Announcement:
Hey everyone, it's getting closer and closer to the Canterlot Wedding and closer to the massive arc, so far I have one good idea for the arc and will definitely be using it as the reader who suggested it made some good points on why it would be a good place for the ponies to visit it. There is still time for the rest of you if you'd like to put in your suggestion for six new world and six old worlds from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, but I think I might expand that a bit more to add worlds from Kingdom hearts 3D as there were a couple of worlds I'd like to add to the worlds the Mane Six would visit. All rights for My Little Pony, Sonic, Kingdom Hearts, and Spyro are reserved to the original companies and owners as I do not own any of them, the use of names, items and anything else is used for entertainment purposes and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you all again for your support and hope you all have a great day.
Chapter 96: MMMystery on the Friendship Express
A couple of days passed after the fillies did their Gabby Gums column for the school newspaper, which they did quit the newspaper to avoid doing something like that again and then tried some other ways of getting their Cutie Marks, which Scootaloo tried t get hers as a Force wielder as she lifted small apples from the ground as per Spyro's suggested to try and practice with her new abilities, but had no luck in getting her Cutie mark. He wanted to help her continue her training, but she had school and Pinkie asked him to help transport a cake to Canterlot for a competition and from what Pinkie told him, the cake was something special and delicious, so she wanted someone who could be both strong, yet delicate to help transport the cake. After giving Scootaloo something to help her practice using the Force while he was gone and made his way to Sugarcube Corner where everyone else had gathered to help with transporting the supposed delicious cake and when he got there, Pinkie pulled him in and quickly closed the door.
"Hi Spyro, glad you could make it!" Pinkie said. "Sorry for pulling you in, but I wanted to make sure no pony snuck in and tried to get a nibble at the prize winning cake!"
"No problem Pinkie." Spyro replied. "Now why do you need... me...?"
Spyro looked up at the cake and was completely taken by surprise by how it looked, an Italian styles cheese cake with a green apple and an orange on top, decorated with flowers and was literally sparkling as he looked at it, drooling at the sight of it as he wanted to reach over and take a big bite out of it, but restrained himself as the Cakes put a lot of work into it.
"Isn't it amazing!?" Pinkie asked. "Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. Mr and Mrs. Cake have really outdone themselves as this cake is sure to be the winning entry in this years National Dessert Competition."
"I sure hope so." Spyro said, wiping the drool away. "It smells delicious, I could just... just..."
Spyro's feral side suddenly came out as he wanted to get a bite out of that cake, not matter what, so he leapt towards it to get a bite, but Pinkie pulled a clear glass panel out of nowhere and in front of the cake, the young prince smacking into the glass, sliding down as Pinkie kicked the panel away.
"I knew you'd try that, so I was prepared." Pinkie said.
"Oh, thank you again Pinkie." Mrs. Cake said.
"Yes, and thank you for volunteering to transport it to Canterlot." Mr. Cake said as Spyro got up.
"Absolutely!" Pinkie replied. "It's my honor and-"
"Uh, hate to bother ya, but could we move this thing along please?" Applejack asked. "This here cake is mighty heavy, ain't that right Big Macintosh?"
"E-Eyup." Big Mac replied, struggling to even stand straight.
"Alrighty then Big Mac." Pinkie said, putting on a helmet with a blinking red light. "To the Train Depot. Spyro, think you can use your Force powers to keep the cake from falling over?"
"Sure, not a problem." Spyro replied.
They walked out of the bakery and there were road blocks set up on either side of the entrance to the bakery, wondering how they got there when he was just in there no more than a minute ago and they weren't there. As they walked along the route to the train station, Spyro reached out with the Force to keep the cake from falling over, but he had to admit he was having some difficulty keeping it straight as sweat started to go down his face.
"That's it everypony, nice and slow." Pinkie said. "This is precious cargo we're carrying."
"Yes, it took months of planning and testing." Mr. Cake said.
"I would hate for it to-" Mrs. Cake said, but stopped.
Big Mac was staring to crumple under the weight, nearly tripping, so Spyro lifted the cake up with the Force as a precaution, but as he did, he could feel the strain of lifting it, making him breath shallow breaths as he tried to to keep it in the air. After Big Mac got his footing, Spyro gently put the cake back on his back and let out a breath of relief, collapsing to the ground after straining himself right as Mr. Cake fainted.
"Geez Pinkie, what's that thing made with, dark matter?" Spyro asked, getting up. "I'm having difficulty just holding it on my own."
"It's ok, I know who can help." Pinkie said, turning to the sky and seeing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, a little Pegassistance?" They tied ropes around their barrels and the ends of those ropes around the handles of the tray, the two Pegasi helping to keep it straight as they walked. But for Spyro, even with their help, the strain of keeping it straight was starting to get to him and let go, causing the cake to wobble a bit as he caught his breath, which was a mistake as it started to tip over, so Rainbow Dash quickly went tot he other side and yanked on her rope, straightening it out as SPyro reached out with the Force again and straightened it out again, making the yellow earth pony faint again. She looked around a bit and saw both Twilight and Rosy nearby reading some books, getting an idea. "Twilight, Rosy, could I see you two for a second?" Twilight had created a barrier around the cake while Rosy helped Spyro keep the cake from falling over with the Force, alleviating some of the strain as they walked to the train station, thought the cakes were still nervous and were glancing between them and the cake, breaking their concentration as their anxiety was showing. "AJ, Rarity, one last thing."
