//------------------------------// // Case File: 1247 Page: 1 // Story: Case 1247 // by Brushed Rhyme //------------------------------// Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1247 Applejack was taking her lunch break between chores, eating a strawberry jam and peanut butter sandwich with Winona by her side. She was going over her chores list, after she had finished eating, when she heard a sharp crack behind her. Looking behind her, she saw that a large branch had been pulled off of a tree; she went inside to see if the rest of the apples were inside. Granny Smith was in the kitchen making pie, with the most recent of the fallen apples, Big Mac was taking out the trash towards the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres, and Applebloom was in her room with her friends. She went back out without telling anyone about the noise, but she went over to the tree to see if whoever did this was still there. Finding nothing she decided to get back to her chores. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1347 Applejack and Big Mac had just finished bucking the south field when they heard it again, a snapping of a tree branch. Both of them rushed over to the sight and found that nothing was there, just another broken branch, but this one had a note tied to it. Hello there Apples, I just want you to know that every half hour, somewhere in the orchards, I will break off a branch of a healthy tree. Unless you give me what I want, I will do this until every tree has a branch off, if I still don’t have what I want then I shall target a family member, and you can imagine what I’ll do then. I LOVE me some cracking and there are so many bones to choose from. Now, what I want, I wish that you leave this town, and never, ever, come back. Have fun! Sincerly, The Lurker They kept it to themselves and decided that this lurker was just blowing hot air. They told their family but didn’t want to trouble the guard station if this was just some kind of prank. While they were concerned, they didn’t bring it to us. We know about this because they brought the note to us later in the day, which you will see later in the log. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1422 Applejack and Applebloom were cleaning off their pigs and filling their feeding troughs and cleaning the pig pens when they heard 3 simultaneous cracks, all behind them. The whirled around and saw nothing but a young sapling tree broken in half, and 2 trees with broken branches. They came here and reported it to me, I have no idea if this is just one pony or a group that is sabotaging the Apple Family. I can only hope that the presence of guards will make the pony/ponies stop them in their tracks. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1503 After consulting the ethics code and talking with the Canterlot commander I have personally dispatched 3 guards to each orchard that the Apples own, while I think that it is better than what they had before, I don’t think that it is enough. I have to comply with the ethics code though, I can’t send more than 15 guards to a property. I have sent in a note for the ability to send in more guards for the protection of the family to Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, I can only hope that they will comply. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1525 The afternoon guards made it to their posts, I saw to it myself. When I got to the Acres I confronted the family members about what they knew. Granny Smith said that she just heard cracks every once in a while, everyone else would be watching the time to prepare for the snaps of branches. Applebloom was the one that I was really concerned with. She told me that once there a snapped tree so close to her that she heard the branch hit the ground. She was scared, I don’t blame her. Applejack said that she was frightened at first but was never really, truly, afraid of the pony that was messing with her family. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1700 Guard change, night shift. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1704 Afternoon guards came back and I sat with them in the mess hall as they ate; they all reported snapping sounds and I charted them on a map of sweet apple acres. They are all randomized, having no order at all. This pony just wants to destroy property and thats it. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1858 I received a visitor tonight. The pony dropped by and left me a note. It was in a coded format before but I was able to decipher it just now. It was a single, solitary word. Soon. The Lurker Thursday, July 13th, Time: 1900 Officially put the Apple Family under the protection of the guard protection service (GPS). They have guards by their house night and day, making sure that nobody outside of the Apple Family or whomever they chose to let in can get in. The guards will be sent in the morning. Thursday, July 13th, Time: 2300 Guard change, Night Owl, I saw them off Thursday, July 13th, Time: 2304 Night guards just got back and I talked with one of them before we both went to bed. He said that he almost was able to catch a glimpse of the pony, but she seemed to vanish before his eyes. I’m not one to believe old pony tales, but this is sounding a lot like the pony of shadows. I briefed the GPS guards and made that they knew their assignment, the first thing that they do is learn the faces and names of those that they are protecting. Then, when they get to the location, they ask who is allowed into the property and learn the names and faces of those who are allowed in. After this they start their patrol and begin to protect the ponies in need. I’m done for the night, signing off, Captain Midnight Law, head officer at the Ponyville Guard Station. Friday, July 14th, Time: 0508 Guard shifting occurred 8 minutes ago and the night guards just got back. I managed to grab one before he went to sleep and he mentioned that there were branch crackings throughout the night, but he never found anything at the scenes, no hoofprints or anything that could possibly point the guard force towards who did what. I let him go to sleep after he told me this. Friday, July 14th, Time: 0709 A note was received by the Apples again, they brought it to us so that we could know right away. I have noticed that you brought in the guard force, that won’t stop me, I have never been caught before and I won’t start now. I’ve already made an upgrade from my last letter you got, Apples, now it’s snap every 15 minutes. Sincerly, The Lurker We have doubled the guard count at Sweet Apple Acres, as permitted by Shining Armor, and I hope that it is going to be enough, but based on this response to the first guards, I don’t if it will. Friday, July 14th, Time: 0800 The first real lead finally appeared for us, this criminal is a mare, not a stallion as I first presumed. In her most recent letter, seen above there are only 12 ponies to every not get caught for a crime that they have done, all of which are mares. Why it is this way, I have no idea, but that is just the facts; 3 of these ponies are too old now to be doing what this one is doing so they are off the list. The nine are Gloomy Drop, Shadow Anvil, Fanged Doom, Ruby Show, Sterling Strut, Trixie Lulamoon, Lucky Jackpot, Toni Lance and Fiery Heart. They have all done something that was against the law and made it out without being caught, whether they were let go freely or fought their way out. But they meet the criteria that was said in the letter. I hope that this is helpful to our search. Friday, July 14th, Time: 1234 The guards have just changed, and we have some frightening information to give, the pony in question has seen and interacted with Applejack before. The discovered a letter on a branch that fell. This isn't your fight, I just want Applejack to feel the pain that I felt, no pony in Ponyville knows it. The Lurker While this is good news, this might be a personal matter for the one that is destroying their property. Using this information, there are 4 ponies on the list last sent that follow this and the mare without a catch. Sterling Strut, saw her in manehattan and was competing against her friend Rarity, Toni Lance, was attending the Gala last year and ended up in the same room as Applejack when she dropped the cake on her, which made her start to target bakeries, Trixie Lulamoon, trapped Ponyville in a glass dome and left after she was reformed by the magic of friendship, and finally Ruby Show, she was competing against Applejack at the Equestrian Rodeo and was beaten out by her for a few times. I have given the messages over to our cryptographer and he is unable to crack this code, if you have any ideas please let me know. You are the last hope that we have to making sure that the Apple family is safe; we need to know before one of the family members get hurt, I don’t think that this villain makes empty promises.