MidnightFMare comment
You're about tot give chase after Officer "Fluffles"/Rough Diamond when you all hear battering on the sealed door.
"I never thought Stablemaker would be desperate enough to deploy a P.A.I.N. unit against us..." you worry.
OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR
"Um... Specialist Judge" Chief Stablemaker asks with a hint of caution as the other officers keep their distance from the PAIN unit smashing against the reinforced door, "May I ask what are you even doing here? I didn't receive any notification from the mayor that you've been deploye-"
"Not orders, personal." Dread Judge growls as she continues ramming the sealed doors, "Nopony spills my Coco-moo and lives free to brag about it."
"O... kay..." Stablemaker comments while taking a few steps back.
BACK TO YOU
As the door starts to weaken, you turn to Applejack and Applebloom and sigh,
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Applejack, I need to throw your sister."
"You WHAT?!" Applejack, Applebloom, and Babs yell.
"I don't want to put her in danger either, but we need to catch Rough DIamond before that armored psycho smashes down that door and grinds us all into powder. Look, I throw Applebloom at the thief and she can hold her down while I restrain her."
"You ain't throwing me/my cuz/mah sister!" the Apples all shout.
"Surrender and you will all be punished slowly." Dread Judge monotones, obviously getting ready to charge again.
"Rarity, I need you to embrace your stereotype!" you say turning to the fashionista, "I need you to take Fluttershy and do your girly thing on Dread Judge!"
"Excuse me?" she asks indignantly.
"How will that help?" Fluttershy asks.
"That's her weakness, girly things! Now when she rams down that door, I need you to turn up all that cuteness to 11 and Rarity, you distract them with your charm, use those hips and don't be afraid to turn some head-"
*CRASH*
Your planning is interrupted by Dread smashing through the reinforced door and coming at you, but at that moment an errant pink hair touches her.
"GAAAAHHH!!! It's too... cute..." Dread yells keeling over.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh my!" Fluttershy exclaims running over to the fallen PAIN to help her up, but her adorable touch just causes Dread to keel up even more in agony.
Chief Stablemaker and some more police stallions come in after Dread at your group as well, but stop in confused shock when they see Dread curling up in agony and fear at the adorable Pegasus trying to help her up.
"What in the..."
"Oh boys..." Rarity coos, fluttering her eyes and sashaying her hips, immobilizing the stallions (and a few mares) in a seductive trance.
"Trixie can do sexy too..." Trixie pouts, snapping you out of your trance,
Gorram, she's better at that than I thought. you mentally comment as you noticed that Rough Diamond had paused to stare at this scene as well.
"Go Applebloom! Use Head-butt!" you yell, picking up the stunned filly and throwing her like javelin at the "officer" causing her to shriek as Applejack nearly bucks you in the face, but you dodge and she ends up bouncing off the wall and falling flat on her face. Fortunately, Applebloom lands on Fluffles/Rough Diamond's back and starts trying to put her in a headlock.
"Stop that you insufferable hick!" the thief yells.
"My cuz ain't a hick you whorse!" Babs yells in indignation.
Everyone turns to her and Rough Diamond shakes her head in shock "Such language..."
"Applejack, use lass-*whack* Ow!" you yell as Applejack haymakers you in the head (your hat taking most of the impact) knocking you down. The farm pony then charges at Fluffles/Rough Diamond, but the thief grabs and throws Applebloom at Applejack who slams into her chest and knocks them both out, spirals where their eyes should be.
"Real horrorshow..." you snark as you rush over and lift Applejack's hat to pull out her lasso and start twirling it over your head,
"Come on... I've seen guys do this hundreds of times..." you mutter as you throw the lasso and...
"Ulk! Oof!" Accidentally lasso Trixie who ran around to try to tackle Rough Diamond from behind and end up tripping up the showmare who falls on her face.
"D'oh!" you exclaim as you quickly run forward to grab Rough Diamond...
Love the Changeling comment
"Come quietly so I can punish you!" Dread yells, having snapped out of her fluttershock and is charging straight at you.
"Buck!" you exclaims as you reach behind you to hopefully grab something cute and girly to stop her from advancing, "PUPPY-DOG EYES GO!"
"Let me go ya varmint!" the orange pony you're holding as a shield growls and you quickly realize that you grabbed Applejack.
"Gorramit! You're not cute or girly!"
"What did ya say!!?" Applejack exclaims in indignation as she kicks forward out of your grip causing her rear hooves to slam straight into the charging Dread's chin which sends her smashing face-first into an ancient vase.
"Nice teamup-*pow*" You barely have enough time to thank her before she haymakers you in the head again, "Consider that payback varmint."
"What the buck is it with you and friendly fire!" you exclaim in annoyance before you noticed that the cops are shaking off Rarity's distracting.
"RUN!!!" you yell as you and your party take off with the cops in pursuit.
