//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 "School Time" // Story: Equestria Noir Season 2 Case 15 "Manehatten Rain" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Equestria Noir 2 Case 15 “Manehatten Rain” By Jacoboby1 Chapter 1 “School Time” *Riiiing* “911, what’s your emergency?” “Please, send someone to the alley behind Elk Ridge High school, quickly…” “Uh, Ma’am? You okay? You sound a little-” “Just please hurry before...oh Celestia…” “Ma’am, what’s going on?” “He’s here, just please hurry! Send somepony now!” “Ma’am, what-” *BANG BANG* “Ma’am! MA’AM!!” ________________________________________________________ Perspective: Private Eye Potso’s Pizzaria had been getting some great business ever since he arrived at Ponyville. It was great knowing that my friend since foalhood was doing well. The only problem? Was the overpopulation of single mares sitting at the counter. All of them charmed to death by the sheer power of Potso. Right now, Potso was trying to juggle making pizzas and dealing with Carrot Top, Cheerilee and Cloudchaser over at the counter. “So Potso, why is such a charming pony like you still haven’t found a somepony?” Carrot Top asked. Potso smiled behind his mustache, “Ah, well its-a constant thing, I am surrounded by so many-a beautiful mare, and yet my heart belongs to the one and only.” “You’re, already in a relationship?” Cheerilee asked. “Well, good now my kids can stop hounding me about this one.” With that, she walked out. Huh, looks like the CMC are still up to their old schemes of finding her a somepony. “So Potso, who’s the lucky mare? It’s me right? Because then I already have the perfect date in mind. Then afterwards we ca-” Cloudchaser started a mile a minute. Uggh, this again? When will he just get over it! “Ladies, don’t bother, Potso’s dream mare is completely out of his reach,” I said, flatly. “Ah, you only say that mio amico, because you were-a not there.” Potso said confidently. “What are you talking about Private?” Carrot Top asked. “Potso is wholly convinced that he saw the love of his life while we were in high school.” I said, sighing. “He claims he saw her at the train station as he was going to pick up some relatives.” “It is not a claim and you know it Private!” Potso yelled, “She was la più bella mare I had ever seen. A coat of the richest cream, a mane a glistening blue that would make the sea itself geloso.” “Yes, except nopony else saw her,” I replied firmly, “and you only ever looked at her, you can’t tell who is your true love just by one look. For all we know you probably just daydreamed the whole thing.” “You just-a wait!” Potso yelled back. “One day, she’s-a gonna walk through that door, and she will be just as bella as I described!” Uggh, I didn’t have time for this. I’d better head down to the office before I lose brain cells trying to argue with pseudo love struck Potso. ______________________________________________________ I opened the door to my office to find, somepony already sitting there. NO WAY! There stood an older mare, at least in her late sixties. Long silver hair and brown eyes accented her tan coat. She smiled at me behind a pair of large glasses. That familiar cutie mark of a blackboard laid on her flank proudly. “Forgive me for intruding dear, I saw the door was open and just thought I’d settle in,” She said, a little bit of the Manehatten accent showing. “Mrs. Standard?” I said, totally shocked upon seeing my old Equish teacher for the first time in years. She chuckled a little, “It’s Principal Standard nowadays, Private. It has been quite a long time since you sat ever so attentively in my class.” “What are you doing here?” I asked. “Well, aside from wanting to congratulate my student on all he’s done over on the news,” Her voice suddenly turned serious. “I’m afraid there’s been an incident at the school.” “Elk Ridge?” I asked, coming closer. “Still the same as you remember it,” She said with a small laugh. “Only, this time we have police coming in, I’m afraid one of our students has been murdered.” “Your student? Who?” I asked, pulling over my notebook from my desk and writing things down. “Her name was Star Flare, one of our model students. She was our head cheerleader, student council president and next in line for Valedictorian.” She reached into her small purse and pulled out a school picture. The mare in the picture was definitely befitting the stereotype of the everymare in high school. Long blond mane, deep blue eyes and a bright red coat all showed themselves in the picture along with a prominent horn. Not the kind of girl you’d expect would get into trouble honestly. But then again, who knows with teenagers? “Please, if it will be convenient for you,” Mrs. Standard said, “ Come down to the school. We could really use your help.” “What about the police?” I asked. “I tried talking to the police chief, but he wants to write it off as suicide.” Mrs. Standard said with a frown. Typical Insight… “Why a suicide? Why not random gang violence or something like that?” I asked. “Because, of the filly…” __________________________________________________________ Unfortunately, without Twilight I had to venture to Elk Ridge alone. I walked the familiar streets towards the school. When I got there, cops were swarming in one of the back alleys. I looked up at the school itself, just the same as I remember it… Red brick rectangle buildings, joined with covered sidewalks, metal doors, metal framed crank windows. The interior was probably cinder block, painted calming colors. I could just imagine the lockers, inside, metal double-stacked things, needing your own lock, and your own shelves, to store your stuff without just tossing it all inside. The centerpiece if the buildings was the