The side of Canterlot where the crime had taken place was eerily quiet. Shouts of ponies from the other districts could be heard but not one pony dared to step near Horseshoe lane. It had been no problem getting to the district, ponies who were about to yell at Fancy and Pip for passing them immediately shut up or began to sing Fancy's praises. Pip even got asked to sign someponies checkbook for merely being an acquaintance of Fancy's. After nearing the district, Fancy pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Pip.
"Here you are, my boy." Pip looked at the object that levitated in front of his face. It was a small mirror like object that hang by a tiny chain. He gasped when he realized what it was.
"Sir, do you think I am ready for a monocle? I-I mean I am just a month into my studies!" Fancy chuckled and looked at him.
"Pip, you do not need a degree to be a gentlecolt. I just teach you the ethics, dear boy. Besides, this monocle is very special to me and I do not trust myself to hold onto it." Pip was still confused.
"Then, why do you trust me to hold onto it?" Fancy smiled again.
"Think of it as a test of sorts." At the mention of the word test, Pip lost all cautiousness and applied it to his right eye, to contrast Fancy's monocle. Some more walking later, the two began to hear loud sobbing coming from further down the street and they eventually found who was responsible for it. Jet Set was being questioned by two royal guards and they seemed to be having trouble doing the actual questioning due to the constant flood of tears. Fancy cleared his throat and signaled for Pip to follow him.
***
"Greetings gentlecolts." Fancy announced his presence. Jet stopped sobbing and perked his head up to find the source of the voice. When he found it, he looked like he just struck gemstone.
"Mr. Fancy Pants! Oh thank Celestia! You got my letter right? Surely you will believe me! These ruffians have been questioning me for an hour and they actually suspect me of...killing my own wife!" Jet Set began to tear up a bit at the mention of 'killing'. He then stopped for a second upon seeing Pip.
"Who is this colt?" Fancy adjusted his monocle and gestured toward Pip with his hoof.
"This here, Jet Set, is my ambitious protege, Pip Squeak." Jet Set looked surprised and he bowed in respect and Pip, surprised at the sudden respect, bowed back.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Pip Squeak." Pip then chimed in, albeit a little nervously.
"Just Pip, if you do not mind." Jet Set nodded and turned toward Fancy Pants.
"I'm guessing you know what happened." Fancy nodded and looked a Pip, Pip nodded back and pulled out the letter. He sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness, I didn't think that the new mail mare would be up to the task. But, it looks like I was wrong to doubt." Jet Set pulled out the locket mentioned in the letter and seemed to stare solemnly at it for a moment before handing it to Fancy.
"Here, I could not find any clues on it and those guards will not let me look into the scene any further. Perhaps you can find something out Fancy Pants." Fancy smiled and nodded, giving Jet a pat on the shoulder.
"Don't worry old sport, I am confident that we will find out what transpired last night." Jet smiled and looked longingly at the locket, Pip noticed a chimed in.
"We will make sure nothing happens to the locket, you can count on us." Pip smiled and Jet seemed at ease by this. He was about to walk away until he remembered something.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot! Silly me." He dug into his suit pocket and pulled out two slips of paper. He handed them both to Fancy.
"I am having a formal ball at my domicile this evening. I was planning to cancel but I figured that if you would come then things would go as planned. Would you mind?" Fancy stuck them into his vest pocket and nodded.
"I would not miss it. Be sure to-"
"Have your lime tea ready? Oh Fancy, you underestimate me." They shared a chuckle and he bid them farewell. Fancy turned his attention to the houses around him and turned to Pip.
"I believe we should ask the locals if they noticed anything, don't you agree?" Pip nodded and they made their way to the nearest home, 345, and knocked on the door. After hearing the sound of broken glass the door swung open to reveal a face Fancy knew all to well.
"Ah, Trenderhoof. It is a pleasure meeting you again." Trenderhoof looked distracted by something as he looked back into the house repeatedly until he finally saw Fancy Pants.
"Fancy Pants?! Oh my goodness! I need to clean up in here a bit, be right back!" The door slammed and the two heard the sound of shelves closing, furniture being moved and, for some reason, cats hissing. As this was going on, Pip tapped Fancy on the shoulder.
"What is it, dear boy?" Pip cleared his throat and scuffed his hoof on the ground.
"Um, can you tell me who that pony was. I think I have heard his name once or twice." Pip looked a little embarrassed. Fancy eased his thoughts with a pat on the head.
"Don't worry Pip, he is a blooming writer who travels around Equestria to write in many different magazines. I heard he even brought tourism to Las Pegasus." He once again adjusted his monocle.
"I heard he even wrote an article about me but he never asked for information." Just then, the door swung open to reveal... Trenderhoof wearing a bag over his head and with a strangely deeper voice.
"Who are you and what do you want?" The duo looked at each other in confusion and Fancy cleared his throat, playing along.
"Well, sir, we are investigating an incident that occurred last night near your place of residence. Did you happen to hear anything suspicious?" He seemed to contemplate the question before he spat.
"I did not hear anything last night! No way, no how!" Trenderhoof threw his hooves in the air dramatically and his bag almost flew off before he caught it. Pip sighed in frustration at the act while Fancy remained calm.
"The incident occurred just across the street from where you are. Are you quite certain you did not hear or see anything." He seemed to stammer a bit before stating, with the utmost confidence.
