Dinky Doo and the Case of the Missing Apple
So I gave myself a challenge, write a story on the flight to Hawaii, and here you go.
"Have a good day at school, Muffin." Dinky's mother, Ditzy called. Dinky gave her mother a good-bye hug. Ditzy was wearing her mailmare uniform, and was ready for a day at work.
"I will." Dinky said, before trotting off to her regular day at Ponyville elementary school. She pushed past the white picket fence that surrounded the small one room elementary school. She walked through the yard were the fillies and colts would play during recess, and up to the door to await Ms. Cheerilee to welcome them into the classroom.
The day was like any other, nice weather, warm but not too warm air, and all the ponies hard at work doing their respective jobs. Dinky waited at the door just like any other day, she didn't have many friends and the one she spent a lot of time with was sick at home from eating too much candy.
Dinky decided to take the time to practice her magic. She saw a small rock nearby and focused. The horn that made its place in the middle of her forehead glowed a faint gold, and the rock moved from its resting place into the air. Dinky unsure of what to do with the rock, she set it down back into the place she found it.
"Fa, you think picking up a rock with magic makes you so cool doesn't it?" It was her, the school bully, Diamond Tiara and her lacky Silver Spoon. Dinky turned to face them. She had been picked on before by them and knew how to handle it.
"I didn't say that." Dinky responded. She focused again and picked up the rock with magic just to prove that it wasn't a fluke. Diamond Tiara harrumphed and stuck her nose up into the air as she trotted away. It took Silver Spoon a moment to notice, and then she followed behind her arrogant friend.
The door to the school opened just as the clock hit eight. Cheerilee was there to call everypony in.
"Time for school everypony." She called. Dinky was the first one in the door, and Cheerilee greeted her as she usually did: "Good morning Dinky."
"Good Morning Cheerilee." Dinky responded with spirit. Dinky enjoyed school even though it was a bit hard for her sometimes, and some of the meaner fillies and colts bullied her about her mom, but the few friends she had made up for all of it.
The school room looked the same as usual. The desks in neat rows and the chalkboard neatly clean off and ready for today's lesson. Cheerilee's desk was neat and clean with a bright red apple sitting at the upper right hand corner. Dinky took her seat at the third desk in the second row. She opened up the desk to retrieve her supplies: A note book and a pencil.
The rest of the class slowly trickled in, many of them disgruntled by having to come to school. The desks to either side of her were occupied by Snips and Snails, and they always talk to each other in too loud of voices and accidently spitting on Dinky's desk a lot.
As Cheerilee started her lesson, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders burst opened through the door, late as usual. The whole class listened in to see what their crazy idea to get their cutie marks was for today.
"Sorry we're late Ms. Cheerilee." Apple Bloom apologized.
"Yeah, we were trying to get our cutie marks." Sweetie Belle said, as the three of them took the desks in the front of the room.
"We were trying to see if our cutie marks were in firefighting, but there weren't any fires. So we had to start one." Scootaloo explained. That caught Cheerilee's attention.
"I hope you didn't hurt anypony." She said as she started to write on the board. "How appropriate, the lesson for today is fire safety. Now, does anypony know what to do if you happen to catch on fire?"
Dinky raised her hoof. "You stop, drop, and roll."
"Very good." Cheerilee praised as she wrote the words, 'stop', 'drop', and 'roll' on the board. "I've got some ponies from the fire department here in town to come down and show us something about fire safety."
On cue a large earth pony in a fire retardant suit walked in. He taught the fillies and colts how to use a fire extinguisher, what to do if your house is on fire, and how to check fire alarms. He had them learn the firepony carry, and let the try on the fire suit, with the oxygen tank and breathing apparatus.
"Alright everypony thank the firepony for his time." Ms. Cheerilee instructed when the lesson was done.
"Thank you." The class did as instructed. They filled back into classroom and waited for Cheerilee to dismiss them for the day.
Cheerilee looked at her desk, and her face scrunched up. "Did anypony see my apple?"
None of the fillies or colts spoke up. Dinky look were the apple had been sitting on the desk. A small hoof print left where the apple had been. She immediately knew, somepony had stolen it, and only she, Dinky Doo, could solve the case on this most heinous of crimes and she was going to be like those detectives she watched in movies, even though her mom told her not to. She shuffled around in her desk for a while a pulled out a little note book.
"Oh well. Class dismissed, see you tomorrow." Cheerilee said and all the colt and fillies ran outside, besides Dinky, who came up to Ms., Cheerilee's desk. "Oh hello Dinky, can I help you?"
"When was the last time you saw the apple?" Dinky asked. Cheerilee gave her a questioning look, but when she saw Dinky was serious she smiled.
