R.E.P is Magic

by ToonLegion

Chapter 3: Prepare Your Stealth

Chapter 3: Prepare Your Stealth

Sunlight shone through the opening in Rolly’s secret place, signalling the beginning of a new day, followed by a rooster crowing from the nearby animal pen. Eventually the light came upon the two occupants, a dragon and a young colt, surrounded by snack wrappers and soda cans from their previous binging. However, the former groaned as he returned to the waking world, holding his stomach, followed by a groggy and ill feeling.

“Ugh…” Coin muttered ”...No wonder they call this-- (burp) junk food.”

“You ok, dude?” Rolly asked while yawning, as he rolled over on the pillow pile.

“I feel like I just got back from a boat ride,” Coin said as he dizzily got up.

“Heh, I’ll admit, I was sick the first few times I did this too, you’ll get used to it. Just...Don’t do that here, ok? It’s a pain to clean up. Trust me, you don’t want that smell to ruin the place.”

“R-Right…” Coin staggered towards the entrance of Casa de Barrel.

“Whoa there, lemme escort you at least!” Rolly helped Coin out of their hidey-hole and back into the orphanage proper. It was still quite early, the sun had barely just begun to raise. “Now we just have to rush back to bed and--”

“And what, if I may ask?”

Rolly froze in his tracks. The two slowly turned and saw Katsidy waiting for them around the corner “And...Uh...Go back to sleep?”

Katsidy chuckled. “I said it once and I’ll say it again...You are a terrible liar, Rolly.”

Rolly gulped. Coin was still pretty much in a daze, to which Katsidy immediately took notice of.

“What on Equestria happened to poor Coin?”

“...Junk food binge,” Rolly blurted out thoughtlessly. He quickly kicked himself for it. But then again it was hard to lie to the Mother Superior, especially if she knew you all too well.

“Rolly!” Katsidy’s tone turned more strict this time.

“It wasn’t my fault this time!” Rolly pleaded. “Please, I just wanted him to feel at home here!”

“Is that right?” Katsidy said, eyebrow raised. “Well, if you’re as truthful as your words say...You’ll go to the lavatory and help poor Coin get over his hangover.”

Rolly sighed. “Yes Mother…” He then trotted off to the nearest bathroom, where he (ahem) helped Coin get all the undesirables out of his stomach. Not exactly a pretty sight. “Geeze dude, how much did you eat?”

“That depends…” burped Coin. “How much was missing since we--”

Rolly covered Coin’s mouth immediately and asked him to shush.

“Huh? Oh…Right.” Coin washed his face and the two exited, only to be greeted by yet another pony, clad in a black with a crew-cut mane and glasses. “Uh…!”

“Oh, Father Bell!” Rolly smiled. “What brings you here?”

“Not a visit to the loo, I can assure ye,” Father Bell chuckled (in an accent we humans would recognize as Irish). “I actually would like to ask you boys a favor.”

Rolly’s bright face softened into a frown once last night’s memory came to mind. “...Punishment for our little excursion last night?”

“Oh-ho no, nothin’ of the sort, lads! Katsidy’s got that taken care of, no worries.”

Coin and Rolly looked at each other nervously as Father Bell reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a round object. It looked like an ornately-decorated metallic eyeball.

“Does this have meaning to either of you?” Father Bell asked politely.

“No...Where did you find this?” Coin asked as he looked at and sniffed the object closely.

“It was thrown right into my office, it was,” Father Bell replied, his normally jovial demeanor giving way to one of frustration. “I swear, if some demon or monster thinks they can mess with the likes of me...!”

“Um, excuse me sirs…” A faint voice perked up. The three ponies turned to see another orphan standing by. “Can I use the toilet, please?”

“Oh, sorry!” Bell and the others moved aside to let the orphan into the bathroom.

“Adorable little tyke, that Clair,” Father Bell said with a smile. “I’ll admit he does confuse me a tad bit...He’s not the only pony with that name.”

“Yeah, I figured…” Rolly replied. “Um, why do you have reason to believe that object is some kind of...Evil thingy?”

“It just looks forbodin’, it does,” Father Bell replied. “Perhaps a magical camera sent to spy on us?”

“I doubt it,” Rolly said as Coin nodded in agreement. “Have you asked the others about this?”

“Twas about to when I ran into ye, Rolly. I know ya have a habit for playing hookey.”

Rolly frowned again. “Gee, thanks.”

“In any case, I must be off,” Father Bell was about to leave when Coin stopped him. “Hmm? Something the matter, son?”

“Uh...You...Didn’t happen to hear anything else last night, did you?” Coin asked nervously.

