Crowned was dragged around alongside a still unconscious Dizzy into one of the classrooms, where the other girls were waiting for them, except for Twilight, who was missing. As soon as they arrived, Applejack told the girls what just happened outside in the courtyard.
"...And then this boy found m'ah Element," she finished explaining, ignoring for a moment that she was still carrying Crowned with her, and he was more than comfortable around her chest.
"So soooft..." his muffled voice could be heard, causing the other girls to giggle.
"Darling, I think you're fulfilling all the dreams and fantasies of the crowned boy right now," Rarity giggled as she pointed out where AJ was holding his partner.
"Huh? What are y'ah talkin' abo-" she then looked down to her chest, and feeling a bit embarrassed he stopped hugging him letting the boy fall down to the floor. "Oh, sorry about that. A'h was just so excited and didn' realize where A'h was holdin' y'ah, champ."
Crowned whimpered in a comical fashion, sad that his moment of glory had finished. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie noticed the pale boy lying unconscious on the floor and approached him.
"One question," she began to ask as she touched the boy with her feet, "What's Dizzy doing asleep?"
"Uuuhm, I think he fainted from the ghosts?" Crowned replied, doubtful if they were going to believe him.
"Ghosts? Oh, you mean the black magic sha-" the others rushed to shut Pinkie up, but enough had slipped away.
"Wait, black magic shadows?"
"What's the matter?" A voice asked from the door of the classroom. "You brought them here to explain what is happening, didn't you? Why hide them information then?"
The whole gang turned their heads and noticed the girl that had just arrived: Sunset Shimmer. She walked towards the boys and noticed the unconscious Dizzy. The girl smiled kindly and kneaded his head as she spoke.
"Silly overprotective... I know you don't like him that much, but he's the only guy that pays attention to me. Well, him and Flash."
Crowned then approached to the newly arrived girl, greeting her in a gentle way.
"Sunset Shimmer?"
"The one and only," Sunset responded with kindness as she grabbed his hand, "You must be Crowned, it's a pleasure to meet you. From what I heard my friends say, you recovered one of the lost "elements", right?"
"Wait, what element? What shadows? What is going on?" the crowned boy looked quite confused about this turn of events, when he noticed something important, "And where is Twilight?"
Sunset sighed after hearing all his question, and looked directly to Applejack and company with a frown on her face.
"Sorry, sugarcube," Applejack apologized. "We just brought 'im here and haven't explained everything, but we're also waitin' for Dizzy to wake up to tell 'im too."
"Trust me, I know Dizzy and..." Sunset looked upon the unconscious boy and rolled her eyes a bit, "I think it's better if Crowned tells him later. He might freak out if he wakes up and see us all together."
"Good point," the farmer with freckles replied.
"Ok, where do we start...? Crowned, you've already heard about 'that day', haven't you?"
"Oh yes, yes!" He answered in a somewhat innocent manner. “You became an angry she-demon, Twilight and the others helped you..."
"Well, yeah, besides that." Sunset blushed a new tone of red as she tried to avoid direct contact.
"Did something more happened?" Crowned asked surprised by her reaction.
"Well, it's a long story, actually," Sunset responded, her cheeks no longer red. "Let me start by confessing I'm not precisely a normal girl."
"But neither am I, just let me tell you about the time I-"
Sunset coughed a couple times, calling his attention.
"Can you please let me finish?"
"Oh, sorry," Crowned apologized to Sunset as she proceeded.
“Alright, let's just say that..." Sunset took a deep breath and then she spilled the beans, "I come from a world far different to yours. In my world, magic exists and surround the whole planet, that magic connects us and is part from our daily life; but a long time ago I ran away from that place after my old teacher... disappointed me. It was more stubbornness than anything, and I came to this place to discover its lack of magic, so I stayed here thinking about one day finding some sort of source of power to go back to my world with more strength and skill... with time, I found that there was no trace of magic in this world, so I decided to bring the magic to my world to this one instead. I stole the "Element of Magic" and tried to use it with selfish motivations, but at the end the magic ended up dominating me yet Twilight and the others used positive magic to stop me..."
Crowned listened to her whole explanation with an open mind, amazed about all her talk about a different world full of magic. Sunset was relieved to see he trusted in her.
"That's a great story!" he said marveled, with his eyes almost shining in delight, "So, what is the problem?"
Sunset once again let a deep sigh leave her body, as she continued her explanation.
"When the girls stopped me, I thought it was over, but in reality... it had just begun."
"J-Just begun? You mean... oh dear." Connecting the dots between her story and what he had witnessed minutes ago, Crowned concluded what was going on. "YOU MEAN THOSE BLACK SHADOWS?! THAT'S WHERE THEY CAME FROM?! AND WHY ARE THEY STAYING HERE?!"
"That's the problem, I don't know it neither!" Sunset exclaimed, grabbing her head in concern, "I don't know where they came from, what if they've been here all the time? Or what do they want? That's one of our main problems and questions we have now. I have my theory that it's all black magic that was left impregnated all over the school, but I have no wat to prove it. All I know is one thing: They're looking over them."
Sunset looked directly to Applejack's necklace, but Crowned didn't get what she was looking at.
"They look over... what?"
"The Elements of Harmony."
"The... What now?" the crowned boy looked even more confused, trying to digest all the information she was giving him.
The other girls looked all over to Sunset, who realized she had to explain to him more about what she meant.
"In my world, the Elements of Harmony exist, six elements that help the world be in peace and, well, harmony, and which the rulers of my country use to maintain the order. For some reason, when Twilight released the wave of pure magic, not only she defeated me and helped disperse the magic through the world, it also caused this world to sprout Parallel Elements of Harmony. The shadows seem to not like that and have been behind them all the time since we found the first one."
"Wait, ARE YOU SAYING YOU HAVE MORE ELEMENTS?!" Crowned exclaimed in shock, only to find himself with a not so uplifting notice.
"No. You see, we found one of the elements also turned to stone. But when we tried to approach to it, those shadows appeared, and when we tried to fight them, they somehow absorbed magic from out of us."
"Wait, how?! Are you magical?!" Crowned' mind was blown once again at all the information Sunset was dropping on him.
"The Element of Magic gave me and the others a part of its power, but that's why we're vulnerable," the girl replied, looking down to the floor. "The magic inside us is already a part of our beings. If they absorb enough, they'll probably have enough strength to attack the rest of the school or even the city. When we encountered them, we were forced to escape from that place while the shadows left with the element. I soon lost all hope thinking that I had doomed this world with dark magic, that's why I was surprised you were able to find an element without any shadow attacking you."
"Oh, thanks," Crowned said in response, his cheeks now blushing, "And why do you think the shadows didn't attack us?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Sunset replied to him, "Because you don't have magic, they couldn't attack you or even absorb magic from you, that's why if you and Dizzy go for the rest of the elements, we might be able to use them to destroy the shadows."
This took Crowned completely off-guard, and didn't know how to react.
"Wait, YOU WANT US TO GO SEARCHING FOR THE ELEMENTS?!"
"Please Crowned, I just told you that we can't personally go searching for them," Sunset began to beg, "The shadows might have them, but I'm sure that you will be able to help us recover them."
"Ok, ok. Look, I understand your dilemma but, why me?" the crowned boy asked very concerned and scared, "Why can't Flash help you? I mean, he looks more capable than... well, me or Dizzy."
"Because he already has an important duty," Sunset explained, but was quickly interrupted by Pinkie.
"You mean kissing Twilight?"
"PINKIE!!!" everyone shouted at the same time.
"Not that, of course!" the red & yellow haired girl apologized to Crowned, "He is protecting Twilight from the shadows."
"Are you sure that's all he does?" Pinkie Pie teased again the others, who once again responded in the same way:
"PINKIE!!!"
Crowned couldn't help but laugh at Pinkie Pie's responses.
"Okay, I understand.... So, what does Twilight has to say about this?"
For a moment, the six girls remained silent, exchanging awkward looks between each other. Finally, Sunset answered his question.
"We haven't told her anything about this. I could tell her that the Twilight from our world saved us and..."
