December 14, 10:33 AM
Canterlot Castle
East Garden
***
When we got back to the scene of the crime, I was pleased to see that the Royal Guard was still hard at work looking for evidence. This time, however, things were slightly different. It was a bit difficult to tell thanks to the branches of the trees blocking my view of the sky above, but I managed to see a few members of the Wonderbolts flying around. I suspect that they're working on that aerial schematic I asked for. I approached Holy Lance, who was talking to another Royal Guard.
"Are you sure?" he muttered. "Well, that certainly complicates things. The Princess is not going to like this."
"Not going to like what, Captain Holy Lance?" I asked.
Holy Lance jumped and hastily saluted. "Y-Your Highness! I-I didn't expect you to be back so soon," he stammered.
"Yes, well. There wasn't a whole lot to Prince Blueblood's story," I said. "Apparently, it wasn't an assassination attempt, but a duel against a hidden opponent."
"Or so he claims," added Shining Armor. "We can't be sure unless we have some evidence. Speaking of which, what've you got for us?"
Holy Lance cleared his throat. "Right, well. Just as you requested, we've taken samples of the hoofprints in the area."
I have a feeling that he's changing the subject to save face, but I don't think it's wise to press him on it now. I simply made a mental note and let him continue. "So, what're your findings?"
"We managed to identify two sets of hoofprints," said Holy Lance. "One belongs to Prince Blueblood; the other to Ms. Photo Finish. The other hoofprints are unknown as of right now."
Considering that one set of hoofprints has to belong to Photo Finish's new model, I deduce that the fourth set either belongs to Derpy Hooves or the intruder from last night. So basically, the Royal Guard hasn't found anything that we didn't already know. Well, unless you count the bit of bad news I just missed out on, but that could be anything.
"I see," I said, tapping my muzzle. "What's the status on the photos?"
"Still in development, but they should be ready soon," said Holy Lance.
"And the aerial schematic?"
"Captain Holy Lance!"
Before Holy Lance could respond, a voice called out from above. Three of the Wonderbolts descended through the trees and touched down right in front of us. I recognized the leader of the group as Soarin'; a pony that I have a passing familiarity with. I remember that he flew for Cloudsdale at the Equestria Games, and he and Rainbow Dash apparently shared a discussion or two at the tryouts. Otherwise, I haven't really made his acquaintance up until this point. But, that's neither here nor there.
"Ah, Commander Soarin'," said Holy Lance with a soft smile. "You're just in time. I was just about to tell the Princess about your progress on that aerial schematic she requested."
"Well, we just finished it," said Soarin', giving me a folded-up document. "It's not as professional as I hoped it would be, but Surprise insisted on drawing it up. Man, I really gotta learn to say 'no' to her one of these days."
I unfolded the document and had to raise an eyebrow. I don't know why, but the schematic was drawn up in what appeared to be crayon, with childish drawings representing Photo Finish, Prince Blueblood, the camera, and just about everything else. I'd expect this kind of tomfoolery from Spike or one of my Twilight Time students, but a Wonderbolt? If I showed this to Rainbow Dash and told her who the artist was, she'd think I was pulling a prank on her.
"Well, as long as it's legible, we can still use it. Thank you, Commander Soarin'," I said, looking over the schematic. "Um, just to clarify, these hoof-shaped markings indicate where each set of hoofprints was found, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Soarin' sighed. "Again, I'm really sorry about this."
"It shouldn't be a problem," I said, turning back to the document. So far, everything was lining up with expectations. According to the rather crude schematic, Photo Finish and her model were at one end of the page while Blueblood was a few meters away. But then, I saw an anomaly. The fourth set of hoofprints was also a few meters from the actual scene of the crime, but it wasn't in the same vicinity as Photo Finish and her model.
"Captain Holy Lance, what can you tell me about these hoofprints?" I asked, pointing to the schematic.
Holy Lance took a moment to process the crude drawings before realizing what I was talking about. "Ah, yes. Those are some of the unknown hoofprints we found. It seems that somepony was wandering around in this area, as the prints seem to be aimless in direction."
Armed with this new information, I replayed Derpy's testimony in my head. She said that she ran out here looking for Mare-Do-Well, meaning that she didn't really have a set direction of where she wanted to go. So that means it's very likely that this fourth set of hoofprints belongs to her. But if that's the case, where was the intruder?
"Commander Soarin', is there any indication that the trees were disturbed?" I asked. "Broken branches, bits of clothing, anything like that?"
"So far, no," said Soarin', shaking his head. "But we're still looking."
I sighed. If they haven't found anything by now, I doubt they're ever going to. Mare-Do-Well is simply not that careless, and it stands to reason that her doppelgänger shares the same trait. I think we should focus on something else.
"Spike, can I borrow your quill?" I asked. "I need to confirm something."
"Hmm? Oh, sure thing, Twi," said Spike.
Using my magic, I plucked the quill from his claw and looked at the schematic. Ever so carefully so as not to tear the parchment, I traced an arc and a dotted line that would represent the field of view of Photo Finish's camera. When I completed tracing out this representation, I smirked.
"Just as I suspected," I said.
"What is it, Your Highness?" asked Kibitz.
