“There she is! All units, suspect is flying down Applewood Boulevard!”
Up high, in the sky, the lone gray mare did her best to look around, but between the darkness of the winter night and the bright spotlights shining in her good eye, Ditzy Doo couldn't see anything as she raced down the street. All she could do was pick a direction at random and hope for the best, but no matter how fast she flew, the unicorns were right behind her as if by magic.
“Unit four, She's turning left down, no, no, now she's flying in over Quills and Sofas, she's heading west. Unit six, can you intercept?”
“Unit six copies, we've got a visual, wait, no. No, we've lost her.”
Pulling a hard bank to her right, Ditzy suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of her stomach as she crashed through a balcony railing and a glass door. The already dark world tumbled violently until at last it came to a halt on a carpeted floor.
Blinking rapidly, Ditzy desperately wished her eye would hurry and adjust to the darkness. At least the spotlights were gone for now and in a few moments she would be able to see again. She could barely control her breathing as she checked herself for cuts from the glass. She had a few bruises from the impact and her wings burned from flying harder than she ever had before, but at least she wasn't cut anywhere.
Just when her good eye finally began to adjust to the darkness around her, the room's lights suddenly came on, blinding the poor pegasus again. Fearing the worst, Ditzy took flight in the direction of the window, but, blinded by the sudden change in the light level, she slammed into the wall and fell flat on the floor while a confused voice called out to her.
“Ditzy? What are you doing here?”
Ditzy held her head as she rolled over, gritted her teeth, and closed her eyes.
“I didn't do it! I promise!”
“Ditzy, are you alright? What happened?”
Slowly opening her eyes, Ditzy Doo looked up, straight into the worried eyes of the newly coronated Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“I'm so sorry! I'll find it! I promise! I didn't steal it, please believe me!”
Twilight stepped back as the gray pegasus grovelled at Twilight's hooves. Looking around awkwardly at the damage for a moment, Twilight finally knelt down and patted the shaking pegasus on the head, but Ditzy didn't say anything as she lay there shaking and soon the sounds of sirens and the glowing beams of searchlights could be seen and heard racing towards the Ponyville library.
“Ditzy, what are you talking about? What did you lose?”
A sudden knocking at the door caused both ponies to jump, but while Twilight quickly regained her senses, Ditzy panicked and made a second attempt for the window. However, just as she reached the window frame, she suddenly found herself frozen as a cloud of purple magic enveloped her. Twilight slowly pulled her away from the window, while Ditzy pleaded with her again, her voice growing raspy as she looked desperately at her captor.
“P-P-Princess Twilight, I promise, I didn't do it! Please let me go!”
Twilight felt her own heart break as she looked into the one good eye the dejected mailmare had. She wasn't certain what was going on, but she already knew Ditzy had to be innocent.
“Wait here. I'll deal with whoever is at the door and then you can tell me what is going on.”
Ditzy nodded so fast that her face was almost a blur as Twilight gently put her down.
“And be sure to stay away from the window. The last thing we need is for ponies to try and zap you with magic from outside.”
Ditzy continued to nod, but before Twilight could say anything else, she heard another knock at the door, followed by its opening. Twilight spun on her hooves and began racing downstairs as the sound of Spike's voice talking with a pony downstairs reached her ears.
Spike was less than amused at being awake at this hour. He had been enjoying sharing gems with the pony of his dreams, in his dreams, before the incessant pounding on the door had awoken him. Grumbling to himself, he stumbled to the door and opened it without even asking who was on the other side.
“Yeah, yeah, what do you wan...”
When Spike rubbed his eyes and looked up he saw a pony standing across from him that sent such a chill down his spine that he immediately regretted answering the door in the first place.
He was a unicorn, standing tall in a dark blue uniform with even darker green eyes that felt as though they could see right through the little dragon and every secret he ever had. Despite the blackness of the night outside, the unicorn's rigid and stance and cocked eyebrow filled Spike's heart with a deep dread as a cold and calculating smile came across the unicorn's face.
“Good evening.”
Spike, now wide awake and fully alert, but fully petrified, stood at the door silently, staring up at the tall unicorn who never broke his seemingly spell binding eye contact.
“Uh... Twilight?!”
Spike remained motionless as Twilight came racing down the stairs. She instantly recognized the uniform of an inspector from the Police Nationale from her time in Canterlot and instantly her heart sank into her stomach. What exactly was Ditzy being accused of?
