II
Know
POV: John
I was in Canterlot for a while, not too long. I was able to catch up on everything that I missed with Luna. Really the only thing that was new was that Twilight was now an Alicorn as well as a Princess, which I found pretty strange, but I guess that's good for Reaper's cousin Savior. Apparently, Twilight was at the Canterlot Castle, so I thought over going to see her to say hi and meet Savior, but I decided against it, because I knew I wouldn't be staying long, and when Reaper got back to me I would probably meet his cousin anyway.
I was right when I said I wasn't staying long 'cuz after only a day or two, Reaper came sprinting into the castle yelling for me. I raced towards the noise with all the speed I could muster. Reaper was practically suffocating himself from yelling and panting so hard. I ran my hand through my long, now sweaty, black hair as I took a deep breath. "What's wrong, Reaper?"
"Applebloom! Sweetie Belle!" he panted. "Crying! Need you! Explanation! Possibly murder!"
"That's enough of an explanation for me!" I nodded "Let's go!" We took the train which only took an hour or so like it normally does, and then we raced into the streets to find Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. It didn't take us too long since Sweetie Belle was going off like a fucking police siren. The fantastically flustered fillies explained what they could as soon as we managed to get Sweetie Belle to stop over-watering the grass.
They started off talking about how Scootaloo was going to Cloudsdale to live as a resident for a while to see if anything there would help her get her Cutie Mark, but apparently, in order to be a Cloudsdale resident you have to pass a basic flight test. She enrolled in the Cloudsdale Public Flight Academy as well as asked Rainbow Dash to help her with learning to fly. She eventually learned how to fly fairly well, well enough to pass the flight exam that determines whether you become a Cloudsdale resident or not. Her and two of her friends that she made in the CPFA died during the test for reasons unknown. They then explained that the pony who told them couldn't tell them any more or they would send him "there."
Me and Reaper looked at each other with wide, wide eyes. We both knew that this was the murder we were looking for. "Reaper?" I asked. "I think we should pay a visit to Afanasai. He might be able to see something we can't." Swiftness overcame both of us as we flipped around and made for my old house in a hurry. Only a few minutes had passed before we made it to the front doorstep of the house. It seemed oddly quiet, though. I knocked on the door.
"It's unlocked" I hear Afanasai say in his deep, deep Russian voice. I opened the door and let both of us inside. He looked up from his book and over at us. He gave a near microscopic smile and turned back to his book. I looked around the room to see a fully-loaded bar that wasn't there before. I ignored it and went back to the matter at hand.
"Afanasai, I was wondering if you knew anything about Scootaloo's death" I asked, sitting down in a chair across the room from his.
He gave out a long sigh and looked up at me with his single, dark green eye. "I know very little" he said. "But one thing that I do know, I am certain you will not like." I nodded in acknowledgement and continued listening to him. "It has to be some pretty serious shit, because Connor tried to investigate and…" His hesitation made me nervous. "They killed him."
"WHAT!?" I screamed. "Who told you he died?!"
Afanasai sighed and I swear I could almost see a tear drop from his eye. "John, you mind fixing me a drink?" he asked.
"At a time like this?" Reaper butted in.
"It'll take the stress off" Afanasai explained. "Plus, I remember Connor telling me how good John is at drink mixing."
Reaper looked up at me. I laughed nervously as I tried to explain, "I used to have to work 2 jobs, so I to work at a local bar. I made an ass-load of tips." I looked over to the tall Russian again, "Whaddaya want?"
"I was going to ask for something mixed, but now I'm just thinking I'll take a bottle of Vodka and a shot glass."
"One of THOSE Russians, are we?" Reaper joked.
"If by that" I added, "you mean one of the Russians that could tear you apart in less than a few seconds, then yes." I gave Afanasai his bottle and glass and went back to the bar. "You want anything, Reaper?"
"I'm fuckin' 15!"
"So? This is a different Jurisdiction" I argued.
"Alright, just give me what you're having."
I just grabbed myself something and sat down with two glasses. I looked at what I had… it was some of the hardest stuff that I could've grabbed, harder than what Afanasai was drinking. I shrugged and poured it into the glasses I grabbed, which were shot glasses as well. Afanasai looked over at me. "Are you sure you want him to drink that? That is some strong shit."
I watched quietly as he gulped it down and gave a huge shudder and regained his senses from the intense taste. "Anyway, you were saying?" I continued, looking back to Afanasai.
"It was nurse Redheart. She requested me at the hospital" He explained. We all drank a little before he continued. "I asked for the autopsy reports so I could see how he died, but she denied my request immediately, saying that she couldn't give out that classified of information."
"So?" I retorted.
"I saw her give out the autopsy reports for several other ponies" he said, giving me a look like he wanted me to do something about it. "It must be highly classified. They're keeping something from us, John. They're keeping things from the ones who saved this sorry-ass nation."
