Harmony City

by Roarin

Chapter 2 - The Solar War

It is now five twelve and ten seconds. Still way too early in the morning for this...

Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, is standing right in front of me. Ponies and the other races often talk about the Elements and how they changed after the war. Rainbow Dash was apparently the first of the six to change. Standing at over eight feet tall, the half lion, half eagle with multi-coloured feather tips towers over the crowd of ponies and griffons. Her magenta eyes look from griffin to griffin, none of them looking back at their angry Element. Her voice booms out over the crowd.

“Its been eight seconds and no one has said anything! What happened to Odysseus?!”

All of the griffons back down and avoid eye contact with her. I don’t think anyone has ever seen her this angry before. Understandable. Her contact in the city is dead, no info about who or why. I stand up and walk towards her. Being this sleepy has its advantages – apparently, being fearless is one of them.

“Mistress, if I may,” I say meekly

Rainbow Dash looks down upon me. Her eyebrow twitches up.

“My griffons are scared to talk to me, yet this little pony is willing to speak up?!” A few seconds pass by in silence. Then the unexpected... she bursts out into laughter. She lays down on all four and finds a comfortable place.

“Go on then, I’m a busy griff – places to be, ponies to talk to. Oh well, I’m in town, I might have to go see the Wonderbolts... Oh wait, first Odysseus, then other stuff.”

Everypony seems shell shocked. I am too. But, again, no sleep means no fear. I take in a deep breath and start my report...

“This morning, at approximately fifty-three minutes and twenty-one seconds past three, the griffin Odysseus had an enchantment placed upon him that appeared to kill him. No break in. At fifty-seven minutes and ten seconds past three, a cleaner found the body and called the police. Being a part of the council, a team of unicorns and changelings teleported in to try and find the killer. No such luck – it appeared to be a clean getaway."

“Twelve minutes and twelve seconds past four, the forensic team came in and proclaimed him dead – no pulse, nor movement. Thirty minutes and thirteen seconds past four, the force called me in for the investigation. I arrived at around forty-nine minutes and one second past four. I determined that Odysseus was meeting his killer and informed that a dragon spell was used to do the deed."

“Fifty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds past four, I was examining the body and found that its eye twitched. This not being a typical symptom of being dead, I took a closer look and it would seem that his symptoms were closer to the patterns of REM sleep. I have read about one case like this before, years ago – his soul was taken from his body. On his body we also found the mark of the Solar Empire. As we speak, Odysseus is being taken to the closest hospital to be stabilized.”

Rainbow Dash just looks at me with her magenta eyes, glances back and forth, then laughs. She even falls over, laughing about something that funny in her head, apparently. At last, she wipes the tears from her eyes.

“You remind me so much of my friend Twilight, it's ridiculous! I mean, I thought she was an egghead but you really took the cake there!” After a bit more laughing, she stops and goes dead pan. She stands up and starts to stare me down.

“So, Odysseus is still alive? But with no soul to speak of?” she asked with a more concerned tone in her voice.

“That is correct. I’m the pony in charge of the investigation. I will do whatever it takes to find his soul.”
I don’t know where the promise comes from – it just... happens. Rainbow Dash nods and starts to stand, to walk out, but she then she looks past me as if seeing something appear there all of a sudden. I turn my head and my jaw drops. You have got to be kidding me...

The Ethereal being of Magic herself... Twilight Sparkle. No longer a pony, but a being of pure magic. She has kept her unicorn shape, but now stands a good two feet over any pony. Her 'coat' and 'mane' are those of the stars and of the night sky, and her horn looks like swirling stars and planets to the tip. Where her cutie mark once was, there is a cluster of stars that form what used to be – or so I’m lead to believe – pictures.

“Rainbow, you should tell me when you are going to be coming by. It gives me time to prepare my city. It was rude for you to wake me when I just had a late night,” she said, yawning.

“Sorry Twi', just need to give my wings a bit of stretch. You know how it is after my month long nap.” She grins, as if she has just passed an invisible ball back to Twilight.

So here I am, standing between two of the six Elements of Harmony, one of them being the leader of the six. Great. The one morning that I’ve had no sleep and I’m dealing with a 'murder' case that involves one of the council members, the Solar Empire, two of the elements of Harmony, the press coming through the door, Dawn at the top of the stairs – mane still wet – Odysseus being carted down the stairs, dragon magic, souls, and now my brain thinks its a great time for a flash!

My head starts to spin, ideas firing back and forth... Odysseus’ soul. Dragon magic. Dragon Kingdom taken first by the Solar Empire. Spell from the time of old. Leader of the Empire stopped by the elements.

It starts like a normal flash, then my brain starts to fire off pictures that don’t make any sense to me... Pictures of soldiers – dressed in Solar Empire reds, whites, and oranges – all of them marching down the streets of Canterlot. Their leader stands over them and stares out above their heads.

