//------------------------------//
// 15. Making Plans of All Kinds 
// Story: Lunar Phases 
// by Dusk Writer 
//------------------------------//

                    I honestly have no idea as to why I expected this 'North Wind' guy to answer back immediately. I mean, who in their right mind would stay up until at least three in the morning on their computer? Most certainly not me, heh heh heh.
 
                    Anyways, after leaving several questioning hellos, I finally realize that he, or she, is probably asleep right now, and speaking of which, I should probably get to bed myself and try to contact Celestia.
 
                    I finally shut down my computer, turn off the monitor, and jump off of the chair to start heading towards my bedroom. Thankfully, one of the advantages that appear to have accompanied my change is night vision. I easily navigate my way to my bedroom, and once I walk through the doorway, another yawn forces its way out my mouth.
 
                    Wow, I didn't realize just how tired I was. I drag my hooves across the carpet and over to my bed, staring at it for a second. Then, I fall face first into the heavenly cushion. Or well, I attempt to. As it turns out, that doesn't work as well as it did as a human. I end up only getting my head to fall onto the plush bed, while the rest collapses onto the floor in a jumbled mess.
 
                    I groan in distress and frustration, forcing my legs under me again so I may stand upright. This time, I hop up onto the bed and then collapse. Needless to say, it's a bit more successful this time. I let my body sink into the soft cushions and close my eyes, ready to go save another pony from their nightmares. It doesn't take long before I finally feel myself slip into the world of sleep.
 
                    I open my 'eyes' and immediately observe two things; one, I do appear to have gone into my dream walking state, and two; I have no idea where I am. As I look around, I see nothing that even looks like my room or even much of anything at all. It's all just a giant blank space.
 
                    Any attempts of leaving by will power are utterly shut down, almost like something is blocking me from escaping. Well, if it's going to keep me here, the least this place could do is give me some place to sit! As if the space could read my mind, a long leather couch, much like the one in my living room appears, and seemingly from nowhere as well. Huh, that's odd. I wonder…
 
                    With my curiosity stoked, I imagine the most random thing can I conjure up in my imagination; a pink falcon with a cowboy hat, sitting astride a cyborg dolphin while wielding a Spartan Laser and machete.
 
                    And lo and behold, that exact creature appears in front of me, screeching strange noises and spewing lasers everywhere. I sit there for a moment, and a small maniacal grin makes its way onto my muzzle. For the next hour, I experiment in this strange little world, recreating entire battles and weapons from several video games, especially Halo.
 
                    But alas, as many things must, my fun eventually comes to an end. It starts with a maniacal laugh (from me, of course) and ends with me destroying everything I created in the blink of an eye. After finally coming off of that power rush, I examine the location again, mumbling to myself, "Okay, so this place obeys whatever I want, even going against many laws of physics…Aha! I must be in my own mind!"
 
                    I have no idea why it took me so long to figure out that I was in my own imagination, and apparently something else agrees. A slow clap filters through the empty space, and a very familiar voice seems to speak from everywhere. "Bravo, little Woona! Bravo! I must say, I thought it'd take you a bit longer to figure that out, seeing as how much space is in here."
 
                    That damned laughing erupts from all around me could only belong to one thing. "Discord," I growl, getting into more of a battle-ready pose. "While I can mostly ignore that jab at my intelligence, I cannot ignore the fact that you have invaded my privacy."
 
                    "Oh, but those are the fun bits! Especially with those humans! They're just soooo chaotic!" Okay, that's a bit creepy that he made that sound orgasmic, but not surprising whatsoever.
 
                    "But more than anypony else's, I love toying with your mind. I mean, all this anger and hate that you keep bottled up within you, oh it's glorious! So much like your old self, yet so different." Okay, I really want him out of my head now, and I especially want to keep him away from…that section of my mind.
 
                    "Discord, I swear, if you don't get out of my head right now, I'll rip your skull out along with your vertebrae!" Not totally sure how, but I'm totally going to stick to that promise even if he does leave my mind.
 
