It happened to be time for dinner, so the four of them went to a nearby donut shop to get something to eat. It was said that they had just released a new low-sugar donut.
Although it was still very sweet for Aurora, she was starving now, so she wasn't going to be picky.
"Can the Princess really find the pony who put the book in the cottage?"
Twilight Sparkle absentmindedly poked at the donut on her plate with her hoof. Her mind was constantly replaying everything that had happened today, but she couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried.
"Right now, besides believing in the Princess, we don't have any other choice, do we?"
Sunset Shimmer drank her hot cocoa, her expression somewhat displeased.
Only she and Aurora had the keys to the cottage, and she didn't know how that pony who left the book had snuck in. And while Teleportation Magic could bypass access controls, it could only move to places one had been before, unless that guy was truly not afraid of getting stuck in a wall.
In short, Sunset Shimmer couldn't swallow the fact that a strange pony had broken into their territory without saying hello.
Aurora felt much the same way about this as Sunset Shimmer.
She had originally thought that nothing dangerous would happen in Canterlot at this time, but today's events had truly taught her a lesson.
The cottage was no longer very safe. It seemed she would have to figure out a "Surveillance Magic" in the future; that way, if anything else happened, she could watch the replay and it would be easier to settle scores.
"I doubt it. After all, this pony is very good at concealing their tracks, leaving no trace at all."
Before leaving, Aurora had specifically used her left eye to scan the first floor. Whether it was because too much time had passed or the other party was truly good at hiding, she hadn't found any suspicious clues.
However, on second thought, it was highly likely that the other party also had this kind of magical vision. Since they both possessed the same ability, and the other party could use it more skillfully, she certainly wouldn't be able to gain any advantage.
"Why don't we study the magic in this book? If we find out who the author is, maybe we can find them."
"Them?"
Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle noticed that Aurora used the plural pronoun.
Aurora believed that this magic book used at least two types of magic, corresponding to the primary author and the editor-in-chief, respectively.
The primary author wrote the content of the book, which was the magic that allowed her to gain magical vision, and the editor-in-chief transcribed this magic into the pages using the power of the Nightmare, creating a trigger-based magic trap.
Afterward, they could also take away all the relevant memories of this magic from all the witnesses.
The editor-in-chief's magic was undeniably clever. To be able to turn the power of the Nightmare into a meme attack—this malicious ingenuity was far superior to Princess Luna's, and Aurora felt deeply impressed.
It was just that Aurora was a bit concerned: why wouldn't the editor-in-chief leave their name? Would the editor-in-chief's name expose their identity? Or did they hide their name to make it easier to shift the blame onto Princess Luna?
'Damn, that's really evil! How can they bully Princess Luna? She hasn't even been redeemed yet, and they're making her take the blame.'
However, thinking about how the editor-in-chief's name disappeared along with the text in the book at the end, Aurora couldn't help but make some bold guesses.
For example, the editor-in-chief's name was actually the spell that triggered the meme. When they saw the editor-in-chief's name on the cover, they had already fallen victim to the opponent's meme. There wasn't actually a single word in the book; it was all hallucinations brought about by the meme.
When the hidden magic was triggered, the editor-in-chief's name (the spell) became invalid, taking the relevant memories away with it.
After listening to Aurora's analysis, the other two ponies felt their scalps itching, as if they were about to grow brains.
What meme? What hallucination? Can magic be used like this? Did they really read the book today? Or were they dreaming?
And in just this short amount of time, had Aurora figured out so much information? She even determined that there were two "culprits"?
"I think your analysis makes a lot of sense, Flying Light; it's a real pity you're not a detective."
"Logical and well-founded, it's convincing!"
"Actually, I'm not sure either; it's all just my guess. Given their technique of perfectly manipulating memories, there was no need to set up a 'primary author' to mislead with information. This seems more like an unnecessary move just to deliberately distinguish between the two."
Aurora thought for a moment and added another sentence.
"Maybe they had a little disagreement while writing this book."
This was just pure malicious speculation by Aurora. The primary author clearly didn't want to expose their existence, and if the editor-in-chief's name was the spell itself, there would be no need to reserve a spot for the primary author.
However, the editor-in-chief seemed unable to accept that only they would bear the risk of exposure, so they awkwardly emphasized the existence of the primary author.
'Why does the editor-in-chief feel a bit like a child...'
Aurora couldn't help but complain about the editor-in-chief of the magic book in her heart.
'The primary author must have a headache working with the editor-in-chief.'
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