The Pony in the Gray Trilbyby Leaf WhisperChaptersPart 1: The Break-InPart 2: The Investigation BeginsPart 3: A Clientele VisitPart 4: The HuntPart 5: The StormPart 6: The TruthEpilogue: The ObserverChapter notesPart 1: The Break-InThe gentle warmth of the rising sun through the curtained window and the quiet music of singing birds and chattering ponies slowly awoke Twilight Sparkle from her slumber. After having lived in Ponyville for almost four years, she'd grown used to those sounds being her alarm clock. She opened her eyes, then had to quickly shut them again after receiving a barrage of sunlight right to the face. Grumbling and blinking in the light, she pulled herself to a sitting position with a yawn and quickly glanced around her bedroom. To her surprise, she noted that the small basket next to her bed was empty, the sheets tossed aside. "Guess I slept longer than I thought," she concluded to herself, pulling herself out of bed and dropping onto the wooden floor. Quickly running a detangling spell through her tousled mane, she descended towards the stairs of the Golden Oaks Library, following an enticing odor of cooking food. She came downstairs to find that Spike was awake and standing at the stove in the kitchen, his apron fastened around his chest as he made breakfast. Mouthwatering scents filled the air and made Twilight's stomach rumble. Spike looked up and smiled at Twilight as she entered. "Good..." He paused to cover a yawn. "Good morning, Twilight." "Good morning, Spike," Twilight greeted him. "Are those raspberry muffins?" "Yup. Two or three?" Spike asked. "Just two, thanks," Twilight said, sitting down at the table. Spike brought over two warm muffins and a cup of tea, which Twilight immediately dug into. "Mmm...Spike, these are great," she moaned in pleasure as the baked good's taste filled her core, driving all sleep out of her mind. "Thank you," Spike grinned as he helped himself to another muffin. "Anything special going on today?" "You bet there is!" Twilight said excitedly. "Today's the day my book from Canterlot arrives!" Spike rolled his eyes. "Another book. I should have guessed." "This isn't just any old book!" Twilight exclaimed, as if Spike had uttered some horrid blasphemy. "This is a rare edition of Lillybud's notes on botanical magic!" She continued her lecture about the book and how important the studies of the great botanist had been, how great the impact and significance of her findings was, but Spike had already tuned her out so he could finish his breakfast in peace. Eventually winding down, Twilight finished her breakfast, dropped her dishes into the sink and headed out the door of the Golden Oaks Library and into the beautiful spring day. She took in a deep breath of the spring air, feeling it rejuvenate her being. She wondered how to spend her time until her package arrived. Perhaps she'd go visit Applejack, or Rarity, or see if Pinkie Pie had come up with any new confectionaries, or... "Watch out!" Twilight looked up, then ducked to the side just in time. A large package fell out of the sky and landed on the ground where she'd been standing a moment ago. Twilight looked at it for a moment, then glared at the source of her near-injury. Ditzy "Derpy" Do chuckled nervously down at her as she hovered in midair, her mailmare's cap tilted at a jaunty angle. "Sorry, my bad. It's kinda heavy," she apologized. Twilight sighed. "It's all right, Ditzy. At least you delivered it on time...and didn't drop it on my head." Ditzy saluted. "Neither rain nor snow nor griffins!" And with that, she zipped off to finish her rounds. Shaking her head, Twilight lifted the package up with her magic and went back inside, her annoyance quickly evaporating into excitement. She tore off the paper to reveal the dark green leatherbound cover, adorned with blue swirling writing. The grin on her face widened as she flipped through the text, which revealed the great botanist's original studies and findings, complete with notes and annotations by the editor. She forced herself to suppress a squeal of delight. Spike looked up from washing the breakfast dishes. "Is that it?" "This is it!" Twilight said happily. "Oh, I can't wait to get started!" But before she could begin, there was a startled yell from Spike. Twilight looked up and saw that Ditzy's head had just popped up from underneath the sinkwater. "Do I smell raspberry muffins?" she asked, eagerly looking around. With a roll of his eyes, Spike handed her a muffin, placing it into her mouth. "Thanks!" she said with a happy squee, then dove back underneath the soapy water. Spike looked at Twilight and shrugged. She sighed and returned to her book. But once more, she was interrupted by knocking at the door. When she opened it, she saw her five friends—Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack—standing outside. "Hey, Twilight! Are you ready?" Pinkie shouted, hyperexcited as ever as she bounced up and down behind the group. "Ready for what?" Twilight asked. A moment later, the memory rushed to the forefront of her mind. "Oh, Applejack's birthday party!" "You didn't forget, did you?" Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, of course not," Twilight replied. Lillybud was going to have to wait a little longer. "Give me a moment." She headed back into the library, lifting up the book with her magic and carrying it upstairs to her room. With reluctance, she placed it into her desk drawer, silently promising the tome that she would return later. She failed to notice something fall out of the book, out of the space between the pages and the binding, and onto the floor next to the door. Picking up Applejack's carefully-selected, delicately wrapped gift from next to the desk, she raced back down the stairs. "Okay, I'm ready! Let's go!" she called. "C'mon, Spike! You're invited too!" Applejack called. "Awesome!" Spike cheered, abandoning the breakfast dishes immediately and tossing off his apron. He retrieved his gift from next to the door and joined the mares. Twilight closed the library door behind him, locking it tight and tucking the key into her mane before following the others to Sweet Apple Acres, where Pinkie Pie had planned one of her sure-to-be-spectacular parties. The group passed through the Ponyville Park, chattering amiably walking down the main dirt pathway. They passed a crystal blue duck pond in the shade of a willow tree, where a pair of mallards swam around in a circle, a group of little ducklings following. Next to the pond was a wooden bench. A stallion sat upon the bench, playing a smooth blues melody on a slightly battered, but well-polished saxophone that shone brightly in the sunlight. The earth pony was a chocolate brown stallion with a shaggy, unkempt black mane. He wore a green vest adorned with pockets over a gray short-sleeved shirt. His eyes were closed as he played, seemingly lost in the music. An old gray trilby with a black band encircling the crown sat upside-down on the bench next to the stallion, a few bits scattered within it. "You are talented," Rarity praised the musician as they passed, dropping a small sapphire into the hat. The stallion opened his eyes, revealing stormcloud gray irides, and nodded his thanks. The seven friends continued down the pathway, enjoying the warmth of the day. Near the back of the pack, Rainbow abruptly realized that the saxophone music had halted. Turning back, she saw that the stallion was sitting still on the bench, staring after them with a curious expression, his saxophone lowered. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him, and the stallion turned away, raising the reed back up to his lips and continuing to play. Rainbow frowned, then hurried after her friends. No one noticed the two strange ponies watching the library from across the street. "Okay, they've left," one of them muttered. "The library should be clear." "Let's go," his partner said, striding forward. The sun had almost completed its arc across the orange-tinted sky by the time the group returned from the party, still laughing. "I've never had a birthday party like that before!" Applejack said. "Well, duh! That's cause you've never had one planned especially for you by me before!" Pinkie replied, hopping alongside the group. "Well, this has been fun, girls, but it's late and I've got a book to study," Twilight said, approaching the door to the library. Which she suddenly realized was open and unlocked, in spite of the fact that she'd closed and locked it. And that the spare key, which was supposed to be in a small box hidden in the foliage to the right of the door, was sitting in the lock. She dashed across the threshold and immediately stopped, staring at the bewildering, horrifying sight before her in complete shock. The library had been ransacked. Books from a number of shelves had been tossed onto the floor, left behind in heaps. Torn pages littered the ground. The sight of the precious books being so mistreated aroused Twilight's anger, but was immediately overruled by her concern. She glanced around quickly, but found that nothing seemed to have been taken. "Who would do this?" she asked, picking up the books and checking them for damage. "Somepony with no sense of organization, that's for sure," Rarity said, joining in the cleanup effort. "Or somepony who hates books," Rainbow Dash put in. The group was interrupted by a quiet cough from the door. "Sounds like what you sheilas need is a detective," a voice with a strange accent spoke. Everypony turned to see a stallion step through the door into the library. A chocolate brown earth pony with a green vest, a gray short-sleeved shirt, and a gray trilby atop his shaggy black mane. The busker's gray eyes studied the room, no expression displaying on his face. "Do you...know one?" Twilight hesitantly asked the stranger. "You might say that," the stallion said, his deep, quiet voice marked with a foreign accent. He stepped further into the room and turned a little to the side, revealing his cutie mark: a black magnifying glass. The stranger touched the brim of his trilby and nodded in greeting. "G'day. Phillip Finder, private detective, at your service." Author's Note Well, here we go. The very first story I ever wrote, introducing my character. I know it's not much, but I hope that you enjoyed it enough to take a look at the rest of the story! Part 2: The Investigation BeginsThe pony stepped further into the room, his gray eyes moving in all directions, taking in every detail. "Um, well, we appreciate you coming so...quickly," Twilight said, struggling to readjust to the situation. "My name is—" "I know who you all are," Phillip interrupted without looking up from the pile of books on the floor. "In case you haven't noticed, you've all achieved a certain level of fame in this city." The mares and dragon watched as the pony took a loupe—a pair of glasses with magnifying lenses attached to them—out of one of the pockets in his vest and put them on his nose, then pulled a tape measure out of one of the pockets on his vest and a notebook and pencil out of another. He began measuring distance from books to to the shelves, writing down notes in the book. Of course, Pinkie couldn't stand by and be a stranger. "Hi!" she declared, bouncing up to Phillip. He stopped what he was doing to face her, but his expression did not change from its neutral state, even when she got right up into his face. "I'm Pinkie Pie, but you knew that!" Pinkie giggled. "Are you new to Ponyville? You must be, because I don't know you, and I know everypony in Ponyville! So are you new? Are you? When'd you get here?" "Two months ago," Phillip replied flatly. Pinkie gave a gasp of shock so great that she jumped right off the ground. "Two months?!" she screeched. "I've been here for years and—ohmygosh! I don't remember throwing you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! I never had a party for you! I gotta have a party—" "Not right now," Phillip said, an edge added to his otherwise flat voice. "I've got work to do, in case you haven't noticed." To everypony's surprise, Pinkie backed off. Phillip returned to his work, examining the pile of books and the floor around them. "Hold on a minute," Rainbow Dash cut in. "How do we know he's not the one who broke in here? Maybe he's trying to get rid of the evidence. Besides, I saw him watching us earlier." "He seems to be trying to help," Fluttershy said softly. "Maybe we should give him a chance." "I agree with Rainbow," Applejack said. "It is a bit suspicious." Before Twilight could put in her two bits, Phillip, who was now examining the floor with a the loupe, answered. "The reason I'm here is because my crime sense went off when I passed by here, and I heard you talking from outside." "Crime sense?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Part of my special talent," Phillip explained without looking up. "Warns me if a crime has been committed nearby." "Like my Pinkie sense!" Pinkie cried. Phillip stared at her for a moment before turning back to the others. "And I assure you that I am not the one who broke in here." "Yeah? Prove it," Rainbow dared, getting into Phillip's face. As with Pinkie, he looked up, but did not show any emotion. "There were actually two ponies here, both Earth ponies. One of them was in here searching for a book—a new botany book—and the other was outside acting as lookout." Seven pairs of eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'll know more in a few minutes," Phillip declared. "'Preciate it if you all would keep quiet so I could work." The group stayed silent and kept their distance, watching as Phillip continued his investigation. He walked around the room, peering at things that were visible only to him through the glasses. He looked at the key in the door, then examined the ground beneath the box where the spare key was stored. Using the tape measure, he examined the depth of tracks on the ground. Then he circled the tree, peered at an open window in the back, then walked across the street to study the ground at the feet of another tree. Occasionally, he'd take another note in his book. The investigation stretched out into long minutes, and the whole time, he never said a word or even acknowledged that he was being watched. Finally, he nodded, apparently satisfied. "Well?" Rainbow said impatiently. "Two thieves, both Earth stallions," Phillip stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "One was very heavily built, about three and half feet tall, dark red coat and brown, greasy mane, and has a loose nail on his rear right horseshoe. He was the one who came in here and searched. His partner, the lookout, was a little shorter, very strong, blonde mane with a mustache, has a light complexion—possibly sunburned—and chews black sugar. Oh, and both were probably from Canterlot." Seven jaws dropped in astonishment. "That still leaves the question of why they came here in the first place," Phillip said, walking back inside. "Twilight, have you recently gotten a new book on botany from Canterlot?" It took a moment for Twilight to answer. "Uh, yes. A copy of Lillybud's notes on magical botany." "Hmm," Phillip grunted. "What'd you do with the book?" "I took it...up to my room!" Twilight cried, a sudden, horrible thought occurring to her. She hurried up the staircase to her room, dreading what she might find. Phillip followed behind, looking from side to side. Dashing to her desk, Twilight threw open the drawer and sighed in relief; the manuscript was still where she had placed it, still in its pristine condition. "Here it is," she said, levitating it out to examine it more closely. "But why would they want this particular book?" "'Cause there was something in it that they wanted," Phillip said from the door. Twilight turned around to see him bending over the floor. He reached down and picked up something that had tucked itself against