Chapter Text
In the midst of the season’s largest downpour, the ringing of the telephone was nearly incomprehensible. Faint hoof steps drew closer to the noisy object, with a blue wisp of magic lifting it off its base.
“Hello, Detective Rarity speaking.” The unicorn spoke into the phone. Before she could add anything further, a voice pleaded from the other side.
“Detective! Please make your way down to Mossy Murk Creek as quickly as possible! Mr Winterhooves has been murdered. The wound is still fresh and-”
“I’m on my way!” The detective cut in before the other pony could finish. Slamming the phone back down, she grabbed her crimson trench coat and fedora from where they were hanging, and called out to her assistant.
“Rainbow Dash! We have a case down at Mossy Murk Creek, let’s go.” She began running down the stairs as she shouted.
“Be right there!” Responded Rainbow Dash, who was still in the main office, and flew down in an instant upon hearing her boss call.
“We’ll need to head there right now. The murder has apparently been committed not long ago, and this rain could wash away valuable evidence. We must hurry, Dash.”
“Got it. I’ll get the cart.” The Pegasus saluted with her hoof, then flew into the garage, bringing out the cart for both ponies to sit in. Taking her notebook with her, Rarity hopped into the passenger seat, and Rainbow in the driver’s.
“Mossy Murk Creek,” she reminded the pony behind the wheel, “take the shortest route you can find.”
“On it!”
The two sped through the roads as hurriedly as they could, but the rain had taken a toll on the traffic conditions. It was a good chance, however, for the detective to go over what she knew of the victim.
“So, who was the victim again? Actually, I don’t think you said.” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Ah yes, it seems I’d forgotten to mention that part. Mr Winterhooves — the owner of the big art gallery in the city centre. He’s been murdered near the creek and it supposedly hasn’t been long.”
“Winterhooves huh,” the Pegasus paused to think, “this is gonna be a big case isn’t it? I’ll bet press ponies are gonna be there pretty quick after we’re done investigating.”
“Indeed. We’ll need to be swift as we can at the scene of the crime.” The white mare agreed.
Right as the conversation came to a close, so did the rainfall, and the detectives had reached their destination. The wheels of the cart slowed down at the parking point, bringing out a gentle ruffle from the dry, orange-coloured leaves below it. The ponies stepped out, surveying the area around them. Sunlight was sparse through the thick, tall shrubs surrounding the swamp. The water was green and murky, befitting the name “Mossy Murk Creek”. The two made their way stepping over the moss-covered stones, to where the sounds of other horses could be heard.
There it lay, the body of an elderly stallion. His grey coat was tainted with splatters of red, and his white, curly mane had all sorts of sticks and pebbles intertwined. The main point of focus, however, was his wound. At a glance, Detective Rarity could tell it was the work of a blunt object; the senior pony’s ribs had been partially crushed due to, what appeared to be, several hard-hoofed hits. There was no way any pony would survive that. But perhaps most curious was the fact that the murder weapon was nowhere to be found. Considering the location, it would be logical for one to assume a rock like the many around would have been used to finish the job, and yet, no nearby stone had a single drop of scarlet.
While the head detective analysed the scene, the assistant thought to make use of time and discuss with the officers who had arrived first.
“So, what went down? How’d you find the body?” She questioned, bringing out her notebook and quill.
“Actually, it wasn’t us who first found it. We were informed by some ponies who were returning from a hike. They’re right here if you’d like to question them.” The officer guided the pegasus towards the group.
There stood four ponies, wearing anxious expressions on their faces — expected of somepony who’d just discovered a corpse. When the assistant detective made her way over, one of the group members greeted her upfront. A light brown pegasus named Almond Flip.
“I-I assume you’re the detective?” They hesitantly asked.
“Assistant detective, actually. The head detective is over there.” The blue pony tilted her head towards Rarity, who was still taking in every little detail she could while the crime was still fresh. “I’ve got a couple of questions for you ponies, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, not at all,” they nervously answered, “I’ll call over my friends.” After doing so, three more ponies had joined, introducing themselves as they came — a mauve coloured unicorn named Dusty Rose, a yellow earth pony named Velvet Sash, and a teal Pegasus named Frosty Flourish.
