My Little Investigations: Twilight Cases

by Brony_of_Brody

Case 2: Colgate's Crisis

Twilight never thought much about her appearance. After all, how one interprets looks is subjective, and there was no point taking much time in thinking about looks. As long as she didn't smell, who cares?

One pony who held the complete opposite view was Rarity, the owner of the Carousel Boutique, a shop specializing in fashion, and one of Twilight’s friends. For her, every pony had the right to look fabulous, and letting a chance to look your best slip by was the greatest sin a pony could commit.

So of course, that was the topic of conversation at the time.

“You must admit though darling, I thought that her choice of dye was absolutely ghastly.”

Twilight sighed. She never got why ponies would want to make an effort to try and change the colour of their mane or coat. SHE never went through all that trouble. After all, what’s the point in hiding what you really look like from the world? Why not show off your natural beauty instead?

“Still,” Twilight told Rarity, “It was Minty’s choice to try out that colour. And besides, you did say that she bought dye to turn her back in case it didn’t work out for her.”

“Oh, yes. And apparently it didn’t take to her. Look.”

Twilight looked to where Rarity was pointing, and saw a blue Pegasus pony with a blond mane walking across the street. Rarity trotted up to her, eager to introduce her to Twilight.

“Minty Fresh! I DID tell you darling, that colour would never work out for you!”

“Eh, it was just an experiment, is all,” Minty said sheepishly.

“She came to my boutique yesterday at 11:45 looking for a new look for her that didn’t involve new clothes,” Rarity explained. “I did advice against her choice, but well, at least she took precautions. And it only takes half an hour to set in.”

“Yeah, I decided that the look didn’t suit me. Should have paid more attention,” Minty said. Then she gasped. “Ack! I’ve got other places to be! Sorry Rarity, take care. See ya round!” And with that, Minty ran off.

“So who’s Minty?” Twilight asked Rarity.

“Oh, you haven’t seen her around? She’s Colgate’s friend, the dentist. She regularly visits the clinic to hang out…”

Rarity and Twilight had a good time talking with each other until it got quite late. 8:00, actually, but Rarity considered that to be quite late for her. As Twilight made her way back to Golden Oaks Library to turn in for the night, she never realised that the next day would bring some unexpected surprises…

-

Twilight woke up the next, morning, feeling rather good about today. She was going to go see Fluttershy and Rarity to head off to the spa together.

Rarity picked up Twilight, and then Fluttershy (for Fluttershy wasn’t adventurous enough to arrange to meet somepony beforehand) and off they went to the spa. On the way, they passed a house, with several soup and dog food cans littering the outside. Twilight kicked one by accident walking. She looked down, while Fluttershy could only shake her head.

“Oh, it must have been the raccoons,” sighed Fluttershy. “I keep telling them living off garbage isn’t the healthiest thing for them, but they keep sneaking into Ponyville…”

Fluttershy took care of animals as a job, and lived with several animals back home. As she pawed at the can, checking for certain it was raccoons, Rarity could only eye the cans in disdain.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, I would think somepony would have cleaned them up by now!” said Rarity in disgust. It was usually a well-kept part of the street; it was unusual to find garbage lying directly outside. Then again, she and Twilight did pass the house yesterday, and the cans were there; they hadn’t been cleaned up then. But before she could get an agreement off one of her friends, she saw that Twilight was looking towards the house, in disappointed shock.

Twilight saw that there were a bunch of Royal Guards from Canterlot surrounding that house. Just then, Twilight recognised the armour they were wearing, and was immediately filled with a sense of dread. This was one of the Investigative Teams from Canterlot, and, for want of a nicer phrase, a small filly ended up solving the last case they were called into Ponyville for, but not without them accusing several ponies left and right for the most absurd-sounding crimes. Twilight knew today wouldn’t be a good day with them around. Hoping that she could stop them from making a big mistake, she walked towards the house.

“Um…” Twilight tentatively got one of the guards’ attention. “What happened here?”

