10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 2 - "Manehattan Crime Story"

Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Day Before The Journey - Raritys Day
Chapter 2 - The Day Before The Journey - Pinkies Day
Chapter 3 - The Journey Begins
Chapter 4 - Train Ride
Chapter 6 - Acacias Spa
Chapter 7 - What's Really Going On
Chapter 8 - An Unexpected Appearance
Chapter 9 - Another Reunion
Chapter 10 - Before The Fashion Show Begins
Chapter 11 - Fashion Show Begins
Chapter 12 - Elsewhere, During the show
Chapter 13 - At The After-Party
Chapter 14 - Small Progress
Chapter 15 - Fashion Show, Second Night
Chapter 16 - Squad Seven
Chapter 17 - Calm Before The Storm
Chapter 18-A - Team Trixie
Chapter 18-B - Team Rarity
Chapter 19 - Waiting / Reveal
Chapter 20 - Intermission
Chapter 22 - Adventures End
Chapter 23 - Epilogue
Chapter 5 - Café Licorne D'or
Chapter 21 - Interrogation

Chapter 1 - The Day Before The Journey - Raritys Day

Raritys alarm clock started beeping. She woke up and gently rubbed her eyes,
while using her magic to throw the alarm-clock out through the open window.
She mumbled something about getting a new one - again - and got up from her bed.
She had been awoken in the middle of a pleasant dream, involving herself and
a prestigious fashion award. And she was also known for having a bad morning temper.
Usually it only lasted a few minutes though. She went into her bathroom and splashed
her face with nearly-ice-cold water to wake up properly. After that, she went over to
her mirror and sat down. She started with the mane, and then proceeded with the usual
make-up - some barely noticeable blush, the light blue eye-shadow, some eye-liner,
and finally some mascara to get her eyelashes large and black.
Once she was satisfied, she left her room. She walked past Sweeties door and knocked
gently on it to wake her sister up.

“Sweetie, it’s time to get up. I have a lot of work today, and you have your friends.
You promised to stay out of the house today, remember?”

From inside Sweeties room, she heard some incoherent mumbling and grunts.
Sweetie had the same morning temper as Rarity.

“I expect you to be downstairs within five minutes, Sweetie. I’m going down to
start breakfast now. Five minutes.”

After five minutes, Sweetie walked into the kitchen, finding Rarity making porridge,
toast and tea. She looked over her shoulder when Sweetie entered the room.

“Be a dear and go see if the newspaper has arrived, would you? I’m almost done here.”

Sweetie yawned and turned around. “Okay, be right back...”

Another couple of minutes passed, and Sweetie returned with the newspaper and a letter.

“What’s that?” Rarity asked when she saw the letter.

“Commercials as usual.” Sweetie mumbled with the paper in her mouth.

“Ah, just toss it then, and put the newspaper on the table.”

Sweetie did as she was asked, and they both sat down to enjoy their breakfast.

Rarity opened the newspaper and skimmed through it.

“Some robbery attempt in manehattan.. Somepony made an attempt at a bank.
blahblahblaaaaah...
hmm...
blah, blah...
Some upgrades being made in Cloudsdale Weather Factory within the next few days...
blah blah, blah...politics... blah...”

Sweetie buttered some toast and looked at her sister. “Can I have the Funny Pages
when you’re done? I wanna read the comic strips and the daily riddle.”

“Hm? Oh, sure. I’m almost done. Finish your breakfast while I finish reading.
You can have it when we’re both done.”

“Okay.” Sweetie smiled and kept eating. After she was done, Rarity gave her the
newspaper so she could read the comics. While she did, Rarity cleaned off the table
and took care of the dishes.

“Now, while I’m gone you’re gonna spend a few days at the farm with the Apple
family, and a few days here at home with a sitter. I spoke to the neighbor,
Rose Luck. She will stay here at the boutique with you. And I will be back
in one and a half week - ten days. If you need something, you can always ask
Applejack, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Twilight, or Rose Luck for help.”

“What about Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy?”

“They are going away too, some school reunion or something like that,
in Cloudsdale.”

“Oh, right, Scootaloo mentioned that Rainbow was going to some Academy thing.
Must have been that.”

“I guess so, yes. Anyway, get going now, I need peace and quiet so I can finish up
my work before I leave tomorrow... I’ll see you later, at dinner time.”

Sweetie Belle was just about to leave, when Rarity spoke again.

“Oh, wait, one last thing. What do you want to eat tonight? I was thinking I
can cook something nice since it’s our last night together for some time.”

“Can we order pizza?”

“How about a compromise? I can make home-baked pizza.”

“Deal, but on one condition!”

“And that condition is...?”

“No garlic this time.”

“Fine, no garlic this time, I promise.” Rarity smiled. “How about... tomato slices,
chopped broccoli, some leek, maybe olives?”

Sweetie considered it for a moment, and responded. “Black olives, NOT green.”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle a little at their negotiations.

“Deal. Tomato, broccoli, leek, black olives.”

“Deal.” Sweetie Belle agreed, and then left the house. Rarity went back into the
kitchen and made some coffee, and then proceeded into the work room,
where she was almost done with a few different designs for the upcoming
autumn collection. She usually worked one season ahead.
In spring, she made the summer collection. In summer, she made the Autumn collection,
and so on. That way she was recent enough in her fashions, but still early enough
to have a collection made just in time for each season without rushing too much.

“Now let’s see... when I get home, I must remember to buy more of these wind-resistant
fabrics for the jackets...”

* * *

The day passed mostly without problems, except a minor hiccup with the
sewing machine. Then again, it was a few years old... Maybe it was time to
have it replaced. She could probably get one at a decent price from that inventor,
the blue pegasus.. whatever his name was. Something with Clever or Closure,
or Clearance... Something that started with “Cl” anyway.

At mid-day she decided it was time for a short break, and she might as well
get the shopping done. She left the house and looked up at the sky.
Almost cloudless, but a few small drifting ones could be seen further away.
She made her way to the grocery store, run by an old mare.

“Good day, Miss Rarity.” the old mare welcomed her when she entered the shop.

“Oh, good day to you too, missus Weave.”

“What can I get you today?”

“Let’s see.. I already have the tomatoes... so I’ll need some broccoli, some leek,
and a jar of black olives. I’m making a pizza today. Oh, and I’ll also need flour
and salt, for the dough.”

“Pizza you say? how fancy. Special occasion perhaps?” The old mare smiled.

“Sort of. I’m leaving for ten days tomorrow. Fashion show in Manehattan.
So since it’s mine and Sweeties last night together for a while, we decided
to have something extra good for dinner.”

“I see, I see.. So she will be alone for so long?”

“Oh, of course not, I’ve arranged for her to stay at the Apple orchard for a few days,
and a few days home with a sitter.”

“Good, good. Oh, tell you what... I’ll throw in this pack of candy for her,
as a small gift from me. If that’s okay of course.” The old mare held up a pack
of rock candy.

“Hm, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” Rarity said, and took the pack with a smile.
“I better get going now, much left to do.” She said after paying, and left the store.
She went straight home after that, and continued sewing and drawing the autumn
line-up of clothes. A few more hours passed, and she went into the kitchen to start
the pizza baking. A little while later she heard the door open.

“Sweetie Belle, is that you?” She said in a slightly raised voice to make sure
she was heard out to the hallway.

“Yeah, it’s me. Do we have any band-aids? I pricked my leg on a rose thorn.”

“Oh my.. Nothing serious I hope?” Rarity asked, sounding a bit worried.

“No, nothing worse than usual.” Sweetie smiled sheepishly and showed Rarity
the small wound. It was barely even bleeding, but a band-aid for a few hours was
probably a good idea anyway, just in case. Rarity got a small bottle of cleaning
alcohol and a cotton pad. “This will probably sting a bit, but I need to make sure the
wound is clean, no matter how small it is.”

“I know, we’ve been through this countless times... Just get it over with..”

Rarity patted the wound with the alcohol drenched cotton pad, and Sweetie Belle
flinched a little but said nothing. She was used to the sting after the countless other
times she mentioned. Afterwards, Rarity applied the band-aid.
“We’ll let it sit overnight and take it off after breakfast tomorrow, the wound should
not even be visible anymore by then.”

“Is the food done soon? It’s starting to smell good here.” Sweetie said while sniffing
in the air.

“I’d say around five more minutes, so it’s almost done. Oh, and before I forget...
Quill Weave gave you a small bag of rock candy, orange flavored.
You can have ONE now as an appetizer, and the rest of it tomorrow.”

“wohoo, candy!” Sweetie Belle bounced like Pinkie Pie.

“After dinner, We should get to bed early. Although the train leaves at 10, we’ll
need to be up and ready long before that, so I’m going to set my alarm an hour
earlier. Speaking of which, I need to borrow your alarm clock. Mine.. uhm...”

“...was lying outside in the flower garden, I took it in. Still works.”

Rarity blushed. “Thanks.”

When the pizza was done, they both sat down and ate, and after dinner they went to bed.

Chapter 2 - The Day Before The Journey - Pinkies Day

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Chapter 3 - The Journey Begins

Rarity and Sweetie Belle were just done with their breakfast and walked out the door.

“So, I’ll be dropping you off at the farm, and then I’ll go to the station.”

“Wohoo!” Sweetie cheered and bounced a few times as they walked.

“You know, sometimes you remind me of Pinkie with that bouncing you do
when you get excited.”

“Maybe I should dye my mane pink?” Sweetie said jokingly.

“Maybe I should let you.” Rarity replied with a smirk.

After a short walk, they saw Applejack, Applebloom and Scootaloo walking down the
street. “Oh look, Sweetie. Applejack. Perfect, I can just drop you with her right away
and save some time.
As they walked up, Applejack noticed them.

“Good morning, Rarity.” Applejack said with a smile.

“Oh, same to you Applejack. What are you guys up to?”

“Visiting Twilight. Winona found some kind of orb yesterday, and we’re gonna ask
Twi to take a look, see if it’s some magical artifact or not.”

“Ah, I see..”

“And what about you? Today’s the day you and Pinkie were leaving for
Manehattan, right?”

Rarity smiled widely.

“Ooh, yes, I can barely wait! The Annual Mid-summer fashion show is in a couple of days,
and I have a ticket and a backstage pass to meet some of the
designers after the show and discuss their designs!”

Scootaloo looked slightly confused.

“...so why is Pinkie Pie going? She’s not in to fashion, is she?”

“No, darling,” Rarity responded. “However, she IS in to baking,
and during the same weekend there is also some cake competition event which SHE has tickets to,
so we thought we’d share a hotel room since we’re both going there.
Plus we get a chance to get to know each other a bit more, we’ve rarely spent any time
only the two of us.”

Sweetie Belle smiled at her two friends.

“Which means I get to stay at the Orchard with you, Applebloom!
At least three nights, maybe four!”

Scootaloos smiled. “Applejack, is it okay if I stay over too?! We can make it a Crusader Sleepover!”

Applejack thought for a few seconds.
“Hmm, sure, that’s okay with me as long as you all behave.”

“We will!” They all said together.

“We promise!” Sweete Belle added.

Applejack smiled. “Well, it’s settled then. We’ll go to Twi now and take care of this orb thing,
and after that you three can stay at the orchard until Rarity gets home.”

“YAY! Cutiemark Crusaders Sleepover Party!” They all yelled.

Sweetie Belle followed Applejack and the others, while Rarity took a turn to the left
and started her walk to the train station instead. She arrived fifteen minutes early,
so she decided to simply sit down and wait for Pinkie, and the train.
A few minutes later she saw Pinkie come bouncing, and when she noticed Rarity
she started waving and yelled, “Hi Rarity!”

* * *

Pinkie bounced down the stair, and was met by Mr. Cake cleaning off the tables
just before opening the café for the day.

“Morning, Mr. Cake!”

“Good morning, Pinkie. You seem more like yourself this morning.
Sleep better than yesterday?”

“Not really, but today I go to Manehattan! I’m so nervocited, I can barely
sit still!”

“You rarely can.” Mr. Cake smiled.

“You’re sure you can take care of the place without me?” Pinkie asked.

“Don’t worry about that. We managed fine before we hired you,
and I’m sure we’ll manage just fine for a few days without you know.
We’ve arranged for a babysitter for the twins so Mrs. Cake can take your part
of the work until you get back.”

“Okey dokey! And Gummy I already sent away to a Pet daycare together with Opal,
Tank, and Angel, and all the other critters.”

“Is it Fluttershys place? I thought she was going away too...”

“She is. But a friend of hers has a pet center, so we’re all dropping our pets there
while we’re gone, since Twily and AJ are too busy with all their work!”

“I see. Anyway, you better get going now Pinkie, otherwise you’ll have to run.”

“Byeee!” Pinkie said as she jumped out the door and bounced away.

She made her way to the station, where she saw Rarity sitting on a bench.
She waved her hoof and yelled, “Hi Rarity!”
Rarity waved back, and when Pinkie came closer she replied, “Ah, good morning Pinkie.
Ready for our trip I hope?”

“Of course! It’s gonna be so much fun! I’m taking you to a very nice café I know of,
You’ll love it! It’s a classy place, just like YOU like, and they have a lot of teas and
sweets and cakes and stuff that I like, so it’s the perfect combination of things
we both like!”

“Well, that does sound nice actually.. And we’ll arrive in the afternoon, so it should still
be open when we get there.. How about some afternoon tea at that place after we’ve
gotten our luggage to the hotel and checked in?” Rarity smiled.

“Okey dokey, good plan!”

“I’m really happy we decided to have the luggage sent to the station
and pre-packed, so we did not have to drag all those bags ourselves.”

“Yeah, that was really smart!”

“That delivery pony though.. A bit on the bulky side, wouldn’t you say?”

“His name is Bulk Biceps!” Pinkie smiled.

“...of course it is.” Rarity smiled and facehoofed.

“Yeah! He’s also a massage therapist at Aloe and Lotus’ place!”

“Really? I have never seen him there. Must be new I suppose.”

“No, but he only does those really intense massages, and you usually don’t
get that.”

“Well, that explains that. In any case, the train should be here any moment.”

“Want a candy?” Pinkie asked as she pulled the bag of rock candies out and took one
herself. She held the bag out toward Rarity.

“You know what, I think I actually will have one. I rarely eat candy,
but this is a special occasion after all.. Let’s see, what flavors are all these?
There’s so many colors, and I assume they all have different flavor.”

“They do! What would you like?”

“Well, something plain and simple I think. Maybe strawberry or something.”

Pinkie shook the bag a bit to mix the rocks around, looking for the strawberry ones.
“Found one!” she said triumphantly, and held up a clear-red piece of candy.

Rarity took it and smiled. “Mmm, these are actually quite good. Did you make these,
or buy them at Bon Bons?”

“Bon Bons.” Pinkie replied as she looked in the bag, searching for a specific piece.

After a few more minutes, a train pulled up and came to a complete stop.
Ponies and a griffon all disembarked, and after the train was empty,
ponies started boarding from the station.
Rarity asked one of the conductors, “Excuse me.. Is this the train to Manehattan?”
The old stallion nodded politely. “It is indeed, miss. If you’re going, you better board
now, we leave in ten minutes.”

“Very well, thanks.” Rarity smiled and turned around to Pinkie.

“This is our train, Pinkie. Get your candy back in the saddlebag and let’s go.”

Pinkie did as told, and bounced on board the train. They walked through the carts,
and Rarity found their box. “This is ours. I booked a box so we would get some privacy
and calm during the trip - plus, the seats are more comfortable in the boxes.”

“Good thinking, Rarity!”

Ten minutes later, they heard the conductor yell, “AAAAALL ABOOOOOAAAARD,
TRAIN FOR MANEHATTAN LEAVES IN ONE MINUTE! I REPEAT,
TRAIN, FOR, MANEHATTAN, LEAVES, IN, ONE, MINUTE!!!”

They felt a small shake, and heard the steam engine whistling loudly.
The train started slow, but steadily gained speed. “And thus, our journey begins...”
Rarity mused to herself. Pinkie was looking out the window, waving.
“Bye byeee, Ponyville!”

Chapter 4 - Train Ride

As the train started getting up to speed, Pinkie and Rarity both sat down in their box
in the cart, and prepared for the journey. They would arrive in Manehattan in roughly
six hours. Pinkie was looking out the window at the trees and other nature swooshing by
outside.

“We should arrive in Manehattan just before five in the afternoon.” Rarity said.

“And then we check in, and then we go to the cafe!” Pinkie replied

“Exactly, and after that I suggest we just rest and take it easy the rest of the day,
so we’re both well-rested tomorrow. I was thinking we could take a day in the town,
go sight-seeing and such. Then, the day after tomorrow, I plan to go see
the preparations and set-up for the fashion show. Maybe I’ll have a chance
to meet a designer or two BEFORE the shows start, and not only after.”
Rarity said with an excited smile.

“Sight-seeing sounds fun! Can we go find a candy shop?”

“Well, I’m sure we could, yes. Manehattan is a rather big city, I imagine they would
have several candy shops spread around, as well as tons of other shops with all sorts
of things. And I actually need a candy shop myself. I promised Sweetie Belle I would
get her something sweet, as a small gift. I might need your expertise in choosing
something suitable though.”

“Of course, I’ll help you find the bestest, sweetest, most tasty treat for Sweetie!”
Pinkie almost started bouncing on her seat.

“I’m sure you will, Pinkie.” Rarity said and smiled.

* * *

The first hour passed quickly, as Pinkie sat unusually still, looking out
the window, seemingly mesmerized by the nature passing by.
Meanwhile, Rarity was reading a book.

“What’cha reading?” Pinkie asked and finally moved from her fixed position.
Her neck made a few cracks as she turned her head. “Ow. Should’ve moved more.
An hour as a statue wasn’t good for the bones. Now I know how Discord
must have felt after his almost-thousand years like that!”

“Well, perhaps you should take a short walk then, and stretch the rest
of your body as well. Oh, and to answer your question, I’ve gotten into old crime novels
lately, so I’m reading an old Sherlock Hooves mystery,
‘The Diamond Dog of Baskerville’.”

“Ooh, Sherlock Hooves!” Pinkie said, and suddenly she had the Sherlock hat and bubble
pipe again, seemingly summoned from nowhere. “You’re probably right though,
a walk would be good for my limbs. I’ll be right back!”

“Would you mind going to the cafeteria cart and getting me some coffee?
I didn’t really sleep well last night.”

“That’s weird, neither did I! I had strange dreams!”

“That is even weirder.. so did I. Anyway, coffee now, we can discuss it later.”

“Come with me, we can discuss it and drink coffee in the cafeteria cart!”

“Very well, let’s do that.” Rarity smiled and put a bookmark in her book, and closed it.
“We better take our saddlebags with us though, one never knows what kind of lowlife
is on board. These days you can’t be completely safe from thieves anywhere,
not even on trains.”

“Thievery should be illegal!” Pinkie said. “If it was, nopony would do it!”

“Pinkie, dear, thievery IS illegal, it always has been. That’s the entire point
of being a thief. Doing something that is against the law.”

“Well, then maybe it should be legalized, so all the ponies who do it would
not feel challenged anymore and just stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, most criminals do it because they see it as a challenge - commit the crime,
don’t get caught, the loot and their freedom is the prize. If it wasn’t illegal, it wouldn’t
be a challenge anymore!”

“Wow Pinkie, sometimes you actually make sense. However, even if that is in fact
true for SOME criminals, it’s not true for ALL of them. the ‘challenge’ crimes is mainly
something small-timers do, like pickpockets and bag-grabbers. Organized crime is
much bigger, and is more about controlling the city, and the ponies in it.”

“How come you know so much about crime?”

“Well, like I said, I’ve been reading crime-fiction all summer.”

They got into the cafeteria cart and bought their coffee, and sat down.

“So, Pinkie, you said you had weird dreams?”

“Yeah! All night, I heard ghostly voices chanting ‘hook’ something ‘som’...something.”

“Hmm.. ‘Hoc Est Somnium’?” Rarity asked with a curious tone.

“Yes! How did you know?!”

“Well, in MY dream, I was sewing a collection of summer dresses..
On them, I was doing some embroidered text, summer-y stuff..
But every time I tried to make it, the words on the dress always became
‘hoc est somnium’ instead of the words I wanted.”

“Strange...” Pinkie said and slowly sipped her coffee.
“...Not enough sugar, too bitter....” She said to herself and took a sugar pack,
adding it to the coffee, and then another, and another.

“Anyway, It’s probably nothing, and if it IS, I’m sure it will be taken care of by the
time we get home. Weird things always seem to happen in and around Ponyville
ever since Twilight moved there and we became the Elements of Harmony.”

“Yeah, but it always ends well though, we always fix whatever it is!” Pinkie smiled,
and finally satisfied with her coffee, she drank it all in two gulps.

Rarity glanced at the 7 emptied sugar packs on the table and smiled,
thinking to herself, “This may actually be a fun trip...”

Chapter 6 - Acacias Spa

While Rarity prepared some breakfast, Pinkie slowly started waking up.
She crawled out of bed - literally - and moved toward the table, where she
sat down, mumbling something.

“What? Did you say something?” Rarity asked while boiling water for tea.

“I said, I need sugar...” Pinkie said, still with a drowsy, half-sleeping tone.

“Lucky you, I prepared some extra sugary tea for you, and I also prepared
an unhealthy breakfast of cinnamon buns for you, and slightly more healthy for me,
some oatmeal and toast.” Rarity said with a smile, levitating a plate of buns to Pinkie,
who immediately started eating, smiling more with each bun until she had finished
them all. She glanced over toward the bedside table.
“Hey Rar... Wasn’t there a alarm clock on that table when we went to sleep?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and mumbled something.

“Huh?” Pinkie said with a curious face.

“Oh, no, nothing... No, we... uhm... we didn’t have a clock, you must have
been mistaken... ehehee...” Rarity said, trying to sound innocent while sipping some
of her tea. “Anyway, what should we do today? I have no plans until tomorrow,
so today I am completely free.”

“Same here, I have no plans for several days!” Pinkie smiled. “Sightseeing tour
around town, and while we’re at it we can get the souvenir candy thingy for
Sweetie Belle too?” Pinkie suggested, with her smile widening.

“Hmm.. Yes.. that does sound like a good idea. I’m sure there is a lot to see.
The next question is, where should we go? Any specific places you wish to visit?”

Pinkie looked very thoughtful. “Hmmmmmmm....”

A few moments passed.

“....I have no idea...” Pinkie finally said.

“Well, how about... Maybe we could find a spa or something, and just have a relaxing
day then, and just take it easy. And also buy something for Sweetie of course.”

“Okay! We can ask the desk guy in the foyer about it, He should know!”

An hour later they arrived at a spa near the center of town, “Acacias Spa”.
They entered and found a mare, very similar to Aloe and Lotus in Ponyville,
but she had light green fur and a purple mane. Her accent was also slightly less
foreign when she spoke.

“Welcome, welcome.” She started. “My name is Acacia, and I run this place.
What can I help you two ladies with? Massage, mud bath, sauna, aroma therapy,
some relaxing tea?”

Rarity introduced herself and Pinkie. “My name is Rarity, and this is Pinkie Pie.
And we’d like a hooficure, face mask, and basic massage please.”

