If your working for the ponyville police department (Or P.V.P.D for short) you run into a lot of heartache and pain, Sure there are chances to help people and you see the smile on there face if you find a missing foal, Or seeing someone put to justice for their crimes. But the the part no one thinks about when starting this job is the victims or the crime scene...
That feeling of having to tell a family that their little filly of theirs was found dead in a gutter, Or when you know that the colt at the stand did rape and kill a filly but was let go due to not having enough evidence, And the pain you feel hearing the family cry in the court room as the monster walks free. And the crime scenes are no better, My last case I saw two young mares cut open and gutted. These are the pains I 'Keen Observation' must face with being the detective for the P.V.P.D.
I awaken slightly with my head on a cold wooden table in a dimly lit room,the world around me hazy.
I hear faintly the bartender 'Hard Cider.' "Hey! Keen wake up! It's almost closing time and you should probably get home and get some sleep." I look up and I forgot I was doing some drinking hoping to forget my previous cases at the 'Knife and Apple Tavern.'
I rub the haze out of my eyes a hangover from hell already forming, I grumble. "Ah damn, how long was I down for?"
Cider shrugs "I dunno about a two hours. You kinda went a little hard on the drinks tonight, You doing okay man?" He asked concerned.
I look down at my half empty glass."Yeah...I'm fine, Just another bullshit case of some monster that I know raped and killed a mare got away with it because of a Technicality."I drink the last of the strong liquor hoping to forget the memories of what laid at the crime scene.I feel it burn the back of my throat and then the numbing as I set the glass back down.
Cider takes the glass off the counter. "Hey Keen,look. You are a great customer here,What with you finding this place a while back with that butcher case," I look down knowing what he's going to say. I've heard this lecture many times before.
"But you're also my friend I think you should stop taking so many cases, I mean this is going to give you major depression! Plus keen, You can't just drink your problems away." He pointed out as he cleaned the glass and puts it back.
He slowly sighed. "now go home,rest,and lay off taking so many cases for a while."
"Cider,I'm grateful you care and I'm happy and all but I can't just stop. I swore to protect everypony, And that's what I'll do till the day I die." I put a few bits on the counter and get up to walk out.
He shrugs. "Alright it's your funeral. Just know this much stress isn't good for one colt."
I walk out of the dimly lit tavern and into the bright sunlight. I slightly hiss a bit and squint my eyes as I head back to the station.I trotted though town to the station and all was quite that early morning.
I get into my office and put on my 'hangover sunglasses', sit in my comfy chair, And I start my daily routine of filling my gut with burgers while I read through my horror stories.
A few hours pass and it remains quite, My day took a bad turn when one of the officers 'Dusty Prints' opens my door and slowly peeks in. "Hey Keen um...three mares want to speak with you, Shall I send them in?"
I nod and the door opens more as he calls for them, the three mares who enter. Their heads are down but I can recognize the manes and cutie marks anywhere they were none other than 'Apple Jack','Rarity' and 'Rainbow dash'.
I sat up concerned as the mane six hardly need the police's help,let alone mine. " Hello, is everything ok with you mares?"
Applejack puts her hoof over her Stetson and looks down hiding her face, As Rainbow dash looks further down covering her eyes with her mane, I see a small drop of a tear fall behind her mane. "this can't be good if she's crying..." Was all I could think to myself.
Rarity looks up. Her eyeliner smudged from tears. " S-sweetie belle hasn't come home since yesterday and no one can find her..."
"And normally scootaloo is around for practice with me and I haven't seen her since yesterday" Rainbow Dash added
"Add ma' sister hasn't been home since yesterday after her chores " Apple Jack said softly.
The three little fillies were connected as everyone in ponyville knew them as the 'cutie mark crusaders' so I figured they were taken at the same time by the same perp.
"I will take the case.Do you guys recall their whereabouts when last you saw them? Or if they said anything to any of you all? I'll also need to know who they have spoken to the last while." I inquired.
They inform me the last locations briefly before they started sobbing,the only info they knew was that they talked to a few ponies around town. They did see them talk to 'Sly Clop' the owner of the porn shop on 'Sore Saddle Street.' The only places they remember seeing the young fillies was in their 'headquarters' (AKA: their tree fort) and 'Sugar Cube Corner.'
I look to Dusty "You're coming with me to the tree house,before we go,tell the other officers that we'll have to set a curfew,and make sure nopony leaves ponyville. Anyone leaving will be apprehended and questioned."
He nods and dashes out of the room to inform the other officers.I walk around my desk to the three gently sobbing mares.
"don't worry we will find them, You three just head home,stay next to your phones In case they reach any of you. We will of course let you know when we find them" I assure them as they wipe their eyes.
"Thank You Keen..." all three of them replied as they slowly walk out the door.
