//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Equestria Noir: Through the Looking Glass // by Midnight_Tempest //------------------------------// A nightmare. I woke in a dark room, in a comfortable bed and my body aching like I had never felt before. Yet I was positive that everything that I just witnessed was nothing but a nightmare. It was at that point I should have realized never to get my hopes up, it only leads to disappointment and ruin. Although my body was aching I tried to get out of the bed, yet I wasn't able to sit up very far. My legs were all cuffed to the bed frame. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me I could finally tell where I was, in a hospital room. The walls were all a sterile white, and the floors looked to be some sickly green color. There was nothing in the room that I could use to escape. The only things in the room, other than myself and the bed, was an IV tube that was dripping some clear liquid into my right foreleg and a strange box that looked to be connected to my left foreleg. It was making a strange beeping sound that was slowly getting faster as panic started to overcome my senses again. The sound of my cuffs clanging around on the metal bed frame didn't go unnoticed. I could hear the voices of two ponies just outside the door. "Sounds like he finally woke up, call it in and see if you can find Mac. I'm pretty sure he has some questions for our little pony friend." Questions? The thought of being interrogated for a second time sent me into hysteria. I wanted to escape, I wanted to run and never look back at this never ending nightmare. The ponies at the door were quick to respond to my violent thrashing as they came in and forced me down into the bed. "Please, not again! I don't know anything! I don't know where I am, please don't kill me!" Even though the hoofcuffs were very sturdy, the frame they were attached to wasn't. The two ponies did their best to hold me down, but I was terrified and fear can give anypony the strength they need to fight or run. I had freed my right foreleg and managed to shove one pony away; and was ready to shove the other one off when I was pinned by a single large red hoof. I let out an sound like I had just be tackled by a whole hoofball team, tears began to crawl down my face from the mixture of fear and pain. "Please... no more... I don't know anything... please..." The two ponies that had entered the room first quickly left, leaving me with the very large stallion and his hoof on my chest. "There's nothin' for y'all to be afraid of, y'hear? You don't need to worry about them mofia boys, but Ah will need you to answer some questions. Like, what they was doin' to you and why?" The red stallion's words managed to calm me, but not enough to stop my tears. There was also something oddly familiar about his voice, I was positive that I had heard him somewhere before but the light above the bed was making hard to see his face. I could only see part of a silhouette and even that was pushing it. "I... I... they tortured me... tormented me..." The trembling in my voice made it hard to talk, but I did finally stop crying as the stallion took his hoof off my chest. "They... kept asking what I was doing there... which family had sent me... and I told them I didn't know what they were talking about but that didn't stop them... didn't stop him..." My mind shifted to the pain that Raz had inflicted on me and I could see his hoofwork even now as I looked at my right foreleg. "They were going to kill me... what monster would kill another pony... where am I?" My words slowly drifted into mumbling. The stallion had listened patiently, not moving from his spot. If I had tried to escape he easily would have blocked the door single-hoofedly. "So... they believed that you were one o' the other families thugs... hmm..." He fell silent for a moment as I lifted my head to look in his direction. "And what did you mean by 'what Ah was doing there'?" "The... the explosion..." At the mention of just that his stance shifted, I imagined his look was that of surprise. "I had appeared... in the middle of a street... it was dark, but I had only left home a few minutes before and it was day... and the fog, I've never seen so much before..." "An explosion..." I watched something behind the stallion move erratically before flipping quickly to his left side. A bright light flooded the room, making the one directly above my bed seem dull. "So, you must have witnessed a murder... that seems to make sense... but your story, I'm finding that hard to believe." My eyes adjusted and widened. I was looking at Big Macintosh, older brother to Applejack, and he was dressed in a brown trenchcoat and a matching fedora. I also noticed a glint of metal from underneath the trenchcoat. "B... Big... Macintosh?" I felt such a rush of relief wash over me, I didn't think I was going to see a friendly face ever again. But, once more, I was thrown a curveball that I didn't expect. Mac just lifted one of his eyebrows and glared at me. "How do you know mah name? Ah didn't give it to you when Ah came in... and just call me Mac... Big Mac was mah nickname at the Academy." "B, but I know you... I've seen you around Ponyville. I've seen you working Sweet Apple Acres, we even talked a bit on Nightmare Night last year!" "Ah think your mistaken... Ah've never seen you