Act 2 Chapter 53: Ride Into Darkness
Starlight Over Detrot Chapter 75:Ride Into Darkness
"So cometh the darkness and into shadow, we ride. Now we’ll see the face of this devil. Now we’ll meet these beasts and if they would tear us apart, they’ll meet our steadfast blades. This mountain shall never fall."
- Final words of Commander Hurricane before the First Battle of Canterlot Mountain
****
“The truth is that I just wanted to be a cop like I thought my Dad was a cop. I wanted to bust down the door and shout ‘the jig is up!’ in an especially heroic way so I could watch the bad guys wet themselves.
I never once got to shout that, because it turned out it was my job to crawl through the muck underlying the city, sweeping it out before it could overflow the streets. It was my job to stand in front of the bullets, to watch friends die, and to listen to the screams of children in my sleep.”
- Detective Hard “Hardy” Boiled, Detrot Police Department
Blood Alcohol Level : 0.21
Limerence and I flipped channels for a good ten minutes, but most everything was about the Summer Sun Celebration. Those storms around Canterlot were going to keep most of the festivities isolated to a few particular venues, but the rest of Equestria was still going to get one heck of a light show once the eclipse started. Detrot herself was to see almost fifteen minutes of solid darkness.
Aside that, there were a few reports here and there about gang violence between various factions that’d broken out overnight and a bit about the incident at the Moonwalk, but once it’d been discovered there were ‘no deaths’ there, the press lost interest faster than a hyperactive foal with a belly full of espresso and a head full of Zap. None of the surviving griffins seemed inclined to correct them and I didn’t really want to give a ring down to the reporters at WPONE and let them know a couple dozen vaporized corpses were floating around in the atmosphere. As far as they were concerned, the griffins had a little domestic issue. In a city full of unicorns, losing the top of a building isn't exactly the most uncommon news item.
One thing I’ll say for an entire species inclined to personal privacy is that it puts a good lid on a potential international incident.
That still left us with the problem of having a whole griffin eyrie’s children staying at a brothel and their leadership sleeping off a pair of concussions in the bedroom of Swift’s parents’ house. I wasn’t entirely sure what was entailed in that pledge I made to Esmerelda, but the thought of having to be around when those eggs started hatching made my pelt crawl.
Mags slept right on through. Ah, to be a child and have that wonderful peaceful rest again.
----
“Detective, I am not certain but that this might be a futile activity,” Limerence said, setting down the remote.
“Starting to agree with you. Sky Town is a big place and the best we’ve gotten is ‘A bunch of griffins relocated and aren’t talking to the press’. We’ll need more solid information before we go running around in circles,” I replied, shrugging my coat off. I raised one leg and sniffed, then shuddered. “I’m going to have a bath. Keep looking. We’ll make plans once I don’t smell like a butcher shop.”
Hopping off the couch, I strolled into the kitchen. The house was such a comfortable little place. It reminded me of my parents. A tiny, desperately sad little colt somewhere in my past was hoping he’d walk into the kitchen and his mom would be standing right there. Instead, I found Swift and her mother sitting over the table. They glanced up as I came in.
“Detective? Is there...something I can do for you?” Quickie asked, giving me a critical look. “If you don’t mind, my daughter and I could use some time to clear the air.”
I shot a look at Swift and she shook her head, giving me the thinnest of smiles. “It’s okay, Sir. Mom and I already agreed she’s not allowed to beat you to death for any of the stuff that happened. I’m just...telling her...um...everything I can.”
I was a little conflicted regarding the notion of Swift spilling the beans to her parents about our recent activities, considering just how many of them had not only skirted the letter of the law, but set fire to it, buried it in the back yard, covered the yard with a landfill, illegally dumped tires on it, then tossed a torch on top.
“It’s fine.” I raised one rear leg and gave it a little shake. “I need to use the shower, if you don’t mind. I spent yesterday wading through things I think no sane pony should get used to wading through and I’d rather not get any more of it on the furniture.”
Quickie blanched and set her coffee down, her cream yellow face going a little bit pale. “I...I suppose that will be fine. Down the hall, third door on the right. There should be some soap and...dear me, do you mind using a rag instead of a wash cloth? I have some under the sink. I don’t want whatever is on you wiped on anything it might stain…”
“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, what is all over you? I know some of it is your blood, but it can’t all be, right? It smells like—”
Before Swift could finish, her mother stuffed a hoof over her muzzle.
“I do not want to know what is on the Detective, sweetie. I will be happier never knowing and, in fact, not thinking for one more moment about the matter,” she said, firmly, then pointed towards the door. “Please make certain you are actually clean before you use the towels…”
I popped a little salute, then turned on my heel. ‘Yes, Ma’am.”
----
Warm water, a rag, and a bar of fresh soap. Three little luxuries I think most ponies don’t recognize until they’ve done without them.
Like every other part of the house, the bathroom was the picture of domestic peace, up to and including the three rubber duckies with pony manes the same colors as our hosts and their daughter.
I was about five minutes into scrubbing my fetlocks when the panic attack started full swing.
I could feel it from a mile away; the flashing images of dead griffin faces framed in the light of a torch, a pony being sliced in half by a blast of pure moonlight, and the sensation of Astral Skylark’s blood splashing on my face as she was torn in half kept cycling in my head. Now and then, the Don’s corpse propped in his chair would flicker to the forefront of my mind.
Then it came. I knew it was going to be there, like a familiar picture in an album; Juniper’s strong, handsome face, twisted with agony.
I slid onto my backside in the tub, raising my chin so the water cascaded down my barrel. My breathing was coming in sharp gasps as the waves of terror dragged me into that special Tartarus reserved for those who’ve walked through blood.
