Twilight Sparkle pushed past the vines and bushes of the Everfree Forest, using her magic to help clear a path. Behind her, Spike was shivering as the strange sounds and sights of the forest grew louder.
“A-Are you sure this is the way?” Spike said, trying to mask his fear in idle conversation.
“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Pinkie said that it’d be about another two miles east from Zecora’s place.
It had been over thirty minutes since Twilight and Spike made the long trek from Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie had thankfully been able to give specifics about the location of her home. Shortly after, they had arrived in the Everfree Forest and were now passing Zecora’s hut; they were close.
Just as Spike was about to speak, she heard the sudden rustling of leaves ahead. Twilight held her hoof to the side, signalling Spike to stop. Together, they listened as the sound grew closer. Twilight stepped back defensively in front of Spike and began to harness magic into her horn, prepared for the worst case scenario.
The sound grew closer. Twilight could see a figure just behind the leaves. Twilight’s muscles tensed as she ran forward, about to attack whatever lie ahead with a highly concentrated blast of magic. Twilight was inches away when she noticed the pony in front of her.
It was a unicorn mare with a bright magenta coat and a long, straightened, maroon colored mane that swayed as she jumped back from Twilight. Twilight stumbled and landed face first into the soil. She began wiping off the dirt from her mane as the pink coated pony approached her, staring at her with bright emerald eyes.
“A-Are you okay?” the mare nervously asked.
Twilight coughed. “Yeah,” she spoke as she slowly stood with a slight embarrassment. Twilight faced the mare with a slight blush. “I’m sorry about that. I thought you were some kind of animal. Let’s just say that I’ve had some.....bad experiences with the Everfree in the past,” she said with a nervous chuckle.
“That’s alright,” she spoke with a hint of confusion. “But, I have to ask; what are you doing here? The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place. Not somewhere that you want to lurking around.”
“Actually,” Twilight said as she straightened her mane, “I’m looking for someone; a pony by the name of Lillypop.”
The mare looked taken aback as she stammered out, “Lillypop?”
“Yes, I heard that she lives out in these woods. Do you know her?”
“Well, I guess you're in luck,” the mare said, “I am Lillypop. I was out scavenging for some herbs.”
Twilight smiled. “Excellent! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant, Spike,” she said as she pointed to the purple dragon.
“I see,” Lillypop said in a confused tone. “Why exactly are you looking for me?”
“Well, to begin,” Twilight said with a cough, “did you know of a pony by the name of Bubble Puff?”
Her eyes widened in shock as a sullen look spread across her face. Her mouth moved as if she was trying to form words. A moment passed before she spoke. “Yes.”
Twilight felt a sense of defeat as the mare spoke. Twilight replied, “I see. I suppose that you already know what happened.”
Lillypop slowly nodded her head as she spoke with a deep sorrow in her voice. “I have. ”
“I see. I’m currently investigating the circumstances behind his death on behalf of Princess Celestia. I have a few questions for you, if you’re willing.”
It was there for a brief moment, Twilight saw. There was a brief moment of fear that overtook Lillypop upon hearing those words. Lillypop turned around, facing the woods. “Come with me”, she said with a crack in her voice.
Twilight Sparkle and Spike cautiously followed her until they reached a small round cottage with a square building attached to it that was built entirely of glass. Inside the transparent building, potted plants and a variety of herbs lay across the countertops and the glass tiles of the floor. Lillypop redirected them towards the wooden hut and opened the door with her magic.
Twilight and Spike followed Lillypop inside after briefly examining the cottage grounds which held a variety of plants ranging from bright pink tulips, a deep shaded pink that reminded Twilight of a certain party mare, to daisies with white petals, white as Celestia’s beautiful coat, and a flower head that was a shimmering yellow, bright and golden as the very sun.
Twilight entered into a large matted living room decorated with a variety of houseplants and paintings that hung along the walls. Along the wall was a large bookshelf that was filled with various books on plants, herbs, and everything that a botanist would need. Lined along the floors were two yellow chairs facing towards each other and separated by a long mahogany table with a brown leather sofa connected at the end of the table. On the other side of the room, Twilight could see a small kitchen that connected to the living room as well as a door that led to a small bathroom.
Lillyopop sat on one of the chairs and motioned for them to sit. Twilight sat on the other chair and faced Lillypop while Spike sat on the sofa and observed the two mares as they stared at each other intently. There was a brief silence among them before they heard light sobbing from Lillypop.
