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I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Shadows flicker about in the low lighting that was the lab that Twilight had made in the basement of the library. On one of the more cleaner tables made of steel sat a log that was alit with green fire.
Two curious eye watched the flames erratically move about as they burned the bark at a rather quick rate, leaving light but notable burns along its sides. Masquerade stood nearby with a bucket of water filled with ice and a potion mixture made to put out changeling fire.
Twilight looked the fire over carefully before scanning it with her magic. Almost as if throwing something like paper onto the flame, it grew in size and burned hotter before it died down when the magic was cut off.
“Why does that keep happening?” She voiced to herself, getting fed up that she couldn’t scan the magical flame.
“Remember what I told you?” Turning her head back to Masquerade, he reminded, “Your magic has emotions mixed in, so every time you go to use any near it, the fire will grow in power.”
Looking back and forth from pony to flame, she chuckled lightly, “Right, forgot.” And went back to observing it. Stepping back some to use her magic, she eyed the green fire to be sure it didn’t get any bigger and started to write down what she had found out.
It was true that the faux unicorn that still lived in her home gave all information on the green fire he called changeling fire, but she could not help but perform tests on it to know its inner workings. She could now see why he said she could not learn how to use this unique fire spell. The fire is made is such a way that it not only feeds on burnable things, but any emotions that might be in it.
This meant that it could still burn on its own without much fuel, and only scorch objects then outright destroy them. This also meant that if Twilight ever wished to use it, she had to find a way to not only take most of the emotion out her magic, but make the fire feed on said emotions. The idea was a paradox in its own right, as no pony can cast magic without some amount of emotion in it, making it only changeling able.
It was these same facts as to why Masquerade brought along his bucket of ice water that was mixed with some potion he had. Knowing that the fire can feed on emotions, that meant it can potentially burn on water. So icy cold water with a potion mix that destabilize magic was the recipe needed if it ever got out of control.
Tapping her chin, Twilight asked, “Are you sure there is no way of duplicating this spell for ponies?” And walked around the table at a distance, noting how the flame grew some if she got in touching range.
“Well, there are some variations of it, but nothing a pony could replicate.” Masquerade admitted in thought, “But, I‘m sure if you wanted, you could find a way of making a pony version of it.”
Putting her notes away for the time being, she tapped the floor in some thought, “And how would you propose that?” Waving him closer so the bucket he held was in range.
Walking over and setting the bucket at her hooves, Mask watched as she took a rather long steel stick and held it to the green fire. Unsurprisingly to the stallion, the fire took hold of the end that was stuck in and stayed in place while the curious mare moved it away. “Simply, if you can't make a fire without the emotion, why not figure a way to make one that sustains itself on the emotion.”
Seeing the lavender unicorn stop in place, he continued on knowing he had her attention, “I know a variation of the spell called Savage Fire, uses raw hate or rage to power it and cause damage.” With her now fully facing him he said, “Why not do something similar, only with more balanced emotions?”
As she kept her eyes on him and carefully the end of the metal stick into the fire extinguishing water, she questioned, “Couldn’t you do something like that on your own?” Wondering how something so simple could not have been done yet.
“Changelings don’t have enough emotions flowing into their magic to do something like that.” He shrugged, “In theory it should be possible, but no changeling has ever been able to do it.”
Looking to the small log, she used her magic to pull up some metal clamps to grab the object and dunk it into the bucket where it all fizzled out. Using the same clamps to pull it out of the freezing cold, anti magical water, she dumped them both on the table and grabbed her notes while heading for the stairs with, “I think I‘ll experiment with the idea.”
With a small smirk he nodded, “Go on ahead Twinkles, just make sure to keep a bucket of that water I had around. Changeling fire isn’t easy to put out.” And followed her up the stairs to turn in for the night.
A small yawn was given as a pegasus pushed another cloud next to a group of graying ones that had been gathered for the last two days. A rainstorm had been scheduled to hit Sweet Apple Acers soon, and with how warm it had been getting, they figured the rest of the area would need it soon as well. Rainbow Dash in particular, had spent all of the previous day gathering some clouds and also finding good boundaries to keep the storm in.
One such boundary was from the Everfree and its ever out of control weather that would slip by the weather patrols now and then. She and the rest of the pegasi didn’t want any of the rouge clouds drifting in and cause the storm to go out of control, that would invite too much trouble and clean up for them.