“Burglary,” was the reply. “Somepony broke into this pony’s house and made off with all her valuables, somehow getting past her security crystals and her dog. We’re here to check it out. Oh, but don’t worry, we already have our culprit.”

“Who?” asked Twilight. Just then, she was answered by a series of protests coming from her right. They were coming from a green stallion with a blue mane, being restrained by another guard.

“Hey, pal, I wasn’t doing anything, I was just right outside here when you guys showed up! I don’t know anything about this place, I just got here!”

“Who are you?” asked Twilight.

“Me? I’m Stick-Up, journalist. I came from Trottingham to check out the everyday life here. Now will you tell these guys to lay off me?”

“Enough!” came another, rather upper-class sounding voice. “The Great Officer Clue has no time for your lies!” Twilight looked towards the house, and saw a rather smug looking pony in Royal Guard armour, white, like all the others.

“Uh…” Twilight was taken aback by this show boater. It put her in mind of somepony she knew. “Who…are you?”

“Ah, yes,” the officer said. “I am Officer Clue Lesdork. But to you I am the Great Officer Clue, investigative genius!”

“Genius,” Twilight repeated. She wasn’t fond of showing off just for kicks, but had no problems with Rainbow Dash since she could at least back up her big mouth with her flying skills. Twilight was hoping he could too.

“Right,” Rarity eventually said, trying to break up the tension. “So, Officer Clue, what makes you think this pony, Stick-Up, has any connection to this burglary?”

“Because he’s ultra-suspicious!” Officer Clue said with confidence. “Nopony in town recognised him, and he was also seen hanging around the house by the time we arrived!”

“Um…but so were we,” Fluttershy murmured. “Are we suspicious?”

“Hmmm…maybe so!” Clue shouted, resulting in an “Eep!” from Fluttershy. “Maybe YOU’RE the thief we’re looking for!”

“If we were,” Twilight said patiently, “we wouldn’t admit to it, would we?”

This was met with a brief pause. Officer Clue then cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, don’t you worry your pretty little heads! I’ll find the evidence to put Stick-Up away, and this case will be closed!”

“Aw, c’mon, pal!” Stick-Up said, exasperated. “I told ya, I was just passing by! I don’t know this pony! And she doesn’t know me!”

“You stay where you are! I’m going to prove you did it and then go home, job well done!” And with that, Officer Clue waltzed off.

“…that does it.”

“Huh?” Fluttershy turned to Twilight.

“I hoped for a relaxing day, but I guess I’m picking up after these ponies. Great.”

“But…” Fluttershy said timidly. “I’m sure that these professionals can do it…”

“Fluttershy, I’d trust the Investigative Team from Canterlot as far as I could buck them. Which, as Applejack would like to remind me, isn’t that far; my back leg strength is terrible.”

“Oh, I’m sure they can’t be all that bad…”

“Fluttershy, do you not remember last time they were here?”

“…They accused Lyra of being a mastermind behind a large-scale smuggling ring specialising in musical instruments called ‘Strings McGee’?”

“Exactly. So I’m trusting nopony but myself to set things straight.”

Twilight’s was then immediately interrupted by the sound of Officer Clue falling face first into the dirt. She turned around, and saw that he had tripped over one of Colgate’s security crystals.

“Oh by Celestia’s BEARD!” exclaimed Twilight. “You CANNOT be this clumsy!”

“H-hey!” protested Clue. “Even a genius has his off days!”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “He might not be the best officer so far, but he’s doing what he can. He did say he was a genius.”

Twilight was about to make a snide remark about how he was the only one asserting that, but then a thought occurred to her.

“So this is how our burglar bypassed security,” mused Twilight, inspecting the crystal. Even though Clue had knocked it right over, it hadn’t starting shining directly into Clue’s eyes. He must not be in its line of sight, then, Twilight thought to herself.

Then she paused. Surely that crystal wasn’t always in that position? It clearly was rearranged by the culprit to get past.

“But then how’d they know it was there…?”

Just then, another officer came up to Clue, and watched him pick himself up. “Sir, we investigated the house, and we found this on the floor.”

