//------------------------------// // It's A Dog's Life // Story: Five Changelings In Equestria: Ling // by Bucking Nonsense //------------------------------// "CURSE YOU, LUNA!!! CURSE YOU, CELESTIA!!!" One thousand years ago... As the two princesses flew off, Sirius hung his head, utterly defeated. While he'd understood that Luna and Celestia were mighty, he'd not truly realized just how powerful the two of them were together. Sombra had offered a nice big chunk of Equestria, provided that the Canis Major succeeded in stopping the two Alicorns before they reached the Crystal Empire, so he'd planned on jumping them and swallowing them both whole in a single gulp. Nothing special, just put them in his belly, and let nature do the rest. When he had ambushed them in the forest today, he had been certain of his victory. Instead... The two of them had struck him simultaneously, with enough force to level a city. Stunned by the ferocity of their united power, he'd taken a single step back, then another as the two of them continued their brutal assault without pause. He'd had no chance to counter-attack, before a spell from Luna had breezed past what defense the Canis Major could muster, and ripped out a fragment of his being, the star that was his heart. The two princesses had barely seemed winded afterwards. Having reduced the great Canis Major to a mere shadow of his former self by removing one of the 'stars' that made up his existence, they'd not seen the point of further punishment, especially since the two of them still had to deal with King Sombra today. Instead, they'd simply taken flight, intent upon their goal with hardly a backward glance. It can be... distressing to find that you were nothing more than a random encounter in someone else's grand adventure... However, while his power was reduced, he was still one of the celestial beings of the heavens. While he now lacked his overwhelming physical might, he was still immortal, and immune to physical harm. He would regain his power, and have his revenge, even if it took a thousand years... ------------------------------- One thousand years later, minus twenty-four hours... "Alright, you mangy mutts, here's the deal," Sirius, now known as Top Dog, said, addressing his paltry batch of minions. "Rex isn't going to let you back into the pack unless you can come back with a ton of bits. As I've told you before, I've got a client who is willing to pay a significant amount of money in exchange for the ruin of the career of guard commander, Silver Lance. It's taken me some time to work out the way to do it, but I've just finished putting the plan together." Of course, that was all a lie. While this plan would, potentially, ruin the pony known as Silver Lance, if he was willing to sacrifice his career in order to rescue his foster daughter, that was the least likely scenario. Silver Lance took threats against his family seriously: The one time in his career somepony had kidnapped his wife, the commander had asked for volunteers to help him rescue her. The entire guard, out of respect, love, and admiration of their commander and his wife, had marched on the building she was being held, and had literally disassembled the entire warehouse around the thugs, while Silver Lance had teleported directly inside, retrieved his wife, and teleported right back out again with her in tow. Given the condition the thugs were in afterwards, since they'd tried to resist arrest (A rather foolish move, but the individuals were minotaurs, and thought that they could just bull through the 'weak' ponies surrounding them. Instead, they'd simply been levitated off of their feet, then whacked a few dozen times with sticks until they surrendered. This maneuver would come to be known as the 'Pinata Takedown', and was often used to handle overly powerful creatures who lacked the ability of flight), the word went out far and wide that if you messed with Silver Lance's family, you would pay for it dearly. This excessive overreaction was exactly what Sirius would need to be able to infiltrate the palace. While he'd secured, at great expense, a cloak of invisibility, in addition to an amulet of silence, there would be no way of getting anywhere near the vault of national treasures if the palace was swarming with guards, since there was the very real possibility of somepony bumping into him, not to mention a dozen elite members of the guard who were set to watch over the vault at all times. Sirius had ways of handling one or two guards at once, but a dozen was beyond his current state. Worse, there were only three times when the palace was almost completely empty of guards, including the majority of the elites: When the city was under attack (If he'd had a little forewarning, he could have managed during the changeling invasion, but oh well), when the princesses were missing (very unlikely to happen any time soon), and when Silver Lance's family was threatened. "Silver's new daughter, Ling, is the key," Sirius said, giving his best grin. It had surprised him that, after having been stripped of his powers, he now looked like a diamond dog, but this appearance had it's perks, such as a look that Sirius liked to think of as an 'Honest John'. If you were looking to buy a used cart, the look that Sirius had would be the one of the fellow who would walk up to you with a big smile, a firm hoofshake, and a friendly voice, and who would sell you a cart that would work just fine, up until you got it off of the lot, at which point, all sales were final, so sorry. His smile radiated trustworthiness, in spite of the fact that he was anything but. "I'm not sure I like involving the daughter in this," Delta said, frowning. "As a mother..." Sirius raised a paw and said, "I wouldn't dream of hurting a child." This was technically true. Sirius had never dreamed of hurting a child in his life. Instead, he dreamed of hurting Celestia and Luna every night, and had for the last thousand years. While he certainly didn't bear the brat any ill will, he wouldn't shed any tears if the runt got hurt at any point in time. "The threat alone will be sufficient. I sincerely doubt that he'd do anything to jeopardize the life of his new daughter, especially not after getting so attached to her." Delta, still looking upset, seemed like she might argue. Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "Tell you what: If he doesn't go through with it, you can keep the kid. I mean, somepony who would choose their career over a kid really doesn't have the right to be a parent. Am I right?" After a moment, Delta nodded, then said, "Alright. I still don't like this, but as long as the kid doesn't get hurt, I guess I can stomach it." Looking down at her son, Omega, she sighed, then looked back up, her expression all business. The things some dogs will do for love. Sirius nodded, then turned to the big dog, and said, "Alright, Alpha, your part to play is simple: I need you to sneak in and take the kid. First opportunity that presents itself, you go in, get the kid, and go out. The sprout's got no magic, and can't talk, so as long as you move fast and get her in a sack immediately, she'll be no problem. She's just a tiny tyke, so she can't put up much of a fight." Alpha sighed, looked as if he might argue, then nodded, and said, "Understood." Turning to Beta, Sirius said, "Your job is simple, as well. You help watch the kid. Make sure she doesn't do anything to get away before we're ready to let her go. She escapes, the entire operation falls apart. Keep Omega with you: the kid's got good eyes, and being a kid himself, he'll be able to guess what the squirt will try before you do." Beta simply nodded, then said, "Right." Looking over at Delta, Sirius said, "Your job will be tricky. You deliver the ransom note as soon as her disappearance is reported. You can just chuck a rock through a window with a note wrapped around it, then book it before anypony comes looking for you." Delta nodded, then said, "Very well." Putting on his best used cart salesdog grin, Sirius said, "Cheer up, everydoggy. If everything goes according to plan, then this time tomorrow, we'll be dividing up the loot with no harm done to anypony, asides from a ruin reputation." Another lie. If everything went according to the real plan, Sirius would be at full power, and ravaging Canterlot, and then all of Equestria. Maybe even the whole world. One thousand years had left Sirius with a serious appetite for destruction. Alpha asked, "And what will you be doing?" Shrugging, Sirius said, "There are a few things that I have to take care of from my end. If Silver Lance tries to go in and get the diamond, he'll be stopped by the guards stationed in front of the vault. I'm familiar with the layout of the palace, and I have taken certain steps to ensure that the guard presence will be minimized tonight. You let me worry about things from my end. You do your jobs, and I promise you, every one of you will get exactly what you deserve." Yeah, right. --------------------------- Twenty-four hours earlier... "I need a spell of selective intangibility," Sirius said, grinning cheerfully. Duo, the displacer beast who ran this shop of 'less than legal goods' chuckled, her mirror image imitating the gesture. Even now, Sirius had trouble telling which was real and which was not without resorting to his nose. The sickly sweet incense she burned to muddle his sense of smell made even that impossible. Still, it was worth the irritation if it meant that he could get what he needed for the big show tomorrow. With a smirk, the feline asked, "What kind of safe are we talking about, Rover? How serious is it?" The two tentacles on the creature's shoulders danced sinuously as she spoke. He had to admit, the effect was... hypnotic. The fact that Duo was an incredibly attractive member of her species certainly made focusing harder than it would normally be. Sirius wasn't into felines, or anything else for that matter, but he had to admit, the displacer had a certain appeal to her. Sirius hated being called Rover, though. For the hundredth time, he promised himself that, as soon as he was at full power, Duo would be the first creature with her back against the wall, after the princesses. Clearing his throat, he said, "A TXTL-240, with enchantments to resist magical infiltration, as well as to make it more durable." The displacer's jaw dropped in shock. "You've got to be joking. The highest grade of safe in existence is a TXTL-60, meaning it takes an hour to crack open. A safe that takes four hours to crack open simply doesn't exist." Smirking, glad to have surprised the feline, he said, "The highest grade known to 'officially' exist is the TXTL-60. We both know that not every safe design is made available to the general public." Giggling, Duo admitted, "Yes, that's true, but with that much protection, they may as well have put it in a bank vault. What are you planning on stealing? The crown jewels?" With a harsh bark of laughter, Sirius said, "The less you know, the better off you'll be. But I will say that this is a big heist I've got planned. The biggest anydoggy has ever planned." Pulling up a massive sack of bits, he said, "This should more than cover the cost of the spell, and the rest is so you'll keep quiet. I value your discretion." Looking at the gigantic purse with wide eyes, Duo said, "Rover, for that kind of money, I would take a vow of silence for the next twenty years. Give me five minutes, and I'll have exactly what you need." With a sly look, the feline said, "But just remember, sugar, it goes both ways. If you get caught, don't you dare tell anyone who gave this to you." True to her word, five minutes later, she had the scroll on the counter, an impish grin on her face. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to unload this on someone, to be honest with you. It's the last of my truly illegal stash of goods. I'm getting out of the game while the getting is good." Sirius raised an eyebrow at that. After a moment, he asked, "Really? I thought that you loved this business?" With a shrug that set her tentacles quivering, she admitted, "I do, but during the invasion, I came a bit closer than I would like to losing everything. The guards were searching everywhere for changelings a few weeks ago, and while they were looking in here, they almost came across the spot where I stash stuff like this. I almost got caught, through no fault of my own." Sighing, she admitted, "And besides, I'm getting a little too old for this: I'm almost thirty, with no kids, no marriage prospects, and I've barely been breaking even for the last year and a half. I need to change, or else I'm going to end up an old grey hag in a jail cell with nothing to my name but an impressively long rap sheet." Sirius was not certain how he felt about that. He'd known Duo for... well, a long time as mortals counted it, about ten years at least, back when Top was setting up his cover as a thief, in preparation for his current plans. In a thousand years, he'd not made any friends, but Duo might have been the closest he ever got to one, her irritating pet name for him notwithstanding. Sirius wrestled with himself for a moment, then said, "Take everything you've got that won't get you in trouble, and leave, first thing in the morning. Don't look back. You won't want to be in Canterlot tomorrow night." At the look that Duo gave him, he said, "No questions. Just do it." Duo, after a moment, sinuously crawled over the counter and then, her face a bare inch from Sirius' as she wrapped herself around him like a fur coat, she said, "You know, you could just walk away from whatever it is you're planning. With this kind of scratch, you and me, we could go anywhere, do anything we wanted. We'd be set for life." And Sirius would be left with a black void where the star that made up his heart was supposed to be. He felt its absence acutely, every second of every day. This maddening emptiness. He couldn't let the princesses get away with having done this to him. And yet... ...And yet, for a moment, he seriously considered it. Considered walking away. Maybe he wasn't as immune to her charms as he thought that he was. But he was already too far along, and too close to success, to stop now. Shaking his head, he said, "After how long I've been planning this? No." After a moment, he added, "But if things don't work out, I'll look you up." It might be best not to close that particular door behind him... ...Just in case. Smiling, Duo said, "I'll keep an eye out for you, Rover." ---------------------- Now... Canterlot was on the march. Not quite all of it, really, but almost every guard was here, marching on the warehouse, along with about half of the civilian population, Ling's 'fan club'. The fact that the little changeling had amassed this many admirers in such a short time was nothing short of incredible. The little one had charisma to spare. Sirius was certain that, if she survived the night, the changeling would be going places. The ground shook as the massed ponies approached, marching in step upon the warehouse where Ling was being held. The diamond dogs inside were certain to be panicking by now, shocked to find themselves under attack. Sirius watched in amusement as the Dog Star Diamond continued to return to it's original state, and infused him with power. It felt good to be whole again. As the gathered unicorns began taking the building apart, brick by brick, Sirius watched from his spot atop a neighboring building, hidden in the shadow of a water tower. As soon as the princesses arrived, it would be over. One thousand years of gathering information, making preparations, and wallowing in the filth that they call mortality, all of it for this moment: The night when he would have his glorious revenge. And here they were now... As the two came to rest on the street in front of the warehouse, Sirius took a running leap from the top of the building, and as he descended to the ground below, he took his true form. Limbs lengthened, then thickened with muscle. His torso widened, and his fur lengthened to the point where a pony might stand upon his back and be covered up to their neck. His claws lengthened, and sharpened, to the point where they were longer than a pony was tall. His head grew, and his mouth widened, filled to capacity with long, sharp teeth. What had dropped from the top of the building was a diamond dog. What landed, one massive paw pinning each princess, was a massive canine, easily taller than the building he had been perched upon just moments before. With a voice that rattled the windows for a dozen blocks, the Canis Major said, "Surprise."