Rarity sat beside the bed and watched Pinkie twitch under the covers.
She'd been forced to enter the hospital room exceedingly slowly, for she knew if she woke Pinkie up, then Pinkie would feel the need to be "on". She was just like that. Even when she was in as much pain as the rest of them, she tried to put a smile on their faces...
Rarity knew what that was like, to feel the need to deflect. To find your worth in what you provided for others. Except Rarity had learned to be selfish, to be ambitious. Pinkie seemed perfectly content to be the way she always had been. But of course, Rarity wouldn't have been able to tell even if that wasn't true. Between the two of them, one of them was good at masking her emotions and it wasn't Rarity.
"Did you find who hurt Pinkie?"
Maud sat across from her, on the other side of Pinkie's bed. She'd placed Boulder on the table beside Pinkie's bed to watch over her. She looked, somehow, more emotionless than normal.
Rarity didn't answer. She knew who was responsible, of course. It was painfully obvious. But she didn't have any evidence. She also didn't want to expose the creature responsible, not when doing so would not only hurt them but their entire family as well, including ponies that Rarity knew and loved.
She stared at the covers, watching them slowly rise and fall with Pinkie's shallow breaths. She reminded herself of Stinging Nettles' body, under that wagon. If anypony had deserved such a fate, that mare had. She wasn't sure why, but tricking ponies into taking their own lives seemed so much worse somehow than taking those lives yourself.
But if the murderer had been mistaken, if they had targeted the wrong pony, just as Pinkie had been the mistaken target of the cyanide, then it would have been a different unicorn lying there in the road, with their skull cracked open like a walnut.
It could have very easily been Rarity.
Slowly, she stood and walked around Pinkie's bed.
"I'm guessing that's a no?" Maud asked, as Rarity exited the room.
She had to get out of here, out of this building which stank of bleach and death. Fresh air; that's what she needed. She paused though, at the possibility that it would make things worse. That the sweetness of the flowers planted just beyond the clinic's front entrance would only remind her of that dreadful scene.
Stinging Nettles had been killed just outside the gardens after all. Would Rarity ever be able to smell gardenias and tulips again without thinking about it? About the blood pooling at her hooves, about the smear of red on the bricks of the wall...
"Rarity? Are you alright?"
It was Applejack. She'd been the one to pull Rarity away from the scene, while everycreature was panicking or screaming. She'd been the one to report what had happened to Flash Sentry as well, while Rarity just sat and stared at nothing.
Now she was holding a mug of something. Cider. Fresh from a Sweet Apple Acres keg and heavily scented with cinnamon. Celestia knew where Applejack had gotten it, but that question was too far from Rarity's mind to be important at just the moment.
"Drink this, sugarcube."
Rarity felt a hoof on her shoulder, steadying her, and twisted to see that Apple Fritter had come up behind with a similar expression to Applejack.
Rarity had the insane urge to push the drink away and start screaming and flailing about. But she knew if she started, she might not be able to stop. So instead, she opened her muzzle and drank deeply, almost emptying the mug in one long, unladylike gulp. The coolness of the liquid dissipated the heat of her headache and the sting of the acid across her delicate palette got her blinking again.
"Applejack..." She said, staring at nothing in particular, as she lowered the mug.
"Yes, Rarity?"
"How do you make cider?"
Applejack laughed. "Rarity, you helped us make some, remember? When the Flim-Flam brothers first came to-"
"Yes, Applejack. But that was for a cider-making competition. Is that really how you make it when you aren't in a rush?"
"More or less. Course we cut the core out normally, just cause they make it a little more bitter."
Rarity nodded and took another sip of the cider.
"You'd barely notice if you weren't a cider maker of course, but it's the details that make the difference."
Rarity nodded again. The details. Ah.
"Apple Fritter?"
"Yes, Rarity?"
"Why is the core more bitter than the rest of the apple?"
"Oh, uh...is...is this some kinda metaphor? You know about what's inside of ponies or somethin'?"
Rarity shook her head.
"Well, the core is more bitter cause it's there to protect the seeds. And the seeds are more bitter on account you aren't supposed to eat them."
Rarity nodded slowly. "Yes, of course." Slowly she turned to face them. "I don't know much about cooking, certainly not as much as you two...let alone Pinkie. All the same, aren't you not supposed to eat apple seeds because they're...poisonous?"
Applejack and Apple Fritter shared a look and frowned in unison. "Well, yeah, but you'd have to eat so many for it make any difference..." Applejack began.
Rarity nodded. "But if you crushed enough apple seeds, like you crush apples for cider, you could make a solution which was just the poison, no?"
"Well, sure, but it'd take dozens, I don't know, maybe hundreds of seeds to do something like that!" Applejack answered.
Rarity nodded again. "But the poison that's in apple seeds...it's in other things, too, isn't it?"
Applejack nodded and began listing off all the different seeds and fruit stones which contained cyanide in them. Rarity stopped her with a raised hoof.
"Applejack...Apple Fritter...I know who the murderer is. But to catch them, we are going to have to do something...drastic."
The National Desserts Competition had been put on hiatus, which was enough to draw the attention of the Canterlot Times. And as soon as the Canterlot Times realized that one of the judges, who happened to be a member of the Elements of Harmony, had been poisoned, every paper in Equestria wanted to know what had happened, what was happening and what would happen at the competition. Rarity considered herself lucky that she'd had one day to investigate where the gardens weren't besieged by ponies with cameras and microphones.
Now Flash Sentry and the rest of the palace guard had been relegated to keeping the dozens of reporters from swamping the deserted gardens and harassing the contestants within, as well as providing security for Pinkie's room back at the hospital.
It was a crisp afternoon and Rarity had been forced to drink excessive amounts of coffee just to stay awake. She lamented how badly this murder investigation was going to throw her forward-fashion Fall line out of whack and comforted herself with the thought that, once this was all finally done, she could submit herself to the throes of completely irresponsible naps.
A single cloud hung in the sky over Canterlot as she gathered both contestants and judges in front of the statue of Tirek, Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow.
"I want to thank you all for coming. Rest assured, that after today, the competition will resume as normal. Although I suspect many of you may feel the need to drop out, somewhat lowering the number of entrants." Rarity said, before trying and failing to stop herself from yawning.
Sweetcream Scoops, Sugar Belle, Saffron Masala, Cinnamon Chai and Apple Fritter stood on the lawn, in the shadow of a topiary of Discord (he'd insisted on giving the trio of statues behind Rarity something "pretty" to look at after their installation in the garden). Zesty Gourmand and Mulia Mild stood to either side of the statue, watching Rarity with more suspicion than any of the contestants.
"I just wanted to apologize for how long it took me to solve this case." Rarity said. "The truth is, that I knew something was wrong the other day when I first visited this garden...I just wasn't sure what it was until this morning when I had a conversation to my good friend Applejack." Rarity yawned again, but this time was able to keep her mouth almost closed for the whole thing. "Where was I? Oh yes...I tried to warn Pinkie..." She stared at the ground glumly. "...she loves food so much. Perhaps even more than I love fashion." She gave a little laugh. "She told me something important before she was poisoned...she said that when you cook something, you put a piece of yourself in it. And when it's eaten, that piece you put there is gone forever..."
Slowly, she lifted her head. "She loved this contest. I rather suspect all the nonsense sniping at each other that the lot of you have come with will have somewhat ruined that love when she gets out of the hospital. But I also believe that her love of food will withstand this incident, for which you all should be glad. Rest assured that as merciful a ruler Twilight is, the punishment for killing a cult leader would pale in comparison to any of you being held responsible for dimming Pinkie's light." She cast a baleful gaze at Zesty. Then she cleared her throat. "We are going to walk together to each workstation and check all of your ingredients as we go. One of you-" Her speech was interrupted by third yawn. "-has a vial containing the cyanide used to poison Sweetcream Scoops' supply."
"Shouldn't I be exempt from this?" Sweetcream asked.
"Certainly not." Rarity took the pause in the conversation to sneak a fourth yawn in. "We are checking everyone's ingredients, and we are doing it in front of every creature involved in this competition so that there will be no opportunity to for any creature to hide anything."
"What about Gustav?" Mulia asked. "Where is he?"
"He's being interrogated by the guards as we speak." Rarity said.
"Does that mean he did it?" Cinnamon asked.
"Well, we'll have a chance to find out when we search his table, now that he's gone." Rarity said, already beginning to trot in the direction of the stalls.
"Rarity, if this is true..." Zesty shared a glance with Mulia. "Mulia and I should be allowed to leave. We are not contestants and since you are checking only the contestants' ingredients, there's no reason we should be forced to participate in this...charade!"
"If you wish to exit the garden, you are well within your rights to do so, Zesty. But rest assured there are unicorns by every exit to the garden and pegasi in the turrets overlooking it. Any creature who leaves without express permission from me, will be shackled and brought to the dungeons for further questioning." Rarity said, marching past her and ignoring the shocked faces of the participants behind her.
"You can't do that?"
"This is an outrage!"
Rarity glanced back at them and smiled, like she was about to unveil a new sundress. "Shall we begin with our dear griffon friend?"
They started with Gustav's creme brulé. Then they moved to Saffron's gulab jamun, rasgulla and toasted coconut ladoo, then Cinnamon's banoffee pie, then to Apple Fritter's fritters, then Sweetcream's double chocolate peanut butter mashmellow encrusted swirl with sea-salt twist.
And finally, to Sugar Belle's apple and almond pie.
There were the normal ingredients to be expected. Brown sugar, flour, apple crumble pie crust, eggs, sliced apples, honey, cinnamon, plus a little dish of crushed almonds and a large knife for slicing apples. Sugar Belle had actually completed a pie the previous day, which now sat on the edge of her table and going shamefully untasted.
There was also a little crystal bottle, barely bigger than the cinnamon shaker, containing a clear liquid. Rarity levitated it up off the table as soon as she saw it and cast a spell to sense for cyanide.
The vial glowed bright purple in response to her magic, before returning to its regular color.
"Zesty, would you do the honors of double checking the contents of this vial for us all?" Rarity asked as Sugar Belle watched in horror.
Zesty sighed but her horn buzzed with magic and the same effect was revealed.
"Well, that just about settles it, doesn't it?" Rarity asked, tucking the vial into a cushioned velvet pouch and then placing that into her saddlebag. "A vial of cyanide amongst Sugar Belle's ingredients."
"But I...I didn't..." Every creature turned to look at Sugar Belle, who was as equally aghast as them, and desperately trying to summon an explanation.
She looked between them all, their faces a mixture of disgust, confusion and fear. Then her eyes locked with Apple Fritter and a calm understanding came over her. She took a shaky step forward and everycreature shifted slightly to maintain their distance from her.
"Please, Rarity...I've never seen that vial before in my life." Sugar Belle said, in a low voice. "It's true, I-I lied about who I was...I hated Lullabye but...but I would never...please, Rarity..."
Rarity stepped closer and to the surprise of most of the attendants, wrapped both hooves around Sugar Belle's shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "It's alright, darling...I know you didn't do it."
"That's it!" Zesty glowered. "This sham of an investigation has gone on for long enough! The vial was in her ingredients! She was the only one of us connected to the mare that died! And she had the ingredients to create cyanide poison! Apples and almonds! If she didn't do it, who did?"
"Are you...certain about this, Rarity?" Saffron asked, puzzled.
"Oh, yes, I'm quite certain. But I didn't have the proof I needed until roughly half an hour ago." Rarity said. Then she turned to face the one cloud in the sky. "Oh, Mr. Le Grand? You can come down now!"
There was the flap of wings as the griffon descended, landing just beside the shocked Apple Fritter and meticulously adjusting his chef's hat.
"Gustav, be a dear and tell every creature here what I told you to do before I requested everyone meet me by the statue?"
Gustav cleared his throat. "You asked that I sit on the cloud that the pegasi procured for you and watch Madame Belle's stand with my 'eagle-eyed vision' until you signaled otherwise."
"And did you by any chance happen to spot anything while you were there?" Rarity asked.
Gustav opened his beak to reply, and a hoof slammed into him, throwing him into Saffron, Sweetcream and Cinnamon in one go. Then Apple Fritter grabbed Mulia around the neck with one hoof and grabbed the knife that Sugar Belle had used to chop apples with the other.
"Don't none of you move! Especially, you Rarity! I see you try to do any o' yer fancy magic I make what happened to Lullaby look sweet by comparison!" Apple Fritter snarled. Her accent was suddenly thicker, her voice heavier, her eyes screwed up in an expression of uncomprehending rage.
Sugar Belle stared at her in total shock and then at Rarity's nonplussed expression in even more shock.
"Apple Fritter, do you really think taking a hostage is going to improve your situation?" Rarity asked, as gently as she could. "There's nowhere to go."
