White Collar
By TailsFox88

Episode 2: Head in the Clouds

~~~

*Thunk*

Sweetie watched with jaw hung low as the massive stack of folders fell, landing with a sickening thump just in front of her and between an additional two nearly identical stacks. Not only did the old desk she was seated at groan and shake from this new load, but the entire room reverberated in response as well. A couple of papers slipped from their folders at the top of the pile and gently fell to the floor almost as one final mockery.

"Seriously?" Sweetie Belle asked after the room finally settled back to normal.

Graphite's head popped up from where it was hidden behind the three-foot stacks. "Oh, I'm quite serious," he answered smiling down at her. "Maintaining paperwork is one of the most important jobs that we have to do here at the bureau. We have to keep a record of everything that goes on after all."

Sweetie's brain was still attempting to wrap around the task in front of her. "And you want me to..?"

"Double check them of course," Graphite said trotted around the piles so that he was in clear view. "It's about time for the department's annual review. I want to make sure that everything is in top shape before that happens. That means that we need somepony to go through and verify that all the forms for the past year have been properly filled out and filed correctly. Normally we hire a few ponies to take a week and do this, but I figure, what better way to get you familiar with the inner workings of the legal system? Don't you agree?"

With a glare, Sweetie grabbed the top folder from the nearest pile. Fanning it open, she peered over the alien looking forms and figures. The dozens of boxes and checklists melded together with the illegible writing into a conglomerated mess of ink that simultaneously made her nauseous and drowsy just by scanning it. "I'm supposed to review every single one of these?"

Graphite nodded. "And verify that every name, date, and box is properly filled out and consistent between each and every form."

"But there has to be over a thousand forms here!"

"One-thousand, four-hundred and sixty-four to be exact."

Sweetie stared at the massive stacks in front of her again. "You guys really fill out that much paperwork in a single year?"

Graphite laughed. "Oh, don't be ridiculous," he answered shaking his head. Reaching up, he patted the top of the largest pile and smirked. "This is just the past three months."

Had her face had any, it would have drained in color as the weight of the situation compounded. Placing her head in her hooves, Sweetie Belle rubbed futilely in some attempt to clear her sudden headache. "You’ve got to be kidding me…" she murmured.

"What’s the matter?" Graphite answered with a mocking tone. "Not quite the job that you were expecting?"

Lifting her head, Sweetie glared at the stallion. "To be honest, no. I thought I was supposed to be a consultant. That means that I should be... you know, actually consulting. Not dealing with loads of pointless paperwork."

Graphite stared down at her for a moment with a small grin on his face. "Well despite what you might think," he answered at last, "all this paperwork is quite vital to our system. It helps keep things in order and keeps ponies honest. Now, I know that that's a foreign concept for you, which is why I think this is such a good task to get you started." He leaned in a little closer and sneered. "Of course, if you don't think that you can handle it, we'll gladly relocate you back to a comfy cell block where it's far less boring."

For a few seconds, Sweetie stared back at him, still just as melancholy as ever. Then as though some magical switch had been flipped, her face brightened. With a smile, she reached down and picked up a quill in her mouth. Setting the folder open in front of her, she pulled her seat in, dipped the quill into an inkpot and sat up straight. She turned and gave Graphite a beaming smile.

"Now that's more like it," he responded. "That is the kind of attitude we like to see around here. Keep it up and I might actually let you assist on a case or two in the future," he added turning around with a laugh, and missing as Sweetie's smile vanished with a roll of her eyes.

Having had his fun, Graphite started to trot away, leaving Sweetie to begin her arduous task. He didn't get too far however, before the sound of his name being called caught his attention. Turning towards it source, he looked across the large office space and spotted Golden Gem running quickly over towards him. His mood sobered as she approached. "Golden Gem?" he asked as she got close enough. "What's wrong?"

She slowed to a stop as she reached Sweetie's desk. Pausing for a brief second to catch her breath, she responded with the utmost seriousness in her voice. "Boss. We've got a problem."

His countenance drooped. "What is it? Has there been a robbery?"

"No. Something much worse."

"A kidnapping?"

"Unfortunately, worse than that."

Graphite cringed. "Don't tell me another annoying criminal escaped from prison." (He smirked internally after hearing a quiet groan emitted behind him.)

Golden Gem shook her head. "Thankfully not that bad, but still pretty horrible." She looked Graphite square in the eye, and in her most solemn tone possible announced, "We've run out of coffee."

The two sat with their eyes locked for several seconds, the tension building as they did. Soon enough however, the corners of Golden Gem's mouth began to tug upwards. This was met by Graphite's own mouth twisting into a smile as well. Both ponies sputtered as they futilely attempted to stop themselves from giggling. Graphite was the first to crack, finally allowing himself to laugh and quickly being followed by Golden Gem. Neither of them noticed the odd look Sweetie gave them as she tossed aside her first folder and pulled the next one from the pile.

After a moment, the pair finally settled down from their odd little inside joke. "But seriously," Golden Gem said wiping a tear from her eye. "The office has run completely out of coffee. I figured that I'd go and grab something from the little donut shop down the street and was wondering if you'd like something as well."

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that."

Golden Gem shrugged. "It's not really any trouble. I just figured I'd offer since I'm going to be there anyways."

Graphite dismissed her argument. "No really. I could never ask you to do something like that. After all, I can only imagine what those lines are going to be like at this hour." He paused, and evil smile forming across his lips. "However, I do know somepony who I'm sure would just love to help us out right about now."

After Graphite's last rude comment, Sweetie had only been paying the slightest bit of attention to the other two's conversation. So little, that it took her a second to realize that the pair had stopped talking. Her quill came to an abrupt halt as she realized that despite their silence, neither pony had left. Nervously, she looked up from her papers and found the pair staring down at her with innocent smiles. She darted her eyes back and forth between them before setting down the quill with a sigh.

"What kind of coffee would you like?"

~~~

As Graphite had predicted, the coffee shop was packed to the brim with tired, irritable ponies that morning. Sweetie navigated her way through the throngs, carefully balancing the precariously large stack of lattes, cappuccinos and espressos on her back. She nosed her way towards the exit, taking great care not to bump into anypony or anything along the way. Remarkably, she managed to reach the door without issue. Reaching up, she pushed the door open, taking great care as she stepped through. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief as the morning sunlight and cool morning air came over her, but was unable to do so as the door lightly bumped into her as it swung shut.

Panic set in as she began to feel the weight on her back shifting to the side. Instinctively, she tried reaching out with her magic to grab the stack, only to be met by the cold numbness the silver ring securely fastened to her horn created instead. Knowing that there was nothing to be done, she shut her eyes tightly and braced for the sound of the impact.

However, the sound never came. Just as she was about to concede to the inevitable, she felt the weight shifting back up until it was once again evenly on her back. Surprised, she turned to look at the stack and was met by the smiling face of Scootaloo holding it back up and into place.

"Need a hoof?"

Sweetie sighed with relief as once again the delicate balance was restored. "Oh thank Celestia. You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now."

"And just in the nick of time from the looks of it," Scootaloo responded raising her head and puffing her chest out with pride. She sat for a moment, eagerly awaiting the praise for her heroic feat. When it didn't come, she looked back towards Sweetie only to find that she had vanished. Turning quickly, she saw Sweetie was already a distance down the street. Running over to her friend, she began to match her fast trot beside her. "From the looks of things, I'm assuming that you're either planning on not sleeping for a week, or you're having a terrible first day of work."

Sweetie shot her a look. "Terrible?" she asked sarcastically. "Terrible doesn't even begin to describe it. I woke up this morning at an ungodly hour in order to be ready for Agent Graphite to show up at 6:00 like said, only he never showed up. I ended up sitting around and waiting till almost 8:00 before he finally decided to arrive. Then, once we arrived at the bureau he put me at this tiny little desk, just in front of his office so he can sit and stare over my shoulder all day while I work on the most pointless task in the entire world."

"And the coffee?"

"Well, after his secretary, Golden Gem, told him that they were out in the office, Graphite not only graciously volunteered me to buy it for them, but then offered it to everypony else in the building as well." She looked back to the lightly swaying tower on her back with a roll of her eyes. "And might I add, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting reimbursed for all of these."

Scootaloo smirked. "Almost like being back in prison?"

"Believe me," she muttered slowing down to a stop. "Prison wasn't even close to being this bad." With a deep breath, her depressed voice filled with determination. "But it'll all be worth it once I get the chance to talk with Rarity." She turned towards Scootaloo and added, "Which reminds me. Did you find anything last night?"

With a sigh, Scootaloo shook her head. Reaching back into the saddlebags she was wearing, she produced a small folded piece of paper. "Sorry. I ran every check that I could think of. Even had old Lemon take a look for any sort of magic in it."

"And?"

"Nothing," she said holding the paper out towards Sweetie Belle. "No signs of invisible inks or charms of any kind. As far as I can, it's just a regular old note."

Sweetie took the paper and unfolded it. Scootaloo hadn't been lying when she said she'd done a lot of tests on it. The paper was already starting to feel worn and weak along the edges. Careful not to ruin it further, she began to read the elegant cursive message written there once again.

My Darling Sweetie Belle,

If you have found this letter that means that you have been released and come looking for me.
I hope that you know that I mean the best for you and hope your continued life goes well.
But, I'm afraid that when I told you that I never wished to see you again, I meant it.
I simply can no longer deal with the sorrow and shame that I liv day by day because of you.
It pains me massively to say these things, but please accept this, my last request.
One day, I hope that you can understand my reasons and respect them until then.

~ Rarity

Sweetie read the note over and over again, taking in every tiny detail she possibly could. After scanning it thoroughly, she finally spoke up. "Then I must have been right the first time. There must be some sort of message hidden in the letter. I just have to figure out what the code is."

Scootaloo sighed. "Sweetie..."

"I mean, just look at it. The way it's written is really odd. The language she uses, the number of lines, the way it flows; everything seems so deliberate. It has to be some sort of code."

"Sweetie..."

"It wouldn't be the first time that she wrote me a coded letter after all. When we were younger, we used to share letters like this all the time for fun. Heh. If only she knew it would be a useful skill for me someday."

"Sweetie."

"She especially loved to write notes where every 11th letter made the new message. She always told me that was a special number because of my birthday. I'd be willing to bet she did something similar with this, I just have to..."

"Sweetie Belle."

The sternness of Scootaloo's voice broke Sweetie's train of thought, silencing her. She turned towards her friend, who had her head bowed down low. "What?" she asked.

Scootaloo stayed silent, shuffling her hooves against the ground. Her voice was hushed when she finally spoke up. "Sweetie, have you ever thought that maybe the note is just a note?"

"Scootaloo, I..."

But Scootaloo didn't let her finish. "After all, we both know how proper Rarity was. No offence, but I'm kind of surprised she stuck by you at all, let alone this long. Don't you think that of all the ponies in the world, it makes sense that Rarity would do something like this?"

Sweetie Belle shuffled her hooves, kicking a pile of dust around. "I'm sorry Scoots. But, I just can't accept that. I can't explain it, but I know that Rarity wouldn't just up and abandon me like that. I just know it. I can't just give up on her like this now."

"Look Sweetie," Scootaloo responded with a sigh. "You're my oldest friend. You've done more for me, than I could ever hope to pay back in a lifetime. I just... I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

Sweetie gave her a look with an odd smile. "When did you get so sappy?"

Scootaloo chuckled in response. "Oh, I can do sappy. I just choose not to." Then, once again returning to seriousness, she added, "Just, promise me that if you don't find what you want, you won't give up everything else in pursuit of it anyways, alright?"

Turning from her friend, Sweetie Belle took another look at the letter in her hooves. Carefully, she turned it over and over again taking another moment to read it. "One week," she finally said with a sigh. "Just give me one week. If by that time I can't find any sort of hidden code or message, then... then I'll accept this note for what it says and try to forget about it, alright?"

With a smile, Scootaloo nodded. "One week. I can live with that."

Sweetie held out the letter to Scootaloo. "Thank you. Until then, go and take another look at it. See if you can find any sort of pattern in the writing."

Scootaloo took the letter and carefully placed it back into her saddlebag. "Alright. I'll see what I can do. Maybe I'll take it to this DJ I know. She's good with riddles."

