Zipp Storm Investigates!-The Mystery of the Missing Butter

Suddenly, a vent popped off from the ceiling, bringing with it a vast cloud of dirt and dust that hammered to the floor. Zipp covered her eyes as the dust began to settle, followed by a loud clang from the vent cover itself slamming into the floor.

The heat sensor and motion trackers were still screaming, so Zipp switched them both off for fear of the noise attracting... whatever this thing was.

As she sat there, watching, something dropped out of the vent and landed on the floor, briefly dropping onto something before getting up. And in the dark corridor of that grocery store, Zipp quickly realised she had no idea what she was looking at.

This was mainly because it was too dark to actually get a proper look at this thing. It was shrouded in darkness. Zipp switched one of the displays to night vision mode, but almost immediately turned that off as it was blinding her. This thing was giving off so much heat it rendered the display basically unusable.

So, instead, Zipp hid. She slid under one set of shelves and hid out of sight, fearing this thing might have seen her.

It then walked straight past all the equipment and past where Zipp was hiding, and onwards. Zipp still couldn't get a proper look at the creature as it went by, but it seemed to be breathing heavily as it went by.

Zipp stuck her head out and looked as the creature stopped at one section of the aisle. Then, with a blinding flash most of the produce was sent flying to the ground. Bottles exploded on impact, leaving a massive mess. Sauces and other items landed on the floor, producing a horrible mess.

Zipp looked as the creature hungrily opened a peanut butter jar- and started to eat the contents. Whilst it did this, it started to shove the other ones into a bag.

Then things went wrong. Zipp moved too far and knocked a tin off a shelf, which landed with a bang.

The creature looked at her, its face still shrouded in darkness. And then it ran.

Zipp slid out from under her hiding place and gave chase behind it, soon emerging from the store entrance and out into the cold night air. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The creature didn't reply, instead suddenly leaving the ground on a pair of glowing wings. Zipp spread her own and jumped into the air, trying to catch up as fast as she could.

This was getting wierder by the second. No way this thing was a normal pony. Possibly it was one of the legendary sphynxes? Or maybe even a hippogriff? Rumour had it those had been able to give off blasts of energy.

Suddenly, the thing let off another flash of light. Zipp yelped, blinded by the light, and plummeted down to the streets below before landing in a full bathtup.

She sat up, groaning. "Well, I fell right into that one. But why couldn't it have been a conveniently placed mattress?"

The next morning, after a rest, Zipp decided to retrace her steps after the creature had escaped, and was now following the streets with an app on her phone. This was highlighting unusual things and objects on the way, and suddenly something interesting.

Zipp stepped closer to a distance marker that sat between her and the Mareiott, which had a burn mark in it. The marker, not the Mareiott. "Whatever that thing was, it passed this way."

Suddenly, her phone began buzzing loudly, and Zipp checked to see who it was. "Oh boy. Why does she have to arrive now?"

Suddenly, a familiar face landed next to her. "Hey sis!"

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Hey Pipp."

Pipp walked round the front. "Hey, you not excited to see your little sis?"

"Is it really so hard to say a two syllable word?"

"What got you in such a grouchy mood?" Pipp asked. "Mom sent me to document this event. She'd have come herself but she's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO busy and doesn't have time. So I'm going to stream the entire thing! Isn't that Fabulous?!"

Zipp nodded. "OK. I must ask, why do you sing the last word of so many of your sentences?"

"Stylistic touch. But my question stands. Why such a grouch?"

"You've kinda arrived at a bad time, Pipp." Zipp then quickly got her up to speed on what had happened so far, including last night's dramatic chase.

"Ooooh, an actual mystery to solve!" Pipp said, looking excited. "I'll get to try my new detective outfit!"

"Pipp, must you dress up for everything?"

Sure enough, they arrived at the crime scene, and Hitch was already there. "What happened?" he asked. "Zipp, are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Zipp replied. "Landed in a bathtup. Not so sure about the store, though."

"I've already got a team combing through the building for clues." Hitch looked at her. "Now then, fill me in on what happened?"

Zipp nodded, and relayed all that had happened that night- including the dropped container of peanut butter.

"One of our forensics officers found that, and it could be a big breakthrough. The bite marks in it can be matched to the database, and we'll be able to bring this crook to justice for sure!"

Zipp nodded. "I'll go fill Sunny in if that's OK."

"Sure thing. Seems a bit weird she vanished when going to the bathroom, but I've seen weirder things in my life."

Pipp looked to Hitch. "Like a giant blueberry bouncing down a street and exploding?"

"That sort of thing only happens in cartoons!" Hitch replied, as he went inside.

Pipp sighed. "So, shall we go and find Sunny?"

"You betcha, Pipp!" Zipp replied, and both sisters set off in that direction.

But Pipp still had some questions. And she was asking them as they walked in through the front door of the Mareiott and into the lobby. Zipp glanced over. "Don't worry, she's my sister. Just here on a brief visit!"

Pipp, on the other hand, continued her speech as if nothing had happened. "But who would steal peanut butter? That seems like such a weirdly specific thing to steal. It'd be like stealing ice cream!"

Zipp nodded. "I know. It's the strangest crime wave I've ever seen- and that Maretime Bay has ever seen, apparently, given there was one guy who was stealing ping pong balls."

"That's also oddly specific."

Zipp shrugged. "Alas. not for me to judge. Let's just talk to Sunny and get her up to speed."

They entered the lift and Zipp hit the floor button. After some upward movement they exited, and wandered along the corridor to Sunny's room.

Zipp knocked.

There was no reply.

"Sunny?" she called.

Still no reply.

Zipp looked to Pipp. "Do you have her phone number?"

"Yeah. Should I ring it?"

"Probably should do."

Pipp scrolled quickly through her contacts and soon found the button she needed before hitting the ring button. The device rang for a few seconds before ringing out.

"OK, this is really bad," Zipp said. "I may have to force ent-"

And suddenly, the door opened. Sunny was on the other side, her mane currently in some sort of towel. "Hey Zipp! Oh, hi Pipp!"

"I thought you were going to call me Mark for a moment there," Pipp said.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Zipp asked.

"I only just got out of the shower," Sunny replied, indicating to the towel. "I was drying myself off, and my mane needs a bit more time to dry. What time is it?"

"It's nearly 11, Sunny."

Sunny's eyes went wide into a panic. "Oh no! I've really badly overslept! There's so much stuff I need to get caught up on and-"

"Suns, calm," Pipp said. "Let's get you relaxed, and then we can chat about... Zipp, was it the jelly thing?"

"Peanut butter," Zipp replied.

A few minutes later, Sunny had finished drying her mane, and the others quickly filled her in on all that was happening. Sunny nodded. "Well, I must admit I'm not quite sure what happened after I went to the bathroom, but I remember feeling very sleepy. I probably fell asleep in the stall and somepony brought me back to the hotel."

This struck Zipp as odd, so she noted it down.

Pipp, meanwhile, had gotten distracted and was looking at the decor inside the hotel room. "Nice pair of scales, Sunny!" she said.

"Thanks!" Sunny said. "I think they might be broken though."

"Why's that?" Pipp asked.

"I'm on a diet right now, quite carefully watching what I'm eating. And somehow I'm still putting on weight!"

Zipp's ears rose at that. That also seemed very odd.

Sunny sighed. "Hopefully I'll be able to get it under control. Anyway, I need to be off shopping."

"Why?" Zipp asked.

"I'll need a dress for the Food Festival party, that's why!" Sunny said, as she trotted out of the room.

Zipp looked at Pipp. "We need to search this room whilst she's out."

"Why?"

"To eliminate any doubt."