Pinkie Pie trotted through the brimming streets of Birminghoof. Her pink mane had a somewhat darker shade than her bright coat and was collected in a tight bun. A pair of stylish glasses sat on her muzzle. She didn’t really need them since her eyesight was perfect, but Pinkie liked the smart look it gave her.

Three balloons — one yellow and two blue ones — were proudly displayed on her flank — her cutie mark.

There was a spring in the mare’s steps that was lacking among the other citizens. In fact, she attracted a lot of looks from the ponies she met along the way since her cheerful mood was in sharp contrast to the city’s depressing gray colors. After years of living in the capital, Pinkie was used to stares, however.

“Hello, random passer-by!” Pinkie waved to some stranger, who flickered her an annoyed look as he passed her by in silence.

The happy mare wasn’t put off by such a response. Her mood was high in the sky after she had successfully finished another case — finding the smith’s missing daughter. The poor girl had escaped from her own home because of the issues in her family, but Pinkie had managed to resolve them after bringing the young mare back home.

In fact, Pinkie hadn’t even accepted any reward for her job. Nothing could trump the happiness she got from helping her fellow ponies. Besides, she had the bits to spare after her last job. Not to mention that being an earth pony, the smith hadn’t had that many bits to offer anyway.

Turning from the main street to a side lane, Pinkie approached her little cottage at the end of it. She froze in place, perking up her ears — her knee twitched. It wasn’t just a random twitch either. It was one of the signs she had learned to read over the years.

She had some unexpected guests.

Quickly rolling behind the corner of one of the houses, Pinkie peeked out; her entrance door was in her direct view. She could now pick up the details she hadn’t noticed at first glance. While the door appeared to be closed, the lock was damaged as if someone had kicked it open, which was probably exactly what had happened.

She also noticed a unicorn loitering near the door. Their eyes met.

“Oh…” the mare gasped, yanking her head back behind her cover.

The sound of hoofsteps began to rapidly approach her hideout. It had been compromised! Jumping up, she grabbed at the windowsill and pulled herself up as quickly as she could. Quickly, she climbed all the way to the roof just in time, when the unicorn reached the corner with his horn ablaze.

He stopped, scratching the back of his head. That tight space between the two houses had no other way out as far as he could see. There was literally no place to hide. Pinkie barely suppressed a giggle, watching the unicorn’s confused face from her new position on the roof.

Illuminating the way with his horn, the pony slowly walked forward. He was checking every nook and cranny until he reached a dead end. The stallion knocked on the wall to make sure it wasn’t some illusion, but it was stone solid. Muttering some curses, he backed down, since there was no place for him to simply turn around.

The mare above was gone by now.

Pinkie had jumped onto her own roof, easily balancing on the slope. Knowing that somepony had invaded her house, she was contemplating her course of action. She could slide down the chimney to surprise the intruders by jumping out of the fireplace, but it would take ages to get the soot out of her coat.

No, she needed something more effective.

Approaching the chimney, Pinkie pulled out a certain brick at its base, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside of it was a coil of rope that she had stashed in case of an emergency. Flickering a smile that it had finally come in handy, she first wrapped it around the chimney and then tied it securely around her torso. It wasn’t a perfect set up, but it would do for the task.

Stepping over the edge of the roof, Pinkie looked down. It wasn’t exactly high, but she would prefer to avoid falling. Holding the rope with her teeth, she carefully slid down the wall until she had reached the window on the second floor. It wasn’t locked, so she quietly sneaked into her bedroom. Untying the rope, Pinkie let it hang freely outside in case she would need it again.

Having done that, she stopped for a moment to plan her next step.

There was obviously more than one intruder, including the unicorn outside. Pinkie doubted that he was just taking a stroll in that alley. But how many of his pals were inside? Eh, it didn’t matter. Pinkie could take them all out if she acted smart. Though she needed to be extra careful with the intruders being unicorns with their freaky magic.

