//------------------------------// // Strangers in the Night // Story: Moonwing // by Samey90 //------------------------------// Boysenberry punched the carriage wall. “How?” she exclaimed. “How did you let her escape?” “She was pretending to be sick,” the guard replied, rubbing his jaw. “I didn’t expect–” Boysenberry sighed. “Well, you should always expect something like that from a suspect! I’m gonna talk to the boss. We need to move Stellar and her mother.” “I don’t think it’ll be necessary,” the guard said. “She doesn’t know where they are...” “Better safe than sorry,” Boysenberry muttered, walking away. “Those guys are everywhere, remember? The richest ponies in town may be among them...” Scootaloo turned in her bed. When she’d finally gotten home, she was too tired to do anything, so she just fell on the mattress and dozed off. Her ears perked up, catching some noises from the distance. She turned again and her eyes shot open. The noise continued; somepony was screaming in the corridor. Scootaloo shuddered and got out of her bed, tripping over the furniture. Cursing under her breath, she got to the light switch and pushed it. Faint light blinded her, but she rushed to the place where she held her crossbow. She loaded it and darted out of the flat. “Scootaloo!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. She was standing in her pajamas and shuddering. Scootaloo looked at her and lowered her crossbow. “What’s going on?” “S-somepony sneaked into our flat,” Diamond Tiara replied. “He had a knife. C-curtain threw him out of the window.” “Where’s Curtain?” Scootaloo asked. “Is she okay?” Tears flowed down Diamond Tiara’s face. “She’s catatonic. Who was this guy?” “I may be wrong, but I think he was sent to kill me,” Scootaloo replied, rushing to Diamond Tiara’s flat. Curtain Call was lying on the floor, motionless, staring blankly at the wall. The window was broken; Scootaloo could already hear the sirens wailing downstairs. “Curtain?” Diamond Tiara ran to her friend. Curtain Call didn’t react. She was breathing, but her body was stiff – when Scootaloo tried to put her in the recovery position, she found it impossible to bend her limbs. “We need a psychiatrist,” Scootaloo muttered. She heard several ponies climbing up the stairs and walked to the corridor. “Scootaloo!” Riot Shield exclaimed, seeing her. “Did one of your neighbours decide to cash in his chips?” “I’m afraid not,” Scootaloo replied. “He broke into a flat next to mine, armed with a knife. Maybe he got the wrong address.” “Shit,” Riot Shield muttered. “Have you heard what happened tonight? That idiot you caught beat one of the guards and ran away while they were taking her to the hospital.” Scootaloo lowered her head. “Seems that she already managed to pass the news to her friends...” “Yeah.” Riot Shield sighed. “Anyway, that sucker wasn’t lucky. Both your neighbours are, umm...” Scootaloo cleared her throat. “They need a doctor. Curtain Call went catatonic after throwing this guy out of the window. Diamond doesn’t seem well either...” “Okay.” Riot Shield called another guard and told him to find the doctor. Scootaloo looked at the guards who were now crowding in the corridor. Some neighbours also poked their heads from behind their door, watching the situation carefully. Scootaloo looked through the window to see guards surrounding the place where the unfortunate assassin had fallen. “Where’s Boysenberry?” she asked. “She went home,” Riot Shield replied. “She was kinda pissed after Icewind ran away...” Boysenberry sighed. The flat she shared with Tootsie Flute was cheap, and it was its only advantage. To get to it, she had to walk through a dark, narrow nook, smelling of rotting rubbish and filled with squealing of hundreds of rats living in the sewers and basements. Boysenberry thought of Tootsie, who was probably already asleep. The idea of trying some creative uses of a horn they’d read about would have to be postponed again. Boysenberry saw a dark silhouette of a pony crawling from behind the trash cans and shook her head. The neighbourhood she lived in was certainly interesting. She watched the pony staggering towards her and walked faster, trying to reach the door before they met. “Excuse me, ma’am!” the pony said in a raspy voice. “What?” Boysenberry