"Says you. Maybe you lied about them guards being all over the place. Or maybe they'll zap me as soon as they see me with Miss Mild at knifepoint...either way I ain't about to stand trial for my crimes. I ain't waiting for you to reveal to my family I'm a murderer!"
Rarity sighed. "There isn't going to be a trial, Apple Fritter. Your experiences with the Order of Lunar Temple have affected your mind. Princess Twilight will understand that. If you let her, she can help you. You can become the pony that your family thinks you are...you just have to do the right thing."
Apple Fritter let out a little scream of frustration. "Damn you! Why couldn't ya keep yer muzzle out of other pony's business? Why couldn't ya jest leave well enough alone!"
"Apple Fritter, I-I don't understand," Sugar Belle looked between Apple Fritter and Rarity.
"Ah was part of the cult, you idiot! You were Mane Cook and I was White Apple. Not that you'd remember...you ran away and left me and my family to lay on the ground bubbling at the mouth from the cyanide Lullaby had us drink!" Apple Fritter cried, pressing the edge of the carving knife closer to Mulia's throat.
By this point, the shock and confusion had faded from everycreature save Sugar Belle and they were all standing again and forming a semi-circle around Apple Fritter.
"All you stay away! Ah'll kill 'er! Ah've killed before! Ah can do it again! None of you try to get any closer or else!" Apple Fritter shrieked, swinging the blade back and forth for emphasis.
"You survived the poison, just like Pinkie will." Rarity said calmly. "You were given a second chance at life, Apple Fritter, with a second family. Don't throw it away."
"You think I'm gonna listen to your honeyed words after you played the fool outta me! How did you figure it out anyhow!? How did you know?!" Apple Fritter demanded, continuing to back away from them all, but keeping her eyes on Rarity.
Rarity took a deep breath. "Hot sauce."
"What?!"
"You said you poured hot sauce on Sugar Belle's almonds. Sugar Belle is a talented chef. She would have noticed something so viscous, even if it wasn't brightly colored, as I suspect the majority of hot sauce is. Then I remembered something Pinkie said...about how your apple fritters tasted like they were store bought. Now why would you go to the trouble of coming to Canterlot and entering this competition if you had no intentions of actually baking? Why put yourself through all this trouble, entering a competition that would end being so cut-throat..." She cleared her throat. "If you'll pardon the expression. It was obvious that you didn't come to compete." Rarity stepped closer. "And then you told me about Sugar Belle's past. The Apple Family are honest...but they are also loyal. They would never rat out a member of the family to save themselves. So, I began to wonder what it was you were hiding, why you might have lied about what you put on Sugar Belle's almonds, and why you were so desperate to shift focus onto her."
She took another step forward and this time Apple Fritter noticed it.
"You stay away! Just keep back from me, or else!" She screamed, swinging the blade in her hoof wildly.
"And it occurred to me that perhaps Lullabye didn't come here looking for Sugar Belle. She came here looking for you, Apple Fritter. She hated that you survived her little game, and she knew you would be able to identify her, just like you were afraid that Sugar Belle was going to identify you. No creature will blame you for what you did to her, Apple Fritter. You are a sick pony. You are not well. Please...let me help you."
Apple Fritter glared back at her. Rarity's eyes met, momentarily with Mulia's. One good jerk of an elbow and she could probably incapacitate the wild Pony who'd tackled her. Not only were mules stronger than ponies, but Mulia was trained in all kinds of self-defense. Apple Fritter was just a crazed mare with a knife in her hoof, high on the adrenaline of desperation, but ultimately untrained in combat.
Rarity shook her head though. This had begun with violence, the most unspeakable kind of violence. The kind which a creature is tricked into performing on itself. It would end peacefully if it was the last thing she did.
"If you won't listen to me, please, listen to her." Rarity said, her eyes shifting to the hedge which Apple Fritter was backing into.
Apple Fritter's eyes opened wide, and she twisted to face the bush, pausing mid-stabbing motion when she saw Applejack stepping out from around the hedge.
"Apple Fritter." Applejack said, her eyes wet but her voice terribly firm. "I know you're scared right now. I know you're scared that we won't love you no more if you admit what you did and let the guards take you in. But that's not right. You're still part of our family. We're not gonna give up on you. Not unless you do. So, please put down the knife."
Apple Fritter's hoof trembled. Then she let go of Mulia and let go of the knife and plunged into Applejack's hooves, grabbing hold of her and shaking against her with great wracking sobs, shaking her head and screaming to the high heavens. Rarity quickly levitated Sugar Belle's knife back to its place on the table, giving it a good scrub with a nearby sponge while every creature save Sugar Belle fled before things got worse. Then she smiled at her weary face, warped in the reflection of the unstained blade.
There. Good as new.
Then she took a deep breath and blasted Sugar Belle's pie into another hemisphere with a well-placed charge of energy from her horn. She sighed as she stared at the blackened remains. It was sad day when any piece of art was destroyed, but Rarity was quite certain that this one was would have glowed just as brightly as the bottle in her saddlebag. And she had no intentions of leaving out a delicious looking poisonous pie for some well-meaning palace guard to take a bite out of.
Sugar Belle stared at where the pie had been and then turned to look in Apple Fritter's direction.
"I-I don't understand..." She said.
"I'll explain it all later." Rarity whispered. "But for right now, I think Apple Fritter needs your help. I'd understand if you were reluctant to lend it...all the same I think it would aid her immensely if somepony in the Apple Family with a...similar background...granted her a little perspective."
They were at Joe's. It was the only bakery still open by the time that they'd calmed Apple Fritter, then slowly walked her out of the garden and into the palace to relay her confession (plus Rarity had needed to find Spike and ask him for a very special favor). Sugar Belle had decided to stay back at the palace and to accompany Apple Fritter until she was in a more "stable" place mentally.
Luckily, Pinkie was already feeling better, and Applejack and Rarity thought it only right to take her mind off the past two days of nauseous hell, by bringing her their regular table at Joe's shop and piling a plate of donuts between them. Normally Rarity avoided such greasy confectionaries, but after a long day she was thankful for sustenance of any kind.
"But what was Gustav going to say?" Pinkie asked, after they'd related the whole story.
"He was going to reveal he'd witnessed Apple Fritter planting the vial in Sugar Belle's ingredients. Before I gathered everypony, I'd requested his help ascertaining the identity of the murderer. He became quite amenable when I promised him a position in the royal kitchen." Rarity said. "It was about time Twilight was introduced to the fineries of Marisian cuisine anyway..."
"Y'know you could have asked me to spy on Apple Fritter for ya, just like you could have told me you knew she was the one that was guilty." Applejack said, biting into an apple turnover, and having her irritation successfully abated by the delicious ooze within.
"Jacqueline, you are a master of the culinary arts, an intelligent buisinessmare, an expert rodeo pony and one of the bravest creatures I know. You are neither stealthy, nor particularly adept at keeping a secret." Rarity said. "I apologize for concealing so much from you for so long, but I knew you'd give the game away had I informed you sooner."
Just then the bell over the door tingled and Saffron Masala stepped inside, and, looking rather sheepish sat down beside Rarity. Rarity sighed. Every creature liked a good mystery. Even when they were soaked in tragedy and pain, ponies wanted to know how they ended, how the clues all fit together. It was a universal kind of pleasure, like strolling through a garden or eating a freshly baked pastry.
"Ooh! Ooh! Maud's got a question! Go on, Maud, ask them! Ask them!" Pinkie said, prodding her sister lightly with her hoof.
Maud, who'd insisted on coming with Pinkie from the clinic and who'd made it her job to sniff all of Pinkie's donuts before giving them to her to make sure they weren't poisoned as well, glanced at Pinkie and then at Rarity. "Actually, Boulder is the one with the question." She said, gesturing with her hoof to the rock on the table in front of her. "He wants to know why Apple Fritter put the poison on Sugar Belle's table to begin with?"
"Jacqueline, perhaps you'd care to explain it to them what I did to you?" Rarity asked.
Applejack snorted and took off her hat. "Rarity figured out something was amiss about Apple Fritter...we've already gone over that part. So, Twilight put her in contact with some friends of ours at the J. Edgar Hooves building and they showed her a file they had on Apple Fritter. Turned out she was one of the three survivors of the Order. She drank the poison Lullaby gave her and ended up in the hospital. It wasn't until after she got out, she met Goldie and became part of the family...of course, we always knew she had a rough past from the start. But we just never imagined it could be this bad..."
Pinkie nodded. "Then why did she poison me then? Because she was part of an evil cult?"
"No. She never meant to poison you, Pinkie." Applejack stopped herself. "Well, technically, yes, when she started out, she meant to poison you and Zesty and Mulia when you ate Sugar Belle's pie. That's why Sweetcream caught her sprinkling cyanide on Sugar Belle's almonds. She was tracing them with poison, so the three of you would get sick and Sugar Belle would be kicked out of the contest."
"But...why?" Saffron asked.
Applejack shook her head. "Apple Fritter's parents, although you could barely call them in my humble opinion, they decided they'd rather drink poison then look after her. And they wanted her to do likewise...she didn't think she deserved to have a lovin' family after that. She was afraid that Sugar Belle would recognize her as another member of the Order and when she did, everythin' about her past would come out and we'd all turn against her."
"That's terrible!" Pinkie said.
"Yeah, well, she thought the only way to make sure no pony would believe Sugar Belle was to frame her for poisoning somepony else. Then Sweetcream caught her, and she had to poison her to make sure she didn't tell Sugar Belle. Except you ate the ice cream before Sweetcream could taste-test it."
Pinkie paused for a moment. "That makes sense." Then she grabbed another donut.
She was stopped by her sister, before she could chow down though. Maud leaned over, gave the pink frosting two long whiffs, then exchanged a look with Boulder and before she'd even finished nodding Pinkie had already inhaled the treat.
"I feel so sorry for her..." Applejack said. "It's tough losing somepony. But losin' everypony all at once...I don't exactly blame her for what she did that mare Lullaby...or Stinging Nettles...whatever her name was."
"Ah, but it wasn't revenge, it was fear." Rarity said. "Apple Fritter was afraid Stinging Nettles would expose her, just as she was afraid of Sugar Belle. From the second I heard her obviously fake story in that deplorable little hotel room of hers, I knew something was wrong. So, I asked her to accompany me, to help with the case, so I could keep an eye on her. Then last night, while we were at the clinic, Applejack brought me some cider. It reminded me how my parents always warned me against eating the apple's seeds when I was a filly. So, I asked Applejack about the seeds, and she mentioned that one of the fruits which has cyanide in it besides apples...are almonds."
"Technically, only bitter almonds." Pinkie interjected between mouthfuls of fried bread.
"Yes, well, I'd assumed that Apple Fritter had tried to poison Sweetcream and I knew she'd killed Lullaby Solfège. But I had no idea what her original plan was until that moment. She'd put the cyanide on Sugar Belle's almonds because she'd known they would just taste like bitter almonds to the judges. That's when I told Applejack we needed to search everycreature's ingredients. I knew Apple Fritter would jump on the chance to frame Sugar Belle and put an end to the investigation once and for all."
"So...you lured her into revealing herself to Gustav?" Saffron surmised.
"Yes. I was afraid she might not take the bait at first." Rarity admitted. "But it was the only thing I could think of to get her to reveal herself. She'd been sneaking around, poisoning Sweetcream's ice cream and pushing carts down hills without anycreature noticing. I needed her in a wide-open area with an aerial observer...and I needed to be able to anticipate her next move."
"Speaking of Sweetcream, what is gonna become of her now? Or the rest of us for that matter?" Saffron asked.
Rarity smirked. "Well, let's see. Gustav just a new job, one that he'll probably be too involved in to continue in the competition, if I know anything about how little Twilight understands of cuisine. Apple Fritter is undergoing psychological counseling, Sugar Belle has lost all interest, and will probably just wants to go home...not that I think any of us can blame her. That just leaves you, Sweetcream and Cinnamon. If you three could just come to some arrangement, you would each get 500 bits."
"What do you mean? One thousand split three ways is not five hundred." Saffron said.
Pinkie smiled. "Good catch!"
"She means that the only reason Cinnamon Chai entered the competition was because she planned on givin' the winnings to you." Applejack with a disapproving glare in Saffron's direction.
Saffron blushed. "It...would be wrong to accept such generosity from her after everything that has happened."
The bell jingled again, and Rarity smirked, although only Pinkie seemed to notice.
"Well, why in tarnation not? For Pete's sake, two of my relatives were part of a cult and Pinkie Pie just survived being poisoned. Why can't you get together with somepony you love?" Applejack demanded.
Saffron lowered her gaze to the table. "Her mother refused me permission to marry her. I cannot force her to choose between the pony she loves and her family."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Is that it? Y'know, my grandfather didn't approve of my dad. Now he's like a second father to us. Things change. Ponies change."
"Yeah, and even if they don't, her mother isn't the one marrying you." Pinkie said, barely able to contain the wild grin curling across her face.