It would be fun.

Giggling in anticipation, the mare approached a painting with flowers on it. Shoving it aside, it revealed a safe built into the wall. Inside the safe were a couple of purses full of bits that she just threw out of her way to find the device she was looking for. There it was!

It looked like a simple black ball with evenly disturbed holes on its surface. Pinkie had tried to see what was inside on more than one occasion, but it was completely black even under direct torchlight. She had gotten the device for a large sum of bits a couple of months back from a unicorn wizard and had had no opportunity to use it yet.

Now would be the time.

Grabbing the device with her teeth, Pinkie went out of the bedroom door, her hooves making no sound thanks to the thick carpet that covered the floor. She sneaked into the corridor, swiveling her ears as she tried to locate the intruders. A moment later she caught something from the direction of the stairs.

Pinkie grinned.

Crawling all the way to the staircase, the mare peeked from behind the corner to see three unicorns below. She had no idea who they were, but they looked too well-fed and groomed to be just some common robbers. Besides, why would some robbers be sitting on her couch instead of trashing the place in search of something of value?

However, they had still broken into her home uninvited, which was extremely rude of them. They weren’t even her friends, not that Pinkie would even want to be friends with some stuck-up unicorns. Wait a second…

Were they eating her pie?!

That just wouldn’t do. Furrowing her eyebrows, the mare threw the device in her mouth right into the middle of the group of invaders. It landed on the floor with a heavy thump, bouncing a few times before stopping unnaturally quickly. The unicorns jumped on their hooves in alarm, looking at the ball in surprise.

WHOOSH!

The device made a loud whistling sound as it activated, sucking in all the magic around it. The unicorns screamed in pain, dropping on their knees. The device was working exactly as promised! Grinning happily, Pinkie jumped over the railing, taking a second to enjoy the beautiful sight before knocking them all unconscious one by one with a swift punch to the back of their heads. The whole ordeal had taken less than ten seconds complete.

Pinkie’s left ear flopped suddenly, reminding her that it wasn’t time to relax. She dashed to the entrance door just in time for it to burst open with one more unicorn rushing inside. His eyes widened, noticing the pink mare flying at him.

“Surprise!” she squeaked before smashing into him with her full bodyweight.

The pony was indeed taken by surprise. His head was spinning from the harsh landing — he may have hit it on the ground. The mare was lying on top of him. Being the professional that he was, the unicorn tried to light up his horn to deal with this crazy pony, but she smacked it between her hooves, sending a jolt of pain through his head.

The stallion cringed, grinding his teeth as he glared at Pinkie.

“Sleep tight,” the mare smiled gently.

The last thing he saw was her hoof rapidly closing in.

The unicorn cracked his eyes open, squinting them immediately as they adjusted to a light beaming directly into his face. He attempted to cover his eyes with his hoof, but something was holding it. A moment later his slowly awakening brain had realized that his limbs were tied up tightly to a chair in which he was placed rather uncomfortably.

Pinkie moved the lamp she was holding away from his face, making it a bit easier for the captive to see her. There was no doubt in his mind — she was P.I. Pie, the mare he was looking for.

The mare examined him in turn. Her captive was pretty big for a unicorn. His white coat was also clean and well groomed. Everything about him just screamed high status. Obviously, he and his friends weren’t simpler robbers.

“Well, well, well,” Pinkie began, shaking her head. “You’re in quite a pickle, unicorn. Tell me, what were you and your pals doing in my house without a proper invitation?”

“I…we…” the stallion mumbled, trying to collect his thoughts.

“I want you to confess!” Pinkie lurched at him, making him recoil. He would have fallen backwards if she hadn’t grabbed the handles of his chair.

“Or what?” the captive asked, putting on a brave face. “Are you going to kill me?”

Pinkie stayed silent, but a thin smile appeared on her face. He didn’t like the sight of it.

