I was starting to believe that Corium was a bad influence on me as the two of us made our way into the castle. I looked over at him with no small amount of worry. He'd taken on the image of a guard, complete with armor, which I was pretty sure broke some rule in the treaty. The changeling was impossible to dissuade from his mission however and now I was an accomplice to a breach of national security... maybe if I kept my eyes on him, it wouldn't be so bad? Maybe a brief vacation to the moon?
I was pretty sure that this plan was doomed to fail from the first step, but apparently the castle still didn't have anti-changeling spells in its structure. I had clearance and nopony seemed eager to question the guard beside me considering the anonymity spell woven in the armor of the actual guards.
“Do you even know where to start?” I whispered at my disguised friend. I had to admit that he had the standard, blank-faced scowl down pat. If I didn't know that he was a changeling, I probably would never have noticed anything strange about him being here... aside from the way his eyes kept darting around, looking at or for something.
For his part, Corium gave a short nod and spoke in a gruff voice, “If she's an assistant of Princess Celestia, there will be files on record.” I blanched, looking up at him. He couldn't be serious; we couldn't just march into whatever office kept employee records! Not to mention the extreme breach of privacy that would be!
“Corium,” I hissed, “I don't know how things work in the changeling kingdom, but you don't just go snooping around somepony's profile. What if there's something private in there?”
“Then it's probably something that you should know going into this,” he stated smugly, “besides, she's your co-worker, isn't she? You should know all you can about her so that you can adapt to a situation with her capabilities in mind.” I'm sure that if he wasn't in disguise, he would be smirking from ear to ear.
“That's not the problem here, Corium! The problem is that not only is that seriously unethical, it's illegal.” That brought him to a stop as he looked over at me in confusion. I met his gaze with a firm nod of my head and he sat down, his composure breaking as he tapped a hoof to his chin.
“...I'll never understand you ponies,” he finally said, “you have this absurd desire to know everything you can about ponies you find interesting and yet you make laws against that behavior. How are you supposed to know it all if it's illegal to know it all?”
“Well, for starters, we talk to one another. See, if we want to know something about a pony, we-”
“Ah! You interrogate the ponies closest to them,” he chimed in much too energetically, “if we could find out where her family is, we could-”
“Corium, I'm going to stop you right there before you say something I'd have to arrest you for. For one, 'interrogation' makes you sound like a crazy pony. We just ask questions and the other pony isn't in any way, shape, or form required to ans- shouldn't you know this,” I asked suddenly, “weren't you an infiltrator?”
A knowing smile spread across his muzzle as he nodded, “That took you far too long to remember, Lucky,” he chided me with a soft hip-check, “of course that's not what we're doing. You just need to relax because what you're doing right now is going to draw far more attention than anything I do.” I blushed, realizing that the changeling had played me like a fiddle.
Shaking his head, “Honestly, I'd say the best thing to do would be to find Princess Celestia and ask her what she knows about her assistant,” he raised a hoof to stall my protest, “failing that... well, she has other assistants. They no doubt communicate with one another and at least know basic things about each other. As it so happens, I actually hit it off fairly well with one in particular and she'll be the go-to pony for information like the kind we're after.”
Taking the lead, he navigated his way through the castle with an eerily accurate knowledge. I recognized that we were getting to the busier wings as the amount of guards, staff, and stuffy nobles increased dramatically. Our journey ended at a simple door and Corium raised his hoof and rapped his hoof in a series of well-timed taps on the door. After a moment, the door was flung open and I felt myself gripped by the magic of an unseen unicorn that dragged both myself and Corium in.
I was released a bit earlier than my companion and my momentum carried me across the room to crash into the sturdy desk within. Rubbing my abused nose with one hoof, I rose and turned to confront my assailant only to find a mare currently wrapped around the undisguised neck of Corium. She had a large smile adorning her muzzle, “Cori, there you are! I was wondering if I was going to get to see you today!”
Corium chuckled and returned her embrace for a moment before pulling back, “Good to see you as well! As much as I wish I was here for myself, I actually needed to ask you something,” he gestured to me, “this is my friend I was telling you about, Lucky Signs. Lucky, this adorable little filly is Balanced Abacus.”
