The Case of the Missing Mare

by MrPandaa

'Tis simply elementary, my dear reader

Back in the theater, I examine the evidence I've accumulated. My memory of my clumsy assailant, long gone by now, the two notes, and the conversation between the two missing ponies that I recorded without telling you. Not the best pile of evidence in the world, but I've solved cases on less. On a whim, I ran to the green room and gathered a sizable portion of the items that the first missing mare left.

Now to examine each bit of evidence individually. First, the clumsy assailant. He wore plainclothes, but there was something off about them...what was it? Drawing upon my hyperthymesiac* memory and focusing intently, I slowly bring myself to relive the event.

A kidney shot and a hoof to the injured leg later, I snap back into the present. I know what was off with his clothes. Just to be sure, I focus once more, creating a three-dimensional model of the fallen stallion in my head. Yep, just as I thought. As I turn the model in my head, his clothes shimmer and shine in the same way they did when I took him down. It seems as if they were created using some sort of special thread...well, I'll file that clue away for later.

On to the hoofprint. I grab the piece of paper and a few jars of chemicals and herbs from their resting places around me. First things first, I pick up the paper, lift it to my nose, and sniff cautiously. Yeah, I know I should have wafted first, but in all my years of solving cases, I have never come across a bad guy stupid enough to allow wafting to actually make a difference. But I digress.

The ink has a very distinct smell, one that does not match any popular printing press that I know of (and believe me, I've sniffed every newspaper or book I could find in Manehatten since I got here, so I know what the popular printing presses' ink smells like). I pick up the other sheet and sniff it, too. They smell the same. Good, I'm only searching for one ink source. I file that information away and grab the chemicals.

A small drop of a green, sickly-sweet mixture stains the corner a pale pink. Ah, interesting. They printed these right before they placed them. I crush a few leaves and rub them on the hoofprint itself, faintly discoloring it. Oh, now that's interesting. The ink press was dry despite the high humidity...I store these clues away and move on to my third item of evidence—the conversation.

These ponies had stumbled upon the scene of a disappearance, and feared for their lives, not from “Miss Rarity,” nor from their boss, but from an unknown and ambiguous figure, who was probably above their boss. Obviously, he did find out, and quickly.

I move on to the last bit of evidence, what was left behind. From what I had quickly gathered, I had a dress, an empty spool, and a length of green material. After perusing over the three items quickly, I realized several things. First, the spool had a glittering dust on it's empty coil; second, the dress shimmered with the same ethereal quality as my previous assailant's plainclothes; and third, the length of green material had a little mistake stitched into it, a mistake of a rainbow nature.

I felt my mind take off and extrapolate from the evidence, and I let it gladly. Soon, I knew what had happened and where the missing mare, and her two co-workers, would be.

Author's Note:

I was quite happy with this when I finished it. Locke's "powers," for lack of a better word, are unique and make sense, while not being too overpowered for him to have weaknesses. However, I imagine that with the constant switching from first present to third past, I probably done goofed somewhere. Edits will be happening!
Also, the chapter title is probably a fairly obvious pop culture reference. First person to comment about it gets a happy Pinkie Pie.