The following day, all of the Academy was talking about the cafeteria incident. Now, nearly everybody was convinced that the school was indeed haunted. Three different video recordings of the "dancing ghosts" uploaded online had already gone viral. The overall response was mixed, with half of the comments calling the footage "phony" and "doctored," and the other half lauding the "impressive special effects." Come lunchtime, nearly everybody in the cafeteria was watching the videos on their smartphones.
Off to the side, Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap sat eating their meals of vegetable barley soup, bread rolls, and fruit cups. They quietly savored each morsel along with the frenzied gossip their performance had generated.
"We really got the dominos falling with this one," whispered Lemon.
"We've gotta keep the momentum going," Indigo said through a mouthful of bread.
Lemon casually sipped a spoonful of her soup. "All in good time."
Just then, a sudden hush fell over the cafeteria. Lemon and Indigo looked up from their meals to find Principal Cinch standing at the entrance. Everybody silenced their phones as the principal unhurriedly walked across the room. Ever since the Friendship Games, Cinch had taken a less visible role in running the Academy. She nevertheless continued to inspire plenty of fear in the student body. When Cinch reached the far end of the cafeteria, she turned around and cast an icy glare across the room. One of the seniors, a prefect, strode out to hand her a microphone.
"Students," Cinch said in her usual severe tone. "Three nights ago, there was an incident in the library. More than one student claim to have been attacked by a 'ghost' which also made a large mess of the books on the shelves. Yesterday evening another such incident occurred here in the cafeteria. This time, a significant number of students claim to have witnessed a pair of 'ghosts' dancing across this very floor.
"It has also come to my attention that some very lurid urban legends have been circulating concerning one of our Academy's most esteemed founders. These tall tales are just that - nothing more than myths cooked up by superstitious folk with overactive imaginations." She paused for a moment before saying, "There are no ghosts haunting this Academy and there are no paranormal forces at work here."
Yeah right, Lemon thought to herself. This from someone who had a front-row center seat to all the weird crap that went down during the Friendship Games!
Cinch continued. "Both of these incidents are clearly nothing more than elaborate pranks. Mark my words, we will find the ones responsible for these stunts and they will be disciplined accordingly." She paused again to soften her voice and gaze. "You have your future ahead of you. Do not throw it all away for a cheap thrill. That is all."
The entire cafeteria remained silent as Cinch walked back across the floor and out of the room. All conversation continued in very hushed tones for the remainder of the lunch period. Few students even bothered to pull their phones out again.
Lemon leaned in a little closer to whisper to Indigo.
"Come by as soon as you're done with classes."
Indigo gave a silent nod. They finished their meals in silence.
At the end of the school day, Indigo came to Lemon's room. Lemon welcomed her friend with bags of potato chips and ice-cold cans of root beer. Indigo took a seat at Lemon's desk while Lemon plopped down on her bed. As they opened their snacks and drinks, Lemon also turned up the volume on her sound system. Today, they did not want to risk anybody overhearing their conversation - Sapphire Shores's latest hit would see to that.
"I haven't seen Cinch like that since the Friendship Games," said Lemon.
"I can't believe that hag is still our principal, especially after all that crap she pulled! Didn't the Academy board of directors have her under investigation?"
"They did, but from what I've heard, they could not find any solid evidence of wrongdoing."
Indigo slammed down her can. "Bull! Nobody interviewed us or anyone else who was there!"
"Would you have told them about the giant plant monsters?"
"Well, no, but what about the way she twisted Twilight's arm to get her into the Games?"
Lemon shrugged. "I can only guess that Twilight and her folks decided not to file a complaint."
"I swear, if anyone in this school deserves to get punked, it's that witch!"
They munched on their chips and sipped their root beer in silence for several moments. Then Lemon suddenly jumped out of her bed and exclaimed, "Oh man, I completely forgot!"
"What?"
Lemon glanced at her smartphone then turned toward Indigo with an impish grin. "The weekly faculty meeting started ten minutes ago. Now is the perfect time for us to go up into Cinch's office and redecorate."
Despite her earlier vehemence, Indigo did not look so sure about the plan. "Do we even have enough time?"
"It's just one floor up, and Cinch's office isn't too far from the stairwell. It's pretty much the same distance we covered during the library run. Plus, from what I've heard, these faculty meetings usually last around half an hour. C'mon, you said that we oughta keep the ball rolling!"
"Still, unless Cinch sees it with her own eyes, she's just going to chalk it up as another prank. She might even come down harder on everybody!"
"That's why as a finishing touch we're going to roll her chair out into the hall."
A smile spread across Indigo's face. She immediately understood where Lemon was going. "The security camera!"
It was common knowledge throughout the Academy that the halls outside the administration offices were lined with security cameras, including one just outside of Principal Cinch's office. When Cinch reviews the footage, she will be hard-pressed to explain her chair moving on its own, to say the least!
Lemon returned her friend's grin. "If that doesn't make a believer out of her, I don't know what will!"
"How much of the stuff do we have left?"
Lemon went over to her dresser, dug up the milk can tin, and fished the invisibility powder out of it. The bag was now barely a quarter full. "Probably enough for three more doses each."
Indigo undid her bowtie. "Then let's put each one to good use!"
"Here, here!"
Five minutes later, Lemon and Indigo, invisible and naked once more, were hurrying up the stairs to the fourth floor. As they entered the administrative offices' rotunda, they could hear several muffled voices from behind a closed door - the faculty meeting in full swing, no doubt. By this hour, most of the administrative support staff had already gone home for the day, so they did not have to worry too much about running into anybody.
After crossing the rotunda, they went up another shorter flight of stairs to Principal Cinch's office. Sure enough, the security camera mounted in the hall was active. Lemon opened the door and poked her head inside. The principal's dark wood-paneled office was as they had always seen it: bookcases lining the walls on both sides, filled not only with books, but numerous trophies, award plaques, and framed certificates. The invisible girls both shivered as they stepped inside.
