The Butterfly Bandit

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, finding herself staring at a picture of her and Fluttershy that was sitting on the nightstand. With a yawn, Rainbow sat up, stretching her front legs and wings.

“Morning, Tank,” she mumbled, looking down to where the tortoise usually slept. Her eyes widened as she noticed Tank not only wasn’t there, but neither was the usual floor of her bedroom.

Her eyes quickly looked around the room, interrupted only by another yawn, as she realized where she was. “Fluttershy’s bedroom?” Rainbow looked down at the blankets she had snuggled into. “Fluttershy’s bed…?”

“Oh, good, you’re up!” Fluttershy said from the bedroom door.

“Ahh!” Rainbow screamed, falling to the floor in surprise.

“Oh, Rainbow!” Fluttershy gasped, setting down a tray, before helping Dash up and back into bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Startle,” Rainbow corrected, looking down with a blush on her face. “W-when did I get here?”

“I’m not sure,” said Fluttershy. “When I got back last night, you were sleeping on my bed. So I tucked you in and slept on the couch.”

“Wait, so this wasn’t planned?” Rainbow asked, looking up as she tried to remember what happened last night. She quickly stopped as she picked up on something else Fluttershy said. “Wait, you slept on the couch?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow groaned. “Fluttershy, it’s your bed! You could have woken me up and sent me home instead of letting me steal it.”

Fluttershy blushed. “I didn’t want to disturb you…” And with how much sleeping powder you inhaled, I doubt I could have…

Rainbow looked down at the bed. “Thanks for letting me crash here. I can’t remember why, but I think I got real sleepy when I dropped by last night. Where were you, by the way?”

“Huh?” Fluttershy asked.

“Last night, at whatever time I got here,” said Rainbow. “I remember I was tired but couldn’t sleep, I came by to talk to you, you weren’t here, and then I… crashed.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy, looking down as she tried to think of an excuse.

“Flutters?” Rainbow asked, a look of concern crossing her face. “Where were-” She stopped mid-sentence, sniffing the air. “Do I smell maple syrup?”

“Oh!” said Fluttershy, leaping up. She trotted over to the tray she put on the nightstand and grabbed it in her mouth, carrying it back to the bed. “I made you breakfast. I thought you might be hungry…”

Rainbow looked down, seeing a plate of blueberry pancakes drizzled in Whitetail Wood Maple Syrup. “Fluttershy, seriously? I break into your house and force you out of your bed, and you make me breakfast?”

“Well, it’s you,” said Fluttershy. “I mean, um…”

Rainbow sighed as her stomach growled. “You don’t need to explain anything, Fluttershy.” She pulled the tray towards her, taking a large bite. “Fhanksh.”

Fluttershy gave a small smile, as Rainbow wolfed down her breakfast. “Try not to eat so fast, Dashie. You don’t want to get a stomach ache.”

Rainbow nodded, slowing down her chewing. She paused in thought, before swallowing. “Fluttershy? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Fluttershy.

“You sure?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, you’ve been daydreaming a lot lately and seem even jumpier than usual.”

“Oh, um,” Fluttershy mumbled, glancing at the clock. “Oh, is it that late already?”

“Fluttershy, please just tell me if something’s wrong!” said Rainbow.

“Nothing is wrong,” Fluttershy insisted. “It’s just we have to meet the delivery ponies at your house at two, so eat up and we can head out together.”

“Delivery ponies?” Rainbow repeated. “My house? What are you- wait, did you say we need to hurry for two? As in two in the afternoon?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy. “I think I have time to take a quick shower while you finish breakfast.” She quickly hurried out of the room and Rainbow heard her bathroom door slam shut.

Confused, Rainbow looked up at the clock hanging on Fluttershy’s wall. Her eyes widened in surprise. “It’s already one thirty!? How worn out was I last night?” She took another bite, and chewed slowly as she thought back to last night’s events.

I came here to talk, then I sniffed that broken bottle by the window, then I think I passed out… Heh. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was drugged by that stuff. Guess the excitement of that show was more exhausting than I thought. Shrugging, Rainbow returned to her breakfast.

“You bought me everything in the shop!?” Rainbow gasped, looking around, her eyes wide with excitement as the delivery ponies set down the last of the Daring Do artifact replicas.

