Raindancer opened the door to her Manehattan apartment with a tired nudge of her shoulder. The blue pegasus issued a small sigh through her teeth as she used her mouth to set her bag down next to the front door. It had been a long flight from Cloudsdale and her meeting with the weather board. All she wanted to do now was catch up on her sleep and maybe visit some friends in the morning. Her thoughts were chased from her head as she heard a thump from deeper in her apartment. She stared wide-eyed around the darkness, her hoof fumbling for the light switch as she nervously called out into the emptiness.
“Hello? Is someone there? Look guys, I am really too exhausted for a surprise party so...”
Nothing; no reply at all. Maybe she was just hearing things. She shook her head, closing her door softly behind her, and flicking on the light switch. She blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden light and then let out a shriek as she saw the other pony staring at her from about ten feet away.
“Welcome home Raindancer.” said the pony, but Raindancer did not reply. She was still in shock as her mind tried to register the fact that this pony looked exactly like her. “Who..how..?” The other pony grinned. It was a cold and cheerless grin, her eyes wide, pupils tiny pinpricks on her face. She moved with astonishing speed, coming face to face with Raindancer before the Pegasus could ever react. “I said welcome home Raindancer.” The other pony spoke through clenched teeth, almost hissing the words with a malice that added confusion to the emotions already racing through Raindancer's mind. The other pony turned and bucked Raindancer hard, knocking the astonished pegasus to the ground. “And now, goodbye.” The intruding pony, who could have been Raindancer's twin, laughed. It was a sort of gurgling lilted laugh. She then drove her hind hooves into Raindancer's head over and over again...
The sound of the rhythmic downpour of the rain filled the carriage as Detective Moonlight stared out the window, watched the lights of the city pass him by, and thoughtfully chewed on a stalk of wheat. He let the noise drown out everything else in the world. At least he did until his partner, Honeysuckle, gently nudged his shoulder with a hoof. “Moonlight, you are staring off into space again. Did you hear anything I said about the case?” The pale blue earth pony shifted the wheat to the other side of his mouth before gazing at his honey colored partner, looking at her through strands of dark purple hair, a mane he rarely bothered to brush. “Mmmhmm, young pegasus. Murdered in her apartment; weapon appears to be hooves. This sounds like a crime of passion. Do we know if she was seeing somepony?” Moonlight's voice was distant and dispassionate. Honeysuckle shook her head with a soft sigh. She was used to this. Her partner often seemed to become cold and calculated when dealing with this particular sort of case. She imagined that he hoped that it would take some of the pain and heartache out of his job. The young unicorn sighed. She had only been Moonlight's partner for a little over a year, and she was still getting used to the way he dealt with things. She wondered if he would look down on her if he knew she cried herself to sleep sometimes. It would be more likely that he would offer her some cider, which was his preferred method of dealing with equicide.
“Honeysuckle?” She blinked out of her reverie to see her partner stared at her, a slight irritability creeping into his tone. He had not had any coffee yet this evening, and it showed. “Right, sorry, umm...” Regaining focus, she flipped through the preliminary notes and shook her head. “No, she appears to have been single.” Moonlight sighed grumpily. “Great.” he groaned before looking out the window again. Honeysuckle stared at him for a long moment before going back over the notes: 'Young pegasus; returning from a meeting, beaten to death in her apartment, no witnesses'. Equicide was very rare in Equestria, though slightly less rare in Manehattan. Honeysuckle thought back for a moment to the day she was offered the job. She still wondered if it was the right decision. Being an equicide detective came with some restrictions and experiences that many ponies were better off not knowing about. One of them was becoming more and more evident with each passing case her partner investigated. She was sure that her coat was fading in color as well. Moonlight was almost gray already. Once his eyes matched his coat, he would be forced to retire. Equicide took a heavy toll on those who dealt with it. She remembered reading the small manual she was given after accepting her job and how many of the ponies in the MPD gave her sad looks, or even avoided eye contact all together. The equicide department was almost a death sentence in and of itself on the force. Once you join it, you cannot leave until they put you out to pasture. No families and few friends; few ponies could stand to watch their friends' innocence and joy – and color -- slowly bleed away as they watched more and more ponies meet a brutal end.
She remembered when her parents begged her to refuse the job and she had ignored them, reminding them that she had been hoof picked for the job. She remembered how they cried. She remembered her first day, how she met Moonlight, her new partner; he was in a soaked coat and hat, looking so tired, with dark circles under his eyes, and his constant chewing of wheat. He simply gave her a once over glance and muttered, “Our office is over here, come on, I need to get dry.” And that was it. There was no pretense, no small talk. Moonlight treated her like she had always been his partner. She found it jarring at first, then quickly grew to appreciate it. The stallion was a rock. Yes, he was a tired, worn out, and jaded rock, but it was her partner who held her mane back when she lost her lunch on the first crime scene. It was Moonlight who took her home and dried her tears after she sobbed herself ragged. And it was Moonlight who almost broke a patrol pony's jaw when he gave her guff about it.
