Chapter 125

“Oh my god, you two.” I huffed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Pinks, I thought we talked you out of this idea.”

“You did,” Pinkie replied, her voice still lacking its usual shrillness. “But I told Notty all about it, and she thought it was a great idea.”

Sonata nodded. “Yeah! You guys shoulda been more supportive of her,” she sneered snidely. “P is a genius, and her double-barrel toilet idea is total win. I told her she should go for it and that I would help her, and now we’ve got specs and blueprints all drawn up and ready to go. She’s even about to finish writing her memoir: ‘Fifty Shades of Brown.’”

“Ugh…” I brought my hands up and covered my face to rub away the irritation. Then I sighed and faced Maud. “So how’s your lunch?”

They shifted their eyes onto the older Pie girl, who had the meal cart positioned across the bed, trying to enjoy her supper. Boulder was sitting on the tray, to the right of the plate with a piece of meat and a cube of carrot nearby. She appeared to be having difficulty eating, but it was hard to tell if it was because of the subject matter or the hindrance of having the use of only one arm.

“Oh… sorry, Maud,” Sonata said sheepishly.

“It’s OK, Sonata,” Maud replied, not looking over at the siren, instead reaching out and using her fork to sweep the meat away from the rock, leaving just the carrot in front of it, which she then pointed at with the fork. “Eat your vegetables.”

It was early evening —just after 6:00pm to be exact— not long after Maud’s supper had arrived. Pinkie, Sonata, Maud and I had spent the entire afternoon together in that room, chatting quietly and keeping each other company—and sane. I had left once to get coffee and food for Pinkie and Sonata; Pinkie especially needed to eat, but she wasn’t feeling very hungry and so she ended up picking away at her food over the course of the afternoon—which, really, was better than nothing. Sonata, however, scarfed her meal down in an instant.

Maud had just finished eating, and Pinkie was rolling the tray aside for her when a larger, balding man in a white shirt and tie under a thick winter coat entered the room.

“Evening, everyone,” he greeted, stopping just inside the doorway.

Three of us replied with flat hellos; Maud said nothing.

“I’m Detective Constable Francis,” he continued, pointing at the ID tag that hung from the lanyard around his neck. Then he reached up to adjust his glasses. “I’m here to speak about the Pie case, if you folks have a moment. I just have a few questions for Miss...” —he paused to glance at the notepad in his right hand— “Maud Pie, if you’re feeling up to it.”

Maud blinked once. “How long will this take?”

He shook his head. “Not too long, depending on what you’re able to remember. Has any of what happened come back to you?”

Her eyes went to her younger sister first, then down to the bedspread. “I remember… sounds; little snip-its. Nothing clear.”

The constable drew a pen from the notepad’s spine and clicked it. “That’s OK. Any little bit helps. And I’ll leave my card with you in case you think of anything else later. Sound good?”

After a short pause, Maud blinked slowly. “Yes.”

He nodded, and then glanced around at the rest of us. “I must apologize folks, but I’m gonna have to ask anyone who is not a member of the Pie family to kindly excuse us—for confidentiality reasons, of course.”

I drew a breath and stood. “Well, that’d be me.” I glanced at Sonata and tipped my head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Sonata stood to follow, but was stopped when Pinkie grabbed her arm.

“Wait… I don’t want you to go, Notty.” The party-girl leaned over to look at Constable Francis. “Can she stay? Please?”

Torn, Sonata glanced at the constable and then back at Pinkie. “But… he said that—“

“This won’t take long, Miss Pie. Everyone can come back as soon as I’m finished here.”

Pinkie’s bottom lip slid forward to give the detective the most heart-wrenching pouty-face she could muster. “But, Notty lives with us; she’s a part of our family too.”

The constable locked eyes with the siren, whose eyes darted around awkwardly. “Your name, miss?”

She swallowed. “Um… Sonata Dusk.”

“And you reside at the Pie residence?”

She nodded. “Yes I do, captain, sir.”

“Constable.”

Her eyes shifted back and forth a second time. “Right.”

The officer looked at me next.

I raised my hands and made my way past him to the door. “I’m just a friend. Don’t worry, I’m gone,” I said, looking back at the girls. “I’ll be back, K? Just text me when you’re done, Pinks.”

“OK. Thanks, Goldie-woldie,” she replied.

After leaving Maud’s room, I made my way down the hall toward the corner to head to the right. Just before I reached the bend, however, a tall, pretty girl emerged from the other direction and nearly ran into me.

“Eep!” she yelped softly, skidding to a halt.

“Flutters! Hey.”

“Oh! Um… hi, Goldie,” she replied as she swept that fluffy, pink hair out of her face. “How’s it going?”

“Mm… OK. How was work?”

She shrugged. “It was fine. I couldn’t really concentrate on what I was doing, though. How’s Pinkie Pie?”

I drew a breath glanced around the hall once before answering. “She’s still not really herself.”

Fluttershy pushed her bottom lip out. “Poor thing. It’s so awful what’s happened to them.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty depressing in there. Glad I ran into you though; I really needed a pretty face to cheer me up.”

She smiled awkwardly and glanced around to see if anyone heard that. Then she looked back at me with rosy cheeks. “Well… um, I‘m glad I could help.”