"I understand your reluctance, darling." Rarity added. "But I'm sure if you talked through about this matter with Cinnamon Chai, the two of you could reach some manner of compromise."
"Or at the very least, closure." Maud said, despite having no context for the conversation and having never met Saffron until this moment. "When Boulder got jealous of me and Mud Briar the three of us went to counseling. Now we're as close as can be."
Saffron shook her head. "I will not drive her apart from her mother. It is better for us both that we go our separate ways and just find somepony new."
"But I don't want somepony new!"
Saffron turned, shocked to find Cinnamon standing right behind her, holding the missive that Rarity's little scaled helper had delivered to her half an hour ago, requesting Cinnamon come to Joe's shop on "royal business".
"I love you, Saffron." Cinnamon said, falling to her hind knees. "You're a beautiful mare, with a wonderful way around the kitchen. If my mum is the only thing coming between you and me getting married, I'd rather tell her to stuff it up a chimney then spend another night without you!" Cinnamon declared.
Saffron looked away. "No, Cinnamon...it will never work, please, I just..."
Cinnamon took Saffron's hoof and pulled her closer until they were muzzle to muzzle. "Tell me you don't love me, and I'll call the whole thing off."
Saffron stared into Cinnamon's eyes and then the two of them kissed in the grandiose and over-the-top way that only fiancés can.
"Well, that's just about the most foalish thing I've ever seen." Applejack said, before taking a bite of an apple turnover.
Rarity just smiled and leaned on one elbow, too exhausted to maintain proper posture. "Be nice, Jacqueline. It's young love...it's supposed to be foalish."
Pinkie took the opportunity to saddle up next to Rarity, allowing the unicorn to lean her perfectly combed head against her own aggressively frizzy mane. "Thanks again for everything." Pinkie whispered, in a voice that was sweeter than all the donuts in the shop.
Rarity was already snoring. But the warmth of the mare beside her and the warmth of the fried dough and powdered sugar digesting in her stomach were enough to bring a smile to her face.
~Three months after Twilight's coronation~
"Excuse me, but is this the entrance to the National Dessert Competition?"
Seasoned Sentry snapped awake, pushing his helmet out of his face and squinting his old eyes at the indistinct white and purple blob in front of him. "Yes. Yes, it is. But I'm afraid the contests are already working on their desserts at the moment...there's no late entries allowed."
"Oh, of course darling. But you see I'm not here as a contestant...my friend is actually one of the judges. Actually, I brought a present for her." The blob gestured to something on its back. "You wouldn't mind it terribly if popped in and saying hello, now, would you?"
The pony leaned closer, and the indistinct blob suddenly became a lot more attractive than anticipated.
Seasoned Sentry cleared his throat and shuffled away from the entrance to the Royal Gardens. "Err, I suppose...as long as you ain't trying to help sabotage the contest!"
"Now why would anypony want to do something like that?" The blob asked.
Seasoned Sentry rolled his eyes. "You ain't spent a lotta time with cooks before, have ya?"
Rarity scoffed at the older guard's assessment. She had known Pinkie most of her life and she was just about the most easy-going pony she knew. Well, easy to get along with, at the very least. The rate that she was going was usually enough to give Rarity a headache.
No sooner had she stepped inside the garden though, then she ran smack dab into the most vicious conversations regarding pastries she'd ever encountered.
"We both know the only reason you are making that hoity toity banoffee pie is because you know Miss Gourmand will pick it!"
Rarity was shocked to realize she knew both ponies involved. She counted them both among her best acquaintances in Canterlot. It was Cinnamon Chai and Saffron Masala. She'd helped both of them with their respective restaurants, Cinnamon with her tea and cake shop and Saffron with the Tasty Treat.
"Saffron, it's a family recipe..." Cinnamon begged.
"I'm sure it is." Saffron replied, her hooves folded and her back turned. In contrast to Cinnamon's simple white apron, she wore an intricately patterned sky blue lehenga, which only served to emphasize her sudden severity.
"Saffie, please I..." Cinnamon looked around, somehow not noticing Rarity and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I love you..."
"If that were true you would obey my request for you to leave me be." Saffron answered, twisting to look back at her.
"What in Equestria is going on here?" Rarity asked, stepping into view and causing them both to part, with somewhat shameful expressions.
Saffron turned back away, casting a dismissive hoof in Cinnamon's direction. "This...traitor...entered the competition after pretending to be my friend."
Cinnamon looked like she might melt into the ground at the accusation.
"Surely you don't mean that!" Rarity protested. "The whole point of this contest is to have fun and make friends."
Saffron threw her curled poll behind her and stalked away. "Not for me! She knew this competition was important for my family and she entered anyway."
Rarity watched the once kind pony disappear between the nearby topiaries with astonishment. Then she turned to Cinnamon.
"Cinnamon...I am so sorry-"
"It's alright." Cinnamon answered.
"No, it isn't! I understand letting a little competition get to your head, but all the same-!"
"Please, Rarity...drop it. Just...don't mention this to anypony, alright?" Cinnamon asked.
Rarity paused, the unmistakable look of guilt passing across Cinnamon's tortured features.
"Very well. If that's what you want..."
Cinnamon nodded hastily and turned away. "I-I just remembered that I forgot an ingredient...I'm sorry, Rarity, we'll catch up later..."
Then she was galloping away, shoulders trembling and seconds away from bursting into tears. Rarity lifted a hoof to call after her but was interrupted.
"Rarity!!"
Rarity turned to meet the blur of pink excitement which had glommed onto her. Wincing at Pinkie's unintentional ruffling of her perfectly coiffed mane, Rarity tried and failed to extricate herself from a rib-cracking hug. "Darling, I told you yesterday I'd stop by..."
Pinkie grinned and slipped away. "I know! I'm still glad you're here!"
Rarity smiled and lifted the white package off her back with her magic. "Well, then, I suppose you enjoy my company so much you won't mind if I keep this wonderful gift I made for you."
Pinkie's eyes widened and she beamed. Rarity forgot sometimes how adorable she could be when she wasn't trying to be. "No! No! No! Iwantit!Iwantit!Iwantit!"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Go ahead dear."
Pinkie tore through the wrapping like a chainsaw and gasped at the contents.
"I figured if you were going to be the judge of a major competition like this one, you'd need to look the part." Rarity said as Pinkie examined the soft white chef's hat and jacket within.
Cue another hug, this time one with spinning and dancing involved. "Oh, Rarity, it's wonderful, gorgeous, splendiferous, absolutely, positively spectacular!"
"Please." Rarity raising a hoof and stepping out of the embrace. "It was the least I could do after you helped me throw such a sumptuous swan soiree for Fancy Pants' second cousin twice removed."
"Aw...it was easy once I figured out the swans didn't need to be real. C'mon, let me introduce you to the other judges!"
As they headed deeper into the menagerie, Rarity glanced behind them. "Pinkie, dear, you wouldn't happen to know why Cinnamon and Saffron are fighting, would you?"
"Beats me! Saffron was happy to be in the contest before she found out she was going up against Cinnamon Chai."
"I know how she feels."
Rarity and Pinkie paused their meandering to look at a rather defeated looking Sugar Belle, currently standing behind one of the tables lining the lane and glumly stirring a batter-filled bowl. She had donned the teal apron Rarity had gotten her as a wedding present, with apples sewn along the bib.
"Sugar Belle! I didn't know you were in town!" Rarity said.
Sugar Belle sighed. "Big Mac said the competition would be a good way to have more ponies find out about my bakery...but he didn't tell me that I'd be competing against my own family members."
Pinkie frowned and put her hooves on the table. "What do you mean?"
Sugar Belle picked up a wooden spoon and pointed across the path to where Apple Fritter sat at a table, smiling and waving at them.
Rarity frowned. "Ah, I can see how that might put one in a difficult situation."
"But Sugar Belle, it's like an Apple Family reunion now! Cause I'm your cousin-in-law and Apple Fritter is..." Pinkie paused. "Wait, how is she related to me again?"
"She does seem rather excited to have you here." Rarity coaxed.
Sugar Belle sighed. "She only joined after she found out I had. And I would be fine with her participating...I'm just worried because I don't think she likes me, and I don't know why!"
"What? That can't be!" Pinkie said. "Everypony likes you, Sugar Belle! Big Mac liked you so much he married you."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "And Apple Fritter certainly seems rather friendly."
Sugar Belle shook her head. "I don't know why she's acting like that now, but when we met at the last family reunion, I could swear she was purposefully avoiding me. I don't know what it was I did but she acted like she was afraid of me. And it wouldn't be that big of a problem, except Big Mac's extended family dotes on her and I'm afraid of if I win, she'll be sore, and it'll spoil my relationship with them."
Rarity frowned. "That's absurd, Sugar Belle. She probably joined this competition so that she could make things up with you."
"Why don't we just go over and talk to her?" Pinkie suggested.
Sugar Belle opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a voice that was too snooty even for Rarity's tastes.
"Oh, dear, Miss Pie. Did you have to bring...her here?"
Rarity pursed her lips and turned to face the newcomer. "Zesty Gourmand...I heard you were judging this contest. Although given you're recent...shall we say, dip in popularity, I can't imagine what Twilight was thinking hiring you."
The incredibly slight and harshly featured gray unicorn narrowed her eyes and strode forward. Despite the autumn heat, she wore a tightly buttoned black jacket with a plush wool collar. "The knowledge to which you are ignorant my dear could fill chasm vaster than this entire mountain."
Pinkie jumped between the two of them before they could start launching spells at each other. "Hey, Zesty, check it out! Rarity came to give me this cool, completely complementary chef costume! What do you think?"
In a whirlwind of pink and white, Pinkie was wearing the puffy hat and silky chef's coat that Rarity had brought and had her forelegs open in a 'ta-da' motion.
Zesty recoiled as if about to be sick. "I think those who are not true connoisseurs of cuisine should avoid degrading those who are with their tasteless designs."
Pinkie laughed. "Ha! Did you hear that, Rarity? Zesty called you tasteless even though you're the most famous designer in Equestria and she's universally reviled as a food critic!"
Sugar Belle glanced between the three of them. "You, um, all know each other?"
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie said. Still in the chef's outfit, she wrapped a hoof around Zesty's shoulders, an action which would have qualified as the grounds for war had it been any more inflammatory. "Zesty tried to shut down Saffron Masala's restaurant because it wasn't serving the kind of food she prefers but me and Rarity turned public opinion against her and ousted her as Canterlot's number one food critic."
Zesty sighed deeply and used her telekinesis to pry Pinkie off. "The nerve of the princess to force me arbitrate this candy-coated competition alongside an individual of such painfully immaturity was insult enough." She raised a hoof and pointed at Rarity. "But enduring the presence of this tawdry seamstress-!"
A chartreuse unicorn dragging a wagon full of ice cream galloped up, her haul completely obfuscating Zesty's form. Panting and wiping sweat from her brow, she unhitched herself and fell to the ground in front of Pinkie feebly. "I'm so sorry! My name is Sweetcream Scoops, I completely lost track of time! I filled out my ticket days ago, but I couldn't be here yesterday to claim my table. Is it too late for me to enter the contest?"
"Nopedy-nope-nope!" Pinkie said. "We don't even start tasting the desserts until tomorrow!"
Zesty slid out from behind the wagon and with cursory glance at its contents, sneered. "I'm afraid Miss Scoops, you cannot compete with these...ingredients. Frozen dairy is not a baked confectionary. And non-baked confectionaries are not permitted without majority approval from the judges, as per the codes of the National Dessert Competition Compendium of Guidelines."
"Aw c'mon, Zesty, don't tell us you don't like ice cream!" Pinkie groaned.
"My tastes are irreverent. I am merely quoting the rules of the competition." Zesty said, holding her head high.
"But...but I came all this way..." Sweetcream looked like she was about to cry. "I saved up for months so I could afford this trip!"
Rarity levitated a handkerchief over to her and over at Zesty. "Hold on a minute! You said that Sweetcream needed majority approval. Well, who is the third judge? Why don't we ask them before jumping to conclusions?"
"Ask me what?" From behind Zesty and Pinkie arrived a trans-Atlantic wheeze that put Zesty's nouveau-riche dialect to shame.
"Mulia, I was just about to introduce you to my friend Rarity!" Pinkie bounced over to the well-dressed, middle-aged mule. "Actually, you know her already, you met her when we were on that train, and she ate part of the Marzipan Mascarpone Méringue Madness that Mr. and Mrs. Cake made, and you were there with a big moose made out of chocolate and Gustav-"
"Yes, Miss Pie." Mulia interrupted, clearing her throat. She was wearing the same necklace of turqouise beads as when Rarity last saw her but was now in a primrose apron. It took Rarity a second to recognize it as her own design, a part of her "Fun and Functional" Spring Line. "My question regards Miss Gourmand's citing of contest guidelines."
