//------------------------------// // Eternal Night - Storm on the Horizon // Story: The Ever Changing Moon // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// The Ever Changing Moon - Chapter 3 Eternal Night Part 5 - Storm on the Horizon Fluttershy walked from the kitchen with a tray laden with a full tea set balanced on her wings, her friends already gathered around the table. She looked slightly to the left, seeing Apple Bloom as the filly smiled widely at her, already excited and happy for the tea party. I don’t remember her being that excited whenever I foal-sat her. She must’ve missed me way more than I thought. Hawkeye was sitting to the filly’s left with a prideful posture, with Big Mac to his other side following his example. Applejack had her foreleg wrapped around the filly with Rarity on the opposite side of the table. Fluttershy looked to the right, unsurprised by Rarity levitating over a swarm of plates and silverware, all of them settling into perfect order on the table. Rarity’s assistants were sitting by her side, their posture the picture of propriety while trying to contain their excitement, though the youngest one’s trembling forelegs betrayed his nervousness. Her improved hearing picked up on snoring upstairs, coming from Little Seed and Sunflower sprawled on the double bed. Poor dears, staying awake for so long in the cold must’ve wore them out. I’ll make it up to them tomorrow morning. She resumed her walk as she looked ahead, now staring at Rainbow Dash who was holding Pinkie Pie in place, trying desperately to contain the excitement of the drooling party mare. The pony-sized birthday cake without candles present on the table most likely being the source of Pinkie’s excitement. Her slow steps were interrupted by a noise coming from outside which grew louder with each passing second, one she picked up thanks to her improved hearing. Hawkeye, Rarity and her assistants looked around nervously, no doubt hearing it as well. The noise became louder and louder before the door was torn off and part of the wall splintered, falling onto the floor with a loud thud. Fluttershy flinched as cups of tea fell from her wings, shattering into pieces. “What in tarnation,” Applejack said, coughing alongside everypony else, waving her forehooves. As the atmosphere started to clear, Fluttershy noticed a black shape emerging from the cloud of dust. “D-Ditzy?” Fluttershy asked as the grey mare came into view. Her senses picked up fast breathing as her friend was trotting in place with her face displaying pure panic. “Is something wrong?” Much to her surprise, she was forcefully tackled to the floor while her forelegs and wings ended up pinned in a strong embrace. “I’m so happy you’re back. I missed you so much!” Ditzy said as she squeezed Fluttershy even harder. Fluttershy hugged Ditzy back, ignoring the pain and lack of air. “I missed you… too… You and your family helped me so much.” She grit her teeth as the embrace tightened. “W-where are your p-parents? And why you... didn’t wait... for me... with the rest of my friends instead… of flying here in such a hurry?” Upon being released, she gasped and held her forehoof to her chest. Her feathery wings were slightly rumpled. Ditzy grabbed Fluttershy and lifted her above the floor as their muzzles pressed against each other. “We have a big problem! But you’re smart and good at healing, so you can help, right?” “Help, how?” Ditzy released Fluttershy and trotted over to where the wall used to be, pointing at the sky. Everypony approached as two fliers carrying a charred pureblood thestral came into view. Hawkeye and Big Mac formed a wall to block the gruesome sight. Applejack grabbed Apple Bloom and covered her eyes with her foreleg before heading towards the backdoor, despite Apple Bloom’s protests. Rarity held her foreleg against her forehead and fainted onto the floor. An elegant couch levitated inside the cottage through the destroyed wall, landing on Rarity with a loud thump. In any other circumstance her assistants would chuckle. Instead, they fumbled to move the couch off of her, causing it to land on its side a short distance away. “Lady Fleur!” three thestrals shouted in unison as the youngest one sealed his mouth as his cheeks turned green. “W-what happened to her?” Dash asked as she hovered above the floor, resisting the urge to