“I saw how much you liked them in the shop yesterday,” said Fluttershy, a slight blush forming on her face.

“Well, I hope you enjoy them,” said the shopkeeper. “Thanks again for your patronage, miss. I might even be able to retire now.” The shopkeeper and the delivery ponies waved, before trotting out of Rainbow’s house, and flying off back to Cloudsdale.

Rainbow blinked in surprise, and turned to look at Fluttershy. “She couldn’t give a discount because she needed to make a living, but now she can retire? How much did you spend on me?”

“Um, I don’t remember,” Fluttershy mumbled. “A lot?”

“How could you possibly have afforded all of this?” Rainbow asked.

“Um,” Fluttershy mumbled, “I just could?”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Rainbow muttered.

“Why are you so mad?” Fluttershy asked, looking down. “I thought this would make you happy. That’s why I bought them for you.”

“I’m not mad at you for buying them!” said Rainbow.

“Then why are you yelling at me?” Fluttershy asked. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not,” Rainbow said. “I’m sorry.” How am I suddenly the bad guy? I just wanted to know why she’s acting so weird.

“Are you sure you’re not mad?” Fluttershy mumbled.

“I’m sure,” Rainbow sighed. “Cheer up, okay? Come on, let’s go see if Twilight can help us move these things around.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy stuttered, following Rainbow out the door, and across two to Twilight’s library.

The two flew along silently. Rainbow glanced back briefly at Fluttershy, who seemed to be trying to avoid looking at her. I don’t understand it. Yeah, she’s sensitive, but she hasn’t been this vulnerable since we were fillies. With all that money she’s been spending on me, too. She’s not dying, is she?

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy said. “We’re here.”

“Huh?” said Rainbow, looking down to see the Golden Oaks Library. “Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked. “Um, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Rainbow. “Just… I don’t know, let’s just talk to Twilight.”

“Um, alright,” said Fluttershy, as the two of them swooped down to the front door.

“Twilight?” Rainbow called, as they trotted into the library. “Are you busy?”

“She’s not even here,” said Spike, looking up from a comic book. “She went with those two detective ponies to get more info on the Butterfly Bandit.”

“Why?” Rainbow asked. “Where’d the sudden interest come from?”

“You didn’t here about it?” Spike asked.

“I only woke up an hour ago,” said Rainbow.

Spike set down the comic book to pick up a newspaper from the floor next to him and pass it over to Rainbow.

Rainbow looked down at the headline, mouthing the words as she read. “The Butterfly Bandit robbed Ponyville Bank last night!?”

“Yeah,” said Spike. “Right under our noses, too. Probably why Twilight’s helping to catch her.”

“Twilight’s trying to catch the Bandit?” Fluttershy mumbled.

“So that’s where they are,” said a voice.

“Eep!” Fluttershy gasped, darting behind Rainbow.

Rainbow turned to see who spoke, and saw Storm Chaser standing in the doorway. “Aren’t you that pony that came here with the detectives?”

“Yes,” Storm said, “and I’ve been trying to find them, since we’re supposed to be investigating. Seems they’re trying to go behind my back with the Princess.”

“I’m sure that’s not their intention,” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Did you say something!?” Storm snapped.

“Don’t threaten her!” Rainbow snapped back, spreading her wings aggressively.

“And don’t threaten me, unless you want to go to prison,” Storm replied with a smirk. “Well, I guess I’d better go find those two detectives and Princess, wherever they went off to.”

“Twilight said they were going to their law office in Manehatten,” said Spike.

“Thanks,” muttered Storm, before he stormed out of the door.

“You okay, Fluttershy?” Spike asked, after he left.

“Y-yeah,” Fluttershy stuttered. “Just scared.”

“Scared?” Rainbow questioned.

“Startled, I mean,” Fluttershy said quickly.

Could it be? Rainbow thought. Fluttershy not only bought those tickets and artifacts, but also seems to be scared of the police. She can’t be the Butterfly Bandit, can she? I'd prefer that being the reason as opposed to dying, but she can't be a criminal. Right?

“Rainbow?” Spike asked. “You in there?”