"Oh I'd say right before the firepony took us outside...around two o'clock." Cheerilee said. Dinky wrote that down on the note book.
"Thank you, Ma'am. I'll take the investigation from here." Dinky said with authority. Cheerilee had to put a hoof to her mouth to keep herself from laughing.
"Alright, Detective Doo." Cheerilee said, before looking back to the paperwork she had been grading before. Dinky trotted out the door looking down on her one note.
"Who would have a motive to steal Ms. Cheerilee's apple..." Dinky thought out loud. She trotted into the schools yard, where all the school children played. Dinky went over to the swing set to think.
"Hey Dinky." A colt's voice shook her from her thoughts. It was Pipsqueak. He had a small smile.
"Hey Pip." Dinky said distractedly. Then she thought that Pipsqueak could have taken the apple. "Where were you at two o'clock on the day of today?"
Pipsqueak reared back in surprise. "Wha- outside, with the firepony."
"Likely story." Ding accused. He gave her a confused looked and started to back away, but the filly unicorn wasn't about to let him get away.
"You were there. You saw me there." He said. Dinky was already piecing his prosecution while he gave his side.
"But how do I know that, when we were all distracted by the firepony, you didn't sneak through a window, and using your pirating skills you swung yourself on the Cheerilee's desk to take her apple." Dinky accuses him; even though she had no evidence she felt that she had a strong case against him.
"Uhhh..." Pipsqueak was unable to form any words.
"Ah ha! You did do it! You're going away for a long time; they have fun with you in jail." Dinky had gotten the last part from a movie her mom told her that she was too young to watch.
"Wait! Why would I still Ms. Cheerilee's apple?" He questioned.
"It's obvious that you were jealous that Cheerilee had such a nice apple, so you decided to take it for yourself with your plundering pirate skills." Dinky figured it out. Pipsqueak's confused face turned into one that looked like he was thinking she was crazy.
"I didn't do it. I haven't eaten anything since lunch. See." He opened his mouth. Dinky inspected his teeth. They were well taken care of and she could find no traces of apple anywhere.
"So you didn't do it...so who did." Dinky said as she wrote down Pipsqueak's name them crossed him off. "Did you see anything?"
"Well, I saw Apple Bloom walking out of school with a shiny red apple." Pipsqueak said. Dinky wrote the cutie mark crusader's names on her notepad. She was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last think she'd do. She was Dinky Doo after all, and if what her mother told her was true, she could do anything she wanted, as long as she put her mind to it.
The fillies and colts were starting to be picked up by their parents or guardians. Dinky's mom was waiting by the gate when Dinky looked for her.
"Hello, Muffin how was your day at school?" Ditzy asked in a sincere voice. Dinky knew that if she were to solve this case she was going to not be distracted by her mother.
"Fine." Dinky gave a one word answer, which was unusual for her. She usually blabbered on about her day, and Ditzy would listen intently, congratulating her on good grade, encouraging her on bad ones, and comforting her on bad days.
"You sure?" Ditzy asked.
"Yeah...I'll be home before six." She said before galloping off to Sweet Apple Acres. She caught up with Apple Bloom walking with her big brother about half way to their farm. Dinky was galloping so fast that she could slow down fast enough and ended up tackling Apple Bloom.
"Friend of yours?" Apple Bloom's older brother asked. Apple Bloom pushed Dinky off of her.
"Not exactly. What are ya doing here Dinky?" Apple Bloom turned her attention to Dinky. Her older brother shrugged and kept on walking.
"You stole Ms. Cheerilee's apple." Dinky said accusingly.
"Ah ain't steal nothing!" Apple Bloom retorted giving Dinky a little shove.
"Double negative! So you did steal her apple!" Dinky deducted with her superior detective skills. She circled Apple Bloom's name on her notebook and wrote main suspect next to it.
"No, that ain't what Ah meant. Ah did not steal her apple." Apple Bloom said. Dinky gave her a look that said 'that's what they all say.'
"Why then were you at the scene of the crime when it happened?"
"So where you!" Apple Bloom complained.
"I'm the one asking the questions here." Dinky scoffed. "Now, you were seen leaving the scene of the crime with a shiny red apple, just like the one on Cheerilee's desk."
"My family farms apples." Apple Bloom reasoned. Dinky had caught her with that statement.
"Ah ha! You did do it, because you were upset that your trees couldn't grow any apples that nice so you decided that you and the crusaders were going to steal it." Dinky felt clever that she had found the ring leader first.
"Ah'm pretty sure that apple came from Sweet Apple Acres." Apple Bloom said. Dinky focused her magic and Apple Bloom started to float. "What are ya doing?"