before in mah life, and Ah haven't seen the farm since we left Ponyville 10 years ago." 10 years? You couldn't be serious. "Where are we, where am I? I don't remember a city like this in Equestria, not even Manehattan was so dark and gloomy like this." My mind was starting to race, I know Big Macintosh remembered me. We sometimes talked when I went to town for fresh groceries and the apples from their farm were some of the best I had ever had. "What about your sister? Is Applejack still at the farm?" Yet again, my curiosity was getting me into trouble but that was the danger of being a scientist. But this was not science I was doing, it was just asking the wrong questions at the wrong time. "How do you know about mah sister?" Mac's expression was very dark and I was sure that his eyes were going to bore a hole through me. "Who have you been talking to? Ah swear, if you are one o' them family thugs your gonna wish you never asked about mah sister!" I didn't think that my eyes could get any wider when Mac started moving towards me, in a violent manner. "What in tarnation do you think you're doing, Mac? We are supposed to keep him safe, not scare the poor darling to death." Another pony was standing in the doorway, wearing a similar getup as Mac but more beige than brown. "The commissioners would be right furious with us if he was harmed, and more-so if'n he was harmed by the ones meant to guard him." Applejack. The way she scolded Mac it didn't seem much different from what I already knew about them, but that changed quickly. "Ah'm sorry, Captain," Wait, what? Captain? She didn't look like a sailor. "but he was asking questions... seems to know alot about me... and you too, AJ. He knew we are family." "Ah see... well," Applejack gave me a very odd look, like this was something she expected. "we'll just have to take him to the commissioners and get this all sorted out." She walked to the foot of the bed and looked me over, I could see the sympathy in her eyes as she looked at the scars that now covered my body. "Are you ready for a trip to the station?" I gave a slow nod and looked at my half-covered body, the sheet had slowly fallen off as we were talking and the extent of my scars was really showing. "Um... could I get a coat... like that ones you have... I don't anypony to see me... not like this..." Applejack nodded back and got one of the ponies outside the door to get the object. ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ It had taken about half an hour to leave the hospital, my legs felt like rubber and every muscle screamed in agony with every step I took. Then the cold muggy air from outside brought some relief, soothing my muscles enough to keep me from collapsing entirely. Outside there was a pony-less carriage waiting. A vehicle known as a car. It was most likely my scientific curiousity, but I wanted to learn all I could about this vehicle. How it was able to move without being pulled, what was used to propel such a large object. Every little thing, I wanted to know it all. But Applejack and Mac didn't seem to enjoy my constant badgering and just got me into the car. "It will be about 30 minutes till we get to the station, sugarcube, so we'll be asking you a few more questions about that night 2 weeks ago..." "What! 2 weeks!" My surprise caught them both off guard. Applejack just drew her head away from me a few inches, but Mac looked like he wanted to shove his hoof down my throat. This definately was not the same stallion I had met, this also went for Applejack. "I've been in that hospital for two weeks!?" "Please try to calm down, sugar." My yelling had caused me to start coughing painfully, and Applejack was trying to get me to drink some water from a bottle that Mac had passed her from the front seat. "Yes, it's been two weeks since we raided the warehouse. Mac's team was the one that found you laying next to one of Griff's top lieutenants, Raz. It seems that he didn't expect you to escape your bindings and it got him killed, that bastard has got alot of good police ponies killed. Mah thanks to you." She lifted my hoof and started shaking it happily. My mind felt like it had just been thrown blown apart by a sonic rainboom. I had killed a pony. "I... killed him... me?" I looked over at the blonde maned mare in disbelief and she nodded. "Me? So... I'm a killer now..." Once again tears began to fall down my face, but I wasn't sobbing. It had been two weeks and it only felt like hours in my mind since I plunged that serrated knife into Raz's chest. I could remember the feeling of his blood splashing up into my face, I could taste the blood that was getting in my mouth. Mac was looking back with a conserned look. "Look... we aren't going to arrest you for what happened. You were bein' tortured and worse. Anypony would have done what you had to do to survive, it wasn't your fault Raz was a sick fucker." Applejack nodded and let got of my hoof, it was a moment before I noticed it was still going and stopped it. "That's right, sugarcube. You're a hero to some of the ponies at the station, Raz was dangerous and needed to be stopped and you managed to do it. Even when almost dead." All the talk about doing the right thing and stopping a monster wasn't helping my guilt, I had never taken a life before and had never thought of taking the life of a pony. It was just so surreal to me, but the talking did seem to make the ride go by faster. It felt like only 5 minutes had passed but we were already at the New Canterlot Police HQ. ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ "New Canterlot? What happened to the old one?" I was standing, okay, wobbling in the main lobby of the police station looking at Applejack and Mac. "As far as I remember there was only one Canterlot and it was on the side of a mountain, next your going to tell me there aren't any Princesses..." The looks they gave me shouted 'crazy pony!'. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." My head was spinning and I was forced to sit in the closest chair I could find, which was the floor at that moment. "Don't push yourself too hard..." Applejack managed to hold me upright as I fell on my haunches instead of collapsing entirely. "Just you take a rest right here, Ah'll get somethin' for you to eat. Just might give you the energy to move around more." She trotted off down a hall and around a corner leaving me with Mac. I was worried that he would continue his little show from the hospital but was more busy talking to other police ponies. Several walked by congratulating him for all his work, some just said hi, I heard a couple calling him by his full title Detective Macintosh. I only assumed they were his friends as he gave them a glare that turned into a grin, followed by some laughter. Applejack returned after about 10 minutes with some coffee and three of the largest apple fritters I had ever seen. "Ah just told brass that we brought him in, we'll head on up after he catches his breath and gets some solid food in his belly." She took a bite from the fritter and washed it down with a large gulp of coffee, then gave a satisfied sigh. Mac nodded and finished his coffee and fritter with frightening speed. "Ah've gotta head back out, gonna check some more of the leads we got from that warehouse we raided yesterday... Ah'm just glad we managed to take it without anyone on the taskforce gettin' killed this time... Trixie's boys are getting better at hiding their tracks and its startin' to worry mah boys." "Y'all watch your back out there, Mac." Mac gave one more nod and left the two of us in the lobby. I didn't hesitate on eating the fritter, it was gone almost as quickly as Mac eating his. As was the coffee. It tasted horrible but I wasn't going to complain. I gave a satisfied sigh then a groan as my stomach felt like it was getting tied in a knot. "Y'all shouldn't of eaten that so quickly." Applejack was patting my back as I coughed and hacked from the pain in my stomach. After a 5 minute coughing fit and my stomach settling down just enough so I could stand, I followed Applejack to an elevator at the end of the hall she had just returned from. "When we get up there, y'all will have to go alone." "What? Why? I thought I was going to get questioned?" I turned my head enough that I nearly lost my balance. "Well, y'all will get questioned by the commissioners and the captain that is organizing all our operations against the Mafia and it's families. She likes to learn about everything a pony like you experiences. She thinks it will help us finally track down the Mafia bosses and lock 'em up for good." The door to the elevator slide open to a hallway with a pair of doors at the end. "Well, this is your stop. Just head down the hall and give a knock, then just wait. They might still be talking." I didn't like the idea of walking down a long hallway alone, but it only felt long. It was only about a 30 foot walk, but felt like 300. Why did they want to talk to me, I had nothing to do with what was going on. I was just one unicorn in a dangerous city, with ponies that apparently don't know who I am but I know them. It just seemed all to impossible to fathom. There was no way for Applejack and Big Macintosh to not know who I was, well unless I was in a parallel world. But what would the chances of discovering something so amazing and impossible? I reached the end of the hall and knocked like I was told, then I waited. And waited. And waited. It was a full 20 minutes before the door would open. As the door opened I struggled to stand, my legs giving out around 10 minutes prior. I looked up at the door and fell once more, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. A lavender unicorn was standing in the doorway looking at me with a puzzled look. "Are you going to come in or do I need to drag you in?" Twilight Sparkle, the mare of my dreams, was actually talking to me. My amazement was short lived as she actually started dragging me into the room. "W-wait! Why not just use your magic to levitate me in?" She stopped and gave me a 'crazy pony!' look, second time in less than an hour. I forced myself to my hooves and wobbled into the office. It was very large but there weren't any windows, which I found odd. Then my jaw in the floor again, with me almost following, as I saw two ponies I never thought I would meet in my lifetime. Princesses Celestia and Luna, or I should say Commissioners Celestia and Luna. Celestia gave me a light smile while Twilight shuffled me to a large couch and sat me down. Luna walked around a large desk until she was standing only 5 feet away from me. "It is good to finally meet you, Midnight Tempest. We've been expecting you." I had no idea what I was going to get myself into.