Hours later, Dirt Nap was sitting in an interrogation room in the City Guard Headquarters. A low lamp cast harsh light directly into his face, but he barely blinked, sitting back in his chair with his forelegs crossed over his chest and a small smirk on his face.

"I know how this works, boys," he said into the darkness around him. "We've been through this. I'm not scared of you."

"You should be, buddy," snarled a voice to his right. A tough-looking dark blue earth pony—the "bad cop"—leaned in close to his face, glaring at him like he was a particularly disgusting, hairy, multi-legged insect. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? If it was up to me, we'd stop wasting time and throw your ass into a cell!"

"He does have a point," the "good cop" said, a green unicorn with blue eyes that shone in the lamplight. He leaned forward slowly, placing his forelegs on the white-washed table. "That was Celestia's hair in that coffin. You're looking at a life sentence. But here's the deal: if you help us find Princess Celestia, we may be willing to discuss a lighter sentence."

Dirt Nap's smirk flickered, but did not falter. "Don't you care if Princess Celestia dies?" the good cop asked. "Her life could be in danger right now."

"Because of you," the bad cop hissed into his ear, slapping the table with his hoof. "If she dies, it's on your hooves."

"And everypony's going to know that you let the Princess of the Sun, ruler of Equestria die," the good cop continued in an even tone, as if telling a child why they shouldn't play with matches. "How long do you think you would last in prison?"

Dirt Nap maintained his smile, but a single bead of sweat trickled down his face, down his chin and over his quivering throat. "Just tell us where she is and who has her," the good cop said slowly, leaning forward.

There was a long silence while Dirt Nap considered the deal, looking back and forth between the two Guards. Twice, he adjusted the cuffs of his suit, glancing down at the pristine cloth. Finally, he looked up at his interrogators.

"I have a better idea," he said with a twisted smirk. "Why don't the two of you go **** yourselves and get me a lawyer?"

The bad cop snarled and slammed both his hooves against the table, thrusting his face directly into Dirt Nap's smug countenance. The good cop scowled, starting to rise from the chair as his self-control failed him.

Before anything could happen, the door opened and a pony stepped through. A pony in a gray trilby.

"Gentleponies," Phillip Finder said quietly. "You've been at it for a while. Why don't you and the lads outside go get some coffee? I'll keep an eye on him."

The two Guards looked at each other, then at Phillip. Without a word, both of them got up and slowly exited the room, shutting the door behind them with an audible click.

Dirt Nap looked at Phillip as he slowly approached him, walking around the table, keeping his head lowered so that the brim of his hat hid his eyes. "I know who you are, detective. You don't scare me, either."

"You are scared," Phillip said quietly, pausing just out of reach of the undertaker. "The thing is, you're more scared of your boss than us."

Suddenly, without any warning, Phillip moved forward like a thunderbolt, knocking Dirt Nap's chair out from beneath him and sending him sprawling onto the floor. Before he could even cry out, Phillip was standing over him, pressing his hoof against his neck and pinning him to the floor. "Let's change that," he whispered.

"What are you doing?" Dirt Nap sputtered, trying futilely to get up. "You can't do this to me! I've got rights!"

Phillip raised his head slightly, revealing his glinting eyes, silhouetted against the lamplight. The look he gave the smuggling undertaker was cold enough to make him freeze where he was lying.

"You've got rights," he growled in a voice like thunder on the horizon. "Lots of rights. Sometimes I count them just to drive myself mad. But what you've got right now is a very pissed-off pony standing on your throat. If he pushes down a little harder, he'll crush your throat." To demonstrate his point, he pressed down hard for a moment, cutting off Dirt Nap's air and causing him to choke. "I'd do something about that if I were you."

"You can't! Stop!" Dirt Nap protested.

Slowly, Phillip began to press down harder, ignoring the suspect's desperate attempts to get his crushing weight off him. "Where. Is. Princess. Celestia?"