P.I Pie was widely known among the earth ponies that lived in the capital. The captive wasn’t one himself, but he had learned about her from one of his friends who was one. That mare had a true talent for finding missing ponies, whether they were alive or dead.

“Well, I wanted you to find somepony,” the stallion said.

Pinkie arched her eyebrows. Tilting her head, she looked at her captive like he was mad.

“That’s not how you offer someone a job, silly.”

“We knew you would refuse it anyway,” the stallion said. “Everypony knows you never do a job for a unicorn. So we wanted to encourage you to take it. If you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I do indeed,” Pinkie nodded solemnly, her ears flickering backwards for a second. “A few have tried it before. So, what noble fool sent you this time?”

Before answering, the stallion threw a quick look around. He could see the stone walls, illuminated dimly by a lamp in Pinkie’s hoof. It looked more like a cell than an actual room, having no furniture except for his chair. P.I. Pie and him were completely alone in here.

“Don’t make me repeat my question,” Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes.

The pony’s attention snapped back at her.

“First, tell me, where are my guys?” he asked, ignoring her question.

The mare grinned widely, showing her white teeth.

“They’re dead,” she said like it was the punchline to a joke. “I’ve killed them myself.”

The captive inhaled in shock. He felt like a ball of ice had been put inside of his belly. For the first time since he had woken up, he attempted to summon his magic, but to no avail. He knew that the mare had likely neutralized his horn with something — it was the very first thing you did when capturing a unicorn — but it was more of a reflex at this point.

“Gotcha!” Pinkie poked his muzzle, giggling. Her mane seemed to puff up a little as she laughed. “You should have seen your face! Your friends are actually upstairs. Totally alive and everything.”

“Huh?” the stallion bulged his eyes at her, thrown off by the sudden change in her behavior.

“But not for long, unless you cooperate,” the mare added, getting serious once again. “Who sent you?”

The pony was silent for a few moments. He had underestimated the mare already. Not to mention that she seemed a bit wacky. He wasn’t sure that she would believe the truth in her current mood, but he decided to roll with it anyway.

“Nopony sent us,” he said, looking Pinkie in the eyes. “We came on our own.”

She looked at the stallion, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

“On your own, huh? That’s interesting.”

“I bet it is. My name is Captain Heavy Steps of the Royal Guard.”

Pinkie whistled in surprise.

“The Captain of the Royal Guard?” she asked.

“No, just one of the captains in the Royal Guard,” the stallion corrected her.

Pinkie chuckled. “Ah, that makes much more sense.”

Still, the whole situation had just grown more serious.

She had dealt with some cases when some silly noblepony had suddenly decided that P.I Pie was their errand mare. After a quick visit and a heartfelt conversation, they usually realized their mistake and never bothered her again. But never before had the Royal Guard itself been involved.

“So, who am I supposed to find?”

“The pony who poisoned the king, that damn Twilight Sparkle,” the captive practically spat out the name, “That little traitor…”

Pinkie flattened her ears, flickering her eyes down as if in shame. She took her emotions under control, however, eying Heavy Steps with a hard stare.

“Why do you want me to find her?” she asked coldly.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the guard rolled his eyes. “The bitch poisoned the king; the king I was in charge of protecting. I want to make sure she pays for what she did myself.”

“The king got what he deserved,” Pinkie stated firmly.

Heavy Steps reddened. He would have slapped the mare for her insolence if his hooves weren’t bound to that damn chair.

“Don’t you dare speak about King Hearth like that,” he growled instead. “He was… is an honorable pony! What happened to him is a tragedy, especially when he was one step away from starting his reforms…”

Pinkie was taken aback by such a strong reaction from the pony. Her opinion about the king was pretty low, considering the state Equestria was in. Who if not its ruler was ultimately responsible for it?

“I see…” Pinkie said. “So you’re saying you and your friends came on your own? Nopony sent you?”

Heavy Steps nodded.

“But why? The whole country is looking for her as it is.”

