Chronicles of Crime: My Little...Sister

by ngrey651

Part 2

Chronicles of Crime: My Little…Sister
Part Two, The Second

Previously, on "Chronicles"…

Beatrix T. Mane, aka Trixie, the Boasting Braggart of a Pony, has come to New York to visit her brother, the investigator Shinedown, on "Bring Your Family To Work Day". Despite an initial fear of what she might have done, our protagonists were surprised to find her to be a truly talented and passionate singer during a fine performance of the ballad "Mother Mary" at the local opera. However, a famous critic, Simon Cow, trashes her performance in the newspaper, spurring Shinedown's wrath, a wrath further enflamed when he learns of Mr. Cow's recently-murdered girlfriend. Now certain that Simon is a cold-blooded killer, he is determined to see justice done…and may even, as his beloved Fluttershy fears, be willing to frame the man for MURDER!

The soft light of the sun on a warm afternoon filtered over the city of New York as Shinedown Mane went to work, making his way from rooftop to rooftop. His attire had been drastically altered: he was no longer bare-clothed, but now wore a large fedora and a cloak to go with it, leaping across New York to make his way to the suburbs. His target was a simple one: Simon Cow. And he was getting closer and closer to his destination: a place that had someone whom could get Mr. Cow out of the way for some time. Enough time to do his work.

Sliding down a fire escape and plopping down in a back alley, he slunk through darkness to the back entrance of one particular Adult Film video store, knocking on it. Shave-and-a-hair-cut…

"Two bits!" A blue-furred, yellow/golden eyed "Experimental American" announced, looking down at the Equine American on his doorstep, one light blue eyebrow raised as his paw pushed the door open a bit further. "How can I help ya, dude? What kind of stuff ya lookin' for? I was in the middle of looking over "Horny Potter", that's a classic seller for the "fantasy genre. Or maybe yer a mystery fan, huh?"

"The Shadow" kept silent, just looking at Frequency with big, dark blue eyes.

"Lemme guess, dude. You're after "The Woman with the Twisted Lips", right?...oh, wait. Are you going out Halloween trick-or-treating in that outfit? Then you might wanna go for "Halloween: The Night Everyone Came". That's usually pop-"

"Want I want is services in a more…firearm-related matter." The disguised mare said, his voice vaguely echoing, almost as if his every syllable was bouncing off the walls of a cavern, dark and deep. "I need you to completely destroy a man's car with him in it…but not actually kill him. I want this cow stranded in traffic. COMPLETELY stranded in traffic, and I don't care how you do it."

Frequency grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small and sleek bamboo pipe. "Then you want THIS, dude! It's totally balls off-the-walls for this kinda job."

"That little peashooter?"

"Not just ANY peas! Watch, it's like, HYSTERICAL, man." Frequency chuckled as the blue-furred mammalian being reached over to his window box, taking out some peas from within and holding up a small box of pins, sticking the pin into the pea, then inserting said pea into one end of the bamboo pipe. He held the pipe to his mouth and blew.

THWISH! It stuck deep into a window box on the other end of the alley with all the force of a throwing dagger, "The Shadow" chuckling as he turned to nod at Frequency. "That'll ruin his tires, eh? Alright, how much for the job?"

"Depends on who it is, man. Big public names, they cost a lot of mucho dinero, y'know?" Frequency said as he despoited the peashooter on a little table nearby, "The Shadow" noticing an elfin girl fiddling around with a rifle in the back of the store. "Rayne, cutie, be careful with that! The sight's a little off."

"I gotta get it ready for tonight, I'm playing Solid Snake for Halloween, remember? AND doing the Decato job?"

"Right, right." Frequency shrugged. "Kids. Whadda gonna do?"

"Yes. Kids."

…

…

…

…it wasn't long before Shinedown T. Mane was racing across the roofs of New York, making his way back towards his target: the home of one Mr. Simon Cow, a pristine, pompous, in-your-face two-floor home with as many bathrooms as there were crystal chandeliers. Shinedown was TEMPTED to do something to the crystal chandeliers…tempted to just take, say, a sledgehammer to the man's three other cars in his enormous garge, but he had a bit more integrity than that. No, what he wanted was something else.