"Please, I'm terrible at baking!" Sweetcream said, standing up on shaking legs. "I made this ice cream myself; I brought it all the way from Ponyville and I kept it cool the entire time with magic. If you don't let me enter it into the contest, I won't be able to compete, and it'll all go bad before I get back!"
"Well, I'm sure the uncultured and thankless ponies of this city, will be more than happy to pay for your sugar-soaked, frozen milk." Zesty said, casting a glare over the nearest garden wall at the philistines in question.
"Hey! You take that back! No pony insults ice cream in front of The Pie!" Pinkie said, jumping onto her hind legs to be eye to eye with Zesty.
Mulia sighed and opened her mouth to speak. Then her gaze shifted to something behind them all.
"I'm afraid that I must attend to some urgent business." Mulia stated, marching past all of them without giving Sweetcream or the contents of her wagon a second glance. "I trust the judgement of Miss Pie and cast my vote with her."
Pinkie Pie jumped six feet in the air and did a little summersault mid-fall in celebration. Then she began dancing in Zesty's face and pumping her hooves in the air in increasingly obnoxious gestures. Rarity wasn't paying attention though.
Her eyes were drawn to the mare outside the gate who was chatting with Seasoned Sentry. Mulia interrupted their seemingly normal conversation, only to quickly grow agitated. As Pinkie Pie offered to help Sweetcream taste-test the contents of her wagon, Rarity stepped away, trotting behind Mulia and catching the last sentence of the tense conversation.
"Everypony here is who they say they are. Now please leave, or I will be forced to summon the royal guard!"
Seasoned Sentry looked offended that the royal guard apparently didn't include him, but Rarity was focused on the newcomer. She was white earth pony, wearing a ginormous sun hat far too big for her, with a rose-colored scarf/neck protector that tied it beneath her jaw and a pair of sunglasses hiding her eyes. And her cutie mark appeared to be musical notes, although which ones it was, Rarity couldn't tell from this distance.
"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"
Rarity had to stop herself from jumping at the suddenness of Pinkie's reappearance.
"Pinkie...what have I told you about sneaking up on me?!" Rarity scowled.
"You said that it if I kept doing it, I wouldn't be allowed in your boutique while you were working with needles!" Pinkie recited perfectly.
Rarity sighed. "I forget sometimes how good your memory can be..."
Their half-baked banter was interrupted as Mulia sauntered past them both muttering "How did they find me...?"
Rarity watched her go and as she did, she shook herself. "Pinkie, is anyone here actually enjoying this contest?" She asked, finally. "Besides yourself of course."
"Of course! He's the one contestant you haven't met!" Pinkie said, grasping Rarity's foreleg and pulling her off past of rose bushes.
Mulia had been the spitting image of Rarity's memory of her from that terrible train ride where Twilight had forced her to admit that she wore fake eyelashes. Gustav Le Grand, on the other hoof, the world-renowned chef, was not.
It had only been three years since that fateful (and mouth-watering) train ride, but he looked at least a decade older. His plumage was faded, and his beak had chipped in two places. But worse, his once pristine chef's hat was now stained, and his chef's coat was frayed and wrinkled. It made her wish she'd brought an extra chef's set like Pinkie's for him to use. No one so well regarded in the cultured world of cuisine should be forced to make public appearances so poorly dressed.
The look that he gave Rarity and Pinkie Pie as they came around the corner, made Zesty look positively welcoming by comparison.
Nonetheless he bowed at their approach, his beak nearly touching in the lawn.
"Rarity, you remember Gustav Le Grand, right? He's like, the nicest griffon who's also a chef in all of Equestria!!" Pinkie said, pulling Rarity into a hug before hopping over next to Gustave.
"It's an honor to meet again, Mr. Le Grand." Rarity said, extending a hoof which he took and quickly pecked. "I've been meaning to visit your restaurant, Le Chateau De Plume! I've heard you do the most wonderful things with snails."
Gustav let out a dry, crack of a laugh. "I am afraid I will have to disappoint the mademoiselle. My beloved Chateau...she is...no more."
Rarity gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Le Grand, I had no idea!"
"You should have asked us to help you advertise it!" Pinkie piped in. "Me and Rarity are experts at saving failing restaurants!"
Gustav's yellow, slivered cat eyes thinned. "Is that so? Yet another blunder on my part...how imbecilic of me."
"Aw, don't beat yourself up about it!" Pinkie said, dipping her hoof into a jar full of powdered sugar atop the portable stove behind him. "I'm sure you can just make another restaurant here in Canterlot!"
"Oh, yes!" It was Rarity's turn to jump back into the conversation in an attempt to salvage some measure of civility from it. "One of my patrons, Fluer De Lis was just complaining about the lack of traditional Maris cuisine around. I'm sure she'd be happy to bring in a crowd if you started a business here!"
Gustav huffed and his eyes moved to the still grinning Pinkie. "Were that it only that simple..." With that he placed a talon on her muzzle and dragged her away from his ingredients.
"Is...is everything alright, Mr. Le Grand?" Rarity asked.
"This one is my favorite!" Pinkie said, hopping to the other side of the oven and leaning her elbows on its edge.
"Everything is as it should be. I must excuse myself however, I am hard at work on my world-famous crème brûlée." Gustav said brusquely.
"Hmmm, Cream Bully..." Pinkie said, licking her lips.
"Pinkie, may I speak with you for a moment?" Rarity asked, stepping away from Gustav with a patient, but obviously artificial smile.
"Yepperooni!" Pinkie leaped off the back of the oven, tumbled through the air above Gustav and landed on her belly, sliding beneath Rarity's muzzle with her head on her hooves. "What do you need?"
Rarity glanced at Gustav and watched as he drew one of his claws along the oven's edge with a metallic shriek. "Pinkie, every creature involved in this contest appears to either despise you or one another. What is going on here?"
Pinkie smiled. "I don't know! It probably has to do with the fact that the winner gets a thousand bits."
"A thousand-! I thought the prize money was four hundred!" Rarity said.
"Twilight changed it." Pinkie shrugged. "Now the winner gets a thousand and the runner up gets five hundred. Something about celebrating up-and-coming bakers."
"Pinkie, I am seriously concerned right now! You are the only pony not taking this contest seriously."
Pinkie frowned. "That's not true!" Then she leaned forward and spoke in a stage-whisper. "I'm pretty sure that Apple Fritter got her fritters from a store!"
Rarity ignored the interruption. "Pinkie, I've seen ponies do a lot of nasty things for less than a thousand bits. Trust me, I was at the Elk department store during a 90% sale."
Pinkie pulled Rarity into a side hug. "Aw, don't worry, Rarity. You just don't understand bakers, is all! When you make a dress it lasts for what, years? Maybe even centuries! But when you make a piece of food, you know it's going to be destroyed in a few minutes. That can make you a little crazy, is all!"
Rarity watched her go and blinked twice, casting a glance back at Gustav and heading toward the front gate. As much as she wanted to stay and find out why every creature was acting so strangely, she had a shop to run and she'd be a terrible owner if she left Sassy Saddles in charge for the rest of the day, after saying she'd only be gone an hour or so.
"Did you have a good time at the gardens, Rarity?" Sassy asked, as she fitted an unseen mare for a dress.
"Oh yes, it was beautiful, and Pinkie was...invigorating to be around to say the least." Rarity answered. "I'm so sorry for losing track of time, Sassy! Was everything alright while I was away?"
"It's alright, we've just been chatting for past hour or so." Said the mare, turning to face Rarity.
Rarity beamed. "Lyra! I didn't know you were in Canterlot. I would have invited you out to tea!"
Sassy rolled her eyes and Lyra shared a giggle with her. "Sounds like you had a pretty packed day anyway."
Rarity flushed. "Well, what brings you to the big city, anyway?"
Lyra twirled the skirt of daffodil bouffant. "Oh, Bon-Bon just some had some business at the palace, so I figured I'd come with and make a day of it."
Rarity smirked. "With her talents, I'm surprised she isn't competing in the National Dessert Competition."
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I know what you mean!"
"Indeed, there's no creature who makes candy quite like your BonBon." Rarity said with a smirk, which quickly turned into a grin when it was Lyra's turn to blush.
The door opened just then and a member of the royal guard all but collapsed at Rarity's hooves.
"...Presence...requested...urgent...her majesty, Twilight Sparkle...Canterlot Clinic..." He panted, before dropping his head to the floor.
"Sir, with all due respect, please..." Rarity took a deep breath. "SLOW DOWN AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH! Now...what does Twilight need? And why is she at the Canterlot Clinic?"
The guard heaved and then groaned. "Code pink...element bearer...in the hospital..."
Rarity let out a gasp, then charged out the front door, right over top of the groaning guard.
The Canterlot Clinic was a good deal larger than the Ponyville Hospital but gave the impression of being smaller once you were inside it due to being tall and narrow rather than boxy and wide. Like most hospitals, it was designed to maximize use of the natural sunlight and like most buildings constructed under Celestia's rule, it was accented with statues, paintings and mosaics depicting the cutie mark of its princessly patron.
As soon as Rarity got to the hospital, she was directed to one of the upper floors, where she found a host of royal guards milling about and trying to look important, while nurses rushed between rooms doing real work. She was relieved when she saw Twilight standing outside one of the rooms and sharing a hushed conversation with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who'd arrived still in her Wonderbolt's uniform. Despite being only a few months into sharing the new diarchy with Cadence, Twilight was already showing signs of alicornhood, by beginning to grow larger than the average mare. Her newly enchanted horseshoes, forged from platinum, glimmered in the fluorescent light of the hall. And her tiara, redesigned to be twice as ostentatious and to contain within it the Element of Magic, gleamed with enough polished pink sapphires and cerise rubies to make the most self-controlled dragon salivate.
"Oh, thank goodness you're all alright!" She said, shoving past several guards to get to them. "I just got your message Twilight. What's wrong? I thought somepony was hurt..."
Twilight glared at the floor. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell us, Rarity. You were with Pinkie just before she passed out..."
Rarity's eyes widened and she glanced through the window in the nearby hospital room door, where she could see Pinkie Pie in bed, pale, sweat-soaked and delirious.
"Pinkie Pie! Oh, Twilight, I...I had no idea...I thought-!" She turned to the others. "I mean, I assumed it might have been Fluttershy when I didn't see her with you all! Oh, this is all so beastly."
"Flutters is with Scoot's parents in Shire Lanka." Rainbow said.
"And Spike?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "He's attending to royal business on my behalf. Rarity, can you think of any reason why somepony might have wanted to poison Pinkie Pie?"
"Poison?!!" Rarity gasped.
"Please keep it down," Twilight asked gently. "We don't want to start a panic."
"We know it's a lot to take in." Rainbow said.
"All the same we wanted to make sure you were alright." Applejack added. "Folks said you were touring the gardens with her before she got all woozy."
Rarity shook her head. "I-I..." She paused, reviewing the earlier events of the day. "I don't know what to say Twilight...there were a few creatures who seemed angry with Pinkie at the dessert competition earlier today, and everypony was acting a little out of sorts...but I can't imagine any one of them wanting to hurt her like this. How-how did it happen?"
Twilight's expression hardened. "We're not sure. Seasoned Sentry called the guard after Pinkie got sick eating some ice cream. The doctors who pumped Pinkie's stomach and say she swallowed enough cyanide to kill a horse."
Applejack shook her head and took off her hat. "If Pinkie weren't an earth pony, she probably wouldn't still be with us."
"But I don't understand. Why would somecreature try to poison any of us? We saved Equestria more times than I can count..." Rainbow Dash said. "Besides, whoever it was must have known they were gonna get hunted down by the Royal Guard!"
Rarity just stared through the window, running the tape back one more time, picking over the little details, the smell of each half-baked dish, the colors of each item of clothing worn. Then she turned to Twilight.
"Twilight, are you planning on shutting down the contest?" She asked.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Yes, of course. Pinkie was one of the judges..."
"Make me the new judge." Rarity said, stepping forward. "I'll unroot the criminal behind this dastardly deed, you have my word!"
Twilight shared a look with Applejack.
"Uh, no offense Rarity, but is that such a good idea? What if whoever poisoned Pinkie Pie tries to get you too?" Applejack asked.
Rarity laughed. "I promise to check for poison with my horn. But I suspect whoever was responsible for this scheme will switch tactics."
Twilight shook her head. "I can't let you do that, Rarity. If I hadn't made Pinkie a judge of the contest..."
"Twilight, you can't blame yourself! You were trying to do something nice for Pinkie." Rainbow insisted.
"Rainbow's right. You didn't put the poison in her mouth." Applejack said, with a dark glare for whoever did.
Twilight took a deep breath. "All the same, I can't let this happen to anypony else. No matter how slim the chances are."