“Huh?” said Rainbow, looking around. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

“She said she was going home to rest,” said Spike. “Apparently she didn’t sleep well last night, being stuck on a couch or something.”

Rainbow blushed a little. “Huh. How… weird. Well, I should go, too, I guess. Catch you later, Spike.”

“See ya, Rainbow,” said Spike, as Rainbow flew out the door. Sitting down, he picked up his comic book again with a sigh. “Pegasi… They’re so weird.”

“Welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Emerald, leading the alicorn into the room.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw the mess that was Emerald Loupe’s Detective Agency. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings and maps ranging from single towns to the whole of Equestria, with numbered stickers placed on different buildings. The paper clippings were similarly numbered. Looking closely, Twilight realized they were reports about the Butterfly Bandit’s different heists, and that the numbers were meant to correspond to the order she pulled them off.

Emerald’s horn glowed as she added a new clipping to the wall. Marking it with the number 30, she stuck a sticker with the same number on the map of Ponyville over the Ponyville Bank.

Twilight jumped in surprise as Voltage closed the door behind them, and trotted over to Emerald. “Sorry, Princess, but we moved our chairs and couch out. Hope you don’t mind standing.”

That sounded almost insulting, Twilight thought, before looking at the map of Ponyville. “So that was the thirtieth heist the Butterfly Bandit pulled?”

“Very astute, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Emerald, leaping up to her desk, lying down to face the ceiling. “Up you get, Voltage Scholar.”

“N-now?” Voltage stuttered.

Twilight blinked in surprise. Is she… scared?

“Boss, we have a guest,” Voltage murmured.

“Fine,” sighed Emerald. “I’ll brainstorm on my own. You really need to get over this, Voltage Scholar.”

“Sorry,” Voltage mumbled. “It’s not easy…”

“Um, can you fill me in, please?” Twilight asked. “Is something wrong, Detective?”

“Aside from you prying into our conversation?” Voltage snapped.

“Um, sorry,” Twilight mumbled.

“The only thing wrong, Princess Twilight Sparkle, is that the Butterfly Bandit is still flying free,” said Emerald, glancing around the room and comparing the new clippings to the old ones.

“Um, can you read those upside down alright?” Twilight asked.

“How would knowing about my reading skills help, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Emerald asked. “But to answer your query, yes. Otherwise I’d have hung them upside down so they'd be right-side up when I'm upside… Hold on, yes…” Emerald trailed off, her horn lighting up as she rearranged the clippings in a seemingly random order. She also pulled out random files from under her desk, and began reading over them.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she noticed the name written on one of the files. “Rainbow Dash…? Tell me those files aren’t potential suspects, Detective.”

“That would be lying,” said Voltage.

“But if it helps you sleep,” said Emerald, “then those files aren’t potential suspects, Detective.”

“That was quite literal,” said Twilight, her eyes still darting to the file labeled Rainbow Dash. “Um, can I ask why you brought me here?”

“I had a plan, I think,” said Emerald, biting her lip in thought. “No… I didn’t. Not yet, at least.” She dropped all of the files to the floor. “Well then, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I think you should hear about the Butterfly Bandit. It will be most valuable for you to have information on her for when I finally put together the net that will finally snag this outlaw.”

“Um,” said Twilight, sitting down on the floor, “alright.”

“You already know she leaves a card,” said Voltage. “That should clue you in on her personality.”

“Arrogant?” Twilight asked.

“No,” said Emerald, “not entirely, Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Butterfly Bandit is most definitely confident in her abilities at stealing, but that’s not why she leaves her card.”

“Then why do it?” Twilight asked. “Why leave behind evidence?”

“To understand,” said Emerald, “let me tell you about the one time she messed up so far. Heist number 21; the Canterlot Jeweler Heist.”

“Going back five years,” said Voltage, with a sigh. “Try not to talk about my role in it too much, please.”

“Certainly, Voltage Scholar,” said Emerald.

Voltage gave a small smile, before returning to her usual expression as she turned her attention to Twilight. “This is the case when the public finally got an image to go with the almost legendary thief.”

