//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Sleeping in the Light 
// by Wheller 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4


Say what you will about Pinkie Pie. She may have been obnoxious, but she was certainly polite. When it came time to go to bed, she insisted about sleeping on the sofa, and wouldn't take anything more than that. Kelso did have to admit, despite her obnoxiousness, Pinkie Pie was starting to grow on her.

When Kelso awoke the next morning at the usual time of 0600, she discovered that Pinkie Pie was already awake, and she was making breakfast for them. A wonderful dish of toast de cheval, fried eggs, and sugar coated strawberries.

When Kelso first saw the delicious food that Pinkie Pie had prepared for breakfast, her jaw hit the floor. Pinkie Pie said that she could make pretty much anything, but Kelso hadn't exactly paid her much heed when she had.

Pinkie Pie noticed Kelso standing in the room and smiled brightly at her. 'Good mornnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg!' Pinkie Pie said as she hopped up and down with excitement. 'I made breakfast!' she declared proudly. Kelso did not reply as her jaw was still on the floor. Pinkie Pie giggled and trotted up to the sleepy mare, reaching up with a hoof and closing her mouth for her. 'You're welcome', Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she went back to finishing breakfast.

Not long afterwards, Viola stumbled out of the bedroom sleepily, freezing in place as she smelled the breakfast cooking. ‘Kelso... you can’t cook’, Viola said. ‘It smells too delicious to be you!’

‘It’s not me’, Kelso said, and pointed towards Pinkie Pie. ‘It’s all her’.

‘Uh huh!’ Pinkie Pie said, nodding her head in affirmation. ‘It’ll be ready in five minutes!’ she declared cheerfully as she went back to her work.

‘Okay good, I’ve got some calls to make anyway’, Kelso said with a nod as she trotted back into the bedroom. She picked up the ear piece of her PIP from its resting place on the nightstand and slung it over her ear. She brought up the holographic display, and flicked her eyes to and fro as she brought up the application that she wanted, her mobile phone, and placed the call. The line rang once before answering.

‘Hopely, go’, said the voice on the other end of the line.

‘Good morning! You’re in early Anastasia, are you at your desk?’ Kelso asked.

‘Don’t call me that, and yes, yes I am’.

‘Good to hear, going to visual’, Kelso said as she reached up and touched the earpiece of her PIP. The holographic screen melted away from her eyes, as a secondary emitter sparkled to life, and a glowing orange holographic image of an earth pony mare appeared before her.

‘What can I do for you Kelso?’ DC Hopely asked as she fiddled with the holographic projector on her desk down at headquarters.

‘I’m going to be sending you some information on a person I want you to run through the system, ours, national, Police Internationale... hell, check the NKVD if you can’. Kelso said as she brought the holographic display on her PIP back up and transferred Pinkie Pie’s name and a picture that she had taken of the mare when she had first caught her sleeping on the hood of her car.

‘This is going to take a while’, DC Hopely said as she accepted the transfer.

‘I know, that’s why I want you to get on it as soon as you possibly can’, Kelso said. ‘Head down stairs and use the Crusader, make that lazy dog do something for once’.

‘Will do Detective Sergeant, I’ll have something for you when you and Guv get in’, DC Hopely said with a nod. Her holographic image was looking down at the place where her computer terminal should have been, though it was not visible to Kelso. Something was up; DC Hopely was looking at it far too intensely.

‘Everything okay? Hopely?’ Kelso asked.

‘Yeah... it’s odd though, this name... Pinkie Pie? Sounds familiar... well, I’m going to go run it for you, I should have something for you when you get in, Hopely out’, DC Hopely said with a nod as she extended a hoof towards her terminal, and closed the communications channel.

Detective Constable Anastasia Hopely did not like Kelso; this was something that she knew for sure, and to be fair, Kelso didn’t blame her. Hopely had been a detective for longer than Kelso had. She was a veteran of the Serious and Organised Crime Group of two years, and a uniformed constable for another two before that.

