Servant of the Queen

Being the last day of July, this Wednesday was still a rather sweltering day. The sun’s rays beat down against the pavement, radiating heat up, likely enough to cook an egg if it were left on the sidewalk.

Fortunately for Moonglade, changelings couldn’t feel the stark heat of summer, though she was still feeling rather hot as she planted yet another kiss on Home Run’s lips, both of their eyes constantly checking the doorway to make sure no one was there.

The blonde haired girl lay atop her boyfriend, sharing a multitude of passionate kisses with him in his room, her right hand holding Home Run’s left against one breast, letting him squeeze it ever so tenderly.

The two of them had tried Prench kissing earlier, but stopped because the both of them didn’t quite know how to do it properly; they had opted to just go back to normal kissing, at least for now.

Today, Moonglade had on her purple Discourse shirt instead of her orange summer shirt. She figured a change of attire every now and then was nice. Home Run was clad in his usual shirt, along with the same shorts he always seemed to wear at home. The ones that could barely cover his excitement. Leaning on top of him, she could feel something in his shorts getting bigger and harder, pressing into her hip and throbbing like it was alive.

“You know… Your um, little friend, he’s always so happy when we’re doing stuff like this.” Moonglade smirked at Home Run as she held his face in her hands. She quickly took one glance at the doorway. The sound of the baseball game on TV could be heard from downstairs.

“I-Is he?” Home Run gulped.

“Mhm…” Moonglade stroked a hand along its length. “But don’t worry, we’re not going that far yet… Though, it’s amazing how hard it can get, Home Run.”

“Ummm… y-yeah, right…”

“But enough talk…” Moonglade kissed him again. “More kissing. More touching…”

Moonglade continued to let Home Run touch her, at the same time, breathing in, tasting the delicious love that he had for her. He always tasted so good.

Home Run’s touch made her feel so very pleased. It was different from Sunny’s, Moonglade didn’t yet know why, but it gave her a different feeling. Perhaps it was because Sunny was such a nymphomaniac. Home Run was nothing like that, not minding taking it slowly with her. Her aunt’s advice seemed to be working, not going too far with Home Run just yet. She had to take it slowly, step by step as they spent time with each other.

One day, Moonglade. You’ll get to the really good stuff with Home Run one day… Just be patient.

“HOOOOOOMEEE RUUUUUN!”

That startled Moonglade and Home Run again, but they knew better by now. Everytime she was here, having her little kissing sessions with Home Run, they would always hear the familiar call from downstairs. So far, it always meant the game on TV, so the two of them had learnt not to check it out, though they still kept their eyes on the door. Moonglade also kept her heightened senses on the stairs and the hallway, listening out for any signs of approach, or smells.

“So, school’s starting soon…” Home Run panted as their lips separated. “Does your homeschool schedule start the same time as ours?”

Moonglade nodded and drew circles on his chest with a finger. “Yeah, it does. I won’t be able to see you on the weekdays again, once all that starts.”

Of course, that was a lie, but Silver Rose had to go to school, so she needed to come up with something.

“Well, then I’m very thankful for the time I’ve got to have with you during this break.” Home Run leaned up and kissed the young changeling on the forehead. “I love you, Moonglade.”

Moonglade giggled and blushed. It still felt weird hearing such words, but it sounded like music to her ears each time. “And I love you, Home Run.”

She glanced over to the covered window. Being able to love him might’ve not been a permanent or sure thing, but at least she got the chance to express her true feelings for Home Run now. She was thankful for that, at least.

“So, new classes and all that, right?” Moonglade gave him another kiss. “Choose anything fun?”

“Yeah, I applied for a bunch. Not sure which ones I’ll get, but I wanted to take scriptwriting and Rushian.”

“Oh? Rushian, hmm? What made you want to learn that? Not many people speak it.” Moonglade knew little of the language from Rushorse, but only a little. It wasn’t like she would ever need to use it. “You should’ve taken Prench instead. Maybe they would’ve taught you how to do the kiss.”

