Memoirs of the Mindless

by Writey the writer

Chapter 7: Guilt and Royalty

Chapter 7: Guilt and Royalty

The doors of the courtroom opened with a flurry. The criminals were quickly rushed out of the room by several guards. A stallion ran out after them but was tackled to the ground by another of the guards. The stallion was shouting profanity about how they were sick monsters who should be brutalized before their deaths. He claimed the noose was too kind of a way to go for the monsters that had killed his father. Many agreed with him.

A sombre mood followed the prisoners as expected with the news of their execution. It lingered in the air and made each breath heavy, purposeful. As though the execution was imminent and they were breathing their last. The hanging would commence in two days.

The court had come to a rather swift and unanimous decision for the execution. Upon discovery, Sugarcube Corner had been cleaned and the evidence bagged. There had been a lot of evidence, although far fewer bodies than expected. Some of those in the small town who had known Pinkie and Twilight, of which there were many, refused to believe such innocent mares could do anything less than good. Those who could believe and just wanted to forget, had set fire to the bakery burning it to the ground. Some had been accused of arson but none were charge, and they probably never would be. The criminals had left a scar in the minds of all those who lived near, and a deep impression on Equestria as a whole. News quickly spread of the murderers. The rumours of Red-Mane were confirmed and the travellers thanked luck that they did not contribute to the body count.

Clock saw this all through a tinted lens. He saw the nation collaborate in hatred toward the criminals. The spotlight fallen on the police force, including himself, but not those who had died. To those who had died defending him, to the innocent travellers at the wrong place at the wrong time, to his brother. They had been swept into history as casualties to a monster yet time would go on, and faces would be forgotten. Red-Mane would go down as a legend in history as serial killer in a tier beyond that of any seen before. Yet, his brother remained forgotten. Only those who had known him would remember him. He was just another number in a body count.

Clock stood from his seat and began walking out of the courtroom his eyes were fixed on the ground. The justice felt bitter and sat like lead in his stomach. His brother had been given justice but he had not been avenged. Vengeance spoils the mind and the soul. It corrupts and warps an individual into a monster.

A mare stood in front of him blocking the door. He looked up to face her. Print smiled back. “We got them, didn’t we?” she said grinning.

Clock forced a smile. “We did,” he said. He walked around her and she followed by his side. “I suppose you’ll be looking for a promotion now. Seeing that you helped catch two of the biggest killers Equestria has ever known.” The turned a corner into a smaller corridor lined with small offices.

Her voice was light and smooth. “You’d think that, but I’m thinking of taking some time out. Go to Manehatten maybe. I’ve been offered a place in Ponyville but…” she paused. Clock reached for the door handle and pushed open the door.

“What is it?” he asked. “You won’t get much trouble in Ponyville.” He regretted saying that. “You shouldn’t get much trouble.” He walked into his office.

A smile touched her lips but she shook her head. “It’s not that. I just don’t want to live the rest of my career investigating usually minor crimes in a usually minor town. I want to face Red-Manes and stop them.” She stomped a hoof in assertion.

Clock laughed as he sat hoping that she wouldn’t take offense. “There won’t be anything like Red-Mane in a while. Best you’ll get is a homicide for most of the year. Cases like that don’t normally crop up. So why Manehatten?”

“Big city,” she said plainly. Clock raised an eyebrow as he pulled a file from the top drawer. “Gangs, drugs, homicides.” She chuckled. “Practically a gold mine.” There was a pregnant pause as Clock looked through the file. “So,” she sang as she glanced around the room. “This is Detective Clock’s office?”

He pulled a paper out from the file and began reading. “One of them,” he said without looking up. “This is my office this sector. I have another in the main station.” He stuffed the paper into an envelope and handed it over the desk toward her. “Could you give this to the warden?”

“What is it?” she asked as she took the paper.

He smiled. “A favour.”

* * *

The next day

From out of the cell window, Pinkie could see it was raining. The raindrops fell into puddles which had formed in the courtyard. She was in one of the oldest parts of the castle itself. It was the wing used to hold prisoners before their sentence.