“So, which one of you spotted the body first?” Rainbow began her questions.
“Oh, I think it was Frosty. Is that right?” Almond replied, looking at their friend group for reassurance.
“Yeah, it was me,” the stallion responded, “we were just about finished our hike when Dusty Rose got her hoof stuck in between some rocks. The others were helping her and I’d gotten a little further. I saw the body while I was waiting for them.”
“Once all of us were down, we thought we’d better let somepony know.” Dusty added, “So Almond went and flew to the nearest station they could, to tell the authorities what had happened. I was still in pain from my hoof getting stuck so we all had to stay here.”
“Huh,” Rainbow scribbled into her notebook, “well, Frosty, was it? Since you were here before the others, did you happen to see anypony? Or just anything suspicious?”
“No, I can’t say I did. All that was here was the body. I didn’t see or hear anypony around. Frankly, I think I was too shocked to notice anything besides the corpse.”
“Understandable”, Rainbow wrote some more.
“Um, I have something to say” Velvet anxiously stepped forward, “I was thinking it was just something random that I should ignore, but I guess it’d be good to let you know just in case.”
“Go on.”
“The place where Dusty got stuck was a little higher than the end of the trail where Frosty was standing; meaning we needed to walk downward to get to him. But I saw an object, I’m not sure what. It glistened and caught my eye. I don’t know how, since there isn’t much sunlight here. But I definitely saw it — it was metallic, possibly with a gem or two stuck on it. It was covered by a few leaves so I couldn’t quite make it out. When I looked away to check on Dusty, it vanished.”
“Vanished? You mean like magic or something?” Rainbow Dash was intrigued.
“That’s just it — I have no idea! I assumed it must’ve rolled downhill at first, but when we reached the bottom there was nothing. Obviously, after that I was more focused on the murder scene we’d discovered.” By the end of her re-telling, Velvet Sash looked relieved to have let out what she’d been keeping in, but of course, the primary situation at hand did not allow for true ease.
“A mysteriously disappearing object, huh? We’ll keep that in mind. But I gotta ask, is Velvet here the only one that saw it? Nopony else? The assistant looked around hopefully.
“Well, we did see a subtle, green haze near the ground,” Dusty answered.
“But no shiny thing,” added Frosty.
“I also saw the object, actually. Same time as Velvet,” Almond joined. “But, yeah it disappeared just like she said.”
“Okay, okay, interesting. Say, Almond Flip, did you see anything when you flew up to go get help?”
“I think the forest floor looked a little cloudy — like there was coloured fog all over the place. Like what Dusty said.” They recalled, “But it seemed to be fading pretty quickly.”
With this, Rainbow Dash took a minute to think. She wrote the last of what the crime-scene-discoverers had told her, and reviewed everything from the top once again. A few “hmmm”s later, she acknowledged the group patiently waiting in silence.
“Welp, thanks for your help everypony. If we end up needing more information we might question you again. But that’s all for now.” The assistant detective flew toward her boss as soon as she completed her sentence.
Rarity was standing by the foot of the corpse, shuffling, with her magic, through the photographs she had taken during the murder examination. There were close-up shots of each minor scrape, cut and gash — all, of course, not caused by the murder weapon, but possibly from falling on such a rough environment. The forest floor was simply full of sticks, stones and leaves as far as the eye could see.
At this point the relevant authorities had begun clearing up the crime scene. Since the victim was an important pony, there would expectedly be a grand funeral soon enough.
As the detective was lost in her analysing, her assistant broke her focus, shifting it to more important matters.
“Boss,” Rainbow Dash called out.
“Goodness, Rainbow, you know you don’t have to call me that.” The unicorn turned to face her. “Now then, any useful information?” She asked.
“A lot of it.”
“Then waste no time.”
