//------------------------------// // Ch.20: The Evil Within Us All - Part 1 // Story: A Hairier Problem: Rise of the Furball // by BlueBastard //------------------------------// Rise of the Furball Chapter 20: “The Evil Within Us All - Part 1” As the train chugged its way up the mountain, Raspberry Beryl was dead silent, her unfocused gaze looking out the window. There was nothing she really could do, as despite her promises to be taken into custody peacefully, both Princess Celestia and Luna had insisted on a heavy guard detachment for the sole purposes of escorting her, by train, to Canterlot’s dungeons.  It wasn’t like Razz was going to protest, the princesses had plenty of experience dealing with magic users of the darker persuasion and as they didn’t know Raspberry’s maximum limits they were going to err on the side of caution. The fact she had to wear the shackles and heavy chains even on the train, though, was a bit much. What she going to do, take out an entire train full of elite guards with some kind of special art, such as the “Hundred Hoof Crack Punch” or manage to use dark magic to do the pegasus-only “Hurricane Kick”? “So…” suddenly said the pegasus guard sitting across from Razz. The unicorn had been surprised to learn that only the guards directly tied to guarding the castle were required to wear the spell that made then uniformly all white-and-blue stallions, or in the case of unicorn guards gray-and-white stallions. But, thanks to the overkill need for security, the more offensive reserve guard had been brought in. This particular pegasus had a goldenrod coat, with a yellow and white mane and tail.  Her cutie mark looked similar to Celestia's, but there were more rays were straighter than those of the Princess. “I have to admit, when we were told we were taking on a unicorn with unknown abilities in dark magic, I was expecting, well…” “Sombra? I tend to get that a lot. At least, when ponies eventually found out the truth.” “That you’re a pony who should have been thrown in the dungeon and the key buried and forgotten?” snapped the pegasus guard sitting across from the two mares. Even though the train was loaded down with guards, the coach Raspberry was actually in only had two guards with her, all the other guards opting to not be in the same enclosed space as the pony who, as far as they knew, could squeeze their brains like a raisin with her mere thoughts. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Candlewick, you’re only even in here because you’re trying to impress the new recruit.” Chided the nicer of the two guard pegasi, “Considering your sister, being in the same room as somepony almost as scary as her would be enough to send you right to your bunk with your little Smarty Pants doll.” “What are you…she didn’t” said the mortified stallion. “She did,” smirked Sun, “I must say, I didn’t think anypony would want the ‘Princess Sugarlicious’ version, but then again I didn’t know you had a thing for dolls.” “Oh, so that’s what everypony is talking about when they mention Smarty Pants?” asked Beryl. “Uh, yeah. I don’t know how even you couldn’t have had one, I mean, every filly wants one for Hearth’s Warming at some point and even the cheap five-bit ones with only the rotating neck and brushable mane/tails are easy enough to get. Surely you had one back when-” “No.” The guards, both mare and stallion, were stunned at the simple, flat answer from the convict. “I’ve never had a Smarty Pants doll. Or any toys, really. But what do you care? I’m a dark magic user, I’m so clearly dangerous that there is no question about how I’m a complete monster. It’s not like you care that I never knew my mother or my father was abusive or that the only living thing who has ever cared for me was a phoenix who I’ve practically raised from being a chick.” Golden Sun and Candlewick were silent, as Raspberry had figured. “I’m just wasting my breath, I guess, pent up frustration and all after all these years. Even if you guards did care about me, you can’t do anything to help since that would put yourselves in danger of being fired or worse, so…” Razz sighed, “…how long until we get there?” “Er, fifteen minutes,” said Candlewick. “Fifteen minutes too long, if you ask me.” Razz merely sighed again and slumped against the window, her horn making noise when its tip bumped the window pane. In the distance she could see the outline of the Equestriani capital. Home of the Alicorns. Where bad things went to die. Was she a bad pony? Had she always been doomed to this, even though all her life she’d tried to be above it? “Hey,” came the voice of Golden Sun. When Razz looked up, she saw a yellow hoof outstretched with an opened granola bar. “It’s not regulation, but you do look sort of hungry and I just remembered I had this spare ration.” “Thanks,” replied