"Zipp and the Case of the Brighthouse Baby"

For Zipp, it all started with a smell. Not just any smell, but a rather unusual smell. A stinky smell at that. And not the usual kind of stinky like somepony forgot to shower or take out the trash. No, this was a different kind of stinky. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before. But it was there, wafting right under her nose and refusing to leave her alone.

It didn’t seem like anypony else noticed it, though. Then again, the only other pony in the brighthouse besides her was Sunny: Hitch, Izzy and Pipp all had things they wanted to do, which left Zipp and Sunny with the brighthouse all to themselves.

Come to think of it, Zipp hadn’t seen Sunny all day. It was like the mare had turned invisible or something. So now there were two mysteries to sort out: The mystery of the strange, stinky smell, and the mystery of Sunny’s whereabouts. Had she too left the brighthouse?

Well, the elder pegasus prince knew there was only one way to get some answers: It was time for Detective Zipp to take on another case. So she flew up to the bedroom she shared with her sister Pipp, quickly retrieving all of her detective equipment from the part of the bedroom that belonged to her. No need to use the visor this time, though. There were no tracks to follow (at least, not yet).

“Now, where is that smell coming from?” Zipp wondered aloud. “It can’t be coming from me, could it?” Curiously, she lifted up a hoof and sniffed. The stench didn’t grow stronger, so the possibility of it coming from her was ruled out. Maybe it was something somepony had left behind by mistake?

Well, the only thing to do in this case was to follow the smell and trace it back to its source. And that’s just what the detective did. It was a good thing she had a keen sense of smell (in fact, a lot of her senses had been heightened due to all the times she used to sneak away back in Zephyr Heights). So she followed her nose, letting it guide her through the brighthouse from top to bottom.

The search stretched on with no results, but Zipp was confident the smell was coming from within the brighthouse and not from outside. It was starting to get stronger, she had to be getting close to its source! What could it be that was making so much of a stink? Could it by any chance have anything to do with Sunny’s unexplained absence?

Zipp had to pause in her thinking and shake her head. “There you go again, jumping to conclusions! Remember where that got you last time, Zipp?” She scolded herself, recalling how she had missed a really obvious clue and had falsely accused the wrong pony. It was a good thing Misty didn’t hold a grudge for the misunderstanding.

Solving the mystery of the strange, stinky smell came first. Then Zipp could worry about the mystery of Sunny’s whereabouts. Just because the earth pony wasn’t around didn’t mean she had anything to do with the stink.

Eventually, the detective found herself facing the door to the main bathroom of the Crystal Brighthouse. The bathroom, of course! Why hadn’t she thought to start her search from there? Usually, whenever there was a strong, stinky smell, the bathroom was the place it was coming from.

Determined to solve the mystery, Zipp pressed a hoof to the bathroom door only to find that it was unlocked and slightly ajar. Somepony had been in here in a hurry, and had clearly forgotten to lock the door in their haste to do whatever it was they’d had to do. So she decided to step in, ready to solve this little mystery and put it to bed.

When the pegasus fully entered the bathroom, however, her eyes beheld a sight that she most certainly hadn’t been expecting to see at all! There stood Sunny wearing nothing but a clearly oversized diaper! It wasn’t a plain white diaper either, it had colorful cartoon characters printed all over it and colored tabs on the sides. Upon closer inspection, it was possible to see a telltale bulge in the back. And the smell being so strong it was to the point of overwhelming left no doubts, Sunny’s “attire” was the cause!

Sunny Starscout, for her part, froze upon seeing Zipp staring right at her! She had been caught!

Zipp was in a state of shock! She didn’t know what to say! Her mouth just hung open and her wings were folded out to either side of her! She hadn’t been expecting this at all.

Sunny gulped and swallowed hard, wishing more than anything she could turn invisible right now. “Uh… h-hey… Zipp… er… D-Detective Zipp,” She stuttered and tried to back up, only to find that her body refused to cooperate. “What um… what b-brings you… here?”

The detective somehow found the will to reply. “I smelled a mystery. It was practically stinking up the whole brighthouse, so I had to get to the bottom of it. I wasn’t expecting it to be your… um…” She paused, trying to think of how best to phrase what she would say next.

The earth pony, meanwhile, felt her cheeks grow warm and turn a shade of bright crimson. How had this happened?! How had she allowed herself to be caught in a dirty diaper, by Zipp of all ponies no less?! Already, her mind was starting to flash back, recalling the events that had led up to this embarrassing moment.