I snorted. “Are you kidding? It’s helping more than I thought it would; either I was starting to forget how beautiful you are, or you’ve gotten even hotter since the last time I saw you, which… I didn’t think was even possible.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Oh, Goldie.” She took a step to the side, her face darkening further as she tried to pass me to continue to Maud’s room.

“Whoop.” I hooked my arm around her midriff to stop her, prompting her to look at me with surprise. “We can’t go in there right now.”

“W-why not?”

“There’s a cop in there asking questions; they don’t want anyone else in there right now. That’s why I’m out here.”

“Oh.” She pinched her bottom lip, scowling. “Hmph. I was just coming to visit her, too. How long are they gonna be?”

“They just started.”

Fluttershy huffed. “Oh dear.”

“It’s OK,” I said, taking her hand and lacing our fingers together. “Why don’t we go hit the cafeteria in the meantime? It’ll be nice to hang out for a bit, just you and me. It’s been a long day.”

After a soft sigh, she gave me a little smile. “OK.”

So we headed back the way she came, walking hand-in-hand.

“How’s Rare today?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. She went to work, but I don’t really know how she’s doing. I think she feels bad about what happened with Sonata.”

“Hm.” I shook my head. “Maybe we should go to the field tonight. What’s Dashie up to? Maybe she can come too.”

“We can text her, I guess.“ Fluttershy looked over at me with those big, sweet eyes. “Actually, you know what? I bet having Dashie try on her suit would cheer Rare up. We should go out there tonight—even if that’s all we do.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think we all could use a little cheering up; I know I could.”

The shy girl let out a playful giggle. “Well… if you want some cheering up, why don’t we go visit that washroom again?”

I glanced inquisitively at her. “What washroom?”

“You know… the one on the floor that Dashie was on.”

A tingle down below caused me to slow my pace, and I looked over at her with a raised brow. “Seriously? You wanna christen that bathroom again after what happened last time? And at a time like this?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “You said we needed cheering up. Come on, let’s go make a stop there before we hit the food court.” She leaned close and whispered, “I know I’d be a much happier girl if I got fed from both ends.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Well who could say no to a lovely proposition like that?”

*****

It was well after midnight in the Riverfield. The air was crisp and frigid and the moon was bright, casting a crystal clear glow over the dried grass-filled plain, where the five of us —Fluttershy, myself, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash— all stood, admiring the athlete’s new suit.

Hers was like the others, sporting the tall boots and that signature V-neck with the long, winged collars, but the way it hugged her strong, little frame made her appear deceptively tiny—though Rainbow Dash was a small statured girl to begin with.

On her thighs was her own custom symbol: a white cloud with a lightning bolt comprised of the three primary colours. The pinstripes on her sleeves, however, received a treatment unlike any of the others; rather than a strip of what I thought would have been light blue, there was instead a much wider strip featuring the entire spectrum, from red, orange and yellow, to green, blue and violet.

“Dang, Dashie!” AJ smirked, tipping her hat back. “That lil outfit looks mighty fine on ya! I like it!”

Rarity piped up next, her hands clasped nervously to her chin. “How does it fit, darling? It looks rather snug.”

Rainbow Dash, who was looking down at her gloves, brought her eyes up to meet the fashionista through that dark mask. “Are you kidding? It fits perfect! And it looks totally awesome!”

Rarity smiled. “It does look superb on you. I’m glad you like it.”

“How could I not!?” Dash chuckled. “This is totally badass!”

“I can’t believe how fuckin big your tits are,” I blurted out of nowhere, prompting the four of them to go silent and slowly turn to face me.

“Uhh… weird?” Dash sneered.

“Well, come on! Look at them,” I said, gesturing towards her cleavage, bringing all eyes onto them, including Dash’s. “Where have you been hiding those things, anyway?”

Indeed, all this time I thought Rainbow Dash was flat as a board, but apparently I was wrong; the powdery, blue cleavage she was sporting told a completely different story, pushing up from inside that black valley, pressed together like a pair of oversized blueberries.

This revelation brought another shocking truth into my mind: Twilight Sparkle had the smallest bust of the group. Not that Dash’s was anywhere near the biggest; in fact, Twilight was the only one she had out-stacked, but still, on her minimal frame, they suited her surprisingly well.

Dash brought her eyes up to me, glaring through that mysterious black mask. “Uhh… they’re called sports bras, dude.”

“Why?” I asked, to which Applejack shook her head and groaned.

“Because!” Dash replied, throwing her hands out. “I don’t like them flopping around when I’m playing, or when I’m at work! Is that OK with you? Is that some kind of crime?”

“Yeah, it kind of is.”

“Hmm…” Rarity put a finger to her cheek, ignoring me. “I hadn’t thought of that, actually. Do they feel secure?”

“Yeah, they’re not too bad,” Dash replied, looking down at herself as she cupped her breasts and pushed them around. “They’re packed in there pretty tight; I don’t think they’ll go anywhere.” She started jumping in place to test the snugness of the suit while the rest of us watched. Satisfied by the results, she turned around, reached down into the grass and stood on her hands, pointing her legs toward the sky. She took a few steps like this, bending her head forward to watch her breasts to see if they might fall out. “Nope… looks pretty good,” she grunted, her feet waving around as she fought to maintain her balance.

Rarity clapped her hands rapidly. “Excellent, darling! We certainly can’t have our tits falling out in the middle of a battle now, can we?”

