Chapters Mrs. Cake locked the door to Sugarcube Corner and began helping her husband tidy up the store. Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen working on a new cupcake recipe. The twin foals, almost six months old, lay asleep in the corner. Another day at the bakery had gone by without a hitch. Sales had increased quite a bit after the royal wedding several weeks earlier. She and Mr. Cake had been working overtime trying to meet everyone's orders, but tonight they finally had time to relax. If Pinkie would stay calm, anyway. She chuckled; Pinkie Pie often seemed to cause more trouble than their children. She straightened up the bags of flour and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.
"Hey, Mrs. Cake!" chirped Pinkie Pie, furiously whisking a bowl of batter. "Are you closing up the shop?"
"Yes," she replied, searching the cupboards for the kettle.
"Ooh, sprinkles!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Good idea! I think they're in the top right cupboard. No, left. Right or left!"
"I'm looking for the kettle," said Mrs. Cake.
"Oh, that!" Pinkie said, continuing to whisk.
"Do you know where it is?"
Pinkie didn't look up. "Ummm, nope." She whisked harder.
Mrs. Cake stared at the pink earth pony. "Pinkie Pie, you're going to ruin those cupcakes. Where's the kettle?"
"It's definitely not in the oven," Pinkie Pie said.
Mrs. Cake walked to the oven and looked inside. "It isn't in the oven," she said.
"I told you it definitely wasn't in there!" Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. She was whisking the batter so quickly that it began to slosh out of the bowl.
"Pinkie Pie, I just cleaned this kitchen. Please don't make a mess," Mrs. Cake told her as she walked out of the kitchen.
"Oh, I won't, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie said, licking up the batter from the countertop.
Mr. Cake sat in the corner, watching the foals sleeping. Mrs. Cake walked up beside him and sat down, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you," Mr. Cake whispered, bristling her ear.
"I love you too," Mrs. Cake said. Her heart bubbled with affection for the one pony who truly understood her. There was only one very special somepony for her. "Do you know where the kettle is? I want to make some tea."
"I lent it to Twilight Sparkle," Mr. Cake said. "She's doing some kind of experiment that requires a bunch of hot water, and her kettle was broken."
"Well, as long as she takes care of it," said Mrs. Cake. "I wish you'd told me. That kettle is an heirloom."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Mr. Cake assured her. "It's the least we could do after her help in the shop. We've barely met all of our orders lately."
"Everyone has quite a sweet tooth since the royal wedding," Mrs. Cake observed.
"It's probably something in the brain, huh? Big celebrations making people want more sweets."
"All I can say is, I hope it lasts for a while longer. We've almost made enough money to expand the shop." Mrs. Cake stood up and stretched. "Well, I guess I'll be off to bed. I need to get more sleep anyway." She looked through the kitchen door at Pinkie Pie, who was dancing around the batter-splattered room as she placed her cupcakes into the oven. The corners of Mrs. Cake's mouth raised slightly as she shook her head and started off to their bedroom.
"I'll come to bed in a minute," Mr. Cake called after her softly. He picked up the two sleeping foals by their diapers and carried them into their nursery. After nuzzling them fondly for a moment, he shut the door quietly and went back into the shop to grab a snack. He ate two chocolate chip cupcakes and a large slice of banana cake with blueberry frosting, barely chewing as he quickly swallowed the sugary treats. He wiped the frosting from his lips before walking to the bathroom.
Turning on the light and closing the door, he stood still, staring at his reflection in the mirror and waited to make sure that the sugar had kicked in. The image in the mirror flickered for just a moment, changing in a fraction of a second into a dark, grotesque winged form before returning to the form of Mr. Cake, the friendly baker. This form was so uncomfortable; earth ponies were the most limited ponies, and when he took on their shape he was unable to use his wings. It was an easy sacrifice, however, when receiving as much love as Mrs. Cake and the children gave to Mr. Cake. Satisfied that his form was stable, the changeling turned of the light and went to bed.
Spike's head spun as he watched Twilight Sparkle racing around the room. She was always rather obsessive when she worked on a new spell or experiment, but this was too much. "Does it really matter, Twilight?" he asked, covering his eyes as a flash of light flared from a test tube. "Equestria has plenty of food. We're not going to have a shortage any time soon."
"I told you, Spike," Twilight said as she examined the instructions in her book. "The sugar plantations are producing less each year. I need to find a way to maximize production so that we don't find ourselves in a sugar shortage."
"I know, but I mean, it's just sugar. I like it just fine, but it's not like we'll die without it."
"Princess Celestia herself entrusted me with this task, Spike."
"Personally, I'd rather have a nice big ruby," Spike said, beginning to drool. Twilight, fully concentrating on her work, didn't answer.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she hopped across the street toward the rainbow-maned pegasus. Rainbow Dash looked around nervously.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie," she said.
