In Remembrance of Me

by Kalameet

Chapter 7: From Fraud to Fight

A/N: Sorry guys, no flashback this chapter. To compensate, I wrote a poem to take its place. I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 7: From Fraud to Fight

There once was a pony with such a clever tongue,

and he was very persuasive, even when he was young.

He would bend others' wills to his benefit,

his lies being, oh, so intricate.

But there was a single mare who he could not fool.

She resisted his words; she would not be his tool.

The harder he tried, the harder she fought.

He was determined, but she gave in, not.

Until he decided that he was finally done;

He knew in his heart that she was the one.

He asked her if, with him, she would travel the land,

to steal the powers of others, then rule Equestria was his plan.

At first she was suspicious, but she agreed to go.

He was being sincere, she monitored him though,

and so they finally left to start on their quest,

leaving behind their homes, possessions, and all the rest.

As their travels took them from shore to shore,

their talents and powers grow all the more.

They raided towns to test their skills,

destroying everything from homes to mills.

They moved towards inland Equestria to fulfill their goal,

but the princess Celestia had predicted them to do so.

She caught them in an ambush when they were unaware.

The stallion escaped, but not so lucky was the mare.

Captured was she, and taken to jail

awaiting to be taken to her own form of hell.

the stallion lasted only another week,

he was captured while walking alone on an empty street.

They were both taken to places unknown

some say they were banished, others say they were turned to stone.

That is the end, there is no more

unless you stumble upon that pair once more...

---

Icarus looked at his reflection in the water, only it wasn't his reflection. Staring back at him in the stream stood Twilight Sparkle, with her head arched over in the same fashion that his was. He made a couple movements that were mimicked in the water. Satisfied, Icarus allowed his body to regain its normal physique.

He had spent two whole days mastering the ability to change his appearance. The morph gem had worked like a charm. He had even snuck around Ponyville to spy on Twilight's friends to see how they acted so he could better play the character he intended to replicate. At this point, he felt confident he wouldn't mess up his visit this afternoon. He started a swift trot towards Ponyville.

~20 Minutes Later~

Icarus emerged from the trees and into the cool afternoon breeze. The soothing sun and chirping birds helped calm his nerves. He changed his appearance to resemble that of Fluttershy's and scuffled over to the library where Twilight lived. Before he knocked on the door, he altered his voice to be much softer and sound feminine.

"Uh... Twilight?" he asked. It was almost scary how much he resembled Fluttershy.

The door opened. "Oh, hey Fluttershy," Twilight said. "What's up?"

"I... uh... would like to talk to you about something in private, I mean, if that's ok with you."

"Sure! Come on in. I'll send Spike into another room so we can be alone."

That wouldn't do. Icarus needed to capture Spike also to keep him from getting help.

"Oh it's fine if he hears. In fact, I would like to know what he thinks about my dilemma," Icarus replied.

"Alright." Twilight turned to face upstairs. "Spike! Fluttershy wants to talk with us about something."

The small dragon poked his head out from above the stairs. "Hey Fluttershy!" He ran down the stairs and sat down on the couch next to Twilight.

"Ok, so what's this all about?" Asked Twilight, concerned.

They both stared at Icarus as he gathered himself together. He felt beads of sweat gather on the back of his neck, and the fire crackling in the fireplace behind him wasn't helping. The situation was delicate. One slip up would result in Icarus' exposure, which would cause him to lose his element of surprise.

"You see, I-"

The front doors burst open and in flew Rainbow Dash. "Twilight! We need to go to the town square! It's an emergency!"

"Calm down Rainbow," Twilight responded. "What's happening?"

"I don't have time to explain. I need to alert the rest of Ponyville. When you get there, Zecora will give you the details."

Icarus' ears perked up. "Zecora? Oh no..." he thought to himself.

So much for the stealthy approach. Rainbow flew out of the library as quickly as she had entered. Twilight turned back towards Icarus.

"We should see what this is all about. Can we continue this talk of yours another time?"

