† Glossy Dead †
by mr_minati
The glossy rock - that’s what the fillies called it, anyway. It was a boulder resting in the middle of a small pond in a peaceful clearing on the border of the chaotic Everfree. Golden sunlight streamed through the canopy above, bouncing from the crystal-clear water to shine on the stone's surface. It was a wonderful place to go after a busy day at school or just to hang around and appreciate its beauty, refresh oneself in the pond, and hear the birds sing sweet melodies.
The only inhabitants of the place were small and harmless creatures, and the Crusaders had never felt threatened by anything while there. Thus, it was rather shocking that morning for them to see such an out of place thing there: a changeling sprawled lifelessly on the ground, right at the edge of the pond, its neck twisted in an awkward way. The air around it still smelled fresh, and there weren’t any flies, but the uncomfortable posture said that it wasn't just resting.
After rubbing their eyes to confirm that it wasn’t an illusion, the three fillies approached it cautiously. Apple Bloom grabbed the thickest branch she could find in case it decided to make a sudden move. Sweetie Belle kept her distance, staying behind Scootaloo even when the pegasus started poking it. When she got no reaction she grabbed a shoulder and shook it, but the changeling remained motionless.
"Yep, it’s dead alright," Scootaloo muttered, opening the creature’s eyelids, then hurriedly closing them when she looked into its blank and empty stare.
Apple Bloom tossed aside the stick she had been holding in her mouth. “We have to tell Twilight about this.”
Sweetie Belle leaned around Scootaloo to get a better look. "I wonder what happened... but you're probably right. We should tell her right away."
“Wait…” There was a wild look in Scootaloo's eyes, and the grin she wore was one the other Crusaders recognized: she'd had what was probably a terrible idea. “Why should we tell her when we can show her!”
Apple Bloom's only response to this clear evidence of insanity was a slowly raised eyebrow.
“Let’s bring it to her,” Scootaloo explained enthusiastically.
The other two looked at each other, glanced at the body, and then fixed their gaze back on their friend. In their imaginations, Twilight’s face - suffused with a heady mix of horror and fascination - filled their vision, followed shortly by smiles popping onto their faces.
"Let’s do it!" Apple Bloom crowed. The other two nodded, and all three lifted their hooves in their customary salute. "Cutie Mark Crusader… um… Body Investigators, go!”
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Diamond Tiara was trotting alongside Silver Spoon, who was carrying her new toy in her saddlebag and mischief in her heart. She was excited to test her ‘Magiphone’ on Scootaloo and Applebloom and she knew right where they had gone - and that it would be the perfect place for this prank.
Diamond Tiara, on the other hoof, didn’t share the same excitement. She not only thought the whole escapade was lame, her heart craved more than just a scare when dealing with those ‘blank-flanks’. But Silver Spoon begged, so she shrugged and went along anyway.
They’d just entered the forest through a trail when they heard the distinct sound of something big being dragged through the brush and branches, the terrible sliding noise and snap of twigs seeming to come from all around them. Panic took them over, and they dove into some nearby bushes to hide from whatever creatures might be coming. Hearts pounding, then crouched low as the source of the sound passed by. In a hurried whisper Silver Spoon asked Diamond to take a look, but the filly just bit her lip and shook her head.
With a disgusted roll of her eyes, Silver poked her head up just enough to see. Stifling a gasp, she yanked her head back, eyes wide and ears flat against her head.
This got diamond even more worried. "Did he see you?" she whispered frantically.
Silver Spoon shook her head, muzzle wrinkling with distaste. “It’s just those stupid ‘blank-flanks’. I think they were hunting or something. They're dragging something behind them - an animal of some kind.”
Diamond frowned in disbelief and poked her head, bringing it back just as fast as Silver Spoon had. She turned a nasty smile on her friend, and fought to stay quiet as she demanded, “Do it! Do it now!”
Silver Spoon brightened at the suggestion and nodded as she took her new toy out of her saddle bag. It look exactly like a megaphone but had a knob with the names of numerous creatures and tones written around it: 'Royal Canterlot Voice', ‘John de Lancie', ‘Hydra’, and a few others. With an ugly smirk she set it quite deliberately to ‘Manticore’; she had thought long in hard about it and figured that if it lived up to its marketing it would deliver the desired scare perfectly.
