February 13, 1:51 PM
Sweet Apple Acres
Outside the barn
I'm so glad I'm out of that place. I wonder how long it took Twilight to grow patient with Pinkie. Cestus asked himself.
After finishing his questioning with Pinkie Pie, Cestus arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to start his investigation. While his job was to help prove Pinkie was guilty, he made a promise to help Twilight by finding evidence to prove Pinkie's innocence and he planed to keep that promise, partly because he would get 500 bits if he succeeded.
The Farm had many officers from Canterlot checking out the scene themselves, but since Cestus was the head of the investigation, he had free rein of the place. After showing up at the farm though, he noticed that ALL of his officers were outside.
"Hey you there! Over here!" Cestus ordered.
"Yes sir!" A nearby cop said as he ran over to his superior officer. "What is it pal--I mean, sir?"
"You're all suppose to be checking every nook and cranny of the place! Why is nopony inside the barn? That's where the crime actually took place!" Cestus asked.
"Sir! We're all afraid to go in there. While investigating, we all some shadow that was moving around inside freaking us out. We've been waiting out here hoping it leaves."
I'd question if any of my stallions are even qualified to be police officers, but considering my cutie mark is for boxing, that might be hypocritical. Cestus thought. "It might just be a giant rat or something. I'm sure it just needs a good stomp."
annoyed, Cestus walked over to the barn to start his investigation of the barn as he found a great opportunity. Since his officers were too nervous to go inside the barn, he would be able to do whatever he needed to do without getting in trouble himself, assuming nopony went in with him. As he went to the front gate, he also noticed the barn gate had a lock on it, but it appeared to of been broken off.
"How long has this lock been broken?" Cestus asked.
"Sir! The family confirmed that it was not broken before. We believe the killer broke it to get inside.
So the killer had to get in by force. That sounds important to remember.
Broken lock: The killer wasn't able to simply unlock the door.
"Alright, now listen up! I'm going inside to check out the crime scene, so make sure nopony else goes inside without my permission. This includes you guys. Understand?"
"Yes sir! I'll be waiting out here in case you need me."
With nopony else left to bother him, Cestus walked into the barn without so much as a struggle. On top of that, he was able to investigate without any suspicious ponies trying to sneak in. That is, except for one who already breached the security.
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February 13, 1:54 PM
Sweet Apple Acres
Outside the barn
It's good to be the boss. Cestus thought. "Alright pal, whoever you are, get up and leave!"
As he was warned, something had snuck its way into the barn and Cestus didn't want to start looking around until he got rid of the current problem. As his voice echoed inside, the sound of ruffling was heard. Cestus kept having turn to around to try and find the source, but the noise kept moving around, making it difficult to isolate..
"You're interfering with police business, pal! Show yourself now and you'll just get a slap on the wrist. Don't, and I'll just punch you!"
"You wouldn't punch a little...AH OH!"
Finally hearing the voice of the troublemaker, Cestus ran to it as quickly as he could before they had the chance to escape. He chased the culprit to a big stack of hay where there would be no escape. He had the perp cornered.
"Alright, whoever you are pal, get out here!"
After a long moment of silence, besides of few sounds coming from the hay..."Uh...bawk bawk...bawk?"
It took him a moment to realize it, but after hearing the voice up close..."You're just a kid!"
Cestus then stuck his hoof into the stack of hay to find the child inside. As soon as he felt something that wasn't hay, he pulled his hoof out and forced the filly out, holding her by the tail. She was an orange pegasus with a purple mane. Even though she was caught, she still tried to put up a resistance with Cestus.
"Hey, put me down! I'm investigating here!" The filly said.
"Investigating? You don't even have a cutie mark. You're even suppose to be here."
"Are YOU? Your cutie mark is boxing gloves, so I doubt your an investigator."
"Ohh....if you weren't just a little boy, I'd show you how I earned my cutie mark, so consider yourself lucky." Cestus said angrily.
"I'm a girl!" The filly corrected.
As soon as he learned that the intruder was a girl, Cestus dropped her from the shock. He felt very embarrassed for making such a mistake and had a hard time staying mad at her for doing something so stupid when he himself did something even stupider. Regardless, Cestus didn't want to let any pony, let alone a filly, interfere with his work.
"Look here...um..."
"Scootaloo, one of the founding member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and number one Rainbow Dash--"
FREEZE!
"Little Scootaloo, I am Inspector Star Cestus of Canterlot and I'm the one in charge of this case. My task is to look for evidence to find the truth of what happened." Cestus explained.
"So am I!" Scootaloo said. "Apple Bloom was the one who was attacked and she's one of my best friends and I want to see to it that the whoever did it gets what's coming!"
