Chapter 3: Clock is Ticking
The sun shone its majestic beams through the dense alleyways. Fencing and scattered bins lay around the back of every building. The hustle and bustle of the nearby town centre could be heard from within, but the prevailing noise was that of the wind rushing through the back streets. It was midday, and by this time most ponies were taking a break from their not so busy lifestyles. This was a lifestyle which, not so long ago, was all too familiar to one pegasus, but times had most certainly changed.
Her hooves bounded heavily as she ran across the rooftop. She jumped regularly to avoid the cavern-like falls between the buildings. She was breathing hard but, to her, it was a regular pace which could only be beaten by intensive flying. Hazardously, she glanced down over the edge of the building as she ran; the masked earth pony ran quickly through the alleyways. She turned a corner atop the roof as he did below. It would have been much easier to keep up by flying, but her uniform prevented all but the simplest of wing movements.
She looked up ahead in the long alleyway. A fence had meshed at the wall at either side. A smile spread across her face, he’s trapped. She jumped downward, heading straight at the pony. She broke her fall with two quick flaps of her wings and was only a few metres behind him.
The sound of their hooves against the hard concrete reverberated throughout the pathway. The sounds seemingly echoed to a near deafening level. She sped up to the pace she was capable of, her hooves pounded heavily against the floor and her breathing sped up as she did so. When near enough, she gave a powerful flap with her wing propelling her above the startled earth pony.
She grabbed onto his neck tightly but was quickly shaken off causing her to fall by his side. He hit her in the jaw as he sped off faster than before. She hit the ground running but was dazed by the blow, the taste of blood was noticeable but, in her anger, she barely noticed.
“No flying,” she said imitatively, “breaking civil appearance,” she continued. She threw off her navy jacket and jumped spreading her cyan wings. “I’ll show them what a real pegasus can do.”
She flapped in several powerful strokes, raising her high into the air. The sun shone through her cyan feathers casting a shadow of an angel below. The earth pony had quickly reached the fence and had slowly begun to clamber over.
The wind sailed through her mane as she flew at near rainboom speed; her wings caught the flow of the alleyways gale throwing her even faster toward the earth pony who was blissfully unaware of the rainbow bullet rapidly speeding toward him.
He reached the top of the fence and jumped down to the floor. Once he was airborne, the speeding form of an angry mare struck him hard against the waist. In an air to air tackle, she propelled all of her speed into him and followed it through so they both collided noisily with the litter filled bins.
The dust settled and the pegasus towered above the broken earth pony, blood was dripping down the corner of her mouth. He lay in a state of total bewilderment.
She picked him up by his chest and held him up to her face. “You see that blood,” she shouted angrily at his almost unconscious form. He gave a low grunt as a response. Holding him at arm’s length, she swung her hoof in succession with each word, “You.” The first blow was in the stomach, “Did.” The second was straight at his nose, blood gushed forth almost immediately, “That!” The last blow hit him square on the chin, his eyes rolled back as the hoof connected.
She dropped his lifeless form and wiped her mouth spreading a mixture of both their blood across her hoof. After returning to her jacket, she picked up the radio in the pocket.
She swung her jacket over her shoulder and stared down at his bloodied and unconscious state. Holding in the receiver, she spoke clearly into the radio, “Suspect has been neutralized.”
* * *
“...One last time, Rainbow.”
He slammed his hooves against the desk and leaned forward. His overshadow covered her due to light hanging above his horn. She looked back up from the floor to look into his eyes. Her face bore a casual look, as her eyes were close with a look of disapproval: a look which she knew from schooling years annoyed teachers, and, judging by his aggression, interviewers alike.
A deep frown was set across his face, and beads of perspiration were starting to glisten, “How did he get so injured,” he emphasised every word and raised his voice toward the end.
He stood upright as she leant forward, a smile of confidence spread across her face. “From the fall.”
“So he broke two ribs in the fall.”