Then, four months ago, the Serious and Organised Crime Group entered its darkest days. In those days, the group had been wracked with corruption from the top down, including Viola Auditore herself. DC Hopely had been the first to stand up to the corruption, and had been forced to flee from the Republic all together, lest she be killed.

Then Kelso came along, and helped Viola to reform, and SOCG stamped out the corruption by pure will alone. Kelso had been promoted to Detective Sergeant, and Hopely had been able to return. Maybe Hopely thought that she should be the one in Kelso’s place.

Frankly, Kelso agreed. Hopely had been the first to stand up to the corruption, she deserved the job just as much as she did, if not more.

She pulled her PIP headset off of her ear and headed back into the kitchen, now it was time for breakfast.

...

DC Hopely took a deep breath as she stepped out of the lift and onto the ground level of the Ponyville Police Service headquarters. She took an immediate turn down a long hallway towards a large steel door. Upon reaching it, she placed her eyes against the security scanner, unlocking the door, and taking a step back as it opened before her.

Hopely trotted inside and looked up at the super computer that filled the centre of the room. This was the Crusader, the most advanced civil computer system ever created. Designed by AppleTec specifically for the PPS, it had more computing power than the central computers of the Canton Police Service, the Greater Manehattan Police, and the Fillydelphia Constabulary put together.

Sitting before the holographic control console was a large grey mass, covered in fur. Otto Büchsenmacher was a schäferhund, a member of a race of large wolf like creatures from Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, a fascist, authoritarian state on the continent Europa, and a long time ally of the Equestrian Republic, and most importantly, a state that understood the threat of communism from the Præsidium.

Otto, was a computer hacker, or as DCI Auditore liked to call, a freelance information retrieval specialist. Despite being a giant meat eating dog, Otto had one of the finest minds of anyone that Hopely had ever known.

‘Wake up!’ Hopely called out to him.

Otto’s head shot up and he reached out for the control panel instinctively. ‘Wasn’t sleeping, just resting my eyes’, he said.

Hopely rolled her eyes in annoyance, she didn’t really care either way to be perfectly honest. Otto rarely left this room except to go to the restroom, and get food. Otherwise, he practically lived here, it was his domain, if he wanted to sleep overnight here, that was his business. ‘It’s six in the morning Otto’, Hopely informed him.

‘Oh... well then’, Otto said letting out a loud yawn. ‘What can I do you for?’

‘I’ve got this one dog boy’, Hopely said as she stepped forward. ‘Apple Bloom?’

At the mention of the name, a holographic image of an earth pony mare appeared before them. ‘Howdy y'all! What can I do you for?’ the hologram said.

This was Apple Bloom, the Crusader Super Computer’s Virtual Intelligence construct. Virtual Intelligences were specialised computer programs that allowed for better interface with computer systems. Cleverly programmed, VIs were able to simulate interaction with a real person, though they were not actually self aware. Apple Bloom had come with the Crusader, and apparently, had been patterned after AppleTec’s founder.

‘Apple Bloom, I need you to run a name though several databases, local, national, and Police Internationale, the name is Pinkie Pie’, Hopely said.

‘Well sure thing! I can do that!’ the VI said with a toothy smile. ‘Estimated time to completion is two hours forty five minutes!’

Hopely let out a small sigh and nodded her head. ‘Yeah, I figured... oh, and check NHS too! Might be worth a look’, Hopely added as she turned around to head back out. ‘Send the results to my desk please’.

‘Of course!’ the VI said. ‘I will have those for you as soon as they’re ready DC Hopely!’

‘Thank you’, Hopely said as she put her eyes to the security scanner to open the door. ‘Try not to drool on the keyboard again, huh Otto?’

‘That was one time, Detective Constable, and I was hungry’, Otto said coldly as he sat up in his seat and pulled himself up to the console. Hopely smirked, the schäferhund was so easy to get riled up. She headed out the door, and back over to the lift. The door slammed shut behind her, and Hopely went on with the rest of her morning, business as usual.