                    That same chuckle fills the room, "Well fine then party pooper," A big cone hat with the words 'party pooper' plops own over my horn, "I'll leave for now, but just remember, your little surprise comes in less than a day!" With that, I hear his cackle fade off into the background, and my surroundings begin to crumble.
 
                    I suddenly jerk upright in my bed, just into the right position for the sun to glare through my window and directly into my eyes. "Ow! God damn son of a bitch!" I scream, as I tumble backwards off of my bed with my forelegs protectively covering my eyes.
 
                    Eventually, I recover from the merciless assault of the enemy known as the sun. I prop my front half back up onto my bed to stare down the yellow star (not directly). After a few seconds, I raise a hoof at the offending object in the sky. "Damn you, you big ball of exploding gas, if I still had fingers I'd be flipping you off so much right now!" I receive no response from what I used to think was an inanimate object. Just as I thought; that's Tia's area of specialty anyways.
 
                    I use my magic to close the curtains, and stop the light from mostly shining into my room. I sigh in relief and stand back up to my full height, which sounds impressive in my head, until I realize it's a mere five feet tall.
 
                    I groan at my self-realization, hating the fact that I am no longer a giant… well, no longer a giant in human standards anyways. With my tiredness obliterated by the assault of a certain star-that-shall-not-be-named, I walk out of my bedroom and into the living room. Huh, it feels so empty now, didn't think I'd get used to having someone I cared about in my life.
 
                    Without much to do right now, I walk over to my computer, pondering over Discord's little warning in my dream. I have no doubt that was him, even if it was in a dream; I'd seen his presence in dreams before. But that's not what matters. What matters is what this warning could be, but I have too little information to make an accurate guess or hypothesis. As much as I hate it, I'll just have to wait and see what this 'surprise' is.
 
                    Filing that little bit of mental conversation away for a later date, I boot up my computer and get everything up and running. Once the screen shows my familiar background of me, I jump into the chair and get to work.
 
                    First on my list of things to do, is to see if that North guy is awake yet. Moving my mouse until the cursor is over the Skype icon, I then proceed to open the application until I have the correct chat up on my monitor. I click the small chat bar at the bottom of the screen and type in a new message.
 
We are the Meta: You awake yet?
 
                    Apparently, I hold some luck today, or at least this morning, as I only have to wait a few seconds for the other person to respond.
 
PeterMartineau1: yes who are you
 
                    Well, not the most friendly welcome I've received from somebody (or pony) who needs my help, but I can understand if they feel a bit rushed or short.
 
We are the Meta: The person you contacted last night about a "Strawberry Frost"
PeterMartineau1: oh sweet luna, i reaslly need yoiur heslp
PeterMartineau1: typklng with hooves is hsard
 
                    Well sweet Mother Theresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz! You sound like a majestic fucking genius!
 
We are the Meta: I can imagine. I guess I can consider myself lucky haha.
PeterMartineau1: har haf, what pony hsvd you turmed into
We are the Meta: Well, you kind of swore to me a second ago.
 
                    Now wait a few seconds for the realization to sink in…
 
PeterMartineau1: waikt, oh nkmerciful, m9ik sorry princes
We are the Meta: Yes! Fear my wrath! You shall now be sent to the moon for swearing about me!
PeterMartineau1: ohn pldeasde prk ess, dl nt do it
 
                    Oh please tell me this guy isn't seriously taking me serious, because that was obviously a joke, even in text form!
 
We are the Meta: ...
We are the Meta: You know that was sarcasm, right?
PeterMartineau1: ... obvkioudly
We are the Meta: Hard to tell with your difficulty typing.
PeterMartineau1: slorry princedsd
We are the Meta: It's fine.
 
                    Yeesh, if we keep this up, I could have them kissing my hooves in less than an hour. Well, that is depending on where they are right now. But, I digress, so back to the matter at hand!
 
