The next morning brought a new problem along with the investigation. Being on trial for murder generally doesn't come with paid leave, and this was no exception. Breakfast was reduced to an single egg (Split amongst the two of them) and wheat grits, and shopping was added to the list of things to do. Trawling the bar scene for somepony left little in the way of savings, and cooking for two just added insult to injury. But first came the usual workout.
You say you don't wanna hide
A muzzle no one knows
And everyone you meet
You wanna show
You're nopony's slave
Nopony's chains are holding you
You hold your hoof up high
Sun deposited a small bag of bits into her saddlebags and left with Blaze to the market. The arrival of a royal guard who was not hobknobbing with the Elements of Harmony prompted questions that Sun would rather not bother with. Soon enough she discovered that answering them truthfully kept others at bay. They'd better run it in the paper that I'm innocent when all this' done. she thought with a dissatisfaction that could almost be felt outside her mind. A couple of salesponies were loath to deal with her, for fear of loss of reputation. Blaze's simple, blunt command to barter as normal likely provoked more fear than the charges levied at Sun (What pony says no to a royal guard?). In the end she was still convinced she got some sort of upcharge, and it looked like provisions for the rest of the week were to be barley, beans, and other fare as cheap as the dirt they were grown in. Fortunately for both, one salespony was entirely on the level with them, an orange filly dealing apples. Still high in terms of pantry fare, but the last bit supplied lunch. She even threw in a second one on-the-house, with a tip of a hat towards the guard and a smile to Sun. "Thanks, I'll owe ya one sometime."
"Think nothin' of it sugarcube. Ah'm sure you got enough on yer plate without worryin' about not havin' enough on the other." the blonde-maned pony replied in a drawl.
"Thanks again." Sun said with a slight smile and a nod, and turned towards home with Blaze. "Dunno what they feed you guards up in Canterlot, but it'll have to do."
"It's all pre-prepared en mass for the force. Often simple, so this isn't too far off."
"Good to know I won't be annoyin' the escort on top of all this crap." she flatly noted, heading towards home and wondering what the hay rams had to do with the extraordinarily cheap noodles mixed in with the rest.
Once the foodstuffs were put away, Sun looked at the clock on the wall. Not much time left, not enough for the library's collection of law books. She thought on the next step for a moment. With the sun going down, the idea that latched on had to wait. Tomorrow they would search the scene.
Your cruel device
Your blood, like ice
One look, could kill
My pain, your thrill~
I wanna love you but I better not touch
I wanna hold you but my senses tell me to stop
Blaze was getting used to this kind of music, going to far as to join in the workout with a set of weights Sun wasn't using. "Can't let myself get soft either, after all."
"Good call Blaze, but we're not sharing the bath."
"Aww..." The sudden realization of that remark left Blaze to quickly add "Sorry, that was highly unprofessional of me."
"S'okay. Your wings are down, so you're got more control than some other ponies." Blaze decided not to comment on that one.
The scene was cleaned up and the property left void of warning tape. Unsurprisingly, the house hadn't had any prospective buyers yet. Houses that site unusual deaths do tend to provoke a superstitious wariness from the masses. Plus it had only been a few days. Seems a lot longer. Sun mused as they slowly paced through the large hole left in the wall from Java's suicidal explosion. The place was as disheveled as she remembered from earlier (And more successful) trips to fight fires. The workbench contained books at varying pages, the open ones with a thin layer of dust and a couple spots of dried blood stain the cleanup crew couldn't get. It was cleaned, but the stains will stay there. Twilight will have some questions of her own when they're returned. "Can't read this stuff, looks like manuals to somethin'." Sun jerked her head toward the open books from Blaze and trotted to another section of the shop while he tried his hoof at making sense of it.
Scanning over boxes with labels only a mechanic would use, and some that nopony would. She pulled down a box marked "Flux Capacitor" and looked inside. Nothing but assorted screws and small spare parts. Whatever. The massive assortment of pipes that formed Java's prototype industrial coffeemaker remained on the table, the remnants of the last brewing black and thick as tar after the fire below had reduced it to a fraction and went out. next to it was another thin layer of dust. Sun looked around at the other shelves and found it about the same. She was trotting back towards Blaze when it hit her That's the only thing that crazy pony kept clean. "Hey, check this out!." He trotted over to the machine with her.
"I don't see any difference."
"This is the only thing here he ever kept clean. It shouldn't be dirty as the rest." She wondered as she ran the edge of a hoof over the layer and brought it to her muzzle. Her pupils dilated instantly. "Not dust!" She quickly shook her hoof off and pawed the floor to clear it.
Blaze produced a small evidence bag from his saddlebags and pushed two hoof-lines of the powder into it before sealing it. "Better take this to Ms. Sparkle."
"Whozatagain?" Sun stuttered, clearly agitated. Darting her head left and right "Whatzinthatstuff?!"
"Twilight Sparkle the librarian, and current holder of the Element of Magic. She'll have the tools we need I think"
"Ohyaya."
"Are you alright Sun?"
*Thud*