Subject 50: Grand Theft Awful
“I’m here, mate,” Flash Drive ran up to me with a salute. “Let’s clean up this dreck.” With his magic, he started lifting up the sets of leaves.
“Hey wait!” I stopped him. That wasn’t part of the plan. “The leaves need to stay where they are once they fall before the pegasi blow them around. It’s part of the tradition, you know.”
He paused, and set them down. “I see. Guess I’ll take a more subtle approach.” Instead, he used his magic in a more precise manner to pick out whatever he could from within the leaf piles. “Nothing in this one, I’ll move onto the next.”
I did so also. Drive had the right side of the path while I took the left. For a while, nothing came up. That is, until…
“Boss, over here!”
I ran over. Just what could be buried in these leaves I wondered? I didn’t have to wonder for long. Flash Drive levitated more pink feathers with his magic--same as before. But this time, he also levitated a valuable-looking brooch shaped like a mountain of bits. “Hm…”
“What have you got on your mind?” he asked.
“I remember seeing something like this in Spoiled Rich’s home. This belonged to her.” With that established, I knew exactly what went on in this situation. “Someone is trying to set Cozy up for failure in order to frame her for grand theft.”
The Trottish brother scoffed. “Tch. Absolute wankers, whoever they are. Now what’s the plan, boss?”
I had to think critically. Whoever this was wanted to play this in a tactical sort of way. They wanted to wait until the absolute very end of the race until they could expose Cozy and everyone could see what she ‘did.’ Granted, granted. I was aware that I had no evidence to prove that she didn’t do this. I sincerely hoped to every higher power that she didn’t.
So for the moment, what to do? Well, it was simple. “Continue as we were. Gather up all the stolen items so that whoever caused this will be enraged at the fact that their plan failed. Once we figure out just who caused all of this, find out where they are, take them down, and bring them in for questioning.”
“Makes sense to me, boss. I’m ready when you are.”
As I mentioned, it was simple. All we had to do was gather the items up, and put them into evidence bags. Once we did, we made notes of each item. They included things such as a solid gold lyre that was likely Lyra’s, a heavily damaged scooter that was covered in first-place ribbons--likely Scootaloo’s, and lastly, a heart-shaped gemstone that was blood red. A fire ruby. Rarity’s.
All of the items were carefully bagged and sealed. Okay, that was done. By the time we were finished, we had made our way halfway up the path in which the marathon was held. It would only be a matter of minutes before the race was over.
“What’s our next move, boss? Quite the hoofful of bags we got here,” Flash Drive said as he held everything with his magic.
“Now? We wait. Whoever this was will likely be extremely upset that their handiwork was altered.”
Drive nodded. “Right-o, then. Let’s pick a spot and stake the track out.”
I had to think about it a bit more. “It’s going to be near the end. That’s when they would’ve wanted to expose their deeds and blame Cozy. I’m just curious as to how they managed to pluck her feathers…”
We decided to hide within the confines of bushes near the end of the track.
“Hrm…” Drive looked at the evidence baggie filled with the feathers that we had gathered. Something caught his attention. I could tell because of how sharply he gasped. “...ah!”
“What’s the deal?”
“These feathers were struck with a duplication spell,” he explained as we continued to walk the path, “I doubt she’d be able to do this on her lonesome. It’s someone else for sure.”
Well that was somewhat of a relief? I mean, I knew it wasn’t Cozy that was behind all of this. Then just what was the cause? At any rate, I knew we would find out eventually. Drive and I had taken a long walk all the way down the path. We were close to the finish line so the race had to be over by now.
If anyone was going to strike, it would be now. Then they would see how all of their hard work had been wasted on such a futile attempt to shame somepony who had been doing their damndest to redeem themselves.
Now all we had to do was wait. Any moment now, the race would end, and whoever was trying to cause this trouble would strike. That’s when we heard something.
Bingo.
