"Aren't you excited Pinkie?" exclaimed Twilight. "You're going to solve real crimes!"
"I dunno Twilight." said Pinkie, worried. "What if real crimes aren't for me?"
"Pinkie, a real detective is supposed to solve real crimes." replied Twilight. "That little incident with Rainbosh Dash and a strawberry pie barely qualifies as a crime. Besides, she even helped you bake cupcakes later that day."
"Yeah..." said Pinkie. "But I would still be more... ehm... happy if I could solve crimes in Ponyville, not Manehattan."
"Well, according to Applejack, it's a beatiful city but a bit dull." replied Twilight. "I wouldn't be suprised of something crazy happened there, to be honest."
"What do you mean?" asked Pinkie.
"Well, according to a book I read a while ago, the more boring a place is, the more ponies try to make it a bit "funnier." lectured her Twilight. "It was called 'The Boredom Factor', although it was a rather old study and might not even be true."
"Do... do they have party cannons?" asked Pinkie again. "Because I still have mine!" She took a party cannon from her hat and showered Twilight with confetti whlist shouting "PARTY!".
"This," she sighed. "is going to be a long, long train ride."
*
Somewhere in Manehattan.
An oppurturnity, a napkin doused with chloroform and the right timing — this was all he needed to succesfully kidnap a certain mare for mandatory questioning. The first step was a piece of cake, but he knew things would only get harder from here. All he has to do now, is to wait for her to wake up. Since he used the purest chloroform bits could buy, it can take up to half an hour. Despite the odds, luck was on his side when she woke up just a couple of minutes later.
"Where am I?" she asked. "Who are you?!" The room was dimly lit and she felt fear. Her kidnapper walked out of the shadows and approached her. His omni-present labcoat gave the impression of either a scientist or a doctor, but the numerous bloodstains qualified him as nothing more, than a psycho. A psycho with a medical degree.
"Good morning, Miss Butterfly." he greated her. "It's so nice that you decided to come to visit my humble workshop. The work of a stallion with too much time on his hooves can perhaps be made easier with a mare around to help him." She tried to move but found out she was chained to a wall.
"What... what do you want from me?" She asked with a hint of fear. "I haven't done anything!" He looked away and then back at her, with a smile.
"Answers, darling." he replied. "What your husband did concerns me more than anything you did. There's something I want to know about him. Something special."
"Yonder Skies?" she asked. "I'll.. I'll tell you everything you want if you put me down." She tried her luck with the chains again, but they stayed embedded in the wall, no matter how hard she pulled.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, dear, or allow you to do that as well." The mare tried to move again. "Can't risk you trotting away when there are answers to be made and... Oh, maybe I'll tell you the second thing later."
"Would you please, my dearest Butterfly, tell me where's your husband?" he asked her in a kind, friendly tone. "Hmm... ?"
"I... I don't know." she answered. "I... I really don't know." The smile he had while asking her about her husband disappeared and he now had a very serious look.
"You know, miss Butterfly, you're not helping me or yourself. Looks like I'll have to reveal that little suprise I planned for later." He put a briefcase on a nearby table and opened it. It contained every single tool a surgeon uses, but most of them appeared to be either rusty, bloody or in any other state tools shouldn't be in. A chill went down spine when he took out a scalpel, with four X marks carved in it. He grinned and looked at her, almost instantly creeping her out.
"I'm going to ask you again and this time, I want a definitive answer, where is your husband, Yonder Skies?" he asked her once more, this time in a somewhat angry tone. "Where is he?"
"I... I really don't know!" she shouted, her fear escalating fear. "You think I'm so crazy I wouldn't tell you?"
"Madness is relative, my dear Butterfly and you're playing with my patience." He took some sort of syringe from his briefcase and gave her a shot of an unknown substance. This caused her to lose consciousness and regain it a few minutes later. This time, she was chained to a cold, surgical table. Her captor held a bone saw in his left hoove and was giving her a menacing grin.
"Please... please let me go!" she shouted and tried to escape from the chains.. "I didn't do anything! I've got a husband and small fillies!" The doctor put the saw on the small table near hear and began speaking, as if her words changed her mind.
"Let me tell you a story." he started. "I was going out with my parents to a theater and on out way back, someone killed both of them over a few bits. The only suspect was your husband, Yonder Skies, who got away with it because had a better lawyer and had paid twenty thousand bits to the judge as a bribe. That day, my childhood ended and hell started... Your husband took what was dearest to me and now, I'm going to do the same and repay him for his small "favor."
"No... he couldn't have done that!" she tried to put some sense through his thick skull. "He's a loving parent and my husband for ten years. Someone framed him for it!"
"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe go buck yourself." he uttered, took the bone saw from the table and turned it on. He then looked at her for a couple of seconds before turning it off again.
"I will give you one last bit of my kindness and give one last chance." he said. "One last chance to tell me of his whereabouts" Butterfly knew he worked as a coach for the football team on the other side of town but had no idea which routes he took when going there or if he visited any areas in between. And so, she had no other choice but to lie.
"Westbuck Avenue... Buck's Casino. Third floor, room forty four." she said. "That's where he keeps things related to his coaching." He took out a small notepad and wrote the location down. She felt a bit of joy, probably because he would leave her alone, search the wrong room and give her enough time to escape the city. Unfortunately, she was wrong.
"Thank you for your cooperation in step two, my dearest Butterfly." he said, once again in a kind and friendly tone.. "But now, I have to do something else which cannot be avoided for I am not the one who makes the rules. I'll try to make it the least painful as possible, I promise." He took the saw back from the small table and gave her a smile from one cheek to the other.
"What?! NO!" she said, terrified. "I already told you where he is! Please, please let me go!" Her shouting had no effect on her and stepped closer.
"I am afraid I can't do that, miss Butterfly." he replied. "Step three is required and cannot be avoided." The sight of an electric saw getting closer and closer to her chest was more than enough of a reason for her to start panicking and desperately try to break the chains, but to no avail. She screamed at the top of her lungs and then lost consciousness. She regained it sporadically for a few seconds every minute and saw her chest wide open, with no bruises or cuts on any of the insides. Each time she regained consciousness, she saw and heard a rib being cut off and taken out. She couldn't do anything but watch and cry, without a sound, as a maniac was literally making her boneless while she was still alive.
Eventually, after the last rib, she blacked out, hearing a mixture of various sounds of tools and words. During this time, she had a dream about being in a heaven, while in reality, her skin was being stapled back together as painfully, as possible, with the doctor carrying out the procedure happy at every single bit of pain he could make her feel...
"Well, we're here." said Twilight after stepping out of the train. "Now, where's that mayor we were supposed to meet with ?" Pinkie Pie jumped out of the train and inadvertly tackled one of the ponies standing there.
"Oh, sorry!" she stood up and helped the stallion up. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry!"
"You must be Detective Pie." he said."I've heard your someone worth bumping into*
"Yep, that's me." she replied. "Why? Did ya hear of me?" She touches him with her hoove whilst saying "BUMP!"
"I was told you're the one who's supposed to be the best one for the job." He looked around and saw Twilight Sparkle trying to get to them. "Ah, that must be your assistant."
"Mr. Mayor?!" she said and gasped. Then, she immediately started cleaning his suit, which had a few dirty marks after she tackled him. "Oh, dear! I'm so sorry!"
"Thanks alright, madames." he said after Twilight finally got to them. "Let's go somewhere less crowded. My office is not far from the train station and we shouldn't be disturbed". They went to the mayor's office and despite Manehattan being a bigger and richer town, it was quite simple and humble, with chairs which were clearly made in Ponyville. That or he was just a really clever stallion that had a lot of 'Made in Ponyville' stickers.
"Yes, sir?" asked Twilight. "What's the thing we're supposed to investigate?"
"I would appreciate if you had a look at this"he showed them the newspaper headline. "Just reading it to my secretary made a few strands of her mane go gray from fear."
"Stock prices of gold went up?!" read Pinkie out loud. "That's horrible! How are rich ponies that can already buy everything get their hands on a golden statue now?! Twilight, bring my wooden chair! Tonight, we ride!" Twilight only contained her laugh and showed Pinkie that she read the wrong thing, all while the Mayor was about to burst into a laugher.
