The pursuit of a cunning thief leads Detective Clover Clues far from Maretropolis and away to the mysterious islands of Neighpon!
Princess Luna's crown jewels have been stolen in broad daylight! The innate power imbued in those royal vestments could be very dangerous in the wrong hooves. They must be retrieved and the thieves apprehended with the utmost discretion. Detective Clover Clues of the Maretropolitan Police Department might have a clue, but he will have to make a stellar case to the Celestial Bureau of Investigations. Why else would Celestia's finest let a City detective pursue an international criminal all the way to Neighpon?
"I hereby declare the Winter Solstice Festival...begun!" said Princess Luna in her loud Royal Canterlot Voice. Ponies cheered and stomped the cobblestone square with their hooves. Fireworks shined brightly like shooting stars against the Maretropolitan skyline as Luna slowly raised the moon, marking the beginning of the longest night of the year. The City had always held a festival to mark the solstice, and this year we were lucky enough to have the Princess of the Night to officiate the ceremonies. Luna exited the stage and was replaced by the mayor of Maretropolis, who launched into a considerably more boring speech about the importance of community and friendship. Luna walked regally into the crowd, ponies bowing respectfully in her wake. I trotted behind the Princess, honored to be part of her security detail. It was really a formality, as Princess Luna was more than capable of protecting herself--and everypony present for that matter--from any possible threat.
After the all-night festivities, most ponies slept until noon. Princess Luna was no exception. Her security detail stood outside her bedchamber in the penthouse suite of the finest hotel in Maretropolis. Some of the officers yawned into their cups of coffee. My eyes felt heavy, but I had to uphold my duty to our Princess. A few hours after Luna's sister had risen the sun, there was a noticable click that came from inside the royal suite! I quickly swung open the door to check on the Princess.
There was a masked figure clad in black looming over Luna as she slept. It had opened her window from the outside and was currently putting the royal crown, necklace, and hoof ornaments into a saddlebag. The crown jewels were being stolen!
"Don't move, thief!" I shouted, hoping to wake up Luna and the rest of the guard. The dark, lithe figure threw something at me, and I cast a magical barrier just in time for three small knives to bounce off my glowing green bubble. "Guards! I need backup in here!"
The thief then threw something at the ground, which caused a plume of dark smoke to fill the room. I coughed, my eyes stinging as I saw the figure leap out the window through the haze. It was then that Luna's personal guards ran past me and followed her out the window, taking flight on their batlike wings. I ran to the window after them, only to catch a glimpse of the skinny thief running along the edge of the building and jumping to the adjacent rooftop. I fired a stun spell, which flew over the thief's head as it performed a nimble rolling dodge. I gingerly stepped out onto the ledge and began pursuit. As I neared the edge of the building and prepared to jump, the thief suddenly turned and threw something else at me. A spinning bolo hit my legs, the rope weighted at both ends quickly binding my forelegs.
I pitched forward and tumbled off the high-rise building into the open air.
As the ground rapidly approached, I didn't have time to think about any past regrets or my life yet unlived. I simply closed my eyes and hoped that it would be over quickly. I felt weightless and suspended in the air. After a few moments of not dying, I opened my eyes to see that I was indeed suspended in the air. I looked up to see none other than Princess Luna herself, holding me aloft. "That was rather reckless, Detective Clues. The Royal Vestments are merely objects; a pony's life is worth far more."
Tears welled in my eyes as I looked up at her. "Princess, I--"
Luna looked at me and smiled. "You may thank me later. We have a thief to catch!" She held me tighter as we picked up speed. She was...soft. I shook my head and focused on the task at hoof. Carried by Luna's powerful alicorn wings, we quickly overtook her batpony guards and caught up to the thief, running from rooftop to rooftop with remarkable agility.
I shouted above the wind noise. "I want you to fly low and drop me!"
Luna shouted back, "I will just blast her with my magic!" Her?
"No, Princess! I don't want to risk harming the crown jewels!" Since the distance was closing between us and the black-clad criminal, I could see her more clearly. She was indeed female, but she didn't look to be a pony. Her limbs were too skinny and pointed, and she moved with a light, springing gait. My best guess was that she was a young deer. What was this fawn doing stealing royal jewelry?
"Alright, get ready!" Luna beat her wings forward, swiftly slowing her airspeed. She let me go, and I dropped in front of the thief as she ran along the long roof of a dockside warehouse. Luna's guards caught up and guided her away from the dangerous assailant.