Razz, taking the granola into her hooves and biting into the first thing she’d had to eat since the beginning of Nightmare Night the day before. It was sort of bland tasting, but at the same time it wasn’t, possibly because of the kindness of another pony, something Razz had always cherished. At the same time, it was recess time at Ponyville Elementary. All the colts and fillies knew about why Apple Bloom was missing was that she had been summoned to Canterlot by Princess Twilight, who had needed to return to the capital in light of the affairs with Raspberry Beryl. Diamond Tiara, despite her scare of no cutie mark thanks to the Poison Joke, had been easily returned to normal through the help of Zecora, though the same could not be said of her relationship with Silver Spoon when she discovered what had happened. “You idiot, everything is ruined because of you!” shouted Diamond at Silver, “Why did you tell them?!” “Because it was the right thing to do!” the young silversmith argued back, “You’ve treated me like dirt ever since you met that stupid ghost, to which I’ve constantly paid the price for, and Apple Bloom in contrast has been proving you wrong time and time again without even knowing it!” “What, so you’re on her side now? I thought you were my friend, Silver!” “And I thought I was yours, Diamond!” “What are you talking about? I’m the best friend you have! I’m the only friend you have!” Silver’s mouth trembled as Diamond reminded her of the obvious, of why she’d even gone this far. But the final line in the proverbial sand had been drawn, the line Silver would not cross. “No, you’re not anymore, if you ever were my friend to begin with!” Tiara gasped, as if she’d been grievously insulted. “You take that back!” “No!” Silver was done with Tiara, that much was going to be made clear here and now. “If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past few months with all this nonsense, it’s that this ‘friendship’ has been decidedly one-sided in your favor! You’ve used me, exploited me, I don’t even know all the words to express what I’ve been to you, just that ‘friend’ was never one of them! We’re through!” And with that, Silver turned her back on the scandalized Tiara and trotted off to the other side of the schoolyard, never acknowledging  the sea of eyes that had noticed the argument and watched the two most egotistical ponies separate. Tiara was furious. Nopony talked to her like that. But she had to keep up appearances, which meant she couldn’t hurl obscenities at her former friend. So, instead, she just looked away and went to go play by herself, mentally filing Silver into the ‘enemy’ list in her head. Silver, on the other hand, had made it to the far side of the schoolhouse before she couldn’t go any farther. She slumped to the ground, back on the schoolhouse wall, and began to cry. It had been the right thing to do, but now there was nopony who liked her anymore. At the very least, when she’d been with Tiara, the pink pony’s influence kept Silver in the clear. But now there was no protection from the horrors she rightfully deserved, all the bad things she’d done to other ponies. She figured the first round was already going to begin, as three distinct fillies approached. “I know what I asked of you last night, but if you really want to make fun of me, call me names, or whatever you want, go ahead. I deserve it.” “No. We gave our word, Silver,” said Scootaloo, “and we’re going to stick to it. Our honor as Crusaders demands that much.” “Plus, it’s because of you that Apple Bloom is alright!” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “well, as alright as she can be, since she’s really a you-know-what.” “At least she still has ponies who don’t hate her,” sniffed Silver. “That’s not true,” said Babs, walking up to the bespectacled filly and offering her hoof. “Take it from a pony who was in a similar position as you the last time I came to town, there’s always going to be a helpin' hoof when you need one, a friend who can stand by your side.” Silver smiled as she took Babs’s hoof, who helped her get back up on all fours. “You…you really mean it?” “More than that!” answered Scootaloo, “Since you just cut ties with Diamond, I figure you’ve got the rest of the day open. Why not come with us to the clubhouse?” The schoolhouse bell then rang, with the rest of the fillies being drawn back to the building. But, for Silver, maybe things were looking up after all. “Sure. I don’t have much to lose, now do I?” Heliodor was, in a word, unhappy. He did not understand why he was left in a cage which was behind some door, in front of which stood two very bored guards. Sure, they’d brought him water and food, but he hadn’t been in need of sustenance of the edible kind. He didn’t even want attention, which Raspberry would have said was very