Ponyville Mysteries Issue 5

My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries #5 is the fifth and final issue of IDW Publishing's My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries comic miniseries. In the issue, the Cutie Mark Crusaders try to track down a priceless artifact that was stolen from Songbird Serenade.

Summary
The issue begins in Ponyville, where the townsfolk are setting up for a benefit concert soon to be held by pop singer Songbird Serenade. With everyone hard at work getting ready, the Cutie Mark Crusaders hope to get a break from mystery-solving. However, Rarity is frantic about cleaning up her boutique in time for the arrival of Songbird's temporary assistant Onyx Ardor.

When Onyx arrives, she explains that Songbird's usual costume designer is sick with the equine flu and cannot make her costumes in time for the concert. Therefore, Songbird has entrusted the task to Rarity, and Onyx gives her a priceless heirloom from Songbird's family for the costumes to be influenced by: the Abyssinia Albatross statue. Onyx warns that many ponies covet the statue for themselves, and Rarity vows to keep it safe while she works on the costumes.

The next morning, ponies from Canterlot start to arrive for the concert, and the Crusaders are once again drawn to Carousel Boutique by the sound of Rarity's screams. After working on the costumes all night and resting for a couple of hours, Rarity woke up to find the Abyssinia Albatross gone. The Crusaders volunteer to find the statue before the concert, and they start their investigation by questioning Onyx Ardor.

Onyx is greatly alarmed to learn that the Abyssinia Albatross was stolen, and the Crusaders ask her if anyone was particularly interested in it. Onyx mentions a Canterlot collector named Hulking Hoarder who approached her about the statue before, and the Crusaders head into town to search for him. After questioning Twilight Sparkle and several visiting ponies from Canterlot, the Crusaders finally find Hulking Hoarder, who pulls them into Sweet Apple Acres upon learning they are asking around about the Abyssinia Albatross. Hoarder explains to the Crusaders that he did desire the statue for his collection, but someone else stole it before he had a chance to.

Back to square one and tired of the dense crowds of ponies in town, the Crusaders head to their clubhouse to think and are shocked to find it completely ransacked. All of a sudden, a unicorn stallion ambushes them, ties them up in ropes, and demands to know where the Abyssinia Albatross is, stating that the clubhouse is "where she said she stashed it". The Crusaders insist that they don't have the statue or know where it is, and the stallion runs off, believing he has been double-crossed.

After freeing themselves from the ropes, the Crusaders pursue the stallion into Ponyville, but they lose him among the large pony crowds. When their chase leads them back to Carousel Boutique, Rarity delivers more bad news: Songbird Serenade is arriving to Ponyville a day earlier than expected. Rarity asks Sweetie Belle to greet Songbird at the train station and tell her about the stolen statue while she finishes the costumes.

At the train station, the Crusaders notice Onyx Ardor carrying a lot of luggage and seemingly in a hurry to leave town. When the Crusaders confront her and say they are about to welcome Songbird to Ponyville, Onyx's panicked expression indicates she was unaware of Songbird's early arrival, despite being Songbird's personal assistant. Songbird Serenade then arrives, and the Crusaders greet and escort her to Carousel Boutique for final costume approval, with her assistant Onyx unwittingly dragged along.

Back at the boutique, Songbird expresses her great satisfaction with Rarity's costumes, and Rarity confesses that the Abyssinia Albatross she was entrusted with was stolen. However, the Crusaders discover the statue inside Onyx Ardor's luggage, exposing Onyx as the thief. The Crusaders explain that Onyx was the only other pony who knew where the statue was kept, and they deduce that she is an accomplice of the unicorn stallion who tied them up in their clubhouse. The stallion, Jagged Clamp, appears and explains further that he stole the statue on Onyx's orders and gave it to her to stash away, but she tricked him about where she stashed it and planned to keep it for herself.

Hulking Hoarder also appears to admire the Abyssinia Albatross up-close, but he reveals it is only a cheap imitation of the real Abyssinia Albatross. Onyx Ardor realizes her scheme was all for nothing as she and Jagged Clamp are taken away by Songbird's bodyguards. Some time later, Songbird Serenade puts on her benefit concert for the ponies of Ponyville, and she invites the Cutie Mark Crusaders onstage as appreciation for solving the mystery.

Quotes

 * Scootaloo: There shouldn't be any mysteries. I could use a break.
 * Sweetie Belle: Me too!
 * Rarity: Will somepony help!


 * Onyx Ardor: I will be back in two days to see how the costumes are progressing.
 * Rarity: Excellent! I will have a full line to show you.
 * Sweetie Belle: Gee, sis, you sure handled that—
 * Rarity: Two days!
 * Apple Bloom: Well.


 * Sweetie Belle: Everything seems so perfect right now.
 * Scootaloo: Yeah, I could just stand here for a long time and take it all in.
 * Rarity: Will somepony help!


 * Sweetie Belle: Okay, Super Sleuths, we're solving this one for Rarity!
 * Scootaloo: Right!
 * Sweetie Belle: Where do we start?
 * Scootaloo: I have no idea!


 * Hulking Hoarder: Where is this "Pinkie Special" I ordered?
 * Scootaloo: Are you sure you want the "Pinkie Special"?
 * Hulking Hoarder: Indeed! Why not?
 * Pinkie Pie: Here you are! Spoon or shovel?
 * Scootaloo: Warned ya.


 * Scootaloo: What happened to—
 * Sweetie Belle: —our beautiful clubhouse!
 * Apple Bloom: Why would anypony want to do this?


 * Apple Bloom: Hello, Miss Ardor?
 * Onyx Ardor: What are you three doing here?
 * Sweetie Belle: We're here to meet Songbird Serenade.
 * Onyx Ardor: What? She's not due in until tomorrow.
 * Scootaloo: She moved up her arrival to today.
 * Apple Bloom: As her loyal assistant, we'd expect you to know that.
 * Onyx Ardor: Um, of course I do! I—I'm here to meet her, too.


 * Rarity: I locked your statue in what I thought was a secure place, but it was stolen.
 * Songbird Serenade: What? My statue is gone?
 * Sweetie Belle: Well, it was stolen.
 * Scootaloo: But it's not gone.
 * Sweetie Belle: In fact, it's right here!


 * Songbird Serenade: Onyx, how could you do this?
 * Onyx Ardor: Oh, please, you have Equestria at your hooves! I figured it was time for me to cash out and enjoy the high life for once.
 * Jagged Clamp: How could you do this to me! When I stole the statue, you said it was to make a better life for both of us!


 * Hulking Hoarder: Wait a second! This isn't the real Abyssinia Albatross! It's a cheap knock-off!
 * Songbird Serenade: Sure! I never said I had the real one.
 * Onyx Ardor: What? You told me this statue was priceless!
 * Songbird Serenade: It's priceless to me. My great grandpony won it for me at a carnival when I was a filly. It has a special place in my heart.
 * Hulking Hoarder: A carnival!
 * Apple Bloom: Now that I did not see coming.


 * Songbird Serenade: And now I want to bring onstage three of Ponyville's most beloved citizens. Put your hooves together for the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Make that the Cutie Mark Crusader Super Sleuths!