One hour later, Phillip and Twilight compared notes over the stacks of periodicals spread out across the table that creaked beneath the weight of dozens of papers. "This Monopoly is not a nice character," Twilight stated, holding up a financial magazine that had the silver-maned unicorn's face plastered across the dark background. "He's a very rich pony who owns land all over Equestria, and runs several businesses. In fact, he's been named the fifth or sixth richest pony in Equestria." She held up another paper that had a picture of a smirking Monopoly leaving the Manehattan courthouse, accompanied by a smaller but arrogant-looking bespectacled pony that must have been his lawyer.

"But he's been linked to organized crime for years," she added. "He's been in court dozens of times, but the charges have always been dropped."

"Either due to lack of evidence, witnesses or victims recanting...or disappearing," Phillip observed, flipping through another paper that detailed Monopoly having been found not liable in a lawsuit brought against him by a pony that claimed had been threatened into handing over some of his property.

"Why would he want to buy some of Fluttershy's land?" Twilight asked as Spike brought her another stack of papers.

"Whatever he wants it for, it'll make him richer," Phillip said, continuing to read the paper.

Twilight set down her papers for a moment. "This crime sense of yours," she asked. "How does it work?"

"It sounds like Pinkie's Pinkie Sense," Spike said, climbing up a ladder and replacing some books back on the shelfs.

"Pinkie Sense?" Phillip asked, looking up.

"Every so often, Pinkie Pie will get these little twitches that warn her about something that's going to happen in the future," Twilight explained. "Like if her tail twitches, that means that something's going to fall. I still haven't figured out how it works; all we know is that it does."

Phillip raised an eyebrow. "Yes, really," Twilight said in answer to the unspoken question.

Phillip chewed his lip in thought for a few seconds. "It's not exactly like that," he said. "It's...how do I describe it? It's an instinctive feeling more than anything else. It just tells me that a crime has been, is, or will occur, either at a specific place, or by or against a specific pony. But it doesn't tell me anything more than that. I don't know how it works, nor do I care to know; it's sufficient for me that it does."

"Fascinating," Twilight murmured, placing her chin on her hoof. "I wonder if it's connected to your cutie mark, or if it's part of your earth pony magic...I bet this would make an interesting case study..." A smile spread across her features as she started to imagine experimental designs, surveys and paper outlines. Spike brought her back to earth by clearing his throat loudly. "What?" she started. "Oh...oh, right." She quickly started studying the newspaper in front of her again.

"So if this Monopoly guy set off your crime sense, why don't you keep an eye on him and catch him in the act?" Spike asked, climbing down from the ladder.

"It doesn't work like that," Phillip answered. "In the past, I've found that I usually can't do anything to prevent the crime from occurring. I have no idea what he's going to do, or even if he's done anything yet. And I can't follow somepony or have them arrested for something that they haven't done, especially based on nothing more than what boils down to a hunch."

"What's this about Fluttershy?" a voice came from the door.

"G'day, Rainbow," Phillip said without looking up at the pegasus who had just walked into the library. Twilight filled Rainbow Dash in on Monopoly and his offer to purchase Fluttershy's land.

"So he's trying to get Fluttershy to sell her land to him?" Rainbow said in confusion. "What for?"

"We don't know yet," Twilight said.

"Maybe I should go over there and scare him off," Rainbow grunted, cracking her hooves.

"He'd just have you sued for harassment," Phillip said, continuing to study the newspaper article. "And his pockets are much deeper than—"

He suddenly froze. His head snapped up towards the Everfree Forest, his eyes narrowing. Shivers went down his short tail. The others stared at him in confusion.

"Fluttershy's cottage," he said, and sprinted out the door. Rainbow Dash and Twilight hurried after him.

Author's Notes:

Intended as a "bridge" chapter to set up Monopoly and explain more about Phillip's crime sense.

Going slightly off-topic, I've noticed something odd about Feeling Pinkie Keen. I found myself asking, "If Pinkie hadn't said or done anything, would those things have still happened?" Ask yourself that the next time you see the episode.

Updates soon, hopefully.