“Anything new yet?”
Three weeks had passed since they formed their little detective team, and since then they've met once a week, same day, same time, same place, to report what they've learned and collaborate on all their evidence. They only had one problem...
They hadn't learned much yet.
They got a bigger chalkboard and recopied all of their notes from the small one, but since then they'd found no valuable evidence of any kind.
Not for lack of trying of course, they had observed Twilight and Fluttershy in as much of their free time as they could, going to efforts to eavesdrop whenever possible, read personal documents, and Pinkie had even gone as far as to record all of their orders from Sugarcube Corner.
It was hard though, because as stealthy as they were their targets always knew where they were and when they were watching, personal documents and letters were locked away in drawers, and when they did purchase something from Sugarcube Corner, which was not often, every order was completely normal.
That didn't mean that they didn’t learn anything though. By casual observation or just being in the right place at the right time, such as working in Sugarcube Corner for example, sometimes proved rewarding. Some of the most valuable information, which lacked much value at all, came from running into Twilight and Fluttershy accidentally, or sometimes the other way around.
One of the two most valuable pieces of evidence that they had so far came from Pinkie, behind the counter of Sugarcube Corner. The bakery was well known as one of the more popular attractions in Ponyville, and it could also be a great place to get together with friends. Twilight and Fluttershy would come in once or twice a week, usually on slow days where the weather wasn’t suitable for getting out. They would always sit in the corner and speak quietly, and go silent any time somepony was near. Even when she was so stealthy that nopony could possibly see her they were still aware of Pinkie’s presence somehow, and would turn whatever hushed meeting they were having to small talk for as long as she was in the vicinity. Sometimes they would give glance at Pinkie, or one of the others if they were there.
They often bought a cupcake or cookie when they were there, but it would go uneaten and usually would be taken out with them. They didn’t bother to hide that they weren’t there to eat, and their meetings, if uninterrupted, would go on for anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour.
Occasionally it would be more than just talking though, they occasionally would exchange a letter or even once a package, probably a book from Pinkie’s viewpoint, but they all agreed it could be anything.
Once Rainbow and Rarity were in Sugarcube Corner together to meet with Pinkie for lunch to discuss Twilight and Fluttershy at the same time they were there. They briefly confronted the two in as friendly of a manner as they could, but they claimed they were only together for lunch.
Searching the suspects’ homes worked out little better in the end. They figured that if any evidence was to be found anywhere it would be in the homes of the two ponies they were looking into.
The actual searches themselves turned up very little though.
Fluttershy’s home wasn’t hard to get into, she never locked her upstairs window, but that was a limitation, as only Rainbow could get in, and she wasn’t the most observant of the group.
Fluttershy had a locked cabinet, large enough to hold any number of things, and a small desk with locked drawers. Fluttershy wasn’t the most careful pony, and very often would leave out letters or piles of parchment, all containing the same symbol over and over again. The letters were mostly from Twilight, acting as invitations and giving a time to meet her, either at a local spot later in the evening or at the train station before dawn. Nothing that could give any clues was left out though, and they speculated that they were more carefully locked inside either the desk or cabinet, if not destroyed outright.
Twilight’s room in the top floor of the library was more accessible. There was no reason to lock it, as most ponies had the courtesy to stay out of the upstairs, which housed Twilight’s private collection of books, as well as books gifted to her by Princess Celestia, some of which weren’t allowed to go out to the public, not to mention if she locked it Spike wouldn’t be able to get in whenever he needed to.
Twilight was a very neat and very intelligent pony, so while they were sure that there was something there, they couldn’t find it. She had very few books out, mostly books on psychology, but some on other more interesting topics, such as methods of secret communications, iconography, and most curiously of all, methods of learning languages.
While her books of choice where somewhat odd, more suspicious yet were some of the other things in her room. There was a box, fairly large and very heavy, that was always locked. There was also a desk that Rarity said wasn’t always there, though she admitted that she hadn’t been up there in some time. This caught attention because unlike the rest of the room, this desk was usually less tidy, having out ink, parchment, and sometimes even complete letters laid out across it.
None of the letters left out were evidence though. Indeed, it appeared that they were all letters containing no important information, which may shed some light onto why they were so carelessly handled. It was mostly just dates and places, always for some kind of meeting, and often out of town. This reinforced that in whatever was going on, Twilight was involved deeply, and more importantly that Fluttershy was going along with it of her own volition.
Spike was a valuable source of information though. Out of concern for Twilight and his own curiosity he willingly and eagerly gave out evidence, and the evidence he provided painted a picture that they had previously never stopped to consider.