“I dunno,” I interjected. “I think we should talk about this more.”

“Shut up, darling.”

I rolled my eyes while Dash laughed, which caused her to lose her balance and fall over.

She stood from the tall, dead grass and brushed the bits of grass and dirt from the smooth, glossy material. “Heh! Good one, Rarity.”

“Alright, alright…” I said, rubbing my hands together. “It’s time to get serious, ladies.” I pointed to Dash. “OK. You’ve got the suit. Now, I know you never had a chance to get the app from Twi with everything going on with Pinks’ family, but as soon as you can, you need to make sure you get her to install it on your phone—and show you how to use it.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, barely able to contain her excitement.

Noticing this, I smirked at her. Then I pointed my finger into my chest. “And I’m gonna teach you how to be a proper warrior; how to fight, how to use your surroundings to your advantage, how to strategise, how to disappear, and most importantly, how to use your magic to its fullest.”

Dash’s expression went blank. “Huh? You don’t even have magic; how are you gonna teach us how to use ours? I guarantee we know how to use it better than you!”

AJ shook her head. “There’s still lots ta learn, sugarcube. Trust me, I wouldn’t be playin bass again if I hadn’t been fer what Golds taught me.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “With Golds’ ideas and training, I’ve become ten times the warrior I thought I could ever be.”

Dash furrowed her brows, surprised to hear this. “Really?”

I pointed at Rarity. “Why don’t you show her, Rare?”

“Certainly.” The fashionista took a step back and held her hand up. A bright flash pierced the air above her, and she reached up to grip the handle of a sparkling blue blade, which she brought down and swung around in a series of precisely curved arcs, its length whooshing through the cold air.

Dash’s eyes widened, and she slapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my god, AWESOME! You can make weapons out of diamond? Like the T-1000!?”

“Heh-heh!” Applejack chuckled. “Knives… an’ stabbin weapons.” Her impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accent was hilariously hindered by her own drawl.

Rarity held the sword at her side, pointing the blade at the ground as she cocked a brow at the other two. “What on Earth are you two talking about?”

“Wait, wait,” Dash shouted, waving her hands in the air. “Can you make other things, like… like Mjölnir?”

“Well, I… suppose so, yes—though I’m not quite sure what that is.”

“Ooh! What about Wolverine’s claws?”

Rarity cocked her head. “I beg your pardon, wolverine claws?”

“Wolv—WHAT THE!?” Frustrated, Dash reached up to pull her own hair. “How the hell do you not know who Wolverine is? Do you not read comics!?”

“Is that a serious question?” Rarity deadpanned. “The last time I checked, Rainbow Dash, I was, in fact, not a ten year old boy.”

“Fer cryin out loud, Rarity!” AJ groaned. “They made, like, ten movies about the guy!”

The fashionista huffed and rolled her eyes. “Terribly sorry, everyone.”

“Here,” I said as I produced my phone and began to type. “I’ll show you.” After a brief Google search, I found a good image of the character, and I stepped over to Rarity to show it to her.

She tilted her head to look down at the screen, but then she recoiled in disgust. “GAH! What sort of hairstyle is that!?”

“Nevermind that,” I said, pointing at the picture. “Look at his hands. Do you think you could do that?”

“Hmm…” She rubbed her chin, studying the image. “I don’t see why not. Let me try.” She stepped back as the sword disappeared from her hand, and she held her fists up to watch them, concentrating intensely.

Suddenly, a bright flash engulfed each of her hands. What appeared after the light vanished was a trio of sparkling blades attached to the back of each hand, extending about twelve inches beyond her knuckles.

“OHH!” Rainbow Dash gasped, slapping her hands on top of her head as she staggered backwards. “Holy shit, Rarity! I totally just had an awesome-gasm!”

Rarity seemed to be ignoring the athlete as she studied her new creation, turning her hand over to study the sharp sides of the claws. “Hm.” She turned and faced the distant trees next, delivering a quick succession of rights and lefts, the claws making audible noise as they whipped through the air before ending with a rather overdramatic uppercut.

Then she turned back to face the group, studying the blades again.

“Hm!” Rarity sounded impressed. “I quite like these, actually. Very nimble!”

“Those r’ purty fuckin rad, I ain’t gonna lie,” Applejack agreed.

“Indeed,” Rarity muttered absentmindedly. She spun around to face her girlfriend, crossing the claws in front of face. “What d’you think, Fluttershy?”

The shy girl swept her hair aside and smirked. “I think whoever killed Pinkie Pie’s family is gonna be in deep… um, shit.”

*****

Saturday, February 4th, 2023. 11:30am.

Sunset Shimmer stepped into the Canterlot Police Department, led by her boss, Crown Counsel Shining Armor.

He stood tall and proud, holding his briefcase in one hand. His suit was a glossy, dark gray colour with a light gray shirt underneath, finished off by a dark red tie. He was clean shaven, and his streaky-blue hair was combed and gelled neatly in place.

Sunset was wearing a black suit top with a pearl-coloured blouse underneath. A red pencil skirt hung below, and her fire-coloured hair was tied into a loose bun behind her head with some stray coils hanging next to her temples. She was carrying a small file organizer under one arm.

Perhaps she would have worn the suit Rarity had given her for her incursion at the CIA… if it hadn’t been long since lost somewhere in the southern United States.