Pinkie looked at the mare with a questioning look.

“You have questions?” Acacia asked her.

“Yes. Are you related to Aloe and Lotus, who lives in Ponyville?!”

“Well, no.”

“But you look the same, you have the same mane style as them!”

“Oh, that’s an easy mistake to make. It’s a standard Spa style, used by almost all
spa workers. That’s why we all look alike.” Acacia smiled.
She pointed at a door. “Anyway, shall we get started? I am currently free,
so I can take care of you two right away, no waiting required.”

“I want some of that tea too.” Pinkie said.

“First, allow me and a colleague to massage you both. After the massage,
you will get the face masks, hooficures, and tea.”

“Sounds divine!” Rarity smiled.

“Oh, it is, I often have the treatment myself.” Acacia smiled.

“I’m actually a rather frequent visitor at the spa in Ponyville myself.
You see, we’re just in town here visiting for a few days.” Rarity said.

“I see, you are tourists. Well, I hope you have an enjoyable stay.” Acacia smiled.

After the massage, the two mares were sitting in saloon chairs with their faces (mostly)
covered in green mud.

“What’s in this muddy stuff?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh, herbs and honey and such, various things that are good for the skin and fur.”
Acacia replied while working on Pinkies left front hoof.

“Is it edible?” Pinkie continued.

“Well... technically I guess it is, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The taste is
very bitter and strange, so try not to get any in your mouth, miss.”

Rarity let out a relaxed sigh, as Acacias colleague, a citrus yellow mare with blue mane,
worked on her hoofs. The mares name was Hibiscus.

“So you are tourists.” Hibiscus said. “Mind if I ask what brings you here?
Business or pleasure?”

“A bit of both, I suppose. You see, I am going to the annual fashion show,
and Pinkie here is participating in a baking contest in a few days.” Rarity replied.

“Aah, I see. I’m not much of a fashion pony myself, But I do know of the annual event.
Are you participating or viewing?”

“This year I’m viewing, but some day I hope to participate as well.”

“Well, I wish you luck with that then. Now, next hoof please.” Hibiscus said.

Acacia continued with Pinkies hoofs.

“Have you heard of the crime waves?” Acacia asked.

“I read in the news a couple of days ago that there were some crimes here,
yes.. I did not realize it was a whole crime wave though. Have there been a lot of
crimes recently then?” Rarity replied and took a sip of her tea. “Oh, and this tea..
interesting flavor, what’s in it?”

Acacia smirked. “Nothing special... just some tranquilizer.”

“Wha...” Rarity began, but dozed off. Pinkie had already fallen asleep moments earlier.
Some time passed, And the two mares slowly awoke. Rarity looked around, and noticed
that the two spa mares were gone.

“What happened?” Pinkie asked, still a bit drowsy from the tranquilizer tea.

“I’m not sure, but I suspect we were tricked and robbed...” Rarity said.
“Hold on, let me check...”.

She grabbed her hoofbag and dug through it. “My money is gone...”
Pinkie shook her head. “What? No! How?”

“I don’t think those were real Spa ponies...” Rarity said.

Pinkie looked around the room with an angry stare. “Where did they go?!
I’ll kick their flanks to the moon! Nopony messes with me of my friends!”

“There’s nothing we can do here, Pinkie... We’d better just go find a police
officer and report this, maybe they can help. In any case, It wasn’t much money,
I left most of it in the hotel. I only brought enough for the Spa and the candy.”

“But...Revenge...” Pinkie said, still angry.

Rarity took a few deep breaths. “Pinkie... No. That would only make it worse.
We have to report it, That’s the best option. Come with me, We passed a
police station on the way here, We’ll head there and talk to somepony.”
They left the Spa and quickly made their way to the police station.

“Yes, can I help you?” An old stallion behind a desk said as they walked in.

“We were robbed, and we want to report it.” Rarity said.

“Mm, ‘kay... Wait here, I’ll get somepony.” The old stallion said and walked further
in to the building. A few minutes passed, and he returned together with a slightly
younger but still old stallion, maybe in his forties.

The officer approached Rarity and extended his hoof. “My name is Gun Point,
but you can call me Gunny. Most ponies do. You said you have been robbed?”

“Yes, exactly. My name is Rarity, and this is Pinkie Pie.”

“Follow me to my office, and we’ll talk.” The stallion said and started walking,
waving his hoof as a ‘follow me’ signal.
When they reached Gunny’s office, they all entered. Gunny sat down behind his desk,
and pointed at a couple of chairs.

“Now ladies, Sit down, and tell me everything. Start with a quick summery,
and then fill me in on all the details..” He said and pulled out a notepad.

“We went to Acacias Spa, where they drugged and robbed us...” Rarity began.

Author's Note

Fun Facts: Aloe and Lotus are both named after plants (aloe vera is a cactus, Lotus is a flower).
Therefore, I decided to use plant names for my spa ponies as well.

Acacia is a tree, and hibiscus is a small flower. Google them if you wanna see how they look.

Chapter 7 - What's Really Going On

“Ok,” Gunny said after Rarity finished talking, “First of all, those two were not the
real Acacia and Hibiscus. They were impostors. We actually know who they are.
They are a couple of sisters who uses some kind of transformation potion to
temporarily alter their appearance, and impersonate others, and use that to
rob others. That’s what happened to you two.”

“So, who are they really, if they’re not Spa mares?” Rarity asked.

“Well believe it or not, they’re actually a pair of Zebras, and twins.”

“Zebras? Aren’t those rare in Equestria?” Pinkie asked, slightly surprised.

“Yes, and that’s what makes these two unique. When they’re not in disguise,
they’re easy to spot in crowds, so they usually stay hidden or wear hooded capes.
As for their potion, we’re not quite sure about all the details, but we’ve managed
to get our hoofs on some of it when we raided one of their hideouts a couple of
days ago. We have our lab guys looking into it, and we’ve also summoned an expert
in potions to help out with it.”

“Hm.. And what about us? What happens now? Is there anything we can do to help?”

“At the moment, no. However, I need you both to stay in town a few days,
so that if we need to contact you, we can. And also in case you remember anything
else that you may have forgotten to mention now.”

“Oh that’s not a problem at all, we already planned to stay a few days.
Like I said, we’re here on vacation for the week.”

“Just one more thing. When you woke up, did you find a note?
Most likely containing some vague directions?”

“Hmm... No, I saw no such note. Pinkie, did you?”

“Nope, no notes!”

“Why do you ask?” Rarity added.

“Because, sometimes when those two strike, they leave some vague clues to their next
hit, and sometimes they don’t, so every time we get reports that sound like them,
we check the crime scene carefully for notes. Usually it’s a piece of paper,
or scribbles on walls, that sort of thing.”

Gun Point turned toward the half-open door and yelled, “Somepony get Storm Feather
to my office ASAP!”

A few minutes later a raven-headed griffin entered the room. He was wearing a dark grey
tie and a trilby hat of the same color, with a silver band.

“You wanted me, Gunny?” He said with a raspy voice.

“Yeah. New Twins case.”

“Damn, another one? And I assume, these two ladies are the victims this time?”

“Yeah.” Gunny said shortly.

“My name is Storm Feather. Pleased to meet you.” The griffin said and extended his
talon toward Rarity and Pinkie.

“My name is Rarity, and this is Pinkie Pie.” Rarity replied, smiling politely.

“So, where’s the crime scene this time?” Storm asked and turned toward Gunny.

“Acacias Spa. I’ll need you to...” Gunny said, and Storm interrupted him mid-sentence,
“...Go there and investigate, and specifically search for notes.”

“Yeah, exactly. Can you get on it right away?” Gunny continued.

“After lunch, I gotta catch up on paperwork which is already delayed.”

“Good enough. And while you’re here, how are the lab guys doing with the potion?
Any news on what the buck that stuff is?”

“As far as we can tell, you need to add something from the pony you wanna copy,
like a strand of hair or something, and mix it into the potion before drinking. And then,
you physically become a perfect copy of that pony. Effect’s temporary though,
seems to last a couple hours each dose, and then you can’t use it for several hours
until it’s completely out of your system.”

“And does it only work with ponies, or can other creatures be copied too?”

“Don’t know yet, they’re testing that later today. I gave them a couple of
my feathers to use.”

“Good. Now then, back to you two...” Gunny said and turned back to Rarity.
“Like I said, I’ll need you to stay in town. I’m gonna need to know where
you’re staying, in case we need to contact you. Also, I’d like you both to return
tomorrow, I might have more questions. And in any case, I want to keep you updated,
since you are now involved in the case, to some extent.”

“Sure, we can come here tomorrow... any specific time?” Rarity replied.

“In the late morning, around 11.00.”

“That sounds doable, yes.. I was planning to go to the Fashion show pre-show meeting,
but that’s in the afternoon.”

“And I have no plans at all tomorrow, so I can come too!” Pinkie said, now starting
to smile again.

“I’ll be here too. And now, I’ll follow you to the door.” Storm Feather offered.
The two ponies both nodded and followed Storm.

“So, Storm Feather.. What is it you do around here?” Rarity asked with a curious yet
polite tone. Storm smiled slightly.

“I’m part of the local C.S.I. team.”

“What’s a C.S.I. team?” Pinkie asked.

“It stands for ‘Crime Scene Investigation’.” Storm explained.
“Basically means that when there’s a crime, me and the other CSI guys search the crime
scene and the surrounding area for clues. Stuff like bullet casings, hoof prints, blood
stains, drugs, weapons, things out of place, and so on. You’d be surprised how much
you can learn by thoroughly searching the scene.”.

“So THAT’S what you’re going to do at the spa after lunch today?” Pinkie continued.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ll be doing today. Hopefully, we’ll find something to lead us to them,
so that we can catch them. Those two should be kept behind bars.”

“Well, Thank you for the help. We’ll return tomorrow as promised.” Rarity said as
Storm opened the door and let her and Pinkie out.

“You both take care now.”
Storm said as they left. “We will.” They both replied, and walked away.

Soon, they reached the hotel, and went upstairs to their room.
The day had been more eventful than either of them had expected,
so they were both tired. The remainder of the day was spent inside, resting and talking.
Time passed, and soon the sun went down. “I think it’s best if we go to bed. Long day
tomorrow.” Rarity said with a small yawn. Pinkie agreed, and so they both went to bed,
but they both found it hard to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, The two ponies woke up at 09.30, and took their time to get ready.
At 11.00, they arrived at the Police station as agreed the previous day.
They went inside and spoke to the receptionist pony again.

“We’re here to meet officers Gun Point and Storm Feather.” Rarity said.

“Sit down an’ wait, I’ll go get Gun Point.” the old pony said and walked away.
Just like last time, a few minutes passed, and the old pony returned, followed by
Gun Point. “Ah, good, you’re here. Sleep well?”

“Not really, but at least we slept.” Rarity replied.

“Well, Storm and his team made some progress. They did indeed find a note.
It was on a piece of parchment under the cash register. There’s a... small problem.”

“What?”

“You said you were going to the fashion show, right? Well, it seems they are too.
We’re not sure what they would want there though, so maybe you can help us
figure that part out, miss Rarity?”

“The Fashion show?! Well... Some of the dresses might have expensive gems,
and the dresses themselves are often expensive and very exclusive too,
and many of them are made of expensive materials...”

“Like we suspected then, but we weren’t sure. In that case, that’s probably what
they’re after this time.”

Pinkie looked around. “Where’s Stormy?”

“...Stormy? Oh, you mean Storm Feather. He’s down in the CSI lab with the other CSI’s,
trying to figure out the potion. Like I said, we called in expert help for that,
but she hasn’t come yet. She should be here any second though...”

A few moments later, the door opened, and a pony walked in.
Rarity turned around to see, and when she saw who the pony at the door was,
her eyes widened in surprise.

“you?!” She exclaimed. “What are you doing here?!”

Chapter 8 - An Unexpected Appearance

Pinkie turned around too, and her eyes widened as well when she
saw the pony who had just enter the room.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to offer the police her help with the crime wave!
What are YOU TWO doing here?!”

“You, helping with a criminal investigation? I find that hard to believe, Trixie.”
Rarity said, with a clearly skeptical tone.

Gunny raised an eyebrow. “You guys know each other?”

“We do. Sort of.” Rarity began. “Some time ago, Trixie was possessed by a cursed relic
and tried to take over our town. And before that, she had some magic show that basically
just pissed everypony off, because she was so obnoxious and annoying, most ponies
didn’t like her.” She continued.

“Trixie has put all of that behind her now!” Trixie said in a defending tone.
“Trixie came here to Manehattan after the incident with the Alicorn Amulet,
in order to start a new life! And Trixie truly HAS done that!”

Shortly after though, a second pony entered the room, an elder stallion dressed in a
lab coat and (very) thick glasses, and some grey strands in the fur on his face.
He must have been around Granny Smiths age, or at least close to it, Rarity thought.

“Friends of yours, Trix?” The old pony said when he noticed the others.
He had a slightly germane accent, noticeable but not heavy.

“Trixie wouldn’t quite say ‘friends’, more like old acquainted.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t even go that far. We know of each other, but we don’t technically
KNOW each other.” Rarity said. “And, if you don’t mind me being blunt, who might you
be, Sir?”

“Oh, pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name ist Erlen Meyer.
I am Trixies grand father, on her vaters side.”

“Vater?” Pinkie asked in a very curious tone.

“Pardon him again.” Trixie said. “Sometimes, he mixes in germane words
when he speaks. He’s from Germane-y. ‘vater’ means ‘father’. Trixies dad is half
germane.”

“I didn’t know that!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Well, it iz true.” the old pony said.

Gun Point now approached the old stallion. “Thank you for coming, Dr. Meyer.
I trust you have been informed of the situation?”

“I have, yez, Gun Point. Take me to ze laboratorium, and I shall begin my experiments
to determine how ze potion actually work.”

Gun Point turned toward Rarity, Pinkie and Trixie.

“You three, can I leave you here for a few minutes while I escort Dr. Meyer to the lab?
I need to talk to you all some more.”

All three ponies nodded, and Gun Point left the room, followed by the old stallion.
Rarity turned to Trixie, while Pinkie entertained herself by building a card house
with a deck of playing cards she found on Gun Points desk.

“So, Trixie.. You say you’re going to help? I’m curious as to HOW you plan on doing
that. I mean, in my experience, you’re not exactly the helpful type.”

Trixie sighed. “Trixie TOLD you, she’s changed!”

“You still speak in third person and refer to yourself by name, though.”

“Trixie can’t change everything at once, so Trixie focused on her personality
first, and will take some speech therapy for the third-person thing later.”

“Oh, well then, what are you going to do for the police?”

“Well, as you noticed, Trixies grandfather is helping with the potion.
So, Trixie figured, she could be useful too. Think about it. These zebras are
con artists, using trickery and identity theft, illusions, misleading, and such
to perform their crimes. Does that remind you of anypony?”

“That sounds like you!” Pinkie gasped. “At least most of it...”

“Exactly.” Trixie said triumphantly. “Using Trixies old knowledge from her
former life style, Trixie can help the police now, since Trixie knows many of the
tricks and tactics the zebras may be using, which the police do NOT know of.”

“That... actually makes sense.” Rarity said slowly. “I admit, that DOES sound like a
good idea. You DO have knowledge the police don’t, when it comes to that sort of thing.
You did base an entire career on it, after all, and you were mostly successful
until you came to Ponyville...”

“Also, Trixie.. would like to apologize for that.. for her former self...”

Pinkie once again interjected. “It’s okay, you were under the influence of dark magic!
Wasn’t your fault!”

“Oh, but it WAS Trixies fault. The first time, Trixie was NOT under influence,
and the second time Trixie deliberately found and bought the amulet, it was no
accident at all.”

“But the amulet WAS more powerful than you thought, so that one was only
PARTIALLY your won fault.” Rarity said.

“Anyway.. Trixie would like to apologize, and.. hopes that maybe..
Just maybe... You may actually call Trixie ‘friend’ one day.
Trixie knows it may take a lot of time before that happens,
But she is willing to do anything it takes!”

“Well... You DID cause a lot of trouble in Ponyville.. both times..
But on the other hoof, I am not the type of pony who holds a grudge forever.
I am willing to give you a third chance, Trixie. However, if you mess this one up,
you won’t get a fourth chance. Deal?”

“Trixie agrees, and thanks you from the depth of her heart!” Trixie said, with an actual
smile on her face. Not her usual smug grin but an actual, honest smile,
Pinkie noticed, and she too smiled.
Another few minutes passed. Pinkie still had not managed to get above two levels
of her card house, Rarity and Trixie were both just sitting quietly and waiting.
The door opened, and Gun Point returned. “I’m back. Now, Trixie was it? You had some
information or something?”

“Trixie is correct, yes. And no, Trixie does not have information, Trixie is here to offer
her knowledge in Con artistry. You see, Trixie once used to be a con artist, like the zebras
you are now looking for. Therefore, Trixie would be a valuable asset to the investigation.”

Trixie continued to explain the same thing she had told Rarity a few minutes earlier.
Gunny stroked his chin, thoughtfully. “Hmm... It does sound like you’d be useful...
I’ll talk to my superiors, and see if we can involve you as a ‘civilian asset’, like your grandfather.
Gonna take some time though, I’ll contact you later about it and tell
you if you’re in or not. As for you two,” he said, turning to Rarity and Pinkie,
“You’re both free to go now, as long as you remain in town like I said last time.
If you remember any more details, see or hear anything else suspicious, or encounter
the sisters again, contact me personally, don’t waste time with the regular police calls.
Here’s my card, with my number and other contact info. And one for you as well, Trixie.”

He gave each of the three mares a card.
The three mares walked out from his office, and left the station.

“Now what?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, I’m going to the fashion show pre-show setup, since I have a backstage pass.
It does say ‘+1’, so I can bring you as well if you want, Pinkie.”

“As for Trixie, she has some other stuff to attend to. perhaps we shall meet again,
if Trixie gets involved in the investigation.”

“Yes, I’m sure we’ll meet again. For now though, have a nice day. Good bye.”

Rarity smiled as she and Pinkie turned left from the station, while Trixie turned right.
As they split up, Trixie turned her head for a second, smiling as she watched the other
two mares. The mares she had once called nothing but citizens with wallets, but now..
Maybe she had a chance to call them friends.

“Bye...”

Chapter 9 - Another Reunion

Rarity walked at a modest pace, with Pinkie half-walking, half-bouncing next to her.

“Do you think we’ll meet any fashion-celebrities while we’re there?” Pinkie asked
with a curious smile.

“Well, this is not one of the most highly rated fashion shows, so I doubt we’ll meet any
of the biggest names... maybe just one or two, if we’re lucky. It is more likely that we will
meet half-famous designers, locally well-known ones, and up-and-coming designers who
might become big names in the future.”

“So this is like... A medium-famous show?”

“I... suppose you could call it that, yes.”

“So... You think we’ll meet anypony you know?”

“Probably, but I’m not sure who. There are a lot of fashion ponies in and within travel
distance from Manehattan, so we shall have to wait and see. Plus, many of them are not
participating in the event, they’re just watching, like me. And only a few backstage passes
were given out, most guests only got regular passes. So we’ll mainly meet the designers
today, and since most of them will be busy we’re mostly just going to walk around and
watch as they set up and prepare for tomorrow, and maybe talk to some ponies if we
find anypony who isn’t too busy.”

“I see. When we’re done, can we go back to the cafe on the way back? It’s almost on the
same way, just a small detour. I want some pie and milkshake after the fashion-thingy.”

“Hm, yes, that sounds like a good idea. I wouldn’t mind another piece of the carrot cake
they served, it was quite delicious.” Rarity smiled.

After a little while, they reached the locale where the fashion show was being set up.
They found their way around the building to a side door, with a large bulky, but
still friendly-looking griffin standing beside the door. Rarity approached him,
carefully but not too obviously so.

“E-excuse me.. Is this where the Manehattan Fashion Show is being set up?”

The griffin nodded slightly and smiled. “Yeah, this is it. You a designer?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not attending this show.. however, I have this backstage pass
to go inside now, during the setup. It also says I can bring a +1, so this is my friend,
Pinkie Pie... Oh, and my name is Rarity. From Ponyville.”

The griffin pulled out a wooden board with a few papers stapled unto it and started
scanning the lines of text with his eyes. “Ah, yeah, Here. Found ya. You’re on the list,
and you’re allowed a +1, so she can go with you.” he said, and nodded toward Pinkie
when he finished. “I’ll be the door guard during the shows as well, So I guess I’ll
see you again tomorrow.”

“Oh, well, I suppose so, yes. Well, thanks for the help, Mr...?”

“Greybeak. An’ I know my beak is yellow, It’s more of a family name.
Everyone in my family is named Grey-something.”

“I see. Well, thanks again, Mr. Greybeak.” Rarity nodded as Greybeak opened the door
and let her and Pinkie Pie inside. “First door on the left further down.”
He added as they entered, and found themselves in a corridor.
Just like Greybeak had said, there was a door on the left further in, which was unlocked.
Rarity gently knocked and entered, followed by Pinkie.
Once they got inside, they both looked around. As expected, they saw ponies (and a
griffin), rows of hangers and boxes filled with clothes and accessories, and spare
materials in case repairs or edits were needed. Rarity immediately felt like home,
as she was used to being backstage on fashion events, and Pinkie Pie, despite her usual
energy and curiosity managed to stay unusually calm. That is, her hoofs stayed calm,
while her head and eyes spun around as quickly as possible to see as much as
possible of the room and everything in it.

“Let’s see if we can find somepony you know!” She said in her usual, happy tone.

“I am looking, Pinkie, but so far I’ve only seen ponies I know OF, nopony I actually
know as a friend or acquainted.”

“Oh. Oh. OH! Rarity! Look!” Pinkie suddenly exclaimed and started to bounce,
and pointed across the room. At the far end, standing turned away from them
and seemingly very focused on a rack of dresses, stood a pony. One Rarity
knew. One she had not met in a long time.

Coco Pommel.

* * *

Coco was staring at the row of dresses in front of her. Something looked out of order, she thought.
Something felt... missing. She carefully looked over each dress, one by one,
trying to figure out what the problem could be, when she noticed hoofsteps moving
closer. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw a pony she recognized. Or rather,
two, she realized as she saw the second one bouncing into her view.

“Rarity? Pinkie? Is that really you?” she said with a surprised smile as they came
close enough to hear.

Rarity and Pinkie both smiled in response.

“Yes, it’s really us!” Pinkie said.

“I did not know you’d be partaking in this show?” Coco asked, nodding to Rarity.

“Oh, I’m not, I’m only here as a viewer this year. I did however get a hold on a backstage
pass and +1 access, that’s why me and Pinkie are in here now. And what about you?
Are YOU competing, or do you have a backstage pass too?”

Coco smiled. “Something in between. I’m not personally competing,
but I’m assisting a colleague who is. I work for a small design company here in
Manehattan. We make custom dresses based on ponies’ own ideas and requests,
instead of mass-producing the same thing over and over.”

“Sounds like your boutique, Rarity! That’s what you do too!” Pinkie gasped.

