//------------------------------// // Chapter One: The Cavalry (Part 2) // Story: Iota Force Issue #3: The Treachery of Images // by The Iguana Man //------------------------------// That afternoon, Icy, Archer and Scootaloo trotted to the Carousel Boutique. “You do know we don't have to be here 'til tonight, right, Icy?” Scootaloo asked before grumbling, “I mean, even if you do, I know I don't.” “Well, you do know her sister pretty well.” Archer pointed out. “Yeah, obviously I know Sweetie Belle, but I don't see why that means I need to come. Besides, I know the place like the front of my hoof already – slept over enough times – don't see why I need to do recono... reconis...” “Reconnaissance!” Icy chirped, happy at being able to use one of her favourite action-words. Scootaloo paused. “Don't see why I need to do recon.” She finished in a slight huff. “Well, we're gonna have to talk to... the lady who runs it...” Icy started to point out before the name slipped her mind. “Rarity.” Scootaloo supplied. “...to Rarity anyway. And if you already know her, then that should make it easier.” “Yeah, Scoots, we need to talk to the owner of Ponyville’s “toy shop”.” Archer pointed out. Icy, as was often the case, wasn’t entirely paying attention to what was going on around her, so she missed the very audible quotation marks in Archer’s statement. She was also in the front of the group, so she didn’t see Archer’s wink and smirk, nor Scootaloo’s sudden understanding and silent giggling. Icy turned her head to them a few seconds too late. “Yeah, we'll have to talk to her to let her kno-” Her sentence was cut off with a BONK as she walked into the closed door of the boutique. “Do come in!” Called a refined voice from inside the building. Shaking off the impact, Icy opened the door and walked in, Scootaloo and Archer following. The inside of the place was something to behold – all purples and pinks and frills. Several dresses were placed on Poniquins or hung up, all intricate and precisely crafted, to the point where it all became a blur to Icy, just registering as “fancy” and “lots of flappy bits.” Before she could think on it anymore, an impeccably groomed white unicorn came into the front room. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique,” she sang out, “where everything is... Oh, good afternoon, Scootaloo.” It could have been Icy's imagination, but she could have sworn that the unicorn's smile turned brittle for a fraction of a second before fading entirely to a questioning look. “I must say, it's rather unlike you to knock before entering.” To her credit, Scootaloo did not immediately inform the unicorn about Icy's head and its rapid introduction to her front door. “Well, you see, Rarity...” she began before the unicorn interrupted her. “Oh, don't worry yourself – it's hardly a change I disapprove of. Anyway, I'm afraid Sweetie Belle isn't here at the moment - if you come back later, I think she'll be...” “Nah, don't worry, that ain't why we're here.” Scootaloo said. “We?” Rarity asked, suddenly seeming to notice the others. “Oh, hello there. I do apologize – Scootaloo's presence tends to be a bit... destructive at times,...” “Hey!” Scootaloo interjected, only to be summarily ignored as Rarity continued. “...so I got a touch distracted. What can I do for you, Archer and... Icy Flight, correct? Sunny's daughter?” Icy, on the other hand, wasn't really listening, having one question on her mind. “Where are all the toys?” No one spoke for a few seconds as Icy’s words were processed. “Toys?” Rarity asked, her mouth hanging open a little. “Why would there be toys?” “Well,” Icy answered, her mouth moving before her brain could think about what not to say, “I thought this was a toy shop.” It was amazing. Of the other ponies in the room, one hadn’t said anything, another was fuming quietly and the last was dumbfounded by her initial question. And yet, when she finished speaking, Icy could feel the sudden onset of silence. The only sounds were the hoofsteps of Archer and Scootaloo, slowly moving away from her. “A toy shop.” Rarity's eye twitched for a moment. “You thought the Carousel Boutique... Ponyville's premier fashion boutique... the fashion capital of the entire town...” She trotted up to Icy, who suddenly became aware of just how much bigger the unicorn was than her, “was a toy shop?” Oh, fashion. That makes more sense... kinda. “Well, um, it's just that, well,” Icy licked her lips to moisten her suddenly-dry mouth. “I thought... with the whole merry-go-round thing on the outside... you know, fairground ride, might mean it’s for kids and...” she trailed off, terror draining the energy from her voice