> Boast Bypassed
>  by GreyGuardPony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Hoofington Waltz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The town square of Hoofington was awash in the warm glow from it's many newly installed electric street lights, the yellow glow highlighting the crowd of ponies that sat in the square and in the outdoor seating of the restaurants that lined said square. 

Their attention was directed towards the cart that had been pulled to the far end of the cobblestone circle and the group of musicians that were standing before it. They parted slightly, a caramel coated white maned and tailed pegaus stepped forward, standing on her hind legs fiddle in her hooves.

As one of her co-musicians placed a small plain box before them, she began to play. It was a jaunty little tune, one that she began to dance to as she played her hooves clacking on the cobblestone. 

Trixie smiled from the little view window in her cart. Her grandpapa would probably have gotten on her case for letting somepony take the spotlight before her act, but the mare really was a fantastic player. Besides, professional courtesy did dictate that travelling entertainers let locals go first; it helped warm up the crowd. 

As the ponies in the crowd began to toss bits into the box, Trixie turned her gaze towards her own small battered chest. Her collection of bits was running low, only a few coins scattered along the bottom. Her flight from Neigh Orleans had been on such short notice that she had barely been able to gather enough money for the trip.

And then there had been the strange series of misfortunes that had been continuing to dog her. Ponies driven away from her shows, her cart sabotaged a few times. Somepony was gunning for her and she had a feeling she knew who.

Reflexively she pulled her hat off and checked the stack of documents that she kept stowed inside, counting each page meticulously. All twenty five right where they should be. She tucked them back into her hat and took a calming breath. 

“Nothing I can't handle.” She muttered to herself. “I'm the Great and Powerful Trixie! I can do this.”

The musicians had stopped playing, stepping aside so that Trixie could start the main act. Giving the rope that controlled the fold out stage a yank she gave her opening spiel. 

“Come one! Come all! Come and witness the greatest show in Equestria! The amazing and fantastic magic of the Great and Powerful...TRIXIE!”

A flick of a hoof sent a smoke pellet through the curtain, a well placed illusion spell adding some much needed sparkles as she took her place. The crowd properly ooo'ed and ahh'ed at the trick, Trixie smiling as she began to move into her set. 

She started off small with a collection of her favourite slight of hoof tricks. The classic guess the card, ball under the cup, linked metal rings- all of the usual ones. But then she began to pick up her game a bit, moving into more in depth illusion based tricks. The crowd continued to cheer and stomp their hooves with each illusion, Trixie's smile growing wider and wider. She had them.

It was time for the big illusion display of the show. 

“And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie, great, great descendant of the famed seer Crystal Gazer the Brilliant will pierce the veil between worlds and present you a feat of magic that not even the alicorn sisters that guide the sun and moon can duplicate!”

A gasp echoed through the square, mixed with a few derisive chuckles from the hecklers that thought she was full of garbage. Trixie ignored them as she began to channel, wrapping a pair of spells around herself. 

To the audience, it seemed that Trixie was beginning to levitate her eyes glowing with crackling blue energy. In reality, she had turned herself invisible, conjured up the illusion of herself, and wrapped a spell around her throat to give it a suitably eerie effect. 

“Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie is peering between worlds! I see the truth of it all! The secrets of creation!”

She gasped in mock horror. 

“We are in danger! Horrible creatures are coming! I can see them crossing the veil! They're...they're...HUMANS!”

A few well placed auditory illusions of horrible growls and snarls around the square made the audience flinch and ripple, a few mutters of concern rumbling from the those who had heckled before. 

Trixie layered the next part of the enchantment, rippling portals seeming to open up around the town square and vanishing again before a large one appeared on stage next to her. The crowd screamed in horror as horde of creatures came spilling out. 

This was the part of her travelling act that Trixie liked the best, playing off of the stories that had been in the papers since that human had tried to destroy everything. Of course, there hadn't been any pictures of what the human had looked like so she had been forced to improvise. 

Almost sickeningly thin, their shadowy forms had exaggeratedly long arms, legs and fingers. She had left her facial features undefined, better to let the audience project their fears. Surging from the portal, they rushed towards Trixie as they howled in anger. The crowd gasped, appropriately so. Just how Trixie wanted it.

“Fear not everypony! The Great and Powerful Trixie will protect you!” 

The first “human” charged Trixie, howling in the nonsense language she had devised for it. Dropping her first illusion, auditory and invisibility spells all at once Trixie extended both of her forelegs and grabbed the onrushing figure. With a few quick motions, she folded the human up like it was a piece of paper and with a flick of her hoof made a rose appear in it's place. 

An appreciative cheer filled the square, Trixie tossing the flower out to the crowd as she prepared to defeat the next of her illusionary foes.

So wrapped up in her performance Trixie was, she completely missed the black chitinous figure that crept under the stage. The shadows cast by the street lamps almost seemed to cling to it's form hiding it from view. Nimbly slipping through the back door the figure paused, taking in the scene. 

Her carapace spoke to her changeling origins, but the lack of holes in the legs, straighter horn and full pupiled eyes pegged her as a member of the free Venexian strain. Thorn licked her lips as she worked out her plan of action. Plant the evidence, find the stolen information. Set the annoying unicorn up for a fall and then get out. Just how her client wanted it to go down.

Thorn reached into her pack, pulling out the large bag of bits that she had stolen from the town's emergency fund; she grinned as she slid it under Trixie's pillow. With that done she quickly and quietly began to rummage through whatever drawers and chests were contained within the cart.

She moved with the practiced grace of a creature who had done this dozens of times before, systematically searching each drawer and chest before carefully putting them back where she found them. 

“Come on...where would I hide stolen information if I was a complete egotist of a showmare with a talent for illusions. She'd have to keep it close...”

Another cheer roared through the crowd as Trixie banished another one of her illusionary humans. Thorn's eyes narrowed as a realization washed over her. 

“Oh that bi-”

A deep and bellowing roar cut through the air, true screams of panic erupting from the crowd at this point. Frowning, she risked a peek through the curtain that separated the rest of the cart from the stage. 

A large ursine figure, it's blue body almost seeming to be made out of stars, was marching through the streets towards the town square. The crowd that had gathered to watch the show were now bolting away from the monster in a blind panic. 

Thorn ground her teeth as she spotted two of the ponies that were running away from the ursa minor. She pulled back quickly rushing back out the door. 

“Those idiots!”


- - - -
 

Trixie wanted to scream in frustration as she watched the ursa minor prowl towards her. Another show ruined, another chance to make enough bits to cover her flank until she got to Canterlot, trashed.

Part of her screamed to quickly pack up and leave before something else could get blamed on her. But even as that thought crossed her mind, she could hear the voice of her grandpapa in her head. 

Don't you dare, Trixie. 

Swearing under her breath, she quickly glanced around for somepony who could assist with the plan she was already forming in her head. Pretty much everypony had bolted at this point, but the fiddle player- Rising Note was her name Trixie believed- was standing near the stage jaw agape.

“You!” Trixie yelled, pointing a hoof at her. “I need your help!”

“M-me?”

“Yes! I need you to follow me and play something soothing!” 

Waiting only for the nod response, Trixie jumped off her stage and rushed towards the Ursa Minor, Rising Note right behind her. Her grandpapa's voice echoed in her mind again.

Ursa Minor. Susceptible to music and soothing lights.

She skidded to a halt at the end of the street that the star bear was striding up, the beast's head drawing even with roof tops as it's eyes locked very firmly onto her. Gulping, Trixie glanced behind her and nodded to Rising Note. 

“Play!”

Her wings were quavering, but Rising Note raised her fiddle and began to play. It was a slower more mournful tune standing out in stark contrast to the jaunty jig she was playing before. 

Trixie channelled again as the ursa drew right up to her, conjuring a swirling field of soft blue and green lights. Standing on her own hind hooves, Trixie began to gently sway back and forth; twisting and dancing the colored lights before the ursa minor in what she hoped was a calming pattern. 

The ursa minor's eyes began to droop as the performance continued it's whole body beginning to sway back and forth, entranced. 

“What do we do now?” Rising Note hissed. 

“We walk it back out of here.”

“How?”

“Very, very carefully.”


- - - -
 

An hour later, Trixie and Rising Note were slowly walking back towards Hoofington the ursa minor having been safely tucked back into it's cave. Trixie glanced over at the young pegasus, a smile crossing her muzzle. 

“Thanks for backing me up there.”

She smiled back. 

“Not a problem. That was an impressive light show you put on.”

Trixie grinned as she adjusted her hat. 

“Well my grandpa taught me a whole lot in terms of slight of hoof and other magic.”

“Well, it certainly seems to have paid off.” 

As they approached the town square again Trixie noticed the large group of ponies that seemed to be angrily setting themselves up around her cart. An earth pony mare with a pine needle green coat seemed to be leading the mob. That fact was especially evident when she spotted Trixie and pointed a hoof at her. 

“There she is! She's the one who lured the ursa minor into the city and stole our money!”

“Wait...what?” Trixie gaped. 

The pony produced a thick bag of bits. 

“I found this hidden under your pillow! You've stolen from us, great and devious Trixie!”

“I...I did not! I'm being set up!”

“Who would bother to set you up?” She responded as she passed the bag of bits to one of the town guard. “Lock her up!”

“Wait...no!” Rising Note shouted as she stepped forward. “Why would she rob the town and then stick around? Besides, that ursa minor could have done a great deal of damage if she hadn't intervened!”

The guard seemed to be unsure now, exchanging glances with each other. The pine needle colored earth pony frowned, continuing to press the issue. 

“Well you can't just let her go! At least detain her until you figure all of this out.”

Trixie could see the direction this was going already. This was a short term con, designed to get her out of the way for a little while so that whoever was messing with her could get unfettered access to her cart and possessions. And considering her current situation, she only had one real option.

“Rising Note,” She whispered, “Do you trust me?”

Rising Note didn't look behind her but nodded slightly. Trixie smirked. This mare was smart, not making the response obvious. 

“All right. When I slide you the papers, you need to hide them some place safe and then meet me back outside the town.”

With another slight nod from Rising Note, Trixie stepped forward to meet the guard as they came to take her into custody. She waited for the two guard ponies to place their hooves on her back before launching into her plan. 

“How dare you touch the plot of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” 

“What?!”

Spinning to face one of the guards she slapped him right across the muzzle. He stumbled back in shock, exchanging a glance with partner before sputtering in indignation. 

“I did not touch your plot! My hoof didn't even get near there!”

Trixie took off her hat and cape tossing them to the ground like she was preparing for a fight, stalking forward and tapping her hoof into the chest of the offending guard. 

“Just because you're going to put me into custody doesn't mean that you can sexually harass me!”

The guard's expression became all the more panicked as he backed away from Trixie. 

“I...I...no! I didn't touch you! I swear!”

“A likely story! The Great and Powerful Trixie recognizes a stallion's lustful desires when she sees them.”

“This is insane! I don't have any lustful desires!”

“Well, you did last week when we were at the tavern...” His partner commented.

“You're not helping!” 

Trixie glanced back at Rising Note, who had scooped up her hat and cloak and trotted away while the crowd was focused on her own antics and the arguing that was now flying back and forth between the two guards.

With her necessary deception accomplished, Trixie decided to play along for now holding up her forelegs. 

“Very well! The Great and Powerful Trixie will follow along with you for now, if only to prove this accusation is completely baseless!”

She allowed herself to be led away, hoping that she had made the correct call. 


- - - -
 

Thorn watched Trixie get escorted away by the guards, a smile playing across her muzzle as she hopped down from the cart and trotted after the pegasus that had taken the magicians' clothing. 

Nopony else had seen the switch, being focused on the fighting instead, but she had the proper training to pick up on what was, quite frankly, an embarrassing attempt at misdirection. As she broke around the corner she was joined by two stallions, another earth pony and a pegasus. 

“What in Tartarus was that?” She glared at them.

The slate gray pegasus swung his one good eye Thorn's way, the frown that was already on his muzzle growing all the deeper. His mood was about as dower as the billowing storm cloud cutie-mark that was emblazoned on his flanks. Storm Front was aptly named.

