• Published 20th Jul 2023
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Where is Carmen Sandiego? - CrackedInkWell

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Chapter 1: Old Game, New Rules

“But why?” Smolder whined, “Do you know how many times we saved Equestria’s butt this past year?”

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. Before her were six of her most diverse students. Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, Gallus, Smolder, and Silverstream stood behind the desk with disbelief on their faces. The news of what Twilight had to give is… difficult. “On the contrary,” she replied, “I’m very much aware of what you six have done, and I’m thankful for it.”

Gallus raised an eyebrow, “But?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not so simple.” Twilight glanced down at their grades, “Being a school if any of you are expected to pass with the semester means that you need to have achieve a certain minimum grade. As it stands, all of you have been slipping this semester, especially in Geography, History, and Cultural studies.” She looked up from her papers. “Not to say that this has come about from laziness, because that would be unfair to all of you. I know for a fact that certain circumstances have prevented that given this past year. While the rest of your grades in other classes are good, it’s these that have given me concern.”

“But isn’t there anything we can do?” Ocellus asked, a pleading look in her eye. “I don’t want to leave school failing.”

“Nor do I,” Sandbar agreed. “Look, you know what has been going on, so is there something we could take that could catch up?”

“Well,” Twilight hummed, “there might be a way. In the form of summer classes, you all could take.”

“Ugh?” Gallus frowned, “We’ll have to go to summer school?”

“But I don’t think it would be for long. After all, you were just a few points away from a passing grade, and it’s only in those three areas. Plus, it should only take about a few weeks, only until you can pass the final exam.”

“Pony can’t keep us here,” Yona protested, “Yona still wishes to return to Yakyakistan.”

“I understand, but I’ve already notified all of your parents and guardians about this, and they all agreed that you still need to finish your education.”

“So, we’re gonna spend the next who-knows-how-long just studying?” Silverstream questioned. “Besides, how do you know if what we’ll be reading or listening will stick? I could barely keep my eyes open from all that reading from the other classes.”

“Hate to say this, but Silver’s got a point,” Sandbar said, “It wasn’t from the lack of trying, but when it came down to it, I could barely remember what exactly we’ve learned.”

Twilight sat back in her seat, thinking, humming. “Nevertheless, all of you still need to make up your grades somehow. Perhaps…” She went quiet for a long time.

Yona tilted her head, “Headmare?”

Twilight sat up, “I suppose…” she said, “there might be a different approach, but I’m going to need some help from a certain someone.”

The six students looked at one another. “So, you have an idea?” Smolder asked.

“It’s more of an experiment than anything since nothing like it has been done before (at least in this universe).”

“What was that?”

Getting up from her seat, Twilight told them, “I think I might be able to make your summer classes a little more interesting. What if instead of studying in the traditional sense, you all instead play a game? But one that is so new to Equestria that it hasn’t been tested.”

“A game?” Silverstream smiled, “Oh I like games! What is it?”

“Hang on there, before anything happens, I would have to run some errands first. So how about this? Tomorrow at ten, all of you to the library where I’ll set up the game for you. Hopefully not only will it improve your grades, but you might have fun with it.”


In an attic, in another universe, a trapdoor opens.

“Truth be told, I don’t if it still works.” Sunset Shimmer told Twilight as she climbed up the ladder. “Why do you need this old thing anyway?”

“Because I don’t want my students to fall behind,” Twilight entered the attic, just when a single lightbulb illuminates the musty space. “And I remember how that game has taught me a lot about the human world so… maybe I could use it to… what’s the word… reprogram it?”

“But Carmen Sandiego?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “And how exactly are you going to reprogram a game made years ago? Last time I checked, you nearly broke a few computers the last time you were here.”

“I know enough how to start it up and navigate. It’s not that hard. But one of the reasons why I need your older one is because it’s the only model the game will be able to play on. I can engineer an engine to run electricity to power it, but I just need to bring it to Equestria temporarily.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. How are you – oh, there it is.” Sunset spotted the sheet that covered what she was looking for. A layer of ten or so years of dust tumbled into the air as she revealed the boxy PC and monitor. Beside them, a black keyboard with a mouse lay on top of an ancient mousepad.

“Hopefully it should still boot up, but I haven’t used it since I switched over to using a laptop. At least with the Carmen game, you don’t need to be hooked up to the internet.” Sunset turned to Twilight, “Still, how are you going to reprogram an old PC game? Even I don’t know how to do that stuff.”

