Finding Scootaloo

Sherlock was pacing impatiently in front of the front door, scowling as he stared at the ground. It'd been two days since his talk with Princess Twilight and Rainbow Dash, and him and the Princess had notified him a few hours later that same day that Rainbow had been injured by Rarity, Element of Generosity, and she'd requested John's help. John had rushed off to the scene and he'd received another letter yesterday that he was staying for a couple days to take care of her while Twilight was busy with the case. He'd sent the Princess a letter after John had left, telling her that he required her presence. He'd gotten a quick reply saying that she'd be there as soon as possible, the writing clearly stating that she'd rushed through writing it. He hadn't the foggiest idea why she was bothering with writing a letter, he'd know when she got there.

Now here he was, waiting rather impatiently for Twilight. He didn't know why she was taking so long, he knew that she could just teleport to wherever she pleased. Maybe she didn't know his address well enough. 221b Baker Street, not that complicated. It was near Sugarcube Corner, and he was all too aware that Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, lived there. She'd thrown him and John a party when they'd first moved here.

The horror. So. Much. Pink. He'd taken one look at all the sweets and he had sworn he could've gotten diabetes just by looking at all the things she'd put out. Cupcakes and cakes and candies and sodas and... Ugh, he was getting sick just thinking about it.

Stay focused Sherlock, you're supposed to be impatiently waiting for a Princes, not thinking about the horrors of that party. The pale stallion thought to himself.

And so he waited. Impatiently.

And during this time, Sherlock could think about that damn feather. Even after two days of examining it, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. There was something, but he couldn't think about what it was. It matched Rainbow's feathers too perfectly, every feather had a flaw and this one just... Didn't. It'd been gnawing at him every waking moment since he'd found it, which was almost always twenty-four hours a day. No matter how hard he stared, it wouldn't present why it was so... Wrong. He even tried yelling at it at one point, but the stubborn thing had refused to even reply. Stupid inanimate objects and their damn unreliability. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Sherlock Hooves, one of the greatest minds Equestria had ever known, didn't know what was wrong with a bloody feather.

And Sherlock hated not knowing.

Knock, knock

Sherlock opened the door with his blue aura, smiling slightly when Twilight greeted him. "Ah, Princess. Do come in." He offered, stepping aside as she came in.

Twilight smiled at Sherlock. "Hello Sherlock. And please, call me Twilight. Your letter said you needed me to be here for something?" She inquired curiously.

Sherlock nodded. "Come." He gestured with a tilt of his head and trotted towards the kitchen, hearing Twilight follow him. He stopped at the counter and levitated the feather over to her.

Twilight looked at the feather for a moment, before looking at him. "I don't understand." She stated.

Sherlock nodded. "I've been examining this feather for the past two days, and I need to take measurements. I highly doubt John will let me bring Rainbow Dash here, or let me near her after the incident at Carousel Boutique, so I must enlist your help. Your feathers are slightly larger than hers, by exactly one point five centimetres," He started. While she was listening, his magic gripped one of her feathers and with a quick tug he pulled it out, making her yelp, "And I need to see if this feather matches the size. Hold these together and make sure that the bottoms match up exactly." He ordered.

Twilight took the feathers in her own magical grasp and lined them up, keeping a close eye on them to make sure that they were perfect. She looked up when she was done to see Sherlock standing there, levitating a ruler. She held them still in the air while he placed the ruler against them an measure them up.

Sherlock narrowed his eyes as he read the measurements. One... Point... Five. He thought slowly, eyes widening slightly. He pulled away and looked the Princess dead in the eye. "One point five. Either we have a Pegasus almost identical to Rainbow Dash, or you need to keep a very close eye on the Pegasus in your home." He advised, raising an eyebrow at her.

Twilight glared at him. "Rainbow Dash is innocent." She told him, voice containing quite a bit of anger.

Sherlock looked at her with a 'really?' expression. "Like John said... You can't trust everypony." He reminded her.

Twilight let the feathers drop, not even noticing as he caught them in his own magical grasp. "I know that, and she knows it too. The entire town has turned against her because of this, and she's falling apart inside. Her little sister is missing, everypony wants her dead, and she's stuck at my house with a broken wing. Rainbow is innocent." She explained firmly.

Sherlock smiled slightly. "You have a lot of faith in your friend, I see. That will either make you or break you Twilight, and at this point I can't honestly tell you which." He replied calmly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you think Sherlock?" She asked.

