//------------------------------// // The Truth Shall Set You Flea // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S8 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was another peaceful day in Ponyville, with everything since Spike's molting situation now over. At the School of Friendship, Twilight had called all the teachers to her office, only to find the defenders also there. "What are you doing here?" Flash asked as he walked in. "I asked them here," Twilight replied, "We need to discuss security measures around the school." This made them all raise eyebrows. "Why? Did something bad happened?" "No," Twilight shook her head, "But there's a special event taking place that we need to be prepared for. Last year, an ancient magical artifact was discovered, catalogued and studied, but so far nothing about it has been uncovered. It'll require further study, but before that, it'll be placed on display in certain areas for ponies to view. And it just so happens, our school has been offered the chance to display it for two weeks." "That's wonderful," Rarity cheered, "I'm sure our students will enjoy it." "And it might help boost our school's credibility," Starlight added, knowing that EEA was still out there with Neighsay. "So you need us to act as extra security for this item?" Iron asked, Twilight nodding back. "Exactly. We already have Flash here, but I would like at least one defender on guard whenever he's in class or if he gets called by the map." "Shouldn't be too much trouble," Lightning chuckled, "So what is this thing?" "Yeah!" Rainbow chimed in, "Is it some kind of sword? Or maybe a suit of armor?" "Is it a deadly bee weapon?" Pinkie added, the others all turning to her, "What? It could happen." They laughed at this as Twilight got up from her desk and moved over to an area of her office that had a painting of Princess Celestia on it. The picture swung on a hinge, revealing a safe behind it that she quickly opened. "This is it." She then pulled out a long piece of red fabric that was resting on a blue pillow. "That's the relic?" Rainbow asked, "It's just a piece of cloth." "It's actually a headband," Twilight responded as Rarity moved over and saw a golden thread stitched into the cloth, the mare's eyes sparkling. "And it's not just an ordinary headband. It appears to be made out of a strange material that's practically indestructible." She turned to Flash, "Look familiar?" Flash squinted before going wide-eyed, "It's the same stuff that my mom made Scootaloo and my blankets from." Twilight nodded as she put the headband on the desk. "That's right, which means this fabric might be from the same era the temple she found it in was built. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. This headband has a special power." The group shared a glance before Twilight added, "When a pony puts it on, they apparently get shown their most terrifying inner secrets. Something they know but refuse to believe." "Really?" Pinkie asked next. "Yup," Twilight nodded, only for Pinkie to laugh and grab the headgear. "Pinkie, wait!" But the mare put it on and quickly tied it behind her back, the others watching for a reaction. A moment later, Pinkie's eyes went wide and began to glow. To them, she remained perfectly still, but too Pinkie, it was like she was transported to a blue void of nothingness. "Huh," she glanced around as the void was suddenly filled with stars, "Wow..." She then heard a cough, making her turn and see another one of her. She thought maybe she had just run into another mirror pool copy, but then she noticed the headband on the other's head as she floated in a back legs crossed position. The copy's eyes opened to show they were glowing, the mare staring herself down. "Pinkie Pie," it said in an echoing voice. "Sprinkles cannot fix every problem." "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, closing her eyes before opening them again to find she was back in Twilight's office. She quickly grabbed the headband and threw it off herself, "THAT WAS HORRIBLE!" Twilight gasped and grabbed the ancient cloth in her magic, lifting it up before it could hit the ground. "Well..." Twilight put it back on the cushion, "Now you understand why it's such an important item. No doubt a lot of thieves would kill to get their hooves on it, which is why we need the extra security until it's moved to the next location." "We understand," Grand nodded, "We'll make sure nopony who shouldn't be here will get in." "How?" Fluttershy asked, "There's a lot of ponies that spend their time here. All it would take is a single moment's distraction for the criminals to get it." "I might have an idea about that," Lightning chimed in, "But I'm gonna need Spike and the Rune Gate." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, but nodded all the same. A little later... Lightning's idea ended up being Solid Script work his Rune Magic. Once the unicorn got the message, he headed over to where the headband would be stored, that being the library, and quickly began forming a protective barrier around the podium in the middle of the room that would hold the glass casing for the relic. "And...finished," he smirked as he put down the last rune. Everypony stared at the podium, seeing the runes weaved into it and the floor now vanishing as they were activated. "Alright, here's how it works." He pointed at the podium, "I've placed anti-magic runes around the podium. That way nopony can use magic inside the circle to lift, teleport, or whatever they think of to remove the relic. I've also placed a one-way Rune Gate on the podium that's activated as soon as anypony enters the area of the runes I placed on the floor." He took out a roll of duct-tape and started forming a circle around the area the runes had been. "So if anypony passes the tape, it'll activate the Rune Gate?