//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Surprise Sibling // Story: Twilight Sparkle and the Cake Thief // by Noble Thought //------------------------------// “Was it a name?” Twilight asked Spike that night as she brushed her mane. “Was it her name?” “I still don’t think you heard anything. You were so bonkers crying, and what was that about anyway? You weren’t sad, were you? And I think you hall-lucin-atered.” He frowned at her from his bed over the cover of a comic. “Is that right?” “Close. Hallucinated. And no, I wasn’t. I heard her very clearly. Luna. Could she have been talking to the moon? Or about the ghost?” She paused in her brushing to untangle a lock at the base of her neck. She was silent as she worked the hairs free, then shook her head. “But ghost can mean a lot of things, too. What if she means it’s an enemy she made a long time ago? If that’s the case, we really do need to find the thief. Even if it’s some kind of petty revenge.” “I suppose,” Spike said, folding the comic across his chest. “But what if she means a real ghost? Like, someone she knew a long time ago, and loved.” He perked up. “Maybe she had a sister? Maybe that’s who.” Then he settled back into his bed, looking disconsolate. “But… that would make me sad, to know that.” “Ghosts are real, you know. They’re documented apparitions and there’s even a school that studies them, off somewhere near the Everfree Forest.” She groaned. There wasn’t even time to properly research what she didn’t know about ghosts, on the off chance it was one. “I really hate not being able to study what I need,” she grumbled aloud, laying aside the brush. “You know a lot of the books I read—” he gave her a hard stare, daring her to question them as books or reading, and when she didn’t, he continued, “—have the moon personified as a pony, and sometimes as a dragon or spirit. Maybe she meant the moon as a spirit? And she calls it Luna?” “And?” She asked softly. “I’ve heard the moon referred to as Luna before, but…” Twilight shook her head. “It felt like she was talking to somepony.” “And I think maybe Princess Celestia talks to the sun and the moon like they were ponies. Maybe they even listen to her, y’know. I mean, what if she doesn’t control the sun and the moon, but is friends with them, and they do what she wants because they want to make her happy. But what if—” He lifted a claw to stall her when she opened her mouth. “—what if she had an argument with the moon? Or what if the moon isn’t really nice to her all the time? I mean, her cutie mark is the sun. What if the moon resents that, but can only really do anything about it tomorrow night because the moon is out way longer than the sun is?” Twilight stared at him. The thought had never even occurred to her. In all of her studies of the heavens, she had never once thought of the sun as more than a ball of fusing gasses, and the moon as a barren rock, not as living beings that might have emotions, lives, and complicated motives for doing what they did. “Huh.” “I know, it’s silly, but…” He shrugged. He was still reading the pirate comic, she saw. “There’s some strange things out in Equestria and beyond. Like ghosts.” “That’s true.” And the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She had never felt such a strong magical force from Princess Celestia that it felt like it could move the moon or the planet, let alone the sun. There had to be more finesse involved than force, or Princess Celestia’s horn would blaze like the sun up close and personal all the time. “It’s not impossible,” she said finally. “But I don’t think it’s related to the thievery. That’s immediate. After we catch the thief—” “If we catch the thief, you mean.” “When we catch the thief,” Twilight said, staring him down until he nodded, “we will be able to ascertain their motives. And we still have a lot of work to do. But first—” She held up a hoof. “—we need some help.” “Who?” “I have some ideas…” “So do I!” “Shh. Let me think. I’ll be happy to listen. I just need to get the thoughts out first.” She tapped her chin with a hoof as the thoughts came out in a slow murmur. “We can’t go home and get help. Mom wouldn’t let me leave for at least a day. At least. And Shining… well, I think I’d be home until winter break was over.” She snorted, smiling despite the distraction of Hearth’s Warming festivities waiting for her. “Besides, the answer has to be here. Somewhere.” “Yeah. Where?” She shrugged, waving a hoof