Tabulae Rasae: Part 2
“So let me see if I follow you,” Postmark began. “You skip town and your job, no word to anypony whatsoever, and leave me high and dry. You come back over a year later and your first thought is to try and get this very same job back as though nothing happened. And you think this is going to happen why, exactly?”
Oh boy… guess Postmark’s disposition hasn’t changed much either.
All things considered, Derpy supposed things could be going worse. At least he hadn’t thrown her plot out of the post office the second she’d walked in. But still, her efforts so far weren’t going much better than that.
A prickly old earth pony, Postmark had always been a tough but fair boss for the most part, but he also knew how to hold a grudge. Needless to say, Derpy had given him more than a few headaches in the past with her old antics and periodic clumsy episodes, and frankly she was amazed sometimes that he’d never fired her before, though her tireless dedication to her job could’ve been behind that. But now she’d crossed a line, and she knew it. She didn’t regret for a second anything she’d done in the past year, but still, she understood where he was coming from. Disappearing without a trace on personal business? She was surprised he was still talking to her at all.
“Postmark, please, hear me out. Leaving you high and dry like that, that was wrong, I get it, and for that I’m sorry. But I don’t regret what I did. I was a mess, a lot more than you or anypony else knew, and I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for what I went through in the past year. I’m a new pony, sir, and a lot better for it.”
“Well that’s all fine and dandy, now, isn’t it? But you didn’t answer my question. Why should I hire you now after royally bucking me and the entire Ponyville Post Office over?” Postmark glowered at Derpy from across his desk with a look that could make the most stalwart of stallions quake with fear, but Derpy met his gaze without so much as a flinch. Confidence was crucial in this situation, and she knew she’d get nowhere with Postmark hemming and hawing.
“Look, I could feed you some line about appealing to your better nature, but we both know that wouldn’t work. So I’ll be blunt instead. I saw the mountains of mail and packages in the back, and I know for a fact you’re as short staffed as ever. So clearly you need all the help you can get right about now. Well, I’m here, ready and willing to get right back to work, and I promise you I can and will give you far better work now than I ever have before, if you’ll only give me the chance. So what do you say, Post?”
For a while it didn’t seem like he’d say anything, and just keep glaring over his desk at her. For the most part his expression didn’t change one bit, save for an eyebrow raised ever so slightly after Derpy had laid her cards on the table. She knew there was nothing more she could do now, not after that. She was either going to get her job back, or get her plot thrown out faster than you could say pickle barrel kumquat.
At last, bitterness dripping from every word as though an acrid taste clung to his tongue, he said, “OK. If we’re pretending, even for just a moment, that there’s anything at all which might incline me in the slightest to give you your job back, there is… maybe, maybe one thing that would.”
Derpy allowed the slightest sigh of relief to escape her lips. “Alright, now we’re talking. So what is it? You name it, I’ll do it. That is, assuming it’s a job. It is a job, right?”
“Yes, yes, it’s a job,” Postmark confirmed, waving a dismissive hoof. “Calm yourself. I still can’t guarantee that I will give you a second chance, but if you perform well enough, I just may. What do you know about Ponyville’s South Side?”
“Uh… South Side? You mean like Sweet Apple Acres?”
“No, no, no,” Postmark shook his head in exasperation. “Sheesh, what, have you not looked out a window since you got back? The South Side, across the Smith River. It’s a big collection of newer businesses and residencies that’ve settled the area in the last year. It’s also where the new ‘mountains of mail’ you mentioned are coming from, or rather, going to. We’ve got almost twice as many customers now than we did last year before you left, and even after hiring three more delivery ponies in the last six months, we still don’t have enough sets of hooves. I’ve got a week’s worth of backlog, mostly for the South Side, just sitting back there; if you can somehow get it all delivered by this afternoon before the work day ends, I might just consider bringing you back on. We got a deal?”
Despite the fact that this news was a lot for Derpy to absorb all at once, she hastily nodded.
“Deal. I’ll get right on it.” The two shook hooves, sealing the verbal contract.
“Good, you do that now. Just one more thing before you go,” he added. “Be careful. The South Side’s a bit… rougher than most neighborhoods in town. There’s some scary characters over there. Just don’t piss anyone off, alright? There’s plenty there who won’t just laugh off one of your goofs, if you know what I mean.”
Derpy was more than a bit taken aback by Postmark’s words of warning. Despite his grumpy nature, not much truly phased him; after all, he had put up with her as an employee of his for years. For that matter, she really had no idea what he even meant by a “rough neighborhood” in Ponyville. Sure they had their slew of monster attacks fairly regularly (more like with alarming regularity the more Derpy thought about it), but Ponyville itself was about as quaint a small town as they came.