"Let me know if you find anything. Now, if you'll excuse me," Sweetie responded turning away and towards the large building in front of her with a groan, "I should get back to work before somepony comes looking for me..."

~~~

The rest of the morning passed with little interruption. Sweetie Belle returned with the coffee, much to the gratitude of the entire department. Before she could bask in her accolades however, Graphite immediately sat her back at her desk and set her to work again. He then returned to his own desk in order to keep an eye on her the remainder of the day.

It was around noon that he began to regret that decision. Other than getting up for a glass of water from time to time, Sweetie sat and reviewed the reports without so much as a peep. Occasionally, Graphite would trot over to her just to make sure she was actually working but was surprised to find that she was indeed taking the job seriously. With her being so well-behaved and nothing else to do, he resigned himself to filling out some managerial paperwork he had been neglecting recently.

Normally, Graphite ate lunch at his desk, and today was no exception. It gave him a chance to read through the week's official notices while still having something to keep his hooves moving. He was in the middle of a particularly dry report, taking another bite of his hay and barley sandwich, when there came a knock at his door. He glanced up and smiled as Golden Gem walked into his office.

"Hey Boss," she said kindly, shutting the door behind her. "You have a minute to talk?"

"For you? Of course," he answered motioning for her to take a seat across from him. Taking another bite of his sandwich he pointed towards the untouched half still on his desk. "Care for some lunch?"

She smiled and shook her head as she sat down. "Thanks, but I'm not that hungry."

Graphite shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said before taking the last bite of the first half. Brushing the crumbs from his mouth, he shuffled into a more comfortable position. With that done, he brushed away the few crumbs from his mouth. "Now, what can I do for you?" he asked.

Turning back, Golden Gem looked out the large window that peered out into the main office. From her seat, she had a clear view of every single pony on the floor. However, her eyes locked on the one mare closest. "I wanted to ask you about Sweetie Belle," she answered at length.

Graphite groaned, rolling his eyes and tensing up in the process. "What do you want to know about her exactly?"

"How's she doing so far today?"

"Not too bad, all things considered." Graphite's horn glowed a light blue, as he picked up the remaining half of his sandwich. "She's just sat there quietly reviewing last year's reports."

Golden turned back towards him chuckling. "I still can't believe you gave her that job. That's almost too cruel."

Graphite unwrapped the sandwich and took a large bite. "Meh. It's nothing that she doesn't deserve. Besides, she needs to learn that everything has consequences, and her convincing the bureau to let her out of prison early is going to be anything but a free ride."

"You still don't trust her?"

Graphite laughed. "Of course not. I'd be crazy if I did. She's a thief and a professional liar. I doubt that she has a single honest bone in her body." Leaning to the side, he glanced over until he got a good look at the white mare. "Besides that," he continued, "whenever I look at her, I get this sinking feeling that she's up to something. I just can't tell what it is yet."

He stared at Sweetie for a moment before leaning back over and sitting straight up again and chuckling. "You probably think I'm just being paranoid, don't you?"

Golden Gem also laughed, shaking her head. "No. Of course not. Heck, I don't know her half as well as you do and I don't trust her one bit. You have every right to doubt her. It's just..." Her voice began to trail off. "It's just that I'm worried about you I guess."

He smiled. "Don't worry about me. I think that I can handle a single criminal."

"Of course you can." Golden Gem answered, returning the smile. "Just... Just promise me that you'll be careful, alright? I don't want to see you get hurt because of her."

Graphite was about to make a sarcastic response, but was stopped by the pleading look in Golden Gem's eyes. Instead, he leaned forward and smiled. "Alright. I'll be careful around her. I promise."

Golden Gem relaxed. "Ok. I'm going to hold you to that."

"Of course you are," he answered with yet another laugh. "You never let me get away with anything."

"Well, if I did, then who would..."

A light rapping on the door echoed throughout the room, silencing the pair. Sitting back up straight, Graphite shrugged an apology to Golden Gem before calling out for the interrupter to enter. He started to put on a professional face, though it quickly faded as the door pushed open and Sweetie Belle poked her head it. She looked at the two ponies sitting at the desk and smiled. "Sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes --"
"No --"

Both Graphite and Golden Gem spoke at exactly the same time, confusing Sweetie as to who had actually said what. Her eyes darted back and forth between the pair, who had locked eyes and were glaring at each other. "Uh..." she said hesitantly, "you look busy. I'll... come back later."

"Stop," came the curt retort from Graphite as she attempted to pull the door shut. "Get in here."

Slowly, Sweetie Belle pushed the door open and trotted in. Careful not to lose any papers from the folder she had clenched between her teeth, she pushed the door shut behind her. As she turned back towards the desk, she couldn't help but notice that the pair had quit glaring at each other, and trained their burning gaze on her instead.

The tension made Sweetie to freeze up for a moment, just long enough for Graphite to get even more irritated. "Well," he said rudely, "what do you want?"

The remark pulled Sweetie from her stupor. Sheepishly she responded, "Oh well, I was just curious. You never actually told me what I should do if I found a problem in one of the reports."

Graphite groaned. Of course he would have managed to have forgotten some vital piece of information for her. His horn glowed as he reached into the large cabinet seated beneath the window behind him and levitated out a couple sheets of paper. Tossing them roughly towards Sweetie he said, "Find the pony whose name is on the erroneous form and have them fill that out. Verify that they did it correctly and then put the new form in the folder with the old one."

Feeling that his explanation was enough, Graphite leaned forward and buried his head in a paperwork assuming that Sweetie Belle would take the hint and leave. After a while though and much to his annoyance, he noticed that she had failed to vacate the area. Not looking up, he asked, "Is there something else you need?"

"Well, you told me to find the pony whose name was on the report so..."

Graphite's eyes darted up and he shot her an annoyed glance. Out of all the things that he prided himself on, the fact that he never made mistakes while filling out paperwork was near the top of this list. Of course, there was always the possibility that he could make a mistake, but seeing as how he hadn't made one in almost 15 years, the chances were slim.

Still, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Alright. So, what exactly did I do incorrectly?" he grumbled.

Sweetie Belle had since removed the folder from her mouth and was tapping it against her hooves. "Oh don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong."

His scowl morphed into a look of confusion. "But you just said there was a problem with the report."

"There is."

"And my name's on it?"

"Yes."

"But I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Also yes."

As he glared up at the white unicorn, his brow furrowed as his scowl deepened. "Sweetie Belle," he growled. "I'm not really in the mood for games right now. So, would you mind telling me what in Celestia's name you're talking about? Did I mess up filling out that report or not?"

Sweetie held up the folder towards the stallion. "No, you didn't make any mistakes. But that's the problem." She smirked before revealing, "Your name and signature are on the form, but you weren't the one who filled it out."

The distinct sound of a quill snapping filled the room as Sweetie's statement really caught Graphite's attention. The folder she held was quickly pulled from her hooves and levitated over towards Graphite. He quickly fanned it open, and looked through its contents. His ears drooped as he scanned the paperwork and his mind inevitably reached the same conclusion.

"I've never seen this file before."

"I know," Sweetie said with a nod. "At least, I figured you wouldn't have since you like doing things yourself and probably wouldn't have somepony else fill that out for you."

After Graphite's admission, Golden Gem had moved behind him in order to get a good look at the folder as well. She peered it over with a keen eye but ended up shaking her head in frustration. "Are you sure that you didn't fill this out? It looks like your hoofwriting to me."

Graphite nodded. "I'm sure," he muttered.

Golden Gem gave the folder another good glance. "Wow. If somepony did forge this, they did an incredible job. I honestly can't tell a difference." She glanced up, shooting Sweetie Belle a dirty look. "Just how exactly did you manage to determine this was faked?"

"The signature," she stated matter-of-factly. "That signature is a good forgery, but it's not his." Trotting over, she pointed towards the bottom of the page where the offending mark was located. "You see, when signing his name, Graphite tends to apply more pressure at the bottom of the 'p', which makes that line much thicker than the others. Whoever forged this report though passed over the 'p' much too lightly so that all the lines appear to be equal width. Also, Graphite never dots the 'i' in his name, but the pony who signed this signature did."

Graphite couldn't help but give Sweetie a dirty look. "And just how exactly are you an expert on how I sign my name?"

Sweetie coughed lightly with a sheepish look on her face. "Um... Lucky guess?" she answered.

Rolling his eyes, Graphite turned his attention back to the folder in front of him. "Well, regardless, it's a good thing that we managed to find this. If somepony is forging documents, we need to make it our top priority to figure out why."

"I agree," Golden Gem said with a nod. "So, what's the plan?"

He thought about it for just a moment before answering. "I think the best course of action is to hit this from both directions. I'll go to the scene of the crime and talk with the ponies who supposedly had to deal with this accident over there; see if I can find anypony trying to hide something. As for you," he said turning to look at Golden Gem, "take a closer look at this file. See if you can figure out how it got into the system without anypony noticing. I'd hate to imagine that one of our ponies would have anything to do with this, but we can't rule that out completely either."

"What about me?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What should I do?"

Graphite had nearly forgotten that Sweetie was still in the room. Annoyed, he turned and glared at her, before pointing his hoof towards her desk just outside his office. "You already have your task," he answered with great emphasis. "Those forms aren't going to double-check themselves."

The tone in his voice made it very clear that the point was not up for discussion. Reluctantly, Sweetie Belle nodded slowly and exited the room, the constant glare of Graphite following her as she left. It wasn't until the door clicked shut behind her, that Graphite managed to relax.

While this had been going on, Golden Gem had once again turned her attention to the forged file. "Hey Boss," she said hesitantly, "I just noticed exactly what this case was for. Are you really sure that you want to take lead investigation on it?"

Graphite sighed. "Want to or not, my name's already on the file. Somepony obviously wanted to drag me into this mess, so I might as well see it through to the end don't you think?"

"Well, yeah, but that means..."

Graphite interrupted her. "Yes, I know exactly what that mean," he said taking the file again and looking at it with a shake of his head. "That means that I'm going to Cloudsdale."

~~~

Ever since the pegasi first learned to harness and mold the weather to their bidding, they had built large and extravagant structures out of clouds. These buildings, while beautiful, were also difficult to maintain due to the odd nature of their materials. In fact, the main reason that cloud cities were originally built was that it provided an easy way of preventing the other pony tribes from entering the pegasi's domain. After the founding of Equestria and peace between the three tribes was declared, the practice of building cloud structures began to quickly die out. Though some pegasi still preferred the soft chill that a cloud home provides, most pegasi are perfectly content living amongst their fellow ponies in regular houses built upon the ground.

Of course, the exception to this rule is the great city of Cloudsdale. This metropolis in the sky began as a small outpost, used by the pegasi armies to coordinate defenses while settling in their new land. When these defenses were no longer considered necessary, many of the pegasi migrated to the surface. A few were still unwilling to leave their cloud homes and remained behind starting a small village. This new city was unable to properly sustain itself however. After all, it was impossible to grow crops in the clouds, and the pegasi who lived there were required to travel to the ground in order to get the food and supplies they needed. It was a poor method of living, and the village continued to shrink in numbers as more and more ponies moved out seeking better living conditions.

Had it remained like this, the city would have been deserted within a matter of years. However, the pegasi who remained began research that would change the world forever. Before this time, pegasi had the power to control the weather, but were incapable of creating it. They could destroy rain clouds, or move them to a different location, but they were still at the mercy of nature to make them. The pegasi of Cloudsdale wanted to change that, and began looking more closely into how weather patterns worked. Within a year, they had learned how to create a raincloud from a puddle of water and manage where that rain occurred. With this new ability, the ponies on the ground were no longer subjected to long dry spells since rainfall could now be ordered whenever it was necessary. Because of this, the crops flourished providing the best harvest that any pony had ever seen before. By the end of the year, every established city in Equestria was using weather created by the pegasi of Cloudsdale.

Thus, the famous Weather Factory was established. Originally, the factory only dealt with the manufacturing of rainclouds. As the city continued to grow from this newfound industry, eventually all aspects of the weather, including snowfall, tornados, and even rainbows were created and controlled by Cloudsdale. Soon enough, the small village erupted into a bustling cityscape, filled with a wide variety of pegasi from all over the land, and the large factory right at its heart.

Graphite however, was uninteresting in all of this history as the carriage he was riding in cut swiftly through the summer sky. Although he had been to Cloudsdale on several occasions previously, it was far from his favorite place in Equestria to visit. As a unicorn, he much preferred keeping his hooves on solid ground. Still, his first loyalty was to Equestria and he was more than willing to give up a little bit of comfort to serve the land he loved so much. Besides that, this particular case intrigued him for some reason and he personally wanted to see it through.

With still plenty of time left before their arrival, Graphite fished through his saddlebags and pulled out a copy of faked report that Sweetie had given to him. (The original he left for Golden Gem to study.) Fanning it open, he once again looked over the case it reported. While Accidents weren't unheard of at the factory, yet they were somewhat rare. Maybe once or twice a year, somepony got seriously injured while working there. But even then, very few of those resulted in a serious injury or death.

Still, it did happen occasionally, and if this particular file was to be believed, it had. The story within its pages told of a young worker named Clockwork. He had been checking the equipment in the cloud creation facility one evening when he managed to get his right wing caught in one of the gears. The machines in Cloudsdale can be particularly treacherous, especially in that department. It was unlikely that he had much chance to call for help, though due to the lateness of the hour, it probably wouldn't have done much good anyways. By the time he was found early the next morning, there was nothing that could have been done to help him.

At least, that's what the report said. Graphite tossed it back into his bag with a sigh. Unfortunately, nothing in the report could be trusted until he actually reached Cloudsdale and found out for himself. He hoped and prayed that he would find that everything had happened as suggested; that the form had been forged only because somepony had forgotten to submit the report and thought they would get away with it. If luck had it that way, this trip would be over and done with in no time.

Unfortunately, luck was not something Graphite had much of.

As the chariot pulled around the peak of the mountain, the majestic spires of Cloudsdale finally came into view. The late afternoon sun shone down on the cloudy pillars, gleaming out and blinding Graphite as the chariot pulled in for its approach just outside the Weather Factory. The stallions pulling the chariot slowed, allowing the chariot to touch gently against the plush flooring before coming to a complete stop.

Once the chariot had quit moving, Graphite cautiously peaked over the edge of the basket. The clouds beneath him rippled, as he reached out his hoof and gave them a small poke. Though the clouds felt solid to the touch, he was still unsure. Nervously, he retracted his hoof and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath and holding it for courage, he leaped over the side of the basket. He cringed as he felt the cloud waver and shift beneath his weight. However, he did not feel the wind blowing past him as he of plummeted to his doom. Cautiously, he peeked a single eye open. Seeing that the cloud was supporting his weight, he sighed with relief knowing now with a certainty that the cloud-walking spell he'd cast earlier was indeed working.

Still feeling a bit high strung, he jump a little as the sound of loud laughter drew his attention. Darting his head up, he turned round facing towards the main entrance to the factory. Three pegasi, two stallions and a mare, were approaching him. Of the three, one of the stallions was flying, while the other two walked. The flying stallion also happened to be the pony laughing directly at him.

"Not afraid of heights now are we?" the stallion chuckled.

This stallion was of an extremely tall and much larger build than Graphite himself was. He spoke with a thick accent very similar to the ones familiar to ponies from the far north of Equestria, near the border city of Stalliongrad. His coat was a plain brown and he sported a Grey and White mane, cut rather short, on top of his head. His cutie mark was a pair of dark clouds, both which looked ready to strike at a moment's notice. Overall, if Graphite had only one word to describe him, it would be 'intimidating'.

However, Graphite was not a pony who was intimated easily. Putting on a big smile, he trotted over towards the trio answering "I'm not afraid of heights per-say," with a chuckle of his own. "Though, this high up, and without the same gift of wings you three enjoy, you'll forgive me for being just a bit overly cautious."

The brash pegasus laughed boisterously again. "Ack! Do not worry about it my friend," he answered, slapping Graphite heartily on the back and knocking the smile from his face and the wind right out of him. "We all know that Unicorn's are a bunch of sissies after all. Just keep away from the edge. The last thing I need is too deal with a splattered unicorn today."

Without realizing it, Graphite instinctually took a step away from the nearest edge. Attempting to drive that incredibly disturbing image from his mind, he put on another smile, though not nearly as friendly as before. "Yes, well, I'll try my best to save you having to deal with that paperwork, Mr..?"

"Ack!" the stallion gasped. "How rude I am to not even introduce myself." Folding his wings in, he landed on the cloud with a light poof. Standing tall, he proudly held out his hoof towards Graphite. "I am Fierce Tempest, but you may just call me Tempest. I am the head of operations here at the Weather Factory. And you must be Agent Graphite, yes?"

