Chapter 4
“Half”
The police arrived soon after and began checking the area where Earshot was kidnapped for clues.. Twilight and I began giving our statements to Officer Dunnit.
Dunnit nodded as we finished the story and said, “We’re looking over the area now. We found some powder left behind in the clearing and took samples of it. We'll be sending it over to the lab shortly.”
I nodded and replied, “I’d appreciate a part of the sample too, just in case I run into the criminal.”
“You got it,” he said with a salute. “Thank you for your statements. I'm going to get back to looking around.”
I left the uniform to his work and I noticed that Twilight was looking at me worriedly. I gave her a smile and said, “I’m fine, Twilight, really.”
She just smiled in turn and gave me a kiss on the nose. “Private, just be more careful from now on please,” she said with concern,
“I’ll try,” I replied, nuzzling her gently.
She gave a big yawn and pointed out, “It’s late. Spike’s probably going to try and stay up for hours past his bedtime if I don’t show up.”
“Alright,” I said with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I wanna go and check on Grapes.”
“Again, Private, be careful,” she said, before laying one final kiss on my lips and walking out. Sweet Luna, I love that mare.
“Sir?”
I turned around and saw Officer Dunnit with a pair of plastic bags. One contained a sample of the powder left behind by the teleportation spells. The other bag contained a police badge.
“Where’d you find that?” I asked, putting the powder in my pockets and examining the badge.
“Found it where Twilight and Stormfront fought the masked pony, sir,” Dunnit answered “Once we’re done here I’m going to run the number by the station.”
“Thanks Dunnit,” I said, I couldn’t take the badge with me so I wrote down the number and gave it back to Dunnit. “You’ve been a great help.”
“Only doing my duty as you always say, sir,” Dunnit said, a firm look on his face.
I gotta recommend him for a promotion. I left the uniform and set off towards Grapevine Hills. A cop was involved in all this? I had a darks suspicion of which one it was.
___________________________________________________________
I arrived back at Grapevine Hills to find it mostly deserted. Luna's moon was shining full tonight and it provided decent light over the vineyard. I walked to the front gate to find Grapes sitting on the porch of the farmhouse, a book in front of her.
"Grapes?" I said, trying to get her attention.
"Hm?" Grapes said, looking up at me, and then yawning hugely. "What's up, Private?"
"I'm just coming to make sure you were okay," I said, walking to her. "What're ya reading?" I asked, pointing to the book.
"Crown Superior's new book. It's slightly better than the Dusk series, but only just," Grapes replied.
"Crown Superior?" I groaned "Don't tell me it's the same Crown Superior that made Vamponies sparkle!"
"Yeah. That's the one, trying her hoof at Science Fiction, this time, with a post-alien invasion story. So far it's angst and pathos," Grapes said critically.
"Only Crown Superior could ruin two great franchises and somehow make thousands of teenaged fans in the process," I replied, shaking my head.
"I know, right?" Grapes said with a smirk.
"As kind of a sci-fi nut I'm glad somepony shares that opinion," I said. She didn't have to know about my Nightmare Night costume of Malburn Raystar.
“So what brings you by at this time of night? I was about to hit the proverbial hay," Grapes asked, as she closed the book.
"Mostly just to check and make sure you were okay. I did kind of mess up attempting to catching that crook, and you suffered for it," I said, a guilty expression on my face.
"I'm better, now, thankfully. I've been managing this condition well enough. I just wasn't expecting the jolt to do that, honestly."
"That's good to hear, I still feel bad about not being able to stop you getting hurt though," I said, closing my grey eyes. "You can probably guess why that bolt affected me so much."
"You're a hybrid, right? Somehow I don't think you're half Earth Pony. You don't have the stamina, or the musculature."
“My mom was a pegasus," I explained, gesturing to my skinny legs. "I'm faster and slightly stronger than the average unicorn. Downside is, I have very little resistance to any form of magic."
“That would be my father,” she answered. “My parents met in Canterlot, and fell in love, much to my Grandmother's chagrin."
“Grandfather for me," I said with a smile.
"We've both got good taste in literature, and tribalist grandparents. Wonder what else we may have in common that we don't know about?"
"Well, you aren't an element of harmony, a detective, or dating Celestia’s student so those are out, " I joked.
And you're not a winemaker, who can make almost anything into a somewhat drinkable alcoholic beverage, and an honorary member of the Storm Riders, so that's out, too. How good a dancer are you?"
"Well, Raiden may have taught me a few moves back when we lived in Manhattan," I said with a smile. "You play any instruments?"
"Does a washboard count?"
