//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: A Change in Plans // by Blank Page //------------------------------// "What in blazes were you thinking, Braeburn?" the sheriff scolded. After we rushed Applejack to the local hospital, the sheriff dragged me to his office. "Jeez, Sheriff Silverstar, I didn't expect any of this to happen," I apologized. Of course, I could have cared less about any of this. But for the time being it was best to stay in character. "What do you mean you didn't expect this to happen? These raids have been going on for weeks on end! Now, thanks to your carelessness, we have an injured pony and a missing dragon. As if I didn't already have enough on my plate." Silverstar was obviously furious. I didn't blame him, but it seemed unfair for him to be taking it out on me. "I apologize for my behavior; I know it ain't yer fault. I'm just not in the best of moods at the moment," the sheriff sighed. "With all these abductions going on..." He buried his head in his hooves. "Er, there, there," I patted his shoulder. "There's gotta be something we can do to stop them lousy mutts." Sheriff Silverstar shot upright. "That's it! Braeburn, you're a genius!" "I am?" "We can send some ponies to face them rascals head on! Once we show them what us settler ponies can do, they'll never come anywhere near here again." "Sheriff, with all due respect, just where are you gonna get ponies crazy enough to fight the Diamond Dogs?" Siverstar's sudden burst of energy disappeared as fast as it came. He paced around the room, muttering his thoughts out. I stood uncomfortably between him and the door, every now and then casting a glance to the latter. Seconds ticked by, soon becoming minutes. Sheriff Silverstar was still pacing. His muttered words slurred into incomprehensible sounds constantly playing like a broken record. I slowly backed up towards the door. "Well, it's a darn shame I couldn't help you anymore. If you need me, I'll be with my cousin. See y'all later." I spun around and ran through the open doorway. "Wait!" So close... I peeked through the doorway and put on a smile. "Yes Sheriff Silverstar?" "I want you to help me recruit some crazy ponies for this mission. With the two of us working together, we should have a decent band of ponies itchin' for some dog hide in a week." "Beg pardon, but ain't that a job for the deputy?" I asked. "Yep, which reminds me," the sheriff opened a drawer of his desk, rummaged through it a bit, and returned to me. "Congratulations, Braeburn. You're gonna be my new deputy!" I held back a few tears as he painfully pinned a bronze five-pointed star on my organic "vest." Inscribed on said star in fancy lettering was the word "Deputy." "Shucks, Silverstar, I don't know what to say," I said through a strained smile. A few words did pop up to mind, but they weren't very... appropriate. "You can thank me later." Yeah... thank him... That's what I'd do. "Now get going, Braeburn. We've got ponies to recruit." I stumbled out the front door and trotted down to the hospital where Rainbow Dash was supposed to be waiting with Applejack. I received a few greetings from the local ponies along the way. Whoever this Braeburn character was seemed to be quite popular among these ponies; in a positive way, too. It was something I had a hard time adjusting to considering my popularity at the hive. I found the rainbow maned pegasus waiting outside of the saloon. Why was she not at the hospital like we agreed? Had something happened? I approached her with a multitude of questions on my mind. "Rainbow Dash, why aren't you with ." She stuffed a hoof in my mouth to shut me up. She cast a glance in both directions. "Come with me," she blankly commanded. She didn't give me much of a choice as she dragged me into the saloon by my vest. "Rainbow, what are we " "Shh," she whispered harshly. She dragged me up to the wooden counter. A tall, grey stallion was cleaning some of the glasses with his back to us. Rainbow cleared her throat. The bartender looked over his shoulder. "Just one minute, please," he said. He spun around to a brown earth pony with a blonde mane who was lazily resting on the counter top. "I thought I told you to scram!" The pony jumped up in fright. "But, but, but..." he said through dried lips. Was that salt around his mouth? "No buts. I thought I made myself clear when I said you've had enough salt for today. Now get before I through you out!" the bartender threatened. Salt? Was that what this whole ordeal was about? "Can I at least " The salt lipped pony was hurled out of the saloon. " get a glass of water?" The grey stallion returned, oblivious to the others cry for hydration. "So, what could I do for ya?" he asked. I glanced back at the swinging doors where the brown pony was dizzily walking away. "Shouldn't you give him some water?" "Who, that old timer? Nah, we go through this kind of thing every day. It's kind of a thing we do," he explained. "Ah." Ponies sure had some strange traditions. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat again. "Do you have any place where we could be alone?" The bartender stared between me and her. "We have a few rooms upstairs for rent." "That'll do. How much?" Rainbow asked while getting out a pouch of bits. "Well, that depends on how long you two plan on staying. For overnight, I'll have to charge you ten bits; for about a week it'll be sixty; and for a month " "We'll only need it for a few minutes," Rainbow cut him off. The stallion gave her a confused look, and then a sly smile crossed his face. "I see. And what, might I ask, do you plan on doing?" "None of your business," the pegasus snapped. His smile deepened. "Well, normally I wouldn't allow ponies to rent a room for that short of a time, but for you two lovebirds I think I can strike a deal. Five bits." Lovebirds? He didn't seriously think that Rainbow Dash and I... "Deal," Rainbow tossed the a few gold bits on the counter and grabbed the room key with her mouth. "Come on, you," she said as she tugged me up the stairs. When we reached the closed door, she tossed me in (yes, literally tossed me in) and locked the door behind her. I shakily got back up and dusted myself off. Before I had the chance to nag her about throwing me around like that she slammed me into the far wall. The breath was knocked out of me. "Alright, this is how it's gonna work," she snarled. "I'm gonna ask you some questions, and you're gonna answer them. Got it?" "What the heck, Rainbow?" I wheezed. "I didn't do anything, I swear!" A blue hoof slapped me across the face. "I said I'll be asking the questions. And don't act like you didn't do anything, pony." She flew us up higher, keeping my back pressed against the wall. "How did you escape?" "What?" Rainbow slammed me into an adjacent wall. "You heard me! How did you escape from the desert? Did the other ponies help you?" "If by other ponies you mean you and Applejack, then yes," I answered. "Good pony," Rainbow said through an evil grin. "Next question: What did you do with the two changelings?" "What 'two changelings'? I didn't see any others. And you certainly didn't tell me of any others." Rainbow Dash was starting to get on my nerves with her meaningless questions. The pegasus threw me onto the room's only bed. It squeaked and groaned in protest to the sudden increase in weight. Rainbow Dash landed on top of me and pinned me down. I struggled underneath to free myself, but I couldn't break free. A green flame scorched her body, leaving it as black as a moonless night. Her wings became translucent and sprouted holes. A horn protruded from her forehead and her eyes turned solid blue. The body of Rainbow Dash had been replaced with one of a Worker class changeling. "Don't try playing any games with me," she warned. "Where are Scout 159 and the Interloper nymph?" "Worker 230?" I asked. The changeling was caught off guard by my question. She looked me over. It took me a while to remember I was still Braeburn. "Heh, maybe this'll help," I chuckled as I removed my disguise. "Scout, you're alive!" she screamed and locked me into a chitin crushing hug. "230... you're... crushing... me," I gasped. "I can't believe you're okay!" she exclaimed, ignoring my cry. "By the time we realized you were thrown out, we were too far away to recover you. I was worried that something might have happened to you while you were " "230!" She let go of me in shock. I landed on the creaky wooden floor gasping for breath. "You were worried about me?" I asked smiling. "Come on, this is me we're talking about here. I can take care of myself you know," 230 didn't respond. I looked up to her after regaining my breath. She was still sitting on the bed with eyes wide in shock. Her countenance was frozen in a horrified expression. Her attention was directed at me, too, which succeeded in making me feel uncomfortable. "Hello? Equestria to Worker 230," I waved a hoof in front of