The gentle warmth of the rising sun through the curtained window and the quiet music of singing birds and chattering ponies slowly awoke Twilight Sparkle from her slumber. After having lived in Ponyville for almost four years, she'd grown used to those sounds being her alarm clock. She opened her eyes, then had to quickly shut them again after receiving a barrage of sunlight right to the face. Grumbling and blinking in the light, she pulled herself to a sitting position with a yawn and quickly glanced around her bedroom. To her surprise, she noted that the small basket next to her bed was empty, the sheets tossed aside.

"Guess I slept longer than I thought," she concluded to herself, pulling herself out of bed and dropping onto the wooden floor. Quickly running a detangling spell through her tousled mane, she descended towards the stairs of the Golden Oaks Library, following an enticing odor of cooking food.

She came downstairs to find that Spike was awake and standing at the stove in the kitchen, his apron fastened around his chest as he made breakfast. Mouthwatering scents filled the air and made Twilight's stomach rumble. Spike looked up and smiled at Twilight as she entered. "Good..." He paused to cover a yawn. "Good morning, Twilight."

"Good morning, Spike," Twilight greeted him. "Are those raspberry muffins?"

"Yup. Two or three?" Spike asked.

"Just two, thanks," Twilight said, sitting down at the table. Spike brought over two warm muffins and a cup of tea, which Twilight immediately dug into. "Mmm...Spike, these are great," she moaned in pleasure as the baked good's taste filled her core, driving all sleep out of her mind.

"Thank you," Spike grinned as he helped himself to another muffin. "Anything special going on today?"

"You bet there is!" Twilight said excitedly. "Today's the day my book from Canterlot arrives!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Another book. I should have guessed."

"This isn't just any old book!" Twilight exclaimed, as if Spike had uttered some horrid blasphemy. "This is a rare edition of Lillybud's notes on botanical magic!"

She continued her lecture about the book and how important the studies of the great botanist had been, how great the impact and significance of her findings was, but Spike had already tuned her out so he could finish his breakfast in peace. Eventually winding down, Twilight finished her breakfast, dropped her dishes into the sink and headed out the door of the Golden Oaks Library and into the beautiful spring day. She took in a deep breath of the spring air, feeling it rejuvenate her being. She wondered how to spend her time until her package arrived. Perhaps she'd go visit Applejack, or Rarity, or see if Pinkie Pie had come up with any new confectionaries, or...

"Watch out!"

Twilight looked up, then ducked to the side just in time. A large package fell out of the sky and landed on the ground where she'd been standing a moment ago. Twilight looked at it for a moment, then glared at the source of her near-injury.

Ditzy "Derpy" Do chuckled nervously down at her as she hovered in midair, her mailmare's cap tilted at a jaunty angle. "Sorry, my bad. It's kinda heavy," she apologized.

Twilight sighed. "It's all right, Ditzy. At least you delivered it on time...and didn't drop it on my head."

Ditzy saluted. "Neither rain nor snow nor griffins!" And with that, she zipped off to finish her rounds. Shaking her head, Twilight lifted the package up with her magic and went back inside, her annoyance quickly evaporating into excitement. She tore off the paper to reveal the dark green leatherbound cover, adorned with blue swirling writing. The grin on her face widened as she flipped through the text, which revealed the great botanist's original studies and findings, complete with notes and annotations by the editor. She forced herself to suppress a squeal of delight.

Spike looked up from washing the breakfast dishes. "Is that it?"

"This is it!" Twilight said happily. "Oh, I can't wait to get started!"

But before she could begin, there was a startled yell from Spike. Twilight looked up and saw that Ditzy's head had just popped up from underneath the sinkwater. "Do I smell raspberry muffins?" she asked, eagerly looking around.

With a roll of his eyes, Spike handed her a muffin, placing it into her mouth. "Thanks!" she said with a happy squee, then dove back underneath the soapy water. Spike looked at Twilight and shrugged. She sighed and returned to her book.

But once more, she was interrupted by knocking at the door. When she opened it, she saw her five friends—Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack—standing outside.

"Hey, Twilight! Are you ready?" Pinkie shouted, hyperexcited as ever as she bounced up and down behind the group.

"Ready for what?" Twilight asked. A moment later, the memory rushed to the forefront of her mind. "Oh, Applejack's birthday party!"

