//------------------------------// // The Sting // Story: Boast Bypassed // by GreyGuardPony //------------------------------// Shining Armor's expression was as dour as his mood as he rolled out of bed. Today was the day where one of Equestria's untouchable crime bosses would fall, if everything went according to plan. He had to be ready. He had to be on guard and prepared to take down his thugs at a moment's notice. He needed to protect Equestria and his family members from those who would seek to hurt them... “Shining? You're doing that thing again.” Glancing back at his fiancée, Shining raised an eyebrow. Cadance smiled right back as she laid on her side, a few locks of her mane playfully falling over one eye. “What thing?” The pink alicorn grinned, rolling out of their bed and striking an upright “at attention” pose, complete with military salute. “That 'I am the law', 'Yes princess, whatever you say princess!' thing you do whenever you're fixated on a problem.” She pointed out, throwing her voice deeper in a bad impression of Shining. For his part, Shining just glared right back at her, doing his best to maintain a properly intimidating figure. The cosey inn room was quiet for a few moments as both ponies stared each other down. Cadance was the first to crack, the edges of her lips twitching before they broke into a wide smile and then laughter. Her laughter in turn broke through Shining's mask of annoyance and soon the couple were laughing as they rested their necks against each other. “Seriously Cadance, you know that this is a big deal.” “I know honey.” She responded, playfully tussling his mane with a hoof, “But you get tunnel vision when you're like this, and then you miss important things. So, calm down, and take a deep breath.” Shining rolled his eyes, but listened to the council of his fiancée all the same. “All right. Let's go meet our task force.” - - - - Skitch-Sketch's stomach was busy doing back flips this morning. Despite having been dragged into some life and death situations since arriving in Equestria, she still wasn't quite used to the calm before the storm. And all she had to do was to hide three guards, Shining Armor, and Equestria's third alicorn princess from at least two kidnappers. No pressure. She thought to herself, scanning the room. Town Hall had been the chosen meeting place for the all the ponies involved in operation “Get Spike Back!” (name by Twilight Sparkle). Bulwark, being the nominal head of the town guard, was naturally there; as were his two siblings Bastion and Barricade, fellow members of the guard. As they looked like they could have easily broken a minotaur in half, Skitch had come to dub them the “siblings of slam”...in her own head at least. She had not yet worked up the nerve to tell them that to their faces. They were joined by the ponies who would actually make the switch. The self proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie, and Roseluck the changeling. Neither one seemed to be in a good mood, though she suspected for different reasons. Trixie was sulking over a cup of coffee, Roseluck sitting alertly on her haunches, not even bothering with her disguise. Roseluck's presence was another major disconnect in her mind. She had been told about friendly changelings back when she first arrived in Equestria, but seeing one this close was something else. Changelings allied to Equestria. That would certainly make the royal wedding interesting. “Ya all right Skitch?” “Yeah, sorry AJ.” She nodded, “Just contemplating the nature of expectations vs reality.” “Well contemplate later. We got a job ta do.” The door to the town hall clicked open, Shining Armor striding in, the very model of a discipline. Bulwark and his siblings immediately snapped to attention, complete with neat salutes. Cadance, by contrast, trotted along with a lightness to her step that made her look separated form the rest of the world. Her ethereal nature made Skitch wonder if she was immortal like Celestia and Luna were. Twilight was fidgeting, concern marring her features. Before anyone could stop her, she had rushed forward, jabbing a hoof at the pink princess. "What are your intentions regarding my brother!" A shocked silence filled the room for a moment, Cadance's eyes going wide at the accusation. But a half chocked back snort drew the room's attention back to Trixie. Having bit down on the brim of her hat to avoid breaking into laughter, her eyes shifted back and forth, aware of all the gazes that were now locked on her. Coughing, she quickly stuffed her hat back on her head. “Don't look at me like that! It was funny! It's not the kind of accusation you see thrown at a princess.” She said, poking Roseluck for support, “Come on, don't you agree?” “Huh?” She blinked, “Sorry, I got distracted. Incidentally? Princess, you