A&E: The Case of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorderer

by Doccular42

Part II

Moonlight broke through the gloomy night sky. The lunar rays pierced the clouds and streamed through the front window of Bon-Bon’s Sweetshoppe. Amethyst strained her eyes as she looked for her flashlight. After fumbling around in her saddlebag for a moment, it levitated out coated in her signature azure magical aura. She shined it on a peculiar looking device seated near the window. The device sported a large metal dish surrounded by shining gemstones. She adjusted several dials on the back and oriented it to point at the shop across the street. She smiled as it slid perfectly into pos—

“Mmmmmmmmmm…”

—ition. They had lucked out with this stakeout spot; it had taken some smooth talk from Ember, but eventually they convinced Bonbon to let them into the shoppe for the night so they could effectively surv—

“Mmmmmrmmmmhmmm…”

—ey Roseluck’s shop. Now it was only a few last modifications to their equipment, a good spot to hide, and they would be ready to go. Amethyst congratulated herself for her genius. What criminal would ever expect to be watched in the exact place they were about to commit a cr—

“Oooooohhhhhhh, so gooooood…”

“Will. You. Stop. That.” Amethyst glared at Ember who sat in one of the couches in the corner of the shop. She had one hoof propped up on a coffee table and a Burger Princess Hay Whopper in the other. Ketchup dripped down the side of her mouth, and an expression of complete bliss covered her face.

“Whu?” Ember asked, her mouth stuffed full of hay, lettuce, and more condiments than Amethyst could count.

“I’m trying to set up the equipment for our stakeout. If you could maybe stop having a relationship with your hayburger that I paid for long enough to help, that’d be much appreciated.”

“I this, I that, c’mon Ammy! I thought we were a team?” Ember swallowed and grinned, showing off the bits of food still stuck between her teeth.

“Charming. And I don’t even want to comment on the hypocrisy of that statement…” Amethyst shook her head and went back to her adjustments.

“What hypocrisy? You bought food because I left my purse at my apartment, and I got the coffee this morning!” Ember crossed her hooves and grimaced. “I don’t see what’s wrong here!”

Amethyst’s eye twitched. “We will not speak of that… ‘incident’ again. And if you’re just going to sit over there and enjoy your hayburger, can you at least calibrate the binoculars?” Amethyst levitated said equipment over to her.

“Geez, I have to do all the work?” Ember rolled her eyes. She grabbed a hoofful of fries and chucked them into her mouth before grabbing the proffered equipment.

Amethyst shook her head again. “I don’t know why you even came tonight. If you’re just going to be so, so… infuriating, then you should just stay back at the office and read your stupid magazines.”

Ember let the binoculars fall into her lap and sighed. “Ammy, you know I’m just kidding, right?”

Amethyst shoved her bag of gear under a table. “Ember, I’m getting sick of it. You don’t take anything seriously.”

“Ammy. Remember my life’s mantra: ‘Life is too important to be taken seriously.’ Sir Figgy Newton said that, and he was a wise dude.”

“Once again, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ammy growled. “It wasn’t Newton who said that, it was—”

“Woah, do you see that?” Ember jumped into the air and pointed out the window. She hoofed the binoculars over to Amethyst.

Amethyst raised the binoculars to her eyes and pressed a button. A green light appeared on the device. Amethyst raised the now infrared binoculars to her eyes. The view, instead of being illuminated, was completely obscured. “Ember, I think something’s jamming our electronics!” Amethyst said with a gasp.

“Wait…” Ember said. She grabbed the binoculars and sheepishly wiped the lenses with a napkin. The napkin came away covered in a sticky red substance.

“Ketchup. Really?” Amethyst deadpanned. “You had one job on this lousy stakeout…”

“Never mind that. Look at Frank!” Ember pointed Amethyst toward the window.

“It’s ‘perp,’ not ‘Frank!’” Ammy growled as she zoomed her view in at the shadowy figure.

A faint, drifting melody filled the air around the two ponies. It seemed to come from outside.

“What’s that?” Ember asked.

“Shh! I’ve gotta look at the perp.” Amethyst ignored her and focused the binoculars.

“Frank…” Ember muttered.

The back silhouette tiptoed toward Roseluck’s shop. Amethyst could barely make out that the intruder had a black coat, a dark bandana across their face, and what looked like—

“A crown?” Amethyst asked. “That’s weird.”

“Aww, Ammy. You know that your face is the crown for the seapony merchants.”

Amethyst spun around to face her companion. “What? That was crazy even for you.”

Ember stumbled toward her. “Aww, come here you! Let’s dance, ‘cause this is my favorite song!” Ember’s eyes rolled backward, and she collapsed on top of Amethyst.

“Uhhh…” Amethyst held Ember up for a moment. “What the hay did you put in your f—”

A wave of drowsiness fell over Amethyst, and the sky lit up with brilliant pink lights. “Oh. Pretty fishies…” Amethyst said as a huge grin covered her face. A moment later, she fell to the floor. Seconds after that, snores came from the two sleeping mares, and the shadowy figure poked its head into the store and smiled.

The sound of snoring roused Amethyst out of the blackness of sleep. She blinked a few times, her eyes unaccustomed to the sudden bright sunlight filtering in through the front of the store. Amethyst went to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes with her hooves, but she stopped when she realized that she was unable to move. It was then she noticed the yellow appendage wrapped firmly around her.

Amethyst blinked a few more times, then felt something wet drip onto her head and something else shift against her back. She writhed around for a minute, attempting to turn herself around in the vice-like grip somepony had on her, and then her face was buried into the chest fur of another pony.

Amethyst struggled for a moment before finally getting her head free, and looking up.

Ember was right next to her, her hooves wrapped around her like a vice, and she was snoring louder than should be feasible for equine anatomy. A thick strand of drool leaked from one corner of her mouth, the end of which went above Amethyst’s vision, and, she assumed, directly into her mane.

