//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: The Invisible Zest 
// by mayorlight 
//------------------------------//

The next morning, Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap glumly marched down the sidewalk like a pair of condemned prisoners going to meet their fate. Almost befittingly, the sky was overcast - it looked it might rain today. On their way to The Drip coffee shop, they found themselves pondering what they might have done if they had more of the powder.

"You know what would have been cool?" asked Lemon.

"What?"

"Using the stuff to be superheroes."

Indigo snorted. "We'd sure save a bundle on capes and costumes."

They both laughed mirthlessly. How ironic that only yesterday, they had considered using the powder to pull a stunt outside of the Academy. Now, by some twist of fate, they were going to do just that, albeit not on their terms. They dreaded to think what kind of "final performance" Sugarcoat had in mind for them. Whatever it was, they could only hope that it did not leave them any more exposed than they were last night!

Before long, they arrived at The Drip. Upon entering, they spotted Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Sugarcoat sipping cups of coffee in a corner booth. After ordering their drinks, they joined their classmates.

Sour cheerily greeted them. "Hey girls! So how was the movie last night?"

When Lemon and Indigo remained silent, Sunny added, "Wow, that bad, huh? Let me guess, they blew their entire budget on a lot of cheap CGI effects?"

Indigo kept her voice level. "You wanted to see us?"

Sugarcoat pointed out the window at a storefront across the street, a bright orange eyesore adorned with a gaudy neon sign. "That is your target. You are both going to go in there, put on your poltergeist act, and scare the pants off the owners."

Lemon snickered. "What did these guys do to get on your hit list?"

"Consistently dishonest business practices, plus, they have stolen property on multiple occasions from a friend of a friend." Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. "We are doing this as a favor to the latter."

Lemon and Indigo looked at each other. They both had a gut feeling that this 'friend of a friend' was someone from Canterlot High School, probably one of the girls in the group that Twilight Sparkle was now part of - the Rainbooms. Sugarcoat was one meticulous fact-checker, so they had no reason to doubt what she had just told them. At the very least, they would be using last of the powder to do what they had been doing all along - punking a couple of jerks who clearly have it coming.

"Just one problem," said Indigo. "You don't expect us to just get into our birthday suits here, do you?"

"Of course not. That's why we're going in there first." Sugarcoat now pointed at a discount clothing store adjacent to the orange storefront. She went over the plan as they all drank their coffee.





Half an hour later, the five girls entered the clothing store. They all pretended to browse the racks as they made their way toward the back of the store. Lemon and Indigo gathered up a dozen different garments each then went with Sugarcoat to the fitting area. On their way into one of the curtained cubicles, Sugarcoat slipped Lemon a small paper bag. Sure enough, inside was the plastic bag containing the last of the powder along with two plastic spoons.

Lemon slid the curtain shut and disrobed with Indigo. Carefully, they scooped every last grain of the powder out of the bag. They looked solemnly at their spoons then at each other in a moment of reflection before taking their final synchronized dose, savoring that sweet taste so reminiscent of cherry-flavored Pixy Stix.

Once their bodies had faded from sight, they emerged from the cubicle but left the curtain closed. Once again, Sugarcoat detected Lemon's proximity by the watermelon scent of her body wash. She also took note of Indigo's mountain spring scent. They were now ready to embark on their final "ghost" mission.

"Alright, boss," Indigo whispered. "Lead the way."

Sugarcoat had only taken a few steps when she felt a light tug on each of her pigtails. Her cheeks reddened as she gave an exasperated groan. "Really, you two?"

Lemon giggled. "Well, what better to keep track of us?"

Sugarcoat sighed and continued walking with Lemon and Indigo literally in tow. Sour was browsing a swimsuit rack just outside the fitting area. Across the store, Sunny was chatting with one of the clerks.

Sugarcoat turned to Sour. "I'm gonna go next door for a moment," she said loud enough for another clerk to hear.

"Take your time," said Sour, equally loud. "We'll be right here."