"Ooooh, okay, I understand now." Crowned said calmly, looking at the girl in front of him. "So, this Twilight knows nothing... I understand, what with parallel universes and all that, but... Ugh, do I really have to?"
Sunset was about to speak, when she was cut short unexpectedly by Pinkie, who instead said:
"If you do it, we'll arrange you a date with AJ!"
Both Crowned and Applejack turned a bright shade of red, and AJ even hid her face behind her hat.
"PINKIW PIE!!!" she yelled at her friend, who simply giggled at her overreaction.
"...I'd actually want that date," the boy muttered, before clearing his throat and replying. "I mean, okay! Just because you really trust in me and you'll help me with Dizzy, I'm going to help you."
Everyone in the room felt a lot more relieved knowing the boys could lend them a hand with their unexpected predicament.
"Alright, thank you, Crowned," Sunset answered, looking at him with a sincere smile, "We really appreciate this, and I hope you can convince Dizzy too."
"Don't worry about it, I'll do it."
"But just in case-" she then proceeded to hand him a folded piece of paper, "-show him that, it should be enough for him to accept."
"Thanks Sunset, I appreciate it."
Crowned then picked up his friend from the floor and carried him away, as Sunset turned towards her friends, discussing their plans for both Dizzy and the shadows situation.
Later that day, Crowned was taking lunch at the cafeteria, a still unconscious Dizzy by his side. Looking at the time, the crowned boy thought it was about time to wake up his friend.
"Dizzy... Dizzyyyy... Wake up little bud-"
"GAAAAAAH! WHATILEARNEDATDRIVINGSCHOOLWAS..." Dizzy woke up screaming like crazy, before realizing he was at the Cafeteria, and that once again he had caught the stares of everyone, including his friend who couldn't help but try to contain his laughter. "Oh, uhm.... hello, bud."
"Feeling better?"
"Well yeah, that nap sure helped me," Dizzy stretched his arms, still feeling a little dazzled, "You know, I had this weird dream where I saw some ugly ghosts thingies-"
"By the way, now that you mention that," Crowned interrupted, "there are another five magical stones in the school, and I told Sunset that we could search for them."
The already pale boy became even more translucid white when he heard what his friend said.
"...You mean it wasn't a dream?" he said in a calm yet noticeably nervous voice.
"Nope."
Dizzy remained in a stunned silence for a moment, before almost breaking into loud screaming if it wasn't for Crowned stuffing an apple on his mouth.
"Hey, calm down, my friend," he said trying to relax him a bit, "Don't scream, it won't even be that hard! Those shadows can't do anything to us."
Dizzy tried to respond, but his voice became muffled by the apple in his mouth. Spitting it out, the pale one tried to speak again.
"Wait, are you sure about that?"
"Sure! It's... 99% safe." Although he tried to sound sure, it wasn't enough for his friend.
"99% IS NOT ENOUGH!" Dizzy replied with fear in his voice. "Besides... are you sure Sunset is aware of that?"
"If you don't trust me, she gave me this." Crowned left the piece of paper that Sunset gave to him on the table in front of his friend.
"Huh? What is...?” Dizzy unfolded the small paper, and his face went even paler than usual as he place his hands over his cheeks, "OH NO!!!"
To his absolute shock, he found out it was the "Slave for a Week" ticket he told Crowned about, and on it there was something written: Dizzy, as my slave for a week, I order you to help Crowned with his mission. Thank you, signed: Sunset Shimmer.
"...why did I have to give her that gift?" he slammed his head on the table, his head spinning from both the hit and the realization.
"Well, it’s official: You're with me. Now... where do we begin?"
"I HAVE NO IDEA!!!" Dizzy cried, feeling like he just got into a death trap.
Noticing his friend crying in a somewhat exaggerated fashion, Flash approached to their table alongside a couple of curious looking guys: one had brown hair and wore a distinguishable green beanie with pretty normal appearance, while the other had a more high-class look, with a white scarf with a fleur-de-lis on it and designer clothes.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Flash greeted his friends, who raised their heads and acknowledged their friend.
"Oh hey, Flash!" Crowned said upbeat, "They already told me about-"
Aware of what he was about to say, Flash made signs with his hand asking him to stop.
"Wait, about what, exactly?" asked the elegant boy with the fleur-de-lis.
"What are you hiding now, you wretch?" the other boy said unenthusiastically.
Crowned realized how close he was to screwing up big time, so he instead saved some face and said something to cover up his mistake.
"Uuuhm, that... You were kissing Twilight in the lips! Yeah, that's it!" he was sweating a little bit, but managed to dissimulate enough for everyone to not notice.
"Uhm, yes, that's... Wait a minute," realizing now he had screwed up, Flash blushed brighter than a traffic light, "NO NO NO! I HAVEN'T-"
"Heheheh, you big fool," the red-haired boy laughed, "She just came back and you're already kissing her?"
"You idiot," the normal-looking guy snarked, "you're going full Brad-mode again, don't you?"
"SHUT UP!" Flash screamed trying to stop the teasing, feeling his cheeks turn even more reddish. Crowned was intrigued by the two new guys and asked his friend about them.
"And who are your friends, Flash?"
"Well," the blue-haired brought forward his two companions, "let me present to you my other friends: this is Nolan, one of the richest boys in school and somewhat crazy, he knows all kind of gossips and news here."
"That's me, man," Nolan said, shaking Crowned's hand.
"And this other guy is Norman, the most normal guy in the world." Flash slightly pushed his friend towards Crowned, so they could greet each other. "Seriously, if you look up the definition of 'normal' in a dictionary, you'll find his photo."
Crowned bursted in laughter at Flash's remark, only to be interrupted by Norman, who proceeded to take out a dictionary from his backpack.
"I-It's true, he's not lying." Opening the book, he showed a picture of him, under the definition of "normal".
"...oh dear, you're right," Crowned said surprised of this.
"I thought that photoshooting was for a magazine, but I should've imagined that it wasn't. It isn't normal anyways," the boy explained a bit, but only caused everyone in the table to burst into laughter. "D-Don't laugh, I really thought so!"
"Pfft! Dude, seriously, you should feel proud of being in the dictionary," the crowned boy tried to sheer him up.
"Ok, you're right on that," Norman said unenthusiastically, "I feel like I'm the only normal man in this damned school."
"You say that because of what happened that day?"
Flash immediately shushed Crowned for asking, looking around hoping nobody was looking suspiciously.
"Shush, remember that NONE OF THAT HAPPENED!" he added, looking at everyone in the table.
"You know, I'd say that it is not normal to be paranoid about the government having ears inside the school," Norman began to speak, showing a bit of concern, "but after going to 'that place' I'm starting to believe you're actually right about it."
"'That place'?" Crowned asked with curiosity.
"Oh right, forgot you were new here," Nolan apologized before explaining. "Norman was talking about the Corner of Gossips."
"The what now?!"
Nolan looked at every side of the table, making sure there was no teacher or similar authority nearby, and explained everything to the new student.
"At certain hours, in the farthest corner of school, far away from the classrooms and the Principal's Office, there are a bunch of strange looking lockers, accidentally built bigger than they should be. That place is used to create a kind of 'black market' where some students can buy already made homework; others go and buy lost school supplies like collection pens that people leave forgotten in the halls, tickets for events, copies of books, stuff like that; but it's also a place where all kinds of gossips and rumors are shared, and because of that it was dubbed the 'Corner of Gossips'. We've heard all sorts of strange rumors, like that one saying that Miss Cheerilee is dating a Senior of his oldest class."
"Oh, my," Crowned managed to say, just thinking about how real could a rumor like that be.
"Wait, that was a rumor? I thought that was true," Dizzy exclaimed surprised.
"Well, the gossips from that place spread so fast that some actually take them as facts, like those weird rumors about ghosts in the school."
Dizzy, Flash and Crowned gasped in shock, amazed that somehow a part of the school had already heard of that rumor. But of course the one that was most scared was Dizzy, who demanded to know what Nolan knew.
"WHAT RUMORS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" he screamed while grabbing his friend from his shirt.
