Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library
09:20 AM
“Spike, what’s the condition of the book?” Twilight asked her assistant. They were standing in the basement next to a work bench that they use to repair damaged books. The young dragon reached over to a pile of loose pages that he had stacked at one side.
“If it had just gotten wet, it wouldn’t be so bad. But a lot of the pages had the printing smeared and are torn. I don’t think we can use this copy every again.” Spike looked up from the bench and gave Twilight a small shake of his head.
So it’s gone from assault to bibliocide! I’ll have to notify the next of kin. Blue Skies has got a lot of explaining to do. I stomp my way out of the basement and towards the fiction bookshelves. I know what I have to do and it won’t be easy. A quick glance through the stacks and I find them. Volumes one, two, and four of the four part Dusk series. There was a gap on the shelf where part three would have sat. A knot forms in my throat as I gently place my hoof onto the first two novels. The library had purchased all four books as a set. They had all been placed on the shelf together at the same time and had the time to age together, to have their covers fade slightly from the sunlight at the same rate. Of course another volume three could be acquired, but it wouldn’t be the same. It could never be the same again. A single tear manages to find its way down my cheek and I look away. Whoever had done this would have to pay! And I didn’t mean the replacement book fee.
“Spike, I’m going out again,” Twilight yelled down into basement.
Helping Rainbow Dash with Tornado Duty seems to have had some extra benefits. Since we had to keep track of all the pegasus ponies in Ponyville, I had gotten to know all of them at least by name. I knew Blue Skies was a stallion with a blue coat and blonde mane. He works with Rainbow managing the weather. I should be able to find him in the skies right now. I head outside and flag down the first weather pegasus I see. It was Cloudchaser.
“Have you seen Blue Skies today?” I ask the lilac colored mare.
“Yeah, he should be clearing clouds over by the lake,” she replied at pointed to the East. Twilight gave a small smile and thanked the mare before trotting off towards the lake East of town.
Ponyville, Eastern Lake
09:45 AM
Ponyville has many lakes surrounding the town. The one on the Eastern edge was fairly large and often used for swimming and relaxing. Several clouds hovered above and several pegasi flew between them.
There he is! I spot the light blue stallion pushing a small cloud towards a group of weather pegasi. They were apparently trying to round up all the stray clouds into one large mass. They were approximately two hundred feet in the air and I try my best to get his attention. Luckily he sees me and begins his decent.
“Oh hey, Twilight,” Blue Skies nervously greeted the grounded mare as he lands. “What can I do for you?”
“Blue Skies, have you ever heard of a book called Dusk: Solar Flare?” Twilight asked. Blue Skies’ eyes shifted nervously from side to side.
“Um. Isn’t that a book in that popular vampony series?”
“Yes it is. You wouldn’t happen to have read it, have you? Perhaps from the copy in the libra-” Twilight did not have time to finish her question as Blue Skies suddenly jumped into the air and furious flapped his wings to flee.
We’ve got a runner! I try to grab a hold of him with my magic, but he is too fast and I miss. Being unable to fly really is a disadvantage when dealing with winged suspects. But there is more than one way to catch a pagasus. I just got to time this just right.
Blue Skies was trying to fly as fast as he could up to the cloud layer. Just when he was about to reach his goal, a bright purple and magenta light flashed before his eyes, blinding him for a split second. He suddenly felt a heavy weight land on his back and arms flailing to grab a hold of his midsection.
“Pull over immediately!” Twilight yelled at Blue Skies. She had teleported herself just above the flying pegasus and latched onto him as he flew by.
“Get off of me you crazy mare!” Blue yelled in surprise. He did a quick roll to try to dislodge his unwanted rider, but it didn’t work. Twilight had wrapped her rear legs around his waist and her forearms round his neck. “I didn’t do nothing, I swear!”
“Then pull over and quit resisting!” Twilight yelled again into Blue’s ear. Blue Skies tried another maneuver to try to shake her off but Twilight held tight. All the while they continued to climb higher. Twilight glanced upwards and saw that they were heading right into a large cloud.