the doorjamb: a small pearl bracelet. The pearls were perfect, and glittered magnificently in the dying light of the day. Small, carefully cut jewels of all the colors of the rainbow were placed between the pearls, and the string that bound them was made of gold. Upon seeing the jewelry, Rarity gave an admiring gasp, her face lighting up in awe. "Oh, my! Isn't that the most exquisite collection of jewels that you ever laid eyes on?" she cried. "And it was in that book," Phillip said, closely examining the jewels. "It's what the thieves were after. You interrupted their search and they bolted, but they'll be back for it." He frowned in thought for a moment. "I think I'd better keep this." "Now, hold on," Twilight said, raising a hoof to stop him. "Rainbow has a point. We don't know you. How do we know you're not a thief?" Phillip was silent for a moment, staring back at Twilight with an unreadable expression. Then another, timid voice spoke. "Um, I think we can trust him," Fluttershy said. "He seems to be trying to help, and he doesn't really have a reason to steal it or to lie to us. If he wanted to take it, he could have just grabbed it." There was a moment of silence as everypony thought about it, looking from one to another. Everypony's eyes eventually turned to Twilight, who looked at Phillip. Slowly, she nodded. He placed the bracelet into one of his many pockets. "I'll do some further investigations and let you know when something comes up. In the meantime, keep an eye out." He extended his hoof to Twilight, who shook it. Phillip turned and started to exit, touching the brim of his trilby in salute. "Hoo roo, mates." "Wait!" Pinkie called after him. He paused in front of the door. "How could you have lived here for two months without me knowing about it?" "I have a gift for repelling unwanted attention," Phillip said without turning. And with that, he left without another word. "Well, that was a strange fellow," Applejack said. "Indeed, he carries an air of mystery about him," Rarity agreed. "Do you get the feeling that you've seen him somewhere before?" Spike asked. "I mean, before today?" "I still don't really trust him," Rainbow said, folding her forelegs across her chest as she hovered in midair. "How do we know he didn't just make that all up?" "Aw, don't worry, everypony!" Pinkie said, smiling broadly. "He's a detective, and he's going to solve the case and catch the thieves, and then I can throw him a big 'Welcome to Ponyville two months late' party!" But nopony else shared her enthusiasm. The ponies stared up the darkening street at Phillip's retreating figure, the same thoughts in each of their minds. Author's Note Phillip Finder is a detective of unmatched skill and ability. So how come nopony in Ponyville knows him? Just who is he? Part 3: A Clientele VisitThe next afternoon was cooler than yesterday, the sky overcast with light gray clouds. Twilight Sparkle walked through the Ponyville Park, barely aware of anything around her. Her mind was still going over the events of the last evening. The library had been her home for the past four years: a safe place for herself and Spike, a refuge from the rest of the world. But just last night, the walls of her illusory immunity had been torn down. Somepony had broken into her home, walked right in like it was the easiest thing in the world. What if Spike had been there alone? The thought made her shudder. Her thoughts drifted to the stallion in the gray trilby. There had been no further word from Phillip since last night. What was he doing? Had he perhaps taken the bracelet for himself? So deep in thought was she that she didn't notice Applejack and Rarity until she almost bumped into them. "Head up in the clouds again, Twi?" Applejack grinned. "I was just thinking about yesterday," Twilight replied. Applejack nodded. "Bet you're kind of scared that somepony broke into your home, right?" Rarity shuddered. "I'm just glad that you were gone when it happened. There's no telling what an uncouth burglar would have done to you or to Spikey-Wikey." "I appreciate the concern, girls, but I'll be all right," Twilight said, managing a small smile. The trio started walking down the flowery path of the park. "I'm also thinking about Phillip Finder," Twilight added. Applejack nodded. "That Phillip was a strange fellow. What's even stranger was that even Pinkie didn't know him." "Maybe he doesn't want others to notice him," Twilight said. "His sense of fashion certainly..." Rarity paused suddenly, looking up. "Do you hear music?" Turning, they saw Phillip himself, sitting on the same park bench next to the duck pond. He lay back on the bench, playing a light jazz tune on his saxophone. His eyes were shut as his hooves floated up and down, gently caressing the instrument while he summoned its gentle music. Phillip's trilby was placed upside-down on the bench beside him. The trio ducked behind a bush to observe the show. A passing unicorn dropped a few bits into the trilby, earning a brief nod from Phillip. As the mares watched, Phillip finished the song, drawing out the last note for a little as he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, there seemed to be some distant look on his face, as if he was somewhere far away. But then, as he lowered the instrument, his cold, neutral expression returned. He placed the bits from his hat into one of the pockets on his vest, donned the hat again, packed the saxophone into a carrying case that he then heaved up onto his back, and started walking away. He never glanced up towards the mares; he appeared not to have noticed them. "Come on," Applejack said. "He hasn't seen us. Let's follow him and see where he goes." "Applejack, spying on ponies is very rude..." Rarity started to protest, watching the stallion's retreating form. "...but I suppose some curiosity never harmed anypony." The trio began to follow the stallion, staying far behind him, hiding behind corners and other obstacles in an attempt to keep out of sight. Phillip made his way down the streets of Ponyville, past other houses and vendors. He never looked around, seemingly unaware of his pursuers. Finally, they reached eastern suburbs of Ponyville. They turned down a dead end road, B Boulevard. Phillip walked up to a small blue two-story cottage, labeled 221. He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. The three mares stood at the end of the street, considering their options. "Should we go see him?" Rarity asked. "I think we should drop by and talk to him—" Twilight started to suggest. "Oi!" a voice called. Phillip was leaning out the window of his cottage, looking right at them. He jerked his head towards the house, indicating for them to come inside, before disappearing back inside. "Well, I guess that solves that problem," Twilight said. The three of them headed to the door and, finding it unlocked, stepped inside. The sound of jazz piano music guided them down the hallway and into the living room. The main room of Phillip's house was large, but very simple. There were no photos or paintings on the walls, or any real decoration. A large bookshelf was placed against one wall, which Twilight examined intently. There was a smattering of fiction—mostly classics—but a lot of the books were science texts, which spanned a number of disciplines—law, psychology, history, sociology, and most of the physical sciences. A large sofa was set up on the opposite end of the room, before which was a table that had a chessboard set up on it, apparently in the middle of a game—most likely against Phillip himself, judging by the book of chess openings next to it. The saxophone carrying case was placed next to a phonograph and stack of jazz records placed against the far wall. Next to the stack was a piano, which Phillip was currently sitting at, idly playing another jazz tune off of some hoof-drawn sheet music before him. His trilby sat on top of the instrument. "If you sheilas wanted to know where I lived, you could've just asked," he said without looking up. "You knew we were following you?" Twilight asked. "The whole time?" "Yup," Phillip grunted. The mares turned red with embarrassment. Phillip continued playing the piano, then paused momentarily. He replayed a section, then, shaking his head, erased some of the notes on the sheet music and rewrote the section. "Oh, you compose?" Rarity asked in interest. "Helps me think," Phillip said, without turning or pausing the song. There was another long pause, Phillip's continuing melody the only sound in the room. "So," Twilight said, trying to break the awkward silence. "We came to ask if you had found out anything else about the case." "And I also want to know exactly you figured out all that stuff about those crooks," Applejack added. Phillip finished the song before turning around to address them. "Sheilas, I'm a detective," he said. "That means I solve mysteries. Not mysteries such as, 'what is the purpose of life,' as that falls within the category of philosophical conundrums. I solve practical mysteries. For example, how does a pearl bracelet that, according to the serial numbers, was stolen from a jewelry shop from Canterlot, end up in a book in Ponyville, and who would come to steal it?" He shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a matter of knowing what to look for. "The biggest clue was the tracks on the ground, especially a set of four hoofprints on the ground beneath the lockbox," he continued. "They were from the lookout, and they were much deeper than his other tracks; that was when his partner stood on his back to reach the lockbox. That told me that they were both Earth ponies; a pegasus would have flown up and a unicorn would have taken it by magic. It also told me from the depth that the partner was heavy set. "Following the partner inside, I noticed scratches in the floor from the loose nail in his horseshoe. From the length of his gait, and from the heights and angles of the books he tossed from the shelves, I was able to roughly determine his height. Faint hairs from the floor and from the window that he exited out of allowed me to determine his coat and mane colors. As for the lookout, he moved to the shade of a tree while there were much better places to watch, which led to the conclusion that he was of a light complexion and/or sunburned. There were also stains on the ground from where he spat out the sugar, which contained yellow hairs from his mustache." "And how'd you know they were from Canterlot?" Twilight asked. "The brand of horseshoes," Phillip explained. "A small brand that's sold almost exclusively in Canterlot, and very old by the fading." "Amazing!" Rarity exclaimed, applauding. "It all seems so simple." "Just a matter of observation and deduction," Phillip said, reaching for some papers sitting on top of the piano. "So I made some inquiries, sent a couple of telegrams, and identified our two blokes." He tossed the papers over to Twilight. She saw that they were criminal records on a pair of ponies, both accompanied by photos. The first one was named Heavyhoof. As Phillip predicted, he was about three and a half feet tall with a dark red coat and greasy black mane, and very heavily built. He had mean green eyes and a deep scowl, accentuated by the stubble around his mouth. His partner was Shady Mane. He had a milky white coat with several sunburns across his back, a blonde mane with a thick mustache, icy blue eyes. The muscles attested to his strength. The files identified them both as from Canterlot, and as members of a band of jewel thieves. Their rap sheets were nothing to sneeze at: not just robbery and burglary, but also aggravated assault, arson, home invasion, and worse. Once again, she breathed a sigh of relief that she and Spike hadn't been in the library. "The bracelet in the book was stolen from a store in Canterlot two days ago," Phillip said. "The thief, another member of the gang, fled into a bookstore, but was cornered by the City Guard. He tucked the bracelet into a book—ironically, the same book that you ordered, Twilight—before being caught. He managed to get a message to his two partners, and they tracked the book to here, and to you. And now I've got to find them." "For a mastermind like you, that should be filly's play," Rarity said. Phillip shrugged. "No worries." Silence fell once more, and Twilight, Applejack and Rarity took the opportunity to examine Phillip up close. They saw that the gray eyes weren't silvery; they were colder and darker, like storm clouds. He was also older than they originally thought: the black of his mane had gray streaks running through, faint lines were stretching across his forehead, and crow's feet had started to peek out from the corners of his eyes, which had never shown any sign of emotion. He stared coolly back at them, his eyes narrowing slightly. "We've really wasted enough of your time," Twilight said rather hurriedly. "We really should get going." "Keep your eyes open," Phillip called, already turning back to the piano. The piano music followed the mares as they exited the hallway, closing the door behind them. "He's sharper than a royal guard's spear," Applejack declared. "But he's harder to talk to than Big Mac." "Yes, he was rather crude," Rarity frowned. "I think that's just his nature," Twilight said with a small shrug as they turned away, heading back to the library. Back inside 221 B Boulevard, Phillip finished his arpeggios. With a sigh, he lowered his face onto his hoof, slowly rubbing his forehead. Oi, he thought to himself. Can't they tell I just want to be left alone? You've been alone for a really long time, another voice in the back of his head whispered. Phillip sighed; this was not the first time that that voice had spoken to him in this way, and he responded the same way he always had. Shut it. You're a nuisance. All of a sudden, Phillip's head snapped up. He turned in the direction of the Golden Oaks Library, his eyes narrowing and flashing, as his body froze in place. An image burned in his mind: Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack, walking back into the library. His crime sense had just gone off. Snatching up his trilby from the table, Phillip slammed it onto his head and raced out the door. Author's Note Channeling Sherlock Holmes for this chapter. Thumbs up for Team Fortress 2 reference? Part 4: The HuntTwilight, Applejack, and Rarity arrived back at the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight continued to study the photos of Heavyhoof and Shady Mane that she'd gotten from Phillip, memorizing their features. "We should ask around town, see if anypony has seen them," she suggested to the others. "Sounds like a plan," Applejack said, opening the door to the library. But what they saw within made them all freeze momentarily, then dash inside. The library was in shambles: furniture had been knocked over and books were scattered across the floor. "Spike!" Twilight shouted out, looking around for the little drake. "Spike!" The door slammed shut behind them. Turning, they saw Shady Mane standing between them and the door, locking it shut with a wicked grin on his face. "Just in time," he said. Heavyhoof appeared around the corner. With one meaty foreleg, he clutched a trembling Spike to his chest; with the other, he held a long, sharp knife to his throat. "Nopony try anything or the lizard boy gets it," he snarled. Spike's eyes were wide with terror as Heavyhoof pressed the knife closer to him. Having no choice, the three mares sat on the ground, raising their hooves in surrender. "We've searched this place and haven't found the bracelet," Shady said. "I don't know what you're talking about," Twilight said quickly, her mind racing. "Don't lie to me!" Shady almost shouted. "You know where it is, and you're going to tell us, or your friend gets hurt." Rarity snarled in contempt. "You cowards! You dare threaten someone smaller