Kichi comment
Have the party split up to hopefully catch Rough Diamond.
After losing the cops with a couple of feints and turns, you find yourselves in the "Hearth's Warming Eve" exhibit
"Great, even the museums are trying to shove this gorram holiday down my throat." you snark as Rarity comments,
"Ooo, this display reminds me of my star performance of Princess Platinum especially when I was frozen-"
"This ain't the time for ego-stroking Rares." Applejack interrupts.
*ding*"Rarity, you're a genius!" you exclaim.
"Well, I try darling." Rarity says flattered.
"Everypony, take up positions and pretend to be part of the exhibit!"
On cue, everypony runs to various exhibits and strikes a pose. (1) It seems to be working as many cops run right past you guys, but Stablemaker suddenly stops and turns. Risking a turn of your head, you see that Chief Stablemaker is looking at Trixie in the "Psychic Cult Uprising" exhibit. As Chief Stablemaker gets closer to the exhibit with suspicion in his eyes and Trixie starting to panic, you quickly grab a barrel off a nearby dummy and roll it at Stablemaker while yelling,
"EVERYPONY SCATTER!!!"
Stablemkaer is caught so off guard by this that the barrel knocks him over and the group runs in different directions. While running through the "Pizza Wars" exhibit you look behind and see that Babs and Apple Bloom are running with you.
Why the hay aren't they with Applejack?! you think and are about to admonish the fillies when...
BrownDog77 comment
You spot Officer Fluffles/Rough Diamond putting on a suit of Samurai Armor.
"We got her now!" you proclaim as you charge at her, but she puts on the helmet, grabs a Naginata and charges right at you.
"D'oh!" you exclaim as you brake to a halt and look around for a nearby weapon, but unfortunately, the closest thing is an ancient tea set which you start throwing at her in an attempt to slow her down, but she swings at you with a vicious swipe which you manage to dodge by stumbling backwards into another stand. Rolling out of the way of a downward slash, you get up and see you instinctively grabbed a pair of Nunchaku.
“Cowabunga!” you yell as you start whooping and swinging them around, causing her to hesitate… *pow* that is until you hit yourself in the nards.
“EEEEEEE!!!!” you shriek as you fall to the ground cradling your broken mommy-daddy button.
She chuckles at this and raises the weapon above her head… *wham* before being smashed in the face with a Kanabo wielded by Babs and Applebloom, which shatters her helmet and knocks her back into a cracked pillar which falls into and breaks a wall leading into the Dinosaur Exhibit. Rough Diamond briefly gives you a hateful glare before rushing towards all the dinosaur bones.
“Thanks girls, where are the rest?” you ask as you get up.
“There you are you fiend!” you hear Trixie’s voice in the other room followed by magic blasts.
“My guess is there,” snarks Babs as you all run in and see the rest of your group. Unfortunately, Rough Diamond managed to shed her Samurai armor and is throwing them at Trixie, Applejack, and Rarity to force them to dodge as she runs up the back of a large long-necked dinosaur of some kind, and you're about to follow when Dread Judge bursts through the cracked wall.
“Destruction of Archaeological findings, 12 years!” she yells.
“Oh give us a break!” you yell as more cops burst in surrounding your party. while the cops burst in from the back as your group is surrounded. You swore you heard Rough Diamond laughs as she makes her escape and all seems lost as the PAIN approaches when suddenly a skeleton T. Rex head comes out of nowhere and snatches Dread Judge up in it’s jaws, epic music blasting out of the speakers.
Everyone else starts screaming in terror as the T Rex starts violently shaking the struggling Dread in its jaws, but you just look up and shout, “I bucking knew it!” when...
Down with Chrysalis comment
You quickly notice a blue glow all along the bones. You quickly look at Trixie who gives you a wink before making the T Rex violently throw Dread into the nearest group of cops. Taking this opportunity, you run up the longneck skeleton as the group scatters. Some cops try to follow you up the skeleton as you jump from the skull onto the second floor, but you turn around, throw out your hoof, and Force Pull a leg bone off the skeleton causing it to collapse into a cloud of dust which disorients the cops below as you run towards where you heard Rough Diamond's laughter.
After some more running, we find yourself in the art gallery with still no sign of the thief, but you feel thirst kick in.
All these pretentious splatterings must be making me thirsty. you mentally quip as you grab and down a bottle of vanilla cola from your saddlebag. You just finished your drink when-
"There he is!"
You suddenly see a trio of cops turn a corner and charge at you!
"Guess break time's over." you quip as you instinctively throw the empty cola bottle at the cops which they dodge as you run off, quickly knocking over a limbless marble statue to create some distance between you and the cops. Turning a corner into the weapons exhibit, you see Rough Diamond on the first floor below cautiously looking around before approaching a soda machine.
All that running and stealing must be getting to her. you think as you're about to dive off onto the first floor to continue chasing the thief when you see Dread Judge also arrive in the exhibit.
