Mirror: Book I - Mind

Two occupants sat at the opposite end of the table housed within the castle library. Princess Twilight took a short moment more to scan over the report hoofed to her from Town Hall, delivered by the investigative duo sitting patiently in anticipation of her majesty’s answer. Amethyst had to suppress the words back down her throat again and again as the silence began to eat away at her. She suspected that some tale of persuasion might convince the Princess to support their request, but she knew deep down now to trust Ronin for at least this once. Whenever the young stallion said he had a gut feeling about the means of silence, Amethyst strangely felt herself prompted to follow suit.

She lifted a nearby pencil with her magic and began to twirl it in the air, and Ronin gave her a wry look, only to snap his head back over to the Princess as she began to clear her throat.

“Surely you understand that I never sought the need for our guards to intervene, given the mundane severity of these ‘Garden Raids’.” Twilight started.

“Y-Yes, we understand.” Amethyst began. “But you see-”

“But, if the situation is as severe as you say it is, then it is only in my duty to adhere to the cries of Ponyville’s citizens.” The Princess furthered. “I had received Miss Berry Punch’s report yesterday and I’ve already passed her release form to the Mayor.”

“Do we have permission to request aid from the police?” Ronin asked.

“Without a doubt, you can give them this letter.” Twilight rounded a scroll with thin, red binding and a stamped seal, depicting her own cutie mark. “This will tell them everything they need to know. If you do have any further questions you can ask either Sam or Ralph, or come see me.”

“Thank you, your highness.” Ronin bowed dutifully. “You don’t know how much this will aid in our investigation.”

“I’m happy to help. I’m just glad that you two seem to finally be getting along properly.” Twilight noted.

Ronin glanced away with a fluster filling his face, and his partner tugged at an imaginary collar as her cheeks began to flood with a hot, red blush. “Who’s getting along with who? I’m not getting along with anypony!” Amethyst clarified. “This guy is just my partner.”

“Please, there’s no need to hide it.” Twilight chuckled softly. “In fact, I think it’s wonderful that you two have discovered a common bond even in the midst of historical segregation.”

The party of two froze and stared at their aid with estranged gazes and cocked eyebrows, going so much as to trade the glances between one another before returning to the inquisitive, purple Alicorn.

“Is this supposed to be one of those racist jokes or something?” Amethyst wondered.

“Whoop! Sorry, I’ve been letting my research slip, haven’t I?” Twilight let another chuckle escape her lips before continuing. “No, rather it’s something I’ve been reading about, on the matter of different types of unicorns around the world. Ronin, you said you come from Neighsia. May I ask where from exactly?”

“It is a village called Tsukimura, otherwise known as the Village of the Moon. Ponies there will use their magic on the water and bend it to control several different practices and utilities. Historians say it is part of why our horns differ from those on the other side of the sea, given that we bend our magic with the flow of water.”

“Exactly! The unicorns here in Equestria come from more mountainous regions, and many still live up high in places like Canterlot to this day. Back in those days we used to search the mountain walls and mine in caves for gemstones, I’ve even heard some ponies compare our horns to that of a drill.”

“Right, well, evolutional theory is an exciting subject isn’t it?” Amethyst beckoned her partner, flicking her head. “C’mon, Ron, we got a job to do.”

“Ah, right.” Ronin bowed to the Princess once more before making his departure. “Thank you once more, your highness.”

“Of course. Good luck, you two!” The Princess hollered over as the investigators trotted through the double doors. As the metallic clang echoed throughout the chamber, Twilight rested a hoof to her cheek and her elbow to the table, releasing a tired, longing sigh.

“So…” Spike wandered up beside her. “When are you gonna get a coltfriend who knows about science and stuff?”

“Spike!” Twilight twirled around, flustered, slamming a book shut and covering her face with it. “Go dust the bookshelves…or something!”

“Just saying, I could use an extra hoof around here.” The little dragon huffed.

