What's New Scootaloo?

Chapters

Case One

Case One

It was a dark night in the town of Ponyville. An unscheduled storm had found its way over and blanketed the town in a swirling mess of lightning and rainfall. One of the rare few ponies that weren’t home happened to be a unicorn stallion. He was wearing a white uniform and belt, a shiny badge was pinned to his shirt, and he held a flashlight in his magical hold.
“Sheesh… whose idea was it to only have one guard for this whole place? As if its creep factor wasn’t enough to keep burglars away as it was.”

He slowly walked down one of the long wings of the still fairly-new Ponyville Museum. He passed dozens of collected relics and artifacts dating back to the town’s beginning and leading up to the era of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She herself donated some of her own items. The guard sighed as he reached the end of the wing, turning to cut through the central theater back to his office. Right before he left the wing, something metallic echoed through the museum. He jumped and fumbled with his flashlight as his heart raced.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself! You are transpassing on government property!” He shouted but there was no answer. He steeled his nerves and rushed down the corridor, finding the cause of the sound was one of the displays had been shattered. There was glass on the ground but nothing was stolen. The display was one of many dedicated to the Apple Family, this one showing pictures of the entire family dating back to the founding of Ponyville but they had been attacked.

The pictures were blackened and the frames smashed. Behind them were marks sliced into the walls that must have been from something with claws. The marks spelled out a word.

LIARS

Just as he reached out to touch the marks, a mighty roar rocked the building. The guard began to cough and turned to see a shadowy scaly figure sticking to the wall above him. He felt a shiver go through his spine as he trembled and the creature’s eyes glowed red.

“D-Dragon!!” He screamed as the creature lunged for him…

. . .

Spike took a deep breath and sighed, twisting and enjoying himself as he flew through the sky. When he was younger, while he did always love being in the air when he had the chance, he thought he had experienced the best of it once Twilight became an alicorn. Celestia was he wrong.

Once his wings finally came in, he now understood Rainbow Dash on a deeper level. The thrill of flight never went away, a sensation that never grew old as you would never fly somewhere the exact same way. The wind would be different, you would do some trick, you could decide to go higher today or lower, or maybe you could just relax and glide most of the way.

After a bit more fancy flying, Spike took it easy. He had plenty of time to enjoy his trip. The Ponyville Museum was gonna have a big ceremony soon for the opening of a new wing that shows the importance of the small town. Twilight herself would come to do a speech on why it means so much to her and plainly give them plenty of honors and praise. Hey, while she may have been born over in Canterlot, she didn’t really hide her bias and love for the town that took them in.

Spike made a slight detour as he arrived, heading first for Sweet Apple Acres. The seemingly endless amount of apple trees shined in the raising sun. Twilight must have just been woken up. He landed and walked through the grove, the scent of fresh grass and fruit wafted through the air. Looking around, he looked for a perfect apple. He reached for one and just as he grabbed it, a rope hooked around his wrist. He smirked and turned when the holder of the rope, pulled him. Apple Bloom stood with the rope on her mouth.

“Can I help you?” She spat out the rope and stepped on it, walking along it like a tightrope till she was in front of him.

“Isn’t that mah line? Considering that one of us is being a thieving varmint at the moment.” Spike smiled and wiped the apple on his chest scales.

“Thieving? You wound me lil lady. I was just flying along my way and what do I see? The finest apples I’ve ever seen. How was I to know they belonged to somepony? Actually, you know I have heard of a family of ponies that grow apples. What were their names? Ugh, I can’t remember. I do remember one of them is a big-shot hero. The other was the founder of the town, another one of the strongest ponies around who knows how to have some good roleplaying fun.” Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow and glared lightly as he didn’t go on, instead taking a bite of the apple.

“And the last one?”

“There was another?” She glared harder and Spike grinned, plopping the other half of the apple in her mouth. She blushed but ate it and Spike leaned against a tree. “Oh I remember now, the last one is the craziest of the lot.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and punched his arm, making him laugh and rub the spot.

“You’re a jerk.”

“Oh come on you love me!” The two walked back toward a collection of baskets that were arranged around trees. Spike got on all fours to buck against the trees and used his tail to help.

“So why are you here Spike?” She asked as she slammed her back legs against another tree and made all the apples fall.

“I can’t want to visit my favorite mare in Ponyville?” Apple Bloom scoffed and bucked another tree.

“I think we both know you’d be elsewhere if that was the true reason for coming.” Spike frowned, guessing who Apple Bloom meant by that but her dismissal was unfair.