expansively to include the whole of the castle. “The kitchens especially. That’s where the thefts take place. Something there must be drawing them besides the cake. Or letting them in.” “Like what? Muffins? Cookies?” He folded the comic down to look over it. “Sapphire encrusted blueberry tarts?” “No, Spike. But I think we’ll need some help there anyway. And I know the pony to talk to.” Twilight lowered her hoof and stood, nodding to him. “Get some rest, Spike. We’re going to talk to Muffins tonight after everypony else is asleep.” Spike looked up over his comic and smacked his lips. “You know, I could use a midnight snack. And Muffins… well.” He smacked his lips some more. “I would like to talk to Muffins, not eat her.” He sighed. “Twilight… that was the perfect setup.” “For what?” “Midnight Muffins! It’s like a chapter in Sable Sleuth!” “It is—” The title of chapter five of Noir Nadir sprang to mind, Donut Dawn. “Fine. So it is.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Get some rest.” A thought occurred to her as she lay on her bead, a close eye on the clock. “How did you know what that chapter title was?” Spike looked up from his comic, rolling his eyes. “What do you think I do when you’re in class all day? I’m not made of bits. I can’t buy comics every day.” “Oh.” She smiled down at him. “Thank you, Spike.” “Uh…” He frowned up at her, biting his lip. “Sure. You’re welcome.” Sable Sleuth was waiting for her when she opened the book to chapter six, Chaste Charity. Sneaking around the castle long after they were supposed to be in bed was a new experience for Twilight. She’d been out in the castle proper even later, but always with permission. Sneaking out without permission was, she admitted, oddly thrilling in a scary sort of way. She had had to wait until the sounds of snoring and murmurs filtered in under her door before she’d dared to leave her room and risk the hallways. Even with her sleeping slippers on, it had felt like every step was going to bring the guards or wake up the floor’s matron. They hadn’t. The student’s dormitories occupied the second and third level of the westernmost wing of the castle. Stairwells connected the two levels at four corners of the cube of hallways and rooms. The cafeteria was one level below that, and directly connected to a smaller kitchen than the castle’s main kitchen, and was always dark after a certain time, but it had a door that led to the servants’ corridors that tracked through the castle like the veins of some great being, delivering goods and ponies to each part of the castle. They were also dark, claustrophobic, and had blind turns at odd spaces. Spike clung to her side, staying always within the pool of radiance from a weak light spell. Celestia’s map, which she had forgotten about completely and forgotten to give back, helpfully changed as she descended the floors, always showing her the floor she was on. Other than that, she had to go by dead reckoning. After popping out into closets and bathrooms more than once, Twilight stopped at a small arched doorway and nodded to Spike, shutting off her spell. A moment later, a flicker of green light erupted, showing his face briefly as he lit a miniature torch no larger than two matchsticks. He had a collection of them in his backpack, little things he said he was trying to make for her brother’s Ogres and Oubliettes campaign that they held every time he was home, along with some old friends of his from Canterlot High. He’d offered them up as a part of his contribution to the investigation before they left. By the feebler light, Twilight poked her head out into what she was glad to see was actually her destination, the servants’ quarters. Every door had a bright brass name tag affixed to it. It wasn’t hard to find Muffins’ room, and she knocked as quietly as she could. “Moment,” came a gruff voice. The sound of hooves on stone, a grunt and slurp, and Muffins’ voice came back, brighter. “Who is it?” “Can we come in?” Twilight hissed. “Twilight?” The door opened a breath later, and Muffins, her mane looking rather like it usually did, actually, if a bit more so, appeared and yawned expansively. “Sure. ‘Time is it?” “Um.” Twilight shrugged. “Late? After midnight.” “Yeah. Figured. Late o’clock. Whas up?” Muffins stumbled back to her bed and slid mostly onto it, leaving only one foreleg dangling above the floor. “We want your help to catch the thief.” “Oh?” Blank confusion clouded Muffins’ face for a