A few days later, there had been an incident where the CMC were forced to sleepover at Fluttershy's place, causing the CMC to learn about Fluttershy's "stare" the hard way.
While Apple Bloom suggested that they could've stayed over at Diamond Tiara's place, the Pink filly had told them that right now, her mother and father were doing house renovations, so trying to do a sleepover while they were moving things around, not the best idea in the world.
Still, the following day after the Cockatrice incident, Applejack had shown the Crusaders an old clubhouse, which Apple Bloom managed to fix up, Sweetie Belle got to cleaning, and Diamond Tiara helped do some organizing of.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo had gone off to get a few things from in town. And now had just come back. This led to a meeting of the CMC in their new clubhouse.
"So, any thoughts on cutie mark ideas?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Hmm...that's a tough one." Scootaloo admitted.
"Yeah, we may need a few moments to figure out a few." Sweetie Belle said. "Oh, but my mom is coming out and telling the town about the truth later today. I'll need to attend for obvious reasons." She added.
"Perhaps we should go to support you then." Diamond Tiara said before there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Diamond Tiara said.
It was actually Rarity. "Sweetie Belle, here you are. Would you and your friends perhaps be interested in something? There's a bit of a buzz in town." Rarity said.
"What sort of buzz?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, it's that some pony said they saw something in the water. At first, every pony in town thought they were just crying wolf, when suddenly there was the screams of a few children who said they saw something vanish into the water." Rarity said.
"So it's a mystery." Diamond Tiara said.
"Exactly. The whole town is in a tizzy, and if something isn't found out about what exactly is up, then I'm afraid my whole coming out is going to get delayed until further notice." Rarity said.
"You can count on us mom!" Sweetie Belle said.
The four CMC members were out and about, searching the water way for clues with no luck quite yet. And that's when who else would show up but...
"Well well well, look whose shown up." Fortus Vile said as he and Silver Spoon came up to the foursome.
"What do you want, Fortus?" Diamond tiara asked.
"Oh nothing much. Just going to find that mysterious creature before you can. That way, I get to take all the credit." Fortus Vile said. "With Silver Spoon helping me, there's no way I'm loosing." He added.
"Are you actually going to sabotage one of us potentially getting our cutie mark in case solving? Because ah think that's low. Even for you." Apple Bloom said.
"Oh please. If any of you were good at case solving, the one who would have would've cracked the case already." Fortus Vile said. Suddenly, he was sprayed with a jet of water. "HEY, WHO DID THAT?!" Fortus Vile exclaimed.
"It came from the stream!" Diamond Tiara said, before the CMC huddled over the water, only to see something melt into the water itself. "Something just melted and vanished into the water." Diamond Tiara said.
"...Actually in that case, ah think there's nothing to worry about." Apple Bloom said.
"What do you mean?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"HEY THERE!" Apple Bloom suddenly shouted. "ARE YOU PERCHANCE THE VAPOREON MATE OF KING THROSTEN?"
As Fortus Vile began to open his mouth, suddenly there was a clear cyan head poking out of the water. And then it changed into something Fortus Vile recognized: The head of a Vaporeon.
"Well drat, there goes my way of giving this town a cryptid." The Vaporeon said.
"What the...how in Celestia's name did you know she was even here?" Fortus Vile demanded.
"Because unlike a certain spoiled rich colt, ah actually do my homework and take notes in class." Apple Bloom said. "Or did you forget Miss Cheerilee's lesson the day you decided to throw a party?" She asked.
"...Wait, WHAT?!" Fortus Vile exclaimed.
"In addition to learning about cutie marks, Miss Cheerilee also told about some of the abilities the various Eeveelutions can do. And a Vaporeon's ability just so happens to be turning invisable in water." Apple Bloom said.
Fortus Vile's eye was twitching. "But how could you be so sure it had to be the Vaporeon mate of King Throsten?" Silver Spoon asked.
Apple Bloom wasn't the only one who fixed Silver Spoon with a "Are you actually serious?" look just then. Fortus Vile actually did the same. "Seriously Silver Spoon? Did you really have to ask that?" Fortus Vile asked.
"Am I missing something?" Silver Spoon asked.
"It's basic pattern recognition." Fortus Vile said.
"...Well for once, Fortus Vile's not just spouting his usual insults..." Diamond Tiara said.
"I mean think about it: The town has had visits from Gloria, Lola, Flare, and Serendipity. That's the Glaceon, Leafeon, Flareon, and Sylveon from Throsten's harem. Of course if a Vaporeon were to show up here, it was going to be Throsten's mate." Fortus Vile said.
"So wait, what did you mean anyways by 'giving ponyville a crytid'?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Well, I was hoping to prank ponyville for the day, then go back home for a while, then come back. And I would be loving how Ponyville would be trying to prove the exitance of 'the mysterious creature of Ponyville river'. It would've given you kids something special to share stories over." The Vaporeon princess said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Now even Fortus Vile was interested.
The Vaporeon princess giggled. "What's wrong with wanting to create something that would get kids like you talking in classes besides just playing and doing school work? It would've given you all a sense of combined camaraderie. Think about it: Wouldn't wanting to pool your skills together to solve a mysterious unidentified creature's existence sound like something you would want to do with your friends?" She asked.
Even Fortus Vile had to admit, that made sense. "...So, ah sort of ruined that, huh?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Maybe not...sorry Sweetie Belle, but this is for the greater good." Diamond Tiara said.
"Don't worry, I understand." Sweetie Belle said.
With the six foals agreeing to keep the Vaporeon Princess's whole visit a secret so the other foals would have something to do with their friends away from school related issues, it caused the rest of the town to start talking about "The Mysterious Creature of Ponyville's riverway".
And thus, the CMC made a new friend that day in Vala, the name of the Vaporeon Princess.
"That...is something." Twilight said, mulling over what she and Applejack was just told.
"Yeah. Keeping the visit a secret; while it is withholding the truth...we all decided it'd be better that no pony knew. So, if you wouldn't mind keeping it a secret from the rest of the town." Apple Bloom said.
"Well, ah can't exactly be telling lies...but if this is that important..." Applejack said.
"You don't have to exactly lie. Maybe give out the truth as a suggestion in a way that makes it come off as such." Diamond Tiara said.
"...That's actually a clever idea." Applejack said.
"Well I know what sort of friendship letter I'm writing to Princess Celestia next." Twilight said.