Maintenance Costs

by FeinesFabi

Sugar, please

The night was already falling over Ponyville. Twilight was really getting nervous. Oh, I wish she’d told me what’s wrong! She was walking in circles around the table in the living room - waiting for hours for the announced visit of the princess. The lavender mare had never been good at waiting. Although she had checked her checklist numerous times, she checked it again. It wasn't a very long list. Ink, quills and paper for taking notes; A few books on various subjects; A traveling guide for Ponyville and some basic servings. As ‘a serious matter’ could mean anything, Twilight didn't know what to prepare for. So she choose most generic books. How am I supposed to prepare for something when I don’t know what it is? The answer was as simple as it was frustrating. She couldn't prepare herself at all. And that was something she hated. Now, calm down, Twilight, she told herself. The princess will tell you what to do once she arrives. So instead of taking another round around the table, she sat down in her favorite chair and randomly took the first book that her hooves could grab: The Advanced Guide on Inorganic Compounds by Vividian Ment-sedi? She raised her eyebrows. This wasn't one of the books she had gathered for the upcoming ‘serious matter’. But then she remembered that it was the book that Doctor Whooves had returned this morning. She’d left it on the table in a hurry instead of putting it back in it’s shelve, because she was already leaving for her shopping. As this book was as good as the next, she opened it and began reading.

She’d read about twenty pages when there finally was a knock on the door. Twilight put the book on the table and rushed to the door. At first she was wondering why Spike wasn't answering the door, but then she remembered that she had given him the rest of the day off. So he was most certainly sleeping in his bed. Twilight had him cleaning the whole library for the royal visit. She opened the door herself and was happy to see princess Celestia standing in front of it. Next to her was a young stallion. He was a white earth pony with a crazy fuzzy black mane.

“I’m sorry to come at this late hour, Twilight. But the journey took a bit longer than expected”, the princess explained. Her student smiled happily.

“That’s fine, Princess. Please come in.” Celestia and her companion entered the library. Twilight noticed that the walking of the stallion was kinda weird. He walked rather slow and carefully - a little shaky.

“This here is L. He will help us in the matter I’m about to discuss with you” the alicorn introduced the stallion. Twilight smiled.

“Good evening, - L?” Twilight asked. It was the shortest name she’d ever heard. L wasn't paying much attention to her. He took more interest in the library he just entered. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine”, L replied, not looking at her. The three fell silent for an awkward moment. Twilight took the initiative as the host.

“Please, have a seat in the living room. I’ve prepared some delicious morsels for us.” Celestia smiled with delight and followed her student to the table. They each helped themselves with some of the morsels. L was having a bit of trouble to grab the food, but he managed to hold it eventually. The princess finished her morsel with a sip of tea which her student had prepared for them as well.

“Delicious, Twilight.” L agreed, although Twilight was sure he wasn’t enjoying it too much. Celestia cleared her throat. “Now, shall we begin?” Both, Twilight and L nodded.

“Celestia, if you don’t mind, I’d like to brief Mrs. Sparkle myself”, L requested. Twilight was shocked by the fact, that L had called the princess by her first name. But she didn’t seem to mind.

“Please do”, she replied. L smiled and turned towards Twilight.

“This very morning, a dead earth stallion was found in the Ponyville hotel by a cleaning pony” he began. Twilight put one hoof in her mouth in shock. L continued: “The room was opened by said mare with her master key. All windows were locked. There was a kitchen knife in the back of the corpse. The carpet beneath the corpse was soaked in blood. There are no water stains on the carpet. No personal belongings of the deceased stallion were found in the room. His identity is yet unknown. He registered in the hotel the night before as Razor Blade without any ID. He paid for one night only. No one else was staying in the hotel. He had no visitors. No unusual noises were heard during the night. In fact, the concierge said it was awfully quiet. Do you have more sugar for the tea, please?” Twilight was taken aback.

“But - that’s horrible!”, she said looking at the princess. “So that’s why you were in the hotel this morning.” Celestia nodded. “But how...”

“Sugar, please!”, L interrupted pointing to his tea. Twilight gave him an angry look.

“How can you state these awful facts in such a cold way?”, she asked. “ Don’t you feel sorry for the deceased pony? Have you no piety?”

“Twilight, please be lenient with L”, the princess asked of her. “He is coming from a place very different from Equestria.”

