Zipp Storm Investigates!-The Mystery of the Missing Butter

Zipp started by pulling open the closet. "Come on, there's got to be some stuff in here!" she said.

Pipp flew up next to her. "Zipp! Isn't this an invasion of privacy?"

"Not if I'm rifling through it with a good purpose it isn't!" Zipp replied, who looked through the bottom of it. "Nope. Nothing of concern down here. Let's check the sock drawer."

Pipp floated back as Zipp continued to throw things out of the draw. "Watch where you're throwing things?"

"Perhaps you could look somewhere else instead of buzzing about? Check the kitchen for anything."

Pipp scoffed. "Well I never! Buzzing about? You need to get your priorities sorted out."

"Remember who the crown princess is," Zipp replied.

Pipp huffed and flew over to the kitchen section of the room, pulling open a drawer as she did so. Knifes, spoons, and forks were also neatly lined up, ready to ensure their proper use for other things such as food preparation. "Nothing out of the ordinary in here, Zipp. In fact, this looks super neat."

"Sunny does like to arrange things in straight lines," Zipp replied, now having finished emptying out the sock drawer. "Right then, we need to look elsewhere. I'll take a look in this trunk. How's the kitchen?"

"I have no idea why a pony would need this many woks," Pipp complained. "There's five stacked in here like Yakyakistani Dolls!"

"Perhaps Sunny cooks a lot of Chighneise food?" Zipp suggested. "Then again, that wouldn't explain the lack of smell."

"Perhaps she had the ventilator on?"

"Good point." Zipp flipped open a trunk and began to look through it. "Hey, this is full of really old books. This calls for a much more careful approach."

"And throwing somepony's socks on the floor doesn't?" Pipp asked, as a sock suddenly sailed past her. "Watch it! You nearly hit me in the face!"

"Sorry, but I'm kinda busy here!" Zipp replied, continuing to look. "Just a pile of books and maps in here. No doubt Argyle looked at these at some point. I wonder what's in them?"

Pipp stopped moving plates and glanced over. "Zipp, I hate to rain on your parade, but what exactly are we looking for?"

Zipp looked over. "I've been noticing some pretty weird stuff with Sunny lately. She mentioned she's been having weight issues-"

"Zipp, it's rude to ask a mare about her weight!"

"She freely offered the information. Not only that, she seems to be losing any recollection of the night, as shown there, and she vanished completely whilst on a bathroom break last night. Not only that, she got up really late this morning, which is really unlike her."

Pipp looked surprised. "You don't think Sunny is the peanut butter thief, do you?"

"I just want to eliminate all doubt, that's all," Zipp said, before shutting the trunk. "Keep looking at the kitchen. I'll go look in the bathroom next."

"Sure thing," Pipp replied, sounding utterly defeated. "Honestly, that mare..."

Zipp closed the door behind her and looked around inside the bathroom. Nothing of real concern in here, but the area did seem to be very clean. Then again, Sunny had just been in here.

Zipp tried to blot out the overwhelming smell of mane conditioner as she looked through trays, boxes, and cupboards. But nothing in here was proving to be that concerning, so that suggested it was a dead end.

Zipp left the room, and closed the door. "Nothing in there, Pipp, just some-"

Suddenly, Pipp fell backwards and slammed into the bed. "Ow! Get it off!"

Zipp looked at her. "Pipp, what happened?"

"That can fired soap suds in my face!" Pipp replied. "Urgh! This is gonna take an age to get out of my mane!" She shifted forwards to get up.

There was a clinking sound, like glass.

"Stop," Zipp said.

"Did you hear something?"

"Move back to where you were, then forward again."

Pipp leaned back into the bed, then forward again. Sure enough, the strange clinking noise was there again.

Zipp was getting very concerned. "Something is under that bed," she said. "And that something may be connected to this case."

Pipp nodded, not knowing what to expect.

Zipp moved forward very slowly, fully expecting something nasty under the bedding and bed frame. With a swift movement, she pulled it up and looked under the bed.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw what was underneath it.