moment. “Oh!” Her head jerked up. “Oh, that thief.” “Yes, that thief.” Twilight nodded in solemn agreement. “You know the kitchens and their routines better than we do. We need to plan a…” She fished about for a moment in her mind. What had Sable called it? “A, er, sting.” “I don’t like bees,” Muffins said through another yawn. “Or wasps.” “No, no. It’s a plan. Like, um.” How to explain it? “Like, if I told you there was going to be a cake on the fifth floor, but you’re not supposed to go up to the fifth floor. But then I told you nopony would be watching, and it would be safe. And then, when you go up, I caught you being someplace you shouldn’t be.” “Oh! That kind of sting. Okay.” Muffins gazed at Twilight, blinking slowly. “But that’s not very nice, is it?” “No-o-o, it’s not.” Twilight sighed. “But we’re trying to catch the thief, not hand the cake to them on a platter.” Muffins shook her head again and seemed to wake up some more. “Why not?” she lifted the dangling hoof to point it at Twilight. “It’s not like we can apprehend them. We’re not guards, you know, and I can’t hit somepony. Why not let them have some cake?” “Because—” I don’t want Celestia to feel guilty anymore. And I want to know more about this ghost from the past. Maybe… Maybe she can be put at ease somehow. Aloud, she cleared her throat and said “It’s stealing. It’s wrong. And we have to catch them.” “Oh. Okay.” Muffins yawned. Spike, fighting a yawn, shook his head. “Why not give them some cake. It doesn’t have to be real cake you know. It can be just… fake cake. Or a different cake. Why don’t we make a small one just for them. Only, er, put some kind of spell on it so we can follow them to their hideout and show the guards where they’ve been hiding.” “Spike… that’s… That’s—” “Genius? Amazing?” He grinned at her, brushing a pair of claws against his chest and blowing on them. “I know.” Twilight closed her mouth on what she had been about to say, opened it again, and tried to be diplomatic. “I think,” she said slowly. “I think… That the thief is after more than something like cake. I think they’re after something that means something special to Princess Celestia, not just cake.” “Hmm.” Rather than looking defeated like she’d expected, he looked thoughtful. “Why not make the cake special?” He patted his backpack. “I do have the cutie mark that Crunchy made for you.” “And,” Twilight said, continuing the thread, “we make it look like there was going to be a special cake, a small one, like a big cupcake, just for me. But…” She shook her head. “I might be Princess Celestia’s personal student, but wouldn’t it look odd to break tradition like that? Nopony has ever gotten two pieces of cake before. And you saw all those confections in her tower. She’s had hundreds—” She did a quick mental calculation of the number of cutie confections in each case times the number of cases. “—at least nine hundred students who thought highly of her. If anything, that might make the thief even more wary.” Spike crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, fine. Don’t take my brilliant idea. Not like it didn’t work in Crusaders of the Last Rainbow.” She shook her head slightly, not wanting to argue about comic books again. But, it was fair. She’d also been prying some of her ideas wholesale from Sable Sleuth. “We’ll have time for planning tomorrow. We can talk about it more then, okay?” “Okay, fine.” Spike let out a breath and deflated, trying to hide a yawn from her. “But I still think it’s a great idea.” “I’ll help. Both Spike and you bring up good points—” She yawned hugely, and Twilight fought to keep herself from yawning too. “I think. I really don’t know. I’m too tired. Come back in the morning, ‘kay?” Back in the servant corridors, Twilight consulted Celestia’s map again, tracing a path along several corridors that branched into the main corridor, backtracking, and following another. Finally satisfied, she nodded and tucked the map back into its case. “What was that all about?” Spike was glaring at her. “I gave you a good idea.