unlike him. Of course, that was the problem; Raspberry wasn’t there. Even though he was a bird, he was a phoenix, a very rare kind at that with him being a green phoenix. Possibly one of the smartest kinds of avians in the world, they had incredible memory and could have possibly learned speech if evolution had given them vocal cords. But had Heliodor been able to talk, he would have cried out for his mistress, for as much of a capable bird of prey that he was, Raspberry Beryl was what defined the world to him. She had been the one who had saved him from certain death as a mere chick, as he recalled how in the sea of chaos in which he’d been born it was her who was the reason he had ever seen the sun. She had been his protector, his caretaker during those frightful first weeks, helping him regain the courage to fly and be free as he needed to be. But at the same time, he’d seen how she needed protecting, too, for while he didn’t understand why it was clear other ponies didn’t like her for some reason, they wanted to hurt her like those things in the caves had. But she didn’t have any kind of overseeing figure to defend her, like she had been for him, and so he’d resolved to be that figure. And even though she’d assured him that everything would be alright, he wanted nothing more than to take his perch on her horn, to physically touch her and have every reassurance she was alright. He jumped when the door was suddenly opened, though he knew instantly it wasn’t the pony who needed him as much as he needed her. The guards were also, strangely, not at their posts, but no more could be determined as the pony who came into the room hit him with a sleeping spell, causing the poor phoenix to slump to the bottom of his cage. “This is no place for a bird of you beauty, now is it?” said the unicorn, taking a large cloth they’d brought and draping it over the cage, before including it in their telekinesis, “nor is that place next to a filthy unicorn who wishes to use the dark arts for her own gain. You’ll be happier under my care, though, since at least in my possession you’ll be exactly what you were always meant to be.” Nopony heard the low, sinister chuckles of the thief as the door was shut, the crime unseen. “Hey, wake up!” Razz groggily opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them with her right hoof. It hadn’t been an easy night, of course then again the entirety of yesterday had been the third worst day of her life. Having been marched like a prisoner of war, though more out of the fact it had been hard to walk in the leg irons and to the credit of Golden Sun, the guard mare had asked her platoon leader; Shoeshine, to remove the irons on the ground it was unequine. He refused, of course, and so as the crowd of thousands watched, a lone unicorn was marched from the train station under heavy guard all the way to the dungeons. It was almost comical how the actual ‘dungeon cell’ was far better than Raspberry could have hoped. A simple cot with an uncomfortably stiff mattress and a down pillow missing most of the down, a window overlooking the canyon just next to the mountainside capital, and even an enclosed bathroom (that was actually pretty clean) so inmates could do their business in peace (there were of course spells cast such that if inmates tried to use the privacy of the bathroom to manufacture contraband shivs or the like the guards would know). But, since as far as Raspberry had hopes was defined as a bed of old, nasty hay in the darkest depths of the castle dungeons and the toilet was the complex “piss in the corner opposite the bed” lifestyle, she could have practically lived in prison, for she’d had far worse conditions while “free” in the past. Except now she didn’t have Heliodor, who she was constantly worried about, and the two guards posted to guard her cell were not as friendly as Golden Sun or, after working him around to it, Candlewick. Instead, Raspberry now had his sister; Spinnaker, who had outright told Raspberry not to try to tell any lies (meaning nothing the poor unicorn said would be regarded as actual fact), and another pegasus guard named Tiger Lily who seemed really angry all the time. It was the latter who was commanding Razz to wake up.  “Yeah, today’s the big day for you!” said Spinnaker, snickering. “W-why, more paperwork for you to fill out in booking me?” countered Razz as she got up from the bunk. “Look, can I at least wash up first?” Tiger Lily glared at the prisoner “No, now-“ “-Or do you want to take me, a prisoner who looks like crap and probably doesn’t smell to good, in front of the entire ruling body of Equestria? I’m sure that would look good in your performance review that-“ “Then make it quick!” shouted the angered pegasus. While Razz did try to be expedient in washing up, she wasn’t too hurried as she’d met ponies like Tiger before, ponies who would complain that one took too long to do something, no matter how fast it actually had been done. “You’re taking too long!” predictably complained Tiger as Razz presented her cleaned-up self at the bars of her cell, “Hopefully you’re not going to drag your hooves now, either!” “Can it, Tiger!” interjected Spinnaker, who put the leg irons back on Raspberry, “You’re giving her ideas.” “Look, can we just get there already?” whined Razz, “I’m sure the actual trial is going to give me less of a headache than hearing you two complain about each other.” “We’ll see about that” smiled Tiger wickedly, “don’t you know who’s running the prosecution?” “How should I know, nopony’s told me anything since I was put down here. For all I know Queen Chrysalis is the one trying to give me the death penalty.” “Heh, you wish, since I’d bet the Changeling monarch would just want you dead,” said Spinnaker, “But Prince Blueblood? He pulled some big strings to be able to get the credit for winning your trial, which means he’s going to make it one heck of a show. And to be honest?” Spinnaker’s bratty tone suddenly changed to one carrying a seldom shown compassionate side,” I…do actually feel kind of sorry for you because of that.  The guard’s been circulating rumors about how you saved a filly’s life, I may be a bitch sometimes but even I know the Princesses are overreacting to this, and Blueblood shouldn’t even be involved.” “Yeah, but at least there’s a good side,” added Tiger, who also changed her tone to being more friendly.  “Apparently Princess Twilight pulled some strings of her own, so your public defender is Prince Shining Armor. It’s going to be ugly with Blueblood trying to rip you a new one, but at least you have the old guard captain and current prince consort on your side for this.” “Oh joy…” moaned Raspberry, who as usual hated being the center of attention, especially when opposite sides leveled heavy artillery specifically to catch her in the crossfire. “At the very least, could you tell me if my pet phoenix is alright? He’s probably worried sick about me, just as much as I’m worried sick about him.” Tiger and Spinnaker exchanged brief, nervous glances. Neither of them was going to tell the pony who used dark magic with ease what had happened. “He got moved, so we actually don’t know,” hastily fibbed Tiger. “Shining Armor might, though, since he’s royalty and Princess Twilight wanted that phoenix protected.” “Oh, okay, thanks. I’ll ask him, then,” said Razz. Tiger would for the next few hours fear for her life when Shining told Razz that somepony had stolen the bird and the trail led back to her. Makes me almost wish I’d been with the Weatherpony protesters the day I enlisted she thought. “Guess I should have listened to you, huh, Cady?” joked Shining, struggling with the crest on his dress uniform. “It’s not Sombra, but-“ “You had every right, Shiny” replied the love avatar, her magic joining his to orient the ornament correctly before she strode over to peck him on the cheek. “After all, I had been stupid at the time with having put myself in that room full of dark magic.” “Yeah, but this? It’s got to be some kind of cosmic irony. All the trouble we put into protecting the Crystal Empire from the personification of dark magic, only to now have my sister practically beg me to play defense for somepony just as powerful as Sombra.” “Just because I said I sensed her power was like that, Shiny, doesn’t mean she actually is as powerful as him.” “Cady, the guard recovered the crystals that had formed in Ponyville in the aftermath of what happened to Spike, which no doubt Blueblood will use as evidence. I was able to see them, though, and the fact is they are honest-to-your-aunt the same kind of crystal formations Sombra was making sprout all over the Empire.” Cadence balked, “Surely you’re not serious!” Shining shook his head “I’m afraid so, there have been numerous cases of rogue unicorns trying to use that forbidden art between the return of the empire and now, but not one of them has anything in the after-action reports mentioning dark magic on the scale above abnormally powerful elemental spells. Really, I’m just relieved this Raspberry Beryl surrendered on peaceful terms after that mess in Ponyville.” “Oh, now you’ve given me ideas,” replied the alicorn in a sultry voice, slowly walking up to her husband with an exaggerated gait. “Let’s see what you define as ‘peaceful terms’ later tonight…” “You make that sound like a bad thing…” responded Shining in his own suggestive tone, his lips suddenly finding themselves touching hers. It almost certainly would have gone further than that had there not been a sudden knock at the door. Quickly breaking the kiss, Cadence looking away from the door to hide her blush, Shining