//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The Rangers Nevermore? // by Rixizu //------------------------------// Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The Rangers Nevermore? Chapter 3 by Rixizu “No no no no no!” Trixie chanted terrified pacing back and forth. "What is going on? Who is Greengrass?" Lyra asked. "Only the most dangerous and ambitious noble in the court!" Trixie proclaimed. "I should have guessed he was behind this!" Lyra took the letter with her magic and read it. She blinked after reading it. "Uh, Trixie. All this says is "Dear Duke Greengrass". That doesn't really prove she's a spy or anything." Trixie sighed and rubbed her head. "Oh, course it does! The Duke has spies and contacts everywhere. He has hooves all around Equestria. He doesn't contact anypony unless it is to his advantage or they work for him. Would this Twilight Sparkle really just write a letter for him for no reason?" “I don’t know. It could be for his birthday or it’s a love letter?” Lyra suggested. Trixie snorted. She looked over the letters and eyes widened when she spotted a connection between some of them. “Look at this! There are at least 6 letters here with a return address from Ponyville!” Trixie opened one and read it narrowing her eyes. Dear Twi, How is Hoofington? Oh, you must tell me what it is like. I’ve heard it is such a beautiful city. I am doing fine and not much has changed. Though the constant monster attacks have made me terrified to even go outside! Oh, dear. How can Corona be so inconsiderate? Thank you ever so much for liking my story ‘Fallen Angel’. I didn’t think it turned out all that well myself, but your compliments and encouragements make me happy! I have another one in the works. I still haven’t thought of a name for it yet. If you have a suggestion, I would love to hear it. It is going to be a shipping fic between Four Winnings and Grimm. This one is going to have a little more action in it. If that is ok with you of course. I just thought it would be fun to try writing them. I have three chapters written already and should have it finished soon. Hope to talk to you soon. Your friend, f "Sounds like a normal letter to me," Lyra said perplexed. "And that is exactly what Twilight Sparkle wants you to think!" Trixie proclaimed. Trixie started looking through Twilight’s things again and found a notebook that had ‘Fallen Angel’ by f' on its cover and below the title was a well-drawn sketch of two very effeminate stallions in each other's hooves. She skimmed through it. Lyra came up from behind and watched her. "What?" Lyra asked. "Is there something up with this story?" Trixie sat the notebook down. “I think I know what’s going on.” She coughed. “The letter and story seem normal, but they are actually a secret code.” Lyra blinked. “What?” "Code," Trixie explained, "carefully hidden messages that can be read by using a key." “Like what?” Lyra wondered. Trixie sighed. “It’s impossible to say. It could literally be anything. It could be, for example, every 50th word or maybe it is read by using a complex mathematical equation. Without the key, it’s impossible to decipher the real message.” Lyra took the notebook in her magic and started reading through it. “But, why would this even be in code in the first place?” Trixie beamed. “Simple. This f is really Twilight Sparkle’s Ponyville contact. f reports their info to Twilight who then reports back to Greengrass!” Lyra continued to look through the notebook. “Using this… boy love ship fic?” “I have to give it to Greengrass. Nopony would ever expect that.” Trixie said in begrudging admiration. Lyra mulled this information over. “This still sounds a little farfetched.” "Think about it." Trixie closed to eyes and thought of all the clues she had so far. "Could it really just be a coincidence that Twilight Sparkle just happens to contact the Duke at the exact time she investigates the Galaxy Rangers? That she just happens to use code in her notes making them unreadable to anypony besides her? That she just so happens to have a pen pal in Ponyville? A pen pal that refuses to use her real name? And she just happens to pose as an oh so innocent reporter? Look at all of this, does it look like anything a normal reporter would have?” “Lyra, I know the Night Court and I know the Duke. In my experience, there is no such thing as coincidence. Trust me.” "Ok," Lyra said hesitantly, "Twilight Sparkle does seem at least little suspicious." “I know exactly how to prove it. Find out if Twilight Sparkle is a member of the Newspaper Guild.” Trixie started to put back everything as she found it satisfied that she had everything she needed. Twilight needed to be a member of the guild or no reputable paper would ever publish her writings. “Good plan.” Lyra complimented. “I’ll take the first train to Canterlot then…” Trixie smirked. “No need. I already got Pokey to do it. He should have the results by the time I get home.” “Good