//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 - Invader 
// Story: Sakura Blizzard 
// by Lunaria 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5
Invader







"You don't love her then?"

"It's more complicated than that."

The conversation rested as clattering of cutlery could be heard.

"I just... she's a beautiful mare, really. Probably way better than I deserve."

...

"But... she's also nothing like me. I want to settle down with someone that actually cares about my art, you know?"

"Yeah," Radon replied in his usual non-committal fashion.

"And, and! My parents never really understood my art. Mother kept wanting to send me to advanced flight camp to try and become a Wonderbolt," a huff rang out. "As if just any pony can become a bolt!"

"Yeah that requires- hold on."

"Hey!" Radon's voice rang out loud. "Can we have another bottle? Yeah, just put it on my tab."

"Anyway," Radon continued at a much more reasonable volume. "So you want a marefriend that is more on your level, gotcha."

"Yeah!"

"So what's wrong with sis- sorry, what's wrong with Polo then?"

...

"She's just... so forward?"

"...Really?"

"Second time we met she asked me if I wanted to mount her in the bedroom."

The spraying of liquid could be heard followed by coughing.

"S- Seriously?"

"I know! I was completely taken aback. I figured we'd at least get to know each other a lot better first..."

"Celestia, I can't really believe sis would push for something like that."

"...How close are you two?"

"Eh, I mean, we are quite close. Always had each other's back since we were foals. She's always been kind of reserved in most things. But back when she was younger she was very touchy feely, big on physical affection and all that."

A sigh rang out. "Do you think she even likes me? We are so different."

"Dude, she asked you if-"

"Here's your bottle of wine Lady Radon," a new feminine voice rang out. The sound of something heavy being placed on the table was also heard.

"Ah, thank you Star."

"No worries, I'll let you get back to your date," the cheery voice replied.

...

"D-date?"

"Don't worry about it," the sound of pouring reverberated. 

"For that matter, why did she call you Lady?"

Radon Wing's light giggle could be heard. "I've got somewhat of a reputation --being a regular here-- and Star Smatter knows me quite well and jokes about it. There's been quite a few stallions who've approached me here and asked me to become their company for the evening."

"Are you serious?"

"...Yeah," Radon sighed. "I know it's not nice but, well, I can't help it when they walk up to me and act like they are the center of the universe."

"It's a bit weird-"




Octavia turned off the tape player and removed the earbuds. It went on for another hour or so, but this segment seemed the most important. She'd listened through the entire thing from start to end the previous evening in the hopes that it would give her some more insight; yet it offered little.

Graphite Pen seemed to think things were moving too quick in his relationship with Polo. According to him Polo was way too forwards and overwhelming... yet that didn't track with Polo's seeming disinterest with him. She also highly doubted that Pen was lying when he was chatting with Wing, not only did he sound deeply uncomfortable... it was also clear that Wing was drinking him under the table.

Something was clearly off here, like she was missing a big piece of the puzzle. What reason could Polo have to get in bed with a stallion that she cared little for? She certainly didn't seem to put much stock in her family's legacy.

With a sigh Octavia got up from the bed. If she wanted any hope in figuring out who murdered Pen then she'd need to figure out what he'd been up to. With any luck, some of the others might know what he'd been doing prior to getting murdered.







The plan was simple, really. Though the details she'd been given were sparse, she could piece together the unspoken. Polo was to have her mother escort her to the mansion's main feature: the indoor hot spring. From there she was going to ingest something that she was certain would make it seem like she was dead, when in fact, she was not.

Octavia grit her teeth. Polo had proclaimed that she'd do this regardless of whether or not she'd choose to help her with what came next. See, faking her death was all well and good, but Polo needed an escape route for when she'd inevitably come to again.

That's where Octavia was supposed to come in. Being the detective on the scene she was supposed to make up a reason as to why she needed to move the body outdoors. There was a gardening hut near the back of the estate's garden, which is where Polo wanted to be put while she was out.

