“…so you’re sure she won’t remember anything?“
“ Of course. You should know by now that I’m not making mistakes with these things.”
“ I’m sorry boss, you’re right. But don’t you think the risk is way too high just leaving her here on the ground? What if she remembers someday, what she saw?”
“Sweet Celestia, after our coup in Canterlot even you should know my plans do work. We sold the pictures, a stupid idiot went to jail for us and thanks to our new capital we’re about to end the next phase of our plan. Everything worked out as well as it could have been or even better!”
“This spy still found us and almost blew our cover. I’ll say it one more time: We should make her disappear, forever.”
“So we’d take the risk someone will look for her and ask the right questions? We can’t use any more attention. She won’t be able to remember anything and probably think she drank too much cider, that’s it. Come on we need to head back to the safehouse!”
Both mysterious ponies put their hoods back on and bundled of the alley, in which the only thing that was left was the darkness of the night lying like a blanket over the unconscious pony on the ground…
The sun was about to rise as Shining Armor and Cadance entered the hospital of the Crystal Empire. Recently they got a message from a guard that a pegasus was hospitalized. Normally this wouldn’t be a reason to inform the regents of the empire but the circumstances were anything but normal. The guard mentioned injuries that couldn’t come from a simple accident. And because Shining Armor and Cadance were responsible for the safety of their subjects, they needed to make sure, in case this was a crime, the criminals would be found and punished.
The nurse led them to a room at the end of the corridor and pointed with her hoof at the still unconscious pony.
“She was found about three o’clock in an alley near the library. The librarian, Amethyst Maresbury brought her to us right away as she was about to open the library.”
Shining Armor took an exact look on the pony in the bed. She had a yellow coat with a disheveled, but still good looking, purple mane.
“What do you know about her?”
The nurse took the file from the bed and paged through it.
“Her ID in her jacket says her name is Parasol and she works at the weather factory of Cloudsdale, but her ID expired one year ago. She also had a notepad, a pen and this with her.”
She left the notepad and the pen on the desk and deposited a small turquoise crystal, which was exquisitely embedded into a brooch, next to it.
Shining Armor took a closer look at the crystal.
“Do you know what this is?”
The nurse frowned.
“No I’m sorry. The patient had it in her pocket, so I suppose it has a connection to the accident. Maybe some kind of jewelry the thieves wanted to grab from her, but weren’t able to find.”
Cadance took a closer look as well. Suddenly she had an idea.
“Shining? Didn’t Twilight mentioned a Parasol some day? I think she lived in Ponyville at that time and helped Rainbow Dash with the weather. Maybe she knows more about her.”
“Great idea, I’ll get her right away. You’d stay here with our patient. Who knows, maybe she’s still in danger."
Cadance nodded in agreement.
“Alright, maybe I’ll find something on my own. Please hurry Shining.”
Shining Armor smirked.
“I will, just stay here. I’ll be back not later than tomorrow. The ride to Ponyville still takes a few hours.”
He put the brooch back on the desk and left the hospital in the direction of the train station. Cadance looked at him as he left the building and then got back to the pony in the bed.
The nurse put the file back in the holding and looked at Cadance.
“I need to go, there are still some other patients I need to take care of. If there’s anything you need, push the red button on the left side of the bed and I’ll be back in a second.”
Cadance nodded and took place on a chair next to the bed.
The health monitor next to her showed a normal heartbeat and stable respiration, but the yellow pony in front of her still showed no reactions.
Whatever happened to her last night must have been worse than Cadance thought.
She hoped, that she will get better soon; and not just for herself.
Cadance also worried about the other ponies of the Crystal Empire. They all entrusted their safety with Shining Armor and herself. Cadance got similarly angry and sad about herself not living up to this duty and not living up to their trust.
But this wasn’t the time for self-pity. If Shining Armor and his sister got back here, everything would end well. Just as it has always been.
As Shining Armor got to Ponyville and got off the train at the early afternoon, he was still in deep thoughts about the possible crime in his city. His major thoughts rotated about Parasol obviously not being a crystal pony. Of course every pony of whole Equestria was welcomed in the Crystal Empire, but just a few would take the long ride to the north. If the safest city of the whole country turned out to be not safe for visitors anymore… Shining Armor didn’t even want to think about that possibility. But this wasn’t the only reason why he hoped Twilight would be able to help them.
Shortly after that her stood in front of the door to Twilight’s castle and knocked very tight. He already feared no one was home but shortly Spike opened the door, dressed with a pinafore and gloves.
“Shining Armor what are you doing here? We didn’t know you were about to come around.”
“I’m sorry Spike but I don’t have much time. Where is Twilight?”
Spike looked at him a little confused.
“Upstairs in the library, where else could she be? I’m baking at the moment, if you wait a little time you could taste my famous ruby pie.”
Shining Armor shook his head.
“Thanks but it’s really urgent. There was an accident at the Crystal Empire and we’re not sure if it was an accident or maybe something else. Cadance and I need Twilight’s help as fast as possible!”
Spike looked at him with huge eyes and ran upstairs while Shining Armor impatiently waited outside.
He heard a short but incomprehensible talk between the two of them as she teleported herself right next to him.
“Spike said there was an accident in the Crystal Empire. Is my niece okay? She's alright, isn’t she?”
Shining Armor tried to calm her down.
“Don’t worry, Flurry Hearts is alright. She’s with Sunburst at the moment but another pony was found unconscious and hurt in an alley. Cadance and I are afraid that she might have been victim of a crime, and you could help us.”
Twilight looked very determined at her big brother.
“Of course I’ll help you guys wherever I can! SPIKE!”
The small dragon came straightaway.
“Yes Twilight?”
Twilight gave him a huge scroll.
“This is the work that needs to be done. As long as I’m not around, Starlight is the one in charge. But I’m sure the two of you can handle this.”
Spike sighed and looked at the endless list of things that needed to be done and nodded.
“Don’t worry Twilight it’s like the work is already done. As soon as Starlight gets back from Sweet Apple Acres, I’ll explain everything to her. See you later and great the Crystal Ponies by their saviour!”
Twilight only rolled her eyes. Of course, Spike saved the Crystal Empire two times already or at least helped a lot to do that. Nevertheless she thought he should have stopped this by now. Together with her brother she went to the train station on the other side of Ponyville and arrived there shortly after and slightly out of breath.
They got on the next train to the north and as they sat down on the cosy seats, Shining Armor started to tell her what happened in every detail and what he found out so far…
“So basically you only know so far that Parasol was found unconscious in an alley by the head of the library with these three things in her pocket?”
Shining Armor nodded.
“Yes exactly. Cadance mentioned you said the pony’s name a while ago. She thinks you said Rainbow Dash worked with Twilight in Ponyville before she moved to Cloudsdale.”
