Derpy and Note Pad continued running towards the scream.
"What happened?" yelled Derpy to Note.
"I'm not sure!"
They reached the marketplace, where they saw a white unicorn mare frantically searching the ground.
"Where IS IT?" cried the mare. She had a purple mane and looked like she took great care in her appearance.
"Oh, nevermind," said Derpy, "It's just Rarity."
"She looks like she lost something," said Note, "Can we race to find it for our competition?"
Derpy frowned. "Rarity doesn't like me so much..."
"How come?" asked Note Pad.
"Sometimes I break her stuff... Or request muffin dresses..."
Note Pad chuckled. "Let's just ask. We'll be on our way soon."
"Alright."
They walked over to Rarity who immediately noticed them. Or rather, she noticed Note Pad.
"Well hello there~" she said, immediately getting close to him and fluttering her eyelashes, "I've never seen you before. What is your name, dear?"
"Note Pad," he said.
"That's nice~" she said, "Won't you please help a poor mare find her lost saddlebag?"
Derpy rolled her eyes.
"I can help too. I'm a detective, Rarity!"
Rarity glanced at Derpy. "Yes yes, of course darling." She went back to Note Pad, "Well~?"
"Sure, fine, for a price." he said with a smirk.
"Fine fine, yes."
Note Pad knew he'd win the competition against Derpy. He thought of a plan already.
"How about... a hundred bits?" he said.
Rarity fluttered her eyelashes again. "How about a date instead~?"
"Er, no. A hundred bits."
Derpy smiled.
"Alright..." said Rarity.
Rarity gave Note Pad the address to her boutique, which he shared with Derpy.
Rarity soon left to head back home, relying on the "cute detective" to help her.
"Alright," said Note, "Now, the competition starts. You already took notes, right?"
"Right!" said Derpy.
"Okay, first one to find Rarity's purse wins. Remember, if I win, you can't be a detective anymore."
"And if I win..." said Derpy, with a huge blush. She didn't finish her sentence.
Note Pad smirked and nodded. "Yeah. Ready?"
"Yes."
The two quickly went their separate ways to look for Rarity's purse.
Note Pad thought again of how he could put those hundred bits to good use.
Derpy asked around for information on Rarity's missing saddlebag. Everypony knew about it, sure, considering she recently got the entire bag bedazzled. It was hard to forget a saddlebag so shiny and blinding to the eyes in the sun.
Derpy fished the small recorder out of her pants pocket and clicked it on.
"I am now racing against time-and Note Pad-to find Rarity's missing saddlebag!" she said into the small device, "One hundred bits for it! I should have reasoned for three hundred..."
When that was done, she placed the small recorder back in her pocket and continued walking.
She got hungry on the way, so she stopped at the Sugarcube Corner for a snack. Inside, she found Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was reading into a science book while Pinkie Pie approached with rainbow cupcakes.
"Interesting..." said Twilight, biting into a cupcake and examining her book, "The fourth dimension has to do with time..."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Twilight, I cross the fourth dimension all the time!" She noticed Derpy walk in.
"Hey boss!" said Pinkie Pie, smiling. Derpy smiled as well.
"Hello assistant detective!" said Derpy. "I came for the muffins! Also, have you guys seen Rarity's saddlebag?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "She's always losing things now. She might as well be the element of forgetfulness."
Pinkie Pie ate a cupcake somberly. "That wouldn't be a very good element..."
Pinkie entered the kitchen and returned with muffins for Derpy, who explained why she needed to find Rarity's saddlebag before her new assisstant.
"That Note Pad guy will make you not be a detective anymore?" said Pinkie with a gasp. "That's mean!"
"Well it isn't gonna happen if I find it quickly!" said Derpy, making a triumphant pose. She took a bite of the muffin. As always, they were the best things in Equestria.
"You girls have no idea where Rarity's bag might be?" asked Derpy.
"Did you check her boutique?" asked Twilight.
Derpy shook her head. "I didn't!"
"Well go then, before it's too late!"
Derpy flew quickly out the door, stopped, flew back into the store for her muffins, then flew back out, making haste for the Carousel Boutique. Note Pad should already be heading there, and she was sure she could beat the earth pony detective with her wing power.
Flying overhead, Derpy indeed noticed Note Pad calmly cantering to the boutique. He didn't look up and see her, so Derpy flew directly above him until he reached the boutique entrance and knocked on the door.
Rarity opened the door and greeted him. Derpy couldn't hear their conversation; she instead flew to the roof entrance of her boutique.
There was a small trap door on the roof of the Carousel Boutique, big enough for anypony to enter. Derpy's eyes lit up as she spied the door, and brought her hooves to the mechanism to unlock it. It wouldn't budge. She heaved and began pulling on it with both hooves.
"Now then, are you here to search the premises?" asked Rarity. Note Pad simply nodded.
"Well come in, darling!" she said, and moved aside to he could enter. Note Pad could feel her staring at him.
"Did you check every room?" asked Note Pad, turning to face her.
"Maybe you could check... the bedroom, darling." she said, with a hint of something in her voice.
"After I check the ground floor," he said.
Rarity frowned and nodded.
With a final grunt, Derpy clenched her teeth and heaved the trap door open. It looked like it wasn't in use for quite some time, and Derpy could see the ground inside. She stepped through the corridor and landed on marble.
"Is this Rarity's bedroom?"
She remembered she had to stay quiet. Looking around, she found nothing useful to help determine where Rarity's saddlebag was. She had almost given up hope of searching, if she hadn't noticed a small written note on her nightstand.
She read the note, her eyes becoming wider with each sentence. She gasped and almost squeaked. She knew exactly where Rarity's saddlebag was supposed to be.