Graphite gladly reached out to bump hooves and was surprised when Tempest grabbed his instead. He only cringed slightly as the Tempest crushed it in his grasp. "Just Graphite is fine," he said. "I take it you got my message then?"

"Da," Tempest said, releasing Graphite's hoof and shaking his head sadly. "You 'ave come to investigate the death of our comrade Clockwork, no? Such a terrible tragedy. He should not 'ave died like that." He looked up towards Graphite, who was shaking his hoof in an attempt to return feeling to it. "I am curious 'owever. We were under the impression that dis case was finished and closed. What exactly seems to be the problem?"

Graphite paused for a moment. He knew that he needed to watch his words carefully. "We found some... discrepancies with the report that needed to addressed."

"Are you questioning my investigation abilities?" the mare in the group spoke up suddenly, taking a threatening step towards Graphite and giving him his first good look at her. She was a cream colored mare. Her cutie mark was a single white cloud obscuring the sun. Her mane was a dark green, with a few lighter highlights and held back into place by a light blue headband. Her eyes, currently locked onto Graphite with malice, matched the color of the headband as well.

"Forgive me!" Tempest exclaimed. "My manners 'ave escaped me once again. Please, let me introduce you to my colleagues." Holding his hoof toward the mare, he added, "This is Cloudy Skies. She is in charge of ze maintainance and machinery in the factory. She was also Clockwork's manager and was the one to investigate his case."

Graphite nodded understandingly. "Pleasure to meet you," he said to her, holding out his hoof with a warm smile.

Both gestures were promptly ignored. "Charmed," Cloudy Skies said coldly. "Now, what exactly did I do so wrong with my report, that the bureau felt compelled to send somepony up to criticize my work?"

Awkwardly, Graphite retracted the hoof, and put on a more serious tone. "Well, we're not entirely sure what the problem is. As you're aware, whenever an accident takes place in the factory, not only is your organization supposed to investigate and fill out a report, but somepony from the bureau also needs to do the same. Unfortunately, we discovered a few disagreements between the two reports and just need to verify what is correct." He attempted another smile. "Hopefully, if we work together, we should be able to get everything cleared up quickly."

The smile didn't work. Cloudy Skies rolled her eyes and stepped back, muttering under her breath as she did so. Graphite was wise enough to let the issue go but made a special note to bring it up again later. Instead, he turned to the last member of the group who was hiding behind Tempest. "And, who might you be?"

The stallion was startled at being suddenly address. So much so that he dropped the folder he was holding under his wings, spilling the contents all over the cloud. With a cry of concern, he rushed about, gathering the stray papers and throwing them back into the folder.

Graphite quickly stepped forward. "Oh, I'm sorry," he exclaimed. "Here, let me give you a hoof."

"No, no," the pegasus quickly responded, stepping between Graphite and the few remaining papers. "It's quite alright. I've got it," he quietly added before returning to his collecting.

With a shrug, Graphite stepped back and got a good look at the stallion as he continued gathering his papers. He was the smallest of the group, though only slightly. His pale green coat was extremely unkempt, the same as his dark red mane. The way he moved back and forth, gave the impression that he hadn't slept in a month, and caffeine was the only thing still keeping him going. His cutie mark depicted a counting machine over the top of an unfurled scroll.

More curious however, was the way that he behaved. His eyes kept darting back and forth, as though he couldn't focus on one thing at a time. At first, Graphite assumed it was just the coffee, but he could help but notice how the stallion was avoiding his gaze; as if he was afraid to even look at Graphite. Even after gathering all his papers back up, he kept his distance and didn't make eye contact.

"Sorry about that," the stallion muttered so quietly Graphite had to strain to hear him. "I guess I've just been a little high strung recently. I'm Exact Count, chief of finances for the factory."

He didn't offer his hoof, so Graphite didn't either. "Pleasure to meet you," Graphite answered warmly. "And what role did you play in the investigation?"

Immediately, Exact Count grew shakier. "Oh, well..." he stumbled over his words. "I didn't actually... What I mean is... That I wasn't..."

The roaring laughter of Tempest startled not only Exact Count into silence, but Graphite as well. "You must forgive my good friend here," he chuckled, giving a hearty slap on the back to the timid Pegasus; an action that made Exact Count jump a bit and caused a few loose papers from his folder to dislodge again. This earned the massive stallion an angry glare in return. "Exact Count is... how you say... not very good with other ponies. He much prefers spending 'is time with 'is books, don't ya?" He asked slapping him on the back again and causing Exact Count to yelp with surprise.

"What I was trying to say," Exact Count began again softly though a bit more steadily, "is that I wasn't actually involved in the investigation. I was in a meeting with Tempest when your notice arrived and he insisted that I come along as well." Turning towards Tempest, he added, "A meeting which we really should get back to don't you think?"

"Ack. Of course," Tempest said with a roll of his eyes and another chuckle. "A stallion's work is never done. It is good that I have hard workers to keep me on track." He ruffled Exact Count's mane, earning him yet another dirty look which he promptly ignored. Turning back to Graphite, he said, "You must please excuse me. I have to go and deal with this." Before Graphite could protest, Tempest had already turned and started trotting away. "Cloudy should be able to help you with everything that you need," he called back, Exact Count following quickly behind. "If you 'ave any other questions, feel free to come and find me."

Graphite watched the pair trot off. Fierce Tempest trotted with his head held high, laughing at what was probably one of his own jokes. Exact Count kept his head down, though occasionally he'd dart it back for a moment as though checking if somepony was following him. Graphite couldn't help but smile as he watched them. They certainty were an odd pair.

Turning back towards Cloudy Skies, his smile quickly faded as he met her scowling face. She didn't say a word, instead turning and trotting towards the factory. Graphite rolled his eyes and sighed, following after her. It was going to be a long day.

~~~

Golden Gem had planned on having a nice, relaxing day. At the start of that particular day, there were no major cases that required anypony's attention. That meant that other than some monthly paperwork, there was nothing pressing for her to have to deal with. The morning had even started out pretty well. The excellent morning's coffee had been made even better with the opportunity to poke fun at Sweetie Belle as well. Her paperwork took no time at all to complete, leaving the rest of the day free. She had hoped that with that done, she could get a head start on next month's work, eat lunch with Graphite, and maybe even take the chance to leave a bit early.

Of course, those plans had been blown out of the water. Even when she was working on the same side, Sweetie Belle still had a knack for completely messing everything up. The worst part of it was that Golden Gem wasn't even able to get mad at her since she was technically only doing the job that Graphite had assigned to her.

But out of all the days Sweetie could have found that form, did it have to be this one?

Golden Gem tossed the folder aside once again before burying her head in her hooves. It had been nearly two hours since Graphite had headed off to Cloudsdale. Golden tried talking him out of going, since he had a natural handicap up there being a unicorn. In fact, after the "Best Young Flyer's" incident several years ago, in which a white unicorn with a magical pair of wings entered the contest and nearly fell to her death, Cloudsdale place a ban on non-pegasus ponies entering the city. The ban was eventually lifted, but still, the general opinion was that unicorns and earth ponies were not welcome. Unfortunately, Graphite was a very single-minded stallion. Once he got his mind settled on one idea, there was very little that could convince him otherwise. He figured that for some strange reason, he was supposed to be the one to investigate in Cloudsdale. Therefore, no earthly force would prevent him from going himself.

With a sigh, Golden Gem snatched up the folder once again. This would be her fifth time scouring its contents. As Graphite would be verifying the story in Cloudsdale, her job was to try and find out anything she could about the case within the office. Specifically, she was looking how the form managed to sneak its way through being filed. Most of her time thus far had been spent going around the office attempting to glean any information about the case from her coworkers. Unfortunately, everypony she talked to claimed to have no idea about that particular case. Rather than continuing to waste her time interrogating at random, she instead turned to examining the papers in hopes of finding some clue within its pages.

So far however, that had become an even more futile task. Absolutely nothing within the folder stood out to her. Short of the fact that a pony had supposedly died, the case itself was cut and dry. There were no contradictions. Nothing was overly-emphasized or under-emphasized either. In fact, had it not been for Graphite confirming it himself, she would have had the hardest time believing that he didn't write that report. Everything seemed to fit his style perfectly. There was just nothing for her to find.

As she glared over the paper intently, praying that maybe a dirty look could potentialy frighten the paper into revealing its secrets, she felt the strange, but quickly become too common, sensation that somepony was staring at her. Immediately, her eyes flicked up and over towards Sweetie Belle's desk. She managed to just barely catch a glimpse of the emerald eyes staring at her, before they quickly darted back down to the paperwork they were supposed to be focused on.

Golden Gem rolled her eyes with a sigh. This was not the first time she'd caught Sweetie Belle looking over at her. It seemed as though every ten or so minutes, she'd get that odd tingling sensation on the back of her neck, informing her of her stalker again. Although, the pair had not spoken since Graphite had left, it was obvious to Golden Gem what Sweetie was thinking. Undoubtedly, Sweetie was curious in the case, most likely believing that she had already come up with the solution for this unsolvable problem.

Turning back to the papers in front of her, Golden Gem couldn't help but feel the gnawing sense of defeat. The wear from hours of futile efforts had begun to take its toll. She knew that she needed a fresh set of eyes on the issue. Unfortunately, the only pony she could really talk to, and the only one who she knew was eager to help, was also the one pony she wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Still, it was either that, or spend another two hours hoping for some sort of miracle.

Golden Gem wasn't stupid. She knew what she had to do. Grudgingly, she tossed the papers back into the folder and levitated it to her side as she stood and trotted over to Sweetie Belle's desk.

Sweetie Belle was trying her hardest to focus on the papers in front of her, to limited success. She heard the clip-clopping of hooves approaching, but did her best to ignore them. That is, until a certain manila folder slapped down on top of her pile in front of her. Its sudden appearance caused her to pause for a moment, before turning her eyes up towards the frowning face of Golden Gem.

"Fine," Golden Gem said, "I give."

"...I'm sorry?"

Golden rolled her eyes. Grabbing an empty, nearby chair, she levitated it over and took a seat. "Look," she said bluntly, "I know that you think that you know something about this case and I've just about reached my wits end. So, just tell me what you think you know about it so I can move on."

Sweetie Belle gave her a blank look before pushing aside the folder and returning to what she had previously been working on. "First, say please."

Golden Gem was not amused. "...What?" she deadpanned.

Sweetie gave her a quick glance. "If you want my help, first you have to say please."

"...You do realize that if you don't cooperate, we will send you back to prison, right?"

"You do realize that if you don't say please, you won't get any answers from me, right?"

For a second, neither of the two spoke. Golden Gem glared down at Sweetie, while the latter sat blissfully ignorant of the angry stare. Finally, after a time, Golden Gem gave a deep sigh. "...please?"

Sweetie's ears perked up. She lifted her head, but didn't turn towards Golden Gem. "Please, what?" she queried.

Golden Gem rolled her eyes. "Sweetie Belle," she asked through clenched teeth, "would you please help me with this case?"

The corners of her mouth tugged upwards, as Sweetie turned to Golden Gem. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Yes. Sure. Whatever." Golden Gem quickly dismissed the statement. With a glow of her horn, the folder lifted again from the edge of the table and was shoved into Sweetie Belle's face. "Just tell me what you know about this folder already."

Reaching up, Sweetie Belle pulled the file away from her face. "Well," she began, "to be completely honest, I haven't got a clue."

"...what?"

Sweetie shrugged. "I mean, other than knowing that it's a fake, I don't have any idea where it came from, who wrote it, or why."

Golden Gem could feel her eye twitch. "You mean to tell me..."

"Sorry," Sweetie said cutting her off. "I'm not sure what you thought I knew about this case, but quite frankly, I'm just as clueless about the whole thing as you are."

For a second, Sweetie thought that Golden Gem hadn't heard her. She just sat there, with the same angry look, and involuntary twitch. Then, all of a sudden, Golden Gem snatched the folder from Sweetie's hooves, quickly rising to her own. She turned and started to trot away, muttering about how she was wasting her time.

"Wait."

The voice was soft yet extremely firm. Enough so, that it stopped Golden Gem in her tracks, and made her turn back to face its owner. Where once was the almost mocking look before, Sweetie's face was now completely serious.

"Get back here," Sweetie Belle said quite forcibly. "I may not know right now the who or the why of this case, but you did ask for my help, and I intend to offer it however I can."

As if by some magic, Golden Gem did as Sweetie asked, returning to her desk, and sitting back in the chair she had just vacated. Carefully, she set the folder back down on the desk in front of Sweetie. The entire time, neither pony spoke, nor did they break eye contact to even blink.

"Now," Sweetie Belle said, grabbing for the folder as the tension in her voice and between the pair dissipated, "tell me about this folder. What have you figured out so far?"

The sudden change in Sweetie's tone seemed to break the trance Golden Gem found herself in. "Um..." she stuttered, as she started to get her bearings back, "n-nothing. Nothing at all." With a shake of her head, the few loose remaining grasps on reality fell back into place. "What I mean is, I've tried asking around, scouring that thing with a fine tooth comb, but so far I haven't managed to find anything to link it to anypony here."

"You tried asking around? How did that go?"

"About as well as you'd probably imagine. Everypony claimed they'd never heard anything about this case. And unfortunately, I couldn't tell if anypony was lying."

"Hmm..." Sweetie Belle thought, casually tapping the folder against her hooves. "Is it possible that maybe they weren't lying? Maybe the folder came from somepony from outside the office?"

Golden Gem shook her head. "That's highly unlikely. Each form is checked several times before it ever gets filed away."

"Really?" Sweetie Belle looked up with eyes full of curiosity. "I'd always assumed it was a pretty straightforward process."

"Hardly," Golden answered with a laugh. "You see, a secretary first creates the file whenever a case is brought to our attention. It's then passed off to the head of the department responsible who assigns to the case to one or more field agents. Once they've finished the investigation, they fill out the rest of the paperwork. Afterwards, it's handed off to a secretary who reviews their work and checks for any potential errors. Finally, the secretaries send it to the filing room, where another group of ponies again checks for errors, before filing it away for safe keeping."

Sweetie gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of ponies," she muttered. "But, that also means there are a lot of places that the file could have shown up." She fanned the folder open again. "Have you already talked with the secretary who double checked this?"

"First pony I asked about it," Golden Gem said with a nod. "She claimed that she remembered seeing the case, since accidental deaths are uncommon for Cloudsdale, but she didn't think anything of it and passed it along without problem. Other than that, she claimed not to know anything and I wasn't able to get any additional information out of her."

"Hmm..." Sweetie hummed as she thought. "Well, assuming that she's telling the truth, then that would mean that whomever is responsible for this report would have had to have snuck it onto her desk somehow."

"Yes, that seems logical," Golden agreed. "Unfortunately, ponies drop things off to the secretaries all throughout the day. It'd be impossible to determine exactly who dropped it off and when."

For a brief second, Sweetie Belle hesitated. "Not necessarily," she responded slowly. Golden Gem raised her eyebrow as Sweetie reached over, and began sorting through the piles of folders she had already looked through that day. "You see, making a forgery is difficult, but passing it off as the real thing is much harder. Every forgery has some sort of flaw, which obviously is the reason it's not worth as much as the real thing. To try and pass it off, you need to hide its flaws long enough to fool everypony else.

"Now, if you're really inexperienced or afraid, the easiest way to do that is to hide the forgery with a bunch of real versions. For example, hide the fake diamonds at the bottom of a bag, with a bunch of real ones on top. That way, when they are examined, hopefully only the real ones near the top will be checked and accept the forgeries will be accepted as well."

Pausing for a moment, Sweetie Belle pulled a half dozen folders from the middle of one of the piles. "Now," she began again, after placing them on the desk, "these are the folders that were surrounding our forged file. If we're lucky..."

"Then our forger tried to hide the fake form in the middle of a bunch of real ones," Golden Gem finished as she realized what Sweetie Belle was hinting at. "And if he had a bunch of real documents, there might be some connection between them."

Sweetie smiled. "Exactly," she said proudly, opening up the first set of folders. Triumphantly, she began to look through them, but her excitement soon faded. After a time, she sat back with a huff. "Well, so much for that idea. There doesn't seem to be anything in common between all of these."

This time, it was Golden Gem's turn to smile. "Oh? I'm not so sure about that," she said with a happy chuckle. Laying the folders down, she arranged them so that each was clearly visible. "True, each of these reports is very different from each other, but the ponies who filled these out do have something in common. This particular group all work on the floor above us on the far side of the building."

"Ok... I still don't see how that's relevant."

Golden Gem laughed. "Well, by itself, maybe not so much. But I also happen to know that all of these ponies usually don't turn in their paperwork right when they're supposed to. Instead, they let it gather for a while, and then one of them will turn it in for all of them to save a trip. Since the report ended up in the middle of all these other reports, there's a very good chance that your theory is correct and one of these ponies is responsible for putting it there."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "You really think so?"

Golden Gem shrugged before standing up and levitating the folder up to her. "Well, even if I am wrong, it's worth looking into at the very least." Turning round, she trotted off in hunt of her prey, hoping that she was finally on the right track.

