Together, They Fight Crime

by kudzuhaiku

Chapter 13

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About a week later, in the city of Canterlot…

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Mired in the depths of his depression, Yam Spade had lost his taste for hard liquor, but found a new taste for coffee. The apartment was cleaner than it had been in a long, long time—he and Azure hadn’t stepped out too often since their return and there was plenty of free time to clean. The rent was paid ahead for half of a year, done so by an anonymous benefactor. Their tab at the Chuck Wagon was also paid off, also by some anonymous benefactor. Yam didn’t know for sure who had done it, but he had a few guesses.

“All of Las Pegasus is coming undone, Yammy,” Azure said as she read her newspaper, which was spread over a remarkably clean floor. “The entire police force has been suspended, pending further investigation, whatever that means.”

For a moment, a sardonic reply crept up into Yam’s throat, a need to make a witty statement about who was protecting the city, but before the words could even be spoken, they became bitter in his mouth when he realised that very little had been done to protect the city before all of this had happened. He was just too depressed to make a joke or be funny. Sarcasm felt as though it took tremendous effort now.

“When faced with the corruption on the police force, the mayor resigned, leaving the city leaderless.” Azure tapped the paper with her hoof while her fine brows furrowed somewhat in concentration. “It says that Mister Mariner is financially backing a very popular candidate who is very well loved by both the ponies and the burros of Las Pegasus. There’s going to be an emergency vote soon.”

“Won’t do any good,” Yam muttered and his lips almost felt numb as they flapped against one another. “Nothing will change.” Depression had become like a disease: it had passed the point of being a mental state and was now becoming a physical one. His bones ached, his joints felt stiff, even creaky, and he was now fatigued all the time, even with a steady intake of coffee.

Wan light filtered through the thin window and shone into the basement apartment. It was a precious light, lasting only for a short time, because it had to shine over the top of the building next door, down into the alleyway, and through the tiny gap of a window. These perfect conditions only lasted so long each day, leaving the apartment rather dark and dreary.

It kept the rent cheap though. In a life of compromise, sacrificing comfort for cost, living in the dark kept the notorious Canterlot rent from being truly outrageous. Not that Yam wanted to see the light right now, the dark suited him just fine. He didn’t want to leave home, or find work, or take on new cases, no, he just wanted to sulk.

“Yammy, you’re taking all of this kinda hard—”

“Ya think?” Yam murmured, unable to muster up the energy for a good snappy reply. “We couldn’t even follow up with Miss Bayberry. Protective custody. We never got to see a mother reunited with her daughter. No closure, Azure… no closure, no satisfaction of a job well done. Just one big massive coverup! The only thing that kept you and I from getting our brains scrubbed by the agents of S.M.I.L.E. and those stupid Ref Defs of theirs is the fact that the Wardens demanded the contents of our brains be preserved for further strategic use. We almost didn’t remember solving this case, babe.”

To this, Azure responded, “Reflection deflection spells…” and then she shuddered hard enough to make her ears flop around.

“I used to believe in the good in this country,” Yam said, sighing, rather than spitting out his words because he was just too down in the dumps to be angry. “I mean, it had problems, sure, but this was the place that immigrants came to so that a better life could be found. We were this bright, shining example to the world. And then, all of this happened and I… and I… Azure, I—”

He was interrupted by a heavy, reverberating knock upon the door. Yam licked his lips, looked at the door, hesitated for a few seconds while his ears rose and fell, and then he decided to ignore it. Sinking down into his tattered, threadbare chair, he just didn’t have it in him to answer the door and face whomever was on the other side. Work held no interest for him, not at all, he only wanted to try and sort things out—if things could even be sorted out at this point.

It was Azure who got up from where she sat on the floor, reading her paper. She strode to the door, her hooves making muffled clops against the floor, and she gave her unbrushed mane a bit of a shake in a weak effort to make it somewhat more presentable. Just as the reached the door, there was another heavy, thudding knock that made the door creak in its dusty old frame.

Pulling open the door, she saw a familiar face.

“Warden Hammerhelm—”

“Warden no longer.” For a moment, the stern face looked sad. “It’s just Hammerhelm now. I took all of the blame to protect Warden Dread Drop, who is now on disciplinary probation but has a good chance to save his career.”

“I’m sorry.” Azure’s long ears lost all rigidness and collapsed.

“I’m not,” Hammerhelm said as she pushed her way inside, not waiting for an actual invitation. “All of this worked out well in the end and results were had. Hi, Yam, you look terrible.”

The corner of his mouth twitching, Yam snorted and tossed his head back. “Thanks.”

