One Element of Harmony was mine, time to pick up another. But whose Element would I steal next?
I appeared in what looked like an alley. The tall walls of the buildings, trash cans, dumpsters and general trash were big clues. The alley itself looked to be just wide enough for a car to drive through, if the alley was completely empty. But with the dumpsters and trash cans along the walls, there was just enough room to walk down the middle without touching anything. I was happy for that, because something smelled really nasty and I didnÕt want to have to climb over it to get out. The walls of the buildings reached high over the alley and shrouded it in shadows. Outside the alley was clear and bright daylight.
I took a deep breath, then let my magical senses reach out in a way that I had nicknamed the 'Element Detector'. I ignored the little ping that represented the teleportation node, and searched for another source. I felt one, then rotated in place to get my bearings. When I faced the mouth of the alley, the 'detector' was indicating ahead and to my right. That meant I’d have to leave the alley to find the Element and its Bearer. One quick illusion spell later, and I exited the alley in my original human form. The street ran to my left and right, while the alley continued across the street. The 'detector' was still indicating ahead and to my right, so I turned right and began to walk down the middle of the street. I figured I’d keep walking straight ahead until the 'detector' indicated straight left. And hopefully not down another smelly alley.
The street was narrow, a little wider than your average car but not wide enough for two cars to pass by each other. I did not see any cars parked on the street for as far as I could see. The street itself was made out of cobblestones, with low curbs and sidewalks that butted right up against the buildings with no room for a front yard. There were trees on either side, with wide leafy branches that almost reached the trees on the other side of the street. The sky was a light blue with patchy cloud cover. The sunlight shone in splotches on the street, filtered through the leaves on the trees. There was no breeze, but the late morning was not unpleasantly warm.
The buildings had an old southern feel to them, kinda like you'd see on TV. They had porches and pillars and old-fashioned windows, and dull white paint that was just starting to peel. Now and then, you'd see a house with a modern facade on it that stood out among the older buildings. I had the feeling that I was in New Orleans somewhere, or some town that reminded me of it. Well, I'd only seen New Orleans from movies that showed Mardi Gras festivals. But it felt like I was there, minus the parties and tons of people.
Speaking of people, there were a few walking around. Some walked on the sidewalks, and some like me walked in the street. None of them paid me any mind, and I ignored them too. I walked past a building that was blaring an upbeat jazzy tune from a second-story window. The 'detector' was still pointing ahead, but slowly leaning to my left. So I kept walking.
After several blocks had gone by, the 'detector' finally pointed straight left down a side street. I turned down that street, then followed it while the detector began to lean left again. I was surprised to feel the detector begin to slowly point upwards. When the detector pointed into a storefront on my left, I had to backtrack to get to its front door. The screen door to the store was unlocked, so I opened it and walked inside. The business turned out to be a tea room. The store spread out in front of me and to my right, meaning that the door I entered through was in the front-left corner of the room. Chairs and tables covered in checkered tablecloths stretched across the room in lazy rows, and the walls were covered in shelves that were filled with leaves in jars. The smell of tea was strong, pleasant and unmistakable. I could only see one person in the room, a customer who was sitting at one of the far tables. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt and a white fedora, and had dark skin on his hands. Whether his skin color was a sun tan or genetics, I didn’t know nor did it matter. When he set his teacup down, I could see he had a large, gray, bushy mustache.
My detector pointed up and to my right, where I noticed a second floor landing. The second floor only covered part of the first floor, so I guessed that the area was used for private parties. I had a feeling that was where I would find my pony. While I was looking around, a young man wearing a white apron came out from a doorway near the back of the store. He noticed me standing in the doorway, then walked up to greet me.
"May I help you, sir?"
"Yes. Is the second floor available?"
"I am afraid not, it has been reserved by a private party."
I placed my hand on the gem in my armor, which was hidden under my illusion. I pushed a bit of magic into the gem, then waved my other hand in front of the waiter's eyes. Magical sparkles leapt from my fingers and bounced all over his face. A colorful cartoon swirl appeared in his eyes for a moment, then disappeared.
"She will see me and my guests."
"O-of course, sir."
"My friends would like to take over the tea service, as a special thank you for your guest. Whom may I speak to about that?"
"You would need to speak to the manager, let me bring you to her."
Several finger sparkles and swirly eyes later, and the staff was completely under my control. My plan was simple, and it just needed a little time alone with the pony on the second floor. I summoned my Shadowcats, then left them with the staff to help put my plan into action. I then made my way to the staircase that led to the private seating area. My hand unlatched the rope blocking off the staircase, and then calmly walked up the creaky wooden stairs. At the top, I turned the corner and saw Miss Rarity. She could be no other; her alabaster coat and expertly coiffed purple mane were exceptionally unique. She was sitting calmly at a table near the balcony. Her back was to me, and thus could not see me approach. The squeaky floorboards made sneaking up on her impossible, but I didn’t need stealth. Just as I reached her table, she spoke aloud.