"Woah whoa! Calm down, dude!" he said while letting Dizzy go off his shirt, "It's just a bunch of silly rumors, those that say that there are ghosts or something like that in the school, but nobody cares much about those; they prefer the hottest news like that rumor about Miss Raven having a new love interest."
Knowing where that rumor originated from, Dizzy just rolled his eyes and frowned upon Crowned, but at the same time an idea sprouted in his mind.
"Nolan, where do you say is that place, again?"
"In the furthest corner of the school, of course," Nolan responded.
"More specifically?"
"Turning right at the end of the main hall."
"Thank you." Dizzy then stood up and made a gesture to Crowned, asking to follow him.
"What are you-" It took Crowned a moment to comprehend, but then he realized, "Oh, I get it! We're going to-"
Dizzy and Flash both covered their friend's mouth and dragged him away from the Cafeteria, to a more private place. Checking every corner to make sure nobody else heard them, Flash began to scold him.
"Crowned, do not speak of that!"
"Why?! What did I do?!" he responded in utter confusion, wondering what he did wrong.
"HAVEN'T YOU TELL HIM, DIZZY?!" Flash berated to his friend, who tried to excuse himself.
"WHY ARE YOU BLAMING ME?! THIS IS BARELY HIS THIRD DAY!"
"BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Realizing there was no other way but to explain everything to the new guy, Flash took some air and sighed, before answering his question."
"Ok, look, those events that happened long ago supposedly 'never happened'. We all ignore it and just continue with our daily routines."
"What? But why do you do so?"
"Remember what Norman said about the government?" Flash said, sounding somewhat worried, "That's not far from truth. The principals are afraid that if this becomes public, the government might come to close the school and try to do investigations, and aside from that they would take Sunset away to examine her."
"That's why we avoid AT ANY COST directly mentioning those events," Dizzy added to his friend's explanation, "and for our own good, we don't mention we're going after things that might cause a similar event."
Crowned thought about what he was just told, and with a determined face, he simply responded:
"Ok, I perfectly understand. So what shall we do then?"
"Simple: we wait to the end of the class, and we stay until the corner is set up and we go," Dizzy explained with a smile. "I mean, you have no problem staying until later today, right?"
"Oh, don't worry about it, friend. I can stay for longer than usual."
"Well," Flash commented, "maybe I'll stay too but for other reasons, so if you need me just give me a call."
"Alright, this is so exciting!" Crowned exclaimed, barely being able to keep his excitement under control.
After the classes...
"I'm so bored!" Crowned exclaimed, in a way that almost seemed like his life was leaving his body, "I want to go home, I want to play videogames, I want to take a bath, I want to have some chocolate, I want-"
"CROWNED, CAN YOU STOP NAGGING?! IT'S BEEN BARELY FIVE MINUTES!" Dizzy scolded his friend, as they left the classroom.
"Sorry, it's just that in Cry-" a simple stare from Dizzy was enough for him to rearrange his words. "I mean, in my other school I usually ran to my home as soon as the bell rang."
"I get it, I get it. But you said you'd have no problems staying till later, so stop complaining!"
Feeling ashamed, Crowned crawled towards a corner and snuggled himself there.
"Ugh, how about going to the bathrooms to clean your face or maybe go drink some water? Maybe that'll help you relax."
"Okay, okay, just don't scold me," the boy said as he stood up again.
Crowned then left to the bathrooms and washed his face up, and before returning with his friend decided to take some water. But then, just as he was taking a sip from the water fountain, he happened to hear a nearby conversation from one of the rooms at the side.
"...and that's why we need to do something about that bloody place, Principal Celestia!" said a female voice with a recognizable Trottingham-ish accent, "I plea you to read this, examine everything on it and..."
"Yes, yes, I understand your problem, but you shouldn't get this angry, Miss Melody," a more mature voice responded, which any student could easily identify as that of Principal Celestia.
"But I am because this is clearly unfair," the other voice said, "It's an injustice that one has to spend all day, from morning to evening studying and doing homework, just so a bunch of shameless students go and sell the same homework and get better grades than one's hard work!"
"I understand your frustration," the principal responded calmly, "but those students are already ruining their own lives that way. You shouldn't bother with them, besides an honest 8 is something to be more proud than a 10 that someone just stole."
"BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!" the angry tone of the student surprised Crowned so much that curiosity took the best of him and approached the room as they still had their conversation. "And if you know so much about this, why haven't you done anything in regards to it?!"
"And who said I haven't done anything?" the tone on the Principal was still a calm one, but it definitively showed a sign of frustration.
"THE FACT THEY ARE STILL DOING IT!!!"
"Miss Melody," the Principal said, still calmly but clearly showing a bit of anger, "do not raise your voice again, or I'll be forced to suspend you."
Feeling herself insulted and frustrated, the student groaned and left the room. Crowned realized it and put himself against the wall, hoping he wasn't noticed. That's when he saw the student leaving the classroom: An elegant black hairstyle similar to a pompadour, a purple jacket over a white shirt with a pink bow, with a figure worthy of a high-class person, the girl was something he had never seen before, at least in front of him. Although he didn't say anything, the girl noticed him standing near the wall, but gave him no importance and left. Crowned was amazed by what he just saw.
"W-Who is she?" he asked to himself, only to find someone answering his question.
"Octavia Melody, one of the best students in Canterlot High, and you, Mr. "Nosey"?
"Oh, I am CrooooOOOH SH-"
Before he could even finish cursing, the Principal grabbed the student and pulled him to her office. Offering him a seat, the teacher then explained things to him.
"Well, so you're one of the new students, right Mr. Crowned?" she said with care.
"Y-Yes, I am," Crowned responded nervously, unsure what was going to happen.
"Usually I try to introduce myself with newcomers personally all through the week, and since you were pretty close by I thought it could be nice to do so right not." The principal extended her hand to the crowned boy, as she gave her introduction. "So welcome Crowned, I'm Principal Celestia, I really hope you enjoy our school."
"Oh, thank you for telling me," he responded relieved, shaking her hand vigorously, "Honestly I was worried that you-"
"Okay, enough with the formalities, what were you doing spying on our conversation?"
Crowned froze in fear after knowing Celestia was aware of what he did, before trying to excuse himself with some tears on his face.
"I WASN'T SPYING YOU, IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT THERE WAS A WATER FOUNTAIN NEARBY!!!"
"It's not close enough for you to be aside from the door," the Principal remarked, to which Crowned had to apologize.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
The principal looked at him doubtfully, not sure if believing him.
"Tell me... did you come here to spy on me?" she asked bluntly, shocking the already scared student.
"ME?!"
"Who's to say that you didn't join the students running that Corner of Gossips?"
Crowned tried to respond, his nervousness taking the best of him, until he got a hold of himself at least until he responded.
"I COULD NEVER DO THAT!" he exclaimed loudly, "Besides, why could I do so?! I thought you were going to do something about it!"
"Every time I try to approach the, somehow they hear and I don't how they do it so fast but they always hide," the principal explained calmly. "Perhaps they heard about some 'changes' that will be going on in the school and are scared that their business might fall apart so that's why they sent you to spy me."
"I'm telling you that I really don't know what you're talking about!"
Crowned was getting really nervous, enough for Celestia to erase any suspects of him actually lying. She let out a friendly giggle and tried to sit in a more comfortable way for her to speak with the boy, but when she reclined over his desk, she accidentally snapped two buttons from her shirt, slightly exposing her cleavage.
"Oh dear goodness..." she exclaimed as she blushed immensely, "I'll have to take this to get tailored... again."
Crowned remained speechless, surprised by the unexpected situation and feeling aroused just by seeing the principal's exposed cleavage.
"As I was saying, I'm not your enemy, Crowned," Celestia said calmly, oblivious of what Crowned was looking at. “Just tell me the truth: You're with them, aren't you?"
"O-Of course not!" he managed to say, just thinking to himself about the pair in front of him. "Oh dear, is she really... I NEVER KNEW THEY COULD BE THAT BIG!"
"Well, if you're not one of them... perhaps you could help me lending me a hand, please?" The Principal leaned over her desk, inadvertively showing more her immense buxom, making Crowned feel even more conflicted as he gulped in fear of saying something that he shouldn't.
