After dinner, Double Tail, Normal, Necro, Speckle, and Gravel exited from the restaurant with Greycloud far behind.
Normal continued to ponder what exactly the three ponies' interest was in this 'Head of Malevolence.' She suspected they were up to something and she could sense it wasn't too good, but as suspicious as she was, she didn't bother to tell Double Tail and the others, figuring they wouldn't be interested in the suspicions of a pony with no cutie mark.
Meanwhile, Gravel was intriguing the others with tales of different kind of dirt and their many uses.
"Now some ponies will tell you that clay soil is the best kind; it's ok if you wanna grow a few vegetables, but silty soil, now that's the good stuff! A dig here and a tuck there and you'll have fresh fruits and veggies out the wazoo!" said Gravel.
Speckle seemed to be the most intrigued while the others just groaned.
"If you ask me, that pony's got dirt between the brains...quite literally," Greycloud said before flying off.
"So, Double Tail, how do you get your tails to do what they do? I gotta know!" asked Necro.
"It's just something I learned when I was a filly. I'm just terrific at twirling my tails!," Double Tail said, waving her two tails around.
"For that matter, how were you born with two tales to begin with?" asked Gravel.
"Not sure, I was just born with them," Double Tail answered.
"And what about you, Speckle? What's up with the spots?" asked Gravel.
Speckle shrugged her elbows, signifying that she didn't know, nor did she know why she could camouflage herself.
As the night fell, the ponies were growing tired and decided to head back to their homes. Necro, Gravel, and Speckle waved goodbye, leaving Normal and Double Tail alone.
Normal bid Double Tail goodnight, but before she headed off, Double Tail stopped her.
"Hey, hold on there, honey. I'm not in a hurry to go home. How bout heralding me to your humble headquarters?" Double Tail asked.
"What?" Normal asked.
"Can I come visit your house?" Double Tail rephrased.
"Sure...why not," Normal said unenthusiastically.
Normal's house, much like her, was simplistic in design. It was a square-shaped house; grey in color and with square windows. The inside was no different; plain furniture, nothing too unique about the décor, just plain grey designs all over the place; and books, lots and lots of books.
Inside, Normal offered Double Tail some tea and she obliged.
As the two sipped their tea, Double Tail noticed all the books around the room. "Wow! You've got quite a ballistic bookcase of books," she said.
"Yeah, I do read from time to time, but mostly they're just up there collecting dust. I don't really find it necessary to read unless I need to. A pony with no special talent doesn't really need to read much anyway," said Normal.
"Every pony has a special talent, you just need to find yours," said Double Tail.
"I've tried! I've tried sports, accounting, ballet, hoof massaging, I even tried playing the glockenspiel, and still nothing," Normal said with a sigh.
Just then, an idea came to Double Tail's mind. "I know! Why don't I help you?! You say you can't seem to find your talent? Well maybe that's because you're not looking in the right places. With my help, you'll be swimming in the success of your special talent in no time," she said.
"I don't know," Normal said.
Double Tail put an assuring arm around her. "Trust me. I'm the perfect pony to push you in the right direction," she said.
Normal was unsure about Double Tail's ability to help her find a special talent, but she had nothing to lost, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to let her try.
The next morning at the Hoofendale Museum, the museum curator; a light green pony with tall legs, proper glasses, a white mane with black stripes in a bun, wearing a black dress shirt with a white tie, and a statue head cutie mark; along with her assistant; a blue mare with a black flat mane, wearing a purple dress shirt, and a broken vase cutie mark; were awaiting the arrival of Trench Digger.
As they waited, the assistant started poking at a vase near him, much to the curator's annoyance.
"Butterhoof, don't touch that!" the curator shouted.
"Sorry, Ms. Bronze Cement, but this vase looks so pretty," Butterhoof said, inching his hoof closer to the vase until Bronze cut him off.
"Yes it is! And I would appreciate it if you would not break it!" said Bronze.
"Oh, I only broke a few things," said Butterhoof.
"21 vases, 33 statues, 56 paintings, and 105 priceless jewels!" Bronze said, getting into Butterhoof's face.
"Oh yeah," Butterhoof said.
"And that was just in one week. Not to mention that incident with that one guest and the chandelier," Bronze added.
