Spike looked up at Twilight. "So, what will we do? There's so many suspects!"
The lavender mare put a hoof to her chin as she thought for a brief moment. "Well, we should probably wait to go snooping around Fluttershy's for a while. I know for sure that Angel is on edge after the last couple days, and he probably told Fluttershy about my little excursion. It shouldn't be hard for her to put two and two together if Angel doesn't for her, so she wouldn't like it if either of us came over for quite some time."
"So, what do you suppose we do?" Spike looked at the whiteboard Twilight had set up the night before.
"Let's try to figure out who exactly Rarity's mysterious fisher pony is."
"Oh, hello Twilight, Spike. What a nice surprise!" Rarity smiled as her friends walked into her boutique. "What do you need?"
Twilight smiled back at her friend. "Hi Rarity! We just need to ask you a few questions." She used her magic to make a notepad and pen appear out of nowhere. She tapped the end of the pen on the paper. "Would that be okay with you?"
Rarity eyed her friend, thinking. "Depends on what kind of questions."
"Do you remember your encounter with the fishing pony about a week ago?"
Rarity rolled her eyes and scoffed. "How couldn't I? He was so weird. Who else would go fishing that late at night for fish like barracuda?"
"OK, great, thank you." She scribbled down a line of notes. "Now, tell me everything you remember from that night."
"Well, it all started when I went to a fabric sale." Rarity told Twilight everything she still remembered about the odd pony, and Twilight kept notes of everything she said.
Twilight parted a few branches of the bush she was hiding behind to scan the beach again. "So, you're sure he'll be here again tonight?" she asked Rarity. The mare returned to her hiding place and looked at her friend.
"I've taken a few walks by this beach lately and he's been here every night fishing." Rarity began. "I've always headed back home whenever I saw him, he just creeps me out. I just don't feel safe near him." She rambled on with more useless information that she's already told Twilight.
Twilight put a hoof to her friend's lips. "Stop. I get it."
"I'm sorry darling." her voice dropped to a whisper. "So, is he here yet?"
Twilight poked her head out of the bush again to look for him. "I'm not seeing him, it could be, OH! There he is!" She instantly sprang from their hiding place and darted through the darkness at the shadowed pony.
Spike followed after her. "Hey, wait for me!"
Rarity sat behind the bush for a minute and looked around, not seeing very far at all. "Ohh, don't leave me alone in the dark!" she cried, chasing after her two friends. She ran in fear from what could be, but probably never will.
The mysterious pony looked up at the three strange figures in front of him. "Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting anyone. Can I help you girls, and dragon?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "I just wanted to know what you're doing at the beach at this hour." She glanced in his bait bucket, the silver of it shining amazingly bright in the moonlight. It was only about half full, and though it was hard to tell exactly, it looked like little meat bits.
"I'm fishing. It's a lot easier at night because I don't need to worry about hooking a pony, or anyone scaring the fish away. Well, mostly." He readjusted his hooded cape, covering up more of his already hidden face.
"What are you hooking with this kind of bait?" She poked the stuff in the bucket for emphasis.
He took a glance at his bucket. "Well, anything that'll bite really. Mainly marlin and barracuda. Quite rare, but such a huge profit. Those griffons love them."
Twilight pondered this for a brief moment. "Interesting, so, where do you get this bait? It is meat right?"
"I buy a load of steaks every day from the griffons. They love me so I get a huge discount as long as I keep selling them fish. Why do you want to know? You interested in profit fishing? I can help you get started." He shook his hips and a belt dropped to the sand, several small sticks were tied to it. He stepped away from the dropped belt and took a stick from it in his hoof. He whipped the stick like he was casting a rod and it grew. After a few seconds there was a small splash as a bobber hit the water. "Here, a portable fishing rod, I have lots of them back home as backups. You three can each have one." he held out the rod to Twilight.
"Thanks, but no. We just want to know your name." Spike interjected quickly.
The pony turned his head towards the little drake. "Oh, alright." He reeled in the line and hit the stick's bottom on the sand, it instantly retracted into it's stick form. "My name huh? That's odd. Well, it's Silver Steel. Unless you're going to complain to someone, then it's Dark Flasher." He chuckled to himself as he reattached his belt somehow without touching it. "Anything else?"
"No, thank you. You are very cooperative." Twilight bowed her head to him. "Have a good night and a fruitful fishing trip." Twilight immediately turned around and left without another word.
Spike and Rarity were short behind her, only taking once glance behind them each to be sure he wasn't following. The little dragon looked over at the mare next to him. "Wow, he is pretty offsetting." he said in a low voice."
"I know right?" Replied Rarity. "But, what's gotten into her?" she pointed a hoof at Twilight, who was muttering under her breath.
"Hey Twilight." Spike said to his caretaker. "What's up?"
She stopped instantly and looked at her hoof, the one she dipped in the bait bucket. There was a red liquid on it that glistened in the light. "OF COURSE!" she shouted. "How couldn't I have seen it before? It's so obvious."
Rarity looked confused at Spike who offered only a shrug. "What is?"
Twilight wiped her hoof on the sand to get rid of the liquid then grabbed Rarity's face and spoke directly at her. "Can't you see? It's so obvious! He and Fluttershy were conspiring to kill Cheerilee! Both of them have fishing as a significant business, Silver Steel for money and Fluttershy to feed her animals. They each have enough string and time on their hands to easily set a trap, and gutting knives to use as weapons. Fluttershy baited Cheerilee into the woods where nopony could find the body easily, then she triggered a trap and Silver killed her and chopped her up for meat to use as bait. Then the two worked together to get whatever it is that they needed from her and-" she was cut off by a slap from Rarity, she instantly released her grip.
"Twilight! You're crazy! You are just jumping to conclusions now! Fluttershy would not do anything to hurt another pony, and we barely know this pony, he has a much a reason to kill Cheerilee as you and I! You are going crazy!" Rarity scolded. "Snap out of it!"
Twilight stared for a moment. Then she lowered her head in shame. "You're right." she looked back up at her friend. "Thank you, I must be losing it. This investigation is just, all over." She turned back around and resumed walking home. She secretly ran through other possibilities as they headed back. Twilight was confident that she would solve this mystery.