Canterlot - II
I decided I would let my probationary agents find and pursue leads on their own to kinda see where it leads them and how quickly. Phillip Finder and Daring Do were enough company for now. It was also greatly entertaining watching Daring passively torture Finder by making him uncomfortable with dirty jokes.
“You’re adorable with your ears turning red like that,” I sniggered at him.
“Shut up,” he growled at us both, flattening his ears and lowering his head.
We were headed to a pawn shop that conducted business in a rundown part of town. Most of the buildings here were dilapidated, and I only saw a few ponies on the sidewalks; a couple beggars with their signs and pans, and a small group of punks who were hanging around on the sidewalk. As we passed, they all glanced sideways at us, then quickly scattered.
"We've dealt with this guy before. He's shady but he just wants to conduct his business in peace, so he should be willing to cooperate," Daring said as we stepped up to the door.
"That'd be nice," I commented.
"Just let me do the talking," Philip said, pushing the door open.
The shop was a mess, and that was understating it. Old furniture was stacked haphazardly atop one another, with pawned jewelry stuffed in the drawers. Old armor and helmets were piled in the corners, looking as though they might fall over if somepony so much as sneezed on them. It was a little bit neater near the register. Not by much.
The shopkeep wasn't at the counter. I made myself look busy by looking at some jewelry in a wall case to the right of the register, seemingly displaying the most expensive pieces. I was also comparing them with photographs of the stolen pieces of Celestia's jewelry, to see if any were still here.
Finder stepped up to the counter and rang the bell for service. Daring pretended to be interested in a leaning stack of paintings she was poking through.
"Be with you in a minute!" a raspy and gurgling voice came from the back of the shop, a ratty curtain the only thing separating the two spaces.
"Poor security, no employees to keep the front. View of the front door is obstructed. Not even a surveillance crystal in sight of the register. Surprised this place hasn't been cleaned out by thieves," I muttered.
"I wonder how many of those jewelry pieces near the door have been lifted," Daring agreed.
The shopkeeper appeared from behind the curtain. He was a Elasmobian, a shark-looking creature that stood upright, fat but with a large toothy creepy smile. A set of water tanks were strapped to his back with a hose running up to the gills on his necks, seemingly so he could breathe in air.
“Well hello detectives. How can I assist you today?” the shopkeeper spoke to Philip directly with a greasy smile.
“You seen a pony named Warder in the past month or so?” Philip showed him the picture.
The shopkeeper studied it for a moment. "Not this month no. A month, month and a half ago yeah. He was asking about some jewellery pieces that I had helped sell,” he admitted. “Seller was from Canterlot, and they were selling to somepony in Ponyville.”
"Do you know the seller's name?"
"Fraid not. Did all our business by mail.” Finder started glaring at him, and the shopkeeper raised his fins. “Hey, hey, I’m just the broker here, Finder,” he said hurriedly. “I know the buyer's name though if you need that."
"We already know the buyer. Now we know the broker too," I spoke up. I stepped over with my pictures, not having matched any of them. "Do you recognize any of these pieces?"
There were about fifteen photos there. Celestia was wise to keep these as a record. There were also records of what the more dangerous ones did, but it was probably best that I not show him those.
The shopkeeper spread the photos out on the desk and started studying them. After a few moments, he stopped.
"These twelve here I've never seen before…" He pushed twelve photos away but pointed to the last three.
One was a gold and red ruby sunburst necklace, the second was a silver hoof chain of flowers, and the third a dark silver crescent moon hairpin with a short fine silver chain.
He pointed to the crescent moon hairpin, and the flower chain (which I knew to be the decoy with a tracking spell). "I sold the other two to Mythic White not long before that pony came asking around. But this one arrived just a few days ago, I still have it in the back. Shall I get it for you?"
"That'd be great," I nodded. He turned around and headed back behind the curtain.
"I'm surprised he's cooperative. Not his usual attitude toward us," Daring observed.
"Meaning he's bolted on you before?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go check round back to be sure." Daring turned and left Finder and I waiting inside.
"Those necklaces are not the only illegal thing he has here. Several of those jewelry pieces in the case are modified military medals. It's illegal to sell those," I muttered to Finder.
"We can let the guard sort it out. They aren't why we are here,” Philip reminded me.