Twilight forced a smile across her face as she went from a brisk walk to a dead run to the door.
“Hi! I'm sorry, this isn't really a good time. Can you come back later?”
The Inspector's cold smile never left his face as he gave a slight bow to the princess.
“I do apologize for disturbing you at this hour, Your Highness. I am Inspector Javanner, of the Royal Equestrian Police Nationale. I am here with the local authorities and we believe a wanted fugitive of the law has broken her way into this facility. May I come in?”
Twilight looked into the eyes of Inspector Javanner and immediately lost all desire to ask what the “fugitive” had done as his overbearing gaze locked into hers with an unwavering and uncompromising aura.
“Th-There's nopony here inspector it's just a small library so I would know well I hope you have a good night and please do come again good luck goodbye!”
Inspector Javanner's cocked eyebrow raised up into an expression of pseudo-surprise and, with a deceptively lazy appearance, his eyes drifted slowly up, as through he could see through the ceiling, towards the direction of the balcony that Ditzy had crashed.
“I noticed on my way here that this library appears to have suffered some damage recently. I do hope you are unharmed, Your Highness.”
As his eyes slowly returned to hers, Twilight felt herself begin to sweat.
“Nope everything's fine!”
“Are you certain? Forgive me for saying so, but you sound... distressed.”
“What? No! No! We're all fine here well you better get going if there's a dangerous fugitive on the loose!”
Javanner gave a slight bow that was more of a nod as he backed up and Twilight half slammed the door in his face. In a small second of time that felt like an eternity, both Twilight and Spike looked at each others' pale, clammy faces as they caught their breath.
“Twilight, what's going on?!”
“I don't know Spike. I don't know.”
Racing upstairs, Twilight looked around for Ditzy, but saw nopony. She wasn't certain if she felt relief or terror that the one pony who was both her one connection and her one source of information about what was happening was gone. Taking a deep breath, Twilight called out softly.
“Ditzy? Are you still here?”
Both Twilight and Spike jumped as a small, almost inaudible voice came from underneath her bed.
“Is he gone?”
Taking another deep breath, Twilight knelt down next to the bed. If she wanted to calm Ditzy down, she was going to have to be calm herself, or at the very least appear so.
“Yes. Yes, he's gone. Ditzy, what's going on? Why are the Police Nationale after you?”
Twilight could barely make out Ditzy's golden eyes underneath the bed frame as the weak voice answered back.
“They think I did it. They think I stole it.”
“Stole what?”
“The Crystal Empire's Coronation Crown.”
Twilight fell on her flank with a dull thump.
“The Empire's coronation crown? That's supposed to be on display at the castle!”
“It was scheduled to be shipped back to the Crystal Empire this morning. I left the package in the castle for just a moment and when I got back it was gone.”
“You left it? Did you leave it with somepony?”
“There was nopony else around. So I just left it in the display room for a minute, maybe two-”
“Why!? Why would you leave it?!”
Spike's coughing into his fist subtly called Twilight's attention to the fact that she was shouting. Remembering the breathing exercise Princess Cadence had taught her, Twilight looked back under the bed at the poor pegasus who was now curled up in a ball as far away from the edge of the bed as she could get. But before Twilight could apologize a weak answer came back.
“I-I needed to g-get my scales to make sure it had the c-correct postage.”
Twilight sighed as she looked out the broken glass door towards Canterlot Castle.
“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that. Are you alright?”
In the silence, Twilight looked again underneath bed to see Ditzy quietly nodding.
“Do you remember were you left it?”
Ditzy continued to nod, but gave no other answer.
“Can... Can you tell me?”
“Canterlot Castle.”
Twilight felt a humored smile come across her face as she sighed.
“Do you remember where in the castle?”
“The big room, in the exhibition hall.”
Twilight rubbed her temples as she thought for a moment. That literally described at least fourteen different rooms that she remembered.
“Can you be more specific?”
“I could show you if I could get there.”
Twilight's smile slowly disappeared from her face as she looked out towards the castle again. She could get them there, but there would be no telling how many police would be around the castle now.
Shifting on his feet behind them, Spike looked back towards the door nervously.
“Twilight? What are you planning?”
Twilight looked back at her assistant.
“We can't just leave Ditzy like this. She needs our help, but we can't look for the crown if we don't know where to begin. We need to get to the castle.”
“But, Twilight, this isn't our problem! We're already in trouble for lying to the police! Can't we just go back to bed and pretend this didn't happen?”