"You didn't forget, did you?" Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, of course not," Twilight replied. Lillybud was going to have to wait a little longer. "Give me a moment." She headed back into the library, lifting up the book with her magic and carrying it upstairs to her room. With reluctance, she placed it into her desk drawer, silently promising the tome that she would return later.

She failed to notice something fall out of the book, out of the space between the pages and the binding, and onto the floor next to the door. Picking up Applejack's carefully-selected, delicately wrapped gift from next to the desk, she raced back down the stairs. "Okay, I'm ready! Let's go!" she called.

"C'mon, Spike! You're invited too!" Applejack called.

"Awesome!" Spike cheered, abandoning the breakfast dishes immediately and tossing off his apron. He retrieved his gift from next to the door and joined the mares. Twilight closed the library door behind him, locking it tight and tucking the key into her mane before following the others to Sweet Apple Acres, where Pinkie Pie had planned one of her sure-to-be-spectacular parties.

The group passed through the Ponyville Park, chattering amiably walking down the main dirt pathway. They passed a crystal blue duck pond in the shade of a willow tree, where a pair of mallards swam around in a circle, a group of little ducklings following. Next to the pond was a wooden bench. A stallion sat upon the bench, playing a smooth blues melody on a slightly battered, but well-polished saxophone that shone brightly in the sunlight. The earth pony was a chocolate brown stallion with a shaggy, unkempt black mane. He wore a green vest adorned with pockets over a gray short-sleeved shirt. His eyes were closed as he played, seemingly lost in the music. An old gray trilby with a black band encircling the crown sat upside-down on the bench next to the stallion, a few bits scattered within it.

"You are talented," Rarity praised the musician as they passed, dropping a small sapphire into the hat. The stallion opened his eyes, revealing stormcloud gray irides, and nodded his thanks.

The seven friends continued down the pathway, enjoying the warmth of the day. Near the back of the pack, Rainbow abruptly realized that the saxophone music had halted. Turning back, she saw that the stallion was sitting still on the bench, staring after them with a curious expression, his saxophone lowered. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him, and the stallion turned away, raising the reed back up to his lips and continuing to play. Rainbow frowned, then hurried after her friends.

No one noticed the two strange ponies watching the library from across the street. "Okay, they've left," one of them muttered. "The library should be clear."

"Let's go," his partner said, striding forward.

The sun had almost completed its arc across the orange-tinted sky by the time the group returned from the party, still laughing. "I've never had a birthday party like that before!" Applejack said.

"Well, duh! That's cause you've never had one planned especially for you by me before!" Pinkie replied, hopping alongside the group.

"Well, this has been fun, girls, but it's late and I've got a book to study," Twilight said, approaching the door to the library.

Which she suddenly realized was open and unlocked, in spite of the fact that she'd closed and locked it. And that the spare key, which was supposed to be in a small box hidden in the foliage to the right of the door, was sitting in the lock. She dashed across the threshold and immediately stopped, staring at the bewildering, horrifying sight before her in complete shock.

The library had been ransacked. Books from a number of shelves had been tossed onto the floor, left behind in heaps. Torn pages littered the ground. The sight of the precious books being so mistreated aroused Twilight's anger, but was immediately overruled by her concern. She glanced around quickly, but found that nothing seemed to have been taken.

"Who would do this?" she asked, picking up the books and checking them for damage.

"Somepony with no sense of organization, that's for sure," Rarity said, joining in the cleanup effort.

"Or somepony who hates books," Rainbow Dash put in.

The group was interrupted by a quiet cough from the door. "Sounds like what you sheilas need is a detective," a voice with a strange accent spoke.

Everypony turned to see a stallion step through the door into the library. A chocolate brown earth pony with a green vest, a gray short-sleeved shirt, and a gray trilby atop his shaggy black mane. The busker's gray eyes studied the room, no expression displaying on his face.

"Do you...know one?" Twilight hesitantly asked the stranger.

"You might say that," the stallion said, his deep, quiet voice marked with a foreign accent. He stepped further into the room and turned a little to the side, revealing his cutie mark: a black magnifying glass.

The stranger touched the brim of his trilby and nodded in greeting. "G'day. Phillip Finder, private detective, at your service."

Author's Notes:

Well, here we go. The very first story I ever wrote, introducing my character.

I know it's not much, but I hope that you enjoyed it enough to take a look at the rest of the story!