> Running With the wind
>  by SC14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Anywhere But here
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a typical night in Ponyville, Most ponies were heading home some were even going to work. But for one Filly tonight was different, tonight would change her life and many others.

Sweetie Belle lay awake in her bed, thinking about the fight she had with Rarity earlier that day, They had been fighting almost constantly and she just wanted it to end. It was always stupid things to argue about like Her bed was not made or She didn't give her a salad fork. All this arguing was starting to get to Sweetie, She would oftentimes cry herself to sleep at night thinking about the increasingly awful things Rarity would call her.

A side effect that had arisen from all of this is that her friends were getting a little bit distant from her because of this. When the other crusaders came over Rarity would act normal but when they left, she turned into a monster. Sweetie Tried to tell the other crusaders, but they just thought she wanted attention because Applejack told them that Rarity would never do or say anything like that to Sweetie Belle, And of course, they believed Applejack over Their best friend.

Sweetie Had never been so miserable in her life and she just wanted it to end, laying in her bed every night, knowing that she would have to go through it all again tomorrow was really starting to weigh on her. It had even gotten to the point where Rarity was getting abusive Striking Sweetie on multiple occasions. 

Sweetie Felt, she had no choice but to run away She couldn't bear going through another day of torment. After close to an hour of trying to gain the courage, She slowly slid out of her bed walked over to her desk, and grabbed her saddlebag, She then started to fill it with anything she might need, making sure to leave room for some food, She then slung the bag over her back and quietly walk over to the door, She slowly opened the door and peeked her head out and quietly started to make her way down the hall and to the stairs, When she reached the stairs she took one look back in the direction of her older sisters room, And with that, she makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, she carefully opened the fridge and cupboards and put everything she thought she would need in the bag. Then a problem presented itself to Sweetie, How was she going to exit the house? The front door has a bell on it and the back door is practically as loud as the bell, this would be a major problem because if She got caught trying to sneak out who knows what rarity would to her. Sweetie decided that she would go with the safer option and use the back door, she planned to open it and make a run for the bushes across the street.

Sweetie walked over to the back door and Nervously put her hoof on the nob and slowly turned it to the left, She then pushed the door open and closed it, The door was a lot quieter than she had expected it to be but nonetheless, she still ran as fast as she could and practically dove into the bushes. 

She sat hidden in the bushes for what felt like an eternity, She finally decided that the coast was clear and got out of the bushes and started her trot towards the edge of town, Even with it being late Sweetie Still made an attempt to stay hidden from the people of the town, Even if she didn't know the people walking throughout the town she still didn't want to get reported by someone, Or even worse one of Rarity's friends catches her, If she got this far with a full saddlebag, Rarity would be beyond livid. Sweetie shuttered at the thought of that, She could just imagine the situation, One of Rarity's friends find her and take her back to the boutique, Rarity would act normal, she would give the typical speech about how she was going to 'Talk to Sweetie" and then when said friend left it would be all downhill from there.

To make matters worse she didn't even know where she was going, but there was no turning back now. 'I Probably Should've planned this out more' She continued walking towards the outskirts of town 'I guess I will just go where the wind takes me' This wasn't a good plan and Sweetie knew it, but there was nothing else she could do she just had to get away from the life she was living.

Sweetie then had a deeply troubling thought, She didn't have any bits, this was a major problem considering the fact that she had no way of getting a job because she is only twelve years old. And there was almost no way she could go back to the boutique and get the little money she had. This is a major problem for obvious reasons such as not being able to buy food or other various necessities.

Sweetie suddenly dove into the bushes once again, She peeked through the bushes and watched Twilight and Spike walk by her. 'Why is Twilight out this late?' Despite this being a high-intensity situation Sweetie decided to take this time to plan out where she was going to go, She thought about going to the train station and catching the midnight train, but then the problem of money presents itself again, so it was back to the drawing board for Sweetie, 'Maybe I should just walk along the train tracks' She thought. This was a dangerous idea but It was her only choice. Sweetie went over the plan in her head. 'So I'm going to sneak over to the train station, then I'm going to walk along with the trees that line the train tracks and just see where it takes me' 

Sweetie emerges from the bushes and continues her journey towards the train station. Now the tricky part for Sweetie was finding out a way to get on the train tracks without getting arrested.

Sweetie continues to ponder on this question as the train station comes into view. As she continues towards the Train Station a good idea comes into her head 'I should throw a rock to create a distraction and then run into the trees' Which is a pretty stupid idea but again Sweetie is desperate so pretty much anything goes.

Sweetie finds a rock of a suitable size and chunks it towards the platform, The rock collides with the platform and makes a loud thud, Somehow Sweeties plan does work as the workers are jerked from their thoughts. Sweetie takes this time to run across the tracks and dive into the woods.

Sweetie laid in the bushes and carefully watched the Platform to see if they saw her. Luckily for her, she was not suspected in the bushes, She gets up dusts herself off, and turns and starts to walk down the tracks.
> Painful Memories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie sat there with a bored expression on her face, Rarity was drunk again and was trying to teach Sweetie how to sew. She wasn't paying a lick of attention to what Rarity is telling her, She was teaching her how to thread a spool or something like that. This was about the 9th time Rarity was attempting this and it always ended the same way, Sweetie has no clue what she is doing Rarity gets pissed and then they fight again. Sweetie Groaned, She just wished that Rarity would realize that she had no interest in becoming a fashion designer.

"Something wrong dear?" Rarity asked, looking down at Sweetie Belle. 

Sweetie sighed "Yes," She said blankly. She lifted her head and made eye contact with Rarity, Sweetie could see right past the caring expression Rarity wore, She could tell that Rarity didn't care about her career goals all she cared about was the fame that having a sisterly fashion duo would bring.

Rarity raised an eyebrow "Whatever is the matter, dear?" She asked with fake cheer. Sweetie looked at the ground trying to contain the anger that was welling up in her. She hated when Rarity used that tone, She hated that Rarity was trying to convince her that she cared. Sweetie had to fight the urge to introduce Her hoof to Rarity's face.

"I don't care about sewing," Sweetie said Flatly. Her remark was rewarded with a quick slap on the back of her head.

"Don't talk like that! You will care in due time" Rarity said with the same fake care in her voice. While Sweetie did know better than to mess around with drunk Rarity it still furthered Sweetie's anger, She was tired of Rarity pushing her around.

"You're drunk again arent you?" Sweetie Asked. This would not be the first time Rarity made a drunken attempt to force her to learn how to make clothes.

"W-what makes you say that?" Rarity asked with fake innocence. At this point Sweetie was trying her hardest not to blow up, She had been bottling up all her anger for the past few weeks, Just letting Rarity yell and hit her constantly. Even with this she somehow managed to keep her cool.

"You know I don't want to be a fashion, designer, You're only doing this because you are, drunk" Sweetie said trying hard not to sound angry. She looks up to make eye contact with Rarity who now had an angry expression.

"Why would alcohol make me act any differently" Rarity scoffed.

Sweetie could barely contain her anger "Do you even know what alcohol is?" She asked anger present in her tone

"Why of course I do!" Rarity shouted. Here we go Sweetie thought And here comes the inevitable daily argument, This was always Sweeties' least favorite part of the day especially when Rarity was drunk. At this point she could only hope that Rarity wouldn't hit her, It didn't happen all the time, but when it did it hurt like heck Sweetie was still recovering from the Fractured rib that Rarity gave her a few weeks ago. Rarity managed to convince Sweetie to lie about how she received the injury by making some pretty lofty threats like not letting her eat for a week or making her sleep outside.

"I don't think you do!" Sweetie shouted back.

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Rarity barked.

"You are yelling too!" Sweetie retorted. Her remark was rewarded by an immediate slap across her face. Instead of cowering back in fear like usual Sweetie decided to stand her ground.

"I'm tired of you pushing me around," Sweetie said with a newfound bravado. She took a step forward and pushed Rarity with all her might. Unfortunately, Rarity in her drunken state could not keep her balance causing her to fall back, in a desperate attempt to stay on her hooves, she grabbed a nearby lamp, Her plan backfires as she pulls the lamp down with her. The lamp shattered as it collided with the ground, the pieces scattered across the hardwood floor. 

Sweetie watched in horror as blood started to trickle out of a small cut on Rarity's face. The facial expression that Rarity wore could only be described as pure rage. Any courage Sweetie had immediately vanished. She had no interest in seeing her sister's reaction, She suddenly turned and sprinted to her room.



Sweetie was jolted from her flashback as a train barreled down the tracks a few feet away from her. She wiped the tears from her face, She hadn't realized she was crying. She still had no clue what made Rarity start acting this way, She thought about asking, but She figured that it wouldn't end well.

She was pretty sure that this track led to Los Pegasus. While Los Pegasus was mostly safe The Train station was in a Very dangerous part of town. She didn't have a plan for when she got there, nothing was surrounding Los Pegasus so she couldn't go anywhere else.

She was getting pretty tired, it was around Midnight after all. So she decided to call it a night, She cleared a small area and made a makeshift bed. She laid down and slowly drifted off to sleep.



Sweetie was jolted out of her trance by a sudden knock at the door. At this time of night, it was fairly unusual to get a knock at the door. Shortly after the knock, she heard the bell above the door go off as she assumed Rarity opened the door.

Sweetie left her room to see what was going on. Shortly after leaving her room she heard Rarity yell "WHAT!" This made Sweetie Belle jump. Why would Rarity yell like that? She Practically ran down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs when she saw Rarity trying her best (And failing) not to cry, Past Rarity was a police officer standing just outside the door. Sweeties heart sank as all the possible scenarios ran through her head. Did something happen to her Friends? One of her friends? Or maybe one of Rarity's friends? As she thought about it more she realized that it had been a while since she had seen her parents. The thought alone almost made her cry she didn't know what she would do if it turned out to be true.

"You must be Sweetie Belle," the officer said to her.  Sweetie lifted her head to make eye contact with the officer. She couldn't tell much about him by just looking but one thing was for certain. She didn't like the look on his face. 

"Yeah that's me," Sweetie said. He nodded and gave her a sad smile. Sweetie didn't know where this was going but, she didn't like it.

"Right. I'm Officer Split Sight With the EBI" He said. He paused and looked down. presumably to collect himself. "I regret to inform you that... Your parents were found dead In Manehattan Yesterday morning." Sweetie Sat there staring at Officer Split Sight for what felt like an eternity before she really realized that he just confirmed her worst fears. 

Not knowing what else to do. Sweetie turned around and Sprinted to her room to cry in peace.
> Close Call
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie awoke with a jolt, For a second she forgot where she was. While it is scary to wake up in the woods, She was there for a reason. She figured that the police had not been alerted yet. Rarity might have noticed Sweetie was gone but she probably just assumed that she was out with her friends. So Sweetie had some time before the police started looking for her. That is if Rarity even reports her missing. This was a Farfetched though because if Rarity flat didn't report Sweetie missing it would blow her cover.

Despite this, she knew she had to keep moving. She wanted to at least get out of the dangerous part of Los Pegasus by dark. Truth be told she didn't want to go through that part of town in the first place but, she would rather go through a dangerous town than risk getting lost in the woods.

Sweetie Gathered her things and then started moving again. She didn't know how long it would take to get to Los Pegasus but, she was pretty sure that it would take at least an hour. That's a long time to continuously walk but, at this point, there was no turning back.

But Sweetie Was starting to have second thoughts she could go back and convince someone that Rarity was abusing her right? Most of her indecision was coming from her destination, See back when Rarity you know... Still liked Sweetie she used to tell her horror stories about Los Pegasus. Like how she had to take extra bodyguards because someone was murdered about every night. Or the more troubling though was that a lot of kids went missing around the train station. But she was able to shake these thoughts because all of these crime rates were just from the area around the train station. the rest of the city wasn't all that bad, at least not as bad as manehatten.

That didn't make the situation any better. But she still managed to convince herself to keep walking alongside the train tracks. 'Could my Life get any worse?' Sweetie thought and she couldn't think of an answer for that. But, she knew she had to continue. 





Sweetie snuck up to the Westside Los Pegasus train station it wasn't too crowded considering it was mid-day but, that didn't mean that it was going to be easy get into town without getting noticed. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to avoid everyone because she wasn't too keen on getting arrested in Las Pegasus. 

She slowly approached the maintenance gate that led to the platform. As she expected had a lock on it. Luckily for her, there was a small hole under the fence that looked like she could climb under. Her suspicion was confirmed as she wiggled her way underneath the fence, And it was going well until her saddlebags got caught on the fence, She cringed as the fence made a loud crashing noise. She quickly took off her saddlebag and crawled under the fence and then reached back under and pulled her bag through. She got up and put her bag back on and quickly walked away hoping that no one would notice her. 

And it seems that no one noticed her because she walked away without getting any weird looks from anyone in the train station. As she walked out of the train station it made her realize just how massive Los Pegasus was. She didn't know where to go.

Sweetie turned down an alleyway, She hoped that she could get some time to collect her thoughts and plan out the rest of her day and possibly life.

"You know, Little girls like you shouldn't walk around on their own" Sweetie jerked her head upward to see a scruffy looking stallion standing at the end of the alleyway.

Sweetie Belle turned around to run as the stallion started to approach her. "Where are you going?" Sweetie looked up to see another rough looking stallion blocking her path. She turned back to see the other stallion closing in on her. 

"Please don't hurt me!" Sweetie Belle yelled. But it seemed to be of no use as the two stallions continued to close in on her. Sweetie cringed as she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her and pick her up. She was so scared that she couldn't even scream as they carried her down the dirty alleyway.

"What is going on here" Sweetie was suddenly dropped on the ground as the two stallions ran out of the alleyway. She looked up to see a police officer standing at the end of the alleyway.

Sweetie started to back up as the police officer began to approach her. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you" The officer stated in a comforting tone. Sweetie stopped backing up as the police officer offered his hoof to her. Sweetie took his hoof and he helped her off the ground.

"Are you alright?" He said. Sweetie looked up at the officer and he smiled at her. She knew he was being nice and doing his job but, this situation might be hard to talk her way out of. Because he would want to talk to her parents about it. 

"Y-yeah I'm fine" Sweetie stammered. He nodded as she looked back at the ground still trying to find out how to talk her way out of it.

"Alright I will take you down to the station," He said. Sweetie nodded and they both started walking. She wished that he would just leave her alone but, she figured that it would be best if she just followed. As they progressed through the city Sweetie Belle still couldn't think of a way to talk her way out of her situation.

"Alright, Officer Split Sight will take care of you from here," He said. Sweetie's head shot up as she saw Officer Split Sight slowly approaching them. 

"Are you sure you can't stay with me?" Sweetie asked in desperation. Out of everyone Officer Split, Sight was one of the last ponies that she wanted to run into at this time.

"I'm sorry but, I have to get back on duty," The officer said. He looked up and waved at Split Sight before turning around and walking off. Sweetie looked at the alleyway that was to her left. It was beckoning her in, She was trying to fight the urge to take off down the alleyway. But she couldn't resist, she knew what would happen if Spit Sight recognized her. She heard Split Sight yell "HEY!" As she took off down the alley. 

Sweetie ran until her legs gave out and she collapsed into some bushes outside of a mansion. She fought the urge to fall back asleep as hard as she could. But in the end, it was too much and Sweetie slowly drifted off to sleep.
> On the Run
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Found you," The first stallion said as he pulled Sweetie Belle out of the bush she was sleeping In. Sweetie tried to scream as she was forcibly removed from the bush.

Sweetie awoke with a jolt. she was surprised that she didn't scream, But then again she was probably expecting Rarity to come in and smack her. Because normally if she had a nightmare about say Rarity hitting her and she woke up and screamed Rarity would come in her room and hit her.

She climbed out of the bush and looked around. It seemed to be early morning which was perfect because not a lot of people would be out and about. So she decided to take a walk and more importantly get out of the westside. It was a nice day out aside from the fact that it looked like it might rain later but, that didn't bother her.

Sweetie continued to walk through the large city still trying to avoid possibly dangerous people. She was also kind of trying to avoid the police because they might be after her too Then the worst thought hit her 'What if the mafia is after me?' That was a terrifying thought that she wished she never had. But she knew that she had to keep walking because the sooner that she got to the southside the sooner she might be in the clear.

Even though it was early she still had to keep her head on a swivel just to make sure because you never know who could be out and about even this early. 

Sweetie Barely had time to take another step before she saw a terrifyingly familiar face. It was one of the stallions that attempted to abduct her yesterday. She dove behind a nearby dumpster but, unfortunately, her hoof made contact with the dumpster making a loud thud. Sweetie knew she had one option. She didn't look back to see if he noticed she just knew. She took off down the alleyway soon after hearing hoofsteps galloping after her. She was hoping that he would yell something at her but unfortunately, he was smart and knew that yelling would alert the police.

Sweetie took a sharp right turn out of the alley and into another alley. She knew that she needed to get to the main street but, she didn't know her way around the city much less the back alleys. So she just tried to retrace her steps to get back out which was easier said than done considering that she had a scary stallion chasing after her.

Suddenly a great idea popped into Sweetie's head. "HELP!" She yelled. It was a longshot and could end up attracting some of his friends but she figured that it couldn't hurt. He was catching up to her at an alarming rate and she was not to keen on finding out what he and his gang would do to her even though Sweetie was pretty sure she knew what they would do to her but, that was even more incentive to get away it gave her a boost in energy and she sped up.

"Shut up you little shit!" He nearly yelled. "You won't get away this time!" He said. Sweetie ignored him and kept running. 

And then out of nowhere, a second stallion ran out of an adjacent alley and slammed into Sweetie at full speed. She was knocked to the ground. It was a wonder that she didn't lose consciousness but, she knew that she had to get up her life possibly depended on it.

With all her strength she pushed herself to her hooves and barely managed to get out of the way the first Stallion who dove at her trying to tackle her. Everything hurt her head, her legs, her back but, she knew that she had to continue to push forward. As she ran as fast as her body could take her she heard one of the stallions yell. "She's getting away dumbass!" Sweetie looked over for a second to see the first stallion start to chase her again. The second stallion appeared to be knocked out. This caused a small wave of pride to come over Sweetie not only was she escaping the two stallions she appeared to have knocked one out albeit accidentally. 

Sweetie continued to make her way towards the main street but, he was still gaining on her rapidly. She needed a plan something to get him off her back just for a few seconds. She quickly hatched a plan. She was going to turn down one of the alleys and wait for him and then buck him as hard as she could. It was a little farfetched but she figured that it was possible to pull off.

She pulled off on a narrow alley and waited there. As soon as he came screaming around the corner Sweetie put everything she had into her buck. She was shocked when he caught both her hind legs.

"That was stupid move kid." He said as his glare pierced Sweetie's soul. She looked around for anything she could use. Her eyes landed on a rock that looked rather sharp. She grabbed it and threw it with all her might right at his face. "Fuck!" He yelled as he dropped Sweeties' legs and clamped his hooves to his eye.

Sweetie took this time to run out of the narrow alley and back into the main alley. She looked back to see the other stallion still laying on the ground. She never thought that she could ever do something like that to a pony but, she had to do it. 

Sweetie eventually found her way back to the main road. She took a second to catch her breath. After she was done catching her breath she continued to walk into the city that was slowly starting to wake up. She tried to blend into the crowd as best as she could. 

Sweetie then realized something, she left her saddlebag in the bushes that she slept in last night. All of the colors drained from her face as she realized that she would have to go back to the mansion to retrieve her bag. Her biggest worry was that the occupants of the mansion would be awake and she would get caught digging in their bushes.

Sweetie slowly turned around and started to backtrack through the city. She didn't know where she was going but she had a small idea of what direction she was supposed to go.

A short time later she caught sight of the large mansion. She slowly approached the bush that she fell asleep in. She reached her hoof into the bush and after a small time of feeling around, she finally found it. she managed to pull the bag out of the bush. She put the bag on and started to walk away.

But before she could make it two steps she heard someone yell "Hey!".
> Found out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie shot upright and turned around to face the person who yelled at her. She turned around and made eye contact with a stallion who looked to be a butler staring at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Sweetie looked at the ground. She searched her mind for anything that she could say.

"Oh, I was uh getting my bag. M-my friend hid it from me" Sweetie stated rather proudly. She was impressed with herself for thinking of an excuse like that. But she knew that if they didn't believe her it would all be for nothing. 

"Oh alright?. Well then be careful will you?" He asked. 

Sweetie nodded "I will thank you" As She turned to walk away could've sworn that she heard him mumble something like "darn kids these days" as she walked away but, it didn't really bother her as long as she goes away without getting in trouble.

Sweetie continued to press on into the now bustling city. Once again she wasn't really sure where she was going but, she did know that wherever she ended up would probably be better than where she was currently. Suddenly Sweeties' stomach rumbled and it occurred to her that she had not eaten since the night she left ponyville. It wasn't a problem though she had enough money to buy food and there was no shortage of places to get food in Los Pegasus. She decided to go into some random hayburger place. 

As soon as she opened the door she was hit with a rather unpleasant odor. She wanted to turn and leave right then but, she noticed that their prices were very low at least compared to the places in ponyville. Despite the fact that she assumed that the food would be terrible it was more important to save the little money she had.

Sweetie walked "Can I have one hayburger please?". It was simple but it only cost her one bit. 

"Uh alright," He said. surprisingly he just gave her a small suspicious glare. But he gave in when she put the bit on the counter. She got her hayburger and walked to a seat away from any other ponies. And  Just as she suspected the food smelled just as repulsive as the establishment. And even less surprisingly it tasted pretty repulsive too. Sweetie nearly gagged as she took a bite of the hayburger. It was an experience that was for sure. And not a good one. But she was hungry and she knew that this was the best way to guarantee that she was going to eat tomorrow. 

Once she had finished her food she discarded her trash and left the establishment. She continued to push onward through the city. Even though she was pretty sure that she would not be spotted she still kept her head on a swivel to make sure that the two stallions that attempted to kidnap her were not following her. She was also looking out for pretty much any police officers at this point just to make sure that they wouldn't mess with her.

But Sweetie was starting to get suspicious because she was not the only kid walking around but she was still getting weird passing glances. And then it hit her. She frantically looked around for anywhere that there was a newspaper. When she spotted a small stand she galloped over to it and stared in awe at the front page.

Ponyville filly reported missing!Sweetie Belle started to back away from the stand as it felt like everyone was looking at her. She darted her head back and as it seemed that everyone was staring at her. How did they figure her out so quickly? And how did the news already reach the headlines? These were all good questions that Sweetie had no answer for.

Sweetie continued to back up she figured out that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her as there were several ponies looking back and forth between her and the newspaper. She turned and started galloping away from the booth. She heard several ponies yell "Wait!" But she didn't listen she just ran wherever she could. 

She galloped in and out of the traffic and even bumped into people on occasion. She turned her head to see that one of the people that she saw at the stand was attempting to follow her but, he was having a much harder time as he was a much bigger pony than Sweetie Belle was. She spotted an alley and quickly ran down it. She took random turns until she was pretty sure she lost the stallion who was chasing her despite this, she continued to gallop down random back alleyways. 

After what felt like hours running she ran out of energy and collapsed in a back alley. She laid there and stared up at the sky while trying to catch her breath. Sweetie wasn't sure about a lot of things but, she felt like she needed to get out of Las Pegasus as fast as she could but, there were a few problems with that one, she was pretty sure she couldn't get a train ticket without being spotted and two, There was nowhere besides Ponyville that was within a reasonable walking distance, 
and the other option was to go and even if she went back to Ponyville she really didn't have any good options besides canterlot but, her sister and friends went there too often and plus it would be really risky.

She sat up and looked around. To see that unsurprisingly no one was in the alley with her. She tried to get to her hooves but stumbled backward and fell flat on her back. She was exhausted from all the energy that she had used the past few days. But, the knew that she had to get moving. So she forced herself to her feet she stumbled around for a bit until she caught her balance. It took her a while to start to trot out of the alley but, as soon as she left the alley she dove right back in. Because once again she saw someone she didn't want to see. Officer Split Sight. It seemed that Sweetie couldn't catch a break. First, she almost gets kidnapped and then she sees Split Sight... for the first time and then she is reported missing and people spot her and then she sees Split Sight for the second time.

Sweetie watched as Officer Spilt Sight passes the alley. As soon as she thought he was a safe distance away she darted out of the alley and walked down the street as fast as she could trying and failing to not look suspicious. 

'This might have been a bad idea' Sweetie thought to herself as she continued to walk through the massive city. At this point, she pretty much had the whole city after her because She had the mafia or something like that on her tail she also had the police after her. And she was pretty sure that Someone back in Ponyville would put out some sort of reward for her which meant normal people in the city could potentially be after her as well.

At this point, she was starting to think that relocating to a different city was her best option well her best option if she didn't want to get caught she could always just turn herself in. But, her mind was convincing her that if she did turn herself in she would just have to go back and get beat by Rarity.

Sweetie tried to shake these thoughts from her mind. The last thing she needed at this point was to worry about anything that wasn't getting caught by anyone that wanted to harm her or do other unspeakable things that she did even want to think about. 

With these thoughts in mind, she continued to wander the seemingly endless streets of Las Pegasus.
> Intermission-Ponyville Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity awoke to her alarm buzzing in the background. She reached over and turned it off. She walked over and opened the window to see that it was a beautiful day outside.

She left her room and started to walk towards the stairs but, she noticed that Sweetie Belles's door was open. 'That's weird' She thought Sweetie didn't wake up before her often and she always slept with the door closed. She peeked into Sweeties' room to see that she wasn't there. 'She's probably out with her friends doing another one of their stupid crusades' She thought and honestly she was happy that Sweetie was gone because it meant that she didn't have to deal with her. 

Rarity walked down the stairs and into the kitchen once there she opened the fridge and stared into it. She reached in and grabbed an Apple Jack Daniels. Even though it was eight in the morning she found that it was easier to just drink away all her problems. She sat there drinking until there was a knock at the door.

Rarity quickly put the alcohol away and walked over to the door. When she opened the door she saw Apple Jack standing there. "Howdy Rarity," She said.

"Why hello, AppleJack," Rarity said. "Why don't you come in" Apple Jack nodded and followed Rarity into the Carousel Boutique. They sat down at the table and stared at each other for a few moments.

"So what brings you here Apple Jack?" Rarity asked. 

Apple Jack sighed and said "Well. Have you noticed that the other two crusaders have been hanging out with Sweetie Belle a lot less?" Rarity shot her a confused look.

"Well I have noticed that she was hanging out with them less" Rarity said. 

"Well, it seems that the Apple Bloom and Scootaloo have been hanging out without her a lot. And ah'm afraid that they might be trying to phase Sweetie out of the group." Rarity tried to make it look like she cared. Because she didn't care honestly if Sweetie had a falling out with the crusaders she probably wouldn't have noticed.

"Is that so?" Rarity asked. "I didn't know they were hanging out without her" Rarity said once again trying her best to make it sound like she cared.

"Yeah. And ah just stopped by here to try and set up a... I don't know... Playdate?" Apple Jack said. Rarity looked at Apple Jack. She was pretty happy this meant she got Sweetie out of the house later. Just as Rarity was about to speak a thought hit her. 'I thought Sweetie was out with her friends' She looked at Apple Jack in confusion.

"I thought Sweetie was out with her friends now," Rarity said. Apple Jack looked up at Rarity with a surprised look on her face.

"No, Apple Bloom is at home sleeping," Apple Jack says giving Rarity a worried look.

"Then where is she?" Rarity says looking back at Apple Jack. While she should be happy because Sweetie was gone she was less than happy because this meant that she had to look for her.

"What! Rarity what are you talking about!" Apple Jack practically yelled. Rarity was taken slightly aback by Apple Jacks' sudden outburst. 

"She is not in her room" Rarity said. They both sat there staring at each other for what felt like an hour.

"Rarity Pardon me but you seem a little nonchalant about this" Apple Jack said. Rarity stared at her for a second. Her cover is close to being blown.

"What makes you say that dear?" Rarity said trying her best to sound convincing which she failed at.

"Your sister is not in her room and she is not with her friends and you don't seem to care," Apple Jack said. While this was a true statement Rarity would never tell anyone that.

"Sweetie is an adventurous pony. I'm sure she is out exploring or maybe she is out with Scootaloo" Rarity said.

Apple Jack deadpanned. "It's eight in the morning and Scootaloo had a sleepover with Apple Bloom last night" Rarity tried her best to not look shocked. She racked her brain for a good response to that.

"W-well I don't know then," Rarity said. She was genuinely worried that Apple Jack might catch on to her facade. 

"Well I guess we have to go look for her" Apple Jack said in a suspicious tone. It took everything Rarity had not to sigh because she knew that she couldn't say no.

"Alright then," Rarity said. She looked up to see Apple Jack narrowing her eyes at her. "What?" Rarity asked. 

Apple Jack stared at her for a few seconds before saying "Are you alright?" Rarity shot Apple Jack a confused look even though she knew what Apple Jack meant.

"Yes," Rarity stated simply. Apple Jack nodded before getting up "Well then. Shall we go?" Apple Jack asked.

"Yes, we shall," Rarity said as she stood up and followed Apple Jack out of the carousel boutique. 




After hours of walking around Ponyville, the two mares knew what they had to do and one was not quite as sad as the other. They both approached the Ponyville police department. 

Apple Jack sighed as she pushed open the door to the Police Station she knew what she was about to do wouldn't be fun but it had to be done. One of the most confusing things was did she run away? was she kidnapped? All were good questions that she didn't have an answer for. But there was one other question that she didn't currently have an answer to why did Rarity seem to not care about the whole situation. She could sort of understand Rarity not being worried in the beginning but now? When they were certain that Sweetie Belle was missing why wouldn't she care more than she did? But she couldn't worry about that now she knew what had to be done.

"Welcome to the Ponyville police department how may I help you?" They both looked up at the receptionist.

"We would like to file a missing pony report" Apple Jack stated sadly. The receptionist gave her a sad smile.

"Alright. Down the hall and to the right" She Said pointing down the hall. Apple Jack nodded and walked down the hall. It was a sad journey well, For at least one of the two as Rarity was a little too drunk to realize what was happening, in fact, she was barely able to act like she wasn't drunk.

Apple Jack walked into a small room at the end of the hall and saw a lone police officer sitting at a desk. He looked up at them and nodded. "Have a seat," He said. They both took a seat and stared at the officer for a little. He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Here to file?" He said when he was met with confused looks from the two mares he clarified "File a missing pony report. Sorry its a habit"

"Well then we are here to file," Apple Jack said. While it might not have been the time for jokes but she figured it would one small little joke couldn't hurt. 

He chuckled and looked back at the two mares. "I need age, name and short description" Apple Jack looked at Rarity who looked back at her with a confused look.

"Well?" Applejack said.

"Well, what?" Rarity asked.

"She's your sister!" Apple Jack practically yelled at her. Rarity was taken aback by Apple Jacks' sudden outburst and so was the Police Officer.

"Oh uh right sorry," She said. "Her name is Sweetie Belle and she is ten years old" She paused to think of a good description for Sweetie Belle "Well she is a unicorn her coat is the same color as mine her mane is purple and she doesn't have her cutie mark," She said.

He nodded and dropped his pencil and then closed his notebook. "Alright that's all," He said. The two mares nodded and got up to leave. "We will call you both back in for interviews sometime this week," He said. Applejack looked back and nodded.

While they were leaving one thought would not leave Apple Jacks' mind. Why was Rarity so nonchalant about this whole situation? They had just reported her sister missing and she didn't seem to care.

Then a thought hit her. The last conversation with Sweetie Belle. 

"Now I know that Rarity might not give you the same attention that your parents could but that doesn't mean that she is abusing ya," She said. This was not her first rodeo. She had been through this with Apple Bloom when their parents died well not quite to this extreme. Apple Bloom just tried her hardest to get attention.