At the southern tail of Ponyville stood what was once called the local training dojo, and even looked as such to this day, but one would find only a couple of bunk beds accompanied by a couple of royal guards, a midst of metal and weaponry lying all about in barrels and open crates.

“Absolutely not.” Sam told them. “I will not follow these orders, neither myself nor my young paladin sitting over there in the dark corner all by himself.”

Their eyes hovered over to the deep, yellow eyes gleaming from within the darkness. “I’m a rank above you, you know.” Ralph muttered.

“And why not?!” Scootaloo was the first to exclaim. “What have you got against Mare Do Well?”

“Yeah! It’s not like she’s done anything wrong.” Sweetie Belle followed up.

“We have several recorded accounts of burglary, break-ins, arson, treason, and assassinations in tandem with mercenary contracts since the pilgrimage era of Ponyville.” Sam told them.

“It’s not like she’s done anything wrong…recently.” Sweetie Belle tried.

“If y’all ain’t gonna do it for us, then what’s stopping us from taking down those wanted posters hung all around town all by ourselves?” Apple Bloom challenged.

The three crusaders squandered where they stood as a tall, black figure with leather wings emerged from the pre-mentioned deep, dark corner on the other end of the barracks. Ralph squinted his eyes harshly against the stark, stinging light from outside, but maintained his serious complexion altogether. “That, young filly, would not only be an act of vandalism, but an aiding towards an enemy of the state. The consequences for such a crime might very well lead to your guardians being thrown behind bars. You may be young, but you at least ought to be intelligent enough to know the law.”

“And you ought to know that a certain Miss Cheerilee might look down upon such accusations.” Sweetie Belle allured. “Mare Do Well is a helper, after all, wouldn’t it sadden her to see all these posters around town?”

There was another glint within the bat pony’s glare, his eyes turning soft at the mention of the mare’s name. “What have you with…her grace?” Ralph questioned.

The fillies gathered within a little circle of their own to giggle amongst one another. They knew they had the hook on the bat pony now, and all it took was a little convincing.

“Why, she’s our teacher, o’ course.” Apple Bloom turned back around.

“Miss Cheerilee is the sweetest and kindest mare a pony ever met.” Sweetie Belle added.

“Yes, I dream that she is…” Ralph looked off into the distance.

“Ralph, you’re doing that pupil thing again.” Sam shuddered. “Where your eyes get all big, it’s freaking me out.”

Scootaloo rushed over to the other guard pony to quickly shut him up as the other two got to work on their sweet-talking. “We’ve known Miss Cheerilee for so long, she’ll listen to almost anything we ask her!” Apple Bloom announced.

“What about that time we poisoned her with the love potion-” Scootaloo’s jaw received Sweetie Belle’s hind hoof, muffling the pegasus’ speech into low, quiet muffles.

“And we’ll send in a good word for you.” Sweetie followed up.

“Yes, that would be splendid…” Ralph’s ear twitched.

“On the condition that you pretty please with pancakes, butter and whip-cream and a double cherry on top, take down those wanted posters-”

“No, not a chance!” Ralph’s senses returned to him as he recoiled and unfurled his wings once more. “You cannot trick me, little mischief makers. The graceful Miss Cheerilee would see no honor in defying the law for her sake. Therefore, I cannot accept your offer.”

The three girls hung their heads and began towards the other end of the room with a means to rethink their strategy. It was at this point they had ran out of just about every choice within their arsenal and were seeking upon more desperate measures, but in the midst of their despair no answer had come falling from the sky like it usually did. They supposed that maybe it was because they were inside a building, but in that case, the miracle would have fallen from the ceiling by then.

“That’s just the sawdust from the remodeling.” Apple Bloom dusted the top of her mane.

Her friends sighed, not a light bulb appearing above any of their heads.

“What happened to us, girls? We used to be so good at this kind of thing!” Sweetie sprawled her hooves.

“Manipulating other ponies into doing what we want?” Scootaloo wondered. “Maybe they’ve just gotten smarter since then.”

