94 - Chasing Justice
Spike waved softly at the dwindling form of Ember. "That's handled." Burdened with several bags, the dragon lord had replaced her bag of coins for quite a few human artifacts. "Now then..." He turned in the air and zipped towards Laud, hovering as he was around the stall of energy weapons. "Any updates?"
"Right now, I await the closing of the day." Laud nodded only faintly towards his squire. "Thank you for handling her. She seemed quite well pleased with both your attendance and her shopping."
"Oh, yeah, she had a great time." He landed next to Laud. "Got plenty of stuff for herself and the other dragons that fought that day."
"Does she harbor ill-will?" His eyes swept towards where her form had become lost in the distance.
"Nah." He lifted his shoulders. "Dragon... pride prevented that. She was here to spend her coins, and she did that." A sly smirk appeared on his face. "Now if what he had given turned out to be basically nothing, then she would have been really mad."
"This I could easily imagine." He tapped a few fingers against his arms, arms crossed across his chest. "Back to general patrol. Let's make sure those here have a pleasant, and safe, time."
"Yes, Sir!" Spike saluted and marched off into the throng.
Bon Bon came out of nowhere, driving a pony to the ground with a deep scowl. "Where were you hiding?!" she snarled out, tail lashing.
"I didn't mean nothing!" cried the younger stallion, thrashing about beneath Bon Bon. "You're, um, okay, right?"
"I am fine." She nudged the colt with her hooves, shaking him with firm pushes and relaxing enough for him to try to sit up just to shove him again. "That's not the problem and you know it. Were you alone?"
"I'm never talking!"
"Snips, you're digging a hole for yourself." She shoved him into the dirt. "You're stupid, not malicious. What were you trying to do?"
"Nothin'!"
"That sure was a big nothing..." Bon Bon leaned in, glaring at Snips. "Big enough to be a universal incident. Do you have any idea how much trouble you just caused?"
"It was just a, uh, little thing." He worried his forehooves together, looking anywhere but at the incensed mare on top of him. "You aren't even scratched."
"Good for me." She shoved him hard enough to bounce his head off the ground, not that it seemed to do much more than make him dizzy a moment. "But I wasn't the only one there. Now, the way I see it, you can start singing, or I turn you over to Laud and let him dig the information out of you."
"He said I couldn't do it," suddenly wailed Snips. "It was a dare."
Bon Bon sat back, her forehooves holding him down. "Did you win?"
"Yeah," he weakly admitted, not sounding proud of it at that moment.
"You won a lot more than a little bet, Snips..." She shook her head slowly. "You're coming with me." Suddenly there was pain. She grabbed his ear in her teeth and half dragged him to his hooves, hauling him along as he wailed and lamented his pitiable fortunes.
"It isn't fair!" But Bon Bon had little room for his idea of justice at that moment.
Laud strode purposefully to the pony sorting the translating collars in a big box. "Has everyone turned in their collar?"
"I was just counting, Sir." He reached in and nudged a few around. "Lesse... and..." He grabbed a quill in his mouth and made a few more scratches. "Looks like we're short one." Laud started to look angry. "Oh, I know where it is, Sir. It got broke." He turned and pointed across the gloomy and darkening pavement. "Dropped and shattered. Thankfully was the only one."
Laud's expression lightened. "Ah, yes, that's different." Only one damaged unit after such a busy day was... fairly good. "We'll see if Starlight can do anything with it. May I see the sign in and sign out papers?"
A clipboard was suddenly being thrust his way. "We saved paper by having that all be in one place."
Looking at it, he could see there was a column for a name, a sign in time, and a sign out time. "Perfect..." That would make it easier. He began to sweep down over the page, looking for missing sign out times.
There were more than three. "Did some ponies not sign this on the way out?" He wagged the clipboard at the cleaning stallion.
"Mmm? They should have, but there were a lot of ponies coming and going. We did our best, Laud, Sir." He shrugged softly. "Reckon we got most of them."