Moonglade stuck her tongue out. Home Run chuckled, then closed his mouth over it, tangling his tongue with hers. Moonglade tried to do the same, but both of them stopped again, laughing at their failure. They really didn’t know how to do it.

“Scriptwriting sounds cool,” the changeling told him. “Maybe you can write movies next time.”

“Won’t that be something.”

“Actually, no. You’ll probably just write baseball movies.” Moonglade snickered and leaned her head on his shoulder. “You should branch out to other things.”

“Yeah, hey, then I can write movies your mom can star in. Won’t that be cool.”

“Umm… sure. Yeah.” Moonglade wasn’t sure on that. She wondered how it would go if her mother had to see Home Run everyday.

Moonglade herself wondered what she was going to get this coming school year too. She had learned from Canvas that you might not necessarily get the subjects you pick. She found it weird, but she supposed it made sense. If two subjects were at the same slot, there was no way she could take them both. The girl hoped she could get at all of the classes she picked.

She had decided to take a painting class. She figured her mother and Canvas could show her a thing of two if she struggled with it. Plus, it did sound fun. As for math, having already taken calculus, she decided to get to an easier one and signed herself up for algebra. She hoped that it wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Mmm, but for now…” She pressed leaned up and pressed her breasts into Home Run’s face. “Let’s enjoy the remainder of our holidays, hmm?”

“Okay, I got all the cookies here.” Sugarcoat dumped the boxes of cookies in the back of Lemon Zest’s van.

Her younger sister, Gilded Lily, stood by the side, her arms folded and a serious expression plastered on her face, just like her older sister. Like Sugarcoat, she had white hair, but her skin was a pale gold instead.

“Remember, don’t come back until you sell all of them,” she instructed. “If you want to help out, at least help with all of it.”

“Yes, yes, we’ll do that. Okay?” Sugarcoat glared at her, then put on a girl scouts’ cap on her head.

“Why are you suddenly interested in helping my troop with selling cookies anyway?” Sugarcoat’s sister asked. “You’ve never wanted to help me with it before.”

“Uh, it’s a school assignment!” Lemon Zest supplied hesitantly. “We have to do some… er… community service. Yeah. That’s it.”

“During summer vacation?” Gilded Lily shook her head. “Crystal Prep is weird. Do I really have to go there after middle school, Sugarcoat?”

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “Yes. And you’re going to like it, now unless you’ve got something else to contribute, run along. Lemon, start the van.”

Gilded Lily stuck her tongue out at her older sister and flounced back into the house. “You better earn that patch for me.”

The rest of the Shadowbolts were crammed in the back of the van, minus Lemon Zest, who was settling into the driver’s seat, warming up the engine.

“Right. Everyone’s uniforms fit all right?” Sugarcoat pulled against her shirt. Being uniforms for middle schoolers, they were tighter and smaller than their normal clothes, but for her, it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable.

“Normally I wouldn’t wear such a short skirt.” Sour Sweet tugged at the hem of her garment. “But it’s so hot out that I don’t mind it. Much.”

Lemon stepped on the accelerator and the van rumbled out of the garage and out onto the road. There were very few cars on the streets at this time, as most people would be either having lunch at work or staying inside, where it was nice and cool. They soon made it to the front gates of Silver’s home, but Lemon kept on driving.

“Remember, they might recognize the van from before,” Indigo had reminded them. “So we’ll have to approach on foot and hope they let us in.”

“What if they don’t?” Sunny asked.

“Then we go to plan B.”

Sunny Flare squirmed at that. She didn’t really like plan B, but she had been outvoted.

Parking the van next to a convenience store, the girls piled out, putting the cookies into a wagon and stacking them by flavor, just as Sugarcoat’s little sister had told them to. Ignoring the pair of masked men in black who were just entering the convenience store, the Shadowbolts set off back towards the Wings’ estate with their cookies in tow.

