Episode 1: The Crowning Pact
White Collar
By TailsFox88
Episode 1: The Crowning Pact
~~~
213...
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Sweetie Belle looked up into the mirror stealing a glance at the clock seated firmly on the grungy wall behind. She didn't really need to check the time of course. She had been playing this game long enough to trust her own ability to mentally keep a perfect count. Still, it gave her a simple thrill seeing that she was indeed on time.
Her glance only lasted for a moment though. Not only was she confident in her count, but she knew how important it was. Everything had to meet the schedule perfectly. One small error and the entire plan would be ruined. A single second could literally be the difference between life and death.
Or in this case, between captivity and freedom.
Carefully scooping up another hoofful of makeup, she began rubbing it across her arm. In perfect rhythm with the numbers in her head, she watched as her fur turned to a dirt brown hiding its normally pale white color with each stroke of her hoof.
248...
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Almost on instinct, she immediately tossed the nearly empty container of makeup into the sink letting it settle with the other empty ones lying there. Turning her front legs slowly, she examined her work looking for any flaws in her coloring. Although she wasn't entirely pleased with the job, she couldn't find anything seriously out of place. Unfortunately, it would have to do for the time being. She simply didn't have the time or the materials to do better.
Quickly, Sweetie pulled a large bag out from behind the toilet, dumping its contents into the sink. Once the bag had emptied, she tossed it behind her without a second glace purely focusing on the treasure it had contained. She started with the simple white shirt, quickly pulling it over her head and buttoning it up the front. Next she grabbed the tie, also plain white. Tossing it around her neck, she expertly looped the fabric around itself into a perfect knot. She couldn't help by smile as she pulled it tight. Even after three years, it was still second nature to her.
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The beat in her mind quickly brought her back to reality as she picked up the final item from the bag: a double-breasted jacket. While this item was also originally white like the others, years of kitchen use had given the poor thing a yellowish color with an equally disgusting set of brown and reddish speckles gratuitously staining its surface throughout. In another life, the mare probably would have scoffed at such a garment but now she had no time for such vanity. She quickly pulled it over her head and buttoned it up, completing the costume.
Looking back up to the mirror, she examined the mare standing there. Where just a few moments ago had been her own image, a completely new pony stood instead. The brown makeup had done its job well, giving this new mare a ragged dark brown coat. Dye had managed to change her normally light purple and pink mane to a pale white and also helped to combat its natural curl making it fall straight. The coat covered her cutie mark, a single pink diamond, obscuring her identity further. The only thing that still stood out was the eyes. Unfortunately, it was far too difficult to try and get a pair of contacts to change her eye color here so her bright emerald eyes still shown on the new mare's face. Still, the disguise was good enough to fool most ponies.
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It was time. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the previously discarded orange jumpsuit lying on the ground. Fishing through the pockets, she produced a single small capsule and popped it in her mouth just underneath her tongue. The taste was absolutely horrendous, but the mare didn't even flinch. Instead, she merely tossed the now worthless suit into the sink with the rest of her trash and moved to the door. She didn't bother to stop and listen for any guards patrolling on the other side. She pushed the door open, and confidently started walking down the hall to her left.
The hall, as usual, was mostly silent save for the echoing sound of hooves against hard stone floors. Sweetie walked on, head held high, as she navigated through the various twists and turns. Occasionally, she'd pass somepony, usually a guard, and she'd politely nod to them as she'd trot past. They would in turn, return the gesture and continue on without a word, not even bothering to give her a second glance.
Soon enough she reached her destination; a dark door at the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, she reached her hoof up to the door and... stopped.
It wasn't time yet.
She closed her eyes and listened to the numbers in her head.
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...Now.
She pushed open the door, not even blinking as the sudden pouring of light and clattering of pots and pans hit her like a ton of bricks. Not a moment later, the noise was immediately overpowered by the sound of a gruff voice yelling in Sweetie's direction.
"Oy!" it yelled. "You're five minutes late Chocolate!"
Sweetie hid a smirk. Right on time, she thought.
Bowing her head, she meandered over to her workstation, grabbing a nearby toque and muttering an apology along the way. The chef merely grumbled with a shake of his head and a chuckle, before returning to the vat of pasta he had previously been so enthralled with.
Quickly trotting up to the oven, Sweetie found a large pot already set out for her. Moving about with precision, she quickly collected the ingredients that she needed and set about preparing the red sauce for the head-chef's pasta. Carefully measuring out the ingredients and placing them in pot, she mixed the concoction together. She stirred it for a few moments, letting it sit and simmer before taking a spoonful and tasting to see if it was ready.
There was just one problem: Sweetie Belle couldn't cook.
At all.
The second the horrendous flavor of the sauce touched her tongue, it nearly caused Sweetie to lose her lunch. Somehow, she managed to keep her composure and gulped down the putrid substance, keeping up the appearance that she actually knew what she was doing. Thankfully, nopony else was going to have to eat this stuff.
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A loud clang followed by a sloshing sound and a yelp filled the kitchen. Everypony quickly looked towards the source to find a large pot now lying on its side. Its previous contents were sprawled all over the floor and the brown mare who had been attending to it.
The head chef was on his hooves and over to the accident in a second. "What happened?" he demanded.
The mare muttered something about slipping, but she was so quiet he wasn't able to catch it very well. After muttering some of his own choice words, he continued. "Do you have any idea how far behind this is going to put us? Go get yourself cleaned up, and get back here quickly," he ordered, dismissing her with a wave of his hoof.
The mare walked past him with her head hung low as he yelled at some other poor fool to go and grab a mop. It was a good thing that he wasn't looking at her. Had he done so, he might have noticed the faint glint in her eye. Or perhaps the small capsule that she removed from underneath her tongue, tossing it into an open oven.
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For convenience, the laundry was located directly next to the kitchen and connected by a set of double doors. Sweetie entered the room and quickly removed her now soiled clothing; carefully mopping up the sauce that made it on to her fur while not disturbing her disguise. Tossing them into the nearest basket, she began pacing the room, searching for just the right hamper.
Another set of doors opened and two gruff looking stallions entered. They were too busy discussing some sort of sporting event to notice the ruffling of clothing in the basket in front of them. Instead, they simply got behind it and started pushing.
"Sweet Celestia," one of the pair stammered. "This thing weighs a ton. What did they put in here? Bricks?"
The other, slightly larger stallion simply rolled his eyes. "These are the clothes for the construction crew moron. Who knows what sort of crap they get themselves into. Now, quit complaining and get pushing. We've still got a dozen more after this to load up."
Unhappily, the first stallion shut his mouth and went back to pushing. He wheeled the large hamper out through the nearby door and into the outside world. The sounds of jackhammers and the smell of dust filled the air while several construction workers trotted about, moving materials and discussing plans.
Just as the hamper reached the bottom of the ramp out of the building, a large grey Pegasus wearing Golden Armor walked up to the cart stopping the owner. "Halt," he commanded authoritatively. "All cargo must be inspected before leaving prison grounds."
The stallion, not happy to be losing the momentum he had built up from the ramp, pulled the hamper to a stop. With a grumpy wave of his hoof, he welcomed the guard to start his investigation. The guard didn't bother to thank him, reaching over the edge of the basket to start moving through the piles of dirty clothes.
All the while, unknown to the pair of stallions, a certain formerly white mare was hugging the bottom of the hamper and beginning to sweat bullets...
But still counting.
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*BOOM!!!*
The sudden sound of the explosion drew everyone in the area's attention. The guard rushed up to the door the sound had come from, peering inside and attempting to get a grasp on the situation at hand. Over the sounds of shouting, he was able to gather that there had been some sort of small explosion in the kitchen, though it was hard to tell exactly what had happened without abandoning his post. Within moments though, the commotion died down and everything returned to normal. Satisfied that his help was not required, the guard returned to his original task, examining the basket behind him.
Of course, what nopony noticed during this time, was the sudden appearance of a new brown mare with a pale grey mane underneath her hardhat now wandering around the construction site. Though somepony was going to be upset for misplacing their hat again, and a certain stallion would soon be relieved to find his hamper he was pushing much lighter than before.
Grabbing a clipboard lying around, Sweetie put the last part of her plan into order. Keeping her eyes on the board, she walked up to the guard station, one of the few places that were set up to allow ponies to pass through the massive shield separating the prison from the rest of the world. Approaching the border, she stopped looking at the clipboard for just a moment to flash the guard a warm smile.
He was not impressed. "Can I help you?" he asked gruffly.
Sweetie looked up confused, before feigning realization. "Oh, I'm sorry," she responded acting all flustered. "It's my turn to run and grab coffee this morning. Think you can let me through?"
The guard didn't bat an eye. "Certainly," he said, "as long as you can provide ID."
"Oh of course," Sweetie answered, fiddling around with her pockets, "I've got it right... no... well maybe it's in this..." She continued for a moment, before dropping her shoulders in despair. "Oh dear, I think I've left it in my other shirt."
The guard was about to refuse her telling her to come back when she wasn't so foolish to misplace it, but paused as he found himself looking down into the deepest pair of puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. The mare smiled at him and asked, "Don't you think you could let me through just this once? I'll even buy you something while I'm out."
The stallion mulled it over for a second, before relenting with a sigh. Motioning to his partner, the area in front of them shimmered and the shield became much less solid in appearance. "Bring me an Espresso," he stated flatly as he motioned for her to move on.
With a bright smile and a quick thank you, Sweetie walked through the shield and out into the fresh air. The sun was high in the bright, blue sky. She basked in its warm rays as they beamed over her, something she had not felt in over three long years.
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...
The count in her head stopped. With it, a bright smile appeared on the mare's face. Levitating the hat off her head, she tossed it and the clipboard into the bushes nearby, before taking off in a quick gallop towards Canterlot. She had done it.
She was free.
~~~
Unbeknownst to Sweetie Belle, at the very moment that she ended her own count, another pony far away from where she was began a count of his own. However, the stallion in question did not keep the same continuously increasing count as she did, rather repeating the same short set of numbers over and over again. The rhythm, like the beat of a drum, kept him focused. Likewise, although he would have loved to have known about the others plot, he was completely oblivious to her escape. He was focused on something entirely different.
Standing just outside the rear door of the decrepit building, Graphite paused to take one last survey of his little group. Behind him stood a half-dozen royal unicorn guards, each holding their spears at the ready. The shining sun gleamed brightly off each piece of their golden sets of armor, forcing the stallion to turn his head back before being permanently blinded.
Out of this group, he was the oddity. While he was also wearing armor like the others, his was much less fancy. Since he only wore it on rare occasions, he didn’t bother to care for it as well as the others did. As such, his didn't shine nearly as brightly as the others and was riddled with various dents and scars. This wasn't the only thing different about him. While they all had grey coats, the others were a much more light grey whereas Graphite's coat was darker, just a few shades above being black.
Satisfied that they were all accounted for, Graphite slowly pushed the door open. Peering through the door, he surveyed the area. Save for a beat up old fan humming noisily in the corner, the room was devoid of all signs of life. Cautiously, he raised his front hoof and gave the signal. On cue, the others all quickly trotted up through the open door and into the building, Graphite quickly following them in behind.
The inside of the building was much like its exterior, though a few degrees cooler; just enough to cause Graphite to shudder as he entered. The entry room was dim, only a single greasy window providing any light. It was probably for the best since it prevented him from getting a clear look at the floor stained with Celestia knew what. A faint smell, not dissimilar to old cheese lingered in the room; making the group attempt their best not to imagine what was causing it.
The guards moved swiftly, checking around each corner before nodding the all clear. With that signal, Graphite quickly made his way to the rickety old staircase and started his way up. Though the trip was only two flights of stairs, it seemed as though it would never end. More than once during the climb, he'd feel his heart stop as the steps groaned underneath his weight.
Finally though, and without too much noise, the group reached the top floor. Once there, he began his search. Moving swiftly from door to door, he glanced at each apartment number searching for just the right one. He finally found it, at the very end of the long hallway. Turning to the side, he motioned down the hall to the others who quickly and quietly made their way over as well. As soon as the final guard showed up, they closed in until they were all huddled directly in front of the door. They paused, and looked over towards Graphite awaiting his signal. With a deep breath, he gave it to them.
The silence was suddenly shattered as the guards burst through the door, yelling all manner of warnings as they piled through the entryway. As the last guard past out of his sight, Graphite grasped his own spear a little tighter before turning and following directly afterwards. He charged through the open door ready for anything and found...
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The room he now found himself in was completely barren; devoid of any forms or signs of life. Save for a single, simple table in the far corner, there wasn't a piece of furniture in the room. The walls were perfectly white without a single smudge or marking to blemish them. Even the very air he breathed seemed to be pure, without the tiniest hint of smell from anything.
The guard's chief, a lieutenant in the Royal Guard who wore that ranking proudly, looked around for a brief moment before lowering his spear and huffing in indignation. With a stomp that was far from quiet, he turned back toward Graphite. "Well," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "It's sure a good thing that we came all the way out here following that lead of yours. Never would have caught this guy without it."
Graphite didn't respond to the accusations. Instead, after lowering his own spear, he wandered through the room, peering over the plain walls as though he was following some strange trail that twisted all around them. This in turn, only irritated the lieutenant all the more. "Aren't you listening?" he fumed. "Or maybe I'm being too subtle for you. This isn't the right place. Our thief clearly isn't here."
Graphite didn't bother to look back at the unicorn guard, his gaze focused solely on the walls instead. "No," he said. "This is definitely the right place. Our jewel thief isn't here now, but he definitely was here, and for quite a while I'd say."
The guard huffed again. "Oh really?" he said. "How do you figure that? From what I can tell, there hasn't been anypony living here for a very long time."
Finally, Graphite froze in place, chuckling lightly and shaking his head. "That's because you're only looking at what's around you instead of seeing what's actually there."
The lieutenant's brows furrowed downward, as his scowl intensified. "Oh really? And what exactly am I supposed to be seeing here?"
Graphite turned to face him. "Just look around you lieutenant," he said waving his arm to emphasize his point. "Tell me, what do you see?"
Turning from the dark grey stallion, the guard did a quick check around the room. "I don't see anything."
Graphite smiled. "Exactly. There's nothing here."
"And that's important, how exactly?"
Graphite couldn't help it as he planted his face directly in his right hoof. "Tell me lieutenant. How is this room different than the rest of the building?"
Confusion overtook the light grey stallion as he pondered the question, not really understanding what Graphite was saying. He was about to admit to that fact when suddenly, like a stroke of lightning, his face lit with realization. "There's nothing here," he muttered softly.
Graphite lifted his head up and smiled. "Ah. NOW you see it, don't you?" Not waiting for the guard to respond, he turned back to examine the wall some more. "There is nothing in this room. No cobwebs, no stained walls or dirty floors, certainly no strange smell." He rapped his hoof against the wall, listening to the faint echo that emanated from it. "This place was cleaned recently, but much more than any normal pony who lived here would have done. No, this was cleaned by somepony who didn't want anypony to find any signs of them; somepony who didn't want to leave any clues as to what they were up to, or where they were going."
Graphite turned and looked at the guard, who was looking rather sheepish at this particular moment. "Tell me lieutenant. Who does that sound like to you?"
To his credit, the guard tried to come up with a valid response, but found that all the words were dying in his throat. Failing to find one, he turned to the other guards ordering them to run a full sweep of the room looking for any sorts of clues.
Graphite was glad to see him go, once again turning back to the wall. While it was true that the wall had been thoroughly cleaned there was something off about it. Very faintly and barely noticeable, he could just make out where a large black streak had once been. Carefully, he rubbed his hoof up against it, before lifting it up to his nose. The faint smell of char settled in his nose as he inhaled deeply.
Stepping back he looked over the just discernible outline. Without warning, he suddenly lifted his spear and plunged it into the wall. The sudden sound of crashing brought the guards running, just in time to see Graphite remove the spear and plunge it in again repeatedly.
The lieutenant wasn't sure whether to be shocked, furious, or confused. So, he settled on all three.
"What in the name of Tartarus do you think you're doing?" he fumed.
Tossing the spear aside, the hole lit up with a light blue aura as Graphite began feeling around the inside. "Once again, lieutenant, I'm disappointed of your inability to observe what's in front of your nose." The guard was once again infuriated by the comment, but failed to get the chance to speak. "You see," Graphite began again, "this wall is a little bit different than the others. The wood, right here in the center, doesn't match the wood around it. This wall was painted recently, yet our thief only bothered to put a single coat of paint up, so you can just barely see the burnt outline around that odd piece of wood."
"He blew something up in here," one of the guards in the back suddenly spoke up realizing what Graphite was insinuating.
Both the lieutenant and Graphite turned to look at the guard, but while the lieutenant scowled at him, Graphite gave him a kind smile. "Yes indeed. He blew something up and..." He stopped suddenly, as he felt his magic brush up against something cold and hard. His smile grew even larger. "And where there's an explosion," he said triumphantly grasping the object and levitating it out of the hole, "there's shrapnel as well."
The guards rushed over to get a good look at the object that the odd unicorn had just pulled from its resting place. There, in his grasp, was a small gemstone. Its color, a brilliant light blue, seemed to shine by its own accord. Despite having uneven, rough edges, the uncut jewel still seemed to bedazzle those looking upon it.
The seven stallions stared at it in silence for a while before finally the lieutenant spoke. "Is that a..."
"A baby-blue sapphire," Graphite interrupted. "Yes, I do believe that it is." He turned the gem around in his hoof giving it a puzzled look. "But something doesn't make sense. The jewelry store reported that only display jewels were stolen. How'd our thief get his hooves on an uncut gem?"
The lieutenant shrugged. "Beats me. Not that it really matters. Either they were mistaken on what he grabbed, or he found somewhere else to rob from. Regardless though, that proves that he was here, right?"
Graphite chuckled. "I never doubted that he was here, but yes, this does give us solid proof that he was. Unfortunately, what it doesn't tell us is where he is now, so perhaps we should all get back to work looking for that information instead of admiring gemstones."
Pulling the gem away from the others, he carefully placed it in the pocket of the suit he was wearing underneath his armor. "I'll give this to the girls back at the lab to see if they can find anything from it. Until then, I think that we should all..."
Before he could continue, a rapping at the door caught his attention. Not waiting for an invitation, the intruder entered the room. She was a golden colored unicorn with a dark purple mane and light pink eyes. Graphite immediately brightened up when he saw her. "Golden Gem," he said trotting over to her. "Boy you're a sight for sore eyes, let me tell you."
But she didn't respond with a smile. After looking her over very quickly, Graphite couldn't help but notice just how serious she was acting. Very quickly, his mood turned to match hers as his smile melted away. "What's happened," he asked curtly.
The mare took a deep breath before answering simply. "Sweetie Belle."
Graphite could feel the color drain from his face. That was a name that he was all too familiar with. He hadn't given that name much thought over the past years, and had hoped that he would not have to for at least another six months. "What about her?" he asked hesitantly.
Golden Gem closed her eyes and shook her head, almost as though she didn't want to believe what she was about to say. Then in an instant, she looked back up at her boss with a strange mix of anger and sorrow in her eyes.
"She's escaped."
~~~
In the days following the defeat of Nightmare Moon, there was a great amount of unrest throughout Equestria. Not only did several neighboring nations attempt to take advantage of the situation, but there was a great deal of civil unrest as well. Having just seen one of their princesses attempt to destroy the world caused panic amongst the different ponies. Many rebelled, choosing to pursue their own selfish desires during this time instead of following the ideals of Harmony.
Princess Celestia was quick to quell these problems, but soon found the dungeons in the castle to be filling to over capacity far more quickly than she would have liked. Reluctantly, she ordered the creation of a facility to hold the growing number of law-breakers. Construction began immediately in the mountains just outside of Canterlot, and soon enough Blackrock Prison was completed.
Due to the need, the prison was designed to be one of the greatest fortresses ever built. The building itself was designed similar to the castles of old with thick stone walls and cold marble floors. The walls were reinforced with steel throughout, making them incredibly sturdy and able to withstand even the greatest forces. Beyond the building itself, the prison had a large pink shield permanently encasing it, keeping its contents securely confined within. The shield served another purpose as well, projecting a magical field within that sapped all the unicorns and pegasi of their respective gifts of magic and flight, making even more certain that its occupants were truly trapped.
So it sat, hidden away from the casual glance of the nation. A dark stain in an otherwise beautiful land, it was generally ignored by those who did not have a reason to care for its purpose. For the most part, ponies were perfectly content in just pretending that the building didn't even exist.
As Graphite found himself approaching the building at that moment, he especially wished that was the case.
The second he heard the news of Sweetie's departure, he made his way to Blackrock as quickly as possible. Had it not been for the escort awaiting him outside, he would have probably broken straight through the shield upon arrival. Instead, he was met by several guards and promptly guided into the prison. Graphite followed them through the cold, dimly lit halls much more slowly than he would have liked. The sounds of hooves striking the hard, white floor echoed with each step they took. The air was cold and empty, and the entire scene would have made any normal pony shudder. However, Graphite wasn't bothered by these surroundings. His mind was too busy racing, focusing entirely on attempting to determine what had just transpired.
His thoughts were interrupted as the mare escorting the group suddenly stopped, turned, and knocked on a particular solid oak door. Not bothering to wait for a response, the mare pushed the door open to reveal a very flustered looking Pegasus stallion seated behind a large desk. His bright yellow coat was completely frazzled and his light blue mane was desperately in need of a good combing. Overall, it looked as though he hadn't slept in a week despite his troubles only starting a few hours ago.
He looked up as the door opened, relief washing over his face as he saw his guests entering the room. "Agent Graphite," he said with a bright smile while extending his hoof towards the dark grey stallion. "It's an honor to finally have the chance to meet you."
Graphite stared at the hoof for a minute, not bothering to return the gesture. Flicking his eyes up towards the Pegasus across the desk, he grumbled, "And... you are?"
Slowly, the Pegasus retracted his hoof, his smile slightly faltering as he pulled it back. "Lieutenant Stardust, head of security for Blackrock."
Graphite's stoic expression didn't change. "So you're the one responsible for letting Sweetie Belle escape."
"Well... I... it wasn't..." Stardust stammered; the smile replaced with a look of guilt and shame instead. "What I mean is... it wasn't me personally, but..."
"Not you specifically, no," Graphite interrupted, still glaring down the poor pegasus. "But you sure didn't do anything to make it difficult for her."
"But I... That is..."
Graphite opened his mouth to spit out some other hateful comment, only to find a hoof suddenly jab him in his side. Turning towards the source, he found himself staring at Golden Gem's dark pink eyes. She didn't say a single word, though she didn't have to. Her eyes were glaring at him so intently, he knew exactly what she was saying.
With a sigh he turned back to towards Stardust. "I... I'm sorry," he muttered with a shake of his head. "It's not fair for me to take this all out on you." Chuckling lightly he added, "In all honesty, I'm kind of surprised it's taken her this long to break out in the first place."
The lieutenant loosened up slightly finally seeing the slightest sign of a smile, though he still remained tightly wound. "Did you know her well?" he asked hesitantly.
Looking up with closed eyes, Graphite answered. "Much more than I would have liked, I'm afraid. I was the one in charge of her case when we first caught wind of her. Spent over five years tracking her down before we were finally able to catch her."
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of papers being tossed about in front of him. "Yes, I remember reading about that in her file," Stardust responded, fiddling around with the binders on the table until he found the one he desired. "Ah yes! Here it is," he exclaimed, "Let's see: Sweetie Belle, born November 11th, age 23. According to this she has been suspected of several different robberies, high class art thefts, and forgeries." Flipping the page, he continued. "But they were only able to get enough evidence to convict her of Gem Forgery for which she's been locked up here serving out a four year sentence." Looking up, he noticed that Graphite had been staring at him while he was reading. "Um... is that all correct?"
Graphite laughed again. "Correct, yes," he responded, "but completely inadequate for describing her." Pulling out the chair across the table, he sat down. "Sweetie Belle is one of the most notorious con mares the world has ever seen. When it says that we suspected her on all of those thefts and forgeries, it doesn't even scrape the surface. We estimate that she's responsible for dozens of unsolved crimes committed over the past seven years, and probably several more before that. Crimes committed not just in Equestria mind you, but also Griffonia, The Crystal Empire, Zebroma and even as far out as Saddle Arabia." He stopped for a moment and looked directly over in Stardust's shocked expression from this new information. "I do not want to add to that list, and I do NOT want to spend another five years chasing her down again."
Stardust snapped out of his stupor, "Um... Right. Of course," he flustered. "We should probably hurry and discuss what happened today then. Uh... Let me start at the beginning."
As quickly as he could, Stardust related everything that he had so far managed to put together that day. He told Graphite about how they figured she had somehow been able to make her way out through the construction that was currently being performed to extend the kitchen and laundry. He told him about the guard who had admitted to foolishly allowing a brown mare out through the main entry without checking her ID. They were almost certain that it was her since none of the construction workers matched the description, and they found a large number of discarded makeup containers of a similar color in one of the employee bathrooms, along with a discarded jumpsuit.
For most of the discussion, Graphite sat quietly jotting down notes, while only asking the occasional question. However with this latest bit of info, he looked up at Stardust puzzled. "And where did she get the makeup from?"
"Care packages. From a ‘High Flyer' delivered each week for just under a month." Grabbing one of the books on the desk, he handed it over to Graphite. "See, we examine and keep track of all the mail that comes into and leaves the prison. Guards are supposed to report anything suspicious, but as you can see, the makeup was sent in small quantities along with other items as well so it didn't raise any red flags."
Graphite carefully peered over the book, but not at the entries that Stardust had pointed out. Instead, he turned the book back a few pages gazing over the long lists of names and entries, before making his conclusion. "She didn't send or receive a lot of mail, did she?"
Stardust thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I don't believe she did."
Setting the book back down, Graphite pointed to an entry higher up on the page. "Two days before the first package arrived, she sent out two different letters. According to this, they were generic letters filled with worthless chatter, both addressed to the same pony that sent the packages."
Stardust took the book back and looked at the entry in question. "Do you think that they contained some sort of code?"
Graphite nodded. "I'd bet so. Probably some sort of signal explaining that she needed supplies." He pointed at the entry again. "This is probably the day that she started planning her escape. We need to figure out everything that happened that day."
"I think I can help with that," Stardust smiled as he pulled yet another folder out from the pile and started flipping through it. "April 12th... Ah yes," he exclaimed upon finding the correct page. "Now, let's see here. She got up that morning. Ate breakfast. Had a doctor's appointment for a routine checkup apparently. Met with a visitor..."
"A visitor?" Graphite interrupted sounding slightly confused.
Stardust nodded. "Yes, her regular visitor. Same mare came almost every week for the entire time that Sweetie Belle was locked up here."
"May I look at that," Graphite responded holding out his hoof. Stardust handed it over and the unicorn began turning back through the pages. Sure enough, as Stardust had explained, every week there was a similar entry signed by the visitor detailing the time spent there.
He sat there for a moment turning back and forth between the pages. As he did so, something happened that caught Stardust completely off guard. For the first time since he'd arrived, Graphite began to smile. Not a smirk either, but an actual, honest to Celestia smile. Just before he could ask about it, Graphite suddenly threw the book down on the table, standing up and saying, "Thank you for your assistance Lieutenant. I'll see myself out."
Stardust was stunned. "W... wait!" he stammered. "What did you find? Where are you going?"
Graphite paused at the door. "I found everything that I need," he said plainly before turning back to the pegasus, his smile still wide. "I know where she is."
~~~
Sweetie Belle sat in the very center of the cold, dim room. She had been here many times before this moment, though things were much different back then. Before, there was a couch here, extremely plush and comfortable. It sat facing the large windows near the front of the room overlooking the streets of Canterlot down below and the horizon to the West. She and her sister used to sit on that couch for hours on end, just talking or laughing while watching the bustle below as the sun set in the distance. On the cold winter nights, they would grab blankets, light a fire, sit and read long after the sun had set for the day.
But now, the room told a quite different story. The couch was gone, along with everything else the room had previously offered. The walls were bare, and the floors empty. All that remained behind was some dust and cobwebs filling the corners. The once glistening windows had been covered in a light layer of grime; something that only reinforced the notion that the mare who lived here before had left long ago.
And so, Sweetie sat there on her haunches with her head drooped down low; lost in her own memories of happier times. She was so entrenched in her own thoughts, she didn't even hear the clip-clopping of hooves on the wooden floor approaching from behind her. Nor did she notice when they stopped just before reaching where she sat.
"Hello Sweetie Belle," the owner of the horseshoes said.
Despite not being aware of her guest's presence until the moment he spoke, Sweetie wasn't startled by the comment at all. Rather, her only reaction was that she raised her head up just ever so slightly and chuckled. "Agent Graphite," she responded without turning back. "I was wondering how long it would be before you showed up."
Without a word, he carefully stepped around the mare. While moving, he stared at her, getting a good look at her current appearance. She was still disguised in the costume she had used to escape with. Her mane was a light grey, not quite dissimilar to his own. She still had the brown makeup all over her body, though it was slightly wearing around her hooves from running all day. She kept her head down, not bothering to look at him as he stopped directly in front of her. Despite that, he was still able to get a decent look at her face, specifically the large white areas underneath her eyes where the makeup had been slowly washed away.
They stood like that for a while. Neither spoke. Graphite continued to stare down at the mare, while she in turn stared down at the floor.
