Part 4
In the end, the Grand Griffon Gala went off without a hitch. The griffon delegation was delighted with the celebration and festivities. Everypony agreed that Twilight’s speech was both informative and charming (and fortunately, to the point). The gleaming Griffon Sun Opal lived up to its reputation and enchanted every one who set eyes on it. It was officially returned to the Griffon Kingdom in a small but solemn ceremony towards the end of the Gala, just before the closing dinner party was served.
Twilight was the probably the most pleased pony that evening, happily sandwiched between her friends at a big round table with Quills, Codex and Sunny, who looked very pleased with himself as everyone wolfed down the menu he helped prepare.
“Sweetie, the mustard-honey sauce is divine,” Quills squeaked between mouthfulls of salad. “I want a third helping!”
Sunny, a very large and dapper, blue unicorn stallion with yellow and brown mane and tail nodded sagely. “See, that’s why I told you to double up on the extra portions,” he grinned to Applejack.
“Hold it, hold it,” Applejack said with a confused expression. “Quills, ah still don’t quite git it. How in tarnation didja figure out it was that palace maid an’ the guard? Run that bah me again, will’ya?”
“I wanna hear it again too!” Pinkie squealed and waved around the little Griffon Kingdom flag she had stuck to her tail. “I can’t believe I missed all that excitement! It’s almost as great as the party!!”
“I missed everything too!!” Rainbow Dash complained. “I was stuck shopping for thread, drowning in lint and cotton dust!”
“But you must admit that the Great Hall looks beautiful and it’s all thanks to you,” Fluttershy said to her sweetly.
“…It does,” Dash admitted.
“What did happen to those two scoundrels after all?” Rarity asked, elegantly lifting a canapé of spiced avocado mousse.
Quills, with her mouth too full to speak, looked at Codex a little helplessly and yelped something.
Codex blushed. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll tell it again.”
He cleared his throat a little bit. “The chambermaid and the guard were arrested by the royal guard and Captain Grey Mist, as soon as Sunny arrived with his friend, Cloud Runner, and evidence—“
“What evidence?” Applejack insisted.
“Hoofprint results that proved that Peach Melba and the guard, Lone Banner, weren’t who they claimed they were,” Twilight grinned over her glass of Sweet Apple cider.
“I’ll get to that,” Codex said awkwardly. “I feel kind of stupid that I didn’t pick up on it sooner myself, what with Quills’ hint about the drawer and the dust void.”
Quills giggled over her plate and then started coughing because she choked on her food, prompting Sunny to lift a big hoof and pat her on the back until she could breathe.
“What ‘bout the drawer an’ the dust thingamajig?” Applejack insisted.
“Someone had tampered with Cadence’s dressing table drawer,” Twilight jumped in before Codex could explain. “They applied chalk of Prance to the drawer to make it slide in and out without any noise.”
“Oh! An’ the only pony who could’a done that was the chambermaid, right?” Applejack said, realization hitting her.
“Exactly,” Codex said sagely. “The plan was very clever. It didn’t ‘leap to the eye’ immediately –
Pinkie giggled. “Ooh, but it did!! It leaped to Quills’ eye!! Even though her glasses! She’s so smart!”
Quills, who had again attacked her food with relish, just smiled happily, chewing.
Codex, irritated at the interruptions, sulked. “Aw come on, let me tell it! See, this is how it was done. In the two weeks leading up to the Gala, the maid, Peach Melba and the guard, Lone Banner, heard about the discovery of the Griffon Sun Opal and the plan to present it at the Grand Griffon Gala. Taking advantage of their positions, they hatched a plan. Banner was waiting in the empty room next door, using his hourly patrol of the hallway to slip in it unnoticed. The moment Midnight Velvet leaves the room, quick as a flash Peach whips open the drawer and takes out the jewel case. She slips back the bolt of the connecting door and passes the jewel case through the door. The action is concluded before Velvet got back to her sewing and is none the wiser. At his leisure, Banner opens it with the duplicate key—“
“Oh one moment,” Rarity interrupted. “I apologize for interrupting, but do remind me, where did he get the duplicate key?”
“Yeah! I was wondering about that myself!” Dash said irritably. “I mean, I thought the Opal was supposed to be secure, right?! Princess Cadence had the only key!”
Quills swallowed quite audibly. “Oh that was the easiest bit of the process,” she explained. “The royal guard provided Cadence with the secure box. So, naturally, Banner duplicated the key before the box and key were delivered. Duplicating keys is very easy if you know how and as it turns out, Banner and Peach had more than enough experience.”
Codex nodded. “Yep. So he just took the Opal out at his leisure and just waited. Velvet left the room a second time for her scissors and wham! Like a flash the box is again passed through the connecting door and replaced in the drawer. Banner then bolts his side of the door and leaves the room to resume his patrol. When the robbery is uncovered, nopony even thinks that the Opal might be on a guard – and the entire time the hullabaloo is happening, Lone Banner is standing at his post, steadfast and collected as every royal guard ought to be.”
“So Peach Melba’s indignation and demand to be searched?” Rarity asked. “That was a charade, right?”