Amethyst growled under her breath, attempting to push herself away from Ember. This proved fruitless, as Ember grumbled in her sleep and pulled her closer. Amethyst’s face was forced back into her chest fur, and she flailed for a moment before she managed to get free again.

“Ember!”

No response.

Amethyst frowned and tried poking Ember in the ribs. “Ember!” Ember shifted slightly, reaffirming her grip on Amethyst. Amethyst grit her teeth. “Ember!”

Ember’s eyes remained closed, but a dopey smile grew over her face and she snuggled closer to Amethyst. “G’mornin’, byootiful,” she droned groggily.

“Ember…”

Ember opened one eye and smiled at Amethyst. “Yeah?” she asked. “Mmm, you smell good.”

“Get. Off. Of. Me,” Amethyst growled.

Ember looked around as her ear gave a twitch and she yawned. “Can we get some breakfast first? I’m starving…” Her stomach groaned against Amethyst as if to confirm this.

“You just had a hayburger and hayfries! You cannot be serious!”

“Girl’s gotta get her metabolism goin’.” Ember gave Amethyst another dopey grin.

“Just let go of me!” Amethyst struggled against Ember’s grip for a moment.

“I can’t.” Ember frowned.

“What do you mean you can’t? Just let me go!”

“I can’t move.”

“What—” Amethyst looked up towards the ceiling. Or rather, towards the floor. Because they were both on the ceiling, held in place by some duct tape.

“…Oh.”

“Huh. I’ve never done it on the ceiling before.”

Amethyst smacked Ember with her barely moveable hoof. “Would you please behave?”

“Oww. So mean,” Ember whined.

Amethyst sighed. “Okay, we need to get down. Can you try to spread your wings out? Maybe you can push us off from the ceiling.”

“M’kay,” Ember replied. She groaned and arched her back. Her wings slowly moved outward and pulled the duct tape free.

“Good job! Almost th—”

The duct tape gave way completely and dropped both of them down to the floor.

“Oww…” Amethyst sat up, rubbing her head.

“Eurgh, my head…” Ember sat up next to her and did the same. “Gonna need some medicine for that this morning.”

Amethyst froze. “Wait, did you say this morning?”

Ember yawned, her ears twitched a bit as she did. “Yeah. What about it?”

Amethyst stared at all their stakeout equipment, unchanged from last night. Except now it was all inverted. “We… we slept through the whole thing…”

Amethyst stared down at her untouched food. On the other side of the table, Ember made loud and messy chewing noises as she scarfed down her breakfast. After a moment, she nodded at Amethyst's untouched coffee.

“Coffee?” Ember offered with a grin.

Amethyst looked up at Ember, narrowing her eyes with a glare. “Never again.”

Ember shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She took a huge gulp from her cup, leaning back further in her chair as she did.

Amethyst, on the other hoof, was working to rub away a quickly growing headache. “This doesn’t make any sense!” Amethyst slammed her hooves on the table. Ember flailed and fell backwards out of her chair, earning stares from surrounding ponies. Amethyst blushed for a moment. “Heh, sorry…”

Ember set her chair back up and sat back into it. “What doesn’t make any sense, Ammy?”

“That spell the OCD’er cast last night—”

“Wait, wait.” Ember smirked. “Did you just say OCD’er?”

Amethyst cleared her throat. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD for short, is an anxiety disorder in which ponies have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations, obsessions, or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something. Since the perp turning things upside down doesn’t really seem to have a real reasoning behind it, I figured it would be appropriate to name the mare or stallion ‘The Obsessive Compulsive Disorderer.’ Make sense?”

“I guess, but I still liked ‘Frank’ better,” Ember grumbled and took a draught of her coffee.

“Anyways, what I’m trying to point out is that the spell the OCD’er cast last night… that was sleep magic. It takes an extremely magically gifted unicorn to pull off a spell that complex.”

Ember wiped her face and set the cup down. “Really? I would have thought that something like your detection spell would be way harder to pull off, and even you can manage that.”

Amethyst glared at her partner.

“Oh, you know what I mean.” Ember rolled her eyes. “You’re a detective, not a spell-mare-thingy.”

“Ember, do you know anything about magic?”

Ember shook her head. “Nope! But I can make you turn purple!” She waved a waiter over. “Hey sweetie, can I get another coffee?”

“Sure thing, ma’am,” the stallion replied.

Amethyst gasped in horror. Blood rushed to her face, and she barely managed to squeak out a slight grunt.

“Thanks,” Ember said and batted her eyelids. She turned backed to Amethyst, whose face was now as purple as her mane. “See, told ya!”

Amethyst growled and Ember chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, Ammy.” She pulled her purse from her saddlebags. “I grabbed it when we went back to the office to drop off the stuff. Breakfast is on me this time!”

Amethyst sighed. “Well, thank you.” She took a sip of the coffee before her and poked at her toast.

“So, you were saying about the magic?”

The unicorn put her food back down. “Well, you know that my special talent is investigation, right?”

Ember nodded. “Well, duh. I was there when you got your cutie mark, remember?”

“I don’t think I’ll forget that day, ever,” Amethyst said while grinding her teeth. “You were just as much of a smart-flank then as you are now.”

Ember guffawed. “Yeah, I’m still adorable.”

“Anyways…” Amethyst cleared her throat. “My magic is specifically toward my talent. That means that I can cast much more difficult spells that are related to my talent then I can of any other type, and I can cast all of them more easily than any other type. This is elementary level stuff that they teach foals, Ember. Did you even pay attention in school?”

The waiter came by and hooved Ember the coffee. She shot him a dashing smile and whistled as he walked off. “Niiiiice. And, to answer your question, I most definitely did not pay attention the year they went over talent magic. That was the year I was sitting behind that hot unicorn… Mmm.”