thinking.” Trixie smirked. “Like I said. This is my specialty.” Everything was put back to where it was before Trixie entered the room and the two left after Trixie made them invisible. The key was returned back with the rest of the spare keys and they left Twilight’s hotel. Trixie spent the rest of the trip to ponder who f was. The return address of the letters was a P.O. Box in the Ponyville post office making it difficult to tell who exactly it belongs to. Ditzy would know, but Trixie doubted that she would help her citing some nonsense about protecting the privacy of her customers. Trixie thought through all the ponies she knew that had a name that started with f. It suddenly hit her. It was so obvious. It was Flitter! Thinking about it, she saw that pegasus around her house a little too often. She was a pegasi, so it would be easy for her to spy on Trixie without her noticing. She could do it by a roof or cloud and Trixie would never even know! In fact, there was Flitter right now. The mare saw Trixie look at her and she waved to them from the street. Lyra waved back and Trixie did her best fake smile and waved as well. Trixie watched as Flitter joined her sister Cloud Chaser and walked into a Sugarcube Corner chatting to each other. Flitter laughed at a joke at something her sister said. Trixie thought about telling Lyra her suspicions but decided against it. It could tip their hoof and it would be better if Trixie kept this to herself for now. The two arrived at Trixie's house and thankfully he trusty assistant, Pokey Pierce, was there to greet her. "Hey, Pokey! So, what did you find?” Trixie asked eager for the answer. “It turns out your paranoid ravings were right this time.” Pokey quipped. “There is no record at all of a Midnight Sparkler being a member of the Newspaper Guild.” “Pokey!” Trixie exclaimed and groaned. “It was Twilight Sparkle! Twilight Sparkle!” She made sure to say the name slowly so he could properly understand it. "I know," Pokey replied. Trixie blinked. “What?” “I was just messing with you.” Pokey grinned. “Yes, you’re right. Twilight isn’t a member of the guild.” Trixie groaned. This was a serious situation! "You were right. I'm sorry I doubted you, Trixie." Lyra said. "You grew up in the Night Court. I should have trusted your judgment." "I suppose sometimes the pony in the padded room with a straitjacket is right," Pokey interjected and Trixie glared at him. “So what now?” Lyra asked trying to prevent a fight between these two. "Easy, we scare her out of town," Trixie replied after she stopped glaring at Pokey. “How do we do that?” Lyra asked. "I already have the perfect plan," Trixie said mischievously. "I don't know about this," Lyra said for the third time. Trixie sighed. “Trust me. This will work.” They were looking at the brilliant monster costume that she made. The plan was simple. They were going to scare Twilight Sparkle out town. Trixie was quite adept at costume making and even the most hardened Night Court agent would drop dead in fright at the sight of it. It was a metal monstrosity with a buzzsaw on the top of its head with two more buzzsaw at the end of each arm. It also had buzzsaws coming out of it shoulders as well. Trixie decided to make it bipedal as well so both her and Lyra would have to wear the thing with Trixie standing on Lyra’s shoulders. It was super awkward and difficult to move around but Trixie liked the look of it. Trixie wished she could just use an illusion, but she didn’t want to risk Twilight seeing through the facade with her magic. She was an agent of Greengrass. No doubt she was trained for that and it seemed likely those ugly ridiculous thick glasses of hers had a spell on them that allowed the spy to see through illusions. “One problem. How does it feed itself?” Lyra asked. “What?” Trixie asked stunned. “You can’t grab anything with buzzsaws at the end of your hooves. It’s also way too tall, so it would have to bend down and over to get anything placed on a table. That would be really annoying and inconvenient. Its mouth is also a little too small to really grab anything.” "It doesn't matter," Trixie said exasperated. "Ponies will think of that when they look at it," Lyra explained. "No, they won't," Trixie argued back. “I would.” Lyra shot back. “I would feel sorry for it.” "It doesn't matter," Trixie repeated again. “Fine, but don’t blame me when Twilight points this out when we ‘attack’ her.” Trixie facehoofed. “Let’s just get this over with.” ---- Why did she think this was a good idea again? Trixie underestimated just how hot the suit would get and was practically soaked with her own sweat. Lyra wasn't faring any better and was complaining the entire trip. Trixie did her best to ignore it and Lyra's whining, and focused on her invisibility spell she was using to hide them while they tracked down Twilight Sparkle. It was difficult and somehow made the situation even more uncomfortable. Lyra said she left her at