April, 1957: Five mares go missing on the same day, for no apparent reason. Rarity is on the case.
Work has been slow. Rarity hasn't had a real client since she started her career as a private investigator a month ago. When she's handed a high-paying, high-stakes case, Rarity wonders if she can figure it out in time.
It was a boring Tuesday evening. The grandfather clock chimed to herald that it was now 2:00. Two more hours. Two more hours and she would be able to escape this deathtrap of a place. And that wouldn’t be soon enough. Not one client had called, knocked or even sent a carrier pigeon. For a week. It was getting on Rarity’s nerves. She wondered why she wanted to go make an independent business in the first place. She landed another paper ball in the wastebasket across from her desk.
Maybe she just wasn't cut out for detective work after all. Of course, it was only her first month as a freelancer. She’d only had ten cases so far, and six of them were Spike faking things to try and get more time with her and the others were Derpy trying to figure out where her muffins went after she had forgotten she ate them. At least she had something to do then. Now, she'd read all of the mystery novels in her bookcase, redecorated her office more times than she probably should have, and had nothing to do. She sighed. One small success as a filly, an ad in the newspaper, and word-of-mouth weren't enough to get her popularity overnight.
Rarity glanced up at the polished frame that held the meticulously cut-out column about her first "case". She couldn't read it from here, but she had the whole thing practically memorized:
Local Filly Solves Diamond Dilemma!
In an unexpected turn of events, 11-year old Ponyville resident Rarity found the lost Merriweather Diamonds at 1:45 last Friday. "I just followed my nose, and the clues came to me." said the filly, "I told Ms. Merriweather, but she didn't believe me. So I went to figure it out on my own. And I got my Cutie Mark!" While her family was over for dinner, young Rarity was able to find out that the jewels had been hidden in plain sight, in a vase nearby their usual display. The police and the Merriweather family were baffled that the thief would have hidden it in such a location. "Everyone underdemiciates [sic] obvious hiding spots," explained Rarity, "but they've always worked for me in hide-and-seek!" (continued on page 9)
The article went on to explain that it turns out that the diamonds hadn't been stolen in the first place. The police later found that Ted Merriweather, in a drunken haze, had smashed the case and grabbed the jewels to "get a better look at them". He slipped, hit his head, and passed out. When he came to, the family heirloom was gone and the case shattered, so he leaped to the conclusion of a robber. Filly Rarity didn't understand this at the time, and didn't realize it until years later. It wasn't the most flattering article, but she was proud of it nonetheless.
She absent-mindedly crumpled a page from her newspaper and prepared to launch it. A curt knock at the door startled Rarity. She quickly tossed the paper, straightened out her newspaper and fixed the collar on her jacket. Can't talk to a client looking like you're done nothing all day. “Come in!” she lilted. About time.
To her surprise, it was neither Spike nor Derpy. In fact, it was a face she had come to know very well over the years, though she had never seen her in person. She feigned mere amusement, but her heart was racing. “Ah, President Celestia. Do sit down. How goes your 501st election?”
Celestia ignored her and just placed an unmarked manila folder on the desk.
Rarity placed her newspaper aside and opened the folder. There were five papers, each with a picture clipped onto the corner. Five mares, about her age. She recognized two of them: Twilight Sparkle, Vice President. Twilight was Celestia’s first campaign partner since Luna had gone mad and disappeared after her third primaries. Spike was Twilight’s secretary, so she had a considerable amount of insider information on her. Another headlined the paper she was just reading: Applejack, Equestria’s most wanted and most impossible to catch. Applejack had been running an illicit alcohol operation ever since Prohibition was put in effect, but nobody had been able to prove it in court. The next few faces were entirely foreign to her, but their titles spoke for their importance: General Rainbow Dash, 1st Special Forces Group; Diane Pie, head of the CIA; Dr. Fluttershy, director of Equestrian National Laboratory.
Celestia raised an eyebrow, and Rarity realized she must have looked distressed. She tried her best to put on a calm face. "So what do you want me to do?" Celestia remained stoic as she explained, "Each of these ponies vanished this morning, without explanation. I need you to figure out how and why they disappeared. And hopefully, find them."
Needless to say, Rarity didn't feel up to the task. She suddenly regretted her former wishes for harder work. However, she needed the job and needed the money. She needed better advertising, a better office, a better house, a better car... Besides, President Celestia herself had come to give her the job. Obviously she had more confidence in Rarity than Rarity did.
"But why me?" Rarity couldn't help but ask.
Celestia didn't answer her question, but she smiled for the first time. She floated a briefcase up to the desk and unlatched it. "I'm giving you 75,000 bits in advance and you'll get the rest of the money later. Do we have an agreement?" Rarity stared at the paper currency. It was more than any job had payed so far, and it was only the contract money. She nodded. "Yes, Ms. President. We have an agreement."
Celestia turned and headed for the door. "Good," she said, magically opening the door. "because I'll need it solved by Saturday." She disappeared down the hall before Rarity could object.