Abacus and I exchanged a soft hoofshake to finish the introduction before Corium continued, “See, Lucky here is finally getting around to the dating scene, but he's a bit out of practice. We were hoping you could help us figure out something for him to do to make special for the mare that caught his eyes. Think you could help us out, Abby?”
I was tempted to call Corium out for hypnotizing the mare considering the way she was all but drooling as she looked into his eyes. She remembered herself after a moment, then pulled away and tried to put on a professional air, “W-well, I'll do what I can, but there are some things I wouldn't be at liberty to discuss. Do you have a name for me?”
“Dawn Breeze.” I answered.
A sharp intake of breath sent up red flags in my mind as her ears flattened. She looked between us sheepishly, “You had to pick the hard one, didn't you? Look, if I'm being perfectly honest, I know as much about her as the door guards do. She tends to show up where and when she's needed then vanish without a trace.”
Corium frowned as we took in that information, “Well, well, well, a mystery mare. Even to her co-workers... now I'm interested,” he stated with a grin, “the search continues! Do you know what exactly she works on around the castle?”
Abacus shook her head, “As far as I can tell, she has her hoof in a little bit of everything. Honestly, with the amount she does, I find it hard to believe that she'll actually have time for a date of any kind that isn't work related. How did you manage that one?” she turned her gaze to me, lifting a brow.
In response, I shrugged, “Namesake. Enough said.”
“Right, well... if the two of you are going to be digging into Dawn's life, I might as well come with you. For one,” she started, cutting off my question as to why, “the two of you aren't as subtle as you think,” she gave Corium a stern look, “and are likely to tip her off to what you're doing. Second... well, a lot of us have bets going on about what Dawn gets up to when she'd not nose deep in a report and I have some bits riding on some things.”
I looked at Corium. He shrugged so we went with it. Abacus had some ideas on ponies that might now a bit more about Dawn, but most of them were in one meeting or another. As we waited for one such meeting to get out, Abacus and Corium grilled me about what little I knew and where I was taking Dawn.
Abacus was of a mind with me about the location, “A dance club? That's a little forward for a first date isn't it?”
I nodded, “That's what I thought too, but... well I have it on good authority that it would mean a lot to her. I tried to get another suggestion, but my source was... zealous about that being where I should take her.”
Abacus nodded, “I suppose that makes sense, but if your source ends up messing it up for you, don't say I didn't warn you. I'm a little jealous,” she rolled her eyes at my questioning look, “apparently The Veil is hosting a 'battle of the DJ's' event. Everypony who knows about it is talking about it. The local champion from Ponyville, DJ Pon3, is taking the challenge of some up and comer named Dark Vibes. It's set to be one of the biggest events ever!”
The fervor coming to her voice made me believe that she was more of a fan than she let on. Leaning over to Corium, I whispered for him to see me after all of this for some bits to take her. It was the least I could do for the mare trying to help me make it special for Dawn.
The unfortunate part was that nopony seemed to know much about Dawn. The few ponies that had interacted with her in the past stated that she was a professional mare that came in, did her job, and left. Honestly, it sounded like she simply acted as a stand in for the princess herself and reported to Celestia directly. That was daunting, but would explain why Celestia was so interested in our date.
We were sent running back and forth across the castle, chasing the ghost of an elusive mare. Every single staffpony, guard, and self-righteous noble all seemed to point to one pony for information on Dawn: Celestia herself. I wasn't the only one getting frustrated. Abacus was visibly grinding her teeth at each dead end and Corium was getting quieter, his eyes flashing dangerously with each failure.
I'm not sure how long we would have spent running around if I hadn't realized that the sun was starting to set. I looked at a nearby clock and panicked. Grabbing Corium, startling the changeling in the process, I drew him face to face with me, “I'm gonna be late!” I shouted!
It was his turn to panic as my statement entered his thoughts. He reversed grabbed me and shouted, “Hold on!” A sudden buzzing of wings filled the air as Corium decided that he was taking it on himself to airlift my heavy flank across Canterlot.
I still made him stop at the bank so I could grab bits for Abacus and him...