Investigating comes with its own dangers, but investigating in a world where vampires, and other creatures, walk free makes it even more so. Still, I have a job to do, and I shall endure, after all I am Rarity!
Investigating comes with its own dangers, but investigating in a world where vampires, and other creatures, walk free makes it even more so. Still, I have a job to do, and I shall endure, after all I am Rarity!
A Supernatural and Urban Fantasty Noir Detective thriller set in an Anthro version of Equestria, what could be better? Perhaps seeing our favorite ponies presented in slightly different ways, ways that show them being true to themselves, but showing a different side we didn't know existed.
(Image belongs to Novaspark, please, check out Nova's amazing work.)
The room was dark, dark as the heart of the night, and that wasn't the way it should have been. I had left a lamp on near my desk, but instead of the soft glow of a golden bulb there was nothing.
I instantly thought about turning around and leaving. This was bad news, and I knew it was.
"Rarity?"
A soft curse left my lips. I didn't say it loud enough to be heard, after all, I am a lady, but I still said it none the less. A bit would end up in the jar at some point today.
"Hello Suri," I replied.
She was still lovely, in her own way. I could see the darkness move, the form become solid, and I watched as she stood up, walked toward the door frame.
The Supernatural beings had been coming out of the woodwork lately, and with their coming out they had recruited more into their numbers. Suri had joined the vampires.
I could see her fangs, hanging low, pronounced, until she drew them back up into her gum line. She looked at the floor, and I could see that she was wearing last years fashion.
It had obviously been a trendy piece, at some point, but then I had to wonder who she stole the design from.
"Bitter grapes Rarity, forget it, what's in the past is in the past," I thought.
"Rarity... I'm in trouble."
"Trouble, what kind of trouble?"
She looked at the ground, shuffling her left hoof.
"The kind that ends up being really big trouble. I didn't do what they say I did though! I didn't touch that colt!"
"Really, darling?" I scold, "here you are, a big, bad vampire and you are telling me you can’t get out of a teeny bit of bother?"
"Rarity!" Suri cries, "this isn't just any little trifle that just happened! The Canterlot Police think I killed some poor mother's darling!"
"Well, then" I say after getting to grip with the bombshell dropped on my coiffure, "I will have to see if there's anything I can do. Usually, these sorts of things are handled by a vampire's coven, but, given your state of dress, I would assume you are a freelancer. Yes?"
Suri nods.
"Well, then, we shall see what needs to be seen," I state, "I will look into this matter for you. I have a friend or three in Canterlot's Finest; they may be privy to things that will help or hurt in your defense. I do wish to get both sides of the story. IN the meantime, you can hold up here. I don't have any fresh blood on me and neither does my assistant. So, please, if you need to feed at all, it's best to tell me now."
Suri assured me that she had fed, and that if she needed to feed again she had the bits to buy a couple pints of blood from the blood bank.
I prepared to stroll out, but before I left I informed Coco of where the gun with the silver plated bullets were. True, it didn't kill vampires, but it slowed them down, and I've found that slowing them down, and making them heal like a normal pony tended make them a bit more compliant.
The first stop would be the Cider Pit. I didn't really go to bars like this, not often, but a dear friend ran this bar. Applejack had started running the bar with her brother years ago. The two had an open policy with anypony that wanted to drink.
The Cider Pit had relocated several times due to fires, rent control issues, and gentrification, but it's current location on Skid Row was a convenient spot for the clientele her bar attracted. Workmen, roustabouts, warehouse personnel, they all congregated here.
So, too, did the more seedy side of Canterlot's gentry. It wasn't all that uncommon to see the Flim-Flam brothers making shady deals in the Pit's dark recesses, nor now was it unusual to see vampire, ghouls, various paranormal beings, and the occasional witch or wizard to frequent here. Dear Applejack had an open door policy, a policy that stated that if you had the bits, you could drink here.
Unlike many of Canterlot's more upscale speakeasy's, AJ and Big MacIntosh had no qualms about letting the various tribes and other beings mingle. One of AJ's chief customers was a boisterous minotaur pitchman named Iron WIll. The dear has tried to hit on me every time I come here to pump AJ for information; I have had no choice but to shoot him down on every instance.
Walking in I felt something stirring in the air. The kind of soft reminder that danger could be but a breath away. I looked to see Iron Will, but he wasn't paying attention to me, no he was busy talking to a pony that I've known before.
Sound Ray was something of an odd creature. The Vampires, true vampires, were different than the Lunar Pegasi. The Lunar Pegasi could eat nearly anything, and everything, they wished to feed upon, and they were alive.
Sound Ray had been a detective for the Canterlot Police before some evidence was presented that framed him as the one responsible for the disappearance of some very vital evidence from the police evidence vault.
I knew better. Sound Ray was several things, but chief among them was a honest police officer. That badge had cost him more than a few nights of missed sleep.
Maybe it was because we knew each other so well, maybe it was because we had been foalhood friends, but I had the image of Sound that nopony else could ever understand.
"It's a good deal," Iron Will said.
I listened, knowing it was unlady like, but I had to know what Sound was up to.
"May it is, but it's not for me. I don't want to get caught up with that kind of business."
Sound got up, walked toward my seat, and smiled at me. I was here to talk to Applejack, here to find out what I could find out about the happenings in the vampire circles, but fate decided that I was here to talk to Sound.
"How's it going?"
"Oh, I am quite alright, Sound Ray," I replied, "but I do have an interesting case that has quite literally stumbled upon my door?"
"Canterlot's finest and most fashionable private investigator gets a case dropped in her lap?" Ray joked, "Perish the thought."
"I know," I shot back, "but it is important that I get as much background information as possible as I pursue it. It involves a young /wampyre/ mare and a certain young stallion whose life was ended rather recently, and from I gather, violently."
"You think they're looking to nail this vampire wench with murder?" Ray asked and I nodded.
"Well, if that's the case," Ray continued, "then somepony in The Underground may know something. I may to be on the force anymore, but I still have CIs that are willing to trade bits for info."
"Well, as luck would have it, Ray, I just so happen to overburdened by bits this week. Should any of your confidants have anything that will help, I will gladly recompense them."
I'll make sure to pass along the message," Ray said, then he asked, "you looking for AJ?"
I nodded and he added, "She was tending bar a few minutes ago, then I heard some shouting from the back. You might just find her there with her sister. Applebloom is at that tender age where she thinks she knows everything and yet known nothing."
I nodded, Sweetie Belle, my own sister, was much the same way. Sweetie believed that she understood the way the world worked, how things were, but I knew different . My little sister hadn't seen the world for what it was.
I started to get up, but I couldn't help but take a moment to look at Sound. He was the kind of fit that was rare to see on anypony except for Earth Ponies. Years of working out, jogging, early morning flights, and late evening jogs had kept his body in fantastic shape.
He was beautiful, and his crimson eyes looked into my own.
"I was thinking about Nightmare Night," he said.
I knew what he meant. We were fresh out of school, going out into the world, and we spent our first Nightmare Night away from home together. I wish that I could say it was innocent, but then I knew better. I wouldn't say it was a mistake, but I knew it wasn't the right time for it.
Sound agreed, and we remained friends. Smiling, I kissed his cheek, "Thank you Sound, and if any of your 'associates' feel the need to talk to me I will be inclined to share the wealth, as it were."
I walked toward the back where I saw Applejack and her sister.
Applebloom was glaring daggers at her sister. I know I had missed what happened, but I felt it in the air. The anger was still fresh.
"It ain't fair!" Applebloom growled, "Diamond Tiara had it comin'. If'n she an' Silver Spoon had kept their traps shut, she wouldn't sportin' no black eye."
"Now, now, 'Bloom," Applejack rejoindered, "there's a time fer fightin' and there's a time fer bein' civil. That last thing this bar needs is fer one of it's major suppliers to call it quits on account o' /you/ bruisin' his li'l darlin'."
"AJ has a point," Big Mac said, "we are trying to run a business here and as much as it pains you or I to say it, DIamond Tiara is off limits. You may not like her, Hell, you may just want to stuff her down a manticore's maw, but you need to tolerate her. If not for my sake or your sister's sake, but for your Granny's sake. You think Old Granny Smith would want to hear about you fighting in school? A school we pay for so you can can be somepony? I don;t think she intended for you to work this bar."
"Oh, a'ight."
The littlest Apple's shoulders slumped in defeat, and I watched as she walked past me. I knew of Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle told me of her often cruel and vicious sense of humor.
I didn't like the idea that she enjoyed tormenting those around her so much, but her father Filthy Rich was indeed filthy rich, and his family was a major supplier of nearly any business.
I sighed, knowing that eventually karma would catch up to Diamond Tiara, but it just wouldn't be today.
"Applejack, a moment if you please," I said.
She walked toward me, her shirt rolled up showing off her stomach, or lack of one. Much like Sound she had the build of somepony who either worked out or worked very hard.
In her case I knew it was working hard.
"What can Ah do fer ya Rarity?" she asked.
"Well, darling, it seems I have caught a case that is, well, rather sensitive," I answer, "it appears a new client of mine has been accused of murder. She swears she didn't did it, but you see, she is a vampiresand the Canterlot PD has her pegged for the job."
