Scootaloo yawned, and rolled over a couple of times in bed. The whole night had been fairly sleepless. But, at this point, she was just about to give up on sleeping entirely. Instead, she would get up early to do her usual training.
While her night had not been restful, it had given her a chance to think and brighten her outlook. Spike made being a dragon look cool. And, Rainbow Dash was impressed. Maybe this was not a bad thing?
Where did they put my scooter and wagon? Scootaloo asked herself as she rolled out of bed, and wandered over to the crystal closet.
Everything being crystal is going to take some getting used to, she decided as she pulled the doors open and rummaged through them. Hastily she grabbed her saddle bags, and threw them onto her back. She then grabbed her medicine bag with her teeth, and held it in her mouth. Finally, she found what she was looking for, buried at the bottom of the closet next to a soccer ball, and some small dumbbells.
Scootaloo grabbed it, and tucked it under a wing. Then, she tucked her helmet behind her other wing. Finally, she wrapped her tail around the wagon handle, and tugged it behind her. She then made her way out of her room. Now where was the dining room? She asked herself. However, everything just looked the same. Doors and crystal walls as far as the eye could see.
How does anypony find their way around here? Scootaloo grumbled as she picked a direction, and started marching that direction. Thankfully, it only took about four wrong turns before she finally found her way back to the dining room.
Now to grab a quick bagel, Scootaloo decided as she sat her scooter and wagon on the floor and dropped her medicine bag on the table. She then reopened the door leading back out the hall, only to come to a realization. She didn’t know which way the kitchen was. Still, it had to be close to the dining room, she decided. So, she just needed to pick the correct door.
Why does this darn tree have to be so large! Scootaloo complained.
Eenie-Meenie-Minie Moe, Scootaloo counted as she began to point at the various hallways.
That one she decided, as she pointed at a random door.
Scootaloo walked over the door, and bit down on the handle. “Scootaloo! You’re up early little sis,” Spike called out from down the hall, causing Scootaloo to jump. Her grip on the door released with the shock.
“Spike?” Scootaloo asked in surprise.
“I was going to surprise you with a good breakfast. I made it myself so that you’d have a good breakfast to start your first day out right,” Spike said as he showed her the tray of pastries he had made himself.
Scootaloo couldn’t help but look at the tray of pastries with a look of desire. They smelled delicious.
“Come on, let’s go back to the dining room before they get cold,” Spike insisted as he began walking back the way Scootaloo had come.
“Spike… could you show me where the kitchen is some time? I want to be able to grab my own breakfast some days,” Scootaloo admitted with a hint of a blush in her cheeks. It was a bit embarrassing to admit she didn’t remember where it was.
“No problem. I’ll show you right after breakfast,” Spike added as he clumsily pushed the dining room door open with a foot. He then walked in and set the tray down in the middle of the table. Scootaloo followed, and sat down at the table.
“What are these?” Scootaloo asked as she took a closer look at the pastries. They looked like lumps of baked dough, but they did appear to be folded at the top. They smelled heavily of sugar, and an earthy smell the Scootaloo was not familiar with. She supposed the smell smelt quite tasty, but it was not one she was familiar with.
Cautiously Scootaloo reached out, and stuck a pastry to her hoof using the innate magic in her frog. She then pulled it in, and took a large bite out of it. The filling was crunchy, but not difficult to chew. Furthermore, it was like a flavor explosion in her mouth. It was a rainbow of different sweet flavors. She couldn't help but give a pleased "mmm".
What is in here, that tastes that good? Maybe a fried nut? She considered.
“Do you like them?” Spike admitted as he nervously rubbed his head with one of his claws.
Scootaloo nodded with a pleased smile.
“They’re gem dumplings. It was super hard not to eat all the filling before it hit the dough… But, I managed to do it just for you,” Spike admitted with a sheepish rub of his head. He’d only eaten enough filling to make up a full dozen dumplings.
“There’s gems in here?” Scootaloo asked as she held up the dumpling closer to her eyes so she could look at it.
“Yes. Is it too hard to chew on?” Spike asked nervously.
Scootaloo could see a slight glitter from within the pastry. It certainly looked like there could be gems in there.
“No… I thought it would be. But, it only seemed a bit crunchy,” Scootaloo considered with a look of amazement.