"A brutal act of violence has left the citizens of downtown Manehattan fear for their very lifes. Butterfly Evanson (22) was found in a near-death state in a soundproof room in an abandoned house which used to be a bakery near the postal office at Horton Avenue. It took a total of three medical teams and four hous worth of live-saing efforts to revive her and after that, she was immediately taken to the intensive care wing of the Hardway Hospital." Pinkie read out loud in a slower manner. "Doctors say they have not yet seen something like that in years or decades but promise they'll do everything they can to save her life. Officials have not specified her room at intensive care to protect her and her family from further harm... " Pinkie's mane turned straight after reading that.
"T-t-twilight? I... I don't think I want to be a detective anymore." she said, terrified. "I... I just can't." Tears were seen in her eyes and Twilight had to give her a hug to calm her down.
"Pinkie, the mayor wants us to solve a real case." she said. "The reason there aren't so many detectives is just because most of them can't solve things like these."
"But... but I though no one ever gets hurt.." replied Pinkie, still taken by the headline. "And that mare..."
"She... she deserves ponies like us who will find the one who did it and make sure he gets punsihed." said Twilight. "But if you won't solve it, the criminal can hurt someone else and-"
"I... I'll solve it" Pinkie's mane turned back to normal but she kept worried. Now, the two of them were on the trail of madman who almost killed a mare. Twilight knew Pinkie just didn't have the psyche for violent things but promised herself she'll do everything she can to make sure she doesn't get a mental breakdown.
*
In a church, someplace in Manehattan.
Deep regret ran though his head, as he now seeked forgiviness and godspeed at the church — a place where innocents pray and sinners confess their sins. With obvious signs, he was the latter and entered the confessional booth to do what he needed to.
"What is your burden, my son?" A priest asked him.
"Father, I have sinned." he replied. "I feel my sin has neither understanding or can be forgiven."
"We all make mistakes, my son and no mistake is so great that it cannot be forgiven. Forgiving makes us what we are. What is this sin you speak of, my son?" asked the priest.
"I... I have attempted to take the life of an innocent." He answered. The priest, shocked by this confession, stayed completely silent for a couple of seconds, as if trying to understand.
"What drove your actions?" asked the priest once more. "Was it something personal or a sudden need?"
"A sudden need of something personal triggered by seeing a family together." he explained himself. "I... I wanted revenge, a bloody, violent revenge. I have resisted for years, but this one time, I couldn't hold the fiend back..."
"My son, both of us know that God's mills grind slowly but surely." said the priest, saddened by his actions. "I have taught you many lessons and gave you help when you though you were completely alone in this 'sad world', as you have described it to me. You also gave the promise to do no harm... Have your forgotten all that you were taught?"
"Yes, father, I know your teachings. And I have not forgotten what you, or your order have taught me." he uttered "But a simple stallion can only bear a burden for so long until he sees the very stallion that did it granted the very thing he took — a family."
"My son, there may be some justice in your actions, even if violent, but you're neither benevolent as death or omni-present like time itself. You should have waited for the sinner's final judgement, instead of revenge." replied the priest. "Violent only paves way to violence and I fear the path you have chosen, will only further descent you into darkness. The void in your heart was not filled with love, but with hatred. I fear that even the forgiveness of God himself won't be enough to drive that darkness away, especially if you can't let go of a past event you couldn't do anything about..."
"No, there was nothing I could do, but now, I finally can. I have waited too long and prepared myself for the darkness ahead, greeting it as old friend, who was always there, sleeping and waiting for it's time. It is now time to release it upon those, who deserve it." he uttered. "My parents will have their justice, one way or another, by my hoove or the hoove of someone else. I must now leave you, father Kind Heart."
"Farewell, my son"The doctor left the confessional booth, prayed and went to visit the location 'suggested' by Butterfly.
*
A few hours later, at the Hardway Hospital's intensive care wing.
"I... I think she's waking up, Pinkie." uttered Twilight as the butchered mare finally woke up from her clinically induced coma. Bandages were almost everywhere, covering her whole body. She looked around in confusion and frankly, wasn't every happy to have two, somewhat unexperienced detectives in her room instead of the police squad issued by the mayor of the city.
"P...police..." she said slowly. "Where's... the police?"
"You don't need police when you got Pinkie Pie!" said Pinkie and a burst of confetti showered Butterfly. She was not impressed and instead sighed, embarrased thatshe got the most useless detectives in the history of Equestria to solve her case and find the maniac responsible for her injuries.
"Have you... have you caught him yet?" she asked.
"No, we didn't but the mayor himself sent us to ask you a bunch of questions and we they may help us, if you see no harm in that." The injured mare nodded and Twilight took out a small notepad. "Do you know how he looked like?" Butterfly was thinking for a while and then begun describing him.
"Grey coat... dark blue mane.. with dark green at it's tips." she said and Twilight started drawing a sketch of the subject.
"Was he like "hi, do you want to go into this scary old building?" or did he give you free candy with a promise there's more inside?" asked Pinkie. "He'd have me at "free candy."
"He.. he approached me from behind in an alley and covered my mouth with a napkin." she said. "I.. I don't know what he bathed it in, but I lost consciousness just a few seconds later."
"Did he look like this?" Twilight showed her the sketch.
"Yes... that's him..." uttered Butterfly with fear. "He did it."
"Are you absolutely, absolutely sure?" asked Pinkie. "Absolutely-lutely-tely?"
"Yes..." replied the mare. Twilight turned away from her, looked at the sketch and started thinking. Pinkie, like she always did, also looked at the sketch and pretended she was also devoting her though to crime-solving. In reality, however, she was thinking whether the suspect's mane tasted like blueberries with apples mixed in and whether or not was he trying to injured mare with candy like an oversized piñata. Just thinking of candy made her hungry.
"I'll have to ask the mayor if they keep information about their citizens stored somewhere and if they do," said Twilight. "that's where we have to start searching." Pinkie wasn't paying attention to what Twilight was saying and instead played with the windows in the room by opening and closing their blinds, over and over again.
"Pinkie." said Twilight, but Pinkie didn't respond and instead continued whilst whispering "light" every time she opened them and "dark" every time she closed them.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" shouted Twilight. Pinkie's head turned 180 degrees upon hearing this.
"Yeeees, Twilight?" she asked, ignoring the fact that she probably broke her neck.
"I think we should leave Butterfly now and investigate if there aren't any similiarly looking images which would match the suspect." replied Twilight. Pinkie's body spun as if was some sort of motor and she was now facing Twilight, with her neck still in one piece.
"Let's go!" she said and left the room along with Twilight in her usual jumpy manner.
At the office of the mayor's secretary, whilst searching through various files concerning Manehattan's citizens.
"His profile looks quite familiar to me." said the secretary after being told how the would-be murderer looks like. "I... I think it's Domitz, Jr." Pinkie grabbed a file named 'Domitz Family' and showed it to the secretery.
"Yes, that's the file," she replied. "I can never forget that name..." Twilight started listing through it and noticed something very disturbing, something she had no idea ponies were doing. While they were just supposed to bring the mayor the photo of the suspect, Twilight's curiosity got the best of her.
"Both parents... murdered?! I've... I've never even heard of ponies thinking about that, let alone carry such things out," she said. "All for just a few bits, too. The only survivor of the event was their one and only child, who was also an eyewitness. "
"Indeed he did," said the secretary. "Twenty years ago and yet it seems as if it was just yesterday when Richard and Claudia Domitz were leaving the theather and got killed. The murderer was never found."
"Wait... wait wait wait..." said Pinkie. "What's with the weird names?"
"What are you talking about Pinkie?" asked Twilight. "They're normal names."
"These don't sound like pony names to me!" she said. "They sound griffonish-ish!"
"Everyone in Manehattan has a name different from the rest of Equestria." replied the secretary. "It's a sort of tradition in this city."
"What became of Randy, their only son?" asked Twilight.
"His aunt took care of him and he studied medicine." uttered the secretary. "But instead of staying here, he changed his name and moved to Ponyville. He wanted to leave all of this behind him, start anew. Can't say I blame him."
"We got our first suspect!" said Pinkie. "Watson, scribble his name down!" Twilight only stared at Pinkie, confused.
"Pinkie, who's 'Whatson?' she asked.
"Someone important and because of that, from now on you're called Watson, Twilight!" uttered Pinkie. "Write his name down." Twilight was against Pinkie calling her like that, but since she's the detective, she can do whatever she wants. With the suspect's name scribbled down and his photo 'burrowed' from the secretary, they headed back into the main building of the city hall and reported their findings.
"Excellent work, ladies," he said, "I'll have the sketch and name printed and glued to every wall on every avenue and district. If we get lucky, someone might see him and report him."