“How are we gonna become the Cutie Mark Mare Do Well’s now?” Apple Bloom seethed where she stood and bucked a rear hoof behind her in frustration. “It’s no fair!”

“Ouch!”

The apple girl jolted in surprise and turned to the barrel behind her. “Sorry, mister, didn’t see ya there.”

“Yeah yeah, just keep it down, will ya’?” The wooden barrel snuffed and snorted back to slumber. “What’s it take for a pony to get some shut eye around here?”

Time laid frozen for the three fillies. They looked to one another with confusion, and even though they had witnessed and experienced odder things than a talking barrel, the sight was all too much for them to just walk away like it never even happened in the first place. Apple Bloom climbed up to the rim and opened the case whilst Sweetie and Scootaloo peered in from the sides. There, curled up much like a feline at the bottom of the barrel, was a full-grown pegasus with his hooves tucked into his belly, snoring against the walls of the container. The three fillies slowly leaned up from the entrance and looked to one another with knowing grins.

“You girls thinking what I’m thinking?”

Rarity often took to accomplishing her grocery duties after business hours, given that several of her customers would often file their orders in the morning in hopes of obtaining their piece at some point in the afternoon. Business however became unbelievably slow these days, and though it was no surprise that fashion sense seemed to diminish during the late summer season, the fashionista began to wonder if the recent decisions she had been making on behalf of her boutique were really helping her out in the long run. Perhaps the day would come when her sister would finally come of age to mare the shop herself, and then they could work in shifts! The only problem was actually getting Sweetie Belle thrilled for such an endeavor, which Rarity was quite certain that an adventurous little filly like her had absolutely zero interest in.

As the unicorn rounded the last corner to her road home, bags of produce hovering on each side, she spotted an oddly out of place container next to the front window. It was a barrel, overturned with the lid torn off, no contents lying within all except for a couple of minuscule, dull green feathers. Rarity lifted her head, rolled her eyes and mumbled to herself.

“Honestly, Sweetie Belle, if this is another one of your Crusader projects it wouldn’t kill you to clean up after yourself.” She huffed, fumbling for the keys to the front door. “I thought you and your friends would have grown out of this phase by now.” Oddly enough, the front door was already ajar, and the mare pushed open, allowing the light from outside to fill in the dim space within. “I’ll have to have a word with you about this nonse-eh-EH-WAHAHAAA~!”

Rarity unleashed a blood-curdling shriek as her eyes spotted three dark figures squandered at the far end of the room, their eyes glowing from within the shadow. Torn fabric laid all about, needles thrown out of place and thread strewn this way and that. The green feathers had increased in quantity, leading over to a disheveled figure that which the three figures stood atop of. There was a click, and the lights flipped on. Apple Bloom held a row of fabric across her hooves with a sewing tomato in her mane, the needles held between her teeth. Sweetie Belle was busy measuring the pegasus’ limbs whilst loosely wearing her elder sister’s gloss-red glasses, and Scootaloo stood upon Zephyr’s back whilst fixing a head piece over his mane. Zephyr, the pegasus in question, held a statue like pose as the girls stood frozen staring at the unicorn at the door.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity zipped over, dropping the groceries. “What have you done?”

“Rarity! You ruined the surprise…” Sweetie moped.

“You’ve torn my fabric, dismantled my sewing supplies, and dragged a guest into our home without even giving me a chance to spruce up the place!” She looked to the pegasus. “Hello, Zephyr, how are you?”

“Hey, Rares.” Zephyr grinned.

“What kind of surprise is that?!” Rarity snarled back.

“Okay, well, it wasn’t exactly a surprise.” The younger admitted. “But, you could have at least waited until we were finished.”

“How could I have known you were up to no good, once again?” Rarity returned to Zephyr. “Shall I get you some tea?”

“Do you have jasmine?” Zephyr asked.

“We have green, chamomile and matcha.”

“I’ll take a juice box.”