“I figured: if you’re a dragon, then you should eat gems,” Spike explained as he reached out and grabbed one of the pastries.
Scootaloo slowly worked on her pastry. It wasn't that it wasn't good. But, there were a couple of things sitting heavily on her mind.
“Spike, are you still mad at Twilight?” Scootaloo asked first. “I mean, I’m not happy with her for keeping it a secret. But, maybe she had a good reason?”
Spike sighed, and looked down at his dumpling for a bit. “I suppose I’m not. And, I’m sure she had a good reason. But, I don’t see why we didn’t have a reason to know. I mean, it’s not like our dad was some kind of monster. You know, some kind of pony that we’d hate to be related to.”
“Like Sombra, maybe?” Scootaloo proposed.
“OK, that'd be bad. But, I could live with that. Somepony worse. I don’t know, Sedna the Murderous, maybe?” Spike proposed as he waved his dumpling around a little.
“What about the curse? Maybe something bad really would happen if too many ponies knew?” Scootaloo suggested as she tried to push back on the thought of their being a curse at all.
“I don’t know...” Spike mumbled as he paused for a second to think about it. “She could have not told Starlight Glimmer, and Rainbow Dash then. I mean, that would be the same number of ponies. And, those two aren’t always the most subtle, anyway.”
“Hey! Rainbow Dash is awesome!” Scootaloo objected. That thought brought her back to the other matter. Rainbow Dash had been rather fascinated by the thought of her being a dragon. And, she had to wonder if she could do it...
Spike shrugged. The two went silent for a moment or two. But, Scootaloo had to ask the other question.
“Spike: Do you think I’ll breath fire?” Scootaloo considered as she reached out and grabbed a second pastry.
“I’m certain you will. I bet that’s why they were feeding you Water Sapphires,” Spike stated as he waved the pastry in his claw around a bit, like he was pointing at something with it.
“They were probably trying to suppress your fire till you learned how to use it properly,” Spike concluded as he took a big bite out of his pastry.
“Huh…” Scootaloo considered.
“Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t want my friends to think I’m weird,” Scootaloo mumbled nervously as she rubbed her foreleg with a hoof.
“Nonsense. They’ll think it’s cool,” Spike assured her with a smile, and a thumbs up.
“I guess it would kind of be cool,” Scootaloo admitted with a growing grin. Her mind was already beginning to imagine the cool things she could do with fire breath. Maybe an awesome prank or two?
Then the sudden weirdness of a fire breathing pony hit her like a cold blanket. “I mean… as long as we keep it just between us,” Scootaloo proposed with a blush.
Spike just shrugged in response, and grabbed another dumpling.
Still her friends wouldn’t be weirded out, right? “And, I bet Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would flip if I showed them some fire breath. Do you think you could show me some time?” Scootaloo decided with a playful smile forming on her face.
“And here, Twilight said I wouldn’t have anything to teach you,” Spike pointed out with a smug smirk and a laugh.
“Why don’t you try now? It’s pretty straightforward. Just take a deep breath, hold it in for a second or two, and then breathe it out like you were trying to say ‘oh’,” Spike instructed.
I hope I can do this! It would be amazing… Scootaloo thought with a hint of doubt. She’d never breathed fire before. She couldn’t be sure if she truly was able to.
Come on, Dragons do this all the time, she coached herself as she took a deep breath. Finally, she pursed her lips, and breathed out. She could feel a slight warmth in her chest, and then nothing came out.
“Nothing... “ Scootaloo mumbled in disappointment.
“Huh,” Spike puzzled.
“Try again,” he instructed as he placed a claw a couple of inches in front of her muzzle.
Scootaloo frowned, and tried again. Still nothing came out, although a small smile did seem to form on Spike’s lips.
“I can’t do it,” Scootalo lamented with a pout.
“You need a bit more time. I felt hot air come out. Your pilot light might still be small from the Water Sapphires you ate earlier. Just give it some time. We’ll just have to try again later,” Spike offered her as he reached out and gave her a pat on the withers.
Scootaloo breathed a long sigh of defeat. “Well… It’s just another thing I have to wait around for,” she grumbled.
Her grumbling was cut short as a clock chimed in the distance. “Shoot! I’m going to be late for school!” Scootaloo panicked as she hastily shoved her purple helmet onto her head.
