“I am Princess Luna, golem, and am here to investigate a possible crime.” Princess Luna told the ‘golem.’
“There is no Princess Luna. Please identify yourself.” The golem responded.
“I am Princess Luna, sister to Princess Celestia and ruler of Equestria’s night. If you do not believe me, I will give you permission to measure my magic capacity.”
The golems stayed silent. The silence went on for almost a minute before they gave a unified nod. The one who had been staying silent then spoke in the same voice. “Apologies, Princess Luna.” The two bowed as the golem continued. “We were unaware of your existence outside of myth and shall not make the same mistake. You should not find any other workers acting toward you in such a manner. If you do, please inform them to be checked on.”
The two guards moved out of the way and let Princess Luna and the two night guards pass. “Thank you.” She said as she passed. Now within the borders of the property, she noticed that there were more golems patrolling the area inside. “The owner of this establishment had fitted his name far too well.”
Shade, Snowflake, Gust, and Count walked to the outer part of Canterlot, where the concert would be held. Snowflake had purchased tickets for all of them, which Shade had forgotten was a thing. “So you’ve never been to a concert before?” Snowflake asked Shade.
“Yeah.” Shade shrugged. “Never saw a point in going to one before.”
“Well you're gonna thank us for taking you to this one.” Gust chimed as they joined the quickly growing crowd. “These two are great music artists.”
“We’ll see if I agree or not.”
Count hushed the conversation. “I think it’s about to start.”
Two ponies walked onto the stage and the crowd started to cheer. Shade couldn’t get a good look at them at first, but when she did, she was shocked.
The first pony that stepped into the spotlight and spoke was a thestral mare. Her fur and mane were both white, making the light almost shine off of her. Her mane was styled to cover her right eye, leaving only her left, golden eye to be visible. “Hello Canterlot!” No cutie mark was visible from Shade’s angle of viewing, but she knew exactly who it was.
”Melody Verstand?! What the heck is she doing here?” Shade asked in thought.
The other pony was a unicorn…mare? Their voice was very masculine and stallion-like, but their physique was certainly feminine. “Welcome to another performance of yours truly!” They wore a white turtleneck sweater with a pair of square, black-rimmed glasses. Their mane was shoulder length and was a dark blue that matched their eyes, fading to pink. Their coat was a steel grey with a mark of the moon and two stars on their cheek. Their cutie mark was also not visible due to the distance.
”Music Verstand, Melody’s spouse?! No. No, they just look like them.” On the outside, Shade looked fine, but on the inside, they were starting to panic. They took deep breaths, focusing on calming themself down and paying no attention to their surroundings. ”It’s not Melody and it’s not Music. No, those are just ponies that look like them.” Yes that was it. It was definitely not who she thought they were. It couldn’t have been.
Before she knew it, a spotlight suddenly shined onto her. Shade froze as she heard the thestral mare on stage speak. “Shade?” That question. That one question was all the evidence she needed.
Shade’s eyes gained purple irises as her panic skyrocketed. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she casted a hastily made spell, a smokescreen of purple exploding out of her horn. She turned away from the stage and ran the opposite direction. “Shade, wait!” The feedback from a dropped microphone reached her ears, urging Shade to not look back.
Her fearful mind was going down a path of paranoia. Endless possibilities raced through her mind as she ran through the streets of Canterlot, ducking into alleyways and making the most random of turns. ”I’m gonna get found out, I’m gonna get found out! I shouldn’t have accepted that job, I should’ve just ran away and took on a different disguise.”
”If I’m caught, I’m going to get interrogated! For all I know, pony interrogating is full of torture methods and they won’t believe a word I say, no matter how true it is.” Her situation, what she knows about what may happen in the future, all of it would be seen as the ramblings of someone who’s gone mad. That, or simply desperate lies. She’ll have to make up believable lies in order to escape that. But what if she can’t? Will she die? Rot in jail?
Shade’s eyes faded from purple to black as paranoia continued to bloom within her mind. Her run slowed considerably as she closed in on an alleyway. She turned into the alleyway and casted a spell. She disappeared from sight, blending into the shadows. The white thestral flew into the alleyway, calling out after Shade. “Shade please, where have you been?!”
The thestral continued through the alleyway and went back into the streets, assuming Shade had kept running. Shade sighed and released the spell, stepping out of the shadows. “What have I gotten myself into?” She shook her head. “I gotta change my disguise, at least until tomorrow. I’ll have to make an alibi to not rouse much suspicion.”
Shade walked out the alleyway from where she came, opposite from where the thestral had gone. She became her previous pony disguise. Pegasus, green fur, turquoise mane and tail and a cloud shaped as a lightning bolt. The disguise still had black eyes, but that was fine. The difference in appearance was enough. “Perhaps I could pretend that a changeling was pretending to be my disguise? I’d have to hurry back to the castle, in that case. Tie myself up with some rope and throw myself into the closet. Difficult, but doable.”
Despite being full of paranoia, Shade felt calm and collected. Despite her fear constantly beating her consciousness, she could think clearly. It was like those emotions were but an optional thing to feel. Shade looked up to the castle and sighed apathetically. “This night is going to be a long one. If only I had thought to check on stuff like this before making that disguise.” She muttered to herself as she headed toward the castle. Once she is close enough, she’ll simply fly in. Previous experience with flight tells that she’ll be fast enough to not be noticed.
“Set up some bugs to listen in. Suspicious activity has happened with my disguise so I must be completely aware of everything. Best way to do that is to listen in on things I shouldn’t.” Shade planned out loud. “If I know everything that’s being talked about, I can plan ahead and think up good lies to not seem suspicious.”
Princess Luna watched as the golem she was speaking to froze mid-sentence. “Requesting diagnostic.”
Another golem approached with a crystal ball, handing it to the first golem. Upon grabbing the ball, nothing visibly changed. “Working as intended.” The second golem stated before taking back the ball.
“Sending golem to investigate magic signature.” The golems visibly slacked for a few moments as the command was sent.
“Magic signature?” Princess Luna asked as the golems sent the command.
Once the command was sent, the golems stood straight again. The one with the ball left as the other informed the princess. “The unicorn named Paranoia has been detected by our scanners. We are sending a golem to investigate.”
“Paranoia? As in the owner of this company?”
“Correct.” The golem nodded.
“But Paranoia is dead. You shouldn’t be finding his magic signature anywhere. Not to mention that he's been dead for over two years, so it couldn’t even be remnants that you’re sensing.”
“Affirmative, but we sense Paranoia’s magic and we are clear of errors. We are sending a golem to investigate.”
“Where are you sensing this? I wish to investigate as well.”
The golem paused for a moment as it likely double checked where the signature was coming from. “Approaching a side entrance to Canterlot Castle.”
“Why would he be going to the castle?” Princess Luna shook her head. “No matter. I will return another time to resume my questioning.”
“Have a good night, Princess.” Princess Luna left as the golem gave its farewell, not bothering to return the sentiment.