her. There was a slight tremor in her voice. "159? What happened to you?" she asked. Confused, I gave myself a quick inspection. Nothing seemed wrong, minus the bleeding wound where the bronze star was still pinned into me. That must have been what she was worried about. "This thing?" I asked while pointing at the star. "Oh, it's nothing too serious. But get this: I am now officially the sheriff's new deputy. Can you believe that?" "159... you're wings... are..." Oh, right... That. "Yeah, uh, funny story about that...." My mood darkened. I gave the singed remnants of my wings a quick buzz, just to hear the higher-than-normal pitch that replaced the one I knew. "I almost forgot about that." I could feel myself slipping back into my depression. Worker 230 hopped of the bed and examined my back. "159... What happened?" "I burned them off," I muttered. ""Why did you do that?" she asked in disbelief. "Because I thought I could start a new fashion trend at the hive," I snapped. 230 flinched. "I'm... I'm sorry, I just..." I choked on the sobs slowly forming in my throat. 230 pulled me into a hug. "It's okay, it's okay," she cooed as she gently pat my back. I shrugged her off after a while and walked to the door. "Where are you going?" 230 asked. "I need to talk to someone," I muttered as I resumed my disguise. "I'll come with you," 230 offered, reverting back to Rainbow Dash. "No, you don't have to. You can just go " "I said I'm coming with you," she interjected, "and you can't change my mind. Besides, how would it look if two ponies entered and only one came out?" There was no point in arguing with her. I knew that she follow me no matter what. With 230 by my side, we walked out of the saloon and back into the streets. "So, where are we going?" "Over to the hospital. I need to check on someone." "Who?" "Just some pony I picked up on the way here," I replied. "There was a nasty fight earlier today and she got banged up. I promised I'd meet up with her." The hospital came into view. Few ponies were near it and rarely any actually walked inside. "So what's your story?" 230 asked. "After, you know, the whole throwing you off of the train ordeal." "Thanks for that by the way," I smiled as I playfully ran into her. I recalled my tale of the past few days. She absorbed every detail of my journey I had to offer, especially the part of the s'mores. "I'm telling you," I said after describing the holy greatness that was the s'more, "when we get back to the hive, I'm gonna have a talk to Chrysalis about bringing those things in. Every changeling will love them; I just know it." I told her about how the Diamond Dogs snuck into our camp at the middle of the night and the series of unfortunate events that unfolded afterwards. "Wow," was all 230 had to say. "I'm sorry to hear about that. But on the upside, I think you're the only Scout class to ever successfully cast two bombardment spells and lived to say it." "Yeah, 'successful.' That's the word that I was thinking of when I saw these two stubs of wings," I said with a half-hearty laugh. "Maybe Nurse 013 could help. He is a professional in this field you know." "Maybe..." I echoed. We entered the hospital before I could return to my story. "I'll tell you the rest later," I whispered. We approached the front desk where a pony sat dillydallying with the random baubles on her desk. I cleared my throat. "We're here to see Applejack." She lifted her eyes to see the two strangers who had interrupted her break. When she saw me her mood visibly lightened. "Howdy there, Braeburn. I haven't seen you since the Sheriff dragged you off by the ear," she chuckled. Her gaze fell down to my chest. "Well, what have we here? Is that star what I think it's for?" I nodded proudly in affirmation. "Ooh, this calls for a celebration!" the nurse said as she clapped her hooves. "Come over to the saloon later today and we'll throw a party, 'kay?" I chewed on the thought of that. A party might be nice after the recent events. "Sure, why not?" The nurse was delighted at my response. "Oh, we can get the whole town in on it. I'm sure everypony will be excited with our new deputy," she giggled. "Yeah, yeah, that's nice and all," 230 interrupted, "but we kinda have a schedule at the moment, so could you...?" "Right, your friend," she blushed. She flipped through some pages on a folder. "Uh... Room Number Six. It's down the hall, third door on the right. Can't miss it." "Thanks you kindly miss," I nodded. "Oh, anything for a friend, Braeburn. Redheart?" the nurse called out to the back. "Could you step in for me? I have something special to put together." Without waiting for a response, she packed up and sped out of the door. 230 and I migrated to the back hall where room six lay. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I was forgetting something. It probably wasn't too important. When we were nearly upon the door, it swung open. A lone doctor walked out. "Braeburn. Rainbow Dash," he nodded. He paused for a second and peered back into the room; then back at 230 in confusion. "Bah, I needed a break anyway," he shook his head and walked off. We entered the room without giving any thought to the doctor's puzzling side note. Applejack was laying in bed with bandages covering her in seemingly random places. She looked much better than when I had left her. Perhaps all she needed was a bath to wash away most of the grime. Rainbow Dash was sitting in a chair reading a book. She gave as a glance and continued reading. A few seconds ticked by before she slammed the book down and glared at us. "What the hay is going on here?" she demanded. I was taken aback by her sudden outburst. I suddenly remembered what was nagging me as I saw that Rainbow Dash was also standing next to me, glaring back at the Rainbow Dash across the room. "I am such an idiot," I grumbled. Rainbow and 230 took flight and met each other in mid-air in combat. As they flew around in the enclosed space of the room, I was busy bashing my head against a wall, punctuating each hit with a "Stupid!" "I got her pinned down, Scout. Run while you still can!" 230 shouted. I raised my head to see the two Rainbows wrapped around each other, making both of them pinned down. I almost laughed at the sight. "Alright, for starters, I'm not going anywhere," I said while forcing down a laugh. "Second, you two can get yourselves untangled. I'm only here to talk to Rainbow Dash, whichever one of you that is," I added. The pegasus and changeling eventually separated themselves from each other. 230 dropped her disguise the second she was free and buzzed her wings with agitation. Rainbow Dash dusted herself off and glowered at me. "I knew you couldn't be trusted," she accused. "You thought you could replace me while Applejack was down and Spike missing. But it'll take more than a couple of changelings to take me out." "Obviously, considering that one managed to single-hoofedly pin you while the second was busy hitting his head on the wall," 230 retorted. "You wanna go for round two?" Rainbow challenged. "Bring it, pony." The two were almost at it again when I forced myself between them. "Will you two quit your horseplay?" I pleaded. "We have bigger problems at hoof." "Like what?" the two combatants demanded simultaneously. "Rainbow, what's Applejack's condition?" I asked. "She's fine; only a few cuts and bruises. Why?" I dropped my disguise and approached the bed where the sleeping earth pony lay. She looked so peaceful. So tired. It would be a shame for something to wake her up. "Wake up, AJ!" I shouted as I violently shook her. Applejack's eyes snapped open as she bolted upright. "Ah didn't eat the apples, I swear!" When she came back to her senses, she cast a surveyed the room with curiosity and her eyes fell upon me and 230. "Uh, Rainbow? Why am I in a hospital bed with two changelings in the same room?" "That's a good question," Rainbow Dash answered. She gave me a skeptical glance. "In fact, I was wondering the same thing." "I assure you, there is a perfectly logical reason for all of this," I said. "I have a plan that might help us with our 'missing dragon' problem, and I'm going to need your help to play it out." Applejack scratched the back of her head. "Alright. If it'll help Spike, then I'm all for it." "Me, too," Rainbow Dash added. "Besides, if we came back to Ponyville without the little squirt, we'd have a hard time explaining it to Twilight." Worker 230 walked up to my side. "Heck, why not? It beats nymph-sitting the Interlopers all day." I couldn't help but smile. Everything was going to fall into place perfectly. Nothing could possibly go wrong! Now all I had to do was raise an army of riotous ponies, and then we will be set. "So, Scout," 230 piped up. "What's phase one of your master plan?" The two mares in the room also appeared curious with what mad scheme I had concocted. My grin grew even wider. "Phase one, you ask? Simple. We go to a party."