Rainbow Dash swung down next to Rarity. "Guys, Rarity saved me after Wind Rider framed me, she tricked the Diamond Dogs into letting her go and she converted Capper from a slave-trader into a freedom-fighter...if anypony can get inside the head of twisted psychopath and make them reveal themselves for who they are, it's her!"
Twilight shared another glance with Applejack.
"I understand your hesitance Twilight," Rarity said, stepping closer. "But if you shut down the contest, the competitors will scatter. And if you send in the guards, they'll clam up. Let me try using guile rather than force...if I can't charm them into revealing the truth by the day after tomorrow, I'll let your guards take it from there. But you simply must give me a chance to make things right. I knew something was wrong, and I left Pinkie there to fend for herself! If I hadn't left when I did, I might have been able to stop this...appalling twist of fate!!"
Twilight sighed and looked back at the window.
"Excuse us."
The four ponies glanced over, and their expressions grew even more miserable. Then they parted and watched silently as Maud Pie, holding Boulder aloft in one hoof, opened the door, trotted inside and sat down next to Pinkie's bed.
"Please, Twilight." Rarity begged, taking one of Twilight's hooves in her own. "I'll go mad with worry if I can't do something to help..."
Twilight nodded slowly. "Okay, Rarity. I trust you...but I can't let you do it alone."
"I can't believe ya chose me over Dash." Applejack said, as the two of them marched down the hospital hallway.
"Oh, and why is that?"
"Cause she can spot when something's wrong from a mile away. I don't know nothing about fancy forensics or...whatever it is ponies do around crime scenes." Applejack said, inspecting the inside of her Stetson, as she was want to do when contemplating concepts outside agriculture.
"Applejack, your rough and tumble know-how is exactly what's needed to balance out my refined expertise." Rarity said. She stopped and turned back to Applejack, with a note in hoof. "Now, I am going to need you to go to this address. Tell the mare who lives there you are a friend of mine. Just ask her how she's been and give her a shoulder to cry on."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "This wouldn't happen to be some kinda highfalutin seduction, would it?"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "No, Jacqueline."
Applejack raised an eyebrow and leaned close to search Rarity's face for the hint of mischief that she sensed to be lurking under the surface.
"Darling, if we're going to work together on this, you're going to have to trust me completely, alright?" Rarity asked, glaring back at her. "That means I might need you to do something without telling you why."
Applejack sighed and then shrugged. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."
As she galloped away, Rarity took a deep breath, then sauntered over to where Flash Sentry was still taking a statement from Sweetcream Scoops, who was on the verge of tears.
"Captain Flash, Princess Twilight has placed this investigation under my purview." Rarity stated. "I wonder...would you mind terribly if I spoke with Miss Scoops alone?"
Flash traded a skeptical look with one of his fellow guards but saluted and turned away, gesturing for the rest of his squad to follow his lead. The eighteen or so guard-ponies who'd been surrounding Sweetcream then moved all of six feet, giving Rarity and Sweetcream the tiniest illusion of privacy while not taking their eyes off their primary suspect for a moment.
Rarity gave Sweetcream her winningest smile, the one she saved for particularly rich and stupid clients. "I wanted to thank you, darling, for bringing Pinkie here."
"Oh, well, I didn't...that is, I...Seasoned Sentry...he was the one who..." Sweetcream let out a sob and then collapsed against Rarity's hooves. "I didn't know there was poison in the ice cream, Miss Rarity! I put it out so I could test it for freezer burn, not for it be eaten! But the guards say that the whole batch, everything I brought...it's filled with cyanide!! But that doesn't make any sense! I-I made that ice cream myself. Rarity, I serve foals every day! I would never put poison in my food!"
"Of course not, darling." Rarity placed a comforting hoof on Sweetcream's shoulder. "I know that none of this is your fault. But I'm going to need you to tell me everything that happened before Pinkie ate that ice cream."
Sweetcream sniffed. "Well, after the judges approved my contribution, I started setting up my stall. And while I was working, Sugar Belle went to talk to Seasoned Sentry about something. And while she was gone, I saw Apple Fritter sneak over to her table and pour something on Sugar Belle's ingredients."
Rarity frowned. "Really? What was it?"
"I don't know...I couldn't see. I-I told her to stop, and then I threatened to report her for cheating..." Sweetcream stared at her hooves. "She broke down crying. She-she said she'd clean it all up and she begged me not to tell anypony."
"And you didn't?" Rarity asked.
Sweetcream shook her head. "Whatever it was, she just it in a bin and left to replace them. So, I went back to re-casting the spell to keep my ice cream from melting and when that was done, I left to...I uh, well, I'd ran straight to the palace from the train-station. While I was heading inside, I heard that griffon arguing with one of the judges..."
"You mean Zesty Gourmand?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. The unicorn who didn't want me there. She-she said something about how she didn't think that Gustav should be in the competition." Sweetcream said. "I didn't stay to listen to the whole conversation, I just overheard them is all."
"And when you got back to your stand?"
"Oh, Pinkie Pie was eating some of the vanilla and fudge swirl. Even though it wasn't ready, I didn't want to stop her because she'd stood up for me earlier. At first, she seemed fine...then she started getting all woozy. Then she fell over and started twitching and kicking and I could tell she couldn't breathe so I called for help and..."
"That'll be enough. Thank you for your help, Sweetcream."
"You-you believe that I didn't do it, don't you?" Sweetcream asked.
"Of course. One more thing, was Apple Fritter there when you came back from using the powder room?"
Sweetcream shook her head. "No, I think she was still shopping for more nuts for Sugar Belle, but I didn't see her...there was a lot of confusion though..."
"Of course. And did you taste any of the ice cream before Pinkie tried some?"
"Umm, back in Ponyville, yeah, before I got on the Friendship Express, I tasted it to make sure I got the right combination of salt and sugar."
Rarity smiled. "You've been a great help, Sweetcream. Obviously, you won't be able to compete with your stock poisoned, but if you please stay within Canterlot, I'm sure me and Princess Twilight will figure something out for you."
"I-I can't just go back to Ponyville?" Sweetcream asked.
Rarity tightened her jaw. "I'm afraid not, darling. But rest assured no pony is going to throw you in the dungeon. Just stick around in case we need to ask you anymore questions, alright?"
Sweetcream swallowed and then nodded.
"And darling?"
Sweetcream sniffed. "Yes?"
"Be careful what you eat in the meantime."
Turning away, Rarity stewed over the account, locking away vital details in the same parts of her memory that she used to remember a concept for a dress or fashion line. Despite her concentration, she had the wherewithal to avoid running into the heavily armored form of Flash Sentry.
"Captain!" Rarity straightened up. "I apologize if I embarrassed you in front of the other guards."
Flash shook his head. "Not at all, Miss Rarity. It's always an honor to serve one of Princess Twilight's dearest friends. If there is anything I can do to assist you in your investigation...please. By all means, let me know."
Rarity smiled demurely. "The gentlecolt as always...tell me, were you in charge of security for the competition?"
"Oh..." Flash's face fell. "Well, I...ahem, if you mean Seasoned Sentry, yes...I was the one who assigned him to watch over the competition. I didn't think that the competition was a security risk...obviously, I was more than mistaken."
"Relax, Captain, I'm sure if Twilight believed the competition might involve poisonings, she'd have ordered you to provide more security." Rarity said.
Flash shook his head. "It's nice of you to try to make ease my conscience Miss Rarity, but it's my job to provide safe and secure spaces for the princess and her friends. If I had taken the initiative of assigning more guards, this entire incident could have been avoided. I can only hope that I will be allowed to fix my mistake."
Rarity sighed. "Captain...if anycreature else had thought this might happen...no pony would have shown up for the competition at all." She straightened up. "Now, I've had quite enough for ponies I like blaming themselves for things that aren't their fault already today. I just need to know whatever you can tell me about Seasoned Sentry."
Flash raised an eyebrow. "Oh, him? He's been with the guard since before Shining Armor had my position. Since before I was born. He's sort of an institution...we tried to let him retire, even offered to increase his pension. But...he refuses to leave the barracks and to be honest, we're all to used to him being around to really force him to leave. The uh, guards say he boosts morale. I...I'm sure I'm not giving you a great report about how the royal guard is run to take back to Princess Twilight."
Rarity flashed a grin. "I'm here to find out who poisoned Pinkie and why, not to snitch on your inadequate employment policies, Captain. Once we've found the culprit, I'm sure Twilight will have more than a few suggestions for how things should be run going forward."
Flash Sentry gulped.
"Now, is there anything you aren't telling me about Seasoned Sentry. Any information relating to his history or his record that might be relevant in this case?"
Flash Sentry contemplated for a second, probably the first time he'd really thought of Seasoned Sentry as anything more than a wrinkly fixture on his department. "He...mentioned he didn't want this assignment. He said we were giving it to him as busy work."
"Were you?" Rarity asked.
Flash Sentry frowned. "To a certain extent...but I was also hoping to maybe open him up to some new creatures. Seasoned Sentry has some...antiquated ideas regarding the relationship between ponies and griffons."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Excellent...so you sent him to the competition thinking it might change his views if he saw Mr. Le Grand, a sophisticated, unthreatening griffon?"
Flash Sentry coughed. "Princess Twilight is looking into recruiting Griffon members of the royal guard...I wanted to try to curtail a possible disaster in the making, before it happened."
Rarity nodded. "Thank you, Captain. I'll let the palace know if I need any more of your help."
As she walked away, she shook her head. She knew that the generation prior to her parents often had "antiquated" views regarding non-ponies. That had been before Cadence's ascension to alicornhood and Cadence had ended up providing a much-needed diplomatic touch to foreign policy in the years leading up to Nightmare Moon's return. All the same it was a disappointment to find out any pony was so prejudiced in a decade as enlightened as this one, especially after so many non-ponies had come to the aid of Equestria against the Legion of Doom.
She came to a stop when she saw a familiar unicorn down the hall, performing a half-hearted exercise routine in one of those dreadful white hospital gowns.
"Coriander Cumin, is that you?"
The heavyset unicorn turned and sighed. "Ah, hello, Rarity. Pardon me if I do not stop my aerobics, the doctors tell me if I do not strengthen my heart, my daughter will be an orphan before the end of the year."
"No, no, of course! By all means continue." Rarity paused, glancing at the other hospital residents practicing the exercises alongside Coriander and then at the two nurse ponies overseeing the proceedings. "Coriander, I assume you know that your daughter is participating in the National Desserts Competition."
"Ha. She tells me she cannot run the Tasty Treat without me so she must win this contest so we can hire extra hooves until I am feeling better. I think she is just scared of losing me."
"Well, you are her father..." Rarity began.
"I raised her to be self-reliant like her mother was." Coriander responded, as he bent over to stretch out his forelegs. "I am not going to last forever. I am just glad that she has a mare she loves to look after her when I am gone."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "You mean Cinnamon Chai?"
"Of course. Saffron says that they are no longer engaged, but I know love when I see it."
"They were engaged?" Rarity said.
"Yes. Cinnamon had to ask me for permission to marry Saffron, just as I had to ask Saffron's grandfather to marry her daughter. Saffron seems to think that their proposal what caused my heart-attack...as if I left the old country just so that I could force my daughter to obey tradition and marry a stallion."
"Of course." Rarity cleared her throat. "But last time I saw them, Cinnamon and Saffron did seem like they were in a bit of a...er...row."
"Bah. Saffron claims she has called off the wedding. But I would not hold my breath." Coriander said, as he attempted to perform an ill-advised maneuver and was saved from falling over by the glow of Rarity's telekinesis.
"Well, I hope you'll be in better health soon, Coriander." Rarity said, once she was sure he was righted. "Thank you for sharing this all with me."
Coriander smirked. "Would you do me a favor, Rarity? The next time you see my daughter, tell her to stop making herself so miserable."
Cinnamon Chai's home was a cozy apartment above her bakery. So, cozy in fact, and so chock full of porcelain that it made Applejack afraid to stand up.
After pouring them both a cup of something called "Earl Hay" (which sounded too fancy for Applejack's tastes. Tea shouldn't have titles, that was her opinion), Cinnamon Chai took a big sip and then stared at something on the wall.
"Is that your family?" Applejack asked, following Cinnamon's eyes to the painting on the wall of an extremely austere looking pegasai wearing strings of pearl.
"No, it's a portrait of the Westmanester royalty." Cinnamon Chai answered. "I'd take it down, 'cept my mum would have a bloody conniption."
"Ah." Applejack stared at the tea for a moment and then sipped it. She was surprised by the slightly fruity taste, but she was more surprised by the fact that it wasn't gray.
"So...I expect that Rarity wanted me to tell you about me and Saffron..." Cinnamon said, staring at the cloudy contents of her cup.
