***Authors Note. Yes there are two of these.
I am not a layer. I have never been in law school and I am not interested. I wanted to just say that Equestria is not our wold and therefore dose not have to follow our rules but the truth is being exposed to a similar fiction over and over again can convince people it is true. I do not want to spread misconceptions. I did a lot of research and I know I only scratched the surface of how the legal system actually works. I am going to slim down the legal stuff as much as possible because I do not want to any harm. If you don't believe me do your own research on the impact of watching criminal dramas on jury behavior.***

August

Sunset woke up and snuggled into her pillow. Memories and happy feelings from when she first moved into the castle flooded her. Princess Celestia had left her room almost completely untouched. Occasionally Princess Celestia herself would come in and dust.

The smells from her old room brought back all kinds of memories she had forgotten. The good and the bad. She had stewed in them all yesterday evening until her girlfriend begged her to join them to dinner.

When she had arrived in her room yesterday she smelled a faint whiff of a pregnant mare that smelled like her. It brought her back to when she was thirteen immediately.

Sunset reluctantly left her bed. She walked over to her bathroom and washed her face. She felt tall in her old room.

Sunset walked the familiar halls down to the dining room. An enormous array of breakfast food was arranged for everyone. Minuet was putting food on her plate while chatting enthusiastically with Twinkle Shine, Lyra and Lemon Hearts. Both Moon Dancer’s looked half asleep as did Princess Luna. Spike and both Twilights were sitting together eating. Rarity and Octavia were waiting to serve themselves.

Sunset waited until everyone had full plates until she approached the serving table. Sunset put a stack of pancakes and syrup and fruit on her plate and walked over to her girlfriend.

“Hey Sunset.” Midnight said. “Did you sleep well?”

Sunset shrugged. “I had some confusing dreams but it was nice to sleep in my old bed.”

“What do you mean by confusing dreams.” Spike asked.

Sunset glanced over to Princess Luna. “Just a mess of veige memories from… when I lived with my parents.”

“Anything you want to talk about?” Midnight asked.

“No. Not right now.” Sunset said looking at her hooves.

Spike suddenly belched fire and a sealed letter appeared. Princess immediately grabbed the letter in her magic and opened it.

“Dear Princess Twilight, I had a cancellation so I am able to meet with your friend Sunset Shimmer for a consult today at eleven am. Kindly respond immediately to book the appointment. Sincerely Laurel Branch Canterlot Prosecutor”

“Well?” Princess Asked Sunset.

“Definitely.” Sunset said immediately.

Princess grabbed a quill and hastily wrote back and then floated the letter to spike to sent it.

“So you’ll need to get all your materials together and prepare you story for the prosecutor.” Princess Luna said.

“I can help you prepare your case.” Octavia volunteered.

“Me too.” Rarity said.

“Thanks.” Sunset said. “I appreciate the help.”

The group ate in silence. One by one the ponies piled their empty plates on a trolley. Spike belched flames again and another letter appears.

Sunset grabbed the letter before Twilight could.

“To: Sunset Shimmer, In order to make your consult with Prosecutor Laurel Branch efficient, productive and satisfying she will need you to have your story rehearsed and bring copies of all of the documents relevant to your case. We look forward to working with you. Violacea, Case Manager of Laurel Branch Canterlot Prosecutor”

“Has the pony been arrested yet?” Rarity asked.

“My first meeting today is with the chief of police of Canterlot. The warrant for his arrest will be out soon. Speaking of which I must go preparer.” Princess Luna got up and walked away in the direction of her office.

“Fantastic.” said Rarity. “Shall we split?”

There was a general nod and most of the unicorns and Spike followed Princess to the library. Sunset Shimmer, Iunae, Midnight, Rarity and Octavia remained.

“Where should we go?” Midnight asked.

“Let’s go see If we can get into my old office.” Sunset said leading the way.

Sunset fetched her old key ring from her room and lead the group to a lower floor of Celestia’s tower. (Sunset’s room is a little more then half way up.)

Sunset stopped at a plain door with an empty plaque. She put one of the keys in the hole and turned. The door opened easily. Twelve years of dust greeted them. The ponies except Sunset recoiled and shuffled away from the door trying to avoid the expanding dust cloud. Rarity hastily ran down the hall to avoid the dust. She summoned a magical breeze to blow the dust cloud away.

