“GEH-CHNRX!!!”
“Gesundheit,” said Babs Seed with a humorless laugh as Bright Eyes sniffled and rubbed furiously at his muzzle. Last night had been educational, to say the least. She knew her cat was affectionate towards any living creature but she would never have expected Bright Eyes to be the same right back to the little fur-ball. When she left to get him blankets the cat was twining around his gnarled legs and purring while Bright Eyes stared in confusion, and minutes later when she returned the two were curled up together at the foot of his bed already fast asleep. She also would have never guessed that changelings could have allergies. Bright Eyes had been stuffed up all morning thanks to the cat and every time he sneezed he would flicker back to his true form for a split second. It brought a brief smile to her face every time although, in light of recent events, it wasn’t enough to cheer her up.
Apple Bloom…
She couldn’t stop thinking about her cousin, degraded to a criminal and thrown in prison. She had read the report over and over again, that her cousin had shot and killed Lieutenant Twitch, fled the scene, resisted arrest, and opened fire on Rumble. It seemed like an open and shut case, except she simply couldn’t accept it. She was well aware that as a family member and old friend she wasn’t being unbiased, but as an inspector she knew never to dismiss a case without all the answers. What if there was more to this that had been, for one reason or another, left from the report?
“GAH-SHNNX!!!”
“Gesundheit,” said Babs with another weak chuckle. “Go down to the canteen and get yourself a coffee. It’ll clear your sinuses.”
Bright Eyes sniffled loudly and stared at her in silence like he didn’t know what to make of the offer; even in his pony disguise he didn’t have any interest in speaking or doing normal pony things. Ideas like snack breaks or small talk appeared to be alien concepts to these creatures.
“Like I said the other day. You’re on my bit now. You can go get coffee or snacks if you want. Call it, uh, disguise practice: get to the canteen, grab a snack and coffee, and get back without blowin’ your cover.”
The fake pony face lit up and nodded eagerly; from the looks of things she had finally figured out one way to appeal to the little bug. He hopped from the couch with a loud sniffle and headed to the door, stopping briefly at the mirror to double-check his disguise.
“Grab me a coffee too, would ya please? Two sugars,” said Babs to Bright Eyes who nodded silently and let the door close behind him.
Good. Now I can hopefully be alone for a bit.
Since seeing her cousin sprawled lifelessly on a prison floor all Babs wanted was to be alone. Thankfully Bright Eyes seemingly was able to sense that last night and, rather than follow her like normal, had kept his distance which helped but wasn’t good enough. She wanted to be all by herself and alone with her thoughts. She had hoped that, since Starlight was off with his unit until noon training she could think up a snipe hunt of some sort to keep Bright Eyes out of her mane for some alone time, but no joy. The news that she had captured Silver Spoon had spread like wildfire through the ranks already. After the fourth guard came knocking to offer congratulations Bright Eyes had given up and just remained in his disguise, and she had given up on ever being left alone. Even a few R.E.A.F. fliers had stopped by her window on the sly to cheer her on.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
“Have mercy…” she said under her breath as she faced the door. “Not now!”
“Is this a bad time?” said the regal voice of the Princess from outside, “I’m just checking on you. I can come back later.”
“Highness!” spat Babs nervously, “Of course not, please—”
The inspector stifled herself as the Princess entered and held a hoof out, gesturing for her to keep quiet as the door closed behind her. “Babs,” she said with a note of amusement in her tone, “We’ve been over this. Feel free to give the propriety a rest behind closed doors.” She trotted across the office and flopped into an undignified slouch on the couch, still holding her hoof to keep the silence as she abruptly wrenched her neck to the side with a loud pop. “Finally…” she said with a self-satisfied sigh, “Slept the wrong way I think. Now then, truth be told, I would much prefer if we could talk on equal footing when in private. Just… for the love of all things good, please do not call me ‘The Dink.’”
“As you wish, Princess,” said Babs, hiding her brief flicker of a smirk behind a scratch of her nose.
