//------------------------------// // CSI: Manehatten // Story: The White Phoenix // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// January 9th "You seem troubled, Sweetie Belle." She wasn't wrong, Sweetie thought to herself as she opened her eyes. Despite the swirling clouds overhead and wind blowing around, she felt pleasantly warm, though that slowly faded as she realised she was lying on her back on something metal. She rolled onto her side and looked round, jaw dropping slightly as she realised that she was on top of one of the towers of the Celestial Bridge. The fear of being hundreds of feet up without protection aside, the view from here was actually breathtaking as she steadied herself and took it all in. To the north she could see the plains and woodland along the coast before the cloud line descended into fog at the base of the Patchwalk Mountains. To the east, the highest skyscrapers of Manehatten were the only minor impediments to the endless blue of the Celestial sea that separated Equestria and the Griffon Territories, or whatever it would be called once the on-going reforms there made it a nation again. To the south was, a face full of blue fur as she turned straight into somepony's chest. "Yipe!" She gasped, lucky that her reflex made her jump rather than back up off the tower. It still put enough space between them for her to get a good look at her unexpected companion and she relaxed as she saw a familiar blue alicorn standing before her, giggling slightly at the reaction to her appearance. "Oh, Princess Luna. It's just a dream then, thank...err, you." "I hope my sudden appearance did not disrupt you," Luna said in her dulcet voice. "But I could sense a weight on your shoulders." "Well, you probably know about the whole thing with The White Phoenix and Rarity's boutique," Sweetie said as she sat down. Luna nodded as she stepped into place next to the unicorn, the two of them looking out over the city. "I'm a little worried about Rarity though. It's been nearly two weeks and we've had nothing new to work with. She's been very focused on making any kind of progress and the longer we've waited, the more...Obsessive she's got." "Yes, some of her dreams have carried intent beyond what one would consider normal. But we have spoken on how such fixation never leads to a happy end. I have struggled with this too." "Well, yeah, true. But at least you more than made up for your past actions as Nightmare Moon." Sweetie commented, looking up at the alicorn. To her surprise, Luna was looking away to the south, her expression unreadable from this angle. "I speak of more than Nightmare Moon. There was another event, now consigned to memory for many millennia...Hopefully one day it will be lost even to that for good," Her voice had a slightly harsher edge to it as she said those words, as if those memories she had hurt her with their mere presence. She shook her head slightly and turned back toward Sweetie Belle, managing to look like her old self again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't trouble you with such things." "It's alright, princess. Weird as it sounds, it did help take my mind off things." Sweetie replied simply. Part of her was still curious as to what Luna was talking about but she knew that if the princess was unwilling to say, she wouldn't get an answer. "You are welcome, I wish you luck in your work and will always be here if you need me." Luna said, looking like she was readying to move to another dream. Sweetie thought for a moment before sitting up and tugging her mane gently. "Before you go, your highness, one thing. Have my co-worker's dreams been alright? Maybe they know something we don't." "I'm afraid there isn't much I can say," Luna said as she flexed her wings. "Market Match's dreams are about making headway at the bank. It would seem he is having the same problems with them as your sister. As for Miss Pommel...Her nights have been silent for some time. I wish I could do more, but without a dream to enter...." Sweetie looked down slightly, taking this in and realising that she likely wasn't going to get much more than that. A small rush of wind to her side indicated that the princess of the night had taken to the air and she looked back, only to see nothing there in the skies, she had left in a hurry. The unicorn was left to sit beneath a steel sky, hearing an incoming roll of thunder around her, a droning beat that steadily grew in intensity until it felt like the air itself was charged with energy. As she closed her eyes to try and shut it out slightly, she didn't know what else she could do, now that her thoughts were being drowned out by the thunder knocking against her mind. All she could think to do now was... Sweetie Belle's eyes snapped open to the sight of darkness, the sweet shroud of sleep rudely snatched away from her. She slowly raised her head as the worst of her drowsiness was evicted from her mind and lit her horn, lifting over an alarm clock she kept on her bedside table. Her brow furrowed as she saw that it was twelve-thirty two, still the middle of the night. At that point she heard a rather insistent knocking coming from downstairs, making her groan in frustration. Buying that door knocker that could be heard anywhere in the house so it wouldn't be missed had seemed like a good idea at the time but now...Well it explained the dream thunder at least. Another thud from the door, straight into her groggy mind, put paid to any more thoughts of getting back to sleep. She slowly pushed the covers off and clambered out of bed, stumbling slightly as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and made for the door, not even bothering to flip any lights on. A small part of her was thankful that she didn't have to go to work at the boutique in the morning and while she did have a new singing spot booked, it wasn't for another few days. Right now, she