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean to disparage it. I’m… I’m stressed is all. I shouldn’t have let myself say those things.” He snorted. “Can you forgive me?” “Of course. But please, at least think about laying some bait. It would do what you want, wouldn’t it?” “If it works, yes. But…” “But you’re worried it will scare the thief off. Sure.” He shrugged. “And… you’re right too. Sorry.” “Apology accepted.” Twilight smiled at him, brightening her horn briefly to let it show. “Now, onto the next part we need to do tonight.” “Sleep?” “No, Spike.” Twilight set off to the left. “The library. I need to see if I can find any reference in the Lunar Lexicon about the name Luna. If we know who, we might have some information about how to stop her.” Groaning, Spike trailed after. “But it’s after midnight.” “Don’t worry. I just need your help a little bit longer to look out for guards, then we can go to bed. Even I’m not supposed to be in the library after it closes.” “Alright, great. Now we’re breaking the law. Then what?” “Not the law, just a rule of the library. Well, more of a suggestion, really. The library closes when the student dormitory is in lights out.” She felt a tingle along her spine. In the library when she wasn’t supposed to be. It was almost thrilling, and maybe would have been if not for the gurgle in her stomach. “And besides, it’s for a good cause.” “Sure. Good cause. You know what else is a good cause? Sleep.” He yawned again. “And what about tomorrow?” “Tomorrow, we get up extra early. We have a lot to do.” Spike groaned more loudly and slumped against the wall. “Just leave me here and wake me up tomorrow.” “It is tomorrow. Well, today. Tomorrow is after the thief strikes.” The worry of it sent giddy tremors up her spine. “I need you, Spike. I really do. Who else is going to watch out for guards?” As if speaking the words had summoned them, barely a few more paces down the corridor, she heard heavy hoofsteps tapping up the hall and saw a bright light gleaming underneath the door nearest her. She quickly shut hers off and raised a hoof to her mouth. Spike stood straighter and backed himself up to the wall. The steps slowed and came to a halt just outside the door. They stopped for a long time, and she could hear the rustle of mail on plate as a guard shifted in front of the door. Spike, trembling beside her, squeaked “They know we’re here, Twi—” The door burst open, flooding the narrow passage with light and a booming voice. “Halt! This is—” The voice choked off in a bleat of surprise. Even through the blinding light and shock, Twilight recognized that voice immediately. “Shiny! What are you doing here?” At the same time, Shining Armor’s flashlight spell faltered, plunging the hallway into darkness. “Twily! What in the seven layers of Tartarus are you doing out this late at night?” “I could ask you the same thing.” She brought up her own glimmer spell, leaving it with only a touch of power to fill the corridor with a gentle solar glow. “Well, let me think,” Shining Armor started, stepping in and closing the door behind him. His horn glowed chartreuse, and the echoes around them faded as his cone of silence spell took hold. He held a hoof to his chin as if in deep thought. “Gee, I wonder why I got sent up to the castle so late at night.” He made an exaggerated gasp. “Ooh! Maybe It’s because your books arrived at the house without you, and the best that hay—er, gentlepony could say was that you’d had an accident involving your trunk, and maybe a tower, and then he asked Mom to sign a book of yours.” “Oh. Ah-heh.” Twilight crossed her forelegs in front of her, looking down. “Right. Maybe I should have written a note.” “Ya think?” He sat back and scrubbed at his mane with two hooves, then stood and paced back and forth in the narrow corridor. “Geeze, Twily. I know you get focused on something, but come on.” He stopped, turning to her again. “And then I arrive, and find out you were supposed to be sound asleep, and that you’d only knocked a hole in the princess’s private tower—” “A window!” “—which thankfully wasn’t occupied at the time. Oh, and then I couldn’t get to sleep because, gosh darn it, I was worried sick for my little sister, so I volunteered to take the night shift so I could talk to you as soon as you woke up. And here you are, running around willy-filly, scaring me even closer to an early retirement.” He huffed, took several deep breaths, and glared at her. “Done?” Laughing and shaking his head, Shining Armor grinned at her. “Sure. But geeze Twily, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.” “Er… well. Yes, Spike? What?” She looked down at Spike tugging on her tail. “Does this mean I get to go to bed?” Shining Armor snorted, shaking his head. “Yeah, little guy. And Twilight, too. You both look a little haggard.” “I can’t! It’s very very important that I be able