A minute later, Applejack and Rarity came back with what appeared to be a safety net, both mares carrying it while Spyro and Rosy used the Force to make sure it didn't fall over while the two Pegasi flew over head, looking around as he walked, seeing all their friends work together to get this cake to the train station. He then turned his head and saw Mr. Cake was about to loose his cool, breathing heavily and looking like he was going to have a panic attack as they reached the station.
"Alright everypony, we're at the home stretch." Pinkie said, getting to the door of the car. "See Mr. and Mrs. Cake, got it here without a hitch. Now all we gotta do is... get it in?"
Mr. Cake fainted again as they realized that it was too tall for them to get in without harming the cake, making Spyro shake his head.
"Rosy, take over, I got this." Spyro said.
Letting go of his concentration, Rosy felt the strain of trying to keep it up straight without dropping it while Spyro put his Sling Ring back on, standing on his hind legs and spinning his right hoof as a portal opened inside of the train car large enough for them to get the cake through.
"Spyro, you're a life saver!" Mrs. Cake said, helping her husband up.
"No problem Mrs. Cake." Spyro replied. "Now let's get this puppy in there."
Big Mac went through the portal, though hesitant to do so as he didn't fully understand how it worked, he walked the cake over to the table and Rosy slid it onto the table, relieving Big Macintosh as he walked out of the train car, leaving Spyro with the girls as they starred at the massive cake.
"Thank you everypony for helping to get the cake into the dessert car." Pinkie said.
"No Pinkie, than you for inviting us to go with you to Canterlot for the National Dessert Competition." Twilight replied. "It's quite the event from what I'm told."
"I'm sure the festivities will be just lovely." Rarity added.
"Ah phooey on the festivities." Applejack said. "Ah'm more excited for all them tasty treats we get to try."
She reached out her hoof to get a taste of the massive cake, but Pinkie smacked her hoof away from the cake.
"Ah, ah, ah, no touchy AJ." Pinkie said. "I know you want to try it, but I want to make sure this cake reaches the competition. I'm sure the Cakes Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. All that rich and creamy goodness of the Marzipan combined with the tart tanginess of the mascarpone, blended perfectly with the smooth silliness of the meringue." Spyro started to drool again as Applejack panted like a dog while staring at the cake and Rainbow Dash licked her lips. "I call the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness the MMMM." Everyone then copied her and she jumped onto the table. "Exactly. it's the most delicious, delightful, delectable delovely cake in Equestria. It's sure to win first prize!" The slits of his eyes shrunk as he went into feral mode again, leaping at the cake again and this time hitting it, but it ended up bending back as he made contact and launched him into the wall, making him see stars and cakes before his eyes. "Nice try Spyro, but I was ready for you once again! Paid the author fifty bits to make the cake bendy and bouncy for this part of the chapter."
"You and your ability to break the fourth wall." Spyro said, getting up.
"Zis is not so!" Someone shouted, turning to see who it was. There was a gray griffon wearing a chefs hat and a long mustache. "For I, Gustavo le Grand, shall challenge your crude cake to a duel of the delectable delicacies and best it with my exceptionally exquisite Eclairs!" He raised his tray to reveal Cream filled Eclairs that literally shined in the light, which he use one to give it a divine aura before setting them on another table. "Zey will surely bring down ze competition and win me first prize and crowning me le champion!"
"Not a chance Le Grand." Came another voice, turning to see it was Donut Joe.
"Donut Joe!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. "What are you doing here in Ponyville?"
"Oh, hey Twilight." Donut Joe replied. "I was picking up the final ingredient for my contest entry, Donutopia!" He moved back to reveal his entry, which was a city made out of donuts, which Spyro could lie was pretty creative, taking some sprinkles and coating them with the sprinkles. "And with these super sprinkles, my donuts will dunk all the other lousy desserts, steal first prize and make my donut shop know all across Equestria!"
"Oh Joe, your dippy donuts couldn't outrun me." A woman's voice said, the donut shop keeper moving out of the way as a chocolate moose was pushed through the door, leaving everyone speechless and Fluttershy scared.
"Hello." Pinkie said, walking up to the moose. "What's your name?"
"I am Mulia Milds." The voice said, a mule coming out from behind the moose. "And this is my Chocolate Moose Moose! It will trample all your little treats, I will be given first prize, and it will make me the greatest chef in Equestria!"
"Ha, Madam Milds, you and your moose moose are mistaken!" Le Grand said.
"Your fru-frooey éclairs will never defeat my donuts!" Donut Joe retorted.
"The Cakes Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness will win it for sure!" Pinkie shouted.
"Your simple cake will never take my moose!" Mulia replied.
The four contestants glared daggers at one another as the trains whistle blew, none of them giving an inch as they starred their opponent down while Spyro just shook his head at the over competitive chefs.
"Well, we're certainly in for a delicious competition tomorrow." Twilight said.
"It would appear so." Spyro responded. "Maybe we should settle in for the night and save this energy for tomorrow."
Without even responding, the three chefs walked out of the dessert car glaring at one another and slamming the doors to their rooms while leaving the ponies alone and leaving Pinkie worried as she stood in the car.
"Man, I sure am beat." Rainbow Dash said stretching.