“Spike, point me to the exit. I got to pick up my friends,” Scootaloo urgently demanded as she hastily hitched her wagon to her scooter and quickly hopped onto said scooter. Her small wings were already buzzing frantically, even before she was truly ready to go.
“And, don’t try to stop me. I’m going,” Scootaloo insisted gruffly with an air of finality.
“I wasn’t going to ask you to stay. If Twilight doesn’t want to be honest with me, I don’t see the point in just doing whatever she says -- just because she says to,” Spike grumbled.
“Thanks Spike,” Scootaloo said as she smiled a little.
“Anway… That way, and then take a left as soon as you can,” Spike instructed as he pointed back out into the hall. He then waddled over to the table to finish the rest of the dumplings, only to notice a small bag left behind on the table.
Scootaloo burned rubber as her small wings pushed the scooter out at the speed of a motorized vehicle.
“Hey, you forgot!” shouted the fading voice of Spike as Scootaloo quickly revved out of earshot.
---
Scootaloo’s scooter pulled up to Sweetie Belle’s house. “Come on Sweetie Belle, we gotta get going! We’re late!” she shouted anxiously.
Sweetie Belle stuck her head out of the window. She then looked with a wide eyed surprise as she noticed the little pony on the ground.
“Scootaloo you came?!” Sweetie Belle cheered with a definite surprise.
“I mean… I’m Coming!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she pulled her head back into the window. Scootaloo could vaguely hear the sound of construction as the white unicorn tore apart her room to be ready in two minutes or less.
Scootaloo sighed. She’d left late, despite getting up early… Then again she was only a couple of minutes behind schedule. After all, she was a little closer to both of her friends than Mrs. Sweet Home’s house had been. So, maybe it worked out to be a net zero?
“Sorry,” Sweetie Belle apologized as she put on her green helmet and loaded herself into Scootaloo’s wagon.
“Don’t worry about it,” Scootaloo assured her as she turned her head back to the road.
“And, we’re off,” Scootaloo announced, mostly to herself, as she took off towards Apple Bloom’s family farm.
“I’m surprised you made it today. Rarity was saying you weren’t feeling well, and that we wouldn’t see you for a few days,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
Scootaloo grimaced. She heard that bit about a curse, but it didn’t seem like a problem before yesterday. What had worked them up so much? For a brief moment, Scootaloo considered just spilling everything to Sweetie Belle.
But, if there was a curse… a slight shiver ran up Scootaloo’s spine.
“I feel fine,” Scootaloo stated flatly to the little white unicorn as she sped up the buzzing of her wings. The scooter rocketed down the road.
Things went thankfully quiet for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Apple Bloom lived on the other side of town, which meant that Scootaloo had quite a ways to go before she could pick up her yellow friend.
Scootaloo pulled up to the farm house, and hesitated. If she shouted here and now, she might draw Applejack’s attention. And, Applejack would probably send her right back to Twilight’s castle… thus canceling the sleepover.
“Hey Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle shouted. Scootaloo flinched at both the loudness of the yell, and the unexpected surprise of it.
The door opened up to Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the little yellow filly, and not her orange sister. Maybe we can get away with this yet, she thought giddily.
“Hey Scootaloo. I knew you’d be picking us up today. Heh, There’s no way you would miss our crusader business after school”, Apple Bloom explained as she came out wearing her blue helmet.
“You know it,” Scootaloo bragged as she waited for Apple Bloom to load herself into the wagon. Once she did, Scootaloo hastily took off. Scootaloo couldn't help but look back one final time to see if Apple Bloom's sister came out of the house. When she didn't, the little pegasus breathed a sigh of relief.
“How’d you get away from Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked, causing Scootaloo to look back in surprise.
“How did you know I was living with Twilight?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well… Applejack said so. She said you were staying with Twilight from now on. She also admitted that Twilight’s really worried about you, and she didn’t want you leaving the castle while she figures things out,” Apple Bloom explained casually.
“I… uhh… just left the castle,” Scootaloo admitted reluctantly.
“No problem,” Scootaloo blustered, but only externally. Internally, she couldn’t help but worry a little. Would her friend just send her away. Worse, did she know about why Scootaloo was staying with Twilight?
