-/-Bella & Vinny Residence-/-

*knock*knock*knock*

“Sprout, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up.” Bella said in her kind voice, as she opened the door to the guest room Sprout was now staying in.

Sprout stirred a little bit before he rubbed his eyes, getting the sleep out of them. He looked over at Bella, who greeted him with a warm smile.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?” She asked him.

Sprout groaned as he lifted the blankets off of him, and proceeded to get up from the bed. He stretched and yawned while he said, “Yeah, I did. These beds are comfy.”

Bella giggled a little bit as she watched Sprout continue to stretch his limbs.

“Well, sweetheart, let’s go downstairs. I’ve prepared breakfast for us.” She said, leaving his room with a spin in her steps and a sparkle in her walk.

It wasn’t until after she walked away that Sprout smelled the incredible aroma coming from the kitchen. It smelled as heavenly as a peaches and cream. The smell was enough to drag him physically through the house and into the kitchen to discover what this beautiful aroma was.

So, with that, he trotted out of his room and proceeded to walk toward the dining room. However, before he could, he did take one last look at the room. It felt odd to be sleeping in a room that wasn't his. It was strange to not be living with his Mother anymore. He wondered how she was doing.

He shook that thought out of his head. That didn't matter anymore. Phyllis lied to him. All these years of listening to her was the worst thing he ever did. It didn't matter what she was doing now. He wasn't there, and that was all good for him. With that, he turned his head and walked downstairs.

-/-

“Oh wow. This looks good.” Sprout said, taking his seat at the dinner table. The pancakes that were on his plate in front of him looked about as great as any pancake he had ever seen. The texture looked just about perfect. The aroma was heavenly. And the syrup that was on the pancakes looked like it was just the right amount. Not too much and not too less. Just right.

“They taste even better. Go ahead kid, dig in.” Vinny said while chowing down on his pancakes. His walking cane was right next to him so he could get up without too much struggle. Even if he was arthritic, Vinny was a tough old bastard. He wouldn’t let something like arthritis keep him from running his business. He may be almost 60, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still go.

“Make sure to take your medicine, dear.” Bella said, while washing her hooves in the sink.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear ya.” Vinny muttered.

Bella turned toward the table with a serious look on her face. “Don’t you “Yeah, yeah, yeah” me, Vincent. Or do you want to make breakfast yourself the next week? Hmmmm.” She sternly told her husband with a raised eyebrow.

Which made Vinny instantly get his pill bottle. “Yes, honey. Sorry, honey.” He said, screwing the cap off and taking it with the water in his glass. The sweet, warm smile returned to Bella’s face as she took her seat next to her husband and new houseguest.

Sprout was glad to see that Bella took the medication for Vinny very seriously. Arthritis was a serious thing for somepony Vinny’s age. He NEEDED to take his medicine, regardless if there were some side effects. It was like any other medicine for anypony. Bella could be a very strict lady on Vinny, which he needs. She was his wife after all. She was supposed to tell him what to do.

After chuckling a little at what he saw, Sprout dug in to the pancakes. In just one bite, his tastebuds felt like they went to heaven and back in a split second. It was so good, you could literally CRY because of how good it tasted.

He swallowed. “Oh Bella, these are incredible.” He said, taking another bite.

She nodded. “I’m glad you love them, sweetheart.” She said.

Vinny shrugged. “What’d I tell ya? I got the best cook here. One of the many reasons why I married her.” He said with a grin, looking toward Bella.

She sarcastically turned her head away with a humph. “Flattery will get you nowhere, darling.” She said.

“Oh, I tend to disagree, honey.” He said, causing Bella to chuckle.

After another moutful and smallow of the best pancakes he ever had(Maybe even better than his Mother's?), Sprout decided to get down to business with them.

"So, Vinny, have you decided on a position for me?" He asked.

"Well, I got two options for ya. And, really, these are the only ones I think would make the most sense. Although, admittedly, one of them might be a problem for some." He said.

Sprout looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, here's the first position: I'll have you be the night janitor."

"Night janitor, huh?"

Vinny nodded. "Yeah. Basically, after we close at 9:30, you come in and you clean the place for the next morning. You vacuum the rugs, clean the bathrooms, wipe down the seats and tables, mop the floors, wipe the windows, disinfect stuff, that kinda thing. Seems pretty easy, if ya ask me."

Sprout nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That does sound pretty easy." He said, kind of getting a little excited.

"Not to mention" Vinny interjected. "No pony will be around to see you. You'll be in complete secrecy. No pony will bug or harass you while the place is closed."

Sprout appeared to like that. "Yeah."

"However, there also is this too, sweetheart." Bella said, standing next to Vinny with a concerned look on her face. Which made Sprout look confused.