the library so that was where they were lumbering towards. Moving was awkward and it was hard to see through the small slits for eyeholes, to say the least, but they were moving at a steady pace. After a tortuous 15 minutes, they arrived at their destination. Trixie grinned in triumph when she spotted Twilight’s purple mane through the window. “There she is! Ready?” Lyra grunted. “I guess. Let’s get this over with.” Trixie almost giggled in excitement. They slowly went towards the door and Lyra opened the door with her magic. It was difficult trying to duck their way in, but they somehow made it in without toppling over. Unfortunately, Lyra slammed the door behind them and Trixie glared at her. “Oops," Lyra said sheepishly. They were still invisible, but no doubt Twilight Sparkle would be alerted by the sound. Surprisingly, this turned out not to be the case. She was sitting on the floor surrounded by books in high haphazard towers. Trixie noticed with alarm that one of the books in the pile was ‘Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide’. Twilight’s attention was focused completely on the book she was reading. Trixie grinned. “Perfect.” They moved behind Twilight and there was no way she could hear them with the sound dampening spell Trixie was using. This was the best spot to scare her. Trixie dropped her invisibility spell. “Ready?” Trixie asked and Lyra nodded. “Rawr!” Trixie roared at the top of her lungs. ...Nothing. Twilight didn’t move or do anything like she didn’t even hear it at all. She kept reading her book like nothing happened. “Rawr!” Trixie tried again making it as loud as she could. Nothing. Nothing at all. Twilight still didn’t react. “Rawr! I’m a scary monster here to eat you!” Trixie yelled waving her arms for emphasis. Still no response. She wondered what the hay is going on. Was she deaf? "Try again," Lyra said lighting her horn, "this will amplify your voice." “Rawr! I’m death incarnate here to kill you!” Trixie tried once again. Her voice boomed all over the library. It was almost deafening. Still no response. “You have got to be kidding me!” Trixie cried in frustration. Lyra looked speechless. “So... what now?” Lyra asked. Trixie grinned. This would work for sure. “Rawr! Meet your doom Twilight Sparkle for I am going to feast on your soul!” Trixie used her magic to erupt fireworks around her as she said this. Still nothing. Still reading that stupid book like they weren’t even there. Trixie growled in frustration. “What is this racket about?” An elderly voice said from a distance. An elderly unicorn mare with a mane of pure white and light blue coat entered the room from the library’s back room. Trixie quickly turned herself invisible. “Twilight are you throwing a party in here are something?” The old mare asked. Twilight gave no response. She sighed and slowly trotted up to the younger mare. She tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Ahhh!” Twilight screamed. Trixie facehoofed, or at least tried to. It was difficult with the buzzsaws for hooves. Twilight brightened at the sight of the elderly mare. “Oh, it’s you Knowledge Broker.” “What in hay is going on here? Were you shooting off fireworks?” Broker asked annoyed. Twilight blinked. “Fireworks? No. It’s just me reading these books. Nothing else happened besides that.” “I could have sworn…” Broker said before screaming. Trixie picked this exact time to make herself visible. Twilight turned and yelped in fright as well. Trixie did her best to look menacing. Twilight looked around the library, then outside to the ponies walking around town, and lastly to Knowledge Broker who was cowering in fear. She gritted her teeth. Suddenly she disappeared in a flash. Trixie and Lyra blinked in sudden confusion. Twilight then appeared right in front of them. She grabbed the thing she thought was a monster with a hoof. Her horn glowed again and they were gone. --- Ditzy was humming to herself. It was a nice day and she was enjoying a walk with her daughter Dinky. She planned on enjoying this a little too rare day off. Dinky was skipping behind her completely carefree and Ditzy chuckled at her antics. She noticed by the position of the sun that it was almost dusk and dinner time. It, unfortunately, wasn’t going to be anything special, just leftover pizza. Ditzy was about to say that it was about time they got back home when she heard somepony crying for help. Ditzy rushed towards the voice determined to do what she could to help. Dinky did her best to follow. Ponies were panicking around her trying to get away. Ditzy ignored them for the moment. “Everypony you need to get out of here and to safety!” A purple unicorn cried out running back and forth. Ditzy stopped in front of her. “What is going on?” “One of Corona’s monster is here. You need to get to safety. Now. It’s out of town and disoriented by my teleportation spell, but only for a moment!” The unicorn explained. “It’s not going to be happy!” She