Scootaloo bit her lower lip. “W...What else did she tell you?”
“Not much,” Apple Bloom admitted.
“Applejack doesn’t lie, but she doesn’t always talk, either,” Apple Bloom admitted.
“What else would she tell you?” Sweetie Belle interrupted with a question that Scootaloo had hoped she wouldn't ask.
"Nothing important. Just some... uhh... personal business," Scootaloo practically mumbled as she struggled to come up with a satisfactory excuse.
Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded. Scootaloo released a held breath. Much to her relief, they had accepted that answer.
“So, what’s it like to live with Twilight? Is she teaching you all kinds of new stuff?” Sweetie Belle asked as her curiosity peaked.
“I bet it’s like Twilight Time, but better,” Apple Bloom agreed.
Why couldn’t it have been like that? Scootaloo thought bitterly.
“I… uh… Didn’t see much of her, yesterday,” Scootaloo admitted.
“She was strange all day yesterday. She and her friends were busy slinking around. I almost thought they had been replaced by changelings again… But, they were being too friendly for that,” Scootaloo admitted.
“That’s too bad,” Sweetie Belle sympathised.
“I bet she’ll show you a lot of cool stuff later,” Apple Bloom consoled her.
“But, we’re still going to have a sleepover at the clubhouse tonight, right?” Sweetie Belle almost pleaded with a hint of concern.
“As if I’d miss a chance to hang out with you girls,” Scootaloo said cockily.
Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom smiled.
“But yeah, I was working on a trick with Spike. Maybe I’ll be able to show you tonight,” Scootaloo said with a smile.
If I can figure out how, she realized with a grimace.
“Sounds like fun,” Apple Bloom decided. Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.
---
Scootaloo carefully stowed her scooter and wagon in the class closet. Somehow, much to Scootaloo’s relief, they had arrived a little early. With a smile, Scootaloo then trotted out to go play with her friends for whatever time they had left before class.
Now, where’s Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom? Scootaloo asked herself as she scanned the school yard. They weren’t by the swings. A quick look showed they weren’t on the Merry Go Round. Even the seesaw was empty.
Where is everypony? Scootaloo asked herself as she noticed that several of the other colts and fillies seemed to be missing. Carefully she trotted around the school yard, until she found Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle huddled around a small group of colts and fillies.
“You sure?” asked Archer to Sun Glimmer.
“Yeah,” Archer confirmed with a definite confidence.
“What’s everypony talking about?” Scootaloo asked as she trotted up to the group.
“Archer was saying that the orphanage randomly caught fire like two days ago,” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Sun Glimmer and I were saying that it just didn’t make sense. I mean, why would a room just spontaneously combust.” Apple Bloom added with a shake of her head.
“Beats me,” Scootaloo fibbed with a nervous smile that so loudly screamed forced, that it was positively deathening.
“Anyways. I heard they had to call in a specialist to put it out. The fire was like some kind of magic fire,” Archer continued as she took a moment to heighten the suspense. She positively relished the energy as she soaked in the tension.
The room was smoking a little when I went downstairs that day… And, they did call in a pony. But, I don’t think it was on fire. Maybe I missed something when I ran downstairs? Scootaloo pondered as she tried to mentally think back to that day. In truth, she’d been too panicked at seeing her room grayed and covered in ashes and soot to look to see if any fire lingered.
“My big brother said the place is haunted. He works for the specialists, and he said that’s the room where that filly died a decade ago,” Archer concluded with wide eyes, and a small wave of her hooves.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“Nonsense. There’s no ghost,” Scootaloo insisted with a stern frown.
“How would you know? And besides, my big brother does not lie!” Archer countered.
Scootaloo opened her mouth to continue the argument only to hear the obvious ringing of the school bells. All the colts and fillies took off in a hurry, leaving Scootaloo in their dust.
“There’s no ghost!” Scootaloo shouted insistently at the quickly disappearing herd of students.
“Miss. Cheerilee is starting class a bit late,” Scootaloo mumbled.
---
Quickly the fillies and colts loaded into the classroom. Some continued to talk amongst themselves. However, the vast majority simply looked forward to where Miss. Cheerilee would be standing.
