//------------------------------// // The Art Show Mystery // Story: Equestria Ninja Girls Magical Mayhem // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// Mikey and Pinkie currently stood staring at an oddly shaped metal sculpture with confused expressions. “So, what's it supposed to be?” Mikey asked Pinkie who responded. “I have no idea.” Donnie walked over and answered, “I believe it's not supposed to look like anything.” April who was with him spoke, “But it looks pretty cool though.” Gabby spoke up, “Kind of looks like the lamppost my cousin crashed into when he tried to pull a bridge jump in his car.” Fugitoid sighed in awe, “That's the beauty of art. It comes in many different forms, as you can see by all the works around us.” The Turtles, Allies, and Rainbooms were at the Canterlot Community Center for the Art Show. Their new friends, Angel and Carter, had even come along. The center was filled with dozens of art pieces from drawings to paintings. To sculptures and crafts, each in various styles. “You think that's cool, me and Raph just saw a robot statue made from bottles.” Casey noted. “Even my old PE teacher Spearhead is showcasing some of his work.” Twilight put in. Keno smiled, “Yeah I may not know art, but I know what I like!” Leo spoke, “I remember the Shining Armor back in Equestria told us about when he and Princess Cadence went to see art from a colleague of his that one time they asked Twilight to babysit Flurry Heart. They said they were interesting pieces of art.” Twilight nodded, “Yeah. Too bad our Cadence can't join us. She has paperwork to work on. Plus Shining has to work today.” Bright Eyes looked at a statue that reminded her of a hedge Ocellus did in that pose. She sighed missing her friend and didn't know whether or not she'd go home or not. “Bright Eyes?” Bright Eyes snapped out of it as Blade patted her shoulder, “You alright?” he asked. “Huh? Uh yeah. Just drawn into these great artworks.” she answered. Blade smiled as Bright Eyes walked away but hid a concerned face knowing what she was thinking about. “So, Sunset, can we get a sneak peek at your painting?” Mikey asked hopefully. Sunset smirked, and answered, “Nice try, Mikey, you still gotta wait till the contest.” “Aww!” he groaned. Sunset chuckled, and turned to the others, “Thanks for coming to support me, guys. Even though some of you aren't exactly art enthusiasts.” Raph shrugged, “Yeah, I don't even get some these art things.” He motioned his thumb at an art piece that looked like a pile of junk stacked on top of each other. Rarity spoke up in politeness, “Well, they say art is in the eye of the beholder, Raphael. I for one positively love these art works. I get most of my fashion inspiration by looking at art.” “Speaking of fashion, Rarity, look over there.” Gabby looked over. Rarity looked to where she was pointing a gasped, “Oh my stars!” The others looked and saw a beautiful dress on a painted mannequin. And what really stood out was the dress had a picture of the whole city painted on it. Raph sighed, “Figures.” “Oh, I don't know, Raph. That dress does look pretty.” Mikey confessed. “You guys like that?” The group turned to see Half Note walk up to them, “Hey, Half Note.” Donnie greeted. “Did you do this?” April inquired. “No. She did,” Half Note pointed to a girl her age walking up next to her. She had magenta skin with short yellow hair with pink streaks. She wore a long brown sweater, dark brown vest, black pants, brown boots, and a brown cap, “Everyone, this is my twin sister, Sweet Note.” Sweet Note looked at the group in wonder, “Wow! The Ninjas! I heard a lot about you around CHS. It is great to finally meet you.” Karai smiled, “And it's a pleasure to meet you too, Sweet Note.” “So you did this painting? It's very good.” Shini said. “Actually, I just did the dress.” Sweet Note confessed. “And it's a lovely dress!” Rarity marveled. “If you didn't-” Rainbow began only to get cut off. “There you are!” Everyone looked to see another girl also the same age as the two sisters. She had lavender skin with pink hair with light pink streaks. She wore a blue sweater, pink shorts, green striped socks, sneakers, and a beanie with cat ears and a four leaf clover design. “Sorry. I had to wipe something off my shoe.” Sweet Note introduced her, “This my friend, Clover Bloom. She's the one who painted the picture while I added the dress.” “I was just saying how good of a job you did, Clover.” Shini told the girl. Clover smiled, “Thanks. Means a lot if you guys like it. But the dress really completes it.” “So are you both entering the art show?” Fluttershy asked. “Yep. We're both entering this. My dad's even entering it.” “Really? What's he entering?” Zach asked. “That statue over there.” she pointed to the statue Mikey and Pinkie looked at earlier. “Ooooo!” the two party lovers said collectively. Clover whispered to them, “But watch out for that teapot, it's bad luck!” “Bad luck?!” The two asked. Sweet Note face palmed, “Oh no, Clover!” “Not this again!” Half Note groaned. “Well it is. It got me grounded twice!” Clover reminded them. “How in the world can a teapot possibly be bad luck?” Raph asked in confusion. “Also, how did it get you grounded?” Gabby asked. “Don't ask,” Another girl their age came up. She had sand colored skin, ruby hair with pink streaks. She wore a white shirt with mango long sleeves, brown pants, and orange sneakers, “Unless you want a dumb story.” “Hey, I think I've seen you on Scootaloo's soccer team, you're Patch, right?” Rainbow guessed. “Got that right. And you're Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo talks about you a lot,” She then noticed the Turtles and their allies, “Hey, you're the Ninjas! I almost didn't recognize you boys in those trench coats!” “Sorry. Despite many people accepting us for who we are, we still have to go undercover.” Mikey