Sherlock's blue eyes sharpened as he looked at her, like when he'd first met her. "Rainbow Dash is the current Element of Loyalty, and to hold that title she must be incredibly, almost indescribably loyal. Rainbow Dash also adopted Scootaloo, and from what you and the rest of the town have told me, it was because her father was abusing. Scootaloo's father, a stallion by the name of Rivet, went missing around six months ago. This means that Rainbow has had custody of Scootaloo for six months. And if that is true, then kidnapping her at this point is unlikely in the extreme. If she had really wanted to abduct Scootaloo, she would've most likely done it before she adopted her and would've told everypony that either her father killed her, or she went missing. Doing it six months into adoption is an idiotic move, and while Rainbow isn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, she's no idiot. With her history as being as loyal as she is, and under the circumstances of the adoption, I believe that she is innocent. But, like John and I have said, you can't trust everpony. And another thing," His eyes went back to normal and he looked to the side, "Rainbow saved Scootaloo from her father, implying that only the father was in the house. John has done some asking around about Scootaloo and her family, and he's found that she has been seen in public with a Pegasus mare named Merry May. It is safe to assume that this mare is her mother. Now ask yourself this; why didn't Merry May help her daughter? Or better yet, why didn't she try to stop Rivet?" He asked.

Twilight's eyes widened at the thought. "You think Merry May took Scootaloo?" She questioned.

Sherlock pulled the blue feather up to his face once more. "You may find the answer if you go to Scootaloo's old house. Rainbow Dash would be able to take you there, a simple illusion spell would be able to hide her from prying eyes, would it not?" He suggested.

Twilight nodded. "Right! Thank you Sherlock, I'll go talk to her!" She exclaimed, turning to the door.

Sherlock continued examining the feather. "Oh, and Princess?" He called.

"Yes?"

Sherlock turned a small smirk to her. "I wouldn't let John get too close to Rainbow Dash. He finds her rather pretty, and I'm sure you wouldn't want any competition." He told her.

Twilight blushed hotly. "How did you-"

"I merely observed. The way you talk about her makes it quite obvious, to me at least. You'll stick with her through this, more than is even necessary. You would do anything for that mare." He replied without waiting for her to finish.

Twilight looked at the ground, before leaving with her face bright red.

Sherlock looked back at the feather. "Mares. So easy to read." He chuckled to himself.

Twilight headed back to the library, ignoring the nervous stares that followed her. Her outburst a couple days ago had shaken the ponies present, and those who hadn't been present had been warned of her ferocity. Soon the blush on her cheeks died down, and as she neared the library she only had one thought;

The game is on.

John was on the couch, reading a book when Twilight walked in. He looked up as she closed the door, smiling a bit. "Any luck with him Princess?" He asked.

Twilight nodded, sitting down by the front door. "Please John, call me Twilight. And yes, we managed to figure something out. Scootaloo's mother, Merry May, may be the kidnapper. She never tried to stop Rivet, nor was she present when Rainbow Dash took custody of Scootaloo. I need to talk to her, is she feeling good enough?" She asked.

John shook his head. "Somepony visited while you were out, somepony by the name of Rarity. Said she had to drop something off. Rainbow took one look at her and started screaming at her to get out and leave her alone, while Rarity suddenly started yelling insults at her. I got Rarity out, but Rainbow was crying and screaming and I had to get her to bed. She's asleep now, but I doubt she'll be well enough for anything involving Sherlock for at least another day." He replied.

Twilight's happy look hardened into a cold glare. "Then I guess I'm going to talk to Rarity... I'll be out for a few hours, can you keep an eye on her?" She asked.

John nodded.

Twilight smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can." Her horn lit up, and she was gone in a bright flash of magenta.

John watched the spot where she'd been for a moment, before chuckling. "Mycroft would certainly appreciate that spell whenever he has to talk to Sherlock." He murmured to himself before turning back to his book.

Twilight appeared in a magenta flash in front of Carousel Boutique. She took a moment to compose herself and suppress the anger, before entering.

"Welcome to Carousel- Oh, hello Twilight!"

Rarity trotted up to the Alicorn with a warm smile. "You didn't tell me that you were visiting today! What can I do for you? Would you like some tea?" She offered, eyes twinkling.

Twilight glared at Rarity. "I want to know what your problem is." She stated coldly.

Rarity sat back and gave Twilight a confused look. "Whatever do you mean darling?" She asked.

Twilight snorted. "You came to my house earlier." She reminded her.

Rarity's smile was quickly replaced by a hard look. "And I saw that you were keeping that brute there." She shot back.

"Rainbow is innocent." Twilight snarled.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Rarity sniffed, looking away.

"Why were you at my house?" The Alicorn questioned.

"I had to drop something off." Rarity replied in an emotionless tone, clearly lying.

