• Published 18th May 2012
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From The Gates - Dirty Bit



6 old creatures, 1 new life for each of them. Will they manage?

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Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Trouble in Ponyville

Pinkie and the rest of the group managed to arrive at Carousel Boutique, and the party pony had the impulse to kick the door open with a hindleg and point the hoof holding her pipe "AHA! We found you, Envy! The jig is-..." She looked around to see nopony around "Hm...Maybe she's with Rarity upstairs..."

The mentioned fashionista opened the door from her room and trotted downstairs with an annoyed look on her face "Pinkie! Just what in Celestia's name compelled you to kick my door!?"

Pinkie looked determined "We're searching for a pegasus named Envy! A little bird told us she was residing here..." She then looked innocent "Well, not exactly a bird, but Lily! Funny thing, though, Gluttony thought that SHE was Envy, but it's like 'come on!', right?" She grinned at Rarity.

Gluttony looked sad "But that was Envy! I smelt Envy on Lily!"

Fluttershy turned to the voracious pony "I'm sorry, Gluttony, but Lily could not be Envy at all. You should also try not to sniff many ponies. They can get angry or offended..." She comforted Gluttony when he looked down with a sullen expression.

Rarity huffed "Is that what this is about? Envy isn't here at all! Also, I don't see where you're coming from thinking that pony's a mare of sorts! Maybe it's because Envy's almost like Rain-"

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at Rarity "Don't say it!! We're nothing alike and that's that! The pony's probably slow in the air anyways! This is coming from the one who decided to take Envy home..."

Rarity shook her head "Well regardless, Envy is not here, and none of you should be either! I'm working on a dress!"

Pinkie Pie chimed in "For who? Is it somepony in Canterlot? Oh, I'll bet it's Wrath! Maybe he wants a neato tux!"

Rarity shook her head "I'm afraid not, Pinkie..." She then smiled "It's going to be for Lust! I'm almost done with the finishing touchs, too! This shall be an amazing dress for her once it's completed!!"

Fluttershy perked up "That sounds nice. Is it okay if we look at it? We promise not to tell..."

Rarity waved a hoof "No need at all, darling. But could you perhaps find Lust and bring her back here for me? I need her confirmation on what I've managed to assemble for her!"

Rainbow Dash shrugged "Yeah, sure, we'll get on that! But we gotta get going! Envy could be anywhere at this point!"

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash "What if we go find Applejack? Maybe she could help us..."

Rainbow Dash smiled at Fluttershy "Good thinking! We're gonna need all the help we can get what with the warning Greed tossed our way! Let's get going, gang!" The group then departed.

Pinkie stopped and blurted in outrage "Hey! That's what I said!" She then followed after the group after closing the door and leaving Rarity to sigh in exasperation before she went back to finish the dress.
_____

Applejack balanced a large platter of apple-themed food to the barn Sloth was sitting in 'This oughta hold th' big oaf over...' She trotted inside and placed it in front of the indolent pony who sat on his haunches with his head hung low "Rise an' shine, sugarcube! Got yer lunch right here!" The cowpony smiled up at Sloth as he slowly raised his head to reveal his frowning face.

Sloth looked down "Ah...food..." He then hung his head down and picked up a large portion in his mouth to which he chewed slowly. Some of the food in his mouth dropped to the ground while he ate at his sluggish pace.

Applejack winced at the small mess the indolent pony made "At least chew with yer mouth closed, Sloth! Y'all sleep here, fer Celestia's sake!" She was ignored as Sloth swallowed his portion and reached for another with his mouth. Applejack could not bear to have such a lazy and disregardful house guest, even if he can do twice the work on the farm "Well, when yer finished, I'll have ya pull back more of th' apples into th' barn on a cart! Ya hear me, Sloth? Yer gonna be pullin' apples an' NOT buck them off th' trees!"

