Killers, Outfits, Rape Joke
Chapter 25
“So he's the one we are here for?” One guard whispered to another. Their expressions were perfectly fitting them in with the rest of the of the crowd. His tone was low and even, not displaying his stunning disbelief that the changeling they were after, the changeling that escaped a decena, was that wasteful creature. He would barely be on par with a legionnaire.
“It's obvious he was restraining himself but so was the pegasus,” another confirmed. “If anything by a larger margin.”
“It doesn't have to make sense,” said a voice from behind them. Though he had taken the position of the lowest ranking pony he could find, their commander still brought terror into their beings. “Our mission is to kill him and leave. If necessary assist with Shining Armor's abduction.”
“Yes sir,” one made the mistake of whispering back. Though nopony could've hear him he felt their commander's rage as though it was a scream.
“You've been relegated to distracting the princesses when the time comes,” he said before walking off.
“Been a pleasure serving with you,” the other guard whispered as the fight reached it's inevitable conclusion.
“Likewise,” he said back, remaining perfectly stoic as Ancro tapped the ground. “I'll go to the rest of the detachment when I'm done here.”
“Doesn't matter to me,” he replied and looked over towards the sandy brown unicorn that seemed to be staring at him. Their eyes locked if only for the briefest of moments. Then he felt some primal fear arise inside the unicorn. It was almost like he knew. However, with the confusion mixed with the fear it seemed the contrary. He would have to bring this up to the commander. It was probably nothing, but still, this was highly unusual.
His fellow praetorian had gone to report to his new posting. It shouldn’t take too long, then he'd be back. He passed by a stock still Shining Armor. He reeked of trepidation and fear. Obviously he wanted to move forward to his wife, yet he couldn't find the strength. Whether he didn't know what to say or what to do, it wasn't important to him. Shining Armor wasn't his decana's responsibility. That fell to the decana of praetorians that were following him.
---
“I could really use a hug right now.” Ancro groaned as two thirds of the Triumvirate were escorted to their room. A number of factors were causing this hunger migraine. Firstly, the fight had taken a lot out of him; secondly, the ring they had crammed back on his horn had taken out his ability to absorb; and thirdly, Entomology or Specs or whatever he was supposed to call her had taken Scott and now his intake was cut in half. Before Stigandr could respond the changeling looked back towards the guards. “Any takers? I know you guys have been growing fond of me.” It didn't matter how miserable he was Ancro was always going to be a smart ass.
He saw blank stares but felt anger behind their stoic faces. Then Stigandr gave him a hug. Then the unicorn did something unexpected. He picked the changeling up and squeezed him forcing the air out of his lungs. When he was put back down he couldn't help but smile. After all the times he hugged Stigandr's floating ribs back on Earth it was about time he got some payback. Then Ancro heard a guard stifle a snicker.
Stigandr didn't know if it was because it caused the changeling pain or if they genuinely were finding their their antics funny. Ancro didn't really care as long as somepony was happy he was happy.
“Did Entomology say what she wanted Scott for?” Ancro said, catching his breath. As much as he liked to believe she was helping from the bottom of her heart, the changeling was skeptical. Granted, paranoia and distrust were two things that he did have problems with.
“I just assumed she's running test.” Stigandr replied shaking his mane from his eyes. He really needed to get it trimmed. “Although I can't shake the feeling there's something off about her. Asked Scott to see if he noticed anything.”
Ancro managed to keep a knowing smile off his face. He'd tell Stigandr when they were back in their rooms. The unicorn was always observant. Besides Specs didn't say to keep it a secret. She was probably planning a reveal to Stigandr at some point or another. She was probably already taking care of Scott, although he did wonder what tricks she could teach the griffin.
---
“Wow, I didn't imagine the lab like this.” Scott said as he looked around the room at the assorted equipment ranging from an X-Ray machine to one of those funny brain scan things. As well as chemicals and a... radar dish? Honestly, Scott had no clue. He assumed magic was the answer. It kept him from screaming when Ancro landed on the cloud during the fight. “What kind of tests did you want to do on me?”
