//------------------------------// // Searching for Clues // Story: Best Friends for Life // by SuperWriter2329 //------------------------------// The Ponyville Schoolhouse was the only place where fillies and colts get to learn new stuff and uses them in everyday life. It has a variety of young students ranging from nerds to divas to group friends as well. It was currently lunch time at the schoolhouse and all the students are either enjoying their lunch or playing by the playground, which was exactly what three certain fillies are doing right now after finishing their lunches. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, which consists of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, are currently playing hide and seek with Scootaloo as the seeker. The three was well known in Ponyville for causing havoc just because they desperately wanted cutie marks so that the Rich daughter Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon would stop teasing them by calling them 'blank flanks' too often. As the orange pegasus was wandering about the playground area searching for her friends, she spotted three mares walking towards the schoolhouse. She recognizes one of them immediately as Princess Twilight, the same one that had taught her on fixing her own scooter during every session they like to call 'Twilight Time' every Wednesday after school. Well, that was until good old Tirek destroyed the Golden Oak Library, the place that served their Twilight Time sessions together, which also served as her home. They had stopped doing Twilight Time since then, but the three tried improving their work separately over time; Apple Bloom on her potion making with Zecora's help, Sweetie Belle on improving her magic, and Scootaloo on fixing her scooter in record time. The other two, however, Scootaloo has known from Rainbow Dash that they have became girlfriends one and a half weeks ago, but she also heard that one of them was secretly an agent in hiding since she also read today's Foal Free Press newspaper not too long ago with her adoptive sister. Figuring that her friends can wait a little longer, she nervously approached them, wondering if the news was actually real or not. Twilight, Lyra and Bon Bon have finally reached the schoolhouse some time later. Judging by the students running about by the playground, they figured it must have been lunch time when they arrived. Twilight then turned to the two girlfriends, saying, "Okay, here we are. So who do you guys think we should ask first?" Lyra thought about it for a moment before answering, "Maybe we should ask one of the students. It was their paper, after all." "Well, that's true, but who should-" "Um, excuse me?" The princess was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around and her face lit up when she saw Scootaloo coming towards them. "Oh, it's you, Scootaloo! How are you doing?" asked Twilight. "I'm doing fine, thanks. My friends and I are playing hide and seek when I saw you guys coming this way. What are you doing here, anyway?" asked the flightless pegasus. "Oh, I was here to check about this front page news. Do you know about it?" asked the alicorn, showing her the article about Bon Bon. "Yeah, I heard it from Rainbow Dash. What about it?" "Well, apparently this news had caused her fellow agents to come to her home and asked her to move away." "Wait, what?!" shouted Scootaloo, obviously shocked by the revelation. Just then, however, another familiar voice shouted in a strong Southern accent, "Scootaloo, what in the hay is taking ya so long ta find us?!" That shout made the poor pegasus jumped. She then turned around to find an angry Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle standing behind her. "Uh, oops. Sorry girls, I got distracted. I was talking to-" The young unicorn gasped upon seeing Twilight in front of her. "Twilight!" "Hey there, Sweetie Belle. How are you doing?" asked the lavender princess. "I'm doing fine, actually. Hey Twilight, watch this!" persuaded Sweetie, wanting to show her how her magic has improved by lifting up a nearby broom. After the broom was enveloped in a yellowish aura, she tried her best to lift it. Seconds later, she managed to do so. The alicorn smiled upon seeing that Sweetie's magic has improved, showing that she had learned a lot possibly from Rarity. "Wow Sweetie, nice job! You have made quite an improvement since the last time we had a session together. You should be proud of yourself," praised Twilight to the young unicorn. "Aww, thanks Twilight. Rarity practically beamed with joy when I showed her. She then nearly hugged me to death and saying the same thing as well," said Sweetie. "Okay, okay, enough about that. Why are ya here, Twi? And are those two with you?" asked Apple Bloom, pointing to Lyra and Bon Bon. "Yes, Apple Bloom, they're with me. We were wondering if you knew about this," said the nerdy princess, showing her and Sweetie Belle the news article. "Yeah, ah heard it from Applejack. What about it?" asked the young farmer. When Twilight explained the true story behind it, the other two fillies' eyes were wide in shock. "What?! You mean ta tell me that the news from the Foal Free Press was actually a ruse to kick Bon Bon out from Ponyville?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. The three mares only nodded in agreement. "No, she can't leave Ponyville! Lyra would not be perfect without her!" said Sweetie Belle, running towards Bon Bon and hugging her forelegs. "You just can't leave! Please tell me you're not gonna leave!" Bon Bon, who has been quiet the entire time, finally spoke. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving. But I had to unless I can find the one responsible for doing this to me. So, don't be sad, okay?" The curly maned unicorn nodded, saying, "Okay, I won't. I promise." She then let go of the earth pony's forelegs, allowing her to rub Sweetie's head with it. Just then, another voice appeared, this time from the front door of the schoolhouse. The voice said, "Oh, Princess Twilight!" The pony then turned to the source of the voice. It was revealed to be Cheerilee, the schoolteacher. "Hey there, Cheerilee! How are you doing today?" "I'm doing fine, thank you. What brings you here?" "Well, I was here regarding this actually," said Twilight, showing her the newspaper article made by her students. "Oh, this? What about it?" asked the teacher. The princess then explained the situation to her. "What?! The article was a fake?!" The alicorn nodded. "But that can't be! The students never sent out a fake article as far as I know!" explained Cheerilee. "That's why we're here. So, do you mind telling me who was the editor-in-chief for the papers?" asked Twilight. The Crusaders listened intently as the two are having a conversation. "Oh, that would be Featherweight. Before him, Diamond Tiara used to claim that title, but after the whole 'Gabby Gums' incident," said the earth pony teacher, pausing to look at the Crusaders before continuing, "I had to strip her of that title and gave it to Featherweight instead. He has been the editor-in-chief ever since." "Huh, it's a wonder why the Crusaders did what they did. I never would have thought it was Diamond who had decided to put them in such position that causes them to get shunned by everypony, even me," thought the lavender princess. "Okay, that was to be expected. So, you don't mind if we see him and ask him some questions?" Cheerilee thought about it for a while before nodding. "Sure thing." She then turned to the Crusaders. "Girls, do you mind finding him and tell him that someone wants to meet him? Hurry back though, because lunch time is almost over." "Okay, Miss Cheerilee!" said all three in unison, running towards the playground to go get Featherweight. Minutes later, the Crusaders came back with Featherweight running behind them. Upon close inspection, he actually lives up to his name, since he was really skinny for a regular colt. He even has ears that are bigger than his eyes. Even his cutie mark was a single bird's feather. Despite the appearance, he was actually really nice, possibly even nicer than Diamond. As he approached the group, he was shocked to see when it was actually one of the princesses who had wanted to meet him. And Princess Twilight, for that matter! When he finally reached the group, he immediately bowed in front of Twilight. "Princess, it's an honor to meet you in person again," said the pegasus. "Well, thanks for that. But please, just call me Twilight," said Twilight. "Of course, Pri- I mean, Twilight!" "There, that's better. Now, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" "Oh no, not at all! Go ahead." "Okay. Do you know anything about this article being sent to your desk?" asked the princess, showing Featherweight the article regarding Bon Bon. Meanwhile, Lyra, Bon Bon and the Crusaders are talking somewhere else nearby. "Honestly, it feels great being back here again after a long time, right Bonnie?" asked Lyra to Bon Bon. "Yeah, this place really brings back memories," answered Bon Bon. "But, if ya didn't find the pony who had the guts ta do this, ya had to leave this here place with only yer memories, right?" asked Apple Bloom. "I guess," was all the secret agent said. "Aww, don't be sad, Bon Bon. Twilight here was actually-" said Scootaloo before getting cut off. "A really great detective?" asked the mint unicorn. When she saw the 'what the hell' face from the young pegasus, she snickered and continued, "Yeah, I heard from one of her friends. Rarity was the one who told us, if I'm not mistaken." Sweetie Belle's ears perked up upon hearing her sister's name being said. She then told her, "Rarity?" "Yeah, her. You know her?" "Know her? She was my sister, of course I know her." "Really? No wonder you and Rarity had the same fur color, when I look back." The young unicorn just smiled. Just then, the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. "Okay everyone, lunch break is over! Everypony back to your classes, please!" ordered Cheerilee. "Well, ya'll heard her. Let's get back to class or we'll be in trouble," said the young farmer before heading back to her class. "Yeah, come on Scootaloo. Let's go!" ordered Sweetie. "You two better find the pony so that I can tell Rainbow Dash to kick his or her flank for doing this to you, okay?" asked the flightless pegasus to the two girlfriends, who nodded in return. "Great! See you two later!" was Scootaloo's last words before she went running to her class. They also saw Twilight waving to Featherweight as he too went back to class before walking towards them. "So Twilight, you got anything?" said Lyra. "Well apparently two weeks ago, a weird pony wearing a hooded cloak was the one who gave him the article to feature it into the Foal Free Press, but was ordered not to look at it's contents at all costs. The pony even told him to post it today in order not to get suspicious," explained Twilight on what Featherweight told her. "Did he said anything about the pony's features?" asked Bon Bon next. "He said that he didn't recognize the voice, but he did know that it was a female's voice so we can rule out all the possible male suspects. I was able to narrow the list down even further when he said that he saw a horn protruding slightly from the top of the hood so the only possible suspects who is a female unicorn that I know of are Amethyst Star, Electric Sky, Cherry Spices and Sea Swirl," the princess said, even listing down the names of some of the unicorn mares that resided in Ponyville. "Wait, what about Vinyl Scratch? She is a unicorn too," wondered the mint unicorn. "Well, she doesn't talk and always wears headphones, so she doesn't count." "Oh," was all the lyre player said. "Okay, well I think that's all for today. I need to go and tell Pinkie Pie about what I have discovered and maybe she and Rarity can interrogate them some time tomorrow, but for now we should probably get back to town. Hey, why don't I treat you for some lunch?" exclaimed Twilight. The two girlfriends glanced at each other before smiling. "Sure, we'd love to, Twilight," said Bon Bon. "Great! Now come, I'm sure we are all hungry after all of that talking," gestured the lavender princess. With that, the three walked back towards Ponyville with smiles on their faces as they had a huge lead ahead of them. The only question is, who, between the four unicorn mares - Amethyst Star, Electric Sky, Cherry Spices and Sea Swirl - is the true culprit?