Everfree House

Sunset Shimmer grumbled to herself as she trotted into Ponyville. Why did she need to know more about the forest? Didn't Celestia know that she already know enough? The forest was terribly vast, it was free, nopony controlled anything there, creatures cared for themselves... it was simple. There was nothing more to be learned. So, upon determining this and setting her mental roadblock, she decided to find a place to rest her raging mind.

There wasn't much in this tank town of a place; it didn't help that nearly all the buildings were identical, either. It wasn't anything like the glorious capitol of Equestria where she grew up. It was more of a town, with dirt roads and ugly buildings. Eventually, she happened across a place that appeared to be a small restaurant. Deciding that this would be the best place to collect her thoughts and calm her angry mind, she took a seat in a booth near the window that faced a small outdoor market. Strangely enough, there weren't a lot of ponies out at the marketplace today. She assumed that it would normally be bustling with many a shopper looking to purchase groceries, but that was not the case.

As she stared out the window, a waiter came up to her. "Hello there," he asked. "May I take your order?"

"A root beer, please," Sunset replied, not bothering to avert her eyes to the waiter.

The waiter nodded. "I'll get that started for you, then."

She worked through the breathing exercise Celestia had shown her in an effort to calm herself a few times to kill some time. By the time the waiter came back, her mind had subsided. Sunset thanked him and set a few bits on the table before turning her aquamarine eyes once more to the outside.

She continued to watch, her eyes eventually happening upon a small gathering of ponies around one of the vendors. She passively noticed one of them having a conversation with another before trotting towards the opposite end of the street. Sunset's eyes followed this pony, who was clad in a trench coat, a hat, and red glasses, as she approached what appeared to be a pony dressed in a similar fashion. Some curt words were spoken between the two mysterious members, and it wasn't long before the one the bespectacled mare was talking to let down her hood.

The result nearly caused the root beer to fly out of Sunset's mouth. That bespectacled mare wasn't talking to another pony, she was talking to a zebra! She blinked several times to ensure this wasn't an illusion or her mind playing tricks on her. Quickly she determined that this wasn't a trick of the mind, the sight of the zebra trotting away towards the forest only backing up the statement. Astonished, she turned her glance back to the mare who instigated the conversation to see her slowly walk away.

A thought suddenly burst into her mind. I need to find this mare. She needed to question her, find out what exactly that was about. Zebras lived in secluded places in the outermost parts of Equestria, never bothering to venture into pony-populated territory. She finished off her root beer and quickly trotted out of the restaurant, proceeding down the street. She decided to tail this mare in order to see what she could find out.

"I need you to tell me everything about the Saffron Family," Daring spoke. "What did you find out while you were there?" She was once more with Sapphire Moonlight, this time dropping by her house to gather some more information before heading out to the zebra's place. The more you know, the better off you are. Especially in this type of venture.

"Yearling, I don't know much," Sapphire replied. "I just know that he was wealthy, and that I have reasonable evidence that he murdered somepony. Besides that I have no other information."

Daring made a slightly annoyed tsk noise. The police were no help, and Sapphire didn't have any information aside from what she had already told her. There was, of course, the snarky investigator to be taken into account. She could be a valuable asset. Maybe she could get access to some information through the mare. However, she was probably very busy, and it may be best not to bother a cop. "Thanks, Sapphire."

"Oh, I'm not much help, but I'm more than happy to do what I can," Sapphire replied with a smile.

"I appreciate it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see what else I can find out."

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer had gathered some various information on who she was following. As it turns out, she had been following none other than A.K. Yearling, the famous author of the action-adventure Daring Do novels. She had read each one cover to cover, soaking up the adventure page by well-written page. Yet one question was on the forefront of Sunset's mind: Why was Yearling asking around about a family? Could it be that this had something to do with the zebra in the marketplace earlier? Yearling did match the exact description of the bespectacled mare talking to the zebra, so maybe whatever she was asking around about had to do with the zebra. Either that or she was gathering information for a book.

Yet this seemed too methodical for book information. Something about it was peculiar; if you were writing a book you wouldn't go to the police station, would you? But here she was, having a rather heated discussion with a unicorn detective who seemed to be rather snarky. She watched and listened from behind a newspaper, trying to tie together the bits of conversation.

"What's the deal with Saffron?"

"I already told you, lady, I don't know! I'm not assigned to this case!"

"Do you have any information on him?"

"If I did, it'd probably be public, given the state of things. However, it ain't, so I can't help you."

Sassy, yet spunky. Sunset lifted an eyebrow in interest. She was beginning to like this detective. She and Sunset seemed to have that spunky sass in common. She glanced back down to her newspaper to keep up the act, only to set it down in a hurry as her target left the station. She bolted up from her seat in the waiting area and dashed out the door, ignoring a call from somepony behind her to stop. The clattering of the doors had alerted Yearling, who turned around just as Sunset cast a teleportation spell.