"Ah heard 'bout somethin' like that," AJ replied, "some poor moth'r's darlin' done got hisself drained like a juicebox. Not a pretty thing to hear or see, neither. Why don't you join upstairs and I can go over what Ah've been hearing?"
"Certainly," I concede, "lead on!"
AJ takes me around the bar, after swatting some ill advised hands away from her plot, and leads me up a set of rather narrow stairs. This leads to the business office of the Pit. It's in here where the raucous noise of the workaday stallions and mares below is drowned out by soundproofed walls and enchanted, one way glass.
The door to her office is a fine cherry affair with brass rivets which are merely there for decoration. The door is much heavier than any normal wooden is because it is not a wooden door; it is thick, steel plate with a cherry wood veneer that makes it appear as though the door is weak. Frankly, I've had on occasion had to hit the door with my magic and the portal is as resistant to hard kicks and punches as it is to magic.
Applejack pulls this door open with nary a sweat and allows me inside her office; she closes the door behind her before taking her Stetson hat off her head, unleashing her long and braided blond mane. She uses the Stetson to fan herself before plopping into the delicate grape velvet chair behind her oaken rolltop desk. She kicks her boots off as well and settles into her "usual self."
"You came at just the right time, Rares," AJ breathes, "everypony and their brother is spending any moment they can indoors and with as much company as possible. And they avoid the vampire and ledrfladder like the plague. If you can figure out what get the young colt killed, I would so appreciate it."
"That's the plan darling, but I dare say it has the potential of looking rather bleak. I know the, vampire, from before she was one. She was never the honest sort then," I replied.
"Figure she's playing you?"
I shook my head, "No, I doubt that she's actually drained the colt in question. Not that she may, or may not have done it before, but I do believe she is innocent of this crime," I looked at Applejack as she placed the stetson on the desk and grinned at me, "But I wonder if the police know about her past as well. If they do, then it means she is being framed, and possibly from inside of the police department itself."
Applejack let out a long whistle at that, "That's something you don't want to find. Your boy Sound out there was digging around too, but they got him off of the force. He was a little too well liked to be taken care of, or I reckon he was."
It was true, Sound had been at the end of a very serious framing.
"I got to ask you though, what's the story with him? I know he's interested in you, you are in him, but neither of you have taken it anywhere. If you don't want him... Well, I'm a mare with needs. I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with him."
"Well, it's- rather personal," I evade.
"Come off it, Rares," AJ sternly warns, "I can read you like I read those yahoos downstairs. You're sweet on him but something is holding you back. So what gives?"
"Well, if you must know," I begin, "it has something to do with his mother."
"His mothers?" AJ repeats.
I nod, "His mother, Discreet Sonar, is a member of Princess Luna's elite Night Guard. She has been trying for years now to get her son to marry into another ledrfladder clan, especially one of the clan ladies-in-wait within the Night Guard. He has refused, but his mother insists. She frowns upon any interaction he has with me. We did have a- thing once, but it fell apart. Mostly due to our own inexperience but also to her machinations."
"I'm sorry, Rares," AJ replies, "I know we Terrains have a well documented amount of tribialism, though you won't find that in the Apple Family, but to hear it in other tribes… It's downright tragic, it is."
"True, darling, true," I respond, "but I am over it all. If one day Sound decides to buck his mother's wishes and rekindle our relationship, I shall welcome him. IN the meantime, I have a case to solve."
It was sweet of her to understand, it really was, but this wasn't the time to think about Sound, and what I may, or may not, have with him. We talked, a bit more, and she did say that besides her normal customers either staying at home, or avoiding gathering places where the supernatural was welcomed, was causing a drop in business she did say that she heard a couple of stallions talking.
She explained to me what they looked like, and I walked back downstairs with the intention of seeing if they were there. One of them, a dark gray stallion with a nearly white mane, was nursing a cold cider.
The long scar going down the left side of his face told of an attack some time ago. There was no doubt in my mind, he was a shifter, an unfortunate soul that had been bitten by a were at some point, but it wasn't seeded in him. He didn't look lost, confused, or angry, but he looked stiff, like he was forcing control.
"Good evening," I said.
I'd had practice, so much of it, at making my voice sound like honey. I watched as he turned toward me, his one good eye widening, and a soft smile crossing his lips. The scar was still there, past the lips into the bottom of the jaw.
"Good evening Miss, what brings such a cute little thing like you out here to rough it with us lowlives?"
"Oh, you flatterer," I cooed, "well, I was hoping you could help me with something."
"Anything you ask, sweetheart," the shifter stated, "I will provide."
"How kind of you," I beamed, "though, I am unsure if this is something that would be- no offense, I do hope, beyond your kin?"
The shifter's eyes hardened for a moment before he said, "And just what exactly are you asking that I might find- difficult?"
"Well, you see," I explain, "I am asking if you or anypony you know has come across a being that- well, anybeing that may prefer the lifeblood of young ponies. I don't know if this an area you'd feel comfortable discussing-"
"You mean this is about that poor foal that got himself drained the other night, right?"
"Yes, yes,, I exactly," I beamed once more, "please, if you could tell me anything, even rumors, of what happened that night I would surely make it worth your while."
"Worth my while, you say?" The shifter inquires with a lewd grin and even more salacious gleam in his eye.
I've seen that look before, that certain Gleam in a stallion's, and sometimes a mare's, eyes. The longing look at something they desperately wanted to taste, to feel, to hold, and to control. I was not a trophy, I was not a prize, and I didn't bend over for merely anypony.
"Monetary wise darling," I stated.
He shorted, his gaze taking on one of indifference, "Bits don't matter much to me," he finished his cup, tapped the bar, and I watched as Applejack's brother Big Mac refilled it, "I've got enough for a room, some food, and a few ciders in the evening. I don't need more than that."
"And I'm afraid I am not that kind of lady," I protest, removing my veneer of sultriness, "what do you take me for, some two bit whorse?"
"You would have to be if you came here," the shifter growls, "now come here!"
A swift kick to his groin and a bold uppercut to his jaw send the shifter towards the door.
"Now ya lookie here, varmint!" Applejack shouts, "we ain't some high falootin' fancy speak easy but ya'll ain't got the trust 'round here to mess with mah friend. And if ya knows what's good fer ya, ya'll take yer business elsewheres!"
He got up, uneasily at first, and then I saw it, the glint of danger, what I felt when I first walked in. The growl was something feral, something primal, and it was more than angry. I could see the way his mouth opened that something was happening.
Some of my sources had told me before that when a were changed it was terror, and beauty all at once. With this shifter it was just terror.
Two of his teeth began to change, to grow longer, his muzzle began to stretch, his ribs cracking, breaking, and reforming. His fingers grew thick dark claws out of them, and his hooves, dear Celestia his hooves began to break.
I watched as they broke and the toes of some wild beast began to sprout from them. He was terror, horror, and awful. His growl echoed, and I saw Big Mac grabbing something from under the bar, but it was Sound that reacted first.
The silver dagger was swift, going straight into the shifter's shoulder, and it had a swift reaction. Burning hair and flesh hung thickly.
“AUGH!” The shifter screamed, “It burns! IT BURNS! Take it out!!”
“You tried to attack a friend of mine,” Sound growled, “that stays in until you learn some manners.”
“GAHHH!” The shifter bellowed, tears forming then evaporating as they streaked his burning flesh.
The dagger wasn’t short, and Sound hadn’t been gentle. I could see it, sticking out through the front his shoulder, the shifter was in pain, and while the ruffian had obviously planned on attacking myself and Applejack I felt sorry for him.
“I won’t do it again,” he whimpered, “Please, pull it out, let me go!”
Sound picked him by the back of his neck, carrying him to the exit, and then pulled the dagger out tossing the shifter out into cold unforgiving street.
“If you come back and I find out about it I’ll make a mare out of you, You got it? I will make sure that you don’t have anything to threaten a mare with again! Now get the buck out of here!” he shouted.
I watched as he pushed the shifter forward, the silver dagger sliding out, and the shifter stumbled away from the building. Vampires, Weres, and Shifters all healed slower from silver wounds. It usually took them nearly as long as it did a regular pony to heal up. Maybe that’s why they tended to stay away from anypony who carried a silver weapon, but regardless, I knew that the shifter that had been in here would be laid up for some time. I watched as Sound moved toward us, his leather wings extended fully, his eyes wide, and the scent of musk thick in the air.
He couldn’t help what he was, and I knew that. Sound was a creature that thrived on protecting others, of inflicting violence upon those who deserved it, and it excited him. I prepared to say something, to tell him thank you, but instead his hand found my own, and I was pulled to him. I’m a modern mare, I believe in equal rights for stallions and mares, I believe that anything a mare can do a stallion can do just as well, but there are times that I want wanted to be treated like a mare, to be directed, shown, and taken. Safely of course, not with somepony I didn’t know, but with somepony I trusted. I had so much to do, so much to accomplish, but the moment he kissed me, the moment I felt his lips against my own that slowly dissolved. I could feel his hands moving down my back, feeling my flank, touching my tail, and I had to focus, I had a job, I had to get to work, and despite how wonderful this felt, I knew that there was some things that needed to be addressed.
