Three unicorn mares with three colorful dresses slung over their backs walked into one of the many spare bedrooms in Canterlot Castle. One by one, they rested their dresses on a massive vanity, stretched out, and relaxed. One sat sedately on the floor. One dramatically sprawled herself out over the bed. And one grabbed a straight-backed chair, turned it around backwards, and slumped forward over its backrest.
“What is with Cadance today?” whined Lyra as she slouched down further, laying her cheek on the backrest. “She wasn’t like this at all when she was our dorm mother.”
“Oh, don’t be that way, Lyrie darling,” sang Twinkleshine, whipping her mane around as she rolled over in the bed to face her friends. “That was years ago! Everypony changes. Isn’t that right, Min?”
“Nopony changes that much,” replied Minuette with a frown, not budging from her spot on the floor. “What I don’t get is how she insists on being so formal about her title, but still calls me Miss Colgate.”
Lyra and Twinkleshine stared at her blankly.
“Oh, come on! I got my DDS last year! She knows I’m a real doctor now; she even wrote a letter congratulating me,” she complained.
“Well then, Dr. Colgate,” said Twinkleshine. “You’d better get your toothy grin and your minty-fresh hair into your bridesmaid dress by the time Cadie gets back, or she might pretend not to remember your name at all!”
“Ouch, I saw that; Moondancer ran off crying,” said Lyra. “Say, now that she’s gone, I guess that makes one of us the mare of honor. I wonder if it’s gonna be me.”
“What a brilliant notion,” said Twinkleshine with a hint of sarcasm. “Why don’t you ask her when she comes back?”
Lyra swallowed hard. “Um … ha ha, no thanks. Not gonna deal with that. Besides, then I’d have to wear the special mare of honor dress that Celestia gave her, and Moondancer ran off in it. It looked better on her, anyway.”
Dr. Minuette Colgate walked up to the vanity and levitated her floral headpiece onto her head. Two other headpieces floated toward Lyra and Twinkleshine’s heads, who then craned their necks to look at themselves in the vanity’s massive mirror. As Colgate adjusted hers, she noticed in the mirror that the bedroom door was ajar.
“Say, did somepony forget to close the door all the way?” she inquired.
The three stared into the mirror at the door. A shadowy figure was lurking there. It scurried away, its hooves making an odd clicking noise down the carpeted hallway.
Twinkleshine dashed to the door and poked her flower-bedecked head out of the door. Nopony was to be seen. Still, she called out, “Listen up you paparazzi! If you want a picture of Twinkleshine half-dressed, you’ll just have to wait for my grand premiere in Brightmane Beach Memoirs like everypony else!”
Colgate scrunched up her face quizzically, and asked, “Is she really …”
“Yep. She’s playing the hot cousin,” replied Lyra.
Lyra and Colgate looked on in the mirror. Twinkleshine’s eyes scanned the hallway as she angrily shook a hoof at nopony in particular. The pair laughed quietly for a few seconds, but quickly stopped when Twinkleshine stepped back into the room and slammed the door shut.
Twinkleshine harrumphed as she strode up to the vanity. She began to put on her dress, and said, “How dare these nosy ‘journalists’ interfere with such an occasion on such a place! And how dare they show such disrespect to such a star! After that candid snapshot of Princess Celestia made that gossip rag, I’d think the palace guards would keep a tighter lid on the whole proceedings.”
Lyra and Colgate stared at her open-mouthed as her glowing horn straightened her headpiece and smoothed out her dress. “Now, Lyrie, Min, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bet that a certain dressmaker is just dying to see how her charming design looks on a true star.” Twinkleshine held her head high and strutted out the door.
“Wow,” said Lyra. “Who’d have guessed that getting her first real supporting role would turn her into that? It’s like …”
“… like the time she got the lead role in the theater department’s spring play that year?” finished Colgate. “Face it, Lyra. Anypony who knows Twinkleshine would have guessed that she’d be exactly like this.”
“Yeah. That’s classic a Twinkleshine moment, there,” replied Lyra with a smirk. “You know, Colgate, you were right. Ponies don’t change that much. And nopony would ever change as much as Cadance did. I wonder what’s wrong with her.”