She wasn't sure yet what to make of Polo, nor what she'd do in regards to the absurdities the adopted noble mare suggested. Octavia closed her eyes and sighed. She really could use the help in solving the murder though, so far it felt like she was grasping at straws.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

Hoofsteps echoed behind her as Lyra approached.

Looking up she really took in the room. "It is," she replied with caution. It would be another beauty soon to be ruined by the taint of death.

The room itself was undoubtedly the largest in the entire mansion, spanning the entire two and a half stories worth of height. The room was located at the very back of the mansion with its far wall housing a set of large windows going all the way up to the ceiling. Most of the floor of the room was composed of large rocks or gravel with a cross shaped cobblestone path connecting the rooms three entrances with the spring itself.

Lining the path were smaller cherry blossom trees, or so Ice Top had claimed; they wouldn't be in season to bloom just yet so she couldn't exactly verify the claim. At the end of the central path was the hot spring itself, embedded right into the floor. The entire thing gave the impression that the mansion had been built around the spring.

Which, come to think of it, was probably not too far from the truth.

Octavia had briefly surveyed the room the previous evening from up on the catwalk on the second floor. Despite the obvious excess of the entire building, some parts of her couldn't help but be impressed by the clear craftsmanship that had gone into it. 

She glanced towards Lyra. "Did you manage to find the ponies I asked for?"

Lyra nodded. "Yes, and the rest of them are waiting in the dinning room like you asked. Except for Ice Top, she needed to see to her daughter."

Taking a deep breath of the humid air she tried to gather her nerves. "Alright," with a quick turn she headed back towards the main hall. "Let's see if we can't get the information we need."







"Did you get any sleep?"

Large bags sagged on Carbon's eyes, which suggested he hadn't. Still, it was polite to ask.

"More or less," the stallion spoke without any energy in his voice; as if he'd given up completely.

Despite how drained the stallion looked, she needed to ask her questions, Carbon might be sitting on critical information.

"Yesterday," she started. "When was the last time you saw your son?"

"It..." she could see the eyes of the stallion dart around while his body started shaking. "It was shortly after breakfast. I was on my way to exchange a few words with Ice Top. It was brief, but he was entering his room."

Octavia hummed. Where Pen was right after breakfast didn't seem all that useful.

"And you didn't see him after that?"

"N-no, not until..." Carbon choked out.

She sighed and looked down at her notebook. She doubted Carbon was faking his feelings, after all; grief was the natural reaction. Still, that didn't mean that it wasn't frustrating how little help he was to the investigation.

"And there wasn't anything else that stuck out to you when you saw him?"

"I..." he trailed off. "I think he was carrying a bottle."

She blinked a few times. "What kind?" Her mind was already going places, but surely...

Carbon shook his head. "I don't know, but it was the larger kind with a cork."

...surely not.







"Making any progress then, Miss Melody?"

"Less than I'd have liked, Mr Thor," she gestured for him to take a seat.

He let out a grunt and sat down in the opposite couch from her. The lounge made for a more comfortable interviewing room, if nothing else. ...Despite Lyra trying, and failing badly, to play billiards with herself in the distance.

"So, let's get right into it then. You wouldn't have asked for me if you didn't have questions for me."

Octavia nodded. "I spoke to Polo last night, the discussion turned to the family illness. I figured you might know the most about that?"

Thor closed his eyes and sighed. "Aye, it's not much of a secret. House Radon has been plagued with illnesses as far back as we have recorded history. It's not the same in everyone, of course, but it's always something weird that no doctor has manage to pin to a cause."

"And this usually causes early deaths?"

Thor nodded. "It's seldom something minor. For my brother it was his lungs. A stallion of his age normally don't have those kind of issues, it was as if his body was giving up. For me, it's my horn," he lightly tapped his horn. "I can barely get a grip with the blasted thing anymore."

"What about Polo, do you think it's the same thing?"

Thor snorted. "It would be weird to think otherwise. She's had it especially bad, I will grant, but nothing unique. My own mother spent half of her life bedridden as well."