"It'll just be YOU here. You and no pony else. You'll be all alone here. Vinny and I will be at the house, retiring for the night. I just worry you might feel...well, lonesome. Even creeped out with it being dark out and you being here all by yourself. I mean, would you really want that?" She asked, kinda sounding a bit like a worried mother would sound. Almost a bit like HIS Mommy.

Sprout suddenly looked a bit bummed to hear that. "I guess when you put it that way. I mean, I don't think I'll mind, but I just don't want to worry you guys." He said.

"Well, honestly kiddo, either job I'm offering might worry us a little bit about you." Vinny said, touching Bella's hoof.

Sprout looked confused again. "Why is that?" He asked.

"Well, here's the second job: I'll have you work in the kitchen."

Sprout's eyes widened in surprise.

"And yes. I mean, with the other chefs."

"Vinny, I'm not sure about that. I mean, after what happened with me and Zipp in town? I'm not sure ANYPONY wants to see my face. Not without getting in it. Or punching it. Or--"

Vinny waved his hooves in annoyance. "They can get as pissy pants as they want. As long as I'm in charge of the place, they know I'm the one who decides who works there and who doesn't. If they have a problem, they can either deal with it or quit."

Sprout cringed a little. "Are you sure? I don't wanna ruin your business. I mean, if anypony found out I was working for you guys, it might hurt you guys. And that won't seem fair."

Vinny nodded. "I agree. I even told Bella that last night. I do love ya kid. And I wanna help ya. But, I also don't wanna fuck up my business either. I admit this is a big risk. So, I just need you to make a decision. Once you do, you instantly got the job." He said with a smile on his face.

Sprout thought for a moment. The janitor job DID seem like the easiest option for him. No pony around to fuck with him or potentially fuck up their business. But, like Bella said, it seemed like it would be kinda lonely and even scary to be in the shop at night. Also, who knows if some creeper would hang around and try to break in? That seemed like paranoia talking, but anything was possible.

On the flip side, however, the idea of working as a chef here seemed risky. Although, on one hoof, Sprout working in the kitchen at his favorite pizza place sounded like a dream come true. Not to mention, the chefs probably get a discount on the food they cook as well. No more having to pay for his pizza's all the time. On the other hoof, however, his name was under scrutiny right now. He was seen on camera being framed for murder AND punching a mare in the face. Maybe the customers didn't see him, but the coworkers certainly would. And who's to say that some of them even like him? Well, maybe there were a few, seeing as how he was a regular there. But, there could still be some ponies there who hate him after his rampage. AND after the incident in town. It just seemed too risky.

Although, there was the saying: No risk, no reward. If only there was some type of reward to be seen from him.

Sprout thought about the pros and cons about both positions. Both had them. But which one outweighed the other? It was hard to pick.

"Hey." Vinny said, getting his attention.

"Ya don't gotta make a decision right now. I'll give ya three or four days to make up ya mind. Take a few days off to clear your head. You may need it, kiddo." He said, with a wise smile on his face.

Sprout looked appreciatively at them. "Thanks, you too. I'll make a decision soon." He said.

"Take all the time you need, sweetheart." Bella said.

"Yeah. Now finish your pancakes. They might be getting cold." Vinny said.

"Okay." Sprout chuckled and took another mouthful. Vinny did the same with his, before getting ready to start the day.

Hitch typed in the name “Bloomington” on his Pogle Search engine. After hitting enter, he began to surf through the many sites that were listed. Where would he even start though?

Then, randomly, he saw a site that read “Bloomington Farms.” Thinking Why Not, he decided to click on it.

On this website, he saw a title picture of a big red barn in the background. The Bloomington Farms name was stenciled in steel above the open barn doors. In front of the barn doors, was an elderly earth pony couple. There was a stallion, who looked to be walking with a walker. He also did NOT look very well. Apparently, age did not do well for this very old stallion. He looked to be in his late 80’s.

The mare standing next to him looked to be not that much younger than him, maybe about a year younger. Her mane was as gray as ash. She also looked to NOT have the best teeth in the world. They looked as brown as damp wood. Age also didn’t appear to be too kind to her either.

What caught Hitch off guard about this photo wasn’t the incredibly old looking ponies. Or the ancient look about them. What piqued his curiosity was the look of the photo itself.

Hitch used to take photography class back when he was still in school. One of the things he learned there, was how to tell how old a picture looked just by its appearance. You could tell when something looked like it was taken from way back when, to only a few years ago.

With this photo, it looked like it was about 20, maybe 30 years old. So these two elderly ponies were most likely dead by this point. And even the barn looked a little bit older in the photo. So, either the barn now was probably on its last legs, or was no longer standing.

And even the website looked old as well. It looked like a website from about 50 years ago. Why would a website that looked so old still be up and running? Why would a website have a picture of two elderly ponies, who now were probably dead? Why would no one update anything on this website?