Colgate opened the door and looked out. “I wonder what was with that photographer. There seemed to be something strange about him. Something creepy. Almost … unponylike in the way it moved.”
“Dunno. You’re the only pony who got a good look,” said Lyra. “Hey, watcha looking at?”
Colgate was scrutinizing the plush carpet outside of the door. “Another strange thing,” she replied. “His hoofsteps clicked as he trotted away. With carpet this thick, we should hardly hear it at all. And look at these front hoofprints.”
She pointed at the floor. Rather than the expected roundish prints coming to a slight point, the impressions in the carpet were small, jagged, and stick-like.
“Maybe he had a tripod?” offered Lyra. “That would explain the clicking, too.”
Colgate shut the door, and began putting on her dress. “I’m not sure about that,” she replied. “Something about the whole thing gives me willies. It reminds me of something out of that cryptozoology seminar I attended.”
She straightened her headpiece. “Twilight Sparkle went to that seminar, too. And she took lots of notes. Maybe she’ll remember it better than me. She’s Shining Armor’s best mare – she’s got to be around somewhere.”
Lyra protested, “Umm, Colgate –“
“You keep your eyes open, Lyra. I’m going to find out more,” Colgate interrupted curtly. “I’ll be along eventually. Talk to you then. Keep me posted.” She exited the bedroom, softly closing the door behind her.
“And there goes old Colgate being all obsessive and serious,” Lyra said with a sigh. Her dress sitting all alone on the vanity caught her eye. “And here’s little old me, the last to get started on everything. Colgate’s right – ponies don’t change. Not really.”
Lyra put on her dress. The outfit looked radiant, Lyra’s face, less so.
“Then how in Equestria could ‘Mi Amore Cadenza’ have changed so much?” Lyra said glumly.
With heavy heart and head hanging low, Lyra darkened the bedroom’s light and slowly walked away.
“So you see, Rarie, we just give it a little more oomph, and we can brighten those colors right up!” chirped Twinkleshine. Her horn glowed intensely as her dress changed from fuchsia to a brilliant hot pink.
“Oh, my!” said an astonished Rarity. “These special effects you learned in acting school are simply dazzling! You think you can give me something in green?”
“I’m afraid not, Rarie. I can’t make an all new color; just bring out what’s already there. But I can go darker,” she said, dimming her horn, and darkening her dress to a dark reddish purple.
“Hmm … this could work,” opined Rarity, “but we’ll need a different flower for your necklace.”
Rarity flitted away from Twinkleshine and sorted through a chest full of accessories. Lyra stopped fidgeting with her beaded necklace and trudged toward Twinkleshine.
“How can you just stand there for so long? Aren’t you bored yet?” she whined.
“Lyrie darling, looking one’s best is simply the professional thing to do!” proclaimed Twinkleshine. “I mean, don’t you fret over your appearance when you perform on your instrument?”
“No, not really,” said Lyra. “Normally either I’m naked, or everypony in the ensemble is wearing the same thing.”
Suddenly, there was a single thump at the door. Lyra and Twinkleshine looked up. They saw the door open, revealing Colgate in her blue spotted bridesmaid’s dress, levitating a notebook in front of her head.
“Sorry, I was a bit …,” she said, pointing at the notebook, “and I kind of …,” she continued, thumping the door with a hoof, “with my …,” she concluded, pointing at her face.
“Oh, don’t worry, Min dearie,” sang Twinkleshine, “you didn’t need to rush on our behalf.”
“Yeah, I know; sorry I’m late,” said Colgate.
“No, really, you didn’t need to rush.” said Lyra with an exaggerated frown, “She’s still working on Twinkleshine.”
“Oh, good,” replied Colgate. “Then we have time to talk.”
Colgate approached Lyra, still flipping through the notebook, as Twinkleshine walked up to Rarity, who was carefully appraising a couple dozen flowers.
“I can’t read all of Twilight’s horn-writing, but look at this,” said Colgate.
Lyra looked at a quick sketch of a pony-shaped creature. Its legs were strangely jagged, and it had insect-like wings. Underneath were some drawings of hoofprints. One pair of the prints seemed normal, another was inexplicably missing the very front, and yet another seemed to have been broken apart and shoved back together.
