//------------------------------// // Crabby Disposition: Quintessence // Story: The Dark Mare // by MagnetBolt //------------------------------// The Dark Mare Crabby Disposition: Quintessence by MagnetBolt Songbird burst into Town Hall. The upper floor of the building was burning, the guards inside trying to put out the flames. She looked around in a panic. “Where's Brass Shield?!” She yelled. Private Kicker looked upstairs. She followed his gaze to the office he'd been using. The entrance was choked with rubble, a beam having fallen across the doorway and flames licking around it. Songbird flew up to it, trying to see beyond it. The smoke and flames were almost completely blocking her view. “Brass!” She screamed. She grabbed the beam and pulled as hard as she could, trying to shift it. After a moment, something gave, and the beam fell down a few inches, the wood splintering. She could see beyond it now, to where Brass Shield was slumped over his desk. Songbird gasped and kicked at the wood. It took two hard kicks before it broke and she was able to get through, the flames singing her mane and wings. “What's going on?” Brass Shield asked, dazed, as Songbird picked him up. The pegasus looked around. She couldn't get him through the door safely, but there was still the window. “Hang on as tight as you can!” She ordered, flying for the broken window as embers rained down around her. With one of her eyes covered, she misjudged the distance, her flight feathers clipping the burning frame of the window, sending her into a spin as they got outside. She nearly dropped Brass Shield, managing to brace herself as they crashed into the ground. She groaned and picked herself off the ground as the other guards ran over to her. “Now will one of you tell me what in Tartarus is going on?” *** A few minutes before the fires broke out, Loop D'Loop and Jetstream were eating dinner in the park. They'd planned to go with Kudzu Henge and Tin Roof, but those two had ended up canceling at the last minute. With those two as a couple, Loopy was starting to see them less and less. For most ponies it would just be a little melancholy as they grew apart. Loopy wasn't like other ponies, being that she wasn't a pony at all. Changelings were more protective of their relationships and hated when they changed, in the same way anypony would hate going to their favorite cafe and finding things missing from the menu. “So did you hear the rumor?” Jetstream asked. Loopy shook her head. “I heard Tin is gonna finally propose to Kudzu.” “What? But-” Loopy frowned. “I didn't think that was coming for a while...” “Come on, Loopy. It's not like you know much about relationships. You aren't even dating anypony.” Jet smirked. “It's no wonder you didn't see it.” “Like you're one to talk. You don't have a special somepony either.” “I do! I just haven't told her yet.” “Jet, your crush on Mare Do Well does not count as having a special somepony. She probably doesn't even know you exist.” Loopy snorted. “I mean she wears a mask for a reason.” “Yeah, so none of the bad guys she beats up can track her down and find the people she cares about.” Jet bit into a daisy sandwich. “So, I've been thinkin' about how I found her costume. I think I finally know what happened.” “...Really?” Loopy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. See, she must have known that whoever found it would either take it to the guards or get caught with it, so either way it'd end up in town hall. She couldn't just break in with her costume on, so she had it personally delivered! She must have snuck in using her real identity and then put on the costume when it was time to get to work and save everypony from Old Hickory!” “Unless she's one of the Guards,” Loopy noted, tossing a red herring into the mix. “That'd explain her training and-” “Nah. Definitely not. She's somepony in town. I know that.” Jet looked up at the clouds. “She was here before the guards, and she knows her way around town, and she's really awesome. All I have to do is find the pony that matches that.” “Well that's only about half of the ponies in town.” “Hey, not many ponies can be awesome. Like, no offense Loopy, but if you tried doing Mare Do Well's job you'd end up getting hurt.” “Don't be so sure about that-” Loopy raised an eyebrow and smirked. There was a flash and a rumble of thunder. “Huh? Thunder? But you said you were still getting rain together to get rid of the drought-” “That's not thunder!” Jet yelled, tossing