“Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. You've really outdone yourselves, Mr. and Mrs. Cake,” said Pinkie Pie impressed as she watched over a four-layered yellow and pink colored cake made out of marzipan that Mr. and Mrs. Cake made for the yearly national dessert competition in Canterlot.
They both felt flattered and took the opportunity to thank Pinkie Pie for offering to transport it all the way to Canterlot.
“Absolutely! It is my honor and I will make sure that nothing happens to that delicious and perfect cake of yours!” She said while saluting determined.
“Right Star Twinkle?” She added, looking at Star Twinkle who was carrying the big thing on his back while looking like he was about to collapse because of its weight.
“Yeah, it's beautiful.
Can we go now?!
This thing is kinda heavy!” He complained, prompting Pinkie Pie to make haste.
Pinkie Pie understood and opened the front door of Sugarcube Corner so that Star Twinkle could carry the cake to the train station.
When Star Twinkle was asked to carry a cake for Pinkie Pie, this was not exactly what he was imagining, mainly because he didn't think it to be this big.
“This way, Star Twinkle.
Just all the way to this direction,” Pinkie Pie directed.
“I know where the train station is, Pinkie,” Star Twinkle replied a little annoyed while still focusing his eyes in front of him.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were right behind those two, both really nervous and afraid that something would happen to their cake.
Star Twinkle didn't even want to know what they would do if something would happen to the cake.
This put unnecessary pressure on him which eventually caused him to lose some balance, making the cake shake a little.
Luckily, he was able to balance it again in time.
But that didn't stop the Cake's to scream in fear or in Mr. Cakes case, to fall unconscious.
Pinkie Pie also realized that it was a little dangerous to carry this thing all the way to the station.
It was still a long way after all.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were flying close by and Pinkie Pie took the opportunity to ask them for help, just to make sure.
They tied the plate of the cake up to a rope so that the two Pegasus could balance it while Star Twinkle was carrying it.
This made it a little easier to carry the cake for Star Twinkle but his strength was slowly dropping down a little, making Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's job a little more important now.
After a few meter, Star Twinkle lost his balance again and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both had to keep the cake in place again before it would fall to the ground.
The crisis was prevented again but the Cake's were still nervous or in Mr. Cakes case, again, made him fell unconscious...again.
“I think we need more safety measurements, Pinkie,” Star Twinkle suggested, figuring that it was only a matter of time until something would go wrong.
Pinkie Pie looked around to find a better solution and luckily, found Twilight nearby reading a book.
“Twilight, can I see you a second?” She asked to which Twilight gladly agreed to help out a little.
Twilight put a spell around the cake to prevent it from any incoming damage.
It also felt like as if it became lighter for Star Twinkle to carry.
From now on it actually felt like as if they could make it without damaging the cake.
However, the Cake's still kept a close eye on their cake and were still nervous.
Pinkie Pie noticed and called Applejack and Rarity over to help to keep the cake safe as well.
They both carried a trampoline behind Star Twinkle, in case that it would fall down, even though it wasn't in danger anymore.
Still, the cakes were still worried that something would happen, especially Mr. Cake who began to hyperventilate.
After a really slow and careful walk, due to so many safety measurements, they finally arrived at the train station.
Star Twinkle was more than relieved that he arrived and almost immediately wanted to drop the cake somewhere inside of the train.
“See, Mr. and Mrs. Cake? I got it here without a hitch!” She proudly announced.
“Now all we have to do is get it... in?” She added confused while looking at the door and realizing that the cake was way too big to fit through the door.
“Now what?” Star Twinkle asked still carrying the cake on his back and almost begging to drop it somewhere.
Everypony began to think how to solve this little problem, much to Star Twinkle's dislike who had to stand there with this giant cake on his back struggling to keep himself on his hooves.
Despite, trying to stand still, Star Twinkle managed to come up with an idea.
“Twilight, can't you just teleport that thing inside of the train?!” He Suggested while breathing heavily.
Twilight quickly realized that this would be the best thing to do and gave it a try.
She suggested everypony to stand back a little and prepared to teleport the cake inside.
Needless to say, the Cake's were worried like crazy that something would go wrong but they didn't know what to do either and watched.
Twilight was about to cast the spell and Star Twinkle was more than relieved that this cake would vanish from his back.
“Only some more seconds and I can relax again...” he thought awaiting Twilight to cast the spell.
She fired a shot at the cake and Star Twinkle could only see a flash of light for a second.
To his surprise the environment he was in changed as well.
He was now inside of the train while the cake was still on his back.
“Oh come on!” He exclaimed annoyed, bothered that he still wasn't freed from this cake.
“There you are!” Twilight said while she ran inside of the train as well.
She was followed by everypony else, who all wanted to make sure that the cake was alright.