“Yea that’s right, this was shortly before I moved to Ponyville. I don’t really know her that well but Rainbow Dash does. Too bad we can’t ask her about it but she’s visiting Griffonstone with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. I hope I can help you instead.”
“Your help is more than welcome Twily. Until now, we solved every problem we’ve faced together.”
Twilight giggled.
“Right and I’ve read enough detective tales to know how the job needs to be done.”
“Yes you were right, this is her.”
Twilight was standing in front of the bed in the hospital and looked at the injured pony.
“This is Parasol. At least this is how I remember her.”
Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other.
“Alright so we now know for sure who she is but we still don’t know what happened to her.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Can you show me the brooch?”
Shining Armor handed her the brooch but not without a sceptical look on his face.
“This is it but none of us knows what it means or whom it may belong to. Cadance said it looked familiar to her but we don’t know for sure.”
Twilight took a closer look at the brooch and froze.
“I think I know whose brooch this is! But…that’s just impossible!”
Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other very surprised.
“And whom does it belong to?”
“What you said? I’m supposed to be the one who attacked this pony? But how can you even think about something like this? I looked for Flurry Hearts all night long you guys know that!”
Sunburst was standing next to the bed and looked very confused at the still unconscious Parasol.
“We can’t believe it either but Twilight is right. This brooch is definitely from your cape. Or why aren’t you wearing one today?”
Sunburst took the brooch from Cadance and looked at it.
“Yes you’re right this is my brooch. I wasn’t able to find it this morning but I don’t own another one. But I swear to you I had nothing to with this! Why should I? What would be my reason? I don’t even know this Pony!”
Cadance and Shining Armor looked at Twilight.
“I can’t believe it myself Twilight. Shining and I gave him Flurry last night to watch over her because we had official visitors from Canterlot. He was supposed to watch over her until tonight. There is nopony else in this city that we trust enough to give our daughter to. But we definitely found his brooch with Parasol.”
Twilight pushed herself to think about this situation. In none of her books was a similar case of which she could have taken a hint, so she wasn’t sure what to do. Suddenly there was a thought coming up in her mind. She wondered why she didn’t think about this earlier.
“I think we’re stuck. Sunburst isn’t a possible criminal at least for me. We do have a prove for his guilt, but we don’t have a motive."
Cadance looked at Twilight in full agreement.
“I don’t want to believe this either. But what are we supposed to do we have no lead to anywhere.”
Twilight smirked.
“Maybe we don’t, but Rainbow Dash does. She told me who solved the case of sabotage in Cloudsdale in the area of the Wonderbolts. Just a few days ago I read in the newspaper she found out who broke into the Gallery of Canterlot. If a pony can help us then she is the one we need.”
Shining Armor was smiling all over the face.
“So tell me…who is the one you’re talking about?”
Copper Top was digging deep in her suitcase until she finally found the little hourglass, which Minuette gave to her before she travelled to Canterlot. For one week she was back in Manehattan now, but despite her non-standard holidays, which she got from her Chief, she didn’t have time to unpack her things. Upper Crust was so ‘kind’ those days to send almost all her stuff from Manehattan to Canterlot. Of course without telling Copper Top a thing.
Ponies like Upper Crust took it for granted to think nopony would ever scrutinize their actions. So when Copper Top came home, after an endless journey, which included twelve hours of waiting because of a storm in which consequence the train wasn’t able to drive, she stood in front of an almost complete empty apartment. She already alarmed her colleges that somepony broke into her apartment, when the police department of Canterlot called her to tell her she needed to get her stuff or they would throw it away.
So Copper Top took the next train back to Canterlot to get her stuff. But she needed to get the freight train, because she wasn’t allowed to take that much language in a regular train with herself. In the end she had to take all of the boxes to the sixth floor of the house on her own in middle of the night, because she didn’t want to wake anybody.
But that wasn’t worth a damn thing because her landlord send her a message she isn’t allowed to make that much noises in the middle of the night. The end of the story is she was awake for two entire days and wasted most of her ‘holidays’.
But now she finally found time to relax and get her things back. She still couldn’t understand why her landlord gave Upper Crust the second key for her apartment so easily.
Probably it was enough for her to mention her name and maybe let one or two bits change their owner.
To be honest, Copper Top didn’t even care. She was just glad that she finally had time for herself now. She had bought a ticket for the Ponypalooza Rock concert, which was just taking place in the city. Nothing would destroy this evening for her, no matter what happens!
Copper Top had unplugged the phone, tied the letter slot, and glued a large cardboard with the words "KEEP OUT" to the apartment door. Even if the world was going down today, she would still enjoy the day.
She took the hourglass and carefully placed it in the bathroom next to her toothbrush. Minuette said it was supposed to show her if she'd been brushing long enough. And even if Copper Top always thought she was the best to judge it herself, she gladly accepted the gift of her new friend from Canterlot. After all, she only was able to solve the riddle of the art-theft in the gallery because Minuette helped her.
She was just starting to hang her clothes back in the closet, when suddenly somepony knocked on the door.
Copper Top rolled her eyes. Are all these ponies simply not able to read, or do they just love to annoy her?
She decided to just ignore the knocking and devoted herself to her luggage again.
But there was another knock on the door, this time even more energetic. In addition, a well-known voice came from the other side.
"Detective, open up!"
How could she ever forget the voice of her Chief? She had been working for him for almost six years now, and his striking, dull voice still sounded to her like a rusty nail.
Copper Top sighed deeply and finally opened the door. If there was something that distinguished her Chief above all else, it was his tenacity.
She opened the door just as the Chief wanted to supposedly break it.
"Mother of Celestia, you don’t have to tear my door, Chief. I thought I was on vacation..."
He just looked at her with no understanding.
"The vacation just came to an end. There's work for you."
Copper Top rolled her eyes.
"Are you serious? I haven’t even gotten to pick up my stuff, and you’re already coming back with a new case? Am I the only cop in Manehattan?"
She was about to close the door again, but the Chief blocked it with his hoof.
"Maybe not the only cop in Manehattan, but the only one that is good enough to help Shining Armor and Princess Cadance solving a case."
Now Copper Top started to listen carefully. To get an order directly from one of the princesses was definitely something special, even if that meant in this case, that...
"Hold on, Chief. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are living in the Crystal Empire. This is almost a six hours long ride, even by train! You can’t seriously expect me to…"
The Chief looked at her with a dead serious face.
"I expect you to follow a princess’s order. Just like any other pony in Equestria would. And I won’t discuss that with you, I have enough work for myself. Your train leaves in half an hour so you better hurry up."
Just after he finished saying this, he turned around and went down the stairs again.
Copper Top couldn’t believe it. She had finally found peace and could relax, and now she had to go back to the other end of Equestria. Life could sometimes be so ungrateful...
