//------------------------------// // A Step Closer // Story: Zapfilly // by a3V //------------------------------// "Hey, girls." Sweetie Belle pushed her desk over the floor of the classroom with a loud screech, until she aligned it with the side of Scootaloo's desk. It was Arts and Crafts time in the Ponyville schoolhouse, and to many students that also meant free time to talk and joke around. "Oh, hey, Sweetie. Heard you were pretty busy lately with that Zapping. Got any useful advice for us?" Scootaloo dumped a glob of red paint onto a palette, mixing it around with her hoof. "Like how to jump out of a building properly, or how to avoid a security pony?" "How'd you know about that?!" "Monocle told us, obviously. He told everypony at school before you got here." "Well, so much for that approach. I was going to keep it a secret until lunch!" Sweetie Belle sat down next to Scootaloo and dumped a bunch of blue paint onto her own parchment, splattering it all over nearby students. "Oops, hehe." "Y'all got a fancy costume too, I heard. Rarity gave you some nice duds, at least." Apple Bloom, unsurprisingly, was painting an apple tree on her own paper. "And I also heard ya got some really nice 'allowance', too." "Oh, yeah, heh." Scootaloo moved closer to Sweetie Belle and lowered her tone. "Maybe now we can buy that cannon we always keep talking about." "Really? I thought that was a joke." Sweetie had no idea what she was going to paint right now, and settled for a multicolored mess in the form of a house. "No, no. You see, I've actually got this really cool idea for the cannon, okay? You remember how I can't fly? Well, I think maybe if I launch things into the air, maybe I can watch how they fly, and see if I can improve my own form for flying." Scootaloo shook her hooves in front of her face. "Flying! It's so simple! There's gotta be something to it!" "Sounds like something Rainbow Dash would say." "Of course it's something she would say. She's the one that flies all the time. I mean, have you ever remembered a time when she was on the ground?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes and sandwiched her paint with another paper, hoping to create a replica of her magnum opus. "Well, there was that one time I was tryin' to earn my cutie mark, before I met y'all. Rainbow Dash tried everythin' she could to help me, but none o' them really worked. Spent a lot of time on the ground just to get me my cutie mark." "See? Rainbow Dash is awesome! She'd never let anypony down, even fillies like us." "So how're things goin' with Rarity, Sweets?" Apple Bloom began moving around a red and an orange blotch on her paper into two distinct pony shapes. "Yesterday was actually really nice. Rarity actually spent some more time with me! We went playing in the park, and then we played chess afterwards in the boutique. She says she's not that good at it, but I think she's lying." "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day Rarity would make time just for you." Scootaloo peeled her papers apart and grimaced at the results. "So much for a double rainbow." "So Monocle also said you're goin' on another mission today. Any idea where to?" Apple Bloom finished painting on Applejack's mane on her simple family portrait, and started working on Big Mac's mane. "I believe I can answer that," Monocle interrupted. His paper was completely bare save for a rough sketch with a stick of charcoal, and he continued sketching downwards with his magic. "Your next assignment is at Ghastly Gorge." "Ghastly Gorge?! But that's where the Quarray eels are!" Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie Belle and shook her from side to side, disorienting the unicorn. "It's too dangerous! You have to abort! Abort!" "On the contrary, Miss Scootaloo. The Quarray eels only make their homes towards the top of the gorge, so it should be safe to move downwards, toward the ground." Monocle turned his attention to Sweetie Belle. "I'm afraid to say that your sister will not be joining us this time. She has a very urgent request from Canterlot to finish four dresses, and she's behind schedule." "Yeah, I heard her talking about that when we were eating. I'm not sure if I want to go without Rarity." "Worry not, Sweetie Belle. My father and I, as well as Gummy, will be accompanying you personally on this mission. Your safety is our foremost priority right now." "But I thought your priority was getting rid of the Grey?" Sweetie Belle couldn't help but raise a brow at Monocle's passivity. "Your bosses gave me a lot of bits for doing such a simple thing." "And that is where you're wrong, Miss Belle." Monocle let out a quiet chuckle as he levitated his namesake in front of him, wiping it clean with a cloth. "Despite