“Now then, first things first, allow me to congratulate you on apprehending Silver Spoon. I’m not sure if you are aware of the significance of what you have done, but you accomplished something the combined efforts of the royal guard and the R.E.A.F. were unable to do,” said the Princess as she nodded slowly with approval, “I had faith in you and you did not disappoint. However… I simply must know: Did you have any luck locating the crown?”
“No,” said Babs Seed, “And Spoon’s the kind of pony that doesn’t ask questions. She stole it for somepony, but doesn’t know who or why.”
“Yes…” said the Princess, whose expression turned somber, “Which brings me to the other reason I’m here. About your cousin—”
“I wanna talk to her,” said Babs firmly, “Not an interrogation or questionin’ or anythin’ like that. Just talk.”
“I can’t, and won’t allow it,” said the Princess.
“Why not?!” snapped Babs, struggling to keep her emotions in check in front of royalty, “I have to! I… I just have to know why!”
“Babs…” scolded the Princess as she stood up to stand face-to-face.
“Please…” Babs pleaded.
The Princess laid a hoof on Babs’ shoulder and spoke gently. “Babs. Please try to understand. I am not allowing it because I…” she went quiet and hesitated to continue, but swallowed and continued uncomfortably, “I went and spoke to Apple Bloom just this morning. I had hoped she had been a victim of circumstance, perhaps that as a refugee from overseas she was caught in the wrong situation and reacted badly.” She paused again, waiting for Babs to look her in the eye. “It was a deliberate, intentional murder. She is one of them, Babs. She is with the Rainbolts.”
Babs felt as if the blood was draining out of her body and her strength gave out. An unseen force caught her before she collapsed to the floor and instead coaxed her onto the couch. For a moment she was dead; there was no sound, no feeling, no thought outside of the crushing reality she had been refusing to accept since she watched her two comrades drag the shadow of Apple Bloom into that cell.
“I won’t even try to comfort you with words, Babs,” said a compassionate voice, “but if there is anything I can do, please let me know.”
Babs kept her face buried in the cushion. All she wanted right now was to vanish from all existence until she felt better. Never in her life had she wanted to be alone so badly, a feat she knew was impossible with her little surprise house guest—
—and in a flash she remembered the sadness in the little bug’s eyes last night. “Princess, there is somethin’.” She sat up and collected herself as best as she could to face the Princess, who was sitting at the other end of the couch and waiting patiently for her request. “It’s about Featherweight’s changelin’s.”
“Babs,” said the Princess with an uncomfortable, humorless laugh, “I understand, of course, but I can’t get rid of them—”
“No, it’s not that. I… I think they’re bein’ mistreated. Badly.”
The Princess was caught completely off guard; for a moment her mouth hung open in pure confusion. “Why say that?” she said curiously.
“Just a hunch,” said Babs, not wanting to reveal the existence of Bright Eyes to even the Princess herself.
“You are absolutely full of surprises Babs, and believe me I trust your hunches. But listen to me and trust me on this one, Babs Seed. You don’t know those… things… like I do,” said the Princess in a suddenly malicious tone, “You’ve never been up close and personal with them.”
Hearing that made Babs consider how, without even hesitation, she had welcomed one of those ‘things’ into her home at night because it had nowhere else to go, and how the creature had spent the night cuddling her cat like he was a teddy bear. “It’s just… I…” she stammered, carefully trying to choose unsuspicious words as the Princess’s lone eye scrutinized her curiously, “All I’m gettin’ at, is we’ve gone far enough to integrate ‘em into our forces, can’t we at least make sure they’re not bein’ mistreated?”
