//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 "Behind Scaled Eyes" // Story: Equestria Noir Season 2 Case 7 "Song of Ran'sea" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 “Behind Scaled Eyes” Perspective: Private Eye I shook my head as my vision slowly cleared. I was laying down on the ground, the cave tunnel collapsed and was now covered with rubble. I looked around and saw Twilight was laying on the ground, Spike on her back. I shook her, “Twilight, come on wake up.” I said. Twilight groaned and shook her own head. She opened her amethyst eyes and looked at me. “Private, thank Celestia you’re okay,” She said. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said, nuzzling her and helping her to her hooves. “Come on, let’s wake the others.” I walked over to Spike who was lying down on the ground. I nudged him awake and the baby dragon opened his green eyes. “What happened?” He asked as he got to his feet. “I was hoping you could tell us,” I said as I heard Rarity coming awake thanks to Twilight. “That was rather close, darling,” Rarity said, getting to her hooves and leaning against Twilight. Spike ran over to Ran and roused her as well. The dragoness looked at Spike and said, “Thank goodness you’re alright Spike. What happened?” Spike shook his head and said, “I don’t know. One minute, Vol’vagia was going to give me the fire, next thing I know he gets Sombra eyes and starts to freak out.” “So, dark magic,” Twilight concluded. “Dark magic?” Rarity said. “As in what Sombra used?” “He’s not the only one…” I said, trying to forget the things I did when I got a taste of the evil power. “Whoever did this,” Ran’sea said, “obviously did not want the ceremony to go as planned.” “What happened to Car’buncle?” Spike asked. I looked around and saw Car’buncle flying over, with Li’zael at his side. The two dragons landed and gazed down at us. Li’zael was the first to speak. “There was a quake a while back, we feared there would be a cave in. What happened?” “It wasn’t us,” Spike said. “It was Vol’vagia! He went nuts and we nearly got squashed to death.” “Vol’vagia?” Car’buncle said. “So you did manage to reach the Sacred Fire.” “But we have a bigger problem now,” Li’zael said, and then looked at Spike. “Tell me young one, did Vol’vagia put the fire in you?” Spike was quiet for a moment, and then shook his head. Car’buncle and Li’zael’s eyes went wide. “I warned you both this would happen!” I looked over and saw Tru’sent flying over. The lean black dragon growled, “I warned you that Vol’vagia would never accept this tainted brat!” “Tru’sent!” Car’buncle growled in turn. “You forget your place!” “Am I the only dragon that isn’t blind?” Tru’sent cried. “This dragon has been rejected by the Sacred Flame. That’s the only explanation for the quake! The only explanation for why he’s still here!” “I didn’t do anything!” Spike said. “It was somebody using dark magic!” “A likely excuse for a miserable excuse for a wyrm,” Tru’sent said with sheer venom. “You can’t talk to him like that!” Twilight yelled. “Back off pony,” Tru’sent growled. “I’ll squash you right here!” Twilight’s horn glowed and for a minute her eyes glowed white. “If you lay one claw on him…” “ENOUGH!” Car’buncle yelled, getting between them. “This fighting will get us nowhere! Whatever happened down there, the fact remains there is a mystery to solve, and we will not do so if we’re clawing each other for no reason!” “You side with them Car’buncle!?” Tru’sent roared. “I side with the needs of the clan,” Car’buncle growled. He then turned to glare at Twilight. “While it is admirable that you would defend my nephew, I will not tolerate any fighting here.” Twilight’s horn dimmed but she retained her glare. “Don’t think I’ll forget this…” “Now on to-” “Ran’sea!” We watched as Ele’sium landed almost on top of us. She glared down at Ran and said, “Where were you? I told you to stay in the cavern!” “I wanted to see my brother!” Ran said firmly. “What happened here?” Ele’sium demanded, glaring at the rock fall. “Ele…” Li’zael said nervously. “Answer me!” Ele growled. “There was an accident.” Li’zael said cooly. “No dragon or pony was hurt.” “I could care less about these ponies!” Ele’sium growled. “The fact of the matter is Ran’sea could’ve been