than yourself?" "We dare," Heavyhoof sneered. He pressed the knife even closer to Spike's throat, eliciting a frightened cry from the young drake. A small trickle of blood ran down his neck, the blade having punctured the vulnerable skin of his neck. Twilight's heart froze in her chest. "Now, where's the bracelet?" Shady asked. "We're not telling you!" Applejack declared defiantly. "That so?" Shady smirked. "Heavy, put a smile on the kid's face." Heavyhoof grinned and dug the tip of his blade into Spike's mouth, tugging gently upwards at the corner of his lips. Spike began to struggle desperately, crying out in pain and fear. "Stop! Stop!" Twilight cried desperately. "We gave it to Phillip Finder! He has it!" Heavyhoof pulled his knife back out. Spike trembled in his grasp, panting in shock. Frightened tears ran down his face. "So," Shady smirked. "Who is this Phillip Finder and where do we find him?" "Right behind you," growled a voice. Shady whirled around, too late. Phillip Finder, who had gained access through an open window, rushed right at him, snapping his right hoof out. With a series of clicks, a black extendable baton appeared in his hoof like magic. The weighted end struck Shady across the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. Dazed but not knocked out, he rolled over to avoid a finishing stomp to his head and got back to his hooves, brandishing his knife. He attacked Phillip, cutting at his ribs, but he dodged to the side, neatly deflecting the attack with his left foreleg and striking him in the gut with his baton. While Heavyhoof was distracted with watching the fight, Twilight seized her chance. Charging up her horn, she fired a powerful stunning spell right into his face. Dazed, he staggered back, releasing Spike. Immediately, Rarity grabbed the little drake in her magic and pulled him out of danger as Twilight fired a second, more powerful spell. The beam of magic hit Heavyhoof in the face and sent him flying backwards, skidding across the floor and crashing into the opposite wall; he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Twilight immediately trapped him in an immobilization spell, covering him in a field of her magic, glaring and breathing heavily through her nostrils. Meanwhile, Phillip disarmed Shady Mane of his knife with a baton strike to his hoof and doubled him over with a roundhouse kick to his ribs. Taking the opportunity, Applejack jumped in and bucked Shady in the head like he was a particularly stubborn apple tree. He flew backwards and slammed against the wall next to the door, then tumbled to the floor, groaning. Barely breathing hard, Phillip collapsed the baton and pocketed it, glaring at Applejack. "That was stupid. I could've handled that." "Hey, I was just trying to help!" Applejack snapped back. Phillip glared at her for a moment longer, then turned to the rest of the group. "Spike, y'alright?" he asked. "Yeah," Spike said, still shivering. "They roughed me up a little when they broke in here, but I'm all right." "Thank goodness," Twilight sighed, hugging the little dragon to her chest. "Right," Phillip nodded. "We'd best secure these two and call the Canterlot City Guard—" Phillip was interrupted by a noise behind them. Turning, the group saw that Shady Mane had regained consciousness and was running out of the library door. With an annoyed sigh, Phillip tucked his trilby into his vest and dashed out after him. "I've got this one!" Twilight said, turning to Heavyhoof to make sure her immobilization spell was still working. "Spike, go get help! Rarity, Applejack, after him!" Applejack and Rarity both dashed out after Phillip, while Spike raced off to find Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Phillip was already chasing after Shady. Shady had a head start, tearing down the street past bewildered pedestrians like his tail was on fire, but Phillip was closing in, cutting across pathways and dodging over and around obstacles with the agility of a stallion younger than himself. Applejack and Rarity ran after them; Applejack expertly jumped obstacles and zigzagged around startled ponies like this was another rodeo, but Rarity struggled to keep up. "Blast that vanilla oat swirl ice cream," she muttered to herself, huffing and puffing as she rounded a corner. They passed a house that was under construction. A currently abandoned scaffolding stood outside the house. As he ran past, Shady grabbed the base of the scaffolding and yanked hard. The scaffolding wobbled, then began to fall. Spotting the danger, Phillip and Applejack rolled back out of the way in time. The scaffolding crashed onto the street, blocking the road with a five-foot wall of rubble. Rarity caught up. "Now hold on everypony," she said, panting a little. "I'll just clear this out of the way—" But Phillip, after backing up to gain a running start, was running right at the scaffolding. "You can't jump over that!" Applejack protested. Phillip didn't try to. Instead, he leapt at the wall of the building opposite. Planting his hoof against the wall, he propelled himself up, launching himself up and over the obstacle. He rolled when he hit the ground, continuing to run after Shady. Rarity and Applejack stared at each other in mute astonishment for a moment before rushing to clear the rubble out of the way. It took them half a minute to clear a pathway; by the time they pushed through, both Phillip and Shady had long vanished. "He went that way! Hurry!" Bon Bon shouted from in front of her candy shop, pointing down the road. Rarity and Applejack hurried in the direction that she indicated, entering Ponyville Park. "There!" Rarity shouted, pointing. Shady Mane was running down a path in the park; Phillip was tearing after him, and it looked like he was going to catch up quickly. But then Shady detoured towards a group of school foals that Cheerilee was leading across a bridge. Phillip put on speed; so did Rarity and Applejack. Shady ran right into the group and seized one of the foals, Pipsqueak. Much to the shock of everypony watching, he heaved the child right off the bridge and into the river! Pip briefly bobbed to the surface, floundering and gasping in panic. "Help! I can't swim!" he cried before falling back beneath the surface. Without hesitating, Phillip leapt off the bridge and into the water, disappearing into the depths. Rarity and Applejack ran up to the bank, watching the water with Cheerilee and the other children. Fear clutched at everypony's heart; every passing moment was agony. And then the surface of the water broke. Phillip, clutching a coughing Pipsqueak in his mouth, swam back to the shore and gently deposited the youngling on the ground. "Oh, thank you, thank you sir!" Cheerilee gasped, hurrying over to check on her charge. "No worries," Phillip said, putting his hat back on. "Important thing is that he's all right." Phillip walked back to Rarity and Applejack. Before either of them could comment on his rescue, he interrupted. "You see where Shady went?" Both shook their heads. "Sorry, Phillip," Applejack apologized. "Everything was just so—" Phillip shrugged. "S'alright. We still have someone who knows where he went." He turned and started to jog back to the library. Rarity took a breath, wiping sweat from her brow. "Where does he get that much energy?" Author's Note Here we get to see some of Phillip's physical prowess. Didn't expect him to do any of that, did you? Neither do the bad guys. Coming up: the final confrontation, and some revelations about Phillip's past! Part 5: The StormWhen the group arrived back at the library, Heavyhoof was still immobilized on the floor, glaring up at his captors. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looked up at the others entry. Phillip immediately stormed in and marched over to the thief, his face a mask of contempt. "You threaten the life of a defenseless youngling," he said, his voice a low snarl. "Your partner endangers civilian lives and almost kills a foal. You just ran out of chances for me to go easy on you." A change had come over him. Gone was the emptiness, the stoic lack of emotion. Now, the gray eyes were hard as ice and his voice rumbled. But it was the feeling that he cast over the room that was the real difference: the feeling of dread, the sensation of facing a force that could not be resisted or fought, only yielded to. The effect that this cold fury had was terrifying. Everypony backed away from him, and Heavyhoof visibly cowered. "Now here's what gonna happen," Phillip whispered, glaring right into his eyes. Heavyhoof stared back up, seemingly unable to look away or blink. "You're gonna tell me where your partner is before anypony gets hurt." Heavyhoof shook a little, but managed to glare back defiantly. "No way, flathoof." Phil was silent, his gray eyes slowly panning over Heavyhoof. "You stayed at Graymane's Inn, didn't you?" Heavyhoof's eyes flashed in shock and his jaw dropped open. "No need to answer that verbally." Phil turned and headed back out the door at full speed. "Come on!" Twilight said. "The spell will keep him there for a couple hours!" The six ponies chased after Phillip, who was already hurrying down the street. "Wait! How did you know?" Rainbow shouted, flying alongside Phillip. "Simple," Phil said, hardly even breathing hard as he dashed through the town, cutting corners and speeding down alleys. "It was obvious that they were staying at an inn, as indicated by their well-taken-care-off appearance, not something you'd get from living on the street. He had crumbs from a hayseed pie and his breath had cinnamon oat coffee on it—that narrowed down the list to just five inns. The real clue was the red-brown hairs from Graymane's dog on his legs." The group followed Phillip as they cut across Ponyville. Graymane's Inn was up ahead, a two-story giant cottage with a large wooden sign hanging over the bright blue doors. A shaggy brown-coated sheepdog was sitting in front of the doors, panting happily and wagging his tail at the sight of the incoming ponies. But a distinctive pony with a blonde mustache and a sunburned back, wearing a pair of saddlebags, was heading out a side door, furtively glancing around. Phillip turned to the group, giving them an icy glare. "Let me handle this," he warned them sternly, jogging forward. Rainbow started after him, but Twilight stopped her. "He's got this," she reassured her with a smile. There was a crunching sound and the others turned to see that Pinkie had somehow produced a bag of popcorn and was now munching on it. "Shady Mane!" Phillip shouted in a voice so authoritative that everypony stopped where they were. Shady's icy blue eyes widened in shock when he saw Phillip approaching. "Stay back!" Shady shouted, pulling a switchblade knife out of his saddlebag and flicking it open. The blade shone threateningly in the sunlight, but Phillip continued forward. "I'm warning you!" Shady shouted. "I wouldn't listen, even if you didn't have the knife," Phillip said coolly. "Now how about you just give up?" Instead, Shady dropped the knife, reached into his saddlebag and extracted a round metal object. Yanking out the attached pin, he held up the object so that everypony could clearly see what it was. "Grenade! Everypony back!" Phillip shouted, immediately stopping. The surrounding crowd of ponies ran for cover, screaming in terror. "You know what happens if I drop this!" Shady declared. "Don't be a fool, mate," Phillip said calmly. "You do this, there's no turning back." "There was no turning back anyway," Shady snapped back. "You shouldn't have stuck your nose into our business, old stallion." Phillip was silent for a moment, considering the other pony before him. "So this was the plan? Grab the pearls and make a dash to safety? Seems you've reached the end of the rainbow, mate. Backed yourself into the corner and grabbed the grenade, hoping that we'd let you go..." Rainbow's ears perked up when she picked up on the subtle emphasis in Phillip's words. And it only took a moment to catch his meaning. A rainbow blur shot through the air towards Shady; he saw it too late to react. Rainbow seized his hoof, preventing him from throwing the grenade. Immediately, Phillip leapt forward, and the last thing that Shady saw was a pair of gray eyes glaring down at him before the flying punch connected with his jaw, knocking him out. Rainbow maintained her hold on the grenade as he fell. Grabbing the pin from the ground, Phillip carefully placed it back into the explosive, rendering it safe. Only then did Rainbow Dash let go. "All clear," Phillip called. "Thanks for the help, Dash." "All in a day's work," Rainbow grinned as the crowd burst into applause. At that moment, there was a great shout and everypony looked up as a detachment of ponies in sky chariots, each of them adorned in the golden armor of Canterlot City Guards, descended from the sky. They landed in the midst of the crowd, the armored carriage they had brought with them rattling as it hit the ground. "It's about time," Phillip said, returning to his stoic state. "Here's one of them. You'll find the other at the Golden Oaks Library. Here's the bracelet they were looking for." He reached into a pocket in his vest and handed the commanding sergeant the pearl bracelet. "That belongs back in Canterlot." "Thank you, Mr. Finder," the Guard said, pocketing the pearls as the other Guards placed shackles on the unconscious Shady Mane's legs and dragged him into the armored prisoner transport. A group of Guards hurried over to the library to retrieve his partner. "Here's the reward for these two thieves' capture." The sergeant handed Phillip a generously-sized bag of bits. Phillip took a small amount for himself—less than a third—and tossed the bag to Twilight. "You sheilas can have the rest of that," he said. "You helped, after all." He touched the brim of his trilby. "Hoo roo, all." And with that, he started to walk away. "Yay! Now it's time to party!" Pinkie declared, bouncing up and blocking his path. "Come on! I can introduce you to everypony in Ponyville, and we all can thank you for—" Phil simply walked around her and continued on his way. Pinkie stopped bouncing, looking confused. "Wait a minute!" Twilight called. "You can have the reward! You deserve more than that!" "I don't want it," Phil said without turning around. "You all need it more than me." "Just...can't you at least accept our thanks for stopping two dangerous criminals?" Twilight asked. "I don't need thanks. I was just doing my job," Phil replied, his voice becoming impatient. "But—" Suddenly, Phillip turned around and snapped at Twilight, his gray eyes flashing with anger. "Why don't you all bugger off and leave me alone?" The tone of his voice shocked the group into silence. With a final grunt, Phillip walked away, alone. "But what about that special cake I made for you?" Pinkie called. Her only answer was silence as the detective disappeared around the corner. Author's Note So the thieves have been put away, and Phillip is the hero...but the story's not finished. Part 6: The Truth"I can't have a party without the guest of honor!" Pinkie said two hours later, pacing the partially-decorated Golden Oaks Library. She crossed over to the window and stared out at the dark streets of Ponyville. "I sent an invitation, I mentioned it at least a dozen times! Why hasn't he come?" "Yeah! How can anypony not want to come to one of your totally awesome parties?" Rainbow agreed. Twilight thought for a moment. "Why don't we go ask him?" All was quiet at 221 B Boulevard. Phillip had put on a record: the sound of a piano and bass playing Central Colt Park West gently wafted around the room. Standing in the kitchen, he reached into a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of cider. Not the foamy kind that Sweet Apple Acres sold: the harder, darker, stronger version. He poured a healthy dose into a shot