They made their way through the lobby in silence, approaching the front desk where a lone officer sat, doing paperwork.

“Morning,” Shining Armor greeted, bringing the officer’s attention up to him. “Officer… Perkins, is it?”

Perkins nodded.

“I’m Shining Armor,” he continued, placing a business card on the desk. “I’m here to speak to the detective in charge of the ‘Pie case.’” He gestured to Sunset next. “This is my assistant, Miss Shimmer.”

Perkins drew a breath. “You’d be looking for Constable Francis. He’s not here today, but Constable Wallis is here, if you’d like to speak with him.”

“Constable Wallis?” Shining Armor cocked his head.

Perkins put his pen down leaned back in his chair. “He’s not in charge of the case, but Wallis has been working very closely with Constable Francis since it started; he should be able to help you with any questions you might have about it.”

Shining Armor glanced at Sunset before turning back to Perkins, nodding. “That’s fine. We just made the drive here from the big city; wouldn’t wanna end up wasting a whole trip.”

“No doubt,” Perkins said as he leaned forward and pushed the intercom button to page Wallis. After he did, he folded his hands on the desk and looked up at Shining Armor. “I take it you’re gonna be the Crown for that case?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Nothing’s set in stone yet, but that’s what it’s looking like.”

“Whew!” Perkins shook his head. “I don’t envy you, man. This is gonna be an ugly one. Lots of publicity. That kinda thing doesn’t happen much around here.”

“Yeah, I know. I grew up in Canterlot. It’s uh… pretty scary when something like that happens in a town like this.”

Perkins raised a brow. “You’re from Canterlot? Did you go to CHS?”

Shining Armor drew a breath. “Uh, no. Crystal Prep. My little sister went to CHS for a bit though; and so did she.” He pointed to Sunset with his thumb, to which she smiled cordially.

“Oh, OK. Nice,” Perkins chuckled. “Are those hot sisters still the principals there?”

Before either of them could answer, another officer emerged from the hallway leading to the rear.

He was a younger fellow with short, curly blonde hair, wearing a regular police uniform. He approached quickly with an enthusiastic smile. “Hi there.”

Shining Armor turned to him and raised his chin. “Ah, I’m Shining Armor. I’m here to—“

Wallis brought his hands together with a loud clap and then pointed to the young attorney. “Oh, yes! You’re the lawyer that inquired about the ‘Pie case.’ C’mon in.” He opened the gate in the counter and waved them through. “Right this way. Thanks, Perkins!” he said, nodding to the seated officer as he lead the two into the back.

“So…” Wallis said, glancing back at them as they made their way down the dingy, wood paneled hall. “You’re gonna be the one to end up with the ‘big case,’ eh?”

“Yeah, well, hopefully. It’s uh… kind of a doozy, that one,” Shining Armor replied.

“Pppft! Are you kidding me? Four homicides and one attempted? This is huge! There hasn’t been a case like this in Canterlot for like thirty years! …I mean, aside from those men who were found hacked to bits in the warehouse district last fall; but that was just… I don’t know what that was—and we never found out because some weird internationals came and confiscated everything, bodies and all. Definitely something fishy going on there. This though, an innocent family murdered with no motive? It’s just crazy. Wait here one sec…” Wallis stopped abruptly and entered one of the offices. “I take it you’re here to see the case file? Heh! I guess I should have asked you that before I came in here to get it.”

Shining Armor glanced at Sunset. “Yeah. I just wanted to be brought up to speed on everything you’ve got so far. I intend to work closely with this department in the coming weeks until this person is brought to justice.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Wallis replied enthusiastically as he emerged from the office with a thick file folder under his arm. “I look forward to—oh jeez!” He slapped a hand over his forehead. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself!” He held his free hand out for a shake. “Sorry, I’m still pretty new at this. I’m Constable Wallis. Shining Armor, is it?”

“That’s right,” Shining Armor nodded as she shook the young officer’s hand.

Wallis nodded back and turned his attention to the lovely red-head. “And you are?” he asked, holding his hand out.

Sunset switched her booklet to the other hand. “Sunset Shimmer; assistant to the Crown,” she replied as she took his hand to shake it.

Shining Armor watched closely, fully aware that his assistant was diving in to swim a few laps in the young man’s pool of consciousness. He wondered what it must have been like—and what she was learning.

“A pleasure.” Wallis smiled, breaking the handshake.

“Likewise,” Sunset replied, ready to get down to business. “So, you guys have a suspect yet?”

Wallis drew a breath and held it. “Uh… no, not really. Sorry. Here, come with me.” He motioned for them to follow him. “No. Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go on. According to the witness —the only surviving victim— the perp was dressed from head-to-toe; gloves, ski-mask, boots, the whole nine yards. No description other than an ‘average height and build.‘ And she only caught a glimpse of him; unfortunately the hallway light was directly behind him, putting everything in shadow. No specific details seen. Add to that the fact that her memory’s still pretty fuzzy.”

“Hm. I take it that rules out fingerprints or DNA samples: hair, eyelashes, et cetera?” Sunset asked.

Wallis stopped and turned to face them. “That’s right. Whoever this guy was, he knew what he was doing.” He gestured to a doorway on his left. “Here. We can use the conference room. Come on in, have a seat.”