Twilight looked sternly back towards the tiny dragon.
“No Spike, we have to help our friend.”
Spike gulped as he slowly walked over to the window and looked out. There were police ponies everywhere looking for some trace of Ditzy all over their little corner of Ponyville. It was enough to make him sick to his stomach, but when he looked down at the street just outside he saw Inspector Javanner, his eyes locked into that same stern expression, glaring right at him. Immediately Spike jumped and ran from the window, his breath completely gone.
“I... I don't think we can just walk to the castle right now.”
Curious, Twilight walked to the window and, when met with the same sight, she paled and stepped back. Judging by the inspector's tenacity, Twilight figured she only had a short time left before the police would produce a warrant and burst into the library.
“We need to go. This place won't be safe much longer.”
Ditzy slowly poked her head out from underneath the bed.
“Go where?”
“Canterlot.”
Spike's eyes widened.
“You can't be serious! The castle has to be crawling with ponies by now! And we're surrounded!”
Twilight smiled as she motioned Ditzy and Spike to stand next to her.
“We may be surrounded, but I have magic.”
Despite how much he wanted to turn Ditzy in and go back to bed, Spike nodded silently and obediently stood next to the two ponies. In a bright flash, all three of them were gone.
A light snow began to fall as the bright, purple flash passed by, briefly, yet distinctly, lighting the outer frames of the window. Inspector Javanner looked down for a moment before he turned and began walking towards the train station.
A young police lieutenant, seeing the inspector suddenly come to life, trotted after him.
“Sir? Did something happen?”
Javanner didn't even slow his stride as he marched forward, his eyes locked on the train station on the other side of town.
“Yes, I'm going to Canterlot.”
The young lieutenant looked back and forth nervously between the inspector and the library as she half galloped to keep up with the inspector's hurried strides.
“S-Sir? What about the library?”
“It is empty. They have gone to Canterlot.”
“How do you know?”
Javanner allowed only a small smile to cross his face as he reached into his uniform pocket to produce a couple of kernels of wheat. Pausing only to pop them into his mouth, Javanner continued his resolute march towards the train.
“Because they have nowhere else to go.”
With a fizz and a pop, the trio of fugitives reappeared a decent distance outside of library, but still deep within Ponyville. Spike wobbled for a moment while he got his bearings, but then swiftly looked up at Twilight.
“I don't get it, you're a Princess! Can't you just make those ponies go away?”
Twilight frowned as she began leading the way towards the train station.
“That would make us look even more suspicious. Besides, we have to help Ditzy, she's our friend.”
Ditzy blushed lightly as they continued walking. Spike however, wasn't convinced.
“But can't you just pardon her or something?”
Twilight smiled in a gentle way that suddenly reminded Spike of Twilight's mentor as she picked him up with her magic and set him down on her back.
“Spike, princesses uphold the law, we don't break it. If we just bent the rules to do whatever we wanted, it would be like there weren't any rules at all. And besides, we still have to find that crown.”
“I guess so...”
Spike's eyes fell on the gray pegasus for a moment. He wasn't certain if he really wanted a friend that would cause him to leave bed at this hour of the night, but he didn't really have a choice. It was a thought that made him grumble as Ditzy paused for a moment and eyed the area around them nervously.
“Umm... shouldn't we be going away from Ponyville?”
Twilight wanted to grin for her cleverness, but the grim reality of their situation forced her expression to turn equally grim.
“Every police pony in town would see us if we tried to fly to Canterlot directly.”
“B-But...”
“Right now, the inspector thinks we're still in the library. He'll have everypony over there, so nopony should notice us slip onto the night train to Canterlot.”
Twilight looked up at the clock. They still had a little time, but not much.
“Come on, the sooner we're aboard, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this.”
The train station looked almost deserted as they stepped onto the platform. Not very many ponies rode the midnight express and, had it not been used for the mail service, the railroad would have discontinued it entirely. But tonight Twilight was especially thankful for its presence as she trotted up to the conductor.
“I'm sorry, we need to get to Canterlot tonight. Is there still room on the train for three?”
The conductor never even looked up from his clipboard, but instead his eyes darted between the boxes still on the platform and his inventory list, making small marks on the cargo manifold as he sighed.
“You have to buy your ticket ahead of time.”
Twilight felt her heart begin to sink.
“But the ticket office is closed.”
