The entrance to the Briar Patch was unmarked, save for a couple of thuggish looking guard ponies. As Twilight and Rarity approached, both completely swathed in rain-repelling gear, Twilight noticed that both guards were changelings. One had a grassy mane with flowers in it, and a body like carved wood, while the other sported a third eye directly where a unicorn's horn would be and seemed far more alert than his compatriot. They both eyed Twilight and Rarity until they had gotten close enough for speech in the pouring rain. Strangely, they both stared at Twilight once she lowered her hood and waved the pair through the plain double-doors before either unicorn could say a word. Twilight turned to Rarity, who was levitating her cloak over to the changeling managing the cloak room. He took one look at Twilight, made a strangled noise and refused Rarity's tip politely but firmly before directing the pair wordlessly down the hall, “That was... Strange. I think I'll keep the hood up for now, Rarity, I'm not sure if I'm welcome here.”
“But Twilight, you look so fantastic, I spent ages finding those black amethysts!” Rarity pouted gracefully, she was dressed in an elegant confection of fabric that emphasized every one of her beautiful curves, in Twilight's opinion, without making her look like some sort of... Scarlet mare. Twilight, clad once more in the beautiful dress Rarity had given her before her sojourn into the Hedge, was still dealing with her active attraction to her glamorous friend and her thoughts about Blackboard from a while back.
Twilight sighed as they walked down the hall, which was declining steadily, to another set of double-doors, these ones surrounded by stylized brambles, with a silver treble clef on one door and a bronze double-note on the other, “I know Rarity, but I don't want to cause trouble, besides I think that-...” Twilight was cut off by the sudden increase in volume upon opening the doors, which was almost a physical force: pushing the ponies out as much as it beckoned them in with the intoxicating beats. Twilight looked at Rarity, who grinned excitedly and pulled the purple unicorn in.
It was glorious inside. The room was a huge dome, no doubt underground, with a massive turning dance floor in the middle, long bars on either side and a DJ table against the back wall. Doors and balconies were set into the very stone of the walls, while lights shone down from a sphere set into the very apex of the ceiling.
Everything looked like it was made from brambles and briars. From the dance floor, which had brambles around its rim, to the bars, which looked like patches of bramble that coincidentally had a bar-top and the necessaries for making various alcoholic drinks, to the walls of the club itself, which were carved to look like wrapped and tangled thorny vines.
Everywhere changelings danced, some with heartbreakingly beautiful countenances, others like walking nightmares, but everypony was having a good time it looked like. Rarity seemed not to notice the strangeness of the clientele, and pulled Twilight eagerly up onto the turning floor and into the middle of the dance, surprising the purple unicorn entirely. She'd never have picked Rarity for the club scene, but here she was, dancing away as elegantly as she would in the ballroom, if much faster, receiving appreciative or envious looks from the other dancers. Twilight tried to keep up, though she'd never been one for dancing outside of little parties with her friends, but Rarity was in a class all her own.
The beat slowed, and Twilight found herself staring into Rarity's beautiful eyes as she danced closer and closer. Then Twilight felt time stop for a moment as her friend leaned in and... Was abruptly shoved over by another dancer, “Hey!” The other dancer, a bulky pegasus mare, about Twilight's height, with a short, dark mane protested, “Watch where you're going!”
Rarity got back to her hooves, shaking her head to clear it, her eyes tearing up a little. Twilight's eyes narrowed and she tapped the other dancer on the shoulder, who turned, “I said watch where you're-...”
“Apologize,” Twilight cut the dancer off,
“What?” The bulky mare said irritably, “A pile of what?”
“I said apologize!” Twilight shouted, her mane starting to flare under her cloak. She felt Rarity's hoof on her shoulder, but the mare just laughed drunkenly, “Or what, skinny, why don't you and your prissy bitch there just bail, huh? Leave this to the real party ponies!”
Twilight flicked back her hood to look the pegasus in the eye, which suddenly widened with fear as Twilight's mane flared a vibrant purple flame, and the scent of burned paper filled the room, causing everypony to turn around, “Nopony talks to my marefriend that way!” Twilight shouted into the sudden silence, where the words echoed around the suddenly still room.
