“Ugh, those darn new weather ponies!” Scootaloo said, as her hoof hit a deep puddle on the ground. The torrential downpour started just a few hours after the moon rose above the horizon, and continued through the night, converting streets of Ponyville into one giant mud-bath. “This is the second time this week alone when they messed up! This never happened when Rainbow was running the things around here…”
Muttering under her breath, Scootaloo slowly moved forward, her eyes nervously darting between the ground and her surroundings. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t mind some unpredictable weather, especially during the summer break – but that day was different. Sneaking around with a heavy saddlebag on her back was hard enough on its own, and not being able to use her scooter due to all the mud was making it even worse.
When she finally made it to her destination, the lower part of her body was soaked with a mixture of sweat and muck. She looked behind her one more time to make sure no one followed her, but the nearest pony she could see was a few hundred meters away, at the Ponyville market.
Scootaloo sighed with relief and turned around, her eyes widening almost immediately at the view in front of her. “Ugh, this place is really creepy,” she said, scanning her surroundings.
She stood near a partially destroyed, abandoned villa. Its once elegant double wing steel door now rusting and wide open, the windows around it fractured or completely broken. With shutters flapping in the wind, and aroma of rotting wood in the air, the building looked and felt out of place, its depressing appearance contrasting with the rest of Ponyville.
The memories of Twilight’s battle with Tirek were visible in every stone and piece of rubble. Ponies were avoiding this place like the plague. It was like some morbid monument to the time everyone wanted to forget – Scootaloo included. Unfortunately, it was also why they choose it as the meeting point in the first place.
“Where the hey, are they…” Scootaloo said, tapping her hoof, and nervously glancing around. “They should be here already—”
She jumped, as a sudden loud crack filled the air, quickly followed by another, and another.
“H-hello? Is that you?” She started backing up, her heart speeding up. “Guys, this isn’t funny—”
She felt something wet latching onto her hind hoof and jumped again, letting out a scream – a loud metallic sound filled the air a moment later. With heart in her mouth, she frantically turned around… only to see a few buckets of dirty water, one of them now empty, its content spilled onto the ground. Above them, the wind was forcefully slamming one of the shutters against the window.
“Ugh, you darn paranoid idiot! Can’t you do anything right?!” For a moment, she stared at her reflection in the nearby puddle, allowing her anger to grow, her breathing getting faster and faster until something broke inside of her and she began hitting her head into the nearby wall. “Useless, stupid, worthless… CHICKEN!” The last impact was strong enough, to leave a visible mark on her forehead.
“Scoot! What the hay are you doing?!”
Scootaloo’s heart skipped a beat as she noticed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looking at her, with terror in their eyes.
***
“H-hey girls, w-what are you doing here?”
“We should be the one asking that question Scoot,” Apple Bloom said, glancing at Scootaloo’s saddlebag that was filled to the brim. “What’s with the big bag?”
The question was all that Scootaloo needed to regain her composure. “None of your business! … how did you know I was here anyway?” She said, arching her eyebrow. “You were following me or something?!”
“Hey, calm down!” Sweetie Belle said. “We were just on the market to buy snacks, and we ran into Cheerilee.”
Scootaloo cocked her head. “Cheerilee?”
“Yeah, she told us you were avoiding her the whole week and asked us to tell you to meet her when we ran into you.”
“Then, just as we were leaving, I saw you lugging that saddlebag over here and—” Apple Bloom said, only to be cut off.
“I don’t believe it!” Scootaloo forcefully stomped her hoof. “Since when did you become Cheerilee’s lapdog?!”
“W-what?! You know I’m not! But she said that something went missing from the school, and it was when I saw you messing around with the same saddlebag—”
“Y-you told her you saw me?!”
Apple Bloom bit her lip. “Scoot, I—”
“You… snitch!” Scootaloo started moving towards Apple Bloom with fire in her eyes, only to be interjected by Sweetie Belle.
“Hey, cut that out! She only wanted to help.”
“By ratting me out?!” Scootaloo shook her head, filling her face with a look of disgust. “Goody Little Two Horseshoes, that’s what you are! Both of you always had everything handed on a silver platter, and now, you are messing with things you don’t understand!”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other with confusion.
“Scoot, what are you talking about? I don’t understand…”
“Oh, of course you don’t! If I were a mud-pony with an apple seed instead of a brain, I wouldn’t understand either!”
Apple Bloom said nothing, instead, with her mouth slightly agape, she scanned her friend from top to bottom slowly shaking her head.
“What the hey Scoot?” Sweetie Belle said. “What’s gotten into you?”
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you teleport out of here Mrs. Horn-head? What? Your horn not big enough?”
“Hey! What are you laughing about? Teleportation is an extremely complex spell!”