Drive and I looked out over the hoof-beaten path. Another hooded figure like the ones from before. This one scurried along the path to check over their work. But oh boy would they be in for a surprise.
“Gh! Ugh!” I heard them grunt and yell out in frustration. They were upset at what they had failed to accomplish. Perfect. Now we knew just who the culprit was.
I nudged Flash Drive, and he nodded in response. With his magic, he removed one of the stolen items from its bag with his magic and placed it in the middle of the road.
Within seconds, we heard hoofsteps violently run towards our direction. Like the old fishing line trick, he pulled it with his magic into the bushes we hid in. Hook, line, and sinker. The pony fell for it and tried to run through the bushes.
“Who’s there? AH-!”
I cut them off when I tackled them to the ground. This time, I wasn’t going to let anything slip through the cracks. This pony was going to answer for their actions, whoever they were. I stood above them with my hooves planted firmly in the ground. The culprit lied on their back. I sort of mimicked Limestone’s intimidation stance. “You are hereby held under arrest for grand theft. You will be in contempt of court and given the right to a fair trial when the time comes.”
“Let’s see who this is,” Drive said as he used his magic to forcefully lift up the hood of the pony. It was a mare, one with a shade of light pink and a purple mane--huh, pretty common colors I guess. “Well now...this is a shock. Suri Polomare.”
The ex-professional fashion designer outed for plagiarism against Rarity. Since then, her name essentially disappeared from the fashion world and nopony had even heard of her in the years that followed.
I refused to let her go. I wasn’t going to risk another escape attempt, not this late into the game. “Just what are you doing here? Why have you scattered stolen valuables across the marathon road?”
“V-valuables?” she asked, her eyes darted around her head. “I was just told to put some feathers on the track! Something about keeping track of the wind?”
Okay, not a bad story to start with. But Flash Drive would showcase the evidence that we had gathered in sealed bags. “Oh ya sure about that, mate? Then just what do we have here?”
“What?!” Her eyes grew wide when she saw the precious items. “I...I swear I didn’t know anything about that!”
I raised an eyebrow. “And yet you were wearing a hood. Why? So no one could identify you?”
“Uh--wh--this is a one of a kind!” she sputtered and tapped the fabric, “It’s cold here due to Autumn having started so excuse me for not wanting to get sick!”
“Listen here, madam,” Flash Drive continued, “we believe in innocent until proven guilty, but just be aware that you’re potentially an accessory to a heinous crime that could land you in the depths of Canterlot’s dungeons. I hope that, for your sake, you’re being honest with us.”
Suri put her hooves together and pleaded. “Listen! All I was told to do was scatter some molted pegasus feathers for the Running of the Leaves!” she cried out as her voice broke, “Ever since I tried to steal Rarity’s designs all those years ago, I haven’t been able to find work in the fashion industry and...well, I regret what I did. So I started taking odd jobs here and there to make money. Now I’m just...a washed up fool.”
Dammit. What do I believe? Did she really regret her actions, or not? Had she been manipulated or did she act of her own free will? I had loads of questions but a severe lack of answers.
“Hm…” I would test her intentions by giving her some space. I took a step back but was prepared to chase after her if necessary.
To my surprise, she didn’t try to escape at all. She simply stood up, and dusted herself off. “Thank you for hearing me out…”
“Now hang on,” Flash Drive added, “you aren’t off the bloody hook just yet. We still have to take you in for questioning.”
She sighed and hung her head in shame. Whether she was being reasonable due to really being innocent or to play off her role in the game was anyone’s guess. “Alright, I’ll come with you,” she replied in a dejected tone, “not like I have much else I can do anyways.”
Flash Drive looked at me with a raised eyebrow in such a way that he silently asked, ‘You buying this?’ to which I replied with a shrug of both my hooves. There was no way to truly tell if Polomare was actually telling the truth. Not yet anyway.
All we could do was our job. Standard procedure was to take suspects back to the agency’s holding cell until we could find enough evidence to either incriminate or set them free.