"I'm not lying!" Sweetie yelled. Apple Jack was taken aback by the sudden outburst. Sweetie had never yelled at her before. It was a big surprise.

Apple Jack blocked the memory out of her head. She didn't want to remember what happened next... She yelled at Sweetie for lying and now she might have been telling the truth. 

Apple Jack opened her mouth to ask Rarity. But she stopped herself no one would ever admit to something like that. She would have to do some investigating if she wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery.
> Fatal Distraction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a long day and a restless night for Sweetie Belle. She couldn't fall asleep mainly because it was hard to find a good spot to sleep. But, she did eventually get to sleep pretty late. 

It was a nice morning. Sunny and slightly chilly, Even though it wasn't freezing she was worried that it was going to get colder a little bit sooner than she expected it too.

Sweetie knew that she had to stay on the move at all times, She had only awoken a few minutes ago and she already saw one of the stallions that were chasing her. It was undeniable that they were still after her and it would seem that they were going to stop at nothing to catch her. But she knew one thing, neither one of the stallions after were smart and while Sweetie Wasnt the smartest filly around she was a pretty smart cookie. But, she was pretty sure that they would not be the only ones after her for long and they were most likely footsoldiers. Her biggest fear was getting some sort of crime boss after her because they were typically masterminds and she wasn't quite that smart.

With these terrifying thoughts in mind, she got up and started to walk. She was pretty sure that the best way to avoid her pursuers was to keep walking around the city so she wouldn't be in one spot for too long. The plan wasn't foolproof because she could always run into them around the city.

As she continues to wander around the city one thought wouldn't leave her mind ' I wonder if the crusaders miss me' She wanted the answer to be yes but the dark side of her mind was telling her that they were happy that she was gone and they were having all sorts of fun without her.

Sweetie tried desperately to push these thoughts out of her mind as she was on the brink of tears. She didn't want to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the street because, for one, it would bring attention to her and two, it was just embarrassing. 

But her attempts were futile and her mind ran rampant with all the fun the crusaders and all of her other friends were having without her. None of them cared that she was gone right? She didn't matter that much to them they were just her friends out of pitty and Rarity only took care of her because she had too. That's why Rarity verbally and physically abused her. It was no one's fault but Sweeties all of this was her fault. If she had just been less annoying then Rarity wouldn't have turned to alcohol if she had just been nicer Rarity wouldn't have started hitting her.

Sweetie shed a single tear as she was still trying her hardest to not break down right there in the middle of the street she had never had thoughts like this and she never thought she would there was never a reason for her to think that her friends didn't like her.

But she knew that needed to focus on the people around her because her safety was more important than her friend's opinion on her. She hadn't run into anyone suspicious so far. No one looking for her or looking at her weird. Which meant that this was so far her most successful day in Los Pegasus but, she also tried to block this thought out as she didn't want to jinx her good luck. Even if Sweetie wasn't superstitious she didn't want to take her chances.

Maybe it's your fault your parents died. Sweetie shook her head trying to get the voice out of her head. If you weren't so annoying maybe they wouldn't have gone to Manehattan. She tried desperately to stop the voices. Its all your fault. All of it the chain of events that led to this was all caused by you. Sweetie started speeding but, the voices continued. Just accept it. You know its all your fault! It was your stupidity that got you here!. Sweetie started to gallop but it was as if the voices were chasing her. Why are you running? You are just running from the truth! Can you not handle the truth? She continued to gallop through the city trying to avoid all of the ponies going about their days. Sweetie tried to convince herself that the voices were wrong that she was just being a kid. But, she was starting to believe them. Sure she was a kid but maybe she was a little more annoying than most kids. Maybe her parents didn't like her they had been going on more and more "Business trips" Lately maybe that was just an excuse to get away from her. Could all of this be true? Maybe her mind was right. Maybe the crusaders were just her friends out of pity. They didn't seem to care as much about her and she had caught them hanging out without her on several occasions. 

Sweetie collapsed behind a bookstore and started to sob uncontrollably. At this point, she didn't care if anyone heard her none of it mattered anymore, She was a nopony lost in a city of criminals and corrupt corporations. The streets of Los Pegasus were teaching her that the world isn't all sunshine and roses like Ponyville was. It was a dark, corrupt, and crooked place and you did what you could to survive. And Sweetie knew that if she wanted to survive it would take a lot more than running away from all of her problems. 

Sweetie tried to gain control of her sobbing. It was hard but she did eventually get it under control. She got back up and stared at the people passing the alley. Any of them could be after her. They could be part of the gang that was after her or they could just be after her for the reward. 

All of a sudden a hoof made contact with the back of Sweeties' head causing her to fall to the ground. Barely clinging to consciousness Sweetie looked back up at her attacker to See the stallion she had hit with a rock staring back at her with a devilish grin.

"Got you," He said. Sweetie tried to crawl away from the stallion but was stopped by her tail. She looked back to see that he was standing on her tail.

"P-Please don't do this" Sweetie said. She started crying again as he slowly shook his head back and forth. There was no escape this time.

"No can do kid," He said. Sweetie braced herself as he raised his hoof in the air.

And with one fell swoop Sweetie Belle was knocked unconscious.
> Prisoner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle awoke to a black room. She didn't know where she was but, she had a good idea of how she got there. She had been caught they finally got her.

Sweetie was freaking out. What were they going to do with her? She had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do with her but, would they actually do that?

Sweetie searched around the room for a light switch or any sort of light source but, she could find nothing except a locked door. Not to mention the fact that there was nothing in the room beside a dirty mattress, not even an air conditioning vent. At this point, she could only hope that they would just forget about her. 

The door suddenly creaked open and she saw a rather proper looking unicorn stallion walk in with the stallion who kidnapped her. "She really is a looker," The proper stallion said. Sweetie cringed as she heard this. Out of all the things he could have said that one was possibly the worst.

"Good job Walker," He said as he gave him a hoof shake. 'Walker' turned and walked out of the room. He turned back towards Sweetie. She started to back up as he approached her. "What's wrong? I won't do anything to bad to you... yet" He said. Sweetie continued to back up until bumped into the wall. "What's wrong? Are you scared of me?" She wasn't sure how to respond or if she should respond. But apparently, her silence was enough for him. "GOOD!" He yelled. "I love it when people are scared of me," He said. Sweetie cowered back in fear as the stallion stood over her. He reached down and put his hoof on her chin and brought her eyes to meet his. She looked into his eyes with a confused look as it appeared he was examining her. He let go of her chin and gave her a once over. She hoped that would be it but, of course, it wasn't. He grabbed her and started examining her all around just like a doctor would. Sweetie shifted uncomfortably as she was too afraid to stop him. "Well all looks well with you," He said. "I will return shortly," He said as he kissed her on the forehead. she tried to push him away. "Ooh, Fiesty are we?" He said with a chuckle. With that, he turned around and walked out of the room. Sweetie Belle collapsed, disgusted with what just happened. She was alone and afraid. She was seriously starting to regret her decision to run away.

You know, If you just be a bitch to them maybe they will kill you. Sweetie cringed. The voices were back and with a vengeance. No one will miss you. Sweetie Belle shook her head. She had enough to deal with and the voices coming back just added to that list. It would be better for everyone. She started to hit her head on the wall hoping that it would make them go away or it would knock her out either one was good.

She was so focused on the pain that she didn't notice the door open back up. "Trying to make an early exit?" The stallion said with a chuckle. Sweetie stopped and looked back at the stallion and for the first time in her life, she felt something. Immense hatred she had only met this stallion five minutes ago and she already hated him more than any other pony in Equestria.

He shook his head as Walker appeared in the doorway. He looked back at Walker and asked. "We ready?" Walker nodded and the stallion shook his head. "First off my name is Stormy Seas but, you are to call me master are we clear on that?" He asked. Sweetie only gave a weak nod of her head. "Secondly what is your real name and what would you like your pseudonym to be? Not that you are going outside any time soon." He said giving her a sadistic grin.

"What," Sweetie Belle said blankly. He stared at her in confusion for a few moments before shaking his head.

"She talks," He said excitedly. "And here I thought we were going to have to name you," He said with a laugh.

"I'm not telling you my name," She said anger evident in her tone. Stormy Seas raised his eyebrow and chuckled.

"Well, then I guess we will just have to figure that out for ourselves." He said. "Well then just tell us what you would like to be called"

"Master," Sweetie Belle said defiantly. It might not have been a good idea to mess with Stormy Seas but, she was in it for the long haul at this point.

"Funny," He said clearly unamused. "Don't make this harder than it has to be" While Sweetie certainly didn't want to die she figured that she should mess with him while she still had the courage to do so.

"Celestia," Sweetie said with pride. This turned out to be a bad idea as Stormy Seas took a few steps forward and punched Sweetie Hard She fell to the ground in pain.

'You ain't funny kid. Now tell me what you want to be called or I will make sure you will walk funny for a week" He said angrily. Sweetie could think of two ways that he could make her walk funny for a week and neither of them sounded too appealing.

Sweetie racked her brain. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't come up with anything. "If you don't give me a name in the next thirty seconds I will call you dumb whore," He said impatiently. Sweetie wasn't one-hundred percent sure what that word meant but she had a pretty good idea.

"Silver Heart" Sweetie Blurted out. He looked at her and shook his head.

"Whatever you say, kid or should I say Silver Heart?" He said with a laugh. "Alright, Walker lets go find out her real name" With that He and Walker turned and left the room.

Sweetie curled up into a ball on the dirty old mattress that they had given her. She just couldn't wrap her head around this whole situation and how it went so wrong so quickly. One day she was roaming free maybe running from a few people but, she was free and then the next day she didn't even go by the same name. Sweetie started to softly cry as she realized the severity of this whole situation. She was a prisoner and her captors were most likely going to do bad things to her. 

Sweetie decided that the best thing to do was to get some rest so, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.





"Well that was an adventure," Walker said as the two stallions walked down the narrow hallway that led to their office. They weren't sure what that room was made for but, it was perfect for keeping their prisoners in. 

"It sure was," Stormy Seas said. "Now we just have to figure out her real name," he said with a sigh. He knew that it would most likely be a long boring process to figure out this filly's real name but, he needed to keep up with the latest news on her.

"You know. I don't think she is from around here" Walker said in a thoughtful tone. Stormy Seas raised his eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?" He asked. 

"She didn't seem to know that alleys that well" Walker stated.

"Not everyone has a comprehensive knowledge of the back-alleys like you do," Stormy Seas said with a chuckle. Walker might not have been the smartest pony but, he made a pretty good sidekick or whatever you would call him.

"Well, she seemed like she was a runaway. And if she was a runaway from these parts she would most likely know the alleys" Walker said sounding slightly irritated.

"I guess your right," He said. That would make their search slightly easier but, still not exactly a walk in the park.

They made their way into the office and Stormy Seas took a seat at one of the chairs while Walker went through some papers.

"Say. You wouldn't happen to have today's newspaper lying around here?" Stormy Seas said with curiosity.

"I think I do," Walker said as he rifled through a stack of papers. "Ah-ha!" Walker said triumphantly as he held up the day's newspaper. "Oh.. I think we found our girl" Walker said as he looked at the headline of the paper. Stormy Seas raised an eyebrow and extended a hoof.

"Oh wow," He said with surprise. The headline read. "Ponyville girl reported missing!" But that wasn't what caught his eye. He was more interested in the text under that. "Yesterday morning Sweetie Belle, the sister of famous fashionista Rarity was reported missing...". Stormy Seas was shocked at what he was seeing. "Looks like we got ourselves a valuable one," He said with a chuckle.

"It seems weird that she would run away like that. I mean I would love it if my sister was famous" Walker said. 

"Yeah, It does seem weird but, maybe she just didn't get enough attention or something," Stormy Seas said. Walker shook his head in agreement.

"So, What are we gonna do with her?" Walker asked. Stormy Seas knew what Walker wanted to do with her and he wanted to do it too but, he figured he would put her through hell first.

"Usually I would want to do the usual but, I feel like she has some sort of talent and I need some things done around here. So why not put her to work?" Stormy Seas said. 

"I mean I could just do it," Walker said. Despite how stupid that was Stormy Seas decided not to be condescending for once.

"Now Walker. Why would you do something if you could have a perfectly willing filly do it for you?" Stormy Seas said with a smile. 

Walker chuckled and smiled. "I wouldn't call her 'Willing' but I get your point". Stormy Seas smiled and laughed. Of course, she wasn't willing but it sounded better that way.

"Yeah Yeah you get the point," Stormy Seas said with a wave of his hoof. "But we will have fun with her either way," He said with a wink.

"I know we will," Walker said with a chuckle. Stormy Seas looked at him with a smile.

"Walker, You are a rat after my own heart" Stormy Seas said mischievously.

"I learned from the best," Walker said with a wicked grin.
> Intermission-Ponyville Part 2 Falling apart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only way Ponyville could be described was complete disarray. Once the news was made public a shock wave ripped through the town. There had never been such a big story associated with the quiet town. Truth be told Apple Jack didn't want the story to go public so quick but when the police officers found out who Sweetie Belle's sister was, they didn't want to wait. It wasn't a big deal AppleJack just wanted to be the one to tell the other two crusaders for emotional purposes but, they ended up figuring out on their own.

Surprisingly Rarity seemed to handle all of her interviews rather Bad It's not like she said she said that she didn't care that Sweetie Belle went missing. She just stuttered and just overall seemed more preoccupied than sad or worried. But, Apple Jack couldn't worry about that now she had to go calm the crusaders down. Big Mac said that he heard them In the clubhouse and it did sound good. But to AppleJacks' surprise, Big Mac said that they were not crying but arguing. While that surprised Big Mac, AppleJack knew exactly what they would be arguing about. She knew that Scootaloo wanted to go find Sweetie Belle it was just in her daring nature.

As AppleJack approached the Cutie mark crusaders clubhouse she was surprised to hear them arguing her from outside. She never thought that any of the crusaders would yell at anyone like that let alone each other. And not only that but they were some pretty harsh words from both fillies.

As AppleJack was approaching she heard Scootaloo yell "We need to help her!". AppleJack sighed and shook her head 'No ya don't'She thought no matter how touching the story would be it was just too dangerous. 

"Scoots ah know ya want to help her but it just ain't safe!" Apple Bloom shot back. AppleJack hated to take sides but she knew that Apple Bloom was right.

"But Sweetie needs us!" Scootaloo shouted angrily. AppleJack started to walk up the stairs that led into the clubhouse. She wasn't quite sure if she was going to make her presence known or just wait for them to figure out on their own.

"I know she does! But it's just way too dangerous!" Apple Bloom fired back. AppleJack hated to hear them argue like this but, her curiosity was getting the best of her. 

"We have done dangerous things before!" Scootaloo shot back. AppleJack knew that the crusaders had done some dangerous and rather dumb things in the past but she knew that Scootaloo didn't know how dangerous this situation was.

"That don't make it right!" Apple Bloom retorted. As much as She would like to hear more of this argument AppleJack knew that she had to stop it. So she walked through the door to the clubhouse immediately catching the eye of Apple Bloom.
"H-how long have you been there?" Apple Bloom stuttered. Scootaloo looked back to see AppleJack standing there in the doorway. 

"Long enough," AppleJack said softly. Both Apple Bloom looked at the ground and Scootaloo just shook her head. "Now I know that ya want to try to help Sweetie. But Apple Bloom is right it's just too dangerous" AppleJack said sadly. Her comment gained her a hateful glare from Scootaloo. 

"What's wrong with you guys!" Scootaloo shouted. AppleJack took a step back shock she had never expected Scootaloo to yell at her.

"Now Scoo-" AppleJack was cut off by Scootaloo.

"Our friend is out there alone and probably afraid and you guys don't even want to try and help her!" Scootaloo yelled. AppleJack could see how much this was hurting Apple Bloom by the look in her eyes. So she had to stop it.

"Now Scootaloo, I know Sweetie is out on her own somewhere but, the police have the situation under control," AppleJack said seriously. This comment gained her another angry glare from Scootaloo.

"That doesn't mean we can't help!" Scootaloo said angrily. AppleJack shook her head as much as she hated to say it Scootaloo was a very dense pony.

"Scootaloo, Ya don't even know what city Shes in," AppleJack said. Scootaloo stared at her, She would never admit it but AppleJack had a point.

"B-But I... We can find that out!" Scootaloo stammered. AppleJack could sense that something bad was going to happen but at this point, there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.

"And how do ya suppose we do that?" Apple Bloom Interjected. Scootaloo turned her head to look at Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo opened her mouth but was cut off by AppleJack. "Now Now you two we don't need another argument" Scootaloo turned her head to look at AppleJack again.

"I don't remember asking you!" Scootaloo shouted. AppleJack once again took a step back surprised by Scootaloo's outburst. She stared at Scootaloo in disbelief since when did Scootaloo get so hostile?

"I'm just looking out for your safety!" AppleJack Fired back. She was starting to get a little angry herself.

"And I'm trying to look out for Sweeties safety!" Scootaloo shot back. AppleJack decided to control herself and just try to defuse the situation.

"Sometimes ya just got to look out for your own safety," AppleJack said gently. She knew that Scootaloo wouldn't listen to her but, it was worth a shot.

"Whatever I'm out of here," Scootaloo said as she started to walk towards the door of the clubhouse. AppleJack did nothing to stop her as she knew it wasn't a good idea. Despite this Scootaloo still decided to push past AppleJack on her way out. 

"Scoots wait!" Apple Bloom called out. She started to follow Scootaloo but, AppleJack stopped her. "What are ya doing?" Apple Bloom questioned. 

"Don't mess with her. She will come round eventually" AppleJack said sadly. She knew that it was best to just leave her alone. Apple Jack knew that Scootaloo was not only fighting with Apple Bloom but, she was also fighting with herself. She wasn't quite sure why Scootaloo was fighting with herself but, that was the least of her worries.

"But what if she tries to run after Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom said in a worried tone. AppleJack had that thought too but she was pretty sure that Scootaloo wouldn't try anything if she didn't know where she was going.

"As long as she don't know where she is goin' She won't do anything," AppleJack said reassuringly. By the look on Apple Bloom's face, Apple Jack could tell that she wasn't buying it. 

"Ah don't think ya know Scoots as well as ah do," Apple Bloom said. While AppleJack knew that statement was true she was pretty certain that Scootaloo wasn't that dumb.

"It'll be fine. Why don't you go home" AppleJack said soothingly. "If it makes ya feel better I will find Scoots and talk to her" Apple Jack offered. Apple Bloom nodded her head. "Alright you hurry on home and ah will go look for Scootaloo," AppleJack said.

"Alright," Apple Bloom agreed as the two mares went their separate ways.
> Interesting Revalations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle was awoken by a sharp pain in her face. She shook the sleep out of her eyes and looked up to see Walker standing over her with a shovel. She shook her head and laid back down.

"Time to get up," Walker said flatly. Sweetie looked up at him once again with a confused look on her face. "Time to work," He said. Sweetie looked back at the ground. 'They're going to make me work?' She though. While she had expected to do some favors for them she didn't expect them to just flat out use her as slave labor or something. Sweetie suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. "We don't got all-day kid," Walker said sounding very impatient.

"Alright! Alright!" Sweetie exclaimed as she struggled to her hooves. Walker attempted to grab her hoof but, he was quickly denied as Sweetie batted his hoof away. "Don't touch me," Sweetie said with surprising bravado. But unfortunately, any courage she had disappeared as she was quickly rewarded with another hard hit from the shovel. "Fuck you" Sweetie muttered under her breath. Before she had time to think about what she said, A very hard hit to her ribs knocked her to the ground. 

"Don't be smart with me," Walker said. Sweetie rolled her eyes and went to push herself to her hooves but when she pushed a sharp pain shot through her ribs. Walker hadn't hit her again so what was the problem? And then it hit her. He had re-aggravated the fractured rib that Rarity had given her a few weeks prior. Despite the intense pain she still forced herself to her hooves. "You alright kid?" Walker said sounding surprisingly sincere. Sweetie was thoroughly confused by his sudden change of heart.

"Fine?" Sweetie said. Still very confused. 

Her confusion ended when she was yet again smacked with the shovel. "Don't care," Walker said with a laugh.

"Walker!" Sweetie Belle looked up to see Stormy Seas in the doorway giving Walker a death stare. "Don't fucking kill the kid!" He exclaimed seemingly releasing his anger. Walker took a step back and shook his head.

"Sorry, She was being smart with me," Walker said sounding not even a little sorry. Stormy Seas rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Whatever. Let's just get going" Stormy Seas said as he turned and left the dark room. Sweetie looked up to see Walker giving her a hateful glare.

"You stupid fucker," Walker said, his voice dripping with venom. He gave Sweetie one swift quick before he left the room. Sweetie staggered backward before catching her balance. She sat there for a second trying to catch her breath which was hard when it hurt to breathe. When she eventually caught her breath, She left the small dark room and found herself in a narrow hallway. She looked around for a second before she saw Stormy Seas poke his head into the hallway.

"Coming?" He said sounding very impatient. Sweetie just nodded her head and slowly trotted down the somewhat eerie hallway. The hallway came to an end at a little office space which was rather cluttered. "This place is rather dirty wouldn't you say, Walker?" Stormy Seas said. Sweetie knew what was coming.

"Yes. It has been a while since we cleaned it." Walker said with a grin on his face. Sweetie tried to look on the bright side of the situation. She only had to clean an office. But her moment of relief quickly faded as she realized that this was just the beginning of what they would do to her.

"I think Silver Heart here would like to clean it for us. Isn't that right Silver? Stormy Seas asked mockingly. Sweetie just nodded she really didn't want to see the consequences of defying her orders.

"Well ain't she gracious" Walker added with a laugh. Sweetie barely heard a word of what they said, She had zoned out trying to find some sort of happy place. She didn't even notice them staring at her.

"Why don't you get started then?" Stormy Seas almost commanded. Sweetie didn't know where to start but, she also didn't want to find out what would happen if she did nothing so, she reluctantly started to try her best to organize the mess of papers on the bigger desk. She assumed that this desk belonged to Stormy Seas due in large part to the size. She assumed that Stormy Seas was the boss of whatever underground operation they were apart of so it would make sense for him to have a bigger desk. For the most part, it was not to hard to figure out where everything went. Stormy Seas could have done this on his own in less than fifteen minutes but, then what would they have Sweetie do? 

It didn't take Sweetie long to finish cleaning the cluttered desk. But, as she took one good look at Walker's desk she realized that she had her work cut out for her. She sighed and slowly made her way over to the adjacent desk and slowly started to organize the mess of documents and newspapers that were scattered about the desk. One newspaper caught her eye just by the headline she knew what it was about. 'Ponyville filly reported missing!' She sat there staring at the headline for what felt like an eternity.

Sweetie's trance was broken by Stormy Seas laughing and saying. "Why don't we let her keep that one. What do you say, Walker?" Sweetie looked up at the two of them looking at her with evil smiles. Why do they smile so much?

"If she can find a way to read in the dark. Then I don't see a problem with it" Walker added giving another chuckle. Sweetie shook her head and sat the newspaper to the side. Maybe if they ever gave her a light in that room she would read it. 

After a few more minutes of hard work, Sweetie Belle finally finished her cleaning. But, she made one last mistake. She accidentally bumped into the desk that belonged to Stormy Seas. She didn't think anything of it until she heard a sickening shatter. Her head whipped around to see a picture lying face down on the desktop. She looked back a Stormy Seas with a horrified expression. 

"I-I'm sorry" Sweetie managed to blurt out. But, judging by the look on his face she knew that there was pretty much nothing she could do. Suddenly Stormy Seas' horn started to glow and Sweetie started to back up. He blasted her with a beam of magic. Sweetie Belle flew backward hitting the desk on her way causing her body to twist painfully in the air before she slammed into a wall. Despite being dizzy and in extreme pain Sweetie somehow managed to go get to her hooves.

"You need to learn to be careful with other people's things," Stormy Seas said in a painfully calm tone. Sweetie looked back at him with a terrified expression. "What? I suppose you are going to tell me your sister will save you with her little fashion army" He said with a laugh. "They can't catch me" Sweetie was pretty sure Walker was starting to get freaked out at this point. "You're precious sister can't help you now!" He yelled. Sweetie tried to stop herself from becoming angry at the statements. "She can't find you," He said with a plain psychotic look on his face.

"NO! She won't come find me. She is the reason I'm in this damn situation!" Sweetie fired back. Stormy Seas and Walker looked at each other with confused glances.

"Excuse me?" Stormy Seas said still just as confused. Sweetie looked up at them with a sad expression.

"When my parents died a month ago, My sister started drinking and forgetting about me. So, I tried to get her attention but it just made her angry at me and she started hitting me" Sweetie said, choking back tears. She hadn't expected to tell these two literally anything about her life, Let alone almost vent to them. 

Stormy Seas looked at Walker before saying. "You had to get one with emotional baggage?" Sweetie should be happy at that statement because it could give hope that they would get someone else but, in that situation, she wasn't sure what they would do with her.

"You know what they say, sir. The more baggage they have the better they cry" Walker said with a wink. Sweetie cringed that was one of the worst things she could have heard. Sweetie started to feel a little dizzy. She reached back and put her hoof to her injured rib. She felt liquid and an odd lump in her skin. She brought her hoof back into her line of sight and gasped when she saw blood. She looked back at her ribcage and saw the sheer amount of blood that was coming out of her. She stared at the lump that was in her chest for a long moment before it hit her. 'That's my rib' Sweetie looked back up and passed out.
> Unfortunate events
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer because I don't want to put the author's note at the top: This chapter contains some things that could be considered gore. You have been warned.



"Uhh, Stormy?" Walker called. He sat there staring at the large lump in Sweetie Belle's rib cage. He looked up to see Stormy Seas walk through the door. "It looks like her rib is going to pop out of her body," Walker said sounding concerned. While he didn't care about Sweetie Belle, he didn't want her to die.

"Let me look," Stormy Seas said with an exasperated sigh. He had taken a medical class for about a week back in the day so, he figured he could do something. He walked over and started to look at Sweetie Belle's chest. As he examined her further he started to realize that, for one he couldn't fix it and two even if he could they didn't have the tools to. "Well shit. We really did a number on her" Stormy Seas said sounding a bit shaken up. It was a pretty gruesome sight to see even if they had cleaned the blood off.

"You really did a number on her" Walker said accusingly. Stormy Seas rolled his eyes.

"I-I think we might have to take her to the doctor" Stormy Seas stammered. In all honesty, he was very scared of taking her to the doctor.

"What! Are you trying to get us caught!" Walker exclaimed. 

Stormy Seas glared at Walker. "Not a public doctor you dolt!" Stormy Seas fired back. He had to take her to the boss's doctor and that came with the risk of the boss figuring out how she acquired the injury. While he could fool the doctor with his excuse (Or the doctor just didn't ask questions) the boss was a lot less easy to fool. And while the boss didn't care all that much about his victims, he did have to pay the doctor and he didn't like to pay unless it was out of their control.

"An underground doctor?" Walker questioned. Stormy Seas gave Walker a death glare.

"No, an above ground doctor. Yes, you fuckin' idiot!" Stormy Seas shouted. As helpful as he could be Walker was rather idiotic, and at the moment Stormy Seas was not in the mood for Walker's stupidity. He looked back a the still unconscious Sweetie Belle and sighed, he was beginning to think that she wasn't worth all this trouble. What was stopping him from dumping her in an alleyway and let her fend for herself. That is if she survives the broken rib.

Walker rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'll go get the stuff ready," he said as he turned to leave the room. Stormy Seas leaned up against the wall. He didn't want to disturb the doctor but, he really had no choice because his only other option was to dump her in the street. But then he put in all of this effort for nothing.

After some racket from the other room, he heard Walker yell "Ready". He got up and gently picked up Sweetie Belle. He slowly made his way out of the small room and into the narrow hallway that led to the office. Once he made it into the office he made his way over to a very, annoyed-looking Walker. He gently laid Sweetie Belle in the carriage that was connected to a harness around Walker's torso. 

They sat there in silence for a few moments before Walker spoke up. "Lead the way" Stormy Seas shook his head.

"Oh, Right," He said as he started to leave the office. They had to be careful with this. It was hard to make it look like Sweetie Belle was just cargo and not a live pony. They had to cover her with a blanket and put a few other things in the carriage that, was more like a wheel-barrow.

They continued to walk down the streets of Los Pegasus, Walker getting more and more impatient as they went along. "Do you know where we are going!" Walker practically shouted. Stormy Seas gave Walker a quick smack across the face.

"Be quiet you idiot!" Stormy Seas spit. "Yes, I know where we are going," He said angrily. Walker shook his head and continued to walk down the streets of Los Pegasus. But, a slightly troubling thought hit him. 'What if she wakes up' They didn't gag her or even tie her up. 

"Stormy?" Walker said cautiously. Stormy Seas glared at Walker. "What if she wakes up?" He said. Stormy Seas' expression immediately changed. He hadn't thought about that. "Good thing I've come prepared," Walker said as he reached into a saddlebag that was on his back. He pulled out a gag and handed it to Stormy Seas.

"You had to bring the whole kit?" Stormy Seas said. Walker just rolled his eyes. They sat there staring at each other before Stormy Seas spoke up. "I can't gag her in the middle of the city," He said impatiently. 

"Right," Walker said as he turned down an adjacent alleyway. When they were out of view from the main road Stormy Seas walked around the carriage and gently lifted the blanket. He put the gag in Sweetie Belles mouth and put the blanket back down.

"Let's get going," Stormy Seas said as he turned and continued to walk towards the 15th street hotel. While it wasn't the most glamorous or creative name it certainly did attract some big names. Some celebrities stayed away from the hotel because they knew the number of shady deals that went down within the walls. But, they couldn't say anything that would be a death wish.

The duo rounded the final corner and the massive structure came into view. "We aren't going where I think we are going?" Walker spoke up. Stormy Seas knew why Walker would be scared to go into the hotel and he shared that fear. Many big-time people came through the hotel and they didn't want to get on bad terms with any of them. But that wasn't the biggest fear of either of them. Their biggest fear was running into the boss. While Stormy Seas was the only one out of the two who had even seen the boss they still didn't want to have an unprepared encounter with him.

"I'm afraid we are," Stormy Seas said uneasily. Due to the nature of their issue, Sweetie Belle would need a skilled doctor to make sure that she would be able to do things properly again. And that meant that they couldn't go to any random doctor. They had to go to the boss's doctor.

"Stormy are you sure about this?" Walker said. In truth, Stormy Seas wasn't sure about this whole thing. His big fear was that the doctor might pass on some bad information to the boss which would halt in progress up the social ladder.

"As sure as I'll ever be," Stormy Said as he opened the door to the hotel. He walked up to the stallion who was at the front desk. "I'm looking for Doctor Red Sythe," He said rather nervously.

"I'm sorry I don't know who that is" The stallion responded. Stormy Seas expected this answer so he had his response ready.

He leaned in and whispered. "Stormy Seas" The stallion looked down at a little book before looking back up.

"Left hallway. Fourth room on the left" The stallion said. Stormy Seas nodded and turned to face the left hallway, he took a deep breath before starting to trot towards the room. 

Once they had reached the room which turned out to be a ballroom. Stormy Seas looked at the door handle and took a deep breath before turning the nob and opening the door. He immediately saw Doctor Sythe sitting at the table, having a conversation with some of the guests at the table. Stormy Seas gave a small knock on the doorframe. This gained the attention of the doctor who raised his eyebrows when he saw who was standing at the door. Stormy mouthed 'Medical' to the doctor who nodded and tapped on the table twice and pointed to the left. Luckily, Stormy Seas knew that this meant to go to the room directly to the left and wait.