We are the Meta: Anyways, what was this about a kidnapped pony?
PeterMartineau1: she tried to save her secret by inmfiltratimng a lab and it swsds a trap
 
                    I nearly slam my head into the desk, but stop myself by remembering about the horn. Seriously?! If she was half pony at the time, why the hell did she think this was a good idea?! Okay, calm Luna, just calm down.
 
We are the Meta: Hmm, she should have just left it alone. With the condition she was probably in, I don't see why she thought it was a good idea.
PeterMartineau1: me neither4, now , she kis captured sn d i nmeed help.
 
                    Well, hopefully they're some place close so I can help them out with this little (not really so little) problem.
 
We are the Meta: Well, I'm not sure how close I even am to you. What city or town are you in?
PeterMartineau1: muxcxatine
PeterMartineau1: lows
 
                    Oh, I could have fun with this.
 
We are the Meta: Is that a Russian town?
PeterMartineau1: obviuslyt
PeterMartineau1: jusd
PeterMartineau1: us
PeterMartineau1: muscatune
 
                    Muscatune? That sounds an awful lot like…
 
We are the Meta: ...Muscatine, Iowa?
PeterMartineau1: yhddyerd   yes
 
                    Okay, this is getting too weird! What is it about Muscatine and people turning back into ponies?!
 
We are the Meta: I am tired, of all these motherfucking coincidences in this motherfucking town!
PeterMartineau1: wnst dl you ean
 
                    I sigh out loud and rub a hoof against my temple in an attempt to calm down. "It's okay Luna, sure there are way too many coincidences for it all to be an accident, but that's not what matters right now.
 
We are the Meta: Basically, I met my long-lost sister here in Muscatine right when she (used to be a he) was visiting a friend for their own birthday party.
PeterMartineau1: wolw
PeterMartineau1: ... wkjll youhelkpo md
We are the Meta: If I'm reading this correctly, then yes, I most definitely will.
PeterMartineau1: thdn, yoim mnr\\]\\\\
PeterMartineau1: olopds
 
                    The pony suddenly stops sending random messages of gibberish that I think are supposed to convey gratitude. About a minute later, I see the familiar symbol that says they're writing, before much less sloppy text appears.
 
PeterMartineau1: pencil usage activate
PeterMartineau1: youll need my address
We are the Meta: I would like to go straight to wherever she is, as it'd be quicker, but I feel I should talk to you first. Go ahead and send it.
 
                    I scramble to look for a piece of paper and pencil as quickly as I can, and get back to my screen just as they post the information I need.
 
PeterMartineau1: 2200 5th avenue; here is my address. i dont know their exact address only where it is
 
                    I write down the address they give me and fold up the piece of paper, placing it on my desk for later.
 
We are the Meta: Okay, I'll see you in anywhere from 25 to 50 minutes.
PeterMartineau1: why such a difference
PeterMartineau1: anyway, see yaslkfahsfdshalkfhksdlfhvbdskf\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
 
                    Well fine, disconnect before I can give a chance to explain, although I do wonder why his message went all to gibberish there at the end. Oh well, I'll see him in a little bit anyways.
 
                    And now, to contact Tia and to explain why I didn't contact her in her dreams last night. I open the chat for her Skype (we exchanged information yesterday) and type in a quick message.
 
We are the Meta: Morning sis.
Sarikano: Morning Lulu. I'm sorry I forgot to contact you yesterday, I was quite busy with my friend and foalsitting her sisters.
 
                    I'll admit to some guilty pleasure of her calling me Lulu now, even if I still feel more connection to the name John. Although, there is one oddity I noticed in her message.
 
We are the Meta: "Her?" I thought you said your friend was a boy. Unless, they turned into a mare as well?
Sarikano: Well... You are a fan of that cartoon right?
We are the Meta: Yes, I am. Not sure what the relevance is though...
Sarikano: Do you remember that episode where Pinkie Pie gets a new co-worker?
 
                    What's she getting at now? I hate it when people beat around the bush. Unless it's me of course heh heh heh.
 