Twilight leaned forward with sympathetic eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I just..,” she began with a sniffle, “I just can’t believe he’s gone.” Lillypop used her magic to bring forth a handkerchief and wiped her tears.
“You two must have been very close,” Twilight observed.
“Yes,” she said with a sad smile. “I loved him.”
Twilight examined her curiously, scrutinizing her every move. She didn’t appear to be lying. To be honest, Twilight felt a slight pity as she looked upon this broken mare wallowing in her tears.
Twilight nodded. “I see. I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m trying to find out what caused his death. If there’s anything you can tell me, I’d be very grateful.”
“Of course,” Lillypop said as she wiped away more tears and laid the handkerchief on the table. “What do you wish to know?”
“How exactly did you meet Bubble Puff?” Twilight asked, mindful of her words. She had to be careful, lest she break this mare into a further state of grief.
“Well,” she replied with a sniffle, “when I first saw him, he was on the verge of death. He was crawling through the Everfree, barely conscious. I found him by my cottage and brought him in. It turned out that he managed to ingest a poisonous berry found only here, in the forest. Luckily, I found him just in time to reverse the effects of the poison.”
“What happened afterward?” Twilight inquired.
“After that, he was bedridden at my home for about three days as to make sure that he made a full recovery,” Lillypop spoke. “During that time, I got to know him better. He told me all kinds of interesting things. We talked about life, death, aspirations, and etcetera. He was really quite a brilliant pony. After the third day, he took his leave.”
Lillypop gave a faint smile. “However, I made sure that he promised to come back sometime. And so he did. Every week. He always brought strange gifts, strange stories, and wild ideas with every visit. As time went on, the more I fell for him. I loved his smile, his wonderful voice, his strange ideas. He always seemed to be hiding some sort of pain. Behind that pain, however, was an unmistakable sense of kindness and inner beauty.”
Twilight listened intently, trying to take in all of her information while judging the merit of her story. She seemed to be genuine. Her tears felt real. Her faint, sorrowful smiles felt even more real; so full of hurt and anguish. Twilight nodded after she was done speaking and paused to consider how she would frame her next question. “Miss Lillypop, I don’t mean to intrusive, but I must know something.”
“Yes?”
“Did he reciprocate your feelings?” she carefully asked.
Lillypop let out a soft chuckle. “I suppose that you have a right to ask that, given your job. Yes, it took a long time before he would admit it, but eventually he admitted that he had grown strong feelings towards me.” Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as she spoke. “That was the first time that we kissed.”
Twilight felt awkward from her sudden burst of emotion. She wanted to lean forward and hug the poor pitiful mare, but she hesitated and let the mare continue speaking.
“Twilight?” she asked between sobs.
“Yes, Lillypop?”
“I know that it’s probably not a question that I should be asking,” she nervously said, “but have you made any progress that could help figure out the reason why he did it?”
Twilight thought for a moment before speaking, Can I tell her about the notebook? Is it a safe idea? Finally, she spoke, “Not really. Nothing conclusive.”
Lillypop continued to weep. “So...you’ve found nothing?” She buried her face in her hooves and sobbed even louder.
Twilight bit her lip. I don’t think I can stand another second of this crying. There probably isn’t any harm in telling her the base details. Maybe she can help me?” she thought to herself.
“Actually,” Twilight reluctantly began, “there is something. Earlier this morning, I discovered a notebook in his home.”
Lillypop popped up in surprise. “A notebook?”
“Yes, a small black notebook that appeared to be his personal diary. It was filled with strange symbols and strange texts. I could only decipher some of it. Did he ever talk to you about anything like that?”
Upon mention of the notebook, Lillypop’s tears had come to a stop. She shook her head. “No.....he never mentioned a diary. Anything else? Did he mention me in it?”
Twilight paused. She had already told her too much. “I don’t believe so. Much of it was unreadable, and the text that was readable was too odd to understand. Unfortunately, that’s all that I have so far.”
“Oh,” she said in a pained voice. “I see. Is there anything else that you needed from me? Anymore questions?”
Twilight shook her head as she stood. “I think that’s all the information I need for the moment. I need to get back to the library and finish some work back home. Thank you very much for your time.”
She smiled and nodded. “It was no problem at all. Let me know if I can be of any help.”
“Sure thing,” she agreed as Spike raised himself from the sofa. He quickly walked behind Twilight as they began walking towards the door, and Twilight gently opened it with her magic.
