Who Killed Trixie?by AmazedChaptersPressed by the LawQuestionsNight GuardSugarNight InvestigationChaos' AdviceAs The Train GoesPressed by the LawAuthor's Note Criticism is more than welcomed. This Story takes place right after Season 3, at the beginning of Season 4, where Twilight just became an Alicorn. Pressed by the Law Somepony is knocking at the door. For a few seconds, Twilight didn't know how to react. Five days ago, it was a no-brainer. She was a librarian in a library. Three days ago, she was a princess at Canterlot Castle. Back to Ponyville, for the past five hours, she was a princess in a library. Somepony is knocking at the door. This is ridiculous, she thought. Title or not, she still could answer the door. "How may I help you?" Twilight Sparkle looked at the unicorn mare at the library door and her massive pegasus companion. The sunglasses and the obviously painted solid shapes over their cutie marks tell a lot about the duo, even before the newcomer magically levitated a badge. They weren't there to enjoy some literature. "Agent Full Circle. Bridle. May we come in?" the unicorn asked, after doing so. At her days living at the Canterlot castle, twilight was familiar with the Bureau Royal for Investigation, diligence and Law Enforcement. (B.R.I.D.L.E), and the seriousness of its agents to their job, so she didn't complain or bother to answer. Still, something ringed a bell deep on her brain. "Wait a minute..." She circled the mare. The orange coat and the lightly gray mane reminded her of somepony. She touched the blue circle covering the visitor's cutie mark. "I think there's a bow and a rose under this, and you're ... Flora... Flora something short. We studied together at Canterlot, right?" "Flower Hit, not Flora. And it's a daisy, not a rose. And yes, we even did research papers together, your highness." "Ah... sorry, well, there were lots of students there..." "Fives times. We worked together five times." "Well, I was a filly, sorry if I can't remember..." "So was I, and I do, but that's ok. You always liked books over ponies. Unfortunately, your highness, I'm at work here, so pleasantries and reminiscences must wait." She pointed at the large male Pegasus at her side. "This is agent Block. I'd rather be called by my B.R.I.D.L.E moniker. Now, I could follow the old-friend routine, but I've learned to respect your intelligence, Princess Twilight, so, may we go straight to the matter of our visit?" Twilight felt a bit guilty for not remembering Flower Hit but decided to follow her way. Maybe later she could excuse for her rudeness of old times when she didn't know about the value of friendship. "Please, skip the whole princess and 'your highness' part. So, what seems to be the problem?" "Are you close to a certain Trixie Lulamoon, a.k.a 'Great and Powerful Trixie'?" "Well, I wouldn't say we're all that close but we met a couple of times, yes. Deep down, she's a nice pony." The agent levitates some papers in front of her. "According to our research, you were the one who pleaded to Mayor Mare and Celestia herself to archive the accusation of coupe d'etát against Trixie, allowing her to avoid prison." "Sure." It was Twilight's turn to magically levitate a large tome. "She took over a city, not a nation, so the nomenclature 'coupe d'etát' was incorrect, and in the documents as ancient as 'Ye Royal Judgement of Guild of Discord' we learn that, and I quote -" "Princ... I mean, Twilight, I will trust your judgment on that." "But I must explain the jurisprudence that shows that, despite some experts saying otherwise, the Second Griffin Conflict Armistice Agreement doesn't apply to such cases because..." Full Circle raised a hoof, cutting the Alicorn short, "Let's talk about the second reason you had to let Trixie go." Twilight pulled another large law book from the shelves. "She was really sorry, really wanting to make amends, and the recent Royal Decree of Celestia concerning Discord's freedom clearly states--" "We are aware of Discord Law. Moving On..." "Yes, well, it's a Royal Decree, not a Common Law, they're not the sa--" "She's dead." Cut the agent, as fast as she could. Twilight just stood there, mouth open. "Seems that we got your full attention now, Twilight Sparkle. May we go on?" QuestionsAuthor's Note The story happens at the end of Season 3, in the start of Season 4 (Somewhere in between) Questions After some moments, Twilight managed to ask for details. "Two days ago, at Mareami Beach. She had some shows scheduled there," informed agent Block. "But how? She was not ill, at least, didn't look like..." "Murdered." Said Full Circle. "What? No, no, no, no, impossible. There hasn't been a case of murder in Equestria in decades, it's not possible." "You seem shocked, Twilight. Imagine us at Bridle. More than 40 years without such case. Imagine ponies at Mareami. The most serious crime there until this case was one senior pony stealing the dental fixtures of another." "I can't... just... poor Trixie." The visiting unicorn got closer. "Twilight... we are all shocked. And let me tell this to you, as a schoolmate, not an agent... it hurts, yes, but we must be strong. For her. She is begging us to solve this crime." The alicorn tried to wipe her tears with her hooves. "You're right, Flower... Full Circle. I will try to help you." "Good. Are you ready?" Doing the breath exercise she learned from Cadance, Twilight nodded. "Twilight Sparkle, can you think of a reason for this crime?" "No! Why would anypony do such thing?" "The Alicorn Amulet, perhaps?" Twilight shook her head. "It was no longer with Trixie." "But did she know about its whereabouts?" "I don't think so." "You know about its whereabouts?" "Yes." "Where?" "Hidden." "Yes, where?" "Agents, the whole idea of hiding something is to not tell where it's hidden. Rest assured, it's on a safe place." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure." "But you have to agree, princess, that somepony needs to know about power and dangerous objects. We asked Princess Celestia for advice on this case and she said not even she knows where we might find the Amulet. So you didn't mention its location in your letters to her. A simple overlook, I'm sure. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that line of questioning. "Most likely." "So..." "So what?" "Where is it?" "Do you want to know about Trixie, or are you only concerned about some artifact?" "It's something vital to the investigation." "Why?" "Let's face it. She was a second-tier showmare. What else could she have that could make her life more...Powerful?" "You tell me. You're the law agents. Maybe it's not what she had. Maybe something she knew. Maybe somepony had a disagreement with her. Maybe there's a madpony around. Maybe I, I don't know." "So allow us to follow and discard the Alicorn Amulet line of investigation. Where is it?" "Why do you need it?" Agent Block took a step forward. "If we're right, Princess, whoever is hiding the Alicorn Amulet can be the next to be murdered. It must be locked at a safe place, in Canterlot, otherwise...well..." Full Circle put one of Twilight's hooves between hers. "Please Twilight. You're a new Princess. You don't want to be involved in this murder scandal. You know the media. Please let us help you. Give us the amulet, and we'll continue our investigation elsewhere." "Furthermore," said Block "if the worst happens, the blood will be on your hoof, your highness." Twilight lowered her eyes and sighed, walking slowly around the library. "See these two shelves, agents?" "Is the amulet behind them?" "No, but they are full of detective novels, and I read through most of them. So I know you're making a very old routine, to unsettle me and make me lead you straight to the amulet, for reasons I ignore and, frankly, I don't care. Full Circle, you said you would leave after getting the amulet, without asking me anything else about Trixie." "Twilight..." "Princess Celestia trusts me to keep the Elements of Harmony. I can deal with an amulet." "There's no ponycidal maniac after the Elements." "And what makes you so sure there's one after the Amulet? Aren't you going to investigate other possibilities?" Full Circle sighed "At least, make sure it's really in a safe place, all right?" "We already established that." "No More Alicorn Amulet talk, then. We'll just install the magic detectors and leave." "The what of what, now?" "Small devices that will tell us about any potential danger. You're royalty now, and one of Bridle responsibilities is to protect you." "And what do those magic gizmos do, exactly?" "Like I said, they protect you." "How?" Full Circle and Block exchanged worried looks until the mare nodded. Her companion than spoke the truth: "Transmitting everything that is said here to our dragons, so Bridle can..." "In that case, I'm sorry agents, you will install nothing here." "Very well, the choice is yours, Twilight. We will now let you rest. Forget all the talk about the amulet, if it makes you feel better, but please remember this: be careful." Twilight nodded. "Anything else, agents?" "Just one thing: Bridle is the one protecting you. Trust no one else. No one." "I am already following the advice of trusting no one, Full Circle." "Twilight, we're on the same side." "Good night, agents." Closing the door, Twilight was not able to hold her tears any longer. Spike, holding a bath brush and with a towel around his waist, rushed downstairs to the alicorn. "Twilight, what...?" The answer was a hug on the baby dragon, followed by a heavy cry. "Trixie was killed, Spike. Why? How could something like this..." Another knock at the door made her frustration go. "Aaaaaaaaargh, if it's a paparazzo, Celestia help him!" She opened the