“I don't need to run any tests. That was just an excuse so that I could get you alone.” She said. Scott suddenly felt very very uneasy. “Love is love, there is no real difference in how it's sent or how it interacts with a changeling.” Scott heard the sound of a changeling transforming and immediately spun around and saw one of the black bugs.
Before he could yell for help a thing of goo shot from her horn and landed on his beak. A second later she had gotten his wings and legs. The idiot almost blew her cover because of a little fright, and he was still terrified and fighting back. She knew she should calm him down, but then again she hadn't snacked on some fear in a while and it was extremely appetizing. Besides, it wasn't like Twilight was going to walk in. She had made plans with her friends while she waited for Ancro to recharge so that she could examine the armor.
“Now where did you think you were going my pet?” She smiled careful to expose her fangs. “The fun is only just beginning.” Scott screamed through the wax gag several of what Specs assumed were obscenities.
She walked over to his ears just below his beak. “Do you want to know what I'm going to do to you, or would you prefer a surprise?” Specs easily avoided the griffin's flailing. She felt his shock as her magic moved him from several of the more breakable items in the lab. She didn't want any excuse for a guard to come in here.
Smiling wickedly, Specs brought the griffin within inches of her face. “I'm going to teach you to fight since you've apparently been doing a poor job of it so far.”
After rolling around what she said several times Scott went from terrified to confused. She threatened him that if he screamed or alerted the guards he was going to die. Part of him wanted to challenge her claim but another part of him wanted free fighting lessons. He was tired of being practically useless. Scott nodded to show he understood and agreed. The wax came off.
---
“Are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked. She couldn't help but notice that her friend was messing with the wing the Ancro had grabbed.
“Yeah, still a bit sore after he grabbed me.” She said dismissively. She needed to learn how to do those, or at the very least resist them.
“Gotta admit, you had me worried a few times,” Applejack said, “But you showed that changeling what's what.”
“You sure did.” Pinkie explained, “You were all like bam bam whack and he grabbed you and started wailing on you then you took off and-” at this point everypony else had cut out Pinkie Pie's replay of the fight.
“Yeah he was pretty good but not quite as perfect as he claimed.” Rainbow Dash said, “Unless that's as perfect as a changeling gets.”
“Rainbow your eye's looking a little swollen,” Twilight said, “Do you think we should take you to the doctor?”
“Nah, I'll be good,” She replied, “I'd be more worried about him, felt something crack with that last kick.”
“Ancro will be fine,” Twilight said looking a bit more concerned for her friend. “If how quickly he healed yesterday was any indication, he'll be fine in a few hours.”
“I do have to admit that was kinda fun.” Rainbow Dash said somewhat out of the blue and to the shock of her friends. “Not just winning, the actual fight.”
“What in tarnation are you talking about?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow.
“I didn't think he was taunting,” Pinkie said. “Ancro is a bit too nice to do that.”
“Yeah what Pinkie said,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I mean he could've attacked me while he had my wing and really done something and after I shook him off he just waited.”
“He could've been tricking you or just been cocky,” Applejack explained. “Seems to fit him saying he's perfect all the time.”
“That is true,” Rainbow Dash laughed. “C'mon Twilight, let's take you to that restaurant we told you about. It gives you something to do while Ancro heals up.”
---
“Finished,” Rarity chimed to the empty room, and she started to put away the sowing supplies. The palace was wonderfully stocked and she was already compiling a list of supplies and equipment to order for her own boutique. With her magic she neatly folded the the three outfits and put the two hats in their separate boxes. With a name like the Triumvirate they should have matching outfits and the changeling’s... unusual request had shown light on what they desired in a uniform.
Now all she had to do was walk to their room and deliver it while avoiding running into prince Blueblood. She had been avoiding that pony like the plague. She was a guest and would behave as one, even to such a pompous, arrogant, mule of a pony. Honestly, how could somepony like that be related to the princesses? Yes, it was common knowledge that it was extremely distant. Still though, the way he acted was unforgivable for somepony of royal birth. They were supposed to behave with nobility and dignity.