box. Rarity's eyes narrowed at Icy. She took a deep breath... and then let out a demure little giggle. “Well, I suppose, when you put it like that, it is a bit of an odd aesthetic to have chosen.” She smiled and looked up, as if through the walls of the building. “I suppose if I saw a store based around a carousel, I might think the same thing.” She put a hoof on Icy's shoulder. “I suppose it's a reasonable misunderstanding. Quite an amusing one, too, I must say.” Icy breathed a sigh of relief and gave a slightly synchronized chuckle. She was about to apologize when she suddenly felt her hooves leave the floor. Looking down, she saw herself being encased in a light blue magical field in sync with one around Rarity's horn. “Er, Miss Rarity?” Icy asked. “What are you doing?” “Well, as entertaining a misconception as it was,” Rarity answered, not looking in her direction as she pulled her into the back room, “it's not one I can afford to have spread. Thus, I must make certain you understand what this boutique is all about.” “How?” Icy knew for a fact she would regret asking the question, but felt compelled to anyway. “Why, by finding you a dress so wonderful you'll never forget the place you got it, of course!” “Okay, I guess.” Icy said, though her struggling in the magical aura suggested things were far from okay. “Are you sure you'll be able to find one?” Her confusion was tinged with fear. “Oh, not to worry,” Rarity chirped, her smile seemingly fixed in place, “I have hundreds to choose from.” Icy looked out of the corner of her eye, unable to turn her head, to see Scootaloo waving bye-bye to her. Now her fear was tinged with confusion. “Um, that's okay, you don't have to...” “But of course I do, darling, I absolutely insist on it!” Icy genuinely could not tell if Rarity was doing this out of revenge for the sleight against her business or out of sincere, if horrifically misguided, generosity. And somehow, that ambiguity was more terrifying than either option. “No, no, no, that will never do, it clashes with your eyes horribly, let's try the next one." Icy groaned, having lost the ability to suppress them about fifteen dresses ago. “Miss Rarity! We don't have to... that yellow one was fine.” How many changes of clothes back was that one again? Three? Five? Fifty? Sequence and numbers had lost all meaning – there was no time, no past, no future, no space or place or trace of grace. There was only... fashion! Of course, since Icy didn't know a halter top from a handkerchief, that essentially meant that there was nothing at all. “Exactly the problem, darling, it was fine. Adequate. Dare I even say... functional.” Despite Rarity being behind her and a good few feet away, Icy could feel her shudder. “And I will not have anypony leaving my shop as anything less than fabulous, do you understand? Now, spread out your wings.” “Yes ma'am!” Icy wasn't sure that whether that was a promise or a threat and was far too wise to ask. Rarity hummed for a few seconds, walking around Icy and looking at her from the front before her face suddenly brightened. “Ah hah! I see what the problem is. You just wait there, I shall be back in just a moment!” And with that, Rarity trotted out of the room. Icy breathed a massive sigh of relief and relaxed. She'd never realized just how tired one could get simply standing still and putting on clothes. A barely audible snicker came from the side of the room. Icy's eye flicked over there, looking at Scootaloo and Archer sitting there, watching the spectacle. “Gotta say, Scoots,” Icy said, huffing a little, “would've thought you'd be bored by now. Don't tell me you of all fillies are into fashion.” “What can I say?” Scootaloo smiled, putting on a very poor Rarity impression. “I could never bring myself to interrupt a master at work. It is such a privilege watching you transform into a fabulous fabul of fabulousness!” She put a hoof to her head and pretended to swoon, falling back onto Archer who, for for her part, didn't even budge under the weight. “Riiiiight.” Icy narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. She wouldn't have bought that one even if Scootaloo had tried to be convincing. “But we can't get distracted, can we? We've still got to warn Miss Rarity about Magic Eye.” Scootaloo's eyes opened at that and she suddenly looked a little awkward. “Yeah, about that... we can't.” Icy blinked, nonplussed at the seemingly random and illogical statement. “What do you mean we can't?” Archer shrugged. “She means we can't. We tried warning his victims when we first met him. Didn't work.” “Why not?” “Because he knew.” Scootaloo snapped suddenly. “Dunno how he knew, but he knew. Far as