As the duo followed the young officer into the room, they glanced around to take in its rather outdated details: again, wood paneling walls, a single window on the right with yellowed blinds holding the outside world out, a long faux-wooden table with fold-down metal legs, surrounded by those shitty, old metal-framed chairs with the thin, wooden seats and backs.

In the far corner was an old-looking fridge sitting at the end of a counter, at the far end of which was a coffee maker, its carafe half-full of what appeared to be cold coffee. A set of dated cupboards resided above that, complete with stains around the handles accumulated from years-upon-years of being opened by unclean hands.

Wallis cleared his throat, set the folder on the table and then turned to them, gesturing for them to sit. Then he made his way around to the far side to sit across from them.

Shining Armor, after setting is briefcase on the table, pulled a chair out and sat down. Sunset sat on his left, placing her notebook on the table.

He opened the folder so both of them could see it, and they flipped through the first few pages. Sunset made some quick notes.

“So… you don’t have a suspect; obviously no motive either?”

Wallis shrugged with his hands and then folded them on the table. “Nothing. No one really knows why anybody would have it out for this family. I mean, by all accounts, they were pretty friendly; the parents were active in the church,” —he paused a second to cock his head and then winced— “mmmaybe a bit on the eccentric side? I dunno. But they kept to themselves for the most part. We honestly don’t know what they would have done to deserve this.”

“Mm.” Shining Armor nodded, looking down at the files again.

Sunset was running her fingers along the paper, reading the notes. “Hm.”

Shining Armor glanced over at her. “What d’you think?”

She continued to read for a moment, ignoring him. Then she glanced his way and shook her head. “Not much here. There was only one trail of bloody footprints, and it looks like the suspect ground the treads off his boots to hide their brand.”

He shook his head. “This was obviously not a spur-of-the-moment thing; someone put a lot of thought into it.”

Wallis and Sunset nodded in agreement.

Unsatisfied with the information in the first few pages, Sunset flipped ahead in search of more.

She froze, however, when she was met with a stack of photographs, the top of which featured a close-up of a woman’s light, grayish-green hair.

There was a gaping, red hole in the center of it.

The image caused the red-head’s gut to stir, knowing who this had happened to. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, not expecting to react this strongly to it. She should have expected it, and now she was kicking herself for not being more prepared—especially in front of a police officer.

Noticing this, Shining Armor glanced at Sunset first and then Wallis, to see if he had picked up on her reaction.

He did.

“Yeah… I had a tough time, too,” he said, naively assuming she was simply unaccustomed to seeing this sort of thing—which was true, in a way. “Take your time.”

Sunset opened her eyes again. “No, it’s fine. I’m just tired, not feeling the best today.” She cleared her throat and picked the stack of pictures up to remove the paper clip. After taking a moment to mentally prepare herself, she slid the top photo away and set it face-down on the folder. The next picture was a slightly different angle, showing more details of the blood-soaked hair.

The next picture showed the victim’s face, complete with gaping mouth and exit wound. Sunset drew a breath and concentrated on keeping her fingers from trembling.

On to the next picture. It was a knee, belonging to a grown man. It had been scattered by a bullet.

The next photo showed his throat, which had been slit; whatever instrument had been used was quite large, and was used with a lot of force, as evidenced by the gaping depth left in its wake.

Shining Armor looked on, his thumb and forefinger wrapped around his chin.

Sunset forced herself to continue. The next picture showed his face, bruised and beaten to a bloody pulp, his white mutton chops soaked with crimson.

"Err..." Sunset pursed her lips as she forced herself to study the image more closely. "Excessive trauma to the face; blood tracks in multiple directions suggest he was still alive and moving —or being moved— after the damage was inflicted." Taking a breath, she moved on.

When the next picture was uncovered, Sunset stopped. Her stomach lurched.

Shining Armor grimaced when he saw it. “Yikes,“ he said, rubbing his forehead.

“Hm?” Wallis asked, leaning across the table to see. “Oh… yeah. The mother. Um…” He snapped his fingers repeatedly as she tried to recall her name. “Uh… Cloudy. Yeah. Poor old gal.” He shook his head. “Hell of a way to go.”

The red-head swallowed and set the photo aside. Next up was a slender, light gray forearm with a puncture through it, created by a gunshot. Another photo showed the face of a pretty young girl with a small hole in her forehead, just off-center to the left. Her long, dark gray bangs were glued to her temple by a crust of dried blood.

“That one,” the young officer said, shaking his finger at the photo.

“What?” Shining Armor asked inquisitively.

“Well… after the witness gave her statement earlier this week, I noticed an inconsistency with something she said.”

Sunset raised a brow, glaring at him. “And that is?”

“Well, she was quite insistent that she heard four gunshots that night, including the one that hit her. As you might know, she was hit in the shoulder and fell trying to escape through her bedroom window, and of course her leg was broken in the fall. The problem I have is this:” —Wallis spread the photos out so they could all be seen at once. Then he pointed to each of the images that had a bullet wound in them— “how many do you see here? One, two, three…” —he pointed to the one in Sunset’s hand— “aaaaand four.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Well… Maud Pie is missing from these pictures, obviously, cuz she’s not dead. So that makes five shots, not four.”

Shining Armor shrugged. “Maybe she miscounted? Or doesn’t remember. I mean, she did say her memories were fuzzy, did she not?”

“That’s what I thought,” Wallis replied, “but Francis said that she was quite adamant that that number was correct; she was very explicit about the fact that there were exactly four shots fired… and yet we have five wounds.”