The stallion cringed. “The royal investigators still have no idea how she was able to escape in the first place...”

The captain fell silent. He knew that he had failed miserably in his plan. It had been a big mistake for them to try forcing the mare into accepting the job, but who could have known how good she was?

“I need to think about it,” Pinkie said to his surprise. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Having said that, she winked at the guard and left the room, leaving the pony alone in complete darkness.

Pinkie was baking.

It not only helped to calm her nerves, which were a bit shaken after her conversation with Heavy Steps, but it would also provide her with a pie to replace the one eaten by the home invaders.

As Pinkie was preparing the dough, she was also thinking about the captain in her basement. No matter how much she tried to deny it, her heart was telling her that Heavy Steps was a good pony despite being a unicorn, as unlikely as it seemed after he had broken into her house.

And he claimed that the king was a good pony too. Being his personal guard, his words held a certain weight.

That came into conflict with everything Pinkie had heard about the ex-ruler. The thought of being wrong about him had been bothering her since the night he’d been poisoned. Being the good P.I. that she was, she had to check the facts, no matter how unbelievable they seemed. Something she should have done much earlier, perhaps.

Finding Twilight, the king’s own protege, would be a step towards finally learning the truth about him. By talking with the mare personally, she would make a fair assessment of her and through her the king himself.

As she put the pie into the oven, she had come to a decision — she would find Twilight Sparkle as the Captain had asked. Not for him, of course, but for herself.

Pinkie let her captives go with a warning, but the Captain decided to stick with her for the investigation when he learned she would look for Twilight after all. Pinkie allowed that for now — working alone was terribly boring at times.

A few hours later, Pinkie and her escort entered the palace grounds.

The palace was the largest and richest structure in the city and could be observed from every district, showing the power of royalty for everypony to see. Its walls looked weary with age from up close, but its tall towers were impressive nonetheless, completely dominating the cityscape.

It housed the whole government of Equestria with all its ministries within its walls, so a lot of ponies were coming in and out of the palace constantly. Most of them were fancy unicorns, so it was unlikely that somepony would recognize Pinkie, but she still had changed her appearance drastically for this mission.

Due to her reputation, she had to do that pretty often on her job.

A special potion had dulled her colors from bright pink to cherry, making her completely unrecognizable to anyone who didn’t know her very well. She had also gotten rid of her glasses and had even gone so far as to change her mane style, making it fall down freely rather than being restricted in a bun.

“First, I want to see the place from which Twilight escaped,” Pie said to Heavy Steps. “Take me there.”

“I won’t be able to get you in,” the Captain warned her. “I was suspended after the king…”

“I get it,” Pinkie waved her hoof. “Lead me there anyway.”

With a nod, Heavy Steps walked somewhere determinedly. He was navigating the countless corridors with seeming ease. Nopony they met along the way paid them any attention, which suited Pinkie just fine. After a while, they had finally arrived at the stairwell to the palace dungeons.

“Here we are,” Heavy Steps pointed. “I doubt he’ll let us in.”

A unicorn sentry in full armor was guarding the way down.

“I’m sure he will,” Pinkie grinned.

She trotted towards the guard carelessly, ignoring the heavy stares he was burrowing her with. Opening her mouth as if to say something, Pinkie lunged at him with no warning. She grabbed his helmet with both of her hooves, taking it off his head before the pony could react. The guard reared up, but Pinkie avoided being hit by his front hooves. Instead, she rolled around him and jumped onto his back, hammering his head with heavy punches from all sides.

It didn’t take long for the stallion to fall to the floor and stop moving.

“What in Tartarus are you doing?” Heavy Steps exclaimed in shock, rushing over to the fallen guard. “I swear to Nightmare, if you’ve killed him—”

“He’ll live,” Pinkie waved dismissively, going down the stairs.

Heavy Steps followed her, carrying the guard with him after making sure that P.I. was telling the truth. The poor guard had received a heavy beating, but had no life-threatening injuries except for a possible concussion.

