//------------------------------// // Hot Pursuit // Story: The White Phoenix // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// It had been a long time since Sweetie Belle had needed to run properly. Now though, tearing down the sidewalk, something inside her that she hadn't felt since she was a filly was waking up from a long period of dormancy. A gentle rush of adrenaline that started to flow through her body in greater strength as her heartbeat sped up, the rush of wind that blew her mane out from its natural curls and out behind her slightly, even the thump of keratin on concrete beneath her every time her hooves smacked against the pavement. For a few glorious moments she felt like this was all she needed, just the wind, a clear path and the grin on her face as she started going at full speed. It would have been quite liberating, if the situation that required it wasn't so serious. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she focused in on her target, the yellow unicorn was that darting and weaving through the afternoon rush of ponies on the sidewalk. He seemed to simply be trying to get some distance and lose himself in the crowd. Unfortunately for him, his coat kind of stood out and she had no problems keeping up with him due to the fact she could just move onto the edge of the road and skirt the crowd, which is exactly what she did. If they gave any disapproving looks, she didn't see them, not that she cared right now. All that mattered to her was the rush of the chase, bringing her target to heel. As the crowd thinned out at the edge of the city block she hopped back onto the pavement and skidded to a halt. A quick glance up confirmed that Sky Eye was hovering overhead, his eyes fixed on the crowds below to keep track of the suspect. She simply had to wait here, he'd come out and end up face to face with her with no easy way out. As anticipated, the unicorn burst out of the crowd and tried to backpedal at the sight of her. She hadn't expected him to fire off another burst of magic straight at her hooves though. Sweetie gasped in shock and yanked her front hooves up, managing to avoid the shot as it impacted the ground underneath her. It kept her off balance for a second though, enough time for the unicorn to move back into the crowd, or try to since the shot had startled them and a lot of ponies now simply trying to get some distance from the scene as quickly as they could. With that avenue of escape rapidly closing off, the unicorn bolted sideways, making the most of the fact his attack had also halted any carriages nearby to cross the street and go for an alleyway. Sweetie brought her hooves back down and quickly resumed the chase. A glance to her side confirmed that Rarity had taken the time to catch up and was now right on her tail, the two of them keeping up the pursuit on the ground while Sky moved to maintain his aerial tracking. "Sweetie Belle," Rarity panted, not quite as good at running as she used to be. "You can teleport, right?" "Hmmm, oh! Yeah!" Sweetie commented, never taking her eyes off the unicorn as he turned out of the alley again, hooves skidding slightly as he rounded another street corner and moved deeper into the city. "So, why not use make use of it now?" "Because in this situation, it's basically a one chance use that takes a lot of magic. I fail to block him and I'm out of the chase." She replied, rounding the same corner with a better grip than her target. 'And because I want to keep running a little longer' She thought to herself as she pushed herself harder. Every breath she took sent another rush through her body. Manehatten was a place where you either walked, took a carriage, or in her case, teleported. Running just didn't happen normally and she had never realised how much she missed the feeling. 'I suppose I understand, but I'd really appreciate it if you or Sky Eye could be a dear and end this already!' Rarity thought in turn, falling behind slightly at her sister's turn of pace. She wasn't unfit, in fact she was in quite good shape for a unicorn her age. That was the problem though, she wasn't a young mare anymore, coupled with the extra stress she'd put herself through running the boutiques over the years. Then again, she did have an advantage that many ponies didn't, whenever she'd needed to run when younger she been trying to keep up with the likes of Applejack or Rainbow Dash, and unless they had gone all out she had generally kept pace. It may not have quite been the same now, but the fact she was still keeping up gave her a small boost. High above them, Sky Eye watched silently, his gaze locked onto the suspect unicorn as they kept moving toward central Manehatten. He wanted to move in but the unicorn had already made it clear he would fight back if somepony just tried to block him, they had to make sure he couldn't do anything to retaliate before they stopped him. He dropped his altitude and pushed ahead as he realised the suspect was heading toward a group of skyscrapers, the taller buildings heavily restricting his ability to keep following so easily. Part of him relished the challenge compared to the guard work in Canterlot, yet another hated that he had to clash so firmly with another to get that challenge. The thought was shoved aside for now, he had to focus for now. The chase moved into another alleyway, this time between two skyscrapers. As fun as it was, Sweetie Belle realised her body was starting to flag and her air support was temporarily out of the chase. They needed to end this around now rather than later, since sooner had already long gone. Her horn flared to life and she fired a warning shot of her own, the thin beam of pale green magic skimming past the unicorn's left side and impacting the wall with a scorch mark. The stallion yelped in surprise and looked back, darting past a stack of crates that had been piled up next to a doorway on the right. His own horn came to life and a shot of blue magic was fired back, blasting the crate at the bottom of the pile and sending them tumbling into the path of his pursuers. Sweetie gasped as she realised what he was doing, but she knew he had to risk it. If she stopped and let the crates block her, the suspect would have a real opportunity of slipping into a building or crowd and getting away before Sky could get eyes on him again. She lowered her head and pushed her hooves harder, doing her best not to wince as the first crate crashed down next to her. A second crate was coming down in front of her, forcing her to slow and weave, just about managing to keep out of its way. The one above it caught her