Falling forward as my knees gave out, I let my head rest on the bottom of the bath-tub. You’d think during a panic attack a pony would feel fear, but it wasn’t fear or sadness or anything like that I was suffering. It was emptiness.
The emptiness was all-consuming, like a hunger you can’t ever satisfy and so intense that after a while there’s nothing else. I looked at my grey hooves, feeling every bruise and cut from the last month and a half worth of violence. They were all gone thanks to Gale’s magic, but some things leave deeper scars. Short of a few years sitting in a psychologist’s office, I wasn’t ever going to be fit for police duty again. That hurt to know, but it was a truth I might have to face at some point, if I survived our little adventure. Trauma is like that. It steals your peace of mind, long after the event that caused it is gone.
I really missed those mornings coming out to the car with Taxi smiling, sitting there on the hood like some kind of zebra mystic.
Ruby Blue’s dead eyes stared back at me for a moment in the reflective side of the tub, then drifted away like a wisp of my driver’s incense out the window of the cab.
Numbness was spreading throughout my body and I rolled onto my side, drawing my legs in close. Water, stained brown with the viscera, pooled around my body and washed down the drain.
Time passed.
Somepony knocked on the door a few times, called out to me, then went away. I let my mind drift, wishing I could follow the water to wherever it was going.
----
Funny as it might sound, it was guilt over hogging all the hot water that finally got me off the bottom of the tub. I can’t say I felt much better. Panic attacks always leave a person feeling like their self-worth has been dragged behind a truck, but I was cleaner, and my mane didn’t smell quite so rancid.
Plans needed to be made. Accounts taken. Strategies devised.
Dinner eaten.
My stomach rumbled at me as I went about drying my mane. How long had it been since that little tea party on top of the Moonwalk? A year? Two? I’d had a fair bit of Zap and never gotten around to a proper meal.
As I finished, I glanced at the towel. It seemed clean enough, if you ignored what might or might not be a bit of ash smudged here and there. Celestia preserve me, I could still feel the dried blood sticking to me, but I’m fairly sure that was my imagination.
Opening the door, I found Swift sitting outside. She was sans combat vest and the gel was washed out of her mane, leaving the poofy red curls dangling in her eyes.
“Hey kid...How long was I in there?” I asked, throwing the towel across my neck.
“About two hours, maybe a little longer,” she replied. “Dad said I should just let you be. Was he right?”
I nodded, patting my mane dry as I kept my tone carefully neutral. “Probably. There was an awful lot to clean off.”
After a moment’s hesitation she asked, “Sir, are you...are you okay?”
“No, but I don’t think it matters one way or the other. How is Taxi?”
She bit her lip, as though she wanted to ask something else, then sighed and let it go. “It’s always really hard to tell with her, you know? Dad says she’ll be fine so long as she doesn’t do anything dumb for a few days, like try to drive or run. She woke up about fifteen minutes ago from the sedation charm he and mom had to put her under so he could fix her legs. She’s asking for you.”
“Thanks, kid,” I said, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “Trust me, the situation at the Hotel could have been much worse if you hadn’t come back to let us know about the interdiction field. You saved...well, I didn’t count how many eggs there were, but you saved the lives of a whole generation of griffins, plus the four of us.”
Swift tried to smile, but it seemed awful hollow. “I...I guess I did. Heroes are supposed to feel better than this, right? I’m pretty sure I never heard of Daring Do crying all over her mom’s apron...”
“If Daring Do spent a week in Detrot doing our job, I’m pretty sure she’d be in a straitjacket,” I snickered, pulling my partner to her hooves. “Come on. Something smells good and I’m starving.”
----
Quickie Cuddles, whatever her professional talents in the bedroom, was no slouch in the kitchen either. I heaped up two plates with all manner of roasted vegetables, piling on a couple of tomato kebabs along with fresh, steaming biscuits. How she’d managed to get all that together in the two hours I’d been laying in the shower feeling sorry for myself was nothing short of magical.
As Swift and I were about to leave the kitchen to head upstairs to see Taxi, Quickie caught my partner’s leg.
Swift shifted her dinner from one wing to the middle of her back, balancing it carefully between her shoulders.
“M-mom? What is it?” she asked.
Her mother’s soft eyes were downcast. “Little bird...I...I want you to know that even when things change, I’m still your mother. I know my reaction might not have been the best, but I can adapt, if this is how you want to...to be.”
Tilting her head to one side, Swift took a step forward and put a foreleg around her mother’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Mom. Really. Believe me, I’ve seen much worse reactions lately. I made somepony faint a couple days ago.”
That brought a smile to her mother’s face, but she quickly buried it. “I won’t pretend to understand, but I’m going to try.”
Turning to the refrigerator, she pulled out a plate wrapped in tin-foil. Peeling back the cover, she presented it to Swift.
My partner sniffed at the air, then her eyes widened. “I-is...is that...real chicken salad? Mom...when did you get this? Where did you get this?!”
Her mother’s nose wrinkled slightly, but she kept her composure better than Taxi had when she found out about Swift’s diet. “Miss Galinda from across the street had it. I ran over a little while ago and asked what her chick’s favorite meal was. She taught me the recipe and even gave me the eh...the meat. I must make some cookies for them at some point.”
A tear gathered in her mother’s eye and Swift leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mom. Really. You’re...you’re the best.”
“I do try. Just...don’t let your grandmare find out I’m supporting this. The last time she and I had a disagreement over parenting technique—”
Swift giggled, adjusting the plate with the sandwich between her shoulders along with the rest of her meal. “I remember. The whole neighborhood remembers. Our insurance company definitely remembers.”
