//------------------------------// // Square One // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// The administrative building of the Copper Section was a mess of activity after the bombing. The fire department had been on the scene within minutes and constables as well as concerned and outright curious citizens also flocked to it. Thankfully because the explosion was contained to one area the fire didn’t spread to the rest of the building and it was put out without too much trouble. Of course that was only the case for the physical damage. Who knew what the psychological affect would be of seeing one of the centers of government in Oreville bombed. The one consolation the citizens could take was that at least once more there were no deaths. In an office building across the street from the administration building, quite the gathering had occurred. Rainbow Dash, Barnaby, Lord Copper, Lords Silver and Gold, and a host of other lower-level administrators and secretaries working under the Lords had gathered in a conference room to discuss the recent happenings. Lords Silver and Gold had arrived in Copper Section not too long after the explosion and Lord Silver believed it would be better to meet somewhere else, something both Barnaby and Lord Copper concurred on. Now Rainbow Dash sat next to Barnaby at the end of a long table, with Lord Copper on the other side of the Chief Constable. All three of them still looked like wrecks after the explosion. It seemed nopony wanted to start talking—and Lord Gold was staring off into space—so Lord Silver took the initiative. “Chief Constable, when we received your message we were shocked beyond belief,” Lord Silver started. “I couldn’t fathom that Lord Copper could do such a thing-” “I didn’t! I’m innocent! I almost just got blown up!” Lord Copper interrupted, standing up out of his chair and repeatedly slamming his hooves on the table. Lord Silver held up a hoof to silence him. “I know. I was hoping this has all been a huge mistake and after the events of today I believe that the Chief Constable must be wrong.” He looked at Barnaby. “Constable? Is there any real proof of Lord Copper being behind the bombings?” Barnaby and Rainbow Dash shared a look, Barnaby grinding his teeth together before he finally sighed. “No. There is no solid evidence. Just many, many coincidences. We have some other criminals in custody right now but they have so far refused to say who hired them to remove the TNT that was used for the bombs. And there are multiple other things. Unfortunately one of the only ponies who may have been convinced to speak blew himself up—as I notified you of in my message.” “Yes, a tragedy that is. From what else was in your report though, he was the one responsible for placing the other bombs?” “We believe so,” Barnaby nodded. “And he said nothing of who made him do this?” Barnaby’s jaw clenched but he nodded once more. “Yes.” Lord Silver frowned and looked between Barnaby and Lord Copper. “Chief Constable… I do not believe it would be in the best interest of Oreville to continue with investigating and badgering Lord Copper. It is clear to me that after today he’s also a target of whoever is truly behind these bombings.” “But my Lord, there isn’t just-” Barnaby said. “I am a victim of a conspiracy!” Lord Copper interrupted and folded his hooves in front of his chest. “I-I almost died just now but you and your pegasus friend are still going to say I’m responsible? You couldn’t even prove anything even before the three of us almost all got blown up!” Rainbow Dash rubbed her forehead with her hoof as Lord Copper went on. She didn’t know what to think, and her head was still pounding thanks to the explosion in the first place. She just felt like she had failed. Dolph, Eleanor, Barnaby, Oreville… she thought they could take down Lord Copper because it was so obvious he was guilty even without anypony naming him. Now everything had been turned on its head. They had no proof. They had no motive. And now Lord Copper was a “victim” too. Was it truly somepony else behind all of this? Rainbow Dash knew if she was just a little smarter or more perceptive like Twilight she’d be able to figure all this out. She knew there were so many things wrong about all this but she couldn’t put it together. “Chief Constable, you must continue with your investigation,” Lord Silver said. “However it must also be clear that Lord Copper is not the focus of it. This is a time where all of Oreville must be unified and that cannot happen if a Lord is suspected of blowing it up. The citizens must be able to look to all three of us and feel safe and secure.” Rainbow looked at Barnaby with a weak frown on her face. He was shaking a bit before he finally lowered his head. “Yes, my Lords. But I promise you that I will still figure out who is behind this and why.” Lord Silver nodded. “Good, because the situation has gotten so bad I think there are other measures that may need to be taken. Rainbow, Barnaby, and Lord Copper even, all looked at him as he said that. “What do you mean?” Lord Copper asked. “This is unprecedented in Oreville. This kind of thing should not be happening in our peaceful, wonderful city.” Lord Silver said. “So far it has been contained to Copper Section but what if it spreads? What if bombs start going off in Silver and Gold Section too?” He shook his head. “This cannot be allowed. Chief Constable, if even one more bomb goes off, if a murder happens, if anything strange seems to be going on in Copper Section, we will enter lock-down.” “Lock… down?” Lord Copper repeated, a slightly nervous timber in his voice. “Yes,” Lord Silver confirmed. “Every way in or out of Copper Section will be sealed. The mines will be sealed. The tram tunnels sealed. And no stone will go unturned until the culprit in this, this, disaster! Is found.” He sat back. “Due to the special nature of the situation as well as to reassure the citizens, my own guards will take up positions at the entrances and exits to Copper Section, including the main gate and all the main mine tunnels. If anything happens they can be instantly alerted and seal things up.” “I… I see. I