to do at least some research today.” Twilight ignored Spike’s exasperated groan. “You see…” It took her the better part of half an hour for her to explain the situation to her brother, who stood like he’d been stuffed and mounted, only his mouth dropped open at odd intervals like a fish gasping for air. At the last, she added, “And that’s why we’re sneaking around giving you gray hairs.” By the time she was done, Spike was leaning against the wall, eyes sagging and breathing growing slow and regular. Shining gave her a quizzical look, then burst out laughing. “Hey! I’m being serious!” “Oh, Twily, I know you are being absolutely one hundred percent serious. But come on, a cult of ponies worshiping an old mare’s tale? The old mare’s tale itself coming out to steal cake?” He glanced at Spike. “You don’t believe this, do you?” “Actually,” he said, looking Shining Armor in the eye, “I think it’s the Mare in the Moon,” Spike said, “but Twilight thinks it’s just an old mare’s tale, too.” “I think, now, there might be some merit to it,” she said. “Just not enough to mention. Yet.” “Well, it’s not cultist ponies, I can tell you that. There are traps and spells that you don’t know anything about, Twily, that would let us know if somepony was sneaking around at night. Like you are now. It’s not coincidence that I’m in this part of the castle.” He gave her an arch look. “Oh, and shutting off your light when you heard hoofsteps, big mistake by the way. Super suspicious. If you’d just left it on, I might not have been so forceful coming in.” “But the spells—” He cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. “I’ve probably said too much. Suffice to say the Princess is well guarded and not in any danger so long as we’re here.” “But then who’s stealing cake?” Shining Armor shrugged. “Have you ever thought maybe the Princess might have a sweet tooth? It’s her cake, after all. She just shares it very generously.” “You’re accusing Princess Celestia of theft?” “No… Not Princess Celestia.” He laughed, but it sounded forced to Twilight, and he kept looking not at her. “What other princesses—” Her eyes widened. “No, you wouldn’t accuse Cadance of thievery!” She eyed him as he began laughing. “Would you?” “Joke, Twily. Joke.” “Fine. But I’m being serious. There’s a thief stealing cake every year for the last thousand years if Honey Cake’s story is right, or at least for a long time. Princess Celestia herself told me there was a thief.” Shining Armor’s face hardened. “Did she, now?” He scrubbed at his chin. “Well… that might change things.” He looked her in the eyes directly, still rubbing his chin. “We… we know about the thief,” Shining Armor said slowly. “I’m surprised you’re taking it so seriously. Everypony, and I mean everypony, thinks it’s some prankster trying to keep us on our toes. But, no.” “You know?” Twilight goggled at her brother. “And you tried to make me believe it was something else?” She stood up straighter and tried to meet his eyes. “You know. What else do you know?” “Hey, easy now. I’m a guard commander. I have to take orders like everypony else.” He raised his hoof from his chin and pointed up. “These ones came from on high, but if the Princess said it was okay…” He shook his head and grunted. “Let me think.” “She seemed really sad when she said it. Like she was about to cry.” “She did cry,” Spike said. “After she started remembering her students again,” Twilight said softly, trying not to let the memory choke her up. “Hmm.” Shining armor stared off into the distance, apparently deep in thought. “We’ve generally been told not to worry about the cake. And if Princess Celestia says ‘don’t worry’ you don’t worry. Out loud.” “But you have been looking into it?” Spike said. “Couple of the mares and stallions on their off days, sure. There’s a perpetual bet going on what it is, but we’ve been ordered to leave the cake alone, and specifically to be in bed, resting.” He shrugged. “And not to talk about it with other ponies. But, you know, ponies talk, tales get told, and pretty soon anything recognizably fact-based is lost.” “But you must have some theories, too, right? Your grades were almost as good as mine in school.” “Sure…” Shining shook his head. “I’ve always thought it’s a ghost. That’s about the only thing that could get past most of the wards around the castle… but ghosts are harmless.” He winced, shifting around on his backside. “Mostly harmless.” “Ghosts, huh?” Twilight looked her brother