So far most of the clouds needed had been gathered, meaning all that would be left was to get it started and keep an eye on it while it did its job. Stuffing another cloud into the ever growing storm cloud, Rainbow gave a slight yawn and stretched her limbs.
She didn’t get her nap in yet, and this had left her slightly drowsy some. It didn’t help that she had to pull a longer shift the other day after one of the weather ponies had called in sick, while she and Cloud Kicker did the work that needed to be done.
A slight bump on her shoulder brought the pegasus out of her musing as Cloud Kicker gave her a look over, “Tiered from last night?”
With a confident grin, Dash shot back, “Are you kidding, this works just so boring it‘s putting me to sleep.” And shoved another cloud into place.
“Sure, what ever you say boss.” The other mare rolled her eyes while keeping her wings beating enough to guide a few more grey clouds closer. Dash only scoffed at Kicker's amused sarcasm and went back to stuffing the clouds together.
Looking down for a moment, Rainbow caught the sight of a rather familiar body making its way through town. With slightly narrowed eyes, she tracked the black body of Masquerade, asking herself where he was going.
Noticing her bosses attention was elsewhere, Cloud Kicker looked down as well and spotted the same black Unicorn that was making his way through town. Looking up with a gleam in her eye she asked, “Spot something you like?”
“Huh?” Was all the cerulean pegasus said and turning her eyes back to the grey mare somewhat confused.
“I have to admit, he‘s a bit cute, even if a bit on the scrawny side.” Cloud said and nudged the other mare, “So who is he?”
With a few more blinks, Rainbow was able to put it together and felt even more awake then before, “Whoa, whoa, whoa- hold on!” Putting distance between her and the interested Pegasus, “I don’t have a thing for him, he‘s just some guy that my friend knows from way back or something.”
Still amused, Cloud Kicker nodded her head, not convinced in the least. Deciding to eliminate any sort of doubts, the athlete continued, “I‘m just not sure what to think of him. He said some stuff to Twilight that got her all worked up, and I have been trying to get him cornered so I can ask why he put her through such a rough time.”
“And this was recent?” The grey mare asked as she pushed some clouds into place, actually considering asking the guy out. Haven’t been on a date for a while, might be fun. She concluded to herself.
“No, it happened, what a week or so ago?” The blue pegasus told, helping push the clouds together, “Twilight says they worked it out, but I still want to know what that guy was thinking.”
Thinking for a moment, Cloud Kicker looked from the storm cloud to the almost gone form of the black stallion and asked, “When are we breaking up this cloud?”
“Two days, three if the apple trees in the orchard really need it, why?” Rainbow asked in return, gathering a few clouds that didn’t seemed to what to stick with the rest.
Giving a sly look she said, “If one pegasus cant catch him, what about two?”
Twilight wrote on a scroll quickly while looking over her notes and a few books of magic she had laying about the table before her. In his little corner of the room, Masquerade read over his own book, giving the working mare a glance before shaking his head.
She forgot about her food again, He stated in his mind as a plate with a sandwich sat on the table unattended to. Looking up to it and then at Twilight, he considered floating it away so when she goes to take a bite, it would be gone. Then after she searching around for a moment, return it to its plate, where she would be decidedly confused.
Meh, maybe later. He shrugged, going back to his own reading. Before he could read any further, a weight settled on his head and got him to look up. Just within view was a feathery head that said, “Who.”
With a slight grin, he gave a taste to the birds ever tiny emotions asking, “Hungry are we?” With an excited hoot, the owl jumped off his head and flew to his perch where an empty bowl was hanging. With a shake of his head, he put the book down and went off to do the task of feeding the bird.
With the bowl filled, and a rather happy Owlowscious, Masquerade tuned away and was about to go back to reading before stopping at the window. Looking out, he could see Daisy. Without her friends. Alone and by herself.
A chance to make contact without alerting the other two. This was a chance he was not going to pass up, and with a quick rush to the door, Masquerade walked out and began to follow closely.
Already he was starting to devise ways to make contact in a way where she figures out he’s a changeling, rather him put her on the spot. If he puts himself in a position that makes her think she was in charge, then he could see where her allegiances lies. After a few ideas run through his mind, he decided to run with one that should put her on the defensive, and changed his path.
Going about the market distract of Ponyville, Daisy with her saddlebags filling, was going about shopping for groceries. Rose Luck was out picking up a package of seeds that would be coming in at the post office, while Lily Valley was getting a cake for later tonight.