gym, where basketball was played. Off to the side was what was probably hallowed ground, at this school. The hoofball field, surrounded by bleachers, the refreshment stands set up to be convenient to the fans. I ignored the nostalgia for a minute, and walked on over to the crime scene. It was a two way alley, an opened dumpster on the side, now filled with police doing dumpster diving. A payphone was also next to the dumpster, leading out to the alley looked pretty old. A small tent was set up, I could see a nurse moving frantically in and out. Must be… “Heya Private,” A familiar voice said. I looked up, and there stood Officer Yang, guarding the crime scene as usual. She smiled at me, a friendly air about her. “Been a while, some of us were saying you’ve gone into retirement.” “As much as Insight probably hopes, I have no plans on retiring yet,” I said firmly. “Where’s your princess?” She asked, looking around me. “My niece wanted an autograph or something.” “Sorry, she’s attending a fashion show with some friends,” I replied. “Got left behind to watch the office.” “All work and no play huh?” Yang said with a laugh. I laughed back. “Anyways, Principal Standard has hired me to look over the crime scene. I can’t believe this was a suicide.” “Chief is going to be pissed if I let you in,” Yang said with faux worry. “He just wants us to write it off as a suicide so he’ll look like he actually can solve a crime. But I have my doubts.” “So, you’re going to let me in and actually do a good job?” I asked. “Totally,” She replied, holding up the tape with her hoof. I ducked under and stepped into the crime scene. Forceps was once again standing over the body. Star Flare looked nothing like her perfectly prepared school picture. Her mane was matted, looking like she hadn’t brushed it in days. Her coat was just as ratty, and a little wet by the looks of things. Must’ve rained a little last night. Forceps chuckled as he saw me, “Well ain’t you sight for sore eyes. I thought it was just going to be me and the stiff this time around.” “Not quite you old stallion,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “What have we got?” “Not a suicide, I’ll give it that much,” Forceps said, gesturing to her chest, I could see two bullet holes embedded there. “Two shots to the chest, looks like a 9mm.” I said to myself, “No way this was a suicide, why would she shoot herself twice in the chest? If she wanted to kill herself, she’d just hold it up to her head.” “That, and that payphone over there,” He said, gesturing to the old machine, “was used to call the 911 number that lead us to the dumpster. Gal on the other line said that she heard two shots.” “Can’t be a suicide then, what the hell is Insight smoking?” I said, facehoofing. “Either way, we have no idea where the gun is, and no idea who our killer is. We only found a few bits and pieces, we got them all over at the tent.” I walked over to said tent, and saw a table was set up. On it were several evidence bags, I looked the first one over. It was her purse, along with her wallet on the side, bits still inside. “Wasn’t a mugging then, guess we can cross that off the list.” I went over to the next bag, and saw a picture of Star Flare along with a large muscular pegasus with shaggy blond hair and a deep brown coat. “Boyfriend, probably a jock, typical high school.” I looked over the next bag, and saw a hairpin with a small bat on it. “Secret goth side? Or does this belong to our killer?” Finally I turned to the last piece of evidence. Laying down inside a glass protector, with enough tubes and instruments attached to make her look part cyborg, was a filly. She had a bright red coat, little tufts of blond hair sticking out of her head as she breathed ever so slowly. Her little stub of a horn was sticking out of that tuft of hair. She was so small, she could fit right in my hooves… The nurse came over and saw me, “Are you Private Eye? Forceps said you would be coming.” “uh, yes,” I said, looking over at her. “Is this the kid?” “Found inside a little basket in the dumpster,” The Nurse said, with a sigh. “Probably left there in the hopes the police would find her and take her into the system. We’re lucky we found her so fast, otherwise she wouldn’t have made it?” “Is she sick?” I asked. “Barely holding on,” The Nurse said, looking worried, “She was born premature, her lungs weren’t developed well and now we have her hooked up to machines that can help her stabilize.” “Keep working on her, Doc,” I said, about to turn away. “Um, there is one other thing,” She said, her horn glowing, slowly opening one of the baby’s eyes..oh my gosh… The eye was bright yellow, and slitted, the baby wailed pitifully as the nurse put the lid back. This baby...was part batpony. A batpony? Here in Manehatten? “Have you got DNA on the parents?” I asked her. “We’ve tried, but Bat Ponies were never exactly forthcoming with medical knowledge. It’ll be a while before we can provide an accurate test as to who the father could be.” The Nurse replied. “I’ll leave you to your work then, do what you can.” I said hopefully. She smiled at me, and went about adjusting the instruments. I walked outside and spotted Yang coming over. “I called in a few favors and we managed to track down some of her associates,” She said, giving me a list. “Quite a list of associates,” I said, looking things over. “Well, school’s about to head in, would be the perfect time to ask around.” “You think you can handle high schoolers?” Yang asked with a grin. Well, they can’t be too different from the Human high schoolers I had to deal with. Right? ____________________________________________________________ As I thought, the interior was cinderblock, painted a nice cream color. Apparently I had