She had never been familiar with death, despite how often she had dealt with it. She found herself drowning in fear of the unknown, of the beyond which would be waiting for her. Would she pay for her crimes in this life? That was the question she feared to answer the most.

Twilight was on the other side of that wall, in a separate cell but on the same path. Pinkie took solace in that. She could face death with Twilight by her side, although it was the solitude beyond that truly scared her.

A guard unlocked the door with a grinding of key on metal which made Pinkie jump. He was accompanied by another guard who gripped a baton by his side. “Clock wants to speak to you,” he said. Pinkie stood slowly.

“What more is there to be said?” she asked solemnly. The guard nearly looked sympathetic.

“Not for me to say.” He locked the door behind her as the other guard guided her down the dimly lit corridor.

* * *

Clock strode purposefully down the corridor. A courier had left him a note on his desk informing him that the warden would comply with his request of an audience with the prisoner. He had no official reason to be doing this of course. This was why he had to call the warden upon a favour. A favour which he had earned by forgetting about the warden’s assault on a prisoner after a heated dispute over an alleged murder of his kin. The prisoner was found guilty and hanged by all account, but that did not justify the situation.

A guard stood outside of the interrogation room and gave a polite but respective nod as he opened the door. Clock nodded back and entered the room. There were smaller rooms on each side of the hallway. One of the doors was open.

Clock glanced in and entered once he recognised the warden. He looked older than he had remembered but still looked like an abrasive arsehole. Clock smiled knowing the warden hated that.

“We ready to go?” Clock said as he pulled off his jacket. The warden gave a huff of approval and gave a quick tilt of his head toward the other door. Clock opened the door and the warden followed him in. The room was dark and a camera was pointing through the glass at Red-Mane. She looked weathered, tired, but still unpredictable. Even in manacles and under the watch of a guard, she could not be underestimated. Clock exhaled loudly and entered the room.

A guard mare stood in the corner. She had one hoof on the wall as she leaned casually away from them. Clock sat down at the small table opposite to Red-Mane. Her expression remained unchanged from his entrance.

He had wanted to be here so badly. To tell her about how sick she is—how the world will be better from her death. He wanted to beat her until she bleed forgiveness. He leaned forward his eyes meeting hers in a cold stare.

“We got you,” he taunted, his voice as smooth as silk. “We tracked you down and lured you out and at the cost of many valiant officers…we got you. We finally fucking got you.” He laughed. “And we got your fucking little partner-“

“Shut up!” Pinkie shouted slamming her hooves on the table. The guard-mare in the corner braced and stop leaning. Clock held up a hoof toward her. She visibly relaxed. “You’ve got me. So why are you here? Nothing more to interrogate, you’ve got a basement full of evidence.” Clock scowled. “Do you want to know how your brother died? Is that it?” Pinkie laughs. “I fucking bled him dry.”

Clock frowned as he fought the urge to hit her. It was a losing battle. He closed his eyes and took a long breath. He spoke coolly and slowly. “Where’s his body? Where are the bodies?”

Pinkie grinned and leaned forward. “Putrefied. And washed into the gutter like the filth he was -“

Clock snapped and lashed out wildly and landed a solid punch on her cheek. Pinkie fell back off her chair onto the ground and began laughing.

Guards rushed in and restrain him. He grunted with the effort to fight his way toward her.

“He said your name as he died, Clock!” Pinkie taunted. “He fucking screamed as he bled.”

Clock struggled back into the room as the guards pushed and pulled him out of the room. “I’ll kill you!”

He could hear her laughter as he was pushed into the next room. Her voice rang through as the door shut “We’re the same you and I. We hate the world. You’ll see.”

Clock shouted back but the door was already shut.

The warden rubbed his face as he stared at Clock. “That’s enough, gents,” he said .The other guards left the room. The warden shut the door and looked at him with pain in his eyes. “I knew you were gonna snap, but you had to do that didn’t you? Poke at the nest.”

“I had to know if there were bodies.”