glass, added some ice and replaced the bottle in the cupboard. Taking the shot glass—the sole vice he allowed himself—to the window, he looked out towards the distant, blazing lights of the library, piercing the darkness like the beam of a lighthouse. He glanced towards the fireplace, where a fire was happily crackling. The invitation had been received, and tossed into the fire without a second thought. Can't they bloody figure out that I just want to be left alone? he thought. Are you sure that's what you want? the little voice in the back of his head piped up. He considered telling the voice to shut up once again, then realized that he had never actually answered that question. He didn't have an answer. He, who had solved mysteries that had baffled the Royal Guard's best investigators, who could learn almost everything about another pony at a brief look, couldn't answer a question that he posed to himself. He raised the glass towards the library. "Here's to you lot," he said softly. "May you..." He never had a chance to decide what to toast them for, because a knocking at the door interrupted his thoughts. He sighed heavily and shut his eyes, quelling the urge to growl or curse. It could only be them. "It's open," he called. The door opened, and his hypothesis was confirmed when he heard six sets of hoofsteps make their way into the house. He turned to find himself nose-to-nose with Pinkie. "Why aren't you at your party?!" she screeched. "I didn't want to go," Phillip said flatly. "Why not?" Pinkie asked, pressing her hoof against his forehead. "Are you sick? Did flying monkeys stop you from coming?" Phillip briefly raised his eyebrow, but repeated, "I didn't want to go." "Why not?" Twilight asked. "You're such a big grump!" Pinkie said. "You know how big a grump you are? This big!" She stretched her forelegs out several feet. "A party is just what you need to turn that frown upside-down!" She manipulated Phillip's cheeks to stretch a grin across his face. Phillip swatted her off with a grunt of irritation. "I don't care," he said, turning away and sitting at the piano bench. "Go on, all of you. Go have your parties and laugh and play with your friends. Bloody leave me alone." Pinkie simpered, looking hurt. Her mane deflated and lost its bubblegum pink coloring. The room was silent, except for the record continuing to broadcast its music. Then Fluttershy strode forward. "Phillip, there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Phillip didn't answer, but turned away a little more. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No," he grunted. "Well, if something's bothering me, I find it helps if I talk about it. If you ever do want to talk about what's bothering you, you can talk to any of us, you know." Phillip didn't answer. "We want to help you," Fluttershy said. "If...well, if that's all right...um..." Phillip still did not say anything or turn around. Twilight sighed. "Let's go, girls." The ensemble turned and began to slowly head for the door. "Why should you care?" The sudden voice caused all of them to stop and turn. "Nopony's ever cared about me," Phillip said, looking up. "Ponies should care about each other," Fluttershy said, floating over to sit beside Phil. "And you care about others," Applejack added. "Remember when that varmint tossed that foal into the river? You could have caught him, but you jumped into the river and saved the youngin' instead." "And when you came to the library, you placed yourself between us and Heavyhoof," Twilight continued. "You wanted to protect us from them." She sat on his other side. "You care about others. Why don't you let somepony else care about you?" Phillip was silent for a long time, seemingly thinking. Then he finally sighed deeply. "I suppose I'd better start at the beginning." He took a long sip from his drink and began to speak. "As you probably figured out from my accent, I'm not from anywhere near here. I was born and raised in Sydneigh, Aushaylia." "Aushaylia?" Twilight repeated. "I know I've read about that someplace..." "It's a region of Equestria. It's on an island off the southeast coast," Phillip explained. "We liked our privacy, so there's not a lot of other ponies who know about us." He took another sip of cider. "My mother died when I was a baby; I don't remember her at all." "I'm sorry," Twilight said. Phillip waved her off. "My father raised me. He was a good stallion, and I...I loved him very much. He taught me saxophone and piano, got me interested in jazz. I remember when I was old enough, he would take me once a week to the Opera House off the coast, and I would play with his band in concert..." A smile briefly crossed Phillip's face and his eyes once again took the faraway look, as if he had been transported to a different space and time; but the look of happiness quickly vanished. "But I was very introverted and detached, even as a child. Not to mention that I did not earn my cutie mark for a long time. As you can imagine, I had difficulty making friends and was bullied quite a lot. So I had an idea: if I learned as much as I could, and became really smart, I could earn the respect of others. So I started reading and studying as much as I could, and you know something? I found out that I was smart, really smart. "Thing was, though...I started thinking I was better than everypony else. I became...arrogant. Selfish. Inconsiderate. You wouldn't have liked me back then. I don't." He scowled, pausing for a moment, then took another sip and continued. "Time passed. I grew and eventually reached high school. Then, when I was thirteen...it happened." He stopped for a moment, as if gathering his wits, then continued. "One night, I had an argument with my father. I don't even remember what it was about, but I got so angry that I actually left the house. The last thing I said to my father was that he didn't even know me. I wound up wandering around Sydneigh for hours, just being angry—at the world, at my father, at everypony..." He took another longer sip of cider and paused again. The silence stretched out for several seconds. "After I'd calmed down, I decided to go home. I came home to find that a burglar had...had broken into our home." Phillip's voice had changed, taking on a slower tone. His hooves had started to tremble and a look of pain had crossed his face again, much more intense this time. "And he had...attacked and...fatally wounded..." The six mares gasped as the realization took hold. Phillip lowered his face onto his hoof, trembling. He gave a long, low moan like a wounded animal and tears began to stream down his face. "There, there," Fluttershy said, hugging him gently. He momentarily stiffened in surprise, then leaned into her, accepting the embrace. "It's okay to cry. It just means that you're a pony, not that you're weak." After several seconds, Phillip's crying subsided, but the look of severe pain on his face remained. Fluttershy gently released him and he continued his story. "I was able to examine the scene and determine the identity of the burglar, and tracked him down." He spoke through gritted teeth, this grip on the shot glass tightening so much that the mares feared that it would shatter. "I beat him to a bloody pulp. I wanted to kill him...to get revenge for what he did to my father... "But I looked at his face, and..." He swallowed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I couldn't do it. It was just some drugged-up kid looking for something to sell so he could get high again. I couldn't bring myself to kill him." He paused again, more tears falling down his face. "And the worst part was, I felt like it was partly my fault." "Phillip, that's not—" Twilight started to say. "I had a responsibility," Phillip cut in, his voice heavy. "A duty as a son to his father, to protect him. If I hadn't left, then..." He shook his head, sighing. "You can understand that, right?" Twilight paused, then nodded silently. "When my father was buried, I made a promise on his grave," Phillip continued, "that I would honor him by using my talents to help others, to protect them. And that..." He looked down at his flank. "That was when I finally earned my cutie mark." The room fell silent once more; the record had long ago stopped playing. Phillip continued to cry silently, finally letting out the pain that he'd been holding back for so long. "Is that why you left Sydneigh?" Twilight asked. "No," Phillip replied. "After my father died, I finished my education at Pranceton University, then went through training with the Royal Guards, worked with them as an Investigator. But then..." He swallowed and blinked. "One year, while I was home on leave, there was a fire. Most of Sydneigh burned down and the land became uninhabitable. We all had to leave back to the mainland. I left the Guard and spent the next fifteen years going from city to city. The thing is...none of them felt...right." "You mean none of them were like home," Applejack said. Phillip nodded. "Two months ago, I wound up here." He shrugged. "And here we are." Twilight slowly reached out and touched his shoulder. "Phil, I'm really sorry about—" "Sorry never did anypony any good," Phil grunted, throwing her off. "I don't want your pity. I don't want anything from you." "Listen," Twilight said, speaking slowly as she chose her words with care. "What you've gone through is horrible, and it's not fair what happened to you. But you shouldn't have to take it alone anymore." She put her hoof back on his shoulder. This time, instead of throwing her off, he turned to look at her. Gray eyes met purple. "Like you, I didn't really have any friends growing up, save Spike and a few close family members. But I would not be who I am today without my friends. It was something that couldn't be taught in any school, but I found out that until I got some friends, I hadn't learned anything worthwhile. "And I think that what you really need are some friends." The six mares gathered closer around him. "Will you accept our friendship?" There was silence for several seconds. Phillip finally wiped his eyes. "I don't make great company." "I didn't either," Twilight smiled reassuringly. "With some time and practice, it's something you can learn." Phillip thought about it for a moment. "Then, I guess...maybe I could come to the party." "Yay!" Pinkie said, springing up with an explosion of confetti and hugging Phillip very tightly. "Now, come on everypony! Let's party!" With that, she trotted happily out the door, rambling on about how much fun everypony was going to have. The others followed. Phillip found himself alone with Twilight. "She's never gonna leave me alone now, is she?" he muttered, staring after Pinkie with a slightly aghast look on his face. "Nope," Twilight said with a light laugh. "But it'll never be dull, at least." Phillip let out a short grunt of laughter. "You know, maybe you should bring your saxophone," Twilight suggest. "You should play a set for us all." "I'd like that," Phillip nodded. He picked up his case and placed it on his back. "And Phil?" "Yeah, Twilight?" "Welcome to Ponyville," she said, extending her hoof. He looked up at her. Slowly, as if he had not done it in years, a genuine smile crossed his face. One last tear formed in the corner of his eye, but he quickly blinked it back. "Thank you," he said, shaking it firmly. Placing his gray trilby on his head, Phillip Finder stepped out the door and headed for the library, his new friend walking next to him. Author's Note And that is my story. I hope that you've enjoyed my work. Please leave a like and favorite if you feel so inclined and some constructive criticism. That's all for now. See you soon! Josiah Epilogue: The ObserverThe scent of heavily perfumed Saddle Arabian tobacco swirled around the stallion, focusing his mind. He studied the chessboard in front of him, pondering the white pieces standing in their perfect little rows, ready to stand against the onslaught of the black. His eyes focused on the white knight, the carved eyes staring straight ahead at him. Phillip Finder was here, and he was every bit as sharp as he remembered. The ever-clever stallion had solved his puzzle quite readily. But what of the others? He studied the white pawns that the knight sheltered behind. It was odd for him to work with others, particularly ponies like them. Distasteful little ponies, so sickeningly full of life. He had to take a huff of his cigarette to calm himself. He considered the entirety of the chessboard, the pieces on the white side, and his own black assets, ever ready to obey his instructions. In his mind, he considered hundreds of different openings, a thousand counters, which piece would best be placed where. A simple fact crossed his mind: any piece could become a threat, but easily become a liability to its owner. To turn the pawns against his opponent would not be easy, but he would see a way to do it. However, at the moment, he needed to learn more about his opponent's strategies. And he needed more capital and resources if he was to last the long game that he knew he was entering. A smile crossed his face. Taking one of the white pawns in the grasp of his golden magic, he advanced it forward two places. Then he took one of his black pawns and advanced it into the white pawn's range. An opening sacrifice to appease his enemy. Oh, this was going to be fun. Author's Note An updated chapter as part of my efforts to finalize the series and give them one last run-over for completeness. Hopefully this will entice future readers to continue the series! Chapter notesMaking Phillip Finder —Originally, Phillip was going to be more of a pony version of Sherlock Holmes. His original name was in fact Hooflock Holmes or Sherhoof Holmes. However, I scrubbed this as too unoriginal and decided to give him more of a modern noir influence. —I chose the name Phillip as a nod to Phillip Marlowe, the literary private detective created by Raymond Chandler. —Phillip originally spoke with an English accent, but I changed it to a Cockney accent, then Australian. His backstory of Sydneigh came from that. —Phillip's vest came from when I was creating him in Pony Creator. I gave him a vest on a whim, realizing that he would need somewhere to store his gear. —I briefly envisioned Phillip wearing an akubra, but I decided it was too silly and kept the trilby. —The idea for Phillip's crime sense came out of a need to explain how he was able to arrive at the crime scene. Part 1 —This story is loosely based off of The Adventure of the Six Napoleons —"sheilas": Australian slang, "girls." Part 2 —Hoo roo: Australian slang, "Good bye." Part 3 —It occurred to me that crime probably wasn't as big a problem in Equestria as to give Phillip enough business. That spawned the idea of him being a street musician/occasional performer to support his income. —Joshua Redcolt's Adagio: Adagio by Joshua Redman —Surely the significance of Phillip living at 221 B is too obvious to mention. —Phillip playing music when he's thinking is another nod to Sherlock Holmes, who was known for playing the violin when contemplating a difficult problem. —I'm a detective. That means I solve mysteries. Not mysteries such as, 'what is the purpose of life,' as that falls within the category of philosophic conundrums. I solve practical mysteries: This dialogue parodies the Team Fortress 2 video Meet the Engineer Part 4 —"name, rank and favorite brand of cereal": reference to name, rank and serial number, which all military prisoners of war are required to give under interrogation. —I don't know where I got the idea for Phillip to be able to do parkour, but I liked it, so I kept it. Part 5 —"flathoof": play on flatfoot, an insulting name for a detective. Part 6 —Central Colt Park West: Central Park West by Avishai Cohen. Central Colt Park is of course a reference to Central Park in NYC. —Phillip's backstory was based off of Spider-Man's.