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Script as he finished the circle. "Exactly. And it'll be transported wherever I place the other gate. Anywhere safe you want to put it?" Twilight nodded and told him her safe would work. "What about an alarm?" Springer asked as he leaned against a bookshelf. "Maybe one that activates if the podium doesn't feel anything on it? That way we'll know when the headband leaves the podium." Script nodded before placing a rune on each of them. "This rune will make you immune to the security rune's effects. That way you can enter the circle when you need too." Twilight thanked him as she took the headband in her hooves and flew into the circle. Sure enough, her rune shielded her from activating the other ones as she placed the cloth in the glass case and shut it, flying out as they all stared at the relic. "Perfect," she cheered, "With this and the defenders on duty, nopony's gonna try and steal the headband." Everypony nodded in agreement as Iron spoke up. "But seriously, who would even bother trying? I mean, I know it's valuable and has a crazy ability, but I doubt a lot of ponies would want something that only shows you things you try to deny. Who'd be dumb enough to try and steal that?" That night... Slumber had taken over Ponyville, the only creatures awake being Rogue in the orchard and a few owls hooting in the trees. At the Castle of Friendship, Flash and Twilight lay side by side in a deep sleep. And as they did this, a pick came up to their window and unlocked it, soon opening as a long metal pole with a two fingered claw on the edge reached inside. It then got to the pair's bed and managed to slowly move down to the couple's manes. Both ponies were laid back to back, the ends of their manes right next to each other. The claw got to the ends of both mane's hair between its fingers before it was slowly pulled back, yanking a single strand from both ponies. They flinched for a moment, the claws quickly retracting, but neither awoke. A few minutes later, the same was done in Springer's room. He had some of his tail hairs yanked out, though he too remained asleep. Starlight was the next victim, losing a few of her mane-hairs as well. Throughout Ponyville, the claw went to every home of Equestria's greatest heroes. And each time it made off with some hairs, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Lightning, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Iron and Grand all not noticing what was happening. And when the last hair was stolen, the perpetrator rushed off out of town to a nearby canyon, keeping to the shadows as the light of the moon revealed a silver pegasus with a yellow mane and tail along with a wind-like cutie mark. It was Rickashay, one of Big Score's lackeys as he flew down to the money loving unicorn and the bulky brute known as Boulder. Score turned to see Rickashay return, "Did you get it?" Rickashay smirked as he took out a jar full of hairs. "Twelve strands of hair from twelve annoying pests." Big Score cackled as he took the jar, "Perfect. Now we can go after the Headband of Inner Truth without those annoyances getting in our way." "How?" Boulder asked next. Big Score sighed, "Do I really have to explain it again?" Boulder said nothing, clearly thinking it was better to be assume a fool than to open his mouth to confirm it. "Fine." He moved over to a cart Boulder had been pulling and took off the cover before levitating a glass box out. Inside were a large number of black dots that were too small to make out the details off, but that flew around super fast. "These are super fleas, created by cross breeding the most aggressive strains of flea and reinforced using magical means. They're the ultimate itching machines." Rickashay and Boulder backpedaled, Score laughing, "Relax, they're not gonna go after us. They haven't been programmed yet." His horn shined as a bunch of runes to appear on the box. "The magic in this case will train the fleas to go after a certain type of hair. Whatever hair we put into the box." He raised the jar and opened a smaller box atop the large glass one, quickly pouring the hairs inside. Once they were all inside, he shut the box and pulled switch that caused the bottom of the box to open and drop the hairs into the swarm of fleas. They watched as the insects swirled around the hairs, devouring and analyzing the DNA each one had. Once the hairs were no more, the runes on the box stopped glowing. They were ready. "Finally! The ultimate scheme!" He pulled the lid off the box, allowing the insects to spring free. "Flea my pretties. FLEA!" He cackled as the black swarm shot along the ground, bouncing up and down so much it looked like a black wave of water flying down the canyon. "Sniff out the ponies you've sampled! Drive them insane with itching so that they have no way to stop us!" He continued cackling, the fleas now leaving their sight. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Rickashay asked, "Those things are pretty small. How do we know they'll even get to town, let alone locate their targets and somehow get inside without them noticing?" "Oh, they'll find them alright," Score smiled. "With how much I paid for them, they had better work." The next morning... Flash had woken up early for morning patrol, the pegasus taking to the air half asleep while scratching his head. He glanced around at this, seeing nothing out of the ordinary...only to be distracted by the itching, which didn't seem to go away no matter how much he scratched. And it quickly spread to the rest of his body, the pegasus twitching in an attempt to get rid of whatever was irritating him. And he wasn't the only one. Grand was also on patrol, the pony now brushing up against a rock. When they awoke, the rest of Flash's friends also found themselves scratching. And one by one, they all realized the horrible truth. They all had fleas. Of course, everypony took this discovery differently. Twilight and Starlight instantly started looking for a magical cure, teleporting around, trying to leave the fleas behind with little success. Fluttershy tried to talk to the fleas and ask them to leave, but the fleas wouldn't respond. Rainbow tried flying as fast as she could, even making a Sonic Rainboom in a hope of blowing the fleas off. The little blighters were able to hang on. Then there was Rarity, who fainted when she realized that she, Lightning and Grand were infested. She instantly sent Sweetie to their parents home and leapt into the bath to drown the fleas. But she was no less itchy afterwards. It appeared that nothing was able to remove the fleas. Flash, Twilight, Springer and Starlight were making their way through town to a restaurant they had agreed to meet