//------------------------------//
// The Search For Scootaloo 
// Story: Little Pony Story 2: The Search for Scootaloo 
// by Lets Do This 
//------------------------------//

A couple hours later, Bonnie had arrived and then departed in her usual whirlwind fashion, taking her rocket-ship backpack and several of her toys, including a tissue-packed box holding the four Princesses.

Twilight Sparkle stood on the castle's lowered drawbridge, waiting for Spike to return with her checklist. And also keeping an eye on the room, just in case she was needed.

"Hey, Twilight! I mean, uh... Your Highness!"

"Hi, Apple Bloom! And it's okay to call me Twilight. I'm only an Acting Princess, after all."

"Wayall... I know how much it means to ya!" The yellow filly nodded politely. "I was just wonderin' if there'd been any luck finding a Scootaloo for Sweetie Belle and me to play with."

"I don't actually know. What say we go find out together?"

"Sounds good to me!"

They set out across the carpet, passing several other toys along the way. First there was Applejack, busily competing in lasso tricks with the red-haired cowgirl doll. Then there was Fluttershy, seated on an alphabet block and reading stories to some of the preschool toys, who hung on her every word, riveted and wide-eyed.

A little further on, Pinkie Pie was working on improv theater with the other thespian toys... although from the looks of things, it seemed even they were having trouble keeping up with Pinkie's nonstop stream-of-consciousness delivery.

"I thought we were at the North Pole," the white plush unicorn complained. "helping President Lincoln deliver a pizza. Where'd the aliens and the trombone come from?"

"Shh!" the hedgehog replied. "Just roll with it. She's a natural! And it's perfect training for working with Bonnie!"

Further on there was a small cardboard stage, on which stood a plastic toy trunk. Starlight was trotting nervously around it, gazing out at an unseen audience as she helped Trixie rehearse her timing. "Oooh... she's been in there a long time, folks! Do you think maybe the Terrifying Trunk Escape might be too much for her? What if the Great and Powerful Trixie can't..."

The trunk thumped and rattled for a few moments, then was silent. Then a plaintive voice called from inside it:

"Starlight... I think we're going to need the scissors again."

Starlight patted the trunk. "Don't worry, Trixie. We'll keep practicing, as long as it takes. You'll make it work!"

She gave Twilight a friendly wink. Twilight returned it, and quietly moved on.

Next was Rarity, who'd set up a worktable out of playing cards and thread spools. The violet-maned pony was busily working on fashioning new velvet drapes for the castle's windows as a surprise for the Princesses when they returned.

And sitting on a small thread bobbin next to her was Sweetie Belle.

"Are you sure I can't help you, Big Sis?"

"No, no, dearest!" Rarity said. "Just sit over there, where you'll be..."

"I know... out of the way..." Sweetie Belle finished sadly.

Rarity turned to her, surprised. Then she hugged her tightly. "Oh, I'm so sorry, my dear! I know we haven't had much time together yet. But I do need to stay focused if I'm going to get these curtains finished by tonight!"

"Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom called, "Twi and I are gonna go check on the hunt for Scootaloo. You wanna come along?"

"Do I!" The white filly hopped down from her bobbin and willingly raced over to join them. And Rarity cast Twilight a thankful glance, as she turned back to her work.

Over near the bookshelves was a tall, square blue box with a bright light on top. And trotting in and out of it was Doctor Whooves. The tan earth pony was carrying in and out all manner of small parts, tools, and other items. At least one looked like a small toy kitchen sink.

"Still trying to get her to fly, Doctor?" Twilight asked cheekily.

"Nearly there!" the Doctor replied with his usual unshakable confidence. "I promised dear Derpy a trip around the galaxy, and I intend to keep that promise! Onwards and upwards!" He dove back through the doors into the box, and there was a sound of furious hammering from inside.

Derpy was sitting at a small plastic cafe table nearby. The gray pegasus's crossed eyes were staring fixedly at a small plastic plate with a single plastic muffin on it. She'd been determinedly staring at it for hours, apparently in the belief that if she stared hard enough it would turn into an actual muffin. Her lack of success so far only served to convince her that just a little longer would do the trick.