door violently. "Sorry, the library is..." Twilight Sparkle quickly recognized the Earth pony in front of her. Dark red coat, short green mane which was partially hidden by a black beret and the most disturbing feature, a pony skull for a cutie mark. "A peaceful night upon you, your highness." "Captain Sugar Skull." Night GuardAlmost Two Years Ago- Sugar Skull Journal: I see the ruckus around the reserve guards, most new to the job, trying to decide how to go up to Canterlot and help the efforts against the Changelings. I put them in their place. "Nopony will go up! Stay here! Nopony will go up!" "C-captain Sugar Skull" "The hay, you mess things up and we're the ones who have to clean it." My squad starts to climb. There aren't many of us. The ground troop is made up of me, my deputy Lemon Grass and other eight earth ponies and unicorns. As the aerial backup, we have three bat-pegasi and two Shadowbolts. We don't need more, we're the Night Guard. We have our mission, and as our motto goes, a given mission is an accomplished mission. No matter what. Most guards wear gold armor, but we wear black. As we reached the Canterlot main plateau, we gave up our stealth tactics and made our presence known. In less than one minute, eight changelings learned the meaning of tough love. I mean, the ones who escaped our crossbows learned the lesson. The ones we got will not learn anything, never again. We set some citizens and members of the guard free, and that's what matters. As we reload, I quickly notice our priority was a group of very important mares. Making our way through the invading army, we carefully circled the changelings, targeting the six young ladies. Then it happened. Lemon Grass did what I taught him to do. He did protect the Elements of Harmony. The problem was the enchantment we put on our crossbow arrows. They penetrate anything it hits, meaning the changelings we hit instantly died. In the end, Celestia's protégé was now covered in blood and brains of the dead changelings. This was enough to make the remaining bug-critters to scat. I will deal with political consequences later. "Are you ladies injured?" They shook their heads. "Are you physically hurt?" Another negative. I pointed to a shadowbolt. "Right. Please follow Descent here down to a safe place." Twilight Sparkle, trying to clean the mess out of her face, stepped out. "We can't. We must get the elements and avoid a carnage." I tried to make her see the truth: "The carnage is already happen-" "Yes, yes, it's already happening, and only we can stop it from spreading. So captain, or whatever rank you are, please step aside." I sighed. "Lemon Grass, please give Miss Sparkle your armor... the hay?" The six mares were already galloping, full throttle, to a building nearby. "Descent, you and the other pegasi try and protect Miss Hero-of-the-day there. The others, follow me. Let's check on the Princess." End of Flash Back SugarTwilight Sparkle sighed, trying to hold her tears. Tears of sadness for Trixie, and tears of frustration of having to deal with yet another pony. "Captain Suger Skull, some Bridle agents just left. Find them and I'm sure they will tell you everything you want to know. Good night." She was about to close the door but found the stallion's hoof blocking it. For a moment, she considered applying all the strength of her magic to force the door shut. "I just need five minutes of your time, your highness." The new princess sighed. "Leave your crossbow at the door. I don't want another meeting with those things. Five minutes." He did what she asked for, glancing at the surroundings before stepping in. "Should I first congratulate you on your coronation, or say I'm sorry for the loss of..." "Captain, I really don't have the patience for either tonight. Start your questioning at once." Sugar Skull put a small hourglass on the library table and started: "Can I have a glass of water, please? Tea?" The frozen look at Twilight's face was quite a clear answer. "Right. Was there somepony watching the library during your coronation?" "What kind of question is this?" "I want to know if there are magical listening devices around." "No. Bridle agents asked if they could have installed them, but I refused." "They insisted on it?" Twilight bit her lower lip. "Could you launch a counter-spell on this room, your highness?" "Why? You obviously don't trust Bridle, captain, and I don't trust you and your execution squad. So maybe I'd welcome a possible third party listening to this." "Ah." The stallion grabbed a book and started to read at random. "Princess Sparkle, could you please talk about your relationship with Trixie?" "Are you really interested in it?" Sugar Skull shook his head negatively, returning to the book. "Please, your statement, your highness." Twilight Sparkle tried to keep her calm, almost without luck. "What. On. Tartarus. Are. You. Really. Doing. Here?" Sugar Skull looked at the hourglass. "Ok, they had time enough to act. Answering your question, your highness, I already know everything that has to be known about your adventures with Trixie. Well, I am a bait. I am keeping Birdle around us, watching me enter and exit, trying to figure out what you and I will do next, while my ponies take the amulet to safety." Twilight Sparkle tried not to scuffle at her visitor. "Saftey against what? Some ponycidal maniac?" "Against Bridle." The alicorn sighed, at the end of her patience. "Captain, right now I don't give a flying feather about disputes between law agencies. however, I do know you're bluffing. You have no way to know where the amulet is. The only way to know about me and Trixie is if you asked her." The thought of the trigger-happy Night Guard close to Trixie and mental images of her fate made up some tears of rage appear on Twilight's face. Her horn started to glow menacingly. The stallion took some steps back until he was cornered between a bookshelf and a very angry Twilight. He raised a hoof. "Wait, we didn't have any direct contact with Trixie, and, by the Moon, we don't kill innocent ponies." "Then explain yourself, captain. Pray that I believe you." The stallion smiled and returned to his all fours. "Tell me, princess, who do I serve?" "Everypony on Equestria, I hope, but I guess you want me to answer 'Luna'." "And who is Luna?" Twilight shook her head, her mind too tired for these games, but answered: "The Princess of the Night." "And what else?" The realization hit Twilight as a ton of bricks. The princess with full domain over... Her jaw hung open, in shock. Sugar Skull approached her and said in a very low voice, on his way out. "Dreaming about Luna lately?" And closed the door. Night InvestigationSpike rolled on his basket bed again and again, but the endless sound of hooves downstairs was restless. Getting up, he went to the routine that was getting painfully familiar. "Twilight? It's four a.m." "Sorry Spike, I can't sleep." Said Twilight, trotting without stopping. The dragon tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, as he made his way to the kitchen. "I'm going to prepare you a daisy tea. It helps." The alicorn teleported herself to face Spike. "You don't understand. I CAN NOT sleep. I must not sleep. I will not sleep." "Oooookay... if this is some schedule conflict again..." "NO! And I can't tell you, they may be listening." "Right. They may be listening; huh... who are 'they', exactly?" "I'm not sure!" An exasperate Twilight let herself collapse on some pillows at the library, head full of emotions and revelations of the day. Having a flashback of his friends freak-outs, Spike tried to calm her. "Twilight, I think you really need some relaxing tea." "No, I need to make sense of all that." Twilight took a deep breath. There is only one way she knows to 'make the world come to its right place', and allow her to think better. "Spike, I need a parchment, ink and a quill." "Here. Want me to take the letter?" "No. The less you know, the safer your sleep will be." "What?" Twilight tenderly pecks the dragon's forehead. "Go back to sleep, Spike. We may have a full day ahead. I promise I will not make any noise." As the dragon went back to his room, Twilight sighed. She floated the quill over the parchment, and divided it in the middle and started to write in one column. QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS 1- Who Killed Trixie? 2- Why was Trixie killed? 3- How was she killed? 4-Are any of the two police forces trying to solve the crime? 5- If they aren't, then why not? 6- Is this Alicorn Amulet really relevant in this story? 7- Why does Bridle want the artifact? 8- Why does the Night Guard not want Bridle to have it? 9- Is Zecora really gone? 10- Why is Luna spying on me? 11- Who else is Luna spying on? 12- Who else is spying on me? 13- Who can I trust? She then went to the other column. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE CASE 1- Trixie was killed two days ago, at Mareami Beach. 2- Between the Ursa case and her reformation, Trixie worked on a rock farm. 3- Listening devices and dream spying. Be careful. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Twilight started to write her plan, in several parchments. If she wanted to pay respect to Trixie, she would need to find the perpetrator and to do that, she would need lots of help. She hated to admit, Sugar Skull had the right idea. She would need to say things that mean nothing while keeping important things in silence. Better safe than sorry. As she wrote, two hours passed quickly. The air yacht floated gently on the pure blue sky, without a cloud to be seen. Inside, a young dragon and a white unicorn rested together on comfy recliner chairs. "Oh, Spike..." said Rarity. "This is so perfect, I want to give you something." The dragon pressed his lips together, waiting for the kiss, only to find a jewel being pushed on him. "Rarity, you want to give me this large, shiny, beautiful purple gem? It's wonderful. Ah... I already accepted it, you can stop pressing it against me." "Wake up Spike." In a fraction of a second, the jewel morphed into the hoof of an anxious Twilight Sparkle, shaking the young dragon's head. Spike let out a sound of disappointment as he tried to cover himself, but the sheets were magically pulled off from his small basket. The alicorn floated a parchment in front of him. His sleepy brain took a while to interpret the written words, then, wide awake, he had to read it three times to really make sense of it. "Twilight, you-" "Shhh." The purple mare demanded the dragon to be quiet and pointed at the parchment. With a sigh, Spike nodded, while she coughed twice before speaking a bit too loud and with a hint of over-reacting. "Spike, could you get my saddlebags from the closet? I need to get to the morning train to Canterlot." The dragon did so, with an unpleasant look on his face. twilight made small circles with one front hoof, asking the dragon to go on. this made him frown even more, and so he let a small burst of fire to lightly damage the luggage. The alicorn pointed to the parchment. The dragon read out loud: "Uh... 'o-sorry-Twilight-I-burned-your-saddlebag'." Twilight rolled her eyes at Spike's fake tone, not aware hers was not any better. "No worries Spike, it can be fixed. better do it now, before the morning train leaves." The alicorn rushed through the doorway, as the dragon let himself collapse on his basket, mumbling. "I was awoken from a 'Rarity dream' for this..." Between the things quickly put on the damaged saddlebag, was Twilight's schedule. Everything must happen in a timely manner, she thought, as she covered the distance between the Library and the Carousel Boutique. The owner opened the door in surprise, still on her peignoir. "Twilight, darling, is something wrong? It's quite early." "Sorry Rarity, I was wondering if you could fix my saddle bag." The element of generosity looked at a clock on the wall and was about to protest when a parchment floated in front of her eyes. She raised an eyebrow and tried to question her friend. "Are you sure, Twilight? I mean, ahem, Fixing this may be dangerous. The leather is damaged and..." Some quick words are scribbled down by the alicorn. Rarity sighed, and pointed upstairs, as she began to work. Twilight sighed in relief. She would be able to talk to Sweetie Belle before school. The first parts of the schedule of her plan were going smoothly. That is until a childish shout so loud shook the boutique. "YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SECRET AG-" Or not, Twilight thought, while she tried to shut the mouth of the young filly. A few moments later, Sweetie Bell skipped down the stairs with a large smile, ready to go to school. "Bye sister, after school the girls and I will go try and get our cutie marks in..." She made giant quote marks with her hooves, "'botaaaanicals'." As the filly left, Twilight tried to apologize. "I'm sorry Rarity, but I'm really short of-" Sweetie Belle sneaked her head on the boutique again. "We'll go to the forest, to get some herbs." Twilight tried again to ease her friend who was getting more and more concerned. "The, uh, saddlebag looks good. Perfectly safe and-" "To get our cutie marks." Said the filly, appearing out of nowhere, again. "'In the boooootaaanicals'." And left the boutique. "Really Rarity, the saddlebag is fine." Getting in from nowhere once again, Sweetie Belle gave a questioning look to Rarity. "And I'm keeping an eye on you, ma'am." Twilight took her clue and rushed out before Rarity gave everything a second thought. Next Stop, Sugarcube Corner. After all, Twilight thought, nothing is more natural than having breakfast. She didn't have to wait much. After a bite on her sandwich, an energetic pink pony came to talk with her. At least she didn't need to talk on a code here. Twilight rationalized nopony would install listening devices in a local as public and busy as a bakery; even in they did, it would be impossible to make heads and tails of what Pinkie Pie says. Twilight explained the situation, getting her food soaked on by Pinkie's unbelievable flow of tears after hearing Trixie's fate, quickly followed by her excitement when the alicorn explained what she needed to do. "Oh, oh, I will need a ballon, my night goggles, a beehive slingshot, a tuba, two buffalos on tuts-" "Pinkie, you're just visiting your family. I don't think you'll need any of those." The pink pony raised her hoof as if she was asking for permission to ask a question. Twilight did not know how, but in a flash something appeared, dangling from the pink pony's face. "Argh, all right Pinkie, you can wear a mustache." Pinkie Pie approached Twilight with a large smile full of second intentions showing a piece of cloth that also appeared out of thin air in her hooves. "You can wear the green eyepatch too. Can we please move on?" As Twilight galloped to the train station, she reminds her self of some wise words she read somewhere in a book once, 'Never do what your antagonist expects.' Nopony would expect some fillies and Pinkie Pie. Now, to Canterlot. Author's Note Next up, Celestia and Discord. Chaos' AdviceTwilight looked at the impressive city on the mountain in front of her with a mix of emotions. A not long time ago, she described the huge castles, the flawless gardens and the upscale atmosphere with a simple word: "home". Somewhere around her brother's wedding, the word became, for her, a synonym of Ponyville. Still, it's the home of her parents, one or another relative, and her mentor. She was afraid that now, as a princess herself, that would be the next word to lose or change its meaning. Mentor. Would she ever be equal to Celestia? Would she want to? But she needed answers and felt she owned Trixie something, and there's only one place to start the quest. Shortly she was walking with Celestia on the endless corridors of the castle, the stained glass telling stories so familiar to both. The Ruler of the Sun stopped at a particular window and looked at her former pupil, who tilted her head away. "You are avoiding looking at this one." "The one at the right tells me much more. Spike's and Candance fight against Sombra. And I am partial to how nice my brother looks on it." "And what's wrong with this?" Twilight sighed, glancing at it, and turning her head away again "It's my coronation" "Yes, it is. And…?" "I don't know if I deserve it, or if I did something today to earn the right to be called a princess." "The answer would be 'yes' to both, Twilight. You are trying to fix something wrong. And there are few things more precious than that." "I – I don't know where to start, princess." "Twilight, did I ever answered you directly?" "No, that's why you are such a great teacher. You made me think, you made me look for answers, you never gave me anything free." "So, this time is no different. I strongly believe you will solve this crime. But, on your way, you will find it… information that can have a huge impact on your future. Twilight, I have complete faith in you. You proved to me, once and again, that your choices are wise. I ask that you have the same confidence in yourself. Do what you feel it needs to be done. No matter how hard it seems." "I… still have lots of questions." "I know. But I am not the one to answer. What do you want to know?" "I-." Twilight felt the hoof of Celestia lightly in front of her mouth. "Answer to yourself. Everything will be easier after that." Exiting the castle, Twilight looked at the horizon. What does she want to know? She only wants all this to make sense. Drifting her eyes through the landscape, she noticed something strange. That mountain near Canterlot was not there a month ago. And, from this distance, it seems to shine in odd colors, and she could swear the top looks like choco... "Oh, no." She shakes her head. "no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to talk to Luna yet, so… I will go to the Crystal Empire. That's it. Talk to my Brother and Candance and.." The mountain caught her attention again. "Come on, Twilight, think. You are trying to make sense of the situation, why would you go to the only being impervious to the concept?" She sighed, as she flew in direction to the mountain. "Any barn in a storm, they say." As she approached the mountain, the sun somehow was replaced by a disco ball, and she had to avoid a rain of sardines until finding the draconequus resting on an argyle cloud. "Well, well, well, if it isn`t Twilight Sparkle." "Hello, Discord. Ahn… interesting place you got here." "Really, Twilight? And here was I thinking you would be the last pony to compliment my abilities on interior and exterior design." "Well, I… the hay, Discord, I need your help." Twilight suddenly finds herself inside a wire globe of the planet, with Discord making it spin. "You do? Amazing how the world turns, right?" "I understand if you don't want to help. Sorry for bothering you." "Oh, no, don't misinterpret me." The apparatus disappeared. "Tell me, my little princess." "Did you hear about the murder?" "Oh, yes. I heard rumors and flew over Mareami to see things first-pawed. I loathe violence, but I will have to admit…" The floor between twilight and Discord was now covered with standing dominos "That this act shows the harmony and love on Equestria is not all that solid. It just takes one pony..." On his talon, Discord was holding a casket-shaped domino, with the image of Trixie. Placing it carefully on one end of the domino