He slowly shut the door and entered the room at the end of the hallway. Stormy Seas slowly lifted Sweetie Belle out of the carriage and put her down on the table that sat in the middle of the room. Judging by the amount of rather unprofessional tools that were laid out on the tables surrounding the bed, this would be a rather unorthodox procedure. Stormy Seas couldn't fathom why the doctor would need a screwdriver but, it was there.

He was broken from his thoughts as the door swung open. "What seems to be the problem Agent Seas?" Stormy wasn't sure why the doctor called him an 'Agent' but at least it sounded cool. He just pointed at Sweetie Belle. "Oh, Wow. What he hell happened here?" Stormy Seas froze. He couldn't tell him that he blasted Sweetie Belle with his magic and he hadn't thought of a proper excuse.

"She had a little accident with some wood" He offered. This was a terrible excuse and Stormy Seas knew it but, it was the best he could come up with on the spot. The doctor looked at him and raised an eyebrow before looking down at the unconscious filly. 

He picked up a knife. "You might want to cover her mouth. If she wakes up it could get loud" The doctor said. Stormy Seas nodded and put his hoof over Sweetie Belles's mouth. He watched as the doctor made an incision around where the lump was. He wasn't sure why he was doing that but, it was probably best not to question. He watched as the doctor finished his cut and put the knife down. As soon as he finished the cut the rib poked through the skin, and a small amount of blood started to seep out of the wound. The doctor grabbed the rib and started to move it around a little bit. unfortunately, this woke Sweetie Belle up, she immediately started screaming at the unbearable pain coming from her ribcage, this caused Stormy Seas to practically shove his hoof into her mouth. The doctor shot a glance up at Stormy who offered a sheepish grin. The doctor rolled his eyes and went back to work on the broken rib. At this point, Sweetie Belle was balling her eyes out which did make Stormy Seas feel a little bit bad (Not sad). 

In her wild attempts at screaming, Sweetie Belle accidentally (Or possibly on purpose) bit down on Stormy Seas' hoof. He used his free hoof to give Sweetie Belle a quick smack across the face. This action gained him another glare from the doctor. He grabbed another knife and made another small cut to make it easier to work with, This caused Sweetie Belle to let out another scream of pain. The doctor once again grabbed the rib and seemingly attempted to break it back into place. The doctor's maneuver failed horribly and Sweetie Belle writhed in pain as her rib was almost broken completely off. Blood started to pour out of the open wound. The doctor scrambled to stop the flow of blood. When he finally stopped the blood from flowing he sighed and turned around and started rummaging through a drawer of medical or just random tools. He picked out a cylindrical piece of metal. He turned back around and placed it on the table with most of his tools.

Since her rib was barely hanging on to anything the doctor was able to hold it in place with his magic while he floated the metal object into place. It was at this point that Stormy Seas realized two things. One, That metal thing was supposed to be a brace of some sort And two, the blood loss seemed to be catching up to Sweetie Belle as it seemed that she could barely move although, She was still crying her eyes out. Using his magic, the doctor slipped the brace over the broken rib, this action seemed to cause Sweetie Belle immense pain as she let out another scream. "Almost done," The doctor said. he briefly let go of the brace to levitate a drill over to the makeshift operating table. Stormy Seas' eyes widened as he realized what the doctor was about to do. The doctor lined up a screw and started to drill into Sweetie Belles rib. She let out a deafening scream of pain. "Sorry kid. Probably should have mentioned this was the worst part" The doctor said as he lined up the second screw. His drilling was knocked off course as a sudden convulsion made Sweetie Belle curl up into a ball. "Hold her still" The doctor commanded. Stormy Seas nodded and held Sweetie Belle down as the doctor continued his drilling.

Once he had finished, he stitched up the cut on her chest and looked at Stormy Seas. "Bring her back in exactly six weeks. I will be in the same place" Stormy Seas nodded. He gathered up Sweetie Belle and laid her in the carriage. And he signaled for a very shaken up Walker to follow him out of the room.
> Apologies and Interviews
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

AppleJack walked after Scootaloo well, she walked in the direction that Scootaloo had stormed off. It was times like these that she wished she wasn't the element of honesty. Because then she could just go to sugar cube corner for an hour and come back and say that things went well but, no she had to tell the truth all of the time.

AppleJack froze in her tracks as she heard something from behind a nearby tree. It sounded it someone was crying. She was pretty sure that it was Scootaloo, who else would be in Sweet apple acres crying? She walked over to the tree and her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the orange pegasus sitting against the tree with her head in her hooves.

"H-Hey Scootaloo" She AppleJack said carefully. Scootaloo jumped and immediately tried to hide the fact that she was crying.

"What do you want," Scootaloo said desperately trying to prevent herself from crying. Applejack gave her a sad smile.

"Ah'm here to apologize," Applejack said. She could hear the gasp from Scootaloo. She was given a confused look from the orange pegasus. "Ah mean it," AppleJack said sincerely. 

"W-why?" Scootaloo stammered. Applejack took a seat beside the crying filly.

"I felt bad for getting angry at ya," She said. Scootaloo looked at her with a saddened expression on her face.

"It's fine," Scootaloo said trying to regain her bravado. AppleJack sighed and looked at the ground, she knew what Scootaloo was doing, she was trying to act tough in front of her. 

"Ah'm just worried about you," AppleJack said carefully. She knew that it was important to approach this situation carefully because she didn't want to get into another argument with Scootaloo.

"I-I know. I'm sorry I yelled" Sccootaloo said. AppleJack was shocked, she didn't expect Scootaloo to apologize to her.

"It's alright," AppleJack said with a friendly smile. Scootaloo looked at the ground. "Ah think me and the and the girls will go to whatever city she is spotted in," Applejack said. She knew this could be a bad idea but, it could stop Scootaloo from doing something not smart. "Would you like to go with us?" Scootaloo's head shot up.

"Yes!" Scootaloo almost shouted. "I-I mean. I would love to" She back-peddled. AppleJack smiled at the filly's sudden outburst. In all technicality, AppleJack was lying because she didn't know if they would try and find Sweetie Belle but, it also technically could happen so it wasn't a lie just a blind promise.

"Great. Now I don't want ya running after Sweetie without us adults ya hear?" AppleJack said in a firm tone. She was confident that Scootaloo was not going to lash out at her again. Scootaloo looked at the ground and seemed to contemplate her answer.

"Fine" Scootaloo huffed. AppleJack smiled and got to her hooves and offered a hoof to Scootaloo. She took her hoof and got her hooves. 

"Whaddya say we go get Apple Bloom and head over to Sugar cube-corner?" AppleJack said, still smiling. 

"That sounds nice," Scootaloo said, failing miserably to hide her newfound excitement. Applejack nodded and started walking back towards the farmhouse. 

The two of them walked fast and in relative silence, neither of them knew how to break the awkward silence that hung between them. Luckily they reached the house quickly. AppleJack opened the door and peeked her head in.

"Apple Bloom!" She shouted. She heard some rustling from Apple Bloom's room before she got her response.

"What?" Apple Bloom shouted back. Applejack sighed, Why couldn't she just come and talk to her face to face.

"Come here!" AppleJack commanded. She heard some ruckus before she heard Apple Bloom's door open. There was a brief silence before Apple Bloom came into view. There was an audible gasp from the filly as she saw the orange pegasus that accompanied her older sister. 

Apple Bloom took a few steps back. "W-What a-are you doing here?" She stammered. Scootaloo let out a sad sigh and looked up to make eye contact with Apple Bloom.

"I'm here to apologize," Scootaloo said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you Apple Bloom," She said sincerely. Apple Bloom had a dumbfounded expression on her face. She stared at the two of them for a few seconds, trying to process the fact that Scootaloo might be admitting that the was wrong (For the first time).

"Its alright Scoots," Apple Bloom said, still sounding confused. It hurt Scootaloo that Apple Bloom might not believe that she was sorry for her actions. But, considering her past actions it might be justified.

"I really mean it," Scootaloo said sadly. Apple Bloom looked at her with an apologetic look on her face. Scootaloo was realized that Apple Bloom seemed to believe her now.

"Ah could never stay mad at you Scoots!" Apple Bloom declared. She walked over to Scootaloo and gave her a big hug, Scootaloo hugged back, knowing that she had her friend back.

"Now that everything is better, ah was thinking that we could head on over to sugar cube corner " AppleJack interjected Apple Bloom looked up at her without breaking the hug.

"That sounds great!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. Applejack smiled as she watched the two fillies break their hug and look at her with big smiles on their faces.

"How about we get going?" AppleJack asked, smiling back at the two fillies. They just nodded and followed along as AppleJack started to walk down the path that led out of the farm. 

The trio walked down the path, passing trees, ponds, and different types of plants and livestock that they kept on the farm. The scenery started to change as they moved out of the farm and into the town. They started to pass houses and businesses, exchanging very few words on their way to the pastry shop. Once they were in town it didn't take long for them to reach their destination. They rounded a corner and Sugar cube-corner came into view, it wasn't the biggest shop around but, it got the job done. After a short walk, they made it to the front door, AppleJack held the door open for the two files who happily entered the establishment.

They were immediately greeted by the energetic pink pony that worked at the shop, Pinkie Pie. A good friend but she could be a handful at times. "Hey Applejack!" Pinkie practically shouted. They were caught off guard by the sudden high -energy greeting causing all three of them to jump.

"Oh uh hey Pinkie" AppleJack greeted. She looked up to make eye contact with the hyperactive pink pony.

"The usual for you three?" Pinkie said. They all just nodded. And in the blink of an eye Pinkie Pie was gone. They might have been confused if they didn't know Pinkie so well. Applejack rolled her eyes and trotted over to an open booth in the corner of the shop. The two fillies followed suit.

It wasn't long before Pinkie zoomed out of the kitchen and to their table. She quickly placed a tray on the table. It contained a Rainbow frosted cupcake for Scootaloo, a chocolate muffin for Apple Bloom and an apple muffin for Applejack. But, the three of them were caught off guard by the chocolate croissant that sat on the tray. That was Sweetie Belles's usual order, the three of them stared at it in awe. 

"Will Sweetie Belle not be joining you today?" Pinkie asked curiously. Applejack could only give a dumbfounded nod. "Oh well. More for you guys!" Pinkie said. Applejack opened her mouth to speak but, Pinkie was gone before the words left her mouth.

Applejack sighed. "That darn pony," She said semi angrily. "We told her that Sweetie Belle is missin' But she has been actin' like she isn't," Applejack said with another exasperated sigh. 

"Why?" Scootaloo inquired. With how happy and friendly Pinkie Pie is she figured she would care much more about Sweetie Belle.

"Ah guess she is just isn't handling the situation very well. Or at least in the best way she can" Applejack said. Two ponies in blue uniforms caught her eye. They were approaching the door, she immediately recognized them as police officers. She was confused, were they here for food? Or did they need her? She figured she was about to find out.

As soon as the two of them opened the door they made a b-line for the table the trio was sitting at. Applejack gulped, she knew she had done nothing wrong she was just afraid of what they might tell her.

"Applejack?" One of them said. Applejack turned her head to look at the two officers, who she now recognized as the officers that helped them file the missing pony report.

"Yes?" She said carefully. She was now considerably less scared of the situation because they did say the would call her in for questioning later in the week.

"Sorry to interrupt but, we would like to interview you," Officer Blue Streak said. Applejack looked at both of their badges to get their names, the one with blue fur was Blue Streak and the on with turquoise fur was officer Night Shade. Ironic that his name was Night Shade and he was such a bright color.

"Alright, Uh I guess you girls just stay here until I get back," Applejack said. She figured that they could go hang out or Pinkie could take care of them.

"We could help!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "We are Sweetie Belles's best friends after all," She stated. The officers looked at each other.

"You two were... I mean are friends with Sweetie Belle?" Blue Streak asked. Night Shade glared at his partner. Scootaloo decided not to question why he started to say 'Were friends' because it would probably cause more problems.

'Yes, we are" Scootaloo said quietly. The officers exchanged glances once more before looking back at the three mares.

"That would be great" Night Shade said with a friendly smile. "Just follow us to the station," He said. The three of them looked at each other and shrugged as they left the booth to follow the two officers. In all honesty, Apple Bloom was rather scared she was afraid that she might say the wrong thing or forget details to a story or just flat out get them wrong.

Scootaloo, on the other hand, was as confident as could be. She knew that this might be her only chance to help Sweetie Belle, especially if the whole going to the city she was spotted in thing falls apart. She knew exactly what she was going to say to the officers. And Applejack just wasn't sure about anything anymore. This whole situation was getting to her, too much thinking and arguing.

It didn't take long for the five ponies to reach the Ponyville police station. It wasn't exactly scary it was just eerie. To the surprise of the three mares, there was no one in the station they figured that there would at least be someone reporting something.

They were brought from their thoughts as they heard a sigh from Officer Night Shade. "There is only one interview room open again," He said. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other in confusion the other rooms didn't look occupied.

"Sewage leak again?" Blue Streak said in an irritated tone. Night Shade sighed again before looking at Blue Streak again.

"Probably," Night Shade said. Still sounding annoyed. He looked back at the trio of mares. "Unfortunately only one interview room is available so we have to do this one at a time," He said.

"That's quite alright. I guess I will go first," Applejack said. 

"Alright, If you two need anything to drink, just look in the fridge over there," Night Shade said gesturing over to the fridge that sat in what appeared to be a break room. While it was technically for employees only, there was way too much in there for the officers to drink. "You two can just sit here. We will call you in when it is time," He said giving them a friendly smile. The two fillies nodded as the Applejack and the two officers disappeared into a room.

Applejack followed the two officers into a small, dimly lit room. "Would you like something to drink?" Officer Night Shade asked. She was kind of intimidated by the two officers in a dark room. But, she knew they were here to help her not hurt her.

"Before we begin. Whatever we tell you or you say to us should stay in this room until all of this has blown over" Blue Streak said in a serious tone. 

"Why... If you don't mind me asking?" Applejack said. She wasn't sure why she couldn't tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo or even the girls.

"Because if word got out about potential suspects it could hinder our investigation" Blue Streak said in the same serious tone. Applejack nodded, it seemed like common sense now that it was explained to her. "With that being said, Is there anything you would like us to know?" Blue Streak said. As he said that thought flashed into Applejack's mind. After she had filed the missing pony report, she remembered her last conversation or Well argument with Sweetie Belle, could Rarity be an abuser?

"Can I be honest with yall?" Applejack asked. As soon as the question left her mouth she immediately felt stupid. Of course, she could be honest with them.

"We hope you would be honest with us," Blue Streak said in a condescending tone. Night Shade just rolled his eyes.

"Well the last time I talked to Sweetie Belle, She tried to tell me that Rarity, her sister was hitting her and I didn't believe her because Rarity is just so nice all of the time but what if she did do it?" Applejack said absentmindedly. The two officers exchanged concerned glances. "Oh, Celestia! Now that I think about it when she fractured her rib it looked like a hoof print on her chest. Rarity didn't do that would she?. Don't tell her I said that!" Applejack was rambling at this point but, she figured the information was important.

"Really?" Night Shade asked. "Thank you, that is important, And remember what you tell us stays here," He said with a friendly smile. Applejack nodded, still wearing a shell-shocked expression. She wasn't sure if telling them this was a good idea but if they only told detectives then what harm could it do? 'Just get your best friend arrested' She thought. 'No! If she gets arrested then she deserves it!' she tried to reason. 'People get falsely arrested all the time' The voice said. 'Not that often!' She thought.

"Are you alright?" Blue Streak asked. Applejack shook herself out of her trance. She realized that she had been staring at the two officers for a long time. She offered a sheepish grin.

"Yeah sorry, just thinking," She said slightly blushing out of embarrassment. She wasn't quite sure what else to say to the officers and she was kind of happy. She just wanted it to be over.

"Is that all you have to tell us?" Blue Streak asked sounding almost disappointed. He was immediately jabbed in the side by his partner.

"Could you have phrased that any worse?" Night Shade scolded. Blue Streak rolled his eyes and looked back at Applejack who just nodded.

"In that case. When was the last time you saw her?" Blue Streak asked. Applejack looked down at the ground and sighed.

"Last week," Applejack said sadly, remembering her argument with the missing filly, It hurt her to think about it but, she couldn't stop thinking about it. 

"Alright, Were done. Send in The orange one" Blue Streak said in a flat tone. His remark was rewarded with another jab in the ribs. He mad angry eye contact with Night Shade.

"Quit being a bitch," Night Shade said through gritted teeth. Blue Streak rolled his eyes again and mumbled under his breath. Applejack nodded and turned and left the interview room. She saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo drinking juice boxes. She smiled, It was weird that a police station would have juice boxes for their police officers but, it was funny to think about it.

"Your up Scootaloo," Applejack said with a smile. "Good Luck," She joked as Scootaloo passed her. She figured it was good to lighten the mood a little bit. 

Scootaloo walked into the small room with confidence. She saw the same layout as Applejack, a small square room with a very dim light that hung overhead. She took a seat at the open chair and made eye contact with the police officers. 

"What is your name?" Officer Night Shade asked. Scootaloo looked up at him.

"Scootaloo," She offered. Officer Blue Streak scribbled down what Scootaloo presumed to be her name on a notepad. "What's that for?" Scootaloo asked. Blue Streak looked up at her.

"Just to make sure we get all of the details right," Blue Streak said. Scootaloo nodded, it made sense once it was explained to her. "I just want you to know that whatever you tell us is totally confidential. But, With that being said whatever we tell you or you tell us is to stay in this room. Alright?" Blue Streak said in a serious tone. Scootaloo just nodded and looked at the ground. The seriousness seemed to make most of Scootaloo's confidence disappear. "Is there anything we might need to know?" Blue Streak asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean she has... I mean was acting a little weird leading up to the last time I saw her," Scootaloo said with a thoughtful expression.

"Like How?" Night Shade asked. Scootaloo thought about the best way to describe the way, Sweetie Belle had been acting in the time leading up to her disappearance.

"She seemed to be a lot angrier than usual but I just assumed that was because her parents died but She seemed to lash out at Rarity the most when we were at her house and I just thought that if your parents died you would confide in your sibling's bu..." 

"Scootloo! Calm down, please," Night Shade said, Breaking Scootaloo from her mad rambling. Scootaloo shook her head and looked up at the two police officers.

She offered a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away," She said.

"It's alright. You said she was lashing out at people especially her sister?" Night Shade asked. Scootaloo gave him a confused look she just told him that. Why was he asking if she just told him that?

"Yeah?" Scootaloo said in a confused tone. Night Shade nodded and Blue Streak wrote it down. An idea popped into Night Shades' head.

"So, it was brought to my attention that Sweetie Belle fractured a rib sometime recently," Night Shade said. "What do you know of this?" He asked. Sure it was kind of breaking his promise to Applejack that he wouldn't mention anything she said. But, he figured if he didn't drop names no foul right?

"Yeah, She said that she fell down the stairs," Scootaloo said. "She also apparently fell into a doorknob. I only asked because she had a weird circular mark of right where her ribs are," Scootaloo said. The two officers looked at each other with raised eyebrows. The nodded and Blue Streak wrote it down. 

"Could that mark possibly be confused for a hoof print?" Night Shade asked. They were dangerously close to ruining the secret of who told them this information. But, they figured that Scootaloo wouldn't catch on.

"Now that I think about it, It did look kind of like a hoof print," Scootaloo said. And then she thought about it. "Wait. What are you insinuating?" Scootaloo said. Officer Blue Streak smiled.

"Do you know what that word means?" Blue Streak asked.

"No. Did I use it wrong?" Scootaloo asked. Blue Streak chuckled. 

"No, you actually used it correctly," He said with another small chuckle. Scootaloo let out a small laugh as well. She heard someone use that word once, It was probably Cheerliee or Rarity and she always wanted to use it.

"We are getting off-topic. Anything else we might need to know?" Night Shade said. Scootaloo thought about it for a minute before settling on something that seemed important.

"Sweetie tried telling us that Rarity was hitting her but, Applejack said that she was lying for attention. I'm not sure if that means anything," Scootaloo said. The two officers gave each other suspicious glances. 

"Really?" Scootaloo nodded. "That does mean something," Night Shade said. "Did you have any weird altercations with Rarity?" Night Shade asked. Scootaloo nodded.

"This one time we were having a sleepover at Sweeties house and I couldn't get to sleep so, I went downstairs to get a drink of water and Rarity was downstairs drinking Apple juice out of a bottle, I asked If I could have some but, she just tried to hide it from me and said no, So I just got some water and went back to sleep," Scootaloo said with a thoughtful expression. The officers looked at each other eyes wide. Blue Streak shook his head and scribbled in his notebook.

"That is great information, thank you," Nigh Shade said. "Well, I believe that concludes our Interview, thank you and we might call you back in later this week," Night Shade said with a smile. "And if you don't mind, we would like you to send in your friend," He said. Scootaloo nodded and stood up and exited the room.

She left the room and looked at Apple Bloom. "Your turn Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said with an encouraging smile. Apple Bloom nodded and shakily got to her hooves and walked into the interview room. She took a seat in the chair that sat across from the two police officers. 

"And your name is?" Blue Streak asked. Night Shade rolled his eyes at his partner's bluntness. Apple Bloom looked at the ground to collect herself.

"Apple Bloom," She said with a small bit of confidence. Blue Streak nodded and wrote it down.

"Just to be clear, anything you say to us is totally confidential, and anything we tell you should remain with you, Alright?" Blue Streak said sternly. Apple Bloom looked at the two officers, losing what confidence she might have had, just having to make sure that she didn't accidentally say something she wasn't supposed to was scary.

"Alright," Apple Bloom said. 

"Alright, Is there anything that you think we need to know about your friend," Night Shade asked. Apple Bloom looked at the ground, trying to think of anything that Scootaloo or Applejack might have told them.

"Ah mean, Sweetie, Seemed really angry for this last month," Apple Bloom said sadly, remembering the time's Sweetie had yelled at her and Scootlaoo. "But, ah just figured that it was because her parents died," She added. Blue Streak nodded and wrote that down as well. "But, she also seemed to be lashing out at Rarity especially which ah thought was weird because Rarity was always so nice to her," Apple Bloom said. The two officers looked at each other with concerned looks on their faces. 

"Was there anything weird about Rarity during the month leading up to this," Night Shade asked. Apple Bloom once again looked at the ground to collect her thoughts.

"This sounds rude but, her breath smelled weird," Apple Bloom said with an embarrassed look on her face. Night Shade nodded.

"Could you describe the smell as best as you can?" Night Shade asked. He figured that she wouldn't be able to describe the smell that well especially if it was alcohol.

"It kind of smelled like the cider that mah sister says I can't drink," Apple Bloom said. Night Shade nodded, his suspicion was confirmed. He made eye contact with Blue Streak and nodded, they had all that they needed.

"Thank you, that's all we needed, We might call you back if we have any further developments," Blue Streak said. As Apple Bloom got to her hooves Blue Streak added. "Could you send Applejack back in here for a second?" Apple Bloom nodded and exited the room.

She made it to the waiting room where Applejack and Scootlaoo were waiting, they got up to leave but, Apple Bloom interrupted them. "They want to talk to ya for a second sis," Applejack turned back with a concerned look on her face, Apple Bloom just shrugged. And Applejack reluctantly entered the interview room once again.

As soon as she entered the room she was greeted by officer Blue Streak. "Sorry to call you back in. We just have a small little mission we want you to complete for us," Applejack gave a skeptical glance at the two officers. She noticed that Night Shade was also giving Blue Streak a confused look. She just figured that Blue Streak didn't run this by Night Shade first.

"We," He was jabbed in the side by Night Shade. "I would like you to investigate your friend Rarity a little bit," Blue Streak said. Applejacks' look of skeptically turned to one of confusion.

"Like what do you want me to figure out?" Applejack asked. She wasn't sure what they wanted her to do.

"Well, we mainly just want you to figure out if she has... you know, a drinking problem," Blue Streak said. Applejacks' eyes widened. It never occurred to her that Rarity might have a drinking problem, She did order a lot of hard cider this season but, she just said it was for cooking. Could she have just ordered it for drinking?

"I-I guess I could do that. But, if she catches me I'm going to tell her you guys sent me," Applejack said in an uneasy tone. She hated to do stuff like this to her friends but, she tried to justify it by saying that it could prove Rarity's innocence and eliminate her as a suspect.

"That's fine, just don't get caught," Blue Streak said with a chuckle. Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Are we done here?" She asked, slightly irritated at the whole situation. 

"Yes, thank you for your time," Night Shade said with a smile. Applejack nodded and got up and left the room. She rejoined Apple Bloom and Scootlaoo.

"What did they say to you?" Apple Bloom asked. Applejack wanted to tell them, just so they knew about her little mission but, she knew she couldn't tell anyone.

"Nothing important," Applejack said in a stern tone, Hoping it would get the point across the two curious fillies. Apple Bloom just nodded as they exited the police station.
> Recon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack dropped Apple Bloom and Scootlaoo off at the house (Scootaloo didn't go home for whatever reason). And said she needed to talk to Rarity which wasn't totally a lie because she was going to talk to Rarity but, she was also technically just going to spy on her. She trotted towards the carousel boutique, still not wanting to do this. She was mentally scolding herself for agreeing to something like this. But, once again she justified it to herself because if it exonerates Rarity from this whole abuse thing, she was doing good.

She made it out of Sweet Apple acres and continued into the town she called home. It wasn't long before she reached her destination, The Carousel boutique. A beautiful structure it was and one that held some dark secrets. With one deep breath, Applejack reached a shaky hoof up and knocked on the door. She stood there, the only noise being the occasional pony walking by. She knocked again, and again, and a fourth time. She was starting to get more panicked and frantic with her knocking. What Sweetie's kidnapper (If she was kidnapped) came for Rarity too! All of her fear vanished as she heard Rarity yell. "It's unlocked!" Applejack breathed a sigh of relief and embarrassment, She was probably just working or something. Applejack pushed open the door, still wearing a slight blush of embarrassment. 

She walked into the boutique and heard Raritys voice once again. "I will be there in a second!" Applejack took this time to take a look inside Rarity's fridge. At first, she just saw a normal amount of alcohol but, she noticed a small hatch in the side of the fridge confused, she opened the hatch and almost gasped at what she saw, there were at least fifteen bottles of assorted alcohol. She shut the hatch and the fridge as she heard Rarity coming down the stairs. She quickly turned around and took a seat at the table in the center of the dining room. Rarity walked in and gave Applejack a friendly smile. This broke Applejacks heart, could Rarity really be putting on a facade? She is so friendly and nice, could she really hit Sweetie Belle?

"Hello Applejack, What brings you here this fine morning?" Rarity asked. But something was wrong she looked much more... disheveled, almost hungover. 

"Just wanted to visit," Applejack said, forcing a smile, While internally wincing at her technical lie. She was suddenly uncomfortable being in Rarity's presence knowing that Rarity was possibly an abuser. In the end, she knew that she needed to find a way to get out of this conversation. She noticed the suspicious look Rarity was giving her. "You know, See how you are holding up," She said with another fake smile. Rarity seemed to buy into it, giving her a fake smile of her own (Not that Applejack knew).

"It has been hard, knowing that Sweetie Belle is out on her own, and possibly in the hands of a monster," Rarity said with fake sadness. She mentally commended herself for sounding so believable. Applejack just looked at the ground, she sounded so sad, she couldn't have done anything bad... could she?

"Ah understand. Ah just wish this whole situation would just end," Applejack said with a sigh. She really did wish that all of this would just end and everything would just go back to normal and she could stop thinking her friend was a criminal. She realized at this point that Rarity was staring at her with a spaced-out look. "Are you alright Rarity?" Applejack asked with concern. Rarity shook her head and nodded.

"Quite alright dear. Just a bit tired, that's all," Rarity said. It was believable But, Applejack knew that it wasn't true, she could smell the alcohol from across the table. Applejack was trying to find a polite way out of this situation. "I'm sorry dear but, I must get back to work," Applejack breathed a sigh of relief hearing those words leave Rarity's mouth. 

"That's alright, I should probably get goin'," Applejack said with a fake smile. Rarity returned the smile and walked away. Applejack sighed and slowly started to leave the carousel boutique. She knew what she had to do, So with a sigh, she started trotting in the direction of the police station. She still was in denial, Just because Rarity drank didn't mean that she was an abuser. Maybe if they got a search warrant for Rarity's house it could exonerate her. But, at the end of the day, Applejack knew that it would probably end up getting her arrested. 

After what felt like an eternity, The police station finally came into view, She continued to trudge in the direction of the station that she just left.  She pushed open the door and entered. Night Shade, who was talking to the receptionist turned around and raised an eyebrow. 

"I completed the mission," She said flatly. Night Shade looked at her in shock. He nodded and signaled for her to follow him as he started to walk back to the interview room that they had used previously. Along the way, Blue Streak joined them and he followed them into the room.

"What did you find?" Night Shade asked as he took a seat. Applejack took a seat and stared at the ground, trying to collect herself. She still couldn't believe that she was doing this to one of her best friends.

"Ah'm not sure ah have seen that much alcohol in my life," Applejack said. The two officers looked between each other with varying degrees of concern and well, Blue Streak Almost looked angry.

"We should go pull her medical records, See if her sister caused the fracture," Blue Streak said. Applejack looked at the two officers with a confused look.

"You think we have enough evidence for a warrant?" Night Shade asked. Blue Streak seemed to think about it for a second.

"It's a public hospital, I bet they would give it to us. Even if we have to bend the truth a little," Blue Streak said. Applejack looked between the two of them, anger building in her. Did they even care that Sweetie Belle was missing? Or did they just care about arresting Rarity?

"No bending the truth," Night Shade said. "When we get the records, If it really does look like it was caused by a hoofprint then we can probably get a warrant for her arrest," Night Shade said thoughtfully. Applejack had enough of their talking.

"Forgive me but, I feel like you guys are ignoring the fact that a twelve-year-old filly is Missing!" Applejack said angrily. Blue Streak gave her a hateful stare.

"I don't appreciate people telling me how to do my job!" Blue Streak fired. "And I personally thi," He was stopped by Night Shade jabbing him in the ribs.

"She is right Blue, there is a filly who could be in the hands of a monster and we aren't making any efforts to find her," He said sadly. Blue Streak gave him an angry glare.

"Who's side are you on?" He said. Night Shade looked at him with a serious expression.

"You are a little too worried about becoming the next Split Sight, We got a ways to go before we are the best agent in the EBI (Equestrian Bureau of Investigation). For now, let's just focus on doing our jobs," Night Shade said. Blue Streak looked at the ground and mumbled something. 

"Your right, We should focus more on the missing girl," He said. Night Shade wore a surprised look, Blue Streak admitting that he was wrong? That's a first. "Can I at least go pull the medical records?" That was what Night Shade was expecting. 

"Sure, I will go see if we have any tips on her whereabouts," Night Shade said. Blue Streak nodded and left the room. "I'm sorry about that, We just feel like this department is underrated and arresting Rarity, the fashion goddess would bring appreciation to us," He said. That statement made Applejack angry but, she chose not to say anything because she knew he meant well. She watched as he left her in the interview room, she turned at watched him walk down the hall, She decided to follow him.

He approached the Receptionist. "Have we received any tips about Sweetie Belle?" He asked. She nodded and grabbed a paper out of a filing cabinet.

"A rock was thrown at the platform of the train station approximately five days ago, We have reporting sightings in Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Los Pegasus," She said. Night Shade nodded. He looked back at Applejack and gave her a friendly smile.