“Good morning, Fillies and Colts,” said a new masculine voice. Everypony looked up in surprise as a new pony walked through the doorway. He was a tall muscular unicorn. Although not as big and bulky as Big Mac, or Bulk Biceps, he carried himself like he could take said powerhouses in hoof wrestling. His mane and tail were an azure color bright enough that it almost glowed. And, his coat was a darker tan. But, the most disconcerting thing about the stallion was the way his cyan eyes just seemed to glow.
The stallion certainly seemed nice enough. But, there was something about the stallion, or at least his eyes, that made Scootaloo uneasy. A quick look around the room suggested other colts and fillies were a bit uneasy around the new stallion.
“I’m Wrangler DrachenJaeger, and I’ll be subbing for Miss. Cheerilee for a couple of days,” The stallion said in a friendly enough tone. He even gave the class a very warm smile. Not as warm as Miss. Cheerilee, but not too bad.
“What’s wrong with Miss. Cheerilee?” nervously asked Sweetie Belle. Her question leaving her mouth, even before her hoof finished raising.
“She got tied up…” the stallion said with a clinical certainty, then he flinched.
”I mean: she got very sick, and will be out for a couple of days,” the stallion assured her with a somber look on his face. However, the look didn’t last long as he quickly seemed to reset to that lackadaisical mood from earlier.
“In the meantime, I have her lesson plan right here. Plucked right from her desk,” he said eaglery as his cyan magic levitated a stack of paper onto the desk.
“It says here you were supposed to have a lesson on the rise of Barnyard Bargains,” the stallion read dryly from the lesson plans.
Only one filly in the class looked enthused. Diamond Tiara positively glowed. Scootaloo just let her head hit the desk.
“I’m afraid I’m not qualified to teach this,” he said with a shrug as he tossed the papers over his withers. The stack smashing into the blackboard -- scattering paper everywhere.
Diamond Tiara’s mouth practically hit the floor. Diamond Tiara wasn’t the only school foal, either, that looked at the stallion like he’d grown a second head.
“I think we’ll leave that for Cheerilee when she gets back. Today, I think we can talk about dragons,” the stallion said with an eager grin.
Scootaloo couldn’t help but grin as well. Maybe she would learn something good. This lesson could very well affect her directly.
“You know about dragons,” Diamond Tiara asked skeptically from her seat next to sweetie Belle.
“I know it sounds unbelievable. After all, ponies didn't used to know much about dragons -- what with the fact that they are dangerous and terrifyingly large creatures,” Wrangler admitted as his magic pulled up a large picture of a dragon towering over a pony, and mounted it to the chalkboard. The poor little pony in the picture actually looked up in wide eyed terror at the much larger dragon.
“Yes, Dragons have always been a mysterious topic for ponies. Generally because they’re too dangerous to approach. But, with Dragon Lord Ember opening diplomatic relations, things are looking up in that area. Also, there are a few families in Equestria that have been known to watch, or even search out specific dragons for generations,” Wrangler explained as he drew a painting of some kind of warrior ponies, ripped straight out of a Daring Doo book, watching a dragon from their hiding place in a bush.
“They’re idiots,” he admitted with a small laugh. Nopony returned the laugh, however. Instead, each foal in the class looked to the next, with confusion, as if they knew what was going on.
“My family is in the construction and repair business. Although, I might brag: we do know a proprietary… that’s a secret... method for putting out dragon flame. I know what you are saying: dragon flame goes out like regular fire. But, not always. It’s very magical,” he admitted with a bit of a smile.
"Dragon Fire, you see, is unique for each kind of dragon. Usually the differences are minor. But, they can occasionally be quite vast. Being able to recognize dragon fire could be used to figure out what dragons were in an area," Mr. Wrangler continued to babble, before he blushed deeply. "Or... so I've heard..."
“Still, you can ask me anything about dragons. I assure you, I’m quite up to date on my reading,” he assured the class. Nopony was certain if that was true, after a lecture like that…
Does he know anything? Or, is he just messing with us? Scootaloo suspiciously eyed the odd stallion from here. At the moment, he just seemed to be looking at each colt and filly with an odd expression that looked like he was trying to read their minds.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Scootaloo decided.
Scootaloo raised her hoof, and waited for the stallion to acknowledge her. “What happens if a pony and a dragon get married and have a foal?” Scootaloo asked the stallion.