“Ah, well, it is similar to the Carousel Boutique, yes.” Coco replied.

“My boutique is surely a bit smaller than yours though, if you have colleagues.”
Rarity smiled. “I mean, I’m running my place by myself.”

“Indeed.” Coco continued, “Our company is a bit bigger than your boutique.
We have a three-story building and ten employees, myself included.
One basement storage area, shop on the ground level, and the workshop upstairs.
Two ponies in the shop, One in the storage, Six dressmakers upstairs, plus the boss.”

“And you are one of the dressmakers, I assume?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, that’s correct. I started there a couple of months ago. Before that, I was
the costume department on the theater group you helped me find when we met
last time, when you were here for a fashion show.”

“Yes, I remember that. Your previous boss before the theater stole my unique fabrics
and forced me into panic-improvising a whole collection over-night. I was very lucky
to have all my friends there that time, without them I would never have had time
to make all the new clothes out of ‘borrowed’ hotel items.”

“True, but in the end she was disqualified and you won.” Coco smiled.

“Yeah, well, enough about that now. Tell me more about what’s going on
here, right now. You say your colleague is competing, and you’re assisting?”

“Ah, yeah.. I’m trying to. You see, this is our collection...” Coco motioned toward
the hanger filled with colorful dresses. “But there’s... something missing.
These dresses needs something more, but we just can’t figure out what we’re missing.”

“Can I take a closer look? A fresh set of eyes is always a good trick when you get stuck
in designs, trust me.”

“I can look too! More fresh eyes!” Pinkie smiled widely.

Coco took a step aside. “Feel free, I’ll take your help any time.”

Raritys trained eyes scanned each dress carefully, inspecting the seems, the fabrics,
the accessories, folds, and other details. “Hmm... I think I have an idea,
but it would take around... two hours to fix it if you’re alone.”

“What’s your idea?” Coco asked curiously.

“See these seems here?” Rarity pointed at one of the dresses. “That, and the similar ones
on the rest of the dresses, could easily be replaced with a thicker thread. I’d say,
a shiny gold thread, 20% thicker than the current one. That way, it becomes more
visible, and the gold adds a small but noticeable accent to the overall design,
plus the gold would match the color schemes on all of the dresses.
Except of course, the golden dress at the end, in that one you switch to a plain black
thread, to make it visible. That’s what you’re missing. These dresses need VISIBLE
threads, not color-matched hidden stitches.”

Cocos eyes grew wide. “Of course! How did I miss that? Now, I have work to do.
If you excuse me, I need to run several blocks to get to the shop and get the threads.
It was good to see you again though, and I hope we meet again soon. You could come
visit me sometime you know. ”

“I sure can, and I will. And maybe we’ll meet again soon, I’m here for a few days.”

Coco gave both Pinkie and Rarity a quick hug before running off out of the room.
On her way, she shouted to somepony that she was leaving, and that the problem was
solved. Rarity assumed she was shouting to her colleague.

“How nice to meet Coco again.” Rarity smiled.

“Yeah, that was fun! But.. now what?” Pinkie said. “What do we do now?
Cafe time?”

“Cafe time.” Rarity replied with a smile and started walking.

Chapter 10 - Before The Fashion Show Begins

The next morning, shortly after they had their breakfast, Pinkie was standing outside
on the balcony while Rarity tried to decide which one of her five dresses to wear at
the Fashion show later. While doing so, she was mumbling to herself.

“Hm.. I could take the blue one... but the red one is smoother.. Then again,
the crimson brings out my eyes more, and I DO want to get noticed even if
I’m not participating in the show itself... But the grey one has a certain unique
charm to it too, and that one makes my hair look even more vibrantly purple..
The black one IS a simple choice, but it might be a bit too much ‘funeral’
unless I add some colorful accessory...But what should I use?
Colored ribbons? A matching set of pearl necklace and hoof band?
A flower? Gah, so many choices...”

She turned toward the balcony.

“Pinkie darling, would you come in here for a moment? I can’t decide which dress to
wear, they all look amazing and they all have various advantages over each other!”

Pinkies voice came from the half-open balcony door.

“So why’d ya bring so many? You should just have taken one!”

“Because if I had done that, I would end up regretting it and wanting one of the ones
I didn’t bring! I had to bring them all! It was the only logical solution!”

“Silly Rarity. I’ll help you!” Pinkie said, and came bouncing inside.
“Let me see what you have!”

Rarity waved her hoof toward the two beds, on which the five dresses and a few
accessories and two hats were all laid out. Pinkie took a closer look, focusing
on the left bed, where the black dress and the accessories was.

“Hmmmmmmm....” She started.

“Well? You think I should go with the black one then?”

“......yeeeees.” Pinkie said slowly. “Yes. Black dress. black hat. And this!”
She finished, pointing at a wide-chained gold necklace with a ruby pendant.

“That certainly does sound like a good combination. Thank you!” Rarity smiled.
“Now, are you coming with me to the show, or do you have other plans for the day?”

Pinkie gave Rarity a blank look.

“Pinkie?” Rarity asked.

“....Good question. I don’t know yet... I mean, I like you, and I like clothes, but I’m not
THAT much into the whole fashion-show thing, I’m more into the after-parties.
Speaking of which, is there going to be one at this event, and if there is, can we go?
Can we? Can we? Can we? Pleeeease?” Pinkie said with her usual large smile.

“Well, there IS going to be a sort of ‘party’ I suppose, but it’s not going to be like
your Pinkie-parties. This is more high class, so it’s going to be closer to the Gala
in terms of style. Formal yet simple, classical music, champagne, you know,
that sort of party. Just a bunch of fashion ponies mingling and small-talking.”

“Boooooring!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’ll pass if it’s gonna be THAT kind of
so-called party. Parties should have dance music and dancing, and confetti,
and a punch bowl, and snacks, and FUN!”

“Well, I figured you’d say that, that’s why I didn’t bother mentioning it.
I haven’t quite decided if I’m going myself actually. As for now,
I plan on going to the show itself, and then backstage just after the show ends.
The party will be an hour or so after that, so I might stay.”

“Do it, I know you wanna meet the other fashion ponies!”

“But what about you? I don’t want to leave you with nothing to do...”

“I’ll go back to the cafe, and also I can go to the amusement park, or the Arcade place,
or the Manehattan Zoo, or a museum, or a Party store, candy store... Don’t worry,
I have lots of ideas!” Pinkie smiled and bounced back out to the balcony,
humming to herself. “La la la la laaaa...”

“Very well then” Rarity thought, That settles that. Black dress and hat,
Fashion show, after-party. Who knows, I might meet some handsome stallion
to flirt with.

As Rarity repacked the other dresses and left the black one on the bed,
there was a knock on the door. A voice from outside spoke loudly,
to be heard through the door.

“Miss Rarity, Miss Pinkie Pie? This is the Manehattan Police Department,
We’re here on Gun Points orders. Please open the door.

* * *

Rarity looked surprised at first, but it quickly passed as she realized it must be related to
the zebra sisters case. She hastily fixed her mane, and spoke in a clear voice toward the
door while doing so. “It’s unlocked, you can just enter.”

The door opened, and Storm Feather walked in, followed by an old stallion Rarity did not
recognize. Storm walked up to her, with a polite smile on his face.

“Excuse the intrusion, but Gun Point told us to come here.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, you’re not intruding at all. I was just preparing my clothes
for later.” Rarity replied and motioned toward the bed where her dress was still laid out.

The old stallion now turned toward Storm. “You owe me twenty bits.”

Storm sighed and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine.. I’ll pay you when we get back to the
station, I left my wallet in my locker.”

Rarity gave them both a curious, and slightly surprised look. “hm?”

Storm looked at her and waved his talon at the old pony. “We made a bet that the potion
wouldn’t work, at least not for more than a few minutes. But it did, and now I owe her.”

“What do you mean, ‘her’? That’s a stallion...” Rarity said, confused.

“You’ll see. The potion should wear off any second now.”

At that moment, Pinkie came in from the balcony. “Hi!”

Suddenly, the old stallion emitted a blinding light, causing everyone in the room
to get blinded for a few seconds. When their sight returned, Rarity looked at the stallion.
Or rather, where the stallion stood before the flash. Now, somepony else stood there,
looking at Storm.

“Trixie TOLD you it would work! Grand-papa never fails a potion, he is a true expert!”

Pinkie gasped loudly, with her eyes wide. “Trixie! Hi! That was amazing!”

Rarity seemed confused at first, but quickly grasped the situation.
“Oh, I think I understand.. Your grandfather managed to replicate the potion
the sisters use, and you tried it yourself... correct?”

“Correct. And as you can see, it works.” Trixie replied. Then Storm started explaining.

“What you do is, you mix the potion, and then add something from the pony you wish to ‘become’. Something like strand of their mane, or a tuft of fur. Or a feather, if it’s a pegasus. Then, you drink it. When you do, you physically transform into the other pony. Your voice and all changes too. But it’s only purely superficial, no memories or skills or knowledge or anything like that is copied, so for each pony they have done this to, they must also have studied their targets behavior, accent, work, and so on. They are probably trained actresses, based on how skillfully they imitate each target.”

Then, Trixie added, “In our test, we took some fur from an officer who volunteered,
and Trixie volunteered to drink it since she - I mean, I, know magic. Sorry, I’m still
not used to not talking in third person.. old habits die hard, you know.
Anyway, as I was saying... I know magic better than the cops and CSI guys,
so I drank the potion after grand-papa made it and mixed in the fur sample.
When I drank it, a similar flash like the one now happened, and suddenly I was a
perfect copy of him, physically speaking. Not even his friends could tell us apart
until they asked questions only he knew the answer to.”

“So, now we know how the potion works, and we have some ourselves...
That could be useful.” Rarity said.

Storm looked at her. “Indeed. Also, we’re here for another reason. We need you to help
us some more. You said you were going to that fashion event, and the sisters are
supposedly going there as well. So we need you to keep your eyes open and alert,
and inform us of anything that seems out of place in any way. Even the smallest thing
could be important, so if you agree to do this, you need to be focused.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll look and listen for any suspicious things, and if anything happens
I’ll tell you as soon as I can. I’m also attending the after-party, and who knows?
Maybe THAT’S where they plan on striking? Many of the guests will be wearing
expensive jewelry for example, which I imagine would be a likely target for thieves.”

“Glad we could get you on board with this, miss Rarity.” Storm said with a polite
smile. “If you need anything, you have Gunnys contact info.”

“Heeey, I got an idea!” Pinkie said, looking at Trixie. “What if Trixie goes with you,
instead of me, since you have a Plus-one ticket, and I’m not going? Trixie could come
instead, and you two could BOTH look for suspicious things!”

“That’s... actually not a bad idea.” Rarity said.

“Trixie agrees. Although, I don’t know much about fashion, but I DO know a lot
about con-artistry, so I can detect the small, easily missed signs and tricks.”

“Then it’s settled.” Storm said. “You two will go to the fashion show, and see
if you can find the sisters. If you do, do NOT engage them, but keep your eyes on them.
We can’t arrest them during the show, too much commotion and civilians.
We’ll keep them under watch, and take them down somewhere else, somewhere
less crowded.”

“But what if we don’t find them?” Rarity asked.

“If you don’t, don’t worry. They might not strike today, that show is a multi-day-event,
right? So you’ll just go every day, and keep looking. And even if you can’t find them
at all, don’t worry. We may not get them this time, but sooner or later we will,
and when we DO, they’ll pay for everything they’ve done. Those two are going to jail,
and they’re not getting out in a long, long time.”

Chapter 11 - Fashion Show Begins

The police left the hotel room, but Trixie stayed behind.
She rubbed her neck nervously. Rarity smiled.

“Relax, Trixie. We’re not mad about your past. It is the past after all.
Perhaps you would like some tea, or coffee? We have a little time to kill before
we need to leave for the show.”

“Tri.. I - would love some tea, if it’s not too much trouble.” she said with a small smile.

“Not at all.” Rarity replied. “I was going to make some for myself anyway.” she added as
she went to the ‘kitchen’ area of the room and started boiling water.
“We don’t have much of a selection though, I’m afraid. Your choices are...
Earl Grey, Lemon, or Rose.”

“Well, in that case I would like the rose tea please.” Trixie said and sat down
at the table. “What about Pinkie? Should I go ask her if she wants some?”

“No need, she’s in her own little world by now. She’s humming and staring at the
horizon. Good luck making any contact with her for a while. She goes into a trance,
and just stands there, daydreaming.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? I mean, if it happens at the wrong moment.”

“Oh, she only does that when she knows it’s safe, like when she’s inside and
with friends nearby. It’s okay, we’ll ‘wake her up’ when we leave.
Until then, just let her daydream.” Rarity sat down and gave Trixie her tea.
Rarity also had the rose tea, and it gave off a sweet smell that quickly spread in the
whole room.

“Quite a fragrant tea.” Trixie remarked.

“Indeed, but the smell is quite lovely, so I don’t mind it.”

“Nor do I, it is very lovely. Somehow it reminds Trixie of her childhood.
I often drank rose tea with a neighbor I used to visit when I was a filly.
She used to keep me company after school, before my parents came home
from their works, so I wouldn’t have to be alone several hours. Both my parents
had afternoon-and-evening shifts, you see, so they were not home when I came
back from school, they came later.”

“I see. So, you grew up here in Manehattan?”

“Yes. or rather, I grew up in a suburban area in the western outskirts of Manehattan,
not in the city itself. We often went into the city though, so I know it quite well.”

“Maybe you could show us around sometime?”

“Maybe, yes. Trixie would love to.”

Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to get ready for the fashion show.
Rarity got her dress and hat on, and the necklace.
Trixie admired the clothes. “That dress is lovely. Did you make it?”
Rarity smiled, and almost blushed a little. “I did, yes. Long ago though, but it’s a
timeless design I can wear to most occasions, so it’s universal.”

Pinkie had just ‘awoken’ from her daydreaming, and came back inside.
“You guys leaving now?” She asked.

“Yes, we are. Are you sure you will be okay, Pinkie?” Rarity replied.

“Yes, I’m sure, don’t be a Worrity, Rarity!”

Rarity facehoofed at Pinkies made-up word, mixing her name with ‘worry’.

“Anyway, Pinkie, what do you plan to do while I’m gone? This will take several hours
you know, I won’t be back here until tonight, after sundown.”

“I was planing to go for a long walk around town, and just see where I end up!
I might find someplace fun!” Pinkie said in an excited voice while bouncing a few times.

“Well, just make sure you don’t get lost, this city is huge.” Rarity said.

“No problem, if I DO get lost I have a trick! I’ll just find a patrolling police officer,
tell them I’m a friend of Gunny and Stormy, and ask for directions!”

“That would work, but you should probably use their actual names instead of those
nicknames if that happens.” Trixie replied with a smiled.

She then turned toward Rarity. “Shall we get going then?”

“We shall.” Rarity said and turned around toward the door. “See you tonight, Pinkie.”

* * *

As Rarity and Trixie walked down the street, they discussed the plans for the day.

“So, we go to this fashion show, and then there is a after-party we also attend...
Did Trixie get that right?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, correct. And just after the show, we can also go backstage when they pack
everything back down and finish up. We have a full-access-pass.”

“Ah, I see. I do not know much about fashion, but I am a classy pony like you,
so this should be a rather pleasant experience, I think.”

“I agree.” Rarity replied with a smile.

Trixie looked up at the sky. “It’s completely overcast, the whole sky is grey..
Will there be any rain today?”

Rarity looked up for a second. “I have no idea, I forgot to check the weather prognosis
in todays news. But judging by those clouds, I’d say no. Those are not rain clouds,
the rain clouds are a darker gray.”

“How do you know?”

“Years spent with Rainbow Dash as a friend. She’s a weather-pony after all.
over the years, we’ve all picked up lots of random knowledge from each other.
We all know things we wouldn’t have known without each other.
I even taught Rainbow Dash some basic sowing, so she can repair her
training outfit when it breaks, and I learned about clouds from hearing her
talk to, well, everypony about it.”

“That’s quite amazing. I never experienced that sort of random learning from friends,
since.. well, I never truly had any. Not since I was a filly. I had friends in school,
but as we grew up we grew apart and lost contact. Ever since then, Trixie has
only had the closest family, no other friends. And..”
Suddenly, Trixie tackled Rarity. “WATCH OUT!”

Beside them, at the exact point where they had stood only moments ago, a pie hit the
ground, splashing what looked like cherry sauce all over the street.

“You.. saved my dress. Thank you!” Rarity said with a mixture of gratitude for the
saving, and confusion as to where the pie had come from. They looked up,
and saw no open windows on the buildings, and no construction workers on the roofs
either. “Where did it come from...?” Rarity asked, looking at the remains of the pie.

“I have no idea. But we can’t worry about that now, we need to keep walking
or we will be late to the show. All good seats close to the stage will be taken
if we don’t get there soon.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem Trixie, seats are assigned on the tickets. We have second-row
seats, so there will only be one row between us and the stage. Although, we should get
going anyway so we don’t miss anything. Some shows have some little pre-show,
or some talk before it starts, and sometimes it’s actually interesting things.”

“Hm, yes.. I see.”

“We’ll think about the Pie-mystery later...”

* * *

As they both arrived at the door, the bulky Griffin stood there. He recognized Rarity
as she approached. “Welcome back, Miss. And this is...? he nodded toward Trixie.

“Trixie Lulamoon.” Trixie replied.

“She’s my plus-one for tonight, my other friend had other plans.” Rarity added
in an explaining tone. “I hope that is okay?”

“Oh, it’s fine by me, your ticket says plus-one, so it’s all by the books.”

The bulky griffin moved aside and held the door open, and the two mares walked in.
They both looked around. Further in the room was a catwalk stage, surrounded
by a few rows of chairs. Rarity took a look at their ticket, and then at the numbers
on the chairs, to find their seats. “Over here, on the left side. We’ll have a perfect view
of all the clothes and models!” Rarity said with increasing excitement as she sat down.
Trixie smiled and sat down on Raritys left side. After a few moments, more ponies
and griffins started filling up the seats all around the stage. Another few minutes passed.

When the room was full, the lights dimmed down, and music started. It was some
electronic music, a relatively simple beat with some various electronic effects and
sounds, and sometimes there were voices saying something Rarity nd Trixie could
not quite hear. the song was a bit monotone, but somehow, that perfectly suited
the situation and gave the show it’s ambiance. Lights came on, and focused
on the stage. Models in various dresses walked out on the stage, moving professionally
along the wooden floor, turning around, walking back and forth, making sure everypony
on every side of the stage got a full 360 view of the clothes and accessories.
Some looked good, some not-so-good, and some.. just plain weird. Just like every fashion
show ever. Rarity paid close attention to everything on the stage, while Trixie, less
interested in the clothes, chose to pay attention to the ponies around the stage instead,
looking for anything suspicious.

The show went on for a full hour, but nothing suspicious happened,
on or off the stage.

“Well, no luck today.” Trixie said, disappointed.

“We still have the backstage session and the after-party, and this was just day one.”
Rarity said. “As for me, I’m very happy I got to see this. Many interesting designs!”

“...sure...” Trixie said, trying to hide the fact she had been quite bored most of the time.

“Trixie really don’t understand the appeal of this sort of thing...” She thought to herself
as they left the chairs to go backstage.

Author's Note

Fun Fact - Here’s the track I listened to while writing the chapter,
and which I imagined them having as the show-music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkcCiKwjQFQ

Chapter 12 - Elsewhere, During the show

As the doors to the fashion show closed, after all guests had arrived,
two pairs of eyes watched from the shadows in a small alley across the street.
Two cloaked figures stood hidden in the darkness, near the walls.

“Are you sure about this, Sister?” One of the figures said in a feminine voice.
She had a noticeable accent, clearly not local. In fact, her accent was not even Equestrian,
it was more similar to Zecora but without the rhyming.

“Yes, Sister, I am sure. Unlike our previous coup, this one will give more rewards.”
The other figure replied, in the same accent but a slightly deeper, yet still female voice.

“Our last job was a fiasco. It was my fault, I really thought she would have more money.”

“It was my fault as well, we share the blame. She looked rich. It was an honest mistake
on our part. How could we know she carried such small wallet in that saddlebag?”

“In any case, Sister, We should prepare ourselves. The show continues for an hour or so.
After that, they have a gathering this evening. That is our chance.”

The two figures silently slipped away, deeper into the darkness, as if they had never been
there at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pinkie was sitting at the cafe again, sipping tea and munching on a large
cupcake with green frosting. Petit Éclaire was sitting with her, as her shift had just
ended. She too had some tea, and a left-over scone from the days supply.

“How’s the cupcake? Not too much frosting I hope?” She asked.

“Mm-mm.” Pinkie mumbled with her mouth full, swallowed, and then repeated
in clearer speech, “No, it’s perfect!”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried I might have overdid it on this batch.”

“Well, it is more frosting than the other cupcakes you serve, so some ponies might
think it’s too much, but I love it!” Pinkie smiled and kept eating.

“Hm.. maybe I could serve them separately, as ‘regular’ and ‘extra frosting’...”
Petit said in a thoughtful tone, stroking her chin and looking at the cupcake.

“Yeah, do that!” Pinkie said in an excited voice. “normal frosting for normal adult ponies,
extra frosting for kids and sweet-toothed ponies, like me!”

Petit winked and giggled. “Exactly!”

After they were done, the two mares both got up.

“So what are you going to do now, Miss Pinkie?” Petit asked.

“I...” Pinkie began, and then stared blankly for a second. “I haven’t decided yet.”
She continued with a smile. “I was thinking, I just start walking and see where I end up!”

“In that case, might I suggest something? There is a small market happening today,
and, well... I have nopony to go with, so I thought maybe you’d like to go?
I know we just barely know each other, but that’s actually why I want to go with you.
The little I do know of you, you seem like a fun pony, and I think we could be good
friends if we got to know each other more. Plus, I’d love to hear your thoughts on
my baking and such, maybe we could discuss ideas for new cakes and cupcakes..”

“I’d love to! Where is it? What kind of market is it? Will there be sweets?!” Pinkie
started bouncing as she spoke. “Oh, and I’m sure we’ll be best friends!” She added
with a small wink. “I’d gladly discuss baking while we walk too.”

“Well, it’s kinda like a small fair. A few vendors, some games and such.
It’s downtown, seaside. A harbor fair, actually.”

“Sounds fun! Are we going right away?”

“Yes, I just need to go inside and tell Grand-papa where I’m going.
If I don’t, he gets worried.”

Pinkie waited outside. A few minutes passed, and then Petit came back outside,
now wearing a simple sun hat and a small saddle bag.

“Ready to go, Pinkie?”

“Ready!” Pinkie smiled and started walking.

“Uhm, Pinkie...” Petit said, still standing still.

“Yeah?”

“The harbor is the other way...” She giggled and pointed in the direction
opposite from where Pinkie had started going.

“Oh, silly me! In my defense, it was a year since I was here, and I didn’t really
pay attention to remember directions. Too much other stuff on my mind,
like, parties I was planning, and balloons, and your cupcakes I had just ate, and...”
Pinkie continued and trailed off into her own little world, while walking alongside
Petit, who tried to follow Pinkies talking, but found it to be quite hard unless
you were used to it... Which she was not. So instead, she decided to simply
keep walking, only half listening, and nod once in a while.
Pinkie didn’t seem to notice the difference anyway.