Rather than distract her, Twilight continued onward.

She came at last to the laptop, sitting open on the floor. At its keyboard was the other Trixie, the blue triceratops. Rainbow Dash was there as well, looking over her scaly shoulder as she busily patted keys with her paws.

"How's the hunt going?" Twilight asked.

"Have you found her yet?" Apple Bloom added excitedly.

Rainbow shook her head. "Some close calls, but we're still looking. We've moved on to some of the smaller fan trading sites... but they have even less to choose from."

"But even so, you guys have so many cool accessories!" Trixie enthused. "I have to keep reminding myself we're looking for a pony. It's easy to get sucked into the playsets. I mean, just look at this one!"

She clicked a link and a page came up, displaying a Canterlot Castle Playset. Entranced by it, Twilight leaned closer to the screen. The brilliantly white-and-purple castle, with its spires and gold-swirled minarets... it was like the Royal Palace from the show brought to life.

"Wow..." she breathed. "Now that is the kind of palace Princess Celestia ought to be living in. Instead of a cardboard box, and a margarine bowl."

"And Bonnie's imagination, don't forget," Rainbow told her. "Bonnie loves the castle, because she and Dad made it together. And don't knock the box, Twi. It's got plenty of room for all of us if Bonnie ever wants to take us on the road. That thing?" She gestured at the playset on the screen. "You'd be lucky if it's got room for the toys that come with it."

"I suppose you're right." Twilight reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the screen. "Let's keep looking. Maybe we need to broaden our search. Is there any big outlet we haven't tried yet?"

"Well..." Trixie said. "There is always E-Zon."

"Oh, I dunno 'bout that!" Applejack had come over to join them. She shook her head nervously. "You hear some pretty strange stories about toys bought through E-Zon. Like, if a toy's only been passed around between collectors, and never actually played with... wayall, then it's like they're not even alive, just a hunk of plastic!"

"Aw, come on!" Rainbow objected. "That's just an old pony's tale. Jamie bought me through E-Zon, and I turned out okay." She waved a hoof at the laptop. "Trixie and I have mostly been sticking with the fan sites because they take better care of the toys, and they can use the business. But let's see what Big Zebra has to offer."

Trixie willingly clicked through to the site, dismissing the annoying zebra pop-up. Then she punched in a search. A page full of matches came up, most of which Rainbow rejected out of hoof.

"Nope, that one's not mini-scale. Glitter? Are you kidding me? Nope! Crystal pony version? Uh uh! Combable hair? Gimme a break! Nope! Nope-nope! GleeCo Scootaloo? Yeah, right, like we really need a Scootaloo that's taller than Celestia. Nope. Uh uh. Notttt likely..."

"What about this one?" Trixie pointed to an result further down.

"Naw, that's a gift set," Applejack said. "See, it's got all three Crusaders. We don't want to bust up a family like that."

"Oh, yeah!" Trixie nodded. "I forget that about you pony toys. You come in sets!"

"Dang straight!" The farm pony smiled. "Jest like us Apples: Granny Smith, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and me!" She gave Apple Bloom a warm hug with a foreleg... which the filly quickly squirmed out of, embarrassed.

"Oh! Here we go!" The triceratops pointed. "A singleton Scootaloo, in something called a... Washouts costume. Whatever that is."

"Myeah." Rainbow looked ill. "Trust me on this, you don't want episode tie-in toys. For them, their episode is the show. They just can't get past it. It's sad, really! Once, I was sitting on a shelf for a week, next to a Pinkie Pie in a Chancellor Puddinghead costume? The poor thing couldn't stop going on about being able to think inside a chimney. It's like she came out of the mirror pool! In the end, I was happy to get shoved in a mailer and shipped out, just to get away from her."

Trixie shrugged acceptingly, and scrolled onwards through the list. Then she suddenly noticed Sweetie Belle, standing at her elbow and staring up at the screen, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Something wrong, honey?" Trixie asked gently.

"Online toy-shopping is really weird," Sweetie Belle said. "I mean I always assumed it was luck of the draw who bought you at the store. It made the uncertainty a bit easier, knowin' you had the same chance as any other toy on the shelf."