Rarity decided to change her train of thought so she wouldn't lose control of her temper. She turned to thinking about the Triumvirate. They were obviously very close friends; just looking at the lengths Scott and Stigandr went to free Ancro was proof of that. Still she wanted to know how it all began. How did a changeling, a griffin, and a unicorn become best friends? Their personalities not matching up wasn't what bothered her. After all, neither did her’s, Pinkie Pie's, Applejack's, or Rainbow Dash's, but they were still fairly good friends.
She approached the door and smiled at the stoic guards. She resisted rolling her eyes as they as they asked her to open the boxes so they could make sure she wasn't bringing them any contraband. Granted she knew that with the changelings on the loose the guards couldn't be too careful. They haven't even narrowed down the list as far as she knew it still included the majority of the palace staff.
After getting through the guards she knocked on the center door to announce her presence.
---
“Stigs,” Ancro whimpered while laying on the bed. “I think I may be a bit too crazy.”
“Yes you probably are,” Stigandr said. “But burning yourself out when you are running on fumes over fulfilling a desire on your brony checklist isn't crazy as much as...”
“Stupid?” Ancro asked with a slight chuckle.
“Yup,” he responded. He had wanted to put it in nicer terms but the way Ancro had put it was probably best. “Honestly part of me wants to leave this room and leave you alone with the migraine.”
“No please don't,” Ancro groaned. “It will take longer to go away.”
“Exactly my point,” Stigandr replied, “now be quiet.”
There was a knock on the door. That meant visitors. Visitors meant noise. Ancro got up from the bed and trudged into the next room. He'd rather it take longer to go away than deal with the immediate pain. He'd be back when the visitors left. He also realized he forgot to bring up Entomology to Stigandr. He figured he'd do it when he got to feeling better. Not like she was plotting to kill him.
“Hello Stigandr,” Rarity chimed as she walked into the room. “Where are your friends if you don't mind me asking.”
“Entomology is doing a study on Scott, and Ancro's in the next room nursing his migraine.” Stigandr replied.
“Wouldn't it be better if he were in here?” she asked. “Twilight filled me in that those typically hit when they are hungry.”
“I can get him back in here if you want me too,” Stigandr said with a mischievous smile as he walked up to the door Ancro walked out of.
“No, I don't want to inconvenience him,” she said politely.
“Won't be an inconvenience at all.” Stigandr grinned before clearing his throat and spoke loudly and clearly through the door. “Yeah I guess even Ancro has limits to how much pain he can take.”
Ancro had walked back in within a few moments Ancro walked in looking very irate and directing towards Stigandr. Unfortunately Rarity was still holding her packages with magic and it was making him miserable.
“Sorry man, you can go,” Stigandr said stifling his chuckle.
“No,” Ancro said in a voice barely above a whisper, “I'm fine.” Ancro really wished Stigandr could sense emotions so he could tell how much of an ass he was. He knew dang well he wouldn't back down from a passive aggressive challenge.
“Sorry to bother you both,” Rarity said as she opened the boxes and handed the contents to Stigandr and Ancro. “But I've been working on these and I have to know what you all think. I figured a group with a name like the Triumvirate should have matching uniforms. It's also a bit of thank you for agreeing to help us.” She started to magically unpack the boxes then noticed Ancro's discomfort with the more magic she used.
“It's alright. We can open them when Scott gets back.” Stigandr said.
“I'll probably be feeling better by then too,” Ancro added, half squinting his eyes. Why did Rarity have to be so blindingly white?
“I hope you get to feeling better Ancro,” Rarity said in a softer tone as she walked out the door.
“Y'know Stigs,” Ancro said, turning his head slightly to look at his friend, “you can be a real ass at times.”
“I didn't tell you to come in,” he responded with a smile. “Lie down and get some rest. Twilight will be wanting to take a look at your armor.”
