The waiter arrived with the plate for Rainbow Dash, who already licked her lips as she received the fine scent of her ordered meal.
Something was missing though, she looked to the other side of the table; there it was.
"Can you pass me the salt?"
Fluttershy leaned forward, cautiously stretching one hoof out. Right as she was about to grab the little shaker
a bluish glow appeared; Rarity absent-mindedly levitated it over, while reading the local newspaper.
"Thanks."
Disappointed, Fluttershy retracted her hoof. Rainbow let out a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Rarity asked, who still didn't look up.
"Muthin'." Rainbow answered, spitting some crumbs.
The unicorn laid down the newspaper and raised an eyebrow. Dash took another hearty bite.
She glanced over to the opposite side of the table as she chewed contently. She gulped.
"What?"
Rarity only sighed in response, observing the room with an empty face. Rainbow put down the burger, deadpanning.
"What?!"
"Nothing, Dear!" The unicorn answered. "Carry on."
Her counterpart looked at Fluttershy, then shrugged and continued it's meal, but she couldn't stop glimpsing over.
"Alright, this is getting annoying!" Dash snarled.
"You're not the only one with such an opinion!" Rarity lashed back.
"Girls, please be kind!" Fluttershy shushed.
"What did I do wrong?!"
"Everything." Rarity stated blankly, steering her attention back to the paper.
Fluttershy, who sat in the middle, worriedly switched her gaze between them. She tried to change the subject:
"Uhm, so... is there something interesting going on?"
"It seems that there had been a few break-ins, the..."
Rainbow's munching tuned in again, making the unicorn stop, but as soon as she noticed Fluttershy's frown,
she continued, looking slightly unnerved.
"The E.P.U. assumes that the same culprit was responsible for them."
"E.P.U?" Dash asked, after gulping audibly.
"Equestrian. Protection. Unit." Rarity recited.
"There were thefts in Fillydelphia, Manehatten and most recently one happened here in Ponyville."
She took a sip from her coffee. "They have no clue who or what it was."
"Huh?" Rainbow stopped eating, much to Rarity's surprise.
"Here? In Ponyville?"
"Oh. You didn't know? It happened at the museum a few days ago."
Rainbow blinked in bewilderment.
"Ponyville has a museum?"
'There would have been a long silence. A silence so pure that one could have heard a hollow wind piping through the
sports-pegasus ears' Rarity thought as Fluttershy pointed out, that there indeed had been a museum standing in Ponyville for
quite a while now. The building wasn't very big, nor impressive, but it had some of the finest artwork, that had been forged
throughout the history of Ponyville.
"Alright.. so what was stolen exactly?" Rainbow asked
"I think it was jewelry, right Rarity?"
The question brought the unicorn out of her secluded state.
"Excuse me? Oh...uh...yes, but I don't think there will be another theft here."
Rainbow squinted her eyes
"How do you know?"
"It's simple, what other places are there around?"
"What about your boutique?" Fluttershy interjected.
"Hmm? I don't have that much anyway, most of my valuable accessories are stored safely in a bank in Canterlot.
I don't like to have too much on my bare hooves, so to speak."
"Well, then." Rainbow yawned.
"Seems like there ain't gonna be much to happen then."
The pegasus mare suddenly froze, her pupils twitching in little circles.
Without saying anything, she dashed out the restaurant.
"Hey. HEY! You haven't paid yet! MA'AM?!" The waiter cried after her.
"It's alright Sir, I was going to pay this round anyway..." Rarity sighed.
After a short while Rarity and Fluttershy left as well. Rainbow though was nowhere to be seen. Since both of them had still a lot to
do, they departed home. It didn't take long until the dressmaker arrived in front of her boutique. She opened the door, revealing a
huge mess. Rarity gasped and quickly walked in to see what had happened. Cloth was lying around everywhere; ripped apart. The
unicorn picked up some blue veil that looked awfully familiar to a part of the dress that she had prepared yesterday.
There was something off. An empty socket. As realization hit her, Rarity ran upstairs. In her room was a chest. She opened it.
Empty. All the gemstones were gone.
"This cannot be. My work. They destroyed my work AND took my supplies." She mumbled, still not believing it.
"Madam. I can't help you if you don't answer my questions..." - "Right. I apologize."
The officer sighed.
"I can understand that you're worked up about it. I's alright. We'll get to it somehow.
Now, please. Repeat what happened exactly when you got home."
"Well, First I didn't think much of it, I thought Opal might have been responsible."
"Opal?"
"My Cat... But after I saw that an emerald was taken out of it's frame I suspected that it must have been something else."
Police-stallion Graham was taking notes as Rarity spoke. He was maybe in his mid-thirties. A young Officer.
The unicorn eyed him rather amazed. After a second of awkward silence, she remembered.
"Oh. Yes. After that I ran upstairs and..."
Rarity couldn't stop looking at him. "And I..."
"Yes?" Graham smirked. She bit her lower lip.
"I.."
The door behind them bursted open.
"Rarity! You okay?!" Rainbow cried into the the room.
The unicorn slumped down, embracing her face with both front hooves.
"Rainbow Dash."
Graham leaned back into his chair. He smiled.
"Excuse me Ma'am, but this is a private consultation.
You can talk to Miss Rarity when she's done giving the details, that we need. Now please, get out."
"Huh? Oh... Heh."
A raspy female voice followed suit.
"Sorry about that Gray... You can't just rush through a police-office like that!"
Rainbow got immediately drawn out of the interrogation-room.
"HEY! No wait! I want to-" The door closed shut.
"No need to be so rough... geez."
The police-mare gave her a deadpan look.
"You are on E.P.U-Property. Here the rules might be a little different than in your house. I must ask you to leave."
Rainbow made a silly face while mockingly repeating.
"E.P.U-Property. Nyeh! We protect stuff! Very serious business here!"
She got shoved out of the building.
"I'm too old for this crap. Go annoy someone else."
The pegasus stretched her tongue at the officer, who had already turned around.
'What now?' Rainbow took off to the sky and aimed for Rarity's boutique.
Whatever little time she had left to make her own observations, she wanted to use it,
before the place would be cramped up with detectives and whatever else they'd send.