puke. Pinkie failed to do so as she ran into the kitchen to unload some of the recently eaten food. “Who did this to her?” “W-was it… P-Princess Celestia’s doing?” Fluttershy asked as she flew over and examined the injuries on the pureblood. “Now wait just a darn minute. Why do ya think it was the princess?” Applejack asked with a stomp. “Maybe it was one o’ them purebloods or that dirty coward Moon Shadow.” Fluttershy’s eyes flashed red as she scanned for internal injuries and checked her alarmingly poor vitals. “Lady Fleur is a very powerful pureblood. Only Princess Celestia would have the power to cause such damage. Not to mention the burns were left by solar magic.” Her wings flapped rapidly as she started to bite her own hooves. “Oh, dear.” A grey pegasus with a bronze mane and three bricks as a cutie mark approached his worried daughter and embraced her from the side. “Don’t worry, Ditzy, she’ll be alright. If anypony can help, Mistress Fluttershy can.” His breathing was heavy as he massaged his tired wings. While Fleur was slim for her size, she was still rather heavy to carry such a distance. Fluttershy looked away from the near-dead Fleur and glanced at Ditzy and Twisty Vision, who stared back at her with hope and expectation. No pressure, no pressure at all. She gulped as her anxiety returned full force. The peace of mind her long nap had given her fled before the overwhelming responsibility. Fleur, a powerful and very influential pureblood, was at death’s door, her life now in the trembling hooves of a young and inexperienced Fluttershy. For several long seconds Fluttershy’s body froze in place as the only sound in the room was ponies breathing and the loud ticking of the clock. Her vision became blurry before it was overtaken by darkness. “Snap out of it!” Dash shouted as she shook her friend. “Whaa? Oh, um.” Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. “I'm sorry.” Dash shoot her a determined stare. “You’ve saved lives and dealt with greater wounds before. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t healed me at flight school. Have more faith in yourself. You can do it!” “I agree,” Bright Eyes said firmly as she sat between her husband and daughter, her tired bat-like wings resting on their backs. “Mistress Fluttershy, nopony will blame you if you fail, but at this moment, you are the most experienced at healing injuries out of all of us.” Fluttershy held her forehoof against her chest and took a few calming breaths. Saving somepony as important as Fleur was a great responsibility, and most of her experience came from veterinary care rather than healing ponies. Rarity massaged her head before standing up, her vision slowly sharpening. Upon noticing a few bruises on her forelegs and feeling a weak pain in her back, she gave her traitorous couch an angered glare. She tossed her head in annoyance gave an offended "Humph!" “Come on, leader, what should we do?” Dash asked. All pairs of eyes were now on Fluttershy, except Apple Bloom’s as Applejack kept her outside. “A-alright,” Fluttershy said as she bit her lip. “Miss F-Fleur needs blood, lots of it…” “Well, is that all?” Applejack said with a dismissive wave of her forehoof. “Tell ya what, take all ya need. There’s lots of blood in this here Apple,” she added with a chuckle. Big Mac closed his eyes and said firmly, “Eeyup.” “Why’re ya takin’ blood from a little Apple when ya have two big ones?” Hawkeye patted Applejack’s head who groaned and scrunched her muzzle in an annoyed frown. He pointed at his neck and next at Big Mac’s. “The buffet’s open an’ the apples are fresh.” “Me too, me too! I’ll do anything for a friend. Well, maybe Fleur isn’t my friend yet, but I can take care of that later. Oh, we’re going to become besties, I can feel it,” Pinkie said with an ecstatic grin. “If it’s going to help, my blood is all yours.” Dash shrugged. “You know you can always take blood from me. Using it to save some powerful pureblood from the Canterlot clan is just a big bonus.” Upon seeing how her friends kept volunteering one by one, most already pointing at their necks, Fluttershy rubbed her chin. “Well, non-thestral blood would be the most effective. The quality of the blood needs to be high as well to increase the chance of a successful healing.” She pointed at Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, gesturing for them to step forward. Pinkie bounced forward and hopped in place while other two maintained their stoic demeanor. “Vinyl once informed me that Lady Fleur always drinks the blood of athletes. Her servants even provide her with the Wonderbolts’ blood on special occasions,” Rarity spoke up, attracting Dash’s attention. “Rainbow Dash seems like a proper candidate for blood transfusion.” “Sure thing,” Dash said, puffing out her chest. “Go ahead, Flutters. Take as much as you need. I can handle it.