~~~

"And this is where the body was found the next day. Any questions?"

Graphite quickly trotted up behind Cloudy Skies in order to get a good look at the area. Of course, since the accident had occurred so long ago, there was no remaining signs that anything had transpired. That alone would have made things difficult. The added fact that throughout the entire tour of the events, Cloudy had remained completely cold, even hostile, towards Graphite didn't improve the matter either.

Still, Graphite did his best to be polite. "Could you be more specific?" he asked. "Which of these machines was he found in?"

Cloudy Skies huffed before pointing her hoof towards a large silver enclosure next to Graphite. "This one," she icily answered. "He was found stuck between those two massive gears. Would you like all of the gory details as well?"

Taking particular note of the spite in her voice, Graphite shook his head. "That's alright," he said softly. "I got enough details from the case report." Turning back to the gears, he continued. "I can't help but notice that those gears are blocked off. How did he manage to get caught in there?"

"He was a mechanic." Again, another malice filled response. "His job was to fix things that were broken. To do that, he would have had to open the enclosure himself."

"Of course," Graphite nodded. "And were you the one to find him the next day?"

"No. A couple of stallions who work the morning shift came in to start production. They found him then immediately came and reported to me." Cloudy huffed. "Are we about done yet? I think we've wasted enough time going over this case, don't you agree?"

"Just a couple more questions, I promise," Graphite answered. "The stallion from the bureau who investigated. Did you get the chance to meet him at all?"

For a second, she hesitated. "No, actually," she said at last. "After the investigation, I was given a few days off to recuperate. When I got back, I was informed that the case had been closed. Anything else?"

Graphite sighed. So far, he hadn't been able to find any sort of inconsistencies in her report. In fact, everything seemed to match up perfectly between the two. However, he couldn't shake the fact that Cloudy was behaving very oddly. There was something that she wasn't telling him, something that deep down, he knew was important to this case.

He took a deep breath. Beating around the bush wasn't getting him anywhere. It was time to take a more direct approach. "Tell me," he said solemnly, "what was your relationship with the victim."

For the first time that day, Cloudy Skies' tough visage faltered. "With Clockwork?" she asked back. "Well, he was a good employee; always on time, meticulous in everything he did, and didn't cause trouble."

"...That doesn’t answer my question."

Immediately, Cloudy grew defensive. "I don't..."

Graphite didn't let her finish. "I have to ask, do you always get this emotional over every accident that occurs within the factory?"

She took a step back in surprise. "What exactly are you insinuating?"

"So far, despite everything you've told me thus far, I can't help but think that there is still something wrong about this case. I'm not entirely convinced that this was an accident."

"...You think that somepony might have killed him?"

"It's a possibility, yes," Graphite nodded.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Cloudy cried out. "He was a very nice guy, extremely polite and helpful. Why would anypony want to kill him?"

"I was about to ask you the same question."

She took another step back. "Me? What do I have to do with anything?"

"I'm just curious because you seem awfully defensive about this entire case. There's something you're not telling me. What is it?"

"N... nothing," Cloudy responded beginning to shake a bit.

"Bull," Graphite retorted harshly. "I know you're hiding something. Now tell me, were you involved in Clockwork's death?"

"Wh..." she stuttered before immediately becoming ice cold. "How dare you ask me something like that?!?"

"You're avoiding the question again."

"Only because it's completely ridiculous! I could have never hurt Clockwork, let alone kill him!"

"Really? Because right now, it seems to me that you're feeling pretty guilty about something. What happened? Di d the two of you get into an argument over how things should be run?"

"No! Of course not. I..."

He stopped her again. "Or perhaps it was just an accident. You didn't actually mean to hurt him, but once you did, you finished him off to try and cover your tracks."

"I'd never do that, I..."

"Or maybe he was pining for your job. Maybe you thought he was going to take your place within a year. Maybe you hated that he was so much better of an employee than you."

"That's ridiculous!" Her voice was cracking and her eyes were starting to water. "I would never think that about him!"

"No? And tell me why that is?"

"IT'S BECAUSE I LOVED HIM!"

She screamed out that last sentence so loud that Graphite thought for a moment he might have lost his hearing. In an instance the malice from her face melted into sorrow as she sat down on her haunches and began to sob. "I never would have done anything to hurt him. I... I loved him..."

Graphite couldn't help but fill a twinge of guilt as he saw how distraught Cloudy now looked. "I'm sorry," he answered back sheepishly. "Why didn't you tell anypony about this earlier?"

"Because we weren't supposed to be dating," she answered quietly with a shrug. "We met while working at the factory together. I always thought he was a nice stallion, so polite and willing to help out whenever anypony asked him. Over time, we started talking more and more. The more friendly we got with each other, the more attractive he became and, well... one thing led to another I guess.

"The problem is that the weather factory has very strict rules about coworkers dating each other, especially if one of those ponies is a manager to the other. Had anypony known, it's very likely that we both would have lost our jobs. After we started dating, we decided that it would be best to keep it a secret. We were hoping that if he ever managed to get his transfer that everything would work out so that we wouldn't have to keep it a secret anymore.

"When the others came and told me that they had found his body... I couldn’t believe it. I didn't want to believe it. When I saw his broken and mangled body there however, I... I just about lost it. He was gone. The love of my life was dead, and the worst part was... I wasn't able to tell anypony about it. I performed the investigation as I was supposed to, and then took a couple days off to clear my head and try to get over it."

"I take it that's why you've been rather upset with me today?"

Cloudy nodded. "I was trying to forget about it as best as I could. When you showed up and wanted to reopen the investigation, I wasn't sure how to handle it. I'm sorry that I took it out on you instead."

"I'm sorry as well," Graphite solemnly responded. "I didn't mean to go and bring back a lot of bad memories for you."

Surprisingly, Cloudy Skies laughed through her tears. "Yes you did. You had to in order to get more info from me," she chuckled. "Still, I accept your apology. Besides, it's nice to finally get all of this off my chest."

Graphite smiled. It looked like she was finally starting to open up. "I am glad to hear that," he said. "But I still have a couple of questions. Would you be alright answering them?" Cloudy Skies reached up and dried her eyes before nodding in the affirmative.

"Alright, for starters, you mentioned something about a transfer earlier. Was he not happy with his job here?"

"Definitely not," she responded with a laugh. "Clockwork hated being a mechanic. He despised getting dirty and hated having to deal with all these loud machines all day."

"Really?" Graphite asked. "If he hated it why did he start working here?"

"His father. He used to work in the weather factory as a mechanic and thought that it would toughen up his son a bit more. So, Clockwork took the job in order to try and please him. But, he never was happy with it and always wanted to pursue his true love."

"And what was that?"

Cloudy sighed. "Finances," she answered. Looking at the odd look Graphite gave her response, she shrugged. "Don't ask me to explain it, but he absolutely loved the 'thrill' of balancing checkbooks. He wanted more than anything to get a job working in the financial department."

"Why didn't he then?"

Again, Cloudy shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He kept trying to get in, taking copies of the books home with him and working on them on his spare time. Every time he'd come up with something, he'd take it over to Exact Count to look at, hoping to get him to approve the job transfer, but nothing ever panned out."

"Exact Count?" Graphite asked. "That was the stallion that I met when I first showed up right?"

Cloudy nodded. "Yes. He's in charge of the finances for the factory. For Clockwork to have managed to have gotten a job in finances, he needed to get Exact Count to request the transfer and Fierce Tempest to approve it."

Graphite hummed as he thought about the two stallions. "Tell me," he asked at length. "Is Tempest always that... outgoing?"

That made Cloudy laugh quite loudly. "Oh yes," she said. "Tempest has always been extremely friendly and outgoing. He says what's on his mind and doesn't care with what ponies think about it. Still, he's a really nice guy once you get to know him and is always good for a laugh."

"And what about Exact Count? Is he always so... nervous?"

Cloudy reached up and tapped her hoof to her chin as she thought. "Well," she said after a bit of pondering. "He's always been a bit quiet and reserved. He usually likes to keep to himself and doesn't talk a lot." she paused, "But now that you mention it, he has been acting a bit more afraid recently, probably in the last couple of months or so."

"Interesting," Graphite hummed. "Tell me, is there any reason that Exact Count might have wanted to kill Clockwork?"

"Exact Count?" she asked incredulously. "I don't think Exact Count could harm a fly, let alone kill another pony." She stopped and thought for a moment. "Though, now that you mention it, Clockwork did have a meeting with him the day that he died. Though, the two had lots of meetings together so that's not really that out of the ordinary."

"Do you happen to know what the meeting was about?"

Cloudy shook her head. "Just something to do with finances. Like I said, Clockwork was constantly trying to come up with something that would get him a job over there." She thought for a moment before adding, "Though, I might know where you could find out. Clockwork kept very meticulous records of everything that he did, almost to the point of ridiculous. I have in my office a stack of boxes containing notes he'd taken that I've been meaning to look through but I haven't had... the nerve yet."

Graphite nodded. "That might be helpful. You think I could take a look?"