we can tell, the little piece of... he always knows. Says it's “cheating”.” “O... kay,” Icy said slowly, not seeing where this was going, “so he'll know we've warned her and he'll think we've cheated. Boo hoo for him, why is that a problem?” “Because he's a little weirdo, that's why,” Scootaloo replied, sounding outraged at the implication that she would anything for his benefit, “and when we tried it, he told us: “Well, if you're not going to play the game properly, then I certainly don't see why I should!”” Scootaloo recited in an attempt at a sophisticated, intellectual sounding accent. For just a moment, Icy could swear she heard a slight snigger on the edge of her hearing. “Then he robbed a place right on the other side of town outta nowhere. No puzzles, no warning, no nothing. Nopony saw it coming, nopony could do anything about it. Said that's what he does if we don't “play by the rules”.” “Huh.” Icy had just learned two very interesting facts. Firstly, how Magic Eye would react if they tried to subvert his “game”, and secondly, that Scootaloo was really bad at impressions. “Look, Icy, I don't like it either,” Archer said after a pause. At that, Scootaloo scuffed a hoof on the ground aggressively to indicate just how much she agreed with that statement. Archer continued, “but, far as we can tell, the best way to do this is to play along and beat him at his own game.” A small smirk finally broke through the annoyance on Scootaloo’s face. “Least 'til we catch him.” That hint of a snigger came onto the edge of Icy's hearing again, but she wasn't really paying attention, as she'd just realized another question. “So, if you knew we couldn't warn Miss Rarity about this whole thing, why did you let me come here in the first pl-” “I'm back!” Rarity's voice sang as she cantered into the room. “I must apologize for the delay, I had to gather as large a collection as I could.” Her horn dimmed as she placed down a pile of dresses taller than she was. “You see, I realized what the problem is – you see, for most pegasi, a shorter style of dress is preferable with more manoeuvrability. Not that they are to be expected to do aerobatics in them, of course... usually.” She muttered something under her breath that sounded something like aino ash before continuing. “However, with your, if you don't mind me saying so, larger than normal wingspan, I thought a longer, more flowing dress might work better.” She levitated the first dress off the pile. “Of course, they'll take a bit more doing to get into, so let's begin immediately, shall we?” Icy looked to her friends... well, her teammates, at least. Archer was whistling nonchalantly as Scootaloo smiled and looked up, her face the picture of innocence. Well, that answers that. She thought as murder filled her eyes. “What did they do?” “Hmm?” Icy took a short break from her observation to look at Dinky. “What did who do?” Dinky smiled tiredly, looking at Icy through the side of her eye. “Archer and Scootaloo. I was just wondering what they did. I hope it wasn’t too mean.” Icy snorted and looked back at the Carousel Boutique. The two of them, along with a rather more distant Archer, were sitting beneath a string of bushes across the street from the Boutique, keeping an eye on the building. Oddly enough, it was much more comfortable than their last stakeout, due to the fact that the bush in question had seemingly been hollowed out for the express purpose of ponies hiding inside it. She wasn't sure why anyone would do such a thing – maybe so they could jump out and surprise people – but it was convenient for them. The fact that she'd noticed a couple of strands of pink and magenta hair caught on a couple of branches was almost certainly a coincidence. Icy blinked as she returned to the present, thinking about the question she'd been asked. “How do you know anything happened?” “Two reasons. Firstly, Archer’s been staying on the other side of the bushes this whole time, away from us and sometimes looking at you.” Dinky yawned as she tilted her head to indicate Archer, who gave a cheerful wave. “And secondly, well, when you came back from the boutique, Scootaloo looked... happy. Really happy. Which is good, but she’s not usually like that when we’re up against Magic Eye. That probably means she did something to cheer herself up and, well, she can be a bit thoughtless sometimes.” “That's alright, Dinky.” Icy assured her, smiling at Dinky's concern. “Just got me… fitted for a dress. It was just a bit of fun, don't worry about it.” As much as Icy had wanted, at the time, to freeze the two of them into one big ice cube, she wasn't the type to hold a grudge, particularly not for an