With her invisible charges following close on her heels, Sugarcoat walked out of the store. The sidewalk was rough on Lemon and Indigo's bare feet. At least the weather remained cool with the cloud cover - they dreaded to think hot it would have been had the sun been out!

Sugarcoat whispered as they walked. "You both remember the signals?"

"Of course," sighed Indigo.

"And do you remember what to do if either of you finds the banana suit?"

The twist in Lemon's mouth was audible. "Yes, we do."





Flim and Flam glanced up as their shop bell rang, heralding the arrival of a customer. The newcomer was a petite bespectacled girl with her hair tied in two long pigtails. The two brothers donned their best smiles as they walked up to greet their latest potential mark.

"Welcome to the Flim Flam Brothers' Everything Under The Sun Emporium!" said Flim.

Flam leaned in. "If you want it..."

"We've got it!" both brothers said in unison.

The girl regarded them impassively, apparently unimpressed with their enthusiastic welcome. "Do you carry used paperbacks?"

"Right over here," said Flim as he gestured to a shelf filled with mostly worn and dog-eared books, many of them trashy romance novels and espionage thrillers. "Are you a Daring Do fan?"

"No," she said flatly. "I'm more of a Shadow Spade person."

"Another great series!" said Flam. "I know we have a few volumes in there too."

The brothers patiently waited as the girl perused the bookshelf. If they were lucky, she would buy at least two or three books. After a minute, she selected a single book, a coffee-stained paperback copy of a popular paranormal romance. Even at just one dollar, the price was more than what it was worth.

"I'll take this one."

"Great series!" said Flim. He then gestured to a nearby shelf that held candles, crystals, and a few other items that looked like they belonged in a new age store. "We've also got the tie-in tarot deck."

"No thanks. I don't need to read cards to know how it ends."

Flim grinned as he decided against trying to upsell any further. Better to save his energy for the next mark. He had just stepped behind the cash register when the radio on the shelf, an older model with a cassette player, suddenly clicked on. All three of them covered their ears as an oldies rock song blasted at full volume.

Flam hurried over to the radio and turned it off. "Sorry about that, miss! This antique model has a few quirks."

Flim proceeded to ring up the purchase. That was when they heard something else: a toilet flushing.

"Hey, who's back there?" Flam called out as he strode into the store's back area. "No public restrooms!"

How did somebody get to the back area? Flam wondered. He himself had locked and bolted the back door earlier, and nobody else was in the store. He stepped inside the bathroom and flipped on the light. Much to his surprise, there was nobody there. The toilet bowl, however, was refilling with water. Someone was definitely back here just now!

He poked his head inside the storage room, where he and his brother kept, among other things, the shop banana suit. There was nobody there, and the suit was still propped up in the far corner. He then went to check the back door. Sure enough, it was still secured. Even if somebody did somehow manage to come in here how could they have locked and bolted the door behind him as they left?

For good measure, Flam opened the door and looked out into the alley behind the store. As with the storage room, he found it completely deserted - unless some punk kid or the local wino was hiding behind the trash bins. He gave an exasperated grunt and secured the door once more.

When he turned around, he found himself staring at the shop banana suit...just floating there in the hall right in front of him. He twisted his mouth under his mustache. Someone was really going all out just to play a childish prank! He walked up to the suit and looked inside the face hole to find the suit completely empty. That was when a heavy workman's glove clamped down on his shoulder.

Flam bolted back. The banana suit began advancing slowly toward him with a pair of floating gloves reaching out like claws. He let out a high-pitched scream as he fled back into the showroom. Flim had just handed their customer her change and receipt when they both glanced up at him.

"Brother! What is it?"

Flim's eyes widened when he saw what followed Flam out of the hall. The radio switched on again, this time blasting a country music station. Nearby, a wooden rocking horse suddenly began rock briskly back and forth. Then the carousel racks began to spin, scattering greeting and postcards all over the place.

