We went back to our rooms. Lyra was still grumpy about the officer locking the dressing room, because she was sure the answer was in there. She drew all the information on a piece of paper. And no matter how she looked at it, everything lead back to Trixie. Of course she omitted any possibility of the ghost story being true. But the fire orb was a very difficult point. Everypony said, that Hendrix took the fireworks himself. In that case, the fire orb must have been inside his box before the explosion. But why didn’t the fire orb ignite immediately?
Questions like that tormented her curious mind. Thankfully she wasn’t planning on sleeping. On the other hoof, I was planning something.
“I’m going to the diner for some food. Maybe that’ll help.” I said.
“Okay,” she responded, “hopefully, by the time you come back, I’ll figure it out. I am this close, I can feel it. The answer is right there, staring me in the face. I just can’t find it, because it’s locked up inside the room.”
“Alright, good luck.” I hurried out the room.
I wasn’t going to the diner. I went outside and looked for a dark spot where nopony would see me. I took up my dark blue stealth outfit, to blend into the night. Even covered up my tail, because that’s something many newbies forget about. I sneaked back inside the concert hall. Wasn’t too hard; the guards weren’t paying attention at all. I hid in a place where I could see the dressing room. And then I waited.
I waited, because the officer that locked the door was pacing around the place. I had to evaluate his rhythm. After the third loop, I had it all figured out. He makes a circle around the hall, covering all dressing rooms, which takes up about five or so minutes. He then stops at the entrance to chat with his much more laid back colleagues for twenty or thirty minutes. And then repeat. I’ve got no less than twenty-five minutes to do this.
He went past the dressing room, inspected the lock to make sure it’s still there and continued his circle through the dressing area. I waited ‘till the light from his flashlight disappeared around the corner and I sneaked up to the dressing room.
I took the lock into my hoof. A keyed closed shackle padlock? Pff, amateur. I took my maneclip and unlocked the door within seconds and sneaked inside the dressing room. I’ve had plenty of time to do the ritual, but I still needed to hurry.
I laid out the cloth, got the candle and got the book with the right words. I’m not going to detail the procedure, because then I’d have to erase your memories.
When I finished, a light appeared in front of me, taking up the vague shape of a pony. I took my mask off as Pranceley materialized in front of me. Once he appeared fully, he quickly realized what was happening.
“Hey, I can see my hooves again!” He exclaimed at the sight of his own ectoplasm. He then looked at me. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m currently not quite available for backstage sessions.”
“No, that’s not what I...” I was too caught off guard to form a coherent sentence. I sighed and explained myself. “I’m here for answers.”
“Is this about how I died on the toilet? Well, that’s a funny story that I’d rather not tell.”
“No, about the explosion!”
“Oh, the explosion... Right...” He thought for a moment. “Well, Hinny jack brought in the small box of fireworks, he set it down next to the wall... And then it exploded.”
I couldn’t believe how nonchalant he was about all this. “Is that it?” I asked.
“Oh, here’s one more thing. That magician filly had absolutely nothing to do with it.” He then got distracted by his own thoughts. “I hear she’s a big fan of mine. Well, I’m a big fan of hers.”
I put my hoof on my face. This is not one of those compliant ghosts. But I pushed further.
“Do you know anything about where Hendrix went?”
He raised his left eyebrow. “Remember when I said, he set the fireworks next to the wall?”
He had a point. The explosion was quite large, yet the wall was fully intact. I got up and went to investigate it. I tapped on it with my hoof; it seemed thick, but hollow. I put my ear up against it and I did hear something. I couldn’t believe my ears. Snoring?
“I’d hate to interrupt your wall inspection,” he interrupted, “but the officer is coming back.”
That’s bad. We’ll have to do this tomorrow morning. By the time the officer arrived, I already put away everything and sent Pranceley back to the spirit realm.
The door opened and he the officer walked in. He shined his flashlight around the dressing room, trying to find me. But I was hiding behind the open door, with my mask on. I had to be quick, because he could turn around any second. And just as I was stepping out the door, he did turn around and spotted me with a loud “Hey!”
I bolted off immediately. Thankfully, I was both faster and more prepared than him. While he was stumbling outside, I could hide in a dark corner he couldn’t see. He ran past me, right outside the entrance.
“What are you standing around for?” He yelled at the two night guards. “They’re getting away!”
They were slow to realize that he saw somepony and they were just as slow to take action. They started running around outside, awkwardly pretending they’re looking for somepony. Meanwhile, I sneaked right past them.
I went behind the diner. Since not many ponies were inside anymore, I figured I could sneak in through the window and still get some food for Lyra. Or at least, go around and get back to our room without anypony noticing. As I passed an open window, a familiar voice could be heard.
“...But why even hang around Bon Bon?” It was Starlight.
I quickly hid next to the window.
“What do you mean?” Lyra’s voice could be heard.
“What I mean is,” Starlight continued, “you could get back with Twilight, or hang out with us. I mean I’ve got to travel around Equestria with Trixie, even meet Hinny Hendrix himself. Imagine where you could be, if you stopped yourself be held back by Bon Bon.”
I abhorred every word that came out of her mouth. But there was no time. One of the guards was around the corner. Though he expressed disbelief at the officer’s claims, even called him “way too paranoid”, but it still would have been bad if they saw me. So I ran away silently.
I waited for a bit inside a bush for the guards to stop searching for me. Once they were gone, I changed back and made sure nopony would notice anything strange when I walked into the hotel and back to our room. Lyra was inside, slurping on some drink.
“Where in Equestria have you been?” She asked angrily, but ultimately relieved.
“I got lost and then I got distracted by something.” That’s the best story I could come up with.
“A-ha...” She drank the last drop of her drink. “Somepony broke into Hendrix’s dressing room.”
I turned to her very quickly. “Oh really?”
She looked at me questioningly, while I tried to look as innocent and unaware of anything as I could.
“I hope they find ‘em.” She said nonchalantly, then went to bed.
After an awkward pause I asked her. “Did you figure out anything?"
“Eh.” She answered and lobbed her empty cup into the trash bin, which was filled with crumpled up pieces of paper.
I went to bed as well. “Be ready to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“I want to show you something.”
“O-okay?”
We laid there silently, trying to sleep.
Lyra suddenly mumbled something. “I met Starlight at the diner...”
I lurched up. “What’s that?”
“Oh... Nothing... Never mind... Good night.”
I didn’t ask further. But inside I was being torn apart.