Dear Mimic,

You will not believe what is going on around here. The same day I arrive, somepony had broken into a shop and ransacked the place. Took a bunch of valuables too. At times like this, it would be nice if there was a pony like Mare-Do-Well around. Hopefully whatever happened was just some isolated vandals and nothing to worry about. Hate for something to ruin the wedding.

Speaking of the wedding, I have two favors to ask of you. The first is a wedding present for Spike and Diamond Tiara. There is a place in Canterlot called "Crystal Creations" which makes crystal sculptures. I am including a letter of instructions for what I want and pictures of the couple in a second envelope. You may have to put a down payment on the commission. If so, I promise to pay you back.

Second is that I realized last night that I could use a couple things if I'm going to be here for a while, especially if I end up having to do some remote work (which it looks like I may have to do). You have a pretty good idea of what I might need, so I leave it to you and the experts. I would also greatly appreciate it if you could bring the stuff yourself. You can stay in the castle for the night, and I bet Twilight will even let you stay for the wedding.

Hope to see you soon,
Starry Skies.

After blowing gently on the paper to make sure the ink was dry, Starry Skies folded up the letter and stuck it into an envelope, as well as a smaller one. Once sealed up, she made her way out the room and downstairs, heading out to the mailbox. If everything went well, the letter would be picked up with the morning mail, in Canterlot for the evening, and Mimic would be in Ponyville either tomorrow or the next day -- depending on how things went at Crystal Creations and with getting the "supplies."

With that done, Star headed back inside and made her way to the dining room, looking forward to breakfast.

"I'm telling you," she heard Rainbow Dash saying, "this mare was huge. Like, she was as tall as a timberwolf, and her legs were as thick as a filly's body. She had a coat as black as night, big, sharp teeth like a shark, and these glowing red eyes. An--"

"Hold on," Twilight cut in. "You said that she was dressed in a Shadowbolts uniform and had goggles."

"So?"

"So, if she had a full body costume on, and was wearing goggles, how could you possibly know her coat and eye color?"

"Come on Twi, don't be ridiculous."

"Yes," a third voice said, "that's the part of the whole story that's ridiculous."

Star could practically hear the eye-rolling.

In the dining room sat Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and a yellow coated unicorn mare with a bright orange mane. They each had plates of pancakes in front of them, and there was a large stack still on the table.

"What's going on?" Star asked as she made her way toward the table, grabbing an empty plate and two of the pancakes.

"Rainbow Dash was just telling us about her adventure last night," the yellow mare -- Pumpkin Cake -- answered. "Supposedly, she met a giant bat pony in a Shadowbolts costume and a unicorn that used sewing dummies like puppets."

"I did!" declared Rainbow Dash. "He called himself 'The Marionette' and had, like, a dozen dummies working for him."

"Last time, you said was five," Pumpkin replied.

"Plus Rarity was only missing three," Twilight Sparkle added.

Rainbow Dash shifted, crossing her forelegs over her chest. Her eyes narrowed and ears pulled back.

"I'll show you," she growled out. She then threw up a hoof. "I am going to catch that bat pony, and find out her secret identity."

"You can't do that," Spike said. "Superheros have secret identities for a reason. You could be putting her friends and family at risk, or at least yourself if her enemies find out you know. They could start trying to catch you to make you tell them."

"That's even assuming you can figure out who it is," Pumpkin mumbled.

Rainbow Dash turned to her and asked, "what's that supposed to mean?"

Pumpkin Cake's horn lit up with a pale blue aura of magic as she grabbed some more pancakes and covered them in syrup. She then took a bite before explaining.

"There are twenty bat ponies here in Ponyville, nine of which are mares and none of which match your description. Then there are the ones living in nearby towns or cities, like Canterlot which has a large population due to the Night Guards. And that doesn't even include the possibility of it being a Flutterbat situation."

"Flutterbat situation?" Star asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's that mean?"