“Sorry, rules are rules.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but stopped as her heart sank even deeper. As a princess, she had to uphold the rules. What kind of example would she set if she used her position to get what other ponies couldn't?
Dejected, Twilight turned around, but Ditzy smiled as she passed by her and placed a hoof around the conductor's shoulder.
“Blanket, buddy, it's me! Ditzy!”
Wet Blanket looked up from his clipboard and into Ditzy's smiling eye. Soon a small smile of his own began to appear at the bottom of his long face.
“Miss Doo! Why didn't you say something sooner?”
Kicking the door to the mail car open a bit wider with his back leg, the conductor smiled and winked to Twilight and Spike.
“I take it they're with you?”
Ditzy's smile never faded as she lead the way into the car.
“Yep, they're helping me find a lost package!”
Wet Blanket flinched at the thought as Twilight and Spike walked past him.
“Ouch, good luck with that.”
Twilight felt stunned as she followed after Ditzy, who nonchalantly opened the door in the back of the car and led the way into a passenger car further back in the train.
“Ditzy, how did you do that?”
Ditzy grinned as she sat down in the first available coach seat.
“I work for the mail service, Twilight! I get free rides on any train that hauls packages and letters, which is almost any train!”
Twilight smiled as she took a seat next to the window with Spike next to her. His silence had not gone noticed as she took the blanket from the seat pocket and draped it over his sleeping form. She couldn't hide the fact that this sudden add-on to her already long day was wearing her out as well as a yawn suddenly came up out of her own mouth. But as she placed her head against the window to rest, a sight caught her eyes that re-energized her like an electric jolt.
Wet Blanket didn't even look up from his clipboard as he checked for the last of the boxes on his inventory.
“You have to buy your ticket ahead of time.”
“The ticket office is closed.”
“Sorry, rules are rules.”
As he put his pencil to check the last box, a foreign hoof forcibly pushed the clipboard down from his eyes, causing the pencil to leave a a slash mark from the bottom to the top of the page. Stunned, a wide eyed Wet Blanket looked up into the eyes of a unicorn whose face was less than amused as his unblinking eyes pierced into Wet Blanket's very heart.
“I am Inspector Javanner, of the Royal Equestrian Police Nationale. I believe you will note that I have the authority to commandeer a seat in the service of the law.”
Wet Blanket nodded sheepishly as he lead the way to the first passenger car behind the mail car and carefully opened the door for the inspector.
“So sorry sir. Best of luck to you.”
Inspector Javanner nodded as he stepped up into the coach and looked around. The car only had a hoof-full of ponies, most of whom were asleep. No pony looked particularly interesting, but still he moved down the car and towards the other passenger cars further back, for he had a tickling curiosity in the back of his mind as he looked around.
He felt it unlikely that his suspect would attempt to fly to Canterlot directly. No doubt she would have considered how many police ponies would be waiting in Canterlot's skies for her, she would have to try to get into the city another way.
But however much he wanted to consider his opponent's plans, there was a bigger thought in his mind. What was Princess Twilight's involvement with the fugitive? She had covered for the fugitive, there was no doubt in his mind about that, but why? Javanner's eyes furrowed as he reached the end of the last passenger car and worked his way back forward.
Was Twilight Sparkle being forced against her will or was she willingly aiding a fugitive of the law?
It was a question that racked his mind as he took his seat and the coach car began to move. He could see the snow outside was starting to fall harder and harder as the night went on. It was a relaxing distraction, but Javanner never let his mind wander too far from the job.
If Twilight was willing helping a fugitive, then that placed her in violation of the law. That alone was a thought that troubled him greatly. Not even a princess was above the law, that was Princess Celestia's own words at his commissioning ceremony, but how would the nation react when word reached the world that Princess Twilight Sparkle, star pupil of Princess Celestia, was a law breaker herself?
It was a conundrum that caused Javanner to glare at his own reflection, as though he were trying to coerce himself to think harder, to find a solution quicker, to capture the fugitive faster.
Which made more sense, that an alicorn could be overpowered by a half blind pegasus street urchin, or that a princess would forget the very nation that gave her the rank and privilege that she has immediately abused? What of the baby dragon? Could the fugitive be threatening the child somehow? No, it didn't matter. The fugitive would lead the princess to the capital, but to what end?
Shaking his head, Javanner snorted again. It didn't matter. Princess Twilight, whether willing or not, was protecting a fugitive and no doubt collaborating and guiding her for both their sakes. But without evidence, Javanner could do nothing to confront them.