"All right! All right!" Dirt Nap choked out. Phillip released the pressure slightly, allowing the suspect to gasp in a breath. "The airship docks...warehouse 13!"

"It's Doctor Nevermore, isn't it?" Phillip asked. The flare of sheer terror in Dirt Nap's eyes answered for him. "Thanks." Getting up, Phillip strode to the door and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

"You enjoy that?" a voice growled. Turning, Phillip saw Flash standing next to the observation window, glaring at him.

"No," Phillip replied. "I did what was necessary."

"Necessary?" Flash almost shouted. "You could've killed him!"

"He's scum," Phillip replied, his voice even, but firm.

"That may be true, but he's also a pony," Flash replied sharply. "A pony with rights. What happens the next time you need info out of somepony, and they don't talk? Of what if you get the wrong pony?"

Phillip held up his hoof, stopping the conversation. "You know the difference between me and you and the others? Deep down, you and the others are good ponies." He walked around Flash, not looking at him. "And deep down, I'm not. Now come on. We've got a Princess to save."

"I have had the subject for almost nineteen hours now, and the experiment is a success," Doctor Nevermore spoke into a microphone, recording his voice onto a tape. "It has taken longer than anticipated, and I required more of the toxin than I originally estimated. This is likely due to her enhanced alicorn physiology.

"Nonetheless, I have succeeded. Even if she is an alicorn princess, Celestia is just a pony. A pony who can feel fear. And I have made her feel more fear than she has ever known."

He paused, smiling. "Princess Celestia has been driven mad. I've proven my point."

"Nopony outside," a Guard said, peering at the dark, empty warehouse through a set of binoculars from their position on a nearby rise.

"He'll be waiting for us inside," Phillip said. He was with Flash, Twilight, the other Elements, and a detachment of Guards. Also among their number was Princess Luna, with Silent Knight and a group of of Lunar House Guards: once she'd heard that a rescue mission was underway, she would not be dissuaded from coming along.

"Your Highness, once again, I must tell you this is a bad idea," Captain Polaris told her. "If you—"

"Captain," Luna said calmly, giving him a steely look. "Kindly shut up." Polaris decided it would be wise to obey that order, and instead turned to the others.

"All right, everypony put on your gas masks."

Everypony had a small brown satchel with them that they now reached into, pulling out a gas mask. One by one, each of them strapped the mask onto their face, ensuring that they were sealed tightly.

"Are these really necessary?" Rarity complained as she put hers on.

"You've had some of Doctor Nevermore's hallucinogens before," Flash pointed out. "You want to go for another round?" Rarity evidently decided that he had a point, because she did not reply.

"All right, listen," Captain Polaris said, his voice muffled by the mask, but still carrying all of its authority. "If this Doctor Nevermore character is as dangerous as Mister Finder says he is, then we may have to brace ourselves for the worst. Stick together, move fast, and watch your back and the back of the pony with you. We have to find Princess Celestia and get her to help as soon as possible. If you have a chance, bring Nevermore in."

"But be careful doing it," Phillip put in. "Nevermore is clever, and he's no doubt protected himself against attack. Approach with caution, and do not let him touch you."

"Any questions?" Polaris asked.

"Are you my mummy?" Pinkie asked. Polaris raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "All right, let's move."

The group moved quickly and quietly through the night darkness, following only the dim light of stars and faint illumination from a pair of flashlights used by the front guard. Fifteen hearts beat rapidly: fifteen ponies breathed heavily, peering out through the masks, alert for anything.

As they approached the door, Phillip noticed something odd: the ground around them had been disturbed, as if several holes had been dug recently and covered up again. His senses sounded an alert, but it was already too late.

The lead pony didn't noticed the tripwire until he had already walked through it. With a snapping noise, several silver canisters sprang up from the ground, spinning in midair.

"AMBUSH!" Polaris and Silent Knight shouted simultaneously.

KA-BOOM!

Author's Notes:

That's not good.

Couple of references in here. Think you found them?