Mr. and Mrs. quickly walked inside and inspected Star Twinkle and the cake to make sure that it was unharmed.
They both sighed in relief and calmed down as soon as they saw the cake unharmed.
“See?
Told you that nothing would happen to the cake,” Pinkie Pie said proudly, even though it was mostly everypony else who protected the cake to all the way to the station.
“We never doubted you Pinkie Pie,” Mrs. Cake replied in a really unconvincing tone.
“Can I PLEASE put this thing down now?!” He exclaimed annoyed, begging to get rid of this cake again.
Finally, the cake was placed on a table inside of the train and Star Twinkle was freed from carrying it.
After seeing how much trouble they had so far, Pinkie Pie suggested that the others should come with her to this National Dessert Competition.
Star Twinkle didn't plan to do anything after this exhausting adventure and a trip to Canterlot would mean that he could relax a little on the way so he might as well accompanied them.
Pinkie Pie was confident that the so-called “Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness” would surely win the competition and looked at it with hypnotized eyes, practically admiring it.
“All that rich creamy goodness of the marzipan, combined with the tart tanginess of the mascarpone, blended perfectly with the smooth, silky sweetness of the meringue. That's why I call the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness the "MMMM"”
Star Twinkle had to admit that hearing her explanation made him a little hungry and judging from looking at the girls licking their lips they did as well.
“It's the most delicious delectable delightful de-lovely cake in Equestria, and it's sure to win first prize,” she added fully confident.
However, she was interrupted by someone who entered the door and overheard her statement.
It was a griffon with gray feathers and a black long mustache, wearing a red scarf and a chef's hat.
“Zis is not so, for I, Gustave le Grand, do challenge your crude cake to a duel of delectable delicacies against my exceptionally Exquisite Éclairs!” He then proudly presented a plate with eclairs in front of everypony before he proudly put them on another table next to the cake.
“They will undoubtedly strike down all ze competition, winning first prize and crowning me le champion,”
“Not a chance, le Grand,” A familiar voice said from outside of the train.
It was Donut Joe, the owner of a Donut shop in Canterlot who also entered the train pulling a little wagon behind him filled with donuts that were arranged like a little town.
Apparently, Donut Joe had to pick up his final ingredient to complete his contest entry.
“I present to you, Donutopia!” He proudly presented in front to everypony.
He then poured some sprinkles down on his little city, making it almost look like as if it would snow.
“And with these super-sprinkles, my donuts are going to dunk all the other lousy desserts, steal first prize, and make my donut shop famous forever!” He said before he laughed almost maniacally.
But there seemed to be yet another competitor entering the train.
This time it was a big chocolate moose.
At least that's what everyone thought before an elderly lady revealed herself behind it, looking down on Donut Joe's work.
She was a mule wearing an aquamarine colored pearl necklace and an earring with the same color.
“Your dippy donuts could never out-rival me.
“I am Mulia Mild. Behold, my Chocolate Mousse Moose. It will trample all your treats, be given first prize, and make me the greatest chef in Equestria,” she declared confidently.
Naturally, Gustave le Grand, Donut Joe, and Pinkie Pie didn't like to hear that and claimed that their treats were going to win in the competition instead.
“Wow...I didn't know that desserts are that serious of a business...” Star Twinkle thought after watching those four getting really competitive about their sweets.
Their conversation was eventually interrupted by the train whistle, indicating that the train was about to leave Ponyville.
However, the four competitors kept a close look on each other, switching their eyes back and forth to show that neither of them is attempting to show any signs of worry.
The rest of the group could just look at those four silently.
They were just spectators after all and didn't know how to respond to this.
Eventually, Twilight walked up to the four and tried to melt the ice a little.
“Well, it sure looks like we're in for a delicious competition tomorrow. Maybe we should all settle in for a good night's sleep,” she said in good spirit that wasn't fitting the situation now at all.
Everyone except Pinkie Pie left and locked themselves into their cabins in a grumpy manner, not even responding to Twilight.
They clearly were not interested in talking with each other wanted to remain enemies until they would arrive at Canterlot.
Twilight's idea of going to sleep didn't sound too bad for everypony else and they decided to go to their cabins but Pinkie Pie blocked their path and demanded that they should stay and guard the MMMM.
“I know for super sure that "MMMM" is the best dessert in all of Equestria, and I know that they know it too.
One of them is going to sabotage the Cakes' cake tonight! You have to help me stand guard!” She explained in her paranoia.
It was unlike her to think of the others doing something like that.
The rest of the group assured Pinkie Pie that nothing would happen to the cake and that she was simply overreacting but Pinkie Pie wouldn't believe them and still wanted everypony to help her protecting the cake.
Because Pinkie Pie wouldn't listen, the group slowly walked past her and ignored her worries, leaving Star Twinkle as the last one to walk by her.