"See Watson?" said Pinkie. "I told you we would succeed. It was... elementary." The mayor had a worried look around, wondering where Pinkie's imaginary friend had gone.
"While I don't remember hiring an extra detective named 'Whatson'," explained the mayor. "This isn't over. The fact that we now know who the prime suspect is doesn't mean you two are getting a day off. It would be best if you resumed your search."
"But Butterfly only told us how he looked," said Twilight. "She didn't tell us where he went. I would have asked but I really didn't want to make it worse for her. She almost burst into tears when trying to remember how he looked like."
"I've sent some invesgators to lollygag about the city, dressed as common folk" replied the mayor. "Asking all around town in a totally non-detective way, they found out someone remarkably similiar to your suspect often goes for a drink at Buck's casino at Westbuck Avenue."
"Mr. Mayor, in all due respect," started Twilight. " Why didn't you send the police to seize the place?"
"Miss Sparkle, that's not as simple as that," replied the mayor. "We can't risk him escaping and doing something similiar to what he did to Buttefly or worse. For that matter, I'll need you to infiltrate the casine, grab him and bring him here. Execution doesn't matter as long as he's brought alive."
"Ooh, ooh! A halloween party?!" Pinkie's moustache mysteriosly appears on her face and so does party cannon beside her. "He'll never know what 'em!" Twilight just sighed, seeing as she's probably going to have to do something silly.
"Good to see that both of you are enthusiastic about the infiltration," stated the mayor. "Good luck!" Without saying anything more, the two detective set course for Westbuck Avenue and the similiarly named Buck's Casino.
Upon entering the casino, they immediately saw him, playing hold 'em. Or at least, they saw his luck.
"Oh, come on Dome, you can't be THAT lucky!" uttered a stallion after losing all his money to Randy.
"Of course you can," he said. "All it takes is a little mind and a big amount of know-how." The disgruntled stallion left the table, leaving the pot of over twenty thousand bits all to Randy. He was about to take it all when two mares sat at the table and one of them placed her hoove on his.
"What if you went another round," said the mare passionately. "Just for me?" Pinkie's disguise as a daring mare was working quite well and all she had to do was to make him lose.
"Sure, darlin,." he said and left the pot on the table. "And your... husband?" He said after seeing Twilight, who, despite all her complains, was dressed up as business stallion with a fake muzzle and bushy moustache.
"I..." she said, trying to sound like a stallion.
"He's tired after a long, long trip from Stalliongrad," said Pinkie. "Forgot to set his alarm clock, silly, and we had to run all the way to the train station." Twilight just nodded after hearing this.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, is everyone seated comfortable?" asked the croupier. "Would anyone like a beverage? Frostwave cider, maybe?"
"No, thanks," said Pinkie. "Nothing for my husband as well." Twilight let out an annoyed sight and her cheeks filled slightly with anger. She was rather thirsty.
"Cherry flavored martinni," said Randy. "Add a lemon and ice please. Stir, don't mix." The croupier left and returned with Randy's beverage, putting it on his side of the table.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, today's stakes will be a thousand bits." he said and all three of them put a pouch full of bits on the table. "If you do not have the money, you can also put an item of the same value on the table."
This time, the game was poker, with all the bluffing and whatever else ponies do during it. Like Pinkie predicted, Twilight was the first who got out and now, it was just a duel between her and Randy.
"Check," he said. "What's your move, pretty?" Having already drunk his martinni, this sounded like flirting.
"Imma check that too," she said. She laid her cards on the table and had double pairs. Pinkie did the same and had a royal flush.
"Heh," he said. "You're good." Well, that's one way to lose twenty thousand bits.
"Well, ladiies and gents, I gotta go." he said. "See ya next thursday!" he said and stood up from the table. Pinkie and Twilight followed him.
"Wait!" said Pinkie. "Wouldn't you like if I... and you... went someplace... ehm... silent?" Twilight was acting like she didn't hear anything.
"You got a husband." said Randy. "Sure he won't mind?"
"That old stuff?" she pointed her hoove at Twilight. "He can't do things anymore! It's almost as if I was alone..."
"My place or your place?" he asked.
"My place." said Pinkie. "Husband has to visit the Mayor anyway and it's nearby." There were just around Manehattan's city hall when Pinkie executed the second part of their plan. It consisted of telling him to kiss her in the hallways and then giving him hoovecuffs. Pinkie, like the daring mare she was dressed as, had no problems doing this. Randy looked at her in confusion and both her and Twilight put down their disguises.
"Crime's the disease," let out Pinkie, now dressed in a red and black jumpsuit, with a matching mask, holding a child's drawing of someone getting arrested. "Meet the cure!" Afterwards, she looked at a wall and proclaimed "Hi, reader!" Both Twilight and Randy stared in confusion.
"Ehm... You're arrested," said Twilight. "For the attempted murder of Butterfly." The criminal gave out a laugh.
"Clever, clever... You really got me." he said. "The mayor must be all happy to such little helpers. I wonder which if you is gonna get paid tonight!" Despite being calm most of the time, Twilight was now fighting the biggest urge to punch someone in the face. Never before was she insulted like that.
"To the Batcave!" with that one-liner said by Pinkie, the two of them led the criminal to the mayor's office, with Twilight not saying a single word.
"So we meet once more, Mr. Domitz," uttered the mayor. "What brings you to my city of Manehattan?"
"Revenge," uttered Randy and tried to break out of the cuffs.
"When will you finally understand that you simply cannot hurt or murder anyone without anyone else noticing," replied the mayor. "You have caused great harm to Butterfly and I will not tolerate such crimes."
"Twenty years ago, what happened?" he asked. "After my parents were killed. Tell me!"
"There was a police investigation of course, with the only suspect being Yonder Skies and his impenatrable alibi." said the mayor and started smoking a cigar. "The court didn't sent him to jail because there weren't enough convicting clues." Randy tried walking closer to the mayor but was stopped by Pinkie and Twilight, who were standing beside him.
"You... you were a police pony once," uttered Randy. "You worked on the case."
"Yes, I did Randy," replied the mayor. "Yes, I did."
"Wait... you did?" asked Twilight. "How come we get to know this last?" Tha mayor's only response was a smile.
"You knew exactly what was going on," said Randy. "You took money from Yonder Skies's lawyer and made it look as if nothing happened!" Pinkie and Twilight gasped.
"Is... is that true?" asked Twilight. "Are you... are you the sole reason Randy went to hunt down his parents' murderer?" The mayor smiled from one cheek to the other and started smoking a cigar.
"How much does a life cost?" he asked. "Twenty thousand? Thirty? Fifty?"
"You filthy bastard!" uttered Randy. "I won't leave it like this!"
"Ladies, please dispose of this vermin," said the Mayor. "There's a huge amount of money waiting for you." Twilight and Pinkie looked at each other and then back at the mayor.
"No," they said in unison.
"What was that?" he asked.
"No," they said again. "You've heard us." he put the cigar in the ashtray and a menacing look appeared on his face.
"Do I once again have to remind you who you're working for?" he said. "Or would you like my secretary to write it down for you?"
"If this is what it takes to be a detective," said Pinkie. "Then I quit!"
"Very well." He reached for something underneath his table "If you want this to unfold the hard way, you'll get exactly what's coming to you." Shortly after, he stood up, aiming at them with a Type-45 Hooveson Typewriter, otherwise known as a Tappygun.
"A locked door, two, very unfortunate mares, one psycho and me, the sole survivor." he said. "Won't that make a wonderful headline?"
"We're gonna make you pay!" shouted Pinkie. The mayor didn't hesitate and shot a burst at Pinkie, but at the last moment, Randy jumped into the trajectory of the bullets, sacrificing himself. The mayor, angered by his failed attempt to kill the detective aimed at Twilight but before he could push the trigger, a violet outline appeared on the bookshelf behind him and collapsed shortly after. Then, there was silence. Since the shelf was made from back ironwood, one of the hardest woods known in Equestria, it was fairly certain the mayor was crushed to his death.
"Randy!" shouted Twilight ran to him, trying to help him up.
"No," he uttered. "This was meant to happen...."
"Pinkie, go get someone from the ambulance," she shouted. "NOW!" Pinkie rushed out of the office, but instead of running outside of the building, she ran inside the secretary's office, kicking the doors open.
"Hey, you could have knocked," said the secretary. "Doors aren't cheap."
"Your boss lied and stuff and shot at us!" said Pinkie quickly. "Get there, quick!"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"How good are you at medicine?" asked Pinkie. "There's someone in the mayor's office that needs immediate help."