In front of us, we heard ponies laugh and cheer. The Running of the Leaves had concluded. I could see that Cheerilee had actually placed somewhat high among the finishers. Cozy was very tired by the time she was done, but...huh. That purple schoolteacher was talking to her and comforting her? Very nice...that mare was always somepony I could see being a good mother-figure.
In a figurative sense. Completely figurative sense.
Anyway, back to the situation at hoof. “FD. Take point and hold this area down to make sure nopony else causes trouble. I’m going to take Suri back to the agency so Cork and I can question her. Oh, and teleport the evidence bags to the examination room.”
With a flick of his horn, Flash Drive had captured all of our evidence in a magic aura and sent it away. The ebony Trottish unicorn gave a quick glare towards Suri and saluted. “On it, bruv. I’ll question everypony in the race if I have to,” he said before he walked off towards the crowd.
Meanwhile, I began to walk with Ms. Polomare back towards my building. It was a silent trek for the most part. Especially since most of the Ponyvillagers were at the Leaves Marathon to cheer on those who participated.
All of the sudden, I heard her spoke up. “I’m innocent, sir. I have nothing left to live for. My career is over and nopony gives a damn about me. So please...I’ll do anything to prove it.”
I nodded. “Well, we’ll see--”
“I mean it…” She cut me off and grabbed my neck with her hooves. I was caught in an uncomfortably tight hug with Suri’s desperate face inches away from my own. “Anything.”
"Please stop."
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10460523
Yup. They're very similar characters if you recall...
And no she does not. But that won't stop Pale! XD
And yeah...maybe...is there someone else involved?
😟 Suri Polomare is the culprit? And now she wants to be redeemed? I don't know, man. Seems a little rushed on her part. Like a trap sprung by the 'E' group to distract him away from Cozy.
I wonder if the ponies that the items belong to are aware of this act of theft. I know Rarity and maybe Applejack would be pissed if they found out. 😌 At least Cozy's okay, though.
10460628
Well it could be anything. Suri could be serious about this and want to truly redeem herself. It may not even be the E gang that caused all of this...
But yes, Cozy is doing well!
Well you can't blame Suri for her work but don't go too far on the anything.
10460649
That's right. She may be doing this because it's all she can do. As far as "anything" that's not going to escalate. Pale has standards. XD
10460635
Well, try not to redeem her too fast as the show did. Remember what you said about Neighsay. It could also apply to her, too.
10460694
Don't worry. She'll have to earn her redemption. Pale doesn't exactly trust her yet. She was a plagiarist after all.
Is Suri groping Pale?
10460712
ROFL.
Um...that depends how you would define that! XD
If there’s anything I’ve learned from anime, don’t trust the cute-looking ones. They’re dangerous... and they can use that cuteness to ruin a life.
Ruined career, despirate for work willing to do anything. Where do you think henchpeople and minions come from? Either the desperate or the dumb. Suri isn't dumb but she's no master mind, definitely working for someone else.
10461355
Yeah. Suri is no genius, though. It's been years since she screwed her career over. So she's just desperate.
10461357
Exactly, friend. But she is looking for a way out of this situation. She's willing to do just about anything for anyone for good money. Don't plagiarize!
I actually believe Suri here, although I could be wrong.
Aww...
Pale could use this opportunity to get a free coat to go along with his hat!
10462063
She might be telling the truth. She's super desperate to survive by any means necessary. Whether or not she knew about the plan to incriminate Cozy is yet to be seen.
Adorable isn't it? Cheerilee is already hard at work to help her.
LOL. Maybe, though his vest works fine as is.
10462116
Oh no, she's not talking about having a defense against magic going away per se. She was talking about being able to fight back against those who stole the magic in the first place and other incidents that have occurred in Equestria. If the Bolts were more than just showponies, they probably could've helped stop Cozy and the others before they got so powerful.