Finally, Sweetie Belle spoke up. "I'm a little surprised to see you here all by yourself. Where's your backup?"
"Oh, they're waiting outside," he answered still not taking his eyes off her. "I told them that I was going to make sure that you were in here and unarmed."
Sweetie laughed. "You know I don't like carrying weapons Graphite, and I'm willing to bet you've already set up a containment shield around the area so I couldn't use magic if I tried." Finally she lifted her head up and looked him in the eye. "Why did you really come in alone?"
He smiled at the comment. She was still just as sharp as he remembered. "Honestly, I wanted to find out why in Equestria you would escape with only six months left of a four year sentence."
Sweetie laughed her quiet laugh again. "Seeing as how you found me here, I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that question, don't you?"
They stared at each other for another moment before, with a sigh, Graphite finally spoke up. "What did Rarity say the last time she visited you?"
The smile melted off of Sweetie's face, as she once again hung her head staring at the ground by her hooves. She didn't answer immediately, and when she finally did, it was just barely above a whisper. "She told me that she was leaving Canterlot to try and get away from the bad memories. She told me that I was a disappointment to her and she wanted nothing more to do with me; that she never wanted to see me again. She... she..." her voice began to crack and waver as she was forced to close her eyes in a vain attempt to stop the tears again. "She told me that she didn't want to be my sister anymore."
Silence once again filled the room, save for the occasional sniffling of the mare seated on the floor. Graphite didn't bother responding, if only because he didn't know what to say.
It was Sweetie who eventually broke the silence again. "I just... I had to see for myself. I just couldn't believe that it was true."
"I'm sorry," Graphite said, to which Sweetie muttered something that sounded like a thank you. "But, you do realize that they're going to give you at least another three years for escaping?"
He didn't think it was possible, but somehow Sweetie's expression seemed to drop even more. "I know," she muttered weakly.
"If you turn yourself in peacefully now, they might be more lenient, and..." he struggled for a minute, unable to believe he was about to say this next sentence, "and I'll even put in a good word for you."
Sweetie didn't say anything, instead just nodding her head after a moment.
Satisfied, Graphite reached into his pocket to pull out the pair of hoofcuffs he kept there. As Sweetie had correctly guessed, the building had been encased in a shield similar to the one used around Blackrock. Because of this, he was forced to use his hooves instead of just levitating them out. As he did so, something that he had previously forgotten about came out with them, falling with a loud clack to the floor below.
Sweetie's ears immediately perked up as she saw the large blue gemstone that fell down stopping just within her reach. Curiosity got the best of her, and she reached forward to pick it up. She hesitated for a minute, looking up at Graphite as if asking for permission. He shrugged and waved his hoof, once again returning the mare to her previous action. She grabbed the gem, and brought it up close to her face, slowly turning it around in her hoof to get a good look at it. "An uncut Baby Blue Sapphire," she observed with a whistle. "I haven't seen one of these in ages." She lifted her head to look up at Graphite. "Where did you find this?"
He briefly argued with himself before deciding there indeed was no harm in actually telling her. "That's evidence from the case that I was working just before I got called away to chase down a certain runaway." The statement made Sweetie chuckle before he continued. "Somepony robbed a jewelry store a couple weeks ago and that's currently our only lead on them."
Only when he finished talking did he notice the look of confusion on Sweetie's face. "You found this in a jewelry store?" she asked.
"No. We tracked the pony down to an abandoned apartment today. Actually found that beauty inside a wall if you can believe it."
Sweetie looked back at the gem and smiled. "Yes, that makes much more sense actually," she said handing the gem back towards Graphite. He took it gratefully, placing it securely back into his pocket. Once the gem was gone, Sweetie raised up her other hoof, placing them both directly in front of her. "You think you can catch them?"
Graphite reached up to her hooves, placing the cuffs over the top of them and closing them so that they were firmly holding her front legs together. "I think so," he answered. "But whoever they are, they're smart; maybe even as smart as you were. We really don't have much to track them down with except that gem right now."
Sweetie lowered her hooves to the ground, just as the sound of a door slamming open down the hallway signaled the soon to arrive royal guards. Sweetie looked back at the sound knowing she only had a few seconds left. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess I should probably give you a hint." The sound of hooves galloping in got louder and louder as the guards got closer and closer. Ignoring that however, she turned back and looked Graphite straight in the eye. "That gem you have in your pocket right now?" she said with a bright smile. "It's a counterfeit."
As much as he wanted to, Graphite didn't get a chance to ask a follow-up question. At that moment, the guards entered the room yelling at Sweetie Belle to surrender. She lifted her hooves up, showing that she was already cuffed, and they quickly grabbed hold of her and started dragging her outside. Graphite didn't follow them. Instead he pulled the gem out of his pocket and looked it over carefully.
There was simply no way she could be right.
~~~
Graphite couldn't believe it. She was right.
Even after seeing the evidence handed to him; even after having irrefutable scientific tests done on the gemstone, he still couldn't believe that the gemstone was actually a counterfeit.
Of course the only thing that bugged him more than that was the fact that somehow Sweetie Belle recognized it with only a passing glance.
Graphite once again found himself within the confines of Blackrock Prison. It had only been a week since the last time that he visited here. This time however, he was here on an entirely different business, though one that he liked even less than the previous.
The room that he was in was one of the better lit rooms in the prison, though it was also one of the most bland. On either side of the room stood large iron doors, both of which were currently shut tightly. A plain table sat in the middle of the room with a pair of cold metal chairs on either side. Graphite was currently sitting in the one nearest the door that he had entered. On either side of that door, and the one in front of him as well, a guard stood tall, stoic and unmoving. Graphite's attention wasn't focused on them however. Instead, he was carefully watching the door across from him.
After what felt like an eternity, the door creaked open and another pair of guards came trotting out. Between the pair of them was the purpose of his visit. Since he had seen her dragged away last week, Sweetie Belle had returned to looking how he remembered. Her fur was back to its regular white, and her mane its normal, curly, light pink and purple. She was once again wearing an orange jumpsuit signifying her residence, along with a pair of hoofcuffs preventing her from walking too quickly. As she caught sight of Graphite sitting there, her eyes shone with an expression he didn't quite understand and she gave him a soft smile.
Walking forward, she sat in the chair across from him, as the guards chained her front hooves to the desk; another added precaution. Once they finished with their task, they stepped back giving the two plenty of room to visit.
Sweetie was the first to speak. "Agent Graphite," she said, the strange smile still on her face. "I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you so soon. Just couldn't stay away from me, now could you?"
Graphite barely moved as she spoke, just glaring at her instead. His response was similarly cold. "How?"
"How... what?" she responded with the tilt of her head.
Not taking his eyes off her, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag, tossing it on the table in front of her. Inside sat the fake Gemstone that he had with him from last week. "You were right. It's a counterfeit. How did you know?"
Sweetie picked up the gem (not an easy task with her front hooves chained down) and admired it once again. "It's a really good fake isn't it? Almost impossible to tell the difference from the real thing."
"Yes, I know. It took the lab running every test they could think of on it before they could confirm it was a fake. If you hadn't told me what you did, I would probably have never even noticed." With that revelation, he leaned forward in his chair, glaring even harder into the mare. "So, how did you know?"
Sweetie looked at him, almost hurt. "You don't think that I had anything to do with it, do you?" she asked innocently.
"If you don't answer me soon, I just might start thinking that maybe you did. Now, I'm only going to ask you once more. How did you know?"
Sweetie looked at him for a minute. His expression hadn't changed and she could tell that he wasn't in the mood to play games at the moment. Reluctantly, she answered. "Baby Blue Sapphires form in the middle of igneous rocks. It's part of what gives it its subtle color. It also means that they end up forming around the pours of the nearby rocks giving the uncut gems a pattern of small bumps all over its surface.
"This one however, is all wrong. The bumps are there yes, but they're either too big or too smooth to have been caused naturally. The only way to get bumps like that on a natural gem would be to cut it in that pattern, but nopony would be willing to waste their time with that since it doesn't improve the look of it at all. The only other reason for it then is that it was a side effect of the bubbling from the synthesizing process." Setting the gem back down on the table, she turned her attention from it back to Graphite who hadn't moved an inch during her explanation. "Since the first option was illogical, it must have been the latter option. That is how I knew it was a fake. Any other questions?"
He didn't respond. He sat and glared at her for a while, the gears turning in his head. She just sat and glared right back at him.
After what seemed like the longest of time, he muttered something that sounded like a thank you. Grabbing the gem, he stuffed it into his pocket, stood up and headed towards the door. The guard opened it and Graphite prepared to walk through.
"You didn't come all this way just to ask me a question about something that you really already knew."
He froze in the doorway at the sound of Sweetie's voice. Slowly he turned back to look at her.
"Why did you really come here?" she asked.
He stared at her long and hard for a few moments, before lowering his head and sighing in defeat. Slowly he walked back over to the chair that he had just vacated and sat himself back down again. With a deep breath to regain his composure, he spoke again. "This case, the one that I told you about last week... it isn't going so well. The only lead that we have right now is the one that you gave us, and quite frankly it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. We're at a standstill right now, and the higher ups are demanding results."
He paused again before continuing. This time though, his voice was rough and harsh, as though he detested the words that he was about to say. "I've been sent, in behalf of the bureau, to make you an offer. Due to your... expertise... in this particular subject matter, the bureau would like to request your advice and assistance in helping to solve this case. In exchange, they're willing to give you a reduced sentence for your little escape last week."
At his revelation, Sweetie sat there in stunned silence. "You... you want me to come and work for you?"
"No," Graphite responded immediately. "We're not offering you a job. This is just temporary work as a consultant for us. All that you'd do is examine some evidence, help us identify some leads, and fill out some paperwork. Boring stuff like that."
"And how would I be doing all this in here exactly?"
Sweetie Belle couldn't help but notice Graphite cringe at the question. "As part of the consulting, you would temporarily be reassigned to serve your sentence under my direct supervision while working with us."
"You mean... I'd be freed?"
"Temporarily!" he snapped. "Don't think for one second that this is some kind of reward for you. Just because you wouldn't be behind bars like you belong doesn't mean that you still aren't being punished for your crimes." His scowl deepened as he spoke, "I'll make sure of that."
It was clear by that point that Graphite wasn't going to say anything else. Leaning back in her chair, Sweetie gazed up and gave the impression that she was considering her options. "Well. It is the most peculiar offer, I must admit. Of course I'd have to check my schedule, make sure that I'm not missing anything." She turned and looked at the still grumbling stallion and smiled. "Of course, I probably should help out. After all, what sort of upstanding citizen would I be if I didn't assist my local law enforcement once in a while?"
The only response that she got was Graphite burying his head in his hooves, and letting out a loud groan.
~~~
"Since this is going to happen, there's going to be some strict rules you're going to have to follow. So, listen up because I am not going to repeat myself."
After filling out the necessary paperwork and somehow convincing Lieutenant Stardust that he indeed hadn't gone completely insane, a very irate Graphite found himself marching through the halls of the prison towards its exit. Behind him marched several guards escorting Sweetie Belle between them. With her pending release, she had lost the bright orange outfit that represented her imprisonment, as well as the shackles around her legs.
"You're going to be answering to me now, and I expect you to be on your best behavior during this time. If I ask you a question, I expect you to answer it completely, truthfully and immediately. If I ask you to do something, I expect you to do it without question. I've been given full permission to bring you back here if I feel like you're up to something, and believe me when I say that I'll have no problem doing so."
As he ended his small prepared speech while walking through the doorway, he couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of hoofsteps behind him. Turning back he found Sweetie Belle, standing just inside the door's threshold, staring at it as though it was a precious jewel.
His scowl deepened. "Are you even listening?" he asked.
Sweetie broke out of her trance at the sound of Graphite's much more hostile tone. "Oh, I'm sorry," she responded. "It's just that... For the past few years, I've dreamed about what it would feel like to walk through these doors. Now that it's finally happening, it just seems... unreal."
Graphite's ears fell flat against his skull. "You do realize that you're not actually going free? Technically, you are still a prisoner and you're going to be right back in here within a week." Grumbling under his breath so that she couldn't hear him, he added. "Sooner if I can help it."
His complaint was met with a shrug of her shoulders. "Well, I'm going to savor this moment anyways if you don't mind. Especially if it's going to be a while before I get the chance again," she added as she passed through the doorway and into the courtyard.
With a shake of his head, Graphite tuned back towards the exit, muttering all sorts of things. Seeing this, and relishing in her newfound freedom, Sweetie ran up next to him. "Did you just say something? I couldn't quite catch that."
Graphite glared at her with a dirty look, grumbling something else which wouldn't be polite to repeat.
Sweetie Belle pouted. "Now, now. That's not a very nice thing to say to your new partner."
Graphite froze in place. Lowering his head, he stopped and laughed for a moment. "Perhaps you're right," he answered. "Maybe I have been a little bit harsh. Here, why don't I give you something to make up for it?"
He signaled to one of the guards following behind, who walked up next to Sweetie. Reaching into a bag he had slung over his armor, the guard fished around for a moment before producing a rather large ring which he offered to the mare. Sweetie took the ring from him and gave it a good look over. The band itself was very plain being made from a simple silver colored material that seemed rather dull. Around the band were five evenly spaced gemstones. Each gem was a deep red color with an almost cloudy interior.
"Oh, I didn't realize that we had that kind of relationship," she said after getting a good feel for the ring.
Graphite returned the response with a smile. "Just put it on," he answered kindly.
Obediently, Sweetie did so, placing the ring firmly around her horn. No sooner had she though, then the gemstones shimmered and glowed. She didn't have time to notice that however, as a deep chill ran through her, starting at her horn and traveling through her spine to the tip of her tail. Nausea overtook her, and she had to force herself not to vomit right then and there as she felt her legs about to cave out underneath her.
Then just as quickly as the uncomfortable feeling came, it was gone. Still, the brief moment was enough to leave her breathless. "What... what was that..." she asked panting heavily between words.
Graphite smiled from her reaction. "That was the inhibitor ring."
"The... what now?"
"The inhibitor ring," he responded still bearing the same strange smile. "A rather ingenious invention I must say. It provides the same effects as the shield that we're currently encased in, except anywhere that you go. In other words, it will prevent you from casting any magic regardless of where you are.
"But that's not all it does. There's also a simple tracking spell built into the ring as well. At any time, day or night, I can cast a spell that will let me see exactly wherever you are in the world. If you try to run away, or go anywhere that I don't want you to, I'll be informed almost immediately and will be able to track you down just as quickly. Oh, and of course, there is no way for you to remove that ring. That privilege rests solely on me." Seeing the confused look in her eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle again. "You didn't really think that I was just going to let you walk out of here with all your magic intact did you?"
Sweetie didn't respond, mostly because she couldn't. She was still too busy trying to catch her breath from the side effects of the ring activating. Still, she didn't have to speak as Graphite wasn't quite done yet.
"There's one more thing that I should note," he said, leaning in until he was so close to Sweetie's face that his eyes were the only thing that she could see. "We are NOT partners," he hissed in a low voice. "I have never had a partner and I have never needed one. You are simply a tool that I am going to use to solve this case; nothing more and nothing less, and the day that you wear out your usefulness, I will personally see to it that you are thrown right back in here where you belong. Do I make myself clear?"
To his surprise, Sweetie didn't flinch or draw back. Instead, she gazed into his eyes with an expression that he couldn't quite place. "Perfectly," she responded without any form of wavering in her voice.
Satisfied, Graphite pulled back and once again turned his back on the mare and started towards the exit. "Well, now that we've taken care of that, we should probably start thinking about where we're going to keep you for the next week. I figure we could probably find a small hotel room somewhere that could hold you for the time being. Of course, we'll have to make sure that it's as cold and damp as possible. Don't want you to miss this place too much," he said with a laugh.
Once again he noticed that Sweetie wasn't following directly behind him. With a sigh, he turned around to see her standing back a few feet, her front hoof raised straight up like a little schoolfilly with a question to ask. He rolled his eyes at the sight. "What now?" he grumbled.
Sweetie lowered her hoof. "Well, I was just thinking, if it'll be of any help, I've already got a place that I can go to spend the week."
Graphite gave her a cold stare. "And where exactly would that be. All your property was confiscated when you were arrested."
Sweetie smiled, "Well, not everything," she said with a thoughtful smile. "There's a few things that I managed to keep a hold of."
"Alright, fine. I'll bite," Graphite responded with a sigh. "Just what sort of place exactly are you talking about?"
"Oh you know," Sweetie responded. "Nothing too elaborate. Just a little something with the bare necessities to get by."
~~~
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Since the first moment that he had been informed of the Bureau's plans for Sweetie Belle, it had been one nasty surprise after another for Graphite. The shock of each of these events started to wear at him, physically draining his strength. Eventually, in an attempt to save his own sanity, he swore that regardless of what was going to happen, he would not let any surprise from this unfortunate series of events get the better of him.
That's what he told himself at least.
At the moment, however, standing the in middle of one of the nicest buildings he had ever stepped foot in, he completely forgot his promise to himself. The main entry room to the building was eloquently furnished with some of the most expensive furnishings imaginable. Fine art from various periods of Equestrian history hung on each of the walls. The velvet couches sat in the center of the room, just below a crystalline chandelier and surrounded by dark oak tables each bearing some sort of hoof-carved statue also of great value. The wall underneath the staircase was a giant bookshelf, containing all manner of rare and priceless tomes. In the corner was a large dining table adorned with various carvings along its edges and a half-dozen matching chairs surrounding it as well. There was a wine rack in the corner completely stocked, with what he could only assume were some very rare vintages.
His first thought in seeing the place was who the poor ponies were that Sweetie had managed to break into their apartment. However, Sweetie anticipated this concern and managed to produce the deed, stating quite legally that she was indeed the owner of the property. Yet, even as he looked over the document in front of his face, he still couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"This... this can't be real," he muttered around his growing headache. "We seized all your property when you were arrested. There is no way that all of this is yours."
"You've got the document in your own hooves," she responded tapping the paper as if to emphasize it again. "That proves that this is all legally bought and paid for with my own savings."
"Of course, I probably don't have to remind you that you're considered one of the greatest forgers ever to live."
"Allegedly. I've never been arrested for document forgery before," she retorted with a bright smile. "Of course, if you really don't trust me on this, you can go and check the public records."
"I don't," he huffed, tossing the documents onto the nearby table. "And believe me, as soon as you're back in prison, I'm going to launch a full investigation into this place and how you managed to come across it."
"After I'm back in prison?"
He sighed, "Right now, I'm more focused on solving the crime that you're supposed to be helping me with. The sooner we get this over with, the better."
Sweetie stared at him for a moment, before simply shrugging off the comment. "Well then. We probably should get right to it. Don't want to waste any more time than necessary I suppose."
Before Graphite had the chance to respond, Sweetie Belle turned and started trotting up the staircase to the floor above. "And where exactly do you think you're going?" he asked, the frustration evident in his voice.
Sweetie paused between steps and turned to look back at him. "I've got over three years of prison grime in my coat. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate the chance to actually get cleaned up before we start."
Graphite was about to refuse the request, but was quickly cut off again. "Of course, if you'd really like, you could send me back to prison and tell your superiors that you let a robber get away because you couldn't wait 30 minutes for me take a shower. Does that sound better to you?"
Graphite sat at the bottom of the stairs, feeling as though his mane was going to burst into flames from frustration at any moment. Unfortunately, as much as he hated to admit it, this was a battle that he couldn't win. With a wave of his hoof, he dismissed her. "Just hurry."
Satisfied, Sweetie turned and trotted up the remaining steps inviting Graphite to make himself at home while he was waiting. Soon afterwards, he heard the noise of a door being pulled shut, followed by the sound of running water.
Reluctantly, Graphite resigned himself to waiting. Sitting himself down on one of the sofas, he started flipping through the books sitting on the table. While most of them were books about various eras of history or art, there was one in particular at the bottom of the pile that caught his eye. Unlike the others, the binding on this one wasn't nearly as nice. The book itself bore no title or any sort of distinguishing mark. While the other books were still crisp and new looking, the cover of this one was faded and well-worn as though it had been read several times over its life.
Curiosity got the best of the stallion and he levitated the book out from the bottom of the pile. Careful not to damage the frail binding, he flipped the book open to the first page. He had expected it to contain information about some sort of ancient artifact, or something else that would be worth stealing. Instead, he was shocked to find himself looking at a picture of two smiling mares. The younger of the pair was clearly Sweetie Belle, the same green eyes and light pink and purple mane easily identifiable. However, in this particular picture she was much younger than she was now, probably no more than ten years old at the time. The mare standing next to her looked quite a bit like her. Same glossy white coat and a purple mane as well, though hers was solid dark violet and significantly less curly. The pair stood side by side, the elder with her front leg wrapped tightly around Sweetie Belle.
Graphite stared at the unexpected image for only a moment before turning to the next page. To his surprise, there were more pictures. Though each one was different, they all held a common theme. Every picture was of the two mares together. One picture showed the pair sitting around a table, a rather nasty looking spread of dishes all over it. The elder mare looked disgusted while the younger Sweetie beamed proudly. Another picture showed the pair covered in mud, twigs, and other refuse. Despite this, the pair was proudly holding up a red ribbon and smiling. Another picture showed the pair both sitting on a sofa, both having fallen fast asleep next to each other.
He turned through page after page to find similar pictures. The pair standing out in the rain, attempting to make dresses together, or just standing next to each other. Yet in just about every picture, there was the same gentle smile between the two of them; a look of pure happiness.
He was so wrapped up in the album that he didn't even realize that the water had stopped running until he heard the door creak open suddenly. Quick as a flash, he returned the album to its original spot on the table carefully placing the books that had previously buried it back on top. Standing up and trotting quickly over to the stairs he attempted to put on a straight face...
...And failed miserably when he saw the mare come walking down the stairs. He hardly recognized Sweetie Belle anymore as she descended. She had definitely cleaned up quite nicely; her mane and coat where both shimmering now without the grime and dirt from prison all over her. She had put on some makeup; a light pink lipstick and a dark eyeliner.
It was too bad that Graphite barely noticed any of those things, because he was too intent on what she was wearing. She came waltzing down the stairs wearing a complete three piece suit. The suit coat and vest were both an extremely dark grey, though not entirely black. The shirt she was wearing was an off-white and complemented by a solid sapphire necktie. She didn't wear any sort of pants with the suit though, still allowing a very clear view of her cutie mark. What really stood out however, was the Fedora, the exact same color as the suit save for the slightly lighter ribbon wrapped around the base, seated firmly atop her head.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and struck a pose, holding her head up high. "Well," she asked, "what do you think?"
It took Graphite's brain a moment to process the sight now standing in front of him. By the time his brain finally resumed, he could only come up with one thing to say. "What in the name of Tartarus are you wearing?!?"
Sweetie lowered her pose and shot him a look of disgust. "What am I wearing? This is only a custom fitted designer suit by Hoity Toity, hoof stitched by himself might I add."
"Yes, I know what a suit is. What I was referring to was that ridiculous thing perched on top of your head. Are you trying to draw everyponies' attention to yourself?"
Sweetie grabbed the hat from the top of her head. "Ridiculous?" she said, spinning it around in her hooves. "I think that it adds character to the ensemble." Tossing the hat in the air, it flipped around and landed perfectly on her head as she struck another pose. "It's classy."
Graphite stared at her for a minute before shaking his head. "You look better in orange," he muttered turning his back towards her and heading towards the table. Pulling a chair back, he sat himself down and motioned for Sweetie to do the same. "Now, we've wasted more than enough time already with your nonsense. Let's actually talk about this case before I have you arrested for further hindering a police investigation."
With a sigh of defeat, Sweetie trotted over to the seat next to Graphite and sat herself down. Once she was situated, Graphite levitated the counterfeit gemstone out of his pocket and placed it on the table next to her. "Alright," he said, "start talking. Tell me everything you can about this thing."
With a quick glare and a roll of her eyes, Sweetie picked up the gemstone again and started giving it another look over. "Well," she said, "for starters, it's a counterfeit..."
"Yes, thank you," Graphite interrupted harshly, "we already know that. What else can you tell me about it?"
"You didn't let me finish," Sweetie responded. Her tone was much nicer than Graphite's but was still starting to sound a little bit sharper. "As I was saying, it is a counterfeit, but more importantly than that, it's a very good looking counterfeit."
"...And the quality of it is important?"
Reaching up, she held the sapphire towards the window allowing the light to pour through it, bathing her face in a pale blue light. "More than you might imagine actually. You see, to make a really good counterfeit gem, it requires a great deal of time and effort, not to mention very particular and difficult to obtain equipment. You have to take great care not to rush otherwise you end up with internal flaws which make it easily identifiable as a fake."
"And that's how you would make one?"
Sweetie shook her head. "Actually, that's what the problem is. I wouldn't counterfeit one."
Graphite rolled his eyes. "You know, this really isn't the time for you to plead innocence for your past crimes."
"Well, since you mention it, I was indeed framed for all those previous crimes," Sweetie mused with a smile that elicited a groan from the stallion, "but, that's not what I'm talking about. Even if I was going to counterfeit gems, I wouldn't waste my time on one like this."
Graphite's face contorted with confusion. "Why not?"
"Because it's simply not worth the effort," Sweetie responded, setting the false jewel carefully on the table. "True, Baby-Blue Sapphires are rare gems, but they're not something like a pink diamond, or a Fire Ruby. If you go to any sort of jewelry store, you'll find that they usually have a large quantity of them at hoof."
Her ears suddenly perked up as a realization passed through her mind. "Wait. Didn't you tell me that you found this because you were chasing somepony who robbed a jewelry shop?"
"Yes", Graphite responded solemnly. "We were tracking down somepony who robbed the jewelry shop in southern Canterlot about a month ago. Thief managed to smash in through the backdoor and make off with hundreds of stolen gems."
Hearing this, Sweetie Belle leaned back on her chair, folding her front legs in the process and thinking deeply. "So really, the big question is why would a pony who just robbed a jewelry store, and probably got some Baby-Blues out of it in the process, go to the effort to make a good looking counterfeit."
Graphite gave her a hard stare. "You're the expert. You tell me."
She didn't take any note of his rude response, instead she just gazed at the gemstone. "It's a very good looking fake. If it were cut down, I doubt that I would have been able to tell the difference just by looking at it. But even then, the material isn't quite right. Any hardness test should easily prove that it's a fake."
"Yes, that's how the lab confirmed your observation," Graphite noted. "But that still doesn't explain anything."
Sweetie's eyes brightened. "Actually, I think that it does."
Before Graphite could ask for clarification, Sweetie stood up and began pacing as she gave her spiel. "Think about it for a second. Our thief likely already had the gemstones that he was forging. But the difference between those two is that the originals are worth something while the forgeries are not. He probably knew that he wouldn't be able to sell his fakes by themselves because any jeweler would recognize them immediately.
"But, they do have an advantage in one way. They look exactly identical to their real counterparts. If you replaced the original with one of the fakes and didn't give anypony a reason to check, they wouldn't be able to tell that the swap had ever occurred."
When she stopped to take a breath, Graphite stole the conversation. "So, wait a moment. You're saying that our thief broke into a jewelry store, stole a bunch of precious gems, and then went to the trouble of making fakes just to replace the ones that he stole?"
"No," Sweetie responded with a shake of the head, "but close though. Like I said, Baby-Blues aren't really worth all that much by themselves. However, due to their brilliant color, they are sometimes used in different sculptures or precious objects." She looked over at the confused stallion, a bright beaming smile adorning her face. "That's what he's doing. He was making the pieces to forge some sort of priceless treasure; one that has Baby-Blue sapphires somewhere on it."
As she reached her conclusion, Graphite gave her an odd look. "Ok," he said at length. "Making the big assumption that you actually are right about his motives, what is he planning on stealing then?"
Tapping her hoof against the edge of her chin, Sweetie thought about it for only a second, before again lighting up. "I think I might know."
Trotting up to the small library beneath the stairs, she scanned trough the shelves before exclaiming with delight as she pulled an old looking book from its location. Quickly, she skimmed through the pages until she reached the one she desired. Pleased with herself she walked back to the table and handed the tome to Graphite. "This is what they're after," she announced pointing towards something on the page.
Taking the tome in his magical grasp, Graphite floated the book over and stared where she had been pointing. In the midst of the words, was a monochromatic photograph. Though it was faded and worn it was still clear enough. It depicted a rather ornate crown, lavished with all manner of precious gemstones around its base. The main fabric was a deep, dark color, presumably velvet from the looks of it. Around the top of the crown were three different points, each holding a much larger gem of a different color. In the very center sat a tall spire, with a rather large heart shaped jewel fastened firmly at the top of its peak.
Looking up from the old book, Graphite frowned at Sweetie. "What is this exactly?" he pondered.
"That is the Royal Crown of Princess Platinum, one of the founders of Equestria," she responded. "It's said that after the three pony tribes united together, she ordered that a crown be created to symbolize the unity between their leaders. Each one of the peaks represented one of the tribes, while the gem in the center represents the spirit of harmony that brought them together. For the remainder of her life, she kept an eye open for the perfect gemstones to use in making it, and finally succeeded in doing so shortly before her death. The crown was placed on display as a symbol, and has been ever since then." She ended with a smirk. "Honestly, don't they teach you any history before you become an agent?"
Graphite glared at her, but gave no other response to the comment. "You really think that our thief is going to try and steal this thing?"
