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// A Seizing of Sentimentality 
// Story: The Mysteries of Shadow Spade 
// by ThePloyMaker 
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	I nervously headed to the address I couldn't get out of my head. 112 Confectioner's Drive, I repeated to myself. The street was a small, residential one with no places of business in sight. It was filled with a crowd of ponies headed to their jobs, something that, as of this moment, I didn't have. I really began to doubt myself.
All these ponies out on the street, I pondered, and she just chooses me to be an associate in whatever detective division she runs? Surely there is somepony more qualified. Surely she wouldn't just pick somepony of the street to work for her. Yet here I was, now standing in front of large wooden door of a building labeled 112. Perhaps it is not too late to beg for my old job back.
I raised my hoof to knock on the door when it suddenly burst open, revealing a stallion whose temper had grown to be as fiery as his red and orange mane. He was very aggressively mumbling to himself and didn't give me much warning as he shoved his way past me. In a final fit of anger he looked back at me and, through gritted teeth, said, "If you're looking for help, you better find somepony else." He then stomped off, the ponies on the street giving him a rather wide clearance.
With my confidence of the situation taking a further blow, I ultimately decided I had gotten too far to turn back. I shuffled quietly into the open door and found nopony in the front room. After steeling my nerves a bit, I called out, "Miss Shadow Spade?"
"Oh," came a reply from the back room, "Silver Locks! I was hoping you'd show." Out from a back room cantered the sharply dressed, purple coated pony, seemingly oblivious to the fuming unicorn that had quite recently burst from her doorway.
"So..." I started awkwardly, "was that the usual satisfied customer?"
"Oh, him. He got a little grouchy because I didn't want to work on his case. Someone had made off with his carriage and he wanted my help. Just a ordinary theft case. Even the Baltimare Police Department could handle it without scuffing up too much."
"If you say so...but it seemed really important-"
"Oh, what's important? He'll get his carriage back, the police aren't completely incompetent."
"I mean, he was looking for your help."
As Miss Spade opened her mouth for a retort, another pony stuck her head through the door, this one elderly and very frail-looking.
"Excuse me if I'm interrupting," she said. "I've had something important of mine stolen, and I would certainly love your help."
"Well I'd love hear your case," replied Miss Spade, a little to my surprise.
"Thank you dear. Well, my late husband, bless his heart, just about the only thing he could leave me when he passed was his old army knife. He had it his entire thirty-four years as a castle guard. The sweetheart would bring me a new carving everytime he returned home, so as you can imagine, the knife got quite worn quite quickly. After it had become unusable, he still carried it around for good luck. And, once he finally passed, he left it for me."
"Interesting...please continue," Said Miss Spade while withdrawing a note pad and a quill from her saddle bag to write down details. To say I was baffled would be an understatement. A stolen carriage was too small to engage her curiosity but an old knife catches her ear?
"Of course, I've always carried it around everywhere I went, most nights I don't even have the heart to set it aside while I sleep. So, you can see why I am devastated by the loss."
"This knife, would it be considered valuable? Or did it at least look valuable?" The way she talked so fluently with a quill in her mouth was very amusing.
"Not at all. It was old and rusty and I'd imagine anypony else trying to grab it would have a great fear of contracting tetanus."
"Good to know. Please tell me of when it was stolen."
"Well, I stayed late at my job at the boutique, it was a little past midnight. There weren't any other ponies out on the streets. Well...save one."
"Where exactly? In what street? Where on the street? I need as much detail as you can give."
"It was down near the corner of 2nd Street and Arlington Drive. I noticed another pony on the street a good bit behind me. Made me really nervous, so to try and take my mind off of it, I took the old knife out of my purse just to look at it in the streetlights. I heard his hoofsteps speed up a bit, and got scared, and, as it turns out, I was right to be. Once he had gotten close to where I was standing, he had telekinetically grabbed the knife and ran. He started running north, up the street, and turned left into an alleyway. I was running after him the entire time, with a lot less concern for my safety than was probably healthy. But I turned into the alleyway he turned into, and he was just gone. Nopony there. I even searched the alleyway for some kind hiding place he could've gone. Nothing. There was a door into one of the buildings, but it was padlocked."
"That knife doesn't sound very lucky to me," Miss Spades breathed in a very whispered tone, one that seemed to be meant only for herself. However,based on her suddenly agitated expression, the elderly pony had certainly heard it.
"Could you please show a bit more respect, that knife is the most important thing to me at this time."
"Oh, my apologies. Sometimes i think of something and it just goes right to my mouth without time for me to process it." I could have sworn I saw a hint of a smile cross her lips as she said that. "Do you mind if I ask a few more questions?"
"If it'll get the knife back to me, of course," she said, although it was clear she was more than a little miffed.
"It was a quiet night, correct?"
"Yes."
"Did you hear anything that might give a clue as to how he escaped?"
"No, nothing."
"What of his appearance, can you give me any details on that?"
