//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Chaos Control // Story: A Troll Through the Park // by Spanner //------------------------------// Disclaimer: This chapter contains dubstep that does not necessarily reflect my or DJ Pon3’s taste in electronic music. For those who don’t know, right click the blue text and open in new tab to hear the song that goes in this chapter. *** Chapter 10: Chaos Control (Celestia) *** “Just one more dress to go and I can finally complete Hoity Toity’s order,” Rarity spoke aloud while she moved her hooves dangerously close to the pumping needle of her sewing machine. “Rowr.” “I know you want to spend more time with me Opal dear, but you know Twilight hates to miss an appointment.” “Rowr.” The fluffy feline rolled her eyes, but Rarity was too engrossed in her sewing to notice. “You’re so sweet, wanting to spend more time with petite moi...wha ha ha!” Rarity yelped. A glancing fireball heated the window beyond its limits. The glass shattered and a rush of warm air swept through the room. She rushed down the stairs of the boutique, out the door, and stood slack jawed at what she saw. There were dragons in Ponyville. Rampaging dragons yelling for Twilight Sparkle to give herself up. I must find the others. *** Celestia was shaking slightly as she turned her head away from the sight of the large silhouettes, to her favorite DJ. “Hey V...Vinyl?” The white unicorn lifted her head out of her project. “What’s up? Why ya shaking so much? It’s not that cold out here.” “How many unicorns in Ponyville know defensive magic?” Vinyl scratched her head with a levitated wrench. “Besides you, I can’t think of anypony else. I do know some offensive magic if that is any use.” “That’s what I was worried about,” Celestia said as she tracked the silhouettes getting closer and closer to  Ponyville. “Wait! You know combat magic?” “When I say offensive I really mean offensive magic. At least that’s why Octy disapproves of it.” Vinyl ducked back down for a moment to tweak a wire. “So unless you count madly waving a bar stool with telekinesis as ‘combat magic,’ you’re out of luck. Anyway, what’s this about?” “Do I even want to know what ‘offensive’ magic is, or what you do at bars?” Before Vinyl could answer, Celestia refocused on the matter at hoof. “Nevermind. What I’m worried about is that,” she said pointing at the sky. DJ Pon3 lifted her shades a tad and squinted at the shapes flying across the sky. “Huh. Are those dragons? You know, I think I played at a club owned by a dragon once.” “You aren't concerned about this?” Celestia quelled her nervousness, taken aback by Vinyl’s calm demeanor. “No, no, I’m pretty terrified. It’s just crazy stuff is always going down in Ponyville so I tend to skip over the whole running and screaming phase.” “Oh. I guess I should go help the town now. I don’t suppose you want to come with?” Celestia said not quite sure what to make of everything. Vinyl lowered her shades over her eyes. “I can’t leave a fellow unicorn hangin’. I’ll do what I can..?” The air crackled and a bright orb of light materialized just above Celestia. Vinyl gawked while electrical bands around the orb faded away. “Oof!” Three small bodies fell upon Celestia’s back, forcing the purple unicorn to the dirt. “Now that, that was surprising!” shouted Vinyl. The orange filly was the first to speak. “Hey Vinyl! Have you seen Twilight anywhere?” The DJ simply pointed at Scootaloo’s hooves. “Oh, sorry Twilight,” Scootaloo said, stepping off the mare’s back. “Did...did it work?” Sweetie Belle’s eyes were spinning and she wobbled off Celestia’s back. She twirled once before collapsing in the dirt by Celestia. “Did we get it, did we get time travel saving the world cutie marks?!” Applebloom chased her flank in a circle on top of Twilight’s body to check for her mark. “Aww horseapples, it didn’t work.” “Well we haven’t saved Ponyville yet,” said the orange filly. “That means we wasted all that time for nothing?” Applebloom complained. Scootaloo scratched her chin. “Well it was all time travel, so we technically didn’t lose or waste anything.” “Tell that to my aching head and body, because I feel wasted,” Sweetie broke in, holding her head with a hoof. Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle in sympathy. The small hooves on her tense shoulders was finally enough to get Celestia to get to her hooves. Her speech was anything but coherent. “Where...how did you...it isn’t possible.” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Whatever. I don’t have time for this. I have to go save the town or something!” She said as she bolted for Ponyville proper. Before she could make any progress, she was stopped by by Scootaloo and Applebloom. “Wait! That’s exactly why we came here...I mean now. Whatever your plan is you can’t do it!” The fillies said in unison. None of the group noticed a cyan dot growing in the distance. “Okay, then I’ll just wing it.” Celestia tried to move on, but Sweetie moved in the way, still looking very dizzy. The sound of rushing wind was building nearby. “That’s what you tried the second time. Try a plan C.” Rarity’s sister suggested. I can’t waste an ounce of magic to get past these children. “But I don’t even know what plan A or B was. I don’t have time for this. I’ll be careful. What’s the worst that could happen?” “Ponyville is leveled, you suffer magical burnout and Celestia...mhmhm mhm.” Sweetie’s mouth was plugged with Applebloom’s hoof. “Celestia is happy that everypony got out okay. Twilight, yer gonna have to come up with somethin’.” Applebloom broke in. Rainbow Dash came to a rough landing beside Twilight and Vinyl, nearly tripping over herself. “TWILIGHT! There’s a bunch of dragons rampaging through town looking for you!” “I know, I know!” Jeez, no wonder Twilight freaks out sometimes. “Then why isn’t your plot in town already!” Rainbow yelled, trying to hide her own bit of panic. “If I can't make a plan or wing it, I’ll just do something crazy!” Celestia tuned everything out. The three fillies were spouting random plans, Rainbow Dash was screaming in her face, and Vinyl was asking if she were alright. She focused her thoughts and all became a quiet buzz. She scanned her surroundings thoroughly ignoring the lips moving on everypony. I have the fastest flyer in in Equestria, three time traveling fillies, a DJ and...  Her eyes fell on Vinyl’s invention. “Hey could I take a look at that?” She stated it as a question, but just pushed the DJ out of the way. Vinyl was too curious to really care. She just watched Celestia go to work. After some close observation Celestia made a few adjustments. “So if I connect this cable to this one instead and tweak this...it might work.” “Yeah, except if you set it up that way you definitely won't have enough power, even though we’re hooked to the transformer at AJ’s place...unless...” Celestia looked dubiously at the DJ. “...unless we juice it with magic! Don’t worry. Whatever happens, I’m sure Celestia will forgive us for any collateral damage.” “What the hay, Twilight! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” Rainbow was really yelling now. Celestia ignored her. “Vinyl, get those speakers set at a forty three degree angle towards Ponyville. I’ll be back soon, so be ready. I’ll warn you when I get in range. “You got it, Twilight.” Vinyl nodded in confirmation. “You might want some eye protection, here,” Vinyl passed her a backup pair of shades from the tuntable nearby. “Thanks Vinyl. Hey Rainbow. If I recall, you were able to carry a squad of Wonderbolts and Rarity during the Best Young Flyers competition?” Celestia asked with a slight smile. “Yeah...umff! What the hay, Twilight?!” “Let’s ride,” Celestia said as she nudged Rainbow Dash in the sides for takeoff. *** The Princess and the speedster reached town in no time. Dash filled in Celestia on what she knew. They landed behind a nearby building. Luckily they hadn’t been spotted from below. Celestia quietly crept around and peeked into the square. The Dragons had a large number of the townsfolk surrounded near the central fountain. She turned around just in time to stop Rainbow Dash from a suicidal charge at the dragons. “Hey! Why did you stop--” “Shhh. Are you crazy Rainbow? Don’t you remember how well kicking Firewing in the jaw went?” “Who what now?” “The big red dragon that was sleeping up in the mountain.” “Oh, how did you know his name?” “Celestia told me. Now we have to be quiet and think of a plan before...” “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The gruff voice was not the low gravelly thunder of an adult, but a teenager. A threat not meant to be taken lightly, considering dragon years are a lot longer than pony years. “We know you’re out there somewhere. Now give yourself up quietly and nopony gets roasted. Don’t try any funny stuff neither. Come out alone and these pitiful ponies can go home. To think I would usually be in court at this time. Celestia frowned. Maybe I should have listened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Then again, I would have missed out on all this ‘fun.’ “Rainbow, stay here. I’ll handle this.” “Like Tartarus I’m letting you go all alone. It’s like five versus one out there and two of them are huge. Let me go with you at least.” “You heard what they said. I can’t risk getting somepony hurt.” Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the shoulders. “I’m not letting you go out there alone. Can’t you just turn me invisible or something?” “It’s not that simple...or is it?” Celestia took one more look around the corner. “Alright, you can come, but I do all the talking.” “We don’t have all day you know!” Ripjaw snarled with contempt. “Neither do I!” Celestia declared when she entered the street and stopped outside the encircled crowd. Everypony and dragon turned to face her. Ripjaw swooped in and roared in her face. Nopony dared to speak out. “Now let my ponies go! You are already breaking the peace treaty between our kind, drawn up by Princess Celestia herself.” The sun princess was unwavering. Twilight’s voice can sound intimidating. “Nopony goes until I’m done with you. You think a little piece of paper and a little pony like you can stop me? HA!” Ripjaw turned to his brethren. “See how these ponies don’t fear us like they should? Let’s see how great Celestia thinks she is when she couldn’t save poor Sparkle butt here. Then we’ll get the respect we deserve...” Celestia couldn’t help herself from breaking into great bouts of laughter. Why don’t you ask her how great she thinks she is? “What’s so funny? You’re about to be roasted?" Oh, how the seed of doubt has been planted. “Oh you’re too  funny...Ripjaw. First of all, you don’t know who you’re messing with right now. Believe me you don’t. Now why don’t you and your buddies fly home before you do something you'll regret.” Please just go away. I haven't had afternoon coffee yet. “Ha! You don’t know anything about me and what I'd regret, but I do know you have a relation to Celestia based on some dumb letters we got. I know you’re name is Twilight Sparkle and that you’re about to be history.”   “You forgot the most important part of my ‘history.’ I’m Celestia’s personal student, bearer of The Element of Magic and have faced far worse than you. I would know, I've read your file. Twelve ft long from head to tail. Red scales and yellow eyes. Born of Flametongue and Pop seventeen years ago next week. Only scored two point two out of six on his last flame test. Runt among his group of hatch lings. Threat level...low to minimal. I have all the intel on all of you.” I've got him on the ropes now. Look at him squirm. “So...so what? You can’t take all of us. Right guys?” Ripjaw’s peers were backing off and the larger dragons looked indifferent about the whole thing. Ripjaw was responsible for this attack. Leaving him to the first strike would leave them in less hot water if the fuzz caught them. A few citizens took advantage in the gaps between their captor and galloped off. It looked like the crises had been averted, but an invisible pony beside Celestia couldn’t resist a little jab before the dragons started taking off. “That’s right. All bark and no bite. Go ahead and run home to mamma!” Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, Dash thought. “Oooh, burn!” One of the other teen dragons cooed. “Shut it, Smog. I’ll break your nose!” Ripjaw turned back to Celestia. “Prove you’re all powerful.” The town gasped as Twilight was engulfed in flames. Rarity shrieked in horror and Pinkie Pie pulled out her party cannon loaded with Hearth’s Warming Eve fruitcake and fired at the nearest dragon. *** “Hey, was that Rarity?” Celestia asked as they passed by the Boutique on an overhead pass. “I sure hope not. I would never hear the end of it if she saw me giving you a ride.” Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof down her face. “Are you worried she'll want a ride too?” Dash looked back at her passenger, obviously unamused. “I could dump you off you know?” “I could have teleported away instead of shielding you when you rattled your mouth off back there.” I don’t know how Twilight deals with her brashness. “Harsh much?” When did Twilight get so...snappy? At least more than usual. “Watch out!” Celestia got Rainbow’s attention just in time. A fireball whizzed past their right. Another struck town hall, setting the roof ablaze. Celestia cast a quick water summoning spell to douse the flames. It was hard to aim spells as Dash went into a barrel roll, dodging more searing hot orbs. “Your aim is as bad as your breath!” The pegasus yelled back as she blew a raspberry towards the dragons. Celestia zipped above Ponyville, casting shield spells over passing structures and ponies in danger. The pink protective bubbles dissipated as quickly as they were cast, all to save precious magical energy. Most ponies were already indoors, but the ones outside watched Twilight send knock out bolts and stunning rays of magic towards her foes. The bolts were like elongated pink ovals, while the rays were like poles of light, racing to spear the scaly invaders. The rays of magic echoed through town with an unearthly ping, cracking fragile glass below. Oops. looks like Octavia and Vinyl need new windows again.  