"Don't move another hoofstep unless you want some magic between the eyes!" My horn crackled with a severe green light. The masked deer reached a cloven hoof into a small pouch on her back. Before she could throw yet another weapon, I blasted her with a stunning spell. She ducked, but the spell grazed her head, wrenching the cloth mask from her face. She was an arrestingly beautiful fawn.
"Kutabare!" she screamed, glaring daggers at me with fierce amber eyes.
"Same to you, sweetheart," I growled. She ran at me swiftly as I readied my horn for another blast. She sidestepped my second shot and headbutted me with surprising force for her size. While I was dazed, she gracefully somersaulted backwards and kicked me in the face. I landed on my back in a groaning heap. She was long gone before I recovered.
I stood around a table in the Maretropolitan Police Department Headquarters with the batpony guards, the MPD Chief of Police, a couple of very stern-looking agents from the Celestial Bureau of Investigations, and Princess Luna. She pointed at a sketch she had drawn of her stolen possessions: her crown, necklace, and hoof ornaments. "If the Royal Vestments were merely jewelry, I would consider them lost and have a new set made." Her face darkened. "Unfortunately, the Vestments are objects of devastating magical power. They were made thousands of years ago to aid me in my royal duties. Wearing them, I am able to raise and lower the moon and walk amonst dreams without exhausting my powers nightly."
I stared at the picture. "What would happen if somepony else tried to use them?"
Luna gave me a sorrowful look that broke my heart. "In the wrong hooves, they could be used to cause great harm and chaos. A sufficently capable magical creature could use them to control the tides, or bend ponies to their will through their dreams."
A very worried batpony spoke up. "Could it be possible for somepony to just crash the moon into the earth, just like, BWOOOSH." He ground one hoof into the other while making explosion noises.
"Um...no Sunshine. Mortal magic is not that powerful. And the moon doesn't work like that."
The Chief grumbled. "Even if they can't destroy the planet outright, they could certainly wreak some widespread havoc. Alright Detective, could you present your report?"
I adjusted the bandage around my head while magicking a folder out of my saddlebag. I opened it to a sketch of the suspect. "Sure thing Chief. Our thief is a female deer. About ten hands to the withers, amber eyes, light brown headfur, and a tan coat. She has white spots on her sides, meaning she is still a fawn. She was wearing black from nose to tail, complete with a mask that covered her ears and mouth until I knocked it off with magic. She is an extremely skilled fighter, employing thrown weapons and some seriously impressive hoofwork."
I flipped to another page that detailed the layout of the thief's escape route. "She entered the penthouse suite from the window here, which means she had been hiding on the roof or somehow managed to scale the entire building without anypony noticing. Once she stole the Vestments, she exited from the same window and started running from rooftop to rooftop like...like I don't know what. A comic book superhero. That's when you, ahem, caught up with me, Princess. And once again, thank you for saving me." I bit my lip and, after some thought, threw my hooves around the Princess in a grateful hug.
The batpony guards both took a step towards me but relaxed when Luna warmly returned the hug. "You are very welcome. Is there anything else you can tell us about this fawn?"
I furrowed my brow, flipping to the last page of my report. "We lost track of her at the docks. Oh, and one more thing. When I magicked off her mask, she cursed at me in a language I hadn't heard before. It sounded like 'kutabaray' or something close to that." I tried to mimic the fawn as closely as I could remember.
Luna laughed. "She told you to drop dead. In Neighponese."
One of the CBI agents chimed in. "Princess, things could get very messy very fast if word gets out that a foreign agent has stolen powerful Equestrian artifacts. I recommend that their recovery be a clandestine operation."
Agent #2 replied with, "I agree. This needs to be quickly and quietly resolved before things escalate."
Luna nodded resolutely. "Then it's settled. Detective Clues will be heading to Neighpon right away to retrieve my Royal Vestments." I tensed up and gave the Princess a panicked look.
The CBI agents gaped. "But your Highness, we have much more capable operatives who can--"
The Princess levelled her gaze at the objecting pony. "Agent Halter, this is not a debate. Clover is the only pony who got a good look at the thief, and he has proven himself to be both brave and capable. With our Neighponese allies at his disposal, he will have more than enough backup to complete this operation."
I raised a hoof nervously. "Um, I'm glad you think so highly of me Princess, but I'm not sure I'm up for this task on my own. I'd like to bring along somepony from the local force to be my partner."