the infancy of your Zapping ability, simply being able to Zap is a feat in itself. Tell me, do you think we'd put you in slightly dangerous and mostly harmless situations if there were another pony who could do the job just as well, and with ten times the danger?" "Well... no." Sweetie's paper looked awfully empty, and she began idly pushing around purple paint on the side. "Worry not, worry not." Monocle patted Sweetie Belle's hoof, and smiled at her. "The funding for our organization is actually quite large, and we're not taking any chances today." "Well, what did you have in mind?" "Hmm, I wonder." Monocle smirked, and Sweetie Belle felt that maybe, just maybe, the colt wasn't telling the whole truth. "Whoa, that's a long way down." Monocle quickly took a few steps back from the end of the cliff, and stood beside Top Hat. "What exactly did you have in mind, father?" "The same thing we did when we were in the jungly south, Monocle!" He brandished a variety of safety equipment, hooks, and rope, before tossing them onto the ground in front of him with gusto. "Abseilin'!" "Abseiling... that's rappeling, right?" Sweetie Belle had donned her costume nary an hour before arriving, and rendezvoused with Gummy before joining the Hat family at Ghastly Gorge. Gummy knew the way, even without a map, and Sweetie Belle theorized that Gummy was actually far more intelligent than he was letting on. "Yup. Oh, hold on. Safety first." He dropped a helmet onto Monocle's head, and replaced his own hat with a helmet emblazoned with a top hat insignia. "Gummy, you got the goods?" The alligator dumped the box on his back, where it shattered on the ground and exposed a black suitcase and a pair of binoculars. Top Hat grabbed the latter in his hooves and took a sweep down their area of the gorge, examining every detail he could. Gummy quickly fitted Sweetie Belle with the approprite safety equipment and double-checked their safety harnesses, before driving a bolt securely into the ground and securing it with a few rocks. "Hmm. He's still around here, somewhere." Top Hat lowered the binoculars and sniffed. "He? Did you find the pony responsible for causing the Grey?" Sweetie Belle tugged at her harness a bit to loosen it up, and watched Gummy do a variety of stretching exercises completely uncharacteristic of his body. "We believe he's still around, yes. So to that end, Monocle will be assisting you in subduing this pony, alongside Agent Gummy, while you deal with whatever was affected by the Grey." He slapped a projection stone into a necklace, and placed it on himself. "Ahem. Testing, testing." He tapped the stone, and it sparkled a light blue. "Is this thing on?" "Here you go, Sweetie." Sweetie turned around to find Monocle in a quadruped contraption twice her height, humming with magical pulses and glowing a gentle light blue. Monocle handled the controls so the left hoof held out a similar necklace, which Sweetie took and placed on herself. "What in the world is that thing?" She trotted around the suit, taking in its odd nature. Was the Chromatic Coalition this advanced? What other things could they be hiding? "I assure you, Miss Belle, this suit is not anything of note. I am powering the movement with my own magic, using a variation of localized levitation. This is a suit that has a net thrower on the back, which is manually powered. We'll be using this as the primary means of catching our suspect, and if not, well..." Monocle turned to look at Gummy, who stared blankly at the horizon. "I'd hate to see what sort of devious things he would do." "Gummy? Hurt a pony? I don't think that's very likely, Monocle." It was ridiculous! Sweetie Belle had seen the way the alligator usually acted, and his behavior was very benign. Other than his tendency to latch onto ponies using his mouth, Sweetie Belle had not observed any outward hostility to anyone, even when he was pestered by a group of Fluttershy's birds. "Oh, I am quite certain. He's our most experienced agent, and I am actually quite humbled to be in his presence." Monocle nodded as if to cement his opinion, and trotted off with a clunk to join his father. Sweetie Belle put on her own helmet and watched Gummy behaving like his usual self next to Top Hat and Monocle. And to think just a few days ago she was living a simple life, attempting to find her cutie mark alongside her friends! The situation she was in now was so absurdly far-fetched that any sane pony would question what they were doing with their lives. And yet, here she stood. At least she was getting paid to do this Zapping. That's what adults do, right? They get paid for doing a job? "Aha! Right there!" Top Hat tossed the binoculars to Gummy and pointed his hoof down the gorge. "See? Right