We are the Meta: I believe so.
Sarikano: Well... My friend and her sisters are actually the fillies that the mare foal-sat.
We are the Meta: Oh my. Are they rather troublesome?
Sarikano: It's nothing new. At least my friend should be able to help keep them in check. Something tells me that she'll end up playing dress-up before she is a full pony.
 
                    I wince at that, knowing quite well how that could feel. Well, not as a pony, but being the younger sibling of an older sister did have quite a few of those moments.
 
We are the Meta: Ah. Well, it'll be longer than we thought until I can meet up with you now.
Sarikano: Something happen to you while I was gone? Oh, and my friend has only fainted twice so far.
We are the Meta: Well, they're taking it better than I thought. Anyways, I received a distress call from another pony. Apparently one of their friends got caught when trying to keep their secret.
Sarikano: Oh... As much as I want to feel sorry for the poor ponies... Do you have any indication that the story is true? And about taking it well... My friend's sisters decided to brush both my mane and tail into a ponytail and tied it up using blue ribbons. You have no idea how good the brushing felt...
 
                    Um, okay, too much information right there Tia. And as much as I hate to admit it, she's right about suspicious. I have no idea if these people are really ponies! They're like that rule on the internet; every girl you meet on the internet is a guy. However, I can't help but shake the feeling this one is real.
 
We are the Meta: That, sounds a bit creepy. And no, I don't have any indication that this one is a pony either, but I'm going to trust them this time. Don't worry, I'll be super cautious and not blunder into it this time.
Sarikano: *sigh*If it wasn't of the fact that my friend is most likely going to get younger at an unknown rate, I would propose to join you, just to be certain. We deducted that her pony self was only eight year old... One year younger than her sisters.
We are the Meta: Hm, that could be troublesome. I'll head right over there once I save this other pony.
 
                    That is, assuming I don't get caught and experimented on for the rest of my immortal life. It probably would be a good idea to bring a couple guards if I had them. Thinking of which…
 
We are the Meta: Also, Have you heard anything from Shadow Slash and Fireball recently?
Sarikano: No, sorry. You have no idea how having no news about Fireball worries me. Also, how good is your teleportation?
 
                    That change of subject was so quick it gave me whiplash. It's almost like she didn't want to even talk about those two for some reason. But I'm also guessing that she's wanting to get back to the matter at hand/hoof.
 
We are the Meta: Haha, not good at all. I actually haven't even tried flying yet.
Sarikano: And I suppose you don't remember your mist form spell either? That one could be useful to both confirm that it isn't a trap and for defense.
 
                    Damn it Tia, I'm a newly reshaped pony, not a magical genius!
 
We are the Meta: I've only taken a form like that in my dream walking. I'm hoping to go mostly stealth on this.
Sarikano: If magic is out of question... What about changing the rendezvous point at the last minute? That would largely reduce the chances of a trap. Also, does the pony know who you are?
We are the Meta: The pony who contacted me does.
Sarikano: Well... Good luck. Contact me as soon as you are certain that you are safe. I'll tell you where my friend live at that moment.
 
                    Well, she seemed to be a bit hesitant with the part concerning the pony knowing who I am. As an afterthought, that may not have been the brightest idea to tell them that. And what, does she not trust me with the location of her friend's house yet? Why, I'm hurt! I thought we were sisters!
 
We are the Meta: Not meaning to sound like a spoiled brat, but why can't you give it to me now?
Sarikano: It's not that I don't trust you, but it's the only place that I know to be completely safe at the moment. And you know how good humans can be at torture. I wonder how original they could be with a being extremely hard to kill.
 
                    Murphy's Law! Abort abort abort!
 
We are the Meta: Hey, we don't know how indestructible we are, ok? And I'd rather not test it.
Sarikano: Still more resistant than humans. Which means they can do things much worse to you if they somehow manage to capture you. I'm sorry, but it's better that way.
We are the Meta: Fine. Anyways, I'll contact you somehow when I'm done over there.
Sarikano: Do you still have my phone number?
We are the Meta: I believe so.
Sarikano: Hopefully me being Canadian will prevent them from tracking me down easily if they manage to get it.
 