Maybe this South Side’s what Carrot was talking about yesterday when she mentioned things had changed. What was it she said? New faces and new problems. Well, guess I’ll see soon enough, won’t I?
Flashing an earnest smile, Derpy assuredly replied, “Don’t worry, Post, I’ll be sure to tread lightly. It’ll practically be like I’m not even there.”
What in the world is going on?
A wide-eyed Time Turner surveyed the scene before him with bewilderment. On the outside, Ponyville’s police station looked every bit the small town police headquarters that it should; a humble two-story brick building, it was neither as big as the city’s town hall nor nearly so quaint as the cottage-like structures which seemed to make up the rest of the town as far as the eye could see. Still, it appeared like it belonged, a piece that just seemed to naturally fit into Ponyville’s small-town scenery as much as anything else he’d seen there so far.
The inside, on the other hoof, was a whole other story.
Police ponies, detectives, lawyers, and criminals (some being booked, some getting out on bail) were bustling all over the place like an army of multicolored ants. A cacophony of voices struggled to be heard over one another, paperwork was strewn all over the place, and a stench of cigarette smoke and burned coffee hung in the air.
In a word, it was utter chaos.
Wow… they’re more buggered than I thought. I know Chief said things were bad here, but I never imagined this. Where does one even begin?
Time took it all in for a few moments before a voice spoke up from his side. “Hey there, can I help you?” Turning, Time found a light green pegasus with a short snow white mane dressed in police blues looking at him with an inquisitive expression.
“Oh yes, sorry! Uh, Detective Time Turner, at your service. Just transferred from Manehattan and it’s my first day on the job; you wouldn’t happen to know where I’m to report, would you, miss?”
The officer’s ears perked up at the news and she nodded in recognition. “Oh yeah, the Manehattan guy, the commish told us to keep an eye out for ya. Name’s Frost, Officer Spring Frost, pleasure to meet ya.”
“Likewise,” Time nodded, shaking her extended hoof.
“Commissioner Gust is expecting you; I think he’s meeting with another new guy right now, but he should be finished any minute now. Follow me.” Officer Frost took the lead, forcing her way through the throng of ponies bustling about, and Time duly followed in her wake. Ascending a set of stairs in the back of the station, the two made their way to the second floor and after a short walk came to a door with the words ‘Police Commissioner Cirrus Gust’ painted on fogged glass.
After lightly rapping on the glass, the two waited until a loud “Come in!” came from inside the office. Entering, they came upon two stallions, one, a wide-eyed, young-looking freckled fellow, the other, a middle-aged pegasus whom Time could only assume was Commissioner Gust. Sitting behind a crisply-ordered desk which didn’t look like it had so much as a paperclip out of place on it, he looked every part the model police commissioner, right down to his navy blue coat, neatly-trimmed mustache, and regulation-cut mane and tail. Judging from some old photos Time had seen of him, aside from some flecks of gray now dotting his rich, golden hair, he looked barely any different from his younger days on the Manehattan police force.
The commissioner’s eyes widened in recognition as the two ponies entered, and he rose from his chair. “Ah, Officer Frost, your timing is punctual as always. You must be Detective Turner, I presume?”
“Indeed I am, sir,” Time affirmed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” the commissioner replied. “Please, have a seat. I was just finishing up welcoming another new member of our force. Officer Frost, I’d like you to meet your new partner, Officer Sun Flowers.” Spring Frost cocked her head to one side, her face stiffening into a carefully neutral expression as the evidently surprising news hit her like a ton of bricks.
“Partner?” she repeated. “Oh sir, you… you shouldn’t have.”
If Commissioner Gust caught the strained intonation in her words, he didn’t show it. “Why not? I think it’s a rather ideal fit. You’re one of our more experienced patrol officers after all. I’m sure you’re more than qualified to show Officer Flowers the ropes and will get him to fit right in in no time. That sound good to you, Officer Flowers?”
“Sure does, sir!” the earth pony beamed, blissfully unaware of his newly assigned partner’s poorly hidden annoyance. “Sun Flowers, pleasure to meet ya, ma’am!”
“Uh, likewise,” she replied hesitantly.
“Why don’t you two get to know each other better on patrol? Show him the rounds, officer, help him get acquainted with how we do things.”
Breathing a small sigh, Spring muttered, “Yes sir” in defeat and beckoned the rookie to follow her. They quickly departed, closing the door behind them and leaving Time alone with his new boss.
“Well, you sure dropped that on her,” Time observed. The commissioner relaxed back into his chair and shot an impassive look back at Time.