ultimately harmless prank. Plus, at least Archer seemed to know it was a little mean. And Scootaloo? Well, for some reason, like Dinky had said, this case really got under her skin, so she was probably entitled to a little fun. Besides, after watching Dinky yawn, few ponies could remain angry at anything. Also, she had to admit, the red dress she'd eventually gotten out of it was pretty stunning. “Guys!” Archer said suddenly, though without urgency. It was still surprising to Icy, though, who hadn’t noticed her getting closer. She didn’t connect this to the fact that she’d just confirmed that she wasn’t angry anymore. “We've got movement inside.” “Inside?” Icy looked around, trying to see how she'd missed someone getting into the building. “How did he get inside already? Did you see him get in?” “No, but there's definitely something happening... Oooh, clever little sneak!” Icy looked through the window and her eyes widened as she saw what Archer meant. Inside the building, the head of one of Rarity's many poniquins was lifting itself off its body, revealing a second, much smaller head underneath. It was too dark and too far to see exactly whose head, but it didn't take a pony of Alula's intelligence to figure that one out. “He was there the whole time.” Icy muttered to herself. Silently, the three fillies crept out from the bush and up to the door. “You ready?” Archer whispered. When Icy and Dinky nodded, she indicated towards the door. Dinky put her horn against the lock. Her tiredness hadn't been simply because it was past her bedtime, but because she'd been holding a spell for half an hour or so. Not actually casting it – she couldn't have kept that up for a tenth of that amount of time – just passively keeping an effect of it prepared. Specifically, just before Rarity had locked the door for the night, she'd taken a sort of snapshot, as Icy understood it, of the lock and was now reversing it back to that state, unlocking it. They'd hoped that Magic Eye would unlock it and save her the trouble but, as Archer had pointed out, you could never be sure with him. Once the door had been unlocked, the three repositioned themselves so Archer was in the centre with Icy and Dinky flanking her. Icy placed a hoof next the hinges of the door and pushed hard, opening it quickly. Archer stepped inside, an arrow already nocked and aimed. “Hold it riiiiight there, Bright Eyes!” She said calmly. Peeking around the edge of the doorway, Icy saw their target. For some reason, he was, at that moment, on top of a stepladder doing something to a device on the ceiling. It looked like it was supposed to be there - a small, white plastic disc that had been opened, wires hanging out of it. Next to it was affixed a small, glowing gem that definitely did not look like it was supposed to be there. Below the device, on top of the ladder, was a small figure. For a moment, it looked like a completely different colt from the one she'd seen in the picture. Then she realized that it was exactly the same figure, but with different colours. His coat was now grey, his mask, tie, mane and tail white and his suit and hat a deep red. His face broke into a huge smile as he hopped down from the ladder. “Ah, felicitations, my fine formidable foes!” He caught sight of Icy and his smile widened. “And your freshly found frigiferous friend. I fancy you've fathomed my furacious flexiloquence so I must flatter your foresight. Forgive my facile filibustering, but I felt it fitting to familiarize my form and flair to the fair foals and fillies I shall be foxing.” Icy was briefly distracted from the colt's changed colours by his introduction. She stared at him blankly. The colt’s smile remained fixed in place. “That is to say, hello!” Icy blinked slowly a couple of times, still trying to untangle his initial monologue and failing due to not knowing most of the words he'd used. After a second or two, she shook her head, putting the whole thing into an imaginary folder labelled irrelevant gibberish. However, two things did become apparent: firstly, that Magic Eye knew who she was, or at least that she was a member of Iota Force before meeting her, and secondly, that he sounded a surprising amount like Scootaloo's bad impression of him. The impression was still bad, of course, it was just... apparently accurate. Icy wasn't sure how that worked, so she decided to focus on the first aspect. “You know me?” “But of course!” Magic Eye replied, leaning against the ladder casually and tossing something small up and down in his hoof. “I wouldn't be very worthy of being “Magic Eye” if I couldn't see things, now would I? And I must say, you seem a most promising opponent, as