Sweetie nodded. "I'd bet on it. It wouldn't be the first time somepony tried to steal it before."
"Yes, I noticed that this particular page is bookmarked," Graphite muttered under his breath. Snapping the book shut, he set it down on the table. "Unfortunately, that's just one simple theory. There's no evidence to back it up I'm afraid."
Sweetie could feel her jaw dropping open, but managed to catch it before Graphite could notice. "What do you mean there's not enough evidence? That crown is worth a fortune, it's never touched by anypony, and it has a ring of Baby-Blue Sapphires lining the bottom edge. It fits perfectly." Then, with a sly smile, she continued. "Besides, do you have any better ideas to pursue right now?"
Graphite reached his hoof up, ready to give her a strong response, but felt his argument quickly fizzle away by her logic. Lowering his hoof with a groan, he answered, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least see if the museum has noticed any issues this past week."
"Excellent!" Sweetie exclaimed. "I've been wanting to visit there for a while now. I heard that they got a new painting by Van Trough a couple months ago that I've just been dying to get a good look at."
Before Graphite had the chance to stop her, Sweetie Belle was already out the door and on her way down the street. Once again, Graphite found himself trotting after her, cursing under his breath and silently praying that the earth would open up and swallow him whole.
~~~
The Royal Museum of Canterlot certainty lived up to its name. One of the oldest buildings in the city, it had originally served as the home for the political offices. After Celestia moved the central government there following the fall of Nightmare Moon however, the building found itself quickly becoming obsolete. Not wanting to lose a part of their history, the unicorns then ruling the city suggested that the building be used as a home for Equestrian history instead; an idea that was warmly accepted by the rest of the populace.
Originally the museum only held a few limited artifacts, mostly those things that had been recovered from the now ruined Castle of the Two Sisters in the midst of Everfree. However, as time went on, additional treasures joined the collection. Ancient fossils were stored within its vaults, and scientists came from all over Equestria to research them. Art was also displayed there. Though originally just older pieces, it eventually became the home of many modern ones as well. Overall, in modern days the museum had become a beacon of both history and high society.
For somepony like Sweetie Belle, it was like a filly walking into a candy store. No sooner had she walked through the front entrance did her face brighten with the largest smile imaginable. Forgetting her decorum, she rushed forward, eager to start looking at all the newest treasures that had been added since her last visit. Unfortunately for her, she was brought quickly back to the reality of her situation as she felt her tail tug taut, stopping her in her tracks.
"Don't even think about it," Graphite's gruff voice spoke draining her of her enthusiasm. "We're here to stop a potential theft, not commit one."
Looking back past the sparkling bit of her still grasped tail, she gazed into the glaring eyes of the grumpy unicorn. "I would never dream of it. I'm just excited for history. No crime in that."
Graphite rolled his eyes, releasing his grasp on her as he did so. Without a word he trotted forward and past her. Picking herself back up, she took a moment to readjust her hat before following him into the heart of the museum.
The very center room had once been a large meeting hall. With so much empty space it had become the first display room for the museum. In here, the most prized possessions were displayed proudly amongst the old marble pillars. Stained glass windows adorned each wall, bathing the room in a kaleidoscope of colors, similar to the sea of ponies that were currently meandering between its prizes.
In the very center of this room was a very large display case. There, behind a thick sheet of glass on all sides, resting on a large crimson pillow, was the purpose of their visit; the Royal Crown of Princess Platinum. The picture in the book didn't begin to give it justice. The metal of the crown was a pure gold, laced with dark purple velvet. However, you could barely see this, since almost every inch of the artifact was covered in gemstones. Those running along the bottom were large Baby-Blue Sapphires, while the ones speckled along the remainder of the base were a brilliant yellow Topaz. The three gems representing the three types of ponies were a large white diamond, a deep green emerald, and a shining violet amethyst. But what immediately drew the attention, was the spire in the center, bearing a massive, flawless Fire Ruby.
Sweetie gazed up at the priceless artifact, lost in complete awe. "It sure is amazing, isn't it?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.
Graphite's response however, was still just as grumpy as it always was. "It's alright I guess."
"You guess?" Sweetie exclaimed looking over at her companion in horror. "That crown is one of the most valuable pieces of Equestrian history and you guess it's alright?!?"
Graphite shrugged. "Looks like an overpriced and uncomfortable hat to me."
Sweetie shook her head in disgust. "It's not always about the money or the functionality, you know. Something like this, it's about the story, the legend. This same crown has been here for longer than Princess Celestia's been on the throne. This crown has stood through wars and disasters as a symbol of harmony between the three tribes of ponies." She looked back up at it, a twinkle in her eye. "If only it could talk. I would love to hear the stories that it could tell."
Graphite was far less impressed. "Well," he said at length. "You stay here and talk with the crown; see if you can get any leads that way. I'm going to go find the head of security around here."
"Wait," Sweetie stopped him. "You want to just leave me here? Wouldn't it be better if I came and talked with him as well?"
Graphite shook his head. "I don't think that the museum would like it that much if I let an art thief listen into a conversation about the security for some it's most precious artifacts, do you?" He turned and started walking away. "Just stay here, and for Celestia's sake, keep out of trouble."
"Oh please. What do you think I'm going to do, plot my escape?"
Graphite froze mid-step. He turned back quickly and locked eyes with Sweetie, giving her a rather nasty stare.
They stayed like that for a moment before Sweetie surrendered with a sigh. Raising her right hoof to the square she declared, "I solemnly swear that I will not leave this room while you are gone."
"..."
Sweetie rolled her eyes. "I also swear that I will not steal anything in this room while you're gone either. Satisfied?"
Apparently he was, because he turned away from her and trotted off muttering as he walked.
With Graphite no longer staring down her neck, Sweetie returned her attention back to the room. She tried looking at the crown again, but somehow the promise of not stealing it took a lot of the glamor away. Thankfully, there was something far more interesting in the room to steal her attention. Although it was starting to get late in the day, there was still quite a few ponies visiting at that very moment. Sweetie wandered amongst them, just examining everypony's mannerisms.
There was the obvious tourist, with his garishly out of place shirt and large camera looking at each exhibit like a young colt let loose in a toy store. There was the young couple in the corner, the lady extremely interested in the paintings, while her escort was clearly interested in something else entirely. There was also an older unicorn mare, desperately attempting, and failing, to keep control over the four young colts and fillies running all over the room. And finally, there was the student standing off to the side scribbling in his notebook and staring intently at the crown.
...Or not. She stopped and took another look at the student. He wasn't actually staring directly at the crown. It was subtle, but Sweetie could see his eyes darting just around the crown; right where the corners of the case containing it was located. He'd go back and forth between the eight points, before quickly jotting something down in his notebook. Occasionally, he'd take a quick look around the room, before moving his attention back to the crown, almost as though he was worried about somepony catching him.
Just like somepony casing the area.
Sweetie Belle walked up beside him, hoping to catch a glimpse of his notebook before he noticed her approach. It didn't work however since the moment she got close to him, he quickly shut the notebook and turned his full attention to the crown instead. Undeterred, Sweetie Belle stopped right next to him and turned towards the crown as well. She didn't look at it however, instead giving the stallion a good look over. He was a pegasus whose coat was a light blue with a bright yellow mane. His cutie mark was a simple grouping of dark clouds. He was pretty average build for a stallion, though maybe a little bit taller and more slender than most. He probably could have been an athlete, had he put his mind to it.
"Can I help you?"
Sweetie had been so lost in her own train of thought she hadn't even noticed that the stallion was now frowning at her. Nor had she realized that she had just been staring at his flank while thinking.
Blushing slightly, Sweetie turned back to look the stallion in the eyes. "Oh I'm sorry," she said with a nervous chuckle. "It's just nice to meet somepony who appreciates art like I do."
The pegasus wasn't moved by the comment. Instead, he gave Sweetie a once over, taking in what she was wearing, before turning his attention back to the crown without another word.
Sweetie turned her gaze there as well. "It is beautiful, isn't it?"
"Beautiful doesn't begin to describe it," the stallion responded after a moment's pause. "That crown is simply magnificent, an absolute marvel of pony history."
Sweetie smiled, nodding in agreement. "Yes, it is. I wonder how much something like that is worth."
The stallion didn't miss a beat. "Oh, I'd say about one million bits. Possibly more depending on who was interested in buying it."
"One million?" she responded with a low whistle. "A pony could definitely live well with that kind of money for a while."
He didn't respond, but Sweetie did notice the faint signs of a smile on his face for a moment. When he didn't say anything else, she decided to continue. "I'd sure like to have something like that in my collection."
"As would I," the stallion responded. "It's too bad that it's a one of a kind piece. Nothing else quite like it in the world."
"Of course," Sweetie smiled. "However, I'm sure that some clever pony could figure out some way around that."
He hesitated for a brief moment, just long enough for Sweetie to notice it. "Pardon?"
"Well, I was just thinking, I'm sure a smart stallion such as yourself could come up with some way of getting your hooves on something that precious, wouldn't you agree?" He turned to look at her, but she turned away from him, and back to the crown. "Of course, something like this is bound to have complications. Anypony foolish enough to try and take the crown would surely need some assistance."
The stallion raised an eyebrow at her. "Just what exactly are you insinuating at?"
"Oh nothing much of course," she said turning to face him again. "Simply that there's a lot of things that could go wrong with a heist like that, and any stallion who would attempt it should love to have some help from a mare with similar interests."
"And what could you possibly know about that?"
Sweetie grinned. "Let's just say that I know my way around a museum."
The stallion stared her in the eyes for a moment, the gears in his head visibly cranking away, before he finally broke the gaze with a laugh. "Of course," he chuckled, turning to walk away. "What you're suggesting is completely illegal, and I'd never take part in something like that." He paused briefly, turning his head back towards Sweetie's. "But just so you know. If I was planning on something like that, I wouldn't need anypony's assistance in the matter. Especially not from somepony with such a ridiculous looking hat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things I need to attend to."
With that last word he turned back and started for the door. Sweetie watched him walk away, calling out, "Suit yourself." He didn't bother to respond, instead continuing towards the exit. She continued to watch him, until he had turned the corner and was completely out of sight.
No sooner had he left, did Graphite come wandering into the room through the same door. Sweetie immediately saw him enter, and before he knew it, she rushed up to him as quickly as she could. "I found him!" she exclaimed.
Graphite couldn't help but take a few steps back. "Found... who?"
"The thief! The pony planning on stealing the crown. He just barely left here. Pegasus. Light blue coat. You have to have seen him on the way in here."
Indeed, he had passed by the stallion matching that description on the way in. He responded that he had before asking, "And you think that he's the thief because..?"
Sweetie beamed. "Because he told me."
The gears in Graphite's brain came to an abrupt halt. "He... he what?"
"Yep. He pretty much told me that he was planning on stealing the crown. If we hurry, we can catch him before he gets too far."
"...What do you mean ‘pretty much' told you? Did he actually confess that he was going to steal it?"
"Well," she responded slightly bobbing her head back and forth. "Technically he didn't confess per say, but he didn't deny it either."
Graphite's expression was emotionless. "What then exactly did he say?"
"He told me that if he was going to steal the crown, he wouldn't need my help to do so."
"...You offered to help him? I thought you said you wouldn't steal anything while I was gone."
Sweetie was quick to respond to that one. "And I didn't steal anything. But you never said anything against plotting one. Besides, it worked didn't it? I found the guy you're looking for. Now, we're wasting time sitting here chatting. If we just hurry we can..."
"ENOUGH!!!"
The yell was enough not only to silence Sweetie Belle, but also draw the attention of every single pony in the room. Graphite didn't care however. As Sweetie had been talking, he had felt his blood begin to boil, until it had finally reached its peak. "I don't know what game you're trying to play, but enough is enough," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"...Sorry?"
"Don't you ‘sorry' me," he continued, his face a deep red from his anger. "You've been planning something since the moment you heard we were letting you out. This is all just one big elaborate con isn't it?"
"But I..."
"Don't interrupt me!" he snapped back. "I don't know what it is you plan to gain out of all of this, but I'm putting an end to it right here and now. Whatever it is you're plotting, I'm going to make sure that it does not happen.
"But he..."
"The stallion? That stallion has done nothing wrong as far as I'm concerned. The only pony here with any sort of evil motives is the mare standing in front of me."
"But he confessed!"
Graphite couldn't help but smirk a little. "No Sweetie. He didn't confess. You offered to help him commit a crime and he told you no. That hardly qualifies as a confession. Besides that, it's your word against his and quite frankly, I think I'd take anypony's word over yours right now.
"You know, when my boss told me what they had planned for you, I tried to talk them out of it. I knew that you couldn't be trusted, but they wouldn't listen to me. Told me I just had to give you a chance. Well you certainly blew that didn't you?"
He paused for a moment, and Sweetie took the chance once again to try and defend herself. "But..."
Graphite didn't give her that chance. "Go home," he said bluntly. "You're done wasting my time here." He turned towards the door and started to walk away, before pausing. Turning over his shoulder, he added. "I still have some loose ends to clean up here. I'll make sure that two guards are at your apartment tomorrow to escort you back where you belong." And with that, he turned and trotted off, leaving a very confused and broken Sweetie Belle sitting in the middle of the cold, dark hall.
~~~
Sweetie did go home afterwards, though she took her time getting there. Although she only lived a few blocks from the museum, she took the long way around. She stopped by several places along the way: the old park that she used to frequent, the donut shop in the center of town, the Cliffside boardwalk where new airships were launched. She even stopped outside the palace for a while. Princess Twilight was somewhere in there, and for a brief moment, she entertained the thought that she could request an audience. However, she knew that it would have been a fruitless effort. Like everypony else, Twilight wanted nothing to do with her.
She just had to accept that fact. Nopony wanted anything to do with her anymore.
The sun was just drooping below the horizon by the time Sweetie finally made it back to her apartment. Exhausted, she entered the completely dark apartment, not even bothering to turn on the lights. She pulled her hat off tossing it to the side, not even caring where it landed. She dragged herself to the stairs, loosening her tie as she went. She was so upset as she entered, she didn't notice the pony sitting at her table alone in the dark until she spoke.
"Rough day at work?"
The voice froze Sweetie mid-step, though it didn't cause her to jump. The voice was a little bit raspy, but otherwise was extremely kind. What's more, the voice was familiar; one that she would recognize anywhere.
So, maybe there was at least one pony that still cared about her.
Sweetie turned and walked back down the stairs heading towards the table. As she approached, she noticed that one of the chairs had already been pulled back for her. On the table was an open bottle of wine and an already filled glass next to that. The other mare was already holding her own glass, which from the looks of the bottle, had already been filled a few times before Sweetie's arrival.
Sweetie Belle sat down in her seat, pulling it in as she did so. She picked up the glass looking at its contents. "Healdsburg, '65. Excellent choice, I must say." She sniffed the wine gently, taking a slight sip of the crimson liquid. "Mmmm... even better than I remembered."
The orange pegasus held up her own glass as though making a toast. "I figured you would need some sort of pick me up. I can only imagine the type of day you've been having."
"You have no idea," Sweetie muttered very quietly taking a much larger swig of her own drink than the previous. She nearly drained her glass before pulling it back, smacking her lips from the sharp flavor. She stared at the bottle, her face twisting into a slight frown. "I do appreciate the gesture, but I can't help but notice that this particular bottle is from my own cellar."
The other mare, who was in the middle of taking her own drink, choked slightly from the question. "Well, you don't expect me to have nice stuff like this of my own do you?"
"Of course not, though I'm curious how many other bottles have mysteriously disappeared while I was gone."
"Oh, just a couple," the pegasus said tapping her hoof to her chin thinking deeply. "But don't worry. I made sure to replace each and every one that I took."
"And where'd you find replacements."
The other mare smiled sheepishly. "Um... From your private collection."
Sweetie stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. Reaching for the bottle she poured herself and her friend another glass. Lifting it up, she returned the previous toast with a bright smile. "It's great to see you again Scootaloo."
Scootaloo returned the gesture, and both of them drank until their glasses were dry. As she reached for the bottle, the pegasus mare returned the compliment. "Good to see you too. It's been, what, over three and a half years since the last time we've done this?"
"Something like that," Sweetie nodded while holding out her glass to be refilled. "Even if you had visited, it would have been kind of hard to get stuff this good in there anyways."
Scootaloo's ears fell flat against her head as she filled her own glass. "Yeah, sorry that I never came and visited you. It's just that... you know..."
"You don't have to apologize for that," Sweetie interrupted. "After all, I told you to keep your distance anyways. Somepony had to look after this place while I was gone. Besides, I got your packages and that was more than enough." She gave her friend a bright smile. "And while I'm thinking about it, good job with the makeup. It worked like a charm."
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that actually," Scootaloo responded looking more than a little confused. "I was really surprised to get your letter last month, especially since you only had six months left to go. Then, after all that, you manage to get yourself captured the same day that you escape." She took a long sip of her wine. "What's up with that?"
Sweetie suddenly found her own glass of wine very interesting. She sat in silence reminiscing in past events while slowly twirling the glass and watching its crimson contents swirl around gently. Despite her best efforts, when she started talking again she couldn't control the cracking of her voice. "Rarity," was all she could manage to say.
Scootaloo gave a sad sigh, as she reached to refill her own glass again. "I'm sorry," she said sadly. "What exactly happened?"
"Oh you know," she responded with a frown. "She told me that I was a disappointment and she never wanted to see me again; same as everypony else."
Before Scootaloo could offer her condolences, Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up again. "I just couldn't believe that she would actually say that. In fact, I still don't believe it." She looked up with a certain fire in her eyes. "There's just no way that Rarity would abandon me like that."
Silence overtook the room as Scootaloo tried to figure out the best way to respond. "Sweetie Belle, I know that things have been difficult in the past. I mean, especially after Apple Bl..."
"This has nothing to do with her, alright?" Sweetie suddenly cut her off. "I know it sounds crazy, but I just know there's something else; something that I'm missing. I'm sorry, but I refuse to accept that Rarity would abandon me like that, until I find out what that thing is."
Scootaloo stared up at her for a second, before nodding with a smile. "Alright. If you believe so, then I'll help you out with whatever you need. What's the plan then? We make a break for it tonight?"
"Can't," Sweetie remarked with a shake of her head. Reaching up, she gave the ring around her horn a light tap, drawing Scootaloo's attention to it. "Unfortunately, they planned for that in advance. Still have me chained up."
"Is that what that thing is?" the pegasus queried. "I thought it was just a fashion accessory. What exactly is it?"
Sweetie shrugged. "Apparently, it's called an inhibitor ring. Not only does it prevent me from using my magic, but it gives the authorities the ability to trace me to wherever I am at any time. If I attempt to make a run for it, they'd be on my trail faster than you could say ‘getaway."
Scootaloo rubbed her hoof against her chin, a familiar glint in her eye. "Well, that's not too big of a problem then. All we have to do is pull it off."
Before Sweetie could stop her, Scootaloo reached up and grasped the ring tightly, pulling on it upwards. No sooner had she done so, the gemstones surrounding the edge flared up with a bright crimson light. Pain, far more excruciating than the first time she put the ring on, shot through Sweetie's body like a roaring fire. She screamed as every point on her body began to burn.
Immediately, Scootaloo released her grasp on the object. As soon as she did, the light faded away and the pain subsided. Sweetie collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as the pain was quickly replaced by an overwhelming numbness that lasted long afterwards.
Scootaloo started apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea. Are you alright? Speak to me!"
Sweetie slowly raised herself back up, taking long deep breaths. She lifted her eyes to look straight into her friends. "Scootaloo," she said between pants, a wry smile forming on her face. "Don't ever do that again."
Scootaloo quickly nodded and poured Sweetie another drink. Sweetie gladly accepted it, downing the entire glass in a couple large gulps. Still panting, she explained, "Unfortunately, this stupid thing is enchanted so that only the pony who activated it has the power to remove it. Until he decides to do so, I'm stuck with it."
"Well, that sucks," Scootaloo griped. "Perhaps we could trick the pony who locked it into unlocking it. What's their name?"
Sweetie Belle looked over at Scootaloo, her eyes filled with an odd mixture of anger, sadness, and annoyance. "Agent Graphite."
That hadn't been the right moment for Scootaloo to be taking a sip of her own wine. "Agent Graphite?!?" she spewed. "As in..."
"As in the pony who caught me after five years escaping custody? Yep. That's the one."
"But if he's the one in charge, then that would mean..."
"That he's the one that I've spent the entire day with?" Sweetie finished again. "The one and only, I'm afraid."
Scootaloo stared at her friend, a look of horror on her face. Silently, she lifted Sweetie's glass and poured another drink. Then, taking another look at her friend, Scootaloo tilted the bottle emptying the remaining contents into the glass to the point it was nearly overflowing. "Here," she said handing it back to Sweetie. "I think you need this a lot more than I do right now."
Sweetie didn't argue that point. "That's the understatement of the century," she grumbled as she accepted the glass gratefully. "This entire day has been one nightmare after another."
"I take it he's not too fond of seeing you outside of prison?"
"Not really, no," Sweetie said with a shake of her head. "He's made it very clear that he thinks that I should still be behind bars and has done everything he can to prove that point today."
Scootaloo leaned forward, balancing her chin on her hoof. "Then why'd you accept his offer?"
Sweetie sighed. "They offered me a reduced sentence. What choice did I have?"
Scootaloo simply smiled from the response. "Oh come on. You and I both know that's not true." Sweetie looked up in surprise, but was quickly cut off before she could respond. "I mean, I figured when I heard that you were being released into the government's custody early that you had cut some sort of crazy deal to convince you to work with them." She gave Sweetie an odd stare. "But Agent Graphite? That guy's wanted your head for years now. What in the wide world of Equestria could have possibly convinced you to work with him?"
The entire room seemed to become all the more quiet once Scootaloo finished talking. Sweetie sat and pondered the question, the only sound coming from her occasional sip of wine. The old grandfather clock chimed in the corner, signifying the lateness of the hour. After the ninth and final chime, Sweetie set down her class and began to speak.
"Well," she hesitantly began, "If I'm being truly honest, I guess that it's because..."
Suddenly, she paused, her ears perking up. "Do you hear that?"
Scootaloo's face crunched up. "Hear what?"
Sweetie placed her hoof up to her ear. "It's quiet, but there's a strange ringing sound."
"Oh," Scootaloo snorted with a chuckle. "I've been hearing ringing for a while now, but I just assumed that it was the wine finally taking effect."
"No, no, no," Sweetie shushed her friend, waving her free hoof around. "Just listen, alright?"
With a sigh and a shrug, Scootaloo lifted her own hoof to her ear. At first, she didn't hear a thing and was going to say so, but then...
"... Yeah... Yeah, I can hear it. Kind of a high pitched squealing sound. Sounds like it's coming from just down the street." She straightened up and turned to Sweetie Belle. "What do you think that is?"
Sweetie turned and looked her straight in the eye, the seriousness evident in her voice. "I think it's an alarm."
~~~
Graphite was exhausted. Aside from all of his unpleasant encounters with Sweetie Belle that day, he had just spent the entire afternoon reviewing the museum's security protocols. He hadn't wanted to of course, but discovering that the museum had recently undergone major renovations, he thought it best to thoroughly check their system. After all, he wanted more than anything to prove that Sweetie's ridiculous theory was nothing more than that; a wild guess.
Fast forward several hours later, and he finally found himself dragging his tired body towards the exit. The system had been far more complicated than he had anticipated. Several spells and physical contraptions were spread throughout the museum to monitor any sort of unwanted activity. Displays had very specific charms placed on them that would set off an alarm if anypony attempted to handle its contents. He and the chief of security looked through each of these alarms, especially checking those around Princess Platinum's crown, making absolutely certain that everything was in perfect working order.
Graphite couldn't help but triumphantly smile as he reached the main exit. He had proven that Sweetie was wrong. There was no way that anypony was going to be able to steal that crown. The great bells hanging from Canterlot Tower began to chime signaling that his day was over. The entire world outside was peaceful and calm, and he was eager to join that silence for the evening. Tomorrow he would deal with Sweetie Belle and make sure that she was back where she belonged. Reaching his hoof up to the door, he almost giddily pushed it open...
...and was horrified as all hell broke loose around him.
He threw his hooves up to cover his ears as the sudden blaring of an alarm nearly deafened him. The sound threw him off so wildly, that it took several seconds for him to regain his composure. Initially thinking that his opening the door had set off the alarm, he looked around for some way to silence it. However, as he slowly got back his bearings, he came to a much more horrifying realization. It wasn't just the door's alarm sounding. It was all the alarms in the museum.
Every single one.
Quick as his hooves could carry him, he galloped back the way he had just came, sliding around the corners as he went. Within seconds he reached the main security office. Pushing his way past the guards running around frantically, he burst through the open door.
"What's going on!" he shouted, his voice barely audible over the screeching all around him.
"I don't know," the unicorn in charge of security yelled back. "There seems to be some sort of magical flux affecting the entire area! Everything's gone completely nuts!"
"What's causing it?"
"I have no idea, but it seems to be coming from the labs downstairs!" he screamed in response. "I've got the guards looking into it right now!"
"No! Send them to check on the exhibits!"
"What? I didn't catch that!"
Graphite took a deep breath. "I said..."
He didn't get the chance to finish. Just as suddenly as it had started, the screeching came to a sudden and abrupt halt. Before he had the chance to repeat himself, the door burst open and a couple of unicorn guards came trotting through the door with their heads held high.
Immediately upon seeing them, the chief of security's fear seemed to just melt away. "Oh, please tell me that you've got good news?"
The guard at the head of the group saluted, his face beaming with triumph. "Indeed I do," he answered. "We found the source coming from the lab downstairs. Looks like one of the scientists was playing with some odd crystals during the day and left one slightly charged. Apparently that caused some sort of reaction with another one nearby which was released into the area." He couldn't help but chuckle. "I was sent to inform you that it wouldn't take long to get it to stop, but seeing as how it already has, I don't think that's really necessary anymore."
The unicorn sighed with relief. "Well. Glad to hear that it was nothing more than a scare. We probably should still check the place for anything out of the ordinary, but I'm willing to bet that we don't have much to worry about. Wouldn't you agree Graphite?"
Graphite just stood there frozen with a look of horror on his face. He hadn't heard anything that had just been said, his mind racing towards a possibility he didn't want to consider. At the sound of his own name, he suddenly broke from his stupor. "Check the crown," he said almost robotically.
He ran from the room before anypony could respond to his strange outburst. His mind was completely focused on this one horrifying idea and nothing else mattered to him. Turning the corner, he galloped as though his own life was on the line. He ran past guards, completely ignoring them as he nearly knocked them over along the way.
Soon enough, he found himself back in the main display hall. The entire room was completely empty and still, a stark contrast from the bustling crowds that he found there earlier. Despite this though, everything else was exactly as it had been left. Every artifact was still seated firmly in its place with no signs of disruption. Even the dirt and dust that had accumulated during the day appeared to be untouched. There in the center of it all, sitting upon its satin pillow was the Royal Crown of Princess Platinum, still just as picturesque and elegant as it had been earlier that day. Like everything else in the room, it appeared completely undisturbed.
The chief of security came running in a moment later. An office job had not been good to him, and he was panting slightly when he finally showed up. Finding Graphite standing there with a blank expression on his face, he took a quick glance around the room. Nothing seemed out of place and he smiled signifying that fact. "Well, everything appears to be in order here," he commented between breaths. "You had me worried there for a second."
Graphite didn't respond. He stared intently at the crown, still oblivious to everything going around him. The color had long since drained from his face leaving him nearly white as a ghost. The change was not entirely lost on the security chief. He opened his mouth to ask, but was interrupted before he could get the words out. "Check the crown."
"I... wait, what?"
Graphite answered again, exactly the same as before though perhaps a bit more forcibly. "Check the crown."
The unicorn walked up in front of Graphite, reaching his hoof up to point towards the relic. "Um... Maybe the alarms rattled your brain, but the crown is still sitting right there, safe and sound."
Graphite finally broke his gaze. "That's not what I meant," he answered shaking his head. "I need you to run a full examination on that crown. Every test you possibly can."
The unicorn gave him a weird look. "Um... Testing for what exactly?"
"To see if it's a fake."
The security chief gave him a blank stare, before giving in with a sigh. "Fine. I'll let the scientists downstairs know tomorrow so they can get everything ready for..."
"No," Graphite interrupted forcibly. "Get them here tonight. I want it tested before tomorrow morning."
"...Are you serious?" the guard asked horrified. "Do you have idea how much that would cost for such short notice? Look. I don't know what's gotten into you, but there's no way that a thief could have possibly managed to steal that crown it in such a short amount of time without somepony noticing them. It's inconceivable."
Graphite turned and glared at him. "I don't really care if you disagree with me, but I have reason to seriously believe that crown is a fake, and one way or another it's going to be tested. Now," he said with a stomp of his hoof, "either you can call in your experts to examine it tonight, or I can get a warrant tomorrow and have my own experts look at it." With a smug look he added, "Of course, if that happens, I can't really guarantee that they'd be as gentle as your own ponies would be. Are you really willing to take that risk?"
With a sigh of disgust, the security chief turned and trotted off muttering orders to the other guards to go and gather the scientists right then. He left Graphite sitting alone, gazing up at the crown and praying that this nightmare was indeed just a dream.