“Yes.”
“Broke his nose in the fall.”
“Yes.”
“Became concussed from the fall.”
“Yes.”
“Chipped a tooth, and fractured an arm, all from the fall.”
She leant back into the chair and stared at the recording camera in the corner of the room, “Yes.”
He gave a groan of agitation as she finished her last line. A smile spread across her face. From behind the one way mirror, a voice was fed through the intercom.
“That's all, Clance, you’ve done enough,” the thick voice was that of Detective Clock. He was the lead detective in Ponyville, however had been called upon for this matter.
The grey detective walked sullenly into the room. His head was low, but he had an unmistakable presence about him. A presence which he had developed from many years working on the force. He patted Clance on the back has he passed through the door.
“Well, Ms Dash,” he spoke powerfully. It sickened her to think that he felt so high and mighty. In comparison to what she had achieved, he was a merely a sideshow, but respect was his perquisite she needed to acknowledge.
“That would be Sergeant Dash if I’m not mistaken,” she always found it distasteful not to use a rank if it had been earned.
“Well,” he seemed to chuckle slightly as he spoke, “I’m afraid you are mistaken,” a sinister grin appeared across his face. “If you had admitted to the blatant assault we could have dropped the charge.”
She stood up out of her chair, her breaths heavy with rage. “You can’t reduce me just like that!” she shouted at him.
He flicked his ear with his hoof. “Evidently Miss Dash, I can,” his tone was confident and subtly childish. “But you won’t be demoted for long,” he sang in a cheerful tone as he made his way over to stand next to her, “Only a month or two of execution duties and you can consider yourself a Sergeant once again.” He turned and began walking out of the room.
She fell into her chair in a stroppy way. A deep sigh sounded from her. “Am I relieved now?” she asked.
He continued walking but shouted back, “you have until the end of the week, Ms Dash.”
“Thank you, sir,” she called through the door, but no response came.
She waited for a few moments contemplating what she had done. She had acted rather rash, she concluded, but regardless a demoting was far from necessary. Getting up abruptly, she made her way for the door.
Her office was right next alongside the interview room. She had laughed when they first told her that it was an office. It was a small, cramped room which in its past life may have even been a broom closet had been converted into a mellow set room. There was little to no furnishing: a hard wooden desk, a painfully slow desktop, an upright filing cabinet, and a small, shrivelled plant she received as a gift upon becoming a Sergeant.
She slumped down in her chair. Various papers lay scattered about her desk, related both to her work but her life as well. Final demands to bills and such which she had brought in along with reports from her home. Her eyes closed, and she dropped her head onto the table. It landed with a brief thud. Always too rash, she thought, punished rashly because of this. I should’ve stayed in the weather business.
She slowly lifted her head and glanced up at the clock, it read 19:51. Her shift ended soon, and, as a Sergeant, so did her third last day. A brief knock came at the door.
She lifted up a set of papers to make it look as if she was doing something, “Enter!” she called loudly through the paper thin walls. The grey face of Detective Clock shot through, “Wanna go for a drink? My treat?” he asked. He asked this every other night or so. It was a wonder he was sober enough to continue his line of work with that much alcohol in his system.
She mentally rolled her eyes, “No thanks, I’m good.” Without another word, he closed the door.
The phone on her desk suddenly rang to her surprise. She didn’t often receive calls, and, judging by the dusty dials, didn’t make them either.
She picked it up quickly and spoke into the receiver, “Sergeant Dash here.”
“It’s Pinkie,” a dry voice came back through the line.
“Oh hello, Pink.”
“Tell me this as quickly as you can, what do you know about ‘Red-Mane’?” she asked. There was an unfamiliar tone in her voice. Was it panic? Rainbow wondered. Either way she worked faster to assist, bringing up the file on her desktop.