“I might have a way. Possibly risky, but in theory it could work.”

Sunset frowned, “Okay for all future references, Twilight, anything risky should be run by me first.”

“Now where do you keep the game?”

“Being avoidant, aren’t we?” Sunset goes over to open a box. “Just promise me that whatever you’re going to do won’t leak in this world. We’ve already got enough of those anyway.”

“I promise it won’t. Even if something goes wrong, I have a plan.”

Sunset’s suspicion remained as she flipped over the cases of old games that she had forgotten about until she “Found it.” She picked it up. A thin case that had the familiar thief in a red trench coat and hat, holding a rope ladder in one hand and an ancient Egyptian necklace in the other. And above it was the title: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

After being handed over, Twilight opened the case to inspect the disk inside. “Hm… Okay, no scratches. That’s good. So, when was the last time you played this?”

“Honestly? I don’t remember. I think I played it a couple of times and was confused by some of the clues. And it can get a little tricky as, if I remember right, Carmen was known for playing a lot of word games.”

“But that’s what made it so engaging. What made me learn more about this world was that you must figure out the clues to get to the next level. I’m sure that if I had this game asking about clues of geography, history, or culture from our world, it would be a huge benefit to my students.”

“If you’re gonna do that, I’d suggest you be careful.” Sunset pointed out, “From my experience, weird things happen when you combine human tech with Equestrian magic.”


In front of him, a dusty CD case was held in the light of a sparkling lampshade of a chair. It shone on the desk like a spotlight on a stage, and Discord was intrigued. “I suppose I could. And I can see why…” Discord stroked his chin, glancing over to Twilight on the other side of the desk. “But then again… what are you trying to gain from this easy fix?” He leaned forward, showing the black suit he had on with a red flower in its pocket. “You come to me on the eve of my dear Fluttershy’s bunny’s wedding for this favor? Even coming from you, this is quite strange.”

“Do you think you can do it?” Twilight asked.

An amused laugh escaped him, “It’s not a matter of doing it – that’s easy. I could rewrite how this thing works in an instant. Shape it in any way you desire like fresh-cut glass. If I were anyone else who was approached with this offer, I’d say that this is suspiciously out of character – even for you. But then again… who am I to judge. Yes, I can change it to how you want it to be, but… why not you do it? After all, you’re little-miss-know-everything. Why don’t you do this?”

Twilight shifted in her seat. “For a very simple reason – because I don’t know how. If I knew a spell that makes you rewrite a game with technology many years advanced from Equestria’s – I wouldn’t have asked you. Without you, trying to get to do what I’m asking would probably take years at best to try to reverse engineer something like this. But out of everyone, you can easily do it because your magic is interdimensional. What could take years for me, you could do with a snap.”

“And you’re doing this for…?”

“My students. The last thing I want is to have this summer school be so dry and boring but something that they would be excited to do – wanting to do. This is why I look to this game because it did make learning fun, and engaging, like trying to solve a mystery through knowledge to move forward. I want that same experience for them but – and this is important – for them to learn from our world.”

“I see… And what exactly would I get out of it?”

“Sorry?”

Discord floated over the desk. “For me, having your Summer School students play a game from a different dimension is a bit run of the mill. Have it be edited to educate your students – predictable. But if I’m going to do this, the artist in me wants to have my take on it.”

Twilight frowned, “I’m not going to have you make a different game entirely.”

“Oh, come now, Twilight, have a little faith in me! I’m not against this character here,” he pointed at the cover. “The idea of a cool thief with gadgets that can steal anything, and porously leaves clues because she loves the thrill of the chase. I’m all for it! But speaking as a member of your staff for your school, I also want them to learn too. If I’m going to be altering this game, I’m going to get them to learn in a way they can’t refuse.”

“I don’t want you to harm any of them.”

“And they won’t. But if I’m going to do it, then I needed to be allowed to add one thing to this game.”

And there it is…” Twilight muttered with a frustrated sigh, “What is it?”

“I want the character, Carmen,” he tapped on the plastic case, “to be able to communicate with whoever is playing. To have some stakes raised a bit so to get them to be motivated to not just play, but do their research.” He offered up his lion’s paw, “Do we have a deal?”

“As long as none of my students get hurt?” Twilight asked and Discord nodded. With a sigh, she shook it, “Deal.”

