I was out at the grill, and I was happy to be back. Beautiful weather, happy guests, two stallions on stage doing a baseball skit, and a solid flow of bits. Truly, it was a great moment.

Right up until Spike took a moment of my attention. "Yang, I've got some news that you might want to know."

"Go on." I kept my eyes on the grill. Burgers seemed pretty popular for whatever reason this time.

"Have you heard about those mysterious arsons that have been happening?"

"Oh, yeah, I have. Did they catch whoever's been doing it?"

"There was one in Appleloosa last night. Apparently, it was a house that Lady Gold Leaf bought for a million bits, and was about to turn into an orphanage when it was set on fire. There's even a picture in the paper."

I accidentally put a bit too much pressure on a patty and it went through the grill. As I started cooking up a replacement, I turned back to the conversation. "Spike, I believe that coincidences happen. They really do. That doesn't sound like a coincidence to me. I know the stallion she bought the house from while I was there, and the generous offers she made. She was in a hurry to get it done."

"You're sure it's not a coincidence?"

"Call it a gut feeling. But enough of that, back to work."

Twilight came up to the grill. "Can I have a medium well double cheeseburger with bacon and all the toppings?"

"Hungry? Ten bits, please."

Two silver and two gold bits went into the jar. "I just got back from Appleloosa to look at the arson case there. Normally, I would have just left it to the local authorities, but since we were there recently, I figured I should take a look."

"What did you learn?" Two patties went onto the grill, sizzling in short order.

"The thaumic forensics I ran found traces of a timed fire bomb spell, very likely the reason for the fire. Three guesses as to why I'm telling you this, Yang."

"I'm skilled with fire magic and I was in Appleloosa when it was set."

"Yes."

"Am I under arrest?"

"No. The evidence is not strong enough to warrant that. But if I could get a read on your fire magic's signature, I would appreciate it."

I casually held up a hand and conjured a flame. "Is this good enough?" Twilight's horn lit up before her eyes gave off a matching glow. A few seconds later, both glows vanished and a puzzled look came over her face. "Is something wrong?"

"Your magic signature is very close to what I found at the scene. Where were you on Sunday?"

I flipped the patties over and started gathering the remaining ingredients for Twilight's order. "The Rusty Horseshoe, all day. Same for Saturday and Monday. I left on Monday night."

Twilight simply nodded in thought before taking a seat at a table. A minute later, I brought her order over, steepled forehooves partially covering her thoughtful expression as she started on her burger with her magic.

I sat down in the office to take care of the nightly paperwork after closing, but decided to look at the newspaper first. Right on the front page was a big picture with Lady Gold Leaf in the foreground, wearing what looked like nightwear and crying as the building was burning in the background.

FUTURE APPLELOOSA ORPHANAGE DREAM GOES UP IN FLAMES

Early Thursday night, shortly after construction began on a new orphanage in Appleloosa, tragedy struck when the work site went up in flames. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is currently suspected to be part of the mysterious string of arsons that have been happening over the past months.

The Canterlot noble Lady Gold Leaf bought the house from an Appleloosan stallion, Bar Tender, for one million bits, and even covered the cost of his moving expenses herself, along with personally helping move his possessions.

Bar Tender was found at his saloon, The Rusty Horseshoe, and when informed of the tragic fire, had this to say: "Well, that's sad. At least nopony got hurt. I guess it's fortunate that I moved out when I did."

Lady Gold Leaf was too distraught for comment.

The workers at the site, when asked how they thought how the fire started, shared a general consensus of confusion. A unicorn welder onsite, Heated Torch, said, "Fires don't just spontaneously start. There needs to be something that starts it, or some kind of setup in place to heat something to the point of combustion."

More details will be reported as they become available.

"Well, that sucks. They're probably going to come after me again at some point." After folding the paper and setting it aside, I went back to the paperwork.

Once the paperwork was done, I picked up the paper again, the photo catching my attention. "Hmm. . . Something's a bit off about this, but what?"

"Rarity, I'm here!" I announced as I entered Carousel Boutique.