"Holy cow," said Lemon as she hugged herself. "It's freezing in here!"
"All the more reason not to dawdle. C'mon!"
They got right to work, tilting each of the frames on the wall at odd angles, and turning each of the trophies on the shelves one hundred and eighty degrees. The only frame they left untouched was one that held a severe-looking portrait of Doctor Sombra. When they got to Cinch's desk, they pulled open each of the drawers. They were surprised to find one drawer completely filled with various over-the-counter antacid medications.
"Well this explains a lot," scoffed Lemon.
Indigo grabbed a trophy cup from a nearby shelf and placed it on Cinch's desk. She and Lemon then proceeded to fill the cup to its brim with antacid bottles and jars. Lemon also took a pen from the desk and stuck its blunt end into the inkwell. Indigo grabbed hold of Cinch's high-backed rolling chair.
"Wait," said Lemon as she tapped on the desk. "Stamp of approval!"
Indigo's grin was audible. "Oh yeaaah. One, two..."
"Three!" The girls giggled in unison as they both plopped their invisible derrieres down on Cinch's desktop.
Lemon held the door open as Indigo wheeled the chair out into the hall. They moved slowly in the camera's view, allowing it ample time to capture the chair's movement across the floor. They were halfway to the stairs when they saw somebody coming up. They froze in their tracks. It was Principal Cinch!
Principal Abacus Cinch carried herself tall as she ascended the stairs to her office. Today's faculty meeting had been briefer than usual. "Ghost" incidents aside, the Academy continued to run like a well-oiled machine. Thankfully, there were no more troublesome inquiries from parents, journalists, and crazed conspiracy theorists regarding the Friendship Games incident. Even though she did more listening than speaking, she was ready to relax in her office with an ice-cold bottle of sparkling mineral water.
She had just reached the landing when she stopped in her tracks. There in the middle of the hall was her chair. Beyond it, her office door was ajar. She pursed her lips. This was no doubt the work of the same miscreants responsible for the library and cafeteria incidents. Once she reviewed the security camera's footage, she would know exactly who did this, and then she would make an example of them!
Cinch had gotten within arms reach of her chair when the seat suddenly began to spin. She warily took a step back. This was indeed an elaborate trick. She could not see any strings or wires attached to her chair. Could this be the work of magnets or some remote-controlled device? The seat spun slowly at first but steadily moved faster and faster. Cinch kept her eyes on the spinning chair as she nervously edged back toward the stairs. This was no trick at all! Then, without warning, the chair pitched right in front of her. She shrieked as it toppled onto the floor.
Lemon and Indigo hurried back down the stairs, deftly weaving around several teachers. Putting on that little show for Cinch and seeing the look on her face had been a hoot, but it had cost them at least one minute. They could not afford to lose any more time! They hastily padded back through the girls' residence hall. They were just ten meters from Lemon's door when their naked bodies faded back into view.
"Damn," Indigo cursed under her breath.
Lemon gasped as she shot her arms down to cover herself. This was not good! Thankfully, there was nobody else in the hall. Once they got inside her room...
Just then, they heard voices approaching behind them. Someone was coming! The two naked girls frantically glanced about before ducking behind the curtain of a nearby window. Pressed up against the wall (and each other), they kept still and stood on the balls of their feet. Neither of them dared so much as breathe as Garden Grove and Melon Mint walked by. Hopefully, neither of their classmates would look down and glimpse their bare toes! Once Garden and Melon's voices had faded out, Lemon and Indigo cautiously poked their heads out from opposite sides of the curtain.
"All clear on this side," whispered Lemon.
"Good," Indigo said as she bolted from behind the curtain, making a beeline for Lemon's door.
"Hey, wait!"
Lemon had only taken two steps when she heard someone else fast approaching. She ducked back behind the curtain just as Frosty Orange rounded the corner. Once again, Lemon froze. As soon as Frosty's footfalls had faded, she peeked out again. Indigo had her door cracked open and was urgently gesturing for her to make a break for it.
"Get over here!" Indigo mouthed.
Before Lemon could act, she once again heard somebody coming. She hid behind the curtain again as Alizarin Bubblegum walked by. Lemon gritted her teeth. It was now or never! Once Alizarin had passed, she peeked out again. As soon as Indigo cracked the door open, she dashed for it. Indigo opened the door wide for her friend then hastily shut and locked it once she was inside.
Relieved, they both slumped against the wall, sinking to the floor. They had just narrowly avoided getting caught. Unlike their close call in the locker room two days ago, they would have had no excuse whatsoever for being out in the hall completely naked. They took a moment to regain their composure.
"I'd say Cinch is definitely a believer now," quipped Indigo.
"No doubt," said Lemon. They both giggled as they began redonning their undergarments. "We've definitely earned ourselves a treat with this one."
"It's Friday. Let's go hit Gabe and Chester's."
Lemon's eyes lit up as she ceased rebuttoning her shirt. She could not think of any better way to start the weekend. "Alright! I've been wanting to redeem my tickets!" She cast off her shirt once more and went to her dresser to dig up her off-campus casuals.
Indigo finished redonning her Academy uniform. "I'll head back to my room and get changed. See you down front in ten!"
"Sounds good!"
Lemon sifted through her drawers, eventually deciding on an orange blouse and blue jeans. As she got dressed, she took a moment to peek inside the milk can tin. Four more spoonfuls left. Two more doses each. Indeed, she and Indigo were going to make the most of the remaining invisibility powder, but all in good time. Right now, she was ready to enjoy a Gabe and Chester's sampler platter, try her hand at the claw cranes, and win plenty of tickets!