“It was elementary school! What is wrong with you?”

“Many things, Amethyst. Many things. But please, go on,” Ember replied and sipped her drink.

Amethyst shook her head. “So, because of this, we know that the OCD’er is either an incredibly powerful spellcaster, or their talent is in sleep magic. The problem is that the spell used on us was offensive. We didn’t submit to the spell, so if the caster’s talent allows the magic to be cast, then their talent must be in some form of combat magic or have a totally extraordinary talent.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ember said. “How did you jump right to combat magic?”

“There was an audial or possibly verbal component,” Amethyst replied.

“Huh?”

Amethyst sighed. “Do you remember that music that played right before you went loopy?”

Ember rested her head on her hoof and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Hmm… Was that before or after we started dancing then laid down on the celing to cuddle?”

“That’s a ‘no’ then,” Amethyst said. “Well, I’ll remind you. There was some kind of music that played right before you lost it. That’s either an audial or verbal component. If the spell itself made it, then it was an audial component and might be a talent based spell. Just like how my spell creates lights when I cast it. But that has all the hallmarks of a combat based talent. If, however, it was an verbal component, then we’re looking at a powerful caster. Verbal components help multi-talented mages cast spells from a variety of schools. They sometimes use verbal components to make casting these spells easier. This was an enchantment-combat spell, so that makes the verbal component of the spell into music. And the music itself was faint, so it probably was coming from the caster, and not from the spell’s effects. Thus, it is highly unlikely that the spell is talent based, so we are probably facing a powerful mage.”

Ember’s eyes were unfocused and her mouth was ajar. She shook herself and drank more coffee. After she put her cup down, she said, “Well, you lost me after the audi-whatsit component part and verbal-radio thingy. I’ll just take your word for it.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Amethyst replied. The pair ate in silence for a few moments.

“So, what’s the plan from here?” Ember asked.

“Another stakeout.” Amethyst’s eyes gleamed. “But this time, we’ll be ready. I’ll go back to the office and brush up on my counterspells. I’ll have to break out some books that I haven’t unpacked yet, so it may take a while. But first I’ll go back to the sweetshoppe and take one more look at the spell residue. That might give me a clue about how to start preparing.”

“What about me?” Ember asked.

“I want you to go back to the scenes of the crime. Dust for hoofprints again and see if there were any witnesses this time. Any information that we can get would be a huge help. If this caster is as strong as I think, we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Ember nodded. “Gotcha. It’ll probably take a while for me to go over everything again. When do you want to meet up again?”

Amethyst thought for a moment. “Make it back to the office by six thirty, and we’ll load up and head over to the shoppe again.”

“Alrighty!” Ember said. “Plus, this’ll give me a chance to talk to Rose again…” She smiled. “I think that this one might work, Ammy.”

Amethyst gazed at the other mare cooly. “Ember… I’m not going to try to stop you, but this might not be a good idea. You know what happened last time.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t last time. Rose seems different,” Ember said, flicking her wing.

“Well…” Amethyst sighed. “Just be careful. Remember what I said earlier. And if anything happens, I’ll be here for you.”

Ember smiled at her partner. “Thanks Ammy. You’re the best.”

Amethyst nodded. “I am.”

“Hey!”

Amethyst laughed. “Oh! Also, remember the policy. No dating customers. So if you must do anything with her, please wait til the case is over.”

“Aww,” Ember groaned. “Spoilsport.”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess we better get going. Lots to do, and not enough time.”

“Cool beans,” Ember replied. She stuck her hoof across the table.

Amethyst grinned and bumped the proffered hoof with her own. “OCD’er, you’re going down.”

“Hourglass repair… Check. Quills & Sofas… Yeah. Haha, that unicorn again. Hilarious. Taylor the Tailor’s… Yeppers! Aaaaaaand Roseluck’s Bouquets!” Ember looked up from her list and smiled as she trotted into the flower shop once again. A small bell at the door rang as she entered.

“So just remember to water them daily and keep them in partial shade. You don’t want them to dry out!” Roseluck stood behind her upside down desk and hoofed a small filly a container of delicate purple flowers.

“Thank you, Mithh Rotheluck! My mommy will jutht love thethe!” The peppermint filly hopped up and down and plopped a few bits onto what passed for the counter.

Roseluck laughed. “Okay, Twist. You give your mommy and daddy hugs from me, okay? And tell them that Ms. Rose said that her favorite niece was extremely polite in the store.”

The filly giggle. “Okay! I’ll thee you later!” She gave Rose a hug.

“Oh, you’re getting so big!” Rose squeezed her tightly.

“Goodbye!” Twist ran past Ember and squeezed out the door.

“Now, how can I help y—” Rose turned to face Ember but abruptly cut off. “Oh, hello, Ember! What can I do for you?”

“That was the most adorable thing I have seen all week,” Ember said, her eyes gleaming. “That’s your niece?”

“Yeah,” Rose replied and chuckled. “She’s growing up so quickly. She got her cutie mark a while back, and she’s been going non-stop since then. I think she wants to start her own candy store when she grows up, so she’s always at all the different stores chatting up all the store owners. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up owning every one of the stores in Ponyville by the time she’s done!”

Ember chuckled. “I could see that.”

“So, I guess you two didn’t catch him last night then.” Roseluck nonchalantly wiped her upside-down desk with a towel.

“Nope.” Ember shook her head. “He used some kind of sleep spell, so Ammy and I were out cold. She’s out researching the spell and trying to do some kind of magic-y counter thinga-ma-bobber-de-jig, and I’m out checking for any new evidence and seeing if anyone saw anything suspicious.” She whipped out her spray cans.

“Oh, so does that mean that you’re here to interrogate me?” Rose asked with a laugh.