"Uhm... I'd just say that's a really bad idea and I..."
"Come on, Crowned. I could reward you for it." The way Celestia said those words, plus the already revealing gaze in front of him, had Crowned to the brink of breaking down and saying something that he might've ended up regretting, if it wasn't for the familiar voice that entered the room.
"Ehem, Principal Celestia, what is going on?"
"Oh thank goodness, Miss Raven!" Crowned exclaimed relieved that someone came to "save" him.
The teacher approached to him and carried her dearest student away from Celestia.
"There are better ways to spy on those guys, you know?" Raven said annoyed, suspecting the Principal was doing all of it on purpose.
"Miss Raven, you gotta understand," she began to say, despite not knowing what exactly Raven implied she was doing, "I need to know why they hide so fast. I don't even know who they are and if directly spied on them I could be breaking several privacy rules."
"And that's why you're using those tricks on Mr. Crowned?" Raven added unamused, much to the surprise of the Principal.
"Uh, what tricks?" Celestia responded with legit obliviousness, "I was just getting more comfortable, usually they speak more when I talk kindly with them. How do you think Luna managed to get those bullies from last time? Besides, you're one to talk when there are rumors that you have a new 'favorite' student."
Raven and the Principal stared at each other for a couple of seconds, before she decided to leave along with Crowned. Celestia meanwhile took again her seat and continued with some paperwork, still thinking about something that irked her.
"Ok, but seriously... why did she say that? What did she mean with 'tricks'?" she repeated to herself, still as innocent as she was.
Once they were outside the office, Raven began to talk with her student, trying to explain some things.
"I'm sorry for this, Mr. Crowned," she apologized, "the Principal can be a bit clumsy sometimes."
"D-Don't worry about that," the student responded, covering his crotch as subtly as he could.
"She's been working on something, but at the same time she's trying to catch the owners of the Corner of Gossips with 'proof' so that she doesn't have angry parents complaining about their sons being expelled unfairly."
"I can see that," the boy said more calmly, "Has she already spoken with her sister?"
"Celestia doesn't talk too much with Luna, I'm afraid," Raven said concerned, "I believe their relationship has become kinda tense, I mean, they're sisters and those things tend to have moments like these, but I feel it's also because Luna seems paranoid for some reason."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... oh goodness." The teacher stopped for a moment, making sure no one else was near to pay attention. "I should not tell but... sorry, but this is a topic for grown-ups only."
"Don't worry, I can keep a secret," Crowned winked at the teach in a friendly way, "But if you don't wanna tell me, its ok. Also, I'm already an adult."
"Hmhmhm, I don't doubt that." Feeling a bit of confidence on the boy, Raven took a folded sheet from between the papers she was carrying, and put it in his pocket. "I'm sure this will tell you want you need. Just be careful, I don't want my 'favorite student' to get in more problems."
While smiling, the teacher still showed a bit of nervousness about what she had done, although seeing her student smile kindly reassured that it was something she couldn't regret. Crowned meanwhile took out the paper, and noticed a small sentence written on it: "About The Day That Didn't Happen." But just as he was about to unfold it, he heard a familiar voice coming close.
"CROWNED!!!"
Suddenly finding himself being yanked by Dizzy, the boy with the crown barely had time to react and just gasped in confusion, to which his friend said:
"Where were you? They are already there!"
"Wait, who's where?" Crowned asked confused, a bit to the annoyance of his pale friend.
"THEM!!! You know who."
"Oooh right! Let's go!"
Finally getting what he meant, the two boys made their way to the aforementioned Corner, and when they arrived, their jaws almost dropped from the surprise: "the Corner of Gossips turned out to be far wider and elaborated than what they thought. Some students were already checking the improvised 'shops', selling from snacks, photocopies of documents, stationer's shops, most of them made out of the wide open lockers.
"Oh my goodness, this place is huge!" Crowned said surprised by all of it.
"I was told many things from this place," Dizzy replied, in utter disbelief, "but man, this is even sickening!"
"Well, I guess we should-"
"WAIT!" Before his friend could even move one step ahead to the crowd of students, Dizzy grabbed his arm and stopped him right in his tracks. "We can't just go in there like that! We need to cover our faces."
"Wait, do we?"
"Crowned, this place is INFAMOUS," Dizzy explained to his friend. "If Celestia or another teacher finds out we've been here, we're screwed! Please put something and cover your face."
"Uuuh, well about that," Crowned hesitated to say it yet had no other excuse, "I don't have anything to use as a disguise."
"Use this, then." From behind them, a curious looking boy wearing thick black glasses and a jacket with a hoodie covering most of his face approached the guys, giving Crowned a similar gray jacket.
"A jacket?" he remained a bit surprised by this hooded figure, until he managed to catch a bit of blue hair on him. "Flash, is that you?"
"I told you I could help," Flash slightly raised his hood, showing the already familiar face to his friends, "Just try to keep a low profile, ask what you need to ask, and run away."
"Okay, we'll do so. You don't have to worry, Flash-o."
"D-Don't call me like that!" even with the hoodie, one would've noticed the luminescent red cheek he got from that, "I'll be watching from afar. Good luck, guys."
Flash distanced himself to not raise suspicion, while Crowned and Dizzy hid their backpacks and put on their disguises. Crowned put on the gray hoodie and covered his face, while Dizzy changed his shirt and wore a pair of large glasses with big fake eyelashes, a giant nose, and even a fake moustache.
"Uhm, Dizzy?" Crowned asked, weirded out by his friend's choice of disguise.
"It's the best way to cover up my face, shut up," he retorted.
"Oh okay, I get it. So... let's go."
The two of them then walked into the strange 'black market' that was the infamous Corner. As they walked through the many improvised shops they noticed how they used scientific calculators along with small toolboxes as cash registers, others using multiuse backpacks to show their products, others were selling backpacks that were found forgotten in classrooms... It was like being in a different world.
"Wow, they didn't lie when they said this was like a market," Crowned said in awe, only to notice Dizzy was missing. "...Dizzy?"
Suddenly, he heard someone munching some chips behind him, only to turn around and see it was his friend.
"...Don't judge me, there was a snack shop and I was hungry," he replied, leering at him.
"Uhm, can you at least give me some?"
Dizzy shared some of his chips to his friend, as they noticed that almost everyone in the Corner was wearing outfits to cover their appearances.
"I see, so the deeper we go, the trickier they are," Crowned concluded, judging by how more complex the disguises became.
"It seems so," his friend responded, still looking around the different 'shops', only to be surprised by a particular being.
"Hey you! You look like new faces around here!"
Turning their heads, they noticed a strange fellow waving at them. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a brown hoodie and a bandana covering his mouth. The two of them approached to the strange boy, who introduced himself.
"You may call me Shady Guy, and I'm the founder of this place," he said while shaking their hands, "Can you please tell me your... names?"
"Oh, I am-"
"Shush, my friend!" Shady Guy interrupted Crowned, and giggled a little bit, "Before that, you better think on a nickname. You don't want to get in troubles in here. Maybe rumors about you might spread, heheheh."
"He's got a point," Dizzy said, before 'introducing' himself, "You may call me Marx then."
"And I'm... Uhh..." Dizzy's friend, however, had a bit of more problems coming up with a nickname, and decided to go with the first thing that came to mind. "I-I-I-I am... M-Magolor!"
Dizzy turned to his friend, with an expression that just screamed "really?!", and even Shady Guy raised an eyebrow after such an odd nickname.
"H-HEY, IT WAS THE FIRST THING I WAS REMINDED OFF!" he tried to excuse himself, promptly the other two boys to facepalm in disapproval.
"Whatever, just follow me."
Shady Guy guided the both of them to a wide "shop" covered by curtains, and a table at the other side of them.
"Take a seat, fellas. Make yourself at home."
The boys entered the curious place, as Dizzy noticed how detailed it was.
"This looks pretty elaborated. Are you from the sewing club perhaps?" Dizzy said sarcastically.
"No, but there are rumors about people from that club working around here," Shady said in a smug way.
"W-Where are we exactly?" the crowned boy asked nervously.