I raised a hoof. “Wait, your grandmother and your mom—”
“Tore up a bunch of trees and destroyed Miss Arpeggio's swimming pool? Yes, Sir,” my partner said, with a sage nod.
I gulped. “I’m glad she decided to hit me with her hoof instead of her horn.”
Quickie gave me a positively feline grin. “Splattered brains are ever so difficult to scrub out of the wallpaper.”
----
The bedroom reminded me a bit more of what I expected from a pony who’d worked at the Vivarium. Low, soft red lightning cast everything in black or mauve and the sheets on the alicorn sized bed were pink satin covered in hearts. Several chests of drawers that looked more like tool-boxes than anything you’d put clothes in lined one wall and a pair of fluffy hoofcuffs lay on the night stand.
Suture was standing over the bed, where Derida lay curled up under the blankets, her head and neck carefully supported by several pillows. My driver was propped up beside her, a copy of the Kamarea Sutra open across her lap, having her blood pressure taken.
“Normal for a mare of your age. Perhaps even a little better than normal. You’re healing well,” Suture said as I poked my head around the door.
“Thank you. Is Hardy alright?” she asked.
“Aside what I strongly suspect will be a black eye for however long it takes those amazing magics in his chest to heal it, yes, the good Detective appears to be fully functional,” he answered, rolling up his pressure cuff and stuffing it into a portable doctor’s bag. “If I could but do a study on what keeps that stallion ticking—”
“Trust me, you’ll be happier not knowing. It’ll only give you nightmares,” Taxi said, forestalling any uncomfortable questions.
Letting the door creak as I pushed it open, I did my best to smile as my driver and my partner’s father looked up.
“Ah, Detective Hard Boiled. I had wondered when you might put in an appearance. I trust my wife didn’t break anything essential?” he asked, folding his wings against his sides.
“Pride, ego, and any thoughts I might have had about her being the most harmless of the Cuddles family, but...no, nothing essential.”
Suture dragged a seat out from under the bed that had more than a few points of restraint on it and settled himself comfortably. “My dear Quickie was being groomed to take over as the head of security for the sea serpent’s establishment when we met. As you can see-,” He indicated the wall of toolboxes full of what I strongly suspected were sexual aids, weapons, or possibly both. “-she’s never entirely given up her professional interests. I wouldn't have her any other way, but dangerous is a given.”
Trotting to the bedside, I laid a hoof over my driver’s left leg. “How are you, Sweets?”
“I’m more fine than I should be. The doc has some seriously cool toys,” she replied, gesturing at his bag.
“I do have a certain...contact who provides me with some rather special equipment,” Suture said, modestly buffing a hoof on his chest.
“This contact wouldn’t happen to wear a gold watch, would he?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.
Swift’s father swallowed. “Eh...heh...it is possible. There are many doctors in the city who need things that are difficult to get without an exorbitant outlay and cheaper alternatives tend to be banned by institutions seeking to avoid competition or because they have a very small chance of exploding. When lives are on the line, a miniscule risk of spontaneous combustion is entirely acceptable.”
Taxi and I exchanged a look, and by silent agreement, decided not to open that kettle of fish just yet. Telling ponies the Don was dead would lead to questions. I’d had enough of questions for one day.
“What about the griffins?” I asked, waving towards the large lump on the other side of the bed.
“What about them?” Suture sniffed, leaning back to arrange the feathers in his wings. “In an ideal world, I’d have them at the hospital. I’ve induced a coma in the female. Derida, I believe her name was? She needs to sleep for at least a day. The anti-inflammatory talisman should reduce the swelling quickly and prevent any damage. The male in my guest bed should be up and about tomorrow or the next day, with a sling for his wrist.”
“Good. We’re going to need them to go find their kin and try to stop a war before it lands on our front door.” I turned back to Taxi and gathered my resolve for what came next. “Sweets...you’re sitting out the next few days.” My driver’s ears pinned back and she made to slide out of bed. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back. “And if you do anything really dumb, like try to get off this bed today, I’m going to have Suture here put you in a coma until your legs are healed,” I added.
“Oh come on, my legs feel—”
Suture snapped one wing out and gave her a firm tap on the shin. Her eyes popped and she toppled back in bed, whimpering loudly.
“Your legs, my dear, are currently held together with bubble-gum, magic, and hope. You will lay in that bed, and if you argue, the Detective will not need to order me to relieve you of your consciousness. It will be done faster than you can blink.”
It was a rare thing seeing somepony give my driver an order backed up by threats that didn’t earn gunfire as a reply. She sank back in the pillows, teeth clenched, staring daggers at Suture.
“This...is not...fair…” she groused, picking up her book again.
I chuckled and patted her loose braid. “You know, Swift said something similar right before I dropped her face first down a laundry chute?”
“You what?!” Suture snapped, glaring at me, dangerously.
I blanched as I remembered the company.
“Oh, Swift didn’t tell you about yesterday morning, then?” Taxi asked, with a grin like a fox with a cornered mouse.
----
Suture didn’t actually punch me, but it was a close thing. I managed to speak quickly, despite my driver’s unhelpful comments. That I was saving her from a bomb did earn me some points, but I made a mental note to wear a hoofball helmet next I had dinner at the Cuddles residence since I doubted his wife was likely to have the same restraint.
----
Swift followed me into the living room to find Mags sitting on Limerence’s neck, one tiny claw wrapped around his horn while she held the television remote in the other. He was doing his best to look unmoved, but I did detect a hint of a smile on his muzzle.
“Ha, pony! I got it! I be the tribe lord now!” she squeaked as our librarian looked up at her, indulgently. He straightened as we came in and Mags had to clamber up onto his head. She brightened as she saw me and leaped off onto the floor, scrambling over to me. “Detective pony! You be alive!”