evidenced by your presence here. Besides, you have some information on me - picture, methodology and all that - and it wouldn't be particularly fair if I didn't have a similar level of insight.” Icy blanched slightly, filing away his “observations” to be disturbed by later. “So, why are all your colours different?” Beneath his blank-eyed mask, Icy could tell Magic Eye was rolling his non-magic eyes. “Well, I can't exactly use my own colours all the time, now can I? Not if I don't wish to be tracked down and arrested without difficulty or challenge. And, as I see it, if you're going to disguise yourself in bright colours, why stick to just one set!” He looked at Icy's face. “And, in case you were thinking of being clever about it, I do occasionally use one or both of my own colours. So, no, you can't just look for someone of the colours I never use, even if you could identify them.” He paused for a moment before adding. “Good thought, though.” Icy blinked – she hadn't exactly thought it yet at that point, but she was beginning to before he dispelled the notion. “Oooookay, but, well... how?” She asked. “Do you have some sort of magic disguise?” “Like our dear friend Alula?” Magic Eye shrugged. “Well, the occasional such illusory effect isn’t exactly off the table, but rarely necessary. For this effect, I just use dyes - much cheaper and simpler, if not the best solution in terms of the cleanliness of one’s domicile or safehouse.” Icy rubbed at her head – listening to this colt was starting to give her a headache. “Yeah, that's real interesting,” Archer said, not trying to lie convincingly, “but we can talk more 'bout this in a jail cell.” Magic Eye smirked, looking genuinely amused by the notion. “Now now, my dear dead-eyed damsel, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You have indeed intercepted my first theft – one-nil to you, by the way – but you should know by now it’s never that simple.” Icy tilted her head at the bizarre colt. “What were you going to steal, anyway?” “I hadn't decided yet.” Magic Eye admitted, looking around the store. “I was thinking I might see if the proprietor had any suits in my size – for formal rather than professional wear, of course. Failing that, I could have taken some cash or jewels – a bit pedestrian, I know, but one can never truly go wrong with the basics, don't you agree?” He turned back to his opponents, almost as if he actually expected them to agree. “But now that you've won this round – and I must congratulate you again on the excellent job you made of it – my priorities have shifted from acquisition to escape.” He smiled good-naturedly as he put the small, cuboid object he'd been holding on a step of the ladder. “What is that, anyway?” Archer asked, indicating the object with her head without moving her bow. “Oh, just the battery from the smoke detector.” Magic Eye answered, indicating the roof-mounted box above them. “I took the liberty of removing it for the same reason I put the sound-proofing gem on the ceiling. Wouldn't want to interrupt the good Ms. Rarity’s beauty sleep – I may be a thief and a criminal mastermind, but I'm not a monster.” Looking up, Icy could see that the wire of the open box did include a space to put in a battery. Drat! She thought. There goes my plan to stall him until Miss Rarity hears and catches him by surprise. Although... “Why would you disable the smoke detec-” Icy lowered her eyes just in time to see the small object Magic Eye had thrown rush towards them. She briefly cursed herself for letting him distract her. Fortunately, Archer was a good deal more on the ball than she was, as was the arrow she fired to intercept it. Unfortunately, that didn't help much, merely making the smoke bomb discharge its load a little early, but still close enough to blanket all three of them in a thick, opaque mist. Barely a moment after the smoke rose up, Icy felt something barrel past her, knocking her to the side and, from what she heard, doing the same to Dinky as well. “Freeze him!” Archer yelled, landing from having somersaulted away. Icy didn't have to be told twice, letting loose a short stream of cold. She could feel the thin layer of ice forming on the body that had gone past them, enough to stop it from moving. Furthermore, Dinky had also responded to the command, as Icy could see the yellow glow of her magic around the form, presumably slowing it down if not outright stopping it. For an instant, Icy breathed, confident they'd managed to stop him. The next instant, it occurred to Icy that the form was much bigger and, when it had rushed past her, felt much harder than it should have. The next instant, she heard the front