The two adult dragons in the group swooped in to cover the others. Their thick magically resistant hides absorbed the blows for their more vulnerable brethren. Every now and then a random object flew at the dragons from Pinkie’s cannon. The party mare raced from roof to roof before the dragons could take a good shot. Good, they’re all following us now, Celestia thought as her ride went into more arial loop-de-loops and tactical maneuvers. The goal was to get them to follow her, and so far the best results came from shouting insults. “Your mother was a squirrel and your father smelt of Poison Joke.” “Really Twilight? Is that the best you’ve got?” Rainbow Dash jabbed. She turned to the nearest dragon trying to move in from the right. “Hey scaley! I bet your brain isn’t any bigger than your chicken ancestors!” “What an academic insult. Bravo.” Rainbow wasn’t a stranger to sarcasm. “Hey. Don’t think I’m an egghead. Scoots had history today.” “Today’s Saturday.” Celestia deadpanned. “See, only an egghead like you would know that so fast.” “Let’s just move on with the plan. I feel like I’m halfway to my limit casting all these spells. We just have to make it to Sweet Apple Acres. I hope Vinyl is ready. At least Bon Bon isn’t here to blame Twilight for this. Another plume of fire narrowly missed her head. This is going alright. The CMC had me worried for nothing. *** As cool as most ponies thought DJ Pon3 was, Vinyl felt she was a real tech geek at heart. While she never was good at anything but simple telekinesis and a few special effects spells, she always had a knack for innovation. The magic she did know she was really good at. Vinyl continued to fiddle with her rig after Twilight and Rainbow had left. She wished she could be in town to help, or watch what was probably an awesome battle. She had at least come up with a few new album and song titles. Ride the Rainbow, Unicorn Warrior, Dragonforce vs Airborne Magica. That’s a good one. After blowing a lock of her wild mane out of her eyes she continued tinkering; the unicorn musician thought about how she came to like music and how she had come to live in Ponyville. This one pony town certainly isn't as much of drag as I thought it’d be. Growing up in Canterlot, her parents tried to give her an appreciation for classical music, but it needed to be more exciting. It was take your daughter to work day at Canterlot Sound Labs and filly Vinyl had somehow snuck out of the break room. She had seen plenty of diagrams, manuals, and schematics that her dad brought home over the years and got right to experimenting. Before anypony could stop her she had already ‘fixed’ one of the prototype speakers and a butchered re-mixed version of Neightoven’s Ninth Symphony bellowed from the lab speakers. The glass in the lab was supposed to be shatter proof, but nobody told that to Vinyl. The Princess was at the lab that day to oversee a new com system for the castle. She had been both confused and amused at Vinyl’s new cutie mark and stopped the guards from arresting her family. The incident was likely the reason anything more advanced than a toaster was soon forbidden from being installed in the castle. ‘For the protection of the Princess’ they said. The whole story made her both embarrassed and proud...mostly proud. Nopony knew if she knew she was changing the tambor of sound waves by altering their tone. In other words what, would become dubstep. Whatever the case, It was no wonder that she would go on to make dance club culture exponentially more popular as DJ Pon3. Between paying for equipment and Vinyl’s reckless lifestyle, she had to move to Ponyville. The rent was dirt cheap. The good news was a certain cellist had had enough of the city life between her shows and moved to Ponyville. Vinyl? Can you hear me? Hello? Over. Celestia's thoughts broke her away from her thoughts. Telepathic communication was one of those simple spells most unicorns could use, but it was considered rude amongst non unicorns. That, and if two unicorns thought at the same time it functioned like a psychic attack. Yeah? What’s up? Over. Vinyl thought back. I’m too worn out. You’ll have to use the power from the farm and some of your own magic when I get there. Over. That shouldn’t be too much trouble if... “Oh buck!” What is it? What’s going on Vinyl? Over. AJ must have unplugged the system. Vinyl started running towards the Apple’s barn. That and I forgot my Epic Saving the World Wubstep Track at home. Over. Vinyl swore she could feel a mental facehoof. Well get it plugged back in because we’ve got a lot of friends on our... Twilight..?” ... Twilight! ... TWILIGHT! Vinyl. I don’t think we’ll make it. Ponyville is in your hooves. I know you can do it...over Don’t you dare give up on me! We still have a show to do. *** Celestia and Rainbow were falling from the sky like a smoking fighter plane. “Twilight! Do something!” “There isn’t enough time!” “Well at least one of us has to make it,” The cyan pegasus flipped over, pulling Twilight’s body close and wrapping her wings around her purple coat. “But Dash, I probably won’t make it anyway.” You sure know how to pick your friends Twilight. “Shut it egghead,” Rainbow said. Her eyes were closed and watered a little. The two were so focused on each other, they didn't