Grabbing the edge of my coat, she climbed up onto my neck and wrapped her tiny legs around my shoulders, coiling her short, feline tail as far around my barrel as she could.
“Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?” I asked, tipping my hat off and setting it beside the couch.
“I be okay,” she mumbled into my mane. “I have funny dreams. Dream my daddy be dead…”
“Come here,” I sighed, arching my back so she slid forward into a place I could pull her down and set her between my forelegs. Swift lifted herself up beside me on the couch and offered Mags something from a plastic baggie that looked like a strip of jerky. “Tell me about these dreams of yours?”
Mags' beak quivered for a moment and she laid her fluffy head on my fetlock, reaching out and taking the jerky from my partner. She didn’t eat it, but instead set it on the sofa and sniffled softly. “Daddy...daddy taught me to be strong after Mommy died. Griffins don’t cry, he says. M’not a very good griffin. I dream...I dream of Daddy and Mommy. Daddy be dead now, yeah?”
It was funny seeing the child starting to come out of whatever condition griffin children sink into when the trauma gets to be too much. She seemed frighteningly matter-of-fact about the whole matter and that had me worried, though I couldn’t have told you why. I put my legs around her and gathered her up to my chest. I’m not so good with kids, or at least, I’ve never had the chance, but Taxi has rubbed off on me down through the years.
I tried to think of something that was worth saying. Distracting her felt right, but driving her into denial was going to cause problems down the road. Swift came to my rescue, before I could make a complete hash of things.
“Mags, do you mind if I ask how old you are?” she inquired.
The little griffins flashed four claws twice, then raised one.
“Nine years old?” I asked, tilting my head.
She nodded and picked up the meat Swift had offered, tilting her head back and swallowing it in one gulp.
“I’d like to talk about some things, if you don’t mind. I don’t know anything about you and it will help me figure some things out,” I said, turning her to face me.
“You’re...um...egg nurse pony?” Mags asked, half extending her wings. “Hard Boiled is egg pony name, yeah?”
I considered that for awhile then snorted. “I suppose it is. I made a deal with Esmerelda to take care of griffin eggs so I could come into the nursery. You know her?”
She bobbed her head. Her accent was strange, but she didn’t sound unintelligent. “Esma-re’da kills the egg nurses if they not take care of eggs or try hurt the eggs of other tribes. She be kind to me, though.”
I turned to Limerence, sweeping my tail around my cutie-mark. “I made some kind of agreement with this big hen at the Moonwalk to become a member of the griffin nurse-guild or some such. You happen to know anything about that? It was the only way she’d let me pass.”
He lowered his head in thought. “I...know something of griffin mating traditions. The Nursemaid’s Guild is a rather powerful entity
in the highlands. Old, indebted, or tribe-less griffins could effectively ‘sell’ themselves to the Guild and become members, expected to take care of griffin eggs and children. They are neutral between all the tribes and those who join lose their tribal affiliations.” He wrinkled his nose at something and added, “There’s also some business about castration, but I believe that only applies to their griffin membership and they may have abandoned that for methods that have a higher survival rate since the war—”
“Gah! Alright, alright, I get it! Mistake made! So, are you saying I sold myself to this bunch?" I growled. “Leaving aside the...snipping issues, I’m not going to have an army of griffins after me for ditching egg sitting duty, am I?”
Limerence drew a shape in the air in the direction of my cheek. “You sold yourself to the griffins when you let them mark you with the blood of the Eggs. The ‘High Justice’ is for life, or did they not tell you? You will have to ask Derida about the legalities, but...hrmmm...” Shifting his gaze down to Mags, he leaned forward and asked, “Mags, if I may make an observation-”
“What be an obv-er-sation?” she wanted to know.
“I wish to say something about you,” Limerence explained. “Now then, you do not have the accent of either the Tokan or the Hitlan. Was your father a member of one or the other of those tribes?”
Mags shook her head and sat up. “Daddy was Griffinstone. Over the ocean. We came to Highlands to make friends, but our tribe died of dragon sickness and we go to Tokan. They didn’ want us, so Esma-re’da took us. I be too young...but when I grow up, I be finding those dragons what made Mommy sick and kick’em in the nose!”
I couldn’t help but smile at her determined expression, scruffling her feathered head. “I’m sure you will, kiddo.”
“Dragon sickness,” Limerence murmured, scrunching his nose in thought. “During the Crusades, the dragons used many strange weapons. I remember reading about one in particular that caused violent madness in griffins. It was cured before the war ended, but some tribes refused the vaccine, fearing it was some pony scheme to indebt them to us. Sad, really. Still, it does explain some things. I’m afraid, Detective, that you are the closest thing this child has to a parent, at the moment, according to the griffin legal code.”
That did explain a few things. If the girl had seen the death of her entire tribe, a certain jadedness was to be expected. It was desperately sad, but not something I could be shocked about. I really, really missed being shocked.
Sucking a breath through my teeth, I sat back in my seat. “Me?!”
Limerence lifted his watch from his pocket and began nervously winding it. “Until you can re-establish contact with the Nurse-Maid Guild, it is to you to care for her, by their laws. Since you are designated as the High Justice and protector of griffin law, it would be in...poor taste...for you abdicate those responsibilities.”
Getting up on her rear legs, Mags put her forelegs up on my chest and glanced at Limerence. “He be using too many big words…”
I patted her head and grinned down at my little bundle of feathers. “Believe me, I know.”
“I be not understanding him, but I think he say...if Daddy be dead, that means pony...is only nurse left, right? You be...nurse?” Mags asked, tilting her head to one side. “You takes care of me, now, yeah?”