"Have a nice day," He said as he turned to exit the Police station. Applejack decided to follow him once again, It couldn't hurt to do a little investigation of her own. She watched as he radioed Blue Streak and told him that he was heading to the train station. She continued to follow from a distance. She followed him all the way to the train station, He started talking to the stallion working the ticket booth, Night Shade showed his badge and the worker left only to appear a minute later with what appeared to be the manager of the station. She decided to get closer so she could hear what they were saying. 

"Who was the night guard five days ago?" Night Shade asked. Applejack looked at the stallion that Night Shade was talking too his badge said 'Railmaster' She assumed that it was his name.

"That would be Black Night," Railmaster said. Applejack noted that he had an accent similar to Rarities. Night Shade nodded and Wrote the name down.

"Do you know where I can find Black Night?" Night Shade asked. Railmaster nodded.

"I believe that he lives in house four on Hayseed road," Railmaster said looking deep in thought. Night Shade nodded and looked in the direction of Hayseed road while doing this, he made eye contact with Applejack, he gave her a raised eyebrow before thanking Railmaster. He approached Applejack. 

"What?" He said in an almost rude tone. Applejack was slightly taken aback at the sudden change in demeanor.

"Ah figured that I have the right to know what is happening in this investigation," Applejack stated. He rolled his eyes.

"Your not even family," Night Shade said flatly. Applejack felt bad she could tell that she was bothering him and he looked tired.

"Well ah also figured I could try and help," She said. This was her best chance at keeping her promise to Scootaloo. Night Shade sighed.

"You know I can't let you help," He said with a smirk. Applejack looked at the ground, It was worth a shot. She smiled.

"Can ah at least oversee that investigation?" She said in a pleading tone. He gave her a playful smile.

"I shouldn't but, I guess I can if it means that much to you," He said with a friendly smile. Applejack pumped her hoof in victory.

"You won't regret it," She said with a smile. 'It's good to see that she is happy' Night Shade thought. Since he met her earlier today, she always seemed sad.

"I'm sure I will," Night Shade said with a chuckle. Applejack laughed. "I'm going to go catch up with Blue Streak, You are welcome to follow if you want," He said. Applejack nodded and started following as they walked back towards the Ponyville Police Station.
> Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walker and Stormy Seas sat at their desks, contempt with their work for a while. Their desks were clean and Stormy Seas managed to fix the picture that Sweetie Belle accidentally broke, He looked at the picture, in the picture was a young girl and her son, Stormy Sea's son, He knew she hated him for what he did to her, she was only fifteen and he might have been twenty-five but, he still wanted to meet his son someday. He was brought from his thought by a loud bang on the door. He looked at Walker who gave him a concerned look on his face had the police came for them?

Walker got up and opened the door. To the surprise of both stallions, the boss was standing at the door with his henchman Quincy. He pushed his way into the office. "You two stay there," He commanded. Walker and Quincy didn't dare move. "You. me. hallway. now," He said. Stormy Seas nodded and followed him into the hall. The stood outside the door to Sweetie Belle's dungeon room. "Tell me Seas, are you an idiot?" The boss said. Stormy Seas looked at the boss with a blank stare. 

"No, I don't consider myself an idiot," Stormy Seas said. He wasn't sure what this was about or why the boss was so mad but, one thing was for sure he didn't like it.

"Well, then why do you act like one?" He said angrily. He was so mad Stormy Seas could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. Stormy Seas took a second to ponder his answer.

"Do I?" Stormy Seas asked. Bad idea the boss seemed to be offended by the question.

"Yes! Tell me why you had your men capture the sister of an element of harmony!" He yelled. Stormy Seas' expression immediately changed, he knew that Rarity had a fashion empire but, he didn't know that she was an element of harmony.

"I-I'm sorry sir I had no idea," Stormy Seas stammered. The boss gave him a look. 

"Do you not know who the elements of harmony are!" The boss yelled. Stormy Seas took a step back in fear.

"N-No, I don't pay attention to that stuff!" Stormy Seas said. Again, a bad idea. 

"They have backing from the damn princesses! How the hell could you not know!" He yelled. Stormy Seas took another step back still fearing that he might get punched in the face.

"They don't bother me!" Stormy Seas fired back. 

"They will now! You better think of a way to get out of this or you're dead!" The boss yelled. Stormy Seas looked at the ground and racked his brain for some way to get the elements of harmony off their back. And then it hit him.

"She did say that her sister was abusing her and that is why she ran away," Stormy Seas said thoughtfully. "What if we tried to cause trouble within them?" He said. The boss's expression changed.

"You aren't quite as dumb as I thought Seas," The boss said with a smile on his face. Stormy Seas breathed a sigh of relief, Even though it seemed to be sorted out he couldn't help but think that this whole situation wasn't worth it, she was causing more trouble than they had initially expected, He was done with giving her meaningless tasks to complete for him, it was time to do the deed and get rid of her.

Stormy Seas was broken from his thoughts by the boss saying "Get over here Quincy," Quincy rushed into the hallway before standing tall in front of the boss.  "Can I trust you with a very important mission?" He asked.

"You sure can boss," Quincy said proudly. The boss nodded and looked at Stormy Seas, motioning for him to relay the plan to Quincy.

"Sweetie Belle... I mean Sliver Heart, Told us that her sister Rarity was abusing her. The Ponyville police department has opened an anonymous tipline, I want you to tip them off to this but before you tell the police I want you to tell a newspaper company and try to get them to print an article about it as soon as possible, Then the six of them will most likely have some sort of meeting to talk the whole situation over, I need you to deliver a piece of paper to them, blaming one of the six other than Rarity for the article," Stormy Seas said. Quincy nodded his head. "Any questions?".

"How do you want me to deliver the paper to them?" Quincy asked. Stormy Seas looked at the ground for a moment.

"Slide it under the door, put it through the mail slot, hell knock on the door and leave it on the porch if you have to," Stormy Seas said. "Got it?" He asked.

"Yep!" Quincy said enthusiastically. Stormy Seas nodded, proud of the plan he had created. The boss started to walk away but, he turned around and made eye contact with Stormy Seas.

"I know what you want to do to that girl, I have no problem with it But, no harm comes to her until we have this thing sorted out, so wait until then," The boss said sternly. Stormy Seas gave him a pleading look. "If we get caught I want a little bit of pitty," The boss said. Stormy Seas sighed and nodded.

"Alright fine, I won't hurt her," Stormy Seas said. The boss raised his eyebrow. "Or you know... do her," Stormy Seas said. The boss chuckled.

"Good, make sure Walker gets the message, he seems like a loose cannon," Stormy Seas nodded. The boss nodded back before he turned and left their office. Stormy Seas walked over to the office space and took a seat at his desk.

"Hear that walker? Don't hurt or get at her until this is all sorted out," Stormy Seas commanded. Walker rolled his eyes. "I mean it, Direct orders from the boss," He said. Walker sighed and nodded his head. "Good, now let's figure out what we can do with her," Walker nodded his agreement and took a seat at his desk.



The boss let out an exasperated sigh as he left the office of Stormy Seas. He was always difficult but, he was a good man in all the wrong ways. He was about one-hundred percent sure that Walker would not follow his rule but, he had to trust that Stormy Seas would enforce it. 

"Are you ready to complete your mission?" He said as he looked at Quincy.

"Yes sir," Quincy said with a salute. The boss nodded and rolled his eyes as they headed in the direction of the train station. He was honestly a little bit scared that this plan might not work or Quincy might mess it up, of course, Quincy was relatively smart but, this was honestly a pretty hard plan to complete.

They approached the westside Las Pegasus train station, the boss made sure that he had his id on him in case they had a new guy working the ticket booth. They got free tickets from this train station, and typically they got a free ticket for the way back. It was a pretty good setup, it minimized the cost of performing these important missions.

The worker smiled as they approached the ticket booth. "How may I help you today?" He asked.

The boss leaned in and whispered. "Rocky Shores," The attendant looked down and nodded.

"How many?" he asked. 

"Just one," The boss said, The worked nodded and handed him one round trip ticket to Ponyville. The attendant nodded and handed him the ticket. The boss handed Quincy the ticket. "Good Luck Quincy," He said. Quincy nodded.

"Thank you for entrusting me with such a mission, I promise I will not fail you," Quincy said with one last salute. The boss nodded before walking away.





Quincy stepped off the train. He looked took a deep breath before continuing to the map that was above the exit of the train station. After he mapped out his route, he headed towards the police station. 

After a short walk to the police station, he noticed a small booth outside that said 'Sweetie Belle tipline' He smiled and walked towards it. He grabbed a piece of paper and started writing. 'I observed some weird behavior from Sweetie Belle in the weeks leading up to this situation and I believe that her sister might have had something to do with her disappearance maybe abuse or something.' Happy with his work, he slid the paper into the box. He quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking before he grabbed another piece of paper and wrote. 'I believe that I saw her on my trip to Manehattan,'. Once again happy with his work, he walked in the direction of the Ponyville print house.

Once he arrived outside the print house, he knocked on the door. He was greeted by a wealthy-looking earth pony.

"How may I help you sir?" The stallion greeted. 

"I have a story for you," Quincy said. The stallion nodded,

"Right this way," Quincy followed as the stallion led him into the surprisingly big building. After walking down some winding hallways, the stallion walked into an office Quincy followed him in. Quincy took a seat as the Stallion approached what Quincy assumed was his desk. "Now tell me, do you have proof of this story?" The stallion asked. Quincy chuckled.

"Since when have you needed proof for your stories?" Quincy asked. The stallion chuckled.

"You would make a great writer," He said with a smile.

"I'm sure I wouldn't," Quincy said, returning the smile. The Stallion nodded and gave him a rather serious look.

"What is this big story you speak of?" He asked. 

"You know the story of Sweetie Belle?" Quincy asked.

"Yes, very tragic," He said. "Continue,"

"Well, her parents died about a month and a half ago, and her sister took care of her. Her sister definitely had something to do with it, I am thinking it was abuse," Quincy said. The stallion gasped.

"Rarity? The renowned fashion designer?" He practically shouted. 

Quincy nodded. "Why else would she run away?" He asked.

"I never thought about that. This will bring much attention to us! You must be paid for this!" He exclaimed.

"No need, Just don't tell anyone it was me who told you," Quincy said. The stallion seemed confused.

"Alright," He said. "Thank you for the story, this will be printed in tonight's paper," He said. Quincy smiled his work was almost done. He shook the stallion's hand before leaving the office and wandering out of the building.

Standing on the doorstep, He looked at Ponyville, His work was almost done but, he had to find out how to kill five hours. He sighed and walked into town.
> Breaking News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quincy watched as a new set of newspapers to the bar he was sitting in. As the stallion left he approached the stand, he looked at the paper and smiled. Fashion god Rarity accused of abuse!, And Sweetie Belle was front and center on the cover, He was going to read it but he really didn't care. It didn't even matter what it said as long as Rarity's friends saw it he could get to work. 

He figured he should go to the library thing that the Twilight girl ran or whatever. He made his way out of the bar and started to slowly make his way towards Twilight's house, He didn't even really know where he was going he had only seen it in pictures and was going off the buildings that surrounded in the picture. The plan was about as dumb as it sounds.

Quincy wandered around for half an hour before he spotted his destination, but he wasn't to take another step as Twilight burst through the front door and practically sprinted past him, he spun around and shrugged. He managed to catch up and maintain a safe distance with a relatively fast walk, he wasn't sure where she was going but, he couldn't risk losing her. 

He followed her around Ponyville for around thirty minutes. He figured out that she was gathering her friends, and it all ended at the carousel boutique as the five of them gathered around the door as Twilight gave a few knocks. Rarity opened the door a few seconds later, she gave a confused look but invited them in. As soon as they were inside her stealthily snuck into the bushes by the boutique, he managed to wiggle the window open just enough that he could hear the conversation.

"What brings you guys here at this hour?" Rarity asked. It seemed that none of them knew what to say because Twilight just sat the newspaper down on the coffee table. Rarity gasped at what she saw. "Why that is simply preposterous!" She exclaimed. "Who would even suggest such a thing?" Quincy took this time to pull the note he had written out of his pocket, he decided not to give his position at the window away, so he slid it through the slot on the door. He wasn't sure what this slot was for it was probably mail because it was too small for an animal but, they had a mailbox. He quickly retreated to his position in the bushes. Rarity picked up the note before opening the door and giving a look around, She gave up and retreated back to her position on the couch.

She read the note. 'Applejack started the rumor,'  He didn't think that this plan would work, because why would they believe some random note that came through the door? But, he wasn't one to go against orders. 

His train of thought was broken when he heard their voices start back up. "Explain," Rarity commanded while pointing at the newspaper. Applejack looked around at the others who were giving her suspicious looks.

"Well Ah don uh," She stuttered she took a deep breath. "Ah was called in for questioning by the police, And they asked me if ah had any strange encounters with Sweetie Belle leading up to her disappearance and well," She paused and took a look around.

"Well, what?" Rarity asked, rather impatiently.

"Ah told them about the time that Sweetie Belle claimed that you were abusing her," Applejack said. Her statement was met with more stares. "And they are the only people ah told and I made it clear that I didn't personally believe it myself!" She exclaimed. Quincy was shocked but, excited at what he was hearing. He had no clue that it would go this far, He didn't even know which one was Applejack before she started explaining herself! The boss would be happy to hear this.

"Then how did the papers hear about it!" Rarity shot back. Despite being 'Elements of friendship' none of the other four seemed to be interested in breaking up this argument. 

"They told me it would stay with them!" Applejack retorted. 

"Well, obviously it didn't!" Rarity returned. Finally Twilight stepped in.

"Alright! That's enough let's be civilized," Twilight said. She took a deep breath. "Let's get the story straight. So Applejack you were called into questioning by the police?" She asked. Applejack nodded. "They asked you if you had any weird encounters with Sweetie Belle?" Applejack nodded once again. "So you told them that Sweetie Belle told you that Rarity was abusing her?" Another nod. "You claimed that they promised you that no one would figure out about it, So how did the story get out?" She asked. Applejack looked at the ground.

"Ah have no clue," Applejack said. 

"I don't believe you," Rarity said. Applejack gave her an angry look.

"You know I don't lie, If ah told you that I told the police in the first place why would ah lie about this?" Applejack questioned. They fell into silence for a moment.

"How would anyone else think of something like that?" Rarity asked. 

"You have made an enemy or two in your career, With the Sweetie Belle ordeal it would be easy to make this up," Applejack said. Rarity scoffed.

"Nonsense, everyone loves me!" Rarity exclaimed. Applejack rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, But she was cut off by Twilight. 

"Again! Let's just calm down, I'm sure we can stop this rumor from spreading," Twilight said. Rarity Huffed and Applejack rolled her eyes again. "It's getting late, let's all get some sleep and discuss this later," Twilight said as she got up and started to approach the door. Quincy hid from sight as best he could as the five ponies exited the Carousel Boutique, Once all of them left, Rarity turned the sign to close and the coast was clear, Quincy left the bushes and headed towards the train station.

Quincy stopped in his tracks when he saw officer Split Sight looking around the platform, he dove into the bushes when Split Sight's gaze wandered in in direction. Quincy pulled his radio from his pocket. "We got a problem boss," Quincy said into the radio.

"What is it?" The boss asked. 

"Split Sight is waiting at the train station," Quincy stated.

"Shit," The boss said. "Does he know?"

"Don't think so, Probably was just told that someone suspicious was slinking around Ponyville," Quincy responded.

"Guess you will have to stay in Ponyville overnight," The boss said with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah, I guess I will just find someone's spare bedroom for the night," Quincy said.

"Don't get caught," The boss commanded.

"I lived on the streets my whole life, I know how not to get caught," Quincy said with a chuckle. He looked up to see Split Sight approaching fast. "Shit," He muttered.

"What?" The boss asked.

"I think he sees me," Quincy said. "He definitely sees me!" He said as he leaped out of the bushes and started galloping towards the tracks. He jumped across the tracks and started running into the woods. "I'm not leading him to Los Pegasus, I'm heading towards Appleoosa I Think!" Quincy exclaimed.

"Don't you get caught, Quincy!" The boss yelled. 

Split Sight slowed as he heard a little bit of the last few words exchanged. "He's got to get on a train sometime," Split Sight muttered as he started galloping back to the train station.

Once he made it back to the train station, he busted through the door to the control room and picked up the radio broadcaster. "This is Officer Split Sight with the EBI If a gray pony with a black mane going by the name 'Quincy' tries to board a train Report it immediately!"  He got a few ponies confirming that they got his message. He sat back in the nearest chair, Knowing that he was on to something.
> Defying Orders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There comes a point in every stallion's life where they have to question the validity of rules. Walker was at that point, They sat there for at least an hour trying to find out what they could do to this kid and nothing was the prevailing answer. That meant there was pretty much no point in even keeping her around. 

This meant he had to take matters into his own hands, He figured it couldn't hurt to defy orders at least once. "I'm going to go roust the kid," He said as he got to his hooves. Stormy Seas who appeared to be half asleep nodded his head. Walker opened the door and looked in, he could barely see Sweetie Belle make eye contact with him. 

"This ain't going to be fun for you, and that only makes it better for me," Walker shut the door as he approached Sweetie Belle. She was confused at first because she heard the argument earlier and she thought she was safe for the time being but, as he approached it all made sense. Walker had gone rouge and he was excited to see her. She backed away from him until she hit the wall. "No point in resisting, Besides Its only your mouth," He said with a devilish smile on his face. He wanted to go all the way but, he could probably only get away with the mouth. With that, he went to work.



Walker exited the small room or dungeon both terms would be correct. "I'm going out," He said.

"Don't bring anyone back with you, " Stormy Seas said. Walker rolled his eyes.

"I won't," Walker said as he strolled out of the weird office thing. Stormy Seas sat there staring at the wall until a noise caught his attention. It sounded like a soft cry and it was coming from the dungeon (Walker left the door open because Stormy Seas was there) he looked at the roof with a thoughtful expression. 'I wonder why she is crying,' He thought. At first, he figured it was because you know she had been kidnapped. But, as he thought about it further the more he started to question, She had never cried before and Walker was in there for an awfully long time to just 'Roust' her. 

"What did he do?" Stormy Seas said with an exasperated sigh. He was hoping that Walker hadn't defied a direct order but, he couldn't be too sure. He came to the slightly opened door, he reached over and flicked a light switch on the wall, a switch that seemingly no-one besides Stormy Seas knew existed.

Once he fully opened the door, the situation was fully clear. He immediately recognized the liquid that Sweetie Belle had attempted to spit out. He floated a roll of paper towels over and tossed it in the room to Sweetie Belle. He slammed the door and walked back to his desk it took everything in his strength to not kick Walker's desk over. He knew it wouldn't be long before Walker got back, he was taking the short route which only took about 30 minutes. In this hectic situation, one thing was for certain, It wasn't going to end well.



Walker was confused as he walked in the door, Stormy Seas was standing there staring at him. "Whats up Stormy?" Walker said in confusion. Stormy Seas took a moment to compose himself.

"I'm not stupid," Stormy Seas said. Walker gave him a quizzical expression. 

"What are you talking about?" Walker asked. He decided to continue with his lie. 

"Quit insulting my intelligence!" Stormy Seas shouted. Walker took a few steps back. 

"I'm not insulting you," Walker said. 

"Drop the act Walker you already defied the order," Stormy Seas said. Walker rolled his eyes, he knew there was no way around this one. 

"I didn't hurt her," Walker said.

"He also outlawed rape!" Stormy Seas shouted.

"Then what's the point in even keeping her around!" Walker fired back. "If we can't do anything to her, we should just let her go!" He continued.

"You have to be strategic about stuff like that!" Stormy Seas Shouted. 

"In what way!" Walker returned. Stormy Seas took a second to get the argument back on track.

"That's not the point! You defied orders and you will face the repercussions!" Stormy Seas said. He started approaching and Walker started backing away.

"Hey uh, chill we can work this ou-" Walker was cutoff by Stormy Seas' hoof making contact with his face, knocking him out. Walker fell to the ground with a thud. Stormy Seas huffed before turning around and walking to Sweetie Belle's room. He opened the door and made eye contact with Sweetie Belle.

"Follow me," He commanded. Scared to disobey, Sweetie Belle slowly got to her hooves and followed Stormy Seas. She watched in a mixture of confusion and horror as Stormy Seas dragged Walker's unconscious body through a door. She followed him through the door and up the stairs. She noted the bag that Stormy Seas was also carrying, She was very confused, what was in that bag? 

After a long trek up this mysterious staircase, they exited a door that led to a rooftop pool. She wasn't quite sure why this was connected to their weird office thing. She watched as Stormy Seas opened the bag and pulled out four weights. Sweetie Belle didn't know why he needed weights for whatever he was going to do.

But it all made sense as she saw Stormy Seas tying the Weights around all four of Walker's legs. He was going to drown Walker. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure how she felt. On the one hand, she was traumatized and angry because of what Walker had done to her but, was she going to watch him die? 

Her train of thought was broken when she heard the splash of the water. She looked to see Walker sink to the bottom of the pool. It wasn't long before he regained consciousness and began thrashing around desperately trying to make his way above the water. Sweetie Belle was couldn't believe what she was seeing but, strangely she found it hard to stop looking at the drowning stallion before her.

"You seem to be enjoying this," His words once again brought Sweetie Belle from her thoughts. She looked up at Stormy Seas and it was at this point that she realized how truly psychotic Stormy Seas was, to any other pony he might seem normal maybe even charming but that couldn't be further from the truth. Sweetie Belle could tell he was enjoying watching Walker drown.

"N-no," Was the only word that Sweetie Belle could force out. Stormy Seas smiled.

"I too was in denial at first just wait until you get your first," Stormy Seas said with a chuckle. Her first? Was he talking about kills? Was Stormy Seas a killer? 

"I'm not in denial!" Sweetie Belle blurted. Stormy Seas laughed. Silence befell the two. "A-Are you going to let him die?" Sweetie Belle stammered.

"I might," Stormy Seas said. Sweetie Belle looked back to Walker, who was still struggling she was starting to get worried, not for Walker but because she was afraid Stormy Seas might try to frame her if he let Walker die. 

Her fears stopped when she saw Stormy Seas pull Walker out with his magic. As soon as he hit the ground he started coughing up water and trying his hardest to catch his breath.

"Tell me, Walker, will you go against orders again?" Stormy Seas said in a condescending tone. Walker took a second to catch his breath.

"N-No," Walker said. Stormy Seas smiled. He decided that he should be petty about the situation.

"Apologize," He commanded.

"W-What?" Walker asked.

"Apologize to Sweetie Belle," Stormy Seas said with a smile. 

"Is that really necessary?" Walker asked. Stormy Seas slowly started to push him back towards the water. "Ok Ok Ok!" He shouted. "I'm sorry Sweetie Belle," Stormy Seas decided not to push it any further, he was getting tired.

"Alright, let's get back to the office," Sweetie Belle and Walker followed Stormy Seas back down the stairs and into the office.
> The great escape
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A stallion by the name of Quincy just boarded the train from Appleoosa to Los Pegasus. Split Sight smiled "Perfect,"



Walker sat at his desk, staring off into space. Ever since the drowning incident, he was having trouble concentrating and was even hallucinating. It had only been a full day since then so he just figured he would get over it. 

"Hey Stormy?" Walker asked. Stormy Seas glanced at him.

"Yeah?" Stormy Asked.

"I have been having trouble with hallucinating, should I get it checked out?" Walker asked. Stormy Seas chuckled, he knew this would probably happen.

"You should be fine, just give it a few days," Stormy Seas replied. Walker nodded, he figured that was what he was going to say but, it couldn't hurt to ask. "I'm heading out, Wake the kid up before you do your route," Stormy Seas stopped before he exited the office and looked back at Walker. "No funny business, I will kill you next time," Walker nodded as Stormy Seas exited the small office. Walker decided to leave a little early. He got up and walker to the room.

He opened the door and looked in. "Wake up," Luckily for him Sweetie Belle was already awake and staring at the ceiling. She muttered some inaudible words, Walker rolled his eyes before shutting the door, He looked into the office to see Stormy Seas was back? He shook his head, Maybe he decided to come back early? Walker didn't dwell on it he decided to just leave without saying a word to Stormy Seas. 



Sweetie Belle tried to say some sort of insult but it came out as an inaudible whisper. Walker shut the door and Sweetie Belle waited for the loud door lock... it never came. She sat up, Stormy Seas already left she heard the main door open and close. It wasn't long until she heard the main door open and close once again, Was Walker going to stay around today? No, she heard Stormy Seas mention something about Walker waking her up before he goes on his 'route'. Maybe Stormy Seas was back? No, he mentioned a meeting he had to go to today while they were returning to the office from the 'incident' last night. Sweetie Belle knew it was risky but she figured this might be her only chance at escaping. 

She got to her hooves and made her way to the door, She slowly opened it and peeked into the office. It was empty, she made her way into the office and to the front door, locked, she sighed, maybe it wasn't meant to be. But a thought hit her, she didn't anyone lock the door that led to the rooftop pool, she practically sprinted to the door, it was unlocked she galloped up the many flights of stairs until she reached the familiar door, she pushed it open and continued to gallop across the pool area and to the door that led to what she presumed was a hotel. She opened the door and entered the hotel she was confused as to why no one was in the pool area but, she was too scared to try and figure out why. 

She knew that it wasn't a good idea to gallop around the hotel, it drew too much attention. She found a staircase but, it was closed, she had to take the elevator and risk someone recognizing her. Reluctantly, she boarded the elevator, despite looking at the ground the whole time, she could tell that the stallion in the elevator with her was staring at her, it didn't matter anymore she had to get out of there. The stallion started to say something to her but, the door opened and she darted out, galloping through the lobby and out of the doors. She once again had no clue where she was going but one thing was for certain, she had to get out of Los Pegasus.



Stormy Seas unlocked the door and pushed it open, He sighed, he never understood the point of half the meetings that the boss called. He made his way to his desk but before he could sit down something caught his attention, the door to Sweetie Belle's room was open he quickly walked to the room and peered in. She wasn't there, he let out a shaky sigh before turning and swiftly making his way to the door, he had to find Walker. He knew Walker's route pretty well so he could find him pretty fast.

Stormy Seas galloped past the many buildings, restaurants, and storefronts scattered throughout the sprawling city of Las Pegasus, He took a sharp right down the alleyway behind the Los Pegasus branch of the carousel boutique, despite the situation he chuckled to himself. Walker was exactly where Stormy Seas thought he would be. Walker seemed to hear the commotion of galloping hoof steps as he turned around and gave Stormy Seas a look.

"What's up?" Walker asked He could tell Stormy Seas was serious.

"She's gone," 

"WHAT?" Walker shouted. "How did she get passed you?" Walker asked.

"I wasn't there dipshit!" Stormy Seas shouted. Walker gave him a puzzled look before it dawned on him, Stormy Seas had a meeting.

"I-I thought I saw you before I left," Walker said. 

"You must have hallucinated," Stormy Seas said, looking at the ground this was his mistake, he should have taken Walker's Hallucination seriously. He made eye contact with Walker who opened his mouth to speak but, he was cut off by Stormy Seas. "We can't waste time we have to start looking," Walker nodded and the two of them split off to try and find Sweetie Belle. 



They looked for two hours but, there was no luck in finding Sweetie Belle. They decided to regroup at the office. They discussed their next course of action. They concluded that she wasn't going to go to the police so they would just have to move on, that is until there was a heavy knock at the door. Stormy Seas gave Walker a worried look, "Hide!" He whispered. There was another heavy set of knocks followed by 'Police!' He let out a worried sigh before he opened the door.

He didn't have time to speak before the officer spoke. "Are you Stormy Shores?" The officer asked Stormy Seas resisted the urge to smile, his alias worked.

"Yes, that's me," He responded. The officer nodded.

"We received word that a missing filly that goes by the name of Sweetie Belle was seen exiting the closed rooftop pool of the hotel, and We were informed that this office has an entrance to that pool," The officer said. 

"And?" Stormy Seas asked.

"You understand how this looks right?" The officer asked. Stormy Seas was starting to worry that this officer would call for backup and that raised his chance of being recognized.

"Yes I do but, if the door was unlocked she could have just wandered her way up there earlier in the day," Stormy Seas reasoned.

"Fair enough, Do you mind if I take a look around?" The officer asked.

"Yes," Stormy Seas said. 

"It's for exclusion purposes," The officer reasoned.

"It might be but, I'm sorry if I'm not very keen on letting a stranger search my office," Stormy Seas said, trying his best not to sound annoyed. 

"Okay, we will get a warrant," The officer said, He turned to walk away.

"Good luck!" Stormy Seas called to the officer. He shut the door and turned to see Walker emerging from the hallway. "Start packing, I will be right back," He commanded.

"What are you doing?" Walker asked.

"We are bleaching this place, no evidence that we or Sweetie Belle was ever here," Stormy Seas said. Walker gave him a confused look.

"But, that officer saw you here," Walker said.

"Yeah but there is plenty of ponies that look like me in Equestria," Stormy Seas said, Walker, nodded it made enough sense. Stormy Seas didn't care if Walker had any more stupid questions he left the office and started fast walking to the home improvement store. 

It only took a few minutes to get to his destination. He walked in and b-lined to the cleaning department, once there he grabbed three bottles of bleach and a lot of towels and quickly made his way to checkout.

"Why do you need three bottles of bleach?" The cashier asked with a chuckle. Stormy Seas found himself getting a little bit irritated, he didn't have time for this shit.

"Cleaning my house," Stormy Seas said.

"This much will probably mess up some of your furniture," The cashier said, clearly trying his best to sound smart.

"Fuck off!" Stormy Seas said as he grabbed his things and left the store. He hurried back to the office. he burst through the doors to see Walker coming out of the stairwell. "How did you pack all our stuff so fast?" Stormy Seas asked, bewildered. Walker wasn't even a unicorn and he packed all their crap in record time.

"Determination," Walker said. "Now let's get to work," Stormy Seas smiled, he let himself get bossed around from time to time, it was just funny to see how afraid Walker was of going to prison, Stormy Seas wasn't all that scared of going to prison, it was mainly just the fact that it would put the whole crew in jeopardy. 

The two of them grabbed a rag and started to bleach both rooms of the office. 



Split Sight walked into the West Los Pegasus Police department he had finally got a lead on this whole case, he believed that this 'Quincy' Stallion had something to do with Sweetie Belle's disappearance. He was greeted with a paper of information, he glanced at it, reading over all of the leads and sightings that were reported in Los Pegasus But, his attention was drawn to a young-looking officer telling the receptionist to remind him to go get a warrant for the suspicious office, Split Sight looked back at the paper of sightings he saw that she was seen leaving a closed rooftop pool and there was an office that led to said pool. He approached the officer.

"Who answered you?" Split Sight asked. The officer looked up at him, He seemed a little surprised.

"A stallion who went by the name Stormy Shores," The officer answered. Split Sight's brow raised, that sounded like one of Stormy Seas' aliases. 

"What did he look like?" Split Sight asked.

"He was yellow with a teal Maine," The officer answered. Split Sight's eyes widened.

"We have to get that warrant!" He shouted as he galloped out of the police station, he was excited and focused, For one he had a chance to find Sweetie Belle but, he also had a chance to capture is arch-nemesis, Stormy Seas. 

The trip to the courthouse took a little longer than he wanted it too but if he could just get a quick signature it might make up some time, He was happy that the officer knew to follow him so they had enough proof for the warrant. 

He busted through the front door and walked into the judge's office. "Hello Split Sight, What brings you her-" The judge was cutoff by Split Sight.

"I need a warrant," The judge raised an eyebrow. "We found where Stormy Seas is hiding out," The judge's expression changed. 

"Did you witness this yourself?" The judge asked.