The mare immediately backed down, “Oh... Oh Celestia, it's... Oh I'm so sorry... So, so sorry...” She cringed at Twilight's glare and backed down, off the dance floor and into the crowd. Twilight snorted and turned to Rarity, who was looking stunned.
“Sorry about... Hey, why'd the music stop?” Twilight looked around, noticing the silence for the first time as it broke into murmurs and whispered conversations. Twilight stood with Rarity and pulled herself to her full height, looking over the crowd, “Sorry about that folks, just uh, go back to your dancing, um...” She turned towards the DJ table and found herself nose-to-nose with Octavia, who pulled the purple unicorn into a tight hug.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Octavia said in her crystalline voice as she gently released the surprised Twilight, “It's been far too long, and is that Rarity, the Element of Generosity I see with you?” Rarity nodded, blinking, as Octavia bowed, smiling serenely and was about to say something when the voice of Vinyl Scratch called over the music system.
“The one and only, the Savior of Changelings and Conqueror of the Beast! I give you Celestia's prized student, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The room abruptly broke into wild cheers, “You all know her, and here she is with her date, the very glamorous Element of Generosity, and here we all are staring like she's a freak or something! For shame, my little ponies!” The crowd booed at itself, which dissolved into laughter as the tension drained out of the room. “Come on Tavi, let's give the happy couple a beat they can dance to.” Octavia nodded and leapt off the stage, landing a little ways away from her blue-maned mate, and with that, the music resumed, but with a slower, more sensual melody.
Twilight grinned uneasily at Rarity, who smiled, and started dancing close to her friend, whispering just soft enough for her to hear, “Marefriend? Going a little quickly, aren't we?”
Twilight blushed, “I wasn't thinking, that mare was so rude to you and I... Well... Would you?”
Rarity looked Twilight in the eye, all signs of her tears gone now and a slight smile warming her face, “Would I what, Twilight?”
Twilight swallowed, and said very softly, “Would you... Be my marefr-” she was cut off by Rarity's lips against hers, which succeeded in entirely wiping all cognizant thought from her mind. She didn't notice that the dance floor was empty now except for them, didn't notice the change in the music, or much of anything really except for the raw emotion that filled up her chest and caused her to pull Rarity deeper into the kiss.
The kiss broke after what felt like an eternity, and then the couple started dancing. All thoughts of the murder investigation, of the dream-poison, of Applebloom's apparent illness, of Celestia's commands left Twilight's usually orderly mind as she and Rarity wove around each other. Other ponies in the crowd found themselves affected as the music and the emotions of the dancing lovers rolling from the turning stage overwhelmed their sensibilities.
Twilight felt Rarity's lips against her flank, then back further where no pony besides Twilight had ever touched. She gasped, and felt that she should be embarrassed, but something about the music eased her fears, while the steady beat urged her on. Soon she was fully involved with Rarity, right up there on the stage, doing things with her new marefriend that she'd only read about in saucy novels.
She licked and nibbled Rarity beneath the dress, who returned the favor, and soon the dresses were forgotten, laying about them in a heap, though Rarity's was still folded neatly. They ground against each other, kissing tenderly, but deeply. Rarity's lips were like ambrosia to Twilight, both sets of them, but she found new heights of pleasure as Rarity's most intimate parts pressed against hers, until they both reached a beautiful and magnificent climax that was echoed throughout the room as Twilight and Rarity's magics burst out. It was dreamlike, holding her new beloved there on the dance floor while the music wrapped around them, until somepony came up with drinks for the two of them and the rest of the evening gradually became a blur, where dancing, loving and the music all blended together into one gorgeous moment.
Scorching light etched Twilight's retinas with fire, causing her to yelp and roll over and almost off the parapet. She opened her eyes fully and almost screamed at the pain the dawn was inflicting on her extremely hungover eyes. Rarity was nowhere to be found, and, looking around, she had somehow managed to fall asleep on top of Canterlot Castle. She was balanced precariously on one of the towers, while on the balcony below her... Celestia was raising the sun, accompanied by Princess Luna. Terrified, Twilight tried to stay absolutely still and was about to teleport when a pigeon landed on her head, confusing the frozen unicorn for a sculpture. Twilight did scream then, and fell off, only to be caught by a very familiar magical grip.
