Hitch and Ace split up to look for Starstruck.

He was trotting past Seagreen Park when he spotted one of Starstruck's classmates playing on the swings. Maybe she would know where he might be or had seen him pass by.

"Hey, Ruby," he greeted, coming up to her. The filly slowed her swinging.

Ruby Array was a light pink filly with darker pink hair with red streaks. Her mane was in its usual neat, long and low pigtails, tied with her favorite light gray with blue polka dots bow. She hadn't gotten her cutie mark yet, but it was sure to be something computer related. She loved that stuff. Hitch was very familiar with the filly, her being Sprout's cousin. Sprout was often put in charge of watching her so Hitch had spent a lot of time with her as well.

"Hey, Hitch," she replied cheerily, hopping off the swing.

"Have you seen Starstruck today?" he asked her. "Or do you know where he is?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Starstruck? Yeah, he passed by here, like, thirty minutes ago. What're you looking for him for?"

"He witnessed a crime earlier," Hitch informed her. "I want to ask him what he saw."

"A crime?" Ruby gasped, sky blue eyes widening. "What kind of crime?"

"Vandalism," he told her. "Dalhia's cart was tipped over."

The news upset Ruby more than he'd been expecting. Vandalism wasn't good, but it wasn't the most horrifying of crimes. Nothing that should spark fear in her eyes like that.

"Was it one of the unicorns?" Ruby paled. She glanced nervously around. "I've seen some of them around town."

"What?" Why had she jumped to that conclusion? He suddenly noticed something that had once been so normal that he hadn't even registered it. Ruby was wearing a Canterlogic Magical Detection Bracelet, a metal band that was supposed to beep if magic was being used nearby. It didn't work, out of curiosity Hitch had tested one with Izzy, but Ruby probably didn't know that. MDB's had been very popular Hitch's whole life, sometimes they'd fade out a bit, but they'd never gone away completely. They also doubled as a fashion accessory; ponies had collected the different limited-edition designs. It could be Ruby was just wearing it as a normal bracelet but based on her reaction… "No. At least I don't think so. There are no suspects at the moment, that's why I need to talk to Starstruck."

"Can't you just call his house," she suggested nonchalantly, unaware that she'd said anything strange. She hadn't really, that would be a lot of earth ponies' reaction.

"I could," Hitch nodded, "but I don't want his parents to get the wrong idea and worry he's in trouble. I'll call if I can't find him soon, I was hoping he'd only wandered off somewhere nearby." He hesitated, not even sure if he should bring it up. "Er, Ruby, why are you wearing that bracelet?"

Ruby glanced down at the metal band. "To detect magic being used nearby?" she said, sounding puzzled. Like it was obvious. She chewed nervously at her bottom lip. "It really doesn't give much reaction time, but it's better than nothing."

Hitch frowned. "You know there's no need for that anymore, right? The unicorns are our friends. I've met all the unicorns who've come into town-" keeping tabs on who was coming from the other tribes was important in this early stage. "-and they've all been very nice."

The filly looked skeptical. "Even if your unicorn friend is nice, that doesn't mean all of them are. And it only takes one bad one to turn my mane into snakes." Ruby had always been smart. She knew better than to attack Hitch's friends, even if she didn't believe they were safe, and had instead come up with a much harder question. One that didn't have an easy answer.

"Yes, I'm sure there are some bad unicorns out there," he admitted gently, because lying would do no good and Ruby would see through it anyways. "There will be bad pegasi too. Just like there are bad earth ponies. But the vast majority of ponies are good and take steps to make sure bad ponies can't do anything bad. And most unicorns aren't even capable of the type of magic you're scared of. You need to have a talent for magic for those kinds of advanced spells. None of the visiting unicorns have that talent at the moment." Wait, had Misty's talent been magic? No, her mark was a butterfly, that didn't seem like a magic mark. He wasn't sure what her talent was. Maybe she was good with animals?

Ruby scowled up at him. "You're the one who gave our class that Unicorn Awareness and Defense PSA talk last year."

"Uh, yeah," Hitch blushed. He didn't feel ashamed exactly, but he did feel guilty. "I was going off inaccurate information. It turns out Sunny and her dad were right about the other tribes. If you actually met a unicorn and talked to them, you'd realize they're just ponies like you and me. They aren't scary." Izzy was about as far from scary as you could get.

"I can't talk to a unicorn!" Ruby gasped fearfully.