After a miserably long train ride, Copper Top arrived at the Crystal Empires station late in the evening. She only had time to pack the necessary things at home and dragged them behind her in a suitcase. Whatever stole her free week and let her do this terribly long journey, it should better be worth it. If not, the complaint of a certain princess about some heavy insult would also be added to her shelf of awards...
Copper Top sighed as the train left and once again, she stood alone at the platform. Somehow, all her recent cases started with her standing at a foreign station without any information, waiting for somepony. Why couldn’t she had listened to her mother and took an education as an office worker in one of Manehattan's countless office buildings? But no, she wanted to help the ponies, who couldn’t help themselves. And with development aid being too boring and the Royal Guards being too monotonous, she had to go to the police...
But before Copper Top could get even angrier about herself, she saw a purple pony coming towards her. At first Copper Top wasn’t sure, but shortly afterwards she recognized her.
"Princess Twilight, I'm glad to meet you," she said, as Twilight reached her and bowed a little awkwardly.
"No reason for formalities. You must be Copper Top, right? We've been expecting you."
Copper Top got up and put her suitcase down.
"Thank you, but I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do here at all. Just like everytime."
The last sentence she mostly said to herself, but Twilight couldn’t overhear it and had to grin.
"Anyways, my brother and sister-in-law are already waiting for us. We should hurry."
Copper Top took up her suitcase and looked at Twilight.
"Alright, I'll follow..."
But she didn’t came any further, because Twilight suddenly let her horn glow, and one second later, both were already standing in the room of the hospital where Parasol was lying.
"…you?"
Copper Top was a bit confused and looked around without orientation.
Twilight smiled slightly ashamed.
"Sorry, I should have warned you. It is always strange for non-unicorns to be teleported."
Copper Top shook herself and then looked at her with anger.
"If you can teleport me, why did I have to make this terribly long journey by train?"
Twilight blushed and looked down.
"I myself would have no problems but in this case, I need to teleport both of us and this great distance is simply impossible for two ponies at the same time. Especially if one of them is not a unicorn."
Copper Top sighed and pointed at Parasol.
"Well, anyways. What happened? I guess it's about her?"
Shining Armor nodded.
"Her name is Parasol and we found her unconscious in an alley last night. She carried this notepad, a pen, and this brooch, which belongs to our best wizard Sunburst."
Sunburst, who was also present, nodded.
"Exactly, the brooch belongs to me, but I’ve somehow lost it last night. I just could’t find it in the morning."
Copper Top looked at Shining Armor irritated.
"And why is the major suspect running around here?"
Shining Armor looked at her with a serious face.
"Because Cadance and I trust Sunburst more than any other pony in this city. He would never commit such a crime. Besides, he took care of our daughter the night before, and trust me, he wouldn’t have the time to leave his house for even more than five minutes."
"Well, if you're so sure about that... Besides, I also think it’s rather stupid for a criminal, to leave his brooch with the victim. But right now, Sunburst is the only suspect, so I have to insist that he’s always accompanied by one of us. If he in fact is dealing with the crime, we can’t give him an opportunity to escape. Also, I'll probably have a couple questions I’d like to ask him later."
Sunburst was about to reply, but then had to realize that Copper Top's argument was simply logical. Even if he had nothing to do with the crime, he simply was the only suspect at this moment.
"Well, when can I expect Parasol to wake up?"
Shining Armor looked at the clock.
"The nurse said she should come back to her senses in less than half an hour. But she couldn’t guarantee that."
"Good, so I have some time to take a look at the crime scene. However, someone must stay with Parasol. Just to make sure that nothing happens to her."
Shining Armor nodded.
"Sunburst and I watch her. Cadance is in the castle with our daughter, if you want to ask her something."
Twilight's eyes widened.
"Would it be okay for you, if I accompany you, Copper Top? I can certainly help you."
Copper Top hesitated, but then remembered Minuette. Although she had initially hindered the investigations in Canterlot, she helped her in the end. Besides, it would be very disrespectful to refuse the request of a princess.
She briefly sighed, then nodded at Twilight.
"Alright, but please don’t stand in my way."
Twilight beamed.
"Of course not, Detective. I'll show you where Parasol was found."
"Good but please don’t ..."
One lightning flash later, both stood in a small alley and Copper Top looked angry at Twilight.
"Oops, I'm sorry but it's much faster this way, don’t you think?"
Copper Top groaned. That’s already a nice start to her investigations. But Twilight was a princess, and Copper Top had to respect her.
"Anyways, where was she found?"
Twilight pointed at a gap between two dumpsters.
"The librarian Amethyst Maresbury found her early in the morning and immediately took her to the hospital. I already spoke to her, she didn’t know anything else."
"Well, maybe I'll have to talk to her myself when I'm done here. I’ll take a look at the ground, please make sure that nopony go through here as long as I work."
Twilight giggled and saluted as she went to the entrance of the alley and then blocked it with a grave expression on her face.
With a shaking head, Copper Top leaned down and looked under the dumpsters. She really had to learn to say no. Both, to her chief as well as on principle.
She wanted to get up again, as she suddenly saw something besides one of the wheels of the left dumpster. Some small grains of sand in the dust of the road, which seemed to sparkle. Copper Top carefully reached behind the wheel and packed them into a small plastic bag.
"Did you find something?"
Copper Top shrieked and thrust her head violently at the garbage container.
"Damn, I told you to watch the alley!"
She rubbed her aching head and already felt a little bump under her mane.
Twilight blushed.
"I'm sorry, I just saw you down there and wanted to be brought up to date."
Copper Top rolled his eyes. Even Minuette was initially a better help than this pony. She put the bag in her pocket and looked around the alley again.
"I doubt we'll find anything else here. We should go back to the hospital, maybe Parasol’s already awake and I have to ask her some urgent questions. Only she can really bring light to this matter. But this time, NO teleportation!"
Twilight smiled embarrassed and then ran ahead to the hospital, while Copper Top followed her still a bit annoyed.
After a few minutes, they returned to the hospital of the Crystal Empires and the nurse was already running towards them.
"Princess Twilight, Detective Copper Top! The patient should be awake any moment now. You should go see her soon before she may fall asleep again."
Twilight and Copper Top looked at each other briefly, then ran up the stairs to the floor where Parasol's room was.
Shining Armor and Sunburst were already waiting for them.
"The nurse said Parasol could wake up at any moment. Good to see you made it back in time!"
Copper Top looked at the health monitor and indeed, Parasol's heartbeat slowly increased as well as her respiration. With a bit of luck, she should open her eyes any moment now. Since Copper Top was aware that she might only have a short time before Parasol could lose consciousness again, she already prepared the most important questions in her head on the way from the crime scene back to the hospital, to which she absolutely had to get answers from Parasol.