The officer took out from his satchel a small mantelpiece clock, which had broken; the glass had cracked and it was making no movement at all.

Twilight looked at the clock. 1:30. Must be the time it broke, Twilight thought. Did our burglar do that?

“We think the burglar broke this when they entered the house,” the officer went on.

“I see,” said Officer Clue. He then turned on Stick-Up. “So, mister, where were you at 1:30?”

“Not in town!” Stick-Up said. “I never went near that place!”

“This is your first time in Ponyville?” Fluttershy asked him.

“Of course it is!” said Stick-Up. “I’ve never been here before! I was told to investigate the quiet country life here for an article, and here I am!”

“So he has no reason to try and rob anything here,” Twilight told Officer Clue. A quick “Hmph!” was the only response she got.

“Oh, Twilight!” came another voice, belonging to a filly this time. Twilight looked up, and saw a blue pony with a striped blue and white mane walking towards her, with a large brown dog walking alongside her. Twilight recognised her as Colgate, Ponyville’s local dentist. She seemed to be in tears.

“Colgate…oh no, it was your house that got burgled, wasn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so,” Colgate nodded sadly. She looked as though she was about to break down. “All my things…”

“Well, not to worry!” Twilight said, in a cheerful voice, hoping it would make Colgate a little happier. “I’m all over this. Trust me, and I’ll get this solved.”

“Well, I guess the Investigative Team isn’t anything to write home about…” Colgate remarked, looking a little more confident, but still sad. “…okay. If you think you can do it…”

“Thanks. I won’t let you down. So, run me through? What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, it was awful, I woke up this morning, and I found that all of my things had been taken. Ransacked! So I called the Royal Guard, and asked to send somepony over. Unfortunately, I got the Investigative Team instead.”

“Was it secure?”

“I should think so,” Colgate sighed. “Or so I thought. My dog didn’t alert me at all and the security crystals I installed didn’t go off…” The dog looked down, his ears drooping.

“Um…Mr Dog…” Fluttershy asked him. “Could you tell us why you didn’t bark at the burglar?”

This was met by a series of barks. Afterwards, Fluttershy said, “He apparently slept through the whole thing too.”

Colgate’s face fell. So both she and the dog fell asleep and let a burglar steal her things…Fluttershy saw that this wasn’t helping the mood any and so decided to change the subject. “Um…how do security crystals work?” Fluttershy asked.

Rarity, being a foremost expert on gems, explained to Fluttershy. “Security crystals are gems charged with a pony’s magic to keep them safe. They emit a stream of magic, invisible to all except the one who charged it, and if a living thing crosses its path, it shines light on the intruder even when they try to run away until the user drains its magic again, so they can’t get away. So it’s recommended to have a quite complex network of them for best results.”

“Still,” remarked Twilight, “I find it hard to believe you could have just missed it all.” Maybe something happened the previous day to distract her, or cause her to miss it, she thought. "What were you doing yesterday?”

“Oh, the usual,” replied Colgate. “I got ready for the day, and opened up my clinic at 9 sharp. I saw my patients all through the day; I never left my clinic once. After that I closed up at 6 and went straight home, where I had supper and listened to some music until 9. I woke up the next morning and found I’d been burgled!”

“Is that all? So you’re saying you slept through the whole thing?” Rarity said sceptically. “You honestly didn’t hear anything suspicious? Not even your own dog barking?”

“I’m usually a very light sleeper, so I really don’t know how it happened. I mean, I don’t take medication for sleeping problems or anything.”

“Um…” Fluttershy spoke up again. “Maybe she and the dog were slipped some medicine, somehow…”

Twilight paused. “Possible. But there has to be OPPORTUNITY for it to happen first. Miss Colgate, do you have any regular daily habits?”

“Well, at around 12:15 in the day, I always have a cup of herbal tea; it helps to keep me refreshed. I always open my clinic and close it at the same time I’ve always done, and go to bed the same time I’ve always done.”

