True Heroes Never Die

by LCranston

Chapter 4 - Professional infiltration

The young filly sat up in bed suddenly, gasping. She looked around the hotel room.
Rarity stood in front of the door, ready to leave. As she checked the contents of her saddlebags, she looked over to her sister with concern.
“Sweetie, are you all right? Bad dream?”
The young filly got out of bed and trotted sleepily over to the bathroom. She mentioned in passing, “I’m all right. Princess Luna says ‘hi’ by the way.”
The fashion designed hugged her sister in passing and asked, “Any plans for today?”
Sweetie replied morosely, “No. There’s nothing for me to do. I already got my crystal battery and there are no more Shadow Nose stories anywhere.”
Rarity lifted Sweetie Belle’s chin gently and advised, “Well, maybe only you care about Shadow Nose anymore. Why don’t you write your own stories? Do some research and maybe I’ll help you create a book to put on your shelf.”
She then left for the fashion show.
The young unicorn groomed her mane and brushed her teeth, thinking to herself about her plight. It seemed that only boredom awaited her today.
The mental image of Shadow Nose being pulled into the darkness came to her mind.
She stomped her hoof, saying, “I hate that darkness! Nopony should defeat Shadow Nose.”
She trotted over to her window and opened the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room, casting her shadow long against the hotel room floor.
Sweetie Belle decided, “If I were writing a Shadow Nose story, he’d totally defeat that darkness. He’d uncover that thing’s real name and find its hideout. Mare-got would be there and the police would be there.”
A strange thought crept into her mind.
“Maybe I can do it. I can come up with Shadow Nose stories. But how do I get published? Where do I begin?”
She placed the hotel room back and forth slowly, trying to come up with a plan. This was always easier with all of the Crusaders together.
She decided, “I’ll just have to ask Princess Luna for help. They probably don’t just let anypony into the palace, so I’ll have to stealth in. Good thing I packed for just such an occasion.”

An hour later, Sweetie Belle arrived at the front gates to the Palace Gardens, carrying a pile of lavender cloth on her back. A pair of Royal Guards flanked the open gate to the pleasant sitting area with benches and trees.
She reached onto her back and pulled out her costume.
She announced, “Our heroine, Sweetie Belle, dons her dashing disguise. She will stealth into the palace and get the information she needs to write her own stories.”
The nearby guard looked over at her, wondering what was happening.
The young filly put on a matching set of pants, shirt, cloth helmet, and long, flowing scarf.
She proudly declared, “There! Now, I’m totally invisible!”
The guard’s eyes opened wide with surprise.
She then stood up on her hind legs and placed her back to the nearby hedge. Carefully sliding towards the gateway, she slid behind the guards.
The filly dove across the open gateway to the other side and finished with a roll. She tripped on her hoof and fell onto the ground.
“Oof! Ow.”
She stood up and hid behind the hedge and stared openly into the sitting area.
Aiming for a stone bench with an elderly married couple, she sprinted and slid under the bench.
She then crawled across the open lawn on her belly towards the castle doors, much to the amusement of the married couple.
Opening the unlocked doors, she slipped inside.
She jumped into the air, hoof raised in triumph.
“Woohoo! I totally nailed that section. Not a single pony saw me. Now to find Princess Luna!”
She dashed off to the right at full speed.
After bumping into the end of the hallway, she dashed off to the left at full speed.
The guard looked over to his partner and asked, “Did you…?”
The other guard said stiffly, “No and neither did you, unless you’d like to file the report.”
The guard returned to his stance, hoping the weekend to arrive quickly.