Just as Copper Top looked back from the health monitor, she saw that Parasol slowly opened her eyes. The nurse also came in and put a tray of food on the table.
"Please make sure that she eats this. She surely will be very hungry. Or should I stick with it?"
Copper Top shook her head.
"Thanks, but we'll do it. You said you have enough other patients which already keep you very busy."
Reluctantly, the nurse wiped her sweat from her forehead.
"That's nice of you, thank you. You know how to reach me in an emergency."
She pointed at the red alarm button next to the bed and then quietly left the room.
Copper Top looked at Parasol, who was slowly regaining consciousness.
"W... where am I? What happened?"
Copper Top sat down to her bed and looked at her as friendly as possible.
"It’s alright, you're in the hospital of the Crystal Empire. My name is Detective Copper Top and next to me are Shining Armor and Princess Twilight."
"Detective...? Did I do something wrong?"
Parasol looked around a bit anxiously.
But Copper Top reassured her.
"No, but we're assuming that the accident that brought you here wasn’t an accident. That's why I was hoping you might be able to answer a few questions. Of course only if you feel able to do so."
Parasol rubbed her head a bit confused and suddenly yelled.
"What the...?"
Copper Top leaned over her and brushed her mane aside. Parasol had an injury behind her left ear, which got sutured just recently. It was pretty much understandable that every touch there caused great pain to her.
"Keep calm Parasol, please tell us the last thing you can remember."
Parasol thought about it and then looked at Copper Top in a rather desperate way.
"The last thing I remember is my desk at home in Cloudsdale. I just had written an article on a planned art theft at the Gallery. And suddenly I find myself here, my head feels as if a piano fell from the skies right on top if it and a police detective tells me I may have become a victim of crime."
Copper Top lifted an eyebrow.
"Planned art theft? That's over a week ago. Can’t you remember anything else?"
Parasol shook her head.
"No that's all I'm really sorry. I can’t even remember to give the article to the Solidarity."
Copper Tops eyes widened.
"Did you just said you work for the Solidarity?"
Parasol nodded and smiled weakly.
"You've heard of it? Shouldn’t really surprise me since you’re working for the police. You often got in our way."
Twilight looked at Copper Top a little confused.
"Solidarity? Never heard of it. Does that mean you two know each other? And what does she mean, the police often got in their way?"
Now Copper Top had to smile a bit.
"The Solidarity is an independent newspaper, their employees operate in all of Equestria from the underground and prefer a more... investigative journalism. Especially in Canterlot and Las Pegasus, they’ve often got in trouble with the local police, as they wanted to illegally gain access to private properties and other forbidden places."
Parasol nodded and looked at Twilight with a more serious face.
"The Detective is kinda right, but in our opinion it is the right of everypony to know the truth. And if that means we have to dive slightly deeper in the dirty laundry of some corrupt ponies, that's how it is."
Copper Top looked blankly at Parasol, but then reminded herself that this wasn’t about a trivial crime like breach of the peace or character assassination; which is almost always the cause of charges against journalists of the Solidarity. Copper Top was investigating in a delict of mayhem, which was possibly even a failed murder attempt. She must avoid to let herself being too close-minded and had to keep a clear, neutral mind.
"Can you tell us anything else? Please remember that every little detail might be the crucial clue!"
Parasol stretched and then shook her head.
"I'm really sorry, Detective. Should come up with something new, I'll let you know I promise. In the end, we’re both only interested in the truth."
Copper Top was about to turn to leave the room and another look at the crime scene, when suddenly something came to her mind.
"Do that again!"
Parasol looked at her irritated.
"Do what again?"
"Your wings, stretch them once again the same as you just did!"
Parasol raised an eyebrow, but then did what Copper Top asked her to do.
Twilight also realized what Copper Top saw. Between the feathers under her right wing, a strange, glittering dust glowed that probably got caught in the tiny feathers at the wing root.
"What's that?"
Copper Top carefully looked at the powder and then gently filled it into another plastic bag. She put the bag in her pocket and then looked at the still a bit confused Twilight with a satisfied smile.
"This, Princess Twilight, is our first clue."
"May I see it?"
Sunburst put on his glasses and then put the grains of dust under his microscope. Even back in the hospital, he suspected that this dust had some magical abilities, therefore asking Copper Top to take a closer look at the samples in his laboratory. Usually, she would never give such an important indication to a main suspects in a possible case of murder, but Shining Armor and Princess Twilight insisted.
And the word of a princess was almost like law. Therefore, Copper Top had no real choice but to let him do what he wanted to do. Although even she doubted that Sunburst was responsible for the crime, she still felt uncomfortable to ignore the lessons of their training at the Police Academy of Vanhoover. Her instructor told his recruits over and over that each pony is as long suspicious as its innocence was proved without any doubt. And to let a suspect do some experiments with high-valuable evidence surely wasn’t covered by any known regulations.
"And you're sure you know what you're doing?"
But Sunburst seemed to overhear this slight criticism and just looked through the microscope extremely focused.
Suddenly he looked up and gave Copper Top a serious look.
"I know what that is... And it won’t make you happy."
Copper Top just looked at him incredulously.
"So?"
Sunburst pushed his glasses back up and turned the microscope around so Copper Top could take a look herself.
"Do you see the tiny light rays emanating from every single grain?"
Copper Top peered through the microscope and Sunburst was right. Small filaments of light seemed to emerge from every single grain of the strange dust.
"Yes, I see it. But isn’t light normally..."
"...bright? I agree. But only if it’s coming from normal crystals."
Copper Top looked up.
"Crystals? Normal? What are you talking about?"
Sunburst turned the microscope around again and handed Copper Top a thick book with black binding and strange, engraved golden runes on it. He opened a page that displayed many different crystals in all imaginable colors.
Copper Top is still didn’t quite understand.
"And what does this tell me?"
Sunburst cleared his throat and then pointed to one of the crystals in the book.
"This is a collection of all types of crystals that can be found in the Crystal Empire. As you've probably already seen yourself, none of them corresponds to the dust that you’ve found."
Copper Top looked at him blankly.
"That’s fascinating. Not sure that it’s helpful but it is fascinating..."
Sunburst wasn’t deterred and continued.
"As Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire a long time ago, many of the crystals were corrupted by his magic. After his defeat, the Ponies have destroyed all black crystals, but a couple of them have been spared in the Black Garden as a memorial to this dark time. They are supposed to remember Everypony to stay away from dark magic."
Slowly Copper Top began to understand, what Sunburst was trying to say.
"And you think that the dust I found in the alley and under Parasols wings comes from one of these crystals?"
Sunburst nodded.
"This is the only explanation. And if that indeed is the case, if Parasol had come in contact with black crystals before she was attacked, you should be extremely careful."
"What do you mean?"