Twilight glanced at the clipping on the wall. “I was still living in Canterlot at the time. Five years ago the other ponies in the school were gossiping about something. I didn’t care for gossip, so that’s probably why I haven’t heard about it…”

“Gossip can be useful in investigating, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Emerald. “Though I doubt any of your peers would have known about what I’m about to tell you.”

About five years ago, as night fell on the city of Canterlot, a lone, yellow pegasus mare wearing a cloak trotted out of a local doughnut shop. The air was surprisingly chilly for the time of year, prompting the pony to raise her hood as she trotted along the empty streets back to her hotel.

Regrettably, she would never make it. For at that moment, the Manehatten Slasher emerged from the shadows and-

“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “The Manehatten Slasher? Wasn’t she in Canterlot? And what does a serial killer from fifteen years ago have to do with a theft from five years ago?”

“Right, my mistake,” said Emerald. “The settings were surprisingly similar.”

“Perhaps you should let me handle this flashback, boss?” Voltage asked.

“Yes, that would probably be for the best,” said Emerald. She looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Come to think of it, I wasn’t even in Canterlot on the night of the Jeweler Heist…”

“But didn’t you flashback to it before?” Twilight asked.

“Hush, Princess,” said Voltage. “My boss works in ways you couldn’t comprehend.”

I don’t think Emerald herself comprehends, Twilight thought. “Sorry. Proceed, Miss Scholar.”

It was nearly midnight by the time the mare left the shop, having spent the evening absentmindedly nursing a milkshake, if you were wondering. As said, she was wearing a cloak to shelter herself from the strange cold spell the city was in.

As she trotted along the empty streets, somepony did emerge from the shadows, bumping into the mare and knocking her down.

“Ahh!” the mare gasped, frantically holding her cloak against her. “Watch where you’re-” The mare stopped short, blinking in surprise as she saw what had hit her.

Another mare loomed over her. She was dressed up like a large, blue butterfly. The butterfly gazed down at the pony she hit. Her eyes were obscured by a mask that looked like insect eyes, and were barely visible behind them. Was she looked apologetic? Fearful? She guessed it was fear, given the building the knocked down mare noticed this ‘butterfly’ had just left.

The bars that would normally be lowered at this time of night were nowhere to be seen. The merchandise that normally shines in the glass cases against the window were gone. And this butterfly had a large bag slung over her shoulder. Even if you hadn’t been following the Butterfly Bandit’s heists in the papers, you could easily piece together what just happened. Unless you were an idiot.

“You… Canterlot Jeweler…” the mare mumbled. She stood up, and shouted, hoping to draw attention from the Royal Guard. They were in Canterlot, after all. “Thief!”

The thief panicked, frantically flapping her wings to take to the air. The cloaked mare spread her wings to fly after, but was suddenly hit by a gust from the Butterfly Bandit’s wings. A gust containing some strange, sparkly powder.

“Ack!” the cloaked mare coughed, as the Bandit soared off into the cloudy sky, the approaching Royal Guard just missing her as their attention turned to the cloaked pony.

“Miss, are you okay?” a guard asked.

Her vision was swimming, and she felt a sudden wave of tiredness coming over her. Before passing out, the pony took out a camera, pointing it up at the Bandit before she faded from view in the sky.

With no time to focus, the mare quickly snapped a photo. Thankfully, the Butterfly Bandit’s act of puncturing the cloud cover in her escape left her silhouetted against the sky by the faint light of the moon. The cloaked mare collapsed, as the Royal Guard scanned the skies for what the photo was of.

She didn’t wake until late the next morning, finding herself inside the mostly empty jewelry store. She could hear the store owner angrily arguing in the next room with the Royal Guard, but his shouts were unintelligible from where she was.

The cloaked mare looked down at her camera with a sigh as her stomach growled.

“Hungry, are you?” a voice asked.

The pegasus mare looked up, seeing a bag from the doughnut shop down the street was levitating in front of her, held up by a faint, green aura.

“Yes,” she said, taking the bag. She turned to the green unicorn that gave it to her, who was sitting against the wall across the room. Her eyes widened. “You’re…”

“Detective Emerald Loupe, Private Investigator,” the mare bowed. “And you are my new best friend.”

“I am?” the cloaked mare asked in surprise.