"Now to get started." He chuckled as he broke his hoof through the back window. "One should NEVER just leave the key in the lock. It's so easy to just break in, reach in and turn the key, Mr. Cow. But you'll know better from now on, won't you? And now BETTER than to call my sister's performance "banal" and "forgettable"!" He spoke to himself, chuckling darkly as his cloaked form slid inside the house, going to the man's central closet to get his much-needed supplies.

Or rather, that had been his desire, until he'd found a black and gold-scaled dragon sitting in the hallway, sipping some wine and smiling softly at him with deep, dark black eyes.

"NIGHTWING!" Shinedown screeched out, his hat flying off his head by a few inches before he regained his composure, taking up a defensive, all-fours position as he growled. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same. I'M investigating a lead: the bathroom attendant at the opera your sister performed that fine musical number at told me that Mr. Cow had told HIM he'd been feeling "under the weather" for the past week due to an embarrassing bout of diarrhea, yet as you and I saw that night, he supposedly never left his chair."

"And he kept checking that stupid watch on his wrist, yeah, I saw it every other five minutes I glanced in his direction." "The Shadow" mumbled.

"If he'd been suffering from diarrhea, why did he never leave his chair? Because we definitely would have smelled it if he hadn't gone at least ONCE to the bathroom." Nightwing remarked. "If he was lying to the attendant, it makes him look quite fishy, so I am checking the house for diarrhea medicine, or rather, I WAS." He raised an imaginary eyebrow, looking Shinedown over. "I wasn't quite finished with my search when I noticed you were on your way here. Were I anyone else, you'd be in quite a lot of trouble."

"Are you going to…report me for breaking and entering?" Shinedown murmured.

"No. I'm going to help you in making this man's house look like something Macalay Mackulkin booby-trapped." The draconic experiment 561 chuckled, holding up a roll of animal pheromones and Mr. Cow's cologne.

And so, it began.

"What do you think? ONE mouse trap, or two?" Nightwing chuckled as he held them up in the air over a box of Kleenex, Shinedown carefully putting invisible tape over the toilet bowl, but specifically keeping it UNDER the lid and the seat.

"Dunno, but once you're finished with that, don't forget to add the ink to his shampoo."

"I was thinking of NAIR, actually."

"I should work with you more often." Shinedown chuckled as he made his way over to the laundry, opening it up and making his way towards the back door with a small, tiny whistle he had coughed up from his considerably bigger-on-the-inside-than-the-outside stomach. He blew it and instantly a swarm of snakes came slithering out from the bushes and the woods around the house, Shinedown leading them into the laundry room, closing it from both sides. "I'll be back tomorrow, alright?" He told them.

"Word." One of them said, thumping it's chest and giving the "peace" sign with its forked tongue before hiding in Mr. Cow's undergarment section, a particularly large python sneaking into the towel rack.

But the crown jewel of it all…the enormous, circular metal manhole-esque cover in the backyard. "This is the cesspool. Cow pies of a dozen weeks, further decomposed by millions of bacteria." Nightwing informed Shinedown as they looked down into the mire and muck, a foul stench that was potent enough to peel bark off trees wafting up from above. The two slowly looked up from the hole to gaze at each other before slowly breaking into mad, sinister laughter, their cries echoing into the darkening skies above as night began to slowly fall.

One party umbrella stuck in the ground near a cooler filled with beer…one little table by a lawn chair…a large rainbow-colored towel covering the hole which was also covered by a layer of saran wrap…and, to add the final touch, a copy of "The Bridges of Madison County" carefully placed by a signed copy of "Your Book SUCKS" by Roger Ebert.

"I could kiss you." Shinedown said as Nightwing stood away from the booby-trapped hole, clapping imaginary dust from his hands. "That "Bridges of Madison County" is pure genius."

"No, no. The "lemonade" was pure genius." Nightwing chuckled. "But are you SURE that firecracker looks enough like a candle?"

"I'm sure, believe me." Shinedown laughed.