What were Twilight and Fluttershy doing at night?
They weren’t expecting it, so it came as something as a shock to them when they heard that most of Twilights meetings with Fluttershy were nocturnal. From what Spike told them, Twilight and Fluttershy got together almost every night, either in the library or somewhere else, and though Spike was usually privy to the inner workings of the library, when those two were there it was like he was an outsider. He would be kept out of the upstairs area most of the time, force to stay on one of the reading couches on the main floor. They would be up there for hours at a time, so Spike would usually end sleeping downstairs.
The few times they were only together briefly Spike got more insight into what they were doing, but they were careful to only show him so much. The one detail he added that they couldn’t figure out for themselves from their own examinations of Twilight’s living area was that the locked box she had in the room had been in her possession for years, but until recently was unused, at least to the best of his knowledge, and contained numerous books and nothing else. The nature of the books were a mystery to him, as on the occasions when they exchanged books from the box he was allowed in the room, but not anywhere nearby.
None of what they found through all that observation served much purpose other than reinforcing their suspicions that there was something they weren’t being told, which was perhaps the only reason they were still going. They knew something wasn’t right and they were confident that they could figure it out, and then find a way to work from there.
The one other thing he could add was that she frequently received letters via couriers, appearances hidden under heavy cloaks, but he wasn’t privy to their contents
There was one piece of evidence that they had new information on though, and one that every other piece of evidence they had gathered in recent weeks had in common. That was the mare they knew as Silver Wing.
The enigmatic pony was very frequently found to be everywhere. The letters to Twilight and even a few to Fluttershy were almost always signed by her, and she was seen with Twilight and Fluttershy a few times at Sugarcube Corner and at other meeting places, though only from a distance. In any case, Rarity recognized her immediately, and confirmed her appearance by description on several occasions.
Spike helped clear up some of the mystery. From his account, she was Twilight’s foalsitter before she became Princess Celestia’s student and Cadence took over the privilege. She had a job doing some of the mountains of paperwork that went through Canterlot Castle, and would occasionally get together with Twilight, especially as she got older, and even on a few occasions since moving to Ponyville. According to him she started showing up much more frequently within the past month, and would meet with Twilight and Fluttershy whenever she was in town.
His addition took much of the mystery off her, but the question of what she was doing, and how was it related, were still mysteries. Even more importantly, it added the possibility that this wasn’t a recent change. If that was the case, this could have been going on for as long as Twilight’s early youth, even before her time as Celestia’s student.
So now it was their third official meeting, and they hadn’t made any significant progress of any kind except come across even more suspicious behavior from everypony involved, and reduce the likelihood that Fluttershy was being controlled to virtually zero, along with the chances that Twilight was only doing this only out of an illicit curiosity.
The board, as they had taken to calling it, was out in the center of the room, and when it wasn’t it would be stored in the back, out of sight, so that anypony could come in and add to it at any time if they wanted or needed to. Silver Wing had received the most attention, shortly followed by Twilight and Fluttershy’s suspicious behaviors. The contents of the first meeting, the ones focusing on the events preceding recent developments, were moved to a small area in the corner when they were seen to be less relevant. They were still significant, and still had value, but for the most part it was only vaguely related. It may have been what started all of this, or at least a trigger for something that was already brewing, but now it wasn’t playing any important role, there was no new evidence of Twilight studying dark magic and no new evidence of how Fluttershy became involved.
So, when Rainbow asked the question of whether or not there was any evidence, the others were overcome with the same involuntary feeling of incompetence.
“I’m afraid not darling, they haven’t been by my store, and I haven’t run into them across town all week,” Rarity said somewhat dejectedly. True that if she had she would have taken note of every detail and the group would have scrutinized them closely, but unfortunately whatever divide was created by this secret wasn’t being repaired, and the two mares were growing further from their friends, so the chances of running into them were growing further.
“Just the usual, cupcakes and cookies and super-secret evil meetings in the corner of Sugercube Corner, wait a minute, they’re in the corner of Sugarcube Corner!That’s so funny!” Pinkie said, earning an eye roll from the others.
“What about you Rainbow, what have you discovered?” Rarity asked. She did her best to be confident that something would have come up that somepony else could report, even though she effectively knew the answer before she even asked.
“Nothing!” Rainbow shouted, “I can’t just spend all my nap time following them around and hearing every word they say, they always k now when I’m there, it’s like they just know exactly when they’re being followed and start talking about feeding birds or something else boring like that. How am I supposed to hear them say something useful if every time I get close enough to hear what their saying they switch the subject?”