"Well at least the doctor said she's got six more weeks to recover," said Butterhoof.
Bronze gave an annoyed sigh before she looked up and noticed the ceiling windows were opened up. Just then, a rope lowered from the window into the museum and a gold pony wearing a brown safari hat, a tan safari shirt, brown khaki shorts, and a compass cutie mark; slid down the rope to greet Bronze and Butterhoof.
"Grand entrance as always, Trench," said Bronze.
"It's what I do, mate," said Trench Digger.
Butterhoof went over to shake Trench's hoof. "Pleasure to see you, Ms. Trench Digger," he said.
"Please, call me Trench, mate," said Trench.
Butterhoof awkwardly nodded then gave a bow, but he bowed next to a vase and accidentally knocked it over. Bronze just barely caught it and gave Butterhoof a glare.
After Bronze placed the vase back on its pedestal, Trench called in a muscular dark green mare with a brown mane and a crushed boulder cutie mark, who brought in a small sized box on his back. She took the box, presented it to Bronze and Butterhoof, and opened it, revealing the Head of Malevolence. Bronze and Butterhoof stared in wide-eyed gape at its beauty. Butterhoof went in to touch it, but Bronze quickly swatted him away with two back hoofs.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Trench," said Bronze.
"Well, when there's a treasure, artifact, or anything to be found, Trench Digger is there," said Trench.
With Butterhoof, Trench and Bronze went to where they would put the head in the museum. Trench looked to the muscular mare, Brick Breaker, and told him to guard the front entrance to keep an eye out for anyone.
Unknown to the three, 'anyone' was watching in the form of Femme Fatale, Nitman, and Whitman through binoculars.
"There it is, the Head of Malevolence," said Femme Fatale.
Nitman and Whitman piled on top of Femme to get a better look, resulting in all three of them falling down.
Normal met Double Tail over at her house to begin the first attempt to try and find her special talent; potion making. Using her horn and her two tails, she brought a bunch of potions and elixirs towards Normal.
"OK, Normie, potion making is simplistically simple. All you have to do is mix the right ingredients and you'll have a perfectly precise potion to perpetuate your potential purpose in life," said Double Tail, mixing together a potion of her own that made hundreds of butterflies come out.
"It's simple, but I'll probably still mess it up," said Normal.
"If you keep up that attitude, you will. Just give it a try," said Double Tail.
Normal started by mixing a green potion with a red potion, followed by a blue potion and finally a purple potion. She began to build some confidence, but felt like something was missing, so she decided to shake the potion. This resulted in the potion shaking and becoming unstable until it exploded in her face.
Double Tail shook her head in disappointment.
For her second attempt, Double Tail took Normal to a bakery in Hoofendale known as the Sugary Saltlick to see if she had a special talent in baking. There, they were greeted by the owner, Mr. Banbury Cake; a fat, magenta colored mare with a flat, light green mane, a banbury cake cutie mark and an English accent.
"Ah, Double Tail. My favorite customer. And you brought a friend?" Banbury asked.
"Yep, this is Normal and she'd like a job in your bakery," said Double Tail.
"I would?" Normal asked before being elbowed by Double Tail. "I would."
"Oh, of course, my bakery is always open to anyone with a love of baking," Banbury said enthusiastically.
And with that, Banbury put Normal into a baking outfit and gave her the first task of baking a cake. Double Tail decided to give her a helping hoof since it was her first time, reading the instructions to her while she gathered the ingredients.
The first ingredients were two eggs folded in. Normal didn't know what 'folded' meant, but figured it meant to fold the eggs inside the batter and she did just that. Next was one teaspoon of salt. She looked around and found a tea cup in one of the drawers, took it out, and poured salt into it. Finally, was a tablespoon of yeast. Normal looked on a nearby table, took the biggest one, and dug into the bag of yeast and poured it into the mixture. After stirring the ingredients together, Normal and Double Tail placed the batter in a pan, then in the oven, and set it to cook.
"Nice work, Normal. This cake is gonna come out a culinary confectionary concoction of perfection," said Double Tail.
"I did the best I could. Still probably not gonna be enough though," said Normal.
And on cue, Normal's words rang true as the batter rose out of control from the amount of yeast that she had placed in it and exploded, covering the entire bakery in batter.
Double Tail, Normal, and Banbury arose from the batter.