Oh, it’s just a cloud…wait a minute-
There was no time to wait as both ponies slammed into the cloud. Being a pegasus, Blue Skies came to a sudden halt as he collided into the wall of pillow soft fluff. Being a unicorn, Twilight continued on with her flight path through the water vapor. Twilight lost her grip on Blue as she was torn off his back by his sudden stop.
Curse you inertia! Neighton you are a son of a diamond dog! I sailed through the cloud in a perfect arc. At the apex, I take a quick glance down at the stupid cloud and see Blue Skies sitting on top. His eyes were rolling around in his head like that grey mare. Then I fall. I fall through the cloud again and back down towards the ground. I quickly calculate what my terminal velocity would be and how long it would take before my insides become my outsides. Did I curse Neighton already? Well, second time’s the charm!
Blue Skies sat on his rump on top of the cloud. He brought both his fore-hooves to his head to settle his dizziness and blinked his eyes a few times to regain their focus. Just as he was able to see straight, another flash of purple and magenta light exploded in front of him.
“I said stop resisting!” Twilight yelled as she appeared a few feet above the cloud in front of Blue Skies. Again she fell through the cloud as she made contact with it.
Whoops, forgot the cloud walking spell. Twilight quickly cast the spell on herself and shot an arm upwards to catch the edge of the cloud. To her gratitude, it held firm.
“You’re a mad mare! Leave me alone!” Blue Skies yelped in surprise. He turned away and began to take flight once again.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight pulled herself up and jump onto the stallion just as he was taking off. Again they were flying high above Ponyville.
Good thing I read those hoof to hoof combat books after Shining’s wedding. There was a particularly interesting section about wrestling with a winged opponent. I think it went something like this.
Keeping her left forearm wrapped tightly around Blue Skies’ neck, Twilight used her right forearm to grab his right wing. With a slight grunt she pulled the wing back and locked it in the crook of her elbow, effectively pinning his wing back. Blue Skies yelled again in a mixture of surprise and pain. They were still a few hundred feet in the air and now he was flying with one wing and with a passenger. He flapped his free left wing as hard as he could but it was not enough, they were going down. Twilight tried her best to steer the spiraling pony towards the lake. At the last moment before impacting the water, she let go of his wing and Blue Skies instinctively flapped downwards to slow their decent. It was not enough to stop them completely, and they both crashed into the lake.
Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library
11:00 AM
In hindsight, pinning the wing of a flying pegasus in mid air while riding on back was probably not the smartest thing to do. I stand in front of one of the study rooms in the library with a towel. After the crash landing I managed to drag Blue Skies to the library, mostly my levitating him the entire way back. Now he sits in the interrogation / study room. After all I’ve done this morning he had better spill his guts.
“Twilight, this is largest dictionary I could find,” Spike said as he walks with a large hard bound book. It’s nearly as large as he is. “Why do you need it again?”
“Thank you, Spike. I just wanted to look up some words.” Twilight accepted the extremely large book with her magic and levitated it behind her. “Now let’s question our suspect.”
Twilight set her towel aside and opened the door to the study room. It was a very small room, just large enough for a small table and two chairs. There were no windows and no decorations on the walls. Only a single lamp illuminated the room. Seated at one of the chairs was Blue Skies with a towel draped over his head. Twilight walked inside and dropped the large dictionary onto of the table. It made a large “Thwack” and Blue Skies flinched in his seat. Spike followed Twilight into the room and stood at the door.
“Do you know why you are here?” Twilight asked the sitting stallion.
“It’s because of that stupid book,” Blue skies replied. He pulled the towel off of his head and looked down at the table.
“Yes, this book.” Twilight dropped another book on the table in front of Blue Skies. It was the copy of Dusk: Solar Flare. Spike at had put all the pages back but did not rebind it. Instead it was held together with a large rubber band. “Why did you do it? What has this book done to you?”