" Crystals from the Crystal Empire have magical abilities. But black crystals were created by Sombra himself. They still contain amounts of his dark magic. Take good care of yourself!"
Copper Top nodded and took the bag with the dust grains back to her saddlebag. If Sunburst was right, solving this case could be tougher than she thought.
Halfway to the hospital, she suddenly thought of something. What if Parasol herself experimented with black crystals and the injury was self-inflicted? Or somepony tried to stop her from using some dark magic?
Copper Top groaned. So now there wasn’t anypony she could really trust. That made the case even more complicated than it already was.
She hastened to return to the hospital quickly and entered the room of Parasol. Twilight was still sitting in the room and talked with the nurse while Parasol appeared to be asleep.
When she noticed Copper Top, she stood in relief and asked the nurse to leave them alone for a bit.
Copper Top looked at her a bit confused.
"What happened? Did I miss something?"
Twilight smiled.
"Not exactly but while you tried to learn about the dust, I also found out something. It is quite possible that the injury on Parasol’s head isn’t responsible for her amnesia. The nurse had some doubts about that right from the start. It’s much more likely that her amnesia was caused by magic."
"And why is that good news?”
Twilight shook her head slightly offended.
"I don’t know if you've forgotten it, but I'm the princess of magic. And it isn’t possible to actually erase memories with using magic. More precisely, a barrier is created in the mind of the victim so that it can no longer remember the memories. Unfortunately, such barriers are almost impossible to destroy, but still I should be able to. With a bit of luck, Parasol will soon be able to remember everything once again."
Copper Top looked at the sleeping Parasol, then turned with a skeptical gaze back to Twilight.
"That sounds a little too easy. There has to be a problem with this plan."
Even Twilights face was now more serious.
"Unfortunately yes. If I proceed too fast or too careless, the memories can be damaged or even completely lost. But I can handle it!"
"What's the risk for Parasol?"
Twilight shook her head.
"The worst thing that can happen is that she will never remember the last day again. But nothing else can happen to her, I promise."
"Alright, but we should rather ask herself. Did the nurse said if we can wake her up?"
"I’ve already asked her. We can wake Parasol, but can’t totally expect that she will exactly understand what we want. She's still very weak."
Copper Top pulled her uniform straight and stood next to Parasol’s bed.
"Alright, it’s worth a try."
Twilight and Copper Top gently tried to wake Parasol and shortly thereafter, she slowly opened her eyes.
"W... what?"
"Parasol? I'm Detective Copper Top. Do you remember me?"
Parasol weakly nodded and yawned quietly.
"We may have found a way to restore your memories of the last days. However, we don’t want to do anything without your permission. But I can assure you that..."
At the mention of her memories Parasol was awake within one second.
"I agree! Whatever helps me to know the truth, is worth a shot."
Copper Top looked at her a little puzzled, then quickly told her what Twilight was about to do.
Parasol nodded decisively and lay back on her bed.
Twilight closed her eyes and a small beam of light shot out of her horn and hit Parasol’s forehead.
Copper Top waited for about fifteen minutes until Twilight finally broke the connection, visibly exhausted. Also on Parasol’s forehead, slight drop of sweat had formed and she repeatedly winced during the procedure. But judging Twilight's face, she was successful.
"So? What did you found out? Can you remember?"
Twilight wiped her forehead.
"It was much harder than I thought. I have found three individual memories that were screened separately. Unfortunately I could only break through the first without taking the risk of Parasol losing consciousness."
"But you told me that there is no danger!"
Twilight looked down in shame.
"I didn’t know that this was the work of a true professional."
Copper Top pulled her cap deep over her face and looked anxiously at Parasol.
"How is she?"
"She should come back to her senses at any moment. But be careful with her, she will be extremely exhausted."
Just in the moment as Twilight completed her sentence, Parasol opened her eyes and gasped. Copper Top was about to press the alarm button to call the nurse, as she calmed down again.
"Are you alright Parasol?"
"I... think so. I feel a little strange..."
Twilight carefully wiped away the sweat from her forehead with a washcloth.
"Don’t worry, you’ll get over it any minute. You should be able to remember a bit more now."
Parasol thought hard and then nodded.
"Yes, I think so."
Copper Top looked at her happily.
"Great, then tell us all of what you can remember after you wrote the article about the art theft in the Gallery of Canterlot."
Parasol cleared her throat and finally began to tell…
Parasol opened the door of her house and looked into the morning sun. It was very late yesterday when she came back home, already almost midnight. But she did it. The article about the upcoming art theft in Canterlot was with the Solidarity, she had fulfilled her mission. Satisfied, but still very tired, she closed the door and went to her mailbox. She opened it and pulled out two letters and the morning newspaper.
Still on the yard, she read the headlines and immediately threw it directly into the dumpster. She was still amazed that the ponies of Cloudsdale really believed this nonsense. If they just would readthe Solidarity, they would know the truth. But unfortunately only a few even knew the underground newspaper and even fewer believed its articles.
Sometimes even Parasol doubted her new job but she had now seen the world how it really was various times. In the end, she wrote articles for the Journal only for this reason.
She went back in the house and opened the letters. A letter from the weather factory about outstanding payments for breach of contract directly flew into the trash bin. If these racketeers actually believed to get even one rusty bit from her, they were seriously mistaken!
Bored, she opened the second, sealed letter and her mood improved instantly. It came from her contact "Snowwhistler", at least that’s what he called himself. She received her orders from him since she started to work for the Solidarity. However, he never contacted her so soon after her last case.
She read the letter very excited, which was as always written for safety with an old-fashioned typewriter.
Head to the Crystal Empire and meet up with your contact at the Black Garden. If she asks you how your journey was, answer "as always, but the bees were a plague"
She will tell you everything else. Good luck
Parasol inculcated the code, then tore and burned the letter as usual. So this should be her next case then and it would lead her to the Crystal Empire. But as always, she would get the other information only from the local contact.
As much as she hated it to remain in the dark, she understood that it was imperative for journalists like her to keep their work classified and discrete, if they wanted to uncover the secrets of the world...
"Nothing more? Well at least it’s something."
Copper Top looked at Parasol, but she just shrugged sad.
"I'm really sorry but I can’t remember more. I keep trying but everything else is just black..."
Copper Top sighed and then looked at Twilight.
"Well, at least I have a new clue. Please stay with Parasol and watch over her. We’re still not sure what's going on, but slowly a picture seems to paint itself."
Twilight looked at her and nodded.
"Sounds like you've got a theory. Where are you going next?"
Copper Top looked out of the window towards the castle, which was shrouded by the evening sun in a beautiful orange light.
"I head to the Black Garden, all tracks lead there so far. And yes, I have a theory. I just hope that I'm wrong this time..."