"Yeah, Ah'm gonna hit the hay myself." Applejack said.
"Same here." Spyro added.
The group walked to the neighboring car to get some rest for tomorrow, but Pinkie ran to the door way and blocked the path, preventing them from going to bed as she looked panicked.
"You kidding?!" Pinkie asked. "Didn't you hear those chefs? We need to protect MMM! I know for sure MMM is the super best dessert in all of Equestria! And I know they know too!"
"So?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"So, I know one of them is going to sabotage MMM tonight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We need to stand guard!"
"Oh Pinkie, you're over reacting." Spyro replied, patting her on the head. "They may have a competitive spirit and great confidence in their desserts, but I doubt they'd stoop so low as to sabotage someone else's entry."
"Spyro's right sugarcube." Applejack said. "Those chefs won't do your cake any harm."
"But they are!" Pinkie replied. "I just know they will."
"Hey, if you wanna stand guard, be our guest." Rainbow Dash said. "The rest of us are going to bed."
She then zoomed over Pinkie's head and left a gap in her mane, which filled itself in instantly as everyone else walked past pinkie, leaving the party animal behind to guard the cake on her own tonight. As night came, Spyro was in his cabin sleeping peacefully, but then he heard what sounded lime screaming, the clanging of metal on metal, seeing something that caused him to curl in a ball before his eyes shot open, the color of his eyes were momentarily green before turning back to purple as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sighed, finding his dream to be more of a nightmare. He then heard hoof steps and thought it was Pinkie guarding the cake or wanting to hide on the top of the cars roof to catch someone trying to sneak out of their cabin before hearing someone knock on his door, tilting his head to know who it was that was knocking.
"Come in." Spyro said, the door opening to Rosy as she walked in. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Not after what I saw." Rosy said, walking over and sitting next to her father. "What I saw... it was horrible."
"I too saw something dark." Spyro responded. "Our future if it comes to pass."
"There has to be another way dad." Rosy said, looking at Spyro. "There just has to be."
"Only other way is if we use the Time Stone to freeze time." Spyro pointed out. "But it's still a key item in the World of Marvels, we can't take it out until it's played its part."
"Well, maybe we could borrow it for a while." Rosy suggested. "Give you time to-"
"Rosy, please." Spyro said, wrapping his wing around her. "I wish there was another way, but we both know it needs to happen this way. If we are to prevent the worse from happening, I need to do this." Rosy wanted to argue with him and tell him there had to be another way, but tears were welling up in her eyes, putting her head on his shoulder as she started to cry, causing Spyro to hug her and pat her head, trying to soothe her as he knew it was difficult for her to know his plan. "Why don't you head on back to bed and get some sleep. We got some treats to try tomorrow."
Rosy wiped away her tears and summed up the courage to get up and return to her cabin, closing the door behind her as Spyro was about to shut his door, but then looked down the corridor to see Pinkie was walking back and forth keeping an eye on the Cakes cake, smiling at her for taking it so seriously. He then decided to leave his room and approach Pinkie, who looked to be struggling to stay awake as if her life depended on it as her eyes began to close, falling asleep when her eyes shot open and tackled Spyro, pinning him to the ground as she grabbed his leg and yanked it, causing it to crack and the prince to yelp in pain.
"HA, got you, you... Spyro?" Pinkie asked, getting up off him. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to see how guard duty was going." Spyro replied, getting up and popping his leg again, surprised to feel how much better it felt. "Ever thought about getting a career as a chiropractor?"
"Sorry Spyro... I need to... *yawn*... need to keep... eye on... MMMmmmm..." Pinkie said, before leaning on his shoulder and dozing off to sleep. Spyro shook his head at the sleepy earth pony and was about to set her head down to let her get some sleep, but someone zoomed by and ended up waking her up, both looking to the other side of the car and seeing the door close. "Stop saboteur!"
Pinkie and Spyro then ran after whoever it was that was running through the cars, which they had impressive speed, and familiar to him as they ran and their scent to him was also familiar to him. As they reached the end of the train, Pinkie and Spyro knew they had them cornered, but when they burst through the door, no one was there, confusing Pinkie Pie and prompting her to rub her eyes.
"Strange." Spyro said, looking around.
"Where'd they go!?" Pinkie asked.
"Either we're both sleep deprived, or they flew away." Spyro answered. "Well it can't be option one because we both saw them, and I could pick up a scent, though it was faint."
They then returned to the dessert car and Spyro could see how hard Pinkie was fighting to stay awake as they entered, though he wanted her to get some sleep, he knew she wouldn't sleep until she was one hundred percent sure it was safe. But when they got to the car, they saw a shadow of someone in the door, prompting Pinkie t chase them again, so Spyro followed closely behind as they chased after them, however, Spyro noticed something different about the one they were chasing, which was they weren't as fast this time and the scent was completely different. They reached the front of the train where the Conductor was at, but when they entered, the only one they found was the conductor shoveling coal into the train, though the fire from the engine made it difficult to see them and with the smell of coal in the air, he couldn't smell the one who they were chasing. So Pinkie and Spyro returned to the dessert car again, finding the cake was ok.
"Oh thank Celestia that MMM is still ok." Pinkie said.
"Yeah, it seems to be fine." Spyro said. "But, there was something odd about who we were chasing. The first time they were exceptionally fast, but this time they were slower, and the scents were different."
