The Mysterious Mare Do Well

by Dalkrin-the-Wanderer

TMMDW # 1: Act II: "Betrayal and Comeuppance"

The Mysterious Mare Do Well #1: The Mare Before the Mask

Act II: "Betrayal and Comeuppance"

***

After that, It all really goes down hill. I don't hate him for what he did, but we both know, one day, he'll get his. I'll be sure of that. I should have seen coming it too, but I guess there's what they say about Hindsight. I just know, nothing's gonna change what happened next, no matter how much I wish for it to go away, for me to wake up in my bed and forget this, like any other nightmare. Heh... Nightmare... But pay attention this is where it all really begins.

Cause you see... This is the part where I die.

***

"This is the place," Amber said at last. "Trottingham and a hundred-first. There's the first store that was hit. Let's start there." With and ever increasingly antsy Stone in tow, she led the way across the street to a small unassuming Magi-tech repair shop. The bell above the door rang merrily prompting a less than welcoming 'welcome' from the Unicorn mare at the counter who hardly even glanced up from her copy of 'EQ Music'. Amber approached the counter, glancing about the shop. "Excuse me miss," She began. The mare huffed and swung her head up in typical adolescent fashion.

"Yeah?" She drawled. Amber just gave her a look and pushed onward.

"Yes, My name is Detective Amber lights, and this is my Partner, Officer Stone Shifter. We're here about the break-in a week ago." They each flashed their badges. "Is the owner it?"

The mare rolled her eyes. "Yeah, let me get him," She sighed and pivoted to face a beaded curtain behind her into which she bellowed, "HEY GRANDAD! SOME COPS HERE TO SEE YOU!" Both Stone and Amber flinched as the mare let loose this shout.

"Comin', I'm a'comin!" An elderly unicorn clambered down the stairs and trotted through the beads. "Petunia, why don't ya go take a break, let me talk to these nice folk," he said to the young mare.

"What ever," she huffed and slipped down a hall behind the same curtain. Seconds later a door snapped shut and muffled music began playing. Amber recognized it as one of DJ Pon-3's latest works of 'Dubtrot'. She was not a fan. Looking around, she spotted Stone peering out the window, watching the passers by. He seemed to have calmed himself down a bit. With a smile,she turned to the elderly stallion before her.

"Good Morning, Mr... it says 'Silver Watch'?" She looked to him for confirmation. He nodded and she continued. "yes, Mr. Watch. My name is Detective Amber Lights, and my associate here is Officer Stone Shifter. I would like to ask you some questions about the break-in a few nights ago, if you have the time."

"Oh! Sure, but didn't that one Stallion, eh what was his name? Oh yeah, Detective Holmes. I already spoke with Mr. Holmes."

"I'm sorry to have to inform you. See there was an accident. Detective Holmes didn't make it through. I'm his replacement."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. Please, ask what you need."

"Thank you, It won't take a minute. I just need to recheck his facts." Over the following minutes, she inquired about the specifics of the event, what he saw and heard and what all was taken. What she came out with matched almost letter for letter with what Holmes had found. It was one of the gangs. The owner suspects the Hoods because they were often causing trouble for him and most of what was stolen was cash from the safe and a few appliances that sat in the front of the shop. With a smile and thanks, Amber and Stone took their leave of the shop. Stone's nerves slowly returned to him as they ventured deeper into Downtown to the point that The brown mare couldn't help but think it was more than just jitters over the job.

"Hey Rocks for brains, what's got you all spooked today?" she asked, jabbing him in the ribs lightly.

"What? What do you mean? I'm fine!" Stone lied, trying to steady his nerves with limited success. Amber gave him a sidelong glance and shook her head.

"Nope," She stated flatly. "Not buyin' it. What's eatin ya'? C'mon. You can tell me. I'm your partner here. We're practically family!"

"Look, it's personal," Stone snapped. "Just leave it and let's get to work."

