You settled on the couch as you got your notebook ready to write down clues and pretzel bites with cheese dip just in case. You turned on the TV with your remote as you scroll over to Netflix. You pressed the button to go on Netflix as it's turned on. You scroll over to the series and press the name of the series that revealed a second episode of...

Detective Diaries:

The Case of the Missing Microphone!

Zipp Storm stands confidently in front of a small,outdoor stage where her sister,Pipp Petal is setting up a camera.

Zipp:Hey everypony and welcome to the very second episode of Zipp's Clues! I'm your host,Zipp Storm and this is where we turn observation into answers. Today's episode is all about Critical Observation.

Pipp finishes adjusting the camera and trots over,smiling as she is glad to be here.

Pipp:And I'm Pipp,Pipp Petal. Your co-host and social media liaison! We're here in Bridlewood but,uh... Zipp,where's the main attraction?

Pipp points to an empty microphone stand on the stage.

Zipp:Exactly! One of the Pippsqueaks here had a concert scheduled for today but her custom,sparkly microphone is missing. Vanished!

You gasped in surprise! Her sparky microphone is missing?! You guess that's why the episode is called "The case of the missing microphone" but who could have stolen it? You continue watching as Zipp leaps onto the stage in a single bound.

Zipp:Most ponies would panic, but a good investigator uses Critical Observation. That means not just looking at something but seeing it. It's about finding the things that are out of place.

Zipp gets on her hooves and crouches near the stage floor,using a magnifying glass.

Zipp:Check the immediate area. I'm looking for anything unusual on the ground around where the mic should be.

Zipp points her hoof at the base of the microphone stand.

Zipp:Aha! See this? It's a tiny,almost invisible,mud smudge. But the ground here is completely dry.

Zipp stands up and looks around the common.

Pipp:A mud smudge? Zipp,that could be from anything.

Pipp spoke up in confusion.

Zipp:That's where Logical Deduction comes in. It's about connecting the dots. If the ground is dry, the mud has to come from somewhere else. And whoever made the smudge was near the mic stand.

Zipp trots to the edge of the stage and leaps off. She jogs toward a small, shaded area near some bushes. Pipp followed also behind her as she followed the trail.

Zipp:Follow the trail.

She get down low again.

Zipp:Look at this series of slightly deeper hoofprints leading from the stage to the bushes, then disappearing onto the main path. The prints are small,almost exactly Pipp's size.

Zipp:Look at this series of slightly deeper hoofprints leading from the stage to the bushes,then disappearing onto the main path. The prints are small,almost exactly Pipp's size.

Pipp:Are you saying I took one of my Pippsqueak's microphone?

Pipp widens in panic as she backs away a bit. Zipp shooked her head as a no as she reassured Pipp.

Zipp:No. I'm saying whoever took it was roughly your size and they had mud on their hooves. Now for the third part of my method:Athleticism.

Zipp flapped her wings to fly over a small decorative fence,landing gracefully.

Zipp:Sometimes,you need a different perspective!

She looks over the fence and down the main path.

Zipp:Now I can see where the prints pick back up near the stream. The thief must have washed their hooves there!

Pipp catches up as she flaps her wings as well,flying over to the fence. She is slightly out of breath as she is relieved that it wasn't her..

Pipp:So we have prints, mud, and a clean stream. Who is our suspect?

Zipp:Let's review our clues. Small hoofprints,mud from the stream and a love of sparkly things. Who did we see near here earlier who fits that description?

Pipp:Scoff! The griffon! He keeps asking me to 'borrow' my mic for his talent show auditions!

Zipp:Exactly. Observation gives us the facts and Deduction gives us the answer. Now let's go get that microphone back!

Zipp and Pipp fly off camera as the episode has ended,for now.