There was a moment of quiet as Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. Twilight Sparkle shifted, wings flickering at her side as she let out a little cough.

"I... I told you about that," Twilight said. "No reason to go over the whole thing again."

"Oh come on," Star cried out. "It sounds like it's really interesting." She dropped her ears and made her eyes wide. "Please big sister?" Poking her lower lip out, she made it quiver.

Twilight Sparkle cringed, grimacing as her ears pulled back. Star could see the conflict on her sister's face, not wanting to talk about it, but also wanting to do what she was asked by her little sister. Just a few more seconds and--

"Spike!"

-- it was all ruined. The sound of another voice causing all of them to turn toward the doorway and see a pink earth pony with white and pale violet mane.

"There you are," she said as she trotted toward them. "I've been looking for you."

"Good morning Di," Spike said with a smile. "Want some pancakes?"

The mare -- Diamond Tiara -- looked at the plate of breakfast food. Her eyes went a little wider as she took in the sight, her tongue licking at her lips. After several seconds, she gave a shake of her head, turning her attention back to her fiance.

"Can't," she said. "We don't have the time. If we want to catch the train, we need to leave now."

"Train?" Spike asked as he stood up. "What do we need to catch the train for?"

"We have a fitting, and because of what happened, it's at Canterlot Carousel now." Diamond moved around the table. "Then we have one last cake tasting this afternoon, so we need to catch the morning train to be back in time for that. Which means we need to get going. So move it, scale-tail." She gave him a gentle headbutt on the shoulder.

"Alright, alright," Spike said with a chuckle. "I'm moving, I'm moving." He headed for the door.

"Sorry for interrupting your breakfast," Diamond said as she turned to the rest of them. "We seem to have a lot we still need to do and not much time to do it in."

"It's fine," Twilight said with a wave of her hoof. "See you when you get back."

Once Spike and Diamond Tiara left, Starry Skies returned her attention to Twilight in hopes of trying to get the Flutterbat story out of her.

"Speaking of Rarity's shop," Twilight continued, "We should go back and see if we can help fix it up. Pumpkin, why don't you take the day off? You and Starry Skies go out and do something fun."

"Really?" Pumpkin asked. "Are you sure? Is that a good idea? I mean..."

"It'll be fine," Twilight Sparkle said calmly. "Besides, everypony could use a break and time with friends."

Getting up from her spot, Twilight walked over to give Pumpkin Cake a hug, then did the same to Starry Skies.

"Have fun you two, and don't cause too much trouble." Twilight grinned. "I would hate to have my student and baby sister arrested. Come on Dash."

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. Grabbing a bunch of pancakes, she shoved them into her mouth before flying after Twilight as fast as she could.

Starry Skies and Pumpkin Cake were left alone.

"So," Star said as she returned to eating her breakfast, "can you tell me about the 'Flutterbat' thing?"

"Well I wasn't actually there," Pumpkin answered, "but I've heard multiple versions of it." She took another bite of her own pancakes.

"With almost all of them, it starts when vampire fruit bats showed up at Sweet Apple Acres..."

The two of them finished their meal as Pumpkin told the story of how Twilight accidentally turned Fluttershy into a fruit sucking bat pony. For some reason, Star could not help but laugh at it a little. Just the image of the normally shy pegasus being a fierce and terrifying creature with sharp fangs was so strange, it was silly.

"Hey," Star said after they had finished breakfast, "are the vampire fruit bats still there?"

"I...think so?" Pumpkin replied. "Why?"

"Could we go see them? It would be a good walk, and I don't think I've ever seen them before."

Pumpkin Cake shifted in her seat, thinking. Her ears flickered as her face scrunched up. She moved her head back and forth before finally nodding.

"Yeah, sure," she said. "I wouldn't mind. Haven't really seen them much myself either."

After finishing, the two of them left to make their way to Sweet Apple Acres. They walked through the town, Pumpkin occasionally greeting or waving to a pony in passing, but never stopping to talk to any of them. Before long, they were walking along a dirt road leading out of town and toward the apple farm.