Pinkie Pie was giving him some puppy eyes, at least that's what he was imagining and made it a little harder for him to walk past her.
He was trying to get some sleep and wanted to hit his cabin as well since he was still exhausted by this whole cake-carrying from before.
On top of that, he also thought that Pinkie Pie was overreacting and didn't want to have anything to do with all that.
But Pinkie Pie was so stressed out because of her worry that it almost made him believe that somepony would sabotage that cake too.
“Fine...I'll stay here too...” he said really annoyed to which Pinkie Pie instantly jumped at him happily and hugging him in the process, much to his surprise and dislike.
“Alright, alright, the cake, remember?” He reminded her while he tried to push her away.
Pinkie Pie ran up to the cake and kept her eyes open cautiously blocking the path to it.
The moment Star Twinkle saw this, he realized that it will be a huge waste of time.
He kept asking himself why somepony would try to sabotage the cake after claiming that their sweets were better.
If the others thought that their sweets were better wouldn't it be better to “defeat” the MMMM in the competition rather than before that?
But maybe Star Twinkle was thinking too much about this...
In the end, he regretted to stay with Pinkie Pie instead of going to bed like the others did.
The two Earth-Ponies waited until it got dark, with Pinkie Pie not moving a muscle and her eyes focused on the cake.
Star Twinkle was falling asleep most of the time because it got too boring for him but Pinkie Pie often woke him up again so that he could help her protecting the cake.
Eventually, even Pinkie Pie had troubles to stay awake all the time since she was struggling to keep her eyes open.
Star Twinkle noticed and tried once more to convince her to go to bed as well.
“Nopony showed up, Pinkie Pie...
I think it's safe to say that the cake will be safe for the rest of the trip.
We should go to sleep...”
Pinkie Pie turned her head away from the cake and looked at Star Twinkle with a serious face.
“It will be safe once we arrive at Canterlot.
I can sleep after that!” She replied while moving her head to the cake again.
“Great...and what about me?” Star Twinkle thought in frustration while rolling his eyes.
Pinkie Pie's eyes were wandering down a little to the ground, not because of sadness but rather happiness.
A smile formed on her face before she spoke up again.
“...Thank you for staying...” She mumbled a little just barely so that Star Twinkle could hear her.
Star Twinkle got caught off-guard by those words and struggled to reply at first.
Mainly because how sincere it sounded, coming from Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was never a pony who had problems showing her emotions and would let everypony know that too.
But this time it sounded like it was actually hard for her to say for a moment.
Eventually, Star Twinkle realized that he didn't reply for a while now and snapped out of it.
“Oh...um...sure, no problem...” he replied, still being a little confused by the way Pinkie Pie said it.
“You know...I think I have to apologize to you...” She added, this time looking at Star Twinkle directly.
“For what?” He replied, narrowing his eyes out of confusion.
“Well, back then I thought that you were a bit of a meanie, you know?
So I figured that I should try to lighten you up a little...”
“Okay...” Star Twinkle replied not getting what Pinkie Pie was trying to say.
“I know!
It was until much later that I figured out that...” she stopped in the middle of the sentence.
“What?” Star Twinkle asked.
“You know...that you are...”
“That I am what?” He thought, starting to get a little curious now.
But their conversation was suddenly interrupted by someone quickly running past between them.
It was too dark for them to find out who it was but they saw the shadowy figure running away.
They both ran after the figure and chased him or her across all the wagons until they arrived at the very last one.
But to their surprise, nopony was there anymore which should be impossible because they followed the criminal throughout all the wagons.
Puzzled about what just happened, they returned to the room with the cake only to find out that there was somepony else behind the door on the other site of the room.
Again, both of them followed that figure as well.
This time the chase went through all the wagons that would lead to the front of the train.
But when they arrived at the front train, the only pony they could see was the conductor who was shoving coal into the engine so they returned without bothering him.
Both of them returned puzzled to the cake again.
Thankfully, it didn't seem to be harmed, much to their relief.
“See?
I told you they would try to go after the MMMM,” Pinkie Pie said in a really stressed manner.
“Alright, I believe you, Pinkie,” Star Twinkle replied, realizing that Pinkie Pie's worries were not just her overreacting.
“How about that?
If we sit down and keep our eyes on the cake, then nopony should be able to touch it, right?” Star Twinkle suggested in order to keep the cake safe.
They both focused their sight on the MMMM while also making sure that nopony was entering the room.
It was tough for both of them to keep their eyes open anymore.
Thought there was one thought that was circling around Star Twinkle's mind that kept him awake.
“Soo...what did you wanted to say before?” Star Twinkle asked, taking the opportunity that they were still alone.
However, Pinkie Pie only replied with a confused “Huh?” to that question.
Star Twinkle was not sure if she didn't remember or if she was avoiding the question so he poked in a little further.
“Before the first intruder came in.