"Well, I used to be a nurs,e but that doesn't make me a-"
"You'll do," said Pinkie, grabbed the secretary and carried her to the mayor's ofice. It was so quick, the secretary didn't even have time to say she doesn't want to go.
"What to happened to the- Oh...." she interrupted herself when she saw Randy laying on the ground with Twilight trying to patch his wounds up with magic.
"Would you please?" she said and Twilight let go of him. The secretary tore a part of her clothing and used it as makeshift bandage to stop Randy from bleeding out.
"Where's the mayor?" she asked.
"Dead." said Pinkie.
"What?!" said the secretary, shocked.
"We'll explain later, just call help." The secretary hesitated whether to trust the two detectives-turned-murderers, but she didn't want to be the reason a stallion died.
They called in a rapid response team and told them it's a medical emergency. The team patched up some of Randy's wounds before carrying him away. Unfortunately, one more sharp-eyed member of the team called in the police and all three of them had a lot of explaining to do.
The mayor's death caused a lot of stir, but the fact the clues stood againts him freed Pinkie and Twilight from serving jail time. Randy Domitz, the innocent psycho, was charged with attempted murder, but instead of serving jail time, he was allowed to spend the total of six months in a house arrest in his home at Ponyville in an almost-daily surveillance with limited access to sharp items. On the brighter side, however, all the cases solved by the late mayor were challenged and as a result were restarted, the murder of his parents included.
I'll take a while before a new mayor is elected or selected by the officials in Canterlot, but one thing is certain - this was just the beginning, as many more unsolved cases are waiting to be solved by Detective Pie and her assistant Twilight Sparkle.
"Whoa, I can't believe they found a replacement so fast," said Twilight. "You think he or she will be better than the previous one?" Pinkie came to a sudden halt as they walked along the hallway. Afterwards, Twilight stopped as well.
"I don't know Twilight," replied Pinkie worringly. "All I hope is that this one won't have a tappygun hiding under the table." With that said, both of them continued on and opened the doors to the mayor's office. As they went inside, a tall, dark grey pegasus was sitting behind a table, wearing a similiarly colored suit with a red tie.
"Ah, miss Sparkle and Pie," he greeted them. "I've been informed that you were coming, yet I didn't expect either of you to arrive so soon."
"We arrived as soon as we heard there's a new mayor in town," said Twilight. "Ehm... Nice to meet you, I guess." Twilight showed some respect by putting her hat down and bowing slightly. Pinkie, on the hand, held her breath, which caused her had to look like an oversized pink baloon. Needless to say, the mayor wasn't very happy about her showing off like that.
"I'll skip the formalities and send you to invetigate a case right away," he ordered them, reading from a thin file. "Officials at Canterlot want cases solved as quickly as possible due to the now-stained name of Manehattan. I see no way your expertise won't be of use to me."
"Stained?" asked Pinkie. "Damn stains! Don't they know how to wash their own darn clothes?" While the original mayor would laugh or at least giggle, this one was unimpressed and kept a stone face. He also didn't flash them with a tappygun.
"Miss Pie, as your superior," he said. "I recommend you to either cut your attempts at humor down to a minimum or stop saying them completely. I'd like you to have some degree of professionalism." Pinkie wanted try another attempt at humor, but didn't. From this, it looked like the mayor was no fun at all.
"Now, where was I?" he asked, "Oh, right. The case I want you to investigate. There's a certain-" He was interrupted by his secretary, who sprinted right into his office.
"Mr. Gray!" she said. "Mr. Gray!" The mayor looked quite annoyed.
"What?" he asked, an annoyed tone in his voice. "What is it? Did you accidentally set something on fire?"
"No. Your cargo arrived," she said and gave him something to sign. "Where should the-"
"I'll deal with it later." he said. "Make sure no one gets their hooves on it." The secretary nodded and left the room as quickly as she entered it.
"Mr. Gray?" asked Pinkie. "As in 'Hoofian Gray?'" The mayor once again looked very unimpressed and annoyed.
"Miss Pie," he said. "I also suggest and require that you keep all those witty remarks to yourself."
"But, sir," Twilight defended her,"she just wanted to know if there was any kind of connection between you and Hoofian Gray."
"Me, connected with a character from a book? Certainly not. " he replied, "What do you think this is? A fairytale?" Pinkie leaned over to Twilight, sneaking a few whispers.
"Technically, this is one. Our story's rated T." Whispered Pinkie into Twilight's ear, causing her to give Pinkie a very confused look.
"Now, with that out of the way, I'll move straight to that I want you to investigate. What do you know about religions in Equestria?"
"Luna equals moon, Celestia equals sun," said Pinkie. "No religion based on that."
"Well, then you have no idea how wrong you are." he said, "Have your heard of their respective cults?"
"The Lunar and Solar order?" asked Twilight. "Old tales based on rumors. There isn't a single scientific fact proving their existence."
"Then tell me," he said and put two insignias on the table. "What's this?" One of the insignias was a sun, while the other one was that of a moon. Both of them were metallic and appeared to aged, with a considerable layer of rust on various places, here and there.
"Where... where did you get them?" asked Twilight.
"My father found them in an old house he inherited." said the mayor. "Some of my ancestors were rumored to be members, while a fewer number of them were even confirmed to be honorary members, who, despite having a membership, were not officially recognised as such."
"Does that make you a Lunarian or Solarian?" asked Pinkie. "In stories my granny used to tell me, they were called like that."
"That would take more than a single team of detectives to investigate, but that's not what I'm trying to tell you," he said. "You see, I believe these so-called "orders" have not vanished but simply changed names, robes, traditions and whatever else they were associated with."
"I think I'm a liiiiitle lost in this," let out Twilight, thinking. "Somehow, it's not clear to either of us what's our... ehm... mission."
"I have gathered some evidence of a lone branch of the Solar order being present here, in Manehattan, but to confirm most of it," he said. "I need someone to infiltrate them and gain their trust."
"Another cross-dressing?" said Pinkie, her eyes shining. "Twilight's gonna be a stallion again!"
"Disguises?" asked the mayor. "Oh no, I was talking about you joining themn for reals. This means you'll have to pass any rites of passages they present to you and do as you're asked."
"You mean... as full members?" asked Twilight, with a bit of worry in her voice.
"Yes," he replied. "That's exactly what I had in mind." Pinkie started jumping around in happiness as she imaginated herself in unrealistically huge robes scaring other members of the order for giggles.
"What is the branch called and where can we find it?" asked Twilight.
"Jorwood Street 48, Church of Light," he said and Twilight wrote the name and street bown. "White building, you can't miss it. They worship Celestia and regularly sing angelic choirs either as a form of praying or for their own enjoyment. Either way, you can walk in as if you were on fire from all the anger and you'll walk out completely calm, as if nothing happened."
"Alright, matey!" let out Pinkie, now sporting a stereotypical pirate pony costume and turned to Twilight. "Whaddaya say cap?" Both the mayor and Twilight giggled a bit, as Pinkie managed to be funny, even though he told her not to. How she got her hooves on a pirate costume and put it on almost in an instant will probably remain a mystery. A mystery for another day or another case.
Afterwards, the two of them left the room, hopefully having all the information they need to suceed. On their way out, they saw a bunch of buff ponies carrying large craes of unknown content to the mayor's office. Since it was none of their business and even Pinkie's didn't have the curiosity to look what's inside, they left the city hall and went for Jorwood Avenue, the avenue which had nearby streets named after. With a bit luck, they'll find the right street quicker than Pinkie can sing silly pirate songs.
The white building wasn't very hard to find, since it was the only one on the whole street. Even though it was of modern design, it felt somewhat mystical and ancient since it's design was very different from any other building Twilight or Pinkie ever saw. Most of it was built out of what looked like white marble with the ornate windows and beautifully decorated pearl doors.
Twilight knocked twice and waited. After waiting for more than a minute without a repy, she started getting skeptical about the matter. Is the building abandoned? How can the world be real, if our eyes aren't? These questions and many more started plaguing her mind.
"I don't know Pinkie," she said. "What if no one's inside?"
"Ha!" replied Pinkie. "Piece of cake! Watch and learn, Twilight." Pinkie was suddenly wearing a uniform from an unknown fast food chain and held a box of pizza. She then approached the door and knocked twice.
"Anyone order a pepperoni pizza?" she asked, smiling. In less than two seconds, the doors burst open and a pony in hooded robes appeared. The door covered his face, with only the mouth being seen.