They reached the harbor ten minutes later.
Pinkie gasped and looked around her, eyes wide. All around the harbor vendors
had set up stalls selling all kinds of foods, sweets, merchandise, toys, and various
games and lotteries where you could win all sorts of stuff. It was just a small fair,
around 30 stalls in total, but still big enough to be fun.

“So where do you wanna go first?” Petit asked as Pinkie looked around with excited
gazes in all directions.

“I... hmm... There! That one! That guy has spun sugar!” Pinkie exclaimed happily
and pointed at a vendor who did indeed sell spun sugar, and other candy.

Petit and Pinkie went over to the old stallion.

“I want a spun sugar, please!” Pinkie said.

“What flavor you want? Got plain white sugar, orange, and blueberry.”

“I want orange.” Pinkie said after a few seconds consideration.

“An’ you, what can I get you?” The seller asked and turned to Petit.

“I’d like one of those glazed warm donuts, please.” she replied, pointing at some
warm donuts, shining with glaze.

“One spun sugar and one glazed donut. That’ll be five bits each.”

“I’ll pay this one.” Petit said, giving the seller a ten-bit coin.

“Oh, Thanks!” Pinkie gasped. “I’ll pay the next thing we get then!” she added.

Petit smiled, a bit shyly. “Oh, that’s... that’s okay Pinkie, it’s on me.”

“Oh, okay.” Pinkie said, and started eating her spun sugar. “Mmm, sugary...
with just a hint of orange. Perfect!”

A couple hours passed, as the two ponies went around to the various vendors
looking at their wares, sometimes buying some candy or something to drink.

“Hey, Petit, look! That game-vendor has cute little plush animals!”

They went over to the vendor, and looked over the various prizes.

“Ooh, look! That panda.. It’s so cute..” Petit said, looking at a fat panda plush.

“Vendor! What do I need to win the panda?” Pinkie asked.

The vendor, a very bored-looking middle-aged stallion glanced over at the panda,
then at Pinkie and Petit.

“Ya gotta knock down the can-pyramid behin’ me in jus’ one single try.”

“Easy. One try, please.” Pinkie said with a focused look on her face.

“...Sure, whatever...” the stallion said, giving her a tennis ball. “Ten bits.”

Pinkie took the ball, and gave the stallion ten bits.
A moment later, she threw the ball with a perfect screw, hitting the center bottom can,
and knocking the pyramid down.

“YEES! I WIN!” She exclaimed excitedly. “Now hoof over that panda!”

“....ugh, fine.” the vendor sighed and have Pinkie the panda.

Pinkie and Petit then went away from the vendor.

“What a grumpy guy! Wonder why he does this sort of job? Vendors are supposed to be
happy, funny, friendly ponies!” Pinkie said after they were out of his hearing range.

“Well, it’s okay.”

They sat down, watching the waters and the slowly setting sun.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Pinkie smiled. “This is for you.” She said, holding the panda
out toward Petit. Petit blushed a bit, but quickly grabbed the panda to use it to hide
her red cheeks. “T-Thanks! I love it!”

“I know, I saw how you looked at it, so I figured I’d win it for you since I’m an
expert in knock-the-cans-down.” Pinkie smiled and looked out over the water.
“What a lovely evening. And, thanks for today, It was really fun!”

Petit hugged her panda tightly, and looked out at the sea. But, her eyes
turned and glanced at Pinkie. Her cheeks went red again, but Pinkie was
too busy watching the seagulls to notice.
“Yeah, it was really fun.. Thanks, Pinkie... and thanks for the panda...
Thank you so much for actually spending this time with me.”

“Oh, that was my pleasure, I had a really good time!” Pinkie smiled.

“So did I, Pinkie... So did I.”

Chapter 13 - At The After-Party

“So, Trixie, did you enjoy the fashion show?” Rarity asked as they made
their way toward the backstage area.

Trixie hesitated for a moment, scratching her neck.

“Well?” Rarity inquired.

“Well... I... at first, I kinda did, but.. I found it to be, how to put it...”

“Boring?”

“Trixie would perhaps not use that description. More like... I felt I was on the
wrong end. Trixie is used to be on the stage, being the performer,
not watching others from the seats. Trixie felt... Misplaced, I guess would be a good
word to describe it. Also, I don’t think fashion shows are really my thing.
I think I will enjoy backstage and the after-party more though.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you will. Plus, with me focusing on the stage, it was actually a
good thing that you were not focused on it, which gave you a chance to look
around for suspicious things off-stage. Speaking of which, maybe we’ll have better
luck backstage.”

“Yes, hopefully. Not that Trixie minds being with you, it’s not that...
But it would be nice to see those thieves captured.”

The two mares entered the backstage area, but were stopped by a stallion in a suit
and dark glasses.

“And where’re you two goin’?”

“We are going backstage. See, I have a backstage access pass, for myself plus one.”
Rarity replied, showing the stallion her pass. The stallion looked at the pass,
carefully checking it. “Very well. Pardon the rough edges, but security is tightened
due to the ongoing crime wave that’s hitting town. Move along.” The stallion
said and motioned for the two mares to pass him.

“Now, let’s see where Coco is.” Rarity said, looking around.

“Coco?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, right, you two have not met. Coco is a friend of mine here in Manehattan,
who works in costume design. She’s here with a colleague. Although I did not
see her dresses on stage today. I guess she’s up tomorrow. We’ll ask when we find her.”

“How does this ‘Coco’ look? Maybe Trixie can help find her?”

“She’s slightly younger than us, cream-colored fur, and...”

Rarity was unable to finish, as she saw Coco further away in the room.

“...nevermind, I found her. Over there, see?” She said, pointing in the direction
where Coco was standing. It looked as if she was talking to somepony.

Rarity and Trixie approached her.

“Yohoo, Coco! Over here.” Rarity said, waving her hoof for Coco to notice,
which the young mare did. She raised her hoof toward Rarity, as a sign of ‘just a minute’.

She finished talking to whoever it was, and came over to Rarity.

“Hi.”

Trixie extended her hoof in a standard greeting.

“Hi. I’m Trixie Lulamoon, a... former enemy of Rarity.”

Rarity smiled. “Pfft, don’t say that darling. You may have been an enemy,
but now.. you’re an ally, and quite possibly we will even call each other ‘friends’
when all this is done.”

“Thanks...” Trixie said, unsure of how to react.

“Oh, I see.. My name is Coco Pommel. I’ve only met Rarity a couple of times,
but she helped me a lot during those times, and I’d like to think she’s a friend.”

“Oh, of course we’re friends, dear.” Rarity smiled.
“In any case, how are things going here? No trouble with your dresses I hope?”

“Oh, quite the contrary. I took your advice from last time, and spent the evening
adding the colored threads. Now, they all look perfect.” Coco smiled.
“Where is Pinkie, by the way?” She added.

“Somewhere around town. Fashion shows are not quite her thing, so she went
off to her own little adventures instead.” Rarity smiled. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Well, say hi to her from me when you see her, okay?” Coco said.

“Of course I will.” Rarity replied with a smile, looking around.
“Many unique designs here... so much inspiration!”

“Indeed, I’ve gotten a lot of ideas myself actually...” Coco replied.
“In fact, I think I might even start my own little line of clothing,
just a few articles... like a.. ‘side-project’, I guess...”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea!”

“Yeah, but I could use some expert advice every now and then.
Would you perhaps give me a few tips when I need them?”

“Of course I will, darling. Now, let us go and mingle a bit, shall we?”
Rarity smiled.

* * *

A few hours later, (and including a quick run back to the hotel for a dress change),
Rarity and Trixie now walked toward the building where the evening after-party
would be held. By now, it should already have started, they realized, and slightly
increased their tempo to a almost-jogging pace.

“It should be around the corner here.” Rarity said as they approached a street crossing.
“Let’s slow back down to a normal walk, we don’t want to appear rushed.”

“True. After all, they did say the party starts at 19.00, but that does not mean everypony
will arrive at 19.00. Some will come later, if they come at all.”

“Exactly. Plus, we’re actually not that late, it’s only around.. 19.20, I’d say.”
Rarity guessed.

“Sounds about right, we left the hotel at 19.05, and we’ve been walking for about 15
minutes or so.” Trixie agreed.

The two mares entered the large ballroom-like hall, now filled with ponies.
Along the walls were tables with punch bowls and glasses, various cookies and cakes,
and other snacks, and fruit pieces. All the punch bowls were labeled with a small
note on the side, telling what was in it, and if it was alcoholic or not.
However, even those that were, were only lightly alcoholic. This event did not serve
any hard liquors.

“How about getting some punch? I do feel a bit thirsty after that jog.” Rarity suggested.

“Yes, Trixie agrees. Trixie also sees apple punch. My favorite.”
Trixie gave a small smile.

“Well, apple is quite good, but personally my favorite would be cherry.”

“Trixie is allergic to cherries, actually.”

“Oh? I did not know that..”

“Now you do. See, we’re getting to know each other. That... that is a good thing, yes?”
Trixie said with slight hesitation.

“Oh yes, it’s a very good thing, darling.”

The two mares approached the tables and both got a glass of punch.
While drinking, Raritys ears suddenly perked up.

“Something wrong?” Trixie asked.

“Shhh...” Rarity replied.

After a moment, she placed her glass back on the table.

“I heard... a voice, one I recognize... from when I was robbed at the spa.”

“You mean...?”

“Yes, I think it is one of them. One of the sisters. But I can’t quite tell who it came
from, and since they have that shape shifting potion, it could be almost any pony
in here. However, she sounded female, so I would at least assume it’s one of the mares.”

“That doesn’t help much though, 7 in 10 ponies in here are mares.”

“True, but at least it cuts it down a little bit.”

Rarity slowly moved in to the crowd, trying to pick up the recognized voice again.
Meanwhile, Trixie decided to keep a look-out for any pony acting suspicious.
She let her eyes gaze over the room, carefully watching for any odd behaviors.
She also kept her focus partially on Rarity, making sure to know where she was
at all times, just in case.

A few minutes passed, and Rarity made her way back to Trixies location.
“I lost her.. But at least now we know they’re actually here. The question is,
what are they after? All the valuable dresses and accessories are locked up
in the show hall, not here in this building.”

“What if they are not after the dresses this time? Perhaps they need something
else first, something they can get here... Like, tricking somepony into revealing
information, to find out which dresses are the most valuable?”
Trixie suggested.

“Sounds like the best explanation we have, so let’s assume that for now.
Still, what can we do now? We can’t just start interrogating ponies,
or lock everypony in here for several hours until the potion wears off.
We can’t even be sure they’re even using the potions, they might be using
regular disguises.”

“I suppose they could, yes. In fact, it is very likely that they are skilled
in that as well, and only use the potion for special cases where regular
disguises are not enough.”

“Sounds very probably, yes.”

“Trixie would suggest we leave for now, and go home. We need rest, it has been
a long day, and we have more work tomorrow.”

“I agree.”

And so, Trixie and Rarity left the party, and went their separate ways.
Trixie went home to her house, while Rarity returned to the hotel.
She decided to take a hot bath.
While lying in the tub, surrounded by the hot water, she heard the door
open.

“Pinkie?” She asked.

“Hi Rarity! I’m ba-aaack!” She heard Pinkies usual high-pitched voice reply.

“I’m in the bathroom taking a bath.”

“Of course you are, were else could you take a bath, silly?”

Rarity sighed and smiled. “Never mind. How was your day?”

“Amazing! I went to a harbor fair with Petit, after I had some cupcakes at the cafe!”

“Sounds lovely. Tell me more.” Rarity said, and Pinkie started telling her about her day.

After Pinkie finished, she added - “...And how was YOUR day? Any luck?
Did you find the sisters?!”

“Alas, no... We did not find them, yet.. I think I did hear one of them though,
So we’re quite sure they were in fact there, we just didn’t know how they looked,
so we couldn’t do anything other than noticing their presence. But at least we know
now that we’re on the right track.”

After that they both went to bed, both exhausted after the days events,
and knowing that tomorrow would be filled with even more.

Author's Note

Sorry for takin so long with this one.
Basically, I had a hard time making it not feel to much like a filler,
but still keep the story's slow pace.

In the end, I think I managed to pul it off though, and my pre-reader agrees.

Chapter 14 - Small Progress

At lunch the following day, Rarity, Pinkie and Trixie all sat at a small table
in the hotel restaurant, each with a bowl of soup and some bread.

They were discussing the upcoming events of the day, and planning their next move.

“Well, I say we simply go to the show as usual.” Rarity said.
“That way, we don’t arise any suspicion. Just like we’re looking for them,
they might be keeping us under watch as well, since they probably know
that we’re on to them.”

“You don’t know that they know, though.” Trixie injected, mouth full.

“First of all, Trixie, mind your manners. Don’t speak with your mouth full.
Secondly, No, I can’t know for sure, but I still do suspect it.
I mean, so far there have been several reported incidents, and possible even more
yet unnoticed ones, including me and Pinkie getting robbed at that spa a couple
of days ago. The fact they have not been caught yet means that they are good
at what they do, they’re careful and methodical, they plan ahead.”

“True, but still, Trixie does not think we are being spied on, at least not here.
Maybe when we were at the show and after-party, but not here.
As you can clearly see, we are alone in the restaurant, so there can’t be any spies here.”

“The chefs, the waiter, the cashier at the entrance, the door-holder-guy,
the janitor, the room service, the bell boy, that window cleaner pegasus on the second
floor...” Pinkie blurted out. She was going to continue, but Trixie stopped her.

“Okay, fine, Trixie gets it! My point is, right now, in this instant, we’re safe and alone.”

“Yeees...” Pinkie started, but trailed off.

“Don’t mind Pinkie.” Rarity said. “She easily looses focus, unless it’s something
baking or party-related.”

“Baking? Party?!” Pinkie suddenly almost shouted.

“No, Pinkie. I was just stating examples...”

“Oh, okay. Never mind then.” Pinkie replied with a smile and focused on
her soup instead.

The lunch went on like this for another half hour or so, after which the three mares
decided a short walk would be good, perhaps go and visit the police station and see
if anything new had happened. While there, they could also have a short talk with
Trixies grandfather Erlen Meyer, and ask if he had made any progress regarding
the potion. Perhaps there was some way to counteract it, or detect who was
using it, they thought. And if there was, Erlen was the most likely to find a solution.
At least, so Trixie claimed.

* * *

Later, in the police station, they three mares were informed that Gun Point and Storm Feather
were both out somewhere, investigating some recent crime.
However, this one was not related to the Sisters, it was just some random break-in
at an apartment. Some old mare had found her door broken open when she got home,
So Gunny and Storm Feather were sent to check it.

They decided to go downstairs to the labs and find Erlen while they waited for Gunny to
return. On their way down, a young officer stopped them. “Hey, you can’t be down here,
this is the C.S.I. lab, not a civilian waiting room.”

Rarity gave the young officer a polite smile. “Oh, we are well aware. You see,
we are here to meet Erlen Meyer, who is currently helping you with a case.
This here is Erlens grandchild, and the two of us are in fact victims of the Zebra sisters’
latest crime, that Spa robbery I’m sure you’ve heard of by now.”

“Sorry, still can’t let you pass unless my superior says so. Or if Erlen himself can
verify your story.”

“Well, go and get him then!” Trixie said in a stern tone.

“Calm down miss.” The officer replied. “I’ll go ask him if he’s expecting any visits.”

“Oh, he’s not expecting us, so that won’t work.” Rarity said. “Instead, ask him
to just come along and see for himself that it’s us, or describe us to him,
and he can verify it’s his grandchild and friends.”

“Fine, fine... Wait here.” the officer said, and turned around, going back into the room
he had come from when he stopped them.

A couple of minutes later he came back again. “Go inside. He said he indeed knows you.”

“Told you so.” Trixie said as they passed by, going in to the room. It was filled with
chemistry equipment, some of which Rarity knew, and some she did not recognize.
A lot of the stuff reminded her of one of the rooms in Twilights castle,
which was partly used as a lab, and partly as a storage area for unsorted boxes.

In the middle of the room, they found Erlen, now wearing a slightly over-sized lab coat
and safety goggles while staring at a bottle of liquid and writing down something
on a small notepad.

“Hows’it goin’?” Pinkie asked in her usual exited voice.

“Ah, young ones. It is going.. how you say.. ‘slow but good’, yez?”

“So you are making progress?” Rarity inquired with a mild hint of curiosity.

“Well, yez, but slowly. I have found a way which.. I am not sure yet, but,
if I make thiz work, it will...” Erlen hesitated for a moment, trying to find the
correct way to say it in Equestrian. “It will.. make ze transform backward.”

“You mean, anypony who is transformed would transform back to their own shape?
You’ve created some kind of ‘reversed” version of their potion?”

“I have not created it yet. I am trying to as we speek. This here ist mein second attempt.
Ze first attempt was not working.”

“What happened with the first one?” Pinkie asked.

“Instead of ze supposed effect, it became... volatile explozive. Luckily, I was only
making very small amount, only enough to make bottle into tiny pieces and leave
small burn on ze desk.” He said, pointing at a small black mark on the desk.

“Nopony waz injured, only my pride.”

Pinkie was staring at Erlens lab coat.
“Why’re you wearing such a big coat?”

“Only one available, I’m afraid. it ist modeled for ze Griphons, not for ponies.
But, all coats in pony size was taken, only ze griphon had a spare one I could use.”

“Well, a slightly big coat is better than no coat, in this situation.” Rarity smiled.

“I suppose so, yez. Now, I muzt ask you to leave. I work better when I am
alone. You go now, I have job to finish.”

“Well, I can relate to that. Working alone allows for higher concentration.”
Rarity gave an understanding look. “We’ll be off at once.”

“See you later, Grandfather.” Trixie waved at Erlen as they left, and he nodded in reply,
already deeply focused on his work again.

* * *

“So what now?” Trixie asked as they all left the station.
Rarity glanced at a clock on the outer wall above the station doors.

“We might as well get ready for the Fashion show. It starts in a couple of hours,
and there’s really nothing else we can do before that.”

“Agreed.”

“Oh, and Trixie?”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering.. Perhaps you’d like to dress up today? wear a dress or something?”

“Why would Trixie do that?”

“Because most of the others will be dressed, and it is a social gathering of higher
standards after all, not just some simple small-town event.”

Trixie considered it for a moment. “Fine, Trixie agrees.”

Rarity smiled, but Trixie added, “There is just one problem... Trixie owns no
such clothing. I only have my mage hat and cape, and some winter clothes.
I own no fancy dresses, since I so rarely needed any... I simply rented or borrowed
on the few occasions when I did.”

“Oh, not a problem at all, I have multiple ones, and you and I are the same size.
More or less anyway, maybe a couple pounds difference at most. I’m sure my dresses
would fit you perfectly, and I happen to have just the perfect one.
A dark blue, almost midnight blue. relatively simple, thin silver linings.
Sparkly material, it looks a bit like the evening sky just when the stars start becoming
visible, but before it’s completely black.”

“That would look amazing on you Trixie!” Pinkie gasped.

“That.. does sound like it would look good on me.” Trixie said thoughtfully.

“Trust me, Trixie.” Rarity smiled wider. “I’m a fashionista.”

The three mares got back to the hotel, and started getting ready for the evening.
Rarity and Trixie got their dresses and some make-up on, while Pinkie prepared
herself for another evening with Petit.

Chapter 15 - Fashion Show, Second Night

A few hours later, the second night of the show was drawing to its end.
The last designer for the evening was announcing his collection,
a Ponish designer by the name Dawid Tomaszewski. He even modeled his
final piece personally. In trixies eyes, it was really nothing special.
Slightly baggy grey trousers, a long almost coat-like shirt, seemingly made in
some thin black fabric, and a large blue scarf hanging loosely around his neck
as he walked in a straight line down the catwalk, made a slow turn, and walked back
again in an equally straight line. Rarity on the other hoof, looked at it with wide eyes,
clearly showing interest. Trixie wondered what it was Rarity saw in this simple
clothing that made it so interesting. Obviously, she must be missing something,
she thought. Trixie truly did not see the appeal of fashion shows, or fashion
in general, with the exception of her own magician’s hat and cape. Beyond those two
items, Trixie had no fashion sense at all.

Rarity turned her head toward Trixie after Dawid went off-stage, disappearing behind
the curtains.

“Did you see that?” She asked excitedly.

“Well... Trixie must admit... Still not understanding the appeal of this.
Those clothes... some of them looked just like any regular stuff you can buy in
any store in any town, and the other clothes looked like things no pony would ever
wear, except on-stage during a show like this. A couple of them, I don’t even think
qualified as ‘clothing’ at all. I mean, one model was quite literally wearing an actual
cactus in a pot mounted on her head with a string.”

“I see your point. Some designs today were rather too unique, even for my tastes.
But for most of them, it’s not really about stuff you could wear in public.
It’s more.. a form of modern art, put on display. It’s basically the same as a painting.
You’d go to watch it in a museum or art gallery, but you wouldn’t hang it in a restaurant.
Fashion design like this is just like that. These clothes are designed to be worn in shows,
and nowhere else. My clothes that I design, are made to be worn, and therefore look
more like something ponies would actually want to wear in public.”

“When put like that, I actually do see the point, and purpose of these outlandish designs.
However, Trixie still finds very little interest in the actual designs. Like I said,
I feel more at home on the stage, not in the audience. I want to BE the show,
not see it.”

Trixie stretched her legs a bit.

“In any case, Trixie needs a walk. My hoofs - no, my entire body - feels stiff from all
the not-moving-for-almost-three-hours.”

“Agreed, three hours without breaks was perhaps a bit long.” Rarity replied as they got up
from their seats. “Will you join me backstage today as well?”

“Hm, no, I also want some fresh air, so I will go outside for a moment.”

“Very well, But I doubt they will let you go in backstage alone without me,
since I’m the one with the pass.”

“Trixie has no plans on joining you in there anyway. I will wait outside.
I was planning to have a talk with that guard griffin. Maybe he has seen
something worth mentioning.”

“Good thinking. Let’s split up then, and meet again later.
Shall we meet outside here, and go together to the after party?”

“Yes, that sounds like a good plan.”

“So be it.” Rarity said, turning toward the stage. “I’ll be off to the back-stage area then.”

And with those words, the two ponies split up again. Rarity went backstage,
while Trixie went back outside via the main entrance, to find and talk to the guard.

* * *

Trixie opened the door and stepped outside, looking around. To the left of the door,
the bulky griffin stood. He noticed Trixie and looked at her.

“Evenin’, Miss. Show’s over?”

“It is, yes.”

“So what about your company? You were here with that other unicorn, Rarity, right?”

“Oh, she went backstage to meet with the designers. Trixie decided to come out here
instead, and perhaps have a small chat with you, in fact.”

“Oh really? What can I do for ya?”

“First of all, how about an introduction? I don’t even know your name, Mr...?”

“Greybeak, of the Grey family. not related to my actual beak-color, as you can see.”
he replied, with a smirk on his face.