“Not at all, twas as quiet as my mother-in-law...Why do you ask?”

“Just...Curiosity’s sake, maybe whomever threw that into your room ran off in fear!”

“Perhaps they did, the scoundrels…” Father Bell growled. “But worry not, boys! Father Silver Bell is on the case! I’ll get to the bottom of this yet!” And with that, he trotted off, his head held high.

“...I can’t tell if he’s the most vigilant or the least,” Rolly said once Father Bell was out of earshot. “Speaking of which...We gotta go find Katsidy for our punishment.”

Coin sighed. “That’s...Gonna be fun, isn’t it?”

“Depends on your definition of ‘fun,’” Rolly said as the two went to seek out the head nun.

However, she was nowhere to be seen in her normal haunts. Not in the cafeteria, the library, or even the rec room where she usually watches the morning news on the television. This was confusing and worrying for both the young colt and dragon.

“Where the hay is she?” Rolly asked, scratching his head.

“Oh well, I guess we’re not being punished today,” Coin said with a smile.

“You wish!” Rolly sneered. “The clergy here are bloodhounds, they’ll find us in no time once they find out we’re not replanting the garden or cleaning out the gutters.”

“Wish…” Coin’s thoughts turned back to the star again. “...I wonder…”

Rolly silenced Coin again and pulled him close so he could whisper. “...Ohhh no, let’s not discuss it here in the open, what if somepony else finds out?!”

“Good point…” Coin sighed. “Ok, let’s find the others,” he said as Rolly and he continued their hunt for Mother Katsidy.

After more searching, the two settled on just going to the main office. Normally, most of the orphans weren’t allowed here unless they were already in trouble, but seeing as they were already on Katsidy’s blacklist, Coin and Rolly figured a little peek wouldn’t hurt. And a peek is what they got, as the office door was left open slightly. The voices of Brimstone and Katsidy could be heard within.

“...Honestly, why did it have to wind up in his possession? Now we’ll never be able to turn it into the police, you know how he is with such objects!” Brimstone complained.

“Father Bell does listen to reason, we just have to be patient,” Katsidy tried to reassure her colleague. “Regardless, we know that this eyeball exists, and that can only mean one thing…”

“Wait...Eyeball?” Coin whispered. “You don’t think they’re talking about…?” Rolly shushed him and they leaned in trying to hear the conversation more clearly.

“...You don’t mean…?”

If Rolly and Coin could see Katsidy now, they’d see her nod. “The Lockets have targeted our fair town.”

Brim gasped. “I thought the royal guard arrested them months ago!”

“Tch...If they couldn’t stop the invasions of Sombra and Chrysalis, they can’t stop these master crooks. They’ve hit like five shops already, and now they’re after our donations, those vultures!”

“...I am suddenly very thankful we have Father Bell in our midst,” Brim replied, trying to keep herself calm. “Tis a shame Father Steel is travelling abroad as well. His magic would be a big help here.”

“We’ll just have to go back to the old standbys of locking our doors and windows...Speaking of which, you left this open…” Katsidy went to the door, but instead of closing it, she flung it open, sending Coin and Rolly tumbling away from the door. “BOYS!”

Coin and Rolly stammered out excuses, but Katsidy’s loud hiss silenced them.

“Nothing that you heard is to be uttered to anyone else, understood?” Katsidy snarled.

“Y-Yes sister.” Both boys agreed nervously.

Katsidy took a moment to regain her composure, then her eyes lit up with an idea. “Brim, isn’t our Nanny out sick today?”

“Why yes, she is...Oh no, you’re not thinking of--”

“It’s the best thing I can be thinking of at the moment.” Katsidy turned to the two boys with a grin. Rolly was all too familiar with that look when it came to punishments. “Come along now, children.”

Rolly and Coin gulped, and with good reason. What was their punishment going to be this time?

Babies.

Dozens. And Dozens. Of crying baby foals, all in need of feeding, diaper changing, and being put to rest. Katsidy said before Coin and Rolly started that “this would blast those mischievous thoughts right of your skulls,” and she wasn’t kidding. The two had to wad up cotton balls and plug them in their ears before they lost their hearing.

“I NEED MORE BABY POWDER!” Rolly shouted.

“WHAT?! HADES FLOWER? NEVER HEARD OF IT!” Coin shouted back.

“Ugh, this is gonna be one of those days, isn’t it?” Rolly grumbled to himself, his words lost to the depths of the deafening din.

---

Foalsitting was not the end of the dynamic duo’s chores, of course. They, along with the other orphans, had various tasks to do to help raise money for the orphanage and keep the facility in proper working order. Keeping it clean was also a plus, but sparkling clean was an impossibility.

