Scootaloo stood in the middle of her living room, speechless. She looked at Stellar Dust, then at Schwalbe again. “Who is Moonwing?” she asked finally.
“My sister,” Stellar Dust replied, weeping. “She took her.”
“Who?”
Instead of a reply, Stellar Dust gave out a long, ear-piercing shriek that, Scootaloo was sure, woke up everypony in the house. Indeed, after the filly went silent, Scootaloo heard Shady Daze trying to walk through her bedroom, bumping into things and cursing.
“What was that?” Scootaloo asked Schwalbe.
“Echo,” Schwalbe replied. “She doesn’t see, so she uses it to know where she is. That’s how it sounded to her when it bounced off the mare that took Moonwing.”
“Can you understand that?”
Before Schwalbe could reply, Shady Daze entered the room and stopped in his tracks, seeing the two bat ponies in the middle of the room. “What’s going on?” he asked groggily.
Schwalbe smirked, approached him, and gave him a wink. “You did well. Heard everything.”
“You heard us... what?” Shady’s blush could be seen even in the dim light of the moon.
“Shh... Filly’s here.” Schwalbe muttered. “Sit and listen, Big Boy.” She turned to Scootaloo. “A pegasus mare. Young, cyan and purple. Dunno which is which. Smelled of perfumes.”
Scootaloo looked at Stellar Dust in awe. “She figured that out just by listening to the echo of her voice?”
“Also smelled her.” Schwalbe sighed. “Know that mare? Took Moonwing and flew away.” She pointed at Stellar Dust. “Kid says she wandered through the caves for a week. Bats started to talk but only I found her.”
“Wait.” Shady Daze looked around, as if he wanted to find a quill and a piece of parchment. “You mean that Moonwing is that filly who–”
“Shh...” Schwalbe pointed at Stellar Dust who was listening to every single word of their conversation. “Doesn’t know.”
“Oh...” Shady nodded. Scootaloo looked at Stellar Dust and thought of Moonwing, whose body was probably lying in the morgue, waiting for the autopsy.
“Why did you come to me?” Scootaloo asked. “We need to get her to the station. She’s our only witness!”
“Don’t trust them,” Schwalbe replied. “They don’t trust me. Mit dir kann ich die Pferde stehlen... Take her to the station. Need to check something.” She took off and flew through the window, leaving Shady and Scootaloo with Stellar Dust.
The filly gave out a short squeak and flapped her wings, landing clumsily on the couch. She yawned, revealing two small, yet sharp fangs, one of them in the upper jaw and the other in the lower, which made Scootaloo wonder if bat ponies also had milk teeth.
“I’ll get some blanket,” Scootaloo said. “Where’s my uniform?”
“I’m afraid it got rumpled a bit...” Shady smiled sheepishly.
“Doesn’t matter,” Scootaloo muttered. “Get the taxi or something...”
“I can fly myself!” Stellar Dust exclaimed.
“You should be sleeping...” Scootaloo said.
“At night?” Stellar Dust asked. Scootaloo suddenly remembered that bat ponies such as Schwalbe or Dusk Dancer were an exception rather than a rule; Dusk Dancer was, as she called it, crepuscular – mostly active at dusk or dawn, though she preferred to sleep at night. About Schwalbe, Scootaloo wasn’t sure if she ever slept.
“Okay,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. She forced herself to smile at the filly. “We’ll go to the ponies who will want to talk with you about a mare who took Moonwing, okay?”
Stellar Dust nodded. “I’m hungry...” she muttered.
Scootaloo sighed. Of course, Schwalbe didn’t think of feeding the filly. Scootaloo tried not to think what Stellar Dust was eating for a week since Moonwing was kidnapped.
“Umm... What do you want?” Scootaloo asked, hoping that it wouldn’t be a roasted rat or something similar.
“I like pineapples and kiwis,” Stellar Dust replied. “Mommy said they are healthy...”
Scootaloo thought that she indeed had some kiwis in the kitchen. She started to wonder if the filly could smell them. “Where’s your mommy?” she asked, walking to the fridge.
“She went to rich ponies,” Stellar Dust said. “She leaves me with Moonwing and brings the money.”
“And where’s your daddy?” Scootaloo put a kiwi in front of Stellar Dust. The filly grabbed and devoured it quickly.
“Mommy says he kicked the bucket,” Stellar Dust replied absentmindedly, her mouth full of the second kiwi. “I don’t kick any buckets, so I don’t know.”
Shady Daze came back to Scootaloo’s flat. “I got a taxi,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Scootaloo grabbed a blanket and wrapped Stellar Dust in it, despite her protests. They walked downstairs and sat in the carriage.