"You could smell them?" Pinkie asked.
"Dragons sense of smell is stronger than that of a dog's." Spyro answered. "We can differentiate between different smells and the two scents were completely different."
"So that means one of those bakers is cooking up something bad, so I'm not leaving here no matter what!" Pinkie said, sitting down and keeping her eyes on the cake. However, the blinds suddenly shut and made the car completely dark. "Who turned out the moon!?"
"Not Luna that's for sure." Spyro replied, making Pinkie snicker.
He then picked up another scent, familiar like the other two, but completely different from them as well.
"Don't go near that cake thief!" Pinkie shouted, which Spyro heard what sounded like someone took a bite of something. "Stop thief!" They then heard something run into a wall, making Spyro grimace as he shook his head, his horns glowing to get some light. "You ok thief?"
The blinds then rolled back up, so Spyro turned the lights on his horns and the two of them went over tot he entrance of the car where the others were sleeping, Pinkie opening the door and growling as they looked around, but none of the doors were open. But when Spyro and Pinkie were about to head back to the cake, he noticed the picture was crooked and was about to fix it, but noticed something about the picture, which had an eyelash on it when it didn't before.
"Spyro, nows not the time to admire art." Pinkie said, fixing the painting. "We need to check on MMM." they walked over tot he cake and saw it was ok, Pinkie hopping up and putting her hooves on the table. "And they said I was over reacting. I knew I needed to keep a close eye on MMM, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
She then leered at, almost squinting as she starred at it, but then her head fell down immediately as did her entire body, snoring peacefully as she fell asleep, making Spyro shake his head at the usually hyperactive party pony. He used his magic to pick her up and bring her over to him, setting her down gently as she lied on the ground, so he lied down next to her and pulled a pillow out of Pinkie's mane, which he knew she had as she sometimes give one to Rainbow Dash when she needs a nap, and put it on the ground, setting her head gently onto the pillow before giving her a goodnight kiss, making her shift her body a bit to press up against him as he laid his head on Pinkie, using his wing to cover her up as they slept together. the next morning, Pinkie woke up, fluttering her eyes until they shot wide open after realizing she fell asleep.
"The cake!" Pinkie exclaimed, looking up and saw it was ok. "It's ok." She then felt something wrapped around her and looked back to see it was Spyro who had wrapped his wing around her and had used her as a pillow, sleeping peacefully as he snored gently. She giggled to herself as she gently got up, using her hoof to pick his head up before moving the pillow underneath his chin, setting his head down gently to let him sleep before checking on the cake. "Oh MMM, you look mmmmmmarvelous."
Twilight then opened the door into her dessert car and saw Pinkie was awake and saw Spyro was asleep on the ground, surprising her that he was helping Pinkie, but shrugged her shoulders after that. But her eyes were wide open when she saw the cake, completely lost at what she saw.
"Whoa!" Twilight said.
"I know, right?" Pinkie asked. "I would say congratulations are in order. And Spyro helped me too, so i believe we both did a pretty good job."
"Um, Pinkie, you might want to have a second look at the cake before giving yourself an award." Twilight said.
Twilight turned the cake so a confused Pinkie Pie could see what she was talking about and when she saw the cake, Pinkie gasped as there were three massive bites missing from it, making her scream bloody murder that caused Spyro to jump and stick his head through her roof, dangling as he swung punches in the air.
"Bring it on suckas!" Spyro shouted. "I'll take you all... hey wait a minute, how'd I get outside?"
"Spyro, nows not the time to be hanging around!" Pinkie said, biting down on his.
"OW!" Spyro shouted as Pinkie started to pull on his tail. "PINKIE!"
"What is it?" Applejack asked, watching as Pinkie was yanking on Spyro's tail. "And why's Spyro hangin' from the roof?"
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It's the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!" Pinkie replied, successfully pulling Spyro from the ceiling. "It's been ruined!" Everyone in the room gasped at the revelation while Spyro looked to everyone, sensing some anxiety in the crowd. "Now we need to figure out who done it!"
"You mean who 'did' it." Twilight said, trying to correct Pinkie.
"Exactly!" Pinkie replied. "Who did-done-did ill-dood-it!"
Twilight looked confused for a moment, covering her eyes as she shook her head, wondering why she even tried to correct her.
"Well, I have read many mystery novels and know the only way to discover who the culprit is to conduct an investigation." Twilight said.
"Precisely!" Pinkie said, putting on a detective cap with a pipe that blew bubbles from it as she pulled out another hat. "Hey Spyro, wanna help?"
"Hey, I'm down for a good mystery." Spyro said, pulling out a piece of gum. "One second."
He popped the piece of gum into his mouth and began chewing it a few times to make sure it was all chewed up, taking a deep breath before blowing a bubble, everyone watching as it grew bigger and bigger as he blew it until he was completely obscured from sight.
"Spyro, nows not the time to show off how big of a bubble you can blow." Pinkie said, pulling a pin out. "Sorry, but I'm gonna need to burst your bubble."
Before she could do that, the bubble burst on its own, revealing Spyro was now wearing a brown long jacket like the kind Sherlock Holmes wore and a hat similar to the greatest detective, surprising everyone.
"You're right Pinkie, nows not the time for frivolous distractions." Spyro replied. "The mysteries a foot, and we need to solve it."