explained. “Because it also attracts enemies as well as friends.” Leo put in. “Make sense.” Patch admitted. Fugitoid spoke to the Rainbooms, “So, have you girls decided yet what you're going to play?” “No, we haven't. Because I still think we're missing something for the performance.” Rainbow answered with a sigh. “I'm sure we'll figure it out soon, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack assured her, “By the way, speaking of missing, has anybody seen Caitlyn, Buffy, Angel, and Carter?” “I think they were all looking at some of the painting over there.” Zach said. “We should probably find them before the contest starts.” April suggested. “Yeah. Maybe they might have ideas for our gig.” Rainbow said. “I think whatever you girls play will be fine, Rainbow.” Leo assured her. “Yeah, it'll be just like our other songs!” Pinkie said confidently. “That's the problem! It'll be the same like it always is!” Rainbow cried, “What we need is something unexpected!” Suddenly, everyone heard a melodious voice humming, “Something like that!” (What Would I Do if I Could Feel) Right after that, they heard the voice begin to sing, “Whoever is that singing?” Rarity wondered. “It's coming from the stage where we set up our instruments.” Twilight noted. “Let's go!” Leo ordered. The group hurried toward the stage, Patch, Clover, and the Note Sisters following. When they got to the stage, they were all surprised by what they saw. Carter was on the stage, singing, and singing very well at that. His eyes were closed and he hadn't noticed everyone. Close by, Angel, Buffy, and Caitlyn all sat on a speaker, singing the harmony and they too hadn't noticed everyone watching them. When they all finished, the group cheered taking the four by surprise. “That was awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “How long were you all standing there?” Carter asked sheepishly. “Long enough to hear what a golden voice you have, Carter!” Rarity said still in awe. “Dude, I never knew you could sing?!” Zach said in shock. “It's just a hobby of mine.” Carter explained like it wasn't a big deal. “You were still great, Carter.” April admitted. “Talk about metal.” Casey said. “That was really good.” Sunset smiled. “Very melodious.” Fluttershy added. “Splenderific!” Pinkie cheered. “Not bad.” Raph nodded. “Wonderful.” Donnie said. “That was great, Carter.” Leo commended him. “Agreed.” Blade said. “Two thumbs way way up.” Keno added. “And you three were great too.” Karai told the others. “Nice to see you singing more, Caitlyn.” Shini smiled. Caitlyn answered, “Well, Buffy has given a couple pointers since that Equestria magic incident with me and Zach.” “Thanks. I sometimes sing while playing guitar.” Buffy admitted. “Mom always said I sing like an angel.” Angel confessed. “You all sounded great.” Bright Eyes said. “Yeah! Great work, ABCs!” Mikey finished. The group blinked twice, as Angel asked, “Come again?” “Angel. Buffy. And Caitlyn. The ABCs! That should be your music name!” he explained. “Really?” Buffy asked dryly. “What is this? An educational program?” Caitlyn asked rhetorically. “No way no how!” Angel rejected it. “I kind of like it.” Bright Eyes admitted. “Me too. It sounds like that popular 70s song.” Half Note said. “We're not being called that!” The group declared. Patch winced, “Yeesh! Sensitive much?” “Only on names not our thing.” Angel replied. “Well, Zeck was like that when Mikey started calling him Bebop.” Donnie remembered. “Either way, you guys are good.” Sunset said. Suddenly a light bulb lit up in Rainbow, “That's it!” “What's it?” Sunset asked. “I finally figured out what we need for our show!” “And what might that be?” Applejack asked. Rainbow walked up to the stage and spoke to Carter, “Carter, how would you like to jam with our band in the show?!” “Huh?!” The Rainbooms asked in surprise. “Say what now?” Carter asked hoping he heard right. “Yeah! Your voice could add a little zing to our song.” “Yeah! Please sing with us, Carter!” Pinkie pleaded. “I don’t know, guys.” Carter said unsure. “What? You got stage fright?” Raph teased. “Far from it. I just don’t want to intrude or anything.” “You won’t. We’d be happy to let you sing with us.” Twilight admitted. “I think that is a great idea.” Buffy agreed. Carter perked up after hearing Buffy’s excitement, “Okay. I’ll do it.” The Rainbooms cheered. “I can't wait to hear you guys preform after the art contest! I bet it's gonna be a-ma-zing!” Patch said in excitement. “Yeah, girl!” Mikey agreed. “Speaking of which, I better get my painting ready.” Sunset realized. “Sounds good. The rest of us better get ready as well.” Leo said. “And grab a bite from the snack table.” Pinkie added. “Eh. I could use a snack.” Raph admitted. “And. Good luck.” Blade told them. As everyone left, Angel spoke to Karai, “Hey, Karai, got a minute?” “Sure. What's up?” she asked. “That thing you said last night about if I let revenge consume me it might be too late? What exactly did you mean by that?” Karai looked uncomfortable for a moment before she motioned Angel to follow her over to an empty corner. She and Angel sat down as she began, “I spoke from experience. Because I let revenge consume me. Twice.” Angel was surprised, “What happened?” “When I was baby, a man named Oroku Saki murdered my mother and stole me from my father, Hamato Yoshi. He raised me to believe Yoshi was my enemy. Thanks to Leo, I eventually learned the truth but then Saki had me imprisoned. The Turtles rescued me and when father told me what Saki did to my mother, I wanted revenge. Father warned me that revenge only leads to more pain, but I didn't listen and went after Saki anyway.” “And then you got mutated and can turn into that snake creature I’ve seen you turn into?” Angel guessed. “That is correct.” Karai said, as she angrily looked at her hand which morphed into a snake head. Angel blinked at what