A/N: well here I am again, offering up another chapter for the story, usual drill as always, hope you enjoy.

Trials of Redemption: chapter 7: finding answers

After they went their separate ways for the night, they all did what they were told and got some sleep for the next day's journey, waking up the next morning and packing for a brief trip to baltimare.

"Why is this so important to you Twilight?" Spike asked as Twilight paced back and forth, making sure she had everything for the trip, she sighed and turned to him, "because, we need to solve this crime before any more ponies get hurt, we'll be back probably tomorrow, two days at the most, just keep an eye on the place, I got to go meet the girls at the station, bye Spike" she said, Spike calmly waved goodbye as she left the building and headed for the train station.

(PonyVille, train station)

After making her way through the town, Twilight arrived at the station, much to her relief, she saw her friends there waiting for her, she smiled and walked up to them, "glad to see you all made it on time, you girls ready?" she asked, they all looked at each and smiled, Twilight smiled back and they headed for the ticket booth and got their tickets and quickly boarded the train, unaware of the stallion watching them from across the street.

As he watched them board the train he sighed and turned away, when another pony walked up to him, "sir, what should we do about them?" he asked, the other one sighed, "send a message to my boys in Baltimare, tell them to keep an eye on our friends, I want to know what they're trying to find out" he said before he turned and walked away.

(Later that day, Baltimare train station)

Twilight and her friends eagerly watched as the train pulled into the station, when the conductor called out for all passengers for Baltimare, they six friends simply walked off and got off the platform, "wow, it's been a while since I've been here, ponies say that Baltimare is one of the oldest cities in the kingdom, aside from Canterlot" Rarity said with amazement, Twilight turned to her friends with a serious look.

"Alright, were not here for the scenery, we here to gather information on Fleet, I suggest we start by reading up on the killings, let's head for the library" she said, but Rainbow cut in, "wait a minute, you don't have a book on this, and why go through all that, when we should just find Fleet's family and ask them?" she asked, Twilight turned to face her again, "firstly, we need to find somepony not related to him, any of his family members would easily defend him, we need a pony who will not have a direct connection, secondly excuse me for not having a book on infamous serial killers" she said the last part in a sarcastic tone.

Rainbow gave an annoyed sigh as they started walking, towards the public library.

(Baltimare, public library)

After they arrived at the large historic building, they all split up and searched for anything they could find on the Baltimare murders, and they met up all carrying a book on the subject, where they found Twilight sitting at a table, reading through a book filled with scraps of newspaper articles, "find anything Twi?" Applejack asked, she shushed them and motioned for them to come over.

They all slowly gathered around her, "ok, so here's what I found out, the murders ended after the killer known as Night Light, was found dead in the Star's family home, initially the authorities came to the conclusion, that he was killed by the family's youngest son, Fleet Star, who was only a young colt at the time, the boy was found alongside his parents dead bodies, Fleet was later put under the care of his Aunt and Uncle, here's a picture" she said pointing to the picture of the article.

They all looked closely, and saw a picture of a small much younger Fleet Star, wrapped in a blanket, being lead out of the area by a pony in a police uniform, "look here the picture says, 'young Fleet Star and chief of police, Moon Beam' he looks as old as Applebloom does now" she said, Twilight looked at all her friends, "sweet Celestia, to think of seeing all that horror at such a young age, that's horrible" Applejack said in a shocked tone.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie asked, Twilight stood up, "our best bet would be to head to the police station and talk to the chief of police, he may know more about Fleet, and he can tell us what we need to know" she said before looking in all directions and seeing nopony in sight, she quickly removed that specific article from the book and put it in her bag and walked away, all her friends watched in surprise as she turned to them and motioned for them to follow, they looked at each other confused and quickly followed her out., their next destination, the police station.

(Baltimare, police station)

After making their way through the busy streets of the city, they finally came upon the large two story building, which they presumed was the station.

Quickly making their way inside, they walked over to the mane desk, where a young stallion in a uniform was standing, when they walked up, Twilight cleared her throat, the stallion looked up and put on a big smile, "hello, how may I help you ladies today?" he asked, Twilight did her best to put on a big smile, "yes, we were wondering if chief Moon Beam was available, we need to speak with him" she said, the request caught him off guard, and he frowned.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you-" he was about to say, but was cut off by another stallion walking up to him, "cadet, what are you doing?" a stern voice said, the young stallion stood up straight and saluted as a slightly older stallion came out, his uniform more decorated, "nothing sir, I was just answering this mares question" he said glancing at Twilight, the stallion looked at her and sighed, "very well, your dismissed, I'll handle it" he said, the younger one saluted and walked away.

"sorry about that, he's fresh from the academy, how can I help you, I'm chief Star Shot" he said extending his hoof out, Twilight and all her friends looked at each other confused but she shook his hoof none the less, "it's quite alright, but I think I may have misheard you, were looking for chief Moon Beam, are you his assistant?" she asked, his expression changed to a frown, "no, I am the chief of the police, I'm sorry to say, but chief Moon Beam retired a few years ago, I was just a new recruit, when he was in his prime, he's a great stallion, very honorable and wise, it's a shame he retired, he had some much more in him, but I guess age and experience eventually has its toll on you" he said with a sigh, Twilight gave all her friends a concerned look, "well, do you know where he lives, we just need to ask him a few questions, can you help us?" she asked, he looked at her intently for a minute, but then he smiled.

"sure can, I'll have my assistant write down the address for you, just tell him star shot sent you, I'm not sure what this is about, but as long as it doesn't concern breaking the law, it's not my problem" he said as his assistant brought him a slip of paper, he took it and gave it to her, and smiled, "hope you enjoy your stay in the city, if you need any more assistance, just let me know" he said as he turned and walked away, Twilight sighed and turned to the girls.

"well, looks like we know where he is, we'll have to find him tomorrow, it's getting late, I suppose we should find a motel or something, we'll go there tomorrow morning" she said as they all made their way out of the building.

A/N: hope you all enjoyed, and as I've said before, and will probably keep saying, it's only going to get better next chapter.