"Where is that suit-wearing delinquent!" Dread demands from "Officer Fluffles".
"He's in the art gallery, Sir-er Ma'am." she hastily salutes.
Great, my target's in the same room as a one-mare SWAT team.
"He went this way! Come on!"
You turn and hear more incoming hoofsteps behind you and you realize that the cops from before are closing in. Even worse, when you look back you see Dread turning her head in your direction!
I am SO bucked!
Suddenly, the caffeine from that cola kicks in and combines with the adrenaline from the chase to cause time to seem to slow down as you notice formulas, equations, and flashing outlines appear around an abstract painting, your bracelet, a beam on the ceiling, Dread Judge, a Trebuchet on the first floor, Rough Diamond, and the soda machine in your line of sight. Suddenly realizing what it all means you think,
Thank you emergency Holmes-o-vision!
With time slowly starting to go back to normal, you Force Pull an abstract painting off a wall and smash it into the face of the cop at the front of the squad as he turns the corner causing him to stumble and fall on his face as the two cops behind trip over his fallen form. Running to the railing you declare "Aquila Talon" as you jump off the railing and eject the hookblade onto a skylight beam and use the momentum to swing towards the thief.
"HALT!"
You see that Dread Judge has spotted you and is charging towards your swinging form, but in your focused state you throw out your free hoof and use Force Pull to activate the lever of the Trebuchet right as Dread steps on the sling. The old war machine whips to life and violently flings the PAIN officer smashing straight into the wall and causing a belt full of Thundercloud Orbs to free itself from her armor due to the force of that trebuchet launch. As you approach Rough Diamond near the end of your swing, you catch the bomb belt in one hoof, retract the hookblade with the other, and use your momentum to drive both your back hooves into the thief's chest and send her smashing into the soda machine behind her as you land on your back.
2 Bottles of Vanilla-Cola
6 Thundercloud Orbs
in Saddlebags
You get up and see Babs, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Trixie all with their jaws on the floor giving you shocked looks.
"That was totally wicked!" Babs exclaims, breaking the silence.
"Benefits of a cinematic education." you smirk. When you look back at "Officer Fluffles" you see her getting back up as she's surrounded with soda cans as she herself is soaked with soda and her Cutie Mark is smudged. Noticing this as soon as she gets up, she growls at you before quickly bolting off.
"Hold it right there impos- Oooo, Pitt Cola! My favo-"
"Ritz! Focus!" Trixie exclaims as the other mares/fillies snap out of it and chase after the feeling thief.
"Oh, right!" you respond as you grab a few cans while continuing to chase the thief.
4 Cans of Pitt Cola
added to Saddlebags
BrownDog77 comment
“Give it up, already!” you yells as you chase Rough Diamond into the ancient Saddle Arabian wing.
“Never!" she taunts, "I’m not afraid of you! I’m not afraid of any-AAAAAAAHHHH!!!” she screams as she runs right into the “Mummy” from earlier causing her to fall into an open sarcophagus which slams shut, accidentally knocking off the head bandages, revealing an elderly security guard stallion underneath.
“Oh thank goodness, I can see again!”
“Real horrorshow, old man!” you cheer.
"Release me this instant you motherbuckers!" you hear muffled from inside the Sarcophagus.
"Such language..." Fluttershy scolds as Applejack covers Babs and Apple Bloom's ears.
"Don't have any soap for that mouth, but this should do the trick." you quip as you take out a Thundercloud Orb and quickly briefly open the Sarcophagus, chuck in the orb, and slam the ancient coffin shut before it goes off. The close proximity of the blast knocking her out.
5 Thundercloud Orbs
remaining in Saddlebags
"Well that was... excessive." Rarity comments.
"It got the job done." you shrug, "For now we can get to the part of the episode where the mystery gang and their little mascot unmask the monster revealing- Oh hi Stablemaker." you say to the cops coming into the wing.
"Everypony freeze! It's all over!"
"I'll say." you say as you open the Sarcophagus revealing an unconscious "Office Fluffles".
"Sweet Celestia, we got a hostage situation!" Chief Stablemaker exclaims.
"What? Wait, Nononononono!" you quickly Shia LaHoof before the situation can spiral even more out of control.
"Officer Fluffles here is the thief and I can prove it." Babs interjects.
"Even so. We still need to take you all in for all the events over the past few days." he says and a few officers move in when...
Kichi's comment
"Wait a bucking minute!" You shout looking to the chief causing everypony to stop pursuing and look at you, Rarity and Applejack looking as if you are crazy, the foals looking confused, and Fluttershy hiding behind her mane.
"Don't you know who these mares are?" you ask as you wave your hoof at the mares behind you.