hurt! I demand that these ponies be held responsible for putting my niece in danger!” “Mother, I went of my own volition!” Ran’sea yelled. “SILENCE!” Ele’sium growled. Ran...wilted almost. “I’ve done nothing but care for you for the past eighteen years. Then you repay my kindness by disobeying me and putting yourself in danger,” Ele growled, her eyes reminding a little...of Glimmer. Ran, didn’t even fight back. “I’m sorry Aunt Ele’sium…” I thought I heard a snarl coming from Ele’sium… Ran simply nodded and said, “I will never disobey you again.” “Good!” Ele’sium said, reaching out her tail and pulling Ran close to her. “Remember Ran’sea, I will always love you...so long as you stay with me.” “Yes Aunt Ele’sium…” Ran said, hopelessly walking away. “Ran!” Spike cried. Ran looked back at Spike for a moment and said, “I’m sorry, Spar’kron.” With that, Ele’sium walked with Ran and then looked at Car’buncle. “I hope you make the right choice, my chief.” “I make my own decisions Ele, just as Fran did…” Car’buncle said, an edge to his voice. Ele’sium simply walked away, Ran at her side. I walked up to Car’buncle. “Sir, if I may speak.” “What do you have to say, rat?” Tru’sent growled. “Hold your tongue, Tru’sent,” Li’zael growled. “Li’zael,” Car’buncle said, a little gruffly. Li’zael simply nodded and said no more. Car’buncle then looked down at me. “What is it you wish to say?” “That I believe this was a sabotage operation,” I said firmly. Everypony and dragon in the room looked at me as if I’ve suddenly grew a second horn. “What is this nonsense?” Tru’sent growled. “I say we toss out this pony, he’s obviously mad!” “No, let him speak,” Car’buncle said. I cleared my throat and said, “The timing was too good. Spike just happens to enter the cave, and we can expect the outburst to be a coincidence?” “Of course not,” Tru’sent growled. “It was obvious that Vol’vagia rejected him!” “He didn’t!” Spike yelled. “He said I was worthy! He was going to give it to me when he went crazy!” “And you believe it was Dark Magic?” Li’zael said, gazing down at me. “I may not have witnessed it myself,” I said and then met the dragon’s glare. “But I believe Spike, he wouldn’t lie about something as important as this.” “This is ludicrous!” Tru’sent yelled. “Surely these ponies are lying! Just as all ponies do! I say we throw them out of here, maybe cut off that one’s wings as a message!” “My mate would never allow such brutal methods!” Li’zael cried. “But even you must admit the insanity of what this pony is saying!” Tru’sent snarled. “ENOUGH!” Car’buncle yelled, silencing all. He gazed down at us for a long time. Finally he sighed and said, “I’m only doing this because you are my nephew. I know Thal’lan would haunt me forever if I didn’t at least give you a chance to prove yourself.” “You mean you-” Spike began. Car’buncle held up a claw and said, “I am giving you and your pony friends a chance to prove this was a sabotage job. If you can prove to me that this was a sabotage and expose the culprit, I will believe you and we will figure out a way to recover the sacred flame.” “And if we don’t?” Rarity asked. “Then you will leave here and never return.” Car’buncle said, though I could tell it pained him so. “But,” Spike said, and then shook his head and looked determined. “We will find this out! Private is the best detective I know, he’ll prove it!” I smiled at Spike and said, “We’ll figure this out, and we’ll make sure the culprit is revealed.” Car’buncle slowly nodded and said, “I wish to take your word at face value, but as chief I cannot afford risks.” He then turned to his mate. “Take the white pony.” “WHAT?!” We all yelled. Before any of us could protest, Li’zael reached out with her tail and pulled Rarity up by wrapping the tail around her belly. Rarity struggled a little and glared at Li’zael. “Untail me you brute!” “Hey what’s going on!?” Spike cried, he tried to rush Li’zael but found both Twilight and I’s magics held him back. “We need to make sure that you do not try to flee or do something equally as stupid,” Li’zael said. “I will not harm your intended, Spar’kron. She will be returned once this is over. Until then, she’s coming to stay with me for a while.” Rarity’s blue eyes showed understanding and she looked down at