I shrugged "I guess we have a little in common"
"I may be a better dancer than you are, though. I can keep up with a pegasus who took aero-dance classes, and impressed the indomitable Vinyl Scratch so much that I got a permanent VIP pass," Grapes said thoughtfully. "I could have gotten a cutie mark in dancing, if I had been a late bloomer."
I laughed a little "So, is it really true you can make wine out of anything?"
"I refuse to make wine out of alfalfa," Grapes said.
"Well, I'm willing to try any wine that isn't made out of Pineapples," I said, disgusted by the notion.
"My most popular is Summer Sunrise," Grapes said with a smile. "It's made out of watermelon."
"Remind me to ask for a bottle once all this is over," I said, smiling. "Though I gotta ask, how do you handle the work when you're only half earth pony?"
Grapes took on a tone I was familiar with Twilight having. "I use a meditation from a book by Starswirl the Bearded to balance my magic between the innate Earth Pony magics, and the overt unicorn magics. Most hybrids do this unconsciously, deciding they'd rather be one or the other, but I chose balance, because I needed the earth sense."
"Do you think you could teach me it?" I asked, this could really help in future cases if I could tap fully into my unicorn half. I'd never have to worry about losing to a magician again!
"Well, hm… I suppose I could. It IS a meditation, so it takes time. I'll start you first with The Breath of the World to put you in touch with your Pegasus side," Grapes said thoughtfully. "By honoring, and acknowledging both sides of your heritage it makes it easier to balance things."
"Alright," I said, sitting on my haunches as she walked to sit beside me. I then closed my eyes and cleared my mind as she went on.
"Actually you need to stand up," Grapes said. "Head up, leaning slightly forward, like into a wind. Clear your mind, and think of the wind blowing over the world. How it moves and cycles."
I did as she instructed. It took a minute but slowly I felt it. The wind itself was blowing around me as if I was flying. I felt like I could take off on wings I didn't have. I felt lighter than air... why did I feel a strange sensation on my back?
I felt my back and it felt like something should… oh…that's why. It was probably using parts where wings should be. But me being wingless, that didn't help.
“Now sit down slowly," Grapes said. "You are part pegasus, and honor that part of you. It will always be a part of you, but now you must imagine that part at one end of a balance board. The other end has your unicorn self. You are in the center, and can move either one up or down. Now concentrate on your horn, and feel the power flowing through it. You want to slowly move your balance toward your unicorn self, while feeling the power flowing through your horn."
I slowly sat down as instructed. My horn glowed a pale grey as I concentrated on it. I felt it! In my mind's eye I was slowly walking towards my unicorn side. I felt my magic flowing better than it ever...
Suddenly I turned around in my mind’s eye. I saw my mother was crying. I can't! I can't leave that part of myself behind! I just... I opened my eyes and breathed heavily as my magic faded. I looked down at the ground, feeling terrible for having failed.
“What's wrong?" Grapes asked as my breathing came under control.
"I...I couldn't do it," I admitted.
"Oh?" Grapes asked. "Hm... You may have been going a bit too fast."
"I just didn't want to leave that part of myself behind," I said slowly. "When I wanted to cross over I just couldn't."
"You and your mother must have been very close," Grapes observed.
"Yeah," I said with a small smile. "She and I were pretty close alright. She gave up her career as an actress to raise me full time. She was the pony I went to whenever I was afraid or worried.” I closed my grey eyes and said sadly, "But, not anymore."
"You have my condolences," Grapes said quietly. "I'm lucky that I still have my parents. Especially with my Grandmother trying to ruin them, and me."
"You are lucky," I said. "Just, spend as much time with them as you can. Cause, no matter how much of a pain they can be. Your parents should be among the top three ponies you care about the most"
"There are some things I'd rather not see them doing, thanks." She smiled in turn.
"Grapes," I said, giving the vineyard owner a smile, "thanks for trying to help out. Something tells me there's more to this if I work at it."
"There is," Grapes said. "It's all a matter of how you think of altering your balance. Don't think about it as 'leaving it behind'."
"Right," I said, "Well, I'd better get going home. Tailspin'll be wondering what I'm doing out so late and try to snag some cookies."
"Wait, wait, wait, Tailspin?” she said in confusion. “Cute little colt, with a massive crush on Scootaloo, Tailspin?” She gave a small smile “I may have helped him a bit. Gave him some advice, told him the right sorts of things to say to her."
"Well, it certainly helped, thank you." I laughed a little.
"Good to know. I was wondering if I had helped."
"Well, thanks for helping my little brother out"
"My pleasure."
“Just make sure that none of your other female members get a hold of him." I gave a slight chuckle. "He has a habit of worming his way into everypony's hearts."