With a nod, Cloudy Skies stood up and started trotting away with Graphite following close behind. For the first time that day, it seemed things were finally starting to look up.

~~~

The words were begin to blur together as Sweetie Belle cracked opened the newest folder she'd pulled from the seemingly never-ending pile. It had been several hours into the day, and it seemed like she had barely put a dent into the first pile. At this rate, it was going to take her over a week working full time to complete just these stacks. Of course, she'd probably never reach that point since she was bound to go insane before the week ended. The persistent headache from tedium reared its ugly head once again. Burying her head in her hooves, she rubbed against her lobes in a futile attempt for comfort.

Due to this position, she was unaware of her visitor arriving, until she heard the now familiar sound of a folder being slapped on her desk, while a voice huffed, "Well, that was a monumental waste of time."

Removing her hooves, she looked up to see that Golden Gem had once again returned, looking more frazzled than ever. She wasn't looking at Sweetie however, instead attempting to rub out a headache of her own she'd gained.

"...I take it the investigation isn't going so well?"

With an exasperated sigh, Golden Gem pulled her hoof away from her face and chuckled. "Something like that." Grabbing the nearby chair, she plunked herself down into it. "I tried talking to everypony in that section of the office and once again, they all claimed to have no idea what I was talking about."

"So we're back to square one again?"

Golden Gem huffed. "Yes... No... I don't know..." said with a shake of her head and burying her head in hooves again.

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Do you think they still know something?"

"Well," Golden Gem said with a bit of hesitation in her voice, "there's one of them in particular that I think knows something, but I'm not entirely sure."

"And who might that be?"

"Dusty Roads," she answered. "He's one of the junior agents in the department. While all the others were really quick to deny knowing anything about the report, he was the only one who had to think about it first. After he denied knowing about it, I kept trying to glean any info from him. As I did, he got more aggressive, until finally, he quite forcibly asked me to leave."

Sweetie shrugged. "Well, I don't know anything about him, but that could just be his personality."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Golden Gem sighed. "Still, I think there's something more to it. Deep down, I'm sure that he's hiding something. I just don't think I'll ever get anywhere trying to talk to him though."

This made Sweetie Belle tap her hoof against her chin as she began to ponder. "...Could I try?" she said at last.

Golden Gem sat up surprised. "You?" she asked bewildered. "You really think that you could get him to talk to you?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well, for starters, you're a criminal and nopony in the office trusts you," Golden stated matter of factly. "Besides that, you don't have any training on interrogating somepony."

"Oh, you might be surprised," Sweetie said with a smirk. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen? He decides not to tell me anything?"

Golden Gem rolled her eyes, but shook it off with a laugh. "You've got a point there," she said. "Well, if you really think you can do better, then go right ahead and try."

Sweetie Belle sat up, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation. "Alright, where exactly can I find this stallion?"

Golden turned around, giving Sweetie a clear view of the rest of the office. "You're in luck," she said pointing across the room. "He's the tan earth pony that just walked into the break room right there."

Her target now in her sights, Sweetie Belle held her hooves out and stretched to get ready. Loosening her tightly wound muscles, she took a deep breath. "Ok. I just need you to do one last thing before I go." She looked over at Golden Gem. "I need you to yell at me."

"...You need me to what?"

"Yell at me," Sweetie repeated. "Scream. Make a big scene. Preferably about how long it's taking me to get through these papers. "

Golden Gem sat stunned. "I... I can't do that," she stuttered. "I'm not really one for yelling."

"Oh come on," Sweetie whined. "This is me we're talking about! I'm sure that there has to be something you've been dying to scream at me for years now."

"Well... yeah but..."

Sweetie groaned. "I don't have time for this," she muttered to herself. Then, with a twinkle in her eye she said, "Figures you wouldn't be able to help. You're just as worthless as Graphite is. He couldn't do anything right either."

Instantly, Golden Gem's countenance turned poisonous. "YOU MISERABLE WASTE OF A PONY! What do you mean by that!?!"

Sweetie Belle ignored the fact that all eyes in the office immediately turned to face them, exactly as she had hoped. "I told you already," she said, just loud enough for everypony to hear without her yelling back, "I'm working as hard as I can."

"I... Well it isn't fast enough!" Golden shouted back, figuring that whatever Sweetie was planning, it was best to just play along at this point. Besides that, it was kind of therapeutic. "We expect all of these files to be done by the end of the week, and here you are wasting all of our time! Perhaps we should just send you back to prison and get somepony competent enough to handle this! Is that what you want?!?"

"Relax. I just said I was going to get a drink of water, alright? That isn't a crime last time I checked." Sweetie Belle stepped around the fuming unicorn and headed across the room.

"Well you'd better make it quick," Golden Gem huffed from behind her. "I expect to see real progress out of you the next time I come and check on you."

Sweetie Belle turned back for a brief moment to shoot Golden Gem a look of disgust, a gesture noticed by all those still watching. However, only Golden Gem caught the quick little wink Sweetie shot her as well.

Turning back around, Sweetie Belle noticed several ponies quickly turn to look away from her, pretending as though they hadn't seen anything. To her delight, she especially noticed a tan earth pony quickly pull his head back into the doorway of the break room.

Trotting in behind him, she found him sitting at the table with a newspaper in his hooves, acting as though nothing was amiss. He looked up at her briefly as she entered, to which she politely nodded an acknowledgement. He did not return the gesture. Ignoring that, she trotted behind him, grabbing a cup and quickly filling it from the sink nearby. No sooner was the glass filled, then she raised it to her mouth and downed its contents in one go. Sighing loudly as she pulled it back, she immediately returned it to the sink and began to fill it again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Dusty staring at her closely. She turned back causing the stallion to quickly turn his head back towards his paper. This caused her to chuckle a little. "I take it you heard all that, didn't you?"

Dusty smirked, knowing it was pointless to try and deny the fact. "It would have been hard not to."

Sweetie laughed from his honesty as she shut off the water and turned to face the stallion. He was still trying to pretend like he was interested in his paper, though it was more than clear that he wasn't. "Yeah," Sweetie Belle responded, taking a sip of her drink. "I don't know what's wrong with that mare. I think she must be crazy or something."

"Oh, don't be too hard on her," he responded. "She's just acting all important to try and please her boss."

"You think so?"

"Definitely," he said with a chuckle. "It happens way too often with secretaries here. Especially since her boss is the top agent of the department. That mare acts as though she runs the entire show herself. Just keep your head down and you'll be fine."

Sweetie shot him a smile. "Thanks for the advice," she said warmly. Then, acting all flustered and extending her hoof, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't get the chance to introduce myself. I'm Sweetie Belle."

With an amused look, Dusty reached out and pressed his own hoof against hers. "Yes, I know who you are," he answered flatly.

Sweetie laughed. "I take it you've heard about me around here."

That made him chuckle. "Well, it's not every day we have a world renowned criminal come to work for us around here." He folded his newspaper and set it on the table. "Also, if I'm not mistaken, I seem to recall seeing your name on a folder that passed over my desk once or twice."

"Oh yeah," Sweetie responded perking up. "And what exactly did these reports say about me?"

"Nothing good, I can tell you that much," he smirked. "Though I do seem to remember one in particular about a bank robbery where the money seemed to just vanish without a trace. We didn't actually have a suspect for that one, but Graphite insisted that it was your work.

Sweetie tapped her hoof to her chin as she pondered. "Now, was that the one in Trottingham or the one in Baltimare?"

Dusty's jaw dropped open. "Wait, you mean you actually were responsible for that?"

"I never said that," she answered with a sly smile. "Like you said, there was never an actual suspect. I just like having my facts straight."

Dusty stared at her blankly for a moment before shaking his head. "And they're actually letting you work here," he said with a quiet chuckle.

"It's because of my glowing personality," Sweetie said standing tall and proud.

"Yes, I'm sure it is." With a shrug, Dusty picked up his newspaper again. "Thankfully, Graphite is the one who has to deal with it and not me."

"Yeah, well it's just too bad that he's not here today," Sweetie sighed. "Instead, I'm stuck dealing with the secretary from Tartarus instead." She looked towards the doorway and sighed again. "I just don't get that mare. She's going to drive me crazy, I swear."

"Well, like I said, she's probably just trying to impress Graphite. I wouldn't be too worried about..."

"No it's not that," Sweetie interrupted. "It's this stupid report that she keeps talking about."

At the mention of the word 'report', Dusty's ears perked up. "Report?" he asked. "What kind of report?"

Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Apparently Golden Gem and Graphite found a report that was forged. Graphite's investigating the crime a bit closer while she looks into the report itself. Since I'm the expert on forgeries around here, she keeps coming to me asking for explanations about who filled it out."

"And... do you have any idea who did it?"

"Not a clue," she responded. Surprisingly, Dusty looked a little bit upset when she said that. She decided to try and press her luck further. "For me to know that, I would have to know everything about everypony who works here. Of course, that's suggesting that the report was even written by somepony in the bureau."

Again, Dusty's interest was piqued by her comment. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, just between you and me," Sweetie responded in a hushed tone, darting her head back and forth making sure nopony else was listening, "I'm not entirely sure that the report was forged by somepony in the office. I think that somepony else forged it and then paid somepony to sneak it in."

Once again, there was a slight wince in Dusty's expression that lasted only the briefest of seconds. "You don't say?"

"Yeah, crazy I know," Sweetie answered. "Of course, Golden Gem won't hear my theory at all. She's convinced that whoever is responsible for that form being submitted is responsible for its victim's death as well. She'll stop at nothing to make sure that whoever did it will be sent to prison for a very, VERY long time."

Dusty was beginning to look a bit pale as Sweetie started making her way towards the door. "Of course, I think that's ridiculous, but who would listen to me?" She shook her head as she trotted. "I just wish that I knew exactly who wrote the report was. It would sure make my life a lot easier."

"Yeah," Dusty answered emotionlessly. "It would make mine a lot easier as well."

"And tell me," a voice from outside asked, "Why exactly would that make your life easier?"

Dusty froze as Golden Gem walked into the break room, a rather triumphant look on her face. The rest of the color drained from his face as he realized his slip up. "Nothing," he quickly stammered. "I was just saying that..."

"Save it," Golden Gem said harshly, "I heard the entire conversation between the two of you. I knew that there was something that you're not letting onto. Now why don't you just spill the beans and get it over with."

With an angry look, Dusty turned to Sweetie Belle. "You set me up?"

Sweetie just shrugged. "I'm a con mare. It's what I do."

Dusty huffed. He forcibly folded back up his newspaper before standing up. "Well," he said indignately. "I don't know what you two are trying to get out of me, but I certainly don't appreciate it. I don't have to sit here and take it either." He started towards the door. "If you need me, and I pray that you won't, please talk to my superior first."

Sweetie waited for him to pass her. "Graphite's in Cloudsdale right now," she stated not looking back.

Dusty paused at the doorway, but didn't say anything. So, Sweetie continued. "Look," she said as kindly as she could. "We all know that there's something that you're not telling us. We can sit and try to play games all day to get it out of you, but Graphite is up in Cloudsdale right now. If something fishy is going on here, then he might be in danger." She turned back to face him. "If you tell us what you know now, we might be able to help him. But if something did happen to him..." her voice trailed off leaving Dusty to fill in the gaps himself.

He turned back and looked at Sweetie. His expression softened a bit as he looked at her bright, almost pleading, emerald eyes. He sat like that for a minute before lowering his head with a sigh. "...I needed the money," he answered quietly.

Golden Gem almost couldn't believe her ears. "What money?" she asked eagerly.

Dusty shot her a nasty look before sighing again with contempt. Turning back, he walked back to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, Sweetie and Golden Gem following suit. Once they were all seated he began. "My wife is a zoologist. She was researching strange animals in the Everfree forest several months ago when she was attacked by a pack of Timberwolves. Her assistant managed to chase them away, but they still were able to do a lot of damage. She was barely clinging to life when they brought her to the Ponyville Hospital. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses managed to save her life, but she came out with a whole load of lasting problems. She ended up needing all sorts of therapies and rehab just to be able to perform simple tasks, let alone to be able to walk again. During this entire time, not only was she out of work but I was constantly by her side until she was well enough to take care of herself again. Regardless to say, it cost us almost all our savings, and without her extra income anymore, I wasn't sure how we were going to manage.

"Then, out of the blue, about a month and a half ago, I received a letter in the mail. There was no return address or any other sort of identifying information. The letter began by personally apologizing for my wife's injuries and the problems we were having with money. It then offered me ten thousand bits if I could perform a single, simple task. At first, I just assumed that the letter was just a scam, but the way that they seemed to know all about me and my desperation made me think otherwise. I sent a response to the generic address given to me in the letter and waited. The next day, another letter showed up along with a folder. It told me that all I had to do was sneak the file into the bureau and the money would be mine. I did that and sure enough, the very next day a bag containing the promised money was sitting on my front porch."

"And none of this seemed suspicious to you?" Golden Gem finally asked interrupting him.

"Well of course it seemed suspicious," Dusty answered sarcastically. "But like I said, I was desperate for the money. I tried my best to just ignore the strangeness of it, put it behind me and forget about it, but I couldn't. My guilt was gnawing at me like a mouse at cheese. I tried figuring out who had sent me that money but, like I said there was no identifying info on the letter and the address I was given was for an abandoned house in Trottingham. Again, without any leads, I tried to forget it, but I just couldn't get that stupid file out of my mind."

"So what did you do?"

Dusty sighed. "Well, I thought that maybe there was a good reason for the secrecy. So I sent another letter to my mysterious benefactor saying that I was going to reveal what I'd done unless he gave me more information about it. The next day I got back another letter. This one was much less friendly than the previous two. It told me that I was in no position to make demands. If I made any sort of stink about the file, then they had the ability to pin the victim's murder on me instead. That was more than enough to shut me up, and keep me from talking about it ever again."

"Wait," Golden Gem stopped suddenly as though she'd been hit by a ton of bricks. "Did you just say 'murder'?"

With a deep breath, Dusty nodded his head in the affirmative. "That's what they told me they'd say if I said anything about it."

Sweetie Belle turned to Golden Gem who had long since turned pale. Had she been able to, Sweetie would have also had she not already been that color as she realized the exact same thing. "Clockwork's death at the weather factory wasn't an accident. It was just a cover-up."

Golden Gem suddenly stood up and thanked Dusty for the info before darting for the doorway. Sweetie Belle rushed quickly behind her. "Wait up!" she called out, stopping Golden Gem right before she exited the building. "Where are you rushing off to?"

"Didn't you just hear him? If Clockwork was murdered, then that means that Graphite might be in trouble. I have to go and warn him."

"Well, you can't go by yourself," Sweetie argued. "I'm coming with you."

Golden Gem tried not to laugh, an easy feat from the seriousness of the situation. "I don't have time to argue with you. You're staying right here."

"Oh come on," Sweetie whined. "I'm just as much a part of this investigation as you are."

"Look I know you want to..."

"You said so yourself. We don't have time to argue. I can help! I want to help! Please let me come with you."

That last statement sounded less like a plea and more like a question. Golden Gem looked into the pleading eyes of Sweetie before relenting with a sigh. Her horn glowed a light magenta, which made Sweetie feel a little light headed for a moment. Then, the pain was gone almost as soon as it came on.

"What was that," Sweetie asked rubbing her head.

Golden Gem groaned. "I just changed your inhibitor ring's tracking spell. Now instead of having to stay inside Canterlot, you have to stay within a hundred meters of me."

Sweetie brightened. "Wait you mean..."

"Now come on," Golden Gem said holding the door open. "We've got to hurry. We could already be too late."

~~~

If there was one thing that could be said about Clockwork, it was that he was a very meticulous pony; almost annoyingly so in fact. The boxes containing his belongings were a picture perfect symbol of cleanliness. Everything was neatly organized and tucked firmly into its designated place. While in most cases, this would have been a good thing, the problem was that Clockwork kept records of absolutely everything. Each box was absolutely packed to the brim with papers, notes and forms, all organized in some system the victim probably understood, though nopony else possibly could.

Within the past two hours of digging, Graphite had managed to turn Cloudy Skies' office into what looked like the remains of a tornado strike. Papers were strewn all over the place as Graphite poured over each one. While some got nothing more than a glance, most were thoroughly examined before being tossed aside.

Graphite sighed deeply as yet another now empty box was pushed aside. He was starting to understand at least part of the reason why Cloudy Skies was dreading sorting through all of this. It seemed as though Clockwork had recorded his entire life at the weather factory and stuffed it into these boxes. The only nice thing about that was that it meant that if there was an answer to this riddle, there was a very good chance that it was probably hidden somewhere in here.

With another sigh, Graphite grabbed the next box and popped the lid off. Glancing over the contents, he groaned inwardly as he once again found himself staring at yet another heaping pile of random meeting notes. Levitating out a few, he couldn't help it as his mind wandered back to Canterlot. Was Golden Gem having more luck than he was? Had she managed to find something yet? Although he didn't mean to, he also couldn't help but think about Sweetie Belle. As he dug through the seemingly endless mounds of paperwork, he felt a small twinge of guilt for giving her such a mind-numbing job as well. Not that she didn't deserve it of course, but still...