Sloth swallowed his second portion and grunted "Pulling is-"

Applejack pointed a hoof with an agitated stare "Don't you give me th' sass! Now finish up so we can get back t' work!" She turned and trotted outside as she left Sloth to finish his meal. When she was outside, she noticed a familiar tan stallion waltzing into her yard "Huh?" She trotted over to speak with him.
_____

Envy trotted into Sweet Apple Acres with its disguise while searching for some proper sustenance 'Ergh...First I know how Sloth feels, and now I know how Gluttony feels! What's next? Lust?' It gave a snort at the thought while it made its way through the yard.

"Caramel? What're y'all doin' here?"

Envy stopped and noticed Applejack trotting over with a raised eyebrow "Ah don' remember askin' fer any help 'round th' farm from ya. Ya here t' contribute?" So the name of the stallion Envy turned into was Caramel.

The jealous pony shifted its eyes and responded in his voice "Well, not so much contribute, but...I'm feeling a little peckish."

Applejack gave a smirk "So y'all decided t' come here fer a free meal then? Well, nice try, sugarcube! Ya eat our food, ya work our fields! We already covered this before!"

Envy faltered and spoke "O-Oh yeah, of course! Sorry about that!" It then gave an awkward grin 'Damn, so now I'm roped into labor if I'm gonna get a decent meal. Better than being exposed, I guess...'

Applejack shook her head "Sometimes Ah wonder why ya have t' be so clumsy, Caramel! Well, join us fer some lunch and we'll getcha workin' th' trees later! Maybe getcha better acquainted with Sloth, iffin ya feel up to it!" She chuckled to herself at the thought of Caramel being scared by the sheer mass of Sloth.

Envy nodded 'Oh yeah, I forgot Sloth's here...I'll bet she's going all slave driver on him...' The jealous pony grinned to itself, but then faltered for a moment in its step 'Oh no, not now!!' The mysterious fatigue was about to set in.

Applejack stopped in her tracks and looked back with mild concern "Ya alright there, Caramel?"

Envy picked itself up and shook itself before replying "Just feelin' a little winded is all! Maybe some food will bring me back to full strength!"

Applejack gave a friendly jab at Caramel's shoulder "Quit actin' like y'all haven't eaten in ages! We got plenty o' food t' go around! Now let's get goin'!" She smiled as she trotted side-by-side with Envy. The jealous pony was feeling nervous about being exposed by its mysterious fatigue.
_____

Back at the library, Twilight guided Lust, Greed, and Spike downstairs into the library's basement. Inside of it was what could be considered a scientist's wet dream. There were several machines big and small for all brilliant minds like Twilight Sparkle to use. Greed already felt both uneasy and betrayed with the many machines around him, but he focused on the current matter when he stopped in the middle of the room with the others.

Twilight nodded "Okay, before we begin, do you have a proper name for your spell, Greed?" She smiled at the avaricious pony.

Greed reclaimed his bravado as he proclaimed his title with pride "It's a little moniker I have other than my actual name. It's called the 'Ultimate Shield'!"

Twilight held a notebook and a quill as she jotted down notes and murmured the given title to herself "Good, now would you be so kind as to demonstrate it to me again? It'll only be a minute."

Greed shrugged before he activated his horn and went into his Ultimate Shield form like he was asked. He spoke in his metallic tone "Do I have to stay in this form or something?"

Twilight replied "If you feel up to it. It will be much easier for me to look into and study!" She trotted up to Greed and smiled at him "I'm very grateful that you're letting me do this, Greed. It means a lot to have somepony else show me what they know!"

Greed rolled his piercing eyes "Well, you're letting me stay here, so what's the harm? Also, it's not like you weren't gonna leave me alone about this sorta thing..." He saw how Twilight had been taken aback by his latest statement and sighed "But I know folks like you actually want stuff as much as I do. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with a little avarice!" It was hard to show a smile with his sharp teeth overtaking his lips on his skeletal face.

Twilight smiled in response "Thank you for understanding." She waved over to a device with metal cuffs on the roof "Now if you would be so kind as to go over there and wait so I can extract more data on your outward appearance."