“What’s your point, son?” he asked aloofly. “She’ll get over it.”
“Bit cliché, don’t you think? Looked like something straight out of a bad buddy cop comedy,” Time remarked, chuckling. Commissioner Gust, however, apparently didn’t see what was so funny.
“I don’t really care. We’ve all got to work with some green sometime, that’s inevitable. Frost is a good officer, but if she wants to be a better one, learning how to teach another’s how she’s going to do it. That’s that, and she can take it or leave it.”
Time straightened up in his seat, remembering who he was dealing with. “Of course sir, as you say. Sorry for the cheek, train ride was a bit long is all.”
“No need to apologize,” the commissioner assured him, waving a dismissive hoof. “New moves are never fun, not in the beginning at least. Always long, always stressful, I get it. But enough chitchat, let’s get down to business.”
The commissioner spent some time going over basic police guidelines and other minutiae, nothing Time hadn’t heard before. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but unfortunately he happened to have some rather pressing matters on his mind at the moment. After a while he began to get lost in thought, though unfortunately he didn’t do a very good job of hiding it.
“Hey, you listening to me, son?” Commissioner Gust sharply asked, stirring Time out of his train of thought.
“Erm, sorry sir, my apologies,” he quickly said, bowing his head. “Won’t happen again.”
The commissioner looked him over carefully a moment before finally asking, “Something on your mind?”
“It’s nothing, really sir,” Time assured him.
“Well I certainly would hope I’m not so boring to a new member of my police force that he would stop listening to me over nothing, so I’m guessing it’s not nothing. Come on, spit it out.”
Time took a deep breath and rolled his head from side-to-side a few times, clearly uncomfortable with whatever it was he had to say but finally acquiescing. “Well, I hate to say this on the first day of the job, but, well, I guess I’m just wondering what I’m doing here?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, it’s just… when I agreed to take this job, I was under the impression that the situation here was urgent and out of control. Commissioner Ember told me as much, and she assured me that if her old beat partner said things were out of control, then it must be so. So I took it, because it sounded like this was a place where I might be needed.
“But to be honest, sir, even though I’ve only been here a couple of hours, this place already comes off as just about the most quaint, run-of-the-mill small town you could ask for. The townsponies are lovely, the streets clean, and everything’s as bright and happy as a fairy tale happy ending. So what gives, sir? What am I doing here? Either there’s something I’m missing or you’re quite the exaggerator.”
Instead of answering, the commissioner simply rose from his chair and strode straight for his office door. Time was sure his new boss was about to show him the way out and also probably give him a piece of his mind, but instead he just opened the door and beckoned Time to follow. After a second’s hesitation he did, following the older stallion down the hall and up another flight of stairs until a few minutes later they emerged out onto the roof of the police station. While hardly the tallest structure in Ponyville, it was still one of the taller ones in town and had for the most part a clear view of the surrounding landscape, including most of the town itself.
“You’re only half-wrong, detective,” Commissioner Gust finally said. “For almost as long as I’ve been here, Ponyville has indeed been like something out of a vacation brochure. Even today it still looks the part, at least at first glance. But the funny thing about looks is that they can be quite deceiving, sometimes.”
They both walked to the edge of the roof, looking out over the whole town. Below them, townsfolk bustled this way and that, going about their everyday business as usual. Time wasn’t sure yet what he was still missing, but he listened with rapt attention to the commissioner’s words which he spoke with unmistakable seriousness. He had to know why.
“Couple years back things started getting a bit nuttier around here when the Elements of Harmony were rediscovered. Between Nightmare Moon, Discord, and pretty much any foul creature you could think of dragging itself out of the Everfree, trouble of all sorts sure seems to have a way of following those Element Bearers around. Still, I can’t really complain; our police force may not exactly be equipped to deal with a lot of those threats, but those girls sure can and always manage to hold their own somehow. Point is, things got crazier, but we adapted, we dealt with the crazy because we could. That is, until about a year ago.”
The commissioner turned and walked to the opposite edge of the roof, followed by a still-puzzled Time Turner. Leaning over the edge, he stared out across the small river which quietly cut through Ponyville, his mind seemingly elsewhere for a moment. Tearing himself from his stray thoughts and back to the matter at hoof, he turned to Time once more, in that moment the living, breathing picture of stoicism in every aspect of his demeanor.
“Tell me detective, what do you see?” he simply asked.
Taking a look for himself, Time scanned the area, sure there must be something which would pop out and reveal itself to his critical eye any minute now. But no matter how long or hard he looked, nothing stood out. All he saw as far as the eye could see was more buildings and more ponies.