“Apparently, so is line holding, right? Or did you sabotage me on purpose that day?” Seeing Sweetie Belle nibbling her lower lip, and a slight blush filling her cheeks Scootaloo grinned. “Face it, Sweetie Belle, your magic is weak! Heck, Pumpkin Cake can do more spells than you!”
“T-that’s not true!”
“Can you levitate yourself?”
“N-no, but—”
“How about passing through barriers? Or picking up things?”
“I know how to levitate—”
“A broom?” Scootaloo chuckled.
“S-shut up—”
“Yeah, that one may be useful one day, when they hire you as the street sweeper of Ponyville.”
“Just… shut up already!” Sweetie Belle shouted through the clenched teeth, her eyes squinted and glassy.
“Scoot, enough!” Apple Bloom interjected, regaining some composure. “Why are you saying those things?”
Scootaloo grin widened. “Oh, the truth hurts? Not my fault that’s the best job she’s ever going to get with that pathetic horn—”
“Says the pegasus who can’t fly!”
Silence filled the air, as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glanced at the shaking unicorn with their mouths opened wide in disbelief. The surprise on their faced, poured a mixture of courage and anger into the Sweetie Belle’s heart.
“Yeah, you heard me, dodo!” Sweetie Belle smirked, closing her eyes for a moment. “Or should I say… Chickenloo!”
A moment later she felt a hit on her muzzle, strong enough to knock her onto the ground. The next few seconds were a blur. Her ears were ringing, and the picture was fuzzy, but she could make out Apple Bloom trying to pull Scootaloo away, only to get a buck to the chest in the process. That was the final straw, something broke inside of her and she went on autopilot.
Before Scootaloo could react, she was launched into the air by Sweetie Belle’s magic, landing in the nearby muddy pile of rubble with a loud thud. The unicorn didn’t stop there, with fury in her eyes, she was firing blast after blast at and around her friend, pushing Scootaloo into more dirt and litter.
“Still thinking my magic is weak?!” Sweetie Belle said, with a mad grin on her face, continuing her onslaught – her horn sparkling like a Christmas tree. “Well, do you? Do you—”
Suddenly, Apple Bloom knocked her to the ground, interrupting her tirade. “Calm down, before you hurt somepony!”
Glancing at her friend, Apple Bloom gulped. Sweetie Bell’s eyes were wide open, her teeth clenched, horn burning, and her breathing quick and raspy – she looked like a pony who could take on Tirek and Discord… at the same time. Fortunately, Apple Bloom’s presence made her breathing began to stabilize. A moment later her magic died down, just as a flush of red filled her cheeks.
“Better?” Apple Bloom said with a smile, getting off Sweetie Belle and lending her a hoof.
“Y-yeah… sorry,” Sweetie Belle got up, shaking some dirt off her coat. “But only to you, Scootaloo deserved what she got! You hear me over there! I’m not apologizing to you!” She said, in the direction of Scootaloo, but got no reply.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom glance at each other in horror and expecting the worst turned around, but Scootaloo was there – alive and well – counting something on the ground. Only then, Apple Bloom realized that during the fight, Scootaloo’s saddlebag was sliced open, its content now spilled on the muddy earth. A mishmash of knickknacks would be the best way to describe it – on the ground one could find all sorts of stuff, from books and toys to jewelry. But what caught Apple Bloom’s eye was a small, spherical crystal.
I don’t believe it… She really stole it? Apple Bloom slowly shook her head, approaching Scootaloo.
“Ruined, ruined… fine… that one is fine too,” the pegasus mumbled, picking through the spilled contents of the bag. “Maybe it will be enough? It must be, it must be…”
“Scoot… where did you—”
“Back off, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo exploded, turning around, her hoof in the air, waiting for a target. “You’ve done enough damage already!”
“We?!” Sweetie Belle said, as her horn sparkled again. “You are the one who started this stupid name calling!”
“Because you snitched on me!”
“We didn’t, you feather—”
“ENOUGH!” Apple Bloom shouted, jumping between her friends. “I’ve had it! You both need to calm down—”
“But!”
“No buts, Sweetie Belle! I don’t wanna hear it! We are leaving! If she wants to be left alone, so be it.”
Sweetie Belle cocked her head and wanted to protest, but a wink from Apple Bloom calmed her down. “Fine, we will talk later,” she said, as they started to walk away.
“Yeah, I don’t need you… I don’t need anypony! Just go and leave me!” Scootaloo shouted, but as the figures of her friends got further away, fresh tears flooded her face. “Leave me… Just like everypony else…”
She sat there, glancing at the ground and crying softly until a male voice snapped her awake.
“Nice job kid, getting rid of those nosy friends of yours. Now, let’s see what you’ve brought…”
***
As they got some distance away from the ruins, Apple Bloom broke the silence. “You OK, Sweetie Belle? That hit on the muzzle looked painful.”