Pinkie was already examining the empty cell when Heavy Steps caught up with her. She had a small lamp in her hoof, but the captain added the light of his horn anyway. Shrugging, Pinkie extinguished the lamp, tucking it back into her saddlebag.

Heavy Steps gently lowered the guard to the floor and glared at Pinkie’s back.

“You shouldn’t ha—”

“Shhhh,” the mare interrupted his attempted scolding.

Leaning down, Pinkie examined the lock of the cell’s door up close. She could see right through the keyhole. Bringing her muzzle closer, she gave it a deep sniff. While she was doing her strange manipulations, Heavy Steps was trying to take his thoughts under control.

Once again, the pink mare had proved her insanity. Attacking a royal guard in the middle of the royal palace in broad daylight… While this part of the palace wasn’t visited much, it was still insane. Well, at least the P.I. was working towards the goal he had given her — finding Twilight Sparkle.

He shouldn’t be complaining too much.

“The lock was opened with the key,” Pinkie stated. “Most likely from the outside.”

The stallion nodded. “Yeah, the royal investigators have assumed as much.”

Pinkie murmured something incomprehensible, continuing her examination. She walked into the cell itself, then walked out. After repeating the process a few more times, the mare left for the last time, trotting deeper into the dungeon itself.

“The place has been searched more than you can count,” Heavy Steps pointed out. “Our best unicorns have cast all kinds of spells trying to find something. There is nopony here and no way out.”

“Interesting.”

Soon, the two had arrived at a dead end. Heavy Steps stopped, but Pinkie continued to walk straight forward until she hit the solid wall with her muzzle. The mare recoiled, rubbing her hurt nose.

“Aw, I was so sure that would work.”

Heavy Steps gave her a surprised glance, but she didn’t elaborate. The assumption about the mare’s poor mental state only solidified in his mind. He shrugged as he observed the mare tapping at the wall seemingly at random.

“Aha!” she exclaimed triumphantly.

The captain’s mouth fell open as a whole section of the wall shuffled aside, revealing a dark corridor behind it. He stared at the mare in disbelief. How in Equestria had she found a secret passageway so quickly, while all the efforts from the Royal Guard had failed?

Pinkie giggled, noticing the stallion’s expression.

“Let’s see what’s on the other side!” she said, booping his muzzle.

Having done that, the mare went into a full gallop. The darkness didn’t bother her in the slightest as she disappeared into the corridor ahead. Pulling himself out of his stupor, Heavy Steps ran after her. However, even with his royal guard training, catching up to her seemed to be an impossible task. He couldn’t even see her up ahead!

Thankfully, the tunnel went straight forward, so there was no fear of getting lost. Illuminating the way with his horn, Heavy Steps galloped steadily. Finally, after running for what felt like eternity, he saw some light ahead. Soon the tunnel ended, with a staircase leading up.

Some light was coming from the door on the top.

The P.I. was nowhere to be seen, so Heavy Steps assumed she was already up. However, just as he was about to climb, something tapped his flank.

With a surprised yelp, the stallion reared up. Turning around, he almost blasted whatever that was with an attack spell, but he stopped himself in time when he recognized Pinkie who was rolling around the floor, making weird noises.

A second later, he realized that it was laughter.

“Gotcha!” she thrust a hoof at him

Heavy Steps rolled his eyes. The mare was getting on his nerves, but he couldn’t afford to lose her help. Despite her insanity, just in five minutes she had made more progress than the entire Royal Guard had since Twilight escaped. Turning away with a sigh of frustration, the stallion climbed up the stairs.

He landed in a small closet with an open door to the outside. Stepping out, Heavy Steps found himself in a small alley that was tucked between two buildings. He was obviously out in the city now. He knew that the palace had a couple of secret tunnels leading outside, but that was the first time he had ever heard of this one.