Letting out a sigh in frustration, he answered, “Just more of your town, sir. More buildings, more ponies, more everything. So what am I not seeing here? I bet it’s something that’s going to make me feel real dim for completely missing it, right?”
“Hardly,” the commissioner replied. “On the contrary, every observation you just made is perfectly true. But what would you say if I told you that a year ago, almost everything you see across the river wasn’t there?”
“Come again?” That couldn’t be right, Time was sure of it. There were almost as many buildings on the south side of the river as there were on the north side. Towns this small didn’t grow like that, they just didn’t.
But Commissioner Gust nodded emphatically without missing a beat. “I’m dead serious. Last year most of that side of the river was nothing but empty land on the edge of the Everfree. But in the past year we’ve seen a population explosion the likes of which this town hasn’t known since its earliest days. Town’s populace has almost doubled, and more and more just keep coming.”
“So it’s a logistics issue, then,” Time suggested. “Your force is stretched thin and you’ve got too few hooves to handle all the new faces, is that it?”
“In part, yes,” the commissioner confirmed. “But it’s also considerably more complicated than that. If it were just a matter of hiring more officers to the force, you think I’d be calling in favors from old friends and looking as far away as Manehattan for veteran officers like yourself?”
“Probably not,” Time admitted, conceding the valid point. “So how’s it more complicated? Your new residents aren’t all changelings in disguise, I hope.”
Time chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but his attempt at levity fizzled rather quickly. If anything, Commissioner Gust’s mood only seemed to get even grimmer than it already was, if that were possible. “That’s no laughing matter, detective,” he sternly remarked. “To my knowledge, we’ve no changelings among us, but you can never rule anything out, not in times like these. But no, that’s not our primary problem. No, the root of our problems is the root of where all these ponies came from. All evidence suggests that this population boost has been primarily spurred on by a vigorous and significant incursion of organized criminal activity.”
An incredulous Time’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding! Here?”
Cirrus nodded. “Are you familiar with a slimeball by the name of Foggy Trotter?”
“Foggy? Wait, of the Trotter crime family in Manehattan?” Time asked.
“The same.”
“Sure, I know that weasel. Pretty low level guy in the family hierarchy, if I remember correctly. Slippery eel, though, mostly involved in some minor racketeering and smuggling operations; we raided a couple of his suspected joints but could never tie anything directly back to him. Then he dropped right off our radar. I figured he must’ve skipped town, maybe gotten in some trouble with a rival crime family.”
“Well he’s here now,” the commissioner said matter-of-factly. “And it seems he’s the head honcho around these parts. We haven’t been able to tie anything to him here either, but he owns a number of legitimate businesses in the South Side and there’s mounting evidence that he’s running a number of illicit operations.”
“If you don’t have anything solid, how do you know all this?” Time questioned.
“Because I have eyes and ears, detective, and so do the rest of my officers. Ever since Foggy and his pals showed up, it’s not just more ponies that have come to our town; trouble followed him here as well, lots of trouble. We haven’t just seen an uptick in crime around here, we’re seeing crimes committed that Ponyville hasn’t even dealt with before! Burglaries, robberies, assaults, and that’s just what’s been reported. We’ve also heard whispers of widespread intimidation and extortion, and not just south of the river. They’re starting to branch out north, it seems, and folks are getting scared.”
Cirrus grimaced as though the mere thought of what he was about to say next was distasteful. “We can barely keep track of all the new faces around town, there’re just too many coming too fast, and we don’t have the infrastructure for it. If a recent arrival suddenly disappears, I don’t even know if they’ve just left town or if something far worse has happened to them. We’ve been making so many arrests that we’ve had to construct a brand new, makeshift penitentiary on the northern edge of town. And about a month ago some poor filly who looked like she should still be in high school was… sexually assaulted.”
Time winced, deeply troubled by the picture being painted for him by Commissioner Gust. Things were starting to click and make sense, and if everything he was being told was accurate, then clearly the situation around here was worse than he’d thought. Ponyville’s police had to be way in over their heads, too few in number and not prepared to handle this level of crime. The new residents couldn’t possibly help matters either. In a small town like this, everypony knew each other, law enforcement included. That helped build not only a sense of community, but also genuinely aided police in their work; knowing those you served forged connections between civilians and law enforcement that made them both more likely to better collaborate with one another. But a whole half of town barely anypony knew, including the police? That was just trouble waiting to happen.
“Alright, that certainly does sound problematic to say the least. And you have no idea what could have possibly set all this off?”
“None.”
“Great. Anything else I ought to know?”