Princess Twilight was no doubt smart enough to know that if they stayed in the library, his warrant would let him expose them both. No, Twilight had to move somewhere and obviously the capital was the only place she could turn, but Princess Celestia was a wise and virtuous ruler, there was no way she would also cave and help a fugitive. So the only other place they could turn to would be the location of the crown, from there they could go anywhere.
Javanner's eyes narrowed as he came out of his thoughts. If he was going to catch the fugitive, he would have to find the crown and find it quickly.
“Do you see anything?”
“Yeah, he's just sitting there in your seat. I don't think he knows we're here.”
Twilight quickly ducked her head back down from the door's window. The mail car was cold and far less than comfortable as the train began to bump and sway on the rails along its way to Canterlot. While she was glad they had made their escape into the car before Javanner had gotten on board, Twilight couldn't help but roll her eyes at her situation.
She was a newly crowned princess, and yet here she was, traveling like an escaped criminal. But looking back towards Spike's failed attempts to get comfortable broke Twilight's heart once again and called her attention to how best she could fix the situation.
“Ditzy, do you have any paper?”
Ditzy looked up from the impromptu bed of mail sacks and then motioned to all of the boxes filled with paper letters around them. Frowning, Twilight looked around herself, all the paper in the car was used for one thing or another, but as Spike groaned and rolled to his other side in a vain effort to get some sleep, Twilight reached into a random sack and grabbed an envelope to write on. It didn't matter if she took one letter out of the mail and re-purposed it for her own needs, after all, this was an emergency.
“Ditzy, do you have a quill?”
Ditzy tilted her head, confused for a moment, but then she smiled and, biting down on her own wing, produced a feather.
Twilight nodded, now she just needed to find a source of ink and a blank spot on the envelope to write on. Twilight looked for a blank spot to write a message to Princess Celestia, but stopped suddenly. On the front of the letter was an address that caught her eye:
“TO: Mommy
256 Regal Square, Canterlot”
The simple address caused Twilight to sigh as she put the letter back into the bag. This was some child's letter to a mother, how could she heartlessly commandeer the letter for her own needs? How could she take anypony's letter? Her shoulders drooped forward slightly as Twilight sighed and sat down.
Ditzy tilted her head in confusion, but before she could ask, Twilight answered.
“I'm a princess, I can't break the rules, I have to uphold them.”
“But, Twilight, isn't this an emergency?”
“It doesn't matter. It is against the law to interfere with the mail, so I can't do it.”
Ditzy started to ask whether or not helping her would be considered a crime, but Twilight's dejected and confused expression left Ditzy afraid of the answer.
It was still dark and the snow was falling so hard that they could barely see at all, but the trio of ponies were grateful as they slipped out of the train station and began racing towards the castle. Spike shivered as he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.
“I still don't get it, what are we going to the castle for if we're not going to ask Princess Celestia for help?”
Twilight and Ditzy raced past their own fogging breath as they climbed the stairs up to the castle gate.
“Princess Celestia can't help us because we're running from the law. If we're going to clear Ditzy's name, then we have to find the crown ourselves.”
The guards ahead of them noticed their rapid approach, but didn't move from their posts, which Twilight took to be a good sign that they didn't recognize Ditzy as a wanted mare. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight slowed down to a walk and Ditzy followed, her legs shaking more for fear of the guards than from the chill.
“How are we going to get into the castle at this time of night?”
Twilight nearly froze as the thought hit her mind. Ponies weren't allowed to roam the castle halls at night. True, she could get them in with her position as princess, but what sort of example would she be setting if she bent the rules for her own gain?
Gritting her teeth, Twilight began to wonder what she should do, while Ditzy sat down on the snow covered steps.
“If this were a mail train I could get us in, but I don't think that will work for the palace...”
Suddenly Twilight looked back over her shoulder and smiled. Ditzy had an excellent point. This was no different from Ditzy's ability to get them on the train. It was perfectly fair for Twilight to get her friends into any place she could normally go.
“Just as you can get us on the train, I can get us in the palace.”
As usual, the guards said nothing as they saluted and opened the gates for the princess. Even Twilight was surprised at how easy it was for them to get into the castle. Thankfully the police, which Twilight had expected to be scouring the palace for evidence, were nowhere to be seen.
“Do you think they've found the crown?”