up and down. “You’ve had an interesting year.” “Yeah, no kidding. Anyway… that’s all I’ve got. But Spike’s Mare in the Moon theory might have merit, too. A couple of the guards have thought that one up in the barracks.” He laughed, shaking his head. “And, to think that my little sister was taking that one seriously. So… wanna tell me exactly why my little egghead sister is wandering around the corridors at night giving her big brother a gray mane?” “The library!” Spike said with a mocking gesture to Twilight. Shining Armor snorted. “Oh. Silly me for thinking otherwise.” In the end, Spike got an escort back to Twilight’s room to sleep, and then Shining Armor came back, ready to escort Twilight to the library. “This is okay, right?” Twilight asked as they stepped out into the main corridor. “Sure. So long as you don’t tell anypony.” He grinned at her and winked. “It’s fine, Twily, really. You’re not breaking any rules, just making me and the watch stander nervous, but you’re with me now, so he knows it’s okay.” “If you’re sure. I just need to get to a copy of the Lunar Lexicon.” “Then bed?” “Um.” “Then bed,” Shining Armor said gently, nudging her. “I know you. You’ve barely gotten any sleep because this whole thing has been in your dreams, too.” “It has not. I learned about it yesterday. Well. Two days ago, I guess. At night.” “Two days, huh?” He laughed and shook his head. “And you haven’t broken the case wide open yet? Twily, you’re slacking off.” She glared at him and sped up her pace. “Sorry.” For the rest of the way, Twilight kept her silence, more because she kept catching glimpses of the moon through windows with their curtains drawn back, and felt an eerie certainty that whenever she passed in front of one, she was being watched. The library felt empty as Twilight perused the card catalog. She kept glancing back to make sure Shining Armor was lounging on one of the couches for readers while she looked. Two of the cards that should have been there were missing, meaning they’d been checked out. She sighed. “There’s one copy left, Shining. I’ll be right back.” “Sure. I’ll be right here.” She found the shelf, and the book without issue. It was a gigantic book, supposed to contain all of the collected lore of the moon, but also disorganized as though it had been added to instead of carefully thought out and planned ahead of time. She loved exploring it when she could, but with so much else she had to explore and learn, there wasn’t as much time as she would have liked. She ran a hoof down the disorganized index, really little more than a list of pages and a brief summary of the information on them and the author. The index was almost as long as the rest of the book. At least it had an index. Many of the older tomes in the library lacked even that basic helpful tool. A quick scan of its disordered information revealed no mention of the name Luna, but a few pages in the index had references to names of the moon in one age or another. But a quick check of those pages, with one hoof always trapped at the index line, revealed some interesting tidbits about what it had been called and some of the history of the name of the moon in older pony civilizations before Equestria, but little more. There were infuriating fragments hinting at a guardian of the moon’s cycle, but no mention of a name. And plenty of paintings of the moon without the Mare in the Moon’s shadowy craters, something she had only noted with a passing interest before. Now, she noted the dates the paintings were claimed to have been done. All more than a thousand years ago. “Twily? Is this going to take much longer?” There was something of a yawn in Shining’s voice. “It shouldn’t!” She called back, feeling a giddy rush at yelling in the library. She giggled and tried another reference, this one appearing to be more about the guardian. “Ooh. Star Swirl the Bearded was their teacher?” she mused as she perused the page. There was a small portrait of a dark coated mare, wearing an unfamiliar silver crown. The caption below it noted that it was supposedly taken from a locket found in ruins west of Mt. Canterlot some centuries ago. She stared at it for a long time, trying to fit the profile to the statue in Princess Celestia’s private tower. It wasn’t quite there. The mare in the picture was obviously younger, and even in the worn condition of the portrait, she could tell the horn was shorter, and the muzzle lacking the regal superiority of the