their friends at. They knew going outside with fleas wasn't a very smart idea, but they didn't want their friends to wonder why they were gone. "There they are," Twilight whispered as she spotted the Defenders and Mane Seven, minus Applejack, already sitting at the table they had booked. "Now no matter what, we can't let them know we have fleas. So play it cool." The others three nodded and moved over, Springer noticing a strained emotion filling them. "Sup peeps," Flash told them as he grabbed a chair and sat on it backward, several feet away from them. "What's the haps?" He knew he didn't normally speak like that, but the itching that had once again started was causing him to not think normally. "Nothing," Rarity said through a forced smile. "No shameful hygiene problems here, that's for sure." "Yeah," Iron was shaking, "I've never felt more fresh." They all smiled at one another, eyes twitching as they all shook. Springer at one point tried scratching his back against his chair, trying to mask it by saying it was uncomfortable. None made eye contact or spoke, all straining before Flash let out a yelp. "Hey!" He pointed at the ground, "Look at that stain on the floor. Doesn't it look like Celestia?" They all glanced down as Flash, Twilight, Springer and Starlight took the chance to start scratching themselves as quickly as possible. "Hmm..." Grand turned his head a little, "I guess if the horn was a little longer it'd look like her." They all turned back to the others, who instantly stopped scratching as the waiter came over with their drinks. Iron quickly took this moment to knock a salt-shaker on the floor. "Oops," he smiled before getting down to pick it up. Once he was under the table, he started scratching as much as possible. "Better get some more napkins," Rainbow started as she jumped off the table and ran over to the napkin area while scratching with her wings. The others were all shaking at this, unable to respond to each other, only for Applejack to walk up while scratching her head, "So, ya'll got fleas too, huh?" Their eyes went wide at this. "What?" Twilight yelped, "No! We just..." She looked at the others, now seeing them all straining and flinching, "Ah, the heck with it." They all started screaming as they began scratching as hard as they could, the other ponies in the restaurant seeing this and deciding to vacate. "Where did these things come from?" Starlight cried as she grabbed a fork and used it to scratch her back. "Well, it wasn't me," Iron grumbled, "I keep that dilapidated shack where I live spotless." He shot a glare at his suspect, "if anywhere, they probably came from Rarity's old rug." Rarity let out a gasp, "It's not old! It's vintage! And it's too expensive to have fleas." She turned to the shyest member of their group, "Fluttershy's the one who lives with a bunch of dirty animals." Fluttershy glared back at her, "Hey! I give all my friends flea baths once a month!" "Everypony, please!" Pinkie cried, "We all know who's really to blame. It was Pinkie." She then realized who she had just accused. "What?! How dare I besmirch my good name!" "Everypony!" Springer roared as he used his Steal Paw to scratch, "It doesn't matter who started it." "That's what patient zero would say," Rainbow growled before leaping at him, only for Flash to grab and restrain her. Over at another eating establishment, Big Score, Rickashay and Boulder watched with big grins, "Oh, this is just delicious." "Really?" Rickashay asked, "I think it could use more sauce." Score turned to see him eating a bowl of spaghetti. "Not the food! The plan!" He turned back to see the group being asked to leave the restaurant. "Just wait. Everypony knows what happens when a flea outbreak is detected." Springer and the ponies made their way through the town, constantly itching while the other ponies kept their distance. They couldn't blame them. If they knew somepony else had fleas, they wouldn't want to go near them either. "Why are you itching?" Flash asked Fluttershy, "Can't you just shrink? Then you could find the fleas on you and take them off more easily." "I already tried," Fluttershy replied, "I don't know why, but they seem to shrink with me." "I guess it's a backlash of Discord's magic," Twilight added. "Ahh!" Iron growled as they walked up in front of Barnyard Bargains, "These fleas itch worse than the time I tried that poison ivy scented deodorant!" Unfortunately, Filthy Rich seemed to hear this from inside his shop and leapt out with a broom. "Did I hear you say fleas?" He asked, the lot nodding as he pointed his broom at them. "Sorry, but I can't allow you to bring your flea infested pelts into my store!" Flash frowned, "But you're the only shop in town that sells anti-itch lotion!" Filthy just jabbed the broom at him, "Can you at least bring the stuff to us and we'll pay for it out here!" Filthy let out a sigh and nodded, "Alright..." "That's a relief," Twilight sighed, "I was worried he might have turned us away." But as she said that, an alarm began to sound throughout the entire town. "What is that?" "Ah don't know," Applejack replied, "Never heard that sound before." It was then that multiple ponies suddenly appeared around them from out of the alleys and between the houses, all dressed in hazmat suits. "Freeze fleabags!" One of the taller ponies stated, Flash looking through the pony's helmet window. "Mr. Cake? What are you doing?" "My duty as a member of the town's anti-flea patrol group," the baker stated as another pony stepped up, this one being Mayor Mare. "I'm sorry Princess," she told Twilight. "But the town has rules for an outbreak of fleas. You all are going to have to vacate the town immediately." "Are you banishing us?" Lightning asked, the mayor shaking her head. "No, no. We're quarantining you. It's like a banishment, but more confined." They all moaned at this. "So what do we do?" Rarity asked, the group still itching. "You'll need to find someplace to remain until you can rid yourself of the fleas," a pony they recognized as Time Turner replied, "Might I suggest the castle, since the only ponies living there are already infected." Apparently, he forgot that Scootaloo lived there. They soon went to the castle, which was quickly covered in yellow tape, the group forced to constantly