//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Equestria Noir: Through the Looking Glass 
// by Midnight_Tempest 
//------------------------------//

	I was obviously shocked that Princess Luna was talking to me, but even more-so that she knew my name. She had a gentle smile, not something I would have expected from the once 'Nightmare Moon'. "Sister, he seems to be in a state of shock. Perhaps it was too soon to bring him to us?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, we require his help now more than later." She walked out from behind her desk and stood next to Luna, looking me over. "We are so sorry for what happened to you, we never thought something like this would happen." My mind was reeling, I had no idea what they were speaking of. I just looked at them with my jaw wide open. "Hmm... um... Twilight? Could you bring us some drinks?"

"Yes, Commissioner. One for you as well, Commissioner Luna?" Luna gave a nod, she seemed far more subdued than she was at the Nightmare Night festival. "Would you like one too, Midnight?"

My heart bounced around in my chest, she knew my name. I'm pretty sure I wanted to say 'Yes please, a glass of water would be nice' but I think it came out more like, "I... what... y-yes... water?" Twilight gave a small chuckle, oh such a sweet sound, and trotted to the other side of the room. She came back a moment later with four glasses, two filled with water and two with a transparent bronzish liquid. I would discover how wonderful that liquid really is, in time.

The water was just enough to help calm my already frayed nerves, enough at least to start asking questions. "Princesses... what is this place?"

The two alicorns looked at each other quizzically, then Celestia gave me the same look. "Princesses? That is a term we haven't gone buy in almost 200 years." Well once again, mind blown.

Luna nodded. "It was around that time that industry began to take it place in Equestrian society. At first it was slow but the discovery of a fuel source, called petroleum, off the east coast of Equestria turned it into a boom." I knew of petroleum, but there was no such deposit from what I remember. "Quickly, technology began to take control of everything. It was a great boon for the earth ponies, but soon the unicorns were relying on it too much." Luna paused for a moment to finish her drink, levitating it to her mouth. "Have you noticed anything strange about the unicorns you have seen?"

"Well," Honestly, I was too concerned with my own life at the time but the thought did come up. The driver of the car that brought me to the police station was a unicorn, but he wasn't using any magic. I just assumed that he didn't need to or didn't want to. "I'm not sure, I haven't seen many unicorns since I got here. Twilight... uh I mean, Ms. Sparkle is the only unicorn I really remember seeing." I could feel my face burning up after that little slip up.

Celestia gave a slow nod and turned to Twilight. "Give him an example of your magic, Twilight. Maybe he will understand after seeing it in action." I wanted to say that I had already seen her magic, but that was the old Twilight, the other Twilight's magic.

She gave a silent nod and pointed her horn at the Sister's desks. Several objects began to levitate in the familiar purple glow but I was more surprised that this few objects were actually making Twilight sweat. About ten seconds later she drops the objects back onto the desk and fixes herself up. I hadn't noticed it but the uniform she was wearing made her look pretty damn sexy. A dark blue jacket that was decorated with pins and other things of the like, plus a matching hat that she used to cover her horn. Very simple but very attractive, at least to me.

I looked at the ponies in the room with a rather astonished look. "You see sister, even he is surprised at her skill with magic." Luna was going to be sorely disappointed after saying that.

"Um... well... I am surprised, that I truly am..." I looked at Twilight, then at the Princesses. "But I'm actually a bit more disappointed in that display. It seemed rather difficult to lift only a couple dozen small objects." I decided to try and stand, maybe a foolish idea but something I really needed to do. Wouldn't get stronger if I didn't move more. "Your story makes it sound like unicorns are losing the ability to conjure magic, this... this should be impossible."

Celestia lifted an eyebrow as I stood. "You must understand, Midnight. This is not the Equestria you are from, Luna and I used our own magic to bring you here. We had to pull you through the boundaries that surround and separate our space and time from yours." My mind began to reel again, but this was something I could understand. Something scientific in nature, even if magic was used to get the result. "You're in a parallel world, Midnight, and before you ask how we knew of you." A piece of paper levitated from Celestia's desk and hovered before my face.

I was looking at a note that I had taken many years ago, it had calculations on how to infuse magic into multiple objects. The concept was to give earth ponies and pegasi the ability to use magic, in limited forms as the energy in the objects would be spent after a finite number or uses. "This... this is impossible... I lost these notes years ago. Just up and disappeared from my lab without a trace, no signs of forced entry or anything else taken..."