smell delicious.” Her eyes went wide, “Nice! I mean nice! Definitely not that other thing!” “Well...we're off ta a great start this mornin'.” Applejack sighed. “All right everypony,” Shining spoke up, stomping a hoof to bring the attention back to him, “Let's focus here. I've been brought up to speed, so we will be heading to the rendezvous point. Trixie, you and Roseluck will head out slightly ahead of the rest of us engage their attention while the rest of us approach under the cover of illusion.” Trixie nodded, shooting a glance Skitch's way. “I just hope this homegrown illusionist of yours is up for the task.” “Don't worry about me.” She smirked, rearing up, “I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself!” “Please Skitch,” Twilight sighed, “Can you save the quotes for after Spike is free?” “Right...sorry.” “Let's just move out.” Shining nodded. - - - - “So, a friend of yours is involved in extorting me?” Trixie asked as she and Roseluck trotted through the outskirts of the Everfree. “I'm not friends with changelings who do that kind of thing to creatures.” “Come on. She obviously knows you, otherwise why would you be involved in the drop?” “I knew a lot of changelings Trixie.” Roseluck sighed, “We live in hives and ours was more insular than most before we ran.” Trixie sighed, pulling her cloak a little tighter against the morning dew. “Running. That's something I'm familiar with. But if your hive was so tight knit, then what's going on here?” “Our brood is more individualistic than the rest of the swarm.” Roseluck explained, her eyes roaming over their surroundings as they walked, “We can form our own wants and goals and drives instead of just being slavishly devoted to the queen. But that same individuality comes with a price. And some changelings decided they wanted to use their abilities to get paid rather than build our hive.” “Spies for hire?” Trixie frowned, kicking the ground, “Suddenly the way Bayou Runner has been able to dodge every accusation thrown his way makes a lot more sense.” “He's playing with fire either way.” Roseluck muttered, “I helped capture a cell of these rogue changelings in Venexia once. Learned how they worked. I'd put bits on them having copies of the evidence they buried, somewhere in their bolt hole.” “Really?” Trixie mused, raising an eyebrow, “Interesting.” The pair lapsed into silence, save for the occasional nervous buzz of Roseluck's wings. Both resisted the urge to look behind them, lest they were already being watched and gave away the fact they weren't alone. A few yards behind the pair, the rest of the group were following along. Shining, Bulwark and his siblings in the front, Skitch and Applejack in the middle, and Twilight and Cadance in the back. The whole group was wrapped in Skitch's illusions, as she kept shifting them about to match the current terrain. A throbbing headache had descended on the human turned unicorn, and she winced with each step she took. She wasn't sure what was causing it. She didn't think she was over channeling. Twilight had taught her to recognize the signs. The current situation was important though, so she turned her focus on maintaining her spells and pushed on. As they approached the location of the drop, the Everfree's underbrush opened up forming a wide circular clearing beneath the canopy. An old dead tree was perched on the edge of a ravine, it's branches precariously leaning out over the drop. And standing on one of those branches, holding Spike in her aura, was...Trixie. “Trixie! Roseluck!” The double beamed, “Right on time. Shall we conduct this transaction so that we can both be on our way? Places to go, ponies to see and all that.” At the sight of her twin, Trixie's expression had turned into an angry scowl. “It's bad enough that you extort, but you mock me too?” “What, you were expecting me to show you what I actually look like?” Not-Trixie grinned, waggling a hoof at the original, “Please. I'm not an amateur.” “You're something all right.” Trixie grumbled. “Why yes! I'm The Great and Powerful Trixie!” She crowed, rearing up on her hind legs, “Can't you tell?” “I don't talk like that!” Trixie snapped. “Stop talking and just let me go!” Spike snapped, twisting in her grip and lashing out with his claws. “Little guy's got fight in him, that's for sure. Though he's going to fight himself right off the cliff if he doesn't shut up.” “You're still the one who kidnapped me.” Thorn waved a dismissive hoof as Storm Front and Muddy Waters walked into view from the edges of the clearing. “Just be a dear and hand over your evidence to my associates.” The frown on Trixie's muzzle was as deep as the gorge Spike was suspended over, her brow furrowed into a glare that was doing it's best to set her double on fire. Never the less, she slowly walked forward, head