How do you answer a question like that? Mags was a cutie-pie, no questions asked, but the number of things wrong with that query could have stretched around the block.
I shut my eyes and tried to find some thoughts that weren’t screaming or running in frightened circles at the prospect of finding myself suddenly saddled with a child, particularly one verging on teenagerdom. There weren’t many and none of them presented an easy escape from the situation.
Most ponies dream of having kids at some point. I certainly had. A teenage Hard Boiled had a certain fantasy about finding a sweet mare and a good place to live, working as the constable of some backwater town. Granted, at the time the mare who’d caught my fancy was my sixth period maths teacher, Miss Honey Kind. She had flanks you could bounce a dime off of.
Happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts.
“Kiddo, I’m going to do what I can,” I said, petting the tuft of fur on the end of her tail. “There’s one ugly situation brewing in Detrot and there’s no place for little girls, griffin or not, where I’m headed. So, you might be meeting some interesting people over the next few days, and I might not be there all the time, but when I am...I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Mags cocked her head, then sank down into a ball on my lap, sweeping her tail around herself. “Mmmkay.”
I tilted my chin down to look at her. “What? That’s it?”
She wiggled her nose, then buried it in the crook of my leg. “You takes care of me. That be no different from nurse, yeah? ‘Cept you make pegasus do my feathers, ‘cause she be good at it.” She replied, pointing at Swift with one claw. As an afterthought, she added, “Oh! I want breakfast! Can we have bacon?”
Griffins. I swear,even if I spent fifty years with them, I’d never understand how they think. Even their children are weird.
I was about to suggest a trip down to a griffin eatery a few blocks over, when Limerence suddenly grabbed his head in both hooves and let out a soft whimper of pain. Rising to my hooves, I reached over and touched him gently.
“Lim?” I asked, nervously. “You alright?”
My worry mounted as he tried to lift his head and managed only a strangled moan.
“Do...do you think it might be a headache from the burn out?” Swift asked, peering towards the kitchen. “I thought my dad checked him and said he’d be okay—”
There was a shout and a soft thud from the next room, followed by a frightened yelp and the rattle of breaking crockery. Swift leapt up and dashed out of the living room.
I tugged a blanket over Limerence, feeling somewhat at a loss for what to do. His horn seemed to be glowing, faintly, but he didn’t seem to be casting anything.
“Lim, talk to me,” I said, quietly, giving him a gentle shake. His eyes opened, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he stared off into space, still letting out a mewling sound like a kitten with its tail stuck under a rocking chair.
“What be wrong with wordy pony?” Mags asked, crawling over and reaching towards his horn. A short squirt of sparks burst from the tip and almost singed her talons. She drew back, hiding against my neck.
“I don’t know...” I replied, trying not to sound as nervous as I actually was. My cutie-mark was starting to burn again.
It was then that I noticed the room seemed to be getting dimmer, as though someone were very gradually closing the curtains. Glancing up, I watched as a line of darkness swept down the window shade.
Sliding off the couch, I trotted over and opened the blinds, peering out.
The peaceful little suburban street was bathed in a strange half-light, cold and unnatural. A number of ponies were standing in the street or in their front yards, but none of them seemed much disturbed except a couple of unicorns on the porch across from Swift’s house. They were both laying on their sides, like they’d fallen there, eyes wide and unseeing. Everyone else seemed focused on the sky, as though entranced.
“The eclipse,” I muttered. “Oh damn me…”
“Sir! Help! Something’s wrong with Mom!” Swift shouted from the next room.
Jumping off the couch, I cantered into the kitchen to find Suture and Swift huddled over Quickie. Suture had one of her hooves in both of his, while Swift was using her gigantic wing for a makeshift blanket. The yellow unicorn was staring at the ceiling, her muzzle half open, a bit of drool running down her chin.
“It’s the whole street,” I said, dropping onto my knees beside Swift. “Limerence is down, too. The eclipse just started for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
Suture’s lips curled in a silent snarl. “Detective, how could that possibly be relevant? We need to call the hospital! Perhaps there’s been some form of gas—”
I put my hoof over his mouth, silencing him. He gave me an indignant look and went to smack my leg, but I quickly shook my head and he paused. One of his ears quirked at a distant sound.
It was a hum; a dangerous hum I’d heard far too much lately.
Magical resonance.
I removed my toe from Suture’s muzzle. His frightened expression spoke volumes.
“Detective...is...is that what I think it is?” he asked, clutching his unconscious wife’s leg.
I nodded, flicking the brim of my hat. “Yes. I can’t tell you how much I hate being able to say that is definitely what that is.”
Panic wasn’t an especially solid plan, but it was the one closest to my mind just then. Still, when instinct fails, that’s what the manuals are for. First things first in a crisis; get everyone doing something.
“Swift, I know you want to stay with your mom, but I need you to get outside. Get in the air, keep low, and get me flying recon,” I ordered, giving my partner a jerk of my chin in the direction of the back door. “Get your combat vest before you go and get the Hailstorm on.”
My partner swallowed, looking down into her mother’s empty eyes. I knew how much she didn’t want to, but information is what separates an intelligent response from a riot. Wiping her nose with one fetlock, she snatched her vest off the kitchen counter, quickly threw on the locket with her parents’ pictures, then disappeared down the back hallway. I heard the back door open, then slam shut.
“I do hope you know what you’re doing,” Suture murmured, resting his toe on his wife’s neck to check her pulse.
“That makes two of us. I’m going to go check the news.”
----
Limerence hadn’t moved from his place on the sofa, though Mags was gone. I assumed she’d popped upstairs or dashed off to the bathroom or some such.