"I see. So you wish to see Pinkie Pie convicted?"
"No, I want to see her and Twilight win! I know for a fact that she's innocent." Scootaloo answered.
"A nice thought, and even I want her to be found not guilty, but as of now, nothing is known a fact."
Scootaloo laughed at what Cestus said, feeling confident with herself because of it. "Then You really do need my help, because I know something you don't."
Probably because you got here before I did. Cestus thought. "Very well then. Please tell me what you know. I'm sure all you did was find a pinecone or a peanut. Actually, we've been trying hard to find a bottle cap." Cestus said sarcastically.
"What? No, I didn't find any garbage like that! If you have a minute, I'll be more than glad to tell you what I found."
Hehehe. And that's knockout. As soon as she tells me what she knows, I'll give her the bum's rush.
Do to Cestus's choice of words, he made Scootaloo much more cooperative by tricking her to share her discoveries. After having to argue with Pinkie Pie, Cestus was glad that his next challenge was a kid.
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--Testimony: What I've found--
-Anypony could easily escape through the open window!
-Pinkie Pie has gotten in trouble because she was the only one "seen".
-That doesn't mean nopony else could've gotten into here.
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FREEZE!
Feeling no reason to drag this on longer than he needed to, Cestus decided to completely skip the rebuttal and attacked Scootaloo's logic immediately.
"Pal, I'd like to share with an important piece of evidence.
"Really? Awesome!" Scootaloo said with excitement as she was handed a piece of paper, but her smile quickly disappeared after getting it. "Wait, this is just a picture of the barn."
"This picture shows that the windows in the barn were closed and only the front gate was opened. You said somepony could've escaped through a window, but that appears to be impossible."
Cestus made a good point and Scootaloo realized it, but something was still wrong. Scootaloo took a moment to look at the diagram closely, and upon further inspection, she discovered that something was missing.
"Mr. Cop, does this picture only show what's on the ground floor?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes, seeing that's where the doors and windows are at." Cestus answered.
"But I remember you guys talking about it at the trial today. There's a window up on the roof, isn't there? That's the window I'm talking about."
That's right. I completely forgot about that. Cestus thought. Because none of the witnesses saw Pinkie escape the crime scene, Twilight argued our culprit got out that way. She didn't have evidence for it, so maybe that would be a good place for me to start. Time to check out the crime scene.
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--Investigation Begin--
The barn was a big place, but fortunately there was only a few places of particular interest. As Scootaloo pointed out, there was an upper floor that he could look around at, but Cestus decided to save that area for last since he was already on the ground floor.
The first thing Cestus did was take a closer look at the windows on the side of the barn. He tried to open them up, but to no prevail.
"So these windows are still locked I see." Cestus said.
"Yeah, I heard they wanted to keep the place look exactly how it looked when the crime happened." Scootaloo answered.
"That's right. It seems my officers did a pretty good job."
After thinking about the crime scene, another thought quickly rushed into Cestus's head. He had somehow forgotten that Scootaloo was with him. After realizing that, he gave her a light smack on the back of her head, causing Scootaloo to hold her head in pain.
"Hey kid, you're interfering with police business here! Go home already!" Cestus ordered.
"Ow! That hurts! I'm getting an adult!
"I AM an adult, pal. Now move it!"
"No way. I made a promise to Apple Bloom that I would do anything to get the guy who hurt her." Scootaloo said with persistence. "I can't go back to the hospital empty-handed. I don't care if I have to look everywhere and ask everypony in town!"
She has good intentions. I can even see a level of determination in her that rivals Twilight's. But really, the reason I'll have to bring her is because she'll probably get in my way until I let her. Cestus thought. "Fine. You can help me out, but only if you do exactly what I tell you to do."
"YES! You got it!"
I like kids and all, but I'm suddenly less tempted to have any of my own.
As he had no choice but to drag Scootaloo along, Cestus continued to investigate the scene with a new companion. All he hoped from her was that she didn't get into his way.
After making sure there was nothing at the windows, Cestus walked over to the other end of the barn. He found, hidden behind a big stack of hay, a large wooden chest.
"Oh wow, I didn't know the Apples had treasure." Scootaloo said with excitement.
"This isn't treasure, kid. It's just a supply chest." Cestus answered. "It was found when the trial was taking place. This is where a bottle of pesticide was found."
"You mean that stuff that showed that Applejack tried to poison Pinkie Pie? I still don't get why she would do that."
I immediately regret the decision of letting her come along. Cestus thought. "I haven't actually seen this chest myself. Let's take a look ourselves, shall we? I won't rest until I've inspected every suspicious nook and cranny"
After lifting up the lid, Cestus and Scootaloo took a look at what was inside. The first things that stuck out were two bottle brown bottles that Cestus recognized.