acknowledge your wisdom on the matter, Lord Silver,” Lord Copper said. He bit his lip and looked down at his hooves with a look of dismay on his face. Rainbow Dash took note of that but she couldn’t say anything right now—this was all so crazy. Barnaby though had something to add. “A suggestion to your ideas, Lord Silver.” “Yes?” Lord Silver raised an eyebrow. “To make sure no more TNT can be stolen I would like to place the warehouses here directly under my control. I will choose trusted constables to watch over the warehouses and keep track of everything that goes in and out. Even if Lord Copper wasn’t responsible for the theft it’s still proof that his employees can not be fully trusted with such an important thing,” Barnaby glared out the corner of his eyes at Lord Copper. Lord Silver seemed to muse on it for a second before nodding. “Agreed. Until this whole matter is taken care of, I want you to keep those warehouses under lock and key. Only your constables will be allowed to hoof off TNT to ponies taking it to the mines.” “Gladly,” Barnaby nodded. “Now regardless of whoever is responsible for these bombings they wont be able to make anymore bombs. Not unless they want to try committing a very obvious and very forceful robbery of the warehouses.” Lord Copper quietly clicked his tongue, another thing that Rainbow picked up on. “Good. Is there anything more to discuss?” Lord Silver asked. “Hold on,” Rainbow Dash held up a hoof and watched as the other eyes in the room fell upon her. “I… I just wanted to say that whenever it’s put in the newspapers or whatever, that Dolph shouldn’t be blamed for what happened. He was a victim too and the only reason he did what he did was because his family was threatened. I don’t want it to be like he was one of the bad guys too.” Lord Silver rubbed his chin and looked at the Chief Constable. “Barnaby?” “I agree with Rainbow Dash. Dolph and his family’s name shouldn’t be dragged through the mud,” Barnaby said. “Very well,” Lord Silver nodded and turned a sad face towards Rainbow Dash. “And you, Miss Rainbow Dash, I am deeply regretful that you came here at a time like this—seeing Oreville at its worst. My sincerest apologies, I would ask you if you wish to please take up residence in Gold Section while-” “No can do. Sorry Lord Silver and thanks for the offer, but I’m with Barnaby on all of this. I want to help too, it’s just the kind of pony I am. Doesn’t matter if Oreville isn’t my city,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Well… it certainly does reflect well on you and your home,” Lord Silver offered a sad smile. “Though I feel we’re being out-shined here when we’re the ones who should be impressing upon you the best we have to offer...” Rainbow grinned. “Don’t worry about that, Barnaby’s doing a great job of showing me the best of Oreville.” Lord Copper scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Sure he is...” “I’m grateful for your words, Rainbow Dash,” Barnaby said, ignoring Lord Copper. “And I think everypony else here is as well that you haven’t decided to simply leave us behind during this time of catastrophe.” There was a chorus of agreement (sans Lord Copper) from the rest of the conference room. “We want to show you we can overcome this so you have nothing but positive things to say about Oreville when you move on.” Rainbow gave him a hoof bump. “Right on. I believe in you, dude.” “I think that covers everything important then,” Lord Copper sneered. “If we’re quite done here I obviously have much to do. Not to mention fear for my life. Who knows when I’ll even get to use my office again, and the paperwork that’s going to have to be done...” He stood up from his chair. “Yes, I think with the absolute mayhem that I now have to sort through I better get started as quickly as possible.” “Yes, we all have a lot to do now. Lord Gold and I will depart. We trust the Chief Constable in the rest of this matter absolutely,” Lord Silver said. He stood up and motioned for one of the secretaries to help up the oblivious Lord Gold. “Thank you,” Barnaby said. He and Rainbow Dash got out of their seats and the Chief Constable looked Lord Copper dead in the eye. “And Lord Copper, I apologize for being so unfair to you. I will never accuse you without evidence again.” Lord Copper’s lip curled and his hooves shook, but he said nothing as he stiffly walked past Barnaby and Rainbow. “Good one,” Rainbow winked at him. She then bit her lip as she looked at all of the other ponies filing out of the conference room. “But now what?” “We still have a few leads to go on. And I won’t rest until the truth of these bombings is uncovered,” Barnaby said. “Do you still think Lord Copper is behind it… even after he almost got blown up? He’s definitely suspicious and up to something but now I’m not totally sure if it’s that simple. He seriously did almost get vaporized,” Rainbow asked. Barnaby bit his lip. “I’m not entirely sure either. Everything pointed to him, but we have no solid proof, no motive, and now he was almost blown up just like we were so he looks even less guilty. We just… don’t have anything provable. Going after him hasn’t led anywhere substantial—but Malthus and his gang might have the answers we want. I think we should go back to the correctional facility and interrogate them next.” Malthus and the other members of his gang were no longer in their cells. Apparently their release had been ordered by none other than the Chief Constable himself, after all, his signature was on the paperwork. The last anypony had seen of them they were being escorted out of the premises earlier. None of the constables on duty could recall just who had delivered the papers and escorted them out. There were some severe punishments handed out, but Barnaby knew it was no better than a temporary fix for the problem. Barnaby and Rainbow Dash now stared at an empty cell. Their lead was gone. There could be no more bombings but there was also no way for them to get to the bottom of them now. Oreville wasn’t in danger for the moment, but it wasn’t saved either. “Now what?” Rainbow asked Barnaby. “Now… we have nothing,” Barnaby sighed.