The Collector

by gallagsp the corgi

Chapter 10

The four ponies loaded into a taxi and headed to the alley where Octavia was attacked. She looked around nerviously, like she would be attacked again, before Twilight put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. She sighed and peared down the shadowy corridor. At the end of it was a black case.

Octavia squeeled in delight and pushed past the others to get to her precious cello. She grabbed it and held it close, then set it down an opened it up. She teared up to see it was in one peice and all there. She raised an eyebrow and looked around the case. Under the cello, with just the corner sticking out of it, was a small white peice of paper she didn't remember being there. Octavia pulled it out of the case and held it in front of her.

I'm not a theif, so I couldn't take it. It is safe from harm for a while.

"What in the world..." She read the note again and looked down the alley. The others almost caught up with her, taking their time to look around and investigate a bit. Lyra noticed her look and the paper and trotted the rest of the way to her.

"What's that?"

"A note. Here." She handed it over to Lyra. Lyra took it into her magic and read it. Her eyes got wide, then she raised an eyebrow in confusion, before finally cracking a crooked grin and doing her best to hide a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked.

Colgate said nothing but gave her the note. As Twilight read it, Lyra reached into her bag and pulled out the note that was pinned to their door at the hotel.

"Here. Compare the writing." She gave the other one up to Twilight. Twilight scrutinized the notes for what seemed like ages, before a look of both shock and disgust covered her face.

"They're the same."

"Yeah they are."

"I still don't get whats so funny about that."

"The context of the second note is funny. 'I am not a theif', he says. We all know that's a load of crap. Thats why its funny."

"I guess so. But what does he mean by 'Its safe for a while'?" Twilight looked to the cello. "Octavia, do you mind if I perform a simple test on your cello to see if it's enchanted?"

Octavia hesitated for a second. She didn't want anything to hurt her precious instrument.

"I promise it won't damage it in any way, just a small detection spell is all."

"I guess so, just be careful. This is worth more to me than life itself." She pushed the case over to Twilight. Twilight smiled warmly and focused on the case. How did that detection spell go again? Focus on the object, think about the magical radiation coming from it, and viola! She stared at the case and her horn glowed brightly. The first thing she noticed was the trademark yellow and orange glow of Earth pony magic. No suprise there. What she didn't expect was the blue glow of unicorn magic. If it was from the creation of the instument it would have dissipated by now, no this was too fresh.

She focused harder, turning on mental filters to eliminate any unneccessary interference. The glow suddenly became brighter. It was focused directly on the instrument. Twilight thought she had seen something like this before. It was a protection spell, though not a strong one. The pony had put a spell on the cello to protect it, but from what?

Twilight reached out to touch the instument. She had made contact with it when there was a pain in her hoof. With a loud pop, she was sent flying away from the cello and into a wall. She hit with a thud and slid down until she was slouching against it with her eyes closed. The other ran up to her.

"Twilight! Twilight! Can you hear me?" Colgate shook her. She groaned and opened her eyes, then put a hoof to her horn in pain.

"Oww. That hurt."

"Thank Celestia you're alright." The three breathed a sigh of relief. Twilight stood up and glared daggers at the cello.

"That spell is stronger than I thought. Octavia is the only one who can touch the thing, if anypony else does, they're in for a shock. Literaly." Twilight shook her head. "I could probably get rid of it, but I think it'll wear out on its own an we don't have time to worry about removing the enchantment."

"Alright." Lyra pulled out her notebook and pencil. " So we now know he's not afraid to attack spur-of-the-moment when neccessary, he knows some pretty good magic, and he does not consider himself a criminal at all."

"Not true," Octavia said. "He said he wasn't a theif. He could still know what he's doing isn't right."

"Right." Lyra scribbled something else in the notebook. "So we're looking for a brown unicorn stallion with a scar down his face and lung problems. He has some morals, but not much, and has high magical skill. He either stalks his victims or outright attacks when threatened. Anything else I need to know?"

"Actually, yes. I just remembered something." Octavia closed her eyes in thought. "When he attacked me, he took me to some caves or something with rather large crystals everywhere."

"Crystals?" Twilight was very interested. "Crystals in a cave?"

"Yes. Is that significant to the case?"

"The Crystal caves were all but forgotten by most of Canterlot. I had never heard of them until Crysalis kiddnapped me and put me down there. If he's in the caves, then he must have known about them, which means he might be hiding out in them."

"Alright, so we have a place to start investigating. Any Idea where these caves are, Twilight?"

"Right below our feet. All of Canterlot was built on top of them. There's an entrance near the castle, but since the changeling invasion its guarded twenty-four hours a day. Nopony goes in or out without the Princess's approval."

"That could be a problem. Twilight might be able to get permission, being Celestia's student and everything, but the rest of us probably won't be able to get in there as easily."

"Lyra, can't you just flash your badge and get us in?"

"Royal guard holds higher power over the police."

"You're an agent in the FBI."

"Still counts as law enforcement. Still lower than the guard."

"Darn. I guess we'll have to sneak in."

"Sneak in? Isn't that illegal? And how will we get past the guards?" Octavia took a step back from the group.

"Let me handle that." Lyra said. "Its easier than you think it is."

Author's Note:

What do you think of this chapter? I'm actually pretty happy with it. I'll try to keep writing like this but I've been having a streaj of good stuff lately that can't last forever. Also, tried to get a little bit o extra magic in this chapter than I normaly do, so enjoy Twilight getting thrown against a wall.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!