Octavia rested her pen, this wasn't going anywhere. How relevant was this illness anyway? Something about it bothered her deeply though. If it was something running in the family, and if Polo hadn't lied about being adopted... then what was she actually sick with?

With a sigh she turned the page, she'd need to ask Lord Radon himself about something uncomfortable later; at least if she wanted the truth. For now though, she needed to switch tracks.

"What about Graphite Pen, when was last the last time you saw him alive?"

"At breakfast yesterday."

She stopped writing... that, sounded wrong? Hadn't Lyra mentioned something? She flipped back a few pages in her notebook.

"I thought you didn't attend breakfast with the others yesterday?"

Thor smirked. "That'd be right, too much ruckus. No, I went down early and prepared my own food. I was on my way back to my room when the colt almost stumbled into me. Either he didn't get a lick of sleep or he'd not recovered from last night."

"Was there anything else off about him?"

The stallion shrugged lightly. "Not as far as I could gather, but my mind was pre-occupied with carrying my food."

"What about your thoughts on Graphite Pen himself? He would become a part of the family with the union."

Closing his eyes Thor took a deep breath. "I think I get what you're alluding too Miss Octavia," he opened his eyes and stared straight into hers. "But to be frank, I don't expect Polo to make it another year at this rate. If he would have sired a heir then that would have been enough for me."

Thor sighed and lowered his gaze. "Don't get me wrong, I know how vain that sounds. But despite it all, my niece spoke highly of him. I had to believe that they'd work things out between themselves..."

The old stallion slumped over. "But I suppose it's too late for that now."







"Lord Radon," she nodded to the stallion.

"Mmm, yes."

"I spoke to your daughter last night, primarily in regards to her relationship with Graphite Pen, but also her illness."

Radon sighed. "Sordid affairs, both of them."

Octavia glanced down at her notes. Assuming Polo hadn't been playing her for a fool, then Radon was hiding some very big secrets. It was natural why he'd want to keep the things in question under the rug, of course, but that didn't make it any less horrid.

She needed to play her cards right if she wanted to learn as much as possible.

"Let's start with the family illness. Your uncle was kind enough to provide some background history, which tracks with what your daughter said." She needed to stretch the truth a bit here, but she needed more leads; desperately.

Radon nodded.

"Polo's condition seems quite severe though, and since you're her father I figured you might now a bit more what ails her..." 

"That... I do. Admittedly I don't know much, but it is without a doubt the family illness."

"Oh?"

Radon nodded. "The doctors that have looked at her have compared her overall weakness to being malnourished."

Octavia hummed. "But she's definitely more than just skin and bones." 

"Correct. At one point the doctors suggested that we weren't feeding her properly, so we had her admitted. Of course... even staying at a hospital and eating everything they served her... her condition remained the same."

She narrowed her eyes. "That's strange."

"That's what we thought too, and the doctors agreed. They've tried to look into it further at multiple opportunities yet found nothing substantial as to what could be wrong with her."

She tapped her pen against her notebook. A mystery illness that seemingly no doctor could pin down the cause of? That matched Thor's description of the family's illness... and yet, if Polo was to be believed then she was not even Radon's biological daughter.

Octavia flipped back to an earlier page in her notebook, she could go for the coup de grâce later. She still needed as much information as possible about Pen's movement the day prior.

"When was the last time you saw Pen?"

Radon blinked. "Before he died you mean?"

She nodded.

"Hmm, well," he scratched his cheek. "Top and I were rushing about all morning. We weren't planning on being quite this snowed in. I swear, sometimes I wonder if the weather team even know restraint at all," he sighed. "Regardless, I know I ran into Pen at two separate occasions."

"Oh?"

"The first time was when I passed by his room. He had a spat of some sort with his mother. You'd have to ask her for the details, since I'm afraid I didn't have the time to stop and intervene."

She might just do that, given that Diamond Flair still remained quite an enigma what with how she continued to behave.

"The second time I saw him he was making his way to what I now believe was the library."

Her ears flickered. "When was this?"

Radon frowned. "That's the tricky part, I'm not quite sure. I believe it was at least an hour before lunch at that point, but I couldn't be sure."