"Yes," said the pony. "Brother Veselius did. He'll be here shortly." Another pony, albeit a bit smaller, appeared near the first one. He handed Pinkie a pouch full o' bits and grabbed the pizza. The unnamed robed pony then proceeded the door.
"Wait!" shouted Twilight at the last moment. "I can help you!" The doors opened again.
"Are you beer?" asked the first robed pony. "Because, other than that, we didn't order anything else." Judging by voice, it was most certainly a mare.
"No, but I really want to help you!" let out Twilight. "We... We would like to apply."
"Apply for what?" asked the robed mare. "You wanna be a permanent delivery assistant?" Twilight sighed, not believing that the mare was so close-minded.
"Memberships, silly!" said Pinkie. "Why do you think we knocked?" The mare stood completely silent for a fews seconds and then let them in, leading them to a small room with two doors and no windows. Afterwards, both of them were asked to put on blindfolds.
"Why?" asked Twilight. "Why do we have to put them on?" The mare let out a short laugh.
"It's a part of being accepted," she said, "A very vital one. Don't worry, they aren't soaked in poison." Since the two undercover detectives had no other choice, they reluctantly put on the blindfolds, led around by the mare for what seemed like forever. Afterwards, she put their blindfolds down. The first thing they saw was a much bigger pony infront of them, meditating in the middle of the room, with his back facing them.
Instead of having the simple white robes they saw earlier, his robes were adorned with all sorts of red, almost-runic markings along with same coloured patches around his shoulders. He too, wore a hood along with his robes.
"Grandmaster, I bring you the newest recruits," she said. "They wish to apply."
"Very well Seera," he said. "I will test their will and see which of them is strong enough to stay." After saying this, he stood up and turned to Twilight and Pinkie. Seera, the pony that led them there, left the room shortly after. Twilight noticed he wore a leather vest with layers of blue and red cloth visble underneath. His hood covered his face and a had golden beak on it's tip, reminescent of an eagle's. Some sort of brace was also seen around his front left hoove but it was impossible to say what it was from this angle. Pinkie, instead of paying attention, was pretending to be cross-eyed, mimicking the eyes of the somewhat famous mail mare.
"What brings you here?" he asked. "What do you expect from this place?" Pinkie's eyes rolled from one side of her head to the other, causing the grandmaster to look concerned about Pinkie's sanity.
"We were told that everyone who goes inside," said Pinkie, hear eyes finally fixed at their normal position. "Leaves without a worry in the world."
"So, you expect to find happiness?" he asked her. "There are many ways of achieving it, but this is not the place. But if you see hapiness in... 'removing' something that causes you worry, young one, then you're on the right track."
"That's the reason I came here," said Twilight. "To learn what I cannot learn elsewhere and help in a way I couldn't before. Break the bars I've set and look up to one's limits, hoping to achieve well above them." Twilight quoted a story involving the Solar Order, saying exactly what a recruit said to prove he was worthy of being a member.
"If it is knowledge you seek, I will teach you," he said and looked at Pinkie. "If that knowledge will make you happy is another thing, especially for someone with your condition." With this said, Pinkie was obviously out of the game.
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold the phone!" she let out. "I wanna join too! I ain't leavin' my sis to do this alone!"
"Ah, a sisterhood. You must lern to temper your eagerness with caution," he said. "You will learn alongside each other and become partners, but if one of you fails, you both fail. If it is truly a strong sisterhood that binds you together, you will suceed. If not, you will fail." Twilight bowed and since Pinkie already said a bunch of stupid things, she did the same. The grandmaster took a scroll out of his vest and started reading it out loud.
"Repeat these sentences," he ordered them. "I will not draw attention to this place or any of it's members."
"I will not draw attention to this place or any of it's members." repeated Twilight and Pinkie in unison. They did not question why such a rule existed, even though Twilight really wanted to. If any similiar rule arised, she probably will, if the grandmaster allows her to.
"Let ponies mask you such that you become one with the crowd." said the Grandmaster. Twilight was starting to feel sceptical. Sure, not drawing attention to anyone from the Order of Light is a good thing, but what exactly did the second thing mean? Why would anyone from that Order need to 'become one with the crowd'? It's not like they were some sort of thieves or assassins.
"Please, repeat the sentence." uttered the Grandmaster as if he noticed Twilight had doubts.
"Let ponies mask you such that you become one with the crowd." repeated Twilight and Pinkie in unison once again. It appeared that Pinkie, despite her crazy being of the chart, had absolutely no problems with any of this and just carried on. Twilight, on the other hand, felt more and more doubt as more rules surfaced. She needs some answers.
"My actions must never bring harm to us - direct or indirect." said the Grandmaster. Harm? Why would she or Pinkie cause harm? Unable to relay his words, she gave asked a question instead, much to the grandmaster's dislike.
"Why would my actions cause harm?" she asked. "Isn't dealing with things without violence the purpose of this place?" The grandmaster looked around and then pierced Twilight with his gaze.
"I'll tend to your questions only after you finish the oath," he said. "Now, please repeat the sentence, recruit."
"An oath?" she asked, shocked. "Why on Celestia would I need an oath?" The grandmaster put the scroll on the ground and stood up, towering above Twilight.
"Do doctors not swear to do no harm?" he asked. "Do lawyers swear not to value finding what's true above everthing else?" Twilight was unable to answer these questions, as he was right. She tried thinking of a counterargument whilst biting her lip, but was unable to.
"By swearing your allegiance to us, you join not a group of misfits," he said. "You join a family, A brotherhood of brother and sisters." Twilight was completely speechless and since Pinkie was eagerly waiting for her, she decided to let go of her doubts for now and say the last sentence of the oath. The grandmaster once again sat down and took the scroll from the ground.
"My actions must never bring harm to us - direct or indirect." said Twilight and Pinkie in unison. Afterwards, the grandmaster, closed the scroll and tucked it back into his vest.
"Welcome to the Order of Assassins, my fellow recruits," he said, a bit of joy in his voice. "It's a rare ocassion for some to just walk in and wanting to apply. but you... You give an old stallion hope for the future." Pinkie and Twilight looked at each other, mouth agape.
"Order of WHAT?!" asked both of them in shock. Walking into a completely different building was one thing, but joining a group of murderers was another.
"You've heard me loud and clear, recruits," he said. "This is the Assassin Order, an ancient order of mares and stallions following the Creed and living by it."
"This... this isn't the Church of Light?" asked Twilight.
"No," he replied. "That one is at Ioerwood Street, not this one."
"Well, what a funny coincidence!" said Pinkie. "We'll be on our way now." She tried to casually escape by moonwalking, but two members were guarding the doors, not letting her out, despite her fabulous dance moves. She gave them a worried smile, slowly walked back to Twilight.
"You cannot leave," he said. "Especially not after what you've heard. You swore the oath and you will follow it." Since Twilight saw no way out of this situation, their only choice was to play along and become assassins against their will, just for the sake of not being killed or worse.
"Fine, we will follow your so-called out oath and do as you wish." Afterwards, Twilight looked at Pinkie, who, despite her worries, nodded.
"Very well, my recruits," he said. "Seera will introduce you to the rest of the recruits, along with Initiates and Apprentices and assign you a bed. Follow the rules and you'll do more good than you ever done in your life. Break them and a group of assassins will be sent to hunt you down. Risk the life of me and I will kill you myself."
"Y-yes, Grandmaster." Said both of them in unison.
"Today, you have learned the three tenets of the Creed and tomorrow, you will be taught the three ironies and on the day after that, you will be taught the Maxim, the final part of the Creed," he lectured them. "Now, Seera will introduce you to you fellow brothers and sisters-in-arms and show you where you can rest."
Without any sort of complaining, they followed Seera into the shared lounge. She then introduced them to other members, one by one, and showed them their respective rooms. Almost instantly after entering her room, Twilight started planning an escape plan, hoping to get out and investigate the real Church of Light. Only time will tell if she'll suceed.
The other members of the Assassin Order were either orphans or petty criminals who, instead of paying for their crimes, chose to repay society by serving the Order. Pinkie and Twilight were the only recruits, while the rest of the lower members were either initiates or apprentices. They also wore no clothing or armor, while the rest of them did.
Before Seera arrived to take them to the Grandmaster for further learning, the only apprentice asked them to come to his room. Twilight, like always, was sceptical about this while Pinkie happily followed him. After both of them went inside, he carefully looked to the sides of the lounge to make sure no one is watching them and then closed to door.