"I don't actually know who that is...I'm sorry." Applejack carefully lowered the cup. "I just reckon she figured with me being the element of honesty and all, you'd feel more comfortable telling me-"
"I just don't understand!" Cinnamon Chai suddenly said, almost falling out of her chair with despair. "She said that she loved me! Her father approved our marriage! We were gonna be together forever...then her father got sick and now...now she says she hates me!"
Her eyes were filled with tears and Applejack found it impossible to simply avert her broken gaze. She cleared her throat. "Just for clarification...you're not talking about Rarity...are you?" She asked.
Cinnamon Chai was too distressed to heed the question. "Saffron said that I needed permission from her father to marry her...so, I said that was fine, I didn't want her to have a bad relationship with her father or betray her culture just because of me. That's no way for us to spend our lives together...so I asked her father, Coriander, and he said yes! But that same night she called me and said she didn't want to see me anymore and now...now...I don't know what to do!"
With that she broke down into sobs and Applejack could do nothing but put the tea aside and gingerly step around the coffee table to offer her a tentative (and quickly accepted) hug.
"Hey now...hey there...there, there, it's okay..." Applejack said, patting Cinnamon Chai's back as she blossomed from a figurative shoulder to cry on, into a literal one. "Go ahead and let it all out, sugarcube."
Cinnamon Chai swallowed and after a few minutes of crying into her tea, followed by a few more minutes of cleaning herself with a handkerchief. "I only joined the competition because I knew she needed the bits. I thought if both of us were competing, we'd have a better chance of making sure one of us got the money. Is...is that cheating?"
Applejack frowned. "I don't know...you're not collaboratin' with this Saffron, are you?"
"No." Cinnamon admitted mournfully. "She says she never wants to see me again."
Applejack winced. "I think you wanting to give those bits to help her with her dad is noble then. Just so long as you don't think winnin' the contest'll is gonna make her want ya back."
Cinnamon crumpled and nodded. "I knew it was silly...I know a thousand bits can't make somepony love you...but...I-I just don't know what I'm gonna do without her."
Applejack sighed and gave her one last pat. "I know what you mean darlin'. Sometimes you love somepony so much and then you lose them...and ya feel like you're losing part of yourself."
She leaned close, pulling Cinnamon Chai's slight form against her own stocky one. "But ya just make it worse on yourself thinking you ain't worth them. You deserve to be happy...and you will be again someday. I promise."
It was a little inn in the district of the Canterlot known as The Shades, named so because it was constructed in the shadow of the palace and the grand structures surrounding it, so that the sun never quite illuminated everything there. Rarity hadn't expected to find such a prim and pretty mare like Apple Fritter at such a ramshackle establishment, but she forced herself to remain as unintimidated by the hooligans inhabiting it as well as the eye-stinging interior design.
"Rarity, what a pleasant surprise!" Apple Fritter said, opening the door to her room.
Rarity lowered the hoof she was using to protect herself from the garish wallpaper. "I'm afraid it would be, under different circumstances. Would it be alright if I came in?"
"Aw shucks, of course!" Apple Fritter said, closing the door behind Rarity. "Sorry it's such a mess. If I'd known I'd have a famous mare like yourself visitin', I woulda sprung for a nicer room."
"I'm sure." Rarity said, casting her eye over the sparse room and then levitating out a little bottle of perfume and using it to snuff out the pungent native aroma. "Apple Fritter, as I'm afraid that Pinkie Pie will no longer be able to judge the competition."
"Aw, that's a shame! She was real friendly." Apple Fritter smiled. "What did she have some 'part-pony emergency'?"
Rarity turned to face her. "Actually, the poor dear has come down with something. The palace guards even believe she's been poisoned."
"What?! Why that...that's awful!" Apple Fritter turned away, sitting down on the edge of her cot. "What in Equestria could have happened?"
"Sweetcream Scoops told me she wanted to thank Pinkie for allowing her to join the contest, so she gave her some vanilla fudge. Next thing she knew Pinkie started feeling ill." Rarity said.
"Somecreature poisoned Sweetcream's ice cream? Why...I can't believe it!" Apple Fritter stood up. "Why, if Sugar Belle had eaten any-!"
"It's funny you mention Sugar Belle actually," Rarity said, polishing the sole mirror in the apartment. It was atop a tiny sink shelf bearing half a dozen bottles and tins of cosmetics. "Because Sweetcream told me that she noticed you doing something to Sugar Belle's ingredients while she was setting up her stall. In fact, she confronted you about it before she went to tell Seasoned Sentry and you denied doing anything. You wouldn't happen to have an explanation for that, would you?"
Apple Fritter stared at Rarity in shock for a moment, then she sunk back onto the cot. "I'm awful sorry, Rarity."
"Apple Fritter...why did you join this competition?" Rarity asked, turning away from the sink.
"Cause...cause I wanted somepony to notice me! You and your friends, Applejack and her kin...y'all've had such great adventures! I thought if I could use Goldie Delicious' old fashioned family recipe for apple-fritters, I could earn some bits, give my relatives something to be proud of!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "And you thought you'd cheat, by sabotaging your cousin-in-law?"
"No! I just...I just wanted to see how fresh her ingredients were." Apple Fritter said. "I swear, I didn't put nothing on them, I was just looking to see my competition!"
Rarity lowered her eyebrow. "Sweetcream said she certain she saw you pour something on them...are you accusing her of lying?"
Apple Fritter sighed. "Aw, fine. I did put a little something on them almonds...it was hot sauce. I was hoping to get Sugar Belle kicked out so I could get the prize money. I admit it..."
Rarity sniffed. "You wouldn't be the first jealous contestant to undermine her competition. But to your own family...!"
"But I replaced 'em!" Apple Fritter said, leaping up from the cot and putting her hooves together as she skidded across the floor on her knees. "Aw please, Miss Rarity, I threw away the almonds I ruined after Sweetcream left and bought some new ones from the farmer's market down the road just for Sugar Belle. And Miss Mild saw me do it and she didn't do nothing!"
"Really?" Rarity raised an eyebrow.
"Honest! When I came back, she was talking into some the watch on her hoof. She saw me replace them almonds and I thought for sure I'd be kicked out of the contest, but she acted like it was me that caught her doin' something wrong!"
"Well...that certainly is...interesting information."
"Please, Miss Rarity don't go telling Applejack or Sugar Belle what I did. I'll never be invited to a family reunion again!"
Rarity smirked. "I will keep this between you and me, darling, but you'll have to do a few things for me first."
"Wha-what is it you want? Anything you want, I'll do it!"
"Firstly, I need you to tell me why it is that you felt it was so important to win this contest?"
Apple Fritter looked back at the floor. "I'm ashamed of it, Miss Rarity, but I wasn't born into the Apple Family...they took me in, when I didn't have anypony."
"Oh, Apple Fritter. That's no reason to be ashamed." Rarity said.
Apple Fritter shook her head. "Because of it they all treat me like I'm still a filly. I thought if I could do this, I might prove to them I can take care of myself."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "I know that it's like, Apple Fritter, to feel that the ponies who matter most to you don't take you seriously. All the same, you went to an awful lot of work to win a baking competition....Sugar Belle said you hadn't even entered until after you found out she had."
Apple Fritter's expression darkened. "I...I know stuff. About Sugar Belle...I found out something about her, when we was both younger. Before she met any of y'all."
Rarity frowned. "What in Equestria do you mean?"
Apple Fritter took a deep gulp. "I-I don't reckon I should tell ya...I don't want to give anypony the wrong idea. I'm sure it was just my imagination is all..."
Rarity stepped closer. "I won't ask twice, darling."
"Rarity, this couldn't have...*YAWN!*...waited until morning?" Moondancer asked as they wandered through the halls of the Library of Magic, a lantern of fireflies floating beside her.
"Well, this is a bit of an emergency." Rarity said, glancing back at Apple Fritter, who still looked ashamed and somewhat scared by the circumstances.
Moondancer yawned again. "It's just...we don't get many ponies asking about cults anyway. What is this all about again?"
Rarity straightened her coif. "I'm afraid that is royal business for the moment, darling."
Moondancer rolled her eyes and stopped in front of a dark cherry bookshelf. "Alright, let's see...every few years a new one of these pops up...there was the one for Chrysalis, the one for the Windigos, even for Discord at one point...here we go. 'Cults of Nightmare Moon.'" She removed the book from its shelf and levitated it over to Rarity. "Take care of that, it's our only edition."
Rarity smiled. "Of course, darling. It'll be good as new on return."
Moondancer nodded, then yawned. "I'm going back to bed."
Apple Fritter frowned. "You really think they'll have information we need in there."
"Oh, I'm sure." Rarity said, slipping it into one of her saddlebags. "Now, we have another stop to make before we meet up with Applejack."
The contents of the Library of Magic were sadly, focused on magic, not cuisine, meaning that Rarity and Apple Fritter had to go to the Canterlot Times, wake up an extremely disgruntled security guard and convince him they had permission to search the building's archives by order of the princess. They ended up leaving with only one issue, carefully placed in a paper sleeve.
"I don't understand...with what we know about Sugar Belle, shouldn't we go ask her about it, find out what she knows?" Apple Fritter asked as Rarity slid the relevant edition into her saddlebag beside the book.
"Never do anything half-cocked, darling. Once we have the evidence we need, then and only then do we confront our suspect." Rarity said with a wink.
It wasn't as fabulous as her normal winks though. In fact, she felt close to passing out by the time they reconvened with Applejack at Donut Joe's.
"Apple Fritter! I didn't know you were in the contest!" Applejack said.
"Oh, I was...I'm not really competing anymore...the only reason I haven't dropped out is cause Rarity said she wanted me on the inside." Apple Fritter said, guiltily.
Rarity removed the book from her saddlebag. "You may as well tell Applejack what you told me, Apple Fritter. I believe it to be quite pertinent."
Apple Fritter cringed.
"Tell me what? What's going on between you two? I been giving relationship advice to a cryin' mare for the past two hours, so I hope y'all were doing more than swapping gossip." Applejack said, taking off her hat and fanning herself with it.
Rarity smirked. "Speaking of, how was your trip to Cinnamon Chai's?" She asked, as she paged through the book in question.
"Well, she told me this story about her and Saffron Masala. Apparently, they were in love. Cinnamon thinks they still are...anyway, she says the only reason she entered the contest is because she planned to give the money to Saffron if she won. 'Cept of course Saffron won't hear it, she just keeps telling Cinnamon to leave her alone."
Rarity sighed. "Ah, young love..."
"Uh, Rares, neither of them is that young...in fact Cinnamon might be older than the two of us."
"I mean that their love is young in that it has recently started, Applejack." Rarity said, picking up a napkin off the table and sliding it between the pages of the book. "Although I suspect it is far from over."
"I don't get what's so romantical about the situation anyway." Applejack said. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And I still don't understand what it has to do with Pinkie being poisoned!"
"Take a look at this then." Rarity said, tossing the paper out of her bags and onto the table.
" 'Chateau shuttered by capricious critic, griffon genius leaves Maris'. Rarity, what in tarnation does this have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with everything." Rarity said with smile. "Gustav Le Grand's restaurant closed. And who's fault is that?"
"Uh...snooty Maris food-critics?"
"No, Applejack. It says in the article that Gustav's chateau lost its reputation because of a Canterlot critic. And can you guess who that might be?" Rarity asked as she pointed at the paper with her hoof.
"Uh, no?"
"Well, I suppose I can't blame you for that, you never met her. The author is referring to Zesty Gourmand, my fellow judge. She started doing travel reviews after ponies lost interest in her reviews around here."
"So, Mr. Le Grand lost his restaurant because of Miss Gourmand. But what does that have to do with Pinkie?" Apple Fritter asked.
Rarity sighed. "Applejack, you said yourself that if Pinkie wasn't an earth pony the poison would have killed her. And as Rainbow astutely pointed out, Pinkie being harmed brought immediate attention to the matter. Now, what kind of poisoner gives their beloved and famous target a poison that they know won't kill them?"
"You're saying whoever put that cyanide in the ice cream, never meant for Pinkie to be the one to eat it!" Applejack said with a gasp.
Rarity smiled and snapped the book closed. "Precisely. The poison was never intended for Pinkie."
"Oh." Applejack glared. "Then who the hay was it meant for?"
Rarity shrugged. "Well, in all likelihood it was meant for one of the judges. The other contestants would be unlikely to eat a bowl of ice cream that was just laying out...and this article indicates the target was Zesty Gourmand."
"You-you mean that griffon tried to kill a critic just cause she gave his diner a bad review?" Apple Fritter asked.
Rarity turned as Donut Joe arrived with their coffee and pastries. Usually, Rarity abhorred coffee as a poor substitute for a well-steeped cup of tea, but this investigation required caffeine in levels not normally found elsewhere. "Mr. Joe, what would you do if a pony caused you to lose this cafe?"
Donut Joe rubbed his chin and looked around. "Well, I'd probably try to break their legs." He gave a half-cocked grin. "Just kidding of course, girls. Enjoy the meal!"