"Jeeze, alright, I hear ya'." The two made the rounds of the shops that were hit. Each M.O. Matched perfectly, and it all pointed to the hoods. The shops marked Priority targets were very similar to previous hits and the others seemed very unlikely. They stopped at a corner cafe' and grabbed lunch. Stone had managed to put his nerves in check and was munching happily on his hayfries and runny carrot soup while Amber ate a dandelion and daffodil sandwich. Outside, a street vendor was selling pears on the corner and a small group of Diamond Dogs were walking the streets decked out in leather jackets with chains and studs. Amber shuddered at the thought of wearing animal skins, but was determined to respect their culture.

Taking her eyes away from the scene on the street, she turned Stone who was lapping his soup contentedly. "Game plan time. We got three likely marks. We gotta catch them in the act so we're gonna have to stake them out."

"Are you sure? I mean, listen," Stone pushed his empty bowl away and gave her his most serious look. "I know you're excited to break that badge in, but it's your first night on the new job. You really wanna do somethin so risky right off the bat?"

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with ya, but if they keep with the pattern, tonight's when they pull the heist. It'll be our last chance to get eyes on these perps for a week."

Defeated with her logic, Stone leaned back and looked out the window. Amber's gaze followed. The Diamond dogs were lounging around the mouth of an alley having a lively debate while they munched on some pears. For the sake of her work, she assumed that they had paid for them and returned to the case file. Reading a bit, a sudden puzzled look crossed her face. "Huh?" rifling through the pages, her confusion grew. "That's weird. These papers here reference a dossier on some guy named 'Ruby Tooth', but the page is missing."

"Uh, yeah... that's weird all right," The grey unicorn was becoming antsy again and decided to derail the topic before it could go any further. "Say, you said we're gonna stake those places out. How's about I take the one on Lancaster, and you get the one on a hundred-sixth?"

"Sounds good, but what about the third one by the park here," she said, pointing to the map laid out on the table.

"I don't see another pony here so we just gotta choose our battles and hope we get lucky." Collecting the bill, he stood and trotted over to the counter to pay with the brown mare close behind. "Besides, that one's got that new Magi-tech alarm system according to the file so out of the three, it's the least likely to be hit."

Nodding knowingly, Amber readily agreed. "Makes sense. Glad I got such a savvy partner. So I guess we should get set up as soon as possible. I'll head to One-Oh-Sixth. Be sure to keep good notes if anything goes down and tonight we're observing. Not interfering."

"Gotcha boss-lady," Stone joked as they trotted off to their respective destinations. Just before he was out of earshot, the grey unicorn turned and shouted after her, "Oh, Amber!"

"Yeah? What is is?"

"See Ya, Gorgeous!"

"Ugh! Cram it before I cram it for ya, you pig!" She shouted back, laughing all the while. A contented smile on her face, Amber proceeded to her destination. The street was as busy as she might expect this time of day. As far as she could tell, the only entrances to the building were the front door and the fire escapes so after a bit of searching, she found a loft above the club across the street that had a clear view of both. The club was 'The Celestial Vibe'. Amber idly wondered if the princess had authorized the use of her title for such a place. Her smile broadened as she imagined the Princess of the sun dancing in a dark room with bright flashing lights like some raver. She found it odd that she did not consider the image outside the realm of possibility.

The crowd thickened slowly around the entrance to the club at around eight that evening. The rest of the day had passed uneventfully. She had watched the shop she was staking out close and the owner lock up and leave and was now anticipating some kind of activity, but then the music started playing, loud. Ponies began to swarm from either direction congregating at the door to the club and it quickly became apparent that there was some kind of event going on here. Hurriedly, she sought out a staffpony who told him that the one and only DJ Pon-3 was doing a live set that night. Looking out into the main body of the building, she saw the dance floor totally packed and up on her podium, a blue maned pony with ridiculous purple shades was working the turntables with deft hooves. She wound her way to the entrance and saw the party simply spilled out onto the street. The music was channeled out through speakers and the ponies were dancing with the same fervor as the ones inside.

