//------------------------------//
// Rarity 
// Story: Kerfuffle's Lower Left Limb Kerfuffles 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

Rarity checked her bag one last time to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything before strapping it to her side and walking out of the hotel. In truth, she was rather looking forward to seeing the back of the place, at least for this year. She was certain that by the time she returned for the next Rainbow Festival, it would be back in proper condition, as would the spa she had been so looking forward to. 

She would definitely need a trip to the one in Ponyville after all of this. 

She reached the lobby and stopped for a few moments to put some bits into a tip jar before walking out in the direction of the Rainbow Festival. She had to meet up with her friends before they six of them left Hope Hollow for the year.

"Rarity! Oh, Rarity! Over here!"

Rarity turned in the direction of the voice and smiled when she saw Kerfuffle walking up to her. 

"Oh, marvelous timing, my dear," Rarity said, walking up to Kerfuffle to exchange a hug. "I was actually hoping to run into you before I left. I wanted to get your address so that we can stay in contact."

"Oh, I already gave that ta Princess Twilight. Wanted ta make sure you had it in case I didn't run into ya before you left."

"Well, I certainly appreciate the effort, but I wouldn't have left without saying goodbye to one of my new friends."

Kerfuffle blushed and waved her hoof with an embarrassed giggle. "Oh, yah, that's a great honor to hear you sayin' that. I can't thank ya enough for helping me this weekend. I would have never gotten the opportunity ta show off my designs if it weren't for you helpin' out."

"Well I couldn't let talent like yours go to waste," Rarity said, putting her hoof on Kerfuffle's shoulder. "I cannot wait to see what you come up with next. Maybe you could even improve on one of my designs."

Kerfuffle squeaked and her blush deepened. "Oh, no. Nooooo, I could never do that. They're perfect already."

"Nonsense, darling," Rarity insisted. "Even if some of them are, I cannot create perfection every time, and the perspective of another talented pony such as yourself could really benefit my designs."

"Ohhhh stop it. Yer gonna make all of the blood rush to my head," Kerfuffle giggled. "That means a lot comin' from you. Maybe someday I could even move past clothes and design other things." She shook her fake leg. "It'd be real nice ta do somethin' cool with this."

"Yes, I didn't want to bring that up, but, uh, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little noticeable." Rarity's smile returned and she put her hoof on Kerfuffle's shoulders. "I think it's perfectly lovely as it is. You've done a wonderful job with it."

Kerfuffle giggled again and waved her hoof. "Oh no. I'm not the one who made it. I'm not that good. I had somepony else make it for me. Government pension paid for it, and all that."

"Government pension?" Rarity said, raising her eyebrow. "I didn't know you worked for the government."

Kerfuffle perked up. "Oh yah, for sure! Not too long, though, but long enough to get a pension."

"Interesting. I never would have guessed. What did you do exactly?"

"Well..."


*  *  *  *


Kerfuffle sat down at a table in an unassuming small cafe. She quickly glanced around to make sure that nopony was watching before turning to the stallion sitting on the other side.

"So, do you have it?" Kerfuffle asked in a perfect Canterlotian accent. "Have you found the time to obtain the ingredients?"

The stallion nodded at the code words. "Yes. They're fresh."

A slight tension in Kerfuffle's shoulders eased at the response words. She had worried for a brief moment that she had gotten the wrong table. The stallion reached into his coat pocket and produced a small envelope which he slid over to her. She instantly grabbed it and shoved it into one of her coat pockets. It would have been wiser to wait a while and order something so as to deflect suspicion, but time was likely of the essence. She tipped her hat to the stallion and stood up from the table.

She pushed the door to the cafe open and walked out into the Canterlot night, rain drizzling around her. She tightened her coat around her and found a back alleyway where she could read the contents of her pickup in peace. Once she was sure she was alone, she slid the envelope out of her pocket and tore it open.

The Docks. Building Four. Eight guards. Hostage safe.

Kerfuffle let out a deep breath and slid the envelope and note back into her pocket. If the hostage was safe, she likely wouldn't be for long. If her intel was correct and the mob had her, they'd likely load her onto the next ship that docked, which would take her to Celestia knew where. There was no time to lose.

Kerfuffle took her coat and hat off and slid them into an enchanted saddlebag with an undetectable extension spell cast on it. She spread her wings and took off in the direction of the docks. Thankfully, they weren't far. She made the flight in less than twenty minutes. 

