As Sweetie Drops wandered through the halls of the library, all of her senses were on high alert. Although she had already incapacitated several changeling guards, she knew there had to be more lurking about. Her eyes scanned the rows upon rows of books, looking for any extraneous shadows darting past. She noticed that none of the shelves were marked with any sort of sign, leading to several shelves bleeding into one another. The only indication that she wasn't walking around in circles was the fact that she was not bumping into the unconscious changelings she dispatched earlier.
Suddenly, she heard a set of footsteps that were not her own. She stopped dead in her tracks and held her breath. The footsteps gradually became louder. Sweetie Drops's heart launched into a drum solo. As quietly as she could, she loaded another sleep bolt into her crossbow. As soon as she spotted the shadows rounding the corner, she took aim. She was just about to fire when a familiar posh voice called out to her.
"Getting a bit paranoid, are we, Ms. Drops?"
Sweetie Drops lowered her crossbow. Standing before her was a pony that appeared to be the influential aristocrat of Canterlot, Fancy Pants. The only difference was that his monocle was completely opaque rather than translucent. Behind him, Fleur de Lis trotted into view. Sweetie Drops breathed a sigh of relief.
"Y-yeah. I guess I am," she said sheepishly. "Sorry about that, guys."
There was a flash of green flame as Fancy Pants turned into White Lie. "Merely a trifle, Ms. Drops. Not your fault," it said, taking out a small box of chocolates.
"I personally don't blame you for being skittish," said Fleur, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "This place is quite, off-putting."
"Trust me, you guys don't know the half of it," Sweetie Drops said darkly. "But we'll get to that in a moment. Did you two have a chance to meet with this Chanticleer Hegemony fellow?"
"Indeed," said White Lie, popping a sweet into its mouth.
"And?"
"And it's painfully obvious that he has something to hide. We tried to probe him about the library; his special talent; anything that would give us insight into his character. But he seemed content to dance around our questions and act like he's known Fancy Pants for years."
"As Fancy Pants's personal bodyguard, I can say with full certainty that this is entirely untrue," Fleur added. She then gave White Lie a dirty look. "Though perhaps we're lucky he didn't know Fancy Pants all that well."
Sweetie Drops deadpanned. "What happened?"
"White Lie almost broke character when it started scarfing down chocolates," said Fleur, disdain seeping into her voice. "Fancy Pants may have a sweet tooth, but he would never indulge himself in such an unhealthy manner."
White Lie sighed. "Lady de Lis, you must understand. Disguising myself as your lover puts me in a very difficult position. My instincts tell me to feed off of your love for him, and I need to stave off my hunger if I want to prevent myself from giving into those instincts. Hence, the candy." It punctuated its explanation by eating another chocolate.
Fleur tried to retort, but found that she had no argument. She simply scoffed and turned up her nose.
"Guys, let's try to focus here," said Sweetie Drops, massaging her temples. "Did you manage to get any information out of Mr. Hegemony?"
"Indirectly," said White Lie. "See, I took the liberty of perusing some of these books, and I found something quite, odd."
"Odd? How so?"
"Take a look and see for yourself."
Sweetie Drops glanced over at the shelf and removed a random book.
"Hmm. Hubcap Digest," she mused, reading the title. She then opened the book, and her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. This book has no print. The pages are entirely blank."
"Precisely," said White Lie with a nod. "It was the same with every book Lady de Lis and I looked through. This entire library is nothing but a facade."
Sweetie Drops's brow furrowed. "Well, that puts a whole new spin on things. Especially considering what I just found out."
"Oh? And what might that be?"
Sweetie Drops heaved a great sigh. "Lady de Lis, you might want to be sitting down for this."
Fleur raised an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean, Sweetie Drops?"
"White Lie's theory is correct. This place is crawling with changelings."
Fleur closed her eyes and chewed on her lip. "I-I see," she muttered. She then looked up at White Lie. "And you're certain there's no conflict of interest for you?"