her sandwich aside and flying up. “It didn't even sound like thunder! That was some kind of- oh no!” She gasped. Loopy flew up to join her and saw what she was looking at, an entire street bathed in the light of flames. With a wet rumbling burp, another building erupted into flames as they watched. “We need to get down there!” Jet said, grabbing Loopy's hoof. “Woah! We should wait for-” “No time for that!” Jet dragged her towards the flames. Loopy looked around. There was something familiar to the noise and the pattern that the fire was burning in. It looked almost like the trick that the jewel thief had used to make his escape from the warehouse. Her eyes went wide. It had to be the same ponies! But why were they just setting them off in town? “Over there!” Loopy yelled, turning. Even outside of her changeling form she could feel the strong emotions of fear and pain coming from one of the buildings. “I... think I heard somepony scream!” “Where?” Jet asked, flying closer. Loopy pointed to a window. “Down there.” She swooped lower. She couldn't afford to pretend to be an awful flyer right now. She'd have to hope that Jet was too distracted to notice she wasn't being as clumsy as she usually was. Loopy tried to open the window. It was closed tight. “Outta the way!” Jet yelled. Loopy ducked out of the way just in time as the mare crashed through the window. Loopy shook her head. The pony was completely insane. Loopy followed her in, brushing the broken glass aside. It was a foal's bedroom. “Is anypony here?!” Jet yelled, looking around. “Here!” Loopy yelled, moving the bed. There was a colt under it, shivering and afraid in a blanket. Loopy carefully put a hoof on him. “It's okay. We're here to get you out.” “No offense, Loopy, but I'd better carry him,” Jetstream said, picking him up. “Just in case.” In case she crashed into something. Loopy rolled her eyes, but this wasn't the time to argue. It was her own fault for pretending to be such an oaf. “Just get out of here! There's no telling how long before this place collapses!” Loopy yelled. Jet flew out the window, the disguised changeling following her. They put down in the street, and Jet handed the colt off to his mother. Loopy ignored the tearful reunion, something bothering her. She could feel something watching her. Then she spotted it in the dark, a black shape, almost invisible in the smoke and the night. Loopy narrowed her eyes. The shape moved, and there was a flash, a gleam of light from steel. Loopy's instincts took over, and she jumped to the side. Something fast and sharp skipped off the cobblestones next to her hard enough to raise sparks. “What was that?!” Jetstream asked. Loopy glared up at the shape. It wasn't a pony. “Get everypony out of here,” Loopy said. If she had been Mare Do Well, Jetstream would have obeyed instantly. Instead, the pegasus followed her gaze up to the lurking black shape. “Woah. That's a griffon!” Jetsream said. “I haven't seen one since flight school!” “Well I'm gonna keep her busy while you get them out of here,” Loopy said. “No way! She'll literally eat you for breakfast!” Jetstream flew in front of Loopy. “I'm not just gonna let you do something stupid!” Loopy felt something, and grabbed Jetstream, pulling her down and standing on her as another blade flew over them. “Jet, you need to focus on getting those ponies out of here.” Loopy stepped back to let her up as the griffon climbed down the side of the building, moving like a spider. “But-” “But nothing. You know where the weather patrol has been stockpiling rain clouds. If you get a downpour going we might be able to do something about these flames.” Jetstream blinked at that. “Besides, even you can't predict which way I'll go when I fly and you've been teaching me for years. I can handle this until the guards show up.” “You'd better,” Jet said, reluctantly. She flew off and grabbed the two ponies on the street, yelling for others to get moving. Loopy kept her eyes on the griffon as she finally got to the street. She was easily twice as tall as the changeling, cloaked with black cloth. Her exposed feathers were ebony black. The effect in total was that she was little more than a moving shadow. “How did you sense me?” The griffon asked. “No one spots me when I'm hiding.” She circled Loopy. “Especially not some weak little pony.” “Maybe you're not as good as you think,” Loopy noted. There was a flash of anger, and the griffon jumped at her with unearthly speed, more than she'd ever