she saw, “If we weren’t on the same side, I’d be creeped out.” Karai continued, “Well, back then, I was losing my mind as a result of it. Not even Donatello’s retro mutagen could fix me. But then I was captured by Shredder’s enforcers and was brainwashed by Stockman's mind worm after getting my abilities in check. Because of that, I was controlled to destroy my father and the Turtles and nearly killed them. Twice! Father then used his Healing Hands technique on me and freed me from the mind worm.” “Man! You've had it rough.” “Yes. But it doesn't end there. After I was freed, I wanted revenge on Saki for all he did to me. So I recruited Shinigami and started my own ninja clan to destroy his empire from the shadows. I even persuaded Leo to help me behind his family's backs, which resulted in Donatello becoming injured. Leo stopped helping me after that and tried to talk me out of it, but my mind was already set on revenge. Saki eventually mutated himself making him stronger and more insane then he used to be. When I fought him for the last time, I almost died! I ended up in the hospital with a broken arm. And during that time, Saki had killed my father! Angel gasped, “So you're an orphan now?!” “Yes. And so are the Turtles, since Yoshi was their father as much as he was mine. I finally realized that he was right. Being consumed by revenge only led me to more pain. And the worst part, not only did I never get to avenge my parents like Leo did, but I had wasted all that time I could've spent with my father,” A tear ran down her cheek before she turned back to Angel, “And that could be you, if you focus solely on revenge.” Angel spoke as the epiphany hit her, “I see. I guess all this time, I almost lost my mom and vowed to not let that happen again. And one slip up and she could end up dead behind my back.” Karai's hand reverted to normal and patted Angel’s shoulder, “You can still help out, just always remember who you’re fighting for and put your family first.” “I’ll do that. And I know bro and Casey will be there if I get all revengey like.” Angel promised. Karai smiled, “And you got all of us as well.” Angel locked hands with Karai, “Thanks.” Karai nodded, “C'mon. Let’s go join the others.” Meanwhile, Sunset, Fugitoid, Blade, and Bright Eyes were helping set up the painting, that was covered by a sheet. “Okay. Now set right here! Perfect!” Sunset instructed them. “Well, I say you’re all set, Sunset!” Fugitoid said excitedly. Bright Eyes smiled, “I’m getting excited to see it. I almost can’t blame Sensei Mikey for wanting to see it.” “Like I said, you’ll have to wait for the show.” Sunset reminded her. “I know. I can wait.” Blade noticed a couple more covered up artwork, “Looks like others want to surprise us with their work as well.” Bright Eyes noticed a painting at the very end of the lineup, “Hey look at this painting! It looks like the graffiti art I saw last night.” Sunset nodded, “You're right. And it looks great!” “I quite agree, the splash coloring gives it a unique style.” Fugitoid admitted. “I wonder who painted this?” Blade wondered. “That would be me.” The four turned and saw a girl standing off to the side. The same girl Mikey and Bright Eyes met in the CHS hallway and who Blade crashed into while escaping from Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkle Shine. “Hey, you're that girl I ran into at CHS.” Bright Eyes realized. “Yeah. You should watch were you swing your ninja things by the way. Anywho, I'm Sapphire Night, artist of that awesome painting you see before you.” “Sapphire Night. Oh I remember you! You’re in Sunset's art class.” Fugitoid recalled. “And I ran into you a couple days ago running from Twilight’s friends. Sorry by the way.” Blade apologized. “That is great work you did there, Sapphire.” Sunset admitted. Sapphire smiled, “Thanks. I've been doing art since I was in preschool. This is just some of my best work.” “Were you the one that did that graffiti painting on the wall near the bank?” Bright Eyes asked. “Yep, I do that kind of stuff too.” “Wow! I thought I was the only one who did that.” Sunset said. Sapphire cocked an eyebrow, “You do that too?” “Oh she does indeed.” Fugitoid confirmed. “Yeah, you've probably seen some of my work, especially at the display window of the fashion boutique.” Sapphire double blinked, “Wait a minute? Are you Flanksy? The elusive graffiti artist?” Sunset nodded, “That's me!” “Who?” the two Equestrians asked. “It’s a street name I took. I do street art for a hobby.” Sunset explained. “Oh!” Bright Eyes replied. “I see.” Blade added. Fugitoid explained as well, “She does great work. And she’s only painted alleys and other places where it’s not vandalism.” “Well, my painting's not finished yet, I've still got some finishing touches to add.” Sapphire said. Blade noticed some open cans of paint nearby, “Is that why you have these paint cans?” “That's right,” she took a can of purple paint, “Now, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to finish up my painting in privacy, if you would?” “Oh, no worries, I've gotta get back to my friends right now, anyway. Our band is performing later and we need to practice.” Sunset said. “I look forward to seeing that!” Sapphire said excitedly. “Thanks. It was nice meeting you, Sapphire. And good luck in the contest.” “You too!” Sapphire said, as they left. Meanwhile, in the music room, the Rainbooms and Carter just finished practice. “Now that was sweet!” Rainbow cheered. “I admit it! That was good.” Carter said. Applejack nodded, “That was really impressive, Carter. You sure you haven’t done this before?” Carter shrugged, “Never had the time.” “Hey, Angel. Can I ask you something?” Mikey asked. “Sup?” “How did you meet Casey and the others?” “Well, after mom got discharged from the hospital, dad moved us to Casey's neighborhood, that's when we met him.” Carter spoke, “And when