"Thank you..." Even if it wasn't perfect, it narrowed the list down tremendously. He worked through the list of names and started a new list of those who signed in but not out again, producing ten names. "This is a much smaller number than I started with. Tell me, were you more certain about those coming in?"
"Oh, completely." The stallion nodded with certainty. "If they didn't sign, they didn't get a collar. But giving the collar back anypony could do just by placing it back in the box here."
"Fantastic... I'll be keeping this." He wagged the clipboard lightly.
The stallion shrugged at that. "It was your idea. If you could take the paper and leave the board though? That's mine."
He squeezed the clip open and removed the collection of papers. "My apologies. You did good work today. We'll need to get a little more help, next time, to ensure all ponies, coming or going, get signed." He offered up the clipboard that the stallion grabbed in his mouth with a soft nod.
"Spike?" He called into the thickening gloom.
"Yeah?" Spike came darting out of the darkness, landing. "The merchants are all bottled up in their ship."
"Excellent. Thank you for monitoring that." He folded the papers in half for easier carrying. "I have the list. I'll need a complete list of names of the residents of the town. We didn't offer enough time for others, besides Ember, to visit from outside of it, thank the pancreator."
"One of these days you really need to break down what the pancreator is." Spike shrugged softly. "Anywho, yeah. I bet Mayor Mare has a full list. Town Hall keeps records of that kind of thing." He held out a hand. "Is that our list?"
"It is." He let the papers unfold so Spike could easily see it. "It's mostly complete. Good enough to make our job easier."
Spike's eyes swept over it. "Oh, good, they got cutie marks."
"Mmm?"
Spike pointed to the little drawings in each line. "Their cutie mark. I bet Ember's is blank. Dragons don't have those."
Laud turned the paper around to see what Spike was referring to, and there they were, a whole column of what he had taken to be the whimsy of his wards. "Ah, right. The picture on their rump. I gather no two ponies have the same one then?"
"It's pretty rare." He shrugged softly. "Siblings are more likely to have similar ones, but it's pretty unique, even between brothers and sisters." He walked his fingers up against each other. "Sometimes it can be subtle. Like one pony having two cakes and another has three. Or one pony has a red balloon and another has a blue one. Still, not the same."
"Not the same," he agreed. "But this isn't in color."
Spike shrugged softly. "If we end up with two ponies, we're not doing badly."
"There is truth there. Is it empty?" He gestured towards where the marketplace once had been.
"Not a single creature left." Spike nodded towards the merchant's ship. "They said they'd keep closed until you talked with them, so no market tomorrow."
"That... is likely for the best." He turned for the exit. "We're done here for today." He gestured at the box as he began to go around it. "See this is stored safely for the next market day. Where is the damaged one?"
"Right on top." The stallion pointed into the box. "It's split open."
Laud plucked it free from the box. "I'll see if it can't be repaired, or at least replaced. Store the rest away." Soon he was striding away, Spike at his side. "You've done well today. There is one place I would visit before we go home."
"What's that? Town hall?" He looked towards where it would be. "It's late enough they're probably heading home. Let me see that list." He held out a hand. "I can't promise I'll know the missing ones--"
"But you'll know who didn't sign out." Laud surrendered the papers. "A fine idea. Better than doing nothing. But, no. I was considering seeing if your blade is complete."
"They're probably retiring for the day too." Spike shrugged softly, looking over the papers as he walked. "I'm looking forward to that, but let's be polite. Town Hall, and that sword, will be there tomorrow."
"That... is quite mature on your part." He brought down a hand on Spike's shoulder. "When I was closer to your age, the beasts of hell itself could not have stood in my way to get my first proper blade. We will check tomorrow. You are ready for it, this I feel increasingly certain of."
Spike's face darkened, but he tried to keep his embarassed pride to himself, instead busying himself with thoroughly scanning the sheets he held.
With the sound of a body hitting the ground, Bon Bon came into view, tossing Snips before them. "I found one of them."
Both of them came up short, looking to the colt and Bon Bon with equal surprise.
Bon Bon prodded Snip with the flat of a hoof. "Go on, tell them."