“Oh, I know what that’s like,” mused Fluttershy. “Angel gets rather cross if I don’t do everything I should do every day. Like feed him, for example…”

Twilight reflected on what was said. So Colgate went to the clinic and never left for the whole of the day. So if anypony would try and slip something to make her sleep, it would have to be at the clinic…

“You went straight home. You didn’t talk with anypony on the way?”

“Nopony,” said Colgate.

Twilight made a small smile. Rarity turned to her. “Um, Twilight, darling, are you alright?”

“Just a thought,” Twilight said. “Let’s go. I think I know the first go-to place for sleeping stuff.”

“But we can’t leave Stick-Up and Colgate all alone…what if he gets put away by mistake?” Fluttershy said.

“Relax,” Twilight said. “If he’s looking for evidence against Stick-Up, he’s going to be kept busy looking for what probably doesn’t exist. Besides, I’ll be here to keep him straight.”

Twilight turned to Rarity and Fluttershy. “Listen, there’s something I need you two to do for me.”

“Anything, darling,” Rarity nodded.

“Of course,” Fluttershy agreed.

“I’m sticking around to look for clues. If I’m right, and this crime wasn’t planned out in as much detail as the culprit would have liked, then I think we may get somewhere. While I’m doing that, I want you to go to…”

-

Rarity and Fluttershy walked away from Colgate’s house, towards wherever Twilight had planned for them to go. It was when they were about in the centre of town that they bumped into Minty Fresh. “Minty!” called Rarity.

“Oh, hello,” Minty said, politely. She looked rather frazzled; her mane was untidy and she looked like she could do with a wash.

“Did you hear about the burglary?”

“By word of mouth,” Minty replied. “It’s a small town, after all. News travels quickly. It’s…awful, I know. I can’t think of a reason for poor Colgate to be the one to get burgled. Can you?”

“I’m afraid not, but apparently the gentlecolts from Canterlot don’t seem to need one,” Rarity said snidely.

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes, I’m afraid it’s the same team, darling.”

“Oh,” Minty looked rather nervous. “Well, I hope that they don’t mess this one up too badly this time…”

“Oh, they won’t,” Rarity said firmly. “Not if we can help it. Oh, look at me ramble on, there’s something else we needed to do. See you, Minty!”

Before Fluttershy made to follow after her, she said, “Minty, maybe you should go see Colgate. She could do with a good friend right now.”

Minty looked guilty. “Yeah, I probably should. See you around.” She then started trotting towards Colgate’s house.

-

Twilight was at her wit’s end with Officer Clue. He was turning over every nook and cranny hoping to find something; a hoofprint, some hair, anything, but was having no luck. Annoyed by his lack of progress, Twilight decided that she should probably discreetly look around before somepony saw her and kicked her off the crime scene. Satisfied that her initial investigation of the front yard had nothing except a pathway, a lawn and a bowl of water for the dog, she decided to get a little more proactive.

Twilight quietly made her way into the living room, and saw that the window had apparently been opened. The room was a mess. Everything had been upturned, and just about every drawer had been opened. Twilight scanned the room. Among the clutter, she couldn’t see anything remotely valuable, just as Colgate said. Apart from that, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual, save for the mess. Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something long and thin in between the very small gap in the window pane and the house. Twilight gently lifted it from the gap with magic, conjured up a small plastic bag, and put it inside. Upon closer inspection, it looked like some sort of hair.

Twilight then thought back to the security crystals. More specifically, how they could have been disarmed. The more she thought about it, the more her original theory began to make sense…but before she could complete her thoughts, she saw Minty Fresh walk up the pathway through the window. Deciding she had probably make herself scarce before Officer Clue spotted her, she made her way outside.

“Hey, Minty. I guess you heard?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, you know how news travels,” Minty said. “I bumped into Rarity and a friend of hers. She said I should be there for Colgate.”

“Agreed,” said Twilight. “She does need some support right now…”

“And what have we HERE?” said a familiar smug voice. Oh Sweet Celestia, Twilight thought.

Sure enough, it was Officer Clue, and she was eyeing Minty with great suspicion.

“This is Minty,” Twilight said. “She’s a friend of Colgate.”