Now it was Moonlight who was staring at her thoughtfully through tired green eyes. “Thinking about your time with me so far?” It still caught Honeysuckle off guard when he did that. Moonlight could read a pony like a book, which lost him more friends than he ever cared to mention. But it made him one of the best detectives on the force. She once asked him why he joined the Equicide department. “Because I am good at it.” He said, in his usual distant and tired manner. “And someone needs to speak for those few poor, dead ponies.” It was that statement that really struck her. It stuck with her, and helped her empathize with him since she became his partner.
“...Yeah, and wondering what could get a workaholic Pegasus like Raindancer killed,” her partner muttered to himself. Honeysuckle raised her eyes toward him again. Moonlight shifted the wheat stalk around his mouth thoughtfully. “My guess would be a professional rivalry gone too far, that is, of course, if she was indeed single, and not seeing some stallion or mare on the side.”
Honeysuckle nodded, “Still going with the crime of passion theory?” Moonlight nodded, “We both know that it takes a lot to drive a pony to kill another. And this case does not sound like any kind of accident.”
The carriage pulled up in front of a large apartment complex, currently taped off with yellow tape with bold lettering stating “police line: do not cross”. Several patrol ponies milled around miserably in the rain. Moonlight looked at Honeysuckle and sighed a bit, placing his hat upon his head and shifting the wheat to the other side of his mouth. He raised an eyebrow knowingly at his partner. “You ready, detective?” Honeysuckle nodded She always felt nervous and a little queasy when she first arrived on the scene. She idly wondered if Moonlight ever felt the same as she pulled her rain slicker over her body. Moonlight simply nodded. “Every buckin' time.” Honeysuckle gave an involuntary shudder. She was sure she would never get used to that. Moonlight pushed the door to the carriage open and felt the rain pelt down on his hat as his hooves splashed and squished in the muddy ground. Most of the Manehattan streets where paved, but some of them still had enough exposed ground to make walking in the rain a messy affair. Moonlight tipped his hat to the on duty patrol ponies, who nodded politely, but avoided his gaze. Moonlight did not seem to take much notice of this. Instead, he watched as his partner exit the carriage behind him, grimacing at the weather.
They headed inside the apartment building, glad to get out of the rain. Only one pony awaited them inside. She was looking at her hooves and shuffling nervously as Moonlight fixed her with an unnerving gaze. “What do you have for us?” He asked in his usual tired and half bored speech. The patrol pony muttered nervously for a moment before regaining her composure. “Well, sir...um...” she blinked a few timers before glancing down at her clipboard. “The crime scene remains untouched, awaiting you. And two patrol ponies are guarding the door. Do you have the details of the case?” Moonlight nodded and tipped his hat to the patrol pony. “That will be all for now, stay here in case we have need of you, we are headed up.” The patrol pony nervously returned the nod, not sure if the detective was being serious or just trying to rattle her nerves. Moonlight looked at Honeysuckle, “You have anything you want to ask, or shall we head on up?” Honeysuckle had also been watching the patrol pony closely during the conversation. This was a fact that the patrol pony was acutely aware of and certainly contributed to her discomfort. She turned away and Honeysuckle's attention returned to her partner. “Nope,” she sighed. “I think it is about time we took a look at the scene and the victim.”
The fourth floor apartment sat near the middle of the complex. The two patrol ponies stood guard on either side of the open door, more police tape blocked the actual entrance, and a distressed older mare stood near them. The mare was glancing nervously about and blanched as she saw the two detectives approach. The patrol ponies stiffened visibly as Moonlight nodded to both of them in greeting. “Is this the mare that found the victim?” One of the patrol ponies nodded. “Yes, sir. Her name is Crepe Suzette.” Moonlight lifted his chin and trotted over to the jittery mare. “Miss Suzette, may I ask you a few questions? This will not take long. Then you can return home and try and get some rest.” Crepe nodded. The horrors of what she found in that room were flooding her vision every time she closed her eyes. “I,” she began, choking up for a moment before shaking her head to clear her thoughts and try to steel her resolve enough to speak. “I had heard that Raindancer had returned from Cloudsdale. I had just finished a batch of blueberry muffins and thought I would drop off a few before I went to bed. You know, as a thank you gift.” Crepe's voice barely registered over a whisper due to the shock, but Moonlight sat patiently and paid close attention to her statement. Although his face was impassive, his eyes shone with concern for the poor mare. “And then what happened Miss Suzette?” he asked softly, trying to reassure the mare as best he could. It was most likely a hopeless gesture, but a sincere one nonetheless.