Rarity gave them a comforting look as she spoke, “It’s not your fault darling, you’ve done your best, they’ve just done a bit better.”
“But we’re still losing!” Rainbow exclaimed. Of the three, her confidence was the first to fall, and she was the first to believe that Twilight and Fluttershy were winning.
“Cheer up Dashie, we still haven’t tried everything you know,” Pinkie said, inspiring confidence but not helping actually give them any ideas.
Rarity took the advice immediately however, and saw one thing on the board that they might actually be able to use.
“What about all these suspicious locked containers they have, what if we open one of them, see what’s inside...”
“How are we supposed to open it though Rarity? I thought you said we couldn’t do any damage to them. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re locked, how are we supposed to open them?” Rainbow pointed out.
It had been a policy of theirs since the first time they agreed to try searching for clues inside Twilight and Fluttershy’s homes. Leave minimal evidence, and no doing any kind of damage. It may get evidence, but they would also be leaving behind some evidence of their own. If Twilight and Fluttershy were aware that they had been breaking into their homes, especially using force to break into their collections of thing that might be deemed private, it could serve as a call to put greater security measures on anything that would have any potential value, not to mention the confrontation that would inevitably follow, and they would be lucky if that was the end of it even if what they got out of it was of little consequence. If they were to come across something that could be used against them, the actions they take might be much more drastic. They didn’t have any proof, but Twilight might have used dark magic on Fluttershy when she discovered something that she shouldn’t have, and if they were to do the same as she did they might end up facing a similar fate.
“I’m not suggesting that we break into it, I’m suggesting we do something more subtle,” Rarity said. “I’m suggesting that we pick the lock.”
They had tried to open the locks in Twilight’s home with magic, but it was obvious from the start that they had been enchanted to protect against magic such as that. Now Rarity was suggesting a more conventional method.
“Can you do it?” Pinkie asked.
“I think I can, I’m not an expert on burglary, but I must at least try. But first we must know where to do it, and when.”
“So, we do it when they aren’t home,” Rainbow said.
“While I agree with your plan, I believe that it may be a bit too simple,” Rarity replied, “We can’t simply walk in when they aren’t home, we need to know exactly how long they’ll be gone for. We can’t risk letting them simply walk in as we’re doing it, as I’m the only one of us all that can actually do it, and unlike you Rainbow I simply don’t have the luxury of simply bolting for the window.”
“So, they always leave their plans out, why not just look at their letters to see when they’re meeting somepony,” Pinkie added.
The plan seemed to work, even if it was a bit unsteady. Rarity said she knew a pony from which she could get a lock pick kit that would serve their purposes, and Rainbow could get in and out of Twilight’s home unseen to see when the next time the coast would be clear. Pinkie offered a place in the basement of Sugarcube Corner they could bring what they found to hide it, and look over it briefly before hiding it.
The plan was set, and they went their separate ways to prepare.
-----
They didn’t have to wait long to put their plan into place. Rainbow’s intelligence gathering effort was a success and she had found a letter that gave them a time to work with. The pony named Silver Wing had requested a meeting between her and Twilight and Fluttershy just after sundown.
Rarity had retrieved a set of lock picks, not professionally customized, not even quality ones, and she was reluctant to divulge her provider. It didn’t matter though, for their purposes it would do fine.
With Pinkie standing by in Sugarcube Corner for the delivery of some of the contents of Twilights desk drawers, the plan was set in motion.
Getting to Twilight’s desk wasn’t a problem, Twilight left to door to upstairs unlocked as always, and Spike as usual had no objections to their presence.
Perhaps it was a bit naive to believe that Twilight wouldn’t have been prepared for everything, or perhaps the contents or the drawer were more important than they realized, but either way they were unprepared for what happened.
Rarity inserted the lock picks and was ready to make her best effort, but as soon as she did there was a faint orange glow from the inside of the lock and Rarity felt changes in the lock pick and slowly, she pulled it out.
“Rainbow, it... melted,” Rarity said. Sure enough, there was an added security measure that she didn’t foresee. A quick scan of the lock revealed a completely foreign type of magic flooding it, not dark by any means but still completely unknown, and still very powerful.
“Well, that didn’t work. Seriously, a lock that melts anything you put in it? I mean, how do you even unlock something like that, it would just melt the key.”
“Unless the key was specifically made to work on this kind of lock,” Rarity replied to Rainbow’s comment. A single key fitting a single lock was the idea behind the entire concept of a lock, so why not take it a step further and create a lock that would reject all but a single key?