                    I have no idea if that would work, or why that'd even be relevant. With the amount of satellites in the sky, they could most likely find her easily by cell phone.
 
We are the Meta: Maybe. That might also have nothing to do with it. I believe they can track you by using satellites and from where your signal came from.
Sarikano: Hopefully the guys in black after you weren't the CIA then...
We are the Meta: Yeah, no kidding. Anyways, I'll see you later.
Sarikano: I'll see you later little sister and above all, stay safe.
 
                    With that, I log out of Skype and shut down my computer, still feeling a little iffy about her calling me little sister. I mean, it's nice and all, but I'm just not sure about it right now. I'm used to being a man! At least I can get used to being the younger of two to an older sister again.
 
                    I give my house a quick walk-around to make sure that no ovens are going and that all lights are off, putting items I need into a bag with a strap that’ll go around my neck before I go. Once I am finally satisfied with how my apartment looks, I pick up the small bag, filled with nothing but a few snack and pieces of cloth to wrap around my hooves for when I attempt to go stealthy.
 
                    I walk up to the door, and almost open it, when I hear voices on the other side. I quickly draw back my hoof, giving a sigh in relief that I didn't open the door. I press my eye against the small peep hole viewing out into the hallway. Apparently, all of my neighbors (minus Fiona for some reason) had all decided it'd be a good idea to go out into the halls at the exact same time. From what I can see, they all appear to have their attention focused on Fiona's apartment.
 
                    Odd, but not my problem right now. I need to get to the pony's house, but how am I supposed to get there if the halls are all filled? I look around the apartment for some kind clue as to what I can do, and eventually my gaze falls upon the window in my room.
 
                    Slowly, I walk over to the window and cautiously slide it open. The wind rustles my mane as I stick my head out the window looking down onto the parking lot. I must be one crazy mother bucker, but I might be able to at the very least glide out of here.
 
                    I glance back at the two dark blue appendages as I flex the unfamiliar muscles, feeling a bit unsure about this idea. But, I need to leave now, and the hallway is filled with humans who would probably freak out as soon as they see me, so this was, unfortunately, my best option.
 
                    I unlatch the window, grab hold of the bottom of the window with my hooves, and slowly slide it open. I feel the wind blow through my already partially-wavy hair and gulp, attempting to swallow my nervousness. I’d never been afraid of heights; I’d just been afraid of falling from said heights, so you’d have to understand my nervousness at jumping out of a third-story window.
 
                    Swallowing again, I pull the front half of my body out the window until my wings can open. I flex the muscles and slowly spread my wings, shivering at the feeling of each feather sliding across each other. My god, this just feels so right! I can feel my nervousness fading as I sit there, eyes closed, with the wind blowing over my spread wings.
 
                    I smile as I open my eyes, now fully prepared for this. I crouch a little, and then, I jump from the window with my wings spread, catching the air.
 
                    Shit shit shit! Abort! I am regretting this very much right now! AAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!! I start freaking out as my wings don't seem to catch the air quite as well as I thought they would. Instead of gracefully gliding from the window as I'd hoped, I start to wobble through the air like a poorly controlled RC plane.
 
                    The ground starts speeding up underneath me as I "glide" towards the cars in the parking lot. Maybe if I start to angle myself downwards  a little bit so I can land before I start going too fast? I start to as I thought, angling myself so I can land. It'd be really rough, but at least I wouldn't be gliding anymore. Unfortunately, I'm not looking forward, so I fail to noticed the broad side of the car in front of me until the last second.
 
                    I lower my head, close my eyes, and grit my teeth in preparation for the impact, which comes in just a few seconds. It feels like my horn is almost getting pushed back into my skull with the amount of pressure being applied to it, then the pressure is just gone.
 