“Thank you, Celestia”, L said. “But Mrs. Sparkle is right. I was being rude.” Twilight nodded. So he was someone who could admit his mistakes. “If you don’t mind, I’d like more sugar for my tea.” She smiled and brought a sugar bowl from the kitchen. L took five pieces and stirred his tea with the silver spoon. Twilight had never seen anypony taking this much sugar. After he took another sip, he smiled happily. “Much better. Now, Mrs. Sparkle. What do you think about these gruesome facts?” Twilight couldn’t help but feeling as though she was being tested by both - L and the princess. She thought about the facts for a moment.

“Well, it obviously looks like the poor pony was murdered” she replied carefully. Celestia nodded. L continued to stare at the young mare. In a strange way he had his right hoof in his closed mouth under his top lip. It appeared as though he was sucking on it. Twilight shook these observations aside and continued: “But I don’t understand why the culprit murdered his victim using a knife.” L raised one of his eyebrows. “If the murderer went through all the trouble to make it look like no one entered the room then why would he leave the knife in the corpse? I mean - it makes the whole scene screaming murder! He could have used some kind of poison and no pony would have suspected a crime.” The princess smiled happily. L seemed rather unimpressed. He took another sip of tea.

“Your conclusion?”, he asked. Twilight looked at the princess.

“It seems like he wants us to know about his crime. Although I don’t understand why. Does he want to be caught?” Celestia looked worried.

“I don’t know. It could have been a mistake. There hasn’t been a case of murder in hundreds of years. The culprit is most likely inexperienced.” Twilight didn’t seem to follow the reasoning of her teacher. “It is also possible that we’re dealing with an arrogant culprit who wants to challenge us.” L sighed.

“Celestia, what would you say is the most important fact that I stated?”

“The knife in the back of the corpse”, she replied immediately. L turned to Twilight.

“Do you agree, Mrs. Sparkle?” The purple mare felt uneasy by this question. Did he expect her to question her teacher? The mare that was closer than a sister to her? She stared at him, avoiding Celestia’s curious eyes.

“No.” It felt hard to say it, but Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder.

“It’s fine, Twilight. Just tell him what you think. I don’t mind you disagreeing.”

“I’m worried by the closed windows”, she told them. “All the other facts tell us that the victim went straight to bed after checking in. But no pony sleeps with closed windows during summer. The culprit most likely closed them to make it look like a classic murder in a locked room. But with the deliberately placed knife, it doesn’t make sense to me.” L chuckled.

“You’re both, right and wrong, Mrs. Sparkle”, he said. “Your reasoning abilities are quite impressive. The closed windows are the most important fact. The culprit closed them to mislead us in believing that he used magic to close and lock the door. He wants us to believe that he is a unicorn. I for one think we’re most likely dealing with a pegasus or an earth pony without any magical skills at all.”

“Are you sure?”, Twilight asked a little bit surprised by his skills. L tilted his head.

“It’s too early to be certain about that. But I’d say I’m about 12 percent sure about it.” Both mares stared at him in awe. “Nah, probably 9 percent.” Celestia smiled.

“Well, I see you two are working great together. Twilight, would you assist detective L to solve this case? I know it’s a lot to ask but I think you’re the smartest assistant I can offer him.” She turned to the young stallion. “That is, if you accept my student as your assistant.” L nodded.

“I would be very proud to have her as my assistant.” Twilight went a little red by the compliments.

“Yes, princess. I’d be honored to catch the culprit for you.” Celestia was clearly relieved by that.

“Thanks, my faithful student. I knew I could count on you.” She stood up heading for the door. “You two can start tomorrow morning. I have a room for L ready in Canterlot. We will call for you after sunrise.” L shook his head.

“Celestia, if you don’t mind I’d like to stay here in the library. This way, I’m closer to Twilight so that we can work more efficiently. Also, I’d like to read some of these books to get more into your world.” Twilight saw an unusual smirk on the princess’s face. More importantly, she was a little bit stressed by his request. She never had a stallion staying at hers before.

“Well, if Twilight doesn’t mind?”, the princess asked innocently. Twilight’s cheeks turned red again.

“No, of course not. I’ve got a spare room for guests.” Celestia nodded.

“Please be patient with him. And send me reports every other day.” Twilight assured to do so and saw the princess off. Leaving herself with a sleeping Spike and a crazy pony, who was already browsing her library.