Aiming the thing in the direction of the Crusaders and their burden, she took a deep breath, chest puffing out. Diamond friend ducked and covered her ears just in time, as the device worked perfectly, releasing a mighty, earth-quaking roar. It was realistic, loud, and intimidating, filling the area and shaking leaves right out of the trees.
Scootaloo and Applebloom jumped like the ground had been electrified, scrambling away in a panic and leaving the body behind, flying with ease through whatever obstacle got in their way. Sweetie Bell almost re-invented teleportation on the spot, but lacking that settled for pushing a telekinetic wedge in front of her that let her flee through the gaps the other two left behind.
As the Crusaders fled, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came out of their hiding place bursting with laughter. As they got near the bundle the fleeing fillies had discarded, Silver Spoon lost it completely, dropping to the ground and cackling as she rolled around, legs kicking the air.
“Not bad,” Diamond said, trying not to show how impressed she really was. “For a second I doubted that thing would scare them!”
Their merriment came to an end as their eyes finally registered that what their hapless victims had been dragging through the Everfree was, in fact, a body. Silver Spoon gasped and pointed, “No way, it’s a changeling! We should get somepony - the mayor, the guards, anypony!”
Diamond, always looking for an angle, smiled evilly as she took hold of her suddenly worried friend. In a calm and rational voice she suggested, “Or better yet, we can tell everypony in town that we killed this monster ourselves and saved them from an attack.”
“What?” Silver’s look of horror was almost comical, at least to Diamond Tiara.
“Think about it, Spoon... everypony will see us as heroes!" Diamond said with burning passion. “We will have lots of fans - real admirers that would idolize and remember us for the rest of eternity!”
Silver Spoon scratched the back of her head in an attempt to banish the uncertainty away and considered the possibilities herself. “Well… Idolizing sounds pretty good, I guess."
Diamond nodded as she rewarded her friend’s acceptance with a friendly pat on the back. Silver’s answering smile faded, though, as Diamond pointed at the body and ordered, “Good, now drag that thing along and make it snappy, ok?”
Suddenly even the idea of idolizing fans didn’t look so pretty anymore. Silver Spoon took a close, if indirect, look body: it was dirty, had scratches all over it, and even had a few pebbles embedded in its chitin, caused by the careless dragging. Its mouth hung open in breathless repose, displaying its two large fangs.
Silver turned back to her friend, who had grown impatient and was now gesturing for her to hurry. She tried to grab its leg but when she made contact with the cold flesh she cringed and quickly retreated.
“Eeeewww! I’m not carrying that thing!” She protested, backing away in disgust.
Diamond Tiara growled in anger and started calling her a coward, her rage soon escalating to a threat not to include her in the tale she was concocting of their heroism. Seeing that Diamond wasn’t going to budge she threw up her forehooves in disgust. She didn’t care how scared the filly was, and was quite prepared to get her hooves dirty for the sake of not letting this opportunity slip by.
When she turned to grab the body, though, she froze as her stomach dropped out of her belly and the hair on her withers stood on end. The changeling, which had a moment ago been dead on the ground, was now standing on all four legs and twisting its neck from side to side, producing a loud and grotesque cracking sound.
“S-Si-SiSiSi…” Diamond Tiara’s mind shut off almost completely; she couldn’t seem to form words at all. She watched helplessly as the changeling looked back and forth between them, then smiled and crouched, a low screech coming from it as it prepared to pounce on her best friend in the world.
With a sudden jolt of energy she yanked out her new toy and switched it on. There was a chirp from it, followed by the sound of a Manticore breathing heavily. She sucked in a quick breath and shouted into it, her fear turning to satisfaction when it let out an earthshaking roar.
Like before, it shook every tree and blew Diamond's mane and tiara about like a rampaging storm. Startled, the changeling covered its ears, then turned and leaped into the air, flying away as fast as its wings could carry it. The ‘Magiphone’ has once again done an impressive job, even if it had destroyed Diamond’s mane-job in the process.