“Code: Red-Mane is a serial murderer lurking around Equestria and Canterlot. He is thought to have been killing up to twelve ponies a month, ya-da, ya-da, but is somehow untraceable. He’s good, I’ll admit, but we’ll get him.” She could hear notes being scribbled down. “Is there a reason you asked?”
“Well you know me.”
“I know you have killed ponies before, but I also know you stopped so, why do you want to know?” she spoke in a decisive tone, Pinkie clearly had something on her mind.
“Who is leading the investigation?”
“Answer my question!” Rainbow shouted into the receiver.
“Sugarcube Corner, twenty minutes. Bring everything you have on Red-Mane.”
The line went dead.
Rainbow swore quietly to herself. She’s so random, she thought.
* * *
Twilight sat in the corner of the room. The ill-lit lobby highlighted her face. She cradled her body and looked quickly around the room.
Pinkie walked in slowly with a tray in hoof, on which was a plate of cookies and a pot of Twilight's favoured tea. She set the tray down on the table with a sigh and rolled her eyes.
“I killed somepony, Pinkie,” her voice broke toward the end. Pinkie took a seat next to her.
“Yes, Twilight. I know. I saw the mess you made, you did a good job,” replied Pinkie with little enthusiasm.
“I’m a criminal.” She was breathing heavily now.
“So am I, Twi. Just calm-”
“What if they find us?” interrupted the purple mare, “what if they find and catch us then what?” She was practically shouting at her.
“I don’t know, Twilight. I’m normally very careful with my kills.” A dull tone rang in her voice. She began tapping her hoof on the table and glancing up at the clock. Rainbow should have been here by now. She fazed out of whatever Twilight was saying. For a usually rational-thinking mare, she could do very little for herself under pressure.
Many crazy scenarios produced by Twilight later, Pinkie had begun to lose her patience.
“What if they hire the princesses? What if they bring back discord to-”
Pinkie dove in toward Twilight and planted a firm kiss on her lips. This might be the only way to shut her up, she thought. Twilight flushed again but she was more alert than last time. She put up a brief struggle but surrendered herself soon after. She closed her eyes and angled her head.
Pinkie moved her hoof through Twilight’s mane and stroked down her back. Twilight shivered at the sensation of her cold hoof. Twilight broke the kiss and angled herself better, then dove in again. They shared this passionate embrace for a few more moments before Pinkie broke off.
They both sat in their seats still holding each other, panting heavily on the other.
“I would never have guessed you guys swung that way,” came a voice from across the room. They both glanced over to see the cyan mare leaning casually upon the counter. “Pinkie I would have expected, what with the partying and all, but you Twilight? Never woulda put you down for something like that.”
Twilights eyes widened, “We were ju-”
“It’s about time you got here,” Pinkie spoke between breaths. Rainbow sat down at the table.
“With that out of the way, what did you wanna see me about? I have the documents as you wanted,” said the pegasus. She could barely contain a smile after this discovery. “Just so you know, your secrets safe with me.” She winked in their direction.
“Well you have a few more secrets to contain then.” The pink mare held up a blood soaked cloth.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “I thought you said you weren’t going to do this again,” she scoffed. “And with Red-Mane about you might be accused.” Pinkie fixed her with a stare. Rainbow looked back and forth between the two of them, noticing the blood on Twilight's hooves also. “Are you-”
“Yes.”
“And did you-”
“Yes.”
“And have you been-”
“Yes.”
Rainbow fell back into her seat and took a deep breath. Pinkie reached over and began looking through the documents. They had presumed red mane to be a male, aged 20-25, lived somewhere in Everfree Forest. Pinkie smiled, they didn’t know a thing about her.
“We are favoured for now,” said Pinkie quickly, “Who is the detective of the case, it is a detective I presume?”
“Detective Clock,” said Rainbow slowly.
Pinkie stared at the portfolio and shut her eyes sighing deeply. “We have work to do.”
