Art Class

Five days later, the newspapers of Equestria all made a proud declaration in the big, bold headlines. Thanks to the keen detective work of Corporal Falcon Wing of the Royal Guard Investigative Division, a dangerous black market group that had been a threat to Equestria's economy and civilians for a long time had been destroyed, it's members captured and stolen goods, which included a rare and valuable piece of cloud art by the famous master Manealangelo, recovered. Acting on an anonymous tip, the keen-minded Corporal captured one of the market's members (whose name was kept secret), a delivery pony who worked in Cloudsdale, Ponyville and the surrounding areas, who agreed to turn on the other members in exchange for protection. The ringleaders, Thales and Treadmill, a pair of olive farmers from Ponyville, were in custody and were to be arraigned on multiple charges, including the abduction and attempted murder of several local fillies, within the week.

As Lyra put it, "I guess you could say that olive their plans went up in smoke! Get it?"

"I still don't get why you wouldn't let them mention your name," Rainbow Dash said, slapping the newspaper down in on the park bench. "You did practically all the work!"

Phillip lowered his saxophone. "I prefer to keep my name out of public sight. I'm not in this for the glory. And besides," he added, turning to the five fillies who were sitting by the pond, discussing new crusader plans. "They helped out a fair bit."

Rainbow Dash looked at the fillies. The bandages were gone and the bruises had faded. Right now they were all smiling and laughing as they discussed future plans. They were still haunted by the incident--they had trouble talking to strangers, and probably would for a while now--but they had mostly recovered, psychologically as well as physically. The little squirts were tougher than you'd realize, she thought with a smile.

"Yeah, but they still didn't get a cutie mark out of it," she added.

"I told them that they showed promise, but I didn't think that their talents lay in that direction," Phillip replied. "Their parents and siblings agreed with me, of course."

Rainbow chuckled. "Of course."

They stood in silence for a moment longer.

"I'd really like to see them earn their cutie marks," Phillip said.

The thought surprised Rainbow. "You know, I...didn't really strike you as somepony who would be good with kids."

"I'm not," Phillip said. "But what kind of pony would I be if I ignored a crying child?"

With a small smile, Phillip raised the saxophone back to his mouth and began to play again. Rainbow turned from him to the fillies, who were laughing as they recalled past crusades. The setting sun cast it's oranges and reds across the sky, finishing the picturesque scene.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders slept soundly that night.