You said that you had to apologize and that you figured out something about me...”
“Oh! Yeah! I remember!” She replied but she then focused her eyes back on the cake again not giving a response.
“Well! What was it?!” Star Twinkle exclaimed, annoyed by Pinkie Pie's obliviousness.
“Oh? You wanted to know?” She asked surprised.
“Of course I wanted to-” But before he could finish, it suddenly became dark in the wagon, making it impossible to see anything in the room.
Panic was spreading really quick and hoof steps could be heard all over the wagon, as well as other undefined noises indicating that somepony was storming through the room.
Despite being confused, Star Twinkle and Pinkie Pie tried their best to protect the cake the best they could.
The intruder also seemed to have some problems seeing anything in the room since it could be heard that he or she was running into the wall.
The curtains were opening again after a while and the two Earth Ponies found themselves in the room confused.
However, there was no one else with them so Pinkie Pie checked the nearby wagons while Star Twinkle looked after the cake.
Pinkie Pie couldn't find anyone but thankfully, the cake seemed unharmed.
“That's it!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“From now on, we need to make perfectly sure that nopony touches the MMMM!
You go outside and block anypony from entering the room!” She said pointing at the door before she focused her eyes on the cake once more.
Star Twinkle thought that this was the best solution for now since the baker's only way to get to the room was to get trough the door that he was waiting in front of.
There was nopony in the hallway.
They all seem to be asleep.
Even if it was one of the bakers, they would probably make sure to not let everypony know that they were awake to not draw suspicions towards them.
But it was not like the cake was harmed so they would be little point thinking about that.
Star Twinkle was sitting down in front of the door and kept his eyes open guarding the door like it was the cake itself.
Still, it was hard for him to keep his eyes open.
It was late at night after all and the harder he tried to keep his eyes open, the harder it became to stay awake but eventually, he was too tired to stay awake the whole time and drifted off to sleep.
On the next morning...
“Star Twinkle?” A female voice said from, what Star Twinkle thought was from really far away.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw a blurry purple unicorn in front of him which he quickly identified as Twilight.
“Why are you sleeping on the ground?” She asked confused.
Star Twinkle rubbed his eyes and looked around confused.
He was clearly not fully awake and didn't know how to respond at first or why he was sleeping on the ground himself.
When he finally realized that he was sleeping on his job to protect the cake, he quickly became nervous but then remembered that Pinkie Pie was still looking after it which calmed him down again.
But then suddenly, a loud scream could be heard from the other room which both of them identified as Pinkie Pie.
They both rushed into the room and found Pinkie Pie who was still screaming on top of her lungs.
“What's wrong?” Star Twinkle asked confused but Pinkie Pie was so much into screaming that she probably didn't even hear him unlike every other one in the next wagon who walked into the room confused about all the screaming.
The obvious question, that was asked first, was why Pinkie Pie was screaming.
Pinkie Pie stopped screaming and informed everypony about the situation.
“It's the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, it's been mutilated!” She explained while pointing at the cake.
This caused Star Twinkle to look over to the cake that he and Pinkie Pie tried to protect last night.
There was indeed a huge piece missing on one side of it, as if somepony took a big bite out of it, causing everypony to react in shock after seeing the cake in this state
Naturally, Pinkie Pie was mad about this sabotage and demanded to find out who did that to the MMMM.
Twilight, who drew some knowledge from mystery novels, advised that the only way to find out the culprit is to investigate.
“Exactly.
And as chief detective, that's exactly what I'm gonna do,” Pinkie Pie said determined before she placed a gray detective hat on her head and a pipe in her mouth, from which nopony exactly knew where she got it from.
But what confused everypony, even more, was that Pinkie Pie was attempting to take care of the investigations.
Pretty much everyone agreed that Pinkie Pie was not exactly the best choice when it comes to stuff like that.
“You are investigating?” Applejack flat out asked, pretty much speaking out what everyone else in the room was thinking.
“Yes! And Star Twinkle shall be my lowly assistant who asks silly questions with obvious answers,” she replied while she put a black billycock hat on his head, much to his surprise.
“What?! Why me?” He asked.
“Because you were the only one, besides me who was in here!
You can't possibly be it,” She vaguely explained.
Star Twinkle was relieved that she wasn't suspecting him and unless he or Pinkie weren't taking a bite of the cake while being asleep, he was pretty sure that it wasn't either of them.
This would mean that could only be the rest of his friends or the three bakers.
Regardless if he was decided to be Pinkie Pie's assistant or not, Star Twinkle began to investigate as well.
“I guess we should look for clues then, right?” Star Twinkle asked Pinkie Pie.
“Perfect silly question, my dear Star Twinkle. Because the obvious answer is...
No! 'Cause I know who did it,” Pinkie Pie confidently replied while blowing her pipe, causing bubbles to come out of it.