Shining Armor cocked his head. “I’m sorry, what are you getting at, exactly?”

Wallis folded his hands on the table and stared intently. “Either she is mistaken, or... she’s lying.”

Sunset and her boss glanced at one another, both looking quite dubious.

“That’s a pretty big leap to make, there, sir,” Shining Armor cautioned, returning his eyes to the young cop. “Why do you think she would be lying? You don’t honestly think she was involved in her own family’s murder, do you? Nevermind the fact the she herself was severely injured and is lucky to be alive.”

Wallis shrugged, brows raised. “Well… I mean, for me personally, what she said literally doesn’t add up,” he explained. “And, from what Constable Francis was saying, she was very emotionless during the whole questioning process. Kinda weird, don’t you think?—given that she’d just lost her entire family.”

Shining Armor shook his head. “OK… let me give you some advice, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

The attorney raised a hand and paused, pinching the tips of this thumb and forefinger together. “You need to be very careful making assertions like this; the whole purpose of the judicial system is to bring the guilty to justice, not to endanger the innocent. One of the most basic and important rules in this system is that we would rather let ten guilties go free than send one innocent to prison. Everyone is innocent until proof of their guilt is found.”

“OK, fine,” Wallis conceded, raising his hands. “I just thought I should mention it, that’s all. The whole thing just seemed kinda fishy to me.”

“She was scared,” Sunset snapped, drawing the attention of both her boss and the officer. She’d been glaring from under her brows at Wallis during the exchange between him and Shining Armor, feeling her earlobes heat up when the young man pointed an accusing finger at Maud.

Wallis’ confidence wavered immediately when he noticed the fiery woman’s sharp glare locked upon him. He cleared his throat and then spoke. “I, uh… well, I mean, she had no reason to be scared, right? Not if she was telling the tru—“

Sunset shook her head to cut him off. “I’m not talking about the witness. I’m talking about the victim, Marble Pie.” She set the photo down and pointed to the dead girl. “Her.”

Wallis rubbed his chin, brows furrowed. “I… I don’t unders—“

“How many empty casings did they find at the scene?” Sunset asked, sitting back in her chair.

He drew a breath and paused. “Uh… none, actually.”

Sunset scowled. “What do you mean, none?” she asked, sneering dubiously.

Wallis shrugged. “We think the perp picked them up. Like I said: this guy knew what he was doing.”

The red-head sighed. “OK then, how many rounds did you find? He couldn’t have taken those; they’d either be in the bodies or lodged in the walls or something.”

“We actually only found three,” he admitted.

“Three…” Sunset repeated, leaning forward to fold her hands on the table. “OK. So where are the other two? Hm?”

Wallis paused, then he shrugged.

“Well we know that Maud was hit in the shoulder when she was trying to climb out of the window, correct? Since the bullet passed through her, I’d say it’s safe to assume that it ended up outside somewhere, and you guys will probably never find it. Would you agree?”

He tilted his head, and then nodded.

“So that’s the fourth round; now then, where’s your fifth? It’s got be in the house somewhere, right? Where else would it have gone?” She pointed to the report in the folder. “It says here that Marble’s body was found half in bed, upside down with her legs in the air, like she’d fallen out head-first.” She glanced up at Wallis, pointing at the hole in the victim’s forehead. “Does this look like a normal entry wound to you?”

Wallis studied the image for a moment. It was obvious that he had no idea. “Uh… I’m not… I can’t really tell.”

Sunset watched him for a moment. Then she cleared her throat and sat up in her chair. “OK. Put yourself in the victim’s shoes.”

“OK…”

“Now, imagine you’re laying in bed, and you hear a gun fire in the next room. You sit up. You’re probably scared, right? Then your bedroom door opens —or maybe it was already open— and a stranger walks in with his face covered, and he points a gun at you. What would you do? What’s your first instinct?”

Wallis’ eyes were wide. “I… I don’t know what I’d do. I’d be kinda screwed, wouldn’t I?”

“Probably the only thing she could think of was to shield herself,” Sunset continued. She brought her arms up and covered her face with her forearms. “Like this.” She uncovered her face and looked at him again. “He fires, the bullet goes through her arm and into her head, and the impact knocks her out of bed, into the position you found her in. One shot; two wounds.” She looked down at the papers again. “Maud Pie wasn’t lying.”

After hearing Sunset’s explanation and seeing the now vacant face of the young officer, Shining Armor couldn’t help but smirk, prompting his hand up to hide it. This was exactly the calibre of investigator he’d hoped for, and at that moment, he knew he’d made the right choice.

“Uhh…” Wallis stared into space, scratching behind his ear. “Wow. I, uh… guess I never thought of it like that. That’s—”

“You have to put yourself in their shoes,” Sunset said abruptly. “Facts and statements can be interpreted in different ways; it’s your job to piece them together in a way that makes sense, not to justify your first gut instinct.”

He nodded. “Right. Got it.”

With a deep inhale, Sunset gathered the photos up and clipped them together. After making a few notes, she turned to the next page. “OK. So you said there were three rounds recovered?”

“That’s right,” Wallis replied, clearing his throat. His voice was a bit quieter now.

“So were you able to figure what type of gun was used, or no?”