“This last set of prints looks like the ones we saw outside the changing room,” proclaimed Colgate triumphantly.
“Yeah, I guess,” said Lyra. “But I’ve never seen anything like this around the palace. What are these circles supposed to represent, anyway? Discolorations? Tattoos? Some kind of clothing?”
“I don’t know!” cried Colgate. Rarity and Twinkleshine stopped looking at flowers for a moment to look up at her. She continued in a hushed voice. “This is just Twilight’s copy of a drawing discovered in the ruins of Pomponii.”
“Pomponii?” said Lyra incredulously. “You mean that city that was destroyed at the high point of the classical era? Is that the only record we have of this thing?”
“There were some truly great historians around during the classical era,” said Colgate, slightly offended. “Now according to Ponysius of Unicornassus, these creatures are capable of hiding in plain sight, possess a great deal of low cunning, and feed off of love.”
“Now really,” said Lyra, “do you truly think –“
“They feed off of love, Lyra!” Colgate exclaimed. She threw a sheepish glance toward Rarity and Twinkleshine, and continued quietly. “And they’re here for the wedding! And they’re hiding in plain sight.”
“And that means …” said Lyra.
“I don’t know,” interrupted Colgate hastily, “but that one that was watching us get dressed was really good at hiding. Just think about it. They eat love. The royal wedding is happening. You know that protective spell that Shining Armor is keeping up? It’s to keep them out. But one of them sneaked through. Maybe it even got here before he started –“
“Look, Colgate. You honestly believe some insect-pony from the classical era infiltrated Canterlot Castle so it could feed off the love at the wedding? If you think about it, it’s kind of far-fetched,” said Lyra. “Just because Princess Cadance is copping an attitude doesn’t mean you have to get crazy, too. If we do this wedding one step at a time, we can all get through it.”
Colgate paused for a moment. Rarity picked out a new flower, this one a slightly different shade of yellow, and gleefully floated it up to Twinkleshine’s neck.
“Well, looks like it’s my turn,” said Colgate. “I promise not to bother Rarity with this. But you’d better promise me to keep an eye out for … well, anything. Strange insects. Love eaters. Dark figures hiding in plain sight.”
“But –,” protested Lyra.
“Promise!” insisted Colgate.
“Okay! I promise I’ll keep an eye out, and tell you if I see anything weird,” said Lyra resignedly.
Colgate’s intense features softened a bit. “Okay,” she said with a gentle smile.
And without any further argument, she calmly walked up to Rarity and Twinkleshine, and patiently permitted them to fuss over her dress.
Lyra sighed and resumed fidgeting with her necklace. After verifying for the third time that all twenty of the beads were completely identical, her reverie was interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps approaching the door. They seemed oddly sharp – more like a clicking sound than the normal clip-clop of pony hooves. A dark figure, mostly obscured by shadow, lurked behind the half-open door.
Lyra’s mouth hung open wide as the door slowly swung the rest of the way.
The shadowy figure was just Princess Cadance.
She fixed her gaze on Twinkleshine as she strode into the room. She narrowed her eyes as she looked over her newly-altered dress.
“Better,” she said curtly. “Dark colors are much more suitable for a bridesmaid at my wedding.” Her eyes met Rarity’s. “I must not be out-sparkled or out-shined on my perfect day. Got it?”
“Oh, yes, Your Highness,” beamed Rarity. “I understand compl –”
“Now, as for Miss Colgate’s dress,” she continued. “Make it a little darker. And see if you can lose the stupid polka dots.”
Rarity looked at Colgate. Her dress was a deep navy blue with medium blue spots.
“Um, sure thing, Your Highness,” said Rarity, “Just let me –,”
Rarity was interrupted by the door slamming shut. Cadance was gone just as abruptly as she had arrived.
Twinkleshine jumped back as the door slammed. The glow faded from her horn, and the two dresses started turning back to fuchsia and light blue.
“Oh, no, no, no!” squealed Twinkleshine, lighting up her horn. The dresses quickly darkened to near-black, then settled back to dark reddish purple and navy blue.
“Don’t worry, Rarie. I can keep it up on three dresses, no problem,” reassured Twinkleshine.