Rarity nodded happily and hovered her groceries from the door, shoving them into Sweetie Belle’s chest and growling for her to get into the kitchen. As the younger and the elder trotted into the other room, Zephyr gave another holler in their direction.

“Don’t you worry, Miss Rarity, these girls are naturals.” He called. “Or at least, so they say.”

“Tell me if you can breath when you put this on.” Scootaloo scraped her hooves over the sides of his face and pulled a black-velvet mask over the stallion’s muzzle, causing the pegasus to recoil and stumble backwards. Scootaloo fell from his saddle and landed upon the floor with a heavy thud just as Zephyr began to crash into a nearby bin of discount hats and bureaus. Apple Bloom and her friend watched as a pair of slitted, teal sights shined from beneath a large, dark trilby. The earth filly’s ears perked and Scootaloo’s wings fluttered.

“I don’t think I can read the fine print through these.” Zephyr admitted, fumbling out of the discount bin. “What exactly am I supposed to be doing again?”

“You are the Mysterious Mare Do Well.” Scootaloo began. “As far as the royal guard is concerned, you’re a wanted criminal.”

“But tonight, we’re gonna set out to change that!” Apple Bloom followed.

“I guess I don’t really understand.” Zephyr rubbed his mask. “If this ‘Mare Do Well’ is supposed to be a girl then wouldn’t it make sense for one of you gals to take her place?”

“It’s not about who’s under the mask, it’s the image that they’re lookin’ for.” Apple Bloom explained. “Besides, you’ve got that slender, lanky figure that makes ya’ look like a mare.”

“And you have a natural sense of running away from your responsibilities, Rainbow Dash tells me you’re pretty good at that.” Scootaloo included. “You’re a perfect fit for the role.”

“It’s as simple as apple pie.” The earth filly illustrated. “Scoots here turned in an essay to keep Miss Cheerilee occupied until sunset.”

The school teacher slumped at her desk with a hoof pushed into her cheek, attempting to grade Scootaloo’s essay on her most favored idol in all of Ponyville.

「The ‘R’ in Rainbow Dash represents ‘reverence’ in that we must be reverent when in the presence of Rainbow Dash. Let’s look at the other variations of the letter ‘R’ in Rainbow Dash and ponder each of their meanings. For instance, we can be ‘radical’ in the presence of Rainbow Dash. We can be ‘righteous’ in the presence of Rainbow Dash. We can be- 」

Cheerilee dropped her head and face planted upon the desk.

“Once sundown hits we need you to go out there and track down Miss Cheerilee making her way home.” Scootaloo continued. “No need to get up in her face or anything, just start harassing her from a distance. Chase her if you have to, Rainbow Dash tells me you’re pretty good at that.”

“Just one teeny, tiny question for you girls.” Zephyr quested. “How am I supposed to hold my breath for that long?”

His last words stretched out like violin strings squealing against a misfit note, and the lean, lanky pegasus with a tight rag over his head keeled over and slumped back into the discount bin. A fine, pink and white, feathered hat fluttered down and landed over his rump, one of his legs twitching with little certainty of remaining life.

“I might’ve made the collar a little too tight…” Apple Bloom prodded her chin.

Three little bundles of leaves popped out from beneath a broad green bush, eyes hidden beneath the shade with the respective hues of amber, emerald and lavender. They all shuffled back down into the brush one by one and shoved sights between a single pair of binoculars jutting out from the foliage.

“Anything yet?” Scootaloo wondered.

“Why’re ya’ askin’ me? You can see exactly what I can.” Apple Bloom shoved over.

“We’re sitting in the playground for crying out loud.” Scootaloo grumbled. “Why do we need binoculars in the first place?”

The main entrance to the school was in fact a mere ten feet away from the trio of fillies. They looked upon the front door with respective glances before turning back to Sweetie Belle.

“It’s an aesthetic.” She explained. “We ‘ought to look the part, too.”