"Told you," said Normal.
"Girls, I don't think this is gonna work, this is unacceptable...she used way too much salt," said Banbury.
For the third attempt, Double Tail tried to see if Normal could make it as an extreme stunts pony. She placed her on a scooter with two rockets strapped to it and placed her on a downward wooden ramp with two loops and a jump that led into a giant pool of water.
"Alright, we tried potions and we tried baking, but this is sure to work. You seem perfectly suited for extreme scooter stunts," said Double Tail.
"I do?" Normal asked nervously.
"Of course! Now get out there and perform your death-defying, dynamically, daring, dangerous stunt!" exclaimed Double Tail.
"OK..." Normal said nervously.
After she placed a helmet onto Normal's head, Double Tail counted down from 3 and pressed a button on the scooter which activated the rockets. Normal went flying down the ramp, through the two hoops, and finally off the jump, but she went so fast, she over-jumped the pool of water and flew into a tree, falling headfirst into a multitude of branches until she landed on the ground.
Double Tail rushed over to check on her and helped her to her hoofs.
For the rest of the afternoon, Double Tail tried a variety of things to find Normal's special talent; spoon bending, hang gliding, skiing, mathematics, lion taming, manticore taming, and pro wrestling; but nothing worked.
"Well, OK so that didn't work. Maybe we could try something more tame like...knife juggling!" she said.
"Uh...thanks, but I think you and I both need to face it, I just don't have any special talents. If I did, I would've already had my cutie mark by now. Thank you for your help, but I'm just gonna go home," said Normal before she walked off.
A number of ponies gathered at the museum later that night to observe Trench Digger presenting her special attraction. Trench, along with Bronze and Butterhoof, stood on stage before the audience with Bronze sweating bullets and Butterhoof doing his best to keep her head dry.
"I always get nervous when a crowd comes," said Bronze to Butterhoof.
"Relax, Ms. Bronze, it'll be fine," said Butterhoof.
"Yeah, take a chill pill, mate. Besides, I'm the one doing the presentation," said Trench.
"You're right, I've got absolutely nothing to be worried about," said Bronze.
The handkerchief Butterhoof gave Bronze wasn't helping much, so she just decided to use Butterhoof's suit instead.
Trench tried to call the audience to her attention, but they were talking too loud to hear her. With that, she called in Brick Breaker who jumped up and stomped hard on the floor, causing a slight quake that got everyone's attention.
"Thanks, Brick Breaker. And thank you all for coming here tonight. You know, I've been all around Equestria and through my travels, I've discovered some of the most interesting and unheard of artifacts you've ever not seen. But now, I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that this is my greatest find ever...at least until I find something better that is," Trench said with a chuckle.
At her command, Brick Breaker unveiled the artifact to the audience. The crowd was in awe at the beauty of the Head of Malevolence as Trench Digger continued to address them.
"Quite a beaut she is. Wrestled a hundred crocodiles and half a dozen pitfalls and traps to get her. Legend says that many years ago, this statue head was created by a wicked unicorn and is said to have magical powers," said Trench.
The crowd gasped at Trench's words.
Feeling dejected, Normal headed on her way home, when she was met by Gravel who popped up out of the ground.
"Hey there, Normal, what's up?" Gravel asked.
"Oh nothing, just acknowledging that I am an absolute failure is all," said Normal.
"Come again?" Gravel asked.
"Double Tail tried to help me find my special talent, but I failed at everything I did," said Normal.
"Aww, don't let it get ya down. It took me a while to find that my calling in life was diggin' in the dirt," said Gravel.
As Gravel went to dig again, she was surprised by the sudden appearance of Speckle.
"Geez, Speckle! Don't surprise a pony like that! You almost gave me a heart attack," said Gravel.
Feeling guilty, Speckle rubbed her head against Gravel's.
"OK, OK, don't get all mushy on me. I know you're sorry," said Gravel.
"You see? Speckle is so good at camouflaging and you're so good at digging while I'm just a nopony," Normal said before Speckle walked up to her and rubbed her head against hers.
"Well yeah, because you've got a nopony attitude," said a voice.
The voice was coming from Greycloud who was hanging out by a tree.
"Oh look, it's Little Miss Sunshine and Rainbows herself," Gravel said sarcastically.
