//------------------------------// // Always Someone Better // Story: Moonwing // by Samey90 //------------------------------// Button Mash took a deep breath and entered the hospital room. Just a few minutes before, he saw two ponies, an older mare and a young stallion carrying an unconscious nurse somewhere. He thought that she’d probably passed out from exhaustion and thus she wouldn’t mind if he visited Archer. Archer’s heart monitor was working steadily, beeping quietly as Button approached her. Even if it wasn’t there, it’d be easy to see that Archer was alive – she was snoring loudly, muttering something from time to time. “Archer?” Button whispered. Archer’s eyes snapped open. Button winced when her hind leg connected with his side. Luckily for him, the kick was quite weak. Archer hissed and looked at Button. She smiled and reached for her quill and notebook. You should be happy that I didn’t have a crossbow, she wrote. They’d bring you directly to the morgue. “That’s why they don’t let the patients have crossbows,” Button whispered. “How are you?” Sleep-deprived. Couldn’t you wait till the morning? “I wanted to see you now,” Button replied, kissing Archer’s cheek. “I was just thinking...” He paused, seeing that Archer was writing something. I have a new hole, if that’s where you’re going. Though I guess the doctors wouldn’t approve. Button smacked his forehead with his hoof. “No, silly... I was just... you know, I love you and...” Button scratched his mane. “I think that you shouldn’t work as a guard. You can go to archery competitions... Just don’t do anything that can get you killed...” Archer sighed, narrowing her eyes. “Last time I went to a competition, somepony shot a judge in his hotel room from over a hundred metres,” she said in a raspy voice, not even bothering to get the notebook. “Tough shot, but there were twenty suspects in town. Get it? I just love solving such cases.” Button shook his head. “Either work or me,” he said. “Can I think about it when it’s not the middle of the night and I’m not feeling like shit?” Archer asked. She turned in her bed as much as the various tubes surrounding it let her. Groaning, she tried to cover herself with a blanket, but suddenly, she hissed and grabbed her stomach. “You okay?” Button asked, helping her with the blanket. Archer nodded. “Should I call a nurse? You didn’t tear anything, umm... inside, did you?” Archer opened her mouth, but a fit of coughing interrupted her. She shook her head, reached for her pen, and started to scribble something in her notebook. If you find any, tell her that I’d throw up, but this shit they feed me ain’t good even for that. Archer winced, spitting the pen. “No, seriously, get somepony here...” she whispered. “Painkillers wearing off...” Button rushed out of the room. “I don’t get it,” Scootaloo muttered, staring at the paper in front of her. Some of the scribblings were crossed out and she noticed that Boysenberry drew something rather inappropriate in the corner. “You just arranged them in a table...” “Which has nine rows and eleven columns, yes,” Boysenberry said. “Still, it doesn’t explain anything.” Riot Shield waved the paper with his magic and looked at it closer. a e e s o m a s e f d a t h m t t r i b k o i e w h h l y a b m r i e i l t b e o n l p m y h l g n i l o t e e i m g g w o u n v i h i e u n e e d t v r c s e n s t e o h p d t u h u v “You seriously can’t see that?” Boysenberry asked, sighing. “Read along the columns, not the rows!” Scootaloo looked at the paper again. “Oh shit...” she muttered. The encrypted message was saying: A filly touched by the Unspeakable needs to be given to him on Midsummer night. That will give us the power over him. “So, we have a week, right?” Riot Shield asked. “Also, what do they mean by being touched by the Unspeakable?” “Well, unless they wait another year,” Boysenberry said. “We caught a few of them. Maybe they keep their identities secret even from each other, but there’s no way those idiots know totally nothing. We need to push them a bit.” She stood up. Scootaloo put her hoof on Boysenberry’s shoulder. “Dr. Stable!” she exclaimed. “He was in the caves and they wanted to kidnap his daughter. Cygnus lived in those caves... Maybe she or her daughters wandered there?” “They’d be dead now,” Boysenberry muttered, shaking Scootaloo’s hoof off of her. “That thing makes ponies attack other ponies, remember?” “I guess it’s weakened, or something,” Scootaloo said. “Maybe we should go and contact Twilight Sparkle. If someone knows something more about this thing, it’d be her.” “Meanwhile, we’ll have to protect those fillies for a week,” Riot said. “Stellar is already in one of our safe houses, protected by our best ponies. Maybe we should do the same with Heart Beat?” “They already have our bodyguards there,” Scootaloo muttered. “But yeah, we can talk to Charge about that.” Riot Shield nodded. “I’ll go to him.” He stood up and left the room. He barely left when the door