"We'll see what we can do" I nodded. Me and Reaper pushed up out of our chairs and walked out after saying a short goodbye to our friend. Outside were Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who were apparently listening in on our conversation. "What in the Sam hell were you girls doing listening to that?" I asked.
"We were curious" Applebloom squeaked, withdrawing.
"Don't sweat it girls" I chuckled lightly. "Look, we're going over to Ponyville Hospital to see if we can get an autopsy report on our friend Connor O'Drake. They probably won't give it to us because it's related to Scootaloo's death, which may go a lot deeper than we thought. If they deny our request, we'll take it from them by sneaking in… more specifically, you'll take it from them by sneaking in."
"Whaddaya mean?" Applebloom questioned.
"You're gonna go in and get the report if they don't give it to us" I explained. "Security in Hospitals is low, and we're too big to sneak in undetected. You gals can get in, no problem, so you'll be in charge of that."
"Yay!" Sweetie Belle Celebrated. "We get to help!"
And so we were set. The atmosphere was very… dark as we entered through the double doors of the hospital. It smelled like your typical doctor's office waiting room; it smelled like a bunch of sterile tools and non-latex gloves. I hated that smell; it nauseated me to no end, but I held down the drink from earlier and continued up to Nurse Redheart at the desk. Her eyes were pointed down towards the book she was holding. She was about to turn the page when she sensed the presence of somepony standing in front of her.
Her eyes traveled up until they reached the tall human with a long black mane that was standing before her… It was me… you know, just in case you didn't know. Anyway, I gave her a warm smile and said "good afternoon, Nurse Redheart."
"Good afternoon, John" she replied. "I know who you are because after that whole "Canterlot" fiasco I had to take care of so many patients that it was total chaos around here. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Jack."
I was turned towards the small Nurse Pony, but I could still just feel Reaper roll his eyes. "Nurse, I've been told that my friend Connor O'Drake was killed, and since this is the only hospital in town, I would assume he was taken here."
"Yes, I remember him" Nurse Redheart responded. "What about him?"
"I was wondering if I could access some kind of autopsy report or medical file that might tell me something about what happened" I continued. "We're afraid that his death may not have been an accident."
"I'm really sorry, John" she sighed, "but I've been given direct orders not to let anypony access any files on Connor. I wasn't even allowed to look at the files and I was the one who was there during the autopsy. I can't discuss it, give any information on it, anything like that. If I do, I'll lose my job."
"I understand" I nodded. Sighing, I turned around and we all left.
"Well, I saw that coming" Reaper murmured sarcastically.
"So did I, Reaper" I agreed, "but we need those autopsy files one way or another. Girls, this is where you come in. You need to sneak into the hospital, steal the autopsy report on a man named Connor O'Drake. That's O, apostrophe, D, R, A, K, E. I can try to go in too, if you want me too. Otherwise, you'll be on your own."
"I don't think it's smart to go in alone" Sweetie Belle thought out loud. She turned to Applebloom. "I think he should come with us."
"Ah agree" Applebloom said. "We can't jus go in alone an' expect to do this without getting' caught in one way er another!"
"Alright, then!" I interrupted them. "I'll go with you. Reaper, I think it would help if you could keep watch on the outside." I handed him one of the old communication devices that Afanasai gave us for the Canterlot thing. I snagged two of them off of the bar counter while Afanasai was reading. "Use this and alert us if any guards, police, morons, Pinkie Pie or anypony at all enters the building.
We waited around the entrance of the hospital in a small crevasse where nopony would see us. We just sat there and talked for 3 or 4 hours while we waited for Luna to go to work. Sure enough, the moon rose with a beautiful white glow to it, signaling us that it was time to go to work. Reaper went around to the power box on the other side of the building and cut all the power lines with his scythe. We then opened the glass doors as slowly and quietly as we could. We could see Nurse Redheart stumbling around in the dark. I snuck up behind the unsuspecting mare and gave her a swift kick to the head, knocking her unconscious. "Sorry, Nurse" I said to the unconscious body. "Can't let you know that we're here.
I could tell she was still breathing, so we hadn't killed her which meant we could move on after I had mover her back to sitting in her chair. I had to set her up so she was sitting like Lyra, but she was in her chair and dammit, she was sitting in it, so we moved on. Silence remained among the three of us as we proceeded into the back of the area behind the desk. There were hundreds of thousands of files, more than the population of Ponyville, by far! I ignored the quantity and continued on the search for my friend's autopsy report.
I searched through the files for what seemed like a fucking eternity. After long enough, I found the file marked "O'Drake." Sure enough, inside the file folder was Connor's autopsy report, marked with a stamp that read "HIGLY CLASSIFIED." I guess Nurse Redheart wasn't kidding when shy said it was highly classified. I quickly scanned the page to make sure it was Connor's, and as soon as I was sure it was his, I crept slowly towards the other end of the file racks, where the girls were. I beckoned the girls over to me and they heeded my signal.