Gently I pushed back, “Sound, no. I… Celestia above, I love you. I do, but not like this. I have a job to do, and you, you have to decide if you want me, or if you want your clan’s acceptance.”
Sound looked crestfallen after I told him that, but he relented. His hands released me and he stepped back a few paces.
“I’m always going to care, Rarity,” he stated, “forever and ever.”
I gave him a smile, took his hand into my own, and held it, “I know, and when you’re ready, I will be too.”
I kissed his cheek, looked at Applejack, and couldn’t help but see the smug, I told you so smirk on her lips.
“I shall be off, there is much I need to do,” I said.
Walking out I looked at the night sky. There was a few hours before dawn, and I knew of somepony that would have some of the answers I needed. Equestria’s Premier Party Planner, Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie. Her club, ‘Silky Guilty Pleasures’, was a haven for those who claimed to want to party on the dark side. Undoubtedly she would know, or have the contacts that would, what happened with the colt. It was time to move, and I was on the case!
From the outside Silky Guilty Pleasures looked inviting, dark, but inviting. Slowly I made my way up to the steps, and I could see a stallion leaning against the building outside. His shirt was a fishnet number, something that was a little trashy, but it worked well with the club scene. I could sense something about him, something that made me take another look, and I realized what it was. He was a Lunar Pegasus, but he seemed too perfect. It was as if his entire body was too well formed, and I’d seen that kind of thing before.
I looked him over, taking in every single muscle in his form, but it was his wings that attracted me the most. Most vampires didn’t get leathery wings when they transformed. It just didn’t happen, but at the same time there was the fact that their wings lost some luster. A Solar Pegasus’ wings needed sunlight. It helped with certain aspects of their magic, and without it they began to look slightly drab. I’d seen several that had tried different things to enhance them. Some would wear little metal feathers that had to be woven into the feathers of one’s wings.
Doing so would bring a cascade of colors, and it would give the illusion of beauty. There were others thought that would use some of their newfound vampiric powers to put a simple glimmer over themselves. It would be something any unicorn could see through, if they were trying, but it was certainly enough to pull off passing as a normal Solar Pegasus at a glance. The vampire here though wasn’t a Solar Pegasus. He had been a Lunar Pegasus, and his fangs were even more pronounced than his solar cousins. I watched as they shortened, his slitted eyes watching me, taking in my curves, and I felt him undressing me in his mind.
I could tell he was guessing what I looked like under my coat, my dress, and my fedora. I continued walking, not wanting to garner more of his attention, but then almost as if it had happened in an instant he had moved from his leaning against the wall to standing in front of me. I could see the mossy green of his eyes, smell the coppery peppermint scent of his breath.
“Such a lovely mare as yourself surely needs an escort,” he said.
I shook my head, headed inside but at once was blocked again by the vampyre bouncer.
“Young miss,” the vampyre cooed, “as much as it pains me to see, such an attractive and graceful filly as yourself might find yourself- accosted by the regulars here. I am more than willing to offer my protection while patronize our establishment.”
“No thank,” I sang, “I am already well acquainted with this place and I have all the necessary precautions in case I manage to elicit any unwarranted attention. Now would you ever so kindly be a dear and let me pass? Pinkie Pie will be most upset if one her employees accosted her favorite guest.”
That caught the bouncer off guard and his face went from roguishly handsome to utter dumbfounded. When I pressed on, he offered no resistance. I stepped past him, through to the booth, paid my honorarium at the entrance kiosk and waltzed in. I could see the darkened room, lit mostly by black light and the strobing stage lights of Canterlot’s finest remixer, DJ-Pon3. Out on the main floor, bodies writhed in syncopated rhythm, marching to their personal oblivion to with drink, wubs, and the opposite sex. Six out of every ten ponies here were vampyre, it didn’t take my detective eyes to see that,
Faint blue eyes slowly radiated from the back, bouncing to a rhythm on their own. This pair circled the bar, heading toward the front, cascading everyone in a pulsating, springing beat. Faster, louder, and more hypnotic than the last. It complimented DJ-Pon3’s distinct style, albeit, it was never one that I was ever fond of.
I didn't need the distraction, I needed to talk to Pinkameana Diane Pie. Moving forward I saw her. On the Dance Floor, her straight mane reaching to the small of her back, her hips swaying to the music, and her dress leaving little to the imagination. She turned toward me, her smile widened.
"Rarity!" She moved toward me, kissing my cheek, and I felt the brush of her fangs; I am loathe to say that I bristled feeling the elongated cuspids of one my best friends.
"Oh, don't be like that," she cooed.
I didn't want to feel differently. I really didn't. Pinkamena had her reasons for what she had done. It wasn't my place to judge.
"I’m so sorry, Pinkie. Even after all this time, it still bothers me. I hope can forgive. In any case, I need to talk to you," I said.
She nodded, informed a gentle colt to watch the floor, and together we went to her office. Pinkie’s “command center,” as she is so fond of calling it, lays on the second floor of her disco, and as such, as a spectacular view of the dance floor as well having some of the best soundproofing in all of Equestria. Given what I know of my effervescent, pink vampyre friend, I do say it was needed; she and her consort can get up to all sort of shenanigans and their escapades are so lurid and sonorous, that even with this excellent soundproofing, they can still be heard.
Pinkie plopped herself in an overstuffed Neighpolese chair, crushed red velvet on ark oak, and asked, "What's the case, ace?"
I looked at her. Pinkamena did have a tendency of knowing things she shouldn't. She was this clairvoyant before she turned and it only became more pronounced after.
"I'm investigating the colt that was killed," I replied.
She looked away from me, "It wasn't one of mine, but you know that don't you?"
“Most certainly, Darling,” I affirmed, “you have your coven on a tight leash.”
“Everything in the name of fun!” Pinkie giggled, “but seriously, it wasn’t one of mine. We stay out of that district after 3AM.”
“Why is that, darling?”I inquired, “I thought that was prime feeding ground?”
“It was, until Lunar Pegasi decided to open up a pub down there,” Pinkie answered, “those fillies and colts are hardcore. They made it especially clear that we’re not welcome.”
“Well, that’s rather odd,” I commented, “most of the Lunar Pegasi I’ve encountered don’t mind the supernatural among us. Why would these ponies do so?”
“I dunno,” Pinkie said with a shrug, “all I know is, these jerks were being mean to us. We’ve never fed of somepony unless they grant permission, and we never drain a body. We may take a quart here and a quart there, but my first rule of feeding is never leave them weak. I always make sure my coven members carry bottles of orange juice and fresh cookies to keep the drained hydrated and their blood sugar elevated!”
“And it’s usually so much better to bring them here,” said a new voice in the room, a stallion’s voice.
“Hey, Cheesy!” Pinkie beamed to an orange stallion in a poncho, faded denim jeans, and a sombrero, just emerging from the back room, “have a good nap?”
“I guess so,” Cheese Sandwich said, “I missed you, though, so I ended up tossing and turning for an hour. Now I’m hungry.”
“Aw, poor Cheesy!” Pinkie cooed, “well, it just so happens I have primo stuff, right here!”
“Oo, is it AB Negative?” Cheese asked.
“Like I would let my darling consort feast on substandard far!” Pinkie exclaimed and she reaches into a drawer on her office desk to produce a blood pouch, which then tosses to the hungered Cheese Sandwich; I flinch a little as his fangs pierce the plastic of the bag and slurps the life fluid form it in ecstatic fashion.
She looked back toward me, and I could see the way Pinkie’s eyes glistened that she knew something, something I needed to know. But I knew the rules. All information, even among friends, came with a price. Pinkie didn’t need bits. Luna knew she didn’t need them, but I knew something she wanted. I breathed out, knowing that I’d have to do it, and at least I could rest assured that at least it was for a good friend.
“I’m sure you remember Suri.”
The statement was that, just a statement, and such a small detail was something that would be freely given.
“Of course, she likes to come in here every so often. Usually to find a fresh partner,” she replied.
“Pinkie, did she come in last night? Was she here at all?”
I watched as she reached into a cupboard, and from it she pulled what looked like a fresh Cupcake. It looked decadent, full of calories, and most likely containing more sugar than anything its size should.
“I’ll gladly tell you, if you tell me how this tastes,” she cooed.
I looked at the desert, readied myself, and reached for it. It felt warm, most likely still fresh, and I lifted it up. The smell of the frosting hit me first. That wonderful mix of sugar and cream that made up buttercréme frosting. It was swirled around in a kaleidoscope of greens, blues, and reds. On the top a single cherry sat, with what looked like a bit of cherry flavored gel running down the side to produce a single tear. The body of the cupcake was riddled with bright and colorful sprinkles, gentle reminders of its innocent nature, and each one damning the mare who ate it to adding inches to her thighs and flank. Smiling, I plucked the cherry from the top, licked it, and tasted the artificial with the real.
The real was a delightful cherry from Cherries Jubilee’s farm, but the fake, oh, that was something only my friend could make. I licked up the side of it, taking the taste, and then I plopped it into my mouth. I rolled it around on my tongue, taking in the tangy and sweet taste. Using my teeth I separated the stem from the cherry, chewed a bit, swallowed, and then for an extra measure I tied the steam before I removed it.