I started at Roosevelt High, that’s when he introduced me to April and Gabby. Then after school, I introduced them to Angel.” Angel continued, “Took me a little bit to warm up to them. Back then, I didn’t trust anyone outside of family. But Carter kept encouraging me to give them a chance. After a couple times, I learned to accept them.” “Can’t blame you there for not trusting them right away after what those scuzz buckets did.” Raph said. “That’s exactly what Casey said when I spoke up to them the first time.” Angel chuckled, as Casey grinned. “I met Zach, Caitlyn, and Buffy when I saved Zach's butt from the school bully.” she added. Rarity gasped, “Goodness! Whatever happened?” Caitlyn spoke up, “I guess you could say it was because of my snitching. You see, the bully at our school is named Barry. One day, I saw him and his buddies beating up Zach's friends, Max and Pervis. He even ripped Max's new comic book.” Mikey frowned, “Blasphemy!” “So I took a video of the whole incident and showed it to Principle Bridge,” Caitlyn explained, “He gave Barry and his friends a months detention and his parents made him replace the comic.” Rainbow nodded, “Yeah! That'll teach that jerk!” “I wouldn't celebrate just yet. Barry and goons came after us after that.” Buffy said. “Oh no!” Fluttershy gasped. Zach continued, “Barry didn't like being ratted out and thought I was the one who did it, since Max and Pervis were my friends.” “So what happened?” Spike asked. Zach began, "We were just leaving school, when Barry and his cronies jumped us… In a flashback, in an alleyway near Roosevelt High, Zach was thrown against a dumpster. Before he could get up, Barry grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him against it. “You think can squeal on me and get away with it, Roberts! Nobody squeals on me! Nobody!” Barry bellowed. His two friends, Luke and Zeke were holding down Caitlyn and Buffy to keep them from trying to stop him. “Let him go!” Caitlyn demanded. Zach frowned, “I didn't squeal!” he kneed Barry in the gut and punched him in the face, making him let go. Unfortunately, that only mad Barry even angrier. “Oh, now you're dead!” He grabbed Zach and head-bashed him, knocking him to the ground, “I own this school, puke!” Then he held Zach down and began brutally punching him the face. “NO!” Caitlyn shouted. “Stop it!” Buffy cried. “Hey, zit-face!” Barry looked up and an Escrima stick nailed him in the face, knocking him off Zach. Both Barry and Zach looked up to see Angel step in, holding one of her sticks, “Back off, or else!” Barry got up, and asked, “Oh, yeah?! Or what?” “Or you're gonna more sore than that guy.” Angel motioned to Zach. “You think I'm scarred of you? I'm not afraid to hit a girl!” Barry warned her. “Take your best shot, big boy.” she beckoned him. Grinning with pleasure, Barry swung a punch, only for Angel to dodge it. Surprised, Barry swung another and Angel dodged that one too. Barry kept trying to punch Angel but the girl kept dodging his hits. “Hold still!” Barry growled, as he threw another punch at her face and Angel blocked it with her stick, causing him to hurt his fist, “Yeow!” But then Angel whipped out another stick and whacked him all over before she back-flip kicked him in the jaw, sending him to the ground. He turned to his cronies, “Get her!” Zeke and Luke threw Caitlyn and Buffy aside and attacked Angel. Unfortunately, Angel proved to be tougher than them as she countered their attacks and knocked them both onto Barry. “Now, beat it! Or I'll get that cop over there,” She pointed her thumb over to a squad car a few feet away. Barry and his buddies scrambled up and ran away. Angel looked back at Zach, “You okay?” “Uh… yeah,” Zach answered, as she helped him up, “That was awesome!” “It was nothing. Name's Angel Bridge.” “I'm Zach Roberts.” Caitlyn cleared her throat, getting their attention, “I'm sorry but do you two need a moment?” Zach frowned, “And that's my sister, Caitlyn.” “Older sister. And thanks for saving him.” she said. “No problem,” Angel replied, “Someone had to since you and your friend were too busy being a damsels in distress.” Zach laughed at Angel's remark while Caitlyn frowned. “Oh! I’m Buffy. Buffy Shellhammer." Angel raised a brow, “The rich girl?” “Yeah. Thank you for helping us back there.” “No problem. I could definitely get used to that.” “Where'd you learn those awesome moves?” Zach asked. “Hang on, I've seen those kind of moves before, from our friend Keno.” Caitlyn recognized. “Well, they should, he taught them to me.” Angel explained. “You know Keno?” Buffy asked. “Yeah. My bro and I are students at his dad's dojo.” “Do you know Casey Jones?” Zach inquired. “If he's tall, gap-toothed, plays hockey, and shouts 'Goongala', then yeah I know him.” Angel confirmed. “He lives in the neighborhood we just moved into.” Carter said approaching. “Zach, Caitlyn, Buffy, meet my big brother, Carter. Bro, these are my new friends Zach, Caitlyn and Buffy.” “Nice to meet all three of youuuuuuuuuu.” Carter went wide eyed as he saw Buffy flick her hair in slow motion. He looked love strucked similar to when Donnie saw April for the first time. “Carter? Carter!” Zach called. Carter snapped out of his stupor, “Huh? Sorry I thought I saw something. What you say?” “I said, it’s nice to meet you too.” he gestured his hand out before Carter quickly accepted it and they shake. Buffy whispered to Caitlyn, “What’s with him?” Caitlyn just just smirked. “Well, ready to go home, Angel?” Carter asked walking up to his bike. “Dude! Sweet bike!” Zach gasped. “Thanks! I just got my motorcycle license and saved up for this bad boy! If you want, I can give any of you guys rides outside of school if you want. On school days, I’m taking Angel to and from school.” “Sounds great.” Caitlyn admitted. Buffy whistled, “I have to admit, it’s a pretty bike!” Carter muttered to