Love Struck

by PonyPixel

Taking Notes

Ocellus, Yona, Pinkie Pie, and Moon Dancer are now inside her place and started to have a plan. Their plan is to spy on Silver Coin and the three mares to see if something weird is going on. Moon Dancer suggested that Ocellus would be disguised as an ordinary mare to each of the three ponies who kept blaming each other to find out what causes them to have mistrust.

After a while of planning, they went out to start spying on that colt, except Pinkie Pie though, she just wanna let them complete their mission by themselves.

Ocellus, Yona, and Moon Dancer were at their hiding spot, spying at Silver Coin & Twinkleshine, who were wandering around the streets.

“Is he really dating all of them?” Ocellus questioned.

“I told you,” Moon Dancer replied.

“Yona just tells mares about gross pony,” Yona stated.

She was about to walk over to them, but Moon Dancer levitated her back.

“Whoa, stop right there. If Silver finds out about that, he’ll try and get one step ahead of us.”

“Yeah, that’s probably where I come in,” Ocellus said.

She demonstrated what she meant by turning herself into a different pony. This one was a mare who had a cherry red mane and orange fur. She was a pegasus with a sunset as a cutie mark.

Ocellus cleared her throat.

“Call me Sunny Skies,” she said with a different sounding voice.

“You’re good.” Moon Dancer said.

Ocellus, now Sunny Skies smiled before she walked over to Silver and Twinkleshine.

The unicorn was keeping quiet until the stallion noticed the disguised changeling walked over to them.

“Oh, hi,” Twinkleshine said quietly.

“I haven’t seen you around,” Silver asked. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Sunny Skies,” the disguised changeling replied. “I’m new in town, and I’m curious if you could show me around. This place is amazing.”

“Of course. We don’t mind, do you Twinkle?” Silver asked her.

“No,” the unicorn replied quietly.

Sunny Skies looked a little worried at the mare’s behavior. Still, she followed the two as they started a tour around Canterlot. Yona and Moondancer carefully followed behind them while trying not to be seen.

“So……are you two dating?” Sunny Skies asked. Silver simply just smiled and kept walking. “Okay, so how long have you been living here?”

“About all my life,” Silver replied. “My dad is quite a big business pony. He owns a couple of buildings around here.”

“Which ones?”

“Let’s see, there’s the movie theater, the furniture store, jewelry store, quite a lot of them actually. Isn’t that right, Twinkle?” The mare just smiled and nodded.

Sunny Skies had to figure out what was wrong, which would be hard to do since she had to keep her cover.

“So, what do you like doing in your free time?”

“I’m interested in reading a good book. I like watches too, though they’re too much work for me. They cause a lot of stress.”

“Good to know. What about...Twinkle?”

“Twinkleshine,” the mare stated.

“I usually... Enjoy a good conversation, that’s all.” She gave a sheepish smile but Sunny could see something wasn’t right.

“Oh, girls, I just remembered something,” Silver Coin said, “I’ve gotta go. You’ll be alright, will you?” Twinkleshine and Sunny Skies both nodded. “Great. See you again Twinkle.” The stallion walked off.

“Good, I was hoping I could talk to you in private,” Sunny Skies sighed. “What do you think of Silver?”

“Him?” Twinkleshine asked. “He’s pretty dreamy. You should’ve seen the things we’ve done together.” She gave a smile though she still looked upset.

“Is……something bothering you?”

“It’s my friends. I don’t like it when we don’t get along. Silver’s been trying to help me, but I can’t help thinking about it.”

“Maybe a few friends of mine could help. We’ve moved together and we usually help others out when we have the chance.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just tell me what’s going on.”

Twinkleshine sighed before she spoke again. “It started a couple of months ago.”

---

Twinkleshine was walking into a bakery, where Lemon Hearts was working at. Minuette was also there as they both saw their friend walking in.

“Twinkle, glad you’re here,” Lemon Hearts said. “I’ve just got a batch of cupcakes prepared.”

“That’s great,” Twinkleshine said, “I’ll give it a try.”

Many of the pastries looked the same, except for one, which was red velvet. That one was given to Twinkleshine, who quickly took a big bite. Suddenly, she felt she bit onto something hard. She dropped her cupcake and held her teeth.

“Are you okay!?” Lemon Hearts exclaimed.

“What did you put in this?”

“What I normally put in them.”

Lemon Hearts took a look at the cupcake and could see a hard piece of caramel in the middle of it. “How did that get there?”

“Let me take a look at your teeth,” Minuette asked. She looked inside her mouth and could see a small crack. “Oh, dear.”