“Well,” the mare said, choking back a sob. “I went to knock, but the door swung open on it's own, and...and there she was, lying on the floor, her head...” Crepe started to shudder, and her legs buckled. Moonlight barely managed to catch her before she fell. “I see, it is okay, what did you do then?” Crepe blinked for a moment, trying her best to focus on her recall. “I stumbled back to my apartment and called the authorities.” Crepe frowned, “I remember it was at 9:15, because I looked up at the clock and then happened to look out the window. I thought I saw Raindancer walking out of the building and onto the street, but that was not possible because..because..”
Crepe could hold it in no longer, and collapsed into sobs. Moonlight nodded and looked at one of the patrol ponies. “Please help her get to bed officer.” The patrol pony nodded and rushed to help Crepe, secretly glad to be anywhere but near the detective.
After the patrol pony safely escorted Crepe back to her apartment, Moonlight called to Honeysuckle and they slowly made their way into the crime scene. The living room light was still on, revealing the ghastly details of the crime in the stark glow of the iridescent light. Raindancer lay in a twisted heap on the floor, a pool of drying blood surrounded her body. Her head was mangled beyond recognition. Both detectives had to look away for a moment and steady themselves before Moonlight spoke.
“Best get this over with.” Honeysuckle nodded slowly and her horn began to glow a soft golden color. Various spots in the apartment responded with a glow of their own. Both detectives surveyed the scene, working their way toward the first piece of evidence that Honeysuckle's magic had illuminated. Innumerable hoofprints had revealed themselves on the carpet near the dining room, with several sets heading back and forth to the kitchen, then back to that same spot on the carpet.
“Hmm...It looks like she waited here, probably for more than a day. My guess would be that she hurrying back to the spot every time she heard hoofsteps outside the apartment, and then waited anxiously for Raindancer to come inside,” said Moonlight as he studied the hoofprints closely. Honeysuckle agreed, with a frown of concentration on her face. Maintaining the spell took a lot of effort on her part, and she usually waited until they were back at the station before she went over the collected evidence. Moonlight glanced at his partner for a moment and then frowned himself, remembering that he needed to do this as efficiently as possible so he did not wear his partner out.
Looking up from the hoofprints, Moonlight wandered the apartment, carefully examining each glowing spot in the place. “Looks like she came in through the window, so my guess would be either pegasus, or unicorn. Also, she raided the fridge a few times, so my theory of her being here for a while prior to the crime seems to be viable.” Moonlight sighed heavily as he looked over at the corpse. “All right. Now for you, my poor mare,” he said sadly, taking his had off for a moment to show respect before trotting slowly over to the body, and scrutinizing it closely. “Don't worry Raindancer. You will have justice, I promise you.” Moonlight muttered this softly to himself as he examined the mare's hooves. “No signs of defensive wounds, she was caught completely by surprise. Seems from the bruises here on her abdomen, she was bucked to the ground before she could even think to react. The rest of the blows are aimed at her head. Wild, angry, and desperate blows by the look of it. Several of them were post mortem by the look of things.” Moonlight looked at his partner. “I'll grab the scrolls if you want to make images of all the evidence here. Then we should call the M.E and have her go over this.”
Honeysuckle had begun to sweat with the effort, and her legs shook. Moonlight moved quickly, laying scrolls out as her spell made detailed images of all the evidence. Then Moonlight took a small camera from his jacket and took pictures of everything before nodding to Honeysuckle, who ended the spell with a weary sigh of relief. Moonlight gave her an appreciative smile before trotting out with her back into the hallway. They found the patrol pony who was still standing guard there. “I want everyone in the building interviewed. Then I want a canvas of the neighborhood. Get as many statements as you can. I will be sending the medical examiner up shortly to tend to the crime scene. Get as many ponies as you need to help you with this and I expect a report first thing in the morning on our desks. Got it?” The patrol pony nodded and saluted nervously. She had heard the rumors about the terrible things that could happen if you were not on top of everything that an equicide detective asked of you. The patrol pony was not about to test the theory that it might not just be a rumor. Moonlight suppressed a chuckle as he looked at Honeysuckle. She needed some rest, and to recover for a bit. “All right, let's head back to the station so you can clear your head, and then we will look over the evidence together, okay?” Honeysuckle managed a slight nod, and followed her partner down the stairs. Her head reeled in a fog. She had spent over a month learning that spell. It never got any easier to cast, no matter how many times she had done so. It was a miracle she had not lost her lunch this time. She even welcomed the rain, just to get some fresh air and stop this terrible spinning. She had not realized how much she had been leaning on Moonlight for support until he stopped to tell another patrol pony to send in the medical examiner, repeating his instructions on the questioning. She had almost fallen into a muddy patch when he did that. She felt his teeth catch her jacket and holder her up, helping her into the carriage. He went back to one of the patrol ponies to finish the last of his instructions and joined her. A look of worry was plain on his face as the carriage brought them back to the station. The rhythm of the hooves on cobblestone and the pitter patter of rain relaxed Honeysuckle. She found herself drifting off, welcoming the much needed rest. This left Moonlight to shake his head with a sigh, draping his jacket over her. He then stared out the window, chewing on the wheat in deep contemplation.