himself, “It’s just like you, a beauty.” “What you say?” she asked. Carter blushed, “I-I said it was nice meeting you, Buffy. You guys too!” he quickly puts on his helmet and mounted his bike. “Well, hope to see you guys again.” Angel said, as she put her helmet on. “You guys are always welcome to hang out with us!” Caitlyn answered. “Bye!” Buffy waved. “Bye, Angel. Bye, Carter.” Zach called. “See you around sometime, Zach!” Angel called, as they rode off. Caitlyn nudged Buffy, “Someone likes you.” Buffy scoffed, “As if.” Then they noticed Zach staring after the Bridge siblings with a big grin, “Well, Zach, looks like you really like Angel, huh?” Caitlyn called it. “Uh? No! I just think she's cool.” Zach denied his feelings. “Whatever you say, Zach.” Buffy said, as she and Caitlyn giggled, while Zach pouted as the flashback ended. “That Barry sounds as bad as Shark!” Bright Eyes frowned. “Yes he is!” Zach confirmed. “But Angel sure showed him what for.” Gabby said. Keno smiled, “Dad'll be pleased to know you’ve been practicing.” “Glad you’re on our side.” Spike told Angel. Angel smiled and scratched behind his ear, “You betcha, pup.” “Okay guys! Let’s get set up. It’s almost time for the art show!” Rainbow instructed, as they got to work. Later the judges, Wildcard, Bozzerkazooers, and Rena were inspecting the art pieces in the contest. Sunset stood next to her painting along with all her friends. “I'm still a bit nervous, guys. I hope the judges like my painting.” Sunset told her friends. “I'm sure they will, Sunset.” Leo calmed her. “You got nothing to worry about, Sunset, you're a great artist.” Applejack added. “We’re all here for you.” Blade assured her. “That’s right! I bet your work is gonna be EPIC!” Mikey announced, only for Raph to clamp his mouth shut. “Mikey, we talked about shouting indoors.” “Yeah and you need to lay off the cheddar. Phew!” Angel fanned the air. Next, the Judges stopped by one of the covered entries, a painting by a CHS student named Watermelody. Smiling, she pulled off the cover and motioned toward her painting. Instead of being impressed, the judges looked puzzled. “Uh, is your painting supposed to look like that?” Bozzerkazooers asked. Confused, Watermelody looked at her painting and screamed. It was a picture of the CHS statue before it was destroyed by Midnight Sparkle. But a clown wig, tutu, shoes were painted on it, like how the Shadowbolts used to dress it up as a victory prank. “Oh no!” Fluttershy gasped with her hands over her mouth. “Dude?” Mikey gasped in shock. “What happened to her painting?” Carter asked. “My sculpture!” Someone cried. It was Clover's dad, Abstract View. He was standing next to his metal sculpture, that was covered in purple and blue stripes and pokadots. “Those weren't there before!” Pinkie recalled. “I told him that teapot was bad luck!” Clover said. “NOOOOOOOOOO!” another cried. It was Lemon Zest. She knelt before a spray painted canvas, that had big paint splotches all over it, “My spray paint art! Splattered!” She face-planted on the canvas in sorrow. “Poor Lemon.” Rainbow said in concern. “Who would do something like that?” Applejack asked. Then there came another scream, this time it was Sapphire. She held her hands on her cheeks, a horrified expression on her face. Her painting now had a huge hole punched through it. “Something tells me it’s not suppose to look like that.” Keno guessed. “Anybody get the feeling that someone is messing with the art show?” Casey asked suspiciously. “I don’t suppose this is another Equestrian Magic problem?” Bright Eyes suggested. “I don’t think so,” Zach replied, “We haven’t had any more of those since the derby a couple days ago.” “But who would mess up others artworks?” Caitlyn asked. “Good question.” Gabby replied equally curious. “I think I know. Remember the pet show?” Twilight asked. “How could we forget that whole incident?” Raph asked rhetorically. “Well, remember when the Color Strikes sabotaged Spike and Flash's dog in the athletic category and tried to use Equestrian Magic to cheat in the Best in Show category?” “I remember that.” Spike answered feeling he was robbed of a victory. “Oh yeah.” Caitlyn recalled. “Are you saying that someone could be sabotaging the other entries in order to win?” Leo asked. “Exactly!” Twilight confirmed. “Makes sense, the only question now is, who did it?” Donnie wondered. “Our best guess would be one of the contestants. But which one?” April looked around. Meanwhile, Wildcard spoke into the mic, “Due to all but one of the entries being ruined, we've decided to postpone the contest until the end of the Art Show to give the others contestants a chance to fix and/or redo their art pieces.” “So what now?” April asked the guys. “I say we investigate and find our saboteur,” Leo suggested, “Let’s split up and look for clues.” “Yes! It is imperitive that we bring this criminal to justice!” Rarity declared as she put on a hat. “Here we go again.” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. “What?” Bright Eyes asked. “Rarity is a big fan of detective novels and goes all detective whenever we have a mystery like this.” Rainbow explained. “Can we help?” Half Note asked. “Yeah can we?” Patch pleaded. “And what if it’s a Purple Nightmare or worse?” Clover asked. Karai answered, “If you promise to obey orders and know when to stay put, then you can come.” Half Note, Sweet Note, Patch, and Clover cheered. “So how do you want to split up, Leo?” Carter asked, as the leader in blue planned. “Me, Karai, Sunset, and Blade will question the contestants. See if any of them saw anything or know something.” “I'll take Casey, Gabby, Keno, Carter, Angel, Applejack, Rainbow, and Patch.” Raph offered. “Yeah, we'll keep a lookout for anyone suspicious.” Casey put in. Gabby whispered to the others while motioning to the duo, “We'll make sure these two don't cause a