The group reacted shock by how far Pinkie Pie seemed to figure out the answer except for Star Twinkle and Twilight, who rolled her eyes and knew that this could be impossible.
“How? You started your investigations literally a minute ago!” Star Twinkle replied, questioning Pinkie Pie's ways of handling the situation.
“How could I possibly not know? Clearly, this dastardly deed was done by the baker, who knew their dessert could not measure up to the mastery of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. I guess you feared your éclairs lacked flair, Gustave!” She said while flat out accusing the griffon.
“Alright...and how did he do it?” Star Twinkle asked as he played along.
“First he tried to snatch the cake away in front of our eyes, then after realizing that that wouldn't work, he tied us both to the train tracks so that we could be hit by the train, then he took a giant saw to slice the cake-”
“Hold on!” Star Twinkle exclaimed in the middle of Pinkie Pie's story.
“There are so many things wrong with what you just said...
I think I would remember if something like that happened!
Also, the cake hasn't been sliced.
Look, there are teeth marks on it so it has been bitten,” Star Twinkle explained, clearly taking the case a little more serious than Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie realized that she was wrong and stopped accusing Gustave.
“You're might be right, my silly assistant.
Which could only mean that the MMMM was clearly destroyed by...
Donut Joe!” She replied, wasting no time to suspect another baker.
Star Twinkle rolled his eyes and hated to ask but did it anyway.
“And how do you come to that conclusion?”
“It has to be Joe or as he's known the spy world, Mane. Con Mane.
First, he took us both out with some sleep gas, then he bypassed the laser security system around the cake and sliced the cake into pieces, then-”
“No, he didn't!” Star Twinkle protested, once again interrupting Pinkie Pie's story.
“There is no laser system around the cake!
And again, the cake has been bitten not sliced!” He reminded Pinkie Pie pointing at the cake again.
“Huh...Maybe you're right,” she replied, starting to make Star Twinkle feel a little annoyed.
“We should take a closer look at everything to get to the answer...” she suggested.
“Yes! Let's do that. Because that is what an investigation is...” Star Twinkle replied annoyed.
But instead of looking at the cake, for instance, she looked at the chocolate moose from Mulia Mild.
“Now that I'm taking a closer look at these desserts, I see that one simply cannot look me in the eye,” she said to herself.
“And the mule behind the moose panicked when she saw the mastery of the "MMMM"
Star Twinkle had a feeling where this was going to could feel how he was slowly losing his patience with Pinkie Pie's way of investigating.
“It was Mulia Mild!” She said while accusing the elderly mule.
“First, she jumped over the train wagons, then she took us both out with a frying pan, then she took out a sword and sliced the cake int-”
“For the last time Pinkie Pie, nopony sliced the cake!” Star Twinkle interrupted once more, this time a little angrier.
“Also, I don't think that Mulia is in any shape to perform some ridiculous stunts that you just explained,”
After those words, Pinkie Pie took a closer look at the mule herself and agreed with Star Twinkle.
“But I was so sure that it was one of the other bitter bakers that destroyed the "MMMM". That way, their delicious dessert would reign supreme. I mean, just look at Joe's Donutopia.
It's a spectacular city of donutty delight, topped temptingly in sprinklicious sprinkles.
And Gustave's éclairs look incredibly edible, with glistening glaziness.
But then there's Mulia Mild's Mousse Moose. Why, this mouth-wateringly marvelous mousse moose tempts the taste buds with its silky, smooth, yummy-nummy, chocolateyness,”
Just the explanation of the desserts made Star Twinkle hungry, as well as all the others inside of the room.
He almost had to hold back in taking a bite off from any of those himself.
“So why did this criminal devour the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness while leaving this trio of tasty treats untouched?” Pinkie Pie wondered.
“That is what we are trying to find out.
Your reason to suspect the other bakers is reasonable but we need to prove it.
And if we all stay calm, then we will find the answer,” Star Twinkle assured while putting a hoof on Pinkie Pie's shoulder to cheer her up a little.
However, only seconds later, the train became dark again which was caused by a tunnel that the train was driving through.
Despite being dark only for a few seconds there was some panic because it happened so sudden.
After the light returned, however, there was one surprise that shocked the group.
All the other desserts were now destroyed too.
There were only little eclairs and donuts left and the only thing left from the chocolate moose was its head.
“Now, THIS might complicate things...” Star Twinkle said, figuring that now everyone could be suspected, due there being all sweets destroyed now.
The bakers all walked over to the leftovers of their works and tried to fix it but there was nothing that could be fixed anymore.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was wondering more and more who could have been the culprit.
“This mystery gets more mysterious every minute,” she said while blowing into her pipe again.
“Maybe you should stop the wild accusations and get to the truth now, Pinkie,” Twilight suggested followed by another suggestion.