It shortly became obvious that a criminal would be insane to try and hit that particular shop with so many witnesses around as many ponies were loitering around the very store in question. A moments pause to consult her map, and Amber Lights struck off towards the third likely target, thinking to herself about eggs and baskets. It was a short enough walk, and she rounded the corner. Putting away her map, she scanned the streets. It was dead quiet. No hoof traffic and in ten minutes, only one chariot passed by. She ducked into a nearby alley, uneasy of the prospect of keeping her back exposed but even more wary of being readily visible to anypony. Somewhere in the distance a clock struck ten.

Maybe an hour in, maybe less Amber spotted a pony trotting down the street from the opposite direction. A grey pony, but she couldn't make out any features in the poor light. The Pony ducked into the alley beside the Magi-tech shop and disappeared. After a moment to be sure he wasn't coming back out, Amber pursued the suspect individual. Once at the mouth of the alley, Amber hugged herself against the far wall which was a near shade to her coat and inched her way in. At the back of the alley, she saw the Grey pony standing with his back to her. She caught a glimpse of horn and her breath caught. 'couldn't be,' she assured herself, and continued to watch.

Before long a carriage trundled from out of sight, stopping in front of the Unicorn. The door opened and a tall Diamond dog climbed out wearing a white and brown jacket with inset red gems. He carried a walking stick and he smiled broadly revealing gleaming red teeth. "Ruby Tooth," Amber breathed inching across the alley for a closer look.

The Diamond dog, presumably 'Ruby Tooth' spoke first, "Ah, well. This is quite a surprise! I didn't expect to see you of all ponies here, mister 'I'll keep quiet but don't expect help'," the Diamond dog grunted as his cronies began inspecting the door. "What brings you down my alley?"

"I got good news and bad news Tooth," The pony spoke. Amber barely stopped herself from audibly gasping when she heard Stone Shifter's voice. "Good news is that Holmes pony you've been worried about ain't gonna bother you no more."

"Ah. That is good news," Ruby Tooth said nodding. "I hope the bad news is nothing too bad, for both our sakes."

"The bad news... uh, yeah, the bad news is..."

"Come on, spit it out. I ain't got all night to sit in this festering ally listening to you yammer away," he said, jabbing Stone Shifter with his walking stick for emphasis.

"The Chief assigned a new Detective to the case and she's basically picked up where Holms left off. You should be in the clear for today but we'll need to run interference so she don't catch wise. I made sure to pull your Dossier from the file but that won't keep her long."

"Well, this is easily remedied. I'll just arrange another 'accident' and we'll be clear of her too."

"NO!" Stone shouted, catching himself he carried on, "I mean, isn't that just a bit drastic? We don't even know if she's a threat yet."

Ruby Tooth smiled even more broadly, revealing every one of his blood red teeth. "Does our little informant have a connection to this detective? Isn't that sweet boys?" He asked, turning to his cronies who were busily working the locks on the door with magic and lock-picks.

"Yeah, boss. Hi-Larious," One said thickly. The both laughed along with their boss stopping the moment he did.

"You know, I'm feeling a bit generous today," Ruby Tooth said, tapping his cane's ruby pommel against Stone Shifter's horn causing him to flinch back. "You got one day to get her off our backs or it's curtains for the filly."

"Thank you Ruby Tooth," Stone Said with great relief. "You won't regret it!"

"For your sake, and the sake of your little crush, I hope not."

Amber had seen enough. Cautiously as she could, she began to back away from the scene. When she was out of sight, she went to turn and smacked headlong into a garbage pale which made a loud crash and brought her to the floor.

"The quartz was that?" She heard Ruby Tooth say as she shot to her hooves. "Sic 'em Boys!" He shouted which was returned with a howl and the sound of quickly approaching paws. Before she could even make to run, the two flunkies were on top of her and dragging her towards their boss. Around the corner, she spotted both Stone Shifter and Ruby Tooth looking her way. She visibly saw Stone's heart sink as he recognized her.

"Amber, What the hay are you doing here?" He demanded in a defeated tone. "You were supposed to stake out the other store..."

