//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Invisible Zest // by mayorlight //------------------------------// Seated on her bed, Lemon Zest told Indigo Zap about the afternoon's events. How she had found the powder in Twilight Sparkle's old laboratory, how she had witnessed a pigeon turn invisible after pecking at it, and how she decided to test it herself. Indigo, still dumbfounded after witnessing Lemon appear out of thin air like a ghost, listened enrapt. After Lemon was done with her story, it still took Indigo a moment to remember her now lukewarm taco plate. "You seriously thought Twilight was a dealer?" Indigo asked through a mouthful of taco. "Hey, she might have been like that Wisenheimer guy on that one show making the blue stuff. You never know." "C'mon, this is Twilight we're talking about, the one who wouldn't hurt a flea." "Who also ripped holes into another dimension." "Hmm, good point." Curious, Indigo picked up the bag from Lemon's desk. To the casual observer, its contents looked like the sort of thing that could easily land a person behind bars for three years minimum. No one could have guessed what the mystery powder actually was unless they tried it. "Twilight could have easily made a fortune off of this." A raised eyebrow from Lemon prompted her to quickly add, "Not slinging it on the street! On patents and stuff." "Maybe she was worried about it falling into the wrong hands." Indigo and Lemon continued eating in silence for a moment. Neither of them could hardly blame Twilight for wanting to keep this powder under wraps. They will never forget how they helped Principal Cinch pressure their erstwhile classmate to unleash the magic the latter had gathered during the Friendship Games, and how it resulted in the latter transforming into a winged monster that nearly destroyed everything and everyone in sight. If anybody understood how such power could be abused, it was Twilight. While less hazardous than a device that siphoned and stored magical energy, the powder's potential for abuse was nevertheless great. Turning invisible would make it easier for anyone to pick someone's pocket, mug them, or worse. Neither of them wanted to begin thinking about how such a discovery would be inevitably exploited by both the public and private sectors around the world. On a grand scale, it would be total chaos! Still, Indigo could not deny that curiosity had bitten her just as it did Lemon. What would it be like to be invisible? What could she do in that state? As she finished her last taco, she took a plastic spoon and scooped up some of the powder. "I think we should do some tests." "Wait! Let's see how long it lasts," Lemon said as she hastily readied her smartphone's stopwatch app. "Okay, now." Indigo swallowed the spoonful. Lemon started the app as Indigo's body faded from sight, leaving only her goggles and earrings floating above her Academy uniform. The disembodied clothes walked over to the mirror where Indigo's wristbands floated up to her face - where it would have been. "Woah!" Indigo spent a moment marveling at her invisible reflection before running through several physical motions: squats, lunges, burpees, even a handstand. "This is amazing!" "Try eating this," Lemon said as she extended a piece of her chocolate shake-dipped churro. She watched intently as Indigo's invisible hand took the churro and levitated it to her invisible lips where it completely disappeared in two bites. Lemon walked up to Indigo for a closer look, nearly bumping heads as she tried to peer down the latter's disembodied shirt. "Hmm...you would think anything we eat or drink would still be visible as it goes down our throats." "Your guess is as good as mine," Indigo said shrugging her shoulders. "Let me try something!" Lemon strode into her bathroom and emerged with a blush compact. When Indigo groaned, she added, "Just close your eyes." Given the choice between wearing makeup and eating her own socks, Indigo would have gladly chosen the latter. Lemon carefully probed the contours of Indigo's face. Once she had located Indigo's cheeks, she applied a sizable amount of blush to each of them. The sight was like something out of a surrealist painting - a pair of rosy powdery patches afloat in mid-air between Indigo's earrings. Lemon could not help but imagine what an invisible face in full makeup would look like. "How many minutes has it been?" asked Indigo. Lemon checked her phone. "Six." "Looks like we've got time to kill..." Indigo proceeded to hum a jazzy little ditty as she undid her bowtie. Sinuously, she slid her Academy