"This is my shop, The Foundation," Shady replied as he took a seat, "Here I don't sell material stuff and I don't expect to be paid in cash. No, what I sell are rumors, and I get paid with more gossip in exchange."
"Oooh, so that's how the rumors are born!"
"They are not 'born' here, my friend," he explained to Crowned. "Like I said, they're spread. I tell gossips, secrets and rumors, and I'm paid with the same. Well, sometimes they make other kinds of favors for my job."
"And what do you win with that?" Crowned asked more curious about Shady.
"Just pleasure. Everybody gives me some commission for letting them work around here, as you know, rumors attract people like you two."
"Wait, is that why you called us here?" Dizzy asked while getting more cautious.
“Yep," he said bluntly, "I recognize new curious people and I always bring them to my shop first, so tell me: Are you interested in a rumor?"
Recognizing this as a moment for finally getting what they wanted, Crowned tried to speak.
"Well, I've heard that..."
"WAIT WAIT..." Shady interrupted the boy again, "Just so you trust me, I'll give you a free rumor: Did you know that after one of the teachers quitted, he had to sign a confidentiality card so that he couldn't go report any government about 'the incident'? Why do you think Miss Raven became a teacher?"
"...I hate to admit that makes a lot of sense," Dizzy said, completely shocked when he remembered how out of the blue was to see the former secretary now working as a teacher.
"Ok, that's nice to know. Now..." With a determined look on his face, Crowned stared directly to Shady, and proceeded, "I need you to tell me about the ghosts."
Hearing him mention that, made Shady lower his glasses a bit, just to look at them more clearly. Dizzy started to feel a bit unnerved about it, but quickly calmed when their host simply stood up to put even thicker curtains around the shop.
"You know, most people come looking for more polemic stuff," he stated, still giving his back to the guys, "who is Rarity's boyfriend of the week, who's the school's most desired girl, who probably underwent a surgery, that kind of stuff; yet when I offer them those rumors, they keep telling me those are very... infantile, like they've forgotten what happened not long ago. But you... you just came here to hear those rumors."
Shady turned around, and while they couldn't see his face, Dizzy felt like he was being stared down.
"Well... will you tell us?"
"Hell no!" he exclaimed in a serious tone, "If you want to know for the reasons I think you do, you'll be putting in risk not only my business, but the whole school again!"
"Oh come on! Just tell us what you know!"
"Listen to me, if only you could have the juiciest of all rumors, I might... ignore whatever you do and tell you thinking 'nothing is gonna happen'. But the less I want is to lose this job."
Dizzy, feeling a lot more annoyed and sickened at how Shady Guy was more worried about his dirty job, he stood up and spoke right to his face.
"Alright, you want gossip!? I'LL GIVE YOU GOSSIP! Did you know Flash is-"
"Already know that, pretty boring," Shady said unfazed, making Dizzy lose confidence.
"Uuuuh, Norman-"
"Is in the dictionary, and that is true."
"But Cheer-"
"She's with one of her students. I know that and more, buddy."
Feeling defeated, Dizzy sat next to his friend, and looked at him desperately.
"Any help, 'Magolor'?"
Crowned tried to think of something fresh, but the thing he came up with was very risky and could put him in more trouble, yet he felt it was somewhat necessary.
"How about Celestia?"
Shady reacted in shock and looked right at him, his eyes so wide open they were almost visible over the glasses.
"What do you know about her?"
"Oh, that means you don't know something about her?"
"Buddy, you have nothing..." he said, almost to the point of laughter, "Nobody, and I really mean NOBODY that has ever tried to get something out of the Principal stays in school to spread the world. All of them are either goody two-shoes that say nothing, or end up expelled. They try to get close to her, but Celestia catches them and expels them, there are no rumors about her. Nobody knows anything from her beyond what one can see in front of her!"
"But what if I tell you something more from her?" Crowned said overconfidently.
"Shush!" Dizzy tried to shut his friend's mouth, scared that he was just bluffing, "Are you sure you have something? I mean, this guy doesn't seem trustworthy, and if you lie to him-"
"Oh, I'm not lying, 'Marx'," he claimed with security as he turned again towards Shady, "Just smell me, Shady."
"...I don't know what has been said about me, but I don't spin that way," he responded in utter confusion.
"Come on, just smell me!"
Shady simply rolled his eyes and took a good sniff from the boy, catching a recognizable perfume.
"Hmm, this is... I believe it's Miss Raven's... so that means you're her favorite student, 'Magolor'?"
"Are you sure it's only Raven's?
Dizzy looked unamused to his friend, still annoyed that the teacher liked his friend a lot while he couldn't catch a break. Meanwhile Shady smelled him once again, and this time he caught a different perfume.
"Wait, this is... It smells like..." Dizzy could've sworn that he saw his eyes popping up from above his glasses. Shady grabbed Crowned by his shoulders and shook him rapidly in excitement. "HOW WHEN AND WHERE?! HOW DIDN'T SHE EVEN PUT YOU ON DETENTION! Everybody that ended up being caught spying on her was interrogated, put on detention and/or plainly getting expelled!"
"Well, you have one of those exceptions," Crowned answered proudly, as Dizzy once again growled at his luck.
"You damned lucky son of a-" he coughed briefly, before returning to the topic. "But at least you got something so that this guy spills out those rumors?"
"YES, MY FRIEND! TELL ME, WHAT IT IS?!" Shady seemed to be overjoyed to know whatever Crowned had to say.
"Oh nonononono, you first," he demanded, "I need to know three things. One: Why did all those guys got expelled? Two: EVERYTHING you know about those ghosts. Three: Whatever you have related to Vice-Principal Luna."
"...You're asking for too much." Shady said coldly, only for Crowned to get the big guns.
"Have I told you about Celestia's method of 'interrogation'?"
Despite his bandana, it was easy to recognize he was grinning widely.
"Alright, you win."
Shady brought up a bag full of papers and notes, and from it he picked up a notebook and placed it on the table near Crowned.
"First of all, those guys were my 'assistants'," he began explaining, "They were good disguising themselves, and when the business was blooming, I was usually requested with rumors about the Principal, especially from those who had a grudge against her. So, I sent my assistants to try and spy on her, but somehow they were always caught red-handed, and after being interrogated they either stopped coming here altogether or just said they were expelled. The problem was that I never saw them again, for one reason or another, and I only managed to get in contact with one of them, who told me she kept asking about my operations. But since I never tell my real name to anyone, she got nothing, and every attempt to stop this place has been in vain. I've heard some of those guys were even reported to the authorities and that's why I never saw them again."
"Interesting," Crowned said, making sure to remember all he was saying, "Now, about the ghosts."
"Okay, that's a bit longer but I'll just tell that, with time, ever since that 'Day that Didn't Happen", many rumors have surfaced, all of them with many things in common... Okay, maybe a lot in common, I call them the 'Seven Mysteries of CHS."
Shady opened his notebook on certain pages, showing them the rumors he had placed on paper.
"1.- The Shadows of Canterlot: Ever since that day, they have appeared all over the school, Many say that at first the appearances were few, thinking of them as simple pranks. They usually appeared at night, but with time more people saw them even in broad light, and negate their existence afraid that something 'that day' might happen. But the rumors say that they only appear at certain places in particular: Some claim to have spotted them looking over the Great Apple Tree in the fields; others have caught glimpse of them near the Principals Office; one particular classroom in maintenance has been said to be haunted by them; others have heard them in the basements; some even say there are shadows at the top of the school's clock tower and that they're the cause the main bell hasn't been fixed; and finally, they say that even this Corner is filled with them, but that's a mystery of its own.
2.- The Ghost Symphony: In the nights, it's been said by those who have stayed until late, that a strange melody nobody has heard before can be heard from the music room. It's neither a classic nor a modern song from what is said, but it appears like the Shadows don't like to hear it, and it's claimed they run away as soon as it plays. The rumor says that it's the spirit of an old music teacher who's repelling the evil spirits with their song.
3.- The School Spirit: In front of our school, where the statue of the school's mascot lies, every certain moon cycle, the shadows take on physical forms and absorb something from it until the first beams of the sun makes them retreat to the school. Some claim that they're stealing the "School's Spirit" and feeding on it. Sappy, but it's the only explanation so far.