seen anypony use. But the griffon wasn't a pony at all, with the reflexes of a predator. And the claws of one. Loopy managed to avoid being eviscerated, but the talon-swipe tore feathers from her wing. The griffon started circling again, confidently walking around her. Loopy flexed her wing. The damage was only superficial. She could heal it in an instant by changing shape, but there were still ponies around. She couldn't do that quite yet. Loopy waited for her chance, then jumped forward, bucking the griffon. The griffon grabbed her hoof and spun her, flipping her into the air. Loopy spread her wings, stopping her tumble, then pulled them tight to avoid a thrown blade, landing and rolling as the aggressive griffon followed up with another pounce. “You're not as weak as you look,” the griffon noted. “You're no normal pony. You have a hunter's instincts.” Loopy stepped back, stopping when her hoof met something cold and hard. She kept her eyes on her opponent, carefully avoiding looking down. “You sound surprised. You didn't think we were all easy prey, did you?” Loopy waited until she was in position, then threw the sharp blade she'd found with her hoof. The griffon hunkered down, flattening herself as the dagger went over her back. Loopy followed, bucking her in the beak, this time the griffon too distracted to avoid the blow. The griffon recovered quickly, flying up into the air and dropping a flask as she rose. The glass shattered, and flame exploded into the air. *** Songbird spotted the detonation in the darkness. She banked towards it, alone. The guards were all trying to put out the fire across town, scattered and doing their best to assist the townsponies, but there were only so many of them to go around. Over a dozen buildings were on fire, and it was taking everypony working together just to keep the flames from spreading. As she got closer she spotted the griffon in the streets and dove towards her. Not with as much stealth as she would have liked. The black-clad predator heard her coming and backflipped away, throwing something sharp that hit Songbird's front leg, piercing into it. “Ah!” She yelled, stumbling. She winced, unable to put weight onto the leg. “There's something about this town,” the griffon noted. “All of the mares here have real spirit.” “What, did somepony already come over and kick your tailfeathers?” “Oh, she tried. She's taking a nap over-” the griffon stopped, looking over at a black mark on the street. “Where did she-” She was answered with a swift kick between the wings as Mare Do Well landed on her. It was an open question as to whom was more surprised by the sudden appearance, Songbird or the griffon. The predator recovered more quickly, though, rolling to try and grab the masked mare, missing as she twisted unnaturally in the air and hopped away lightly, stopping near Songbird. “Are you hurt?” Mare Do Well asked. Songbird bit her tongue. “I- YOU, of all ponies, are asking me that?!” Songbird screamed. Mare Do Well's veiled eyes narrowed. “You're... that guard that tried to jump me. But I remember you having- oh.” Her eyes went wide with surprise. “Oh, now you remember me!” “Well, maybe now I'll get to have a little fun,” the griffon said, her tone elated. “Just one of you was too easy.” She threw something down at her feet, and thick black smoke billowed out, covering the street, hiding her from view. “If I hurt you, I'm sorry,” Mare Do Well said. “But we have something more important to worry about here.” “...Her name is Ravenheart,” Songbird said, keeping her eye open, trying to figure out where the griffon would strike from next. “She's an assassin. She's wanted in at least two nations for what she's done. Escaped a dungeon a few years ago, and is suspected of being part of Labyrinth's inner circle.” “Labyrinth?” Mare Do Well asked. “You really don't know anything!” Songbird snapped. “You're just a thug!” Mare Do Well suddenly turned and pushed her, just as Ravenheart dove through the smoke, talons striking the cobblestones and raising sparks as she passed at high speed. “...A thug with really good reaction times.” “Be careful. She's going to make another pass from a different direction.” Mare Do Well turned her head, as if watching something. “You can see through the smoke?” Songbird asked, confused. Mare Do Well shook her head. “Then how-” “Here she comes!” Mare Do Well yelled. Songbird jumped back, the warning helping her get to safety as the griffon charged through. “We need to get