Now hiding around a corner, Sunset saw the tan-coated mare turn back around and head off back into the town. She followed a few paces behind, studying the author intently. She continued to follow until the pair reached a rather familiar place a short walk down the road and directly across from the marketplace.

Daring Do sat down on a barstool with a heavy sigh. There was barely anything on the Saffron family, aside from the fact that Leroy Saffron, the head of the family, was a wealthy landowner. If she could gather up enough information to back up Sapphire's claim, she could present it to the police, and Leroy could be brought to justice. Yet there wasn't too much about the Saffrons, an annoying fact indeed. And with Sapphire being the only witness, there wasn't much of a case, either.

"Can I help you?" the bartender asked, prompting her to glance up at him. He was a taller unicorn stallion, with a stubble and jet-black mane.

"A scotch, please," Daring replied. She let her mind wander as he filled her glass, passively noting the brand of the drink as... Saffron Scotch. She blinked her eyes several times to ensure she wasn't seeing things. She definitely wasn't. Amazing, everything in this venture seemed to mock her, including this drink.

She was so wrapped up in her bottled-up frustration that she failed to notice another pony sitting down next to her until the bartender spoke. "Hey!" he said aggressively, "We don't serve minors here. Get out."

Daring turned her attention to the pony next to her, an orange-coated unicorn mare with a yin-yang sun for a cutie mark. She pretended not to notice the bartender, her horn lighting up with a spell. The bartender's eyes suddenly turned blank, his stance going rigid. "You don't care that I'm here," the mare muttered, a practically inaudible statement.

And much to her surprise, the bartender nodded, returning to his work.

"What the bloody Tartarus did you do to him?!" Daring hissed as she swung about to face her, astonished at the wizardry skill of this mare. She was visibly resisting the urge to slap this crazy pony with a hoof.

"Simple mind-control spell. What else?" the mare replied as she watched the pony pour a glass of root beer.

"Impressive," Daring stated, studying the mare.

"I know things, bitch," she snarked, knocking the root beer back.

Daring raised a brow. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer," Sunset said. "And you are A.K. Yearling."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, I've been tailing you. I know all about you, your books, and your little investigation. In fact-"

"What do you mean, 'you forgot the song?!'" a muffled voice said from the door, prompting Daring to hold up a hoof, cutting off Sunset. "Ah, screw it, just hit random, will you? Okay, three... two..."

SLAM! The doors were thrown open to reveal a blue-maned pony with a portable stereo accompanying the black-maned blue-eyed detective mare from earlier, a song blaring over the boom box.

"I'M A BITCH, I'M A LOVER, I'M A CHILD, I'M A M-"

"Alright, alright, turn it off!" the detective commanded as patrons visibly resisted the urge to laugh out loud. "It didn't work." She proceeded to sit down next to Daring and Sunset, hailing the bartender. After a brief exchange of words to which nopony bothered to listen, a drink was set in front of the detective. She took a few sips before turning to the other two. "Thought I could find you here," she said, glancing at Daring. "It's a great place. You know, that investigation into the Saffron 'murder?' Well, I've got information for you."

"Oh?" Daring and Sunset chorused.

"Wait a minute," Sunset interjected, "Your investigation is real?"

"We talked to the witness, and from what she could tell us, she visited a zebra shaman in the forest just prior to her arrival at the Saffron home," the detective continued. "I've started the process on getting a warrant to get this guy. I think if I can convince the police chief, we should be able to get Leroy Saffron in."

"What are you getting at?" Daring questioned.

"You're going to need the long arm of the law on your side, Miss Yearling. And face it, I'm the only cop who's actually willing to be your ally."

"What are your rates?"

The detective laughed. "As the saying goes, 'My tax dollars are your salary, coppa.' I'm not for hire; it's overtime."

"What is your name and badge number?"

"Why?" she asked, slightly taken aback by the sudden question.

"So that I can report you if you screw up."

The detective rolled her eyes. "Marnie Nightingale," she said through gritted teeth. "Badge number 4919."

"Thank you. As soon as we finish up here, we'll be on our way to visit that shaman."

"Hold on," Sunset said. "I'm your best shot at brains for this operation. I'd do just as good as she would in assisting you."

"Listen, filly, this isn't child's play," Nightingale warned. "We don't know what we're getting into here."

"Hold on," Daring stated, holding up a hoof. "She's got a flair for magical ability. I've never seen anypony as skilled as her. I think Sunset will be a big help to us."

Nightingale sighed. "If you insist."

Across the bar, Leroy Saffron covertly set down his mug. So, the authorities were on to him. Now he knew what he had to do. There were rumours of a zebra witch who lived out in the Everfree Forest. Perhaps she could help him throw the trio of mares off his tracks.