Dinky looked around and found a piece of cloth sitting on the side of the road. She used her magic to stuff it in Apple Bloom's mouth, receiving groans of complaint. Dinky ignored them like a real detective would, or at least like the ones she saw in the movies.
"Don't worry I'm going to put you somewhere safe until I get your crime ring." Using her magic she dragged Apple Bloom along to an old tree house on the edge of Ponyville. Dinky sometimes spent time there with her friends. She tired Apple Bloom up with some rope and left to find the other crusaders. With her sharp detectives mind, she concluded that if one crusader was involved they all were.
Dinky felt pretty proud of herself. She was going to be the best detective ever, and she was going to make her momma and Ms. Cheerilee so proud. She trotted along looking at her notes. She came upon Scootaloo riding her scooter recklessly as ever.
She was speeding at close to top speed using her wings as propulsion, and she was heading straight towards Dinky. Dinky skillfully dodged the scooter, but used her magic to hold the wheels on the scooter still, sending Scootaloo over the handlebars and on to the ground.
"Hey what you do that for?" Scootaloo asked loudly. While still on the ground Dinky stood on top of her.
"Admit it; you helped Apple Bloom steal Ms., Cheerilee's apple." Dinky ordered. Scootaloo looked confused.
"What?" Scootaloo stammered out. Her wings flapped widely trying to get out from under Dinky.
"You and your crusader buddies stole Ms. Cheerilee's apple and I'm going to take you criminals in." Dinky said assertively.
"We didn't do anything." Scootaloo said.
"You and your crusaders were seen, by a witness, leaving school with a red apple just like the one on Cheerilee's desk." Dinky confronted.
"Apple Bloom brought that from home!" Scootaloo argued.
"Shut up." Dinky slapped her like they did in the movies.
"You're crazy!" Scootaloo shouted. She was starting to get a bit rowdy. Luckily, Dinky had seen enough detective movies to know how to handle this. She would skillfully use her wit and knowledge to get Scootaloo to calm down, and then she would use her tact to back her into a mental corner and get her to confess. "I'm going to call the police!"
Instead of following her plan, she panicked and picked up a rock and smacked her over the head with it. It wasn't the best of options but it was effective. She was able to drag Scootaloo to the tree house and tied her up like Apple Bloom. Applebloom tried yelling at Dinky, but she was still gagged so she couldn't speak.
"I've almost got your thieving ring all wrapped up, soon I'll turn you in to Cheerilee." Dinky said. Dinky felt herself like she was going to be getting a detective cutie mark very soon. "Now, I'm going to find you last friend in crime."
Dinky knew exactly where to find Sweetie Belle. She made her way quickly through town to Rarity's boutique. She knocked on the door. In a few moments Rarity came to answer the door.
"Oh hello. Can I...um...help you?" Rarity asked a look of confusion. She wasn't accustomed to strange fillies coming to her boutique.
"I'm here to see Sweetie Belle." Dinky said. A look of realization adorned Rarity's face.
"Oh you must be one of her little friends. Wait right here and I'll get her for you dearie." Rarity said and she left to go fetch Sweetie Belle.
In a few moments, Sweetie Belle came to the door. She was eating a large, shiny, red apple.
"I caught you, red hooved!" Dinky yelled. Sweetie Belle took a few steps back.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sweetie Belle said between bites.
"Stop eating that." Dinky slapped the apple from Sweetie Belle's hooves. Sweetie Belle stared down as it rolled around on the ground gathering pebbles and dust in the already eaten part of the apple.
"Hey!" Sweetie Belle protested. Dinky had to think on her hooves before the situation got out if hoof.
"Sorry...Your friends sent me to get you." Dinky lied. Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow; Dinky knew she wasn't going to believe her.
"Why didn't they just get me themselves?" Sweetie Belle was already starting to back into the boutique.
"You're under arrest for the crime of theft of Ms. Cheerilee's apple." Dinky said annotatively. Sweetie Belle looked even more confused, and slammed the door in Dinky's face. Dinky quickly forced it open before Sweetie had time to lock it. Sweetie Belle started to run.
"Rarity help! She's trying to arrest me!" Sweetie Belle said as she swerved in and out of the clothing racks, followed close behind by Dinky.
"That's nice dear." Rarity said distractedly as she usually did when she was busy deciding which lining to go on an outfit. Sometimes it would take her hours, other times minutes. Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle this was not one of those times.
Sweetie Belle ran into the kitchen. She looked around for something to help her, and she spotted a fruit bowl siting on the counter.