Sitting in messy piles were vast numbers of empty peanut butter containers.

Sunny had been out longer than she'd been planning to be. The main street had been oddly busy, with people grabbing the last supplies they needed before the festival began tomorrow. This had meant waiting in a lot of long queues.

Thankfully, Sunny had been able to get everything she needed, and had even managed to get the dress she'd seen on sale at a reasonable price. It was a dark blue number with turquoise streaks coming of purple stars, with the bodice finished in turquoise. She'd even bought some dark blue horseshoes to go with it.

Sunny trotted along the waterfront, watching as the sun continued to drop in the sky towards the ocean. She had often enjoyed watching the sunset from the top balcony of the lighthouse, but obviously she couldn't do that right now.

Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she'd actually watched the sun set and the moon come out. So she decided she should probably do that.

Sunny left her shopping at the hotel to pick up later, and then headed back to a bench she liked. She fished through the bag she had on her, and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich to munch on. Sometimes she snacked between meals to help pass the time, but she generally didn't.

She looked down at frowned at her somewhat pudgy frame. She still had no clue how she was gaining weight, but she was planning to see a doctor about it.

"Aha! I knew it!"

Sunny looked over to see Sprout running at her. "Evening, Sprout. How may I he-"

"You're the peanut butter thief!"

Sunny blinked. "I'm what?"

"You're the peanut butter thief!"

Sunny blinked in confusion. "I'm the peanut butter thief? Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Not only did you just admit to it, you've been taking it to make me and my fellows look bad!" Sprout thundered. "Hitch immediately assumed that I was the thief, and I know you've been jealous of me!"

"Why would I be jealous of a clown like you?" Sunny asked, before looking up at the sky. "Look, I'd best be going now, as it's getting late, and -"

"You won't be getting away that easily." Sprout circled in front of her. "We'll sort this out, pony to pony."

Sunny shuddered and brought her hooves up in front of her face. "Sprout, stop! Think about what you're doing!"

"Oh, I've thought very carefully about this, Sunny," Sprout said, and lunged.

His hoof suddenly bounced off some sort of golden thing.

"Wait, what?"

Sunny looked at him- and suddenly her eyes seemed to go cold.

There was a bright flash of light, and Sprout was hurled through the air and crashed onto the ground. "What in the world was that?" he asked.

He sat up, noticing Sunny seemed not to be moving. The entire scene was illuminated only by street lamps and the intense light of the moon, shining down through the clouds.

He started to move forward, noticing Sunny didn't seem to be reacting to anything, her eyes staring off into space. "Sunny?"

What happened next occurred so suddenly Sprout jumped backwards in shock.

Sunny suddenly started spasming violently, as if she was having some sort of fit.

Sprout looked in confusion. Did Sunny have a history of epilepsy, and as such was she currently having a fit? Perhaps he should call for a doctor or something similar.

Just then, a new sound joined the scene. A blood-curdling scream suddenly flew from Sunny's throat as she started to change.

Two wings made of some energy erupted from her sides, and a horn burst out of her forehead and seemed to glow intensely.

Sprout started to back up. "Uh, guys, maybe we should keep away!"

The thing that had once been Sunny jumped from the bench, and slowly prowled towards him.

"Sunny? Hey, uh, maybe you don't want to do this!"

The thing simply growled at him, seemingly not recognising him or even being capable of speech. It continued to get closer to him, still growling.

Sprout now realised his back was against a wall, and he was face to face with this creature and its eyes. Those cold, dead eyes. He could feel its laboured breathing on his forelegs.

"Uhh, is there something you want? Cause I'll give it to you! No, no, don't kill me, please! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

The creature lunged for him- and pulled a jar of peanut butter out of a dumpster behind him. Sprout got a front row seat as the creature devoured the entire contents of the jar before tossing it aside and blasting into the night sky.

Sprout got to his feet and looked around. "What the buck just happened?"