Zipp Storm Investigates!-The Mystery of the Missing Butter

Sunny still looked horrified at the scene, and Zipp wasn't in the slightest surprised. I mean, who wouldn't if they found out they had some other thing trapped inside them that broke free every night and was engaging in mass theft of consumable items? She looked at Zipp, wild eyed. "Zipp, please don't turn me in!"

"Why would I?" Zipp pointed out. "You're not the one committing the crimes, Sunny. I'll be here for you, and we're going to figure this one out together. But in order for any of this to work I'll need to ask you a few questions. Perhaps it's best you get comfy, Sunny."

Sunny nodded, and sat back in a chair, relaxing as she did so. "I never realised how a well sprung chair can help soothe a pony's nerves."

"Well, there was one pegasus psychologist who argued that letting people talk about their problems was a more efficient way of helping to diagnose their issues." Zipp sat down nearby. "Now then, if I recall correctly you say you don't recall anything about the night time recently, correct?"

Sunny nodded. "For the most part, I've been going to bed at the same time every day, around ten at night. I'm back at the Mareiott well before then, mind."

"What was your typical routine?"

"Well, I'd have dinner, spend some time in the gymn or the swimming pool, then retire for bed. The curtains were long since closed by that point, so there was no natural light coming into the room- earth pony buildings usually have very thick curtains as the sun can get very bright in the morning."

Zipp nodded. "Interesting. So, Sunny, what sort of time do you get up?"

"I usually try to be out of bed by seven thirty at the latest. I got up later yesterday and the day before that for reasons I didn't understand at the time but now-"

Zipp stopped her. "One line of focus and one line of enquiry at a time. Otherwise information might get muddled."

Sunny nodded. "Gotcha. So, as I said I usually try to be out of bed by seven thirty at the latest. By that point the sun is blazing high in the sky, so that's not really an issue for seeing. I then go in the shower, dry myself off, then go for breakfast and start my day properly."

Zipp nodded. "Thanks, Sunny. That'll be really helpful. But you said the thefts had been occurring for a few days before I arrived, right?"

Sunny nodded. "Yeah. But I was indoors during that time and asleep well before the time of the incident. How did that happen?"

"Was it anything to do with curtains?"

Sunny thought. "Well, there was that one night where the air conditioning broke and I had to have the window open or else I'd boil alive. That required me to leave the curtains open."

Zipp noted this fact down. "Were their clouds that night?"

"Not when I went to bed."

Zipp flipped to another page. "What happened the night of the stakeout?"

Sunny thought as hard as she could, trying to remember what happened.

Sunny spun her chair away from the desk and dropped onto the floor, her hooves making a clicking sound as they impacted the cold tiles of the polished floor. "I need to use the bathroom. See you in a moment."

"See ya, Sunny," Zipp replied, not turning her attention away from the display. She certainly seemed intent on using this equipment to catch the crook, that's for sure.

Sunny wandered down the corridor to the bathroom and popped open the door, flicking on a light to make seeing easier. Back in the old days, she'd gone without turning on the lights to avoid waking her dad up. That had always been an interesting challenge.

Sunny snuck around the room and into a stall, and shut the door behind her. The stall seemed oddly bright, as if some other light source was in there. But it had been a cloudy day when she'd gone into the store, so maybe the moon was out.

Sunny stepped forward- and into the light of the moon itself.

Suddenly, she jolted awake and looked about her. She was in her bedroom, surrounded by her things. "Wait, that was weird. Probably just a strange dream." She then looked at the clock and her eyes widened in shock. "It's past ten! Sugarcubes! I need to get caugh up!"

"So, you can't remember what happened between you walking into the light and waking up?"

Sunny shook her head. "No. The time inbetween those is just a big blank. I have no clue what went on in that time. Nor do I recall much of last night."

"What did happen last night?" Zipp asked.

"Well, after I went out shopping I decided to go and watch the sunset, as I used to do that a lot when dad was still alive. I watched it go down, and then Sprout started being annoying before something suddenly threw him backwards."

Zipp noted that down with interest. "Did anything else happen after that?"

"Not that I can remember. Next thing I recall is you greeting me this morning, only a few minutes ago. The moon was out, though." Sunny put her head in her hooves. "So, if I've got this correctly, the things I can't remember are when I'm that... thing."

Zipp turned her phone around and showed a picture. "Pipp captured that last night."

Sunny's eyes widened in surprise. "That's an alicorn!"

"A what now?"

"An alicorn! They're a rare type of pony that has the attributes of all three pony kinds. They can fly, they can do magic, and they can use super strength."

Zipp turned the picture back, and then noticed something familiar about it. "Hey, that's the thing you became after we reunited the tribes!"

Sunny, however, seemed crushed. "A criminal alicorn. Just another thing I have to put with being now."

"Look, we can fix this," Zipp said. "And I've spotted a pattern to all of this. Each time this seems to happen, the moon is out. It was cloudy when we walked to the store for the stakeout, so you were blocked from the light of the moon. Furthermore, the stall clearly had a hole in the roof so the moon could shine through, and you were directly in view of the moon when out last night."

"But what about before then?"

"You said you had your curtains open. That'd allow moonlight to shine through."

Sunny nodded. "So, it seems my transformations are somehow tied to the moon. Why has my life suddenly turned into a cliche horror movie?" She tried to open the door, but seemed to be struggling, and before either she or Zipp could react she lunged for some peanut butter and tried to get the cap off before stopping herself. "Did the alicorn do that?"

Zipp nodded.

Sunny looked at Zipp. "The longer this goes on, the more of the alicorn's traits I seem to be gaining... what if it becomes permanent?"

Suddenly, there was a bang at the door. "THIS IS THE POLICE! OPEN THE DOOR IMMEDIATELY!"

Before either of them could react, the door burst open, and three police ponies burst into the room, Hitch leading them. "Hooves where I can see them!"

Zipp calmly put her phone down and backed up, whilst Sunny dropped the jar of peanut butter she had been holding and turned around. "Hitch, what's go-"

"Sunny Starscout, by the powers vested in me as Sheriff of Maretime Bay, I have a warrant for your arrest. You are hereby charged with disturbance of the peace, serial theft, and criminal conspirary to rob stores."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly what a criminal would say," said one of the other police ponies, pulling up the bedsheets. "See! All the evidence we need, right here!"

Another police pony slapped cuffs on Sunny's legs before she could say anything else, as Hitch continued reading her her rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say whilst in custody can and will be used against you."

Sunny tried to back up, but the cuffs caused her to topple over. "Hitch, stop, please just listen to me!"

Hitch sighed. "I'll add resisting arrest to your charges if you're not careful."

"What evidence do you have?" Zipp asked.

"Apart from the jars down there, the forensics team got some data from the tomato slick and the unfinished jar of peanut butter you found in the store. The former had Sunny's hoofprints in it, and the latter had bite marks which match Sunny's teeth- according to her dentist."

The police ponies formed up on either side to haul her away, and as they dragged her out of the door Sunny looked back. "Zipp, help me! You know I'm innocent!"

Zipp wasted no time in following along. After all, she was technically a deputy right now. And deputies had all sorts of important powers to help the Sheriff.

She was going to clear Sunny's name, no matter what it took.