Taking hold of the game in his tail, Discord flicked it where a flash of light was seen for a moment, and like that, it was over. “Here you go,” he handed it back to her, “it was nice doing business with you.”

Suddenly, the broom closet door opened, filling the room with light. “Discord? Are you making deals in the closet again?” Fluttershy asked in an annoyed tone.

“What do you take me for, my Dear? A mob boss?” Discord in a hurt voice, “I thought we were friends.”

“Angel and his bride are about to have their dance; you should be there.”

“I’m coming,” Discord turned to Twilight with a smirk. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve added some improvements that I think even you would appreciate.”

Twilight took the game under her wing, a seed of doubt planted in whether this was a good idea at all. Whatever Discord had done to the game, she hoped, it wouldn’t be too serious.


On a warm morning when the sun had just risen above the mountains, six students made their way toward the school’s library. It was rather uncanny to see the School of Friendship be so… empty. Devoid from all life except for them as they passed by classroom after vacant classroom. While they were grateful that at least they didn’t have to spend so much time with summer school, there was a sense among all of them that they were being robbed.

Pushing through the library doors, they found Headmare Twilight there. On one table was an open pink box of doughnuts, some cups, and a jug of orange juice. On the other was a curious thing that caught their eye when they entered. A machine unlike any of them had seen before. Facing them was a creamy-white box that showed a picture of a gentle green hill with a cloud going by where one corner says “Windows XP.” Below the screen with a few buttons were two wires that were attached to three other things: Another box that had a slit near the top; a strange mouse-like device laying on a small mat; and a keyboard with words, numbers, and a long black rectangle.

“Good morning students,” Twilight greeted them. “Firstly, thank you all for coming to Summer School.”

Like we had a choice…” Smolder muttered under her breath.

“So firstly, I should point out that things are going to flow a little differently than how your past semesters have been. Firstly, I’m hoping that we could conclude this in a matter of weeks when you shall be given the test again. The class will take place between morning to noon. You will be provided with breakfast on behalf of Pinkie Pie. And all of you will be taught by something quite experimental.”

“You mean from that thing?” Silverstream pointed at the machine.

Twilight nodded, “That is correct. Before we start, I want you all to get acquainted with something that I bet we will see for another few decades. This is called a computer. It runs on electricity, and it will be the base of what could be a revolution in education. Yes, Gallus?” one of her students raised a claw.

“So… how do we use it?”

“I will explain in a minute. But before we get into that, feel free in grabbing a doughnut and I’ll show you what you’ll be expecting from this.” After each of her students picked out their pastry, Twilight held up the game. “For this class, you will be taught by a game.”

“So, a video game?” Sandbar asked before taking a bite of his maple bar.

“Kind of. But this isn’t like what you would find in an arcade. I’ve played this in the past and I found that while it does a good job at teaching you, it also has an engaging character and plot that makes it interesting.”

“What is it about?” Ocellus asked after drinking her cup of juice.

“In the game, you are a detective, and you are on the hunt for the greatest thief in the world – Carmen Sandiego. She can steal anything and is very intelligent. But what makes her interesting, is she leaves clues behind on purpose.”

“That's dumb, isn’t it?” Yona questioned, “Why thief leave clues?”

“Because she wants to see if there is anyone who could outsmart her. Now, the game for this is specially made to where it will challenge you what you will have to face for your final test. But I must warn you, the clues she leaves behind won’t be so easy to decipher. Just be aware that at times, she will play word games where certain words or phrases will mean something else. So, watch out for those. That said, you will have access to the library to help you out because some of the clues will be difficult.”

“So, in a nutshell,” Smolder said, “is that our summer class is where we play a mystery game that involves questions from our test, on a thing that none of us have seen before.”

“Pretty much,” Twilight nodded, “now let me show you how it works.

Twilight went on to explain how to use the computer. Of course, being both an older model and not connected to anything except a generator, all she had to do was how to move the cursor with the mouse, and how type on the keyboard. She explained that the game requires you to submit your answers to clues by pressing a button under the name “Enter.”

