorn knew at least some of what had happened to Cheerilee in the last decade.  Still, Luna had been very adamant about not revealing more than necessary to anypony.  Cheerilee would have prefered to avoid contact with Twilight at all, but she felt that she had to.
“I was just about to go for a drink,” said Cheerilee.  She turned, appearing to spot the waiter for the first time.  “Well, that’s convenient.”
Seizing the glass, she took a sip.  The beverage tasted nice, but her vampire system wouldn’t even let her attempt to swallow.  Cheerilee was forced to spit it back in the glass.  “Yuck, what is this stuff?”
The waiter gasped.  “Ma’am, I assure you we only use the finest-”
Cheerilee ignored him, turning back to Twilight.  “It was nice seeing you, I think I’m going to be sick, got to go!”
Leaving a confused unicorn in her wake, Cheerilee made for the restroom.  It was lucky that vampires weren’t actually invisible to mirrors, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to see the red, ugly sores that were spread across her tongue and her bleeding gums.  The drink had been poisoned.
Stepping out of the restroom, Cheerilee spotted Twilight harassing the poker players again.  The pony with the tray was returning the now-ruined drink to the bar.
Cheerilee faced a choice.  She could either get the waiter to tell her who had sent the drink, or she could covertly track Twilight on the assumption that the mare would continue to make good progress.
The purple unicorn either got what she wanted from the card-playing ponies or gave up in frustration.  Cheerilee saw her walk away from the table.  On impulse, the schoolteacher decided to follow her.
Unfortunately, Twilight headed back upstairs to get her friends.