Before leaving, she took a brief glimpse behind her to see Spike close behind. On the chair, Lillypop was wiping her remaining tears with a handkerchief. Just behind her, on the bookshelf -amidst the rows of plant related books and studies- was a red spined book titled, The Art of Spell Dissection.
Most likely a coincidence, Twilight briefly thought as she exited the door. No, she mentally corrected herself. There is no room for coincidences in this case.
With Spike following closely behind, Twilight left the small cottage and rushed back home, through the depths of the everfree. The journey was without too much commotion other than Spike nearly fumbling into a patch of poison joke. Luckily, Twilight had been able to stop him and kept him on her back for the remainder of the trip back.
When they had finally arrived back in Ponyville, it was close to 4:00 in the evening, and she would soon have to cook dinner for herself as well as a hungry baby dragon. Twilight approached Golden Oaks Library and gazed at the lawn. The flowers lay beautifully beside the library with their colors drawing Twilight closer. She inhaled their magnificent scent and remembered that she still had to pay Onion Garlic the next time that she saw him.
Twilight Sparkle, with Spike still on her back, opened the door to find that the library was just as she had left it, with books and papers cluttered about. She didn’t know what odd hope that she had developed, but it soon faded as she entered.
“Spike, you’ve been a great help today. I just need you to clean up this mess while I work on studying the notebook, okay?”
Spike jumped off her back and gave an annoyed grunt. “Fine,” he simply said as he began working. Twilight walked past him and headed for her desk with the intention of reading more into the notebook. Twilight came to a sudden halt as she approached her desk. Her heart briefly stopped.
“No,” she muttered inaudibly.
She turned to face Spike. “Spike!” she shouted, “Check the upstairs for anything missing or anything that’’s out of place!”
Spike dropped the stack of books that he was carrying as he saw the frantic look that spread across Twilight Sparkle’s face. “Twilight! What’s wrong?”
“The notebook,” she said calmly. “It’s gone!” she suddenly shouted.
“What? Are you sure?” Spike asked, now breathing heavily.
Twilight nodded her head and began looking all over the room, examining every crevice for anything that stood out of the ordinary. “Yes, I left it right on the table. This is bad. Really bad. Spike, I need you to check upstairs right away.”
Spike nodded and quickly made his way up the stairs. Twilight ran to the edge of the room and opened the small set of doors that led to the basement. Once opened, she flared her horn and covered the room in a luminescent glow. Nothing, Twilight noted. Not a single thing was missing. Nothing out of place. Everything was exactly as it had been left. Twilight ran out from the basement, shutting the doors behind her.
Twilight began pacing around her desk. “No, this isn’t good. I need to report this as soon as possible.”
Twilight walked to the front door and opened it, examining the side for any damage. No damage. Whoever did this, didn’t have to force their way in. A picklock? Possibly. Who could have snuck in here when we weren’t around? she thought to herself. Is the diary the only thing that they were after?
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. “Twilight!” Spike shouted as he ran down the steps. “I checked everywhere. They didn’t take anything else. Whoever it was, I think the diary was the only thing that they took.”
“Then that settles it,” Twilight thought aloud. “Whoever broke in obviously didn’t wish for us to investigate further. This only solidifies my earlier theory of a third party at work. Whoever did this had to have known that the notebook was in our possession.”
“Do you think it was Inkblot?”
“No,” Twilight said. “We have no evidence to prove that Inkblot had any knowledge of that we had the notebook in our possession. The only other pony that we’ve told about it is Lillypop.”
“It couldn’t have been her!” Spike argued. “We were with her the whole time!”
“You’re correct, Spike. There’s no way that she could have been able to steal it in the time it took us to get back. The only other explanation is that somepony has eyes and ears in very high places.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the only other ponies that we were made aware of our ownership of the notebook are Lillypop and the police department. We’ve already ruled out Lillypop.”
“Do you think the police department had something to do with it?”
Twilight shook her head. “Not necessarily. Although that is indeed a possibility, I believe that whoever took the notebook has some level of access to information belonging to the police.”
“What are we going to do now? How are we going to get it back?” Spike asked.
Twilight Sparkle let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, there’s little that we can do at this point in time,” she said as she began trotting to the door, and levitated her saddlebags over her shoulders. “I’m going to pay the good old Ponyville P.D. a visit and see if there’s anything else that I can learn. You stay here and try to clean up this mess. I should be back soon.”