“The only reason we ‘integrated’ them,” said the Princess darkly, “was Rumble refused to harm them when they surrendered and we weren’t about to leave them wandering around.” She stared coldly at the curious look Babs Seed answered her with and, after a moment’s consideration, her horn glowed softly and the office door’s latch snapped shut. “It was one of our first missions. Rumble and I accompanied Her Majesty to an old ruined city in the desert south of Canterlot, chasing a rumor that the changeling queen and what was left of her invasion force were holed up there.” The Princess’s face crumpled into a vicious, disgusted sneer as she paused to recount the events of that day. “We saw first-hoof how they lived. Ponies… wrapped up in slimy cocoons like livestock… barely even alive. It was… sickening to say the least; just one of many events that make me curse this memory that never forgets. And then they attacked; they were in a weakened state but outnumbered us grossly. Rumble and I held off the main force while Her Majesty faced their queen.” She removed her regalia as she spoke and lifted her under vest to show off the razor-thin scars spread out over her belly and back. “Hoof-to-hoof combat is Rumble’s specialty and he came out without a scratch. Admittedly without my magic I am a novice fighter at best and there were so many from all directions I was swarmed before I could cast a single spell—”
“Princess,” interrupted Babs Seed as she picked up on the discomfort that radiated silently from the violet mare, “I understand. You don’t have to finish.”
“Long story short, then, Her Majesty delivered the coup de grâce just in time and, with their leader down, the followers surrendered immediately. Both me and Her Majesty wanted to finish the job once and for all,” she said in a cruel tone, “but Rumble would not have it. He would not allow harm to come to enemy forces that surrendered. Not even changelings…”
Babs Seed struggled to swallow the uncomfortable feeling that welled up from hearing about such dark events. She had never given any real thought to how or why Featherweight’s group of changelings were on their side, but she never imagined they came from something so horrible as an extermination mission. “Rumble…” she said sadly, “He really fought to protect them after all that just because they surrendered?”
“He’s the consummate soldier,” said the Princess, “Not really cut out for or interested in anything else in life. I think it’s why he relinquished his title of prince, to be honest. But… for whatever reason, Her Majesty indulged him.”
“He never told me about any of this…”
“Of course not,” said the Princess as she patted Babs’ shoulder, “After some deliberation we all agreed it would be best for the hoi polloi to never learn of these events. Truthfully I really shouldn’t have told even you, but… I trust you.” The Princess stood up to dress herself once more and began to head for the door. “Now, if there is nothing else and you will excuse me I really must be on my way. Oh, and Babs?” she said right before she left, “I really think you need to get out more, especially after what has happened as of late. If you want some time off, you know who to ask.”
“That’s fine, Princess, but no thanks,” said Babs Seed sadly, “Being home won’t change out I feel, and there’s work to be done.”
“I figured you would say that, and I appreciate the dedication,” said the Princess. “Just don’t push yourself too hard. Please don’t make me force you to take time off.”
With that she left and closed the door behind her, isolating Babs in her office alone with her thoughts. She just sat, for what felt like hours, savoring what little time she would have by herself. Starlight was due to arrive shortly and Bright Eyes could be back any second now, meaning she didn’t have long to do so. She absentmindedly looked all around her office while rogue snatches of thought screamed at her from random directions, still managing to notice what a mess she had left it in despite the cacophony of unpleasant images that circled her head, when she noticed something on her desk.
She walked over and sat down, staring at the yellow piece of paper that had been folded into a makeshift envelope and placed dead-center on her desk, and wondered where it had come from as she opened it. “Tell nopony of this letter and more will come,” she said as she read the message out loud, “Elements of harmony. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle.” Rainbow Dash’s name had been circled, Twilight Sparkle’s was crossed out, and Fluttershy’s marked with a question mark. Even though she saw no reason such a pony would give this message to her, she never the less felt a twinge of worry and paranoia creep through her body as she recalled the Princess’s warning that there may be a spy in the palace. How many ponies had come by her office today? Too many to count: guards, palace staff, even a few airponies, and any one of them could have put it there. Or perhaps none of them did; her office had been empty all of yesterday and last night, and only locked with a simple latch which any clever pony could jimmy open. Now that she thought of it, had she even remembered to lock her window last night after what happened—?