“I hope there aren’t any chocolate chip ones in there,” Indigo remarked. “They’ll melt in this heat.”

“I didn’t check,” Sugarcoat grimaced. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

There were a pair of tall evergreen trees overlooking the front gate to the Wings’ estate. A heavy metal gate blocked the way, but there was an intercom fixed to one of the pillars. Indigo went to push the button.

*Beep*

A cheery piano piece played for a couple of seconds, followed by a click.

“Hello, can I help you?” a man’s voice asked.

“Oh, hello,” Sugarcoat said sweetly. “We’re selling cookies for our girl scout troop. Would you like to buy some?”

“Hold on a moment, please,” the man said.

The girls crowded around the intercom, holding their breaths. There was a sound of muttering on the other end of the intercom.

“Hello?” It was the man again. “We will certainly like to purchase some of your cookies. I will be down shortly.”

*click*

“Doesn’t look like they’re going to let us in,” Sour Sweet pointed out. “Guess that means Plan B.”

The Shadowbolts watched as a white golf cart appeared at the top of the hill, rolling downwards to the gate.

“Okay, Sunny. Time to do your thing.”

Sunny Flare sighed, then put a hand to her forehead, slumping over on the wagon most unconvincingly.

“Sunny, be serious. You have to act like it!” Lemon exclaimed.

“I am!”

The cart got closer and closer. Their window of opportunity was closing.

“This is taking too much time! I got this,” Indigo said, stepping forward. She held her hand out in a blade and chopped at Sunny’s neck. Sunny stiffened and fell over, unconscious.

“Indigo, what the hay!” Lemon jumped away as Sunny slid onto the ground.

“We needed her to pass out anyway,” Indigo explained. “She’ll wake up in a bit.”

“I didn’t even know you knew how to do that.”

Indigo Zap smiled proudly. “You learn a thing or two, watching Con Mane movie marathons.”

The golf cart reached the gates, which began to slide apart. Now that he was closer, they could see that it was a man in late middle age, dressed in a crisp black tuxedo.

Imagine having to wear that in this weather… Sugarcoat felt an outpouring of sympathy for what must have been the butler of the household.

“Hello, girls,” the butler said as he stepped out of the golf cart and approached the Shadowbolts. “I’m here on behalf of the lady of the house to buy some cookies.”

“Oh, mister, thank goodness you’re here!” Indigo blubbered. “Our friend, I think she passed out from the heat! Can we get her some water and a place to lie down?”

“Passed out?” The butler looked concerned. “Well, I suppose I can’t just leave you like this…” he paced over and picked up Sunny in his arms, carrying her to his cart. “I don’t think Ebony Wings will mind if we just give you and your friends some shelter from the heat. My name is Silver Platter, by the way. Ebony Wings’ chief butler.”

Silver Platter set the senseless Sunny Flare in the passenger seat of his golf cart and began the slow drive back up the hill, with the rest of the Shadowbolts following close behind.

“So far so good,” Lemon whispered to Indigo. “You think there’s anything valuable in there that they won’t miss?”

“That is called stealing, and it’s a felony,” Sugarcoat hissed. “We’re here to investigate, not loot the place.”

“Ahh. Okay.”

The butler parked the cart outside the front doors, then got out and picked up Sunny Flare in his arms. He was surprisingly strong for an older man. Sunny was carried to the doorstep and the man fumbled with his key for a moment, slotting it into the impressive wood-carved door.

“Come in,” he beckoned. “We’ll see if we can’t help your friend.”

The Shadowbolts followed the butler in, their mouths hanging open and how grand even the entry hallway was. There were displays and displays of ancient weapons and paintings, and the whole place was incredibly clean, with not even one speck of dust on any of the glass cases.

“Dude, Silver Rose lives here? It’s like a palace!” Lemon said quietly.