notice the light blue glow around them. “Oh how noble of you Rainbow Dash. Are those tears on your cheeks?” Rarity chuckled, mostly out of relief. Rarity let Twilight and Rainbow Dash out of her magical field and set them on the grass beside the road. “If you tell anypony I was...I mean the rushing wind was making my eyes water. Ow! Ow wing hurts.” There were a few burns on her primaries. “Dash, let me take a look. I’ll just use a light healing spell and...there, you won’t be flying just yet, but it shouldn’t hurt so much.” Rainbow met Celestia’s gaze. She was still a bit shaken. “Th...thanks Twilight.” “Girls, I really hate to break up such a sweet moment of near death experience, but we still have a group of dragons to deal with. Is it called a group, or is it a flock...a swarm? “That, I believe is called a flight of dragons, Rarity.” “Uh, who cares what it’s called we have to go, now!” Rainbow yelled as she led the way towards the farms in a gallop. I can’t believe I almost admitted she looks cool in those shades. When Celestia came over the crest of the hill, Rainbow Dash was already looking over Vinyl’s design. There were large number of speakers of all kinds aimed at the sky. The whole system was held together by metal bracings hastily bolted together. “I don’t even know what this is, but it’s soo awesome,” Rainbow’s voice cracked. She looked at some lettering on the side. “I wonder what BC-1.0 means?” Celestia got right down to business; the dragons were closing in. “Rarity, see that main power cable? I need you to feed a steady flow of magic into it on my signal. I’ll be feeding energy as well. Dash, use the console over there to keep an eye on the levels and make sure we don’t literally blow this. Oh, and you might want to put on some ear protection before...” “WE HAVE YOU NOW!” roared one of the elder dragons. They stopped short when they spotted the speaker system. Rows of woofers and subwoofers made up the majority of the gargantuan speaker system, while midranges and tweeters were jammed in between the and around the bass makers. Fully erected, it stood about fifteen feet high. “NOW!” screamed Celestia. Rarity started to feed energy into the cables and Rainbow Dash pressed the big red button. They all prepared to go deaf. The invisible sound waves scattered the dragons, but they were still coming. The little pulses weren't enough to drive them back. Ponies in town rushed back indoors at the siren like sound. The entire flight of dragons released a torrent of fire. The reflection of the wall of flame grew larger on the purple tint of Celestia's glasses. “WE NEED MORE POWER!” Celestia was barely audible. As if on cue, Vinyl’s thoughts came in. Lets wub this place out of existence! Celestia could feel the DJ’s magic coursing from the farm along with ludicrous levels of electricity. The system kicked into full power. The rings around the speakers glowed, magically giving the soundwaves color. There was enough energy that Celestia could use telekinesis to aim the rig like an anti air gun. “COME GET SOME!” *** Back at the farm, a confused Applejack stood next to the Apple’s modified power transformer and DJ Pon3. The raw power from the dam was pouring into the cables. A tear fell from under her purple shades when a rush of wind swept over them. “It’s...so...beautiful.” “It’s...so...obnoxious!” yelled AJ. “You must be a country fan.” They watched as the last of the dragons fled back towards their home crater. *** Celestia felt foalish for forgetting to make a lesson plan for her and Rarity. At least she knew where Twilight gave her last lesson. She met with Rarity on a grassy knoll in the park, along with various sized crates and barrels that Applejack was more than happy to lend for the lesson. Celestia admired the large stack of boxes and crates she had moved all at once. It really is amazing how much magical strength you have Twilight. I’m so proud to be your mentor. She filled in Rarity on what happened that morning before she had shown up. She was careful not to mention that Rarity’s little sister was a time traveler. “Can you imagine? Rose Luck thought that the tremors caused by Vinyl’s invention were giant earthworms. Thank Celestia it was just dragons and of course I’m also happy you weren't harmed by those cold blooded ruffians. They would get everything absolutely filthy. The giant worms I mean.” “You would rather have dragonfire rain down from carnivorous reptiles than have muddy holes throughout the town?” Celestia said, raising her brow. “I’m just grateful that Vinyl knows a hearing repair spell. That ringing would have driven me insane.” “True. This town doesn’t need more of that,” Rarity teased. “That’s for scaring me.”   