The night was short and Twilight was woken by a loud scream which made her jump out of her bed. What in the name of Celestia? She rushed downstairs and was surprised by a hilarious scene. L was lying on the floor pointing in shock to Spike, who had armed himself with a broom sword and a bucket shield to defend the library castle against the insolent intruder. The genius detective kept mumbling “Dragon!” while the little baby dragon kept menacing him with his broom, not so kindly asking him to leave. Twilight tried to stop herself, but she burst out in laughter. The freaked out detective and the cute Spike were simply too much. Both stopped when they noticed the purple unicorn.

“Twilight, why are you laughing?”, Spike asked. “We have an intruder here!”

“There is a dragon in your library, Ms. Sparkle!”, L said. Twilight pulled herself together and stopped laughing.

“I’m sorry, boys”, she began. “Spike, this is no intruder. This is detective L. He’s a friend of the princess and will investigate a serious crime. I’ll be his assistant.” Spike lowered his sword and shield. Twilight turned to L. “And this brave and powerful dragon here is my number one assistant Spike.” She hugged her beloved friend from behind who was proud to be introduced this way. L stood up and took a closer look. He still seemed to be a little scared.

“Well, I’ve never met a dragon before. So, hello Spike. Sorry I scared you.” The baby dragon smiled and reached one claw out to him.

“Nah, that’s okay. I’m sorry I assaulted you.” L shook his claw. “But you’re glad Twilight saved you. I was about to burn you to ashes!”

“Don’t exaggerate, Spike”, Twilight teased him. “He’s still a baby dragon”, she explained to L who seemed even more impressed. Her stomach suddenly growled. Spike was on his way to the kitchen immediately.

“Breakfast for three, I guess?” he asked.

“Thanks, Spike. You’re the best.”

A few minutes later, Spike had a bowl of cereals and some orange juice ready for each of them. Before joining the breakfast table, Twilight noticed that L had taken quite a number of books out of the shelves. She found them piled on her desktop. Some of them lay opened with others above them, which made her wince. He also took a lot of notes. Obviously with her ink and paper. Please be patient with him, she remembered the princess’s words. So she swallowed her anger and took a closer look on the books he chose. Equestrian Anatomy, Sun and Moon - Rulers of Equestria, A Canterlot History, The Equestria Atlas, A Matter of Etiquette, Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That are Simply Super, The Advanced Guide on Inorganic Compounds. On top of the notes was a sketch of Ponyville. L had drawn multiple circles around the Ponyville hotel labeled with strange symbols. The other notes were full of facts, that he must have copied from the various books. He must have worked all night for that. Twilight was deeply impressed. She left the desk and head into the kitchen, joining the others.

They all ate in silence. The baby dragon still seemed to be a little nervous about the guest, Twilight was still a bit tired and L was concentrating on using the spoon with his hoof. It wasn’t very difficult, really. But it was unfamiliar. He ate his meal without complaining, but Spike noticed that he didn’t enjoy it.

“Ah, don’t you like cereals, L?” he asked cautiously. “I can fetch you something else, if you like.”

“I don’t want to be rude, but I need food with more sugar. I usually eat three to five pieces of cake for breakfast.” Spike dropped his spoon. Twilight looked shocked too. “If I don’t get enough sugar, my reasoning abilities drop by about 23 percent. We can’t afford that”, he explained.

“You mean - you get smarter when you’re eating sweets?”, Spike asked with shining eyes.

“No, you don’t!”, Twilight replied fast, throwing an angry look at L. She was responsible for the little dragon after all. “You get fat when you’re eating this many sweets.”

“L isn’t fat!”, he said. It was true. L was in the perfect shape of an earth pony.

“You’re not getting fat, if you’re using your brain constantly”, L said pointing to his head. “But sweets won’t make you smarter. Books do.” Twilight sighed in relieve. “Still, sugar is the only nourishment that can provide energy for the brain. The rest of the body can be fed with fat. So if you want your brain to work at full capacity, you have to make sure to supply enough sugar.” Spike evaluated these new informations for a moment.

“Hmm, I don’t know if I got all of that right. Maybe I’m lacking concentration. I should get some of my stocked bon-bons. Just to be save.”

“Nice try, you little rascal!” Twilight said laughing. They all joined in. After that, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed between the three of them.

“Anyway, where can I buy some cakes and sweets?”, L asked. Spike and Twilight exchanged a look.

“Man, you must visit Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie and her parents have the best sweets in all of Equestria”, Spike said excited. Twilight sighed.

“Oh no! I sense a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party dead ahead.”

Comments

[NYQUTIE]

So far so good!!!

[The Watcher 509]

PINKIE AND HER PARENTS?!

YOU MEAN THE ROCK FARMERS!