"Look, I know you may have a lot of questions," he said. "But you'll get answers. Eventually."
"I want answers now!" said Twilight. "What is this 'Assassin Order' all about? Who are they?"
"I guess you already know the tales of the Lunar and Solar Order," he said, "Don't you?"
"Of course we do, silly!" said Pinkie. "That's why Twilight quoted it!"
"These orders kept safety and just like their unofficial leaders, one worked during the night and the other during the day." He said.
"Let me guess, everything went haywire when Luna tried to take over?" asked Twilight.
"Worse. You see, unlike Celestia, she granted the Lunar Order unique abilies and magic which allowed them to see clearly during the night," he lectured them. "Each recruit was enchanted by Luna herself and the strengh of said abilies rose as he or she rised through the ranks."
"Oh, no..." said Twilight, horrifed. "Does that mean that-?"
"Yep," he uttered. "When Luna became corrupted with a desire to make night eternal, so did they. All of them."
"So... you're the... umm..." said Pinkie. "Good guys?"
"Essetially, yes," he answered. "But I have doubts if doing as I'm told has some , if any, impact on the world."
"Why?" asked Twilight. "Why do you have doubts?"
"Over the course of a thousand years, their numbers grew and most of them now control most of Equestria through various corporations and companies," he said. "Our numbers have lowered drastically over the millenia and can't even be compared to the once great Solar Order, which had ten thousand members at it's peak."
"Does... does Celestia know of this?" asked Twilight. "Does she even know of this Order?"
"Partially," he said. "She knows about both, yet has no idea what has happened to each after a thousand years."
"But now that Luna was returned, back to good," said Pinkie. "Why didn't they?"
"If you paint something red and then buy blue paint," he said. "Will the thing you painted red become blue?"
"Why not paint over it?" asked Twilight, "As strong as she is, why didn't she attempt to return them back to normal?"
"I... I don't know," he said. "Maybe the Grandmaster knows something, but I most certainly-" he was cut off when Seera walked into the room.
"Ah, here you are," she said. "You'll have more time for chit-chat after your training and studying is complete." Twilight and Pinkie followed her to some sort of room with a blackboard. In a sense, it was a class. The other recruits were already seated when they arrived and so, to not anger the grandmaster, they quickly found a chair and sat too.
"What you have learned yesterday, my fellow recruits, was to not draw attention to us, hide in the shadows and be sure your actions cause no harm to us - direct or indirect. These are the three tenets of the Creed but there also three ironies which you must accept." He lectured them and took a piece of chalk.
"Even though were promote peace," he wrote as he spoke. "We commit murder." Twilight, unable to contain herself, raised her hoove in the air.
"Yes, recruit?" he asked. "What's on your mind?"
"Is murdering the only way?" she asked. "Is that the only way one's influence can be stopped?"
"There are ways of torture, bribes and even poison, but the only thing that has proven to exceptional during the millenia of the Order was murder," he answered. "Any other questions?" Since no one else had questions, he continued on.
"We seek to open the minds of ponies, yet require obedience of rules." He once again wrote it down after saying it. Afterwards, he looked at the class, but since no one had any questions about this irony, he continued with his lecture.
"We seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet follow it ourselves," he said and wrote it down. "Those are the three ironies each of us follows, contradicting the three tenets."
"But doesn't that undermine the Assassins' cause?" asked Twilight without raising her hoove. Even though this wasn't a school, it was considered to be very rude.
"Not at all, Twilight Sparkle," he replied and Twilight was curious when did he learn her name, as she didn't recall telling it to him. "Though seemingly hypocritical, the ironies do not undermine our cause. Rather, they demonstrate the way in which we embraced contradiction. A wise member once said 'one may be two things – opposite in every way – simultaneously.'"
"And what about the Maximum?" asked Pinkie. "Can't we learn it now?" Once again, she gave a question without raising her hoove, but the grandmaster didn't seem to mind. In fact, he almost seemed to enjoy being showered by questions.
"The Maxim is the primary guideline of Order and even though you could learn it right here and right now," he said. "I want you to memorize the tenets and ironies first, as you will not only learn the Maxim tomorrow, but also be given basic training."
"If anyone else doesn't have any questions, you may leave and return to your rooms." He waited for a few seconds and then instructed Seera to escort them to their rooms. Twilight and Pinkie were escorted to Seera's room instead of theirs for no apparrent reason. Perhaps she too, wanted to have a word with them.
"Sierra?" asked Twilight. "Why did you bring us here?"
"It's Seera," she said. "I wanted to speak with you in private."
"You will tell us the Maximum so he doesn't have to?" said Pinkie. "Pretty please?"
"No, that is not the reason I brought you here," she answered. "I want you to know that despite what the Grandmaster told you yesterday, about how he'll hunt you down, he would never harm of any of you."
"Then why did he say it?" asked Twilight. "Why make threats when he can't he carry them out?"
"Mayday presumably told you about how little of us are left compared to the Lunar Order," she said. "Did he?"
"Yes, he did," said Twilight. "So by making those threats, he wants us to stay?"
"Twilight, please," she said. "Of all the cities and towns, Manehattan, Canterlot and Cloudsdale are the last ones to have a sanctuary like this one. Last time we counted, there were just twenty of us. One grandmaster, eight assassins, two veterans, one iniciate, four apprentices and four recruits. Every new member is like a new spark which gives us a hope that one day, neither us of them will exist or be needed, for there will be peace."
"But we got here by accident," said Twilight. "We were tasked with investigating the Church of Light, not the Assassin Order. We even mistakenly repeated the tenets because we though they were a part of joining the Church of Light."
"Those chain-smoking, fungi-inhaling monks?" she said. "They're completely harmless."
"I have a party scheduled tomorrow," said Pinkie and grabbed Seera by her robes. "I. NEED. TO. GET. OUT!" Seera responded by moving her left front hoof slightly, threatening Pinkie with some sort of knife protruding from a bracer attached to her hoof.
"He won't carry out threats," she said, putting the knife closer to Pinkie's throat. "But I will." Pinkie let go of her and Seera's knife retracted back into the brace.
"We will find a way out." said Twilight, angered. "I'll tell Celestia everything about you and this place." Seera smiled.
"IF you find a way out," she taunted them. "It's an elaborate maze of rooms and traps that just don't make any sense. And just for fun, it's all underground."
"Challenge accepted." Said Pinkie. Before they could carry on with their conversation, two ponies approached them from behind and forced them to return to their rooms. Once both of the got inside, the ponies stood guard infront of both rooms, as if the Grandmaster himself heard them proclaiming that they would escape. Twilight's skepticism turned into anger and she started plotting a plan of escape. Pinkie, in the room next to hers, spent most of her time either sleeping or telling jokes to herself and subsequently laughting at them. Maybe they won't escape tomorrow, but they eventually will, one way or another.
The next day, still at the Assassin Order sanctuary.
As punishment, they were woken up rather early and harshly. Instead of a gentle stroke on the shoulder, they were literally thrown out of their beds by the same ponies that guarded their rooms. This had no effect on Pinkie whatsoever since she had plenty of sleep, but Twilight had the look of a murderer, with one of her pupils being smaller than the other one, along with a seemingly neglected and dirty mane. Now depraved out her precious sleep, she once again experienced the same mental breakdown when she couldn't schedule a time to make more schedules. In other words, insanity.
The guarding ponies ignored this and instructed them to follow them to the training grounds. When they turned round a corner, she looked at Pinkie and blinked. Pinkie nodded and Twilight gave her the signal by blinking again.
"Restrooms, where are the restrooms?!" shouted Pinkie and started scuttering.
"This way," said one of them and led Pinkie away. Now, with the other guard out of the game, Twilight tackled hers and started running. Instinctively, Pinkie did the same and they both ran through the sanctuary's mazes of corridors and rooms together.
"Hey, you're not supposed to-!" A higher-ranking member tried to stop them in one of the corridors. but Twilight grabbed him using her magic and viciously flung him at the wall.
"Twilight?!" said Pinkie, shocked. "What have you done?!"
"Zip it, Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, her insanity going out of control. "SHUT UP!" As they kept on running through various hallways, they reached a large, empty room, with four levers in each corner and a metallic door, which was seemingly controlled by them. She was just about to approach the first one when a total of four assassins appeared out of nowhere. Each of them was armed with knifes and swords.
"We have entrusted you - and you have betrayed our trust!" they said in unison.
"I never wanted to be here..." said Twilight.