~~~
Sweetie paced back and forth in her lobby. Without realizing it, her hoofbeats had come to perfectly match the ticking of the grandfather clock she was so completely focused on. She kept her head down, in some vain attempt to hide her anxiety.
The second that she realized what she had heard, she had wanted to run as quickly as possible to the museum. Thankfully, Scootaloo was still coherent enough to identify how bad of an idea that was. If Sweetie's fears were indeed correct, the worst thing that she could possibly do was to be caught at the scene of the crime. Even if she wasn't caught, neither her nor Scootaloo really understood exactly how her Inhibitor Ring worked. For all they knew, simply leaving her apartment might have been enough to get her into trouble. In the end, they decided that it was better for her to just stay put, while Scootaloo went out to investigate.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but right now, with the anticipation currently bearing down on her, Sweetie was beginning to regret that choice.
She paused her pacing for the moment and looked up at the clock. It was almost 10:30 now. Scootaloo had been gone for just under an hour and a half. With a sigh, Sweetie turned from the clock, resuming her previous course of action. It was after all, the only thing that she could do at the moment.
With each step, her mind kept racing back and forth. Every possible outcome kept rushing through her brain. Although she was still fostering the slight glimmer of hope that things would work out in the end, years of experience kept attempting to bury that. Everything else had gone wrong for her so far today. Why should this be any different?
She was so busy being worried that when the door finally did start to open, she almost missed it. However, the creaking of the hinges on the old door was enough to draw her attention as a tuft of purple mane peaked around the corner. She sighed with relief as the rest of Scootaloo soon appeared afterwards, quickly closing the old door behind her. "You sure took your time. What in Equestria took you so long?"
Scootaloo frowned as she trotted over. "Well, ‘hi' to you too. Sorry that I'm not fast enough for you."
"I'm sorry," Sweetie said quickly. "I'm just really anxious about this whole mess. What did you find out?"
The pegasus' frown quickly disappeared, replaced by a bright smile. "You were right," she answered. "Those alarms that you heard did indeed come from the museum."
Sweetie Belle sat up a little taller. "I knew it. I knew that pegasus was plotting something." She looked her friend in the eye, allowing the glimmer of hope within her to spark. "Did they catch him?"
Scootaloo stepped back slightly, her smile faltering. "Not quite..." she responded hesitantly causing Sweetie's ears to immediately droop. "In fact, word on the street is that they aren't even sure that a crime was actually committed tonight."
With that revelation, Sweetie's entire countenance fell as she slumped over to match. Scootaloo quickly tried to correct the situation. "B... but that's just what I heard of course. They could have just told that story to not alert the press." Seeing that it didn't help improve Sweetie's mood, she tried another tactic. "And even if they don't I'm sure that Agent Graphite will at least look into it, if only to try and prove you wrong."
Sweetie sighed and shook her head. "Don't count on that to change anything. I'd be willing to bet that he still thinks that I'm involved somehow." Slowly, she pulled herself back up and started trotting over to the staircase, her head still hanging low. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. I'll see you in a few years Scoots."
"Wait!" Scootaloo called out, stopping Sweetie Belle at the bottom of the stairs though she kept her head down. "You can't honestly tell me that you're giving up already?"
Sweetie took a moment to respond. "Tomorrow morning Graphite is going to be back here to slap cuffs back on me and drag me away to prison again. What else can I do?"
"Fight back of course!" Scootaloo quickly answered. "If they're not going to do anything about it, then you'll just have to go and catch the guy for them!"
Sweetie turned back, giving her friend a mean glare in the process. "And then what?" she barked back. "Even if I caught the guy, they still wouldn't listen to me. I'm a criminal, remember? It would be my word against his, and I guarantee that they would take his over mine."
Turning round again, Sweetie sighed and began trotting up the stairs. "I'm sorry Scootaloo, but it's over. I doubt anything that I did at this point would get anypony's attention. Well, anything except for..."
She stopped both speaking and her movement. For a moment, she just stood there, frozen as though she had just seen a cockatrice. It was just long enough for Scootaloo to get worried. Then, in an instant Sweetie turned around, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her pupils danced back and forth as the gears in her head churned with this new information they had just realized. Quick as a flash, she ran back down the stairs and over to the large mirror hanging in the main entry way. As she stared at her own reflection, the corners of her mouth began to pull upwards.
"Maybe you're right Scootaloo," she said turning to her friend with a glimmer in her eye. "Perhaps I still have one trick left up my sleeve."
~~~
It was still dark when Golden Gem arrived at the bureau's office. For years now, she had made a habit of coming in before the crack of dawn. She enjoyed being there before everypony else arrived. The quiet silence that permeated the building was a nice change from the remainder of the day. Once the others showed up, the office would turn into a swarm of chaos as ponies rushed about around her. But in the early morning, she had the ability to fill out her reports for the day without interruption.
This had been her habit for quite a while now, and one that she was more than happy to enjoy alone. So when she reached the building and found the doors unlocked, she was more than a little surprised. She entered, although very hesitantly, since the building's main lights had not been lit. Leaving her briefcase by her desk, she wandered for a moment looking for some sign of life. It didn't take her very long though, as she turned the corner to the main hallway and found a single light on at the very end. Cautiously she peeked into the lit room and looked around. There, staring out the window was a very familiar stallion.
She relaxed. "Boss," she said walking up to Graphite. "You scared me there for a minute. What in Luna's name are you doing here so early?"
As she walked up to him, she took a good look at his appearance. His coat was ragged and his mane was unkempt. He looked at her, and she noticed his eyes were red with large bags forming under them. "Have you been here all night?"
He sighed. "No," he muttered, "Most the night I've been at the museum. Just got here about an hour ago."
"And you've been awake the entire time? Why?"
Instead of answering he pointed towards the large conference table in the middle of the room. Golden Gem turned to look at it and noticed a single taupe folder lying on top. She walked over to it, and fanned it open looking over its contents. Her eyes got wide as she read the report. "The Royal Crown of Princess Platinum is a fake?"
Agent Graphite slowly nodded. "Every test came back positive. The real crown has been stolen."
"But... when?"
"Last night," he answered pawing at the ground. "Probably just after 9:00. There was a fault in the security and that's likely when it happened."
Golden Gem snapped the folder shut. "Well, we need to get on this immediately then. I'll alert the royal guard. If we hurry, we can make sure that the thief doesn't get out of..."
"I should have listened to her," Graphite suddenly muttered.
It was quiet, but just loud enough to catch Golden Gem's interest. Her eyebrow raised as she looked at him. "Listened to whom?"
"Sweetie Belle."
"Wait, you mean Sweetie knew this was going to happen?"
He nodded. "She's the one who got me looking into the museum in the first place. If she hadn't pointed it out, chances are we wouldn't have even known that the real crown was missing until several months from now." He reached up and buried his snout into his hooves. "How could I have been so stupid?"
Golden Gem slowly walked over to her boss, placing her hoof upon his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Oh, this isn't your fault. Sweetie Belle's a dirty-rotten crook. She's always been a dirty-rotten crook. Of course you didn't believe her. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she stole the crown herself."
Graphite shook his head at that comment. "Highly unlikely. I checked up on her several times throughout the night. She didn't leave her apartment the entire evening." He gazed back at his associate and gave her a weak smile. "Besides, if she was planning on stealing it, do you really think she'd be dumb enough to put me on her trail when she knew that we had no idea what was going on?"
The yellow unicorn mulled it over, but didn't get the chance to respond. Graphite turned back and resumed his position looking out the window. "I should have listened to her Golden. I should have listened to her. But..." he closed his eyes, cringing from the words he was bringing himself to say. "But, I just couldn't bring myself to believe her. I was so sure that she was up to something that I wasn't even willing to give her the chance. I think... I think that deep down, I really just wanted to see her fail."
He kept his eyes shut and his head bowed as he slowly shook it back and forth. "If I had just given her a chance, none of this would have happened. This really was all my fault."
The room fell silent as he finished his confession, the weight of what he'd just said filling the room with an uneasy tension. Golden Gem paused for a minute, contemplating how to respond. Finally, she opened her mouth with a sigh. "Nopony is blaming you for this Graphite. You did exactly what any one of us in your position would have done." She reached up and grabbed his face, forcing him to look her square in the eye. "Now you can't change what happened yesterday, but right now you can make it better by going out and catching that thief."
That was enough. The determination in her eyes and voice sparked his own deep within him. His eyes burned with conviction as he stood up tall. "You're right," he answered, his voice firm. "We don't have any time to waste on me feeling sorry for myself. We are going to go out there and find this guy. We are going to make him regret what he did." He reached up and straightened his tie, now completely full of vigor. "We are going to go and catch..."
Before he could finish, his horn lit up with a pale blue light. The light trickled down until it filled his eyes as well. He sat there, with a dazed look on his face for just a second, when the light suddenly dissipated. No sooner had it left, than the fire in his eyes burned again, but this time it was different. No longer was it a flame of determination, but it was a fire of anger. "Sweetie Belle..." he growled.
Golden Gem took a step back, slightly frightened by the sudden change of appearance. "Sweetie Belle?" she asked. "What about her?"
Graphite looked at Golden Gem and growled again. "She's trying to run."
~~~
The break of dawn found a blue pegasus named Swiftbreeze moving quickly through the nearly empty streets of Canterlot; though not too quickly. Although the night had so far proven that nopony was on his trail, he wasn't willing to take any unnecessary chances. Guarding the large saddlebag hanging over his back closely, he carefully made his way around the few carts and ponies who had woken early to prepare for the day. He didn't bother to talk to any of them or even make eye contact. He was frantic to get away and didn't need any distractions right now.
Soon enough he found himself at his destination, the southern gates of Canterlot. He paused just at the threshold, straining his vision for some sign of life. He had cased this gate for several weeks now looking for an opening. True, the guards didn't normally stop ponies entering or leaving the city, but he wasn't willing to take that chance. Fortunately for him, he discovered that a couple of guards had the habit of leaving for a few minutes to grab breakfast whenever they were on duty together. Relief swept over him now, seeing that they had once again kept to this habit.
Quickly and carefully he headed out the exit. Had anypony actually seen him, they likely would have had reason to be suspicious thanks to his quick head-darting as he scanned the area for life one last time. Thankfully for him though, there wasn't a soul in the area watching as he passed through the threshold and over the bridge outside.
When his front hooves finally touched the dirt path, his nervousness quickly vanished, replaced by feelings of pure elation. He had actually done it. He had managed to not only preform the greatest theft of his life, but had managed to get away without a single pony noticing. It was all he could do to stop himself from galloping down the path at top speed. Instead he settled for a trot that would not have been entirely wrong to call skipping. Once he was down the street and out of regular view, it would only be a quick flight to Las Pegasus and then he would be completely home free. Not a soul was even aware of the events that had transpired yesterday and it would be months before anypony...
"So... you actually managed to do it."
The sudden voice nearly knocked the high-strung stallion onto his face. Instinctively grasping the bag around his back, he darted his eyes around looking for the speaker. In vain he searched for a moment, before the sound of clapping behind him caught his attention. He spun around quickly to find the intruder, a white unicorn mare wearing a rather stylish suit and fedora blocking her eyes and leaning up against a tree.
He recognized her immediately. "You," he said, allowing himself to loosen up slightly, though his grasp on his bag intensified. "You're that mare from the museum yesterday."
Sweetie raised her head just to the point that her bright green eyes met his. She quit her slow clapping. "You recognize me? Good, that saves me the trouble of having to reintroduce myself."
She stepped away from the tree and started trotting over towards the stallion. As she approached, he took a couple of steps back never releasing his firm grip on his bag. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Come to rob me?"
Sweetie didn't slow her approach. She smiled at the stallion. "And what makes you think I'd do something like that?"
He glared at her in return. "Oh I don't know; probably because you're one of the most notorious con mares and thieves ever seen in Equestria."
That wasn't enough to stop Sweetie's approach. Her smile intensified. "Not only does he recognize me, but he's even done his research. Well done."
He quit stepping backwards, more curious than nervous at the moment, though he still was prepared to fly away in a moment's notice. "Wasn't really that hard actually. All I had to do was ask around about a white mare with a stupid hat."
Now that stopped Sweetie in her tracks as she reached up to adjust the fedora. "Hey," she exclaimed with a frown. "I happen to like this ‘stupid' hat, thank you very much."
"Well regardless," Swiftbreeze quickly cut her off, "if you don't mind I'd really rather not be robbed by anypony today, so..."
Sweetie chuckled cutting him off. "Oh relax," she said looking beyond him towards the rising sun. "I'm not here to rob you."
While that comment did nothing to relieve Swiftbreeze's nervousness, it did arouse his curiosity. "Oh?" he questioned. "Then just why exactly are you here?"
Sweetie didn't turn back. "I just figured I'd come and congratulate you. Celestia knows how long I've had my eye on that crown, and you managed to just walk right in and take it. So, very well done."
Swiftbreeze gave her a blank look for a moment, not really sure how he should respond. When he finally realized that her congratulations was indeed sincere, he allowed himself to ease up ever so slightly and smile back at her. But before he had the chance to thank her for the compliment, she spoke up again. "Of course, that's not the only reason that I came here," she said, immediately putting the stallion on edge again. She turned back to him and flashed him a smile. "I have a proposition for you."
~~~
While Sweetie Belle and Swiftbreeze talked, they were completely oblivious to the appearance of a dozen pairs of eyes approaching them from the woods. The small legion of guards followed close behind Graphite as he led them silently through the trees. His horn glowed lightly as the scrying spell pointed him to where Sweetie had run off to. At first he had thought that there was some sort of mistake as the spell led to just outside of Canterlot's main wall, but as they cleared the thickest part of the forest, he was pleasantly surprised to see Sweetie Belle just standing there on the main path.
Apparently the guards were quite surprised as well, not expecting their jobs to be quite that easy. "Looks like that ring of yours actually does work," the chief whispered to Graphite as they all kept their heads down. Turning back to his guards he quietly gave them their orders. "Alright, the target is in sight. On the count of three, prepare to rush out and apprehend the criminal. Ready? 1... 2..."
"Wait," Graphite suddenly interrupted, holding up his hoof to stop them. As he looked over the scene, something about it didn't stand out as quite right to him. Not only did it not appear that Sweetie was attempting to run, but something about the stallion she was talking to struck him as a little odd, not to mention a little bit familiar.
The guard's chief was not pleased to be silenced. "And what exactly are we waiting for? This is the perfect time to strike."
"No," Graphite whispered in response. "Not quite yet. I'm curious to see exactly what she's talking about with that stallion. It could be important in figuring out why she escaped." Turning back he saw that his comment did nothing to alleviate the angry guard. "And if we know that," he explained further, "we might be able to get her locked away for a very long time."
The guard mulled it over for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Alright, fine. We'll wait for your signal," he muttered. Then shooting Graphite a nasty look added, "I just hope that you don't end up regretting that decision later."
Graphite turned away from the guard and put his focus back squarely on Sweetie Belle. "You and me both," he sighed. "You and me both..."
~~~
"What sort of proposition?" Swiftbreeze cautiously asked, his eyes darting back and forth in anticipation of some sort of attack.
Sweetie recognized his hesitation and chuckled at his reaction. "Oh relax," she playfully answered. "There's nothing to be worried about. It's just a friendly offer; nothing more or less."
Her reaffirmation did nothing to sooth his nerves. "I'll believe that only after you tell me what you want."
In all honesty, Sweetie was glad to see that he was nervous around her. While not as good as other expressions, his nervousness meant that he was currently very emotional.
And emotional ponies made mistakes.
"Eager to get right to business? I can respect that," she answered before putting on her most managerial tone. "I simply want to reiterate the same offer I made you yesterday."
"...and that was?"
Sweetie pouted at the response. "Have you forgotten already? Looks like you need my help more than I realized." She straightened up. "I'm offering my unique skill set. I help you steal the crown and make a clean getaway, and we split the profits between the two of us."
The entire area went dead silent as she finished speaking. Swiftbreeze stared at her blanking desperately trying to wrap his brain around her proposal. "You want... to do what..?" he finally managed to get out.
"It's quite simple really," Sweetie responded. "I help you steal the crown and we split the profits 50/50."
Swiftbreeze stared at her for another moment then took a quick look around him before turning back to her with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize where we are right now, don't you?"
She darted her eyes left and right quickly admiring the green trees all around them. When her eyes returned to meet his, she gave him a sheepish smile. "Alright," she said. "70/30 then."
At first, his expression didn't change. He managed to keep the same deadpan expression as he started to chuckle. Too soon however, his laughter erupted into an uncontrolled fit wiping the look on his face away with it. "You're serious," he exclaimed between breaths, "You're actually serious. That is... Wow... That is quite possibly the most pathetic thing I have ever heard."
Sweetie didn't bother to respond, instead opting to just sit and smile as his laughter started to die down. Reaching up, Swiftbreeze wiped the tears from his eyes. "Well," he said with a slight wheezing in his voice, "I do appreciate the send-off, honestly I do. I'm always in the mood for a good joke now and again." With another chuckle he added, "But, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your most generous offer." Turning his back to her, he started down the path again. "Now if you'll excuse me. I have some money to go make."
Sweetie watched as he trotted off still laughing along the way. Although her expression was calm, it was a mask to her true thoughts. That conversation had not gone exactly as she planned. If he walked away now, there would be nothing stopping her from heading straight back to prison. She grimaced internally from the thought. She had tried flattery, and laughter with no success. Thankfully, there was still one last thing she had yet to try.
"Suit yourself then," she yelled out after him just as he was starting to get a decent distance between them. "I just thought you'd like some help from a real thief."
He stuttered in his step, though only for a moment. Turning his head back, he yelled back to her, "Oh, and what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Oh you know. I just figured that an amateur like you would like to learn some actual skills from an expert."
Swiftbreeze stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around to face her, the jovial expression from early gone. "Excuse me?" he asked, with no attempt to mask the anger in his voice.
Sweetie Belle smiled from his reaction. "I mean no disrespect of course. It's just that your little heist was really pretty sloppy to be honest."
"Excuse me?" he repeated again just as before, starting to make his way back up towards her.
"Again, I mean no disrespect, but I could have done so much better of a job; at least one much better than your hacked together plan."
"And what exactly was wrong with my plan?"
"Oh nothing bad of course," Sweetie responded as sweetly as she could. "Actually, it was rather beautifully executed for how flawed it was."
By this point, Swiftbreeze had nearly made his way back up to where Sweetie was standing. "Flawed?" He answered gruffly. "Flawed how exactly?"
"Well, maybe flawed isn't the right word. I think ‘inelegant' would probably be a better term."
When he didn't respond, Sweetie continued with a shrug. "All I'm saying is that it wasn't really the cleanest getaway. I mean, you managed to set off every single alarm. Not a very smart move if you ask me."
"Did you ever think that maybe that was the original intention? A smokescreen if you will."
"Well, of course I know why you did it," she responded, dismissing his argument with a wave of her hoof. "But that's the problem with your plan. You didn't make a clean getaway. You let them know that you were there."
"Peh," Swiftbreeze spat turning and starting to trot away again. "Last I heard, they assumed it was nothing more than a glitch in the system. And from the looks of it, it'll be several months before anypony knows that anything even happened."
Sweetie gave him a smirk behind his back. "I figured it out, didn't I?"
That stopped him dead in his tracks again. "Was that a threat?" he hissed turning back.
Sweetie chuckled and shook her head. "No, that wasn't a threat. Besides, do you honestly expect that anypony would take the word of a thief like me?"
He mulled that over for a second. "You have a point there. Of course, I can't help but wonder then, why should I take your word at all?"
"Because I've got experience. I can help you escape. I've been playing this game a lot longer than an amateur like yourself."
At her use of the word ‘amateur' again, Swiftbreeze's right ear twitched involuntarily. "Oh, and you're so much better I suppose? Well, let me ask you something. Which one of us is the only one who managed to get themselves caught?"
Sweetie smiled. "Well, personally, I like to think that I turned myself in..."
"Oh please," he sneered getting in closer. "You're just saying that because you're an old half-rate thief who has to resort to begging just to try and get some money. I'm a much better thief than you and you know it!"
Despite his menacing advances, Sweetie didn't back down. "You wish," she mockingly responded. "You couldn't take candy from a foal."
"Oh I couldn't could I?" Swiftbreeze responded, reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out the large, dazzling crown; its gems glistening in the morning sunlight. He held it up, just out of her reach and where the gleam from the reflection would shine directly into her face. "If I'm such a terrible thief, then how did I get this huh? I'll tell you how; I stole it. Me! Without any help from anypony, especially not some worthless washed-up criminal such as yourself! So what do you have to say about that?"
Sweetie stared up at the crown, basking in awe at its majesty. Slowly a smile formed on her lips. Then, she did something that Swiftbreeze was not expecting. She quickly raised her head and shouted at the top of her lungs, "IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!?!"
Swiftbreeze didn't even have the chance to try and comprehend what just happened, before a half-dozen unicorn guards came charging out from their hiding spots. Panic took over, as he quickly shoved the crown back into his bag. Pushing Sweetie aside, he attempted to get airborne, only to find another half-dozen guards already in the air waiting for him. They quickly grabbed him and forced him to the ground.
Fruitlessly, he struggled against his captor's grasp until he heard the sound of somepony chuckling behind him. He could just turn his head enough to see a dark grey unicorn in silver armor approaching alongside him. "Well, well, well," the new pony said still laughing to himself as he scooped up Swiftbreeze's bag with his magic. "Planning on taking a long trip were we? I sure hope that you remembered your toothbrush." With a smile, he opened the bag. "Let me just go ahead and check for you." Carefully, he levitated out the golden crown, and took a minute to admire it. "And what do we have here?"
Swiftbreeze struggled again, but the guards kept their hold. "I swear sir. Th... that's not mine. It was that unicorn I was with. She's the one who stole it. She's a master thief. Trust me! Her name is Sweetie Belle. Just look her up, you'll find her real quick."
Graphite looked down at the blue pegasus and smiled. "Oh, I already know that. About her being the thief I mean. In fact, not only is she a thief, but she's a thief who is currently breaking her parole by attempting to leave Canterlot." He leaned in closer to the pegasus. "We've actually been following her all morning long so that we could apprehend her, and let me tell you, we've heard some very interesting conversations along the way. Got anything to say to that?"
Swiftbreeze turned his head away. The only response he gave was a sigh.
Graphite smiled. "That's what I thought." Looking towards the guards he gave them the motion adding, "Take him away."
As he watched the guards drag the crook away, Graphite carefully returned the crown to its bag and levitated it over to one of the other unicorn guards for safekeeping. As he did so, he noticed an odd sight. Lying in the middle of the road all by itself, was a black fedora. He trotted over to it, levitating it up towards him and giving it a quick brush off. "I almost expected you to be halfway to Ponyville by now."
Seemingly from out of nowhere, Sweetie trotted up and sat down beside him. "Me? Run away?" she asked with a bright smile. "I'd never dream of doing something so stupid. I know that you'd send the cavalry after me in a heartbeat if I even attempted something like that."
"You do realize that this was one of your stupidest ideas yet, right?"
Sweetie shrugged. "What else could I do? You wouldn't listen to me." She turned her gaze to the now risen sun. "Besides, it worked didn't it?"
Graphite didn't respond to that. Instead he kept his gaze focused solely on the hat held in his magical grasp. "This is still a really ugly hat."
Sweetie chuckled. "Well, I happen to like it, regardless of what you think about it." She turned to Graphite, who didn't return the gaze. After a moment of silence from him, her ears drooped and she turned her attention to the ground with a sigh. "Can you at least promise me that you'll take it back to my place after you order your guards to drag me away as well? I'd rather not lose it at prison if you don't mind."
There was silence again for a moment, long enough that Sweetie felt that she should say something else. Before she had the chance however, she found the hat shifting over until it was dangling just in front of her. She turned to Graphite, only to see him stoically looking towards the horizon. "Why don't you take it back instead," he answered.
Sweetie paused for a moment, before reaching up and grabbing the hat. "You don't mean..."
"I'm mean after all," he interrupted. "It's going to take a couple of days to fill out all the paperwork on this case, and I'm going to have to record your statement as well. Quite frankly it would just be so much of a hassle to have to go back and forth to the prison for all of that."
Sweetie grasped the hat a little tighter. "You mean..."
"Go home Sweetie," Graphite stopped her again, turning towards her. The faintest hints of a smile seemed to form on his face. "You've earned it."
She stared at him for a moment, before brightening up like a firefly. Expertly, she twirled the fedora in her hooves, before placing it squarely on her head. The move earned her an eye-roll and the faintest sound of a chuckle from Graphite. With a salute, she turned and started walking back towards Canterlot's main gate.
"Just don't get too comfortable," Graphite called back causing her to stop. "You're still going back to prison once this is all over with."
She paused and looked at Graphite, who hadn't bothered to turn and look back at her. Without a word, she turned and continued her journey through the gates leaving the grey unicorn alone with the horizon.
No sooner had she reentered the city, she found herself walking alongside a familiar face. "So, I take from the lack of chains around your hooves that this crazy idea of yours actually worked?"
Sweetie turned and looked at her friend. "You didn't doubt me did you?"
Scootaloo laughed. "Of course not. I'm just a little surprised that Graphite was willing to let you walk away like that. I figured he'd be all up at arms to put you right back into prison."
"You and me both," Sweetie said thoughtfully, taking a look back towards the just visible unicorn still seated with his back towards her. "It was quite a shock that he gave me a couple of days as well."
"A couple of days huh..." Scootaloo scratched her chin. "Well, that's not a lot to work with, but if we put our minds to it I'm sure that we can come up with something fun to do. Can't let an opportunity like this go to waste after all."
That caused Sweetie to stop, prompting the orange pegasus to as well. She had a wicked smile on her face. "No, we can't let something like this go to waste, can we?"
Scootaloo grinned as well. "I know that look," she remarked. "What do you have in mind?"
Sweetie rubbed her hooves together, a visual sign of the gears churning in her head. "I'm going to write a letter."
~~~
A couple of days later, just before noon on a bright spring day found Graphite standing outside Sweetie's apartment. The past few days had been some of the best of his career. Sweetie's and his work in managing to catch Swiftbreeze before anypony else had even noticed that a crime had been committed had earned him quite a bit of praise from his superiors.
Yet, as he walked up to Sweetie's front door he couldn't help but scowl. Any positive emotions from the past few days had been killed off that morning. He didn't bother to knock, instead pushing the door wide open and stepping inside. Part of him half expected to find the place completely vacated since his last visit, but he was disappointed when he found the main sitting room still just as immaculate as when he left it.
Upon hearing the old door creak as he entered, the apartment's resident, currently lounging on the couch, lifted her head from the book she was engaged in. Seeing who it was, Sweetie gave him a small smile. "Agent Graphite," she said, the tone reminding him too much of their brief encounter just over a week previous. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
He couldn't help but give her a quick look over. Both her coat and mane were sparkling clean. It was more apparent due to the fact that she wasn't wearing the suit that he had practically always seen her wearing. Somewhat surprisingly, she wasn't wearing anything save for the same old ridiculous looking hat lying limply over her mane, and the inhibitor ring still glowing with its faint red light.
"Been keeping out of trouble, I hope," he said without a single hint of emotion in his voice.
Sweetie chuckled. Reaching down, she picked up the wine glass she had sitting next to her. "Now really?" she asked, taking a sip of the drink, "what kind of pony do you think I am?"
He ignored her playful response trotting over towards her. "Don't you think it's a little bit early in the day to be drinking?"
"Well," she answered with a shrug. "I wasn't sure exactly when you'd be coming for me. Figured I might as well, just in case it's the last drink I get for a while." Tilting her glass, she finished off the contents with the a satisfying smack of her lips. "Before you chain me back up, could I at least offer you a glass as well?"
When he didn't respond, she turned to look at him. His head was tilted down and his eyes were darting back and forth. His face was contorted, almost as if he was in some sort of pain. The sight caused her to brighten up a little bit. "Unless of course, you've got something that you're not telling me... don't you?"
Graphite's eyes snapped up as he glared at the white mare. Through gritted teeth he spoke, "I'm supposed to inform you that the Captain of the Royal Guard received your letter."
"Oh really?" Sweetie answered with a light-hearted laugh. "And what exactly did he have to say about it?"
"...he accepts..."
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that."
Graphite sighed. "The royal guard is graciously willing to accept your offer. In exchange for your continued contributions to the bureau, you will be allowed to serve the remainder of your sentence out of prison on parole."
Sweetie beamed. "You mean..."
"It'll be the same arrangement as you have right now. You'll have very strict rules including having to keep that inhibitor ring on at all times. Also, you'll be serving the rest of your sentence under... my... direct supervision." He spit out that last sentence like it was venomous.
Sweetie Belle on the other hoof was elated by this news. "Well, she said with a bright smile. Let me say that it's a pleasure to be..."
Again, he silenced her, this time by raising his hoof and pointing it directly in front of her face. "Save it," he growled. "I know you're up to something. Nopony else seems to be able to notice it, but let me tell you I do."
Sweetie wasn't deterred by his actions. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked sweetly.
Graphite saw right through the façade. "Look," he said forcefully. "I'm willing to give you a chance to prove that you're actually willing to help us out. You did good work this week. Keep doing work like that and maybe this next year won't be that terrible." He leaned in close, "But, I'm only going to give you this one warning. If you try anything stupid, if you overstep your bounds at all, I will catch you and I will make you regret it. Got it?"