The Chief nodded slowly. "Good idea, Clues. Laser Focus is an experienced field agent as well as an expert investigator. If she is willing, she can accompany you."
I grinned. "You know me well, Chief."
He grunted in assent. "I wouldn't be a proper Chief if I didn't know my officers."
"No. I'm not going, Clover. And you shouldn't either." Laser Focus pulled off her lab goggles to glare at me.
I couldn't believe it; I needed her support on this more than anypony! "Wait, Lase, just--"
She shook her dark red mane. "Nope."
"Nope?"
"Nope. Come with me, I want to show you something." She then turned, her white lab coat elegantly swishing around her. She led me from the workbench where she was doing some chemical analysis to a room further back in the MPD crime lab. She emphatically stuck out her hoof, pointing at a metal table in the center of the room. On it were all the weapons our deer thief had used during the robbery.
"Clover...I have to make you understand. See these knives? They were coated with a lethal toxin. If they had hit you..." Her voice faltered, suddenly welling with emotinon.
"Laser..." I tried to put my hoof on her shoulder, but she walked away to another item on the table, the fragments of the smoke bomb.
"This is not just a chemical-based smoke bomb like the ones the SWAT ponies use. It is laced with a powerful disorientating spell. If you hadn't gotten out of it when you did, you could have suffered permanent brain damage. And she threw that bola at you fully expecting you to fall to your death. Clover...this thief was prepared to kill to get what she wanted. If you try to hunt her down, she--or the ones she works for--will kill you."
Laser hung her head and began to cry, tears rolling down her pretty face. "C-Clover, that fawn kills for a living. She will not hesitate. Please let the CBI handle this."
I hated to see my friend hurting like this. Tears welled up in my eyes as well. "The Princess is sending me on this mission. She is confident that I can bring back her Royal Vestments. If I don't get them back, many more ponies could be hurt than just me. Luna said that a powerful magic user could wrest control of the moon from her, and invade helpless ponies' dreams." I placed my hoof under her chin and gently raised her head to meet my gaze. "I can't do this alone. I need you, Laser Focus."
She locked her dark blue eyes with mine before looking away. I wrapped my hooves around her neck in an awkward, one-sided hug. "Please," I said.
After a few moments, she returned the hug and gave a shuddering sigh. "Somepony needs to be there to look out for you. Celestia knows you won't."
I hugged her tighter. I could smell her strawberry shampoo. "Thank you. We can do this. And we won't be alone, we'll have support from the Neighponese Intelligence & Research Office."
Laser pushed me away from her, wearing a thoughtful expression. "We have to stay under the radar as long as possible. Especially if the badguys can invade our dreams."
I scratched my chin with a hoof. "Hmm, oh! Maybe we can get some dreamworld support from Luna on that front."
Laser gave me a determined grin, and it felt like a switch was flipped in my head. I suddenly realized I was deeply in love with the mare standing before me. She nodded resolutely and said, "Now we're getting somewhere. Let's get ready."
Sergeant Patty Cake accompanied Laser Focus and me to a small clearing outside the City. Although Laser refused, Sgt. Cake insisted that he carry her bags. "Really Miss Focus, it's the least I could do. You're on a mission for the Princess herself! I would go with you if they'd let me."
Laser smiled at the big earth pony despite her annoyance. "Well then thank you, Sergeant. But again, you don't have to do this."
Sgt. Cake set down the luggage. "Ach, the matter is behind us now. We're here."
I checked the skies for our transportation. "Do you think they're late?"
Cake squinted seriously at the clouds "I doubt it. These pegasi are Wonderbolt Reserve; they're probably circling above the clouds to avoid being seen." As if on cue, a team of five pegasi pulling a sleek chariot burst through the clouds. They landed with practiced grace, and the lead pony in front unharnassed himself. He walked over to our group and gave a sharp salute.
"Gentlemen and, aaah, lady. Captain Aileron and the 6th Wonderbolts Flight Squad are ready for duty. Are you, aaah, ready to depart?" The pony was dressed in a sky blue flight suit and goggles, as were his squadmates.
"We are, Captain. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Your speed will be crucial to the success of this mission." As we talked, the Sergeant loaded our luggage onto the chariot.
Aileron gave two quick nods. "We will be travelling nonstop from here, aaah, to the capital city of Neighpon. Once we are there, the squad will remain with you for transportation and, aaah, extraction as needed. Do you both know how to cast a flare spell?"
