B.E.A.N.S.L.A.Y.E.R.S.

Aria drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. They were back in her Porsche, headed back towards the civilized side of civilization. “So,” she questioned. “Where to next?”

Juniper looked up from the Bean, which she'd been studying since they left the apartment twenty minutes ago. “Aren't we going back to the museum?”

“Nope.” Aria reached into her center console and pulled out a pack of gum. “I was bullshitting. The police are probably going to be waiting there all night for the thieves to come back.” She popped a piece of Juicy Fruit into her mouth and tossed the rest back into the console.

“Oh.” Juniper frowned. “So we still need to find some help.”

“Uh-huh.”

Juniper thought about it. “Well, we know why the necklace is important, now.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Stopping time? Who wouldn't want that power?”

“Za Warudo!” Juniper giggled. “But seriously. They must have a pretty big bad-guy plan if they're after this. We need to find out more.”

“You could call your dad,” Aria suggested, only half-snarking.

Juniper shook her head. “He's out of town right now. And I don't want him to know about...” She waved a hand. “All this.”

“Right.” Aria blew a bubble and let it pop.

The car was silent for another minute.

And then Juniper tentatively spoke up. “If it's an expert in ancient artifacts that we need, I might have an idea.”

“Is it a good idea?”

“That depends. Wanna meet someone famous?”

An hour later- they had to stop at a drive-thru because they were both actually hungry- Juniper and Aria were sitting in the waiting area of a fancy publisher's office. It had all the usual accoutrements. Bright halogen lights, white walls covered in boring art. Uncomfortable chairs.

Thankfully, it was no time at all before someone collected them and brought them into the office proper.

And it was only standing in front of the door, with the name printed across the frosted glass, that Aria truly appreciated where they were.

The assistant knocked. “Come in,” a scratchy voice called. The door was opened, and Aria and Juniper were waved in.

The office was fairly large, but seemed smaller because of how much stuff was in it. Bookshelves, filled to overflowing, lined two walls. A massive corner desk surrounded by filing cabinets. More shelves and a display case full of artifacts. Sitting in the middle of all that, a kindly-looking woman, younger than what her voice suggested, almost buried under her shawl and a wide-brimmed hat. Like Juniper, she wore a pair of reading glasses, though this woman's were bright red. Her smile was pleasant, but distracted.

Juniper was the first to speak. “Heh- hello, Miss Yearling. We've met before-”

“Canter Zoom's niece,” she said immediately. “I remember. And I distinctly recall thinking that you'd make trouble on that movie set.” Her eyes sparkled. “Though I hear you're the master of your own set, now.”

Juniper coughed, trying very hard to hide her flushed face. “I- um. Yes. Anyway. Uh.” She motioned to Aria. “Miss Yearling, this is my friend Aria Blaze, Aria... this is A.K. Yearling.”

Aria raised one eyebrow and extended a hand. “The author of the Daring Do books?”

Yearling returned the handshake. “I'm also an expert in archaeology and anthropology. Did you think I made the scenarios for my books out of thin air?”

Aria shrugged. “To tell the truth, I don't really like those books. I find them to be very inaccurate to real history.”

Yearling huffed. “Yes, well. Sometimes things have to be changed or a book won't sell.” She leaned back and cleared a space on her desk. “My understanding is that you need help with an artifact?”

Juniper nodded and pulled out the necklace. “It's actually for my dad,” she said. “He works for the museum and wanted to donate this family heirloom, and we wanted to find out more about it.”

Yearling stared at the necklace for a moment. Then she wordlessly took out her phone, opened the internet application, and then a few taps later set it on the desk next to the necklace.

Aria read the article headline on the screen, accompanied by a high resolution picture, and groaned.

PRICELESS NECKLACE STOLEN FROM CANTERLOT MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

Juniper's lip started to twitch.

Yearling formed her fingers into a tent. “Obviously you were lying just now,” she said. “But equally obvious, you don't know what this is. And whoever stole the seal from the museum stole only the seal, suggesting that they were aware of its purpose.” She shook her head. “Which means that you two can't be the thieves. Which begs the question: how did you get this?”