there! I see a bunch of grey on that tree, and it looks like a big splotch. Better break out the bigger stone." Gummy tossed a shiny boulder on top of Monocle's suit, causing it to nearly lose balance until the colt yanked it in the other direction. "Hey, watch it!" "Alright, enough burnin' daylight. Everythin' is set up, so get down there!" Top Hat threw a camouflage tarp over his head and laid at an angle so he could observe the entirety of the gorge. He huffed and blew a bit of grass out of the tarp, before pulling a thermos close to his form. Sweetie Belle heard a bunch of loud clanging and turned around to see Gummy sitting on the back of Monocle's suit with the stone. The alligator patted the spot next to him, which sported a small seat and a few latches for safety harnesses on either side. The alligator's face didn't change, but Sweetie could feel an aura coming off of him that said "let's get going, you slow filly!" After securing herself properly, Sweetie sat for a few seconds before pondering why they had all the safety equipment. "Hey, Monocle, are we going to go down now? Is there a path on the side of the cliff?" "Path? On the side of the cliff? I'm afraid that is a negative, Sweetie. You see, we're going to be taking the express route down! Gummy, is everything good to go?" Monocle arced his head backwards to look at Gummy, who gave him a thumbs-up and patted the suit's head twice. "Express route?" Sweetie was starting to piece two and two together, and she did not like where this was going. "Wait, guys, I don't think I—" Monocle leapt off the side of the cliff, and for several seconds the air was filled with the screams of a terrified filly. "Does everypony in your organization have a knack for crazy stunts?!" Sweetie Belle took a minute to calm her breathing after landing at the bottom of the ravine. The height looked so simple from the top of the cliff, but actually falling down it at Celestia knows what speed causes a pony to reconsider that very quickly. "Actually, you'll find that we're quite sensible ponies... most of the time." Monocle righted his namesake on his right eye, tapping it with a hoof to secure it on his nose. "It just so happens that going down is faster than going around." "Ugh. Let's just get this over with." Sweetie walked past the clunker that Monocle sat in and caught up with Gummy, who had somehow obtained his standard beret. As the filly slowed her steps to match pace with him, her eyes widened as they entered the clearing that Top Hat had mentioned earlier. There were various bushes spread throughout the area, and it was oddly verdant for such a barren gorge. However, it was plainly obvious to any pony passing by why such a location would be strange—the colors had been sapped from the plant life, rendering much of the surroundings in grey. Sweetie Belle sighed as she rubbed her head between two hooves. This one would definitely be a doozy, as Pinkie Pie would put it. Sweetie was startled when the boulder on Monocle's suit catapulted straight into the center of the clearing, making a crater in the dirt. The sparkly surface of the rock reflected light into Sweetie's eyes, causing her to turn away and glare at Monocle. "Alrighty, Sweetie. You get to Zapping that rock, while Gummy and I look around for our suspect." Monocle nodded to Gummy from within the frame, and the two went in opposite directions, circling the clearing, eyes scanning every object for discrepancies... or at least Monocle was. Gummy walked in a straight line, heading straight for the other side of the clearing. "It's not working!" Sweetie turned to look at Monocle, who clumsily turned around in his suit. "I keep Zapping the rock, but it just fizzes out, and the magic disappears!" "Try charging your spell, Sweetie! Let it build up within your horn before letting it all go at once!" Monocle's voice echoed through the suit, and reverberated through the gorge. "Argh, curse these acoustics! It's giving me feedback on my speakers!" "Alright, I'll give that a try then!" She closed her eyes and scrunched her face in concentration as Monocle continued eyeing the grey bushes in his path. He switched the catapult's safety off with his magic, and the contraption clacked into place as he noticed Gummy laying on his belly on the far side, staring at a suspiciously large bush. Gummy slapped a claw into the ground twice, and pointed from Monocle to the bush. The colt got the clue, as his suit moved into place on the other side, and brought up the targeting reticle. "Attention, scoundrel within the shrubbery! We are agents working with royal authority! Submit yourself to capture, or face the wrath of Equestria's law!" The bush shuddered violently, causing Monocle to shift his suit