"And did anything seem out of the ordinary with him? Or did you perhaps see anypony else in his company?"

Radon shook his head. "I'm quite sure he was alone at the time. Though maybe his gait was a bit strange?" He shrugged. "I wasn't exactly staring at the young lad at the time, I had other matters on my mind."

Octaiva hummed and filled in her notes. Glancing between them and Radon there really was only one important matter left that she wanted to settle before she moved on. Clearing her throat she called Lyra over and asked her to leave the room.

Shooting a smile to Lord Radon, who was giving her a look of confusion, she continued.

"I figured that, with what I want to discuss next, some discretion might be, well, appreciated."

Lord Radon hummed.

"I was talking to your daughter, as I mentioned, and a topic that came up was... well, in regards who sired her."

She could see the colour drain from Radon's face in real time.

With a cough he managed to stammer out a reply. "W-what exactly did she tell you?"

"She mentioned that she was adopted, and that she has no biological relations to either you nor Ice Top. Is that correct?"

Slowly Radon shook his head while letting out a loud sigh, slumping over in his seat he replied. "Yes, that is correct. Though I can not imagine why my daughter would share that tidbit with you."

She hummed. "But isn't that strange though?" She could feel herself smirking lightly. "If Polo is not your biological daughter, then she couldn't possibly have inherited your family's bad genes."

"...that is correct," he sounded confused as to where she was going with this.

"Which means her sickness has to be something else entirely!"

Radon sighed and glanced away. "Naturally. Both me and Top have known as much, though that changes little. No one has seemingly been able to find a cure for her condition."

Octavia frowned, this wasn't how this was supposed to go. If not even Lord Radon knew what illness Polo had contracted, then who did?







"So, this again?"

The unicorn across from her was glaring straight into her eyes.

"Indeed Mrs Flair. A few things have come up in my investigation that has lead to me to wanting to ask you a few more questions."

Flair sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, let's get this over with then," she fished up a hoof file from her bag and started applying it.

She nodded. "First of all, you don't seem to be bothered at all by young Pen's passing, why is that?"

The prissy unicorn paused briefly, before continuing her filling. "That colt has been nothing but disappointment after disappointment. Do not misunderstand, of course I'm sad," she scoffed. "But I've never been one to cry a river, unlike my husband. Doing so could absolutely ruin one's reputation."

"And that's important to you?"

"Naturally; I figured you'd know this more than anyone, Miss Melody. But I'll spell it out: here in Canterlot? You live and die by your reputation," she scoffed. "The only reason I agreed to this entire arranged marriage nonsense is because House Radon is quite prestigious."

If she had little less control over her feelings she would have snapped her pen in half by now. Flair reminded her way too much of another prissy unicorn, one that she'd thankfully never need to see ever again.

"Very well," she made a show of scribbling some notes, though nothing she could write really felt like it lived up to the absolute disdain she held for her interviewee.

"On to the next matter then: When was the last time you saw Pen alive?"

"Ah, yes," Flair didn't take her eyes off the hoof she was working on. "To be honest I'm a bit surprised you didn't ask this of me yesterday. Really, I thought you were some master detective; not a complete amateur."

She didn't manage to stop a sigh from escaping her muzzle. "Just answer, please."

"I was exchanging a few words with my son shortly after breakfast yesterday."

"What was it about? From what Lord Radon said it got quite heated."

Flair huffed. "Yes, I did get a bit worked up. You don't just get invited to a noble family's estate and then spend the evening getting so drunk you can't even walk straight. I had to reprimand him for his behaviour, the colt was still smelling of the stuff, not to mention that he had the nerve to argue back."

"What about after that, did you see your son again?"

Flair hummed. "No, I'm afraid not. The next time I happened to see him he was lying in a pool of blood in the library," she stopped her filling. "It was quite shocking, you must understand."

The way she spoke as if she was sharing idle gossip was highly disturbing.

Octavia was just about to field a follow up question when a loud yell rand out.

"Oi, Polo!"

