Howdy!
I've been thinking. And as is my want, I made that thought into a thing. A history that likely won't, but may yet pass. Mostly because the idea gripped me and refused to let me go long enough to play my games. So, enjoy!
In which A Detective Sees
The summons was short.
When you are in Canterlot next, see me.
Not a word spared and hardly embellished. Not delivered by the royal mailpony, so it wasn't something of the utmost urgency. But it was delivered by one of the small league of professionals under her employ, so it didn't reach the mail itself. The poor mare who handed it off to you seemed as confused to hand it over as you were to receive it even. But, professional record keeper or no, when Velvet Covers asks you to deliver a letter...
Well, the writing may have been polite, but a summons was a summons. It's brevity spoke to it as that. But the manner, the delivery, the phrasing, and that it didn't quite come through the normal channels...
The why of it kept you company on the train.
As you stand before the door, you pray hope you know the reason why.
A knock to the door frame. An offering made from inside, and you enter The Commissioner's Office.
One day, the regality of it all will no longer register at the edges of your mind. Not the gleam of marble, nor the ancient, preciously crafted wooden furniture. Maybe the fact you work mere steps from where a Princess is meant to dwell will stop weighing in on you as you cross these doors.
Maybe if that room wasn't so empty, you might convince yourself that this is just a normal job. That these are just normal times. And that you are just asked to hunt down the crimes that no one else would find.
Maybe one day.
But not one soon.
"Please. Take a seat."
Velvet Covers raised a hoof from her desk, offering the seat across from her. Her desk, near immaculate, save for the baskets of work done, and yet to be done. Nothing out of place. Somehow, it was always like that save when she was working. Almost like she knew you were coming. But, the office itself is quiet. Most of your fellow detectives now out in the furthest reaches of Tall Tale, finding what they can of the Changelings there, the constables that you work with prying every hair from the hide of the few criminals you caught wind of. The ones who came after Velvet.
No one to announce, but always prepared.
The same expression crossed your face. The one you always had when seeing her, but you simply filed it away with the rest of the quiet oddities of your employer, moving to take the offered seat.
"Thank you. And, what can I help you with ma'am?"
A calm, collected tone. Voice measured as you were careful to not let your eyes search her. For the wounds that were now gone. For the marks on her fur that even now, weeks after, the bandages had still left. The pallor beneath her pelt, nor the look in her eyes.
She had made it known on no uncertain terms she would not hear of taking more time off. That there was work yet to do, and she would not fail Equestria by waiting for, as she put it, "Her color to even out." Were it another mare, you would worry for her. Were it another employee, you would tell them to not push themselves, as exhaustion and worry and recovery is more important. Were it another, you could claim even the job could wait another day.
Not so for Velvet.
"Tell me, Beyond Reproach" she began. "Do you know why I wanted to see you?"
And in all honesty, you do. Or at least, you fear you do.
"The attack."
She shifts.
Tilting her head just so.
Narrowing her eyes the faintest amount.
A single word answered.
"No."
Because you were right. Not for the first time, you wish you weren't, but you knew the answer.
Shuffling your hooves, you manage to keep your professional calm before her scrutiny. Before answering her in truth.
"You want to know if you can trust me."
And she... softens?
No, that's not quite right. Soft is not the direction, but her gaze does loose some of its weight. Her shoulders roll back, her focus wanes. You can all but see her seem to relax at your answer, the touch of a smile at the edge of her lips.
"No, but close. Or yes, but reversed. Both really. I wanted to talk to you. To ask you. If you trust me."
"... Commissioner?"
"Velvet." Her voice a correction. Firm, and insistent. "I need to know if you trust me. Simple as that."
That look crosses your face again. That same still confused curiosity. Concentration most would call it if they saw it. Because... can you?
The answer is obvious. This is the mare who has perhaps done the most for Equestria in... you don't even know how long. From coordination of the Hunt for Luna, to recovery after the Calamity, to being appointed to Commissioner of this very bureau by Celestia herself after loosing all faith in her ponies, to being the Alicorn of Love's own bridesmade! She is... well, beyond reproach.
But.
You wouldn't be a detective worthy of your own name if you hadn't looked her up. The Velvet name, how it carried with it a weight of sorts. One she rose up from, distinguishing herself from them... and in doing so being exiled to her home in Ponyville. How she rose up too was nothing short of meteoric! From the quiet lone noble of Ponyville to... entrusted as the right hoof of the absent Alicorn. In the grand scheme of things, she simply appeared.
And what's more, she... carries herself. Withstands under the scrutiny of Celestia, even in her wrothful ire. Holds fast to the reigns of this, an organization aimed at rooting out the worst and unknown secrets of the world, just as though it were her croplands back in Ponyville. It's said when Fair Trial struggles under the weight of her burden as the only head of the Solar Court, Velvet...
Velvet nearly died last month, and is back in her office now, asking you if you trust her. To say nothing of how beforehand she seemed to... to know even. How she carried that impossible sharpness and cutting regard just two months prior.
"Of course I trust you."
And she just taps the table. Speaking one word.
"Velvet." Her voice a correction. Firm. Insistent at the one word unspoken.
Commissioner.
Because, she knew.
She always knew.
You trust Velvet, the Commissioner of the Lunar Bureau.
But she is more than just the Commissioner. And that... That, you want to trust. But only want to.
Because the mare behind that title is... Impossible. Like a legend from a story come to life, rising up when the world needed ponies like her the most. Impossible in the best of ways, yes. But impossible all the same.
Left uncertain in how to answer, she finds her voice before you can. A faint touch of something in it. Weary, or maybe wistful as she talks.
"I think, I'm almost glad of it." She smiles, like remembering something she had long forgotten. A strange, almost sad smile. "That you don't know how to answer. That you hold in doubt, even if you can't place why, or maybe even how."
Her words were slow. Gentle and revealing. And yet steady. "Cadence told me, and I never really took a moment to realize how right she was. How... crushing it can be when people look to you for answers. When you are expected to hold everything together. How if you do it wrong, everything falls apart, so you aren't allowed to. But if you do it right?"
"Cadence became Princess Cadence. I... am becoming Comissioner Velvet Covers. We stop being... ponies. We are just what's left."
"So thank you. For doubting me."
Left to your own as she looks back up to you, you see...
(You saw something there. What did you see? Pick 1)
-[] A smile. Hidden, deep and quiet in her eyes. Only there for a moment before vanishing. Because she knew. She led you here, you and you alone. She saw your doubt, knew you, and manuvered you here. To make herself seem... normal. To lure you in like... who knows who else. She is impossible. She
is. You can't trust her, and that... that something about her! You can't, you won't. Ever. But why then? Why does it feel like... Like she
wanted you to see that smile?
-[] A mare. One with the world on her shoulders, and reins in her hooves. Impossibly stubborn and stuck in her position, but not faltering from it. Almost wishing she would falter from it. That she could be... just mortal again. Just Velvet Covers. But for the good of Equestria, refuses that comfort. Admirable. But you still don't know her. If you can trust her. She struggles, yes, but how is she still... here? How does she manage?
-[] Honesty. The crumbling edges of a mare who somehow was holding herself together. One that near died just a few short weeks ago, and now is... impossibly worried for you. Not worried about your commitment to the cause, but to you, personally. Because she saw that demanding you hold your questions weighed heavy, she wanted to speak with you. Despite... everything. You knew she was trying more than her hardest for Equestria, but... How?
How could you not trust her now?