into a battle stance, lowering his head to allow the catapult to get a clear shot. Clearly, there was somepony—or something—in the bush that Top Hat had identified earlier. After a few tense seconds, a blur shot out from the foliage, heading straight for Sweetie Belle. "Drat!" The movement was too fast for him to react to, and he barely managed to turn in the suspect's direction when a flying green blur collided with the attacker. A cloud of dust was thrown up in the ensuing struggle, and as it cleared, Monocle stood ready to launch the net in case his reptilian ally lost. An unlikely case, but a gentlecolt is prepared for all possible probabilities, or so he was told by Fancypants. Gummy stood victorious over a strange stallion, who bore a cloak with a rather uninteresting 'G' on the back. His hooves were wrapped into a single bundle with rope, and bore multiple spots of scuffles on his body, most of all on his hooves. Monocle knew that the alligator went straight for the legs to immobilize his target, and approached the inert pony on the ground with a steely gaze. He placed a metal hoof to the stallion's chest, and applied pressure. "A good effort, sir, but if I may make a suggestion... running is not the best thing you can do against an alligator." The stallion coughed under the weight of Monocle's iron hoof. "You're one of them color ponies, huh? Well you got here too late! The damage has been done, and—" An explosion from the other side of the clearing interrupted him, sending a colorful cloud into the sky, followed by a bunch of coughing and approaching hoofsteps. Sweetie emerged from the dust covered in dirt, and smiled toothily at Monocle. "All done!" "Done? Done what?" The stallion looked dumbly between Sweetie and Monocle, as the latter pony activated his projection stone. "Operation completed, clean sweep. We have apprehended the pony responsible for this incident, as well. Gummy and I will bring him back to base for interrogation." "Roger that, operative Phantom Mime. Packing up now." The stone clicked off with a flash, and Monocle sighed as he rubbed a hoof down his face. "Phantom Mime? Seriously?" "Hey, who's this pony? Did he cause the Grey?" "Stand back, Sweetie Belle. Gummy and I shall handle this." Monocle smirked at the bound pony and threw a glance at Gummy. "If you would do the honors?" Gummy reared up on his back legs, flailing his arms about in orchestrated movement. Sweetie Belle looked between the three in confusion as Gummy continually move his arms about in a fashion reminiscent of kung-fu movies popular in the east. She rolled her eyes and trotted over to Monocle, who was simply staring at the alligator with glee. "Hey, can we go home now? Or are you just going to watch Gummy do his 'hee-hoo-ha-ha' moves all day?" "Certainly, Sweetie. Gummy and I will take care of this ruffian. Ah, look!" The suit whirred as Monocle pointed a hoof at Gummy, who jumped high in the sky and rocketed down onto the stallions neck with an arm, knocking the pony unconscious. "Hah, get it? Judo chop, since he took his arm and..." Sweetie was glaring daggers at him, and he conceded defeat. "Alright, fine." "Okay. So how are we going to get back up? We're in the middle of the gorge, remember?" "And that is no problem, Sweetie! Let me just calibrate this catapult, take off the net, and..." A loud clunk and sputter came out of the machine on his back, and jettisoned the net onto a nearby rock face. "Okay! That should do it. Please get into the seat, Sweetie Belle." "Uh, is this safe? Are you going to fly back up to the top?" There was a distinct lack of safety harnesses on the catapult as compared to the suit itself, and she couldn't help but worry. "Oh, heavens no. What do I look like, a pegasus? No, we're going to do the right, safe thing to do. We'll shoot you back to Ponyville." "What?!" Monocle had totally lost it! The Gorge was in no way near Ponyville, and it would take a very powerful spell (or contraption) to get her back to town... not accounting safety, of course. "Go, Sweetie Belle! Fly like the wind!" And again, the skies of Equestria were filled with the screams of a filly. Rarity hummed a catchy little tune she heard Pinkie singing earlier in the week. She could not understand the party pony's ability to create incredibly catchy songs in the blink of an eye, but that didn't bother her any. Pinkie was a friend, and friends should appreciate each others eccentricities. Celestia knows that Rarity wasn't without any herself. She felt a pang of regret as she turned her thoughts to Sweetie Belle. As much as she would love to watch Sweetie Belle's antics with the Chromatic Coalition, she had a business to run. It was best that she finish up her orders as soon as possible, before