scratch their itches any way they could. Some used their hooves, others scratched against the walls and others needed help getting to spots they couldn't reach. "This is so humiliating!" Rarity cried as rubbed her back against a stair banner. "Nopony's gonna want to come to my store now that they know I have fleas." "I can't believe Filthy ratted us out!" Rainbow yelled, having learned that the business pony had been the one to sound the alarm they heard. Spike, who was unaffected by fleas due to his scales, flew in carrying a large basket full of different bottles and cans. "At least he gave you this basket of treatment." He put the basket down and took out a spray bottle, looking over the label. "Warning: May cause dizziness, nausea, heartburn and night terrors." "Do me first!" Springer yelled as he ran over to him, Spike holding out the bottle and spraying it on the jakhowl. The pink mist covered him and Springer let it begin to settle on his skin. "Ahhh!" He sighed, swaying from side to side. He then grabbed his stomach and mouth as his cheeks expanded, the jakhowl swallowing whatever he had been about to chuck up before clutching his chest in pain. "You okay?" Flash asked, only for Springer to suddenly go as stiff as a board. "RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed before collapsing, the others staring at him before turning to Spike. The dragon laughed before holding up the bottle. "Who's next?" "Were you able to find somepony that could watch over the school?" Twilight asked as she picked up her own bottle, "If Chancellor Neighsay hears about this, he'll come barging in preparing to take the place over." "Don't worry," Spike waved a claw, "I was able to find some ponies that were happy to take over until you guys are flea free." "Hello class," Derpy smiled as she watched the students walk into Twilight's classroom. "I'll be you substitute teacher until your regular teachers return." Meanwhile... Outside the school, Score, Rickashay and Boulder smirked as they headed inside. "Are you sure it's a good idea to just stroll in?" Rickashay asked, "What if somepony sees us?" Score scoffed at this, "So what? They won't recognize us. All the ponies that would know we're up to no good are all locked up inside the castle. We have free roam to do whatever we want. We'll head inside, check out where they're keeping the headband and then nab it when nopony's looking. It's fool proof." He sauntered in at this, Score growling at the sight, "Ugh...this place must have cost a fortune to build. So much money, all wasted on a stupid school when it could have been in my pockets. Well, luckily this little job will balance out the scales." "So where's the headband?" Rickashay asked as Score glanced around, only to see nothing. "I'm sure it'll be someplace public, allowing the students and those that want to see it in town the chance to observe it. Now, where would you put that in a school?" "Maybe in the cafeteria," Rickashay pointed out, "Get a bite to eat and enjoy an ancient relic. Seems like the perfect place for me." "No...that's not what that princess would do." "Library?" Boulder guessed. Score clapped his hooves at this. "Yes, that's exactly where she would put it! Good job." Boulder smiled as he walked up...and accidently knocked a vase off a nearby table, the earth pony rushing to try and grab it before it smashed on the table. "Whoa!" He then heard somepony cry as a flash of red shot past and seemed to catch the vase. "Close one." He followed the voice and saw Fire Heart holding the vase. He turned to Boulder and smiled, "Careful there," He put the vase back down, "Twilight really needs to find a better place to put these things." "Are you a student?" Score asked, Heart nodding as he looked the three over. "I don't think I've seen you all before. Are you new at the school, or are you part of the tour group?" "Yes," Score nodded, "We're part of the tour group. I think we might have gotten separated from it." He looked around, trying to see if there were signs that would lead them to the library, only to then ask, "I don't suppose you could take us to the library, do you? I think that's where the tour is heading next." Heart nodded and began to lead them through the school. Inside the library, Soul and Cozy were sitting across from one another with a chessboard on the table between them. "So..." Cozy picked up the bishop, "I can move this funny hat guy sideways only?" Soul nodded again, having had to explain it several times already. "Yes," she sighed, "How do you not know how to play chess?! You've got a piece of the game stamped onto your flank!" Cozy looked down at her cutie mark, only to shrug. "I don't know why my mark is a chess piece," she replied as she moved the bishop into place. "I can't even remember when I got it." Soul frowned at this, only to move her knight as the library doors opened. They turned to see Heart leading a trio of stallions into the room. "This is it, though I don't think the tour's been through here yet." Score nodded and noticed the podium with the glass box on it. "Is that special?" He asked, moving over to take a closer look. But before he could, Heart got in front of him. "Whoa! Don't get any closer!" Score raised an eyebrow and Heart pointed at the ground where the tape was circling the podium. "If you do, you'll activate the security measures and the headband will get teleported someplace safe. Then nopony will be able to see it." "Ah," Score replied, "I understand. Well, we'll be sure to keep our distance." Heart nodded and turned to his sister, wondering if she knew whether the tour had come through or not. "Give me a second," he flew over to her as the three crooks stared at the headband. "We need to find a way into that that circle without activating the security system." Score hummed before looking up at the ceiling and smiling, "I have a plan." "Hey sis," Heart told Soul before noticing Cozy. "Hi." "Hi," she responded before Heart looked down at the chess board for a moment. "You two know if the tour group's been through here yet?" Cozy shook her head while Soul raised an eyebrow. "Heart, there's no tour group today." He blinked at this, only for her to add, "Who do you think would run it? Twilight and all the other teachers are in quarantine and Spike's