“Is it bad?” Twinkleshine asked Minuette.

“Nothing that can’t be fixed. Let’s see if one of my co-workers can help with this.”

Minuette and Twinkleshine walked away, leaving a confused and speechless Lemon Hearts.

“Girls,” she called, “I have no idea...”

Her friends didn’t listen and just left the bakery.

“My boss isn’t going to like this,” she sighed.

---

The next day, Twinkleshine’s tooth was feeling better and Minuette wasn’t feeling very trusting with Lemon Hearts’s cooking. When they saw her in, they tried to go a different way.

“What’s up girls?” Silver asked. They looked to see the silver stallion.

“Hey, Silver,” the mares replied.

“We had an incident at the bakery yesterday,” Twinkleshine sighed.

“What happened?”

“I chipped my tooth on something that’s inside her cupcake.”

“I thought she said that she checks what’s going on in the kitchen,” Minuette said.

“I’m not sure how things could’ve gone wrong. Maybe it was another pony in the kitchen.”

“I’m going to double-check with her from now on.” The dentist mare walked off as Silver stopped Twinkleshine.

“Do your friends usually act like this?” he asked.

“Not normally,” Twinkleshine muttered. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I don’t think you should get involved. When I tried talking to my friends about a situation like this, things got worse and they almost broke up.”

“Seriously?” Silver just nodded as his expression noted that he didn’t like thinking about that memory. “Maybe... I should stay quiet.”

“If you say so. Just remember, I’m here for you.” He wrapped his arm around the worried mare, who gave a timid smile.

---

“Since then, he’s been by my side,” Twinkleshine explained, finishing her story.

“I see,” Sunny Skies commented.

She looked around to see Yona and Moondancer hiding around the corner.

“It was nice to have a private conversation with you, but I have to get going now. Hopefully, we’ll see each other around.”

She waved goodbye before she flew off. Sunny Skies hid behind the corner with Yona and Moon Dancer and changed back into Ocellus. Once that was done, she explained what she heard from Twinkleshine.

“I can bet you ten bits that Silver planted that block of caramel in the cupcake,” Moon Dancer spoke.

“Friends need more knowledge?” Yona asked.

“Probably,” Ocellus said. “Moon Dancer, can you show us where Lemon Hearts works?”

The unicorn nodded before leading the way towards the bakery.

---

They arrived at Lemon Hearts’s bakery and waited outside the bakery as they could see her serving some cupcakes. Ocellus turned herself into a pony again. This time, the mare she turned into was a unicorn with a snow-white mane and mint green fur. Her cutie mark was now a hilltop with a tree and snow on it.

“Wish me luck, girls” she said. The disguised changeling walked inside and over to Lemon Hearts.

“How may I help you?” the mare asked.

“Hello,” Ocellus said. “My name is Snow Top. I was getting kind of hungry and so I thought I would stop by here.”

“Just wait by the counter and see what you can get.”

“Actually, can we talk about what’s on your mind? You sounded upset.”

“Ugh, it’s my friends. One of my pastries came out wrong and it chipped my friend’s tooth.”

“Can you tell me what happened before that happened? Maybe you could remember something you missed.”

“If you say so.” Lemon Hearts sat down and retraced her steps. “It goes like this……”

---

Lemon Hearts was quite busy in the kitchen. She was by herself that day, everyone else was able to get there due to unknown reasons. “Hey, Lemon, are you back there?” called a voice. The mare ran out and could see Silver waiting by the counter.

“Oh, hey Silver,” she panted. “Sorry, I’m a little busy at the moment. No time to chat.”

She ran back into the kitchen area, where Silver decided to follow behind.

“Listen, if you need some help, you could just ask.”

“Really?! Oh, that would be great!” She took her over to a mixing bowl. “Here. Just stir this batter and then pour it into that tray over there.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Lemon Hearts smiled before she ran off to do other work as the stallion started stirring.

“So, what’s this batter going to be for?”

“Cupcakes. I’m giving the first batch to Twinkleshine and Minuette. Twinkleshine loves red velvet cupcakes.”

Silver nodded as he heard this before he started pouring the batter into the cupcake tray. They already had the wrappers in them, so this wasn't an issue.

“Okay, I think I’m starting to run out of batter.”

“Don’t worry, I have the red velvet ready to pour in.” She placed another mixing bowl containing red batter. “Thanks for the help. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Anytime,” he replied with a smile.

Lemon Hearts walked off again to see if the work would be easier now as Silver looked over to a bowl containing some caramel.

---

The next day, Silver showed up at the bakery looking confused. “Hey, do you know why your friend ran out of here so fast?” he asked.