The clock of the large tower was just striking eight when Copper Top arrived at the Black Garden, which was a bit north of the big stadium. The sun was still just over the horizon and made the surrounding houses, which were all made out of the eponymous crystals, shine in indescribably beautiful colors. But unfortunately, Copper Top didn’t have the time to enjoy it. She had to follow this hint before the sun was completely gone. In this almost surreal small park, she really didn’t want to wander around alone at night for sure.
What did Sunburst say? Thirteen large crystals are left here, as a memorial to Sombra’s reign of terror and as a warning to all who want to play with dark magic.
Copper Top examined each of the twelve stones carefully, but just couldn’t find any other clues. Nothing unusual, no splintering in the stones, no trace of this strange dust, absolutely nothing suspicious. After nearly half an hour of fruitless searching Copper Top already wanted to give up when she noticed a deepening next to one of the stones. But she really couldn’t have been that blind now, could she?
She counted the stones again carefully and indeed. There were only twelve remaining.
Copper Top couldn’t believe it. She really didn’t saw the wood for all the trees.
She slapped herself internally and examined the spot where the thirteenth stone must have been stood. She recognized a few barely visible hoof marks in the grass, and a slightly fractured branch at one of the bushes.
"Congratulations Copper Top, you're really the best investigator in all of Equestria. After half an hour of work, you actually gained the ability to count up to thirteen..."
Copper Top was still stunned by her own stupidity. She already wanted to make her exhaustion of the recent days responsible for it, but that simply couldn’t be an excuse for her in this case. After all, she was now fully convinced again that she in fact also was just an ordinary pony that can overlook something after all the praise she got for her recent investigations; even if it was extremely embarrassing in this case. Good thing nopony was with her this time.
"Alright, this is what we do know: You were on the way to the Black Garden and should meet your contact there. However, we neither know if you've ever arrived there, nor who has stolen the thirteenth crystal from there. That's a bit more than we knew before, but it still didn’t really help us. We need to know more."
Parasol looked at Copper Top with determination in her eyes.
"Twilight and I already talked about it. I’m okay with Twilight trying it again. The answers are in my head, I can feel it. And if I don’t remember, I’m sure something really bad is going to happen!"
Copper Top looked at Twilight.
"How high is the risk?"
Twilight shrugged.
"I don’t know, but the risk will obviously be higher than last time. I have to use more force to break through the second barrier. It most likely won’t have any long-term effects, but it could be painful; for both of us..."
Parasol just nodded.
"I'm ready. Let's get this over with. I finally want to know the truth!"
Twilight looked at Copper Top, and even if she didn’t felt well with the thought that her main witness and the princess herself were exposed to a hardly calculable risk, she finally agreed.
"Well Twilight, but as soon as there are problems, you need to cancel!"
Twilight smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry but once I’ve begun, I can’t stop until I have removed the memory blockade. I wish it to be different but this is how it is."
Copper Top nodded.
"Still remain cautious and don’t go into any unnecessary risks. I'll wait here and keep an eye on you. Good luck!"
"Thanks Copper Top, although I hope we won’t need it."
Twilight closed her eyes and shortly after Parasol had leaned back, the light beam from Twilights horn shot at her head as she tried to pierce the second blockade.
Nearly twenty minutes passed time in which Copper Top restlessly walked around in the room. Both Twilight and Parasol temporarily had pained faces and the effort was clearly to see on both of them. Also, the health monitor of Parasol was already off the green region, especially her respiration and pulse were way too high.
But just as Copper Top started to become seriously worried, the ray of light from Twilight’s horn died off and she almost slipped from her chair of the exhaustion.
Copper Top immediately ran to her.
"Are you okay Twilight? Did you make it? What did you see?"
"I... I'm not sure. I saw a white stallion, in a hall of stone... but everything was covered in mist and seemed unreal..."
"Hopefully Parasol can tell us more. When will she wake up?"
Twilight took a deep breath and slowly calmed down.
"Any moment. I really hope she didn’t suffer too much pain. Unfortunately, I had to use quite a bit of magic power to destroy the second barrier. After all, I'm pretty sure I was successful."
Copper Top looked at her incredulously.
"Pretty sure? Did you break it or not?"
"She… did. I remember."
Copper Top turned around immediately and saw that Parasol slowly regained consciousness. She was pale and thick drops of sweat running down her face. But at least her vital parameters seemed to return to normal.
"Can you tell us? What happened after you arrived at the Crystal Empire?"
"I... I think so. And it was nothing too good..."
The train stopped and Parasol left her compartment. She hated traveling by train but the distance between Cloudsdale and the Crystal Empire simply was way too far to fly on her own, even for a pegasus like Spitfire. She looked at the clock of the station and sighed in relief. She was just in time; according to the rules of the Solidarity, the contact ponies always wait at the meeting point between three and three-thirty in the afternoon. So she had nearly fifteen minutes left until her contact would arrive at the so-called “Black Garden”.
She already informed herself with a tourist flyer on the long train ride and therefore knew where she had to go. She put on the big hat, which she had recently bought in Ponyville during one of her visits at Rarity’s boutique, and also put a pair of sunglasses on her nose. Everyone should now consider her as an ordinary pony from one of the other cities that just made a short vacation to the Crystal Empire.
Parasol smiled.
"So conspicuous that it’s already inconspicuous..."
She left the platform and made her way to the Black Garden. A walk of about ten minutes was in front of her, so she decided to reason her outfit and also take a look at the scenic surroundings in the meantime. She knew she was here to work, but nopony could stop her from admiring the pure beauty of this city.
When she arrived at the Black Garden, the clock just hit three. Perfect timing, Spitfire would have been so proud. But she no longer worked in Cloudsdale and would certainly not go back to the weather factory again. Not after what had happened. And even if those responsibles are still demanding compensation for her unfulfilled working contract, as well as damages for the destroyed equipment, she never had looked back. She’d done what was the right thing and shown this suit wearers that even they couldn’t hide from the truth.
Parasol looked around and decided to sit down on one of the stone benches while she waited for her contact to arrive.
A short time later, two other ponies entered the park, briefly talked with each other and then said goodbye.
Parasol watched everything through her dark sunglasses, as the one pony, a light yellow mare with a dark blue and pink mane sat down beside her.
"Nice day today, isn’t it?"
Parasol nodded silently and looked at the sky.
"I've never seen you here, you gotta be new. How was your trip?"
Parasol listened carefully. So that was supposed to be her contact, at least she used the correct code. She hesitated briefly, but then gave the required answer.
"As always, but the bees were a plague..."
The other pony smiled.
"Yes, they’ve become really annoying lately. I’ve just recently seen a whole swarm at the ruins of the northern watchtower. I should advise you not to go there unless you are looking for some trouble."
Parasol smiled back. So that was supposed to be her actual objective.
"Is there anything else than bees I should be aware of?"