scene.” “Me, April, Fugitoid, Twilight, and Half Note will check the security cameras.” Donnie suggested. “To see if the saboteur was caught on camera.” Fugitoid added. “The rest of us will look for clues!” Mikey finished. “We'll leave no metaphorical stone un-turned!” Pinkie put in. “And no bad luck teapot will stop us either!” Clover declared. “My thoughts precisely!” Rarity agreed, “Minus the teapot part of course.” Everyone saw that Rarity was now dressed in a reddish brown trench coat along with her hat. “Cool look, Rarity.” Buffy admitted. “You look retro-chic.” Sweet Note said. “Why thank, darlings. Now let's catch this artful dodger before they strike again!” she declared, as they took off. Leo, Karai, Sunset, and Blade start by talking to Lemon Zest, “I could've sworn it was as I painted this morning! I should've double checked it!” she vented. “Was there anyone who was with you when you set up?” Sunset asked. “Not that I know of. Although, I did notice that one of the contestants. She was hanging around the entries.” “You did, what did she look like?” Karai asked. “I didn't get a good at her. Afterwards, I came out here. This stinks!” Lemon crossed her arms. “Don’t worry. We’ll see if we can get to the bottom of this.” Blade promised. Lemon smiled, “If you guys need any help kicking their butts, I’ll be happy to oblige!” “We’ll see. Let us know if you see anything else suspicious.” Karai said. “Thanks, guys.” After getting permission from the security guard on duty, Donnie's group were going over the footage before the contest. “It's a good thing the security guard let us look into the security cameras.” April said in relief. “Now let's see if we can find our little destroyer of art.” Donnie said, as he began playing back footage. After watching some footage, Fugitoid spoke, “Hmm. Nothing out of the ordinary here.” “Seems fine here.” Twilight inspected. Half Note suddenly spotted something, “Hey, what's that?” Half Note pointed at one of the screens. A hooded figure was creeping around the stage, while holding cans of paint. The figure looked around as if to make sure no one was watching and hurried over to Watermelody's painting and removed the sheet. Everyone gasped when they saw the figure take out a paint brush and began painting the clown stuff. Then on another screen, they saw the figure painting the sculpture. And on another, the saw it splashing the paint all over Lemon's work. “They were definitely sabotaged.” April said. “Indeed, but unfortunately we're unable to tell who that is. That saboteur was smart enough to conceal themselves.” Fugitoid sighed. “Wait! There's something off here,” Twilight inspected, “The saboteur painted those entries, but not Sapphire's.” On another screen, the saboteur used their foot to puncher a hole in Sapphire's painting. “That is a little odd...” Donnie said. Raph and his group walk around the room, “Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious.” Raph instructed his group. “I don't think you could get any more suspicious than them!” Casey motioned up ahead. Everyone looked to see two familiar faces, “Oh no. Not them again!” Gabby groaned. Applejack frowned, “Flim and Flam!” “Those the con artists you told us about?” Carter asked. “Who had your family fight with the Peaches?” Angel added. “Yeah. Thanks to them, I spent hours washing off Marshmallow creme.” Keno recalled. “I bet they sabotage the artworks to swindle some bucks!” Rainbow accused. “Let's go find out!” Raph said, as he stomped over. Flim meanwhile was trying to sell his and his brothers newest product, “May we interest you in some Flimflam paint remover! It'll remove even the toughest of paint and-” Flam poked his shoulder with fear and Flim turned to see Raph heading towards them, “Not him again!” Flim cried. “Flee!” Flam cried. They started running to avoid them. They gave chase up until Patch tripped them, causing them to fall face flat. “Nice work, Patch.” Gabby said. “My pleasure.” Raph grabbed the two, “Well, well, well. Flim and Flam. Apparently you haven't learned from last time.” “What are you talking about?” Flim asked innocently. “Don't act innocent! We know you both sabotaged the artworks just to sell paint remover!” Rainbow accused. “We did no such thing.” Flim denied. “We would never ruin such art!” Flam declared, “We only wanted to take advantage of the situation to sell paint remover!” Raph frowned, “Likely story!” “You may not believe us-” Flim began. “But even we appreciate fine art.” Flam finished. Rainbow scowled, “You're right, we don't believe you!” “Yeah, you both lie and cheat for a living!” Patch accused. “And caused that fight between the Apples and the Peaches!” Keno put in. “So why should we trust you estafadores?” Gabby asked. “Because we had just arrived here at precisely the moment the art entries were revealed sabotaged.” Flam noted. “Just ask the security guard at the front door.” Flim motioned to said guard. “That could still be a trick.” Angel frowned. “Honest!” Flim pleaded. “True as blue!” Flam promised. “More like yellow belly!” Patch replied. Applejack sighed, “Much as I really hate to admit this, I think they're telling the truth.” “Yeah, I think they're being upfront.” Carter agreed. Reluctantly, Raph released his grip on the two con men, “Well, it's nice to see that some of you have some decency.” Flim smirked. Applejack frowned, “Don't push your luck! I'm still mad at you two for causing that fight at the farmer's market!” “We'll go check your alibi.” Gabby said. As they left, Raph shot back at them, “And you better hope we don't find out you're lying! Or we'll sabotage your faces!” the brothers winced, as the group continued on. Backstage, Mikey's group was searching for any clues, Rarity had changed her outfit as the whole scene turned to black and white noir setting. Rarity narrated, “There we were, at the scene of the