4.- The Incomplete School: This place might be huge, one of the biggest schools in the city, but have you noticed how smaller it is on the inside? Apparently, there used to be a middle school division of the school, but the old administration cancelled the classes after going through budget problems, and that section of the school was covered with walls so no one could pass there. Yet some people say there is still a way to enter those parts of the school, even some claiming that's where the shadows come from.
5.- The Ancient Tree: The apple tree of the school is pretty old, and it's said that it was planted by the founder of the school herself with the aid of the old Granny Smith from the Apple family. There are some people claiming it has "spiritual" properties, and that the shadows avoid going near this tree. It's even said that the apples the tree gives are the tastiest of them all and that can protect from bad luck and evil spirits.
6.- The Sewing Workshop: Long ago the Sewing club had a really big workshop, since the majority of the women got into said club. But with time that trend died out, but it was more noticeable in this school, and those who remained claimed that they could hear haunting noises. The rumors say the principal thought it was the echo produced by the now near-empty classroom, but because it made everyone feel unnerved it was closed, and the classroom was sealed since the budget problem didn't let the workshop to be transformed into different classrooms. Some people say that place is nearby here, due to the odd lack of classrooms, and even claim to hear the same haunting noises as those infested by the shadows.
7.- The Shadow Lord: Interestingly, it's been said lately that there's a dark being commanding the shadows, and that has even threatened some students, making them miss some classes due to fear of finding him. Other people claim that it bears a strange resemblance to Flash Sentry, with crazier rumors saying he was the one who cursed Sunset with her dark powers, but there are no proof of such thing since everyone is so afraid to investigate.
"Wow..." Crowned exclaimed impressed, "This is really complex."
"And now that we're even, could you kindly tell me about Cel-"
"Oh nonono!" Dizzy interrupted Shady, looking a bit more confident, "You still need to tell us about the Vice-Principal."
"Ugh, fine!" Shady cleared his throat and spoke, "There are rumors that say that our Vice-Principal Luna has some personal issues with her sister, and even claim she suffers depression."
"How?"
"There are those who say that she gets even punishing people, but that's her job, and just punishes those she feels "deserve it". She has tried to bring down this business more times than Celestia, but lately she hasn't bothered showing up here. Luna isn't precisely the most "beloved", a lot of students feel she is very strict, and everyone prefer Celestia because, well... she has some BIG charms, if you catch my drift. But Luna? She's among the most unpopular teachers in school, and she knows it. Apparently she tends to argue a lot with Celestia, speaking about something she wants to do but Luna doesn't because 'it might attract the government" and everyone agrees that's the least we want after 'that day', so there's that."
Crowned reflexed about what he was just been told, and remembered the paper Raven gave to him. Taking it out, he began to read it, only to find an equally detailed description about the events that unfolded 'that day'.
"The Day that Didn't Happen"
Not long ago, during the Annual Fall Formal Prom, a strange event took by surprise the school. One of the students, Sunset Shimmer, used an artifact resembling a crown, which caused her to undergo a strange transformation. The only way to describe it is that she became a 'She-Demon', who used what can only be described as magic to turn two of the students, Snips and Snails, into similar demonic beings, as well as mind controlling the students to do her bidding. Yet somehow, one of the students known as Twilight Sparkle, who three days prior to the events had no registers inside the school records and whose only matching information came from Crystal Prep, was able to use the same artifact and imbued a positive magic over other five students, giving them pony-shaped ears, long horse tails and even wings on some of them. The students, registered as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, used this magical power and reverted Sunset Shimmer and those imbued by her dark magic to her original human form, dispersing the magic away from her and releasing everyone from her control. Aware that if the Government knew about the incidents surrounding the day of the Formal they could come to investigate the school, and even take away some of our students, the school as a whole has agreed to never talk about the incidents that happened said day, referencing them simply as "The Day that Didn't Happen".
"This is... really strange and complicated," Crowned said after reading the sheet of paper.
"What do you mean with that?" Shady asked intrigued.
"T-This legends, Luna and Celestia's attitude, the events of that day, it's... sorta strange everything happens just here. Usually schools have like one or two urban legends, not nearly ten and all of them with this supernatural veil."
"You know, I have my own theory about it," Shady commented as he took a seat in front of him, "I believe there is a secret in this school, and a very dark one. Something happened that 'Day that didn't happen' that changed this whole place, and many think the worst had already pass... but the truth is, I still feel the worst is yet to come."
Crowned recognized that a wicked smile appeared beneath his bandana, and his somewhat sinister tone made both Dizzy and Crowned feel unnerved.
"Uhm, 'Magolor', friend?" Dizzy said quietly, "I'm not liking this a single bit."
"Me neither but..." Crowned whispered trying to calm his friend, "Maybe if we find the source of those legends, we might find said dark secret."
"Well, good for you, I don't even care," Shady said bluntly, interrupting them as he slammed his hands on the table, "NOW TELL ME ABOUT CELESTIA!"
Crowned took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to say would be nearly suicidal, but he decided to take the risk.
"Okay, you win.... You see... When Celestia interrogates the students, she... uses a particular method."
"What?" Both Shady and Dizzy said in shock.
Crowned took another deep breath and described what he saw, embellishing parts of Celestia's unique methods.
"See, she gets comfortable on her hair, letting her hair loose and even adjusting her blazer, talking to them smoothly while leaning gently towards them. BUT because of her... Gifts... Her blazer tends to break and show her cleavage, and when he leans you can see them hanging and even notice what bra she's wearing and... Well, that must be when they break and talk, and say everything she wants to know. And after that, Luna makes sure to expel them, maybe even claiming 'harassment' against them so they're thrown into a correctional institute or something."
Dizzy and Shady dropped their jaws in utter disbelief, and barely could express their thoughts.
"You damned lucky son of a-"
"You're my hero," Shady proclaimed, interrupting and shocking Dizzy.
"Excuse us?"
"You don't know what you've done for me," Shady said with a very perverted grin, scaring both guys in front of him.
Suddenly, some shouting was heard from outside the 'shop', and the boys guessed that it meant some teacher had just stumbled upon the corner.
"I THINK IT'S TIME TO RUN!" The pale boy screamed to his friend, "WE ALREADY HAVE WHAT WE NEEDED!"
"RIGHT! SHADY, THANKS FO-"
"Keep this for me," Shady said interrupting Crowned, as he gave him his notebook, "I don't think I'll need that anymore."
"W-What are you talking about?"
"Just leave..."
Crowned tried to know what Shady meant, but his friend quickly pulled him out, noticing the crowds quickly fleeing and hiding their "merchandise". As they ran back for their stuff, the boy with a crown stumbled upon a certain girl: it was the same gray student he saw speaking with Celestia, and she was also wearing a hoodie to cover her face. The two crossed surprised looks, but were cut short when Dizzy grabbed him and continued pulling him away from the scene, just noticing how the girl kept looking at him.
As they ran, the boys caught glimpse of their good friend Flash standing near an empty classroom. When they approached him, he quickly pulled them inside and closed the door, as they saw through the window how Luna and several other teachers moved to catch the 'shop owners', making the students go with them. They even recognized a still masked Shady, who didn't seem to be concerned. Crowned saw the gray girl follow the Vice-Principal very closely, smiling in satisfaction.
"Guess they were finally caught after all," Flash pointed out.
"I wonder why he didn't run like the others," Crowned said intrigued by Shady's odd behavior.
"Meh, who cares for that freaky guy?" Dizzy said bluntly as he showed his friend the notebook, "We now have his gossip notebook!"
"Wait, is that his?"
"Eeyup! Maybe it will give us an idea of why he did so."
Dizzy opened the notebook, expecting a journal of all the rumors circling around the school... and blushed intensely when he saw what was actually inside its pages. His friends noticed how red he got and took a peek, only to find out the truth: Most of the pages, save for a few containing the "Seven Mysteries" and other gossips, were filled with detailed sketches of the principal in suggestive positions if not outright naked.
"...D-Did he had a crush for Celestia?!" Flash said in shock, while Dizzy simply grinned like a fool.