“There was a sweet and tangy taste, almost like one would imagine the taste of a lover. A gentle reminder of how fleeting and passionate it could be,” I replied.
She watched as I licked the frosting off. Sweet didn’t begin to describe it. It was rich, flavorful, and beyond sweet. I worried for a moment that I may go into a diabetic coma from the sweetness of it. Still, I could taste the faint taste of blueberries, raspberries, and just a hint of mint. Somehow it worked perfectly to create a cooling, yet satisfying topping to the cupcake itself. I looked at her, a gentle smile on my face.
“There’s a hint of blueberries, some raspberries, and a cooling mint, but it reminds me of the day I first stepped into your bakery. That little one you had on the second floor of my old building. It tastes like somepony who takes great pride in their work, and puts love into their creation.”
She gave me a sad smile, and I finally bit into the cupcake itself. It was moist, chewy, the center had been filled with caramel and chocolate, and it tasted like paradise. I glanced at her, “It’s by far the best cupcake I’ve ever tasted Pinkie. It’s a masterpiece of decadent delights, and you should be proud of it.”
She leaned back, and looked at the now empty napkin that once held the cupcake, “Thank you,” she looked up at me, her blue eyes shining happily, “Suri hasn’t been in the club for about two weeks, but she is a regular, and for that reason I’ve had Lemon Hearts go check on her. Yesterday Lemon didn’t come into work. I’m not sure what Suri is caught up in, but one of my employees are missing. Rares, we’re friends, we’ve always been friends, and I’m asking as a friend if you’ll help me find Lemon Hearts.”
I nodded, rose up, and hugged Pinkie again. She once more kissed my cheek, her fangs nowhere to be felt this time. I hate to admit that it made me feel better, but it did. It was almost like being able to hug her before she became one of the undead. I felt a gentle tug on my tail and I let out a soft whimper.
“My door is always open to you, Rares,” she said before she released me from the hug.
I walked back out into the club, and around me I could smell the thick scent of musk. I wasn’t a naive little filly, and I knew very well what happened in any club that had dark corners or enclosed booths. Ponies, regardless of being weres, shifters, vampires, or anything else still were servants of their biology. While I couldn’t see it, I could hear and smell it. Soft moans of pleasure, gentle gasping breaths that came from the sensation of being filled to capacity. Combine what I smelled, what I heard, and what Pinkie had done before I left her office I knew I needed to get out.
I hated that my body was betraying me in such a way, that there was a growing dampness spreading in my core, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long until I’d long for a bit of time alone, to comfort the needful part of me. I reached the door, seeing that the bouncer was nowhere to be seen, and I felt thankful for that. I moved out into the night, but to say that I was no longer affected would be a terrible lie. The effect of the everything that happened in Silky Guilty Pleasures was still affecting me.
I needed to return to my office, or go home, either place and get somewhere that I could attend to this. I had been in there too long, been around all of that frenzied sexual energy for too long, and it had done more than its job. I was panicking now, my body desperately looking for relief that might never come. I had to keep my head together, think this through, and take it one step at a time. I was a lady, and that meant that I was refined. I walked forward, keeping my eyes on the path in front of me, trying to picture every unattractive thing I could think of, and then, I felt something.
I stopped, knowing I had bumped into somepony, and I saw him. Sound looked a little surprised, or he did until I saw him sniffing the air. I studied him, the muscular chest, arms, and legs that I knew so well. Before a word could escape him I found myself kissing him, He wrapped me into his arms, his leathery wings wrapping around me, and I felt the gentleness of a touch I knew could be harder than steel.
“Rares?”
“Sound,” I moaned, barely keeping my voice to low whisper, “I need, Luna above, I need you.”
He walked with me, heading toward his apartment in the seedier part of Canterlot. Each step the desperate need burned away between my thighs. I managed to keep myself from sounding like a filly during her first estrus. I had never, ever so badly wanted to see the inside of Sound’s small studio apartment. I saw the door, something I’d seen quite some time ago, before we’d both decided to step back. The green paint was peeling, the old brass numbers that indicated his room number 4-B looked tarnished, yet that old green door looked like the gateway to pleasures everlasting at this point.
He opened the door, and once inside my hands found the hem of his shirt, pulling it up, revealing the abs of a colt I had loved, and to be honest still loved with all of my heart. I ran my tongue up the crevice between the valley of his abs up until I was once again at the hem of his shirt.
It came off with a flick and then I found my coat disappearing. I couldn’t focus enough on my magic to remove my dress, but instead Sound did it. His hands gently unsnapping the simple clasp that was on the back of my neck. I felt the material fall down, heard the zipper right above my tail, and then I felt my dress fall to the ground.
I’ve prided myself on the fact that I didn’t become stagnant. I took great care to keep in shape, and I did enjoy that my posterior and my breasts had some weight and bounce to them. At that moment I realized that Sound seemed to share my feelings. His hands gently touched my exposed breasts. I felt him hold them, like the most wonderful treasures he’s ever felt or seen, and then he leaned down and kissed my right breast. His tongue snaked out and found my nipple, suckling it into her maw.
I felt him gently tugging on my left between his finger and thumb, but I didn’t need anymore foreplay. I wanted him, I needed him inside of me, and I intended to have it. I pushed him back, moved to my knees, and found the delight I was after. His jeans opened, his zipper pulled down, and I saw that Sound was wearing nothing underneath. He hung long, thick, and incredibly heavily. I reached in and felt it pulse in my hand as it began to come to life. Opening my mouth I licked the head of it, feeling him shudder from my touch.
Slowly I took him inside of my mouth, tasting his musk, feeling him becoming thicker and longer. My fingers moved down, finding my core, exploring myself, moving with need and purpose. I needed relief, but I wouldn’t be so selfish as not want to give relief to the one helping me. I felt his hands, gentle, but strong, lift me up, stopping what I was doing.
“Rares..”
I nodded, leaning over his old card table that served as his dinner table. I felt him, huge, thick, and veiny enter me. He pushed forward and I couldn’t stop the lewd moan that escaped my lips. One of his hands rested on my cutie mark, the other grabbed my tail, and then he pushed forward. I felt full, so completely full, and so stretched out. He pulled back, his thickness leaving me empty, and then filling me back in the most delightful way.
Our bodies began to move, but where Sound was trying to be gentle I changed the tempo. I didn’t want a gentle lover right now. I wanted a savage one. I wanted to be rutted with abandon, to be given it hard and fast, over and over again. Realizing what I wanted, what I needed, Sound began to thrust into me in a way that made my head spin. My entire body bounced and bobbed with each thrust, I felt him testing the very limits of my core, seeing how much it could take, and I loved it. He pulled me up, grabbing a breast and squeezing it.
“Mine,” he growled.
“Yours…” I moaned.
He thrust harder, causing me to reach the very peak of my orgasm, “Mine,” he growled again and this time I felt the gentle graze of a fang on my shoulder. I’d learned what it meant after the first time, and I didn’t care. I didn’t care a bit that he was marking me, that to him I was his mare.
I felt him thrust hard as I pushed back and I felt him fill me with his seed. It felt so thick and hot. I fell forward, feeling so exhausted, and so satisfied. I barely noticed him lifting me up. Instead I nuzzled my cheek against his bare chest. I felt myself being lain on top of something, and then I felt Sound lying down beside me. His powerful arms wrapping around me. Darkness claimed me, and for the moment I was a mare, happy, content, and with her stallion.
The feeling of the bright morning sun shone through the dirty window. Slowly I began to blink awake, uncertain of why my curtains weren’t doing their job, or why my windows had gotten so dusty. Then I felt a familiar, and well sculpted, body behind me. A wing covered me, holding me tightly, and I looked at was going on. Sound was in bed with me, I was nude, my core ached, my hips were sore, and I smelled strongly of sex.
I groaned as I lay there. The Club, Memories flooded my mind with the stench and cacophony of sex, so many bodies intertwined with each other. The moaning and panting, it got to me. I remember blindly walking down Canterlot’s streets, irrespective of where I was heading; bumping into Sound Ray; the glorious rutting. Yes, it all came back, not unlike one’s torrid escapades after a night of drunken debauchery. I wasn’t the kind of mare to do such things, but last night…
Sound stirred as I fought with Celestia’s Sun. He wrapped his chiseled arms even tighter over my form, his wings drew tighter to my frame and I sensed him smelling my neck, dipping his muzzle into my mane. It drew a giggle out of me, He blew a snort into my ear which made me giggle even louder. I never understood how he could bring the little filly in me, but he did so on a regular basis. This is one of the reasons why I valued his friendship and why I wished he wouldn’t have his mother’s harping on about bloodlines and his family obligations.
“Good morning, Rares,” Sound said, “I have to say, last night was- amazing.”
I smiled at Sound Ray, only half convinced last night actually happened, “Well, I have been know to be spontaneous every now and then.”
“Says the mare who walks into a vampyre’s coven without so much as a hair out of place,” Sound retorts, “my family and I may be ledrfladder, but I swear, you have more guts than the entire Night Watch altogether.”