opened again and Ice Pick stood in it. “Here you are,” she said. “I brought you a suspect. She’s kinda sleepy, but she should be able to talk soon...” “Who’s she, exactly?” Scootaloo asked. “I checked her. Her name is Icewind and she is a nurse. Her shift was long over, yet she came to me and tried to take Stellar. She has been caught stealing meds once, but someone hushed this up...” “Interesting,” Boysenberry muttered. “So, let’s see what our nurse has to say...” They walked to the interrogation room where a greyish pegasus was sitting, her face hidden in her hooves. When the door slammed behind them, she raised her head and looked at them. “I get it,” she said, slurrying slightly. “Good cop and bad cop?” “Bad cop and homicidal cop,” Boysenberry replied, narrowing her eyes. “I want a lawyer,” Icewind said quickly. “I won’t tell anything without my lawyer.” “Oh, I have no doubts.” Scootaloo circled around the table, staring at Icewind. “He’ll be here soon. I have a feeling that he’ll make us wonder how a nurse can afford such a good lawyer...” “Also, lots of things can happen while your lawyer is on the way.” Boysenberry looked at her hoof and leaned closer to Icewind, whispering, “Like, you can fall down the flight of stairs and snap your neck.” “Boysenberry!” Scootaloo hissed. “That’s threatening,” Icewind muttered. “Also, one of you already broke my friend’s hooves and locked him in the fridge. My lawyer–” “Oh, so this guy is your friend?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s not us who broke his hooves, but it’s nice that you know him. He told us interesting things about fillies... and the Unspeakable.” Icewind’s left eye twitched. “I don’t know him. He was my patient, that’s all. Also, what fillies? What’s the Unspeakable?” “You’d better start to talk,” Boysenberry said, staring at Icewind and smirking. “Your friends won’t help you. One of them shot a guard, not to mention killing and kidnapping. They’ll blame you and run away...” “Also, my cousin told me an interesting story, recently.” Scootaloo leaned closer to Icewind. “About a pegasus mare who wanted to burn a bat pony’s house. They put her in a cell with three bat mares... Do you know what they did to her?” “Those three are still in prison, you know,” Boysenberry said. “I wonder how they’ll react to a tip-off that you killed a filly...” “I didn’t!” Icewind exclaimed. “It was that dumb cunt, Cyan Skies!” “Oh, we already know about that,” Scootaloo said. “But we hope that you’ll tell us more names...” “I can’t,” Icewind said, hiding her face in her hooves. “You saw what they did to Cyan... They’ll kill me too...” “I’m almost moved,” Boysenberry deadpanned. “Maybe if you cry some more in the court, they’ll give you a life sentence instead of–” “I... I’d tell you if I knew those guys...” Icewind said. “There’s that guy... Always masked. And there was a mare. She was mostly talking with Cyan. Unicorn, I think. Always masked and cloaked. Smelled of some foreign perfume. They helped me when I was caught stealing meds and paid for my rehab. Lawyers, doctors, reporters... The guy who contacted me first is a doctor, his name is Terminal... Axon Terminal.” “We’ll talk to him,” Scootaloo said. “Did you know someone else?” “No, this was all our group. Me, Doctor Terminal, and Stormcloud. I knew Cyan only because she was sometimes giving us messages. During the meetings we were masked.” “Meetings?” Boysenberry asked. “What meetings?” “Rituals. I was only in one, a few months ago,” Icewind said. “That masked guy was reading some old book near the collapsed cave. I didn’t understand a single word. We’ve never got any invitation after that.” “Okay,” Scootaloo muttered. “You’d better stay here.” She gave Boysenberry a look and they walked out of the room. “So, what do you think?” Boysenberry asked. “They’re clever,” Scootaloo said. “Split into small groups, so if we catch one, they won’t betray too many of their companions. I guess they pretend they’re bigger than they really are.” “Yeah.” Boysenberry yawned. “I haven’t slept for, like, last two days.” “Me neither.” Scootaloo sighed. “I think I’ll go home. Tomorrow I’ll go to Ponyville to talk with Twilight.” “And I’ll take a day off,” Boysenberry said. “Tootsie probably forgot how I look like...” “Who?” Scootaloo asked. “My roommate,” Boysenberry replied. “Sometimes more. Hey, you two were in school together! You should know her.” “Tootsie? Yeah, maybe...” Scootaloo muttered, suddenly thinking of Shady Daze. “Also, what do you mean by ‘more’? I always thought that you and Riot–” Boysenberry shook her head. “No way, he’s older than me... Also, it’s nothing serious. Benefits, mostly.” Scootaloo nodded. “Interesting that we barely know each other... Coffee?” “It’s night.” Boysenberry sighed. “I wanna go home and go to sleep instead of walking around like a caffeine-powered zombie. Tootsie finds it disturbing.” “Yeah...” Scootaloo yawned. “Maybe later. Let’s go home...” It was early morning when