They were never going to get dinner, Sweetie Belle realized. Twilight and her friends had been interviewing the distraught ponies to try to figure out what was going on in Ponyville. And it seemed as if each of them had a different story. Octavia Melody had complained that some creature had ruined her cello practice by insisting on playing handbells right outside her window. Bulk Biceps said a huge creature made of boxes tried to attack him. And Lotus Blossom reported that a shadow had chased her all the way across Ponyville. Sweetie Belle sighed. At least nopony could hear her stomach growling over Lyra and Bon Bon’s argument.

“I’m telling you, it was a chimera!” Lyra said. “I saw goat hoofprints in the garden!”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “Chimeras also have lion paws. Or are you forgetting who’s the monster expert here?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight cleared her throat. “So you two think there was a creature in your yard. But neither of you actually saw it?” Twilight clarified. Spike feverishly scribbled on a scroll. But Sweetie Belle could see he’d stopped taking notes and was now doodling what looked like a cartoon of her sister.

“Yes.” Lyra and Bon Bon nodded.

“We’ll look into it,” Twilight reassured them as Starlight hustled the duo out of the room, bringing in Muffins.

“I was delivering packages, and a monster attacked me!” Muffins blurted.

“What kind of monster?” Twilight asked. Sweetie Belle leaned forward with interest. Muffins was the first pony in the group who had actually seen a creature.

“It was big and pony-shaped, all white, with short hair!”

“That sounds a little like Bulk Biceps,” Twilight said. Starlight rolled her eyes and Sweetie Belle had to smother a giggle.

“Oh no. It couldn’t be him! He would have said hi! But when the monster attacked my mail cart of boxes, it went ‘aaaaaghghghgh!’”

“Definitely Bulk Biceps,” Rainbow Dash muttered to the others in disgust. “Guess that explains his ‘creature made of boxes.’”

Twilight thanked Muffins and told her they’d let her know when they found some answers.

“Honestly,” Rarity said with a toss of her mane. “Everypony is so on edge lately. Strange footprints? Interrupting handbells? Please.”

“I’m glad nopony saw a real monster,” Fluttershy said.

“Yup. But that was one doozy of a waste of time,” Applejack said.

“Wait. You mean you’re not going to investigate any of the ponies’ stories?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No point!” Rainbow Dash said. “There was obviously no real monster. Just a bunch of scaredy-ponies. Uh, no offense,” she added, looking to Granny, who snorted.

“Y’all are just gonna act like nothing happened?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We’ll keep our eyes open for anything strange. But what we need now is some sleep,” Twilight said, stifling a yawn.

The older ponies nodded and started toward the door. But Sweetie Belle hung back with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Some of those stories sure sounded worth checking out to me,” Scootaloo told her friends. “Talk about it at school tomorrow?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded seriously.

After everything that had happened lately, Sweetie Belle didn’t wonder if a scary new creature would show up in Ponyville—she wondered when.