The next morning, the group gathered at Fancy Pants mansion, sitting in the study as the sun shone through the expansive windows. Pinkie and Cheese looked much better after a proper meal and some rest, and Cheese was delighted to be reunited with Boneless 2.

However, Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis were less happy to see Cheese in their home once more. "Miss Rarity, you know we trust you, but what exactly is happening here?" Fancy asked, giving Rarity a curious look.

"Trust me, my friend," Rarity smiled, adjusting her Shadow Spade trenchcoat and hat. "I will explain everything once we are all present."

"Who else is missing?" Fleur asked.

Her question was answered a moment later when the door opened and Encore Performance entered. He looked around at the ensemble with an expression of bemusement. "Fancy? What's going on?"

"I'm merely going to answer a few questions about what happened the night the Muletese Falcon disappeared," Rarity explained, standing up and walking around the room. "First and foremost: who really took the Falcon?" She paused for dramatic effect, then turned to Cheese Sandwich. "Obviously, it was not our friend Cheese here."

"And how can you be so sure?" Encore frowned. "He was the one who had the Falcon in his saddlebag."

"Yes, but how did he manage to get the Falcon out of its case without setting off an alarm?" Rarity pointed out. "Cheese Sandwich is not an experienced thief, and he had never been in this mansion before: he didn't even know where the Falcon was. And when did he have the time to do it? According to testimony from the guests, he was busy entertaining the party guests the entire time and never got the chance to go near the casing."

"That's true," Fancy Pants said thoughtfully.

"The truth is, there was somepony at that party who was not who they said they were," Rarity continued. "And that pony was the one who had studied for a long time on how to defeat the casing's security and smuggle the Falcon out of the home. And I know who that pony was. Mr. Performance, what were the hors d'oeuvres that Mr. Sandwich served at the party?"

"A peanut butter mini pizza," Encore responded, obviously wondering if Rarity had taken leave of her sanity.

"And you enjoyed it, correct?"

"Yes, it was good. Where are you going with this?"

"Well, you see, Fleur told me that Encore Performance is allergic to legumes...including peanuts," Rarity stated, whirling on the other pony. "If you ate something with peanut butter with no ill effects, this can only mean one thing...you are not the real Encore Performance!"

Every pony in the room stared at the accused imposter, who stared back in surprise. After a few moments of stammering in protest, he scowled and let out a frustrated growl.

"Of course...I forgot all about that stupid allergy. All right, I admit it: I'm not Encore Performance. I'm his twin brother, Matinee Performance."

"Encore never mentioned that he had a twin brother," Fancy said.

"Of course he didn't," Matinee grumbled, lighting up his horn. His magic wiped off the false cutie marks, revealing his true cutie marks: another set of tragedy and comedy masks, but bronze rather than gold, and the reverse of his brother's. "You might know me by my stage name, Full House. I've always been the black sheep of the family. I've impersonated him on and off for years; posing as him, I'd get in the good graces of rich saps like yourself, figure out how to get your goods, and rob you blind. That's how this worked out: I got rid of your normal party planner, locked my brother in the basement, hired that stupid, goofy-looking sucker—"

"I am not goofy-looking!" Cheese protested.

"—sneak the Falcon out during the party and put it in his saddlebags to get him to take the fall for it, smuggle the Falcon out of police custody, and get paid...but of course I forgot that Encore was allergic to peanuts!"

"I think you should continue this conversation at the local precinct," Twilight stated, lighting up her horn. A magical set of shackles appeared around Matinee Performance's hooves, trapping him in place. A servant was quickly called and dispatched to summon the City Guard.

"And I would've gotten away with it, too," Matinee growled at the floor. "If it weren't for you meddling ponies!"

Within a few minutes, a pair of Guards entered the room, took the imposter by the arms and guided him away to jail. Once he was gone, Fancy Pants and Fleur both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Monsieur Sandwich, we must ask for your forgiveness," Fleur said to Cheese, hanging her head humbly. "We rushed to conclusions, and that was wrong."

"It's all right," Cheese said with a smile.

"I just wish that Scarlet Letter hadn't managed to escape," Flash said. "She even got to keep the Muletese Falcon!"

"Oh, you mean this?" Fleur grinned, pulling something out from behind her back. A golden statuette of a falcon, with a variety of diamonds imbedded into it that glittered like a rainbow.