Laser hmmed for a moment. "Well, I haven't tried it in the field, but it's just a light spell propelled as high as possible, correct?"
The Captain grinned roguishly. "That it is, ma'am. Let off one of those and, aaah, we'll be there at a moment's notice. You two are priority number one, even over retrieval of the Vestments."
Laser and I smiled and looked at one another. "I'm suddenly feeling more confident about all this."
I put up a hoof. "And don't forget, Neighponese Intelligence will also be assisting us with the investigation."
"I'm sure they will," agreed Laser. "They want the items returned as much as we do. If somepony starts using them, they will be the first ones in harm's way."
Captain Aileron motioned towards the chariot. "Let's get going you two. We, aaah, have a long flight ahead of us."
We climbed into the chariot and took off without much preamble. Sgt. Cake waved at us as we disappeared into the clouds. Once we stopped our ascent and levelled off, the chime of an intercom system came from a small speaker mounted to the front of the chariot's cabin. "This is your Captain speaking. We are, aaah, currently flying at an altitude of eight thousand feet. We will remain at this altitude to take advantage of the cloud cover. Today's flight time should be about fourteen hours and, aaah, one minute."
I pushed the talk button on the intercom. "Whoah, you have it down to the minute?"
The Captain turned to look back at us and winked. "We've, aaah, been doing this a long time. This isn't our first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, and this isn't our first retrieval and extraction operation. You're in good hooves, Detective."
"That's good to hear," said Laser.
"Just, aaah, snuggle up and relax, because this will be the last bit of downtime you'll have before we touch down."
"Right." Laser nodded and, to my surprise, nestled her head on my shoulder. I nervously put my hoof around her, and she gave a small sound of contentment. I held her tighter.
We slept for a few hours and awoke to a view of the open ocean. Laser yawned cutely. By the Sisters, how did I not see this before? I was falling madly for her, and I hoped she would feel the same way in the future. If not...I would win her heart. "But now's not the time for that." I said aloud, surprising myself.
Laser stretched in her seat, oblivious to my thoughts of her. "I agree. While we have the time, we should plan out our investigation."
"Ahem! Definitely." I concentrated on a visualization spell, illuminating the clear plastic wind visor in front of us with green light. I started out by displaying a generalized map of Neighpon. "The Empire of Neighpon is a pretty big chain of islands, roughly the size of Coltifornia. Luckily, we don't have to search the whole country for the Royal Vestments."
Laser began making dots on my map with her vividly red magic. "Right. Our thieves are powerful magic users, judging by the weapons they used. And the fact that only very strong magic can tap into the power of the Vestments. They employed a deer assassin, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're deer. They most likely live in an area near a deer tribe. That narrows our search considerably."
I tried to focus the search further. "Where are the big schools of magic in Neighpon? I only know about the Mahō Daigaku in Umamachi." I cleared the visor and started writing a list of gathering places for magical beings.
Laser looked over her notes. "Hmm, that's tough to say...there are lots of private schools, and others that are outright hidden. Those schools fiercely guard their magical secrets."
"NIRO will have to help us on that front." Laser raised an eyebrow at me. "The Neighponese Intelligence and Research Office. They've assigned us an official attaché, somepony named Hanzō."
"Oh, that reminds me. I did some research on Neighponese culture, and there were some basic things I wanted to go over. When we meet this pony, he will introduce himself as Hanzō, but we can't call him that."
"We can't?"
"Nope, we have to call him Hanzō-san. That's the default honorific suffix." Laser cleared the visor again and started writing down suffixes. "It's like saying Mister Hanzō, and not including it would be really embarassing for everyone involved. Saying somepony's name without a suffix implies a very intimate relationship."
"Ah, so since I'm posing as your newlywed husband, I'd just call you Ruby?"
"Yes," Laser blushed. "Since our cover story is that we're Lucky Find and Ruby Shines, a newlywed couple on our honeymoon, that would apply."
I couldn't believe that they had assigned us this cover with no input from us. Could it be that we naturally looked like a couple? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Alright, alright. Any other things I should know about? Oh! Don't they bow?"
"Yep, instead of a salute or a hoofshake, a sign of respect in Neighpon is a simple bow of the head. It's really not any more complicated than that."
"Hmm...anything else? No special table manners you can think of?"