The warden laughed loudly and to a single syllable. “You can tell yourself that, but I’ll tell you that you owe me a favour.” The warden smirked as a recording of the interrogation disappeared into his satchel.

“Given the circumstances,” Clock said slowly. “You may be in more bother for agreeing for a one-on-one interrogation with the murderer of my brother.”

The warden shrugged and glanced out of the doorway. “Maybe, but I’m betting you’re not gonna rattle on me. Anyway, we have company.” Clock looked to the door as a royal guard pushed the door open.

The stallion scanned the room in a smooth motion before landing his gaze on Clock. He strode forward ignoring the warden completely. “Detective Silver Clock,” he said authoritatively. Clock nodded. “Princess Celestia has requested an private audience with you. I suggest you come immediately. The princess does not like to be kept waiting.”

Clock had met Princess Celestia before. She had welcomed him to the Grand Galloping Gala several months ago. Clock turned and smirked at the warden. “Could you excuse me?” he said as he followed the stallion out of the room.

* * *

They walked deeper into the royal castle pausing at occasional checkpoints with other royal guards. The hallways were long and very well decorated. Long purple rugs stretched from end to end with tapestries hanging beside each of the beautiful stained glass windows. The windows portrayed the elements of harmony, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle included, fighting off the greatest foes of Equestria.

Clock found himself comparing Red-Mane to them. Both great evils in their own right, but Red-Mane was different. Red-Mane had been a former element, and she had betrayed Equestria in her actions, Twilight, too. Yet, she was worse than they were. They were evil and had acted with force to take Equestria and harm its inhabitants. Red-Mane was a knife in back, unexpected and, for the most part, undetectable. She slowly bled Equestria of its inhabitants and its heroes while she remained in the shadows. It is true that fewer have fallen by her blade than that of the other great villains, but she was different. He wasn’t quite sure how, but her actions sickened him more, and the deaths by her hooves felt crueller.

It had been no coincidence that he was thinking of Red-Mane as an element. He had been in the Royal Castle before; maybe the princess had forgotten that. Celestia was likely situated in her tower, which was more easily accessed through the courtyard or through the royal gardens. She had told the guard to take him this way, to purposefully pass him through the checkpoints to show him her power and influence. To pass him through these hallways to show him the elements were great and just. This is what the meeting would be about.

They guard turned a corner to the base of a large gem-embedded staircase which gently spiralled upward. He turned to Clock at the bottom of the stairs and nodded.

“I cannot go any further. This walk is for you to take,” he said. He nodded again. “I hope you can help our princess.”

Clock nodded to him and began to ascend the stairs. Between each flight of stairs was a small, ornate room. In that room was a clear window. At this height, you could see far into the distance with remarkable resolution. No doubt the window’s viewing had been enhanced by magic. At each level, more of the kingdom was revealed and the extent of the princess’ rein became apparent. If they had wanted, they could have forced him into doing whatever they wished. For now at least, they were being civil. Clock made a mental note not to overstep their apparent kindness. It was clear that the princess’ valued the lives of the elements over his, so if a deal needed to be struck then his negotiation may well include his life, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want the best deal possible.

He arrived at the final room with a plain wooden door at the other end. This room did not have a window. Instead, there was a large framed picture of all of the elements surrounding the princess’. This picture was after the changeling attack on Canterlot. They were all wearing their best attire for the wedding.

Clock swallowed hard and strode up to the door. He knocked on the door out of politeness. He was certain that the princess knew he was here. There was a brief pause, likely also out of politeness, before a soothing voice called out through the door as he heard a latch slide.

“Come in, Clock,” she said.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The room was simple, seemingly bare in comparison to the rest of the castle. Celestia was sitting on a small chair opposite another with a wooden table between them. She smiled to him and gestured to the other chair. He smiled back and sat down. The chair was very uncomfortable.

She furtively glanced behind him then met his eyes. “Tea?” she said. She sounded very calm and in control, as though this was going to be nothing more than an idle chat about the weather.

Clock shook his head. “No thank you, Princess.” In an instant, her mood changed. Her sweet look faded to one of contempt and her eyes began to bore into him. His uncomfortable chair felt cosy in comparison to that glare.

