“Did you hear that?!” Pinkie exclaimed happily to Petit. “I won!”
Petit smiled at Pinkie. “Yes, I heard. What do you wanna do with the prize?”
Pinkie looked confused. “....I don’t understand that question. I’m eating it, of course!”
“It’s a super-size pastry. Nopony could eat something that size alone.
Look at it. It’s as big as my head.” Petit smiled, and pointed at the giant pastry,
moving closer to it and compared her own head to it.
She was right, Pinkie thought to herself as she looked at Petit next to the pastry.
it was indeed almost the same size. Petit tilted her head slightly. “See?” She asked.
“Not even you could finish this in one sitting.” she added, smiling.
Pinkie just smirked, with a hint of seriousness mixed in. She simply said two more words.
“Wanna bet?”
* * *
While walking, Rarity and Trixie discussed their situation.
“I hope we find and catch those dreadful zebras soon.” Rarity said.
“Yes, I agree. They have done far too much already. Several robberies, I.D. thefts,
scams of various severity, pick-pocketing, and more. And now, if they succeed,
they’ll steal something from, or sabotage, the fashion event.”
“Well, when it comes to the fashion event, I believe the target is most likely
the various expensive clothes and materials the designers have. I mean, for example,
many of the dresses and accessories have had gemstones on them. And among the
accessories there has been gold and silver, and that obsidian tiara... All of which
are worth a lot of bits, especially if they sell them on the black market to collectors.”
“That makes sense, yes.” Trixie agreed. “And since they have been doing a lot of crimes
lately, Trixie would not be surprised if it turns out they have contacts or buyers already
waiting for them to finish this operation.”
“Yes, they most likely already have interested buyers, or they might be planning
a ‘black auction’.”
“A what?”
“A ‘black auction’. Basically just a regular one, except many, or all items on sale
are stolen. Attendees include ponies like mafia leaders and rich scumbags who cares
more for their collections than the legality of the items in it.”
“How do you know about black auctions?” Trixie asked in a curious tone.
“Oh, I... I’ve been very into crime fiction and such lately, and, well..
One of the authors I’ve read uses real crimes as a base for his stories,
so everything in his books is very authentic. One of them was about a smuggler
who sold items to a black auction arranger.”
“Ah, that explains that, I guess.” Trixie smiled.
“Oh trust me darling, I am not some kind of criminal mastermind.” Rarity said.
“...Although I’m sure I’d do relatively well if I did try my hoof at crime.” she added,
with a slight smirk.
“Oh yes, I’m sure you would.” Trixie laughed.
As time passed, the two mares were getting close to the party, when they heard a familiar
voice calling out from behind.
“Rarity! Trixie! Hiiiii!” Pinkie almost shouted while waving her hoof in the air.
Next to her, Petit was walking. When they got closer, Rarity noticed Pinkie had some
sugar left around her mouth.
“Darling, you got some sugar on your cheek...”
“I do?” Pinkie gasped, and licked herself around the mouth to get it off.
She turned to Petit. “Why didn’t you tell me, silly?”
“...I tried, but you kept talking, and laughing, I never got a chance...” Petit giggled.
“I am Trixie.” Trixie said, holding out a hoof in greeting toward Petit.
“I’m Petit.” Petit replied, shaking Trixies hoof. “I’m a friend of Pinkie Pie.”
“I see. So am I.” Trixie said.
“So what brings you here, Pinkie?” Rarity asked. “Is everything in order?”
“Yeah, we were just out having a walk. I did see some suspicious ponies though,
near the place where the fashion thingy was, when we walked by there.
Hooded, real sneaky...”
“Pinkie! That might have been the sisters!” Rarity exclaimed. “Were there two of them?”
“Hmmm.... Petit, was it two or three hood-ponies we saw?”
“Well, I saw one at first, and then I noted another one going the other direction...
So yeah, there were two of them.”
“Damn it. That was most likely them!” Rarity half-mumbled.
“Please tell me you saw where they were going?”
“Sure did, I can show you if you want.” Pinkie smiled.
“We’ll need to get the polices attention too.. We can’t just go alone if we’re finally going
to find those sisters. Anypony have an idea?”
“You were given a card with contact information, were you not?” Trixie asked.
“Oh, right, I was.. I have it here.. somewhere.. “ Rarity said, digging through her small
but surprisingly well-filled purse. “Ah, here! Now we need a phone...”
Trixie looked at Pinkie and Petit, as her expression changed into a more unsure one.
“Rarity.. Hold on a second. How do we know for absolute sure that these two are
the real Pinkie Pie and... Petit, was that your name?”
Petit nodded, while Rarity looked over at Pinkie.
“Don’t be silly, Trixie. Nopony could imitate Pinkie well enough to fool us,
except the clones she ones made with the ‘mirror pond’ in Everfree forest.
But those were exact copies, not somepony who just looks like Pinkie.”
Trixie was still not convinced. “Just trust Trixie, okay? I too think this is the real one,
but we should be absolutely doubtlessly one hundred and ten percent sure before
we proceed with doing anything more, just in case it’s not the real Pinkie Pie.”
“Fine.” Rarity agreed, while Pinkie just stood there waiting.