Rarity drew in a deep breath. By Saturday. The largest actual job of her life, and she had less than four days to figure it out. Even if she failed, she had already been paid. Of course, if the President gave her bad press, she might never have a case again! "Keep your cool, Rarity." she said aloud, "A suave detective like you always keeps her cool." She stood up, walked over to her coat rack and donned her trademark hat. The game was afoot.
Rarity took a refreshing breath of fresh air as she exited her building. A gentle cool breeze brought the light smell of spring in the city. Manehatten. What a city. She may be in over her head, but having a job again raised her spirits high. She whistled for a taxi and gave the driver Spike's address. Spike would know something; he stuck to Twilight like glue.
She put on her glasses and reviewed the information she had been handed. It was fairly basic: name, appearance, age, a couple of connections, a brief description of personality and habits, and their last known location. There didn't seem to be any correlation between the five, aside from the fact that they were all within 2 years of her own age. In fact, each of them seemed about as different as the night was from day. There must be something that they had in common. Two vanishing in the same morning - coincidence. But five notable ponies? Something bigger was going on here.
The car came to a stop and Rarity got out and payed her fare, plus a 20% tip. She looked up at the apartment building Spike called home. It was a dull-brown brick building, much like Rarity's own apartment. Hers, however, had the advantage of flowerbeds under every windowsill; this building had nothing on it but a fire escape. After entering, she knocked on the first door to the left. It opened and Spike peeked out. The small dragon had clearly been crying for a while. Looks like Rarity had guessed right.
Spike looked up at Rarity's hat. "On a case, huh? What are you coming here for?"
"You should be able to guess, Spike. Someone you know disappeared this morning."
Spike avoided Rarity's gaze. "Oh, really? Who?"
Someone had gotten to Spike first. That would explain why he didn't come to ask her for help. Whatever blackmail they had on him would make it hard for her to get anything. "Your employer, Twilight Sparkle." She got out her notepad. "According to my sources, she was last seen at 10:30 this morning. Have you seen her since then?"
"I, uh, haven't seen her since yesterday." Spike's tail twitched. "She gave me a day off today."
"Day off?" Rarity looked up from her notes quizzically, "You're not even working from home?'
"Uhhh... Nope! She gave me the whole day off! Said she didn't even need me for today." Another tail twitch. That was a lie. Rarity knew for a fact that Twilight always kept her loyal secretary at least a phone call away. Spike had complained many times about the time she had him write up a law proposal to Celestia while he was on vacation in the Maribbean.
"Did she say why? Where she would be today?"
"No. I have no idea where she is." That much was true, Rarity could see it in his eyes.
Rarity decided to go down a different route. "Do you happen to know a Dr. Fluttershy?" Spike shook his head. "Diane Pie, General Dash?" Spike again shook his head. "Applejack?" Spike's eyes widened, "The hardened criminal? N... No!" His tail twitched like crazy. Bingo.
"Just checking, Spike." Why would spike know Applejack? It was a startling name, so it could have just been a nervous tic.
Rarity noticed that Spike had barely moved the whole conversation. The door was still only open about a quarter. She began to scribble something on a new page of her notepad. "Well, that's all the questions I have for now. Do you need anything from me?" She hovered her notepad in front of spike."Answer this instead: Are you alone?".
Spikes eyes shifted and grew in fear. "No."
Rarity's heart and mind began to race. Spike was in immediate danger. She scribbled another note down. "Can I stop by tomorrow? What time would work for you?" she asked, keeping her voice as calm as possible as she showed the new message to Spike. "How many?"
"One." Spike pointed at the door.
Rarity pulled her revolver from the inside of her coat and slammed the door open with her hind legs. It hit something. Using the surprise to her advantage, she rushed in and aimed her gun at the large red stallion who had been hiding behind the door. He held a pistol in his right hoof, but the blow from the door had caused him to lose his aim.
"Drop it." Rarity demanded, cocking the gun. The pony complied, putting his gun down on the ground with a grumble.
Rarity caught a glance of his Cutie Mark. A green apple. She guessed that this must be a member of the infamous Apple Family Gang, of which Applejack was head. If that was the case, she was dealing with a deadly, experienced killer. His build certainly indicated heavy training.
"Who are you?" she asked, articulating every word in anger.
He remained silent, staring defiantly at Rarity.
"Why are you here? Who are you working for?"
Again, no response. The lack of fear in his eyes told Rarity that he had been at gunpoint many times.
"Do you have any information on the current location of Twilight Sparkle?" She paused for a bit, and asked a riskier question. "Do you know where Applejack is?"
The colt's mask broke for an instant. His expression told Rarity everything she needed to know. She saw Fear, confusion and mostly concern cast over his face. The pony saw the smirk on Rarity's face, and realized that he must have given something away. Anger returned in his eyes, and he yelled out, "Nope!" Rarity prepared to fire, but to her surprise he bolted to the other side of the room. Glass flew everywhere as he leapt out the closed window.
Rarity dropped to the ground. All the adrenaline that shot through her body moments ago left as quickly as it came. She’d never been one for tense situations like that, but somehow her instincts kicked her into action and a fierce calm. Spike had needed her.