It wasn’t all bad though, as the days passed on, it gave Coin a chance to get to know some of the other orphans. Most were fillies and colts, though there were some other species as well such as griffons, a deer, a buffalo and even a Breezie. Some of them were around Rolly’s age, some younger coming out of the toddler years, others older and naturally with many different personalities to boot. Dragons however were indeed rare in the area, so Coin couldn’t help but feel like a minority when a few of the kids talked to him with various questions about his species. It was near overwhelming until Rolly managed to get them to ease back after revealing Coin’s memory loss. The sisters likewise aided, telling the tykes to get back to their duties.

After a particular busy day, Coin and Rolly were begging for a nice, long night’s rest. Coin sure was. Thankfully, he got it...For the most part.

Coin's dream didn't seem eventful since he first came to the orphanage and he chalked it up to the medicine messing with his head when he was treated. However, that night’s dream was different. He found himself greeted with the sight of stars, just like the night before when he spent it with Rolly. As Coin gazed up into the dreamscape of his mind, he heard a voice…It was quiet at first, but then it descended into the warbling Coin was all too familiar with.

“Oh no, not you again!” Coin braced for another earful, but the voice was much softer this time. “...What...Do you want?” Coin looked around for the source of the voice, until two large stars turned into the set of glowing eyes he was familiar with.

The voice continued to speak, but Coin could only make out a few words: “Twilight,” “stars,” and “Ponyville.”

“I don’t understand...What do these words mean…?” Coin asked.

“Stars...STARS!” The voice shouted, this time blasting Coin off his feet and into the darkness again.

“WAIT COME BACK!” Coin shouted, before he realized he was sitting on his bed again. A few orphans nearby grumbled in their sleep, complaining about Coin’s outburst. “Sorry guys, I...Huh?” Coin noticed somepony was missing.

Rolly wasn’t inside his bed.

“Rolly?” Coin climbed out of bed and looked around. “Hmm, maybe he went up to…” The dragon then jogged off to the secret passageway leading to Rolly’s hideout. It took him some effort to actually get there, however; the clergyponies had tightened security after they realized the Locket Bandits were in town. Local security guards watched the corridors like hawks for any signs of movement. Thankfully, Coin had something the ponies did not...Claws. Coin was able to scale the walls of the facility’s corridors (as silently as any clawed beast could manage) and make his way to Rolly’s secret passage. “Geeze, I feel like a cockroach after doing all that...’

Coin finally caught his breath once he got back up to Casa de Barrel, and found Rolly laying on the bed of pillows, mumbling to himself while holding something.

“Uh, Rolly?” Coin said quietly.

Unfortunately, Rolly was spooked by Coin’s greeting. He yelped and fell off of the pillow pile. Where Rolly laid, however, Coin could see the familiar glow of the star they found last night.

“Dude, don’t scare me like that!” Rolly snarled.

“Hey, I was under the impression you heard me come in,” Coin replied. “Then again, you probably couldn’t hear me over the constant mumbling.”

“I was just...Talking to myself, that’s all.” Rolly rubbed his head.

“No wonder Mother Katsidy said he was a terrible liar,” Coin thought to himself, but didn’t show his suspicion yet. “About what?”

“Things. You know. Dreams and whatnot.” Rolly smiled with an accompanying “squee” noise. “I just needed some ‘me’ time, ok?”

“I guess we all do,” Coin replied as he raised an eyebrow. “Speakin’ of dreams, I had one again.”

“Oh, what was it about?”

“Some...Thing telling me about the stars and Ponyville...Is that an actual place, or…”

Rolly perked up. “Oh yeah, but it’s a ways off from Hoofington, far to the southeast. If you wanted to get to there anytime soon, you’d best take the train...But good luck getting a ticket, though.”

Coin shrugged. “No worries, I’ll just stow away on it.”

It was Rolly’s turn to raise an eyebrow now. “Wait...You’re not gonna leave the orphanage, are you?”

“Well...I might, I was thinking it over while doing chores. I just get the feeling I have to leave, you know. Especially after knowing that this place is real.” Coin shrugged “Maybe take the star with me too. Somepony might buy it, to give me some cash for the road.”

Rolly frown and snorted. “I knew it...You’re just gonna take the prize and run, huh?”

“The hay? What’s with you?” Coin was a bit taken aback by this response.

“I’d ask you the same question! How do I know you’re not just feigning this amnesia thing to get more attention?!” Rolly’s voice steadily rose as he berated Coin’s ambition.