Part 1: The Break-InThe gentle warmth of the rising sun through the curtained window and the quiet music of singing birds and chattering ponies slowly awoke Twilight Sparkle from her slumber. After having lived in Ponyville for almost four years, she'd grown used to those sounds being her alarm clock. She opened her eyes, then had to quickly shut them again after receiving a barrage of sunlight right to the face. Grumbling and blinking in the light, she pulled herself to a sitting position with a yawn and quickly glanced around her bedroom. To her surprise, she noted that the small basket next to her bed was empty, the sheets tossed aside. "Guess I slept longer than I thought," she concluded to herself, pulling herself out of bed and dropping onto the wooden floor. Quickly running a detangling spell through her tousled mane, she descended towards the stairs of the Golden Oaks Library, following an enticing odor of cooking food. She came downstairs to find that Spike was awake and standing at the stove in the kitchen, his apron fastened around his chest as he made breakfast. Mouthwatering scents filled the air and made Twilight's stomach rumble. Spike looked up and smiled at Twilight as she entered. "Good..." He paused to cover a yawn. "Good morning, Twilight." "Good morning, Spike," Twilight greeted him. "Are those raspberry muffins?" "Yup. Two or three?" Spike asked. "Just two, thanks," Twilight said, sitting down at the table. Spike brought over two warm muffins and a cup of tea, which Twilight immediately dug into. "Mmm...Spike, these are great," she moaned in pleasure as the baked good's taste filled her core, driving all sleep out of her mind. "Thank you," Spike grinned as he helped himself to another muffin. "Anything special going on today?" "You bet there is!" Twilight said excitedly. "Today's the day my book from Canterlot arrives!" Spike rolled his eyes. "Another book. I should have guessed." "This isn't just any old book!" Twilight exclaimed, as if Spike had uttered some horrid blasphemy. "This is a rare edition of Lillybud's notes on botanical magic!" She continued her lecture about the book and how important the studies of the great botanist had been, how great the impact and significance of her findings was, but Spike had already tuned her out so he could finish his breakfast in peace. Eventually winding down, Twilight finished her breakfast, dropped her dishes into the sink and headed out the door of the Golden Oaks Library and into the beautiful spring day. She took in a deep breath of the spring air, feeling it rejuvenate her being. She wondered how to spend her time until her package arrived. Perhaps she'd go visit Applejack, or Rarity, or see if Pinkie Pie had come up with any new confectionaries, or... "Watch out!" Twilight looked up, then ducked to the side just in time. A large package fell out of the sky and landed on the ground where she'd been standing a moment ago. Twilight looked at it for a moment, then glared at the source of her near-injury. Ditzy "Derpy" Do chuckled nervously down at her as she hovered in midair, her mailmare's cap tilted at a jaunty angle. "Sorry, my bad. It's kinda heavy," she apologized. Twilight sighed. "It's all right, Ditzy. At least you delivered it on time...and didn't drop it on my head." Ditzy saluted. "Neither rain nor snow nor griffins!" And with that, she zipped off to finish her rounds. Shaking her head, Twilight lifted the package up with her magic and went back inside, her annoyance quickly evaporating into excitement. She tore off the paper to reveal the dark green leatherbound cover, adorned with blue swirling writing. The grin on her face widened as she flipped through the text, which revealed the great botanist's original studies and findings, complete with notes and annotations by the editor. She forced herself to suppress a squeal of delight. Spike looked up from washing the breakfast dishes. "Is that it?" "This is it!" Twilight said happily. "Oh, I can't wait to get started!" But before she could begin, there was a startled yell from Spike. Twilight looked up and saw that Ditzy's head had just popped up from underneath the sinkwater. "Do I smell raspberry muffins?" she asked, eagerly looking around. With a roll of his eyes, Spike handed her a muffin, placing it into her mouth. "Thanks!" she said with a happy squee, then dove back underneath the soapy water. Spike looked at Twilight and shrugged. She sighed and returned to her book. But once more, she was interrupted by knocking at the door. When she opened it, she saw her five friends—Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack—standing outside. "Hey, Twilight! Are you ready?" Pinkie shouted, hyperexcited as ever as she bounced up and down behind the group. "Ready for what?" Twilight asked. A moment later, the memory rushed to the forefront of her mind. "Oh, Applejack's birthday party!" "You didn't forget, did you?" Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, of course not," Twilight replied. Lillybud was going to have to wait a little longer. "Give me a moment." She headed back into the library, lifting up the book with her magic and carrying it upstairs to her room. With reluctance, she placed it into her desk drawer, silently promising the tome that she would return later. She failed to notice something fall out of the book, out of the space between the pages and the binding, and onto the floor next to the door. Picking up Applejack's carefully-selected, delicately wrapped gift from next to the desk, she raced back down the stairs. "Okay, I'm ready! Let's go!" she called. "C'mon, Spike! You're invited too!" Applejack called. "Awesome!" Spike cheered, abandoning the breakfast dishes immediately and tossing off his apron. He retrieved his gift from next to the door and joined the mares. Twilight closed the library door behind him, locking it tight and tucking the key into her mane before following the others to Sweet Apple Acres, where Pinkie Pie had planned one of her sure-to-be-spectacular parties. The group passed through the Ponyville Park, chattering amiably walking down the main dirt pathway. They passed a crystal blue duck pond in the shade of a willow tree, where a pair of mallards swam around in a circle, a group of little ducklings following. Next to the pond was a wooden bench. A stallion sat upon the bench, playing a smooth blues melody on a slightly battered, but well-polished saxophone that shone brightly in the sunlight. The earth pony was a chocolate brown stallion with a shaggy, unkempt black mane. He wore a green vest adorned with pockets over a gray short-sleeved shirt. His eyes were closed as he played, seemingly lost in the music. An old gray trilby with a black band encircling the crown sat upside-down on the bench next to the stallion, a few bits scattered within it. "You are talented," Rarity praised the musician as they passed, dropping a small sapphire into the hat. The stallion opened his eyes, revealing stormcloud gray irides, and nodded his thanks. The seven friends continued down the pathway, enjoying the warmth of the day. Near the back of the pack, Rainbow abruptly realized that the saxophone music had halted. Turning back, she saw that the stallion was sitting still on the bench, staring after them with a curious expression, his saxophone lowered. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him, and the stallion turned away, raising the reed back up to his lips and continuing to play. Rainbow frowned, then hurried after her friends. No one noticed the two strange ponies watching the library from across the street. "Okay, they've left," one of them muttered. "The library should be clear." "Let's go," his partner said, striding forward. The sun had almost completed its arc across the orange-tinted sky by the time the group returned from the party, still laughing. "I've never had a birthday party like that before!" Applejack said. "Well, duh! That's cause you've never had one planned especially for you by me before!" Pinkie replied, hopping alongside the group. "Well, this has been fun, girls, but it's late and I've got a book to study," Twilight said, approaching the door to the library. Which she suddenly realized was open and unlocked, in spite of the fact that she'd closed and locked it. And that the spare key, which was supposed to be in a small box hidden in the foliage to the right of the door, was sitting in the lock. She dashed across the threshold and immediately stopped, staring at the bewildering, horrifying sight before her in complete shock. The library had been ransacked. Books from a number of shelves had been tossed onto the floor, left behind in heaps. Torn pages littered the ground. The sight of the precious books being so mistreated aroused Twilight's anger, but was immediately overruled by her concern. She glanced around quickly, but found that nothing seemed to have been taken. "Who would do this?" she asked, picking up the books and checking them for damage. "Somepony with no sense of organization, that's for sure," Rarity said, joining in the cleanup effort. "Or somepony who hates books," Rainbow Dash put in. The group was interrupted by a quiet cough from the door. "Sounds like what you sheilas need is a detective," a voice with a strange accent spoke. Everypony turned to see a stallion step through the door into the library. A chocolate brown earth pony with a green vest, a gray short-sleeved shirt, and a gray trilby atop his shaggy black mane. The busker's gray eyes studied the room, no expression displaying on his face. "Do you...know one?" Twilight hesitantly asked the stranger. "You might say that," the stallion said, his deep, quiet voice marked with a foreign accent. He stepped further into the room and turned a little to the side, revealing his cutie mark: a black magnifying glass. The stranger touched the brim of his trilby and nodded in greeting. "G'day. Phillip Finder, private detective, at your service." Author's Note Well, here we go. The very first story I ever wrote, introducing my character. I know it's not much, but I hope that you enjoyed it enough to take a look at the rest of the story!
Part 2: The Investigation BeginsThe pony stepped further into the room, his gray eyes moving in all directions, taking in every detail. "Um, well, we appreciate you coming so...quickly," Twilight said, struggling to readjust to the situation. "My name is—" "I know who you all are," Phillip interrupted without looking up from the pile of books on the floor. "In case you haven't noticed, you've all achieved a certain level of fame in this city." The mares and dragon watched as the pony took a loupe—a pair of glasses with magnifying lenses attached to them—out of one of the pockets in his vest and put them on his nose, then pulled a tape measure out of one of the pockets on his vest and a notebook and pencil out of another. He began measuring distance from books to to the shelves, writing down notes in the book. Of course, Pinkie couldn't stand by and be a stranger. "Hi!" she declared, bouncing up to Phillip. He stopped what he was doing to face her, but his expression did not change from its neutral state, even when she got right up into his face. "I'm Pinkie Pie, but you knew that!" Pinkie giggled. "Are you new to Ponyville? You must be, because I don't know you, and I know everypony in Ponyville! So are you new? Are you? When'd you get here?" "Two months ago," Phillip replied flatly. Pinkie gave a gasp of shock so great that she jumped right off the ground. "Two months?!" she screeched. "I've been here for years and—ohmygosh! I don't remember throwing you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! I never had a party for you! I gotta have a party—" "Not right now," Phillip said, an edge added to his otherwise flat voice. "I've got work to do, in case you haven't noticed." To everypony's surprise, Pinkie backed off. Phillip returned to his work, examining the pile of books and the floor around them. "Hold on a minute," Rainbow Dash cut in. "How do we know he's not the one who broke in here? Maybe he's trying to get rid of the evidence. Besides, I saw him watching us earlier." "He seems to be trying to help," Fluttershy said softly. "Maybe we should give him a chance." "I agree with Rainbow," Applejack said. "It is a bit suspicious." Before Twilight could put in her two bits, Phillip, who was now examining the floor with a the loupe, answered. "The reason I'm here is because my crime sense went off when I passed by here, and I heard you talking from outside." "Crime sense?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Part of my special talent," Phillip explained without looking up. "Warns me if a crime has been committed nearby." "Like my Pinkie sense!" Pinkie cried. Phillip stared at her for a moment before turning back to the others. "And I assure you that I am not the one who broke in here." "Yeah? Prove it," Rainbow dared, getting into Phillip's face. As with Pinkie, he looked up, but did not show any emotion. "There were actually two ponies here, both Earth ponies. One of them was in here searching for a book—a new botany book—and the other was outside acting as lookout." Seven pairs of eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'll know more in a few minutes," Phillip declared. "'Preciate it if you all would keep quiet so I could work." The group stayed silent and kept their distance, watching as Phillip continued his investigation. He walked around the room, peering at things that were visible only to him through the glasses. He looked at the key in the door, then examined the ground beneath the box where the spare key was stored. Using the tape measure, he examined the depth of tracks on the ground. Then he circled the tree, peered at an open window in the back, then walked across the street to study the ground at the feet of another tree. Occasionally, he'd take another note in his book. The investigation stretched out into long minutes, and the whole time, he never said a word or even acknowledged that he was being watched. Finally, he nodded, apparently satisfied. "Well?" Rainbow said impatiently. "Two thieves, both Earth stallions," Phillip stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "One was very heavily built, about three and half feet tall, dark red coat and brown, greasy mane, and has a loose nail on his rear right horseshoe. He was the one who came in here and searched. His partner, the lookout, was a little shorter, very strong, blonde mane with a mustache, has a light complexion—possibly sunburned—and chews black sugar. Oh, and both were probably from Canterlot." Seven jaws dropped in astonishment. "That still leaves the question of why they came here in the first place," Phillip said, walking back inside. "Twilight, have you recently gotten a new book on botany from Canterlot?" It took a moment for Twilight to answer. "Uh, yes. A copy of Lillybud's notes on magical botany." "Hmm," Phillip grunted. "What'd you do with the book?" "I took it...up to my room!" Twilight cried, a sudden, horrible thought occurring to her. She hurried up the staircase to her room, dreading what she might find. Phillip followed behind, looking from side to side. Dashing to her desk, Twilight threw open the drawer and sighed in relief; the manuscript was still where she had placed it, still in its pristine condition. "Here it is," she said, levitating it out to examine it more closely. "But why would they want this particular book?" "'Cause there was something in it that they wanted," Phillip said from the door. Twilight turned around to see him bending over the floor. He reached down and picked up something that had tucked itself against the doorjamb: a small pearl bracelet. The pearls were perfect, and glittered magnificently in the dying light of the day. Small, carefully cut jewels of all the colors of the rainbow were placed between the pearls, and the string that bound them was made of gold. Upon seeing the jewelry, Rarity gave an admiring gasp, her face lighting up in awe. "Oh, my! Isn't that the most exquisite collection of jewels that you ever laid eyes on?" she cried. "And it was in that book," Phillip said, closely examining the jewels. "It's what the thieves were after. You interrupted their search and they bolted, but they'll be back for it." He frowned in thought for a moment. "I think I'd better keep this." "Now, hold on," Twilight said, raising a hoof to stop him. "Rainbow has a point. We don't know you. How do we know you're not a thief?" Phillip was silent for a moment, staring back at Twilight with an unreadable expression. Then another, timid voice spoke. "Um, I think we can trust him," Fluttershy said. "He seems to be trying to help, and he doesn't really have a reason to steal it or to lie to us. If he wanted to take it, he could have just grabbed it." There was a moment of silence as everypony thought about it, looking from one to another. Everypony's eyes eventually turned to Twilight, who looked at Phillip. Slowly, she nodded. He placed the bracelet into one of his many pockets. "I'll do some further investigations and let you know when something comes up. In the meantime, keep an eye out." He extended his hoof to Twilight, who shook it. Phillip turned and started to exit, touching the brim of his trilby in salute. "Hoo roo, mates." "Wait!" Pinkie called after him. He paused in front of the door. "How could you have lived here for two months without me knowing about it?" "I have a gift for repelling unwanted attention," Phillip said without turning. And with that, he left without another word. "Well, that was a strange fellow," Applejack said. "Indeed, he carries an air of mystery about him," Rarity agreed. "Do you get the feeling that you've seen him somewhere before?" Spike asked. "I mean, before today?" "I still don't really trust him," Rainbow said, folding her forelegs across her chest as she hovered in midair. "How do we know he didn't just make that all up?" "Aw, don't worry, everypony!" Pinkie said, smiling broadly. "He's a detective, and he's going to solve the case and catch the thieves, and then I can throw him a big 'Welcome to Ponyville two months late' party!" But nopony else shared her enthusiasm. The ponies stared up the darkening street at Phillip's retreating figure, the same thoughts in each of their minds. Author's Note Phillip Finder is a detective of unmatched skill and ability. So how come nopony in Ponyville knows him? Just who is he?