Emerald nodded, levitating a photo in front of her. “Do forgive me, but I took the liberty of developing the photo the guards said you took last night. I don’t know how she made such a mistake, but I’m thankful you were there to take full advantage of it.”

The mare looked at the photo Emerald was levitating in front of her. It was grainy and hard to see, but in the clouds was unmistakably-

“The Butterfly Bandit,” the mare mumbled.

“Nice instincts last night,” said Emerald. “Calling for help, taking that photo for evidence, it’s like it’s your talent or something.” Emerald smiled. “I’ve always wanted an apprentice. Welcome aboard, Miss Voltage Scholar.”

“That was you that took the photo?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“You sound surprised,” said Voltage, her voice flat.

“Sorry,” said Twilight.

“Hm,” said Emerald. “I seem to remember the day we met a little differently than that. But the gist of the crime was gotten across, so that’s all that matters. Well done, Voltage Scholar.”

“Thank you,” Voltage said, with a small smile on her face.

The door was suddenly knocked open, an angry pegasus guard glaring in. “What they hay are you two doing!?”

“Ah, welcome, Inspector Storm Chaser,” Emerald smiled. “I must say, I expected you here earlier. You’ll forgive us, I trust, if we don’t regale you with the flashback again?”

“Why would I care about your life story?” Storm asked.

“That’s the spirit,” said Emerald.

“Inspector, you’re being rather rude, don’t you think?” Twilight asked.

“Considering you just went behind my back in my investigation,” Storm spat, “I’d say you’re the one being rude, Princess! Don’t think you’re above the law just because Celestia has your back!”

“I don’t think anypony is above the law,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, right,” laughed Storm.

“It appears he doesn’t believe you,” said Voltage.

“There’s a way you can convince him, though,” said Emerald. “I have a plan I think anypony interested in justice would like.”

“What, we have a tea party at your apprentice’s house next?” Storm asked.

“No, Inspector Storm Chaser,” said Emerald. “She doesn’t own a house to begin with, but that’s beside the point. My plan is to catch the Butterfly Bandit. And we’ll need Princess Twilight Sparkle’s help to ensure she gets caught.”

“My help?” Twilight asked. She nervously glanced down at the file labeled Rainbow Dash that was lying on the floor.

“Princess, tell me you aren’t putting a friend above the law,” said Voltage.

“Of course not,” said Twilight. I feel ill… “W-What’s your plan, Detective?”

“See, Inspector Storm Chaser?” Emerald asked with a smile. “She’s interested in justice after all.”

“Hmph,” Storm snorted. “We’ll see...”

Rainbow paced back and forth in her living room, glancing uneasily at the Daring Do merchandise that was delivered that morning. She briefly stopped to look over at Tank, who was eating the rest of Rainbow’s salad in the corner, before pacing again.

“Tank, tell me I’m not just overreacting, here,” said Rainbow. “Robbery happens, police show up, Fluttershy gets nervous- more so than usual. Meanwhile, she’s spending bits on me left and right. At first I thought she was dying and trying to use all her money to make me happy before she goes, but she wouldn’t do that to her animals. She’d probably use her money to make a sanctuary or something for them, right?”

Tank looked up, and blinked slowly at Rainbow, who was pacing faster and faster.

“Then that leaves the other option,” said Rainbow, looking over at the newspaper on the couch. “Fluttershy is getting all this money because she’s the Butterfly Bandit. But that makes no sense either. This is Fluttershy we’re talking about! She wouldn’t steal from innocent ponies! And besides, the Bandit stopped years ago. Why would she start up again all of a sudden?”

Tank squeezed his eyes shut as, like yesterday, Rainbow angrily slapped herself across the face.

“AGH!” Rainbow screamed. “Why am I so worried!? She can take care of herself, right!? Why is this bothering me so much, and why can’t I just get a straight answer from her!?”

Tank turned to watch, as Rainbow flew out the window and off towards Carousel Boutique. He blinked slowly as his owner faded from view.

Rainbow looped around to pierce through a cloud, letting the water vapor splash across her face, before continuing on to Rarity’s. “Rarity knows emotions. She’ll be able to help, right? She’s got to.” Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut. “Fluttershy… Why can’t I stop thinking about you?”