too busy helping them out." Heart went wide-eyed at this before looking back at the trio...only to see they were all gone. "Where'd they go?" Soul stared at where he was looking, only to hear, "Checkmate." She glanced back at the board, now seeing Cozy had actually trapped her king, Soul now seeing she had no way of saving that. "What the-how'd you do that?!" Back at the castle... Lightning and Rarity were in a room on their own with the electric unicorn holding something up. "Come on Rarity. Just try on the flea collar. It's not like anypony's gonna see you." They were on one of the castle's upper floors, Rarity groaning as she snatched the collar from him, putting it around her neck. And before she could make a comment about how unfashionable it was, they heard a voice. "And continuing our flying tour, here's the castle of friendship." They turned to a window and saw a bunch of pegasi being led by one with a megaphone. They all turned to Rarity, "Oh, and inside is the Element of Harmony wearing a flea collar, not unlike an outdoor cat." The tourist stared at her in amazement before holding up cameras. As several pictures were taken, Rarity growled and ripped the collar off before scratching again. Back at the school... Score and Rickashay grunted as they crawled through the vents Score had seen above the library. "Jeez this is cramped," Rickashay moaned as they turned a corner and almost got stuck. "How much further is it?" "I'm pretty sure we're almost there," Score replied as they turned another corner. He then saw a grate and glanced down it, "There it is." He whispered before crawling over it and turning around so he and Rickashay were face to face when they looked down through it. The podium with the headband was right below them, Score taking out a string with a hook on the end of it. "I'll just feed this down and hook the box. The runes likely won't activate if it's just a piece of string. If it did, it'd activate every time a piece of dust flew into it." He fed the string through the grate and slowly lowered it down, entering the rune's dome of effect and not causing anything. "What if there's another security measure?" Rickashay asked, "What if when you lift the box up it'll activate a sensor or something." "Oh please," Score responded, "Like they'd be smart enough to do that. Now shush. I need to concentrate." Meanwhile, outside the vents, Boulder was waiting for their return. But as he stood there, he heard someone speak up down the hall. "So how are you enjoying teaching?" Derpy asked as she turned a corner with Time Turner beside her. "It's quite fun. I should really see if this school has any permanent positions I can apply for." Boulder quickly hid around another corner, only for Time Turner to walk up to the vent. "Oh, that's right. Spike asked me to clean the vents." "How are you gonna do that?" Derpy asked, "The vents lead all throughout the school." "It's quite simple," Time Turner replied, "The vents are completely sealed except for the grates, which can be shut by remote and made airtight with magic. All you have to do is pull a lever and they shut whilst an opening connected to the river outside opens and flood the vents with water to clean them. The water moves so fast nothing will be able to cling to the metal and it then gets washed out into the lake outside." "Oooh," Derpy responded as they walked over to a painting of the Tree of harmony. Time Turner swung it open to reveal a space in the wall with a large lever behind it. "Care to do the honors?" Time Turner asked, Derpy smiling before she grabbed the lever and pulled it down. Boulder went wide-eyed at this as his brain began to catch up, "Uh-oh." Score had gotten the hook down to the box and was now trying to connect it to the box's edges. He had to stop whenever he noticed somepoony look at the box, and as he was seconds away from pulling the box up...only for the grate to suddenly slam shut. "What the?" He asked as he felt the line snap. "Did you touch anything?" "No," Rickashay replied before looking behind him. "What's that noise?" Score started to listen, only to hear a roaring sound. "Sounds like a waterfall," Score responded, "Or of that time we went to the water park on your birth...day." Their eyes went wide in horror at this, both beginning to crawl back...only to find they weren't fast enough. The water shot down the tunnel and slammed into them, both crooks screaming as they were sent hurtling down the vent. The two blacked out at one point, the constant movement and spinning causing the pair to become so dizzy that they lost consciousness. Outside... Boulder ran through the front doors, quickly glancing around as he started to think he might need to look for a new job...only to hear, "GYAH!" He turned and ran around a corner, soon seeing Score and Rickashay be thrown from out of a hole that unleashed a bunch of water, the pair splashing into the pool below. He rushed up to them as they both floated to the surface, both rather drenched and looking rather unhappy. "You okay?" Score groaned as he sat himself up, his mane falling in front of his eyes. "Clearly, we need another plan." Flash, Springer, Iron, Grand and Rainbow were now in the training room. It had been transformed into a giant wind tunnel with a bunch of manacles connected to the floor. They locked the manacles around their hooves and paws, all the while itching up a storm. "Alright," Flash grumbled, "Let's get rid of these fleas." "I told you this isn't gonna work," Rainbow chimed in, "These things held on through my sonic rainboom. I don't think a fan is gonna get rid of them." "We'll see," Flash replied before using his tail to hit the start button. The giant fan began to rotate and unleash the powerful wind, all five being blown back but kept in place thanks to the manacles. "Is it working!?" Springer yelled, though no one could hear him. They continued to be blown by the wind, but could still feel the fleas biting into them and holding on. "It's not working!" Iron exclaimed. "Give it time!" Flash yelled back, "They'll tire!" But as they remained in the tunnel for an hour, there was no change. Eventually, Flash turned off the machine and they unshackled themselves before checking the back of the room, which had a trap meant to catch the fleas