“Do you know why you are here, detective?” she said. Her voice was cold and unforgiving.

Clock smiled and leaned forward as he soaked in the tension making himself comfortable. “I do. And I don’t care for how you've arranged it.” He scowled. “If you wish for a deal to be struck then you do not understand the stallion I am.”

She gave a wry smile. “A vengeful one, I know. A caring one. A smart one, certainly.” She paused as though contemplating something. “But you’re not a fighter Clock. You don’t stand at the top, you don’t make waves. You do as you’re told, and you respect the power.”

He laughed. “So you’ve read my report.”

“Not all of your business is in the report, Clock. As I’m sure you’re aware. You do a job the way you like to, and you have been known to cross the line. I know that, the department knows that, but we forgive you because you can get the job done. The stuff you’ve swept under the rug has a habit of creeping out. We know more than you may think. We let you get away with an assault less than an hour ago.”

Clock tried his best to not look phased—to not care as all of his mistakes were brought into the light. He swallowed hard. “What do you want?”

The princess smirked. “As you may already know, Twilight Sparkle is a student of mine. She shows incredible potential in the field of magic and will likely pave the way for future advancements. She understands ponies in more depth than I ever could. In that sense, she is more powerful than I.” Celestia paused as though the next words were difficult to form. “Like any of us, she has made a mistake. And unlike you, I will practise forgiveness for the sake of Equestria.”

Clock was silent for a moment. “So you want her off the hook? To be forgiven for the murders she has committed? What about Red… Pinkie Pie?

“Pinkie Pie is a powerful element. Her roles in Equestria’s defence are admirable.” She shook her head. “But not forgivable. As I’m sure you are away, Pinkie Pie has been doing this for longer than Twilight, and is likely to have been the one to have lead my Twilight astray. New evidence has been discovered that your party has…overlooked. Twilight was innocent and has committed no crimes against Equestria. She was a captive of Pinkie Pie and is not at fault for any of the deaths.”

“And you need me to vouch for this evidence and commit myself to Twilight’s innocence.”

Celestia nodded gravely. “We have no other choice. To save my pupil from herself, we must.” She paused for a moment. “It’s for Equestria,” she added, although it sounded mostly for her own benefit.

“Even if Twilight goes along with it, even if the court finds her not guilty. Twilight will live with knowing that she killed all of those ponies and she abandoned Pinkie,” said Clock. “She won’t be the same pony.”

Celestia sighed. “After she is found innocent, she will have her memories wiped. We cannot do this until after her innocence. The spell needs her to agree with it.” Her eyes looked dull and glazed over. “I will wipe away the memories over the past few days or weeks. She will awaken as though none of this has happened. She will be given a second chance at life.”

“And Red-Mane will be hanged for her crimes?”

Celestia nodded. “For Equestria,” she repeated.

“So what’s my incentive?” Clock asked as he leaned backward. “Equestria is nice, but… I don’t know. I was looking for something else.”

“I expected as much,” said Celestia. “But I don’t think you’re looking for money. You want something for your brother, don’t you? He was a hero to you, and you want Equestria to see him that way.” Clock nodded. “A statue? A news story as to how he sacrificed himself to reveal Red-Mane’s identity?”

Clock nodded. “I also want to be the one to hang Red-Mane. I want to pull that lever.”

Celestia considered that for a moment. “You are a vengeful pony, and your hate will consume you,” she stated without remorse. “But if that is what it takes for my Twilight.”

“It is.”

Celestia stood. Clock looked at her and only now realised how thin she was and how her coat was a lustreless grey. “Then you may have your wish.”

Comments

[Evilpresident]

Why do I get the feeling that Clock will be the one hanging in the end?
I mean, it's Pinkie. She's crazy enough to pull it off, somehow.

Looking forward to the next chapter

[Serendras]

Is it wrong that I hope that they somehow escape and live a life full of murders and love ?
Also

Clock looked at her and only now realised how thin she was and how her coat was a lustreless grey

Does that means that she suffer from the malediction of a special draconequus?