                    I crack open my eyes to see the rest of my body pressed against the outside of the car. Groaning in pain, I touch my hooves down onto the asphalt and start to raise my head, when suddenly I find I can't. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," I growl, as I realize that my horn is stuck and wedged through the glass window.
 
                    I press my forelegs against the frame of the car and push, trying to pull out ("BOW CHICKA BOW WOW!" You know what? I don't even care anymore…) of the damn window. I can feel and hear the glass slowly cracking as I apply even more pressure.
 
                    Suddenly, I hear voices coming in my direction, and the car I'm currently stuck into the side of beeps as the owner unlocks it. I start pulling even harder, as well as pushing a little bit of magic power through the bony appendage. The magic does the trick as the glass shatters, freeing me, but also setting off the alarm at the same time.
 
                    Son of a bitch.
 
                    The voices are replaced with running footsteps as the owner sees the flashing lights on their car. Oh god, I can't be seen like this! They're gonna freak out and call the animal control! Then that'll be it for getting back to my sister. In my panic, I don't realize the amount of power I'm channeling into my horn, and as they start to round the corner, one thought runs through my mind; I need to hide, now!
 
                    As soon as I think said thought, I feel my body dissolve super fast, until suddenly I'm nothing more than a collection of oddly colored mist. Just in time too, as a girl I've never seen before comes around the corner with a friend and sees the broken window. Fortunately, she doesn't even seem to notice me as she starts freaking out, looking around for any suspicious characters as well.
 
                    I can feel my energy start to wane, so I use what I practiced in my dream walking state and will myself over to a small area hidden by some bushes. Once there, I release all of my hold on magic and rematerialize, thumping down onto the ground.
 
                    Well, that was a thing. A grin takes up my face as I realize what I just did, but I quickly squish the excitement; we have work to do, I can freak out about this later. I stand back up on all four hooves, checking my surroundings to make sure it's safe for me to move on. Strangely enough, the road next to my apartment is currently devoid of traffic.
 
                    As I am not one to look the gift horse in the mouth (Pun totally intended!), I take this chance to get moving. I use my currently limited magical abilities to open the bag tied around my neck and take out the small slip of paper with the address printed on it.
 
                    “Ok, so if I’m remembering correctly, then the house should just be a few blocks away,” I quietly mutter to myself. Alright, so if my calculations are correct, I should be able to get there in about twenty minutes, and that’s without any interruptions. I place the paper back into the bag and pull the straps closed.
 
                    Just to be cautious, I check ahead down the street for another hiding spot to dash over to. About fifty feet away, a small bush offers some hiding space. I get into a stance where I can easily dash over to the area quickly, and after I check the road again, I spring forward. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried running as a pony yet, and only end up getting my hooves tangled up as I attempt to make it to the bush. I fall, and not very easily either, if the scraped up shoulder is anything to go by.
 
                    I get back up as quickly as possible, and run to the hiding spot. Once I reach it, I quickly look down at the scraped shoulder, which really isn't as bad as it had felt. Shrugging off the previously thought-to-be serious-ish injury, I begin making my way the rest of the way to the house.
 
                    On the way, I rarely ever encounter a car, and when I do, I'm close enough to a hiding spot to not be seen. The sounds my hooves make on the concrete do nothing to help my nerves, as the echoing clip-clop starts to make me paranoid. What if somebody hears it and comes to check?
 
                    It's questions like these that make me go a little slower than I had hoped to be going, and by the time I get the house in sight, almost thirty minutes have gone past. I sneak as quietly as a pony can across pavement, with water from the recent storm splashing up onto my legs, eventually making it to the front door of the house. The car parked outside indicates that someone is home, and I can only hope that it's a pony and not a person. I shudder to think of what would happen if I had the wrong house.
 
                    I reach up and tap the button to ring the doorbell, hearing the chiming sound echo through the house. I receive no answer immediately, not even a dog barking, so I can fortunately assume that there are no dogs here. I ring the doorbell again and look around, hating having to be standing out in the open with so many houses around me.