that were blown off of them. It was empty. "How is that possible?!" "I knew I should have followed Twilight's idea," Springer huffed. Twilight, Applejack, Starlight, Fluttershy and Pinkie were in a spare room that Twilight and Starlight had used magic to make extremely cold. They all shivered as they sat there, trying to freeze the fleas off of them. "Any change?" Twilight asked as she scratched her mane, all but Applejack shaking their head. "Yah. Now I'm itchy and cold." She then sneezed, the group all grimacing at this. Score and his lackeys were now dressed up like janitors, making their way through the school. "Alright," Score whispered as he pushed a mop and bucket around, "We'll go into the library and pretend to be cleaning. One of you will then knock over that bucket of water into the taped off area, giving us a reason to enter it. They must know how to temporarily switch off the runes, so when they do, we'll pretend to mop up the water and snag the headband. Got it?" "Got it," they nodded as they headed for the library. But as they did this, Sugar Belle appeared around a corner and smiled. "Are you the janitors here?" She asked, the three sharing a glance before nodding. "Great. I need some help cleaning up in Pinkie's classroom. One of the students made a bit of a mess." The three frowned, only to follow her. And as they were led away from the library and to the Laughter Class, they passed the cafeteria as a bunch of voices were yelling, "Sixty one! Sixty two! Sixty three!" The tone of the voices then turned to horror, "Sixty two! Sixty one!" Rickashay raised an eyebrow at this, only to hear them cheer again, "Sixty two! Sixty three!" They continued through the school until they arrived at the classroom, which had its walls and floors covered in cake mix. "How the heck did this happen?!" Score yelped. "I'm not sure," Sugar Belle replied, "I think two of the students put a bit too much of something into a mixture and...this happened." She turned to them, "How long do you think it'll take to clean up?" The three told her they didn't know before getting to work. Score used his magic to pull the cake mix off the walls and floor, throwing it into the trash as Boulder began to scrub the floor and Rickashay worked on the walls. They were stuck cleaning up for an hour, eventually getting the place clean enough that nopony would come looking for them to do it again. And they tried to get back to the library, they passed the cafeteria as Gallus shot out the room. He saw the trio and yelled, "Hey, janitors!" The three spun around as the cafeteria doors flew open with Yona carrying Ace on her back. The little jakhowl moaned as he held his stomach, the crooks seeing his mouth was stained white before Yona, Mira, Silverstream and Sandbar all walked out as Gallus added, "You might wanna clean up in there before it starts to stink." The three raised an eyebrow and looked inside the cafeteria, Rickashay remembering what he had heard earlier. "What happened in here?" "Ace claimed he could eat over a hundred marshmallow ducks," the griffon responded, "We told him to put his money where his mouth was." The trio's eyes shrunk at this, "For the record, he was able to eat all one hundred...for about ten seconds." They all moaned as they walked inside the room. Thirty more minutes later... They trio were now at the library, now finding it almost completely empty apart from a few students. "Alright," Score whispered, "Let's do this." They nodded and the three pretended to work on cleaning the place up, sweeping and mopping the floor while slowly making their way towards the podium. Once close enough, Score nodded and Rickashay nodded back before kicking the bucket over. It clattered...only for no water to come out. Those in the library saw this and the three smiled an apology while Score picked the bucket up, only to go wide-eyed. "What the-where's the water?!" The two shrugged before Rickashay realized what had happened. "Oh...cleaning up that classroom and the cafeteria must have used up all the water." "You didn't refill?" He almost screamed, hearing the others shush him. He growled before walking out of the library, Rickashay suggesting they try again, but Score knew that if they did, then somepony who was there both times might see it as strange that they did the exact same thing twice. "We need a new plan. Again." Everypony at the castle were still scratching up a storm, the group now feeling like they were moments away from going insane. Spike flew back into the castle with a new basket of cures, seeing his friends all in absolute agony. "Didn't those treatments have any effect?" He asked Twilight, who was acting like a dog, using her back hoof to scratch behind her ear. "No!" She cried, "And if I don't find a way to get rid of them soon, I'm gonna start considering shaving myself bald!" "I can't take it anymore!" Flash yelled, turning to Iron. "If those cures won't save us, I know another way to deal with these bugs! Brute force!" With that, he threw a punch right at Iron and hit him in the chest. The earth pony cried out as he was knocked back, Flash flinching at that. "Sorry Iron. I was aiming for the fleas and you just happened to be behind them." "Completely understandable," Iron groaned before grabbing a piece of paper off a nearby table and swatting him in the head with it. "Augh!" He cried as Grand took out his hammer and swung it at Springer. "Whoa!" He yelped as he was thrown into a wall, Grand flinching and apologizing before the group turned to one another. They stared each other down before leaping at each other, Spike flying back as the group morphed into a cartoon fight cloud. They all cried out as they started wailing on one another, trying to hit the fleas with little success. "Oh," Flash flinched when he punched Lightning, "Sorry." Springer threw a kick into Pinkie's face, "Don't take it personally." Rarity punched Grand in the head several times, "Apologizes." She was then kicked in the flank by Applejack. "Ah was aiming for the fleas!" "Not the face!" Fluttershy cried, "Not the face!" They continued this for several moments, only for the smoke to settle and see nothing but bruises on each other...and two little black dots on the floor. "Only two?!" Starlight exclaimed, "That's it?!" "And a