“Hey, I actually did wanna see you. I know I’ve been pretty busy helping Twi with the princess stuff, just haven’t had much time. I heard Applejack got herself sick.” He picked up several baskets of apples and Apple Bloom sighed, knowing she was being unfair to her friend.

“I know Spike, guess I’m just more testy than usual. With Applejack sick, I’ve been working harder. She still can run the stand at least but it isn’t easy.”

“What about Big Mac?”

“He’s working but it’s harder for him too, after all, would you wanna do your job and have to deal with a pregnant wife at the same time?” Spike shivered at the thought.

“My mother would spoil my wife and Twilight would likely set them up in the best room in the castle. I swear those two would push me out of the room if a child of mine was ever born.” The two laughed and Apple Bloom took off her sister’s hat and wiped her forehead. “How’s Granny Smith?” Apple Bloom sighed but smiled sadly.

“She’s the same as ever. Being bedridden isn’t fun but she’s not any less fiery and stubborn. I swear, the Grim Pony himself could come for her and she would kick him outta her room. She says she can’t even think of passing on before she sees her great-grandchild.” Spike nodded, that was how the Apples were, strong beyond anything even time.

“Are you scared?” He asked and Bloom looked at him.

“Wouldn’t you be?” He stared down and she walked over, hugging him. “Course I’m scared but… if she can be strong for us then I can be for her. This isn’t the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last.” Spike hugged her back, enjoying the scent of her mane and the feel of her coat on his claws. He could ignore the mud on her hoofs. After a minute, he set her down and blushed a bit, rubbing his head. She smiled at the embrace and coughed once it was over.

“S-so umm… I was sent down here to make sure the new wing of the Museum is ready for Twilight.” Apple Bloom tapped a hoof against her chin and then wiped it.

“Oh right! I have to attend that too, for the Apples. Kind of crazy how much stuff Ponyville had to donate, still I’m glad to see us gain some recognition.” Spike raised a brow ridge at that.

“Being the best apple farmers in Equestria not enough?” Bloom winked and stuck out her tongue.

“Course not!”

“Ego thou name is Apple Bloom.”

“Oh, shut up with that fancy talk.” The two teens looked up when they heard hooves approaching and saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Girls?”

“Apple Bloom!”

“Spike?”

“Hey, what's the rush?” The two took a moment to catch their breaths and grabbed both Spike and Bloom. “Whoa hey!!”

“Girls!?”

“Sorry guys but we need you two right now!” Scootaloo demanded and they ran beside them.

“We have to get to the Ponyville Museum!” Sweetie shouted. It only took ten minutes to get to the museum where Mayor Mare was trying to calm some construction stallions. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had to catch their breaths after the run. “M-Mayor… we got…”

“Spike! Apple Bloom! Perfect timing.” The mayor sighed in relief as the construction ponies were put off for a moment by Spike even if he was only the size of Big Mac but they soon recognized him. “Now if you gentlecolts could leave this to us, I trust these two can help solve our problem before it gets out of hoof.” The stallions nodded and left, leaving the mayor to sigh and smile at the four. “I’m sorry for bothering you all but I’m afraid this is serious. If you would follow me.” She led the four into the museum where they gasped and Spike held his head as a strong smell hit him. A corner of the building was blackened with some of the glass cases smashed.

“Who would do this?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo walked closer to the destruction.

“It looks like something burned the floor and cases…” Scootaloo stepped onto the ash-covered floor but noticed something strange about it. While she was doing that, Sweetie was looking at the broken glass that was solemnly scattered around the floor and noticed large chunks were still attached to the exhibits. Apple Bloom stared at the one that held photos of the Apple clan and how someone had defaced the photos, the edges being slightly burned and the word etched into the wall.

“AB…” Spike touched her shoulder and she took the photos, gritting her teeth and looking at the Mayor.

“Who did this?”

“That is what I want you four to figure out. I would get guards to do it but this has gotten to be a special kind of problem.”

“Is it because of the damage? I could just send a letter to Twilight and-”

“It’s not that. While the cases and some of the artifacts were ruined, most are actually salvable thankfully. No, it has to do with the culprit of this crime.” The four all joined around her as Mayor Mare leaned closer. “The Phantom Dragon.”

“Phantom?” Apple Bloom questioned?

“Dragon?” Sweetie Belle added.

“Yes. The guard that was here last night reported seeing a large shadow Dragon leap down at him from across the room. He ran and says he was pushed into one of the displays by one of its sticky wings. He then saw the dragon getting ready to shoot fire. He jumped out of the way and threw his flashlight at it, but it went right through as if the dragon was a ghost. After that, he fainted.” Spike bit his lip, understanding why they had to do this quietly now. While the School of Friendship was a known success across Equestria, there were many groups that would jump at the chance to attack the image of dragons.