Part 3: A Clientele VisitThe next afternoon was cooler than yesterday, the sky overcast with light gray clouds. Twilight Sparkle walked through the Ponyville Park, barely aware of anything around her. Her mind was still going over the events of the last evening. The library had been her home for the past four years: a safe place for herself and Spike, a refuge from the rest of the world. But just last night, the walls of her illusory immunity had been torn down. Somepony had broken into her home, walked right in like it was the easiest thing in the world. What if Spike had been there alone? The thought made her shudder. Her thoughts drifted to the stallion in the gray trilby. There had been no further word from Phillip since last night. What was he doing? Had he perhaps taken the bracelet for himself? So deep in thought was she that she didn't notice Applejack and Rarity until she almost bumped into them. "Head up in the clouds again, Twi?" Applejack grinned. "I was just thinking about yesterday," Twilight replied. Applejack nodded. "Bet you're kind of scared that somepony broke into your home, right?" Rarity shuddered. "I'm just glad that you were gone when it happened. There's no telling what an uncouth burglar would have done to you or to Spikey-Wikey." "I appreciate the concern, girls, but I'll be all right," Twilight said, managing a small smile. The trio started walking down the flowery path of the park. "I'm also thinking about Phillip Finder," Twilight added. Applejack nodded. "That Phillip was a strange fellow. What's even stranger was that even Pinkie didn't know him." "Maybe he doesn't want others to notice him," Twilight said. "His sense of fashion certainly..." Rarity paused suddenly, looking up. "Do you hear music?" Turning, they saw Phillip himself, sitting on the same park bench next to the duck pond. He lay back on the bench, playing a light jazz tune on his saxophone. His eyes were shut as his hooves floated up and down, gently caressing the instrument while he summoned its gentle music. Phillip's trilby was placed upside-down on the bench beside him. The trio ducked behind a bush to observe the show. A passing unicorn dropped a few bits into the trilby, earning a brief nod from Phillip. As the mares watched, Phillip finished the song, drawing out the last note for a little as he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, there seemed to be some distant look on his face, as if he was somewhere far away. But then, as he lowered the instrument, his cold, neutral expression returned. He placed the bits from his hat into one of the pockets on his vest, donned the hat again, packed the saxophone into a carrying case that he then heaved up onto his back, and started walking away. He never glanced up towards the mares; he appeared not to have noticed them. "Come on," Applejack said. "He hasn't seen us. Let's follow him and see where he goes." "Applejack, spying on ponies is very rude..." Rarity started to protest, watching the stallion's retreating form. "...but I suppose some curiosity never harmed anypony." The trio began to follow the stallion, staying far behind him, hiding behind corners and other obstacles in an attempt to keep out of sight. Phillip made his way down the streets of Ponyville, past other houses and vendors. He never looked around, seemingly unaware of his pursuers. Finally, they reached eastern suburbs of Ponyville. They turned down a dead end road, B Boulevard. Phillip walked up to a small blue two-story cottage, labeled 221. He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. The three mares stood at the end of the street, considering their options. "Should we go see him?" Rarity asked. "I think we should drop by and talk to him—" Twilight started to suggest. "Oi!" a voice called. Phillip was leaning out the window of his cottage, looking right at them. He jerked his head towards the house, indicating for them to come inside, before disappearing back inside. "Well, I guess that solves that problem," Twilight said. The three of them headed to the door and, finding it unlocked, stepped inside. The sound of jazz piano music guided them down the hallway and into the living room. The main room of Phillip's house was large, but very simple. There were no photos or paintings on the walls, or any real decoration. A large bookshelf was placed against one wall, which Twilight examined intently. There was a smattering of fiction—mostly classics—but a lot of the books were science texts, which spanned a number of disciplines—law, psychology, history, sociology, and most of the physical sciences. A large sofa was set up on the opposite end of the room, before which was a table that had a chessboard set up on it, apparently in the middle of a game—most likely against Phillip himself, judging by the book of chess openings next to it. The saxophone carrying case was placed next to a phonograph and stack of jazz records placed against the far wall. Next to the stack was a piano, which Phillip was currently sitting at, idly playing another jazz tune off of some hoof-drawn sheet music before him. His trilby sat on top of the instrument. "If you sheilas wanted to know where I lived, you could've just asked," he said without looking up. "You knew we were following you?" Twilight asked. "The whole time?" "Yup," Phillip grunted. The mares turned red with embarrassment. Phillip continued playing the piano, then paused momentarily. He replayed a section, then, shaking his head, erased some of the notes on the sheet music and rewrote the section. "Oh, you compose?" Rarity asked in interest. "Helps me think," Phillip said, without turning or pausing the song. There was another long pause, Phillip's continuing melody the only sound in the room. "So," Twilight said, trying to break the awkward silence. "We came to ask if you had found out anything else about the case." "And I also want to know exactly you figured out all that stuff about those crooks," Applejack added. Phillip finished the song before turning around to address them. "Sheilas, I'm a detective," he said. "That means I solve mysteries. Not mysteries such as, 'what is the purpose of life,' as that falls within the category of philosophical conundrums. I solve practical mysteries. For example, how does a pearl bracelet that, according to the serial numbers, was stolen from a jewelry shop from Canterlot, end up in a book in Ponyville, and who would come to steal it?" He shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a matter of knowing what to look for. "The biggest clue was the tracks on the ground, especially a set of four hoofprints on the ground beneath the lockbox," he continued. "They were from the lookout, and they were much deeper than his other tracks; that was when his partner stood on his back to reach the lockbox. That told me that they were both Earth ponies; a pegasus would have flown up and a unicorn would have taken it by magic. It also told me from the depth that the partner was heavy set. "Following the partner inside, I noticed scratches in the floor from the loose nail in his horseshoe. From the length of his gait, and from the heights and angles of the books he tossed from the shelves, I was able to roughly determine his height. Faint hairs from the floor and from the window that he exited out of allowed me to determine his coat and mane colors. As for the lookout, he moved to the shade of a tree while there were much better places to watch, which led to the conclusion that he was of a light complexion and/or sunburned. There were also stains on the ground from where he spat out the sugar, which contained yellow hairs from his mustache." "And how'd you know they were from Canterlot?" Twilight asked. "The brand of horseshoes," Phillip explained. "A small brand that's sold almost exclusively in Canterlot, and very old by the fading." "Amazing!" Rarity exclaimed, applauding. "It all seems so simple." "Just a matter of observation and deduction," Phillip said, reaching for some papers sitting on top of the piano. "So I made some inquiries, sent a couple of telegrams, and identified our two blokes." He tossed the papers over to Twilight. She saw that they were criminal records on a pair of ponies, both accompanied by photos. The first one was named Heavyhoof. As Phillip predicted, he was about three and a half feet tall with a dark red coat and greasy black mane, and very heavily built. He had mean green eyes and a deep scowl, accentuated by the stubble around his mouth. His partner was Shady Mane. He had a milky white coat with several sunburns across his back, a blonde mane with a thick mustache, icy blue eyes. The muscles attested to his strength. The files identified them both as from Canterlot, and as members of a band of jewel thieves. Their rap sheets were nothing to sneeze at: not just robbery and burglary, but also aggravated assault, arson, home invasion, and worse. Once again, she breathed a sigh of relief that she and Spike hadn't been in the library. "The bracelet in the book was stolen from a store in Canterlot two days ago," Phillip said. "The thief, another member of the gang, fled into a bookstore, but was cornered by the City Guard. He tucked the bracelet into a book—ironically, the same book that you ordered, Twilight—before being caught. He managed to get a message to his two partners, and they tracked the book to here, and to you. And now I've got to find them." "For a mastermind like you, that should be filly's play," Rarity said. Phillip shrugged. "No worries." Silence fell once more, and Twilight, Applejack and Rarity took the opportunity to examine Phillip up close. They saw that the gray eyes weren't silvery; they were colder and darker, like storm clouds. He was also older than they originally thought: the black of his mane had gray streaks running through, faint lines were stretching across his forehead, and crow's feet had started to peek out from the corners of his eyes, which had never shown any sign of emotion. He stared coolly back at them, his eyes narrowing slightly. "We've really wasted enough of your time," Twilight said rather hurriedly. "We really should get going." "Keep your eyes open," Phillip called, already turning back to the piano. The piano music followed the mares as they exited the hallway, closing the door behind them. "He's sharper than a royal guard's spear," Applejack declared. "But he's harder to talk to than Big Mac." "Yes, he was rather crude," Rarity frowned. "I think that's just his nature," Twilight said with a small shrug as they turned away, heading back to the library. Back inside 221 B Boulevard, Phillip finished his arpeggios. With a sigh, he lowered his face onto his hoof, slowly rubbing his forehead. Oi, he thought to himself. Can't they tell I just want to be left alone? You've been alone for a really long time, another voice in the back of his head whispered. Phillip sighed; this was not the first time that that voice had spoken to him in this way, and he responded the same way he always had. Shut it. You're a nuisance. All of a sudden, Phillip's head snapped up. He turned in the direction of the Golden Oaks Library, his eyes narrowing and flashing, as his body froze in place. An image burned in his mind: Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack, walking back into the library. His crime sense had just gone off. Snatching up his trilby from the table, Phillip slammed it onto his head and raced out the door. Author's Note Channeling Sherlock Holmes for this chapter. Thumbs up for Team Fortress 2 reference?