All three ponies turned to stare at the door towards the dining room. It had unmistakably been Vinyl's voice. A beat later she, Lyra, and Diamond Flair were all rushing over towards the dining room.







Lyra hurried after Octavia, a pit opening up in her stomach. She could see Ice Top rushing towards the open side door of the dining room. A brief glance out the window to the hot spring revealed the unicorn with a spiky mane galloping down the path towards the spring.

She skidded once she reached the main hall, coming in too quick to take the turn towards the hot spring, she'd barely managed to get her bearing again when a white and green blur blasted past her; their wings flapping hard enough to kick up a tailwind.

She rushed into the indoors hot spring, her hooves raining down on the cobblestone path.

"Polo!" Ice Top wailed, her body collapsing next to Polo's on the gravel floor.

The DJ, having discarded their shades, was administering first aid. At least that's what Lyra assumed they were doing. Radon Wing was crouched down beside her, following whatever directions he was given.

Lyra came to a halt beside Octavia, a quick glance revealed that her friend was glaring straight at Polo.

"It shouldn't have come to this," they mumbled, barely audible.







Eventually Vinyl got up, slowly she approached Ice Top and Lord Radon. Silently, she shook her head before glancing away and trotting off; she collapsed once she reached the room's wall.

Octavia sighed. She'd known this was going to happen, yet she wasn't prepared for it. Polo's lifeless body lay there on the gravel, still wet from having been dragged up from the spring.

"You," Wing's seething voice rang out as he slowly got onto his hooves again. His piercing eyes boring holes into his parents. "You did this to her!"

"W-what," the teary eyes of Ice Top widened.

Wing launched himself over and grabbed his father by the neck. "You and your Celestia be damned legacy!" His eyes were filled with rage. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?!?" He shook the older stallion who refused to meet his eyes.

Everyone else was paralysed, either from fear, or from shock; she didn't know which. So she took a step forwards.

"Calm yourself!"

Wing turned his head and met her eyes. "Stay out of this," he growled.

She raised her armed hoof and pointed it straight towards Wing. No matter how much she was shaking, she couldn't back down; no one else was going to die today!

"You've already lost your sister this day, do you really think she'd wish you to tear asunder the rest of your family?"

Wing's eyes widened, she knew not if it was her action or her words that caused such a reaction. But she couldn't relent now.

"Calm yourself," she said, her tone harsh but her volume lower.

It took a few moments of deep breaths, his eyes never leaving hers, but eventually Wing relented and let go of his father. Ice Top was crying a river at this point.

Slowly, she lowered her shaking hoof to the ground. The expression of everypony else in the room ranged from shock to horror. She raised her other hoof and rubbed her forehead before letting out a deep sigh.

No one else was going to come and take charge of the situation; it had to be her.

"I- I don't understand," Carbon Cake mumbled, his eyes too were tear stained. "Who'd want to hurt dear Polo?"

"I can think of only one Pony," she said, glancing at Wing who'd taken a few steps away from his family. The look in his eyes told her that he'd come to the same conclusion.

"Fuck," Wing exclaimed while raising his hoof and smashing it straight into the trunk of one of the trees. He voiced more and more curses while ramming his hoof into the tree repeatedly.

"I- I don't understand," Cake voiced.

"But she does," Thor said from somewhere behind her. "Clearly there is more going on here than meets the eyes."

Taking a deep breath she mustered up the courage to speak. "As far as we are aware, the only pony in this room was Polo herself. Meaning that the two most likely scenarios is that either this was an accident..." her eyes turned to Polo's body. "Or, it was suicide; and I'm willing to believe it was the latter."

A few gasps could be heard across the room, she didn't pay attention from where they had come. She could hear the crunching of gravel as Thor came up by her side.

"You mean to tell me that my grandniece wished to take her own life? Don't make me laugh."

She turned and glared straight into his eyes. "That is exactly what I'm insinuating. During my investigation it came up that Polo had confided with her brother about her thoughts; I even confirmed it with her myself. Why exactly do you think he made up an excuse to stay here as much as possible? He was worried sick about his sister."