"Yes, well... sometimes the process we used to bring you here can happen naturally. A natural weakness in the boundaries that surround our worlds, anything small enough to fall through it will find itself in another place. It just so happened that this paper landed right on my desk that night." Celestia levitated the note to the couch and let it fall gently on the cushion. "We knew of your work that night, and since then we have been trying to bring you here to help us. But first, we want to see your magic."

My magic? Back home my magic was seen as exceptional, although I could never be as talented as Twilight was. "If you really want me to... anything specific you want to to do?"

Luna smiled again. "Just start with the basics, levitate as much as you can."

"As you wish..." My eyes closed and my head lowered, my horn began to glow an emerald green. The objects on the desks began to levitate first, then the books followed. All the books did. Next was the couch behind me and the table, with all its drinks. I opened my eyes to see the looks of shock and awe from everyone. "I'm not one to brag but this, this is not a difficult task." The light from my horn faded and the objects were put back in their places. "I've learned a fair amount of spells over the years. I even managed to make a new one but that is a very difficult spell and not something I would want to show you here."

I spent about an hour displaying my magical 'prowess' to the Commissioners and Twilight. In the end I was regretting it, my body wasn't even close to healed yet and I could feel the effects of it as several spells faltered and failed. I was sweating heavily and was about to collapse when Twilight came over and propped me up with her hooves. "Are you alright?" She gave me a quick look over and her expression became that of worry. "You've pushed yourself too hard, your nose is bleeding heavily."

So it was. Though it wasn't doing that until she was holding me up, like she was. I had never seen her face or eyes so clearly before and something in my head must have burst. I blushed and raised a leg to wipe my face. "I-I'm sorry... I'm still very tired and... you're right, I pushed myself too much..."

Luna walked up next to Twilight and gave me a look. I knew that look. She knew. But then again, how could she not. She gave a sly smile and looked at Twilight. "Captain, I believe that we have talked with him enough for tonight." She turned to look at Celestia, who just gave her a nod then she turned back to Twilight. "We believe that Midnight should remain in your protective custody for the time being, Captain." Twilight looked about as shocked as I did at the suggestion, but wasn't given time to argue the matter. "This is an order. He will be safer in your hooves than any others at the moment. Also, he might be able to show you some ways to improve your own magical talents."


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Twilight, reluctantly, obeyed her orders and escorted me out of the office. We walked silently through the station until we reached an area they called the 'garage'. A cavernous space that housed what looked to be hundreds of cars. Twilight then spent about 10 minutes looking over random vehicles before choosing a plain black car. Needless to say, they almost all looked to be black in that light. "Get in." She gave me a stern look and I just did as she said.

The drive to her place seemed to be taking forever, with constant turns and sometimes we would go through an intersection we had just seen a few minutes prior. "I don't want to sound like I'm complaining or anything... but aren't we just going 'round in circles?"

Twilight looked at me for a moment, then nodded. "You noticed it then? I drive like this everyday on my way home." Her tone was very serious and made me feel a bit worried. "In the last 2 years I have been... targeted by the Mafia. They've made 5 attempts on my life since I became Captain and took charge of the investigation's on them."

"5 attempts? Like, trying to kill you kind of attempts?"

"That's right. I wanted to tell the Commissioner that you would be safer in another ponies care, maybe Applejack or Mac's, but... if you can help me with my magic then it just might be worth it."

"Worth it? You serious?" I began to rub my forehead, there was a storm brewing in my head and it was only going to get worse. "You're putting my life on the line just so I can teach you few more magic tricks? I don't feel comfortable with this arrangement, I wasn't even asked to do this. Just told to do it. I want nothing to do with what is happening here, I just want to be sent back home."

The car came to a stop and Twilight turned to push he hoof against my throat. "The Commissioners brought you here to help us. We need you to cooperate. Do you think I wanted to be put in charge of this investigation? I didn't even want to come to New Canterlot but I'm here anyways. Life isn't fair, Midnight. We don't get what we want, we only get what we need and right now we need you. I need you."

I sputtered and nodded. "A-alright... I'll do what I... can. Can't... breathe..." I could feel my eyes rolling back into my head and Twilight could see it. She quickly lowered her hoof and gave me a shameful look.