I sigh hoping I can find these little fillies before it's to late...
As I hear the door close I get my saddle bag from under my desk and walk out my office. As I leave I'm greeted by Dusty. "So keen. What do you think happened? Case of three fillies just in hiding after fights at home?" he asked me as we walked out of the station.
as we walk towards The Apple Family Farm I reply. "I don't think so. Chances of three little fillies all running away at the same moment is very un-likley, especially when all three come from good homes. I mean we have Appleboom well looked after, Sweetie Belle is well cared for at the Boutiquè. And Scootaloo is-" I pause and Dusty fills in the last part.
"Homeless..." he said in a quite voice. I look to him confused as to how he knew the details. "Well not exactly homeless anymore, But i was often called to the skate park due to complaints about her sleeping on benches; Then when the CMC formed she stayed in the tree fort they made."
I look down as we walk, feeling guilty for not knowing. "I...I always thought she was just private about her home life...does anypony else know?"
Dusty shook his head. "Only me, the ponies who called her in, and maybe a couple other officers."
I sigh. "So what about her parents?" I ask fearing the worse.
Dusty huffs a sad breath. "She was abandoned...no one knows where they went off too, hell scootaloo can't even remember their faces."
I clear my throat feeling bad for her but wanting to focus at the issue at hoof as we approach the orchards where their fort laid. "We need to find them within the next couple days, Winters coming and we don't want the purp covering their tracks." I said changing the subject.
Dusty looked up to me. "So what are you expecting to find in the tree fort?" he asked me.
we walked towards the catwalk leading up to the fort when I answer. "Well, I'm hoping for a note saying they went to someponies house or something." We slowly approached the pink wooden door and I gave a small knock. "P.V.P.D. Is anypony inside?" I call through the door. After a while I take a grip of the doorknob and slowly twist it and open the door. As we walk in we smell the musty and smoky scent Inside, a small lantern hung up in the middle of the room and some notebooks laid open on the table. "Dusty, scan for clues around the outside, do a twenty-feet perimeter sweep around the fort."
He nods before turning around and heading to the door. I take a deep breath and wall to the table with the notebooks. I picked up one that was pink with a white lace trim. It was open to a page with a fillies doodle of a brown colt wearing a propeller hat and of a white unicorn filly in a heart. "Hmmm...looks like Sweetie belle..." I make the assumption that this is her notebook. "Hmm who did she draw herself with?" I ponder as I flip through the pages until i found something scribbled in.
"Dear Dairy, Today I got to see Button Mash again! It was so cute, we went out looking for frogs for school, he kept his eyes on his joyboy and tripped and fell into the mud. I went over to make sure he was okay before a frog hoped on his head and little mashie said 'Ribbit' I laughed so hard.
I hope I can see him next week for Milkshakes at sugar cube corned so I can say how I feel last time was ruined by a brain-freeze incident.
Your friend, Sweetie (The I being dotted with a heart.)" It was dated from last week and was the last entry in her notebook. I close the book and put it in a plastic bag and putting it in my saddlebag.
The next notebook I looked at was a Red notebook with a yellow spine. It was opened to a drawing of Applebloom,Applejack, Big Mac, And Granny Smith In front of their farm, Next to it a small entry.
"Dear Journal, Howdy! How've ya been? I've been great! Just today I finally got to help Granny make some great apple jam! I didn't get a cutie mark though...but i had a lot of fun with granny!
last night it was really strange I saw sweetie writing in her dairy day dreaming or something, and when i asked whats up she freaked out and slammed it close blushing. I think she has a coltfriend~
However it was really strange. We had a sleep over in the fort and smelled something like smoke, We all figured it was Big Mac making some hay-burgers but it was very late. we shrugged off the smell thinking we were dream smelling.
Thats all for now! -Applebloom" It was dated from last week,The day after Sweeties last entry.
"Smoke?Hmm...what were they smelling?" I asked myself putting the notebook in the same bag and then my saddle bag.
The last notebook I grabbed was one that was blue with Rainbow Dash's cutie mark drawn onto it. open to a page with a drawing of scootaloo flying with Rainbow Dash, And a dairy entry dated the day before they went missing.
"Hey Journal, Today I got to watch Rainbow Dash do her tricks! She did a loop-da-loop corkscrew and ended in a sonic rainboom! It makes me feel sad though because I can't fly...yet. I will someday be in the clouds with her!
Also last week we spent the night in the tree house and we kept smelling smoke that night, Sweetie just said they must me smelling things but i could have swore i smelled it while I was at the park...And i keep smelling it! The girls haven't noticed but I'm smelling it as i write this....hmm maybe i'll look through the girls' Dairies later when they go out to see if i can find some clues...I may get my mark as a detective and I could work with Dusty and Keen! Anyway I have to go, We're going to "Sore Saddle Street" to check a shop out and maybe get a part time job!
