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1 - Smoke and Mirrors1,041 words
2 - Silence and Strangeness1,119 words
3 - Phantoms and Nightmares1,020 words
4 - Preludes and Panderings1,078 words
5 - Secrets and Lies1,141 words
6 - Mares and Stares1,099 words
7 - Knights and Pawns1,120 words
8 - Heroes and Villains1,109 words
9 - Castles and Spires1,073 words
10 - Winners and Losers1,153 words
Epilogue1,095 words

7 - Knights and Pawns

While the three mares got over the initial confusion of reuniting at a live reading of a children's book in a library full of foals, the children gradually filtered away. Twilight had finished her reading to wild applause, although reading such fictitious nonsense about the beloved pair of princesses had prompted her to state a disclaimer at the end of her reading.

"The tales told in the book you've just seen are fictional, any similarity to real events or mares is purely coincidental. Please don't try any of the things you've just heard at home." Only Twilight would deem that statement necessary, and several of the parents gave her unusually cryptic looks.

The children just looked at her with obvious confusion before losing interest. Now that the story had finished, they had their own super important business to attend to. There were trees to climb, clouds to sleep on and pillows to be thrown at unsuspecting siblings. And they had to do all of that before dinner!

The mares were busy catching up, and Twilight was becoming increasingly upset upon receiving the knowledge that not only was there a changeling in her presence, but that the rest of her friends were beyond saving and potentially gone forever. That wasn't the sort of news that anyone would take peacefully.

Courage, meanwhile, climbed down from Fluttershy's back, intending on doing some searching of his own while the mares were holding their palaver. He didn't feel like wasting any time, and slowly left the library through the front door. His first reaction was to look up at the sun and judge the time. Mid afternoon, only a few hours left until evening. But if they were lucky, the fog wouldn't have hit Canterlot yet, and he wouldn't have anything to worry about.

The little pup began running down the street away from the library, not liking to leave Fluttershy behind but figuring they'd be in there a while. He felt like he had an important mission to do, and nothing was going to distract him from helping his new friends!

He passed by several clothing stores, a used bookstore, a toy store, another clothing store, a... wait a minute. Courage backtracked to the last window, peering into the display. A bright red yo yo lay on a velvet pillow, and Courage gasped excitedly. "Yes!" He exclaimed, and the overhead bell rang as he disappeared into the store.

He didn't have much money, only a bit or two he'd found lying in the gutter, but it was enough. Courage left the store with the yo yo, cackling as he bounced it up and down on its string. "Hee hee hee hee heeeee!" He grinned, then tucked it away. He was certainly a sucker for classic toys, and couldn't pass it up. Wait a moment, what was he out here for again? He frowned a bit, then gasped. Oh, yeah! Looking for clues. Totally important.

Okay, NOW he was going to focus. Courage resumed running down the street, looking for anything out of the ordinary. All of the shops appeared fairly standard for a magical society, except for one. At the very end of the street on an overgrown lot that clearly hadn't seen care in quite some time, stood a large, brightly colored building labeled as APOTHECARY. Above it, mounted over the door was a massive fake cauldron, with a bright red spoon spinning around and around the perimeter of the bowl, animated by either magic or some variety of gears.

"I know I'm gonna regret this," Courage said, and ran forward to try and peek in the dirty windows. He couldn't see anything, and looked at the door instead. He whined, then tried the handle. Carefully, slowly, as if it would burn him. It didn't, and the door opened.

Slowly peeking his head inside, the pup looked at the items lining the walls, mostly jars filled with nasty looking things like limbs and eyeballs. Turning his attention to the counter, his eyes bulged so far out of his head that they bounced out of his sockets and rolled across the floor. He was trying his hardest not to be seen, and trying even harder to convince himself that what he was seeing wasn't actually there.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Courage shrieked, grabbed his eyes, and shoved them back into their sockets. The apparition he'd seen was already starting to turn towards him, but he was getting the heck out of there. Courage slammed the door shut and made a direct run back towards the Canterlot Library. The pup flung open the door and raced back to where the mares were holding their palaver, grabbing Fluttershy's mane and yanking on it desperately.

The pup howled to get their attention, turning his body first into a pink fog, then a zombie pony, rocking back and forth on two legs with his arms outstretched. This was followed by a pink cauldron, and he popped back into a canine, still babbling.

"I think your critter might have found something," Twilight said, looking at him. "Did you find something?" She asked Courage. Then looked at Fluttershy. "You think he's alright?" She asked.

"Yes!" Courage said, grabbed Fluttershy, and ran back out the door holding the squeaking pony over his head. Pinkie and Twilight exchanged a glance, then ran after them.

Courage ran right back to the Apothecary shop, and plopped Fluttershy down in front of the doors, pointing at them.

Twilight looked up at the giant cauldron overhead, frowning. "I've been in Canterlot dozens of times, and never seen this store..." She said, then entered through the door. Pinkie shrugged, and followed, with Fluttershy in the rear. Courage had a hold of her tail and was skidding his paws in the dirt, trying to hold her back, but she dragged him in anyway.

The smell of the shop was absolutely awful, and Twilight gagged slightly before coughing to announce her presence. "Hello?" She called. "Is anyone here?"

Someone was indeed here, and the pointed ears of the figure that turned to face her from behind the counter flicked as he spoke. The owner of the shop was wearing a labcoat lined with many pockets, his hands stuffed into the lowermost pair.

"Of course, my apologies for keeping you waiting," he said pleasantly. "Welcome to Katz Cauldron. I'm Katz," the crimson feline said pleasantly. "How can I help you?"

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