"That was an ursa minor."

"I know it was an usra minor. Why were you two idiots leading it into town?"

“We came up with a plan. It was a decisive plan. Better than your plan. Would have dealt with Trixie on a permanent basis.”

Thorn paused in mid step, turning her head to glare at him. 

“This is not a kill operation. My organization does not conduct assassinations. Far too much heat.”

The earth pony, dark brown puddle cutie-mark clashing against his light tan coat flashed a grin that was more of a leer than anything, his eyes roaming over every inch of her body even as he talked.

“But that's why this would have worked! Lulamoon dies in an ursa minor attack. Nothing can be tied back to you.” Muddy Waters commented as he leered.

Thorn was back to grinding her teeth. Picking her next words carefully, she spoke slowly and deliberately emphasizing each word as if she was speaking to children.  

“Large monsters do not wander out of the Everfree often and even an ursa minor could leave a rather large body count. And large body counts lead to investigations, because the princesses do not like to see their little ponies get hurt. And if you two think that you're good enough to hide from the likes of that, you're even dumber than you look!”

Storm Front whirled around in mid step, poking a hoof into Thorn's chest. 

“I. Do not. Work. For you. I work for Bayou Runner. And if he tells me to make sure that Lulamoon does not breathe again, then that's what I do.”

Thorn hissed back, letting her fangs show. 

“That is IT! I am one hundred and ten percent done with you sputtering, incompetent sorry excuses for body guard rental ponies! Two bloody weeks we've been chasing that damn mare, and you two have probably been undermining me the whole damn time!”

Muddy Waters chuckled. “Oh, you'll get paid either way. Why do you even care?” 

“Because I'm a professional, which is more than I can say for you two!”

Giving her tail a flick of annoyance, Thorn flipped a small magical sphere that was hidden in her tail hair out into her hoof. 

“Good luck finding your own way back.” She snarled as she smashed the sphere with her hoof. 

The stored transportation spell completed itself as the glass broke, causing her to vanish with a soft pop of light. 


- - - -
 

Thorn reappeared in the basement of the Neigh Orleans manor house that served both as her personal home and as the Lernerian headquarters in the city. Stomping for the stairs, a flash of green magic gave her a quick costume change into her Neigh Orleans guise; an elegant sandstone coated, yellow maned pegasus mare. 

She moved through the house, past the dust covered furniture that hadn't been cleaned since she started chasing after Trixie. Her frown grew even deeper. 

Where in Tartarus is Shaderoot? She was supposed to watch the house while I was away!

The answer to that question was waiting by the door for her in the form of a hoof scrawled note. She scanned it quickly, the relevant points leaping out at her. Shaderoot had left for Las Pegasus because she could make more money there, instead of being a “dead end city” like Neigh Orleans.

Fuming all the more she stomped out of her house and began to fly across town, towards the house of her soon to be ex-client. 

Bayou Runner's house wasn't as elaborate as many of the sprawling and grandiose constructions that were all so common on the city by the river, instead being a two story (not counting the basement) square brick and mortar building set right in the heart of the Quarter.

Dropping neatly onto the front step, she hammered her hoof against the door and waited. A moment later the door swung open, revealing a white coated unicorn stallion with a ridiculously poofy looking light purple mane. 

At the first sight of Thorn a pained wince crossed his features, ears folding back as he took a step away from the door. 

“A-ah, M-miss Sandstone. T-to w-w-what do I o-owe the p-pleasure?”

“Can it Night Shade. Where's Bayou Runner?”

“H-he's in the d-dra-a-w-wing r-room. But you-you r-really shouldn't...”

Thorn was already pushing past him heading straight for the drawing room, a look of sheer murder on her own features. Stepping into said room, her eyes locked onto the target of her ire. 

The stallion's coat was a deep muddy brown color, his short cut mane and tail the same green color as the moss that grew on the trees of the swamps that surrounded the city; his cutie-mark was a cluster of swamp reeds. His gatsby cap was neatly perched between his ears and a cigar was clamped firmly between his teeth as he sat on one of the low set couches scattered about the room. 

Bayou Runner. Kingpin of Neigh Orleans. 

He was currently holding court, half a dozen tough looking ponies scattered about the room, standing and sitting. Thugs and street level soldiers mostly. Bayou Runner smiled widely.

"Why Miss Sandstone, what brings you..."

"You and I need to talk. Alone."

Thorn knew full well that the pony in front of her was one of Equestria's most notorious criminals, always dancing outside of reach of the guard, both local and royal; he was also completely ruthless. Thorn also knew that the secret to his success was herself and the rest of her cell. Hiding evidence, burying leads. That sort of thing. 

"Take a walk around the block boys. I can handle this."

The thugs got to their hooves and filed out of the room and then out of the building entirely. Bayou Runner's previous smile became wide and fake as he carefully placed the cigar down on an ash tray. 

“Well Thorn, what brings you to my house? I thought you were busy taking care of that problem I hired you to take care of.”

“I am severing that contract. And you can go ahead and forget the usual retainer. I am done with you.” 

The smile seemed to grow even more fake, while his voice stayed almost unnervingly polite. 

“Now why would you want to go and do something like that? Has not our relationship been profitable for both of us? Surely you wouldn't want to do something so foolish?”

“Save your veiled threats for somepony else, Runner. I've been chased through the jungle by Queen Chrysalis and a horde of her changelings, so you won't be able to frighten me.”

She began to pace around the couch, keeping her eyes locked on him as she spoke. 

“It's very simple. You provide the Lernerians with a target and what your problem is. We deal with it. You pay us when the job is done. That is the only agreement that we allow.”

Completing her circuit she slammed her fore hooves on the coffee table, crushing the cigar and grinding it into the the ashtray as she let her form snap back to it's natural state.

“So, mister Runner. Tell me why I shouldn't unleash my cell upon your business, overturning every rotten log and exposing every dark secret you have to the authorities for daring to undermine my organization and my authority!” 

The fake smile was gone as he got to his hooves and trotted over to another table where a box of cigars was resting. 

“Because. I'll triple your original fee.”

“Excuse me?”

Bayou Runner blinked. “I do not believe I stuttered. I need the evidence Trixie has of my activities destroyed. Artifact smuggling is not something Celestia takes lightly. So, this needs to happen. And I'm willing to pay extra bits for you to look the other way and help make sure that Trixie dies.”

“That is not how we operate.” She growled. 

“Let's analyze that statement, shall we?” He calmly asked as he carefully looked over each cigar in the box. “That giant manor house you live in is expensive to maintain. And some of my boys tell me that it's been getting rather dilapidated as of late...” 

Having found a cigar that met his tastes, he snatched it up and motioned to Thorn with it like it was a classroom pointer. 

“Not enough bits to maintain your grounds. Cell can't be that large then, assuming that there is anypony else aside from you. Not to mention we're so far away from the major centers of action or the borders. Very few options for contracts. Which is why your biggest contract right now is a smuggler. Instead of being out there, being a spy, playing the grand game and raking in the bits like your fellows in Canterlot.”

“You...”

“So, let's say I were to offer you triple to finish this job, and to do it my way. I have a way to deal with Lulamoon that will be nice and clean. It'll look like an accident and you'll walk away with a nice payday. Your superiors will never have to know and you'll be in the black again.”

Thorn's eyes narrowed. 

“What makes you think that I can be so easily bought?” 

Bayou Runner's laugh was almost a cackle. 

“Oh, that you can say that with a straight face! If you couldn't be easily bought, you would still be working for Queen Magnolia instead of being a spy for hire.”

Clamping the cigar in his teeth, he pressed a hoof against the lever of the ornate desktop cigar lighter. As the flame sprung into being, he slowly and deliberately lit the cigar before turning his gaze back towards Thorn. 

“If your values are already for sale, which they are- and let's not do the dance of pretending that they aren't- why is a larger pile of bits so unable to move you into making an exception just this once?”

Thorn frowned, shuffling her right hoof along the floor for a few moments before responding. 

“Triple you say?”

“Triple.”

“...Fine. Just this once.” 

This time, the smile was genuine. 

“Wait here then.”

He strode from the room, leaving Thorn alone with her thoughts.


- - - -
 

The vault's entrance was hidden in the laundry room. 

Not out of direct choice but more due to fact that the walls on that side of the house had been built thicker by the original builders. And considering the nature of what Bayou Runner kept locked away, that was where the vault needed to be. 

Bayou Runner collected artifacts and items of magical power. Most were to sell to other ponies who wanted a boost of magical power, or who wanted to study the antiquities of eras long past. But he always kept a few pieces for himself.

Ancient rune-stone formula from the North Griffon Confederation, hieroglyphic tablets and enchanted golden torcs from Dromedus, were mixed in with a collection of oddly carved stones from the Badlands on the same shelf. Vases and ornate spears from the Three Kingdoms were tucked into corners, while tiger armor from Inj stood on stands next to suits from Neighppon. 

His eyes roamed over the small collection of cursed items at his disposal as he mulled over the possibilities. He briefly considered using the Alicorn Amulet, it's dark red gem glittering in the room's light from it's position in it's velvet lined box, but he pushed that idea from his mind. No guarantee of death. Besides he wanted Trixie gone not an all powerful megalomaniac. 

Instead his eyes fell upon the necklace of cruel dark gray steel, set with a single diamond shaped black crystal that rested in the next box. The most dangerous item in his collection by far and for a very good reason. It would twist and burrow into Trixie's magic aura, turning her illusions against her while draining her life force to fuel it. It would be a slow and painful death, over the period of a few days.

He glanced towards Night Shade, the coward looking ready to pass out from just being in the same room as the item. 

“Do yer job Night Shade. Make it look nice and harmless.” 

Night Shade gulped, his horn lighting up as he wrapped an enchantment around the necklace. The gray steel became glittering gold, the black crystal a clear and brilliant sapphire. With a final nervous gulp, Night Shade tied off the enchantment. 

“T-there you go boss. T-the e-enchantment should hold un-unless s-some p-pony dispels it.”

“That'll do Night Shade. Now go pass out in your bedroom like a good little worker.” 

Sliding the lid onto the box, Bayou Runner carefully picked the whole affair up before returning to the drawing room where Thorn was still waiting. 

“This box contains an amulet that'll kill the mare. Meet back up with my boys, get it to her, then get me my evidence. And then you'll have your bits.” 

Thorn took the box in her hooves as she flapped her wings, taking to the air. 

“Fine. But screw me on this one Runner, and I'll make sure that you'll never be out of an Equestrian jail again.”

She flew for the front door, Bayou Runner watching her go with a horrible glare. 

“Dumb bug.” 


- - - -
 

The roar of the crowd echoed through the grand halls of the theatre as Trixie took a bow with her mother. They were dressed in matching purple bestarred hats and cloaks, complete with purple and silver trimmed undershirts. 

They had just completed their set and the crowd was eating it up, cheering for an encore. They straightened up, preparing to move into a final trick when the sound of shearing metal cut through the air. 

She heard the scream of panic from her mother followed by the sensation of being shoved forward off the stage. The crash of metal on wood and a scream of pain came a second later. Trixie shakily got to her hooves, turning to see the scene of horror laid out before her.

The rigging and scaffolding above the stage had broken loose crushing and pinning her mother to the stage some of the bits of metal having pierced her side. She wasn't moving. 

“Momma...no.” Trixie moaned as she stumbled forward, grabbing one of her mother's fore-hooves. “Momma, please get up.”

The tears began to flow as she continued to shake her mother's body. 

“Please! Just get up!” 

She could feel her grandfather's hooves pulling her away, even as she tried to pull her mother's body out from under the wreck of twisted metal. 

Trixie awoke with a start, the hard wood of the jail house bench against her barrel reminding her where she was. She wiped her eyes with the back of her foreleg whisking away the tears before rolling off of the bench and deciding to sit on her haunches on the floor instead.

Two days she had been in here while Hoofington searched every inch of her cart for evidence that she had been the one that robbed the town treasury. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see how thoroughly she had actually been framed. The guard would probably have news with her breakfast. 