"Of course, they're Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy, and Miss Applejack, members of the Elements of Harmony-"
"Exactly! One half of the group who faced off against Nightmare Moon, restored Princess Luna, and prevented eternal freezing night on their first day. Not to mention their other various feats which include (but are not limited to) defeating and reforming a god of chaos, rescuing an entire new city from a master of darkness, and need I remind you that their leader is not only Celestia's personal student, but Equestria's newest alicorn princess? I'm pretty sure they're under the direct protection of all 4 princesses at least. I mean, did any of you even think of what could happen if you touched even one hair on their heads? Come on chief, think about it, do you really want some pissed off alicorn princesses coming down here after finding out you've falsely imprisoned her friends AND Equestria's main superweapon against whatever big bad boogymare's gonna come next?"
You smirk as you see the look on the police officers' faces at that thought before Stablemaker sighs,
"I'm getting too old for this horseapples. Take her away. I just need statements from you 7 then you'll be free to go." as he waves the other officers off and has them carry off Rough Diamond.
“You darned do-gooders! I'll get you for this!" Rough Diamond struggles having regain consciousness while being carried away, "I swear! Rough Diamond will retu- *POW*” before being knocked out with one swift punch by Dread Judge who growls
“You have the right to remain silent, impostor…”
She then looks to you and your group and says, “Stay out of trouble.” before violently throwing Rough Diamond into the back of the paddy wagon with enough force to cause it to briefly tilt.
As the paddywagon drive off, you see two slips of paper fall out of her pocket. You pick up the two slips of paper and examine them as the cops are busy talking with the others,
One of them is an airship ticket for tomorrow noon to Las Pegasus, the other is a flashcard that says, “Trackatomi Plaza, Penthouse Floor, 8:00 P.M. Hearth's Warming Eve Party. Bring the goods and wear a brown hat.”
“What is it Ritz?” Trixie asks as she comes over and looks at your papers.
“It’s a ticket and instructions Rough Diamond had for getting to her fence,” you say.
The Buggy Fence. you mentally add.
“Oh, then perhaps you should give that to the police?” Trixie suggests.
“Nah, they don’t have jurisdiction, and it’s clear on the other side of the country,” you point out as you stare intently at the two slips of paper.
Trixie sees the look on your face as you stare at the ticket and note and says, “Oh… Ok…”
-Airship Ticket to Las Pegasus
-Instructions Flashcard
added to Inventory
Once Rough Diamond is in custody, you become overjoyed when you hear that she has a large bounty on her... only to be informed by Chief Stablemaker that the bounty just matches the exact costs for all the collateral damage and fines you racked up.
"I am obligated to inform you all that due to the daring and severity of her numerous robberies, Rough Diamond has a rather large bounty on her-" Chief Stablemaker explains.
"Horrorshow!" you exclaim.
"-That should just be enough to cover the damage to the museum and the fines for the various infractions you committed while apprehending her."
"D'oh!"
"As Granny Smith used to say; Easy come, easy go." Applejack comments.
"*sigh* Let's just get something to eat." you say.
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL, THE NEXT MORNING
The next day, Trixie, Babs, and Babs's sister Sunflower see the Elements and Applebloom off at the train platform, while you stand off to the side in thought staring at the Airship Ticket to Las Pegasus and the Instructions Flashcard.
This ticket… if I don’t use it soon, then I won’t be able to find that fence. Could this be a chance to find the hive? I should check it out right? But Trixie…
While you mentally converse with yourself, the others prepare their goodbyes.
“Well I must say, this has been a most memorable trip, we simply must come back here again some time,” says Rarity.
“Yeah, we didn’t get much of a chance to actually take in the sights we were so busy running around,” agrees Applejack.
“We didn’t even get to go to the zoo,” pouts Fluttershy.
“Well, with this newest article in the paper, my show is bound to explode even more because of the press,” says Trixie as she holds up an article showing all of you taking down Rough Diamond. “So I’ll be here for the foreseeable future if you all wish to stop by and say hello.”
“Not to mention your favorite cousin will be here, don’t be strangers now,” says Babs.
They all then start hugging and are prepared to leave, but not before a certain yellow filly with red hair grabs your hoof and leads you over, knocking you out of your thinking.
She looks at you, and then at the rest of the Elements.
“Ahem… Isn’t there something you wanna say to Ritz?”
Their faces take on a guilty expression as they all give you fleeting glances before Rarity speaks up first,
“Well, Mr. DeWitt, whatever differences we may have had, I would still like to thank you for helping us clear our names. That was a very Generous thing to do,” she says with a smile.
“And Kind too. Thanks for helping Mr. DeWitt,” smiles Fluttershy.
“Y-yeah, no problem.” you tell them as you put the pieces of paper away.
Applejack keeps looking back up at you and back down as if it’s hard for her to spit it out. She eventually sighs and looks you right in the eye,
“Listen, despite whatever animosity we got between us, I still appreciate that you helped my family and friends when it mattered most.”
You don’t say anything as you nod.