"Ya got tha file?" Applebloom whispered. I nodded. "Good. Ya think we should get outta here soon?"
"Probably a good idea to get out of here before Nurse Redheart wakes up" I agreed. "She may not be up for a few hours, but we shouldn't take any chances. We got what we needed and I don't want the chance of having it taken away."
As we quietly crept away from the file area… place, Reaper chimed in. "Uhh… John? We've got a problem."
"What?"
"I think that electricity box was connected to another building" he said. "There are repair Ponies coming this way… and I think they're going to check the inside of the building first."
"Shit" I huffed. "Well, we'll just have to knock 'em out."
"I'm on it!" Sweetie Belle chirped quietly. Before I could stop her, Sweetie Belle dashed towards the door. Me and Applebloom just stayed hidden and watched as the two repair Ponies entered the dark and quiet hospital building unsuspecting of anything on the inside. One of them dropped to the floor with a loud THUD. The other one turned around to see Sweetie Belle's hoof hitting his jaw. He spun around a full 180 degrees before hitting the ground with an impact equally as noisy as his colleague's.
I quickly crept over to the little unicorn. "Hot damn, Sweetie Belle!" I laughed quietly. "Where in the Sam hell did you learn to do that?"
She blushed a little. "Applebloom has a thing for martial arts" she said.
I gave a small laugh under my breath and then proceeded out the door to go to reaper and tell him it was all clear. "Reaper!" I called, "you can come out now! We got it!"
He popped out and gave a little gallop over to us. "Nice! Let's analyze this bitch!"
"Let's go to a place less suspecting" I suggested. "Anypony got any ideas on where we might be able to go?"
We all started thinking… "Carousel Boutique?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nah" I rejected. "Rarity is likely to question what we're doing, then figure out about shit, get pissed as shit, and I'll beat the shit out of her."
"That and she's an asshole" Reaper added.
We continued thinking. "Sweet Apple Acres?" Applebloom added.
"Nah" I repeated. "Big Mac may be a nice guy, but this is something he would NOT approve of, so things would not end well."
"We could go to Sugarcube Corner!" Reaper spouted, as if it was some sort of epiphany. "Pinkie Pie is about as observant as a deaf bat when it comes to this kind of thing! She'll never suspect a thing!"
"That is…" I stopped as soon as I started because I realized that I had no valid arguments to make on this one. "A brilliant idea, Reaper! Let's all haul ass to Sugarcube corner!"
About 5 or 6 minutes later, we were all sitting around a table at Sugarcube corner with a cupcake in front of each of us. Reaper seemed to be checking his cupcake for something. "What's the matter Reaper? Don't like cupcakes or something?"
"No, I love cupcakes," he said, "I'm just checking to see if there are any chunks of Rainbow Dash in here."
I laughed before I realized what he had just said. "What in the holy Sam hell are you talkin' about?!"
"It's nothing important" Reaper assured me as he finished checking his cupcake. "Anyway, let's get down to business."
"Alright" I nodded, swallowing a bite of my cupcake. I pulled out the autopsy report. "So, according to this, Connor was shot a total of 3 times. Once in the leg, then twice in the chest."
"Do we know what kind of gun they used?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Good question" I praised her. "It says here that it was from an M1911. He was hit with .45 caliber rounds, so he was probably killed with one shot to the leg and one shot to the chest, but whoever shot him probably wanted to make absolutely sure that he wasn't gonna get up. There's also a letter to the hospital from Cloudsdale's City Hall. It says that they should let nopony see this autopsy report due to the victim being killed for being close to knowing very, very highly classified information on the death of Scootaloo…. Cloudsdale is trying to cover this up.
"Why?" Applebloom asked. "Connor helped save Equestria! Shouldn't he be able ta know a little classified info?"
"They don't want anypony to know about this" Reaper sighed. "It's something bad. They wouldn't be this desperate to cover it up if it wasn't something so serious that they can't afford anypony to know."
"I think we should go talk to Afanasai again" I interrupted. "He may know some more details."
We all returned to my house where Afanasai was sitting in the same chair reading the same book of Equestrian history. "Hey there" he greeted us. "Did you all know that King Sombra wasn't originally from the Crystal Empire? He was originally from Equestria, but since he had so much free power, he decided to take over the Crystal Empire."
"Afanasai, that's interesting, but we have bigger problems to deal with at the moment" I said. "We need to know if you would happen to know any more details on Connor's death."
"Well, I do know that he was killed at City Hall" he answered. We all looked at one another.
"Thanks Afanasai!" I spouted, giving a small appreciative nod. All 4 of us that were standing in the room flipped around and made a mad dash for City Hall.
It was time for an interrogation…
Chapter name based off of the song "Know" by System of a Down