“Silver, look at this,” Lemon Heart cried. She showed a hard piece of candy that she found in the cupcake and explained what happened before he arrived.

“How did that get here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Look, I just did what you told me. I don’t know anything about cooking.”

“I believe you, I just...maybe I wasn’t thinking straight that day.”

“Hey, listen. What happens if you never see that coming. I’m sure this could’ve happened to anypony.”

“Well... I guess.”

“You probably need a minute to lie down. You were on your own the other day. I’m pretty sure that you need a day off.”

“Maybe you’re right.” She gave the stallion a hug, which he did back.

---

“I’m just glad he could comfort me,” Lemon Hearts said, finishing her story.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Snow Top said. “Anyways, thanks for the pastries, I’ll just take them and go.” She chose what she wanted and paid the pony before leaving the bakery.

“Friend by snacks?!” Yona cheered.

“Keep it down,” Snow Top hushed before turning back into Ocellus. “I’m starting to see why Minuette and Lemon Hearts aren’t trusting each other.”

“And they refused to tell me because Silver’s messing with their minds,” Moon Dancer said.

“Let’s talk to Minuette and see if we can get anything else.” The three walked off to get their final story.

---

Minuette was at the library, reading a couple of books. Moon Dancer and Yona acted like they were minding their own business as Ocellus transformed again. This time, she became a unicorn with a deep purple mane and blue fur. Her cutie mark now was a worm slithering through a book.

She walked over to Minuette, who was surprised to see her.

“Oh hi, I haven’t seen you around,” the mare commented.

“Bookworm,” the disguised changeling spoke. “I’ve met up with this pony named...…what was that…Moon Dancer.”

“Her? I’m not willing to talk about her right now.”

“Okay. Why?”

“I like having a good conversation.”

“I’m not sure if you picked a good place for that.” They looked around to see many ponies who were enjoying the peace and quiet. “How about we take this outside?”

The two did so and once they did, Minuette explained what happened.

“I’ll explain everything. So it goes like this……” Minuette started.

---

After Twinkleshine’s cupcake incident, Minuette had brought some products to help with Twinkleshine’s teeth. She walked up to her friend’s home and knocked on the door. Twinkleshine answered with an unset expression.

“Hi, Twinkleshine,” Minuette said. “I’ve brought some things that’ll help you cure your chipped tooth.” The dentist’s friend gave a meek smile before taking the products and closing the door. “Um... Have a nice day.”

She walked away and could see Lemon Hearts walking towards her. Minuette was about to say “Hi” but when her friend saw her, Lemon Hearts walked the other direction. Minuette was confused and tried to follow, though it didn’t take long for her to lose Lemon Hearts.

Who she did find was Silver Coin. “Minnie,” he said, “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you today. What’s on your mind?”

“Lemon Hearts just walked away from me. What’s with her?”

“I think it’s probably the pricing of your services.” The mare was perplexed by this. “I could’ve sworn that I heard one of her co-workers say that the dentist’s office sometimes raises the prices when you don’t have that many patients.”

“That’s not true.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I thought I would check with you.”

“Again, not true. Why would I just raise the price of treatment?”

“Well, I don’t think some of those tools aren’t cheap.”

“They’re not... But we don’t just force ponies to pay us more money.”

“That’s what’s being said where Lemon Hearts works.”

“I... She can’t... I’m talking to those ponies.” Minuette walked off in a huff as she didn’t notice the smile on Silver’s face.

---

“We argued long enough until I realized I was wasting my time,” Minuette explained, finishing her story.

“I see,” Bookworm remarked. She looked over to see Moon Dancer and Yona leaving the library. “Thanks for a wonderful conversation we have, but I’ve gotta go now. See ya!”

She ran off with her two friends as Minuette wandered off.

---

They met back at Moon Dancer’s place, where they were taking notes. So far, from what they have gathered, they heard Twinkleshine’s point-of-view that she chipped her own tooth from a hard block of caramel and Silver came to comfort her; then Lemon Hearts, which she didn’t realize that a hard block of caramel was inside the batter; finally, there’s Minuette, which she said in her point-of-view that Silver Coin said that he heard from Lemon Hearts’s co-workers about the increase of price of dentistry services.

“Okay, so what we’ve been gathering,” the unicorn observed, “Silver Coin appears to be using his silver tongue to trick my friends into believing what he needs them to believe.”

“How pony have silver tongue?” Yona asked.

“It’s a figure of speech,” Ocellus explained. “Like, knock yourself out, or break a leg.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“We need to figure out some way to catch him in his scheme,” Moon Dancer said.