"Ok," Icarus replied meekly. However, he knew that he couldn't be seen there if the real Fluttershy attended.

Twilight and Spike hurried toward the front door while Icarus intentionally lagged behind.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" Spike beckoned.

Icarus increased his pace, but still remained behind the other two as they exited Twilight's house and started down the street. When he was a safe distance behind them, he slipped into a small alley between two houses. There, he returned his appearance to normal. He then turned himself invisible, just to safely remain undetected.

"Fluttershy?" Icarus heard Twilight's voice from around the corner. "Spike, did you see where Fluttershy went?"

"I bet she is sneaking home to avoid all this commotion."

"Possibly... I guess I'll just ask her later."

Icarus waited until their voices disappeared among those of the gathering crowd. He teleported to the top of the building closest to the mass gathering in the town square. They were surrounding a lone Zebra.

As Zecora spoke up, silence issued itself upon the scene.

"Your attention and help is what I plead, the participation of everypony is what I need. The Alicorn Amulet has been stolen from me, the thief behind it was crafty indeed."

Murmurs sounded from the crowd. Zecora waited for her words to sink in, then spoke again.

"After taking the relic and leaving the hut, he left the front door open, the klutz! I quickly looked for the amulet in there, but all my protective traps had been snared."

Something wasn't right. Icarus hadn't even touched the front door, as well as triggered her traps. He kept listening.

"If we work together we can catch this thief, and keep our anxiety about this issue brief."

Twilight was the next to speak up. "If anyone knows or finds anything suspicious let Zecora or me know immediately. Let's separate into groups and start searching!"

The horde dispersed into six groups that went in separate directions. After a couple minutes, the only remaining ponies in the square were Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Twilight addressed them next.

"Ok, I need you all to follow my directions to increase our chances of success. Rainbow, I want you to be our eye in the sky. Watch the groups and see if they have any luck finding the amulet."

"Aye-aye, captain!" saluted Rainbow as she began her ascent.

"Applejack and Pinkie Pie, you guys need to relay messages to and from the search parties. Make sure to keep everypony informed on how our progress is going."

"Okie-dokie!" came a jubilant reply from Pinkie Pie. She bounced away when Applejack spoke up.

"Are ya sure we can find it Twilight? I mean, what if tha thief is wearin' it? What do we do then?"

"Then we will get help from Celestia. I am a princess under her wing after all, so I'm sure she will assist us."

Applejack was still unconvinced, but she turned to follow Pinkie.

"Rarity, could you use your magic to detect the gem encrusted in the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Twilight my dear, that would take me no time at all! I bet I can find it within the hour," responded Rarity in her posh tone. Her horn illuminated and a blue aura surrounded it. To Icarus' dismay, she began to trot towards the Everfree Forest.

"Not yet," he whispered to himself. "I need more time."

He understood that because of Rarity's familiarity with gems and jewelry, she would find Icarus' hidden spot in the forest with ease, and the buried amulet that would draw her there. He needed to act now, and, because the real Fluttershy wasn't around at the moment, his masquerade could still work.

A moment later, Icarus had changed his appearance and voice to mimic that of Fluttershy's and was approaching Twilight, who was having a discussion with Spike.

"No. I want you to stay with me in case we need to alert Celestia," he heard her say as he got closer.

When Twilight noticed him, relief washed over her. "Fluttershy! Where have you been?! I was concerned when you disappeared behind us on our way here."

Icarus looked at the ground and tried to look shameful to sell his acting. "You see, with all the commotion, I wanted to check on all my animal friends at home to make sure they were ok."

"It's ok Fluttershy, just be sure to let us know beforehand next time."

Icarus nodded as Twilight continued.

"Since you weren't here when Zecora told everyone about the matter at hand; I'll fill you in. The Alicorn Amulet has been stolen from Zecora and we need every available-" She cut off abruptly as she noticed something approach her from behind Icarus. She eyed Icarus, then looked back at it.