…

…

…

… "C'mon, c'mon, hurry up." Simon muttered as he shook his car wheel angrily, not seeing the slinking form that was moving through the heavy traffic on all fours, pea-shooter in paw. The cow critic banged his head against the wheel, moaning before his truck's in-car GPS/communication system activated, somebody calling him up.

"Ooh, whatcha saaaay…ooh, girl you know I meant weeeeell…"

Simon quickly flicked a switch on his specialized wheel, a far thicker and easier to grip type car for four-leggers like himself, other anthro animals and Equine Americans such as that lunatic that had hung him out of a window. "Yes?" He asked, facing somebody who was sitting at a table in City Hall, the City Council room empty save for two individuals. One was somebody fairly-normal looking, a dark-haired man in a white lab coat and horn-rimmed goggles, the other was most definitely weirder in appearance, a golden-furred gerbil/hamster esque rodent of alien origin, a Muridean scientist.

"Simon, you missed our last City Council meeting."

"…I'm sorry, Dave. I was at McDonalds."

"…you didn't call." Dave sniffled.

"We made cupcakes…we played games…trust-building exercises…" The Muridean remarked.

"Did you do the "Trust Fall" th-no, you CAN'T do that, can you George?" Simon chuckled as the winged Muridean frowned slightly.

"I TRIED, y'know! I can't help it if Domitian weighs eighteen bamillion pounds!"

"You really should hurry back. We've got to discuss the Environmental Care Act that's going to be introduced to-" Dave began to say before Simon beamed.

"At last! The traffic's breaking up!" He exclaimed, trying to move his car forward…only to halt in place, blinking stupidly as people began honking their horns at him from behind. "What in the?!"

He looked outside his car down at this tires…pea-nails stuck in every single tire…not seeing Frequency sticking something into the passenger seat next to him.

"Now for my favorite part." Frequency said to himself as he slunk off, holding up a tiny remote, pressing a small red button as a microchip in the tomato he'd placed in the seat suddenly began to grow.

…

…

…

… "The city is in CHAOS." The announcer on the television insisted, a secretary running past him with a giant tomato chasing after her, bouncing up and down and snarling as Frequency sheepishly blushed, his adopted daughter giving him an angry glare as they hid behind boarded-up windows. "Can nothing stop this tomato onslaught? They've attacked Main Street…Boardwalk…China Town!"

"Nice goin', dad." Rayne mumbled. "Now we'll have to erase everyone's memories………AGAIN."

"Even the mere MENTION of the word has now become sufficient to induce PANIC." A reporter on the street said as a certain Mr. Walken stepped close to a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop.

"Ah-hem."

"Oh my GOD, it's Cowbell Walken!" One lady exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth as the bull of an actor brushed his hair back.

"Are you listening?" He whispered quietly.

"Yes!" The crowd all insisted.

"Are you listening?"

"YES!"

"Are you listening?"

"YES!"

"…Toh-may-to."

AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!

All of the crowd ran screaming as Cowbell Walken ran a comb through his hair and whistled absentmindedly, stepping onto the bus that pulled up.

"Thanks for the hot cocoa, Fluttershy." Trixie mumbled as she sipped her drink at PSCI Headquarters, the blue-furred pony nodding appreciatively at the yellow-furred unicorn, Fluttershy kindly smiling as she added a marshmallow to Trixie's little chocolately brew. "I really appreciate it."

"I brought it from home. It's my special blend." Fluttershy told Trixie as the two sat in the break room at PSCI, Trixie chewing on her lip for a little while before she resumed sipping her hot cocoa. "Good thing we still have power."

THWOOMP. All the lights suddenly turned off as Petrovich's swearing filled the halls, the sound of a tomato screeching followed by loud squishing noises echoing through the air. "…he really should watch his blood pressure. All this stress is just making him so angry, I'm really sorry." Haley said apologetically as she stuck her head inside the room, hearing a very vivid bout of Russian swearing that involved potted plants and New Orleans hotels of prostitution that made her gulp. "Er, I'll be right back." She said. "I gotta stop him before he starts throwing things."

"I can't believe you put up with him." Trixie said, rolling her eyes. "How can you stand him? He seems like a horrible mentor."