line, the Lord of Chaos gave it a little bump, making all the others to fall in sequence. As they fell, they started to form Discord's image. "… and we have destructive chaos". The image disappeared, and Discord firmly pressed one domino, making the falling sequence to stop as the others reached the secured one. "Likewise, it takes one pony to stop everything" Discord raised the piece, to show the image of Twilight Sparkle. "What do you mean?" "You go to Mareami, my dear Twilight, before every domino falls down. A murder can change tons of things." "Do you know who did it?" "No." "And… why are the law forces acting so strangely about it?" "Which ones?" "Bridle and Night Guard." "You will not solve this part of the mystery unless you change your view about those." "Please, Discord, no riddles. I am not in the mood." "I don't see you like this since… since the time I made some improvements in Ponyville. Tell, me, Twilight, how do you feel?" "This violence… everything that is happening… I'm feeling out of place, like… like…" The Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers, transporting both to the top of a roof of a wooden cabin that was not there one second ago. Twilight found herself suddenly as a filly, trying to keep her balance, as Discord finished her thoughts: "Like a filly on the roof, my dear Twilight?" Discord produced a fiddle and started to play and dance "If I were an alicorn princess/ Daidle deedle daidle/ Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum/ All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum/ If I were an alicorn…" "Discord, take us down, now!" "Would you prefer I play 'Discord went down to Equestria'? It's a fan favorite, you know. " "Now!" After a snap of fingers, Twilight found herself back to normal on the mountain ground. "But, to answer your question about Bridle and Night Guard…" Twilight felt Discord hold her as he took off straight up. As soon as they were some hundreds of meters above the mountain, he said: "You must look at the big picture." Looking down, the mountain was now sporting the faces of Celestia, Luna and Twilight Sparkle. "Are you trying to say that… they put the princesses above solving the crime?" A podium with a lightened panel flashing the word "winner" appeared in front of Twilight, while Discord, wearing a suit and with a microphone on hand, applauded. "Ladies and gentlecolts, we have a winner! Let's hear it to Twilight Sparkle." "But why? What they accomplish with this? Why is this so important? And why you showed me my face on the mountain?" "And now, we go to the second round of our game." The duo landed softly on the mountain. "But that can wait. Are you going to Mareami, Twilight?" The alicorn nodded. "My train exits in four hours." "And are you aware of Night Guards' favorite method of questioning?" "I am. I didn't sleep at all last night." A snap of fingers and a floating mattress appeared under Twilight, and a dark canopy started to form above her. "Luna must be sleeping now. It's safe for you to do the same." "Discord?" "Hm?" "Why are you being nice? Why should I trust you?" He chuckled "Because friendship is magic?" Another snap of talon fingers, and several little discords, dressed as sheep, started to jump a miniature fence in front of her impromptu bed. "The truth, Discord." Said Twilight, making herself comfortable and barely managing to keep her eyes open. "Let's talk about it later" Author's Note I'm back! Recently, I haven't had time to write as much, but now that I'm back I will focus on getting some chapters done. (It might go back to Hiatus tho) Thanks everyone, for giving this story a chance :D As The Train GoesA renovated Twilight flew happily all her way to the Canterlot Station. A few hours of sleep did wonders to her mood, and she was now certain she could face whatever is expecting her in Mareami. And the moment disappeared as soon as she saw the luxury train wagon with a purple banner with her cutie mark on it, and the words "Propriety of Equestria Royalty" prominently engraved on the access door. Worst, Agents Full Circle and Block were waiting for her. "Agh, so much for being discreet." "Welcome, your highness." said agent Full Circle. Before Twilight could complain, Spike appeared on a wagon window: "Twilight, come see, this wagon is fantastic!" "Full Circle, can we talk for a moment?" Said Twilight, pushing the agent to a corner "What is the meaning of this? All that is lacking is that four mares singing 'behold princess Twilight Sparkle'." "Standard procedures, your highness." "Well, I'm changing those standards now. I just need Spike and a normal wagon, thank you. And forget all the noble vocatives." "National security. Not even a princess can change it. But I have something for you. Celestia named you the head of the investigation. I'm here with everything we discovered until now." "Even so-" "Hey, Twilight, this is great" The baby dragon got close. "I just gave your name on the station and got a free ticket to anywhere you want. And wait to see the size of your bed." "Next time, don't mention it, Spike. Let's board." "We'll depart as soon as your personal chef returns, Princess." Said Agent Block "My what?" "Your personal assistant requested gems on the menu. He's catering them now." Spike laughed shyly, fighting Twilight stare. As the train started to move, Twilight installed herself on a small table complained to Spike. "Well, Two-thirds of the wagon are privative with one office, one bathroom and a room with a bed twice the size of mine in Ponyville. Meanwhile, two agents and a chef cramp themselves on the rest of the wagon. If I didn't speak on your behalf, you would sleep with them, too. Do you think it's fair, Spike?" Twilight turned to see the dragon using the large bed as a trampoline. "Spike!" "Uh? You said something, Twilight?" "Nevermind. Call Full Circle, please?" While waiting, Twilight performed a counter-spell on the wagon, to weed out spying magic. Soon, the agent was spreading some parchments in front of Twilight "This is all we discovered. Trixie was stabbed eight times by a perforating object, and her body was discovered on an alley, Monday morning, the 17th." "A perforating object?" "The doctors that made the autopsy said there were no major cuts or rips, so the object was either used to stab only or was blunt on the edge. Dagger, ice pick, lance, we don't know." Twilight thought about Sugar Skull for a while "Arrow?" "It would be an odd way to use those, but, yes, arrow. Those are pure conjecture, by the way. The doctors don't dare to give an official shortlist of possible weapons. Something made to stab, not cut. That's their answer." "Do we have a time of death?" "One of the guards that found her thought the body was still a bit warm… but, as you will see, Celestia over-blesses Mareami. Anything gets warmer there." "And what else they discovered during the autopsy?" "That's all." "What?" "Twilight, the ponies had to rush to museums and old houses trying to find journals of wartime doctors to learn how to perform an autopsy on a victim of murder. Decades and decades without such thing, remember?" The alicorn sighed "So, no clues?" "One, Twilight, but I don't think you will like it." "Let's hear it." "Seems that Trixie was hired by a history researcher… the kind that writes academic books. Her name is Jolly Horsing. For a while, Trixie was the assistant of miss Horsing, until one day she stole part of her research for a new book. Care to guess the subject of the research?" Twilight rubbed her forehead, waiting for the inevitable "The Alicorn Amulet." Full Circle nodded. "Jolly Horsing said Trixie went to Mareami also to make amends with her." "Proceed." "Miss Horsing said she stole key points of the research, such indications of where the amulet could have being… we learned by other means it was in a trinket shop at Canterlot all the time. We didn't get much more from her. Maybe you will have better luck. You know…" Full Circle made a drinking gesture "That mare is a cider sponge." "Fine." Twilight wrote something. "How about what the Night Guard discovered?" Full Circle shrugged "Who knows? They went and poked around Mareami, but nothing official." "They are not officially on the case?" "Twilight, they are not officially even on Equestria Defense Organizational Chart." "Come again?" "Short story, when Luna returned, she asked to have her own bodyguards instead of Bridle protection… Celestia agreed." "And now they are an execution squad that owns explanation and answer to nopony but Luna. Thank you, Full Circle... Wait. How do you learn about the shop where the amulet was?" "Nothing dramatic; after Trixie messed with Ponyville, the shop owner came to us, offering to help on the case, if needed." With a small bow, she left. When alone, she called the dragon. "All right, Spike, your turn. Report" Spike sat on the chair, with a rectangular red gem dangling from his mouth. Seeing the alicorn ensuring stare, he quickly put it away. "My report... Yes! The Crusaders said you were right, Twilight. They didn't find Zecora anywhere. And they said her house seemed in order, without signals of struggling or fights." "Hm." "They said they didn't have any luck with the hoofprints, however." "I didn't ask about-" "Sweetie Belle said they learned that 60 pounds of powder may be a bit too much for revealing hoofprints and that the trio will only know if they got their cutie marks in espionage after a good bath." Twilight allowed herself a good, needed laugh. Things are getting better. She had a few clues to follow, and hopefully, Pinkie Pie would also help to get some information about Trixie's past from her family. Author's Note Next: Limestone Pie :D Thanks for reading!