"I'm sorry... everything has been so stressful the last couple months." She started up the car and continued her random turning routine. "We've lost many good officers to the mob, not just in firefights but some have left to join up with them. A couple of them used to be friends of mine." I could hear the bitterness in her voice and knew this was a painful subject for her so I chose not to pursue it any further. Not right now anyway. "We'll be at the apartment in a couple minutes. I know you're wondering why I was making so many random turns. I do it to confuse and make it difficult for cars to follow me home. Every attempt on my life was at my old homes after the mob had followed me there. I also tend to drive a different car everyday to try a throw them off my trail."

That made sense. Actually, it seemed rather brilliant. Simple, yet brilliant. The car stopped for a second time and I looked out into the dark to see a three story brick building. "Welcome to my humble abode." Twilight got out of the car first so she could assist me in climbing the stairs to her apartment. Of course it had to be on the third floor, and no working elevator either, wonderful.

We finally reached the third floor and entered her apartment, thank Celestia it was the first door. The place was a mess and here I thought my lab was bad. Books and papers were strewn about the place, it was obvious that she didn't have time for cleaning. "Wow... it's like a library exploded in here..."

"And this is one of the reasons I didn't want anyone here... I haven't had the chance to do any cleaning since I took this position and it's only gotten worse." Twilight motioned to a door to her right. "This shall be your room, for the time being. And the bathroom is at the end of the hall." She then pointed her hoof, past me, at a door behind me. "The kitchen is through there, but there isn't much to eat at the moment. I also don't get time to by groceries."

I just kept looking around, taking it all in before looking at Twilight. "You know... I could help you organize all of this..." I looked at the stacks of papers that covered the table in the middle of the room. "All you need to do is tell me what is most important to least important..."

She gave me a relieved look but that changed to worry. "Do you think you could do all that by tomorrow? The Commissioner's will want to..."

"No." I cut her off and gave her a very deadpan look. "I'm not ready to go back and talk about everything that's been happening here. I've only just been released from the hospital, and I need time to let everything sink in and register with my brain." Turning away from her, I walked over to a window and looked out into the city of New Canterlot. From inside, it looked like an amazing city. It had it's own beauty to it. "I may need a couple of days to get everything sorted out." My body was beginning to shake again, I wasn't going to be able to stand for much longer so I sat on my haunches and looked out into the city.

"I... understand, and I'll let the Commissioner's know of this..." Twilight walked up next to me and placed her hoof on my shoulder. "I'm sorry for trying to push you to do something like this..." She became silent for a moment and looked through the window with me. I ended up looking at her for a moment and the light coming through the window made her look so gorgeous, but she looked so sad. She turned away from the window and walked over to a desk, that was covered in even more paper and books than the table in the middle of the room. "If you do start organizing, could you start here? I'm not sure which is more important anymore so you might have to read through some of it."

I had another deadpan look on my face.

"Midnight, please. I'm being serious. I'm not trying to force you to do anything right now, but... if you read into these case files, you'll understand more about what has been happening in New Canterlot. You don't have to though, it's just a suggestion." 

I looked away for a minute, then shakily got back on my hooves and walked to my new room. "I'll... think about it, Ms. Sparkle... but right now, I'm going to get some much needed sleep. If you'll excuse me." I pushed open the door and was surprised at how clean the room was. It was small but liveable, yet at that point I didn't care about anything but getting some sleep. I swear that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


I wasn't sure what time of day it was when I woke up, but my body felt amazing. Stiff but still amazing. I stretched as best as I could, my muscles throbbed when I tried to do anything more strenuous than lifting my legs to my chest. The best part of it all was my mind was clear and working at its best.

I wasn't being chased by a car, wasn't getting shot at or kicked or cut up with knives. I was just alone in Twilight Sparkle's apartment. The thought of being alone in her apartment made me giddy like a young colt, but that feeling quickly passed as I started to organize her desk. She asked me to start there and I hated being surrounded by a mess.

After about 4 hours I had managed to organize half the books that were in the room, I was surprised the desk hadn't collapsed from the shear amount of weight it was previously holding. I then started on the papers, but seeing as I didn't know what Twilight used them for I had no choice but to start reading them. Criminal reports. Murder investigations. Rape victims. Each paper depicted horrible and insidious events that I never thought could have existed, let alone ponies actually doing these things.

My stomach was churning as I continued to read when I finally came across a folder. Raz the Butcher. I knew I shouldn't read what was inside, I didn't want to read it. But I wanted to know what this pony had done to get his name. I realized that all I needed to do was look in the mirror, look at what he had done to me. The detailed reports on all his victims, with several graphic pictures, now littered the desk. Dozens of innocent ponies, brutalized and tortured because he thought it was fun. That was all I needed to lose the contents of my stomach.