Laser flipped through a guidebook she pulled out of a satchel "Um...apparently it's okay to slurp your noodles."
Laser and I passed the time by reading through the Neighponese Guidebook, and we perused another book she had on Neighponese magical creatures. Neighpon was a place filled with wild magic: from a winged creature shaping the wind to aid its flight, to a farmer pony tilling blessed ground. The entry on deer said they drew their magic from plants and nature. That didn't gel with the lunar/dream magic of the Vestments. The fawn must have been hired by somepony else.
We slept for a while longer, and talked to some of the other squad members using the intercom. I was glad to hear that Captain Aileron's weird manner of speech didn't extend to his, aaah, squadmates. I also found out that they can rest one at a time by gliding and letting the others pull the chariot. One of the airponies even claimed she could spread her wings and take a nap right there in her flight harness. She immediately followed that with a request not to tell the Captain about it. "You know, Airpony Blitzen, I hear everything that goes through the intercom. Also, you're directly behind me."
"Ack!" said a purplish-grey pegasus with a thundercloud for a cutiemark. "Sorry Captain! I just--"
"You just wanted a quick nap. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't done it too, in my airpony days. Don't worry about it Blitz, you work hard."
"Huh, he didn't do that weird 'aaah' that whole time," said Laser.
"I don't always say 'aaah', Miss Focus."
"Ack!" said the ruby red unicorn who was currently the love of my life.
"And, aaah, it's not weird. It's cool--I'm cool."
I laughed. "Yeah, I gotta admit, you're pretty cool."
"Yep! The Wonderbolts only let cool ponies be captains. Except for Soarin, he's a meathead. But don't tell him I said that." The Captain thought for a moment. "Actually, no. Tell him I said that."
I threw up my hooves. "Alright alright, we get it, you're super cool! You don't have to rub it in..."
The Captain laughed sardonically. "Ha ha ha...well, you're pretty cool too, Detective Clues. I've been listening to you two plan your investigation. I can see why Luna chose you for this mission. You are going to do great things, Detective. Exciting things. I hope I can, aaah, help you through some of it."
"Wow...thanks, Captain." It was then that I saw a splotch of green on the horizon. "Ah, Captain?"
"I see it. Squad, ready for approach!" The radio chimed twice before he called the tower. "Poninawa Air Base, this is Captain Aileron on approach, do you copy, over?"
The radio crackled as the tower replied. "We copy you, Captain, and we are ready for your arrival. The Neighponese delegation is already waiting for you on the airstrip, over."
It wasn't long before we descended to land. Poninawa Air Base was laid out before us. It was a specially appointed Wonderbolts airbase that supported the Neighponese Self Defense Navy. I had no idea the Equestrian military even had bases in other countries. We closed in on the airstrip, and I could see a small group of ponies waving at us as we landed. They trotted over to us once we touched down.
There were three ponies: two of them looked like NIRO agents in matching suits, and the other one looked like a comic book superhero. He wore a long black coat, and a molded black skullcap that covered his left ear and eye. It looked as though he didn't have either. He had a muted gray coat and his right eye was a brilliant silver. He had a long, curved sword in a sheath strapped to his back. "Hello, Detective Clues, Investigator Focus. I am Hanzō."
Laser spoke up first. "Hajimemashite, Hanzō-san. Please take care of us." She bowed.
Hanzō grinned and took Laser's hoof and kissed it. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Focus."
Laser seemed just as surprised as I am. "Haha, wow! I...see you studied up on Equestrian customs." I didn't like the way she was looking at him.
Hanzō grinned again. "Of course! I wouldn't want to embarrass myself while we're trying to work together."
I shrugged congenially, "Eh, we're all cops here. If it gets awkward, we'll let it slide if you will."
"Agreed." Hanzō nodded curtly. "Let's get going. There is a boat waiting to take you to Umamachi."
Once we were on the Coastal Guard boat and headed towards the Capital, Hanzō pulled a slim manila envelope out of one of the many pockets in his coat. He shook out the contents into his hoof. "These are your new passports. I'm going to need your actual passports and badges. We will keep them secure."
Laser passed him another envelope. "Here they are. We left our badges back home. Where are we headed once we get to Umamashi?"
Hanzō grinned widely. "You two will be going on your honeymoon! And I, your dear uncle, will be accompanying you with my daughter, Michiko." He pulled some brochues and pictures out of yet another envelope. "You and I will be staying at a very nice ryokan, a traditional Neighponese hotel. It just happens to be on a mountain overlooking Mahō no Tani, the Valley of Magic, where many schools of magic are located, including some deer conclaves."