I titter at his words, not really thinking myself the hero he claims I am, “Oh, Sound! Silky Guilty Pleasures is a business one of my friends runs.”
“No. Way.” Sound replies, an incredulous look upon his face, “you mean to tell me you are friends with Pinkamena Diane Pie?!”
“Why yes, of course,” I answer, “I knew her before she became a vampire.”
“Wow,” Sound gasped, “my marefriend is friends with the most powerful vampyre in Canterlot, if not Equestria.”
I felt any words I was going to say get caught in my throat. Marefriend, he called me his marefriend. I’d wanted to be with Sound so badly, I wanted him to reject his mother’s insistence on pure bloodlines, and on his obligations to his family to take his rightful place as a Lunar Guard. I’d wanted that for so long, but I had slowly accepted that while I loved him, deeply, Sound stood by his family and nothing short of death would stop that. I am not sure I could empathize. As much as I love Mother, Father, and Sweetie Belle, I could never put my family above all else. For the ledrfladder, though, family comes before everything, even love.
“Oh, please, Sound,” I deflect, “in case you haven’t forgotten, I have the favor of both Princesses Celestia and Luna; I am also a close, personal friend of Princess Twilight. I have plenty of powerful friends.”
I looked at him, seeing how he looked in the daylight, I didn’t question how I felt. I knew how I felt. I did question if what we did might have been too fast, too soon, and too much. I wanted him, that was absolutely true, but… I leaned my head against his chest. The Club, DJPon3, the magic mixed with everything happening, it had created a primitive lust spell. It wasn’t something that would make a pony do anything they wouldn’t normally do, it wasn’t directed to want or need a certain pony.
It meant that I would have done this with Sound Ray, that I would have given myself to him, and I knew that. He started to say something, and I stopped him with a kiss. A small, simple, but passionate kiss. I loved him, and I hated myself a little for wanting to make him do something that would like cutting an arm or a wing off. I wouldn’t be a mistress, I wouldn’t be a kept mare, and I knew he knew that.
“Wow,” he said.
“I have to go,” I replied.
“Rares? What’s wrong?” he asked.
I looked at him, hoping that my eyes weren’t betraying me, and I gave him a soft, sad smile, “I’ve got work to do, and I’m in a desperate need of a shower.”
He grinned, slowly letting go of me, “If it’s a shower you’re needing I have one here, I’m even willing to share with such a beautiful mare.”
I felt his wings move, uncovering our naked forms, his arms slowly relaxed, and I began to crawl over him. The movement told me that Sound had rutted me hard and fast. My hips felt like they desperately needed to be stretched and popped, but it was the satisfying soreness between my thighs, in my core, that made me realize how deeply Sound had went inside of me. It felt amazing, and despite my best efforts I was walking a little bowlegged. I knew that Sound was a gentlestallion, and he wouldn’t laugh at my situation, but I could almost feel a confident smirk radiating off of him.
We made it to his bathroom, and I was surprised. I had helped him pick out much of the decor for it, although I had never actually applied any of it to the bathroom itself. It was there, all of it, and I was stunned. The walls were a lovely violet with gold trim, there was a painting of Luna holding a moon, and staring at it with an expression of complacency. The curtains were a royal purple, and then there was his bath towels. They set it off perfect being a softer purple than the curtain.
He’d applied everything I helped him pick out perfectly. I heard the groaning of the old pipes, and the illusion of a perfect Bathroom was lost, but it was still exceptionally beautiful. He started the shower, offered it to me, and before I could close the curtain he stepped in behind me. The warm water cascading from the shower head, dousing myself and Sound. I gathered a loofah from the rack within the shower and poured some body wash on to; Sound had done the same with a similar some shampoo into his hand. While I scrubbed my front, he was massaging a copious amount of the shampoo into my mane.
His attentiveness to my coiffure was so thorough that I did not want to disturb as I washed my legs. So, raising up one so I could scrub it down, I set cleaning my lower half. Even though I did bend a little to reach my lower extremities, Sound was able to move with me, using his very agile fingers to massage my scalp. This was the sort of treatment I expected at the spa, and here I was, getting it from my foalhood friend. A foalhood friend with which I had coitus the night before. That last thought came to me as I was washing around my marehood; I can neither confirm nor deny the loofah was anywhere near my labia.
The fire in my loins that Sound had so masterly put out was starting to set itself ablaze again. Thankfully, unlike the previous evening, it was amuch more manageable flame than before. Still there was a certain intimacy we were sharing, and in a way it felt stronger than what had happened last night. His hands moved, after getting my mane, and I felt him move down to my tail. Once again his powerful, but gentle, hands gripped it. I felt him working in a lather, slowly working it into my tail. I leaned against the wall, My right hand supporting me as I let him work the shampoo into a lather.
He stopped, moved up, and I felt something being worked into my back. I let out a soft moan as he did this. I felt him lean forward, his chest touching my back, the warmth of his breath on my skin.
“I love you Rares,” he said.
It caught me off guard. I did feel the same, I loved him, still love him, but everything inside told me that it wasn’t going to work. Sound’s mother, his clan, everything would work against any kind of future we might ever have. And it didn’t matter, because right now I was here, and even if it was for a short time I couldn’t be dishonest with myself or Sound. Doing so would be selfish, and I’ve never been one to be overly selfish.
“I love you too,” I whispered.
I felt him, his chest, his arms, the way he was hugging me, and how it made me feel so wonderful. Then I felt another part of him that he had used quite wonderfully last night.
I trembled in anticipation as he touched me. His hands moved down my sides, and I felt him kiss my neck. His hands moved up back up, finding my breasts, caressing them, and I moaned softly. I felt the soft kisses, the gentle touches, and unlike last night this was what I wanted. I wanted to be made love to. I wanted him to take the time, and I wanted to take the time. This wasn’t a lust filled sexual experience, it was more than that.
He moved one hand down, finding my netherlips, stroking a finger along them, letting it dip in slightly, just enough to tease, to promise, and to begin cultivating my need into something deeper. I backed against his most wonderful thick shaft. I felt it moving in between my thighs, and dared a look.
It was like all of Sound, beautiful in the way it was formed, desirable in the way it was presented, and powerful in its own right. I longed to have him back inside of me, of feeling so full, but I wanted it coupled with feeling loved. He’d marked me last night, and this morning his fang gently touched the same spot. I didn’t feel him attempting to mark me again, but instead it was almost as if he was enjoying the feeling of the place he had marked. He pulled back his turgid member sliding out from between my thighs. I felt it move, align, and then press against my entrance. He wasn’t rough, but instead he entered gently. His strength was being used to protect me once more, and I leaned against him, my still soapy body sliding along his, my hands on the wall, my tail moved out of the way.
His thrusts were building a tempo, a dance, and one that I was only too happy to match. Last night’s dance had been rough, hard, the dance of a mare and stallion buzzed and needing relief, but this dance, oh, it was the dance of lovers. I felt the tenderness of his hands as he moved them to my cutie marks, I felt his chest leave me, and I didn’t want that. I pulled away, his eyes growing wide, and then I stepped up to him.
“Lift me,” I said.
His eyes shined with understanding, and I felt him lift me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he lowered me onto my prize once more. I pulled myself against him, feeling the bond between us growing. Whatever happened after today, I would be so thankful for this. I would be so blessed that we finally truly found one another. I buried my muzzle into his neck, stifling the moan that threatened to escape me. I was so sensitive, and a little sore, but that soreness was giving away to bliss.
He began to move faster, our bodies meeting each other with each thrust, and I felt his powerful arms around me, the wall of the shower on my back, and I dug my fingernails into his. He grunted as I did this, this thrusting becoming a little harder, a little faster, and I pulled my head back as I let moan escape me.
“You’re my mare,” he said.
I felt myself clench, my orgasm overcoming me, and I felt him empty himself into me. I breathed hard, slowly coming down from the wonderful climax, “And you, you are my stallion.”
I kissed him deeply as the warm water ran down my back, to my tail, and then found his legs. Slowly he pulled me up and off of his turgid member. I found my feet, and for a few moments I was uncertain if I could truly stand. After a few moments we looked at each other. I would certainly be lying if I was to claim that we did saved water. In truth, I’m sure that we drained quite a bit of the water already. We dried off, using those plush light purple towels, and then together we walked back to his bedroom. Part of me wanted to stay here, to be with the stallion I loved, but I did have a job to do, two of them actually, and to be honest I was fairly certain that the two were connected.
I knew Lemon Hearts, but not as well as I would have liked to know her. From my understanding she had worked in the castle doing the event, and party, planning for the Princesses. Being part of Pinkie’s coven, she most likely switched to working for Silky Guilty Pleasures, but I had to figure that she still spent time at the castle. She had been, and still was to my knowledge, a friend of Princess Twilight. Perhaps if Twilight had time I could talk to her and see if Lemon Hearts had said anything to her before she disappeared.
From there I’d have to see where the clues took me. I looked at my dress, realizing that wearing it wasn’t going to happen. It was still a beautiful piece, but it did have several smells on it that I just didn’t want to carry around with me. However, Sound came to my rescue. The clothes were a bit big, but apparently they were his sister’s, and that did explain the backless shirt. I grabbed my coat, and Sound promised to wash my dress for me. I kissed him, thankful for what he was offering to do, thankful that I could trust him, and thankful for the moment we had.