Twenty minutes later, Stellar Dust, accompanied by a psychologist, was telling her story to Charge. Scootaloo was surprised to see her boss getting on well with the filly. Working with him, it was easy to forget that he had two grandchildren himself.
Scootaloo went to the social room, hoping to get some coffee. To her surprise, she saw Archer sitting at the table and reading something.
“Hello,” Archer said. “I thought it wasn’t your shift tonight, was it?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Scootaloo replied. “Schwalbe brought that blind filly to me, so I had to come here...”
“Oh yeah, Schwalbe,” Archer muttered. “She thinks sleep is something that happens to the others. Also, why is that reporter here?”
“Shady?” Scootaloo asked. “He was with me when–” She paused seeing Archer’s smile.
“You and him?” Archer laughed. “I’ve never expected that from you, cousin...”
“Oh, shut up,” Scootaloo muttered. “I just had the same conversation with Schwalbe, of all the ponies.”
Archer shook her head. “Oh Celestia, that must’ve hurt... And who is that blind filly?”
“Moonwing’s sister,” Scootaloo replied. “Moonwing was the name of our victim.”
Archer immediately stopped smiling. “Where was she?”
“In the caves. Apparently Moonwing was kidnapped a week ago and killed only now,” Scootaloo said. “Their father is dead and Stellar Dust told me that her mom went ‘to the rich ponies.’ Do you know what does it mean?”
“At 3 AM?” Archer shrugged. “She was a thief or a whore. That’s all I can think of. Something else?”
“The foalnapper was a pegasus mare,” Scootaloo replied. “Either cyan with purple mane or purple with cyan mane, if Schwalbe got Stellar’s description right.” Scootaloo explained the way Stellar Dust was perceiving ponies to Archer.
“So, that Cracker is innocent,” Archer muttered. “What the hell is cyan, by the way?”
“Think Rainbow Dash, but more green,” Scootaloo replied. “Stellar also mentioned that she smelled of some perfumes.”
“What perfumes?” Archer asked. “That might be important...”
“You read too many novels,” Scootaloo said. “She can just use the other perfumes tomorrow...”
“Maybe,” Archer muttered. “But did they live in the caves, or what? Maybe we should go to the place where Schwalbe found that filly?”
“Not now,” Scootaloo replied. “I’d like to go back to bed, you know. What are you even doing here?”
“I had a small argument with Button,” Archer replied. “He thinks I’m working too much.”
“And your answer was to go to work, huh?” Scootaloo shook her head. “Way to go, Archer...” She stood up. “I’m going home.”
Before she could leave the room, the door opened. “Hello,” Boysenberry said, walking inside with Stellar Dust on her back. The filly slid off it and walked to Archer. Her ears perked up.
“Hey!” Stellar Dust exclaimed, pointing in Scootaloo’s general direction. “You look just like her, but without wings...”
“Yeah, never heard that before...” Archer muttered.
“So now you know.” Stellar Dust smiled and walked to Archer, wrapping her hooves around her leg, much to Archer’s dismay.
“What will happen to her?” Scootaloo asked, staring at Archer trying to free herself from Stellar’s grasp.
“Soon someone will take her to the orphanage,” Boysenberry replied, stroking her braid automatically. They walked out of the room, leaving the bat filly with Archer. “She’s been through a lot. No father, disappearing mother... Moonwing was practically bringing her up and remember that she was six...”
“I know,” Scootaloo muttered. “Umm... did you tell her about Moonwing?”
“The psychologist will tell her about that soon,” Boysenberry replied. “She’s strange. You saw her... She’s happy now, but at first she didn’t want to talk with Charge. She prefers to talk with mares.”
“She spent a week in the caves, eating some leftovers she found,” Scootaloo said. “She doesn’t seem phased...”
“Mother was leaving them for a long time.” Boysenberry looked at the door of the room and sighed. “Unless... Do you trust that Schwalbe?”
“As far as she can be trusted,” Scootaloo replied. “I don’t think she killed Moonwing. That’s not her style.”
“What’s her style then?” Boysenberry asked.
Scootaloo hesitated. She’d heard a lot of things about Schwalbe. Schwalbe herself told her about the fate of a gang of three bat ponies who used to terrorise some districts of Canterlot, only to disappear and not be heard of again. She killed changelings, ponies, griffons, and other creatures, but she’d never killed anyone who, according to her, didn’t deserve that.
“She’d never kill a foal,” Scootaloo said.
“If you say so...” Boysenberry shrugged.