"He was a stallion by the looks of his build, a unicorn of course, he had a black coat, a blue mane, his cutie mark was hard to make out in the night, but it appeared blue.
"You have a very interesting case, Mrs..."
"Tenderhoof."
"Yes, Mrs. Tenderhoof, I would be happy to take your case."
With those words, all of Mrs. Tenderhoof's annoyance seemed to melt away into a great smile. "Thank you very much Miss Spade!" she announced joyfully.
"Check back in from time to time and I'll let you know how your case is going."
"Again thank you, I think I must be going now, I'm sure you have better things to be doing with your time. Goodbye!" Before Miss Spade could return her goodbye, the elderly unicorn excitedly teleported away with a loud pop.
After some time had passed, my curiosity had peaked, and I couldn't help but ask, "What was so different about this case than the carriage one?"
"There is a lot more to this case than meets the eye, I believe. Anyways, if you wouldn't mind I would like your help with something."
"Of course, what do you need?"
"Wait here for a bit," she said before disappearing off into a back room. It was quite a little while before she came back. "Apologies for the wait, had a little trouble finding this," she said, motioning toward the safe she was carrying. Odd...she didn't seem like the kind of pony who loses things easily. "I've lost my key to this safe, and I would really like for you to open it for me."
"Oh, well do you need anything else from me? Any help for the case, perhaps?"
"No no, that would be all, thank you. Take it with you on your way out."
"Oh...yes ma'am..." I said, quite forlorn. I grabbed the safe and placed it in my saddlebag, and began my long journey home. It certainly gave me a while to rethink quitting my job. Am I actually meant to help her on her cases? Or did she just need a work pony? Depressing thoughts followed me all the way to the front door of my apartment.
Now I had the whole day to myself and nothing to occupy my time. Well, I had the safe to open, but that shouldn't take too long - I knew locks inside and out. I eventually just decided to read a book. The safe could be unlocked later.
After a few hours of being lost in an old Feather Quill story I'd read many times before, I decided to turn my attention to the safe. It was old and quite unremarkable. I gathered a few of the pins I used for lockpicking, and levitated them into the lock. I felt the resistance of the tumblers as I prodded at them with the pins. I felt the very satisfying sensation of feeling one of the tumblers clicking into place. The others came eventually, and at the final one, I heard the lock click.
Well, the safe was unlocked...but I didn't think she would like me opening it. That would certainly be an invasion of her privacy. I turned away to make dinner. I needed something to get my mind off of the terrible turn my life might have just went because of this pony. Some hayburgers would suffice. I was pounding the hay into patties quite violently. Out of nowhere she questions my career, I thought with a rather gratifying smack to the hay. She offers me a job having just met me. Smack! She tells me to lose my job as a locksmith- Smack! -so I can open her locked safe. Smack! Who does that pony think she is? I took a look at the pulverized patty. It was a lot flatter than I normally make them for some reason.
It didn't take long to convince myself that if she can just stick her hooves into my life like this, seeing what she was hiding in a safe wouldn't be that bad. I left my burgers on the counter and trotted back to the living room where the safe was. I pulled it open, and what was absolutely shocked as to what was inside.
Just one folded piece of paper, nothing else. Written on the top in a hurried calligraphy, was "Silver Locks." I took it in my hoof to get a better look at it, and with a confident nervousness I unfolded the paper.

Dear Silver Locks,
It's good to know your curiosity will allow you to look into other ponies private things. Don't worry though, as a detective, that isn't a bad quality to have. My apologies for putting a lock right back in your hand after you just kicked the stuff. I just had to be sure that even though you had plenty of experience with locks, that you could also unlock one without a key. I'm not usually allowed into places I need to be, and aside from being a partner in which to confide, you could also be extremely helpful with this problem. Speaking of places I need to be, do you remember Mrs. Tenderhoof mentioning the alleyway just north of the corner of 2nd and Arlington? Meet me there tonight at midnight. I'd like to take a look inside this door she mentioned. Come armed.
Shadow Spade

I never thought my anger towards anypony could dissipate so fast. Suddenly everything was exciting. I was going to be helping in actual crime cases! I didn't think anything could possibly upset me...at least...until the full force of that last sentence hit me. Come armed. I did have an old pistol I kept, just for when I happened to be walking down one of the worse parts of Baltimare, but I never expected to use it, and I certainly never expected to have a job that required it. But...I was needed. And, even if it wasn't the most pristine job, it was certainly better than my last one.
After a deep breath I floated my saddle bag over to me. I listed off everything I thought I would need. First, to get it out of the way, was the old revolver. Next, my lock picking pins, and...well, I guess I was expecting a longer list. I went to the bathroom to get my mane in order. The almost metallic silver was in an a bit of disarray. I brushed it into a smoother state...then realized that I was going out in the middle of the night, and the condition of my mane was probably unimportant.
I looked at the time. Six twenty-three. I still had about 6 hours to get there. With a drawn-out sigh I returned to my book.