Sunset’s horn lit up and a transparent bubble formed around her and her hooves glowed. She walked in and opened the curtains letting light into the dark room. She opened the window and a gentle warm breeze drifted in causing the dust to swirl and sparkle. Sunset concentrated and then all the dust on top of the furniture and inside the draws flew out the window. Sunset turned her attention to the floor and another cloud few out the window. Sunset turned her attention to the walls and the ceiling. More gunk went out the window including some spiders and cobwebs. Sunset aggressively, magically purged her office of anything she didn’t want in it. Sunset’s bubble vanished and she began to set up chairs around her desk.

Midnight was the first one to walk in. Sunset’s office seemed clean enough now. She walked over to the desk and took a seat. The others followed slowly.

“Sunset you must teach me how to do that some time. My parents’ garage needs it. Badly.” Rarity said.

“Definitely.” Sunset said.

Rarity and Sunset helped Iunae, Midnight and Octavia get dust out of their manes, tails and fur. Finally everyone was clean and seated comfortably.

“What kind of papers do you think we are going to need?” Sunset asked as she got out an empty notebook and opened it.

“First let’s start with what charges you want to press.” Octavia said.

“Two counts of kidnapping, one count of forcible containment and one count of attempted forcible containment. I don’t think we will have enough evidence to convict him of anything else without Rai herself testifying what happened to her.” Sunset said darkly.

“What are the dates these events happened and then what happened.” Octavia asked.

“On August ninth she went missing in my world.” Iunae said. “And all the sightings in Canterlot are from August fourteenth.” *

“Princess Celestia said she was in my bed sleeping at nine am when she checked in on her at noon, she was kidnapped before five pm on August tenth because that is when she went back into my room to talk to her.” Sunset recalled.*

“So we need to prove that she was with Tree Maker during that time.” Octavia said. “We don’t have her testimony so we will need tangible evidence. Something that links her to him in the right time frame.”

“Also we need to prove that she did not want to be with him.” Rarity pointed out.

“Does he have associates or servants that could have seen her and would be willing to testify?” Midnight asked.

“No.” Sunset said immediately. “I mean he has servants but I will be shocked if any of them are willing to testify against him.”

“What if we pressed charges of… being his accomplices.” Iunae suggested.

“Definitely.” Midnight said.

“That could work…” Sunset made notes.

“What could possibly tie her to him?” Octavia asked.

Sunset thought about the stories she had heard from the ponies who had seen Rai. Most of it was easy enough to explain. No one had given them much helpful detail. Except for the stallion at the restaurant that Iunae talked to.

Velvet saddlebags? No one said they were velvet. That’s expensive. How the hell did she get expensive saddlebags. Even on my generous allowance from Princess Celestia I could not have afforded something like that. And they had my cutiemark on them. They must have been made just for her… Or me. Did he do this to persuade her to trust him? Or had he ordered them before then. How has the maker not stepped forward. It’s my cutiemark surely they saw the paper add. How has no one stepped forward saying they saw my cutiemark not just on her rump but on her saddlebags. Sure lots of ponies have red and yellow in their manes but those saddlebags seem pretty dam distinkt. How did ponies not notice. Or did she have them covered up all day?

“Sunset?” Midnight’s voice drew Sunset out of her thoughts.

“What?” Sunset stammered.

“You were spacing out I was just worried.” Midnight reached out and put her hoof on Sunset’s shoulder.

“I was just thinking about her saddlebags.” Sunset said. “Rarity where would I go if was rich and I wanted to order custom velvet saddlebags with my cutiemark on them here in Canterlot?”

“You would go to Birds of Paradise Fashion Emporium.” Rarity said immediately. “I get asked to tailor cheaper versions of their products all the time.”

Octavia nodded. “They are famous for their really glamorous and expensive accessories.” Octavia said matter of factly. “My aunt got a custom embroidery purse there.”

“We will need to demand the release of client records, specifically whether Tree Maker is on it.” Sunset made more notes.

“We should also check in with local pawn shops.” Iunae stated.

“What do you mean?” Octavia asked.