The temperature had dropped dramatically once they entered the house, giving the Shadowbolts respite from the heat. It had gone from a sweltering summer’s day to a cool autumn afternoon.

“I could get used to this,” Indigo grinned.

They followed the butler into a room that had an extremely long wooden table, clearly meant to be the dining room. Like everything else, the table was spotless and polished, except for a strange mark that looked like a chemical burn at the end.

“Please wait here,” Silver Platter instructed. “I shall be back with refreshments shortly.”

He left quickly, disappearing into a doorway at the far end of the dining hall. The Shadowbolts were left alone, with the unconscious Sunny Flare lying on a lounge in the corner of the room.

“Okay,” Sugarcoat said quietly. “We made it in. Now what?”

“Oh, oh, I know!” Lemon Zest raised her hand. “We split up and look for clues! I’ll take Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat. Indigo, you go with Sunny.”

“But Sunny’s KO’ed!” Indigo protested.

“Well, someone’s gotta stay here and cover our butts,” Lemon reasoned. “Just say we went looking for the bathroom or something.”

“But-”

“Be back ASAP!”

And with that parting shot, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Sugarcoat scampered off towards the center of the house. Indigo got up halfway, then looked back down at Sunny. With a huff, Indigo flopped back down onto her chair and pouted, leaving her with nothing but the wagon of cookies for company.

“Alright, we should have at least ten minutes,” Sugarcoat said as she, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet entered the main hall. There were more paintings, sculptures, and weapons here.

“This place feels like a museum,” Sour Sweet said, eyeing a gold astrolabe in a glass case. So where do we start? Do we even know what we’re looking for?”

“One of us should aim to get to that attic!” Lemon hopped on the spot as her eyes darted from artifact to artifact. “Then take a photo of that monster or whatever it is, and get the hay right out of there!”

“What would the rest of us even do?” Sour Sweet asked, looking around the hallway. “How do we even know what to look for here?”

Sugarcoat made an unhappy face. “Am I the only one who thought of a plan before coming here? We need to find a way into the attic before searching the attic. There’s probably some stairs that lead there. Then we look around for anything out of the ordinary.”

“What is ordinary in a house like this?” Lemon wondered aloud.

“Just look for anything that could point towards them being magical or something.” Sugarcoat fanned her hands to get her friends going. “Go. We’re wasting time.”

With a nod, the three mounted the stairs in the central hall, which presumably led to the floors above. Nothing really seemed to be out of the ordinary, besides the many cases of weapons and artifacts, which were signs of how wealthy a person could be. Ebony Wings was incredibly wealthy.

On the second floor, the staircase led into a living room, one with a TV and a set of couches. Past that were five other rooms. One had its door shut, but there were voices coming from inside.

“Gee, this place is so much bigger on the inside!” Lemon gaped, running a hand along one of the couches. “Hey, which do you think is Silver’s room? Maybe I can check there.”

“I’ll keep going up to see what I can find on the third floor, then,” Sour Sweet said sweetly.

“I suppose I’ll be the one to look for the attic.” Sugarcoat didn’t look too happy about that. “There are people on this floor, Lemon. Don’t get caught.”

“Righty-o, I’ll keep a good eye and ear around!” She mock saluted, then sped out of the living room and looked through one of the doorways.

This one was that of a study room, with rows and rows of bookshelves and a desk with a very expensive looking laptop sitting on it. A battleaxe hung above an unlit fireplace, glittering gently.

“Ooh, what do we have here?” Lemon crept to the laptop and flipped it open.

Turning it on, it loaded up to a rather plain green screen, asking for a password. Figuring it would take too much time, she shut it off and waltzed out of the room, deciding to check the next one.

The next one was a storage room, where all kinds of cleaning equipment was kept. Lemon deemed this room unimportant and went on. Most of the rooms on the floor were just rooms with stuff. She figured super rich people needed a lot of space to display everything they owned.

