Twilight Sparkle barely had to focus any energy to close the book and telepathically move it back to its place on the shelf. The Ponyville Library had hundreds of books, but none had helped her so far. Perhaps she would have to go to the Canterlot Library to find a way to increase sugar production. "I can't let Princess Celestia down", she told herself. She turned to the next bookshelf and began scanning the titles again, looking for something that she might have missed earlier. Her experiment had been a failure; her formula hadn't accelerated sugar cane growth by any significant amount. Someone, somewhere, must know the answer to her problem. She shook her head. "I'm going to Canterlot," she said. "Come on, Spike!"
***
Mrs. Cake stopped by the nursery to check on her foals. They were curled up on the floor together, with all of their toys scattered around them. She smiled and slowly shut the door while backing out into the hall. She suddenly noticed, from the corner of her eye, a shadow duck into her bedroom. She hadn't seen who it was, but they had a black body and wings. Unless Rainbow Dash was robbing them in broad daylight, she had no idea who it might be. The Mysterious Mare-do-well? She tiptoed down to the open bedroom door, staying close to the wall to avoid being seen. Maybe it was her husband, and the lighting just made him look strange. But sunlight was pouring through the open window; that couldn't be it.
She stopped just before the door, holding her ear to the wall. It sounded like someone was having a coughing fit. A voice suddenly muttered an obscenity. And it wasn't Mr. Cake. She glanced around, looking for something to protect her children with. Her heart began to beat faster. There was nothing in the hall, and if she went into the nursery, the intruder might follow her. If she went into the shop, the intruder might still go into the nursery. She had to think of something. Fast.
The coughing stopped. All she heard was her rapid pulse and tense breathing. "Oh, hey, sweetheart." Mr. Cake emerged from the bedroom without warning. Mrs. Cake fell backwards onto the floor. Her heart skipped a beat before beginning to slow down. "Is something wrong?" her husband asked in a concerned tone.
"No, no," she said, trying to collect herself. "I thought--I thought someone else was in there."
"Who?" Mr. Cake asked, stepping back to look through the open door.
"A black pegasus, I thought. I don't know. I just saw someone go in there." Mrs. Cake stood shakily to all four legs. She stepped forward and peered through the door, hoping to see someone else in there. The room was empty.
"Well, there's nopony in there. I guess it was the lighting. Sorry, dear. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Mrs. Cake said. She knew that whoever had been in there had a completely different voice than Mr. Cake. It was hoarser, thicker, like someone trying to talk while drinking syrup. Her husband smiled and looked into her eyes. She searched his face, looking for anything unusual. A few crumbs on his mouth, but that wasn't strange. His smile was exactly the same smile that she had fallen in love with years ago. His eyes were the same loving eyes that made her want to stare into them forever. He was perfect. She must have been wrong. Everybody sees things sometimes.
Mr. Cake leaned forward and kissed her forehead lightly, and walked into the shop. She stood silently for a moment. Everything was perfect, but she felt like something was completely wrong, yet just outside of her perception. As she closed the bedroom door, she could almost feel the imagined intruder's presence on the other side, but she knew there was nobody there.