Chapter 6
The next day started in much the usual way. Fluttershy hummed to herself as she prepared breakfast , her divine voice wafting throughout the whole of the office. This, of course, was punctuated by the occasional titanic snore from her partner who, like every morning, was sleeping in.
Eventually the snores subsided and a bleary-eyed Rainbow Dash meandered into the main room. She took a seat at the desk and only winced slightly as her injured flank contacted the negligible cushioning of the second-hand chair. Fluttershy suddenly materialized in her line of sight, holding in outstretched hooves a cup of the sweetest ambrosia known to ponykind: coffee.
‘Well, next to cider of course,’ Dash thought to herself with a chuckle as she took the coffee from Fluttershy. Dash nodded a ‘thank you’ to the other mare before she returned to preparing breakfast.
The cyan mare sipped her coffee through pursed lips, tentatively checking its temperature. One slightly burnt tongue and a few muttered curses later, she decided that perhaps she would have to wait a few more minutes.
Rainbow trained her sights on the bubbly reservoir of good cheer that currently took the form of a yellow pegasus. Rainbow never could understand Fluttershy’s desire to rise with the sun. Especially after days like yesterday, where if anything could have gone wrong, it did. But it wasn’t just the bad days. Even when Dash could drag the timid mare to a bar, and the pair would stumble back to their makeshift apartment well past the witching hour, still, the buttery pegasus would be awake before Rainbow. She was always there to present her with a cup of coffee and a smile. Rainbow could never figure out if she loved or hated Fluttershy for this annoying yet admirable quality.
She closed her eyes and took a deep inhale of the steam that wafted from her coffee, willing that by some transitive property the caffeine could be absorbed via the nostrils. It was during this sublimely calm moment that Dash’s ears finally began to pick up the tune that Fluttershy was humming. It wasn’t anything in particular, or if it was it wasn’t something Rainbow could recognize. Yet, for some strange reason the meandering tune stuck a cord somewhere within the brash pegasus. She began to hum along, adding her own smoky voice to Fluttershy’s saccharine symphony.
‘Maybe we should get a place together, once those checks clear. I mean, not sure I could ever knock together coffee this good on my own…’ Rainbow thought idly.
Several minutes later Rainbow was brought forth from her reverie by the softest of coughs. Her eyes drifted open, and there in front of her was another of Fluttershy’s omelets as well as Fluttershy herself, offering that same sweet little smile.
“You’re allowed to have a bad morning,” Dash said as she began wolfing down her omelet. “It’s not like the world will stop if you decide to sleep in or are grumpy or anything.”
The briefest of shadows passed over Fluttershy face, and despite the sincerity of her smile, the happy expression didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Oh no, I just have to be up this early,” she replied in her meek cadence. “It’s the best time to hear the birds singing…”
It wasn’t quite a lie. Not really. However the real reason Fluttershy always found herself awake so early had nothing to do with anything as cheerful as birdsong. Living with the mare that she held such affection for was both a blessing and a curse for the timid pegasus. She would often find sleep difficult to cling to. Thoughts of the rainbow-maned mare often invaded her mind just as she hovered on the edges of sleep, or when sleep loosened its grip in the early hours of the day.
Sometimes the thoughts were pleasant. Dreams of a future spend together, partners in more than crime-solving. Other times they took the form of sultry fantasies that made Fluttershy desperately wish their improvised apartment had a bit more privacy. Unfortunately, most often her thoughts turned against her. Images of a scornful Dash standing over her, berating the buttery mare for daring to love somepony so amazing as she. This or other such nightmarish visions would too often haunt Fluttershy, making sleep an unobtainable goal.
To cope, Fluttershy would rise early each day, and each day she would prepare a meal and coffee for the mare of her dreams. Each day the groggy smile or nod of appreciation from Rainbow was enough to banish the dark thoughts. At least until her pink-maned head hit the pillow again.
‘I have to be happy in the mornings, Dashie. If I wasn’t I wouldn’t see that smile of yours… Then I don’t know what I’d do…’
Fluttershy seated herself alongside her partner and began to daintily chew at her own breakfast. Dash had already finished with her breakfast and now slurped her coffee loudly. The sound comforted Fluttershy further, rough-around-the-edges as the Rainbow was, she would never be as cruel as the Dash of her nightmares. She was brave and loyal, and though she didn’t often let others know it, quite kind as well…
“Being awful quiet this morning Flutters,” Dash chided her companion with a chuckle. Accusing Fluttershy of being quiet was as redundant as accusing water of being wet.
“Just, um, thinking of the case…” Fluttershy lied.
“Yeah, me too,” Dash responded, though this too was a lie. Dash had actually still been mulling over the idea of the she and Fluttershy remaining roommates even after they could afford their own place.
An uncomfortable silence then passed between the two pegasi, neither quite daring to reveal their true thoughts just yet. Dash decided that perhaps talking about the case wouldn’t be such a bad idea and broke the tension with a cough.
“So, you think the school will be cool with the two of us just marching in and interrogating their students?” Rainbow said as she took another sip of her coffee.
Fluttershy began to look a bit sheepish.
“What is it?” Dash asked with a cocked brow.
“Well I may have called ahead to the school this morning and asked the headmistress if we could ask around. I told her that we were working Diamond Tiara’s missing pony’s case and well, I think she thought I was a police officer.” Fluttershy explain with a nervous grin. “I, uh, didn’t correct her.”
“Way to go, Flutters,” Dash said, giving her companion a devious smile.
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Lady Luna Preparatory Academy. Filthy Rich had certainly spared no expense when it came to his daughter’s schooling. Somehow both located within the city’s center and possessing a beautiful lawn and grounds, Luna Prep was by far the best education money could buy. Though what made the school so special is that not everypony had to buy in to benefit.
