//------------------------------//
// Let The Show Begin 
// Story: Zipporwhill P.I. and the Show Stopper 
// by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof 
//------------------------------//

The crowd... was likely not as large as Zerrin had been hoping.  Zipporwhill did not do an exact count, but there were a lot of empty seats noticeable.  It was definitely less than one-fourth, but she could not figure it out any more accurately beyond that.

Still, if the lack of attendance bothered Zerrin, she certainly did not show it.  The zebra mare was smiling as she took her position for all to see.  Her voice was cheery and upbeat as she greeted the crowd, thanked them all for coming, introduced the judges (which led to a pause as cheers went up for the former princess), and finally, began the competition.

The first entry was a changeling and a dog (which was an actual dog).  The performance was pretty basic, with the dog going through the commands of sit, lay down, roll over, and sit up, before finally jumping through a hoop.  Decent for someone with their first pet, but nothing very impressive when it came to trained animals.

The next entry was unique, and as far as Zipporwhill was concerned, creepy.  A female hippogriff rode into the performance area on a surfboard... carried by crabs.  Dozens of spidery, dark legs, all crawling in the same directions.  They were the kind that walked sideways, so they were able to carry the board while facing outwards.  Beady black eyes glistening in the light, staring out from under the board in every direction.  That also meant that their claws were facing out as well, ready to snap and pinch at anything that came within reach.  Like a pony's cannon.  Or a curious little filly's nose.

Just as the competition seemed to be hitting its rhythm, when everything suddenly turned very noisy.  Deafeningly so.  The dogs howled and barked.  Cats yowled and hissed.  Birds screeched and squawked, flapping wings.  Some of them even took off, flying up into the rafters.

Shadow started barking as well.

"What is it?" Zipporwhill asked, turning her attention to her dog.  "What's going on?  Do you know what's--"

Before she could ask the question, the pegasus learned two things that were important.

First, that someone had brought a Shocking Mungtooth to the competition: a creature that, when agitated, created electrical storms around its body.

Second, whatever was causing the agitation was affecting it as well.

A coat raising charge to the air and a shout of "Watts! No!" was all the warning that anyone got before it happened.  Bolts of electricity shot up and out in every direction, in blue and yellow.  The hum and crackled of the energy filled the air, but was quickly drowned out by the yelps and screams of the other surprised sapients.  Some dropped to the ground, bringing forelimbs up and over their heads.  Others jumped up into the air, taking flight.  A few even managed to do quite well despite not having wings.

Zipporwhill took off, flying up into the air.  There was nothing she could do to stop the mungtooth, but it looked like its owner -- a blue pegasus colt with red and white hair --  was already trying to calm it down.  With Baltimare being a port city, storms were pretty common, with rain or snow, wind, and lightning.  As such, the buildings had to be constructed to withstand any and all of the conditions.  There was nothing Zipporwhill could do about the electrical discharges herself, so she had to hope that it could be absorbed by the structure and discharged into the ground harmlessly.  As it was, no one seemed hurt.

That meant there was only one thing for her to focus on: finding what made the animals excited.  Her first guess was that it must be some sort of sound ponies could not hear.  Something like a dog whistle.

She took off, heading into the main area and up toward the rafters.  It was the best place to start.  From there, whoever was responsible would be able to see all of the trouble their actions were causing, but be at no risk of being caught up in it somehow.

As she had been hoping, there was a figure standing on the walkways.  It was dressed in a cloak, hiding most of its form, but stood as a quadruped.  Flying in closer, Zipporwhill could make out that the legs mostly ended going straight down, and that one was holding something up to where the mouth must have been.

Zipporwhill wished she had some sort of throwing weapon, like a ninja-pony, or Mistress Mare-velous.  Then she could just throw one at the robed figure and knock the flute away from their mouth. Maybe even get extra fortunate, and manage to either destroy the instrument, or injure the leg so the suspect would not get away.

"STOP!" she cried out as landed on the walkway.  "Drop the instrument and keep your hooves where I can see them."

Instead of complying, the cloaked figure reared up, slipping the flute under the garment.  It then pulled something else out and threw it at Zipporwhill.  The pegasus only had time to brace herself and bring her wings up in front of her.  She felt something hit her wing and break apart.  A cloud of red engulfed her.  She felt her eyes, nostrils, and throat start to burn.

Coughing, eyes watering, Zipporwhill felt a desperate need to get away.  To escape whatever was attacking her.

Zipporwhill leapt over the railing and into the air.  Her wings gave a flap to get the stinging powder off before holding open in a glide.  Eyes burning too much to see, she had to trust her pegasus instincts.  There was nowhere near enough space to fly down straight, so she had to circle.  But how much space did she have, and how far was the ground?

A tingle of magic flowed across her body, encompassing her.

"It's alright," a familiar feminine voice said.  "I have you now."

Zipporwhill relaxed a little out the sound.  Not only was she safe, but she had been saved by Princess Celestia herself.