"It appears this family stocks up on this brand of pesticide." Cestus noted.
"I heard you could kill bears with this stuff." Scootaloo said "Applejack and Granny Smith won't even let us play anywhere that has this stuff."
It must be some very potent crap. The only reason anypony would choose to use this over actual poison is if they were really confident in the results. Pinkie, you can deny it all you want. It's clear that Applejack was the poisoner.
It wasn't just the pesticide that in the chest though. At the bottom, there was a small white bottle. Cestus reached in to check it out since he couldn't read the label. He was shocked to find that it was something not related to farming.
"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Hmm...judging from the label, it appears to be some kind of sleeping pill." Cestus said. "Most ponies keep these in their bedrooms."
"You're not saying it was Applejack who used these on Pinkie, do you?"
"Possibly, but since the victim was her sister, it's absurd to believe that she tried to kill her, not to mention her alibi." Cestus explained. "Either way sleeping pills found at this crime scene can't be a coincidence."
Sleeping Pills: Found at the crime scene. Mighty suspicious.
"Scootaloo, I believe we've got ourselves a lead." Cestus said. "All we have to do is use some logic."
"Logic? How do we use that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Why it's easy. All you have to do is push the logic button and you can sort things out."
"Wow, is it really that easy?"
Surprised and angered by Scootaloo's naiveness, Cestus took his two from hooves, placed them on the side of Scootaloo's head, and began squeezing the filly's head like a vise. Naturally, Scootaloo ended up screaming because of it.
"No, you little....ugh...never mind." Cestus said as he let go. "Look, just give me a moment to think.
Cestus began to think about the odd item found, as well as another odd story he heard earlier. On their own, they didn't add to much, but together, something brand new was discovered.
Sleeping Pills: Found at the crime scene. Mighty suspicious
Pinkie's nap: Pinkie was supposedly asleep during the time of Apple Bloom's stab attack.
"You wouldn't know this, or rather I hope you don't, but on the day of the crime, Pinkie claimed that she was asleep for most of the day." Cestus explained.
"And you think these sleeping pills are why?" Scootaloo asked.
There may be hope for this kid after all Cestus thought. "Exactly. The simple fact that these pills exist should prove that Pinkie was asleep that day. At what point that day is still a mystery though. If we're lucky, we might find an alibi for Pinkie."
"But what about the real killer? We're after them too, aren't we?"
"That will be the easy part. My theory is that the real killer is the one who used these on Pinkie Pie. All we have to do is to examine this bottle for hoofprints. I even have a record of hoofprints of everypony who's involved in this case. Just give me a few minutes."
After taking the bottle, Cestus walks outside the barn to meet with the officer that promised to stay out there. Cestus asked him to examine the bottles for prints, the pony took out some white powder and a brush, and before very long, Cestus returned to the barn with a hoofprint sample taped on a piece of black paper.
"Tadaa! Solid, concrete evidence!"
"That's awesome! Who's hoofprint does it belong to?"
"Let's see. Where did I put those records?"
With the hoofprint sample in one hoof and his records in the other, Cestus began to compare the hoofprint found with the ones on his records. He had to look through several prints and was surprised that it took him so long, but he was eventually able to find a match. The results he found, however, was something he did not expect.
"It....it appears that the bottle of sleeping pills were handled...by Pinkie Pie."
"What? You're not saying that Pinkie Pie is the crook we're after, are you?" Scootaloo asked.
"Good question. These prints should've proven Pinkie's innocence, but the it appears to be contradicting with itself."
"Great. What now?"
"It doesn't make sense now, but maybe we'll find more evidence to help us later. For now, we have to keep moving forward." Cestus explained. But it's definitely something that will bug me to know end.
Odd Hoofprint was added to the evidence.
Sleeping Pills was added to the evidence.
"Okay, kid. I think now's a good time to check out what you found on the upper floor.
Since everything of interest was examined on the ground floor, Cestus allowed Scootaloo to show him what she found on the barn's upper level. Scootaloo pointed out a ladder that she used before, allowing them to climb up to the top.
"I still don't get why there's an upstairs to a barn." Scootaloo said.
"It's just a hayloft. Lots of barns have them" Cestus answered. "But if I find out you're that the first pony that went up here was you, then I'm giving my entire squad an uppercut."
Once they were on top, Cestus found that the hayloft stretched out from one side of the barn to another, and just as Scootaloo said, there windows, one in particular was wide open. While it didn't look like the others were locked, the one window still stuck out the most.
Yep. One uppercut for each member of my squad. Until then, it's time to look at every nook and cranny.