Since the Captain used to be in charge of the king’s security, it was surprising that somepony like Twilight would know that while he didn’t. Though with how much time the mare had spent in the library, he guessed it wasn’t that surprising she would know the old palace’s secrets better than him.

Pinkie exited the tunnel right behind him. As soon as she did, the entrance closed on its own, making the wall look the same as any other, but she ignored that for the moment, planning the next step in her investigation.

Twilight Sparkle had had outside help to escape, that much was obvious. She had seen two sets of hoofsteps on the dust in the tunnel which had proved that. That meant that somepony had let her out and showed her the secret tunnel that nopony knew about. The mysterious pony had likely used that passageway to get into the dungeon in the first place.

Since the Guard hadn’t been able to find it, it was likely known only to the King himself. Perhaps his son knew about it as well, since he was part of the royal family. But why would he free the mare who was assumed to have poisoned his father?

That was the question Pinkie wanted to ask the prince personally.

“Let’s go visit the prince,” Pinkie broke the silence. She turned around and after some manipulation opened the secret door once again.

“I’m onto you, buster!” Pinkie yelled, rolling into the prince’s chambers through the door she had just broken.

Blueblood, who was relaxing on his chair in front of a fireplace with a glass of wine, jumped onto his hooves, spilling the wine on his coat in the process. His face reddened as he glared at the mad mare who had just invaded his privacy.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Blueblood yelled, trying to grab the invader in his magical grip.

But his spell only grabbed the empty air. He blinked, seeing Pinkie standing right next to him. With a swift move, she put a ring on his horn, blocking the unicorn’s access to magic. Blueblood froze in shock, looking at the mare with wide eyes.

“Why did you help Twilight escape?” Pinkie thrust an accusatory hoof at his chest. “Don’t you try to deny it; I know all about it!”

Blueblood paled. His anger was replaced by panic. He made a step back, falling into his chair. Who was that mare? Had she been sent to him by Everlight? His thoughts were a mess at the moment. When he noticed Heavy Steps, the captain of his father’s personal guards, dragging the bodies of his own guards inside, his brain practically shut down from overload.

“W-what…” Blueblood blurted out. “You?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Heavy Steps nodded, stacking the two unconscious guards close to each other and closing the door.

The prince furrowed his brows. “But why? You were always loyal to my father…”

“I still am. But I’m not sure if you are. Helping the traitor who poisoned your father escape is pretty suspicious, I’d say.”

“I did it because she was innocent, you oaf!” Blueblood exclaimed, waving his hooves. “The damn regent set her up; everypony can see that.”

Heavy Steps frowned. The thought that Everlight was behind this had crossed his mind before, of course. He had heavily benefited from those events after all. But he had seen with his own eyes how Twilight had broken into the king’s chamber with a bottle. She had done the deed herself, there was no denying that in his mind.

Whoever had told her to do that, though, was another question.

It may as well have been Blueblood himself. Heavy Steps had never had a high opinion of the prince. For all he knew, Blueblood could have been working with Twilight to get rid of his father, but being as dumb as he was, he had messed up, with Twilight ending up in jail and Everlight using the situation to seize power for himself.

“Innocent or not, I need to find her,” Pinkie said.

“Who in Tartarus are you anyway?” Blueblood asked, making an attempt to stand up.

“Silence,” Pinkie shot him a glare, making the prince stop fidgeting. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is what I’ll do if you don't talk.”

Blueblood shook his head indignantly.

Pinkie sighed, producing a knife out of her bag and spinning it on her hoof. The prince watched the knife for a few seconds, mesmerized, until he twitched.

“I'm the prince!” he exclaimed, flattening his ears. “You wouldn’t dare to hurt me!”

Heavy Steps frowned, seeing where the situation was going. However, he had already broken so many rules that he would be court-martialed, so he decided to simply watch the situation unfold. Seeing the P.I. in action, he wasn’t sure if he could stop her anyway.

Finding the one who had ruined his life would be worth it in the end.