Laser was getting excited. "We're going to a fancy hotel? Alriiight! What kinds of ameneties do they have?" She flipped through the brochure. It had a picture of a gorgeous wooden building surrounded by snow. "Ooh, it says here they have a natural hot spring on site."
"That they do, Mrs. Ruby Shines." said Hanzō.
Laser looked confused at first, then bit her lip in frustration. "Ah, darn. I gotta get used to that, don't I? You too, Mr. Lucky Find...although I guess you're more used to being called that."
"Ugh, yep." I wasn't thrilled about my nickname at the station. "Now I just have to not let it bother me."
~~~
We ended up not even going into the city at all, and instead made our way straight to the hotel in the Valley of Magic. Our hotel room would be our base of operations for the investigation. The place was absolutely beautiful. The walls were all wood and some sort of thick paper, with elegantly designed sliding doors separating the rooms. There were no beds; instead we each got a thick sleeping mat called a futon to lay on the floors, which were woven reed mats called tatami. They smelled delicious. We were given cotton robes to wear around the hotel, and we could use the hot spring pools which were just outside any time we liked.
I got the feeling we would desparately need this place to unwind after a harrowing day of poilce work.
Immediately after unpacking, Laser and I got busy briefing Hanzō on all the facts of the case. Our Neghponese attaché was able to provide extremely astute analysis of our existing evidence. We missed the fact that she was able to dodge my magical attack without looking back at it. This meant she could sense nearby magic and react to it instantly. Our fawn was indeed a magic user, and she didn't adhere to the traditional nature magic of her kind.
After conducting that business over dinner, Hanzō introduced us to his absolutely adorable daughter, Michiko, who was already at the hotel. We were impressed by her mastery of both the Equestrian and Neighponese languages. While her dad was tall and dark earth pony, little Michiko was pale pink, the color of cherry blossoms. Hanzō was a completely different pony around his daughter.
"Alright Miichan, did you do your homework? How about your kendo practice?"
The filly rolled her eyes at her father. "Uuuuugh, daaaad...yes."
He grinned proudly. "Okay then, let's do the kirikaeshi."
"Oh, alright. I like doing those!" Michiko ran out into the snow where they would have room to practice.
Hanzō procured two bamboo practice swords and gave one to his daughter. He held his in his hoof, while she held hers in her mouth, letting it drag on the ground. They then proceeded to sort of dance at each other with their swords. The dance looked lethal. Hanzō started with a single strike to the center of Michiko's head, followed by four angled strikes going forward, starting on his daughter's left side, followed by five strokes going backward. The same moves were then mirrored by the daughter at the dad. They did this back and forth with practiced ease. They looked like they were having fun, while also practicing at cutting ponies to pieces. After a while, Hanzō stepped back and bowed, and his daughter did the same.
Michiko then spat out her sword. "Patooie! Whee, that was fun!"
"You're getting better, Little Flower." Hanzō appeard to be a bit winded, while the daughter was already running around in the snow-covered garden. We all watched her while soaking in the hot spring.
Laser smiled at the scene. "Heh, your daughter is almost as awesome as you are, Hanzō-san." He blushed at the compliment and couldn't meet her eye. Laser looked smitten. I hated him a little.
Hanzō then seemed to remember something and got a serious look on his face. "Before we do anything else, I want to go over something important." He got out of the steaming pool and walked the short ways to where his sword lay. He picked it up and did something complex with the hilt. A sharp click come from somewhere deep within the scabbard. With the sword unlocked, he proceeded to draw it partways out of its sheath. Bright blue flames of magic crawled up the exposed blade of the sword. "In the interest of full disclosure, I have been given orders to destroy the Royal Vestments with this, if it is determined that they cannot be retrieved and extracted. The NIRO has determined that the consequences of losing the Vestments are not as severe as their potential for harm."
We understood his orders, but we were still shocked. It was almost as though the gravity of our situation hadn't completely sunk in until that point. I tried to choose my words carefully. "You...you must know what it would mean if the Vestments were destroyed. Our Princess Luna...it hasn't been very long since she came back to us. She depends on those items to aid her Sister to rule our land, to literally control the celstial bodies."