Pressed by the LawAuthor's Note Criticism is more than welcomed. This Story takes place right after Season 3, at the beginning of Season 4, where Twilight just became an Alicorn. Pressed by the Law Somepony is knocking at the door. For a few seconds, Twilight didn't know how to react. Five days ago, it was a no-brainer. She was a librarian in a library. Three days ago, she was a princess at Canterlot Castle. Back to Ponyville, for the past five hours, she was a princess in a library. Somepony is knocking at the door. This is ridiculous, she thought. Title or not, she still could answer the door. "How may I help you?" Twilight Sparkle looked at the unicorn mare at the library door and her massive pegasus companion. The sunglasses and the obviously painted solid shapes over their cutie marks tell a lot about the duo, even before the newcomer magically levitated a badge. They weren't there to enjoy some literature. "Agent Full Circle. Bridle. May we come in?" the unicorn asked, after doing so. At her days living at the Canterlot castle, twilight was familiar with the Bureau Royal for Investigation, diligence and Law Enforcement. (B.R.I.D.L.E), and the seriousness of its agents to their job, so she didn't complain or bother to answer. Still, something ringed a bell deep on her brain. "Wait a minute..." She circled the mare. The orange coat and the lightly gray mane reminded her of somepony. She touched the blue circle covering the visitor's cutie mark. "I think there's a bow and a rose under this, and you're ... Flora... Flora something short. We studied together at Canterlot, right?" "Flower Hit, not Flora. And it's a daisy, not a rose. And yes, we even did research papers together, your highness." "Ah... sorry, well, there were lots of students there..." "Fives times. We worked together five times." "Well, I was a filly, sorry if I can't remember..." "So was I, and I do, but that's ok. You always liked books over ponies. Unfortunately, your highness, I'm at work here, so pleasantries and reminiscences must wait." She pointed at the large male Pegasus at her side. "This is agent Block. I'd rather be called by my B.R.I.D.L.E moniker. Now, I could follow the old-friend routine, but I've learned to respect your intelligence, Princess Twilight, so, may we go straight to the matter of our visit?" Twilight felt a bit guilty for not remembering Flower Hit but decided to follow her way. Maybe later she could excuse for her rudeness of old times when she didn't know about the value of friendship. "Please, skip the whole princess and 'your highness' part. So, what seems to be the problem?" "Are you close to a certain Trixie Lulamoon, a.k.a 'Great and Powerful Trixie'?" "Well, I wouldn't say we're all that close but we met a couple of times, yes. Deep down, she's a nice pony." The agent levitates some papers in front of her. "According to our research, you were the one who pleaded to Mayor Mare and Celestia herself to archive the accusation of coupe d'etát against Trixie, allowing her to avoid prison." "Sure." It was Twilight's turn to magically levitate a large tome. "She took over a city, not a nation, so the nomenclature 'coupe d'etát' was incorrect, and in the documents as ancient as 'Ye Royal Judgement of Guild of Discord' we learn that, and I quote -" "Princ... I mean, Twilight, I will trust your judgment on that." "But I must explain the jurisprudence that shows that, despite some experts saying otherwise, the Second Griffin Conflict Armistice Agreement doesn't apply to such cases because..." Full Circle raised a hoof, cutting the Alicorn short, "Let's talk about the second reason you had to let Trixie go." Twilight pulled another large law book from the shelves. "She was really sorry, really wanting to make amends, and the recent Royal Decree of Celestia concerning Discord's freedom clearly states--" "We are aware of Discord Law. Moving On..." "Yes, well, it's a Royal Decree, not a Common Law, they're not the sa--" "She's dead." Cut the agent, as fast as she could. Twilight just stood there, mouth open. "Seems that we got your full attention now, Twilight Sparkle. May we go on?"
QuestionsAuthor's Note The story happens at the end of Season 3, in the start of Season 4 (Somewhere in between) Questions After some moments, Twilight managed to ask for details. "Two days ago, at Mareami Beach. She had some shows scheduled there," informed agent Block. "But how? She was not ill, at least, didn't look like..." "Murdered." Said Full Circle. "What? No, no, no, no, impossible. There hasn't been a case of murder in Equestria in decades, it's not possible." "You seem shocked, Twilight. Imagine us at Bridle. More than 40 years without such case. Imagine ponies at Mareami. The most serious crime there until this case was one senior pony stealing the dental fixtures of another." "I can't... just... poor Trixie." The visiting unicorn got closer. "Twilight... we are all shocked. And let me tell this to you, as a schoolmate, not an agent... it hurts, yes, but we must be strong. For her. She is begging us to solve this crime." The alicorn tried to wipe her tears with her hooves. "You're right, Flower... Full Circle. I will try to help you." "Good. Are you ready?" Doing the breath exercise she learned from Cadance, Twilight nodded. "Twilight Sparkle, can you think of a reason for this crime?" "No! Why would anypony do such thing?" "The Alicorn Amulet, perhaps?" Twilight shook her head. "It was no longer with Trixie." "But did she know about its whereabouts?" "I don't think so." "You know about its whereabouts?" "Yes." "Where?" "Hidden." "Yes, where?" "Agents, the whole idea of hiding something is to not tell where it's hidden. Rest assured, it's on a safe place." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure." "But you have to agree, princess, that somepony needs to know about power and dangerous objects. We asked Princess Celestia for advice on this case and she said not even she knows where we might find the Amulet. So you didn't mention its location in your letters to her. A simple overlook, I'm sure. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that line of questioning. "Most likely." "So..." "So what?" "Where is it?" "Do you want to know about Trixie, or are you only concerned about some artifact?" "It's something vital to the investigation." "Why?" "Let's face it. She was a second-tier showmare. What else could she have that could make her life more...Powerful?" "You tell me. You're the law agents. Maybe it's not what she had. Maybe something she knew. Maybe somepony had a disagreement with her. Maybe there's a madpony around. Maybe I, I don't know." "So allow us to follow and discard the Alicorn Amulet line of investigation. Where is it?" "Why do you need it?" Agent Block took a step forward. "If we're right, Princess, whoever is hiding the Alicorn Amulet can be the next to be murdered. It must be locked at a safe place, in Canterlot, otherwise...well..." Full Circle put one of Twilight's hooves between hers. "Please Twilight. You're a new Princess. You don't want to be involved in this murder scandal. You know the media. Please let us help you. Give us the amulet, and we'll continue our investigation elsewhere." "Furthermore," said Block "if the worst happens, the blood will be on your hoof, your highness." Twilight lowered her eyes and sighed, walking slowly around the library. "See these two shelves, agents?" "Is the amulet behind them?" "No, but they are full of detective novels, and I read through most of them. So I know you're making a very old routine, to unsettle me and make me lead you straight to the amulet, for reasons I ignore and, frankly, I don't care. Full Circle, you said you would leave after getting the amulet, without asking me anything else about Trixie." "Twilight..." "Princess Celestia trusts me to keep the Elements of Harmony. I can deal with an amulet." "There's no ponycidal maniac after the Elements." "And what makes you so sure there's one after the Amulet? Aren't you going to investigate other possibilities?" Full Circle sighed "At least, make sure it's really in a safe place, all right?" "We already established that." "No More Alicorn Amulet talk, then. We'll just install the magic detectors and leave." "The what of what, now?" "Small devices that will tell us about any potential danger. You're royalty now, and one of Bridle responsibilities is to protect you." "And what do those magic gizmos do, exactly?" "Like I said, they protect you." "How?" Full Circle and Block exchanged worried looks until the mare nodded. Her companion than spoke the truth: "Transmitting everything that is said here to our dragons, so Bridle can..." "In that case, I'm sorry agents, you will install nothing here." "Very well, the choice is yours, Twilight. We will now let you rest. Forget all the talk about the amulet, if it makes you feel better, but please remember this: be careful." Twilight nodded. "Anything else, agents?" "Just one thing: Bridle is the one protecting you. Trust no one else. No one." "I am already following the advice of trusting no one, Full Circle." "Twilight, we're on the same side." "Good night, agents." Closing the door, Twilight was not able to hold her tears any longer. Spike, holding a bath brush and with a towel around his waist, rushed downstairs to the alicorn. "Twilight, what...?" The answer was a hug on the baby dragon, followed by a heavy cry. "Trixie was killed, Spike. Why? How could something like this..." Another knock at the door made her frustration go. "Aaaaaaaaargh, if it's a paparazzo, Celestia help him!" She opened the door violently. "Sorry, the library is..." Twilight Sparkle quickly recognized the Earth pony in front of her. Dark red coat, short green mane which was partially hidden by a black beret and the most disturbing feature, a pony skull for a cutie mark. "A peaceful night upon you, your highness." "Captain Sugar Skull."