"I'm sorry darling, but I haven't finished this pot of tea yet. Could you come back in ten minutes?"
I walked around her table, and took a seat in front of her. I couldn't help but notice the Element of Generosity around her neck, and the smaller necklace that had Celestia's cutie mark on it.
"I'm not your server."
"Oh, my apologies my dear stallion. This is a private party."
"I am aware of that, Miss Rarity. I was hoping to speak to you, alone."
"Alone? Why would you...
"Wait, I recognize that voice! You're that ruffian from this morning!"
"Guilty as charged, Miss Rarity. And I deeply apologize for my treatment of you. It was, as you said, quite uncouth."
"It will take more than a silver tongue to earn my forgiveness! Are we going to turn this fine establishment into a battleground?!"
"Not at all, Miss Rarity. If I wanted violence, I could have easily hit you in the head while your back was turned. I just came here to talk."
The logic of my words calmed the mare down somewhat, and the tone of her voice softened.
"That may be so, but I do not trust you one tiny bit."
"I understand. But please understand that my actions this morning were not intended to harm, but to distract. My goal was simply to keep you girls from using the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon."
"Perhaps, but you certainly took things too far! It took me many cleaning spells to get all of that mud out of my coat."
"Well, I had to do something to immobilize you. Of all the mares, you had the most creative counterattack."
Rarity beamed slightly at my compliment, but she hid it well.
"Flattery will only get you so far. But you have yet to apologize for mistreating me and my friends.”
“True. I am very sorry for attacking you and your friends. I really didn't want to do it. But, what I did was better than what Nightmare Moon wanted me to do."
"Oh? And what was that?"
"She wanted me to kill one of you, to guarantee that the Elements couldn't be used against her."
The fashionista turned a bit green at my words.
"K-kill...?"
"Yes. She was actually pretty upset that I didn't kill anyone, and only left you all with bumps and bruises."
"O-oh. I see. We were so worried about Fluttershy, the Princess wasn’t able to find her."
"She’s safe. I set her on a cloud, and sent her away from the battle so she wouldn’t get hurt."
"Oh, thank Celestia!"
"So you see, I was forced to attack you but I did my best to protect you at the same time."
Rarity went silent for several moments.
"Perhaps I have misjudged you."
"Eh, not really. I am working for one of the bad guys. But that does not make me evil, either."
"I suppose not."
Several uncomfortable seconds passed by. I broke the silence first.
"Well! I imagine your tea has gone cold. Shall we order another pot?"
"Oh! Um, yes please."
"And what were you drinking?"
"Darjeeling white. It's my favorite."
I had no idea what kind of tea 'Darjeeling White' was, but it hardly mattered.
"Excellent choice."
I waved my hand and shouted at an imaginary waiter behind Rarity. I knew my voice would carry downstairs, where my Shadowcats were waiting and listening.
"More of the same, please!"
I turned back to Rarity.
"It'll only be a few minutes.
"So! What do you think of this world?"
"I admit that I have not seen very much of it yet. But what I have seen is quite intriguing. Why do you ask?"
"Just small talk. Unless you'd like to stare at each other in silence?"
"Oh no no darling, that would be most unpleasant. Let me think...ah, yes! Unfortunately, I have not had time to explore your world, we are here on a mission after all."
"Mm-hm."
"We arrived on a farm, apparently. Princess Celestia led us to what looked to be a house, and she knocked politely on the door. Would you believe that they slammed the door in our faces as soon as they saw us?"
"Really."
"Yes! We kept knocking and tried to explain ourselves, but they wouldn't open the door! They kept telling us to 'go away' or they would 'call the po-lice' on us! I admit, the first impression your people gave us was quite poor."
"I see."
Princess Celestia felt that these 'po-lice' might be able to help us better, so she persisted in her knocking. Eventually, a metal carriage arrived to investigate. But to our surprise, it was not the local guard but somepony called 'Animal Control'! Animals, us! I could barely contain my outrage."
"That's too bad."
"Of course, we eventually understood why. But..."
I tuned Rarity out when I saw two of my Shadowcats appear at the top of the stairs. It was Bastet and Isis, both in their larger feline forms. I was pleased to see that they had listened to me and not worn their Shadowcat uniforms. The two female cats gracefully walked over to our table on all fours, while balancing our tea order upon their heads. As they approached, I could see them in more detail. Bastet was balancing a steaming teapot upon her head, with a thick white towel between the pot and her head. Isis was carrying a plate with two tea cups on her head. I watched my cats approach and ignored Rarity, who did not notice I wasn't paying attention to her. Once both cats arrived, they sat down next to our table. The cats were wearing identical black tuxes, or at least the coat portion of them. They both wore a white shirt under the black coat, and the tails of the shirt stuck out past the bottom of the coat. And they wore identical red bow ties. While the cats were much larger than normal cats, the top of their heads barely reached above the edge of the table.