"You don't know the half of it. Didja see those guys in the medical wing?" Shinedown chuckled as he entered the room to get a salt lick on a stick bar from the cupboard, holding a flashlight in the corner of his mouth yet speaking perfectly fine.

"…yeaaaah." Trixie said nervously. "They all had huge bruises and battered bodies. I've never seen more depressed, broken-down people in all my life!"

"They were LAST YEAR'S interns." Shinedown told her as Trixie almost spat out her hot cocoa, Shinedown patting her on the back. "Don't worry, I'm not letting him throw a stapler at your head like he did to the last Equine visitor we had here. Poor ol Doctor Whooves is gonna need a doctor of his OWN after THAT incident…" The Equine American chuckled as he left the room.

"You know, Trixie…your brother's really devoted to you." Fluttershy said appreciatively. "He always talks about you. Even when we first met."

"How DID you two meet?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did your toilet get backed up and you had him clean it?"

"Nah, Angel introduced me to him." Fluttershy laughed as she sipped her cocoa. "Shinedown's partner Sunset caught him stealing carrots out of their garden and he chased my lil' bunny all the way to my house…and right through my window!" She added with a chuckle.

"Yeah…yeah, he's sure something, alright." Trixie sighed. "…but I gotta admit something, and I'd be reaaaal glad if ya didn't tell anyone, okay? The "Great and Powerful Trixie" has a secret she's been keeping for a long time, and it needs to be told to someone or Trixie's going to go crazy!" The pale-blue-furred Unicorn groaned, holding a hoof to her head and rubbing her forehead as she put her hot cocoa down.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked as she sipped her own hot chocolate, head tilting slightly to the side as Trixie put down her drink on the nearby table, on top of a copy of "The Shadow Magazine", one of Shinedown's old-time detective mystery publications which Fluttershy had become engrossed in.

Though, truth be told, this particular tale of "The Valley of Living Terror" was a bit more "grossing" than "Engrossing".

"I'll just be really glad when I can go back home and not have to worry about him again. He drives me up the wall!" Trixie sighed.

"Oh, my." Fluttershy said, widening her eyes ever-so-slightly.

"Oh, it's not like Big Brother's watching me. He's not here, I doubt even Mr. Perfect can be here and finished with a Jumbo Sized Salt Lick on A Stick in five minu-"

"Mr. What?" Shinedown asked quietly, his flank returned to its normal sunset-colored scheme as he looked at Trixie with a hurt expression on his features, Trixie gasping in surprise.

"Ah! Uh…Brother! What a surprise! I…er…"

"I think I'd better grab these hot beverages and run…" Fluttershy decided, quickly taking the hot cocoa and skedaddling out of the lounge as Shinedown cantered into the room, looking intently into Trixie's eyes.

"Why didn't you TELL me how you felt?" He wanted to know.

"I didn't wanna hurt your feelings." She mumbled back, putting her hooves down low along with her bowed head.

"You don't think THIS doesn't hurt my feelings? Hearing you grumbling behind my back how you can't wait to see me leave? And calling me "Mr. Perfect" so sarcastically? How long have you been thinking like this?" He asked her.

"…since I was four and you were 10."

"…I think I'd better sit down for this." Shinedown decided as he plopped down on the couch next to his sister, putting his hooves together thoughtfully as Fluttershy and the others listened and watched from outside as best they could, despite the closed door and shuttered blinds. "All this happened when we were in ELEMENTARY school?"

"Remember when I'd take money from your room to buy milkshakes?"Trixie asked as she covered her face with her hooves. "And since Dad wasn't home, YOU'D lecture me right in front of all my friends?"

"Yeah, I remember." He sighed and put a hoof on his own face, shaking his head back and forth. "It must have embarrassed you so-"

"NO! I was ANGRY because my friends always, always took YOUR side! They liked YOU more than me!" Trixie yelled at Shinedown, waving her hooves in the air.

"I wasn't TRYING to woo your friends, sis…" Shinedown nervously began to say.

"It WASN'T just my friends!" Trixie interrupted in an exasperated tone, getting up from the couch and walking away from him, shaking her head back and forth. "Everypony who ever met you has thought you walked on water!"