Ember narrowed her eyes and gazed at the earth pony through batting eyelashes. “Oh, I may have to. Ma’am, have you seen anything… suspicious lately?” She slid toward the desk slowly, winking at Rose and grinning all the way.

“Oh. Oh.” Roseluck blushed furiously. “Umm, maybe I did see something…”

Emer moved all the way to the desk. “Did you now?”

“Actually, I saw two things…” Roseluck slinked out from behind her desk, whipping her mane.

“I’d better take notes then,” Ember said deeply. She fluttered her wings and pulled a notebook out from her saddlebag. “Please, can you describe these incidents, ma’am?”

“Well…” Roseluck began. “When I came into work today…”

“Yes?” Ember moved closer.

“I came into the store…” Roseluck leaned in.

“Uh-huh.”

“And when I was what was inside…” Roseluck stepped very close to Ember.

“Yeah?”

“Everything was still upside-down.” Roseluck giggled.

Ember threw her head back and laughed. “Okay, I’ll have to write that down then.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about the other thing?” Roseluck batted her own eyelashes this time.

“Okay then, ma’am. What was the other thing?” Ember raised her notepad and pen.

“This morning I saw a suspicious character.”

“Really?” Ember said, her eyes going wide. “What did they look like?”

“Well, they were a pegasus…”

“Pegasus…”

“They were yellow…”

“Yellow…”

“It was a mare…”

“Yellow pegasus mare… Uh-huh…”

“And she was so beautiful. She walked into my store, and we talked for a while—”

Ember looked up from her notepad and met Roseluck’s eyes. The other mare stood just inches away from her face.

“—and then I asked her out for lunch. Ember. You and me. Lunch. Today. Wanna go?” Roseluck wagged her eyebrows back and forth.

A huge grin spread across Ember’s face. “Well, ma’am. How can I possibly say no to such a pretty face?”

Roseluck’s face split into a huge grin. “Well, that was easy. Oh! Not that you’re easy or anything, just that… I just meant… You know what? Never mind. I’ll just stop blabbering now.” She blushed again.

Ember chuckled. “Actually I was going to ask you the same thing…”

“Great minds think alike, am I right?”

“Yeah…” Ember replied. “But I feel like I’m forgetting something…” Her mind jumped back to her previous conversation with Amethyst… “Oh.”

“What is it?” Roseluck asked.

“Aww, dangit. I just remembered. Amethyst has a strict ‘no dating customers under any circumstance or face the darkest and direst of consequences’ policy… She’d kill me if she heard we’d gone out while the job was still going on.”

“Oh.” Roseluck’s face fell. But a moment later, her expression brightened. “Well, what if it wasn’t a ‘date,’ per say?”

“Huh?” Put her paper and pen away. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if a customer just wanted to show her appreciation for the dashing detective by buying her lunch for all her hard work… Amethyst couldn’t exactly call it a date, could she?”

Ember smiled. “That… that just might work. In fact, it would be down-right rude for the detective to say no!” She gazed fondly at the other mare. “Like I said, beauty and brains, with an over-abundance of both!”

“Aww, stop it,” Rose said, turning her head to the side. “Oh, alright. You don’t actually have to stop. I like it.”

Ember grinned. “Well then, I suppose I should hurry up and dust for prints then… I wouldn’t want to keep a wonderful mare waiting for me.”

Rose chuckled. “You probably wouldn’t…”

Ember meticulously went over every bit of the place, spraying for hoofprints on every shelf, pot, and table in the entire store.

“Is there any way I can help?” Roseluck asked.

Ember tossed her an extra can of spray. “You can take the other side of the store if you want!”

“Alrighty!” Rose winked and flicked her tail at Ember.

Ember smiled. This one would definitely be different.

It was a relatively short walk back to the Sweetshoppe, at least in Amethyst’s eyes. Her mind raced a mile a minute, trying to recall the tomes she’d studied back in the day on magical theory.

“Audial components, visual components, and physical components…” she mumbled to herself. She repeated her mantra over and over again. Even as other ponies waved a friendly hoof in her direction, she paid them no mind. It wasn’t until she’d run almost face first into the door to Bon-Bon’s Sweetshoppe did she realize she was already at her destination.

As she opened the door, a bell above it jingled.

“Welcome to Bon-Bon’s Sweetshoppe! Is there anything I can help you with?” A mint green unicorn behind the counter on the other side of the store asked. She turned around to face Amethyst then blinked. “Oh! A&E Investigations! I don’t suppose you figured out who’s been vandalizing our store at night?”

“Not exactly,” Amethyst responded with a frown. “There were some complications last night. I need to investigate here a little more, if that’s okay with you?”

The mare tapped her hoof to her muzzle and stuck her tongue out in thought. “Well, we’re not in our busy hours yet, so it should be fine. What did you need to do?”

“Just a spell.” Amethyst smiled. “It’ll help me determine what kind of spells might’ve been used last night.” After an affirmative nod from the mare, Amethyst took a stance in the center of the room. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly as her horn glowed azure. A light show similar to the one in Roseluck’s shop coated the room in a glow akin to the light emanating from her horn. Multiple green auras floated around the room, though, curiously, there were musical notes drifting in from the front door. They didn’t have any color to them.

Amethyst focused hard on this particular spell. She closed her eyes more tightly as the musical notes swirled around her. Suddenly, a melody filled the room once again. It felt eerily familiar, and Amethyst recognized it as the song from the night before. It was still so strong… She could feel it pulling against her, lulling her into rest. A beautiful voice crooned… Amethyst gasped and her eyes opened. The azure glow and the musical notes dissipated immediately, and she put a hoof to her head as a massive headache swiftly struck her.

“Definitely a verbal component…” she muttered.

“Are you alright?” She could feel the other unicorn at her side, laying a delicate hoof on her withers.

