Burnt Out
March 20th
Despite the success it represented, the arrest of Vexation was not made common knowledge to anypony over the next few days. While publicly announcing that the White Phoenix had been caught would raise the spirits of Manehatten's ponies more than anypony could imagine, Gleaming Truth had made the decision to hold off on doing so as she still was not entirely convinced. She'd been through enough criminals to understand their psychology a little and his didn't match what she knew. He'd been questioned half a dozen times over either being the Phoenix or his involvement with such and his silence hadn't been down to any kind of defiance or desire to protect something. He just seemed...Empty, mired in doubt himself, as if anything he might have to say wouldn't be worth the effort for either side. Even Rarity's legendary silver tongue, cajoling and most alluring dresses had been unable to get anything more than the most basic of personal details out of him.
They couldn't give up yet though. If Vexation really was the White Phoenix, then they needed him to come clean of his own accord. If he wasn't, and it was starting to look that way, then there was a good chance he worked directly with the Phoenix and had information they needed to stop any more attacks. The trouble was they had no idea what it was going to take to convince him, especially after Rarity ultimately had to be escorted out of the questioning room while ranting about his 'insufferable rudeness toward a lady'. There was only one pony left who had any new ideas to try and get him to open up. While they refused to elaborate on just what they had in mind yet, Truth was willing to give it a shot. After all, Sweetie Belle was a strange mare but maybe her unique style was just what was needed right now.
"Would you belieeeve, that I've always wished I could be somepony else." Sweetie sang to herself as she dangled her front hooves off the edge of the chair she was sitting on. In all the times she'd visited the MPD precinct, this was the first time she'd been inside the locker room on the ground floor. Hopefully it would be the last too, because it was really boring. Just exactly what you'd expect, lockers along all four walls as well as a dividing row of them down the center of the room. The only reason she was in here was because Babs Seed was there too, fetching some items she considered too valuable to leave in her unlocked office.
"Huh, didn't take you for the type to like Neighvana music." Babs commented idly as she sealed her locker up and placed a bit purse and small photo book in a pocket of her jacket.
"To be the pony I wanna be..." Sweetie finished, blinking and sliding back to reality as she looked over at her friend. "Hmmm? Oh, yeah, I actually did a cover of that song while my career was in a slump last year. Probably the best song I did during that time."
"Really? Surprised I didn't hear anypony comment on it."
"Well it was only at a few small clubs around the city, I was struggling for work at the time."
"Well, at least we both know it won't get that bad again," Babs said with confidence as she finished locking up and headed back toward her friend. "Come on, Gleaming Truth wants to see us."
"What? I thought we were done for today." Sweetie commented as she got up and followed her fellow crusader, heading back into the hallways.
"Me too, but apparently she's got one more thing planned for us. No idea what though." The two of them kept trading ideas for what it might be until they reached the entrance to the cell block. Considering it held dozens of criminals, the choice of silver paint for the walls made it surprisingly refreshing to walk though. It was a quick trot through though to the questioning room on the far side where Truth was waiting for them.
"Alright, so I'm guessing we're here for a prisoner themed party to celebrate a job almost well done?" Sweetie commented, getting a chuckle from Babs for the optimism on show.
"Well, you're partly right. It is prisoner themed," Truth replied with an affable smile. "The powers that be pushed Vexation's next questioning forward. He's in there now and they want you to handle it, Sweetie Belle."
"Me? I mean, sure I said I had an idea but, already?" Sweetie asked, getting a more concerned look in response.
"Search me. Maybe they're just as desperate for a straight answer as I am. Anyway, Babs, you're in the chamber with Copper Top during the questioning. He's already in there so, whenever you two are ready."
"Of course, good luck in there." Babs said as she walked up to the next door down the hallway and entered. Sweetie moved to enter the nearer door but stopped and looked back at Truth.
"Has, anypony been pressuring him in there?"
"Maybe I did a little, not hard though, Rarity did lose her temper a bit...Okay, more than a bit, as in she's not allowed back in here right now. Does that affect how you're going to do this?"
"A little. I know what I have to do though."