"Let my actions speak for themselves, Lady de Lis," said White Lie simply, eating another chocolate.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Maybe it would if you were willing to relinquish your preconceptions."
"Okay, you two. Break it up," said Sweetie Drops sternly. "We've got a mission here, and we have to see it through together." She then tapped her radio. "Dr. Colgate, did you get all that?"
"Yep. I'm checking the time stream now," said Dr. Colgate. "Hmm. Don't hold me to this, but I'm thinking that this place has at least five secret passageways hidden behind bookshelves."
"How delightfully cliché," said Fleur, rolling her eyes.
"I know, right? Anyway, your best course of action right now is to find these passageways," Dr. Colgate suggested. "White Lie, did Mr. Hegemony mention anything in his 'collection' being off-limits?"
"Just the fourth floor," said White Lie.
"Then that's where you guys should be heading."
"But what about Mr. Hegemony?" asked Sweetie Drops. "Won't he get suspicious if his guests disappeared on him?"
"Don't worry about that, Ms. Drops," said White Lie, donning its Fancy Pants disguise. "I'll be sure to keep him occupied while you and Lady de Lis search the place."
"What? Oh no. I'm going with you," said Fleur firmly. "I can't let you wander off by yourself."
"Lady de Lis, there's only so much ground Ms. Drops can cover on her own," said White Lie. "I'm sure she would be grateful for your assistance."
"Just drop it, Lady de Lis," Sweetie Drops sighed. "White Lie hasn't betrayed us once since he—"
"It," White Lie corrected.
Sweetie Drops groaned. "—since it joined the HUB. What makes you think it's going to betray us now? Besides the fact that it's a changeling and you have a bias against them."
Fleur pouted. "You can never be too careful around changelings, Sweetie Drops. That's simply a fact."
"That may be true for most changelings, yes," White Lie conceded. "But I'm not most changelings. I should go find Mr. Hegemony before he begins wondering where we are. Best of luck, ladies."
Before Fleur could say another word, White Lie walked off. She sighed and shook her head. "I don't care what you or Dr. Colgate say, Sweetie Drops. I have a really bad feeling about all this."
"We all have a bad feeling about this, Lady de Lis. That shouldn't interfere with the mission," said Sweetie Drops. "You keep looking around here; I'll check up on the third floor. We'll check in with Dr. Colgate if we find anything."
Fleur stared down at her hooves for a moment before nodding. "Understood. And, be careful."
"You too," said Sweetie Drops with a salute. With that, the two went their separate ways.
***
It wasn't long before Sweetie Drops found the staircase leading to the third floor, but once she got there, not much had changed. There were still the same books stretching out as far as the eye could see, with only a few lanterns providing illumination. With a muted sigh, she began methodically scanning the shelves, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that could be the switch that would open a secret passageway. She tapped one book here and another book there, but nothing occurred. Row by row she searched for what felt like hours, but all she found were the same empty tomes.
Finally, she stumbled across a book laying on the floor. Thinking quickly, she scooped up the book and re-shelved it. Sure enough, there was a low rumble followed by the creaking of gears. The bookcase just to her left had sunk into the wall and divided itself into two halves, revealing a door. Sweetie Drops smirked.
"Bingo," she cheered to herself. She then approached the door, quickly checking to see if any changeling guards saw her. When she found that the coast was clear, she opened the door and slipped inside.
On the other side of the door was a large walkway overlooking a room below. Sweetie Drops walked over to the edge of the walkway and looked down. The room below appeared to be a meeting room with a long table. Sitting at one end of the table was a changeling sitting all by its lonesome, engrossed in some sort of book. Sweetie Drops raised an eyebrow.
I thought White Lie said all the books in this place were blank, she mused. What could that changeling possibly be reading?