"Oh great, now Spyro's doing it!" Rainbow Dash said. "One Pinkie's bad enough, we don't need two!"
"Wow, nice costume change Spyro!" Pinkie said, blowing in her pipe. "But as Chief detective, it's my duty and yours as deputy to solve this mystery."
"Who made you chief?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, Ah'm with Spyro on this." Applejack said. "Maybe leave the investigatin' to Spyro."
"Oh come on, I'm good at figuring things out!" Pinkie said, putting another hat on Twilight. "And Twilight can be our lowly assistant, who asks silly questions with obvious answers."
"I think you got your roles there mixed up little cupcake." Spyro said. "I think it should be the other way around between you and Twilight."
"Fine, shouldn't we start looking for clues Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Perfect silly question Twilight." Pinkie replied. "Because the obvious answer is..."
"Yes?" Twilight and Spyro asked at the same time.
"No." Pinkie replied, Spyro falling face first comically. "Because I already know who did it."
"How?" Spyro asked as he got up. "How do you know already?"
"Yeah, how?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, it's simple." Pinkie replied, walking into the crowd. "Clearly this fiendish and dastardly deed was done by one of the bakers who knew their dessert could measure up to the mastery of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness."
Spyro face smacked himself, knowing full well that you needed evidence to convict someone, seeing enough crime tv and playing enough detective games to know evidence is key in any investigation.
"Pinkie, you-" Spyro tried to say but was interrupted.
"The culprit is obvious." Pinkie said. "You feared eclair lacked flair... GUSTAVE!"
The entire room turned black and white as if it were an old thirties movie, no sound and whenever they talked, it cut to a screen which showed Pinkie smacking the griffons claw away and her shouting for her to get away from the cake before being snagged and tied up on the train rail with a train incoming before shifting to the griffon turning a buzz saw on and destroying the cake. After that, Spyro turned the projector off that Pinkie was using, walking over to her and Twilight.
"I doubt that actually happened." Spyro said. " If you were tied to the train track, you wouldn't be here now."
"Well, you got a point there." Pinkie said, blowing into her pipe.
"Not to mention the cake isn't sliced, it's been bitten." Twilight pointed out.
"Yes, three different bite marks with three different sets of teeth marks." Spyro said, closely examining the cake.
"Hmm, both are excellent points." Pinkie said. "Meaning Le Grand is in the clear. That means another baker did it, one whose donuts are do nots. That's right, it was Joe!"
The room then turned side ways as a donut moved on its own from the left side of the screen to the right James Bond style before coming back around, revealing Joe in a suit bitting into a donut and squirting jelly onto the creek before cutting away to the train moving during the night and Donut Joe talking with some mares while drinking a milkshake, moving to the dessert car where Pinkie was watching it while wearing a police hat, the baker putting a device on the door and cutting the glass before tossing something that emitted a gas that knocked Pinkie out, walking over and pulling his bow tie to emit another gas that showed lasers, so he took a mirror and used the lasers to cut the cut, slicing it into multiple pieces. The picture then ended as Spyro reached out from off screen and spun it to where it showed Pinkie in Donut Joes face, walking to Pinkie and pulling her away from Donut Joe.
"Again Pinkie, the cake isn't sliced, just bitten." Spyro pointed out. "Plus, this dessert car doesn't have infrared security lasers that can cut through anything and there is no evidence of any kind of Chloroform gas or any other kind of knockout gas."
"And how would you know that, hmm?" Pinkie asked, getting into his face before being pushed back.
"Did you forget my nose can pick up on and differentiate between different smells and scents in the room?" Spyro asked. "If there was any kind of knockout gas, I'd have smelt it."
"Plus, Joe is not sleek, stealthy, con made." Twilight added. "He's big, gruff, and messy."
"Hey!" Donut Joe said.
"Although, you would look rather dapper in a tuxedo." Rarity said.
Spyro looked over to Rarity to for a moment before looking back to Pinkie, but immediately looked at Rarity, noticing she was hiding her right eye with her mane, which was not like her to do so, making Spyro suspicious of the fashion mare.
"Huh, maybe you two are right." Pinkie said.
"Maybe!?" Spyro and Twilight asked at the same time.
"But now that I look at the desserts, there is one that simply cannot look me in the eye." Pinkie said, eyeing the chocolate moose.
"Oh for crying out loud." Spyro said. "Pinkie, that moose is a moose."
"Yes, and the mules behind the mousse panicked when she saw the mastery of the MMM." Pinkie replied.
"So, you're saying the culprit is...?" Twilight said, looking over to Mulia.
"Mulia Milds." Pinkie said.
The screen then shifted to a scene where Mulia was moving around like a ninja on top of the roof of the train, running to the dessert car, shifting to a scene where pinkie was moving away from the cake and Mulia snuck over and knocked her out with a frying pan before running to the cake with a Katana and slicing it to pieces. The center of the screen then started to burn as a fire burned the film in the screen, Spyro appearing behind it with a flame in his hoof before blowing it out and starring at Pinkie.
"Pinkie, seriously, the cake isn't cut." Spyro said. "It's been eaten. Besides, I was with you the whole night and you didn't receive a blow to the head. Besides, she doesn't seem that agile or youthful to pull those kinds of moves off."
"Ugh, you're right." Pinkie said.