"I was right that creatures will do a lot for a thousand bits, but Pinkie was right that I didn't understand chefs. When they make a meal, they put a piece of themselves into it, like I do when I make a dress. If somepony caused me to lose my boutique, I'd probably despise them for the rest of my life." Rarity said, returning the book and the paper to her bags and sipping the cappuccino she'd ordered.
"All the same, that ain't the same as deciding to go poisoning them." Applejack said.
"It is if you think they aren't going to vote for you in a contest for a thousand bits...especially if you need that money to salvage your career as a world-class chef." Rarity said with a smile.
Applejack took off her daddy's hat and rubbed its brim for good luck. She wasn't sure this was a good idea. She'd never been good at subterfuge, not when it involved planning a surprise party and not when it involved tricking one of her kin. The very idea of it made her feel downright dirty. But Rarity had impressed its importance on her, and Applejack knew if that if Rainbow trusted Rarity to do this right, then so did she.
Trotting over to Sugar Belle's stand in the garden, she found Sugar Belle sitting down next to Sweetcream, stroking her mane and quietly soothing the still teary unicorn.
Feeling like the biggest pile of manure in the world, Applejack cleared her throat. "Sugar Belle, would ya mind if we went for a little walk. I got somethin' important I gotta talk to you about."
"Of course, Applejack...oh, Celestia, it isn't about Pinkie, is it?" Sugar Belle asked, putting a hoof to her mouth.
The grief stricken Sweetcream deflated even deeper at the suggestion.
"No! No! Pinkie's got the best doctors in the country. She's feelin' better already...it's just something...I think we need to talk about on our lonesome is all."
Sugar Belle nodded and stood. "Okay. I'll do whatever you need me to do to help you and Rarity get to the bottom of this..."
Applejack looked away as they trotted together behind the nearest hedge, providing the most remote modicum of privacy.
Then she took a deep breath and once again took off her hat, letting her hooves linger on the weathered fabric.
"Sugar Belle...Apple Fritter told me something, before I came over here."
"Yes, Applejack?"
"Somethin' havin' to do being a young mare in Applepaloosa and...seein' a-a missin' poster with the wrong name on it..." Applejack glanced up briefly to assess the damage. It was so much worse than she'd imagined. Sugar Belle wasn't distraught, she was devastated.
Applejack looked away quickly. She'd bucked changelings and lassoed Timber Wolves, but hurtin' somepony she considered family was just about the toughest thing she'd ever had to do. "Sugar Belle...were you part of the Order of the Lunar Temple?"
"Rarity! Well, isn't this a surprise!" Bon-Bon stood by the gates of the J. Edgar Hooves Building, a smile on her face.
Rarity smiled back and the two mimed giving each other kisses to either side of their muzzles. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to ask, but Twilight assured me you were the pony to speak with regarding creatures pretending to be who they're not."
Bon-Bon frowned. "You mean changelings?"
"No. I mean..." Rarity looked around. "...subterfuge."
Bon-Bon glanced at Apple Fritter, who was looking more than a little skittish.
"It's alright, Sweetie, your secret is safe with us." Rarity re-assured.
Bon-Bon took a deep breath. "Okay, Rarity. What does Twilight need?"
"Well, you have files on all public figures, don't you?" Rarity asked, lowering her voice.
"Only if they are threats to national security." Bon-Bon said with a cough.
"Yes, of course. I was just wondering...do you happen to have a file on Mulia Mild?"
"Please, you can't tell Big Mac!" Sugar Belle begged.
"No, hold on sugarcube. You saved me and my friends' cutie marks, I know you're a good pony and I ain't about to ruin my brother's marriage over a mistake." Applejack reassured her, taking Sugar Belle's foreleg and lifting her to hooves. "But all the same I need to know the truth. Rarity thinks you bein' in this Order might have something to do with what happened to Pinkie."
"But I would never-I mean, I couldn't imagine...oh, Applejack, I never wanted to hurt anypony. I was just lonely, I was a young mare back then, I didn't know any better!!"
"Hold on, hold on! Now start from the beginning, tell me about this here order...what was it and why were you apart of it anyway?"
Sugar Belle sank to the floor. "Well...you know I didn't grow up in the town that Starlight converted...and you probably noticed no actual family members showed to be on my side of the aisle during me and Big Mac's wedding."
Applejack pursed her lips.
"I joined Starlight's commune, because I didn't have any family left...or any friends. I guess I was always looking for...for somepony to make me feel like I belonged. When you met me, that was Starlight but...but before her, it was Lullaby Solfège."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Lullaby told us that when Nightmare Moon came back to Equestria, things would change for us, for every creature who felt...alone. This was years before you and Twilight and the others saved Princess Luna...most ponies thought she was just a myth back then, but we believed. Lullaby said that Nightmare Moon had reached out to her in her dreams and chosen her to form the Order...a group of ponies who would overthrow the royal court on the night of the Summer Sun Celebration. I-I hadn't really had a home since I dropped out of school...but out there, in the desert...I thought I belonged. I changed my name, I put on the ceremonial garb. Lullaby she...she made me feel like I...like I was somepony. Like I was special. Like ponies wanted me. Then ponies from the government showed up...they knew what we were planning, they knew it was wrong...Lullaby, she wanted us all to drink this special apple juice. She said it would take us to the dream world, where we could serve Nightmare Moon forever. She said it would make us part of the Nightmare Moon's 'kingdom of dreams' and...we'd never have to wake up again."
Sugar Belle had never stopped crying since Applejack first mentioned the Order. But despite never flinching through the entire length of the story, her distress was clearly rising from the rhythm of her breath.
"I-I was so scared, Applejack...I almost drank like the others...but I was so scared...I ran...and I didn't stop running, for years. I used my old name again. I dyed my mane. I barely remember their faces anymore, Applejack...just...just in nightmares..."
"Sugar Belle, it's alright. Hey, listen, it's gonna be alright." Applejack wrapped her forelegs around her sister-in-law and tucked Sugar Belle's mane beneath her chin, careful to avoid Sugar Belle's horn. Then she pulled her tight, comforting her not unlike Sugar Belle had been doing with Sweetcream not long ago. "I'm so sorry, sugarcube. I'm so, so sorry..."
Bon-Bon had returned with the file requested, much quicker than Rarity had expected given the size of the bureau's building.
"I put some extra information in there, that I thought you could use." Bon-Bon revealed as Rarity moved to open the first.
Rarity opened the manilla envelope and raised an eyebrow. Then she slid the manilla envelope into her saddlebag beside the book on cults of Nightmare Moon.
"You will be careful with who you share that info with, won't you?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Of course, darling. The last thing I'd want to do is start some kind of panic. Just a couple of questions though...it says in this book that this Lullaby Solfège, she escaped the day the Order fell...I assume you haven't arrested her since?"
"No." Bon-Bon didn't look annoyed. She looked furious.
"...Do you happen to know what she looked like?"
Bon-Bon coughed. "She was a white unicorn, actually. Just past middle-aged and with a cutie mark of leaves. Lullaby Solfège wasn't her real name, though. Like everypony in the cult, she changed it when she 'converted'. Her real name was Stinging Nettles."
Rarity nodded. "And...was there ever any indication that this Stinging Nettles...what I mean to say is, was any of what she 'saw' in her dreams real?"
Bon-Bon shook her head. "I've seen a lot of messed up stuff, Rarity. Monsters from all over Equestria. But trust me, nothing beats the stuff that ponies make up in their own minds. The things they do to themselves and each other, for what they think are the right reasons..." She glanced again at Apple Fritter and then back to Rarity. "There were over three dozen members of that cult. Stallions, mares, and foals...only two of them survived."
Once Bon-Bon was gone and they were heading in the direction of the castle, Apple Fritter finally spoke up. "Uh, Rarity, I know you said you needed my help with all this but...I don't feel right about none of it. I mean...it feels like I'm hearing things I shouldn't be hearing and well, I'm not clever like you. I don't think I'll be much help figuring out what it is that's going on..."
"Don't sell yourself short darling. First you put together that Sugar Belle wasn't who she claimed to be, then you noticed that Mulia was acting suspicious. Why, you've provided two of our biggest leads just by being your normal, charming self. Besides, you want to look after Sugar Belle don't you?"
"Well, of course, but-!"
"I know it can be scary not knowing all the pieces and...finding out that you didn't know some creatures as well as you thought. All the same, this is too big a job for one mare to do on her own."
"I know it's just...well, Rarity, you're so good with all this official stuff and you know all these important ponies and I...well, I don't know how much help I've been."
"Nonsense, Apple Fritter. You've already provided two vital pieces of information for the investigation. Here, why don't you tell me about the last Apple Family reunion while we head back to the gardens? Give me a nice long, Apple family anecdote!"
Applejack had just gotten Sugar Belle and Sweetcream calmed down again when she heard it. The snootiest voice she'd encountered in a long time.
"I see that Seasoned Sentry is allowing anyone to wander onto the premises now. I suppose you'll be serving up fried candy bars to complete the quartet of underqualified yokels?" Zesty asked.
Applejack stood up, adjusting her hat. "You must be Zesty Gourmand. Rarity told me you were mean to her and Pinkie yesterday."
"Oh, was I?" The unicorn began examining her hoof. "It's not really advantageous in my business to be nice to ponies..."
"Well, maybe you should try it all the same. Pinkie and Rarity are two of the nicest ponies I've ever known. And I don't take kindly to you insulting my cousin and brother's wife neither."
"Really?" Zesty smirked. "Well, perhaps they should avoid insulting my palette with undercooked fritters and...ugh...apple and almond pie..." Zesty shivered like she'd just stepped over some roadkill.
Applejack stomped up to the unicorn. "Now you listen here! I don't rightly care what do or don't taste good to yer 'pail-ate', but I do care about you insulting good home cooking. Me and my family have been making apple pie and apple fritters for as long as we've been around. So, you can choose not to eat 'em, but don't go stuffin' how great you are down our throats just cause you don't appreciate 'em!"
Zesty lifted a hoof-mirror with her horn, as well as a small brush so she could check her make-up for blemishes. "I can see why Rarity selected you to aid her in this matter. I couldn't imagine a more unsubtle mare and yet here you are."
Applejack snorted.
"Frankly, I don't understand what the point of allowing this one to continue in the contest, even if her dish weren't produced exclusively for foals." Zesty said, directing a hoof at Sweetcream Scoops.
"What in Equestria are you talking about?" Applejack demanded.
"Well, we already know who was responsible for yesterday's events and it wasn't Le Grand, or me, or Miss Mild." Zesty said, putting away the mirror. "It was that unicorn who arrived at the last moment, with a cartload of ice cream. Do you think it was a coincidence that she was the last to join and that it was her meal which went bad? I mean, do you really think she intended to serve gallons of ice cream as her contribution to the contest? She lives in Ponyville, as she said. She knew that garishly coated glutton you call a friend loves her wares and lacks all self-control. She knew the simpleton would scarf down the creamy carbs without even noticing they tasted wrong!"
Applejack wasn't proud of what she did next. All the same, she knew that no pony insulted her friends and got away with it.
When Rarity and Apple Fritter arrived at the gates to the Canterlot Gardens, they found Applejack, glaring at the completely unimpressed Seasoned Sentry.
"Applejack, what's wrong? Did Seasoned Sentry refuse you entry?" Rarity asked.
"No, he gave me entry. Then yer fellow judge accused me of assaultin' her and now I've been thrown out." Applejack stated.
"Applejack, tell me you didn't!"
"I didn't! I would never strike a pony just 'cause they were nasty. All I did was tell that Zesty Goremound what it was I really thought of her."
Rarity slumped, visibly. "Oh, well...that's much worse."
"Rarity, I gotta get back in there. Sugar Belle was all kinds of distraught!"
"Don't worry, Applejack." Rarity said. "Apple Fritter will keep an eye on Sugar Belle. Did you write down what she told you about the Order?"
"I did...I still can't believe you found this out before I did," Applejack said, with an annoyed look at Apple Fritter.
"Relax, darling." Rarity said, floating the notebook from Applejack's hooves. "Now, Seasoned Sentry, when Sugar Belle came outside to talk to you yesterday, do you remember what it was she said to you?"
Seasoned Sentry scratched his head. "Which one is Sugar Belle again? All these ponies have sweetness in their names."
"Of course, darling. Sugar Belle is the unicorn with the pink coat."
Seasoned Sentry nodded sagely. "Oh, she was just asking about our visitor..."
"The mare who arrived after Sweetcream Scoops. The one with the large hat." Rarity said.
"Er...yes. She wanted to know what it was the mare said." Seasoned Sentry said.
"And what was it that she said?"
Seasoned Sentry screwed up his face for a moment. "Well...she said she was looking for somepony who was somepony else. Didn't make a lick of sense as far as I can tell."
