//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Golden Days Pt 1 (3rd Person POV) 
// Story: A Disguise for Love 
// by BrightMind 
//------------------------------//

Spy Glass’s thoughts took him back to the past, the day he met his wife 6 years ago.



Spy Glass jotted down a few notes, holding the pen in his right wing and the note pad in his other, as a stallion described a his wife. He was in the middle of a potential-cheating-spouse case, and the orange unicorn stallion was telling him what to look for:

Female Unicorn
Turquoise Coat
Dark Red Mane
Blue Eyes
Answers to: Sky Beam

Spy Glass looks up the the stallion, flipping the pen in his wing occasionally. "So, Mr. Red, what exactly makes you think your wife might be cheating on you? Do you have anything I can use as a lead?" He asked the stallion, probing for as much information as he could gather. The stallion was actually called Lemon Green; but, for some reason, he preferred to be called Mr. Red. A mystery not even the white pegasus himself could solve it seems.
"Well, what peaked my suspicion, was 'dis pink letter in da mail," Mr. Red started, his voice deep and raspy. He had a thick Brooklyn-accent; fresh from Manehatten no doubt. "'First, I thought Sky put it there fo' me, 'cause she's sweet like 'dat, 'til I saw da name. It was 'dressed to her from a stallion named Blue Dusk. I neve' told her I saw it. But nex' time I did, it was opened, in da bin. He was askin' her to meet 'im at Icey's Café."
"Do you suppose I could see the primary source, Mr. Red?" Spy asked after jotting down a few key points of the story.
"Ain't 'dat Illegal, goin' through ponies' mail?"
"The message was discarded, if she REALLY didn't want any pony to see it, she would have shredded it. You already found the letter in the trash; it is considered garbage. It is not illegal to give me a piece of rubbish you found."
"Well, 'guess if you put it dat way.... I don't see no problem wit' it" said Mr. Red, before disappearing for a moment to retrieve the letter. He returned soon after, handing Spy Glass a hot pink colored envelope. Sky Beam's name was on it, in a very neat hoof-writing. He put it in his notebook on the page he was taking notes in and closed it.
"I'll be keeping it around for later references. Did it say what time they'll be meeting?"
"'Round five tonight! Thanks for doin' dis, pal!"
"No, need! Just doing my job! Speaking of which, are you paying up front, or should I put it on account?"
"How much is it costin' me?"
"1,000 bits,"
"Put me on account, I'll pay ya nex' month."
"Alright, you will receive the invoice in the mail from Spy World Inc. next week. You have a good day, Mr. Red."
"Ay, you too!"