door open and quiet but quick hoofsteps run out. The next instant, the smoke cleared enough for Icy to see the Poniquin that must have been thrown towards them as a distraction while Magic Eye went around them and out the front door. Fortunately, the wind that night was strong enough that, with the door opened, the smoke began to rush out and dissipate in the cool November air. However, when the streets around become visible again, there was no sign of Magic Eye. All that remained was a rolled-up scroll on the ground, tied up with a blue ribbon. Archer kicked the ground in a mild frustration. “You guys see which way he went?” She didn't even look at Icy and Dinky shaking their heads. “Well, we may still be able to catch him. Icy, you go left, Dinky, you...” A tiny, almost inaudible whimper halted Archer's commands. She and Icy looked at Dinky who, to her credit, was trying to cover up her fatigue and her distress at the idea of more exertion. “Which... which way should I go?” Archer sighed, though more at herself than Dinky. “The way home, Dinky. Sorry, I should have thought...” “No, no, it's okay, I can do it, honest!” Dinky said, standing as tall as she could. Which was still pretty small, but taller than she was otherwise. “I'm not gonna let me feeling a bit tired let him get away!” Archer smiled at the drowsiness-hindered wording. “You didn't and you won't – we all messed up back there a bit and,” she looked around at the deserted streets, “he's already got away, catching him now would be a one-in-a-million thing.” Dinky opened her mouth to object before Archer cut her off, picking up the scroll off the ground. “And I'm not gonna let you exhaust yourself for a one-in-a-million. We've got his next clue, that'll do for tonight.” Dinky again started to say something, but was interrupted by a massive yawn. “Well, if you're sure.” She said, still hesitant and disliking the idea of being the weak link. “We're sure.” Icy replied, returning a favour given many times by hugging Dinky softly. “Don't worry,” she assured the little unicorn, “we'll get him next time.” And with that, having finally brought a small smile to Dinky's face, the three fillies trotted back into town, heading for home. A minute later, one of the ponies-on-poles on the roof of the boutique muttered to itself. “Wow. That was both well-reasoned and considerate. A truly touching display, I must admit.” With that, the pole retracted and the pony hopped down from the roof to reveal Magic Eye. He placed the retractable pole back in his pocket and clambered down the walls of the boutique as swiftly and easily as he had clambered up them, his hooves grasping onto the numerous frills that decorated the building. “Yes, I think this little match is going to be very interesting. Still,” he looked at the unlocked door to the Boutique, “it seems that clean-up rather slipped their minds. And Rarity will be in a bad mood already, no doubt, what with one of her brand-new poniquins being headless the day after delivery. Oh well!” He trotted into the boutique once again. Five minutes later, he exited again, having replaced the battery, removed the sound-proofing gem, put away the stepladder and generally left the place exactly as he had found it. He picked the lock on the door to lock it again and trotted off into the night, whistling jauntily to himself. *** “So, he got away, then?” Scootaloo asked. It was the next morning and the colts and fillies of Iota Force had gathered in the playground before school to discuss what had happened. “Yeah, he did.” Dinky said quietly, looking at the ground guiltily. “I'm sorry.” “Hey, no need for that, Dinks,” Scootaloo assured her, putting a hoof on her shoulder, “it ain't like you could've done much better. I just wish I'd been there. I'd've caught up to him and run him down real quick.” She smirked, her wings buzzing in excitement at the prospect. “So, why don't we see what the next riddle says?” Pip asked, trotting up to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Dinky, bringing a small smile to her lips. Archer nodded silently and unrolled the scroll in front of them. Iota Force 1 – Magic Eye 0 Icy was confused for a moment at the note's apparent prescience before reading further. If you’re reading this, that means you won the first round. In which case, I congratulate you, but I hope you still have plenty of your wits left over, as I have no intention of slowing down. On that note, the next puzzle: “I'm double-named and double-maned with, all in all, a single moon, My medium extols my soul and skill and role in my commune.” “He really likes weird words, doesn't he?” Icy remarked to nopony in particular.