Celestia's sun had just barely begun to rise above the horizon when Flash knocked at the door of 221 B Boulevard.

"Open!" Phillip's voice called distantly.

Flash entered, glad to be out of the cold and stepped inside to the living room. Noticing the door to the basement stairs was open, he headed down and found himself in Phillip's basement laboratory. Phillip himself was sitting at a table, his eyes glued to a microscope.

"Nice crime lab," Fash said, examining the shelves of scientific equipment and books with interest.

Phillip grunted in acknowledgement, not raising his gaze from the microscope.

Flash licked his dry lips and realized that he had unconsciously settled into attention. Ordering himself to relax, he spoke up. "I searched all morning, but I couldn't find any trace of the thief. I questioned the neighbors, but nopony had seen anything useful."

"I expected as much," Phillip said without looking up.

Being the professional soldier that he was, Flash did not allow his face to change. But the offhoof comment stung like the cold wind in his face. So I've been running around wasting my time, have I? he thought bitterly.

"Meanwhile, I've been taking a look at the thief's mask," Phillip continued. "I found several hairs on the inside of it. Long black mane hairs, smooth ends indicating that the thief recently had a haircut. Also had some hairs from coat. They were silver in color, but when I took a closer look, I found that they had been dyed."

Flash blinked in surprise. Dyed silver? Recently cut mane?

"Sir, I think I know who this is."

Dreamcaster was renting a cottage on Maple Road. A simple, run-down affair, it was a small white two-story house, nearly identical from all the others in the suburb.

Phillip knocked at the door, Flash behind him. "You sure about this, mate?" he asked.

"Almost positive," Flash said.

The door opened and Dreamcaster was standing there, looking both of them over with bleary eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Phillip Finder," Phillip introduced himself. "I think you know Flash. May we come inside?"

Dreamcaster looked confused. "We just want to ask a few questions," Flash said reassuringly.

"Uh, all right," Dreamcaster said, standing back and allowing them entry. The two stallions entered the living room, which was a demonstration of organized chaos: there was a couch, a coffee table, and a few chairs, most of which were covered in junk food wrappers and magazines. There were no books to be seen.

"Either of you want coffee?" Dreamcaster offered, using his magic to levitate over a cup of coffee from the kitchen (which was, if anything, as much a disaster zone as the living room). The cup, surrounded by a golden aura, was raised to his lips and he took a long draught.

"No, thanks," Phillip said as he and Flash both seated themselves in one of the chairs.

"So, uh, what's this about?" Dreamcaster yawned, flopping down on the couch.

"Are you aware that the Ponyville Jewelry store was robbed last night?" Phillip said.

Dreamcaster didn't blink. "Yeah, of course. The whole freaking town knows; that alarm bell woke up everypony, including me."

"You were here all of last night?" Phillip asked.

"Yes, and before you ask, nopony was here with me."

Flash and Phillip both glanced at each other before continuing. "When did you come here to Ponyville?"

"About three months ago," Dreamcaster replied. "I started renting this cottage after I lost my old job in Fillydelphia."

"And when did you meet Amethyst Star?"

"Soon after I came here," Dreamcaster smiled, taking another draught from the coffee. "We met up on the street, and something just clicked, you know?"

Flash suppressed a smile. "Yeah, I do." Catching the look on Phillip's face, he continued: "I know we asked this before, but are you sure you haven't seen anypony strange around town?"

Dreamcaster shook his head, licking his pursed lips. "Sorry, no. Wait, hold on: I think I saw somepony that you described last time hanging around the jewelry store around three yesterday."

"Hmm," Phillip murmured, looking around. "Nice typewriter."

Dreamcaster glanced up at the old typewriter sitting on the bare wooden desk in the corner of the living room. "Oh, yeah, that. I've been using that to send letters to employers. I've been looking for a decent job around here." He looked down at the coffee cup. "Hey, this coffee just goes right through me! Mind if I go to the bathroom?"

"Go ahead," Flash nodded. Dreamcaster exited the room, setting his coffee down in the kitchen as he left for the bathroom.

As soon as he was out of sight, Phillip got up and went over to the desk. Taking a clean sheet of paper out from a stack, he set it into the typewriter and tapped out a few letters.

"Romano type 13, O key misaligned, E and T faded," he said in a low voice. "You were right, Flash."