As she approached the docks, she landed on top of a bushy tree that perfectly overlooked the docks. She saw four buildings in front of her. She grimaced as she realized she wasn't sure which building was building four. The one to her right, or the one to her left? It was hard to tell from here. She took a pair of binoculars out of her bag and began scanning the docks. It was the building on her far left where she noticed it: a single armed guard walking around. Bingo. She smirked and put the binoculars back in her bag before jumping off of the tree and gliding behind one of the shipping containers. Once there, she opened up her bag once more and took out a dock worker's outfit. After putting it on, she took a pack of cigarettes out and lit one up before walking out to join the fray. 

As she walked, she allowed herself a small smile. Most of going undetected in an area was acting like you were supposed to be there. She ducked and weaved her way through the workers in the direction of Building Four without so much as a second glance. 

"OY!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see a portly stallion walking toward her, a glare on his face. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Da Tartarus do ya want?" she said, slipping into a lower-Manehattan accent. "I'm tryin' ta work here!"

"Ya ain't gonna take another step until ya put that cig out!" the stallion who Kerfuffle guessed was the forepony growled. "You wanna light up, ya do it on yer own time!"

Kerfuffle rolled her eyes again before using her wing to take the cigarette out of her mouth. 

"Oh, for Celestia's sake..." She glanced at his name tag so quickly that it didn't even seem like she paused. "Hard Hat. Ease up a bit, will ya? I didn't have time for my smoke break. Got a lot ta do!"

"Well, you can take one later," Hard Hat growled. "Put that one out before ya cause some big accident, and get back ta work!"

Kerfuffle glared at him, but dropped the cigarette from between her feathers and stomped on it to put it out. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Hard Hat said through gritted teeth. "Now get back to it before I write you up."

Kerfuffle turned and walked away, but not before an unheard barb. "I should write you up for not showering," she muttered to herself. 

In any case, she had more work to do. She pushed the interaction with the forepony aside and made it to Building Four. There were dock ponies passing it, but every door seemed to be shut tight, with two armed guards in front of the main door. Kerfuffle walked past the building and turned slightly in the direction of a nearby container. As she grew closer, she saw the guard who she had seen above patrolling pass her by. If he was the only one doing a perimeter check, this would be easy. She put on a little speed and found a crate behind the building to dive behind. She quickly slid her dock pony uniform off and put it in her bag, replacing it with a dark blue jumpsuit. Black would just make her stand out in the shadows. With practiced ease, she slipped it on.

She waited for a few minutes for the patrolling guard to pass her by once more. It wouldn't do for him to see her in the middle of breaking in. Once she was sure he had passed her, she took to the air in the direction of one of the windows. She tried it and found that it was locked. She couldn't be lucky all of the time, but there was no harm in trying, and she had other ways around it. She took a glass cutter out of her bag and cut a circle out of the window. With that done, she reached through it and unlatched it, allowing her so creep in. 

She found herself on the catwalks above the main room of the warehouse. True to her intel, five guards patrolled around, with two guarding a particular crate that Kerfuffle was certain held the hostage. Just as she was trying to figure out what to do, she heard a ship's horn. Her time was running out. If she was quick, she could do this quietly. She took a blowgun out of her bag along with a pack of sleeping darts. With speed and perfect accuracy, each of the five guards fell to the floor, completely unconscious. Kerfuffle grinned and glided down to the shipping container.

She pulled open the door and found a twenty-something mare inside. She had been tied to a chair and gagged. Her eyes widened when she saw Kerfuffle approaching.

"Don't worry. I'm here with the EIS. I'm here to get you out." Kerfuffle untied the gag, then took a knife out of her bag and quickly began cutting the ropes off. 

"No!" the mare hissed. "It's too dangerous for you! Get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving without you." The last of the ropes fell away, allowing Kerfuffle to put the knife back in her bag. "Can ya walk?"

"I don't know," the mare whispered. "What if they see us?"

"It's only three of 'em now, but if yer that worried..." Kerfuffle motioned to herself. "Climb on my back."

"Well..." The mare gulped. "If you say so."

The mare climbed on, and, with some adjustments for the added weight, Kerfuffle took off. The window she had entered through was large enough that she could fit both of them through it. She glanced down once to ensure that the perimeter guard wasn't close, then flew away. 

As they got farther and farther away from the docks, the pressure in Kerfuffle's chest slowly faded away, until she was certain they were safe. Once she reached the streets of Canterlot, she landed, allowing the mare to slide off. She beckoned the mare to follow her, and led her to a nearby apartment building.