“And I am Trixie Lullamoon, also formerly known as ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’.”
Trixie said, bowing slightly. I used to be a show mare, you see. magic show.
Illusions, parlor tricks, that sort of thing.”

“I see. Myself, been doing guard jobs and such all my adult life.
Now, what did ya wanna talk about? I assume you had something specific in mind?”

“Yes, actually. I am sure you, as a guard, are aware of the crime waves recently,
with the two sisters who swindle and rob by taking the appearance of others.”

“Well, I’ve heard rumors and read the news-paper coverage on it, but that’s about all
I know. Why?”

“It seems their next target is here, this fashion show. I would’ve thought the police
had informed you about this already, since you are the door guard.”

“Yeah, well, Nopony has told me we were targeted by those criminals.
I knew nothing about that. If I had, I would’ve been extra careful at the check-ins.
As it was now, I just checked every guest off as usual. Any of them could be the criminal,
if they can really take others’ appearances.”

“You seem to have grasped the situation very quickly. Good. Now that you do know,
Will you keep your eyes extra open? Anything that seems suspicious.”

“Of course I will. But just to be clear, I am going to the cops too, and have a talk
with whoever’s in charge of this, and make sure they know I know. Better that way.”

“Actually, I am meeting with the police tomorrow morning. I will tell them myself.
That is of course, unless we actually catch the sisters later tonight, during the
after-party, where we suspect they might show up.”

“Sure. Just make sure the police knows I’m in the loop, I don’t want any
misunderstandings or anything. I’ve already had that experience, got mixed up
with a criminal few years back. Anyway, gotta work now, the other guests
are starting to leave and I have to cross them off my list, make sure everything
adds up correctly.”

The Griffin turned around, holding the door open with his wing while crossing off
names as ponies and griffins passed him on their way out.

* * *

Just as Rarity entered the backstage area, she was met by Coco.

“Oh, hi Rarity. Did you enjoy today’s show?” she asked, smiling.

“Why yes, I did. For the most-part at least. Some of the early designs were...
How to put it.. They were not ugly or anything, just a bit too extravagant,
even for my tastes.”

“Oh, I agree, those designs were very unique, like something from a science-fiction
comic.”

“You read comics?” Rarity asked with slight surprise.

“Oh, no, not me.. But my neighbor has a 6-year-old colt who I’ve taken care of
a few times when they were gone on work trips and such, and he reads a lot of comics.
I’ve glanced through a few out of curiosity, but never really got into it.” Coco replied
with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Ah, I see. That makes sense. Sweetie Belle, my younger sister, reads comics too.
Although, she’s not into those science fiction ones, she prefers the Daring Do comics,
which as I understand it, are mostly based on the books, just in comic form.”

“Anyway.. How is the criminal thing going? Are you making progress?” Coco asked,
lowering her voice so that no one else in the room could hear her.

“A bit, but it’s a slow process... We are about to make a breakthrough though,
on one aspect of the whole thing. I can’t tell you any details. It’s not that I don’t trust you,
don’t worry about that. It’s more that, well, we want to keep the progress mostly secret,
among only us who are directly involved.. which does not include you, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, that’s okay Rarity, I understand. I’m glad you’re making progress,
even f you can’t tell me what progress you’ve made. I just hope you catch them soon,
I don’t want to worry any more about it, but as long as those two are free,
I will worry...”

“I’m so sorry.. But, we’ll have them captured soon, you’ll see!” Rarity said in a cheerful
tone, in an attempt to raise Cocos mood again. “Now then, let us change to a better suited
subject, and preferably a happier one, shall we?”

“Gladly” Coco replied and smiled.

For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed the show, and all the various designs that
had been put on display, and their own ideas they had gotten from seeing the others.

“Oh, I have so many ideas! I can’t wait to get home to Ponyville and start making them!”
Rarity said excitedly.

“Me too.” Coco said, almost as excitedly as Rarity. “We have tons of left-over fabrics
in the storage room back at the shop, And after seeing the patchwork designs tonight,
I got inspired to make my own, just like the designer actually proposed ponies to do!”

“Indeed, I believe I have quite the pile of patches and left-overs myself, and patchwork
winter clothing has always been popular.. it never seems to go out of style, at least never
entirely, so I could probably do something like that for the upcoming winter...”

“Ooh, maybe I should too, if we have any warm-enough fabrics to use for winter coats.”

“Splendid idea, darling! Now, anyway.. I should probably go find Trixie, before she
gets too bored. She went outside you see, since she’s not that much into fashion.”

“I did see her from a distance earlier, when you came here. I was going to come over
and say hi, but I was too busy with the final preparations. She wore a quite lovely dress,
I noticed.. Your work perhaps?” Coco inquired with a curious smile.

“Oh it was indeed, one of my collections from last year.” Rarity smiled.

“The dark blue matched her light blue fur very good.”

“It matches her quite well indeed.”

After a few more minutes of small talk, Rarity excused herself and left the room,
walking back out to find Greybeak doing a name check on her as she passed.
Next to him, Trixie stood, looking up at the sky. It was just after sundown,
and the sky was dark blue. A few stars were becoming visible.

“It really does look like the early starlit sky.” She said as Rarity approached her.

“Huh?”

“This dress you let Trixie borrow.” She said, smiling.

“Oh, right, that. Sorry, My mind was still in the fashion show. But yes, the dress
was specifically designed to look like the early evening. I got the idea when I was
sitting outside my boutique one time, just as the sun was setting. It looked just like this
night, just with, you know, no skyscrapers or asphalt.” She smiled.

“Did you find out anything more in there?” Trixie asked.

“No, nothing regarding the case. Nothing suspicious going on.”

“Nothing out here either. Greybeak is now informed though, and that is why he is
also taking a name check on ponies leaving, to make sure it matches the ones
who entered.”

“Good thinking, But how do you know he can be trusted?” Rarity asked,
lowering her voice to a whisper only Trixie could hear.

“I... Trust Trixie on this one. I have a feeling he is on our side. He is not a zebra.
I have been talking with him while I waited for you. That guy is most surely a guy.
Not even the best actor could copy that much macho attitude.”

“Hm? I never saw any of that in him...”

“you did not spend twenty minutes with him. In short times, the macho doesn’t show,
but after you talk to him for a while, it becomes very clear.” Trixie smirked.

“Oh, I see.. Well in any case, We should get going to the after-party. If we go now,
we can walk slowly.” Rarity nodded in the direction of the road to the party.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

The two mares started walking, slowly.

* * *

Further away, in a small alley overlooking the area, two shadows stood once again.

“I would say the time has come, Sister.” One of the shadowed figures said.

“I agree, Sister. Have you prepared the potion?”

“I have.”

“What did you use?”

“Last night, I disguised myself as a janitor as you suggested, and got into the
backstage section dressing rooms. I located the ‘target’s room, and while it was
empty, I took a few hairs from a brush.”

“Perfect. Now then, we need to move quickly if we are to succeed.
You take care of the real one, while I drink the potion and take her place.”

“Agreed.”

The two shadows once again sneaked back into the darkness...

Chapter 16 - Squad Seven

“Did you hear that?!” Pinkie exclaimed happily to Petit. “I won!”

Petit smiled at Pinkie. “Yes, I heard. What do you wanna do with the prize?”

Pinkie looked confused. “....I don’t understand that question. I’m eating it, of course!”

“It’s a super-size pastry. Nopony could eat something that size alone.
Look at it. It’s as big as my head.” Petit smiled, and pointed at the giant pastry,
moving closer to it and compared her own head to it.

She was right, Pinkie thought to herself as she looked at Petit next to the pastry.
it was indeed almost the same size. Petit tilted her head slightly. “See?” She asked.
“Not even you could finish this in one sitting.” she added, smiling.

Pinkie just smirked, with a hint of seriousness mixed in. She simply said two more words.

“Wanna bet?”

* * *

While walking, Rarity and Trixie discussed their situation.

“I hope we find and catch those dreadful zebras soon.” Rarity said.

“Yes, I agree. They have done far too much already. Several robberies, I.D. thefts,
scams of various severity, pick-pocketing, and more. And now, if they succeed,
they’ll steal something from, or sabotage, the fashion event.”

“Well, when it comes to the fashion event, I believe the target is most likely
the various expensive clothes and materials the designers have. I mean, for example,
many of the dresses and accessories have had gemstones on them. And among the
accessories there has been gold and silver, and that obsidian tiara... All of which
are worth a lot of bits, especially if they sell them on the black market to collectors.”

“That makes sense, yes.” Trixie agreed. “And since they have been doing a lot of crimes
lately, Trixie would not be surprised if it turns out they have contacts or buyers already
waiting for them to finish this operation.”

“Yes, they most likely already have interested buyers, or they might be planning
a ‘black auction’.”

“A what?”

“A ‘black auction’. Basically just a regular one, except many, or all items on sale
are stolen. Attendees include ponies like mafia leaders and rich scumbags who cares
more for their collections than the legality of the items in it.”

“How do you know about black auctions?” Trixie asked in a curious tone.

“Oh, I... I’ve been very into crime fiction and such lately, and, well..
One of the authors I’ve read uses real crimes as a base for his stories,
so everything in his books is very authentic. One of them was about a smuggler
who sold items to a black auction arranger.”

“Ah, that explains that, I guess.” Trixie smiled.

“Oh trust me darling, I am not some kind of criminal mastermind.” Rarity said.
“...Although I’m sure I’d do relatively well if I did try my hoof at crime.” she added,
with a slight smirk.

“Oh yes, I’m sure you would.” Trixie laughed.

As time passed, the two mares were getting close to the party, when they heard a familiar
voice calling out from behind.

“Rarity! Trixie! Hiiiii!” Pinkie almost shouted while waving her hoof in the air.
Next to her, Petit was walking. When they got closer, Rarity noticed Pinkie had some
sugar left around her mouth.

“Darling, you got some sugar on your cheek...”

“I do?” Pinkie gasped, and licked herself around the mouth to get it off.
She turned to Petit. “Why didn’t you tell me, silly?”

“...I tried, but you kept talking, and laughing, I never got a chance...” Petit giggled.

“I am Trixie.” Trixie said, holding out a hoof in greeting toward Petit.

“I’m Petit.” Petit replied, shaking Trixies hoof. “I’m a friend of Pinkie Pie.”

“I see. So am I.” Trixie said.

“So what brings you here, Pinkie?” Rarity asked. “Is everything in order?”

“Yeah, we were just out having a walk. I did see some suspicious ponies though,
near the place where the fashion thingy was, when we walked by there.
Hooded, real sneaky...”

“Pinkie! That might have been the sisters!” Rarity exclaimed. “Were there two of them?”

“Hmmm.... Petit, was it two or three hood-ponies we saw?”

“Well, I saw one at first, and then I noted another one going the other direction...
So yeah, there were two of them.”

“Damn it. That was most likely them!” Rarity half-mumbled.
“Please tell me you saw where they were going?”

“Sure did, I can show you if you want.” Pinkie smiled.

“We’ll need to get the polices attention too.. We can’t just go alone if we’re finally going
to find those sisters. Anypony have an idea?”

“You were given a card with contact information, were you not?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, right, I was.. I have it here.. somewhere.. “ Rarity said, digging through her small
but surprisingly well-filled purse. “Ah, here! Now we need a phone...”

Trixie looked at Pinkie and Petit, as her expression changed into a more unsure one.

“Rarity.. Hold on a second. How do we know for absolute sure that these two are
the real Pinkie Pie and... Petit, was that your name?”

Petit nodded, while Rarity looked over at Pinkie.

“Don’t be silly, Trixie. Nopony could imitate Pinkie well enough to fool us,
except the clones she ones made with the ‘mirror pond’ in Everfree forest.
But those were exact copies, not somepony who just looks like Pinkie.”

Trixie was still not convinced. “Just trust Trixie, okay? I too think this is the real one,
but we should be absolutely doubtlessly one hundred and ten percent sure before
we proceed with doing anything more, just in case it’s not the real Pinkie Pie.”

“Fine.” Rarity agreed, while Pinkie just stood there waiting.

“Let’s see, something only the real one would know... Ah, I got it.
When you made those copies with the mirror pond... What was Twilight Shimmers
trick for determining who was the real you?”

“That’s a super clever question, because it’s actually a question AND a extra trick!”
Pinkie said excitedly.

“Answer it then, Pinkie.” Rarity said with a small sigh.

“First of all, her name is Sparkle, not Shimmer! Shimmer is another friend of ours!
And the trick was to sit and watch paint dry!” Pinkie smiled widely.

“Yes, that’s all true.” Rarity said and turned to Trixie. “Now do you believe she’s
the real Pinkie? Can we get going now before those zebras get too far away?!”

Petit raised her hoof. “...wait. How do I and Pinkie know for sure YOU guys
are the real ones? I mean, I don’t even know you, so I couldn’t tell the difference..
But Pinkie could, if she were to ask you questions too.”

Pinkie smiled. “No need. I already got answers. Nopony outside ponyville knows
about the mirror pond incident, or the pond at all actually, OR that it was me that
got copied, and Twilight who fixed it, or...” Pinkie was going to keep going,
but Rarity interrupted her. “Yes yes, we get it. Now, can we PLEASE get to a phone
and contact Gun Point and Storm Feather?”

“Ah, yes! Follow Trixie, I know where there is a police box!” Trixie said and started
running, the other following.

“What’s a police box?” Pinkie asked while they moved.

“It’s like a phone booth, but with a direct line to the police, and it also has
some police supplies and a first-aid-kit locked up, so that when the police arrives,
they can grab supplies at the location. They look like blue wooden phone booths
without windows, and the phone is on the outside.” Trixie explained.

“Oh, like the one Time Turner has in his house in Ponyville!” Pinkie said.

“I have no idea what you mean by that, or who this Time Turner is.” Trixie said.

“Just a friend back home.” Pinkie smiled.

They all kept running along the street, and took a turn at a corner. Like Trixie had said,
they found a police box. Rarity grabbed the phone and waited for the call to connect.

* * *

At the police station, Gun Point was just returning to his office. He had taken a short
break from his piles of paperwork to get some more coffee, to regain some energy,
so he could continue the paperwork. As he opened his door, he noticed the phone
ringing, so he set down his coffee and lifted the phone off its hook.
“Officer Gun Point of the Manehattan Police speaking, who is this and how may I
be of service?” he said. On the other end, he heard Raritys voice.

“Hold on, Miss Rarity. You say you’ve seen the sisters?
...Okay, not you in person, but your friend Pinkie did... And you know what direction
they were headed.... split up you say?... Mhmm, I see, I see... Yes... I’ll be there
personally, and I’ll bring a unit. We’ll split into groups and follow both leads.
Yes, I have a pen and paper, give me the address, I’ll leave the station right away.
Yes, thank you. See you soon.” He ended the conversation and put the phone back
on the hook. He quickly drank all the coffee in two quick sips. It was already lukewarm
anyway, no point in letting it get cold and wasted. He quickly grabbed his hat and
gun-belt and left his office, shouting through the building,

“ATTEEEEENTION! WE HAVE A LEAD ON THE ZEBRA SISTERS,
WITH POSSIBLE CURRENT LOCATIONS! I NEED THREE OFFICERS
WITH ME, RIGHT NOW!”

Only ten seconds later, he had several ponies ready and waiting for orders
lined up in front of him at the station entrance.

“Okay, Let’s see... Shining Badge, Pepper Spray and Silver Cuffs, you’re all with me.
Donut Glaze, you stay here and prepare the holding cell and the interrogation room.
I have a strong feeling we’ll have at least one of the sisters caught very soon.”

Shining Badge was a pale green stallion, with an army buzz-cut mane and just a stump
for a tail, as he was fresh out of the military and only recently joined the police force.
He was very qualified tough, having scored slightly above average on the entrance exam,
on his first try.

Pepper Spray was the classic big bulky guy, lots of muscles, with his police uniform
fitting tightly, just barely the right size for him. He did have a friendly smile though,
but he was the kind of guy you do not want to see angry.

Silver Cuffs was the only mare in the group, a grey-furred unicorn with long,
light-blue mane and long, thin tail. She had taken extra classes in magic-based
restraining techniques, involving among other things, the petrifying spell used
by the princesses to turn Discord into a statue, twice. Although Silver Cuff had only
been thought a temporary version of it, as a last-resort-tactic against violent criminals.

Donut Glaze was rarely out in the field. He was a “desk cop”, as they called it.
He took care of in-house police work, such as preparing cells and interrogation rooms,
paperwork, phone calls, schedules, and other such things. He also sometimes joined
in the interrogations, when they played the classic “Good cop, Bad cop” routine.
He was usually the good cop in the scenario, while Gun Point or Pepper Spray
played the bad one. Almost never failed.

Together, they formed “Squad 7”, which also included Storm Feather as the squads C.S.I.

Now, Squad seven set out to find and capture the zebras, and finally get to the end
of their crime spree. All of them felt excited, but they were all also cautious.
They knew the job, the risks, and the rewards.

They all felt it. An assuring feeling, a good omen.

Tonight... The zebras were going down.

Author's Note

Did you spot the obvious reference? :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 17 - Calm Before The Storm

Only a few minutes later, the group of police officers arrived at the agreed-upon location,
the same spot where Rarity, Trixie, Pinkie and Petit had met earlier, halfway between
the Fashion show halls and the after-party place.

As they all grouped together, Gun Point approached the mares.

“We came as soon as we could. Now, you said you saw them going two ways,
and you saw where they both headed?” He asked.

“Pinkie Pie and Petit here saw them, yes.” Rarity replied. Gun Point looked at Petit.
“I don’t believe you and I met. Officer Gun Point, District chief of police.”

“I’m Petit Éclaire, I work at Café Licorne D’or.” Petit replied.

“Sorry to have you dragged into this whole mess, Miss.” Gun Point said.
“Now then, you saw the zebras. Going where, exactly?”

“Well, we were going toward the fashion hall, when we spotted them coming
out from a nearby alley. One of them was trotting toward the hall, and the other
turned left and trotted toward an apartment complex. Which I found weird, because
that particular complex is not finished yet, so it’s not open for public and has no
residents.”

“I know which complex you mean. And actually, that’s probably why they chose it.
No risk of getting caught by nosy neighbors if you don’t have any. Plus it’s close
to the fashion show, their current target. They’ve probably been in that area for some
time, scouting and preparing everything.”

The big bulky officer, Pepper Spray, approached Gun Point.

“So, wha’s the plan, boss? Who’s goin’ where? I mean, I assume we splittin’ up, yeah?”

“Yes, that would be the most effective approach. Some of us goes after the one in the
apartment complex, and the rest of us go after the one who headed to the show hall.”

Silver Cuffs joined the conversation. “I think me and Pepper, and somepony from their
group should be the ones in the complex.” She said, nodding towards Raritys group.

“Mhmm, sure. Just give me a good-enough reason, and we’ll go with that.”
Gun Point replied.

“Well,” Silver said, “I myself know the area quite well, and Pepper is the strongest
one of us, so if we need to break down any doors or move any obstacles..”

“Good point. You agree, Pepper?”

Pepper Spray just nodded and grunted approvingly.

“So be it then. You two, plus Miss Trixie, you go into the construction site and look
around, see if you can find the zebra. Meanwhile, Myself and Shining Badge will go with
Miss Rarity to the show hall and find the sister there. Miss Petit is a civilian, and only a
minor witness. I don’t want to pull her deeper into this mess than she already
is unless we absolutely have to, and at the moment, we don’t. So I say she goes back to
the station and wait for us there, in case we need to ask her anything more. I’d also
prefer if Miss Pinkie escorted her, just in case.”

Shining Badge walked over to Rarity. “Hi. My name is Shining Badge, and I’ll
be going with you. It’ll be you, me, and Gun Point. We’re going
after the one who went to the show hall, while the others go after the other one,
and Miss Petit will be returning to the station, as a safety precaution, for her own safety.
We don’t want to involve her more than necessary, since she’s a civilian.”

“I’m Rarity. And I must say, I am surprised by your name. You see, I know another
stallion named Shining.”

“Hm, that’s a surprise. As far as I knew, I was the only Shining in Equestria.
Well, except for his highness, the Prince of the Frozen North, Shining Armor.”

“eeh.. hehe.. That’s him. The other Shining I know.” Rarity smiled awkwardly.

“...You know the Prince?” Shining said with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

“I.. well, yes, I do. His sister, Twilight Sparkle, is one of my best friends. So I know
them all quite well, actually.”

“And by ‘all’, you mean...?”

“Actually.. the entire royalty of Equestria...”

“I’m sure you’re honest, Miss, I just find it a bit hard to believe. I’m sure you
understand...” Shining said.

“Don’t worry about that, I know it sounds a bit exaggerated.. And I haven’t even told
you everything yet..“ Rarity said, but Shining interrupted her.
“Excuse me, but right now we don’t have time for this, we need to get going! We have
zebras to catch! You can tell me more about the royals.. and yourself, later.” He said, with
a small wink at Rarity, who blushed slightly.

After a few more minutes of discussing and grouping, It was decided as follows,

Rarity, Shining Badge and Gun Point went to the show halls.

Trixie, Silver Cuffs and Pepper Spray went into the half-completed apartment
construction area.

Pinkie was told to bring Petit back to the station, for safety. After all, now everypony
knew where the zebras had gone, so Petits help was no longer needed,
and furthermore, she was not the most qualified for fighting, if things came to that.
As for Pinkie, she had gladly accepted to follow her back.

Gun Point stood beside Pinkie. “Miss Pie, I have one more request for you.”
Pinkie smiled and nodded. “Okie dokie loki! What do you need?”
Gun Point returned the smile, but managed to remain serious-looking at the same time.
“When you get back to the station, I need you to find Storm Feather and Erlen Meyer.
Tell them to ‘prepare Serum 27’. If Mr. Meyer complains about the legality of it,
or has any other objections, which I assume he will... Tell him I personally take full
responsibility for it, and I promise he won’t get in any trouble for it.”

Pinkie looked at Gun Point with confusion and surprise. “Serum 27? legality?
What is serum 27? Something illegal?!”

“I can’t tell you what it is, because technically it doesn’t officially actually exist.
And it’s not quite illegal, but not legal either. It’s kind of a legal grey area,
it hasn’t been decided if it should be legal or not. Just tell Erlen to make it.
I know he knows how, I have it on record that he’s done it before.”

“Mmm, okay, I will!” Pinkie said, her smile returning, although she was still
curious about what the serum actually was.

The ponies all split up into groups, and went on their respective routes.

Raritys group toward the halls, Trixies group toward the construction site,
Pinkies and Petit headed back to the station as fast as their hoofs could carry them.

* * *

Soon, Pinkie and Petit arrived back at the station, and was met by Donut Glaze.

“Are you two involved in the zebra case?” He asked. “I’ve seen you in here a few
times, and you’ve been with Gun Point, so I just assumed...” He said, looking at Pinkie.

She nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I am. She’s not.” She replied, nodding toward Petit.
“Or, she wasn’t. Now she kinda is, but only a little, because she’s a witness now,
and so am I, and also I need to speak to Stormy and Mr. Meyer as soon as possible,
preferable right now.” She continued.