out though, catching her flank hard enough to knock her off balance and trip, leaving her sprawled out sideways on the floor. Rarity had been far enough behind to stop before she reached the crates but she couldn't get past quickly enough to keep going. "Now?" Rarity asked as her horn lit up, one of the boxes being taken in her light blue aura and slowly being lifted out of the way. "Alright, now." Sweetie replied with a grumble, focusing her view on the other end of the alleyway as she got up. The world flashed around her and she teleported to the far end of the alley, no more than fifteen feet in front of the fleeing stallion. He didn't have time to react, she barely had time to brace herself. The two collided hard, crashing down to the ground and rolling several feet in a heap. As soon as Sweetie's world stopped spinning she realised that she had ended up just off to one side of the stallion, who looked a lot more disorientated by the impact than she did. She scrambled closer and wrapped a hoof round his horn before he could react, curtailing his ability to use magic and following it up with a firm hoof on his hind leg to keep him from getting up. His bag had been thrown off in the collision and lay at the edge of the alley, the canister inside broken and leaking what was unmistakably white paint. "Well well well, last time I saw you, I didn't think you were capable of this," Sweetie said breathlessly, the rush of the ended chase leaving her tired but triumphant. A rush of air behind her that indicated Sky Eye had arrived and the hoofsteps of Rarity just afterward. "Nice to see you again, Vexation. Or do you prefer, White Phoenix?" "Wh-what? No I'm not..." Vexation whimpered as his brain caught up with his ears, struggling against the hooves pinning him down. "Don't play games with us, mister!" Rarity snapped as she came up. "Why else would you be trying to sneak away with the same device that the Phoenix used for their bomb?" "Oh it's more than that," Sweetie commented, a dawning realisation in her eyes. "I gave him an autograph several months back, that's where I recognised him from because he made me feel a little uneasy at the time. If he'd had several months to work on it and, he's also the prime suspect for the pony who forged my signature on the changed order, preventing a certain witness for what he did at the station!" "Okay, that's enough you two," Sky Eye stepped forward, his voice carrying an authoritative air and his gaze matching the glares the two sisters were giving him without backing down in the slightest. "We're not going to learn anything that'll hold up if you throw speculation around and terrorise a confession out of him." "I...Right. Sorry." Sweetie sighed and stepped aside, letting Sky take some hoofcuffs and an inhibitor ring out of his equipment bag. "Vexation, you're under arrest on suspicion of fourteen counts of arson, as well as theft, forging documents and crafting an improvised explosive with intent to destroy property." Sky continued, fitting the hoofcuffs to Vexation's front right and rear left hooves, leaving him unable to run and unable to cast anything once the ring was placed on his horn. "I'm telling you, you've got the wrong pony!" Vexation blurted out, being ignored by Sky who was writing up a request for a police carriage. As he finished up and watched the scroll disappear, Rarity managed to calm herself down and looked back over at her younger sister. "You really think this is the pony?" Honestly..." Sweetie glanced up at what little sky she could see between the two urban behemoths around them. The clouds were covering the sky and she could hear a low rumble of thunder over the sounds of the city. A storm was coming closer and it felt the same as she did right now. She looked back at Rarity and shook her head. "I think we both know it's never as simple as that." Rarity looked less convinced but her gut feeling was that something about this whole thing didn't sit right with her. The journey back to the police precinct was quiet. The two ponies pulling the carriage brought to take Vexation in hadn't said anything but the looks they'd been giving made it clear enough. If Rarity and Sweetie Belle were involved with this arrest, then it had to be connected to the White Phoenix case. If it was connected to that, they wouldn't be bringing anypony in unless they were sure it was their pony. If only they knew it was never that simple. The two unicorns wanted to believe it themselves but as easy as it would be to do so, something about doing so didn't feel right, even moreso now that the adrenaline of the chase had worn off. Sweetie in particular was happy that Sky Eye had been there to keep their accusations in check. As the carriage stopped outside the station, the two sisters stepped out, trying to ignore the rain that had started to fall on the trip back. Sky had been in the back with their detained stallion and soon hopped out, escorting Vexation and making sure he kept walking as best he could in cuffs. The yellow stallion seemed to have lost any fight he had left and now followed compliantly, the police pony leading him inside while the two investigators walked at his flanks, making sure nopony got too close. Thankfully the entrance lobbies were quiet at the moment and they were able to move to check him in without drawing too much attention to themselves. Just as they were preparing to move Vexation to a holding cell, Gleaming Truth entered the lobby on her way to somewhere else in the building. On spotting them she stopped and trotted over quickly. "What's he doing here?" Truth asked immediately, pointing at Vexation. "Well, darling, he's currently our main suspect for..." Rarity started to explain before stopping as she caught a small detail. "You recognise him?" "Well, yes. I'd never forget those eyes. He was the firepony I was talking to at the station before I discovered the bomb. I thought there was something off about him but, he's the Phoenix?" "There's enough evidence to support it," Sweetie replied, holding up the paint stained bag in her magic. "At least catching him was actually pretty fun." She added, getting strange looks from the others in response, even Vexation. "You're a strange mare, Sweetie Belle." Truth eventually commented. "You say that like it's a bad thing." Sky replied with a small grin as he led Vexation away. Sweetie just shook her head slightly and passed the bag of evidence over to Rarity. Right now, she just needed a little time to collect herself and gather her thoughts. Finishing her shift at Manehatten Carousel seemed like as good a place as any to do so.