Shinedown nervously bit his lip, a guilty expression flickering over his face as Trixie went on. "You were the one with that special voice, the expert rough-rider, the criminalist! What did I have? I've always been in your shadow! And…and…"

She began to shake then, her voice becoming pained and tearful. "And now…how am I supposed to…to get people to think well of me…if all they can think of when they think of "Trixie"…is of a bragging little pony? A review like Mr. Cow gave me, it…it'll ruin any reputation I'm trying to build. How can I start over if I've got a black stain like that on my record? How are people supposed to know the best of me if people only know the worst thanks to what HE'S done, and…and what I found MYSELF doing just…just so I could prove I was good enough…"

Shinedown blinked slowly as his sister finally couldn't take it anymore, racing out of the room, sobbing all the while as she barreled past the others, everyone looking in on the pain-faced brony. "…I didn't know." He mumbled. "…I…"

"I guess the whole "she'll get over it" thing isn't happening, huh?" Haley Long asked quietly, the American Dragon sighing as she rubbed the back of her neck. "People don't usually forget. They don't always bounce back."

"Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I'm still adjusting to things my classmates said to me when I was three, so I can see why she's upset." Fluttershy admitted. "She wants people to know her by what she really is so good at, but with Mr. Cow saying what she's good at is something so BAD, nobody'll remember her for it, recognize her for it, and that's what she wants…the recognition, like the kind you got." She told Shinedown, looking nervously to the side before glancing bac at him.

"…I need to see Mr. Cow." Shinedown insisted to himself. "…I need to get him to make this right. To retract that review. And I need…to apologize."

"Maybe you don't." Nightwing stated as he entered the room, the black-haired Shin holding onto an enormous sack that was slung over his shoulder. "I SUSPECTED the fine, upstanding member of the City Council for some time. And then we got a new development."

"What?"

"The attendant to the opera your lil' sis performed at was just found dead. Somebody strangled him with a gold chain watch."

"How do you know?"

"Because he told me." Shin said.

"Hey." The dead man inside the partially-unzipped bag said, raising an arm and waving it back and forth a bit.

…

…

…

… "Fluttershy, you can come out from the closet now." Haley insisted gently as she rapped her knuckles on the door.

"NO WAY!" Fluttershy screeched from inside the closet, everyone else sitting in the lounge as Shin held a hand in the air, a faint glow around it, his yellow eyes looking feral and wild as the dead man mumbled, rubbing his bruised neck. It was like Nightmare Night all over again!

"Mr. Ryan. Listen to me." Nightwing whispered quietly. "My necromantically-gifted friend can only help you if you help YOURSELF. Can you remember who killed you?"

"No, get-get that away, no! NOOO!" The man screamed, grabbing at his throat and howling as Fluttershy dove underneath some jackets in the closet, screaming along with him. "Not the chain! Get it away from me!"

"Only a chain watch has that width." Mr. Petrovich insisted as he held up a chain watch of his own. "The bruise patterns are perfect match, eh?"

"…listen, Shinedown." Nightwing told the Equine American, a small smirk coming to his face. "You are going to want to hug me. But don't. Do NOT hug me. At all."

"Why?"

"Mr. Simon Cow also has a chain watch, remember? We saw him checking it over and over. He doesn't USE a regular watch."

"I LOVE YOU!" Shinedown exclaimed, glomping the dark dragon on the spot as Shin let out a gasp and fell back, the dead man collapsing back into the bag as the half-demon lost his grip on what little life remained within the man.

"GAH! I said no hugging!"

"Look at the attendant's watch." Shin mumbled as he rubbed his aching head, not noticing his nails were rather pointy lately. "It's a glow in the dark model. This is just a guess, but…I feel that Cow hired the attendant to take his place during the show. Probably made up some lie about needing to go away to use the bathroom…"

"He did lie, he probably used his "terrible diarrhea" as an excuse." Nightwing said, pushing Shinedown off of him and onto the ground. "So he snuck off and killed his girlfriend, then was back in time for the curtain call. The attendant wouldn't have been any the wiser…WASN'T any the wiser until I came around to talk to him about the suspicious circumstances!"

"This is a big deal." Mr. Petrovich insisted to them all, eyes shifting left to right. "Mr. Cow is member of City Council. Big man. We must be careful. Must CATCH him."