tooth," Iron groaned as he held his mouth. Twilight picked them up with her magic and looked them over, "Maybe there's a more scientific approach we can take." "More scientific than punching?" Pinkie asked as Twilight and Starlight teleported away. The rest were left to suffer, Rarity constantly combing her mane. They had to wait an hour before the pair returned, looking shocked but also glad. "Everypony, these aren't ordinary fleas!" "We already knew that," Flash grumbled, "If they were, we wouldn't have so much trouble getting rid of them." Twilight rolled her eyes at this and continued, "I mean, they're not a natural breed of flea. They were engineered, likely through cross breeding with other insects and a little magical interference." "If they're not natural, then how in Equestria did we get them?" Rarity asked. "That's the most important thing. I think these fleas were made to specifically target us. The magic within them seems to be a form of mental command and memory magic, causing the fleas to only go after us. Don't you think it's weird that we're all the most powerful ponies in Ponyville and we're the only ones that have come down with these fleas?! Not one common pony got them." "She's right," Grand nodded, "But why would anypony give us...oh, of course!" "What?" Lightning asked as he kept scratching. "This was all a distraction," Grand replied, "Whoever's behind this got us infested with impossible to remove fleas and had us quarantined, meaning we wouldn't be able to stop them when they did something bad. And we've been so busy scratching, we haven't been able to realize any of this until now." "Somepony wanted us out of the way," Iron growled. "But to do what?" Fluttershy asked as Flash slapped himself on the forehead. "That's it! The headband! What else would anypony go to all this trouble to remove." The others shared a glance, only for Twilight to add, "This is bad. We've been in here all day, and it's possible the headband's already been taken." "I wouldn't bet on it," Lightning said as he waved a hoof, "They might have taken us out of the equation, but Script's security runes aren't something you can just get past." It was then he realised something, "that's it. Spike, send a letter." Twenty minutes later... The Rune Gate glowed as Script stepped out of it, only to see several ponies and jakhowl scratching themselves. "Wow. You weren't kidding about the problem." "You don't know the half of it," Springer replied, "We've tried ever potion and powder we could find, but nothing works on these super fleas." Script nodded and asked Twilight about what she knew, the princess explaining everything. He nodded again before coming up with a plan, the group moving to the library where Script took one of the dead fleas and examined it. "Alright, I think I have a plan." He started to work on a Rune Gate and asked for the largest jar in the castle, Spike flying off and returning with one big enough for him to fit inside. "What exactly are you gonna do?" Iron asked, "Cause if it involves turning us inside out, I'm honestly starting to come round to the idea." "No," Script shook his head, "I've isolated the DNA of the fleas and am working it into the coding of the Rune Gate. When it activates, the only thing that'll be transported will be whatever has that DNA." "Are yah sure that'll work?" Applejack asked next. "I don't see why it won't." Script finished the Rune Gate and started on the next one, writing it on a small piece of paper. When it was completed, he placed it inside the jar before sealing the top. "Alright, who wants to go first?" "I'll do it," Lightning replied as he scratched. "Anything to get rid of these things." He leapt onto the Rune Gate and Script activated it, the runes beginning to glow and unleashing a pillar of light that surrounded Lightning. He flinched at the light and closed his eyes while continuing to scratch. But as he stood in the light, he could feel the itching slowly stop. "I think it's working!" The others turned to the jar as the other Rune Gate activated and was filled with light. Lightning slowly found less and less of himself itching, the unicorn sighing as he stopped scratching. The light of the Rune Gate then faded, Lightning stepping off it. "You okay?" Script asked, "Feeling any itching?" But then Lightning pulled him into a hug, crying out a waterfall of tears. "Thank you! Thank you!" Script blinked at this, "You have no idea how much that was driving me nuts!" "No problem," Script chuckled as he returned the hug as the others stared at the jar and saw the small swarm of insects inside the jar. The swarm could fit on their hoof, but they knew it contained probably thousands of the bugs. "Alright, who's next?" This resulted in a massive struggle from everypony who wanted to go next, all looking ready to break into another brawl until Twilight grabbed them all in her magic and lifted them into the air so she could go next. After this, she put them all into an alphabetical line, making Springer annoyed Flash hadn't named him something else. But eventually, the group was flea free, and once Starlight finished her treatment, they all stared at the bug filled jar. "So...what do we do with them now?" "I'd like to throw them into the nearest volcano," Iron growled. "Do you think you could figure out what magic is making them target us?" Flash asked Twilight, the alicorn tilting her head before nodding, "Good, cuz I know exactly what we're gonna do with them." As the sun began to set, the students were now all heading to their rooms. As they did this, Score, Rickashay and Boulder stepped out of a broom closest that they had been hiding in. "Good. Nopony's around. We can move about the school uninterrupted." He began to march up to the library, "Enough of the elaborate plans. Let's just grab the headband and run for it." They all stepped into the library and saw nopony in sight, then spotted the headband in the middle of the podium. "Rickashay, you're the fastest. See if you can grab the headband before it teleports away." Rickashay nodded and spread his wings, flapping them as fast as he could while staying on the spot. He then shot forward at full speed, shooting for the box and entering the taped-off area. But before the runes could activate, he grabbed the box and