"Well, I suppose I did hear something. How much is it worth to you?" Pip just sighed and stated in frustration.
"You are trying to bribe one of the most important ponies in Canterlot. I don't believe you know how dangerous that is." Trender seemed to recoil and lifted the bag to whisper something.
"Come on guys, I am trying to stay in character. This is my alter ego: Rustic hoof!" Pip became dubious.
"Why would you need an alter ego? As far as mister Fancy Pants has told me, you post your writings with your own name." Trender seemed to squealed with excitement.
"I know! But this is the first time I have been involved in a potential murder case! So, I spent the entirety of this morning reading some detective novels and, from what I have seen, the witness tends to be very cunning and stubborn." Fancy, who had been quiet during the whole scene, chuckled a bit.
"Well, you certainly play the part well." Trenderhoof welled with pride and squealed like a school filly.
"Thank you! I always wanted to become an actor!" Trender spun around and flashed a scarf that he grabbed in the middle of said spin. Pip still felt a little odd about the situation.
"Well, can you tell us what you saw now?" Pip inquired. Trender laughed awkwardly and threw the scarf back in his home. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Before I was about to tuck into my luxurious rental bed, I heard a strange sound come from outside. I looked out my window to investigate and seen that pony, Jet Set was it? He was laying on the paved road and I seen a shadow of some kind head into the alley. Then I heard a mare scream, but I was to scared to go out there! Fearing the worst, I hid myself in my room until about 2:00 in the morning." He took a deep breath and a sip of water after such a long winded statement.
"So, you heard a mare scream yet you did nothing to help her." Fancy's words were firm and he had lost his smile. Trender became very nervous and backed up a little and gestured inside to try and change the subject.
"Care to come in?" His voice was a little shaken and he shivered a bit. "You must be tired from standing, so please come in!" Fancy nodded a little and Pip bowed at the gesture then went to sit down on one of the small chairs in the room, knocking over some books on accident.
"Oops, I'm sorry." Pip tried to pick them up but they were covered in a purple aura and levitated them into a neat little pile on a nearby table.
"Oh, that is quite alright!" He sat down across from them on another small chair. Fancy had sit down on a couch next to Pip.
"Look, I feel bad about now helping that mare but, I did not want to put myself in danger so I-"
"So you chose to protect yourself rather than help someone else in need." Fancy's eyes never wavered and his voice was still firm. Trender was now shaking and trying to stammer out a sentence. Pip interrupted them.
"I think we can discuss how selfish he is later Fancy." He stated bluntly. Fancy sighed and smiled a bit at Pip. Trender sighed in relief but became attentive again once he seen Fancy had went back to looking at him.
"So, what do you mean by rental bed? Are you not staying long?" Pip questioned. Trender nodded.
"I am a traveling writer after all, I usually only stay in locations for about a week until I learn something juicy to write about." Trender ran a hoof through his mane.
"However, if a story is really juicy I stay for about three weeks at the most." Fancy nodded and added.
"What time do you usually 'tuck in', so to speak." Trender thought for a moment before answering.
"Usually at about 9:00 sharp. I rarely stay up later than that." Pip raised an eyebrow.
"Did you go to bed at the same time last night?" Trender rubbed his neck a bit nervously.
"I tried to, but I had recently eaten some delicious donuts from Donut Joe's. So, I had a hard time sleeping and holding still in general." He then looked toward an empty box labeled: "Donut Joe's! If it ain't got a hole, it ain't here!" Pip chuckled at the simplistic jingle.
"Well, too much sugar can do that." Fancy said rubbing his chin.
"What time did you hear the scream anyways?" Trender looked at the table clock to try and jog his memory.
"I believe it was a little after midnight." He then shrugged "At least I believe it was." He shook his head. "No, I believe it was after midnight. Because I had just finished another box of donuts around that time." Pip laughed a little.
"I guess the cure for restless nights is more sugar, right mister Fancy?" Fancy chuckled and Trenderhoof laughed nervously.
"Yeah, I guess that was pretty dumb of me." He cleared his throat to change the subject.
"So, can you tell us what you saw go into the alley when Jet Set was dazed?" Fancy asked. Trender halfway nodded and shook his head.
"It just looked like a blur to me, but I think I saw something important." Fancy and Pip gestured for him to continue.
"I believe I saw a horn. So it was a unicorn, I believe. I did not see much else in the split second it went by." Fancy looked a little shocked. Everything was adding up in his head.
"Was it completely black? Like a shadow?" Trender looked around as if he had stated the obvious.
"Well, I said it looked like one did I not?" He chuckled a bit and Fancy slammed his hoof on the table, scaring both Pip and Trender.
"And what time did you see it?" Trender was shaking now.
"A-After midnight." Fancy then got up and started to head for the door. Pip, surprised, jumped up after him. Before leaving the house, Fancy thanked Trender for his time and started to head back to his home. Pip had a hard time keeping up.
"Mister Fancy Pants! What is going on?" Pip asked, gasping for air at this burst of sudden exercise his body was not prepared. Fancy turned around and yelled back.
"I have a hunch Pip! A small one, but a hunch none the less!" Pip caught up to him and was alongside him now.
"What's the hunch?!" He yelled a little too loudly. Fancy kept his focus on the road ahead and almost whispered.
"Have I ever told you about...the Phantom of Canterlot?"