"Finally!" Twilight exclaimed. "Thank Celestia."
"But I was sure it was the other bitter bakers that did this." Pinkie said, walking over to the other desserts. "That way, their dessert would take first prize. I mean, look at Joe's Donutopia. It's a city of donutty delight, topped temptingly with sprinkilicious sprinkles. And Gustave's eclairs look incredibly edible with glistening glaziness. And then there's Mulia Milds moose moose, why this mouth watering moose moose tempts the taste buds with the silky smooth yummy nummy chocolatiness."
"Pinkie, i already fell for temptation twice already, I'm not falling for it a third time." Spyro said. "Chances are you have another gag to get me with."
"Nope, just the two." Pinkie replied. "But why did the criminal go for the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness while they left the trio of tasty treats untouched?"
As she asked the question, they passed through the tunnel on their way to the tunnel on route to the city of Canterlot, someone screaming before the lights came on, revealing that everything was eaten, half eaten desserts lying all over the room.
"Now I have no idea who done did it." Pinkie said. "This mystery is getting more mysterious by the minute."
"Well let's stop with the accusations and quick judgement and get to the truth." Twilight said, taking pinkie's hat off and putting it on her head after removing hers and putting it on Pinkie's head. "Everypony, return to your cars until we are finished with our investigation." Everyone left the dessert car besides Pinkie, Twilight, and Spyro, watching everyone return to their cars. "Alright Pinkie, in order to solve this mystery, we need to find clues. Now Pinkie, you were here at the scene of the crime all night, correct?"
"You're not accusing me are you!?" Pinkie asked.
"No Pinkie, she isn't accusing you." Spyro said. "And if she is, I'm your alibi as I was with you as well, chasing whoever did this to the Cake's cake."
"Plus, you might have seen something that might help us." Twilight said.
"Well, I silhouette in the moon light, and we chased it to the caboose." Pinkie replied.
"And he or she was fast." Spyro added. "Plus, I caught a whiff of what they smell like."
"Really?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?"
"Everypony has a unique scent that separates them from other ponies." Spyro replied. "With my Dragonic sense of smell, I can detect odors and smells others would overlook or miss."
"Seriously!?" Pinkie asked. "What do I smell like?"
"Like sweets and Cotton Candy." Spyro replied. "And Twilight's scent is the smell of fresh paper and ink."
"Wow, that's... interesting." Twilight said, wiping off the bubble pipe and blowing in it. "What did you smell?"
"Well, the scent was faint, but it was familiar." Spyro replied. "Whoever it was smelled like rain and storm clouds."
"Rain and storm clouds?" Twilight asked. "Interesting. Pinkie, let's retrace your steps, maybe we can find something if we do."
Pinkie saluted and then started to walk backwards, Twilight walking after her looking annoyed with Pinkie while Spyro just face smacked himself, walking after them.
"Spyro and I chased the criminal towards the caboose." Pinkie said. "But when we got here, he was gone."
They walked into the caboose and looked around, trying to see if there was anything until Spyro caught wind of something, his nose picking up on the scent again and walking to the nearby couches, smiling.
"Twilight, I got something." Spyro said.
The lavender unicorn walked over and looked at what Spyro found, smiling as she took out a large envelope and put the clue into it, putting the envelope into her saddle bag as pinkie ran up to see what it was.
"Pinkie, I think I know who did it." Twilight said.
"You do!?" Pinkie asked.
"Yes, but I need more evidence to confirm my suspicion." Twilight replied. "So what happened next?"
"Well, we returned to the dessert car and saw another silhouette." Pinkie replied.
"Spyro, when you went back to the dessert car, was the scent the same?" Twilight asked.
"No, as a matter of fact." Spyro replied, surprising them. "The first scent was rain and storm clouds, there was a second scent. It smelled like, grass, flowers, and... flowers I think."
"Hmm, curious." Twilight said, blowing into the pipe. "Where did you chase the silhouette to?"
"The train engine." Spyro replied.
"But when we got there, we only saw the conductor." Pinkie said.
"The conductor huh?" Twilight asked. "Then let's see what we can find."
The three of them went to the trains engine, finding the conductor there and before they could get a word out, Twilight took the conductors hat and looked in, Spyro looking over her shoulder, both surprised and confused by what they saw.
"But... that makes no sense." Twilight said.
"That makes two of us." Spyro said, taking the envelope out and putting the evidence into it. "Right, there was one more thing that happened and it was in the dessert car."
"Oh, oh, I'll find the next clue!" Pinkie said, switching hats with Twilight before running.
Spyro and Twilight followed Pinkie to the car and found her with a magnifying glass looking around to find the next clue, both shaking their heads at her.
"Spyro, did you pick up another scent when you were here?" Twilight asked, switching hats with Pinkie.
"I did in fact." Spyro replied. "And this one I definitely recognized. The scent smelled like a very expensive perfume, one I smelled many times."
"Hmm, really?" Twilight asked. "Pinkie, what else happened?"
"Well, the curtain mysteriously closed on their own." Pinkie replied.
"Yes, and there was hoof steps followed by a loud thud like someone ran into the wall." Spyro added.
"Yeah, and when the curtains opened, the portrait was crooked." Pinkie said.
That was when Spyro noticed the lash on the portrait, thinking about it before a lightbulb appeared over his head, grabbing it and tossing it away.