Donut Glaze looked at her. “Stormy? Oh, right, you mean Storm Feather, right?
He’s downstairs in the lab, with Mr. Meyer. They’re still working on that weird
elixir thing they got from the zebras. Far as I know, they’ve solved it, and now
they’re just doing extra work.”

“Can we go down and meet them, then? Is that okay?” Pinkie asked, smiling.

“I.. Yeah, I guess. I mean, you’re involved and all, so I don’t see any problem with it.
You can find your way down yourself, right? I got stuff I need to get done.”

“Sure!” Pinkie smiled wider. “Come on, Petit. You’ll get to meet Stormy and
Erlen Meyer! Stormy is a griffin!”

“Oh.. I.. I see..” Petit replied, with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
She had never really met a griffin. She had only seen them, never spoken to one.

They made their way downstairs, and in to the CSI lab, where they found Storm and
Erlen, both working. After a brief introduction, they all sat down around a table to talk.

Pinkie began by updating them on the current situation, and then got to Gun Points
message.

“...and then he told me to tell you two to prepare some serum..
Serum twenty....something.”

Storm Feather raised an eyebrow. “Serum 27?”

Pinkie smiled widely. “Yes! That’s what he said! Oh, and he also said that if either of you
complained, I was to tell you, he will take full responsibility for it, and you two can’t get
in any trouble for it afterwards.”

Erlen scratched his chin. “Well, zertainly I can make ze zerüm, but it takes some time...”

Petit spoke, a bit shyly. “Well, maybe that’s why he sent word with Pinkie,
to give you time so you can make it before they come back?”

Erlen nodded. “Ja, that would make sense.”

Storm walked over to a cabinet filled with vials, which in turn were filled with
different liquids. “Well, we do have all the necessary ingredients... And he did say he’ll
take responsibility for it if anyone finds out about it... Erlen, get started. Do it.
Make two doses of serum 27.”

Erlen got up from the table and walked over to the vial cabinet.

“Unterstood. Give me.. hmm... around half of hour, I believe.”

“Okay. Come on, Ladies. We’ll go upstairs and have some coffee or something
while we wait.”

“What is serum 27 anyway?” Petit asked.

“You’ll see...” Storm Feather replied as they walked up the stairs.

Chapter 18-A - Team Trixie

Trixie and Pepper Spray, lead by Silver Cuffs all made their way toward the
construction site. When they arrived, Trixie looked up at the half-built building in awe.

“This is one of the tallest buildings Trixie has seen in this part of town. It’s almost as
tall as the ones in the ‘tall building’ neighborhoods around the central parts of the city.”

Pepper nodded. “Yeah, somethin’ like that.” he quickly counted the rows of empty holes
that were going to become windows. “About 30 floors, give or take a couple.”

“Luckily for us, only the first 3 floors have floors, so she can’t go any higher than that.
And that’s if she went upwards. If there’s a basement yet, she may have gone down there.
Come on, let’s look around and see if we can find any hoof prints or other signs.”
Silver Cuffs said, again taking the lead. Pepper nodded and followed her,
while moving his head around back and forth, scanning the ground for prints.

Trixie looked around a bit. “Hm.. Silver? How about you two look inside,
while I take a walk around the outside and see if she maybe left prints elsewhere?
There may be other entrances, or she may be in the workers trailer homes
set up nearby.” she said.

“Sounds like a plan. But in case you find her, or anything else, like hoof prints,
do not shout after us. Use this instead.” Silver replied, tossing a small black item
to Trixie. She caught it in her magic, and looked closer at it. It was a small police-issue
radio, often used for situations like this.

“It’s preset to our frequency, so just press the red button on the side to talk,
and release it to listen. Remember to say ‘over’ when you’re done talking,
just like in the movies.” Silver instructed, and Trixie nodded. “Trixie understands.”

They split up, Trixie staying outside the half-constructed building while Pepper and
Silver went inside. Trixie looked around at the ground, doing like she had seen ponies
do in crime movies. She carefully scanned the ground for hoofprints and objects
out-of-place. After making a lap around the building without finding anything,
she looked up at the building itself, noting something. She turned on the radio
and pressed the button, speaking into it. “Silver, Pepper. This is Trixie, Over.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Silver Cuffs and Pepper Spray made their way into the ground floor of
the building. They looked around a bit, and spoke in low voices just in case the zebra
was somewhere in there.

“You think she’s in here somewhere?” Pepper mumbled.

“Not sure yet, but we can always hope, right?” Silver replied.

“Yeah. On an unrelated note, I got some tickets for the game next week.
Thought maybe you and yer coltfriend wanted to join me and my wife-to-be.
Kinda like a double-date y’know?”

“That sounds lovely. I’ll ask him when I get home tonight.” Silver smiled.
“Remind me though, who’s playing? I’m not super into sports you know.
I enjoy it, but don’t really keep track..”

“Manehattan versus Las Pegasus. Gonna be a fast-pace game.”

“Hey, look at this. A partial Hoofstep in the sawdust.”

“Sure it’s a zebra? Could be a worker.”

“The workers all wear boots, this one’s not a boot print. It’s a hoof, and judging by the
size, most likely a mare. Which means, probably the zebra.”

“So the obvious follow-up question, Where is she now? Any more prints?” Pepper said
as he came closer to have a look himself.

Silver shook her head. “No, just this one. She was careful not to leave any,
but must’ve slipped up and left just this one.”

“A slip-up.. or a trap?” Pepper said suspiciously. “We don’t know much about them,
so there’s no way to be sure.”

“There’s a flight of almost-completed stairs over there.” Silver said, pointing across
the room. “What about next floor? Maybe...” She was interrupted by the radio.

“Silver, Pepper, this is Trixie, Over.” Trixies voice said.

“This is Silver. Found something? Over.” Silver replied.

“I see a window on the third floor, with a faint light in it, as if there’s a candle
somewhere further into the room. Over.”

“Get in here right now. We’re going up. Over and out.”

Moments later, Trixie entered the building and came trotting to Silver and Pepper.

“I’m here. Now, do we go up and just catch her? Trixie has no experience with this
except wathcing cop-shows on TV, And I have no idea how realistic those are.”

“Fairly realistic on the catching-part, actually. Basically we’re going to bust in
and inform her that she’s under arrest. If she resists, we’ll counter her resistance
with whatever means necessary until she’s captured.”

“I know a force field spell...” Trixie said. “I could maybe, block off the room
so she can’t escape?”

“That’s the usual tactic in these situations, and I’m trained in that sort of spell
myself actually.” Silver replied. “However, having an extra horn would help.
You can set up a barrier around the room, and I can focus on a binding spell on her legs.
Pepper, you’ll carry her to the station once she’s captured, okay?”

Pepper grunted approvingly and nodded.

“Good, now that we’re all on the same page, it’s time we get going.”

The three ponies slowly and quietly made their way up the stairs,
first to the second floor, and then up to the half-built third floor.

They saw a closed door half-way down a corridor, and Trixie confirmed that that’s
the approximate location where she had seen the light.

They sneaked up to it. Pepper Spray flexed his muscles for a second, and then tackled
the door, splinters flying across the room. As he burst in, he shouted, “FREEZE!”

Silver jumped in behind him, in a battle ready stance. “YOU’RE UNDER ARREST!”
She yelled, continuing Peppers words.

Trixie ignited her horn in a strong glow, raising a shield bubble around the whole room,
with the two police ponies inside. Also trapped inside was one of the zebras,
who calmly stopped her movements and froze, like she had been told.

“You think catching me will do any difference?” The zebra smirked.
“Even if you take me in, you can’t arrest me. At most, you can hold me for a day,
and then I’m free again. You have no evidence against me.”

“Don’t be so sure. Now, are you coming willingly, or do we have to knock you out first?
‘cause I WILL if I need to.” Pepper grunted.

“Pathetic fools. This won’t make any difference.” the zebra said, still smirking.

“Oh really?” Silver said.

“No.”

“And why is that? Don’t you need to be free to act out your plans?”

“What plans?” the zebra asked, pretending to be innocent.

“Ugh.. playing dumb, huh? Very well, we’ll just bring you back to the station
and have a serious interrogation. You’ll talk eventually. Everypony does.”

“Mhm, I’m sure I will talk, but the question is... What will I say?”

Pepper mumbled something to Silver, who smirked a bit.
“Sure.” she said, and her horn started glowing. A small ball of light appeared
on the zebras throat, and suddenly she was unable to speak.

Silver looked at her. “Now you’ll be silent until we reach the interrogation room.”

The zebra gave her a blank stare with a hint or irritation.

“Now, again... Are you going to come willingly, or do we need to knock you out
and drag you?” Silver asked. “please resist, I really want to knock you out...”
She added in a sour tone.

the zebra just stared blankly, and started walking, slowly.

Chapter 18-B - Team Rarity

Author's Note

Before the chapter begins, I'd like to say a few words:

First of all, I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter...
Mostly, it's because I had a massive writers block,
but also because this chapter was almost very different...

However, I want to keep a certain lenght on the chapters, and my other idea
would have stretched way too far, so I had to stop, re-think the whole thing,
and start writing from scratch again - But I finally managed.

Hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker. :twilightsmile:

(Also, only a few more chapters on this, and then I'll begin the third part of the trilogy,
the story about Dashies and Flutters 10 days. :rainbowkiss: :yay: )

Chapter 18-B - Team Rarity

Meanwhile, Rarity, Shining and Gun Point were almost at the show halls.
Shining had taken the lead, despite the fact Gun Point outranked him.
Gun Point didn’t seem to mind though, quite the opposite.

“Now then, once we get there we need to evaluate the situation.” Shining said.
“We have no idea if the zebra is still in her own form, or if she’s had time to
transform into somepony else. And if so, we don’t know who. She could be anyone.”

“Most ponies are already gone though, they’ve already headed to the after party.
That party is in another location, you see.” Rarity replied.

“Good, that increases our odds of finding her quickly, and with less chance for her
to escape, if she decides to try anything like that.” Gun Point said.

“Rarity, you said you know the door guard, right?” Shining asked.
“Can he be of any use to us? I mean, as a guard he should know the layout
of the building, all exists, and so on.”

“Well, I suppose so.” Rarity replied in a thoughtful tone.
“If he’s still there when we arrive, we can ask. Just let me make sure it’s really him
first before you say anything else, okay?”

“Sure, you go ahead and... how exactly do you know if it IS him?” Shining asked,
sounding curious.

“Easy. I just ask him something only he could know, like small details about when I first
met him. The zebra couldn’t possibly know, so if the answer is correct, it’s the real him.”

“I see. That’s rather clever, actually.” Gun Point remarked.

“Oh, you flatter me.” Rarity said, half-joking.
“In any case, we’re almost there.”

* * *

Shortly after they arrived, Rarity had asked Grey Beak about her appearance
during their first meeting, and what they had said. He had gotten the answers correct,
so now they were all discussing their next move.

Grey Beak looked around. “Well, We got this one, the main entrance.
I’ve been here all night, no zebras here, and no ponies either since the show ended.
Other than that, there’s the back door, usually used as a worker entrance. And a fire exit
on the side, but that only unlocks if the fire alarm is triggered. So all in all, we have three
exits here, if you include the fire door. So if that zebra IS here, she must have gone in
through the back door.”

“You don’t keep that back door guarded or locked?” Shining asked.

“Locked, but not guarded. But if she’s a skilled criminal like you say, she might
know how to pick locks. It’s not a magical one, just a standard tumbler mechanism.”

“And we have no idea if the zebra knows how to pick locks. It is quite possible though,
I would assume. I mean, she must have found such skill useful in other crimes before
this one, and most thieves usually do know at least basic lock picking,
such as simple doors.” Rarity said. “Even I know the basic principle of how it’s done,
I just have not actually attempted it.”

“So what do we do? Just go in and detain every pony we find in there?” Gun Point asked.

“Maybe... that could actually work...” Rarity said.

“I was joking, Miss Rarity.” Gun Point added.

“I know, I know... I, however, was not.” Rarity replied. “Hear me out.”

“Go ahead.”

“We know for a fact that the potion wears off after some time. And we also know
with about eighty percent certainty that one of the zebras is in here. So if we
were to keep the place locked down - no one leaves, no one enters - the zebra would
eventually return to her zebra form, and then we’d just arrest her, and apologize to
the others. We’d just need to gather everypony in the same room and keep them
under watch until one of them transforms.”

“And how long would it take for the potion to wear off? Do you know?” Shining asked.

“Well, not exactly, but I know it can’t be more than an hour, or two at most.” Rarity said.
“Plus, she’s probably taken it already, maybe even before she got here, so that leaves
an even shorter period. I’d say we’re talking an hour or less.”. She added.

“Very well, I don’t have any better plans, so maybe we should just go ahead and get this
place on a complete lock-down.” Gun Point said. “Unless anypony has a better idea.”

Shining twisted his head, stretching his neck. “Nope, I got nothing. I say we do this.
Lock-down is probably the most effective option, little risk of escape.
Plus, we have no records of the sisters being violent, quite the opposite.
In all previous crimes they’ve always taken measures to not hurt anypony
if they could avoid it. At least nothing more serious than knocking you out,
which they did with spiked tea, not violence. So I’d say they’re a minimal risk.”

“So we are all in agreement? We lock down the building, round up everypony in
the main hall, and then we simply wait.” Gun Point said.

They all nodded.

Shining looked at the building, thoughtful.

“What’s on your mind?” Gun Point asked.

“Just thinking about how to actually get everypony gathered.
I think I have an idea.”

“Let’s hear it then. Speak up.”

“Fire exit. We make sure this door is locked, and the backdoor too.
Then we pull the fire alarm, and gather everypony when they come out.
even the zebra will have to come, since she doesn’t know it’s us.
She’ll think it’s an actual fire somewhere. Plus, after we round up everyone,
I can go in and do a search to make sure, while you guard the others.
Then we wait until the potion wears off like we planned, and arrest whoever
turns into a zebra.”

“Sounds like our best option right now.” Gun Point said.

“I’ll go check the back door.” Grey Beak said.

“We’ll stay here while you do that. Once you get back, we’ll set the plan into action.”
Gun Point said as Grey Beak turned around and walked away in a fast pace.

Soon, he returned, shaking his head. “Door was picked open like you suspected.
Got it closed and locked again though, and I also blocked it from the outside.
If she tries to escape that way, she’ll get stuck at the door.
I moved a trash bin in front of it. No way she can get out that way.”

“Good thinking. Now, how about this...” Gun Point started.
“You and Miss Rarity wait here at the main entrance, Me and Shining go to the fire exit.
We give you a signal, you pull the fire alarm. Ponies come out, we detain them
and then we gather everypony here and go back in, and use the main showroom
as our lock-up.”

“Sounds good, that way we can at least let them all sit comfortably on the chairs around
the stage while we keep them held up.” Rarity said.

Grey Beak added, “There are some board games and a couple of card decks in the
back rooms, so we could keep them from getting too bored and annoyed.”

“Perfect.” Shining said. “Keeping their minds off of the situation will be good.
Keeping a bunch of ponies on lock-down for an hour or more is usually not very
popular...”

“Sounds like you have experience with it?” Grey Beak asked curiously.

“Couple of similar situations, nothing exactly like this case.” Shining replied.
“Now lets get going shall we, Gun Point? Better get this over with.”

“Indeed.” Gun Point replied shortly and started walking.

“What about the signal?” Rarity asked.

“We’ll whistle, that should be sufficient.” Gun Point replied.

They two ponies walked around the corner, while Rarity and Grey Beak waited at the
main entrance. Moments later, Rarity heard a whistle.

“That’s the signal. Where is the Fire alarm?” She asked.

“Small red box there on the wall, near the bathroom door.” Grey Beak replied and pointed
through the glass entrance door.

“Oh, how perfect. That means I don’t even need to go in there, we can keep these doors
locked. I can trigger it with magic from here.” Rarity said, as her horn lit up in her usual
blue magic aura. The alarm box inside also lit up in the same blue aura.

“I simply pull the small lever down, right?” She asked, just to be sure.

“Yeah, standard alarm.” Grey Beak replied. She pulled, and a loud alarm sounded
across the building. “That should do it then... ”

Ten minutes later, a whole group of ponies came walking around the corner,
with Gun point leading the group and Shining follow behind.
There was a snobby-looking older pegasus stallion, a couple of janitors,
a mare who looked like a DJ, and a few others. Most of them locked annoyed and tired.
the elder stallion looked outright offended.

“How dare you arrest me? Do you have the slightest idea who I am?!”
He said, in a clearly annoyed voice.

“I don’t, and honestly, right now it doesn’t matter, sir.” Gun Point replied.
“Furthermore, Nopony is under arrest yet, You are all being detained until further notice,
because we’re conducting an investigation. After we’re done, I’ll gladly answer
any question, but until then, You are all to stay where I tell you to.”

“I am Diamond Skies, Equestrias richest pegasus! I own this establishment!
And I demand you explain yourself!” the elder pony said in a loud voice.

“That’s enough. I told you all I can for now, sir. If you do not calm down,
I will have you officially arrested for disturbing police business.”

The elder pony seemingly relaxed a bit, but he was still clearly angry.

“Do you have any idea how bad this will be for my publicity?”
He asked. “Being involved in police business will start rumors, ponies won’t want
to come here anymore, they’ll think I’m some kind of crime boss!”

Rarity approached the stallion. “Sir, excuse me, but... You know, there’s another way
to spin this whole thing, and make you come out as the good guy.”

“Hmph, what would you know about such things? You’re just a young mare.”

“...Who happens to work in fashion and show business. Listen...
What you said could be true, but... what if the story was spun in such way..
That it sounds like you helped the police... You’d be known as a hero.”

The stallion looked very thoughtful for a moment. “Hm.... I suppose that is true...”

“I can arrange for you to be officially awarded for helping us, if you do.” Gun Point said.

“Awarded how?” Diamond Skies asked.

“Headline in the news, a medal for special services to the city.”

“Fine, I’ll calm down and allow this... investigation.” Diamond said, finally calming
himself almost completely. He still looked somewhat annoyed though.

Everypony was led back inside and gathered in the show hall as planned.

“Well...” Gun Point said, “Now we just need to wait.” Also, we should search the building
just in case. Shining, you have more experience than me in that field, So I’ll leave that to
you while I stay here and keep my eyes on these civilians.”

Rarity looked at Shining. “I’ll come with you. As a unicorn, I could be useful. Light
spells for dark rooms, and such.”

Shining nodded. “Sure. You and I search the place, Gun Point and Grey Beak guard
the civilians.”

They all agreed, after which Rarity and Shining Badge started the search.

Chapter 19 - Waiting / Reveal

Rarity and Shining Badge left the others in the main hall and went off to search
the rooms, to make sure no pony was hiding anywhere. The chances of that were
very small, but it was still possible, and they needed to be sure.

“Hey, Miss Rarity?” Shining started.

“Oh, just Rarity is fine, no need for the ‘Miss’. Makes me sound old.” Rarity replied
with a small giggle.

“Sorry.” Shining apologized. “Anyway, I was thinking...”

“Yes?”

“While we search the rooms for other ponies.. let me focus on ponies.
you focus on the room itself, look for anything that doesn’t fit in. I mean,
you said you’re a fashion pony, so you would know this sort of stuff, right?
You’d be able to see things that do not belong in a fashion competition back-room.”

“Oh, that was actually partly why I wanted to come along on the search.
And also simply because two pairs of eyes see more than one.”

“True. Now, these would be the rooms used by the fashion ponies.” Shining pointed
at a row of doors. “We’ll search those first, and then the rest. Not many other rooms
to search though. we have these rooms, a couple of small closets, the bathrooms,
a small DJ booth next to the stage which was empty, I checked when we passed it,
the main showroom where everypony already is, and that rich guys office.”

“Hmm...” Rarity looked very thoughtful for a moment.
“After we search the dressing rooms, let’s search the office. Maybe he has a safe
or a lock box, with something valuable. Maybe that’s what the zebras are after?”

“Possible. Could be that he has some rare gem or something, or it could be valuable
papers, like the rights to the building itself or something.”

“Exactly.”

They proceeded to search the dressing rooms one by one, finding nothing and no pony.
At least, nothing out of the ordinary - clothes, fabrics, sewing machines, thread, needles,
jewelry (both real and cheap knock-offs), shoes, hats, and so on.

Shining held up a gem-embroidered broad choker-necklace.

“These sapphires are really nice.”

“Those are plastic.” Rarity said.

“...What? No, they can’t...”

“Tap it against the table, listen to the sound. It will make a plastic sound,
not the glass-like sound of gems.” Rarity said.

Shining did as he was asked, and to his surprise, it did sound like plastic, not like gems.

“Damn... I thought for sure they were real.”

“Top quality knock-offs. Looks real even up close unless you’re an expert,
costs much less than real ones. often used in fashion shows, since the clothes only need
to look expensive, they don’t necessarily need to actually be as expensive as the look.”

“So they’re fakes, but they’re not unexpected in a dressing room on a fashion show.”

“Exactly.”

“So we move on to the next room.”

“Yes, I say we can move on. Nothing in the dressing rooms caught my eyes as
being out-of-place.”

“And no signs of any pony hiding either.”

“On to the office then.”

“Yes.” Shining said, holding the door open for Rarity. “Ladies first.”

“Oh, a gentlecolt.” Rarity smiled and exited the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the main hall, the ponies were getting restless.
Especially the rich stallion who had promised to behave.

“We have been waiting for a good twenty minutes already! How much longer is
this going to take? And what exactly are you actually doing? I demand answers!”

The stallion grunted and paced back and forth between the rows of seats.
Gun Point sighed.

“I already told you, it’s police business, It’s strictly need-to-know at this point,
and for the moment, you do not need to know, you just really want to.
When this is all over, I promise you I will tell you everything,
but right now I need you to just stay here, and if you could please calm down a bit,
that would be a great help too. You’re making the others nervous.”

“I am? I am? What about you, and your two colleagues? you are the ones making ponies
nervous, keeping us locked up in here like a bunch of hostages! Maybe you’re not even
real cops, maybe you guys are some kind of kidnappers and you’re going to demand
ransoms for us!”

“Sir, you’re being paranoid. Please sit down, take a few deep breaths, and think about it.
If we really were kidnappers, why would we take all of you? Don’t you think kidnappers
would only go for the rich ones, and leave the rest alone? You can look closer at my
badge if you don’t believe me, and maybe you’ll see that it’s authentic. I’m a real cop.”

The old stallion did as he was told, but very reluctantly. He kept his eyes locked on
Gun Point, clearly displaying distrust. Gun Point sighed again, but thought to himself,

As long as he keeps calm, this should go smoothly... The Zebra should be returning
to her normal form any moment now.. Wouldn’t surprise me the least if that stallion
turns out to be the one...

Shining and Rarity walked back into the main hall, and approached Gun Point.

“Any luck?” Gun Point asked.

“Nope, we found nothing of interest. No ponies hiding, no items out-of-place,
nothing broken. The zebra got to be one of them.” Shining replied, nodding toward
the group of ponies sitting in the room. They all looked restless, tired, some looked
irritated, and the old stallion almost looked angry.