left them to warn other ponies. “Mommy?” Dinky hugged her mother’s leg in fear. "Shhhh," Ditzy said trying to soothe her daughter stroking the filly's head, "it's going to be okay." Dinky didn’t say anything but just nodded comforted a little by these words. "Honey, I need you to go to Mr. Pokey's house," Ditzy said. It was the closest place of safety. Dinky looked alarmed. “Mommy?!” "I need you to get to safety and that is the best place for you to go," Ditzy explained. “B-but!” Dinky stuttered. “I’ll be fine. I need to stay behind and help warn ponies.” Ditzy lied. She hated doing this, but she needed to stop that monster. Now. Dinky eventually gave a hesitant nod and ran off to safety. Ditzy gave a reassuring wave and the filly was gone. Ditzy flew away and found a safe place to transform free from prying eyes. There was an empty alley behind a nearby building. "It's morphing time!" Ditzy pulled out her morpher and thrust it in front of her. "Sagittarius!" Ditzy felt her armor form around her and mentally prepared herself for battle. She was a little confused why Corona would suddenly break her habit of summoning monsters during midday, but that really didn’t matter at the moment. When she was fully transformed, she pressed a button on her morpher to summon her staff. She rushed out and quickly found her quarry. It was monstrous thing. Completely metal with buzzsaws for hooves. She felt a twinge of pity for it. How in the Equestria did it feed itself? It was stumbling around disoriented and was heading towards town. It froze when it spotted her. “I’m not going to let you take another step forward!” Ditzy proclaimed pointing a hoof at the monster. “You are not going to hurt a single pony! I won’t let you!” “Wait? What? I...!” The creature tried to say, but Ditzy ignored it and continued on. “These ponies, this town are under my protection!” Ditzy cried out. She thought of her friends, her neighbors, Dinky… There was no way she would let this monster hurt a single hair on any of them. “As Princess Luna as my witness, I will fight you to my last breath! Prepare yourself!” Suddenly, the creature just vanished. Ditzy blinked. She looked around and it was nowhere in sight. She realized instantly that the thing just turned invisible. A nice trick, but one she had seen a thousand times thanks to her friend Trixie. It won’t escape her that easily. She scanned the area making sure to stay patient and keep her eyes open. Ditzy smirked. Being invisible is all well and good, but it doesn’t hide your presence completely. Her suit amplified her cutie mark’s ability to sense air currents and it wasn’t hard to detect where the monster was through its movements. Ditzy pressed a button on her belt. She whirled her staff over her head. It became a blur and energy gathered and sparked around it. Ditzy unleashed the energy and threw it toward where she knew the monster was and summoned a mini tornado in the shape of an arrow. It sucked the creature in and quickly lost its invisibility. It was thrown high into the air by the spinning vortex. Ditzy turned around and slammed her staff on the ground. “Gales of Destruction!” The creature exploded. Ditzy couldn’t help a satisfied smirk. This went easier than she expected. Ditzy quickly found a safe place to untransform and did so. She trotted towards Pokey’s house. Luckily, her daughter wasn’t too far from the fight scene and hugged her tight when she spotted her mother. Dinky cried and buried her face into Ditzy coat. She responded by stroking her daughter's head. “There, there. It’s okay. It’s all over.” “I was so scared! I-I thought…” Dinky started, but was pulled into a hug and was kissed on the forehead. “The monster is gone. The Galaxy Rangers kicked its butt and saved us all.” Ditzy said comfortingly. “Really?” Dinky asked. Ditzy nodded. “Oh course! Good always beats evil!” "Thank goodness," Dinky said quietly. The two walked in silence back home. Dinky never strayed too far from her mother. “Say mommy?” Dinky asked. "What is it, honey?" Ditzy replied. “Do you think I could be a Galaxy Ranger when I grow up?” Dinky asked. Ditzy thought on this. “Maybe.” She stifled a laugh. “In this world anything is possible.” Dinky seemed pleased at that and started running around seemingly pretending to be a Ranger herself. Her past fears previously forgotten much to Ditzy's relief. Really, though, who would have guessed that her life would turn out like this? --- Trixie limped slowly but steadily moving towards the outskirts of town which was apparently where Twilight was currently hanging out according to some random ponies. Trixie’s body was covered in bandages and she needed a walking stick, but she was determined to protect her friends. Trixie was alone now. Lyra just gave up and went home concluding that ‘This isn’t worth it!’ and ‘She probably isn’t even a spy anyway!”