"Your tea, Master."
Rarity turned to look at the voice, and gasped out loud.
"Oh my goodness! What adorable felines!"
Both cats smiled at the compliment.
"Yes, they are. The one that spoke is Bastet, and the other is Isis. They are both my companions, and my friends."
"How wonderful!"
"Bastet, you may serve the tea."
The tortoiseshell reached above her head with her forepaws, and used the towel to carefully lift the teapot off of her head. She set the teapot down on the edge of the table, as she was too short to reach any farther. Bastet did the same with the plate and teacups on Isis's head. Both felines looked to me for further instructions.
"Thank you, you may go."
They both bowed their heads, then dropped to a four-legged stance and trotted towards the stairs. Rarity watched after them for a few moments, then turned back to me.
"My goodness! I didn't know Abyssinians lived on this world!
I remembered that Abyssinia was the mythical city of cats on the same world as Equestria, first canonized in the comic books.
"They're not from Abyssinia, they're native to this world. They were normal cats when I adopted them, but a little magic helped change them into who you just saw."
"Oh my! They are so pretty!"
"That they are. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, please."
I picked up the teapot by its handle, and poured us each a cup. I offered one to Rarity, who took the cup in her magic. I picked my cup up in my hands, and gently took a sip. I had never tried Darjeeling tea before, but I was quite pleased with its light flavor. I let out a small sigh of pleasure as the heat from the tea warmed my insides. Next, I looked over at Rarity to see if she had also enjoyed her beverage. She had not. Her magic still held her teacup in the air, but instead of drinking it she was staring at me instead.
"Something wrong?"
"Oh, just concerned about poison in my tea."
"Really? I just drank some."
"Perhaps you added the poison after you poured my tea."
"Well, I'd be happy to switch cups with you. But since I've already drank from it, it's got cooties."
The fashionista scoffed at my claim.
"Cooties? Such a childish notion."
A light blue glow encircled my teacup, and the mare's magic gently yet firmly pulled it from my hands. The same magic set her teacup into my waiting grasp.
"There. Now, drink up if you please."
I shrugged, and took a sip from my new teacup.
"Satisfied?"
"Not yet. Take a deeper drink."
"It's too hot to take more than a sip, but I'll do my best."
I took a longer sip, and felt the hot liquid burn down my throat.
"Gah! Hot, hot, hot!"
I fanned my mouth for a few moments.
"I think I burned my tongue. Satisfied now?"
Rarity smirked at my pain. She obviously wanted to see me burn myself on the tea.
"Yes, quite."
She then took a small sip of her tea, as if nothing strange had happened.
Our conversation lasted for more than an hour. As we conversed, we finished that pot of tea and yet another. Rarity's paranoia was quite strong; she kept trying to 'catch' me poisoning her, by switching our teacups at random. I let her do what she wanted, it wouldn’t affect the outcome one bit. By the time we had finished the second pot of tea, Rarity began to tire. Her eyelids had been drooping for the past ten minutes, before she finally let out a big yawn.
"Oh, my goodness! How rude of me!"
"No worries."
She let out another large yawn.
"I don't know what's come over me!"
"Oh, it's just the sleeping potion I put in the tea."
"What?!”
Without warning, I reached across the table and grasped Rarity's shoulder. I cast a sleep spell on her, then sat back in my chair.
"Rest easy, Rarity. You've had a long day."
The alabaster mare's eyes closed and she set her head down upon the table. A moment later, she began to snore. Nightmare Moon had given me this 'Essence of the Moon' sleeping powder when we were back in her Moon Palace. She told me it would put any pony into a deep sleep, but our shared alicorn magic conveniently made us immune to its effects. I stood up from the table, then walked around it to stand behind Rarity. It was an easy task to unclasp her Element necklace and place it in my pocket dimension. Before I left, I gently set my hand on her back where her neck met her shoulders. It felt like an intimate gesture, even though I knew I wasn't taking any liberties with her.
"I hope that someday, you'll understand."
I lingered a moment longer before I turned and headed down the stairs to the ground floor. I retrieved my Shadowcats, freed the workers from my spell, and walked out the front door.
I returned to the park in Washington DC to see Nightmare Moon smiling at me.
"A warm welcome to you! Was your mission a success?"
I retrieved Rarity's Element from my pocket dimension and showed it to the mare.
"One Element of Generosity."
"You have made good progress, I am pleased."
"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"Nay. Merely a minor annoyance."
The mare inclined her head to my left. I turned in that direction to see not one police car, but FOUR. Several police officers littered the ground; none moved.
"Are they dead?"
"I do not know, nor do I care to find out. They dared to attack me, and paid the price for their folly.
"Now, let us send thee to confront thy next opponent."
The familiar teleportation spell sent a tingle across my fur as I was whisked away. I idly wondered, who I would meet next?