“Well,” Aria began.

“We stole it before the real thieves could,” Juniper blurted out. “Now they might be after us and Aria's sisters are involved somehow and we just need help but we can't go to the cops.”

Yearling's eyes widened, and she hesitated a minute as she processed all that. “I suppose trusting the authorities might not be an option right this moment.”

“It really isn't.”

Yearling ignored Aria. “All right. I'll tell you.” She opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out a thick stack of binders. Yearling selected the third one and began turning through laminated pages, finally stopping on one that was mostly illustrated. “This necklace is one of five artifacts referred to as 'Seals of the Beanpocalypse'.”

“Okay, even I admit that one sounds made up,” Juniper said.

Yearling nodded. “It's a pretty unfortunate name. But... they're real. Each one is powerful on its own, but if all five are brought together? That'd be bad.”

“How bad?” Aria demanded.

“End-of-the-world bad.” Yearling adjusted her glasses. “I- rather, a colleague of mine, recently discovered this prophecy. The translation may be a bit in-exact, but look here.” She pointed to the picture. “It clearly shows all five beans being gathered and used in a ritual. And according to the inscriptions, that would give the user power over all the beans in the world.”

She let that sink in for a moment.

“Okay,” Aria said. “First question.”

“Go ahead.”

“WHY.”

Yearling pursed her lips. “I don't know. But this kind of power could easily be used for great evil. Which is why the seals must remain hidden.”

“Great. So which one is this?”

Yearling looked at Juniper. “May I?” Juniper nodded, and Yearling picked it up. She examined it from every angle. “I do believe,” she said after a moment, “That this is the Fava Bean. Also known as the Bean of Time.”

“Well that tracks,” Juniper muttered.

“Last question?” Aria held up a hand. “What do we do now?

Yearling set the necklace down and sighed. “I'm afraid that I must ask you girls for your help. There's one more thing I haven't told you.”

She turned the binder page over. On the next sheet were snippets of articles. Each one the same.

“Three of the Seals have already been stolen,” Yearling said. “The Kidney Bean of Withering, the Lima Bean of Summoning, and the Garbanzo Bean of Healing were all taken from their highly protected locations in the past few weeks.”

“It must've been the same people as the Canterlot Museum!” Juniper realized.

“What, really?” Aria shook her head. “I don't buy it. They were nowhere near professional enough.”

Yearling shrugged. “Perhaps they were merely locals hired to do the work of someone more important. It doesn't matter.” She flipped the page back over and tapped one of the five beans. “What does matter is that, with you two having the Time Bean, it means there is only one Seal left. The Tepary Bean of Prosperity. We need to find it, and keep it safe.”

“Whoa.” Aria frowned. “What's this 'we' crap? I didn't agree to anything.”

Juniper lightly slapped her shoulder. “Oh come on. It's the potential end of the world and you want to chicken out?”

“I didn't say that.”

“There's something else to consider,” Yearling interjected. “What's been described with these thefts- it implies a large conspiracy. We don't know who all might be involved. The only ones we can trust are ourselves.”

Aria looked at Juniper's pleading eyes, then Yearling's serious face.

She thought about what they said.

She thought about Adagio laughing at her.

She thought about Rarity waiting at home.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Juniper perked up.

“Fine,” Aria said. “I'll do it. You'll just go without me, and then you'll fail. So where's this final Seal?”

That last part was directed at Yearling, who was already flipping through pages. She paused, then switched over to a different binder. “Ah... here-” she murmured. Yearling pulled out a single sheet. Read it. “Crap.”

“What is it?” Juniper asked.

“I was hoping I remembered wrong.” Yearling passed the sheet over. “The fifth Seal was recently purchased for a private collection here in Canterlot.”

“Okay...” Aria looked over the paper, which seemed to be a printed receipt. “Who's the collector?”

Yearling reached over and tapped one of the lines at the bottom. “The Mayor. Fancy Pants.”

Ah. Aria felt her stomach shrivel. Crap was right.