Chapter 1
Broken Glass
"Detective we are glad you finally made it to uptown, we didn't want to start without you" said a dark brown pony inspector with light green eyes and a magnifying glass for a cutie mark.
Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Monroe was a light brown Earth Pony with crimson eyes. An excellent DCI with an advanced degree in Criminology and one of the best runners in Manehatten coming second in the Manehatten Marathon. He had a 95.9 percent success rate when it came to solving crimes and personally made over three hundred arrests during his twelve years on the job. Ponies would have called him the perfect kind of pony with only one exception which still gave him problems to this day… his lack in the cutie mark department.
Monroe pushed through the crowd of journalists and was let through by the PCs holding the crowds back. He stepped underneath he police boundary line and entered a white plastic tent where some forensic ponies were just cleaning up their things.
"Mare, named Flower Arch, Pegasus just turned thirty last week with no known family except for a brother who now lives in Fillydelphia" said the inspector. "Fell to her death from the seventh storey of her apartment building, smashing through the glass possibly by accident since we can't find any trace of any pony forcing their way into her apartment and neighbours and witnesses can't report any pony entering or leaving the area" finished the inspector rubbing his tired eyes.
Monroe bent down and examined the poor mare whose bones had been crushed and had large pieces of glass stuck in her body.
He thought for a moment before he looked at the inspector with a blank expression and asked "who's managing the press"? "Superintendent is coming down here as we speak to give a statement and fend off the papers" answered the inspector.
Monroe stood up and dusted off his Fore-Hooves. "So Forensics have taken photos and blood samples then" he asked as he strode out of the tent and into the slightly smokey Manehatten air.
The Inspector grabbed a coffee from some unfortunate Sergeant and took a long draft before responding "yeah that was just them leaving, from a medical point of view they couldn't find anything but we still need to run tests on the blood".
Monroe frowned as he looked up at the window are and asked "why didn't she open her wings and save herself"? "Possibly she wanted to do this" response the inspector.
Monroe frowned and walked over to a nearby Sergeant and told him "Get the body over to the morgue and open half the street and get ponies moving again, quarantine her apartment after I leave and patrol the surrounding streets". The Sergeant nodded and began to make the arrangements whilst Monroe and the Inspector trotted up the steps to Flower Arch's apartment. There was an officer standing guard outside but he untied the police line and let Monroe and he inspector into the very neat and simple apartment.
Everything was clean and pristine apart from the large window with broken glass strewn across the floor in the living room.
Not much evidence could be found anywhere and Monroe asked the inspector "what time was the fall"? "About one hour ago, luckily an officer on duty was close by and was quick to control the situation before it got out of hand" said the inspector.
"What was her job?" asked Monroe. "She was a flower arranger at a local store, sometimes she taught salad making classes at the local school other than that her life had only a few friends in it" said the inspector picking up a photo of Flower Arch and her brother.
"She doesn't seem like the kind of pony to kill herself and she certainly didn't trip and fall out that window" said Monroe looking around the room. "Are you saying this was…" began the inspector and Monroe finished his sentence saying "yes this was murder".
"No disrespect sir but the highest crime rate in terms of murder in all of Equestria is Manehatten and only three or four ponies die because of it every year!" Exclaimed the inspector.
"Yes and usually it's cheating husbands being stabbed by their wives or angry business ponies cracking from stress and picking up the fountain pen but there is something that makes me suspicious of all of this" Monroe said rubbing his chin.
"What?" asked the inspector. "The laundry shoot by the kitchen her is slightly open at a 25 degree angle" Monroe said with a confident smile on his face.
The inspector looked at him as if he had just gone insane. "I know what your thinking but look around the house, everything is neat and tidy and the laundry basket is full, however the shoot is slightly open and I don't think a flower arranger would be so untidy" said Monroe.
The inspector still looked at him like he was crazy. "This is your lead?" he asked ludicrously. "Yes and we have to hurry on down to the laundry room quickly before anything changes" Monroe said in a determined voice quickly making his way out of the apartment, past the on duty officer and down the steps before the inspector could protest.
Monroe didn't stop for nopony and he quickly pushed his way through a group of officers at the base of the stairs and kept running until he reached the laundry room which he quickly opened.
It was a relatively simple room which was full of clothes and appeared to be empty. Monroe calmed down a bit as the inspector came in panting and asked "could we not have just walked"? "Where's the fun in walking" said Monroe chuckling ever so slightly as he went to work.
He investigated every part of the laundry room eventually coming to a rest by the laundry shoot.
He looked around for a few moments before a glint caught his eye and he saw a piece of broken glass on the floor. He got out some tweezers and picked up the small share and put it in a plastic bag which he procured from hi jacket.
"What have you found" asked the inspector. "A shard of glass which I'm sure will match the glass for the smashed window" said Monroe stepping out of the laundry room. "How will that help with the investigation?" asked the inspector curiously.
Monroe spun sharply and held the glass up to the light, this glass has a faint amount of blood on it and I'm pretty sure that he pretty machine which everyone mocks back at the station will unlock the DNA of the pony who did this" said Monroe quickly resuming his walk.
However he stopped sharply and the causing the inspector to bump into him. "What?" Asked the inspector who peered over Monroe only to find out the reason for the stop.
The three officers at the base of the stairs were all lying dead on the ground in a large pool of blood and arrows sticking out of each one of them. Their expressions were ones of terror and surprise and they all hadn't seen this coming.
Suddenly from across the hallway three bolts were fired out of the shadow and arched towards the two ponies. "Duck!" Shouted Monroe who dived to the side quickly avoiding the deadly bolts.
The inspector however wasn't so lucky and one of the bolts caught him in the chest while the other went clear through his neck, causing him to gasp in pain and fall to be floor gurgling on his own blood as he died quickly.
Monroe guessed it was a tripe sided crossbow and quickly galloped into the shadow and knocked into the pony who had shot at him.
The pony stumbled back and dropped the triple sided crossbow, escaping out of the back door behind him followed by a very angry Monroe who nearly knocked the door from it's hinges.
They emerged into an alleyway and now that Monroe could see clearer that it was a pony completely dressed in black and jumping over some fences to another alleyway as he went.
Monroe went after him, getting out his extendable baton as he went and flicking it open and locking it into position.
"Stop in the name of the MPD!"(Manehatten. Police. Department) he shouted as the killer took left and disappeared out into the streets of Manehatten during rush hour.
Monroe ran after him, pushing past business ponies who angrily yelled at him as he ran through the thick stream of ponies, never takin his eyes off he killer.
The killer entered a small alleyway with a dead end and ran back until his back was pressed up against the wall and he stood there panting. Monroe stopped with his baton pointed at him, pausing to catch his breath he ordered the murderer "you're trapped and have nowhere to go, lay down on he ground with your hooves front hooves behind your head and I won't beat you to within an inch of your life"!
The pony had a black veil across his face but now removed it and smirked at Monroe's expression of horror. It was a white coat unicorn for certain but it's horn had been horribly torn off along with half his face which was covered in scars and what looked like burns.
"You are a loyal pony to your cause, but you are not a part of our plan" said the unicorn with the heavy smirk still plastered on his face.
"What do you mean by we?" questioned Monroe but he was never answered as the twang of a crossbow bolt being fired screamed into his head and his entire world exploded in pain as his vision turned to blackness and a mad laughing was the las thing he remembered.