held high. Once she got close she flipped her hat off, pulled out the documents and passed the stack to Storm Front. As the documents changed hoof several things happened at once. Muddy Waters rushed forward, tackling Trixie to the ground and wrapping his forelegs around her neck. “What are you doing, you idiot!” Not-Trixie shouted, her eyes wide in shock. Roseluck retaliated. Immediately pouncing, she sunk her fangs into Waters back, pumping the sleeping venom unique to the Venexian hive into her target. Trixie forgotten, Waters began to buck, trying to dislodge the changeling. Trixie sprang back to her hooves, growling as she rushed Storm Front her horn leveled right for his chest. The pegasus dropped the stack of evidence, twisting out of the way of Trixie's charge as he took to the air. Twilight appeared on the branch next to the false Trixie, her features twisted into a mask of rage. “Give me Spike back!” Not-Trixie recoiled, wings flashing into being with twin snaps of emerald flame. Throwing her body backwards off the branch, she made to escape. She and Storm Front didn't make it very far, however. A maroon colored bubble shield snapped into place, locking them in. The illusions that Skitch had kept in place fell away, Shining Armor stepping forward. “Now, as you are all trapped, and we completely outnumber you. I'd suggest surrender.” “I still have the dragon!” Thorn hissed, the bravado she put on while imitating Trixie slipping, “I can still drop him unless you let us go!” “Oh, I wouldn't recommend that either.” Cadance smiled sweetly, “Since I'd be able to teleport right underneath him and fly. Which leaves you with no bargaining chips at all.” Thorn winced, glancing from the shield, to Muddy Waters, who was beginning to get woozy. Shining Armor smiled even wider. “So, what's it going to be?” - - - - “Well,” Trixie beamed as she watched the forms of her tormentors be lead along, “Looks like I underestimated Ponyville. Not only did you save my evidence, you actually managed to catch these ponies that have been chasing me since I left Neigh Orleans.” “Can't believe you had us surrender.” Storm Front snarled at Thorn. “Tell you what.” Thorn growled back, forced back into her natural changeling form, “Next time we get caught, you can fight the group that has the alicorn in it. Yourself.” “Great work knowing all about Ponyville by the way.” Storm Front snapped, pointing a hoof at Twilight, “Forgetting that one of the movers and shakers in town is related to the head of the royal guard? And that said member of the guard is dating a princess? That's a really big lapse in intelligence for a professional spy!” “I did not forget! I figured that the princess would actually have princess stuff to do, instead of following her wild stallion to a little town like this!” “It's important for couples to share time together.” Cadance said simply, allowing that explanation to speak for itself. “You're datin' that?” Muddy Waters grinned loopily, “Score, buddy! That's a real catch, her plot is...” “Quiet!” Bulwark shouted, stopping the lewd descriptions of Cadance in their tracks, “I don't want to have to listen to your belly aching all the way back to Ponyville.” “Yeah, they're just annoyed because we're awesome.” Spike grinned. Skitch grunted in agreement as she trudged along. The headache had, if anything, gotten worse since she had stopped channeling. Now it felt like knives were being drilled into her brain, and her hooves felt like they were made of iron; heavy to lift and dragging her down. Shuffling along, the tip of her hoof caught a divot in the road and she stumbled, bumping into Applejack's side. “What's wrong sugarcube?” “I...I don't know. Head hurts. Pain all over. I...I...” Skitch's sentence was cut short by a startled scream of pain, the necklace she had been wearing since yesterday pulling tight and digging into her flesh. The illusion on it's surface fell away, revealing it's true black crystalline and silvery metal construction. Falling to the ground, she began to convulse, continuing to scream as she grabbed at her head. The stabbing pain from before had morphed into burning hot pins and needles that seemed to be probing every inch of her mind. “H-help me! It's in my head! IT'S IN MY HEAD!” Roiling bubbles of black and purple energy began to dance along her horn. Cadance and Twilight ran to her side, the alicorn princess already beginning to channel. Their surroundings began to flicker and ripple, half formed images called into being, hanging there for a moment before new ones replaced them, causing a clashing kaleidoscope of illusions. The effects intensified, shimmering spheres of light and sound leaping from Skitch's horn and flying every which way like iridescent missiles. Bulwark and his siblings scattered, throwing themselves to