---
“I need a break,” Scott said, gasping for air. Specs had been giving him a crash course in griffin combat basics. Everything from weather control to better flying. Apparently being able to become anything made you a relative expert in everything.
“We don't have time. Twilight is going to get Ancro and want to study him since he used armor,” Specs said. “You need to get better.”
“Why are you even teaching me this?” Scott asked. “It makes more sense to tell me who the damn spy is.”
“Changelings have no way to spot each other, the best way is to look for abnormalities.” She stomped. “Besides, knowing how to make weather and not get blown to Tartarus is more useful!”
“Yeah but if we deal with the spy can get in better standing with the princesses.” he defended. “As long as those praetorians aren't coming after us we should be fine.”
“All I came here to do is teach you how to not get killed,” she said pointedly. “If praetorians do come for you or if the spy or spies is a praetorian what are you going to do?”
“Fine,” Scott growled. “What if I say I'll reveal you if you don't help me?”
Spec flew at Scott and knocked him on the ground then put one of her forelegs to his neck. She then used her magic to increase the muscle density and let him use his imagination to guess just how strong it was. “If you even joke about telling anypony,” she hissed into his ear, “I will warp your mind and make you believe you love me more than your own life!”
After she had gotten off Scott he begrudgingly started to put the lab back the way they found it. He was swearing under his breath the entire time. Specs turned back into Entomology and helped put the lab back in order.
“What am I going to tell Twilight if she asks why you were studying me?” Scott growled after a few minutes of silence.
“I was testing to see if griffins give the same output of love as ponies and if it is absorbed the same way,” she said. “The answer was yes. C'mon lets get you back to your room.”
---
“Scott, look what Rarity got us!” Ancro proclaimed after he returned to the room. Stigandr and Ancro had decided to try them on without Scott after Ancro opened the box. They both knew there was no way to get him in. Still, never hurt to try.
“I’m not wearing that,” Scott said. “I’d rather go naked.”
“C’mon Scott, they don’t look that bad,” Ancro teased, adjusting the shirt Rarity made for him.
“No,” Scott said. “Beside's this is not how the Triumvirate is supposed to look. I blame you for giving her this idea in the first place.”
“Scott just try the dang thing on,” Stigandr said. “It's not going to kill you.”
“And how are we supposed to look?” Ancro asked, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.
“Not like a pony, a changeling, and a griffin dressed as blue shriners. Although I have to say what I am is pretty bad ass.” Scott stopped, “We should look like the ripped guys on those old movie posters. Us all standing atop a mound of the corpses of fallen enemies, me in the middle holding two big guns, Stigs looking like he could pound the hulk into dust, you just standing there with yer fedora or driver hat kinda creepy like while wearing your trench coat.”
“Scott, you’re stalling,” Stigandr pointed out. “Why don’t you just put it on and get it over with?”
“You know why Stigs,” Scott replied, his tone turning into more of a sulking one than earlier.
“Scott, just accept the fact that it is a gift from Rarity and get dressed,” Ancro said. He was like this all the time with gifts. Even at Christmas and his birthday. Ancro had gotten to the point of just leaving them in his car so that he would be forced to keep them. It beat the alternative of shoving the present down his throat. “She’s the element of generosity, it’s what she does.”
“Still, I can’t give her anything back so… I just feel uncomfortable.” Scott said, from inside the bathroom he started to hear a steady thumping. “Ancro are you beating your head against the wall?”
“Of all the morals you don’t have why do you have to have the most annoying one?” Ancro said, “I mean seriously man.”
“Scott,” Stigandr said before Ancro could continue his rant, “don’t think of it as a gift, but as early payment for us helping to find the changelings.”
“Fine,” Scott said and opened the door revealing the outfit that Rarity had made for him. “But I'm not wearing the fez, I'll look like a blue Shriner.”
“Scott, wear the fez.” Ancro said feeling like his friend was fixing to give him an aneurism. “Honestly I have no idea why you don't like fezzes.”
“I'm in the outfit,” Scott said, “you're not getting anything else.”