Flim and Flam slipped past their gawking customer and made a beeline for the front entrance. That was when a floating trenchcoat and fedora hat leaped out from a nearby clothing rack, blocking their path. They stopped dead in their tracks as the disembodied clothes brandished a broom at them, twirling it as a kung fu master would a staff!

Flim lost his footing and fell flat on his back. Flam whipped around only to find the banana suit (and gloves) now bouncing toward them on a pogo stick. Flim screamed as the broom came down on the floor like a headman's ax just barely missing his head. He scrambled back to his feet as the coat and hat closed in with a series of warding jabs. As the brothers staggered toward the middle of the showroom, they set off a motion-activated clown animatronic that cackled with almost maniacal glee. It was pandemonium!

Through it all, their customer watched dumbfounded, clutching her newly purchased book to her chest as she gradually edged toward the front door. Just as the bouncing banana suit and the trenchcoat warrior were about to close in on them, she let out a shrill, terrified scream. All around them, the floating objects suddenly dropped lifeless to the floor. Flim and Flam continued to cower on their knees as she ran out of the store.





Lemon and Indigo could not contain their laughter. Fortunately, there was nobody on the street to hear them as they padded away from The Flim Flam Brothers' store.

"Aside from that stupid banana suit, this was a blast!" giggled Lemon.

"And wouldn't you know, my wushu camp training paid off!" added Indigo.

Despite the invisible girls once again holding onto her pigtails, Sugarcoat managed a minuscule smile. Lemon and Indigo reigned in their laughter as they re-entered the clothing store. They returned to the fitting area where Sunny and Sour were waiting for them. Sugarcoat felt Lemon and Indigo release their hold once Sour flashed them a thumbs up indicating that it was safe for them to re-enter the cubicle where they had left their clothes.

"So, how was it?" asked Sunny.

"Best dollar I ever spent," quipped Sugarcoat.

A few minutes later, Lemon and Indigo emerged from the cubicle, visible again and back in their clothes.

"Mission accomplished!" said Indigo as she gave Lemon a high five.

Sugarcoat took out her smartphone. "As promised," she said as she opened her photo gallery. She presented the screen to Lemon and Indigo as she permanently deleted the burst of photos she had taken of them the night before. "From here on out, we'd best leave the weird stuff to the professionals."

Lemon and Indigo nodded in unison. "Agreed."

Sugarcoat finally allowed herself a little smile. "Excellent job, you two. This last performance truly was your best."

"Personally, that ballet number you did in the cafeteria was my favorite," said Sunny.

"Mine too," added Sour. "Although, I think it would have been funnier if you had each worn something like this." She and Sunny both giggled as she held up a watermelon print bikini.

Lemon snorted. "Even that is better than wearing a banana suit! I'd be peeved if I had to wear that thing outdoors on a hot day!"

Indigo chuckled as she took the swimsuit from Sour and draped it over her torso. "Hey, you never know. Invisible gogo-dancing might have been a thing!"

The girls laughed as they continued browsing the store, mostly for the sake of maintaining their cover. Sunny did end up picking up a new dress and swimsuit, and Indigo a new pair of athletic shorts. After making their purchases, Sunny, Sour, and Sugarcoat returned to the Academy while Lemon and Indigo went for a walk in the park.

With their mission a success, Lemon and Indigo now breathed much easier. While they were sad that their time as "ghosts" was now over, they were greatly relieved that Sugarcoat did not put them in a more compromising position. At least they no longer had to worry about the photos of them naked and lined with flour ever becoming public!

"Y'know, it's funny," said Indigo. "Now that I think about it, with Sugarcoat's help, we might have actually been superheroes."

Lemon gave her an incredulous look. "How so?"

"I mean, think about - she would gather the intel and plan the attacks while you and I did the dirty work."

"Because she would be holding leverage over us." Lemon scoffed. "Would make for one heck of a series, that's for sure."

"Heck, I'd watch it!"

The two friends laughed as they strolled past a duck-filled pond. At last, the sun was beginning to emerge from behind the clouds. It was going to be a beautiful afternoon.