Top Hat would inevitably escalate the missions to something even pegasi daredevils wouldn't dream of doing. Rarity knew she was probably overreacting, but there was a small part of her that believed the stallion was absolutely crazy. And that was disregarding her other appointments as well—her spa meetings with Fluttershy, helping Mayor Mare with holiday costumes, and having tea with Twilight, as well as her current project. It was necessary to nip the problem in the bud before it worsened, or at the very least maintain watch over Sweetie Belle whenever she went on these missions. Rarity pursed her lips as she levitated the purple hat onto the set of clothing she had been working on. Twilight had intercepted her as she was shopping for new fabrics, as the librarian had finally received word from Princess Celestia regarding the authenticity of the Chromatic Coalition. It was an entirely legal, but very psuedo-secretive organization established by royal order for the reasons Top Hat had previously mentioned. She paused her humming for a moment, her ears perking up. There was a distant whistling sound from outside, and she strode over to the window to find the source. Ponies went about their daily lives, completely oblivious to the whistling. Was it another elaborate prank by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash again? Rarity rubbed her ears a few times to check if it was some errant anomaly. Her eyes were drawn to a figure sailing high in the sky, headed straight for Ponyville. Rarity moved closer to the window and squinted, following the figure. There was a very familiar shape about it, and as it neared she could make out some details about the flying object. It was a unicorn soaring through the air, with a distinct curly mane and tail. It wore a dashing cape, a rainbow-themed costume, and a domino mask. And as such, Rarity screamed. She burst out of the window, nearly taking it off at the hinges, and landed outside of Carousel Boutique completely unharmed. Completely disregarding any semblance of fanciness, she dashed straight through the middle of Ponyville with her eyes locked on Sweetie Belle's fall, before she collided with something pink and poofy. "Ow, Rarity! That really hurt!" Pinkie Pie rubbed her head with a hoof, before laughing. "You were going really fast! Even faster than Applejack during the Running of the Leaves!" "No time!" Rarity rebounded quickly and continued galloping down the street, but noticed she was being followed by Pinkie Pie. This was no time for games! "Wow, Rarity! You're in such a hurry today! What's the dealio?" She cartwheeled alongside Rarity, before the unicorn grabbed her with both hooves and pointed into the sky. "Sweetie. Belle. Is. In. DANGER!" Rarity shook Pinkie with each word, before tossing her aside and resuming her chase. "Oh my gosh! That filly is in danger!" The pink pony procured her signature cannon from under a nearby table, before putting on goggles and jumping into the barrel. "I'm coming, you silly filly!" With a bang of confetti, Pinkie sped over the rooftops of Ponyville, sailing in a direct intercept course for Sweetie Belle, who was still screaming. Pinkie lifted up her hooves as she got close, and snatched Sweetie Belle out of the air and descended straight into a large pile of hay just as Rarity came to a stop nearby. "Got her! Do I win anything?" Pinkie handed Sweetie Belle over, and beamed at Rarity. "There are no words to express my gratitude, Pinkie. I suppose I owe you now, don't I?" Rarity patted Sweetie Belle, who stood stock still and silent. "Sweetie, what in the world happened?" "C-catapult. So high. So very high." "Who did this to you?" "M-Monocle did. He said it was safe. I don't think that was very safe." Rarity's gears worked for a minute before she put on an expression of angelic tranquility, and hugged her little sister. "Now, dear, everything is fine now. You're safe." "I don't think I want to do this anymore, Rarity." "It's your decision, Sweetie. You should go back to the Boutique with Pinkie, okay? She'll find something to help you calm down, like some tea. We can talk about this later." "I sure can! And I'll even bring a cupcake or two!" Pinkie bounced around the hugging sisters before she halted, waiting for Sweetie. "Are you going somewhere, Rarity?" Sweetie looked up at her, eyes wet with tears. Rarity smiled deviously. "Oh, I'm just going to pay a visit to Top Hat. I do believe I saw him returning but a moment ago. Pinkie, I'll leave her in your care. I won't be long." "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie scooped up Sweetie Belle on her back and trotted away, as Rarity turned to look at the Hat residence. She was starting to really hate that building.