The stoic earth pony sheathed the magical sword. "Yes, and returning them to Luna-sama is our top priority. But I wanted to make sure you knew of our contingency." He looked out at his daughter building a snowpony in the picturesque garden. "Miichan is the only family I have, and I would do anything to protect her. All of her, including her dreams. If the thieves find out where we are, they will attack us from all fronts." He climbed back into the pool and sighed contentedly in the warmth. "But better us than somepony else, who are defenseless"
He then took off the black skullcap and dipped his head into the water briefly, soaking his mane. I tried not to stare when his head surfaced. Where his left ear and eye had been, there was a long, jagged scar. "I know firsthand what it is like to be defenseless."
~~~
That night, I tossed and turned restlessly. Hanzō snored loudly, thanks to his insistence that it was "tradition" to drink sake when staying in this type of hotel. I was more inclined to think he wanted to get tipsy on the government's dime. I had tried a drink, but only to be polite. Laser had had a bit more. I flopped onto my shomach and groaned into my pillow. Those two were getting awfully chummy. Which was fine, but...I couldn't help how I felt about the way she looked at him. It ate me up inside. And Hanzō was an extraordinary pony! He deserved her and my respect and admiration. So why did I feel so terrible? Oh that's right, maybe because there's a deadly fawn somewhere out there toting some seriously powerful nightmare-inducing magic.
That's when I heard a soft thunk of something hitting the wooden wall. I slowly rose out of bed, making sure not to rouse anypony else. If there was somepony outside, I didn't want them to know I had heard them. I stalked over to the inside door and quietly slid it open. I peered out into the hallway without sticking my head out. Seeing nopony there, I walked into the hallway and looked around thoroughly. There wasn't anypony there, so the sound must have come from outside. I walked back into the room and tried to think of some way to check outside without opening the door. Oh right. The walls are made of paper. I stuck my horn a little ways through a corner of the doorframe, making a peephole.
Standing out in the snow, I saw the fawn. She was staring directly back at me with those fierce yellow eyes. Waiting for me. I gave a heavy sigh and slid open the door, stepping out into softly falling snow. I briefly looked back and saw that a small knife had been thrown into the door with a note attached. Hey, the culprit is throwing evidence at me now! Lucky me. I regarded her cautiously. In place of her thieving gear, she was wearing a simple black kimono and her hair was tied in a tight bun. She seemed to be waiting for me to speak, so I did.
"Well? Why are you here? Come to finish the job?"
She laughed sweetly, a strange sound to come from such a lethal creature. "No, Tantei, I came to talk. If I wanted to kill you, you would not know it. You would simply be dead." She spoke with a thick accent, definitely Neighponese but something else as well. As though the words were difficult for her to physically say.
I sneered. "Fair enough. I take it you would rather me not proceed with this investigation? Are you here to bribe me? Let's not play games. I'll ask again, why are you here?"
"No, I do not wish to insult you with a bribe, or to ask you to leave. I simply came here to tell you that you will die if you pursue me and my...oh what is the word..." She seemed to actually struggle to find the right thing to say.
I led the witness, Your Honor. "Your organization?"
"Hai, yes. It is as you say." She smiled disconcertingly, like she was trying the expression for the first time.
I might as well try questioning her since she's standing right in front of me. "Is that all? Because it's cold out here, and I think you'll understand if I don't invite you in. Why don't we speed things up and you tell me what this organization is? Oh, or how about your name for a start?"
"As for the first question, no. I will not reveal my employer. Ah, that was the word! As for my name...hmm." She drew a slim cloven hoof to her chin, playing as if she was toying with the idea. Suddenly, her eyes glowed yellow and an angular, etherial horn appeared on her brow. She rapidly dashed towards me with her hoof raised. It was crackling with yellow sparks. I was so stunned by the sight of her magic, I didn't even try to block it when she punched me in the face.
The electric punch knocked me into the snow, where I laid twitching, unable to move of my own volition. The fawn crouched down to be eye level with me and coldly said, "My name is Hanako. Hanako Yamada. Goodbye, Tantei."
Luckily, I regained the use of my limbs before hypothermia set in. I was able to slowly make my way off of the snow and flop into the hot spring. I let myself sink into the warm, relaxing waters for a moment before surfacing. Okay, I guess it's time to wake up the others. I gingerly stepped out of the pool, sore all over. I walked into the room to see Michiko and Laser stirring from the cold being let in. Hanzō was still snoring away. I was suddenly struck with not quite knowing what to say. Too much had just happend all at once. "Er...hey guys? Could you wake up please?" It was a start. I walked over and gently shook Laser and Hanzō awake.