“Why of course you can!” said Rarity. “Darling, I have every bit of faith in your talents. Now, I need you to make this a hair darker. And Colgate, dear, I need your opinion here; be brutally honest.” She levitated up two nearly-identical purple flower necklaces. “Which color complements your eyes better – lavender or orchid?”
Lyra picked up the notebook from the floor and looked at the mysterious creature drawn on it. Two featureless eyes stared back. “Now did these things really have featureless eyes, or did Twilight just neglect to fill them in?” mused Lyra.
She opened the door and looked out. Cadance was long-gone, but three palace guards flanked the door. One looked suspiciously at Lyra and her notebook.
“Were there always three guards?” she thought. “I’m sure there were just two when I got here. Maybe Cadance left a member of her personal retinue to spy on us.”
She smiled nervously at the suspicious guard, and closed the door.
“Colgate’s got me wrapped up in one of her personal obsessions again,” she said to herself. “This is way worse than when I let her use my mouth to experiment with flossing techniques.”
She sighed and rejoined the group. She now stood between Twinkleshine dressed in dark reddish purple and Colgate in a nearly black dress with barely visible blue spots. With intense concentration, Twinkleshine darkened Lyra’s dress from ‘lemon’ to ‘goldenrod.’ Rarity replaced Lyra’s pink beaded necklace with a slightly darker pink necklace. As Rarity fussed over their headpieces, Lyra realized that the new necklace had twenty-three beads. Furthermore, one of them was slightly smaller than the others.
After Rarity was satisfied with the new colors, and Twinkleshine scrawled some notes about them on the back of a page from Twilight’s notebook, they removed their dresses and put them back on their clotheshorses. Rarity then shooed them out the door so she could work on Cadance’s wedding dress. One of the three guards suspiciously eyed the three bridesmaids, plus the notebook Lyra was carrying and Twinkleshine’s scrawled note. Colgate suspiciously eyed him back.
The three retired to their dressing room and chatted about old times. Their laughter and camaraderie relaxed all of them. But the good cheer didn’t relax them enough to soften Colgate’s perpetually-intense gaze. Nor did it prevent Lyra’s nervous glance from constantly hopping about the room. Nor did it stop Twinkleshine from complaining loudly about those “nosy so-called journalists who ought to be thrown into a dungeon. But not the castle’s dungeon, because we don’t want that type anywhere near the castle, don’t you agree?”
Colgate left the changing room, walking steadily and purposefully in a state of deep concentration. Twinkleshine trotted away humming a cheery little tune, her expression filled with self-satisfaction. But Lyra sat outside of the room and paused for thought.
“There are no guards in this little hallway,” she said to herself. “Not surprising, since these rooms aren’t used much. But there are guards in the big rooms on the far ends of the hall. No alarm was raised while we were changing. So either the thing Colgate saw ‘hid in plain sight’ to get past them, or …”
Lyra’s hummed the scales, and caused her horn to glow gently. She struck it on the stone wall. The horn rang out with a solid ‘ting’ and began to vibrate, producing a single note – a pure middle C. The sound resonated, echoing down the hall. She slowly walked down the hall, sticking near the wall on her right. She listened carefully as the vibration echoed strongly off of the stone wall, and weakly off of every wooden door she passed.
She reached the end of the hall and turned around, walking up the wall on the opposite side. As she approached a tall red wall hanging depicting Celestia and Luna locked in a circle, the echo grew surprisingly weak. She poked her head behind the tapestry, and carefully examined the wall.
Two thin seams ran vertically from the floor to someplace well over Lyra’s head. She carefully pushed on the apparent secret door, but it wouldn’t budge. She felt the surface of the door, the wall around it, and tried to work the tips of her hooves into the cracks, but to no avail.
Lyra pulled the tapestry further away from the wall and craned her neck, trying to look upwards. With practiced confidence, she pushed off with her front legs and balanced on just her hind hooves. From her new perspective, she could now see the top of the door, a horizontal seam that ran just above eye level. One of the stones just under the seam had a small circular indentation, about as big around as the base of her horn. Lyra smiled as she tapped it with her front left hoof. The door sank down into the floor, revealing a dark stairway leading down.
