//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight: The Way Home // Story: Fancy Pants In: The Mystery of The Blanks // by TheTeaTurtle //------------------------------// Chapter Eight:  The Way Home Pip’s eyes opened slowly, the first thing he saw being the white glow of a fluorescent light on a plaster white ceiling.. He winced and raised a hoof to cover his face, groaning as he felt soreness all over his body from the motion and he spared a look around the room. A nearby half curtained window offered shade to his bed and showed the green hills of Ponyville in the distance. The calm light of the morning sun eagerly invited itself in and bathed the floor and opposite wall in a relaxing yellow gleam. A door sat just across from him, half cracked to let in a touch amount of light from the hall and he could faintly hear voices from deeper in the building.  “Good morning, my boy. You slept well, I imagine.” Fancy Pants sat next to him in a small chair, a steaming cup of tea within his magical field as he smiled down at his apprentice warmly. Pip noticed a similarly floral scented hot cup of liquid next to his bed.  “Good morning Mr. Fancy. W-Where are we?”  “The hospital. Ms. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were insistent we come here right away after our little venture. I didn’t argue.” He said and sighed, his expression shifting to one of worry “How are you feeling?”  “Never better.” Pip grunted and tried to sit up, leaning against his large pillow. His eyes widened with panic “Wait, where are the-”  Fancy silenced him with a hoof and pointed to his left, revealing three beds adjacent to his that had a familiar filly in each one sound asleep and breathing softly. Next to these beds were different ponies for each filly. Applebloom’s bed had Applejack, a large red stallion and a rather old green mare. Sweetie Belle’s bed had Rarity and Scootaloo had two mares next to her bedside, a beige pony with a dark blue mane and a pale amber colored mare with an orange mane. Everypony was asleep in their chairs, some using the beds before them as a makeshift headrest.  “They are perfectly fine according to the doctors. We just have to wait for them to awaken.” Fancy said and leaned back in his chair, finishing his tea with a final gulp. Pip sank into his bed, relieved as he listened to the low hum of the hospital lights above. The memories of the previous night came in flashes, different emotions rising and falling as he sorted through everything mentally. One event stood out, occurring even before the nightmare inducing Markless ponies: when he had abandoned his mentor and his new friends.  “Mr. Fancy?”  “Yes, Pip?”  The colt remained silent for a few ticks before he hesitantly looked to his teacher “I’m...sorry for what happened last night. I was rash and didn’t act as a proper gentlecolt would.” These next words were extremely hard for him to say as he gripped his sheets. “I understand if...you don’t want me as an apprentice anymore.”  Fancy didn’t respond immediately, seeming to ponder the colt's words carefully before the sparkling sound of his magic filled the air as he refilled his cup of tea, taking a sip before he met his apprentice's eyes with an understanding expression.  “Have I ever told you of Brisk Bronco, my boy?” He asked, keeping his voice low. Pip put a hoof to his chin to ponder before a memory struck him, making him gasp quietly.  “Wasn’t he that really famous gentlecolt who disappeared from the public eye about...ten years ago?”  “Indeed. He was the envy of many of the Canterlot elite, being the pendulum that swung public opinion of anything to either extreme without even trying.” Fancy started with a sad smile as he stared into his cup “Many ponies called him the greatest gentlecolt in Canterlot history and he was offered many public positions on that fact alone. But he never once considered accepting. Not out of arrogance or some petty desire to be different, he was just...a gentlecolt, and he thought of himself as nothing more or less than that.”  Fancy swirled the liquid in his cup, looking up to see his apprentice listening intently “Anyhow, one day a rather arrogant and ruthless business pony who was an up and comer in the Canterlot elite world decided to challenge him to a public fencing duel for the title of greatest gentlecolt in Equestria. He was young and Brisk was getting grey hairs so he thought he had a chance.” Fancy chuckled after sipping some tea “It wasn’t even close. So thoroughly was he humiliated, the stallion clamored to Brisk Bronco’s hooves after the event and begged him to teach him everything he knew.”  