//------------------------------//
// Arrival 
// Story: C.S. Pie 
// by DecadantHandshake 
//------------------------------//

	Just a note, they arrive on Monday.

As we began our descent, Victus’ horn lit up a dull green and I could hear a chinking noise inside the chariot. I looked from him, to the chariot, then back again. Flying always made me uneasy. As our wheels graced the road with deep thuds, and we trailed small markings wherever we hit the ground, I could feel the pieces of the chariot being shaken loose. The buildings going past us were a blur as we started to lose speed. Suddenly, a bolt in one of our wheels popped out. Another. Another. The rest suddenly popped out in unison and our right wheel went off on its own journey. 
“Ahh!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. After some hesitation, Victus started giving off what sounded like a forced, scripted shout.
“Ah…” The Pegasi struggled not to crash into anything until we came to a wider area of road with fewer ponies on it. We spun around a few times and then the drivers just fell to the ground in exhaustion.
“Well… Time to put on an act.” He and the drivers were shouting their heads off for about three minutes, garnering the attention of numerous citizens of Ponyville. In the end, they faked an arrangement that the drivers would reimburse us for the trouble, and that they would pay for our tickets to continue on to our destination? I really have no clue, I was pretty disoriented from all the spinning. You don’t get that kind of excitement on the rock farm. 
When our party was done arguing, we split into different directions. We were heading towards the crime scene, while the drivers were moving for the Hay & Stay. They would secure a room for the three of us, Victus would escort me there after I gather a lay of the scene, and then he would go off to catch a train out of here.

“Sweet Celestia…” I muttered. “What is that smell?” There was an obvious stench in the air. It didn’t smell… bad exactly. It just smelled powerful. Like, very overpowering.
“Hmm… I assume that would be the musk…” I forgot, this was a rape… I thought to myself.
“Well, let’s get a closer look then.” As I was about to walk into the alley where the body was, he caught me with a hoof.
“We can’t just walk straight up to a dead body. Don’t you think someone would notice? Stumble upon it later, alright?” I sighed. This was way too much trouble for me. He walked me around the area where the body was, but not one did I get a glimpse of it. I guess I did get a good lay out of it thought. There was this short little area that looks like it would ordinarily be active, but activity seemed to die down due to the presence of a body. It made sharp turns at both ends, one end going away from this general area of the body, the other making the preparation to make a full circle around the alleyway with the body. All along this path there were shops, and on the other side of the alley this road diverged to a three way intersection. One path turned perpendicular to the path, and the other kept going straight forward. All in all, it was a half circle around an alley with a body in it. Thinking about it, it sort of resembles a horseshoe. We went down the path perpendicular to the horseshoe and into what seemed to be a large that people could walk through. There was an odd building that stuck out, Sugar Cube Corner. It was one of those buildings with strange architecture in Ponyville, there are a few of those. I don’t much care for sweet things though, so I didn’t think I would be paying that place a visit.
Next door to this location was the Hay & Stay Hotel, a large building where I would be spending a large portion of the week planning out my time in Ponyville. We walked in and I got my key. Floor 12, Room 21.
“Well, Miss Pie, I suppose this is where I will take my leave of your company.” He took out two manila envelopes and levitates them over to me. “These contain some information we have collected that should hopefully prove useful to you. It’s information on the area and its residents.” I nodded silently and took the folders into my apartment with me. I made it a point not to say goodbye to Victus, but to just close the door while he was talking. Feel familiar? I thought.
I considered going straight to bed, but decided it was best to look over the information first. It was just a light skim really. I found something of interest though. A nearby resident, Twilight Sparkle, is conducting an experiment involving a potentially dangerous predator. I considered that this would perhaps provide a suspect, but thinking back to the corpse I recalled that it wasn’t eaten or anything, so this probably wasn’t predation. 
I wanted to look for information about the victim, but it would seem I hadn’t been told his name. Well… Balls! I guess that’s something I’d need to find out tomorrow. I was sure someone would know something about our unfortunate Pegasus.
My dream that night was an odd one. I was investigating a crime scene, but when I touched the body the entire world fell apart.