flew out of the circle. No other alarms activated, making Score smirk as he and Boulder ran over to him. "Great work." He quickly pried open the box and took the headband out, "It's ours!" He laughed, "Oh, this is gonna fetch us a pretty penny." "I wouldn't be so sure about that." The three's eyes went wide and turned to the voice as a flash of light revealed Flash, Twilight, Springer, Lightning, Iron, Grand and Script, all of them grinning at the trio. They had been there the entire time, masked by Twilight's glamour spell. "So it was you three that infected us with those fleas." "Caught on, have ya?" Score smirked, "No big deal, I'm not scared. You all are probably so itchy that you won't be able to put up a decent fight." The seven continued to grin as Score stared at them...only to see none of them scratching, "What the-why aren't you being driven crazy by the fleas?" "You mean these fleas?" Twilight asked, teleporting the jar full of bug onto her hoof. "You can thank Script for freeing us." "But...that's..." "And while we're at it, how the heck did you three get out of the crystal prison?" Flash added. Score glared back at him, "Well...wouldn't you like to know?!" "Yeah...I would. That's why I asked." "We had a friend on the outside who snuck us in an escape item," Rickashay replied as Score slapped him on the head. "Really?" Twilight asked, "What was the item?" "Wouldn't you like to know," Score repeated. "Again, yes we would." "It was a rare cutie marker," Rickashay responded, "It let us phase right through the walls and-" Score slapped him in the head again. "Shut up!" Score hissed before turning to the others. "Now back off or we'll make you all sorry." "How could you possibly make us feel worse than you already have?" Lightning asked, scratching slightly from the memory. "Wouldn't you like to know?!" Score yelled. "Seriously dude?" Flash asked. "Shut up! We've still got the headband and we're gonna get away with it!" But then they all smiled, making Score flinch before putting the relic on...and nothing happened, "What?!" "The headband is safely back in my office," Twilight grinned, "I had Rarity make a copy that we replaced it with when nopony was watching." Score growled back at her, only for her to add, "Now to pay you back for all the torment you put us through today." Her horn glowed and before the criminals could stop her, she plucked some hairs from their manes and teleported them into the jar. "What are you doing?!" Score yelped as the fleas started devouring the hairs. "Twilight and Script figured out the magic compelling the fleas to go after us," Flash replied, "Once they did, it was a simple matter of reprogramming them to forget about us." "Now they're only gonna go after the hairs they're currently eating," Iron chuckled as the bugs finished their meal...and Twilight opened the jar. "No," Score whimpered as the three started backpedal, "Stay away!" But then the fleas started leaping on them, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed before the trio started scratching up a storm, all of them having a much worse time due to the larger number of fleas they were all being bombarded with. "Is it cruel that I love seeing this?" Springer asked. "Who cares," Grand laughed as the three kept scratching. Score then ran over of the group, scratching as he begged. "However you got these things off of you, do it to me!" "AND US!" The other two screamed as the group just laughed at them. The next day... The Royal Guard arrived the next morning to escort the prisoners to jail, Score, Boulder and Rickashay still riddled with fleas that they wouldn't be getting rid of until after they were properly locked up. "This is cruel!" Score cried as the guards put an anti-magic ring on his head. "It's called karma," Lightning commented as those they had tortured with their scheme watched with amusement. Twilight smirked as she took something out to show Score. "Here," she put the headband on his head, "You were so eager to get your hooves on it. Why don't you try it out?" As the headband activated, Score found himself being transported inside his own mind. The unicorn glanced around the void, but was still feeling the effects of the fleas. "In here too?" He asked as he scratched, only to then spot the inner voice of himself floating in a meditative position. "Big Score. You know that a life of crime does not truly pay. Had you started a legitimate business, you would have made a fortune a long time ago." Score screamed at hearing this as Twilight removed the headband before he was dragged away by the guards. "Well, that's that," Flash sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna be keeping a bottle of flea shampoo in my bathroom from now on." He scratched under his wing out of habit, "I don't wanna ever go through that again." "Same," the others all said in unison as they all looked down at the headband. "To think this thing is what caused us to go through so much trouble," Rarity added, "But I have to admit, making another one of these things was a lot of fun. Maybe I'll make a few more, all different colors of course." The others nodded, all stating what color they would like. All except Fluttershy as she asked, "What do you think would go good on me?" Pinkie grabbed the headband, "Let's see what you look like with the red one on." "PINKIE, WAIT!" They cried, but it was too late as she slapped the strip of fabric onto Fluttershy. The mare's eyes went wide as she was transported into her own mind, where she found the meditating version of herself staring back at her. "You speak softly, yet you carry within you the most wondrous and terrifying force of all." Back outside, Rarity pulled the headband off and everypony grimaced as Fluttershy reopened her eyes, "Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, "Are you okay?" Fluttershy blinked as Rarity got up close, "Did you hear something truly horrible?" "No," she shook her head, "Nothing I didn't already know." With that, she trotted off, leaving a bunch of ponies just starting at her. And as they all shared a glance, they thought back on this little adventure and couldn't help but realize it was gonna be something none of them would forget. From now on, anytime they felt an itch or put on a headband, they would think of this