turned towards him, ready to attack or run away. Suddenly, she saw moonlight reflected in a piece of metal and darted to the side immediately. Her right hoof went numb and she felt blood flowing down her fur. “Greetings from Icewind!” the pony exclaimed, raising his knife. Boysenberry screamed when the blade hit her ribs, sliding down. She leaned against the wall, panting heavily and watching the opponent approaching her. Before he raised the knife again, she pushed herself off the wall and rammed into him, knocking him down. “Greetings from my hoof!” Boysenberry muttered through gritted teeth, punching the attacker. “Go to the caves and let that thing eat you!” She punched him once more. Pain almost blinded her. The pony kicked her in the wound, sending waves of torment through her nerves. Boysenberry staggered, trying to land a kick on her opponent, but it missed, causing her to fall. Suddenly, the window above her bursted open. Boysenberry looked there and saw Tootsie Flute jumping from the windowsill and landing between her and the attacker. “Watch out, Tootsie!” Boysenberry screamed. A fit of cough interrupted her and she fell to her knees. The assassin raised his knife and charged at Tootsie, who lowered her head, aiming her horn at him. The light blinded him and he felt the knife slid from his hoof, hitting the pavement with a loud bling. Tootsie didn’t wait for the pony who was trying to hurt her friend to get his bearings. She charged at him and punched him with her front hooves. She smirked, feeling his nose snapping under her horseshoe. Watching him stagger, she hit him again with a powerful right hook, sending him rolling on the pavement. The pony groaned, wiping blood from his nose and trying to recall what happened just a few seconds before. He looked around, but all he could see was his knife lying far away from him, and a young mare with a horseshoe cutie mark, who was standing above him. The pain in his nose was telling him more than he wanted about her special talent. “Lesson for today,” Tootsie muttered. “Don’t fuck with a boxer’s friend. Ever.” She smacked him in the head again, knocking him unconscious. “Go to sleep, asshole.” Boysenberry coughed. Breathing was hard, but she felt that her wounds weren’t too deep. Her vision was a bit blurry; she could barely see Tootsie walking to her. “You okay there?” Tootsie asked, grabbing Boysenberry effortlessly and putting her on her back. “Who was he?” “I need a doctor,” Boysenberry muttered, gritting her teeth. “Fast. Let’s go to Dr. Ventricle. It’s not far away.” She hissed, clenching her wound. “Sure,” Tootsie Flute muttered. She looked at the pony she’d beaten – he was still lying where she’d left him, groaning occasionally. “How about him?” “Get his knife,” Boysenberry replied. “I don’t think it was poisoned, but you never know. I’ll tell the guys to get him by the way. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.” Tootsie nodded and carried Boysenberry down the empty street. Boysenberry groaned – the wound in her leg was only a scratch, but, even though she was holding it, her side was still bleeding, making her oddly light-headed. Boysenberry looked around. She recognised the street Dr. Ventricle lived in. Not far away from there was a home where the guards kept Stellar Dust and her mother. Boysenberry started to wonder if they had been already transferred somewhere else. Suddenly, she saw a flash of bright light. She looked around and realised that she was lying on a sofa in some room with white tiles covering the walls. Several lockers with medicines, bandages, medical journals, and syringes were surrounding her. “She’s awake,” a blue unicorn with brown mane and thick-rimmed glasses said before turning to her. “What’s the last thing you remember?” “The street,” Boysenberry whispered. “I must’ve passed out.” “Better out than away,” Tootsie muttered. “Doc patched you up and called help. They’ll take you to the hospital.” “Can he tell them that I don’t wanna be in the same room with Archer?” Boysenberry asked. “I wouldn’t survive that.” “Archer?” Dr. Ventricle asked. “She’s getting better, from what I’ve heard. She looked bad when I brought her to the hospital. You guys get injured a lot recently...” “Yeah.” Boysenberry winced. “Those guys don’t like