Part 4: The HuntTwilight, Applejack, and Rarity arrived back at the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight continued to study the photos of Heavyhoof and Shady Mane that she'd gotten from Phillip, memorizing their features. "We should ask around town, see if anypony has seen them," she suggested to the others. "Sounds like a plan," Applejack said, opening the door to the library. But what they saw within made them all freeze momentarily, then dash inside. The library was in shambles: furniture had been knocked over and books were scattered across the floor. "Spike!" Twilight shouted out, looking around for the little drake. "Spike!" The door slammed shut behind them. Turning, they saw Shady Mane standing between them and the door, locking it shut with a wicked grin on his face. "Just in time," he said. Heavyhoof appeared around the corner. With one meaty foreleg, he clutched a trembling Spike to his chest; with the other, he held a long, sharp knife to his throat. "Nopony try anything or the lizard boy gets it," he snarled. Spike's eyes were wide with terror as Heavyhoof pressed the knife closer to him. Having no choice, the three mares sat on the ground, raising their hooves in surrender. "We've searched this place and haven't found the bracelet," Shady said. "I don't know what you're talking about," Twilight said quickly, her mind racing. "Don't lie to me!" Shady almost shouted. "You know where it is, and you're going to tell us, or your friend gets hurt." Rarity snarled in contempt. "You cowards! You dare threaten someone smaller than yourself?" "We dare," Heavyhoof sneered. He pressed the knife even closer to Spike's throat, eliciting a frightened cry from the young drake. A small trickle of blood ran down his neck, the blade having punctured the vulnerable skin of his neck. Twilight's heart froze in her chest. "Now, where's the bracelet?" Shady asked. "We're not telling you!" Applejack declared defiantly. "That so?" Shady smirked. "Heavy, put a smile on the kid's face." Heavyhoof grinned and dug the tip of his blade into Spike's mouth, tugging gently upwards at the corner of his lips. Spike began to struggle desperately, crying out in pain and fear. "Stop! Stop!" Twilight cried desperately. "We gave it to Phillip Finder! He has it!" Heavyhoof pulled his knife back out. Spike trembled in his grasp, panting in shock. Frightened tears ran down his face. "So," Shady smirked. "Who is this Phillip Finder and where do we find him?" "Right behind you," growled a voice. Shady whirled around, too late. Phillip Finder, who had gained access through an open window, rushed right at him, snapping his right hoof out. With a series of clicks, a black extendable baton appeared in his hoof like magic. The weighted end struck Shady across the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. Dazed but not knocked out, he rolled over to avoid a finishing stomp to his head and got back to his hooves, brandishing his knife. He attacked Phillip, cutting at his ribs, but he dodged to the side, neatly deflecting the attack with his left foreleg and striking him in the gut with his baton. While Heavyhoof was distracted with watching the fight, Twilight seized her chance. Charging up her horn, she fired a powerful stunning spell right into his face. Dazed, he staggered back, releasing Spike. Immediately, Rarity grabbed the little drake in her magic and pulled him out of danger as Twilight fired a second, more powerful spell. The beam of magic hit Heavyhoof in the face and sent him flying backwards, skidding across the floor and crashing into the opposite wall; he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Twilight immediately trapped him in an immobilization spell, covering him in a field of her magic, glaring and breathing heavily through her nostrils. Meanwhile, Phillip disarmed Shady Mane of his knife with a baton strike to his hoof and doubled him over with a roundhouse kick to his ribs. Taking the opportunity, Applejack jumped in and bucked Shady in the head like he was a particularly stubborn apple tree. He flew backwards and slammed against the wall next to the door, then tumbled to the floor, groaning. Barely breathing hard, Phillip collapsed the baton and pocketed it, glaring at Applejack. "That was stupid. I could've handled that." "Hey, I was just trying to help!" Applejack snapped back. Phillip glared at her for a moment longer, then turned to the rest of the group. "Spike, y'alright?" he asked. "Yeah," Spike said, still shivering. "They roughed me up a little when they broke in here, but I'm all right." "Thank goodness," Twilight sighed, hugging the little dragon to her chest. "Right," Phillip nodded. "We'd best secure these two and call the Canterlot City Guard—" Phillip was interrupted by a noise behind them. Turning, the group saw that Shady Mane had regained consciousness and was running out of the library door. With an annoyed sigh, Phillip tucked his trilby into his vest and dashed out after him. "I've got this one!" Twilight said, turning to Heavyhoof to make sure her immobilization spell was still working. "Spike, go get help! Rarity, Applejack, after him!" Applejack and Rarity both dashed out after Phillip, while Spike raced off to find Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Phillip was already chasing after Shady. Shady had a head start, tearing down the street past bewildered pedestrians like his tail was on fire, but Phillip was closing in, cutting across pathways and dodging over and around obstacles with the agility of a stallion younger than himself. Applejack and Rarity ran after them; Applejack expertly jumped obstacles and zigzagged around startled ponies like this was another rodeo, but Rarity struggled to keep up. "Blast that vanilla oat swirl ice cream," she muttered to herself, huffing and puffing as she rounded a corner. They passed a house that was under construction. A currently abandoned scaffolding stood outside the house. As he ran past, Shady grabbed the base of the scaffolding and yanked hard. The scaffolding wobbled, then began to fall. Spotting the danger, Phillip and Applejack rolled back out of the way in time. The scaffolding crashed onto the street, blocking the road with a five-foot wall of rubble. Rarity caught up. "Now hold on everypony," she said, panting a little. "I'll just clear this out of the way—" But Phillip, after backing up to gain a running start, was running right at the scaffolding. "You can't jump over that!" Applejack protested. Phillip didn't try to. Instead, he leapt at the wall of the building opposite. Planting his hoof against the wall, he propelled himself up, launching himself up and over the obstacle. He rolled when he hit the ground, continuing to run after Shady. Rarity and Applejack stared at each other in mute astonishment for a moment before rushing to clear the rubble out of the way. It took them half a minute to clear a pathway; by the time they pushed through, both Phillip and Shady had long vanished. "He went that way! Hurry!" Bon Bon shouted from in front of her candy shop, pointing down the road. Rarity and Applejack hurried in the direction that she indicated, entering Ponyville Park. "There!" Rarity shouted, pointing. Shady Mane was running down a path in the park; Phillip was tearing after him, and it looked like he was going to catch up quickly. But then Shady detoured towards a group of school foals that Cheerilee was leading across a bridge. Phillip put on speed; so did Rarity and Applejack. Shady ran right into the group and seized one of the foals, Pipsqueak. Much to the shock of everypony watching, he heaved the child right off the bridge and into the river! Pip briefly bobbed to the surface, floundering and gasping in panic. "Help! I can't swim!" he cried before falling back beneath the surface. Without hesitating, Phillip leapt off the bridge and into the water, disappearing into the depths. Rarity and Applejack ran up to the bank, watching the water with Cheerilee and the other children. Fear clutched at everypony's heart; every passing moment was agony. And then the surface of the water broke. Phillip, clutching a coughing Pipsqueak in his mouth, swam back to the shore and gently deposited the youngling on the ground. "Oh, thank you, thank you sir!" Cheerilee gasped, hurrying over to check on her charge. "No worries," Phillip said, putting his hat back on. "Important thing is that he's all right." Phillip walked back to Rarity and Applejack. Before either of them could comment on his rescue, he interrupted. "You see where Shady went?" Both shook their heads. "Sorry, Phillip," Applejack apologized. "Everything was just so—" Phillip shrugged. "S'alright. We still have someone who knows where he went." He turned and started to jog back to the library. Rarity took a breath, wiping sweat from her brow. "Where does he get that much energy?" Author's Note Here we get to see some of Phillip's physical prowess. Didn't expect him to do any of that, did you? Neither do the bad guys. Coming up: the final confrontation, and some revelations about Phillip's past!
Part 5: The StormWhen the group arrived back at the library, Heavyhoof was still immobilized on the floor, glaring up at his captors. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looked up at the others entry. Phillip immediately stormed in and marched over to the thief, his face a mask of contempt. "You threaten the life of a defenseless youngling," he said, his voice a low snarl. "Your partner endangers civilian lives and almost kills a foal. You just ran out of chances for me to go easy on you." A change had come over him. Gone was the emptiness, the stoic lack of emotion. Now, the gray eyes were hard as ice and his voice rumbled. But it was the feeling that he cast over the room that was the real difference: the feeling of dread, the sensation of facing a force that could not be resisted or fought, only yielded to. The effect that this cold fury had was terrifying. Everypony backed away from him, and Heavyhoof visibly cowered. "Now here's what gonna happen," Phillip whispered, glaring right into his eyes. Heavyhoof stared back up, seemingly unable to look away or blink. "You're gonna tell me where your partner is before anypony gets hurt." Heavyhoof shook a little, but managed to glare back defiantly. "No way, flathoof." Phil was silent, his gray eyes slowly panning over Heavyhoof. "You stayed at Graymane's Inn, didn't you?" Heavyhoof's eyes flashed in shock and his jaw dropped open. "No need to answer that verbally." Phil turned and headed back out the door at full speed. "Come on!" Twilight said. "The spell will keep him there for a couple hours!" The six ponies chased after Phillip, who was already hurrying down the street. "Wait! How did you know?" Rainbow shouted, flying alongside Phillip. "Simple," Phil said, hardly even breathing hard as he dashed through the town, cutting corners and speeding down alleys. "It was obvious that they were staying at an inn, as indicated by their well-taken-care-off appearance, not something you'd get from living on the street. He had crumbs from a hayseed pie and his breath had cinnamon oat coffee on it—that narrowed down the list to just five inns. The real clue was the red-brown hairs from Graymane's dog on his legs." The group followed Phillip as they cut across Ponyville. Graymane's Inn was up ahead, a two-story giant cottage with a large wooden sign hanging over the bright blue doors. A shaggy brown-coated sheepdog was sitting in front of the doors, panting happily and wagging his tail at the sight of the incoming ponies. But a distinctive pony with a blonde mustache and a sunburned back, wearing a pair of saddlebags, was heading out a side door, furtively glancing around. Phillip turned to the group, giving them an icy glare. "Let me handle this," he warned them sternly, jogging forward. Rainbow started after him, but Twilight stopped her. "He's got this," she reassured her with a smile. There was a crunching sound and the others turned to see that Pinkie had somehow produced a bag of popcorn and was now munching on it. "Shady Mane!" Phillip shouted in a voice so authoritative that everypony stopped where they were. Shady's icy blue eyes widened in shock when he saw Phillip approaching. "Stay back!" Shady shouted, pulling a switchblade knife out of his saddlebag and flicking it open. The blade shone threateningly in the sunlight, but Phillip continued forward. "I'm warning you!" Shady shouted. "I wouldn't listen, even if you didn't have the knife," Phillip said coolly. "Now how about you just give up?" Instead, Shady dropped the knife, reached into his saddlebag and extracted a round metal object. Yanking out the attached pin, he held up the object so that everypony could clearly see what it was. "Grenade! Everypony back!" Phillip shouted, immediately stopping. The surrounding crowd of ponies ran for cover, screaming in terror. "You know what happens if I drop this!" Shady declared. "Don't be a fool, mate," Phillip said calmly. "You do this, there's no turning back." "There was no turning back anyway," Shady snapped back. "You shouldn't have stuck your nose into our business, old stallion." Phillip was silent for a moment, considering the other pony before him. "So this was the plan? Grab the pearls and make a dash to safety? Seems you've reached the end of the rainbow, mate. Backed yourself into the corner and grabbed the grenade, hoping that we'd let you go..." Rainbow's ears perked up when she picked up on the subtle emphasis in Phillip's words. And it only took a moment to catch his meaning. A rainbow blur shot through the air towards Shady; he saw it too late to react. Rainbow seized his hoof, preventing him from throwing the grenade. Immediately, Phillip leapt forward, and the last thing that Shady saw was a pair of gray eyes glaring down at him before the flying punch connected with his jaw, knocking him out. Rainbow maintained her hold on the grenade as he fell. Grabbing the pin from the ground, Phillip carefully placed it back into the explosive, rendering it safe. Only then did Rainbow Dash let go. "All clear," Phillip called. "Thanks for the help, Dash." "All in a day's work," Rainbow grinned as the crowd burst into applause. At that moment, there was a great shout and everypony looked up as a detachment of ponies in sky chariots, each of them adorned in the golden armor of Canterlot City Guards, descended from the sky. They landed in the midst of the crowd, the armored carriage they had brought with them rattling as it hit the ground. "It's about time," Phillip said, returning to his stoic state. "Here's one of them. You'll find the other at the Golden Oaks Library. Here's the bracelet they were looking for." He reached into a pocket in his vest and handed the commanding sergeant the pearl bracelet. "That belongs back in Canterlot." "Thank you, Mr. Finder," the Guard said, pocketing the pearls as the other Guards placed shackles on the unconscious Shady Mane's legs and dragged him into the armored prisoner transport. A group of Guards hurried over to the library to retrieve his partner. "Here's the reward for these two thieves' capture." The sergeant handed Phillip a generously-sized bag of bits. Phillip took a small amount for himself—less than a third—and tossed the bag to Twilight. "You sheilas can have the rest of that," he said. "You helped, after all." He touched the brim of his trilby. "Hoo roo, all." And with that, he started to walk away. "Yay! Now it's time to party!" Pinkie declared, bouncing up and blocking his path. "Come on! I can introduce you to everypony in Ponyville, and we all can thank you for—" Phil simply walked around her and continued on his way. Pinkie stopped bouncing, looking confused. "Wait a minute!" Twilight called. "You can have the reward! You deserve more than that!" "I don't want it," Phil said without turning around. "You all need it more than me." "Just...can't you at least accept our thanks for stopping two dangerous criminals?" Twilight asked. "I don't need thanks. I was just doing my job," Phil replied, his voice becoming impatient. "But—" Suddenly, Phillip turned around and snapped at Twilight, his gray eyes flashing with anger. "Why don't you all bugger off and leave me alone?" The tone of his voice shocked the group into silence. With a final grunt, Phillip walked away, alone. "But what about that special cake I made for you?" Pinkie called. Her only answer was silence as the detective disappeared around the corner. Author's Note So the thieves have been put away, and Phillip is the hero...but the story's not finished.