"We'll be safe here until the guard can come get ya," Kerfuffle said. She stepped aside to let the mare go into the safe apartment before walking in herself and locking the door behind her. She let out a deep breath and collapsed onto the chair.

"Bet we've both had a hard day," she said.

The mare groaned and nodded, walking up to Kerfuffle. "Certainly. The worst one I've had in quite a while, I daresay. It's enough to make a lady want to stay in bed for the rest of the week."

"I hear that." Kerfuffle stood up and stretched, relishing the popping in her wings. "No rest for the wicked, though."

"I certainly agree with that."

Before Kerfuffle could respond, she saw the glint of a knife in the corner of her eye. She yipped and jumped back just as the mare swung the knife. The tip of the knife clipped her left hind leg, but didn't leave more than a little scratch.

"What are you doing?!"

"My job, same as you," the mare said with a shrug. She grinned and twirled the knife in her magic. "I told you to leave and that it was too dangerous for you. We all have our roles to play in this situation."

"You were never a hostage, were you?" Kerfuffle growled, backing away from the mare. 

"Oh, I was at one point, but I understand where they're coming from." She chuckled and brandished the knife. "Once you are taken care of, I will be generously rewarded."

"You'll never..." Kerfuffle swayed on her hooves and stumbled back. She felt dizzy all of a sudden.

"Feeling weak, are we?" the mare said with a smug smile. "This knife is coated in a rather nasty poison. A small scratch was all I needed. You have no hope of getting the antidote in time."

"Ya sure about that?" Kerfuffle groaned. Unbeknownst to the mare, she slipped a gem off of her bag and crushed it. "I'm pretty hard ta take down."

"No doubt. If you hadn't fallen for our little trap, I don't know how we would have gotten you." The mare's grin turned nasty as Kerfuffle bumped up against the back wall. "What do you think? Should I let the poison take you, or would you like me to make it quick?"

Kerfuffle chuckled and slid down to the floor, the poison rendering her unable to stand. "I'd like to see you get your plot kicked, actually."

The mare frowned, but before she could say anything else, the door was bucked open and the window shattered as special agents poured into the room. The mare gasped and tried to swing at one of them with her knife, but a quick spell knocked it from her grasp. 

"No! No! You will not stop me!" The mare let out a mad giggle. "In fact, you can't!" She pointed at Kerfuffle. "She's already dead, and soon her body will realize it."

"Take her away," the lead stallion growled, motioning to the door. "We'll deal with her later.

Two unicorns lit their horns, one wrapping a band of magic around the mare's horn, and the other lifting her in the air. The mare struggled and shouted as they dragged her away. Kerfuffle flopped onto the ground as the mare's shouts faded away. She didn't have the strength to sit up anymore.

"Oh yeah, that's not good," the lead stallion said, kneeling next to her. "Looks like Death Head Moth's poison."

"Hooray," Kerfuffle groaned. "Any other fun observations?"

"Hm." The lead stallion poked at the leg, causing Kerfuffle to hiss in pain. "It's already starting to rot. We're going to have to do a little surgery to save you."

Kerfuffle weakly lifted her head. "What kind of surgery?" 


*  *  *  *


"This kind, as it turned out," Kerfuffle said, shaking her back leg. "Took me a few weeks ta recover, but I pulled through. Not my best day."

"I can imagine not!" Rarity said. "I can't imagine what it must have been like to be betrayed by a mare you worked so hard to rescue."

"Oh, she just had a little brainwashin'," Kerfuffle replied with a wave of her hoof. "Nothin' we didn't fix. Got the ponies responsible for it, too. Not too bad. That and the government got me a new leg and all, so everything turned out a-okay!"

"Well, I certainly hope that it isn't bothering you," Rarity said. "Still, being a secret agent! It's like one of my Shadow Spade novels!"

"Oh yah, those are a lot of fun!" Kerfuffle smirked and rolled her eyes. "Not always all that accurate though, are they?"

"Well you would know better than I," Rarity admitted. 

"Guess so. In any case..." Kerfuffle motioned in the direction of the Rainbow Festival. "I don't wanna keep ya from your friends. I'll definitely talk to ya later. Gotta get some stuff from my shop."

"Oh, yes, of course." Rarity chuckled and gave Kerfuffle a knowing smile. "I'd love to hear more about your escapades."

"Oh for sure! Only what's declassified, though," Kerfuffle said with a wink.