“Boss?”
Babs Seed flinched and nearly fell out of her desk. “Star!” she yelped, “You scared the life outta me!”
“Sorry, Boss. I thought you heard me come in,” said Starlight, “There’s, uh, somepony here to see you.”
Babs turned to the door to find the same R.E.A.F. captain from last time at her door, waiting patiently to be invited in with the same scowl that seemed to be permanently affixed to his aged face. “We need to talk,” he said as his eyes turned to Starlight, “Alone.”
Starlight started to leave but Babs stopped him. “We’re a team,” she said forcibly, “If it concerns me, it concerns him too.”
The Captain nodded in respect to that and nudged the door closed. “The truth is I need your expertise on something, Inspector,” he said as he gave her an envelope. “What do you make of this?”
Babs carefully read every single word of the militant report that detailed a meeting between two parties near the ruins of Ponyville. What immediately caught her attention was the name “Rainbow Dash” and the mention of the element of loyalty, when as sudden and shockingly as a bucket of ice water being dumped on her it hit her. Ponies on their way to get the element of loyalty and its owner, Rainbow Dash, circled on paper. Her Majesty’s name was crossed out; did that mean they already had her element of magic? She looked up from the paper at the Captain, making no attempt to hide the worry on her face, and judging by the complete lack of reaction from him he expected her to take it that way.
“Exactly,” he said sternly, “and I was never here.”
“Hold on!” she said as he turned and hurriedly began to leave, “Why bring this to me?”
“Just in case,” he said over his shoulder as he stopped at the door, “I have known Lightning Dust for a very long time. She is the best friend I have and I trust her with my life. However, she is a fool; a proud fool who sees this as nothing more than a means to satiate her bruised ego. You’re a former guard so you have ties with them; with you involved we’ll hopefully get all of us involved for once and deal with this properly.”
“Wait!” said Babs Seed as she jumped up to stop him from opening the door, “What you’re saying? I agree. Stick around. Anythin’ you say or do for us’ll be between you, me, and my deputies. Promise.”
“No,” he said flatly as he gently eased her hoof from the door, “I have no interest in joining your team. I simply have a responsibility to Her Majesty to keep this from swirling down the crapper like Broncton did. I don’t care what Lightning Dust’s opinion of the guard is, nor do I care what your opinion is of us. I have a duty to serve Her Majesty… and to protect the mares and stallions under my command. Now excuse me. I’m in a hurry.”
Babs closed the door behind him and ran to her chalkboard to begin scrawling notes. “Starlight! You’re the history buff; what do you know about the elements of harmony?”
“Well, Boss, other than her Majesty who held the element of magic, the other bearers were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They all lived in Ponyville and were all scattered by its destruction. The only confirmed death was Rainbow Dash, and even her element is now unaccounted for.”
“What about the element of magic?” interrupted Babs as she wrote, “What’d it look like?”
“Honestly I don’t know,” said Starlight, “The books are surprisingly vague on their appearance. All I know is they were necklaces of some kind, except for the element of magic which was… different.”
“Different how?”
“Just different.”
“Like a crown or tiara, do you think? Like the one that was stolen from our princess?”
“You think so? Why?”
“Because it all adds up!” said Babs Seed as she gestured to the names she had written on her chalkboard and linked with lines and circles, “Look: element of magic is stolen, and now ponies are after the element of loyalty. Now what of the Rainbolts? We know Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake are among their ranks, and they were the adopted children of Pinkie Pie who had laughter. Fluttershy is their leader, she had kindness. And now my cousin…” she said with a gulp, “her sister was Applejack, who had honesty. Now my cousin’s involved as well.”
“So you mean—” said Starlight as his face melted into a look of dread, “Oh, crap. You think—”
“Yeah. I think the importance of that crown just took a violent kick up the list.”
The door swung open and both Babs Seed and her deputy flinched. Bright Eyes strode in nonchalantly, coffees in a little cardboard holder balanced precariously on his back, and with a massive jelly donut of some kind in his mouth which he seemed particularly proud of discovering.
