“THE SHOCKING TRUTH BEHIND LEX LEGIS’ ASSAULT ON PRINCESS LUNA REVEALED!”
It was the sort of headline that was meant to grab attention, as much from the gaudy yellow font as from the inside knowledge it promised to have. Nor was that the sum total of what it promised, with the bottom of the front page promising more. “It was only phase one of his master plan!”
The sight made Nosey bite back a groan. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt embarrassed by how gossip rags – in this case, the National Equiner – were considered to be part of her profession. But this time, the disdain she felt was far more personal. If anypony at that tabloid has ever so much as laid eyes on Lex, then I’m an alicorn, she thought ruefully.
“You want me to ring you up a copy of that, too?” came the voice of the cashier, a gum-chewing unicorn mare who looked like she was barely out of school, having finished bagging the rest of Nosey’s groceries.
Managing not to wince, Nosey shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“You sure? I read that one, and it’s pretty good,” urged the teenage-looking mare, leaning in as she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “It says that Lex guy is planning to build, like, this huge base on the moon, and that’s why he needed princess Luna out of the way, ‘cuz she can control it. Now there’s nothing stopping him. Once it’s done, he’ll be able to summon the rest of his people from their home planet.”
Leaning back, the cashier nodded as though she’d just imparted a revelation of vast importance. “That’s right,” she answered in response to Nosey’s nonplussed look. “Lex Legis is actually a space alien, here to lead the way for the coming invasion.”
Nosey knew she should have just picked up her groceries and left, that it wasn’t worth telling some teenybopper how gullible she was being, but she couldn’t help herself. “So, what’s he doing about Princess Celestia, then?”
A confused look crossed the cashier’s face. “Huh?”
“Princess Celestia,” repeated Nosey. “You know, Princess Luna’s older sister? Been ruling Equestria from right here in Canterlot for over a thousand years now? Currently moving the moon on Luna’s behalf, making it hard for someone else to seize control of it? Where does that little detail fit into his ‘master plan’?”
“Whoa…” The checkout mare’s chewing slowed as an amazed look crossed her face, her eyes widening. “That’s a really good point! Wow, I wonder if they’ll talk about that in the next issue?!”
Fighting down the urge to groan, Nosey left without another word, picking up her groceries in her telekinesis as she exited the store.
How can anypony be that dumb? she groused to herself as made her way through Canterlot’s downtown, her body moving on its own as she traversed the familiar route back to her apartment. The ponies who write that nonsense aren’t even real reporters! They just make stuff up! Anypony who believes that would have to be more naïve than…than…than Sonata!
The thought brought a brief smile to her lips, remembering the bubbly mare who had been her best friend. That’s right, that kid was like Sonata, and I snarked on her just like Aria would have. The only pony that was missing was Lex…
Her smile crumpled at that, disappearing under the confused jumble of feelings that swept over her then. A sudden longing to see him – to see all of them – again, which was instantly followed by a surge of discomfort at the prospect, remembering how adrift she’d felt being caught up in the course of his adventures. Then came guilt at how pained they’d all been when she’d left, trailed immediately by a sense of resentment at how overbearing the three of them had been, each of them such a forceful presence that they’d inadvertently left her feeling like she was becoming an extension of them rather than being able to be herself.
That was just the beginning. There was a brief surge of desire as she remembered the brief point during which they’d been lovers. Then a sudden sense of embarrassment at how wanton she’d let herself become. Then shame that she was thinking about sex at all after everything that had happened. Then a sudden surge of indignation that she had anything to be ashamed of after all the hardships she’d been through.
Her thoughts and emotions kept going round and round, to the point where by the time she reached her building, Nosey felt thoroughly exhausted.
Setting her groceries down as she opened her mailbox, Nosey paused as she examined the contents. The fliers were all junk, and there were a couple bills that needed to be paid, but it was the newspapers that made her hesitate. Like all of the Canterlot Chronicle’s employees, she got a free subscription to the paper, and since she’d been staying at her parents’ house, she hadn’t had a chance to come pick up her copies.
Absently picking up her groceries as she started wandering up the stairs toward her apartment, she shuffled through the newspapers, still not having found the one she was looking for as she reached the landing and fumbled for her keys. It was only after she’d made it inside, kicking the door closed behind her the same way she’d done a hundred times before, that she located the issue from several days ago, showing Princess Luna – a stoic expression on her face as she looked right at the camera, baring her diminished state to the world – beneath a headline denouncing Lex as the villain who’d done that to her.