Apple Bloom joined her. "Yeah! It's strange thinkin' someone gets to decide whether they want you or not, without you even knowin' they're lookin' at you in the first place."

Hearing that, Rainbow looked guilty. "You know what, girls? You're right, totally. And the proper thing to do here is, we'll take the very next loner Scootaloo we come across. Like you said, Sweetie. Luck of the draw, it's only fair."

Happily, the next page refresh brought up a rare, blind-bag mini Scootaloo that even Rainbow was perfectly okay with.

"So," asked Apple Bloom, "what do we do now?

"We're in luck!" Trixie said. "The bidding round is nearly over." She pointed at a countdown timer on the screen. "If no one puts in a bid, the item rolls over into the Buy phase, and I can sneak her onto Mom and Dad's wishlist. Then the next time they're looking for something nice for Bonnie, there's a Scootaloo, all set to move to their shopping cart. And each of them thinks the other put her there. Everyone winds up happy. Win-win-win, I say!"

"But... what if someone else buys her first?" Sweetie Belle fretted.

Applejack shrugged. "That's life, hon! Ya win some, ya lose some. We remind ourselves to be thankful she found a home, and we keep on lookin'."

The timer steadily ticked down. Other toys, sensing something important was going on, gathered round to watch... including Starlight and Trixie, the showpony still brushing stray bits of twine off her robe.

"Ten seconds!" Rainbow called. The waiting toys willingly joined in as she counted down:

"Five... four... three...two... Ack!"

"What! What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Someone put in a bid!" grumbled triceratops Trixie, smacking the keyboard in frustration. "Ugh! It's the only one! And right at the last second, too! That's gotta be a bid-bot!"

"Curse you, bid-bot!" pony Trixie shouted at the screen. Then she looked at the dinosaur in worried puzzlement. "Uhhh... what's a bid-bot?"

"It's an automated program," Twilight replied. "It watches for low-priced rare items in the bid phase, and makes a bid for them right at the end, so no one can put in a counter-bid. Then the buyer can immediately turn around and sell whatever it is for a higher price, making a profit."

Rainbow looked at her. "You're even nerdier than usual, Twilight! How do you know so much about it?"

Twilight grinned, and patted the triceratop's shoulder. "Trixie's excellent class on the Internet and E-Zon shopping!"

The triceratops blushed. "Yeah, well! I say bid-bots are cheating. But there's not much we can do about it."

"To hay with that!" Rainbow snarled, staring at the picture of Scootaloo on the screen. "We said we're gonna take the next Scootaloo we found! And we're not giving up without a fight! Trixie, you think you can find out who placed the bid, and where that Scootaloo's being shipped to?"

"Sure, I can do that!"

"That's impossible," Twilight objected.

"Just watch me!" Trixie's clawed feet were already punching keys.

Twilight turned to Rainbow. "Even if you do find out, what are you going to do?"

"What else? Go there and get that Scootaloo! We saw her first, so why should we have to lose out to some automated bidding thingy? It's not even alive! It doesn't care whether it wins or loses."

"What? You can't do that!" Twilight objected.

"I can do it!" Trixie called out, still busily typing.

"I mean," Twilight went on, "you can't just go someplace and take a toy that someone else has bought. That's stealing! And even leaving that aside, how in the world are you going to get there?"

"I'm getting there!" Trixie called excitedly.

"Well..." Rainbow spread her wings. "I'll fly if I have to!"

"You're a toy, Rainbow? You can't actually fly?"

"Urrrgh! Then I'll mail myself there, okay? All I need is an address... and a box... and postage!"

Derpy looked up from her muffin. "Oooh! I can help you with that!" She jumped up from the table and hurried off.

"It can't be done, Rainbow!" Twilight insisted.

"It's done!" Trixie called happily.

Both Twilight and Rainbow looked at her. "Huh?"

"I dood it!" Trixie gave the keyboard one last proud thump, and pointed at an order page on screen. 

"What?" Twilight asked. "How?"

"It wasn't hard," Trixie said, smugly. "The URL for the Bought icon happened to include an order ID as an attribute. Yeah, I know, really lame coding, right? I backtracked it through a hole in the orders database, and... well, long story short, that Scootaloo is going right there!" She pointed to the shipping address at the bottom of the screen.