quickly recomposed himself and responded, “Come in.” There was what sounded like mumbling outside, before the door opened and Tiger Lily entered. “It’s almost time, your majesties, Spinnaker and I have brought the prisoner as requested although-“ “Yes, yes, it’s the lawyer thing that I shouldn’t be here for. I’m probably needed in the hall, anyway. See you soon, hon.” Cadence gave Shining one last kiss on the lips before she made for the hall that the trial would be held in. Once she was gone, Spinnaker brought in the nervous Raspberry. “I should warn you, and apologies in advance…” Tiger suddenly whispered into Shining’s ear, “We sort of told her you had her bird moved to a secret location.” “You what?!” answered Shining, quietly enough that Raspberry, who was listening to something Spinnaker was telling her, wouldn’t hear. “You’re her defense lawyer, we figured you’d know how to break the news to her better! Plus, she’s really torn up about having been separated from her pet, and if she’s supposedly as powerful as Sombra, then those wards put on her horn to keep her magic bottled up aren’t reliable enough for either Spinny and I to risk our lives on. Plus, your special talent is protection magic, you’re better suited for dealing with her when angry than two pegasus guards.” “Let’s just hope for your sake that my sister was right and this pony is as about as violent as Fluttershy.” Tiger nodded, then saluted. Spinnaker followed suit, before the two exited the room. While it would just be Shining and Raspberry inside, with the two pegasus guards on point just outside, Shining was still a capable fighter. After all, he’d been a Guard Captain, and they didn’t let ponies move up the ranks simply by kissing the plots of superiors. “So, you’re the one all this trouble is about. Raspberry Beryl, right?” Raspberry nodded but said nothing. “Okay, Miss. Beryl, I’m assuming that you know what the purpose of this meeting is?” “D-defense council?” she stammered, clearly uncomfortable being in the presence of Shining Armor. While he was far from the muscle-clad hulks of stallions like Ponyville’s own Snowflake, anypony could see that the prince consort didn’t skimp out on keeping himself in shape even though he was no longer part of the guard. Just by the subtle curvature of the muscles in his forelegs, Raspberry figured he could snap her spine in half if he wanted. So she was shocked when his horn lit up and the leg irons spontaneously fell off. “You seemed uncomfortable in those. It’s also harder for ponies to sit in them, I remember this one time when we had this new recruit; Divine Wind, who was a real prick and thought it would be funny if his commanding officer, who happened to be me at the time, woke up in leg irons. I never did figure out how he acquired them. Then again, I don’t think he ever figured out how that morning they ended up locked on his legs instead of mine.” Beryl’s mouth made an O shape. “Did you know he was going to do it beforehand?” “Nope. But back when Twily was just a filly, she and the babysitter; Cadence, liked to pull that prank on me all the time, though not with actual leg irons, so I ended up developing a keen sense of when somepony’s trying to bind me up while sleeping. And picking the locks was easy, I’d gotten really good at it just to impress the old  Orcs & Oubliettes group back in high school.” “No!” laughed Raspberry, as naive as she was about pony culture in general, she’d heard about what was commonly called O&O. She’d even once sold a bunch of small, sequin-sized gems to a group who wanted to use them to paint up miniatures for the game, though she didn’t know much about the game itself. Just that it was hard to picture Shining Armor, the spitting image of what all athletic ponies wanted to be, doing something like O&O. “Hey, Caddy thought it was cute, and I can’t argue with that seeing as how we’re happily married!” chucked Shining, motioning for the freed Razz to take a seat. While normally what Shining was doing was frowned upon by conventional law ponies, this was an abnormal situation and by telling a little story had succeeded in improving Raspberry’s mood as intended. The result was her being very cooperative in everything she had to be as such while Shining explained what was going to happen. Right until she asked about her bird, to which Shining had to tell her the truth, as while the instantaneous look on her face was that of a pony whose entire outlook on life had been crushed in the most horrifying way possible, Shining could only reason it was better she find out now than during the actual trial. For while Shining merely told Raspberry that Heliodor had mysteriously vanished overnight and the investigation ongoing, Blueblood was going to ride Heliodor’s absence on a cart of scathing accusations