Before Spike could object, Twilight had exited through the door and began her walk across town, traveling past Sugarcube Corner and through the busy streets of Ponyville. Twilight approached Town hall and turned left to see a large building with a oversized gold star placed directly atop the building. Ponyville Police Precinct, the sign below it read.
Twilight Sparkle approached the rusted metal doors of the precinct and gently pushed them open with her magic. Once the doors opened, Twilight was greeted to the sight of dozens of police ponies running in complete panic as they went from room to room. Several officers were chatting idly with their coworkers while others engaged in serious talk with scowls written across their faces.
At the front of the building was, sitting next to a typewriter, a familiar tan coated earth pony with dark afro that sat in at a desk hovering over a small typewriter. Twilight approached the stallion. “Sir?” she said in a polite voice.
The stallion looked up, and his eyes widened with a look of surprise. “You’re the unicorn from this morning! The one working for the princess!”
“Yes,” Twilight said with mild embarrassment. Anyway, Officer...”
“Officer Sammy James,” he corrected.
Her tone changed to that of a more serious tone. “Officer Sammy James, I’d like to report a break in that occurred at my home. I live in the Golden Oaks Library, and I believe that the crime occurred between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.”
“I see,” Sammy James said as his hooves feverishly worked the typewriter. “Was anything missing from your home?”
“Yes,” Twilight nervously replied. “One item was stolen. Very crucial evidence to the Bubble Puff Case. I need to recover it as soon as possible.”
His face rose as he stopped typing. “If that’s the case, I think you’re going to want to talk to the chief. He’s handling the logistics of the investigation. Plus he’s involved in local suicide control.”
“Very well,” Twilight replied. “Where can I find him?”
Sammy James stood and moved in front of Twilight. “I’ll show you.”
Twilight followed Sammy James past the trotting officers as he spoke. “The office has been pretty crazy since the investigation began.”
“Have you made any leads?” she asked.
Still moving forward, he shook his head. “No. Even though we’ve been filing reports like crazy, we haven’t been doing any real policing.”
Twilight arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Most of the team sent to cover the case have been spending more time trying get logistics and block off the crime scene than actually discovering the reasons or how it got past the chief’s eyes. I really wish I was able to take charge of the situation, but unfortunately the chief has got me playing receptionist.”
“But weren’t you on the scene this morning?”
He nodded. “Yes, but only long enough for the crowd to die down. After that, Chief made sure that only a handful of his ‘best’ officers were on the scene. However, I don’t see them doing much other than mess around and tell jokes by the water cooler.”
“That’s odd. What is the chief doing about this?”
He looked around before he spoke in a hushed voice. “Not a thing other than sitting behind his desk trying to look important.”
Twilight soaked in the information as they approached a door surrounded on both sides by glass. On the front of the door it read, Police Chief Captain Silver Chains
Sammy James leaned into Twilight’s ear. “Don’t mention a word of what I said to him.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded, then waited as Sammy James knocked on the door three times. After a moment, she heard muffled breathing as the door creaked open to reveal a muscular earth pony giving Sammy James and Twilight Sparkle an uncaring look as a cigar hung from his mouth. He appeared to be middle aged with a brown mane, shortened into a military style buzzcut. His coat was a dark grey, dark and gray as the ashes that flung carelessly from his cigar.
He stared at them with a stone cold face as he spoke. “This better be important, officer.”
Sammy James nodded. “Yes, this is Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn that Celestia sent to investigate the Bubble Puff case.”
“Really?” he said with one eye opening slightly more than the other as he scrutinizingly gazed at Twilight. “Well, I’m Captain Silver Chains, and I’m a very busy stallion. I hope that this is important, Miss Sparkle.”
“It is,” she confidently reassured him. “As I’m sure you’re already aware, there was a notebook found in Bubble Puff’s house.”
Both eyes opened with a surprised look before he blew a puff of smoke from the corner of his cheeks as the apathy returned to his face. “My officers informed me,” he dispassionately spoke.
“This afternoon, it was stolen from my residence. I believe that the notebook is essential to uncovering the motives behind Bubble Puff’s suicide and request the full support of the Ponyville’s police department in recovering the notebook.”
He spent a long moment staring at Twilight and Sammy James before he spoke. “Alright, Miss Sparkle. Come in,” he said motioning his head to the office behind him.
After Silver Chains had turned into his office, Twilight Sparkle gave a nod and a silent thank you to Sammy James, who began walking in the opposite direction.