"But all we've got is one guy that we can't get a Life-Up mushroom to for a week, IF the paperwork is rushed." Ms. Kendall added, shaking her red-haired head. "Mr. Cow didn't leave any real evidence linking him to the first crime, and he didn't leave any to THIS crime either. He's got no fingerprints, right? And did you find any DNA on the guy's body?"

"No. No epithelials of any kind." Shin sighed. "AND his new girlfriend, the daughter of the New York Times owner, Ms. Olive…she INSISTS she was with him all night."

"Well, that makes her an accessory. That's good, women like her LIKE accessories." Haley chuckled.

"What do we have? Nothing more than a theory and a motive, but without any hard evidence to back them up…without any witnesses to what he did…by the time our attendant's revived, he won't remember who killed him." Kendall interjected coldly. "We're working with next to nothing."

"There's got to be some way to prove this critic is a murdering, sister's heart-breaking pile of BULLCRAP!" Shinedown snarled angrily, kicking the wall so hard that his hoof went clear through it.

"…feel any better?" Haley asked, rolling her eyes.

"A bit."

"Feel a lot of pain?"

"A LOT."

"…there IS a way. And I know just how to do it!" Nightwing realized, slamming his fist into his palm as he grinned darkly. "Trixie…you ARE aware that the New York Operatic Theater is doing a community performance of the play "Repo" in a week? The auditions are still going on even now…"

"Yeah, so?" Trixie asked.

"My dear…you'd best prepare for the act of your LIFE."

…

…

…

…the setting sun cast final rays over the New York Operatic Theater, shimmering slices of fading sun that flickered over the tall buildings of the Big Apple, as people began to flow into the theater doors. "Repo: The Genetic Opera" was quite a well-known little play, and even if it was a community theater production with "local boys", there was one very good draw…Cowbell Walken would be playing the Repo Man.

"I'm gonna be acting alongside COWBELL WALKEN!" Trixie said happily, spinning around in her room as Shinedown hid himself atop the roof far above the opera, adjusting the large fedora and cloak he wore. Now he was more than a mare…he was…The Shadow. And he intended to see things to their righteous conclusion. Haley, Ms. Kendall and Nightwing were standing by, ready to begin right after the performance was finished.

So much depended on Trixie…so much…

"I can't screw this up." Trixie insisted to herself as she looked herself over in the mirror as it hung from the faint yellow walls, taking in deep, calming breaths. She had to have courage. She had to.

Shinedown twirled the shepherd's crook he usually kept in his stomach, slamming the butt against the roof, eyes narrowing as he saw Simon Cow entering the theater, interestingly with the very members of the City Council he'd been speaking to in his car. They stepped over a shot-to-pieces tomato, trying not to step in its juices as Trixie smirked to herself, putting on her outfit for the performance.

"No chance for peace!" Shinedown growled to himself. "I'll end this grudge! I'll stain the streets! He'll run with blood…at the Opera toniiiight!"

Nightwing emerged from the shadows on the rooftop to stand by Shinedown as tiny dots of burning dark energy rose around him, chuckling coldly as he glanced in Shinedown's direction. "Yes, all debts are paid...at the opera tonight."

...

...

...

...And what an opera it WAS. It became clear that Trixie was clearly much more talented than anyone had previously thought, and Haley, making sure her video camera caught ALL of Mr. Cow's reactions to the play, was grinning more and more broadly with each moment, because every time after Trixie sang, he went positively wild with applause. And of course, Cowbell Walken made an all-too-convincing Nathan the Repo Man.

"I'm really impressed with you! I've never seen a guy play an insane lunatic so well." George, the City Council's treasurer insisted as the Muridean shook Mr. Walken's hand after the play, eagerly grinning.

"Well, go with what you know, that's my motto." Walken chuckled as Olive, Simon Cow's girlfriend, chatted it up with Simon, who had just returned from a fairly long bathroom break. This time he evidently DID seem to have caught a bout of diarrhea.