Pip listened intently and he gradually pieced everything together, his expression becoming more surprised before Fancy finished with a light smile and a laugh “That arrogant upstart was me and it was the best duel I ever lost.”  “M-Mr. Brisk Bronco was your mentor?!” Pip nearly yelled, covering his muzzle afterward and shooting the still sleeping fillies a quick look “Gosh, Mr. Fancy, that’s incredible!”  “It wasn’t for a while,” Fancy admitted with a self-deprecating laugh, fixing Pip with a gentle look “But I told you this to say that becoming a gentlecolt is a long process, my boy, filled with mistakes and trials. It’s a team effort between master and apprentice, where being in sync is incredibly important.”  Pip bowed his head to gaze at the white sheets, his shame coming back ten fold at his teacher’s words. That was until he felt a hoof placed on his bed, causing his eyes to meet Fancy’s.  “I’m very proud of you, Pip. Without you, those girls would have never made it home. All I ask is that we work more on our communication skills in the future. Is that acceptable?”  Pip brightened up immediately “Yes sir, Mr. Fancy.”  Fancy Pants gave the colt a light pat on the head and stood up, nodding unsubtly to the now lightly steaming cup next to the bed. The brown eyed colt didn’t need any more hints as he reached over and softly sipped the cooled tea. chamomile. A flavor Pip used to despise but came to love just as much as his mentor as the months had gone on. The relaxing effect the drink had caused him to lean his head back onto the pillow, sleep threatening to take him again. He felt the sheets move on their own to cover him once more, the light sparkle of Fancy’s magic being the culprit as he set the tea back down.  “Get some more rest, my boy. I’ll be here when you awaken.”  The little Earth Pony nodded and let his heavy eyelids fall closed, snuggling deeper into the covers as he heard the hoofsteps of Fancy making his way to the door.  Sleep soon claimed him once more.  ---- Standing outside the hospital, Fancy Pants drank in the morning atmosphere. The early hours of the day were always his favorite time to be out and Ponyville only made him enjoy it more. The quiet in the streets as ponies were only now being aroused from their beds to attend work, the cooler air, and the sheer beauty of the sky. The pegasi had done a marvelous job with cloud placement and formation on this particular day, the usually silver-white marshmallow like puffs had been smeared across the sky like a splatter of ink on a table, the glow of the sun making them a beautiful rose and orange color.  It was almost storybook really, the perfect scene after a mystery well solved.  “A beautiful morning, isn’t it?”  Fancy craned his neck to see Rarity exiting the building, her eyelids still low as she let out a yawn and made her way to the stallion’s side.  “Indeed. How did you sleep?”  “Better than I have in months.” She said without hesitation and stared into the rolling hills of Ponyville, giving Fancy a heartfelt smile “I was so caught up in my joy last night that I didn’t get to thank you properly so…thank you for bringing my sister back to me, Fancy Pants. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”  “Consider it as simply a favor for a good friend, Rarity.” Fancy adjusted his monocle, returning her smile “Though if I am being honest, Pip is the one you should be thanking. Without him, I never would have solved this case.”  Rarity nodded and glanced at the glass entrance door, her reflection staring back “How is he doing, by the way?”  “He just needs another hour or so of rest and he’ll be right as rain. It was a long night for the both of us.” Fancy answered and bowed his head. A quilt of quiet smothered any conversation for a good minute as they admired the view presented to them, Fancy’s thoughts idly trying to wander to images of the Markless before he abandoned that train of thought before it even left the station.  “Cake frosting, eh?”  The Unicorn mare giggled and shook her head “It’s silly but I knew if I wanted to give my letter the proper identifier, that’d be the one to get your attention.” She joked, pausing before turning to face the stallion completely. “Honestly, when I first penned that letter, it took everything I had to send it. I had no idea if it would be lost in the sea of letters you already receive or if maybe it would be too mundane of a mystery for you after that whole Phantom of Canterlot business.”  “The thrill of solving a mystery is measurable only to the stakes involved.”  The mustached gentlecolt was silent as his words from the morning prior ran through his mind and he grimaced, looking away for only a moment to hide the expression.  “I must admit that, for a time, I was caught up in trying to find my next Phantom of Canterlot. I fell into the mindset that seemingly mundane mysteries were not as significant as something like a grand conspiracy.” Fancy glanced at the hills as the sun had risen above them, smiling “But now I remember why I started doing this in the first place. Not yearning for the thrill of the solution but for the happy faces at the end, the process of learning and growing through it all. That is what a true gentlecolt strives for.”  Rarity stared at the well dressed stallion, awestruck for a second before lightly laughing and covering her mouth with a hoof “Forgive me. That was beautiful, Fancy Pants, but you sounded just like a mystery novel character from a series I peruse every once in a while.”  Fancy chuckled “Ponies do say I have a flair for the dramatic.”  Further conversation was halted when the sound of the hospital doors being shoved open drew their attention, their eyes beholding a heavy breathing yet ecstatic looking Applejack.  “They’re awake!”  Letting out a gasp, Rarity exchanged a quick look with Fancy Pants before rushing inside with Applejack, leaving the stallion alone again as he heard distant cries of joy from behind the glass doors. With that free moment, he regarded the wondrous city of Canterlot on its far off mountain perch, the city sparkling under the glow of Celestia’s golden light like a gem as it cast a brilliant shadow on the valley below. No matter how much he had grown to love the scenic Ponyville, his heart yearned to trot on the shining streets of his home city once more.  “Fancy Pants? Are you alright?”  Exiting his daydream rather abruptly, he blinked and refocused to see Twilight Sparkle giving him an odd look, brightening when he acknowledged her. Even with just two nights worth of sleep, the purple Unicorn looked significantly better than when Fancy first arrived.  “My apologies, I was just thinking of home.” He admitted, clearing his throat as he tilted his head toward the hospital “The Crusader’s have awoken from their slumber, if you were curious.”  “Oh my! That’s great news!” Twilight exclaimed, a relieved sigh following “Spike couldn’t wake me up last night after Rainbow stopped by to tell me the news, that’s the only reason I wasn’t here earlier.” She tilted her head curiously. “He said she talked about finding you guys in a destroyed village of some kind. What happened out there?”  Fancy looked away before answering “I’m afraid I am not sure, Twilight. It was all a rather strange affair and I’m still piecing the answers together myself.” He paused and shook his head “Anyhow, what matters is those fillies are safe and sound. If you prefer, I’ll send you a letter detailing everything when I get back to Canterlot.”  “That sounds like a great idea.” She nodded empathetically and strolled past, making her way to the doors “We all deserve a bit of a break after how hectic the past three days have been. Let’s go celebrate with everypony, yeah?”  Fancy Pants smiled, taking one last look toward the thankfully distant Everfree Forest to the south.  “I would like nothing more.” —- One Week Later There was a tense silence amongst a small restaurant in Canterlot.  The Spiced Peach was a rather well known establishment, having garnered a fantastic reputation due to the frequent visits by certain ponies of high status and reputation. Its peach cobbler, or the ‘Blanketed Peaches’, was a rather well known delicacy in the northern parts of Canterlot, especially when topped with their home made vanilla ice cream. Recently, however, the establishment had come under fire due to its unwillingness to serve said dish for the past four days, giving half-baked excuses as to why. But why would a restaurant refuse to serve its most prized dish? That was the question the crowd who was on the edge of their seats was hoping to have answered as they watched a white, well dressed Unicorn pace back and forth in the body of the establishment. Sitting off to the side, notepad in hoof, was a young Earth Pony colt who watched with silent confidence.  The stallion stopped in his tracks, adjusting his monocle as he scanned the crowd. His expression remained neutral as he turned to his apprentice.  “Care to join me on this one, Pip?”  