Raising my voice, I called out, “Mags! Where are you?”
A soft chirp answered from underneath the couch.
Lifting up the cushion, I found her peeking out from between the slats.
“I...d-don’t like that n-noise,” she muttered, pressing her beak against her claws.
“Yeah, me either. You want to stay down there until it stops?” I asked. “Probably the safest place.”
She gave me a tiny nod, then hugged a blanket to her chest.
I must admit the creepy factor of settling in beside Limerence while he was in that condition was off the scale and the eerie drone of the building resonance wave didn’t help one bit. Picking up a pillow, I carefully laid it over his face so he wasn’t staring at me, then went over to the T.V. set and toyed with the dials. Almost immediately, an image reappeared of the same smiling reporter from earlier. The crowd behind her was oohing and ahhing at something off to the left of the screen.
“-completely successful! The Princesses are both smiling and the crowd has broken out the picnic baskets to wait for the eclipse to pass over Canterlot!”
The camera panned over Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, standing together on a raised dais.
As always, the sight of the celestial diarchs was enough to take my breath away. I’d never admit it, but before I was even aware of mares, I’d always harbored a tiny crush on both of them.
The Princess of the Sun was a monument to equine kind, so tall as to dwarf all other ponies. Her pelt was white as fresh snowfall, with a mane that seemed to spread out from her body into a cloud that reminded me of the aurora borealis, wafting in magical winds. Her regalia was simple gold, wrapped around her neck with a pair of golden horseshoes studded with precious stones. It fitted to her body such that most ponies couldn’t imagine her without it.
Luna stood beside her sister, a few inches shorter, but no less resplendent. The younger sister always took a moment to see in her sister’s shadow, but when one did she had a beauty that tended to rivet the mind. Her dark, flowing mane swept behind her like a cape and her sleek body was a paragon of athleticism. I did get the feeling she got a fair bit more exercise than her sister, or maybe had less of a fondness for sweets.
Their horns were both glowing brilliantly as they did...whatever was involved in the light show of a full eclipse.
In front of them, a vast crowd of ponies were milling about, watching the spectacle whilst the bright pink shield kept away the horrific swirling menace outside.
That storm...mercy.
Even through the television screen, it looked hideous. The clouds were dark and sinister, but it was the ugly shapes, like vast floating beasts that would occasionally manifest for just a moment out of the maelstrom that had my stomach doing flip flops and shivers creeping up my spine.
The camera zoomed in on Celestia and Luna, framing them together. They had the carefully regal and friendly smiles that most celebrities cultivate for public occasions. Certainly better than those distressed, slightly constipated grimaces you see on awards shows when somepony gets passed over, but has to clap anyway. I guess if you have enough centuries to practice, you can pull off that look without seeming like you’re crapping tacks at the same time.
It wasn’t especially unusual for either of them to make a television appearance, but they tended not to make many together. Luna was popular on the talk show and late night radio circuit, mostly because those tended to happen during hours most were asleep, while Celestia largely stuck to early morning news programs and the occasional afternoon children’s show.
The hum of the resonance was still growing. I wondered what must be going on outside. It wasn’t as though it could be missed. Turning to the window, I peeked out to find the street empty, though those two unicorns were still sprawled on their porch where they’d fallen.
I would have sworn I could feel the resonance in my jaw by that point and I was distantly aware of sirens going off. I hadn’t heard those sirens used for their intended purpose in my lifetime, but every foal knows them.
They were dragon sirens.
Grabbing the edge of the window, I shoved it open and stuck my head out, trying to see what was going on out there. The street was empty, and the other-worldly moan of the sirens ringing through the streets sent the butterflies in my stomach into a tizzy. Still, nothing seemed to be going on. I couldn’t hear any screaming or ponies dashing through the streets. A few squealing brakes a few blocks over, but nothing more serious.
Strange. Dragon attacks tend not to be terribly subtle.
Sitting back, I glanced at the television.
The camera was zoomed in on Princess Celestia who was looking slightly ‘off’. Her smile was still in place, but she was peering out of one eye at her sister. Luna’s expression seemed a bit strained, then suddenly morphed to one of ripe fear. She stumbled down onto one knee, while Celestia gasped and reached for her. I had the irrational urge to catch her before she fell.
Before she could hit the stage, the screen went blank and a soft buzz filled the room. Colored signal bars filled the picture, followed by a voice.
“—do you mean we lost the signal? Re-route it! I don’t want to hear ‘can’t’, dammit!...wait...are those mics on? Cut to Street on camera two!”
The image reappeared, centered on a stiff looking newsreader in a studio, with a make-up mare standing beside him, adding the finishing touches to his eye shadow. She noticed she was on film and let out a faint squeal, then dashed off as the words ‘Street Beat’ flashed across the bottom of the screen. Street Beat snatched his cup of water off the desk and took a couple of quick gulps. Setting it to one side, he shuffled a stack of papers, before cautiously addressing the camera.
“Eh...erm...L-ladies and gentle-colts, I’m af-afraid we may have had some form of technical difficulties,” he said, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. “It should be resolved in a matter of minutes and we’ll be bringing you the—”
Street Beat glanced off to the side, straightening his tie with one hoof as he cocked an ear at something somepony was saying.
“W-what?” he stammered. “Alright, alright.” Turning back to the audience, he inhaled and re-assembled himself into a carefully neutral expression. “Pardon, ladies and gentlecolts. The difficulties may be more severe than we expected. We’ve got a sister station who is sending us their camera feed from several miles outside of Canterlot. I’m afraid we haven’t had time to inspect the footage, so if you have small children, it may be best to cover their ears or eyes.”
