**Schoolhouse Setup**

[The Jolly Victini]

"But that's not like them! I've been there long enough to know that the kids who are already there, the ones that leave and the ones who arrive are all nice even before you meet them!" Bonfire explained. "It's not like anypony to make someone a target!"  

[WritingWithLove]

"I suppose we should not stress over it too much, dear." Autha said with disappointment. She looked at the resturaunts and added, "Everypony is innocent until proven otherwise. Only Celestia knows what happened as of now, but I am sure that no one would ever want to make you look a fool." She looked to the side and muttered, "If someone did, they would have another thing coming from me!"  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire nuzzled Autha. "I really hope you're right.

**

A few weeks have passed and, surprisingly, everything is almost ready! The props are finished, the costumes are almost ready and the invitations have been sent. But, those strange occurrences have still been striking Bonfire harshly. A few days ago, Bonfire bucked through one of the scenery props because he swore somepony was poking him in the flank with a needle. And just yesterday, Bonfire was told to leave school early because somepony had let a skunk loose in the classroom and when officials got it out after spraying it's fumes everywhere, there was a collar on it that had the skunk's "name" and it's address and owner. "Bonfire, 475 Canterbury Lane, PVFD".

Bonfire walked alongside Autha once more, his head hanging low, covered by his hood which he almost never worn until this point. He had told Autha last night that maybe coming back to help the school was just a big mistake. He didn't know what to think anymore. Somepony was out to get him, and he didn't know who.  

[WritingWithLove]

"Chin up, darling." Autha said to him. She kissed him and sighed. She felt a certain feeling in hear heart that she had never felt before. She wanted to scream and yell, and she wanted whoever did this to him to pay dearly.
Could this be anger?
No; it was rage.
"So help me, I'll find out who has been taunting you like this, and when I do, I, I will...." She ground her teeth and tried to stay calm.  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire raised his head and looked to Autha. "I'm sorry... I just... I'm not even sure coming here today is a good idea." He said. They soon reached the schoolhouse and walked in. There were already a few student who had arrived, including the CMCs who rushed over to Bonfire as soon as they saw him.

"Bonfire!" Sweetie Belle called.

"The crusaders an' Ah came up with an idea!" Applebloom said.

"In an attempt to get our cutie marks AND help you out, we're gonna be the..." Scootaloo began.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DETECTIVES!" the three fillies cried out.  

[WritingWithLove]

Autha smiled sadly. "Thank you, dears. But I do not know if that will help much..."
She sighed. What harm could they do? She looked over to Bonfire, and her heart seemed to crack and crumble. She had to help him.
"Then again, a little sleuthing never hurt anyone. Consider yourselves hired."  

[The Jolly Victini]

The three fillies smiled widely as they ran off to begin looking for clues.

**

The shadow of a small pony rushed through the staff room, unbeknownst to anyone else. The sound if a cupboard opening whined on it's hinges. A quick rustling was heard and the cupboard slammed shut. The shadow rushed away and left behind no trace.

Cheerilee wasn't happy. Somepony had stolen some of the costumes and hidden them. They had first looked at Bonfire who hadn't had a very good streak this past month, but they quickly eased off.
For now.

It really didn't last long. After searching for a bit, Cheerilee walked off to her private cupboard for today's lessons. What she found made her heart drop. The three costumes they were searching for were sitting in her locker, burned to a crisp. Cheerilee walked out with the char in question and the entire room gasped. Everypony's eyes looked at Bonfire. Some looking at him accusingly, some in disbelief and others in anger. Cheerilee stared daggers at him.

"Bonfire, I never thought I'd have to say this to you, but you're fired."

Bonfire's heart dropped.
Fired.
That wasn't a word he was used to, not in it's literal use at least. He slowly stepped back, on hoof after the other, and abruptly sprinted out of the classroom. The crusaders ran to the door and teared up as Bonfire ran off.

"But, Miss Cheerilee! Bonfire would never--" Applebloom began.

"Applebloom I've made my decision. Now sit." she demanded, which they did.  

[WritingWithLove]

((That nearly made me cry. crying ))

Autha's entire body grew hot with rage, and she quietly stepped out of the school building. She looked around for Bonfire, but she couldn't seem to find him. She stomped on the ground as something came over her, and she moved a fair way away from the school before screaming as loud as she could.
Who would do this to Bonfire? He was sweet and kind and careing, and everything everypony wanted to be! She breathed heavilym swearing to herself to never forgive whoever committed this crime.
She made her way back toward the school building and called with bitterness, "Bonfire? Are you around here, darling?"  

[The Jolly Victini]

((It almost made me cry writing it. But that only tells me that my writing's getting better!))

The CMC's, against Cheerilee's orders, snuck out of the schoolhouse and looked around the schoolyard for their favorite stallion. After a bit of fruitless looking, all three of them bumped into Autha. The three looked up to her, tears in each of their eyes.

"M-Miss Autha?" Sweetie Belle said. "Are... are you looking for Bonfire too? We don't want him to leave." She said, the other three joining her as she hugged Autha's leg.  

[WritingWithLove]

((I know what it's like to cry after/while writing something. It's a wonderful and painstaking feeling. cry cry And yes, it's getting much better!))

Autha let them hug her. She let a tear slip as she said, "I know, darlings. I... I don't want him to go, either." She sat down and started to cry. Her heart completely shattered as she thought of the look on his face. "I need to find him. I have to. You kids should get back to class. I do not want Miss Cheerilee worrying about you."
She swalloed her sadness and stood back up. Her mind was filled with a mixture of pain and anger, and she wanted to find Bonfire desperetly, but she couldn't do that so long as her new friends were in her care.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"No!" Sweetie Belle said, almost demanded. "We're going to help you by really finding out who got Bonfire fired and why!"

"Yeah! It's not fair that he got fired because someone else framed him!" Scootaloo added.

Applebloom stepped in front. "Miss Quill, you go an' find Bonfire. If Ah know him, he probably went back home. We're gonna sneak around here and look for some serious clues! Even if we don't get our cutie marks, we'll clear Bonfire's name!"  

[WritingWithLove]

She sighed, seeing no point in arguing with them. "Very well," she said, "be careful... a-and thank you." She smiled sadly at them before running off

***

Autha stood in front of Bonfire's ome and opened the door, since she was used to being there so often. "Bonfire, my love?" she called as she came in, shutting the door behind her. She hated the errie silence and called again, "Bonfire, dear, where are you?"  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire's sobbing was heard from upstairs, he had rushed up there and didn't care what got knocked over on the way judging by the knocked over end table and halfway open door.  

[WritingWithLove]

Autha rushed up to his room, and what little was left of her heart was ripped out of her, shredded into bits, and shoved back in. She slowly walked over to him. She sat next to him and nuzzled him gently. "Darling, please do not cry. Everything works out for the best." she said soothingly. She kissed his nose and added, "I love you so much, dear."
Whoever did this to him is going to pay, I swear it!  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire wiped whatever tears he could. "I... I don't even know what I did... It's like somepony's out to get me... because I look like and... easy target..." Bonfire said between breaths. Crying wasn't something he did often. In fact, the last time he remembered crying was at Starsong's side, and that was so long ago.

Elsewhere, the CMC's were snuffing out clues. They found something in the staff room that piqued their interest and decided to keep it as evidence.