"No, but he did," Split Sight pointed at the officer. The judge gave him a signal to speak.

"Yes, he had a yellow coat and a teal mane," The officer said. "And he went by the name Stormy Shores," He said. The judge nodded and pulled out a warrant, he scribbled some stuff down before signing it. He handed it to Split Sight, who took it and galloped out of the office and out of the courthouse.

After a two-minute run Split Sight reached his destination, He banged on the door and yelled 'Police!'.

Stormy Seas and Walker looked at each other. Stormy Seas pointed at the door to the stairs. "Go!" He whisper yelled. The two stallions galloped up the stairs until they found themselves on the roof, despite being on the roof they heard the sound of the door being broke down. 

Stormy Seas threw a key ring at Walker. "Get into the hotel office any way you can and take all of the files mentioning our office and meet me at the corner of fifteenth street," Stormy Seas commanded. Walker nodded and the two stallions parted ways.
> The Gambit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle's case had become so big that any information was practically a headline, The news of Split Sight going to Los Pegasus had become largely overshadowed by the rumor that he received a warrant to search the property of a possible suspect. Even if it was just a rumor, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight decided to travel to Los Pegasus to possibly aide in the search for Sweetie Belle. Night Shade and Blue Streak wanted Applejack to stay in Ponyville because she was one of the main parts of their case against Rarity, Or she was until the whole abuse case was derailed by Applejack's honesty.



Night Shade and Blue Streak exchanged worried glances, getting called to the Cheif's office was typically never good and they had no clue why he even called them in. The two stallions entered the office. "Ah, you two are here," The chief said. "Do you guys know why you are here," Night Shade shook his head. The Cheif dropped a newspaper on the table, Night Shade raised his eyebrow before looking at the opened newspaper. 'Ponyville police department under fire!' Blue Streak and Night Shade exchanged worried glances before reading on. 'Rarity has fired back about the abuse allegations, claiming that PPD used unlawfully obtained information to create their allegations'. 

"I don't understand, What did we do wrong?" Blue Streak asked. The chief sighed.

"Rarity claims that she interrogated Applejack who admitted that you guys sent her on a mission to get evidence like, her beer stash," He said. Night Shade raised his eyebrow.

"What's wrong with that?" Night Shade asked. 

"You didn't have a warrant," The chief replied. Night Shade gave him a confused look.

"But, we didn't search the house," Night Shade said.

"Yes but, Rarity is saying that she was technically affiliated with the PPD because you guys sent her, and therefore she would need a warrant to conduct a search," The chief said.

"Yeah, but they are or were best friends they were definitely on 'Fridge' terms," Blue Streak said. The chief let out an exasperated sigh.

"For one, this is serious and two, Rarity claims that she never directly gave Applejack permission to use her fridge," The chief said.

"Even so, it wasn't a search she just looked in the fridge" Night Shade said.

"You told her what to look for, therefore it was a search," The chief said. 

"That's fine we will just get some new evidence," Night Shade declared.

"No, You want to prove yourselves? Get your asses to Los Pegasus and look for that girl," The chief commanded. Night Shade and Blue Streak looked at each other, they thought about arguing but they knew that the chief was right, just like Applejack was.



Stormy Seas anxiously waited on the corner of fifteenth Street, for a brief amount of time he was worried that Walker might have been caught but, it all went away when he saw the Light Blue stallion approaching him, he let out a sigh of relief and signaled for Walker to follow, they walked up to the all too familiar Fiftheenth street hotel. Stormy Seas was more scared to tell the boss than he was of getting caught. 

Once they reached the entrance Stormy Seas reluctantly entered the massive hotel, he was greeted by the same stallion as before, he seemed to recognize them as he pointed in the direction of what Stormy Seas assumed was Doctor Red Sythe, but they weren't here for the doctor and Stormy Seas started to correct him but he realized, He didn't know the Boss's name. He caught a break as he realized that the boss mentioned that his room number was 216. 

"Thanks," He muttered as he and Walker approached the stairs, they walked up the stairs to the second floor. He took a left and walked a few steps down the hall before he came across room 216, he sighed before slowly knocking, The door opened and he was greeted by the boss, who gave him a confused look.

"Yes?" He asked. Stormy Seas looked at the ground.

"We lost her," He said. 

"WHAT!" He screamed. Stormy Seas took a step back. "You Dipshit!" The boss continued.

"They searched the office all we need is a place to set up shop and then we start searching," Stormy Seas said.

"Did you get everything out of the office?" The boss asked. Stormy Seas let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, We bleached the place and Walker got the papers that linked us to the room," Stormy Seas said. The boss sighed and handed him a key.

"Stay here for the night, Tomorrow go to the factory behind Moonlights," The boss said.

"The bar?" Stormy Seas asked.

"Yes," The boss said with another exasperated sigh.

"You own that place?" Stormy Seas asked. He had been by that factory before but, he had no clue that the boss owned that property.

"New acquisition," The Boss said. 

"Let's stop wasting time and get after that girl," Stormy Seas said. He was stopped by the boss grabbing his arm.

"Are you sure about this?" the boss asked.

"I know what I'm doing," Stormy Seas said. The boss sighed.

"This isn't about me, that girl is going to be the death of you," The boss said.

"I know what I'm doing!" Stormy Seas repeated. The boss shook his head.

"Whatever you say," Stormy Seas didn't reply, he just walked to his room to unpack.



Sweetie Belle found herself near the bookstore that she was originally captured behind, She stopped to catch her breath, She noted the sharp pain in her ribs, this meant that she had to be strategic because she couldn't run very far. 

She started heading towards the train station, she had no money but she might be able to jump on the train or just walk along the tracks. But that all fell apart, She gasped and jumped into the nearest alleyway, getting off the train was Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight accompanied by two police officers. She wasn't sure how they found her she had only been free for an hour tops but, she did see that Split Sight received a warrant to search Stormy Seas' office, it shocked her that this case had become so big that any new developments were in the new in about ten minutes. But she still had five more ponies to avoid. She turned around and walking back the way she came, she didn't know where Stormy Seas and Walker were but, she had a plan.

She was going to go do a loop along the coast and back to the train station, all the way leaving clues that she was going the opposite direction, it was a long shot but, it was worth a shot. She started backtracking towards the Los Pegasus Coastline. 

Sweetie Belle once again found herself diving into an alley, just up the road was Stormy Seas and Walker and unfortunately, they saw her and she knew it, Time to start galloping again, Sweetie Belle knew she had a head start on them so she was going to make a b line to the coat and then try to make them think she went the other way. 

Once her destination was in sight, she took a hard right and then a left out onto the main street, she figured that they were dumb enough to believe that she kept going west. She walked up the street and peeked back down the alley that she was just on, Sure enough, there was Walker and Stormy Seas following her route, She watched as they fell into her trap. 

Sweetie Belle seized this opportunity to start heading back towards the Train Station, She tried her hardest to blend in with the crowd of ponies that seemed to all be going to the same place but, her efforts were for nothing.

"Sweetie Belle?" She heard a voice from behind her. She didn't look up she couldn't it was best to just pretend like she didn't know what was going on. "Sweetie Belle!" She heard it again, She took a sideways glance and almost started running then and there, Split Sight was trying to weave his way through the crowd towards her, She took a quick turn down an alley and took off she darted down random alleys trying to get away from Split Sight. Once she was satisfied that she had escaped it was back towards the station. Sweetie Belle took this time to think about what had become of her life she was running from her friends and family, criminals and not to mention the police, just a few weeks ago she would have considered herself a model citizen but, now she wasn't sure if she could say the same.

But, none of that mattered anymore she was going to escape to a city that was a little bit nicer than Los Pegasus, and then it was smooth sailing. But, she might have been getting ahead of herself because most cities other than Ponyville and Canterlot were also pretty bad. Dodge City and Appleoosa weren't bad but, she would be identified in a matter of seconds.

Sweetie Belle was jolted from her thoughts by a voice. "Nice try kid, But, we aren't stupid," She looked up to see Stormy Seas staring at her. She didn't bother to back up, she knew Walker was behind her. "It was a valiant effort but, all good things must come to an end," Stormy Seas taunted. 

Sweetie Belle sensed that Walker was approaching her from behind, She made an attempt to escape him but, he was ready for it and he grabbed her and covered her mouth as she attempted to scream. It was at this moment that Sweetie Belle started to realize that something, she should have just surrendered to Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the train station because she didn't want to imagine what Walker and Stormy Seas would do to her after all the trouble that this caused.

"Wait," Walker said. Stormy Seas stopped and turned to look at Walker, Eyebrows raised. "How do we get her to the hotel?" Walker asked.

"How did you get her to the office the first time around?" Stormy Seas asked. 

"I was a lot closer and, didn't have to go through any high-traffic areas," Walker explained. Stormy Seas tapped his hoof on his chin, This was a little bit of a predicament, With Split Sight and practically the entire police force roaming around it would be hard to sneak her across fifteenth street and into the hotel. 

"I guess we just have to keep her in between us," Stormy Seas said. 

"She would probably try and scream," Walker said. Stormy Seas looked at the ground, trying to think of a plan.

"The factory is pretty close what if we try to keep her in there," Stormy Seas offered. Walker thought about it for a second, before offering his input.

"If it's unlocked one of us would have to stay behind because we didn't bring a key," Walker said. Stormy Seas was about to ask Walker to stay in the factory before an idea popped into his head.

"Do you have your radio?" He asked. Walker nodded and pulled his radio off his belt and handed it to Stormy Seas.

Stormy Seas pressed the talk button. "Boss, do you read me?" He asked. After the boss responded, Stormy Seas continued. "Can you get me a carriage behind the bookstore?" He asked. The boss wasn't quite sure what he needed a carriage for but, he learned to question Stormy Seas' ideas, no matter how stupid.

"Give it ten minutes," The boss said. Stormy Seas thanked the boss before, handing the radio to Walker. 

"Sorry but, your stuck pulling the carriage again," Stormy Seas said with a chuckle. Walker rolled his eyes, he knew when a carriage was involved, he was probably pulling it.

After a few minutes, a grey stallion approached, the carriage in tow. He dropped it by the duo, nodded, and left. Stormy Seas looked at Sweetie Belle.

"Sorry kid but, we can't risk you screaming can we?" He said with fake sadness. "Walker?" He said. Walker didn't hesitate before he knocked Sweetie Belle out.
> Downhill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: This chapter contains a lot of violence and earth ponies throwing knives (Veggie tales logic?). You have been warned.



Stormy Seas and Walker darted into the alley, hopefully escaping the sight of the several police officers. They got the keys from the boss and were about to enter the entrance to the factory but, they were stopped as they collided with a stallion. The collision knocked Walker and the stallion of their hooves, unfortunately, Sweetie Belle was launched out of the carriage, the stallion looked back to apologize but, his eyes landed on the unconscious Sweetie Belle. Stormy Seas followed his eyes, The stallion got up to run. "Get him!" Stormy Seas yelled, Walker, got up and gave chase while Stormy Seas grabbed Sweetie Belle, who had woken up tried to fight but she was overpowered. She was brought through the door and into the factory she saw two desks, her eyes were drawn to a knife that sat on one of the desks she was terrified to think that they could use that on her at any time. 

She was tossed into a large room before Stormy Seas ran back out to the street. "Wait," Stormy Seas said, Walker looked at him, eyebrows raised. "I have an idea," Stormy Seas said. "Bring him in," He commanded. Walker shrugged and dragged the unconscious stallion into the factory and into the large room that housed Sweetie Belle, Stormy Seas grabbed the knife on his way in. 

As the door shut behind them, Sweetie Belle turned to see Stormy Seas and Walker standing before her, she noticed the stallion that was laying on the floor in front of her, she wasn't sure if he was dead or alive and she wasn't to keen on finding out. 

Stormy Seas tossed the knife onto the ground in front of her, she looked at the knife and back to Stormy Seas.

"Finish him," He said flatly. She shook her head. "No? After all of this, you are just going to say no?" Sweetie Belle didn't say anything, she just cowered further into the corner. "After all you have been through, all the anger towards your sister and all your anger towards me, you are going to refuse to take it out on anything?" Sweetie Belle gave a faint nod. Stormy Seas let out an angry sigh. "Let the anger flow through you and you won't think anything of it. It will feel great, I promise," Stormy Seas said with as much fake honesty and charm that he could muster. 

Sweetie Belle looked up and stared at the knife, she contemplated. Could this solve her problem, If she did this they might trust her with a knife which means she could strike when they least expected it, what was one innocent life to get rid of two evil and save hers? "Yes, think about it, contemplate it, This may be your only chance to let out you're stored anger," Stormy Seas said. Sweetie Belle shook the thoughts from her head, she had to find a better way out of this situation. She shook her head once again. "Damnit," Stormy Seas muttered. "That's a start. Let's try again later," He said before turning around and slamming the door. Walker rolled his eyes, He looked between the stallion and the knife.

"I'll mess with him later," Walker muttered before dragging the stallion off to a side room. He re-entered the large room and grabbed the knife on his way back into the office room. She slowly got to her hooves and put her ear to the door. She figured that it couldn't hurt to listen to what they were saying. 

"What did you do with the stallion?" Stormy Seas asked. 

"I tossed him in an extra room," Walker responded. A loud thud came from the office.

"We don't have time to leave him for later!" Stormy Seas shouted. Walker sighed.

"Come on, The door is locked we can just deal with him later," Walker defended.

"I don't think you understand If we stay here it's over!" Stormy Seas returned. The room fell silent for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Walker asked. He was genuinely confused at Stormy Seas' statement.

"Split Sight is probably on his way right now! We made to much noise messing with that stallion. He knows we are here and he won't stop until he catches us!" Stormy Seas shouted. "We are getting out of here as soon as we can, I'm going to try to get Quincy over here to help us get all of our stuff packed up," Stormy Seas said. Before he could leave the room Walker interrupted.

"What about the girl?" He asked. Stormy Seas turned around. His anger at Sweetie Belle's failure, Walker's stupid questions, and the fact that he waited until Stormy Seas was halfway into the next room all culminated in an explosion.

"WE ARE GOING TO FUCK THAT GIRL AND SEE IF SHE IS WORTH TAKING WITH US!" Stormy Seas yelled. Walker was so taken aback that he took a few steps back.

"And if she isn't?" Walker asked. Stormy Seas took a breath before addressing Walker again.

"Well we can't have her talking can we?" He asked, sounding a bit condescending. Walker just nodded. "You stand guard," He commanded. 

Sweetie Belle slowly brought her ear away from the door, She was having trouble grasping the fact that she could die at any moment. At first, she convinced herself that she didn't want to die but, the more she thought about it the more her alternate future sounded worse than dying. 

She needed a plan, and fast. Her options were limited and the probability of her escaping was very small. Just as she was about to give up on making a plan, Stormy Seas' words popped into her head. 'You stand guard' He wouldn't have Walker stand guard if the door had a lock. She sat there, what could she do if the door didn't lock? She couldn't overpower Walker and the room was way too small for her to evade him. A thought popped into her head, the knife that she spotted on the way in, She assumed that it was the same knife that they wanted her to kill the stallion with but, she figured that Walker would have put it in the same place to avoid Stormy Seas yelling at him. It was farfetched and certainly not foolproof but, it was worth a shot.

She looked under the door crack, Walker was pacing back and forth. Sweetie Belle gulped, She knew what she had to do. As soon as Walker was far away she opened the door and grabbed the knife, Walker turned around and tried to grab her but, he was too late, Sweetie Belle drove the knife into his left foreleg, He screamed in pain and shoved her away, Sweetie Belle's eyes landed on a door she hadn't noticed on the way in, as she darted through the door she heard Walker yelling for Stormy Seas. As soon as she made it through the door she slammed it shut, She heard Walker slam into the other side of the door. She came upon two paths, after a second of thought, she darted down the right path.



"What do you want? I don't have time for your shit, Quincy is on his way," Stormy Seas said sounding irritated. He raised an eyebrow as his eyes fell upon Walker's stab wound. Figuring that he hadn't put two and two together, Walker spoke up.

"SHE WENT THAT WAY!" He shouted, pointing at the door. Stormy Seas' eyes widened.

"You go around back and let Quincy in and try to cut her off, I will go the other way!" Stormy Seas commanded. Walker nodded and the two stallions took off down the hall before splitting down the different paths.



Sweetie Belle knew that they were probably hot on her tail, she darted into a giant room, She stopped as when another choice came up. She looked back and forth between the two paths, right as she was about to make a decision, she heard a voice from behind her.

"A valiant effort it was, But unfortunately, you have come up short," Sweetie Belle started to run down the left path but, she was cut off by Walker, She turned to run down the other path but, she was stopped by Quincy. She looked back to see Stormy Seas push a button on the wall. She ducked but, nothing happened confused, She looked back up at Stormy Seas. 

He waived Walker and Quincy in, and they grabbed hold of both her forelegs. "This won't be fun for you but, I do recommend doing your best, your life depends on it," Stormy Seas said with a laugh. He started to move in but, was stopped by the sound of hoofsteps approaching the room. Without turning around Stormy Seas said. "I was wondering when you were going to show up," Sweetie Belle looked up to see Split Sight standing behind Stormy Seas. 

"Got a call about a disturbance outside of this factory," Split Sight explained.

"So you decided to break in?" Stormy Seas asked. 

"I was told that there was an altercation and the door was unlocked so it is my job to search the premises," Split Sight returned.

"You still broke the rules," Stormy Seas deadpanned.

"Bending and Breaking are two different things," Split Sight said. Stormy Seas went to retort but, was interrupted by Split Sight. "Let her go," He commanded. Walker and Quincy looked at each other and smiled before grabbing Sweetie Belle's flank. "I'm going to give you two-five seconds before I take action," The duo responded by tightening their grip. Split Sight had enough, he grabbed two knives from his holster and threw them at Walker and Quincy. They didn't have time to react, Quincy was struck in the forehead, killing him instantly, Walker was hit in the lower part of the neck, he collapsed from the pain.

Stormy Seas looked back at Split Sight, Barely containing the urge to charge him. "Those were my two best stallions!" He shouted. "Now you will watch as I do unspeakable thing to this girl!" Split Sight rolled his eyes.

"Sure, now make this easy," Split Sight said as he approached Stormy Seas.

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you," Stormy Seas said. Sweetie Belle, who had been silently watching suddenly realized what that button did. 

She looked  up, a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. "Split Sight!" She tried to warn him but it was too late. He looked up at the roof just in time to have the massive fixture crush him.  

Stormy Seas laughed. "It's sad, the last thing you will see is your failure," Stormy Seas said as he started rapidly approaching Sweetie Belle, She backed up until she hit the wall, Stormy Seas had a terrifying smile across his face. despite this, her attention was drawn away from her attacker,  She watched as Split Sight limped towards Stormy Seas, A knife in his hoof. 

Stormy Seas seemed to notice her sudden change in focus, He drew a knife out of his waistband and spun around Just in time to stab Split Sight in the neck. But, he wasn't quick enough as Split Sight also managed to drive his knife into Stormy Seas' neck. "I guess this one is a draw?" Split Sight managed to force out.

"F-Fuck you," Was all Stormy Seas was able to say before he collapsed to the ground, Split Sight followed shortly after.

Sweetie Belle rushed to Split SIght. "No, Please!" She said as she shook his body. "Please get up!" She said tears started to form in her eyes. When she realized that he wasn't going to get up, She started crying. Her ears perked up as she heard several pairs of hoofsteps coming down the hall, She was going to get up and run but, she stopped herself 'I deserve this' She thought  'I caused the death of an EBI agent' She continued to cry over Split Sight's body.

The hoofsteps stopped and Sweetie Belle looked up to see Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Two police ponies standing in the entrance to the room. "Oh no," The turquoise officer said as he started to approach her. He got close and put his hand on Split Sight's neck and looked back at the other officer and shook his head. Sweetie Belle already knew but it still made her cry harder.

"You seem to care an awful lot more about Split Sight than I expected," The blue officer said.

Sweetie Belle took a moment to compose herself before speaking. "He saved my life and all I did was run away," Sweetie Belle said. "It's all my fault," She said with a sniffle.

"No," The turquoise officer stated. "I don't ever want to hear you blame this on yourself ever again, This whole thing was just a long series of very unfortunate events," He said. "Come on, lets get out of here. My name is Night Shade and that is Blue Streak I want you to follow Blue Str-," Night Shade was interrupted my Blue Streak.

"I got a live one!" He shouted. Night Shade looked over to see Blue Streak standing over Walker's body.

"I'll call the hospital," Night Shade said. "You escort Sweetie Belle and her friends out," He commanded. Blue Streak nodded and Walked out with Sweetie Belle and her friends following close behind.

"I need an emergency response team at the factory on 19th Street," Night Shade said into the radio. 

"We are sending one your way," The operator responded. Night Shade sighed, this was going to be hard to explain.
> Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle was surprised at how few people were waiting outside the factory and most of them were police officers with a few news ponies scattered about. She looked at the ground as she passed the news ponies, she didn't want to talk to them, not now. 

After walking for a little bit, Sweetie Belle started to wonder where they were going, she knew a little bit from her brief time on the street but it seemed that they were moving closer to the middle of the city. They made their way to a big building labeled 'Police' Sweetie Belle had a good idea of why they were there and if she was honest with herself she wasn't ready to answer any questions about the whole thing.

"I presume you know why we are here," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle was slightly surprised at his question. Did he read her mind? That wasn't important she had to focus on getting out of her talk with the police. "Look kid, I know you don't want to do this but, if we send you back to Ponyville they won't let us use any evidence that comes from you, whether it's your statement or physical evidence, You either stay here or you have pretty much have no case against the surviving perpetrator," Blue Streak stated.

"Ah'm not going to let ya bully her in ta doing nothin' if she doesn't want to be interviewed then she won't be interviewed," Applejack said sternly. 

"I wasn't bullying, I was telling her the benefits of being interviewed," Blue Streak replied. Applejack went to respond but was stopped by Twilight.

"Seeing one of her friends argue shortly after all of this probably isn't the best thing for her, We should let her choose what she wants to do," Twilight said. Applejack realized her error and muttered an apology, Blue Streak rolled his eyes and started walking into the police station.

"I will be inside if you need me," He said. The four of them paid no attention to him. Twilight realized that Sweetie Belle hadn't said a word since they left the factory.

"How are you doing," Twilight asked, putting a hand on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. She noticed that Sweetie Belle flinched a little bit, Twilight's heart sank it was as bad as she had thought.

"I-I don't know," Sweetie Belle said. Twilight looked at the ground, it was a hard question to ask but, it had to be done.

"I know you are still recovering but, are you okay with being interviewed?" Twilight asked. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment, She wasn't sure if she wanted to recount her memories this quickly but, she also wanted Walker to go to jail. 

"Yes," Sweetie Belle said quietly. The three older ponies seemed a little bit surprised by this, They figured that she would at least take a few hours to decide.

"Okay, follow me," Twilight said. Sweetie Belle nodded and followed Twilight into the large structure. The police station was a little bit different than Sweetie Belle thought it would be, It was pretty loud with a few ponies yelling at each other and some yelling about being arrested. 

Blue Streak stood at the front desk, He looked up to see the four ponies enter the building. He nodded and signaled for Sweetie Belle to follow him. He was stopped halfway by a yellow pony. "Is she being interviewed?" He asked.

"Yeah, I got it," Blue Streak said. He went to start walking again but, was stopped by the yellow pony.

"I'll take it from here," He said. Blue Streak raised his eyebrow. "You're going back to Ponyville with her so someone in house might as well perform the interview," 

"Excuse me?" Blue Streak said. "Who says I'm going back to Ponyville," He said, anger present in his tone. 

"The chief, You were only sent her to help find the girl so you will not be conducting the investigation," The pony said with a smirk. Blue Streak went to retort but, 'Watch it Streak' Night Shade's words echoed in his head.

"Fair enough, I will head to the train station as soon as I finish my interview," Blue Streak said with a smirk of his own.

"I said I would do it," The yellow stallion said.

"My writing is very legible and I will deliver my notes to you as soon as I am finished," Blue Streak said, poking the stallion on the chest. The stallion muttered something but Blue Streak didn't care, he looked back to Sweetie Belle, who was looking at the ground. "Let's go," He said, She nodded, and followed him to an interview room.

Once they were inside the room, Blue Streak closed the door and took a seat across from Sweetie Belle. "I'm going to be square with you, this is going to be hard, I will try to phrase these the best I can and I will take breaks in between but, it has to be done," Blue Streak said. "We'll start with an easy one. Do you think that they were involved in a bigger scheme?" Blue Streak asked. 

"I am almost one-hundred percent certain they were," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak raised his eyebrow. "I never saw him myself but, there was a stallion that they only referred to as 'The boss' I'm not sure if they even knew his actual name," Sweetie Belle continued. Blue Streak nodded and wrote it down. 

"Okay, now for the hard one," Blue Streak said. She sighed and nodded. "Did they ever do something... inappropriate things to you," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle went to speak but she couldn't say it. 

"C-can you give me a piece of paper," Sweetie Belle stuttered. Blue Streak gave her a nod and a reassuring smile. She sighed and started writing, She did want to remember what happened between her and Walker but, she knew it had to be done.

She handed Blue Streak the piece of paper. He looked down and let out an angry sigh. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that," He muttered. "Before I continue with my questions, Is there anything that you think I should know?" He asked.

Sweetie Belle looked at the ground, Was there anything that he should know? Scratch that, is there anything that she wanted him to know? Then it hit her. "Oh no," She mumbled.

"What?" Blue Streak asked frantically.

"When they were taking me in the factory, They ran into a stallion and h-he tried to run away but, they got him," She paused, did she want him to know about this? It was too late for that she was in to deep with this one. "They brought him in and tried t-to get m-me to," She paused once again. "They tried to make me k-kill him," She blurted out. Blue Streak's eyes widened, he didn't know what to say.

"You didn't do anything did you?" Blue Streak asked, Not the best way to phrase it but, he was too shocked to form good sentences.

"No," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak let out a sigh of relief.

"What did they do with him?" He said. "I mean, do you know what they did to him," He re-phrased. 

"Walker dragged him into a side room," Sweetie Belle said. "I assume he is alive because Walker was only in the room for a few seconds and I heard Stormy Seas yelling at him," She added. 

"Walker is the one that is still alive, correct?" He asked.

"Walker is the live one, Quincy is the grey one and Stormy Seas is the other one," She stated. Blue Streak thought about asking why She called Stormy Seas the 'Other one' but, at the end of the day, it didn't matter he got what she was trying to say.

"But that doesn't matter he is probably alive," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak nodded and pulled out his radio.

"Night Shade, Sweetie Belle just informed me that there is another pony in the factory, she said he is in a side room and should be alive be on the lookout," Blue Streak said.

"Alright, I will watch out for him," Night Shade said. Blue Streak put away his radio and looked back at Sweetie Belle. "I only have a few more questions and then you can go home," Blue Streak said. "I uh mean, Back to Ponyville?" He corrected. It hadn't been at the front on his mind but, now that Sweetie Belle had been liberated where was she going to stay? The obvious answer was back home but, with the whole Rarity situation, she definitely didn't want to stay there. He decided to just address it now rather than later. "Say, do you know where you are going to say when you get back to Ponyville?" He asked.

Sweetie Belle looked at the ground, Truth be told she hadn't thought of that either, It wasn't really at the top of her list of priorities. "I honestly don't know," She said. It was Blue Streak's turn to look at the ground, he thought about any way that he could help her.

"Look, the only thing I can think of, other than staying with one of your friends is keeping you in holding," He said. Sweetie Belle didn't think that sounded good. "You would have to sleep in a cell and some people might think you got in trouble with us but, It could be your only option," He added. This confirmed that she wouldn't like that, She could stay with Apple Bloom, right? Then a thought hit her, did Stormy Seas and or Walker tell anyone about her sister? And then it donned on her, Did Blue Streak know, he rephrased his question about going home, how would he have known.

"D-Do you know about my sister?" Sweetie Belle asked. Blue Streak was slightly taken aback by the sudden question he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to be talking about that case but, she would have to know eventually so he decided that it couldn't hurt to tell her.

"Yes," Blue Streak stated. 

"H-How many people know?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Lots. Unfortunately, the story got leaked somehow so pretty much all of Equestria knows," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle sighed, there was no way that Apple Bloom or Scootallo would let her stay with them now, It was one thing for them not to believe her but, the fact that they think she went public with it makes it worse.

"What's wrong?" Blue Streak asked.

"I-Its just that... Now, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom probably dislike me," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak raised his eyebrow.

"And what makes you think that?" Blue Streak asked. 

"Well I tried telling them about my sister and they didn't believe me and we went about our lives but, Since they probably think I was the one who told everyone they would not like me," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak realized that he hadn't told her who told him the story.

"AppleJack is the one who told me the story," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle looked up at Blue Streak with a shocked expression. Why would AppleJack tell him about their altercation? "She pieced things together when we were interviewing her and I think she just might believe you now," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle continued to look shocked did AppleJack change her mind? Her train of thought was interrupted by Night Shade walking through the door, he didn't look happy. He dropped a newspaper on the table. Blue Streak looked at it, 'Split Sight dead! Sweetie Belle found!' he looked back to Night Shade.

"What the hell did you say?" Blue Streak asked, sounding a bit irritated. 

"Nothing," Night Shade said. "We didn't remove the bodies in front of anyone, I think we have a snitch," He added. Blue Streak raised his eyebrow.

"You didn't want anyone to know that the 'Hero of Equestria' was dead? You would have to tell them eventually," Blue Streak said. Night Shade shook his head.

"We believe that they were part of a bigger operation and I have a hunch that they are here in Los Pegasus and this gives them the chance to leave," Night Shade said. 

Blue Streak sighed. "Come on Night Shade, we have time," Blue Streak said.

"No, They are probably packing right now," Night Shade said. 



Rocky Shores (The boss) looked at the door with an annoyed expression, who was interrupting their meeting. A stallion walked in, tossed a newspaper on the table, and left. He looked back at the eight ponies that were staring at him, he shrugged and picked it up. 'Split Sight dead!' He chuckled Split Sight had been a thorn in his side for years and he was glad he was dead, he started to read the rest of the headline and choked. 'Sweetie Belle found! he frantically started reading the rest of the article. He was hoping that Stormy Seas and Walker had just let her go. 

His hopes were shattered when he heard about a standoff between Stormy Seas and Split Sight which resulted in the death of both of them along with Quincy. It was over and he knew it, the police had Sweetie Belle in custody and she was probably telling them everything she knew, They were probably on their tail right now, in fact, they probably knew that they were preparing to leave.

"This is over," He said. The others looked at him in confusion. He tossed the newspaper back on the table, they scrambled to read it. He watched all of their varying degrees of concern as they read the paper. 

"What now?" One of them asked. 

"We go into hiding, they are probably on our tail now," The Boss said. They looked at each other with worried glances. "I recommend getting out of Los Pegasus and fast. He continued.  "Oh and if any of you guys get caught and you rat out any of us, you. are. dead." He added. "Just because I'm in hiding doesn't mean I lose my connections, Now get out of here and start packing," he commanded. The eight ponies scampered out the door. The boss sighed, 'How did things go so wrong so quickly?' He thought. But, it was no time for thinking, he exited the room and headed for home.
> The Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle stared out the window as the train started to slowly move down along the tracks, She wasn't quite sure how she felt about returning home yet and she still hadn't found a place to stay until she was ready to either return home (Which was unlikely) or until she has enough evidence to press charges against Rarity. Both options didn't sound good to her, Blue Streak did say that she could stay in holding for a few days but, he did mention that it could raise suspicion, she could also stay with her friends for a few days but, she wasn't sure how long she could stay for.