Graphite was so preoccupied in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the paper levitated in front of him. At first glance, it looked exactly the same as all the others. It contained a name at the top detailing who the meeting was with and when it took place. Along the side where a series of timestamps, each with a brief note explaining what had happened next to them. He was just about to add it to the pile of refuse, when a specific line caught his attention.

"2:36 – Exact Count continued to get more nervous as I showed him that the problem seemed to be a recurring one."

Curious, Graphite levitated the paper back up to get a better look at it. It seemed he finally found what he was looking for. According to the information printed at the top, this note was for the meeting that took place between Clockwork and Exact Count on the day that Clockwork had died. It read thusly:

---
2:30 – Entered Exact Count's office. We exchanged pleasantries. He seemed a bit nervous, though not much more than recently.

2:31 – Exact Count invited me to sit down. I began my explanation of the problems that I had found.

2:34 – After showing him some of the smaller issues, I moved onto the deficit that I found in the budget. He became extremely nervous from this, presumably because it was such a large amount.

2:36 – Exact Count continued to get more nervous as I showed him that the problem seemed to be a recurring one.

2:39 – He thanked me for my help, but told me that I did not need to worry about it any further.

2:40 – I offered my assistance to look into the problem some more, but was promptly denied. He said he would handle it personally.

2:41 – I left Exact Count's office. He was still very nervous when I left. I will need to remember to check in with him tomorrow.
---

At the very bottom of the note were a series of other small notes and numbers. They appeared to reference other forms or papers, but the system Clockwork was using made no sense to Graphite. It would have been next to impossible to track down the documents, especially with half the boxes having had their contents emptied hours ago.

Still, there was more than enough information for Graphite to start theorizing. Although it was only a hunch before, he was now almost certain that Exact Count was involved in Clockwork's death somehow. It was quite obvious to him that Exact Count was engaged in some sort of shady activity, most likely taking advantage of his position to steal money from the factory. This note, in conjecture with Cloudy's comments and his own impression of the stallion's behavior was enough for that.

True, he didn't have anything conclusive at the moment, but the evidence thus far was too much for him to just ignore. He knew he had to investigate further. To do that however, he was going to need help. He was going to need somepony to help sort through the rest of these boxes and the official financial records to try and determine exactly what Clockwork had discovered. Before he could do that however, there was one pony who's help he was going to need the most and that had to be informed immediately.

Leaving Cloudy Skies' office, he turned and trotted down the large white hallway. He passed several ponies on his way, as they were preparing to head home after a long day's work. He nodded at several of them though only some returned the gesture. Most were just eager to be leaving and ignored him. He was fine with that as his mind was occupied elsewhere. Soon enough, he arrived at the door he wanted near the end of the hall. The name "Fierce Tempest" was proudly printed across it. Knocking twice, Graphite waited until he heard a friendly voice call him in.

Pushing against the door, it slowly swung open allowing Graphite to step into the room. Although he expected it to be larger than a normal office, he was awed by just how massive it actually was. While the ground space was a decent size, the really impressive bit was how high up the roof was. The room featured a large, vaulted ceiling that was at least three stories high. The walls were adorned with some rather odd pieces of art, presumably from Tempest's homeland. At the rear of the room was a large archway reaching nearly to the ceiling as well and leading outside to a great balcony which stretched out over the expanse of Equestria and the distant ocean below.

In the very center of the room, Tempest sat behind an elegant wooden desk. He smiled warmly as he saw Graphite enter. "Ah, Agent Graphite! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show up. 'ow goes the investigation?"

Graphite smiled back, though not quite as enthusiastically. "Well enough," he answered.

Tempest noticed the hesitation in his voice. "Is something the matter my friend? 'ave you discovered some problem that I should be aware of?"

"I'm afraid so," Graphite said with a nod. "My investigation has led me to believe that there may have been more to this accident than we thought at first."

"Whatever do you mean?"

Graphite took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't think that Clockwork's death was an accident."

Tempest was stunned. "You... You do not mean that you think he was... murdered?"

Graphite nodded. "Unfortunately yes, I'm afraid."

"This is... shocking news," Tempest murmured. "And just who exactly do you believe is the one responsible for this?"

Another deep breath. "Exact Count," Graphite answered.

Tempest stared at Graphite before bursting out laughing. When Graphite didn't join in, Tempest's laughter slowly died out, first to a chuckle and then to nothing. "You are serious?" he asked curiously. "But... Exact Count is 'armless. He could not 'urt a fly."

Graphite though about how Cloudy Skies had said almost exactly the same thing, but he was sure of his assessment. "Still, I definitely think that he was involved," he maintained. "I've found that Clockwork met with him the day he died to discuss some problems with the budget."

"...With the budget?"

Graphite nodded. "I'm afraid that Exact Count may have been stealing money from the factory, though I can't be certain for how long."

"And you think that Clockwork found out, so Exact Count killed him late at night?"

"I think so, yes."

Tempest leaned back in his chair of clouds, hooves crossed, and a serious look on his face. "That is a very serious allegation Agent," he said slowly. "Do you have any proof of these claims?"

"I have... some evidence," Graphite responded hesitantly. "But, I'm going to need some help in order to find some more solid proof."

"And 'ave you talked to Exact Count about this yet."

Graphite shook his head. "You're the first pony that I've talked to. I thought it would be best if you were aware of this problem before anypony else."

Tempest nodded. "Yes, that does seem wise." He stood, motioning towards the door and trotting up beside Graphite. "I think it would be best if we go and fetch some guards. Then we can confront Exact Count and see what he 'as to say about this." Graphite nodded in agreement and turned to face the exit.

Graphite never saw the wooden stick. Nor did he see Tempest swing it. However, he certainly felt it as it smashed into the back of his head with a sickening crack. He didn't even have the chance to yell out in pain as he fell forward. The best he was able to manage was a low groan, as the world grew dark around him. He hit the ground with a gentle poof before the darkness completely overtook him and he felt no more.

~~~

How much time had passed, Graphite couldn't be certain. The first thing he became aware of was just how comfortable the plush cloud flooring he was laying on was underneath him. As more of his consciousness returned, he became all the more grateful for that fact, since the pain billowing in his skull caused every point of his body to ache. Slowly, he fluttered his eyes open, only to find that the world was still nothing more than a blur of colors. There was noise around him as well, though the humming in his ears prevented him from hearing it completely. Still, there were bits and pieces that he was able to recognize.

"... told ... you ..."

"... find ... records ..."

"... too much ... knows about ... money ..."

"... we're ... trouble ... hang ..."

"... relax ... nothing ... to 'appen ..."

"... he knows ... murdered Clockwork!"

"... take care ... fix it ..."

As the humming subsided, the voices became much clearer. It was the voices of two stallions arguing. Even before he could recognize their voices, he had a pretty good guess whose they were.

He let out a groan as he attempted to stand. It was only at this moment, that he became painfully aware of the bounds holding his hooves together. Both of the voices immediately grew silent from the sound of his pain. The blurry world was beginning to reassert itself, as a large brown blob approached him. As the world came back into focus he looked up and saw the cold face of the tall pegasus staring down at him, while the other sat in the corner cowering.

"Tempest and Exact Count," Graphite moaned. "It was both of you. You were in this together."

Tempest smirked as he glared down at the bound stallion. "Agent Graphite," he sneered. "'ow kind of you to join us. We were just talking about you."

The fog over his eyes began to lift more making everything a bit more clear. This turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. He attempted to cast a spell to loosen his ropes, only to once again become painfully away of the pain currently pounding inside his head. The spell sparked for a moment, but quickly fizzled and died.

"It seems as though you are 'aving some sort of trouble with your magic," Tempest chuckled. "Do not worry though. I once 'eard that Unicorn's who sustain bad injuries usually lose their magic for a while afterwards. I am sure that it will come back once your 'ead has cleared."

"Oh my head is clear enough now," Graphite answered, again feeling against his bonds. "Clear enough to figure out exactly what happened to Clockwork."

Exact Count cowered in the corner, while Tempest just grinned. "Is that so?" he questioned. "And what exactly do you think 'appened?"

Graphite took a deep breath before begining. "Alright. Several months ago, Exact Count discovered some flaw with the accounting. He must have told you about it, which gave the two of you an idea. You could exploit the flaw and pocket the bits for yourselves. Nopony would be the wiser, and the two of you would make a lot of money. And it worked well didn't it? The two of you probably made a rather nice profit for yourselves over the past couple of months.

"But somepony eventually did notice. Clockwork was eager to prove his ability as an accountant. He scoured through the books and eventually found a very large discrepancy that you thought you had hidden. Eager to please, he brought his findings to Exact Count, showing him exactly how the money was being stolen.

"Exact Count panicked. The entire operation had been blown wide open. If Clockwork reported his findings to anypony else, they'd start investigating as well. And if they did that, it was only a matter of time before the trail would wind back to the two of you, and your precious plan would be ruined.

"You had to do something. So you found some reason to keep Clockwork after hours and confronted him there. Did you try to reason with him? Maybe offer to let him in as well? Or did you just knock him unconscious while he wasn't looking. Regardless, you left his body between the gears and let the machine finish the job for you. You killed him, because he figured out your little plot."

Although silent up to now, Exact Count couldn't take it anymore. "Nopony was supposed to die!" he cried out. "I never wanted anything bad to happen to anypony, especially not Clockwork!"

Tempest shot Exact Count an angry look which silenced him. Turning back to Graphite, he chuckled. "Well. I must say that I am impressed. You seem to 'ave figured everything out."

"Not quite everything," Graphite answered. "Why did you two go to such lengths to submit a forged report? Wouldn't it have just been easier to have the investigation take place normally?"

Tempest's ears fell flat against his head. His eyes grew cold as he turned towards Exact Count who looked like he was desperately hoping to disappear at that moment. "You submitted a forged report?"

"I panicked!" Exact Count responded. "I was worried that if another pony investigated, they'd find something! I figured that it was best to forge the report and hope that it wouldn't get caught. For a while there, I'd thought it actually worked..."

It was Graphite's turn to chuckle. "Unfortunately for you, we're very thorough when it comes to paperwork." His headache was starting to subside and he was beginning to feel his strength returning. "Of course now, the question is what happens next?" He turned towards the terrified stallion in the corner. "If you don't turn yourselves in now, it's only going to get worse from here."

Exact Count thought about the words, before turning towards Tempest. The massive stallion's cold expression remained the same as he continued to glare down at the bound unicorn. "Tempest..." Exact Count said hesitantly, "What are we going to do?"

Tempest remained just as stoic as ever as he responded. "Go to your office. I will deal with this personally."

"But..."

"Go to your office," he said again turning to face him. This time the command was much more forcible. "And stay there until I get back." He turned back to Graphite. "This will not take long."

Exact Count hesitated for a moment, before turning and walking towards the door. As he was about to exit, he turned and gave Graphite one last look. There was a sadness in his eyes, almost apologetic. Then, without another word, he turned and left the room, the door shutting behind him with a click.

Graphite was the first to speak once the two were alone. "Nice guy. Not much fight in him though. If I had to guess, I'd say he had nothing to do with Clockwork murder, isn't that right."

Tempest looked back at Graphite. "Yes. He is a nice guy isn't he? You are right though. There is no fight in 'im. He is too passive, and he buckles under pressure too easily. He could not kill anypony, no. He is too weak, like you. He cannot bear to see anypony in pain. Still, he 'as his uses."

"So, what's going to happen to him after I'm gone?"

With a wicked grin, Tempest chuckled. "You do not need to worry yourself about that my friend. Once I 'ave dealt with you, I will take care of him as well."

"The same way you took care of Clockwork?"

Tempest glared back. "No. Not exactly the same. Clockwork did not have the honor of seeing his death coming. I'm afraid that it is not that simple with the two of you."

To Tempest's surprise, Graphite grinned. "That's all I needed to hear," he said.

While Tempest's back had been turned, Graphite had managed to loosen his bounds. With what little energy he had, he pulled at the ropes, breaking the remaining restraints. As quickly as he could, he lunged at Tempest, knocking the stallion off his feet in surprise. He didn't waste any time. Quickly he turned and charged for the door, leaving the stunned pegasus behind.

At least, that's what he had hoped. He didn't even make it halfway to the doorway when the large brown stallion landed directly in front of him, a wild expression in his eyes. Graphite tried to dart around him, but the pegasus was too fast. He grabbed Graphite in an iron grip, lifting him into the air. Graphite struggled against his captor, but it was no use. Tempest was just too large and too strong.

"Well, it seems the wimpy unicorn is full of surprises," Tempest said with a laugh. "It's a good thing too. I was wondering 'ow I was going to remove your bounds before I killed you." Graphite continued to struggle as Tempest placed his hoof around his neck. "Now then, 'ow should I do it? I could break your neck right now, but that might cause someone to wonder. I could try feeding you to a machine, but again, that would be too suspicious."

"You could... just let me go..." Graphite said through struggled breathes.

Tempest smiled. "Yes, perhaps I could do that," he responded darkly. With Graphite still firmly in his grasp, he flew out of the office and onto the balcony. "Tell me Agent," he asked, "do you know anything about the ancient pegasi culture?"

Graphite's groans from struggling were the only response he got. "Of course you don't. It's not talked about often. You see the pegasi were once a very proud race of warriors. Strength was their only concern. They shunned anything they thought was weakness. Because of this, their children were always given the ultimate test. Once they were just old enough, their parents would fly them up to the top of a cloud in the sky and push them off. The children who were able to fly saved themselves and lived to become great soldiers. Those who couldn't quite fly 'owever..."

Graphite grew limp as the realization of the story hit him. "You... You wouldn't dare..." he said.

Tempest smiled. "I am sorry my friend. But it is time to see if you can fly."

Once again, Graphite tried to fight against his captor's grasp, much harder than before. However, once again his efforts were futile. With a deep breath, Tempest reeled back, before spinning around and releasing his grip. He watched with a grim satisfaction as the flailing unicorn tumbled through the air, screaming as he went until he disappeared over the edge of the balcony and the noise faded away.

"Goodbye my friend," Tempest said with a mocking wave before heading back inside, "and good riddance."