Spike grumbled as he held the blanket tighter around himself.
“I hope so. I want to go back to bed.”
Ditzy however, said nothing as she looked down at the snow around her hooves. It was an awkward silence, but Twilight could understand how somepony else finding the box could still be very bad. Even if it was recovered, loosing the Crystal Empire's crown like this would probably cost Ditzy her job.
Patting the shivering pegasus on the back, Twilight did her best to smile in that same way that Princess Celestia always did when she was afraid.
“Hey, everything is going to be fine. No matter what happens, we'll be there for you.”
Ditzy looked up with tears beginning to well in her eyes, but with a smile across her face she nodded and took the lead.
“I left the box over here, in this building!”
Inside the Royal Exhibition Hall, Ditzy continued her resolute march to the crime scene, but Twilight's constant scanning of the area around them provoked Spike's curiosity.
“Is something wrong Twilight?”
“I don't know. It feels like there is something missing...”
Spike shrugged as they continued.
“Besides a crown, everything looks to be in place to me,”
Twilight furrowed her brows at the comment, but said nothing as Ditzy looked around.
“It was... this one, this room here.”
Ditzy led the way, but as they rounded the corner into the room, Ditzy froze and doubled back into Twilight. All three of them fell onto the floor with a thud, but the moment Twilight began to ask what was wrong, Ditzy clamped a hoof over her mouth.
Silently motioning towards the door, Ditzy pointed Twilight to where Inspector Javanner was looking over the crime scene. His horn glowed a pale green and his eyes seemed to glow a similar color as he placed his head down close to the carpet. Twilight couldn't tell what magic he was using, but it was clearly a spell that the let him see something they couldn't. Javanner seemed to be examining a spot in particular with a very specific interest. He looked at it, paused, looked in a circle around it, and then back at it. He seemed fixated on the spot and his expression alone betrayed his frustration.
“What is it? What's going on?”
Spike's voice almost seemed to reverberate through the empty hallway as both Twilight and Ditzy clamped their hooves over his mouth. Both ponies strained their ears to listen if Javanner was coming, but all they could hear was the faint hum of Javanner's spell. Gathering her courage as best she could, Twilight carefully slipped her eye around the door and, to her relief, Javanner's eyes never left the same spot on the ground. The trio breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly relaxed. Javanner was too deep into his investigation to notice.
He looked over the spot again, made a few notes on a piece of paper, and then proceeded towards the very door that they were hiding behind. The trio panicked as they looked around for a place to hide in the bare and empty hallway, but there was nothing to hide behind.
Javanner walked into the hall and looked around. No pony was visible, so he paused for a moment. Allowing himself a few more wheat kernels, a tiny smile began to appear on his face before the thoughts and theories in regards to the missing crown replaced the insignificant measure of brightness from his face and his mind returned to the business at hand.
Stopping and reviewing the hallway again before he left, Javanner shrugged and closed the door behind him as he walked out into the cold and dreary night.
Twilight and Ditzy floated gently down from the rafters with Spike held aloft in their hooves. Still afraid that the inspector might turn back into the room for any reason, they gently touched down and ran into the room, closing the door behind them.
“Was it here?”
Ditzy nodded, her eyes watering from fear as she tried to think of what could have happened to the package.
“I left it right there.”
Ditzy's hoof pointed right to the same spot Javanner was examining so intently. Trying her best to replicate the spell she thought Javanner was using, Twilight's horn began to glow as a magical shade came over her eyes. What was the inspector looking for? She tried using filtering out light in various methods: infrared, x-rays, ultraviolet, and color filters when suddenly, she caught sight of something small on the carpet.
Switching the spell to magnification, Twilight noticed a tiny piece of the cardboard box that the crown was packaged in. It was a small piece that she had seen before she had tried her spell, but now with this magnification spell, she could see the imprint the box had left on the carpet's fibers around it. Looking around carefully, Twilight could see the hoof prints that were made when Ditzy placed the box on the ground, and where she had turned around to fetch her scales.
Looking back to the impression on the ground, Twilight noticed four extra hoof prints on the other side of the box. Looking all around the room, Twilight couldn't find any hoof prints leading up to or away from them. What did this mean?
“Umm... Twilight?”
Twilight looked up from the spot on the ground towards Spike, who stood a short ways from her with Ditzy. Twilight could see a slight concern in his eyes and she noticed that she suddenly bore a striking resemblance to the inspector. Forcing a smile, Twilight straightened her back out and stood up from her hunched position.
“Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
Twilight looked back to the spot and instinctively bent over and placed her head next to the carpet and searched around it again.
“I think I know what Inspector Javanner was looking for. I can see here, where the box was, and I can see where Ditzy's hoof prints are, but there are four more that are right here.”
She looked back to her companions to see what they thought, but the blank expressions on their faces caused her to sigh and turn back to her investigation.
“There are no imprints in the carpet leading to or away from these four, which means that whoever they belong to, must have used magic to get next to the box. So whoever it was that took the box had to have been a unicorn. It couldn't have been Ditzy.”
Spike looked at Ditzy's wings as gently as he could.
“Couldn't a pegasus have flown up to the box and grabbed it?”
Twilight, filled with enthusiasm for the puzzle, shook her head.
“If a pegasus had flown by and picked up the box, there wouldn't be any hoof prints all. These four hoof prints are evenly pressed into the carpet. Like a pony had just appeared out of nowhere, like they had used-”
“A teleportation spell.”
The trio froze for a brief moment before they slowly turned towards the entrance of the room, where Inspector Javanner was standing.
“A wonderful deduction, Your Highness. I came to the same conclusion myself.”
The magical glow faded from her horn and eyes as Twilight ended her spell and gave the inspector an accusative glare.
“Then what makes you think Ditzy did it? Why have you been chasing her?”
Inspector Javanner remained emotionless as he stood in the doorway, never moving in a manner that might unblock the only exit to the room. His hoof came up and patted his chest as he gave a small bow.
“I confess, this was my first time to investigate the scene in person.”
Javanner stepped into the room as he pointed a hoof towards Ditzy.
“You see, upon my arrival, a certain gray pegasus was spotted fleeing the scene in a dreadful hurry. I believe there were a number of police in hot pursuit.”
Ditzy blushed slightly as she backed further into the room.
“But I didn't... I didn't do it...”
Twilight and Spike nodded in agreement, but Javanner took another step deeper into the room.
“A true shame, but you evaded arrest when you were a prime suspect. In that action alone, you have broken the law and now must pay the price. But do not worry about the crown, we will find it.”
A small smile began to appear on his face as his eyes at first locked on their target, but then he suddenly stopped and turned towards Twilight.
“Also, Your Highness, it is my duty to inform you that aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive from the law is also a crime.”
Twilight instinctively stepped back. She suddenly found herself wanting to run for her life as the inspector's piercing gaze now locked onto her. Spike looked between the two of them with wide eyes.
“That can't be right! Twilight! You're a princess!”
Taking a deep breath, Twilight sat down on the carpet, defeated.
“And a princess is not above the law. I should have... I should have...”
“I think that's enough.”
All four ponies stepped back in surprise at the owner-less voice. Inspector Javanner moved to protect the door and Ditzy stepped back against the wall in a desperate attempt to minimize her presence, but Twilight only sat there as she felt her heart sink even deeper. She had recognized the voice instantly as Princess Celestia materialized in the room, on top of the four hoof prints.
“All of this trouble, for a crown that was never even stolen.”
Javanner, Twilight, and Ditzy's mouths all dropped open.
“Your Highness-”
“Inspector Javanner, The Crystal Empire's coronation crown is resting safely in the Crystal Palace as we speak.”
Seeing everypony completely dumbstruck, Celestia sighed as she walked about the room, explaining the course of events.
“Princess Cadance asked me to send the crown to the Empire. I had intended to use the postal service, but then I received word that Princess Cadance needed the crown tonight, so I took the box and sent it directly to her using my magic.”
Looking to Ditzy with a pitying smile, Celestia calmly approached the terrified pegasus.
“I intended to inform you, Miss Doo, but before I could, I heard screams of theft and next thing I knew, you were flying back to Ponyville at full speed.”
Celestia continued as she slowly motioned for Ditzy to move towards her.
“I wanted to let you know everything was fine, but you kept moving so fast that I couldn't get a moment in edgewise before you were off, racing somewhere else.”
Ditzy nodded slowly as she bowed low to the ground.
“I'm, I'm sorry for all of th-the confusion, Y-Your Highness.”
Celestia's calming presence never left as she leaned over and lifted Ditzy up with her wing.
“I hope you have learned an important lesson from all of this.”
Ditzy nodded so fast she nearly fell over.
“Don't leave important packages unattended.”