“I guess we should go let Pinkie know that we don’t have anything.” Rainbow said, failure catching up to her and dampening her spirits.
“You go ahead, there’s something else I want to do,” Rarity said. Rainbow and Pinkie would often go together to try to eavesdrop on Twilight and Rarity, taking advantage of Pinkie sense warning them when their cover was blown and Twilight and Fluttershy knew they were being followed. Occasionally one or the other would try to go alone, but it wouldn’t turn out much better, but Rarity had did her best to avoid being the one to try, mostly because her unique skills brought her bad memories.
Now that she didn’t see any other option than wait for months more before their routine of running around with no direction rewarded them with something they could use, she was willing to make her own attempt.
The letter with the location of their meeting was still out on her desk, and they would still be out at the meeting at that moment, so Rarity took her leave, making her way out to Fluttershy’s cottage, where they would be meeting outside for Silver Wing.
One of the benefits of being a graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was that Rarity had a wide range of magical skills she did her best to avoid using, which included spells designed to hide magical signatures, muffle sounds, and even make a pony difficult to make out visually without some kind of magical aid, to make them blend into the shadows and seem unimportant, unique skills that would make her the ideal spy.
She arrived just seconds behind Twilight, hiding herself to the best of her ability in the foliage.
Fluttershy and Silver Wing were already there, and they greeted Twilight as she arrived.
Twilight gave Fluttershy a book, giving Silver Wing an annoyed look while Fluttershy asked, “What’s this for?”
“I’ll explain later, but first, we have things to discuss,” Twilight replied, and then she turned to face Silver Wing. “We’ll discuss other matters, but there’s something else we need to take care of first.
“Rarity, would you come out here please.”
That was perhaps the most terrifying moment in Rarity’s entire life. Just like with the lock, it was foolish of Rarity to think that Twilight, in her superior education, wouldn’t be able to see through her spells. Compared to some of what she must have learned under Princess Celestia’s tutelage, her spells must have seemed amateur in comparison.
She felt terror unlike anything she had ever felt before, it was a wonder that she didn’t pass out on the spot. She wasn’t sure if she should stay hidden and hope they would think her presence to be a false alarm, but somehow she knew that it just wouldn’t work.
Slowly, she rose from the brush and stepped out into sight. At first she stopped quite a distance away, but when Twilight gestured to come closer she complied even against her own doubts.
“Hello Rarity, pleasure to see you again,” Silver said, and then she turned her head to look at Twilight and added, “You see why I’m concerned?”
“And as I keep telling you, your concerns aren’t necessary, I have confidence that the situation will not get out of control,” Twilight replied.
“I suppose that you can’t be convinced without proof, and by the time you get that it will be too late to defuse the situation,” Silver said, “I really can’t do anything about it, but trust me, if you don’t take action now it will be too late.”
Rarity had the unpleasant feeling that they were talking about their efforts at an investigation. She got evidence out of this but now she was worried it would never get delivered. Twilight seemed to have hopes that things could end well, but Silver Wing had doubts.
“We can talk about that later though,” Twilight continued. “For now, let’s talk about Rarity. First, let me ask, why? You’ve been going to a lot of trouble for this Rarity, so what is it?”
Rarity wasn’t sure what to say. She opened her mount but couldn’t find the will to speak. After a moment she said, “W-well, we’re worried, for you and of you.”
Twilight smiled, “Rarity, we’ve been friends for years. I thought that by now you would have learned to trust me a little more than that. What I do with my life if my choice.”
“What about Fluttershy, was it her choice too?” Rarity asked accusingly.
“Actually…” Fluttershy began to say before Twilight cut her off.
“Rarity, there’s nothing going on that concerns you. Believe me as a friend when I say that and give up, please.”
“Twilight, what happened to you?” Rarity asked. “You’ve changed so much.”
“Rarity, it’s honestly none of your business. There’s nothing going on that you need to worry about. I’m sorry if we’ve been a bit distant recently, but if it makes you any more comfortable we can start getting together as friends more often. In fact, I was planning on coming to see you later this week to see if you could help me with something. If there’s anything you want to talk about we can get to it then.”
Rarity nodded nervously.
“Good, now if you wouldn’t mind, we did have plans before you showed up.”
Rarity didn’t hesitate to leave as quickly as possible. She ran home as quickly as she could.
As soon as she arrived she rush to the back room to the board and started revising the evidence they had. Their meeting was terrifying, but Rarity could safely cross a few things off the board, and add a few more using what she learned. One thing was starting to become more evident over time though.
Whatever was going on, Twilight just might be the one in charge.