“Oh it gets better,” Commissioner Gust said sourly. “I think Foggy and his friends might be running some smuggling operations. No idea if contraband is being brought in or if they’re simply using Ponyville as a waypoint on a bigger smuggling network. Could be both for all I know.”
“How in the world could they be managing that without anyone noticing?” Time asked. “For that matter, how is any of this going undetected? I understand you’re shorthoofed around here, but a place like this is too small for all this kind of activity to possibly be flying over everyone’s heads.”
“I was just getting around to that,” the commissioner assured him. “You’re right, though, criminal activity of this nature and at these levels should not be going unnoticed, not here. Granted, Foggy owns a lot of property, including a couple warehouses; that’s a lot of real estate for him which he can use to move goods through. But that can’t be it, uh-uh, not by a long shot.”
The commissioner letup for a moment, looking over the young detective before him with gauging eyes. When he’d finished his silent appraisal, he continued, “I might as well just come out and say it. I think some members of my force are dirty. That’s what you’re doing here, detective.”
It took a minute for Time to register what he’d just been told. As it sunk in, he just stood there, donning a dumbfound expression and standing perfectly still save for the occasional, aggravated flick of his ear. Finally he snorted and shook his head in disbelief. “Well… isn’t that just perfect.”
“I need your help on this, Detective Turner, desperately,” Commissioner Gust firmly stated. “And you and I both know that you’re uniquely qualified for just such an endeavor. When I began looking for some fresh sets of hooves, I extensively investigated multiple officers in the Manehattan PD looking for a transfer. Your name stood out, and I think you can guess why.”
“Yeah, I can,” Time shot back. “It’s because I was an errand boy for internal affairs and got the shaft for my trouble.”
“Now don’t be like that,” Commissioner Gust enjoined. “Your cooperation with IA back in Manehattan was both good and admirable work. You directly helped root out a number of corrupt elements within the police force, and I know for a fact that Commissioner Ember greatly appreciated your efforts. She told me as much in personal correspondence, and you know as well as I do that she is not one to hand out praise lightly.
“Now look, I get it, I do. I really do. You sacrificed a lot because of your work, there’s no denying that. IA’s the law enforcement equivalent of the kid on the playground who nopony else wants to play with. When you did what you did, I can only imagine how many officers treated you as though you were no longer even a brother of the badge. Corruption or no corruption, you went behind their backs, and that’s hard for any police officer to forgive.”
“Gee, thanks, that supposed to make me feel better?” Time asked with overt sarcasm. Unfortunately for him, Cirrus wasn’t having any of it.
“No, it’s not,” he retorted. “In fact I’m sure you still feel pretty shitty after you more or less got shunned into leaving the force. As well you should. But you learned an important lesson, or at least you should’ve. In case you haven’t yet, let me spell it out for you. Doing the right thing’s not always all it’s cracked up to be; sometimes it’s shit, and when it is, that’s when we need to most step up, that’s when our true character shows itself for what it is. From what I can tell, based on what you’ve weathered, yours is pretty damn admirable, and I want someone like you, with your character, on my force. What do you say, detective?”
Time thought upon that long and hard. The memory of what he’d endured in Manehattan, the treatment he’d received from mares and stallions whom he’d called colleagues and even friends, simply because he’d done the right thing which no one else wanted to do, was still painfully fresh in his mind. Those wounds were still healing, and he’d come to Ponyville in part to get away from all that.
Yet he’d also come because he still wanted to make a difference, and this was a place where he thought he could do just that. He’d never imagined all this going on here, but he was still young, bright, resourceful, and had an unceasing sense of duty to that which was good and just ingrained in him since he was a colt. Despite his previous experiences, he knew there was no way he could walk away from a situation like this simply because he might have to relive what he’d wanted to escape in the first place. He’d run already, but only when the going got tough; he wasn’t proud of that, and still regretted it in many ways, but at least he’d tried to weather the storm. There was no way, however, that he was going to run ever again, much less because he was scared. If he did, then he didn’t deserve to so much as wear the badge.
I hate it when I know I’m wrong in every which way. Ah well, guess it’s better than thinking I’m right when I’m wrong. It’s probably going to be a total shit if I stay, but hey, at least I won’t be alone. Suppose that’s it, then; nothing more to do than earn my keep and do my job.
With new determination in his voice, Time looked Cirrus straight in the eye and said, “Well sir, I say let’s step into this shitstorm together.”
For the first time since meeting him, the commissioner flashed the slightest of smiles and gave Time a firm pat on his shoulder. “Glad to hear it, son. So, where do you want to start?”
“Well, I guess first things first, assuming there are indeed dirty cops here, who can I trust?”