As the sounds in the area slowly returned to their usual levels, Silver Spoon walked up to her friend and tried to talk to her. Diamond could clearly see Silver moving her mouth, but all she could hear was a loud bell ringing in her ear. Deaf and missing her titular tiara, her usual tendency to complain was overwhelmed by her gratitude to be alive.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m soooorry!” Diamond threw her forehooves around Silver’s shoulders and cried as apologies continued to pour out of her like the tears running down Silver’s back.
“It’s all right, Diamond…” Silver patted her friend and, though she resisted the urge as best she could, started to cry along with her.
“Those idiots... That stupid thing was alive! We could have been killed!”
“There, there Diamond.” The excitement was fading, and now Silver Spoon just felt tired. “We need to go now.” She kept patting her and trying to comfort her, but it didn’t have any effect. She knew their best option was to get out of there, so with a sigh she ducked under her and started carrying her away.
Diamond kept sobbing and complaining all the way back to town. Silver listened with only half an ear; she had nothing to say, and had a feeling that Diamond knew deep down who the real hero was.
▲ ▲ ▲
After flying through the woods at an unbelievably unsafe speed, the changeling came to a panting halt. Its ears were still ringing from the terrible roar, though it could hear for the most part. Its wing muscles were burning and its shoulders sore; it had been quite a long time since he had pushed them so hard. As it caught its breath, ear cocked back along its path, it realized that nopony was following. Sighing in relief it looked around and was surprised and pleased to realize that it recognized the part of the Forest he was in. Hoping it could find some water it continued on foot to let its wings rest.
It travelled at a rather hurried pace until it came to a deep chasm that separated it from the other side of the forest. Off in the distance to the left it could just see a narrow bridge crossing the gap, but it paid the span no mind as it leaped into the abyss. The sound of its wings echoed in the chasm as it fluttered quickly down to a safe landing on a narrow ledge about two thirds of the way down.
The ledge was right in front of a cunningly hidden entrance, and the changeling felt its way inside by scent and muscle memory, as the chasm and the Forest above blocked almost all light in this place. A short way in it stopped as another changeling popped out of the darkness to confront it. This one was a bit more slender, but was almost the same height and had similar features.
The two stared at each other as they gathered identity scents and other cues from each other. Suddenly the newcomer made a strange cry and charged! The new arrival flinched in surprise but did not flee... and a moment later was pulled into an embrace as the other hugged him tightly.
"I thought you were dead, brother!" The slender changeling exclaimed in a delicate but shaky voice. "I should've gone with you."
"Don't be silly, sis. I wouldn't have let you."
"Last night I went looking for you. I was so worried!"
"You what?" He was angry now, and with a jerky wiggle he pulled himself out of her embrace. "You disobeyed our orders? Gah!" Grumbling, he folded his wings and stared hard at her. “From now on we are not leaving this place alone again!"
"It's all right." She hugged him again, smiling as she felt him start to calm him down. "I'm fine. What happened to you, anyway?"
"I'm not sure, really. I was exploring the area and something got ahold of me. I don't really remember well." His expression brightened. "But I met our neighbor."
"Really? Somepony else lives here, too?" She released him again, stepping back to listen.
He nodded, then reflexively glanced over his shoulder toward the cave entrance. "It's a zebra. For some reason she likes to speak in rhymes."
His sister opened her mouth to speak, but he overrode her, a scent of urgency rising around him. "But there are two things I need to tell you, and they are very important, okay?"
At her nodding reply, he continued. "First, don't drink anything from her hut, and don't take anything from her or even be near her!"
Her eyes widened. "And what's the other?"
"Avoid the fillies here at all cost. They are fearless and demonic." He shivered at the memory of their terrible call. "Believe me, they can't be scared."
She look at him with narrowed eyes and a tense mouth, utterly unimpressed. "Really. That's it?"
"I told you, I don't remember much - but that's what I know so far."
Shaking her head, she turned and started walking back to the cave. "Well, I'll keep it in mind... and try not to die of laughter!" Her chuckling got louder as she walked, and soon it filled the whole cave. "Imagine, a former Queen’s Guard frightened by fillies!"
It is perhaps fortunate that what he mumbled in response was not readily translatable to Equestrian.
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