Part 6: The Truth"I can't have a party without the guest of honor!" Pinkie said two hours later, pacing the partially-decorated Golden Oaks Library. She crossed over to the window and stared out at the dark streets of Ponyville. "I sent an invitation, I mentioned it at least a dozen times! Why hasn't he come?" "Yeah! How can anypony not want to come to one of your totally awesome parties?" Rainbow agreed. Twilight thought for a moment. "Why don't we go ask him?" All was quiet at 221 B Boulevard. Phillip had put on a record: the sound of a piano and bass playing Central Colt Park West gently wafted around the room. Standing in the kitchen, he reached into a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of cider. Not the foamy kind that Sweet Apple Acres sold: the harder, darker, stronger version. He poured a healthy dose into a shot glass, added some ice and replaced the bottle in the cupboard. Taking the shot glass—the sole vice he allowed himself—to the window, he looked out towards the distant, blazing lights of the library, piercing the darkness like the beam of a lighthouse. He glanced towards the fireplace, where a fire was happily crackling. The invitation had been received, and tossed into the fire without a second thought. Can't they bloody figure out that I just want to be left alone? he thought. Are you sure that's what you want? the little voice in the back of his head piped up. He considered telling the voice to shut up once again, then realized that he had never actually answered that question. He didn't have an answer. He, who had solved mysteries that had baffled the Royal Guard's best investigators, who could learn almost everything about another pony at a brief look, couldn't answer a question that he posed to himself. He raised the glass towards the library. "Here's to you lot," he said softly. "May you..." He never had a chance to decide what to toast them for, because a knocking at the door interrupted his thoughts. He sighed heavily and shut his eyes, quelling the urge to growl or curse. It could only be them. "It's open," he called. The door opened, and his hypothesis was confirmed when he heard six sets of hoofsteps make their way into the house. He turned to find himself nose-to-nose with Pinkie. "Why aren't you at your party?!" she screeched. "I didn't want to go," Phillip said flatly. "Why not?" Pinkie asked, pressing her hoof against his forehead. "Are you sick? Did flying monkeys stop you from coming?" Phillip briefly raised his eyebrow, but repeated, "I didn't want to go." "Why not?" Twilight asked. "You're such a big grump!" Pinkie said. "You know how big a grump you are? This big!" She stretched her forelegs out several feet. "A party is just what you need to turn that frown upside-down!" She manipulated Phillip's cheeks to stretch a grin across his face. Phillip swatted her off with a grunt of irritation. "I don't care," he said, turning away and sitting at the piano bench. "Go on, all of you. Go have your parties and laugh and play with your friends. Bloody leave me alone." Pinkie simpered, looking hurt. Her mane deflated and lost its bubblegum pink coloring. The room was silent, except for the record continuing to broadcast its music. Then Fluttershy strode forward. "Phillip, there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Phillip didn't answer, but turned away a little more. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No," he grunted. "Well, if something's bothering me, I find it helps if I talk about it. If you ever do want to talk about what's bothering you, you can talk to any of us, you know." Phillip didn't answer. "We want to help you," Fluttershy said. "If...well, if that's all right...um..." Phillip still did not say anything or turn around. Twilight sighed. "Let's go, girls." The ensemble turned and began to slowly head for the door. "Why should you care?" The sudden voice caused all of them to stop and turn. "Nopony's ever cared about me," Phillip said, looking up. "Ponies should care about each other," Fluttershy said, floating over to sit beside Phil. "And you care about others," Applejack added. "Remember when that varmint tossed that foal into the river? You could have caught him, but you jumped into the river and saved the youngin' instead." "And when you came to the library, you placed yourself between us and Heavyhoof," Twilight continued. "You wanted to protect us from them." She sat on his other side. "You care about others. Why don't you let somepony else care about you?" Phillip was silent for a long time, seemingly thinking. Then he finally sighed deeply. "I suppose I'd better start at the beginning." He took a long sip from his drink and began to speak. "As you probably figured out from my accent, I'm not from anywhere near here. I was born and raised in Sydneigh, Aushaylia." "Aushaylia?" Twilight repeated. "I know I've read about that someplace..." "It's a region of Equestria. It's on an island off the southeast coast," Phillip explained. "We liked our privacy, so there's not a lot of other ponies who know about us." He took another sip of cider. "My mother died when I was a baby; I don't remember her at all." "I'm sorry," Twilight said. Phillip waved her off. "My father raised me. He was a good stallion, and I...I loved him very much. He taught me saxophone and piano, got me interested in jazz. I remember when I was old enough, he would take me once a week to the Opera House off the coast, and I would play with his band in concert..." A smile briefly crossed Phillip's face and his eyes once again took the faraway look, as if he had been transported to a different space and time; but the look of happiness quickly vanished. "But I was very introverted and detached, even as a child. Not to mention that I did not earn my cutie mark for a long time. As you can imagine, I had difficulty making friends and was bullied quite a lot. So I had an idea: if I learned as much as I could, and became really smart, I could earn the respect of others. So I started reading and studying as much as I could, and you know something? I found out that I was smart, really smart. "Thing was, though...I started thinking I was better than everypony else. I became...arrogant. Selfish. Inconsiderate. You wouldn't have liked me back then. I don't." He scowled, pausing for a moment, then took another sip and continued. "Time passed. I grew and eventually reached high school. Then, when I was thirteen...it happened." He stopped for a moment, as if gathering his wits, then continued. "One night, I had an argument with my father. I don't even remember what it was about, but I got so angry that I actually left the house. The last thing I said to my father was that he didn't even know me. I wound up wandering around Sydneigh for hours, just being angry—at the world, at my father, at everypony..." He took another longer sip of cider and paused again. The silence stretched out for several seconds. "After I'd calmed down, I decided to go home. I came home to find that a burglar had...had broken into our home." Phillip's voice had changed, taking on a slower tone. His hooves had started to tremble and a look of pain had crossed his face again, much more intense this time. "And he had...attacked and...fatally wounded..." The six mares gasped as the realization took hold. Phillip lowered his face onto his hoof, trembling. He gave a long, low moan like a wounded animal and tears began to stream down his face. "There, there," Fluttershy said, hugging him gently. He momentarily stiffened in surprise, then leaned into her, accepting the embrace. "It's okay to cry. It just means that you're a pony, not that you're weak." After several seconds, Phillip's crying subsided, but the look of severe pain on his face remained. Fluttershy gently released him and he continued his story. "I was able to examine the scene and determine the identity of the burglar, and tracked him down." He spoke through gritted teeth, this grip on the shot glass tightening so much that the mares feared that it would shatter. "I beat him to a bloody pulp. I wanted to kill him...to get revenge for what he did to my father... "But I looked at his face, and..." He swallowed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I couldn't do it. It was just some drugged-up kid looking for something to sell so he could get high again. I couldn't bring myself to kill him." He paused again, more tears falling down his face. "And the worst part was, I felt like it was partly my fault." "Phillip, that's not—" Twilight started to say. "I had a responsibility," Phillip cut in, his voice heavy. "A duty as a son to his father, to protect him. If I hadn't left, then..." He shook his head, sighing. "You can understand that, right?" Twilight paused, then nodded silently. "When my father was buried, I made a promise on his grave," Phillip continued, "that I would honor him by using my talents to help others, to protect them. And that..." He looked down at his flank. "That was when I finally earned my cutie mark." The room fell silent once more; the record had long ago stopped playing. Phillip continued to cry silently, finally letting out the pain that he'd been holding back for so long. "Is that why you left Sydneigh?" Twilight asked. "No," Phillip replied. "After my father died, I finished my education at Pranceton University, then went through training with the Royal Guards, worked with them as an Investigator. But then..." He swallowed and blinked. "One year, while I was home on leave, there was a fire. Most of Sydneigh burned down and the land became uninhabitable. We all had to leave back to the mainland. I left the Guard and spent the next fifteen years going from city to city. The thing is...none of them felt...right." "You mean none of them were like home," Applejack said. Phillip nodded. "Two months ago, I wound up here." He shrugged. "And here we are." Twilight slowly reached out and touched his shoulder. "Phil, I'm really sorry about—" "Sorry never did anypony any good," Phil grunted, throwing her off. "I don't want your pity. I don't want anything from you." "Listen," Twilight said, speaking slowly as she chose her words with care. "What you've gone through is horrible, and it's not fair what happened to you. But you shouldn't have to take it alone anymore." She put her hoof back on his shoulder. This time, instead of throwing her off, he turned to look at her. Gray eyes met purple. "Like you, I didn't really have any friends growing up, save Spike and a few close family members. But I would not be who I am today without my friends. It was something that couldn't be taught in any school, but I found out that until I got some friends, I hadn't learned anything worthwhile. "And I think that what you really need are some friends." The six mares gathered closer around him. "Will you accept our friendship?" There was silence for several seconds. Phillip finally wiped his eyes. "I don't make great company." "I didn't either," Twilight smiled reassuringly. "With some time and practice, it's something you can learn." Phillip thought about it for a moment. "Then, I guess...maybe I could come to the party." "Yay!" Pinkie said, springing up with an explosion of confetti and hugging Phillip very tightly. "Now, come on everypony! Let's party!" With that, she trotted happily out the door, rambling on about how much fun everypony was going to have. The others followed. Phillip found himself alone with Twilight. "She's never gonna leave me alone now, is she?" he muttered, staring after Pinkie with a slightly aghast look on his face. "Nope," Twilight said with a light laugh. "But it'll never be dull, at least." Phillip let out a short grunt of laughter. "You know, maybe you should bring your saxophone," Twilight suggest. "You should play a set for us all." "I'd like that," Phillip nodded. He picked up his case and placed it on his back. "And Phil?" "Yeah, Twilight?" "Welcome to Ponyville," she said, extending her hoof. He looked up at her. Slowly, as if he had not done it in years, a genuine smile crossed his face. One last tear formed in the corner of his eye, but he quickly blinked it back. "Thank you," he said, shaking it firmly. Placing his gray trilby on his head, Phillip Finder stepped out the door and headed for the library, his new friend walking next to him. Author's Note And that is my story. I hope that you've enjoyed my work. Please leave a like and favorite if you feel so inclined and some constructive criticism. That's all for now. See you soon! Josiah
Epilogue: The ObserverThe scent of heavily perfumed Saddle Arabian tobacco swirled around the stallion, focusing his mind. He studied the chessboard in front of him, pondering the white pieces standing in their perfect little rows, ready to stand against the onslaught of the black. His eyes focused on the white knight, the carved eyes staring straight ahead at him. Phillip Finder was here, and he was every bit as sharp as he remembered. The ever-clever stallion had solved his puzzle quite readily. But what of the others? He studied the white pawns that the knight sheltered behind. It was odd for him to work with others, particularly ponies like them. Distasteful little ponies, so sickeningly full of life. He had to take a huff of his cigarette to calm himself. He considered the entirety of the chessboard, the pieces on the white side, and his own black assets, ever ready to obey his instructions. In his mind, he considered hundreds of different openings, a thousand counters, which piece would best be placed where. A simple fact crossed his mind: any piece could become a threat, but easily become a liability to its owner. To turn the pawns against his opponent would not be easy, but he would see a way to do it. However, at the moment, he needed to learn more about his opponent's strategies. And he needed more capital and resources if he was to last the long game that he knew he was entering. A smile crossed his face. Taking one of the white pawns in the grasp of his golden magic, he advanced it forward two places. Then he took one of his black pawns and advanced it into the white pawn's range. An opening sacrifice to appease his enemy. Oh, this was going to be fun. Author's Note An updated chapter as part of my efforts to finalize the series and give them one last run-over for completeness. Hopefully this will entice future readers to continue the series!
Chapter notesMaking Phillip Finder —Originally, Phillip was going to be more of a pony version of Sherlock Holmes. His original name was in fact Hooflock Holmes or Sherhoof Holmes. However, I scrubbed this as too unoriginal and decided to give him more of a modern noir influence. —I chose the name Phillip as a nod to Phillip Marlowe, the literary private detective created by Raymond Chandler. —Phillip originally spoke with an English accent, but I changed it to a Cockney accent, then Australian. His backstory of Sydneigh came from that. —Phillip's vest came from when I was creating him in Pony Creator. I gave him a vest on a whim, realizing that he would need somewhere to store his gear. —I briefly envisioned Phillip wearing an akubra, but I decided it was too silly and kept the trilby. —The idea for Phillip's crime sense came out of a need to explain how he was able to arrive at the crime scene. Part 1 —This story is loosely based off of The Adventure of the Six Napoleons —"sheilas": Australian slang, "girls." Part 2 —Hoo roo: Australian slang, "Good bye." Part 3 —It occurred to me that crime probably wasn't as big a problem in Equestria as to give Phillip enough business. That spawned the idea of him being a street musician/occasional performer to support his income. —Joshua Redcolt's Adagio: Adagio by Joshua Redman —Surely the significance of Phillip living at 221 B is too obvious to mention. —Phillip playing music when he's thinking is another nod to Sherlock Holmes, who was known for playing the violin when contemplating a difficult problem. —I'm a detective. That means I solve mysteries. Not mysteries such as, 'what is the purpose of life,' as that falls within the category of philosophic conundrums. I solve practical mysteries: This dialogue parodies the Team Fortress 2 video Meet the Engineer Part 4 —"name, rank and favorite brand of cereal": reference to name, rank and serial number, which all military prisoners of war are required to give under interrogation. —I don't know where I got the idea for Phillip to be able to do parkour, but I liked it, so I kept it. Part 5 —"flathoof": play on flatfoot, an insulting name for a detective. Part 6 —Central Colt Park West: Central Park West by Avishai Cohen. Central Colt Park is of course a reference to Central Park in NYC. —Phillip's backstory was based off of Spider-Man's.