out of the smoke so we can-” “No. She can't see us, either. It means she can't throw any of those blades at us,” Mare Do Well said. “She'll change tactics now that she knows that won't work. She's got almost as many tricks as I do,” Mare Do Well sounded smug about that. “When I tell you, close your eyes. Eye.” “Why?” Songbird asked. Ravenheart dropped down from directly above, talons and claws extended. Mare Do Well spun, holding something in her hoof. “Now!” She yelled. Songbird turned away, closing her eye. There was a bright flash as the flare went off with a dazzling burst of light. The griffon screamed, and there was a loud fluttering as she fell to the ground, blinded. Songbird looked back as the light faded, flying over to give her a solid kick, sending her rolling away. The griffon kept going with the motion, springing to her feet and fading away into the smoke. “It's like you know when she's coming,” Songbird muttered. “It's a talent,” Mare Do Well said, a little pride in her voice. Songbird tried to place the voice, but failed. None of the mares she'd spoken to in town had a rough voice like that. Something about it, an odd buzzing echo, set her on edge just hearing it. “I'm going to kill both of you,” Ravenheart said, her voice seeming to come from all around them. “I just don't know where I want to start, with the pirate or the foal in a Nightmare Night costume.” “Pirate?” Songbird asked, frowning. “You do have an eyepatch,” Mare Do Well noted. Songbird groaned. “I don't suppose you can do some neat pegasus weather trick and get rid of the smoke?” “I went into the Guard, not weather patrol. I couldn't squeeze a raindrop out of a thunderhead, much less make enough wind to make a microburst.” Songbird mentally noted that Mare Do Well wasn't a pegasus, then. She continued, her voice barely more than a whisper. “And if I'm honest, I'm not a really strong flier.” Mare Do Well snorted with laughter. “What's so funny?!” “You wouldn't understand. It's just kind of ironic.” Mare Do Well paused. “What's she planning...” The smoke started to clear, and there was no sign of Ravenheart. “Did she leave?” Songbird asked, turning around. “No. She's close. I just don't know what she's doing...” Songbird heard the rumbling before Mare Do Well did, both turning as a wagon barreled out of the smokescreen at them. They barely avoided being crushed under the wheels, the impact sending them through a window and into a flower shop, landing in the edible flower section, the wagon following them and getting stuck halfway through the shattered windowframe. “Why didn't you warn me that was coming?!” Songbird demanded. Mare Do Well groaned and pulled herself free from a tangle of sunflowers. “She's smarter than I thought,” Mare Do Well said. There was a draft. Songbird glanced back and saw an open window. She started towards it when a dark shape dropped down from above, cutting her off. Ravenheart was already inside. She swiped, her claws opening cuts on Songbird's shoulder, the pegasus flapping back, her leg too injured to walk on and the confines of the shop too limited for flight. “Now you don't have anywhere to run,” the griffon said. Songbird could hear the smirk. “Neither do you,” Mare Do Well said, throwing a flowerpot at the griffon. The agile predator spun out of the way, kicking the pot in midair and sending it back towards the masked mare. Mare Do Well ducked as it sailed over her head. “The difference between us is that you two are merely prey pretending to be hunters. I'm the real thing.” The griffon reared up, talons extended. They were so sharp they gleamed in the light. “Oh, I'm no prey,” Mare Do Well corrected. She ducked down, vanishing from sight behind a planer as Ravenheart came down at her, slashing the flowers apart. Mare Do Well wasn't on the other side. The griffon hissed in surprise. Songbird watched as Mare Do Well edge around the angry griffon. How had Ravenheart missed her? She was so obvious. But even as she thought that, her eye slipped away, fixing on a flower, the wall, the ground, anywhere but Mare Do Well herself. It wasn't like she was invisible, just that everything else seemed to draw the eye, like she wasn't important. Songbird shook her head, trying to refocus. It didn't feel like magic, exactly. Mare Do Well got behind Ravenheart, jumping up an almost impossible distance for anypony except a pegasus, but she didn't have wings. Songbird had to admit that she was amazed, just what was this pony? She