Thankfully, Pinkie didn’t have to do anything. Blueblood’s resolve melted faster than snow in the summer. Just a threat had been enough for him to start singing like a bird.

And what interesting things he had to say.

Blueblood and Twilight were planning to find some powerful artifacts to get back at Everlight, whom he claimed to be the true villain. The ex-mage had left the city the same night that she had escaped. According to Blueblood, she was going to Canterlot to do some research. The two had had no contact with each other, so the prince had no idea how successful Twilight had been so far.

“Well, that makes sense,” Pinkie nodded when Blueblood had finished. “Thanks!”

Having said that, she turned around and trotted out of the chamber, leaving a confused Blueblood behind. Glancing at the poor prince, Heavy Steps hurried after her.

“Wait, what are you going to do with him?” he asked the P.I., pointing at the chamber they had just left.

“Nothing,” Pinkie shrugged. “He was telling the truth.”

Heavy Steps looked at her in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“I have no idea; I just do.”

Pinkie was thinking about her interaction with Blueblood on her way home.

The Prince hadn't left a good impression on her. He was slick, cowardly and whiny — the worst combination. Most of the nobleponies she had met were exactly the same. If the king had raised his son like that, perhaps he wasn’t that good of a pony after all. That raised Pinkie’s mood slightly.

She still wanted to find Twilight to make a full assessment of the monarch, however, so as soon as Pinkie got home, she began packing. The road to Canterlot wasn’t a short one, but she was determined to go on hoof, at least until she found the evidence to confirm Blueblood’s words. She may have believed in the prince’s story, but no good detective would trust a theory with no proof.

Heavy Steps was here as well, loitering in the corner.

“I’m sorry about my friends and I breaking into your house,” he said. “If I'd known you would agree to help me, I wouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh, I’m not mad at you about that,” Pinkie assured him. “It was still not nice of you to eat my pie.”

The pony lowered his glance in shame. “It just smelled so good…”

“It did?” the mare raised her eyebrows. “Why, thank you!”

Being done packing, Pinkie was ready to go. A big saddlebag full of stuff was on her back, covered by a traveling cape. It was autumn, so she should be prepared for some bad weather. She glanced at Heavy Steps.

“Well, I’ll see you later!”

Pinkie was about to leave when she remembered that it was her house. She escorted the pony outside and locked the door. Now that was much better. Not that her lock had stopped him and his friends from breaking in the last time… But he was sorry for that, so it was all good now in Pinkie’s eyes.

Waving goodbye at him, she trotted away, but the Captain quickly caught up.

“I’m coming with you,” Heavy Steps stated firmly.

Pinkie turned to face him, narrowing her eyes.

“Why?”

“Well, I said that I wanted to look Twilight in the eyes and ask why she poisoned the king,” the stallion said. “Besides, after what we did to the prince, I’m pretty sure my suspension will be permanent. I won’t be surprised if there’s already a price on my head.”

“You wanted to come along yourself,” Pinkie shrugged.

“I know… I just hope finding the answer will be worth it.”

Pinkie simply shrugged. Seeing as Twilight was innocent of the crime she had been accused of, she doubted that Heavy Steps would be happy with his answer. He seemed to be certain of her guilt, despite Blueblood’s words to the contrary.

“You can come,” she waved her hoof. “It’ll be more fun to travel together, I guess.”

The two made a detour to Heavy Steps’ own home, so the stallion could take his belongings with him. He took his sword, some supplies and some bits, stuffing the rest of his things into his saddlebag. He sighed, looking back at his house for the last time.

After what he had done in the palace, Heavy Steps doubted that he would be able to return. Even if the P.I. found Twilight and he brought her back on a silver plate, he would still be punished. But what was the point of his life anyway, when he had failed his most important task of protecting the king?

“Well, let’s get moving.”

Pinkie Pie joins the story, yay.
Tell me if you like this version of her in the comments.