“Hmm…” said Clue. “Tell me, what were you doing at 1:30 last night?”

“Wha…what’s that got to do with…?” Minty gasped.

“Apparently that’s when the burglary happened,” Twilight explained.

“I was at DJ Pon3’s Night Club from 10 ‘til 5!” exclaimed Minty. “Have you even got ANYTHING connecting me to this place?”

“Well, not yet, but…”

“Well, don’t go labelling everypony you see as a suspect then!”

“Yeah!” shouted Stick-Up, somewhere in the distance.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s just him,” Twilight remarked. Although that was like saying “at least Cutie Pox isn’t the only disease”. She sighed. “I hope Fluttershy and Rarity find out what I’m looking for…”

-

Soon, Rarity and Fluttershy found themselves outside Nurse Redheart’s Medicine Emporium, just next to Ponyville General Hospital. Everypony knew that apart from Zecora, this was the place to go for potions (it was grounds for being the NUMBER ONE spot, since it was the only one in Ponyville). Eager to find out what Twilight thought, Rarity and Fluttershy went inside.

Inside, Nurse Redheart greeted them. “Hi, welcome to the Medicine Emporium…oh, hello Rarity! Hello, Fluttershy!”

“Nurse Redheart,” Rarity responded. “Good to see you. I was wondering if you could help us with something…”

“Fire away. I’d be glad to help.”

“Do you have a record of everypony who visited here yesterday looking for sleeping medicine?”

“Um, yes. What for?”

“The Investigative Team from Canterlot wants to know. It’s for the investigation.” Ours, Rarity thought to herself.

“But Rarity,” Fluttershy pointed out. “The medicine could have been bought earlier than yesterday, such as last week or…” Then she stopped. “But um…if Twilight thinks so…”

“Good point,” Rarity conceded. “But Twilight seems fairly confident that the crime was not very long in the works. For now, let’s trust her and see where this leads.”

“Um…” Nurse Redheart said. “Yes, one pony came in looking for a good strong potion. Red Pegasus pony with a white mane. Just her, looking for a good insomnia cure.”

“Which potion did she get?” Fluttershy asked.

“She browsed around for a bit, and then decided on this one.” Nurse Redheart pointed to a small bottle with a brown liquid inside. Rarity read the label.

“Please allow for about 9 hours for effects to take place (3 for other animals). Take once during day for best effects. Keep out of reach of fillies. Sethisto is best pony.”

“Interesting…a potion like this one, Colgate could take it at 9 in the evening, but not feel its effects until 6 next morning…” Rarity muttered to herself.

“I don’t see why you’d make a potion like this, though,” Fluttershy remarked. “I’d prefer taking something like this before going to bed.”

“Well, some ponies prefer taking their medicine during the day, in accordance to their lifestyle,” Redheart explained. “That’s why we have delayed-effects medicine like this one…”

“Hmm,” Rarity said to herself. The she said, “Well, darling, I think we’ve uncovered what Twilight wanted us to find out. We should be getting back.”

-

“…and that’s what happened,” Rarity concluded, after she and Fluttershy explained everything to Twilight.

“So, Nurse Redheart said a red pony with a white mane bought a sleeping potion that doesn’t kick in for 9 hours?”

Twilight frowned. 9 o’clock is precisely when Nurse Redheart usually goes to bed. It’s also when she fell asleep. That smashed clock read 1:30, so…

Then Twilight smiled. “Oh. Now I see.”

“What?” asked Fluttershy.

“I think I might have an answer, but I need to know something first.”

“You have?”

“Come on. Let’s go before Clue messes it up again.”

-

“Oh, Twilight,” said Colgate. “You’re back so soon?”

“Hey. There’s just something I need to know. At 12:00, the night before the crime, was there anything unusual that happened?”

“I…don’t think so,” Colgate said slowly. “All that happened was a green pony came to see me while I was just finishing with another patient, some red pony with a white mane, called Smiles. I said I had to talk with her, and Smiles just said that she would see herself out. Thoughtful of her.”

