"Well, we're here." said Twilight after stepping out of the train. "Now, where's that mayor we were supposed to meet with ?" Pinkie Pie jumped out of the train and inadvertly tackled one of the ponies standing there.
"Oh, sorry!" she stood up and helped the stallion up. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry!"
"You must be Detective Pie." he said."I've heard your someone worth bumping into*
"Yep, that's me." she replied. "Why? Did ya hear of me?" She touches him with her hoove whilst saying "BUMP!"
"I was told you're the one who's supposed to be the best one for the job." He looked around and saw Twilight Sparkle trying to get to them. "Ah, that must be your assistant."
"Mr. Mayor?!" she said and gasped. Then, she immediately started cleaning his suit, which had a few dirty marks after she tackled him. "Oh, dear! I'm so sorry!"
"Thanks alright, madames." he said after Twilight finally got to them. "Let's go somewhere less crowded. My office is not far from the train station and we shouldn't be disturbed". They went to the mayor's office and despite Manehattan being a bigger and richer town, it was quite simple and humble, with chairs which were clearly made in Ponyville. That or he was just a really clever stallion that had a lot of 'Made in Ponyville' stickers.
"Yes, sir?" asked Twilight. "What's the thing we're supposed to investigate?"
"I would appreciate if you had a look at this"he showed them the newspaper headline. "Just reading it to my secretary made a few strands of her mane go gray from fear."
"Stock prices of gold went up?!" read Pinkie out loud. "That's horrible! How are rich ponies that can already buy everything get their hands on a golden statue now?! Twilight, bring my wooden chair! Tonight, we ride!" Twilight only contained her laugh and showed Pinkie that she read the wrong thing, all while the Mayor was about to burst into a laugher.
"A brutal act of violence has left the citizens of downtown Manehattan fear for their very lifes. Butterfly Evanson (22) was found in a near-death state in a soundproof room in an abandoned house which used to be a bakery near the postal office at Horton Avenue. It took a total of three medical teams and four hous worth of live-saing efforts to revive her and after that, she was immediately taken to the intensive care wing of the Hardway Hospital." Pinkie read out loud in a slower manner. "Doctors say they have not yet seen something like that in years or decades but promise they'll do everything they can to save her life. Officials have not specified her room at intensive care to protect her and her family from further harm... " Pinkie's mane turned straight after reading that.
"T-t-twilight? I... I don't think I want to be a detective anymore." she said, terrified. "I... I just can't." Tears were seen in her eyes and Twilight had to give her a hug to calm her down.
"Pinkie, the mayor wants us to solve a real case." she said. "The reason there aren't so many detectives is just because most of them can't solve things like these."
"But... but I though no one ever gets hurt.." replied Pinkie, still taken by the headline. "And that mare..."
"She... she deserves ponies like us who will find the one who did it and make sure he gets punsihed." said Twilight. "But if you won't solve it, the criminal can hurt someone else and-"
"I... I'll solve it" Pinkie's mane turned back to normal but she kept worried. Now, the two of them were on the trail of madman who almost killed a mare. Twilight knew Pinkie just didn't have the psyche for violent things but promised herself she'll do everything she can to make sure she doesn't get a mental breakdown.
*
In a church, someplace in Manehattan.
Deep regret ran though his head, as he now seeked forgiviness and godspeed at the church — a place where innocents pray and sinners confess their sins. With obvious signs, he was the latter and entered the confessional booth to do what he needed to.
"What is your burden, my son?" A priest asked him.
"Father, I have sinned." he replied. "I feel my sin has neither understanding or can be forgiven."
"We all make mistakes, my son and no mistake is so great that it cannot be forgiven. Forgiving makes us what we are. What is this sin you speak of, my son?" asked the priest.
"I... I have attempted to take the life of an innocent." He answered. The priest, shocked by this confession, stayed completely silent for a couple of seconds, as if trying to understand.
"What drove your actions?" asked the priest once more. "Was it something personal or a sudden need?"
"A sudden need of something personal triggered by seeing a family together." he explained himself. "I... I wanted revenge, a bloody, violent revenge. I have resisted for years, but this one time, I couldn't hold the fiend back..."