Just then, the door at the other end of the room swung open. A rather elegant-looking stallion with a green coat and a shaggy red mane walked in. His Cutie Mark seemed to depict a pair of roosters fighting, and he was dressed in a black pinstriped business suit. Before Sweetie Drops could get a good look at the fellow, he was engulfed in green flame. Once the flame dissipated, another changeling stood in his place.
"Finally. I thought I would never rid myself of those two," the changeling griped. "These ponies are craftier than I give them credit for."
"That's nice, archdrone," said the reading changeling, apparently uninterested.
The archdrone looked at its comrade and raised an eyebrow. "Um, Snatcher? What in the name of all that is holy are you doing?"
"I'm reading, archdrone," the changeling replied. "That's what you do in a library, is it not?"
The archdrone snorted. "Don't get cute with me, Snatcher. You've had your nose buried in that book since we got here. Did you forget our objective?"
"No, I did not," said Snatcher flatly. "I just fail to understand why you would steal this tome without the intention of using it."
The archdrone chuckled as it walked across the room. "Oh, poor naïve Snatcher. You fail to comprehend my genius, as many others have done before. Ah well, it is of no consequence. Soon, all will recognize my unparalleled intellect."
"Including Queen Chrysalis, I take it," said Snatcher, flipping a page in its book. "Why else would you enact this crazy scheme without her final permission? I'd very much like to hear your reasoning for that."
The archdrone shook its head. "Sorry, my dear Snatcher. If you cannot understand my genius, I see no reason to waste my breath explaining it to you."
"Typical," Snatcher sighed. "You always do this, Nihilmodo. You always say you're smarter than the rest of us, but you never explain why or how."
"Would if I could, Snatcher. Would if I could," said Nihilmodo whimsically.
Snatcher sighed again and turned the page. "Oh, this is interesting."
Nihilmodo blinked. "What is?"
"Just something I found in Duke Bathin's dissertation on precious stones. Did you know that Fire Rubies can actually be used to conjure fire?"
Nihilmodo's expression became deadpan. "Fascinating, Snatcher. But, how exactly is that relevant to our mission?"
"For all I know, it might be," said Snatcher with a shrug. "We haven't exactly been given enough information to act upon."
Nihilmodo arched an eyebrow. "'We?'"
"The rest of the soldiers and myself," Snatcher clarified, clearing its throat. "You must admit that this is a problem, archdrone. We've followed your orders to the letter. We built the complex; we stole this book; now what?"
"Now we wait," said Nihilmodo with a sneer. "Once the Hunter's Undercover Bureau comes after their precious tome, they'll walk right into our trap. And when the trap is sprung, poof! Princess Celestia's anti-monster agency will be no more."
Sweetie Drops let out a sharp breath and flinched at this revelation. Things had just taken a turn for the worse, and if the others didn't know, it would only go downhill from here. Silently, she adjusted her earpiece radio so that it was broadcasting on all frequencies and turned her attention back to the conversation.
"I will concede that the removal of the anti-monster agency would be a great boon to the hive," said Snatcher. "Indeed, Marquis Andras suggests as much."
"See? You little demon friends agree with me," said Nihilmodo smugly.
"Well, not quite," said Snatcher, knitting its brow. "Count Andromalius actually detests your methods, as do a few others. Honestly, there's no real consensus among them. Although President Foras says it would be better if more details were given as to what this trap entailed."
Nihilmodo's smile faded. "Snatcher, how exactly would those demons know what's going on right now? They're trapped in that book, aren't they?"
"That doesn't mean they can't hear you," said Snatcher flatly. "Plus, I'm sure once I find a way to free them, they can offer more of their counsel to the hive."
"Ah, so that's why you've been so interested in that thing," said Nihilmodo with a thoughtful nod. "Well, as a genius myself, I can understand why you would wish to attain my level of thinking. Because of this, I'll grant you express permission to carry on. Heck, I'll even put in a good word for you with Queen Chrysalis. I'm sure she'd love to make you an archdrone for all the hard work you're doing."