"Rainbow Dash, would you like a cupcake?"
Rainbow Dash's ears perked up. "Sure!"
"Follow me!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping toward Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash had to fly to keep up with her. "I spent all night making a new cupcake recipe!" Pinkie called behind her.
"That's nice," Rainbow Dash said, zipping into the bakery after her and looking around at all of the baked goods.
"Hi there, Rainbow Dash," said Mr. Cake with a big grin. "Here, have one of these cupcakes that Pinkie Pie made last night." He held out a rainbow-streaked cupcake to Rainbow Dash, who snatched it and barely chewed as she ate it.
"It matches your mane!" Pinkie Pie squealed in delight. Rainbow Dash nodded absently and licked the remaining crumbs from her hooves.
"Thanks, Pinkie Pie," she called as she flew back out of the bakery.
"Rainbow Dash is so nice," Pinkie Pie said to Mr. Cake. She bounded into the kitchen to make more cupcakes.
Shining Armor trotted into the home that he shared with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the love of his life. "I'm home!" he called.
"I'm in here!" Cadenza shouted from the library with an irritated tone. Shining Armor went into the library where his beautiful wife was reading a large book which he wasn't particularly interested in.
"Hello, my love," he sighed, racing to her side and kissing her on the back of the head.
"Yes, hello," Cadenza replied, looking up at him, smiling widely, and immediately returning to her book. She took a sip from the tall glass goblet that sat on the table.
"Do you want more nectar, dear?" Shining Armor asked, running into the pantry for another bottle. He scanned the shelves and picked a bottle from the dozens that nearly filled the pantry, and returned to the library while trying to uncork it in his mouth as he walked. Cadenza didn't look up as he poured the clear sweet-smelling liquid into her glass.
"Thank you," she said, taking another sip. "We're not running low, are we?"
"No, my love. We have a lot more."
"Good," she said, and returned to silence. Shining Armor sat and gazed at her indifferent profile for the rest of the evening.
Twilight Sparkle barely had to focus any energy to close the book and telepathically move it back to its place on the shelf. The Ponyville Library had hundreds of books, but none had helped her so far. Perhaps she would have to go to the Canterlot Library to find a way to increase sugar production. "I can't let Princess Celestia down", she told herself. She turned to the next bookshelf and began scanning the titles again, looking for something that she might have missed earlier. Her experiment had been a failure; her formula hadn't accelerated sugar cane growth by any significant amount. Someone, somewhere, must know the answer to her problem. She shook her head. "I'm going to Canterlot," she said. "Come on, Spike!"
Mrs. Cake stopped by the nursery to check on her foals. They were curled up on the floor together, with all of their toys scattered around them. She smiled and slowly shut the door while backing out into the hall. She suddenly noticed, from the corner of her eye, a shadow duck into her bedroom. She hadn't seen who it was, but they had a black body and wings. Unless Rainbow Dash was robbing them in broad daylight, she had no idea who it might be. The Mysterious Mare-do-well? She tiptoed down to the open bedroom door, staying close to the wall to avoid being seen. Maybe it was her husband, and the lighting just made him look strange. But sunlight was pouring through the open window; that couldn't be it.
She stopped just before the door, holding her ear to the wall. It sounded like someone was having a coughing fit. A voice suddenly muttered an obscenity. And it wasn't Mr. Cake. She glanced around, looking for something to protect her children with. Her heart began to beat faster. There was nothing in the hall, and if she went into the nursery, the intruder might follow her. If she went into the shop, the intruder might still go into the nursery. She had to think of something. Fast.
The coughing stopped. All she heard was her rapid pulse and tense breathing. "Oh, hey, sweetheart." Mr. Cake emerged from the bedroom without warning. Mrs. Cake fell backwards onto the floor. Her heart skipped a beat before beginning to slow down. "Is something wrong?" her husband asked in a concerned tone.
"No, no," she said, trying to collect herself. "I thought--I thought someone else was in there."
"Who?" Mr. Cake asked, stepping back to look through the open door.
"A black pegasus, I thought. I don't know. I just saw someone go in there." Mrs. Cake stood shakily to all four legs. She stepped forward and peered through the door, hoping to see someone else in there. The room was empty.
"Well, there's nopony in there. I guess it was the lighting. Sorry, dear. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Mrs. Cake said. She knew that whoever had been in there had a completely different voice than Mr. Cake. It was hoarser, thicker, like someone trying to talk while drinking syrup. Her husband smiled and looked into her eyes. She searched his face, looking for anything unusual. A few crumbs on his mouth, but that wasn't strange. His smile was exactly the same smile that she had fallen in love with years ago. His eyes were the same loving eyes that made her want to stare into them forever. He was perfect. She must have been wrong. Everybody sees things sometimes.