Blue Skies looked at the book. The cover was stained red and the colors of the original art were bleeding together. Some pages stuck out at odd angles and it still had a faint odor of alcohol. He turned the book over and a faint hoof print could still be seen. The indentation was just about the same size as his own hoof.
“OK, I did it. I’m sorry!” Blue Skies blurted out.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Twilight said icily as she sat down in the chair facing Blue Skies.
“We went to Berry’s place after the storm,” Blue Skies began. “We all had a few drinks and it started to get a bit rowdy. I bumped into the bookcase next to the bar and knocked the book onto the ground. I didn’t know it until I stepped on it. When I looked down to see what I stepped on I spilled my cider on it. I tried to wipe it off but that only made it worse. So I took it to the bathroom to try to dry it off. That didn’t work and I got scared, so I dumped it in the trashcan outside the bathroom and left.”
“Don’t you mean you took it back to the library and shoved it through the book return?”
“What? No, I left in the trash,” Blue Skies replied defensively.
“Don’t lie to me!” Twilight yelled and slammed her hooves onto the table. “I know you were at the library, I found your feather outside!” To prove her point, Twilight levitated the blue feather in front of him.
“That’s not my feather!” Blue Skies yelled back.
“I know it was you. I know you beat up that poor book and put it in the book return to mock me!” Twilight stood up and levitated the large dictionary above her head. “Now tell me the truth or your face is going to be permanently next to ‘beaten up by a book’ in this dictionary!”
“It’s the truth, I swear by Celestia’s name!” Blue Skies cowered in his seat. Never before had he seen such an angry mare.
“Why I oughta-“ Twilight raised the dictionary higher.
“Twilight! Stop!” Spike yelled and jumped onto the table in front of her. “Get a hold of yourself!”
Twilight looked Spike and then at Blue Skies. She looked back to Spike and then dropped the dictionary. Blue Skies flinched as it hit the ground with a resounding “thud.”
“You are still getting fined for damaging the book. And you better not be lying to me. Remember, I know where you live,” Twilight said coldly to the frightened stallion. She picked up the broken novel and blue feather with her magic and left the room.
I leave the room seething in rage. How could he not be the one who returned the broken book? He already admits to damaging it at the bar. Everything points to him. Why won’t he just confess to returning it?
“Twilight, I don’t think he is the one,” Spike said to fuming mare as he exits the study room.
Great, now the dragon thinks he’s innocent. I’ve been running around all morning on this case and I’m still chasing nothing but rumors! I slam my head into the nearest table. Why is this so hard? Why can’t I find out something so simple as who returned a book?
“Um, Twilight,” Spike said and approached his Mother/Sister/Boss who was slamming her head against a table. “I think you need to take a break.”
Yes, a break. I need a break. Perhaps three or four minutes to clear my mind.
“Get your Colgate brand tooth polish right here! Guaranteed to clean your teeth of all those nasty germs and keep cavities away! Just one tube can last up to thirty brushes! No other brand tooth polish can clean your teeth better for this price! Remember when you are brush, brush, brushing, think Colgate brand tooth polish! Now in mint flavor for foals.”
Ponyville, Sugarcube Corner
12:00 PM
Twilight watched the blue and white unicorn hawk her goods to the marketplace from her table outside of Sugarcube Corner. She had decided to have a light lunch at the bakery and try to refocus on the case. She sipped her tea and searched her saddle bag for the blue feather. Once she found it and it levitated in front of her, spinning it slowly in the light.
“Here ya go Twilight!” Pinkie Pie happily chimed as she bounced over to the table. “One cupcake a la Pinkie!” She placed a plate with pink cupcake on top of the table and looked at the feather Twilight was levitating. “Oooo, where did you get one of Dashie’s feathers?”
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked back, “No this is from Blue Skies.”