“Question is, which one?” Rarity inquired. “I mean, it could be any one of them.”

“At the moment, I’m leaning a bit towards the old guy, who claims to be the owner.”
Gun Point said, lowering his voice so that only Shining and Rarity could hear him.

“He’s been reacting more than the others to everything, and.. I just have a feeling
there’s something not quite right about him, but I can’t put my hoof on it.”

“Well, he could just be a grumpy old stallion.” Shining said. “A lot of stallions
get that way when they get old. Especially the rich snobs,for some reason.”

“True, but still.. there’s something about this one...”

One of the janitors walked up to the group.

“I wish to speak with you. In private.”

“Why?” Shining asked.

“I said, in private.” the janitor repeated.

“It’s okay.” Gun Point said. “I’ll go with you, sir. We can talk over there.”
He pointed at the far end of the room. “That’s as private as you’ll get.”

“Very well, I suppose that’s enough.” the janitor said, and walked to the corner
where Gun Point had pointed. Gun Point followed.

“So, what did you want to say?” he asked as they reached the corner.

“I know why you are here, and I wish to surrender myself. I am the one you seek.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Gun Point asked.

“I mean, I know you are looking for one of two zebras, able to change appearance.
I am telling you that I am the one you are looking for. I am that zebra.”

“I see, and you are surrendering... Why?”

“I have been thinking, and at this moment, that is my most logical option.
I can no longer fulfill my part of the plan here, and I assume you have also
gone after my sister, possibly even caught her already. Our plan can no longer
be accomplished, and struggling would only cause unnecessary problems,
for me and my sister, and for you as well. In short, nopony would gain anything
from it, and thus it is not worth the effort.”

“Makes sense. However, we still wait until you change back, just to make perfectly sure
you really are the zebra, and also that no one else here is your sister.”

“I wish to be moved away from the others before I change. It would only cause panic,
as they would likely assume me to be a changeling.”

“Why would you care about the others?”

“Why would I not? I am not evil, just criminal. There is a difference. I do not hurt ponies
when it can be avoided. Causing panic would only lead to problems, and possible
injuries. Thus, if you move me out of their sight and let me change without them
observing, you can avoid panic. Either let them go now, or move me to another room.
I will change back soon.”

“How soon?”

“Withing fifteen minutes, roughly.”

Gun Point waved at Shining and Rarity to come join them, and they did.

“Now, repeat everything you just said.” he instructed the janitor, who did as he was told.

Shining was the first to speak. “So, what now, boss? Do we believe him?”

Gun Point nodded. “Well, I don’t see why not. He did now things we never revealed
to the ponies here. I say one of us follow him to the next room, the others stay here
for the moment, and once he changes - if he does - we can let the others go.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll go with him.. uh, her, I suppose is more accurate.
I mean, you are a female zebra, this stallion appearance is just a temporary disguise?”
Shining said, turning to the janitor.

“That is correct. Though I currently appear male, my real self is female.”

“In any case, follow me.” Shining said, and led the way through a door.

“We’ll handle the others.” Gun Point said.

“How do we know when she’s returned to her own form, so we can release the
others?” Rarity asked.

“I’ll knock on the door three times. When you hear three knocks, that means she’s
back to her true form.”

“You do realize I have a name, and you just need to ask for it...” the janitor sighed.

“Oh, yes, right. What is your name?” Rarity asked.

“Manyzia.” the janitor replied.

“I’m Rarity. Under different circumstances, I’m sure it would’ve been a pleasure to meet
you, but as of right now, I think you’ll understand if I refrain from using that term.”

“Sure. Let’s just get this over with, shall we? When I have turned, you can arrest me
and take me to the station. I assume you’re going to want to question us.”

“Of course we are.” Shining said, as they left the room.

Shortly after, there were three knocks on the door. Gun Point approached the others.

“Well, Once again I am truly sorry for all this... However, you are all now free to go,
we have found the one we were looking for. I do need you all to leave your contact
information though, and stay in the city, just in case we need to ask you anything later.
On your way out I have prepared scrolls and quills, just write down your names,
current addresses, phone numbers if you have phones, and any other ways of
reaching you.”

“Finally!” The old stallion said, clearly still in a bad mood.
The others left in silence, or mumbling to themselves as they walked out,
each signing a scroll as they past the door.

Rarity opened the door to where Shining and Manyzia was, and instead of a stallion,
she now found a zebra mare, with a mohawk similar to Zecoras, green eyes, and a
necklace around her neck. Some kind of talisman or tribal symbol, judging by it’s look.

“So that is how you look.” Rarity said. “You remind me of a zebra friend back home.”

“Why of course, All zebras look the same to you, don’t we? Maybe your eyes are not
as refined as you think, hmm?” Manyzia sneered at Rarity.
She then added, “Now, shall we get this over with?”

Gun Point approached. “I see, you really are back to shape. Now, we never did this
officially, so here goes.” He took a small pause to catch his breath.
“Manyzia, you are hereby under arrest for impersonation, break-in, robbery,
pick-pocketing, kidnappings, on multiple accounts of each, some confirmed and
some suspected. You are to be taken into the station for questioning and placed
in a cell until trial, and after that, it’s up to the judge and jury. Will you come with
us by your own will, or do we need to force you?”

“I will come peacefully, just bare in mind, we have a lot to talk about.
I admit me and my sister did commit several crimes, but we are not the only
ones you should arrest in the end. There are other criminals involved too.”

“What do you mean? Who?” Gun Point asked.

“All in good time, I will tell you when I am reunited with my sister
in your station. Until then, I invoke my right to remain silent.”

“Very well, let’s get to the station as soon as possible, and let’s hope the others
got the sister.” Gun Point said, turning to Shining.

“Right. Now then... Gun Point, you wanna take the lead?”

“Yes, I believe I will. Miss Rarity, you walk beside her. I will walk in front,
and Shining behind. That way we have her surrounded, so she can’t try anything stupid,
like an escape attempt.”

“No need to worry, I will come peacefully. You have my word.” Manyzia said.

“Doesn’t matter, standard procedure.” Shining replied. “Now move.”

On the way out, they thanked Grey Beak for his help, as he closed the place down.
After that, they continued to the station, hoping that the others were done and
had the sister in lock-up already. The night was far from over.

Now, they had the interrogation to do...

Chapter 20 - Intermission

Just before midnight, the station door opened. Donut Glaze looked up from his desk,
to see who was coming in at such late time. A group of ponies walked in.
First came Gun Point, followed by a zebra, and then Miss Rarity and Shining Badge.

He spoke up.

“I see you found the other one.”

Gun Point walked up to Donuts desk.

“We found and captured her, yes... ‘other one’ you say? Does that mean the second
sister is here as well? Silver and Pepper were successful?”

“Yeah, about an hour ago. Zebra’s in holding cell B downstairs.” Donut said,
nodding slightly toward the stairs.

“Good, that means we have them both now. Is Silver and Pepper still here?”

“Yeah, Pepper is downstairs keeping an eye on the prisoner, Silver is in her office
finishing up some leftover paperwork from earlier this week, that domestic dispute.”

“Good, good. Now, about the holding cells... which ones are unoccupied? We need
somewhere to put her.” Gun Point waved toward Manyzia.

“Let me check...” Donut said, looking at a board on the wall behind him.
“Cell A is taken by that old drunk again.. Cell B, like I said, is the other zebra.
Cell C and D are free.”

“Hmm.. Can we move the drunk to C, and put the zebras in A and D? I want them as
far apart as possible, so they can’t talk tonight. We’ll keep them overnight and interrogate
them after the lunch break tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Manyzia was standing perfectly still, quiet, almost like a statue.
Shining and Rarity stood on each side of her, keeping their eyes locked on her,
and they had positioned themselves so that Shining was between her and the exit,
so she wouldn’t get any stupid ideas, like trying to escape.

Gun Point finished his talk with Donut, and was given a key.
He returned to the others.

“Okay, so here’s the plan. We’ll lock you up in the holding cell overnight,
and tomorrow we’ll interrogate you and your sister. After that, we’ll see what happens,
depending on what you tell us. You can either talk willingly, or we can make you talk.
We have various methods to convince you, if we need to.”

“I already told you, I have surrendered, and I will talk when the time comes to do so.
Now is not that time. Tomorrow is.” Manyzia said plainly, without a hint of any emotion.

“Follow me.” Gun Point said. “The cells are downstairs.”

He started walking, and Manyzia followed. Shining spoke.

“Hey, Boss.. You want me to come with, or can I leave for the day?”

“No need. Manyzia here seems quite content, and if she or her sister starts any trouble,
I have Pepper Spray downstairs to help me. We can handle it. You may leave.
Oh, and that goes for you too, Miss Rarity.”

“Oh, But... First of all, where is Pinkie and the others? And secondly, I still need
to ask about tomorrow... Do you want us to come back tomorrow, or is our involvement
over now, since they are captured?”

Donut replied to the first question. “Your friends are in the waiting room,
waiting for you to return. First door on the left.” He pointed at a short hallway.

Gun Point added, “As for tomorrow... Well, you have been very helpful so far,
and Erlen Meyer will be attending the interrogation, so I guess you could come too.
Who knows, you may still be helpful, depends on what they tell us.”

He started walking again, Manyzia followed in silence as they walked downstairs.
They entered the holding area, with four cells in a row. Each one had a bed, a table,
and a small bathroom. Gun Point opened Cell A, which was occupied by the local
drunk, who was half-asleep.

“Wadda’ya want now, Gunny? Can’t ya lemme sleep?” he mumbled drunkenly.

“You’re switching cell, Clover. This mare is taking yours, and you’re taking the one
next to it.”

“Why?”

“Because I say so. Now move it.”

The stallion moved slowly, unstable on his hooves. Far from sober, Manyzia thought
when she saw him.

He moved out from the cell, and sat down on the floor. Manyzia walked in,
and sat down on the bed. “I assume this is where you want me.”

“Yeah. If you need anything, just call out to Pepper Spray. We’ll get you food and water
in the morning.”

Manyzia just nodded, and fell silent again. Gun Point locked the cell and walked over to
the next one. He opened it, and the other zebra stared at him.

“Are you letting me go already?” She asked with a hint of surprise.

“No, just a cell-switch. We have your sister in cell A, and we want to keep you apart,
so you’re going in D instead. Now get out.”

She grunted and moved.

“Clover, get in here.” Gun Point said and pointed at the cell the zebra had just left.

He slowly moved, still half-sleeping, and somehow managed to get only halfway into
the bed before falling asleep completely.

The zebra watched him. “Pathetic...”

“Come on. You’re going over here.” Gun Point said, and opened cell D.
“It’s identical to the one you were in. You’ll be kept over night, but I assume
Pepper and Silver already told you that.”

“They did, and they said I’ll be interrogated tomorrow. Good luck with that.”

“Oh, I think we’ll do just fine. Just one last thing before I go.
I never got your name.”

“My name is Zamynia.” She replied. “Can I go to sleep now?”

“Yes. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

As he left the room, he thought to himself,
“Manyzia and Zamynia, huh? And practically identical twins...”

* * *

Upstairs, Rarity had gone to the waiting room and met with the others.
Now, she was sitting in an old sofa, talking with Erlen, Trixie, Pinkie and Petit.

“So...Anypony have any guesses as to what those two were actually after?”
Rarity asked, looking around at the others.

Petit just mumbled shyly, reminding Rarity a bit of Fluttershy, or perhaps Coco
the first time they gad met.

Pinkie raised her hoof. “Oooh, oooh, I know! They were going to steal the show!”

Trixie giggled and facehoofed at the same time. “That joke was so bad it almost became
good.” she said.

Rarity nodded. “Yes, Pinkie has a talent for making terrible puns sometimes.”

Erlen was half asleep. “This is way, WAY past mein usual bedtime... I am an old pony!”

Trixie smiled .”I know. We can probably leave soon, and get you home.”

“I still wonder what those two were after. Perhaps they were planning to steal some
clothes from the show... I mean, some of the creations were rather fabulous,
and some had very expensive materials and such. I’m sure there are fashion collectors
willing to buy stolen goods.”

“Trixie agrees.” Trixie said, and then corrected herself, “I mean, I agree.”

“Still having a hard time with the third person, I see.” Rarity teased.

“Shut up.” Trixie replied, scrunching her face slightly.

Gun Point entered the room. “The Zebras are both locked up now.
And until the interrogation, that’s all you can do for now. You’ve already helped more
than we could ever expect. However, Erlen, I will need you tomorrow, just in case we
need to use the serum. As for the rest of you... Rarity, Pinkie Pie, you two may join us
if you want to. You may still be able to help us. And Trixie, since we’re using Erlen,
you may come too if you wish.”

“Well, I have no other plans, so I might as well see this through to the end.” Rarity said.

“Me too!” Pinkie said happily. “Plus I’m reeeeally curious what they’ll say!”

“So am I.” Rarity added.

“I am afraid I can not come.” Trixie said. “Trixie has work to do.”

“Very well. And you?” Gun Point asked, looking at Petit.

“Oh, I... I can’t... I’m busy too, I have the café to run, and... I wasn’t really that
much involved anyway, so I don’t see what help I could be...”

“Well, thanks for what you did do, anyway. Now then, We will meet here again
tomorrow, after lunch. We begin the interrogation at 13.00, so those of you who will
attend, make sure to be here by then, okay? Until then, you’re all free to leave.”

Everypony said their goodbyes to Gun Point, and left the station together,
splitting up outside. Trixie approached Rarity and Pinkie.

“Trixie would just like to say... thanks... for letting me be your friend,
and trusting Trixie during these few days...”

“Oh, it’s nothing to thank us for. Just make sure to keep in contact, okay?
Send a letter once in a while, you know where to send it.” Rarity smiled.

“We’ll send you letters too!” Pinkie added. “Lots of letters!”

“That... sounds like something Trixie could enjoy, actually. It shall be so!
I will send you each a letter in a week or two, and include my return address
in the letters so that you may reply.”

“Perfect, I look forward to it.” Rarity said. “Now, I think you better get Erlen home...
I think he fell asleep again.” she added, pointing at the old stallion who was leaning
toward a lamp pole, snoring loudly.

The ponies split up, Trixie and Erlen going one way, Rarity, Pinkie and Petit going
the other. After a little while, it was time for Petit to split too and turn another way.

“Well.. It was fun to be with you guys.” she said. “Thanks... Oh, and Pinkie?”

“Yes?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Would you... perhaps... send me letters too? I mean, I... I’d like to stay in touch...”

“Sure! Just tell me your address, and I’ll send you lots of letters, and postcards!”

“Oh, that’s simple, just address them to the café, I don’t have a private address.
My apartment and the café is actually registered as the same place, since I live
above the café.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie smiled widely.

Petit gave her a warm look and a small smile. Pinkie was too busy smiling and bouncing
to see it, but Rarity noticed the look in Petits eyes, and smiled. I see... She thought
to herself. So that’s how it is.. I wonder how that will turn out...

“Anyway, I... I gotta go.” Petit said. She gave Pinkie and Rarity a quick group hug,
and they parted ways. Rarity and Pinkie made it back to the hotel, and went
straight to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as they lay down.

Tomorrow, they would finally find out what the zebras were planning.

Chapter 22 - Adventures End

Gun Point put the box on a desk, and took the first medal out of it.

“Rarity. For your services to the Manehattan Police Department, and to the city itself,
I hereby award you this medal for outstanding services performed by civilians,
with little or no concern for your own profit.” He said, as he approached her.

She knelt down slightly and tilted her head forwards, allowing Gun Point to hang the
medal around her neck. Gun Point went back to the desk and took the next medal.

“Now, Pinkie Pie.” he began, and repeated the same words, while hanging the medal
around her neck. He then repeated the same process for Trixie and Erlen Meyer as well,
and after they had all been given their medals, Gun Point saluted them.

“And, I would also like to personally thank you all, it has been a great few days.
Both me and my colleagues enjoyed working with you all.”

“Well, it was a pleasure helping you. I’m glad we were able to do so much for you.”
Rarity said, smiling. Next to her, Pinkie was staring at her medal, lost in the reflection
of herself in the polished silver. Trixie looked at her, and then at Rarity.
“Just so you know, Rarity... Pinkie spaced out again.”

Rarity glanced over at Pinkie. “Oh, yes, well.. no matter, I can just lure her out
if I have to. I just need to get her attention away from her reflection.
Easily done.” She smiled deviously, patting her small purse and whispering to Trixie,
“I have some candy here, just in case of emergencies like this.”

Pinkies ears perked. “...Candy?”

“No, Pinkie, not yet. We’re going shopping when we’re done here, remember?” Rarity
said, motioning for Trixie to keep the purse-candy secret.

“Oh, okay!” Pinkie replied.

“Speaking of which, we should really get going. our train leaves in a few hours.”

They all said goodbye to Gun Point, and left the station.

Outside, as they prepared to split up, Trixie reminded them to write her a letter
once they got back home, and Pinkie promised something about cake recipes.

Trixie and Erlen went their way, while Pinkie and Rarity went the other.

“Now then Pinkie, where is that candy shop you mentioned? The one with
the candy replica buildings and such. I was thinking of getting Sweetie the
Pony of Liberty statue, or perhaps the old Opera house, if they have those.”

“Well, I know they have the statue, but I’m not sure about the opera house.
We’ll have to ask when we get there. Oh, and it’s this way!” Pinkie replied,
pointing and bouncing along the street while Rarity walked next to her.

“Down this street until we reach a large office building, and then left unto the
shopping district street! The candy shop is in between two larger stores,
easy to miss if you don’t know it. It’s a small, modest shop, with just a small
sign above the door, no huge neon-y signs like the big shops have.”

“Oh, I see.” Rarity said. “Sounds delightful.”

“It is!” Pinkie said, as they kept walking to reach the small shop.

* * *

A few hours later, the two mares sat down in the train, ready to depart homeward,
back to Ponyville, and all their friends. A couple of days from now, there was going
to be a huge party at the Sweet Apple Acres, and most of Ponyville would be there,
including Rarity, Pinkie, and all the other girls, plus Spike and the Crusaders.

Rarity smiled, looking forward to it. Pinkie looked at her. “Whadda ya thinkin’ ‘bout?”
She said, with her mouth now full of chocolate she had bought earlier, in the candy shop.

“Oh, just planning ahead, looking forward to the party at the Apple farm.”

“Me too!” Pinkie smiled. “Oh, by the way, what did you get for Sweetie?”

“You were with me in the shop, Darling, didn’t you see what I got?”

“Ehh.” Pinkie shrugged her shoulders. “I was too focused on my own candy shopping,
and before I knew it you were already done, and then I forgot to ask, so I’m asking now.”
She smiled and looked at Rarity with curiosity in her eyes. “soooo....?”

“Ah, I see. Well, I looked at those statues and stuff, but those all looked a bit fragile
for a train ride, so I didn’t want to risk it. So I got her a bag of candy-gems.
They look almost like real gems, but made of rock candy in various flavors.”

“Oh, I know those, they’re good. Careful with the dark yellow ones though,
reeeeally sour! Even I cringe a bit when I eat them.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Sweetie can share them with her friends. I know Scootaloo likes
sour candy, so she can probably take the dark yellow ones.”

While they spoke, the train had started to move, and was now reaching full speed.
In a few hours, they would be back home, around midnight.

“Do you mind if I read for a while, or do you want to talk about something?”
Rarity asked, while levitating a book out of her saddlebag.

“Nah, I’m gonna look out the window and see the landscapes swoosh past,
and then I’m heading to the cafeteria cart for something to eat,
so you go ahead and read.” Pinkie smiled.

“Hm, I think I’ll join you when you go to the cafeteria cart,
some tea and a sandwich would be nice.” Rarity said, while opening her book.

“Okey dokey, we’ll leave together after you’ve read... one chapter?”

“Deal.” Rarity smiled, and started reading.

* * *

Once back in Ponyville, The two ponies both went to their respective homes for a good
nights sleep.

The next morning, Rarity stood in the kitchen making breakfast when Sweetie Belle
half-ran, half-tumbled into the kitchen, excited.

“Rarityyyyy! You won’t believe what we did when you were gone! Luna was here,
and she and Twilight and Applejack too, and we found magic orbs, and Luna turned
them into one huge orb and they went inside the orb, and they were gone for like,
two hours, but to them, it was like, two whole days, and they defeated Nightmare moon
again, and Applejack was an Alicorn, and...”

Rarity stopped her.

“Now now, Sweetie, calm down. You can tell me all about your fantasies and games
later, but for now, let’s have some breakfast. Oh, and after you’ve finished your
oatmeal, I have some candy for you, from Manehattan...”

Sweetie stopped, and stared at Rarity. “But it’s truuue, all of that really happened!
Ask Applejack, or Twilight, or Spike! They’ll tell you it’s true!”

“Oh I’m sure they will.”

“...Wait. Did you say candy?!”

“Yes, I did. Oatmeal first. Then candy.”

Sweetie sat down and started chowing down her oatmeal.

“...Slow down, Sweetie, or you’ll choke.”

“Bu ah wa mu andy!” Sweetie said with her mouth full.

“And don’t speak with your mouth full. Manners, young filly.”

Sweetie did as she was told, and finished her oatmeal slower, and in silence.
When she was done, Rarity picked up the candy from her saddlebag.

“Now, these are rock candy gems. Pinkie warned me that the dark yellow
ones are extremely sour though, so be careful with those. they’re all various
fruit and berry flavors, and the clear, ice-looking ones are spearmint.”

“Thank you so much!” Sweetie said, hugging Rarity.

“Now, don’t eat them all at once. they are rock candies after all, and the bag is rather big,
so if you eat them sparingly, you could make it last quite long.”

“I’ll try. Can I have one now?”

“Sure.”

“You want one?”

“Oh, I... hmm.. you know what, I think I will. Just, find me a small one, okay?”

Sweetie dug through the bag. “Found a small... red one!”

“Oh, it looks like a fire ruby.” Rarity said, looking at the small candy-gem.
She then put it in her mouth. “..and it tastes like.. cherries.”

Sweetie took a small green one. “This looks like an emerald. and it tastes... like apple!”

* * *

A couple of days went by, and the day of the party arrived.

“Now, Sweetie, let’s get going. The party is starting soon.”

The two ponies walked out of their house, toward Sweet Apple Acres...

Chapter 23 - Epilogue

Rarity and Sweetie went early to the party, just as the first few guests started arriving.
They found Applebloom preparing a long scroll of paper and a quill.

“Hi there, Applebloom.” Rarity said as they approached.

“Hi, miss Rarity. Hi Sweetie. Welcome!” She said, smiling. As she did, she also
dotted off their names on the long scroll. “Applejack put me in charge of the
guest list. You’re now officially here.” Applebloom said, nodding at the scroll.

“Ah, I see. Good to see you’re helping out.” Rarity smiled, and looked around into
the orchard. “We seem to be early though, not many ponies here yet...”

“I told you so, Rarity! We didn’t need to hurry at all.” Sweetie said in a matter-of-factly
tone, teasing her older sister. She took immense pleasure in being right for once.

“Fine, you were right.” Rarity rolled her eyes and giggled a little.

“So you’re gonna be here signing names all night?” Sweetie asked Applebloom.