There are more pictures that pass through my head, none of them making any sense... Dragons, changelings, Crystal ponies, zebras, ponies all with blank looks and with nothing in their eyes! The time is twenty-three minutes and twelve seconds past five, and I am going to faint...

“Time is a funny thing isn’t it Whooves? I hope you don't run out of sand anytime soon....”

*Splash*

Great... someone threw water in my face. Wait what? Suddenly, I can't see. I bolt my head up, trying to blink. Nothing but light...
“Who said that? WHAT TIME IS IT!”

I can’t see anything. My eyes can’t focus... I can feel my heart racing. How much time has passed? Where am I? Who threw water at me?! Still blurry. Can’t focus. Eyes. Somepony yelling something. Hooves on my shoulder--

“Whooves! It’s seven thirty! Don’t worry, pon! Breathe... Breathe...”

It was Zak. I hate when ponies see my panic attacks. They cause my already active mind to flash even more... I start to take deep breaths and look around for my glasses. Zak hoofs them over to me and helps me up.

“You okay, pon? You're still a bit shaky.”

I shake my head a bit and locate the clock. Thirty-two minutes and fifty-four seconds past seven. I sigh and get a better look around. Both of the Elements are gone, and with them the reporters. I look to Zak and ask, “So, am I still on the case?”

Zak bursts out in a fit of laughter and replies, “Yeah pon, you still be on the case. You gave the Elements a bit of a fright! Dawn explained to them about your lack of sleep and, believe it or not, apparently the bearer of magic knows of you.”

I look to him a bit stunned. The Element of Magic knows about me? About me? An earth pony detective, a detective overly obsessed with time? I shake my head a bit, still reeling back from fainting earlier. My mind goes back to when I fainted. I flashed...
“Zak, did I say anything as I was passing out?”

He thinks back, kind of shrugs and says, “Something about marching ponies or something like that. I didn’t get to hear much over the yelling.”

“Thankfully, you have someone who is used to hearing the unnoticed here, friend.”

Nazir. Now this might be an interesting development. Nazir had a knack for details. For Luna’s sake, it was the only reason that I could catch him. He continued on...

“Much of it was gibberish, but one set of words that caught my attention was ‘Guards of the Sun’.”

“That’s the name of a pub in the solar district. Not a nice crowd, even if you're a solar pony,” Dawn stated as she joined the group of us.

“Why would you say the name of a pub before you fainted Whooves?” Zak asks, looking at me with concern look on his face.

“I don’t know Zak... A lot of pictures flooded my head right before I passed out. Most of them to do with the Solar Marches. It may just be a fluke that the bar is of the same name, but the Solar District is going to be the best bet... Dawn, get Chief on the phone and ask if I can get Discrete down to the Solar District.”

I pick up my pork pie and place it on my head, looking at my friends and colleges. I let out a sigh, breathe in and continue. “Zak, I’m going to head over to the Solar District and give Discrete her task. I'll figure out my next move from there. Head back to the station and get a guard detail on all of the other Councillors. Nazir, if you hear anything, I’m the first pony to know. Dawn, after that phone call I need you to keep a close eye on Odysseus. Anything new, let me know right away.”

Zak, Nazir, and Dawn nod to me and I start to trot towards the door, to find Hush, who is standing there. I tell him where I am going, to which he nods.

The rain has picked up. It bounces off of the pavement as we run to the squad car.

Looking out the window, I watch as we pass by the buildings in the Crystal Haven. This district always was amazing to drive through in the rain – the homes built out of rarest materials, gems, and crystals. The rain just seemed to melt away, leaving the homes clean and immaculate. Nothing ever seemed to bother the Crystal ponies.

Even after losing half of their race, they just shrugged and moved along. Nothing ever seemed to phase them. Then again, they have a 'different attachment' to the world – or so they say Supposedly, they are made from the soil and the mountains. They believe that that is what forms new waves of Crystal ponies.

When the heart of the Crystal ponies was threatened by the Solar Empire, they had it moved from their old capital to Harmony City. But the price of hiding the artifact from the Empire was steep – a good fifty percent of the Crystal pony population was wiped out in retaliation...Which of the six watched over them again, My mind goes back to the griffon embassy and the elements.

"Hush." The slient unicorn doesn't say anything but give a nod to let me know that he is now paying attention to my voice.

"I have something I need you to check out, off books." Again he nods

Hush remains quite as we pull up to a red light. I take a sip of my now very cold tea and look over to Hush. Good thing I didn't add milk to this...

"I'm going to give you an address, don't tell any pony but me what you find." I really hope I'm wrong about this. I look back to hush and he nods.

"Right." Very typical Hush answer, quick to the point and ends conversation early. Its like he is saving whatever he has to say to make a point later on in life. As the light turns green we pull past one of the city's divide and cross over to the Solar District.

