Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 24: Murder on the Ponyville Express - Part 3

Matthew and the Doctor stood silently in the old train car, both in deep contemplation. They had each finally narrowed down the murder investigation to two suspects; both of which they had let go earlier. They could be anywhere on the train at this point, and Matt and the Doctor knew it. Matt let his gaze wander and spotted the red stained glass used as a murder weapon. He had noticed something about it he hadn't before. He walked over, bent down to pick it up, then examined both shards thoroughly. They were the biggest pieces in the room, but were similarly shaped. After rotating them a particular way, the pieces literally clicked together.

"Doctor? Look at this." he said to his partner in investigation.

Matt turned to show that the jagged shards formed together into a glass heart.

The Doctor trotted over and analyzed them with his strange bronze tool, before heading over the rest of the shards of glass. "Bring those over here for a moment." he said.

Matt followed the Doctor to the broken window and knelt, placing the crimson heart onto the floor. The Doctor began moving various pieces of glass around the heart, finding that they fit together. Matt began doing the same, but quickly noticed the thin layer of dust across all the pieces as he began leaving fingerprints.

"The pieces are coated in some sort of dust." he said, voicing his thoughts.

"I noticed." the Doctor replied. "This is an older car, it's not surprising."

With a few more shards moved into place, the pair stood and backed away to look at the jigsaw-window they'd assembled.

"The whole thing is still here." Matt declared.

"Not only that, look closer." the Doctor responded, prompting Matt to glare at the construct.

On close inspection, the glass had been altered in some sort of way, and now contained a portrait withing itself. It looked like Merriweather's face, with the red heart placed toward her chest.

"This has some serious implications." The Doctor stated.

...

Back in the passenger car, the four mares had basically finished going through most of the ponies' on-board luggage.

"Did you girls find anything?" Bon-bon called out.

"Nope." Lyra replied dryly.

"Not over here, either." Vinyl shouted from the other end.

"No luck here, either." Octavia called back. She then noticed she had started to sweat, being around so many ponies in a tightly packed train car. "I'll be right back, I need to freshen up." she yelled to her friends before leaving the car to head to one of the on-board washrooms.

...

A feminine shriek was heard on the other end of the train, and Matt and the Doctor rushed immediately to investigate. After getting through a panicked passenger car, the saw their four friends comforting a shuddering Octavia.

"What happened?" Matt asked, out of breath from passing the crowded car behind them.

"H-he's... I-I..." Octavia stammered nervously.

"Shh... It's alright, Octy." said Vinyl in a comforting tone as she caressed her friend gently, then pointing into the washroom.

"It, uh... It doesn't look good." Lyra said as they approached the door.

They quickly peeked inside to see a stallion, face in the sink and leaning against it. They both rushed to his side and Matt pulled him out and leaned him against the opposite wall.

"My god..." Matt uttered, immediately recognizing it as Ripple, the stallion who claimed to be the first victim's lover.

The Doctor quickly analyzed him with his tool before placing hoof to Ripple's neck.

"We're too late again." The Doctor uttered darkly.

"Are we?" Matt inquired. "It would seem like he did this himself, whether to avoid the consequences or guilt."

"That's the obvious answer, but it doesn't sit right with me." The Doctor replied.

Matt then noticed the spots where he grabbed Ripple's body to move him were his coat's original color, while other parts of his body were off somehow. Then he noticed the water that was all over the floor, which had a small tint to it, just like Ripple's body and the glass from earlier. Then it snapped into place for him.

"Dusting..." Matt said.

The Doctor turned boldly from the body to face him.

"Twilight does a ton of dusting at the library." Matt continued. "She had told me that magic energy leaves a faint kind of residue, very similar to dust."

"Oh, that's true actually." Bon-bon added, leaning into the room for a moment. "I have to dust my shop a lot because of Lyra's magic abuse."

"That's it!" The Doctor exclaimed. "That's the thing we were missing!" He got up on his hind legs and put his forelegs against Matt's chest, shaking excitedly. "The glass, Nabal! The glass!" He continued, before fixing Matt's collar and bow-tie he had ruffled up.

After a second of thought, Matt caught on to what he had meant. "This is a moving train, yet all the glass from a broken window landed inside! The killer had to be using magic!"

"Which means... we only have one suspect." The Doctor said, his expression becoming dark before he took off down the hall with Matt in close pursuit.

"She had to go this way, we'd have seen her otherwise." The Doctor said, Matt nodding in agreement.

A few cars ahead, they came upon the improvised cargo car where the TARDIS was left earlier. It was opposite them, towards the other exit. There was a figure banging on the doors to the blue box.

The figure turned to face them, revealing it to be none other than Stardust.

"... I should've known you'd come looking." she said coldly. "I had planned to hid in this box till we reached Canterlot, but it looks like the cat's out of the bag."