sabotage, searching for any possible clues that could lead us to our saboteur.” “Uuuh who ya talking to?” Mikey asked. “Sh! Not while I’m deducting!” “How does she get like this?” Shini asked the girls. “Rarity gets that way when we have a mystery to solve.” Pinkie explained. “It does help when we have situations like this. We just haven’t when we’re with you guys.” Fluttershy added. “Makes sense.” Bright Eyes replied. “I think it's cool!” Clover added. “So what exactly are we looking for?” Zach asked. “Clues, Zach,” Rarity reminded him, before noticing something, “And I believe I may have found one.” She pointed to something on the floor. Buffy looked down seeing colored stains, “Paint stains?” “Which my guess is that it was left by our saboteur, when they vandalized one of the entries.” Rarity deduced. “But that stain could have come from anywhere?” Caitlyn noted. “Well, I highly doubt those stains came from anywhere.” Rarity motioned toward some other stains a few feet away from one another. “And look at this?” Sweet Note pointed to some empty paint cans. “Spray paint cans?” Fluttershy asked. “And they’re the same color as the paint used to sabotage the paintings.” Caitlyn realized. “This confirms it!” Rarity declared, “Whoever sabotaged the art uses spray paint so they must make Graffiti!” she suddenly smacked Mikey’s hand from touching a can, “Don’t touch it, Michelangelo! That’s evidence!” Mikey groaned while holding his smacked hand, “Touchy.” “Let’s keep looking.” Shini instructed. Rarity started to narrate again, “We were getting close, yet we still had no clue to the identity of the saboteur?” “Are you talking to yourself?” Rarity looked up and saw she was standing next to Sapphire, “Oh, I said that out loud again. You're Sapphire Night, correct?” “Yeah. So what are you guys doing back here?” “We're on the lookout for any clues to the saboteur!” Pinkie explained happily. “And we just found some!” Clover added. “Hey, is that your painting?” Pinkie motioned to Sapphire's painting. “Yes it is.” “Didn't it get ripped?” Mikey asked. “It did, this is a copy I made in case something happened to the original.” “Very clever.” Shini admitted. “Thanks.” “You don’t miss any detail do you?” Mikey asked Sapphire who responded. “I also fixed any errors from the first one. Now if you all can excuse me, I better make sure this doesn’t get sabotaged.” “Sure thing.” Bright Eyes said, as they went their separate ways. Soon everyone had regrouped outside to go over what they had learned, “We questioned all the contestants, none of them know anything.” Leo explained. “But Lemon said she did see one of the contestants hanging around the entries.” Blade put in. “We ran into Flim and Flam, but they actually had nothing to do with the sabotage.” Applejack explained. “Unfortunately.” Raph grumbled. “But Raph did give them a good scare.” Angel noted. “While we found these spray cans where the art was sabotaged at the scene of the crime.” Mikey said holding up the cans in a zip line bag. “Not to mention the paint stains.” Zach added. “There does seem to be a pattern to all of this. What do you think, Rarity?” Donnie asked the mystery lover. “Judging by what we've uncovered, I believe it is safe to assume that the culprit is one of the other contestants!” “But how are we gonna find out who did it?” Patch asked. “There's no way to tell.” Half Note said. “Yeah, it could any of them?” Sweet Note added. “Or two of them? Or three of them? Maybe even four?!” Clover said in worry. Fugitoid checked the time, “Unfortunately, it's almost time for the Rainbooms to play, so we haven't much time to find out who it is.” “Actually, maybe we can? And I think we can use the show to our advantage? I have a plan...” Twilight started planning. Later, Fugitoid spoke through a mic, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Rainbooms, with special guest, Carter Bridge!” The crowd cheered as the Rainbooms and Carter began to play (Countdown) As they played and the audience cheered, the hooded figure watched them from afar before it snuck off. After the show, the art contest began again. The judges stopped at Watermelody's painting again, but before she could remove the cover... “Hold it!” Rarity announced. Everyone stared at her as the scene turned black and white, “Before you begin judging, you should know, we've discovered the identity of the saboteur. And it was... Sapphire Night!” She pointed at the said girl as the crowd gasped. “Me?! That's crazy!” Sapphire denied the accusation. “All the clues point to you.” Rarity continued to accuse. “Uh, what clues?” “Simple! You were the last person out of everyone participating in the contest! Right before their art was vandalized! Second, the paint stains were the paint from the spray paint cans we found nearby! And the paint was identical to the graffiti Bright Eyes saw last night! Which only meant the vandal is none other than YOU!” “Except my painting was sabotaged too. Why would I do that to myself, hmm?” Sapphire counter argued. “Oh, it's quite obvious, to throw off suspicion from you. Which is also the true reason you made a copy of your painting.” Sapphire tapped her foot in annoyance, “None of that proves anything!” “Which is why, we set a trap,” Twilight said, as she nodded at the other contestants, who removed the covers from their entries to reveal they were untouched. “What?! But I thought I-uh! I mean-!” Sapphire was flabbergasted. “Caitlyn?” Twilight said, as the girl stood holding Twilight's laptop and pressed a button. Then a video recording appeared on a big screen. In the video, everyone saw the cloaked figure sneaking over to the entries and began sabotaging them again by drawing on, spray painting, and splattering them all over. Once the figure was done, it ran behind a corner and threw off the cloak, revealing it was indeed Sapphire. The crowd gasped as Sapphire looked