“See, was that so hard?” Applebloom says to them before turning to you.
“Ritz, anything YOU’D like to say?” she insinuates.
“*Sigh* Yeah. Sorry… you know, for the whole Ponyville thing… and for being a bit of an ass… no offense,” you say as you look to a Donkey loading up a suitcase.
“None taken,” he says as he gets on the train and immediately starts complaining to the ticket taker.
“But yeah, sorry everyone. Have a safe trip.”
Applebloom nods and hugs you really hard. She then joins the others in getting on the train. You, Trixie, Babs, and Sunflower wave them goodbye as the train rolls out.
Babs gives a sigh before looking at you and Trixie.
“Well till next time guys. I gotta get home now, my ma’s no doubt seen the paper and is flipping her lid,” she says with a chuckle.
She hugs you and Trixie and she heads off with her sister.
“Well… shall we?” Trixie says as she starts walking back to the Trailer Park and you follow. The whole way, you keep mentally arguing with yourself over what you should do.
I should check this lead, I could find my way home!
But if it isn’t a changeling, then I’d be wandering into more criminal elements head on.
Which isn’t a bad thing, Changelings have ties to criminal enterprises so this fence could point the way to others.
But I’m doing alright now, I’ve got a job, stability, friends…
I…
Trixie has her show, she can’t go with me…I can’t ask her to abandon her life now that it’s on track. And I’d make her sad if I left.
UGH! Why do I even care! you think angrily as you shake your head. Stupid gorram emotions… what is happening to me?
The whole time you walk, you don’t notice Trixie watching you with a sad expression. After you both reach the trailer, Trixie goes into the back room and you hear rummaging sounds.
“Hey Trix, whatcha doing?”
“Just…getting something organized,” she says hesitantly.
You just shrug your shoulders and relax on the couch after such a long night.
Eventually, Trixie comes out from the back room and sits next to you, looking downtrodden.
“What’s wrong?” you ask her.
She looks up at you, “You’re thinking about leaving soon aren’t you?”
Your eyes widen as you are taken aback by this. You look down and say, “How’d you know?”
“Ever since we caught Rough Diamond, I’ve seen you looking over that ticket, mumbling about finding her fence… about moving on,” she says.
You sigh look back up at her, “Trixie, I…”
“You think you should go find this fence. I don’t know why, but you seem absolutely determined to find it. As if it’s important to you.”
“I… well…”
“Do you think the fence has ties to your… ”Organization?””
“Well… there’s a chance,” you admit. “Something I heard Diamond say makes me think it might.”
She nods at this. “And you miss this “Organization” that much?”
“It’s… complicated Trixie. Sure they’re dangerous, but still, they’re my…”
“Family?” she finishes.
“Yeah… sort of.”
She nods, closes her eyes and says, “Then you should go for it.”
“Wait, what?” you say aloud.
“You should seek out this fence if it has any chance of reuniting you with your… group.”
“But Trixie, what about the show? What about you?” you ask a bit surprised.
“Oh Ritz, do not worry, the show will go on as they say, and as for me… I shall be fine. I’ve made my way on my own plenty of times before.”
“But…”
“Ritz, what kind of pony would I be if I kept you, the most important pony I’ve ever met, from finding out the truth?” she says as she places her hoof on your shoulder.
“It’d be selfish of me to do something like that, and that’s something Old Trixie would have done.”
“I just…well…” you try to argue.
“These past two months have been some of the best of my life. You helped me be a better pony Ritz. You’ve done everything to help me, so please let me help you,” she says as she levitates a bag over to you.
You open it up and see supplies (Fire Extinguisher, 12 Granola Bars, 2 Bottles of Painkillers, 3 Bottles of Orange-Cream Energy Shots, and Trick Hoofcuffs) and 100 bits in there. Shocked, you say,
“Trixie... I can’t take this much-”
“That’s your share of the show,” she says with her sad smile, “You more than earned it.”
You sigh as you close up the bag and put it in your saddle bags.
“Trixie, if I go, I might not ever come back. If I find the organization, I don’t know if I’ll be able t-”
“Ha! YOU not able to do something? Puh-lease Mr. DeWitt. There’s nothing you can’t do when you set your mind to it,” she says as she gives you a playful punch on the arm, causing you to smile.
“I think you put too much faith in me,” you joke.
“And you don’t put in enough,” she snarks.
“Huh, you say that, but would you if I wasn’t who I said I was?” you ask.
“Ritz DeWitt, I wouldn’t care if you were some government spy, a mobster, or even a dragon or a changeling. I care for and believe in you,” she says.
You smile at that, but feel no need to expose yourself and ruin the moment. You’re not sure if she could take something like that at this moment. As you look at her smiling face, you still can't help but feel the waves of sadness coming off of her. Sadness to a changeling isn’t very appetizing, but you begin feeling it as well.