“I think I see now. You want us to catch the one responsible.”

“Yes, the workers refuse to fix anything unless they are guaranteed to be safe. Will you help?” Spike looked at the girls and knew all of them had a fear of ghosts, especially Scootaloo.

“I can handle this alone if you three-”

“No!” Apple Bloom glared at Spike. “This jerk ruined some of my family’s stuff and lied about us! I’m helping! Girls?” She turned to her friends and Sweetie Belle nodded slowly.

“Y-yeah we can’t just turn away! The Cutie Mark Crusaders never let a mess go uncleaned unless it’s ours!” Scootaloo groaned and gulped.

“L-let’s bag a ghost then!” Mayor Mare thanked them and promised to help in any way she could, leaving the four of them to it. Spike thanked the girls for their help and crossed his arms.

“So to start we should look over the story the guard told. He said he was chased so the dragon was hiding in the corner of the room. Scootaloo, go see if you can find any claw marks on the wall where the dragon was attached to.” The pegasus saluted and flew up to the wall.

“I can use some magic to check out the fire?” Spike nodded to Sweetie Belle and saw Apple Bloom touching the word clawed into the wall.

“Spike, come over here.” He walked to her and she quickly snatched his hand, staring at it and frowning. “Do me a favor and scratch the wall.”

“Apple Bloom, not sure if making more damage is what they want.”

“Just do it Spike!” He grumbled and did as she asked. “Stop! Look!” He looked at the mark he had made and frowned, it looked drastically different. “A real dragon’s claw is too thick to make the fine lines we see. They shred through the wall and make a mess of it but the word barely cuts through the paint job.”

“Spike!” Scootaloo returned and looked a bit confused. “There were no claw marks. The wall looked pretty alright except for a few chips of wood and a single hole which looked more like a place to screw something into.”

“I have something too!” Sweetie joined them. “I thought that the glass was weird seeing how much is broken but not that much is on the ground. I noticed that most of it were inside the displays. If the glass shattered because of the heat of the fire, it should be more equal.”

“The guard did say he was pushed… maybe he broke it and didn’t know it.”

“What about the one farther down?” Sweetie asked as Apple Bloom rushed over and looked around on the ground, carefully picking up a flashlight that was messy with some kind of grey matter and tossing it onto her head.

“He threw his flashlight! That was what broke the display!”

“So we know that the displays weren’t broken by any fire…”

“The sprinklers here look pretty new, shouldn’t they have started if the fire was back enough to burn the whole spot here?” Sweetie asked as she pointed to a shiny sprinkler above them.

“That’s because there was no fire!” Scootaloo said and ran toward the blackened part of the hall, sliding and grinding her hooves against the floor. She lifted one as she stopped sliding and held it up for the others to see. “I thought this “ash” looked weird! It’s because it isn’t ash at all! It’s paint!” Spike crossed his arms.

“I did smell something strong in here when we first stepped in. That must have been the paint.” Sweetie frowned.

“So the cases, the wall, the fire all were just fakes! But who would go through the trouble of making a fake dragon attack?”

“Maybe they were after something?” Scootaloo offered but Apple Bloom shot that down.

“Nothing seems stolen, more so, ruined with what I guess is more paint. The only thing here that was already attacked were the pictures and the walk.”

“I suppose then it has to be a pony, only a pony would really know the Apple Family enough to do this.”

“So why did the guard say he saw a dragon?”

“Maybe for the same reason he thought he saw fire. With no signs of a break-in, we should check out ponies who had a way into the building.” The four left to go talk to the mayor.

“It’s kind of cool though, isn’t it? Feels like we’re in one of my sister's detective novels!” Sweetie Belle stated while imagining that she was an old noir-style detective with a coat and fedora.

“Better a detective story than a ghostly one, right?” Scootaloo asked as she seemed to be much chipper now that they were more sure a ghost wasn’t responsible.

“Oh, I don’t know Scoots. I think I would have loved for a ghost to have been responsible. I mean can you imagine us fighting a ghost dragon? Or are you scared? Not still a chicken are ya?” Apple Bloom teased her friend who adamantly denied she had been scared. “But you shouldn’t be that scared Scoots, after all, present company shows some dragons are very defeatable.” Spike blinked and then glared at Apple Bloom’s smirking face.

“One, that isn’t a word. Two, that's funny seeing that I nearly beat your sister in that hoofwrestle match! And three, I can scare Scootaloo!”

“Hey!”

“Oh please my sister wasn’t trying any and I’d forgotten how much of a nerd you are!”