Several paces from their setting, two faithful guards each with a lantern attached to their saddle cinch trotted throughout the dim-lit streets of Ponyville just as the sun was beginning to crawl beneath the horizon and the moon began to take its place. Ralph halted for a moment to watch and adore the movement of the celestial satellite taking shape upon the black and blue canvas, various stars revealing themselves and dotting the skies with infinite tales of wonders to gaze and wish upon. His colleague stopped short to fix the intensity of his lantern light, waiting by Ralph’s side to render an excuse for his next course of questioning.

“I know you’re a bat pony and all-”

“The night brings me serenity and allows my vision to settle properly.” Ralph quickly answered. “We’ve been over this before.”

“That’s not it.” Sam admitted, trotting into his partner’s line of sight. “What I’ve been meaning to ask is, why the teacher?”

“What teacher…?”

“You know who I’m talking about, Miss Cheerilee!” Sam spat out.

“Keep your voice down,” growled Ralph. “Imbecile!”

“And why should I? Do I really have to admit for you that you’ve fallen for a silly mare like her?” Sam went on. “It’s no wonder we’ve been going on our patrols more often, even if the light of day hurts your eyes like you say it does. Every time we pass by the schoolhouse you make an excuse that you’re just keeping an eye on the children. Whenever you spot her in public you start acting all funny.”

“You’ve made your point, so what?” Ralph mumbled back.

“So, when are you finally going to talk to her?”

“The moment may come, in due time.”

“It’s because you’re a bat pony, isn’t it?” Sam dared. “You think she’ll turn you down just for that.”

“It’s not as though it’s something I can control.” Ralph seethed.

“You’re framing your own vision of yourself on her eyes.” Sam finally said. “Don’t you get it? The way she looks at other ponies and other things is what you really can’t control. You don’t know unless you try.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation anymore.” Ralph readjusted his wings.

The earth stallion looked upon his friend longingly and gave a tired, lengthy sigh before finally adjusting his lantern to an acceptable setting and continuing on down the street. “You know you can always talk to me, right?” Sam looked back.

Ralph simply delivered a stiff nod, looking straight ahead. “Let’s just focus on our patrol.” The bat pony muttered beneath his breath.

The girls beneath the brush of leaves were toppled over one another with drool hanging from their lips, on the verge of snoring as Princess Luna’s night progressed into a quiet, peaceful slumber. Then, there was a click at the door, and it jolted the fillies awake. Sweetie Belle quickly rummaged for the binoculars, her friends hissing at her to leave it, as once again they were only a mere ten feet away. Miss Cheerilee emerged from the front door of her schoolhouse and closed the entrance shut behind her, expelling a lengthy, exhausted yawn into the air as her hooves tumbled down the steps and dragged across the dirt path leading across the road and back to her abode.

“Zephyr, now’s our chance!” Apple Bloom hissed.

“Yeah, go harass our teacher!” Sweetie Belle joined.

Scootaloo giggled to herself. “To think we’d ever get the chance to do this-”

Her friends quickly shushed her, and watched their target with anticipation.

Alas, nothing had happened. A nearby cricket began to chirp, louder than anything in the night. The girls frowned and hissed to their colleague once more.

“Whoops! Sorry, was that the signal?” Zephyr jolted awake, lifting his head from atop the schoolhouse.

In that moment the teacher stopped to turn around and crane her neck at an odd angle, getting a squinty look at the figure placed above her building. “Who in the hay is that?” She placed a hoof over her forehead. “You, there! Get down from there before you hurt yourself!”

“Oh! R-right, sorry ma’am. My parole officer is supposed to be lecturing me on roof hopping.” Zephyr cackled beneath his mask. “Honest to ma, I’m trying, I’m trying.”

“Zephyr~!” The girls squealed.

“Ah, right! Of course!” Zephyr, or rather the masked mare pounced down from the schoolhouse and landed before the teacher with dust circulating all around them. As the whirling settled the pegasus struck a menacing pose and glared into the mare’s eyes. “Huzzah, good mare! Or…whatever they say. For I am the Mysterious Mare Shoe Sale!”