“Twilight Sparkle, what in Equestria are you doing here?” Princess Celestia asked, her tone utterly bewildered, “I thought you were investigating in Manehattan.” Twilight risked a glance at her mentor, to find that the Princess of the Sun looked concerned and confused, while Princess Luna, who had somehow grasped the concept before her sister, was struggling to keep a straight face.
“I... Was, your Highness,” Twilight said, pulling herself upright and trying not to squint in the painfully brilliant new day, “And I have several important leads to discuss. Inside, in the dark, if you please, for... Secrecy. Yes. Secrecy.”
Princess Celestia looked puzzled, but nodded and walked inside. Princess Luna however walked over to Twilight, who bowed respectfully. “Methinks your research did not go as planned, apprentice. Did you at least find something of import before becoming diverted?” Twilight nodded warily, she had never been comfortable around Luna after being thrown in the dungeons by her, though she tried to be polite. Still, their conversations tended to be a little rigid and formal. Luna smiled, “Good, now come along, let's not make that hangover any worse.” With that the Moon Princess walked inside after her sister, with Twilight following behind, trying to organize her thoughts and push the searing sunlight from her mind.
The council room had been built by Celestia herself, it was said, which begged the question of why it was so cramped. It was a small, circular room with no windows, only one elegantly carved door, a table big enough for a eleven advisors and the Princesses themselves, and one lonely skylight for illumination. There was almost no decoration in the room, aside from the subtle grace of the domed ceiling itself and the quiet dignity of the marble walls. “So, my faithful student,” Celestia was saying when she, Twilight and Luna were all situated at the table, “what have you discovered?”
Twilight stifled a yawn, “Well so far, I have a number of leads. The evidence at the crime scene suggests a being having to do with Faeries may be the culprit. It could be an agent of the Beast, or a rogue changeling.”
“But,” Celestia said, frowning, “I thought you said there were relatively few changelings in Equestria. In fact, your capture is the first recorded incident of such, though evidently some slipped through the cracks. What makes you think it was a changeling, Twilight?”
Twilight hesitated, “I... Well I was tipped off, actually. I was directed to a club, the Briar Patch in Manehattan, where the clientele is entirely changelings.”
Luna blinked, then frowned thoughtfully, “How many changelings?”
Twilight thought about it, “I don't really know, but probably well over two hundred. Possibly closer to five hundred. And that's just a fraction of the population, I'm betting. I was planning to go back tonight and ask around, there was some sort of event when I was there the other night,” Twilight felt herself blushing as she side-stepped the truth a little, “It... Involved drinking, and I ended up somewhat sidetracked as I tried to blend in.”
Celestia snorted, amused, “I was wondering if that were the case. You look like Blueblood did after the Gala.” At Twilight's puzzled look, she added, “He drank himself into a stupor once he realized how important your friend Rarity was and how badly he'd blown his chances with her. Hungover for a week,” Celestia shook her head as if to clear it of the unrelated thought, “Anything else?”
Twilight nodded, “After speaking with Karat Ring, I've compiled a description of the perpetrator and have found something particularly interesting,” Twilight paused as she noticed a slight flicker in the skylight that illuminated the windowless council chamber, then continued, “He seems to be under the impression that I saved him somehow from his captor, and that his murdering of Diamond would somehow help repay me.” It was at that moment that the skylight flickered again and something heavy fell hard onto the council table, splattering Twilight and the princesses with something hot and wet. Blood, Twilight realized after a stunned moment. Celestia teleported the instant the body had hit the table, Luna was already calling for guards, and Twilight just stared.
The shadows were whispering again, louder, crying for vengeance and babbling nonsense. The purple unicorn brought a hoof up to wipe her face, then stared at what had rubbed off. It was blood. Fresh blood. She looked over at the table, and saw a pink unicorn, this one with a face, staring at her with an expression of frozen horror. Twilight's body, which was rather delicate from the indulgences the night before, overruled her brain and the purple unicorn very gently passed out.