“And that leaves me with groceries.” She huffed lightly while searching the stalls around her for Roma. Out of all the days they run out of tomatoes, Roma didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.
With a shake of her head, she decided to forgo the red fruit for now and get the next thing on her list. Reaching back and grabbing the said item, she gave it a quick once over.
Cherries, loaf of bread, apple juice, jar of mint… she wasn’t sure what they needed mint for, but she supposed it had something to do with the cake Lily decided to get that day. She would find out when she got back home, that was for sure.
Putting the list back, she gave a look around for the next stand and gave a smile at the one with Applejack in it. When she began to make her way there, she started to slow down some at the sight of another mare. One she wasn’t familiar with.
Next to the apple mare was a pegasus mare with a white coat and silver mane. Giving a quick glace at her cutie mark, she felt a frown come over her face. She knew the Apples fairly well, and helps with tending to the trees if they noticed something wrong with their trees that they didn’t know how to fix.
She may not have any idea about sicknesses that might affect apple trees, but she certainly knew of a few other plants or funguses that could cause problems. This was besides the point, despite knowing Applejack and her family, she didn’t recognize this pony. True, she has seen her around town lately, but that was with a nearly identical copy of herself.
Coming to a complete stop, Daisy gave the mare another once over with some confusion. For every instance she had seen this pegasus, she could not help the feeling something was off about her. If she was fully admitting to herself, she would also mention some certain happenings in town.
Every now and then, she and the girls would hear the most interesting things about what goes on in Ponyville, and would even trade what they find out. But lately they had noticed…differences in stories.
She turned away and made for a different stand, one that was giving out bread while she thought over with what she knew. More than once had she and the other two heard a story that involved a pony that apparently was seen in two places at once. At first they blew it off.
However, since those two mares shown up, she was not to sure. It wasn’t often, but they would show up in places now and then, and didn’t act like most ponies did. Ponies in general have interesting personalities, but those two acted even odder.
This was all from the rumors and gossip that floated around, so she didn’t know how much was true or just generated, but in either case, she wasn’t sure what to think of it.
Reaching to the stand and paying for the bread rather quickly, Daisy made to move to the next stand, only to run into somepony. With both crashing into the other, she was given a rather, “I‘m terribly sorry, I was lost in thought.”
Opening her eyes and looking, she saw a black as night stallion with a mane that was a bluish green. When he stood up, he lit his horn with a way to familiar color green to her likening, and gathered her things.
“Clumsy me, spilling your stuff like that.” He tasked to himself, putting a hoof out for her, “Need a hoof up?”
Warily taking the offered hoof, he pulled her up and set the bags onto her back with an uneasy smile. She gave him a suspicious look that seemed to only further awkwardly smile saying, “Not a problem…”
“Masquerade, nice to meet your acquaintance!” He nodded his head, “Sorry, I was on my way to see this pony and…well, bumped into you.”
“And who would that be?” She asked somewhat curious.
With another smile, this one more relaxed he said, “Rose Luck, I was told she was good with flower arranging!”
Not many ponies know about that, Daisy noted to herself. In fact, the only ponies that knew were her, Lily, and the local seamstress. It was a not very known fact because Rose rarely did any outside jobs and stayed at the stand she had.
“It‘s her day off, I don’t think she‘ll be able to help.” Daisy told the stallion slowly, getting the same vibe from him like that mare near Applejack. She wasn’t sure what it was, but after seeing the near replication of his black coat, mane color and sickly green magic, it was sending her a bad feeling.
All he needs is a couple of-- Daisy’s thought seemed to halt at the almost glowing green eyes that gave her a curious look as her brain finished, green eyes.
Swallowing a bit and darting her eyes around she offered, “But I might be able to ask her?”
Seeing his face light up he told, “That would be great, could we do so now?”
“Now?” She asked.
With a nod he explained, “You see, I won't be around long, so I wanted to get this job done.” And walked next to her, as if ready for Daisy to lead on.
“What is this job?” She asked the stallion that seemed to seize up a little and look as if he was trying to come up with an excuse. She could feel the uncertainty roll off him, and she distinctly noticed that even felt off.
“It‘s a, uh, job to see how flower arranging works?” And gave another ‘I’m lying badly’ smile that said otherwise.
Letting the gears turn in her head, the pink mare started to form a plan in her mind, smiling the most sincere smile she could saying, “Well, Rose is good at it, maybe she can teach you something.” Walking off with him close behind.