"Assuming that Photo Finish is using the latest camera model, the crime scene would've been in her field of view while she was taking pictures of her model," I said, pointing to my diagram. "It's very possible that she accidentally took a picture of the crime while it was in progress."
"Hang on, Twilie. I'm not following you here," said Shining, furrowing his brow. "If Photo Finish saw the crime through her viewfinder, then why is she insisting that her photos aren't helpful?"
"We're gonna have to ask her that ourselves," I said. "Captain Holy Lance, do you know where Photo Finish is now?"
"Somewhere on the castle grounds, I believe," said Holy Lance with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm just glad she's not here. I understand her plight and all, but I can't allow civilians to interfere with the crime scene."
Hmm. So really, she could be anywhere in the castle. My guess is that she's trying to flag down Princess Celestia and complain about her photos. But before we go searching for her, there's still something I need to clear up with Holy Lance. I need to know what he was talking about when I arrived.
"Thank you, Captain Holy Lance," I said. "Oh, before I forget, you were discussing something with somepony else about things getting complicated. Would you care to elaborate?"
Holy Lance's face darkened. "I was hoping to tell you in private, Your Highness. This is a rather delicate matter."
"Anything you can say to me, you can say to all of us," I said firmly. "We're all part of this investigation, Captain. We need to be on the same page here."
"Mmm. Understood, Your Highness," said Holy Lance with a somber nod. "I just got a report from the Night Guard. Apparently, the dungeons were broken into last night."
"Good heavens!" Kibitz exclaimed, his spectacles falling off his face as he recoiled. "Th-there was a jailbreak last night?! Why wasn't anypony informed of this?!"
"Calm down, Kibitz. I don't think it was a jailbreak," I said, a bit baffled myself. "Still, you have a point. Why was nopony made aware of this development until now?"
"That, may have been my fault," said Holy Lance sheepishly. "When you gave the order to have the Royal Guard escort everypony out of the castle, I had the Night Guard assist in our efforts. They probably didn't notice anything until they got back to their post."
Huh. It seems that Holy Lance isn't a pony who likes taking chances in situations like this. As such, I can't really fault him for this oversight. However, I'm still not sure about his wording. Why would someone break into a dungeon? Usually, it's the other way around, which is probably why Kibitz thought it was a jailbreak.
"Any idea who broke in?" I inquired.
"Details are rather sketchy right now," said Holy Lance. "All that we know is that one of the prisoners was injured."
"Which prisoner?"
"Someone by the name of Pine Talon."
Hmm. Something about that name seems oddly familiar, but I can't quite put my hoof on it.
"Wait a sec. Did you say Pine Talon?" asked Soarin'.
"Um, yes," said Holy Lance. "Why? Are you familiar with him, Commander?"
"I should be," said Soarin'. "Spit's the reason he's locked up right now. But honestly, this doesn't make sense to me. He really shouldn't have any enemies here. Who would try to hurt him?"
As Soarin' pondered this, something clicked in my mind. Now I remember where I heard that name. Back in January, there was a trial held for a tengu named Pine Talon. His crime was the attempted assassination of the Wonderbolts under the order of the Tengu Empress, Gypsy Moth. I don't know all that much about the trial, and Mare-Do-Well never mentioned Pine Talon by name. Even so, I think this means something. It's another connection to Mare-Do-Well's previous exploits, and I'm starting to doubt that these connections are coincidental.
"Any word on how bad his injuries are?" I asked.
"Again, we don't have all the details," said Holy Lance. "I'll be sure to keep you posted, though."
"Right," I said with a nod, giving Spike back his quill. "Spike, be sure to make note of all this. We might have to speak to Pine Talon later."
"Uh, sure. Gotcha," said Spike, scribbling in his notepad.
"So, what now, Twilie?" said Shining.
"Well, if we can't get Pine Talon's story, we're gonna have to settle for the next best thing," I said. "Let's go look for Photo Finish. Maybe somepony in the castle has seen her."
"Are you sure she's willing to cooperate, Your Highness?" inquired Kibitz. "She still seemed very cross about her photos when we last saw her."
I sighed. "Kibitz, it doesn't matter if she's cooperative or not. We're gonna need the truth from her. Now c'mon, let's go. Captain Holy Lance, be sure to keep me posted. If anything like this news about the dungeon being broken into comes up, I want to know as soon as possible. Is that clear?"
Holy Lance swallowed and saluted. "Y-yes, Your Highness." He then added something under his breath. I'm guessing it was an apology to Shining Armor. Ignoring that, I led the way out of the forest.
As we made our way back to the castle, I couldn't help but wonder about Pine Talon. Soarin's right; he shouldn't have any enemies here. The Tengu Dynasty was all but destroyed when Gypsy Moth's plans were thwarted all those months ago. Sure, the Wonderbolts might have a distaste for him, but not to the point that they'd outright attack him almost a year after the fact. Besides, their alibis are airtight. They were helping the Royal Guard find the intruder last night. So, what happened? Was this also the work of Mare-Do-Well's impostor?
I shook my head. No, I can't make blind assumptions like this. It's a good theory, but there's no way to prove it. Not without confirming that the impostor was indeed at the Grand Galloping Gala. And the only way to know that for sure is through Photo Finish and the pictures she took last night. I just hope she's calmed down since we last met. Otherwise, this will not be a fun conversation...