larger. She sighed and scanned the rest of the page. No names. Apparently everypony had just called her the “Guardian of Dreams” or “Your Highness” or Princess of the Moon. A foreign ruler? At the bottom of the page was a note written in a precise, angular hoof, added far more recently. “For more information, see Tome CA01-1, pages three through fifteen, an illuminated history of Equestria’s founding through AC 40. -B. Card, Librarian.” Feeling like she was onto something, she put the Lunar Lexicon back and dashed back to the reception area. “I know that look,” Shining Armor said with a small laugh. “What is it?” “The Lunar Guardian,” she said shortly, already flipping through. “Forty years after Equestria’s founding. C… CA…” She flipped through the cards, stopped at CA02, and rolled back the last ten. “CA01-10, 9,” she murmured, going all the way back to two. “BZ10-9?” She read over the card quickly. “A Treatise on Zapwillows and their use in hydro—” She flipped forward again. Maybe somepony had just misplaced the card. “Where is it?” “Check the checkout drawer,” Shining suggested. “It’s okay. You have permission to go back behind the library desk. I’ll make sure you don’t steal anything.” He grinned at her and twisted his neck to watch her. Hesitant at first, she pushed past the swinging doors into a territory she’d never once even thought of treading. Nopony but Quiet Word was allowed back there during normal hours. But she had to know. Even the title would be helpful. “Let’s see… Ordered by date of last checkout,” she murmured, flipping back through the cards slowly. It was a short drawer, and not very filled so close to the holidays when ponies returned their books to avoid library fees. She had to go to the very last card before she found it. It was warped in the way card stock did when it was old or exposed to the elements, the corners browned and the center yellowed with age. The print, however, was still very much legible. The Sun and the Moon, Sisters at War, an Illuminated History, Tome CA01-1. Penned originally by Illuminated Wit, 2 AC, translated and copied from original circa 300 AC. Recopied, updated, 700 AC. History of The Battle of the Eclipse and preceding events. She turned the card this way and that, shaking her head slightly at the way old illuminaters embellished their works with fancy titles and grandiose wording. And, judging by the fact it was created by the first court scribe, a master illuminator described in history class as being especially full of creative prowess, it was likely suitably impressively illustrated, even if its density of information would be pitifully low. But that title… Something about it tickled at her thoughts. “Hum. Sisters at war? I mean, I suppose. Night and day. Opposites?” She thought about that for a moment, filed it away for later reference, then checked the back of the card. It was a wonder a three hundred year old copy had ever been in the main library at all. Mrs. Word wouldn’t even let her check out a hundred year old book—she had to read them in the library where Mrs. Word could keep an eye on her. “On permanent loan to Princess Celestia, pursuant to statute 15A of the National Records Initiative, preservation of vital histories.” It was dated ten years ago, around the same time she’d been first accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. “More mysteries. Maybe a hint, though…” A war in olden times that wasn’t in any history books presently. But no solid answers. “What had Spike said? That he thought the sun and moon were… sentient?” She sat back and tapped the card against her nose, thinking it through. If they were, then they’re ‘sister’ celestial bodies. And the Battle of the Eclipse… Soon after, apparently, Princess Celestia took the throne. She lifted the card an inch and leaned in close, as though even closer inspection could reveal its secrets. “What if she… mediated a truce? What if she’s still mediating between day and night?” There was an odd symbol at the top right of the card, almost impossible to make out. She cast a faint light on the symbol and pressed it flat against the table, studying it. After a moment, she realized that the squiggles around the edge of one half of it weren’t part of the stain, but half of a stylized sun. The other half could have been the moon, if the darker patches didn’t look so much like moisture stains. “Princess Celestia’s cutie mark?” “What was that, Twily? Sorry, I dozed off for a