But all of that went out the window as Haley strolled into the main hall, loudly announcing her presence and taking Cow's shoulder. "Sir!" She yelled loudly, everyone turning to see Trixie standing there in a white robe outfit, looking nervous and upset. "This performer says you tried to force your way into her room and that you attacked her."

"WHAT?!" He exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise as he looked at Trixie, who rubbed the back of her neck, whimpering a bit, eyes low and muzzle held away. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Her story checks out." Ms. Kendall added. "She's got scratch marks on her arms and legs, AND she has one of your business cards." She said, holding aloft one such business card as the crowd around all looked from him to Trixie.

"I don't know what she's talking about!" Mr. Cow enthusiastically said, shaking his head back and forth. "I swear, I've NEVER seen this girl before tonight! NEVER!"

"…Mr. Cow…this is very, VERY serious." Haley said quietly, folding her arms, her voice becoming deadly and solemn. "Now look at her carefully." She told him, pointing at Trixie. "Are you positive you've never seen her before? At ALL?"

"Sir, I give you my WORD, I'd swear on a stack of Bibles, I have NEVER seen this Equine at all!" Simon insisted as his girlfriend Olive enthusiastically nodded.

"My honey's no killer, officer. I'd know."

"In that case…I think we can cut the act." Trixie said dramatically. "You're all witnesses!"

"What's going on here?!" Simon snarled angrily as Haley grabbed his shoulder tightly.

"I'm better known by my STAGE name, sir…TRIXIE. I was in that performance you saw a week ago, where I sang The White Rabbit's ballad "Mother Mary"…only you didn't actually see it, cuz you were off pushing your girlfriend off a balcony!" Trixie yelled at him, pointing an accusing hoof.

Simon and Olive's eyes went wide as they immediately bolted out of the room, Haley being knocked away as Olive grabbed ahold of Trixie by her collar, heading for the back entrance as the pony screamed and struggled to get free, Haley holding up a walkie-talkie as the two crooks bolted. "The hamsters have left the wheel! Repeat: the hamsters have left the wheel!"

"They aren't getting away." Nightwing whispered through the walkie-talkie.

…

…

…

… "And I say KILL her, Simon." Olive hissed, brushing her tiny lock of black hair atop her head back as they hid inside their home out in the Bronx, the windows still boarded up, smattered remains of tomatoes all over their front porch. Simon had stuck Trixie inside of a bedroom on the top floor of their two-floor home, and the two ne'er-do-wells were in the kitchen, Olive's hand nervously twitching as she thought about the number of knives she had in the nearby drawer. "She's too dangerous to be allowed to live! We've got to sneak out and get them all one by one!"

"We can't, Olive. They'll track us down, and the council won't protect us. We've been publically exposed. No, I've cleaned out the safety deposit boxes and the checking account, we're going to Rio." Simon decided. "We'll just leave that little pony here. If she starves to death before she's found, that's just too bad."

"I HATE her. I could KILL her." Olive snarled.

"Honey, careful, you're letting your husband's temper show through you again." Simon chuckled as he patted her back, moving towards the back door. "I'll go get the car running."

As he left the kitchen, Olive folded her arms across her chest, chewing on her lip, her voice becoming faintly hysterical and paranoid. "Let her LIVE. I WON'T. A knife through the heart is what she deserves…and that's JUST what she's going to get." She mumbled, opening up the kitchen drawer, unaware of the form that was slinking up the side of the house and into the bedroom above.

She finally found what she was looking for, chuckling darkly as she held it aloft in the kitchen light. "Yessss…yes, this carving knife will dooo! Tied up as she is right now, she can't do anything to STOP me from killing her!" Olive mumbled crazily, going up the stairs and heading for the bedroom. "Are you in here, Beatrix Mane?....I'm coming to kill you, Beatrix Mane! I hate you! I'm GOING TO-GAAAUH!"

She promptly fell flat on her face, Nightwing's tail tripping her as she was knocked unconscious, Trixie now fully free as Nightwing blew fake dust off his clawed hands.

"What took you so long?" Trixie asked, frowning a bit.

"…you're welcome." He snapped back.

Meanwhile, Simon was actually going through his trunk, looking for a shotgun. He figured that he'd go to Rio…alone. No use in having somebody slow him down.