Soon enough, two guards came walking down the hallway. No tray of breakfast was with them this time. That was a good sign. Sure enough, they were soon unlocking the door to her cell. Not that thoroughly it seemed. 

“All right Lulamoon, you're free to go. Cape is at the front desk, cart is waiting outside. I'd advise not coming through Hoofington again if you're planning to cause trouble.”

“Wouldn't dream of it.” Trixie deadpanned as she trotted for the front desk. 

Quickly grabbing and fastening her cape around her neck she strode out of the guard station and over to her cart. A search of the internal contents revealed that everything was still in place, so she slipped into the pulling harness and made for the road leading out of town. She still had to find Rising Note.

She was a little bit outside of the town limits when she felt something get yanked onto her head. Yelping in shock, she twisted to see who was attacking her only to hear a giggle and see the musician pegasus walking along side her. 

“I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to get out of there.”

Trixie smiled as she tilted her hat back into it's proper position on her head. 

“I was worried that you weren't going to show. You were being asked to trust some strange mare you just met.” 

Rising Note chuckled. 

“True. But I had a good feeling about you. Reading ponies is something else I'm good at.” She tilted her head to the side as she observed the unicorn. “Where are you heading anyway?”

“Canterlot. I need to speak with someone important.”

“Really now? About those papers you had me help keep away from those hired goons that tried to follow me that night?” 

Trixie raised an eyebrow. 

“Perhaps.” 

“Why not give those papers to the authorities, if people are sending hired goons after you over them?”

“Authorities can't be trusted on this.”

“But random fiddle playing pegasai can?” 

Trixie sighed. “Look, there is only one pony I trust to give these papers to in an official capacity and that's Princess Celestia.”

Trixie expected the pegasai to laugh at the idea of her being able to somehow get an audience with the princess. Instead she just smiled slightly. 

“If I were you then, I'd stop at Ponyville along the way.”

“Ponyville? Why?”

“Well, aside from the fact it has easy train access to Canterlot, there's also the fact that Princess Celestia's prized pupil lives there. If anyone can get you access to her it would be Twilight Sparkle.”

Trixie blinked. 

“Twilight Sparkle eh?”

She smiled at Rising Note. “Thanks. You certainly are perceptive for a musician.” 

Rising Note just smiled as she took to the air. 

“It's a gift. Good luck Trixie.”

As she winged her way back towards Hoofington, Trixie held her head a little higher as she headed for her new destination. 
> Set the Stage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the edge of the Everfree Forest, beyond the outskirts of Ponyville a strange construction was being pulled into place. Three lines of ropes had been strung between two trees, and then run through a series of pulleys and other wheel like devices. The resulting construction was not unlike a series of clotheslines, rigged between two buildings.

The green coated, light blue maned unicorn mare that had rigged it up was currently dragging a large wicker basket of dark blue flowers towards the lines with her magic, taking great care to make sure she didn't touch any of them directly as she floated and clipped each one to the line. It was a slow, laborious process, all done to avoid getting the pollen of the poison joke plant on her and thusly avoid it's more embarrassing effects. 

Most ponies wouldn't bother with poison joke. But for Skitch-Sketch they were a good chance to replenish some of her art stock. Poison joke flowers were a deep and striking bright blue color, which was fantastic for paint pigment once ground up. She just had to shake loose the pollen first.

Pausing only long enough to stick a foreleg into the air to get a feel for the way the wind was blowing, Skitch trotted to the ends of the ropes- set up a decent distance away from the rig for added safety- near where a yellow coated pegasus and a manticore were sitting and chatting with each other.

Skitch grabbed the end of the ropes and began to pull. With a creek of metal and the sound of ropes being pulled taught the collection of poison joke was shook violently back and forth; great glittering blue clouds of their curse inducing pollen were tossed to and fro as Skitch continued the process. 

She continued shaking the crop of flowers until the clouds of pollen had dwindled to the faintest of trickles before trotting back over to her creation. She pulled each flower down, snapping their stamen and pistils off and then dumping them back into the wicker basket. 

She glanced up at Fluttershy as she worked, smiling as her friend continued to have her one sided conversation- well, to her at least- with Manny the Manticore.

As she continued to work the former human's mind wandered, mostly running over her schedule for the rest of the day. Once she finished up here, it would be time to head to the Sunday market to flog caricatures, small paintings and anything else she had been able to collect. 

Then it would be over to Fluttershy's to help her out with her animals and after that back across town to do some yard work at Cheerilee's so that she could focus on getting her lesson plans done for the next week. 

“Are you okay Skitch?” Fluttershy asked softly, pausing from her other conversation. “You're being quiet.”

“Sorry Flutters, just thinking. Full schedule today and another early morning tomorrow.”

“Used to living with Applejack yet?”

“Well...for the most part. Apple Bloom is really enthusiastic in the mornings. Should have seen me the first morning I was there...”


- - - - 


Skitch was thoroughly snuggled under the covers in the Apple family's guest room, contentment etched on her sleeping features.

“RISE AHN SHINE!”

A yellow blur zipped into the room before launching itself into the air and landing on the edge of Skitch's bed. The impact jerked Skitch partially awake and she blinked blearily at the small filly that was currently sitting at her side, a wide grin plastered across her muzzle. 

“Come on! Yer gonna miss breakfast!” Apple Bloom grinned, poking her in the side with a hoof. “It's apple pancakes!”

Blinking again, Skitch tilted her head towards the window spying the slight curve of the orange ball creeping into the air.

“Celestia hasn't even gotten the sun over the horizon yet.”

“Yer livin on a farm now! And we get up with the sun!”

Apple Bloom grabbed the covers with her mouth and snapped them off of Skitch's body, eliciting a groan from the unicorn. 

“Mornings are evil, Apple Bloom.” 

“Na they ain't! Race ya downstairs!” She laughed as she sprung off of the bed and charged out the door.

Skitch groaned again, rolling out of bed and crawling for the door.



- - - - 


“Mornings are still evil, by the way.” She snarked as she dropped the last flower into the basket. “You still want me to swing by later to help out with the animals?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course.”

Collecting the ropes and pulleys back into her saddlebags she secured them on her back, balancing the basket there next. Cargo secured, she nodded to Fluttershy and Manny again.

“I'll meet you at the cottage once I'm done at the market then.” She called back as she trotted for the road heading back to Ponyville. 

The birds were singing as a warm summer breeze tousled her mane as she stepped back into the road proper, lifting her spirits a little more. The day might be full of work, but at least it was a nice one.  

“Excuse me, miss?”

Skitch twisted her head around to see where the the call had come from, raising an eyebrow as she spotted a flashy wooden cart being pulled by a familiar- to her at least- blue unicorn. The Great and Powerful Trixie, in the flesh.

“Well,” Skitch muttered under her breath, “I was beginning to wonder if she'd ever show up.” 

The fact that Trixie had not made her scheduled appearance in Ponyville pre-Skitch's own arrival into the timeline had been one of the hints to her- in retrospect at least- that the version of Equestria she had wound up in didn't match up with the show.

Slowing down slightly, she fell into step next to the self proclaimed great and powerful. Skitch regarded her carefully not entirely sure what to expect form the mare. Her expression was friendly enough, a smile of greeting firmly on her muzzle as she pulled her cart along. 

The Trixie that Skitch was familiar with was somewhat of a self aggrandizing bitch and was not high on her list of characters she liked. Of course, now that she was actually living here...

Get to know the pony, not the perception. Pony, not perception.

“Are you from Ponyville? How far away am I?” Trixie asked, her voice rather upbeat.

“Not that far,” Skitch responded, keeping her tone conversational, “We'll be coming up on the farms in just a little bit and then it's not too much further to the town proper.”

“Ahh. Good! I was wondering if I was getting close.” 

Skitch decided to prod a little more, playing ignorant as she glanced at Trixie again.

“So, what brings you into Ponyville with a cart like that? Thing looks big enough to live in.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you some kind of traveling show mare?”

“Very perceptive, my fine farm mare.” A confident smile crept across Trixie's face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, master of sleight of hoof and illusions!”

“Farm mare? I'm not a farmer. I'm an artist and illusionist myself.”

“Oh,” Trixie blinked motioning to the basket, “I just assumed. I mean, you kind of have the build of a farmer. Besides, aren't you taking those to the market?”

Skitch blinked at that, not expecting to ever hear the words “build of a farmer” attached to her. But when she thought it over more, she supposed that it made sense. Applejack's athletic build probably came from working on Sweet Apple Acres all her life. And the more she thought about it, the more aware she was of the way lean and toned muscle seemed to ripple under her coat as she walked. 

“Uhh...well...I was going to grind them down into blue pigment for my paint. What kind of pony would want to buy poison joke for anything else?” 

Trixie sputtered, her eyes almost doubling in size. 

“You're going to grind them into paint?! What kind of pony would destroy such a culinary delight?”

“Culinary delight? Do ponies walk around completely cursed off their flank all the time where ever you're from? Because this sounds insane to me.”

Trixie rolled her eyes as she brought her cart to a stop and unhooked herself from it. 

“Tell you what miss...?”

“Skitch-Sketch.” 

“All right Skitch-Sketch. If I can prove to you that you can eat poison joke safely, you share some of your harvest with me.” 

She was eying the basket now, licking her lips. 

Skitch considered the offer. On one hand it would mean having fewer flowers to make blue paint with, but on the other hand part of her really, really wanted to see just how consumable the cursed flower was. 

“All right, great and powerful Trixie. You're on!”

She waited while Trixie trotted around the back of her cart. The sounds of rummaging reached her ears before Trixie came back out, a small canteen of water floating along with her. 

“You've already done the most important part, removing the pollen producing parts of the flower. Now you just give it a good wash, but gently, you'll bruise the flower and destroy the taste otherwise.” 

Picking a flower from the basket Trixie poured water over each petal, carefully rubbing away any remaining pollen with a great deal of care. Only after she had cleaned each petal did she present the flower to Skitch, who took it with her own hoof and an unsure glance. 

“I had a bad experience with this plant before.” 

Trixie idly waved a hoof.

“My mom made me these flowers all the time growing up. I know how to clean them properly.” 

Well, at least it'll be an interesting story to tell the others if this screws me up.

Sighing, Skitch popped the flower into her mouth and began to chew. The flavor was sweet, but with a slightly bitter- but not unpleasant- undercurrent that was itself layered with another undercurrent that was just slightly sour. It was like a bittersweet chocolate with some other spices blended in. 

She savored the flavor for a few moments, the mouth full of flower gone all too quickly. The expression on Trixie's face said it all. 

“...All right,” Skitch smirked, “You got me. That was actually pretty good, assuming I don't wake up invisible or with spots tomorrow.”

Trixie waved her hoof again in a dismissive manner, turning her attention to the bounty of poison joke flowers in the basket. “I'll just help myself.”

Skitch winced. “Don't take too many of them. If they're edible I can sell them and I need the bits in a bad way.” 

Trixie raised an eyebrow as she began to clean off another flower. 

“Financial troubles?”

“In a matter of speaking. The bank took my house because of...reasons.”

Trixie regarded Skitch carefully as she tossed the now clean flower into her mouth, chewed and then swallowed. 

“Tell you what, Skitch-Sketch. I'll do a show in the town square tonight, as I usually do when I reach a new town. You said you were an illusionist, right?” 

Skitch nodded. “Yup.” 

“Then be my assistant tonight and I'll give you a share of the coins I earn.” She proposed as she took another flower from the basket.

Now it was Skitch's turn to raise an eyebrow. 

“That's rather generous of you.”

“Proper entertainer protocol. You're the local, so it's only fair that I bring you in.” 

Well, maybe this version of Trixie is a bit more polite. Skitch thought as she smiled, nodding her head. “Still mighty generous of you miss Trixie. Anything else I can help you with?”

“Actually...yes. Do you know where I could find a pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?”  

“I do, actually. She works and lives out of the Golden Oaks Library. It's actually right off of the main square. You can't miss it.” 

Trixie nodded as she hooked herself back up to her wagon. 

“Thank you again, Skitch-Sketch. I'll see you tonight.” 