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Your blood or Applejack’s seems like a good choice, but now that I think about it, Pinkie’s blood is our best bet.” “Wait, what? Why?” Dash asked. Her ears drooped. It was humiliating enough how Vinyl made fun of her magic and Applejack of her speed. Now it turned out that her blood wasn’t good enough, either. She frowned in disappointment and crossed her forelegs. “Pinkie’s blood is filled with a massive amount of magic. It would be too dangerous for me to drink it, but for a pureblood like Fleur it may be strong enough to save her life,” Fluttershy stated. She stomped with a determined smile, accidentally cracking the floor under her hoof. "Oops…” She cleared her throat before glancing at the party mare with a firm stare. “Pinkie Pie, I know I am asking a lot, but will you share your blood to save Fleur’s life?” “Of course I will! You don’t even need to ask,” Pinkie said as she kept bouncing in place. Fluttershy looked at Fleur in panic, sensing a significant slowdown in her heart beat. “There’s no time to waste, we have to hurry.” She looked at her friend apologetically and said, “I’m really sorry. I don’t have enough time to put you to sleep or numb you. Please, forgive me.” “Okie dokie lokie.” Fluttershy took a deep breath as her eyes flashed, turning her feathery wings into bat-like ones, growing two fangs from her teeth and making her ears longer and pointed. The three butterflies on her flank were now replaced with three bats. Not wasting any more time, she pierced Pinkie’s artery with her fangs, sending as much of her natural anesthetic as she could with such limited time. Her eyes flashed red again as twin streams of blood floated from the two tiny wounds. She made similar marks on Fleur’s foreleg as she commanded the blood to fill her. “Lady Fleur is in no shape to drink blood on her own, so I’ll need to guide it myself. I will need quiet so I can focus.” Everypony nodded, remaining silent for the process. Rarity and Big Mac were the first to turn away at the sight of the floating blood. After half a minute, Pinkie grit her teeth, struggling to maintain her balance on her legs and keeping her tired eyes from closing. It wasn’t the first time she’d hurt herself, often crashing into hard objects in her excitement. Though none of those situations made her feel like a fruit losing its juice. Sweat rolled down her forehead as she started singing, “A thousand drops of blood in the bottle, a thousand drops of blood! Drink one down and whadda ya get? Nine hundred ninety nine drops of blood in the bottle!” Dash gulped, now somewhat thankful that she is not the one being drained dry. Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed as she commanded Pinkie’s blood to energize Fleur’s body, repairing as much damage as she could. Although purebloods could command their blood to heal their injuries, silver and sunlight nullify their self-recovery capabilities. The fact that Fleur bore burns from solar magic didn’t make Fluttershy’s attempts any easier. “Nine hundred seventy five drops of blood in the bottle, drink one up and… ya get… nine hundred four… drops…” she struggled to sing, looking at the ceiling and trembling uncontrollably, as if in desperate need of using the little filly’s room. “I’m really sorry, Pinkie. Just say if it’s too much to handle and I will continue healing with Dash’s or Applejack’s blood instead,” Fluttershy suggested as she bit her lip at the sound of Pinkie’s macabre ditty, though one look at the other ponies present told her she wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable. Please, Fleur, hang in there. We’re so close. “S-sure… thing,” Pinkie said as her tired body started tilting back and forth, “Nine… hundred…” Her face slammed against the floor as she fainted. Her tongue had escaped her mouth and lay limply