Commissioner Gust tepidly chuckled. “No one, if I’m being perfectly honest,” he bluntly replied. “Outside of myself, of course.”
“Wonderful.”
“Indeed,” the commissioner dryly concurred. “Now that’s not to say I’m looking over my shoulder every five seconds; that’d be sheer paranoia and probably do more harm than good. Obviously there are some I’m more certain are clean than others, but none definitively one way or the other. All I know for sure is that somepony’s dirty, maybe more than one. Too much is being missed, too many crimes getting overlooked for it to be mere ineptitude that’s responsible. Someone is deliberately looking the other way, maybe even actively misleading other officers and sending them on wild goose chases away from real crimes in progress.
“Just keep your eyes open, tread carefully, watch your back, and as a general rule, trust no one. Get to know your fellow officers and use caution in choosing who you collaborate with, but do not give anyone your full trust, not until we know with certainty who we can. Until that time, you and I can only trust each other and ourselves.”
“Well… that’s simply splendid now, isn’t it?”
Commissioner Gust shrugged. “It’s not ideal, certainly, but it can’t be helped. I really should have had guidelines in place for dealing with this sort of thing, but can you honestly blame us for not being better prepared to deal with this? I mean bought cops, here? Never saw that coming in my wildest dreams.”
“Right, I get that. About as shocking as organized crime having a presence here. Heading up this force as long as you have, probably figured you had everything you needed in place to keep things running smooth. Anyone would’ve been caught off guard as much as you were.”
Cirrus gave a cheerless grunt but shook his head. “Still no excuse for how bad this situation has become. Long as I’ve been doing this, with my experience, shouldn’t have let things get so out of hoof.”
Time nodded sympathetically, unenvious of his chief’s position all things considered.
Bet he’d kill for the kind of infrastructure he’d have with a force like Manehattan’s right about now. Seems the deck is quite stacked against us. But hey, guess things wouldn’t be very interesting if it weren’t, now, would it? At least we’ve got some good experience between the two of us. Town’s very fortunate to have an old beat cop like him for commissioner, especially if half the stories Commissioner Ember told me about him are true.
The commissioner absentmindedly preened his feathers on his left wing for a moment before turning back to Time. “Sorry, old Long Patrol wound. Wing doesn’t work so good anymore, gets a bit sore from time to time. One more matter of business: just so you’re aware, I’ve not shared my suspicions with anyone else on the force. You and me, we are the investigation. Share your findings and suspicions with me and only me, don’t even so much as hint to anypony else that you’re looking for dirty cops. Think you can be that discrete?”
Time nodded in affirmation. While they’d be shorthoofed, in some ways he actually preferred this arrangement; at the very least he wouldn’t have to deal with being a go-between guy for an internal affairs division. This would be a very personal, hooves-on investigation, just the way he liked it. More responsibility and pressure, sure, but more freedom as well. If he did his job right, Time just knew he’d flourish in an environment like this. Still, more help couldn’t possibly hurt, and an idea suddenly entered Time’s mind as he considered some options they might have.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance we might be able to land some assistance from certain outside parties?” Time asked. “I remember reading before I came here that there’s a company of Royal Guard currently operating in the area. They still around?”
The commissioner gave a stiff nod, and his mustache peculiarly twitched from side-to-side. The annoyance very evident in his body language did not escape Time’s notice. “They are, they are. Machwing Company’s stationed at a base about ten miles north of town, been there for the past year. But I’m afraid that’s simply not an option.”
Time cocked his head to the side. “Why not? Certainly not unheard of for the Guard to assist in law enforcement affairs if it’s needed. Not saying we declare martial law or anything, but I’m sure they could spare at least a few hooves.”
The commissioner, however, resolutely shook his head in firm rejection of the proposal. “I’m afraid Major Gust simply cannot. It’s not a question of Machwing Company’s capabilities; after all, they’re one of their highnesses’ finest and most prestigious units. However, they’ve got their hooves full with their own responsibilities. They were stationed here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to keep a sharp eye out for changelings and changeling activity. They’re spread very thin as it is and have to patrol a region that stretches all the way from the Rambling Rock Ridge to White Tail Woods. I am not saddling them with more responsibilities than they already have.”
The commissioner’s reasoning was plenty sound, but something he said piqued Time’s curiosity. “Hang on a moment… Major Gust? Uh, any relation there, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Commissioner Gust groaned but nodded, albeit hesitantly. “If you must know, yes, there is. She’s my sister. And if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, the answer is no, my refusal to ask for Machwing Company’s assistance has absolutely nothing to do with my sibling.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Time reassured him, raising his hooves defensively but also grinning sheepishly. The commissioner rolled his eyes and remained unamused.
