//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Looking Glass, P.I: Coins and Crowns // by Kavonde //------------------------------// It took a few minutes of pounding on the wrought iron gates before Jeeves, his tuxedo a bit rumpled and bow tie undone, appeared. He trotted calmly up to the gates, inspected the welt pulsating on the side of my head and the vomit running down my shirt, and asked, “Yes?” “I have a message for Mr. Air,” I told him, urgency thickening my voice. I reached into my coat and passed him the folded sheet of notebook paper I'd only scribbled down a few minutes prior. “It's important. Please, make sure he gets it immediately.” Jeeves' expression never shifted. “I'm afraid Mr. Air only accept visitors between the hours of-” “Ponies' lives are in danger!” I hissed, putting my hoof under the butler's collar and pulling him towards the bars. “Please! Just give it to him! I've got to keep moving, they're looking for me!” I turned and galloped off onto the night without another word, sparing only a glance back to see that Jeeves, unflappable as ever, was returning to the mansion with the note in his mouth. So far, so good. I hoofed it to the rendezvous spot, the very alley outside the Horn and Feather where I'd found Silver's cufflink. I found a hiding spot behind a cluster of garbage cans and settled down to wait. The better part of an hour later, a skinny pony with yellow fur and a windblown, graying mane walked tentatively into the alley. “Er... Mr. Glass?” I stepped out from the shadows behind him, blocking his escape. My hat was pulled low, shadowing my eyes, and I took the effort to make sure my duster billowed dramatically behind me. I got a twinge of satisfaction as he recoiled in surprise. “You set me up, Hot Air.” He stammered, eyes casting about for an escape. “W-what do you mean?” I advanced a step toward him. “You sent me out to Emerald Park, and then you told Nightgale I'd be there.” “I-I wouldn't! Mr. Glass, please, there must be some mistake... ” “There's not,” I said sharply. “I thought there might have been. I liked you, Air. I was hoping I'd actually found one decent pony among the high-hooves in this town. But you're scum, just like the rest.” My hoof went to the horseshoe in my pocket. Hot Air gulped. “Please, Mr. Glass, I don't know what you're-” “See, you lied to me about knowing Calla. That's what tipped me off. Why would you lie about something as minor as that? Well, because maybe you wanted to keep something secret. Maybe you didn't want word getting out that you paid for certain services. But that's a pretty minor scandal in this city, Air. Have you seen what most of the upper crust gets up to? Of course you have.” I took another step forward. “No, it wasn't just embarrassment. You were worried that if ponies started digging into your affairs, trying to find dirt on you or your company, something else would come out. I bet you've got a whole closet full of skeletons; stolen copyrights, plagiarized blueprints... maybe some things even worse.” “I... that's ridiculous, I mean, of course, everypony has a few things he'd rather not be general knowledge, but-” I nodded. “Oh, I know. And sometimes, the wrong pony finds out about your secrets. Sometimes he uses them to make you do things you don't want to. Like reporting all about your meetings with your dead friend's son. Like telling him that the son was planning something big, something big enough that it might be a real threat. Like helping him arrange for such a pony to disappear.” “I-” I slammed my hoof down. “You sold Silver Coin out. You told Crown Jewel everything. You sang like a freaking bird. And when you realized I was getting close to the truth, you sold me out, too.” He stared at me, mouth moving silently. And then, gradually, the terrified facade began to slip away. His shocked expression began to twist into a small, confident smirk. He even started a freaking slow clap. “Well done, detective. When Jeeves told me you'd actually come back to me, I thought I'd greatly overestimated your intelligence. Surely you'd have figured out I'd arranged for your death. Which was a pity, I might add; my favorite niece was among those ponies saved from that psychotic griffon you stopped. I'd rather hoped you wouldn't get in the way.” “Why'd you do it, Air?” I growled. “Why'd you betray your friend's memory?” He rolled his eyes. “We have to look to the future, Mr. Glass. Crown Jewel has a grand vision for this city... indeed, for all of Equestria. I won't jeopardize my place in his new world out of loyalty to a dead pony. Or to his son, however well I thought of him.” “What?” I asked. “What's Crown Jewel planning?” He tsked. “I hardly think that's likely to matter to you. You see, detective, for all your hard work and intuition, you unfortunately failed to ask one obvious question.” His horn suddenly glowed green. I tensed, ready to spring to the side, but all the unicorn did was fire a small, sparkling ball of light into the sky. I watched it in curiosity for a moment before I realized what it was: a signal. “If I was able to bring the Union to bear once, why wouldn't I do it again?” Dark silhouettes descended from the sky, feathered wings stirring a breeze in the cool night air. A dozen or more pegasi landed around me, on the ground, on stacked crates, on the roofs of the surrounding buildings. Nightingale herself, flanked by Hornet and Bandageface, dropped down behind Hot Air. They grinned at me maliciously. “I don't know how you evaded them the first time, detective,” Hot Air continued, “but I assure you, it will not happen again. Honestly,” he added with a seemingly genuine sigh, “I hoped you would be smarter.” “Oh, I am,” I said with a shark's grin. Hooves pressed down on Hot Air's back, pinning him to the ground. He started to shout in surprise, but Nightingale's hoof smashed into his face hard enough to make him bite his tongue. He struggled and squirmed for a moment, but the Union goons were big stallions and didn't let him budge. “You see, Mr. Air,” I explained, mimicking his own arrogant tone, “I've reached an arrangement with Nightingale and her colts. It's not an arrangement I'm especially thrilled about, but it allows me to continue breathing, save Calla Lily, and bring Crown Jewel down. You see, we're going to pay Mr. Jewel a little visit.” I leaned over him, and he shrank away, genuine fear in his eyes. “And you,” I told him, “are going to help me do it.”