“Uh… yeah, actually, believe it or not.” He placed the edges of his hands on the table, thumbs pointing up, like he intended to create a figurative frame for what he was about to say next. "Often times, bullets become deformed or shattered when they hit their target. To what degree depends on the type of round it is, and this case is no different." He raised a finger. "Except for one: the round recovered from the oldest daughter was relatively intact, enough that we were able to identify what type of firearm was used. Uhh... one sec—can I just have a look at that?" He pointed to the folder and stood to reach across the table, turning the pages and then stopping to read for a moment. “Ah, yes. A Manestetter 391,” he finally said, facing Sunset first, and then Shining Armor. “Interesting choice for a weapon, as they are extremely uncommon due to their unique calibre, which makes our job easy in identifying it, but hard for the killer because sourcing ammo for them a pain. As fas as we know, no other weapon takes that size of round.”

“Hm.” Sunset made a note as Wallis cleared his throat to continue.

“So… as you know, handguns are extremely restricted here in Canada. Anyone eligible to own one absolutely must have it registered, so one of the first things we did was check the registry to see if we could find someone who owns that type of gun, or used to own one and had it stolen—or sold it illegally.”

Sunset glanced up at him. “And?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, as expected. No one in this area, or anywhere near it, has owned a gun like that for years. The weapon used in this case must have been unregistered; probably smuggled in. One thing that’s been going on for a number of years is the person importing the gun will have parts of it shipped in at different times, and once they have all the pieces, they assemble the weapon and BAM! They have an illegal firearm.”

Shining Armor shook his head at the concept.

Sunset continued to flip silently through the files for a few moments, taking the occasional note. At last, she closed the folder and pushed it to the center of the table.

“That’s good,” she said, standing.

Shining Armor stood with her. “You got everything you need?” he asked, to which Sunset nodded, slipping her pen into her suit pocket.

Wallis rose from his seat and scooped the folder up, holding it under his arm.

“OK then,” Shining Armor said as he turned to Wallis with a cordial smile. “Thank you for your time, constable. We’ll be sure to keep in touch so we can stay up to speed on the investigation. And if we happen to come across any information, we’ll be sure to pass it along to you or Constable Francis.”

Wallis nodded. “Sure thing. That sounds great. I’ll let Constable Francis know you stopped by, and I thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for your help,” Shining Armor replied with a nod as he and Sunset turned to exit the room.

After a few seconds of watching them go, Wallis took a hesitant step in pursuit. “Um… Miss Shimmer?”

They stopped and looked back at him.

Wallis paused for a moment and licked his lips nervously. “I uh… I just wanted to say that I was really impressed by that, what you just did there… with the gunshot count. And uh… “ —he rubbed the back of his neck— “I guess I was kinda jumping the gun there, being suspicious of the witness and all.”

Sunset sighed and forced a smile. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll get the hang of it; it all comes with time and practice.” She glanced at her boss and then reached into the pocket of her notebook to pull out a card, which she then set on the table. “Here. This is my business card; if you ever need help with anything, feel free to give me a shout.”

The young constable reached across the table and picked the card up to look at it. Then his eyes rose to meet hers. “Thanks,” he said with a little smile.

“Excellent,” Shining Armor said with a nod. “We’ll be seeing you, constable.”

And they made their exit.

Outside, Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer made their way down the massive concrete steps of Canterlot Police Headquarters.

As soon as he was sure there was no one within sight or earshot, the attorney threw his arms into the air. “Oh my god, Sunset! Hahaha! That was amazing!”

Sunset’s only response was to scowl and fold her arms. “Ugh! Could you believe that pinhead, trying to accuse Maud after everything she’s been through? What a fucking idiot.”

“Well you sure put him in his place!” Shining Armor chuckled, after which he looked across the street, where he spied an Italian restaurant. He turned to Sunset again. “Hey, you wanna grab some lunch? I’m buying; after a display like that, you deserve it.”

“I’m not really sure after seeing all that,” she sighed, looking across the street for herself. Then she closed here eyes and gave her head a shake. “Alright, fine, I guess—if you’re buying.”

“Absolutely.”

They continued down the steps to the sidewalk.

“So… you, uh… wanna go to the morgue next, or…?” he asked, using a more sombre tone after slipping his hands into his pockets.

“To see the bodies? Not really—unless I have to. It might come to that if the things I have in mind lead nowhere.”

He nodded. “I hear ya. Seeing those pictures seemed pretty painful.”

Sunset drew a breath, her high-heels clopping along the sidewalk. “Yeah. More than I expected. It’s a whole different ball game when you knew the people in the pictures.”

“I’m sorry. And the worst part is, there really weren’t any leads in that file that I could see. There’s hardly anything to go on; whoever this guy was, he sure did his homework.”

“He did, but you’re wrong about there not being any leads,” Sunset replied.

Shining Armor stopped to face her. “What, you found something?” he asked, eyes wide, his face close enough to hers that she could smell him, causing her heart to flutter involuntarily.

“Uh, yeah…” She produced her notebook and held it up, opened to the page she’d been writing on. “The gun. It may be unregistered, but guns need ammo to work. Someone had to sell it to him —if he didn’t already have some, that is— so that’s gonna be my first move: check all the local gun shops; ask around for anyone who’s bought ammunition for that model. Should be easy for them to remember if it’s as uncommon as Wallis said. Then, if anyone has, I get a description, and we have our lead.”