If his mother had any say she’d ensure that our relationship ended. She was a tribalist in the most literal of meanings. I forced myself to not think about it. Regardless of what might happen, of what may come about, I wouldn’t let this bother me. For the moment I would enjoy the feeling of being with Sound. He considered me his marefriend, and Faust help me I believed it as well.
Walking out of his apartment building I could see the morning sun. So many ponies were up and about doing their errands. Thanks to going home with Sound I was able to get some much needed sleep, and of course there had been other wonderful benefits as well. Regardless I could see the complete sympathy of life playing out around me. Ponies doing their work, going about their business, and several of them so unaware of the dangers. I strolled past a small bakery and smelled fresh cinno-buns. The hybrid creation of cinnamon rolls and sticky buns was a breakfast fare only sold in one shop.
If I wanted to see Princess Twilight I would need something to help me get in, and it was rare for any of the guards to make it to Sunrise’s Bakery before it closed. I walked in and saw Sunrise working the counter. The older mare had been in business for an exceptionally long time, and I’d cheated, more than once, on a diet or two when I went into her bakery and ordered a few of her Cinno-buns.
This morning I would be ordering a few more, but I had every intention of ensuring that they made it into the hands of the guards, and not my own. As I walked up to the counter I could see something off. Sunrise always had a smile for each of her customers, but today she looked as if she could barely stand. I neared her and watched as she gave me the faintest of smiles.
“Rarity, it’s been a diamond dog’s age, how are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m fine, but Sunrise, you look as if you’re exhausted, was it that much of a rush this morning?”
She shook her head no, and looked toward the corner. I followed her gaze and saw Orange Marmalade, her grandfilly, sitting there. There was a vacant look on her face, and I could see a fang mark on her. Orange was a gifted little spell caster, and I could only guess whatever had happened she had managed to stop it before it got too bad.
“Vampire?” I asked.
She shook her head, “One of ‘em Lunar Pegasus colts. They were playing, being friends and all, and Orange’s estrus came early this year. I didn’t know it, that colt’s mother didn’t know it, and he tried to go savage on her. He was on her, trying to get her clothes off, and she hit him with a spell that knocked him through the wall. I ain’t saying the little so and so didn’t have it coming, but it’s bothering her really bad. I’ve been up with her most of the night.”
I looked at the filly again. I had said vampire because I had wanted to believe that she wouldn’t have been marked by a Lunar Pegasus while she was so young. I grew up with Sound, and I knew that a marking meant that the Stallion had found his intended. Most of the mares in Luna’s guard had a similar marking. It was a line, a small one, normally done with little blood, that would be obvious for a few days, unless hidden, and then much later it would become a sort of line in the fur.
I touched the place under the shirt where Sound had marked me. I’d have that line, forever, it wouldn’t be horrible, most likely it’d barely be noticeable, but it would be there. I was marked, and so was Orange. I walked toward her, knelt down, and looked at her. She barely looked up at me, acknowledging that I was even there.
“I hurt him,” she whispered.
I touched her arm, but she didn’t move away. Instead she leaned toward me until I was holding her in my arms, “I hurt my friend.”
“I know, but he tried to do something to you,” I replied.
She looked at the ground, “I wanted him to. I wanted him to because we wanted to be together. He smelled my granny coming up the stairs, and he said to knock him away, I hurt him bad…”
The Lunar Pegasus hadn’t just attacked her. Instead he’d wanted to protect her image. I slowly got up, bringing her to her feet, “You need to tell Sunrise. She’s a good mare, she’ll understand.”
Orange looked toward her grandmother. I could see her swallow before she walked over to her. This was a private moment, and I didn’t need to be in the middle of it, but a second later I saw Sunrise look surprised. I could see the look she was giving Orange, and I wondered what she had said. She said something to her, and set Orange upstairs.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
Sunrise nodded, “It is, although I’ve got a lot to apologize for, and so does that filly.”
I nodded and looked at the case, “I hate to change the subject, but I do need to order a few things, if that’s okay. If you need to close shop early I’ll understand.”
She shook her head no.
“One dozen cinno-buns please.”
Pulled a tray out, set it on the counter, and I watched as she opened a brown paper bag, taking care to wrap each cinno-bun in a piece of wax paper. When she was finished the bag was twelve cinno-buns heavier.
“That’ll be eight bits,” she said.
I thanked her, walked, out and headed toward the castle. I hoped that Orange and Sunrise was able to get through this, and if it was meant to be perhaps Orange and her Coltfriend would become something of an item. It couldn’t hurt. If anything maybe it could start a trend. I tittered at my moment of silliness and walked into the castle.
At the moment there was two courts happening. Celestia was holding the Day court, which meant the nobility was crying out about one unfair thing or another that was giving the common ponies a chance to equalize things between them. And then there was Twilight’s court.
I stopped at the doors where I knew Twilight’s court would be insession. As I walked toward them I could see Twilight’s consort standing guard. Flash Sentry smiled at me, his charming and disarming personality was perfectly suited for being a guard pony of a princess. He greeted me, as any normal pony would, and I opened the bag of cinno-buns from Sunrise’s Bakery.
“Oh wow, um, thanks!” he said as he fished one out.
“You’re more than welcome darling, and wouldn’t some of your fellow guard ponies enjoy some sweets as well?”
Soon there was a small collection of about four guards, all who were to oversee those who went in to speak to Twilight, were enjoying the delightful cinno-buns I had brought to them.
“Is there any chance that I might have a word with Princess Twilight gentlestallions?”
Flash looked at me, then at the pastry in his hand, “Sure, we’re between cases, and I think that Twilight would be glad to see you.”
I thanked him, walked in, and saw my friend. Twilight sat in a judge’s chair, not a throne, and before her was several books ranging from spells to criminal law. She seemed to be completely engrossed on what she was doing. I looked off to the side and saw evidence Spike had been there. The drake had harbored a crush on me for a while, but I believe he had moved on to some other pony.
“Twilight?”
“Hmm?” she asked before she looked up, “Oh Rarity! It’s so good to see you!”
I walked toward her and she offered me a chair, “It’s been a few months! How’s business going?”
“I’m busy enough, actually I’m on a case now, and Twilight, I have to ask… Have you seen Lemon Hearts?”
She rubbed her chin for a moment, “I did, about two or three days ago she came by and said she was asked to look after somepony, and if I wouldn’t mind to check up on her cat, and make sure that Minuette was feeling okay.”
I thought about that. Lemon Hearts had been seen, specifically she had been seen at the Royal Palace. Once she left there’s a chance she could have been followed, but for several blocks she would have been watched, to ensure that everything was fine. It didn’t sit right, something was off, something wasn’t matching.
“Rarity, are you okay?”
I looked at my friend and smiled, “Of course darling, I’m fine, I’m just trying to put the pieces together as it were.”
She got up, and looked at me, “Rarity, I’m sorry, but my next case is getting ready to happen, “ she said as she walked around and hugged me.
“It’s fine, darling, thank you for your time.”
She nodded, “Lemon Hearts is missing isn’t she?”
I nodded, uncertain of what to say, “Find her, please?”
I sensed something in Twilight’s voice. It wasn’t just a concerned friend asking me to search for another friend. I saw it in her eyes, the worry was there, and it spoke volumes. I wasn’t going to say a thing, but if what I saw was true then Twilight, one of my dearest friends, was sleeping around on Flash Sentry. I wasn’t going to pass moral judgement, not on such a dear friend of mine, but it made me wonder if there was something wrong in her and Flash’s relationship. I gave her another hug, feeling her relaxed state of being before she’d be forced to become a more regal and rigid.
I turned and walked out, seeing the guards smile, and wave to me. Once I was out I took a look at the hall again. It wasn’t large, and there was at least four guards that stayed with Twilight during her court. I knew from experience that tradition maintained that those same guards followed the Princess until she was in her chambers.
I looked back at the guards. I didn’t want to even consider it, but it was possible one of them may have said something to somepony.
I walked out of the palace and I began to think about it. The guards would have known that Lemon Hearts was doing something, going somewhere, but she hadn’t told Twilight what she was doing. In truth most of the guards wouldn’t have really known much more than the fact that Lemon Hearts simply came by to visit Twilight. Most of them, but not Flash. As Twilight’s Consort, as her husband, he would have access to information like that.
But if Twilight was having an affair with Lemon Hearts, would she even tell him what Lemon Hearts asked? I sighed as I thought about this. This was getting big, and if Flash, or any of the guards, had something to do with it then there was a potential case for treason going on. I had to find Lemon Hearts, I had to hope that she was still alive, and I had to hope that perhaps she had some information, something that would help connect her disappearance to the death of that young colt.
It felt like it was connected, and everything Pinkie had told me pointed toward it being connected. If Pinkie sent Lemon Hearts to check up on Suri then there was a chance she might have came across something that was happening. She could know what exactly happened to that young colt, and if she did there was a very good chance she was on borrowed time at best. I hated thinking that, but it was the truth. I needed to find her, to find out what and where she might be. The best bet I had would be to see if Lemon Hearts other friends had any idea of where she might have went looking.