There was a long, uncomfortable moment as he sat there behind the desk.
The image shifted to an evening sky overlooking a huge, empty plateau of dark grey rock. A few stars twinkled overhead, and in the background, the sun was overlaid by a blackened shadow. .
Whoever was holding the camera was shaking badly and could barely keep it straight on their back, while a standardly pretty mare in another of those all-business pink suits they must make on conveyer belts somewhere—probably in the same place they make the newsreaders—sat on the ground facing the plateau. At the angle I was at, I could just make out a steady drip of tears running down her cheek and a few broken sobs. She seemed to be on top of a hill somewhere, but it was tough to tell where.
I scratched my neck, staring at the screen.
“There’s no place like that within a hundred miles of here...” I murmured to myself. I turned to the window. It was still dark outside.
‘The eclipse isn’t that big, is it?’ I thought. I’m no astronomer, but something seemed very off. I realized then that, for about fifteen seconds, I hadn’t been hearing the wail of the magical resonance.
Slowly, the mare turned back to the camera. She was an earth pony and her microphone was tucked into the top of her prim, white shirt. She made no effort to wipe away the tears from her muzzle. They flowed freely as, in a broken, almost robotic voice, she began to speak:
“Everyone...This is Heart Felt, your...your mare in...Oh Celestia, I can’t,” she choked, then steadied herself on the leg of somepony from off screen.
“It’s...It’s gone. The storm...the villages...th-the mountain! Canterlot Mountain is gone! Everything...everything is gone!”
Starlight Over Detrot
End.
Act 2
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damn your cliff hangers!!!
though the implications are both bad and not bad. someone just magicked away the entirety of canterlot castle. though that does mean they are likely still alive wherever they ended up. alicorns do not perish so easily.
on the other hoof, until they can make their way back somehow, equestria has lost its most powerful beings. and more than likely the only alicorn left is an overtly isolated twilight who has gone to superhuman lengths to keep herself and her friends as uninvolved as possible wit the world.
...
...
... well, f
k.
I've got to say, I'm liking the various quotes at the start of the chapter. And wow, this chapter sure packed a punch. I'm glad I've stuck around for it thus far. I think I've started to put together a theory or two about some of the characters, but there's a lot to work with, so much material to use. Keep the fire burning!
I think someone or somepony wants to be a Alicorn, and take over Equestria. Step one, get Nightmare Moon's armor, step 2 get rid or put the Alicorn sisters somewhere were they can't interfere. Step 3?
WHAT?!?!!?! They just Removed the royalty out of the picture?!? Oh damn these villians be bad. Hardy needs to find twilight. Damn this has to be one of the most epic climax's of a story I have ever seen. The build up to it was wonderful! cant wait for more
6227669 Well said.
6227750 considering the whole mountain is just gone and there was a giant magical flux, it seems that canterlot was teleported to displaced. much like what sombra did to the crystal empire.
tehn again two powerful immortal magic users were not sealed away then. so it might not be so permenant. but they are out of the picture as of right now.
I freaking called it...mostly. I figured the final confrontation was going to be at the Summer Festival, and that the storm was cover for the oncoming...well storm. It wasn't quite the finally fight, but it was a season finally OMG moment.
I am kinda presuming that the mountain was teleported akin to what happened to the crystal empire......... cause i might have issues if somehow the regal sisters got killed off like that.
....oh.
oh.
Oh sugar.
Everybody is royally screwed, but then again, when aren't they?
Or, I suppose not, given the state of the royalty at the moment. Just normally screwed. With, like, pitchforks. :V
Taking Celestia and Luna out of the picture seems like overkill, but then there are two points to consider. One, the whole damn story is about overkill... Two, if we assume that they're as mighty as would be reasonable, hitting them with a surprising and unexpected first strike that keeps them out of things is quite a sensible action for an enemy. Of course, it's always possible that they did to shelter themselves and Canterlot from the immediate problem and the two of them from dying. They'll be needed for morale and cleanup afterwards, anyway.
I hope Hardy can find Twilight and that's she is any position to help.
6228430 it seems more like it was teleported away, like what happened to the crystal empire, considering there was a magical event and it is described as gone.
an explosion would not take that much raw power to do. Not to mention it would be easier to remove that mountain than try and destroy it when there are two powerful beings repelling attack.
Oh sh*t.
I will be sad when this story ends
Act 2 Chapter 53: "Ride Into Darkness"- aaaaaahhhhh.....
Well then.
Ok.
Bring on ACT 3 wherein the big shit starts to hit the already shit filled fan.
Will the crew make it out of this alive?
Will we find out what the hell is going on?
Will anyone make art of that cute ass baby griffon?!
Tune in next month for the next exciting installment of Starlight Over Detron!
Dat 'of'
wat
Okay, did not see that coming. So, I'm guessing the magical resonance was everyone outside the afffected area feeling the build up of whatever spell made the mountain disappear. Or something like that, right?
"somewhere sat on the ground—probably in the same place they make the newsreaders—facing the plateau"
Was that "sat on the ground" meant to be on the other side of the dashes?
...Well.
That ending.
The plot appears to have thickened. By an entire mountain's worth of rock.
Now THAT'S what I call a cliffhanger! Bravo on the entirety of Act 2! Definitely cannot wait for the third and final act, watching as plot lines are closed and answers to questions are given more and more as we draw closer to this excellent noire tale's conclusion!
WELP
A group powerful enough to disappear Canterlot Mountain. Canon suspects would be Discord and Twilight. Whelp, time to go find them, Hardy. You've got a chick to take care of, and only one still functioning companion. Good luck.