“I’m fine, just a little magical strain is all. I think I might’ve found what I was looking for though.”

“You know who did it then?” The other mare asked with a hopeful tone.

“Not quite.” Amethyst wiped her brow with a hoof. “But I think I know what spell they used. It’ll get us a long way in the future.”

“As long as you catch him in the end, we’ll all sleep better at night. And have a much easier time setting up for work in the morning!” The mint-green unicorn smiled before making her way over to one of the candy displays. “Do you want some candy for the road? It’s on the house, of course! That partner of yours seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.”

Amethyst grumbled. “Thanks, but trust me when I say the last thing Ember needs is more food.” She rolled her eyes, recalling the sounds her partner made last night while enjoying the meal she’d bought with Amethyst’s money.

“Oh…” The other mare held a hoof to her mouth. “Well, if you change your mind, the offer’s still there! Thank you for all of your help!”

“It’s no trouble at all, that’s what we’re here for!” Amethyst replied as she trotted towards the door. “Take care!” As she trotted out the door, her happy demeanor shifted to a slightly more grim one. “Verbal component…” she spoke to no one in particular. She trotted back towards their office as her mind picked up speed again. “Then it’s just as I thought, we’re dealing with a very powerful spellcaster… But then, why would a unicorn of that caliber even bother with something so… inane?”

Amethyst shook her head. Even though she’d studied it for years, she really couldn’t understand the minds of criminals sometimes.

She passed by several shops on the way back to their office. Some had their owners in the windows, returning overturned merchandise to its original state. A lavender unicorn stood in the entryway to Quills & Sofas, her body shaking angrily. “Again?!” she yelled, much to the lament of the shopkeeper. Amethyst didn’t stop to watch, however. She reached their office and tried to pull it open with her magic. All this did was give her a bigger headache than she already had, and she quickly raised a hoof to her head as her magical aura around her horn sputtered a bit.

“Ow…” she groaned as she unlocked and yanked the door open by hoof.

She quickly trotted inside, then made her way to a room in the back of the office. This was where they kept their stuff they had yet to unpack from their move from Manehattan. Amethyst went to carefully remove a box from the top of a stack, but as soon as she had it in her grip she nearly dropped it.

“Oh, yep, it’s definitely in here!” Amethyst carefully and painfully set the box onto the floor. Thankfully, it was already open so she didn’t need to worry about opening it as she rifled through its contents.

“Ah, there it is!” She reached down, grunting as she lifted up something heavy. “Urgh… I forgot how intense my studies were back in the day…” After moving the object out enough, she maneuvered it so it sat on her back for the time being. She walked back into the main room of the office and sat it down on her desk where it hit with a thud. The object was a book, an old and withered-looking tome with a star on the cover. At each corner of the star there was a different picture, detailing the branch of magic it covered.

Amethyst undid the latch holding the book closed, and pulled it open with another groan. “Oh boy…” she frowned as she looked at all the symbols and theories presented to her on just the first page. “This is gonna take a while…”

Ember slid into the booth across from her totally-not-date. She inhaled the scent of the fresh daisy salad special that emanated from the kitchen in the back of the restaurant and wafted out the open window above their booth. She sighed and settled into her seat. A smile spread across her face as she met her not-date’s eyes.

“Wow, I can’t believe that I’ve never been here before!” Ember exclaimed, sweeping her gaze across the crowded restaurant.

“Me either! Fancy Fare has to be the best food in town. Savoir really outdid himself here,” Rose replied.

The mares grinned at each other as a moustached earth pony waiter trotted up to them. “Good afternoon, ladies. Welcome to Fancy Fare! I’m Silver Mash, and I’ll be your waiter today.” He hoofed a pair of menus to them, shaking his silver mane and brown coat as he did so. “Brr! That’s quite a draft. Would you like me to get that window closed for you?”

“Oh, it’s totally fine, Silver,” Rose said. “Unless it’s bothering you, Ember?” she asked.

“Nah, it feels nice to me!” Ember replied. She grabbed a menu.

“Alright then.” The stallion chuckled. “In that case, can I interest either of you in drinks or appetizers today?”

“I’ll have a water, please,” Rose said. “And could I have that with extra ice?”

“Sure!” Silver chimed. “And you, ma’am?” He raised his notepad.

“Uh, I’ll have a lemonade, please,” Ember said.

“And no thanks on the appetizers this time,” Rose chimed.

“Perfect! I’ll have those right out for you. Go ahead and look over your menu, but take your time. We’ll be here when you’re ready!” Silver trotted off.

“Silver is one of my favorite waiters here,” Rose said. “He just started working about a month ago, but he’s just so sweet! I adore his wife and son too! They come into the store sometimes.”

“You seem to know everypony in town,” Ember remarked.

Rose laughed. “Comes with the territory. I sell three products that appeal to everypony: Romantic gifts, gardening necessities, and tasty snacks. And I happen to grow all of them. I see pretty much everypony in town on a weekly basis.”

“Wow,” Ember said. “I guess you aren’t having any business problems then.”

“Well, except for that whole upside-down store nonsense.” Rose stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, yeah. You know, you should get somepony to look into that.” Ember’s eyes twinkled and she winked at the mare with whom she was not on a date.

“Mmm, I probably should!” Rose flicked her mane away with a giggle.

“So, what’s good here?” Ember grabbed her menu and flipped through the pages.

“Their sandwiches are amazing, but I think I’ll have to have the daisy salad. It’s divine.” Roseluck pointed to the specials on Ember’s menu.

“‘Daisies, fresh romaine lettuce, candied walnuts, house croutons, and a Fancy raspberry walnut vinaigrette.’ Interesting.”

“Simple but beautiful. Their dressing is absolutely incredible. They import it directly from Prance!” Rose said.