Stupid Empathy. you think as you start to pack up and double-check your saddlebags.
“So, uh… did you want to walk with me to the skyport?” you ask.
“No… I uh, I think I’ll just stay here and… prepare for the next show,” she sniffles.
“I, uh… I could write to you. Tell you about what’s going on and such, and uh… If I’m somewhere for awhile, I could give you the address to write back,” you stumble trying to think of some way to cheer her up.
“I’d like that…” she says.
You walk out the front door and turn around to her standing in the doorway, and she still looks really sad.
“*Sigh* Look Trix, I promise that if I ever come across your wagon or even one of your shows, I will stop to visit. Sound good?”
She nods as she gets up and hugs you.
“Thanks for everything Trixie. You be good now you hear?”
“I will, and you be safe. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
You start to break the hug, but before you do Trixie suddenly smooches you on the cheek. (2) The love you get from it drives away any sleepiness you had and energizes you greatly, and it feels rather nice too. Finishing the kiss she says,
“Just a little something to remember me by,” she chuckles. “So long Mr. Ritz DeWitt.”
You chuckle and say, “So long Ms. Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon.”
You then start on your way, looking back and waving every now and then to her, to which she returns, till you lose sight of her. You let out a sigh and look down at the ground.
“Seriously, buck these stupid emotions. Without them, this wouldn’t be so hard…” you groan as you feel grief throughout yourself.
You eventually make your way to the Imperial State Building skyport, fortunately your Saddlebags are immune to scanning spells so they didn't detect the weapons and drinks you stored in there so you make your way to your terminal and board the airship to Las Pegasus.
As all the passengers gather in the dining room for the Stewardesses's safety demonstration, you look out the window at Manehattan as it takes off. Letting out one last sigh, you set your eyes forward.
“Alright, enough of this petty emotion crap,” you chide yourself. “I’ve got a mission to do, and I’ve been sidetracked for too long. I gotta find the hive. So here I come Las Pegasus, I hope you have what I’m looking for. If not, then hay, I could probably make some money turning this fence in. Hopefully this won’t be as chaotic as the hunt for Rough Diamon-"
"Uh... we regret to inform you all that the onscreen projector isn't working so unfortunately the onboard movies are cancelled."
"D'oh!" you exclaim as the other passengers groan, the seriousness of the moment destroyed by that announcement.
"No point in sticking around here." you mutter as you head back to your cabin and nap, not wanting to spend any more bits or food at the moment. You suddenly find yourself awake some time later. Blinking the grogginess off, you pick up the complementary newspaper slid under your cabin door and head to the dining room to read the newspaper when you hear a voice bark out,
"Attention ladies and gentlecolts! Everypony please stay where you are."
"Tis the holiday season so we're collecting donations on behalf of the less fortunate. Namely us."
"Yeah, so fork over the goods before we have to resort to direct stabbing action."
You peek out the doorway to see a trio of ponies all wearing green ski masks and red capes while wielding improvised weapons made from materials bought in the skyport mini-stores. The large Earth Pony has a spiked club made of scotch tape, rolled-up newspapers, and needle tower souvenirs, the Pegasus has a pair of flails made from spiky-hair icebox magnets, rolled-up magazines, and a belt, and it looks like the unicorn levitating a crossbow made from a grabber toy, dental floss, and umbrella ribs is the leader as they go from table to table as terrified passengers reluctantly hoof over their goods. Stretching your limbs, you think,
Wrong flight boys...
WHAT DO YOU DO?
"Okay, Okay... I pay just... Who is the leader? I mean, if I have to pay to somepony at last better to pay to the leader of this great group" Say Bugzee as he hide a smile
"Well, of course, I'm the leader!" Say the Earth Pony
"You? The leader? If you don't know to count to four even with your hooves" Comment the unicorn as the other pony begin to smirk
"Hey! It's not true, and don't laugh at me!" Groan the Earth Pony
"If someone must be the leader, must be me, I'm the more inteligent of the group" Say the unicorn as he gloat
"You? It was me the one of the plan! If it was not for me, there could be no team" Say the pegasus
"Come on, Everyone know that unicorns are the most inteligent of the three races" Say the unicorn with a smile
"I'm not stupid, see... One... Two... Three..." The earth pony begin to count his hooves as the other two talked with each other.
Taking the chance, Ritz begin to prepare inspire hate in the earth pony, with luck it was going to become a three-way battle and he could defeat them after they are too weak.
Take out one of them with the Aquila Talon. However, remember that thunderorbs count as illegal weapons for civilians to have, so figure that into your plan before attacking with them.
This was a great arc. Sad to see Ritz and Trixie part ways. But I'm sure this isn't the last they've seen of each other.
Ritz makes sure to draw the groups attention away from the other passengers. Don't want to risk anyone getting hurt. Maybe for good measure lead on a chase to a area on the ship where's it's easier to fight and less chance of bystanders getting hurt.
