Fourth Lesson- losing herself
It was several hours after Firefly and Applejack had left the tavern, and Wish Shine was still sitting at the same table with this crude gangster, laughing at joke after joke that Lucky had been telling. She had hoped he would spill some info after six bottles of hard cider (Which she had been careful not to drink), but still he hadn't said anything about the foal nappings.
"Youse a lotta fun babe, I'll give you that!" the now-inebriated and far past rational thought gangster colt told Wish. "Howse you like to be my dame?"
"My, you work fast!" Wish giggled, trying to copy the attitude she had seen in gangster films. "But you sure you've got what it takes to deal with a high-maintenance gal like me?"
"Babe, I'm rollin in barter goods!" he chuckled. "Why this latest deal over dose kidnapped foals...!"
"Kidnapped foals?" she asked, her ears perking up. But before he could respond, the heavily hard cidered colt lurched forward, kissed her on the lips, then promptly passed out at the table.
"Ew! Cider breath!" she spat, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.
"Great, he won't even remember we had this conversation when he wakes up." Wish thought to herself. Originally, she had hoped to just get the earth pony drunk enough to talk, wait until he passed out, then run. With a sigh, the unicorn realized that this wasn't going to work.
No, if Wish wanted to find out the connection to the kidnapped ponies and rescue them, she had no choice but to go undercover as this creep's girl and try to learn what she could long term.
"I just hope I can pull this off without getting caught." She shook her head. "And I hope I don't lose myself in the process..."
...
"So, it is the alicornists who are responsible, hm?" the margrave asked, narrowing her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
Having made their way back to the castle, both groups had met up in the main hall, to exchange information and compare notes. To all of the mares and fillies present, it now seemed clear as to who was responsible for all of the foalnappings.
"We think it was the ponygans, your Excellency, although we can't be sure." Applejack commented, bowing to the margrave. "I would point out that Firefly's friend did turn up an alternate explanation."
"What? Holly's comment about the slavers?" Glory snorted. "I would add that she did say one explanation was as likely as the other."
"And I wouldn't put it past the alicornites to do something like that." Poesy shivered. "My mom used to tell me scary stories about them when I was little."
"I am inclined to agree with the elements of generosity and kindness, the followers of Celestia and Luna are very likely responsible," the margrave snorted, stamping her hoof. "And I am more inclined to take their advice than that of an exiled flutter working in the slums as a barmaid."
As the ponies talked, Firefly saw Medley's head droop as the Pegasus filly slowly flapped her way out of the room.
"Aww, you guys are just bein' too harsh on Ponygans," Firefly replied nervously. "They can be good or bad, just like anybody else."
"Well, whoever is behind this, they will most certainly try to foalnap even more fillies and colts!" Cadence added. "Girls, what do you intend to do?"
Glory thought for a moment before her ears perked up. "We could set a trap for them! Use a pony as bait to lure the kidnappers out, then get 'em!"
"That's a great idea!" Firefly added, grinning wildly. "And then we can squeeze any info out of em we can about where the missing foals are!"
"Speaking of missing, anybody know where Twilight is?" Posey asked, looking around the room. "I haven't seen her since we split up earlier!"
"As I already told Firefly, Twilight is probably gathering information and clues as to the foals whereabouts in her own way," Cadence reassured them. "You girls need to trust her judgment more."
It was at that point that Surprise came flying into the room, zipping around hysterically.
"Girls! girls! You won't believe what just happened to me!" the white Pegasus cried hysterically, zooming from pony to pony. "This goblin, like, came out of a wall, and tried to eat me!"
"Hush, Surprise! We don't have time for your nonsense right now!" Firefly snapped. "We're trying to formulate a plan, so why dontcha go take yer ditzy blondness someplace else?"
"Hmph, then you girls don't deserve to know what I found out!" the white Pegasus snorted, flying off in a huff.
"You girls go ahead with your plans and try to catch the kidnappers red-hoofed." The margrave narrowed her eyes." And don't you worry about the Ponygans, the senate and I have plans to deal with them..."
...