Making sure to keep tabs on the distracted stallion to be sure he was following, the flower pony herself went over the plans in her mind and chose as to how to make it work. With both her friends out, she had to think of another way to deal with this Masquerade then what she normally had planed.
“So…” Masquerade spoke up, “Nice weather huh?” Referring to the almost cleared skies above them both. The weather team had started to remove the storm clouds that morning, and some still lingered about.
She nodded a little with, “Could be clearer.” Watching a rainbow streak fly overhead and obliterate a good number of clouds in its wake.
Chuckling to himself, Masquerade said, “Yea, ponies seemed to love their clear skies.” The way he dragged out the word love sent a chill up Daisy’s spine and get her slightly quicken her pace.
Still holding a fake smile that wouldn’t fool anypony, Masquerade followed his target right to her home. The original plan was to get her to feel she was in charge of the situation and make her overconfident like she could handle him. What he got was nearly the complete opposite effect.
Fear, uncertainty and panic were more prominent than they should be. The only conclusion he could get was either this changeling was trying to hide from other changelings, or was a rouge that has been on the run.
“Are you alright, you seem fidgety?” Even with these words, he could still feel how uncomfortable she was. Her body would slightly tense up, muscles coiled and ready to move on the moments notice. She was suspicious he was changeling, just like he wanted, but why was she so afraid?
Putting a hoof to the bronze handle on the door, Daisy turned her face to Masquerade smiling with the slightest nervousness, “Here we are, make yourself at home!” And pulled on the handle to swing the door open with more force than needed.
Moving aside to let the stallion in first, Masquerade knew that going in first would expose his back and putting her in the position of power. As long as he made no passes to tell her his skill level, then she’ll spill. Still with his fake smile on his face, he nodded and walked right in without a worry, adding a little strut as if he accomplished something big.
The smallest of confidences blossomed in Daisy’s being when she had seen how he walked in like he owned the place. She was sure, without a doubt, this was a changeling. To what clan was still to be found, but now she was sure and the way he moved about suggested an amateur.
Closing the door and making her way passed him with more confidence in her stride she asked, “Are you thirsty, it will be a while before Rose gets back.” Seeing his nod, she gave a pleased smile and trotted to the kitchen to get a special blend for a situation like this.
Looking around the room, the faux unicron walked over to a small wooden coffee table and took a seat on one of the pillows set on the floor. He was initially confused why Daisy didn’t take her chance to attack with his back turned. When she offer a drink though, it told him that she planed to spike it with something. But that only tells him she was stalling, as it would take time for anything like that to take effect.
Casting his gaze about the room, he took note of the couch at the far side of the room, over it hung what seemed to be a ceremonial sword. Nice sword. He could only think while looking at its silver polished edge.
Looking to the walls, he noted the lack of windows, making escape harder if he were to attempt it. Most of the door frames had strung bead curtains hanging on them, meaning he couldn’t sneak through them without making some form of noise.
Looking up, he noticed a small chandelier overhead. Embroidered into the steel limbs were lines of green glass that added to its beauty. He narrowed his eyes at the object, unable to hold back the grin that formed on his face. Clever girl, using an overhanging object with small bits of changeling resin inside the glass. If I’m right, anypony sitting under it would have their access emotions gathered for latter feeding.
There was more to it then that. If he was further correct, then it was possible this changeling knew how to make it also absorb a changelings reserves while under it. And that would mean it would weaken his immune system, making the drink work all the better. Clever girl indeed.
He could see why she wanted to lead him here, it was a perfect trap for changelings that were unaware of such things. So he was glad that he wasn’t that careless. He wouldn’t be surprised if the sword on the wall was the real deal, and was there for easy access.
The door outside was slammed open without warning and making Masquerade almost go into a defensive stance. Right after the door was opened, another mare that he had come to know as Lily Valley, came dancing in while balancing a box held by twine in her left hoof.
She hummed happily to herself while she danced about the wooden floor, doing an impressive job at holding herself up with just her back hooves. Using her right forelegs during a spin, she swung the door away from the wall some before re-slamming it closed while in a forward bend.
She has some pretty good balance. Masquerade commented in his head while the mare continued her dancing some. Right as she was passing the middle of the room, her eyes caught sight of him, and sent her into a screeching halt.
Blinking to make sure she was seeing what she was, she could only give off a unsure, “Uh…” Completely caught off guard at the situation before her.