Greed was reluctant with how the cuffs on the stand did not look so inviting, but he knew that Twilight had promised not to do anything extreme (Or so he thought). He hesitantly trotted over and placed his forelegs onto the stand as Twilight activated the cuffs to lock up with her horn. She then signalled for Spike to place a weird helmet of sorts full of blinking lights on top of Greed's head while she hooked a green wire onto the helmet.

Lust watched in intrigue the whole time, but ignored the situation to examine herself. She remembered that Rarity was still crafting a dress and the lascivious mare already felt naked with the time she had spent in Equestria 'Perhaps I should make myself scarce and head to the boutique...' Her decision was only halted with her curiousity over Twilight's possible and useful findings on Greed's form.

Twilight looked onto another device attached with wires portruding from both the helmet Greed was wearing and the device he was leaning on. Paper rolled out of it that beared the desired results Twilight had sought, and the lavender bookworm was almost baffled by the results "Greed...You mean to tell me that your Ultimate Shield spell is basically similar to that of an advanced carbonization method?"

Greed nodded "Pretty much. I can alter my body to be either very strong or very weak. It helped me out in a pinch, too. And you can go ahead and hit me with whatever you got from that horn of yours! I can take it!" He stated proudly.

Twilight shrugged off Greed's arrogance and detached him from the device, helmet and all "Well, aside from that, I'd say that your spell is very impressive, Greed! Maybe we should test the durability of your body in its current state, but I'm not sure if it's ready for a shot of magic..."

Spike barely paid much attention to Twilight's banter, but his cheeks puffed as he then belched out green fire that subsided to reveal a wrapped scroll. Once again, Lust reflexively backed away with a nervous expression.

Twilight took notice and levitated the scroll to her and unraveled it as she read it "Hm..." She gasped as her expression shifted from diligence to shock "Greed! Lust! You both have to read this!"

Greed went out of his Ultimate Shield form and went by Twilight's side along with Lust and Spike to read the letter that was sent.

To my family,

This letter is a warning to both you and the rest of the citizens of Ponyville. There is possible chance of hidden activity from creatures known as changelings other than what has been discovered in Canterlot. Everypony should be on high alert for any sign of these creatures and must be able to defend themselves in the midst of a chance crisis.

It may seem too good to be true, but we already have things covered here in Canterlot. Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza shall lend us their aid to fend off this sudden occurence. Meanwhile, I expect all of you to proceed with caution in the near future. There's no telling what might happen if nopony is careful enough.

Make sure that everypony gets this message, even if most choose to disregard it. This is all I can do while I hold down the fort on my end. All we can do is fight if the battle is presented to us.

Sincerely,
Wrath

Greed raised an eyebrow "Changeling? What kind of creature is a changeling?"

Twilight turned to Greed with an incredulous expression "You don't know what a changeling is? They're dangerous creatures that take the form of another pony and feed off of their love! An army led by Queen Chrysalis happened to crash my brother's wedding from a while back. They can be easily distinguished by their insect-like appearance, but other than that, they could be anypony!" She looked at the letter in worry "This letter's only going to make things worse with what it has!"

Lust stood in grave silence as she took the information in 'This isn't good...' She turned to Twilight "Twilight Sparkle, I need to go."

Twilight looked back at Lust "What!? But why!? If anything, we need to gather the others and warn them about this before things get out of hoof!"

Lust nodded "I'm aware of that. Which is why I'm going to look for the others and bring them here for an audience..." She shifted her eyes away 'Namely Envy...'

Greed nodded as well "Lust has a point. We can't have all of Ponyville going into a frenzy over a simple letter just yet! Me and Lust will go out and about and find your friends and our siblings and give them a heads-up before anypony else gets the message!" The avaricious pony inwardly grimaced in disbelief as to actually saying the word 'anypony'.

Spike turned to Greed "But isn't that the idea? We can't just warn our friends before the rest of Ponyville! That wouldn't be fair at all!"