“I don’t think we can use my pony forms to get them into one place,” Ocellus commented. “I can only be in one place at a time.”

“Maybe try lunch idea again?” Yona suggested.

“Maybe, but I don’t think the girls are willing to listen to you, but maybe they could listen to my friends.” She then shape-shifted into one of the three pony disguises she used earlier.

“What Yona do?” the yak asked.

“...I’m not sure,” Ocellus said. “I think you can help keep an eye out for Silver.” Yona nodded in confirmation. “So, Moon Dancer, where would your friends be at this moment.”

“My best guess is Lemon Hearts is just getting off of work,” Moon Dancer replied. “If we go now, we can get there and meet her.”

The three left the house and walked down the streets.

However, things took a turn as they could see a stallion was trying to clean up some crate that had fallen out of his cart.

“Sorry, ladies,” he said, “This may take a while.”

The stallion was an earth pony, so he couldn’t just levitate the crates back into his cart.

Moon Dancer sighed with frustration. “We’re going to have to take a long way around,” she said, “C’mon!”

She, Ocellus, and Yona ran down to a different street, but there was another incident that’s blocking their way. They were starting to get fed up and Ocellus changed into a bugbear to help carry Moon Dancer and Yona.

When they got to the bakery, Lemon Hearts was nowhere to be seen.

“We must’ve missed her,” Ocellus sighed.

“Ponies couldn’t help problems,” Yona stated.

“I know that,” Moon Dancer sighed. “Let’s see if we can find Twinkleshine.”

They headed off again, but they were stopped by some construction site. The three did their best to get through, but everything seemed to be against them right now.

“Why this city have so many problems?” Yona questioned.

“I don’t know. Let’s just try and fly again.” Ocellus turned into a bugbear again and picked them up to fly again. However, they didn’t get far before they came across some pegasi who were trying to install a window.

“Come on!”

“Hey, lady,” one of the pegasi said, “We’re just doing our job.”

“Why are you doing it in the winter?”

“We were given orders to do this,” the other pegasus said. “Just let us do our job and don’t make it rain broken glass.”

The three slowly lowered back to the ground and Ocellus changed back to her base form.

“How Yona and friends find Moon friends?”

“I don’t know Yona,” Ocellus sighed.

“I wonder why all of these ponies are getting in our way?” Moon Dancer questioned.

Then, it suddenly hit Ocellus. “Wait! Didn’t Silver say his dad owns a couple of businesses in Canterlot?” she asked.

“...He did.”

“What businesses silver pony do?” Yona asked.

“If his dad owns all of those businesses,” Ocellus explained, “He must be rich. He must be giving the workers extra pay so they could stop us from getting to your friends.” The three looked up as the two pegasi who were just hovering in the air.

“Don’t you two have work to do?” Moon Dancer asked.

The two pegasi looked at each other, realizing that they were catching on.

“Oops,” one pegasus worker said, “Sorry!”

They quickly flew away while carrying the plate of glass.

“We have to get somewhere private,” Ocellus said.

“House,” Yona spoke. “Moon house private place.”

“You read my mind,” Moon Dancer commented.

They ran off and maneuvered around the obstacles that were in their way. It was incredibly difficult, Ocellus had to change into a bugbear so they could fly back to the house. Eventually, they made it.

“Okay, so what do we do?” Ocellus questioned.

“Well, Moon Dancer said, “if Silver’s paying them extra to make sure that we’re away from our friends as much as possible, it’ll be like climbing a mountain during a snowstorm,”

“Yona can confirm that’s not easy,” the yak spoke.

“Okay, I think I know one way we can stay ahead of Silver,” Ocellus spoke.

She changed her form into that of Sunny Skies. “I can change my form whenever I want.” She then changed into Snow Top. “Silver won’t be able to tell who I am.” She then changed into Bookworm. “We can use this to catch him.” She smiled before changing back into a changeling.

“Yona like changeling idea.”

“It seems like the best thing we can do now,” Moon Dancer admitted. “Still, I feel like Silver could catch onto this.”

“Either friends try or they let gross pony continue rudeness.”

“Yona’s right,” Ocellus confirmed, “We can't let him get away with this.”

“Hmm, you’re right,” Moondancer said, “But if we’re going to try this, we have to come up with a plan.”

With that, the three huddled up and talked between each other to think about what they could do. Hopefully, they’ll catch up to him.

Comments

[Melody Song]

Can't wait to see what's in the next chapter.

[Gregory the Griffon]

10167838
I hope you’re enjoying it. I was his editor.

[Melody Song]

10168231
Yes, I am. It's nice.