Twilight processed what she just said. Then, she slammed her hoof down. That’s it. That was the chance to…

“Got it. I know who the culprit is.”

Just then, before Twilight could go any further, she was interrupted by a frustrated cry. Twilight turned, and saw the voice belonged to Officer Clue.

“How. Is. This. Possible?” he was seething. “NOTHING points towards Stick-Up as the culprit! But if it’s not him…”

“I think I can help,” Twilight said, as coolly as she could muster, given how she had pretty much had it with him at this point. “Could you get everypony here, and I’ll tell you all EXACTLY what happened.”

-

“Twilight,” said Officer Clue crossly, “are you saying you found out how Stick-Up managed to burgle Colgate’s house without leaving anything behind? Get real!”

“No, idiot,” Twilight said. “YOU assumed Stick-Up was the culprit and so went to look for evidence pointing to him. Whereas I got started on the how rather than the who. And that, everypony, is how I managed to find the truth.

“I couldn’t shake it. There was seemingly no reason for Stick-Up to rob that house. He had only been in Ponyville once today, so he couldn’t have known which house would be the best one to rob. Assuming he was out to steal anything at all. Even if he did, this definitely wasn’t the best house to pick.

“When I saw Colgate’s house, I noticed that there were several cans of dog food strewn around among the garbage. Raccoons, according to Fluttershy. Do you think that a total stranger out to rob her house would ignore the fact that she had a dog?”

“W-well, no, I guess not…” Clue pawed at the ground in embarrassment.

“Not just that. The defence was pretty airtight, no matter how you cut it. The dog would have woken Colgate up, barking like that, especially given she’s usually a light sleeper. She wouldn’t have just ignored it as a nuisance, considering she had several security crystals all over her house.

“The dog alone is enough to warrant second thought,” continued Twilight, “but you can get a lot of info based on the security crystals themselves. They work by setting up magic lines, invisible to all but their users, around the house and they shine if one of their flow lines is interrupted. It is possible to move the crystals, but you’d have to know where they were being kept and where the lines are first. A stranger coming to the house for the first time wouldn’t know this.”

“So,” Colgate surmised, “that means Stick-Up was either totally innocent, or not a stranger to this place at all.”

“Exactly what I thought,” said Twilight. “The fact that the burglary still happened regardless tells us something vitally important. The culprit must have taken Colgate’s security system and dog into account. Stick-Up and Colgate aren’t related to each other and no nothing about each other; both said that much. Stick-Up could have planned for the dog, but not the security system. So the only possibility left is that the culprit is somepony who knows her, and quite well.”

Twilight turned to Minty Fresh. “Well, Minty?”

Minty could only stare at Twilight. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not good at it, unfortunately,” said Twilight. “Minty Fresh, the culprit is you.”

Twilight turned to address the others. “This is what I think happened.

“First, Minty went to Nurse Redheart looking for a good sleeping potion, claiming to have insomnia. You made sure to get the special kind that was to be taken during the day, something that was anything but instantaneous. You went around to Colgate’s house, flew over to where the dog’s water bowl was, and poured some of the potion into the bowl. She then met up at Colgate’s clinic at 12:30 in disguise, dying her mane and coat, taking the opportunity to slip the potion into Colgate’s tea while she was off talking with another patient.”

Twilight turned to Rarity. “Rarity, I remember you said that Minty came into the Carousel Boutique yesterday looking to buy 2 sets of hair and mane dye, yes?” Rarity nodded. “What colour was she planning to dye herself?”

“Um, it was a red coat with a white mane…Ah!”

“Exactly. The same type of pony that visited Colgate’s clinic at 12:30. The dye job was done at 12:00. It apparently takes about half an hour to fully set in, so by the time you went to Colgate’s clinic, it should have completely covered you up.”

“I just wanted to try a new look!” protested Minty. “It’s got nothing to do with anything!”