“That’s rich coming from occasional tutors! Yeah, I heard about that! You three can never call me a nerd again!” Spike crossed his arms when all three mares leaned over to him.

“NERD!” They all arrived at town hall and reported what they figured out. Mayor Mare was feeling much better now that the chance of a dragon being involved was near none, but they still needed a culprit. They asked her for any pony that had the keys to the museum and anyone that would be against the Apples. While she didn’t know anyone against the Apple family, one pony against the museum was a stallion named Fine Line. The ones who held keys to the building were the curator, a janitor, a tour guide, and an assistant. The guard was as well but his keys were with him.

“So we have five suspects. Should we split up and-” Scootaloo felt a foot or two off the ground to be eye level with Spike.

“Are you a dummy?! Splitting up in any situation is dumb! We stick together got it!” Spike nodded quickly and Scootaloo grunted, looking at the others. Apple Bloom and Sweetie quickly agreed and she landed. “Good. Let’s pay Fine Line a visit.”

. . .

“Oh no.” Spike groaned loudly and could already feel a headache coming just by seeing the address that Fine Line lived at. The place was a newly built manor on the outskirts of Ponyville. Spike knew that the town had been working on expanding and while he was glad that there were so many creatures eager to stay there and do their part, he knew what these ponies were like all too well. “A Canterlot Noble, likely a unicorn too. Great.” Sweetie frowned and Scootaloo turned to her friend.

“Hey! What’s wrong with unicorns?!” Spike held his hand to his chest in surrender.

“Nothing! Twilight is a Canterlot Unicorn! But this is a noble. These guys are either thick as a brick, Fancypants, or cruel. Here’s hoping we get the dumb ones.” The four entered the property after Spike forcibly pushed the gate open. At the door, a butler was there already to take them inside.

“Next time, mister Dragon, could you just buzz in?” Spike crossed his arms and Sweetie Belle nudged him.

“Alright, I’ll do my best to remember that.”

“Thank you, now you four have some business for my employer correct? What kind of business is that?” Scootaloo opened her mouth but Sweetie Belle put her hoof in it to stop her, taking the lead here and taking on a more posh accent. Her words reminded the three of Rarity.

“Why darling, we simply have a few questions for them regarding the Ponyville Museum. We heard that your boss has such a keen and inquisitive eye for such a backwater place. I mean they obviously care a lot about the common pony if they have a home here. We just wanted to ask if the town and museum are worthy expenses to donate money to. For the good of every pony of course.” Sweetie slipped a few bits into the butler’s shirt pocket and he nodded, leaving alone for the moment. Sweetie smirked and looked back at her friends, who were all staring in awe and shock.

“S-Sweetie, what was that?!” Apple Bloom started but Scootaloo quickly cut in, a bit red in the face and fidgeting with her wings. Her voice even sounded strange, more… eager.

“How come you never showed m-us that side of you!?”

“Where did you get the bits?” Sweetie laughed at all the questions.

“It’s just acting. My sister gets ponies from Canterlot all the time so I picked up how they talk. Add a bit of Rarity and you could charm the jewels off a dragon. Speaking of charming things off dragons…” She giggled and rubbed one of her legs with a hoof as Spike realized what she did.

“You robbed me?!” After getting over the shock, Spike whistled, impressed. Scootaloo still stared at her and bit her lip.

“Can you do that… whenever?”

“Course. Why?” Before she was forced to answer, the butler returned and they all were led to a large empty room where a stallion was in the middle of a massage.

“Sir, the ponies and dragon I mentioned.” The stallion sighed and after telling the massage pony to take a break, he got up and collected some glasses from a side table. The pony slipped on a robe emblazoned with an FL. He was light yellow, had blue eyes, and a short brown mane. He blinked when he caught sight of Spike.

“Why I know you! Spike the Dragon! The advisor to the princess herself! I never had the pleasure.” Spike rubbed his head at the mention of his title and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me. Though not really advising her today, instead I’m here with my friends here who… wanted to make some smart donations with some smart ponies. Here we are.”

“Well, I shall try to live up to those expectations but can we hurry? I have the rest of my massage to get to and personal play is scheduled for me while I wait for my lunch. My sister, also called Fine Line, will be joining me.” Spike resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“We heard you were interested in the Museum.”

“I still am! I was one of the ponies aiming to pay for the thing! A valuable investment too, creatures from all over the world would come to see anything belonging to the Princess, and with her being here on the opening day? That would have paid for itself in no time. Alas, no private funding was needed after the ponies of the town managed to make what they needed. Still gotta give me a bit of credit, my company found them the location.”

“You found it?”