Skitch-Sketch watched Trixie continue on her way.

“Well...that was unexpected.” 


- - - - 


Most of the other ponies had their market stalls fully stocked and ready to go by the time Skitch had washed a selection of flowers to add to her stock for the day. Not wasting anymore time she quickly made for her own stall, a few ponies tossing her greetings on the way. 

The stall slots in Ponyville's market were semi-permanent; wooden frames with thick colorful canvas stretched over them to form a weather resistant booth to sell ones goods. Slots were also assigned after a prospective merchant filled out their paperwork with town hall, ensuring that each pony could count on having space each week.

Skitch had been assigned a slightly smaller than normal booth between Carrot Top and Cherry Berry. Their marketplace chattery between sales had become part of her weekly routine. 

“Morning Carrot Top, Cherry Berry. How's the crowd today?” She asked as she began to pull other items out of her saddlebags. Small canvases, a small collection of paints, some drawing pencils and charcoal.

Carrot Top shrugged slightly. 

“It's decent. But it's mostly the 'shopping for food' crowd today. Your art might not sell that well.”

Skitch frowned slightly at the familiar report. 

“Seems like some things don't change at all between realities.” She commented as she took up her position in the stall. “Still hard to make a living as an artist.”

She glanced at Carrot Top's stall, her eyes roaming over the fresh, juicy looking carrots and eventually falling on the news paper that was resting on the counter. Carrot Top always had the paper, she religiously checked the weather team's reports.  A deep frown crossed her muzzle when she took in the headline and accompanying photo. The photo, was obviously captured when her back was turned. The headline itself felt like a punch to the gut.

Friend or Foe?: Does a Threat Live Among Us?

The byline proudly indicated that the article was written by Fast Facts, a pony that Skitch had only met once, but that meeting had catapulted him straight to the top of her "ponies I absolutely loathe" list. ...Right after Nouveau Riche, who she'd put bits on being behind this. 

"Why do you hate harmony?" Of all the inane, idiotic, inflammatory questions...

"Skitch, snap out of it. Staring at the headline won't make it go away." Cherry Berry cut in. 

"You sure? I can stare pretty hard."

Carrot Top shook her head as she tucked the newspaper away. 

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this harassment. Ponyville rarely has to deal with these problems."

"You do know that none of us think you're a monster, right?" Cherry Berry added.

"Well, most ponies do I know." Skitch sighed. "It's still exhausting to see slander pieces like that. And I do know that some ponies in town are unsure of me." She scanned the crowd. "I've noticed the sideways glances. Even if they aren't afraid of me directly, they're afraid of what will erupt around me."

Carrot Top's smile was reassuring. 

“You just have to keep at it. They'll come around. Everypony in town knows you're a hard worker and how you've been working all these extra jobs to try and get your house back.” 

“Well, it's not like I've been hiding that particular fact.” Skitch smiled back. 

“Now that's the understatement of the century.” Cherry Berry added. “I thought that my ears were going to catch on fire from your swearing when you got off the train from Canterlot.”

“Yeah, well...the bank made me really, really mad.”

“How much have you saved up so far?” Carrot Top asked, Cherry Berry turning her attention towards a customer. 

“About twelve hundred bits. Only eight thousand, eight hundred more to make my minimal down payment. One sixth of the value.”

“Sixty thousand bits is way overpriced for this town. I think that the entirety of town hall was built for that much.” 

“It's because of that plaque that's next to the door now, isn't it?” Cherry Berry asked. 

“Ugh. 'Historical site of first human contact' my flank. He just slapped that on there so that he can wring some extra bits out of selling it. Shouldn't even count. I was already a pony at that time.” 

Further grumbling from Skitch was interrupted by two familiar faces approaching the stall. Lyra and Bon Bon, two ponies in as lock step as their relationship, the latter's saddlebags overflowing with fruit. The smile that crossed Skitch's face as they drew close to her was quite genuine. The pair were probably her best patrons when it came to her artwork. Lyra thought that the art was romantic.

“How are my two favorite love birds today?”  

“Just fine!” Bon Bon grinned. “Just out doing some shopping. Supplies for my next batch of candy making and all.”

“What's with the poison joke flowers?” Lyra asked, pointing to the basket.

“Oh! You'll never believe this. I met a mare from Neigh Orleans on the way back from the Everfree. She told me that they actually eat these down there and showed me how to properly clean them.” Skitch commented. 

Carrot Top eyed them like they were a basket of grenades that were about to go off. 

“No one eats poison joke! She had to be pulling one over on you.”

“Hey, I had one! It was actually pretty tasty.” She jerked her head towards the basket. “Try one. I'll trade ya for a carrot.”

Carrot Top still looked unsure, before Cherry Berry gave her town two bits.

“Oh, come on! Give it a try, I'll take one too.” 

“I suppose we'll give some a try as well.” Bon Bon nodded. 

Flowers were exchanged for a carrot, cherries and bits the ponies enjoying their impromptu repast, Skitch watching their expressions as they ate the flowers. 

“So...good, am I right?”

“Certainly better than I was expecting.” 

“Ehh. I've ate stranger.” Cherry Berry grinned. 

Bon Bon was now staring at the basket of flowers with an expression of deranged glee that only somepony in the throws of creative inspiration could pull off. 

“I'll take them all. How much?”

“Uhh...well, I was thinking three bits a flower and I got twenty in there so...fifty bits?”

“Far to much. Thirty bits.”

“Hey, I have to go into the Everfree to get these. Forty five.”

“Forty. And that's the most I'm willing to do.”

“Fine.”

One exchange of money later, and Bon Bon was grinning at her catch. 

“I'm going to figure out how to make candy out of you!”

Skitch chuckled as they fell back into the rhythm of the market stall. Sell and haggle, then pony watch and listen to the idle chatter that wound it's way though the air. Plans for the next week mixed with discussions of special someponies, general family chatter, and plans for summer vacations.

It was a normal kind of daily routine. Simple, calming and exactly what she needed.


- - - -
 

Trixie unhooked herself from her cart, having rolled it into position behind the town hall. Permission to do a show that night had already been secured from the mayor, as well as being able to stay there for a few days later. Now it was just a matter of getting talking to this Twilight Sparkle. 

The library was easy enough to spy from her current position, it's leafy green boughs rising over the roofs of it's neighboring buildings. Destination set, Trixie strode that direction as a mare on a mission. 

And promptly got five steps before she began to feel tugs on her cloak. Twisting to see who was trying to get her attention, her eyes landed on three adorable fillies that were staring up at her. 

“Umm...can I help you little ones?” 

They grinned wide, the white coated unicorn of the trio speaking first. 

“Hi! We haven't seen you around before. Are you new in town?”

Trixe was about to respond to that, but was beaten to it by the yellow coated earth pony. 

“Ain't that obvious? Ah sure don't remember anypony like her living in town.”

The unicorn frowned back. “I know that! But it's what Pinkie asked me to say while she's at her sister's birthday party.” 

“But that's Pinkie's thing!” The pegasus pointed out. “If we're going to get our cutie-marks in hospitality, we have to be our own ponies.”

Trixie did her best to suppress her laugh.

Ahh. The unending energy of youth. 

The fact that Trixie was hardly old herself was immaterial, of course. 

“So, you three are Ponyville's greeting crew, are you?”

A series of rapid nods and a resounding rallying cry was the response. 

“CUTIE-MARK CRUSADER TOWN GREETERS!”

The earth pony then followed that up with a round of proper greetings. “Ah'm Apple Bloom, and this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

Trixie tilted her hat back into it's proper position an idea springing to light in her mind as to how these enthusiastic fillies could help make sure that she'd have a lot of ponies at her show tonight. 

“I don't know. I can recognize talent when I see it, and I see three ponies before me who's cuite-mark crusading talent would be wasted by just being town greeters.”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What do you think we should do miss...”

“Trixie. The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Well, miss great and powerful, what do you think we should do to get our cutie-marks?”

Trixie grinned. “Show promoters! I need as many ponies as possible in this town square tonight and I think that you three would be perfect to get the word out. I'll even throw in a bit for each of you if you do a good job.”

That seemed to seal the deal, their grins almost going right off their faces. 

“Just remember. The Great and Powerful Trixie will be doing a magic show tonight in the town square. Eight o'clock.” 

The trio tore off across the town square, already shouting to any ponies that drew near them about the show. A wistful smile crossed her own features as she watched them go, enjoying their simple lives full of potential for the future. 

“May they never loose that innocence.”

She returned to her journey towards the Golden Oaks Library, which was a short trip, admittedly. Striding up to the door she pushed it open and then promptly froze, her eyes doubling in size at the sight before her.

The lower floor of the library had been seemingly turned into downright maze of books. Stacks and stacks of tomes shoved next to each other, the loopy path that had been left among them the only way through the mess. 

Trixie took a few uncertain steps into the library proper, letting the door close behind her. It was hard to believe that anypony could live in this chaos. However as she began to move through the books, she could see that there was a certain organization to the mess; books were arranged by subject matter at the very least. 

She was about to call out and see if anypony was actually here when a purple colored unicorn's head popped into view over one of the stacks. 

“Oh! Hello there! Welcome to the Gold Oaks Library. I'm the head...well...only librarian, Twilight Sparkle. Please excuse the mess, I'm re-sorting the stacks today.” 

Her head disappeared from view again, the full pony trotting into view a moment later. 

“What can I help you with today?”

“Right. My name is Trixie Lulamoon, and I understand that you're Princess Celestia's student?” 

Twilight nodded. “That I am.” 

“Would you be able to get a message to her? I discovered some...information that she really needs to know about.”

“Information? What kind of information?” 

“The criminal kind and before you ask,” She said, holding up a hoof to stop Twilight's question, “No, I do not trust just the guard on this. I was told you could get me access to her. Is this true?”

The frown on Twilight Sparkle's face spoke to her suspicion at what Trixie had told her. 

“Well...I suppose I could in theory. But Princess Celestia always has ponies trying to see her, and she has all of the affairs of state to run. There would need to be a good reason...”

“How about evidence against a pony that's engaged in the smuggling of dangerous magical items?”

“...What?”

Trixie sighed, pulling her hat off and revealing her documents. 

“His name is Bayou Runner. Kingpin of Neigh Orleans. This is a collection of payment records that I...shall we say liberated, from his financial books. And I know that at the very least some ponies in the Neigh Orleans guard were on the take, because those payment records are on page ten.”

Twilight took the papers herself, her eyes rapidly scanning over transaction line while Trixie continued to explain. 

“I barely escaped the city and I've had some pony sabotaging my shows on the way here. In Hoofington, they lured an ursa minor into the town! The only ponies I trust with this are the princesses or those directly connected to them.” 

Twilight frowned slightly. 

“But these don't say what the payments are for. They just list other names.”

Trixie nodded. “That is true, which is why they need to be backed up by testimony from me. And there would need to be more of an investigation...but at least now there would be a direction to go.”

She looked to Twilight, hoping that Celestia's student would see what she was driving at and be able to help her. The flicker of realization danced in Twilight's eyes as she worked out exactly what this meant. 

“All right Trixie. I can help you get this to the princess...”

Trixie smiled widely. 

“...but not until tomorrow.”

Trixie's expression changed to crestfallen.

“What? Why?”

“I keep in touch with Princess Celestia with my assistant, Spike. He's a baby dragon, and his fire breath transports the messages straight to her office.”

Trixie frowned. 

“Where is he?”

“Well, my friend Rarity got called out to Canterlot for the weekend to do some fittings for clients. She needed some help and Spike offered to go with her. They should be back tomorrow afternoon though!”

Trixie sighed. “Well, it's the best option I've had so far. I'll be back tomorrow. Can I have those back?” 

Twilight blinked. “You just want to keep them in your hat?”

Trixie shrugged. “Not sure where else I'm supposed to keep them.”

Now it was Twilight's turn to smirk as she motioned for Trixie to follow her. Trixie frowned slightly, but followed all the same. Twilight lead her through the stacks to a section of the shelves that still had books on it. 