“Well, with that review behind it, I’ll just have to try it out!” Ember put her menu down and grinned. “I have a question though. Don’t you get tired of flowers since you grow and sell them all day? Wouldn’t you want to eat something else?”

“No, never! Flowers are my favorite things in the whole world. The smell, the taste, nurturing them from the beginning of their life until they brighten somepony’s day… I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of that.” Rose’s eyes unfocused and a wistful smile spread across her face. “I don’t think I’ll ever retire, even if the business takes off like I want it to. I couldn’t see not doing it!”

Ember grinned. “I love it when ponies are so passionate about things. You have huge plans for your business then?”

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but Silver returned at that moment. “Here are your drinks!” He placed their beverages in front of them. “So, have you decided what you’d like? If not, I’d recommend the special salad today. It’s the best.”

Rose chuckled. “Silver, you are a mind reader. We’d both like the salad today, please.”

“Excellent!” Silver scribbled on his notepad. “We’ll have that out for you ASAP!” He scampered off.

“Huh. ‘ASAP.’ You don’t hear waiters using that term every day,” Ember remarked. “Weird.”

“He says odd things sometimes,” Rose replied as she sipped her water. “But yeah, I have some pretty big plans for the business. Well, hopes, at least. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it as far as I want to.”

Ember nodded, sipping her lemonade. “So what’s the big plot?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” Rose asked.

“Of course I won’t!”

“Well, I want to save enough bits to open another store in two neighboring towns and then expand out into Canterlot. My business model is very simple and homegrown, and I have seeds that have been in the family for generations. I’ve grown and tased lots of flowers, and mine are the best. I don’t like bragging, but they are.” The mare grinned.

“Wow, you are planning big!” Ember exclaimed. “How close are you to opening a new store?”

“Actually, if all goes well, I’ll be buying a building in Greenville by the next Summer Sun celebration. I’ll hire somepony to manage this store and make a temporary move to get the location ready. Plant a new sustainable garden, paint the building, and train a manager over there. Then I’ll come back to Ponyville and work a bit here and manage the books and make sure the gardens stay well kept in both locations. After that, I have plans for a third location, but I want to take it only a bit at a time.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! You could totally pull that off!” Ember exclaimed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a ‘Roseluck’s Bouquets’ in every town from Canterlot to Manehattan in a few years!” She gazed at the earth pony. “You shouldn’t ever let anypony get you down about that plan. Nopony should ever laugh about a plan like that, and I certainly wouldn’t. It’s great, and so are you.”

“Thanks,” Rose replied. Color flushed her cheeks and she drank a bit more water. “Wow, is it hot in here to you too?”

“Nah. I’m nice and cool from the breeze,” Ember said. “I think you’re the only thing in here that’s hot.”

Rose flushed even harder. “I didn’t mean—”

“I did.” Ember sipped her drink and gazed right into Rose’s eyes. They smiled at each other for a while until a voice chimed at the end of the table.

“Okay, two special daisy salads!” Silver slid two plates onto the table and swiftly refilled their drinks. “I’ll be back in a bit to check back up on you. Call me over if you need anything else!”

“Thank you, Silver!” Rose said.

“That was fast,” Ember noted.

Rose nodded. “They have amazing service here.”

Ember grabbed her fork and took a tentative bite of her salad. “Oh. My.”

Rose nodded, her own mouth full of daisy and walnuts. Swallowing, she said, “Told you!”

The mares ate in silence for a few moments and savored the flavor of the perfect salads.

“Ammy is going to flip when I tell her about this place,” Ember said. She wiped her face with her napkin.

“You two must be new to town if you’ve never been here before!”

Ember nodded. “We are. We opened our doors about a month ago and we’d only been in town about a week before that. We’re still getting a feel for everything here.”

“Mmm,” Rose murmured as she took another bite. “So, where are you girls from? How did you meet?”

“Well, we grew up together in Canterlot. My family is from there, and Ammy’s moved there after she was born. She’s from an all pegasus family from Cloudsdale, so they had to move to the ground after she was born. We met on the first day of school, and we immediately hated each other.” Ember smiled.

“Really? Now this story I have to hear,” Rose said.

Ember chuckled. “Well, it was the first day at class. We were out on the playground for recess. I already had a couple of friends from my neighborhood, so we all played ball together, and we played pretty crazy. It was fun, and we were foals, ya know? Then this little blue unicorn filly trots up to us and matter-of-factly tells us that we were foolish for playing so recklessly and that our ball was going to pop if we kept it up.”

“Just like that?” Rose asked.

“Just like that,” Ember agreed. “She never has been one for tact. Well, she’s gotten better, but she was as blunt as a hammer to the brainpan back then.”

They both chuckled before Ember continued. “Anyways, we ignored her, of course. We knew everything. I think we caught teenager syndrome early in Canterlot. But she just kept bugging us. ‘You’re gonna pop it!’ ‘Stop!’ On and on and on! Until finally, the ball came flying at me. I caught it, jumped onto it, and Bam! It popped and I landed flat on my face. Little Ammy runs up to me and shouts, ‘I told you so!’ Of course, that made her my mortal enemy right then and there.”

Rose snorted. “Of course. That is the only logical chain of events.” She winked.

“Exactly! So for weeks, we shot snide remarks back and forth on the playground and refused to even talk to each other in class.”

“So what changed?” Rose asked. “I’m assuming you two don’t hate each other any more.”

Ember snorted. “Nah, not even a little bit. So here’s the story. There was this earth pony in our class. She was a musician, and one day she brought her cello and bow into class for show and tell. She was totally amazing, and she stole the show. But when we all went outside to play, somepony snuck back into class and stole her bow. I guess they were just jealous of her talent. She already had her cutie mark, you see, and she was the only one who did. So they just took her bow.”

“Wow. Kids are terrible sometimes.” Rose sighed.