You see, sadly, Mr. Cow didn't actually have diarrhea. His disturbing choice to eat at McDonalds and have eat the new "Angus Bacon Delux" had given him Mad Cow Disease. So it was no surprise that, when he heard the voice, he thought it was little pixies.

"Where are you little friends?" He chuckled, one pupil beginning to grow steadily larger.

"I am not your friend." The voice growled out. "Surely in your career of crime you've heard tale of…THE SHADOW."

What was left of Simon Cow's logic strengthened his will and made his eyes narrow. "Yes, yes, I've heard of you!"

"I intend to turn you over to the police."

"You can TRY!" Simon snarled, whipping towards the tree where the voice came from with his shotgun, firing off a large round as the tree collapsed on the leafy ground below, shoving tomato remains to the side.

No body. He blinked stupidly, hearing foul and dark chuckling fill the air, chuckling that dissolved into eerie laughter.

"HRAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAH! No use, Simon Cow." The Shadow laughed, his dark form slinking through the inkiness that was falling around the house. "This is a voice you CAN'T silence so easily!

"I HIT you, I KNOW I did!" Simon snarled, firing off another couple of rounds as the Shadow's voice laughed and laughed. "Speak up! I'll find you eventually!"

"I am heeere…in front of you…" The Shadow whispered, Simon could FEEL his breath, and the cow let out a yell as he emptied the shotgun in front of him over and over and over and over…

For a long time there was nothing but silence, and Simon panted heavily, the shotgun falling from his hooved hands. "I got him! I KNOW I got him."

"HRAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAH! No, Simon Cow." The Shadow said.

THWUMP. Shinedown Mane, aka "The Shadow" landed atop the car behind Simon as the cow wheeled around too late, the shepherd's crook catching him and lifting him up as "The Shadow" glared coldly into his eyes. "Only my VOICE was there. Ventriloquism. My finest talent."

Simon gasped and heaved, struggling to get down as The Shadow shook him from the shepherd's crook like he was a fish on the end of a line. "I knew you were a lying murderer. That you hadn't been to see Trixie's performance. Nobody could trust you as far as they could throw you. Although…"

He broke into a big, dark grin. "I CAN THROW YOU PRETTY FAR!"

With that, he launched Simon through the air, the cow letting out a long, pained "mooooo" as he sailed through the air, slamming back first into a tree, breaking it in half as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain as Nightwing left the house with Trixie, Olive slung over his shoulder.

"These two shall pay for taking Ms. Mare's life by forfeiting their own! I take it the side of Sirloin wasn't too much trouble?" Nightwing asked.

"No, he's all done. WELL-DONE." The Shadow, aka Shinedown, wisecracked, taking the hat off and turning to Trixie. "Are you alright, sis?"

"Yeah, I…I'm alright." She admitted, nervously pawing at the ground with a hoof. "…listen, I…"

"I know."

"…you know…"

"I know that too." He insisted. "What you felt about me for so long WON'T go away so easily, but…we can work on it, right?" He asked, nuzzling her as he rubbed his head against her.

"Well…yeah." She admitted, looking up at him and grinning. "Wow. No rising bile… no clenched teeth…this is too weird." She remarked. "Say, when do you think I can come visit you again?"

"Well, Christmas isn't too far off, just right around the corner, really." Shinedown chuckled as he and his sister trotted off to head back to town, the two striding in rhythm…

…to the beat of "home, sweet home".

Comments

[ngrey651]

2087274

Why exactly are multicolored ponies an issue whatsoever considering we live in a world where Cupcakes and the Rainbow Factory exist?

[River Song]

2137869 Gradients are ugly, and the only pony who was a gradient is Cadance. No other pony has one, so it's out of place. It's like giving a character rainbow hair and then claiming she isn't related to Rainbow Dash - all it does is make your character look out of place.

[ngrey651]

2141537

Of course he's meant to look out of place. His fur color is a magic paint job he gave himself to honor his dead partner, who had that exact same color. Everything about him is meant to be different from the norm of the show, from his backstory to his line of work to him becoming a single parent. I wanted to create a pony that was unique and different and not like the others. Evidently, you feel I went too far aesthetic-wise.