"I'll be sure to warn them," Grapes chuckled.
With that I left the vineyard pony and walked into the night. It’s been a very long day and I was hoping to catch some sleep. Still, I had a very dark suspicion who could’ve left that police badge. The question is, what was a noble doing with a detective?
__________________________________________________________
“It just seems silly to me” Tailspin said over breakfast the next morning. He took a bite of his oats and swallowed “Why would a detective be so worried about his reputation that he would kidnap Earshot?”
“For a noble, reputation is everything. It’s like popular kids at school. They’ll do anything they can to preserve their place in the status quo. That’s why you get a lot of nobles that seem to have never left the high school mindset,” I said sagely.
“Grown-ups worry about the stupidest things,” Tailspin said with a shake of his head. Just wait till you’re a teenager buddy.
I finished up my hay bacon just as the phone rang. I levitated it to my ear and said, “Eye Residence.”
“Detective! We got a hit on the badge!”
“Dunnit?” I said, detective mode on. “Who’s was it?”
“Sir! It was Detective Thatcher’s badge! I sent a squad out at about three in the morning to find him. We found out he was about to board a train to Hoofington.”
“Sounds like he was skipping town,” I said darkly. “That alone puts him in the hot seat. Do you have him now?”
“Yes Sir! He’s at the detention center right now!”
“Keep him there and stall the lawyers as long as you can,” I ordered as I hung up the phone. I looked over at Tailspin and gave a guilty look. “I’m sorry for leaving you so early, buddy.”
Tailspin gave a smile. “It’s okay, I know your work is important. I’ll just call Sparkler or something if you need somepony to watch me.”
I smiled and rubbed the colt’s blue mane. He laughed as I said, “Since when did you start growing up?”
“Well somepony has to hold down the fort while you go charging into cases,” Tailspin said, smiling at me, and then his face turned serious. “Be careful, bro, I know how bad it can get.”
“I’ll be fine, Tailspin,” I said with a smile and walked out. I opened the door and found a familiar chocolate colored unicorn standing at my front door. “Grapes? What are you doing here?”
"Looking for you, actually," Grapes said, and then looked past me to Tailspin. "Hey, Tailspin."
Tailspin gave a wave before I looked back at Grapes "I was on my way to the detention center."
“You guessed that was his badge?" I deduced.
"Not many police detectives would have a badge that fancy," Grapes said. "Not even those from Canterlot."
"Grapes," I stated firmly "As much as you may want to know what happened. I cannot have you in that interrogation room. I cannot risk you losing it."
Grapes adjusted her glasses and said firmly, “I just want to know why me. He was so intent upon framing me for this horrible crime, and I really want to know why. Is that too much to ask?"
"No it's not," I said, "Just stay out of the room, but you will be allowed to listen in if I ask."
"Sounds good," she said with a nod.
With that we walked side by side to the detention center.
______________________________________________________
"I DEMAND to see my lawyer, you low born, thin-blooded, thick-headed twit!" Thatcher ever so tactfully said as I stared at him.
I sat across from Thatcher in an interrogation room. The unicorn struggling as I insisted he be hoof cuffed. That was more out of personal reasons then any reason of security. I tried to keep my emotions in check as I said, "You are in no position to be making demands. Your lawyer will be here soon. Until then, you have me for enjoyable company.
"I'd rather be taken out and shot. It's filth like you that's causing the trouble in Equestria, today. Half-breed thugs are nothing but a menace."
"Blood matters little when you're caught red hoofed attempting to kidnap a colt. On top of that your badge was found at the scene of the crime. To lose a badge while on the force is a death sentence for one’s career. You wouldn't just drop it because it slipped from your pocket."
"And you have no proof that it didn't just fall out of my pocket, you half-breed idiot. You just let your malformed brain assume it was because I struggled with that whelp."
I smirked "Thank you for telling me that you struggled with somepony. That explains..." I walked beside him and slapped him on the back. He visibly winced and let out a gasp of pain. "Courtesy of Stormfront, you have bruising all over your back from when he hit you."
"Damned chicken,” he spat. “Pegasi should not be so damned big."
"So not only do you admit you were there," I said, darkly "but you also admit that you got hit by Stormfront. That pegs you as the kidnapper. But the question is, why did you murder the victims? Don’t try and talk your way out of it."
I levitated out one of the syringes. “Recognize this, it was the murder weapon. Used to kill Maribell and Tree Binder by overdosing them.” My horn glowed grey and the syringe glowed green…as well as Thatcher. “Powder from your magic and your dna are also on the wine bottles used to hit both of them. This proves that you are the only pony who could’ve murdered them, the question is… why?”