"T-Twilight," said Pinkie, scared. "I... I think this wasn't such a good idea after all." Twilight ignored her friend's fear and begun preparing herself if they showed any sign of hostility.
"Twilight, we don't want to hurt you," said the highest-ranking assassin, sheathing his sword and approached her. "Why don't you go back to your room and pretend this never happened?"
"Then why don't you let go of your weapons and let me leave? I have come here by mistake and thus, should be entitled to leave!" she said. "I don't care that you think you're doing the greater good or that you're a bunch of killers with morals and guidelines or a Creed. I never asked to be a part of this." The veteran looked at his fellow friends and then back at Twilight, with a saddened look in his eyes.
"Then you give us no other option, but the defend our sanctuary from you." After that, they started fighting Twilight, with Pinkie standing in the back, watching.
*
Even though outnumbered, Twilight defeated all four of them, one by one. With their bones and pride broken, they laid motionless on the ground, occassionally letting out a painful moan. Pinkie was unable to comprehend what she just saw and was sure it wasn't Twilight anymore. The real Twilight wouldn't cause them any harm.
"Come on Pinkie!" she said and tried to pull one of the levers. "Help me with this lever!" But Pinkie just stood there, dumbfooted. Twilight approached her, but she didn't appear to notice.
"Pinkie?"
"Who are you and what have you done to Twilight?!" responded Pinkie, her mane turning straight and her coat turning a darker shade of pink.
"It's still me Pinkie." replied Twilight. "I... I had to do it. They didn't give me any other choice. It was a matter of self-defence!" Pinkie ignored her. Moments later, the Grandmaster himself appeared around the corner, clopping with his hooves.
"Bravo, bravo," he said. "I was wonderiing how long it'll take you to try and escape, but looks like it was way sooner than I though. Quite impressive, by the way." Twilight was about to grab him by her magic too, but couldn't. After trying again, she found out she can't move.
The Grandmaster took a severed horn from his robes, making it clear where the magic that held her was coming from. But how is that possible? A severed horn does not give magic abilities to an earth pony! Instead of offering her an explanation, the Grandmaster revealed his face by removing his hood and Twilight saw a round scar on his forehead.
"Fancy magic, isn't it?" he said. "I've refrained myself from using it, but when I have to deal with troubling types like you, I too, run out of options." As he moved the horn, Pinkie walked to Twilight in a zombie-like fashion.
"What did you do to her?!" she asked.
"Put her temporarily under my control," he said. "I have attempted to do the same to you, but as you see, or rather feel, the only thing it managed to do was to freeze you in place. Unlike you, she doesn't have such an unbreakable will like you do. You just need to add a little cookie promise to the equation and she'll do anything. " Pinkie now walked to the Grandmaster and he put something on left front hoove.
"Let go of her, you bastard!" shouted Twilight.
"Not yet," he said. "You will pay for your betrayal first, the traditional and ancient way." With another flick of his horn, Pinkie walked to Twilight.
"Where's Seera, huh?" Twilight taunted him. "Isn't she your headsmare?"
"Why use Seera when I have your close friend at my disposal?" he said and Pinkie threatened Twilight with a switchblade mounted on a brace. Since it was quite well hidden, Twilight assumed it was called a hidden blade.
"Pinkie, what are you doing?" she whispered, trying to snap her out of the spell.
"You will pay dearly for wounding three of your brothers and two sisters." After finishing the sentence, Pinkie stabbed Twilight in the chest with the hidden blade.
"Pinkie?!" she said, tears in her eyes. Unfortunately, even this wasn't enough to free Pinkie out of his control and she stabbed her four more times, each time a little bit closer to her heart. After the last stab, the spell holding Twilight stopped and she fell to the ground, her vision fading to black. Before losing consciousness, she felt someone dragging her away and mere seconds after that, she blacked out completely...
After an unknown amount of days, still somewhere within the Assassin Order sanctuary.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes and found herself in some sort of prison cell, dirty, with a putrid smell coming somewhere from the outside. Her chest had multiple layers of bandages but even that didn't stop the blood from leaving marks on it. She slowly stood up from the bed she was laying on and approached the doors. When they couldn't be moved with her magic, she tried to move the iron bars around them, but that didn't work either.
"Don't waste your strength," said an unknown female voice behind her. "they're under his control."
Twilight looked to the other side of the room and saw a mare sitting on a bed who bore a striking resemblence to Celestia, but had green eyes and missed one color in her mane. Her height, mane and tail were also shorter, but her coat was pure white. Her voice was also very similiar to Celestia's.
"Who... who are you?" asked Twilight.
"I'm Solaris." she said. "I've used quite a lot of hair to make those bandages. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes." said Twilight. "Thanks."
"If you're wondering, yes I'm Celestia's relative and no," she said. "I have no idea why she never mentions me."
"You're... her relative?" asked Twilight. "I mean, I know Prince Blueblood is her nephew but I had no idea she had a bigger family."
"She never told you that?" said Solaris. "I'm BB's cousin. My aunt's family is actually a lot bigger but a lot of them aren't royalty."
"I'm her student for ten years now, but she never told me about her family." replied Twilight. "Do you she doesn't trust me?"
"Well, obviously, she does, since you're her student." said Solaris. "But there are a bunch of things she'd never told you because she though they weren't important. I guess she didn't tell you anything about her rather colourful life."
"No, she didn't." said Twilight.
"Well, you really don't want to know all the things she did. But I'll tell you it was a long and bumpy road for both her and Luna to become princesses and a lot of things happened during that." said Solaris. "In short, love is complicated and don't ask them about it."
"Okay..." said Twilight. "So how did you end up here?"
"Pretty much the same reason you ended up here," she replied. "but I didn't try escaping. I tried taking down the Grandmaster himself. Ended up getting tied, beaten and thrown in this hellhole. Been half a year now."
"And no one came looking for you?" asked Twilight. "Does no one miss you?"
"Well, I'm kinda nomadic, which means I never stay in one place too long." replied Solaris. "The few of my friends who can keep up with me are adventurers and we rarily meet. Guess I should have listenened to Tia's advice to settle down and form a family."
"Do you know of a way out?" asked Twilight.
"Nah, but I know we're at least fifty metres or seven stories underground." replied Solaris. "But I'm quite sure you're not the only one who wants to escape. Truth be told, some guys at cell seven are trying to dig their way out. They broke over seventy spoons so far, but dug quite a lenghty tunnel. Once they hit a brick wall, they'll know they reached the Manehattan underground. From there, it's pretty much navigating a maze with just four or so exits."
"Have you seen a pink mare being brought here as well?" asked Twilight. "She's a friend of mine."
"Yeah, I did." replied Solaris. "They've locked her up in a secure cell, though, so no idea how to get her out." A guard approached the cell, opened a small hatch on the door and gave us food. It was just two, half-rotten apples with a similiarly-rotten bread. Instead of handing it to us, he threw it threw the hatch and laughed.
"Enjoy your meal, ladies!" he said and returned to his post. Twilight didn't return to her bed and eat like Solaris did. She just kept waiting and watched the guards as their walked around in the prison.
Suddenly, one of them collapses and one by one did the others. All of them had one, gaping wound in their back but the killer was nowhere to been. Before she could think about it further the doors opened and an assassin pony appeared out of nowhere.
"Twilight," he said. "It's me, Mayday."
"Mayday?" she replied. "How did you-"
"Well, I wasn't alone." he said and two more assassins walked to doors of our cell.
"I was starting to think you guys are as dumb as the last batch." said Solaris. "You do realize this is a rebellion, right?"
"We've seen the Grandmaster do horrible, horrible things and that fact that he forced a friend to nearly kill you was the last straw." said Mayday. "You might not be a good assassin, but you're a good pony and good ponies shouldn't really be here."
"The four of us will have a higher chance of getting out." Solaris kindly pushed Twilight out of the way and looted one of the dead guards for a hidden blade.
"Four of us?" asked. Twilight. "Why not release all the prisoners?"
"Agreed." uttered Mayday. "Let's do that." And so, the group released everyone from their cells, Pinkie included. She was very sorry for almost killing her friend but agreed to help. Now, with a small army wreaking havoc on the sanctuary, they used the distraction and reached the grandmaster's chambers. When they found him, he was in a deep state of meditation with his back turned on them. Solaris slowly walked closer to assassinate him but he overheard her steps and turned around.