"I think it would be a good thing," Hitch advised. "First hoof experience will be more convincing than anything I could say. You know I wouldn't let you get involved with anything dangerous, it's perfectly safe." He shook his head. "That bracelet doesn't work, by the way. I've tested it with my unicorn friend, and it never beeped. Even if it did work, you'd have no way to tell if it was beeping from a unicorn picking a flower or from a unicorn casting a curse. The beeping would just be constantly scaring you for no reason."

"It doesn't work?" Ruby repeated, ears drooping. Not exactly the point he'd wanted her to take from that.

"Nope," Hitch shrugged. "But like I said, it wouldn't be helpful anyways." How could he convince her not to worry? "Y'know we're going to be having a beach party with the other tribes soon. You should come, see for yourself there's nothing to be scared of. Sprout can come too. I think it might help his image." He paused. "Have you seen Sprout recently?" His friend had been avoiding him since being fired.

"He's hiding behind those trees over there," Ruby said grumpily, jerking her head to the little forest behind the playground. "He hid when he saw you coming."

"Oh…" Still upset then.

"Are you mad at him?" Ruby asked bluntly.

"No," Hitch sighed. "I'm not mad. Frustrated, maybe. I didn't want to fire him, but…"

"I don't think he liked deputying much anyways," Ruby shrugged. "He liked bossing ponies around, but he didn't like the rest of it. I don't think he even would've applied for the job if his mom hadn't pushed him into it."

"Mrs. Cloverleaf told him to get the deputy job?" Hitch questioned, surprised. Sprout had never told him that.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't doing well enough at any of the Canterlogic jobs," she explained. "and you two are friends, so she probably figured he had a good shot at it. Not like he could have a cashier job or something, better no job at all than that."

Hitch sighed harder, feeling even worse. Sprout had always been very insecure that he lacked certain Cloverleaf skills. He was only okay at math, terrible at fashion, and not very business savvy. But Sprout was a Cloverleaf. Son of Magnate and Phyllis Cloverleaf, owners of Canterlogic Industries, the biggest tech and one of the biggest fashion companies in all of earth pony society. His parents had expected Sprout to inherit the company but it had become clear he wasn't built for the job. Sprout didn't even like computers much, he was the outdoorsy type. Instead, Ruby, who already possessed many of the desired skills even at her young age, was the heir apparent to the Canterlogic Empire. This was a massive disappointment to Sprout's dad. Hitch cringed imagining what Magnate's reaction must have been to learning Sprout had lost the first respectable job he'd ever had. Ruby was right, Magnate would never allow Sprout to have a job 'beneath a Cloverfield'. That didn't leave Sprout many options.

Hitch hesitated. Should he try to go talk to Sprout? He was in the middle of an investigation; he didn't have time for a heart to heart.

He could at least invite Sprout to the party in pony. A letter alone probably wouldn't cut it. And he might not get a better chance later.

Leaving Ruby behind, Hitch went with heavy hooves to the spot she'd pointed out. There he found Sprout, poking gloomily at the dirt with a stick. When he spotted Hitch though, he rocketed to his hooves.

"Oh, er, Hitch," Sprout stuttered. "I wasn't hiding. I was, er-"

"Oh, hey, Sprout, crazy to run into you here," Hitch feigned. "I haven't seen you in a while." 'How have you been' would not be a good question. "Great to see you."

"Yeah, sure it is," Sprout grumbled, hunching his shoulders.

"It is," Hitch insisted. "I miss us hanging out."

Sprout gave him a nasty look.

"So, er, since I have you here," Hitch continued awkwardly. "Me and Sunny are throwing a beach party with the other tribes soon. You should come. It'll be fun."

"Will this party help me get a new prestigious job?" Sprout said drily.

"Um," Hitch shifted on his hooves. "Probably not. But, er, knowing more about the other tribes would be helpful for any jobs especially now."

"Hmm," Sprout hummed distrustfully.

"Sprout, I-"

"I've gotta go," Sprout interrupted suddenly. "Ruby's got a thing." Then he rushed off, grabbing a startled Ruby as he went.

"Wither leaves," Hitch cursed, then quickly glanced around to make sure nopony had overheard the sheriff swearing. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to make up with Sprout, but it was such an uncomfortable situation. Maybe Sunny would have some advice, Sprout was her friend too.

There had to be some way to fix this.