I shrugged. "I know, just something to think about."
The shopkeeper actually returned carrying a small opened parcel of mail, which he handed to me. Sure enough, the decoy hairpin was in there.
"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, why are you so willing to help us?" I asked. "I was under the impression that law enforcers were shunned in this town."
"Aye, in this town,” he nodded. “But you aren't from here are you? You’re RBI, one of the Princess' finest. If you are here for something, I figure it’s in my best interest to assist, else I get into too much trouble."
Ah, good old self-interest. Always a strong motivation amidst his kind. "I see. Thank you." I nodded and exited the shop with Finder, tucking the parcel into a pocket of my armor.
"What do you want to do next?" Finder asked.
“Well, I would want to find out where he was staying, and see if he left anything behind. He had very little in the way of money, even being funded by the Princess. How many Long Stay motels and hotels are there in Ponyville?” I asked Philip.
“Nine. I’ll get Daring.”
Nine?! This day was just getting longer and longer.
After Daring had complained vocally about my current inability to fly (I suspected that Finder was grateful for it, though), we visited two motels and one hotel, coming up empty at every one. Philip and Daring had advised we get some food before continuing. All they had told me about the place was its name was the “Apple Pie In Your Eye.” So of course I thought: What an absurd name for a tavern. Apparently, the owner just wanted something that rhymed with “pie.”
Upon arrival, however, all my preconceived assumptions about it being a rundown place for alcohol were destroyed by the sheer upbeat aura around the place. Music poured from every window door and crack the place had. The two story structure stood strong, a hanging sign over the door depicting the shapes of three gleeful ponies. The outer walls were painted in bubblegum pink, leafy green molding, and red doors and windows. Two colored lanterns set in the wall next to the double doors, unlit.
“Whaddya think?” Daring asked as we stepped inside.
“Definitely not what I was expecting,” I admitted following the two of them to the bar. Sitting down I tried to see if there were any shady characters here, but the only shady looking ponies here were the three of us; everypony else seemed to have at least a small smile on their face, enjoying themselves and the food.
"It's a likeable different,” I nodded as we approached the bar. “What do you recommend?”
“All of the food. Just all of it,” Daring smiled.
“She’s not wrong sugarcube.” An orange earth pony mare with a blond mane, green eyes, and three apples as a cutie mark approached us from behind the bar. “Gotta say you look to be a bit more straight shoot’n than some of the fellers Finder here brings to my bar.” She gave Phil a small glare.
“Said I was sorry,” he muttered.
“Agent Flame Strider, Canterlot Royal Bureau of Investigation. It’s a lively establishment,” I introduced myself. I also thought I saw her before somewhere, can’t remember where..
“Name’s Applejack. You must be the feller Phillip helped when he took his trip to New Horseleans.”
“Heard about that, did you?” I asked, not really looking to reminisce about murdering cults with basilisk guard dogs.
“It was in the paper,” Applejack stated.
“Of course it was.” I then remembered where I saw her before. “Weren’t you in the news too?” Now I remembered: Applejack was a bearer of an Element! One of the biggest heroes in Equestria right in front of me!
“Y’all ain’t looking for an autograph, are ya?” she smirked.
“Fraid not. He’s in town on business. Just stopped in for lunch.” Finder said tapping the menu in front of him. “AJ, how about a grilled tuna on sesame seed bread with some Kanga-Rum?”
“And I’ll have a pasta, broccoli, and carrot salad with a bottle of Manticore Rare,” Daring ordered.
“I’ll go with the eggplant, spinach, and zucchini sandwich, and a Shimmer Cola please,” I said, frowning at my partners. Seriously, guys? It’s barely noon.
“I’ll have your order in a jiffy,” Applejack said, disappearing through the swinging doors into the kitchen.
While we waited, I tried asking about the remaining hotels we had to visit. Daring knew a surprising amount about the hotels in this town.
“We would need to look for a place that offers long term room rental, few questions asked.” Finder resoned.
“Well, that narrows it down some. There are only three that tend not to pry into the business for their guests. Used them to lay low back in the day,” Daring replied, taking a long sip of her bourbon.
“Back in the day?” I asked.
Daring scowled and Phil gave me a look that clearly told me to drop it. I shrugged it off.