“Please?” Ancro said and put on his best pouty face. “If you don't wear it we won't all match and then think of how that will affect Stigandr and your OCD?”
“No, I'm not wearing the fez,” Scott said. “It's bad enough that that bitch Specs or Entomology or whatever her name is went full DI on me.”
“Wait what?” Stigandr said, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh yeah I meant to bring that up to you but migraine and stuff,” Ancro said sheepishly.
“Entomology is really a changeling named Specs.” Scott said face-taloning at Ancro's forgetfulness. “She's the one who offered to train Ancro in the sewers before Shining Armor beat the piss out of him.”
“Alright but what's she doing in the palace?” Stigandr said. “And why is she training you?”
“I don't know,” Ancro said. “She claims it’s ‘cause she is nice and sticks to her word.”
“Isn't deception possibly one of their main things?” Scott said.
“I'm not saying I believed her,” Ancro said. “I was just saying what she said.”
“Great, so now we have a changeling with most likely horrible motives is helping us.” Stigandr said, “Anyone else forgetting anything?”
---
“Sister? I thought you had gone to bed,” Celestia said as she walked into the library and saw Luna pouring over books.
“I should have, but being forced out of their dreams has been bothering me,” she said. “I am seeing if there is some spell that I could've missed, some geass charm that could conceivably keep them awake.”
“Luna, we both know any magic of that power has been lost to the ages. The last two unicorns able to perform that spell are gone. Sombra was destroyed and Starswirl vanished.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said.
“I know you are not suggesting that my student has made an ancient spell for the sake of looking for a non-existent book,” Celestia chuckled.
“No I'm saying that it seems to be within the possibilities of her potential,” Luna said dryly.
“Get some rest dear sister, otherwise you won't be able to raise the moon,” Celestia said, then turned to leave the library.
“You said vanished,” Luna said out of the blue. “You still hope to see our teacher again?”
“I do,” Celestia said. “After all that is what happened, he went into his tower and vanished.”
“Celestia, always so hopeful,” Luna said, making her voice deeper so she could mock their teacher. “When will you learn to blah blah blah.”
“I remember when he walked in on you doing that impression,” Celestia said with a smile.
“Why do you think I did it?” Luna said, then nuzzled her sister. “I'm going to rest. Hopefully you'll be able to make some headway with the Triumvirate since Ancro has had his fun.”
“Thank you for your patience with him.”
“I just hope he doesn't push us any further,” she said. “Luckily the griffins haven't asked us why we are holding one of theirs in captivity. I'd hate to destroy their friendship.”
“I think that if we did do that the other two would take any opening they had and break out just to go get him,” Celestia said with smile.
“Sadly I have a feeling I'd be willing to give them the opening,” Luna said. “Ancro and Stigandr do not seem like the individuals that do well when angered. And it doesn't seem like they'd actually hurt anypony.”
---
“Shining Armor,” Cadence said to her husband as she snuck up behind him. He had been sulking around rehearsing his speech about how sorry he was. She could tell from the somber look in his eyes.
Cadence didn't need to hear it, she put a wing up to his mouth to prevent him from talking. She already knew it was eating him inside. Cadence knew him better than anypony including his sister. She knew he blamed himself for hitting her, and for her being in a dangerous situation to begin with. The princess could already hear him apologizing for going to visit Twilight and not personally escorting her to and from Ancro's cell. She looked him deeply in the eyes.
Shining Armor tried to apologize for so much. This was his second time failing to protect her. Yet every time he tried to open his mouth to speak Cadence would silence him with a glance. She gestured for him to follow by her side as they walked the familiar path to their room. He hadn't slept in it for what felt like weeks though. Granted he hadn't slept at all since he hit her.
When they arrived she closed the door. Shining Armor saw this as his opportunity to start his apology. Cadence cut him off with a kiss. With that he knew all was well and all was forgiven.