~~~

"Alright, stick close to me and don't wander off too far. Hopefully we'll find him quickly"

The chariot touched down outside the weather factory and Golden Gem and Sweetie Belle quickly piled out. They didn't bother to stop and admire the scenery, turning and trotting quickly towards the factory itself.

"Shouldn't we split up?" Sweetie asked. "We could cover more ground that way."

"I don't think that would be wise," Golden Gem answered as they passed through the door. Immediately she began darting her head back in forth searching. "For starters, if there is a murderer on the loose here, the last thing we need is to be separated. Besides, I'm already dreading explaining to Graphite how you managed to convince me to bring you along as well. It'd be better if he didn't run into you by yourself."

Sweetie chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Still, this place is massive. It could take hours to find him in here."

"Well, I figure a good place would be the main offices. Even if he's not there perhaps we can run into somepony who knows what's going on."

With that, the pair turned down the first hallway that looked appropriate and started looking down it. Sure enough, they soon found most of the offices. However, what they didn't fine were ponies to talk to. It was starting to get late in the day and it appeared most of the pegasi had already left.

As the pair trotted down yet another empty hallway, Sweetie suddenly stopped, her ears perking straight up. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

Golden Gem stopped as well. "Hear what?"

Sweetie stayed perfectly still as she kept listening. "That," she said as if it was the clearest thing in the world. "It almost sounds like somepony screaming."

That made Golden Gem pay attention. She lifted her hoof to her ear and strained her ears. Despite her best efforts however, she couldn't hear a single thing and stated so.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "It seems to have died off now, but I'm certain of it. I heard somepony screaming."

Golden Gem sighed and shook her head. "I swear Sweetie Belle," she grumbled continuing onward and turning the corner. "If you're trying to freak me out, I'll..."

Her sentence was cut short as she collided with another pony turning the corner at that moment as well. The two fell to the floor with a thud and a groan from each.

Golden Gem was the first to her hooves. "I'm so sorry," she quickly said, helping the other mare up as well. "I guess I wasn't watching were I was going."

The cream colored mare rubbed her head with one hoof while waving off Golden with the other. "That's alright," she said. "I wasn't paying attention either." She turned to Golden with a smile, but suddenly looked shocked. "A unicorn?" she said puzzled. "Wasn't expecting to run into another one of you today."

"Another?" Golden Gem asked excitedly. "You mean, you've seen Agent Graphite here today? I'm looking for him, have you seen him recently?"

The pegasus nodded. "Yes actually. In fact I was just looking for him as well. I left him looking through some files in my office, but when I came back just recently, he was nowhere to be found. Is he in trouble?"

Golden Gem nodded. "He very well might be. We have information for him which could be vital to the case he's working. We have to find him, and quickly."

"Alright," the other mare agreed. "I'll see what I can do. I'm Cloudy Skies by the way."

"Golden Gem," she responded with a smile before pointing behind her. "And this is Sweetie Belle."

Cloudy looked puzzled. "...Who is Sweetie Belle?"

Golden Gem froze. She suddenly realized that Sweetie had been far too quiet for normal. She turned around, only to confirm the fear she already knew was true. Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be seen.

~~~

Although it had only been seconds, it felt like hours had passed by the time Graphite finally opened his eyes. Though he wasn't falling anymore, his situation wasn't any less dire. After he'd been thrown from the edge of the balcony, he didn't have much time to react. Mustering all the energy he possibly could, he forced a spell to send him flying back towards the clouds. His goal was to try and aim for one of the windows, hopefully landing himself safely back inside the factory. Unfortunately, his magic was still exhausted and the blast didn't push him quite far enough. He bounced off the wall, only managing to barely grab onto the ledge of the lowest window, just before plummeting to his inevitable doom.

Terror gripped him as he realized exactly the predicament he found himself in. Although it had never been a debilitating fear for him, Graphite had always held a certain disdain for heights. Finding himself literally hanging on for his life at the moment certainty wasn't doing anything to help him in this case.

Carefully, he tried pulling himself up. However, as he reached up and grabbed, he could feel the cloud wall giving way underneath his hooves, sinking him back to where he was. He kept trying, but with each attempt, he felt himself slipping a little bit further and closer to his doom.

He tried screaming out, but there was nopony around to notice him. The work day was over and most of the pegasi who worked there had returned home for the day. Those who did remain were all working in the middle of the factory and were too far and in too noisy an area to hear the screams of one unicorn. Still, he tried his best, though in the end, it only tired him out further.

He began slipping more and more, his grip growing worse as his energy continued to wane. In a last desperate act, he tried using his magic to pull himself up. However, the blow to the head coupled with the stress of the situation made it impossible to form even a simple spell. All it did was sap the remaining energy that he had left.

With a large exhale, he ceased his efforts again falling just a bit further. By this point he was barely grasping onto the edge. It wouldn't be long now. The foolish thought passed through his head that maybe somepony would see him, and would catch him before he smashed into the ground far below. Of course, that was only a wish. Even if a pegasus did notice him, the odds of them being able to catch him were slim to none. The only pegasus still capable of such a feat was the Wonderbolt's Captain Rainbow Dash, but she and the others were away in Trottingham doing a show this week.

His left hoof came free as Graphite braced himself for the inevitable. With that hoof no longer holding on, the other began to slip all the faster. He took a deep breath. For the briefest second, he almost swore he heard somepony yell out for him, but passed it off as his own wishful thinking. He closed his eyes as he felt his hoof release from the edge and he began to fall...

...

...and then suddenly stop. His eyes popped open instantly. The air wasn't rushing past him as he expected. He wasn't falling. Besides that, there was something firm holding onto his still outstretched hoof. He looked up, and to his surprise found a pair of pale white hooves wrapped around his own, holding him in place. Further up he saw a sight he never expected to see. A very particular white unicorn, wearing a ridiculous hat, and wincing as she held onto him for everything she was worth.

"Sw... Sweetie Belle," he gasped in wonder.

Sweetie grunted in approval, before adding through clenched teeth. "You mind... giving me... a hoof here?"

A new vigor filled Graphite. He reached up with his dangling hoof, grabbing Sweetie's as well. With his grip firm, Sweetie began pulling back, slowly raising Graphite up ever so slightly. As he rose up, he managed to get his back hooves against the wall, helping push himself just a little more. He nodded to Sweetie who recognized the signal and returned it. Taking a deep breath, Sweetie yelled out as she pulled for all she could and Graphite pushed up against the wall. The combined effort was enough, launching Graphite up and over the edge where both he and Sweetie hit the ground with a large thud.

The two laid there next to each other for a minute, both panting heavily while attempting to catch their breath and allowing the stress of the situation to slowly diffuse. After a time, Graphite finally was the first to speak up. "What... in the name of Celestia are you doing here?"

Sweetie Belle, still tired as could be and panting like a mad dog, could only give him a confused look. "What am I doing here?" she retorted, a little bit of sarcasm evident in her voice. "Saving your life obviously. We were worried about you."

"We?"

Sweetie nodded. "Golden Gem and I."

Graphite, still lying on the ground, looked over towards Sweetie. "Golden Gem is here as well? Where is she now?"

Sweetie shrugged, a peculiar motion since she was still lying against the cloud floor. "She didn't believe me when I said that I heard somepony scream, so I left her to go and look for myself."

"You actually heard that?" Graphite asked with an inquisitive look. "But still, how did you manage to find me."

"A lot of running," Sweetie answered with a chuckle, her heavy breathing making it seem more than obvious. "I just ran towards the sound and looked in every office I could. You're lucky I passed by when I did. I only noticed where you were, because I happened to see one of your hoofs slip from the window sill.

Still gasping for breath, it was her turn to ask a question. "Now, do you mind telling me what you were doing hanging out the windowsill exactly?"

The question seemed to snap Graphite back to his senses. "There's no time for that," he said scrambling to his hooves. "We have to hurry. I just hope I'm not too late."

Sweetie raised her head up as Graphite started off quickly towards the door. "Late?" she queried. "Late for what?"

Graphite looked back. His voice was grim. "To stop another murder."

~~~

Doors were not very common in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, or in most of the larger buildings in Cloudsdale for that matter. Most rooms were connected by large archways, big enough that pegasi could fly through them without having to land. Even many of the smaller offices had larger than normal entryways or a large number of windows to keep the room feeling open.

Exact Count's office, where said pegasus was currently pacing nervously, was an exception. Exact Count had always enjoyed his privacy. He claimed that it helped him to think more clearly. As such, his office was one of the few with an actual door attached. There were no windows either, making the room much darker than the rest of the factory. During midday, the room was still bright enough as the sunlight would illuminate through the cloud walls. However, as the sun was low in the sky at this moment, the only source of light was from a lantern the stallion kept on his desk for this exact purpose.

The door slowly and silently opened, letting the bright light from outside in to dispel the darkness. Exact Count stopped his pacing, and watched as Tempest quietly entered the room, carefully shutting the door behind him and plunging the room into shadow once again. Due to his nervousness, Exact Count didn't hear the distinct clicking as the lock turned into place.

For a time, the pair didn't say a word to each other. Tempest was looking down at the ground, his expression a complete mystery, while Exact Count stared at him waiting for an explanation. When it didn't come, he decided to ask himself. "Is... Is it done?" he stuttered.

Tempest nodded. "Agent Graphite 'as been taken care of. He will not be bothering us again."

Exact Count grimaced. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing," Tempest answered with a grim smile. "He just 'appened to walk a little too close to the edge."

The explanation painted a gruesome picture, one that caused Exact Count to shudder. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he exclaimed. "You promised me that if we took this money nopony was going to get hurt."

"It is unfortunate but..."

"And now we've killed a special agent!" Exact Count shouted. He quickly realized his fault and lowered his voice again, "His death won't be like Clockwork's either. Ponies are going to ask questions. They're going to wonder how this happened. They're going to start another investigation!" His voice grew louder as his heart starting pumping from the terror of his own words. "And if they start another investigation, how long before they link it back to us again? We've now had two ponies discover that we've been stealing money. How long before that becomes three? Or four? And what are we going to do then?"

When he finally finished, Exact Count was shaking. Tempest however, still was just as cool and collected as when he first entered the room. "You need to relax," he said. "I always 'ave a plan."

That did little to comfort Exact Count. "And what is that exactly?"

Tempest gave him a strange cold look, before reaching into his saddle bag and pulling out a large syringe. As he held it up in front of him, the light from the lantern pierced through it covering Tempest's face in an eerie green glow.

Exact Count's breath stopped. "What is that?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's a poison, one commonly used for suicide."

"W... what? You really think that the only way out of this is for us both to kill ourselves?"

"No," Tempest chuckled. He took his eyes off the syringe and turned them to Exact Count with an evil smile, "only one of us."

The color drained from Exact Count faster than it ever had before as the realization of Tempest's statement set it. Exact Count quickly took several steps back as Tempest began slowly advancing. "Y... you can't do this," he stuttered. "You need me. You don't have access to the money without me."

"I already 'ave all the money I need," Tempest responded continuing to move in closer. "But as you said, ponies are going to keep asking questions. Your death will give them the answers that they seek."

Exact Count continued backing up until he found himself trapped in the corner, the massive stallion blocking his only way out. Still, he cowered back, digging in some vain attempt to climb through. Unable to do so, he returned to begging. "Please. You don't have to do this. Let's think this through. I'm sure we can come up with a better solution."

In a last desperate attempt, Exact Count launched himself towards the door. Tempest was too fast and much too strong however. He grabbed Exact Count out of the air and threw him back into the corner. Holding him down with his left leg, Tempest grabbed the syringe into Exact Count's arm. The poor victim yelled in shock as the cold metal pierced his skin. "I 'ave already thought about it," Tempest said coldly. "Do not worry about it my friend. Your sacrifice will be for the better." His face twisted into a sickening grin as her placed his hoof on the stopper. "Now just relax. This will all be over soon..."

*BANG!*

The door burst open as a half dozen pegasus guards filled the room. The noise caused Tempest to jump, just long enough for a pair of guards to grab him and pull him back before he could push the stopper down. Exact Count quickly pulled the syringe from his arm, tossing it aside, while Tempest struggled against the guards attempting to hold him to the ground.

As more guards entered to help the others, Tempest quit struggling against his captors. He let out a small chuckle. "Sirs," he said as calmly as he could, "this is a big misunderstanding. My friend here was attempting to kill 'imself. I was just trying to stop him."

"What!?!" Exact Count cried out. He was also being restrained, though he only had one guard holding him back. "That's a complete lie! He was trying to kill me!"

Tempest chuckled again. "You must excuse 'im. He is not well in the 'ead right now. I can assure you that I was only acting in 'is best interest."

An all too familiar voice spoke from the hallway. "A likely story."

This time, it was Tempest's turn to grow pale as the dark grey form of Graphite appeared through the doorway and stood over him with a smug grin. "But... but..." Tempest stammered. "That is not possible..."

Graphite leaned down to the trapped stallion and smirked. "Looks like this wimpy unicorn learned how to fly after all." Straightening back up, he proudly announced, "Fierce Tempest, you are under arrest for embezzlement, two accounts of attempted murder, and one case of murder." Turning to the guards he motioned towards the door. "Get him out of here," he muttered.

Tempest scowled and began thrashing again, but the guards held him securely as they pulled him from the room. Graphite watched as they took him away, before turning back towards the other stallion in the room. He was glad to see that he had made it in time, and Exact Count looked no worse for wear. From the look of gratitude on his face, Graphite could tell that he felt the same way.

The guard restraining him started guiding him towards the exit as well once Tempest was gone. As he passed Graphite, Exact Count paused for a moment. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "I owe you one."

Graphite looked at him and smiled. "Just doing my job," he said. "Though if you really want to pay me back, confess to your crime and testify against your friend there. I can't guarantee that the courts will go easy on you, but at least it will make sure that Tempest gets sent away for a very long time."

Exact Count bowed his head for a moment, before slowly nodding. Satisfied with his answer, Graphite gave a single nod to the guard, who again started pushing Exact Count gently towards the exit. Once the pair was gone, Graphite relaxed with a large sigh.

Golden Gem's head poked around the corner of the doorframe. She smiled brightly when she saw Graphite standing there. As quickly as possible, she rushed in and threw her hooves around him. "You're alright," she said as her eyes began to water. "I was so worried about you."