“I found something that just might be useful for you a few months back when a new friend rolled into town.”

Grabbing one of the books, she gave it a sharp yank part of the bookshelf sliding to the side, revealing a hidden compartment. 

“You could keep the documents safe in here and then when Spike comes back tomorrow we can get them off to Princess Celestia.”

Trixie bit her lip. 

“Well...as much as I don't like the idea of letting these things out of my sight, a hidden compartment is a better place than my hat.”

Twilight smiled as she stowed the pages safely away, closing the shelves back up.

“Don't worry Trixie. They'll be safe here. And Ponyville is a very safe place. Everything will be fine.” 


- - - -
 

Rising Note rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn as she took a few steps back from her desk. It had taken the whole night to re-copy, from memory, down to every detail the documents that Trixie had passed off to her that night. Now it was a matter of getting it to her superiors. Just in case something happened to Trixie's copies.

Throwing them into her saddle bags and then those on, she trotted out the door and began to follow the road out of town. Ten minutes past the outskirts of town, there was a sudden pinprick of pain in the back of her neck. 

Before she could really begin to work out what had hit her, the world began to spin and sway before her. It was like a blanket had been wrapped around her brain, her limbs becoming unresponsive as she flopped to the ground with a thud. Her ears swivelled towards the sound of approaching hooves, and a moment later a pair of azure furred legs stepped into view. 

“T-Trixie...wha...I told you...you need to get to Ponyville. Pony-ville...”

A sharp pain exploded in the back of her head before darkness claimed her. 


- - - -
 

Thorn let her disguise end fall as she glanced at Storm Front, who had just dropped the pegasai with a punch to the back of her head. Muddy Waters stepped out of the bushes himself, casually tossing the blowgun aside. 

“Nice work Muddy Waters. You didn't screw things up for once.” Thorn commented.

“Bite me Thorn.” 

“Maybe later.” She snarked, rummaging through Rising Note's saddle bags. It only took a moment or two of searching to find the document copies, which she then thoroughly shredded against the ground. “Now let's get out of here. If we double time it, we might be able to make it to Ponyville before everything gets ruined!”

“What are you talking about?” Storm Front glowered as he and Muddy Waters followed Thorn down the road. 

“My superiors in Canterlot told me a while ago that Celestia's little protegee in turn has an assistant that can magically speed send things to the princess. So, if we don't catch up with her that information will go straight to sun-butt and your boss is doomed!”

Buzzing her wings, she took to the air, focusing her eyes on the Everfree. 

“If we cut over the Everfree instead of going around, we'll shave a few hours off the trip.”

Muddy Waters winced. 

“I can't fly! Can't you use another one of those beads of yours?” 

“I used both my spell-cache marbles already. So,” She pointed to Storm Front, “Pick your partner up and move those wings!”

With a great deal of grumbling, Storm Front grabbed Muddy Waters and the strange procession took flight over the Everfree like a dragon was on their tail. 
> Curtain Fall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was beginning to dip back over the horizon by the time the Cutie-Mark Crusaders had finished their very important task of running to every end of Ponyville, proudly declaring that the Great and Powerful Trixie would be doing a magic show tonight. 

Much to their disappointment, their efforts had not provided them with any cutie-marks, so their enthusiasm was somewhat muted as they walked back towards their homes. 

“Well, at least we'll make some bits.” Sweetie pointed out. “And everypony seemed really excited about the show!”

“Ah'm really lookin' forward the show!” Apple Bloom grinned, her disappointment forgotten, “Travelin' shows don't come through here all that often. We should get over there early ta get some good seats.” 

“Actually,” Scootaloo commented, “Tonight's my mom's night off. So I'd like to go and see the show with her.”

Apple Bloom nodded, accepting her friends explanation. It was kind of an unspoken agreement between the three members of the Cutie-Mark Crusaders to not talk about how Scootaloo rarely got to see her adopted mom, the sole night watch member of the Ponyville town guard. 

Scootaloo smiled to her friends. “Anyway, I'll see you girls tomorrow and we'll go back to crusading!”

Waving goodbye, she trotted off to her own house. It was a smaller building, only one story; it was all her mother could afford on a guard salary. Not that she cared. The house was warm and comfy- unlike the orphanage- she had the coolest mom ever, and she could hang out with her surrogate big sister Rainbow Dash!

“Moooooom!” She called out as she stepped inside. “I'm home!”

“I'm in the kitchen!”

She trotted into the kitchen, the smell of coffee reaching her nose halfway down the hall. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, a large blue mug resting before her, steam rising from it's surface. It was a very normal scene, which made her mother's more exotic appearance stand out all the more. 

And Scootaloo thought that it was awesome! From her mother's vertical pupiled yellow eyes, to the cool looking fangs that were part of her smile, and the two great bat like wings that grew from her back; to Scootaloo, the fact that she was a bat pony just made her all the more amazing. Her light gray coat was marked by a hooded lantern cutie-mark and her mane and tail were the dark blue of a twilight sky.

Rushing forward, she nuzzled her mother's side. Her mother laughed softly, wrapping her wings around her daughter and pulling her close. The two ponies held the embrace for a long minute before Night Crescent let her go and got to her own hooves, moving to the cupboards for food. 

“So! What do you want to have for dinner tonight?”

“Can we have pancakes?”

“For dinner?”

“It's breakfast for you mom.” 

Her mom's ears slicked back, a deep frown crossing her muzzle. A knot developing in her stomach, Scootaloo quickly moved to assure her mother. 

“But I really like your pancakes mom! Please?”

“Okay,” She smiled, “Pancakes it is.”

Scootaloo was quiet while her mother cooked, the embarrassment of tripping over that sore spot still churning in her gut. The time that they could spend together was usually measured in hours, and then Scootaloo would have to go to bed and Night Crescent would have to go to work.

The one night a week that Crescent had off from her guard duties was the one major exception. If only the night watch would get some more members, so that her mom wouldn't have to work almost every night. 

The soft 'tink' sound of a plate being placed on the table, and the smell of warm fluffy flapjacks snapped Scootaloo out of her internal moping. Flashing a grin at her mother she tore into the plate. Night Crescent took her own seat with her own pancakes and began to eat in a more thoughtful, deliberate manner as she watched her daughter.

“So, what shall we do tonight?”

Cheeks bulging with food, Scootaloo launched into an enthusiastic explanation, complete with animated hoof gestures. “Mmmph! Thempha maggaic fow ahnd the ghirls...” 

Night Crescent did her best to maintain a stern expression but when a bit of pancake landed on the tip of her snout she broke out into a giggle. “...Not with your mouth full, dear.”

Scootaloo swallowed the food and tried again. “There's going to be a traveling magic show in the town square tonight. Can we see it, please?”

“A traveling magic show huh? It's been a while since I've seen one of those, that sounds nice. Do you want to ask Rainbow Dash if she wants to come with us?”

Taking another bite of pancakes and swallowing Scootaloo shook her head, her ears drooping slightly. “She's out of town. Got a letter from the princess about something.”

“Well, then tonight you and I shall enjoy the show as part of the crowd. Now finish your dinner.” 

“Okay mom.”


- - - - 


Roseluck couldn't shake the itching sensation in the back of her head as she trotted through town. All around her, ponies were beginning to move towards the town square, some aiming to grab the good spots right in front of the traveling cart. She, on the other hand, was looking for Cherry Berry.

She knew full well what that itching sensation meant. So called “pure” changelings had a natural hive mind that tied into their subservient nature to the queen of their hive. In the Venexian strain, however, the hive mind was almost completely muted. It was a trade off for their increased individuality, which suited Roseluck just fine. 

But while Venexian changelings couldn't mentally communicate with each other like their chrysalis counterparts, they could still vaguely sense the presence of other changelings. And with that itch...that itch...

“Roseluck!” Came the shout, Cherry Berry rushing to her side from a side street. “Do you feel it? I...”

“Yeah Cherry. I feel it.”

“There's another changeling in town!” Cherry Berry hissed. “Did you hear anything from Queen Magnolia on this?”

“Far as I know, she wasn't sending any agents this way,” Roseluck commented, her eyes scanning each pony as they passed, “Which probably means that we have either one of Chrysalis' brood...or a Lernerian.” 

The frown on Cherry Berry's face was very deep and for good reason. In their time working for Queen Magnolia the pair had clashed with the renegade group known as the Lernerians, when they had tried to set up a cell in the Free Hive. 

“What's the play, Rose?”

Roseluck thought carefully, tapping a hoof on the ground. 

“Could still be one of ours that we just lost the notification on,” She pointed out, falling back into an old role like it was an old comfortable dress, “We aren't active agents anymore, favors to Celestia aside. So, we play it by ear and get ready to move when we need to. Anypony who we don't recognize is top priority.”

Cherry Berry nodded, her own mind beginning to fall back into old routines. “The show mare, Trixie...she's the new variable over the last few days. No buzz of recognition when she first arrived, so she's not the changeling...”

“She's most likely the target, if this is a hostile agent.” Roseluck finished. “Then let's get our tails over to town square before something bad happens.”

The two changeling ex-spies slid into the crowd. The hunt was on. 


- - - - 


Town square was already beginning to fill up as Thorn, Storm Front and Muddy Waters moved along its outside edge. Thorn could feel the itch in her withers that signified the presence of other changelings about and it had put her in an even darker mood. She was wearing the form of Rising Note. It would be useful in getting close to Trixie.

Of course there are other changelings in Ponyville. Why wouldn't there be other changelings in Ponyville. With a baby dragon, the elements of harmony, and a creature from another world living here, why not throw in a few changelings to round out the collection of oddities! 

“So, what's the play?” Storm Front interrupted, his words cutting through her internal monologue, “I don't see that dragon you were so afraid of anywhere around here.”

“How do you know so much about Ponyville, anyway,” Muddy Waters asked, his eyes scanning the crowd, “Thought you were a Neigh Orleans girl.” 

“The element bearers,” Thorn responded, “Are considered to be creatures of interest to my group. We know a great deal about them, their families, and their associates. Just in case we ever have to run an op against them.” 

“No foolin? Huh, you people sure are prepared.”

“We commit espionage for money.” Thorn deadpanned as she scanned the crowd herself, “It would be foolish to not know as much as possible about Celestia's rainbow generating brigade. And speak of the devil...” 

Muddy Waters and Storm Front followed her nod towards the purple coated unicorn that was walking along side an orange coated earth pony. 

“Twilight Sparkle, element of magic. Don't see her little assistant though.” 

She paused as two ponies stepped into the square, a pale yellow coated one leading a pink one. 

So...this is where Roseluck and her partner decided to retire to. Getting sloppy, just walking around in forms they've used before.

“How about you two go and check the library. If the dragon isn't around, the files might be there if Trixie doesn't have them. It's the tree.”

Nodding, the pair cut across the open ground of town square, Thorn keeping her attention locked on Roseluck and Cherry Berry. The two ex-spies quickly exchanged words, Cherry nodding and following them towards the library.

“Stay out of the game for a while, ladies? Then be left in the dust.” She chuckled, quickly trotting for Trixie's cart. 

With a slight flick of her wings, she landed on the top step leading to the door and gave it a sharp knock with her hoof. Trixie's annoyed voice reached her ears as the door opened. 

“About time you showed up! We won't be able to....” Trixie's admonishment died in her throat, as her eyes fell on Thorn, “Rising Note? What are you doing here?”

“Well, I considering the unpleasantness that happened back in Hoofington, I didn't think it was fair to send you off without a reward.” Reaching into her saddlebags with a wing, she presented the necklace to Trixie. “I want you to have this. A proper reward for the hero of Hoofington.”

Trixie took the necklace with her magic, looking it over with a slight smile. “Thank you Rising Note. It is...appreciated.” 

Thorn beamed, nodding her head towards the necklace. 

“Going to try it on? It looks like you got a show to do soon, and it would be a nice little flourish.” 

Trixie tilted her head to the side, examining the necklace again before beginning to float it towards her own neck. 

“Trixie!” 

