• Published 24th Jun 2022
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A Study in Silver: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse - SigmasonicX



Detective Rarity is presented with an unusual missing persons case—by Diamond Tiara of all people. And it only gets stranger from there...

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2. A Study in Silver (SigmasonicX)

Author's Note:

As a twist to this Exquisite Corpse, I decided that rather than sending the second writer the first chapter, I'd outline the first chapter, write the second chapter, and send the second writer the second chapter.

My intention was to then write out the first chapter, but I realized that I'd be influenced by the later chapters no matter what I wrote. Plus, I realized there were some important details in the first chapter outline that I neglected to mention in this second chapter, so it felt like a gotcha for the later writers.

In any case, the story works well enough if you start from chapter 2, but here's the outline for chapter 1 (link).

Detective Rarity stepped out of her car. Before her was a large single-story facility that handled crime scene chemical analysis for the police. Or rather, she was looking at the back entrance; she wouldn’t be welcome at the front.

“Stay in the car, princess. I have an inside woman who’ll take a look at our evidence, but she’s shy around strangers.”

However, the affluent scion was having none of it. Diamond Tiara stepped onto the pavement in a huff and said, “I most certainly will not! I paid you extra to let me come along, and besides, I’d die if a delivery person saw me alone in your junky car.”

Rarity put a lot of effort in making her car luxurious, but she supposed for the Riches, brand mattered more than effort—which only served to remind her of how odd it was that Diamond Tiara came to her of all people for this case. She sighed theatrically. “Fine, fine. Come along, but you’ll have to let me do the explaining.”

They stepped up to an unmarked door. “It looks like you need a card key,” Diamond said.

“Or a special knock,” Rarity replied with a smirk. She knocked a few times slowly, then tapped rapidly. “Thread by thread, stitching it together,” she sang softly.

After a few moments, the door lock disengaged and it opened slowly by itself. Rarity winked at the girl and they both stepped in.

Rarity slipped off her coat and placed it on a convenient hanger. “Zecora! Yoohoo! I hope it isn’t too much trouble, but I’ve got something for you to look at.”

To Rarity’s shock, a new face peeked around the corner. At the very least, Rarity doubted she could have forgotten such a pretty woman, especially with her purple striped hair.

“Ah, so you must be Rarity! Sorry for surprising you, but Zecora’s out for a conference. I’m her assistant, Twilight Sparkle. But don’t worry, she let me know about the deal you two have, and I’m happy to assist in any way she would have.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “Did she, now?” Zecora was a convenient friend on the inside precisely because she worked alone and didn’t tend to gossip. She supposed it had been several months since she last came here, but would Zecora really take on an assistant? Especially one she apparently trusted enough to spill all the beans to.

The detective quickly examined the woman as she stepped forward for a handshake. She had her hair in a long ponytail, which Rarity noted was currently somewhat messy but still seemed silky and well cared for. Thick-rimmed glasses framed bright purple eyes, and she wore an open lab coat over a sensible blouse and a long skirt. For what it was worth, she seemed legitimately excited and even nervous about meeting Rarity. She held out a hand covered in a thick glove, which she seemingly just noticed and pulled off.

Perhaps it would be best to feel her out a bit. Rarity took her hand. “It’s quite a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sparkle. My, if I knew Zecora had such a charming assistant like you, I would have visited sooner.”

Twilight blushed lightly as her eyes darted around. “Oh! Wow, uh, thank you. You’re quite charming yourself, and I’d want to visit you—I mean, in the scenario that we already knew each other and I hadn’t seen you in a while.”

Rarity hummed. Was she legitimately flustered, or was this an act?

Before she could continue Diamond stepped in between them. “Alright, knock it off with the flirting!” She pointed at Twilight. “You! You can analyze things for us, right?”

Twilight blinked, clearly not having noticed the girl until now. “Of course, that’s what I’m here for. So, Ms. Rarity, what do you have for me?”

Rarity supposed that for now, it’d be best to see how good Twilight was at her job. “My young client here, Diamond Tiara, has two missing person cases for me: her mother, Spoiled Rich, and her friend, Silver Spoon.”

Twilight whistled. “That’s pretty big. I’m surprised I haven’t heard about it from everyone else.”

Diamond stepped forward threateningly. “And you’ll keep it that way, if you know what’s good for you!”

Rarity placed a hand on her head. “Calm down, princess.”

She puffed up her cheeks and shook away. “Don’t touch my hair.”

Rarity sighed and pulled a baggy from the coat hanger, which itself was filled with individually bagged spoons. “There was a kerfuffle of some kind in the Rich manor’s kitchen and these spoons were found there. They’re coated in some kind of dirt that doesn’t match any I’ve seen in the house or in their yard. Would you be a dear and identify the dirt, plus any prints you can find?”

“And be careful,” Diamond added. “Those spoons are my friend’s, and they’re worth more than this entire lab.”

Twilight took the bag eagerly. “Of course! I’ve actually been waiting to try my dirt identification algorithm!”

Diamond raised an eyebrow. “Are you being sarcastic, or…?”

Twilight shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t get sarcastic when it comes to science. But among my friends, I am known as the snarky one,” she said as she pushed up her glasses.

As Twilight leapt back into her side room, Diamond loudly said under her breath, “Yeah, I don’t think she has friends.”


Before the coffee machine even had time to finish, Twilight excitedly came up to Rarity. “I got the results back!”

Diamond looked up from her phone that she childishly fiddled with. Not like the ladylike way Rarity was fiddling with her phone. The detective quickly stashed hers away. “That’s remarkable! So, what do you have?”

Twilight directed them to her monitor. “This dirt has actually come up in a previous case—nothing relevant to this one, I think—and it’s commonly used in landscaping from a company called Honest Apple Co. I have up here a list of their recent clients—don’t ask how I got it. Any of them look familiar?”

Rarity scanned through the list. A lot of high end clients, but notably not the Riches. However, there was one that stood out to her. “There. Just the other day, they did landscaping for the Silver family.”

Diamond Tiara sighed loudly upon hearing this. “Really? That’s our lead? We were already looking into the Silvers! We didn’t learn anything new!”

Rarity hummed. She wasn’t so sure about that. Honest Apple Co…. she heard the Flim Flam Bros. were tied to it. And if both the spoons and the dirt came from the Silvers, then they must be involved in some way. “In any case, princess, that’s all the more reason to go check the Silvers out. I’m quite curious how they’re taking the disappearance of their daughter. Plus, unless they’re real wizzes, that landscaping company should still be there.”

Twilight jumped up. “Ooh! Can I come with?”

Rarity raised her eyebrow. “You want to come with us?”

Twilight was already loading a backpack with gear. “I always wanted to be out on the field, solving a case. And it’s a slow day anyway.”

Rarity rubbed her chin. She supposed it wouldn’t be any worse than bringing a kid along, and this would allow her to keep a closer eye on this suspicious woman.

Diamond Tiara huffed. “Absolutely not! You’ll just distract the detective again!”

Spite was certainly a worthwhile reason too. “Well that settles it! Welcome to the team, Ms. Sparkle.” Rarity took some delight in Diamond’s grumbling, but decided to throw her a bone. “It’ll be useful to have someone skilled in chemical analysis along.” This downgraded Diamond’s face from a puff to a mere frown, which was progress in Rarity’s book.

The three of them stepped to Rarity’s car and the detective pondered all the mysteries presented before her. Should she be writing all this down?

Nah, she thought. She’d definitely remember all this without issue.