Hiding back a small laugh, Celestia stood tall as she winked to Ditzy.
“That, and you shouldn't fear other ponies when you haven't done anything wrong.”
Inspector Javanner stepped forward to interject, but Princess Celestia, her gentle smile never wavering, intercepted him.
“Inspector. Do you know what you should have learned from this?”
Javanner stopped, frozen by the thought that there was something he was supposed to have gained from wild goose chase. Celestia gave him time while he thought carefully, before finally looking up at her.
“Your Highness, the fugitive-”
“Miss Doo.”
“... Miss Doo, still evaded arrest. She has still violated the law.”
“Inspector, did the police ever even order Miss Doo to stop?”
Javanner looked at Celestia for a moment, his face blank as his mind rushed to recall the events of the evening. Princess Celestia smiled as she leaned forward a bit.
“I watched the entire thing, The police were so excited at the notion of a large, front-page crime that they simply raced in pursuit and never said anything... and flying, even at high speeds, over the countryside is not illegal, Inspector.”
For the first time since she had met him, Twilight saw a light blush appear on Javanner's face.
“Y-Your Highness, I assumed... I assumed that the proper procedures had been followed.”
Princess Celestia slowly walked up to the flustered inspector. Her gentle smile was all that seemed to keep him from falling apart at the revelation of this terrible failure.
“But... but... but she still... fled...”
“I noticed you leapt into this investigation a bit quicker than you typically do, but still, do you know what you've consistently done wrong throughout this investigation?”
Javanner looked down at the ground, his eyes racing back and forth until Celestia, still smiling, placed a hoof on his shoulder.
“You shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. Your police chased after Miss Doo, but you never told her to stop. True, she should have stopped when she noticed all the ponies behind her, but you took her flight as an undoubtable sign of guilt. You may have correctly predicted where these three would go and how they would act, that doesn't mean that all of your conclusions about them were correct.”
Javanner said nothing as he slowly looked up from the ground and into Princess Celestia's eyes, the only eyes that he could never see past, and in that manner unique to the Princess of the Sun, she knew what his confused, apologetic heart wanted to say, even if he didn't himself.
Turning to Twilight who was half hiding in the corner, Princess Celestia gently folder her wings back to her side as she walked over to her.
“Twilight? Do you know what you should learn from this?”
“I should have turned Ditzy in?”
Princess Celestia smiled as she put a wing around her pupil and pulled her back in to rejoin the other two.
“You, much like Inspector Javanner, were so focused on the letter of the law, that you never even considered its spirit.”
“But a princess is supposed to uphold the law...”
“That is true, but you were so concerned with what the law said, that you never considered why the law was in place or who it was supposed to protect. You had the authority to correct a situation you knew was wrong, but you were so worried about how to properly do something that you never allowed yourself to do anything at all.”
All three ponies looked at Princess Celestia with tired eyes and with her ever present smile, she led the way out of the Exhibition Hall.
“It's late. Inspector, I think you can officially close this case in morning...”
Princess Celestia suddenly stopped as she looked up at a clock mounted on the wall.
“Well, I suppose you can close this case later today anyway. In the meantime, I suggest you all get some rest. I'll have rooms prepared for you upstairs, rooms with good curtains.”
As Princess Celestia left to raise the sun, Twilight looked over to Ditzy. Despite all that she had been through, Ditzy floated about the hall as though she had just been pardoned from a terrible fate. Across from her, Inspector Javanner looked as expressionless as he always did, slowly walking towards the door as he contemplated the Princess's words. Spike however, was already fast asleep on the floor. With a smile across her face, Twilight carefully picked up the baby dragon and decided it was time to go upstairs, to a place were she could follow suite.
Author's Note
This was a quick one shot story as part of a mini-competition between some friends and myself. The prompt was fairly interesting:
A character is greedy throughout most of the story.
During the story, a character discovers an item they thought they had lost.
The story starts during a police action.
The story takes place in the winter.
During the story, there is a delivery made.
I still don't know how I feel about my own ending, I partially wanted to drag the case on longer, but on the other hand I didn't have much time left and I was running out of ideas for the trio to dance around.
I did find writing Inspector Javanner to be quite fun, I may have to use the character again somehow and try to bring out more of the Inspector Javert that he was based on. All in all, this was a quick story that was churned out quicker than I would have preferred, but it's gotten me out of my slump and back into writing again.
That said, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed, The Crystal Caper.