* * *
Music played gently in the background of it all. Various groups were dotted around the bar. All indifferent but respecting each other’s requirements. Some drank heartily with occasional guffawing, but it was minimal. Others were in smaller, quiet group chatting idly amongst themselves. However, he was alone that night.
He took a small sip from the glass and continued his study around the bar. He was off duty, but he was the type of stallion who brought his work home with him. Much to the disapproval of those closest to him, he never in fact left his work. When not at the station, he would be eavesdropping at a bar or be devising notes at his home. To him work was a lifestyle, not a job.
He grumbled quietly to himself; another fruitless night at the bar once again. He tossed back his drink and got up to leave, slinging his coat over his shoulder in the process.
“Thanks, Cue,” he said quietly to the barman as he left. The broad stallion nodded in response.
He left the bar and was immediately met with the crisp night air. A fresh breeze had stirred up during his time in the bar, and a pleasant chill crept through the night. Luna’s moon was high; its silver light fell upon the quaint buildings at Ponyville’s external west.
He walked slowly down a lonesome pathway taking him further out of Ponyville, and toward his house to the west. The case was taking him nowhere quickly, not to mention the hours he had put into it. For somepony to get away with this much, especially for this long, would require great skill. The only two bodies they had found were that of two pegasi, and they were the first two they’d found at all, on top of the disappearances.
He shook his head slowly. We need a new approach to this, he thought sullenly. His home was coming into view now. It was a small flat, single bedroomed and fit for somepony with low demands from their home- it fitted him nicely.
Unlocking the door, he entered his home. It was just as cold inside as it was out, perhaps more so. He carried himself through the kitchen and straight through to the study.
A long desk stretched out on one side of the room. A few papers and odd-looking blocks lay on the desk, a photo rested upon the corner of a nearby coffee table.
He dropped his coat lazily by the side of his desk and sat down. He put his head in his hoofs and stared down at the paper on his desk. An unfinished report to Cantelot about the elusive ‘Red mane’ stared back. He closed his eyes and sighed, other than the discovery of bodies, nothing was new but useful was new at least.
Bodies are one thing, but for all we know there are dozens more. The two they had found were almost expertly dealt with, no trace of the killer, no trace of where they were killed; all they knew was that they were killed within minutes of each other and that one was a criminal. He opened his eyes again, they had learnt nothing.
* * *
Rainbow sat in her office. A box of all her thing sat in the corner. This was the last day in her office until the temporary move to another office. But for the moment she was waiting for the perpetual event which occurred at every point at the end of every day, clocks ticking were a certainty, and as was his question.
She rolled the lid of a pen between her hooves and tried to look saddened by the temporary position change, but it didn’t entirely faze her. She knew some good ponies in the execution area of Canterlot. It was a small section, rarely used, but always a high priority task for maintenance. Moving out of Ponyville would happen within a few days, and the train journey over there is always debilitating.
A short knock came at the door. An abrupt smile broke across her face, but the movement of the door sent it back to a frown.
“Coming for a drink, Rainbow?” Clock asked through the door.
She looked from the table desk, a perfect false look of sadness set on her face. She looked down at the box in the corner and then nodded slowly. “Okay, I could do with a good time.”
He almost looked surprised as a look of confusion shot over his eyes and a twitch snapped sharply over his left eye. “Great, I’ll meet you out front in ten,” he said quickly, and then shut the door.
* * *
Clock stumbled out the front door of the bar. Rainbow came close behind. They were both laughing loudly, although they'd forgotten why. The whole ‘undercover-listen-in-on-conversations’ didn’t go too well. She’d gotten drunk rather early in the procedure, so Clock joined her.
“C-Can you remember Jones at the *Hic* party?” she asked with a slur. A look of lazy pleasure floated around in her eyes.
Clock racked my memory, but the alcohol deliberated his thoughts to long drawn out, seemingly irrelevant ideas. “Oh yeah,” he called back laughing.