Sweetie Belle stalked obviously down the hallway, narrating the whole way.
“The crafty ninja filly quickly located her target. She crept up totally silently on the bedroom door of her quarry. Soon, the information would be hers.”
“You are not invisible.”
The filly startled, looking behind herself. Princess Luna stood there, looking down upon the filly curiously.
Forgetting the nature of her trespass, Sweetie Belle jumped up and greeted, “Princess Luna! I was looking all over for you!”
The alicorn princess insisted, “Sweetie Belle, you should not just enter the palace anytime you wish. This is not only the home of myself and my sister, but it is the central building of Equestrian government.”
The filly pouted, “Rarity comes here all the time. You don’t yell at her. I’m her sister and I’m on a mission!”
Luna retorted, “I do not yell at your sister.” She titled her head quizzically and asked, “What mission are you performing?”
Sweetie proudly declared, “I’m on a mission to find out more about Shadow Nose! I need to hear more stories and find out his ultimate fate. I need that information if I’m going to write my own stories.”
The dark alicorn raised her eyebrows and then smiled.
She said, “Writing your own Shadow Nose stories? You wish to be an author?”
The young filly stated, “Shadow Nose is the best detective story ever. It should be back in print, but nopony knows about him.”
She then looked at Luna with a curious gaze and asked, “In all the stories, Mare-got keeps acting like she’s got a crush on Law. If you were Mare-got, then did that mean you had a crush on Shadow Nose?”
Luna brought a hoof up towards her face demurely. Her eyes looked aside and a slight blush crept upon her face.
She tried to say, “Sweetie Belle, you shouldn’t ask such a personal question...”
Sweetie interrupted her, “You’re blushing! Was he your Special Somepony?”
Luna turned her head aside and mumbled, “I don’t have to answer that…”
The excited filly stepped up close to the dark alicorn and sweetly demanded, “Did you ever kiss him?”
The alicorn princess took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. She leaned forward and smiled.
“Yes. I kissed him a lot.”
Sweetie Belle’s face blossomed with glee and she declared, “AWWWWWW! That’s soooooo romantic!”
After taking a deep breath, she asked, “Tell me a story about him! Tell me a romantic thing he did!”
Luna tried to defer, “Well, um…” The blush deepened.
Sweetie pressed, widening her eyes, “Pleeeeeease?”
The mountain of the alicorn princess’s willpower crumbed. She wondered how such a thing was possible from a mere child.
She acceded, “All right. This is possibly the most romantic thing he did. I still marvel at the depths of his resourcefulness sometimes.”

[]Begin flashback[]

Law Cranberry strode boldly into the back end of the castle lawn. He dragged the cello case behind himself. The wheels of the case rotating with a mild squeak as it moved across the grass.
The night sky was completely clear, punctuated by the full moon overhead. The collection of stars twinkled in a symphony of light.
He walked to a place under a particular window. He opened the case and gathered the cello and bow.
He then began to play the cello. He played a song normally played fast, but he slowed the tempo down to about a quarter of the original song. This made the song more romantic and appropriate.

A white alicorn mare’s head poked out of the window. Her multi-colored mane flowed in the ethereal breeze not felt by anypony else.
Upon seeing the earth pony below, she smiled in recognition and ducked back inside.
“Luna. Luna! There’s somepony to see you down on the lawn.”
After a second, a dark alicorn peeked outside and down at the lawn.
Upon seeing the earth pony’s face, her countenance melted away from anxiety to pure bliss.
She leaned forward, holding her head in her hooves at the window sill.

The voice of the other alicorn asked, “How did he get past the guards? They would have stopped him before this.”
The dark alicorn whispered, “I don’t care.”

The dark alicorn ducked back inside her room, then reappearing suddenly. She blew a heartfelt kiss down to her stallion and tossed a red rose into the air.
The stallion caught it deftly, placing it in his jacket’s chest pocket.
He whispered up to his lady, “I love you.” Knowing she heard every word, he packed up his cello and left.

[]End flashback[]

The pair reveled in the romantic memory for a moment.
Then Princess Luna encouraged Sweetie Belle, “It is probably time to go home. Your sister must be worried about you.”
The young filly countered, “Nope. She’s at the fashion show all day today. She’ll be there for hours. I got all day.”
The dark alicorn became flustered at the possibility of babysitting for hours. She heard rumors from Twilight Sparkle about a group of enthusiastic fillies who call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Luna wondered if this filly knew those other fillies.
The sound of hooves walking across the stone floor filled the hallway. Princess Celestia emerged from around a corner.
She smiled and greeted, “Well hello, Sweetie Belle. Is Rarity here as well?”
The filly replied, “She’s at the fashion show in town, presenting her latest line. I’m here to visit Princess Luna.”
At Celestia’s humorous countenance, Luna explained, “Actually, it is time for me to sleep. Perhaps if you could regale her with a tale of Shadow Nose then I could rest.”
Sweetie Belle added, “Tell me about his last case! I wanna know how he ended his career. Also, can you point me to where he retired? Maybe I could visit there and talk to ponies who knew him.”
Celestia’s face melted into sorrow.
She whispered, “It was my fault.”
Luna’s ears shot up at that admission.
She queried, “Pardon?”
Princess Celestia offered, “Come with me and I’ll explain.”
The group relocated to Celestia’s bedchambers. She gave instructions to the guards for no interruptions.
Celestia sat upon the floor in silence, summoning up her courage.
Luna interrupted her, “Well, what hast thou to say?”
Her sister glared back, only to turn her head in shame.