Scootaloo got back home. She landed in front of the door and immediately saw Curtain Call sitting on a bench and smoking a cigarette. “Hello,” Curtain Call said, trying to focus only on Scootaloo, not watching the street behind her. “Can’t sleep. Also, some guy was knocking at your door. I told him that you’re at work, but he said that he’d wait.” “Thanks,” Scootaloo muttered. “How’s Diamond?” “Better than me,” Curtain Call replied. “But hey, who said that life is fair...” “Yeah...” Scootaloo walked to the door. “Say, if you were locked for most of your life, with ponies constantly telling you that you killed your parents, and if you realised one day, that you really did... What’d you do?” Curtain Call asked. “No idea,” Scootaloo said. “Seriously...” “Yet I have to deal with that...” Curtain Call blew out the smoke and sighed. “No wonder I can’t sleep.” Scootaloo nodded. “Okay, I’ll see what’s going on with this guy. Take care, Curtain.” Trotting upstairs, Scootaloo wondered who was that. She hoped it’d be Shady Daze, but she couldn’t get rid of a nasty feeling that the mysterious organisation that killed Moonwing could send somepony to deal with her. “Scootaloo? Is that you?” she heard a familiar voice above her. “Button?” Scootaloo felt that her stomach froze. “Is something wrong with Archer?” “She’s alive,” Button replied. “But everything hurts her. She asks how’s the investigation.” “We made a breakthrough,” Scootaloo said, opening the door of her flat. “It’s all secret, you know.” “Yeah, I get it,” Button muttered. “Scootaloo...” “Yes?” “I told her to give up her job or I’ll break up with her,” Button said, staring at the floor. “And?” Scootaloo asked, yawning louder than it was necessary. “I don’t know,” Button replied. “I have a feeling she doesn’t love me anymore.” “It’s Archer,” Scootaloo said. “Sometimes I think my aunt dropped her on her head one time too many when she was a foal. Give her time to think.” She looked at Button. “Lots of time.” “But still... She could’ve died and–” “Listen, I’m not the best at this, okay?” Scootaloo sighed. “My previous coltfriend landed in jail and last guy I met has probably already forgotten that I exist. And I kinda haven’t slept for a while.” “Okay,” Button muttered. “Maybe I’ll go back to Archer...” “I’ll join you later,” Scootaloo said before closing the door. The carriage rode from the station. For some time it was riding between the crowd of ponies going to work, before the pony pulling it chose a way down. Icewind stretched her wings. She shuddered – the carriage wasn’t very big and she started to feel uncomfortable. For a moment she thought about Stormcloud, locked in the fridge in the morgue. She found a piece of paper tucked under her wing and grabbed one of her feathers with her teeth. The feather was still alive and she hissed pulling it off. She noticed a drop of blood on its tip and started to write quickly, from time to time poking the wound with the feather to get more blood. tio een hhd msk aee eys eff ymo eyi ile udg nll fgt odl hru hnt y She didn’t write any numbers. From what she knew, the guards already knew that code, so it’d be useless. The pony to whom the message was addressed knew how to read it. Icewind moved her face to a hole in the wall, smelling the air. A sharp odour of barley malt told her that they were in the lower district of the capital and the brewery was nearby. Icewind banged her hoof against the wall of the carriage. “Excuse me,” she said. “I haven’t taken a leak before we left, so if you don’t want any mess in the carriage...” “Sure,” the guard pulling the cart muttered. “There should be some toilet here. Just try not to show up too much. Your friends may be hunting for you...” “I know,” Icewind muttered. The carriage stopped and she walked out of it. Indeed, there was a toilet there – a small staircase leading to a basement with a row of stalls. The guard gave Icewind a bit so she could pay and she walked downstairs. “Hello,” Icewind said to the washroom attendant – an older mare with long, greyish blue mane. “My stomach is a bit upset. Must be the salad I ate.” She threw a bit on the counter. “Watch out for stall number three,” the washroom attendant said, her expression unchanged. “It’s haunted.” “I’m not afraid of the ghosts,” Icewind said and put a piece of paper on the counter. “Have a nice day.” She trotted to the stall. Few minutes later, Icewind walked out of the toilet and went back to the carriage, bumping into some sleepy bat mare walking down the street. The bat mare only looked at her and trotted to the toilet. “Morning,” she said to the washroom attendant, who didn’t even look at her, reading a newspaper. “My stomach is a bit upset...” “Yeah, take the message and get the fuck out,” the washroom attendant muttered. “... must be some foal-killing fucker I ate...” The washroom attendant raised her head – right in time to see a pair of yellow eyes with slit pupils glaring at her from under half-closed eyelids.