After looking at the rapidly passing environment She started to get dizzy so she decided to look at the others on the train. She realized that Night Shade wasn't on the train. She figured that it was a good enough silence breaker. "Where is Night Shade?" She asked. Blue Streak looked at her and shrugged.

"I don't know, He said he had some stuff to deal with," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle was puzzled, what could he be doing if he and Blue Streak were sent back to Ponyville? 

"What kind of Business?" Sweetie Belle asked. Blue Streak rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, I didn't ask," Blue Streak said. She was confused by his response, why did they just leave without him?

"So, we just left him?" She asked. 

"Yeah," Blue Streak answered.

"You left your partner behind just because he had some stuff to do?" Sweetie Belle asked, sounding angered.

"Yes," Blue Streak said.

"And You see nothing wrong with that?" Sweetie Belle asked angrily.

"Nope," Blue Streak answered. Sweetie Belle let out an exasperated sigh.

"What if he is looking for you? What if he is worrying that someone came after you?" Sweetie Belle practically shouted. Blue Streak decided to play along for a little longer.

"Sweetie Belle, Night Shade is an adult, he knows how to take care of himself," Blue Streak said.

"Bu-" Sweetie Belle was cut off by AppleJack. "That's enough, What is the meaning of this?" She said looking at Blue Streak.

"I saw an opportunity, She is in the angry phase and I was trying to help get some of her anger out," Blue Streak explained. 

"Oh, Ah guess that makes sense," Applejack said. Blue Streak looked down,

"Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have been trying to anger her after all that she has been through," He said. 

"No, It's alright, I appreciate it," Sweetie Belle said. Blue Streak smiled.

"Thanks for understanding kid," He said. 

The train would quickly fall back to silence. Sweetie Belle went back to staring out the window, still feeling slightly embarrassed about her outburst. Sweetie Belle looked at the clock that hung over the entrance to the cart, much to her dismay it had only been about four minutes since they left the train station, at this rate the thirty-minute train ride would feel like three hours!

But, Sweetie Belle didn't worry about that for too long, as she realized that there would probably be some welcome back party or at least a crowd of people awaiting her return, the thought of that made her wish that the train ride would be three hours, all of this in addition to her friends, what was she going to say to them? The last time she saw either of them was catching them hanging out without her and her last interaction with either of them was a quiet lunch on the last day of school, both of these in combination with their argument over her trying to tell them what Rarity was doing to her, confirmed that they were detaching from her, Would they even be waiting for her? She assumed that they would but, probably only because Applejack and Rainbow Dash were also returning to Ponyville. But, that made her question her logic, If Rainbow Dash and especially Applejack cared enough to come to Los Pegasus to search for her could they allow their sisters or #1 fans to remain angry with her? Sweetie Belle figured they probably ignored them or the two of them were just doing this to seem like heroes. She glanced at AppleJack, could someone like her even be capable of doing something like that? She figured that Rainbow Dash would do it and to her knowledge, Twilight had no clue of her prior altercations, But, she knew that Rainbow Dash was aware of the incident because she heard Scootaloo telling her about it a few days after it happened. 

Sweetie Belle didn't like thinking about that, returning to Ponyville and possibly having to deal with Rarity again was enough and now there was the possibility of having no friends sounded like it would be absolute hell. With these thoughts, Sweetie Belle was already planning out her next escape, This time it would have to have a ton more planning than her last attempt, She would probably have to get someone else involved to help her with the finances at least because with the Boss on the loose she couldn't be alone on the streets for too long. The boss the name distracted Sweetie Belle from her thoughts, would he come after her? She figured that he had killed people for knowing far less than she did. But, she was able to shake off these thoughts, all she could tell the police was stuff about two dead guys and one that was in custody and already looking at many years in prison and she didn't even know his name. Bringing up another point, Would he ever be caught? She didn't know his name and Walker probably knew better than to tell the police (If he even knew it).

She looked up at Blue Streak. "Will they come after me?" She asked. Blue Streak looked at her.

Blue Streak sighed and looked at Sweetie Belle. "I'm not one-hundred percent sure but, I don't think they will go after you in Ponyville Unless you know more about their operation than you are letting on," He said. Sweetie Belle couldn't completely sure how to respond to this, She probably did know more than she was letting on, She just didn't know what it was.

"What makes you think that?" Sweetie Belle said She thought about clarifying her question but he was already answering. 

"Why would they come after you in your backyard?" Blue Streak said. "Now if you go somewhere like Manehattan or even Los Pegasus again You need to watch your back," He said. Sweetie Belle mentally sighed in relief that he didn't think she was hiding something.

"Why would it matter where I was if they wanted me gone wouldn't they just come and get me no matter where I was," Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Fine, You probably have to watch your back, especially in cities other than Ponyville," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle still didn't quite understand why he thought Ponyville was so safe, She had thought it was safe too until this happened.

"Why not In Ponyville?" Sweetie Belle asked. The combination of Sweetie Belle not understanding a word he was saying and Night Shade not being there to stop him, Blue Streak snapped.

"You know what? They aren't the only ones that will come after you, there will be copycats, people looking for rewards, and People who just think you are an easy target," Blue Streak said.

"Hey now, You shouldn't be saying that to her," Applejack said. Blue Streak glared at her but, somehow kept himself together.

"She wanted to know the truth and I told her," Blue Streak said. Applejack glared back at him.

"Ah don't recall her asking that," Applejack retorted. Blue Streak rolled his eyes.

"That's what she insinuated," He replied. Applejack didn't think that it was a good idea to continue arguing with him, despite this, she continued.

"How did you get this job?" She asked. Blue Streak looked at her, there were so many things that he wanted to say but, decided not to for professional reasons.

"Hard work and dedication," He said. Applejack went to retort but she was stopped by Twilight.

"If you two keep arguing I might mistake you for a married couple," She said. Blue Streak rolled his eyes and Applejack wretched. 

"Come on, I'm not that bad," Blue Streak joked. 

"Says you," Applejack said. Blue Streak wanted to say something but, he figured it would be best to let the argument die.




Rarity impatiently sat at the dining room table. She had called a semi-emergency meeting with her right-hand stallion, Dark Horse he was a good-looking young stallion who she mainly kept around for the dirty work, sure he was hot but she just led him on so he would continue to do the hard stuff for her.

She was broken from her thoughts as Dark Horse strode through the door. "Took you long enough," Rarity said. Dark Horse smirked.

"It didn't sound urgent to me," He said, still smiling. Rarity glared at him.

"We need to start building my case for innocence," Rarity said. Dark Horse raised his eyebrow.

"We don't even know if Sweetie Belle is going to press charges," Dark Horse said. Rarity gave him a look.

"That is true but, Just in case we need to be prepared," She said. Dark Horse nodded.

"What can we do? I don't think they have very much evidence so it shouldn't be too hard to prove that you are innocent," Dark Horse said.

"Yes but, since those police officers used Applejack's honesty to form this case in the first place there is no telling what lengths they will go to make sure that they have evidence," Rarity said. 

"Fair point," He said. "So I assume that you only called me because you already have a plan," Dark Horse said. 

"You know me too well," Rarity said. "So, some inside news sources tell me that there was another stallion inside the factory," Rarity continued. "And from what I have been told he was a completely random person that I assume that her captors put there, and I need you to somehow convince him to testify that Sweetie Belle was the one who assaulted him," Rarity explained.

"And what will that do to help our cause?" Dark Horse asked.

"Well, I assume that she has already been interviewed and I presume that she told them about him and provided the fact that she didn't actually assault him, she probably told them that her captors did," Rarity said. "So if we can convince this mystery stallion to say Sweetie Belle did it, we can make a case that she is insane and she made the abuse story up," Rarity answered.

"Wouldn't that Walker guy contradict us in his interrogation?" Dark Horse asked. Rarity looked at the table, She hadn't thought of that. She looked back at Dark Horse.

"Well take a detour, I'm sure you can bribe yourself into his room," Rarity said. Dark Horse gave her a look.

"He is still in police custody, How in the hell do you expect me to bribe my way in there?" Dark Horse said. Rarity looked at him and smirked.

"I suggest you find a way, Your job could depend on it," Rarity said. "Take Diamond Thread with you, She needs some guidance from my best con artist," Rarity said with a wink. 

Dark Horse sighed, "Do you at least know what hospital they are in?" He asked. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"It's a few buildings down from the westside police station, I think it's called Westside general," She said. "And the other one is in the Central hospital,"

"I guess I better get going," Dark Horse said. Rarity agreed and he started to leave but, before he left he turned back to face Rarity. "Oh and Rarity, You should go to Sweetie Belle's return to Ponyville," Rarity glared at him.

"And why is that?" She asked, sounding irritated.

Dark Horse smiled, "It makes you look good," He said. He could tell she was angry.

"Who are you to tell me what is good for my reputation!" She shouted. "Get lost!" She commanded.

Dark Horse exited the Carousel Boutique and headed for Diamond Thread's house, She was the new addition to Rarity's PR/Legal team and Dark Horse wasn't sure if she was even aware of their sometimes illegal tactics to save Rarity's public image. 

Diamond Thread didn't live too far away from the Carousel Boutique so it didn't take long for Dark Horse to reach her house. He knocked on the door. The door was opened by a Blue mare with white hair who went by the name Diamond Thread. 

"Oh, hey Dark Horse, What's up?" She asked. 

"Rarity requested that you accompany me on an assignment," He said. She gave him a confused look.

"Well I was working on something, Can it wait?" She asked. Dark Horse felt bad for her but, knew that it couldn't wait.

"You wanted to be on the PR team so you got to be ready for anything," He said, She still looked confused. "In other words, no it can't wait," He said. She sighed.

"Ok, let me get ready," She said. Dark Horse watched her walk back inside her house, She was a beautiful mare, he wondered if he had any chance with her. He chuckled knowing that even if he thought he had no chance he could probably coerce or maybe even threaten her into getting what he wanted.

Diamond Thread returned to the door. "Alright, let's go," She said. Dark Horse nodded and started walking to the train station, Diamond Thread followed close behind.

She was very confused when they made it to the train station and even more confused when they boarded a train to Los Pegasus. As they settled in the first-class private cabin, Diamond Thread decided that she needed answers.

"Why are we going to Los Pegasus?" She asked. Dark Horse looked at her, He decided that it was best for him to tell her the truth.

"Was wondering when you would ask that," Dark Horse said. "We are going to have a little talk with Walker and a Mystery Pony," He answered. Diamond Thread looked shocked.

"Walker! The one who kidnapped Sweetie Belle?" She asked. 

"Shhh! Yes that Walker," He said. Diamond Thread gave him a look. She wasn't sure what she had got herself into but, she was pretty sure it wasn't anything good.

"Isn't he in a police hospital? Would that be illegal for us to try and talk to him?" She asked. Dark Horse sighed, his suspicions were confirmed, she didn't know that the PR team sometimes did illegal things to get what they wanted. 

"Yes, but we must uphold Rarity's public image," Dark Horse reasoned. Diamond Thread went to say something but she realized, There was no way out of this and She was pretty sure that she couldn't just quit after she figured this out because, if they were willing to do illegal things to protect Rarity then they were probably willing to do illegal things to stop people from finding out about these activities. 

'I guess," Diamond Thread replied. She knew that playing along was probably her best course of action.

Dark Horse smiled, he was happy that she didn't try to resist, arguing on a train wasn't ideal because he didn't know who could hear them.



The train jolted to a stop, Sweetie Belle looked up, a thousand thoughts started coursing through her mind, She looked out the window and saw the crowd of ponies that were packed into the Ponyville train station, She tried to take her mind off of her situation by trying to pick out the ponies that were there to catch a train, she couldn't help but internally chuckle at the ponies with annoyed looks on their faces. Her heart dropped as her eyes landed on the last pony she expected to see, Rarity. She looked away from the window as she started getting dizzy, Blue Streak looked at her.

"What's wrong kid?" He asked. Sweetie Belle tried to speak but no words came out, All she could do was point her hoof out the window. Blue Streak smirked, He figured that she was scared of the large crowd that had gathered outside the train until he looked where she was pointing. Blue Streak nearly choked as he saw Rarity Standing near the back of the crowd of ponies. "Just follow me as close as you can and nothing will happen," He assured, Sweetie Belle didn't look convinced. "I promise," He added.

Sweetie Belle knew that she had no other choice, she got up and started following Blue Streak. Once they exited the train Sweetie Belle felt Blue Streak's hoof on her shoulder, She was slightly less nervous. 

It was almost impossible to decipher words in the train station, Sweetie Belle looked at the ground and let Blue Streak guide her through the sea of ponies, Sweetie Belle was briefly worried as she felt another hoof on her shoulder but, she was relieved to see that it was only Rainbow Dash. Sweetie Belle looked up as they were exiting the crowd and spotted Rarity staring at her from a distance, she had a disingenuous smile on her face.

"Hey! Stop!" Someone yelled. Sweetie Belle didn't need to look to recognize Scootaloo's voice. "She's our friend! Why won't you let us speak to her!" Scootaloo screamed over the crowd.

Blue Streak stopped and looked back at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. "Look you two, I understand you want to speak to her but, we have to get her out of the crowd first!" Blue Streak responded. They resumed walking, Sweetie Belle assumed that they were going to the police station but, honestly as long as they weren't going to the Carousel Boutique, she didn't care where he was leading her. 




Diamond Thread didn't stop worrying the whole train ride, She knew that this mission would probably fail, and she wouldn't make it in jail. Her train of thought was broken by the train coming to a stop. 

"Let's go," Dark Horse said. He got up and started to exit the room before Diamond Thread even had a chance to think. She shook her head and practically galloped out of the train car after him. 

"Where are we going first?" Diamond Thread asked. Dark Horse looked at her.

"Not so loud, You trying to get us caught or something?" Dark Horse said. Diamond Thread looked at the ground and apologized. "We are going after Walker first," He said. She nodded. "Wouldn't want to convince the mystery stallion only to figure out that Walker has already given his statement," He added with a chuckle. She nodded and continued following Dark Horse into the city.

After a relatively short walk, they found themselves standing outside a relatively modest-looking building that Westside general in big letters. She reluctantly followed Dark Horse up the steps and into the building. They were immediately greeted by a blue mare. "How can I help you two?" She asked. 

"Yes, We are with a news outlet and we were wondering when we might be able to talk to Walker," Dark Horse asked. The mare raised her eyebrows.

"I don't think that will be possible as long as he is in this hospital," The mare said. Dark Horse internally sighed.

"Come on," Dark Horse said. He pulled a bag of bits out of his saddlebag. "Can't we work something out, I have about a month's salary here, all for you," She looked between Dark Horse and the bag of money. 

"N-No it's not worth my job," She said. 

"Are you his nurse?" Dark Horse asked.

"No," She answered. He smiled.

"Then it will fall on her not you, This is a chance to knock off your competition," Dark Horse said. The mare seemed to think about it for a second.

"No, I'm not going to get one of my coworkers fired," She said. "Now get out of here before I report you two," SHe commanded. Dark Horse put his hooves up defensively before, leaving the room and exiting the hospital.

"Now what?" Diamond Thread asked. Dark Horse thought about his options. 

"Let's go to the alleyway, see if we can catch someone back there," Dark Horse said. They walked around the building and into the alley. Sure enough, there was a rough-looking stallion sitting near an exit to the hospital.

"Hey," Dark Horse said. The stallion looked up at the duo.

"What do you want?" He asked. 

"You work here?" Dark Horse asked. The stallion nodded. Dark Horse once again pulled out the bag of bits. "This is probably more than you make in a year," He started. "It's all yours if you just give me a copy of the schedule and a map of this place," He said.

"What kind of schedule do you need?" The stallion asked. 

"Everything from Lights out to what doctor is assigned to what patient and even if the prisoners ever get fresh air," Dark Horse said. The stallion nodded and held out his hoof, Dark Horse dropped the bag into his hoof and the stallion entered the building. 

After a surprisingly long wait, the stallion returned with a few pieces of paper in hand. "That's everything," He said. Dark Horse nodded and thanked him while taking the papers. Diamond Thread followed Dark Horse out of the alley. They once again stood out in front of the hospital.

"Follow me," Dark Horse said. Diamond Thread obliged and followed him around the side of the building. He came to a sudden stop near what appeared to be an Air conditioning unit. He looked at her. "You hear that?" He asked.

"I guess?" Diamond Thread said. He looked at the AC unit. 

"It's way too quiet," He said while reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out a mini crowbar. He managed to pull off the board that was covering the AC unit. This revealed a fan and a locked gate. "Bingo," He said with a smile. He slowly opened the gate and slipped into the alleyway, He looked back at Diamond Thread. "You stay here and stand guard," He commanded. She nodded.

Dark Horse stopped and peered into the first window, He was shocked to see Walker laying on his bed. He had caught the hospital at the perfect time as they were letting the patients get some fresh air by slightly opening the windows. 

"Walker," He whispered through the window. Walker looked at him with a surprised look. Dark Horse held out a note for him to take. Walker shook his head. "What?" Dark Horse asked. Walker pointed at the bed. Dark Horse went to ask Walker to just tell him what was wrong but, he remembered that Walker was stabbed in the neck. He figured that he couldn't leave the bed. Dark Horse reached through the window as far as he could, Walker took the note and read it over, He looked up Dark Horse, Eyebrows raised.

"I can promise you this," Dark Horse said as he pulled out another, larger bag of bits. "And your choice of Rarity's best lawyers," Walker knew that this could reduce his sentence and he had nothing to lose so he didn't hesitate to nod his head. Dark Horse knew that he didn't have all day so he took the note back from Walker and exited the alley. He and Diamond Thread shut the gate and put the plank back over the box.

"Let's get going," He said. They started walking to Central Hospital. "Now, when we go in here I want you to give your best attempt to bribe them,"  Dark Horse said. Diamond Thread's eyes bulged out of her head.

"A-Are you sure? I mean this is pretty high-profile what if I mess up?" She asked. Dark Horse laughed.

"It's a public Hospital I doubt even you can mess this up," Dark Horse said. "Just make sure to mention the bits and you will do okay," Diamond Thread was barely able to keep herself together, she wanted to cry, knowing that she would have to possibly ruin someone's life.

They approached the massive structure that was Central Hospital. Before they entered Diamond Thread looked at Dark Horse. "Do you even know this stallion's name?" She asked. Dark Horse looked at her and then the ground. "You don't, Do you?" He shook his head. "And how in the hell do you expect us to pull this off if we don't even know his name?" She asked. 

"I think he has red fur and a grey mane," Dark Horse said. "But, I suppose that we could just ask them about the stallion from the factory, Rarity authorized us to use as many bits as we need," He said. "Let's just go see what we can do," He said.

They entered the building and Dark Horse started looking for a good candidate to bribe, He spotted a stallion who looked like he was new to the job. "Let's try that guy," He said, pointing at the stallion. Diamond Thread nodded and followed close behind Dark Horse as they approached the strange. He pulled the stallion into an empty room he started to fight back but Dark Horse spoke up. "Hey, we just need to talk to you," the stallion continued to try and leave the room but, he was grabbed by Dark Horse, He looked at Diamond Thread.

She hesitated before speaking. "We need to talk to the third stallion from the factory incident this morning," Diamond Thread said. The stallion looked between them.

"I can't do that," He said. 

"We got a bag of bits with your name on it," Diamond Thread said. "It's probably equivalent to a few months' pay," She added. She was disgusted with how well she was doing it made her want to cry. 

Dark Horse pulled out the bag of bits. "Alright, fine he is in room 33," The stallion said. Dark Horse nodded and dropped the bag of bits into his hoof.

As they were exiting Dark Horse turned to the stallion and said. "Oh, and if you tell anyone about this interaction, You're dead," Dark Horse threatened. The stallion frantically nodded. 

Dark Horse made sure the coast was clear before he entered the room. When they entered the room the red stallion looked at them from the bed. "W-Who are you guys?" He asked.

"We are here on behalf of Rarity, What is your name?" Dark Horse asked. The red stallion raised his eyebrows.

"I'm Fleetline, What are you guys here for?" Fleetline asked. Dark Horse looked at Diamond Thread and nodded.

"We are here to strike a deal with you," Diamond Thread said. Fleetline motioned for her to continue. "Well, you probably have pretty high medical bills and even if you have healthcare, I'm sure you could use a little extra money," She said.

"Cut to the chase," Fleetline said. Diamond Thread was slightly taken aback but, she pushed onward.

"We have some bits for you, as long as you do a favor for us," She said. 

"Quit beating around the bush," Fleetline said, sounding irritated. Diamond Thread didn't want to continue, she just wanted to run out of the room, she just wanted to go home and forget this ever happened or, better yet, she would wake up and figure out that this was just a terrible dream. Dark Horse hit her in the ribs, She took that as her cue to continue talking.

"All you have to do is tell the police that Sweetie Belle is the one that assaulted you," Diamond Thread said. Fleetline nearly fell off his bed.

"What the hell is the matter with you guys?" He nearly yelled. "You want me to ruin that poor girl's life even more?" He went to continue but, was stopped by Dark Horse jingled a bag of bits. Fleetline stopped and stared at the bag, He didn't have healthcare and he knew that his bill would probably be upwards of thirty-thousand bits. 

"I can tell that you are considering it, I know you need the bits," Dark Horse said. "All you have to do is tell a little lie to the police and possibly testify in court and these bits are all yours," Dark Horse said.

"What if we get caught? I don't want to take the fall for this," Fleetline said. Dark Horse smiled.

"We won't get caught, But if we do, you will have your choice of Rarity's best and most trusted lawyers to defend you," Dark Horse said. "What do you say Fleetline? One little lie for a huge payday?" He asked.

"I'm in," Fleetline said.
> The interrogation of Walker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blue Streak paced around his room, he hated his sometimes gift of waking up at some ungodly hour in the morning no matter when he went to sleep. His attention was drawn to his radio which had started buzzing, He walked over and picked it up. It was Night Shade.

"Walker has regained his voice, How quickly can you make it to Los Pegasus?" Night Shade asked. Blue Streak yawned and looked at the clock, It read four-thirty.

"I can be there by six," Blue Streak said. 

"I'll hold you to that," Night Shade said. Blue Streak tossed the radio on the nightstand and started to get ready. 

As Blue Streak was walking out a thought came to mind. 'I thought we weren't investigating this,' his curiosity got the best of him and he pulled out his radio, and Night Shade answered.

"Yeah?" Night Shade asked.

"I thought we weren't part of the investigation anymore," Blue Streak asked. Night Shade chuckled.

"I might have called in a little favor," He said. 

"Elaborate," Blue Streak said.

"Well, I have an old friend in the EBI, and let's just say, he owed me a favor so, he made us temporary agents, meaning we have jurisdiction everywhere and we can stay on the case," Night Shade said.

"How does that even work?" Blue Streak asked. There was a short silence from Night Shade.

"I honestly have no clue but, he said we can still work the case so I didn't ask questions," Night Shade answered.

"You are an idiot, you know that," Blue Streak said with a chuckle. He put away his radio and left his house, into the dark streets of Ponyville. He wandered in the direction of the train station.

"Morning Blue Streak," Blue Streak's head shot up to see Lyra standing in front of him.

"Oh, hey Lyra, what are you doing out this late?" Blue Streak said. She smiled.

"I can ask you the same question mister righteous policeman," Lyra said with a giggle. "Has anyone ever told you that you and your partner should take some time off, You two are going to work yourselves to death," She playfully chided.

"Sorry, Lyra I really want to talk but I have to go," Blue Streak said as he started walking away. He could sense that she was following him.

"Really?" She asked. "What is so important you can't even talk to your old friend Lyra?" She added.  

"Classified police information," Blue Streak said. Lyra smiled knowing that she was close to her end goal, getting a rise out of Blue Streak was all too easy.

"Anything to do with the Sweetie Belle case?" Lyra asked. Blue Streak looked at the ground, he didn't want to have this conversation even if he knew Lyra was only joking to get him to raise his voice.

"Trying to get yourself investigated or something?" Blue Streak asked. Lyra chuckled.

"Just trying to figure out why you seem so preoccupied," Lyra said. Blue Streak was going to retort but, he realized that he was on a schedule.

"Sorry, I really have to get going, I'm on a tight schedule," He said. Lyra sighed, she figured it was best to give up, he seemed serious.

"Can I at least walk you to the train station?" Lyra asked. Blue Streak stopped walking, how did she know that is where he was heading, this made her look even more suspicious.

"Now how would you know where I am going?" He asked. Lyra realized the predicament that she had gotten herself into.

"You are heading in the direction of the train station," Lyra answered. "And the police station is the other way," She added. Blue Streak breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't want you involved in any of this, so I advise that you move along," Blue Streak said. 

"Nonsense, I don't think makes any difference," Lyra said. Blue Streak shook his head.

"I don't need any collateral damage Lyra," Blue Streak said. Lyra looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. "These people are dangerous Lyra and they will do anything to get out of going to jail," He said.

"Now Blue Streak, I haven't done anything why would anyone mess with me?" Lyra said.

"You would be surprised," Blue Streak said, Despite this, Lyra continued to follow. 

Soon enough, They were at the train station and Blue Streak was boarding the train to Los Pegasus. 

Lyra laughed as she turned and started walking away, she always laughed at how overdramatic and paranoid that Blue Streak was about everything, he had always been that way. She couldn't think of a person in Equestria that was evil enough to attack a pony just for being friends with the police, She had always seen Equestria as a nice place. As she finished that though a stallion jumped from the bushes and put his hoof on her mouth, she tried to scream but, it was of no use, He pulled her into the alley and knocked her out.



Yesterday
Blue Streak did his best to shield Sweetie Belle from the following crowd, he was afraid he might lose her, considering they had already lost Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight somewhere along the line.

He flung open the door to the police station and practically shoved Sweetie Belle and her friends inside before slamming it on the crowd. He was confident that they wouldn't try and infiltrate the police station but, they had enough people that it just might work. 

"You two sit right here, I need to have a conversation with Sweetie Belle real quick," Blue Streak said. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded and they both took a seat as Blue Streak walked Sweetie Belle down the hall. He pushed open a door and followed Sweetie Belle in. They both sat down and he gave her a sad look.

"I'm sorry to ask again but, we need to work this out at some point," Blue Streak said. "I need to know if you are going to press charges against Rarity," He said. Sweetie Belle gave him a look. "I will let you know, If you decide not to, legally, we have to return you to Rarity's custody," He said.

"And if I do?" She asked.

"You will be taken by child protective services until they find a home for you," Blue Streak said. It wasn't much of a choice to Sweetie Belle even considering how much she didn't want to be taken by CPS.

"Do you think we have a chance?" She asked. Blue Streak knew that at present, they did not have a chance at winning but, he knew they could down the line.

"Of course," He lied. Sweetie Belle was pretty sure he was lying but, she pretty much had no option, even if it was putting off the inevitable at least it was a few months away from Rarity. 

"Then I will," She responded. Blue Streak nodded.

"That's all, I will let you talk to your friends now, Would you rather talk to both or one at a time?" He asked. 

"Both," She said. Blue Streak nodded and walked out of the room. He looked at the other two crusaders and motioned for them to go in. They jumped up and practically ran into the room.

"H-hey girls," Sweetie Belle said as her friends wrapped her in a shockingly forceful hug. 

"We missed you, Sweetie," Scootaloo said, even with her bold and tough exterior, it was obvious that even Scootaloo was struggling to hold back her tears.

"I-I missed you guys too,' Sweetie said as, she too, burst into tears. They cried for a bit before Scootaloo finally broke the silence.

"Why?" She asked. Sweetie Belle took a moment before answering.

"I-i didn't want to live with Rarity anymore and... and I thought you guys were trying to c-cut me off," Sweetie Belle stuttered. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gave each other a pained look, knowing that her thought was partially true.

"We're sorry Sweetie, we just thought you needed some space," Apple Bloom said, holding back more tears. It pained Sweetie to know that they were doing it on purpose but, at this point, they were all she had so, she looked past it.

"It's alright girls, just, please... don't ever leave me again," Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom muttered their agreeance before the trio had another crying session. Afterward, a short silence loomed over them.

"D-Do you want to tell us what happened?" Scootaloo asked carefully. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment, she wanted to tell the girls what happened but, on one hand, she wasn't sure how much Blue Streak would allow her to tell them.

"I do girls but I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say," Sweetie Belle said. "Would one of you mind asking Blue Streak?" She asked. Scootaloo jumped up and went to the door.

She poked her head out and spotted Blue Streak down the hall reading a newspaper. "Blue Streak," She called, Blue Streak looked up at her.

"Yeah?" He asked as he started towards her.

"Sweetie Belle was wondering, how much can she tell us?" Scootaloo asked. Blue Streak looked at the ground, Was he willing to risk this? He knew it would be good to let Sweetie Belle talk about it but, he was also worried that it could jeopardize the case. 

After some thought, he figured that he would bite the bullet and trust the kids. "As long as you and Apple Bloom promise to not say anything to anyone, she can tell you everything," He said.

"We promise!" Scootaloo said. She hurried back to her friends. "He said you could tell us anything as long as we don't say anything!" She said. Apple Bloom did the goofy pinkie pie promise, they looked to Sweetie Belle, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Whatever you are comfortable telling us, that is," She added. Sweetie Belle was having a small crisis, as she really wasn't sure if she wanted the Crusaders to know what happened, but she did want to tell someone other than Blue Streak.

"What do you want to know?" Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked, puzzled. They weren't sure how to answer Sweetie's Question.

"Uh... Everything?" Scootaloo said, unsure. Sweetie Belle once again, looked at the ground, unsure of how to start her journey. 

Sweetie Belle looked at her friends and, with trepidation, started telling her story.



Blue Streak stepped off the train and into the train station, where Night Shade was waiting for him. He handed Blue Streak his temporary EBI badge and the two started walking to the hospital.

"How should we approach this?" Blue Streak asked.

"I dunno," Night Shade said. "I researched him for a while last night but, there isn't very much known about him," He added. Blue Streak sighed, this would make this interrogation much harder than usual. "I think he will try to base his responses on what we know, so we should leave out big things like Fleetline until later on in the interrogation, or just leave him out entirely," He thought aloud.

"Whatever you think is right," Blue Streak said. They walked in silence for the rest of the journey. After a few minutes, they entered the building. When greeted by two workers, they flashed their badges and continued past them. It wasn't long until they were outside the interrogation room, they could see Walker through the two-way glass, he stared at the glass as if he knew they were on the other side. 

They got a quick briefing from the doctor on what they shouldn't do, waited for the transcriber to show up, once he was ready the two looked at each other, nodded, and headed in.

"I was beginning to think they had forgotten about me," Walker said, trying his best to sound cool. The two police officers shook their heads and took their seats. 

There was a short silence. "What happened?" Blue Streak asked, it was a rather dumb question and Night Shade made a mental note to chastise him later but, it was better than nothing.

"Why don't you tell me?" Walker asked. 

"Your not the one asking questions here," Blue Streak returned. Walker rolled his eyes, he was in a little bit of a corner here as he wasn't really sure what his approach to this should be, and, at the moment he had no response other than to tell them what happened.

In the heat of the moment, Walker panicked and brought out the big guns earlier than he had wanted to. "At the moment you two have no evidence of me committing any wrongdoing," He said, managing to sound much more collected than he had expected.

"Who says?" Night Shade asked. Walker looked up and smiled.

"I heard that you ain't going to prosecute that Fleetline kid," Walker said. Blue Streaks eyes bugged and Night Shade nearly choked on his spit. "If you aren't going to even interrogate him, how can you come up to me and point the finger?" Walker asked. He thought that he had possibly just saved himself, maybe betraying his deal with Dark Horse but, all he cared about was himself.