next to her. A few critters ran over and stared at her in worry. Fluttershy smiled warmly, exposing her fangs in all their pointy glory. “It’s working!” She could sense Fleur’s heart beating more strongly as the blood and magic did its job. A weak twitch of her foreleg followed soon after. Fluttershy sighed and wiped sweat from her forehead, her eyes no longer glowing as she stopped the transfusion. A quick lick on each pony's respective wounds closed them. “It’s done.” “That’s great an’ all, but what ‘bout Pinkie over here,” Big Mac asked as he poked the limp mare. Pinkie’s always bright pink fur was now a pale grey, her mane and tail no longer puffy. “Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she flew over and hovered above the floor, picking up Pinkie with her forelegs. “Pinkie, are you okay? Speak to me!” Her senses detected heart rate above the one of an average pony, yet dangerously under Pinkie's standards. “Will she be alright?” Rainbow Dash asked in worry as she flew closer and hovered next to the young pureblood. “Her life isn’t in danger, but she’s still far from perfect health,” Fluttershy said as she pushed Pinkie’s mane from her face and stroked her cheek gently. “I’m really, really sorry, Pinkie. I was so focused on helping Fleur that I wasn’t paying attention to your well being. I should’ve stopped earlier.” Her ears drooped. She felt a lump form in her throat as she fought back her tears. Hurting one of my best friends at the night of my rebirth... How could I be so careless? “Nine huuundred something… drooops of blood,” Pinkie slurred as she half-opened her tired eyes. Her blurry vision slowly returned. “Ooooh… heeey Fluuuutteeeershyyy. Were youuu... worried abouuut meee?” “Worried? Of course I was worried!” Fluttershy said as she pressed Pinkie’s cheek into the soft fur on her chest. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful. Can you forgive me?” Pinkie’s fur brightened and her mane puffed up as she nuzzled her friend’s chest. “Of course I’ll forgive you. You’re one of my best friends. Besides, I don’t mind sharing part of myself to help a fellow pony.” “Oh Pinkie, thanks to you Fleur will survive. You’re so selfless. Next to Dash, you’re the best friend I could’ve wished for,” the young pureblood said as she started crying tears of joy. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me, or apologize for worrying you. But I’ll repay you for what you did for Fleur, I swear.” Pinkie laughed. “Awww… those are the nicest words you’ve ever said to me.” She corrected, “Well, now that I think about it, you were always very nice and spoke lots of nice words, so I suppose those are some of the nicest words you said to me, but they make me happy.” She slid out from Fluttershy’s hold and landed on the floor, now looking up at her. “Besides, I should thank you for everything you did to make everypony happy and for taking care of all those cute poor homeless animals, and you certainly don’t need to repay me for helping a pony in trouble.” “A pony in trouble? You helped save her life, Pinkie,” Rarity stated as she kept cleaning Fleur’s burns with a wet, soft cloth. Gauze, bandages and burn cream were sitting next to her. Fluttershy blushed as she descended onto the floor, reasserting herself on her trembling legs. She was feeling a bit tired and dizzy for some reason. “Oh no no no, you’re the nicest pony who make everypony happy, and you deserve a reward.” “No, you are!” Pinkie responded with renewed energy. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Will you both give it a rest? You’re both kind and selfless.” Pinkie blushed. “Thanks Dashie. And you’re brave and caring.” Dash sighed. “Will these compliments ever end?” Fluttershy shook her head and glanced at the unconscious pureblood, noticing several burns from solar magic still covering her body. “Lady Fleur’s life is no longer in danger, but it should take several hours before she’ll regain access to her powers. Her body needs a solid rest and she’ll need to drink more blood once she wakes up.” She looked between her clan members, each of them more than eager to help. “Ice Breeze, Soft Breeze, and Storm… ummm...” “My name’s Stormfang, Mistress,” he supplied. The young pureblood nodded as she pointed at them. “I order you to keep an eye on Lady Fleur and guard her until she wakes up, please.” The trio