We pull over just outside of a cafe and Hush lets me out. I give him a small piece of paper with the address I need him to check out. If this hunch pans out it could remove the envelopment of the solar ponies this case, or give us plenty of warning. He nods without a word and drives off. I quickly run into the cafe and look for an empty table, the owner looks up and smiles. He looks to be older unicorn, gray hairs line his blue mane and his green eyes seem to have faded a bit over the years. A young Solar Pony mare with setting suns is also working, at the cafe, she has a cute smile.

I order two cups of coffee and a changeling brunch, and start to read the paper while waiting for Discreet to arrive. Hmmm... Marecouver lost to Manehatten, damn I had some money riding on that game. I look to the clock, five minutes and four seconds past eight. I sigh out loud, might as well read the personals, I need something to make me laugh right now. I flip to the personals and start to scan. Female dragon looking for a Earth Pony, for friendship and maybe snack., Male Crystal unicorn looking for female anything. Please i'm lonely... ,"Male Zebra looking for male Solar pony for a fun time. Must like cats and leather." You know what I'm done reading personals.

"You know if you were lonely I could consider this a date. But I see that you into colts here, well I could always be a colt for you detective." Discreet's voice purred into my head. she had a way of not scaring you when she appeared. It was like she was always here, that wall flower that finally joins the party. She smiled at me with her toothy grin and flashed the changeling band around her hoof to indeed show me that it was her.

"So boss, what do you need little old me for?" I never really found changelings to be attractive but she diffidently was able to me make me second guess myself. For somepony that who's job is not to be seen she knows how to get colt's attention when she wanted it. The waitress brings us our coffee and Discreet's breakfast. Ughh, I hate the smell of changeling food. A while back a Changeling and pony came up with an "editable" substance that can actually fill a changeling up, again it requires quite a bit of magic to make it but apparently it's very filling.

As I watch Discreet eat, My mind starts to wander off. Solar Ponies... their first campaign, the march to the Changeling Wastes. Not long after the dragons fell to the Empress's magic, nothing happened. The leaders of the other nations tried to use this time to created a union. The plan was to force Equestira to explain their actions and pay for them. Queen Chrysalis had even sent spies to Cantorlot, none of them ever returned. It's said that the Empress herself didn't trust anyone, no changeling had a chance. Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings attempted to attack the capital, with support from the union. The attack was almost in hands of the union, until a Bright flash enveloped the castle almost blinding the attackers... And out walked the pony know as Behemoth. A massive Solar Pony who's steps shook the earth. He was the first of many Solar pony. He was also the general of the ground forces, and Queen Chrysalis executioner. He alone fought off thousands before a second flash comsumed the castle. The union forces said that after the second flash the sky darkened under the wings of a thousand solar ponies. A voice cuts me out of my deep thoughts.

"Your head is in the clouds their Whooves. What's on your mind. A pretty mare like me feels quite bad about herself if a male suitor doesn't pay attention to her." I look to Discreet and smile, I'm glad that the revolution took place or else I wouldn't have most of my friend here anymore.

"Nothing much" I lie. "Anyway we have a very interesting case, how is your Solar Pony impression?" Her eye twitches up and that toothy grin that all changelings have creeps across her face. Never before have I been scared and admittedly having my mind wander to a place where a gentlecolt like myself shouldn't be. I tell Discreet about griffon embassy, and the missing soul. She couldn't believe that the elements were involved, but then again neither could I.

"So that's where you come in. I need you to be a Solar Pony for awhile, see if you can't spec a pony out and replace them. All legally of course, if you fine somepony we will move in an detain them. you have to make sure they are guilty of course or else the Harmony council will have my head." I finish my coffee as Discreet finished digesting what I had to say. She smiled and looked up.

"Does this mean that I get to be unsealed again?" she purred again. That noise, how the hell do they do that?

"yes it does... Discreet of the Harmony City hive." I start the official part of my job. "You are having your shackle taken off. This is not an excuse to harm, replace or disrupt a citizen of harmony city. You are working for the harmony city police department. Again you will not replace a citizen unless instructed to by the city. If you do not check in every 48 hrs you'll be considered by the department as a rogue changeling. You will be hunted down and taken before the courts. Do you understand?"

She could hardly keep her self still. Changelings hate the shackles, it prevents them from being deceitful. Well using their powers to be deceitful. The bands on their wrists can not be taken off and they cause the wearer pain if lie in non changeling form. Also they glow different colours to give away the fact that they are changelings when in other forms. I remove my pork pie from my head and wave it over top of the shackle. One of my runes in the hat glows and I hear a faint click. The shackle drops to the table and Discreet smiles.

It is twenty-three minutes and fifty-two seconds past eight and I have a changeling in front of me who's smile is scaring me. Just another day in Harmony City.

Author's Note:

Thanks to UnlicensedBrony for editing this! even although he doesn't like these kinds of stories, still an amazing guy go read his stuff! Yes I am going to say that for every chapter! Also he did most of the chapter just not the end part because it wasn't done lol.

Anyway, Started to work on the third chapter it maybe be just a bit longer for that.

Share and like guys! thanks again for reading!

P.s

What did you like, what didn't you like, Let me know so I can make it better!