She was looking at them now, her mane obscuring her eyes. The two quickly noticed the heart necklace around her neck with a split down the middle, just like the glass of the broken window.

The Doctor stepped forward. "This is your last chance. Be happy I'm even giving you one." he said, a rarely-heard serious tone in his voice.

The mare let out a giggle before breaking into a sinister laugh. She brushed her mane out of her face with a hoof. Her eyes were wide open and a grin crept across her face.

"And who are you to be giving chances?! You won't be getting any from me." she responded as her horn began to glow.

In a instant, a bolt of transparent red energy shot from her horn directly at the Doctor, knocking the stallion to the ground. Matt was startled at the shear speed of the blast, especially from how far away the caster was. Her horn began glowing again, still aimed at the Doctor. As she fired, Matt stepped forward on instinct, taking the blast to his abdomen.

The bolt didn't disperse immediately, solidifying for a moment before a violent cracking sound was heard and the bolt of energy shattered like glass, dispersing and giving Stardust enough recoil to knock her back. As the smoke cleared, Matt was seen still standing tall, covered in magic dust and brushing his shoulders off as both Stardust and the Doctor regained their footing. The device on Matt's belt seemed to take some of the hit, however, and the blue lights on it shortly flickered out, revealing his true form to those who hadn't seen it yet.

"And just what exactly was that all about? Since when?!" the Doctor asked loudly as he dusted himself off.

"I had forgotten to tell you about this, Doctor. It would appear the human body rejects magic. At least, the spells Twilight tried on me." Matt replied.

"Oh, now this is fair. You got to stay on two legs and you're the anti-magic?" the Doctor said, sounding a bit frustrated. Matt simply rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.

"Y-y-you...!" Stardust stuttered in awe of what one of the ponies chasing her had transformed into.

Matt quickly noticed his perception filter's malfunction and fiddled with it a bit, until the blue lights came back on.

Stardust was still in shock. "Y-you're a monster!" she said in fear.

When he was sure the device was still functioning, he turned to face her.

"I'm the monster here?" Matt replied.

Stardust's horn lit up again, growing brighter and brighter each moment. Matt prepped to take another blast, but Stardust just kept charging. Then, with a loud bang, the light on her horn exploded, blinding Matt and the Doctor.

The commotion attracted the attention of the four mares accompanying them, who quickly found Matt and the Doctor holding their hands to their eyes.

"What happened? Are you two okay?" Bon-bon asked with a worried tone.

"She's getting desperate." the Doctor responded, blinking as his sight returned.

"She went towards the front of the train. She's cornered herself." Matt added, his sight also recovering.

"I still don't believe Stardust would do something like this..." Octavia said as the group moved to follow Stardust's trail.

"She seemed much nicer when we spoke with her." Bon-bon added.

"Some ponies are great at hiding their intentions." Lyra commented.

Matt and the Doctor stopped at a doorway, opening it slowly.

"We should be close to the cab..." Matt said.

Everyone noticed what seemed to be the conductor lying motionless near the other exit. The Doctor rushed over to him.

"Another one...?" Matt asked.

"No, he's just unconscious." The Doctor responded. "But this means she's probably trying to do something in the cab."

Just then, the train began to speed up rapidly. Everyone struggled to maintain footing.

"I'm going to guess this is a bad thing?" Vinyl asked rhetorically.

"We've got to put an end to this." Matt said.

The group continued to approach what was certainly the cab of the train, and upon opening the door, a bolt of red magic flew over them.

"You stay back!" Stardust shouted, standing near the train controls. "It should only take another ten minutes..."

Everyone outside hugged one of the walls to take cover from any further magic attacks.

"Ten minutes till what?" Bon-bon called out.

"Oh, hey, we're close to Canterlot." Lyra observed

At the speed they were traveling, the group surmised what would happen in ten minutes at Canterlot station.

"You still have a chance!" The Doctor yelled out.

"What did I tell you, Doctor? You aren't the one giving chances here!" Stardust yelled back.

"Matt." the Doctor whispered. "Let's move up."

Matt nods in agreement and steps into the doorway.

A shot hits his chest immediately, but unlike earlier, it wasn't a beam connected to Stardust. Matt noticed a small black rock had landed in front of him. The Doctor stepped out behind Matt. The two attempted to move forward, but a shot flew between Matt's legs and hit one of the Doctor's forelegs, tripping him.

"Doctor!" Matt yelled out, kneeling to cover the gap Stardust shot through.

He was pelted by a barrage of coal, covered in magical bullets. Since the shots contained solid matter, the impacts caused genuine pain.

"Help me out here, guys!" He yelled to his friends, still in cover.

The mares helped the two up and back into cover.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" Matt asked.