While I know she would be checking up on Suri it didn’t mean that she would follow the same trail Suri might would have gone. It’s likely those closest to her would have more insight, and with that thought, I began the trek to Minuette’s. What I knew about Minuette was limited to some professional information. She was a dentist, and I knew she catered to everypony. I had to travel to North Canterlot, not quite as far in as Sound’s apartment had been, but far enough that the homes became less grand, and they took on a more middle class look.
I saw Minuette’s dentistry. The dentistry itself was on the first floor of a two story home. I walked toward it, knocked, and after a moment a young mare opened the door. She was a pegasus, a little shorter than I was, a bit older, with soft butter yellow fur, a dark red mane, and a pair of reading glasses. Her nurse’s uniform was a soft blue, and it did clash a bit with her fur, but I was here to see Minuette, not discuss the option of perhaps finding a more complimentary color for her scrubs.
“May I help you?”
She was so soft spoken, it reminded me a bit of Fluttershy. In truth she actually reminded quite a bit of Fluttershy. Still, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about how this mare seemed to remind me of dear Fluttershy. I needed, desperately so, to see if Lemon Hearts had visited Minuette before leaving.
“Is Minuette in?”
She nodded, walked over to the desk, and took a seat, “She is, but she’s currently with a patient. If you have a little time to wait she should be finished fairly quickly. It’s just a routine cleaning.”
I smiled, took a seat, and waited. A moment later I heard the door open, and I saw another dear friend of mine. Rainbow looked tired, her normally sharp eyes looked distracted, and I could see her stumble a bit as Minuette put a hand on her shoulder.
“For the most part your teeth are fine; however, I’d like to see you back in about three weeks. That wisdom tooth is looking like it might become a bit impacted, and I’d rather we catch it early.”
Rainbow nodded, looked at me, and then her eyes widened.
“Rares?!”
“Rainbow is wonderful to see you,” I said as I hugged her.
“Good to see you too. What are you doing here?”
“Actually I needed to talk to Minuette for a moment. I was hoping that she could tell me if Lemon Hearts had stopped by to tell her where she might be visiting.”
Rainbow looked at me for a second, and then scratched her chin, “Wait, isn’t that the yellow unicorn with an off blue mane that works for Pinkie Pie?”
I nodded.
“Oh, I totally saw her a couple of nights ago. The Wonderbolts were finishing up their show, and since the Shadowbolts, that Lunar Pegasi version of the Wonderbolts, were finishing up their training we decided to kind of get some drinks together,” she smiled, “So we went to the Cider Pit, saw AJ, chilled out a bit with her, and I saw Lemon Hearts across the alley. It was kind of weird, I mean sure, she’s a vampire and everything, but that’s still a pretty rough neighborhood.”
“I see, do you know what she was doing?”
“Naw, not really. I did kind of wonder what she was doing down in Skid Row, but I figured it was her own business. Although, I was going to invite her to come on into the bar. After all, safer in there than outside I figured. Thing is, when I got up she was gone. That alley was a dead end, and vampires might be fast, but not so fast that I can’t seen them take off.”
Rainbow made a point. She was the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria. Flying she could pass anyone or anything, and she was fairly quick on the ground as well. I’d seen her watch the events happening inside of a controlled tornado, and even though everything was a blurr to me she seemed to know exactly where each and every pony was, and what they were doing. If Lemon Hearts would have taken off I’m sure she would have seen her.
“This alley, it was directly across from the Cider Pit?”
She nodded.
“Thank you Rainbow,” I hugged her again, and then I felt her hands rest right above my tail for just a moment too long.
“You’re totally welcome, and ummm. Rares, it’s good seeing you. Maybe you could come around, a little more often. Like a sleepover or something.”
I smiled at her, “Perhaps, although, I’m not sure that Soarin’ would enjoy us having a girls’ night in would he?”
“Naw, he’d be fine with it… I mean not that anything would happen, because… Yeah… I’m going to just shut my mouth right now.”
I smiled at her, promised that I would most certainly come and visit her home, and then headed out toward the alley she talked about. The Cider Pit and Sound’s apartment were in the same area, well within a few blocks of each other. When I arrived at the Cider Pit I looked across the street at the alley Rainbow Dash has talked about. From where I was it looked normal, as if there wasn’t really much there except for the walls of the buildings creating it, and another wall at the back.
I walked toward it, uncertain if there was really anything I would notice, and as I neared it I thought about something. Applejack had told me that the dumpster they were supposed to use had been moved a few times. Before hand it had been on their side of the street, but about a month ago it started getting moved across the street. I looked at the dumpster, and I could see something behind it.
I lit up my horn, moved the dumpster over a little, and saw what looked like a brick colored door. I checked it, finding it locked, but not with any spell. I checked the lock itself, and after a slight picking it opened. I slipped into the door, and once inside I felt something. Once, about a year ago, I had to interview a gryphon hen that owned a restaurant. When I visited the back of that restaurant I found a room that made me feel ill at ease. She had explained that to keep costs down she butchered most of the smaller livestock there.
What I had felt in that room was exactly what I felt in this one. I cleared my mind, breathed out, and thought of a simple spell that would create a black light. The room was dim enough that when it shined I was certain anything that needed to be picked up would be. The moment the spell lit up I could see something that made me ill.
In the middle of the room was a drain, and all around it was evidence that something, or somepony had been bled out. I moved toward the center and I looked up. There was still a pulley in place, and as I studied it I realized this was set up just like the area where the gryphon hen had to butcher her livestock.
I backed up, realizing that Lemon Hearts must have found this room, and if she did, and she was missing, then there was something she saw in here that she must not have been meant to see. The idea of that poor colt came back to my mind, and I felt sick.
“Well, this certainly is a wonderful surprise.”
I recognized the voice, but before I could turn something struck me, and everything went black. I don’t know how long I was out, but I did know that my head hurt like there was no tomorrow, and I could barely see anything around me. I worried, honestly worried, for a few moments that I might be going blind, but then I saw a light turn on in doorway. I took in where I was, what was going on, and I felt a shudder run down my spine. I’d been here once, back when Sonar Ray had explained what she wanted for Sound.
It was part of the Royal Guard’s compound, and this was under the barracks. Sonar had a training room down here, and she rarely had anyone in it. The day I came with Sound to this room she had been training for indoor flight. I remember how powerful she looked, how confident, and then I remember how much contempt she had for me.
“This is not a good idea!”
I certainly knew that voice, My ears pointed toward it as I listened.
“You worry too much, and besides, this gives all of us something we want.”
“You don’t understand. She’s Twilight’s friend, and a very good friend at that. It was bad enough with Lemon Hearts, but this is going to be impossible to just sweep under the rug.”
There was a huff, and then something crashed into the wall, “Then you will find a way of sweeping it under the rug. Solar Pegasi, so flighty, so wary; take those testicals that you are susposed to have out of your wife’s handbag.”
“Oh, buck you.”
There was a haughty laugh I knew anywhere. The same laugh that had stopped when she had seen me with Sound Ray. I shook my head, attempting to clear it, trying to get the grogginess to leave, and as I did I felt something on my horn. I tried to create a light spell, but instead of creating a small amount of light it produced a small electrical shock. I kept my mouth shut, realizing that a suppression ring had been put onto my horn. From the feel it was a standard issue, not very attractive, but designed well enough to curb an unicorn’s magic.
Like any unicorn I’d heard stories of those daring enough to cast a massive spell, something so powerful that it actually broke the suppression ring, but there had never been any real proof of it. If I tried to cast a powerful spell there would be a good chance it would backfire and send a stronger shock into me. I couldn’t chance that. Instead I tried to move my hands and found that they were tied together. Whoever had done it didn’t seem to want to tie me to anything specific, so I began moving, pulling my hands down to my tail, past it, and then leaning forward as I move them down my legs.
My yoga classes were certainly beginning to pay for themselves now.
I moved my hands past my hooves, and when I did I felt another rope around my hooves themselves. I checked how it was tied, and it appeared to be a standard slip knot. Obviously my captors had went for speed over quality. Their mistake allowed me to undo the knot, shuffling around my hooves helped me to slip out of the ropes, and I quickly reached up and found the suppression ring. It felt large and bulky, designed for a large variety of unicorns and not a specific skilled user. I pulled it off, creating a little light, and saw that my hands were similarly tied. Using my magic I untied them, slowly stood, and looked around.
I needed to leave, I had to get out before too long. I could hear the voices getting fainter, leaving, and I let out a sigh of relief. I had very little time to get out, and I realized that. I lit my horn up a little brighter and I saw an position of metal eyes sticking out of the floor. They certainly hadn’t been here before, and I took another look at them. They were made of silver, pure silver.
Silver was a beautiful metal, wonderful for making jewelry, fantastic for accents, but I knew it wasn’t nearly hard enough to be of any real use when trying to attach equipment to it. Like gold silver had a tendency of being soft, malleable, and it was for that reason that it rarely used for much else other than jewelry, or fillings for some ponies teeth.
I looked toward the door the voices died down from, and I realized that I had to leave that way. Sound had shown me around down here before, but this room had just the once exit. Swallowing what I was feeling I walked toward the door, found it unlocked, and opened it. Like I remembered it lead up to a staircase, but oddly enough this wasn’t the same staircase as before.