She showed them how to start the game, by moving the cursor towards an icon on the screen. An eye-catching little symbol of a red hat. Then, almost like magic, the monitor went dark except for a thin bar that said it was “Loading…” Whatever that meant. In a minute or two, the screen showed a menu that showed a two-legged creature with a long dark-red mane in a red trench coat, a wide-brim hat that hid her face, and a pair of black gloves that covered her strange talons. The creature stood on top of a building, looking out at a cityscape that looked something like Manehattan. On the left side were two bars that read as New Game or Continue.

“Once you start playing the game,” Twilight explained, “you will simply click right over here,” she hovered the curser over Continue. “But first, since you’re all just starting, you will click here on New Game where it would ask for a name that you want to be called.” After clicking on it and a box asking for a name, she turned to them, “So what do you want it to be?”

“Couldn’t you just put all our names in?” Sandbar asked.

“I don’t think so.” Twilight looked carefully at a bit of text below it, “And it must be under fifteen characters. Meaning that whatever you want to put into this, it has to be a single word.”

“Could we make something up?” Gallus rubbed under his chin, “Maybe… I’m hot, you’re not?”

“Yona no like,” Yona shook her head. “What about… Summer club?”

“Too generic,” Smolder disagreed. “If this is a mystery game, how about… Illuminators?”

“Ooh, I like that one!” Silverstream grinned. “Detective Illuminators is pretty catchy.”

“Any objections?” Twilight asked, and her student said they didn’t.

She typed in Illuminators into the computer and clicked on a button to start the game.

A moment later, the menu was replaced with a minute or so of animation. It first showed the creature in red in a circle with the words: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? And before anyone knew it, the creature began to move. The computer showed a montage of the creature they assume to be Carmen making daring escapes in many places all around the world. From stealing a bronze lion statue from a Neighponese temple on a helicopter to carting off a golden saprophagous in the shadows of the pyramids, and even moving an entire castle with blimps. And then, it cut to black.

Then it showed another animation, it showed a hot, scorched landscape of volcanos and desert.

“What the…?” Smolder tilted her head, “Hey, I know this place. This is home. Why is it showing the Badlands?”

Her question was answered when the screen zoomed in on the entrance of a cave. Suddenly, there was a burst of flame, and Carmen ran out of it with something wrapped under her arm.

Stop! Thiaf!” On the computer, to Smolder’s amazement, the animation showed a pixelated Dragon Lord Ember rushing out along with two other dragons. They watched as Carmen rushed out towards the edge of a cliff where she halted. A furious Ember held out her claws, “I don’t know who or what you are,” she told her, smoke huffing out from her nose. “But you better drop that before I burn you into a crip.

Who am I?” The lady in red tilted her hat up, she spoke in an elegant voice that was brimming with confidence. “The name’s Carmen Sandiego. And what I am… I’m about to become this new world’s queen of crime.” Before Ember could do anything, Carmen unexpectedly took a step back and off a cliff. She and the other dragons rushed over to see that Carmen had suddenly sprouted a glider from a backpack.

Don’t let her get away!” Ember leaped after her, and the two other dragons flew with her. They watched as they chased after Carmen who maneuvered this way and that. Making zigzags and unexpected turns where made it hard for the dragons to catch up.

“C’mon, you guys!” Smolder cheered, “I can flap those wings faster than you and I’m half your size!”

And yet, just when one of the dragons was just about to catch her, Carmen suddenly changed directions and they smack face-first into a pillar of basalt. It was only until Ember was left, trying her best to keep up with her.

I won that Scepter fair and square!” Ember shouted at her, “Now give it back! It’s mine!

You can try,” Carmen called back, the screen showed a close-up of her flicking a switch with her thumb, “But you’ll have to know where I’m going first! Sayonara!” And just like that, the glider suddenly sprang rockets, and before Ember could grab her, she zoomed off into the horizon.

Forcing to stop, Ember’s face went bright red and cursed up a storm.

The screen cut to black for a moment before it was replaced by an old typewriter that was branded “Type-o-graph” with a blank sheet of paper. Suddenly, the typewriter began to write on its own.

Carmen:

Ah, it’s good to be back again! I didn’t expect the world to be so vastly different, but then again, it makes it more challenging. Don’t you agree, Detectives?

The machine then typed out a single word and a blinking vertical line next to it.

Illuminators:

The students looked at one another, unsure what to do next.

“Oh! Here, let me show you how to do this next part.” Twilight said as her horn glowed and the keyboard typed out the message: What did you steal, Carmen? “Then when you finished writing your message, you press this button here.” She pointed at the Enter button and pressed it.