To think she almost shot the perpetrator. Rarity couldn't imagine how she would cope if she had. The gun she had was mainly for show, and had never been used once. The idea of a pony dead on her hands was revolting, but she realized that deep down she would do whatever was necessary to keep her friends safe.
“He’s long gone now,” said Spike from the destroyed window, “had a getaway car on the other side of the street.”
The detective stood back up and went to put a hoof on Spike’s shoulder. “Are you alright, dear? You seem distraught.”
“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Hope Twilight is though.”
“I’m absolutely certain she is. Now that nopony's brandishing a gun around, care to tell me what’s really going on?”
Spike had seen Twilight earlier today. It was a normal day on the job, up until around 9:45 when a zebra visited. She said she had called on the phone, and that she had a message for the Vice President's ears alone. Spike didn't remember such a call, but Twilight shooed Spike out of the room anyways. Moments later, she ran out of the room and began rabidly searching nearly every drawer for something. "Spike!" she had said, "Where's that history book I loaned you? I need it immediately!"
The book was left at home. When Spike arrived, the Apple gangster was waiting for him. Spike was tied to a chair and interrogated about Applejack's disappearance and Twilight's alleged involvement with it. Moments before Rarity had interrupted, he had threatened to cut off a finger.
“Good thing I showed up when I did, Spikey-Wikey! Why if that brute touched one scale…”
“Rarity, I’m 19. Could we please stop with the silly nicknames?”
“Not a chance." Rarity smiled. "Where's this book that Twilight requested?"
Spike handed him a large tome with a picture of a unicorn on the front."Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. Not sure what she needed it for, it's full of really old myths. Like, get this: a prediction that a shadow pony will come to make it night forever!"
"Does sound absurd, but there must be some reason that Twilight wanted it." She hovered the book in front of her and rifled through the pages, then turned it upside-down. A small object fell out and hit the ground with a clink. "Aha!"
"Wait, why's there a key in Twilight's book?" said Spike, leaning over to pick it up. It was scratched and dull.
"A better question: What's Twilight hiding?" Rarity grinned, a spark of excitement in her eye. "Now, sounds like you’re out of a job for a bit; care to help me track down a zebra, possibly infiltrate a gang, and find some missing ponies? I could use someone with your note-taking skills.”
“Oh, would I ever!"
The door slammed open. An elderly green mare walked through the door, staring at the room’s only occupant. “Hello, Big Mac. How’s my favorite grandson?”
The colt grimaced. The calm before the storm; the calmer it was, the worse the storm. Granny Smith may be old, but she was fierce. Especially when it came to family. Big Mac could still feel the bruise from last week when he'd let little Applebloom into the liquor.
“Now, ah hear tell that you paid a visit to that secretary. Find anythin’ out?”
She already knew the answer, she just wanted to hear Big Mac admit defeat. If he lied, it would only make her angrier. “eenope…”
“Is that so? I reckon it must’ve been somethin’ mighty powerful to have scared you away.”
“…eenope…”
“You’re not telling me that, say, some prissy white high-falutin’ unicorn stopped you?”
He cringed. Big Mac had half hoped that detail wouldn'tve reached her ears. But Granny heard everything. “eeyup…”
“Is that so…” Granny Smith lifted her hoof. Big Mac braced for impact, but to his surprise the stalwart old mare broke into tears. "Oh Big Mac, what're we gonna do without Applejack? Ah'm just too old to be running an operation like this."
Big mac stood and gave her grandmother a hug.
"What I want to know is how did President Celestia find out that all these ponies disappeared today? Don't they usually wait at least a day before assuming such a thing? I mean, I'm not even 100% sure that she's gone."
Rarity kept looking out the window. "Well, that Apple pony sure thought Applejack had vanished." she said, "The President has some reliable sources; she wouldn't have come to me if she didn't trust them."
The sound of road underneath their taxi was soothing to Rarity. It was good to be on the move again. She reminisced upon her arrival here. How she'd skipped all the way to her apartment, as if she were going to break out in song. Sure, her place in Ponyville was nice, but here she was going to solve mysteries in the epicenter of...
"But wait," Spike interrupted her train of thought, "how did that Apple gangster know that Applejack was gone?"
"I have no idea. The only way we'd get that information is by asking him ourselves, and I doubt he'd answer."
Spike nodded and resumed reading through Rarity's notes. What was that colt looking for anyways? Why did he think Twilight was involved somehow? Did he know that the Vice President had gone missing? Did he know about the key that they had...
"How did these ponies all end up in Manehattan?" Spike interrupted again, "Aren't the Equestrian labs, the CIA and all that in entirely different states?"
Rarity's brow furrowed. "Let me see that." She was a bit perturbed that she hadn't thought of that herself.
"See, every one of them was last seen somewhere local." said the dragon, pointing as he handed her the notes. "Maybe they were all on vacation?"
"No, Spike. Coincidences that big don't just happen. Looks like we've got another lead."