-Cutie mark crusader detective, Scootaloo"
I liked her detective comment,However that mention of the smoke again bothered me...I snapped out of it when I heard somepony behind me. "Hey what are y'all doing?!" I turned and saw it was Big Mac.
"Oh hello 'Big Mac' Am I correct? I'm keen and-" I was suddenly cut off by his booming voice.
"I don't care who you are! Why are you in my sisters clubhouse?!" He demanded a answer.
I started stuttering like a idiot feeling intimidated by his stature. "W-Well you see I-I-" I'm cut off again by a voice.
"Big Mac take it easy! This is keen He's here to find lil Applebloom." I see Applejack creep into the club house.
Big Mac looks at me, His eyes watering. "Oh I-I'm sorry...find anything yet?" He asked.
I looked up to the ceiling. "Well, not exactly..." I looked at the wood and paused. "Say...random question. What kind of wood is this clubhouse made of?" I asked.
They looked at me confused. "Apple Ceder, Why?" Applejack asked.
"Because apple ceder doesn't have a musty smoky smell that's in this room..."
I hear Kusty shout out to me from outside the back window. "Hey Keen! I found something you may want to check out!"
I nod to Applejack and Big Mac as I pass them "Excuse me for a moment..." I walked out to where dusty was and saw him looking at the ground. In front of him I saw scattered outside the window Ciggartte butts... "That can explain the smoke..." I stand in front of the pile and look up and I could see into the clubhouse perfectly. I froze in horror as I realized this monster was watching them sleep for a week. I look closer to the butts and see red stripes along them. "Flim-Flam brand..." I say standing up.
Dusty looked at me confused. "Flim-Flam? you mean those con-stallions make cigarettes now?" He asked.
"They always have, How do you think they get money for the scams? you haven't heard of these because they are a pain in the flank to find in ponyville." I say taking a butt in my hoof. "These were banned in the streets of ponyville,Mostly because of a little flaw...You see if you blow to sharply these fire out a fountain of embers starting house fires..." I say throwing the butt back in the pile.
I stand back up. "I know of a few places that sell these, Sly's shop is one of them..." I start walking back inside to finish looking through the clubhouse. "Bag those and we'll go to Sly's..." I call out as I walk back in.
"I'm back. Thank you for you're cooperation, And I swear I will find your sister." I say in a reassuring tone to Applejack and Mac.
Big Mac looked up me. "And make sure you find the asshole that took her from us..." I nod to his request.
"Nothing would make me happier, and he will be brought to justice; even if it kills me." I respond.
They both gave me their thanks and walked out of the clubhouse giving me a chance to search more.
I scan the room for anything more to help before I notice something under the table. A small golden flint lighter sat there that the scum had been inside the clubhouse...I trot up and take it in my hoof and notice that it had some rubies on it making it shine, All genuine. I Bagged it after looking over it. "Hey, Dusty you got those bagged up?" I call out.
he peeks his head in the window. "Every single one Keen."
"Good,Now let's go see good ol' Keen..." I say walking towards the door. I close it behind me and walk around the clubhouse to join Dusty.
we remain quite until leaving the orchard, the first to break the silence was Dusty. "So, find anything inside?" he asked.
I nod as I shiver at the temperature dropping as the sunsets. "A few notebooks,The fillies noticed the smoke. However,Scootaloo mentioned that the smoke followed them. So im figuring that who ever we're dealing with was watching them for at least a week. I had also found a golden lighter. It wasn't cheap so it was either stolen or this pony has money." I say to him as we walk.
We slowly approach Sly's little shop and see him lounging at his desk through the glass door. as we enter we smell smoke and we see him smoking a cigarette...Flim-Flam brand...
Sly looked up to us with a smokey smile. "Oh,Hello. How may I help you gentlecolts today?" He asked as his eyes went down to see Dusty's badge.
"Well, we're from the P.V.P.D. and we came here to ask you a few questions." Dusty said.
"Ask away officers." Sly said as he flicked the ash off his cigarette.
"Well, first off you can tell us if you've seen the Cutie Mark Crusaders as of late." I say walking forward with Dusty.
Sly sat back in his chair pondering with his hoof on his chin for a moment. "Hmmm, oh you mean those three little fillies? I saw them yesterday at around noon, why do you ask?" He asked as his cigarette burned further down with a deep inhale.
"Well you see Sly, they went missing yesterday. After speaking to you of course." I inform him not telling him he was suspected.
"Oh? Well I'm sorry to hear that. You want me to keep my eyes open for them then?" He asked.
I turn around swiftly looking at his inventory of pornography. "Well, we wanted to ask a few questions as to why they were here yesterday. As you well know this isn't exactly a place for young little mares; now is it?" I saw picking up a hardcore bdsm DVD from the shelf.
