//------------------------------// // A New Partner // Story: The Kingpin // by ocalhoun //------------------------------// Chapter 2 – A New Partner Rainbow was right where Fluttershy had said, of course. She slunk through the Ponyville markets, with the suspicious black saddlebags in plain view. Twilight watched from under the brim of her hat, slowly sipping on her hay smoothie. Yes, something strange was definitely going on here. Slipping around a corner and disappearing into an alley behind Davenport's Quills and Sofas, Rainbow vanished. There was only one way Twilight would be able to get the whole truth, and this was the perfect opportunity. Calmly setting her smoothie down on the table in front of her, Twilight teleported. Rainbow jumped backward, wings flaring, as Twilight popped into the alley right in front of her. Twilight stared Rainbow in the eyes, not saying a word. Rainbow glanced at the trashcans behind the building, up at the cloudy sky, back toward the light and bustle of the alley's entrance... anywhere but at Twilight. The muted babble of voices from the marketplace filtered into the narrow alley, but it wasn't even enough to overcome the wind whispering through the thatched roof overhead. Twilight's eyebrow rose. Rainbow gulped. “So, Rainbow... where are you headed?” The silence stretched on, and Rainbow took a step back. Twilight's head tilted downward a little, and her eyebrow rose even more. “Rainbow, whatever's going on, I will find out, so you might as well–” “Hi, Twilight! Hi, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight jumped back, her wings popping out as she fell. She landed hard, skidding a short distance over the packed dirt. Shaking her head, she looked up. Pinkie's smiling face filled her view, and in the alley beyond, Rainbow was nowhere to be seen. “Pinkie!” Twilight threw her hooves in the air. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” “Um...” She tapped a hoof to her chin. “I gave you a great idea for a band name?” Twilight slumped. “No.” “I... just won a free trip to Las Pegasus by being the hundredth pony who talked to you today?” “No.” Twilight covered her face with a hoof. She should have known better than to ask Pinkie a rhetorical question. “Hm... Ooh! I interrupted your super-duper important interrogation, and you're never going to find out what Rainbow was up to?” “N– yes, actually.” Picking herself up, she glanced at Pinkie out of the corner of her eye. “How did you know?” “Lucky guess.” Pinkie smiled wide. Twilight sighed and headed for the end of the alley. Pinkie followed, hopping along, but after a moment, she froze. She let out an enormous gasp and her eyes opened wider than should have been physically possible. “Oh! My! Gosh! Are you playing detective again?” Twilight groaned. “It's 'private investigator,' not 'detective,' and it's not a game!” “Can I help? Can I? Can I? Please!” “No!” Giving Pinkie a sharp glance, she kept walking toward the end of the alley. “Pretty please with a cherry, four gum drops, chocolate ice cream, and sprinkles on top?” “I said no.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Or have you forgotten how you completely ruined my investigation in The Case of the Missing Muffin?” Pinkie bounced alongside, unperturbed. “I was hungry. I told you.” Twilight glared at her in silence. “But hey, if it wasn't for my help, you would never have solved The Case of the Apple Ghost!” Rolling her eyes, Twilight kept walking. Who knew that a shaking hoof meant there were mischievous foals hiding in the attic? She sighed again. She did have to admit it: Pinkie's special sense came in handy sometimes. “Fine.” She stopped and pointed a hoof at Pinkie. “But on one condition.” Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. “Name it!” “No eating evidence, not under any circumstances, no exceptions. Got it?” She nodded. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Resuming her slow path to the alley's exit, Twilight sighed. Had she really left behind half of a good hay smoothie just for this? “So, Detective Twilight, what do we do now?” “Investigator, not detective.” She groaned, regretting taking Pinkie along already. “Now, since my best lead is ruined, we track down Rainbow Dash again.” “Ooh! Goodie!” Pinkie bounced alongside. Somehow, she already had her 'detective's assistant' cap on her head. “I'm great at finding Rainbow Dash! Remember that time just before Gilda came here, when I was going all around town looking for Rainbow? And then I asked you, and you pointed to a cloud, and I found her!” Twilight gave Pinkie a sideways glance. “Wouldn't I technically have been the one who found her then?” “Of course not, silly!” Pinkie laughed. “It doesn't count if you're not looking for her.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course.”