“I think this is something you suggested, or maybe it was the other Rarity…” Iunae said thoughtfully. “The contrast between her fancy saddlebags and her ratty cloak was noted by several witnesses. What if she had more than one expensive custom item, or just another expensive item and sold it at a pawn shop and then used the leftover money to buy everything else.”

“That makes sense.” Midnight said.

“There are three pawn shops in Canterlot…” Sunset trailed off when Rarity shook her head.

“A fourth one opened a few years ago.” Rarity interjected.

“Okay, there are four oawn shops, we can get the security footage of the morning of the fourteenth from all of them if none of them want to offer it.” Sunset made more notes.

“Do you think any of the other places Rai went have security cameras?” Midnight asked hopefully.

“The clothing store and the library do. I doubt the bakery could afford them but we can check.” Rarity suggested.

Sunset made notes.

“I agree that the situation Moon- Iunae described is likely but I think we should keep our minds open to the possibility that she obtained money some other way. We know for certain that she had expensive saddlebags, and a ratty cloak. All the witnesses so far agree on that. We need to make a list of what she bought.” Octavia insisted.

“I agree. If I’m remembering correctly, she was prepared to pay for a hat but didn’t have to then she bought a pastry, a sandwich, rent at the hot house, a salad and a glass of hard cider. She seems to have had enough money to buy what she wanted and was able to leave generous tips.” Iunae said.

“Where did you get the generous tips part?” Octavia asked.

“Both Lemon Hearts and the waiter from yesterday mentioned she left them generous tips.” Iunae said.

“Okay so she had lots of money.” Sunset made more notes.

“Or had no idea how this currency works.” Midnight chimed in.

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“You guys have three coins and I have no idea how valuable any of them are. I would guess that the gold one is the most valuable of the three but I don’t know! None of you have explained it to me!” Midnight exclaimed.

“Sorry sweetheart. I forgot how different the economics are on the different sides of the mirror.” Sunset said. “Here we have a base twelve curency.”

“Also we have seven coins.” Octavia said.

“Let’s see.” said Sunset thinking. “You need twelve or a multiple of twelve of one coins to make another. In ascending order there are copper, bronze, gold, silver, platinum, tungsten and zirconium coins.”*

“So the Zirconium coin is worth 35,831,808 copper coins?” Iunae asked casually.

Rarity stared at her in shock at how fast she had come up with a big number.

Sunset chuckled. “No it’s much more valuable.Some of the jumps are bigger.”

“Only a handful of the richest families have physical tungsten and zirconium coins.” Octavia said.

“And they never shut up about it!” Sunset said.

“My cousin is one of Celestia’s accountants and he said that Tungsten and Zirconium coins are rarely minted. Most exist in theory rather than physical objects. Even if a family or individual could have one, they usually don’t as they don’t want to, ‘put all their eggs in one basket’. They are most useful on paper for business accounting or in calculating taxes and budgets.” Octavia said.

“Wow.” Twilight said.

“How are the coins decorated?” Iunae asked.

“One face bears the symbol of equestria that is on our flag. The other has different stuff depending on the type and if it is from a limited minting.” Rarity said. “The copper has a songbird; the bronze a falcon the gold a dragon; the silver an owl, the platinum a griffin, the tungsten a star and the Zirconium the moon.”

“Certain mintings depict a specific species of bird or specific dragons or griffins of history, specific stars or a particular phase of the moon’s transformation.” Said Octavia.

“Wow. That is more than I needed to know.” Midnight said.

“As interesting as this is let’s get back to building a case to lock up someone who kidnapped my wife.” Iunae said.

“So.” Midnight began. “Our story is that Rai was kidnapped from her room in Celestia’s tower on August tenth by Tree Maker-”

Sunset shuddered at the name.

“-And any accomplices he had. She was held on his property until she managed to get away from him. On August fourteenth she was spotted by many ponies all over Canterlot with velvet saddlebags, a ratty cloak and a decent hat. She went to a clothing shop and acquired the aforementioned hat. Then she went into a bakery, the lybrary, the hot house, a restaurant and then back to the hot house where she was found and taken away by Tree Maker and then somehow she got away. She turned in her key to a room in the hot house and left.” Midnight stated matter of factly.