"Alright. Well good luck, I'm right out here if you need help."
Sweetie nodded and moved to the door, taking a final moment to make sure she was ready. She still wasn't even sure why she was going to do what she had in mind, just a gut feeling that it was what was needed. Taking the handle in her magic, she opened the door and stepped inside. The questioning room was rather lacking in, just about everything, nothing but a table with a chair on either side and a one-way mirror along the wall to her right. Vexation was sitting on the far chair, his inhibitor ring still fitted, cuffed front hooves resting on the table, his gaze down at the floor. There was something about the sight that Sweetie just found incredibly sad, especially with her doubts about him. She slowly trotted over and took the open seat opposite him, doing her best to look sympathetic.
"Hey, Vexation. Can I call you Vex?" She asked softly. He just kept sitting there, blinking silently. She took that as a no. "Ok then. So...How're you feeling today?" More silence, his head turning away slightly. Sweetie sighed slightly, she hadn't expected it to be easy but the way he had just given up on everything hurt to watch. She decided to step up her plan slightly and see if she could get through to him, sliding into the friendliest, understanding tone she could muster.
"Look, Vexation, I know we kind of really had a bad previous encounter. I was scared at the time though, scared of what the White Phoenix might do if I couldn't stop them soon. I, everypony, jumped to the wrong conclusion though. Looking at you, I know you're not the Phoenix."
Babs smiled to herself as she watched the unfolding scene through the other side of the mirror. The observation chamber, as the MPD staff tended to call it, was even smaller and less furnished than the room it watched. At least the questioning room had a light. Still, it served its purpose of letting officers get a written record of questioning suspects without being disturbed. She was just making sure everything went smoothly today, Copper Top was handling the transcript. A light grey earth stallion with, appropriately, a copper coloured mane and tail, hazel eyes and a bronze coloured police badge cutie mark, he was at the lone table in the room, doing his best to keep up with Sweetie Belle's side of the discussion.
"Trying to cosy up...Does this pantywaist even know what she's doing?" Copper muttered as soon as he got a break in the writing, dropping his pencil and eying the mare through the glass disapprovingly.
"You don't know Sweetie Belle like I do," Babs replied quietly, never taking her eyes off her friend the whole time. "She may not be the smartest mare I know but she has a lot of common sense. When she has an idea, she knows what'll make it work."
"It's simple enough," Sweetie Belle continued. Vexation still hadn't said anything but his ears had flicked slightly at that last statement. He didn't want to show it but he was listening. "The Phoenix has proven that they don't care about other ponies after what happened at the station, who knows how many ponies could have been injured, or worse. It takes a twisted kind of pony to do something like that. You're not even a bad pony."
"...How do you know?"
Sweetie's ears twitched as she looked back at him. Vexation was looking back at her, still carrying that same defeated air and his voice was quiet, lacking that slick attitude of the past. But his eyes had a fresh look behind them, a drive once again. She decided to risk pushing it a little, letting him explain.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not one of the lucky ones who has enough to spare that they can look out for other ponies at the same time. I've spent most of my adulthood focused on just keeping my own flank above water, I didn't have space for other ponies in that. I knew what I was doing, working with the White Phoenix, but I kept going because...Well the bits they paid were enough to make me think I could spare enough to get myself into a better spot, make some friends, find a decent life. Now it's all out here though, I've got nothing to gain by trying to escape what actually happened. Yes, I forged your signature on that document. Yes, I broke into a train and stole the nylon. Yes, I stole the gas valves from my workplace, though I never knew they would be used for such things, I swear! And yes, I aided and abetted a major criminal for months. Why I did all those things? Because I'm a bad pony!"
Sweetie could only watch as Vexation planted his hooves on the table with a clank and buried his muzzle in them, her mind racing. She hadn't quite expected that outpouring from him, especially the way his voice had started to crack near the end. It confirmed her suspicions about him though. She could see what he really wanted to do, all she had to do now was convince him that it was still possible. Her hoof went to his and rested on it gently, a small sign of reassurance that she wasn't going to overreact. She waited for him to glance up at it and then up to her face, knowing that he'd expect disbelief at best and some kind of anger at worst. Instead he was getting a gentle, caring smile from her, a look of genuine support on her face.