Greed looked back at Spike with a solemn gaze "The way I see it, this place could be teeming with these things for all we know. And I doubt Twi's friends wouldn't want to be ambushed on the way back!"

Twilight looked down "He's right. Anypony in town could be a changeling waiting for the opportune moment to strike! We'll just have to go out and split up so we can get the others in the library and talk!" She turned to Lust "Lust, you can-" She stared at the empty space where Lust once stood "...go?"

Greed smirked "The girl must've been antsy to spread the word..." He stretched himself as he trotted up the stairs "In any case, I better get going, too! I'll be back with everypony else while the rest of you stay put!"

Twilight looked up in outrage "What? I'm coming with you! They're my friends, too!"

Greed gazed back down sternly "I already know that, Twi! But things might get hectic and my family's trained for this kind of thing! I'm not gonna let you or anypony else get hurt on my watch!"

Twilight paused for a moment at Greed's words before she shot back "I'm stronger than I look, Greed! Your concern's acknowledged, but you're not changing my mind! End of story!" She trotted up to his side with a look of sheer determination.

Greed wanted to retort to her argument, but he could not match the look in Twilight's eyes. He then growled "Fine! Do as you please, but you better not get hurt! I'm serious!"

Twilight trotted past Greed with a smug smile "Do you care THAT much about me, Greed? I'll be fine! I just so happen to have experience with fighting changelings in the past!" She turned to Spike "Spike, I want you to stay here while the rest of us gather our friends!"

Spike crossed his arms and murmured "Why didn't I see this coming?" He then noticed the look on Twilight's face and held up his claws in defense "Alright, alright! I'll stay put! But don't get hurt, okay?"

Greed smirked at Spike "Don't worry, little man! She's in good hands!" Twilight turned to him with a glance, and the avaricious pony recovered "I-I mean hooves..." He felt a part of his pride shatter from his verbal rebound "Well, we better get going! C'mon, Twi!" He galloped up the stairs.

Twilight nodded "Right behind you!" She followed after the avaricious pony and left a worried Spike behind in the basement.
_____

Applejack and Envy were busy bucking trees while Sloth worked the fields. While Envy managed to get a good meal before it went to work, the jealous pony still felt more weaker, and it showed with the faulty progress on bucking the trees.

Applejack looked at Caramel and huffed in annoyance "C'mon now, Caramel! Ah know you can do better! Y'all have worked here fer some time now!"

Envy caught its breath and felt the need to smack Applejack for her remark, but the fatigue slowly flowed in and crippled the jealous pony "I-I'm sorry...I just don't know what's going on..."

Applejack hummed in question before she noticed a group of familiar faces reach the farm, one of them donning her detective's hat "Well I'll be..." She turned to Envy "Wait here, Caramel! Ah'll be right back so we can sort this thing out!" She galloped over to the others and left behind Envy to wallow in weakness.

The cowpony halted Pinkie and the others' advance with a raised eyebrow "Hang on there, y'all! Why's Pinkie playin' detective again?"

Gluttony looked up at Applejack with a smile "Rainbow Dash lost Envy. We're trying to find Envy right now!" He answered absentmindedly.

Rainbow Dash growled in annoyance to Gluttony's blank response "Envy just pulled a fast one and managed to ditch me and Fluttershy is all! Do you know where that pony is?"

Applejack shook her head "Sorry, sugarcube. Haven't seen 'im 'round these parts. Did ya check every place yet?"

Fluttershy shifted her eyes away "Well, almost every place. We've already made a small stop to a restaurant before coming here. I figured the poor dear was hungry after running around..."

Rainbow Dash grunted in frustration "How can you have so much patience for that pony!? Envy's the worst pegasus I've met!"

Gluttony looked at Rainbow Dash "But I like Envy..."

Pinkie nodded "Me too, Gluttony. But we'll have to throw a party for our success in finding her once this is over!" She blew on her pipe "Now where would she be...?" The party pony looked back and noticed Lust galloping towards the farm at a breakneck pace "Hey! It's Lust! Maybe she can help us find Envy!" She beamed at the lascivious mare approaching the others quickly.