“Yup used to be some out warehouse or something and instead of expanding the town, I recommended it would be cheaper to just get rid of what's around and make it yours.” Spike crossed his arms and smiled fakely, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were visibly annoyed now. Scootaloo was wandering around, noticing a certain picture.

“Naturally.”

“I still got paid for the location though so I can complain and they are already thinking of expansion so maybe I’ll yet have my chance. You came to ask if it was worth investing in, I’d say wait until I get some control and you be drowning in bits.”

“Yes, well we are so sorry for using your time. We’ll give some thought over the advice and get back to you later.” Spike led the group off and once they were out of that stuffy manor, Apple Bloom groaned loudly.

“Alright Spike, I see what you put up with now. Ponyville was lucky the worse we had was Filthy Rich and he’s a family friend.”

“What about Spoiled Milk?”

“Ugh Spike why must you always try to bring down my mood?”

“Something up Scootaloo? You see anything in there?” Sweetie asked, interrupting Apple Bloom and Spike. Scootaloo nodded.

“There was a picture in there of Fine Line in there with one of our favorite old friends. Ex-Chancellor Neighsay.”

“So what?” Sweetie Belle shrugged. “One jerk knows another.”

“No no I get it, say that the one who did it was really Fine Line. A guy who is friends with the old Chancellor would have made everything look way more like a dragon attack. It would have been a more personal thing.”

“So it wasn’t him?”

“Let’s talk to the others first and we’ll see if there is anything else to gather.”

. . .

The remaining four suspects all gathered at the museum for them. It was getting near dusk once Spike and the others started to interview them. Each agreed to talk to one pony, Scootaloo objected to this even if they weren’t going far from each other but for the sake of time, they agreed to it. Apple Bloom took the Curator.

“Howdy ma’m! You’re Miss Old Bird right?”

“Mrs.” The pegasus smiled kindly at Bloom. She was older, her once golden mane was more silver than gold now and tied in a bun. She wore a blue suit, one of Rarity’s if the added gem was to be believed. Her suit matched the shade of her coat. “I’m sixty-six, happily married with three foals, I was the curator for the museum in Fillydelphia before this but when the offer came to finally move from the big city I took it.” Apple Bloom write down the info best she could.

“Why did you wanna leave the city so much?” The mare smiled and leaned back a bit in her chair.

“May I ask, how old are you, Ms.Bloom?” Apple Bloom now felt like she was being interrogated.

“Fifteen.”

“Well, live to be my age and you’ll find that need from when you were a teen return. The need for a new adventure. I lived and raised my foals in Fillydelphia but for the last few years, the city wasn’t as appealing as it once had been. I wanted to settle in someplace quieter. A place we could live out till the end. Ponyville is a home for friendship and while strange I hear it’s peaceful… half of the time. The other half, well, I wanted an adventure right?” Apple Bloom nodded and asked her several more questions.

“Where were you during the storm?”

“I was home with my husband but he fell asleep.”

“Do you know anything about paint or dragons?”

“Huh, I tried painting once but had no skill in it. I took up reading as a hobby instead and dragons? Yes actually. In the city, there is a part called Dragon Town but I never went much except for some spices.”

“Thank you.”

. . .

Spike decided on interrogating the assistant. It was a green stallion with a long blue mane. He wore nothing but a sash displaying his job. He barely looked much older than Spike himself. They also seemed to be a bit clumsy as they fumbled over a glass of water, seemingly scared of the dragon.

“Relax, you’re not in any trouble. I just have some questions. What’s your name? Age?”

“U-umm it’s I-Iron! Iron Feather. I’m twenty as of yesterday.”

“Birthday huh? What did you do?”

“Talked to my mom over the phone, played some video games, and ate a cake.”

“Uhh all by yourself?”

“Y-yes…” When he didn’t keep talking, Spike actually felt kind of bad for the guy.

“Alrighty then… what can you tell me about this job of yours? How do you feel about it? Or about your co-workers?”

“They’re fine. Old Bird is a patent boss otherwise I’m sure she would have fired me. I usually need her to repeat things or I end up misplacing something she needed. I just tend to worry so much about messing something up that I get distracted and mess things up. I-I’m really good at using the amphitheater though! Thanks to some equipment from Canterlot, we have some cool stuff. I tend to work with tech the best, as there are usually no eyes on me and I can focus.”

“Tech huh? What kind of tech?”

“Sound systems to play music, projections for slide shows, these recording systems that will be able to tell you about a display even without a tour guide, automatic lights when a pony walks to a display, and a security system but most of these things are still in the testing phase.”

“Are you the only one that knows how to use the stuff?”