Night GuardAlmost Two Years Ago- Sugar Skull Journal: I see the ruckus around the reserve guards, most new to the job, trying to decide how to go up to Canterlot and help the efforts against the Changelings. I put them in their place. "Nopony will go up! Stay here! Nopony will go up!" "C-captain Sugar Skull" "The hay, you mess things up and we're the ones who have to clean it." My squad starts to climb. There aren't many of us. The ground troop is made up of me, my deputy Lemon Grass and other eight earth ponies and unicorns. As the aerial backup, we have three bat-pegasi and two Shadowbolts. We don't need more, we're the Night Guard. We have our mission, and as our motto goes, a given mission is an accomplished mission. No matter what. Most guards wear gold armor, but we wear black. As we reached the Canterlot main plateau, we gave up our stealth tactics and made our presence known. In less than one minute, eight changelings learned the meaning of tough love. I mean, the ones who escaped our crossbows learned the lesson. The ones we got will not learn anything, never again. We set some citizens and members of the guard free, and that's what matters. As we reload, I quickly notice our priority was a group of very important mares. Making our way through the invading army, we carefully circled the changelings, targeting the six young ladies. Then it happened. Lemon Grass did what I taught him to do. He did protect the Elements of Harmony. The problem was the enchantment we put on our crossbow arrows. They penetrate anything it hits, meaning the changelings we hit instantly died. In the end, Celestia's protégé was now covered in blood and brains of the dead changelings. This was enough to make the remaining bug-critters to scat. I will deal with political consequences later. "Are you ladies injured?" They shook their heads. "Are you physically hurt?" Another negative. I pointed to a shadowbolt. "Right. Please follow Descent here down to a safe place." Twilight Sparkle, trying to clean the mess out of her face, stepped out. "We can't. We must get the elements and avoid a carnage." I tried to make her see the truth: "The carnage is already happen-" "Yes, yes, it's already happening, and only we can stop it from spreading. So captain, or whatever rank you are, please step aside." I sighed. "Lemon Grass, please give Miss Sparkle your armor... the hay?" The six mares were already galloping, full throttle, to a building nearby. "Descent, you and the other pegasi try and protect Miss Hero-of-the-day there. The others, follow me. Let's check on the Princess." End of Flash Back
SugarTwilight Sparkle sighed, trying to hold her tears. Tears of sadness for Trixie, and tears of frustration of having to deal with yet another pony. "Captain Suger Skull, some Bridle agents just left. Find them and I'm sure they will tell you everything you want to know. Good night." She was about to close the door but found the stallion's hoof blocking it. For a moment, she considered applying all the strength of her magic to force the door shut. "I just need five minutes of your time, your highness." The new princess sighed. "Leave your crossbow at the door. I don't want another meeting with those things. Five minutes." He did what she asked for, glancing at the surroundings before stepping in. "Should I first congratulate you on your coronation, or say I'm sorry for the loss of..." "Captain, I really don't have the patience for either tonight. Start your questioning at once." Sugar Skull put a small hourglass on the library table and started: "Can I have a glass of water, please? Tea?" The frozen look at Twilight's face was quite a clear answer. "Right. Was there somepony watching the library during your coronation?" "What kind of question is this?" "I want to know if there are magical listening devices around." "No. Bridle agents asked if they could have installed them, but I refused." "They insisted on it?" Twilight bit her lower lip. "Could you launch a counter-spell on this room, your highness?" "Why? You obviously don't trust Bridle, captain, and I don't trust you and your execution squad. So maybe I'd welcome a possible third party listening to this." "Ah." The stallion grabbed a book and started to read at random. "Princess Sparkle, could you please talk about your relationship with Trixie?" "Are you really interested in it?" Sugar Skull shook his head negatively, returning to the book. "Please, your statement, your highness." Twilight Sparkle tried to keep her calm, almost without luck. "What. On. Tartarus. Are. You. Really. Doing. Here?" Sugar Skull looked at the hourglass. "Ok, they had time enough to act. Answering your question, your highness, I already know everything that has to be known about your adventures with Trixie. Well, I am a bait. I am keeping Birdle around us, watching me enter and exit, trying to figure out what you and I will do next, while my ponies take the amulet to safety." Twilight Sparkle tried not to scuffle at her visitor. "Saftey against what? Some ponycidal maniac?" "Against Bridle." The alicorn sighed, at the end of her patience. "Captain, right now I don't give a flying feather about disputes between law agencies. however, I do know you're bluffing. You have no way to know where the amulet is. The only way to know about me and Trixie is if you asked her." The thought of the trigger-happy Night Guard close to Trixie and mental images of her fate made up some tears of rage appear on Twilight's face. Her horn started to glow menacingly. The stallion took some steps back until he was cornered between a bookshelf and a very angry Twilight. He raised a hoof. "Wait, we didn't have any direct contact with Trixie, and, by the Moon, we don't kill innocent ponies." "Then explain yourself, captain. Pray that I believe you." The stallion smiled and returned to his all fours. "Tell me, princess, who do I serve?" "Everypony on Equestria, I hope, but I guess you want me to answer 'Luna'." "And who is Luna?" Twilight shook her head, her mind too tired for these games, but answered: "The Princess of the Night." "And what else?" The realization hit Twilight as a ton of bricks. The princess with full domain over... Her jaw hung open, in shock. Sugar Skull approached her and said in a very low voice, on his way out. "Dreaming about Luna lately?" And closed the door.
Night InvestigationSpike rolled on his basket bed again and again, but the endless sound of hooves downstairs was restless. Getting up, he went to the routine that was getting painfully familiar. "Twilight? It's four a.m." "Sorry Spike, I can't sleep." Said Twilight, trotting without stopping. The dragon tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, as he made his way to the kitchen. "I'm going to prepare you a daisy tea. It helps." The alicorn teleported herself to face Spike. "You don't understand. I CAN NOT sleep. I must not sleep. I will not sleep." "Oooookay... if this is some schedule conflict again..." "NO! And I can't tell you, they may be listening." "Right. They may be listening; huh... who are 'they', exactly?" "I'm not sure!" An exasperate Twilight let herself collapse on some pillows at the library, head full of emotions and revelations of the day. Having a flashback of his friends freak-outs, Spike tried to calm her. "Twilight, I think you really need some relaxing tea." "No, I need to make sense of all that." Twilight took a deep breath. There is only one way she knows to 'make the world come to its right place', and allow her to think better. "Spike, I need a parchment, ink and a quill." "Here. Want me to take the letter?" "No. The less you know, the safer your sleep will be." "What?" Twilight tenderly pecks the dragon's forehead. "Go back to sleep, Spike. We may have a full day ahead. I promise I will not make any noise." As the dragon went back to his room, Twilight sighed. She floated the quill over the parchment, and divided it in the middle and started to write in one column. QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS 1- Who Killed Trixie? 2- Why was Trixie killed? 3- How was she killed? 4-Are any of the two police forces trying to solve the crime? 5- If they aren't, then why not? 6- Is this Alicorn Amulet really relevant in this story? 7- Why does Bridle want the artifact? 8- Why does the Night Guard not want Bridle to have it? 9- Is Zecora really gone? 10- Why is Luna spying on me? 11- Who else is Luna spying on? 12- Who else is spying on me? 13- Who can I trust? She then went to the other column. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE CASE 1- Trixie was killed two days ago, at Mareami Beach. 2- Between the Ursa case and her reformation, Trixie worked on a rock farm. 3- Listening devices and dream spying. Be careful. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Twilight started to write her plan, in several parchments. If she wanted to pay respect to Trixie, she would need to find the perpetrator and to do that, she would need lots of help. She hated to admit, Sugar Skull had the right idea. She would need to say things that mean nothing while keeping important things in silence. Better safe than sorry. As she wrote, two hours passed quickly. The air yacht floated gently on the pure blue sky, without a cloud to be seen. Inside, a young dragon and a white unicorn rested together on comfy recliner chairs. "Oh, Spike..." said Rarity. "This is so perfect, I want to give you something." The dragon pressed his lips together, waiting for the kiss, only to find a jewel being pushed on him. "Rarity, you want to give me this large, shiny, beautiful purple gem? It's wonderful. Ah... I already accepted it, you can stop pressing it against me." "Wake up Spike." In a fraction of a second, the jewel morphed into the hoof of an anxious Twilight Sparkle, shaking the young dragon's head. Spike let out a sound of disappointment as he tried to cover himself, but the sheets were magically pulled off from his small basket. The alicorn floated a parchment in front of him. His sleepy brain took a while to interpret the written words, then, wide awake, he had to read it three times to really make sense of it. "Twilight, you-" "Shhh." The purple mare demanded the dragon to be quiet and pointed at the parchment. With a sigh, Spike nodded, while she coughed twice before speaking a bit too loud and with a hint of over-reacting. "Spike, could you get my saddlebags from the closet? I need to get to the morning train to Canterlot." The dragon did so, with an unpleasant look on his face. twilight made small circles with one front hoof, asking the dragon to go on. this made him frown even more, and so he let a small burst of fire to lightly damage the luggage. The alicorn pointed to the parchment. The dragon read out loud: "Uh... 'o-sorry-Twilight-I-burned-your-saddlebag'." Twilight rolled her eyes at Spike's fake tone, not aware hers was not any better. "No worries Spike, it can be fixed. better do it now, before the morning train leaves." The alicorn rushed through the doorway, as the dragon let himself collapse on his basket, mumbling. "I was awoken from a 'Rarity dream' for this..." Between the things quickly put on the damaged saddlebag, was Twilight's schedule. Everything must happen in a timely manner, she thought, as she covered the distance between the Library and the Carousel Boutique. The owner opened the door in surprise, still on her peignoir. "Twilight, darling, is something wrong? It's quite early." "Sorry Rarity, I was wondering if you could fix my saddle bag." The element of generosity looked at a clock on the wall and was about to protest when a parchment floated in front of her eyes. She raised an eyebrow and tried to question her friend. "Are you sure, Twilight? I mean, ahem, Fixing this may be dangerous. The leather is damaged and..." Some quick words are scribbled down by the alicorn. Rarity sighed, and pointed upstairs, as she began to work. Twilight sighed in relief. She would be able to talk to Sweetie Belle before school. The first parts of the schedule of her plan were going smoothly. That is until a childish shout so loud shook the boutique. "YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SECRET AG-" Or not, Twilight thought, while she tried to shut the mouth of the young filly. A few moments later, Sweetie Bell skipped down the stairs with a large smile, ready to go to school. "Bye sister, after school the girls and I will go try and get our cutie marks in..." She made giant quote marks with her hooves, "'botaaaanicals'." As the filly left, Twilight tried to apologize. "I'm sorry Rarity, but I'm really short of-" Sweetie Belle sneaked her head on the boutique again. "We'll go to the forest, to get some herbs." Twilight tried again to ease her friend who was getting more and more concerned. "The, uh, saddlebag looks good. Perfectly safe and-" "To get our cutie marks." Said the filly, appearing out of nowhere, again. "'In the boooootaaanicals'." And left the boutique. "Really Rarity, the saddlebag is fine." Getting in from nowhere once again, Sweetie Belle gave a questioning look to Rarity. "And I'm keeping an eye on you, ma'am." Twilight took her clue and rushed out before Rarity gave everything a second thought. Next Stop, Sugarcube Corner. After all, Twilight thought, nothing is more natural than having breakfast. She didn't have to wait much. After a bite on her sandwich, an energetic pink pony came to talk with her. At least she didn't need to talk on a code here. Twilight rationalized nopony would install listening devices in a local as public and busy as a bakery; even in they did, it would be impossible to make heads and tails of what Pinkie Pie says. Twilight explained the situation, getting her food soaked on by Pinkie's unbelievable flow of tears after hearing Trixie's fate, quickly followed by her excitement when the alicorn explained what she needed to do. "Oh, oh, I will need a ballon, my night goggles, a beehive slingshot, a tuba, two buffalos on tuts-" "Pinkie, you're just visiting your family. I don't think you'll need any of those." The pink pony raised her hoof as if she was asking for permission to ask a question. Twilight did not know how, but in a flash something appeared, dangling from the pink pony's face. "Argh, all right Pinkie, you can wear a mustache." Pinkie Pie approached Twilight with a large smile full of second intentions showing a piece of cloth that also appeared out of thin air in her hooves. "You can wear the green eyepatch too. Can we please move on?" As Twilight galloped to the train station, she reminds her self of some wise words she read somewhere in a book once, 'Never do what your antagonist expects.' Nopony would expect some fillies and Pinkie Pie. Now, to Canterlot. Author's Note Next up, Celestia and Discord.
Chaos' AdviceTwilight looked at the impressive city on the mountain in front of her with a mix of emotions. A not long time ago, she described the huge castles, the flawless gardens and the upscale atmosphere with a simple word: "home". Somewhere around her brother's wedding, the word became, for her, a synonym of Ponyville. Still, it's the home of her parents, one or another relative, and her mentor. She was afraid that now, as a princess herself, that would be the next word to lose or change its meaning. Mentor. Would she ever be equal to Celestia? Would she want to? But she needed answers and felt she owned Trixie something, and there's only one place to start the quest. Shortly she was walking with Celestia on the endless corridors of the castle, the stained glass telling stories so familiar to both. The Ruler of the Sun stopped at a particular window and looked at her former pupil, who tilted her head away. "You are avoiding looking at this one." "The one at the right tells me much more. Spike's and Candance fight against Sombra. And I am partial to how nice my brother looks on it." "And what's wrong with this?" Twilight sighed, glancing at it, and turning her head away again "It's my coronation" "Yes, it is. And…?" "I don't know if I deserve it, or if I did something today to earn the right to be called a princess." "The answer would be 'yes' to both, Twilight. You are trying to fix something wrong. And there are few things more precious than that." "I – I don't know where to start, princess." "Twilight, did I ever answered you directly?" "No, that's why you are such a great teacher. You made me think, you made me look for answers, you never gave me anything free." "So, this time is no different. I strongly believe you will solve this crime. But, on your way, you will find it… information that can have a huge impact on your future. Twilight, I have complete faith in you. You proved to me, once and again, that your choices are wise. I ask that you have the same confidence in yourself. Do what you feel it needs to be done. No matter how hard it seems." "I… still have lots of questions." "I know. But I am not the one to answer. What do you want to know?" "I-." Twilight felt the hoof of Celestia lightly in front of her mouth. "Answer to yourself. Everything will be easier after that." Exiting the castle, Twilight looked at the horizon. What does she want to know? She only wants all this to make sense. Drifting her eyes through the landscape, she noticed something strange. That mountain near Canterlot was not there a month ago. And, from this distance, it seems to shine in odd colors, and she could swear the top looks like choco... "Oh, no." She shakes her head. "no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to talk to Luna yet, so… I will go to the Crystal Empire. That's it. Talk to my Brother and Candance and.." The mountain caught her attention again. "Come on, Twilight, think. You are trying to make sense of the situation, why would you go to the only being impervious to the concept?" She sighed, as she flew in direction to the mountain. "Any barn in a storm, they say." As she approached the mountain, the sun somehow was replaced by a disco ball, and she had to avoid a rain of sardines until finding the draconequus resting on an argyle cloud. "Well, well, well, if it isn`t Twilight Sparkle." "Hello, Discord. Ahn… interesting place you got here." "Really, Twilight? And here was I thinking you would be the last pony to compliment my abilities on interior and exterior design." "Well, I… the hay, Discord, I need your help." Twilight suddenly finds herself inside a wire globe of the planet, with Discord making it spin. "You do? Amazing how the world turns, right?" "I understand if you don't want to help. Sorry for bothering you." "Oh, no, don't misinterpret me." The apparatus disappeared. "Tell me, my little princess." "Did you hear about the murder?" "Oh, yes. I heard rumors and flew over Mareami to see things first-pawed. I loathe violence, but I will have to admit…" The floor between twilight and Discord was now covered with standing dominos "That this act shows the harmony and love on Equestria is not all that solid. It just takes one pony..." On his talon, Discord was holding a casket-shaped domino, with the image of Trixie. Placing it carefully on one end of the domino line, the Lord of Chaos gave it a little bump, making all the others to fall in sequence. As they fell, they