“Accomplices?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah. It’s something we discussed before we came to this side of the portal.” Sunset said. “In order to get to my bedchamber you would have to get past a lot of royal guards. This would be must easier if you briber or otherwise coerced some of the guards. Tree Maker was one of Celestia’s students. He grew up running around this case with colts who became members of the royal guard.”

“How do you propose finding out which royal guards were involved?” Iunae asked.

“I think that is a job for Princess Luna.” Rarity said.

“I agree.” said Sunset. “So we have a story. What documents do we have?”

Midnight and Iunae stared at their hooves.

“Do we have any of the recites?” Rarity asked.

“We have copies of the recites and contract from the hot house. Princess Luna also gave me copies of the tapes. Beyond that I think we are going to need to rely on the testimony of the ponies who saw her.” Sunset said shuffling some papers. “We have copies of all of the transcripts and letters from the witnesses.”

“I think the most important witness to persuade is Hope.” Midnight stated.

Sunset and Iunae both cringed.

“Who?” Octavia asked.

“Hope. Sunset’s younger sister. Who better to confirm her identity?” Midnight said confidently.

“Another good candidate is the librarian, Dewey Leaf* as I interned for her. She knows exactly what I look like.” Sunset said.

“Great. What are we going to do about the whole doppelganger thing?” Octavia asked.

“Princess Luna will be handling the confidentiality part for national security. We will have to ask her to trust us and our princesses. It’s not the most important detail.” Sunset said.

“This is just a consult. She could refuse the case.” Rarity said.

“Let’s not go there.” Sunset said.

Sunset felt very nervous as she climbed the steps to Laurel Branch’s office building. The other walks behind her. They walked into the waiting room and were greeted by Violacea. The ponies took their seats. At eleven o’clock sharp Laurel Branch stepped into the waiting room.

“Greeting everypony I am Laurel Branch the Canterlot Prosecutor are you all part of Sunset Shimmer’s eleven o’clock consult?” A short grey and blue unicorn asked.

“Yes.” Sunset said standing up. The others nodded.

“Good come with me please.” Laurel Branch set off at a brisk pace. She led them down a hallway to her office. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

Laurel Branch’s office had a large sofa and a smaller one. There was some shuffling around before Sunset, Midnight and Iunae settled on one couch and Rarity and Octavia settled on the other.

“Let’s start with you introducing yourselves.” Laurel Branch said sitting at her desk. She levitated a notepad and quill next to her.

Sunset pulled out her own notebook and quill. “My name is Sunset Shimmer.”

“My name is Midnight.”

“My name is Moon Dancer.”

“My name is Rarity.”

“My name is Octavia.”

“Great. Please tell me the story in chronological order.” Laurel Branch asked.

The five ponies glanced at each other.

“The first thing we have to say is that we cannot tell you the full story just yet for national security reasons. If you accept our case Princess Luna will meet with you to discuss the parts of the story we cannot tell you. I still think we have enough without those details to build a solid case.” Sunset said.

There was a pause as Laurel branch process the information. “Okay. Please proceed with the story. And then I’ll decide is there is enough for me to work with.”

“On August tenth my wife Rai was in Sunset’s room in celestia’s tower when she went missing. Princess Celestia can confirm she was there in the morning, nine o’clock specifically. Princess Celestia checked in on my wife at noon. Five hours later she came back and she was gone.” Moon Dancer stated plainly.

“We have to take Princess Celestia’s word for this as no pony investigated the room or knew she was there. That being said the room she was in is half way up Princess Celestia’s tower and was therefore under lots of protection. Princess Twilight and Princess Luna both suspect that some guards were bribed or otherwise coerced. Princess Luna will interrogate the guards for us.” Sunset added.

“On August fourteenth several ponies spotted and interacted with my wife in various parts of Canterlot. We suspect she visited one of the cities pawn shops and got a cloak. She went to a clothing store to buy a hat and ran into her younger sister. The two had a short fight ending in my wife crying. The store owner gave her a hat for free. She went to a bakery and ran into a school friend. She bought a pastry and a sandwich. She went to the library and ran into a librarian she used to intern for. We mention these people- ponies because we think that they would be convincing witnesses to prove it was really her. Eventually Rai went to the hot house on the edge of town. Princess Luna secured the security footage from the establishment and we brought as copy of it. The most important part is when Tree Maker walked in and walked out carrying Rai in levitation magic. There is one camera that got a good look at her face. And she looked terrified.” Moon Dancer bit her lip. Her eyes were wet but her voice was composed.