. It was disheartening and a little annoying, but understandable. Trixie hoped beyond hope that Bon-Bon never learns of this mishap. Trixie spotted her quarry and dove into a bush. She winced in pain but did her best to ignore it. Twilight was messing with some strange box like contraption with antennae at the end and was waving it around enthusiastically. She wrote into a notebook taking in the device's findings. Trixie had no idea what she was doing then realized this was the location that she confronted Ditzy earlier. Twilight was doing science and Trixie had no clue what that even meant. She concluded that it was, in fact, a bad thing and needed to be stopped. Trixie was at a bit of a loss about what to do, Twilight would not scare easily and threats would not deter her at all. Maybe blackmail? That might work, but she was dealing with a powerful and cunning adversary and it was hard to tell how she would react to that. What she really needed to do is convince the mare that investigating the Galaxy Rangers was not worth it, but she was on Greengrass's payroll. Trixie wondered if she could bribe her into giving false information. Trixie gave up that idea. She couldn't pay more than Greengrass and he would not hire someone so easily tempted. Trixie thought she might have an idea when she was suddenly and unexpectedly pulled from her hiding spot and into the air. Trixie waved her hooves frantically not sure what was going on. “There you are!” Pinkie declared and sat Trixie thankfully gently on the ground. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” “How did you find me?!” Trixie demanded. She was invisible and kept completely still this time so there was no way Pinkie should have found her. “I’m a three-time world champion of Hide and Seek duh!" Pinkie rolled her eyes. "No offense Trixie, but you're a little out of your league." “What?” That was all Trixie could say. "Turning invisible isn't that great a trick really," Pinkie explained. "You won't believe how many unicorns think that actually works." Trixie was indignant that something like a ‘Hide and Seek World Championship’ could ever exist. She just threw up her hooves. “Fine! Whatever. What do you want Pinkie?” “Hey! Twilight! Over here!” Pinkie waved her hooves. Twilight saw them and walked over much to Trixie’s horror. "Oh hey, Pinkie!" Twilight said waving. “There’s somepony I want you to meet!” Pinkie pushed Trixie forward. “This is Trixie!” “Oh hello! It’s nice to meet you!” Twilight said politely. “I’ve heard so much about you.” Trixie gritted her teeth and glared at the pink menace. “Hello.” It almost sounded polite. “Pinkie, may I talk to you for a second.” “Sure thing Trix!” Pinkie grinned. Trixie pulled Pinkie aside. “What do you think you are doing?” She demanded. “Making you a new friend duh!” Pinkie said like it was the most obvious thing ever. “Why?” Trixie asked trying her hardest not completely flip out. “Isn’t it obvious?” Pinkie asked. “You’re a unicorn. She’s a unicorn. You both like magic. You have like a gazillion things in common! It’s a perfect match!” “Look. I appreciate the sentiment but…” Trixie started, but Pinkie interrupted her. "Oh, you're just being a grumpy pants," Pinkie said, "give it try! I know you'll be besties in moments!" "Well look at the time! I have to get going! I’ll leave you two to it!” Pinkie suddenly announced loudly before dashing off before Trixie could protest. The two stood there in silence for a long while. “So... Do you like books?” Twilight asked awkwardly. "Yes, for the most part," Trixie said simply which was more or less true. Twilight brightened at this. “Have you read ‘Quark’s Quirky Quest of Quantum’?” “No.” “You should. It’s a great book about current theories and findings in Quantum Physics, a field that has only been recently discovered!” Twilight explained with enthusiasm. "I'll pick it up if I ever get the time," Trixie said dryly. By her tone, she hoped she made it clear that she won't read that book even if you put a crossbow to her head. Another period of awkward silence followed. Twilight started to fidget. Trixie just stared at her coldly. “So, uh, do like reading about animals?” Twilight tried again. “I found this really interesting book about mollusks while looking through the lib…” “Let’s just cut this charade already.” Trixie interrupted. “What?” Twilight asked bewildered. “I know exactly who you are!” Trixie declared. Twilight’s ear folded and she drooped physically. “I see. I thought as much.” Twilight said in a quiet voice. “I’m not surprised you hate me, not after what I did.” Trixie growled. “I’m glad to see we are on the page.” “Trixie. I’m sorry.” Twilight was actually started to tear up and this made Trixie blink. She was a little surprised that an agent of Greengrass would break so easily. Trixie snorted. “Do you really think I would forgive you that easily? After everything you’ve done?” It was Twilight’s turn to blink. “I know what I did was bad, but isn’t this just a bit of extreme reaction for just a stolen library book?”