“Whoa, dude, calm down! I’m still thinking about it, I didn’t say I was gonna--”

“Leave? Abandon me like my family did?! Take away any hopes I had of ever having a normal life?!” Rolly was advancing on Coin at this point, backing him into a corner. “Well let me tell you something, buster! You’re not going to succeed! This is MY star, do you hear me?!”

“...What?” Coin said after a moment of silence.

“Are you dumb? This thing grants wishes!” Rolly exclaimed.

“Uh, how?!” Coin was a bit flabbergasted at this as well.

“It’s a shooting star! You’re supposed to make wishes on these, right?!” Rolly then ran off and extracted the star from the mass of pillows, holding it above his head like a trophy.. “And I’m gonna wish that I had never been dumped in this place, that my family actually cared about me…” It was then that an odd, unsettling glow came over his eyes as he grinned …”I could reverse the very flow of time and space itself, and--OOOF!”

Coin had walked up to Rolly and bonked him on the head, causing him to fall over and drop the star. “Rolly, just drop it already! You’re sounding like an escapee from an insane asylum!”

“But I...Huh?” Rolly’s eyes widened, now back to normal, as he stared out the window again.

“If you had given me a second to explain, I was gonna say...I was gonna take the star with me, and maybe take you with me as well,” Coin explained.

“Uh?” Rolly shook his head and turned to Coin. “I don’t get it, what’re you saying?”

“There was another part of my dream, a name that came up...Twilight. Does that mean anything here?”

“Twilight?” Rolly echoed, taking a minute to think it over before he gasped in realization and nodded. “Yeah! Princess Twilight!”

“I knew that name sounded familiar, I overheard the other orphans talking about her, Said something about seeing her coronation recently.” Coin smiled as he snapped his fingers. “She lives in Ponyville, then?”

“Yup, it might as well be her kingdom by now,” Rolly chuckled. “What’s your plan?”

“My plan was to go to Ponyville with you and the star, and maybe she can help restore my memories, and perhaps hook you up with a proper family!” Coin explained.

“A...A family?” Rolly looked a bit shocked at this. “I...I don’t know, she’s royalty, why would she care about my problem? Besides...Who’d want to adopt me?”

Before Coin could answer, Rolly turned around and pointed out his cutie mark. It looked like someone tried to erase it; all Coin could make out were some bubble-like marks behind some kind of cross-hatching pattern.

“I don’t even have a full cutie mark yet,” Rolly said, dejected.

“Wait, wha?” Coin said, looking it over. “Cutie Mark?”

Rolly blinked, a bit confused, “You didn’t know? They’re symbols that signify our talents. When we feel strongly about something we wish to do, it’s suppose to appear on our flanks.”

“Oooh, I see,” Coin noted. “I was wondering about that. But what do you mean yours isn’t ‘full?’”

“Just as I said, it just..Appeared one day. But I don’t know any talents of mine that would form it. Mother Katsidy looked it over and told me the details. It’s rare, but sometimes the Cutie Mark doesn’t fully form, it’s an Incomplete Cutie Mark. The worst part is there’s no cure or treatment for it. Cutie Marks are a part of who you are, so if there’s anything wrong...Then the fault lies with me.”

Coin stared at the mark in silence after hearing this, the realization coming over him. “No wonder he’s so...anxious.” Coin thought to himself. “If they’re that big a deal, I guess he figures it’s the reason he’s not adopted yet. If that’s the case…”

Coin smiled and spoke aloud. “Then..maybe traveling with me might be good for you after all!”

Rolly perked at that “F-For real? You mean it?”

“Yeah! There’s gotta be some talent locked away within you, right?”

Rolly smiled (with a squee) again and clapped his hooves together. “You’re right, I wouldn’t have a Cutie Mark if I had no talent!” Rolly then turned and looked at the star. “If only I could just wish for it to appear…”

“Yeah, about that...If we’re gonna be traveling together, we can’t abuse that star’s power, dude.” Coin explained as he turned Rolly back to face him. “We don’t even know if it’s good for one wish or several.To to mention, the last thing we want is for it to fall into the wrong hands...er hooves.”

Rolly’s smile vanished once again. “...I suppose you’re right,” Rolly sighed. “What’s more...I couldn’t take my eyes off it, I just kept caressing it and talking to it like it was a baby foal or something.” Rolly shuddered. “Maybe we should just forget about the star, Coin.”