saluted as they carefully picked up the taller pureblood and delivered her upstairs, only to push the bed to the side which revealed a secret passage into an underground hideout. Luckily, Fluttershy’s old coffin was kept in good shape and was big enough to accommodate Fleur, whose battered body and wings sank into the soft bottom. “Mistress,” called Bright Eye as she caught Fluttershy’s attention. “I have a few blood packs at home. I can bring them for Lady Fleur to use once she gets better. May I?” “S-sure.” The female thestral smiled before flying out through the hole in the wall. Twisty Vision rubbed the back of his neck as he poked broken planks. “Sorry for my daughter. I’ll get my repair tools and fix this damage in an instant. With your permission, Mistress Fluttershy?” “G-granted,” Fluttershy said hesitantly. While she understood that the role of a leader now rested upon her shoulders, she certainly didn’t want to abuse it. “Good job, Fluttershy, you saved the day again… erm... night, I mean,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over and patted her on the back. “This long nap is the best thing that’s happened to you. You’re like a new pony.” “Thank you,” she responded with a warm smile. “I’m just glad that everything turned out for the best.” “Does this mean what I think it means?” Pinkie asked, bouncing in place. Fluttershy blinked in confusion. “P-Pinkie… aren’t you exhausted?” “Why should I be?” Rarity rolled her eyes and replied, “You have shared your blood with Lady Fleur to save her life. If you have not noticed, darling, your body’s blood reserves were nearly cut in half.” “Really? I don’t feel all that different,” Pinkie responded cluelessly, receiving a few gasps and looks of disbelief. Fluttershy rubbed her chin. That’s very odd. Her body barely has enough blood to keep going and half of her magic went to Lady Fleur during the blood transfusion and healing. Yet Pinkie’s magic is as strong as before and might be making up for her lack of blood. Her ears perked up and eyes widened. My magic… it has been drained? Now I understand. Not long after I sent Pinkie’s blood containing large amounts of her magic into Fleur, she recovered her losses by draining magic from me. No wonder I felt dizzy. But how? She relaxed her tense muscles and shrugged. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that Pinkie is healthy despite a large loss of blood. I should keep an eye on her health though. “Fluttershy, can we celebrate your return? Pretty please,” Pinkie pleaded, her ears flattened against her head while a pout was apparent on her face. “A celebration? I don’t mind at all,” Fluttershy responded while maintaining her happy smile. Never before could I talk with Pinkie so casually without being overwhelmed by her energetic personality, much less keep my anxiety in check. I’m loving it. Her wings flapped cheerfully as she looked over at her friends. “Ah wanna slice of cake,” Apple Bloom said as she entered through the hole in the wall, with Applejack right behind her. She jumped onto Fluttershy’s back and added, “Can we play hide and seek after the snack?” “Sure, though it wouldn’t exactly be a fair game,” Fluttershy pointed out as she picked up Apple Bloom with her wings and tossed her upward playfully, catching her firmly in her feathery embrace. She poked the filly’s nose before pointing to her own ears. “Fair or not, it will be fun.” “I’m sure it will,” Fluttershy said, unable to believe how wonderful this night was. Even the responsibility of assisting a fellow pureblood wasn’t enough to weigh her down. “Maybe we should move this celebration to Sugarcube Corner? What do you think, Pinkie?” “That sounds like a splendiferous idea!” Pinkie gave a wink and a salute. “One large order of PARTY,” she stood on her hind-legs and spread her forelegs as confetti exploded from her mane, “coming right up!” Hawkeye and Rarity nodded while Rainbow Dash prance in place in excitement. Fluttershy looked between her friends once more. “Wait a moment.” She pointed at each pony and continued, “Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Big Mac, Hawkeye, Ditzy, her family is already on their way… the Breeze brothers and Stormcloud are guarding Fleur. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing somepony.” “Oh, you mean that stuck up yet very nice musician wearing a bowtie, and my super duper cool night-shift party buddy wearing those cool glasses?” Pinkie asked before taking a deep breath into her lungs. She ran towards the hole and shouted, “Heeey! Dj-pon3, you’re missing a super-duper welcome party!” “You called?” Everypony looked around in confusion, searching for the source of voice. “Boo!” Applejack flinched before looking back, noticing Vinyl waving at her in front of an open window. “Shucks, Vinyl, stop sneakin' around like that! Where’ve ya been?” “Here and there, listening to all the cool events that are taking place. Waiting for the best moment to make my entrance.” “Listening? Events?” Fluttershy asked as she approached the musician, wondering how she had managed to bypass her senses so easily. “Where’s Octavia?” The unicorn thestral’s horn lit as she pointed at the window, only to levitate the graceful earth pony in, a perfectly presentable pink bow tie perched upon her neck. “Forgive me… Mistress… for being late,” Octavia said between her breaths as she struggled to inhale more air, her trembling legs barely keeping her stable. She bowed. “Please, don’t bow,” Fluttershy said as she ran over and helped Octavia stand and escorted her towards the nearby sofa, letting the tired mare sink into the soft cushion. “What happened?” Vinyl sat next to the earth pony and said, “Oh, she’s just tired from searching for me all over Ponyville.” She whispered, “She needs to exercise more often.” “I heard that,” Octavia said with an annoyed frown. “I am really glad you are back, Mistress Fluttershy, and I deeply apologize for my late arrival. After Rainbow Dash informed us about your glorious return, my carefree roommate decided to wander around Ponyville instead of heading here.” Vinyl fixed her glasses. “Oh come now, Octy. I was doing important stuff.” “You, doing something important?” Octavia asked with sarcasm before punching Vinyl in the shoulder. “If this was supposed to be funny, you failed to deliver the punchline.” Vinyl frowned. “I’m not joking. I was doing recon.” She pointed at her cutie mark and next poked her own horn. “A bit of magic here,” she rubbed her left ear, “ears there and I learned a lot of important stuff Fluttershy should be aware of.” “I’m listening,” Fluttershy said as her ears perked upward. “If this is something very important, don’t make us wait.” The rest of the group approached and sat in front of the musicians. “Oh, this will be good,” Octavia said with a smirk. *** Vinyl grinned. “You probably know that the two-faced princess revealed the existence of thestrals to the townsfolk, and they were fine with it.” Upon seeing a nod, she continued, “Did your friends tell you that the student of Princess Celestia surrendered Ponyville to Nightmare Moon?” Fluttershy took a step back. “S-student of the p-p-princess? She’s in Ponyville?” “Eeyup,” Applejack said before rubbing her foreleg. “Sorry for not tellin’ ya, sugarcube. It kinda slipped mah mind.” Fluttershy gulped. “This is bad.” “Why’re you so worried all of the sudden?” Dash asked. “She seemed kinda nice for an egghead.” “You don’t understand,” Fluttershy said in a panic, her breath rate increasing in speed. “Princess Celestia nearly killed Lady Fleur for some reason. What if she sees us as a threat? If her student finds out about me…” She curled into a shivering ball and started stroking her own tail. “I’m scared.” “Mistress Fleur was nearly killed?” Octavia shouted, falling from the sofa with a weak thump. “That’s horrible, where is she?” Rarity levitated Octavia back onto the sofa and said, “Lady Fleur is recovering in Fluttershy’s secret room. The mistress healed her with Pinkie’s blood.” “I helped!” Pinkie shouted cheerfully. Applejack raised Fluttershy’s lowered head by her chin and asked, “Why are ya so scared? Yer a pureblood.” Rarity nodded. “I must agree with Applejack. You possess unique powers and have a clan at your command.” “You don’t understand,” Fluttershy said as she looked at Rarity in fear. “Only the most powerful and talented unicorn in all of Equestria would be worth the honor of learning from the Sun Princess. Not to mention the two millennia of knowledge she can learn from an alicorn.” She looked at Rainbow Dash. “I may be a pureblood and my powers may have increased, but I have heard stories of powerful unicorns whose raw power and skills could surpass even four century old purebloods.” She glanced at rest of her friends. “And if we hurt… what’s her name?