"Twilight, might want to get this lash real quick." Spyro said with a smile. "I know who our culprit is."
Smiling, twilight took out the envelope and put the eye lash into the paper package, putting it back into her saddle bags.
"I think we have everything we need." Twilight said.
"Agreed." Spyro replied. "Pinkie, can you get the others in here? Time to unveil our cake culprit."
A few minutes later, everyone who was on the train came into the dessert car where they had everyone lined up as they stood in front of their suspects.
"Thank you all for coming." Spyro said. "You're all probably wondering why you're all here again. Well, after completing our investigation, we have discovered who caused this cake carnage."
"But how?" Gustave asked.
"When conducting a crime, it's important you don't leave behind any evidence." Twilight said.
"If there's one thing a criminal will almost always do, it's leave behind a clue or two." Spyro added. "And we found three pieces of evidence."
"And they were obvious pieces of evidence like... this!" Twilight said, pulling out a cyan feather.
"AHA! I KNEW IT!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I knew it was you Gustave!"
"Pinkie, Gustave didn't destroy the Cake's cake." Spyro said, confusing her. "Gustave's feathers are gray and black, the blue feather belongs to none other than... Rainbow Dash."
"W-what do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, sweating like crazy. "I-I don't even like cake!"
"So Rainbow Dash did it!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Case solved."
"Not yet Pinkie." Twilight said. "When we went to the engine, Spyro and I looked into the conductors hat and found... this."
She then pulled out a pink strand of hair, which Spyro looked to Fluttershy, who looked very nervous.
"Aha, a pink strand of hair." Pinkie said, running to Rainbow Dash. "That came from your rainbow colored mane, didn't it!?"
"Pinkie, I don;t have pink in my mane!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"But maybe... you're wearing a wig!" Pinkie said.
She then bit down on Rainbow Dash's mane and pulled on it, making Rainbow Dash yelp in pain as she held onto her mane.
"Pinkie, stop pulling on my mane!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Pinkie, let her go." Spyro said, making her stop. "Rainbow Dash doesn't have pink in her mane."
"He's right." Twilight said. "Remember when you two rushed to the engine and saw the conductor shoveling coal? That wasn't the conductor, but rather, it was Fluttershy."
"Fluttershy!?" Pinkie exclaimed, looking to her and leaping in the air. "Oh, you're going down Fluttershy."
"Pinkie Pie, freeze." Spyro said, making her freeze in mid-air. "There's still one more culprit to this crime."
"There is?" Pinkie asked, putting her hooves onto the ground.
"That's right, there is." Twilight responded. "When the curtains closed, it was done by magic. But when they tried to run, they left a little addition to the portrait."
"And has anypony else noticed how Rarity's mane is fashioned today?" Spyro asked.
"What!?" She asked, trying to play it off. "Is it a crime to change one's style every now and then? I think it's a crime not to."
"Really now?" Spyro asked, using his magic to move her mane, revealing it was missing a lash.
"Fine I'm guilty!" Rarity exclaimed. "I wear false eyelashes! Oh, and I took a bite out of the cake."
"So did I." Fluttershy added.
"Shoot, so did I." Rainbow Dash said.
"But... why?" Pinkie asked.
"Because you made it so so delectable." Rarity said.
"So tasty." Fluttershy added.
"And boy was it." Rainbow Dash said.
"I only wanted to take a little lady like bite." Rarity said.
"It was so good." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, I just dove right in." Rainbow Dash said.
"Heh, guess you should have paid the author extra to make the cake indestructible until it reached Canterlot." Spyro said.
"Nah, that would have costed extra." Pinkie replied. "Plus, that gag was meant for you."
"Pinkie, I'm really, really sorry." Fluttershy said.
"Me too Pinkie." Rarity said.
"Yeah, sorry Pinkie."
"Aw, it's ok girls, I forgive you." Pinkie said, hugging them. "Just glad that this mystery was over."
"Not quite Pinkie." Spyro replied. "That's only the mystery of the cake solved. We still have the mystery of who destroyed the other bakers goods."
"Oh, can I try this time!?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, maybe." Spyro said. "What will you do before you accuse anypony?"
"Look for clues!" Pinkie said.
Twilight switched her hat out for Pinkie's and the pink party pony started to sniff around and look for clues, getting into everyone's personal space as she looked around, going over them until she returned to Twilight's and Spyro's side.
"Well Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Did you find out who devoured all the desserts?"
"I did!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It was the bakers!" She then rushed towards the bakers and pulled on Gustave's mustache with a bit of chocolate in it. "Gustave as moose in his mustache!" She then rushed to Donut Joe, who looked nervous. "Joe had eclair in his hair!" She then ran to Mulia and pulled on her cheek, stretching it like rubber. "And Mulia has sprinkles in her wrinkles!"
"Well bakers, what do you say?" Spyro asked.
"Indeed, I apologize Mulia." Gustave said. "But Pinkie made your moose moose sound so... tre magnific."
"Yes, I must apologize as well." Donut Joe said. "The way Pinkie described your eclairs made them sound so scrumptious."
"And the way she described you Donutopia Joe... oh it was too delectable to resist." Mulia said.
A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the train station at Canterlot, arriving in time for the competition.
"Well everypony, looks like we have this mystery solved." Twilight said.