screwing around. They–” She paused, hearing the sound of gunfire coming from the outside. She shuddered and got up from the couch. Her vision blurred and she almost collapsed, resting herself against the locker. “What’s going on?” Tootsie asked. “Did that guy bring his friends or what?” “Worse,” Boysenberry muttered through gritted teeth. “They’re trying to foalnap Stellar! I told them to move her to another house!” She tried to get up, but Dr. Ventricle stopped her. “You can’t help,” he said. “Not in your current state.” They heard a crash coming from the outside. Dr. Ventricle and Tootsie ran to the window and saw two carriages that had just bumped into each other. Two paramedics got out of one of them, but the ponies in the other one didn’t even stop – it darted forward, losing pieces of boards, and disappeared behind the corner. “Shit,” Tootsie muttered, turning away from the window. None of them saw a dark, bat-like silhouette descending from the nearby tower and following the damaged carriage. Lost them. Unbelievable, but I lost them. Or rather, they think so. Know the carriage. Know the owner. Know the place. Schwalbe looked around. She was hanging upside-down from the street lamp. Her ears perked up, gathering the sounds coming from all the directions. For a moment, she caught a faint echo of Stellar Dust’s crying. Schwalbe took off. Somepony definitely needed her help. Scootaloo groaned, slamming her head against her desk. The news coming from the town were getting worse with every passing minute. Some guard was shot in the street; the other was stabbed to death in his house. Boysenberry barely survived an attempt on her life. And finally, Stellar Dust was foalnapped by unknown ponies, who shot two guards and heavily wounded another. “I sent four guys to guard Archer,” Charge said. “The lab is checking the boards from that carriage.” “Thanks,” Scootaloo replied, not looking at her boss. “Have you heard anything about Boysenberry?” “Her roommate is trying to convince her not to run away from the hospital to join us here.” Charge shrugged. “We can assume that it’s personal now.” “Yeah.” Scootaloo sighed. “But it won’t help us if we can’t even arrest Fleur dis Lee. Because, of course, none of these guys know her?” “Well, yours isn’t very talkative,” Charge replied. “They’re still scraping him off the pavement, but one of the guys recognised him as the guy he’d arrested for selling drugs to schoolfillies. He was released after paying quite a lot of bits...” “Not surprising,” Scootaloo said. “How about the guy who stabbed Boysenberry?” “Not very talkative either, due to concussion and broken jaw.” Charge smirked. “When we showed him the photos, he recognised Icewind. Seems that they don’t like each other very much.” “That’s always something,” Scootaloo muttered. “But we need to catch all the big fish.” Somepony knocked on the door. “Come in,” Charge said automatically. Riot Shield walked into the office, followed by Schwalbe. Scootaloo raised her eyebrow – she was used to the bat pony bursting through the window, so seeing her using the door surprised her. “Still looking for the carriage?” Schwalbe asked without even looking at Charge. “Close the door. I don’t trust your ponies.” “You don’t?” Charge’s face became red. “What–” “From what I’ve heard, they targeted those connected with Moonwing’s case,” Schwalbe whispered. “You have a mole here.” Charge sighed. “Close the door,” he said to Scootaloo. “What’s going on?” “I took a look at this carriage,” Schwalbe said. “Saw it before.” “Who’s the owner?” Scootaloo asked. “Last time I saw it, it was standing in Rusty Wrench’s workshop,” Schwalbe replied. “It’s in the caves. Rusty repairs various stuff.” “What are we waiting for?” Riot Shield asked. “Let’s go and arrest him.” “Not so fast,” Charge said. “We want to catch all of them.” “Those guys will take care of Stellar for the next two days,” Schwalbe muttered. “Then, they’re going to sacrifice her.” “Where?” Scootaloo asked. “That’s what we need to find out,” Schwalbe replied, staring at everypony. “Somewhere in the caves, I guess.” “The same place where Dr. Stable found Berry Punch, I guess,” Scootaloo said. “We need to tell him to lead us there.” “The ritual takes some time.” Schwalbe licked her lips. “Enough to go hunting...”