---
“Stop!” A guard shouted at him. He didn't do anything wrong though, he just wanted to play. They had locked him up for playing too. Some of his playmates had broken and they blamed him for it. He didn't do it, they just couldn't keep playing at the pace he did so he had tried to help them. The friends in his head kept telling him that if he hurt them they'd be able to play again. However that got them playing and they started to play tag. His friends said to play tag with sharp things and to tag them with those. But when he tagged them they wouldn't tag him back. How selfish. They'd sit there and whine and scream. So in order to explain the rules to them a bit further he kept tagging them and tagging them until they broke.
Then he had to go find a new friend to play with. ‘Cause while they were good for ideas and talking and for helping him in hide-and-seek, the friends in his head weren't good for playing any games. Speaking of hide-and-seek, maybe he could play that with the guards. After all, the other guards were nice enough to let him out of the prison. Those nice black ponies even opened the cell for him. Granted he needed to borrow someponies armor to sneak out but the black guard with the buzzing wings had been nice enough to leave a broken guard with his armor on. All he had to do was put on the armor and he had been able to sneak out once they cleared the entrance of course. It was lots of fun.
“Playtime stop!” The guard shouted again as more followed him. Wow this guard was silly, that's not how you play tag and he wasn't letting him play hide-and-seek. They were not playing fairly at all. He saw the shadow of a pegasus go over him. Maybe that guard would play tag? Oh she looked real pretty. With the orange mane she looked almost like that Spitfire Wonderbolt. He'd definitely play with her when he got the chance. She looked fast. He wondered how fast and spread his wings so he could fly after her. He didn't like using them, it didn't seem fair to earth ponies and unicorns he wanted to play with but this was a pegasus and he could play with her quite well with his wings. She stayed over him and kept getting closer and closer.
She was trying to force him down. He did that to a pegasus playmate before. He didn't get the rules of tag and kept running after he tagged him. It made him so angry. He broke him on purpose. Suddenly she kicked him.
He smiled she liked to play rough he kicked her back and flew off as fast as he could. She was it. She closed the distance on him and tackled him. They tumbled into a cloud. Now they were wrestling? Playtime felt confused, they were playing tag and now they were wrestling. Those had happened before but only with him doing the tagging and after his playmates refused to play. He then saw what was on her hip. Shackles! If she put those on him he couldn't play anymore? He'd go back to that place where ponies wouldn't play with him and if he started to play he'd be put in time out. He hated time out. They also talked to him like they were convinced they could help him. How could they help him when there was nothing wrong?
Desperately he looked down and saw more guards all with shackles. They weren't going to play like her, he knew it. He managed to break free and tag his new pegasus playmate in her face. Before he could completely get away though she managed to tag him again. He knew he should have said 'no tag backs.'
With her stunned he was able to take off into the busy streets of Canterlot. He just needed a safe place to hide until he got a chance to follow her and tag her back. His head friends said to use something pointy to tag her and he was going to listen to them. They hadn't done him anything wrong before.
---
Ancro fiddled with the tassel on his fez while brainstorming with the rest of his friends on how to narrow down the list of suspects.
“Does anyone else feel like we are playing Clue?” Ancro asked as they looked at the notes Stigandr had made, writing in Equestrian was a pain. Scott tried to write in English but to no real avail. All three of them together couldn't begin to write it out. It was extremely slow and frustrating. At one point Ancro and Scott got in a yelling match with the ceiling while Stigandr caught up on taking notes with his mouth.
“I hate Clue,” Scott grumbled. “Honestly why the hell can't we write in English? Why! Worst case they think its some kind of code we came up with. Why the hell can't we write in English!”
“I don't know either,” Ancro said, forcing his irritation into humor. “If it's worth anything though, Stigandr's penmanship is better than mine was back on earth.”
“That's not what matters. What matters is that whatever the hell cosmic entity, multiversal laws, or things that made it so we can't talk also makes it so we can't write.” Scott said, “I figured we couldn't write down all the things about our world and crap but c'mon why the hell can't we write in English to speed this up?”
“Honestly I'm a bit surprised we haven't come across this before. Its just like reading before we got to the library,” Ancro laughed.
