"Hey Sapphire!" Ghost Gale trotted down the path to where I was looking for a new pair of sunglasses, "You think I should go for the red and gold or the turquoise and silver?" She held up two dresses for me to look at.

I looked at them and pointed to the one with the silver, "The red will clash with your mane."

Ghost Gale smiled gleefully, "Thanks!" she put the winning dress in the basket, "Have you decided what you're gonna wear to the party?"

I shook my head, "I'm not dressing up."

Ghost Gale gave a dramatic gasp, "But you have to!"

"No I don't. I've only dressed up once when I was 5, and it was miserable..." I grumbled, "I'm not eager to try it again..."

"But you have to!" She whined, "It won't be any fun if you don't!"

I groaned, "I don't wanna wear a suit..."

"Then wear a dress!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because that's how you attract perverts!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Um... May I help you ladies?" We were cut off by one of the store staff, "Do you need help finding anything?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Ghost Gale beat me to it, "We're looking for a dress." She glared at me, "But Sapphire is being too stubborn!"

The Staff Mare smiled and nodded, "Oh don't worry, we have a large selection, I'm sure you'll find something you like.¨

Gale looked to me and smirked, "See?"

I narrowed my eyes, "You little troll..."

Gale giggled, picking me up with her magic, "Come on! We need to get you a dress!"

Que the dress montage

"Too bright!"

"Too dark!"

"Too poofy!"

"Too tight!"

"Too suggestive!"

"Too flashy!"

"Not flashy enough!"

I flopped down on the dressing room floor, "No more! I think it's been established that I look horrid in dresses!"

"Just one more!" Gale whined, "If you don't like this one you don't have to dress up!"

I groaned, picking one up off the pile, "Fine, one more, then I'm done!"

I put the dress on and looked in the mirror. The dress was a midnight blue, fading to a ducky black at the end with silver stars dotting the fabric, making it look like the night sky.

I stepped out and Ghost Gale gasped, "It's perfect!"

"You think so?" I looked myself over.

"It looks amazing!"

"So we're done then?" I sighed.

"Yep! Go take it off so we can buy it!"

I went back in and got undressed, coming back out and giving the filly the dress, "So how exactly do you expect to pay for it? Or did you expect me to pay for it even though you're forcing me into this?"

Gale chuckled and shook her head, "Why do you think those slave traders were beating me up?" She took out a wallet, "I was planning to bolt as soon as I could and use their money to buy my own freedom."

My jaw dropped, "You mean you-"

"Yep!"

"Gimme that!" I snapped, snatching the wallet from her magic, "You owe me, 50 grand!"

"Hey! Didn't you specifically say not to lie to those stallions?!"

"I would have had to pay that much if I hadn't known better! Plus let's not forget who's taking care of you at the moment!" I snapped, looking inside, "Just as I thought, they were trying to get back the amount you stole..." I put my trench-coat back on and put the wallet in my pocket, "Thank Celestia there's not an ID in here, or I would probably get arrested..."

"Celestia? Who's that?"

"Oh that's right, you probably haven't had that much education have you?" She shook her head no, "Well Celestia is the Alicorn who raises the sun."

"So she's some kind of mythological goddess or something?"

"No. she's real."

"Really?!"

"Yep." I stopped to think for a moment, "In fact, if I remember correctly, she'll be at the party tonight. Something about getting antiquated with the locals before heading to the Capital City tomorrow for a Treaty Conference with the Queen."

Gale's dragon eye pupils widened in awe and a huge grin hit her face, "So I might get to meet royalty?!"

"Don't get your hopes up kid." Her grin dropped when I said that, "This is foreign royalty we're talking about here, and from what the text books say she banished her sister to the moon a thousand years ago because her sister wanted a little attention and gratitude."

"Oh..." Her ears drooped a bit, "It was worth a shot I guess..."

I sighed and finished paying for the dresses, "Now come on, we need to go home and get ready."

The little filly perked up at that quickly, "Ok!"

Later that night, I landed in front of the Dwellgood Mansion. I looked behind me to Ghost Gale, who was having a bit of trouble landing. I sighed and helped her down, "Steady there kid. You don't want to faceplant in a place like this, leaves a bad impression."

Gale nodded, "Thanks Sapphire..." She straitened out her dress, then looked to the mansion, "Wow, that's a pretty big mansion. You said it belongs to the Dwellgoods?"

I nodded, "Yeah, they're known for their charity work, but also hold the monopoly on alcohol sales, along with a few... Other substances..." I cleared my throat, "So shall we go in?"