Again, Sweetie didn't back down. Instead she leaned forward until their horns were almost touching. "Got it."
They stayed like that for a moment before Graphite finally pulled away and turned, heading towards the door. "You start work tomorrow. I'll be here for you at six o'clock sharp. Don't make me wait." And with that last word, he stepped through the door slamming it shut behind him.
No sooner had the door slammed shut, the third pony in the room, who had managed to remain hidden the entire time spoke up. "Wow. You really weren't kidding about that guy were you? Nothing but smiles and sunbeams with him."
Sweetie, who had still been sitting up tall, finally allowed herself to relax with a deep exhale. "Oh, I don't know about that. I think that he's starting to warm up to me actually."
Scootaloo laughed, coming out from behind the bookcase where she had been hiding. "If that's him in a good mood, I'd hate to see him on a bad day." Sitting down next to Sweetie, she grabbed the open bottle of wine and refilled Sweetie's glass, taking it for herself. "I still think that you're nuts for even considering working alongside him."
The white mare just shrugged. "Small price to pay to stay out of prison. If worse comes to worst, I'm sure I can figure out some way to get rid of this thing and escape," she said tapping the silver ring around her horn. "Besides, if I got sent back to prison, there's no way I'll be able to figure out what really happened to Rarity."
Scootaloo sighed. "You're really dead set on finding her aren't you?"
Sweetie's head drooped down. "You don't understand Scoots. I know there's something wrong with her. She would never just up and leave like that. I... I have to find her. I just have to."
"I figured you'd say that," Scootaloo responded taking a large sip of her wine. "That's why I got something for you."
Sweetie looked on in curiosity as her friend reached back grabbing a small white envelope from underneath her wings. With a smile, the pegasus handed it over the unicorn who grabbed it carefully while giving it a quick gaze. The envelope itself was very basic, if a little bit dusty and worn around the edges. The entire envelope was blank save for in the very center written in large calligraphy the letters, "SB".
"Where did you get this?" the unicorn asked in awe.
"After you told me about what happened between you and Rarity, I figured I should check it out for myself," she said with a shrug. "So I went over to her old place and took a quick look around to see if I could find anything. Well, I managed to find that thing hidden down in her old wine cellar between a couple of racks."
"Oh really? And what exactly were you doing down there I wonder?"
Scootaloo took another, much larger sip of wine feigning her best innocent expression. "No comment."
Sweetie chuckled and turned her attention back to the envelope. "It's already been opened. Have you already read it?"
Scootaloo nodded. "I did. I wasn't sure if I should have even told you about it or not, but now... I figure it's best if you just read it yourself."
Sweetie gave her friend a confused look, but quickly shrugged it off. Excitedly, she pulled the single sheet of paper from the envelope and unfolded it. Her heart leapt as she began to read the familiar cursive writing.
My Darling Sweetie Belle,
...
~~~
End of Episode 1
Author's Note
Next time on White Collar: Head in the Clouds
Episode 2: Head in the Clouds
White Collar
By TailsFox88
Episode 2: Head in the Clouds
~~~
*Thunk*
Sweetie watched with jaw hung low as the massive stack of folders fell, landing with a sickening thump just in front of her and between an additional two nearly identical stacks. Not only did the old desk she was seated at groan and shake from this new load, but the entire room reverberated in response as well. A couple of papers slipped from their folders at the top of the pile and gently fell to the floor almost as one final mockery.
"Seriously?" Sweetie Belle asked after the room finally settled back to normal.
Graphite's head popped up from where it was hidden behind the three-foot stacks. "Oh, I'm quite serious," he answered smiling down at her. "Maintaining paperwork is one of the most important jobs that we have to do here at the bureau. We have to keep a record of everything that goes on after all."
Sweetie's brain was still attempting to wrap around the task in front of her. "And you want me to..?"
"Double check them of course," Graphite said trotted around the piles so that he was in clear view. "It's about time for the department's annual review. I want to make sure that everything is in top shape before that happens. That means that we need somepony to go through and verify that all the forms for the past year have been properly filled out and filed correctly. Normally we hire a few ponies to take a week and do this, but I figure, what better way to get you familiar with the inner workings of the legal system? Don't you agree?"
With a glare, Sweetie grabbed the top folder from the nearest pile. Fanning it open, she peered over the alien looking forms and figures. The dozens of boxes and checklists melded together with the illegible writing into a conglomerated mess of ink that simultaneously made her nauseous and drowsy just by scanning it. "I'm supposed to review every single one of these?"
Graphite nodded. "And verify that every name, date, and box is properly filled out and consistent between each and every form."
"But there has to be over a thousand forms here!"
"One-thousand, four-hundred and sixty-four to be exact."
Sweetie stared at the massive stacks in front of her again. "You guys really fill out that much paperwork in a single year?"
Graphite laughed. "Oh, don't be ridiculous," he answered shaking his head. Reaching up, he patted the top of the largest pile and smirked. "This is just the past three months."
Had her face had any, it would have drained in color as the weight of the situation compounded. Placing her head in her hooves, Sweetie Belle rubbed futilely in some attempt to clear her sudden headache. "You’ve got to be kidding me…" she murmured.
"What’s the matter?" Graphite answered with a mocking tone. "Not quite the job that you were expecting?"
Lifting her head, Sweetie glared at the stallion. "To be honest, no. I thought I was supposed to be a consultant. That means that I should be... you know, actually consulting. Not dealing with loads of pointless paperwork."
Graphite stared down at her for a moment with a small grin on his face. "Well despite what you might think," he answered at last, "all this paperwork is quite vital to our system. It helps keep things in order and keeps ponies honest. Now, I know that that's a foreign concept for you, which is why I think this is such a good task to get you started." He leaned in a little closer and sneered. "Of course, if you don't think that you can handle it, we'll gladly relocate you back to a comfy cell block where it's far less boring."
For a few seconds, Sweetie stared back at him, still just as melancholy as ever. Then as though some magical switch had been flipped, her face brightened. With a smile, she reached down and picked up a quill in her mouth. Setting the folder open in front of her, she pulled her seat in, dipped the quill into an inkpot and sat up straight. She turned and gave Graphite a beaming smile.
"Now that's more like it," he responded. "That is the kind of attitude we like to see around here. Keep it up and I might actually let you assist on a case or two in the future," he added turning around with a laugh, and missing as Sweetie's smile vanished with a roll of her eyes.
Having had his fun, Graphite started to trot away, leaving Sweetie to begin her arduous task. He didn't get too far however, before the sound of his name being called caught his attention. Turning towards it source, he looked across the large office space and spotted Golden Gem running quickly over towards him. His mood sobered as she approached. "Golden Gem?" he asked as she got close enough. "What's wrong?"
She slowed to a stop as she reached Sweetie's desk. Pausing for a brief second to catch her breath, she responded with the utmost seriousness in her voice. "Boss. We've got a problem."
His countenance drooped. "What is it? Has there been a robbery?"
"No. Something much worse."
"A kidnapping?"
"Unfortunately, worse than that."
Graphite cringed. "Don't tell me another annoying criminal escaped from prison." (He smirked internally after hearing a quiet groan emitted behind him.)
Golden Gem shook her head. "Thankfully not that bad, but still pretty horrible." She looked Graphite square in the eye, and in her most solemn tone possible announced, "We've run out of coffee."
The two sat with their eyes locked for several seconds, the tension building as they did. Soon enough however, the corners of Golden Gem's mouth began to tug upwards. This was met by Graphite's own mouth twisting into a smile as well. Both ponies sputtered as they futilely attempted to stop themselves from giggling. Graphite was the first to crack, finally allowing himself to laugh and quickly being followed by Golden Gem. Neither of them noticed the odd look Sweetie gave them as she tossed aside her first folder and pulled the next one from the pile.
After a moment, the pair finally settled down from their odd little inside joke. "But seriously," Golden Gem said wiping a tear from her eye. "The office has run completely out of coffee. I figured that I'd go and grab something from the little donut shop down the street and was wondering if you'd like something as well."
"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that."
Golden Gem shrugged. "It's not really any trouble. I just figured I'd offer since I'm going to be there anyways."
Graphite dismissed her argument. "No really. I could never ask you to do something like that. After all, I can only imagine what those lines are going to be like at this hour." He paused, and evil smile forming across his lips. "However, I do know somepony who I'm sure would just love to help us out right about now."
After Graphite's last rude comment, Sweetie had only been paying the slightest bit of attention to the other two's conversation. So little, that it took her a second to realize that the pair had stopped talking. Her quill came to an abrupt halt as she realized that despite their silence, neither pony had left. Nervously, she looked up from her papers and found the pair staring down at her with innocent smiles. She darted her eyes back and forth between them before setting down the quill with a sigh.
"What kind of coffee would you like?"
~~~
As Graphite had predicted, the coffee shop was packed to the brim with tired, irritable ponies that morning. Sweetie navigated her way through the throngs, carefully balancing the precariously large stack of lattes, cappuccinos and espressos on her back. She nosed her way towards the exit, taking great care not to bump into anypony or anything along the way. Remarkably, she managed to reach the door without issue. Reaching up, she pushed the door open, taking great care as she stepped through. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief as the morning sunlight and cool morning air came over her, but was unable to do so as the door lightly bumped into her as it swung shut.
Panic set in as she began to feel the weight on her back shifting to the side. Instinctively, she tried reaching out with her magic to grab the stack, only to be met by the cold numbness the silver ring securely fastened to her horn created instead. Knowing that there was nothing to be done, she shut her eyes tightly and braced for the sound of the impact.
However, the sound never came. Just as she was about to concede to the inevitable, she felt the weight shifting back up until it was once again evenly on her back. Surprised, she turned to look at the stack and was met by the smiling face of Scootaloo holding it back up and into place.
"Need a hoof?"
Sweetie sighed with relief as once again the delicate balance was restored. "Oh thank Celestia. You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now."
"And just in the nick of time from the looks of it," Scootaloo responded raising her head and puffing her chest out with pride. She sat for a moment, eagerly awaiting the praise for her heroic feat. When it didn't come, she looked back towards Sweetie only to find that she had vanished. Turning quickly, she saw Sweetie was already a distance down the street. Running over to her friend, she began to match her fast trot beside her. "From the looks of things, I'm assuming that you're either planning on not sleeping for a week, or you're having a terrible first day of work."
Sweetie shot her a look. "Terrible?" she asked sarcastically. "Terrible doesn't even begin to describe it. I woke up this morning at an ungodly hour in order to be ready for Agent Graphite to show up at 6:00 like said, only he never showed up. I ended up sitting around and waiting till almost 8:00 before he finally decided to arrive. Then, once we arrived at the bureau he put me at this tiny little desk, just in front of his office so he can sit and stare over my shoulder all day while I work on the most pointless task in the entire world."
"And the coffee?"
"Well, after his secretary, Golden Gem, told him that they were out in the office, Graphite not only graciously volunteered me to buy it for them, but then offered it to everypony else in the building as well." She looked back to the lightly swaying tower on her back with a roll of her eyes. "And might I add, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting reimbursed for all of these."
Scootaloo smirked. "Almost like being back in prison?"
"Believe me," she muttered slowing down to a stop. "Prison wasn't even close to being this bad." With a deep breath, her depressed voice filled with determination. "But it'll all be worth it once I get the chance to talk with Rarity." She turned towards Scootaloo and added, "Which reminds me. Did you find anything last night?"
With a sigh, Scootaloo shook her head. Reaching back into the saddlebags she was wearing, she produced a small folded piece of paper. "Sorry. I ran every check that I could think of. Even had old Lemon take a look for any sort of magic in it."
"And?"
"Nothing," she said holding the paper out towards Sweetie Belle. "No signs of invisible inks or charms of any kind. As far as I can, it's just a regular old note."
Sweetie took the paper and unfolded it. Scootaloo hadn't been lying when she said she'd done a lot of tests on it. The paper was already starting to feel worn and weak along the edges. Careful not to ruin it further, she began to read the elegant cursive message written there once again.
My Darling Sweetie Belle,
If you have found this letter that means that you have been released and come looking for me.
I hope that you know that I mean the best for you and hope your continued life goes well.
But, I'm afraid that when I told you that I never wished to see you again, I meant it.
I simply can no longer deal with the sorrow and shame that I liv day by day because of you.
It pains me massively to say these things, but please accept this, my last request.
One day, I hope that you can understand my reasons and respect them until then.
~ Rarity
Sweetie read the note over and over again, taking in every tiny detail she possibly could. After scanning it thoroughly, she finally spoke up. "Then I must have been right the first time. There must be some sort of message hidden in the letter. I just have to figure out what the code is."
Scootaloo sighed. "Sweetie..."
"I mean, just look at it. The way it's written is really odd. The language she uses, the number of lines, the way it flows; everything seems so deliberate. It has to be some sort of code."
"Sweetie..."
"It wouldn't be the first time that she wrote me a coded letter after all. When we were younger, we used to share letters like this all the time for fun. Heh. If only she knew it would be a useful skill for me someday."
"Sweetie."
"She especially loved to write notes where every 11th letter made the new message. She always told me that was a special number because of my birthday. I'd be willing to bet she did something similar with this, I just have to..."
"Sweetie Belle."
The sternness of Scootaloo's voice broke Sweetie's train of thought, silencing her. She turned towards her friend, who had her head bowed down low. "What?" she asked.
Scootaloo stayed silent, shuffling her hooves against the ground. Her voice was hushed when she finally spoke up. "Sweetie, have you ever thought that maybe the note is just a note?"
"Scootaloo, I..."
But Scootaloo didn't let her finish. "After all, we both know how proper Rarity was. No offence, but I'm kind of surprised she stuck by you at all, let alone this long. Don't you think that of all the ponies in the world, it makes sense that Rarity would do something like this?"
Sweetie Belle shuffled her hooves, kicking a pile of dust around. "I'm sorry Scoots. But, I just can't accept that. I can't explain it, but I know that Rarity wouldn't just up and abandon me like that. I just know it. I can't just give up on her like this now."
"Look Sweetie," Scootaloo responded with a sigh. "You're my oldest friend. You've done more for me, than I could ever hope to pay back in a lifetime. I just... I just don't want to see you get hurt again."
Sweetie gave her a look with an odd smile. "When did you get so sappy?"
Scootaloo chuckled in response. "Oh, I can do sappy. I just choose not to." Then, once again returning to seriousness, she added, "Just, promise me that if you don't find what you want, you won't give up everything else in pursuit of it anyways, alright?"
Turning from her friend, Sweetie Belle took another look at the letter in her hooves. Carefully, she turned it over and over again taking another moment to read it. "One week," she finally said with a sigh. "Just give me one week. If by that time I can't find any sort of hidden code or message, then... then I'll accept this note for what it says and try to forget about it, alright?"
With a smile, Scootaloo nodded. "One week. I can live with that."
Sweetie held out the letter to Scootaloo. "Thank you. Until then, go and take another look at it. See if you can find any sort of pattern in the writing."
Scootaloo took the letter and carefully placed it back into her saddlebag. "Alright. I'll see what I can do. Maybe I'll take it to this DJ I know. She's good with riddles."
"Let me know if you find anything. Now, if you'll excuse me," Sweetie responded turning away and towards the large building in front of her with a groan, "I should get back to work before somepony comes looking for me..."
~~~
The rest of the morning passed with little interruption. Sweetie Belle returned with the coffee, much to the gratitude of the entire department. Before she could bask in her accolades however, Graphite immediately sat her back at her desk and set her to work again. He then returned to his own desk in order to keep an eye on her the remainder of the day.
It was around noon that he began to regret that decision. Other than getting up for a glass of water from time to time, Sweetie sat and reviewed the reports without so much as a peep. Occasionally, Graphite would trot over to her just to make sure she was actually working but was surprised to find that she was indeed taking the job seriously. With her being so well-behaved and nothing else to do, he resigned himself to filling out some managerial paperwork he had been neglecting recently.
Normally, Graphite ate lunch at his desk, and today was no exception. It gave him a chance to read through the week's official notices while still having something to keep his hooves moving. He was in the middle of a particularly dry report, taking another bite of his hay and barley sandwich, when there came a knock at his door. He glanced up and smiled as Golden Gem walked into his office.
"Hey Boss," she said kindly, shutting the door behind her. "You have a minute to talk?"
"For you? Of course," he answered motioning for her to take a seat across from him. Taking another bite of his sandwich he pointed towards the untouched half still on his desk. "Care for some lunch?"
She smiled and shook her head as she sat down. "Thanks, but I'm not that hungry."
Graphite shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said before taking the last bite of the first half. Brushing the crumbs from his mouth, he shuffled into a more comfortable position. With that done, he brushed away the few crumbs from his mouth. "Now, what can I do for you?" he asked.
Turning back, Golden Gem looked out the large window that peered out into the main office. From her seat, she had a clear view of every single pony on the floor. However, her eyes locked on the one mare closest. "I wanted to ask you about Sweetie Belle," she answered at length.
Graphite groaned, rolling his eyes and tensing up in the process. "What do you want to know about her exactly?"
"How's she doing so far today?"
"Not too bad, all things considered." Graphite's horn glowed a light blue, as he picked up the remaining half of his sandwich. "She's just sat there quietly reviewing last year's reports."
Golden turned back towards him chuckling. "I still can't believe you gave her that job. That's almost too cruel."
Graphite unwrapped the sandwich and took a large bite. "Meh. It's nothing that she doesn't deserve. Besides, she needs to learn that everything has consequences, and her convincing the bureau to let her out of prison early is going to be anything but a free ride."
"You still don't trust her?"
Graphite laughed. "Of course not. I'd be crazy if I did. She's a thief and a professional liar. I doubt that she has a single honest bone in her body." Leaning to the side, he glanced over until he got a good look at the white mare. "Besides that," he continued, "whenever I look at her, I get this sinking feeling that she's up to something. I just can't tell what it is yet."
He stared at Sweetie for a moment before leaning back over and sitting straight up again and chuckling. "You probably think I'm just being paranoid, don't you?"
Golden Gem also laughed, shaking her head. "No. Of course not. Heck, I don't know her half as well as you do and I don't trust her one bit. You have every right to doubt her. It's just..." Her voice began to trail off. "It's just that I'm worried about you I guess."
He smiled. "Don't worry about me. I think that I can handle a single criminal."
"Of course you can." Golden Gem answered, returning the smile. "Just... Just promise me that you'll be careful, alright? I don't want to see you get hurt because of her."
Graphite was about to make a sarcastic response, but was stopped by the pleading look in Golden Gem's eyes. Instead, he leaned forward and smiled. "Alright. I'll be careful around her. I promise."
Golden Gem relaxed. "Ok. I'm going to hold you to that."
"Of course you are," he answered with yet another laugh. "You never let me get away with anything."
"Well, if I did, then who would..."
A light rapping on the door echoed throughout the room, silencing the pair. Sitting back up straight, Graphite shrugged an apology to Golden Gem before calling out for the interrupter to enter. He started to put on a professional face, though it quickly faded as the door pushed open and Sweetie Belle poked her head it. She looked at the two ponies sitting at the desk and smiled. "Sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
"Yes --"
"No --"
Both Graphite and Golden Gem spoke at exactly the same time, confusing Sweetie as to who had actually said what. Her eyes darted back and forth between the pair, who had locked eyes and were glaring at each other. "Uh..." she said hesitantly, "you look busy. I'll... come back later."
"Stop," came the curt retort from Graphite as she attempted to pull the door shut. "Get in here."
Slowly, Sweetie Belle pushed the door open and trotted in. Careful not to lose any papers from the folder she had clenched between her teeth, she pushed the door shut behind her. As she turned back towards the desk, she couldn't help but notice that the pair had quit glaring at each other, and trained their burning gaze on her instead.
The tension made Sweetie to freeze up for a moment, just long enough for Graphite to get even more irritated. "Well," he said rudely, "what do you want?"
The remark pulled Sweetie from her stupor. Sheepishly she responded, "Oh well, I was just curious. You never actually told me what I should do if I found a problem in one of the reports."
Graphite groaned. Of course he would have managed to have forgotten some vital piece of information for her. His horn glowed as he reached into the large cabinet seated beneath the window behind him and levitated out a couple sheets of paper. Tossing them roughly towards Sweetie he said, "Find the pony whose name is on the erroneous form and have them fill that out. Verify that they did it correctly and then put the new form in the folder with the old one."
Feeling that his explanation was enough, Graphite leaned forward and buried his head in a paperwork assuming that Sweetie Belle would take the hint and leave. After a while though and much to his annoyance, he noticed that she had failed to vacate the area. Not looking up, he asked, "Is there something else you need?"
"Well, you told me to find the pony whose name was on the report so..."
Graphite's eyes darted up and he shot her an annoyed glance. Out of all the things that he prided himself on, the fact that he never made mistakes while filling out paperwork was near the top of this list. Of course, there was always the possibility that he could make a mistake, but seeing as how he hadn't made one in almost 15 years, the chances were slim.
Still, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Alright. So, what exactly did I do incorrectly?" he grumbled.
Sweetie Belle had since removed the folder from her mouth and was tapping it against her hooves. "Oh don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong."
His scowl morphed into a look of confusion. "But you just said there was a problem with the report."
"There is."
"And my name's on it?"
"Yes."
"But I didn't do anything wrong?"
"Also yes."
As he glared up at the white unicorn, his brow furrowed as his scowl deepened. "Sweetie Belle," he growled. "I'm not really in the mood for games right now. So, would you mind telling me what in Celestia's name you're talking about? Did I mess up filling out that report or not?"
Sweetie held up the folder towards the stallion. "No, you didn't make any mistakes. But that's the problem." She smirked before revealing, "Your name and signature are on the form, but you weren't the one who filled it out."
The distinct sound of a quill snapping filled the room as Sweetie's statement really caught Graphite's attention. The folder she held was quickly pulled from her hooves and levitated over towards Graphite. He quickly fanned it open, and looked through its contents. His ears drooped as he scanned the paperwork and his mind inevitably reached the same conclusion.
"I've never seen this file before."
"I know," Sweetie said with a nod. "At least, I figured you wouldn't have since you like doing things yourself and probably wouldn't have somepony else fill that out for you."
After Graphite's admission, Golden Gem had moved behind him in order to get a good look at the folder as well. She peered it over with a keen eye but ended up shaking her head in frustration. "Are you sure that you didn't fill this out? It looks like your hoofwriting to me."
Graphite nodded. "I'm sure," he muttered.
Golden Gem gave the folder another good glance. "Wow. If somepony did forge this, they did an incredible job. I honestly can't tell a difference." She glanced up, shooting Sweetie Belle a dirty look. "Just how exactly did you manage to determine this was faked?"
"The signature," she stated matter-of-factly. "That signature is a good forgery, but it's not his." Trotting over, she pointed towards the bottom of the page where the offending mark was located. "You see, when signing his name, Graphite tends to apply more pressure at the bottom of the 'p', which makes that line much thicker than the others. Whoever forged this report though passed over the 'p' much too lightly so that all the lines appear to be equal width. Also, Graphite never dots the 'i' in his name, but the pony who signed this signature did."
Graphite couldn't help but give Sweetie a dirty look. "And just how exactly are you an expert on how I sign my name?"
Sweetie coughed lightly with a sheepish look on her face. "Um... Lucky guess?" she answered.
Rolling his eyes, Graphite turned his attention back to the folder in front of him. "Well, regardless, it's a good thing that we managed to find this. If somepony is forging documents, we need to make it our top priority to figure out why."
"I agree," Golden Gem said with a nod. "So, what's the plan?"
He thought about it for just a moment before answering. "I think the best course of action is to hit this from both directions. I'll go to the scene of the crime and talk with the ponies who supposedly had to deal with this accident over there; see if I can find anypony trying to hide something. As for you," he said turning to look at Golden Gem, "take a closer look at this file. See if you can figure out how it got into the system without anypony noticing. I'd hate to imagine that one of our ponies would have anything to do with this, but we can't rule that out completely either."
"What about me?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What should I do?"
Graphite had nearly forgotten that Sweetie was still in the room. Annoyed, he turned and glared at her, before pointing his hoof towards her desk just outside his office. "You already have your task," he answered with great emphasis. "Those forms aren't going to double-check themselves."
The tone in his voice made it very clear that the point was not up for discussion. Reluctantly, Sweetie Belle nodded slowly and exited the room, the constant glare of Graphite following her as she left. It wasn't until the door clicked shut behind her, that Graphite managed to relax.
While this had been going on, Golden Gem had once again turned her attention to the forged file. "Hey Boss," she said hesitantly, "I just noticed exactly what this case was for. Are you really sure that you want to take lead investigation on it?"
Graphite sighed. "Want to or not, my name's already on the file. Somepony obviously wanted to drag me into this mess, so I might as well see it through to the end don't you think?"
"Well, yeah, but that means..."
Graphite interrupted her. "Yes, I know exactly what that mean," he said taking the file again and looking at it with a shake of his head. "That means that I'm going to Cloudsdale."
~~~
Ever since the pegasi first learned to harness and mold the weather to their bidding, they had built large and extravagant structures out of clouds. These buildings, while beautiful, were also difficult to maintain due to the odd nature of their materials. In fact, the main reason that cloud cities were originally built was that it provided an easy way of preventing the other pony tribes from entering the pegasi's domain. After the founding of Equestria and peace between the three tribes was declared, the practice of building cloud structures began to quickly die out. Though some pegasi still preferred the soft chill that a cloud home provides, most pegasi are perfectly content living amongst their fellow ponies in regular houses built upon the ground.
Of course, the exception to this rule is the great city of Cloudsdale. This metropolis in the sky began as a small outpost, used by the pegasi armies to coordinate defenses while settling in their new land. When these defenses were no longer considered necessary, many of the pegasi migrated to the surface. A few were still unwilling to leave their cloud homes and remained behind starting a small village. This new city was unable to properly sustain itself however. After all, it was impossible to grow crops in the clouds, and the pegasi who lived there were required to travel to the ground in order to get the food and supplies they needed. It was a poor method of living, and the village continued to shrink in numbers as more and more ponies moved out seeking better living conditions.
Had it remained like this, the city would have been deserted within a matter of years. However, the pegasi who remained began research that would change the world forever. Before this time, pegasi had the power to control the weather, but were incapable of creating it. They could destroy rain clouds, or move them to a different location, but they were still at the mercy of nature to make them. The pegasi of Cloudsdale wanted to change that, and began looking more closely into how weather patterns worked. Within a year, they had learned how to create a raincloud from a puddle of water and manage where that rain occurred. With this new ability, the ponies on the ground were no longer subjected to long dry spells since rainfall could now be ordered whenever it was necessary. Because of this, the crops flourished providing the best harvest that any pony had ever seen before. By the end of the year, every established city in Equestria was using weather created by the pegasi of Cloudsdale.
Thus, the famous Weather Factory was established. Originally, the factory only dealt with the manufacturing of rainclouds. As the city continued to grow from this newfound industry, eventually all aspects of the weather, including snowfall, tornados, and even rainbows were created and controlled by Cloudsdale. Soon enough, the small village erupted into a bustling cityscape, filled with a wide variety of pegasi from all over the land, and the large factory right at its heart.
Graphite however, was uninteresting in all of this history as the carriage he was riding in cut swiftly through the summer sky. Although he had been to Cloudsdale on several occasions previously, it was far from his favorite place in Equestria to visit. As a unicorn, he much preferred keeping his hooves on solid ground. Still, his first loyalty was to Equestria and he was more than willing to give up a little bit of comfort to serve the land he loved so much. Besides that, this particular case intrigued him for some reason and he personally wanted to see it through.
With still plenty of time left before their arrival, Graphite fished through his saddlebags and pulled out a copy of faked report that Sweetie had given to him. (The original he left for Golden Gem to study.) Fanning it open, he once again looked over the case it reported. While Accidents weren't unheard of at the factory, yet they were somewhat rare. Maybe once or twice a year, somepony got seriously injured while working there. But even then, very few of those resulted in a serious injury or death.
Still, it did happen occasionally, and if this particular file was to be believed, it had. The story within its pages told of a young worker named Clockwork. He had been checking the equipment in the cloud creation facility one evening when he managed to get his right wing caught in one of the gears. The machines in Cloudsdale can be particularly treacherous, especially in that department. It was unlikely that he had much chance to call for help, though due to the lateness of the hour, it probably wouldn't have done much good anyways. By the time he was found early the next morning, there was nothing that could have been done to help him.
At least, that's what the report said. Graphite tossed it back into his bag with a sigh. Unfortunately, nothing in the report could be trusted until he actually reached Cloudsdale and found out for himself. He hoped and prayed that he would find that everything had happened as suggested; that the form had been forged only because somepony had forgotten to submit the report and thought they would get away with it. If luck had it that way, this trip would be over and done with in no time.
Unfortunately, luck was not something Graphite had much of.
As the chariot pulled around the peak of the mountain, the majestic spires of Cloudsdale finally came into view. The late afternoon sun shone down on the cloudy pillars, gleaming out and blinding Graphite as the chariot pulled in for its approach just outside the Weather Factory. The stallions pulling the chariot slowed, allowing the chariot to touch gently against the plush flooring before coming to a complete stop.