An awkward silence descended on the two, neither one really sure what to say. Both were, admittedly, caught off guard from the other. For Masquerade, it was how well this mare could dance on her hind legs as she was. For Lily, it was the question as to what a strange stallion was doing in her home and just witnessed one of her…unique moments.
“Lily, is that you?” Daisy called form the kitchen, “I need to talk to you!”
Looking from the Unicorn stallion to the kitchen she yelled back, “Who‘s the stud, and what’s he doing in our house?”
Beads clicked as they were moved about when Daisy poked her head out from the kitchen saying, “He‘s a guest, now would you get in here!” Pulling back in to finish her brew.
Giving the stallion one last glance, he shrugged in return as if unsure himself. Having a confused expression on her face, Lily got back on all four hooves with the box safely on her back and trotted to the kitchen.
All the while, Masquerade watched the mare walk by and replaying the odd show in his head a few times before shaking his head, mares, confusing bunch they are. And went back to examining the room once again, like the flower pot with a nicely growing tangle of roses growing in it.
The clicking of beads called for his attention once more and looked over to a Daisy, who calmly carried a trey of warm tea on her back with a confident smile. Next to her, Lily showed to be less sure of herself and also gave off some nervousness as she got closer.
Masquerade held his mask of obliviousness as to what was going on. He was sure the tea would be mixed with something, so he set his own countermeasures into action. Rising the flower pot of roses up with his magic and setting it to his left side to make room for tray saying, “Thanks again with the help, I didn’t want to spend my time here and not get a chance to meet Rose Luck.”
Setting the tray down, Daisy hoofed out each cup of tea smiling, “Well, what sort of mare would I be if I didn’t help another pony out now and then?” Taking a seat next to Lily that was to Masquerades right.
They waited expectantly for him to take a sip, and seeing as he had no choice with them watching him, took the tea cup into his magical grasp and took a sip. Placing the half drained tea on the table he told, “That’s rather good. What blend is it?”
“It‘s called Honey Spot, it‘s something Lily taught me to make a few years back.” The mare told, nudging her friend to say something.
With a quick nod, Lily said, “Yep, most of our teas are made with the flowers we grow!” And trying her best attempt to keep calm.
“You don’t say?” He asked, taking up the cup of tea again and slowly rotating it in his grasp, “I would have not noticed if you didn’t tell me.” Lily’s fidgeting seemed to only increase a little while Daisy rubbed her friends hoof to calm her.
With a curious look Daisy asked, “You said you wanted to learn flower arranging from rose, any reason why?”
The infiltrator went back into a slightly nervous posture and sat up a little more while placing the tea down with a tad more force. He made sure that his eyes made faster motion when looking between the two and show some classic signs of being nervous, “Oh well, you see…” Dragging on his last word to make his act more convincing, “I, uh, wanted to learn more about it because I was going to do some at a party?”
The fake earth mare gave a even less convinced look with Lily, who was showing signs of being anxious. Looking down at the still filled tea cups, he said, “Aren’t you going to have some of your tea?”
Giving quick glance down at their still full cups, they gave the other a look, unsure how to respond. From Masquerades view point, it seems Daisy was in a bigger rush then he thought in laying her trap. Looked like all the tea was poisoned, and they weren't sure if they should drink of it.
With shaky hooves, Lily went to reach for her cup and slowly lifted it.
And completely fumbled with it as the door slammed open for the third time that day, sending the cup to clatter on the table as Rose came trotting in talking rather loudly, “And you have no idea how rude the guy was, I had to mare handle him out the door and into a trash can just to get rid if him!” And swung a hoof for emphasis.
“Sounds rough…” Said a less interested Rainbow Dash who was sulking behind the flower mare.
The pegasus beside Dash on the other hoof, only seemed to nod, “I don’t blame you, after how he went about hitting on you like that, I would have done the same.”
Though he had his feelings under control, Masquerade could not help but panic at the sight of Rainbow Dash being there. What is she doing here? The weather hasn’t been cleared away completely. With a quick look out one of the windows to confirm this, he looked back and held the urge to grind his teeth, this could go south real fast.
The other pegasus, he didn’t know. He has seen her around, but hasn’t gotten to knowing who she was, her occupation and what not. She was an unknown, and there fore added to his current dilemma.
When her eyes locked onto him, he knew something bad was going to happen there and then, “You must be Masquerade, Rainbow Dash told me about you!” Yep, something bad indeed.