“A good question,” the stallion said with a strangely happy smile. His eyes then seemed to lock onto Scootaloo with a laser like focus.
“I assume that’s because of the dragon living in your town? Or, do you know somepony like that?” he asked with a rather casual tone and a big grin, even as he continued to stare into her soul.
Scootaloo gulped. Did she say too much? “No… I mean yes… Because of the dragon living in town,” Scootaloo tried to say as naturally as possible. The seemed to appease the stallion’s interest as his eyes seemed to relax.
“Well. I assume maybe it’d make a Kirin,” the stallion said as he pulled up a couple of paintings of Kirin, and mounted them to the blackboard.
“If not, then the foal would be a freak of nature,” the stallion said with a shrug as he made a point to look at every foal in the classroom. Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel like he was staring at her again.
“Chromosomes work the way they do to keep compatible creatures breeding, and incompatible ones from breeding. Although magic can occasionally mitigate this, such as hybrid creatures. Some examples exist: such as Hippogriffs, Sirens, or even the Chimera of Flame Geyser Swamp,” the stallion explained as he mounted a few pictures of an odd structure that looked like two strange chains made of different color beads. There were arrows between the two showing where beads could be moved between chains.
“If magic didn’t stabilize the merged genetic code, the results would be a mismatched chimera so confused and disorganized in shape that they’d make Discord look as normal as a pony. They’d be a hideous, twisted, horrible abomination,” Scootaloo flinched with every word, even as the stallion finished with a rather inappropriate smile, and looked around the room. As if that wasn't bad enough, the stallion pulled up a painting of a Chimera. But, the snake, goat, and tiger parts were all mangled and mismatching, creating something of a horror show.
“But, I know a dragon that’s got a crush on a pony. There’s no way there could be love there if it wasn’t natural,” Sweetie Belle objected, causing Scootaloo to startle. This time, the stallion’s eyes locked onto Sweetie Belle.
“It could be. Or, everything would be normal until the magic came undone,” The stallion added with one final smile… Although to Scootaloo, it almost looked like a smirk. The thought made Scootaloo mentally cringe. Her mind was suddenly plagued with images of her looking like somepony had torn apart a Smarty Pants doll, and attached a bunch of random dragon parts to it. Her limbs were mismatched in size, and half of her mouth was sharp fangs, and the other blunt teeth.
Scootaloo violently shook her head, in an attempt to clear her mind.
“Well… We should move on,” The stallion said. Scootaloo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She needed to clear that image from her mind.
The rest of the lesson was thankfully, more friendly things. Apparently the stallion knew quite a bit about dragon dietary needs. He knew about Dragon Puberty -- or Molt Down, as he called it. Scootaloo made a point to take some mental notes.
Then, the lesson was over, and the stallion waved and watched all the fillies leave. Scootaloo hurried out the door with her friends. They had a lot to do.
--
The stallion watched all the fillies and colts go. After they were gone, he quickly scribbled on a piece of paper. He then focused his magic on the paper with great intent. The paper glowed with a bright cyan light. After several migraine inducing moments, the stallion stopped looking like he was going to have an aneurysm, and the paper disappeared in a flash of magic.
Within moments a piece of paper returned from the ether, in a puff of smoke.
Our father has received your message. He is ecstatic to learn that the children of Sedna may have appeared. At last, the blood spilled can be avenged.
But, he is not happy to hear that you still have not reported their identities. He wants to know why you are hiding this from us. Have you rejected our ancient blood vow?
If such a shameful thing were true: father wants to remind you that your vow was made on your own life, and it will be collected if necessary.
The stallion winced… This would need an immediate response. Carefully he rubbed his head. He hated when he had to write a letter.
The stallion tried to shake the migrain from his head. If anything, it just made the throbbing worse. With a grimace, he wished he’d had a cutie mark in magic. Carefully he wrote on another piece of paper.
I apologize to father. But, I have about four suspects. But, nothing conclusive. While I am sure father would gladly murder two or three innocent foals in order to kill the evil line. I would feel much better not murdering the innocent with the guilty.
I ask that father give me a little time. I have a couple of tests I can run that should narrow it down quickly. Please tell father to give me two or three more days.
The stallion then shook his head and groaned, as he powered up his horn to send the new response.