“No, just for a while, and later Applejack or Granny’ll take over so I can have some
fun too, so I’ll be with you and Scoot later!”

“Good, that’s what I was wondering about. See ya later.”

Rarity and Sweetie entered the orchard, and was soon jumped by Pinkie.

“Weeelcome!” She shouted as she bounced up to them.

“Hi Pinkie!” Sweetie smiled widely. “Any games or something anywhere?
I feel like doing.. something, anything!”

“She had some candy before we came here, and now she’s overly energetic due
to all the extra sugar...” Rarity explained.

“Hm, let’s see what we got then!” Pinkie smiled. “We have Horse shoe tossing
inside the barn, and also hay-stack jumping from the upper level.
outside we have apple bobbing in a pool, and I set up a hoofball field for later,
when we have enough ponies here to form teams. Oh, and Scootaloo is already here,
she’s in the barn jumping in the hay stack, doing all sorts of trick jumps!
Just stay away from the south wall, that’s where we keep the supply of
cider, to keep it cold. shadowy and nice in there. Plus Dashie is there
already too. She said she’d make sure the cider’s safe.”

“Oooh, I wanna see Scoots stunts!” Sweetie said. “Rarity, we can split up right?
I can go anywhere as long as I stay within the orchard? And you can mingle
and be boring and just talk to ponies instead of having real fun, like you always do
on parties, right?”

“Now listen here young lady, I am not boring, I am an adult. Adults party calmer
than fillies do. I happen to enjoy mingling more than... haystack stunt jumping.
But yes, that does sound fair enough. I’ll just find you when it’s time to leave,
or you can come find me if you get tired before that.”

“’Kaythanksbye!” Sweetie said as she quickly ran off into the barn. Meanwhile,
Rarity noticed a table filled with various cakes and cookies along a few
tables on the outside of the barn.

She thought to herself, “I might as well have something to eat.”
She went over to the table, and looked over it. She realized there was a problem.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted. Everything looked good. Well, almost everything
anyway. She heard hoofsteps behind her, and then Twilights voice.

“Hi Rarity. Trouble choosing?” Twilight said, and nodded to the table.

“Oh, Hi Twilight, Hi Spike.” Rarity replied with a smile as she turned her head
and noticed Spike was with Twilight too. “Everything looks quite delicious,
and I’m not sure what I feel like. I can’t quite decide if I want the apple and pecan pie,
or if I want a piece of that apple cream cake.”

Spike went up to the table. “I’ll have some of that cake!” he grinned and started cutting a
piece. A rather large one.

Rarity made her decision. “Hmm... Oh, I shall have the same! Spike, would you mind...?”
Rarity asked, giving Spike a look with her puppy eyes. She knew he couldn’t resist those.

Spike almost blushed a little. “Of course!” he said, and cut a piece for Rarity as well,
giving it to her. She used her magic to take hold of the plate.

Then they heard another voice behind them. “Keep cutting, I want a piece too!”
They all turned to see Rainbow Dash, holding a tray of cider mugs, one each for the
whole gang. Behind Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood, and they also noticed
Fluttershy on her way toward them.

They all joined up and sat down at a table, each with a mug of cider and a piece
of the cake.

“So, how was your week guys?” Pinkie Pie asked openly.

“Well, I had quite an adventure. Or rather, me and Applejack.. and princess Luna.”
Twilight began.

“We had an adventure too!” Pinkie interrupted. “We solved a crime!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash cut in. “Me and Flutters too! well, sort of... more like a sabotage,
but still!”

“Well, We fought Nightmare Moon inside the Dream world.” Applejack said.

Spike interrupted everyone. “Okay, okay! Let’s all stop talking in each others mouth.
Let’s take turns telling our stories! Who wants to go first?”

“ME!” Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all yelled at the same time.

Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy all laughed. Shortly after, the others joined in too,
and after they stopped laughing they all told their stories.

* * *

Meanwhile, Spike decided to go find the Crusaders instead. He heard familiar voices
coming from inside the barn, so after he finished eating his cake, he went inside to see
if they were still there. Just as he entered, he saw Scootaloo dive from the upper
area, do a two-and-a-half turn front flip, and crash face first into the hay piles.

She crawled out of the piles slowly, but seemed unhurt.

“You okay?” Spike asked.

“Yeah, think so. Nothing hurts, at least. I... kinda miscalculated the distance to the
ground, and didn’t get enough momentum in the flip.”

“I didn’t know you knew words that big. Maybe you’re the encyclopedia, Scoot?”
Sweetie Belle teased.

“Shut up, Sweetie!” Scoot replied with fake anger, followed by all three laughing.
Spike joined in. “So what’re you all up to, except watching Scoot crash?”

“Well...” Sweetie began. “I’ve been thinking about something, and you’re the only
one we can ask about it, ‘cause you’re a dragon, and we don’t know any other dragons,
and it’s dragon-related.”

“Sure, go ahead.. I’ll answer if I can.” Spike said, and waited for the question.

“Well, we’re curious to know what gems actually taste like. I mean, do they have
taste at all?”

“Hard to answer. They do have taste, but I can’t really describe it. See, there’s nothing
ponies can eat that tastes even remotely similar, so there’s nothing I can compare it to
that you’d know the taste of.”

“Hey, I have an idea. Why didn’t we think of this earlier...” Sweetie said.
She ran over to a saddlebag she had brought with her, and pulled out a blue gem,
a sapphire. “We’ll just try it ourselves!” She exclaimed, smiling widely.

“Bad idea. Ponies can’t digest minerals like that, and your teeth and jaws are
not strong enough to break them either. And unless you crack it, the taste doesn’t come
out. It’ll be like sucking on a piece of glass, and if you swallow it you’ll get a
stomach-ache.” Spike said in a almost Twilight-y tone.

“Nah, It’ll be fine” My jaws are the strongest among us!” Scootaloo said, grabbing the
sapphire and putting it in her mouth. “You’re right, it is like glass.. gotta bite.” she
mumbled. Spike looked at her with a ‘told you so’ face, expecting her to fail.
And then, he heard a cracking sound, and then more... as Scootaloo chewed the gem
with only minor effort. Spikes eyes widened. “How... impossible... Do you have more
of those? Must be something wrong with the gems...”

Sweetie gave Spike a sapphire too, and he inspected it. “Flawless... How did you DO
that? Ponies shouldn’t be able to eat gems!”

Spikes eyes were wide, and he almost looked a bit panicked, mixed with confusion.

All three fillies started laughing, and as they did, Spike noticed something.

“Hey, Scoot...” he said, now in a very calm tone.

Scootaloo stopped laughing and replied, “Yeah?”

“Your tongue is blue.. it wasn’t earlier. And sapphires don’t cause any coloring
on the tongue. No known gems do. You guys tricked me somehow.”

Sweetie smiled and blushed. “Yeah... Rarity gave me these rock-candies that look
exactly like real gems, but they're basically just sugar crystals and food coloring...”
The three fillies smiled awkwardly. Applebloom added, “Sorry.. we couldn’t resist..
you know how we always prank each other.. And after that thing you did with our tea
during the board games last week, we wanted some revenge...”

“I only did that because you guys were cheating.” Spike defended himself.

Sweetie channeled her ‘inner Rarity’ and suddenly became very, very over-dramatic.

“How dare you accuse us, three innocent cute little fillies, of such things?
Calling us cheaters?! Have you no shame?”

Spike just gave her a completely deadpan look. “There is no possible way in Tartarus
you could be that lucky in ‘Battle-Clouds’. It shouldn’t be statistically possible to
make that many point-blank hits in a row. I don’t know how you cheated, but I know you
did, somehow.”

Sweetie kept imitating Rarity, and fell backwards into fainting-position,
but due to the lack of fainting-couch, she instead ‘fainted’ unto the hay piles.
“Woe is us, falsely accused for crimes not committed...”

“Okay, fine, enough of this. Spike. You, me, hay-dive contest!” Scoot said,
pointing at the upper level of the barn.

Spikes face turned serious. “You’re on. Sweetie, Applebloom, you keep scores.
And girls...”

Sweetie and Applebloom nodded and spoke at the same time. “Yes?”

“NO cheating this time.”

// The End

Chapter 5 - Café Licorne D'or

A few hours later, the train had arrived in Manehattan, and the two mares
had made their way to the hotel and checked in. They had also hired a luggage
service to get their bags from the central station all the way to the hotel,
and from there the hotel porter had taken it all to their room.
Pinkie bounced in through the door and looked around, with Rarity and the porter
following shortly after.

“Look!” Pinkie said as Rarity walked in, “We have a huuuge bed!
And a sofa! and a TV! and...”, She was going to continue further, but Rarity interrupted her.

“Pinkie dear, try to calm down. I know you’re excited, but please relax.”

Pinkie did as Rarity said, and stopped bouncing. Instead she decided to check the rest of
the room, locating a bathroom with a bathtub, and after that she went out to the balcony
to check the view. Meanwhile, Rarity thanked the porter for his service with a few bits.

“Thank you for carrying all the luggage. Oh, and if we need anything, how do we contact
the reception?”

The porter pointed at a phone next to the bed.

“Just lift the phone off the hook and dial ‘1’ to connect to reception. ‘2’ for room service,
if you want food or snack or something delivered to the room.
Anything you buy will be added to the bill when you check out and leave,
and all prizes are listed in the pamphlet next to the phone.”

After that, the porter left the room. Pinkie called out from the balcony.
“Rarity, come out here, you gotta see this! We have a great view!”

“Well, we are ten stories up, so...” Rarity smiled and walked out to Pinkie.
“Oh my. This is indeed a great view.” She said as she glanced over the edge,
seeing the city laid out beneath them.

Pinkie smiled widely. “Just imagine how amazing the sunsets will look from here!”

“Oh, yes, it will indeed be beautiful. But we should get going if we’re going to that
cafe you mentioned on the train.

“OH! Right! Come on!”

“Hold on a minute, I want to get dressed first. I mean, we’re in the big city now,
and here most ponies DO wear clothes... I want to fit in.”

“Fine, I’ll wait.” Pinkie said with a smile. “What’cha wearing?”

“I was thinking something simple, just a plain summer dress and a hat.”

She opened one of her suitcases and pulled out a light blue dress, and a matching wide-
brimmed hat, decorated with a large peacock feather. She quickly got dressed and ready.
They both went down to the reception, and Pinkie approached the desk,
where an old mare was sitting.

“Excuse me, Where do I find Café Licorne D’or?”

The old mare glanced at a map. “Jus’ take a left when ya exit here, an’ keep followin’
the street straigh’ for a couple o’ blocks, ya’ll see the sign above th’ door when ya
get there.”

Rarity looked at Pinkie with mild surprise. “I did not know YOU speak Prench, Pinkie?”

Pinkie smiled, somewhat confused. “I don’t. Why?”

“Well, ‘café licorne d’or’ actually means ‘Golden unicorn cafe’ in Prench.”

“Ooooh, THAT explains a lot!” Pinkie said, eyes widening.

“Hm? It does?”

“Yes! They have a gold-painted unicorn on the sign on the door, and the old stallion
who owns the place is from Prance!”

“Well, that does indeed xplain that then. So it’s a prench cafe.”

“Actually, half-Prench, half-Equestrian.”

“Even better, a mixed-culture-cafe. I love those.”

“I knew you would, that’s why I’m taking you there!” Pinkie smiled.

* * *

Later, the two ponies arrived at Café Licome D’or, a small cafe made to look prench
despite being located in Manehattan. Inside all tables were already occupied,
but they also had a few tables outside in a small garden on the backside
of the building. They found the only empty one, and sat down.
Shortly after, a young mare in a waitress outfit came up to them.

“Welcome.” She said with a smile, and with a noticeably prench accent.
“My name is Petit Éclaire, and I’m the waitress here at Café Licome D’or.
What may I get you? Coffee, tea, something to eat?”

“I would like a cup of basic Earl grey tea, and a piece of carrot cake.” Rarity said.

“I want tea too, and a large cupcake!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Very well, wait here, I will return soon.” the young waitress said and went inside.
A few minutes later she came back out with two large teacups, one blue and one
orange. “I want the blue cup!” Pinkie said when she placed them on the table.
“It’s the exact same tea in both, you know.” Rarity said.

“I know, but I still want the blue cup!” Pinkie smiled.

Petit Éclaire smiled. “I will come back again with your cake and cupcake.
Again, she went inside, while Pinkie closely examined her teacup.

“Something wrong?” Rarity asked.

“...My spoon.” Pinkie said slowly.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s upside down.. the spoony part is sticking up, and the slim grabby part is
in the tea.” Pinkie said, and then examined Raritys cup as well.
“Yours is correct though.”

Rarity smiled and sighed. “Does it really matter? You can just turn it around.”

“I know, I just thought it seemed worth noting for some reason...Oh nevermind,
here comes the cupcake!” She smiled widely as Éclaire returned.

“Say, excuse me.. but have I not seen you here before?” She asked, looking at Pinkie.

“Mmm, laft yea, i vifitedh fwiends and came hewe, eafing cuphcawes!”
Pinkie responded with her mouth full.

Éclaire giggled.

"Pinkie Pie, manners!” Rarity said. “Chew, swallow, and THEN talk.”

Pinkie swallowed and kept talking. “sorry.” she said with a smile.
“Won’t do it again!” She added, and took another bite of the cupcake.

“Ah yes, your name was Pinkie.. now I remember. You met my grand-papa,
monsieur Escargot, who owns this place.”

“Yeah, he was a nice old colt. Is he okay?”

“Oh yes, do not worry. He retired, me and Papa took over this Café,
Grand-papa Escargot lives in a retirement home now.”

“Excuse me for being bold, but how old is your grandfather?” Rarity asked.

“He is 73 this year, but still relatively healthy for his age, he often takes
long walks around town. He walks slowly, but he walks nonetheless.
Now, you must excuse me, I have other customers to attend.
It was a pleasure meeting you again, Pinkie.” the young mare smiled and
walked away.

“I didn’t realize you personally KNEW the owner, I thought you just knew
who he was.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, like she said, I met them last year on a visit here. But back then,
Petit was still in school, she must’ve just graduated and started here...”

“Very possible.” Rarity smiled and continued eating her carrot cake.
“Mm, simply divine. They really know how to make carrot cake here.
It’s ALMOST as good as Mr. Cakes back home in Ponyville.”

“I know right? This place has amazing baked goods!”

A little while passed as the two ponies drank their tea and engaged in
small-talk. After a while, they decided to move on and go back to the hotel
and relax for the duration of the day, and have some room service food for dinner.
The evening went by, as they relaxed, ate, watched some TV, and then finally
went to bed near midnight.

Author's Note

Fun Fact - Can you find the game reference? :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 21 - Interrogation

The next day, just as Celestia raised the sun over Equestria, Gun Point entered the police
station, still not fully awake. He made himself some coffee, greeted the night guard
as he left the station, and then sat down with the daily piles of paperwork.
Later today, He’d have the interrogation, and finally find out what those two zebras
had been up to all this time... He was looking forward to that. Professionally, because it
meant the case would hopefully be over soon. And personally, because of simple
curiosity. Today, he would get his answers.

* * *

A few hours later, Rarity, Pinkie, Trixie and Erlen entered the station, and was
met by Gun Point in the lobby. “Welcome back, all of you.” he greeted them,
and they all replied.

Then, he pointed toward a door. “Interrogation Room’s over there. We have them
both in there already, Storm Feather is keeping them guarded. Just a heads-up before
we all go in there... One of them is pretty calm and honestly, almost friendly.
The other is, well... Let’s just say, less satisfied with the situation, and might try
to insult or aggravate you. If she does, just ignore her.”

Rarity smiled. “No worries, we’re all professional, we can handle some unfriendly
comments. And, I assume the friendly one is Manyzia, the one you and I caught
at the show hall last night? And the unfriendly one would be...”

“Zamynia.” Gun Point replied. “Even their names are similar, and they look
almost identical. You’ll see. Eye color, a necklace, and their personality are the only
differences I’ve noticed.”

“Fascinating. In any case, should we begin?”

“Yeah, better get this done.” Gun Point said, opening the door and letting them all in.
Inside, they found Manyzia and Zamynia with their hooves chained to a table,
and Storm standing next to the door leaning a bit toward the wall.
Manyzia barely looked up, but Zamynia looked at them all, clearly annoyed.

“Shall we get straight to the point, ladies?” Gun Point asked as he approached them.

Manyzia nodded calmly. “Very well. You ask, and I shall reply.”

Zamynia grunted. “Why are you so friendly with them? They’ll only get in our way
even more than they already have! We’ll never get it back if they lock us up!”

“Silence, Sister. Trust me. This is for the best.” Manyzia said, still calm.

Zamynia was silent for a moment, before she spoke again. “....Fine.”

Gun Point cleared his throat. “Hrm. So, let’s start with...hmm...” He began.
“Let’s start with what Zamynia just said...’get it back’. Get what back?”

Manyzia took a deep breath and started talking. “To answer that, I must first tell you
a little of our origins. We come from the south, deep in the jungles. Many years ago,
our tribe was visited by stallions from this city... They claimed to be tourists and
explorers, and said they were there to research local wildlife and plants...
However, when their visit was over, they stole something from us.
A tribal artifact. To them, it can’t have had any value, it is a wooden statuette,
about the size of a soda can. But to our tribe, it is a priceless heirloom from our
ancestors. It has been in our tribe for as long as anypony can remember.”

“So you came here to steal it back from whoever stole it from you?” Rarity asked.

“Exactly.” Manyzia replied. “We spent the last few years tracking and searching,
and we are finally getting close.. So we came here to this city, because this is were
the thieves live and work.”

Gun Point asked, “So what about the crimes you committed? All the identity frauds,
robberies and pick-pocketing, the scams you’ve been running? You’ve been at it for
weeks now, what’s the point?”

“When we first came here, we spoke to officers from a different precinct. They told us
they could do nothing to help, and did not care about our problem, since we were not
citizens and the Idol was stolen years ago. For them, there was no case.
We tried to find jobs, but nopony would hire us. We became desperate, and resorted
to crime in order to get money. Money we needed for food, supplies, hotels...
We realized we were really good at it, and kept going. Meanwhile, we searched for
the ones who stole our Idol. After some time, we finally got on the right trail.
We discovered that one of the thieves now own and run that building in which
you caught me last night. I was there to search his office, hoping that maybe he
had the Idol there, so I took the identity of a janitor for easy, unsuspected access.”

Gun Point held up his hoof to stop here for a moment. “Hold on. That’s another thing
you’ll need to explain. That potion of yours.”

“A tribal recipe, from our Shaman. She taught us how to make it, since we are
Shaman apprentices, and one day we will take her place when she gets too old.”

“So you used the potion for your scams and to sneak in to the show hall.”

“Yes, as you already know. And now you know where we learned to make it.”

“What I don’t get is, why did you only ask in one station?”

“At that time, we did not now that you had more than one, and before we discovered
that, we had already began the scams and robberies. I wanted to try again once we
found out about the other stations, but my sister disagreed. I was Unwilling to argue,
so instead I let it go, and we continued the scams.”

“And I’m guessing you did not find your Idol in his office, since you do not have it.”
Rarity noted.

“Correct, it was not in his office. He did however have a picture of himself and
a group of others. I recognized them, they were indeed the ones that visited us
in our village, confirming that he is the correct pony. I assume he has it in his home,
since it was not in his office.”

“You do realize you’ll most likely be locked up for this, right?” Storm Feather asked.

“We do.” Manyzia said. “Personally, I accept our fate. I know Zamynia does too,
deep within herself.”

Zamynia sighed. “...yes... I do.. It’s just... We came so close to retrieving our lost Idol...
How can we explain this to our family once we get out of jail and return home?
We failed in our mission...”

Gun Point scratched his chin. “You know, you should have come to us weeks ago.
At this precinct, we would gladly have helped you. In fact, I think we can come
to an... arrangement.”

“What do you mean?” Manyzia asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“Well, you two are still gonna have to take your trial, and sentence, for your crimes.
However, while you’re in prison, me and my officers can open an official investigation,
and turn this into an actual case. IF we find and obtain the Idol, we’ll keep it in our
evidence locker until you two get out from jail, and give it to you.”

Manyzia looked at Gun Point. “You... You would do that for us? Despite all we have
done?”

“Yes. Yes, I would.” Gun Point said. Storm nodded. “Sure, I’m in.” he said.

Manyzia smiled. “Thank you. I mean it.”

Gun Point smiled back. “You still have to serve your sentence, so maybe
you shouldn’t thank me too much. I mean, based on all you’ve done, we’re looking
at a minimum of two years in medium-security prison. Storm, your thoughts?”

Storm nodded. “Yeah, I’d say two, maybe three years.”

“Like I said, we both understand, and we’re willing to serve our time.
All we really care about is getting our Idol back to the village.
There is one thing I would ask of you though...” Manyzia said, looking at Gun Point.

“And what would that be?”

“I wish to send a letter home to the tribe, tell them of the situation. They need to know
why we are not coming back for some time, otherwise they will get worried.
I’m sure you understand...”

“After we’re done here, we can arrange for that. Be aware though, we will check
the letter carefully before sending it, just to be sure.”

“Again, Thank you.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse us all... Ladies, Erlen, come with me.” Gun Point said,
waving at the others. “Storm, stay here and keep your eyes on them.
I don’t think they’ll try anything, but we do need to follow standard protocol.”

Storm nodded and mumbled something that Rarity assumed was “Sure, I’ll stay.”

Everypony except Storm left the room.

“Now what?” Trixie asked.

“Now, I’m afraid I must ask you all to leave. The investigation is over.”

“And thus, you won’t need any help from us anymore.” Rarity said.

“Exactly... There is one more thing though, A small sign of gratitude I’d like to give
you all, so if you’d please wait in the lobby while I go get it...”

They all nodded and walked out to the lobby area.

“What do you think it is?” Trixie asked.

"Maybe.. candy?!” Pinkie said, bouncing a couple of times.

“I very much doubt that, Pinkie.”

“aaw...” Pinkie replied, and stopped bouncing. “I wanted something sweet...”

“Well, we could always go get something after we’re done here.
Which reminds me, I still need to find something for Sweetie Belle...”

“Sweetie Belle?” Trixie asked.

“My younger sister. I believe you’ve met her, white filly, pink and lavender mane.”

“Rings a bell, Trixie has vague memories of such filly, yes...”

“In any case, I promised her to get her a gift from Manehattan when I get back.”

“There is a candy shop that sells candy replicas of famous landmarks and buildings.
Would that be sufficient?” Trixie asked.

“Hmm.. maybe...”

“Ooh ooh, I know that place!” Pinkie said. “Sweetie would love their candy,
very fruity and sweet!”

“Well, I suppose a rock candy statue or something would be a nice gift for her...”

“Yes!” Pinkie bounced again. “I’m gonna get some too!”

As they talked, Gun Point returned. “Thank you all for waiting.
Now then.. As thanks for your services to the station, and the city of Manehattan...”
He said, opening a wooden box. “....I present to you all, these silver medals.”

In the box was a row of silver medals, shaped like large coins with the police emblem
engraved in them, along with some text - ‘For Outstanding Services’.