        Of course, the way my luck’s been recently doesn’t seem to have gone away, as a man opens the door very suddenly. I jump away from the door as quickly as possible as he stands there looking at me. Was that whole thing just another trick?!

        As we both just stand there and do nothing but stare at one another, I decide to study him a bit more closely. He actually looks a bit like Joel from The Last of Us, but browner and older, with short brown hair and blue eyes. And my god, whenever I look at those eyes it’s like seeing the look in either David Tennant’s or Matt Smith’s eyes when they were playing the Doctor.

        He continues to stare at me, and once the awkwardness in the air gets so thick you could cut it, he just silently stands to the side and bows, apparently inviting me in. Okay, there is no way this isn’t a trap, but I don’t see any going back now. A voice shouts from somewhere further into the house. “Who is it?”

The man who just let me enter the household shouts back, “The horse princess.” Excuse me? Do I look like a horse to you?

        The running hoofsteps alert me to the other ma- no, pony’s presence as he enters the room. This newcomer is...blue. That's literally all I can describe him as right now. He has a light blue coat, with a darker blue mane, and that nice whitish blue for his eyes. Unlike his human associate, who is standing uncomfortably close to me, this pony seems to act quite young. He quickly slides to a stop on the tile, tripping in the action and falling flat on his muzzle; charming. He stands back up and bows. “Sorry your highness, you’ll have to forgive Regi here for his nickname of you. He can be funny like that,” He chuckles good naturedly.

        “Oh, I’m sure,” I smile, turning to ‘Regi’ and holding up a hoof for him to take. “Well, I guess you could call me Princess Luna, although I’d just prefer Luna, or even John,” I say with a smirk.

Regi and the pony, whom I’m assuming to be Peter look at me curiously  because of  my comment about my name. ''John? Oh, it must be your human name.'' 

''Okay, we get it, you were human. Now when can we go get that bi- sane and kind pony out of that German's grip? It kind of weighs on my conscience right now,” Regi says rather snidely. Whoa dude, calm down; there’s no reason to start acting up right now other than a kidnapped pony...

''Let's just relax a bit for now. We can go in 30 minutes,” Says Peter in a calming voice towards Regi.

I sit back onto my haunches and hold up my forehooves. “Whoa, hold on guys, slow down! I literally just got here, and have close to no idea as to what’s going on. So, could you please explain?” I say, still rather confused as to the whole situation.

“Well somepony you already know who is here and whom name starts with Regi sold another pony compadre to a crazy german who… love ponies? I don’t even know. They’re guys in mercenary suits. I’ve seen them around town lately… Oh Berry…” Peter sighs rather depressedly, and then quickly breaks down into tears. Yeesh, I wonder just what happened to him.

“Look who became a real softie with this transformation. Does losing your metaphorical balls come with the package?” Whoa, that was a little  uncalled for; there’s no need for talk like that.

I raise my forehoof again in a peaceful gesture. “Hey guys, slow down, and enough with the insults. Now, start from the beginning. What happened?”

“Well, let’s start with the culprit,” says Peter, giving a VERY pointed glare at Regi.

“Okay, Betsy. That German guy, I think he was called Fynn, just entered and went through security like any normal visitor, but he told me to be aware of anything suspicious. Then he started rambling about a client who wants to catch pastel colored ponies and that they were dangerous for some reason. I just shrugged it off as a guy high on shrooms.” Regi shrugs with a look lacking in care and sighs. Well, I can’t really blame him for thinking the guy was high. If somebody’d told me that they were attempting to catch characters from a little girl’s show, then I’d think he was high too.

“After that party we held for Anthony’s birthday on the first, I started to see things wrong with him. Sure, I only saw him once or twice after, but it was enough to fire up suspicion. Then, that Berry guy popped up out of nowhere, claiming to be related to Anthony and living in his house. Anthony never told me about pink freak before.” He looks down at the plastic bag in his hand with disgust, which I see holds a strand of pink hair.  I huff irritatedly, getting rather annoyed how he keeps referring to one of the ponies.