"Oh. So this is our new Detective," Ruby Tooth said with a malicious grin. "Such a pretty thing. It's a shame we have to be rid of her." Stone shot a terrified glance towards Ruby Tooth. "But, I'm a dog of my word. I know you won't be able to but my offer stands. You've got one day to get her off my back for good, or I go feed the fish in the Hoofson." Ruby Tooth turned and faced his minions who quickly began working the door again. "Twenty-Four Celestia given hours, and not a minute more. Starting..." He waited a moment, then a moment more, and when the clock chimed the half hour, he spoke again. "Now! At Ten-Thirty tomorrow night..." He trailed off as the door opened and the two lackeys went in. And began gathering the loot.

Amber Lights glared daggers at Stone. The very thought of him made her stomach churn, and that cheeky 'Gorgeous' thing he did made her want to throw up.

"How could you?" Was all she could manage to ask of him after a full five minutes. "We've been partners for two years Stone! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!"

"Oi! Shut that mare up before I cane her!" Ruby Tooth Shouted over his shoulder at the two.

Stone could hardly breath. The gravity of his situation was weighing in on him. He was stuck now. His partner, or the notoriously violent crime boss behind him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a good Colt like you thought," he said at last. "'Bout three years ago, before we even met, I was in a touch of trouble with the local bookies. Ruby Tooth was a 'Freelance Financier' as he put it, and he covered my debts. In exchange, I kept quiet and hid his dirty dealings where I could. After a while, I got in too deep. Now I can't get out. If I tried, I'd disappear or maybe get 'accidentally hit' by a trolley. It's not pretty and I don't expect you to understand or forgive me. But please... Please... Just this one thing... Drop this and forget about what you saw tonight. I'll get a transfer and you'll never have to look at my ugly mug again, but please. You don't know what this guy's capable of."

"You sicken me Stone. I used to respect you, to look up to you, but now? Now you're just as bad as any one of the scumbags we put behind bars. I won't forget what I saw here," Amber drew a deep breath and continued with deeper fervor. "I'll make sure somehow that all this gets out and I'll take you and your boss down. Just you wait."

"Should have know," Stone sighed. "I wish you would listen to reason. You can't get out of this Amber. Ruby Tooth's gonna kill you and maybe me too because of this. You may hate me, but you're my friend and I don't want to see you hurt."

Amber continued to glare at him, unwilling to speak any further on the topic. Her mind was made up and she wasn't going to budge. Ruby Tooth's cronies came out of the shop, the Unicorn carrying easily ten times what the Diamond dog was. Ruby Tooth ordered them to secure Amber and place her in the smuggler's boot. Amber struggled and fought to escape the binds they put around her but to no avail. Soon she was hog tied and laying in a compartment laid into the floor of the carriage, over which Ruby Tooth laid a plank of wood, which clicked snugly into place. The last thing she saw before darkness slid around her as Stone's sad face and the malicious grin of Ruby Tooth.

It felt like hours but it may have been minutes. The darkness was, if this was even possible, more oppressive than the ropes that bound her. Her mind was racing. Her first day on the job and she already uncovered police corruption, a theft ring and one of the key Local Hoods' Bosses. If she made it out of this alive, she'd be decorated for sure. That thought was marred in no small way by the betrayal of her once best friend. She tasted bilge and it was all she could do to keep from openly weeping. She could see nothing around her, but the walls were cramped and her mobility was nil in the tight space. The Carriage rattled and shook over the cobbles turning left right and left again. Over and over. She estimated that they had to be somewhere by the piers by now but she couldn't be sure.

All at once, the carriage stopped and the passengers disembarked. There was a shuffling noise and bright light flooded her vision with a loud snap as the panel was pried from it's place. Before her vision could adjusts, her head was covered in a burlap sack and she was roughly drug from the Smuggler's boot carried away and unceremoniously tossed to the floor, where she laid perfectly still listening for the sounds of movement, fear tearing at her insides. Ruby Tooth promised to let her live and nothing more. Her experience as a cop clued her into several quite horrible but entirely nonlethal things that could happen in the next day.

For a moment, nothing happened. Her ears cocked and swiveled wildly, seeking out any sound at all. All she heard was a single set of lungs working nearby. She lay still for a while longer, but the stiffness of her legs was becoming unbearable and her shoulder was pressed into something sharp and uncomfortable. With all due caution, she shifted herself and tried to stretch her legs. The ropes prohibited much movement so her discomfort remained but she felt secure enough to try and work the burlap sack from her head. With several grunts and shimmies, she got her head over the jutting object that had been pressing into her and used it to guide the sack from over her head.