The room at the very end of the floor proved more interesting, with a bed against the wall with plush toys sitting on top of it. Lemon Zest remembered the pink wallpaper and the rough layout from the video they had taken from the drone.

“Moonglade’s room!” she squealed excitedly. Perhaps she would find something here.

The bubbly girl glanced both ways down the hall, and, seeing nobody there, crept into the room.

It was fairly nondescript as far as rooms in this house went, though still quite spacious. A single sword hung on the wall beneath two flintlocks crossed on a shield. The walls were a plain pink with white filigree, and there was a desk, a chair, and a shelf of books in the corner. Two other doors could be seen on the eastern wall.

Lemon spotted something familiar on the table and walked over, picking up a book with a bright orange cover. She tilted her head to the side in question.

“Why does Moonglade have One Thousand Years of Companionship?” This was the book they all had to read and report on over summer break, but Moonglade was homeschooled. “Could it be? Could it be… Silver is getting her sister to do her homework for her?”

Speaking of Silver or Moonglade, they hadn’t seen anyone else at home yet, besides the butler. Not even the maids-

There was a shuffle outside and Lemon could just vaguely see the black frilly skirt of someone, likely a maid, coming towards the room. She threw open the first door she could get to in a second, shutting it behind herself as quietly and quickly as she could, keeping it open a tiny crack so she could see out.

The smell of soap and something a little more cloying met Lemon’s nose. Lemon stood there in the dark, watching as a maid came into Moonglade’s room with a feather duster. Taking a look inside, she found she was in Moonglade’s own personal bathroom.

“Wow. I don’t even have my own bathroom…” she whispered to herself.

The sinktop was made of some kind of rare mineral, with white streaks going through its black surface most beautifully. There were all kinds of bottled lotions and cream on it, most of which were of many different colors.

“What could someone possibly need so many products for?” Lemon picked up a green tube of moisturizer.

She picked up another, which was of some kind of pink substance. This bottle wasn’t labeled. In fact, there was a cluster of different colors, all unlabeled. Experimentally, she opened the bottle and took a sniff.

It smelled slightly sour, but otherwise didn’t have much of a notable aroma. With no clue as to what it was, Lemon put the pink bottle back and went back to peering through the crack in the door.

The maid was still dusting the bookshelf, and it didn’t look like she would be done in a hurry.

“Well, this is dandy…”

With nothing better to do at the moment, Lemon Zest turned on her headphones and put on some Copperear to listen to. At the same time, she also began to wonder where Silver Rose’s room was. If it wasn’t on the second floor, it was likely on the third. Perhaps Sour Sweet had already found it and was searching for clues.

She figured she didn’t have much time left, so peeking out again, Lemon willed for the maid to no longer be there. To her astonishment, the coast was clear. With a skip, she left the bathroom, and was about to dash out through the main door when the maid rounded the corner again with a vacuum cleaner.

“Ohshi-”

She ducked into the next closest door and swung it shut, narrowly avoiding being seen.

A light came on as soon as Lemon shut the door behind her, probably attached to some kind of motion sensor. She turned around, her jaw dropping. She had entered some kind of walk-in closet, though it was much bigger than the lime haired girl could have expected; it was the size of Lemon’s own bedroom at least!

There were racks and racks of clothes on both sides, with the first row on the left being duplicates of Moonglade’s iconic red outfit. The ones after that were of dresses and fancy attires, followed by regular clothes, like t-shirts and jackets.

“Ooh, hehe…” Lemon picked out a white bra from under the first rack, where the girl’s underwear seemed to be kept. Moonglade didn’t have big breasts, but they weren’t small either.

Lemon remembered the footage they had of her, naked in her room. She knew Sunny had probably masturbated herself silly after that, but it was indeed true that Moonglade had quite the body.

Putting the piece of underwear back, the lime haired girl turned her attention to the right side of the closet.

The clothes here confused her.

The first rack contained Crystal Prep’s uniform.