Lyra lit up her horn. A blue-green glow illuminated the stairs as Lyra spiraled down them. They led to a small ledge overlooking a huge dark cavern. She concentrated hard, lighting her horn even brighter.
The light of her horn flashed off of many large crystals down below. Their reflected light caused many large rocks to cast multiple shadows, bathing the cavern below her in an eerie twilight. The cavern extended even further than her light can reach. In many places, tracks vanished into the darkness, with a couple of old mine carts resting on them.
Lyra’s eyes sparkled greedily in spite of herself. “Is this why the Unicorn Tribe lived here before Canterlot was founded?” Lyra mused. She scanned the ceiling, seeing nothing but bare rock. “I’ll bet there are other entrances to the palace down here. Entrances that a winged insect-thing can easily fly to. But as for me …”
She examined the ledge that she was standing on. On one edge of it were two metal posts about shoulder high. Another ledge quite some distance away sported similar posts.
“There was once a bridge connecting these two ledges, but not anymore,” said a resigned Lyra.
She took one last long look at the abandoned crystal mine below. “Whatever we’re up against can move around under the palace unseen. I’d better tell Colgate about this. If we want to know where they might strike next, we need to watch for more secret doors.”
Lyra walked back up the staircase, opened the secret door by pressing the button telekinetically, and carefully smoothed down the concealing tapestry. She again hummed and struck her horn to the wall, and continued down the halls of Canterlot Castle, resonating at a pure middle C.
Colgate stood in the entrance to the throne room. Even thought Celestia was absent, there were still two royal guards in attendance. They were both white earth ponies, with pure white manes. The rookie with the pure blue headcrest was unfamiliar to her. But she recognized the one with a blue and white headcrest.
“Hey there, Luminus,” she said, flashing him a toothy grin. “You still flossing regularly?”
“You bet, Dr. Colgate,” he replied in a deep booming voice. “Gotta keep ‘em luminous, you know? Dr. Aqua’s been keeping me honest. How’s the private practice in Ponyville working out?”
“Beautifully. I hope all the new recruits aren’t giving Dr. Aqua too much work,” she said.
“Oh, not too many new recruits at all. With the wedding coming up, they’re making us work extra shifts. That’s why you see so many guards,” he offered.
“Oh, really! I didn’t realize that. I hope they aren’t working you too hard,” said Colgate for the seventh time today. “How are the new recruits doing? And what about Cadance’s honor guard?”
“Oh, they’re just drawn from the normal staff. Cadance hand-picks a few of them, but usually Shining Armor or his adjutant fills out the roster as usual. Nothing special for me, though. I’ve got my usual throne room duty all week,” he said. “But the new guy here just guarded her this morning. Say, what’s your name again?”
“Um … Stallianus,” he said in an equally deep and booming voice.
“How’s she been treating you?” inquired Colgate.
“Well, I probably shouldn’t …” Stallianus sputtered.
“Ha ha!” proclaimed Luminus. “Look, I know we’re not supposed to chit-chat with anypony else when we’re on duty, but Dr. Colgate here is one of us.”
“Well, she’s nice. Just great to work with,” Stallianus offered.
Luminus motioned for Colgate to get closer. As she leaned in, he whispered, “I don’t know about these new guards. When the new ones attend on Cadance, they say she’s nice, but everypony else says she’s really mean. The ones who knew Cadance way back when she lived in the castle full time say she’s changed. A lot. I know all about staying in the good graces of the ponies in charge but these new guards – Coltius, Ponius, Guardius – they’ve got no backbone.”
Colgate cast a sideways glance at Stallianus, and noticed that he was staring at the two of them suspiciously. She took a step away from them. “I wouldn’t worry so much about Cadance,” she proclaimed loudly. “She’s just got some wedding day jitters.”
“If you say so,” said Luminus with a sigh.
The sound of hoofsteps approached the throne room from a distance.
“Alright, rookie, stand at attention,” said Luminous in a deep yet soft voice. “Princess Celestia is right on schedule, so keep it sharp, snappy, and businesslike.”
“Yes, sir!” Stallianus replied.
Colgate excused herself and left the throne room.