Laser sat up, her red mane a mess. "Ugh, what is it--oh Celestia what happened?" Hanzō got up at that and looked at me with concern.
"Is it bad?" My face hurt when I talked.
"You're all bruised and bleeding! What did you do to yourself?" she got up and started looking me over.
"I didn't do anything. Our friend the fawn just paid us a visit. Or rather, Hanako Yamada."
"What?!?" yelled Hanzō. This woke up Michiko.
"Daaad, you're being too loud." She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Hanzō closed the screen door and tucked his daughter back into bed. "I'm sorry Little Flower, you can go back to sleep. We're going to go into the other room, okay?" She laid back down and fell asleep without another word.
Once we were all in the dining room, I relayed what had just happened. Hanzō spoke up when I mentioned her etherial horn. "Ah, it seems our thief is not a deer. What you described is a kirin. She has been concealing her true nature from us until now. Also, she did not give you her real name. Hanako Yamada is the default name we use in Neighpon, like you use Jane Doe."
"Oh, how very clever of her." I raised my most pressing suspicion. "Do you think she's powerful enough to use the Vestments herself?"
"Hmm...perhaps. Though she is a kirin, that doesn't change the fact that she is a fawn. In any case, she is displaying very odd behavior for a kirin. They are usually very nice," Hanzō said sadly. "Fortunately, they are also very rare. Tracking down her true identity will be much easier now."
~~~
The Valley of Magic was everything I expected it would be. Around every corner there was some new little conclave of ponies or other creatures, weaving subtle and powerful magics into being. Large foxes with multiple tails were leaping and cavorting through floating rings of bright pink flame. Turtle creatures with goofy haircuts were wading in a small stream, swirling the water into shifting, complex patterns. Ponies and fawns tended to their gardens, which were ridiculously lush and bountiful. It seemed like paradise. Who would want to spoil this with moon- and dream-controlling magic?
After we all split up and conducted an initial exploration of the area, we decided to come together at lunch in a small wooden stall that sold big bowls of noodles. The grey earth pony shrugged and let the sword shift into a more comfortable position on his back. "Well, I've been asking my usual contacts, and nobody has seen a kirin who matches Hanako's description. Most of them hadn't seen any kirin in the past few weeks."
I tried switching tracks a little. "Do you know how many kirin live in this area?"
Hanzō's brow furrowed in thought. "It's hard to say. They keep to themselves, mostly. You only see them when they occasionally visit the market or attend a festival. Maybe a few dozen?"
Laser spoke after noisily slurping her noodles. Classy. "Well, that probably means all the kirin know one another. If we can find a kirin, we should be able to find Hanako."
"Oh, speaking of kirin, you've meet one before, right Hanzō?" There was no way I could finish this giant bowl of buckwheat noodles. The amount of noodles and soup didn't seem to be getting any smaller, no matter how much I ate.
"Yes. Quite a few, actually. They are noble creatures who use powerful nature magic. If they do not concentrate on holding their powers in check, flowers and ferns and the like spring from the ground where they tread." He grimaced into his bowl. "For a kirin to use electrical magic to hurt another...it is blasphemy to her kind."
"What do they look like exactly, since you said Hanako was concealing her true appearance?" I had to know exactly what we were dealing with, especially if she or someone like her happened to visit me in my dreams.
"They are not so different from ordinary deer in appearance. They are still cervines, but they have one horn in the middle instead of two on either side of the head. The horns are angular and jagged, with a texture more like ram's horns than the smoother deer's. Their tails are longer, with a little tuft at the end like a lion. And, as you saw, they can hide those traits and appear to be regular deer."
We really had work cut out for us finding a kirin, if they didn't want to be found. "Ugh, I could use a soak."
"Same here," said Laser and Hanzō at the same time. "Jinx!" said Laser. Hanzō looked puzzled.
Laser explained, "Yeah, it's just some silly filly thing. When two ponies say the same thing at once, one pony can call 'jinx' and the other pony can't talk until the first pony says their name three times." We continued eating in silence until she said. "Hanzō Hanzō Hanzō!"
He grinned. "Haha, that sounds good. I should try that with Miichan, I think she would enjoy it."
I slurped my noodles violently, trying to ignore how well they were hitting it off.