“Oh, so this is who you were talking about Cloud Kicker?” Rose asked, giving the stallion a once over, “I agree, cute but scrawny.”
The Infiltrator wasn’t sure how things could get any worse at this point.
He was hoping to confirm that Daisy wasn’t a threat and know who she might be loyal to. This all centered around him being an unknown to all three flower ponies. That was effectively shoot with the intervention of two pegasi.
“So, Masquerade.” Kicker seemed to gain a predatory smile and saunter over to his side, “Tell me about you, I have heard some but don’t know much.” Shooting a look to Rainbow Dash, who seemed to look on in sudden shock.
Spotting the half filled tea cup, she gave a small smirk and took it up saying, “You don’t mind, right?” And taking it to her lips.
“Cloud Kicker, wait!” Daisy tried to warn with an out stretched hoof, all too late as the pegasus took it all in one go.
Licking her lips she said, “What, it‘s not that--” And thumped her head onto the table completely out of it.
All ponies present watched the still form of Cloud Kicker lay were she was before Rainbow slowly asked, “Is she…dead?”
“No Dash, just over dosed with some sort of sleeping tonic.” Masquerade told her simply, lighting his horn to lift the snoozing pegasus up and to the couch he spotted from before. Giving Daisy a look he said, “Overdosed it a little, did we?”
Blinking at the unicorn, Daisy almost shouted, “How is it your still awake, you took nearly more than half of it on the first go!” Next to her, Lily nodded in agreement.
“Trade secret.” He simply stated, not mentioning that when he took that drink, he used his magic to pull some tea out and use his body to hide its transfer. Because they were to his right, they did not see the tea make its way to the flower pot that was on his left.
“Alright, what’s going on here?” Rose seemed to explode after watching the whole scene.
Turning to Daisy, she glared, “Daisy, what are you doing with that tea, I thought you reserved it only for…” Slowly the gears in her head began to turn as she gave the only stallion in the room a look.
“He’s one of them, isn’t he?” She whispered while backing away towards the door, noting how worked up her friends seemed, “By Celestia, he is, isn’t he!”
She turned to bolt out the door and almost knocking a confused Rainbow Dash aside, and made a break for it. The door closed before she could even reach it, and she was no sooner picked up by a green aura of magic.
“Why can't things go right for once?” Masquerade groused to himself as the cream colored mare struggled in his magical grasp calling for help.
The infiltrator ducked as a cup went flying over his head as Daisy growled, “Let my friend go!” Taking up Lily’s dropped cup into her hooves and got ready to toss it.
“Hey, will somepony tell me what‘s going on?” Rainbow Dash yelled above the noise, bringing the ever spiraling situation to a halt.
Seeing as no pony was saying anything, Masquerade decided to just forgo his plans and be blunt about it.
After all, his cover was more or less blown, he had a changeling ready to start a fight, and two frantic mares ready to scream bloody murder to the town. So it can't get any worse at this point, and even if it could, not like it would change anything.
“Daisy‘s a changeling, like I am and I was trying to make first contact without causing a huge fuss.” Giving the blue pegasus a deadpan look he stated, “As you can see, it went rather swimmingly.”
Taking this moment to look around the room, Dash could see one Rose Luck suspended up by Masquerades magic. On the far side of the room laid a drugged to sleep pegasus from some laced tea. A fidgety and nerve wracked Lily Valley sitting at the table. One rearing for war Daisy, armed with a tea cup and tea kettle, that had previously mention laced tea. And one stallion that looked a tad irked at her unexpected arrival.
Somewhere in the Canterlot, a certain being of chaotic power was laughing hysterically for no apparent reason in his slightly shaking stone prison.
Giving one last look over everything, she commented, “Maybe I should have come another time?” Giving a sheepish smile.
“Wait, you know he‘s a changeling!” Rose shouted from her place in the air.
With a roll of his eyes, the changeling in disguise floated the mare over to her friends and set her down with, “She does, along with nine others…or eleven now.” Thinking it over and counting the ponies that knew.
Giving Rainbow Dash a fearful stare, Lily asked, “How do we know she isn’t a changeling too?” Trying to find something that would give the pegasus away.
“Unless you can fire magical blasts, you don’t have much to prove she isn’t.” The only unicorn in the room told while eyeing the pegasus, “But it does beg the question why you’re here.”