"Thank you, archdrone. I'm quite flattered," said Snatcher, bowing its head. "I'll be sure to inform you once I've made some progress."
"Please do," said Nihilmodo, tapping its hooves together. "It'll be so refreshing to talk to people on my intellectual level for a change."
"Indeed, archdrone. The Ars Goetia simply admire brilliance such as your own," Snatcher said sardonically.
"As they should," Nihilmodo scoffed. "It's not often you can meet someone with my level of intelligence."
"Oh yes. They'd especially love your impeccable grasp of sarcasm," said Snatcher.
"Would they? Well, what a lovely compliment," said Nihilmodo obliviously. "See, I told you Queen Chrysalis promoted me to archdrone for a reason."
"I never said she didn't," said Snatcher. "I'm just wondering if you're going to keep that position once she finds out we're doing this without her permission."
"I'm sure once we've accomplished our goals, she'll be changing her tune," said Nihilmodo gleefully. "Mark my words, Snatcher. By the time the sun sets this day, the Hunter's Undercover Bureau will be finished, and Queen Chrysalis will have me to tha—"
A knock on the door derailed Nihilmodo's train of thought. With a snort, it quickly donned its Chanticleer Hegemony disguise as Snatcher changed its own shape. Nihilmodo then cleared its throat.
"Enter!" it boomed.
The door flew open as two unicorns dragged Fleur de Lis into the room. Sweetie Drops clamped her hooves over her mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping her lips.
"Get your hooves off me, you peons!" Fleur growled, struggling against the guards.
"Sir, we found this pony trying to access restricted areas of the second floor stacks," said one of the guards.
Fleur huffed indignantly. "I was looking for the powder room."
"With a lock-picking spell?"
Fleur shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? It's a tough neighborhood."
Nihilmodo sniggered. "Y'know, I thought there was something off about you and Fancy Pants, Lady de Lis. Thank you for confirming my suspicions." In an instant, all mirth disappeared from its voice. "Guards, take her outside. I wouldn't want any sort of *ahem* mess desecrating my sacred library. I'll try to come up with a suitable excuse for Fancy Pants."
"Yessir," said the guard with a salute. "Come on, you. And don't think about using any spells, 'cause we'll know."
Fleur grunted and growled as she was led away. Nihilmodo sighed and shook its head as it marched out the other door and slammed it behind it. Only Snatcher remained, engrossed in its book. Sweetie Drops darted back and tapped her radio.
"Dr. Colgate, did you get all that?" she asked in a harsh whisper.
"Yeah. Sheesh, this is... This is not good," said Dr. Colgate. "On the plus side, we know where the Lesser Key is now. But those changelings are definitely up to something."
"What do you advise?" said Sweetie Drops.
"Find White Lie and tell it what's going on before Chanticleer Hegemony does," said Dr. Colgate. "You two have to figure out amongst yourselves which one will go for the Lesser Key, and which one will help Fleur."
"Why can't we just let White Lie help Lady de Lis? Wouldn't that finally prove that it's on the level?"
"Not necessarily. Some possibilities in the time stream suggest that Lady de Lis won't react well to a changeling saving her life. But again, probably best to get White Lie's opinion on that."
"And what about this trap?"
"That's gonna take a bit more time to figure out. I'll keep you posted once I narrowed down all the possible outcomes. For now, just track down White Lie. Chances are it's looking for you as well, since you made that public broadcast. Good thinking, by the way."
"Thanks. You gotta think on your feet in this line of work," said Sweetie Drops with a smirk.
"Ain't that the truth," Dr. Colgate concurred. "Alright, enough gabbing. We've got out work cut out for us, so I suggest we get right to it."
"Copy that," said Sweetie Drops, cutting out the transmission. She then made a mad dash to the secret door. "I really hope we're not too late to avoid this catastrophe. 'Cause if we are, Celestia help us all..."