The other pony thought for a moment.
"As long as you don’t let yourself get caught by the bees, you should have no problems. But if they catch you, nopony might be able to save you. Their stings are really dangerous."
"Do you know why they’ve settled right there? I mean, bees always very carefully choose their nesting sites."
"I think they like the silence and the simultaneous proximity to the city. There they can safely hide their loot and hardly anypony suspects them there. Therefore, it is so dangerous to go there. If a pony is trapped there, it will most likely not been seen ever again."
"Thank you, I’ll watch out not to go there without preparation if I should ever have to. But I think if the city gets to know from the nest and what happens there, there will soon be no trouble anymore."
The other pony laughed.
"For sure. Well, I wish from my whole heart that you have a great time here. It really was a pleasure to meet you."
She shook Parasol’s hoof and left the park.
Parasol briefly sat on the bench, enjoying the sunshine, then made her way to the city. Before nighttime, she couldn’t do anything, so she decided to spend the time until dusk at the city. The ponies of the Crystal Empire were considered extremely hospitable and were famous for their fantastic food.
And since Parasol had eaten nothing since this morning, she didn’t really had to struggle with choosing where to go first, when she arrived at the marketplace.
With a good mood, she went to one of the restaurants and ordered something for dinner.
The sun just sent its last rays over the horizon, as Parasol arrived at the northern watchtower. She had gone through the information that she had received from her Contact this afternoon in her mind countless times already.
This was, what she now knew for certain:
First, her objective was inside the ruins of this tower.
Second, it was supposed to be extremely dangerous in there because a large number of bad ponies were hanging around here who certainly won’t be very pleased to find an unwanted visitors like Parasol.
Third, she couldn’t expect any support in case that something went wrong.
Fourth, it was almost certainly about some type of theft.
Fifth, nopony expected any trouble there, which would probably make Parasol’s work a lot easier.
At least she hoped so.
She already changed her outfit into a dark coat and glasses with a small night vision attachment. She almost felt like James Colt from those spy movies of the past, but it was always safe with films that in the end the good would prevail over the evil. But if Parasol failed, nopony would ever get to know it...
She hid in a bush near the tower, watching the window with her binoculars. But she couldn’t see any movement, neither in the windows nor in the open area in front of the tower itself.
Parasol finally plucked up courage and crouched to the tower. She pressed herself against the wall next to the entrance and listened. But there was nothing but absolute silence.
She gently opening the door a bit and finally went through.
Everything inside looked horribly dilapidated and old. A thick layer of dust laid on the furniture and all the candles in the lamps were burnt to the ground.
Parasol looked around confused.
Everything looked as if nopony entered this tower for decades. She thought that there perhaps might be a second tower, when she suddenly noticed something. One of the lamps looked much cleaner than all the others in the room.
She knew that she now was on the right track. This just couldn’t be a coincidence.
She carefully examined the lamp and saw that a tiny lever was installed on its rear side.
Parasol grinned. The case had just begun to get interesting.
She pushed the lever downwards and immediately heard a friendly clicking sound from behind the wall next to her. She pressed herself gently against the wall and to her relief it immediately gave way and revealed a steep wooden staircase that led directly into the darkness.
Parasol entered the stairs which made frightening noises with every step, but still kept her weight.
She slowly moved down deeper and finally saw that small lights dimly lit the way after a short time. Strangely, however, she found no candles or anything else in the lamps that generated the light. The glass of the lamps itself seemed to produce the light, but Parasol couldn’t quite explain it.
Anyways, she wasn’t here to investigate mysterious luminous lamps after all.
She went down the stairs, and after about five minutes she arrived at a large, dark room. Ancient tapestries hung on the walls which apparently showed Sombra and his castle in an ancient time. But after all these many years under the surface in this moist basement, the colors were almost completely faded and their once stunning beauty was now only to imagine.
Parasol would have loved to look around for much longer, but time was short. She didn’t want to walk around this frightening ruin for much longer as it was absolutely necessary.
She walked across the room and eventually stood in front of a large wooden door. She wanted to open it just as she heard some muffled voices behind it, far in the distance. However, they were too far away to understand what they were saying.
Parasol’s heart beat harder than ever before. She was certain that she would find whatever she was looking for, behind this door. She finally couldn’t stand against her curiosity and carefully opened the heavy door. Fortunately, it seemed to be well oiled so Parasol slipped through it unnoticed.
She carefully closed the door again and when she turned around, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
She found herself standing on a balustrade and below it in about twenty meters depth, there was a circular room where all kinds of strange devices were placed. Many ponies worked at the various tables and were highly concentrated with their various tasks, which Parasol couldn’t really identify from the distance. But one thing down there immediately caught her attention. In the middle of the room, protected by a large glass dome, an object from a deep black material was placed on a stone base. Right next to it, she saw a large black stone from which many parts were broken and laid all around it.
Parasol took her small camera from her saddlebag and eagerly shot some pictures. But from this distance, the images would only be able to provide little evidence for what was really going on down there. So Parasol had to somehow come get down there.
She looked around and saw a small spiral staircase on the opposite side of the room, which ended just behind the strange black stone. A perfect coverage to take pictures up close!
Parasol crept cautiously along the balustrade and quietly walked down the stairs. Fortunately, the ponies down there were probably too busy to notice her so she got behind the rock unnoticed. She pressed her body against the stone and looked around cautiously. The strange object on the base consisted of a small unicorn head, two wings and a slightly larger triangle, on which the other parts were installed. In the middle of the triangle, a square hole was built in, probably belonged to another object, which was either yet not available or not completed...
Copper Top looked in Parasol’s eyes.
"Well, it helps me a bit more, but I still don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. Do you have any ideas Twilight?"
But Twilight didn’t answer but looked at Parasol with a terrified face.
"You... didn’t hear someone mentioning the 'Alicorn Amulet', right?"
Copper Top's eyes widened.
"Wait a minute, what are you saying? Alicorn Amulet? You can’t be serious! I thought it was destroyed."
"It was! I was there myself when Zecora destroyed it. But it perfectly fits on Parasols description. If this group of ponies found a way to recreate the amulet..."
Copper Top shuddered. She’d never seen the amulet itself, but heard many stories about its power and also its dangerousness.
"Alright, in that case we have to react immediately. I'll probably need your help Twilight, and please also bring Shining Armor and Cadance with you. We’ll need all the help we can get! We meet in fifteen minutes at the northern watchtower. Parasol you stay here and try to continue to remember, maybe have something else when we return. But the destruction of the Charm has now the highest priority. We can think of catching the gang later. Go!"
Twilight and Parasol nodded and Copper Top quickly left the hospital together with Twilight. She herself ran as fast as she could towards the north, and as she breathlessly arrived about ten minutes later at the ruins of the tower, Twilight and Shining Armor were already waiting for her.