Several seconds passed of this attempt and the sack finally came free. She was in some kind of cellar. One window but it was painted white and one door, but it was guarded by a very intense looking gryphon who had watched the whole display with a disinterested air. The room was stark and barren, grey concrete on all sides even above. From the ceiling hung a single bare light bulb. The floor was scrubbed and the sharp thing she had been thrown on appeared to be the busted grating of a small drain in the center of the room.

"Where am I?" She ventured to ask of the Gryphon, who just looked at her and cocked an eyebrow in a look that clearly said 'If you think I'm gonna tell you, you're stupid'. The gryphon sat and watched her as she shimmied around to angle her binds against the grate. She saw a smile creep to the flexible corners of the Gryphon's mouth as she worked the ropes. After a time, a chuckle escaped the Gryphon and Amber glared. "Just what, Pray tell, is so funny?"

"Nothin," said the Gryphon. It was female and the voice was surprisingly soft and gentle despite her position as the cell guard in a crime boss's lair. "Carry on, you'll get them eventually." she continued in a condescending tone.

Amber looked away pointedly and began working the ropes with renewed vigor. Her breath was ragged and she was sweating profusely when she finally gave into the Gryphon's taunting laughter which had escalated in the intervening time. "Enough! I guess you know something I don't?" she nearly shouted at the nearly hysterical gryphon, who sobered up enough to give response.

"The rope's enchanted. Won't break for anything less than a buzz-saw," She said pointing to the bindings with a talon. "I figured a cop would know about all that stuff, but I guess letting foals into the force, there's bound to be a learning curve."

Amber ignored the jibe and sighed, admitting defeat against the ropes. She just gazed at the whitewashed window for a bit longer, ordering her thoughts. "Hey, uh..."

"Call me Tamm."

"Tamm. Seeing as I'm probably being put to death sometime in the next twenty four hours, you mind giving me the time?"

"Sure... Why not," Tamm said, leaning back to see some clock in the other room. "Looks to be about two in the morning."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Tamm leaned leisurely against the door jamb and looked down at the captive. "Say," she said at last. "What's a girl like you doin bein a cop anyway? Ain't it usually the muscle-heads and 'tough colt' types what go for that stuff?"

Amber considered not answering but figured, why be totally bored while waiting for your death? She put on a thoughtful expression before giving answer. "I guess it started back in elementary... I was a bit of a trouble maker, always getting into fights and stuff. The teachers thought I needed some direction so they made me Hall Monitor. Couldn't stand it at first but it grew on me. I actually got my cutie mark during the huge rainstorm a few years back. Everyone was panicking but I stayed cool and helped the teachers direct the students into the safe-rooms. Sure it didn't do any real good, but it calmed them down enough that the teachers could deal with the problems that arose. After everything cleared up, A teacher pulled me aside and congratulated me. I thought is was for helping, but he pointed to my flank and My silver star had appeared. I almost passed out from the excitement. I realized I liked to help keep order so I decided to join the Manehatten Police after that, and the rest is history."

"Well, that's cool I guess," Tamm said. "Not my bag but hey! To each their own."

Amber nodded and sighed. Dread was creeping in on her as the seconds moved onward. To distract herself she decided to keep talking with Tamm.

"So, I told mine, so what's your story? What's a bird like you doin in a place like this?"

Tamm laughed and nodded. "Fair's fair I guess. Hmm... where to start?" She scratched the bottom of her beak with a claw. "I guess it was back at the old nest. With my folks. Dad didn't really care what I got up to, and mom was so far down the neck of a bottle she didn't know what clean air smelled like." She looked a bit sad, but carried on. "Well, when mom passed after trying to fly on a full binge, Dad just kinda shut down. I'd been in trouble before that, but it snowballed after that. I was working with some shady characters when I met up with ol' Ruby up there. Oh, and don't call him 'Ruby'. He messed the last guy that did that up pretty bad." She shook her head at the thought and moved on. "But I met Ruby Tooth and he took me under his wing. I guess I'm what you'd call his second or something like that. That was about five years ago, before all this 'Hoods and Vandals' business. Been working together ever since."