was more focused on choosing if she wanted to act tired or irate when she opened the door, expecting some lone fancolt who had forgotten the concept of personal time as soon as they found out where she lived. It wouldn't be the first time after all. As she descended the stairs, Sweetie became aware of further sounds coming from upstairs, a momentary clattering following by some rather un-ladylike sounds of discomfort. At a guess, Rarity had also been woken up and had less luck in making her way through her room in the dark. Hopefully she'd be able to settle down again quickly, once whoever this was had been sorted out. She took the doorknob in her magic as she reached the front entrance and opened it up. All her expectations on who was on the other side were completely wrong as her eyes fell upon Babs Seed, who was shivering slightly in the chill of the night even with her jacket and a set of green snow socks on. "Oh, Babs. Is something wrong?" Sweetie asked as she stepped forward slightly, waiting as her friend failed to stifle a yawn. "'Fraid so, Sweetie Belle," Babs answered, sounding like she hadn't been awake for long either. "I did say we'd be bringing you along next time, and fireponies at a blaze in the south docks earlier tonight reported seeing the mark of The White Phoenix." Sweetie blinked as her brain caught up with her ears, the grip of her tiredness weakening further as the significance hit her. She could still hear the sounds of her big sister being awake upstairs and quickly turned her head to call up the stairs. "Rarity, get your costume on!" Ponies often said that the winter air of the east was sharp enough to freshen up anypony, yet at half-one in the morning on a snowy night it didn't seem to be working at all. Sweetie Belle had needed to poke herself at least five times in order to stay awake during the carriage ride to the crime scene. Babs still looked drowsy at first but steadily woke up the longer it went on, while Rarity spent the whole trip staring out the window looking completely focused. Clearly she was itching at the chance to make some actual progress. As soon as the carriage stopped, Rarity opened it up and hopped out, Babs followed her out a moment later while Sweetile finished another yawn before being the last one out. A scene of barely controlled chaos met them. The entrance to the docks had been blocked off with light roadblocks and police tape, several police officers were guarding the entry, dozens more police, fire crews and various other ponies handling various tasks inside. Sirens still filled the air, though fortunately this was a more industrial area so they wouldn't be disturbing too many ponies' sleep. Most disconcerting though, was the smoke still gently drifting over the bay, clearly visible with all the lights in the area. There was no strength behind it, meaning it thankfully wasn't from a live fire, more likely just smouldering remnants of one. The sight was more than Sweetie Belle had expected, enough to shock her into focus. This was the real deal now, she had to do a good job. Babs let them have their moment to take it in before motioning them forward, the trio setting off toward one of the roadblocks. The stallion officer on duty there saw them coming and moved forward, holding a hoof up to motion them to stop. "This is an active crime scene, I need to ask for either your verification or departure." He said quickly, though his voice clearly showed that he appreciated having something to do now. "Officer Seed with Outside Investigators Rarity and Belle. Site verification is Trot Equis dash Twelve." Babs replied as she pulled her ID card from her jacket and passed it over. The officer looking it over before nodding and passing it back. "Glad to see you out here Babs, maybe something'll happen now. Miss Rarity...It's an honour. Sweetie Belle, lemme just say the Equestria Today was talking a load of nonsense about you at the Sounds of Unity, I was there and singing along that night." "Thanks, that means a lot." Sweetie replied with a small smile. The guard nodded and stepped aside, waving them through. The trio made their way through the open gates and further into the dockyards. This first area was mostly administrative buildings and staff areas, nothing to hold their attention as they kept walking, occasionally nodding a greeting to anypony that acknowledged their presence. "So, how exactly would the Phoenix get in this far. Are there no guards here?" Rarity asked as they moved into the second area of the port, primarily warehouses now with the dockyards and waters just visible beyond. "There were some on night watch but..." Babs shook her head slightly. "Nopony expected something like this, this is the first time the Phoenix has gone for anything like this. Preliminary reports we got suggest our Phoenix got in and out at the edge of the waterline, they could slip around the fence there if they were very careful." "Really? No kind of deterrent whatsoever? Did the port owner not feel like springing for an extra foot of fence?" Rarity deadpanned in response. "Well you'd be spotted instantly during the day and clearly they thought nopony would be crazy enough to try it in the dark." "So we're dealing with a crazy pony too. Great." Sweetie finished as they rounded a corner and reached the scene of the crime. They could all imagine that just a few hours ago, it had been just another warehouse, a two story, light metal construct like any of the others nearby. Now it was nothing more than a fire-gutted wreck, a gaping hole in one side that weakly poured smoke like a wound that let them glimpse inside. What they could see of the cargo floor was covered in wet ash and the occasional piece of burned wood. Whatever might have been here was no more and both Rarity and Sweetie Belle internally balked at the thought of what could easily have happened here, how it could have