"Hey, they came in just wanting some help with a cutiemark, I told them they can't be in here and asked them to leave." He defended.
"And what did they ask exactly?" I asked putting back the DVD and moving down the shelves.
"I can't remember, I was a bit hungover from the night before. Something about how I got my mark." He said referencing his bold 'XXX' cutie mark as he put out his cigarette in his ash tray crammed with butts.
"Hmm, Anything about working?" I asked looking at him out of the corner of my vision.
"Eh, Maybe. I of course turned them down." He answered taking another cigarette out and putting it between his lips.
"Well before they left did they mention where they were going?" I asked taking out my notepad.
"I think I heard them talking about going to 'Shady Corner' that arcade down the street from the burger shop." He said taking a puff of smoke as I walked closer to the counter.
"Also, Might I ask where you get your smokes?" I asked looking at the near empty cigarettes display on his counter.
"I get a supply from Flim and Flam ever week or so. Why do you ask?" He questioned looking at me.
"Oh, Just wondering how you get them. May I buy a pack?" I asked as I heard Dusty's jaw drop behind me.
Sly smiled. "Of course! Their two bits a pack." He said excited to make a sale.
I went into my bag and pulled out a couple bits and paid him promptly. I took the pack of cigarettes and throw them in my bag.
"Anything else?" Sly asked.
"Yes, May I possibly see your sale records?" I said nonchalantly.
Dusty looked to me confused as to where I was going with this, but remained silent. "I can't, I keep a strict privacy policy for my patrons." Sly informed me as he fiddled with his lighter to get his smoke lit.
I looked at the lighter noticing it was a plain silver flint lighter that was rather beat up, and worn. "I can understand, However I do request that we see them." I politely demand.
"sure you can look at them...Once I see a permit." He said blankly as his cigarette lit and a wisp emitted from its end.
I sigh. "Fine, We'll get our permit. Last question. How much was that lighter?" I asked curious.
"Five bits, Why?"
"I collect lighters and I was just wondering, Where did you get it?" I inquired.
"I bought it from Flim and Flam." He answered a bit confused.
"Thank you. Hope you have a good day, Sly." I say as trot past a confused Dusty Prints. He gathers his thoughts and nods to Sly as he leaves with me.
Dusty looked to me. "What was all that about? And you smoke!?" He asked.
"Narrowing down our suspects,I don't think Sly had anything to do with it. And I don't smoke, I got the pack for something else." I said as we walked down the cobble street.
"And how do you figure that? We saw he was smoking flim-flams." He pointed out, Not asking about the cigarettes.
"Yes,But did you notice the lighter? The one at the club house was a nice expensive lighter. His was five bits and it looked worn." I said looking through my notes.
"So?" He asked tilting his head.
"Well, If he was able to afford a gold lighter why would he buy one for five bits?" I questioned.
"Maybe he has more than one?" Dusty answered as he shrugged.
"Smokers in Ponyville only have one lighter, And only buy lighters when they lose one; Now the age of the lighter showed he had it a while. Plus his cigarette stock was low; What that means is he hadn't got in his new stock, which means he hadn't seen Flim and Flam for at least a week." I explained.
"Okay? what why would that matter?" Dusty asked scratching his long black mane.
"It matters because lets say that lighter at the scene was his okay?" I said as Dusty looked at me.
"Okay."
"Well if he lost it yesterday there isn't a way he could buy a new lighter from Flim and Flam as they wern't in his shop lately; If they were he would have had more smokes." I said.
Dusty looked at me. "Good point, But what if he bought it somewhere else?" He asked.
"Hard to get lighters in Ponyville, Only places that sell them are Flim and Flam, a few shops in northern Ponyville, Or the convince store clear across town. However, The only places in his price range are Flim and Flam and the convenience store " I stated as I put my notes in my bag.
"Okay, that all makes sense, But why did you want to see his sale records?" He asked.
"Well, our foalnapper is a heavy smoker, so they would be a regular buyer,If they buy from that shop we could find out the times they go in,or if they use credit their address." I stated as I shivered.
"What if they don't buy from Sly?" He asked.
"Well, That's why we find out what shops sell them." I said.
"And we do that how?"
"We get the info from the suppliers themselves." I said in a dry tone.
"You mean the brothers?" Dusty asked.
"Yep, Now you go find them and try to get them in for questioning,or a copy of the records for the orders. Also pick me up a five bit lighter." I requested.
"Huh? Where are you going?" He asked me as I started walking to the burger shop.
"First; Some burgers, I'm fucking starving, And second; I'm going to ask the owner of the arcade for any info." I said walking off.
"Good luck Keen, I'll meet you at the station." He said. I thanked him as we parted ways and I walked towards my destination.