Everypony has to pick on poor Twilight. “Anyway, we're kinda getting off task here. Why don’t you start with some fine magic control with these apples.” And I’ll consider circumnavigating some policies on combat magic. It’s time more unicorns in this town knew how to hold their own. “Are you sure you’re not too tired Twilight?” “I would hate to miss my appointment with you. Don’t worry, it wasn't anything a little meditation couldn’t fix.” “You know how to meditate to regain magical power?” Rarity asked with an odd expression. “Yeah. Unicorns back...I mean a long time ago used it. Anyway, let’s continue with the warm up. Then you can run me through what we have covered before.” For the next half hour or so the pair of unicorns lifted various objects for fine to greater magic control and strengthening. Having worked in the boutique, Rarity was able to handle fifteen to thirty apples quite gracefully. This really does remind me of when I taught Twilight the basics. Now she rarely even asks for help. Celestia was so distracted she didn’t notice Rarity had finished with her review by teleporting an apple ten or so feet. An apple appeared above Celestia’s head and skewered itself on her horn. “Oh! What sorry. I was just thinking about something.” “Thinking about what, dear?” “It’s nothing. Hey, if you can do that with an apple, you may be ready for teleporting something a bit more complex. Maybe even somepony?” “Do you really think so? You said you didn’t want me teleporting ‘complex forms’ for a while.” “More than half the work in teleporting is precision and the rest is basically channeling enough energy. You just showed me precision with this apple. You also showed some strength with the lifting exercises.” Celestia flicked the apple off her horn and caught it in her purple muzzle. “Impressive but gross, Twilight.” Rarity beamed with delight. “You really think I’m ready?” Now it may get a bit scary. I don’t want to end up like that pair of guards after Twilight’s first attempt. Two heads are not always better than one. Celestia put on a confident face. “Sure, now just concentrate on me. Just use your magic to make sure you can feel all of me in your magical weave, charge up the energy for the spell, concentrate on a spot five or ten feet away from me and release the energy. Just be sure you can always feel the entirety of my form before you release.” “You make it sound so easy.” Rarity looked worried. “Don’t worry. If you mess up, it’s most likely that nothing will happen.” Oh Luna why am I trusting her. Calm down, calm down. She is a student of my most faithful student after all. Blue energy developed around Twilight’s body and Rarity’s horn. Celestia could feel the tingle and lick of the field forming around her. She closed her eyes as the feeling grew stronger. Rarity’s horn started to crackle and spark. The sudden feeling of being stretched and pulled like taffy came over Celestia and then it was over with a flash. Rarity stopped wafting the smell of ozone away. “Oh my stars!” she gasped, when Twilight’s body collapsed to the grass covered ground. “Oh no. what have I done?” The worried unicorn leaned in close to her friend’s face. “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!” Celestia couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I’m sorry it was a bad joke, a bad joke, congratulations on a success!” The purple pony got to her hooves. “Seriously though. Who actually says ‘oh my stars’ in a situation like that?” Celestia was whisked up in Rarity’s arms in a bone crushing hug. “You had me so worried.”  She grasped Twilight’s shoulders in her hooves. “Now don’t you ever do anything like that again. If Fluttershy had been here, she would have...is that a royal guard?” The pegasus came in for a smooth but certainly not dainty landing. “Excuse me citizens. My name is...” “Hey Stonewall, what brings a royal guard to Ponyville?” Celestia interrupted. Please tell me he’s not here for me. The pegasus looked clearly annoyed. “Greetings Ms. Sparkle. I am looking for a yellow pegasus mare. Did one cross this way?” “That’s awfully vague Sir Stonewall. Do you mean cream yellow or butter yellow? I mean that leaves Strawberry Sunrise, Sunny Rays, Tracy Flash, Gumdrop, Lavender Skies, Golden Glory, Parasol and--” Stonewall was getting flustered. “I’m sorry Mrs...” “Ms. Rarity. Fashion designer and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique,” she said as she flipped her mane. “Well, Ms. Rarity, let me continue. She has a pink mane and three butterflies for her cutie mark. She goes by the name of Fluttershy. Have you two seen her or not?” “I don’t know. That depends on what you want her for,” said Rarity, filing her hooves nonchalantly. “That is none of your business. Just answer the question. You're interfering with an investigation.” Stonewall stomped a hoof. The gesture fell short of intimidating because of the soft grass. “Ah, so you are investigating something. So is Fluttershy a witness? Surely she is not--” “She’s under arrest,” Stonewall said flatly. *** To be continued.