She laughed as well although he had no idea of Jones even being at the Hearth warming party. They walked clumsily down the path toward the centre of Ponyville. She was leaning heavily on him.
She looked at him with a begotten smile and a look of drunken glee over her face. He looked at the path and then back to her.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh.” She swung her hoof and hiccupped. “Nothing.”
He gave a brief smile and carried on walking. He contemplated dropping her off at a friend’s house. He was sure she was close with Rarity. “Actually it is something,” she called out again. “Wanna head back to my place?” she asked.
He turned to look at her. She wore a look of seduction, but the appeal was altered by her drunken state. His current state also made the situation more tangible. He stared at her for another moment; she almost seemed to squirm under his glare. “Sure.”
Her house was a little bit out of town; a bakery to his surprise. He hadn't expected somepony of her physique to live in a place full of temptations, especially with her being a pegasus and all. She opened the door slowly, her hoof missed the handle and the key seemed unfamiliar in her grasp. Perhaps he was just overthinking it; he just needed to turn off once in a while. They entered the room noisily, stumbling over the step. Clock looked around with a strange awe at the darkened room.His eyes slowly adjusted, shadows of the corners slowly crept into ways in my peripheral vision, a counter and table became visible. She shut the door behind me. HeI thought he saw some other movement in the kitchen area, but he disregarded it as my mind playing tricks.
Rainbow's laugh came from behind him. "Welcome home," she said, her voice free of any slur.
An overwhelming force struck the back of his head. His world spun, and a bright flash burst in his eyes as a numbing pain spread like fire over his head. The lights came on suddenly and his eyes burned in the intense light. Another swing struck his head, and he fell unconscious
* * *
A slow drip counted down his final moments. He was strung up against the wall, hooves tied above his head and a brace along his abdomen. She lifted the metal bar and struck it hard against his flank. He grimaced but gave no shout; he would not give in yet.
Twilight stood in the darkened corner of the room, beside her stood the Rainbow pegasus.
Pinkie swung again landing the heavy bar across the joint of his leg which shattered. This time he shouted. “Greatest detective in Ponyville,” she said swinging again. He gave another grunt of pain. “Mastermind behind the Bomblock case.” She swung again. He took a sharp inhale of breath which broke into a whimper as a crimson bar came crashing down on his already mangled leg. “And finally, greatest mind in Ponyville,” she said in a tone of spite.
He looked up from his leg. His eyes bled dark shadows of the room, a deep frown embedded across his face.
“Greatest mind, compared to whom?” she asked, leaning in. She was only an inch or two from his face, “Well?”
He gave a short cough to clear his throat. “Greater than you."
Pinkie gave a wry smile. “How so?”
“For one,” he stated confidently, “I am the lead detective on a case looking for a diabolic murderer. Two, they know you are the only murderer in these parts and that I suddenly disappeared, they will put two and two together.”
“And I will still remain in the shadows.”
“True, but how could you have found out who I was?” he asked looking about the room. “You would need an insight, a spy, like Ms Dash. She never liked me, and I only just fired her, so there is a motive as well.” He gave a broad grin.
“This case goes further down the rabbit hole then you may like to believe,” she said, rolling the bar in her hoof.
“Thirdly, we are well aware of t-“
The pipe smashed across his nose, a red spray climbed up the wall beside him as his head rolled back. “Thirdly?” she asked, taking another swing. This one hit him in the corner of the jaw.
Rainbow vomited behind them, Twilight holding onto her shoulders but still savouring every moment of the violence.
Pinkie pressed the pipe against his throat, and steadily began applying pressure. His eyes widened as if screaming a harmony of his own demise. She carefully nursed the desire not to kill him, until he passed out.
She stood panting heavily. They were smarter and more informed than she had dared hope. Turning around, she planted the pipe in Twilight’s hooves and went to comfort a broken Rainbow.
“Kill him how you wish,” she said. She began whispering sweet tones into Rainbow's ear.