"Right there," She said softly. "If you were a bad pony at all, you wouldn't want to do better for yourself in a way that let you do better by others too. As for friends...Well, you've got a pony right here who'd be willing to take you up on that," She paused to let that sink in, reading the look in his eyes. "Yes, really. I just want to ask one thing to be sure and I need you to be honest. Do you know who the White Phoenix is?"
"I..." Vexation glanced away in thought for a minute, myriad emotions and thoughts flashing behind his eyes before he raised his head and looked back at her, doing his best to look and sound professional. "I swear by Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. I do not know who it is, and it is not me. On the ninth of July when the first case took place, I was in the town of Stirrup that week. I still have the hotel receipts as proof. As for after that..."
"What is she doing?" Copper Top hissed in frustration, so caught up in his irritation at the scene unfolding before him that Babs had needed to take over writing duties. She could understand his thoughts, most officers wouldn't be happy to see what, to the unknowing, looked like Sweetie helping their lead suspect clear his name and putting the case back several weeks. As she kept jotting down what was being said though, she knew they were really on the verge of a breakthrough.
"I was short on bits at the time, so when I saw a flyer in my apartment block advertising easy work with guaranteed pay, I probably sent an application to the address on it quicker than I should," Vexation continued, shifting in his seat, clearly a little put off by discussing this so openly. "It seemed simple enough, just buy a can of paint and deliver it to a set point, with a promise of future work if done quickly. I didn't think about it at the time, but I was participating in dead drops for the Phoenix, the paint used in each attack in exchange for bits and other necessary supplies."
"That's, surprisingly complex," Sweetie replied, finding herself silently impressed at how much effort had been put into this. "Long shot but, did you see any signs of how the Phoenix was funding all this? I mean, paying you constantly and buying everything else needed to set all this up can't have come cheap."
"I actually did try asking one time, leaving a note with the eighth can. I figured it was worth the risk since I wanted to be sure I would keep getting paid. They simply replied that they were being funded by a very 'fashionable' source."
"Oh, Rarity's going to have a field day with this," She muttered to herself, able to understand the implication. Either the Phoenix was, or was working with, the bit thief after all. "Wait. What kind of supplies were you getting?"
"Don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't anything that helped me. The last drop I picked up contained a firepony outfit and an order form with instructions on what to do with them. I didn't want to risk anymore questions, I still needed the bits. So I...Yeah, I did forge your signature, delivered that form and switched to the firepony outfit before going into the station after the Phoenix started the fire there. No, I didn't see any clues there to who it might be but...Hmmm..."
Vexation looked away again, tapping a hoof against the table, though it was impossible to tell if it was just in thought or if he was debating something more significant. Sweetie Belle simply let him for now, feeling a little proud of herself. He'd just got swept up in the hope of making something more for himself and just gone down the wrong path a little. The fact he was being so cooperative at the chance for a friend was welcome, but she had to make sure she backed up her words after this. After a minute he gasped slightly and looked back at her.
"Actually, there was something scribbled on the back of the instructions, not sure how much it means but...It just said 'Check new supplier at Low Meet.'"
Babs dropped her pencil at those words and glanced over at Copper Top, who was similarly dumbstruck. Both of them were all too aware of the implications of what he had just said and both knew they needed to get this to their superiors as soon as possible.
"Ok, and...Sorry but this is bugging me a little. The gas valves?"
"Oh, yeah, I...Kind of slipped them out from work, left documents claiming they'd been loaned to other companies outside the city. It worked pretty well, made sure there was enough red tape to keep anypony from catching on. I slipped dozens out that way."
"Dozens? Wh...why?"
"I...Wish I knew now. I just kept leaving them in the dead drops like instructed...Oh I'm so going to prison for all this." Vexation tensed up again and looked down at his hooves. Sweetie Belle knew that he was taking all this harder now that he was seriously thinking about it. She thought about what she could do to help him and decided that he deserved her best. She got up and moved round the table, placing a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.