“What a load of help you are,” Scott said. “You and Stigs both are seeing this as some vacation! I'd rather go on vacation in a warzone. At least I'd know who was planning to shoot me!”
“Why do you want to get shot?” Ancro said, cocking an eyebrow.
“I got shot at with fireballs, I think that may count,” Scott said “Also nearly drowned. Yet you, Stagandr, and now some random changeling beat the tar out of me so I can get better at fighting; back on Earth I didn't have a need for it! Let's not forget that we are now illiterate and can't talk about all the crap that happens and we can't get home. Just cause you can't stand your family doesn't mean I want to stay here the rest of my life.”
“Feel better?” Ancro said. He knew Scott's temper could get out of control and now he was just egging on the griffin to vent. Scott would keep it bottled up until some unwitting pony pushed the wrong button and set him off. Honestly, if there was anything Ancro was good at it was being a verbal punching bag to some angry person. Typically one of his adopted sisters but you take what you can get. Ancro just tuned out Scott's tirade as the griffin continued to scream. He really needed to get some anger management classes. That can't be healthy to his anything.
“Scott, focus now, get angry late,” Stigandr said, setting the quill down. “We need to think, what would the spy be?”
“They need to hide in plain sight,” Ancro said, “means they'd probably pick lighter colors like blue.”
“So now every blue pony is a target?” Scott rolled his eyes.
“Well narrows down the list somewhat,” Ancro said. “Also blue or gray or hell any neutral colors that our eyes tend to skip over.”
“You just narrowed it down then expanded the list again,” Scott said. “What about occupation? What would the spy do?”
“Well they'd have to sneak around easily.”
“Also go unnoticed,” Ancro said. “Who can go room to room without being noticed?”
“Like a maid?” Scott said. “So we are looking for a blue or neutral color pony with a maid outfit.”
“Scott, that makes perfect sense.” Stigandr said.
“Awesome. No dungeon deportation deep dark pit for the Triumvirate.” Ancro said happily just as Twilight walked in.
---
“So you three were finally able to profile the spy,” Twilight said as she examined Ancro's armored form.
“Yep and, wow, we did it in record time,” Ancro said. “Of course what do you expect, I am perfect after all.”
For a moment Twilight was tempted to hit him. He knew it was all three of them who came up with the profile. He knew it too, he just stood in the back quietly while Stigandr filled her in. Now here he was taking all the credit.
“I'm a bit curious Ancro,” Twilight said after a moment of her picking at some of the chitinous armor. To her surprise it evaporated as soon as it broke off. “How are you able to hold your head up with such an over inflated ego?”
“Easily,” Ancro smiled. “So where's Entomology?” Ancro felt it best to keep tabs on her.
“She had to run to her apartment and take care of a few things,” Twilight said absently.
“Neat,” Ancro said. He needed to ask her a few minor things next time he talked to her. Like how to do that two horned business that they had in the prison. Also if it was possible if he could make himself explode. Not that he wanted to, but if he could do it on accident.
---
“Sorry I'm late,” Firecracker said she landed outside the restaurant where Shift worked. “Guard business.”
“It's alright,” Shift said, smiling at her. “We can still have time to get a bite to eat.”
“Okay,” she said and followed him to one of the restaurants that was still open.
“I saw you flying today, by the way,” he said absently. “You looked like a filly who had lost her pet. Did you lose Celestia's pet while you were out walking it?”
“Nothing so simple,” she fumed. “A piece of trash pony who escaped during the prison riots got away.”
“What do you mean?” Shift asked.
“Damn. I let that slip,” She replied. “It's best if you forget it, I don't want to start a panic.”
“Don't worry. I'm great at keeping secrets.”
“Yeah but its not your flank on the line if you let the secret out,” she said. “Just be on the look out for a white pegasus with a blonde mane and a slide for a cutie mark. If you see him, call a guard.”
“Okay,” he said. He didn't have to ask any more questions. In the short time he spent in the prison he had become familiar with the pony she was talking about. Needless to say if that pony was in changeling society he would've been put down a long time ago. Or he'd be promoted to a praetorian.