“I’m fine.”
“Maybe we should get you to the doctor—”
“I said, I’m fine!” Sweetie Belle shouted, but bit her lip immediately after. “Sorry, I’m just frustrated… The things Scoot said…”
“Yeah, but… You know, you shouldn’t have mentioned her flying, she is very touchy on the subject.”
“I know, but… When she started attacking me, I got so angry that I couldn’t control it…”
“Well, one thing for sure… she won’t be questioning your magic anymore.”
Sweetie Belle smirked. “Yeah… Honestly, I didn’t know I had it in me, must have been all that anger... How did you manage to keep your cool? I mean… I saw you going ballistic before when somepony called you a... mud-pony.”
“Oh, believe me, I had an urge to shove my filthy ‘mud-pony’ hoof down Scootaloo’s throat,” Apple Bloom smirked. “But, lately, I learned the hard way that it’s better to let things calm down instead of escalating, especially when dealing with a stubborn pony like Scootaloo… or Applejack.”
“Applejack? What’s up with her?”
“I don’t know exactly, but… ever since those new weather ponies started messing up, she is easy to anger. Yesterday, she even... hit Big Mac.”
Sweetie Belle eyes widened. “She… what?!”
“They were just arguing which part of the field to do first, and she smacked him in the face. She apologized immediately, but…”
“Wow… That doesn’t sound like the Applejack I know.”
“Hrmph, you are telling me… I thought that maybe something I’m not aware of is happening on the farm, but both Granny and Big Mac said that everything is fine.”
“And Applejack?”
“She said, it was the stress of dealing with that unpredictable weather…”
“You don’t sound very convinced.”
“It’s just… Even when Rainbow Dash was running things, it wasn’t always perfect…” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Heck, I lost count on how many occasions, Applejack had to chase her to get some water over the orchards because she was napping on the cloud.”
“That’s Rainbow Dash all right,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
“Yeah, and Applejack never got that angry with her. I have a feeling that something is bothering her, but she won’t talk to me… or anypony else for that matter,” Apple Bloom let out a sigh. “Reminds you of somepony else, doesn’t it?”
“About that… I think I can see Cheerilee in the market – over there,” Sweetie Belle said, pointing her hoof. “Do you think… we should tell her?”
Apple Bloom stopped and for a moment locked her eyes onto the ground, thinking, but the answer seemed obvious. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Scoot will get even more furious, you know,” Sweetie Belle said, hoofing at the ground. “And… we will be snitches, for real.”
“Maybe, but I saw the crystal globe among the things she was picking up after the fight. She must have stolen it... I don’t know what is going on with her, but if she refuses to talk with us, maybe she will with Cheerilee.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Sweetie Bell heaved a heavy sigh. “Let’s go catch her before she leaves.”
***
Some distance away, Cheerilee was chatting with Carrot Top…
“…now that you mention it, I heard some complaints about misplaced stuff lately,” Carrot Top said while weighing some merchandise. “But I never gave it a second thought.”
“Oh, please add about half a kilo of those baby-carrots on top of that... Do you know what exactly went missing?”
“Hmm, no details honey, it’s not like we’re gossiping here all day, you know...”
“Only half a day…” Cheerilee murmured with a little smirk.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, nothing… I was just hoping for some more details.”
“Oh, you know how it goes… Somepony said she lost some bits, another that he lost some merchandise – but nothing specific. The other day, the owner of the antique’s shop was complaining that he couldn’t find some of his stuff, but you know how cluttered that shop of his is, he probably misplaced it.”
Cheerilee sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m sure I didn’t misplace the crystal globe. I turned the school upside-down and it’s not there. That’s why I’m so packed today,” she pointed at the two saddlebags on her back, both filled almost to the brim with papers, “I need to compare school’s inventory from this year with the previous one, to see if anything else is missing.”
“Here you go honey, that will be five bits!” Carrot Top quickly exchanged the neatly packed carrots for the money. “Looking at your bag, that inventorying thing seems like a lot of work...”
“Don’t remind me…” Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “You would be surprised by the level of detail they require in those annoying forms. I’m usually done in a day or two, but if something turns out missing, it can take three times as long... Oh, how I would love to get my hoofs on the one who designed this lovely system...”
“There is your chance – look,” Carrot pointed her hoof at Celestia who was strolling nearby, alongside James and John. “Maybe you should give her a piece of your mind.”
“Is that… John?” Cheerilee cocked her head. Without his powered armor – wearing plain gray sweatpants and matching shirt, the human in question was barely recognizable. “So, he is fine after all…”
“Can you believe that Princess ordered us to sell to that… thing?! Hrmph, instead of ordering us around, she should keep her big flank in Canterlot!”
Cheerilee turned to Carrot, arching her eyebrow. “I’ll make sure to let her know that.”