the ground, one of the spheres whipping right past them. Thorn took advantage of the chaos to dive forward, grabbing Bulwark's saddlebags and the files contained within before taking to the air. Storm Front followed suit, grabbing his partner and shooting off after Thorn. “They're getting away!” Trixie screamed. Before Shining could react, the world shifted around them, the effects of the amulet intensifying as a whole industrial factory snapped formed around them. Rivers of rainbow color flowed and dripped from machines, the sound of gears grinding against each other echoing in their ears. Pressing the tip of her horn against the necklace, Cadance surged magical energy into it, her horn blazing like a pink beacon. The factory began to flicker, fading in and out. Gritting her teeth, the princess of love put even more energy into her spell. With a loud groan the sound of the gears stopped, and the illusion faded away. Skitch groaned as the pain ended and her eyes returned to normal, flopping onto her back. “What...the fuck...just hit me?” She moaned. Cadance didn't answer, instead staring intensely at the necklace. “Skitch-Sketch? Where did you get this?”' “Trixie...she gave it to me.” She groaned, weakly pointing a hoof at the show mare as Applejack helped her up. Cadance whirled about, facing Trixie down with an intense glare. “And where did you get it?” “It was given to me by an admirer!” Trixie huffed. “Considering that you were on the run, perhaps you should have been more suspect?” Twilight asked, eyebrow raised, “I mean...it is kind of suspicious.” Trixie glowered, tugging the brim of her hat over her eyes. “Anyway?” Twilight asked, “What is that thing?” “It's called a Spell-bite Necklace.” She frowned, “Unfortunate, I thought that we had destroyed them all.” “We?” Skitch blinked. “Oh, Celestia, Luna and I.” Cadance explained, poking at the necklace again, “We spent many years tracking and destroying these and other creations after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire.” “Crystal Empire?” Skitch asked, her mouth suddenly very dry. “Yes...I'm afraid that you've been struck by a creation of King Sombra.” “What?” Skitch, Twilight and Trixie shouted in unison. Skitch immediately began yanking at the necklace with her magic, trying to rip it away but it stubbornly refused to move. Panicking, Skitch reared, grabbing at it with her hooves and pulling even harder. “Get it off! Get it off! I don't want to be mind controlled or turned into a crystal golem pony or whatever he does in this reality!” Cadance grabbed the sides of her head, forcing the unicorn to look her in the eyes. “Calm down.” She ordered, keeping her voice steady and calm, “I've clogged it with magic to shut it down for now, but if you keep pulling at it, you'll only turn it on again.” Skitch nodded, gulping at the implications. “Now, I'll be able to get it off with time.” Cadance continued, “But you need to tell me what you were thinking while that amulet was active. Help us work out what that factory was.” “Why?” “Oh please.” Trixie snorted, rolling her eyes, “You really haven't figured it out yet? That necklace is making things from your mind 'real' though your illusion magic. It would explain how that clockwork horror vanished. Illusions just vanish when they're disrupted or their duration runs down.” Skitch took a shuddering sigh to calm her nerves before beginning to explain. “I could feel it...crawling through my head, like it was looking for something. It...whatever it was...dug into my memories. There were flashes of creatures and stuff...” She shuddered, “And then it dove into my fears.” “And that was the factory.” Shining nodded, rubbing his chin. “And if this thing is making things from my mind real. We need to find Rainbow Dash. Now.” “Well, as Dash is up in griffin lands,” Applejack observed, “Least we won't have to worry about grabbin' the wrong one.” “All right.” Shining nodded again, “Cadance, can you stay out here with Skitch and work on getting that thing off of her? I don't want to risk illusion creatures appearing in the middle of Ponyville. Barricade,” His eyes fixed on the guard pony, “Stay with them.” Bulwark's sibling saluted neatly, Shining turning his gaze to the rest of the gathered ponies. “The rest of us will head back to Ponyville, find these illusions and deal with them.” “You can all do that.” Trixie snorted haughtily, “I'm going back to my cart. I have my own problems to work out now.” “But, Trixie...” Twilight began. “No!” She barked, whirling on Twilight, “This stupid town has you, your friends, your older brother, and an alicorn princess in it's corner! You should be able handle this! I need to figure out how to salvage months of work in bringing my family's killers to justice!” Trixie didn't wait for a response. With a dismissive