"My son, both of us know that God's mills grind slowly but surely." said the priest, saddened by his actions. "I have taught you many lessons and gave you help when you though you were completely alone in this 'sad world', as you have described it to me. You also gave the promise to do no harm... Have your forgotten all that you were taught?"
"Yes, father, I know your teachings. And I have not forgotten what you, or your order have taught me." he uttered "But a simple stallion can only bear a burden for so long until he sees the very stallion that did it granted the very thing he took — a family."
"My son, there may be some justice in your actions, even if violent, but you're neither benevolent as death or omni-present like time itself. You should have waited for the sinner's final judgement, instead of revenge." replied the priest. "Violent only paves way to violence and I fear the path you have chosen, will only further descent you into darkness. The void in your heart was not filled with love, but with hatred. I fear that even the forgiveness of God himself won't be enough to drive that darkness away, especially if you can't let go of a past event you couldn't do anything about..."
"No, there was nothing I could do, but now, I finally can. I have waited too long and prepared myself for the darkness ahead, greeting it as old friend, who was always there, sleeping and waiting for it's time. It is now time to release it upon those, who deserve it." he uttered. "My parents will have their justice, one way or another, by my hoove or the hoove of someone else. I must now leave you, father Kind Heart."
"Farewell, my son"The doctor left the confessional booth, prayed and went to visit the location 'suggested' by Butterfly.
*
A few hours later, at the Hardway Hospital's intensive care wing.
"I... I think she's waking up, Pinkie." uttered Twilight as the butchered mare finally woke up from her clinically induced coma. Bandages were almost everywhere, covering her whole body. She looked around in confusion and frankly, wasn't every happy to have two, somewhat unexperienced detectives in her room instead of the police squad issued by the mayor of the city.
"P...police..." she said slowly. "Where's... the police?"
"You don't need police when you got Pinkie Pie!" said Pinkie and a burst of confetti showered Butterfly. She was not impressed and instead sighed, embarrased thatshe got the most useless detectives in the history of Equestria to solve her case and find the maniac responsible for her injuries.
"Have you... have you caught him yet?" she asked.
"No, we didn't but the mayor himself sent us to ask you a bunch of questions and we they may help us, if you see no harm in that." The injured mare nodded and Twilight took out a small notepad. "Do you know how he looked like?" Butterfly was thinking for a while and then begun describing him.
"Grey coat... dark blue mane.. with dark green at it's tips." she said and Twilight started drawing a sketch of the subject.
"Was he like "hi, do you want to go into this scary old building?" or did he give you free candy with a promise there's more inside?" asked Pinkie. "He'd have me at "free candy."
"He.. he approached me from behind in an alley and covered my mouth with a napkin." she said. "I.. I don't know what he bathed it in, but I lost consciousness just a few seconds later."
"Did he look like this?" Twilight showed her the sketch.
"Yes... that's him..." uttered Butterfly with fear. "He did it."
"Are you absolutely, absolutely sure?" asked Pinkie. "Absolutely-lutely-tely?"
"Yes..." replied the mare. Twilight turned away from her, looked at the sketch and started thinking. Pinkie, like she always did, also looked at the sketch and pretended she was also devoting her though to crime-solving. In reality, however, she was thinking whether the suspect's mane tasted like blueberries with apples mixed in and whether or not was he trying to injured mare with candy like an oversized piñata. Just thinking of candy made her hungry.
"I'll have to ask the mayor if they keep information about their citizens stored somewhere and if they do," said Twilight. "that's where we have to start searching." Pinkie wasn't paying attention to what Twilight was saying and instead played with the windows in the room by opening and closing their blinds, over and over again.
"Pinkie." said Twilight, but Pinkie didn't respond and instead continued whilst whispering "light" every time she opened them and "dark" every time she closed them.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" shouted Twilight. Pinkie's head turned 180 degrees upon hearing this.
"Yeeees, Twilight?" she asked, ignoring the fact that she probably broke her neck.
"I think we should leave Butterfly now and investigate if there aren't any similiarly looking images which would match the suspect." replied Twilight. Pinkie's body spun as if was some sort of motor and she was now facing Twilight, with her neck still in one piece.
"Let's go!" she said and left the room along with Twilight in her usual jumpy manner.