We Rent the Night

by totallynotabrony

Chapter 5

Shock Factor refused to give up anything else. He made conversation, but clammed up when the subject strayed anywhere near the supposed Gods of War.

There was no proper holding facility, so they kept him shut in the conference room with a guard on duty. The requirement put additional strain on the others, especially since it seemed unwise for the guards to patrol Wash Margin alone with threatening ponies out there. So despite her magic show earlier in the evening, Trixie’s shift that night was far from over.

She and Melon headed back into town, to Shock Factor’s shop. Under cover of darkness, the two of them appraised the place, looking for a way in. The building had two stories with curtains on the upstairs windows.

Lieutenant Mirror had authorized them to search the premises. That might be easier ordered than carried out. The doors and windows were locked. Melon tapped on the door, getting a feel for its construction. “I could break it.”

“No need,” Trixie replied. She looked through the window and magicked up a small mirror inside the building. Using the reflection, she was able to see the inside of the door latch and open it.

“Is it really that easy for the average unicorn to sneak into places?” Melon said, sounding disappointed that he didn’t get to break down a door.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is not an average unicorn.” She gave him a look. “However, the honesty of the average pony keeps most of them from using their special talents for nefarious purposes. It makes it easier to fool them with illusions, too.”

Melon pushed open the door and the two of them went into the shop. It was full of all kinds of things and everything was advertised with the biggest and brightest possible signs. It was a good thing it was dark or it might have been a sensory overload.

“What are we looking for?” asked Melon.

Trixie paused to glance around before replying. “Let’s see what’s in the back.”

The two of them went behind the counter. Trixie found the lights and turned them on. Aside from the cash register and a receipt book, there wasn’t much else to see. However, an open doorway led to a store room with extra items to replace those that had been sold. There was also an iron safe.

“Can you break into that?” Melon asked.

“Give me some time to think about it,” said Trixie.

At the other end of the room was a staircase. Going up it, they found themselves in Shock Factor’s living area.

His mail was here, but there was little else in the way of paperwork to search through. Likely it was all in the safe.

Trixie was about to discount the personal space as irrelevant until she walked into the bedroom. The sheets were twisted and practically falling off the bed. Trixie stepped on something and saw that it was a small bit of plaster. There were more irregular particles all across the floor.

She looked up. Carved into the ceiling, with a familiar looking script, was a message.

The Gods of War wish nothing less than the complete subjugation of Equestria. They will take anything that which they desire and destroy that which they do not.

Trixie read the message a couple of times. Melon glanced at it, frowned, and looked away. He studied the pieces of plaster on the floor.

Following his gaze, Trixie studied the pattern of ceiling shavings. The bed, despite being located directly under the message, seemed remarkably clear. A few motes of plaster around the bed had been crushed to powder by somepony’s hooves.

“I wonder how long this has been here,” Trixie commented. “It looks like somepony may have slept in the bed since it was carved.”

“They could have swept up,” Melon grumbled.

Trixie frowned. “I hope that doesn’t mean they were getting close to this Gods of War goal and didn’t think it mattered anymore.”

“Who’s ‘they?’” asked Melon.

“I meant the cultists.”

“Oh. For a second I thought you had an idea who might have been here with Shock Factor.”

Trixie considered it. “It does seem likely that there was somepony else. Again, I’ll bet it was a unicorn that carved that. A pegasus could fly close to the ceiling, but hoof-carving something wouldn't be as neat, not to mention doing it while flying.”

“You think they were having sex?” Melon asked.

Trixie jerked her head at him. “Uh...well, maybe. I don’t know why this message would have been carved in the bedroom ceiling, but who knows? Maybe these cultists get off to that kind of thing.”

Melon shook his head. “That poor tree.”

It didn’t sound like a joke, and Trixie repressed a laugh so he wouldn’t wonder what was going through her mind.

The two of them went back downstairs. Trixie paused at the safe, studying it. There was a small plate fixed to the front branding it as a Flim Flam Brothers Tip-Top Quality Security Lockbox.

Trixie snorted. “Oh boy.”

“What is it?” Melon asked, looking at the safe.

Trixie gestured. “The Flim Flam Brothers. Con artists. I’d be surprised if this safe wasn’t held together with chewing gum.”

“Aren’t you a con artist?” Melon said.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is an illusionist, thank you very much,” she snapped. “But the point is that this safe should be easy to defeat.”

Melon raised a hoof and tapped the dial. It spun a little and he tried jiggling it. Throwing a little of his considerable weight into the effort, the dial snapped off.

“Huh,” he exclaimed happily. “Mom always said I lived up to my cutie mark, getting through the tough rind to the goodies inside.”

“She really said that?” Trixie asked.

“No, but I’m pretty sure she was thinking it that one time she caught me and my fillyfriend at home with the cookie jar.”

Trixie decided not to ask.

The hole in the front of the safe contained a few mechanical bits, and, surprising them both, some ABC gum. Fortunately, that didn’t obstruct the view of which pieces needed to move in order to open the bolts and Trixie’s magic made short work of it.