“I’m pretty sure that one is from Dashy Dash, not Bluey Blue,” Pinkie answered with a laugh. Twilight only raised one eye brow in response. “You see, Blue Skies is Pantone 9441 C while Rainbow Dash’s coat is Pantone 2509 C like that feather you have there.” Pinkie gave Twilight a very large and toothy smile. Twilight did not understand everything Pinkie had said, but she did understand the ramifications.
“Are you sure? Are you 100% sure this feather is from Rainbow Dash?” Twilight held the feather closer to Pinkie for to see.
“Yup, I’m 120% sure! It’s not Blueberry Muffin, Blue Skies, Bluebell, Bluebird Happiness, Chocolate Blueberry, Cloud Showers, Deep Blue, Electric Blue, Helia, Opal Water, Prism Strider, or Sassaflash. It’s Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie shouted out in one long breath.
“Um, thank you for the cupcake Pinkie, but I got to take this to go.” Twilight quickly picked up her things and headed back to the library.
Rainbow Dash? Could it really have been her? Could one of my best friends do such a thing to a book?
Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library
12:15 PM
I’ve got to be certain if I’m going to after Rainbow Dash. I walk to the library’s front desk and pull out the check-out ledger. I quickly look for the other volumes of Dusk and who had checked them out. Oh no! Rainbow Dash’s name was listed under each. I admit she’s destroyed a few things crashing into the library every so often, but to deliberately return a book beyond repair in secret?
There was a knock on the door. I leave the front counter and open the door to find none other than Rainbow Dash herself standing on the other side.
“Rainbow Dash,” I greet her with a fake smile. “I was just about to go see you.”
“Well that’s great because I came here to talk to you.” The rainbow mare seems nervous as I lead her into the library. We stop at the large round table in the center of the atrium. “Blue Skies told me what happened this morning.”
“Oh did he now?”
“Yeah, he said you foalnapped him out of midair and nearly beat the cud out of him with a dictionary over a ruined book.” Rainbow shifted her hooves. She is definitely nervous about something. Time to begin the interrogation.
“Yes, it was because of this book.” I keep an eye on Rainbow’s face as I place the battered book on the table in front of her. She tries to hide her conscious, but I know her too well to not see the guilt in her eyes. Mares and stallions of the court I would like to present the defendant, Rainbow Dash. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it would you?”
“Um well, you see, about that book,” Rainbow stuttered. The Prosecution would like to call its first witness, Rainbow Dash, to the stand.
“You mean this poor defenseless book that was brutally stomped on by Blue Skies and then drowned in cider?”
“Yeah about that,” Rainbow trailed off.
“Who then viciously broke its spine, ripped its pages, and then thoughtlessly shoved it into the book return slot for the whole world to see his depravity?” I narrow my eyes and give Rainbow a hard stare. She fidgets for a few seconds and bites her bottom lip.
“I did it!” Rainbow suddenly shouted. “I’m the one who returned the book, not Blue Skies.”
My eyes fly open in shock. A confession!
“I saw it in the trash at Berry’s place last night. I haven’t read this one yet and I really wanted to know who Annabelle would choose. So I picked it up right before I left. I was on my way home when a tree came out of nowhere and hit me.” I roll my eyes. “I dropped the book in a puddle and when I tried to dry it off with my patented Rainblow Dry it kinda bent in half and some of the pages got ripped. I know you love the books in the library and I felt so bad for ruining it. I panicked and just dumped it in the book return and flew off. Did I mention I was probably still drunk at the time? I’m really sorry,” Rainbow said with a downcast look.
Well there you have it mares and stallions of the court. A full confession on the stand. What say you?
We find the defendant, Rainbow Dash, guilty of aggravated biblio-slaughter.
It wasn’t a shocking verdict. Blue Skies had done most of the damage at the bar. Rainbow just pushed it over the edge, as usual. Now on to the sentencing phase.
“Oh it’s not so bad. You should see my other books,” I say to the convicted felon and slowly raise my left hoof behind her as I show her a random book…