After giving a dedicated overview, leaving out no small detail, the Pegasus could see the gears in her boss’s mind turning with each new revelation.
“Hmm…” she finally spoke, “as trivial as it may turn out to be, it would be best if we gather more information on what that mysterious, disappearing object is.”
The assistant nodded in agreement.
“And I know just the place to make an enquiry”, the unicorn smirked knowingly.
Before the pair could take their leave, the moment Rainbow Dash foreshadowed had come; the area was simply filled with reporters, journalists and photographers. And unlucky for this duo, there was a herd of hoof-steps galloping in their direction.
“Detective, what do you make of this incident?”
“What do you think the motive was?”
“How much have you uncovered?”
“Are there any suspects?”
“What is your next course of action?”
An absolute bombardment of questions had befallen the detectives, with not a single chance to answer any of them. As more and more voices began to overlap, Rarity overshadowed them with her own.
“Ponies!” She yelled, and continued with a voice loud enough to echo throughout the crowd. “As of yet, we do not have sufficient information. We are still investigating key elements of this incident, and have yet to find out what has happened and why! I ask for your understanding!” The voices lowered in volume to soft murmuring. Rainbow felt the need to join in.
“That’s right,” she exclaimed, “now if you’ll excuse us, we… kinda need to leave!”
The two began to make their way out, gently pushing past the heaps of horses. Rainbow Dash put her hoof around Rarity, preventing her from bumping into any cameras or notebook corners. They followed the path they had previously used to come here — and after traversing the stones speckled with green, and the crunchy, rust-coloured leaves, the cart was finally in sight. When both driver and passenger were seated, the wheels began to turn.
“So where are we headed now?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“The Starry Sapling.” Rarity replied.
“The Starry Sapling? Isn’t that the library-slash-cafe that opened a couple of months ago? Why there?”
“Something tells me that object in the forest had some kind of magic tied to it. There may have been a spell cast on it or it may be an artefact — whatever it is, it could lead us to somepony connected to the case. Witness, perpetrator, anything. We need to speak to somepony with that kind of expertise.”
“Huh, that makes sense. So, uh, who exactly are we gonna ask?”
Just then, the cart came to a halt. They had arrived. Above their heads was a wooden sign board, painted a greyish indigo colour. It had separate, yellow-painted, wooden letters nailed onto it; they spelt the name of the place.
“Oh! Lovely. We’ve arrived.” Rarity said, stepping out of the cart and leaving Rainbow’s question unacknowledged.
It was still early, about half past eight in the morning. Because of the rain earlier, the weather was colder than usual, meaning fewer ponies were around today. The detective peeked through the window to see a purple unicorn reading a hefty book with a seemingly worn-out cover; it’s corners exposed beneath the fabric, suggesting years of use.
“That is who we’ll ask.” Rarity finally answered Rainbow, pointing at the pony in the shop with her hoof.
“Hey I’ve seen her before. She’s one of the owners of this place isn’t she?” the pegasus inquired.
“Indeed she is. Her and her wife Applejack both run the establishment.” The detective added, “Twilight Sparkle over here is one of Princess Celestia’s students.”
“Then let’s go talk to her!”
The mares thought it polite to knock on the door before entering. The cafe was in fact open for business, but since there were no customers as of yet, it felt good to let the owners know somepony was coming in for more than just pie and books. Hearing the sound of hooves against glass, Twilight looked up from the pages and at the unusual guests.
“Hello, welcome to the Starry Sapling!” The unicorn greeted them with a smile. She took a moment to carefully analyse the duo that had just walked in. Their clothes were slightly damp from the early morning drizzle, there were tiny twigs and leaves caught up in the threads, and both ponies were carrying notebooks and saddlebags.
“Uh… can I help you?” She questioned, continuing to smile — with nervousness this time.
“Yes, actually.” Rainbow Dash answered, aggressively opening up her book to the relevant page.
“So sorry to bother you so early in the morning, darling,” Rarity joined, “I’m Detective Rarity, and this this my assistant Rainbow Dash.” The Pegasus waved at the mention of her name.