“So, I’ve decided to find out who she was by ‘entering’,” He curls fingers in air quotes, “This house here and taking some hair back to the lab. After analyzing it, that’s when I realised that she was about 75% horse. I thought that it might be what that crazy german told me. So when I heard our security guard about her coming, I set up a trap and called the man. For… mysterious reasons, my trap was replaced by his men. He just came out of nowhere…” He buries his head in his hands, now seemingly ashamed of what he did. Honestly, I feel like I’m getting mixed signals from this guy; is he sad or disgusted with us?

“He gave me a briefcase full of money in exchange of her. What I only realized just after is that I had sold one of my employees, one of the best on the job… and one of my best friends. That briefcase suddenly felt heavier than the planet. I-I must repair my mistake. Sh-she’s gonna die because of me.”  I feel my eyes soften. Seems that tough guy I saw earlier may have just been an act, and he truly does regret what he did.

I start reaching over to comfort him, when what he said suddenly hits me. “Wait, what do you mean by die?”

“If I… remember his rambling, he said that those animals should all die before they took over the world. Guess that’s why I thought he was coo-coo,” Regi says.

“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME EARLIER YOU STUPID BUFFOON!?” Peter looks like he’s about to jump Regi, so I move to stop him, but he just sits backs and glares furiously at the man.

“Hey, I just remembered. Calm your horses… heh.” I close my eyes in exasperation at the pun, and I can sense Peter doing the same as Regi chuckles. He stops chuckling after a couple of seconds, and his face goes serious again. “I guess that’s why my mind told me to save her asap.”

“Hey, it’s alright. If you help us save her without having set any traps beforehand, I might just forgive you!” I smile coldly at him.

“Look ‘princess’... prin...zess...in.” He stops to snap his fingers for some odd reason.“Were you by any chance attacked by mysterious men in the past? Because Fynn kept repeating ‘prinzessin’ and it sounds an awful lot like ‘princess’.”

Oh, well, that might actually explain quite a bit now. “As a matter of fact, a couple of days ago I was attacked by a bunch of soldiers in black uniforms. They didn't say anything,  but I managed to get away from them.”

“Men in black suits? I can bet my newly acquired pony that they were goons of germafreak.” Germafreak? I’m going to guess he’s referring to their country, and if so, I completely agree with him!

“Hey!” Peter shouts out at us.

I turn my head to look at him  directly. “Yes?”

“I’m not an item, Reginald!” Peter says indignantly.

“Well soooorry pony, but you’re mine now!” He laughs evilly, but it’s so obviously fake he could’ve given that vampire guy from Sesame Street a run for his money.

I roll my eyes at the two of them. “Anyways, do we have any sort of plan for getting Berry back?”

They both glance at each other, giving their answer away. “Uhh, I thought you could get one. You are the princess of the night, and I guess night can be related to violence…”Says Peter.

Well, that’s a rather depressing outlook to have on my time of the day. I mean, why do they think that I could be violent? Of course, I did throw Celestia around my apartment because she accidentally broke my Halo 2 disc…

I clear my throat and their attention is focused solely on me. Man, talk about mind-wipe. “Well, when you put it that way, I could see your point. But for this, I think we may need more infiltration than brute strength.”

“I guess I’ll be useless,” says Regi dejectedly, “I’m based on brute strength… or for science… wait, I could… place another trap, but for Fynn.” Yeah, he could, but I get the feeling that may not completely accomplish our goals.

“That could work, but I get the feeling he wouldn't come alone, and I’m not used to this body enough to be able to fight off several soldiers. Hold on, let me think a moment.” I bring a hoof to my chin and think back on all those years of playing Assassin’s Creed. I examine each member of our party, until suddenly, an idea pops into my mind.

“I got it!” I shout, causing them both to jump slightly. “Alright, so here’s what we should do…”