“Uhh no. I showed everypony the basics just in case I was ever gone. A staff exercise you know? See, I came from Manehatten to show my parents I can handle being on my own… guess I haven’t really proven that yet…”

“I see… thanks and take it from one assistant to another. You’ll get there. You just need some confidence.”

. . .

“The Earth Pony before me was a pretty dame, she was wearing a buttoned red vest, a cute matching hat, and maroon eyeshadow. She was pink with a mane of red hair in different shades, her eyes a deep violet. She looked to be in her early twenties.”

“Sorry to cut off the monologue dear, I’m actually twenty-eight.” Sweetie Belle blinked, cut from her bit as a detective, and was shocked at the reveal.

“Wow, you look good!”

“Awe, thank you. You’re pretty cute yourself now. You actually look a bit familiar… huh.” Sweetie knew that it was likely Rarity who this pony had seen before but she started with the questions.

“Name?”

“Rosy, Rosy Trot.”

“Alright, it says here you are the first tour guide.”

“Pretty much the only real tour guide, the others are filling in till we have more staff.”

“Bitter?”

“No no course not, just tired. I had to teach them plenty of stuff. I’m glad that I was able to get a job like this, one that doesn’t rely just on my looks for once. I was a model since I was a filly so a smaller job like this is a nice change of pace for me. It’s a job where you get to talk about everything but yourself. Heh, it’s a good thing I have plenty of time though before the job started. Having to learn a town’s whole history in less than two weeks is enough to drive any pony nuts. I learned so much about the Apples it hurts.”

“But not you?”

“Not yet.”

“What’s your opinion on Dragons?”

“Just as hard-headed as Stallions I’d guess. Sorry bunch, in all my years I never saw a dragon. The demand isn’t that big for them I guess.”

“How do you feel about your co-workers?”

“Fine enough ponies if you ask me. We each have our own bigger reason for working here, surrounded by all this history. I’d say mine is to live in the past I never experienced.”

“Thank you.”

. . .

The last employee, an old stallion dressed in a janitor’s uniform, met with Scootaloo. The stallion yawned and stared at the young mare with tired green eyes. His mane was bright white and he had a mustache.

“So what can I help you with young lady?”

“Just a few quick questions, first name, and age?”

“Broad Stroke. Sixty-eight.”

“So you’re the janitor? Must be tough doing this whole place on your own.”

“Not yet. I only have to come for staff meetings, emergencies, and a single day in the week. No one is here so it doesn’t get too bad. With the new wing open, I think they will hire more hooves like they tend to do when we need it and fire them when we don’t.”

“So how did you get to be employed here?”

“Well, I retired a few years ago back and moved from place to find a home. I found it here. I had love but I ended up having to bury it here. I saw the museum being built and wanted to do my part in helping the town that let me in. Help them keep their history alive for future generations.”

“Okay. What do you think of your co-workers?”

“Two of them are young, I barely understand half of what they say but they seem to have drive and passion. Can’t fault that. The boss and I shared a few drinks here and there. She’s been kind to me.”

“Any opinion on Dragons?” The old stallion shrugged.

“They’re big and scaly? They have plenty of rich stuff? Never met a dragon really, only heard rumors before I arrived here and noticed Dragons and other creatures leaving that there school. Still never talked to any.”

“Well, Thank you, sir.”

“Before I go Miss. Your eyes have the same look I have seen time and time again at my age. I'm not going to pretend to know your situation but regrets are a chain that can ruin you. You have something to say to somepony, I think you should reveal to them what you are thinking.”

“Even if there’s a chance it could freak them out and they may never wanna talk to me?”

“Course. There’s always a chance it ends differently.” Scootaloo sighed and threw her head back.

. . .

The four send the workers home, saying that they would be spending the night in the museum so they could take the next day off. They all gathered together at Sugarcube Corner to get some dinner courtesy of Spike’s wallet and Pinkie’s baking.

“Don’t you four work or something? Why am I the one that has to keep paying?”

“Dude, you work for the government and you have like the second most amount of power! You can keep paying for our meals.” Scootaloo answered as she ate her sixth cupcake.

“Yeah, Spike! Stop being so greedy! My sister says you used to do anything for her, so why not be a gentledrake and treat all us mares equally.” Sweetie Belle said with a giggle as she finished off her third smoothie. Apple Bloom burped and rubbed her head as her friends stared at her in shock. She had fully cleaned off an entire platter of apple fritters.

“W-what? I haven’t eaten all day! Also, I think you two expect too much of Spike, I mean manners from a drake that picks his teeth with a claw?” Spike blinked and stopped doing what he was before he glared at Apple Bloom.