leveled right at Raspberry. But it was small solace, as Shining knew it was going to be insanely difficult to justify a defense when he, the one who had been needed to help his wife protect the Crystal Empire, was now defending the most evil kind of magic known to pony kind. The trial of Raspberry Beryl was imminent, the Grand Hall was packed to capacity, the only ponies missing being the princesses. The prosecution and defense teams were in place, Raspberry looking like an absolute wreck and Shining being completely expressionless to hide his own worries, while Blueblood looked like a predatory bird about to divebomb a particularly helpless meal-to-be. The five non-alicorn element bearers, being treated as if they were truly of royal blood, had been given one of the two private boxes close to the floor where all the action would take place. For Apple Bloom and Lightning Dust, however, they were not granted the same privileges and so were stuck towards the back of the crowd. “Ah don’t like this,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah don’t like it one bit!” “Neither do I,” agreed Lightning Dust, “but we don’t have any power to change it, do we?” “Quiet!” said the guard assigned to watch over them, “it’s about to begin.” Indeed, guards stationed all over were beginning to tell the crowd the same, evidenced by the gradual onset of silence. The room was dead still as the princesses entered from the far right side in order from shortest to tallest, taking the second box seat. More importantly, Twilight was seated as close to her friends as possible such that if the need arose they could use the Elements of Harmony to stop any threat…at least that was the given story as to how they had the Elements still. The real Elements had been returned to the Tree of Harmony deep within the Everfree Fest, but in order to prevent public outcry over the loss of Equestria’s most powerful defense it was secretly decided to create duplicates that looked like the real deal. They would be in truth totally useless in the event a major disaster actually happened, but the hope was the suggestion of Equestria’s six most powerful artifacts being present would be enough to prevent such problems from occurring. Once the Princesses were all seated, the Hon. Judge Powdered Wig came in from the left side and took his seat at the highest point in the room. Clearing his throat, he addressed the princesses. While he was the highest authority in the Equestriani Legal System, he still had to answer to the Princesses themselves who were there to ensure the trial went smoothly, especially considering the nature of the offenses on what he’d describe as a very long list. “Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight, the court is now prepared and yours to oversee.” “Very well, then,” said Celestia, “Let the trial commence!” The trial was going, in a word; horribly. While Blueblood found  he would have quite the opponent in Shining on the legal battleground, not having known the position of Guard Captain required extensive legal study for the possibility of needing to be an acting judge on the front lines, the fact remained there really wasn’t much of a defense he could put up. As suspected, the pompous prince was riding on the fact Heliodor had mysteriously vanished from the evidence room where he’d been kept, which turned into accusations of him having never existed in the first place but instead having just been an illusion used to distract ponies who had been buying her gems such that they wouldn’t notice the “obvious flaws” that exposed their true, evil nature. The fact one such disguised gem nearly killed the adopted sibling of one of the princesses became his overall argument that Raspberry was a monster who hid behind a veil of innocence and that she should be put to the death. By the time recess had been called, Shining had managed to nullify much of Blueblood’s wild accusations, but it wasn’t looking good for overturning the very clear consensus Razz had tried to assassinate Spike. Worse, Razz seemed to have lapsed into some kind of depressed coma, the insults from Blueblood having cut her deep but none deeper than the claim her phoenix had never existed. “Somebody needs to talk to the poor dear!” confided Rarity. The Ponyville friends had formed their own little emergency group meeting in private, possible only because Twilight could mass-teleport the group with ease away from the crowds. “It goes without saying that I’m no stranger to over the top theatrics when I get down and out, but it’s no exaggeration that even the worst of my episodes are nothing compared to that hopeless expression she had while being escorted out of the room.” “I can’t do anything, I’m afraid,” said Twi apologetically, “She wanted a fair trial and I agreed to it, but part of that