Spy Glass made his way to Icey's Café, the snow crunched under his hooves as the the light slowly faded. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. It was really nagging at him, and the fact that every detail matters only amplified the problem. He stopped outside the Café and checked his notebook.
Everything seems in order. Spy Glass thought to himself after reading over the details a couple times. He shrugged it off and went inside, seating himself at a booth. Wasting no time, he scanned the restaurant, looking for a pony who matched that description. It wasn't long before he spotted somepony who did. Sure enough: a  female unicorn, red mane, turquoise coat, blue eyes. She was quite beautiful actually.
Spy Glass took the menu and used it to hide his face. It may be cliché, but it usually works. He peeked over the top of the menu; he couldn't tell if it was the worst decision, or the best. At that moment, they locked gazes, staring into each other's eyes from across the room. A long moment passed, and Spy Glass started to feel his heart beat a little quicker. He tried to look away, but something kept his gaze drawn to her. She smiled but blushed deeply, before following his example by covering her face with the menu, in attempt to hide the redness in her cheeks. Spy Glasses ducked back under the menu, the beating in his chest still pounding quickly. At first, it seemed awkward to him, then it happened again. He took another peek at the same time she did, she blushed again and hid her face.
Every few minutes or so, he would glance back at her, and every time, she would meet his gaze at the exact same time. After the 16th time of the same thing happening, he gave up. Instead, he decided to look over the letter, searching for more details. It wasn't long before the waiter drew near. "Are you ready to order, sir?" He asked.
"Oh! Um..." Spy Glass said as he glanced back down at the love letter. Blue Dusk had wrote to Sky Beam, saying something about ordering 'her favorite':  Blueberry mango muffins. It sounded... Strangely good. "I'll have two Blueberry Mango Muffins," he responded. The waiter gave him an odd look, before writing it down, and walking away quickly.
Another waiter returned shortly with a milkshake, leaving it on the the table. Spy Glass looked up at him with a confused expression. "Excuse me? This isn't what I ordered," Spy Glass said to the waiter.
"This is a gift to you from another table; it's already been paid for," The waiter responded.
"Oh, who from?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but the buyer wishes to remain anonymous," the waiter said before returning to the kitchen. Spy Glass was sure he knew exactly who the buyer was. He looked over at the turquoise mare, she was smiling at him. A faint blush painted her face as she gave him a wink.
This caused him to blush a little, too. He tried not to stare while as he took a sip of the milkshake. His eye lids fell in satisfaction; he knew EXACTLY what just crossed his lips. A vanilla, caramel cinnamon swirl milkshake:  his favorite milkshake. It was a recipe of his own and wasn't on the menu. Either that was one Sherlock-Hooves-kind of a guess, or this mare has an unnatural talent, he thought. He looked back at the mare, who was now practically leaning over the table as she stared at him, her tail swishing side to side in excitement.
Not long after this, a waitress returned with the Blueberry mango muffins Spy Glass had ordered. He fished a couple bits out of his coat pocket and handed them to her. "Do you suppose you could take these muffins to that turquoise mare, over there?" Spy Glass asked the waitress. She put the bits in her apron pocket, smiled and nodded, before taking the tray to the mare's table. Spy Glass smiled and watched, waiting for her reaction. There were a few words between the two before she took a muffin with her magic, a light blue aura enveloped, both, the muffin and her horn.
She first smelled the muffin, and her expression shifted from excitement to nausea. She clearly did not like it very much. That doesn't make any sense. This IS the right mare, right? Red mane, turquoise body, blue eyes, Music note cutie-mark... Spy Glass thought. Then it hit him,  HER CUTIE-MARK!! How could I miss such an important detail?! I never asked for her cutie-mark!! Spy Glass argued with himself internally, he probably never would have snapped out of it either if it weren't for that mare.
"H-hello, there," said a soft, feminine voice. Spy Glass looked up and saw the same, turquoise unicorn mare. She held a paper bag in her aura. He took a deep breath to compose himself before responding.
"Hello!" Spy Glass greeted. A million questions ran through his head, but he wasn't able to cough up a single one.
"Is this seat taken?" She asked with a blush, pointing the the seat directly across from him.
"N-no. please, make yourself comfortable! I'm Spy Glass, by the way," She smiled and sat down.
"I'm Melony, it's nice to meet you, Spy Glass," Spy Glass was a little disappointed that this wasn't the mare he was looking for; but he was also a little excited to meet this mare.
"Melony, huh? You must be the mare that sent me this milkshake," she blushed and giggled as she rolled her eyes.
"And you must be a detective," she joked following with a laugh shared between the two.
"Actually, I'm a Private Investigator. Your guesses have been pretty spot-on, today!" Spy Glass emphasized with another long sip of his milkshake. She blushed again and scooted in closer to him. She said nothing in response, only continuing to stare and blush. "I'm surprised you're keeping the muffins. It seemed like you weren't too fond of them,"
"Oh! They're not for me! I don't really like them, but I have a friend who LOVES them," Melony said.
"Really? What's the name of this friend?" Spy Glass asked as he flicked out a his notebook, keeping it hidden under the table.
"Sky Beam! We work here together, actually. That's how I was able to convince them to whip up that milkshake for you!" She giggled while Spy Glass quickly jotted down the information he didn't already have, under the table. "These are a new item on the menu. The owner added them, trying to cater to her because he knows she likes them, and he sure likes her."
