//------------------------------// // Chapter 02 // Story: When a changeling gets a bright idea // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Still standing half a mile from Dodge Junction, Chara erupted in a burst of red flames. Flames that wouldn’t burn her but change her entire body. The unique trait of a changeling was of course to change the way they looked, the near perfect disguise for infiltration. She had turned herself in a gorgeous earth pony mare who still wore the same outfit. It would have done the trick since the mare was one that she had encountered some time in the past. And the mare who she became, probably wouldn’t have showed up in that part of Equestria. Safety was placed on the first spot of course, but hunger drove her to do the deeds next. “Rusty Bucket, at your service,” she said with a grinning face and a sultry, soft sensual tone in her voice. Yet the exterior revealed she was both rough and tough. The near perfect mixture for a town at the frontier of Equestria. Chara gave a nod to herself and then headed for the town. She wanted to see just what caused all of the red flow that she had smelled before. Indeed half a mile later, the stranger stood at the entrance of the town. She glanced at it from underneath her hat’s lid. All the townsfolk of course looked at her in a funny and strange manner. She was new, strange and damn good-looking. It would be a crime to not take a gander at her. But because she had hidden her body under all that clothing, nopony could determine what species she was. And probably more important: if she was trouble or not. It wouldn’t have taken too long until the sheriff came out his office. With a rifle strapped to his back and a massive moustache underneath his nose, he came to her. The spurs chiming with every step made. The golden star shone bright in the sun and he meant business. Yet Chara remained standing there, confident and strong. With caution had the sheriff approached her and took his rifle from his back, he hadn’t the faintest idea what she hid underneath that poncho. “So,” he started in his deep and manly voice, making himself taller in the process, “a drop-dead gorgeous stranger rolls into town, puh, sounds like the start of a half bit romance story. I wanna know one thing from ya, not where yar from, not where yar heading, no. I wanna know, if yar here to cause any trouble?” He should have known what kind of trouble she was ready to make. Chara had a difficult job not to give that as her reply with a massive smirk. Fortunately she managed to restrain herself from doing that. Instead, the reply that she gave was more believable. She shook her head first and then lifted the lid of her hat. “No sir, ain’t looking for trouble, just a place to either settle down or call home for a little while.” Her genuine sounding, honeyed words gave off a good feeling to the sheriff. Maybe this mare could be trusted in any way? The rifle was lowered again and he gave a nod to her. Everything seemed to be fine for the mare to pass through. Now he hoped of course that she wouldn’t stir up any more trouble than she already had. “If I may make a recommendation for ya, the saloon might have a room to spare, depending on how long ya intend to stay that is. And, on a personal note, don’t wear anything risqué in there, unless that’s yar sort of thing.” Chara didn’t fully understood what he meant by that, but waved it off as a message of goodwill. She nodded back to the stallion who then made his leave again. Only to return back to his office and take place in the rocking chair that stood at the porch, overlooking the main street. The mare on the other end, would have headed over to the saloon. Hoping that there was indeed a room available, or a poor soul unfortunate enough to buy her one. ~~~~ The doors of the saloon opened and everything felt silent. The music ceased playing, the ponies ceased their conversations and the mares ceased their dancing. All eyes were aimed at Chara, who hid most of her face underneath the lid of her hat. If she wanted to make a spectacular entrance, she was halfway there already. Ponies already were eager to reach of their weapon and kick her out, but they hesitated for some reason. The reason why, was because she seemed different. Chara was a mare after all, the saloon was a place for stallions to take the crown. Her hoof let go of the door and she stepped further in. The shadows of the place engulfed her body and the cool air travelled passed her neck. Chilling, but just perfect. Her head was flicked up and the brilliant green eyes were revealed. Not even the brightest emerald could compete against that. It was simply marvelous to look at and even better to be around with. It made some already lower their firearms. But others wanted to see further. Chara made her way over to the bar and took place on a stool. Her hat was then finally taken off and placed atop the bar. Her eyes watched deep in the mirror that hung behind all the bottles of liquor. She saw how so many ponies were just staring at her, feeling the sheer amounts of negativity that they carried within them. This, seemed to be her paradise. This place, this saloon somewhere in the frontier of Equestria, could become her new home where she could thrive. “The strongest you have,” she said to the barkeeper. The stallion nodded and poured her a glass of the strongest drink he had. She downed it in just one swig, surprising everypony that was present. With a loud thud was the glass set back atop the wooden bar, looking one particular pony dead in the eyes through the mirror. It was at that moment she had proven herself to the group. At that moment were all the remaining weapons lowered and Chara had earned their respect. The music began to swell up again, the mares continued their dance and the stallions continued their games