Twilight followed Silver Chains into his office where she was greeted to the intoxicating fumes of cigarette smoke. The smell briefly overcame her as she began hacking and wheezing.
After a moment of adjustment, she turned her attention to Silver Chains, who was sitting in a chair behind his desk. Around the room, it was filled with a plethora of awards and plaques in the several shelves that filled the room. There were pictures of him framed all along the walls. Several were of him shaking hooves with many important dignitaries. One of them even had him standing proudly by Celestia’s side in front of the Ponyville Police Precinct. The one that stood out most to Twilight, though, was a picture of him standing next to an older stallion with a grey, receding mane who wore a white doctor’s coat. The two of them stood smiling in from of a building labeled, Central Equestrian Home of the Suicidally Inclined.
Twilight turned her attention back to Silver Chains. “Have a seat,” he said as he motioned a hoof to two leather chairs opposite his own. Twilight nodded and sat, facing the police chief.
“Close the door,” he said, releasing another puff of Smoke that caused Twilight to instinctively cringe as she used her magic to close the door.
“Good,” he said. “Now tell about this ‘theft’ that occurred.”
Twilight nodded. “The theft occurred at some time between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.”
“And how did this happen? What were you doing at the time of the theft?”
“I was investigating a possible lead that lives in the Everfree Forest,” she replied.
“The Everfree, eh?” he repeated. “Anyway, what was your house like when you returned?”
“The same as it was. That’s the odd part. There were no signs of forced entry of any signs of damage. The only thing missing was the notebook. I can only conclude that whoever broke in did so with the intention of halting the investigation. We have to work on finding the notebook as soon as possible. I’ve already come to the conclusion that whoever stole it has some level of access to police information.”
Silver Chains leaned back in his chair and released a long stream of smoke into the air. “That does sound pretty bad. An eavesdropper perhaps? A rogue thief spying on the police department?” he said with that same look of indifference. “Whoever did it is most likely a dangerous individual. I would recommend that you stay back and let my boys take care of it. We’ll try and recover it as soon as we can.”
There’s a mad thief on the loose, and you’re going to take your sweet time and get on it as soon as you can? she mentally yelled back. Instead, she calmly asked, “How soon?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ve got my hands full trying to contain possible all suicides within the city. The townsfolk are anxious. Who knows when the next victim will come?”
Twilight slammed her hooves on his desk. “Well, while you’re busy dilly dallying, there’s a lunatic who has stolen evidence! This could be the clue to finding out what really happened!”
Silver Chains nonchalantly waved a hoof into the air. “Relax, we’ve got this under control. Why don’t you sit back and let us professionals handle this?”
“I don’t have time for this! If you’re not going to take this seriously, then I’m going to find the culprit on my own!” she shouted as she made her way to the doors.
As she was opening the doors, she heard a small chuckle from Silver Chains. She was about to yell at him once more when a familiar picture caught her attention. Silver Chains and an elderly stallion shaking hooves. Central Equestrian Home of the Suicidally Inclined. This picture clinged to her mind before she snapped back to reality and resumed slamming the door behind her as she angrily made her way through the police department and back to the library.
By the time that she returned, it was already dark outside and Spike lay asleep on the wooden staircase. Twilight sighed and levitated the baby dragon upstairs and into his bed. Twilight returned to the bottom floor.
She was rather pleased with the work that Spike had done in her absence. The newspapers, quills, and loose parchment from before were removed, leaving only a few scraps of paper and a handful of used quills scattered across the floor. Twilight turned her attention back to the desk where Celestia’s letter from the previous night lay. She remembered when she first received it in the dead of night. She went over a plethora of emotions. Excited at the prospect of being a detective. Scared at the prospect of danger. Curious about the circumstances revolving the suicide. One emotion stood above all: pride at being chosen to serve her teacher. Out of all possible ponies to choose with this important task, she choose Twilight Sparkle. She had to solve this case, no matter the consequence.
She then turned her attention back to the small clutter before her. Reluctantly, she pulled out a broom and began sweeping the library until the lights across town had dimmed and all of Ponyville lay sound asleep. All asleep except for one.
Just outside of the library, a pony stood dressed in a dark blue cloak and boots, dark and blue as the infinite night sky above. The pony wore a black leather mask with small holes cut that allowed the pony to peer through and had a protruding horn that was covered in a dark fabric. The pony slowly pulled out a slender dagger from within its cloak and began walking towards Golden Oaks Library.