“Mare Do Well~!” The girls hollered.

“O-Oh, yeah, what they said.” Zephyr resumed. “And I’m here to, um…steal your purse!”

Cheerilee stood there, motionless and unphased. She was empty hoofed.

The girls beneath the bush slapped their hooves over their faces, groaning all the while.

“Where did we find this idiot?” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Uh, in a barrel?” Apple Bloom reminded.

“Hm, you’re right.” Scootaloo realized, and emerged from her hiding spot. “Well, looks like he can’t do this alone.”

“Wait, where’re you going?” Sweetie Belle reached a hoof out.

Alas, the pleading of her friends did nothing to stop her as the little pegasus took to plant herself between “Mare Do Well” and her teacher. Scootaloo recalled the various impressions Rainbow Dash had done of Sweetie Belle’s elder sister and took them as rudimentary acting lessons. All the while Miss Cheerilee was more or less shocked and confused to see her student run out onto the scene, but more over frustrated with her at this point. Obviously the trauma from the needlessly lengthy essay hadn’t quite left her mind just yet.

“Oh no, Miss Cheerilee, help me.” Scootaloo cried as dully as ever, exaggerating a hoof over her mane. “It appears that I have been captured by none other than the dreaded Mare Do Well. Y’know, that pony the guards have been looking for? Why, don’t you think it would be incredibly useful for somepony to call the guards, wink wink, to settle this dilemma? Wink wink?” The filly gritted her teeth.

“Scootaloo?” Cheerilee scoffed. “I don’t know what this is all about, but I better not wake up at the bottom of a pit about to get married to some farmhoof. Are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with you, too?”

“This one’s good, squirt.” Zephyr leaned down. “Wanna call it a night and head back to the Mare Cave? I could use another juice box.”

“Oh, for the love of-” Scootaloo unfurled her wing and produced her saddle knife. She placed the small blade within Zephyr’s frog, laid the sharp metal upon her fur, and quickly stroked downward in a swift, slicing fashion. Scootaloo unleashed a cry of pain, unbeknownst to her as to just how deep she had managed to cut, and how much it actually hurt to have her hoof cut by a knife. The blood began to seep, and Cheerilee let a shriek fly into the open night sky as she stumbled forward with her hooves outstretched towards the little pegasus.

Meanwhile, as the duo of guards had begun trotting in the exact opposite direction, Ralph’s ear twitched to the sound of what was unmistakably a scream. Miss Cheerilee’s scream!

“Something is wrong.” Ralph turned the other way.

“What’re you talking about? We haven’t seen anything yet-” His friend turned to him, stopping short and lying stiff. “Uh…you’re doing that pupil thing again.”

As quickly as he had spoken the bat pony spanned his black-leather wings and took to the skies, shouting to his partner below. “Make haste, Sam! She’s this way!”

“Who in the bloody nine moons are you talking about?!” Sam gasped for breath as he struggled to keep up with his comrade, whom was already all but a black dot soaring to the southern reaches of Ponyville. The earth stallion on the ground trotted along heavily as his armor weighed him down and his huffing only got heavier. “This is what I get for all those cake jokes, huh?”

Cheerilee was busy holding Scootaloo at a hoof’s length as she scanned over the pegasus’ self-inflicted wound with motherly concern, but scolded her with the fury of an elder. Meanwhile, the stallion beneath Mare Do Well’s mask had quickly fallen silent as he gazed upon the situation unfolding before him.

“Who thought it was a good idea to give you this knife, young mare?” Cheerilee questioned.

“It’s mine, I found it.” Scootaloo attempted.

“I’m going to have a word with your aunts about this. There’s no reason you should be out at this hour anyhow, what’s gotten into your head? You and I have school tomorrow, you know.” She twisted her sights towards the bush. “And you two, I know you’re in there. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, come out and explain yourselves. Don’t make me count to three!”