I rushed into the kitchen, seeing as it was the closest room I could get to, and threw up in the sink. Turning the tap on I just left my head under the water, letting the coolness calm my nerves. I had even found the file on myself, the only survivor of the Butcher. I took a few sips of water to relieve the taste that was in my mouth. I needed to eat something, even after seeing those files, just so I could calm myself. Twilight was right, there wasn't much in there.

I helped myself to what I could, not wanting to deprive Twilight of her own dinner later. While I looked through the rather empty fridge, I saw a bottle of transparent bronzish liquid. It looked very similar to the drinks the Commissioners had the other day, and I wondered what its appeal could be. I levitated the bottle out and removed the cap, then gave it a small sniff. It was strong and definitely some sort of alcohol. I looked at the worn label. Whiskey. Although the smell seemed to turn me away at first, it soon became very aromatic and rather alluring. 'It must be a good drink, so let us have a drink.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~


I didn't know what time it was when Twilight returned to the apartment, but it was very dark outside the window. Without those street lamps it would look to be an empty void. I was sitting on my haunches, looking out the window when she opened the door. The bottle of whiskey floating near my head. "Midnight? Are you..." She stopped for a moment, me looking back wondering what the noise was. She had a small smile on her face, very cute. "Wow, you managed to clean up this much in just a day? That's amazing, how did you do it?" Her smile faded as she looked at me, the bottle raising to my lips. Whiskey was such a wonderful drink. "Are you drinking?"

I tried to stand, but all I could manage was a stumble so I just turned my whole body around instead. "Yes.... yes I am..." The bottle floated towards Twilight. "Care for a ship? *Hic!*"

"You're drunk! How could you be drunk at a time like this! We need you to be at your best, not wallowing in self pity." She went to grab the bottle but I pulled it back, with a hurt look.

"Pity? *Hic!* I'm not... not wallowing in anything..." I tilted the bottle with my magic and downed the last of the bottle, it burned the entire way down but if felt so good. "Did you read that... that... that folder there? That one about that... butcher pony..."

"No, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet... why?" Twilight glared at me as she walked over to the desk.

"Just... read the damn thing... you'll understand..." I let the magic around the bottle fade and watched it fall harmlessly onto the floor. My body wobbled back and forth as I watched Twilight read through the file.

She didn't take long. "I... don't understand what you mean, Midnight... this is just..." She made it to the last pages of the file and let out a gasp, then looked at me with pity and horror. "You?"

I nodded slowly. "Me..." My horn glowed green again as knife began to float up from behind me. "The only survivor... me... why? Why not one of the other victims..." The knife was serrated, just like the one that was used on him and all the other dead ponies.

"Midnight... put the knife down... please..." Twilight slowly back away from the desk then towards me, cautiously.

"Why? What did I do to deserve being spared?" Nothing could hold back the tears, and the magic around the knife flickered and disappeared. The knife landed a few inches from one of my legs. "Please... tell me why I had to live..."

When the knife hit the floor Twilight moved in and embraced me in a hug. "I'm so sorry... I didn't know that was what the Commissioner's were talking about..." I wept into her chest. I looked so pathetic, but honestly since I first arrived that's all I was. Pathetic.

I wanted to change that though. The victims were all very smart, well educated ponies with degrees ranging from business to theoretical physics. As I calmed down, I pulled my face away from her to take a breath. "Did... did you notice a pattern... with the victims?"

Twilight pushed herself back, leaving her hooves on my shoulders. "Pattern? No... I didn't see anything like that..."

She needed to figure it out, it was obvious but even the most obvious answers are hard to discover. "Look over... the files again... tomorrow..." I took another breath and looked up at her with my bloodshot eyes. "Tomorrow, I'll talk to the Commissioner's... I can't let this continue..." With the strength I had left, I got to my hooves and staggered to my room. Again I fell sleep the moment my head hit the pillow.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


The next morning, well I presumed it was morning as it didn't seem quite as dark as the day before, I had a throbbing headache and discovered quickly how much I didn't enjoy that feeling. That, however, wasn't going to keep me from drinking. I just wouldn't drink as much next time. That was when Twilight came into my room with a set of clothes. "You should wear this. You should at least look presentable."