blazer down her shoulders. Lemon chortled as Indigo shimmied out of her skirt. The invisible girl sashayed about the room, slowly shedding her clothes until she was down to her piercings (ears and belly button) and underwear. She then strutted toward Lemon, stopping just short of the bed. Lemon flinched when she felt a sudden, gentle breeze on her nose. Indigo then bent toward her, and she felt something brush over the sole of her foot. This was quickly followed by the feeling of unseen spiders crawling up her leg. Lemon fell onto her back, giggling as Indigo's invisible fingers made their way up to her stomach. "This for making me wear makeup!" Indigo said as she lifted Lemon's shirt. Lemon shrieked with laughter as Indigo proceeded to vigorously poke at her belly button. "EEK! I surrender!" Indigo let up after a moment and sat down beside Lemon, leaving a noticeable impression on the bed. Lemon finally caught her breath just as Indigo's body faded back into view. Lemon quickly grabbed her smartphone off her night table. "Fifteen minutes." "Cool," said Indigo as she rose from the bed. "That should be plenty of time." "For what?" Indigo turned back toward Lemon with an impish grin. "A field test." Lemon nearly dropped her phone. "You mean out there?" "Just to the rec room. C'mon! Tell me you haven't wanted to walk through the Academy naked!" The thought of the powder's effect wearing off while they were out in the halls gave Lemon plenty of pause. Indecent exposure was grounds for expulsion. Worse, if she and Indigo were caught on camera, both of them would go viral for all the wrong reasons. Still, she had to admit that the idea of venturing out into the Academy in the nude sounded like a lot of fun! But they needed a plan. "We won't be able to carry our phones on us, so we'll have no way of knowing the time other than looking at the wall clocks. We've got to be back in here within fifteen minutes." "We can get there in two, explore for five, and be back here with time to spare." It was wise to allow extra time for potential delays. "I also can't carry my keys, so we'll need to leave the door unlocked." "Better stash that bag somewhere, then." Lemon scanned her quarters. Every student's room was subject to regular inspections. These were cursory at best, more for cleanliness than anything else. Nevertheless, if somebody should come in here and snoop around, they might find the bag. They could not allow that to happen! She then remembered something she had in her desk drawer: a candy tin fashioned in the shape of an old-time milk can. She pulled the tin out of her drawer and emptied half a dozen pieces of caramel onto her desk. It was a perfect fit for the bag. As an extra measure, she would bury it in the dresser drawer that contained her socks and underwear. "We'd better wait until there are fewer people out and about," said Indigo. "Let's head out exactly at eight." "Sounds good," said Lemon "We'd also better shower before we go, just to be on the safe side." They killed time watching a horror movie about giant rabbits terrorizing a small town. Afterward, Lemon jumped into her shower and completely scrubbed herself using her watermelon-scented body wash. Once she was out, Indigo followed suit. They spent the last few minutes completely drying off before Lemon retrieved the bag. "Alright," Lemon said, readying her plastic spoon. "Let's do this!" *** Lemon and Indigo stepped out into the hallway, invisible, naked, and ready for adventure. The cool evening air nipped at their bare skin. Never in their wildest dreams did either of them imagine that they would one day be walking the halls of prestigious Crystal Prep Academy side by side, completely in the buff. At the same time, they were both nervous and excited. "Stick close now," said Lemon. "You got it," Indigo cooed as she wrapped herself around Lemon's arm. They giggled for a moment but quickly cut off as somebody rounded the corner just two meters ahead of them. Fleur de Lis stopped in her tracks and curiously scanned the hallway. Lemon and Indigo both held their breath as her eyes passed over them. She had no doubt heard them giggling just now! This was hardly a good start to their expedition. Fortunately, it was only a moment before Fleur gave a shrug and continued down the hall past them. They both breathed a sigh of relief once she was out of earshot. "Remember, people can still hear us," whispered Lemon. "Right." Lemon and Indigo continued through the girls' residence hall, now more alert for passersby. It was a good thing they did not actually physically bump into Fleur. That