"So now that we're out away from everypony and where we can't be overheard," Star said as they continued, "what's it like being Twilight's student?"

Pumpkin's ears twitched as her mouth pressed tight. She glanced at Star then at the road.

"It's... fine..."

Stepping closer, Star reached out a wing and placed it on Pumpkin. She moved to look at her better, raising an eyebrow.

"Why the reluctance?" Star asked. "Is something wrong? If you're having trouble--"

"No," Pumpkin cut in. "No. Nothing like that. Twilight's a pretty good teacher even if she can get obsessive about her lists and neurotic about things, and the lessons are tough, but in kind of a fun challenging way that makes it feel like I really accomplished something when I finally complete it."

"So what's wrong?"

Pumpkin stopped walking and bit her lip. Her entire body was slightly tense and her tail flickered with nervous energy. She then slumped and let out a sigh before walking again.

"It's... kind of hard for me to talk about." She sucked her lip and took a breath. "Do you know what 'Chaos Touched' means?"

"Yes," Starry Skies answered. "As a bat pony that was born into a family that had been almost entirely unicorns, I am aware of what Chaos Touched means."

"Oh, right," Pumpkin said with a grimace. "I didn't think about that."

"It's fine," Star said, waving a wing. "Although I take it that you're asking because you and your brother are?"

The question made Pumpkin Cake gasp, stopping where she was and looking at Star with wide eyes.

"You knew?"

"I had figured as much," Star answered. "Nopony actually told me, but Ponyville was where Discord caused the most trouble after his escape. That combined with the fact that both your parents are earth ponies and you are close to one of The Elements of Harmony made it seem pretty likely."

Although, that was not the entire truth. Yes, she had suspected that the Cake twins were Chaos Touched -- the term used for ponies that had been somehow altered in the womb by Discord's magic -- when she had first met them, but she had actually gotten confirmation from Princess Luna about it.

"Well it didn't just make me a unicorn," Pumpkin said. "It also... made my magic like his I guess. It's pretty strong, but also really unstable, like it wants to do its own thing." She sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "Basically I have to be highly disciplined and vigilant, or risk losing control and having weird things happen."

"How weird?" Star asked.

"It varies, but has gotten less dangerous. Last week I had a bad dream, and turned my bed into a giant sundae."

"Were you able to change it back?"

"Pinkie ate it before I could try."

"Oh," Starry Skies said softly, not really sure what to say. "Sorry?"

"Thanks," Pumpkin said. "Although honestly, sometimes I just wish I had been born an earth pony."

It was a feeling that Star could sort of sympathize with. Not being an earth pony, precisely, but being the same type of pony as her parents and most of her family had been.

Moving closer to Pumpkin, she wrapped a wing around the other mare.

"Come on. Let's go see the vampire fruit bats." She then grinned. "And maybe we can see about getting a couple slices of apple pie while we're there." She gave Pumpkin a wink.

A small smile pulled at Pumpkin Cake's lips. She gave a small nod, and the two of them continued on their way.

As they followed the road and approached one of the many rivers around the town, Starry Skies thought she heard something. It was hard to make out, but it sounded like... singing?

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Pumpkin asked, turning to look at Star curiously.

Head up and ears forward, Star followed the sound. It was so pretty. She had to find out where it was coming from. Even if it meant that she would have to leave the road.

The sound -- the music -- grew louder, clearer, stronger. It was such a wonderful tune. There was also something familiar about it, but Star could not quite place what it was. It was actually hard to really think about anything clearly. It was all kind of fuzzy. Star was finding it hard to do much of anything. She just felt... the need... for...

After a few more steps, Starry Skies stumbled to one side an fell over. Fortunately, the grass was thick and soft, which also made it a very nice spot to curl up.

As Star felt her eyelids growing heavy, she noticed something yellow falling onto the ground next to her.