Thatcher caved under my glare. He was sweating like crazy; there was no way he was going to be able to talk his way out of this. He had been caught saying about the job.
Finally he said, "They were going to come clean to that filthy dirt-grubber with a horn about the deal. They were sent there to get dirt on that worthless dirt-fornicator."
“They were looking for dirt on Grapes? They were also hoping to create dirt, judging by the equipment found."
"Yes. They were going to ruin that hybrid's reputation, by making it look like her major orders were of a sub-grade product, and they were looking for some scandal to splash across the paper."
"And they didn't go through with it?"
"No. Damn it, WHY is that hybrid so damned intelligent? The merging of pure unicorn and worthless dirt humper should have made her feebleminded at best!"
"You also stated to your partner you wanted to restore your family's reputation. I found an interesting tidbit when I looked into some old newspapers...does the headline 'Marilyn Hook marries again' ring any bells?" At that his eyes went wide. "Your mother remarried back when you were my age. Her proud groom? An Earth Pony farmer she married for love..."
Thatcher just snapped…
"HOW COULD SHE LOVE HIM?! HOW COULD SHE ABANDON HER HERITAGE FOR SOME DIRT GRUBBING MUDLICKING JACKAPPLEING DUST PONY?!"
"Your jig is up Thatcher."
Thatcher then grinned evilly at me.
"And you, the flighty offspring of a chicken, and a unicorn. Can't do proper magic, and can't fly, either. Fenlock must have made you his successor out of pity, because it can't have been for your skill!"
He's treading on very...dangerous ground...
There was a knock on the interrogation room door. I gave a glare at Thatcher and then stepped outside. I saw Grapes standing there and she whispered, "I thought I should intervene." She then nodded toward the lobby.
"Just give me a minute,” I said. “I need to interrogate him just a little bit more. Something doesn’t add up, why did he kill Parsley two hours later?”
"Maybe he didn't," Grapes said, thoughtfully. "You need to do a DNA scan on Parsley, and see if it matches Thatcher, to find out for sure. His ire seems to be directed at Earth Ponies, and their hybrids. So better check to see if he did it, first, before throwing accusations around."
"You're right," I let a breath out. "I just, wanted to throttle the guy back there. Especially when he said that I didn't earn this." I pulled my fedora off my head and looked at it.
"So, Fenlock is your mentor? That gives me extra confidence in your abilities, if not your ability to keep things objective," Grapes chuckled. "Then I think even he would not have liked being personally insulted."
"He gave me this." I gestured to my fedora. "On the day I told him I made homicide. He never took it off for as long as I'd known him. It was passed down to him from his mentor. He taught me everything I know about being a detective. It was like…he was, the grandfather I never really had," I said wistfully.
"We both have disappointing grandparents it seems,” she said, a sympathetic smile on her face.
I gave a small smile. "Grandpa Eye never really cared for me. He would show up and tolerate my existence at reunions but that was it. With Fenlock, for the first time in my life I had somepony to truly look up to aside from my parents. He was everything I wanted to be as a detective. Confident, strong, and smart when it came to solving cases." I gave a sigh and continued, "Some days, I tend to think like Thatcher, that maybe I didn't deserve to have him as my mentor."
"You did,” she said firmly. “Just think of all the good you've done."
I looked at her, taking in her words.
"IF you hadn't had him as your mentor, you'd have had one of those lazy lagabouts who are happy with any suspect, as long as they have one, uncaring about their guilt or innocence."
"You're right," I said, "It's no wonder Twilight has a lot of faith in you. As do your crew."
Grapes gave a small smile. "What can I say? I just do my best, and muddle through. I know Equestria would be a worse place, without you putting what you learned from Fenlock to good use."
"Grapes," I said, giving her a look, "if you don't mind delving into something? You mentioned you had a disappointing grandparent too?"
"Yeah. Pave Diamond. My grandmother. She disowned my mother for marrying an Earth Pony," Grapes said. "Doesn't help that she's a tribalist witch who thinks unicorns should be ruling Equestria, with the other two tribes as slaves to the unicorns." Grapes rolled her eyes.
"Wait, that does sound familiar," I said. "Does she have a Canterlot accent?"
"Well yeah, since she lives in Canterlot," Grapes said with a nod.
"Sort of like Thatcher's employer?" I said ominously, and then I reached into my trench coat and pulled out the brooch. "This fell off her as she was running away."
Grapes took the brooch, and looked at it for a long time. She took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing her head. "I thought Thatcher's partner sounded incredibly familiar."