"She's knows what she's doing." The Doctor replied, dusting himself off.

"She figured out a way around the magic recoil... What do we do?" Matt pondered.

"Well, I suppose we can try negotiating. Again." The Doctor replied.

"Stardust! It's not too late! Calm down and think about what you're doing!" Matt shouted into the cab.

"It is too late, 'agent'. She's already gone..." Stardust replied as she trailed off.

"If you surrender now, I'll make sure you only end up in Canterlot dungeon instead of trapped in an asteroid orbiting Saturn. or whatever else Celestia will do with you!" The Doctor yelled in, trying to dissuade her.

"Is that supposed to make her not wreck this thing?!" Lyra asked sarcastically. The train suddenly screeched to halt, the resulting force hurling the four mares into the cab.

Matt and the Doctor, who had been in cover, remained there.

"None of you move! Just stay put!" Stardust shouted, horn trained on them.

The train quickly began speeding up again, this time twice as fast. The four mares crawled off of each other and climbed to their hooves.

"Why are you doing this, Stardust?" Octavia asked.

"The better question is what are you four doing with that... that thing?" Stardust replied with her own question. "I couldn't see him at first, but it's true! That... 'agent' is some sort of monster!"

"Oh, him? He's not so bad." Bon-bon replied.

"You knew? You were... working with him?" Stardust asked, confused. "You were against me from the start? When you all comforted me earlier, was that because I was suspicious to you?!"

"Of course not!" Octavia replied.

"Yeah, don't be like that. We were just being nice." Vinyl added.

"We just saw that you were hurting, and we did what we could for you." Bon-bon said. "We would've never imagined that you could have done this..."

"Why did you do it?" Lyra prodded.

Stardust's face turned to an even angrier glare at the four.

"She did it to herself." Stardust said coldly. She looked away from the group as tears welled up in her eyes. "Since you consoled me... and since you won't be repeating this to anyone after the crash, I'll explain."

...

Several hours earlier, as most of the train slumbered, two mares snuck into an unused antique dining car.

"What did you want to talk about, Dusty?" asked the brown-haired Pegasus.

The pale yellow Unicorn turned her red eyes to look at the Pegasus.

"Who said anything about talking? I just wanted some alone time with you..." replied the Unicorn with a devilish smile.

"Oh, uh... W-we really shouldn't, Dusty. What if someone sees us togeth-"

"Has that ever stopped us?"

The Pegasus sighed, then walked passed the Unicorn and sat down.

"Alright, I know what that sigh means." said the Unicorn, sitting next to her companion. "What's wrong, dearest?"

"It's nothing. I guess I'm... just nervous about going to Equestria." the Pegasus replied.

The Unicorn nuzzled her companion. "I understand. I am too. Nervous about starting our new life together."

"About that..." the Pegasus replied, turning away from her friend.

The unicorn's crimson eyes showed a fair bit of concern. "D-don't tell me your getting second thoughts, dearest? We're already on the train..."

"No, of course I still want to go. But... It's just that this... 'thing' between us..."

A look of disgust came across the Unicorn's face. "... What do you mean, 'thing'?"

"You know what I mean." The Pegasus replied, standing back up and walking across the room, not looking at the Unicorn. "I-I think it has to stop."

"Why would you..." the Unicorn stood as well. "Why?! Merri, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

The Pegasus looked back to her. "No! You've been wonderful to me, Dusty. It's just... For all these years, we've had to do this in secret, a-and I..."

"Is there someone else?" the Unicorn asked coldly.

"Listen, Dusty, I'll always cherish you as my best friend, but you have to understand-"

"Does that necklace mean nothing to you?!"

The cream colored Pegasus held up the half of crystal heart dangling around her neck. "Stardust, please don't make this harder than it needs to be. I promise I'll still make time for you."

"I need you... You know I need you... why are you doing this to me?" Stardust stammered, overcome with tears.

"I can't be your emotional crutch forever. You have to stand on your own." Merriweather replied.

"There is someone else, isn't there?! At least tell me that much!"

A tear rolled down Merriweather's cheek. "There is. He's a wonderful Stallion, I'm sure the two of you will hit it off well."

"... a Stallion?" Stardust questioned, almost as if to herself. the window in front of her began to crack. The cracking become bigger, quickly spreading through most of the glass. "No... No I... refuse."

The glass of the window shattered completely, the shards covered in an eerie red aura, all of the shards floating into the train car.

Merriweather looked on in horror as her lover looked her in the eyes, tears streaming from them, yet an ecstatic grin spread across her face.

In an instant, two of the shards resembling the pair's matching necklaces flew across the room.

"I love you too much, Merriweather."

...

"After I found out who he was... Who she had betrayed me for... Well, I'm sure you've found him." Stardust said, finishing her tale.