She swung the door open. There were a few bags of money and a ledger labeled with expenses. There also seemed to be a few personal items like bank account numbers and Shock Factor’s medical records. On top the pile of paperwork was a marriage license application with a picture paperclipped to it.

Trixie lifted the page. The picture showed Shock Factor and a unicorn mare. The writing on the application listed her name as Steady Measure. Occupation: carpenter.

Under the paper were a few other photos of the two, as if they had tried to decide which one to include with the application. Some of the pictures were so old that the pair didn’t even have cutie marks.

“They must have grown up together,” Trixie remarked. “Maybe neighbors or something. Not too uncommon in a town this small.”

Pulling the picture out from under the paperclip, Trixie took a closer look. Steady Measure was yellow with a well coiffed brown mane. “I think I’ve seen her before. She works down at the docks. She might even be there now.”

“After dark?” said Melon.

“Well, she can’t exactly fix the wooden boats when they’re out sailing during the day.”

Trixie closed the broken safe, though it hardly seemed worthwhile. She did at least lock the front door as the two of them left the shop.

She and Melon headed down to the waterfront. Even in the evening after dark there were still ponies around unloading the daily kelp haul or servicing boats. The first trip down the length of the docks didn’t reveal their mark. However, on the second walk by, they spotted her coming out of the deckhouse of a boat with her toolbox.

“How do you want to do this?” Melon asked.

Good, he’s learning to follow the program, Trixie noted. “Let’s go aboard the boat and back her into a corner.”

“What if she teleports?”

“That’s something only powerful unicorns can do.”

“What if she’s a powerful unicorn?”

“If she was, would she be a carpenter of all things?” Trixie remembered that pride came before a fall, however. “But look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll hang back and if she tries anything funny I’ll handle it.”

“You want me to go and confront a potentially dangerous criminal alone?”

“No, I’m asking you to entertain her with the all the magic tricks you’ve been picking up.” Trixie gave him a nudge forward. Melon gave her a look, but he went. Trixie lurked in the shadow of the next boat over.

“Steady Measure?” Melon called as he walked up the gangplank.

Her head snapped in his direction. “Huh? Yeah? What can I do for you?”

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Melon asked.

“What kind? What about?” Steady asked. She smiled and turned to face him, prancing a little.

Trixie was already worried that Steady would be unpredictable. That smile was just a little too wide, even for showbusiness.

Melon looked like he was struggling to make up his mind how to answer Steady’s questions. “If you could just come with me back to Camp Driftwood, we could get a few things sorted out.”

Steady’s brows went up. “But what are the questions about? Could you tell me? Who sent you?”

“I’m a representative of the Lunar Guard,” Melon said. “Now, if I could ask you to-”

Steady interrupted, rocking back and forth on her hooves. “Oh, the Lunar Guard? That’s cool. What do you want to ask me about?”

Melon stuttered, unable to keep a handle on the conversation. Trixie decided to intervene. She came out of the shadows and started forward. Steady glanced her way. “Who’s that? What’s this?”

Trixie raised a hoof. “Miss, this is just an inquiry. Calm down-”

“Banzai!” Zap! Steady jumped into the air and fired a spell directly at Trixie, who just barely ducked it.

Melon, for his part, was standing within reach of Steady and made an attempt to grab her. She threw her toolbox at him. It clanged against his armor and knocked him back a step. The tool box fell open to reveal a collection of wood chisels and a few comic books.

Trixie was already shooting back at Steady, whose bounciness made her difficult to hit. She ran off the boat, leaping from the edge to the dock and taking off at a run.

Trixie gathered her magic and teleported after Steady, intending to appear in the air behind her to make a tackle. However, she forgot about conservation of momentum, or lack thereof, and when she popped in, it was at a dead stop. Steady ran out from under her, and Trixie fell to the ground in a heap.

Getting up and gritting her teeth, Trixie tried again. This time, she teleported in front of Steady and caught her across the neck with a clotheslining hoof.

Melon caught up and used his considerable bulk to hold Steady down. Trixie had already conjured up a blindfold to keep Steady from aiming her magic.

“I don’t like it when they run,” Melon grumbled. “But I suppose it goes a long way towards proving guilt. At least she wasn’t as powerful as we feared.”

“Hey! I’m the most powerful carpenter on the south end of Stable Street!” Steady protested.

“Powerfully quirky, you imbecile,” Trixie scolded.

Comments

[The Spy of the Tiger]

6720214
Yeah, it kind of reminded me of Terminator 2, which is why I did that.

[BlueNinja]

“Aren’t you a con artist?”

*applies cold water to that burn*

Trixie closed the broken safe, though it hardly seemed worthwhile.

For a brief moment, I was surprised that Trixie didn't lighten those bags of bits. Then I realized, she might be smart enough to realize that there are no other suspects.

However, she forgot about conservation of momentum, or lack thereof

Speedy thing go in, speedy thing not come out?

[Dorath]

“Hey! I’m the most powerful carpenter on the south end of Stable Street!”