“Wait, Detective Rarity? I think I’ve heard your name before.” Twilight pondered.
“Maybe, maybe not.” The detective shrugged. “But if it’s not too much of a bother, we need your help attaining some information.”
“From me? Is this related to some kind of case? I’m not sure I’d be of much help.” The pony laughed, looking clearly uneasy.
“Oh but I’m sure you will. I’ve heard you’re a student of the Princess, is that correct?”
“Well.. yes.”
“My questions for you require knowledge of magic, and I trust you are more than qualified in the subject?”
“Magic? Well why didn’t you say so!” The purple unicorn began floating down books with her horn, and soon enough, there were at least three tall piles on one of the tables.
Amongst the clatter of books being placed one on top of another, the other owner — the one who was in charge of the cafe portion of the library-cafe — walked in. As she turned after closing the door behind her, looking past the cart full of apples that had just been brought in, all she could see was a tall tower of tomes.
“What in tarnation?” She exclaimed.
“Ah, you must be Applejack I presume. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Rarity extended her hoof to have a proper greeting. The earth pony extended hers and they both shook hooves.
“Howdy.” She replied, fixing her hat with some confusion. “Uh… mind explaining what’s going on?”
“Oh! You’re here.” Twilight peeked from behind the books. “I was just about to help these detectives with some magic related information — right after they tell me what they need to know,” she mumbled at the end.
“Detectives?” Applejack looked perplexed.
“Terribly sorry to disturb you,” Rarity apologised once again, speaking to both ponies this time, “but there has been a case nearby. Of course, details can’t be given as the situation is still under investigation, but we would be very grateful if you could help us identify what Rainbow Dash here has written down.” With that, Rainbow read aloud the descriptions of the mysterious object, leaving out, of course, where it had been seen and by whom.
“So, tell me if you have any idea what this thing is” the blue pony began, “a shimmering, metallic object with a few gems on it, it leaves a smoky, green fog around it and can magically disappear.”
“Hmm..” Twilight pondered, “that does sound familiar.” She pulled out the fourth book from the top, from one of the piles, and began flipping through the pages until she stopped almost at the last chapter.
“Oh!” She laughed, “didn’t think I’d find it in the very first magical artefact book I looked at.”
“Well? Do go on.” Rarity urged her.
“It seems like what you found is the Ominous Orb of Ophelia ”
“The what now?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.
“But wait, this book only has a brief overview” the unicorn stood up from her chair. “I’m pretty sure I had a book with more information. I think it’s on one of the top shelves. Be back in a second!” She reached for the ladder, rolling it on its wheels to the back-most section of the shelves.
“Let me help you with that, sugar cube.” Applejack took the ladder from her wife’s grasp, allowing her to climb on while she held it in place. And the visitors waited.
“You know,” Rainbow started, “I sure hope this magic thingy is actually related to the case.”
“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity was caught off guard.
“I mean, think about it. The ponies who discovered the crime scene just happened to see that thing glowing in the leaves. But it could just be a coincidence that they discovered both things at the same time. I just hope we’re not wasting time.”
“While you may be right, Dash, it is important that we check off every box. It may be a coincidence, but it also might not.” The detective reassured her assistant.
“You’re right. I guess I was kinda worried ‘cause of last time.” The Pegasus looked dreary. The last case had seriously troubled the duo.
“Worry not,” the unicorn said, holding her friend’s chin with her hoof. “We’ll just need to be quicker than ever this time.”
Fortunately for them, this time, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were in luck. It was convenient that they knew a pony who was an expert in such magic-related matters. The case needed to be solved fast. Such an esteemed and important pony like Mr Winterhooves being murdered was a much bigger deal than other incidents. He was a key figure in Canterlot’s high society, and something going down in high society was sure to affect everypony, everywhere. Even smaller businesses like The Starry Sapling would be impacted. The two needed to handle this investigation with utmost care. And that would begin with confirmation — was this magical artefact really related to the murder? And if so, what would be the next step in this puzzle?