of cards. From that day onward until an indefinite time, Chara had earned herself a room in the saloon. As long as she was able to pay the cheap, cheap rent for it. Which was easily done, because of all the odd jobs that had to be done around town. ~~~~ Time managed to crawl by with several months for Chara and she remained in Dodge Junction for as long as she could. Every week did she have enough bits to pay for her room at the saloon and everypony grew quite accustomed to her. Not to mention that she had bought herself a velvet red dress in which she was seen most of the time. Subtle, but charming at the same time. Yet something wasn’t feeling too well for her. Something had become stale. Something about the entirety of the town had been stale. Chara’s appetite was at the verge of becoming nonexistent and is the one thing that she wants to prevent. All the quarrels in the saloon were breathtaking for her and the consumption of all the ponies their negative emotions was marvelous, but it was the same taste over and over. The same mixture of sweet, salt and bitter both day and night. Something had to change if she wanted to keep going the way she did. Something to had change, and Chara thought to know exactly what that was. One day she sat at her usual spot in the saloon, covered by shadows with her back hooves crossed over the table. She watched through the entire place and had noticed for a longer time that the barkeeper had particular looks to one of the maids serving the drinks. Maybe, just maybe, she could create friction between them and thus get a new load of red flow through her body. It would be short lived, certainly, but it could sustain her for far longer than the quarrels of a cheated hoof of cards. The cogs in her head are both turning and twisting in about every possible direction. She wanted to come up with an idea that was so diabolical, that it would set up the owners against one another. The best way to do just that? Deception. Eventually had the maid come to her, a beautiful young mare who had just become of age and did her job always with a smile. She was hailed by Chara of course. “What can I do for you, miss Bucket?” the blonde coated, ginger haired mare asked in a young and sweet tone. “Could you get me the usual, please? And, can we then talk a bit, under four eyes?” “Coming up and, if the talk isn’t too long,” the mare replied. “Thanks Charming,” returned Chara with a smile of her own. It wasn’t much later that Charming Saddle had returned with the drink and pulled up a chair to sit down. Chara had removed her legs from the table and came a bit closer. From that moment on, their entire conversation would be done in hushed whispers. “I know that you have a little eye on the barkeeper, I know that you’re lusting for him every single day. Can’t blame you, he is good looking and handsome himself after all. But what makes you not go after him?” Chara asked with care. Subtlety was a bit overrated in her eyes, but Charming wasn’t seeing the fun in it all. Charming let out a deep sigh before she leaned back a little bit. Her eyes went shut for just a moment and the thoughts ran wild. Why hadn’t she gone after the barkeeper herself? “Well, you see Rusty, he’s married to his business associate, the mare you almost never see wandering around here. Can’t do such a thing, can you?” “Only comes down near the end of the day with a bag of bits? Seen her more than enough times. Thought she was just the accountant, honestly,” replied Chara and took a swig from her drink. “So that’s his wife than? Can’t blame him now for looking as lovely as he does to you. But, don’t you want to try it out? Just for once? I know I would.” “And becoming his mistress? Making him cheat on his own wife? Have you lost your mind, Rusty?!” Charming wasn’t feeling a bit for the plan that was concocted. It was morally wrong to do so and if their affaire would be discovered, they both probably had to leave town. “On the contrary, Charming, I’m perfectly sober and this plan is something that I do propose. Your charms should be more than enough to make him go willingly with you. Maybe just for one night, to relieve the stress that you’re both having, eh? Maybe, you can keep it a secret furthermore?” “I don’t know, Rusty, it does seem risky,” the mare said and leaned back in her chair. Her mind was in doubt and troubled, exactly what Chara had wanted. She didn’t have to do the actions herself. Though as long as Charming would have doubted herself, the choice of it actually happening would become only bigger and better. “I’m not forcing you to do anything, I’m just trying to help the both of you here,” Chara said, strengthening her own position a bit more. “It’s not cheating if you aren’t figured out, and you both will have a benefit on it.” Charming on the other end was doubting the situation even more. “I don’t know, I honestly do not know what is the best action to do now.” A smile formed itself across the lips of Chara, in secret did she have Charming exactly where she wanted to have her. The seed of doubt was planted and growing like mad. All that Charming Saddles needed was just that extra little push and fate would decide its course to flow. “How about you think about it during the rest of your shift, when it’s over, you speak with him and just see what comes out, okay?” The young mare gave a nod to Chara, it was a plan that could be done without much hassle. But Chara knew that if she came to the barkeeper first, the chances of him taking the bait were many times bigger than if he approached her. It was all just part of the plan that she had to spice up things just a little bit. It would take time though. The following day, Chara would come to know the results. She smiled and waved to Charming while the waitress left the table, continuing on with her evening shift. Just