Within a moment, the game wrote back.

Carmen:

It wasn’t easy to steal something from a Dragon Lord, but this Bloodstone Scepter is worth the trouble, don’t you think, Detectives?

Gallus raised an eyebrow, “Hey teach, mind if I try this out?”

Twilight step aside and slowly, Gallus typed out a reply on the confused keyboard.

Illuminators:

What makes you think there’s more than one Detective?

Carmen:

What an easy riddle to ask! The word Illuminators is plural. It only stands to reason that there must be more than one of you. Although given who you're up against, you'll need all the help you can get.

Illuminators:

Why steal a scepter?

Carmen:

That’s only me to know, and you to find out.

“Twilight!” The students and their teacher turned to find Spike rushing into the library, a scroll in claw and panic on his face. “Twilight! This is an emergency!”

“What happened?” Twilight stepped away from the computer.

“Ember just sent a letter; she said that something just appeared out of nowhere and stole the Bloodstone Scepter!” Everyone’s eyes went wide. “She tried to stop the thief but somehow got away. But that’s not even the weird part! She described being a creature that she’s never seen before. All in red and goes by the name of-”

“Carmen Sandiego.” Smolder finished Spike’s explanation.

Spike blinked, “I… yeah, how did you know?”

The students turned to the computer, “Guys… did we just see a robbery happen in real time?”

Twilight went up to the computer and furiously typed out a message.

Illuminators:

Where are you going next, Carmen? What are you up to?

Carmen:

Ah-uh. Not so fast, Detectives. This is my game, and you will play it by my rules.

Illuminators:

Which are what exactly?

Carmen:

I will provide you with six clues, one at a time. You must figure out where I’m going, and what I’m going to steal next. If you could somehow stop me before I could arrive, I won’t steal it. Guess it wrong, and you’ll find out my answer the hard way. But I must warn you, Detectives, I won’t go easy on you, so be alert!

“Uh-oh…” Twilight ran a hoof through her mane.

“What’s wrong?” Yona asked.

“…. I realize how stupid I really am,” Twilight said. “I’ve made a serious miscalculation on my end. What is supposed to be a teaching tool for all of you, I’ve unintendedly made a character in a game real. Not only that, but I know what she’s capable of. She’s someone who can steal anything from small national treasures to entire monuments. And the worst part is I don’t know if I could shut it off.”

“Why not?” Sandbar asked.

“Think about it, if I turned off the game, we may never know what she’s done with that scepter.”

“Oh, crap…” Smolder realized in horror. “And if no one can get it back… My own kind might break out in a civil war!”

“So, what do we do?” Silverstream asked.

“Maybe the only thing we can do,” Ocellus went over to the computer. “I think… we should play along. After all, we have a whole library at our disposal. If we could figure out her clues, we could probably send a message to anyone of Carmen coming to steal it.”

“But it won’t be easy,” Twilight pointed out, “I remember playing a version of this game before, but this is taking on new stakes.”

“Then we have an advantage!” Ocellus smiled, “If you have an idea of what this Carmen can do, it could give us an idea of what she might be up to and how to stop her.”

“Yes, but it’s too early to tell… But if we’re to capture her quickly, I can’t do this alone.”

Gallus smirked, “You know, I wasn’t looking forward to Summer School when I woke up, but now this is getting exciting. Okay, I’m in.”

“Me too,” Smolder nodded.

“Yona will help.”

“Let’s kick some bad guy butt!” Sandbar smiled.

“I’ll help too!” Silverstream raised her claw.

“And so will I.” Ocellus approached the keyboard, “Thief or not, she’s not going to have a prayer when we work together. Okay Carmen,” she began typing, “Bring it on.”

Illuminators:

We will stop you. So go ahead, give us your first clue.

But as soon as Carmen typed back, Ocellus’s confidence waned when she laid eyes on the first clue.

Carmen:

To gain a new seat, is to have a change in view.

Let the games begin, Detectives!

Author's Note:

Now it's your turn reader!

To make this story more... interesting, I will release a brand new chapter as soon as I can - but I will do so if you can answer Carmen's clue. If anyone could answer it in the comments correctly, you will expect a new chapter soon. All you have to do, is look into the clue to answer two questions: Where is Carmen going? And what is she going to steal?

Good luck!

Carmen Clue #1
To gain a new seat, is to have a change in view.