“Bright Eyes I love you!” said Babs as she greedily snatched her drink and took a huge gulp.
“Uh… thanks,” said Starlight as one of the three coffees was offered to him; apparently Bright Eyes had the foresight to get one for him as well. With that done the changeling, still in his disguise, took his spot on the couch and began happily munching his snack. “So what now, Boss?” Starlight said softly, “Knowing the Rainbolts may have some elements doesn’t do us any good right now; we don’t even know where they hide out.”
“True,” said Babs amid sips of her drink. “However, there’s still the element of generosity.”
“Rarity’s” said Starlight. He went to drink and stopped himself, briefly studying the cup like he was somewhat uncomfortable trusting a beverage given to him by a changeling, but quickly gave in and took a sip. “She’s been unaccounted for since Ponyville, though.”
“Her sister ain’t,” said Babs Seed. “Sweetie Belle. If they’re looking for the elements they’ll probably go after her.”
“Sweetie Belle… Sweetie Belle…” said Starlight as he took a moment to think. “Wait, that weirdo miner who finances Environment Equestria? I doubt she’d cooperate with them.”
“Exactly, Star. They went far enough to pay Silver Spoon to steal right from the palace. I’m worried about what they might do to Sweetie Belle if she refuses.” Babs Seed went to her closet on impulse to get her jacket, not remembering that she had thrown the torn and stained thing out until she saw it’s empty hanger, and settled for a saddlebag to carry her badge in. “First things first, though. I’m gonna go talk to my cousin. This is bigger than family matters now; I need to know if she knows anythin’ and I’ve just gotta hope the Princess’ll understand if I get caught.”
“You will get caught, though. My unit does sentry there; visitors to the holding cells have to sign in, and the visitor lists are reviewed by higher. With rumors floating around about a spy, you’ll be in deep.”
“I know.”
“I’ll go,” said Starlight firmly.
“I can’t ask you to do that, Star.”
“You’re not,” said Starlight, “I’m just doing it. You made me, a sentry, your deputy for reasons I’ll never understand. But now it’s paying off; nopony will give a second glance if I march into those cells with my armor on and weapon over my shoulder.”
Babs Seed put a hoof to his cheek. “But if you’re caught…”
“That’s the best part,” said Starlight with a devilish smile, “I won’t get caught. I owe Bedbug a favor and she’s posted to the holding cells tonight and that’s like the worst tasking there is. I’ll be a nice guy and take her place to pay her back. Then I’ll just sort of strike up a conversation with the prisoners. Worst case, I get chewed out for being talkative.”
“Starlight, you are… are…” began Babs Seed appreciatively. She didn’t have to even finish; the look on his face, the proud smile and nod he gave her, made it clear he knew exactly what she wanted to say.
“That being said, her shift doesn’t start until late tonight and if you’re leaving now to see this Sweetie Belle there’s no reason for me to be here.” He winked knowingly like he had planned this right from the start. “I might as well go home and take a good long nap.”
Babs Seed smiled ear to ear as he laughed triumphantly and trotted happily out of her office. “When in doubt, rack out,” she said under her breath as she recalled the old saying she and her former Stormfront comrades used to say. She turned to her only remaining company in the room; Bright Eyes was on his back on the couch with the donut pinned between all four of his hooves, devouring the sugary treat with more pleasure than she had ever seen anypony get from a simple snack. She sat on the couch beside him and watched him finish his last bite and lick the little bits of frosting that had been left behind. Thinking about the Princess’s story she couldn’t help but wonder if Bright Eyes had been one of the changelings to swarm the Princess. She wondered if he really was such a vicious animalistic creature and patted his belly, making him flinch and stare at her with alarm. “Bright Eyes?” she said gently, “I trust you, okay?”
In typical Bright Eyes fashion he didn’t seem to really understand what she meant and merely cocked his head to the side in silence.