Icarus turned around. It was Fluttershy. The real Fluttershy. A confused expression covered her face as she watched this imposter stand with Twilight.

"What... What's going on?" she began.

"I was going to ask the same thing, responded Twilight as she suspiciously looked at Icarus. Her horn acquired a purple aura which surrounded it. "Are you Fluttershy?" she asked Icarus.

He knew that she must have cast a lie detection spell to reveal him if he was a fake, but that didn't matter. What was important was that her horn was glowing, which meant her magical abilities were open and flowing throughout her body.

Icarus looked Twilight dead in the eyes and smirked. "I don't have time for this." He immediately drew out his power that he held within and embraced the cold fate he had chosen for Twilight. He clenched his hoof and lunged toward her. Twilight tried to jump back, but Icarus was too fast for her. As his hoof made contact with her, a frigid burst of ice exploded and covered Twilight instantly. She was frozen inside a case of ice, including the aura around her horn.

Fortunately for Icarus, Spike had been sitting atop Twilight at the time, freezing him as well. Icarus turned and faced Fluttershy as she stood there, shocked.

"Wh... Who... Who are you? She slowly backed away as he approached her.

"Me?" He reverted his shape back to normal, but, wanting to invoke fear into her, allowed his eyes to become a blood-red hue instead of their normal blue color.

"Me?!" he repeated?

Fluttershy's trembling body flinched at the increased sound from his voice.

"I am the undetectable shadow in the night, the knife concealed under its cloak, and, most importantly, the strongest creature in Equestria!"

He hated how cliché it sounded, but he also wanted to inspire fear in any that might fight back.

The closer Icarus got to Fluttershy, the more frantic she became. She was petrified from terror.

"Wait! Stop!" She cried.

Icarus set his hoof on her head and, like Twilight, encased her in ice instantly.

He returned to Twilight with haste. Anypony was bound to be here at any moment from all the commotion. He quickly but carefully chipped away the ice that surrounded the tip of Twilight's horn. The purple aura was still lingering. Good.

Icarus touched the end of his horn to hers and felt the great pool of magic that flowed through her. He tried to channel it into himself, but it was woven into Twilight's being. It was part of her personality, which couldn't be taken from her.

An idea struck him. What if he duplicated her magical knowledge within himself? That would allow him to obtain Twilight's powers without directly stealing them. Icarus focused on the flow of magic inside Twilight and managed to use his own flow to replicate it, then return to its original state with ease. He was satisfied with the results.

As Icarus disconnected his horn from Twilight's, a blurry cyan figure barreled itself into him, sending him skidding across the ground. After he finally stopped, he forced himself from the ground to face his attacker. It was Rainbow Dash. Before he could do so much as lift a hoof, she zipped in front of him and landed a solid uppercut underneath his chin, sending him sailing backwards several more feet.

His body burned. Icarus felt the warm blood from his split jaw fill his mouth. He gagged for a moment, then spat onto the ground next to him.

"Don't you dare think you can hurt my friends and get away with it! I swear, I will end you if you try to do it again!"

Excellent, she had stopped her assault... for now. Icarus quickly used one of Twilights healing spells to mend his jaw.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here?" asked Applejack as she ran onto the scene. Pinkie was close behind her.

"We heard lots of loud noises coming from over here and we thought we should check it out!" Pinkie added enthusiastically.

They both paused when they noticed Icarus laying on the ground, bloody and bruised.

"Look at what he did to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike!" Rainbow pleaded.

At this point, Icarus' jaw had been repaired and his more painful injuries had been healed. He stood up and glared at the three ponies surrounding him.

"Pinkie, could ya take Twilight and tha others ta someplace warm so they can thaw out? Rainbow and I can take care of this."

Pinkie Pie scurried off to help her frozen friends.

"So, a two-on-one, eh?" spoke Icarus. Although Dash had socked him good only moments ago, she had caught him off guard, which gave her the upper hoof. But now they all looked at each other with the urge to fight. "Come on then!"

Without missing a beat, Rainbow Dash and Applejack lunged forward.