“Let’s see, something only the real one would know... Ah, I got it.
When you made those copies with the mirror pond... What was Twilight Shimmers
trick for determining who was the real you?”
“That’s a super clever question, because it’s actually a question AND a extra trick!”
Pinkie said excitedly.
“Answer it then, Pinkie.” Rarity said with a small sigh.
“First of all, her name is Sparkle, not Shimmer! Shimmer is another friend of ours!
And the trick was to sit and watch paint dry!” Pinkie smiled widely.
“Yes, that’s all true.” Rarity said and turned to Trixie. “Now do you believe she’s
the real Pinkie? Can we get going now before those zebras get too far away?!”
Petit raised her hoof. “...wait. How do I and Pinkie know for sure YOU guys
are the real ones? I mean, I don’t even know you, so I couldn’t tell the difference..
But Pinkie could, if she were to ask you questions too.”
Pinkie smiled. “No need. I already got answers. Nopony outside ponyville knows
about the mirror pond incident, or the pond at all actually, OR that it was me that
got copied, and Twilight who fixed it, or...” Pinkie was going to keep going,
but Rarity interrupted her. “Yes yes, we get it. Now, can we PLEASE get to a phone
and contact Gun Point and Storm Feather?”
“Ah, yes! Follow Trixie, I know where there is a police box!” Trixie said and started
running, the other following.
“What’s a police box?” Pinkie asked while they moved.
“It’s like a phone booth, but with a direct line to the police, and it also has
some police supplies and a first-aid-kit locked up, so that when the police arrives,
they can grab supplies at the location. They look like blue wooden phone booths
without windows, and the phone is on the outside.” Trixie explained.
“Oh, like the one Time Turner has in his house in Ponyville!” Pinkie said.
“I have no idea what you mean by that, or who this Time Turner is.” Trixie said.
“Just a friend back home.” Pinkie smiled.
They all kept running along the street, and took a turn at a corner. Like Trixie had said,
they found a police box. Rarity grabbed the phone and waited for the call to connect.
* * *
At the police station, Gun Point was just returning to his office. He had taken a short
break from his piles of paperwork to get some more coffee, to regain some energy,
so he could continue the paperwork. As he opened his door, he noticed the phone
ringing, so he set down his coffee and lifted the phone off its hook.
“Officer Gun Point of the Manehattan Police speaking, who is this and how may I
be of service?” he said. On the other end, he heard Raritys voice.
“Hold on, Miss Rarity. You say you’ve seen the sisters?
...Okay, not you in person, but your friend Pinkie did... And you know what direction
they were headed.... split up you say?... Mhmm, I see, I see... Yes... I’ll be there
personally, and I’ll bring a unit. We’ll split into groups and follow both leads.
Yes, I have a pen and paper, give me the address, I’ll leave the station right away.
Yes, thank you. See you soon.” He ended the conversation and put the phone back
on the hook. He quickly drank all the coffee in two quick sips. It was already lukewarm
anyway, no point in letting it get cold and wasted. He quickly grabbed his hat and
gun-belt and left his office, shouting through the building,
“ATTEEEEENTION! WE HAVE A LEAD ON THE ZEBRA SISTERS,
WITH POSSIBLE CURRENT LOCATIONS! I NEED THREE OFFICERS
WITH ME, RIGHT NOW!”
Only ten seconds later, he had several ponies ready and waiting for orders
lined up in front of him at the station entrance.
“Okay, Let’s see... Shining Badge, Pepper Spray and Silver Cuffs, you’re all with me.
Donut Glaze, you stay here and prepare the holding cell and the interrogation room.
I have a strong feeling we’ll have at least one of the sisters caught very soon.”
Shining Badge was a pale green stallion, with an army buzz-cut mane and just a stump
for a tail, as he was fresh out of the military and only recently joined the police force.
He was very qualified tough, having scored slightly above average on the entrance exam,
on his first try.
Pepper Spray was the classic big bulky guy, lots of muscles, with his police uniform
fitting tightly, just barely the right size for him. He did have a friendly smile though,
but he was the kind of guy you do not want to see angry.
Silver Cuffs was the only mare in the group, a grey-furred unicorn with long,
light-blue mane and long, thin tail. She had taken extra classes in magic-based
restraining techniques, involving among other things, the petrifying spell used
by the princesses to turn Discord into a statue, twice. Although Silver Cuff had only
been thought a temporary version of it, as a last-resort-tactic against violent criminals.
Donut Glaze was rarely out in the field. He was a “desk cop”, as they called it.
He took care of in-house police work, such as preparing cells and interrogation rooms,
paperwork, phone calls, schedules, and other such things. He also sometimes joined
in the interrogations, when they played the classic “Good cop, Bad cop” routine.
He was usually the good cop in the scenario, while Gun Point or Pepper Spray
played the bad one. Almost never failed.
Together, they formed “Squad 7”, which also included Storm Feather as the squads C.S.I.
Now, Squad seven set out to find and capture the zebras, and finally get to the end
of their crime spree. All of them felt excited, but they were all also cautious.
They knew the job, the risks, and the rewards.
They all felt it. An assuring feeling, a good omen.
Tonight... The zebras were going down.