The Virtues Of Obscurity

The Virtues Of Obscurity: Chapter Two: The Desert Rose

It wasn't exactly a low-grade hotel, but it wasn't exactly the creme de la creme either. It was kind of an average hotel. It wouldn't look out of place in Ponyville. In fact, aside from all the sand and the scorching weather (the pegasi didn't have it quite under control yet), the entire town wouldn't be too out of place inside of Ponyville (except for the fact that there were a few cloud houses mixed in with the regular ones, that is). Almost all the buildings were simple and unadorned, nothing like the skyscrapers Celestia eventually wanted to build in this city. It was barely a city at all, honestly, it was more like a medium-sized town. It was only a little bit bigger than Ponyville.

Lightwave and Cloud entered the hotel. Aside from the receptionist, nopony was in the lobby. The receptionist clearly wasn't the pony they were supposed to be meeting. She looked completely disinterested in anything, much less Lightwave's arrival. Lightwave went up the stairs to the fourth floor, and found her room. She entered. There was a pony waiting for her, on her bed. She closed the door. She was a grey pony with an empty, silver birdcage as her cutie mark. Lightwave didn't want to know what that symbolized. Quietly, the pony whispered to her.

"You can drop the charm. I know you're Twilight Sparkle. I was the one who sent you that message."

Twilight did so, unhiding her horn. Spike was also returned to his natural appearance as a baby dragon.

"Great. I was getting sick of having to walk around on all fours," said Spike enthusiastically.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"I brought you here because I thought you might be able to help. We need you. You might be the only one who can help us."

"Help you do what?" Spike interrupted impatiently.

"Save Equestria from its most dangerous threat yet: itself."

"What do you mean? Our country's better off than ever! Our economy is booming and Celestia's never stopped being a great ruler--"

"Ugh. I can't believe you actually believe that load of manure. I thought you might be smarter than that."

Clearly, this pony's crazy. Twilight thought.

"While Celestia might be a decent ruler, she's not the one in control. It's the House Of Platinum. They manipulate even her and lie to everyone. Legend is that she's not even a pony at all, but a spirit they bound to serve them."

Okay, she might not be completely crazy. This lies perfectly in line with a lot of my own observations. Even the last bit. Celestia's nothing like any other pony I've ever known, not even the similarly immortal Luna and Cadance.

"I'm with you." Twilight found herself saying. "I know firsthand how horrible the House is. And secondhand as well."

She showed the pony Starswirl's journal.

"Wow... a book that's escaped their influence. That's rare these days."

The pony read the pages that Twilight indicated to her to read.

"That's disgusting. How did she get away with it?"

"I don't know."

"Wait, what did she do?" Interrupted a confused Spike. He had never read Starswirl's journal.

"I'll read it to you."

Pinkie Pie had been the first to notice Twilight's disappearance. She had run out of flour (she went through it quite quickly) and had went over to Twilight's to borrow some (she'd be sure to give it back when she was done with it). Twilight was gone, as was Spike. No friendship problems appeared on the map to explain her disappearance. However, this wasn't that unusual. Twilight was probably just at another friend's house. However, after checking  all of the houses in Ponyville, Pinkie (as well as Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy) agreed that this was not the case.

As they rode the train to Canterlot (to check for Twilight there), Pinkie thought. She didn't just think, however. She also talked to her friends, but her chatter was just insipid and meaningless. It wasn't her focus. Her focus was Twilight. She was legitimately afraid for her friend; this was the first time Twilight had just disappeared like that. Nopony even saw her leave. It was scary to have a friend just disappear like that. Especially if you knew what Pinkie knew. She could tell that Twilight's smiles towards her brother were faked; that she had tried to get Cadance and Shining split not just because she could tell that this wasn't the real Cadance, but also for Cadance's sake somehow. It was all written in her face. Pinkie could read ponies' faces like Twilight would read a book. Just from their faces alone, Pinkie could tell enough about a pony to know just what would make them happy-- even if from an outsider's point of view, it looked like Pinkie was doing the opposite.

The only exceptions were Changelings and babies; the former could disguise their emotions with careful shapeshifting (though if they weren't careful, this could expose them as Changelings), and the latter she just could never understand. Babies were confusing. Their faces tended to say one thing, but their reactions something completely different from what she expected.

Of course, nopony knew that Pinkie could do this. Not even her closest friends. Not even Maud (though Pinkie suspected that Maud could do this too). She was just too afraid of what they would think of her when they found out to tell them. Plus, if she told them, then they'd be a lot less surprised when she showed them their birthday presents: exactly what they wanted, even when they were too shy to admit it to anyone. She was just that good.

"And then, the eclair jumped over the moon!" Pinkie finished the story she had been telling her friends to pass the time exactly when the train pulled into the station. They got off the train and headed towards Canterlot Castle, hoping that Celestia might have some answers.

"Until next time we meet. You know how to contact me." Birdcage said. She exited Twilight's-- no, Lightwave's --room.

They hadn't covered very much ground that Twilight didn't already know, but near the end of their chat, Birdcage had given Twilight a mission: learn as much about the House Of Platinum as she possibly could. This meant, for the first time in many years, going back home.

She wasn't prepared to do this, but she would do whatever she had to do to protect Equestria.