“Now that I am entirely unbound by regulations, I feel that I should warn you, Yam… they’re having a big time internal review about you and your role in this. I don’t know what is going to happen. You’ve revealed one of the largest criminal coverups in Equestrian history and everypony is looking for somepony to blame. Seems that some ponies want to find a way to blame you.”

“I’m not surprised,” Yam replied as the big bat-winged mare approached his chair. “The whistleblower always gets it, right? So you stopped by to tell me that I have a huge fronking bullseye on my back, is that it?”

“Well, that, and I wanted to check up on a friend.” Hammerhelm stood beside the chair and looked down at Yam with a half-smile on her face. “You really do look like shit, Yam. When was the last time you showered? Or gone outside?”

“The hot water heater is broken and I’m not some fancy, schmancy unicorn that can heat water. As for going outside, why bother? I don’t see the point.”

“Yam Spade… this isn’t like you. You served in the Fancy Foreign Legion. You’re a decorated soldier. You are a war hero. You saved an entire village from an advancing army without firing a shot. Not one life was lost. You were given all sorts of medals—”

“I sold those medals,” Yam muttered, interrupting, and he stared down at the floor. “There is this lady that I love… she’s a real great dame, this lady. Recently, I saw that her insides were rotten and all of her beauty was just cheap makeup and tricks. Now my heart is broken.”

Moving away from the door, Azure said nothing as she approached Yam’s chair.

“So you are just giving up?” Hammerhelm asked in a smoky near-whisper.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Lifting his head, Yam looked the big bat-winged mare right in the eye, peering through her oversized sunglasses. “I got my rent paid for a few months, which I figured gives me time to think. I might just move away. I don’t know yet. I don’t even know where I’d go. I just don’t want to be here. It hurts to be here… I keep seeing this dame that I loved, that I adored, and my heart hurts. I’m sick of looking at her. Time to skip town.”

“Yammy…” Azure stepped closer to his chair, shock evident on her face, and her ears rose in a semaphore of surprise.

“I understand.” Hammerhelm bowed her head. “I’ll leave you to your thinking, Yam. I hope for your sake that you’ll find your way. Maybe your talent can point you in the right direction.”

At this, Yam scowled, huffed, and snorted, but made no other response.

“I’ll be taking up residence here in Canterlot,” Hammerhelm said to Yam and Azure. “Not all is lost. I’ll be training new Wardens. I’ll be able to instruct them so that they might learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. I’ve been given instructions to thoroughly ground them in regulations, and the importance of obeying said regulations, so innocents don’t get hurt or drawn into situations where they may come to harm.”

“They’re punishing you—”

“Of course they are, Azure.” Hammerhelm looked at the burro mare that had interrupted her and smiled. “Don’t worry about me too much. I’m a big mare and I can take it. I made a plea. I made a bargain to save Warden Dread Drop. Now I’m going to have my nose rubbed in my mistake like I was a bad dog. My failure will be exploited to inspire others. That’s life, I suppose.”

“Do you… do you know anything about Honey Dew and her mother?” Azure asked.

The big nocturnal pegasus mare sighed, shuffled around a bit, and lowered her shades with her wing so she could peer over the tops of them at Azure. “They’re quite happy together. Protective custody has been good to them. They are going to be tucked away in a safe place until such a time that the Crown figures out what to do about Doctor Dew and her… curious condition.”

“And what about the other foals that got changed? What about them? Their parents?”

Heaving yet another sigh, Hammerhelm could not look Yam in the eye to answer him. “Those foals are still officially missing—”

“Son of a bitch!” Yam swore and he started to get up out of his chair.

Hammerhelm shoved him back down with her wing and this time, she did look him in the eye. “Resources are spread thin as it is. We can only do so much. It’s awful, it’s tragic, and it’s sad, but this is how real life works sometimes. We have an obligation to protect those foals and we’re doing that. Sacrifices must be made—”

“Oh, fronk that!” Yam shouted while he squirmed in his chair. When he tried to get up again, he was pushed back down. Frustrated, he turned a defiant, sullen stare at the big mare glaring down at him.

“I know that you will not go and betray my trust, Yam. I know that you won’t say a word about this. Not after I saved you from the agents and their plans for you. I had to throw my weight around, Yam, and I am only telling you this because I feel that you are owed the truth after all you’ve done.”

Frowning, Yam squeezed his eyes shut, kicked about in his chair, and after a few moments of struggle, he said, “Thanks, I guess.”