Thorn twisted around, getting a full view of Skitch-Sketch as she came charging through the gathering crowd. She skidded to a hault at the base of the steps, breathing hard. Her eyes flicked to Thorn for a moment, a nod of greeting thrown her way, before she looked back to Trixie. 

“Sorry I wasn't here sooner Trixie. Things ran a little long at Fluttershy's.” 

Trixie nodded her head towards the interior of the cart. “Come on then. I want you to show me  what you can do, then we'll run over the routine and get you something more...stage appropriate.” 

The necklace forgotten, Trixie hurried Skitch into the cart and closed the door behind the pair. Thorn just frowned. 

“...Great.” 


- - - - 


Skitch took in every inch of the cart's interior as she stepped inside. It was a little bit on the cramped side, which she'd expect from a space that served both as living space and dressing room. Costumes hung on short racks against the walls, trunks of props and fireworks slid underneath them. 

Trixie's cot like bed was tucked away in the back right corner. A small collection of photos was pinned to the wall next to the bed, including one that showed Trixie as a young filly, flanked by  an adult mare and a much older looking stallion. 

“Right,” Trixie said facing Skitch, pulling her attention away from the photos, “Show me a landscape.” 

Skitch grinned, calling upon her memories to show Trixie a wind swept desert landscape, twin suns blazing in the sky. 

“Good. Now show me a monster,” Trixie motioned for her to continue, “Something I haven't seen before.” 

“Something you haven't seen before, eh?” Skitch grinned. “Ya sure about that?” 

“What? You think that the great and powerful Trixie can't handle what exists in the depths of your mind?” She motioned again. “Now show me what you got!” 

Skitch's grin grew all the wider as her horn began to glow. The illusion began to take shape. A large spider lower body, easily twice the size of either pony, the front two legs tipped with grasping claws. Where the fanged spider head would normally be, a sinuous eel like neck and head rose, brushing against the ceiling of the cart's interior. It leered it's fanged maw down at Trixie, the unicorn staring back up at it with a raised eyebrow. 

“Looks like something out of Oubliette's and Ogres.”

“Something like that.” Skitch shrugged as she let the illusion fall. 

Trixie was already rummaging through a few drawers and trunks, picking out bits of clothing, considering them for a moment and then tossing them away. “So, do you have any experience with performing or stage magic?” 

“Not...really. I've done illusions in combat like situations though.” 

“Hrm.” Trixie hummed, as she settled on a glittery silver dress. “Beautiful assistant it is. Try this on for size.”

Skitch caught the dress, raising an eyebrow. “Beautiful assistant? Really?” 

Trixie shrugged. “I'll need to be able feed you directions and the most low impact to the show way to do that is with you as my assistant. Now, on with the dress!”

Rolling her eyes, Skitch pulled the dress on. It consisted of two parts, a glittering band that rested around the neck and then the skirt portion that draped neatly over Skitch's hindquarters, it's hem falling just above her hooves.

“Well, it sure is sparkly.” 

“That's the point...though I think it's missing something...”

Trixie's eyes darted around the cart's interior as she searched for an ephemeral something to finish off the look. Her expression lit up as she remembered the necklace that was just given to her. She snatched it up with one smooth motion and yanked it over Skitch's neck. 

“There we go! It's the little things that complete the look sometimes.” Her smile was wide. “Ready?”

“As I'll ever be.” Skitch smiled back.


- - - -
 

Rarity shuffled off the train her hooves feeling like they were made out of lead, her saddlebags like they were full of rocks. Well, rocks aside from gems that is. Spike walked along side her, carrying the rest of her dress making supplies. He was still full of energy. But he hadn't had to deal with the bride from Tartarus. 

“Spike,” She yawned, “The next time a bride in Canterlot offers me a rush job, remind me of today.” 

The young dragon smiled up at her. “For what it's worth Rarity, I thought all your designs were great. I don't know what the problem was.” 

Rarity shook her head head as the pair moved through the streets to Carousel Boutique. “Difficult clients are an unfortunate part of the business, and when weddings get involved it can get even more difficult. Some brides chase the idea of perfection.”

“I feel bad for the stallion stuck marrying her.” Spike chuckled. 

Rarity couldn't disagree with the sentiment but right now all she wanted was to crawl into bed and get some rest, so she settled for a nod and walking the rest of the way in silence. Open reaching her home, she unlocked the door, pushed her way inside and dumped her saddlebags by the door. 

“Put those over there please dear,” She motioned to the little platform before the mirrors where clients would stand to model their dresses, “I'll get them in the morning.” 

Spike happily obliged as she yawned again. 

“Thank you dear.” She muttered as she followed Spike to the door, “Please thank Twilight for letting me borrow you for a day.” 

“Will do Rarity, but you know she didn't mind.” 

“Still, it is polite to thank. Goodnight Spike.”

As the door closed, Spike stretched and began to walk back towards the library. Best to check in with Twilight. 


- - - - 


Cherry Berry glowered at the Golden Oaks Library. It seemed that her partner's hunch about the two strange ponies being up to something was correct. They had disappeared into the library a moment before, the earth pony of the pair having picked the lock on the back door. 

She had opted to go ahead and follow the pair, while Roseluck stayed behind to keep an eye on Trixie in case she was the target as they had originally guessed. Creeping through the open door and closing it quietly behind her, Cherry dropped back into her normal form with a flash of emerald light. Like Roseluck, she preferred to live in her pony form, but when danger was a possibility she'd rather bank on fangs and an exoskeleton. 

She crept to the kitchen door and paused to listen, the sound of rummaging and conversation floating down from the second floor. Find out what they were up to and get out. Easy enough to accomplish. 

“Ten thousand books in this place, and we're supposed to find twenty five pieces of paper. And that assumes that they're even here.” 

“We'll have to trust Thorn to search Trixie. Sides, if that dragon shows up here we can grab him.”

“Wanna silence him?”

“I dunno...we'll play it by ear. The assistant of Princess Celestia's student. That's a whole lotta heat, even for us.” 

Cherry Berry softly hissed through her teeth. Thorn. She would be involved. She was about to turn and head back out the door to let Roseluck know what was going on when she heard the front door open and then close. 

“Twilight?” Spike called, “I'm back from helping Rarity! Are you in these book stacks...somewhere?” 

“SPIKE! RUN!” Cherry shouted, rushing into the main room. The strange pegasus jumped down from the second level, diving right for Cherry while his partner rushed down the stairs. The pegasus threw his body into the stacks of books that were hemming in Cherry on either side. They wavered for a moment, before toppling over in a rain of paper and covers.

Cherry backpedaled, barely avoiding the tidal wave of toppled literature. Muddy Waters sprang over the piles of books tackling her, using his body to pin her to the ground. Storm Front didn't waste any time, dropping down next to her and grabbing Cherry's head in his hooves.

“I.” 

He bashed Cherry's head against the floor, pain lancing through her as her vision swam.

“Leave her alone!” Spike yelled, clambering up a pile of books and throwing himself at Muddy. Landing on his back, he dug his claws into the earth pony's side. “I said, leave her ALONE!” 

“Gah!” Muddy Waters yelled, rolling off of Cherry's body. “Storm, drop this stupid bug and help me with the gecko!”

Spike continued to hang on tight, spitting a gout of flame into the back of Muddy's neck. He yelped in pain, jumping around the room in a series of wild bucks as he tried to dislodge Spike.

Storm Front ignored his partner, lifting Cherry's head up again. 

“Do not.” 

She screamed in pain as he smashed it to the floor again, black blotches beginning to spread across her vision. 

“Appreciate ponies who like to play hero!”

With the third impact against the floor, and another cry of agony, Cherry felt something crack. A smirk crept across Storm Front's muzzle as he let go, turning to assist his partner with the young dragon.

Cherry Berry felt her consciousness slipping away. “Spike...” She moaned reaching out towards the baby dragon in desperation. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Spike being tackled by Storm Front.


- - - -
 

“And now, for my next trick, I will make my beautiful assistant disappear!” 

Trixie was beaming, awash in the adoration and applause of the crowd as she produced a blue silk cloth blanket, dropping it over Skitch with a flick of the hoof. It was moments like this that kept her going. 

With Skitch covered, she waved her hooves at her chanting in a suitably mystical sounding, but entirely made up language. On the last beat, she dropped a smoke pellet and took a half step backwards to step on a switch that was hidden in the stage. Skitch neatly dropped through the trap door, just as planned. 

The trap door closing, Trixie held up the cloth to show off the fact that green colored unicorn was in fact gone. 

“And now,” Trixie proclaimed, while Skitch quickly crawled under the stage and snuck back into the cart, “It will be a trifle to summon your good neighbor back! Behold the magical aptitude of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

She unleashed a great flash of purple and green smoke mixed with glittering silver sparkles, giving Skitch the cover needed for her to take her position again. When the smoke faded, revealing Skitch to the raucous cheer of the crowd, both she and Trixie took a bow. 

Trixie trotted over to Skitch, quickly whispering to her. 

“Ready for the big finale?”

“Yeah. I got my monster on standby.” 

“Good. Remember, drop some growls on the left hand side of the square, then when I drop my creatures on the stage, bring yours in too.”

“I got your back Trixie.” 

Trixie nodded, striding back to center stage. 

“And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie will pierce the veil between worlds and present you a feat of magic that not even the alicorn sisters that guide the sun and moon can duplicate!”

The familiar shocked gasp ran through the crowd, though Twilight Sparkle in the front row gave a derisive snort at the claim. Trixie just began to layer the illusions instead, coiling the magic around her as she set up her floating, glowing eyed visage. 

“Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie is peering between worlds! I see the truth of it all! The secrets of creation!”

She gasped in mock horror. 

“We are in danger! Horrible creatures are coming! I can see them crossing the veil between worlds! They're...they're...HUMANS!”

The mutter of the crowd was unexpected to Trixie. Less the ripple of fear and confusion from Hoofington, and much more of an uncomfortable shifting about from being stuck in the same room as fighting relatives. She'd just have to hook them with the banishment portion of the trick.

“Trixie, stop this!” Skich hissed. 

“I can't! They're already here!” She played to the crowd, as she began summoning her illusionary portals and the monstrous “humans” that came with them. Trixie rolled into the banishment, grabbing one of the humans and folding it into a rose, just like she had done a dozen times on this road trip.

Unlike in Hoofington, most of the crowd did not cheer, though a small contingent lead by a pale magenta filly and her blueish-gray friend were clapping enthusiastically. Most of the crowd was doing their best to not look directly at the stage. But there were a few faces among the sea of ponies that were downright livid, including Twilight and an orange coated mare that was sitting next to her.

Trixie let her spells end, the momentum of the performance lost. She glanced over at Skitch her jaw dropping slightly at the expression that was on the unicorn's face. Her face was twisted in a mask of rage, a wide snarl crossing her muzzle, her amber eyes wet with tears and blazing with anger at the same time. 

Without a word, she turned on her hooves and ducked back through the curtain. Some ponies, sensing that the show was over, tossed a small collection of coins into the box at the end of the stage. Trixie looked back to the crowd, doffing her hat with an apologetic bow. 

“The Great and Powerful Trixie apologies for the performance everypony. I wish you all a good night.”

Grabbing the box and pushing her way through the curtain herself, Trixie was almost hit in the face by a silver dress thrown by an amber magic aura. Skitch was shaking as her eyes bored into Trixie's form. 

“...Have you been doing that trick in every town you've gone through?” She demanded, voice wavering. 

“...Yes.” Trixie responded. “But why...”

“Because I'm the human!” Skitch shouted. “Or I was before that mad man did this to me. And here I thought that all I had to deal with was the Canterlot nobles slandering me, and now I hear that you're in on it too?”

Trixie frowned. “Look, I didn't know that you were still on the planet. The papers said that you left after The Collector died...”

“You didn't know? How can you not know? Those same papers also said I came back! What, you haven't read anything since then?!” 

Trixie bristled. “Yes! I've had my own problems that I've been trying to deal with!” 

“So that gives you the right to slander humans? To slander *me*?” Skitch snapped, stomping a hoof, “I'm just trying to live a normal life while paparazzi hunt me for photos, lies get printed about me in the paper, and nobles steal my house, and the last thing I need is the Great and Powerful Trixie making me look like a monster as she travels from town to town!”