As if changing gears, a scowl formed on her muzzle and advanced toward him, “Yea, I had a question for you.” Snorting a jets of air out.
Raising a brow, unafraid of her little show, Masquerade motioned with his hoof for her to go on, despite the ponies in the room.
“About a week ago, you told Twilight about what you were, and then used her feelings towards friends to your advantage!” As she stomped up to him, the other ponies looked on in shock for varying reasons. “Next time we see her, she‘s a mess and breaks down because she couldn’t handle the stress you put on her.” Coming face to face with the infiltrator she asked, “Why did you put her through that.”
Right when he opened his mouth to speak, he was cut off by Daisy, “Celestia’s student knows about changelings!” Letting out a huff at the interruption. This is not my day, he thought with a slight twitch of his eye.
Giving concerned looks to their friend, both Rose and Lily try to calm the mare that was starting to hyperventilate, “Daisy, calm down, I‘m sure everything’s fine.” Lily assured.
“Fine, FINE!” Daisy shouted, “He told the one pony that can have a letter sent right up to the most powerful pony in Equestria!”
Hugging the distraught mare close, Rose assured, “And if that happens, then we‘ll protect you, right Lily?” With a nod of her own, the other pink mare replied, “Of course.”
Both pony and changeling looked on in shock at the new turn of events before Masquerade coughed into his hoof to gather all their attention, “I think I‘ve seen what needed to see.” Getting up from his spot and head for the door, “I‘ll be visiting now and again.”
“Hold it.” Called out a barely calm Daisy. Seeing the stallion come to a stop at the door, she asked, “Why go trough what you did, why did you do any of this?” She felt drained after the emotional roller-coaster that day, and could only glare at this changeling she didn’t know. He played her the whole time she met him, she could see that now.
Looking back to her he said, “How far would you go to protect those you love?” Giving a pointed look to both Lily and Rose, “I was only seeing if you would go that far, and if they would too.”
Opening the door, he left.
Grass rolled and tossed as the wind caressed it in the field it was part of, while the few remaining storm clouds moved by over head. They thundered and sparked, releasing another load of rain onto the ground below and drenching it all in cold water.
In the middle of all of this sat Masquerade, looking up into the stormy sky as the lighting cracked and the thunder roared. The whole contacted plan was an utter mess. There was a chance things would not get any better with Daisy now, seeing how his first impression will leave her extremely untrusting of him.
It’s possible she won't come to my aid if I or any ponies might need it, he sighed tiredly and hung his head. His soaked mane hung down low and over his eyes while he continue to contemplate what this would mean in the long run.
The rain continued to pelt the thoughtful infiltrator that couldn’t find any peace in the wild storm that sometimes help him think. Things didn’t go right, and now he had to think of a new solution, one that will hopefully fill the gap that was left unfilled.
The rain came to a abrupt halt and the wind all but died on its own. Above, the sun was shinning down on him, warming his body of the cold water.
“You know, most ponies like to stay inside when it rains.” Looking up and above him was a still dark cloud with a blue pegasus giving her signature smirk, “But your not much of a pony huh?”
Despite that cocky smirk, despite her ruining his plans, and despite her overly protective nature that started this whole mess, Masquerade could only grin, “Not my fault I‘m part changeling, I was just born that way.” And laid down on the soggy ground without any care and closed his eyes.
Looking around for anypony in sight, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and glided down to the Unicorn with some trepidation and landed in front of him. “Listen, Masquerade.”
Opening one eye to look at the mare, she said, “I‘m sorry I‘ve been hounding you for the last week.” Rubbing her foreleg in a shy manner, “I... I just was worried for Twilight.”
Opening both his eyes and lifting his head to give the pegasus his full attention, she continued, “The eggheads smart, but isn’t street smart, you know?” Seeing his nod, she continued, “So when you were doing what you did, I felt I had to do something!”
Masquerade gave a smile of admiration to Rainbow Dash and gave a dry chuckle, “No apologies needed RD, the fault was my own.” He could feel the confusion from her and explained, “I could have done things differently, I could have done it more slowly.”
Looking to the side as if embarrassed he said, “I‘ve been an infiltrator all my life, since I was a little colt. Lying and deceit are two things I was taught to use if I wished to survive.”
When he turned his eyes back to her, Rainbow Dash could see something that was strange for her to see in anypony just about her age. His eyes looked old. In that one moment, she could see that he was tiered and worn in a sense that she wasn’t use to. It was the same look she had seen with some of the Wonderbolt’s when they told stories of when they had to do rescue missions.