As the Princess and the girls talked to the margrave in the audience chamber, the colts stood guard outside. As they overheard most of the fillies' conversation from inside the two large crystalline doors, the boys discussed matters amongst themselves.
"Wow, can you believe it, Fireball?" Lightning whispered his friend. "Who woulda thunk the Ponygans would be behind all the kidnappings!"
"It does seem like a strategy unsuited to the followers of Celestia and Luna," Fireball muttered in a confused tone. "I mean, why sacrifice ponies to a pair of benevolent deities?"
"Come on, you two! You heard those two parents!" Thunderbolt snorted, flying overhead. "Their two little girls got taken! And if those Ponygans are responsible, we gotta give 'em what they deserve!"
"I'm just worried that innocent ponies will suffer," Lightning whinnied sadly. "I talked to one of the Fort Dash Guards, and both the Margrave and the entire Acheron council are already talking about taking stuff like setting curfews for alicornists, and other restrictions for the remainder of the crisis."
"Stripping them of their civil rights?" Fireball whispered back. "That seems a bit severe, doesn’t it?"
"Well, isn't it a good idea if it'll keep other fillies and colts from being foalnapped?" the Pegasus colt asked, looking down at the other two.
"And where will it stop, Thunderbolt? Who will ponykind mistrust next- Pegasus? Unicorns?" the earth pony snorted angrily. "Shall we mistrust and fear each other, and go back to the sundering of the three tribes?"
"That's ridiculous talk, Lightning, and you know it!" Tornado came trotting up, bringing himself into the conversation. "We are all ponies, and the prejudice and mistrust you speak of died out before the golden age of Equestria even began."
"Tornado, surely you don't agree with this madness!" Fireball scoffed. "Harsh restrictions placed on ponies, simply due to what they believe!"
"This mistrust towards the alicornists has been building for a long time," the Unicorn snorted, adjusting his glasses. "And while I strongly disagree with the oppression the Margrave plans to inflict on them, I cannot condone the ponygans' set of beliefs."
"What the heck, Tornado?" Lightning exclaimed. "I can't believe you, of all ponies, are saying something so heartless!"
"My friend, they are nothing but a pack of miserable superstitious wretches who reject the teachings of the horsemaster." Tornado's gaze turned cold. "Alicornists want nothing more than to return all of us to the monstrous delusions of the dark past, and we would all be better off without them!"
As the angry unicorn trotted down the hallway, the other three colts could only stare on in stunned silence.
...
"What the hay have I gotten myself into?"
Lucky and Wish Shine were trotting down the road together, surrounded by a small entourage of unicorn and earth pony guards. Every member of the gang had gotten word of boss Lucky's 'new moll' he had picked up in the past few days, and they treated her with the respect befitting the boss's filly.
In truth, these past few days had been miserable for Wish- always surrounded by brutes, the stink of hard cider and smoke wreaking everywhere. Still, she tried to make herself enjoy the large mansion Lucky owned at the edge of the slums and the fancy restaurants he was taking her too. But this fancy fur stole and diamond earrings he had bought just weren't her, and Wish felt like an artificial doll dressed like this.
"You haven' a good time, babe?" He asked her, grinning.
"Sure... the best," she lied, trying to put on a false smile.
"Good, only the best will do for my Wish." He nuzzled her, making her skin crawl.
In truth, Wish wished she could run far, far away from this creep and his creepy lifestyle. But she had to find out where those innocent foals were, she had to prove to herself that she could handle a tough situation like this and that she wasn't helpless!
The only way to do this, she realized, the only way to stay alive and not be discovered- was to suppress the good girl to the back of her mind, and relished being the underworld moll she was going undercover as. She had been doing just that these past few days, and now only a few fragments of who she actually was remained.
"Hey punk, you have what you owe me?" Wish was snapped back to reality as Lucky was busy shaking down a goblin.
"N-no, Crunch need more time!" the ugly little creature pleaded. "The deal with the cult of Celestia fell through! They demand more ponies!"
Wish’s ears perked up at that, but Lucky merely sneered at the pathetic creature.