went into one of the class buildings, rather than the administration building. Maybe I should have went there. Down the hallway was the classic double-stacked lockers, all festooned with the combo locks that were so popular among students. Guess it’s one less key for the latch-key kids to worry about. A bunch of teen-aged ponies trotted along the hallways, all looking somewhat half-finished, and unformed. As usual there were the jocks, and the popular girls, the geeks and nerds… Why must high school always have these silly groups that divide ponies? “Ooooh mah GOSH!” A group of mares suddenly popped up next to me, judging by their fashionable clothes and loving relationship with make up, these would be the popular clique. “He totally looks like Bean from Supermagical!” “No way! He’s, like, totally in hipster clothes! Who does he think he is? My grandpa?” “Uh, can I help you ladies?” I asked. “Are you like, a detective or something? We saw those cops outside,” One of them said. “Uh, yes, I’m Private Eye.” I said, smiling. Blank stares… “Private Eye? Married to Princess Twilight? Element of Hope? Solver of mysteries? Nothing?” “Are you, like, on TV or something?” Internal double facehoof. And Supermagical? Seriously? Okay Private, just focus on your objective. “Do any of your girls know Star Flare?” I asked politely. “Uh, duh,” One of them said. “She’s like, only the most popular mare in the school.” “Was the most popular mare,” Another said. “She, like, disappeared the last few months.” “Is she like, in trouble or something?” The first one asked. “She, yeah, she’s in some pretty big trouble,” I said, trying to put things gently. “Do you know who her boyfriend was?” “Oh, that would be Field Goal. He’s, like, the best soccer player in the school,” The second one said. “So, what kind of trouble is she in?” Better not say anything, knowing these girls it’ll be spread around the school like wildfire. “We’re still investigating, and can I just say something up front? Stop with the cliques, they aren’t cool, they never will be cool. You’ll look back on them and laugh at how stupid you were for forcing yourself into some predetermined role.” “Pshyeah, right. Just like a total loser to say that,” said one with a roll of her eyes. “What were you, like a total nerd?” Well it was worth a shot. “Thank you for your time girls.” I replied with a curt nod. “Now, where would Field Goal be?” “Probably, like, under the bleachers,” muttered one of the clique fillies. _________________________________________________________ They were certainly close, out in the field a group of young stallions were running around doing gym. Laps appeared to be the main task at hand as they ran around the large gymnasium. Still the same as I remembered it. A large stallion with muscles as big as Bulk...actually they do look a lot alike now that I think about it. The large stallion looked back at me, “Sorry pal, gym-” He blinked as he recognized me, “Private Eye? What the hell are you doing back here?” “Hey Coach Mountainback,” I replied with a smile. “I see you’re now causing more students to suffer through drills.” “Yeah yeah, it helped put you in somewhat shape.” He said with a good natured chuckle. “So, what brings you back here?” “Kind of serious business,” I replied. “I’m looking for Field Goal, your star soccer player.” He blew his whistle and yelled out to the kids, “Alright take five everypony! Field Goal get yer ass over here!” Field Goal was pretty much the same as I saw in the picture. Long messy blonde hair that nearly covered his green eyes, dark brown coat and an athletic build. Definitely your textbook definition of your average jock. “What’s up coach?” He asked, looking between Mountainback and me. “This ere is Private Eye, you may have heard of him.” Mountainback said. “Are you like, the dude on Criminal Equines or somethin?” Field Goal asked. “Reed Provisioner?” Well, closer, but I don’t think I’d make a good profiler. “You dated Star Flare?” I asked. “Yeah, have you seen her?” He asked desperately. “Is she okay? What happened to her?” “Obviously we need to talk.” _____________________________________________________ “She’s dead, I can’t believe it dude,” Field said as he sat on the chair opposite me in Mountainback’s office. “How long have you too dated?” I asked, trying to get him to open up. “Since Freshman year homecoming,” He said, a smile slowly creeping on his face. “She was like, totally hot, but like, totally full of life ya know. She was super smart too! I loved being around her…” “Some of the girls say she was gone the last few months. Anything on that?” I asked. Field shook his head a little. “Nah, her parents told me she was studying abroad or something like that. But it was pretty sudden dude. Like, one minute we were making out under the bleachers, next thing I know, she’s calling me and telling me she’s going on a pretty long trip.” “She didn’t write to you or anything?” I asked. “Did you have any idea where she went?” “Hey! Are you saying my girl was messing around or something?!” He yelled. “Star Flare ain’t that kind of girl! She was one of the nicest ponies you’ll ever meet! She ain’t doin nuthin’ illegal!” “I never said that Mr. Goal,” I said firmly. “I’m simply asking, did she contact you?” Field Goal calmed down after that. “Like, a couple of times, I would call her like, all the time but her parents would be there to answer. They just told me she’d be back soon. I got letters from her, but they were just ‘hey how’re you doing that’s great’ sort of letters. She didn’t tell me anything at all about where she went or anything.” “Did she hang out with anypony suspicious before she, well, vanished?” “Well...she did talk with that Batpony dude before she disappeared…”