"Freeze!" Dinky yelled. Her horn was aglow with prepared magic. Sweetie Belle looked around quickly. She opened a drawer and used it to climb up on the counter. Sweetie proceeded to throw fruits of all kinds. Dinky bobbed and weaved to dodge the flying fruit. A banana splattered on the ground, and Dinky stepped on the peel and slipped. Her did a flip in the air and landed on the ground with a crack.
"Owowowoowowowow." Dinky said through clenched teeth.
"Oh geeze! Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah...yeah..." Dinky took in a deep breath. "Okay, let's start this again."
Sweetie Belle nodded. She picked up an apple in each hoof and threw it. Dinky skillful dodged the fruit and rolled to get a good position to use her magic. Sweetie Belle tossed some more fruit. Dinky focused and caught the fruit with magic. She tossed it back at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie dodged the fruit, but lost her footing and slipped off the counter and crashed to the floor.
Dinky quickly got some thick ribbon from a bin and hog tied Sweetie Belle. "You're under arrest for the crime of theft. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Dinky said, she had heard that line from a movie too.
"Fine." Sweetie Belle complied. She knew that Dinky wasn't going to stop trying until she caught her, so she gave up.
"Good choice." Dinky said with a smile. She started to drag Sweetie Belle through the house. Dinky spotted Rarity and said: "Sorry for the mess ma'am."
Rarity didn't look up from her current project. "Yeah you two have fun."
Dinky hoisted Sweetie Belle on to her back. She picked up the apple that she had slapped out of Sweetie's hoof earlier, and she trudged through town getting curious glances from ponies as she passed, but Dinky held her head high, proud that she was about to solve the biggest mystery in school history. They made good time to the tree house and Dinky tossed Sweetie Belle in.
Apple Bloom mumbled with the clothing still stuck in her mouth. Scootaloo looked up in anger a gash on the side of her head.
"Sweetie Belle? She got you too?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle nodded. Scootaloo groaned, as Dinky took the gag out of Apple Bloom's mouth.
"Ya are going to tell us the meaning of this right now!" Apple Bloom yelled as soon as the cloth was removed.
"I already told you..." She dropped the apple with the bite in it on the floor. It rolled over on the ground finally settling in front of of Apple Bloom. "You stole Ms. Cheerilee's apple, and here that apple is the proof. So just admit it and this will go a lot faster."
"We didn't do anything!" Scootaloo yelled. Dinky slapped her upside the head.
"I'm the one who asks the questions here." Dinky retaliated.
"That wasn't a question. It was a statement." Sweetie Belle imputed.
"I know that." Dinky said.
"Then why did ya say 'I'm the one who's asking the questions'?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I don't know... I saw it in a movie." Dinky rebutted. "Just like I saw this..."
She slapped Scootaloo again.
"Stop hitting me!" Scootaloo complained.
"I don't think you did that right, you need more wrist in it." Sweetie Belle said, receiving a glare from Scootaloo.
"Like this?" Dinky slapped Scootaloo again, but this time getting more wrist in it.
"Yeah, now all you need is to put more force in it." Sweetie Belle suggested. Dinky slapped Scootaloo harder. "Yeah like that."
Scootaloo's cheek was bright red with all the slapping. "Please just let us go."
"But I still have a mystery to solve." Dinky said looking back to her notes that she kept on the little note pad. She wrote herself another note about how to properly slap in an investigation.
Apple Bloom whispered something to Scootaloo, who nodded, and then Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle, who also nodded.
"Okay, we did it." Apple Bloom said hopefully.
"Good! Now where getting somewhere." Dinky said. "Alright I'll be back later."
"Later? Aren't you going to take us to Cheerilee now?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I promised my mom I'd be home by six." Dinky said, not wanting her mom to worry if she was late.
"You can't just leave us here all night." Apple Bloom said, once again trying to struggle free of her bonds.
"Fine...I'll go get Cheerilee." Dinky sighed. She walked out of the tree house and down the path. The sun was low in the sky when she finally came upon Cheerilee's house and knocked on the door.
The door opened slowly. Ms. Cheerilee stood on the other side of the threshold confused. "Oh hello Dinky, what are you doing here?"
"I found the ponies that stole your apple." Dinky said triumphantly.
"Oh yes, about that... I gave it to the firepony in thanks for coming to teach the class." Cheerilee said.
"Oh...well case closed." Dinky said. She scribbled on her note pad. "Here is my bill."
"47 bits?" Cheerilee almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
"Oh geeze I'm late! See you tomorrow Ms. Cheerilee!" Dink said as she started to run away. "Oh yeah Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle are tied up in a tree house outside of town, be a dear and untie them."
Cheerilee's jaw dropped as Dinky ran home.
Well I'm in Hawaii now.