In their effort to sort out their plans presumably as grown mares, the Crusaders had ended up being treated only as the children everypony saw them as a few years prior, even before the three had received their cutie marks. Fate had it however that the night was too stubborn to end on a dry and subtle note, and with a final nod from the skies, Ralph reined his terror once more. Yellow, piercing eyes shone from in between twin black veils. The guard barred his fangs and unleashed his cry upon his intended target.

“Mare Do Well! We should’ve known.” Despite the absence of his colleague, Ralph spoke on. “Your reign of terror shall end this night!”

Now, it was Cheerilee’s turn to shriek, and it was the shrill heard round Ponyville as the better part of the residential district flipped on their lights and emerged from their homes to find out what was the matter. Ralph narrowed his descent and aimed for the masked pony, but just as Scootaloo’s prior words held true, Zephyr was certainly quick on his hooves and an expert at avoiding certain consequences.

“Look at yourself, pal! You’re covered head to hoof in armor.” Zephyr taunted. “What makes you think you can catch somepony as slick and quick as I am? Hoo-boy, Rainbow Dash will be so proud when she hears about this.” The stallion crouched low, got a running start, and made to spread his wings as he lifted his hooves from the earth and soared for only a short few seconds. Tumbling and rolling across the ground, Zephyr laid on his stomach whilst clawing at his barrel and pushing his wings with all his might. “Hey! What gives?”

“Hm, I mighta’ made the barrel a little too tight…” Apple Bloom prodded at her chin.

“Are you serious?” Zephyr attempted to spread his wings again and again, but it felt as though he were trapped within a cocoon with no means of escape. “How am I supposed to-”

“FOR THE CAUSE!!”

“Needless to say, the citizens of Ponyville had gone to their homes that night knowing that they’d be safe and sound. The terror of Mare Do Well had been unmasked, and the ponies were more than ready to give back to their community the following morning. The proper way, the good way, the Ponyville way.”

Diamond Tiara finished her narration and slapped the newspaper onto her desk, not bothering to look up at her two associates with her eyes glued to the print. Dinky and Silver Spoon fidgeted about nervously in anticipation of their superior’s opinion, the stress lingering beneath Silver’s hide for long enough until she finally decided to clear her throat and speak up.

“So, you don’t like it?” She asked timidly.

“Like it…?” Diamond responded, coldly.

“We’re sorry, Miss Tiara.” Dinky began solemnly. “We’ll try again tomorrow-”

“I…loved it!” The chair pony scooped up the paper and batted a hoof to the front page. A well-aligned photo of Zephyr Breeze unmasked in his Mare Do Well outfit, held captive by the noble guard, Sam, showed brilliantly and broadly upon the headline. “Mare Do Well, Unmasked!” Diamond read again. “This is exactly the kind of outlandish and ridiculous to believe material that the ponies of Ponyville want and need. It doesn’t matter how ludicrous the content, believe me, readers will eat this stuff up like Celestia’s special recipe.”

“If you say so.” Dinky looked askew. She gave a sideways glance and looked to her partner with uncertainty. As always, Silver Spoon beheld a confident yet oblivious outlook to the news director’s undying boasts. It was only a matter of time before Silver finally understood that the lost embers of the friendship she used to hold with Diamond were most certainly going nowhere.

“Well done, Scoop Sisters.” Diamond chortled to herself and set the newspaper aside. “Keep scooping up those good stories.”

“Hey, about our team name.” Dinky began. “I was thinking we should change it-”

“C’mon, Dinky, we’ve got work to do!” The earth filly nabbed her partner by the hoof and set for the door. “Goodbye, Diamond, we’ll be back soon!”

The filly in the chair lent a lazy, waving hoof at the two as the door clicked shut, and the young mare was left to her own. She peeked around the room cautiously before kicking her rear hooves up onto her desk and devilishly tapping her front hooves together. A sly glint of intention caught within her glare as a grin creased over her lips.

“One down.” She muttered to herself. “Two to go.”