The was a crisp white shirt, just my size, with a black tie laying next to it. Next to that was a matching black jacket to wear over the shirt. I put them on and readied the neck tie, always a pain to put on but I had learned to tie it first before putting it on so to lessen the annoyance of it. I turned to a small mirror in the room and grinned, it was a fine looking suit. I tucked the tie into my jacket and turned to the beige trench-coat on the bed, it wasn't the one I wore when I arrive and it looked brand new. I put it on and turned back to the mirror, for a moment I thought I looked like Mac when I first saw him. I gave a light chuckle and turned to leave the room when I saw a hat in the corner. A fedora to be exact, it was well kept and seemed to be my size but it didn't belong to me. Still, I wouldn't mind having something to keep my mane from getting out of control.

"Twilight?" I stepped out of the room for a moment, she wasn't even looking at me.

"Yes? Is something wrong with the clothes?" She was looking through some of the files I had organized the night before.

"Actually, no, they're a perfect fit. Thank you." I smiled and levitated the hat out of the room. "I was wondering if I could borrow this hat for a while."

She looked up to see my getup and for a moment I thought I saw her blush. "Hat?" She saw it hovering by the door. "Oh... that old thing..." She had a sentimental look on her face as she stared at the fedora.

"I don't really need a hat for that matter, Ms. Sparkle. If you don't want me to use it that's quite alright..." The fedora then levitated back into the room.

"No!" I was a bit startled by her outburst, looking at her as she regained her composure. "No, really, it's alright. You can have it. It used to belong to my old mentor, he was an amazing detective in his day."

I nodded. "Thank you. So, what happened to your mentor?" I lowered the hat onto my head, it was just the right size.

"He retired, became too old to do the job anymore and didn't want to sit at a desk doing nothing. He then passed away about 3 years ago." I adjusted the hat so that it covered my horn while still giving me most of my sight.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I walked back into the room and took one last moment to admire myself in the mirror. I really dug what I was seeing.

"Thank you for that, Midnight."

"Not at all, Ms. Sparkle." I then walked back out and looked at Twilight. "So... what do you think?"

I did what I could to keep myself from laughing. The look she had was the same as when I spoke to the Commissioner's. I could definately see her face was flushed. "Um... well... you look, presentable... very handsome."

"Thank you, Ms. Sparkle." I grinned and straightened my posture.

"And please stop calling me 'Ms.Sparkle', please just call me Twilight. You make me sound old... would you like it if I called you Mr. Tempest?"

I cocked an eyebrow and thought about it for a second, that name didn't sound so bad but I still preferred just Midnight. "I wouldn't mind it, myself but I do prefer just being called Midnight. So... shall we go see the Commissioner's then?"

Getting to the station was faster than leaving it. Apparently, Twilight didn't mind being direct to work but was more cautious on the way home. When we entered I was getting a large amount of stares from just about everypony there. It felt a little embarrassing but kind of good, empowering really. Some even called me Detective, I didn't want to say I wasn't so I just nodded to them.

We entered the elevator and I took the time to make sure I was, 'presentable' as Twilight put it. The doors slide open and I walked just behind Twilight towards the double doors at the end of the hall. There were a couple ponies here as well, giving me the same looks I got in the lobby. Twilight then used her magic to open the door to the office, showing not just the Commissioner's but Applejack and Mac as well.

Celestia smiled as I entered the room and Luna stepped out in front of her desk, she had a more surpised smile on her face. Most likely at the way I was dressed. The door closed and I looked around the room. I grinned and gave a nod to Applejack and Mac. "Good to see you both again."

"Likewise." Applejack took up her signature pose and smiled back.

"Eeyup." Mac pushed the brim of his fedora up with his hoof and grinned.

I looked at the Commissioner's for a moment before seeing two object just to the side and behind Luna. "We assume that you are willing to cooperate, Mr. Tempest?"

"Of course." I knew at that point there was no turning back, I was taking the side I believed to be right. Justice had to be maintained and the weak needed to be protected from the corrupt. I may not be the right stallion for the job, but even one more set of hooves working to clean up a dangerous and crime-laden city was welcome at this point. "So... when do I start, Commissioner's?"

Celestia's horn glowed and the two objects hovered over to me. A badge saying I was now a Detective of the New Canterlot Police, and a revolver. I looked at the revolver and my mind cringed, but I knew I had to learn to use such a thing. Even if only for self-defense. "You start today, Mr. Tempest."

I was given a holster for the gun and put it on under my jacket, just below my left shoulder. "Perfect... and one last thing, Commissioners. Please, call me Midnight."