"Must have dyed his coat and had his cutie mark tattooed over. How should we proceed?" Flash asked.

"No need to spoil the surprise," Phillip said. "We can wait until he comes out, when his guard will be down."

There was a pause while they both waited in silence for Dreamcaster to return. "He's taking a while, isn't he?" Flash wondered.

Phillip walked quickly towards the bathroom and knocked on the locked door. "Dreamcaster? You in there?" he called.

Silence. Frowning, Phillip knocked harder on the door. "Dreamcaster!" Still nothing. Bracing himself, Phillip knocked the door down with his shoulder.

The small bathroom was empty. The back window was open, and there were hoofprints outside.

"He's gone after Bon Bon. To the park!" Phillip declared, already heading out the door. He and Flash hurried for the Ponyville park, both of them cursing their idiocy with every step.

Bon Bon and Lyra weren't hard to spot in the early morning park, primarily because of Lyra's distinctive, unusual way of sitting with her back perpendicular to the ground and her hind legs dangling off the bench while Bon Bon lay beside her, reading a newspaper.

Dreamcaster approached the two at a trot, his glaring eyes focused on Bon Bon, who did not notice his approach until he was within a few feet.

"Dreamcaster," she said with a pleasant smile. "Is there something—?"

She paused, her eyes widening as she suddenly recognized the look on Dreamcaster's face from long, long ago: a look that preceded violence.

"Lockpick!" she gasped, trying to get away, but it was too late: the false stallion lunged forward and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her off the bench.

"Hey, Sweetie," he said in a low growl. "Miss me?"

"Let go!" Bon Bon shouted, struggling in his grip.

"Let her go!" Lyra said, leaping up to her hooves, but stopping when Lockpick pulled a knife out of his pocket.

"Filthy little fillyfooler," he snarled, before returning his attention to Bon Bon. "Did you honestly think you could run away from me? I've been watching you for days, right under your nose."

"Lockpick!"

Everypony looked up to see Phillip and Flash rushing towards them. Lockpick immediately picked up Bon Bon and held the knife to her throat. "Get back!"

"There's no way out of here, Lockpick," Phillip said calmly.

"She's my way out," Lockpick growled. "I loved her...and she left me for that freak!"

"If you really loved her, you have a funny way of showing it," Flash said. He and Phillip both kept their distance from the hostage taker, slowly splitting up to divide his attention. Bon Bon was panting through clenched teeth, sweat trickling down her brow as she stared at the knife at her throat. Lyra watched helplessly, her horn sparking yellow with barely controlled emotion.

"She's mine!" Lockpick shouted. "She was mine! I stole just to make her happy and she abandoned me!"

"You abused her," Phillip snapped back. "You don't love her at all: she's just another prize to you."

"She wasn't happy with you," Lyra said. "She's happy with me."

"Shut up!" Lockpick snarled, turning to her, his eyes blazing as he pointed the knife at her. "Just shut—!"

Seeing that Lockpick's concentration was broken, Phillip, Flash, Lyra and Bon Bon all seized their chances. With a flick of his hoof, Phillip sent his boomerang spinning out, striking Lockpick in the forehead and stunning him. Lyra reached out with her magic, seizing the knife in a golden field and holding it fast. Bon Bon elbowed her captor in the chest and spun out of his grasp. As soon as she was clear, Flash flew forward and delivered a hard cross to Lockpick's jaw, knocking him down.

Bon Bon collapsed into Lyra's embrace, panting and trembling with shock. "Are you all right?" Lyra asked.

Bon Bon took a slow breath. "Yes, I'm fine," she said softly, wiping her eyes.

Flash and Phillip pulled Lockpick to his hooves, Flash cuffing his hooves and putting an inhibitor ring on his horn. As soon as he was able to speak again, he started screeching curses. "You little fillyfooler! I gave you everything! Where would you be if it wasn't for me?! Huh?! You stupid, stinking—"

He was silenced when Bon Bon slapped him in the face hard enough to leave a bruise. "I'm not afraid of you anymore," she said calmly, giving him a glare that could sour milk.

"Let's go, creep," Flash snarled, tugging Lockpick along the path.

Lyra kissed Bon Bon on the forehead. "That's my Bonnie," she said fondly.

Author's Notes:

After struggling with writer's block, I finally managed to produce this. But we're not done yet: we still have to find that loot!