“So are you trying to press charges on Tree Maker?” Laurel Branch asked.

“Yes.” Sunset said immediately.

“And were any of the witnesses that you mentioned before at the hot house at the same time as Rai and Tree Maker?” Laurel Branch asked.

“No. That's not why we brought them up. We suspect that Tree Maker kidnapped her from Princess Celestia’ tower. One thing that all of the witnesses commented on was what Rai was wearing.” Rarity said. “We know she had custom velvet saddlebags that were almost certainly bought at Birds of Paradise Fashion Emporium by Tree Maker. We suspect she had another expensive item she trades in at one of canterlot’s pawn shops for a ratty dark cloak. If we could look at some of their records and prove that Tree Maker bought and then gave the saddlebags to Rai it would mean she was with him at some point before August fourteenth.”

“What charges were you specifically thinking of pressing?” Laurel Branch asked. “I’m trying to get a sense of the big picture of this case and I want to know what direction you think it’s going.”

“Two counts of kidnapping, one count of forcible containment and one count of attempted forcible containment. I don’t think we will have enough evidence to convict him of anything else without Rai herself testifying what happened to her.” Sunset read directly from her notes.*

“That leads me to my next question where is Rai?” Laurel Branch asked.

“We have no idea. We have been trying to find her for a while now. Princess Twilight has gathered a crew of unicorns to try to locate her using magic and they are working on that as we speak.” Rarity said.

“Princess Luna met with the chief of Canterlot police to get a warrant for his arrest and to search his house.” Octavia said.

“If we find out that he has her then the story changes and we add more charges.” Sunset said. “We wanted to start the legal proceedings as soon as possible.”

Sunset lead the way back to Princess Celestia’s Castle. Her head was spinning with what Laurel Branch had said. There were holes in her story that Tree Maker could exploit and the fact that they have a prior relationship wouldn’t help. Laurel Branch had suggested getting Princess Luna and Princess Celestia’s Crown Prosecutors involved.

I must smack Princess Twilight for failing to appoint herself a Crown Prosecutor, a Crown Defendor and a personal detective. Princess Celestia might not return any time soon and thus her prosecutor can’t help us. I’m sure Princess Luna will ask her legal team to help us. Sunset thought.

Sunset, Midnight, Iunae, Rarity and Octavia walked into the dining room. The room was empty. Midnight's stomach growled loudly.

“I’ll get us food hang on.” Sunset said. She walked purposefully in the direction of the kitchen.

Sunset opened the kitchen doors and found all the chefs scrambling around in various stages of food production. One of the food servers spotted her and rushed over.

“Are you here to place an order?” he asked frantically.

“First tell me what is going on.” Sunset asked.

“Princess Twilight and her friends asked for two dozen non messy sandwiches in the library. Princess Luna asked for two leek soups and salads in her office immediately five minutes ago.” he said.

“Okay. Focus on Princess Luna’s order first. Then get eight sandwiches together and tell Princess Twilight the rest will come soon. Then bring five veggie burritos to the dining room. And then make the rest of the sandwiches.” Sunset ordered.

“Yes ma’am.” the serven rushed off to inform the cooks of the plan.

Sunset walked back to the dining room to wait with the others for the food to arrive. Finally the servant brought the veggie burritos to them.

“So what is the plan for the rest of the day?” Midnight asked in between bites.

“I think we should see if Princess Luna can meet with us. We should tell her everything and see if she will order her prosecutor to take the case.” Sunset said.

“And if not?” Iuae asked.

“We will see if Princess Twilight needed our help.” Sunset said unenthusiastically.

After the group finished eating they walked to Princess Luna’s office. The guards outside Princess Luna’s office questioned them. He approved them and told them that Princess Luna was meeting with some peony and would be available shortly. They waited for ten minutes before the door opened and Princess Luna ushed a well dressed mare out the door.