The room looked exactly like Sonar’s training room, but the stairs weren’t the stately stone steps of Canterlot’s elite royal guards. Instead it looked like the crumbling steps of a building somewhere in Skid Row. I walked up it, nearing the top, and I heard the voices again.
“Flash, you worry too much. Go, have fun with that vampire toy before we destroy her.”
“You’re a real tailhole Sonar. You are a serious pain my flank.”
I heard a soft sound, and I opened the door at the top of the stairs. There was Flash Sentry with Sonar Ray. Flash was against the wall, his breathing harsh, and his arm was being held behind his back.
“You are adorable, for a Solar Pegasus, but understand that you are not, NOT a ledrfladder. Perhaps if you were I would consent to recreate with you. But you aren’t and I will not dirty my pure blood line.”
Flash had Lemon Hearts, Sonar had helped him, and this was getting really big. I looked around, and saw another exit. It wasn’t that far. Just a few quiet steps across the floor, toward the window, and then out. I followed it, nearing the window, opened it, and looked out to see the same alley from before. I hadn’t even left the building. I was further up, perhaps a couple of floors, but I was certainly in the same building. I moved out to the fire escape, and when I did the old metal thing decided to announce my presence.
Both Flash and Sonar turned toward me, and I realized that I had to move, quickly. I descended, as quickly as I could, and hoped beyond hope that I could make it to the Cider Pit. I made it almost to the ground level when I felt a pair of arms around me. I tried to fight, to light up my horn, but I saw Sonar with a disgusted look on her face. She slammed her fist into my stomach, causing me to fall forward.
“You soiled my son, you… a common unicorn tried to become his mated bride,” she spat as she ripped open my top at the collar, “He marked you! You will die today, and your body will be found.”
I coughed and looked at her. Seeing that hate, that anger, and while I was certainly angry, I felt a great deal of pity. Sound was so much better than she was. I didn’t know how he was, but I knew it.
“Ponies will question what happened.”
She laughed, “No, they won’t. They haven’t a question about that colt, have they?”
I looked at her in disgust, “You… You killed him?”
She smiled at me as Flash dragged me into the room I discovered earlier.
“He was a necessary sacrifice. Both the Lunar and Solar guard have protected Equestria from all threats, but when these- monsters began to live among us we couldn’t protect Equestria from them. No, the Princesses, all of them, had given each and every one of them basic rights,” she spat the last word before she had Flash lift me into the air.
“That colt made ponies think that the Vampires can’t be trusted, and you… You will serve to show that the weres are no better. Yes your mutilated and violated body will prove that they are savage beasts that need to be put down.”
I struggled, desperately trying to get loose, when the door slammed open. I didn’t see anything except the blur, but a moment later I dropped to the ground. I looked up to see Applejack pinning Flash to the ground, his arm behind his back at an angle that meant it was broken. Her muzzle had the most savage snarl I’d ever seen, but facing Sonar was Sound. He held his dagger, a fresh red line of blood on it.
“You would throw away your family! Throw away your bloodline for a whorse of a unicorn?!”
“No mama, I would stop a mare I no longer recognize to save the mare I love.”
She rushed toward him, years of training, learning in the art of killing, training to disarm enemies of the crown, but with her training she also carried an older age. I watched as Sonar missed Sound, and Sound’s dagger found her side. She grunted, fell to her knees, and held the wound.
“Do it, kill me. I will not live with this dishonor. I will not see my son make a mockery of our bloodline.”
Instead of killing her Sound hit her hard, knocking her out cold, and then he began to patch her up as best he could.
“S..Sound?”
He rushed to me, putting his arms around me, pulling me close. I looked at Applejack who was standing over a very unconscious Flash Sentry.
“Rares, Ah gotta say, if anypony knows how ta find trouble ya sure do.”
I looked at the paper as I let my coffee cool. I looked over to see Applejack brimming with pride. She’d helped capture a traitor to the crown, stopped the death of a dear friend of hers and one of the princesses, and on top of that The Cider Pit was now officially contracted to the royal palace. It meant more royal guards visiting, and her making treats and catering for events, but it was certainly something I was sure she would absolutely love.
I looked at the paper again. The scandal was minimal at best. Flash Sentry was being held for treason, and he would be tried this week. Discreet Sonar had already been tried, and according to the paper Luna was still trying to decide what would be an appropriate punishment since the death penalty was no longer on the table.
I put the paper down and looked at the stallion sitting across from me. His face looked concerned, uncertain, and I gently nudged him.
“Hmmm?”
“Sound, are you still here?”
He nodded, “Yeah, just thinking that things are going to really change. You know, you don’t have to be with me. I mean, my entire clan is going to be looked down upon.”
“Perhaps,” I smiled and scooted closer to him, “But for the life of me I cannot think of a better stallion to be with. Besides, as I understand you were offered a position, were you not?”
He looked at me, “Yeah, the royal guard. Luna’s Royal Guard specifically. She said she wanted someone she could trust to take over. Everything she did, and she still got her way.”
I knew who he was talking about. Discreet Sonar had wanted him in the guard ever since I’d known him. Everything she did, everything she was being tried for, and somehow it was still working out that he was being offered the position by a princess. Declining the offer could be seen as an insult, even if Princess Luna didn’t see it as one herself, the nobility could certainly view it as a personal insult to royalty.
“Do you want it?”
He shook his head, “No, I still don’t, but not for the same reasons as before,” he breathed out and laid his head on his hands, “Before I didn’t want it because I really wanted to make a difference, and I knew I could do that being a police officer. Now, now I don’t want it because I don’t want her to win. I don’t want her to have the satisfaction of knowing that she won, and I took the job anyway.”
I touched him and he shook his head, “Rares, you don’t understand. She died that night. The mare I thought I knew, the mare that held me when I was still a colt, that used to sing me to sleep, that treated me like her entire world, she died that night. Because I honestly don’t know the mare that could kill a colt in cold blood, no matter what the reasons.”
Everyone grew quiet, and I could hear the sounds of several hoofsteps entering the Cider Pit. After a moment I turned and I saw what the commotion was. Princess Luna and Twilight, were standing in the doorway. The two of them neared our table, and all of the patrons of the Cider Pit gave them wide birth. They took a seat near us, near me, and then Princess Luna was the first one to do anything. She fished a scroll from a small bag she was carrying and handed it over to Sound.
“Sir Sound Ray, thou shalt be knighted on the morrow.”
“T...Thanks.”
“Thou, nay you are welcomed. Mine sister, and fellow Princess Twilight Sparkle have stated that perhaps it is time I begin speaking in a dialect more common to this era. It is difficult to separate the two, but I will do that which I can,” she smiled at me, and then looked back at Sound, “You have not informed my handmaiden of your decision. The position of captain of the lunar guard is yours for the taking Sir Sound Ray.”
He breathed out, “Princess, I’ve talked to Rarity about this already, but I don’t know if I want to take it. I feel like if I did she, my mother, would be getting what she wanted. She wanted me to join… but that mare in your dungeons isn’t my mother. She died that night. I told Rares this, but she’s dead. My mother would sing me to sleep, hold me when I was scared, treat me kindly, but she would never, ever kill a colt for any reason. That mare in your dungeons is somepony I’ve never known before, and I don’t want to give her the satisfaction.”
There was no malice or anger on her face, “I understand. It is a heavy decision, and one that seems to cause great burdens. Perhaps, It would be best if I help thee.”
I watched as she extended a wing, found a feather that was ruffled, and pulled it. There was a moment where she winched, but then it was normal. I watched as she made an inkwell materialize, and she began to edit the scroll itself. For a moment no one said a word, and then she lifted it. “Haha! Mine craftiness has been doubled!”
“Luna?”
Luna looked at Twilight who looked a little concerned.
“I apologize, I was merely excited about fixing the problem.”
She passed the scroll to Sound, again, and he took it into his hands. I watched as he opened it, his eyes widened.
“Princess, this is… There are several of your royal guards that are going to be upset at this.”
I watched as she touched his hand, a gentle smile crossing her face.
“They can learn to deal with it, or they may take retirement. I want to bring my guard into the modern age. I do not want the separation between the police, the military, and the guard any longer. As such, by my royal decree, the Lunar Guard shall become both guard to the Royal Princesses, and the ponies that will keep the police and military honest.”
I could see Sound considering it, and after a moment he nodded, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Huzzah!”
She cleared her throat and smiled softly.
“Twilight, is Lemon Hearts doing okay?”
She looked at me and nodded, “She is. She’s staying with Fluttershy for the time being, and I’m going to be going out there as well. We both need to heal…”
I nodded. Fluttershy was a good friend, still was one, and her therapy and counseling work had really helped so many ponies. “It will be good for you both.”
She nodded, and then reached for my hand. I took it and saw the soft smile cross her lips, “Thank you for finding her. Rarity, it’s not just for the treatment, but please, all of the other girls are going to be coming out tomorrow. To wish me well, to visit, and I would love to see you there too.
“Of course darling, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I gave her smile, and everything had come into place. I had to wonder what the next job was going to be.