"You haven't borrowed anything from me recently. Now tell me the truth."

Rarity sighed. "I thought you were there, I felt like a visit. Happy?" She demanded coldly.

Twilight drew herself up a bit and her glare heated up slightly. "Tell. Me. The. Truth." She snarled.

"I heard rumors that you were keeping Rainbow in your house and I went to check." Rarity replied nochalantly.

"Why is it any of your business?" Twilight demanded.

"Friends don't exactly keep secrets from one another."

"You're not my friend. None of you are. Only Rainbow." Twilight growled.

Rarity gasped loudly. "You don't mean that! You'd choose that criminal over us!?" She exclaimed.

Twilight stomped her hoof. "How dare you! You turn your backs on Rainbow and I and then expect us to be friends? What is wrong with you? Why were you seeing if Rainbow was there?" She demanded, her temper rising very, very quickly.

Rarity stood up. "I was just checking." She snapped.

Twilight stood up as well. "No, you wouldn't do that. You knew I was away, that's why you went." She growled.

"And so what if that is the case? That monster deserves to be punished!"

"You were going after her! You were going to hurt her!" Twilight accused.

"Yes, but only because that is the right thing to do in times like this. She kidnapped her own sister, she deserves to be punished." Rarity replied nonchalantly.

Twilight had to fight to keep down the growl rising in her throat. "You already broke her wing, isn't that enough!?" She exclaimed.

"Not even close." Rarity replied coldly.

Twilight's eyes widened. "You were going to kill her. You were going to go to my house and kill her while she was alone." She breathed.

Rarity went silent, choosing to glare at twilight rather than reply.

Twilight's rage finally boiled over. "WHAT THE BUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" She screamed.

"I WAS GOING TO SAVE SCOOTALOO!"

"BY KILLING HER!?"

"IF IT MEANS SAVING A POOR FILLY THEN YES!"

"YOU'RE SICK!"

"I'M SICK!? THAT... THAT MONSTER DESERVES TO BURN IN TARTARUS FOR WHAT SHE'S DONE!" Rarity shrieked back, eyes wild with fury.

Twilight's wings snapped out and her horn ignited, but unlike with the town she had a proper spell charged up. Her eyes turned into twin glowing white orbs as she drew herself to her full height, towering over Rarity. "SILENCE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A TRAITOROUS, BACKSTABBING MULE! I SHOULD ARREST YOU!" She boomed.

Rarity smirked at her. "I think you should go back home Twilight. Wouldn't want to leave Rainbow unguarded, would we?" She asked. There was a devious glint in her eyes, almost evil in nature. It made Twilight incredibly nervous. There was no fear in those sapphire irises, only that evil smirk that spoke that things were going to happen.

Very, very bad things.

Twilight's eyes reverted back to normal and she stared at Rarity before realization struck her. "Rainbow!" She exclaimed, turning to leave the Boutique. Her head smashed into a ponyquin an she let out a cry of pain as she fell back, eyes spinning as stars exploded across her vision. As darkness claimed her, she heard Rarity's singsong voice;

"Wouldn't want you messing with our plans, now would we your highness?"

Then she was lost to the darkness.

John had fallen asleep on the couch, the book resting on top of his thick wool sweater. It rose and fell with his chest as he slept peacefully. His ear twitched at a faint noise, and his solider instincts kicked in and he bolted upright, eyes wide as he looked around. "Who's there!?" He barked.

Smack!

Something smashed against the back of his head and he felt cold water run down his neck. Flower vase. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back, unconscious.

The mare behind him quickly trotted past and started heading up the stairs.

Towards Rainbow's room.

Sherlock was about ready to give up with the feather. He'd gone the extra mile to take a picture of it so that he wouldn't be completely screwed if he lost it. He slapped the picture down on the floor beside the feather and stared at them both with frustrated, impatient and sharp eyes. But even with his senses, he couldn't see what was wrong. He threw his head back and let out a cry of frustration, stomping his hoof and making the feather flutter in the air.

The feather waved teasingly in front of his face, so perfect and teasing and just plain wrong. He watched it land right on the picture.

And that's when he saw it.

Sherlock leaned back down and looked through a slight tear he'd caused in the feather. The picture he'd taken was right beneath it, and the color of the feather in that one was definitely more vibrant than the real thing. Still leaning down, he closed his eyes and forced a picture of the feather as he'd seen it when he'd found it a couple days ago, not trusting the camera's quality. He opened his eyes again and looked at the feather with cat-like curious eyes, that image in his head. Definitely less vibrant than it had been.

The blue on the feather was fading.

The feather was dyed.