"I guess we all have reasons for what we do," Amber mused. "You know. All things considered Tamm, I'm glad we met. If it were different circumstances I guess I would be trying to arrest you or pin you to a crime or some such."

"heh, Don't get too attached kid, Ruby Tooth's not too happy with ya. Me? I got nothing against ya." The two continued to chat, Amber occasionally asking the time. They ended up getting to know each other pretty well and Amber was genuinely glad that she had met the Gryphon. For a while, Amber dozed on the hard floor. Tamm had pulled a blanket over her so she could try to get comfortable. The dread hour fast approached. It was nine the next evening before anything of interest happened.

Tamm ruffled her wings and yawned as a door nearby screeched on it's hinges and snapped shut with a metallic ring. Turning around, she nodded. "Heya Stone. Your girl's doin fine. Just been chatin with her. Nice kid. Shame what's gonna happen."

"Thanks Tamm," He put a hoof on her shoulder and she returned the gesture. "Boss sent me to collect her."

"Alright," Tamm squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "And I really am sorry about all of this. But the Phaytes won't be denied so you just gotta roll with the punches."

Stone nodded and lifted Amber into the air with his magic. "You sure you won't reconsider Amber?"

She looked pointedly away from him. Tamm approached and placed a taloned and over her hoof. "I really am sorry." Amber smiled at the kindly Gryphon.

"Not your fault Tamm."

"Good luck on the other side, little pony."

Amber just nodded and was led away by Stone Shifter. Outside the cell, she saw a desk separating a small office room from a large storage building. The carriage sat in the center of the larger room. She was led away from there and through a large metal door that led to loading docks. The late night moon cast a heavy shadow over them both. There was another similar door on the far end of the docks which she expected to be led to, Stone stopped. He looked up at her for a moment, with apprehension clear in his eyes.

"The hay you think you're looking at," She demanded, swinging her bound hooves at him. A moment longer he stared and then the magic aura flared causing the ropes to fall away. Amber was totally confused. He set her down gently and turned to look her right in the eye.

"Get out of here. According to the papers and as far as the police know, you're already dead, and Ruby made sure to frame you for the robberies."

A strained "What?" was all she could manage.

"Amber, I'm saving your life here. Disappear, get out of town. Amber lights is Dead and even if she wasn't, she's a wanted fugitive. Just run."

"Wait, won't you get in trouble?"

"I got it all worked out. I'll say you knocked me down flailing trying to escape and fell into the water, still bound. The current is so strong, your body'd be way out to sea before anyone even noticed you're gone." Stone looked away towards the sea. "It's not perfect but it's all I could manage. But you gotta vanish, or it all comes back to me."

"Okay... Thank you, but don't go thinkin this changes anything."

"I understand. Good luck."

Amber turned to leave and made her way down the docks intent on taking a dingy and rowing away.

"Oh, Amber!" Stone Called.

Amber looked back, "What is is?"

"See ya, Gorgeous."

Despite herself, Amber grinned, and dropped herself down into a boat and began rowing away.

Comments

[Dalkrin-the-Wanderer]

Readers, please bear with me on this one. I may or may not have begun rambling from time to time and just never caught myself. This is my first real serialized fic and I will be taking a week to write each chapter from now on, just to afford myself the time to watch what I'm typing. I'm going to rework this one but for now, enjoy what I've got for you!

[Sparkle]

140168
I have no idea how you can write so many words in so little time! I still need to catch up reading, but this looks good so far!

[Dalkrin-the-Wanderer]

142474

YOu may want to hold of reading #2. I'm currently in the process of rewriting it. It'll be in essence the same thing, but I was wholly dissatisfied with the chapter. I'm almost done with the first act revision, and acts two and three will come tomorrow I think. THen it's on to #3!

and in answer to how I write so many words, I'm an author by trade. it's what I do.