is prisoners like her are not allowed to talk to anypony other than their legal consultants during a court recess. And Shiny, as much as he always knows how to cheer me up, probably isn’t able to do the same for Raspberry. Unless a miracle happens, like Heliodor turns up, it’s pretty evident Blueblood is going to win.” “It ain’t right!” said Applejack, “the whole ‘she tried to kill Spike’ bit is nothin’ but a bunch of hooey, Ah’ll admit Ah don’t really know much about her but she saved mah sister’s life from what we think was mah dead ancestor or somethin’ pretendin’ to be Fair Vista.” “I’m really worried about Heliodor, along with Raspberry, obviously, but I don’t have much hope we’ll find him in time.” Confessed Fluttershy, “phoenixes in captivity of any kind are extremely rare, and as far as anypony knows Heliodor’s the only one with a green and gold mix instead of red. Whoever wanted him must have wanted him because he was unique, since trying to sell him would be impossible, but who would risk breaking into the castle to steal a bird?” While the six conversed worriedly, none of them noticed the stained glass window behind them. Or, more specifically, the small figure listening into their conversation. He was not happy to hear that the phoenix had gone missing. “As much as I love chaos…” mumbled Discord, moving out of the window by means invisible to other ponies before reforming inside a broom closet, taking on his unicorn disguise, “I don’t think I want to know how badly this is going to end if something is not done.” With absolutely zero interest in being stealthy about suddenly appearing in the hallway, he threw the door open wide. “OW!” came two voices, one of a tomboy and the other with a distinct country accent. “Oh, um, sorry?” apologized the fake unicorn, his embarrassed smile turning into an ‘o’ of discovery as he realized he’d slammed a door right into the muzzles of the specific two ponies he’d needed to find. “Actually, this is quite fortunate, I was just about to try and find both of you as a matter of fact.” “You coulda been a bit less clumsy with the introduction,” said Apple Bloom, hoof rubbing her slightly bruised muzzle, “plus, Ah have to admit Ah woulda expected somethin’ a little more extravagant from you, Disc-“ “Shhh!” Discord quickly covered Apple Bloom’s mouth, “I don’t know how you figured out-“ “Mwahwplephwack mwould mwe,” answered the filly . “Whatever, point I’m trying to make is that a lot of ponies don’t know that and it’s in my best interest that they don’t, and I’m not pretending to not be me because we don’t have much time.” “Wait, so you’re…” asked Lightning, skeptically, “I thought you were-“ Discord facehooved. “Yes, yes, I don’t look like the fancy windows, especially the 8th version of some of those windows, they took out my most defining features. Regardless, I just found out the trial isn’t going so well for your friend because her phoenix is missing, correct?” “Yeah…” replied Apple Bloom, downtrodden at the idea. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe this, but I might be able to help.” Discord then produced the green phoenix feather that had been recovered from the abandoned Diamond Dog mine some weeks back, “I would try and find him myself, but I can’t ask Tia to let me go out of the castle again and considering my old reputation most ponies would think I’d stolen him simply so I’d look better if I returned him. Which, while is a good idea I actually do admit, would break the promise I made to a dear friend centuries ago.” “How did you-?” asked Dust, while Apple Bloom took the feather. “I found it lying in the western foyer, no idea how it hadn’t been noticed since birds aren’t really allowed in the castle save for Philomena, and last I checked she’s red where Heliodor is green. But you two need to go! Find some of the guards who Twilight has searching for any suggestion as to the bird’s fate, the feather should lead you back to where it came from!” The sound of two of those very guards echoed around a corner, the cue for Discord to simply vanish with a snap of his tail, leaving two very confused werewolves holding a feather for Golden Sun and Candlewick to find. “Hey, where did you two get that?” asked Sun. “Western foyer,” answered Dust, “we’ve been trying to find some guards since then but I guess they’re all on the other side of the castle or on jury duty.” “Then it’s a good thing we found you!” exclaimed Candlewick, “come with us, one of the unicorn guards should be able to cast a tracking charm to lead us right to where its owner is!” “Let’s just hope he’s still in Canterlot!” said Apple Bloom, both she and Lightning Dust galloping after the two guards in a race against time. Being the only non-flyer in the quartet, it would be very rough for her to follow them over long distances.