What Walker thought was his saving grace turned out to be his downfall. "Walker, you don't have a lawyer and only the doctor has seen you since the incident, how could you have known if you weren't involved," Night Shade said, it was hard to hide the smug grin on his face. Walker went to argue but, he knew that they had him beat.

"Alright, I was in on it," Walker sighed. Before the officers could celebrate he caught their attention. "But I had nothing to do with beating up Fleetline," The duo looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"So Stormy Seas did it?" Blue Streak said. "Convenient, it just so happens we can't prosecute him for that," He added.

"Nope," Walker said, simply.

"Quincy?" Blue Streak asked.

"Try the little girl," Walker said. This time Night Shade did choke on his spit.

"And why would she do that?" Blue Streak said. Surprised that he was for once, the one who kept his cool.

"Beats me, we were just transporting her to the factory when he bumped into us, "She flew out of her carriage and started going after him, Me and Stormy Seas practically had to stop her from killing him," Walker lied. 

"That's total bullshit," Night Shade said. Blue Streak put his hoof on Night Shade's shoulder, their signal to calm down. 

"Why would it be? That girl is crazy, In my time with her, I'm not sure that anything she said to me was true," Walker continued to pour it on.

"How could you tell something like that?" Blue Streak asked.

"I'm not saying anymore," Walker said, after having a sudden idea.

"Well we aren't finished," Night Shade said, Walker, smiled.

"Good to know," Walker said, not trying to contain his smugness from the confused officers. "Now that I know you want more from me, I control these interviews, And I'm not saying anymore to you two until you go after that demented girl, because if she is taking me down, then I'm taking her down." He added. Content and even impressed with his performance, Walker sat back and folded his forelegs across his chest.

Night Shade went to say something but, was stopped by Blue Streak practically dragging him out of the room. 

"It's no use," Blue Streak said. "He's not going to say anymore,".

"We have to try," Night Shade exclaimed.

"Why?" Blue Streak asked.

"Because we can't go re-interrogate Sweetie Belle, she did nothing wrong," Night Shade reasoned.

"We don't know that," Blue Streak deadpanned. Night Shade looked at his partner, aghast.

"You didn't fall for his lies did you?" Night Shade asked. Before Blue Streak could respond, the transcriber interrupted.

"You two might have bigger things to worry about," He said. The officers looked at him.

"Like what?" Night Shade asked, his voice dripping with venom.

"Well I was looking over the log and it got me thinking, How would Walker know that you weren't going to prosecute Fleetline?" He paused. "You two probably think that it was a hail mary lie, Well I decided to be thorough and sent an officer to case the hospital staff, and let's just say a staff member is waiting to talk to you guys," He explained. Night Shade and Blue Streak put aside their hostility as they were genuinely curious. They followed the transcriber to a nurse, who looked worried.

"How may we help you, ma'am?" Night Shade asked. She looked up at them.

"Well, I was asked if I had seen any suspicious activity regarding Walker," She said. There was a pause.

"And?" Blue Streak asked.

"Well, two ponies claiming to be from a newspaper company came in, asking to talk to Walker," She started. "I turned them down for obvious reasons and thought that was the end of it," She continued. "But I was told this morning that the gate had been jimmied open by someone, And I made the connection that it was near Walker's room, I don't actually know if anything happened but It's possible," She finished.

"Could you explain the two to us?" Night Shade asked.

"One of them was a stallion, all black and the other was a mare, pink coat, and a purple mane with turquoise steaks through it, both of their cutie marks were obscured," She said. Night Shade froze, his mind flew back to high school, was there any way that sweet girl could have done something like this?

"Diamond Thread," Night Shade muttered. Blue Streak did a double-take.

"No way!" Blue Streak nearly shouted.

"I have to go to Ponyville," He said. 

"How many times are we going back and forth?" Blue Streak asked. 

"As many times as it takes, You stay back and try to coax something out of Walker or something, I'll be back," Night Shade said. Blue Streak didn't argue, he just watched his friend walk into the sunrise.



Night Shade sat outside Diamond Thread's house, in all honesty, he didn't want to do this, He had to know Diamond Thread since grade school and he wasn't too keen on potentially ruining the friendship they had. 

But, he had a job to do so, with trepidation, he knocked on her door. 

Diamond Thread greeted him. "Hey, Nighty!" She exclaimed, Night Shade cringed, hearing his nickname. "Come on in," She offered.

When they sat down and he still hadn't said anything, Diamond Thread started to worry. "What's going on Shade?" He looked at her with a serious expression.

"We need to talk," He said.

"A-About what?" She stuttered, starting to worry.

"I just got done interrogating Walker," He said. She stared at him. "Afterwards a nurse told us two news ponies tried to talk to him, and the next morning the fence right by his cell had been jimmied," He continued. "And the nurse gave me an exact description of you and I know you aren't a news pony so what were you doing? And who was your partner?" He finished.

"Hold on a minute, I did nothing of the sort!" She exclaimed. "And I am offended that you think I would," She added.

"If you don't tell me the truth, I can't help you," He deadpanned. 

"I am telling the truth," She said angrily. No longer wanting to argue, he stood up.

"I warned you," He said as he exited the house.

Unbeknownst to Night Shade, Dark Horse and Rarity watched him from afar. They were appalled that Diamond Thread would betray them like that, Of course, they didn't know if she did or not but, they couldn't take any chances.

"Well, we certainly can't have that," Rarity said.

"Would you like me to inform her of her termination and then, maybe, convince her to keep quiet?" Dark Horse asked.

"You would do that for little old me?" Rarity asked.

"Of course I would," He said.

"Then go get her," Rarity said, with a smile.

Dark Horse smiled as he walked to her door. He knocked And was greeted by considerably less enthusiastic Diamond Thread. Before she could say anything, he was in her house.

"What was that about?" Dark Horse asked.

"What was what about?" Diamond Thread asked.

"The cop! Did you get a conscience or something?" He asked.

"No! Why would I?" She asked.

"Don't lie to me!" Dark Horse yelled. He started approaching her, she started backing away.

"I-I'm not lying!" Diamond Thread pleaded. As Dark Horse continued to approach her, she caught a glimpse of his real intentions, he wasn't going to beat her, he was going to rape her. She increased her pace as he carefully stayed between her and the door.

"N-No, you don't have to do this!" She said. "W-what can I do? I will take the blame for everything, anything you want! Please just don't do this!" She once again pleaded. Dark Horse laughed as she bumped into her bed.

"If it means anything, You're fired," He said as he took hold of her.
> Forward Steps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diamond Thread looked at herself in the mirror as she wiped away the tears (among other liquids) that stained her cheeks, she squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop her tears. Once she composed herself, she took another look In the mirror, instead of her reflection she was met by Sweetie Belle, sobbing as she was being led away from the factory she was found in. Diamond Thread had seen it in the newspaper and it had been in the back of her mind ever since. Filled with sudden confidence, she was going to turn herself in and prevent that poor girl from going through any more pain but, when she looked back at the mirror, Sweetie Belle was gone and in her place was Dark Horse, with a devilish smirk on his face, the last words he said to her started ringing in her head 'Don't make me come back,' all of her confidence vanished, she was too afraid of him to do anything. So, Diamond Thread sadly returned to cleaning herself up.



Lyra awoke to a dark room she was restrained and quite scared. The room was quiet and she had time to think about her decisions, Blue Streak's words loomed in her mind, he was shockingly right about this crazy situation. Before she could finish her thought she heard voices, realizing the importance of this, she strained to hear the ponies outside the door. 

"So, this is the one talking to Blue Streak about the case?" A stallion asked Lyra thought she recognized the voice but she couldn't be too sure. 

"Yeah, Didn't sound like she knew anything but it's worth a shot," Another stallion said Lyra didn't recognize this voice.

"Alright, get what you can and get rid of her," This is when it hit her, It was Dark Horse, She went to High School with him but, this shocking revelation was overshadowed by the fact that the other stallion was told to 'Get rid of her'.

"Can I make a suggestion?" The stallion said. Dark Horse nodded. "I was thinking that it would be better to not kill her," He said. This was a pleasant surprise for Lyra.

"Excuse me?" Dark Horse asked. "I should kill you for that suggestion," He added.

"Now hold on a minute,  Just hear me out," The stallion said, Dark Horse started to say something but was cut off. "She seemed close with that cop now if we kill her, we have the fury of her good friend and police offer after us and If we do nothing and cut her loose she might tell him but, he will be too focused of the Sweetie Belle case to help and plus we didn't do anything other than kidnap her," He finished.

Dark Horse thought about it for a second. "Fine, just leave me out of it," He said.

"Of course," The Stallion said. Dark Horse turned and left while the Stallion entered the room housing Lyra, who had to think on the fly, and pretended to be asleep.

"I know you aren't asleep," He said. Lyra, scared of causing something bad to happen, looked at the stallion before her. "Look, I don't want to hurt you, I just need to know what you know," "He said. Lyra hesitated before she spoke.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, My employer is convinced you somehow know everything about the case. I happened to be convinced that you know jack squat about the case so, In the event that I am right I would like you to give me something to discredit Blue Streak or even Night Shade," He said.

Lyra pondered the question for a moment. "Like, bad things that they have done?" The stallion nodded. "I couldn't tell you anything bad about Night Shade, but If you give me a second I might be able to tell you something about Blue Streak," Lyra said. The stallion nodded and continued to stare at Lyra. 

After a moment of thinking, Lyra spoke. "I can't think of anything that would result in him being discredited in court," Lyra said. In truth, she had thought of something but, it was something that only she knew about and she didn't want Blue Streak to think she was working against him.

"Come on, I have heard he was pretty wild in high school, you must know something," He said. "I also must warn you, if you tell me nothing I'll have to kill you," He added. Lyra started to blurt out her secret but stopped herself, She knew a few small things that might help.

"Uh, He got into at least four off-campus fights," She offered, this was very inconsequential as the fights could just be chalked up to being a high schoolboy.

The stallion sighed, "Well, I guess that is something," He paused. "Thanks, I guess," He said. Lyra went to say something but was roughly punched in the face, knocking her out.



Night Shade was on his way to the train station, he was already tired of going from Ponyville to Los Pegasus and this would only be his second trip. His silent complaining was interrupted by a voice calling his name. He turned around to see a mare that he recognized as Minuette, the town's dentist, followed by Sweetie Belle. 

"Hello Night Shade," Minuette greeted.

"Hey Minuette, what do you girls need?" He asked.

"Well, CPS asked me to look after Sweetie Belle for the day while they get some stuff sorted out, and well she said she needed to tell you something," Minuette said. He looked at Sweetie Belle, who looked unsure, he gave a reassuring smile.

"I- well," She stammered, frustrated with herself, Sweetie Belle let out an annoyed sigh and tried again. "At some point, Stormy Seas made me clean and I broke a picture and he blasted me," Sweetie Belle said, Night Shade stared at her blankly. "I'm sorry! That sounded a lot more helpful in my head, I just thought that maybe you could find the filly in the picture and she could..." 

"Woah Woah Woah! Slow down Sweetie," Night Shade interrupted. "Take a deep breath and start from the contents of the picture," He said. 

"Ok, so the picture I broke was of a mare that couldn't be over the age of fifteen with a very young-looking foal, I didn't see it that well but it appeared to have been taken in front of a store," Sweetie Belle said.

"Was it a candid picture?" Night Shade asked.

"No, she appeared to know that the picture was being taken," Sweetie Belle replied. Night Shade pondered this for a second, This could be something, it had to have been one of Stormy Seas' previous victims and she might be able to shed some light on this cloudy case.

"That's great Sweetie, thanks," Night Shade said. "Well, I'll see you guys around," He said. Minuette and Sweetie Belle said their goodbyes before splitting

Night Shade felt good with the information he was just given as even If Walker didn't talk they had something to do.



Night Shade stepped off the train, he was tired but determined to find something with this new information, He walked to the police station where he found Blue Streak outside. 

"Whats up Streak?" He asked. Blue Streak turned around and frowned.

"I got nothing out of Walker while you were gone," He said. "I hope you were more successful than me," He added.

"Well, I was just not in the way I thought I would be," Night Shade said, Blue Streak raised his eyebrow. "I got nothing out of Diamond Thread but, Sweetie Belle caught me on my way to the train station, she told me that she had broken a picture of a young mare with a baby and Stormy Seas wasn't happy about it," He said. "I think we can get something from this mystery girl if we can find it in evidence," He finished. Blue Streak thought about it for a second, The chances of them finding the person in this supposed picture was slim but, it was worth a shot.

"Let's do it," Blue Streak said. They walked back into the police station and the investigation wing. They identified themselves and started sifting through the evidence collected from the office. It didn't take them long, they found the shattered picture of a filly, who couldn't have been older than fifteen holding a baby. They weren't sure the context of the picture but given that it was on Stormy Seas' desk it couldn't have been good. They took the picture out of the frame and looked on the back, something illegible that appeared to be a name was scribbled on the back. Night Shade let out a sigh, this lead seemed to be a bust, what were they going to do with a picture in an unknown location with a scribble on the back. Blue Streak started to say something but, he was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello," The duo looked to the door to see a Red stallion with a blue mane. "I'm Time Stop, I was Split Sight's partner," Time Stop said. "I figure since you guys are honorary agents and you guys are working Split Sight's case we could be a trio," He added.

"Don't they usually stop you from working your dead partner's case?" Night Shade asked. Time Stop looked at him and smiled.

"They did, I'm just here to give you guys some veteran guidance," He said with a smile. "That picture is a good lead but, I think you should leave that one in your back pocket and go for something more connected to the case," He offered.

"What do you mean?" Blue Streak asked.

"What I'm trying to say is, you should keep this lead in your back pocket and maybe try and figure out something like, who rented that office that they kept her in," He said. Blue Streak stared at him while Night Shade looked at the ground, trying to hide his embarrassment. 

"That would be smart," Blue Streak said. "Let's look into that Shade," He said. They started to exit the room but were interrupted by Time Stop.

"Don't tell anyone but I did it for you," Time Stop said, He presented a piece of paper to Blue Streak. 

"It was rented by an RS Incorporated," Blue Streak read, He stared at the paper. "I guess we have to find out who owns it?" Blue Streak asked. Time Stop smiled at him.

"I couldn't do too much could I?" Time Stop asked. Blue Streak rolled his eyes. It wasn't too much of an inconvenience since the Las Pegasus crime lab had cutting-edge technology in the form of a computer that could look up volumes of, mostly useless information about Ponies, Companies, and even buildings. The only catch was, It was very non-user friendly and utterly awful to use and Ponyville was too poor to afford this tech, and neither Night Shade nor Blue Streak had the slightest clue of how to use it. But, they were determined not to lose this case and letting Time Stop do any more to progress the investigation would seriously hinder their chances at that.

So, Night Shade bravely walked up to this insane machine and used the mouse to type in RS Incorporated. It brought up all known information about the company, including the owner Stardust Shadow and to his surprise, there was a picture.  He clicked on it.

Night Shade's jaw hung open as he looked at the picture. "Meet Stardust Shadow," He said pointing at the screen. "Aka, Quincy," He finished. The other two stallion's jaws also hit the floor. 

"Well, that surely is something, Does this business own any other properties?" Time Stop asked. Night Shade scrolled down before he found something familiar. 

"Ah, they rented that office in the hotel," He relayed. "Oh, and they bought the factory on 6th, and a bunch of other random properties," He added.

"Ok, well are there any other names mentioned?" Blue Streak asked. 

"Nope Quincy is the only name I can find," Night Shade answered.

"Well that was great, we know a lot about a company owned by a dead Pony," Blue Streak said. A silence fell between the three.

"I guess I better stop interfering," Time Stop said. Night Shade went to say something but he was gone. The duo looked at each other. Suddenly, Night Shade had an idea.

"Hand me that picture," He asked. Blue Streak handed him the picture. Night Shade stared at the picture. It appeared to be taken in a field But, there was a sign in the distance. He was able to make out the words on the sign as Good stuff. He turned to the computer and looked it up, they had one location in Baltimare. He looked a Blue Streak, who was now looking over his shoulder.

"I guess were are going to Baltimare," Blue Streak said.
> Happy again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle stared at Minuette as she happily ate her muffin, This reminded her of the chocolate muffin that lay untouched before her. But, she found it hard to eat as something was weighing on her mind. The problem was, she didn't know what it was that was bothering her. Whatever it was had been gnawing at her all morning.

Minuette looked up at Sweetie and noticed her expression. "What's the wrong Sweetie?" She asked. Sweetie Belle looked up at her.

"Oh, I don't know, Something has been bothering me and I don't know what," Sweetie Belle said. Minuette looked at her with a sad smile. 

"Well, I don't really have much experience in your situation but, I suppose it's normal," Minuette said. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment, could this just be normal sadness after what just occurred? No, this was more than just normal sadness, something weighing on her, like she needed to do something important. Minuette sighed "Look Sweetie, I honestly don't know what to tell you, I guess we just need to find something to make you happy," Sweetie Belle tried to think about what made her happy, And all that came to her mind was the good times with Rarity. She tried to block out those memories, she knew that it would never be like that again, She tried to think of good memories with school or anything other than Rarity, and then it hit her.

The crusaders, that's what is weighing on her and that's how she will be happy again, She probably caused them a lot of pain and sadness in her absence. Despite being somewhat a cause of her incident she pushes past those thoughts. "I need to see the crusaders!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Minuette was taken slightly aback by Sweetie's sudden outburst. "Sorry, But do you mind if I see if the crusaders want to hang out?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Minuette sighed. "As long as you are okay with me watching you," she said.

"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked. Minuette gave her a smile.

"Part of my job is to keep you in my sight at all times," She said. Sweetie Belle looked at the ground for a second as the reality of her life came back to her, nothing was the same. 'I ruined my own life,' She thought, and unfortunately it was difficult for her to argue with herself there, as the reality was that her whole life was going to be different from now on.

"That's fine," Sweetie Belle said, shaking those negative thoughts from her head. She fast-walked out of the door with Minuette struggling to keep up. She quickly made her way to Scootaloo's house. 

After a short walk, she approached the red house that Scootaloo lived in. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Scootaloo's babysitter.

"Hi, Sweetie Belle! I assume that you want to speak with Scootaloo," She said. Sweetie Belle nodded and the enthusiastic mare disappeared into the house, only to reappear with Scootaloo moments later.

"Hey there Sweetie, What's up?" Scootaloo asked. 

"Well, I was wondering if you might want to hang out?" She asked. Scootaloo looked back at her Babysitter, Who suddenly looked skeptical. She moved to the side a bit to see Minuette who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Go ahead," She said. Scootaloo smiled and jumped in the air, Wings fluttering. She rushed out the door to follow Sweetie Belle as they headed off to Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was apprehensive about asking Sweetie Belle questions about Minuette but, she figured it would be a good way to break the silence.

"So, Is Minuette joining us today?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle looked at the ground, It was more embarrassing than she had originally thought.

"Yeah, she has too keep an eye on me for the time being," Sweetie Belle explained. Scootaloo decided not to tease Sweetie anymore as she was still trying to find out the stuff she could say around her. "Is that okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Of course, Its not like we do anything that could get us in trouble or anything," Scootaloo said with a goofy smile. Sweetie Belle laughed and Minuette gave a little chuckle. "Speaking of which, What did you want to do?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle thought for a moment.

"Oh gosh, you know I'm terrible at stuff like that, I was honestly hoping you or Apple Bloom had some good ideas," Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo laughed again, it seemed that Sweetie Belle never had any good ideas.

"Well, I hope Apple Bloom has some ideas because I have no clue," Scootaloo said. "That is, if Apple Bloom is available," She added. Sweetie Belle hadn't thought of that, she mentally scolded herself.

"I guess we could just hang out In the clubhouse and, I don't know talk? Or maybe we could play some games," Sweetie Belle offered. 

"I suppose that wouldn't be too fun for Minuette now would it?" Scootaloo joked. Sweetie Belle laughed but deep down, she did feel responsible for making Minuette follow around two, possibly three goofy fillies for a day.

"Oh, I'll be fine," Minuette said. The three laughed before falling to silence. Despite being right beside one of her best friends, Sweetie Belle found this to be a good time to think. Would she ever be 'normal' again, what about all of the foals at school? How would they react? Cheerilee? And she didn't even want to imagine Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, a part of her hoped that they wouldn't stoop that low but she wasn't holding her breath. 

Before she knew it, they were entering Sweet Apple Acres, it felt like ages since she had last been inside the orchard. Sweetie Belle smiled as, for the first time in a while, she was flooded with happy memories of her and the Crusaders running a muck, attempting to earn their coveted cutie marks. 

"You waitn' on an invitation or something?" Scootaloo playfully remarked. Sweetie Belle shooke herself out of her trance and stared at the door to Apple Bloom's house. She looked back at Scootaloo who was looking at her with a smirk. Sweetie Bell smiled and laughed. She knocked on the door.

The door opened and she was met by Applejack. "Well howdy there Sweetie," Applejack greeted with a hug, shocked by the sudden display of affection, Sweetie Belle managed to make herself return the gesture. 

"H-hey Applejack," Sweetie Belle replied. "I was wondering if Apple Bloom could come hang out with me and Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle asked.

"She sure can, Ah'll go get her," Applejack said before disappearing, she soon reappeared with Apple Bloom.

"Hey girls!" Apple Bloom greeted. The three friends exchanged hugs. "So, what do ya'll want to do?" She asked. 

"We were kind of hoping that you had an idea," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"Why do ah have to come up with all the ideas around here?" She asked. Scootaloo scoffed.

"Oh please, I come up with way more better ideas than you!" She argued. Apple Bloom chuckled.

"In yer dreams Scoots," She said. The three laughed as they headed for the clubhouse. When they entered the cluhose, the three just took a moment to take in their first visit to the clubhouse in months. But, this special moment of silence was interrupted by the ever impatient Scootaloo.

"So, are we just going to stare at each other all day or what?" She asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom couldn't resit laughing at their friend.

"Well, if ya want to do something so bad, lets hear the ideas," Apple Bloom retorted. 

"Well, uh," Scootaloo stammered. This illicited another chuclke from the other two crusaders. "What about kite flying?" Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"Already did that," She answered. Scootaloo muttered curses to herself.

"Um, maybe we could try," Scootaloo stooped for a moment. "Apple kicking?" She offered. This time, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle busted out laughing. "Hey! I don't hear any ideas coming from you guys!" Scootaloo yelled. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were too busy rolling in the floor laughing to respond. Scootaloo sat, arms crossed until Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood up and wiped the rears from their faces. 

"Are you two done?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Bell nodded while Apple Bloom tried to prevent herself from going back into a fit of laughter.

"Lets give it a shot Scoots," And with that, the crusaders (And Minuette) Set off to kick some apples.



Lyra burst through the door of the police station, catching the eye of the mare at the front desk. She started to speak but Lyra cut her off.

“I need to speak to Blue Streak right away!” She unintentionally shouted. 

“He’s in the office at the end of the hall,” Lyra practically galloped down the hall, past interview rooms and holding cells, She was eventually met with a door, she didn't bother knocking.

“Hey Lyr,” Blue Streak was cut off by Lyra.

“I know someone involved!” She shouted. The two fell into silence as Blue Streak stared at her in awe, trying to figure out what just happened.

“Lyra, let's take a step back,” He said, taking a deep breath for emphasis. “What happened?” He asked.

“You were right, Some guys did come after me,” Lyra explained, she tried to continue but was cut off by Blue Streak.

“Oh my gosh, Are you alright? Did they harm you in any way?” Blue Streak asked.

“Never mind me! I have a name!” She exclaimed. Before Blue Streak could say anything she continued. “There were two stallions and I don't think I was supposed to hear them but I did and I recognized one of their voices!”.

“Alright, Alright! First, What were they saying?” He asked. Lyra thought for a second.

“Uh, well all I heard was something about me talking to you about the case, and then he told him to get rid of me,” She said. “But the guy he sent in told me that it was too messy or something and he let me go,” She finished. Blue Streak, who was still trying to comprehend what Lyra just said to him.

“What’s the name?” Was, all he could ask.

“Dark Horse!” She blurted. Blue Streak sat there for a second, dumbfounded, She wasn’t talking about who he thought he was.


“The guy we went to high school with?” Blue Streak asked. Lyra nodded. He sat there, trying to make sense of what he had been told.

“What did the mystery stallion ask you?” Blue Streak inquired. 

“Asked me to discredit you,” She said. Blue Streak tensed up, He knew that Lyra could very well completely ruin the public perception of him.

“What did you tell them?” He asked, slowly. Lyra couldn’t help but internally chuckle at his nervousness.

“Don’t worry, I’m not sure that that stallion wanted to be involved because he let me go with Your several off-campus fights,” Blue Streak raised his eyebrow.

“He let you go with just one thing?” Blue Streak asked. Lyra nodded. “Did it seem like he was double-crossing Dark Horse or something?” He added.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility, He somehow convinced Dark Horse to let me live and then made a very half-hearted attempt to get me to reveal some dirt on you,” Lyra said.

“Huh, I just hope he doesn’t turn up dead,” Blue Streak said.

“I hope so too,” Lyra agreed. The two fell to silence for a brief moment.

“Hold on, Why would Dark Horse need someone to try and find dirt on me?” Blue Streak asked.

“I don’t know, he was two years younger than us, and it's not like you two were friends or anything so I don’t see why he would know anything about your personal life,” She said. 

“I guess so,” He agreed. “Does this mean that he works for Rarity?” He asked. Lyra took a minute to ponder it.

“I guess so,” Lyra said.

“I guess I have to find out,”
> Stones Turned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night Shade stepped off the train with Blue Streak close behind, the two came in search of Good stuff a coffee shop on main street Baltimare, It was a long shot and frankly did nothing to advance Sweetie Belle's case but they thought it important to uncover the crimes of Stormy Seas and Walker.

They wandered around the city until they found the main street, it was a short walk to Good Stuff, they entered and walked to the counter.

"Can I help you two?" The young mare asked.

"May I speak to the owner?" Night Shade asked, presenting his badge, The mare nodded and disappeared into the back before returning with an older-looking mare.

"How can I help you two?" She asked. Night Shade pulled out the picture and showed it to her.

"We were hoping that there was some possibility that you know or knew this mare," He said. 

"Of course, that's Sunny Medows," The mare said. "And that's her son, Black Diamond," She added. Night Shade went to say something but was cut off by the Mare. "Oh my gosh, please don't tell me something bad happened to her," She exclaimed,

"Nothing Bad happened to our knowledge, we were just hoping that you could point us in her direction," Night Shade explained.

"Oh, thank goodness," She said. "She lives in an apartment in the building at the end of the street on the left," She explained.

"Thanks, we might stop back by if we need something else," Blue Streak said as the duo left. They continued down the street until they came to the building. "I get to do the talking this time," Blue Streak said as the two entered the building, Night Shade laughed.

The stallion, whose name tag said Lighting Wind glanced up at them. "Can I help you guys?" He asked.

Blue Streak presented his badge, "I'm looking for a Sunny Medows," He said.

"Second-floor room 211," Lightning Wind said. Night Shade thanked him as they walked past, they took a turn and continued to the stairs. They walked up the stairs to the second floor and 211. They knocked and waited for an answer.

Sunny Medows opened the door and stared at the two, eyebrow raised. "Can I help you guys?" She asked. 

Blue Streak held up his badge. "Are you Sunny Medows?" He asked, She nodded. "Could we talk to you for a little?" He asked. She once again nodded and motioned to follow her in. 

"Let me guess, about Stormy Seas?" She asked. The two officers turned and looked at her, surprised looks on their faces. "What? It's all over the news," She added. Night Shade just handed her the picture. "Where did you get this?" She asked.

"It was in his office, why?" Night Shade said. Sunny Medows's face fell.

"I was told this was for the newspaper," She said.

"Who took the picture?" Blue Streak asked. Sunny Medows gave an exact description of Walker.

Blue Streak sighed. "That sounds exactly like his sidekick, Walker," He said. Sunny Medows looked at the ground.

"I should've known," She said. A brief silence fell between the three before Blue Streak spoke up.

"How did you know him?" He asked.

"How do you think I knew him," Sunny Medows replied sarcastically. Blue Streak started to apologize but she spoke again. "I'm sorry, I just, The picture is exactly what it looks like," She said. "What you think happened, It probably happened," She continued. "I don't want to talk about it but if you need the answers, I guess I'm willing to help," She finished.

"How old were you?" Night Shade asked. He was trying to start with easier questions to make her more comfortable talking about it hopefully.

"I was fifteen and he was twenty-five," She answered. Night Shade couldn't help but internally shudder, how could anyone do something like that?

"How did it happen?" Night Shade asked. Sunny Medows looked at the ground, mentally preparing to relive the event.

"I was out late one night and someone from an alleyway knocked me out, and then I was in a small room," She said it was an almost frighteningly straightforward story. Night Shade pondered his next question for a moment.

"Were you the only one?" He asked.

"I was the only one in the room but there were others," She said. "He always called me His Favorite though," She added. This time, Night Shade shuddered as it wasn't a very pleasant thing to think about. "Once he figured out I was pregnant he stopped abusing me and started trying to be more intimate with me, and then, one day he dropped me in front of a hospital and I gave birth the next morning," She explained. "And that was it, He never tried to contact me again, I have never had any sort of problems or anything like that since," She clarified.

"Did you ever have an interaction with Walker?" Blue Streak asked.

"Not until he took that picture, I'd assume Stormy Seas acted alone back then," She said. This was a rather interesting revelation as now there were even more layers to the crimes of Stormy Seas.

"Interesting, Now If you don't mind me asking where is the foal?" Blue Streak questioned cautiously, Sunny Meadows gave him a look like she minded but, begrudgingly she decided that they might as well know even though she didn't believe it would help them.

"I didn't have enough money so I had to give him to the orphanage but I am saving all the money I can to get him back, and I am getting close," She said hopefully. The two officers looked at each other, seemingly sharing the same feeling of sadness at what they were just told though, they held out hope that she would pull through and get the foal back as Sunny Meadows seemed like she would be a great mom.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Night Shade said. She nodded and muttered a quiet thanks before Night Shade spoke again. "Is there anything else you can tell us that could be pertinent to the case?".

"I don't really see how any of this helps you guys if I'm being honest," Sunny Meadows countered. Night Shade sighed as dealing with these types of cases always sucked because it tended to bring out the worst in people, especially when he could tell that they were good people that didn't want to remember their trauma.

"Look, I know that it's tough for you to remember all of this but I need you to keep in mind that this is to aid the case of a girl who is the same age as you were," Night Shade explained. "And it helps us map out suspects that could still be alive and connected in any way to this case, especially with our theory that this was a bigger operation than just Stormy Seas doing his own thing," He added. Blue Streak gave him a death stare, which Night Shade didn't acknowledge, he knew it was risky to tell Sunny Meadows even theories about the case but he believed that it was the only way to get any more information out of her who, to this point had been relatively un-cooperative.

Sunny Meadows looked down, slightly ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry I just don't know what would be useful," She said sounding downcast. "I mean, I remember him talking about joining organized crime to attempt to control his impulsive behavior," Sunny Meadows said. "But I really have no clue if anything ever came of that," She added. Night Shade and Blue Streak looked at each other and shared a raised brow, this was somewhat evidence but not really much to write home about.

The three sat in silence for a second, trying to think of another good question to try and save this lead from being a total bust. As the silence was beginning to drag on a little too long Sunny Meadows broke it.

"I don't know if this helps but he did talk about adding things to various different "Books" I'm not really sure what these were but I bet that they could be something to look into," She explained. Night Shade couldn't really decide how he felt about this news but he figured that it could help in some capacity.