"How unfortunate." Rarity put on her best smile. "Thank you for your astute observation, Seasoned Sentry. I was actually just talking with the captain of the royal guard...he said that you didn't like this assignment? Would you mind telling me why?"
Seasoned Sentry glared at her and then at Applejack and Apple Fritter. Then he spoke, his voice low and worn with age. "I don't like sweets. Back in my day, if ya wanted dessert, you ate an apple. And you were happy to have the damn apple...there was none of this...sugary, frosting nonsense!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had not been expecting that answer.
"Well, good on ya!" Applejack said. "I respect a stallion who sticks to his principles!"
Rarity cleared her throat. "The captain also mentioned you're...feelings on griffons."
Seasoned Sentry's glare tightened. "If it's all the same to you miss, I don't reckon my feelings much matter so long as I do the job I'm pay to stand here and do."
Rarity stepped forward. "Princess Twilight has granted me the authority to investigate this as a matter of the security of the realm..." Her voice lowered. "Just because you are a guard does not mean you are not a suspect. So, I will thank you to answer my questions..."
Seasoned Sentry stared at nothing for a moment. Then he reached up with one hoof, unbuckling one of the straps on his cuirass. Beneath was a massive, blackened scar.
"You youngins ain't got no idea how things was...not too long ago we was at war with everycreature. Now we're friends with them...like it was nothing. Like everythin' me and my squad went through was nothin'." He snarled. "I done things that'd make the lot of ya' faint. So, don't go talkin' down to me or threatenin' me with royal power...I done shed all the blood I can in the name o' the princesses and I do it again."
Rarity stared at him and then at the scar. Her eyes didn't blink as she held his gaze, and she didn't need to turn around to know the expression of shock and concern on Applejack's face.
Then the stand off was broken by Cinnamon Chai, half-galloping out of the gardens with an agonized expression. "Applejack, thank goodness you're here!"
"Oh, howdy Chai. I'm a little busy at the moment..." Applejack said, distantly as Seasoned Sentry rebuckled his armor.
Too consumed with her own sorrow to notice the latent tension in the air, Cinnamon barreled over to Applejack. "Saffron's toasted coconut ladoo are falling apart but she won't let me help and I just know that she'll end up losing because of it and that means that if I don't win then she'll hate me forever and we'll never get back together, and I don't know what to do!"
Rarity gave Applejack a look and then moved her hoof in a "go on" gesture. Applejack sighed and drew in the third tear-stained mare that afternoon, patting her lightly and repeating the same comforting words she'd offered to Cinnamon Chai only a few hours earlier.
"Come along Apple Fritter, let's give these two some privacy." Rarity said, much louder than she needed to, as she walked past Seasoned Sentry without waiting for his permission to enter the garden. "You know what Applejack is like with these unicorn mares..."
Applejack glared after her. "Rarity! What in the heck am I supposed to do?!"
"Your allegation is preposterous!" Gustav insisted.
"Really now, is it?" Rarity said. "Then you deny that Zesty Gourmand was responsible for the closure of your chateau?"
"Of course, I don't! That does not mean I came here attempting to kill her." Gustav said.
Rarity steeled her expression. "Mr. Le Grand, I did my research on you when I was at the Canterlot Times. Is it or is it not true you were a member of the Bone-Snapper Clan before you entered the world of cuisine?"
Gustav's expression faltered. "I...well...yes, I was born a Bone-Snapper, but-"
"And is it true their signature way of getting a meal was to grab a large animal and dash them against the rocks?" Rarity asked, moving closer to him.
Gustav roared, grasping a skillet and tossing it through the air, inches from her head. "I knew it! I knew that you were just like all the others, another snooty unicorn who despises my kind! I have never harmed the hairs on a single pony's head. But do you have any idea how long I have had to work to get ponies to view me as a respected chef and not a meat-eating monster? Of course not!! You are beautiful and rich, everything that a citizen of Equestria desires!" Gustav marched back and forth, his claws ripping up holes in the lawn. Rarity watched him completely nonplussed, with no little sympathy at his frustration. "Well, I am a citizen of Equestria too and I will not be treated this way, interrogated merely because I am the only non-pony in this contest!!"
"Is that why Zesty gave you such a bad review?" Rarity asked, her voice softening. "Because of where you come from?"
"How should I know? I served my best as always and that...heretic...barely tasted it. I joined this contest, not to seek revenge but to prove her wrong, once and for all. To prove that my cooking is as good as any pony!"
"Gustav, one bad review can hardly tank a beloved restaurant..." Rarity began. "Things were bad before Zesty came to Maris, weren't they?"
Gustav looked down. "Not all of us can find gemstones at will, mademoiselle. And no dream is without its sacrifices..."
"That's why you entered the National Desserts Contest the first time we met, isn't it?" Rarity asked.
The griffon turned away, grabbing various pots and pans off the rack and tossing them to the ground. "Yes, yes, I admit it! If that donut baking oaf had simply had the control not to disturb my eclairs, I could have won first place! Instead, I was forced to split the winnings five ways. Instead of getting the bits I needed to pay back my debts, I could only stave off the inevitable."
"You resented Pinkie too, for tempting Donut Joe into sampling your eclairs, didn't you Gustav?" Rarity asked.
"Bah! I know I was not blameless on that fateful train ride...all the same it stung to be forced to share the pedestal..." Gustav said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You know, Gustav...if you had just told Pinkie about your situation, I'm sure she would have been more than happy to help you...the two of you could have baked great things together." Rarity prodded.
"I admit, I have been a bit of a prideful beast...all the same I poisoner I am not! Despite my resentment toward two of the judges, I came here with no ill will. And I was nowhere near the ice cream for the whole day! I was too busy working on my crème brûlée."
"Can any creature attest to that?" Rarity asked, although not with any serious intent.
"I can." Said Mulia as she appeared from behind a nearby hedge. "And I would appreciate it if you would stop harassing our contestants with such half-baked accusations, Rarity."
"Miss Mild." Rarity turned to face the mule. "I'm afraid that you may not be the reliable witness that Gustav needs at the moment."
Mulia glared. "Oh, and why pray tell is that?"
"Well, I would love to describe my reasoning. But I suspect you'd be happier if we avoided discussing your background in front of others."
"Hmmph! Well, I have no intentions of answering questions from you whether they pertain to my background or not."
"That's such a shame," Rarity said. "Because if I can't discover the responsible party, the palace guard will be forced to bring every creature that was here yesterday in for questioning. That could take days of poking and prodding...and I expect some uncomfortable things could come out about us all."
"Better than waiting for you to denounce us." Gustav sneered.
Rarity didn't take her eyes off Mulia though. Finally, Mulia without a word, turned and the two of them marched out of Gustav's sight together, disappearing behind a dragon shaped topiary.
"Alright, what do you want?" Mulia hissed, her voice suddenly becoming dropping into a harsh Eastern European baritone.
"I read your file, Miss Mild." Rarity said. "I know that you were employed by the Grand Hoofspar of Muledovia as a spy."
"That was a long time ago." Mulia said, turning away. "I am a chef now, first and foremost."
"Then who were you communicating with when Apple Fritter ran into you yesterday?"
Mulia glared back at her and then removed her watch and from beneath it, a small, black device with an antenna on it. "The Grand Hoofspar does not take kindly to his employees betraying him. It was Princess Celestia who gave me this to contact the palace if I believed I'd been discovered."
Rarity frowned. "But then...why did you think you'd been discovered?"
Mulia returned the communicator to her purse and cleared her throat, returning to her "normal" voice. "Yesterday, a white pony arrived at the gates, claiming to be looking for a pony named Mane Cook, wearing a disguise. I informed her that we were all who we said we were...however, I was unsure if, given her shifty behavior around Seasoned Sentry, she was a member of some covert organization and I worried she'd asked the question just to get my reaction."
"So, you thought this pony was lying to try to expose who you really were?" Rarity said. "Do you remember anything else about them? Any peculiar details?"
"Indeed. They appeared to be hiding something beneath their hat. A weapon perhaps."
Rarity nodded. "Thank, Miss Mild. Rest assured; your secret is safe with me."
Rarity sat in the shadow of the garden fountain, listening to the comforting burbling, and staring intensely at the account that Applejack had transcribed. It would have been difficult enough to untangle if not for Applejack's hoof-writing.
It didn't make any sense. This Stinging Nettles had clearly caught up with Sugar Belle. But why now? Why risk coming to the most secure city in Equestria, let alone attracting the attention of the palace guard. If Stinging Nettles had known that Sugar Belle was "Mane Cook" she could have easily confronted her out at Sweet Apple Acres when she was alone in the orchard. If Stinging Nettles was mad enough not to care about the guards, she would have just broken into the garden. Seasoned Sentry was hardly an imposing figure, and the gardens were so vast and unmonitored (largely thanks to Flash Sentry) that it would have been hardly difficult to slip inside if that was her intent.
No, Stinging Nettles had announced herself as a threat. She had wanted to attract attention. She'd wanted Sugar Belle to find out she wasn't safe. And that meant that as much as Rarity wished the poisoning had come from some cruel outside party, whoever hurt Pinkie Pie, they weren't Stinging Nettles.
"Rarity!"
Rarity turned to find Saffron marching up to her and slipped the account into her saddlebag along with the rest of the evidence she'd accumulated.
"Saffron...can I help you?" She asked, standing up and stretching her haunches.
"Yes! First Pinkie Pie gets sick, then we are told you are taking over as the third judge. Then you show up with this mare, Applejack, and now Mulia and Zesty aren't the least bit interested in tasting our desserts and neither it seems, are you! This whole competition is collapsing!!"
Rarity smiled. "Saffron, I apologize that the contest has been so derailed, but I promise things will get back on track soon enough."
"When? We were promised a day of preparation and a day of presentation and then one of us would be rewarded." Saffron insisted.
"You know I met your father at the clinic just last night and he mentioned you were quite eager for the prize money." Rarity said, leaning on the edge of the fountain, to glower at her rippling reflection in the choppy water of the fountain's pool. "But he also didn't seem terribly concerned about you needing it."
Saffron glared. "Yes, we need the bits, alright! I haven't been able to run the Tasty Treat without him and it's put a dent in our yearly profits. That's why I would appreciate if we got on with the contest and concluded this mess."
"I'm sure Cinnamon Chai would be more than happy to help out at the Tasty Treat." Rarity said. "If you let her."
"How do you know..." Saffron's jaw clenched. Then she turned away, her expression darkening. "That is none of your concern, Rarity."
"I'm afraid it is when I am trying to clear my friends of murder charges." Rarity stated.
Saffron paused. "What in Equestria are you talking about now?"
"Somecreature poisoned Pinkie Pie. Somecreature put enough cyanide into Sweetcream's ice cream that if it had been me or you or Zesty who tasted it, we would have died." Rarity stated.
Saffron stared in shock, then she backed away and sat down. "I-I had heard that Pinkie might have been poisoned...but I never would have guessed it was true!"
Rarity marched over to her. "Saffron, your father is in the hospital. I don't blame you for being eager to get the prize money from this competition."
Saffron looked away.
"But do you insist on hurting Cinnamon Chai when you obviously still care for her?"
Saffron didn't answer.
"I talked with Coriander, Saffron. He approved of you and Cinnamon Chai. So why would you call things off without an explanation?" Rarity pressed.
Saffron glared back at Rarity. "We cannot be together. That should be explanation enough."
"I'm afraid that in matters of the heart, like in any good mystery story, ponies prefer it when things are spelled out for them at the end of it all. One way or another Saffron, the truth will come to light...I just hope you are the one holding onto it when it does." With that, Rarity turned away, kicking the pebbles on the white pathway and biting her lip.
She needed more help, that was obvious. She was out of her depth. But time was running short. She'd have to either go through with the contest or accuse somepony and get it out of the way. The contestants and judges lived all over Equestria, she couldn't hold them here forever, especially when half of them hated each other. It was more or less asking for another attempted murder to occur.
She'd give an announcement to the entirely unenthusiastic contestants and then she'd head back to the clinic. Rarity was about to levitate out a megaphone to get every creature's attention, when Seasoned Sentry came galloping through the gate, panting and wheezing.
"Help! Somepony get help!!" He cried as he pointed back the way he'd come.
Rarity galloped out the gate and had to stop herself from being sick as she skidded to a halt. The wagon had come barreling down from the castle front gates and crashed into the wall of the garden. It's splintered remains lay on one side and one wheel still slowly spun. The harness lay loose on the ground. Beside it, dark red pooled beneath the shattered axel and at the edge of the blood lay a crushed pair of sunglasses and ruined scarf. And underneath the broken boards, the sun hat no longer obscuring her horn, lay the crumpled body of a white unicorn. The white and black make-up on her thighs had been smeared off as she was drawn across the cobblestones, revealing a cutie mark of jagged leaves.