"I prefer storm clouds. Anyway, you are getting nowhere with your doldrum, face-in-the-dirt attitude," said Greycloud.
"What wrong with having you're face in the dirt?!" Gravel asked
Greycloud continued. "It's an expression, Pebble Brain. Look, um...Regular, Average...,"
"Normal," Normal said.
Greycloud continued. "Whatever, if you don't think you do something, then you'll never do anything. You'll just spend all your time cooped up in your little house with your vanilla oat ice cream, wondering what could've been..."
"Watching my fellow ponies find their special talents while I wither away into an empty puddle of nothingness," Normal finished.
"Wow! Well based on that, you might as well just give up now, because obviously your destiny is to spend your entire life drooping your head down and feeling sorry for yourself because you don't have a cutie mark," said Greycloud.
A small tear fell from Normal's right eye as Greycloud's words pierced through her, causing her to walk off with her head down in shame while Speckle and Gravel glared at Greycloud.
"Hey! What is your problem!?" Gravel said.
Speckle nodded in agreement.
"I was just telling it like it is. She's the one with the problem," Greycloud said before she flew off.
Meanwhile, Double Tail was feeling bad herself about not being able to help Normal. Just then, she spotted Necro with a couple of pony skeletons.
"Remember, it's right hoof, then left hoof, then double tap; not left hoof, right hoof, double tap," Necro said to the skeletons.
"Hey, Necro. Whatcha doin'?" Double Tail asked.
"Oh hi, Double Tail! I'm just practicing my tap dancing routine!" said Necro.
"Looks...good," Double Tail said meekly.
"Is something wrong?" asked Necro.
"I severely screwed up with Normal. I thought I could help her find her special talent, but I couldn't," said Double Tail.
"Oh silly, you don't find a special talent, a special finds you. Take me for example; it was quite a while before I found my special talent was the undead, but eventually, I realized it and I got my cutie mark, just like how you found yours," said Necro.
Suddenly, Double Tail came to a realization from Necro's words. "You're right! I gotta talk to Normal! Thanks, Necro!" Double Tail said before she rushed off.
"No problem...um...what did I do?" Necro asked confused.
After the presentation, it was near time for the museum to close. Bronze locked up everything and closed up the museum, but not before scolding Butterhoof for almost breaking one guest's hoof.
Nitman and Whitman looked on from some nearby bushes as the two left.
"OK, the coast is clear, nows our chance," said Nitman.
The two henchponies tried to head on their way to the museum, but Nitman got his shirt caught in the bush while Whitman got her hair caught in it. The two tugged as hard as they could to get themselves out until they finally did, but ended up hitting each other in the head.
After that little episode, the two climbed up the side of the museum to the roof and then made their way to the skylight. After Whitman cut a large hole through it, Nitman threw a rope down climbed down it. Whitman followed immediately afterwards, causing the two to fall hard on the ground.
"OK, we're in. Let's head this way," said Whitman.
"No, the head is THIS way," said Nitman.
"Uh no, brother. I remember where the head is and it's THIS way," said Whitman.
Nitman had a way to settle the dispute. Seeing an ancient coin, he opened the glass and took it out. "Heads, we go your way; tails, we go my way," he said.
With that Nitman flipped the coin in the air and onto his hoof. But as it turned out, the coin had neither heads nor tails, just pictures of ancient cities on it. Ultimately, Nitman decided it to be tails and Whitman reluctantly went his way.
"Remember, we're looking for a head," said Nitman.
"Oh, what a lovely head this is!" exclaimed Whitman.
Nitman rushed over to his sister, thinking she had found the Head of Malevolence, but instead, she was admiring her reflection in a vase, before putting on her lipstick.
Just then, Nitman patted Whitman on the back, causing her lipstick to get all over her face. "Look, sister! There it is!" he exclaimed, pointing at the head.
Double Tail rushed to Normal's house and knocked on the door, only to be greeted by Normal whose face was covered with vanilla oak ice cream. Not only that, but she had just finished her twenty-seventh gallon, much to Double Tail's shock.
"Hi, Double Tail," Normal said in depression before letting out a huge burp.
"Listen, Normal," Double Tail said as she walked into Normal's house. "I know you don't think you have a special talent, but the thing is like cutie marks, special talents come when they're ready and...wait, were you also reading?"