"One moment, Yang!" Rarity's voice sounded like it came from the inspiration room. "I just need to put a few more details on this sketch and I'll be right with you."

"Take your time." While I was waiting, I looked around the shop. Numerous ponniquins were adorned with a variety of dresses, ranging from simple black and white ones to some that were clearly made for show. One of them had a dress on that looked more like a display piece than something that could be worn.

"If you like any of those dresses, I'd be happy to make one tailored to your form."

I pulled my attention away from a light floral pattern dress at Rarity's voice. "Oh, uh, thanks for the offer. That's not why I'm here, though."

"Of course. The swimsuit overdresses. Come with me."

I followed Rarity towards the back of the shop. "Overdress?"

"I was designing one of the dresses when I realized I could make a dress that's also a swimsuit, so I changed the term to prevent confusion."

"Ah. I see."

"So, did you bring your swimsuit?" she eagerly asked.

"I'm wea-"

"It doesn't matter. I made a new one for you anyways, one that's brighter and better!" Rarity's horn briefly lit up and something flew into my face a moment later. "I'm sure it fits fine, but please, do go change into it, just to make sure."

I caught the item and saw that it was a bright yellow swimsuit with red hems on the right side of the small neckline, the left armhole, and the right leghole. The red was mirrored with purple, making for an interesting design. Flipping it around, I saw that it did not have the open upper back like the one I was wearing under my clothes. Instead, there was a small zipper that went from the neckline down to the small of the back. On the inside was a flap of material, apparently made to keep the zipper off my skin, which seemed like a good idea. And for a furry species, it made sense as well.

"Well don't just look at it, go put it on!"

"Right, right." I went upstairs and to the bathroom to change. "Red and purple trim. Why red and purple? The purple matches my eyes. . . And so can the red. Rarity, you brilliant mare." The change went smoothly, though I found myself having to do some fancy stretches to close the zipper. The bit of material under it actually felt kind of nice, certainly better than the zipper would have.

I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that the red and purple trim seemed to be glowing. Instead of trying to figure it out, I simply went back downstairs. "Rarity, is it just me, or are the red and purple bits glowing?"

"They are glowing. Twilight figured out the enchantments that made the fabric glow, and I figured I should start small before going onto more ambitious projects. More importantly though, how does it fit?"

"Perfectly. No complaints. So, what's first?"

"This one." Rarity tossed a small black dress with many openings in it to me. "If you could put it on in front of me, I would appreciate it."

"Only in this situation." I quickly slid the simple dress on and looked in the mirror, the yellow swimsuit quickly highlighting the design cut out of it. "Rarity, what was the inspiration for this one?"

"Sharks. Mostly the arrangement of their gills."

"That explains the jagged neckline and the cuts on the chest. And they're on the sides too."

"I know it's a bit random, but I happened to catch a glimpse of a picture of one on one of Twilight's books, and the idea just stuck. What do you think of it?"

"Well. . . It looks good. The cuts do a good job with my curves. Not sure how to feel with the cuts over my thighs, though."

"Based on some of the pictures Twilight's given me, that's probably on the tamer side of things. Besides, it's made for a day at the beach, so you'd be showing off anyways, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I took some time to admire the dress for a bit before voicing an observation. "I don't know how you did it, but the fit on this is both loose and a bit clingy. How did you do that?"

"Skill, dear. Would you like to try another one?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I've got plenty of time."

I tried on a total of ten swimsuit overdresses, each one with a different pattern cut out of it. All of them had a similar fit, and were designed so that they could also be worn as a normal dress on their own.

At the end, Rarity let me have the new swimsuit and all of the dresses for free. She insisted on it, especially since I'd given her the dresses I'd found on the weather machine, along with some of the magazines, and helped her test out the glowing enchantment.

During the walk home, I envisioned myself at the beach with one of the dresses on over the new swimsuit until a shiver went down my spine at the memory of the ocean trip. "Well, there's always pools and lake beaches too."

Author's Notes:

It won't be long before yet another adventure begins.