"And who's the owner?" Spy glass asked while still writing, trying to keep up.
"Blue Dusk! They used to date when they were younger, but Blue is a little.... what's the word... creepy? He was way too clingy and he eventually began to stalk her, too. So, Sky Beam left him and she was glad she did," Spy Glass's wing was getting sore as he wrote. "As soon as she left him, she met Mr. Red. 'The sweetest stallion ever' she called him. She and him moved up here from Manehatten, where they also got married. Unfortunately, Blue Dusk followed her. He bought this place for unrelated reasons, he's just an opportunist. Being fresh from Manehatten and newly wedded, they desperately needed the money, and Blue Dusk saw the opportunity to offer her a job here. She was scheduled to work tonight at Five tonight, but I told her I'd keep an eye out so she could look for a new job, while Mr. Red thinks she's at work. We don't want him thinking that Blue is going to be a problem, and all."
"Pretty sneaky," Spy Glass chuckled, as he turned the page of his notebook.
"Yeah, I might have gotten a little.... distracted, though," Melony giggled as she continued stare at Spy Glass with interest. Spy Glass stared back at her as he sub-consciously put away his pen and note book. He struggled to find more words, "I... Uh... Just curious... Why does she like these muffins so much?" Spy Glass asked, trying to change the rapidly escalating subject, but also legitimately curious at the same time. Melony blushed and giggled before she spoke.
"It's a cute story, actually. You see, when she and Mr. Red were dating, he decide it would be sweet to make Sky breakfast," she giggled again and continued, "Well, Mr. Red IS a sweet guy, but he is no cook! I don't know if he was trying something new or if he read the recipe wrong, but he somehow made these abominations!" Melony laughed as she shook the bag. "Mr. Red didn't dare try them, but Sky Beam LOVED them. He was relieved that she did, too. As far as I know, he still makes them for her occasionally. How Blue Dusk got the recipe is beyond me!"
"That IS a cute story," Spy Glass said. He felt like he wanted to say more; like he wanted to ask more questions. But he didn't instead, he got lost in the mares beautiful blue eyes; they only stared right back. He couldn't help himself, there was just something about this mare that snagged his thoughts and attention. He would have tried to lean in for a closer view, he probably would have even tried kissing her, had the table not been in the way. And just like that, he didn't care to change the subject anymore.
He just continued staring into her eyes as she progressively got more fidgety, shifting in her seat. This continued until she could no longer hold back. In one swift motion, she leaned her whole body over the table, planting her back hooves on her seat for leverage, kissing him on the lips, without letting a moment slip by. Her eyes shut tightly as she did. Spy Glass's, however, didn't; His eyes shot open. He was in shock, a mare he hardly knew just kissed him out of nowhere!
He didn't push her away, he didn't know if he wanted to. He just let her do it, because he thought he didn't want to do anything about it. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. She finally broke the kiss, their muzzles were only an inches away as she blushed furiously. Spy Glass blushed also, he was speechless. He had know idea what he was feeling... But in some strange way, he liked it.
"I-I'm So..." Melony started, but was quickly cut off when Spy Glass regained his senses.
"What time is?" Spy Glass interrupted. Melony looked at the clock and giggled
"I guess we lost tr..." before she could finish, Spy Glass stood up and went to the front counter.
"Did one of your co-workers drop by? She goes by the name of 'Sky Beam'," he asked the mare at the counter.
"She came in about an hour ago to drop off her apron, saying that she's quitting," the mare responded.
"An hour?! How did I not notice her?" Spy Glass looked up at the clock and a moment of realization washed over him:  10:01 PM. The café was nearly empty. "How long have I been here?"
"5 hours, I would have said something, but you and Melony seemed to be having such a nice time," she winked and giggled. Spy Glass rolled his eyes before returning to Melony, who was still lying over the table.
"Again, I'm SO sorry... I-I don't know what came over me!" She said a little franticly.
"Look, I'm REALLY busy and I don't exactly have time for this," Spy Glass started. Melony's head dropped and she looked down at the ground.
"I see..." she replied, softly. Spy Glass only smiled and lifted her head up with his hoof.
"Perhaps I could forgive you here, tomorrow at around lunchtime?" She smiled wide and giggled.
"Sounds wonderful! Oh! And, so you don't forget..." she snagged his notebook and pen from his pocket with her magic, scribbling her name on the clean front cover before putting it back. "There, now no matter how busy you are tomorrow, you'll remember to come see me," she giggled again, kissed his nose and hopped off the table before heading out. "See you then!" She winked.
What a mare! He thought.



Spy Glass smiled at the name still scribbled onto the cover. By now, the notebook was filled completely of information he doesn't need anymore, it was useless, but he kept it anyway, to remind him of that wonderful day.
He still does remember that case, by the way. Sky Beam was the first one to find the invoice, this did not make her happy. She had a long talk with Mr. Red, but thankfully, their marriage survived. After Mr. Red found out who Blue Dusk was, he mysteriously disappeared, and Mr. Red ended up taking over Icey's Café. All Mr. Red will say about it is:  "We came to an 'agreement'. You ain't gonna be seein' him 'round here any time soon."
Before he knew it, Spy Glass was home. It was a small, single bedroom, single bathroom home that he and Melony shared. He couldn't wait to rush in and tell her the news!