“Oh, boo hoo.” Trixie growled, her own anger rising. “I saw the ponies in the audience. At least you have friends willing to stand up for you and you don't have anypony trying to kill you!”

“I already almost died for this planet!” 

“Well fantastic for you! Doesn't do much to help me when ponies are luring ursa minor into towns after me!”

Skitch growled. “Just give me my bits and I'll never darken the doorstep of the so called “Great and Powerful Trixie” again!” 

“Well, thanks to how this ended, I barely got anything!” She motioned to the necklace. “Take that. I'm sure you can hock it for a pile of coins if money is all you care about.” 

Skitch growled, her magic lashing onto the box and wrenching it from Trixie. With a final hoarse scream of frustration, Skitch threw the box to the floor. The scant number of coins in the box scatted and rolled across the boards a few dropping through the small gap between the stage and the cart. 

A snarl split Trixie's muzzle as she pointed to where the bits had vanished. “You're on your way out already. Go. Get. Them.” 

Skitch snorted, stomping out the door. 


- - - - 


“Stupid, stuck up, brat!” Skitch growled as she shuffled along, searching the grass for the spilled gold. It was a tight fit underneath the cart and it's stage, something she had been happy to do during part of the show, but now it was sheer aggravation.

“Really damn ironic that the mare that got the Alicorn Amulet is ranting and yelling at me.” She frowned, “...Or will get...maybe...bah!” 

A few more shuffles forward and another visual scan revealed the coins, grinning she snatched them up with her aura. “Gotcha.” 

“Skitch!” 

She stood up, temporarily forgetting where she was and with a resounding crash and a following of explosion of pain, cracked her head off the underside of the stage. A pulse of magic danced down her horn, sending the coins scattering again. 

“Damn it!” 

Applejack's face appeared at the other end of the stage as she peered at her friend. 

“Ya all right?” 

“Yeah, just hit my head.” She grumbled, collecting the coins again before crawling out from underneath the stage and tossing them to Trixie. “There's your money. Don't spend it all in one place.” 

“I won't!” Trixie snarled, slamming the door behind her.

Skitch rolled her eyes stalking away from Trixie's with Applejack and Twilight, missing the small shadow that scuttled through the shadows under the cart's stairs. 


- - - -
 

“Skitch, ya need to calm down.”

Applejack, Twilight and Skitch were walking back towards Golden Oaks Library, though in Skitch's case she was more stomping than walking. 

“I don't want to calm down.” Skitch growled, “Anger is working for me right now.” 

“She's just a loud mouth show mare.” Twilight pointed out, “You can't let this get under your coat.”

“Like I can't let the news articles get under my coat? Like I can't let the fact that I've been taking up space at Applejack's get under my coat?”

“Skitch!” Applejack interjected, “Stop that! Ya help out with the chores and the farm. I ain't gonna have ya talk about yourself like yer a burden.” 

“I agree!” Twilight grinned as they reached her house, “Now let's get some tea and forget about Trixie.” 

The door creaked open with a push, revealing the devastation contained within and the unconscious changeling sprawled out on the floor, green ichor staining part of her mane. Twilight gaped for a moment before rushing into the room, Skitch and Applejack right behind her. The sound of hooves on boards seemed to pull the changeling back to the waking world for a moment, her eyes locking onto Twilight. 

“T-Twilight...”

“She sounds like Cherry Berry.” Applejack blinked, “...She's a changelin'? 

“They...they took him Twilight.” She groaned. 

“Who? Who'd they take?” Twilight gasped, “And who are they?”

“S-Spike...they...they got Spike...” She moaned, collapsing again. 

Twilight bolted upstairs, peering under her bed. When that did not reveal her assistant, she moved onto the spare bed. “Spike? SPIKE! Oh Celestia, she's right, he's gone!”

“Focus Twilight!” Applejack shouted, “Cherry's really badly hurt! We need ta get her to the hospital! Ah need you and Skitch ta hold her steady on my back!”

Twilight took a shuddering breath before coming back downstairs. “R-right.” 

The unconscious changeling was carefully wrapped in magic twin magic auras and settled onto Applejack's back. 

“Hold her tight girls!” 

The three ponies charged out the door, bearing their wounded neighbor along as they rushed to save her. 
> CR 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

scritch-scratch

A sound floated through the cramped confines of Trixie's cart. The rising morning sun was just beginning to peek through the open window, coaxing Trixie back to waking world. She twitched as another round of scratching reached her ears. Rolling over in bed, she pushed herself into a half sitting position and scanned the interior of her cart. 

The racks of costumes, and chests of props were partially obscured in shadow and sat unmoving in the partial morning light. There didn't seem to be any other pony or creature poking around the inside of her traveling home. 

scritch-scratch

Trixie sat up completely now. There was definitely something in here with her. Then came the sound of a high pitched whirring noise, followed by the sound of something sawing into wood. And it was coming from directly under her bed. 

She crept to the edge of her mattress and hung over the side. Taking a deep breath, she carefully pulled the edge of her blankets back. 

Her grandpapa, Quartermoon, was one of the greatest monster and artifact hunters on Equis. And as old as he was before he had finally died, he had traveled the breadth of the world and seen almost everything. And he had taught Trixie everything that he knew when she was growing up. 

She had no idea what the creature she was staring at was. 

The creature was mechanical, almost clockwork, seemingly made out of copper. Glowing runes were inscribed in a straight line down the middle of it's abdomen. It was shaped like a spider, but with four legs instead of the usual eight and about the size of a small dog. The whirring noise was coming from a small saw on the end of one of two small arms that were set just behind the head. And it was currently slicing into her money box. 

“Hey!” 

The creature ignored her, pushing the lid open and pulling out coins with it's free grabbing arm. Moving with frightening speed, it shoved the coins into Trixie's hat, having procured it as well. 

Trixie, already pushed to the point of sheer exasperation from all that had been happening so far, lashed out with her magic. Her horn glowing bright she dragged the struggling creature out from under the bed. It twisted in her aura's grip, lashing out ineffectively with it's buzz saw. 

“Gotcha, you little...” She smiled. 

An arc of electricity jumped from it's other arm, shocking Trixie's snout. Grabbing at her nose with her hooves, her grip slipped, the creature clattering loudly to the floor. It scuttled across the boards, springing up onto one of Trixie's trunks and then running right up the wall towards the window. 

“Oh no you don't!” 

She grabbed it again, this time taking great care to aim the pain causing end away from her. 

“Vicious little thing, aren't you?” She muttered, even as it fought and kicked against her magic.

Tilting it to get a better look at the runes on it's abdomen, she frowned. The first instinct that ran through her mind was that it was some kind of griffin creation. The art of runecasting was their unique magic discipline. But the runes were the wrong shape, looking completely alien compared to anything she had seen or read about as far as Equestria was concerned.

“Completely alien...” She frowned, “Just like Skitch-Sketch.”

Pinning the creature against the wall, she mulled over the possibility that the ex-human had somehow sicked this creature after her. It was dismissed just as quickly. If she was actually dangerous, Trixie doubted that Celestia would let her live in the same town as the element bearers. 

But perhaps she'd know what this thing was. She had conjured up an illusion of some other beast not known to Trixie, after all. Besides there was the other issue, that was coming to mind in the harsh light of morning. 

She needed to apologize and get back in the good graces of Skitch and her friends. Twilight Sparkle still had her evidence locked up in her hidden...

What's burning? Trixie blinked, looking around the room. 

The answer to that turned out to be the fuse on one of her larger fireworks, sparked by the shocking arm of the creature. 

“No, no, no, no!” Trixie shrieked, letting go of metallic not spider. She dove for the firework, snuffing out the fuse with a flurry of hoof beats while it made it's escape through the open window. 

Her home saved, Trixie charged out of her cart, not bothering to grab her hat and cape. The creature had almost destroyed everything she had left with that trick. It was personal now. Quickly scanning the square, she picked up a blur of copper as it disappeared around a corner. 

“You are mine, you sorry, overgrown excuse for a windup toy!” She roared, bolting after the monster.


- - - - 


“So, wait, you mean to tell me that you're both changelings?” Applejack asked, the disbelief clear in her voice.

The question hung in the air of the cramped hospital room like a smothering blanket. Cherry Berry was resting in her bed, a series of bandages wrapped around her head. The rest of the room was full of ponies. 

Roseluck, who had quickly caught up with Applejack, Skitch and Twilight the night before, was sitting next to the bed. Resting a hoof on her partner's foreleg, she hadn't left her side all night. Her normal form was laid bare for all to see; she had come clean as to her true nature at the hospital last night. 

Twilight was nervously stroking her tail while she sat in the corner, a total wreck. Her mane and tail were frayed, everyone could see the bags under her eyes, even through her coat. She hadn't even been able to sleep in her own house last night, as it was still an active crime scene and had crashed with Fluttershy instead. 

Said yellow pegasus was sitting next to her, foreleg around her withers in an attempt to bolster her friend's resolve. Applejack paced, wanting to attack the problem head on, but lacking any idea where to start. Skitch remained locked in a mental feedback loop as she stood by the bed, trying to reconcile the two changelings before her with the out and out shape shifting monsters that she had seen play out on the screen. 

The last pony crammed into the room was the oversized earth pony stallion known as Bullwark. Big Mac's only rival in town in the raw strength department and member of the town guard, he was here to collect statements from both Twilight Sparkle, and Roseluck. 

“All of our lives.” Roseluck answered Applejack's question, “We worked for Queen Magnolia's intelligence wing.”

“You're spies?” Bulwark asked. 

“Ex-spies.” Roseluck corrected, “And before you ask Bulwark, Princess Celestia is aware that we're living here. I believe she gave captain Quick Cuts a file on us.” 

“Why did ya hide it from us though?” Applejack asked, “Ain't illegal ta be a changelin'.” 

Roseluck's smile was slightly sad as she gave her response. “Venexia has only existed for fifty years Applejack. That's not much compared to the thousands of years where our people have been boogeymen. Cherry and I just wanted to live quiet, normal lives.” 

“I think I can understand that,” Bulwark interrupted, “So, these two ponies that Cherry was following?” 

“Slate gray pegasus, short brown mane and tail, with a storm cloud cutie-mark. The other was a tan coated earth pony with a dark brown puddle cutie-mark and light green mane and tail.” 

More notes were scribbled down. 

“And you thought they were suspicious because?” 

“Because they were new in town, and showed up right when I began to sense the presence of another changeling. I assumed that they were either the changelings I sensed or working with said changeling.” 

“And what happened with your partner?” 

“Well, we were looking at Trixie as a possible target. They arrived immediately after her in town. But then they broke off, so I had Cherry follow while I kept eyes on Trixie to make sure she wasn't attacked during her show.”

“Papers!” Twilight shouted, clapping her hooves together, “Trixie visited me right before the show and gave me a bunch of papers. Said that they were evidence against some kind of crime lord from her home city. I put them in the hidden compartment in the library.” 

Eyes wild, she glanced from pony to pony in the room. “Cherry and Spike must have walked in on them searching. She was beaten up and he was kidnapped!”

Bulwark frowned. “Site's still cordoned off. Miss Sparkle, if you'd accompany me, please. I would like to take the evidence to a more secure location. Then we can coordinate with the Neigh Orleans guard...”

“Actually,” Twilight interrupted, licking her lips, “I don't think that's a good idea. The way Trixie talked when she gave me those documents...she didn't trust the Neigh Orleans guard.”

Bulwarks frown grew as a deep as Ghastly Gorge. “She's making accusations of dirty watch members?”

“Well, I think she believes that to be the case at least. The way she talked to me...she really was afraid of them...” 

“Well, I'd still like to move them to a more secure location. And we do need to do something with it.”

Skitch's eyes hadn't left Cherry's unconscious form during the conversation, but now she turned her gaze to Twilight rubbing her chin with the back of a hoof. “What about your brother, Twilight? He's the head of the royal guard, right?” 