As she walked out of sight of the throne room, her expression changed from one of cheer to one of carefully contained rage. “Somepony … no … something is messing with the castle guards. But how? Did they get to the recruiter? Influence the new recruits during basic training? I have to tell Lyra to keep an eye out. This madness must be stopped.”
Twinkleshine flitted about the castle, chatting with everypony who would talk to her, and many ponies who wouldn’t. She had heard that the theater critic for the Canterlot Sun-Times was invited to the wedding, and if she buttered him up properly, it would certainly help her first big break get even bigger.
The rumor that Starbright Tower was reserved for press was too widespread and persistant to ignore. Twinkleshine made her way to the pure white tower with the bright eight-pointed star at the top. She found that the two gray unicorns guarding the entrance were just as strict and stuffy as they were strong and rugged-looking.
“Absolutely no admittance!” said one with a scowl.
The other had nothing more to add but a scowl of his own.
Twinkleshine left the tower, frustrated, but still smiling. She trotted around the tower and found that it overlooked the kitchens. The smell of baking bread and steamed vegetables wafted from the doors, windows, and chimneys.
She assembled several barrels into a crude staircase and climbed on top of the kitchen. Several clouds of smoke and steam were billowing out of the chimneys.
“And here I was thinking this cloudwalking spell would be worthless unless I wanted to play a pegasus!” she said with a smile.
With a flash of white light, Twinkleshine enchanted her hooves. She found a promising looking puff and stood on it.
“Oh! That’s hot!” she said prancing in place. After three little hops, she wore her way through the cloud and landed awkwardly on the roof.
“Okay, Twinkles. Be a trouper. If you want to be a hot star, you need to put up with some hot hoofsies,” she said to herself.
She hopped up on another puff. This time, instead of jumping around, she gritted her teeth, slowly shifting her weight away from any hoof that sank too far in.
She rode it up to a window midway up the tower, and jumped inside. She stood on a spiral staircase that was as pure white as the exterior of the castle.
A hushed conversation was going on upstairs. “… shows inappropriate familiarity toward the castle guard …,” she heard an unfamiliar voice say.
“Oh! They’re talking about me already,” she said to herself. “I wonder who it is? Some out-of-town reporter from The Fillydelphia Inquirer? The Neighton Nightly News?”
She crept up the stairs. The door to the next room up in the tower was wide open, and what she saw inside made her gasp with astonishment.
The speaker appeared to be a black alicorn. But his coat was unnaturally shiny, and he had what appeared to be jagged spikes in place of his mane and tail. A similar spike adorned the top of his head in place of a normal horn. His wings were insect-like rather than feathered. But strangest of all, his legs seemed to be filled with holes that didn’t affect their function.
“How about this?” said the strange figure.
Twinkleshine watched amazed as the strange figure changed into …
“Min!” squealed Twinkleshine with delight.
She hurried up the stairs to a small room devoid of furniture or decoration. Princess Cadance was there along with Minuette Colgate.
“Min! That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed, giving Colgate a hug. “I had no idea you were so good at special effects!”
Cadance and Colgate stared at Twinkleshine, stupefied.
“Yeah,” Colgate finally said. “Special effects. Bet you didn’t know I was so good at them.”
“Why no, not at all! You got me there, Min!” she gushed.
Cadance’s expression quickly changed from shock to anger. “Twinkleshine! What are you doing here? This tower is private!” she snapped.
“Oh, I was just trying to find the reporters,” she said. “You know, so I can chat, schmooze, mingle, …”
Colgate and Cadance cast uncertain glances at each other. Finally Colgate said, “You know, Twinkles, the press is in Starbright Tower, over there.” She pointed out the window at a pure white tower with a small five-pointed star on top. “This is Starshine Tower.”
Twinkleshine looked out the window. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I thought that one was Starlight tower.”
“Starlight Tower is the tallest one!” snapped Cadance. “How dare you contradict us!”
“Oh, I guess I should’ve known better. Min here has always been super observant,” observed Twinkleshine.
Cadance and Colgate shared an impatient glance. “Why don’t you just leave. Right away.” said Colgate. “Cadance and I have important wedding stuff to talk about.”
“Oh, alright,” said Twinkleshine. “But if you’re going to pull special effects stuff like that at the wedding, you really oughta consult me first. I’m a professional, you know.”