Wait… what? Lemon wondered. Why did Moonglade have her sister’s clothes in her closet? Surely living in a house as roomy and spacious as this would mean that both sisters wouldn’t need to share the same closet?

Lemon opened the first drawer under the rack. Inside were stacks of Crystal Prep’s PE attire.

“Something’s not adding up here…” Lemon muttered to herself, closing the drawer. Unfortunately, Lemon wasn’t the best at math and logic, and she stood there for a good minute, scratching her head and turning on the spot.

“Two sets of clothes… but only one room. Homework assignments meant for Silver, in Moonglade’s room? Come on, Lemon. Think!”

A possibility entered her mind, but it was so ludicrous that Lemon snorted with laughter quietly and shoved it aside. How could that be true? There was no way that Silver Rose and Moonglade were the same person. Silly Lemon Zest. There had to be a reasonable explanation for all this.

Knowing she was short on time, Lemon went to the closet door, removing her headphones, with the sound of a vacuum now entering her ears. Silently opening the closet door, she peeked through the gap to see the maid was vacuuming under the girl’s bed, her back to her. If she was fast, she could get out without the maid noticing.

Flinging the door open, she swung it shut and sprinted as fast as she could out the door and down the stairs, the clatter of her footfalls masked by the sound of the vacuum from Moonglade’s room. Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were already at the bottom of the stairs and by the looks of disappointment on their faces, they must’ve not found anything important.

“Did you get anything? Any information?” Sugarcoat wasted no time in asking.

“Later. We need to get back to Indigo and Sunny.” Sour Sweet pulled at her short skirt. “I mean, he might already be back with the water.”

“Remember, we went to look for the bathroom.” Sugarcoat wagged a finger, then followed as Sour Sweet began leading the way back.

Lemon Zest hopped along behind them, eyeing the many displays of weapons along the way. Ebony Wings must either really like collecting weapons, or was some kind of paranoid maniac. But the latter was incredibly unlikely.

They arrived back in the first floor living room, just as the butler returned with a tray of what looked like orange juice. Indigo sighed with relief when she saw them, pointing to a still unconscious Sunny and mimicking herself asleep.

“Here you go, girls.” Silver Platter set the tray down on a short table. “You should feel much better after an ice cold drink of orange juice.”

Lemon eyed the refreshing liquid and grabbed a glass, ignoring the straw and chugging the whole thing down.

“Umm, ignore my friend.” Sugarcoat said as she retrieved another glass. “She’s like that. Thank you for the drinks. They’re very appreciated, mister.”

“It is no problem.” The butler bowed and stowed the tray under an arm after they had each taken a glass, with Indigo putting Sunny’s by her face. “Now, what cookies have you brought with yourself today?”

“Plenty.” Sugarcoat pointed at their wagon of goods. “Do help yourself to whichever you would like. We have a whole assortment of different cookies.”

“So… Is anyone else home?” Lemon asked, sipping loudly at her juice.

The butler had bent down to inspect the cookie types. “Unfortunately, the lady of the house and her family are out today. They have many matters to attend to.”

Silver’s out? Lemon grinned knowingly to herself. I guess that means no steamy sex for Sunny today.

Speaking of Sunny, the mulberry haired girl finally began to stir, blinking a few times before sitting up, rubbing at her neck.

“What happened? Where are we?” she asked groggily.

“Ah, you’ve awoken.” Sugarcoat pointed to the glass near her. “The butler of the house has been kind enough to serve us some orange juice. Drink up. It’ll help you feel better.”

“I passed out?” Sunny rubbed the back of her head, then picked up her glass and sipped from it. “Thank you, mister.”

The butler chuckled from where he was. “It is no trouble, young lady. Now, I believe I have made up my mind. How does one of each flavor sound?”

“What?! I can’t believe you knocked me out!” Sunny Flare yelled once they were back in Lemon Zest’s van. “How could you?!”