Spike. “I will be fine Spikey Wikey, just find the brutes who ruined your special day.” She then got an evil look on her face. “So that when I see them I’ll rip their scales out one by one and-” THE FOLLOWING RAGE INDUCED MONOLOGUE HAS BEEN CENSURED SO AS TO PROTECT OUR YOUNG READERS FROM RARITY’S SCARILY CREATIVE IMAGINATION. All of our jaws dropped at that, even Car’buncle’s. Li’zael however, just smiled and said, “I think we’ll get along just fine.” Tru’sent simply huffed and flew off. Li’zael turned, Rarity still in her tail as they walked off as well. Car’buncle looked down at Spike and simply said, “I’m sorry…” With that, he turned to follow his mate. Spike stomped the ground, “I hate this! I can’t believe they’d just take Rarity like that!” “She’ll be fine Spike,” I said. “They won’t hurt her.” “Either way, we gotta get back to the tunnel.” Twilight said firmly. “Come on boys, let’s get digging.” “Hold on Twi, I wanna try something.” I said, walking up to the rocks. I then concentrated and my horn sparked. The rocks blew forward like a giant hoof just shoved them. “Here’s hoping the tunnel leads to the same spot.” “Come on,” Twilight said, walking forward. We then ventured back into the dark. __________________________________________________________ Perspective: Rarity Well this is embarrassing. Me! Being held hostage by… Well… Honestly, it could be worse. At least Li’zael, and Car’buncle are rather civilized, as opposed to that Tru’sent brute. He’d probably pull out my horn, and do horrible, unprintable things with it. Unprintable? Where did that come from? Honestly, I’ve got to stop hanging around Pinkie Pie so much. She may be contagious. Ahem. Anyway, here I am being held hostage by a rather civilized dragoness, and the aunt of my beloved. Well… I guess it couldn’t hurt to get to know her better. Thankfully she hasn’t put me in any sort of restraints like those Diamond Dogs did. She just put me in a cave and I got the impression it wouldn’t be a good idea to go out of it. The cave was small, about the size of a room at home, with only a single exit which was blocked by my dragoness guard. Li’zael stuck her head inside the hole and said, “Sorry about this, you seemed like an alright sort of pony. But, you understand why we do this.” I wanted to be polite, but my tone was a little tired and could easily be interpreted as it being a long day. “You don’t trust Spike, and you expect him to find the culprit or else.” “It’s not that I don’t trust my nephew,” Li’zael said, “I just know the rest of the clan doesn’t trust him.” I sighed and layed against the wall, sliding down it onto the floor. “This isn’t what I expected at all.” “What were you expecting?” Li’zael asked. “I don’t know, something sensible,” I said with a shake of my head. “First, I mistook Ran’sea as another suitor for Spikey Wikey. Then I bumble up my first impression to his family. Now, I’m trapped in here because no dragon wishes to believe him.” Li’zael blinked and said, “You, do care for him. You remind me a lot of Fran.” “Spikey Wikey’s mother?” I asked. “Tell me, what was she like?” Li’zael gave a dragon’s equivalent of a smirk and said, “Oh, she was quite the heartbreaker back in her day. Not by choice, she was beautiful but she simply couldn’t take on a mate because Ele’sium scared most of them off.” I narrowed my eyes in thought. Ele’sium did seem the protective sort. Maybe overly protective… Li’zael went on, “Fran and her sister were outsiders, their parents died of disease ages ago, they wandered around for most of their lives until they settled here.” “It was kind of your clan to take them in.” I said with a smile. “No dragon was more happy than Thal’lan though.” Li’zael said with a laugh. “Once he caught sight of Fran he was head over tail for her. Followed her around, tried to help her out with this and that, I swear her cave was always the cleanest thanks to him.” I slowly frowned. This did seem to be reflection of my behavior towards Spike. How I thought he would dismiss his crush once he’d had enough of working. But, it seemed with every moment I spent with him, only made him want to work harder to be there for me. “Fran eventually tried to convince him to stop,” Li’zael said. “At that moment, Thal’lan confessed his