Oh, oh, can Ritz incapacitate one of them via mind-magic (like Glory from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)? Just wondering because... mind-magic and changelings seem to go well together if this website is to be believed ;3
6750334
In this universe changelings (and thus Ritz) won't have mental/psychic abilities outside of being able to sense each other.
6748854
Aquila Talon is a dulled hookblade so it can't cut or kill anypony.
Remember that these guys are basically just sky-muggers with delusions of being revolutionary terrorists so they should go down easily and hilariously.
6751515 I know, but there are ways to allow it to grapple things that will allow you to pummel them, or else to toss objects.
Anyway, end the fight with them all being in a lifeboat (on an airship) with you threatening to cut it loose without the parachute or engine it normally uses to get to the ground safely.
Sneak out of your cabin and slide underneath the seats, picking up chewed gum (3 pieces chewed gum obtained) and a filled barf bag (1 bag o' barf obtained) "Horrorshow..." you mutter, a plan forming in your head. You grab an "air-mall" magazine and look through the items and tap on a shirt launcher "Okay, now I just need-"
A grey mare in a mail pony uniform appears next to you under the empty seats and in her hooves is the shirt cannon and a clipboard "Sign here please." she whispers.
You pause "Where did you come from? and how did you get past the thugs?"
"I'm a Mail mare, we're magic. Sign please." she shoves the clipboard into your face and you quickly scribble "Rarity" on it with the boutique's address for the bill and take the cannon (1 shirt cannon, 1 bag of packing peanuts, 5 feet of bubble wrap, and a postage box obtained), quickly stuffing the bag of barf (1 bag o' barf removed from bags) into the cannon and aim it from behind a large, green pony with her face as a cutie mark. "Take this, Cupcake!" you whisper and fire the barf at the earth pony and duck behind the seat.
The Earth pony screams, the bag of barf spraying over him "AAAAUUGHHH!!! I had my mouth open!!! Good Celestia, who throws a bag of throw up?!!"
The unicorn tries to clean his partner as the Pegasus starts searching for the source of the projectile "Who threw that?! Who dares hit my bud with vomit?!"
You snicker and roll the gum bits into balls, and grab a straw somepony dropped "Got to make this count..." you lower your goggles and aim at the pegasus' nostrils
"Pthp!" you launch a single pea-sized piece of hardened gum at him, lodging them into his nostril "What the- what's" he snorts and inspects what came out of his nose "Oh good Celestia!! Guys! My brain's melting out my nose!"
Not what I thought he'd say, but okay... you think to yourself, but sneak to the front of the cabin and grab the stewardess's microphone and deepen your voice "Hello you scum. This is the..." you pause and think of every plane movie you've ever seen but realize the only ones you'd seen were "Airplane" and "Air Force One"
"This is... the Horror Show... bug." you shrug, half-assing it You grab the remainder of your gum and chuck it at the unicorn, firing a dried peanut after it, rupturing the ball to pelt the unicorn and throw-up covered earth pony "And I want you to... Get off my plane!!"
"Aquila talon!" you yell, launching it to grab the emergency open door and rip the handle off, sending the three hooligans out of the plane.
You chuck two of the parachutes out after them, holding onto the railing to avoid being sucked out by the vaccum and crawl to the large pony you'd used as a barrier and cut her seatbelt off, and slap her awake "Hey! They're giving out free Crispco to everypony who reaches the front of the aisle!!"
The mare starts awake and flops out of her aisle of seats, freeing the five ponies crushed by jelly rolls "Thank... you..."
You scratch your head "Uh... sure..."
"FWUMP!!!!" The mare is sucked through the open door and the vacuum stops, the mare's hindlegs and tail stuck inside the plain "I sincerely hope she doesn't get gassy..." you mutter.
After receiving many thank you's from the smushed ponies, you return to your seat and fall asleep again, sleeping until you land.
After a amazing battle that consisted of puns, references, and pies to the face (so, so many pies to the face) you decide to do the one thing any badflank changeling should do after beating up a bunch evil doers.
Absorb as munch praise and happiness from the ponies you saved for a light snack, and proceed to milk those feelings out of them to the point that even Trixie (back when she was still a over the top bragger) would say knock it off!
After arriving at your stop, proceed to scope out the area Assassins Creed style from the nearest tall building. After that (and maybe seeing some things that nopony should ever need to see) proceed to a news stand to find out the latest stories! These stories include, but are not limited to,
-Rough Diamond Caught, Substantial Damage to Museum
-Donald Trumpkin Falls Hard in Polls After Being Revealed to be a Blindingly Baldy-Bald Chromdome.
-Countess Coloratura Hires More Backup Dancers
-The Great and Powerful Trixie's Rise to Fame
You also try to collect the bounty on those hijackers... only to find out that you need a Bounty Hunting license to collect ("D'OH!"). So you go into Las Pegasus and try to register as one only to find it requires a laundry list of requirements and a 6-month training course/seminar to be registered as an official certified Bounty Hunter.