“Um…”
“Oh, I also make sure to tell her that you think she should lose some weight—”
“Keep it down!” Carrot whispered through clenched teeth with panic on her face. “I don’t wanna get in trouble…”
“Then maybe you should stop badmouthing others! And he’s not a thing – he has a name…” Cheerilee shook her head. “I don’t understand why do you treat him like this, did he do anything to you?”
“Well… no, but… have you seen Applejack lately? She is like a ghost!”
“And you know for a fact that John’s responsible?”
“Well… I’m not sure, but she said he is a—”
“I know what she said, but… we don’t know what happened between them. I talked to him, and he seems like a nice person. I don’t think he… or anyone else deserves to be treated like some outcast.”
“Hon, you’re naive… I bet he has something to do with the missing stuff. Maybe he stole something from the farm and that’s why Applejack is so angry.”
“Carrot… I already have a suspect, and it’s not him.”
“It’s Gastovski then, isn’t it?”
“Um, no…?” Cheerilee cocked her head. “Why would you even consider him?”
“You mean, besides the fact that he’s a lazy bum?” Carrot Top let out a chuckle, but Cheerilee only put a vacant expression in response. “OK, how about the fact that with his skills, and all that… technology, he could easily steal from anypony without being spotted?”
“Maybe, but I don’t see the motive.”
“Seriously? With the way that bum drinks, he probably squandered all his bits on alcohol already – and, I bet that he never saw a day of honest work his entire life—”
“Hey! Stop saying things like that!” A loud, angry shout interjected, getting their attention. Sweetie Belle was standing alongside Apple Bloom, with an angry expression on her face, and enraged eyes locked upon Carrot Top.
“Sweetie Belle! Didn’t your parents teach you that eavesdropping is bad—”
“They also taught me that badmouthing others is even worse!” Sweetie Belle said, piercing Carrot with her glare.
Carrot Top tried to counter Sweetie’s glare with her own, locking eyes on the young unicorn for a moment, until she saw Apple Bloom shaking her head in a pleading manner.
“Honey… I know he saved you from those nasty diamond dogs, but—”
“Me? What about you, and the rest of Ponyville? You already forgot how he helped all of us?”
“Oh, believe me, I remember, that… ugly thing reminds me every day!” Carrot said, pointing at Gastovski’s statue that was towering in the middle of the market. “Ugh, fine… perhaps he is not the thief, what about the third one? He’s a weirdo too…”
“Carrot…”
“All right, all right…” Carrot Top grumbled. “Maybe they didn’t do it – doesn’t mean I have to like them! Anyway, you want to buy something, girls?”
“We’re here to talk to Mrs. Cheerilee… We just found the… pegasus she was looking for and… um…” Apple Bloom bit her lip, her eyes going from Carrot Top to Cheerilee.
Got it, Apple Bloom. ”Girls, I’m going home, why don’t you accompany me? We can talk on the way.” Cheerilee winked.
With a quick goodbye, Cheerilee and the crusaders, left the market, not wanting for anypony else to hear what they were about to say.
“All right, I think we’re alone,” Cheerilee said. “What did you find out?”
“Scootaloo… she… um…” Apple Bloom sighed. “She’s the thief…”
“How can you be sure—” Cheerilee’s eyes widened. “Sweetie Belle, you are bleeding!”
“Huh?” Sweetie wiped her nose with her hoof, revealing some red on her coat. “Ugh, great… that’s Scootaloo’s doing. We found her near that abandoned house that was destroyed during Tirek’s attack. Apple Bloom asked her about the bag, and she went ballistic! She started calling us both names, and stuff I would rather not repeat, and… um…”
“Let’s just say things got a little out of hoof,” Apple Bloom smiled sheepishly as Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “I know, I know… But on the bright side, when they were fighting, the globe fell out of Scootaloo’s saddlebag.”
“You saw it?!”
“Yeah, it and… a lot of other things. I… I didn’t want to believe it, but I think that Scootaloo stole all this stuff...”
“This isn’t good, but… thank you for bringing that to my attention,” Cheerilee glanced at the glum expression on fillies faces and smiled. “I know it must have been hard for both of you to come to me with this… but you are doing the right thing.”
“At this point, we just don’t know what to do anymore,” Sweetie Bell sighed. “If you won’t be able to knock some sense into her head, then I don’t know who will. She may still be around that ruins, it looked like she was waiting for somepony.”
“Just… please be gentle with her, OK? She is acting really weird…” Apple Bloom said.
“Don’t worry girls, I will. We need to get to the bottom of why she’s doing that – for her own sake… I’ll see if I can still catch her near those ruins... As for you Sweetie Belle... I would suggest you go to the hospital, but we both know you won’t listen,” Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly. “At least… put some ice on that...”