The door opened and Archer walked to them, carrying Stellar Dust on her back. The filly grabbed her ear with her mouth and pulled it gently. “She isn’t that bad,” Archer said.
“Watch out.” Scootaloo laughed. “She’ll suck your blood or something...”
“I don’t suck blood!” Stellar Dust protested. “Moonwing does...”
“You can suck my blood if you want,” Archer said. “Maybe you want to stay with me? Guess Button won’t mind...”
Suddenly the filly froze, her ears perking up. Scootaloo looked back and saw Charge approaching them, accompanied by an older earth mare with thick-rimmed glasses – Ms. Ice Pick, the psychologist.
“We’re going to take Stellar to the orphanage,” Charge said. “She’s going to stay there till we find her mother.”
“She can stay with me,” Archer replied quickly, feeling that Stellar clenched her hooves around her. The filly hissed at Charge, trying to make eye contact with him. The fur on her back raised, making her appear bigger.
Charge shuddered when he looked into Stellar’s pale eyes. He wanted to say something, but Ice Pick approached the filly. “Listen, Stellar,” she said slowly, carefully choosing every word. “I know that you’d rather stay here, but we need to find your mommy... And if she wants to find you too, she’ll look for you where other kids are.”
Stellar stopped hissing, but she was still holding Archer.
“We really have to go,” Ice Pick said softly. “I can assure you that Archer will soon come to you, right?” She gave Archer a threatening glare.
“Yes... Of course...” Archer muttered. “Listen, Stellar... We have to go and find your mommy, okay? Be a good girl and go with Pick. See you later.”
Stellar Dust reluctantly let Archer go and trotted to Ice Pick, giving out silent squeaks to find way. The psychologist lifted her and put her on her back. Archer watched them as they walked away and turned to Scootaloo. “Gonna catch some z’s and we can talk to Schwalbe about those caves.”
Charge cleared his throat. “Another thing... What is that reporter doing here? Should I arrest him?”
Scootaloo smiled sheepishly. “He came here with me,” she replied. “He was with me when Schwalbe brought Stellar to us.”
“Tell him not to write anything about that,” Charge said. “Once we know more, I’ll issue an official press statement.”
“Sure,” Scootaloo replied and waved at Shady. “Stop sneaking around and let’s go home!”
Archer opened the door of her flat and trotted to the bedroom, tripping over boxes in the darkness. She’d told Button many times not to use the living room as a storage for comics, toys, and merchandise, but it was like trying to reason with a brick wall. Finally, she found a safe way to her bed. She was about to lie down on it, when she saw that Button was lying across it, snoring loudly.
“Button!” she hissed. “Wake up, idiot!”
“I swear, officer, it’s not my fault!” Button muttered groggily. “Somepony keeps dumping dead tramps in my bed...”
“What?” Archer raised her eyebrows.
Button opened his eyes and looked at her. “Ah, it’s you,” he muttered, moving to his side of the bed.
“Still mad at me?” Archer asked, placing herself next to him.
“A bit,” Button replied, burying his face in a pillow. “Where were you?”
“Scootaloo found the sister of our victim. She’s four and...” Archer’s ears drooped. “...she’s blind.”
“So, you care about a blind bat filly more than about me?” Button asked, turning to Archer and looking into her eyes.
“Yes,” Archer replied bluntly. Seeing Button’s expression, she added, “I mean... You’re great and all, but... She lost her father, sister, and her mother is missing... Don’t you get it?”
“I get it,” Button replied. “It’s just... We barely see each other. You know what it reminds me of? Sweetie Belle. She kept travelling across Equestria while I was still in Ponyville. You know how it ended...”
“Oh, come on...” Archer muttered. “I’m still in the same town... And I don’t have a lover. I stopped screwing randomly met cute little painters and other hay fries tramps when I was eighteen. You’re a great guy, Button, really, but I have to work...”
“Yeah.” Button sighed. “But there’s work, blind fillies, some mares you assault in their houses, and somewhere at the end of that list there’s me. No offense, Archer, but that’s how it looks like.” He turned away from her.
Archer crawled closer to him and hugged him. “Sorry, Button...” she whispered into his ear. “If that’s what you feel... I’ll get better, I promise. Just give me some time...” She thought for a moment. “Hey, it’s our fifth anniversary in two weeks. We really need to spend some time together...”
Button turned to her. “You remembered?” He sighed. Even in the darkness, Archer could feel that he was blushing. “I... I was going to propose to you... But now I don’t know.”
Archer smiled and kissed him. “I know,” she whispered, wrapping her hooves around Button. “And I totally agree...”