"All right, youse got one week ta get what ya owe me!" the colt snarled. "Then we strike da final deal with yer employers, ya got it?"
As the angry colt trotted back over to her, Wish made a note of the meeting in a week, that would get her the information she needed.
"Sorry ya had to witness that, doll," he apologized to her. "I usually abhor such violence."
"Huh," she snorted, shrugging. "Shame ya didn't rough him up like ya did the last three!"
...
"Medley, you in there?" Firefly called out, knocking on the door to the Pegasus's room. When there was no response, the pink Pegasus pushed the door open with her hoof, and flapped her way inside.
"Medley?" she called out again, looking around. There, in the center of the room, was the Pegasus filly with the musical note cutie mark, praying before a statue of Princess Luna. As she finished her prayer and turned to face Firefly, her friend could see tears streaming down the teenage filly's face.
"They hate me, Firefly. They hate me and my family!" she whimpered, wiping the tears from her eyes with her hoof. "Even the margrave, they all think I'm evil!"
"Oh Ponyfeathers, Medley! They do not hate you!" the pink Pegasus snorted, trying to smile. "Everyone's just acting a little crazy right now 'cause all those kids disappeared!"
"We had nothing to with the kidnapping of those foals, Firefly! I swear it!" Medley trotted up to her friend, a worried look on her face. "You believe me, don't you?"
The pink Pegasus put her hoof under Medley's chin, and pushed her face up to look her in the eyes.
"Medley, you and I have been friends since we were foals. We went to our first day of school together, we had our first flight lesson together." The filly chuckled. "Heck, we went to our prom together. There's no pony out there who knows you better than I do... and I don't think you'd do something like that!"
"Thank you Firefly... that means a lot to me!" She shook her mane. "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't still trust me."
The Pegasus filly smiled, trotting over to the window. "You were always the best of us, Firefly. You were the fastest and the strongest flyer, while I was always falling behind. I was always too shy to even ask a colt out while you went through boyfriends like a hot knife through butter!" She turned back to face Firefly. "There was nothing you were afraid of Firefly, while I was scared of my own shadow."
"Medley, you're too hard on yourself!" Firefly replied, trying to encourage her friend. "You're a strong pony in your own right!"
"No Firefly, I'm not. You've always been strong for me, protecting 'scared little Medley' from the rest of the world." She shook her head. "I don't know what I'd do, if you hadn't been there to watch out for me."
Firefly stared at her friend, stunned. "Medley, I-"
There came another knock on the door, and after a few moments of silence, before Medley trotted over to open it. Two of the Carousel ponies stepped through the door, staring at the Pegasus pony in stony silence.
"May I... help you?" The Pegasus filly asked nervously.
"Medley Tune, we are here to take you into protective custody," one of the guards snorted as the two moved towards her. "You are to be moved to a designated safe area, along with the rest of the city's Ponygan population..."
...
As the sun came up over the mansion, Wish Shine stretched and yawned, trying to ignore the ache in her flank. Throwing off her covers, and shaking her messy mane out of her face, Wish blinked her eyes in the bright morning sunlight. Beside her in the bed, Lucky was still fast asleep, snoring as loud as a chainsaw.
"Loser," she grumbled, shaking her mane in disgust. Every time they shared a passionate night together, he always slept in late. With a groan, she trotted to go take a shower, then went downstairs to get breakfast.
After munching on a bagel, Wish trotted out to the pool and put her sunglasses on, hoping to get a tan. "Bernie! Make sure you clean the pool right this time, or Lucky'll put you at the bottom of it with cement boots!" she yelled to the gardener, teasing him. Opening up a reflective surface, she sat in a folding chair near the diving board.
The past week had been filled with wild parties and all sorts of craziness for Wish. So far, she had pulled off her little ruse successfully. Lucky was meeting the goblin again tomorrow, and a quick hypnosis spell on the weak-minded little twit should do the trick. Then she could get the info out of him- what info was it again? Maybe it was some numbers for Lucky? Oh yeah, something to do with the missing foals. Oh well, Wish Shine thought to herself, she would remember when the time came.