Twinkleshine walked to the bottom of the stairs, but rather than leaving, she strained to listen to the conversation above.
“So, what about her?” asked Colgate. “Would she be a better choice?”
“I’m not sure yet. I might have to do something about both,” replied Cadance. “Be ready for either, but don’t make your move until I give the word. There’s too much at stake for me to risk tipping my hand too early.”
“Is Cadance inviting Min and me to a high-stakes poker game?” wondered Twinkleshine. “Oh well. I’ll find out later. I’d better get moving. The sooner I get to the press room, the sooner I can start schmoozing.”
Twinkleshine hummed a little tune as she merrily trotted out of the tower, much to the surprise of two stodgy unicorn guards.
Lyra and Colgate sat in the changing room, concentration written all over both of their faces. Their horns glowed softly, and a gentle hum emanated from Lyra. No such hum came from Colgate.
Colgate concentrated harder. A deep rumbling sound came from her, which eventually resolved into a deep siren-like moan.
“Eeagh!” spat Lyra in disgust. “How do you even do that?”
“Look, I don’t know the slightest thing about music,” said Colgate apologetically. “I’m not even sure what a ‘middle C’ sounds like, much less its vibratory frequency.”
“Well, that’s disappointing,” said Lyra, quieting her horn. “I guess it’s harder for anypony who doesn’t have perfect pitch like I do.”
“That means you have to search for the secret doors by yourself,” said Colgate. “And be on the lookout for the guards. The ones who might be compromised in some way –“
“Are the new recruits, who have single-colored headcrests or dark blue star symbols around their necks,” finished Lyra.
Suddenly the door flew open.
“Yoo-hoo!” called out Twinkleshine as she pranced into the room. “Say, Lyrie. You got a look at Min’s monster notebook, didn’t you?”
“Umm, yes,” said Lyra. “You actually tore one of the pages out of it while I was holding –“
“Min is such a special effects wizard!” exclaimed Twinkleshine, waving the page around. Noting Colgate’s baffled expression, she continues, “Oh, don’t be modest, dear. I’m sure you’ll knock ‘em dead at Ponyville Community Theater, or wherever you’re doing your changing act. I copied my notes on our dresses onto a proper note pad, so you can have your monster back.”
She floated the torn page over to the notebook, which rested on the vanity. Colgate put it back in its proper place, and shot puzzled looks at Lyra and Twinkleshine. Lyra just sighed and shook her head.
Finally, Colgate broke the awkward silence. “Hey, Twinkleshine,” she said. “You notice anything unusual about the guards? Especially the new ones.”
“Oh, Min, sweetie, you do not want to flirt with those guards,” opined Twinkleshine. “I mean, the younger ones look so dashing in their uniforms, but you can’t get three words out of them unless it’s to complain about you breaking some silly rule.”
“You see any … strange entrances?” asked Lyra.
“Oh, you should have seen that entrance I made! Riding a cloud right into Cadance’s secret little meeting,” she said, giving Colgate a wink. “Talk about strange! But take my advice, Lyrie, if you’re going to use a cloudwalking spell, don’t use it to walk on scalding hot steam. Stick to normal clouds.”
Twinkleshine dramatically spun around to face the door. “Well, it’s been fun chatting with you girls, but I have a date for tea with the society columnist for The Manehatten Hitching Post. See you at din-din!”
“Right. Bye,” said Colgate as Twinkleshine strode out the door. “I don’t know why I even bothered. When she’s her head’s in the clouds like this, nothing gets through to her. It looks like we’re on our own.”
“So, what now?” asked Lyra. “We’ve gone through this wing of the castle, and found no more entrances to the caves below, and nothing solid about the guards.”
“I think our next move is to check the vicinity of Starshine Tower,” offered Colgate. “That’s where Cadance’s personal prep room is, and it’s close to the captain’s office.”
“It’s also near the kitchens,” added Lyra. “That’s plenty of targets for our little monster to mess with. I’ll watch for more cave entrances.”
“And I’ll talk to the captain or his adjutant about the new recruits,” added Colgate. “There’s got to be something suspicious that they’ve overlooked. We’ll meet every hour just outside of the kitchens.”
“Right,” said Lyra. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, no matter what.”