“Absolutely,” Twilight said and frowned. “And a very good one, too. She made a big deal out of it to sell her part and she almost got away with it. She left the room without a spot of suspicion hanging over her. And she had already hidden the imitation jewel in poor Velvet’s bed – she probably hid it there the very morning Velvet came to the Palace. As a maid, she had passkeys to all the rooms on that floor. They were going to implicate her from the start. It was ingenious but awful!” she snorted, full of derision.
Her sentiment was shared by everypony at the table – even Fluttershy bristled gently with indignation and frowned but the result was more adorable than righteously angry.
“Such a wretched idea! Poor Midnight Velvet!” she murmured. “Princess Cadence was so relieved that she really was innocent after all.”
“Yeah!” Dash said and tapped the table with her hoof. “They were going to send Velvet to jail or worse over a stupid jewel!”
“Dash, you can’t call the jewel stupid, it’s not like it was the jewel’s fault…”
“You know what I mean, Twilight!”
“So what exactly was in the roll of papers you had me run to Sunny?” Spike asked, finally polishing off a small mound of jewel pastries.
“Haha, those were my secret weapon,” Quills giggled and sipped her rum cola. “Poor Codex was so confused when I flopped on the floor twice within a few minutes—ahahaha—sorry—ahahaha—scattering papers everywhere—hahahaha!! Oh I’m so sorry, I just know I looked like a right dork, pancaked on the floor like that!”
“To be fair, you did look very ridiculous, tripping over nothing,” Codex said with a wry smile. “I worried about your sanity for a moment there.”
Quills just laughed harder.
“But it was really clever of you,” Codex admitted. “You purposefully dropped all those papers and when Peach and Banner both helped pick the papers up, you slipped paper under their hooves and got their hoofprints without them knowing.”
“Oooh, I get it!” Spike said happily. “You wrote that note telling Sunny what the papers were and sent me to take them to him so the thieves wouldn’t suspect anything if you left. I see!”
Quills nodded and then leaned against Sunny. “Exactly. And you did a great job. Sunny here has got a friend in the Royal Guard, Cloud Runner, who’s a terribly smart fellow and who I think really should get a promotion to the Special Investigative Unit—“
“Don’t go off topic!” Dash reminded her.
“Yes, yes, sorry,” Quills apologized.
“The note asked me to take the hoofprint papers to Runner and get him to run them against the hoofprint database that Canterlot Royal Guard keeps of known scoundrels,” Sunny said merrily. “Just like Quills thought, the hoofprints matched those of two known jewel-thieves. They’ve been wanted for quite some time.”
Quills nodded. “Mm-hmm. Captain Mist will no doubt grill them thoroughly and find out just when they entered service in the Palace and what they were after.”
“Clever pair,” Sunny said and sipped some cider. “But I guess they went after too big a fish this time.”
“What drives me crazy is that they could’ve gotten away with it!” Twilight said indignantly. “If Quills hadn’t prompted me to re-read that Historia Trottika paragraph about the Opal, the thieves would’ve gotten away, Velvet would’ve been wrongfully accused and the griffons would’ve found out that their opal was fake and it would’ve caused a diplomatic incident between the Griffon Kingdom and Equestria!”
Fluttershy put her hoof out and gently squeezed Twilight’s side. “Calm down Twilight, you’re starting to shout.”
Twilight realized she was indeed almost shouting and shrank down with an awkward smile. “Sorry.”
“Oh but you’re absolutely right,” Quills said with a nod. “They were absolutely wicked, those two; I hope Princess Celestia fires them into the sun or something.”
“Oh, oh, OH! I have a question!!” Pinkie shouted, holding up her hoof. “When did you think it was the two of them?”
“I had a sneaking feeling that the chambermaid might’ve been involved,” Quills explained, “because she was just in too good a position to get things done. I knew for sure when I went into the other room. It was very clever of them to take up positions as a guard and maid, but she evidently shirked her work. The empty room was tidy but she hadn’t bothered to dust – as Codex’s poor nose found out, judging from all that sneezing.”
“It was awful,” Codex groaned. “But it was that dust void that set you on the right path, wasn’t it? That’s where Banner put down the jewel case to unlock it, on the table next to the connecting door, right? It left a mark in the dust.”
“Precisely. That’s exactly when I knew. I fixed on the guard because who else would have the freedom to walk around halls that should be empty and not rouse suspicion? And who else could get a duplicate key so easily?” Quills shrugged. “I just ran through the options and alighted on the most logical ones. Then I just had to confirm my suspicions.”
“But why did you let Twilight take all the credit?” Rarity asked. “I think it was rather unfair for you, Quills, darling.”
“Yeah, I feel rather bad to take credit for your work, Quills,” Twilight said with a small smile.
Quills waved her hoof. “Don’t fret on it, please. I have enough to deal with, being an author. My book fans exhaust me, bless them. I don’t need any more attention than I can manage!” she said with a stiff smile. “Besides, Cadence asked you to investigate. You collected the important clues, I just filled in the gaps. It’s not like I’ll have to play investigator again, after all. I’m just happy with the endless cola refills I get tonight—Oh, waiter! One more rum cola, please!”
Twilight beamed at her and raised her glass. “Well, I for one want to toast you, Quills and Codex and Sunny. You saved the day for me.”
Everypony raised their glasses and toasted together. “CHEERS!”