“I assure you, it is not personal; I would never dream of being that selfish. It is merely a matter of duty, that is all. Our duty is to enforce the law and to serve and protect Equestria and the citizens of Ponyville in doing so. Major Gust’s duty, on the other hoof, is to ensure the safety of the Element Bearers; why else do you think an elite unit like Machwing Company was assigned to this region?”
“Makes sense, but from what I’ve heard, those Element Bearers take care of themselves pretty well,” Time countered.
“Maybe so, but the changelings managed to abduct and replace an alicorn princess herself right under our very noses in the most heavily guarded city in all of Equestria, and no one was the wiser until disaster was upon us. That cannot happen again, and I refuse to interfere with my sister’s responsibilities by overburdening her with my own. It is not that I grudgingly refuse to collaborate out of pride; it is that I refuse to compromise Equestria’s wellbeing simply because the going has gotten tough for us recently. These problems in town are our problems, and I will not make them anypony else’s. Is that understood?”
Time sighed but reluctantly nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, the commissioner had a point. He still wasn’t entirely convinced the chief’s relationship with Major Gust didn’t have anything to do with his refusal to ask for help from her, but nevertheless, he knew the changelings still posed a grave threat even after their failed attack on Canterlot the previous year. If they ever resurfaced anytime soon, the Element Bearers would undoubtedly play a critical role in stopping them, so obviously ensuring they remained safe and secure until that time was of the highest priority.
“Of course sir, understood. Don’t worry, I won’t approach them for help unless you at any point decide it’s prudent to do so.”
“Sounds like a plan, detective,” Commissioner Gust said. Once more he turned his gaze to the south, staring out across the river. After regarding it for some time, he finally said, “I won’t lie, detective, I’m scared. In all my time here, I’ve never seen anything like this. Buck, I never saw anything like this in Manehattan. There’s something sinister about all this; it’s too well-organized, too well-run. The big operations, the really major business, whoever’s involved has stayed squeaky clean up to this point, and that tells me there is an intelligence behind these operations and how they’re being conducted. Your run-of-the-mill crooks usually aren’t this good at staying in the shadows.
“I love this town. I’ve made a life here with my family, seen my children grow up here, found a place to call home, my own. There’re good ponies here, lots of them, and they’re scared too. Some are still trying to get a good grasp on what’s even going on, and most never imagined this type of trouble would or even could come here. If we’re going to act, to do what we have to in order to turn things around, we need to act soon. It’s not going to be easy, but if we’re true to our trade, our service, our guiding principles… well, that might be enough. We’ll see, I suppose. You ready to get to it?”
Time smirked and nodded. “You bet, sir. I’ll give you and this town everything I’ve got and then some. Count on it.”
And the plot thickens! As promised, here's the second of this weekend's chapter updates. Lot of exposition, I know, but hopefully it was interesting stuff for all ya'll. It was a lot of fun getting to flesh out my own unique take on another character from the show who's going to be a major player in this universe, and I look forward to working with Time Turner even more. Hope ya'll enjoyed, and if you have any questions or critiques, feel free to either PM me or leave them in the comments below! Have a nice day everypony! 
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New chapters
. Good work yet again.
7065512
Thank you, glad you're enjoying them!
I don't get this choice. Kicker has more physical training and more dead parents.
*flaps cap dramatically* The prodigy writer has once again returned! He has uploaded not 1 but 2 Chapters! Our prayers have been answered boys and girl so rejoice as we sit tight on a journey of a life time[!img]http://www.troll.me/images/screaming-baby/are-you-ready-to-rooooooooock.jpg
7065813
Well not this Cloud Kicker. She still dropped out of the Guard, yeah, but Nimbus is still alive and shown up already. Remember, Winningverse AU.
7065924
Oh goodness, that is both horrible and wonderful.
7066048
I think you'll agree after tomorrow that the last update is the best out of these three. I won't say anymore than that, but I think you'll see why. 
Glad you're enjoying it, and thank you again for your patience.
Glad you didn't go the meme route with TT. He's a far more interesting character this way.
7066289
Really, it's just a matter of practicality for me; I don't watch Doctor Who, I'm just kind of familiar with a few of the memes and Internet jokes and basics about him, so I couldn't write a Doctor Who-version of the character seriously (and it wouldn't make sense in a Batman universe anyway).
Thank you, I'm glad to hear that!
To me, this is an opportunity to flesh out this character in my own way for my own purposes, and that's far more interesting for me as a writer than writing him as all too many writers here already do. Glad you're enjoying him so far, though.