“Yeah. The mare sat next to me in class but played with Ammy on the playground. When it was time to leave school, she went back inside to get her cello. She noticed that the bow was missing, so she and I looked around class to try to find it. We looked and looked, but it wasn’t anywhere. Octavia, that’s the mare, started crying. That’s when Ammy came back in to get her saddlebag before she left. She came over and asked what was wrong. Now, we might not have liked each other, but we both knew that Octy was freaking out and needed help. Octy’s parents came to pick her up, but Ammy and I had missed the cart that took the foals home if they lived in the city. Our parents would have to come get us, but they were at work. So we had a bunch of time on our hooves.”

“I’m sensing that your detective skills may have come into play at a pretty early age,” Rose remarked as she continued sipping on her water.

“You know, if you ever want to change careers, you’d probably make a good detective yourself, Rose. Or a great psychic. Maybe even a psychic detective!” Ember laughed.

“Oh, no thank you,” Rose giggled. “I’m quite content with flowers.”

“But yeah. We called a temporary truce to try to help find Octavia’s bow. We looked all over the empty school, scoured the playground, and even went into the most dreaded of places in the school: the upper class’ locker room.” Ember shuddered. “No luck. Ammy got really sad and decided that it was time to give up, but I didn’t want to. I gave her a pep talk, and she perked up and went back to looking.”

“Aww, that’s cute.”

“We were freakin’ adorable,” Ember agreed. “So we decided to check the playground again. I looked all over the playset and all around the sandbox. But Ammy just sat there and kept looking at the bushes that lined the school. I trotted over to ask her what was going on.

“‘Do you see that?’ she asked.

“‘See what?’

“‘That bush over there…’ So she walks over to one bush that looked a time bit different from all the others. She reaches in and pulls out the bow, which was totally fine!”

“Wow!” Rose said.

“We looked at each other and had the biggest stupid grins on our face. Then this big huge light blinded us for a second, and when it was gone, we had our cutie marks!” Ember shifted to show Rose the small flame on her flank. “Ammy’s talent was her detective skills, and especially her ability to see those little things that were out of place. She got a purple gem with a teeny-tiny imperfection that she says is there, but that I can’t see. I just take her word for it. Mine was inspiration. I’ve always been good at helping other ponies feel better and encouraging them, so I got this little tiny fire!”

“That’s awesome! Getting your cutie marks just like that at the same time!” Rose laughed. “So, did you go back to hating each other immediately after?”

“Nope! We were so excited that when our parents arrived, they found us running around in a circle laughing together. We all went out to dinner together to celebrate, and Ammy and I instantly became best friends. We returned the bow to Octy the next day, and they caught the stallion that did it. Interestingly, he and Octavia started dating in high school… Go figure! Anyways, Ammy and I played together and hung out the entire year. And the next. And the next, all the way until I went off to college and Ammy joined the Royal Guard.”

“Wow, what a cool story!” Rose exclaimed. “You two have something pretty special.”

“Yeah,” Ember agreed. “Ammy’s always been there for me through everything. Everything else could go to pieces, but we’d always have each other’s backs.”

Rose smiled, and their eyes met and locked for a moment.

“Everything good over here?” Silver asked as he walked up to the table.

“Oh, yes! The food was excellent,” Rose said.

“I’m so glad!” Silver replied. “Will this be two checks?”

“Just one please,” Rose insisted. “Ember’s helping me with that upside down problem I’ve been having at the store, so I wanted to take her out for lunch.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re finally getting that looked at. I guess the police have some competition in town now!” Silver winked.

Ember laughed. “I guess so.”

Silver hoofeded the bill to Rose, who promptly paid him the bits. “Alrighty then! Thank you both so much, and you have a wonderful day!”

“You too Silver,” Ember said.

“And send my love to Button and your wife! I’ve got some orchids in the store now that I think they would absolutely love!” Rose said.

“I will,” Silver said with a chuckle.

The two mares slid back out of the booth and trotted over to the door.

“You know, that was the best date I’ve had in months,” Rose remarked. “Well, okay, not a date, I guess. But still…”

Ember laughed. “Oh, we might not be able to call it a date around Ammy, but it was my best… whatever it was… in forever too.”

The mares smiled. “Well, we’ll have to make it an official date soon.” Rose grinned.

“Definitely. As soon as this whole OCD’er thing is done, I’ll have to take you to one of my favorite places.”

“‘OCD’er thing?’” Rose asked.

“Oh, that’s what Ammy is calling the guy who’s messing up your store. It stands for the ‘Obsessive-Compulsive Disorderer.’ I still prefer calling him Frank though.”

“‘Obsessive-Compulsive Disorderer.’ That’s clever!” The earth pony giggled.

Ember joined in. They looked deeply into each others eyes for a second before Rose blushed and turned away. “Well, I better get back to the shop…”

Ember cleared her throat. “Yeah. I have a few more places to check out before I have to get back for the stakeout.”

Rose smiled. “Okay then! I guess I’ll see you later!”

Ember waved to the other mare as she trotted away. She watched her until she rounded the corner and headed back to her shop, then turned around with a sigh.

“That was totally a date.”

Amethyst felt a strange sense of deja vu as she once more set up the magical tuning device. The Sweetshoppe was empty again save for the two detectives. The sky was illuminated far more clearly then the night before, since the clouds that had obscured the former night had been cleared by the pegasi earlier in the day.

“It’s a lot brighter tonight,” she remarked to Ember, who was busy adjusting the spectral phantometics. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad. Could go both ways.”

“Heh,” Ember grunted as she hefted the large metal device onto its tripod.

Amethyst snorted. “What, no joke about ‘going both ways?’ You usually jump on such a ‘prime opportunity,’ as you say. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten away with saying anything like that before.”

Ember shrugged in response and turned a few knobs.