It was then that Hitch looked at the bottom of the photo. There was a passage written there. It appeared to be some type of memorial written to the two ponies. So that made it clear that these two ponies were now dead. Long since dead at that.

He decided to read the passage. It read:

In Loving Memory

Liana and Aster Bloomington. Two wonderful ponies, who are sadly gone from this world. These two Trotville natives are responsible for creating The Blooming Days Festival. Where ponies from Trotville, Clopton and Maretime Bay all come to show off the wonderful produce they grow. Apples, Oranges, Strawberries, Blueberries, Mangos, Bananas, Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes and several other produce items freshly grown for ponies to show to a large audience.

There were a few photos of this event with the Memorial. Hundreds of ponies, these all being earth ponies, had baskets of freshly grown produce on their backs in big lines, waiting to be let in. It certainly showed how big farming can be for some ponies. This must’ve been a HUGE deal back then.

So these two, Liana and Aster Bloomington, were who started this big farming event. He decided to keep reading.

It was certainly no surprise as to why they wanted to help their fellow farmers. The Bloomington family had this very farm for decades. Going as far back as to when Princess Twilight Sparkle ruled Equestria.

Hitch was surprised to hear this. The Bloomington name was around for that long? He didn’t remember ever hearing that from Sunny. And she was almost like an encyclopedia when it came to shit from many years back.

Liana loved to garden and tend her plants, while Aster loved to take morning walks and exercised almost daily.

Sadly, after Aster was diagnosed with lung cancer, due to Aster’s long term smoking, he developed lung cancer. He fought the devilish disease for 6 years, before he sadly succumbed to his cancer.

After Aster’s passing, Liana, through her grief and sadness, struggled to keep her farm going. She ultimately hired a few farm hands to help her, due to a personal tragedy in their lives.

That’s when Hitch saw the photo of a very young looking stallion in the picture. He didn’t even look 30. Hell, in this photo, he looked like he wasn’t even 22. This stallion had a shoulder length blonde mane and a yellowish orange coat color. He looked pretty well built for somepony who looked so young.

While the stallion in the photo had a big smile on his face, what Hitch read next damn near broke his heart.

One of their two children, Marlow Bloomington, at the age of 21, committed suicide.

Hitch felt his heart sink reading that. 21 years old, and this guy ends his own life? That is so sad to hear.

Marlow was just like his father and mother in a way. Kind, loved to help ponies, a hard worker, and always looked out for his fellow farmers. And most of all, he loved his family very much. No pony can say for sure as to why Marlow decided to end his life, but one thing we can say, is that it was a heartbreaking end to a great stallion like him.

Liana and Aster Bloomington will be remembered for all the good that they did for farmers all across Equestria. They will be remembered as hard working farmers who loved each other. But above all else, Liana and Aster were good ponies all around. They may not be here anymore, but their legacy that they left behind will never be forgotten.

Liana and Aster Bloomington(RIP)

Hitch felt sad reading that memorial. It seemed that these two ponies were loving ponies to every pony they have ever met. He couldn’t imagine the pain and heartache they must’ve felt after the suicide of their son. It must’ve been impossible to cope with.

Then he remembered something. As he quickly reread the memorial, he realized that it never mentioned the name of the other foal that Liana and Aster had. All they mentioned was Marlow’s name. It said one of two, and yet didn’t mention the other one.

Now, that was strange. Why would a family not mention their other child? Especially when there is a memorial of their dead parents?

Also, he remembered, when he interviewed Phyllis, that she did say Bloomington was her maiden name. So, she was born Phyllis Bloomington. However, she also said that the Bloomington name means NOTHING to her now. But why? What happened with Phyllis and her family?

Hitch decided to look deeper into this website. So, he saw a few links to a few pages. He saw one that said “Family Photos”. He clicked on it. As he scrolled through the page, all he really saw was a few photos of Liana and Aster when they were younger. There were a few photos of Marlow when he was a little kid. One of him standing on a bucket as a baby. Hopefully, his parents were nearby if he fell off it.

Then, as he scrolled further and further, he came across a photo that REALLY caught him off guard. Something truly confusing.

There was a big family photo. About 14 or 15 ponies in total. All standing together near a wooden fence that was between a dirt road. Liana and Aster and Marlow were in this photo. Again, both looked younger here. So, this was years and years ago.

However, what truly stood out, was the shaded black mark in the photo. There was a black mark between Marlow, who looked about 13 at this time, and his mother. There was a pretty open space between them. Almost as if you could fit another pony between them. So, why was there a black mark there? It didn’t make sense to him.