"Yep!" Ghost Gale practically bolted for the door, only for me to fly in front of her, "Mind your manners Gale. Especially around the rich folk." I said as I trotted through the double doors.

The inside of the mansion was open and grand, the cherrywood walls and bloodstone floors perfectly setting the mood of the forest surrounding the mansion. Golden Dwellgood, the head of Dwellgood Company, was at the top of the stares in a Tiger Print suit, which I was guessing was a rich pony thing, and was greeting the guests, the Equestrian Princess next to him and making small talk while he was greeting guests.

I went up the stairs to greet him, and he greeted me with a cheery smile, "Inspector! So glad you could join us tonight, especially in such fine tastes." He took my hoof and kissed it lightly in a gentlecoltly fashion.

I nodded and took of my Fedora, which I refused to leave at home, "Thank you for having me Mr. Dwellgood. This is a lovely party you've got here."

"Well I have only the best for my guests." He puffed out his chest proudly, "Have you met our Guest of Honor here?" He looked to the Princess, "This is the lovely Princess Celestia, the ruler of the Equestrian Lands. We are truly honored to have such a wonderful guest with us tonight!"

"Oh Dwellgood, you flatter me." Celestia chuckled.

I dipped my head in respect, "It's an honor to meet you your highness."

Celestia smiled at me gently, "It's a pleasure to meet you too Ms. Night. Dwellgood here was just telling me how much he owes you for helping him get back his crowned jewels at his last party?"

I shrugged, "It wasn't really anything special, classic case of 'the butler did it'."

Celestia chuckled at this and then looked to a certain little filly who was hiding under my wing, "And is this little one your sister?"

Ghost Gale squeaked and hid her face, "M-My name is Gale..."

"Gale? What a pretty name." Celestia complimented her in a gentle tone.

"R-Really?" Gale began to come out from under my wing.

"Yes, and I must say you look lovely in that dress."

"Th-Thank you your highness..." She gave the princess a shy smile.

Celestia nodded, "I must say, it's so nice to see sisters like you two get along so well."

"She's not my sister actually." I stated, drawing Celestia's attention, "I saved her from some ruffians yesterday, so she's staying with me until we can find her a proper family."

"That's very generous of you Ms. Night." Celestia then looked to Ghost Gale, "You know, if you're interested, perhaps you could come back to Equestria with me little one, if you're interested."

Ghost Gale gasped, "Really?!"

Celestia nodded, "Why don't you give it some thought, alright?"

Gale nodded eagerly, "Alright!"

"Now, go enjoy the party alright?"

"Alright!"

Ghost Gale and I went into the ballroom, where the orchestra was playing a tune called Starfell Serenade, an old favorite of mine by Blank Dream, though no one could quite match her vocals so perfectly.

I looked to Ghost Gale, who was looking over to a group of other fillies, "Don't be shy, go say hi." I encouraged her and nudged her forward. She smiled and went off to play with the other fillies. I had someone I wanted to meet up with.

I wandered through the crowds of ponies until I came to the courtyard patio, where a certain earthpony was serving her famous Whipped Goldberry Pie.

I walked up to her and poured myself a glass of Drycherry wine, "Nice party isn't it?"

Maple Mint nodded, "You bet your birch trees it is. And I still can't believe they hired me to cater this place. It's so rich and fancy, and I'm just a little girl who grew up on a pear farm. Though maybe I could do better if I didn't forget my powdered sugar shaker at home..."

"Oh don't be modest Maple, your probably the best baker in the entire Midnight Empire! I wouldn't be surprised if the Queen herself asked you to cook for her one day." I chuckled.

Maple Mint blushed and looked away, "Aww you're just saying that..."

"No I'm not, I really-" I was cut off my a screech! I rushed to the source and gasped as I found one of the security guards on the floor, bleeding from the mouth, and an empty display case!

"Someone killed the guard and stole the Golden Pearls!" A maid screamed, nearly fainting.

I stepped forward and examined the body, finding no injuries, "He must have been poisoned..."

"How could he be poisoned?" Gale asked?

"Simple." Mr. Dwellgood pushed his way through the crowd, "He must have eaten something poisoned..."

I cocked my head to the side, "But the only one serving food here is-" I froze, and looked to my terrified friend who was about to face an angry mob of some of the most powerful Ponies in the empire!

Author's Note

Whelp, Maple Mint is screwed. Who here actually thinks she's guilty?