“You wanna see manners? Okay AB let’s play that game. Because I have plenty to say about you! First, I was trained in manners okay, by the best in the kingdom! Second, where are all those fritters going?”

“Well someone proved to be an awful student if you ask that question! You know I’d ask where your food goes but I know!” Scootaloo and Sweetie sighed with Sweetie giggling quietly to Scootaloo.

“Sheesh, how clueless can you get? I mean not noticing the sparks when you’re that close?” Scootaloo stared at Sweetie in annoyance before she groaned loudly and slammed her face onto the table. Sweetie patted her friend on her head while she stole one of her cupcakes. After Scootaloo was able to get everyone to focus and Spike was done whining about the bill, they all put the information they learned together. At the end of it, there were still too many questions left unanswered.

“We’re close but we still are missing something. I think we go back to the museum. Our culprit is likely to make one more big move against us so this is the best chance to catch them.” Spike leaned back and Scootaloo shivered at the thought of staying in that creepy place at night.

“Shouldn’t we have a plan in case this Phantom Dragon shows up?” Scoots asked while Sweetie Belle held up a piece of napkin with PLANwritten at the top.

“Way ahead of ya Scoots!” Apple Bloom rubbed her chin and took the napkin.

“I have a theory about this so-called dragon and how it works. Spike help me out here. I have an idea.”

. . .

“T-t-this idea bucking sucks!” Scootaloo mumbled as she was left on her own as bait for the beast. “I give them one rule, one simple rule and they proceed to break it whenever they get the chance. Dumb smart pretty Apple Bloom, idiot strong funny Spike, stupid sexy oblivious Sweetie Belle…” She cursed again and felt her wings get all tingly as she heard something and she turned. “Oh no…”

She coughed as some kind of fog covered the floor. She heard a roar and began to run, behind her red eyes began to glow, and caught sight of new prey. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were hidden in the central theater, standing by a switch that would start a simple pulley system to send Spike out as a sneak attack as he had a rope around his waist. They heard Scootaloo’s shout and prepared to pull the lever at Spike’s word.

“Get ready… here it comes… get set… now!” They pulled the switch but nothing happened. “Girls! Now!” Spike shouted and they just pulled on the rope themselves, overdoing it and sending Spike speeding across too fast and just missing the dragon. Its wing knocked against Spike’s rope and he sunk a claw into the wing, burning the rope off as he was now hanging from the dragon’s wing.

“Spike?! What in the name of Celestia are you doing playing around?!” Spike tried to pull himself out but as he touched the wing with his other claw, it sank in too and he shook around.

“It’s like some kind of clay!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie came out just in time to see Scootaloo rush past them into the central theater. They shared a look before being faced with the giant dragon flying toward them. Sliding under the beast, they began to scream and throw things at the dragon some of their items hitting Spike. "HEY! Watch out!"

"Sorry, Spike!" With the screams of her friends at her back, Scootaloo looked around for something to help them. She flew around in a frenzy, thinking that maybe the theater had a prop room of some kind. As she shot for the stage, she found out painfully that behind the projector screen was just a wall. She groaned as she slammed into it and landed on the ground with a hollow thump.

“Ow… wait a Rainbow Dash minute!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie were finally cornered but Spike manage to melt some of the wings to send himself sprawling to the ground. He prepared to shoot a fireball but Scootaloo appeared and stood between the creature and her friends, holding something out. It was some kind of painting of a mare. The creature stopped and Scootaloo shouted at Spike to fire. His fireball blew the dragon up, clay being splattered around but the image of the dragon remained, now just on the walls and floor.

“Projections…” Spike followed the projections and took down all the projectors. After turning on the lights, they saw the only bits remaining of the clay dragon were some of the face and a limb or two.

“Now who did this?” Sweetie asked as she poked the dragon's face.

“I think I know. Isn’t that right?” Scootaloo asked as the theater doors opened and Broad Stroke stood there, coughing as he approached the four. “Broad Stroke.”

“The Janitor?!” The old stallion smiled at Scootaloo.

“I suppose you four managed to solve my tricks?” Scootaloo nodded taking the first bit.

“The clay dragon was sculpted and moved around by wheeled hooks you drilled into the ceiling, the way it could stick to walls was more stationary ones just meant to hold it up. The way the dragon looked was made by projections.” Apple Bloom tapped her chin as she now put things together.

“Those projections were why the guard saw fire that wasn’t real! The roars were made using the sound system! When the guard was pushed and his uniform was stained, he believed Dragons were just slimy but it was the clay! The clay was also why the flashlight was messy! It touched the dragon before smashing the case.” Spike then stepped in.