The young pony gasped and eagerly nodded his head, jumping out of his chair and trotting up to his mentor’s side. They smiled at each other before closing their eyes in sync.  “The one responsible for this…was you!”  The audience gasped as the duo’s hooves stabbed through the air like fierce javelins as they yelled in sync, their target being a brown unicorn stallion with a floppy blonde mane. The pony gasped and darted his head around, seemingly trying to find a way to escape before giving up with a dramatic sigh. “What? Absurd!” He yelled as sweat began to form on his brow “What evidence do you have?”  “More than enough, Mr. Trenderhoof.” Fancy said and produced a dirty clipboard from his saddlebag “This order form you tried to discard was signed exactly four days ago by you alone, meaning that you never sent out the order for the peaches this establishment needed for its prized dish.”  “And let’s not forget how you tried to cover it up with this weird…calling card you drew in crayon.” Pip added, pulling out a poorly drawn picture of a shadow shrouded pony posing menacingly, the words ‘Stolen by the Phantom’ written underneath.  The Unicorn looked between the two and then toward the black coated Pegasus mare who ran the establishment, Midnight Song, and sighed in defeat. “Alright, I confess! I didn’t mean to cause such a commotion! When I went to sign the paper, somepony bumped into me and it ruined my signature! I tried to rewrite it but it was too late, my name had already been tarnished! So I threw it away and lied to buy time until I, Trenderhoof, could come up with a brand new recipe to shock the cooking world and save the business!”  “You hurt my sales because you messed up your signature?” Midnight Song asked, eye twitching. Trenderhoof rubbed his hoof on the ground and nodded shamefully.  “Yes, my lady. Can you ever forgive me?” He pleaded with big eyes. The mare looked as if she wanted to explode and bared her teeth in preparation to scream at the stallion as her eyes widened.  “Mrs. Midnight, if I may?” Fancy cut in, sensing the incoming assault “I know Mr. Trenderhoof well enough to say that this was not done out of malice. While he is a rather…interesting fellow, he simply messed up and I wouldn’t be too harsh on the boy.”  The Pegasus stared daggers into the brown stallion and blew her white mane out of her purple eyes. Eventually she expelled her anger in a long sigh, Pip swearing he could see steam leave her ears.  “Alright, Mr. Fancy Pants.” She conceded and stabbed a hoof toward Trenderhoof “You get one more chance, mister! But if something like this happens again, you’re fired!” Cheers erupted throughout the restaurant as Fancy Pants beckoned for his apprentice to follow, the pair exiting the business as casual as possible. When they found themselves on the late evening streets of Canterlot, the streetlights just beginning to turn on, Fancy grinned at his apprentice as they started the long walk home. “Great job, my boy. That was a rather quick case, was it not?”  “Yep! That makes five in one day, Mr. Fancy!” Pip said with a bounce, marking down something in his notepad prior to glancing at the sky “We might still have time to do one more!”  Fancy Pants let out a yawn and shook his head “Apologies Pip, but I believe that’ll be enough for the day. Plenty of time tomorrow to comb through more of those requests.”  The colt looked disappointed as he put away his notes but brightened up not soon after “Oh! I had another dream with Luna last night!”  “Really?” Fancy asked with a smile “What was it about?”  “We were walking and talking in this beautiful moonlit valley and there was a silver river and…” Pip went on, ecstatic and full of energy like he had just woken up. Fancy was glad for the boy. The first few nights at home had been rough going, the poor lad waking up from horrible nightmares involving Greyhoof and his Markless. A quick letter to Princess Luna had taken care of the problem, thankfully, with the mare doing her best to safeguard his dreams.  “Fancy Pants! Waaaait!” Quirking a brow, the two turned and saw none other than Trenderhoof galloping down the street, stopping before them as he spoke through his gasps “I…wanted to…thank you for…helping me keep my job!”  “It’s no problem at all, Trenderhoof. Might I ask why you’re working there in the first place?” Fancy prodded. The blonde maned Unicorn laughed nervously.  “Well, my latest pieces haven’t been doing too well and my book deal fell through again so I’ve been doing my best to make ends meet.” He then slinked closer to the white stallion “If you would be so kind, Mr. Fancy, it would brighten my world ever so much if you were to sponsor my book! It’s about you and your amazing sidekick’s mystery solving skills! Please, please, please?” Fancy noticed Pip roll his eyes and shake his head. While the stallion didn’t fully enjoy the idea of having a book written about him, Trenderhoof was clearly in a rough place financially and was already on thin ice as it was with Ms. Midnight.  “Alright, Mr. Trenderhoof.” Fancy sighed “Send me the details by this Friday and I’ll consider it.”  A high pitched squeal filled the air as the well dressed gentlecolt found himself in a rather tight hug that threatened to push all the air out of his body “Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this, Mr. Fancy Pants, I promise!”  Without so much as a goodbye, Trenderhoof galloped down the street past the two, whooping and cheering past confused passerbys.  “I hope you know what you’re doing, Mr. Fancy.” Pip said, causing Fancy to chuckle and continue his course.  “Oh I’m sure it’ll turn out fine, Pip. Come, we’re nearly home and I’ve got a stunning recipe I can’t wait for you and Fleur to try.” The journey home had been rather uneventful, aside from exchanging pleasantries with passing ponies who recognized the gentlecolts. The moon had raised rather comfortably in the sky by the time Fancy opened the door to his large home, the lovely smell of tea and flowers slamming him in the face the second he stuck his head in.  “We’re home, my dear!” Fancy announced and shut the door, helping Pip remove his saddlebags with a light application of magic. “Welcome home, you two!” Fleur called out and sauntered down the stairs “My Fancy sense was going off and it was telling me to quickly make tea since you were almost home. Looks like it was right again.” she laughed and quickly nuzzled the two ponies.  “It smells wonderful, dear. Is that Darjeeling?” Fancy guessed, earning a giggle from Fleur.  “Of course! I got it in a package today from Hoity Toity for your endorsement of his fashion show a few days ago.” She said and winked “He also sends his congratulations on your new detective agency.”  Fancy smirked and shook his head “Well I guess I’m not doing much to fight that reputation anymore.”  “We’re the best gentlecolt detectives ever!” Pip shouted and made his way to the table eagerly “But a good detective needs his food! Are you making haybrugers, Mr. Fancy?”  “By Celestia I hope not, that stallion is hopeless when it comes to hay.” Fleur teased and took a seat next to the colt.  “We shall see, my boy. I’ve got a few things to tend to in my study first and I’ll be ready to start cooking.” He said and went past the kitchen. The pinkish-white unicorn mare gasped.  “That reminds me!” Fleur called out as he left “You got a package not too long ago! I set it on your desk!”  “Thank you, my dear!” He called back and used his magic to light a few candles in his study, seeing the mentioned package as soon as the flames came to life. Regarding the box with curiosity, Fancy sat his saddlebags next to the door and went to take a seat, beginning his analysis. The box was unmarked, missing a name as well as the symbol of the official Canterlot Post Office. This wasn’t too strange, as some couriers acted independently, but it did make him raise a brow.  Carefully cutting the tape holding the box shut, Fancy peered inside and felt his heart skip a beat when he laid eyes on the contents.  Inside was a ripped piece of a black flag that was adorned with the skull and crossbones, as well as a single, wrapped parchment. Fancy felt his teeth begin to grind as he slowly levitated the parchment up to eye level, tossing the piece of flag in the trash without a second thought.  Everything within him was telling him not to open the letter, to just toss it along with that cursed flag. But his thoughts soon filled with the face of his apprentice and how disappointed he would be if he did such a thing. Releasing a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Fancy unfurled the letter and read it silently.  “Seaward Shoals. Meet me there before the month is up. Bring the watch.”  - Marble Spots “Mr. Fancy? I’m starving, please hurry up!”  Fancy closed his eyes, the rage within simmering down as he quickly shoved the letter in his top drawer and arose from his desk. He took a deep breath and exhaled before making his way over to the study exit. “Coming, my boy!”  The flickering light from the candles was extinguished, bathing the room in complete darkness. FIN