love for her. Caused a fuss when my father in law wanted him to be with Shar’drel.” “That horrid dragoness!” I glowered. “She’s the one who murdered both of them!” Li’zael nodded “Honestly, I’m not surprised. But the one who put up more fuss than she did, was Ele’sium.” “She did seem rather rude to Ran’sea.” I pointed out. “Yes, she was extremely protective of Fran too.” Li’zael said with a sigh. “I remember wanting to teach Fran how to breath fire better. Ele threw a fit at the very idea of any dragon besides her sister teaching Fran.” Does seem to be bordering on obessive… “Mother!” I heard another little voice cry. “Excuse me,” Li’zael said, and she pulled her head out. I recognized the voice as Smog’krok’s, I heard him say, “What’s going on? Why are you sticking your head in the cave?” “Where were you?” Li’zael asked. “I asked you to stay in the cave.” “I heard Ran had gone missing from Aunt Ele’sium! I also heard rumors that the fire rejected Spar’kron! I told you he wasn’t a real dragon!” Smog’krok’s voice said in such earnestly I had to fight the urge to leap out and strangle the little urchin. Li’zael’s voice was calm but strained, “You’ve been listening to Tru’sent again. Honestly Smog, I keep asking you to stay away from him. He’s trouble, and you should have the sense to listen.” “But, Mother,” Smog cried, “I was right!” “No, Tru’sent was wrong, and you’re just parroting him,” Li’zael scolded. “Now get back to the cave, otherwise you can forget about dinner.” Smog’s little footsteps could be heard as he stomped away. It seems that trick works no matter what the species. I just hope the others are okay… Oh Spikey Wikey… _________________________________________________________ Perspective: Private Eye Dust settled as the rocks blew away from the entrance. We stepped out into the sacred fire chamber, now devoid of most of the light. Twilight’s horn glowed and a ball of violet light appeared which was almost as bright as the sun. It illuminated the entire area and allowed us to see what was in front of us. “Some day, you gotta teach me some tricks,” I said with a smile at my wife. “Only when you teach me that alchemy stuff,” Twilight said with a smile in turn. “Less lovey dovey stuff guys!” Spike cried, running forward. “More investigating!” The chamber was still vast and most of it was now filled with rubble and various rocks scattered everywhere. I saw the remains of what had to be an altar of some kind, along with a bridge leading to it. Thankfully the rubble was piled up enough that we could cross to the altar without issue. Spike stood near a part of the bridge ruins, and pointed at a fallen stalactite. “Here! this is what I saw that blue fireball hit,” He said. I looked over at it, and sure enough, there was a large scorch mark on the side, close to the top. That had to be where it was hit. “Alright, let’s split up and look for clues.” They nodded and I began walking around the rubble near the altar. I walked a little around before my hoof felt something. I looked down and saw something buried in the rubble. I used my magic to dig it out a little, and I got a better look at it. It was a crystal, but mostly resembled the black ones that are Sombra’s trademark. There was no magic or aura coming from it, odd how it would be just hidden among the rubble here. I put it in a plastic bag and slipped it into my trench coat. The crystal was about as big as my head but you’d be surprised how deep my pockets can be. “Private! Over here!” I turned and saw Twilight was standing along the outer walls. I made my way over there and saw that she was standing next to a small tunnel. Spike also walked over with me and Twilight said, “Look at these claw marks,” She said, pointing. “Something was digging here.” Spike looked at the hole. “It’s pretty small. I’ll have a look inside, I think I can fit,” He said, and then proceeded to enter it. After about a minute of waiting, Spike came out of the hole and said, “The tunnel goes around, but some of the rubble fell in the path. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to continue.” “Any idea what could’ve made it?” Twilight asked. Spike slowly put out his palm, and revealed a small orange dragon scale. Spike nodded and said, “I think I may have an idea…”