“Then that’s where we should start once we hit the beat again,” I agreed.
As I went to bite back into my sandwich, two Ponyville Guards stepped in. I had forgotten that smaller enclaves of guards don't get full armor sets. Just fabric uniforms with some protection enchantments on them.
These two were from the Ponyville Police Department. The taller of the two was a thestral mare, blonde mane & tail, yellow eyes. Cutie mark of a pair of yellow eyes. Tattoo visible on her left foreleg: a red cross with wings and the words "Angels in Flak Jackets." Must be former Air Force SAR.
The shorter earth pony stallion came in after her; a bit chubby, yellow coat, black and yellow mane & tail, green eyes, cutie mark of a bumblebee. This one came up to Finder almost looking worried. "Phil, some friends of yours got in trouble,” he said. “They say that they’re RBI, but they don't have RBI IDs."
"They also said that their boss was with you,” the mare spoke firmly.
I started banging my head against the bar, which attracted the officers’ attention. "You him?" she asked.
"Yeah, what'd they do?" I sighed.
"They were caught harassing a rich pony by the name of Mythic White. He is threatening to press charges. The Captain sent us to see if we can confirm their story," she explained.
“Which obviously…” the stallion gestured to me.
I felt a heat in my ears, shoulders and wings that I haven’t felt in a long time. I placed some bits on the counter and thanked Applejack for the meal. “What are your names?”
“I’m Prowl, and this is Bumblebee,” the mare asked.
“Which way is your precinct?” I asked Prowl.
“Follow me.” She lead me toward the door.
“He’s going up against Cold? This I gotta see,” I heard Daring say. The falling of bits, and the sliding of chairs could be heard behind me. Great. I had an audience.
Opening the doors to the Ponyville Precinct was, on accident, louder than I expected: I guess I was more frustrated than I thought I was. Every pony stopped what they were doing to look at me, with Prowl, Bumblebee, Finder and Daring bringing up the rear of the group. I headed straight toward interrogation, with Finder and Daring following.
We stopped in front of a one-way mirror into an interrogation room. Skylynx was inside, glaring at a tall unicorn mare who was growling at him from the other side of a table. “That’s her,” Daring said, grinning like a pony about to see a show. “Captain Cold Case, Major Crimes.”
She was a tall unicorn. Snow white coat, long dark blue mane, pale blue eyes. Cutie mark of a book embossed with a snowflake. She had on a black trench coat. She also reminded me greatly of my wife. A lot of similarities. She even had a similar icy glare, which she was currently focusing on my agent.
“I’ll handle this,” I said, and opened the door to the interrogation room.
Captain Cold (why did that name sound so weird?) whirled around on me. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she asked me firmly.
I ignored her. “Skylynx, wait for me outside,” I ordered. Skylynx did as he was told, ignoring Case’s glaring protest.
“Tell me who you—” Cold Case started.
“Agent Flame Strider of the Royal Bureau of Investigation. I want my team released now,” I stated firmly.
She looked past me. I glanced behind me to see Phil and Daring were behind me; Phil looked kind of worried, while Daring was grinning from ear to ear.
"Let's go to my office and talk," Cold said icily.
"Yes. Let's," I agreed.
She led me out of Interrogation; I saw her and Finder glare daggers at each other as she passed. As we passed through the squad room Finder and Daring stood with Prowl and Bumblebee. Bumblebee was pretending to look busy with paperwork. Prowl watched us pass, then quickly leaned down and started whispering into Bumblebee’s ear as soon as she thought we were out of earshot.
We reached Cold’s office, which had her name on the frosted glass door, and she opened the door. I closed the door behind us. She started speaking first.
"Agent Strider, do you know how the jurisdictional boundaries work? I need to know if you are operating in my town, who you are investigating and who you are enlisting for help,” she stated, glaring at me. “Otherwise I would've told you that asking a pair of private investigators to assist you is unwise. Then there is the matter of your team; they are not full RBI agents and have no authority in this city."
“Yeah, in your world that would be correct,” I shrugged.
"Agent?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"As an RBI Agent my jurisdiction is all of Equestria,” I smirked. “Um…where does yours end again, pumpkin?" I thought I heard a muffled laugh from behind the door.