"OH, SO THAT'S WHY THE IDIOT GOT HIMSELF CAUGHT! AND AFTER WHAT YOU TOLD HIM..." the pale boy bursted into uncontrollable laughter, just thinking about what Shady was about to do, and how it could probably end. "CROWNED, YOU DID IT! YOU FINALLY GOT RID OF THAT CORNER OF GOSSIPS!"
"Uhm, yay?" Crowned smiled uncomfortably, not knowing how to feel about this unexpected "heroic" act.
The next day, Crowned and Dizzy arrived early to the school, only to find their pal Nolan talking through his cellphone.
"Nonono, I told dad is really busy and I'm studying at school! If you wanna leave a message, you can leave it with his secretary, ok? Bye!" hanging up his phone, the boy turned towards his friends. "What's up, guys?"
"Nolan, what were you doing?" Crowned asked a bit nervous.
"Oh you, arguing with some of dad's workers, like always," Nolan said like it was no big deal.
"Sooo.... have you heard the rumors?" despite trying to be subtle, the crowned boy was not very good at it.
"Oh right, the Corner of Gossip is done for," his friend responded like it was nothing, "Such a pity."
"...I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Because of me, you guys won't hear any more rumors and gossips."
Nolan smiled gently, and even chuckled a bit, trying to make his friend feel better.
"Nah, it's ok dude. That's what the internet is for, after all." His comment managed to make his friend smile, and so did Dizzy, who patted his back. "By the way, that 'Shady' dude that built the whole Corner? Well, she was sent directly with Celestia, and the nuts tried to nearly molest her! Because of that and after finding out he didn't even study here, he was sent to the authorities."
"DAMN, GEEZ!" both guys exclaimed, shocked to know the truth about "Shady Guy". Dizzy tried not to break into laughter again, knowing now that he ended up doing just what he suspected.
"Yup, it's just as you hear," the red haired boy commented, "The authorities offered to bring down whatever is left from the corner, but Luna said that she could handle it herself with the help of some volunteers."
"Wait, did you said volunteers?" Crowned asked, with a look on his face that his friend knew meant nothing good, at least for him.
"Crowned? Why are you smiling like that?"
Later that day, Crowned and Dizzy were cleaning the leftovers of what was the Corner of Gossips, picking up empty bags of chips and other snacks.
"Why did you had to offer us to help with this!?" the pale boy said exasperated, "Do you know how much I hate doing this 'Cinderello' stuff?"
"Did you really forget it already?" Crowned said surprised before explaining, "Shady said this was near the old sewing workshop, and if we want to get near it before they do something about it, we must find where it is."
"Oh, right!" Dizzy slapped his forehead when he remembered that, "Do you think we might find something inside Shady's locker? Perhaps he hid some clue in his 'shop'."
"Sure. You go ahead, I'll keep checking out just in case."
Dizzy then approached to the large locker, carefully opening it and going inside to look around the 'shop'. But when he was deep inside it, the locker's door closed behind him. Feeling scared, Dizzy tried to push it open, only to find the lock was now stuck.
"CROWNED, I NEED HELP!!!" he screamed, hoping for his friend to listen.
"Dizzy? What are you.." when he looked around and saw the locker's door closed, he realized what happen, "Oh Dizzy, wait for..."
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Crowned heard the voice of a girl shouting at him, and when he turned to his back he found himself in front of the same gray girl from the previous day.
"Oh, h-hi?" he said nervously, his heart racing from being face to face with her.
"I saw you here yesterday when they caught everyone," she said in a menacing voice, her expression denoting anger, "What brings you back here? Looking to erase evidence?"
"W-What are you talking about?!"
"Don't try to fool me, you're one of those guys who sold homework, and I HATE those kind of students!"
"NONONONONO, YOU'RE WRONG! I'm not here for that!" Crowned replied in shock, feeling nervous about that girl being so aggressive to him, "I'm just a volunteer. And besides, what were you doing that day here?"
"I convinced Luna to try and catch anyone she could," she explained, "I was just here to make sure everyone involved was caught, but some of them escaped from here."
The way she looked at the crowned boy made him tremble, she seemed pretty convinced that he was one of the dealers in the Corner.
"Oh, and... you came here to..."
"To check if you left something behind, before you erase all evidence."
"Please, listen to me: I'm not like them!" the boy tried to explain, "I'm actually new here! I had no idea of this Corner until yesterday!"
From the closed locker, Dizzy even raised his voice to help him.
"It's true! He's not a foolish scammer, he's just a fool!"
"Yeah, I'm... DIZZY!!!"
"Well I don't care what you said!" the girl said angrily, almost to the point of tears, "I'll report you with the Principal, maybe that will teach you to never again do this kind of unfair business!"
Crowned realized that she was still angry about the whole "homework sells" that happened on the Corner, and since some of the "shop owners" got away, she just wanted to get someone "guilty".
"...I understand you. Yeah, they sold homework here and... I recall Celestia saying you were the best student in the school."
Hearing that made the girl calm herself a little.
"Did... Did she said that?"
"Yes. I happened to hear by accident how you hated that those scammers got higher grades than you, and I understand it. That's a horrible feeling." Crowned thought back to his days in Crystal Prep, and remembered how among the most popular students they did similar deeds just to get the highest notes.
The girl said nothing in response, simply sobbing a bit.
"Listen, I'm new here and I never knew from this place until yesterday, but if it makes you feel better, you can take it out on me."
In response, she wipe the small tears on her face, and after taking a deep breath, she calmed down, adopting a more elegant pose.
"I feel like I should apologize myself," she said lowering her head in shame, "I let my anger get the best of me. M-My name is Octavia Melody, and I feel sorry for accusing you unfairly."
"Well, I'm Crowned, and as a king my duty is to keep my friends happy, and I wish to make you feel happy."
Octavia felt surprised by the gentleness of the boy, as she expected him to be angry at her.
"B-But I barely know you, and you consider myself you friend? Even after yelling at you?"
"Relax, it's nothing, really," he said with a smile, "You should see how Dizzy screams at me."
"Well I would not scream if you could get me out of here!!!" his friend screamed from inside the locker, making Octavia giggle nicely, and making her smile a bit.
"Thank you Crowned," she said while making a gentle gesture, "Well, I suppose there's not much to do but to get Dizzy out of there."
"OH THANK GOODNESS, FINALLY!" he shouted triumphally, "I'M NEARLY FEELING ASPHIXIAAAAH-!!!"
Suddenly, a loud thump was heard from deep within the locker, calling the attention of Crowned and Octavia.
"Dizzy?! What was that?!"
Crowned hurried to unlock the large locker, and to his surprise and that of his companion, they found Dizzy had felt backwards through a fake wall, right at the end of the locker.
"What is that?!" Octavia asked in surprise looking at the apparently hollow locker.
"I have no idea," Dizzy said from the other side of the "wall", which was nothing but another curtain, "but my head hurts like hell."
"Dizzy, look around you!"
The pale boy stood up, and as he looked to his surroundings he realized where he was: it looked like a classroom, with pretty old pedal sewing machines, some fabrics gathering dust, and boxes full of chips, sodas, snacks and other kinds of merchandize that were sold in the now defund Corner of Gossips.
"Wait a minute..." Octavia realized something when he saw the boxes, and her rage came back at full throttle, "THIS IS WHERE THAT BLOODY SHADY ALWAYS HID WHEN THEY CAME SEARCHING FOR HIM?! THIS WAS HIS HIDEOUT?! UUURGH, CELESTIA!!!"
Infuriated, the girl left the two guys alone as she went searching for the Principal. Meanwhile, Crowned approached to his friend, patting him on the back.
"Congratulations, you found one of the mysteries, my friend."
"Well not much a mystery," he responded, still rubbing his head to alleviate the pain, "That scumbag knew about this place and hid here, although I have the feeling neither Luna nor Celestia knew about this place."
"Well, let's seize this moment to check if there isn't any of those round stones around here."
"Uugh, okay."