“And after the guard was out, you used these art skills of yours to cover the mess in black pain to make it look like there really was some kind of dragon attack. You learned all the skills you needed for this by learning the tech from Iron Feather. And getting the motive from two more ponies.” Sweetie Belle groaned and stomped a hoof.

“What is the motive?! Stop leaving me in suspense!” Scootaloo decided to finish them off.

“Art. The motive was art. That was the love you said you lost.” She turned to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “Do you two remember what this place was before the museum?”

“Uhh, I think Fine Line mentioned it being a warehouse?”

“Come on you two! We did some cutie mark hunting here!” They struggled to remember before Sweetie Belle remembered.

“The art studio! The old one! We only tried it out once since we ended up dying each other’s manes different colors!”

“Exactly. This was the only art studio in Ponyville but thanks to Fine Line and the lack of business, the place was torn down and the art was lost. Well, most of it.” Scootaloo led them to the theater’s stage where she opened up a hidden door under the stage and inside there was art of all kinds. “I found it accidentally. The art was buried under this building, both the art pieces and the studio itself.”

“So the motive was art, why attack the guard?” Spike asked and Sweetie chipped in.

“Because he blames Ponyville. He sees the whole town as having let him down and just sitting by as history was erased without care.”

“And that was why you disliked the Apple Family.” Apple Bloom looked at the stallion who stared back. “My family founded this town to give ponies the chance to do whatever they wanted, a second chance at making it their home. You wanted to do art and the town took that from you. You blamed us.” Broad looked away and Spike turned to him.

“All this just to prove something to yourself? To show they were wrong for hurting you? You could have hurt somepony! You could have damaged other things that couldn’t be reclaimed! You face destruction with more of it!?” Apple Bloom touched Spike’s arm and her sad eyes gave him pause, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at the old stallion and sat down, looking into the hole of collected pieces. Much was very well done and other bits looked like they were made of foals of all kinds. A few pictures caught his eye, the crusaders’ pictures. “You were trying to keep history live in your own way…”

“What do we do now?” Sweetie asked and no one answered right away.

“We have to say what happened… we have to report everything.” Spike answered but the crusaders shook their heads.

“But if we do that, what about the art? Nothing changes if we don’t do something!”

“P-please, don’t let them destroy it! Those… are memories I helped make. If they were all gone… it would be destroying me. Please.” Broad Stroke begged and Spike looked at the girls, an idea coming to mind.

“I think I can help but you all owe me.”

. . .

“It is the greatest honor as your princess and a Ponyville citizen at heart, the museum is ready for all visitors! I hope to see you all here next year as the wing of the museum, called Crusaders Colors, will be finished! Thanks to the donations of one Spike the Dragon!” Twilight’s speech’s ending was met with a cheer and they all joined her inside. Nearby, sat the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike. Two days passed since they caught Broad and ended the Phantom Dragon. After hearing the four’s testimony and compromise, Mayor Mare lowered the punishment to five years of house arrest and community service, said service to be spent working at Crusaders Colors to help preserve art.

It may have taken pretty much all the bits Spike had saved over the years, and a loan from Celestia herself, but he paid the wing off himself to ensure the work to make sure this didn’t happen again would be done. Apple Bloom raised her mug of alcohol-free cider to toast.

“Well Crusaders, I think we call that a case closed!” Sweetie and Scootaloo raised their mugs and Spike sighed, raising his own before downing it. The four relaxed until an hour later when Sweetie had to go home and Scootaloo offered to walk with her. That left Apple Bloom and Spike. “Sooo Spike… I heard you have to leave for another ambassador mission…”

“Yeah… I leave next week to Saddle Arabia to settle a trade issue…” Apple Bloom looked down at her mug.

“Never a dull moment is it?”

“Not really… I do plan to be back for the birth and… other things.”

“Spike, you don’t have to treat me like glass I won’t break…”

“No, you’re too stubborn for that even when you have a reason to. I just wish that I had more time.” She leaned against him.

“I wish the same. I’d follow you if I could but… the farm still needs me. Applejack is just getting better.” Spike held her and gently scratched her back. “You said a week though… maybe you could stay in the barn? We could keep arguing about your lack of manners.”

“You mean your lack of self-control.” The two smirked at each other and Apple Bloom leaned closer to him. Spike blushed and leaned forward to meet her when she pushed him down. She winked at him, flicking her tail before she started to run.

“Race ya Dragon boy!” He stared before quickly giving chance.

“Of course, the pony had to cheat!” Above the two playing their game, a dark shadow flew past the moon. The shape resembling a dragon…”