Twilight’s eyes darted from left to right a few times as she processed the question, until her expression lit up with a dawning smile. “That’s it!”

“What’s ‘it’?” Starlight drew her head back, angling her horn to the side as if it were an antenna trying to hone in on Twilight’s brainwave.

Twilight clopped a hoof to the tile floor. “There must be a connection!”

“I don’t follow.”

“Spike’s been working for the Apples as a farmhand for additional income, and he has been arriving home a little bit later over the past few months, claiming he has had additional work!”

“…And?”

“And the sun has been going down earlier and earlier as the year reaches the Lunar Peak Cycle! It doesn’t make any sense!”

Starlight sat down and folded her forehooves, tossing the notebook back on the lab table. “So… what then? Spike has been sneaking off after working Sweet Apple Acres to… what? Date Applejack on the side? Take dragon growth hormone?”

“Pfft.” Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. “As if! …wait, dragon growth hormone? Is that a thing?”