landed on Ravenheart's back, planting herself on the back of her neck where she couldn't reach with her claws. “Get off me you annoying little-!” Ravenheart thrashed around, knocking over a stand and forcing Songbird to flutter back to avoid lashing talons. “Grab the rope!” Mare Do Well commanded, tossing one end of a slim black rope towards Songbird. The pegasus grabbed it with her good hoof and pulled as Mare Do Well jumped off of the griffon in the other direction. She'd somehow slipped the thin line around her target. Songbird realized it was the same kind of trick she'd used on the guards in the warehouse, and felt a blush come to her cheeks as she realized she was actually starting to admire the masked mare. Songbird wrapped her end around a post, giving her some leverage as the griffon went berserk, every motion just serving to tie her up further. Ravenheart screeched in frustration and collapsed in a heap as she was finally unable to move anything except her tail, the leonine limb flicking left and right. Mare Do Well leaned down and whispered into her ear. “If being tied up excites you so much you could have just asked.” Her glare was sharper than the daggers she'd been throwing. “That was really something,” Songbird said, tying a knot in her end of the rope to make sure the griffon couldn't get free. “You... kind of saved my life a few times there.” “I couldn't just let her kill you,” Mare Do Well said, with a shrug. “Do you think you can handle her until the rest of the guards come? I can set off a flare outside to get their attention.” “She doesn't look like she's going anywhere,” Songbird said, with a smile. “You know, we made a pretty good team. If you go talk to the Captain he'll probably give you a pat on the back and tell you to keep up the good work. Maybe we can stop tripping over each other and work together.” “I'm... not really good at working with others,” Mare Do Well said. “Sorry. About hurting you, I mean. I was just trying to knock you out, not do real damage.” “What did you even do? The doctors can't figure it out.” Songbird's heart jumped. “If we know, they might be able to do something to fix it! Was it some kind of Flim Flam gadget? Unicorn magic?” “It's... probably more like magic than anything else,” Mare Do Well muttered, cryptically. “I don't know how much the doctors can do, but if you trust me I might be able to at least help...” “At this point I'll take whatever help I can get.” Songbird swallowed. “I just- I got really scared when the doctor told me to- look out!” She screamed. “He told you to look out?” Mare Do Well asked, confused for a moment. It was a moment too long, Ravenheart's wings snapping the rope with hidden razor-edged blades among her feathers. A talon caught her across the face, sending the masked mare spinning to the ground. Ravenheart shook the ropes off and roared, throwing something to the ground. With a bright flash, smoke filled the flower shop. Songbird backed up, coughing, and heard breaking glass as the griffon escaped through a window. Songbird looked around as the smoke cleared. Outside, she heard the patter of rain begin, the local weather patrol finally getting the storm going to help put the fires out. Mare Do Well was collapsed on the ground. Songbird's eye went wide and she ran over on three legs, keeping her weight off her injured hoof. “Are you okay?!” She asked, worried, reaching down to touch the mare. Her hoof met something tough and hard. She blinked. Was she wearing armor under her costume? It would make sense. She had all kinds of other gadgets. But it didn't feel like any kind of armor she'd felt before. It wasn't as rigid as steel, but it felt harder than any normal woven material. Mare Do Well groaned and tried to stand up. She shied away from Songbird's touch. “I'm fine,” She said, clutching her face, turning away from Songbird. “I need to leave.” “She just clawed you across the face. Just let me see. I promise I won't tell anypony what you look like.” She stepped closed. Mare Do Well was shaking. With fear? Was she afraid to let anypony know what she looked like? Why? “It's complicated,” Mare Do Well said. “I can't let you see. I-” Songbird advanced and grabbed her shoulder, spinning the masked mare around so she could get a look at what was probably a nasty wound. “Don't be a baby. She could have torn open your...” Songbird's eye went wide, the color draining from her face. Half of Mare Do Well's mask was shredded, but there wasn't really a