Mechanically, Nosey made her way toward the kitchen, putting everything she’d bought away, never able to take her eyes off of the paper for more than a second or two at a time. She’d seen it before, of course; once it had been published, that particular story had been everywhere, to the point where she’d heard that the Chronicle had needed to reprint it nearly a half-dozen times. But she’d never sat down and actually read it herself; just the thought of doing so had been more than she’d felt ready to handle.
Even now, just remembering everything that had happened after she’d come home to Canterlot was enough to make her chest tighten, a sensation that didn’t abate as she put the newspaper down and looked around her apartment.
All signs of the struggle that had taken place here, along with the investigation that had followed, were gone now. Her mother had come over a few days later and tidied the place up, even replacing the pane of glass that Silhouette had hurled Line through. To look at it now, it was the same homey little bungalow it had always been.
Except it wasn’t. It was the lair of the crazed guard who’d held her captive in her own bathroom. It was the battleground where her boss – whom she was still angry at for how biased he was against Lex, even as she felt grateful to him for rescuing her and guilty for how it had almost killed him – had nearly lost his life. It was the place that the Royal Guard had tossed while they’d tried to find evidence to discredit her story.
Suddenly it was too much. After the unexpected firestorm of emotions she’d experienced on her way to her apartment, and finally reading Princess Luna’s interview, being back here was more than she was able to process. Her stomach clenching, Nosey shoved the newspaper away, letting the pages flutter to the ground in a heap as she lurched toward the door.
She had reassured her parents that morning that she felt good about heading back to her place, and despite their protests she’d been confident that she was ready. She’d take back her home, enjoy her vacation, and start working on the book that she’d decided to write back in Tall Tale. It would be a tell-all about her time with Lex, one that would set the record straight about him while simultaneously letting her put him – and everything that she’d been through – behind her for good.
Just a few hours ago Nosey had felt ready to move on with her life.
Now, the idea she’d seriously entertained that possibility made her feel even stupider than that girl at the checkout counter.
I can’t live here anymore, she thought, the realization making her want to cry for some reason. I’ll need to ask Mom and Dad if I can stay with them a little longer, just until I can find a new- “ACK!”
Stumbling as she suddenly collided with someone, the two of them went down in a heap, Nosey squawking in pain as something pointy jabbed her in the breastbone. A moment later her brain caught up to what her body was doing, and she scrambled to her hooves, mortified. “I’m so sorry! I-” She couldn’t finish as she suddenly sucked in a breath, every muscle in her body tensing as she recognized who she’d just run into.
Silhouette.
No, she realized a second later, her heart hammering in her chest. No, it’s not him.
In fact, the pony she’d run into wasn’t a “him” at all. Rather, it was a pegasus mare. But one with a midnight-black coat just like Silhouette’s, her mane and tail being silvery in a way that was reminiscent of her attacker’s snow-white hair. Her cutie mark was different too, being a small pile of bits that was barely visible underneath her dark cloak. Being the most colorful part of the pony she’d just run into, Nosey focused on that for a moment, letting it remind her this wasn’t Silhouette.
For her part, the mare she’d hit didn’t seem to enjoy the attention, scowling as she stood up. “Are you done checking out my ass?” she huffed, adjusting her cloak so that it fell over her haunch.
Taken aback by the coarse language, Nosey flinched, the motion exacerbating the ache in her chest where something had jabbed her. “Oh, no, I was just…” Shaking her head, she made an effort to pull herself together. “I’m sorry, you look like someone I know is all.”
“Maybe you should invest in a better pair of spectacles, then,” sneered the stranger.
Nosey nodded meekly, ignoring the lingering ache from where she’d been jabbed. It hadn’t broken the skin, so it was probably fine. Except…something seemed odd. The mare in front of her wasn’t wearing anything pointed, so what had poked her? Unable to help herself as her reporter’s instincts went to work of their own accord, Nosey replayed what had just happened in her mind. She’d come rushing out the front door of her apartment, almost leaping from the two of the two steps between the entrance and the street, and that had been when she’d run into the mare in front of her. So the pegasus’ muzzle would have impacted her chest, but that didn’t make any sense; her muzzle was as rounded and blunt as any other mare’s. So why…?
In front of her, the pegasus sighed, her features softening. “Listen, I’m sorry for being so blunt, but I’ve been looking for a magic shop ever since I arrived here this morning. Do you know where the nearest one is?”
As she spoke, she turned her head to gesture at the city, and Nosey caught sight of a hairpiece that she hadn’t seen before, a clip with a rather ornate design of two theater masks – one laughing and one crying – attached to it. That must have been it, Nosey decided. It wasn’t exactly as pointy as she’d have thought, but it was still metal. She must have had her head turned, and that’s what I bumped into. It was odd that she’d done so without knocking it askew, but what other explanation was there?