“I am done listening to your delusions. If you wish me to consider a future proposal you need to consider the impact on ponies less fortunate than yourself. Thank you and good day.” Princess Luna said irritated.

The mare wandered off muttering to herself.

“Princess Luna,” Sunset bowed, “do you have a moment. We would like to update you on our meeting with Laurel Branch.”

Princess Luna sighed melodramatically. “Yes but first I must drink more coffee.” A servant brought in a large pot of fresh and hot coffee and Princess Drank it all straight out of the pot. She smacked her lips. “Alright, I think our time will be most productive if there were a pew more ponies with us.”

Sunset, Iunae, Midnight, Rarity and Octavia followed Princess Luna down the hall to her crown Prosecutor's office. The plaque on the door read Oak Stump Crown Prosecutor serving Princess Luna

Princess Luna knocked the door. And elderly brown and grey unicorn stallion in good health opened the door. “Princess Luna what can I do for you?” he said bowing.

“We need to have a meeting now.” Princess Luna said politely.

“As you wish.” Oak Stump stepped out of the way and let the ponies in.

Princess Luna, Sunset, Midnight, Iunae, Rarity and Octavia filed into Oak Stup’s Office. There were three other ponies in the room, a short elderly mare with large glasses and two mares in their twenties with clipboard seated in different corners.

Both of the elderly ponies summoned chairs and the group took seats.

“I’ll handel introductions.” Princess Luna said quickly. “Everypony these are my top two lawyers my Crown Prosecutor Oak Stump and my Crown Defendor Ferruginous Lens* and those two are their interns.” Princess Luna waved her hoof at the two ponies seated with clip boards in the corner. “And this is, Iunae, Sunset, Midnight, Octavia and Rarity. They just had a consult with Canterlot’s prosecutor Laurel Branch. Now will you five please tell us what happened at this meeting. Tell us everything.”

They when through a thorough description of the entire meeting.

“Interesting.” Princess Luna said after thinking for a moment. “Forgive me for failing to mention it but Oak Stump and Ferruginous Lens have been involved since I’ve been involved and know about the portal and the interloper identity thing. It is my fault for not informing you. I apologize you should have known before meeting with Laurel Branch.”

“Forgive me if the answer is obvious but why don’t you take the case?” Iunae asked Oak Stump.

“Because I’m not the person who was wronged.” Princess Luna said. “My prosecutor and defender are involved to handle the parts of the case that threaten national security and to impose their authority to make sure the investigation and trial happen as soon as possible.” Princess Luna explained. “You are civilians and thus you need a civilian lawyer to present the case in court.”

“So what’s next in the case?” Sunset asked.

“Well we were going to pick up some documents from Birds of Paradise Fashion Emporium and interview and get a statement from the owner and possibly a sales pony.” Oak Stump said.

“How long do you think that will take?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know.” Ferruginous Lens. “It could take all afternoon.”

“Princess Luna’s personal detective is out visiting Canterlot’s pawn shops if you would like to meet up with her and see if she could use your help.” Oak Bench said.

“That sounds more exciting then sitting in a library while other people-ponies do magic.” Midnight said.

“Your a professional tailor… your expertise could be very useful to me.” The detective said to Rarity.

“You flatter me.” Rarity said blushing.

Sunset rolled her eyes and opened the door to the pawn shop. The detective, Rarity, Octavia, Midnight and Iunae trotted in.

“Hello, welcome to the shop what can I do for you?” The proprietor asked them. He was standing behind a counter sharpening a large machete.

The detective walked up to the counter and pulled out her badge. “I am here on behalf of Princess Luna and I demand your full compliance or you will face fines and possible jail time. Do you understand.”

“Yes ma’am.” the stallion said nervously. He put the machete down and looked alert.

“I need you to turn over all security footage from August fourteenth. Also who was working here an August fourteenth.” the detective asked.

“I was working here on the fourteenth. Um… let me close the shop and I can go get the security tape.” the stallion used magic to flip the sign on the door and then walked into the back. The detective followed him.