“Are you kidding me? This isn’t every day this happens, and that Princess Twilight will probably know more about this than we ever will. Besides, if that star could do that to you, I can only imagine what one of the orphans or clergy would do if they manage to find this crawlspace.” Coin shuddered at the possibility of Mother Katsidy getting her hands on the star. He actually had considered telling her about it after remembering her meeting with Sister Brim, but fatigue from the day’s chores and seeing Rolly’s actions now quickly made him drop that idea.

“I guess so. Still…” Rolly looked around his room and gathered up a few blankets. “I’d rather not be entranced by that light again. It’s scary…” He then started to wrap the star in them.

“Whatever works, I--” Coin was stopped mid-sentence as he noticed a blur fly by the window. “...What was that?”

“What was what?” Rolly finished tucking the blankets around the star, wrapping the result into a nice package. Just as he finished, the moonlight went dim for a moment, as a shape flew into its path. “What the…”

Coin looked out the window, but whatever it was there vanished. He quickly closed the “window” keeping an eye out all the while. “...Somepony or something was flying around the place just now.”

Rolly rubbed his chin and then said, “You know, I saw something like that after you knocked me over...I thought it was just a trick of the light, but…”

“Let’s not worry about it, for now we gotta keep this thing well-hidden from everypony else,” Coin suggested.

“You’re right. We’ll just keep it up here for now.” Rolly stuffed the star back under the pillows again. “Mmm…I think it’s pretty safe to say we need to keep this between us.”

“Agreed.” Coin nodded and they both shook on it to seal the deal before they both yawned. “All that excitement tired me out. Let’s go back to bed.”

“Yeah...And let’s not get caught this time,” Rolly said with a grin.

“Pfft, you don’t get caught.” Coin chuckled “I made it here by myself through the new security.”

“Pure luck, I can make it back to our beds blindfolded!”

“Wanna stealth race, pal?” Coin grinned

“You’re on!” Rolly replied eagerly.

And the two made their way back as quickly yet quietly as they could.

---

On a distant rooftop, a pegasus landed. He wore rugged travel gear, and his Cutie Mark was that of a dragonfly. Staring off at the orphanage in the distance, he produced a familiar-looking golden eyeball from the folds of his clothing and pressed a button. The device displayed a magical holographic image of the scene he just witnessed...A pony and a dragon fighting over what appeared to be a star.

“A star...Well well well, Luna seems to be smiling on me this night.” the pony mumbled. “The boss’ll wanna know about this…” He took off into the sky again, landing in a dark alley close to an abandoned house. At the back of said alley, was a cellar door. The pony knocked a select few times on the door, and it popped open, letting the pony descend into the room below.

The cellar was converted into a base camp of sorts, ponies of various ages, genders and species, all rugged and itching for some action, talked and interacted with each other as if they lived in this place for years. One of them even greeted the visitor as he walked to the back of the basement.

"Oy Dragonfly, Your back early! Wanna have a drink with us?"

“Sorry, can’t talk now, gotta report something to big bro,” the pegasus known Dragonfly said as he brandished the eyeball from earlier.

In the back, an older Earth Pony, sporting impressive facial hair, was fast asleep, while a female unicorn was sitting next to him reading a book. Dragonfly nudged the elder pony awake. “Sassafrass and gumbo...Huh?”

“I’m back, boss!” Dragonfly greeted.

The elder pony was not amused. “Please tell me you haven’t been stealing from the bakery again, I’m not hungry.”

“Oh no Padlock, I brought you something way more delicious than an eclair!” Dragonfly produced the eyeball again and displayed its holographic image.

The pony known as Padlock gasped, then smiled. “I knew these Golden Eyes were useful fer somethin’!” Padlock got to his feet, the covers of his bed slipping off of him and revealing his cutie mark (a padlock, who would have guessed).

On the subject of Cutie Marks, the female unicorn’s mark consisted of two crossed rods, glowing brightly in the darkness. She looked completely uninterested in her cohorts’ conversation, as she flipped through the pages of her book, Ancient Tales of Equestria, by Georgia Stone. “Can we sell it this time?” she commented as she started the next chapter in her book.

“If it’s real, then you bet we can, Glowstick!” Padlock exclaimed. “Do me a favor and round up the boys, we’re gonna start plannin’ our raid on the orphanage!”

The unicorn known as Glowstick sighed and closed her book. “Seriously? We gonna rob fillies and colts? Seems a bit beneath us don’tcha think?” But seeing Padlock’s annoyed expression, she rolled her eyes. ”Whatever,” she said in flat tone. “Anything to make this boring job interesting.”

“This’ll be anything but boring, trust me!” Padlock declared, and then gave a devious grin. “Once we pull this job off, the Locket Bandits will be back at the top of ‘Equestria’s Most Wanted’ list!”

(T.B.C)