Hm, I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I do like what you are doing with Time Turner, but on the other hand I have serious doubts about what you are doing with Ponyville and am less inclined to trust you after the issue we discussed previously. The explosive growth and rampant crime just feels out of place in a small town that is constantly attacked by monsters and gets lots of personal attention from the princesses (and possibly has one living there) because of all the extra risk for limited rewards. That kind of trouble will raise very real concerns at the highest levels of government about the safety of the Elements and draw a disproportionate response to eliminate the threat because it is entirely possible that the criminal network will be used to attack them and compromise national security. There should have already been a substantial task force dispatched to combat the rising crime, and if it still got as bad as you are describing here then Celestia would be seriously considering declaring martial law because the only logical reason to keep trying to set up a major crime ring is to stage an attack on the Elements.
7066639
Well first, to address whether she's a princess yet or not, no, Twilight's not a princess. This is set between Seasons 2 and 3. The Element Bearers themselves, in this universe, are frequently away from Ponyville (think some of the adventures they go on in the IDW comic books), oftentimes helping with friendship problems (not to mention that's specifically what the Elements are for, don't forget that, they're specifically related to the magic of friendship, not just national security as a whole. The girls may be able to kick butt, but they're still not soldiers or law enforcement, they're heroes in a very specific fashion related to a very specific magic).
The crime in this area is largely relegated to this new part of Ponyville, with new residents who most of the old ones don't know and don't have any ties with. Without giving too much away, there are reasons it hasn't been designated a matter of national security or requiring martial law; these criminal elements are not targeting or going after anyone or getting caught doing anything that would bring the wrath of the Royal Guard down upon them for doing so.
7066649 Ok, good to see my read on Twilight was accurate.
That really doesn't work. The town is integral to most of them for one reason or another so being away a lot really doesn't fit with canon at all. AJ could never afford to do that to her farm, Rainbow would not let the town down by bailing on them like that, Fluttershy's animals need her to be there for them, Pinkie will not let the Cakes down or forget the birthdays of the other ponies in town, and Rarity has a business to run. Really Twilight is the only one who could realistically afford to be out of town on random errands often, but her friends will tie her down so she will not be out all that often either. Furthermore, them being out of town really doesn't fix anything because it just creates more opportunities for them to get in trouble due to not knowing about something that happened when they were out and for criminals to get into their homes to do things like poison food or set up ambushes.
No, you explicitly said that it was becoming a serious problem on the old side of town which means it is starting to directly threaten the Elements and is why I said the situation is getting to the point where martial law is necessary. Furthermore, even if the crime was confined to the new section it would still be a major cause for concern because that is absolutely close enough to stage an attack on the Elements which is why Celestia would have sent a task force to stamp out the crime ring before it got out of hand like this. An established crime ring like that means there would be absolutely no warning if an attack was being planned because the criminals could easily smuggle in the attackers and their equipment in what looks like a relatively normal no questions asked criminal deal so no one in the government or the crime ring would know what is going on until it is too late.
7066731
It's not like they're out every weekend, just enough that their larger responsibilities to Equestria, coupled with their own personal responsibilities, are preventing them from paying much attention to something that doesn't really fall under their purview anyway, despite occurring in their home town. Remember, like I said, they're not law enforcement; the types of villains they deal with are typically dictators or world-destroying ones.
Keep in mind too why Commissioner Gust won't seek Royal Guard aid. The Royal Guard is stretched thin right now just trying to ensure that Equestria is secure after the changeling invasion. Changeling's are and remain their #1 priority. It may have been a year, but it caught them so off guard that they're trying to overhaul their entire national security system (and given that this is AU Winningverse, the standing army, while fair enough, isn't massive in size). Other stuff about the crime network I can't explain in comments because it would give too much away; suffice to say I have a vision of how it's organized and run, why they're able to run amok, and why their rise has caught ponies off guard and is also not as prioritized.
nice second part, sounds like you're basing the South Side on the Narrows.
I like all the exposition you're giving Ponyville. Now Ponyville is starting to feel more like Gotham City. At least it hasn't affected Pinkie Pie's attitude, or maybe it has and she's just trying much harder to keep everyone's spirits up. I could see that. And it also looks like you're setting up Time Turner to be a major character in this series. Just from the backstory you're giving him, I'm guessing he's going to be the James Gordon of the series. I'm quite interested in seeing how this plays out.
What season # episode # are we in ?
8362100
This fic is set between Season 2 and Season 3. The entire canon of all of the fics I hope to write could span the entire show, but the plan for the initial trilogy is that it will end somewhere in the middle of Season 3, before Twilight is an alicorn.