Once the chariot had quit moving, Graphite cautiously peaked over the edge of the basket. The clouds beneath him rippled, as he reached out his hoof and gave them a small poke. Though the clouds felt solid to the touch, he was still unsure. Nervously, he retracted his hoof and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath and holding it for courage, he leaped over the side of the basket. He cringed as he felt the cloud waver and shift beneath his weight. However, he did not feel the wind blowing past him as he of plummeted to his doom. Cautiously, he peeked a single eye open. Seeing that the cloud was supporting his weight, he sighed with relief knowing now with a certainty that the cloud-walking spell he'd cast earlier was indeed working.
Still feeling a bit high strung, he jump a little as the sound of loud laughter drew his attention. Darting his head up, he turned round facing towards the main entrance to the factory. Three pegasi, two stallions and a mare, were approaching him. Of the three, one of the stallions was flying, while the other two walked. The flying stallion also happened to be the pony laughing directly at him.
"Not afraid of heights now are we?" the stallion chuckled.
This stallion was of an extremely tall and much larger build than Graphite himself was. He spoke with a thick accent very similar to the ones familiar to ponies from the far north of Equestria, near the border city of Stalliongrad. His coat was a plain brown and he sported a Grey and White mane, cut rather short, on top of his head. His cutie mark was a pair of dark clouds, both which looked ready to strike at a moment's notice. Overall, if Graphite had only one word to describe him, it would be 'intimidating'.
However, Graphite was not a pony who was intimated easily. Putting on a big smile, he trotted over towards the trio answering "I'm not afraid of heights per-say," with a chuckle of his own. "Though, this high up, and without the same gift of wings you three enjoy, you'll forgive me for being just a bit overly cautious."
The brash pegasus laughed boisterously again. "Ack! Do not worry about it my friend," he answered, slapping Graphite heartily on the back and knocking the smile from his face and the wind right out of him. "We all know that Unicorn's are a bunch of sissies after all. Just keep away from the edge. The last thing I need is too deal with a splattered unicorn today."
Without realizing it, Graphite instinctually took a step away from the nearest edge. Attempting to drive that incredibly disturbing image from his mind, he put on another smile, though not nearly as friendly as before. "Yes, well, I'll try my best to save you having to deal with that paperwork, Mr..?"
"Ack!" the stallion gasped. "How rude I am to not even introduce myself." Folding his wings in, he landed on the cloud with a light poof. Standing tall, he proudly held out his hoof towards Graphite. "I am Fierce Tempest, but you may just call me Tempest. I am the head of operations here at the Weather Factory. And you must be Agent Graphite, yes?"
Graphite gladly reached out to bump hooves and was surprised when Tempest grabbed his instead. He only cringed slightly as the Tempest crushed it in his grasp. "Just Graphite is fine," he said. "I take it you got my message then?"
"Da," Tempest said, releasing Graphite's hoof and shaking his head sadly. "You 'ave come to investigate the death of our comrade Clockwork, no? Such a terrible tragedy. He should not 'ave died like that." He looked up towards Graphite, who was shaking his hoof in an attempt to return feeling to it. "I am curious 'owever. We were under the impression that dis case was finished and closed. What exactly seems to be the problem?"
Graphite paused for a moment. He knew that he needed to watch his words carefully. "We found some... discrepancies with the report that needed to addressed."
"Are you questioning my investigation abilities?" the mare in the group spoke up suddenly, taking a threatening step towards Graphite and giving him his first good look at her. She was a cream colored mare. Her cutie mark was a single white cloud obscuring the sun. Her mane was a dark green, with a few lighter highlights and held back into place by a light blue headband. Her eyes, currently locked onto Graphite with malice, matched the color of the headband as well.
"Forgive me!" Tempest exclaimed. "My manners 'ave escaped me once again. Please, let me introduce you to my colleagues." Holding his hoof toward the mare, he added, "This is Cloudy Skies. She is in charge of ze maintainance and machinery in the factory. She was also Clockwork's manager and was the one to investigate his case."
Graphite nodded understandingly. "Pleasure to meet you," he said to her, holding out his hoof with a warm smile.
Both gestures were promptly ignored. "Charmed," Cloudy Skies said coldly. "Now, what exactly did I do so wrong with my report, that the bureau felt compelled to send somepony up to criticize my work?"
Awkwardly, Graphite retracted the hoof, and put on a more serious tone. "Well, we're not entirely sure what the problem is. As you're aware, whenever an accident takes place in the factory, not only is your organization supposed to investigate and fill out a report, but somepony from the bureau also needs to do the same. Unfortunately, we discovered a few disagreements between the two reports and just need to verify what is correct." He attempted another smile. "Hopefully, if we work together, we should be able to get everything cleared up quickly."
The smile didn't work. Cloudy Skies rolled her eyes and stepped back, muttering under her breath as she did so. Graphite was wise enough to let the issue go but made a special note to bring it up again later. Instead, he turned to the last member of the group who was hiding behind Tempest. "And, who might you be?"
The stallion was startled at being suddenly address. So much so that he dropped the folder he was holding under his wings, spilling the contents all over the cloud. With a cry of concern, he rushed about, gathering the stray papers and throwing them back into the folder.
Graphite quickly stepped forward. "Oh, I'm sorry," he exclaimed. "Here, let me give you a hoof."
"No, no," the pegasus quickly responded, stepping between Graphite and the few remaining papers. "It's quite alright. I've got it," he quietly added before returning to his collecting.
With a shrug, Graphite stepped back and got a good look at the stallion as he continued gathering his papers. He was the smallest of the group, though only slightly. His pale green coat was extremely unkempt, the same as his dark red mane. The way he moved back and forth, gave the impression that he hadn't slept in a month, and caffeine was the only thing still keeping him going. His cutie mark depicted a counting machine over the top of an unfurled scroll.
More curious however, was the way that he behaved. His eyes kept darting back and forth, as though he couldn't focus on one thing at a time. At first, Graphite assumed it was just the coffee, but he could help but notice how the stallion was avoiding his gaze; as if he was afraid to even look at Graphite. Even after gathering all his papers back up, he kept his distance and didn't make eye contact.
"Sorry about that," the stallion muttered so quietly Graphite had to strain to hear him. "I guess I've just been a little high strung recently. I'm Exact Count, chief of finances for the factory."
He didn't offer his hoof, so Graphite didn't either. "Pleasure to meet you," Graphite answered warmly. "And what role did you play in the investigation?"
Immediately, Exact Count grew shakier. "Oh, well..." he stumbled over his words. "I didn't actually... What I mean is... That I wasn't..."
The roaring laughter of Tempest startled not only Exact Count into silence, but Graphite as well. "You must forgive my good friend here," he chuckled, giving a hearty slap on the back to the timid Pegasus; an action that made Exact Count jump a bit and caused a few loose papers from his folder to dislodge again. This earned the massive stallion an angry glare in return. "Exact Count is... how you say... not very good with other ponies. He much prefers spending 'is time with 'is books, don't ya?" He asked slapping him on the back again and causing Exact Count to yelp with surprise.
"What I was trying to say," Exact Count began again softly though a bit more steadily, "is that I wasn't actually involved in the investigation. I was in a meeting with Tempest when your notice arrived and he insisted that I come along as well." Turning towards Tempest, he added, "A meeting which we really should get back to don't you think?"
"Ack. Of course," Tempest said with a roll of his eyes and another chuckle. "A stallion's work is never done. It is good that I have hard workers to keep me on track." He ruffled Exact Count's mane, earning him yet another dirty look which he promptly ignored. Turning back to Graphite, he said, "You must please excuse me. I have to go and deal with this." Before Graphite could protest, Tempest had already turned and started trotting away. "Cloudy should be able to help you with everything that you need," he called back, Exact Count following quickly behind. "If you 'ave any other questions, feel free to come and find me."
Graphite watched the pair trot off. Fierce Tempest trotted with his head held high, laughing at what was probably one of his own jokes. Exact Count kept his head down, though occasionally he'd dart it back for a moment as though checking if somepony was following him. Graphite couldn't help but smile as he watched them. They certainty were an odd pair.
Turning back towards Cloudy Skies, his smile quickly faded as he met her scowling face. She didn't say a word, instead turning and trotting towards the factory. Graphite rolled his eyes and sighed, following after her. It was going to be a long day.
~~~
Golden Gem had planned on having a nice, relaxing day. At the start of that particular day, there were no major cases that required anypony's attention. That meant that other than some monthly paperwork, there was nothing pressing for her to have to deal with. The morning had even started out pretty well. The excellent morning's coffee had been made even better with the opportunity to poke fun at Sweetie Belle as well. Her paperwork took no time at all to complete, leaving the rest of the day free. She had hoped that with that done, she could get a head start on next month's work, eat lunch with Graphite, and maybe even take the chance to leave a bit early.
Of course, those plans had been blown out of the water. Even when she was working on the same side, Sweetie Belle still had a knack for completely messing everything up. The worst part of it was that Golden Gem wasn't even able to get mad at her since she was technically only doing the job that Graphite had assigned to her.
But out of all the days Sweetie could have found that form, did it have to be this one?
Golden Gem tossed the folder aside once again before burying her head in her hooves. It had been nearly two hours since Graphite had headed off to Cloudsdale. Golden tried talking him out of going, since he had a natural handicap up there being a unicorn. In fact, after the "Best Young Flyer's" incident several years ago, in which a white unicorn with a magical pair of wings entered the contest and nearly fell to her death, Cloudsdale place a ban on non-pegasus ponies entering the city. The ban was eventually lifted, but still, the general opinion was that unicorns and earth ponies were not welcome. Unfortunately, Graphite was a very single-minded stallion. Once he got his mind settled on one idea, there was very little that could convince him otherwise. He figured that for some strange reason, he was supposed to be the one to investigate in Cloudsdale. Therefore, no earthly force would prevent him from going himself.
With a sigh, Golden Gem snatched up the folder once again. This would be her fifth time scouring its contents. As Graphite would be verifying the story in Cloudsdale, her job was to try and find out anything she could about the case within the office. Specifically, she was looking how the form managed to sneak its way through being filed. Most of her time thus far had been spent going around the office attempting to glean any information about the case from her coworkers. Unfortunately, everypony she talked to claimed to have no idea about that particular case. Rather than continuing to waste her time interrogating at random, she instead turned to examining the papers in hopes of finding some clue within its pages.
So far however, that had become an even more futile task. Absolutely nothing within the folder stood out to her. Short of the fact that a pony had supposedly died, the case itself was cut and dry. There were no contradictions. Nothing was overly-emphasized or under-emphasized either. In fact, had it not been for Graphite confirming it himself, she would have had the hardest time believing that he didn't write that report. Everything seemed to fit his style perfectly. There was just nothing for her to find.
As she glared over the paper intently, praying that maybe a dirty look could potentialy frighten the paper into revealing its secrets, she felt the strange, but quickly become too common, sensation that somepony was staring at her. Immediately, her eyes flicked up and over towards Sweetie Belle's desk. She managed to just barely catch a glimpse of the emerald eyes staring at her, before they quickly darted back down to the paperwork they were supposed to be focused on.
Golden Gem rolled her eyes with a sigh. This was not the first time she'd caught Sweetie Belle looking over at her. It seemed as though every ten or so minutes, she'd get that odd tingling sensation on the back of her neck, informing her of her stalker again. Although, the pair had not spoken since Graphite had left, it was obvious to Golden Gem what Sweetie was thinking. Undoubtedly, Sweetie was curious in the case, most likely believing that she had already come up with the solution for this unsolvable problem.
Turning back to the papers in front of her, Golden Gem couldn't help but feel the gnawing sense of defeat. The wear from hours of futile efforts had begun to take its toll. She knew that she needed a fresh set of eyes on the issue. Unfortunately, the only pony she could really talk to, and the only one who she knew was eager to help, was also the one pony she wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Still, it was either that, or spend another two hours hoping for some sort of miracle.
Golden Gem wasn't stupid. She knew what she had to do. Grudgingly, she tossed the papers back into the folder and levitated it to her side as she stood and trotted over to Sweetie Belle's desk.
Sweetie Belle was trying her hardest to focus on the papers in front of her, to limited success. She heard the clip-clopping of hooves approaching, but did her best to ignore them. That is, until a certain manila folder slapped down on top of her pile in front of her. Its sudden appearance caused her to pause for a moment, before turning her eyes up towards the frowning face of Golden Gem.
"Fine," Golden Gem said, "I give."
"...I'm sorry?"
Golden rolled her eyes. Grabbing an empty, nearby chair, she levitated it over and took a seat. "Look," she said bluntly, "I know that you think that you know something about this case and I've just about reached my wits end. So, just tell me what you think you know about it so I can move on."
Sweetie Belle gave her a blank look before pushing aside the folder and returning to what she had previously been working on. "First, say please."
Golden Gem was not amused. "...What?" she deadpanned.
Sweetie gave her a quick glance. "If you want my help, first you have to say please."
"...You do realize that if you don't cooperate, we will send you back to prison, right?"
"You do realize that if you don't say please, you won't get any answers from me, right?"
For a second, neither of the two spoke. Golden Gem glared down at Sweetie, while the latter sat blissfully ignorant of the angry stare. Finally, after a time, Golden Gem gave a deep sigh. "...please?"
Sweetie's ears perked up. She lifted her head, but didn't turn towards Golden Gem. "Please, what?" she queried.
Golden Gem rolled her eyes. "Sweetie Belle," she asked through clenched teeth, "would you please help me with this case?"
The corners of her mouth tugged upwards, as Sweetie turned to Golden Gem. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it?"
"Yes. Sure. Whatever." Golden Gem quickly dismissed the statement. With a glow of her horn, the folder lifted again from the edge of the table and was shoved into Sweetie Belle's face. "Just tell me what you know about this folder already."
Reaching up, Sweetie Belle pulled the file away from her face. "Well," she began, "to be completely honest, I haven't got a clue."
"...what?"
Sweetie shrugged. "I mean, other than knowing that it's a fake, I don't have any idea where it came from, who wrote it, or why."
Golden Gem could feel her eye twitch. "You mean to tell me..."
"Sorry," Sweetie said cutting her off. "I'm not sure what you thought I knew about this case, but quite frankly, I'm just as clueless about the whole thing as you are."
For a second, Sweetie thought that Golden Gem hadn't heard her. She just sat there, with the same angry look, and involuntary twitch. Then, all of a sudden, Golden Gem snatched the folder from Sweetie's hooves, quickly rising to her own. She turned and started to trot away, muttering about how she was wasting her time.
"Wait."
The voice was soft yet extremely firm. Enough so, that it stopped Golden Gem in her tracks, and made her turn back to face its owner. Where once was the almost mocking look before, Sweetie's face was now completely serious.
"Get back here," Sweetie Belle said quite forcibly. "I may not know right now the who or the why of this case, but you did ask for my help, and I intend to offer it however I can."
As if by some magic, Golden Gem did as Sweetie asked, returning to her desk, and sitting back in the chair she had just vacated. Carefully, she set the folder back down on the desk in front of Sweetie. The entire time, neither pony spoke, nor did they break eye contact to even blink.
"Now," Sweetie Belle said, grabbing for the folder as the tension in her voice and between the pair dissipated, "tell me about this folder. What have you figured out so far?"
The sudden change in Sweetie's tone seemed to break the trance Golden Gem found herself in. "Um..." she stuttered, as she started to get her bearings back, "n-nothing. Nothing at all." With a shake of her head, the few loose remaining grasps on reality fell back into place. "What I mean is, I've tried asking around, scouring that thing with a fine tooth comb, but so far I haven't managed to find anything to link it to anypony here."
"You tried asking around? How did that go?"
"About as well as you'd probably imagine. Everypony claimed they'd never heard anything about this case. And unfortunately, I couldn't tell if anypony was lying."
"Hmm..." Sweetie Belle thought, casually tapping the folder against her hooves. "Is it possible that maybe they weren't lying? Maybe the folder came from somepony from outside the office?"
Golden Gem shook her head. "That's highly unlikely. Each form is checked several times before it ever gets filed away."
"Really?" Sweetie Belle looked up with eyes full of curiosity. "I'd always assumed it was a pretty straightforward process."
"Hardly," Golden answered with a laugh. "You see, a secretary first creates the file whenever a case is brought to our attention. It's then passed off to the head of the department responsible who assigns to the case to one or more field agents. Once they've finished the investigation, they fill out the rest of the paperwork. Afterwards, it's handed off to a secretary who reviews their work and checks for any potential errors. Finally, the secretaries send it to the filing room, where another group of ponies again checks for errors, before filing it away for safe keeping."
Sweetie gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of ponies," she muttered. "But, that also means there are a lot of places that the file could have shown up." She fanned the folder open again. "Have you already talked with the secretary who double checked this?"
"First pony I asked about it," Golden Gem said with a nod. "She claimed that she remembered seeing the case, since accidental deaths are uncommon for Cloudsdale, but she didn't think anything of it and passed it along without problem. Other than that, she claimed not to know anything and I wasn't able to get any additional information out of her."
"Hmm..." Sweetie hummed as she thought. "Well, assuming that she's telling the truth, then that would mean that whomever is responsible for this report would have had to have snuck it onto her desk somehow."
"Yes, that seems logical," Golden agreed. "Unfortunately, ponies drop things off to the secretaries all throughout the day. It'd be impossible to determine exactly who dropped it off and when."
For a brief second, Sweetie Belle hesitated. "Not necessarily," she responded slowly. Golden Gem raised her eyebrow as Sweetie reached over, and began sorting through the piles of folders she had already looked through that day. "You see, making a forgery is difficult, but passing it off as the real thing is much harder. Every forgery has some sort of flaw, which obviously is the reason it's not worth as much as the real thing. To try and pass it off, you need to hide its flaws long enough to fool everypony else.
"Now, if you're really inexperienced or afraid, the easiest way to do that is to hide the forgery with a bunch of real versions. For example, hide the fake diamonds at the bottom of a bag, with a bunch of real ones on top. That way, when they are examined, hopefully only the real ones near the top will be checked and accept the forgeries will be accepted as well."
Pausing for a moment, Sweetie Belle pulled a half dozen folders from the middle of one of the piles. "Now," she began again, after placing them on the desk, "these are the folders that were surrounding our forged file. If we're lucky..."
"Then our forger tried to hide the fake form in the middle of a bunch of real ones," Golden Gem finished as she realized what Sweetie Belle was hinting at. "And if he had a bunch of real documents, there might be some connection between them."
Sweetie smiled. "Exactly," she said proudly, opening up the first set of folders. Triumphantly, she began to look through them, but her excitement soon faded. After a time, she sat back with a huff. "Well, so much for that idea. There doesn't seem to be anything in common between all of these."
This time, it was Golden Gem's turn to smile. "Oh? I'm not so sure about that," she said with a happy chuckle. Laying the folders down, she arranged them so that each was clearly visible. "True, each of these reports is very different from each other, but the ponies who filled these out do have something in common. This particular group all work on the floor above us on the far side of the building."
"Ok... I still don't see how that's relevant."
Golden Gem laughed. "Well, by itself, maybe not so much. But I also happen to know that all of these ponies usually don't turn in their paperwork right when they're supposed to. Instead, they let it gather for a while, and then one of them will turn it in for all of them to save a trip. Since the report ended up in the middle of all these other reports, there's a very good chance that your theory is correct and one of these ponies is responsible for putting it there."
Sweetie Belle smiled. "You really think so?"
Golden Gem shrugged before standing up and levitating the folder up to her. "Well, even if I am wrong, it's worth looking into at the very least." Turning round, she trotted off in hunt of her prey, hoping that she was finally on the right track.
~~~
"And this is where the body was found the next day. Any questions?"
Graphite quickly trotted up behind Cloudy Skies in order to get a good look at the area. Of course, since the accident had occurred so long ago, there was no remaining signs that anything had transpired. That alone would have made things difficult. The added fact that throughout the entire tour of the events, Cloudy had remained completely cold, even hostile, towards Graphite didn't improve the matter either.
Still, Graphite did his best to be polite. "Could you be more specific?" he asked. "Which of these machines was he found in?"
Cloudy Skies huffed before pointing her hoof towards a large silver enclosure next to Graphite. "This one," she icily answered. "He was found stuck between those two massive gears. Would you like all of the gory details as well?"
Taking particular note of the spite in her voice, Graphite shook his head. "That's alright," he said softly. "I got enough details from the case report." Turning back to the gears, he continued. "I can't help but notice that those gears are blocked off. How did he manage to get caught in there?"
"He was a mechanic." Again, another malice filled response. "His job was to fix things that were broken. To do that, he would have had to open the enclosure himself."
"Of course," Graphite nodded. "And were you the one to find him the next day?"
"No. A couple of stallions who work the morning shift came in to start production. They found him then immediately came and reported to me." Cloudy huffed. "Are we about done yet? I think we've wasted enough time going over this case, don't you agree?"
"Just a couple more questions, I promise," Graphite answered. "The stallion from the bureau who investigated. Did you get the chance to meet him at all?"
For a second, she hesitated. "No, actually," she said at last. "After the investigation, I was given a few days off to recuperate. When I got back, I was informed that the case had been closed. Anything else?"
Graphite sighed. So far, he hadn't been able to find any sort of inconsistencies in her report. In fact, everything seemed to match up perfectly between the two. However, he couldn't shake the fact that Cloudy was behaving very oddly. There was something that she wasn't telling him, something that deep down, he knew was important to this case.
He took a deep breath. Beating around the bush wasn't getting him anywhere. It was time to take a more direct approach. "Tell me," he said solemnly, "what was your relationship with the victim."
For the first time that day, Cloudy Skies' tough visage faltered. "With Clockwork?" she asked back. "Well, he was a good employee; always on time, meticulous in everything he did, and didn't cause trouble."
"...That doesn’t answer my question."
Immediately, Cloudy grew defensive. "I don't..."
Graphite didn't let her finish. "I have to ask, do you always get this emotional over every accident that occurs within the factory?"
She took a step back in surprise. "What exactly are you insinuating?"
"So far, despite everything you've told me thus far, I can't help but think that there is still something wrong about this case. I'm not entirely convinced that this was an accident."
"...You think that somepony might have killed him?"
"It's a possibility, yes," Graphite nodded.
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Cloudy cried out. "He was a very nice guy, extremely polite and helpful. Why would anypony want to kill him?"
"I was about to ask you the same question."
She took another step back. "Me? What do I have to do with anything?"
"I'm just curious because you seem awfully defensive about this entire case. There's something you're not telling me. What is it?"
"N... nothing," Cloudy responded beginning to shake a bit.
"Bull," Graphite retorted harshly. "I know you're hiding something. Now tell me, were you involved in Clockwork's death?"
"Wh..." she stuttered before immediately becoming ice cold. "How dare you ask me something like that?!?"
"You're avoiding the question again."
"Only because it's completely ridiculous! I could have never hurt Clockwork, let alone kill him!"
"Really? Because right now, it seems to me that you're feeling pretty guilty about something. What happened? Di d the two of you get into an argument over how things should be run?"
"No! Of course not. I..."
He stopped her again. "Or perhaps it was just an accident. You didn't actually mean to hurt him, but once you did, you finished him off to try and cover your tracks."
"I'd never do that, I..."
"Or maybe he was pining for your job. Maybe you thought he was going to take your place within a year. Maybe you hated that he was so much better of an employee than you."
"That's ridiculous!" Her voice was cracking and her eyes were starting to water. "I would never think that about him!"
"No? And tell me why that is?"
"IT'S BECAUSE I LOVED HIM!"
She screamed out that last sentence so loud that Graphite thought for a moment he might have lost his hearing. In an instance the malice from her face melted into sorrow as she sat down on her haunches and began to sob. "I never would have done anything to hurt him. I... I loved him..."
Graphite couldn't help but fill a twinge of guilt as he saw how distraught Cloudy now looked. "I'm sorry," he answered back sheepishly. "Why didn't you tell anypony about this earlier?"
"Because we weren't supposed to be dating," she answered quietly with a shrug. "We met while working at the factory together. I always thought he was a nice stallion, so polite and willing to help out whenever anypony asked him. Over time, we started talking more and more. The more friendly we got with each other, the more attractive he became and, well... one thing led to another I guess.
"The problem is that the weather factory has very strict rules about coworkers dating each other, especially if one of those ponies is a manager to the other. Had anypony known, it's very likely that we both would have lost our jobs. After we started dating, we decided that it would be best to keep it a secret. We were hoping that if he ever managed to get his transfer that everything would work out so that we wouldn't have to keep it a secret anymore.
"When the others came and told me that they had found his body... I couldn’t believe it. I didn't want to believe it. When I saw his broken and mangled body there however, I... I just about lost it. He was gone. The love of my life was dead, and the worst part was... I wasn't able to tell anypony about it. I performed the investigation as I was supposed to, and then took a couple days off to clear my head and try to get over it."
"I take it that's why you've been rather upset with me today?"
Cloudy nodded. "I was trying to forget about it as best as I could. When you showed up and wanted to reopen the investigation, I wasn't sure how to handle it. I'm sorry that I took it out on you instead."
"I'm sorry as well," Graphite solemnly responded. "I didn't mean to go and bring back a lot of bad memories for you."
Surprisingly, Cloudy Skies laughed through her tears. "Yes you did. You had to in order to get more info from me," she chuckled. "Still, I accept your apology. Besides, it's nice to finally get all of this off my chest."
Graphite smiled. It looked like she was finally starting to open up. "I am glad to hear that," he said. "But I still have a couple of questions. Would you be alright answering them?" Cloudy Skies reached up and dried her eyes before nodding in the affirmative.
"Alright, for starters, you mentioned something about a transfer earlier. Was he not happy with his job here?"
"Definitely not," she responded with a laugh. "Clockwork hated being a mechanic. He despised getting dirty and hated having to deal with all these loud machines all day."
"Really?" Graphite asked. "If he hated it why did he start working here?"
"His father. He used to work in the weather factory as a mechanic and thought that it would toughen up his son a bit more. So, Clockwork took the job in order to try and please him. But, he never was happy with it and always wanted to pursue his true love."
"And what was that?"
Cloudy sighed. "Finances," she answered. Looking at the odd look Graphite gave her response, she shrugged. "Don't ask me to explain it, but he absolutely loved the 'thrill' of balancing checkbooks. He wanted more than anything to get a job working in the financial department."
"Why didn't he then?"
Again, Cloudy shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He kept trying to get in, taking copies of the books home with him and working on them on his spare time. Every time he'd come up with something, he'd take it over to Exact Count to look at, hoping to get him to approve the job transfer, but nothing ever panned out."
"Exact Count?" Graphite asked. "That was the stallion that I met when I first showed up right?"
Cloudy nodded. "Yes. He's in charge of the finances for the factory. For Clockwork to have managed to have gotten a job in finances, he needed to get Exact Count to request the transfer and Fierce Tempest to approve it."
Graphite hummed as he thought about the two stallions. "Tell me," he asked at length. "Is Tempest always that... outgoing?"
That made Cloudy laugh quite loudly. "Oh yes," she said. "Tempest has always been extremely friendly and outgoing. He says what's on his mind and doesn't care with what ponies think about it. Still, he's a really nice guy once you get to know him and is always good for a laugh."
"And what about Exact Count? Is he always so... nervous?"
Cloudy reached up and tapped her hoof to her chin as she thought. "Well," she said after a bit of pondering. "He's always been a bit quiet and reserved. He usually likes to keep to himself and doesn't talk a lot." she paused, "But now that you mention it, he has been acting a bit more afraid recently, probably in the last couple of months or so."
"Interesting," Graphite hummed. "Tell me, is there any reason that Exact Count might have wanted to kill Clockwork?"
"Exact Count?" she asked incredulously. "I don't think Exact Count could harm a fly, let alone kill another pony." She stopped and thought for a moment. "Though, now that you mention it, Clockwork did have a meeting with him the day that he died. Though, the two had lots of meetings together so that's not really that out of the ordinary."
"Do you happen to know what the meeting was about?"
Cloudy shook her head. "Just something to do with finances. Like I said, Clockwork was constantly trying to come up with something that would get him a job over there." She thought for a moment before adding, "Though, I might know where you could find out. Clockwork kept very meticulous records of everything that he did, almost to the point of ridiculous. I have in my office a stack of boxes containing notes he'd taken that I've been meaning to look through but I haven't had... the nerve yet."
Graphite nodded. "That might be helpful. You think I could take a look?"
With a nod, Cloudy Skies stood up and started trotting away with Graphite following close behind. For the first time that day, it seemed things were finally starting to look up.
~~~
The words were begin to blur together as Sweetie Belle cracked opened the newest folder she'd pulled from the seemingly never-ending pile. It had been several hours into the day, and it seemed like she had barely put a dent into the first pile. At this rate, it was going to take her over a week working full time to complete just these stacks. Of course, she'd probably never reach that point since she was bound to go insane before the week ended. The persistent headache from tedium reared its ugly head once again. Burying her head in her hooves, she rubbed against her lobes in a futile attempt for comfort.
Due to this position, she was unaware of her visitor arriving, until she heard the now familiar sound of a folder being slapped on her desk, while a voice huffed, "Well, that was a monumental waste of time."
Removing her hooves, she looked up to see that Golden Gem had once again returned, looking more frazzled than ever. She wasn't looking at Sweetie however, instead attempting to rub out a headache of her own she'd gained.
"...I take it the investigation isn't going so well?"
With an exasperated sigh, Golden Gem pulled her hoof away from her face and chuckled. "Something like that." Grabbing the nearby chair, she plunked herself down into it. "I tried talking to everypony in that section of the office and once again, they all claimed to have no idea what I was talking about."
