A Changeling's Riposte

by xXSheltieXx

Ten

Beauty Isn't Makeup

Night Storm laid out on the sofa, bouncing a ball against the wall. One leg was tapping on the floor, the other was on the back of the couch; one arm laid across her chest and her other arm was catching the ball and throwing it against the wall. The Unicorn continued bouncing it against the wall and catching it, bored out of her mind.

"Night, I'm home. I got the-" He couldn't finish his sentence as the Unicorn jumped onto him and held on with a smile, showering his cheeks with kisses. "I got the m-mail... Stop that, silly!"

"But I missed you so much!" Night Storm cried, hugging him tightly, rubbing her chest and face against his.

"S-Stop that, Night." He frowned, blushing. "We have to read the mail."

Sword Right and Night Storm sat on the sofa, Night leaning on Sword's shoulder as he flipped through the mail. He sighed as she happily watched him intently.

"Let's see... bills, bills, advertisements, advertisements, coupons, coupons, coupons, a letter?" He asked, looking at it.

"Well, what does it say?" Night asked.

He opened the letter and frowned, his lip quivering.

"Sword? Hello?" Night asked, picking up the letter from his hands as he stared.

Dear Sword Right,

We regret to inform you that your Aunt Velvetina has perished. In her Will, she has left you everything she owned, which includes the following: her home, her possessions, and lastly, her wealth. Her wealth includes 30,000,000 bits.

Condolences,

Mortician Mortia Melancholy

"Aw, your Aunt Velvetina died?" Night frowned.

"Y-Yeah, but every pony thought she was really poor. She lived in an old shack with barely anything to survive. I wonder how she got so rich." He said, frowning with a sniff.

"Well, maybe we can investigate!" In a green flash she was wearing a detective's outfit with a hopefully smile.

He was still upset.

"Sword... You can't mope around forever." She said, sitting down next to him again.

"I know, I just... She was awesome. Kind and gentle." He sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up though."

She smiled sadly. "I'll always try." She rubbed her cheek against his affectionately and wiped a tear away from his eye.

He sighed. "I wonder when the funeral is."

Night flipped the paper around and frowned. "It says it's tomorrow at four o'clock."

Sword sighed with a frown. "How do you think she got so rich?"

"Maybe she was a secret millionaire. Or maybe she won the lottery a long time ago and never told any pony about it." Sword looked at her with a funny face. "What? That's all I can think of."

"Yeah, but-"

"Butts are for sitting! We need to get some funeral clothes and then we'll investigate!" She announced, standing with her hands on her hips.

"Funeral clothes? I have a black outfit that could work. And investigate? Why are we investigating?"

"Because we cannot rest until we know the truth, duh!" She smiled as she thought of a joke. "What do you call an alligator in a vest?"

"I don't know."

"An investigator!" She chuckled, then turned serious. "Now, funeral clothes. I'm thinking of a fancy black dress with a dash of Unicorn. What do you think?"

"A dash of Unicorn?"

"You know, I'll be a Unicorn." In a green flash Night was wearing a long black dress, a horn already adorning her head. "How does this look?"

"It's nice." He cracked a small smile.

"Okay, good. I know what I'm going to wear. Now, we investigate!"

"And where do we start?"

"We'll start with the Mortician, then we'll go to the Tax Collectors, and then we'll go to your parents, and if none of that helps, we'll go to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves! Sound good?"

"Yeah," He chuckled, a sad smile on his face.

"Don't look so sad. She's in a better place now." Night frowned, pushing his lips upwards to a real smile.

"I know, I know." He sighed. "Let's just start investigating."

"Yay!" Night smiled, changing into an investigator's uniform and changing Sword's clothes to match hers. "Oh, no pony is an investigator without a pipe!"

She held a pipe in her hand with a confident smile, blowing smoke out of the top.

"You smoke?"

"No, it's a gag pipe. It blows out fake smoke when you blow into it." Night Storm grinned.

---

Night Storm played with a pamphlet in her hands, waving it around to signal her boredom. They sat in the Mortician's Office, waiting for Mortia Melancholy to come out and speak with them. Sword Right tapped his hoof on the ground in frustration; they'd been waiting there for about forty-five minutes, and waiting even longer wasn't any fun. Especially when they were the only ponies in the office.

Suddenly, a dark gray Unicorn with a black mane walked out, wearing all black and a monotone expression. She adjusted her glasses as she looked at the duo.

"Sword Right, I presume?" She asked.

"Y-Yes, I'm Sword Right."

"Nice to meet you," She said, a monotone and bored voice present. "I am Mortia Melancholy, but you can call me Mortia. Please step into my office."

The two followed the mare into the office, sitting down in two chairs. Everything in the room was black and dark, uninviting and unpleasant overall.

"What brings you here before the funeral?" She asked lazily.

"We were wondering how my Aunt Velvetina got so rich."

"How would I know anything like that? I'm a Mortician, not a Tax Collector." She stamped some papers, barely making eye contact. "You should try talking to a Tax Collector or your family. They'd know."

"Okay, thank you, Mortia."

The two quickly scurried out of the Mortician's Office and outside where sunlight rained upon every pony, happy to sit in the sunlight a bit.

"It was so dark in there I thought I was going insane," Sword heaved, breathing heavily.

"It felt like tons of pressure on my chest in there!" Night replied, backing away from the building carefully.

They began their journey to the Tax Collectors, then Stream and Fire, and if worst comes to worst, the Princesses.

Beauty Isn't Makeup

Comments

[RandomPerson78642]

It's interesting to see how drastically Night changed. At the beginning she was quiet, calculating, reserved. Now's she's slowly turning into Pinkie Pie.

[xXSheltieXx]

4686824 It's from Sword Right. His aura is changing her perspective on life, but at times she'll revert back to how she usually is. :)