Rarity walked around the shop looking at the different items on display. There were shelves full of rusty cameras, jewelry of all kinds, bizarre gadgets, and lots of animal trophies. There was a huge weaponry section full of knives, machetes, swords and crossbows. There was a modest clothing section. Rarity searched the racks. Rarity came across simple dark blue cloak. It looked plain and ordinary but the quality was equiset. She pulled it off the rack and examined it. There were no brand markings or tailor imprint and yet Rarity was certain this is what they had come for.

“Did you find something?” Octavia asked. She walked over to Rarity.

“This was made at Birds of Paradise Fashion Emporium.” Rarity said.

“Dose it have their logo on it?” Octavia asked.

“No but I know this was made there.” Rarity said. “This is their work.”

“Fantastic!” Octavia said.

“Wait Bird of Paradise makes stuff without their logo?” Sunset was taken aback.

“Yes. I mean they only do it for custom orders on request but they will omit their logo if the customer can pay and wants it.” Rarity explained.

“Seriously?” Sunset asked.

“You know not all rich people want to advertise their wealth wherever they go. Sometimes you just want a high quality coat without a brand name on it.” Midnight said.

“Your a minority.” Iunae said dryly.

There was an awkward silence until the detective came back into the room. “Come one every pony. You are going to want to see this.”

Sunset, Iunae, Midnight, Rarity and Octavia squeezed into the office. The office door was narrow and the room was tiny and extremely cramped with all of them inside.

Rarity found herself pressed into one of the walls. She had to crane her neck around Iunae to see the screen.

The tape rolled. A figure in a dark blue cloak walked clumsily up tp the door. The pony struggled to open the door. In the struggle her hood slipped and the top of her fiery mane poked out before the door opened from the inside. The proprietor held the door for her and she walked in. A few uninteresting minutes later Sunset walked out without a cloak on. The elaborate design of her saddlebags was visible even in the lower resolution footage. Both of her saddlebags looked full. Sunset stood outside the shop and struggled to get a large bundle of dark fabric out one of her saddlebags. She lost her balance and almost fell over trying to fasson an old ratty cloak around her neck. After she was finished she looked in all directions and then shuffled clumsily away.

The group scrambled out the cramped room single file. Iunae was the last one out.

Rarity picked up the cloak she found on the racks and showed it to the detective.

“How much did you pay for this item?” The detective asked the proprietor.

“Ten gold bits.” he said nervously.

Rarity gasped.

“Seriously?” Octavia asked.

Rarity checked the price tag. He was selling it for forty gold bits. It was worth at least eighty.

“I will give you twelve for it.” the investigator said.

The stallion nodded nervously. The investigator floated him twelve gold bits and walked to the door.

Sunset walked into the dining room to find six agitated unicorns, two frustrated princesses and an exhausted dragon.

“How did the research go?” Sunset asked casually while she served herself.

Princess Twilight puffed out her chest. “How did it go!?” she demanded. “It went great! Just great! We are no closer to finding Rai, but everything is fine just fine! I am totally doing my job and taking care of it, thank you very much!” Princess Twilight shouted.

Iunae stopped dead in her stacks. She turned away and walked out of the dining room.

The ponies all scrambled to chase after her. Salto dropped her plate and leapt over a chair to reach Iunae first. Iunae shook her off and wandered away with her head down.

“Is she going to be okay?” Lemon Hearts asked softly.

Author's Notes:

I want to reiterate again that I am not a layer. if any of you are I would love feedback.

1) When I started I had a very elaborate calendar set up. I envisioned the worlds having different names for their months. I am dropping this for the sake of sanity.

2) I decided there were a few 'off screen' conversations. Please just roll with it.

3) I am changing the equestrian currency to try to make it more believable. I am also going to try to be veige about the exchange rate. I converted my system of bits into my nations currency and I will try to stay consistent with costs.

4) This is supposed to be a dewey decimal pun.

5) I recognize that this chapter is a little repetitive.

6) I had such a hard time naming all the new bit characters... These two in particular.

Final comments. I know that some of you will feel the 'hand of the author' in the legal stuff in this story. My in universe excuse is that three of the princess are driving this forward and none of the ponies want to piss them off. The other reason is because I have less knowledge in this aria and I do not want to duel in this aspect of the story. I am sorry if this bothers you.

As I ways I look forward to reading comments.