“ “Twilight,” Rarity reminded. “If we hurt Twilight, even in self-defense, her mentor will show us no mercy.” Vinyl leaned back on the sofa with her hooves behind her head, a smile playing across her lips. “Speaking of Twilight. She’s now on her way to the Everfree Forest with her parents and a small search party. I could hear her panic from a mile away. Literally.” “They’re really headin’ to the Everfree Forest?” Hawkeye asked curiously. “What are they tryin’ to accomplish by puttin’ themselves in danger?” “To stop the monster hunters from hurting Nightmare Moon and starting a war… though I think the hunters are the ones in need of protection,” Vinyl answered with a relaxed tone. “I bet the body count will reach over a hundred.” “A h-h-hundred,” Fluttershy said as she lost her balance. “Monster… hunters?” Applejack stomped. “What in tarnation? Ah sent a message about a threat in Canterlot so they can be o’ use to the princess. Why are they in Ponyville?” “I dunno.” Vinyl shrugged. “Speaking of Canterlot. I think it’s under siege… that, or two armies gathered to have the most epic staring contest in the history of Equestria.” Fluttershy gasped as her body started feeling like a jelly. Octavia facehooved. “How can you say this all so casually? Why didn’t you tell me any of this when I found you?” “I didn’t want to ruin the surprise,” Vinyl said with a chuckle as she pointed at her roommate. “The look on your face was totally worth it.” “Any more bad news?” Rainbow Dash asked with crossed forelegs. “Like maybe Cloudsdale having a civil war? Or the Wonderbolts being turned into thestrals and brainwashed to do evil deeds?” “Nope,” Vinly said before jumping from the sofa and staring at the shocked eyes of Fluttershy. “I put in more effort than usual to get this intel for you, boss, so how do we deal with it?” She stood on her hind legs, punctuating each one with a poke to her foreleg. “We got the two-faced princess slaughtering some hunters. The student of the princess is venturing into the Everfree to salvage the situation. Celestia apparently banished Fleur to Ponyville after giving her the beat-down of a lifetime, and some sort of big party is going on in Canterlot. So, how do we deal with it?” She looked forward, only to look down as Fluttershy lay unconscious on the floor. Upon receiving angered glares from the rest of the ponies present , Vinyl asked, “What… what?” Rainbow Dash flew into the kitchen to get a bucket of water, while Pinkie pulled out a collection of musical instruments in attempt to wake up their fearless leader. Octavia took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before asking, “How… how did you learn about this all in less than an hour?” “Octy, Octy, Octy. You should know me better than that.” Vinyl puffed her chest proudly. “I didn’t survive for so long without having an ace or two up my sleeve. When you have the hearing of a thestral and can manipulate sound waves, not much escapes your ears.” Vinyl focused her magic on the carpeted floor, rolling part of it aside from direction of the stairs, only to pull a few planks which revealed a hidden compartment. Rarity gasped upon recognizing the box, shouting, “Hold on a second! Is that what I think it is?” Vinyl nodded before opening the dusty box and levitating out a set of clothes. Not wasting a moment, she put on a black formal suit with purple stripes, white bowtie and golden sleeves. “You sure did nice work on those, Rarity, a perfect suit for some spying.” Rarity narrowed her eyes. “You issued an order for those a few months ago! Did you just sneak into Fluttershy’s cottage, make some sort of a hiding spot and put those there to decay for so long?” She gestured between clothes and the hole. “Just look at them, in that dusty hole, and Celestia only knows how many wrinkles they have from not being cared for!” She stomped. “Give me one reason why I should not punish you for this crime against fashion!” Vinyl shrugged. “Whatever, you wouldn’t catch me anyway.” Rarity groaned. Vinyl murmured to herself, repeating “secret agent mare” a few times as she levitated the second black uniform to Fluttershy, this one equipped with a long black cape with three pink bats inscribed on it. “Alright, Fluttershy, let’s get dangerous.”