"I won't lie, I doubt you'll be able to just walk away from this. But you've done a lot more good here, I promise. We've got a real chance at finding the Phoenix and helping a lot of ponies now. All thanks to you." She glanced aside at the mirror, hoping they would back that up on the other side, before focusing on him again. To her surprise, he looked up at her with a small but genuine smile on his muzzle.
"Okay...Thank you, Sweetie Belle."
"There we go," She replied happily, booping his nose slightly. "That smile there, that made it all worth it for me."
"Heh, yeah," He chuckled, making her smile more. "That's all I know, I swear. Sorry I couldn't be more help."
"You've helped more than you know. And once our parts in this whole Phoenix mess is completely over, we'll find some time to hang out and help you make some friends. I promise that one, Vexation."
He nodded, thinking for a moment as she got up and started to head for the door, clearly finished up with the questioning. As she put a hoof on the door he got up quickly, enough to get her attention.
"My, friends, can call me Vex." He said, smiling nervously at deciding to try and use the term himself.
"Ok, Vex." She replied with a friendly grin as she left.
"She's done?" Babs asked in slight surprise, normally these interrogations lasted at least ten minutes longer.
"She is, how'd she even do that?" Copper said as he sifted through the completed transcript. They didn't have time to dwell on it though. He gathered up the papers and left the observation chamber, Babs right behind him.
The two of them headed back down the hallway toward the questioning room door, where Gleaming Truth was still standing, now talking to Sweetie Belle. As soon as Copper got close he passed the transcript over to her and pointed out the mention of the low meet. As soon as she saw what was written down, Truth took the paper, holding it with a wing as she read intently. Sweetie was left to one side, silently wondering just what was going on.
"Copper, escort Vexation back to his cell. Seed, gather everything we have on the low meet." She ordered quickly, never taking her eyes off the papers.
"What's the, low meet?" Sweetie asked as the other two left, Babs rushing off to do her part.
"Until five minutes ago, it was a rumour," Truth explained. "For years we've heard whispers among some of the more, dangerous inmates about a top secret black market site within Manehatten itself, always referred to as 'The Low Meet'. We've never made any headway in finding it though and I thought it was some kind of myth. From the sound of Vexation's testimony though, not only is it real, it may well be where the White Phoenix has been getting most of their supplies from. We find it, and we have a chance to prevent another attack, maybe even find a hint to the Phoenix's identity."
"Oh, really? I kinda focused on how I thought he deserved better than that look he was wearing initially and just went from there." Sweetie commented. The conversation paused for a minute as Copper brought Vexation out and past them. She couldn't help but smile more at how cooperative he was being, glancing back at her with a small smile before they headed back into the cell block.
"Well, you still ended up doing some real good work, Sweetie. Thank you," Truth smiled warmly and stretched her free wing out. "You should head off and rest up for now. The chief's going to want to put everypony spare we have on finding the low meet in the meantime. Hopefully we can find it soon and then, I think we're going to need you and Rarity more than ever."
In which I prove I cannot write emotion or mystery to save my life. Though oddly enough I'm still really happy with this chapter. 
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Okay, so maybe Coco didn't steal the orders, but it is still possible she's the one. In fact, it's more suspicious for her and the other workers at Rarity's Manehattan boutique because of the fashionable source part. I also kinda hope I'm wrong about this though, because I tend to do this a lot with books I read (figuring out who it is before the end) and I miss the excitement and thrill. But still, keep up the good work!
7536947 There's nothing wrong with being perceptive, though that's coupled with this being my first (and likely last) attempt at a mystery story. There'll still be one round of excitement that doesn't involve figuring out who it is though, so hopefully you'll keep enjoying!
7537103
There's nothing wrong with it, it just gets annoying, I mean come on, in the past three years I can count on my hands the number of times a book really shocked me. I literally read a book yesterday where I figured out who the villain was way before the protagonist (who, to be fair, was blinded by the fact she knew said villain) and it became me groaning because, I don't want this character to be the villain but at the same time it's obvious!
Besides that mini rant, this is a really good try at the mystery genre.