“How about, you let Star Twinkle lead the investigation for a while?”
Strangely enough, everyone else agreed and wanted Star Twinkle to give it a shot as well, much to his surprise.
He felt flattered that everypony was putting their trust into him but he didn't know if he was capable of solving the mystery himself.
But he also was sick of how Pinkie Pie was blindly accusing randomly everyone and wanted to get to the truth himself.
At first, Pinkie Pie hesitated but she realized that Star Twinkle was probably a little better at solving mysteries than her and switched hats with him to make him the detective now.
She also offered him her pipe which was even harder for her to give away.
“Um...you can keep that...” he said seeing how fun it was for her to blow into it.
Everyone else left the room and returned to their cabins so that the two Earth Ponies could focus on the investigation.
“Alright, Pinkie, we were the only ones who were here at the scene of the crime so we should try to remember what happened last night...
What was the first thing that happened last night? ”
Pinkie Pie put a hoof on her chin to think and quickly gave an answer.
“We saw a silhouette in the moonlight!”
“Exactly,” he replied, remembering that as well the instant Pinkie Pie brought it up.
They went to the caboose, where they followed the silhouette into last night.
Star Twinkle remembered the chase.
The silhouette went past both of them and ran all the way through the last wagon and vanished when they arrived.
Star Twinkle walked through the wagon and opened the door which led to the outside.
This was exactly where they lost the silhouette.
He began to think while Pinkie Pie stood there in the middle of the wagon confused by what Star Twinkle was doing.
“How did the culprit escape?
There was no other way to run...
I could swear that I still saw him before we entered the last wagon...
We should have found him outside but no one was there...”
He walked outside and looked up to find the solution.
Then suddenly an idea popped up in his head.
“...unless if you fly!
Was the culprit flying away and entered the train from somewhere else again?
Or maybe...”
He walked inside again, where Pinkie Pie seemed a little bored just staying in the middle of the room.
She probably expected this to be more fun.
However, Star Twinkle was still focused and looked around in the room in order to find something.
His search was successful after he looked down on the ground.
It was an evidence that would lead to the culprit.
He picked it up and put it into a saddlebag that he was wearing for the investigation.
“What did you find?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously trying to peek into Star Twinkle's saddlebag.
“A clue that brings us to the culprit,” he replied with confidence.
“Good! Now we finally can solve this mystery!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.
But Star Twinkle advised that it was not enough to go by one clue alone so he suggested to re-track more steps from last night which would lead them to the engine room where they followed the culprit too.
Star Twinkle was wondering if they were dealing with one or multiple culprits by now.
The one who Star Twinkle would have suspected so far would definitely be capable of reaching the engine room fast enough.
“We followed somepony else in the dessert car and chased them up to the engine. But there was only conductor shoveling coal,” Pinkie Pie recalled.
“That's right...” Star Twinkle agreed.
The conductor was there with them, right now.
Star Twinkle was wondering if he could be involved with all of this or if he even knew about the cake at all.
“Again...someone vanished right in front of us...
But this time there is nowhere where you could fly out of...
How did he get away this time?”
Pinkie Pie seemed to be upset to not play the role of the detective anymore so Star Twinkle tried to involve her into the investigations.
“Pinkie, would you help me in the investigation by asking the conductor if he saw somepony last night in the engine room,” he asked of her, causing her to smile in excitement before she traded their hats again.
She went to the conductor to ask him if he saw something suspicious.
After all, if somepony would have been here, the conductor should have seen something.
But to Star Twinkle's surprise, Pinkie Pie told him that he saw nopony entering the room.
And he was supposedly in the room all night except when he was making a little toilet break.
This gave Star Twinkle another clue.
He walked up to the conductor and asked when he was taking these breaks and if there was somepony replacing him due to that times.
But there was nopony like this.
He also explained that he would leave his stuff behind every time he left, to prevent the train from getting dirty.
“Star Twinkle?” Pinkie Pie asked in the middle of the conversation between him and the conductor.
“What is it?
I'm trying to solve this case right now,” he replied rather annoyed.
Pinkie Pie became a little upset and apologized.
She only wanted to return Star Twinkle's hat since he was the detective again.
It might not have been on purpose but those words gave Star Twinkle an idea.
He asked for the conductor's hat to take a look at it for a minute and after taking a peek at it, he immediately found another clue.
“Good job, Pinkie Pie!” He said, confusing Pinkie Pie who was not sure why she was thanked for.
He put the second clue into his saddlebag and they both returned to the room with the cake where the next intruder was “attacking” the cake.
Pinkie Pie mentioned that the curtains closed on their own remembering Star Twinkle what happened last night.
The problem in this scenario was, how the curtains got closed in the first place.
They all shut down at the same time which was impossible since they were all separated from each other.