The mares, Matt and the Doctor had all been listening intently.

"The two of you were...?" Bon-bon asked, trailing off.

"We were. For a couple of years, now. It was the happiest time of my life. Merriweather and I had first met shortly after my father passed. I feel like she saved me. But our relationship was frowned upon in our village."

A look of sadness overcame the normally stoic Lyra, though she remained silent. Vinyl and Octavia shared understanding glances.

"It's not like I expect any of you to understand, but that did manage to kill three or four minutes. Canterlot's coming into view. I'm... I'm sorry about this." Stardust said, looking forward out of the train.

"I understand." Lyra replied.

"Oh come on. How could you?" Stardust inquired.

"Well..." Bon-bon said, getting closer to Lyra. "I don't understand all of it, but you could call our relationship pretty odd, too." she said, Lyra nodding in agreement.

"Same." said Vinyl, tilting her glasses up to wink at a blushing Octavia.

"You mean you... and you, too?" Stardust asked, finally turning back to face them.

"Yep. And I know splitting up with somepony is rough, but..." Bon-bon said.

"It would've gotten better, if you tried to move on." Lyra finished.

Stardust was at a loss for words. Her emotions were tearing her mind apart as she kept trying to convince herself that what she had done wasn't her fault, but rather that Ripple and Merriweather had sealed their own fates. But upon meeting Lyra, Bon-bon, Vinyl and Octavia, she began doubting her choices more and more. Her self-justification was waning thin. She looked skyward, seeing something apparently no one else could.

"Merri, I..."

Tears seeped forth and began wetting the floor.

"I love you..."

Stardust fell to the ground, and the mares rushed to her side. Matt and the Doctor ran into the room and headed immediately for the controls.

"How is she?" The Doctor asked.

"She just fainted, focus on stopping the train!" Bon-bon answered.

"Ah! Yes! Right!" The Doctor said, quickly glancing over the control panel. "Any idea which one's the brake?" He asked, glancing up at Matt.

"None whatsoever." Matt replied, meeting the Doctor's gaze. The two began quickly pushing and pulling all the levers and knobs and such until the train came to a screeching halt just outside Canterlot station.

Matt and the Doctor shared a glance again, before both of them shrugged.

...

Later, a pair of royal guards placed Stardust's still unconscious body onto a stretcher while a third placed a cone-like device over her horn.

A crowd had gathered to watch the commotion as a majestic white Alicorn approached a chestnut colored pony standing near the halted train.

"I came as soon as I heard you were involved, Doctor." Celestia said.

"That's good, because I can't stay long. I've got some other things to do after this. Wait- how long have you known me at this point?"

"You're still the same old Doctor." Celestia replied with a chuckle. "Long enough. I'll let you get to it, but you have to come by the castle sometime for tea. Oh, and thank you for catching her, Doctor."

"All in a day's work and such. Though I did have a small request of you, Celestia..."

Inside the train, Matt and the mares were all sat around the TARDIS in the cargo area.

"Good job, 'special agent'!" Vinyl congratulated, nudging Matt with her foreleg.

"Can we drop the 'agent' thing? It was just a cover story." Matt replied, crossing his arms whilst leaning against the TARDIS.

The Doctor walked into the cargo car and the four mares got to their hooves.

"Right then, let's be off." he said.

"Aw, we don't get to say hi to the princess?" Bon-bon asked, dejected.

"I'd rather not, honestly. Just in case the perception filter malfunctions." Matt added.

"Yes!" The Doctor exclaimed. "We aren't needed here anymore anyway. We've got lots to do, and all the time in the world. Let's get back to it, shall we?"

Much later, Stardust awoke in her cell within what was assuredly Canterlot dungeon. On a small desk inside the cell lay the completed crystal heart necklace, one half still stained a malevolent red. It seemed to shimmer in the light. Stardust picked the object up and lightly pressed her lips to it before putting it on and lying back down onto her cot.

"I'm sorry."
...

In the present, a frantic Twilight Sparkle had several files and reports levitating around her. She was quickly glancing through them all.

"I don't understand!" she declared. "This was one of the most mysterious unsolved cases in Equestrian history! I've never seen any mention of these 'Agent' and 'Doctor' characters before..."

"I think you're overworking yourself." Spike said, having been observing this for sometime.

"Oh yeah? Well why would Princess Celestia have me research a solved mystery?"

Comments

[Shadowblade019]

"We were. For a couple of years, now. It was the happiest time of my life. Merriweather and I had first met shortly after my father passed. I feel like she saved me. But our relationship was frowned upon in our village."

Fag, need to be burned! Sorry I'm get tired of see this in most every fict i read here.

[SupraMacPringles]

10458619
golly bro relax it's just a subplot lol