The two guys inspected the place, trying to find anything suspicious, but all they found was old materials and dust, with some fresh footprints in the floor, who they guessed belonged to Shady. When they felt there was nothing important there, Dizzy took a closer look to one of the walls, feeling something strange about it. Then, he noticed a small hole on it, and against his own fear, decided to take a small peek through it. What he saw almost made him go backwards.
"C-C-C-CROWNED!!!" he shouted with a mix of excitement and a bit of fear.
"What's the matter, buddy?"
"THE SCHOOL... T-THE SCHOOL!!! IT'S RIGHT THERE!"
Dizzy pulled his friend near the wall and told him to look through it. When he did, he realized that behind that wall lied the abandoned section of the school, surrounded in darkness and with all the windows sealed.
"Damn, this place looks... utterly creepy," even he had to admit it was unsettling to look at.
"Okay, we found it, we confirmed it, can we please go now? I don't like this a single bit."
"Calm down a bit, my friend," Crowned said, still looking through the small hole, "We just look for the stone and then we... AAAAAHHH!!!"
A creepy looking eye showed itself at the other side of the hole, scaring the crowned boy and nearly dropping his signature crown.
"W-WHAT IS THAT?!" he screamed in horror, as Dizzy tried to stand him up.
From inside the hole, a strange shadow leaked down towards the boys, slowly taking a smoke-like humanoid form, extending its arms towards them. Crowned and Dizzy both screamed in fear, holding each other as they tried to keep each other away from the evil shadow. But to their surprise, nothing happened. The shadow kept extending his arms towards them, but nothing really happened. Even the shadow seemed shocked by this.
"Huh?" Crowned wondered what happened, and then he remembered, "Oh right, magic! You probably tried to drain us from it, right? Too bad we aren't magical at all!"
"Oh... Phew! That's a relief," Dizzy commented, laughing nervously, "And for this I nearly stain my pants?"
His friend quickly pushed him aside for that comment.
"Too much information, dude," he said disgusted, when suddenly he noticed something sneaking in a corner, surrounded by fabrics gathering dust.
Ignoring the shadow, which kept trying to drain the boys, Crowned pushed away the rolls of fabric to find what they were looking for.
"Well, that was easy," he said as he picked up the smooth stone, and then pointing to the exit.
The two boys began to leave, as the shadow kept trying to interfere by standing in front of them, but they passed right through it without problems.
"Oh my goodness, I never thought this could be so pathetically easy!" Dizzy said with more confidence.
"Dizzy, please don't say that, let's just go," Crowned, on the other hand, was aware that saying that was just asking for trouble.
"No, I really mean it, THEY'RE TRULT PATHETIC!" his friend continued gloating, "WHAT KIND OF GHOSTS ARE THOSE?!"
"Dizzy..."
"I mean, I have an irrational fear of ghosts, and you know you've failed in life... well, in the other life at least, when you can't even scare me for more than five minutes!"
"Dizzy, can you shut up?!" Crowned began to move faster, aware that his buddy had just done it.
"Oh come on, friend. I mean, look at it!" he said pointing at the shadow, who now had its hands over his face, trembling in a weird way, "Do you see that? He's crying! Did we really make Mr. Spooky cry?"
Before he could even apologize, the shadow extended its arms again, revealing a pair of glowing angry eyes, as a sinister aura shrouded around him. Suddenly, the door of the locker was once again closed and locked, trapping them in the darkness of the room, as the shadow began levitating the abandoned materials surrounding it, imbuing them with its dark aura.
"W-WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Dizzy shouted terrified, as Crowned looked angrily at him.
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!!!"
The shadow then used the fabrics around him to create a body for him, stitching them together with needles that it later attached to the end of its hands, giving itself a more menacing appearance.
"C-C-Crowned... maybe we should leave the stone here?" the now paler boy said to his friend, feeling his body paralyzed from fear.
"No... We won't..." Crowned tried to remain brave, but not before scolding his friend, "Also, THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!"
The monster moved forward the boys, trying to stab them with the needles on its hands. Barely moving out of its way, the two boys ran all around the workshop, trying to get away from the dark cloth.
"MOMMYYYY!!!" Dizzy screamed at the top of his lungs as they barely kept ahead from the monster chasing behind them.
"DIZZY, WATCH OUT!"
To his surprise, a roll of fabric nearly flew right into his face, and he only managed to duck in time to also dodge the swipe from the monster. Standing up again, he and his friend tried using the sewing machines as shield, but the monster kept breaking them, getting the boys cornered. Feeling their options running out, the two grabbed each other, trembling of fear.
"CROWNED, IF I DIE, TELL MY SISTER I LOVE HER!!!" Dizzy said as he felt his life going through his eyes.
"DIZZY... You have a sister?" the crowned boy said surprised, much to the annoyance of his friend.
"NOT THE TIME FOR JOKES!!!"
As the monster pushed itself towards them, the two boys separated and nearly dodged its needles aiming at them, sticking instead to the wall. Taking advantage from this small break, the two thought about the options they had left.
"ANY IDEAS, FRIEND?"
"OK, LET ME THINK... UHM..." Crowned looked all around him, trying to come up with a plan. Most of the sewing machines were already broken, but there were still a couple intact, and he thought about using them. And he also noticed a long loose thread hanging from the back of the creature, something they could use to their favor. "Uhm, do you know how to sew, Dizzy?"
"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!"
"Listen, I can direct that thing near one of those old sewing machines," he explained in a low voice, "I'll distract it, while you grab that thread behind him and use the machine to fray him down."
"W-WHAT KIND OF PLAN IS THAT?!" Dizzy screamed, just as the monster unstuck itself and turned towards them.
"THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I HAVE, OR DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING?!"
The two immediately dodged the monster as it charged against them, and Dizzy felt there was no other way but to follow his friend's idea.
"OK, I'll keep the stone, while you prepare the machine, ok?"
Dizzy nodded in agreement, and while he crawled towards the closest machine, his friend ran close to it, holding the stone above him.
"HEY, MISTER GHOST, YOU WANT THIS?!" he screamed, calling the monster's attention, "COME FOR IT!!!"
Falling for its taunt, the shadow rushed towards him, with the intent of stabbing the boy. Jumping away from it, the monster got stuck again, moment after which Dizzy grabbed the loose thread and quickly tied up to the machine, as he put a random piece of cloth on it to make it work.
"Alright, all set up, now... where's the damn start button?!" he looked around the old machine, looking for something to start it up, until he noticed a pedal on the floor. Pushing it, he realized it made the machine work, slowly pulling away the monster's stiches. "Oh no, this is just like my granny's... and I'm not good at pedaling."
"WELL LEARN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!" Crowned screamed, as the monster released itself and attempted to swipe at him, barely dodging as he kept him as close to the machine.
Dizzy pedaled as fast as he could, grabbing random pieces of cloth to use with the machine. But despite his pace, it was still too slow, as the monster was swiping closer to Crowned, and its stitches still held it together. Watching his friend getting cornered again, he tried using his hands instead, pushing as fast as he could, until the threads holding it almost felt apart.
"THAT'S IT! RUN, CROWNED!!!"
Seeing this at it chance, Crowned ran as fast as he could to get away from the monster, and when it tried to chase after him, the last bits of thread slowly began unstitching , being still tied to the machine, and soon the shadow's getup fell apart. It tried swiping at the boy, but when it did, it realized too late that there were no needles stuck to its hands. To make things better, Dizzy realized there was a drawer right behind it, and seizing the moment, he ran towards it and pushed it against the shadow, who couldn't even react as the drawer fell over it, dispersing the creature into nothingness.
"Aahhh... Dear goodness... well done, Dizzy," Crowned tried to recover his breath, still holding the stone firmly in his hands.
"Thanks... ouch... my arms are killing me," the pale boy cried, tired from pushing the pedal at high speeds.
"Quick, let's get out of here before more of those things come closer."
Feeling like things could get uglier, the two guys ran back to the locker, forcing it open with a couple of good kicks between both of them. Thankfully they managed to break out moments before Octavia arrived followed by the Principal, noticing the footprints of dust that the two left after leaving in a rush.
"What in the world got into those guys?" She wondered, unaware that she might've just got herself tangled into the same mess those two were in.
END OF CHAPTER.