“How do you close all the curtains at the same time?” Star Twinkle wondered.
“One pony couldn't have done this...unless...”
Star Twinkle tried to remember what happened while it was dark in the room.
Both of them couldn't see anything which only made it harder to figure what happened.
When the curtains were up again, Pinkie Pie checked the nearby wagons and Star Twinkle looked after the cake.
“Didn't you see anything after checking the wagons?” Star Twinkle asked as he was in a pinch of what could have happened.
“No, he was gone! The only strange thing I saw was that the portrait by the door was all crooked,” so I fixed it.
“The portrait?” Star Twinkle wondered.
He wanted to know which portrait Pinkie Pie meant so she leads him to it.
It was hanging next to the door that leads to the cabins.
It was a picture of a stallion wearing some rather old clothes.
However, something stuck out of the picture and didn't fit so Star Twinkle took a closer look at it.
It was undoubtedly another clue so he put it into his saddlebag as well.
“Up until now, we were together in this room but then we separated.
What did you do after I went outside?”
“I was here guarding the cake the rest of the night. I mean...until I slept by the cake the rest of the night,” she said clearly feeling a little embarrassed to admit that.
“And then you noticed how half the cake was gone?”
“Yup,”
Star Twinkle took another look at the cake and inspected it a little further this time.
It was already clear that it was bitten but the bite marks were far too big for one pony.
Which could only mean one thing?
“So it's exactly how I thought...
Pinkie, get the others back here.
I think I know what happened,” He ordered Pinkie Pie, being confident that he could solve the case.
Pinkie Pie did as she was ordered and brought everyone back into the room.
They were wondering if the investigations were over and if the culprit was found to which Star Twinkle replied with a “yes” confidently.
He explained how he and Pinkie Pie found several clues that lead them to the culprit and were about to present the first one.
“Now let me present you...the first clue!” He said rather dramatically before he showed everyone the first clue and leaving everyone stunned.
A blue feather.
“A-ha! A blue feather! I knew it was you...“Pinkie Pie said determined as she pointed her head to...
“Gustave le Grand!”
Star Twinkle released an annoyed groan and slapped his forehead out of frustration because of Pinkie Pie's constant random accusations.
“No, Pinkie, it's Rainbow Dash!
The one with BLUE feathers!” Star Twinkle corrected pointing directly at the Pegasus annoyed.
Of course, Rainbow Dash quickly denied that she did anything like that but Star Twinkle was sure of it.
She was probably flying away when they were about to catch her last night, which would explain how she got away.
“So Rainbow Dash did it! Case solved!” Pinkie Pie announced, however, Star Twinkle was not done.
“Not exactly, she was most likely one of the culprits but not the only one because the next clue that I found in the conductor's hat, was this!” He said before he presented everyone a pink hair in his hoof.
“So it was you!” Pinkie said towards Rainbow Dash.
“That pink hair came from your rainbow-colored mane!”
“I don't have pink in my mane, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash replied annoyed.
“Pinkie...” Star Twinkle said, stopping Pinkie Pie from her wild accusations once more.
There are only two ponies on this train who have pink hair and that is you and...Fluttershy!” He said while pointing at her.
“So you're saying it was me?” Pinkie Pie asked obliviously.
Star Twinkle could feel slowly how his anger was rising towards Pinkie Pie but he tried his best to calm down again before he would do something that he would regret.
Fluttershy instantly became nervous after Star Twinkle found out about her.
She clearly wasn't good at hiding that secret very well and began to shake out of fear.
Pinkie Pie was about to go after Fluttershy but Star Twinkle again stopped her and pointed out that there was another clue.
“Last night, the curtains mysteriously closed, leaving us in the dark and somepony was taking advantage of that and went after the cake.
However, while trying to escape, the culprit ran into the portrait next to the door and left a little something,” he explained before he showed everyone an eyelash.
“The curtains were closed all at once, meaning that it could have only be done with magic.
Twilight does have both of her eyelashes but what about Rarity?
I can't really tell because her mane looks a little different today,”
Rarity did seem a little different for everyone after Star Twinkle was pointing it out.
Her mane seemed to be arranged as if nopony was should see her right eye.
She, of course, claimed that it was a coincidence that she was wearing her mane like this today.
Since Star Twinkle didn't want to forcefully put away her mane, he asked Twilight to take care of it with her magic.
She lifted Rarity's mane a little and just as expected, there were no eyelashes on her right eye.
Eventually, she couldn't take the pressure and admitted her crime...and that she wore fake eyelashes.
She was joined by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as well, who felt guilty and apologized to Pinkie Pie.
Apparently, they couldn't resist the cake after Pinkie Pie described it in such great detail.
Pinkie Pie forgave them without hesitation and was happy that the case was finally closed.
But Twilight reminded everyone that it wasn't and that they still didn't know who destroyed the other baker's goods.