"You..." he said and looked angrily at the group. "You have caused great harm to the Assassin Order and leave me no other choice but to carry out justice!" He opened his vest and reached for his horn but before he could grab it, Twilight took hold of it and aimed it at him.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Instead of using the horn on him, she tossed it aside, breaking it.
"We're escaping." said Twilight. "And there's nothing you can do to stop us."
"Why, you ungrateful little-" Before he could finish his rant, he was immobilized by Solaris' magic which froze himin place.
"That'll shut him up." she said and the group made their way to the room with levers. After pulling all four of them, the doors opened and they were now in a more recogniseable part of the sanctuary. It contained the same doors Twilight used to enter and upon opening them, they found themselves back on the street. The escaped ponies bid farewell and went their own way each except for Pinkie and Twilight, who were going for the postal office. Since Spike was at Canterlot, she had to use something more conventional than scrolls.
At the postal office.
"You sure you want to write the letter yourself?" asked a stallion who wrote letters for those with awful writing.
"No, I'm good." replied Twilight and started writing a letter to Celestia. After she was done, she drew an Assassin Order insignia and a Solar Order insignia. If the new mayor wasn't lying, she'll recognise them immediately. After sending it, both of them returned to their hotel where they talked about what they could and didn't do at the Assassin Order. Pinkie was still sorry for stabbing Twilight, but Twilight knew she was under the grandmaster's influence.
Their relaxation was put on hold when a mail pony knocked on their door and told them he had a super-fast delivery for Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie opened the door, smiled, took the letter and closed it.
"Well, what does it say?" asked Pinkie after giving it to Twilight.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle..." Twilight read the letter out loud. "What you have said was all true. Both orders were created to provide protection for me and my sister but weren't created by us. A group of ponies insisted on protecting us, even though getting nothing in return and thus, the Solar and Lunar Order were created. It's true the Lunar Order became superior after Luna's banishment and while it's members were corrupt too, I personally spent the first day of my ruling to ensure they won't stay like that for long. I've had absolutely no idea remnants of the Solar Order became the Assassin Order, which, like you wrote, you accidentally joined. I will send a small group of ponies to investigate what you found. Their leader appears to be led by delusions since the Lunar Order no longer exists. I will put an end to the Assassin Order for the sake of them not killing any more innocent ponies who are descendants of members of the Lunar Order. Thank you for reporting this to me. Signed, Princess Celestia."
"Do you think the mayor will want to hear about it too?" asked Pinkie. "We weren't at the right Order, though."
"Well, we heard that it's a place full of weed-smoking monks." replied Twilight. "I have no reason to go there. But I will visit the mayor tomorrow."
The following day, at Pinkie and Twilight's room at the hotel.
"Pinkie, why is this place such a mess?" asked Twilight. "And why did you set up an alchemy lab in the bathroom?!"
"I'm trying science Twilight!" said Pinkie. "And so far, it worked." Twilight found an unconscious room service stallion laying behind Pinkie's chair.
"What did you to the room service?!" Twilight tried to wake him up, but to no success.
"You mean OUR room service," replied Pinkie and took out a violin from seemingly nowhere. "Just gave him a dose of something I was working on. He'll wake up... eventually." Pinkie begun playing the violin with her hooves as if it was a guitar, carefully strumming a melody.
"Have you considered doing something that won't harm anyone?" asked Twilight. "You've been spending your time here ever since you came to Manehattan. Ever though of going out and seeing the city?"
"There is absolutely nothing of interest to me, out there, on Equestria... at all." said Pinkie. "When was the last time we were solving something?"
"Yesterday," said Twilight and took the violin from Pinkie. "I insist. You have to go out." Pinkie sighed. Perhaps Twilight was right, she could use a little fresh air after all.
She slowly got out of the chair, put on her detective's coat, hat and waited for Twilight at the door. Twilight, who was already donning her signature clothes, opened the door and the two of them trailed off into the streets of Manehattan.
Four hours later, the at mayor's office
After they spent their time in various sweet shops, the two mares remembered that they were supposed to visit the Mayor today. For one reason or another, though, the doors to his office were locked.
"I'm sorry detective, but I can't let you in," said his secretary. "Mr. Gray doesn't wish to be disturbed now."
"Not disturbed?!" asked Pinkie, furious. She then used her hooves to make her face as disturbing as possible. "I'll give him something to be disturbed of!"
"Pinkie, wait! You can't just-" Twilight didn't finish. She just watched as Pinkie kicked the door open, breaking the lock and interrupting the Gray's... jamming. Indeed, the stallion was an avid guitar player.
In the blink of an eye, everything that had something in common with guitars disappeared and he sat down at his chair as if nothing happened.
"Sorry," said Twilight and went after after Pinkie. "We were just-"
"I assume you have something of the utmost importance if you managed to break the finest lock I could buy," he said. "Well, out with it."
"We... umm... accidentally joined the wrong... party," said Pinkie. "And by wrong, I mean, super-duper-even-Sherlock-would-fall-for-it wrong." The mayor looked oddly at both of the detectives.
"What exactly happened, miss Sparkle?" he asked. "Your friend or companion is not very good at answering questions."
"Instead of joining the Order of Light, we joined the Order of Assassins," said Twilight, lowering her head in shame and sighing. "We tried to use diplomacy but... It didn't work."
"What happened then?" he asked. "Did you end this... Assassin Order?"
"Of course we did, silly!" said Pinkie. "No one's gonna kill anyone unless cupcakes are involved. Mmmm.... cupcakes...."
"We've met the cousin of Prince Blueblood, Princess Solaris, who've helped us orchestrate a revolt and escape," said Twilight. "We're also wrote a letter to the Celestia herself and she promised us to send someone in to deal with the matter head-on."
The mayor stood up and took a small chest from a table behind him. It was old and rusty, but seemed to be well kept, despite its age. He opened it with a small key and took out two badges, a silver and a gold one, each adorned with Twilight's and Pinkie's cutie marks, along with the symbol of the city - an eagle.
"Both of you have helped defend the citizens of this city and fought againts the evils that lurked within, spying within the shadows, waiting for their time to strike. With you came a new, lawful era, where it's not everypony for himself and for that, you have my personal gratitude." Twilight was entirely speechless, but Pinkie managed to smile like she never did, her eyes glowing.
"Pinkamena Diane Pi,." he said and Pinkie approached him, bowing. "For your ever-present humor and sense of mind, I give you the silver protector badge of Manehattan, a token presented to only a few worthy and irreplacible ponies." He gave the badge to Pinkie and shortly after, she gave him a wholehearted hug, which he returned. Then, Pinkie and Twilight switched places.
"Twilight Sparkle," he said and looked at her, noticing that, for some reason, she was nervous. "For your leadership, intelligence, but most importantly your patience towards your friend and colleague, I give you the golden protector badge of Manehattan, a token presented to even fewer ponies." He gave the badge to Twilight, but she almost didn't respond to it. Instead, she started lamenting that she doesn't deserve it.
"I don't think I deserve a badge for keeping true to myself," she said. "When I first arrived here, I had the feeling that there's something that needs to be done but now, I don't want to be here anymore. I've seen things no one should ever see along with my friend and because of that, I don't think I want to do this anymore." Pinkie gasped as Twilight said these words.
"But Twilight, I need you!" said Pinkie. "I mean, I know I'm really not the best detective but I can't do it without you. You're like... a reserve wheel that I don't need until one of my wheels break." Twilight giggled at Pinkie's attempt at a heart-to-heart moment.
"I know Pinkie, I know," said Twilight. "It's just that, why can't we go back and just be friends again? You could throw a party and everyone would come to it. Just like old times." Something snapped inside of Pinkie's mind, akin to a button turned off. Her hat felt heavy and so did her cape. She remembered that time she solved her first 'case' for giggles and now, everything she did after that seemed like nothing more, than something a real Pinkie would never do. A sudden realization came to her mind, a realization that Detective Pie and Pinkie Pie are not one and the same.
"You're... you're right." she said. "Let's go home..."
The mayor couldn't believe his eyes and ears as both of his most experienced detectives left his office. They did their deed, making him the new mayor and cleaning the city of psychos and assassins but now, all they wanted was to return to their old lives. He knew persuasion wouldn't work, as they weren't his employees, but employees of the town itself. Still, he was hoping that sooner or later, one or both would reconsider and return to what they were doing best — solving crimes.
He thin asked Sasha, his secretery, to bring him list of avaitable candidates but also told her to keep Pinkie and Twilight in the registry, in case they ever wanted to return to their jobs as detectives. Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't. Who knows?