as the customers continued to pour in, eager to drink away the troubles of the day. It wouldn’t have been that much later before Chara made her way back to her room. To just lay back on the bed and think about the troubles of the day as it were. In the end laid the mare the bed and had shut the curtains. She would get some well-deserved sleep and anticipate what the following day would have brought for her. She hoped for something good of course, on the other end, Charming could have ratted her out. She was playing with fire and could burn herself at any given moment. But for the moment, it was all smooth sailing. ~~~~ When the sun rose back up the following day and Chara woke up like any other. She didn’t feel particularly interested in the day itself. She lusted for the evening though. She had hoped that Charming had taken the bait and of course that somebody had figured out what had happened. Time would come to pass slowly while she wandered through the by then very familiar streets of Dodge Junction. The mare trotted through them like if she owed them and ponies both left and right greeted her. She greeted them all back of course, hoping for time to pass by a bit more. It just went so slow! When nopony was looking, she cursed the sun for moving so leisurely through the skies and went on a hike outside of town. The surrounding nature of Dodge Junction was marvelous and there was one particular little spot where she always loved to come. It was high atop a mountain that gave her a view over the entire town. The path leading to it wasn’t steep or anything harsh, it was just long. In the end, Chara had made it and she sat down upon the rock she had claimed. Her eyes witnessed the near endless beauty of the desert while the whistle of a train echoed in her ears. The train that would be leaving for Canterlot was right on time. But that whistle moved more than she had anticipated. Because the memory of one particular night came back to her. The memory of words spoken about six friends who lived their lives in Ponyville. Six, rather special ponies for that matter. Chara grinned like the devil when she thought about it. It must have been marvelous to have such friends. On the other end, if that friendship become, broken. The mare chuckled to herself and shook her head. “One step at a time. One step at a time. Breaking friendships isn’t that easily done,” she mumbled to herself. For hours more she sat atop that rock, looking over the town and all the ponies moving through it like ants. It was a favorite past time for her, she just loved to spot patterns in how beings behaved. Nopony could have blamed her, given her true nature. A nature which she kept hidden very well, if she had to say so herself. ~~~~ When the sun was finally setting itself, Chara had found her way back to the saloon and taken her usual spot again. With her legs across over the table, the mare was waiting for anything interesting to happen. She could already sense that tension had risen for some reason. She just went out and did her normal things, ordering drinks every so often, awaiting the eventual eruption of chaos. The moment she both dreaded and loved. Charming Saddle was nowhere to be found though and the barkeeper seemed to be more nervous than ever. Had something happened between the two? Charming was supposed to work that evening after all. Yet at a moment that nopony could have anticipated, the doors flung open and an aged stallion pointed a hoof to the barkeeper. Many weapons were drawn in an instant to counter. This was the moment where Chara had been waiting for. This was the moment where everything just came together and she seated herself better, with an invisible smirk going right over her face. “Ya dirty little cheater! Ah never expected the likes of ya, to cheat on yar own wife!” the stallion rambled and continued his way forward. The barkeeper turned red like an apple. Somepony had caught on with what was going on and the entire bar aimed their weapons at the barkeeper. Chara felt the surge of negative emotions through her. The amounts of red flow and the marvelous taste that it carried, she licked her lips. She wanted more, needed more. It was the lifeline for the mare. She was close to having achieved her goal. Chara also wanted to see, just for the giggles, how well the barkeeper would have been able to talk his way out of it. The elderly stallion set his hooves atop the bar and rose up, looking down to the barkeeper with a near infernal rage filling him. “Ah should order each and every one of yar patrons to shot ya on the spot, but that means we ain’t having a bar anymore! Custody ain’t working for ya either, as she went willing! How could ya have used my daughter in such a way?!” So that was what’s going on? It was Charming’s father who came busting in. It turned better with the second for Chara who kept herself quiet, looking over the action. “Ah swear that if Ah hear one more rumor about ya cheating on yar wife,” the stallion said, reaching for his own weapon and setting it against the barkeepers forehead, “ya and missy here, get to know each other real close. Am Ah clear?” The barkeeper just nodded, fearing for his life to be over while the sheriff walked in, calming the entire situation. Everypony at the saloon lowered their weapons again and Charming’s father left the bar for what it was. “Don’t expect me to come back here,” he said, passing the sheriff without giving him even one look. But Chara was riding a high unlike anything before. The sheer euphoria of the red flow that she got was unmatched by anything. It was all that she ever lusted after and tasted even better than she had ever dared to dream. In a way, it was the first step for her to execute her next plan. A plan that was just crazy enough to may have worked. Genius and stupidity often went hoof in hoof.