"Where’s Cadance?"
"She thought it would be better for her to stay with Parasol while Sunburst takes care about Flurry Hearts again."
Copper Top nodded, even though she would rather have had another Alicorn as backup. But with Twilight and Shining Armor, she still had excellent support though.
"Alright, I'll go ahead and you got me covered. Once we reached the room where the amulet is, Shining Armor and I try to catch the leader while Twilight destroys the amulet. Got it?"
Twilight and Shining Armor nodded resolutely and together, they cautiously entered the tower.
Just like Parasol mentioned, they found the hidden lever behind one of the lamps and shortly afterwards the three ponies already walked down the wooden stairs.
When they reached the large room with the heavy door Copper Top turned around again.
"Remember, we have to stay undetected as long as possible. The longer the element of surprise is on our side, the better our chances. And if everything goes wrong, remember that the destruction of the amulet and the equipment that was used to its construction, is the most important thing. If that means that the gang escapes, then let it be. But we can’t let the amulet leave this room under any circumstances, understood?"
Shining Armor and Twilight nodded.
"Alright, then follow me. And remember to be quiet. If they discover us before we found the amulet, the game’s over."
Together they entered the balustrade and carefully moved to the spiral staircase. As back in Parasols memories, many ponies down there were quite busy with their mysterious work.
Twilight excitedly pointed on the rear side of the room at the glass dome in which the unfinished amulet was still stored. Or was it already finished? At least Copper Top could see that in the center of the amulet wasn’t a hole anymore. Instead, a greenish crystal was put in the stone, where Parasol mentioned the empty hole.
The three sneaked down the stairs and also went behind the black stone, just like Parasol did. Copper Top now was able to clearly identify the stone as the missing thirteenth crystal from the Black Garden.
Copper Top and Shining Armor prepared themselves. On her signal, both would jump out and cause chaos so that Twilight had enough time to get and destroy the amulet. Both nodded to her and eventually Copper Top jumped out from behind the stone, followed by Shining Armor.
"POLICE! Freeze!"
The just recently concentrated working ponies torn around the heads and after a second of shock they all ran back and forth across the room into different outputs which were hidden in the walls.
Copper Top cursed inwardly, she didn’t see these escape routes before, as they all were in the shadows of the walls. But before she could continue to fret about herself, she suddenly witnissed a larger pony right on her right, which slowly approached Twilight, who was way too busy with the lock of the glass dome to notice the attacker.
But before Copper Top could do anything, Shining Armor already jumped in front of his sister to protect her.
"Over my dead body, you monster!"
The other pony looked at the amulet and then at Copper Top. For a brief moment she saw once again the face of the white stallion, whom she already faced in Canterlot on the Sunrider, the airship of Jet Set, with which he wanted to smuggle the ‘stolen’ paintings of his gallery out of town in her last case.
He briefly looked at her with a grim face, then he also ran into one of the escape tunnels.
Copper Top pointed Shining Armor with a short motion of her hoof to keep an eye on Twilight, then she ran after the leader of the gang into the darkness.
But just a short time later she already returned.
"It's useless, the corridors are like a maze. After all, we have the amulet."
Shining Armor grinned as Twilight threw the broken shards of the Amulet in front of Copper Top’s hooves.
"Not anymore, I finally was able to destroy it."
Copper Top sighed with relief. Even though her actual mission had failed, she probably was able to save Equestria from a terrible fate. Maybe in the future she should accept a little outside help more often...
"Well, but what I don’t understand is why they wanted to recreate the amulet and why they had hidden Sunburst’s brooch in Parasol’s pocket."
Copper Top grabbed her coffee mug and took a huge sip. Her Chief had picked her up at the station this same morning and informed her that according to her latest work in the Crystal Empire, she received a two-week special leave, personally arranged by Princess Cadance. This time without any interruptions.
"Quite simple, the Alicorn Amulet offers its wearer an enormous increase of his magical powers, but spoiled his soul over time. The gang tried to neutralize this effect with a changed crystal and a slightly different structure and according to Sunburst, they’d probably even managed that if they had more time."
Her chief now took a coffee too.
"But why did they took the bother to get Parasol in that lane and hide the brooch of Sunburst in her pocket? That doesn’t make any sense to me..."
"It does, think about it. Parasol wouldn’t be able to remember anything and with the best mage in town taken as suspect, he wouldn’t only steer the investigation in a completely wrong direction, but also prevent him from drawing the right conclusions himself with his great magical knowledge. But with their plan, the group would have had enough time to complete their task and get out of town before anypony would be able to come up with the truth."
"I see, the only mistake that the group had made was that they didn’t expect someone like Twilight who was able to break through the barriers in Parasol’s head."
"Exactly. And even if the wall around the third memory simply was too thick to break it safely, we're pretty sure what the last piece of the puzzle was."
Her chief sipped his coffee and looked at her skeptically.
"Well then, enlighten me."
"We suspect that Parasol was caught and had suffered her head injury from a fall or a hit with a bat or something. Then her memories were sealed and she was left in the alley. You know the rest..."
The chief put down his cup and approvingly nodded to Copper Top.
"Good work Detective, keep it up. Enjoy your free time, I’ll see you in two weeks."
Copper Top saluted with a big grin on her face and left the office of her boss satisfied.
A short time later, she was standing outside of her door and was about to open it when she saw a note on the door.
Surprised, she tore her and read it through.
Thanks again for the help, Shining Armor and I owe you. You're always welcome at the Crystal Empire. I wish you with all of my heart a relaxing holiday and good luck with your upcoming cases.
PS: Please excuse Twilights skittishness but it was assumed that you’d spend a quite long time with us. We hope that the envelope on your bed will be a small compensation for the circumstances.
Copper Top took the letter a little irritated and opened the door. She walked into her bedroom and what she found there made her almost faint. All her belongings were scattered in the room. Clothes, stuff for duty and all possible odds, which usually were stored in the closets. Then Copper Top recalled the letter from Cadance and groaned.
Twilight must have teleported her things to the Crystal Empire in the belief that Copper Top would spend several nights there. But when she already left the next day, Twilight had probably forgotten to mention it. Either that or she simply was too embarrassed to tell. She secretly teleported all the items back and the big pile of junk in front of Copper Top was the sad result.
Exhausted, she sat down on her bed and suddenly felt the envelope under her, which Cadance mentioned as 'compensation'.
"Whatever, the day can only get better now..."
She opened the envelope and a short letter and something else fell out. Copper Top took the letter and read:
Best regards from Twilight! Please don’t be too angry with her and have fun with the other VIPs at the Ponypalooza rock concert!
Copper Top laughed. At least she would be able to participate the last day of the concert, on which she actually wanted to be since she came back from Canterlot.