Snips sat up, rubbing his sore ear. "You have a... uh... rough wife."
Laud crossed his arms, his stance firming. "I can be just as rough. You were involved in today's incident?"
Spike was shaking his head. "Snips, what did you do? I mean, you, uh, have made trouble before, but you never hurt anycreature, not like that."
"I didn't mean to!" he cried, thrusting his hooves out in a pleading fashion. "I was just winning a little bet is all. An honest coin."
Laud felt the maddening urge to kick the little colt, but fought it down and away. It was a child, greedy or not. Besides, he knew there were three. "Where are the two others who were with you? Confess their location and we may find mercy for you."
"What two others?!"
Bon Bon hiked a brow. "Two others? How specific."
Laud dropped down in a squat and grabbed Snips' still sore ear between two firm fingers. "There were three, and this is one of them. Where are the other two?"
Spike lifted his shoulders. "Was one of them the one you had the bet with?"
"Yes!" he wailed, hooves writhing in the air. "Please leggo! My ear's already sore!"
"Imagine this over every inch of your fuzzy body," growled Laud. "Then you will know half of the pain you inflicted on that merchant today."
"How are humans so delicate and so angry at the same time?" he cried out, pressing his forehooves together. "I'm sorry, honest!"
"Mayor Mare will have some words for you." This much Laud was certain of. "But, after that, you have an injured man and his compatriots that will want a word with you and your collaborators."
"Where's Snails?" suddenly asked Spike. "He's always with you."
Snips shook his head violently. "He wasn't involved. I swear!"
Spike raised a brow. "Always with you."
"I promise! He... went straight." Snips sagged. "Since he started playing buckball, he barely has time for me... Unless I think up somethin' involvin' buckball, he ain't much interested."
Bon Bon nudged him with a firm hoof. "So not Snails, alright. So start naming who it is then."
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Let's see, we need someone... not stupid, per se, but leadable...
9992522
That was Snips...
We've looking for someone manipulative, and probably a yes-man.
Sod me for a scaleless wyrm, it's Diamond and Silver for some Tartarus-damned reason, isn't it?
Currently the only two colts I can think of by name, are Rumble, and Button Mash, and given games and Aliens, Button is so easily led?
At least Ember is satisfied, even if nothing else was sold that day, the result was a sucess at least in that department?
9992529
I was thinking Diamond and Silver too.
9992585
It shouldn't be this is free the crusaders got their marks so Diamond Tiara shouldn't be up to this sort of thing. She should be destroying human merchants financially.
"A sly smirk appeared on her face."
"A sly smirk appeared on his face."?
"Tell me, where you more certain"
"Tell me, were you more certain"?
Are we so certain the other two are pony? Could be a pair of taunting dragons...
Keep going! ;)
9993673
Fixfix
9992585
We saw the two of them shopping earlier and thus would have been on the list. Honestly when I heard it was three figures I assumed it was the Diamond Dog trio; but with Snips as a culprit I'm not to sure of the others.
9994517
Depends on the chronology. Before Diamond Tierra had a change of heart. Or pre. I'm not sure of exactly when.
9992676
Diamonds dad Filthy Rich would be scheming to get in on the action.
Pip and Dinky, because Pip's got a crazy notion of human space pirates?
Could be Diamond and Silver with Diamond just wanting to do a small explosion to make the human goods seem unreliable so customers would return back to her father's store. Could be done after her reformation as she did do it for family and thought that it'd just be a bit of a pop and that no one would get hurt. Could have even measured the amout so it'd just be the pony equivalent of a flash bang without realizing that a pony flash bang is a human grenade.
Or could be Flim and Flam, trying to discredit human goods so no pony would buy them only to turn around and buy up all the unsold products and pass them off as their own inventions.
Might even be a pair of ponies unhappy with Trixie making the explosion an attempt to humiliate her and Bonbon and the human were just colateral damage. Again it was not meant to hurt anyone, just humiliate.
Lots of possibilities.
Might be one of the colts from Cheerilee’s class - not Button or Snails.