"So we're back to square one again?"
Golden Gem huffed. "Yes... No... I don't know..." said with a shake of her head and burying her head in hooves again.
Sweetie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Do you think they still know something?"
"Well," Golden Gem said with a bit of hesitation in her voice, "there's one of them in particular that I think knows something, but I'm not entirely sure."
"And who might that be?"
"Dusty Roads," she answered. "He's one of the junior agents in the department. While all the others were really quick to deny knowing anything about the report, he was the only one who had to think about it first. After he denied knowing about it, I kept trying to glean any info from him. As I did, he got more aggressive, until finally, he quite forcibly asked me to leave."
Sweetie shrugged. "Well, I don't know anything about him, but that could just be his personality."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Golden Gem sighed. "Still, I think there's something more to it. Deep down, I'm sure that he's hiding something. I just don't think I'll ever get anywhere trying to talk to him though."
This made Sweetie Belle tap her hoof against her chin as she began to ponder. "...Could I try?" she said at last.
Golden Gem sat up surprised. "You?" she asked bewildered. "You really think that you could get him to talk to you?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"Well, for starters, you're a criminal and nopony in the office trusts you," Golden stated matter of factly. "Besides that, you don't have any training on interrogating somepony."
"Oh, you might be surprised," Sweetie said with a smirk. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen? He decides not to tell me anything?"
Golden Gem rolled her eyes, but shook it off with a laugh. "You've got a point there," she said. "Well, if you really think you can do better, then go right ahead and try."
Sweetie Belle sat up, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation. "Alright, where exactly can I find this stallion?"
Golden turned around, giving Sweetie a clear view of the rest of the office. "You're in luck," she said pointing across the room. "He's the tan earth pony that just walked into the break room right there."
Her target now in her sights, Sweetie Belle held her hooves out and stretched to get ready. Loosening her tightly wound muscles, she took a deep breath. "Ok. I just need you to do one last thing before I go." She looked over at Golden Gem. "I need you to yell at me."
"...You need me to what?"
"Yell at me," Sweetie repeated. "Scream. Make a big scene. Preferably about how long it's taking me to get through these papers. "
Golden Gem sat stunned. "I... I can't do that," she stuttered. "I'm not really one for yelling."
"Oh come on," Sweetie whined. "This is me we're talking about! I'm sure that there has to be something you've been dying to scream at me for years now."
"Well... yeah but..."
Sweetie groaned. "I don't have time for this," she muttered to herself. Then, with a twinkle in her eye she said, "Figures you wouldn't be able to help. You're just as worthless as Graphite is. He couldn't do anything right either."
Instantly, Golden Gem's countenance turned poisonous. "YOU MISERABLE WASTE OF A PONY! What do you mean by that!?!"
Sweetie Belle ignored the fact that all eyes in the office immediately turned to face them, exactly as she had hoped. "I told you already," she said, just loud enough for everypony to hear without her yelling back, "I'm working as hard as I can."
"I... Well it isn't fast enough!" Golden shouted back, figuring that whatever Sweetie was planning, it was best to just play along at this point. Besides that, it was kind of therapeutic. "We expect all of these files to be done by the end of the week, and here you are wasting all of our time! Perhaps we should just send you back to prison and get somepony competent enough to handle this! Is that what you want?!?"
"Relax. I just said I was going to get a drink of water, alright? That isn't a crime last time I checked." Sweetie Belle stepped around the fuming unicorn and headed across the room.
"Well you'd better make it quick," Golden Gem huffed from behind her. "I expect to see real progress out of you the next time I come and check on you."
Sweetie Belle turned back for a brief moment to shoot Golden Gem a look of disgust, a gesture noticed by all those still watching. However, only Golden Gem caught the quick little wink Sweetie shot her as well.
Turning back around, Sweetie Belle noticed several ponies quickly turn to look away from her, pretending as though they hadn't seen anything. To her delight, she especially noticed a tan earth pony quickly pull his head back into the doorway of the break room.
Trotting in behind him, she found him sitting at the table with a newspaper in his hooves, acting as though nothing was amiss. He looked up at her briefly as she entered, to which she politely nodded an acknowledgement. He did not return the gesture. Ignoring that, she trotted behind him, grabbing a cup and quickly filling it from the sink nearby. No sooner was the glass filled, then she raised it to her mouth and downed its contents in one go. Sighing loudly as she pulled it back, she immediately returned it to the sink and began to fill it again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Dusty staring at her closely. She turned back causing the stallion to quickly turn his head back towards his paper. This caused her to chuckle a little. "I take it you heard all that, didn't you?"
Dusty smirked, knowing it was pointless to try and deny the fact. "It would have been hard not to."
Sweetie laughed from his honesty as she shut off the water and turned to face the stallion. He was still trying to pretend like he was interested in his paper, though it was more than clear that he wasn't. "Yeah," Sweetie Belle responded, taking a sip of her drink. "I don't know what's wrong with that mare. I think she must be crazy or something."
"Oh, don't be too hard on her," he responded. "She's just acting all important to try and please her boss."
"You think so?"
"Definitely," he said with a chuckle. "It happens way too often with secretaries here. Especially since her boss is the top agent of the department. That mare acts as though she runs the entire show herself. Just keep your head down and you'll be fine."
Sweetie shot him a smile. "Thanks for the advice," she said warmly. Then, acting all flustered and extending her hoof, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't get the chance to introduce myself. I'm Sweetie Belle."
With an amused look, Dusty reached out and pressed his own hoof against hers. "Yes, I know who you are," he answered flatly.
Sweetie laughed. "I take it you've heard about me around here."
That made him chuckle. "Well, it's not every day we have a world renowned criminal come to work for us around here." He folded his newspaper and set it on the table. "Also, if I'm not mistaken, I seem to recall seeing your name on a folder that passed over my desk once or twice."
"Oh yeah," Sweetie responded perking up. "And what exactly did these reports say about me?"
"Nothing good, I can tell you that much," he smirked. "Though I do seem to remember one in particular about a bank robbery where the money seemed to just vanish without a trace. We didn't actually have a suspect for that one, but Graphite insisted that it was your work.
Sweetie tapped her hoof to her chin as she pondered. "Now, was that the one in Trottingham or the one in Baltimare?"
Dusty's jaw dropped open. "Wait, you mean you actually were responsible for that?"
"I never said that," she answered with a sly smile. "Like you said, there was never an actual suspect. I just like having my facts straight."
Dusty stared at her blankly for a moment before shaking his head. "And they're actually letting you work here," he said with a quiet chuckle.
"It's because of my glowing personality," Sweetie said standing tall and proud.
"Yes, I'm sure it is." With a shrug, Dusty picked up his newspaper again. "Thankfully, Graphite is the one who has to deal with it and not me."
"Yeah, well it's just too bad that he's not here today," Sweetie sighed. "Instead, I'm stuck dealing with the secretary from Tartarus instead." She looked towards the doorway and sighed again. "I just don't get that mare. She's going to drive me crazy, I swear."
"Well, like I said, she's probably just trying to impress Graphite. I wouldn't be too worried about..."
"No it's not that," Sweetie interrupted. "It's this stupid report that she keeps talking about."
At the mention of the word 'report', Dusty's ears perked up. "Report?" he asked. "What kind of report?"
Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Apparently Golden Gem and Graphite found a report that was forged. Graphite's investigating the crime a bit closer while she looks into the report itself. Since I'm the expert on forgeries around here, she keeps coming to me asking for explanations about who filled it out."
"And... do you have any idea who did it?"
"Not a clue," she responded. Surprisingly, Dusty looked a little bit upset when she said that. She decided to try and press her luck further. "For me to know that, I would have to know everything about everypony who works here. Of course, that's suggesting that the report was even written by somepony in the bureau."
Again, Dusty's interest was piqued by her comment. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, just between you and me," Sweetie responded in a hushed tone, darting her head back and forth making sure nopony else was listening, "I'm not entirely sure that the report was forged by somepony in the office. I think that somepony else forged it and then paid somepony to sneak it in."
Once again, there was a slight wince in Dusty's expression that lasted only the briefest of seconds. "You don't say?"
"Yeah, crazy I know," Sweetie answered. "Of course, Golden Gem won't hear my theory at all. She's convinced that whoever is responsible for that form being submitted is responsible for its victim's death as well. She'll stop at nothing to make sure that whoever did it will be sent to prison for a very, VERY long time."
Dusty was beginning to look a bit pale as Sweetie started making her way towards the door. "Of course, I think that's ridiculous, but who would listen to me?" She shook her head as she trotted. "I just wish that I knew exactly who wrote the report was. It would sure make my life a lot easier."
"Yeah," Dusty answered emotionlessly. "It would make mine a lot easier as well."
"And tell me," a voice from outside asked, "Why exactly would that make your life easier?"
Dusty froze as Golden Gem walked into the break room, a rather triumphant look on her face. The rest of the color drained from his face as he realized his slip up. "Nothing," he quickly stammered. "I was just saying that..."
"Save it," Golden Gem said harshly, "I heard the entire conversation between the two of you. I knew that there was something that you're not letting onto. Now why don't you just spill the beans and get it over with."
With an angry look, Dusty turned to Sweetie Belle. "You set me up?"
Sweetie just shrugged. "I'm a con mare. It's what I do."
Dusty huffed. He forcibly folded back up his newspaper before standing up. "Well," he said indignately. "I don't know what you two are trying to get out of me, but I certainly don't appreciate it. I don't have to sit here and take it either." He started towards the door. "If you need me, and I pray that you won't, please talk to my superior first."
Sweetie waited for him to pass her. "Graphite's in Cloudsdale right now," she stated not looking back.
Dusty paused at the doorway, but didn't say anything. So, Sweetie continued. "Look," she said as kindly as she could. "We all know that there's something that you're not telling us. We can sit and try to play games all day to get it out of you, but Graphite is up in Cloudsdale right now. If something fishy is going on here, then he might be in danger." She turned back to face him. "If you tell us what you know now, we might be able to help him. But if something did happen to him..." her voice trailed off leaving Dusty to fill in the gaps himself.
He turned back and looked at Sweetie. His expression softened a bit as he looked at her bright, almost pleading, emerald eyes. He sat like that for a minute before lowering his head with a sigh. "...I needed the money," he answered quietly.
Golden Gem almost couldn't believe her ears. "What money?" she asked eagerly.
Dusty shot her a nasty look before sighing again with contempt. Turning back, he walked back to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, Sweetie and Golden Gem following suit. Once they were all seated he began. "My wife is a zoologist. She was researching strange animals in the Everfree forest several months ago when she was attacked by a pack of Timberwolves. Her assistant managed to chase them away, but they still were able to do a lot of damage. She was barely clinging to life when they brought her to the Ponyville Hospital. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses managed to save her life, but she came out with a whole load of lasting problems. She ended up needing all sorts of therapies and rehab just to be able to perform simple tasks, let alone to be able to walk again. During this entire time, not only was she out of work but I was constantly by her side until she was well enough to take care of herself again. Regardless to say, it cost us almost all our savings, and without her extra income anymore, I wasn't sure how we were going to manage.
"Then, out of the blue, about a month and a half ago, I received a letter in the mail. There was no return address or any other sort of identifying information. The letter began by personally apologizing for my wife's injuries and the problems we were having with money. It then offered me ten thousand bits if I could perform a single, simple task. At first, I just assumed that the letter was just a scam, but the way that they seemed to know all about me and my desperation made me think otherwise. I sent a response to the generic address given to me in the letter and waited. The next day, another letter showed up along with a folder. It told me that all I had to do was sneak the file into the bureau and the money would be mine. I did that and sure enough, the very next day a bag containing the promised money was sitting on my front porch."
"And none of this seemed suspicious to you?" Golden Gem finally asked interrupting him.
"Well of course it seemed suspicious," Dusty answered sarcastically. "But like I said, I was desperate for the money. I tried my best to just ignore the strangeness of it, put it behind me and forget about it, but I couldn't. My guilt was gnawing at me like a mouse at cheese. I tried figuring out who had sent me that money but, like I said there was no identifying info on the letter and the address I was given was for an abandoned house in Trottingham. Again, without any leads, I tried to forget it, but I just couldn't get that stupid file out of my mind."
"So what did you do?"
Dusty sighed. "Well, I thought that maybe there was a good reason for the secrecy. So I sent another letter to my mysterious benefactor saying that I was going to reveal what I'd done unless he gave me more information about it. The next day I got back another letter. This one was much less friendly than the previous two. It told me that I was in no position to make demands. If I made any sort of stink about the file, then they had the ability to pin the victim's murder on me instead. That was more than enough to shut me up, and keep me from talking about it ever again."
"Wait," Golden Gem stopped suddenly as though she'd been hit by a ton of bricks. "Did you just say 'murder'?"
With a deep breath, Dusty nodded his head in the affirmative. "That's what they told me they'd say if I said anything about it."
Sweetie Belle turned to Golden Gem who had long since turned pale. Had she been able to, Sweetie would have also had she not already been that color as she realized the exact same thing. "Clockwork's death at the weather factory wasn't an accident. It was just a cover-up."
Golden Gem suddenly stood up and thanked Dusty for the info before darting for the doorway. Sweetie Belle rushed quickly behind her. "Wait up!" she called out, stopping Golden Gem right before she exited the building. "Where are you rushing off to?"
"Didn't you just hear him? If Clockwork was murdered, then that means that Graphite might be in trouble. I have to go and warn him."
"Well, you can't go by yourself," Sweetie argued. "I'm coming with you."
Golden Gem tried not to laugh, an easy feat from the seriousness of the situation. "I don't have time to argue with you. You're staying right here."
"Oh come on," Sweetie whined. "I'm just as much a part of this investigation as you are."
"Look I know you want to..."
"You said so yourself. We don't have time to argue. I can help! I want to help! Please let me come with you."
That last statement sounded less like a plea and more like a question. Golden Gem looked into the pleading eyes of Sweetie before relenting with a sigh. Her horn glowed a light magenta, which made Sweetie feel a little light headed for a moment. Then, the pain was gone almost as soon as it came on.
"What was that," Sweetie asked rubbing her head.
Golden Gem groaned. "I just changed your inhibitor ring's tracking spell. Now instead of having to stay inside Canterlot, you have to stay within a hundred meters of me."
Sweetie brightened. "Wait you mean..."
"Now come on," Golden Gem said holding the door open. "We've got to hurry. We could already be too late."
~~~
If there was one thing that could be said about Clockwork, it was that he was a very meticulous pony; almost annoyingly so in fact. The boxes containing his belongings were a picture perfect symbol of cleanliness. Everything was neatly organized and tucked firmly into its designated place. While in most cases, this would have been a good thing, the problem was that Clockwork kept records of absolutely everything. Each box was absolutely packed to the brim with papers, notes and forms, all organized in some system the victim probably understood, though nopony else possibly could.
Within the past two hours of digging, Graphite had managed to turn Cloudy Skies' office into what looked like the remains of a tornado strike. Papers were strewn all over the place as Graphite poured over each one. While some got nothing more than a glance, most were thoroughly examined before being tossed aside.
Graphite sighed deeply as yet another now empty box was pushed aside. He was starting to understand at least part of the reason why Cloudy Skies was dreading sorting through all of this. It seemed as though Clockwork had recorded his entire life at the weather factory and stuffed it into these boxes. The only nice thing about that was that it meant that if there was an answer to this riddle, there was a very good chance that it was probably hidden somewhere in here.
With another sigh, Graphite grabbed the next box and popped the lid off. Glancing over the contents, he groaned inwardly as he once again found himself staring at yet another heaping pile of random meeting notes. Levitating out a few, he couldn't help it as his mind wandered back to Canterlot. Was Golden Gem having more luck than he was? Had she managed to find something yet? Although he didn't mean to, he also couldn't help but think about Sweetie Belle. As he dug through the seemingly endless mounds of paperwork, he felt a small twinge of guilt for giving her such a mind-numbing job as well. Not that she didn't deserve it of course, but still...
Graphite was so preoccupied in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the paper levitated in front of him. At first glance, it looked exactly the same as all the others. It contained a name at the top detailing who the meeting was with and when it took place. Along the side where a series of timestamps, each with a brief note explaining what had happened next to them. He was just about to add it to the pile of refuse, when a specific line caught his attention.
"2:36 – Exact Count continued to get more nervous as I showed him that the problem seemed to be a recurring one."
Curious, Graphite levitated the paper back up to get a better look at it. It seemed he finally found what he was looking for. According to the information printed at the top, this note was for the meeting that took place between Clockwork and Exact Count on the day that Clockwork had died. It read thusly:
---
2:30 – Entered Exact Count's office. We exchanged pleasantries. He seemed a bit nervous, though not much more than recently.
2:31 – Exact Count invited me to sit down. I began my explanation of the problems that I had found.
2:34 – After showing him some of the smaller issues, I moved onto the deficit that I found in the budget. He became extremely nervous from this, presumably because it was such a large amount.
2:36 – Exact Count continued to get more nervous as I showed him that the problem seemed to be a recurring one.
2:39 – He thanked me for my help, but told me that I did not need to worry about it any further.
2:40 – I offered my assistance to look into the problem some more, but was promptly denied. He said he would handle it personally.
2:41 – I left Exact Count's office. He was still very nervous when I left. I will need to remember to check in with him tomorrow.
---
At the very bottom of the note were a series of other small notes and numbers. They appeared to reference other forms or papers, but the system Clockwork was using made no sense to Graphite. It would have been next to impossible to track down the documents, especially with half the boxes having had their contents emptied hours ago.
Still, there was more than enough information for Graphite to start theorizing. Although it was only a hunch before, he was now almost certain that Exact Count was involved in Clockwork's death somehow. It was quite obvious to him that Exact Count was engaged in some sort of shady activity, most likely taking advantage of his position to steal money from the factory. This note, in conjecture with Cloudy's comments and his own impression of the stallion's behavior was enough for that.
True, he didn't have anything conclusive at the moment, but the evidence thus far was too much for him to just ignore. He knew he had to investigate further. To do that however, he was going to need help. He was going to need somepony to help sort through the rest of these boxes and the official financial records to try and determine exactly what Clockwork had discovered. Before he could do that however, there was one pony who's help he was going to need the most and that had to be informed immediately.
Leaving Cloudy Skies' office, he turned and trotted down the large white hallway. He passed several ponies on his way, as they were preparing to head home after a long day's work. He nodded at several of them though only some returned the gesture. Most were just eager to be leaving and ignored him. He was fine with that as his mind was occupied elsewhere. Soon enough, he arrived at the door he wanted near the end of the hall. The name "Fierce Tempest" was proudly printed across it. Knocking twice, Graphite waited until he heard a friendly voice call him in.
Pushing against the door, it slowly swung open allowing Graphite to step into the room. Although he expected it to be larger than a normal office, he was awed by just how massive it actually was. While the ground space was a decent size, the really impressive bit was how high up the roof was. The room featured a large, vaulted ceiling that was at least three stories high. The walls were adorned with some rather odd pieces of art, presumably from Tempest's homeland. At the rear of the room was a large archway reaching nearly to the ceiling as well and leading outside to a great balcony which stretched out over the expanse of Equestria and the distant ocean below.
In the very center of the room, Tempest sat behind an elegant wooden desk. He smiled warmly as he saw Graphite enter. "Ah, Agent Graphite! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show up. 'ow goes the investigation?"
Graphite smiled back, though not quite as enthusiastically. "Well enough," he answered.
Tempest noticed the hesitation in his voice. "Is something the matter my friend? 'ave you discovered some problem that I should be aware of?"
"I'm afraid so," Graphite said with a nod. "My investigation has led me to believe that there may have been more to this accident than we thought at first."
"Whatever do you mean?"
Graphite took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't think that Clockwork's death was an accident."
Tempest was stunned. "You... You do not mean that you think he was... murdered?"
Graphite nodded. "Unfortunately yes, I'm afraid."
"This is... shocking news," Tempest murmured. "And just who exactly do you believe is the one responsible for this?"
Another deep breath. "Exact Count," Graphite answered.
Tempest stared at Graphite before bursting out laughing. When Graphite didn't join in, Tempest's laughter slowly died out, first to a chuckle and then to nothing. "You are serious?" he asked curiously. "But... Exact Count is 'armless. He could not 'urt a fly."
Graphite though about how Cloudy Skies had said almost exactly the same thing, but he was sure of his assessment. "Still, I definitely think that he was involved," he maintained. "I've found that Clockwork met with him the day he died to discuss some problems with the budget."
"...With the budget?"
Graphite nodded. "I'm afraid that Exact Count may have been stealing money from the factory, though I can't be certain for how long."
"And you think that Clockwork found out, so Exact Count killed him late at night?"
"I think so, yes."
Tempest leaned back in his chair of clouds, hooves crossed, and a serious look on his face. "That is a very serious allegation Agent," he said slowly. "Do you have any proof of these claims?"
"I have... some evidence," Graphite responded hesitantly. "But, I'm going to need some help in order to find some more solid proof."
"And 'ave you talked to Exact Count about this yet."
Graphite shook his head. "You're the first pony that I've talked to. I thought it would be best if you were aware of this problem before anypony else."
Tempest nodded. "Yes, that does seem wise." He stood, motioning towards the door and trotting up beside Graphite. "I think it would be best if we go and fetch some guards. Then we can confront Exact Count and see what he 'as to say about this." Graphite nodded in agreement and turned to face the exit.
Graphite never saw the wooden stick. Nor did he see Tempest swing it. However, he certainly felt it as it smashed into the back of his head with a sickening crack. He didn't even have the chance to yell out in pain as he fell forward. The best he was able to manage was a low groan, as the world grew dark around him. He hit the ground with a gentle poof before the darkness completely overtook him and he felt no more.
~~~
How much time had passed, Graphite couldn't be certain. The first thing he became aware of was just how comfortable the plush cloud flooring he was laying on was underneath him. As more of his consciousness returned, he became all the more grateful for that fact, since the pain billowing in his skull caused every point of his body to ache. Slowly, he fluttered his eyes open, only to find that the world was still nothing more than a blur of colors. There was noise around him as well, though the humming in his ears prevented him from hearing it completely. Still, there were bits and pieces that he was able to recognize.
"... told ... you ..."
"... find ... records ..."
"... too much ... knows about ... money ..."
"... we're ... trouble ... hang ..."
"... relax ... nothing ... to 'appen ..."
"... he knows ... murdered Clockwork!"
"... take care ... fix it ..."
As the humming subsided, the voices became much clearer. It was the voices of two stallions arguing. Even before he could recognize their voices, he had a pretty good guess whose they were.
He let out a groan as he attempted to stand. It was only at this moment, that he became painfully aware of the bounds holding his hooves together. Both of the voices immediately grew silent from the sound of his pain. The blurry world was beginning to reassert itself, as a large brown blob approached him. As the world came back into focus he looked up and saw the cold face of the tall pegasus staring down at him, while the other sat in the corner cowering.
"Tempest and Exact Count," Graphite moaned. "It was both of you. You were in this together."
Tempest smirked as he glared down at the bound stallion. "Agent Graphite," he sneered. "'ow kind of you to join us. We were just talking about you."
The fog over his eyes began to lift more making everything a bit more clear. This turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. He attempted to cast a spell to loosen his ropes, only to once again become painfully away of the pain currently pounding inside his head. The spell sparked for a moment, but quickly fizzled and died.
"It seems as though you are 'aving some sort of trouble with your magic," Tempest chuckled. "Do not worry though. I once 'eard that Unicorn's who sustain bad injuries usually lose their magic for a while afterwards. I am sure that it will come back once your 'ead has cleared."
"Oh my head is clear enough now," Graphite answered, again feeling against his bonds. "Clear enough to figure out exactly what happened to Clockwork."
Exact Count cowered in the corner, while Tempest just grinned. "Is that so?" he questioned. "And what exactly do you think 'appened?"
Graphite took a deep breath before begining. "Alright. Several months ago, Exact Count discovered some flaw with the accounting. He must have told you about it, which gave the two of you an idea. You could exploit the flaw and pocket the bits for yourselves. Nopony would be the wiser, and the two of you would make a lot of money. And it worked well didn't it? The two of you probably made a rather nice profit for yourselves over the past couple of months.
"But somepony eventually did notice. Clockwork was eager to prove his ability as an accountant. He scoured through the books and eventually found a very large discrepancy that you thought you had hidden. Eager to please, he brought his findings to Exact Count, showing him exactly how the money was being stolen.
"Exact Count panicked. The entire operation had been blown wide open. If Clockwork reported his findings to anypony else, they'd start investigating as well. And if they did that, it was only a matter of time before the trail would wind back to the two of you, and your precious plan would be ruined.
"You had to do something. So you found some reason to keep Clockwork after hours and confronted him there. Did you try to reason with him? Maybe offer to let him in as well? Or did you just knock him unconscious while he wasn't looking. Regardless, you left his body between the gears and let the machine finish the job for you. You killed him, because he figured out your little plot."
Although silent up to now, Exact Count couldn't take it anymore. "Nopony was supposed to die!" he cried out. "I never wanted anything bad to happen to anypony, especially not Clockwork!"
Tempest shot Exact Count an angry look which silenced him. Turning back to Graphite, he chuckled. "Well. I must say that I am impressed. You seem to 'ave figured everything out."
"Not quite everything," Graphite answered. "Why did you two go to such lengths to submit a forged report? Wouldn't it have just been easier to have the investigation take place normally?"
Tempest's ears fell flat against his head. His eyes grew cold as he turned towards Exact Count who looked like he was desperately hoping to disappear at that moment. "You submitted a forged report?"
"I panicked!" Exact Count responded. "I was worried that if another pony investigated, they'd find something! I figured that it was best to forge the report and hope that it wouldn't get caught. For a while there, I'd thought it actually worked..."
It was Graphite's turn to chuckle. "Unfortunately for you, we're very thorough when it comes to paperwork." His headache was starting to subside and he was beginning to feel his strength returning. "Of course now, the question is what happens next?" He turned towards the terrified stallion in the corner. "If you don't turn yourselves in now, it's only going to get worse from here."
Exact Count thought about the words, before turning towards Tempest. The massive stallion's cold expression remained the same as he continued to glare down at the bound unicorn. "Tempest..." Exact Count said hesitantly, "What are we going to do?"
Tempest remained just as stoic as ever as he responded. "Go to your office. I will deal with this personally."
"But..."
"Go to your office," he said again turning to face him. This time the command was much more forcible. "And stay there until I get back." He turned back to Graphite. "This will not take long."
Exact Count hesitated for a moment, before turning and walking towards the door. As he was about to exit, he turned and gave Graphite one last look. There was a sadness in his eyes, almost apologetic. Then, without another word, he turned and left the room, the door shutting behind him with a click.
Graphite was the first to speak once the two were alone. "Nice guy. Not much fight in him though. If I had to guess, I'd say he had nothing to do with Clockwork murder, isn't that right."
Tempest looked back at Graphite. "Yes. He is a nice guy isn't he? You are right though. There is no fight in 'im. He is too passive, and he buckles under pressure too easily. He could not kill anypony, no. He is too weak, like you. He cannot bear to see anypony in pain. Still, he 'as his uses."
"So, what's going to happen to him after I'm gone?"
With a wicked grin, Tempest chuckled. "You do not need to worry yourself about that my friend. Once I 'ave dealt with you, I will take care of him as well."
"The same way you took care of Clockwork?"
Tempest glared back. "No. Not exactly the same. Clockwork did not have the honor of seeing his death coming. I'm afraid that it is not that simple with the two of you."
To Tempest's surprise, Graphite grinned. "That's all I needed to hear," he said.
While Tempest's back had been turned, Graphite had managed to loosen his bounds. With what little energy he had, he pulled at the ropes, breaking the remaining restraints. As quickly as he could, he lunged at Tempest, knocking the stallion off his feet in surprise. He didn't waste any time. Quickly he turned and charged for the door, leaving the stunned pegasus behind.
At least, that's what he had hoped. He didn't even make it halfway to the doorway when the large brown stallion landed directly in front of him, a wild expression in his eyes. Graphite tried to dart around him, but the pegasus was too fast. He grabbed Graphite in an iron grip, lifting him into the air. Graphite struggled against his captor, but it was no use. Tempest was just too large and too strong.
"Well, it seems the wimpy unicorn is full of surprises," Tempest said with a laugh. "It's a good thing too. I was wondering 'ow I was going to remove your bounds before I killed you." Graphite continued to struggle as Tempest placed his hoof around his neck. "Now then, 'ow should I do it? I could break your neck right now, but that might cause someone to wonder. I could try feeding you to a machine, but again, that would be too suspicious."
"You could... just let me go..." Graphite said through struggled breathes.
Tempest smiled. "Yes, perhaps I could do that," he responded darkly. With Graphite still firmly in his grasp, he flew out of the office and onto the balcony. "Tell me Agent," he asked, "do you know anything about the ancient pegasi culture?"
Graphite's groans from struggling were the only response he got. "Of course you don't. It's not talked about often. You see the pegasi were once a very proud race of warriors. Strength was their only concern. They shunned anything they thought was weakness. Because of this, their children were always given the ultimate test. Once they were just old enough, their parents would fly them up to the top of a cloud in the sky and push them off. The children who were able to fly saved themselves and lived to become great soldiers. Those who couldn't quite fly 'owever..."