would have been disastrous! They quietly weaved around Orange Sherbette and Melon Mint, neither of whom noticed their presence. It was not long before they reached their destination. The recreation room was located between the girls' and boys' residence halls, near the Academy's central stairwell. Aside from the common area surrounding the stairwell, it was the only place on the third floor where both male and female students were allowed. Before and after classes, it was no surprise to find students in here playing billiards, foosball, ping pong, or other games, watching the big-screen television, or simply reading. Now, with Lights Out little under an hour away, there were only a handful of students present. Indigo and Lemon tiptoed into the room, the tile floor cold on their bare feet. They stopped by the foosball table and gazed at the other students. At one table sat Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Sugarcoat. The trio was engrossed in a game of go fish, and from the looks of things, Sugarcoat was winning. At another table not too far away sat Suri Polomare reading what could only be a trashy romance novel, complete with a chiseled, bare-chested man on the cover. Suri had a well-deserved reputation for being a self-absorbed cheat, and recently, both Lemon and Indigo experienced it firsthand. Just last week, Lemon caught her looking at her paper during a test in English class. A week before that, Indigo caught her doing the same in Biology. Now they had a golden opportunity to take her down a peg! "I've got an idea," Lemon whispered. "So do I." *** Sunny Flare looked up from her cards. "Do you have any queens?" "Go fish," Sugarcoat said flatly. Sunny drew a card from the deck in the center of the table and pouted when she looked at it. Now it was Sugarcoat's turn. "Do you have any fives?" she asked Sour Sweet. Sour sighed as she surrendered two of her cards. Sugarcoat then took two cards from her own hand and assembled them all on the table. The four-of-a-kind added yet another point to her already leading score. She was about to ask Sunny for a card when a loud belch suddenly erupted nearby. All three girls glanced over in its direction, at Suri who looked just as surprised as they were. Suri's face reddened as their shock gave way to disgust. Sunny and Sour both looked ready to gag. Even Sugarcoat, normally impassive, gazed at her with eyes as wide as saucers. "I-it wasn't me!" stammered Suri. "Yeah right," sneered Sour. "Do you see anyone else here?" Suri hastily closed her book and rose from her chair. She had taken only one step when the chair suddenly scraped along the floor. She looked down to find her shoelace tied around the leg of the chair. Flustered, she yanked at the knot before lifting the chair and sliding it off the leg. With one final huff, she stormed out of the rec room. "Some people," scoffed Sunny. "No kidding," added Sour. They then noticed Sugarcoat looking over her shoulder. "What is it?" asked Sour. "I thought I smelled something just now." Sunny sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything." "It's gone now, but it smelled like...watermelon." *** Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap stifled their laughter as they hastily sneaked back through the girls' residence hall. As soon as they were back inside Lemon's room with the door closed and locked, they burst out laughing. When eight-fifteen came a minute later, both of their bodies faded back into sight. "Oh man, the look on Suri's face!" said Indigo, catching her breath. "Did you see Sunny and Sour? What a riot!" Once they had reigned in their laughter, Indigo began slipping back into her clothes while Lemon pulled on her oversized sleep shirt. "Well, time for me to get back to my room," said Indigo as she replaced her goggles atop her head. "This was fun. Let's do another test tomorrow!" "Sounds like a plan! 'Night, Lemon." "'Nini, Indigo." After locking her door, Lemon walked over to her dresser and took one last look at the milk can-shaped tin in her top drawer. She could not help but wonder if her stumbling onto this powder was more than just dumb luck. Maybe she was meant to find it - by destiny or providence, whatever it was called. Or maybe it really was just a coincidence. Either way, this powder offered endless possibilities and she was eager to explore them all! She concealed the tin under several pairs of socks and underwear. She spent the rest of the hour listening to her "bedtime" playlist (consisting of slower, softer rock songs) before turning off her light and nodding off to sleep.