Lord Radon's expression fell, his body soon doing the same as he collapsed onto his knees, his eyes turning towards his son. "Wing... is that true?"

Wing just grit his teeth and closed his eyes.

Thor, having watched the exchange let out a deep sigh. "So that's how it is..."

She made her way over to Polo's body, her eyes meeting those of Diamond Flair who was standing a few paces away. She expected the mare to be as unflinching in behaviour as before, yet even she seemed shaken.

"Mrs Flair, would you mind lifting her body onto my back? While I'm fairly certain my assessment is correct, I'd like to store the body somewhere cold so the guard can examine her for any potential poison when they get here," she gestured towards the door outside.

Frankly, she was making it up as she went. She had no idea if storing a body in the freezing cold would even help with such an investigation; yet she trusted that the other guests didn't either.

With an audible gulp, Diamong Flair lit her horn. It took a few false starts but eventually she managed to lift Polo's lifeless body and deposited it onto Octavia's back. She heard no complaints from anyone as she made her way across the final stretch of the room, to the door leading outside and into the gardens.

'In for a penny, in for a pound,' she idly thought. Polo had played everyone for a fool; including herself.







From the cold of the "gardening hut" --calling it a shed would have been more accurate-- she flipped through her notebook. She needed a few moments to herself to gather her thoughts. She'd unceremoniously dumped Polo's body on what she was certain was a dog's cot.

She wasn't sure if the adopted noble mare would wake up sooner rather than later, but the two of them would have words. So until then, she'd keep going over what she knew about the murder. With a blink she stopped her flipping. Slowly she flipped back to the earlier page that had caught her attention.

She'd done a crude drawing of the murder weapon for reference the prior evening. She'd discarded the weapon itself as a useless avenue of investigation quite quickly, but had elected to note down the shape and form of it. She lacked both the knowledge and the means to make any good assessments about it. Still, maybe she could gleam something from her notes?

The hilt of the dagger was inscribed with an ornate "R", the insignia of House Radon. Given that the murder took place in House Radon's estate, it hardly seemed indicative of much. Any pony who wanted to murder someone could easily have tracked down a weapon like this when on-site.

The entirety of one side of the blade was blood stained, likely the underside. On the opposite side the hilt had a large splotch of blood on it, while the blade seemed only soaked halfway down the length. Was there some insight to be gained here? She'd no idea how those actual brilliant detectives came about with their insightful deductions.

With a sigh she flipped back to one thirds into the notebook; the point where her notes on the murder had started. She'd just have to go over it all again. She sat there flipping through her notes for at least an hour, but eventually a rough idea started to form in her mind as she went over it all.

"Love, huh?" she mumbled.

A crackle rang out behind her, followed by a grunt.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Polo grunted out before devolving into panting, her body stained in sweat.

She put down her notebook on the workbench and walked over. Slowly she helped Polo get back on her hooves again.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if you'd make it. You were declared quite dead."

Polo chuckled. "I'm pretty good at deception," she glanced towards her. "But you knew that already."

"You know, Wing would punch you quite hard if he knew you were still alive."

Polo turned her head away, a sad expression morphing onto her face. "I know," she whispered.

"W-when it's all over... could you apologise to him for me?" She whispered.

"Do it yourself," she shot back.

Polo flinched. "I guess I deserve that." A few moments later she sighed. "So," her voice turning serious. "How's the investigation going?"

"I've got some ideas, but if you've got any insights, I'd gladly hear them."

Polo smiled. "We'll, I've got one: It's always much easier telling the truth than lying, especially if someone is looking to poke holes in your story. So the best you can do is to not lie at all, yet still lead the target onto the wrong trail with your words," she said while steadying herself against the wall.

Octavia walked back to the workbench, pondering Polo's words as she retrieved her notebook. It seemed like the unicorn was on the same track as she was. Which was quite impressive, given how out of the loop she must have been. As she headed back towards the door she noticed Polo staring at her.

"So," the unicorn smiled at her. "Do you know who murdered Pen?"