been so much worse. This was why they were here though, to make sure such worst case scenarios never happened. Shaken but undeterred, they followed Babs over to another pony by the building, dressed in similar attire to Rarity but lacking a hat and with their coat carrying a silver trim. "Rarity, Sweetie Belle, this is Chief Inspector Gleaming Truth." Babs said as she stepped aside for them to see. On closer inspection, they could see she was a bright amber pegasus that looked to be somewhere in her early thirties, with a sleek pink mane with gold stripes, a matching tail in a coiled style and focused dark blue eyes. "Pleasure," Gleaming Truth said in introduction, her voice making it clear she was a task oriented pony. "I trust Officer Seed briefed you on the way here?" "Actually Ma'am, I imagined that you would prefer the honours." Babs replied somewhat nervously as Truth looked at her, silent for a minute before the pegasus finally cracked a smile. "I appreciate it," She said with a lighter tone before motioning for Rarity and Sweetie to follow her over to the burned warehouse. "So, the warehouse was owned by EquestriaNet Transport Company, not been affected by The White Phoenix until now. The cargo inside was several tons of various grains and food imported from Trottingham, of course it's all dust now. Patrolling guards noticed the fire inside at about ten fifteen, fire crews had managed to contain it by ten fifty-one, one of those who was inside double checking structural damage in the aftermath found the Phoenix's calling card in a raised office that was comparatively undamaged by the flames." "Is it safe to enter and investigate?" Rarity asked quickly, practically jumping at the chance to make progress now. Truth frowned slightly as she looked in through the door that took up most of the east wall. "That's the thing, they ruled the stairs up there too weak to go up again. The rest of the building is still structurally sound but we're going to have to wait until dawn at best before anypony can get out here to strengthen it." "Maybe not..." Sweetie Belle spoke up, stepping inside and heading through the ash covering the floor. Truth followed her in curiosity, Rarity coming a little slower as she tried to shake the mess off her hooves every few steps, Babs bringing up the rear. Sweetie glanced up at the office built into the raised section of the warehouse, surrounded by a metal catwalk on two sides and the walls on the others. The connecting stairs looking rather warped by the fire, she certainly didn't fancy going up that way. Good thing she had another ready to go. She focused on an undamaged section of the walkway by the door up there before her horn glowed and she teleported up there, managing not to damage it any further in the process. "What the?! How did you...?" Gleaming Truth exclaimed at the sight, taking a step backward in shock. "My sister learned under Princess Twilight in her youth, picked up some useful spells." Rarity explained, watching with more than a small sense of pride as Sweetie pushed the door to the office open and stepped inside. "Told you that she was worth bringing on." Babs commented, watching her friend at work for a moment before glancing round to make sure the rest of the building was holding up. Thankfully by this point, most of the lingering smoke inside had been filtered out through the hole in the wall. It wouldn't cause them any problems if they didn't hang around for long. "So, there's an open window in here, big enough that I could climb through. Could somepony check it from the outside?" Sweetie Belle called out to the others as she stepped forward slowly, taking everything in. The heat and flames hadn't left it unscathed, though there was so little inside that it hadn't caused that much damage either. Just a desk, a metal cabinet, the window, and the mark of The White Phoenix next to it. She studied it carefully, slowly tracing a hoof above it as if mimicking the movements that would have painted it. Her eye for detail was not quite like her sister's but it was enough to know what she was looking for. "You're right sis, this was definitely hoof done...And if I had to guess from everything you've told me about how different ponies work, this was most likely the work of an earth pony." "Interesting," Truth's voice came from outside. Sweetie looked round to see her hovering just outside the window, studying it while listening. "That might explain this then. The drainpipe out here looks like it was climbed on recently. No sign of forced entry on the window out here though." "No, but maybe, forced exit?" Sweetie countered, moving over to the window and opening it more to let her see. The latch on the inside had been broken, in a place too low down to have been down by yanking the window from outside. Truth flapped closer and took a look, brow furrowed. "Hmmm...Possible that the Phoenix was caught out when they started the fire and had to retreat this way. If that's the case, then yeah, positive we're not dealing with a pegasus at least. They would have just flown off." "Okay...Speaking of pegasus, could you give me a lift out of here?" Sweetie asked, waiting as Truth rolled her eyes and reached in, helping her through the window before holding on and heading back down to the ground. Rarity and Babs had moved round to under the window in the meantime, Rarity taking down as many notes as she could carry. Truth landed after she put Sweetie down and started comparing notes with Rarity on what they'd learned this night. Sweetie brushed her coat off, despite being unable to see if there was any ash on it, and looked over to Babs. "So, I'm guessing now we just pass things off to the main investigators. How's it feel?" "Honestly," Babs looked back at her fellow crusader and grinned. "As quiet as this was, feels like we made some progress. I'd say it feels dang good to be back in action."