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, returning the hug. Looking up towards the doorway, he saw Sweetie Belle looking curiously at the pair. He ignored her however. "Now, if you don't mind. I think it's about time we head home.

~~~

The chariot entered Canterlot just as the sun was starting it's decent below the horizon. Other than when some of the other guards had questioned Graphite concerning the events that day, the trip had passed by mostly in silence. Both Sweetie Belle and Golden Gem figured that Graphite had had enough for one day, and decided it was best to leave him in peace for the time being.

Touching down with a hard thud, the Chariot soon pulled to a complete stop. The second it stopped moving, Graphite jumped from its basket onto the plush grass below. Feeling its comfortable texture under his hooves, he couldn't help himself as he collapsed onto the ground with a sigh of content. The guards pulling the chariot looked at each other in confusion as Graphite began stroking the ground with his hooves. However, Graphite didn't care about what they, or anypony else for that matter thought. For the moment, he was too happy to care. "Golden Gem," he said at last, "have I ever told you how much I love the ground? Next time I decide to go to Cloudsdale by myself, please slap me in the face and remind me that I told you that, alright?"

Golden Gem giggled as she helped Graphite back up from the ground. Brushing himself off, he looked out into the distance. "Now, if alright with you, I think that I'm going to take the day off tomorrow. I've needed to take a break for quite some time now anyways." Turning to Golden Gem, he added, "I'm leaving you in charge of getting the paperwork started for this case. When I get in next week we'll get it finished, alright?" Golden Gem responded with a happy nod.

Satisfied he turned towards the other mare who had been in the basket. The smile she had on her face quickly faded away as she saw the expression on Graphite's. While he wasn't scowling, he wasn't smiling either. His eyebrows were furrowed, though he didn't seem angry. It was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking at that moment.

"And as for you," Graphite began. His voice was stern. "I expect that you still have a lot of paperwork to complete, correct?"

Sweetie Belle hesitated for a moment, before nodding her affirmation.

Graphite stared at her for a moment before again turning away towards the rising moon. "I still expect that to be done when I get back," he said plainly. "Afterwards, you and I are going to have a very long discussion about today, and..." he hesitated for a moment before adding, "and discuss the next case for you to start working next week."

Sweetie Belle's ears perked up as she looked at Graphite in wonder. He darted his eyes back over towards her, and for the briefest second, she thought she saw him give her a kind smile. Then, without another word, he turned and trotted off towards home for the evening, leaving the two mares alone.

Golden Gem trotted over towards Sweetie. "You'll have to forgive Graphite," she said apologetically. "He's not really one to say 'thank you'."

But Sweetie just waved her off. "No, it's alright," she responded with a bright smile. "In his own way, I think he just did."

~~~

Compared to the previous day, this new one was completely and utterly dull. Sweetie Belle entered the office bright and early as she was expected to, and plopped herself down in front of the massive stacks of still remaining files. Due to her adventures yesterday, she had only managed to get through a half of one stack. The remaining two and a half towered over her as an insurmountable obstacle. By noon, this fact had seemed to be all the more emphasized as she had only managed to finish off the first one.

She was sitting with her head between her hooves when Golden Gem walked up to her desk. Since her brain was currently ready to give up and cry, it took her a while to notice her visitor. When she finally did notice, she quickly grabbed another folder from the top of the pile and fanned it open in front of her. "Sorry," she hastily exclaimed, "just taking a quick breath."

She hurriedly started working her way through the file expecting the retort to come at any moment. However, it never did. Golden Gem just sat there silently watching as Sweetie Belle finished not only that folder, but the next two as well. Finally, after pulling the next folder off the pile, Sweetie Belle looked up at the yellow unicorn inquisitively.

"You're doing it wrong," Golden Gem finally said. Grabbing a chair she sat down before levitating the folder over to herself. "You keep flipping back and forth between the pages to get a look at the different fields. What you want to do is line the papers up on top of each other like so." As she explained, she demonstrated what she meant on the current file. "Now you can easily see all the different fields at a glance saving you the time you spend rechecking. Once you're done, simply put the files back into a neat order and move on to the next one." Expertly she folded the papers back into their original position before levitating the folder onto the pile behind her and grabbing another. Pointing towards the two stacks she said, "You start working on that pile and I'll keep working on this one," before pouring herself to her work.

It took Golden Gem a moment to realize that Sweetie Belle wasn't working. Looking up towards her, she found Sweetie staring at her, the shock clearly written on her face. Before she had the chance to ask, Sweetie answered with a question of her own. "Why are you helping me?"

Golden Gem turned back to the file with a smile. "I talked with Graphite last night. He told me all about what you did yesterday." She paused. "Tell me. Why did you save his life?"

Sweetie shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? He was in trouble. You don't think I would have just let him fall to his death do you?"

The responding silence from Golden Gem was deafening. "...Really?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Golden Gem sighed. "When you were on the run and Graphite and I were chasing you, I was completely convinced that there was nothing in the world you cared about. I believed that you didn't have an honest bone in your body. When they assigned you to work with Graphite, I was completely livid. I thought for sure that at the first sign of danger, you'd have no trouble just leaving him behind to save yourself. I just... I guess you surprised me is all. Perhaps there's more to you than I realized, and... I just wanted to say thank you for that."

"Graphite means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

"You could say that," Golden Gem answered with a warm smile, caught in her own reminiscence.

Sweetie caught the smile and laughed to herself. "I see," she said. "So, exactly how long have the two of you been dating?"

Golden Gem flushed as her cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson. "Oh, um... we're not a couple."

"Really?" Sweetie returned with a cocked eyebrow. "That's kind of surprising. You two get along so well together."

"Yeah we do, don't we?" Golden Gem said tapping her hoof to her chin, before shaking her head. "But, I just don't think it could ever work out between us. It would just be too awkward."

"Yeah? And why's that?"

Golden Gem turned and gave Sweetie a wink. "He's my older brother."

Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what to think as her mouth dropped open. "Seriously?" she managed to finally say.

Golden Gem nodded. "Yeah I know. Nopony really expects it since we work together and everything. It's a little bit odd."

"No, not odd," Sweetie interrupted. "Surprising would be a better term I think." She paused. "Though now that you mention it, why do the two of you work together then?"

The smile drooped from her face as Golden Gem sighed. "That's mostly my doing I'm afraid. You see, our parents died when I was extremely young. Graphite practically raised me after that. He was really my only friend for the longest time. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. So, when he became a royal guard I decided that's what I wanted to do as well. When I realized I wasn't cut out for it however, I started working as a secretary instead and eventually got to the point that I could work underneath him as well." She chuckled a bit before adding, "I know. It's really silly, but... he really does mean the world to me. I just couldn't imagine what my life would be like without him."

"...Yeah," Sweetie responded, her voice incredibly hushed. "I know exactly what you mean."

Golden Gem turned and recognized the sad look in Sweetie's eyes. She suddenly remembered the reason that Sweetie was sitting here in the first place. Shifting awkwardly in her seat, she attempted to figure out something to say to lighten the situation.

Fortunately, she didn't have to as Sweetie Belle suddenly lifted her head up with a puzzled look and said, "Wait. There's one thing I don't understand. You call your older brother 'Boss'?"

Golden Gem giggled, glad the awkwardness had passed at least. "It's an old inside joke."

Sweetie just shrugged with a chuckle. "Well, if you say so." She turned back to the papers, before pausing and looking back up with a bright smile. "And thank you. I appreciate it a lot."

Golden Gem returned the smile. "No problem."

With that, Sweetie Belle pulled another folder off the pile. Following Golden Gem's directions, she lined up the papers so that the boxes were next to each other. "Is this right," she asked before continuing.

Looking over, Golden Gem nodded the affirmative. "Yep. Just make sure that all the boxes are visible and you're set." Suddenly, she smirked and giggled before turning away with a shake of her head.

That odd behavior caught Sweetie's interest. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"It's... It's nothing. Just something stupid."

"No," Sweetie insisted. "What is it? I'm curious now."

Golden Gem gave her an odd look before shrugging. "Luna," was her response.

"...What about Princess Luna?"

"No, not 'Princess Luna', just 'Luna'," Golden Gem corrected. Leaning over she pointed towards the form. "When these particular papers are lined up like this, the start of these words also line up so that it spells the name 'Luna' vertically between the papers. It's stupid I know, but you notice things like this when you've done as much paperwork as I have."

Sweetie looked at the papers. Sure enough, now that it was pointed out to her, she could see the Lunar Princess' name printed clearly. She giggled along with Golden Gem. "That is kind of silly," she said. "I wonder if they did that on purpo..."

The smile instantly wiped off her face as she quit speaking midsentence. The sudden change startled Golden Gem who looked over to the white mare with concern. Sweetie's eyes darted back and forth, looking at the page as the gears in her mind churned away. Slowly, the tips of her mouth began to pull upwards as she seemed almost to glow with realization.

"What's the matter?" Golden Gem finally asked. "What just happened?"

Sweetie shook her head, bringing her back to reality. "Nothing important," she said, the smile still plastered to her face. She was still intently staring at the forms, particularly at the word 'Luna'. "Let's just say, it's an old inside joke."

~~~

The wind blew through her mane as Scootaloo soared amongst the clouds above the golden fields below. Her feathers ruffled as the chill breeze flowed through them. Effortlessly, she tipped her wings, gently gliding between the billowing masses of white fluff amongst her, carefully avoiding each of them. Everything around her was perfectly still and picturesque.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance as Scootaloo began to flap her wings. With each mighty stroke, she climbed a bit higher, closer to the deep violet sky below. No longer swimming amongst the clouds, she climbed until they too were mere specks beneath her. Still she climbed, with only the distant mountain peaks as her guide. Soon enough, she surpassed even them as she continued to climb higher and higher, her head pointed towards the just appearing stars above.

Without warning, the pegasus folded her wings back into her side. Her ascent slowed as the pull of gravity took its effect. For the briefest of seconds, she hovered in midair, her head held high. Then, dipping backwards she looped around as she began to fall towards the ground.

No longer was everything quiet as the rushing roar blasted her ears as she dove downwards. She kept her arms straight in front of her as her speed continued to increase. Falling faster and faster, she soon passed the clouds, several being whisked from existence as she sped past. She ignored that still as she continued gaining speed bit by bit.

The world around her began to shimmer and swirl. She could just make out the large cone forming around her as she fell further and further, still gaining speed as she went. The air bursting against her face was beginning to sting, but she didn't care. Victory was so close, she could almost taste it.

Then, amidst the roar of the wind, she heard something. It was faint at first, but overtime the noise grew louder and louder. It was some sort of banging sound, similar to the sound of a hoof being pounded against wood. There was another sound with it; a familiar voice calling out, over and over again.

The cone was at its narrowest point now. Scootaloo tried to silence the distraction and concentrate fully on her dive. She was so close now. The tiniest threads at the end of the cone where beginning to unravel in front of her eyes. They made a popping noise as they broke... or was that the banging sound? She tried to ignore it. She was nearly there and couldn't lose focus now. The remaining threads broke one after another until there was just one left.

She saw it snap...

"SCOOTALOO!!!!"

Scootaloo's eyes shot open just in time to see her land face first into the carpet. Her wings were still buzzing behind her as she lifted herself up from the floor with a groan. She stopped and gave a dirty look to the couch that had managed to buck her off. She grasped her head as the world tried to return to focus. Not an easy task when there was still that banging noise in the background.

The banging; she recognized it now. It was the sound of somepony pounding on the front door. As the pegasus picked herself up, she recognized the other noise as well as it called out her name once again.

"Scootaloo!"

Her eyes narrowed as the shout was followed by yet another series of bangs, bringing her completely back into consciousness. Quickly she rushed over to the door. "Darn it Sweetie Belle," she yelled back as she began fiddling with the lock to let her friend in. "Do you have any idea what you just did? You just woke me from the best dream ever!" Finishing the last lock, she swung the door open, "Now what do you have to say..."

Sweetie Belle rushed past her, completely ignoring her friend's anger. "The letter!" she cried, rushing into the living room and digging around. "Where's the letter."

Curiosity overtook Scootaloo's anger. "Wh... huh?"

"The letter!" Sweetie cried again. "Rarity's letter! Where is it?!?"

Scootaloo pointed towards the kitchen. "I left it over there on the table, but I'm sorry to say that I didn't find..."

She was cut off as Sweetie Belle launched herself across the room and grabbed the letter from off the table. She quickly tore it from its envelope. Tossing it onto the table, she rushed over to the cupboard and began flinging the various bits and pieces out as she searched through it.

"What are you doing?" Scootaloo finally managed to ask.

Sweetie shot her a quick smile before returning to the cupboard. "I've got it! I figured it out! I solved the secret code!" With one last final tug, she emerged triumphantly holding up a pair of scissors and two colored markers. Rushing back to the kitchen table, she hastily grabbed the letter and began cutting it into strips.

Scootaloo was about to object, but Sweetie interrupted her thought. "You see, I was right the first time," she explained. "'Eleven' was the key this entire time. But I was so busy thinking of the number, that I didn't even consider the word itself. Remember that misspelling of 'live' on the fourth line? I realized today that 'v' is the fourth letter of the word 'Eleven'." Placing down the scissors, she picked up the marker and began coloring in particular parts on the six remaining strips. Once finished, she spit out the marker and continued, "You see, there are six lines to the letter and six letter's in the word 'Eleven'. Each line matches one of these letters!" Reaching down, she began sliding the papers around the table. "And if we line the letters up to form the word..."

Suddenly she stopped. Her face beamed as she looked down at the papers on the table. Grabbing the other marker, she quickly made six small marks, one on each of the lines. Setting down the marker, she stared at the papers in triumph. Then, looking up she said, "Don't worry Rarity. I plan on it."

Before Scootaloo could ask another question, Sweetie Belle turned tail and ran out the front door, calling out that she had something to do. The pegasus' head was positively spinning from the randomness of these events. She turned towards the papers strips, still sitting where Sweetie Belle had left them. She trotted over to them and looked down at the markings that Sweetie Belle had made, seeing the message that they spelled.

My Darling Sweetie Belle,
If you havefound this letter that means that you have been released and come looking for me.
I hope that you know that I mean the best for you and hope your continued life goes well.
But, I'm afraid that when I told you that I never wished to see you again, I meant it.
I simply can no longer deal with the sorrow and shame that I livday by day because of you.
It pains memassively to say this, but please accept this, my last request.
One day, I hope that you can eventually understand my reasons for this and respect them.

~ Rarity

FIND ME

~~~

End of Episode 2

Author's Note

Next time on White Collar: A Diamond in the Rough