Putting the thought out of her mind, Nosey made herself smile, pointing down the street. “There’s one a few blocks from here. It’s down a side alley, so it’s easy to miss. Just look for the place with the constellation stickers on the windows.”
“Constellation stickers. Got it.” The conversation was apparently over then, as the ebony pegasus moved past her. It was apparently an afterthought that made her glance back over her shoulder. “Try not to trample anybody else,” she called as she walked away.
Nosey waved at her, the motion awkward. It wasn’t just because she still felt embarrassed, but also because of the odd phrasing. “Anybody”? What kind of word was that? It sounded like something Sonata used to say back when she’d first met her, the mare butchering idioms and simple expressions left and right.
Thoughts of Sonata reminded Nosey of what had just happened, and she put the odd pegasus out of her mind as she winced, turning around and resuming – at a more sedate pace – her trek toward her parents’ house.
A little while later, she was knocking on their front door. “Mom? Dad? You guys home?”
“Nosey?” came her mother’s voice from inside, Wordsy Windbag appearing a moment later, concern etched all over her face. “What’s wrong? You said you were going back to your apartment?”
Shamefaced, Nosey nodded. “I did. But then I got there and I just…I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t…” She wasn’t even sure where to start, suddenly feeling at a loss to explain everything she’d been feeling.
But her expression seemed to do the job just fine, as her mother suddenly stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. “Oh, my poor baby! Come on inside, we’re just getting ready to have a late lunch.” Letting her go, she gave Nosey a sympathetic smile. “You’ll have to put up with your father’s cooking, of course. I swear, that stallion can make the healthiest food in Equestria, but it’s not exactly what I’d call flavorful.”
Fighting down a laugh of relief at how simple and uncomplicated things were with her parents, Nosey followed her mom inside. “So what would you call it?”
Wordsy rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’d say something along the lines of insipid, savorless, unappealing…”
But to Nosey’s surprise, her mother’s list of synonyms ended there, the mare turning to look at her as she led her into the dining room. “Actually dear, I’m glad you’re here. Your father and I were wondering…”
She stopped talking as Pill Bug walked into the room, levitating a salad bowl. “Here we are!” he announced. “Spinach, lettuce, and kale all in one! This has all the antioxidants we’ll need-, Nosey?” Putting the bowl down, Pill blinked in surprised as he adjusted his glasses. “Sweety, what are you doing here?”
“She was just telling me that she thinks she was a bit too hasty, impulsive, and rash, going back to her place so soon,” answered Wordsy before Nosey could, ushering her daughter toward a seat.
Looking at his daughter’s downcast expression, Pill crossed the room to give her a quick hug. “Well, I’m just glad you didn’t try to force yourself. You know you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need.”
“Thanks Dad,” smiled Nosey, suddenly exceptionally grateful that she had such wonderful parents.
“Now let me go add some okra to this salad,” announced Pill Bug. “The calcium will help boost your mood and combat depression.”
“Actually, darling, I think we should tell Nosey what we were talking about before,” prompted Wordsy.
The news sent a trickle of anxiety through Nosey’s gut, not liking how that sounded. “What?”
Pill hesitated, glancing between his daughter and his wife before his eyes settled on the latter. “Do you think now’s the best time?”
“Absolutely, indubitably, unquestionably,” nodded Wordsy. “She needs something else to think about, and this will help her.”
“Think about what?” asked Nosey. “Is it something bad? Because I really can’t handle another surprise right now.”
“No, sweety, nothing like that,” chuckled Pill. “It’s just that your mother and I were planning on taking a trip for our anniversary, and we thought maybe you’d like to come.”
Nosey felt a weight lift off of her chest, glad it wasn’t more bad news. “Oh. Well, that’s really nice, but I’d hate for you to babysit me on your anniversary.”
“We knew you’d say that,” answered her mother with a light chuckle. “But think about this: if you don’t come with us, we’ll spend the entire time worried about how you’re doing. So you’d actually be doing us a favor if you came along.”
That logic was so backward that it made perfect sense, and Nosey couldn’t help but laugh. She knew she should protest more, but the thought of being alone in Canterlot was unpleasant enough that she couldn’t bring herself to. “Okay, you talked me into it. So where are we going?”
Pill smiled, sharing a glance with his wife. “Well, we usually try to go to more out-of-the-way vacation spots, but this year we were thinking something a little more traditional.”
“Las Pegasus,” announced Wordsy as her husband began to serve everyone their meal.