"The Muletese Falcon!" Twilight burst out in shock as everypony stared at the statuette that had miraculously appeared. "But...but how did...?"

"Did you really think that we would keep the real Falcon out in the open where anypony could take it during a party?" Fancy Pants laughed. "The one that was stolen was merely a copy."

"So where did you keep the real Falcon?" Applejack asked.

"Hidden beneath our bed," Fleur replied, giggling as though she found the whole thing to be a very funny joke. The troupe of ponies groaned in unison.

"I wouldn't worry about Miss Scarlet," Fancy Pants assured them. "I'm sure justice will catch up to them sooner or later." Smiling, he shook hooves with Cheese and the others. "I must thank you all for your diligence. Without you, the truth might never have come to light."

"Just doing our job," Flash replied.

With that, the entourage exited the mansion, strolling past the topiary buses and out onto the morning streets of Canterlot. The light from the sun illuminated every street and building like they were gilded with gold. Pinkie and Cheese walked side by side, leaning against each other and happily nuzzling.

"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie asked, brightening up. "A party!"

"An 'I'm Free From Jail' Party!" Cheese followed up. "I haven't had to throw one of those in years!"

Laughing, the group continued on their way towards the train station, but Cheese Sandwich held back a little, his steps slow and uncertain until he trundled to a complete halt, his head lowered in thought. Finally, he took a deep breath and walked up to Pinkie, who was joking with Rainbow Dash.

"Pinkie, can we talk for a moment?" he asked.

Pinkie nodded, and Cheese guided her towards the back of the carriage, leaving the others to their own conversations. He stood in silence for a moment, swaying uncertainly.

"Cheesy? What is it?" Pinkie asked in concern.

Cheese swallowed, staring into her wide eyes. The perfect shade of blue. Her gaze filled him up with courage, holding that same mysterious power over him that he had felt all those years ago at that party he'd attended as a colt. He swallowed and began to speak.

"Pinkie, there's something I'd like to confess," he said shyly. "When I arrived at Ponyville that day, it wasn't because of my Cheese Sense or anything like that. It was because I just...wanted to spend Hearts and Hooves Day with you. See, Pinkie, I realized that I missed you a lot after I left, and I just...wanted to spend some time with you, letting you know how I felt." He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously, his head hanging low. "And then all this happened and...everything just kind of got messed up. And worst of all, you got hurt." His face creased in concern. "I'm...I'm really sorry, Pinkie."

There was a brief moment of silence, then Pinkie reached out and gently lifted Cheese's chin up so that he was looking at her face, which held a wide, loving smile. "For what, you silly?" Pinkie laughed. "None of this was your fault! And besides, even if we were running from the Guard and those thugs, I kind of had fun; I was with you, and you..." She paused, a small blush tinging her cheeks. "You make me happy, Cheese. Like, really happy. When I'm with you, I get this kind of floaty feeling like there's butterflies in my stomach and my heart starts beating quicker like it's doing a happy little dance and I get kind of hot and nervous and..." She giggled quietly. "I like you, too, Cheesy. Really, really like you."

Something exploded inside Cheese's chest, a feeling like sunshine spreading throughout his entire body and reaching up to his face, sparking a humongous smile to spread across his cheeks. He laughed quietly, and Pinkie's giggle joined his mirth.

This was the moment. All his years of party planning had made Cheese Sandwich an expert at timing, and all that experience was telling him, now. Slowly, he leaned forward, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against Pinkie's. She melted into his embrace like warm cheese, returning the kiss with equal passion.

"Awww!" Fluttershy and Rarity cooed.

"Heh, took 'em long enough," Applejack chuckled. Rainbow Dash pretended to gag.

Pinkie looked up at her friends with a raised eyebrow. "A little privacy, please?"

"Sorry, Pinkie," Twilight giggled. "Come on, everypony, let's give them a little space." The others continued on their way, leaving the other two a ways behind. Giggling and blushing, Cheese and Pinkie followed, cuddling together happily. Before they arrived at Ponyville, they had plenty of time for their own little party, celebrating their union and their new relationship. They—

"You too, Josiah."

Huh? Oh, sorry. Um...maybe I should just skip to the next section.