Realizing that, Star Twinkle was preparing himself to find more clues but Pinkie Pie stopped him and wanted to give it a shot herself.
“Star Twinkle. You know what we have to do?” She ironically asked to Star Twinkle.
“Yes...Do you?” He replied bluntly.
She then walked through the room and quickly scanned everything and everyone in the room.
Star Twinkle watched and didn't interrupt her in hope that she would actually accomplish something this time.
When she was done, she joined Star Twinkle again and claimed that she knew the answer.
“It was none other than... the bakers!” She said confidently.
“You have any prove this time?” Star Twinkle asked.
Pinkie Pie then walked over to each one of them.
Apparently, they all had the evidence still on them.
Gustave had mousse from Mulia's moose in his mustache,
Donut Joe had eclair in his hair from Gustave's eclairs,
and Mulia had sprinkles from Donut Joe's Donuttopia in her wrinkles.
As it turns out, they all couldn't resist tasting the other baked goods after Pinkie Pie described them so tastefully, much like how the others did.
They all apologized to each other but no one held a grudge and was finally happy that the mystery solved, at least until Star Twinkle pointed out another problem.
“We might have solved the mystery but now no one has any dessert left to participate in the contest,”
However, Pinkie Pie had an idea to solve that problem and considering that it involved sweets, Star Twinkle was positive that it would work out better than her detective skills.
Later at the contest, the whole group arrived with one single dessert, that would combine all the goods from the baker's in one.
It was a huge cake decorated with donuts, eclairs, and a chocolate moose head.
Those sweets combined quickly convinced the judges to give it the first price and managed to satisfy every one of the bakers.
The rest of the contest was relatively quiet and Star Twinkle decided to spend most of his time alone in peace.
That was until Pinkie Pie walked up to him and tried to keep him some company.
“Hey, don't you want to eat something?
This place is full of desserts after all,”
“I did eat something,
I'm just not a bottomless whole like you, if it comes to those things,” he jokingly replied.
“Hehe, guess you're right,” Pinkie Pie replied amused.
Star Twinkle, like always didn't seem to know what to talk about with Pinkie Pie.
Sometimes, she was just too random for him, making it hard to read what she might be thinking.
This was something that he couldn't handle really well.
However, he did remember that he was getting angry multiple times on the train because of her behavior.
Knowing that made him a little upset, sitting right next to her.
“By the way...Sorry for getting angry at you most of the time...
I just wanted to solve the case,” he said while rubbing his neck a little embarrassed.
“It's okay!
I guess I'm not that good when it comes to mystery solving then you,” she admitted.
“Don't worry, I know you are not like that,”
“You said something similar last night...”
“Oh, yeah!” Pinkie remembered.
Again, Pinkie Pie seemed oblivious that Star Twinkle wanted to know what she meant.
But this time he didn't want to get angry and asked calmly.
“You apologized to me and told me that you wanted to lighten me up but then you found out something...
What did you found out?” He asked, this time a little more directly.
Like last time, Pinkie Pie seemed to hesitate to give an answer but Star Twinkle didn't put any more pressure on her and waited until she finally spoke up.
“At first I thought you were a meanie who doesn't want to hang out with us so I wanted to light you up,” she said before taking a minute to continue.
“But then...” she added, this time a little more serious.
“But then what?” Star Twinkle wondered.
There was so much suspense right now, even though Star Twinkle didn't even know why.
Maybe he knew the answer and wasn't aware?
Or maybe he didn't even want to know it?
But for some reason, he wanted to hear what Pinkie Pie meant.
She finally looked at him.
She formed a smile, much to Star Twinkle's confusion and spoke up rather excited.
“But then I realized that you are a really really nice pony!” She replied happily with a huge smile on her face.
“So there was no reason for me to trying to change you because you are fine the way you are!”
“The way I am?
She gave up trying to change me because she thought I was nice?
But I did need to be changed...
I didn't care to spend time with my friends that much...
And I feel like I still have problems with that now...”
Their conversation was abruptly stopped by Twilight who wanted them to come to the train station in order to leave Canterlot again.
Pinkie Pie rushed towards Twilight and waved at Star Twinkle to join her.
Though he was still a little bothered, he did got the answer to his question so he didn't worry about it anymore and joined the two mares.
The way how some of his friends see him always confused him.
Are they naive?
Or do they want him to be like that?
If he would describe himself, then “nice” would definitely not be the first word.
Should he bother about that?
They didn't seem to be bothered thinking about him like that.
The three arrived at the station and looked over Canterlot for a while.
They just went here for the competition so there would be no point in staying any longer.
That's what Star Twinkle kept saying to himself.
“Maybe next time...
Next time...I'll visit them...” He mumbled to himself before he entered the train and was back on his way to Ponyville.
Along with his friends...