moment.” Shining Armor shifted around on the couch and four hooves clopped to the ground. “They really should not make those couches that comfy.” “Nothing,” she murmured, putting the card back in its place and pushing all the rest back into their proper order before closing the drawer. “Nothing, huh?” He eyed her. “You look awfully thoughtful for ‘nothing,’ Twily.” “Nothing I’m sure of,” she said, looking up at the ceiling and its broad glass dome, frosted with mist while the moon hung steadily in the night, shining down into the library. The Mare’s eye seemed to twinkle in the frosty pane as a diffuse swirl of snow passed in front of her gaze. Then it was gone and a static shadow of a grand unicorn stared down at her once more. There wasn’t the same menace in that gaze as she had felt the first night, when she had first learned of the tale of the cake thief. Maybe it was her brother’s solid, bored presence. “Alright, Twily. So… what have you not quite figured out yet?” “Do you know about any kind of war that happened around the time Celestia took the throne?” Shining shrugged. “Sure. Lots of little wars are in the military histories. Diamond dogs encroaching, gryphon raids, some kind of shadowy thing from far up north. There’s just a footnote on that one.” “Maybe that’s it. It would make sense. Darkness would be the enemy of light, and the moon—” “Is pretty bright, Twily.” “Hmm. True.” She stopped pacing. “What about siblings. Does Princess Celestia have, or had, any siblings?” “That’s a little farther back than our records go, y’know. We don’t know much about the Princess’ private life before we came into the guard, and, well, we don’t ask. None of our business.” He shrugged. “And before Equestria?” “Hold on there now. Princess Celestia is not as old as Commander Hurricane or Princess Platinum, if that’s what you’re thinking.” “No, no. Of course not.” Twilight shook her head and rubbed at the base of her horn. She’d already been awake too long. “What about right before Celestia’s reign?” “Nope. There wasn’t a court scribe before, er…” “Illuminated Wit. You should know that, silly.” “Uh, yeah. Him.” “Her.” “Of course.” Shining Armor laughed and scrubbed her mane roughly. “You were always better at history than me.” “Will you be able to help us out, um, later today isn’t it?” Twilight asked her brother as they walked back from the library. It must have been nearing one in the morning. “Afraid not. I just came up here to check on you. If I don’t go back home…” He winced. “Well. I’d rather not leave her in suspense.” “Right.” Twilight sighed. “Can you do anything to help?” “I thought that’s what I was doing.” He grinned at her and bumped her shoulder. “’Sides, you apparently know more about this thing than I do. And no, the guard is not going to help you catch this thief, be it spirit, or ghost, or marauding band of diamond dogs. Princess Celestia has made it known, quietly, that the theft of the cake is nopony’s business but hers. But if she’s decided to clue you in, it must mean she wants you to do something about it.” “But she could—” “Twily, If she were ‘stealing’ cake, she’d only be taking what is already hers. She hardly needs to ‘steal’ anything in the castle.” He yawned. “Why in the ever would she do that, then tell us not to worry about it? It’d be like pointing a hoof at herself.” “No, I meant she could be in danger.” “The Princess is always in danger. There’s always some plot or scheme, or foreign power, or monster out there wanting to claim her power—not that they could. But they’re always out there. Always. We do our best to mitigate it. But the farther away we can handle it from the castle, the safer she, and her subjects, are. Which is why all these foreign assignments come up in the guard.” Twilight nodded unhappily. “The bulk of the royal guard is mostly here for the other ponies in the castle, Twilight, and it’s why we’re so spread out over the rest of Equestria. Hurting her subjects is the best way to hurt her, because she’s so well protected, harming her person is extremely difficult. Her subjects, on the other hoof… She cares. She really does. Which is why I’m proud to do what I can to make sure all of you—” He paused to wave a hoof at the castle. “—stay safe.” “I know,” Twilight said quietly. “It’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. I want to help keep her safe, too.” Shining leaned over and gave her a chaste brother’s kiss behind her ear. “I know. I’m proud of you.”