A few of the books that were open on Normal's table were related to the Head of Malevolence.
"Yeah, it's just a few things about some artifact called the Head of Malevolence. I didn't tell you this earlier, but back at the Hefty Hay, I overheard some ponies talking about it," said Normal.
"What is it?" asked Double Tail.
"According to this, many years ago, there was a wicked and vain unicorn by the name of Malevolence who was quite powerful in magic. However, because of her vanity and massive ego, she didn't wish for any to be more skilled than her. She wished to be the only unicorn with magic in all of Equestria. Using her magic, she crafted a likeness of her head from magic wax and used a spell to harden it so it wouldn't melt. She then used a spell that would enable it to take the magic from any unicorn or alicorn. She used the head to take the magic from many unicorns and soon, she set her sights on Princess Celestia. She knew that if she could remove her magic, she would become the new ruler of Equestria. However, because of her ego, she underestimated the princess. Princess Celestia defeated Malevolence and imprisoned her. Realizing the artifact would be dangerous if in the wrong hoofs, Celestia ordered her guards to dispose of it. No one knew for sure what happened to the head afterwards, but soon, it was wiped from memory except for those who kept it in these books," said Normal.
"Wow! That sounds like some powerfully packed pony magic," said Double Tail.
Just then, Double Tail heard sounds coming from the nearby window and went to check, Normal along with her. There, they saw Nitman and Whitman carrying an item underneath a small cloth. Tripping, the two caused the cloth to fall to the ground, revealing the Head of Malevolence.
Double Tail thought they should follow them, but Normal had reservations. Then Double Tail explained that perhaps her special talent might be catching criminals. Normal wasn't so sure, but she could tell that those two ponies were up to something. Succumbing to her curiosity, Normal went with Double Tail and the two proceeded to follow Nitman and Whitman.
Along the way, the two came across Necro who was still rehearsing with her skeletons when she noticed them.
"Uh...take five," Necro said, using her magic to bring the skeletons back to the dead.
Speckle and Gravel soon noticed them and went to follow as well.
The group then passed by Greycloud who noticed them following the two ponies. "What are those oat brans up to?" she asked herself.
Eventually, the five ponies followed the two henchponies to an abandoned shack, taking cover underneath the window so as not to be seen.
"So you fillies wanna tell us why we're following these other two fillies?" asked Gravel.
"They stole the Head of Malevolence," said Normal.
"The head of Mel-who now?" asked Necro.
"A magical head made from wax, created by an evil unicorn that has the ability to take the magic from any unicorn or alicorn," Double Tail said quickly and abruptly.
Inside, Nitman and Whitman met with Femme Fatale and presented her with the artifact.
"Nice work. You actually didn't mess this up," Femme Fatale said.
"Thanks," Nitman and Whitman both said.
Outside, the five ponies peeked from the window as Femme Fatale took the artifact. Unknown to them, Greycloud was watching from afar.
After taking the artifact, Femme Fatale turned her two henchponies attention to something else that was underneath a cloth, but this one was moving.
"Did you get us a pet?!" asked Whitman.
"I hope it's not a dog. Those things give me hives," said Nitman.
"How do you get hives from dogs?!" asked Whitman.
"I don't know, just saying the word is making me itch like crazy," said Nitman.
With an annoyed sigh, Femme Fatale removed the veil to reveal a pony; a light blue unicorn.
"Oh, even better, we got a pony!" said Whitman.
"No, you flat-brained fillies! I brought this unicorn as a demonstration," said Femme Fatale.
"Of what?" asked Nitman.
To answer Nitman's question, Femme Fatale pointed the head at the unicorn and from out of it's horn, the head released a light green beam of magic energy. After a while, Femme Fatale pointed the head away. The unicorn felt wobbly and woosy and could barely stand on her four hoofs.
"Excuse me, could you lift the box for me. I've been having the hardest time with it," said Femme Fatale.
The unicorn pointed her horn at the box and attempted to use her magic, but when she tried, there was no magic. Try as she might, she could not use her magic. It was as if it was gone. Femme Fatale cackled wickedly.
The five ponies along with Greycloud were shocked. The stories were in fact true. And now it seemed that this criminal was now in the possession of this powerful artifact.