The school was renowned all over Equestria for its generous scholarships, awarded to anypony who might have been able to pass the grueling entrance examinations but found themselves unable to afford the school’s tuition. The resulting socioeconomic diversity resulted in a student body that often looked at each and every issue from a myriad of perspectives. In this fashion, pupils not only learned to be disciples of academia, but students of life as well. Well, that is, if they managed to look beyond the haze of high school drama.
As Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash made their way within the ivy-covered walls of the venerable institution, their ears were immediately assaulted by the relentless chatter of the teen-aged multitudes.
“…He said what?...”
“…No way she got a better grade…”
“… she said, ‘a good size,’ What does that even mean?...”
“…I wouldn’t be caught dead with…”
“…yeah , no, I totally know where you can get that…”
Fluttershy hid instinctively behind her mane. Visions of her the hell that had been her high school experience began to play over and over in her mind. The bullies, the awkwardness, the classes, the awkwardness, the failed attempts at dating, the awkwardness! She shut her eyes tightly, trying to will the noise around her to subside.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder and slowly the stress began to melt away. She looked through her mane to see her Rainbow Dash giving her a kind smile.
“Hey Flutters, you’re an adult now, okay? No more high school.” The cyan mare’s voice was warm and sympathetic. Rainbow had occupied a front row seat to the hell Fluttershy had experienced in high school. After all, she had been the shy mare’s only friend, and vice-versa.
“Th-thanks. Can’t believe this still gets to me…” Fluttershy managed, going a bit pink with embarrassment.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Ninja ponies attack and I’m all swagger. Set foot in a high school and suddenly my hooves are all sweaty,” Rainbow said with a self-deprecating chuckle.
The pair made their way to the headmistress’s office, finding it without too much trouble. Rainbow pushed the door open roughly and the pair entered. The private-eyes’ ears were treated to a string of cursing that managed to make even Rainbow blush.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy managed from behind her mane.
“Oh, oh dear. Officers I’m so sorry,” A violet earth pony gave the pair of pegasi and apologetic smile. She wore a pair of half-moon spectacles that were perched halfway down her nose. Her two-toned mane had been styled into a tight bun, and her every feature gave the detectives the impression that she was both highly skilled and entirely overworked. The office itself was absolutely covered in paper. Stacks and stacks of files and folder covered every available surface. In fact, it seemed – from the papers now scattered across the floor – that Dash’s abrupt entrance had created a bit of a gust which had disrupted a particularly perilous stack. This unexpected occurrence had precipitated the storm of swearing to spew forth from the otherwise demure headmistress.
“My name is, uh, Cheerilee,” The head mistress said as she bustled around her office, attempting to clear pylons of paper off of the pair of chairs usually reserved for guests. “We are in the middle of switching filing systems and, well, we are having just smallest spot of trouble…”
The pegasi shared a significant look. Cheerilee clearly had a talent for understatement.
“Well, Miss Cheerilee, we are here to ask about Diamond Tiara. As my partner informed you over the phone we have been assigned to her missing-pony’s case.” Dash worked very hard to sound as official as she could. Granted, in her younger and wilder days, she had been granted a first-hand exposure to the inner working of the legal system. She now mined the experiences for all they were worth.
“Ah yes, let’s see here. I had pulled her file after the phone call but…” Cheerilee swiveled frantically in her chair, eyes scanning the forest of files. Finally she let out a call of triumph and pulled a piece of paper from beneath a coffee mug.
“Here we go! Ah yes, Diamond Tiara: daughter of Crystal Tiara, socialite and ex-beauty queen, and Flithy Rich, business mogul. She’s been quite the fixture in the extracurricular scene around here, especially after that memorable, if short-lived stint as the editor of the school newspaper. I’m all for equine-interest pieces, but I draw the line at a scrawny colt digging through my trash.” She gave a mirthless chortle.
“Oh, let’s see here, there’s a note from the guidance counselor. Apparently Diamond’s mother passed recently, poor thing, and she has since been living with her father. Until recently, he only held partial custody over Diamond. Filthy and Crystal were divorced, you see. This seems to have been accompanied by a bit of a dramatic shift in Diamond’s behavior. She has given up her positions on a few of our more frivolous clubs…” The headmistress leaned in, eyes darting about the room, almost as if expressing a personal opinion was forbidden within the walls of her office. “We seem to be plagued by a rash of self-indulgent clubs that the more wealthy fillies and colts use as a means of differentiating themselves from the ‘rabble.’ Yacht clubs, and the like. I’ve tried to make them more inclusive, but rich donors keep the doors open around here – for everypony – and my hooves are tied.”
She gave a bit of a cough and straightened back to her previous posture and continued. “Says here that she joined a student activist society.” Her eyes darted around the room again before adding in a whisper, “Good for her… guess there is hope.”
Fluttershy and Rainbow had maintained the most formal decorum they could manage throughout the school-mare’s exposition. When she had finally finished, it was Fluttershy who spoke first.
“Do you think we could have the name of the group? Maybe where they meet? We really need to question those closest to her in order to determine if they had… uh… witnessed any improper activities and… strangeness.” Fluttershy’s façade had faltered but the headmistress didn’t seem to care. She had instead preoccupied herself with digging through a filing cabinet until she managed to pull out another sheet of paper.
“Here you go. This is their club renewal application. Has the meeting location as well as a charter of members.”
Fluttershy accepted the document and she and Dash scanned it simultaneously.
The Crusaders: Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo
Then, hoof-written in at the bottom as a last minute addition…
…and Diamond Tiara