Unless…maybe that mark was put there on purpose. Maybe, there was somepony there when the photo was originally taken. Now, somepony edited, poorly might he add, this mystery pony out of this picture. Why though? Why would somepony do that? How could you erase somepony from a family picture? How could you justify that?

Hitch thought more and more about what Phyllis told him. And the more he did that, he started to put some pieces of a mystery puzzle together in his head. Now, he didn’t have any proof yet, but looking at this, he did have to ask this question?

Is this Phyllis’ family? The family she grew up with? And if yes, what happened to make Phyllis not want anything to do with them? And to make The Bloomington’s, pretty much, erase her from their family?

He knew now that he would need to talk with Phyllis again. Even if she didn’t want to speak to him after that interview. He needed to know all of this. It may be the only way to find this Bud Bloomington.

Speaking of Bud, he remembered when he interviewed Phyllis that she told him she dropped him off at an orphanage somewhere in Clopton. Three or four days after he was born. So, Bud was literally an infant when she just threw him away like he was nothing.

He decided to put the Bloomington name on hold for now. This time, he searched up “Orphanages in Clopton.” He hit enter. As he scrolled through the available links, he came across a pretty interesting one. It stood out to him in a pretty big way when it said:

Fire Burns Down Lexy Orphange in Clopton

He clicked on it. What popped up was an image of an old newspaper article. It was dated to have been about a little over 20 years ago. However, it was the front image that sent a chill down his spine.

It was what appeared to be an aftermath of a house fire. There were police ponies, medical ponies, arson squad ponies and many others in this picture. They were going over what caused this fire to happen, AND any victims that were burned alive in the inferno.

He decided to read what was in the description of this newspaper below the image. It read:

Tragedy struck on Wednesday as a fire broke out at Lexy Orphanage. No word has been said as to whether this was accidental or intentional, but what has been said, is that 7 of the 10 ponies who lived in this orphanage have all died. The two caretakers, who run the orphanage, named Issac and Lexy, and 5 orphans who grew up here, were tragically burned alive. Three others, who did grow up here, are nowhere to be found yet. We don’t know if it was them who started this fire, but the police are on the lookout for them. We will fill in more details in future papers, but all we can say so far, is that we have endured a horrific tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. May they rest in peace.

A sense of sadness went through Hitch. He couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like in those last few minutes with all those ponies who perished in that blazing hell. And those other three? Where could THEY be?

Hitch suddenly remembered something else. This newspaper article looked a little over 20 years old. A long time ago indeed. Then, he remembered the math he did in his head about Phyllis and Bud’s age difference. She was in her early fifties now. She apparently had Bud when she was about 14 or 15. So again, when you do the match, Bud would be about in his late thirties now.

With this article being 20 years old, that would mean that, at the time of this fire, Bud would’ve been about 17 or 18 years old. He decided to imagine if this was where Bud was dropped off at when he was an infant. If yes, he still technically could’ve been living there. He either wasn’t an adult JUST yet, or he may have been in the process of moving out soon. Then, this fire happens, killing seven ponies.

He didn’t have any proof that this was where Bud grew up, but if he was right, and seeing what he did to Lilac Summers, could it be possible…that HE started this fire? Could it be that his murderous ways started way back then?

Again, he didn’t have any evidence or proof. He would continue to search as deep into this, as well as The Bloomington family, as he could. But, these little ideas he formed, they weren’t exactly too far fetched to say the least.

With a big sigh, he decided to take a small break from this. So, he decided to go Sunny’s smoothie cart and get one for himself. He also figured he’d make an announcement to the citizens of Maretime Bay regarding everything that’s happened so far.

Although, he knew that the crowd was DEFINITELY not gonna like to hear that, A Sprout wasn’t the guy like they all were expecting it to be, and B that he had arrested Zipp Storm after SHE got her block knocked off. It certainly wasn’t gonna be an easy situation, that was for sure.

He normally didn’t like to ask for help, but he now figured that he may need to ask Sunny to assist him on this case. Zipp wasn’t here now. Sunny was great at research, so why not have her help him look up some things regarding Clopton or The Bloomingtons? He knew it was the right thing to do.

However, he also worried with great fear. He didn’t want Sunny getting involved in this case, but now he may need her. He also had to admit this too: For the first time in a long time, when it came to a case, he felt afraid. He felt afraid of what was gonna happen on this case. And how it would affect everypony going forward.

But mainly, why he felt scared, was because he knew he wasn’t gonna like what he would find. It scared him to no end.

So, with that, and all the fear inside of him, he got up from his chair, and headed outside to go to his longtime friend’s smoothie cart. Hopefully, a smoothie of hers would make him feel a little bit better. Celestia, he truly hoped.

Author's Note

Looks like we’re getting more into the case now, aren’t we?

Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. Make sure to comment, like, favorite and follow for future updates. Thank you all and goodnight everybody.