White Collar
By TailsFox88

Episode 1: The Crowning Pact

~~~

213...

214...

215...

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...

249...

250...

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.

271...

272...

273...

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.

302...

303...

304...

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.

344...

345...

346...

...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.

418...

419...

420...

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.

454...

455...

456...

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.

513...

514...

515...

*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.

598...

599...

600...

...

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