“It’s not like you were doing a good job of acting like you had passed out,” Indigo said unrepentantly. “Next time act a little better and I won’t have to do it again.”

“That’s a terrible reason!” Sunny cried.

“At least we sold nearly all of the cookies,” Lemon Zest said optimistically.

Sour Sweet scoffed. “Nearly all? We only sold one of each. We still have 4 of each left to get rid of.”

Sugarcoat waved her hand and motioned for Lemon to start the car. “Let’s go. The faster we sell all these, the faster we can go home.”

“We could always toss them.” Indigo Zap pounded her fists together. “Who’s going to know whether we sold them or tossed them?”

“Littering is a felony,” Sugarcoat recited. “And besides, if we don’t turn up with the money, my sister will know something’s up.”

“Okay, okay. Then on the way to selling the rest, come on. Did you girls find anything?”

Sugarcoat shook her head disappointedly. “I couldn’t find a way up into the attic. There hadn’t been any stairways or ladders that led further up.”

Sour Sweet folded her arms and leaned back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t find anything of importance as well. I think I found Ebony Wings’ and Ivory Wings’ rooms.Not much of importance, except for super rich people things. One of them has a creepy doll collection, though.”

“Did you happen to find Silver Rose’s room?” Lemon asked as she spun the car around and headed away from the estate. “I looked all through the second floor, but I only found an occupied room and Moonglade’s room. I’m guessing the occupied one is where the hot girl and her sisters stay.”

“You mean they don’t have rooms on the same floor?”

Sugarcoat pushed her glasses up in thought. “It makes sense if they aren’t on the same floor. Silver Rose only moved in with her aunt at about the start of the year. Moonglade has been living here all her life. They would only be able to give her a room that hasn’t already been taken.”

“But I didn’t see any other rooms on the third floor that might be Silver’s,” Sour Sweet countered. “If she’s not there or the second floor, then where is her room?”

Lemon Zest snorted as she spun the wheel. “I did a little more snooping in Moonglade’s room too. Did you know she has a C cup?”

“The important information, Lemon?” Sugarcoat frowned.

“Right. So I was in her room, and I found One Thousand Years of Companionship on her table, along with some notes on it.”

“And that’s important because…?”

“Moonglade doesn’t go to Crystal Prep. Why would she be working on this uncool book? And that’s not all!”

Lemon Zest went on to tell the other Shadowbolts about the strange concoctions in the bathroom, and then the Crystal Prep uniforms in her walk-in closet.

“Why would Moonglade have Crystal Prep uniforms?” Sunny asked.

Lemon threw her hands off the wheel for a second. “Exactly!”

Sugarcoat rubbed her chin and made a weird clicking noise with her tongue. “That is odd indeed. Why would Silver Rose hang her uniforms in Moonglade’s room? Surely she would have her own closet.”

“You know,” Lemon snickered as she waited for the light to turn green. “I had this dumb idea while I was hiding. What if Silver Rose and Moonglade are the same person. Stupid theory, right?”

The rest of the Shadowbolts shared a guffaw.

“Yeah right! What is this, Conspiracies of the South West?” Indigo Zap threw her head back with laughter. “That’ll be like, so rad. They might be twins, but they aren’t all that similar. Moonglade’s a blondie and Silver has pink hair.”

Sugarcoat shrugged. “Whatever it all is, at least we picked up some clues. We just need to know how everything fits together…”

“Yeah, and how Sunny’s become such a nymphomaniac.” This was followed by more laughter.

“Hey, knock it off! At least I haven’t started touching myself today!” The girl in question covered her ears with her hands.

“Quit kidding yourself, Sunny.”

“I am not!”

“You’re in denial!” Sour Sweet scoffed.

“Am not! I’m not like that!”

The rest of the journey back was filled with bickering and laughing, and at the same time, ideas on how they could sell the rest of their cookies quickly and be done with it all. There was still much to be discussed on what they found in the Wings’ Estate.