Lust managed to reach the other ponies and skidded to a halt. Gluttony instinctively galloped over and shared a big hug from his older sister. While Lust would return the embrace, she looked down at Gluttony with a firm and serious gaze "Gluttony. I want you to lead Applejack and the others to the library at once. Be sure to take Rarity with you as well. Do you understand?"

Gluttony looked up, confused at Lust's tone of voice but obeyed without question by nodding to her with a wide smile "I will!" She turned to the other mares "Come on, everypony! To the library! Lust said so!"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow in confusion "What does Twilight want with us at this hour?"

Fluttershy fidgeted her hooves "Oh my...With how Lust sounded, it must be very important..." She already grew nervous at what could happen once she arrived at the library.

Pinkie blew on her pipe as bubbles poured out "Yes, very important indeed..." She looked at Gluttony "Okay, Gluttony! Take us to Twilight's tout sweet! We'll just have to find Envy later!"

Lust nodded "You can leave that to me. I happen to know Envy more than any of you, and the pony's not too hard to find..."

Applejack smiled "Well that's mighty neighborly o' ya! He seems t' be a heep o' trouble if he managed t' get past Dash an' Fluttershy!"

Rainbow Dash jerked her head to Applejack in a glare "You're not helping, AJ!"

Applejack ignored the harsh glare she received and looked back "Well, Ah'll jus' have t' tell Caramel he can stop while I round up Sloth so we can all head back together...It'll be a pain..." She stopped herself and growled as she stomped a hoof on the ground "Dagnabit, that stallion's got me talkin' like 'im now!"

Lust looked over to see what appeared to be Caramel look as if he were about to collapse on his legs while looking severly fatigued. She stared for a moment before she turned to Applejack "Let me handle Sloth while the rest of you go back..."

Applejack tilted her head to Lust "Y'all would do that fer me?" She smiled "Looks like yer generosity lessons are payin' off! Thank ya kindly, Lust. Ah hope he won't give ya too much trouble..."

Lust smiled at the cowpony "No trouble at all. Now you must be off right now." She looked down at Gluttony "Well?"

Gluttony frantically nodded "Okay!" He then galloped off towards the library "I'll race you, Pinkie!"

At that moment, the party pony dispersed of her detective's gear and smiled at Gluttony while he ran off "You're on, Gluttony! Here I come!"

Fluttershy shortly followed after them before she looked at Lust "Thank you for finding Envy for us, Lust..." She then took flight after her friends.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded to each other and were the last set of mares to leave Sweet Apple Acres, leaving only Lust, Sloth, and Envy. The lascivious mare trotted over to the tree where the overexerted stallion stood with a heaving breath. She looked around to make sure nopony but Sloth beared witness and looked down at the stallion with a raised eyebrow "Did you have your fun?"

Envy grunted before speaking "Define fun..." A green aura shrouded the stallion and disappeared to reveal Envy "I left those losers, got some food, but then THIS happens! I don't know what's going on with me or how I keep avoiding it, but it's already getting on my nerves!"

Lust nodded "I'm most aware of that, and I just so happen to hold a logical explanation as to your sporadic patterns of health."

Envy perked up slightly with its fatigue holding it back "You serious? Well, don't stall on the details! What is it?" The jealous pony was more than willing to be rid of its crude feeling.

A smirk played on Lust's face "I'm glad that you look forward to hearing the solution. But I doubt that you would be all for it..."

Envy grunted "I haven't felt this bad since I was reduced to a worm in a jar! Just tell me! I don't care what it is, just as long as I curb this damn fatigue!"

Lust took a deep breath "Very well..." She began with her explanation without a moment to lose.
_____

Gluttony and the other element bearers made their way back to the library with Rarity added to the group.

"WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?"

The group, as well as everypony around them, all jumped at the sudden outcry of a doomed pegasus.

End of Chapter 27