The two detectives shared a nod before getting up "I think this has been a successful interview, I thank you for going through this for us, it helps for more than you know," Night Shade said. Sunny Meadows muttered a non-descript farewell as the two detectives began to leave.

Before they were fully out the door Blue Streak turned around "I don't know if it's legally executable but Stormy Seas named you in his will as the inheritor of all his money, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high though," Blue Streak said. Night Shade gave him a confused look and Sunny Meadows rolled her eyes, assuming that this was just a misguided joke.

After a short silence, the two detectives kept walking, Once they were out of the building Night Shade gave Blue Streak a death stare. "What the hell was that?" He asked. Blue Streak chuckled.

"I wasn't lying," He swore. "I found his will while looking through some documents and he named "The mother of his child." As the inheritor of all of the money he had," He explained. "As I told her though, I don't know if it is a legally executable will considering the money is probably stolen or obtained through illegal methods but I think it would be worth a shot for her," He added. Night Shade gave him yet another confused look.

"And you didn't think to tell me this?" Night Shade asked.

"I didn't think it mattered because it holds no evidentiary value," Blue Streak said. 

"I guess you're right still kinda interesting though," Night Shade said. Blue Streak nodded in agreement and the two continued on to the train station, ready to get back home to Ponyville.

After an uneventful trip to Ponyville, the two got off the train, happy to finally get back to their houses and maybe get some rest. Unfortunately, they were sorely mistaken they were immediately approached by an administrative assistant. "The chief wants to see you guys," They said. The two detectives looked at each other and sighed, this might not go well. They begrudgingly followed the assistant to the police station, where the chief was waiting for them at the front desk. They once again found themself playing follow the leader as they trotted to the office of the chief. Once inside he gestured for them to sit down and they did, The chief let out a sigh as he sat down, knowing that he, once again had to reprimand two of his most difficult detectives.

"Well boys, seems you guys have pulled yet another stupid stunt," The Chief said before hesitating, "Now I think I need to preface this to you guys, I'm tough on people I want to succeed," He explained. "With that being said, What In the actual fuck are you guys doing? This whole damn case it has seemed like your priorities have been completely ass-backward! First, while the little girl was missing you guys were sending people on spy missions to try and get dirt on her sister that there could be no case against if the girl wasn't found and then I send you to find her, which I'll admit you did but only because you followed the greatest agent that the EBI has ever seen. And then once you find the girl alive you start investigating suspects that are dead! What are you going to find on Stormy Seas that matters right now? That he committed crimes? you can't charge a dead guy! and you guys would probably just say that you wanted to find evidence against Walker right? Newsflash even if he doesn't plead guilty he is going to Jail!," The chief paused for a second to catch his breath. "Now that we have that out of the way, For the love of Celestia go back to investigating Rarity, Sweetie Belle is alive and well, we already solved that one not to mention that she told you that she would press charges,  let the guys in Los Pegasus handle that shit I don't see any reason for you two to be going back and forth every day for a cause that is pretty much just paperwork," He finished. 

The two young detectives sat there in bewildered silence, The Chief was completely right (As he often was). Despite this, Blue Streak was too stubborn to just sit there and accept defeat.

"What If we get called to court and don't know what we are doing?" Blue Streak asked. The chief sighed and Night Shade resisted the urge to face-hoof.

"Even if Walker doesn't please guilty and you for some reason get called to the stand, they won't ask you questions like that, and If they do the prosecutor will know and he will protect you, I promise," The Chief reassured. "Now get out of here and go do something productive," The two detectives looked at each other and, with a completely new and reinvigorated outlook, descended out into Ponyville, Detirmened to make the chief proud.
> Ponies at Odds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it turns out, Rarity was pretty good at covering her tracks, at least, that was the conclusion that Blue Streak and Night Shade had come to. The duo marched into the streets of Ponyville, determined to make quick work of their new assignment but had ultimately come up empty-handed. Not wanting to go back to the station with nothing they tried their last ditch effort, Sweetie Belle, as dreaded as this was it had to be done and neither one of the detectives wanted to go back to the Chief with nothing. 

As they were on their way to Minuetts dentistry where they assumed Sweetie Belle was, something important occurred to Night Shade, What were they even going to ask her? It would seem rather unprofessional to ask her "What can you tell us about your older sister," They needed more questions, better ones, possibly even hard-hitting ones. His train of thought was interrupted by their arrival at the destination. The duo entered and were greeted by Minuette.

"Hey guys, I assume you want to talk to Sweetie Belle?" Minutte said. Night Shade nodded. "She is in the back," The two began walking but were stopped. "I do want to warn you that she has been rather anti-social with anyone other than Scootaloo and Apple Bloom," Minuette warned. Night Shade thanked her before trotting over to the back room with Blue Streak close behind. Sweetie Belle looked up at them and sighed.

"What now?" She asked Night Shade, who was taken aback by this rather rude greeting from the usually polite filly.

"We just came to talk to you," Night Shade said. "We were hoping to find some new information about your sister," He said. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, she knew this was coming, she found it funny because she genuinely believed that she had nothing that could help them as she was never nosy or over-involved in Rarity's personal life.

"Look I know this is hard but," Blue Streak started, Night Shade elbowed him and shook his head, Knowing that he was about to say something insensitive. "We just need you to be brave for us, just for a little," Blue Streak said. Night Shade rolled his eyes at the corny remark because it was better than what he was going to say. Sweetie Belle happened to find the remark quite humorous, she found the two bumbling detectives quite funny, for that exact reason, they seemed to be bumbling idiots more often than not which added humor to this dark situation. That though, was a double-edged sword as it was funny but didn't help her case against Rarity.

"Look I'm sorry but I don't think now is a good time," Sweetie Belle explained. The detectives looked at each other, and while they usually didn't find it very useful to push the envelope in situations like this, it, for some reason, was presenting itself as a now-or-never situation to them.

"We can understand that but remember Sweetie Belle if you bail or things don't go our way then we legally have to put you back in Rarity's custody," Blue Streak Said.

"So I can Run away again?" She Deadpanned. The detectives fell silent for a moment as the statement was very accurate.

Night Shade broke the silence "I never said our system was perfect, we are just trying to make the most out of what we have," Sweetie Belle couldn't help but give another eye roll she had a feeling that the system wouldn't help her, it never had it was the reason for all of this, see Sweetie Belle, had never put all of this together until Night Shade and Blue Streak started hinting at Rarirty's possibly illegal activities. A little over two years ago her dad lost his business to a devastating fire and he was not offered any insurance money to restart or help pay off any loans on the business after a few months of struggling Rarity miraculously began helping their parents, paying their bills and even helping pay back the loans that her father had, Sweetie Belle at the time thought nothing of it, she was young and only really cared that they were on their hooves again. But it was very suspicious as her business at the boutique skyrocketed to heights that they had never seen before. All of this happened because the insurance company wouldn't give her dad any money. After all, the fire brigade said that the fire was too "Suspicious," despite that, there was never an investigation launched which, even to a young Sweetie Belle made no sense.

"Equestria to Sweetie Belle," Blue Streak said. Sweetie Belle shook his head, her train of thought broken, she looked up at Blue Streak. "Look Sweetie Belle we just need to use the system to get ahead of the game on this and you are our best chance in doing that," His words fell on deaf ears as Sweetie Belle zoned out once again, Her train of thought that had recently been broken by Blue Streak had resumed. "Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle," Blue Streak waved his hoof in front of the young filly's face. 

A sudden wave of anger mixed with sadness overcame Sweetie Belle as she had connected some dots in her head. "My sister got my parents killed! Is that what you wanted me to say? I keep hearing about all these Illegal activities but you guys don't know why it started do you?" She shouted, The two detectives stared in awe at the little filly, too taken aback to speak. "This 'System' you are talking about? Yeah, it's the reason I'm in this situation in the first place! My dad lost his business and guess what? Your buddies at the fire brigade said it was too suspicious! So we got no money and suddenly went from a normal well-off family to dirt poor!" She continued. When it was apparent that the detectives were not going to chime in she continued. "But after a few months, Rarity suddenly had the disposable income to pay off their bills and everything else they needed, Doesn't that sound suspicious? Well, the next thing I know my parents are dead in a ditch with no suspects or any real investigation! and I'm left with that evil witch that I once called my sister while your 'System' goes on with no consequence!" By the time Sweetie Belle finished her rant, she was breathing heavily and the detective's jaws remained on the floor, It remained silent for what felt like hours, the only sounds in the room were the clock ticking and the calm wind blowing on the window.

"Sweetie Belle, we didn't me-" Night Shade started. He didn't make it far into his sentence before he was cut off.

"I don't care what you meant," She growled. "I'm glad you guys are using my shortcomings as your big break," she made her way to the door as the two detectives remained frozen. "Have fun with your stupid fucking system," She added, Sweetie Belle trotted as fast as she could through Minuettes practice, Ignoring the shocked gaze of Minuette and her customers.

Night Shade and Blue Streak, coming to their senses sprang to their hooves and ran after the filly. They didn't make it far, however, as Minuette put her hoof up to block them. "Hey, we have to" Night Shade was once again cut off.

"No, I won't let you two go after her," Minuette said. Night Shade and Blue Streak exchanged shocked and confused looks. 

Night Shade raised his hoof to brush hers off his chest. "Look miss," Night Shade began but was once again cut off. and his hoof was slapped down.

"Don't 'miss' me," Minuette started. "I won't let you two go harass that poor filly anymore, she has been through enough already and I'm tired of it," She scowled. Night Shade opened his mouth but didn't get a chance to speak. "If I ever see you two harassing her again I'll rip your heads off," She finished. 

"Is that a threat? Don't make us take you into custody," Blue Streak's words had barely left his mouth when Night Shade's hoof struck him right in the mouth.

"Shut your damn mouth," Night Shade said as he stormed out of the dentistry, Blue Streak wasn't far behind.

As soon as they were out of the practice and into a semi-private alley Blue Streak spoke. "What the fuck was that!" He screamed. 

"What the hell do you think it was about?" Night Shade responded, Blue Streak started to speak but Night Shade didn't let him. "We are complete Idiots! We have not even a single clue what in equestria we are doing!" He shouted. "A filly just called us inept and she was absolutely right!" He continued. "Not only that but she was right, We aren't trying to solve any crime, We are trying to break through!" Blue Streak sat there staring at Night Shade.

"But we are trying," Were the only words that Blue Streak could get out, trying to keep his confident bravado.

"We might be trying but not at the right things," Night Shade said, this time his voice was much softer. "Streak, We didn't get to where we are right now by just filling out an application, we worked in the police force and then took a year of detective training while still being cops," Night Shade paused. "But now that we are here we seem to have forgotten what we are doing because we are trying to be somepony we are not," He continued. "We are trying to be Split Sight, but we aren't him and we will never be him if we keep acting like this," Night Shade finished. 

"I-I b-but we," Blue Streak stammered, his bravado finally falling.

"Let's go regroup," Night Shade said as he slowly began trotting in the direction of the station leaving Blue Streak to be with his thoughts. 

From a far window on the second story of an apartment building the Chief watched on as the sparks finally stopped flying, He couldn't help but let a small smile form on his lips, His plan had worked, it may have been highly unethical but he didn't mind too much as he believed that he had finally unlocked the true potential of the two detectives.



Sweetie Belle's fast trot became a gallop as soon as she left the front door of the practice, she galloped and galloped as fast as she could, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to stop the tears from falling as memories came flooding into her mind. She didn't have an idea where she was going but at this point, she didn't care. 

She barreled through town indiscriminately running into a few ponies still out and about. That is when she happened to run squarely into another Pony, and the two of them crashed to the ground. 

Sweetie Belle jumped up, "I'm so sorry I didn't see you," She began but she stopped as she stared at the Orange Pegasus who was staring back at her.

"Woah there Sweetie Belle, what's wrong, where were you running?" Scootaloo asked. She didn't get the response that she had expected as instead of Sweetie Belle responding she collapsed into Scootaloo, becoming a sobbing mess. "Hey, Hey It's okay Sweetie," Scootaloo said, giving Sweetie Belle's mane a comforting stroke. "It's okay," She repeated, this time much softer and reassuring. 

After a few minutes of sobbing Sweetie Belle calmed down enough to speak. "W-why? Why did this have to happen?" She managed to sneak out between slow sobs. Scootaloo continued to offer comforting strokes of her mane.

"I don't know Sweetie Belle, I really don't," Scootaloo offered. Sweetie Belle's sobs continued as Scootlaoo kept trying to comfort her friend.

"I-I wish they had just killed me," Sweetie Belle wept. Scootaloo was taken aback by her sudden heavy words, Her outer walls almost crumbled as the thought of Sweetie Belle not surviving her ordeal made her want to join in the cries. Despite this, Scootaloo managed to pull herself together, her friend needed her support.

"Stop that!" Scootaloo scolded. "Don't ever say something like that ever again," She said softly. "I-I don't think I could live in a world without you," Scootaloo stammered, her voice wavering slightly. Sweetie Belle's crying began to slow as she came to the realization, she wasn't completely lost or unloved, she had a reason to keep going, Her best friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did truly care for her, no matter what she thought before all of this had started and she decided that they would be the reason that she tried to stay strong every day, the reason she tried to be brave every day.

With that, the two best friends lay there together for a while before going their separate ways.
> The trial of Walker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a very anxious two weeks, the day was finally here. It was probably rushed under heavy pressure from the public mainly because most believed that he would be pleading guilty despite his rejecting multiple plea bargains. But they were wrong, Walker had no intention of pleading guilty, he couldn't, even if he wanted to, He would be murdered. Not to say that there wasn't a chance that he would be murdered even if he pleaded not guilty, he was just trying to minimize the chances.

But he wasn't too worried about that, Because he was pretty certain that he would get away with all of this. This case was rushed, It hadn't even been a week since he was arrested, there was no way they had nearly enough evidence to convict him, right? Especially with the help of this big wig lawyer Rarity sent his way just for participating in some lie that was supposed to carry over to her case with Sweetie Belle. 

Walker sat there, smiling to himself, he couldn't help it, the thought of getting away with all of this was quite funny to him, It was the perfect revenge on the system and that stupid little girl that almost ruined his life. Of course, the other scenario wasn't great as he was facing, Kidnapping, assault and battery of a minor, rape, attempted murder as well as involuntary manslaughter (For his role in the death of Split Sight). His lawyer graciously let him know that all of these charges combined could very well make him a candidate for the first death penalty in Equestria in well over one hundred years but he wasn't too worried about that after all the equestrian police force, as well as the EBI, had a short but well-documented history of folding under public scrutiny, especially in situations like this leading many ponies believe that Equestria would have been better if they had just stuck to the royal guard. 

His internal musings were interrupted by the door opening. "Good evening Walker," He looked up to see his lawyer, Flawless Contract. "So, are you ready for today?" She asked.

"Yeah I guess," Walker answered. The unicorn mare took a seat across from Walker and opened her briefcase. 

"Alright, I'm going to cut it to you straight, A fast case trial is a dual edge sword, They might not be able to get as much concrete evidence but at the same time we don't have the chance to get a concrete defense together," She explained. Walker sat there, staring at her, he had no idea what that meant to him. Flawless Contract sighed, she knew this was going to be a tough one and she was honestly starting to regret taking this contract, despite Rarity paying her a beyond astronomical amount of bits for it. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that I don't have a defense for some of your charges, therefore we need to work together right now to find one," She said, emphasizing every word as if Walker was a toddler. 

"I thought that was kind of, you know, your job?" Walker remarked. Flawless Contract rolled her eyes, It wasn't the worst thing he could've said, she had heard worse. 

"Its pretty hard to present you to a judge and jury as innocent," She explained. "Which, might I add, you aren't," She added. Walker wanted to retort but going into a trial on bad terms with your lawyer didn't seem like the best idea. "Now, we have some work to do, the biggest one is the rape charge, that one doesn't look good," Walker stopped her.

"How could one of the charges involving her be harder to defend than the other? Wouldn't my defense all-around simply be 'I didn't do it'?" Walker asked. Flawless Contract let out an exasperated sigh, this was the last time she would let Rarity convince her to do something for a lot of money.

"You can't just say I didn't do it, It doesn't work like that, and I understand how you could think that but you need a defense for every charge no matter how related they all are," She explained. Walker still had no idea what she why but he was wasting time. 

"Alright whatever let's get this done," He said. 

"Okay, let me start by explaining something, I't have an issue with the Kidnapping or assault because I can pin those back on Stormy Seas, because from what you have told me and what I heard Sweetie Belle said, It was mostly him, the issue is the rape charge where you are the sole suspect, I don't have a defense because my source said that she described it as you and her in a room alone, Now, as you have refused to discuss that with me I am struggling to find a good way to present you as innocent," She explained. "Now unfortunately her word holds a lot of value here, so she holds the power," She added. Walked to the table, he wasn't sure what to do about that one, there seemed to be a great defense for it.

"Well, I guess If I'm already going to try and portray her as insane then that could be a solid defense," Walker offered. Flawless Contract sighed and rolled her eyes, she had forgotten about the stupid conspiracy Rarity had created to attempt to make Sweetie Belle look insane, she didn't envy the poor mare who had to defend Rarity, Oh wait, that was none other than herself.

"Well, you better pray that one works, or else you are in deep shit," Flawless Contract said. She got up, her work, technically finished and not wanting to be in the room with Walker anymore, she left but not before giving Walker some more words of encouragement. "I sure hope you are good at improv,"



Night Shade paced around the room, many different scenarios and thoughts running through his head, truth be told, he had never been in court before, at least, not for a case of this magnitude, it felt like the entirety of equestria was going to be staring at him. But, this was almost a warm-up of sorts, he needed to get used to the spotlight for next time when they take Rarity to court, then everyone in Equestria might be bearing down on him. 

He tried to shake off these fears though, he had to be strong as Sweetie Belle would be arriving soon, and he had to be the strong one. He was truthfully a little worried about the interaction her was about to have with Sweetie Belle, they hadn't spoken since the spat at Minuette's and he was worried that she wouldn't forgive him, or them, rather, he had sent Blue Streak to fetch her as running a little behind.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as the door swung open and in walked Blue Streak, followed closely by Sweetie Belle and Minuette, and, to Night Shade's dismay, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. He sighed, worried that she might bring them and even more worried that Blue Streak would allow her to bring them to Los Pegasus. "Blue Streak, Where are their siblings," Night Shade deadpanned. Blue Streak smiled sheepishly "Well I couldn't get Sweetie Belle to come along and I figure that It wouldn't be smart to leave our star witness in Ponyville," He explained. Night Shade's face hooved. This seems like this day couldn't get any more stressful.

He turned his attention to the other ponies in the room. "Hey guys," Night Shade greeted with a smile. No one said a word, Night Shade frowned he was hoping that their meeting wouldn't start this way (Not that his interaction with Blue Streak helped). But he couldn't dwell on that, they had important work to do, like introducing Sweetie Belle to her lawyer. Meeting your lawyer for the first time on the day of the trial sounds like quite the idea, but Sweetie Belle flat-out refused in all of their prior attempts, Minuette had even said that she had asked Sweetie Belle a few times since their incident and the answer was always no. Night Shade figured she was trying to put off the crushing reality of what she had to do, not one but two court dates, not very far apart where she would have to bravely take the stand and testify against the very ponies that brought her harm, not to mention being in the spotlight, this case was the largest in equestria in a very long time.

"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle but your friends can't be in the room while we do this," Night Shade said gently. Sweetie Belle gave him a pleading look. "I'm sorry but they have to go for now, They will be right outside I promise," He offered. Sweetie Belle looked at the table, trying to keep herself together, this whole situation just kept getting worse and worse. Recognizing the seriousness of the case, Apple Bloom begrudgingly got up and began to trot towards the door, Scootaloo, however, gave a huff and crossed her forelegs over her chest. Night Shade sighed. "Scootaloo, I know that you want to support your friend but, We need to get a few things done, so we can put away the stallion who hurt her," Night Shade explained. Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, who despite trying (And mostly failing) to hold back tears gave her a nod. Scootaloo thought about it for a second, she didn't know the issue with her being there. "Unfortunately, that means you too Minuette," She shot him a glare.

"I'm not supposed to let her out of my sight," Minuette said. Night Shade couldn't help but sigh, this was going worse than he thought.

"Yes but she is with us now, she is safe," Night Shade said. Minuette opened her mouth to respond but thought better of it, she stood up, putting a hoof around Scootaloo, she whispered something to Scootaloo. Whatever Minuette said, it worked as Scootaloo reluctantly got up and began following Minuette out of the room. But not before shooting one more reassuring glance at Sweetie Belle and mouthing 'You got this' Night Shade couldn't help but smile, they might have got in the way at times but he was happy that Sweetie Belle had such good friends. 

Once everyone was out of the room, Blue Streak spoke. "Alright Sweetie Belle, I know you have been putting it off but it's time to meet your lawyer," Sweetie Belle looked at the table, squeezing her eyes shut, all of her interactions with Rarity's sleazeball lawyers in the past gave her a bad perception of the profession, she was afraid that it would just be another one that her sister had paid off. "Look Sweetie, I know you are apprehensive but Sapphire Flower is a great mare and an even better lawyer," He said, emphasizing the really.

"D-does she knows my sister?" Sweetie Belle finally mustered the courage to speak. The two detectives were caught slightly off guard by Sweetie Belle's words, all they could do was shake their heads no. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just scared that she might have paid them off to lose the case on purpose for me," Sweetie Belle rambled.

"Sweetie Belle, this is your case with Walker, I assure you that your sister has no hand in this case," Night Shade comforted. Of course, that statement was false, as he was pretty confident that Rarity had some sort of hand in this case but he couldn't prove that. Sweetie Belle wasn't completely sold but knew it had to be done. "I'm gonna go get her now, Okay?" Night Shade asked. Sweetie Belle gave a weak nod. Night Shade walked to the door, opened it, and looked out into the waiting room, his eyes scanned before eventually falling on the blue unicorn mare that sat in the corner, he nodded at her and she gathered herself before following him in.

Sapphire Flower stopped in the doorway, her eyes falling on Sweetie Belle, she had heard a lot about this case, she had heard about Sweetie Belle and heard about Walker, and in all the madness she had lost herself in researching every little bit of evidence that she could, but in all of this she had forgotten about the little filly at the heart of this case. And now she was staring at her, the hurt in Sweetie Belle's eyes was all too evident.

Collecting herself, Sapphire Flower entered the room and took a seat across from Sweetie Belle. "Hello Sweetie Belle, nice to meet you," She said reassuringly. Sapphire Flower felt a sudden discomfort, sensing the stares that the officers were giving her, she wanted to ask them to leave but it would probably be useless.

"H-hi," Sweetie Belle said meekly. Sapphire Flower retained her reassuring smile as she sorted through some of the papers she had brought. As she sorted the various files her eyes fell on one she had forgotten about, one that she had just been given earlier that day. She had to tell Night Shade and Blue Streak and she suspected that it wouldn't go over all too well. She shook these thoughts from her head, she had more important things to attend to.

"So Sweetie Belle, we have a few things to discuss," Sapphire Flower said. Sweetie Belle looked down at the table, she was seriously having second thoughts about doing this. "Hey," Sapphire Flower said softly, reaching across the table and putting her hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. Sweetie Belle flinched at the sudden contact, causing Sapphire Flower to recoil in surprise at the sudden movement. "S-sorry," The filly stammered. Sapphire Flower took a second to collect herself, Sweetie Belle was in worse condition than she had originally thought, giving her reservations about putting this young filly and terrified filly on the stand. But she didn't have a choice they had to bring Walker to justice. 

"You alright?" The sudden whisper in her ear caused Sapphire Flower to jump, she looked over her shoulder to see Blue Streak giving her a concerned look she smiled and nodded. 

"Right so Sweetie Belle," She started, turning her attention to the young filly. "All I need you to do is tell the truth and let me handle the rest. Can you do that?" She asked with a warm smile. Sweetie Belle nodded, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to stop thinking about taking the stand in front of all those people. "But I do need to warn you, They will try to pry, they will try to frustrate you, they will try to confuse you and they will try to misconstrue things you have done, but I need you to try and stay calm and tell the truth no matter what, Okay?" She instructed. Sweetie Belle nodded, she didn't want to come under the scrutinized sleazy lawyer that Walker had produced. "Alright Sweetie Belle, you can go see your friends now," She said, Sweetie Belle got up and practically galloped out of the room.

The two officers went to follow her but they were stopped by Sapphire Flower. "I need to talk to you guys," The duo turned to face her, eyebrows raised. She pushed a piece of paper across the table to them. "I have just been informed that Fleetline is being used as a witness for the defense," She informed. Night Shade raised an eyebrow. "Why would be using Fleetline?" He asked. "We aren't using him," Sapphire Flower sighed.

"WHAT!" Night Shade roared. "Sorry, but you mean to tell me that the bastard is going to testify against here Flowers gave a solemn nod. "I thought Walker was just fucking with me," Night Shade thought aloud.

"Look I know the case is in five hours but I brought this up because I have a suspicion that there was tampering involved in this and if you guys could scrounge up anything I could get their defense thrown out," She explained. The two detectives looked at each other, it was a hail mary but somehow it didn't seem impossible.

"We will look into it," Night Shade said.



Sweetie Belle stood in a hallway, staring at the door that stood before her idly shuffling on her hooves, she couldn't believe what was about to happen. She was about to appear in court, and it was only the first out of two times. She was jolted from her train of thought by the Bailiff telling her to follow him. Sweetie Belle reluctantly followed the stallion, with Sapphire Flower close behind, as they emerged into the courtroom Sweetie Belle froze, staring at the Lawyer that sat with Walker, It was Flawless Contract one of Rarity's old lawyer friends. Now, usually, this wouldn't seem like that much of a problem. Still, Sweetie Belle had a lousy history with Flawless Contract, had been especially nasty in their few meetings, and Sweetie Belle wasn't very comfortable around her.

Sapphire Flower, noticing her unease kneeled and whispered in her ear. "It's alright Sweetie, I promise you it will be okay," She reassured. Sweetie Belle looked back up at Sapphire Flower and flashed her an uneasy expression, Sapphire Flower gave her a reassuring smile. It seemed to work as Sweetie Belle continued. She took her seat, trying to ignore not only the two ponies at the table next to her but also the large crowd that had gathered to watch the case. 

She was jolted from her train of thought when the bailiff shouted "All Rise!". She stood up as the judge entered and took a seat in his chair. They sat back down as the judge began speaking, Sweetie Belle didn't pay much attention though as she was lost in her thoughts.

Sweetie Belle let her thoughander, not wanting to return to reality. But her attention was grabbed when Blue Streak was called to the stand. She looked up at him, despite how much she wanted to hate him, and Night Shade succeeded for some reason, they were inconsiderate sure, and probably only wanted glory and fame but she had a feeling that deep down they did care about her. 

It wasn't long before Flawless Contract began questioning him. "Now, Blue Streak it seems as though you are pretty new to this whole 'Ebi' thing right?" She asked. Blue Streak nodded and she continued. "Now, I find that rather suspicious, Because you aren't an official agent, and in my research, there is no such thing as an 'honorary' detective. Which kind of makes it seem like this case wasn't completely handled lawfully, right?" She Said.

"Well that is incorrect, we weren't honorary agents we were shadowing Agent Brisk Chaser under the Senior advising program that is offered by the EBI," Blue Streak explained.

"Well that may be so but Agent Brisk Chaser seemingly had nothing to do with this case, his name isn't on any of the files, or any of the warrants, how could that be?" She questioned.

"He doesn't have to, as long as he oversees everything," Blue Streak lied, it wasn't completely a lie of course, that part was true but the lie was that Brisk Chaser had never even looked at a single evidence, but that couldn't be proven. Flawless Contract had a hunch that he was lying but she had nothing else she could without SaFlower objecting.

"Well that may be, but It seems that you shouldn't even be here in the first place," She paused, letting her crazy accusation sink in. "You see, I happened to take a look at the public records for the Ponyville police department, and I happened to find your score from the academy's final exam, and it just so happened that you failed, Now that's pretty damming, seems like there was some bribing there huh?" She asked, Judging by his uncomfortable expression, Sweetie Belle didn't have much hope.

"I was hoping you would bring that up," Sapphire Flower stood up with confidence, Flawless Contract began to speak again but was interrupted. "Objection by the way, Now your statement is correct, you are wrong. Blue Streak did fail his academy test, Now, his partner, Night Shade happened to score the second-highest score ever recorded, not only for Ponyville but all of Equestria. You might wonder what that has to do with Blue Streak, Well they happened to be partners, and there happens to be a rule buried in the book that states If one cadet fails the test within a certain percentage and their partner passes within a certain percentage then they failed cadent can continue through with his partner and shadow him, without handling any evidence and at months end the cadet is given another test and if he fails that one, he is barred from entering the police academy ever again, but it just so happens," She paused to pull a paper out of the briefcase and held it up. "That Blue Streak here passed that test meaning he has earned his spot to be here," She finished. 

Flawless Contract glared at Sapphire Flower. "No further questions," She muttered before taking her seat. Sapphire Flower returned to her seat with a smug smile. Blue Streak returned to the crowd. Sapphire Flower's victory didn't last long as she knew that Fleetline would be called to the stand, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't worried about it. 

She leaned over to Sweetie Belle. "Okay, Sweetie Belle, they are going to call Fleetline to the stand, They are going to try and make you mad and frustrate you but I need you to be strong okay? I need you to keep calm and be confident," She whispered. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what to think and, quite honestly she wasn't ever really sure who Fleetline was, to her it was just another piece to what seemed like an endless puzzle.

Fleetline was called to the stand Sweetie Belle looked at him but he wouldn't look at her, he felt too guilty. Flawless Contract stood up. "So Mr. Fleetline, Could you tell me, Have you ever had an interaction with Sweetie Belle?" She asked. He nodded "Would you care to detail that experience?" She continued. 

"W-well it was a little over a week ago when she and Walker bumped into me," He said. 

"And then what happened?" Flawless Contract asked.

Fleetline was about to speak but was interrupted by the judge. "You can't be serious, there is no way you walked in here and thought that was going to be a good defense, you just contradicted the entire defense," He paused. "I mean really, you say that he was just a bystander in this and then you bring  Mr. Fleetline in just for him to say that he was already with her? Not to mention that you can't seriously think that we were going to believe that the same thing that happened to Fleetline happened to Walker I mean come on you are better than that," He scolded. "You are dismissed Mr. Fleetline," Fleetline couldn't have got up and walked away faster. 

The courtroom sat in shocked silence for a few moments before the judge spoke again. "Will there be any more witnesses?" After quick shakes of both lawyer's heads, the jury was dismissed to deliberate.



The deliberation would last thirty minutes before they came back with the verdict. Everyone stood up as the jury read their verdict.

A mare at the end of the row stood up and spoke. "We the jury find the defendant guilty on all charges," Sapphire Flower breathed a sigh of relief as Sweetie Belle fell into her arms, she was glad that they had won. 

Their moment was interrupted by the judge. "I hereby sentence you to life in prison without the possibility of parole," Walker hung his head as he was escorted away by the police. Sweetie Belle wanted to be happy but she knew that she was going to have to do it all over again, against her sister no less.

Blue Streak made an attempt to catch Fleetline after but he wasn't fast enough (Night Shade also held him back) as he wasn't worth losing their job over. 

Sweetie Belle, who was quite scared of Flawless Contract would refuse to leave, that was until Night Shade picked her up and carried her out of the courtroom, despite her disputes with him, she didn't mind as it gave her a sense of security that she had not had in months.

Night Shade and Blue Streak walked her back to Minuette's dentistry. "you did good kid," Night Shade said. Sweetie Belle muttered a quiet thanks before wandering into her temporary home, already mentally preparing for her next court appearance.