“If I did things differently, if I told the truth sooner, or more gently, then I wouldn’t be in this mess.” And laid his head back down murmuring, “And Twilight wouldn’t have needed to go through something that rough.” With a faint smile he added, “I‘m just glad she didn’t have to go trough it alone.”
The ground squished as the Pegasus laid down in front of the stallion, getting him to peek an eye open again as she said, “You really care for her like we do huh?” Referring to all her friends that Twilight knew and grows with.
“An infiltrator is loyal only to their clan and family.” He recited from his days of advanced training, “But you must ask yourself, who is your clan, and who are your family?”
With a smile of her own she replied, “I think I know the answer to that.”
The door of the library slow came open as both pegasus and unicorn walked in, dryer then when they were in the field.
“So, Daisy is willing to hear me out and the other two aren’t going to panic when I stop by?” To say the changing heir was surprised at turn of events that had happened after he left the house, was a pleasant one.
With a shrug and a grin she admitted, “Well, when you have a pony as awesome as me, you tend to get a few more chances at stuff.” Puffing out her chest and deploying her wings.
Once inside, a few crashes could be heard from the basement door before a shout made its way out.
“Mask, come here, I think I did it!” Twilight excitedly called from the basement door.
Quirking a brow next to Rainbow Dash, both Masquerade and closely following pegasus made their way down. At the end of the stairs they saw a please Twilight with her horn lit, nearby and hanging in the air was a lavender fire.
The changeling in unicorn form blinked in amazement as he not only could see a fire being held stable by her magic, but feel the emotions in it and being fed on to keep it alive. “Well, color me impressed Twinkles, you made a Changeling Fire that uses your emotions as fuel.”
Blinking a few times he added with more awe, “And can move it around freely, how‘d you do that?”
With a beaming smile she told, “Well, when you told me about that theory two days ago, it got me thinking. So, doing as I said I would, I began to experiment with the idea.”
Moving the lavender flame in front of her she continued, “After some trial and error, I found out that if I were to link my magic to a pre-made sphere of it, like a shield spell.” She explained this while making a small ball of magic, “And then add the basics of what I know of Changeling Fire, I‘d get this!” With a touch of power, the small pinkish-lavender ball ignited into a lavender fire, just like the other one she held.
Both ponies gave impressed whistles, “That’s awesome Twilight!” Dash cheered while Masquerade nodded.
“I think it needs a different name too.” The black unicorn told both mares who gave him a look. Seeing this he said, “Changeling Fire uses emotions as fuel, as such usually doesn’t have any.”
Pointing to the new fires he told, “These do have emotion in them, I can taste it. So, I think a new name would be in order, like...” Tapping his hoof on the floor and rolling his head as if to throw some ideas around in his head he said, “Passion Fire!”
Twilight blinked at the name and gave a unsure look to her creation, “But, isn’t passion an intense emotion,?” Masquerade seemed to think this over before getting a mischievous grin and walked towards a distracted Twilight who went on, “This is more of a mix of different emotions, so something else might be better?”
Dash watched with curiosity as Masquerade walked around the magical mare before walking rather closely to her side as she continued to talk. When close enough, he took his small tail and gave it a quick snap on Twilights flank.
Like lighting, Twilight jumped away with a furious blush on her face as she screeched, “MASK!!!” And gave the pegasus a front row seat to two very large lavender infernos that suddenly jumped in size.
“What do you think your doing!?” She yelled at the stallion trying to get her blush under control. He only pointed to the two fires that she held in her magic, and when she turned to look at them, she could only look on in surprise as they slowly died down as her embarrassment was forgotten.
“How‘s that for passion?” Masquerade grinned while motioning to the fires that slowly returned to there smaller size, “As you saw, the greater level emotion you have, the bigger the fire.”
Glaring at the ornery stallion she almost gritted out, “Could you have warned me first?”
“And miss that adorable blush you make?” He asked innocently, further making her blush and getting the fires to regain some of their size.
Rainbow Dash chose that moment to laugh her head off at the two.
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Hoping for more talking with Daisy than this but whatever it was stil good.
Your italics borked right after the first Rainbow Dash scene.
4619213 Thanks for that, didn't catch it
Excess - extra
access - I had been granted access to the library.
through
Much talks of feelings and lolz have been noted. Ha! That end part!
FUCKING SUCCESS