“Your rainbow maned friend came back today,” he smiled, changing the subject once he tasted she was depressed. “Looked like she got into a fight.”
“Yeah she did,” Firecracker responded.
“Is that why you have a bruise on your face?” he asked. He assumed that they had made nice, but he couldn't be sure. Changelings could hold grudges for an exceptionally long time, it differed from one to another.
“No, that was the thing I'm not allowed to discuss. She got into a fight at the palace,” she said in such a way telling him not to push it further.
“Well here we are.”
“Ooh classy,” she joked and walked with him to browse the menu. It was a simple menu with simple taste. Shift, however, had to play that he was working on a budget when in reality he had a small fortune saved up. One of the benefits of not needing to eat. They made their order and sat down to enjoy their date.
(Hope you all enjoyed it and as always feedback is appreciated and welcomed. Big thanks to my editors Tuv, Pon Katt, Tsujin Rilauco, Abyx4433. Thanks to my artist Sara for making the cover art for this story. Sorry if my updates have been irregular that's been the state of my life recently. Hard to believe I'm coming up on a year of writing this story too. Very rarely can I keep my attention span focused on a single story for this much time. Thanks for reading!)
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Splurgle Floosal.
JESUS MAN I NEED MY FIX MAKE MOAR!!!
Great, as always! Here, take my mustaches!
Oh, but now I will have to wait for another glorious chapter! Oh, woe is me!
I can't wait to see what happens next, my friend.
Tiger Time
MOAR!
imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg
Dang, I wonder when they will find out they have been keeping Interdimensional beings captive ;3
2920125
Just asking, don't mind me.
white pegasus yellow mane - got super excited
slide cutie mark - and sad again, was hopinh it was surprise, unless this is just another interpretation of her?
i think i got figured how to discover a changeling in disguise. .
a changeling can taste anything, so if you make a pony eat something and ancro can taste it, its a pony
if ancro can't taste it its a changeling.
but you have to trust ancro not to lie.
good as always, only sad that chapters are so irregular and rare, but please take your time.
I really like stories where changelings are not completly evil and you are nicely balancing with shift and rest of the changelings that are against Chrysalis. Not evil, but not completely good. I hope this date with firecracker won't end bed, I really wish him luck with his truly earned love.
2974781
Or you take a pony with a strong will, and make him eat something awful, but in a way that others can't see or smell what he is eating. and look how other ponies react.
3066369 refering to your opinion on the "good" changeling in this fic, i believe that suitable terms for classifying them would be chaotic good, chaotic neutral or lawful evil, it probably depends of the individual chaingling
Anyone else notice that ponies are portrayed as raciest most of the time. Before you go ragging hear me out. For exaple during World War II, if you saw a German you wouldn't scream "Fire". Even if the had a swatchka on their arm you'd at least bring them in before you shoot. Whereas with ponies, in most fan fiction, they see a changeling and the first thing they do is assume that the only reason for them being there is to harm them. In the case of this fiction let's look at the actual crimes committed by Ancro.
1: Breaking and entering
2: Resisting arrest
3: Escaping from prison
4: Assault (if hitting Cadence and Twilight's horn counts as such)
Taking into account the fact that pony laws are likely much stricter to promote harmony, if he was a pony with these crimes he'd most likely at most four years (more likely two) with parole. So the majority of the reason they're being held the way that they are is caused by the fact that Ancro is a Changeling, i.e Ponies are racist
3345890
Ya that seems to happen a lot but I read this one fan fiction were as a changeling was being chased he screamed stop then asked what he did wrong all they came up with was because your a changeling. He then proceeded to scold the whole town for assuming
3345890
no, ponies are just afraid of everything.
3345890
Because even against the Nazis, they're all still human. It's much easier to harbor an attitude of differentiation when they're two different species.
It's kinda like how some black stereotypes and white stereotypes just never seem to disappear, because first impressions matter, and it's all history from then on.