wound. The griffon's claws hadn't struck deep enough do do more than raise scratches on what was below. It wasn't soft pony flesh. It wasn't even armor. It was chitin. Black, hard chitin. Songbird found herself face to face with a fanged, dead-eyed thing, a monster she hadn't seen since Canterlot except in her nightmares. She felt herself get dizzy, stepping back, tripping over a fallen planter. “It's not what it looks like!” Mare Do Well- the changeling said. Songbird screamed she she got closer. It all made sense now. The buzzing sound when she spoke. The way she seemed to flit through the air. The strange little tricks. All of it, deception and malice. Some kind of long con. Of course she'd hurt Songbird. Changelings were all heartless monsters! “Stay away from me!” Songbird screamed, starting to hyperventilate. Her vision started going, tunnel vision taking over as her panic attack neared its peak. She'd almost started to trust her! Was it changeling magic? It had to be. She'd been using magic on her all along. “Calm down,” the changeling said. Her hoof touched Songbird. Songbird screamed again, and finally passed out, everything going black. *** Songbird woke up to somepony shaking her, the rain outside having grown into a storm. “Flight Lieutenant!” Brass said, his face coming into focus as she blinked away the dark. He helped Songbird to her feet. She hissed as she accidentally put weight on her injured hoof. “I'm not a Flight Lieutenant,” Songbird mumbled. “I quit, remember?” “The paperwork burned up when my office got hit. If you want to quit you're going to have to do it again. And I'm going to pin a medal to your chest for saving my flank, so I'm not planning on making quitting again as easy the second time.” “Yes, sir!” Songbird smiled and saluted. Her smile vanished as she remembered what happened to her. “Sir, I have something vitally important to report. Two things. First, it looks like the fires were started by Ravenheart.” “Fits her usual style,” Brass noted, nodding. “But that's just beside the point. Mare Do Well was here. And... I saw her without her mask.” Songbird shivered. “Sir, it's worse than we thought. It's- she's not a pony at all! She's a changeling!” “A changeling!?” Brass Shield looked shocked. “Are you sure?” “Yes, sir. I saw it myself. She's definitely a changeling.” “Horsefeathers,” Brass stomped. “Maybe you were right after all. If she's a changeling then she's up to something. And you know the standing order from the Princesses. Any changelings found to be imitating ponies are to be brought to Canterlot for questioning and processing.” “We'll have to start doing random changeling checks, sir,” Songbird noted. “And we can't have anypony go anywhere alone. We'll have to break out the challenge codes, too...” “One thing at a time, Flight Lieutenant. Get those injuries checked out and then get your armor on. I can't have you out of uniform. Mare Do Well really could be anypony now and we're barely holding things together as it is with Labyrinth setting the town on fire.” “Sir, any indication of why they did it?” Songbird asked. Brass shook his head. The two started walking outside, Brass helping Songbird with her injured hoof. “No. But they must have a larger plan in mind. If it was just to tire us out, though, they did a damn good job.” A cold wind hit them, a strong gust from the north. The two ponies stumbled as they got outside. The temperature was already rapidly dropping. “Somepony on the weather patrol is sloppy!” Songbird yelled, over the wind. “Look, it's turning to snow!” Flakes were drifting down among them. Brass shivered, the unicorn not as used to the cold as Songbird. Pegasai were naturally better with lower temperatures. “I hope that's all it is,” Brass said, shaking his head. As they walked, Songbird realized something. Her eye didn't hurt. Had Mare Do Well done something to it while she was passed out? Why didn't she replace her when Songbird figured out who she was? Songbird looked down at the street, the snow starting to stick. She was suddenly unsure if she should have told Brass Shield. Part of her wanted to still believe Mare Do Well was a decent pony. Creature. Even if she was one of the horrible things that had taken her partners away. That had given her nightmares that still plagued her sleep. Songbird wasn't sure if it was changeling magic or if she was just having doubts after seeing Mare Do Well in action. She was sure of one thing, though. Not knowing terrified her.