around in shock at being found out. “We figured y'all would strike again while everybody was watching our band.” Applejack explained. “So I set up my drone to record you sabotaging the other entries.” Twilight said. Fugitoid spoke up, “Or so you thought. Actually, those painting were the one's you'd already ruined,” He pointed as the Turtles brought out the sabotaged paintings, “You didn't see, but I was hiding nearby and projected a hologram on each of the paintings as part of the trap.” As he explained he projected holographic images of the paintings on the sabotaged ones. Wildcard frowned, “Well, I think we've seen and heard enough.” “Indeed.” Rena agreed. Bozzerkazooers nodded, “Right.” Wildcard turned to the saboteur, “Sapphire Night, you are hereby disqualified!” He and the other judges motioned her to leave. Sapphire lowered her head in defeat, took her painting, and walked away the crowd booing her as she did. “I kinda feel sorry for her.” Fluttershy said hating to see her sad. “Fluttershy, she ruined other people's hard work! She deserves it!” Rainbow reminded her. “But why would she vandalize other peoples work?” Karai asked. “You know I haven’t figured out that part.” Rarity admitted. “And why she didn’t do that would’ve gotten away speech?” Mikey asked. “Say what?” Buffy asked. “You know, The old ‘And I would’ve gotten away with it too’ speech.” “Way too many cartoons.” the rich girl replied. Sunset spoke, “I'm sure we'll figure it out some day. And I hope if we ever run into Sapphire again, it'll be on better terms.” At that moment, the judges arrived. “Sunset Shimmer. What do you have to show us?” Rena asked Sunset smiled and removed the cover. Everyone gasped in awe. It was a collage portrait of all the Rainbooms doing good deeds, “I call it, My Friends. One time, I told one of my friends that I sometimes paint a subject that I think is awesome, and she painted a portrait of me. It inspired me to do the same, but with all my friends.” The girls smiled warmly at their friend's words, especially Pinkie. “So….. Wonderful.” Mikey wiped away a tear. “Man, that is awesome!” Carter smiled. Pinkie who was teary eyed spoke, “I’m not gonna cry. I’m not gonna cry.” Rainbow teared up, “I don’t care if I’m sappy. That is beautiful!” Leo held Twilight as she shed a tear. Minutes later, all the contestants stood together as the Judges were ready to announce the winner. “After much consideration, we've made our decisions. The prize for third place goes to Abstract View, for his sculpture.” Bozzerkazooers announced. “Alright, dad!” Clover cheered as Rena placed a ribbon on his metal sculpture, “Guess that teapot was good luck after all.” “You are so weird.” Patch told her. Rena continued, “Second place goes to Sweet Note and Clover Bloom for their unique dress.” The Note Sisters, Clover, and Patch cheered, “Yeah!” Wildcard put a ribbon on the dress. Wildcard spoke, “And last but not least, first place goes to... Sunset Shimmer!” The girls, Allies, and Turtles all cheered for Sunset as Bozzerkazooers placed a ribbon on her portrait. “You did it, Sunset!” Leo cheered. “Congratulations!” Donnie said excitedly. Raph smiled, “You’ve earned it.” Karai nodded, “You should be very proud of yourself.” “That is amazing.” Shini said. “Yeah.” Bright Eyes agreed, as she looked at the painting sighing as she remembers Equestria. “You all right there, Bright Eyes?” Patch asked. “Yeah, just remembering home.” she sighed. Blade patted her shoulder nodding in comfort, “It’s okay,” he turned to Sunset, “You did great, Sunset.” “Let’s celebrate! Pizza and sodas!” Mikey declared, as everyone cheered in agreement. What no one knew was that Sapphire was watching everything from outside, and she was not happy. “You've out shined me again, Sunset Shimmer! I thought ruining those painting would put blame on you, but no. I should've tried harder to frame her! Now no one will see what a great artist I am. No one will even care now... all thanks to her and her friends! Argh! Sapphire dropped to her knees and started crying. Then she wiped away her tears and began to sing... (Queen of Mean) Sapphire stood up and walked sadly away. While she did, a wisp of Equestrian Magic floated by and landed inside her paint brush that was sticking out of her pocket. Sapphire walked down the street, sulking over what happened. Then she saw one of Sunset's graffiti art which only made her madder. She turned down an alleyway and stopped in front of an old mirror. When Sapphire looked at her reflection, she imagined seeing the Rainbooms celebrating Sunset's win. Angrily, Sapphire kicked the mirror, shattering it. At that moment, she noticed something glowing and saw it was her paint brush. Curious, she held it up and gazed at it before she decided to try something. She painted a small butterfly on the wall. But when she flicked the brush to give it some spots, the brush shot out a magic beam that hit the butterfly painting and an amazing thing happened, it came to life and flew away. Sapphire was shocked by what she saw. To make sure she wasn't seeing things, she painted more butterflies and shot more magic beams, bringing them to life. Sapphire was thrilled as she could now bring her art to life. But then she paused. An evil look came to her face as she realized something else she could use her now magic paint brush for. She started painting a life sized portrait of a girl. Once she was done, she painted six more. Then as she finished, she shot a big blast of magic at the drawings. One by one, drawings' opened their eyes and smiled wickedly as they came to life. Sapphire smiled to herself as she had but one thing in mind: revenge. Then she turned and exited the alley, the seven drawings following her. Then as she finished her song, lighting flashed and for a brief moment, the seven drawings were revealed to be drawings of the Rainbooms!