flick of her cape, an explosion of white smoke erupted from the ground. Obscured by her flash bang, Trixie bolted away, leaving the group alone and confused for a moment before Shining Armor sighed and shook his head. “Forget her. We need to deal with the situation as it is. Let's get moving.” - - - - Meanwhile, unaware of what chaos had erupted in the Everfree, Ponyville was going about it's daily routine. Shops were open, ponies went to their jobs to earn bits and, perhaps most importantly, the foals were at school. Cheerilee smiled from her position at the head of the classroom. Her students were studiously scribbling away at a math test that she had presented them. “Miss Cheerilee!” Well, they were. Now they were all looking at Silver Spoon. The filly's eyes were wide, she was standing on her chair and her hoof was stretched towards the ceiling. “Yes Silver Spoon? What is it?” She pointed towards the window, her whole foreleg shaking like a leaf. “I...I saw a monster!” While she kept her expression neutral, Cheerilee mentally rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time Silver Spoon had tried to derail a test with some kind of random observation or story. “Now, Silver...” CRUNCH The door violently buckled, then caved completely off it's hinges as Silver Spoon's monster squeezed its way into the school room. A scuttling monster with the lower body of a spider, and the head of an eel, it's front two arms were tipped with wicked looking grabbing claws. In those claws, it held an ornate pony catcher. Cheerilee was already moving as her students screamed, scrambling over each other to get away from the monster. Grabbing her pointer in her mouth, Cheerilee charged like she was brandishing a mighty sword. Lashing out with her chosen weapon, the school teacher rained down a flurry of stinging slaps on the side of its serpentine neck. “Brave, equine-slave!” It hissed, knocking desks askew as it whirled to face her, “But very stupid.” “Leaf mhy students awrone!” She growled through her teeth. With surprising speed, it lashed out with the pony catcher. Cheerilee yelped in shock, dropping the pointer as she felt the cold metal of the weapon wrap around her neck. Its prey snared, the monster yanked her closer as it pressed it's face right into her's. “Brave.” It observed, a tone of happiness still evident in it's screechy, growling voice, “Teaching of young ones indicates educated background and matronly attitude. Quadraped species build also suitable for beast of burden. Yes. I can ask a fine price for you.” “Leave Miss Cheerilee alone ya big bully!” The monster twisted its head towards Apple Bloom, who had hopped up on one of the desks that hadn't been knocked over when it turned around. “Ah said, leave her alone!” “Yeah! What she said.” Scootaloo joined in her wings buzzing angrily. “We won't let you hurt our teacher.” Sweetie Belle added with a note of finality. A hissing laugh escaped the monster's teeth as it raised a clawed hand a small glowing sphere of red light beginning to form just in front of it. “NO!” Cheerilee shouted, “I'll go with you quietly! Just leave them alone, please!” “But Miss Cheerilee!” “Apple Bloom! Just listen to me and stay here. I...I'll be okay.” She finished with a reassuring smile. “Come slave.” The monster grinned, dragging Cheerilee towards the door, “You will lead me to a suitably plant cover free hill so that I can contact my ship.” The students of the Ponyville schoolhouse just watched on, as their teacher was dragged away. - - - - To the south, in a tree shaped cottage, another pony was playing the role of doctor. Fluttershy carefully dropped a pair of white tablets into a steaming hot cup of tea, stirring it a few times before picking up the tray with her mouth and trotting back out into the living room. Cherry Berry laid on the couch, her head still swaddled in bandages, but she was conscious and mobile again. “You sure this stuff will help?” She asked, eying the tea tray as Fluttershy placed it on the low coffee table. “Oh yes.” Fluttershy nodded, “They're a mixture of vitamins and glucose. I use them to help my critter patients with damaged exoskeletons. If yours is made the same, it should help.” “Do you...get a lot of patients with exoskeletons?” Cherry Berry blinked, picking up the tea and taking a long drink. “Oh...no, not really. But the sales pony was so nice and I figured that it would be useful to have, just in case.” “Well, the tea is nice and my headache feels a little better at least.” Cherry Berry smiled, “Thanks Fluttershy.” “It's no trouble.” A knock on the door caught their attention, Fluttershy trotting over to answer it. Pulling it open, she smiled at the sight of the pony on the other side. “Oh! Hello Rainbow Dash, are you back from your trip already?” Rainbow Dash smiled back.