Graphite grew limp as the realization of the story hit him. "You... You wouldn't dare..." he said.
Tempest smiled. "I am sorry my friend. But it is time to see if you can fly."
Once again, Graphite tried to fight against his captor's grasp, much harder than before. However, once again his efforts were futile. With a deep breath, Tempest reeled back, before spinning around and releasing his grip. He watched with a grim satisfaction as the flailing unicorn tumbled through the air, screaming as he went until he disappeared over the edge of the balcony and the noise faded away.
"Goodbye my friend," Tempest said with a mocking wave before heading back inside, "and good riddance."
~~~
"Alright, stick close to me and don't wander off too far. Hopefully we'll find him quickly"
The chariot touched down outside the weather factory and Golden Gem and Sweetie Belle quickly piled out. They didn't bother to stop and admire the scenery, turning and trotting quickly towards the factory itself.
"Shouldn't we split up?" Sweetie asked. "We could cover more ground that way."
"I don't think that would be wise," Golden Gem answered as they passed through the door. Immediately she began darting her head back in forth searching. "For starters, if there is a murderer on the loose here, the last thing we need is to be separated. Besides, I'm already dreading explaining to Graphite how you managed to convince me to bring you along as well. It'd be better if he didn't run into you by yourself."
Sweetie chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Still, this place is massive. It could take hours to find him in here."
"Well, I figure a good place would be the main offices. Even if he's not there perhaps we can run into somepony who knows what's going on."
With that, the pair turned down the first hallway that looked appropriate and started looking down it. Sure enough, they soon found most of the offices. However, what they didn't fine were ponies to talk to. It was starting to get late in the day and it appeared most of the pegasi had already left.
As the pair trotted down yet another empty hallway, Sweetie suddenly stopped, her ears perking straight up. "Did you hear that?" she asked.
Golden Gem stopped as well. "Hear what?"
Sweetie stayed perfectly still as she kept listening. "That," she said as if it was the clearest thing in the world. "It almost sounds like somepony screaming."
That made Golden Gem pay attention. She lifted her hoof to her ear and strained her ears. Despite her best efforts however, she couldn't hear a single thing and stated so.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. "It seems to have died off now, but I'm certain of it. I heard somepony screaming."
Golden Gem sighed and shook her head. "I swear Sweetie Belle," she grumbled continuing onward and turning the corner. "If you're trying to freak me out, I'll..."
Her sentence was cut short as she collided with another pony turning the corner at that moment as well. The two fell to the floor with a thud and a groan from each.
Golden Gem was the first to her hooves. "I'm so sorry," she quickly said, helping the other mare up as well. "I guess I wasn't watching were I was going."
The cream colored mare rubbed her head with one hoof while waving off Golden with the other. "That's alright," she said. "I wasn't paying attention either." She turned to Golden with a smile, but suddenly looked shocked. "A unicorn?" she said puzzled. "Wasn't expecting to run into another one of you today."
"Another?" Golden Gem asked excitedly. "You mean, you've seen Agent Graphite here today? I'm looking for him, have you seen him recently?"
The pegasus nodded. "Yes actually. In fact I was just looking for him as well. I left him looking through some files in my office, but when I came back just recently, he was nowhere to be found. Is he in trouble?"
Golden Gem nodded. "He very well might be. We have information for him which could be vital to the case he's working. We have to find him, and quickly."
"Alright," the other mare agreed. "I'll see what I can do. I'm Cloudy Skies by the way."
"Golden Gem," she responded with a smile before pointing behind her. "And this is Sweetie Belle."
Cloudy looked puzzled. "...Who is Sweetie Belle?"
Golden Gem froze. She suddenly realized that Sweetie had been far too quiet for normal. She turned around, only to confirm the fear she already knew was true. Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be seen.
~~~
Although it had only been seconds, it felt like hours had passed by the time Graphite finally opened his eyes. Though he wasn't falling anymore, his situation wasn't any less dire. After he'd been thrown from the edge of the balcony, he didn't have much time to react. Mustering all the energy he possibly could, he forced a spell to send him flying back towards the clouds. His goal was to try and aim for one of the windows, hopefully landing himself safely back inside the factory. Unfortunately, his magic was still exhausted and the blast didn't push him quite far enough. He bounced off the wall, only managing to barely grab onto the ledge of the lowest window, just before plummeting to his inevitable doom.
Terror gripped him as he realized exactly the predicament he found himself in. Although it had never been a debilitating fear for him, Graphite had always held a certain disdain for heights. Finding himself literally hanging on for his life at the moment certainty wasn't doing anything to help him in this case.
Carefully, he tried pulling himself up. However, as he reached up and grabbed, he could feel the cloud wall giving way underneath his hooves, sinking him back to where he was. He kept trying, but with each attempt, he felt himself slipping a little bit further and closer to his doom.
He tried screaming out, but there was nopony around to notice him. The work day was over and most of the pegasi who worked there had returned home for the day. Those who did remain were all working in the middle of the factory and were too far and in too noisy an area to hear the screams of one unicorn. Still, he tried his best, though in the end, it only tired him out further.
He began slipping more and more, his grip growing worse as his energy continued to wane. In a last desperate act, he tried using his magic to pull himself up. However, the blow to the head coupled with the stress of the situation made it impossible to form even a simple spell. All it did was sap the remaining energy that he had left.
With a large exhale, he ceased his efforts again falling just a bit further. By this point he was barely grasping onto the edge. It wouldn't be long now. The foolish thought passed through his head that maybe somepony would see him, and would catch him before he smashed into the ground far below. Of course, that was only a wish. Even if a pegasus did notice him, the odds of them being able to catch him were slim to none. The only pegasus still capable of such a feat was the Wonderbolt's Captain Rainbow Dash, but she and the others were away in Trottingham doing a show this week.
His left hoof came free as Graphite braced himself for the inevitable. With that hoof no longer holding on, the other began to slip all the faster. He took a deep breath. For the briefest second, he almost swore he heard somepony yell out for him, but passed it off as his own wishful thinking. He closed his eyes as he felt his hoof release from the edge and he began to fall...
...
...and then suddenly stop. His eyes popped open instantly. The air wasn't rushing past him as he expected. He wasn't falling. Besides that, there was something firm holding onto his still outstretched hoof. He looked up, and to his surprise found a pair of pale white hooves wrapped around his own, holding him in place. Further up he saw a sight he never expected to see. A very particular white unicorn, wearing a ridiculous hat, and wincing as she held onto him for everything she was worth.
"Sw... Sweetie Belle," he gasped in wonder.
Sweetie grunted in approval, before adding through clenched teeth. "You mind... giving me... a hoof here?"
A new vigor filled Graphite. He reached up with his dangling hoof, grabbing Sweetie's as well. With his grip firm, Sweetie began pulling back, slowly raising Graphite up ever so slightly. As he rose up, he managed to get his back hooves against the wall, helping push himself just a little more. He nodded to Sweetie who recognized the signal and returned it. Taking a deep breath, Sweetie yelled out as she pulled for all she could and Graphite pushed up against the wall. The combined effort was enough, launching Graphite up and over the edge where both he and Sweetie hit the ground with a large thud.
The two laid there next to each other for a minute, both panting heavily while attempting to catch their breath and allowing the stress of the situation to slowly diffuse. After a time, Graphite finally was the first to speak up. "What... in the name of Celestia are you doing here?"
Sweetie Belle, still tired as could be and panting like a mad dog, could only give him a confused look. "What am I doing here?" she retorted, a little bit of sarcasm evident in her voice. "Saving your life obviously. We were worried about you."
"We?"
Sweetie nodded. "Golden Gem and I."
Graphite, still lying on the ground, looked over towards Sweetie. "Golden Gem is here as well? Where is she now?"
Sweetie shrugged, a peculiar motion since she was still lying against the cloud floor. "She didn't believe me when I said that I heard somepony scream, so I left her to go and look for myself."
"You actually heard that?" Graphite asked with an inquisitive look. "But still, how did you manage to find me."
"A lot of running," Sweetie answered with a chuckle, her heavy breathing making it seem more than obvious. "I just ran towards the sound and looked in every office I could. You're lucky I passed by when I did. I only noticed where you were, because I happened to see one of your hoofs slip from the window sill.
Still gasping for breath, it was her turn to ask a question. "Now, do you mind telling me what you were doing hanging out the windowsill exactly?"
The question seemed to snap Graphite back to his senses. "There's no time for that," he said scrambling to his hooves. "We have to hurry. I just hope I'm not too late."
Sweetie raised her head up as Graphite started off quickly towards the door. "Late?" she queried. "Late for what?"
Graphite looked back. His voice was grim. "To stop another murder."
~~~
Doors were not very common in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, or in most of the larger buildings in Cloudsdale for that matter. Most rooms were connected by large archways, big enough that pegasi could fly through them without having to land. Even many of the smaller offices had larger than normal entryways or a large number of windows to keep the room feeling open.
Exact Count's office, where said pegasus was currently pacing nervously, was an exception. Exact Count had always enjoyed his privacy. He claimed that it helped him to think more clearly. As such, his office was one of the few with an actual door attached. There were no windows either, making the room much darker than the rest of the factory. During midday, the room was still bright enough as the sunlight would illuminate through the cloud walls. However, as the sun was low in the sky at this moment, the only source of light was from a lantern the stallion kept on his desk for this exact purpose.
The door slowly and silently opened, letting the bright light from outside in to dispel the darkness. Exact Count stopped his pacing, and watched as Tempest quietly entered the room, carefully shutting the door behind him and plunging the room into shadow once again. Due to his nervousness, Exact Count didn't hear the distinct clicking as the lock turned into place.
For a time, the pair didn't say a word to each other. Tempest was looking down at the ground, his expression a complete mystery, while Exact Count stared at him waiting for an explanation. When it didn't come, he decided to ask himself. "Is... Is it done?" he stuttered.
Tempest nodded. "Agent Graphite 'as been taken care of. He will not be bothering us again."
Exact Count grimaced. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing," Tempest answered with a grim smile. "He just 'appened to walk a little too close to the edge."
The explanation painted a gruesome picture, one that caused Exact Count to shudder. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he exclaimed. "You promised me that if we took this money nopony was going to get hurt."
"It is unfortunate but..."
"And now we've killed a special agent!" Exact Count shouted. He quickly realized his fault and lowered his voice again, "His death won't be like Clockwork's either. Ponies are going to ask questions. They're going to wonder how this happened. They're going to start another investigation!" His voice grew louder as his heart starting pumping from the terror of his own words. "And if they start another investigation, how long before they link it back to us again? We've now had two ponies discover that we've been stealing money. How long before that becomes three? Or four? And what are we going to do then?"
When he finally finished, Exact Count was shaking. Tempest however, still was just as cool and collected as when he first entered the room. "You need to relax," he said. "I always 'ave a plan."
That did little to comfort Exact Count. "And what is that exactly?"
Tempest gave him a strange cold look, before reaching into his saddle bag and pulling out a large syringe. As he held it up in front of him, the light from the lantern pierced through it covering Tempest's face in an eerie green glow.
Exact Count's breath stopped. "What is that?" he asked hesitantly.
"It's a poison, one commonly used for suicide."
"W... what? You really think that the only way out of this is for us both to kill ourselves?"
"No," Tempest chuckled. He took his eyes off the syringe and turned them to Exact Count with an evil smile, "only one of us."
The color drained from Exact Count faster than it ever had before as the realization of Tempest's statement set it. Exact Count quickly took several steps back as Tempest began slowly advancing. "Y... you can't do this," he stuttered. "You need me. You don't have access to the money without me."
"I already 'ave all the money I need," Tempest responded continuing to move in closer. "But as you said, ponies are going to keep asking questions. Your death will give them the answers that they seek."
Exact Count continued backing up until he found himself trapped in the corner, the massive stallion blocking his only way out. Still, he cowered back, digging in some vain attempt to climb through. Unable to do so, he returned to begging. "Please. You don't have to do this. Let's think this through. I'm sure we can come up with a better solution."
In a last desperate attempt, Exact Count launched himself towards the door. Tempest was too fast and much too strong however. He grabbed Exact Count out of the air and threw him back into the corner. Holding him down with his left leg, Tempest grabbed the syringe into Exact Count's arm. The poor victim yelled in shock as the cold metal pierced his skin. "I 'ave already thought about it," Tempest said coldly. "Do not worry about it my friend. Your sacrifice will be for the better." His face twisted into a sickening grin as her placed his hoof on the stopper. "Now just relax. This will all be over soon..."
*BANG!*
The door burst open as a half dozen pegasus guards filled the room. The noise caused Tempest to jump, just long enough for a pair of guards to grab him and pull him back before he could push the stopper down. Exact Count quickly pulled the syringe from his arm, tossing it aside, while Tempest struggled against the guards attempting to hold him to the ground.
As more guards entered to help the others, Tempest quit struggling against his captors. He let out a small chuckle. "Sirs," he said as calmly as he could, "this is a big misunderstanding. My friend here was attempting to kill 'imself. I was just trying to stop him."
"What!?!" Exact Count cried out. He was also being restrained, though he only had one guard holding him back. "That's a complete lie! He was trying to kill me!"
Tempest chuckled again. "You must excuse 'im. He is not well in the 'ead right now. I can assure you that I was only acting in 'is best interest."
An all too familiar voice spoke from the hallway. "A likely story."
This time, it was Tempest's turn to grow pale as the dark grey form of Graphite appeared through the doorway and stood over him with a smug grin. "But... but..." Tempest stammered. "That is not possible..."
Graphite leaned down to the trapped stallion and smirked. "Looks like this wimpy unicorn learned how to fly after all." Straightening back up, he proudly announced, "Fierce Tempest, you are under arrest for embezzlement, two accounts of attempted murder, and one case of murder." Turning to the guards he motioned towards the door. "Get him out of here," he muttered.
Tempest scowled and began thrashing again, but the guards held him securely as they pulled him from the room. Graphite watched as they took him away, before turning back towards the other stallion in the room. He was glad to see that he had made it in time, and Exact Count looked no worse for wear. From the look of gratitude on his face, Graphite could tell that he felt the same way.
The guard restraining him started guiding him towards the exit as well once Tempest was gone. As he passed Graphite, Exact Count paused for a moment. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "I owe you one."
Graphite looked at him and smiled. "Just doing my job," he said. "Though if you really want to pay me back, confess to your crime and testify against your friend there. I can't guarantee that the courts will go easy on you, but at least it will make sure that Tempest gets sent away for a very long time."
Exact Count bowed his head for a moment, before slowly nodding. Satisfied with his answer, Graphite gave a single nod to the guard, who again started pushing Exact Count gently towards the exit. Once the pair was gone, Graphite relaxed with a large sigh.
Golden Gem's head poked around the corner of the doorframe. She smiled brightly when she saw Graphite standing there. As quickly as possible, she rushed in and threw her hooves around him. "You're alright," she said as her eyes began to water. "I was so worried about you."
"Yes, I'm fine," he said, returning the hug. Looking up towards the doorway, he saw Sweetie Belle looking curiously at the pair. He ignored her however. "Now, if you don't mind. I think it's about time we head home.
~~~
The chariot entered Canterlot just as the sun was starting it's decent below the horizon. Other than when some of the other guards had questioned Graphite concerning the events that day, the trip had passed by mostly in silence. Both Sweetie Belle and Golden Gem figured that Graphite had had enough for one day, and decided it was best to leave him in peace for the time being.
Touching down with a hard thud, the Chariot soon pulled to a complete stop. The second it stopped moving, Graphite jumped from its basket onto the plush grass below. Feeling its comfortable texture under his hooves, he couldn't help himself as he collapsed onto the ground with a sigh of content. The guards pulling the chariot looked at each other in confusion as Graphite began stroking the ground with his hooves. However, Graphite didn't care about what they, or anypony else for that matter thought. For the moment, he was too happy to care. "Golden Gem," he said at last, "have I ever told you how much I love the ground? Next time I decide to go to Cloudsdale by myself, please slap me in the face and remind me that I told you that, alright?"
Golden Gem giggled as she helped Graphite back up from the ground. Brushing himself off, he looked out into the distance. "Now, if alright with you, I think that I'm going to take the day off tomorrow. I've needed to take a break for quite some time now anyways." Turning to Golden Gem, he added, "I'm leaving you in charge of getting the paperwork started for this case. When I get in next week we'll get it finished, alright?" Golden Gem responded with a happy nod.
Satisfied he turned towards the other mare who had been in the basket. The smile she had on her face quickly faded away as she saw the expression on Graphite's. While he wasn't scowling, he wasn't smiling either. His eyebrows were furrowed, though he didn't seem angry. It was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking at that moment.
"And as for you," Graphite began. His voice was stern. "I expect that you still have a lot of paperwork to complete, correct?"
Sweetie Belle hesitated for a moment, before nodding her affirmation.
Graphite stared at her for a moment before again turning away towards the rising moon. "I still expect that to be done when I get back," he said plainly. "Afterwards, you and I are going to have a very long discussion about today, and..." he hesitated for a moment before adding, "and discuss the next case for you to start working next week."
Sweetie Belle's ears perked up as she looked at Graphite in wonder. He darted his eyes back over towards her, and for the briefest second, she thought she saw him give her a kind smile. Then, without another word, he turned and trotted off towards home for the evening, leaving the two mares alone.
Golden Gem trotted over towards Sweetie. "You'll have to forgive Graphite," she said apologetically. "He's not really one to say 'thank you'."
But Sweetie just waved her off. "No, it's alright," she responded with a bright smile. "In his own way, I think he just did."
~~~
Compared to the previous day, this new one was completely and utterly dull. Sweetie Belle entered the office bright and early as she was expected to, and plopped herself down in front of the massive stacks of still remaining files. Due to her adventures yesterday, she had only managed to get through a half of one stack. The remaining two and a half towered over her as an insurmountable obstacle. By noon, this fact had seemed to be all the more emphasized as she had only managed to finish off the first one.
She was sitting with her head between her hooves when Golden Gem walked up to her desk. Since her brain was currently ready to give up and cry, it took her a while to notice her visitor. When she finally did notice, she quickly grabbed another folder from the top of the pile and fanned it open in front of her. "Sorry," she hastily exclaimed, "just taking a quick breath."
She hurriedly started working her way through the file expecting the retort to come at any moment. However, it never did. Golden Gem just sat there silently watching as Sweetie Belle finished not only that folder, but the next two as well. Finally, after pulling the next folder off the pile, Sweetie Belle looked up at the yellow unicorn inquisitively.
"You're doing it wrong," Golden Gem finally said. Grabbing a chair she sat down before levitating the folder over to herself. "You keep flipping back and forth between the pages to get a look at the different fields. What you want to do is line the papers up on top of each other like so." As she explained, she demonstrated what she meant on the current file. "Now you can easily see all the different fields at a glance saving you the time you spend rechecking. Once you're done, simply put the files back into a neat order and move on to the next one." Expertly she folded the papers back into their original position before levitating the folder onto the pile behind her and grabbing another. Pointing towards the two stacks she said, "You start working on that pile and I'll keep working on this one," before pouring herself to her work.
It took Golden Gem a moment to realize that Sweetie Belle wasn't working. Looking up towards her, she found Sweetie staring at her, the shock clearly written on her face. Before she had the chance to ask, Sweetie answered with a question of her own. "Why are you helping me?"
Golden Gem turned back to the file with a smile. "I talked with Graphite last night. He told me all about what you did yesterday." She paused. "Tell me. Why did you save his life?"
Sweetie shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? He was in trouble. You don't think I would have just let him fall to his death do you?"
The responding silence from Golden Gem was deafening. "...Really?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Golden Gem sighed. "When you were on the run and Graphite and I were chasing you, I was completely convinced that there was nothing in the world you cared about. I believed that you didn't have an honest bone in your body. When they assigned you to work with Graphite, I was completely livid. I thought for sure that at the first sign of danger, you'd have no trouble just leaving him behind to save yourself. I just... I guess you surprised me is all. Perhaps there's more to you than I realized, and... I just wanted to say thank you for that."
"Graphite means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
"You could say that," Golden Gem answered with a warm smile, caught in her own reminiscence.
Sweetie caught the smile and laughed to herself. "I see," she said. "So, exactly how long have the two of you been dating?"
Golden Gem flushed as her cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson. "Oh, um... we're not a couple."
"Really?" Sweetie returned with a cocked eyebrow. "That's kind of surprising. You two get along so well together."
"Yeah we do, don't we?" Golden Gem said tapping her hoof to her chin, before shaking her head. "But, I just don't think it could ever work out between us. It would just be too awkward."
"Yeah? And why's that?"
Golden Gem turned and gave Sweetie a wink. "He's my older brother."
Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what to think as her mouth dropped open. "Seriously?" she managed to finally say.
Golden Gem nodded. "Yeah I know. Nopony really expects it since we work together and everything. It's a little bit odd."
"No, not odd," Sweetie interrupted. "Surprising would be a better term I think." She paused. "Though now that you mention it, why do the two of you work together then?"
The smile drooped from her face as Golden Gem sighed. "That's mostly my doing I'm afraid. You see, our parents died when I was extremely young. Graphite practically raised me after that. He was really my only friend for the longest time. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. So, when he became a royal guard I decided that's what I wanted to do as well. When I realized I wasn't cut out for it however, I started working as a secretary instead and eventually got to the point that I could work underneath him as well." She chuckled a bit before adding, "I know. It's really silly, but... he really does mean the world to me. I just couldn't imagine what my life would be like without him."
"...Yeah," Sweetie responded, her voice incredibly hushed. "I know exactly what you mean."
Golden Gem turned and recognized the sad look in Sweetie's eyes. She suddenly remembered the reason that Sweetie was sitting here in the first place. Shifting awkwardly in her seat, she attempted to figure out something to say to lighten the situation.
Fortunately, she didn't have to as Sweetie Belle suddenly lifted her head up with a puzzled look and said, "Wait. There's one thing I don't understand. You call your older brother 'Boss'?"
Golden Gem giggled, glad the awkwardness had passed at least. "It's an old inside joke."
Sweetie just shrugged with a chuckle. "Well, if you say so." She turned back to the papers, before pausing and looking back up with a bright smile. "And thank you. I appreciate it a lot."
Golden Gem returned the smile. "No problem."
With that, Sweetie Belle pulled another folder off the pile. Following Golden Gem's directions, she lined up the papers so that the boxes were next to each other. "Is this right," she asked before continuing.
Looking over, Golden Gem nodded the affirmative. "Yep. Just make sure that all the boxes are visible and you're set." Suddenly, she smirked and giggled before turning away with a shake of her head.
That odd behavior caught Sweetie's interest. "What's so funny?" she asked.
"It's... It's nothing. Just something stupid."
"No," Sweetie insisted. "What is it? I'm curious now."
Golden Gem gave her an odd look before shrugging. "Luna," was her response.
"...What about Princess Luna?"
"No, not 'Princess Luna', just 'Luna'," Golden Gem corrected. Leaning over she pointed towards the form. "When these particular papers are lined up like this, the start of these words also line up so that it spells the name 'Luna' vertically between the papers. It's stupid I know, but you notice things like this when you've done as much paperwork as I have."
Sweetie looked at the papers. Sure enough, now that it was pointed out to her, she could see the Lunar Princess' name printed clearly. She giggled along with Golden Gem. "That is kind of silly," she said. "I wonder if they did that on purpo..."
The smile instantly wiped off her face as she quit speaking midsentence. The sudden change startled Golden Gem who looked over to the white mare with concern. Sweetie's eyes darted back and forth, looking at the page as the gears in her mind churned away. Slowly, the tips of her mouth began to pull upwards as she seemed almost to glow with realization.
"What's the matter?" Golden Gem finally asked. "What just happened?"
Sweetie shook her head, bringing her back to reality. "Nothing important," she said, the smile still plastered to her face. She was still intently staring at the forms, particularly at the word 'Luna'. "Let's just say, it's an old inside joke."
~~~
The wind blew through her mane as Scootaloo soared amongst the clouds above the golden fields below. Her feathers ruffled as the chill breeze flowed through them. Effortlessly, she tipped her wings, gently gliding between the billowing masses of white fluff amongst her, carefully avoiding each of them. Everything around her was perfectly still and picturesque.
The sun was beginning to set in the distance as Scootaloo began to flap her wings. With each mighty stroke, she climbed a bit higher, closer to the deep violet sky below. No longer swimming amongst the clouds, she climbed until they too were mere specks beneath her. Still she climbed, with only the distant mountain peaks as her guide. Soon enough, she surpassed even them as she continued to climb higher and higher, her head pointed towards the just appearing stars above.
Without warning, the pegasus folded her wings back into her side. Her ascent slowed as the pull of gravity took its effect. For the briefest of seconds, she hovered in midair, her head held high. Then, dipping backwards she looped around as she began to fall towards the ground.
No longer was everything quiet as the rushing roar blasted her ears as she dove downwards. She kept her arms straight in front of her as her speed continued to increase. Falling faster and faster, she soon passed the clouds, several being whisked from existence as she sped past. She ignored that still as she continued gaining speed bit by bit.
The world around her began to shimmer and swirl. She could just make out the large cone forming around her as she fell further and further, still gaining speed as she went. The air bursting against her face was beginning to sting, but she didn't care. Victory was so close, she could almost taste it.
Then, amidst the roar of the wind, she heard something. It was faint at first, but overtime the noise grew louder and louder. It was some sort of banging sound, similar to the sound of a hoof being pounded against wood. There was another sound with it; a familiar voice calling out, over and over again.
The cone was at its narrowest point now. Scootaloo tried to silence the distraction and concentrate fully on her dive. She was so close now. The tiniest threads at the end of the cone where beginning to unravel in front of her eyes. They made a popping noise as they broke... or was that the banging sound? She tried to ignore it. She was nearly there and couldn't lose focus now. The remaining threads broke one after another until there was just one left.
She saw it snap...
"SCOOTALOO!!!!"
Scootaloo's eyes shot open just in time to see her land face first into the carpet. Her wings were still buzzing behind her as she lifted herself up from the floor with a groan. She stopped and gave a dirty look to the couch that had managed to buck her off. She grasped her head as the world tried to return to focus. Not an easy task when there was still that banging noise in the background.
The banging; she recognized it now. It was the sound of somepony pounding on the front door. As the pegasus picked herself up, she recognized the other noise as well as it called out her name once again.
"Scootaloo!"
Her eyes narrowed as the shout was followed by yet another series of bangs, bringing her completely back into consciousness. Quickly she rushed over to the door. "Darn it Sweetie Belle," she yelled back as she began fiddling with the lock to let her friend in. "Do you have any idea what you just did? You just woke me from the best dream ever!" Finishing the last lock, she swung the door open, "Now what do you have to say..."
Sweetie Belle rushed past her, completely ignoring her friend's anger. "The letter!" she cried, rushing into the living room and digging around. "Where's the letter."
Curiosity overtook Scootaloo's anger. "Wh... huh?"
"The letter!" Sweetie cried again. "Rarity's letter! Where is it?!?"
Scootaloo pointed towards the kitchen. "I left it over there on the table, but I'm sorry to say that I didn't find..."
She was cut off as Sweetie Belle launched herself across the room and grabbed the letter from off the table. She quickly tore it from its envelope. Tossing it onto the table, she rushed over to the cupboard and began flinging the various bits and pieces out as she searched through it.
"What are you doing?" Scootaloo finally managed to ask.
Sweetie shot her a quick smile before returning to the cupboard. "I've got it! I figured it out! I solved the secret code!" With one last final tug, she emerged triumphantly holding up a pair of scissors and two colored markers. Rushing back to the kitchen table, she hastily grabbed the letter and began cutting it into strips.
Scootaloo was about to object, but Sweetie interrupted her thought. "You see, I was right the first time," she explained. "'Eleven' was the key this entire time. But I was so busy thinking of the number, that I didn't even consider the word itself. Remember that misspelling of 'live' on the fourth line? I realized today that 'v' is the fourth letter of the word 'Eleven'." Placing down the scissors, she picked up the marker and began coloring in particular parts on the six remaining strips. Once finished, she spit out the marker and continued, "You see, there are six lines to the letter and six letter's in the word 'Eleven'. Each line matches one of these letters!" Reaching down, she began sliding the papers around the table. "And if we line the letters up to form the word..."
Suddenly she stopped. Her face beamed as she looked down at the papers on the table. Grabbing the other marker, she quickly made six small marks, one on each of the lines. Setting down the marker, she stared at the papers in triumph. Then, looking up she said, "Don't worry Rarity. I plan on it."
Before Scootaloo could ask another question, Sweetie Belle turned tail and ran out the front door, calling out that she had something to do. The pegasus' head was positively spinning from the randomness of these events. She turned towards the papers strips, still sitting where Sweetie Belle had left them. She trotted over to them and looked down at the markings that Sweetie Belle had made, seeing the message that they spelled.
My Darling Sweetie Belle,
If you havefound this letter that means that you have been released and come looking for me.
I hope that you know that I mean the best for you and hope your continued life goes well.
But, I'm afraid that when I told you that I never wished to see you again, I meant it.
I simply can no longer deal with the sorrow and shame that I livday by day because of you.
It pains memassively to say this, but please accept this, my last request.
One day, I hope that you can eventually understand my reasons for this and respect them.
~ Rarity
FIND ME
~~~
End of Episode 2
Author's Note
Next time on White Collar: A Diamond in the Rough