Mr. Cake leaned forward and kissed her forehead lightly, and walked into the shop. She stood silently for a moment. Everything was perfect, but she felt like something was completely wrong, yet just outside of her perception. As she closed the bedroom door, she could almost feel the imagined intruder's presence on the other side, but she knew there was nobody there.
The Grand Library in Canterlot was an enormous collection, with hundreds of thousands of works, that filled a building nearly as large as the palace. Twilight had worked as an intern librarian a few years ago, so she was familiar with the shelving system, although she felt that she had improved upon it in her work at the Ponyville library. She walked resolutely down the aisles, navigating her way to the Biology section, where she would begin her search. Spike followed her, looking up at the tall booksehlves on both sides. Neither of them had been to the Canterlot library in a long time, and visiting it again made Spike remember all of the time they had spent there when Twilight was going through school.
"Here we are!" whispered Twilight. A sign at the end of the shelf read "Biology". "If there's a book about sugar, it's going to be here," she said, beginning to scan the rows of book titles.
"Or in the cookbook section," Spike offered. Twilight, engrossed in her search, didn't answer. After staring at an entire shelf of books on shrub taxonomy, Spike grew restless and decided to walk around the library for a little while. "I'm just going to stretch my legs," he said. Twilight nodded, and Spike wandered up and down the aisles. Most of the books looked academic and dry, but when he reached the Dragon section he found a tall red book and began flipping through it, looking at the pictures.
"I hate the thought," whispered a timid voice. Spike looked up. There was nobody there.
"We're just following instructions. Now stop talking. It will only draw attention." The second voice spoke in a low, harsh tone. Spike pressed his ear against the bookshelf and heard the sound of shuffling and heavy breathing. Two ponies were on the other side of the bookshelf. Librarians, it sounded like. What were they doing? He tiptoed to the end of the aisle and peered around to the other side of the shelf. A young grey unicorn with a parchment and quill pen cutie mark stood in the middle of a ladder. At the bottom was an elderly green earth pony with a raven cutie mark. The unicorn pulled books from the shelf and passed them down to the earth pony, who placed them onto a rolling book cart. Several shelves had already been cleared, and as Spike watched, they cleared one more shelf before the unicorn climbed down the ladder and both ponies walked away with the cart.
As they rounded the corner and left Spike's view, he walked up to the shelves that they had been clearing. Most of them were too high for him to see, but he noticed the papery residue of a sticker that had been torn off, which would have had the name of the subsection written on it. Dragons were on the other side of the shelf, so maybe these books were about dragons as well.
"Spike! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Twilight came around the corner and bounded to her assistant.
"Twilight," Spike whispered, "Two ponies--librarians, I think--were taking away all of these books."
"That's strange," Twilight said. "I guess they must be reshelving. They have changed a few things since we were here last."
"One of them said something about not drawing attention to themselves. I think they didn't want anyone to know what they were doing."
"Well, anyone who looks on this aisle can see that they've taken the books away. What section is this, anyway? Sentient species, I think."
"That's right," Spike said, holding up the dragon book he still held in his claw. "Dragons are on the other shelf. What were the books they were taking away, then?"
"I don't remember," said Twilight, squinting at the torn labels on each abandoned shelf. "I never spent much time in this section. I guess we could ask a librarian."
Spike shook his head. "But if the librarians are secretly removing the books, they're not going to tell you anything about them. That's the whole point!"
Twilight shook her head. "Oh, Spike. There's probably a reasonable explanation. Maybe the librarians you saw were just trying to keep the library quiet and not make a big noise while they reshelved the books. Maybe they weren't even librarians. Let's go ask someone." She began walking down the aisle, Spike running behind her.
"Can I help you?" They turned around. The elderly librarian stood at the end of the aisle that she had left through with the unicorn. Twilight stepped forward and smiled, but the earth pony's face remained stoic.
"Yes, thank you," Twilight said. "I was wondering what section this is."
The librarian's expression did not change. "Sentient species."
"I know; I meant the shelves that had been emptied. Are you reshelving those?"
"Yes, reshelving," said the librarian.
"What subject is that?" Twilight asked.
"Sentient species," the librarian said, becoming visibly annoyed. "Do you need help looking for anything?"
"Where will the books be reshelved? Are you moving the whole sentient species section?" Twilight asked. Spike looked down and rolled his eyes. As usual, he was right. They weren't getting any help from this obvious conspirator.
"The books will be reshelved in a different area of the library. If you need any assistance, please let me or one of my coworkers know." The pony turned and walked away slowly.
Twilight turned to Spike. "That was strange," she said, her eyes narrowed. "I think you're right, Spike. Something is up."
"I told you," he said. "What are we going to do now?"
"We're going to write to the Princess, of course," she said. "Let's go find something to eat, and then I'll let you take a letter."