started to form Discord's image. "… and we have destructive chaos". The image disappeared, and Discord firmly pressed one domino, making the falling sequence to stop as the others reached the secured one. "Likewise, it takes one pony to stop everything" Discord raised the piece, to show the image of Twilight Sparkle. "What do you mean?" "You go to Mareami, my dear Twilight, before every domino falls down. A murder can change tons of things." "Do you know who did it?" "No." "And… why are the law forces acting so strangely about it?" "Which ones?" "Bridle and Night Guard." "You will not solve this part of the mystery unless you change your view about those." "Please, Discord, no riddles. I am not in the mood." "I don't see you like this since… since the time I made some improvements in Ponyville. Tell, me, Twilight, how do you feel?" "This violence… everything that is happening… I'm feeling out of place, like… like…" The Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers, transporting both to the top of a roof of a wooden cabin that was not there one second ago. Twilight found herself suddenly as a filly, trying to keep her balance, as Discord finished her thoughts: "Like a filly on the roof, my dear Twilight?" Discord produced a fiddle and started to play and dance "If I were an alicorn princess/ Daidle deedle daidle/ Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum/ All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum/ If I were an alicorn…" "Discord, take us down, now!" "Would you prefer I play 'Discord went down to Equestria'? It's a fan favorite, you know. " "Now!" After a snap of fingers, Twilight found herself back to normal on the mountain ground. "But, to answer your question about Bridle and Night Guard…" Twilight felt Discord hold her as he took off straight up. As soon as they were some hundreds of meters above the mountain, he said: "You must look at the big picture." Looking down, the mountain was now sporting the faces of Celestia, Luna and Twilight Sparkle. "Are you trying to say that… they put the princesses above solving the crime?" A podium with a lightened panel flashing the word "winner" appeared in front of Twilight, while Discord, wearing a suit and with a microphone on hand, applauded. "Ladies and gentlecolts, we have a winner! Let's hear it to Twilight Sparkle." "But why? What they accomplish with this? Why is this so important? And why you showed me my face on the mountain?" "And now, we go to the second round of our game." The duo landed softly on the mountain. "But that can wait. Are you going to Mareami, Twilight?" The alicorn nodded. "My train exits in four hours." "And are you aware of Night Guards' favorite method of questioning?" "I am. I didn't sleep at all last night." A snap of fingers and a floating mattress appeared under Twilight, and a dark canopy started to form above her. "Luna must be sleeping now. It's safe for you to do the same." "Discord?" "Hm?" "Why are you being nice? Why should I trust you?" He chuckled "Because friendship is magic?" Another snap of talon fingers, and several little discords, dressed as sheep, started to jump a miniature fence in front of her impromptu bed. "The truth, Discord." Said Twilight, making herself comfortable and barely managing to keep her eyes open. "Let's talk about it later" Author's Note I'm back! Recently, I haven't had time to write as much, but now that I'm back I will focus on getting some chapters done. (It might go back to Hiatus tho) Thanks everyone, for giving this story a chance :D
As The Train GoesA renovated Twilight flew happily all her way to the Canterlot Station. A few hours of sleep did wonders to her mood, and she was now certain she could face whatever is expecting her in Mareami. And the moment disappeared as soon as she saw the luxury train wagon with a purple banner with her cutie mark on it, and the words "Propriety of Equestria Royalty" prominently engraved on the access door. Worst, Agents Full Circle and Block were waiting for her. "Agh, so much for being discreet." "Welcome, your highness." said agent Full Circle. Before Twilight could complain, Spike appeared on a wagon window: "Twilight, come see, this wagon is fantastic!" "Full Circle, can we talk for a moment?" Said Twilight, pushing the agent to a corner "What is the meaning of this? All that is lacking is that four mares singing 'behold princess Twilight Sparkle'." "Standard procedures, your highness." "Well, I'm changing those standards now. I just need Spike and a normal wagon, thank you. And forget all the noble vocatives." "National security. Not even a princess can change it. But I have something for you. Celestia named you the head of the investigation. I'm here with everything we discovered until now." "Even so-" "Hey, Twilight, this is great" The baby dragon got close. "I just gave your name on the station and got a free ticket to anywhere you want. And wait to see the size of your bed." "Next time, don't mention it, Spike. Let's board." "We'll depart as soon as your personal chef returns, Princess." Said Agent Block "My what?" "Your personal assistant requested gems on the menu. He's catering them now." Spike laughed shyly, fighting Twilight stare. As the train started to move, Twilight installed herself on a small table complained to Spike. "Well, Two-thirds of the wagon are privative with one office, one bathroom and a room with a bed twice the size of mine in Ponyville. Meanwhile, two agents and a chef cramp themselves on the rest of the wagon. If I didn't speak on your behalf, you would sleep with them, too. Do you think it's fair, Spike?" Twilight turned to see the dragon using the large bed as a trampoline. "Spike!" "Uh? You said something, Twilight?" "Nevermind. Call Full Circle, please?" While waiting, Twilight performed a counter-spell on the wagon, to weed out spying magic. Soon, the agent was spreading some parchments in front of Twilight "This is all we discovered. Trixie was stabbed eight times by a perforating object, and her body was discovered on an alley, Monday morning, the 17th." "A perforating object?" "The doctors that made the autopsy said there were no major cuts or rips, so the object was either used to stab only or was blunt on the edge. Dagger, ice pick, lance, we don't know." Twilight thought about Sugar Skull for a while "Arrow?" "It would be an odd way to use those, but, yes, arrow. Those are pure conjecture, by the way. The doctors don't dare to give an official shortlist of possible weapons. Something made to stab, not cut. That's their answer." "Do we have a time of death?" "One of the guards that found her thought the body was still a bit warm… but, as you will see, Celestia over-blesses Mareami. Anything gets warmer there." "And what else they discovered during the autopsy?" "That's all." "What?" "Twilight, the ponies had to rush to museums and old houses trying to find journals of wartime doctors to learn how to perform an autopsy on a victim of murder. Decades and decades without such thing, remember?" The alicorn sighed "So, no clues?" "One, Twilight, but I don't think you will like it." "Let's hear it." "Seems that Trixie was hired by a history researcher… the kind that writes academic books. Her name is Jolly Horsing. For a while, Trixie was the assistant of miss Horsing, until one day she stole part of her research for a new book. Care to guess the subject of the research?" Twilight rubbed her forehead, waiting for the inevitable "The Alicorn Amulet." Full Circle nodded. "Jolly Horsing said Trixie went to Mareami also to make amends with her." "Proceed." "Miss Horsing said she stole key points of the research, such indications of where the amulet could have being… we learned by other means it was in a trinket shop at Canterlot all the time. We didn't get much more from her. Maybe you will have better luck. You know…" Full Circle made a drinking gesture "That mare is a cider sponge." "Fine." Twilight wrote something. "How about what the Night Guard discovered?" Full Circle shrugged "Who knows? They went and poked around Mareami, but nothing official." "They are not officially on the case?" "Twilight, they are not officially even on Equestria Defense Organizational Chart." "Come again?" "Short story, when Luna returned, she asked to have her own bodyguards instead of Bridle protection… Celestia agreed." "And now they are an execution squad that owns explanation and answer to nopony but Luna. Thank you, Full Circle... Wait. How do you learn about the shop where the amulet was?" "Nothing dramatic; after Trixie messed with Ponyville, the shop owner came to us, offering to help on the case, if needed." With a small bow, she left. When alone, she called the dragon. "All right, Spike, your turn. Report" Spike sat on the chair, with a rectangular red gem dangling from his mouth. Seeing the alicorn ensuring stare, he quickly put it away. "My report... Yes! The Crusaders said you were right, Twilight. They didn't find Zecora anywhere. And they said her house seemed in order, without signals of struggling or fights." "Hm." "They said they didn't have any luck with the hoofprints, however." "I didn't ask about-" "Sweetie Belle said they learned that 60 pounds of powder may be a bit too much for revealing hoofprints and that the trio will only know if they got their cutie marks in espionage after a good bath." Twilight allowed herself a good, needed laugh. Things are getting better. She had a few clues to follow, and hopefully, Pinkie Pie would also help to get some information about Trixie's past from her family. Author's Note Next: Limestone Pie :D Thanks for reading!