“Yam… should you stay…” Hammerhelm pulled her sunglasses off completely, revealing her mysterious draconic eyes. “If you decide to stay and keep fighting the good fight, and I think you will… you’re a good soldier, Yam… I want you to know that you can come to me if you need a little help. If you need a little, how shall we say, insight? I’m sick of being strangled by the regulations, Yam. I think I’m done with the rules for a while. I want you to succeed, and if you ever need my help, it is yours.”

“Thanks, doll.” Opening his eyes, Yam looked up and found that Hammerhelm’s muzzle was inches from his own.

“A breath mint wouldn’t kill ya, Yam.”

And with that, Hammerhelm took her leave, turning and walking away, leaving Yam and Azure to stare at one another.

Author's Note:

Hope is coming...

Comments

[Scarheart]

I keep hearing Yam speaking in Humphrey Bogart's voice.

[KeePony]

Yeah. The one condition all Spades have no matter what, Depression that would make the Grand Canyon feel inadequate.

[shardfff]

I really am starting to lose faith in the crown and celesttia at this point, smile was all ready to nearly destroy a exstramly good allie and the wardens are too few to make up for it. combine this with all the other darkness rising and this world is looking less and less hopeful, shure there is happy bits of fluff here and there but the last true victory was sumac finding the lantern before that was grogars crown being destroyed, you really need to put hope back into the story because all the victories after the lantern were piryric or had a threat of greater evil on the horizon.

[kudzuhaiku]

8466840
Yes. Celestia.

Because just one individual is somehow responsible for the thousands upon thousands of other individuals working beneath them. Let's examine this logically, shall we? If she controlled them all and made them perfect drones, she'd be a tyrant and you'd be upset about that. But here, as evidenced, they are free, free to make mistakes and even do awful things and do their job poorly, but somehow, Celestia is still the bad guy in all of this. Somehow. Just, because. You know.

If you hate her, it is for your own reasons and not because of anything I've done. Deal with it.

[shardfff]

8466863
I am not angry at or about celestia im miffed because the verse as a whole looks completely hopeless. We literally have not seen a genuine victory for the forces of light in such a long time. could you maybe throw your characters a genuine victory eventually Im starting to think your enjoying tormenting them.

[lordofmyth]

8466863
Think it is not him blaming celestia. IT is a rather common issue in writing that a side ends up worfed or made somehow incompetent to make the enemy seem ore of a threat.
Mlp rather suffers from this issue. Albeit the only time we have had a villain who is simply more powerful than the alicorns was Discord. OFten times the villains either have empowered themselves beyond their normal limits or powerful artifacts are in effect.

HOWEVER i disagree with his analysis. Both sides here are playing the long game, but it is still a war. Grogar's darkness and everyone else are in constant battle. Grogar is trying to wear them down, but at the same time the good guys are having rather major victories to weaken grogar.
ITs a battle of subterfuge rather than clashing armies.

There have definitely been sotries that do it wrong though. One particular one i can think of has a conflict between an army of changelings vs equestria...... and somehow the ponies have lost every consecutive conflict in a row..... with increasingly bullshit reasons cause they know changelings are involved so they would kn ow to watfch out for brainwashing and other subterfuge >_<

[Aurora Dimmet]

Yam is emotional and unreasonable, his logic is not sound. This was done on purpose to show us a real person with real feelings.

Also, this chapter finally dated things for me. It's going to get a WHOLE lot worse.

[Da Fennec]

Sadly the crown is caught by Good Guy syndrome I guess you can call it.. Rules and moral lines they can't cross while teh bad guys have no such lines.. Those lines are also what separate them from being tyrants

[Bahamuttone]

Hm The feeling that Celestia could be doing better is quite present, she appears to have made quite some mistakes, a lot of them apparently due to naivety, like letting Mariner get that much of the critical infrastructure that make Equestria work... As the millennia old divine being that actually moves the heavens... well she appears quite easily outgambitted by people with less than a tenth of her experience. It may be that there is no real places where the difficulties she had to face in the time past are evident and the reader can empathize with her on the political and ruling side, on the other hand, that may be quite difficult to write in an engaging manner...

[RadicalDishonesty]

That's a pretty crappy deal for Hammerheim. Help recruit the person who will help solve the case, figures out stuff they were having trouble with, probably understanding they will be in harm's way (although nobody knew exactly how dangerous this was) and gets kicked off the force and put into a punitive position.

And of course someone wants to figure out how to punish Yam. What the hell.

[mastermenthe]

8466995

This was done on purpose to show us a real person with real feelings.

There are always those who hate any reminders of their own reality even as they seek escapism.
Against such an encounter, there is no ethically pure path, because they will always make demands exactly as extremely as their emotions take them.
Its honestly really depressing.