Cold Case’s face started to turn red around her cheeks. "Agent Strider, I—”
I began pacing back and forth in front of her desk. "I should remind you that any and all RBI cases are classified and any of that 'I need to know who, what, where, and how' information you are asking about I cannot and will not divulge to you. Especially not if this is how you’re gonna treat me and my team," I stated.
"Finder is—" she sputtered.
"I've worked with Finder before, not you, and even he only knows what he needs to help me. I have told him that there is more information, but I cannot divulge to him for security reasons. He and Daring have accepted that and agreed to assist anyway. Was there anything else?"
"Your team got caught spying on a wealthy member of the community," Cold stated, quickly recovering.
"What, none of your ponies ever made a mistake? I doubt it. I'm sure they had their reasons for having a look. Admittedly, they should've found me first."
There was silence; I could see her thinking, the gears turning behind her eyes. I hadn't given her anything like she had hoped. I wasn't some greenhorn. I had experience, and I knew what I was doing, and I was higher-ranking than her. I got the impression that she wasn’t used to being stonewalled.
"If we're done here, my team should be up from holding by now." I turned toward the door.
"I'll be keeping my eye on you while you’re in town, and in the company of Finder and Daring," she said quickly. I had just cracked the door (and caught a glimpse of Daring quickly drawing away from it), but that comment made me shut it again with a forceful slam.
I turned to her and rose to my full height. "If I so much as sense that I am being followed, I will bring you in on impeding a royal investigation and abuse of rank. I wonder if your career would survive the fallout of those charges?"
If she was scared she wasn't showing it. Instead she just nodded and responded with a quiet growl, “Understood, sir. I'll see that your team is released.”
“Good." I nodded. She left her office and headed toward holding.
I went out to meet Finder and Daring, who were speaking with Skylynx. "Okay, we've lost enough time. Skylynx, report. Why were you caught?"
"We weren't trying to spy on Mythic White. We were trying to get a good look at his display case. He has a whole lot of jewelry pieces on display like trophies in his study," he reported.
"Good work. You shouldn't have gotten caught, but good work. Take the girls and go find the hotel room that Warder was using as his base." I instructed, handing him the list of hotels.
"Yes, sir." He hurried to meet up with Amber and Sugar.
"Change of plans?" Daring asked.
I nodded. "Change of plans."
Mythic White's house was large, but not to the point where it was obvious that he was wealthy. One would better describe him as well-off. It was painted white with a pale yellow molding. Three stories, a pool in the back and a place to park a carriage.
Walking up the walkway, I noticed that there were some security crystals set up in hard to see places, tucked into trees and underneath the edges of the rooftops. Not really a surprise anymore that my team got caught.
With Finder and Daring behind me, I walked up to the door and knocked loudly. After a moment a security guard opened the door.
"State your business,” he grunted, glaring at me from behind his sunglasses.
"Royal Bureau of Investigation. I want to speak Mythic White,” I said confidently.
“Just a moment.” The security guard closed the door. After two minutes, he returned, “Mr. White will see you in his study. If you will follow me,” he said in a tone of faux courtesy, gesturing us inside.
As we followed the guard I took note of my surroundings, and I was sure Finder and Do were doing the same. The house was a little bigger than mine on the inside, and geared more toward a high rolling bachelor lifestyle. There were display shelves everywhere one looked. Old school trophies for things like “Best in Track” and “Honor Student”. Certificates for Business, and Accounting, and one minor degree in law also decorated the walls of the hallway to the study. As we approached the door, it opened and a pony stepped into the hall muttering to herself and sobbing lightly. She left rather quickly. I thought I heard Phillip growl to himself as she passed.
“Mr. White will see you now,” the guard said holding the door open.
Daring, Finder and I stepped through to see a white pony sitting behind a rather grandeur desk. He had a slicked back white mane, silver eyes, and a smile that reminded me of a ventriloquist dummy: intended to be friendly, but just came across as creepy. He was very young looking: if I didn't know better, I would've guessed he was just out of school.
Sure enough behind him in a display case were five pieces of Celestia’s stolen jewellery, including the two that that shopkeeper had sold, displayed like trophies. This was definitely the guy. Just need to prove it. Which meant getting him to open that case.