“Once the potion began to kick in at 9:00,” Twilight continued, “you knew that would be Colgate’s bedtime. As her friend, you knew her habits. The potion ensured Colgate was out like a light, and thanks to the potion being squirted in the dog’s outside water bowl beforehand, he was fast asleep too. You also knew where the security crystals were as well as their line of sight; you knew Colgate always used the same security settings as a filly, her being a mare of habit to a fault. Once you were sure she’d be asleep, you broke in and burgled the place.

“You set the clock in her living room forward to 1:30, and then smashed it, so that somepony would find it and assume that was when the burglar came to rob Colgate’s house. After that, all you had to do was use the other set of dye to restore you to your original colour, and then be at DJ Pon3’s late night club from 10 until 5 in the morning and you’d have your alibi.”

“But Minty could just as easily have robbed the house during the day,” Rarity pointed out. “Colgate was at the clinic all day, after all.”

“She WAS probably planning on robbing it in the day, but she saw the dog food cans and thought that maybe Colgate had recently gotten a dog. So she had to adjust her plan not just for the security gems, but for her new dog too. Remember, Rarity, those cans weren’t outside her house until yesterday.”

“T-that’s…” Minty stammered. “Ridiculous! Where’s your proof it was me?”

“As for proof…” Twilight said, “It’s this.” Twilight then showed everypony the hair that she recovered from the windowsill. “When you climbed through the window, your tail briefly got stuck between the gap. You pulled it free, but one of your hairs got yanked out in the process. If this tail hair is examined, and it’s yours…that’ll be all we need.”

“Minty…” Colgate said quietly.

Minty hung her head. “I was scared…” she confessed. “Two days before, Colgate picked up an illegally exported diamond by mistake, when we left that café. My diamond. I had to get it back. I’d be ruined if she found it and it was traced back to me…

I saw the dog food cans and thought about how Colgate had a dog and never told me. I was sunk…but then I thought of a way to get it back by getting her to ignore the dog…it was the plan, exactly as you guessed.”

“You turned the whole place upside down trying to find it,” Twilight said. “Problem was you couldn’t put it all back neatly, so to make the crime look indiscriminate, you had to make off with several more of Colgate’s valuables.”

“Right…” Minty wailed. “I destroyed them, so that they wouldn’t be found and traced back…I freaked when I bumped into Rarity…it was just pure luck that she didn’t mention the colour dye I got…I was…so stupid…so stupid…”

“I’ll say,” said Rarity. “Darling, even if you did add potion to the water bowl, there was no guarantee the dog would drink from it, unlike Colgate’s tea. It was just a desperate gamble…”

Minty’s cries of despair were the only things that answered in reply.

-

Stick-Up was let off with no charges made, with Officer Clue having to make frantic apologies after Stick-Up claimed he would sue. Twilight saw Minty being led into a carriage, before re-joining Rarity and Fluttershy.

“My goodness, I never realised that Minty had an agenda in mind when she asked me for a hair and coat job.” Rarity grimaced. “I should have known. Anypony who deliberately sets out to make herself as unfabulous as possible cannot be a decent pony.”

“It’s so sad,” Fluttershy said quietly. “And it was all so easy – Minty knew Colgate inside and out. Her habits allowed her house to be robbed.”

She then turned to Twilight. Twilight looked back. “What?” she asked.

“Um…well…I was just thinking how you’re a mare of habit yourself…and…”

Twilight was taken aback. “Wait, what? Are you suggesting…?”

“Oh, no! Not like that,” Fluttershy panicked. “I’m sure nopony - WE would ever…”

“I could have been burgled while I was gone! Spike can’t take on a fully grown pony by himself!”

“Twilight, I’m sure it’s fine…”

“Oh gosh, I have to make changes to my security crystals. In secret. Double them. No, TRIPLE them!”

“And there goes Twilight’s rampant paranoia,” Rarity sighed. Twilight was always the sort to worry too much.

“It’s not paranoia if it’s true! Sorry, girls, gotta get going! See you!” And with that, Twilight teleported away, back to the Golden Oaks Library, leaving Rarity and Fluttershy to stare of in bewilderment into the distance.

Author's Note:

And that's why Public Service Announcements recommend a different password for everything.