So you just pay 100 Bits for a temporary (1 year) "Limited Surety Agent" license.
6758720 I was thinking Ritz was not going to be a diet Bugzee... Making the both of them hunters is not going to make them a little similar?
While sneaking about, you come across a Stewardess Mare, and she tries to stop you.
“Please, don’t do anything drastic,” she whispers.
“Don’t worry, I’ve done this before…” you say mysteriously.
In the Past
It was the craziest situation you were ever in. You were aboard the Emperor of Neighpon’s airship on a mission to steal trade secrets when disaster struck. Stalliongradian terrorists had boarded the ship, and took everyone hostage with their trained venomous snakes. To make matters worse, the food on board had been bad, and 95 percent of the passengers were down with food sickness. Luckily though, you were able to team up with the Emperor, a mare who claimed her daughter disappeared, but who others thought was just crazy, and another mare who had been held hostage by a psychopath until the terrorists boarded. Together, you all stopped the villains and saved the day…
In the Present
The stewardess just looks at you funny.
“What?” you ask.
“That was the plot to Air Force One, Snakes on a Blimp, Airship!, Flight Plan, and Red Eye all rolled into one…” she says.
“No it’s…huh…you’re right it is,” you say as you really think about it. “Huh, usually I’m better at separating reality and fiction…”
You shake your head at this.
“Still, don’t worry, I am a professional,” you tell her as you sneak out.
After observing these guys a little more, you realize how utterly stupid they were.
“What was your plan here exactly? To steal a vehicle that a pegasus can outfly any given day? Where exactly did you think you were going to take this thing?”
“Uh…”
“Did you guys even have a plan, I mean, those “weapons” of yours are just cobbled together garbage.”
“We…stand for stuff,” they pout.
“Yeesh, there’s dumb…and then there’s you guys,” you say as you take out a cig and light it up.
“NOOOO!!! The Helium! You’ll kill us all!” shouts one of them as they suddenly rush you and slap you in the face, making the cigarette fly out of your mouth.
“Ow! You moron, helium isn’t flammable!” you say as you dodge another slap.
“Liar! OH NO!” he shouts as you look over and see a tablecloth has caught fire.
“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” he shouts as he jumps out the nearest window screaming.
You just blink dumbfounded before you just shake your head and go over and put out the small fire.
Later
You were “Rewarded” for your actions at the skyport.
“Sir, although we appreciate what you did, you did have several weapons on your person.”
“Well yeah, I don’t trust luggage, and they helped in the long run,” you complain.
“Sir, we don’t know how you got these through security at Manehattan, someone’s definitely getting fired over there, but we can’t let you fly our airlines anymore.”
“Oh come on!”
“Be thankful that’s all it is. We’re allowing you to go, with your weapons, because of our heroism. Now please don’t make a scene sir and leave.”
“Fine! In the future I’ll be taking your competitor Southwest Skylines!” you shout, to which the TSA guard just starts snickering.
“Grr, stupid airlines. I stop some terrorists, and I’m the one who gets punished. Great, that’s just great…”
Later in Las Pegasus
You traveled around looking for the Trackatomi Plaza building, and along the way took in the sights. The Applewood sign, the Walk of Fame, Warner Sisters Studio, etc. You wanted to go to Whinny Land…but you didn’t think you could do it justice by only being in there for a few hours. Plus the tickets were like 100 bits.
“I’ll go see Walter Wombat later, right now, I gotta get to that party.”
At 7:30, you arrive at the building…and it’s pretty tall. You see lights at the Penthouse on top and realize this is where you are meant to go.
As you walk around the party, you see all kinds of celebrities, and rich folks mingling about, of all kinds of races besides ponies. You peer through the crowd as you stand by the punch bowl, for any sign, scent, or sound of a changeling.
A ridiculous looking stallion in blue clothes starts walking towards you and stops in front of you, and you get ready…but then he opens his mouth.
“Oh my gosh, can you please move out of the way? Rude…” he says in an effeminate voice.
You just raise your eyebrow and step to the side.
“Oh wow, took you long enough,” he says. Already you can tell this guy’s an asshole.
“You could’ve said please,” you snark.
“Oh wow and it talks. I don’t know about you Mr. McShabby hat, but when you’re the agent of the biggest pop star in Equestria, you don’t have to say please to anyone,” he says before taking a sip.
“Oh Gosh, this is terrible, just terrible. Cranberry Punch is not as good as Cherry!” he complains and walks off.
Note to Self: Make that moron eat his own clothes.
After awhile of sitting by the punch, and drinking it, you realize you really have to go to the bathroom. You hold on for as long as you can so as not to miss the fence…but.
“I can’t stand it no more!” you groan and rush to the restroom.