Shining Armor stared in disbelief for a moment, then a smile slowly crept into his features. “HA!” He laughed, turning away and shaking his head. He turned back after a moment, grinning ear-to-ear. “Wow. Genius,” he said as she continued to hold the notebook up with a smirk on her lips. He approached her again and, rather unexpectedly, reached out to grab her hand. “I knew I was making the right choice by hiring you—”

Sunset found herself disoriented for a moment, not expecting to be torn from her own consciousness like this. Then she realised she was no longer standing on the sidewalk.

Where was she? …Or where was Shining Armor, rather, since it was his memory she now occupied.

A quick look around gave her an idea; straight ahead was a brick wall, and above and behind was a canopy of windows, the view of the outside obscured by a heavy layer of snow that’d gathered on the glass. The lighting was dim. She brought her eyes down to find tables on both sides, covered with dozens of lit candles, their golden, flickering glow filling the space—which she had, by then, realised was a sunroom, or an enclosed deck of sorts. It was winter, obviously, so this couldn’t have been very long ago.

The soft sound of a woman’s voice drew Sunset’s attention downward. When she looked down at himself, she found, to her shock, that his chest was bare; it was white and muscular —more so than Golden Arrow’s— with a layer of dark blue hair covering most of his breastbone, the bare portions of his pale skin covered in beads of sweat.

His rippling arms were outstretched, his strong hands gripping the backs of a pair of knees that belonged to some very shapely and very pink legs.

Sunset looked down even farther and froze, finding herself in awe of what lied there.

Her eyes found themselves tracing the smooth, pink curves of Cadance, her skin soft and slick with perspiration, sparkling in the golden glow of the surrounding candles. Her long, soft hair was splayed in several directions, its violet, pink and yellow locks partly stuck to her temples. Her mascara had bled away from her eyes slightly, carried astray by the sweat she’d worked up with her lover. Her full, pouty lips were parted, letting her deep, hurried breaths pass between them.

Her eyes locked with Sunset’s —or Shining Armor’s, rather— putting the red-head into a state of unbearable discomfort. She quickly looked down to alleviate the awkwardness of being stared at by her friend’s sister-in-law that way. What she ended up seeing instead was no less embarrassing, and was certainly much more personal.

Down, past Candance’s glistening, swaying breasts, complete with erect nipples, past her flat belly with its pierced navel, adorned with a little blue heart-shaped jewel, past the little tuft of purple, pink and yellow pubic hair was a pair of thick, pink lips, spread to welcome the veiny, white shaft that was wedged deep between them, cloaked in her delicate, darker pink minoras.

All of it was soaked by the juices generated by their lovemaking. The candlelight danced along his length as it pumped in and out of her supple folds, drawing gasp after squeak after moan from Cadance’s lovely lips.

A deeper grunt came from his throat; Sunset could feel it in her own, alien, not her voice, but his.

“Oh my god, Cade… you feel so good; I’m so close… I… I’m gonna… OOOHH FUCK!”

“Mmmmnnh…” She bit her lip and squeezed her breast with one hand while reaching down with the other, touching his abs with her fingertips. “Ohh… yes! Give it to me, Shiny!”

He picked up the pace and speared that dripping, pink flower several more times until he was swollen and ready to burst, then he suddenly withdrew and let his twitching length project over her abdomen. Cadance immediately took it in her hand and stroked it vigorously, drawing his fire in short order; the first shot was powerful and covered some distance, landing between her breasts and mixing with the layer of sweat that waited there. The remainder of his load spurted onto her stomach, none of them matching the intensity of the first one, instead accumulating in a thick, white pool, covering that tiny blue jewel in her navel as she relentlessly pumped her little fist over his throbbing head.

An intense shriek roared from his throat as the pleasure shook his hard, white frame, served to him with glee by his beautiful wife.

Sunset’s heart thumped in her chest —or was it his heart in his chest? She couldn’t be sure— as she watched the scene unfold between her boss and his lover. Once his climax was through, with a stubborn strand of white goo hanging from his tip, she released him and placed her fingertips in the white pool on her belly. She slid it upwards, smearing it along her sweat-beaded skin, mixing the salty fluids together.

Cadance bit her lip and giggled at him. “You messy boy!” she teased as she cupped her soft, full breast, glazing it with his cum, its supple mass slipping between her fingers.

Then, to Sunset’s surprise, Cadance turned to her right and focused on something out of sight, grinning deviously; she raised her semen-glazed hand and coaxed someone in with her index finger. “Get over here and lick me clean, whore.”

Sunset found herself standing on the sidewalk once again, the muffled sound of Shining Armor’s voice ringing in her ears. She focused on him; his eyes were wide, hands atop his head.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I forgot!”

“Huh?” Sunset replied, still in a daze.

“I didn’t mean to touch you!” he continued frantically, “God, I hope you didn’t see anyth—“

“NOTHING!” she blurted suddenly, eyes darting around. “Nothing-I-saw-nothing!”

Shining Armor paused, motionless, but nervous-looking. “Uh… y— … Are you sure you didn’t—“

“No! I mean, yes! I didn’t…” She gave her lip a hasty lick. “That’s bad English. I have to go. Bye. Let’s go. We should go now.”

Sunset shouldered past her boss, heading for the crosswalk to make her way to the restaurant across the street, leaving him standing there, worrying about what she saw.