"Ah, to what do I owe the pleasure Agents?" Mr. White's Southern accent was pronounced.
"I am Agent Flame Strider. These are my associates Detectives Finder and Do."
He raised an eyebrow. "Ah. The famous private eyes," he said dryly.
“No autographs,” Daring grunted, looking at White like he was a pile of dog poop.
White pointedly ignored them, instead focusing on me. “Agent Strider, I’m afraid they have no authority to be here. I agreed to the you the RBI, not—”
“Agent Strider hired us, buddy,” Daring sneered. “Package deal.”
“She is correct,” I nodded.
“I must’ve missed that part of my law schooling. Please tell me as to why you are here Agent,” he said trying to sound courteous, but I could see beads of sweat running down the back of his neck.
I pulled out my photos of the Princesses’ jewelry and stepped up to the glass case. “These look very familiar,” I stated. “They look a lot like jewelry that was stolen from the palace.”
“You came here to look at worthless replicas of jewelry?” White chuckled to himself. “All museum quality, but utterly worthless, I assure you.”
I saw one, a golden circlet; not very ornate but it boasted a black pearl on the crest. This was one of the ones that Celestia warned me about; this one, if it was not a forgery, could give the wearer telekinesis without the use of a horn.
As White tried to have a look at the pictures, I put them away quickly. “Could you open up this display case, please?” I asked.
His eyes went wide momentarily before narrowing. “Why?”
“Sir, open the case.” I repeated with authority.
His composure broke. “I-I think it’s time you left,” he stammered and pressed something under his desk. I kicked the chair out from under him and pinned him to his desk his right hoof behind his back.
“Daring, Finder, the door,” I needlessly instructed as they were already in place. The door opened quickly and the security guard entered. Phillip knocked his hind legs out from beneath him with his baton while Daring ensnared his right limb with a weighted rope and pinned him down with a hoof on his back.
“I’d stay still if I were you,” she grinned down at him, pulling his foreleg taut.
I looked back down at White. “Last time I ask nicely. Open. The. Case. Please.”
I gave his leg a bit of pressure to emphasize my point and he squealed like a little filly. “Okay! Okay!” he cried. I released him and he opened a desk drawer and got out a key. He stood up and opened the case as requested. Finder walked over and pulled White away from the case with a little more force than was really necessary, prompting another yelp of pain.
I took out the circlet and put it on, then thought about lifting the desk up to the ceiling. The desk shot straight up into the air and smashed into the ceiling, cracking the wood.
“Hey! That’s an ebony desk!” White protested, then yelped as Phillip compressed his arm.
“Shut it,” Phillip growled.
I quickly took off the circlet, and the desk slammed back down with a loud crash. White whimpered.
“You know, Mr. White, if these are fakes, then why are they so good?” I asked.
He was panicking now, eyes darting around everywhere as if trying to find an escape route. “I-I-I—”
“Help us find the thief, and maybe we’ll get charges lowered," Phillip snarled in his ear.
I glared. Finder and Daring glared. Even the security guard glared at Mr. White; I guess he didn't want to do time for him.
White looked around the room before looking back at me. Finally, he sighed as he realized that he was out of options.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
I thought a moment, than I had a moment of inspiration. I collected a quill and parchment from the remains of his desk and hoofed it to him. "I want you to write the thief a letter."
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this chapter reads like a Mike Hammer book and i love Mike Hammer.
grate righting team.
9783212
Gonna be honest, I have absolutely no idea who that is. Gonna go google him now though.
9784030
Mike Hammer books in order.
i started reading them back in 1979 or about.
old school kind of detective that has a amazing plot line to finger out.
Reads like Mike Hammer but Mike Hammer would get arrested for doing anything even close to what he gets away with. Hope Strider swinging his... jurisdiction about like that and pissing off the local police doesn't come back to bite him. Nice chapter.
i wonder if the police chief is in on it.
Strider seems to be going for a "take no shit" attitude. I like it.
It's good. I'm hoping Strider doesn't fall back into bad habits.
I can't help but think that Strider throwing his weight around like this, and his newfound authority going to his head, might come back to bite him. We all know that he has an addictive personality (gets addicted to things easily), so why wouldn't he get addicted to power in the same way that he was addicted to gambling? Here's to hoping he doesn't become another swampfire.