You know what's really creepy? The emergency alert system test started going on in the TV in the other room while I was reading the part where everything started going to hell...
Well that just seems like too much of a giveaway. Now it's obvious the Big Bad is Carmen Sandiego.
6228825
Well either that or someone/something managed to use all the unicorns power, kind of like a bot net, to cast the spell.
A plateau-hanger!
(the cliff is gone)
6227682
If I am correct, step three is "...?"
Please proceed directly to step four: "Profit."
6228825 there is presedence for it in the series. Sombra did somethign very similar to the crystal empire.
YES
ACT 3
THE BEST NEWS I'VE HAD ALL FUCKING YEAR!
Holy Hell
Great chapter, and the ending was really unexpected. I have some pieces for the puzzle but still no clue who the real big bad is.
6230841 Yes, I realized after thinking about it for a time, that they have indeed done that same thing. Who knows how long it will be gone for, the question is, why do it? If they intend on using Nightmare Moon's armor, having Luna out of the way would certainly be beneficial, and Celestia too I suppose. But, surely there are simplier ways than this to accomplish that.
6231813 they are two of the most powerful being in equsetria. there really wasn't any other way to do it and remain hidden, if do it at all.
When the sirens started all I could think of was "Silent Hill".
I don't remember seeing this: if someone suggested it they were in error, and if I missed it my apologies. It is of course Mags' or Mags's plural: I tend to favor the first. I hope this was somebody's 'fix' after I saw it, because I don't like missing an error
6228621
That does seem somewhat likely. The real question is who did it and why. I think you underestimate the amount of energy it would take to utterly obliterate a very tall and large mountain, that is remove it from existence by destroying it. Just because the two of them are 'repelling an attack' doesn't mean that they are infallible or that the mountain and maybe Canterlot too couldn't be destroyed out from under them.
6233715 it would take far less than it owuld take to alter reality and displace it, that is for sure.
Not to mention if it was blown up the resulting blast would have obliterated far more than just the mountain. there would be a quake and boom all throughout equestria.
Well the UAA went to Detrot
They were lookin' to start a coup
To their chagrin
Before they could begin
They needed the Hat of Nightmare Moon
When they came across a detective
Sleuthing all hot down on their trail
They made a threat:
"You won't live to regret
If you cause our plan to fail"
"We bet you didn't know it
But Detrot? We own it all
From hotel top roofs
And PACT recruits
To the goons at Mont' Cheval"
"Now you're a pretty good police pony
But us lawyers outclass you
We will achieve our ends
And kill your friends
And burn your house down too"
Detective said, "My name's Hardy
And I won't duck and flee
I won't leave Detrot
To burn and rot
You'll have to come through me"
Hardy gather up your badge and make sure your pistol's armed
'Cause UAAs loose in Detrot and they seek to do you harm.
And if you win you'll thwart their dark and twisted goals
But if you lose, the lawyers eat your soul
Hardy was working with his friends
And met with good results
He bagged the evil Beam Lord
And jailed the Lunar Cult
The Lawyers were all furious
And attacked the Library
"You'll be singing a diffre'nt tune
When we activate Plan B"
The UAA's new plan
Would shock Detrot down to its core
They'd pit the griffins against themselves
And start a civil war.
Tell all the griffins in Detrot to flee
Lawyers got a bomb in the embassy
No time to argue rules and statutes
Throw all the eggs down the laundry chute
Hardy jumped down the shaft
As it blew up with a *THUMP*
And landed safely 3 floors down
With fire on his rump
Hardy said "Boy, that was close"
And gave a little grin
"I see all the eggs are safe
I think we might just win"
Hardy, don't think you got a reprieve
The UAAs got an ace up their sleeve
Summer Sun, puttin' on a show
Magic blast; where'd Canterlot go?
Forgive me Charlie Daniels, for I have sinned...
6235566 Sig, I swear to high heaven...if you don't write something on a regular basis with an actual plot and characters and shit, I might scream.
-Chessie
Damn this just keeps geting more and more interesting. :D
Did you just blow up Canterlot together with princesses ?
That's kind of grim even for this story...
Although knowing your cliffhangers I will wait for next chapters before making conclusions - we still do not know what happened exactly.
Give us princesses back, please ? Please ???
please...
6228670
Do we get lightcycles?
Anyway so we have another problem to deal with, Where is Canterlot?
Well.
That brought back some bad memories.
Hardy, you have still got the ammo of harmony close to hoof, right?
*reads casually.....*
WAIT.
THERE'S ABOUT TO BE AN ECLIPSE.
OH. FUCK.
*finishes*
Yeah, I thought so...
That was in the dream too.
I'm going to hunt you down and drown you in kangaroo semen.
You and your cliffhangers both.
6247629 I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Incidentally, if you know a place I can get bulk kangaroo semen, please lemme know. I've got a few milk-shake ideas I want to try and they require some rather specialized ingredients.
-Chessie
6250237 Personally, I would recommend sticking to using it in gelato and like; otherwise, you end up with consistency issues. And it doesn't react well to extended periods at room temperature.
Well... that was unexpected.
I'm constantly amazed that you can keep such a long story so fresh and interesting, as well as raising the tension level all along the way. Bravo!
6257940 Awww, man, I'm so glad to see a new reader going through the story!
This has been a labor of love and whenever someone new gets into it, I am most pleased.
-Chessie
6257940 i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/173/576/Wat8.jpg
Well..... Crap. This has just ruined my entire headcannon for why this happened. Back to the drawing board.
I don't think nonplussed has the meaning that you were aiming for in this passage. Synonyms for nonplussed are confused, perplexed, or disconcerted. Maybe you were going for a meaning closer to unfazed, indifferent, or nonchalant?