"Awesome!" Rainbow struck a pose. "Then that's where I need to go," she said proudly. "Tooooo... friendship! And BEYOND!"

Twilight eyed her.

"You've been hanging around that space-ranger toy too much."

"So?" Rainbow shrugged. "He's cool. We're both flyers. He gets where I'm coming from!"

Twilight winced, and looked away.

"Aw, hey, Twi! I'm sorry!" Rainbow said. "I didn't mean it like that." She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Like Princess Celestia says, you're more than Princess enough for us!"

Twilight crossed her forehooves and gave her a stern scowl. "That's Acting Princess to you, Rainbow!" Then she sighed. "You're gonna go ahead and do this, aren't you?" she said. "No matter what I say?"

Rainbow looked guilty but unrepentant. "Twi! I'm the loyalty pony, remember? And it's Scootaloo we're talking about! I'm supposed to be, like, her big sister! What am I supposed to do?"

Twilight nodded. It was clear from the look on Rainbow's face: she'd committed herself to bringing this particular Scootaloo home, and nothing was going to change her mind.

"Okay, fine!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "But you're not doing this all by yourself. Now, assuming we don't get ourselves lost in the mail getting there... what do we do after that?"


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


A short while later they were out on the front porch. The six Element Bearers were being boxed up by Derpy, with Big Mac standing nearby with the roll of strapping tape. Starlight was looking on, clipboard in hoof, anxiously double-checking the mail-pony's work.

"Be careful, Twi!" Spike said. "I really wish I could come with you!"

"We're taking a risk as it is, Spike," Twilight told him. "I wouldn't want to lose you. You stay here and help Starlight. And Starlight," she added, "I know this is a lot to land on you, your first day here. But I know the kind of pony you are, and how well you can organize things. Just keep the other ponies here out of trouble until the Princesses get home. And also, let Celestia know where we've gone, and why."

Starlight bit her lip, but nodded. "I'll do my best, Twilight. You can count on me!"

"Don't worry, Twilight!" Trixie said breezily. The showpony put her hoof around Starlight's shoulders. "The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie will lend a helping hoof, if need be!"

Twilight gave her a doubtful look, then looked back to Starlight. "You'll do fine, Starlight. I trust you."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were saying goodbye to their respective sisters. "Be sure and let Scootaloo know she's got us here, waitin' on her," Apple Bloom said.

"All ready to go Crusading!" Sweetie Belle added excitedly.

"We'll be back before ya know it, sugarcube," Applejack replied.

Rarity nodded. "Absolutely, Sweetie dear!"

"Don't you two worry," Rainbow said. "We're not comin' back empty-hoofed. That's a promise! Scootaloo or bust!"

"Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie beamed. "Oh, and Starlight? Be sure to give my party cannon a hug every now and then. It gets lonely otherwise!"

"Uhh, sure..." Starlight replied, a little worriedly. "I'll put that right on my list..." Her toy pencil scribbled busily.

"And Starlight?" Fluttershy added. "Would you keep an eye on the preschool toys in particular? They can get frightened if they feel no one responsible's looking after them."

"Got it," Starlight made another note on her clipboard. "Wow, there's a lot to manage here! But we'll make it happen, don't worry. Anything else?"

Twilight looked around at the other ponies. "No, I think that about does it. Okay, everypony! Let's do this!"

They hunkered down, and Big Mac helped Derpy close up the box and tape it shut. They heard hoofsteps on the box lid as Starlight triple-checked the addresses and postage, as she'd planned to. Then the hoofsteps faded away as the other ponies made their way back into the house and up to the room.

The six ponies settled in to wait until the Arriba driver came by to collect the package and take it to the post office. For a long while there was silence, as they found comfortable spots to rest amongst the packing material.

And then:

"Anypony up for a game of I Spy?"

"Arrgghh! Pinkie! We're not playing that!"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

"Are you mental? We're in a box, for pony's sake! There's nothing here but us!"

"So? It'll be easy! I'll start it... I spy, with my little eye..."