“Ooookay?” Amethyst tilted her head to the side and watched her partner for a moment. When they had first set up in the store, she had half expected Ember to plop herself on the couch again start making suggestive sounds with her food again. When Ember had instead started unpacking gear, Amethyst had thought that she must have been dreaming.

“You’re being oddly helpful today, Ember. Did you have a good day or something?”

“Yeah,” Ember replied, continuing to unfold the gear.

Amethyst shook her head. “Amazing.” She unpacked her ambience multimeter and thaumatical receiver and set them in front of the window.

“Did you hear what I said when I explained to you how this spell is going to work? I need you to be prepared when the OCD’er shows himself again.”

“Mhm,” Ember hummed as she adjusted some dials on the equipment Amethyst had set up.

“Well, as long as you were listening…” Amethyst levitated her binoculars up to her face. She expected Ember to voice complaints about boredom, or at least start pestering her, but she was unusually quiet. The grin she normally wore on her face never left once.

This is very unlike her… Amethyst began to think something was up, until she saw a familiar cloaked figure tip-toeing towards Roseluck’s shop.

Ember’s ears suddenly perked and she leaned forward until she was in Amethyst’s peripheral vision. “Are they here?”

“Yes, they just showed up.” She held a hoof to Ember’s chest. “Let’s wait a moment though, until they start casting the spell.”

There were a tense few moments between the two mares, and before long Amethyst heard the first notes of a song start to play. She grinned.

“Right on cue.” Amethyst’s horn glowed azure and she began her counterspell. She figured that the OCD’er was using a verbal component; they were singing the song themselves. Her study from the earlier hours of the day had indicated that the best way to counter music based spells was with more music.

Amethyst took a deep breath and let the words of the spell flow forth, seeking to stop the spell. The song a haunting counterpoint to the main melody that drifted into the building. Amethyst felt the OCD’er’s spell impact her own. Back and forth, the two competing lines tugged, each clawing for dominance. Amethyst sang harder than she ever had in her life. Her lungs burned, so she gasped for air and kept singing. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and the air around her felt musical. It was as if she could taste the chords and smell the frequencies shift. The harmonies felt sweet, and the dissonance tasted red. Her senses merged together into a simultaneously soothing and striking gestalt as Amethyst gave herself entirely into her spell.

The two spells stood at odds for a moment, and the detective mare allowed herself a grin. They had their perp now.

But with a sudden bust, a flurry of notes flew in from outdoors, and the OCD’er’s spell pushed past her own. Amethyst’s eyes widened and she struggled to find her own melody to counter the effects, but to no avail. The other spell surrounded her and enveloped her own magical song. The aura from her horn was snuffed out, and it wasn’t long before the criminal’s song tugged at her eyelids.

“Ember…” Amethyst spun to face her partner, but she only saw bouncing puffballs with smiley faces. Amethyst grinned widely, then crashed to the floor. Everything went dark afterwards.

“Am—

—my!”

A voice cut through the blackness, and Amethyst was vaguely aware that she was being shaken violently.

“Ammy! Wake up!” She felt a sharp crack across her face. Now fully awake, the unicorn blinked violently and rapidly.

“E-Ember?!” Amethyst shook her head. “Why did you slap me…and why am I covered in water?”

Ember grinned and helped her back onto her hooves. “You’re a really heavy sleeper, you know that?”

“Don’t try to change the subject!” Amethyst gritted her teeth, but then she cast a glance at the rest of the room and her anger died away when she realized that not only was everything not upside down, but it was still dark outside too.

“Wait… didn’t we fall asleep?”

Ember rolled her eyes. “Wait a second…” Ember put her hooves to her ears, then pulled out two small earplugs. “What was that?”

Amethyst’s jaw dropped. “We… Sleep… Wha—”

Ember chuckled. “No, we didn’t fall asleep. Well, you did. But I brought these.” She grinned stupidly. “Good thing too. I couldn’t hear much of your singing, but what I did hear…” She shuddered.

“You… Earplugs?” Amethyst squinted her eyes.

“Well, yeah. You said that the spell was verbal something, or audio based, or that there were radios or something. I dunno. All I know is, sound magic can’t do diddly-squat if you can’t hear it, right? And, no offence, but you’re no super wizard.” Ember’s grin turned smug. “I just wanted to be sure.”

“You…” Amethyst flushed angrily. “You couldn’t hear anything I was saying the whole time we were setting up?!”

“I just saved our flanks in a way that you didn’t even think about, and that’s all you got out of that?” Ember asked.

“Yes!”

“Nope, I certainly did not!” Ember grinned.

Amethyst’s eye twitched, but she resisted the strong urge that had suddenly made itself known in her right hoof to smack a certain yellow pegasus mare. “Well, while you’re sitting here talking, the OCD’er is disordering Ms. Roseluck’s store again! Let’s go!”

“Well geez, you’re the one who wanted to tal— Woah!”

Amethyst lept to her hooves, jerked Ember up in the air with her magic, and galloped towards Roseluck’s store. The OCD’er thought they were asleep, which gave them the element of surprise. She didn’t have time for Ember’s usual shenanigans.

Once they reached the door, Amethyst set Ember down. “Are you ready? It could be anypony in there.”

“Even Frank.” Ember nodded, eyes wide.

“Would you take this seriously? This is a powerful spellcaster. They could seriously hurt us, or worse! We need to take them down quickly and efficiently.”

“How about you lead them into a back alley and I open the back door?”

Amethyst gave Ember an unamused glare.

“Too soon?” Ember frowned.

“Let’s just get on with this.” Amethyst grabbed the doorknob in her magic, then forced the door open.

“Freeze, Frank!”

“Halt, A&E Investigations!”

The shadowy figure turned to face them. It smiled beneath its mask.

“Ah, guests. Welcome.”