While Cestus planned to do a thorough investigation, there was only one particular thing that he found of interest at the window. At the bottom of the window, there was a black feather, one that looked to of belonged to a pegasus.
"EUREKA!" Cestus shouted.
"A black feather?" Scootaloo asked. After coming up with the same conclusion, she gasped at it. "It must belong to that weird guy Sweetie Belle told me about."
"Weird guy? Who was he?"
"I don't know. Sweetie Belle told me about him yesterday when I went to see her. Some creepy gray pegasus with black wings was threatening her and Twilight. He must be the one we're after.
I remember Twilight briefly describing him to me right before she rushed off. I Didn't think much of because of how vague she was, but I guess she wasn't kidding. Cestus thought. "Unfortunately, we don't know anything about this guy, kid. But, if he has black feathers like you said, then he's worth questioning. Either way, this feather is crucial.
Black Feather was added to the evidence.
After finding the feather, Cestus decided to return to the ground floor with Scootaloo. He was very happy with the evidence and became confident that Pinkie Pie was set up. He didn't find enough to clear her name, but he found enough to want to keep looking around
--Investigation Complete--
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With his work in the barn done, Cestus and Scootaloo made their way out of the barn. Cestus was proud of the work he accomplished so far, partially thanks to Scootaloo. It put the stallion in a good mood.
"I'm starting to see why Twilight always bring a little kid with her. I think I'm going to keep you as a little good luck charm.
"Me? A good luck charm?" Scootaloo asked. She then quickly took a at her rump, but her smile quickly faded when she saw nothing on it.
With every nook and cranny checked at the barn, Cestus and his assistant were left at a dead end, but as the two began to ponder about their next move, Scootaloo saw something in the distance. A pony who wasn't with the Canterlot Police. In fact, it was a pony who was suppose to be WITH the police.
"Hey, that looks like..."
Cestus saw what Scootaloo was looking at too, but he was able to identify the pony much quicker. It was a familiar pink pony who should not of been anywhere near Sweet Apple Acres.
No way... Cestus thought in horror. "GUYS! THE DEFANDENT HAS ESCAPE!"
The officers turned to Cestus when he suddenly screamed, but then turn their attentions to Pinkie Pie as they all finally noticed her. Reacting quickly, they all began to chase after the escapee, but as soon as Pinkie saw them, she began to run away.
"Oh, no you don't, pal!" Cestus said as he began to chase after Pinkie himself.
Leaving his new little friend behind, Cestus ran like the wind and caught up with his fellow officers. They were all well trained officers that represented Canterlot's law, but even then, they were surprised to find that Pinkie Pie was out running them all.
The cops at the front jumped forward to try and grab Pinkie, but every attempt failed when she simply hopped out of their way. After the last of his officers failed to catch Pinkie, Cestus himself got himself closer and closer, but couldn't quite catch up.
"Stop! Don't make this harder then it has to be!" Cestus ordered. "I'm sure we can
"What? No way! Twilight told me I couldn't trust you." Pinkie said.
"Wait, what?"
Before Pinkie could give Cestus an explanation, she doubled her running speed, thus becoming too fast for even Cestus, a stallion in his prime. The sudden burst in speed surprised Cestus enough to halve his own, but he kept moving forward. Two unicorn officers then managed to catch up to Cestus to support him.
"Alright guys. Formation-T! Now!" Cestus ordered as he stopped running.
Upon hearing the order, the two unicorns began to use their magic on a small, nearby tree. With their combined, they managed to pull it out from the ground, roots and all, then tossed the tree to their commanding officer. In return, Cestus got up on his back legs, and when the tree got close, he hurled the biggest punch he could throw, sending the tree flying at an extreme speed toward Pinkie Pie.
"Sorry, Twilight. It had to be done."
As Pinkie looked back, she saw the tree coming toward her. In response, Pinkie stopped running and turned around to see incoming tree. The sight of which caused her to freeze in place. That was when the most shockingly horrifying thing occurred.
As the tree was about hit, Pinkie Pie firmly planted her hooves into the ground, sprung her head forward, and before the tree could land, electricity emerged from out of the tree, causing it to explode in less than a second. As a result, Pinkie was left unharmed by the experience.
"W-wh..."Cestus stuttered as he failed to comprehend what he had seen
With everypony else too far away from Pinkie, she continued to run off, escaping into the Everfree Forest where the rest of the police would not be able to catch up. It's hard to blame them, considering they were chasing a pony that moved at such speed and somehow blow up trees.
Cestus worked hard to provide proof to defend Pinkie Pie, but after escaping police custody and doing what she had done, she was in more trouble than ever, and to an extend Cestus as well.