An hour later, the train pulled into the station from Ponyville with a hissing of brakes and steaming. The friends disembarked onto the platform.

"See you ponies later!" Pinkie called as she happily bounced off with Cheese. "We've got a party to plan!" The two disappeared towards Sugarcube Corner, giggling like little fillies. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all waved goodbye to Twilight and Flash as they returned to their own homes.

Flash shook his head as he watched them. "Can you imagine if they got married?" he chuckled to Twilight.

"Please, don't put that image in my head," a familiar voice said.

"Phil? You're back from Vanhoover!" Flash said in delight, spotting him waiting at the edge of the platform.

"Yeah," Phil said. "Would've joined you in Canterlot, but it's kind of hard to go anywhere when you're hiding in the hold of a pirate ship." He glanced at the retreating form of Cheese Sandwich. "So what happened?"

Twilight and Flash explained the full story to him. Phillip listened in silence, his face stoic, but his eyes twinkled faintly when Flash told him how they had arrived at each deduction and decision. When the story was finished, he looked at them both, and smiled faintly.

"You did aces, all of you," he said. "I heard about this case and wondered why my crime sense didn't warn me about it. Shouldn't have worried for a moment." He reached over and patted Flash on the back. "You were all in good hooves: each others."

Flash grinned back and put an arm around Phil's shoulders for a moment. "Thanks, chief."

"No worries," Phillip replied, bumping his forehead against Flash's. After a moment, he broke off from the embrace. "I'd better find a place to hide. Have fun at the party."

"Thanks!" Flash and Twilight waved Phillip goodbye before taking flight and setting off towards the castle. After a quick flight through the late morning air, they landed in front of the grand crystal doors, which Twilight opened wide with her magic.

"Spike? We're back!" she called out into the empty hallway. There was no response. "Spike?" Twilight called again.

"This way," Flash beckoned, guiding Twilight down a side hallway, from which faint noises could be heard coming from the castle library. They opened the doors and entered the library to find Spike and Starlight Glimmer sitting at the main table. Starlight was poring over a thick tome, while Spike scribbled down notes in a long scroll.

"Hello!" Twilight called.

"Twilight! Flash! You're back!" Spike shouted in joy as he looked up.

"Hello!" Starlight smiled. "Did it go well?"

"We rescued Pinkie and Cheese and got everypony home, safe and sound," Twilight responded. "I'll tell you all about it later. What are you two working on?"

"While you were gone, I thought of something," Starlight stated, revealing the items on the table: several fragments of purple-blue crystal, carved from the walls of the Friendship Castle. "It occurred to me that neither of us actually knew much about this castle; what kind of magic is inside it, if any, how it functions, that kind of thing. So I thought, maybe I could study it for myself, just to see what I could find out."

"That sounds like a brilliant idea!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that? What have you got so far?"

"Well, we were just starting to do some research and start some basic observations," Starlight said, showing Twilight her notes.

"I'd love to help, but Pinkie and Cheese are planning a party soon," Twilight said. "Why don't you two start getting ready?"

"All right!" Spike cheered, dropping his quill and scroll and rushing off in a blur of motion.

"Thanks, Twilight. Glad you're back," Starlight said, giving Twilight a brief hug before bouncing off to her quarters. Flash's stern gaze followed her out.

Noticing the look in his eyes, Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Flash, I really wish you could learn to trust her." Flash just gave a quiet grunt.

"Look, forget about it for a while," Twilight said, slinking closer to him and pressing her sides against his, gently rubbing his wing against his flank. Flash gasped in surprise, his wings unwillingly stiffening. "We have a while until the party later, and I thought we could practice a few things that I'd read about." She grinned up at him, flicking his tail against him.

Flash grinned in reply. "Your wish is my command, Your Highness." Twilight pulled Flash down onto the cushions, using her magic to remove his armor and giggling happily as Flash peppered her cheeks with kisses.

Hearts and Hooves Day might have been over, but love was still in the air, and as long as ponies lived and loved, there would always be reason to celebrate.

Author's Notes:

So, how many of you guessed who the thief was? I'm sure that some of you picked up that little clue I left you!

This will officially wrap up this storyline. We still have an epilogue ahead, but for now, I'm glad of the progress that I've made! I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it!

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