"Yes, but we have no desserts to enter into ze contest." Gustave pointed out.
"I think I know a way around that." Spyro said.
"Your time spell!?" Pinkie asked, surprising everyone and getting the bakers hopes up.
"Sorry Pinkie, but it only reverses time back by six minutes." Spyro said, crushing their hopes. "But... I have another idea that can benefit all of us."
A while later, they got to the competition right on time as the judges were about to start evaluating the desserts and when they removed the cloth hiding the dessert to reveal the cake was mostly restored with the chocolate moose head on top, eclairs on the sides of the cake, and donuts on the flat surface of the cake and on the rim under the head, taking everyone by surprise and it immediately won first place.
"Wow, it looks wonderful." Princess Celestia said, eyeing a piece that Twilight brought out.
"Care for a bite?" Twilight asked.
"Don't mind if I do." Pinkie said.
She then dove for the cake, shocking everyone that she was going to devour the whole thing, but it ended up bending and stretching, flinging her backwards into the nearby tree and making her see stars, eclairs, donuts, cake, and chocolate moose heads in front of her eyes.
"I saw that coming Pinkie." Spyro said. "So i paid the author another fifty bits to make it bendy until everyone else has had a slice of the cake."
"Hey, no fair!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You can't use my own gags against me!"
Everyone started to laugh at the pink party ponies reaction, finding her reaction funny, which she even started to laugh as slices of cake were being passed around to everyone at the event, letting everyone get their own slice of the true master piece before pinkie could devour it in one gulp. At the Nobody stronghold, Larxene was walking down the hall to the counsel room where she has been summoned, walking past some Dusks and Sorcerers as the door to the room opened, revealing Xemnas and Ansem were waiting for her, looking over Canterlot Castle as she entered.
"You summoned me sir?" Larxene asked.
"I did." Xemnas said. "The time has come for the prince to finally fall. We have information that a wedding is about to take place in Canterlot, which will be the perfect time and opportunity to take him out."
"But there will be hundreds of guards." Larxene pointed out. "And I doubt his friends will let me get close."
"They don;t know you in pony form little nymph." Ansem said. "That will be to your advantage. During the ceremony, you are to eliminate him on the spot."
"And how will I accomplish this sir?" The Savage Nymph asked. "Knowing him, he's probably made himself some armor out of the Beskar he stole from us."
"We planned for that." Xemnas said, pulling out six new daggers, smooth, shiny, and looked to be made of chrome. "The prince made one small mistake when he stole the Beskar, he forgot to make sure all of it was his. We found a few ingots and figured out how to forge them into weapons. there was not enough for something small, so we had these made."
"They are enchanted with some of our strongest dark magics." Ansem said, passing the daggers to her. "Just one of these is enough to destroy him. When he looses his heart, make sure his friends don't try to save it from the void."
"I will not fail you sirs." Larxene said, bowing to them.
She then turned and left the room, letting the two leaders resume their study of the castle while Larxene examined the daggers, finding them to be very light and smiling as she walked back to her room. In Malefors palace, the statue of the dark dragon was glowing again as may walked in, kneeling before the statue as purple mist escaped it.
"May, the time has come to eliminate the prince." Malefor said.
"How so my master?" May asked.
"The is a princess in Equestria, one of love, and she is getting married soon." Malefor replied. "The wedding is when we strike."
"My lord, even with our numbers, the prince is too powerful." May pointed out. "He can use his Hyper form, Aether powers, the Force, Super form... he can't be beaten."
"Yes, but he still has a weakness." Malefor said, the smoke forming into the members of his herd. "They are his weakness. Love will be his downfall. Use them and destroy him. And if you fail me once more... you will continue to serve me in my army... as a Grublin!"
May winced at the threat, shaking uncontrollably as she felt her own heart skip a beat imagining herself turning into a Grublin. The smoke then disappeared and returned to the statue, leaving may alone in the room as she got up, turning and leaving the room to return to Equestria to carry out her masters plan. When Spyro and his friends got back home the next day, Spyro went to his garage immediately before doing his chores and turned the console on, showing that the ship was complete before AIVA popped up.
"Sir, I am please to announce the new ship is complete." AIVA said.
"Good." Spyro replied, walking down the stairs. "And Project: Mandalorian?"
"Complete sir." AIVA replied. "Enchantments to the armor is complete. Shall I begin transfer of the project to the ship?"
"Yes, you may begin." Spyro replied, heading to the entrance and taking a deep breath, stoping in his tracks. "It's almost time."
"Sir, are you positive there is no alternative solution?" AIVA asked. "The odds of your success has increased by 12%, bring up your chances of success to 57 %."
"It's a risk I need to take." Spyro replied, sensing someone was outside, but decided to let them hear what he had to say. "The future I saw must not come to pass. To prevent it, I need to do this."
"But without Rosy Hearts to help, your chances of success will continue to decrease." AIVA said. "You need a second Keyblade bearer to do what you need done."
"I know AIVA." Spyro said, walking out of the garage as the hologram shut off. "I know."
As he walked out, he pretended not to notice Rosy hiding behind the garage, having heard everything and tears rolling down her eyes, wiping them away as she knew what he said was right, but didn't want to do it, her hoof shaking as she felt her fear and despair get to her, but knew what she needed to do, even if she doesn't want to do it, it needed to be done, no matter what.