It was not a dark and stormy night. Not even close. It was bright and afternoon and there was not a single cloud in the sky unless you counted that little fluffy one over there that kind of looked like a dolphin.
But still, a good detective knows a MURDER can happen at any time.
"Yeah, well, maybe that's because..." Mermista slammed her boot down on the stone bench. She fixed an accusatory glare on the... yeah, whatever, that stone birdbath would do... and flung out her finger. "YOU are... the..."
Nothing. A couple of birds chirped sociably overhead, enjoying the perfect blue sky. She resisted the urge to groan aloud.
"Uh... Scorpia?" She asked at last, turning. The scorpion princess edged out from where she was standing just out of sight behind a bush, looking sheepish.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry I just... You know, you said I came in too late last time so I wasn't sure..."
"Yeah, no, it's cool. That's why we're practicing." Mermista smiled because Scorpia was looking a little distressed and this was supposed to be fun after all. "Whatever. It's not a big deal at all. We can stop if you want. I can just do it myself, wait until the next time there's a storm or whatever."
"What? Oh, no, I... I want to get it, it's just..." She tapped the tips of her claws together nervously. "Is the signal the boot or the hand?"
"Oh! Uh... I guess, they both are? Like, the boot means... uhhh, get ready? And the pointing is, like, go? Does that make sense?"
"Sort of?" Scorpia wrinkled her brow and Mermista was not confident she really got it but then the other princess nodded. "OK, let's try it again."
Mermista put her foot back on the ground and got ready for another go when there was the distinctive tinkle of magic to her left and Glimmer materialized next to her.
"Hey, Mermista." Glimmer looked distracted. "Have you seen the model of Bright Moon we were using for the restorations? We had it out here for the meeting with the builders but I can't figure out what happened to it after that."
"Maybe it was STOLEN! Like in Mer-Mysteries, The Case of the Model Porpoise!" That would certainly liven up this afternoon.
But Glimmer just rolled her eyes and did that oh so smug and superior I'm a Queen and you're all just Princesses and I think I'm so much better than the rest of you because my boyfriend has basic impulse control and no criminal record look. "Come on, I can't believe anyone would steal a model."
"Oh yeah?" It took all of Mermista's self-control to keep her face deadpan. "Maybe that's because..." She slammed her boot up on the bench and flung her arm out to point directly at Glimmer. "YOU are the one who stole it!"
Exactly on time, red lightning cracked across the sky, timed perfectly and way louder than the real thing. Glimmer screamed a swear and disappeared in a flash of startled sparkles. Mermista cracked up, laughing so hard it actually hurt a little.
"Oh man, that was great!" Scorpia came dashing back out into the open, lifting her claw for a high... five? Claw? Whatever, Mermista bumped it with her fist and then the two of them spent a minute laughing themselves silly.
"Did you see her-"
"Gosh, the way she screamed like-"
"Ugh, that was hilarious..."
"She is so going to kill us though."
"Oh no, yeah, she totally is. But whatever, still worth it." Mermista wiped her eyes and then looked over at Scorpia. She took a little getting used to, but Horde princess was pretty fun to hang out with. She grinned and Scorpia gave her a mischievous look back. "So, Sparky, who should we go try it on next?"