Twilight nodded. “He is.”

“I don't claim to have a great deal of intimate knowledge about the Equestrian legal system...but Shining and the royal guard work directly for Princess Celestia, right?” 

“Right.” Twilight nodded, “The royal guard are the direct extension of Celestia's will, much like the lunar guard are the direct extension of Luna's.” 

“Well, back on earth, my government had law enforcement agencies by state, but it also had another layer on the national level. And if Shining works directly for Celestia, they kind of fill that role here. We could bring them in on this. If there's anypony I'd trust with this information, Shining Armor would be it. We could even get some extra pony power to search for Spike.”  

“Of course!” Twilight beamed, rushing for the door, “Come on Bulwark! If we hurry maybe my brother can get here by tonight! I just have to get Spike...”

The regained enthusiasm died as she reached the door, her head drooping and ears slicking back. “And Rainbow Dash is still out of town and she's the fastest flier we have...”

“Don't fret Miss Sparkle.” Bulwark smiled, “The guard post has an emergency telegraph line back to Canterlot. We'll get your bother here right quick.”

With Twilight's confidence once again buoyed up, Bulwark turned his attention to Roseluck. “If you could follow us please? If there's another changeling in town, you're the best chance I have to chase it down.”

Roseluck looked to her partner, a frown crossing her muzzle. “I don't want to leave Cherry alone...”

“Uhh...I can stay with her.” Fluttershy's voice rose from her seat in the corner, “She should wake up to a friendly face.” 

“Ah reckon that's a smart idea Fluttershy.” Applejack nodded, “Skitch and I will see about roundin' up a search group.” 

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Skitch agreed, rubbing at the back of her head, “We should probably tell Trixie what's happening. As...angry as I am with her, she still deserves to know...” 

“Ah agree.” Applejack nodded, “She shouldn't be to hard ta find. I imagine she's still holed up in her cart.” 


- - - -
 

“Happy Anniversary Bonnie!” Lyra beamed, as she stepped from Sugarcube Corner. A freshly baked cupcake, sporting intricate cascading waves of icing- one half blue and pink to match Bon Bon's mane, the other cyan and white- was held in her magic. With a dramatic flourish, she presented it to her significant other with a slight bow. 

Bon Bon blushed, a smile crossing her muzzle even as she tried to keep her cool. “You're going to have to do more for our one year anniversary than just give me a colorful cupcake, Lyra.” 

“Oh, but this is just the start...”

“Look out!”

Lyra turned, a shriek slipping out as a thing of brass and gears skittered up her back. She reared, flailing her forelegs in a panic. The cupcake forgotten, she turned her magic upon the thing on her back, trying to shove it away. 

Apparently not looking for a fight, the copper spider rushed onwards, leaping from Lyra's back and scuttling between two other buildings. Trixie was right on the spider's tail, pausing for just a moment to mutter out a quick apology. 

“Sorry! Sorry! I'll catch it, don't worry!” 

Lyra blinked a few times, as her brain worked out exactly what had just happened. She screamed in anger, bolting after Trixie and the clockwork spider. 

“You ruined my present, you stupid spider!” 

Shaking the cupcake from her mane, Bon Bon joined the chase before her mare-friend did something really foolish.


- - - -
 

Her horn aglow in magic, Trixie lashed out again, her aura springing up around the creature's legs. With a sharp tug, she flipped it onto it's back and pinned it to the ground. 

“You aren't getting away this time!” 

It waved it's legs about in a form of response, firing off sparks of electricity from it's non saw tipped arm. Smiling in triumph, she lifted the clockwork creation into the air, this time pointing the dangerous end at the ground.

The sound of hoof-beats on the ground and a warbled battle-cry echoed through the alleyway, Trixie turning to see what the source was. The aquamarine form of Lyra collided with her a moment later, the clockwork creation once again finding freedom as it clambered up the side of a building and dove down a chimney. 

“What was that?” Trixie demanded, “I HAD the thing!”

Lyra frowned. “It wasn't intentional! That...thing, ruined a perfectly good romantic moment!” 

“And so you just chase after it?” Bon Bon snapped, concern still clear in her voice, “Lyra, you could have gotten hurt...”

A scream from the building interrupted the conversation. The three ponies exchanged a glance, before rushing for the front door. The building in question was Ponyville's jewelry shop, run by Amethyst Star, and upon entering, they could see that she was the source of the scream. 

The clockwork creature was astride one of the jewelry cases, having sliced through the glass with it's saw. A few golden necklaces were looped over it's shocking arm. Amethyst Star was bravely attempting to fight it off with a broom.

“Put! The merchandise! Back!” The purple unicorn snarled, thwacking it firmly with the broom again. 

The spider angrily clicked back, its saw blade arm rapidly jabbing back. It caught the edge of the broomstick, just below the bristle head, slicing it away in one smooth motion. 

“Grab its legs!” Trixie shouted, the tip of her horn lighting up. She grabbed the creatures right side, Lyra joining in and pinning the left side of it down. Trixie turned her gaze to the shocked Amethyst Star. “Do you have a lock box or something? Something large and metal. I watched this thing slice right through a wood chest.”

Amethyst blinked, but then rapidly nodded. Rushing into the back, the others could hear the sounds of things being moved about. “I should have a large lock box that I use to help safely transport gems around here somewhere....Ah ha!”

Charging back, she slammed the box down on the wooden part of the counter and wrenched it open. Trixie and Lyra wrestled the twitching creature into the box, shoving it into place and pinning its legs to its side. Slamming the lid shut, Amethyst quickly locked it before it could try and escape again. 

The lock box twitched and shifted as it sat on the counter, the monster struggling to break loose. Amethyst looked from the box, to the others, back to the box, and then back to the others. 

“What in Celestia's name is that thing?” 

A bang echoed through the room, ponies jumping backwards as the box twitched, sparks of electricity arcing off it's surface. A few more bangs followed, causing another round of twitches and sparks before finally falling silent.

A round of glances were exchanged before attempts were made to answer Amethyst's question.

“Toy gone bad?” Bon Bon suggested. 

“Anniversary ruining menace!” Lyra declared. 

“Not a clue.” Trixie deadpanned. 

Amethyst looked to each of the ponies before groaning and throwing her forelegs into the air. “Can you just...return the lock box when you're done with it?” 

“Of course.” Trixie nodded. 

“Good. Now please get out of my shop!”


- - - - 


Twilight sighed as she sat by the telegraph station, waiting for the response from Canterlot. Trixie's papers were safely locked away in an evidence box and Roseluck was sitting with Bulwark, who was operating in his other role as the Ponyville guard sketch artist. 

She wanted to be out and looking for Spike. She wanted to make sure that he was okay. Perhaps more importantly, she wanted to hurt the two ponies and whatever changeling was pulling their strings. Badly. 

Taking a few calming breaths, she turned her attention back to the telegraph as it began to tap out a message. The machine, like all of the emergency guard lines, was enchanted to automatically type out the message. 

Eagerly pulling the page over to her, Twilight read. 

Twily, 

Got the information on the case. Will be taking the next train out. Should be there by tonight. 

P.S. Cadance has insisted on coming too. 

“Cadance?” Twilight blinked, “As in Princess Cadance?” 

She wasn't really sure why one of Equestria's princesses would be coming along with her older brother. How well did those two know each other? Though, Twilight was quite sure that if Cadance had gotten word of what happened to Spike, she would have wanted to help. She sighed again.

“Please Spike...be okay.” 

The door to the guard station was thrown open, one of Bulwark's colleagues rushing in with a note clutched in this teeth. Quickly rushing over to where Bulwark and Roseluck were sitting, he slapped it down on the desk.  

Bulwark picked it up, his frown growing very deep. 

“Well...this just got a bit more interesting.”

“What? Why?” Twilight asked as she ran over to the desk, “What is that?” 

“It's the ransom demand.”

“What do they want?” Roseluck asked. 

Bulkwark slid the page across the table.

“Trixie's evidence. Delivered by the pair of you.' He sighed, rubbing his forehead before turning his attention back to the guard who delivered the note, “Go collect Trixie. And Applejack and Skitch-Sketch, since those two were seeing about rounding up a search party. They can't head out now.”


- - - -
 

Applejack knocked on the door to Trixie's cart again, frowning when there was no response. “Ah guess we missed her.”

“Great,” Skitch frowned, rubbing at the throbbing pain that was beginning to move through the back of her head, “Maybe we should just give up and start pulling together that search party?” 

“Ah dunno Skitch. If some ponies are really after her...” 

“Yeah. I know.” Skitch sighed, “It's just...”

“THERE YOU ARE!” 

Turning their heads, Skitch and Applejack focused their attention on the approaching forms of Trixie, Lyra and Bon Bon, the former two carrying along a large metal box. Dropping the box to the ground with a loud thud, Trixie pointed an accusatory hoof at Skitch. 

“I require you to identify some manner of creature.” 

“...I'm an artist, not a zoologist Trixie.” 

“But you are from out of this world originally. And I have a feeling this is too.” 

Skitch rolled her eyes. “Look, just because I'm from another world originally...”

“Look, I know you're still angry with her.” Lyra interrupted, “But could you take a look? Please?” 

Skitch sighed, nodding to the box. “All right.”

The lid was pulled open revealing...nothing. The box was devoid of creature or other contents, and only sported a small scorch mark on the right wall. 

“Well, looks like an air monster to me.” 

“It was right here!” Trixie shouted, flipping the box over and shaking it as if it would make the creature appear. 

“Sure Trixie, whatever you say.” 

“Skitch, Lyra and I saw it too.” Bon Bon added, gently nuzzling her marefriend’s cheek, “It scuttled right up her back.”

Sighing, Skitch looked from Lyra and Bon Bon to Trixie. 

“All right,” She sighed, motioning with her hoof, “Describe it to me. What did it look like? What did it do?”

“Well...it looked like this.” Trixie explained, her horn lighting up as she wove a spell and called an image of the creature forth. 

Skitch gasped, taking a few instinctive steps back from it. “No...no way. Are you sure that's what you saw?”

“Positive!” Lyra nodded, “I can still feel it's legs on my back and just...ugh...”

“It's been trying to steal gold.” Trixie elaborated, “Coins from me. Jewelry from the store.”

“What in tarnation is it Skitch?” 

“It's called a clockwork horror,” Skitch sighed, “They're kind of the last out of control experiment of a long dead wizard. They travel from world to world, trying to kill all organic life on it. Not that I actually think that's what happening here!” She quickly amended at the horrified expressions on the others faces. 

“Then, what do you think is happening here?” Trixie asked.

“Well...I'm not entirely sure. But clockwork horrors are predictable. Every bit of the swarm has a set role that does what it's commanded to do. Coppers,” She motioned to the illusion, “Are workers. They work in small groups, not alone. And stealing gold? I mean...that's not really something they do.” 

She paused, tapping her chin with a hoof. “You only ever get one gold horror per planet. They run and oversee the whole invasion of the planet. So, if we have one worker scuttling around, grabbing gold, maybe it's trying to reestablish the command structure? That would hint that it was kind of lost and separated.”

“Of course,” Her eyes turned towards the empty box, “They can't teleport, last time I checked, so I'm really not sure what could have happened there. Maybe it wasn't real?” 

“Nothing like an extra bout of confusion in my life.” Trixie huffed. 

“Well, ah hate to pile more on your back Trixie but whoever's been chasin' ya across Equestria followed ya here.” Applejack commented, “They broke into the library, beat one of our neighbors into unconsciousness, and kidnapped Spike.” 

“What?” Bon Bon gaped, “Oh my. I saw the guard stationed out front, but I had no idea...”

“Yeah, and we're gonna be roundin' up a search party.” 

“No you're not.” 

The assembled ponies looked towards the approaching guard member. He raised a hoof, cutting off the questions before they could begin. 

“We'll fill you in down at the station.” 


- - - - 


Spike fumed from his position in the corner of the cave, not that he could do much else with how thoroughly he had been tied up. For the part of his kidnappers, the earth pony named Muddy Waters was glaring right back, still rubbing at the seared patch of fur on the back of his neck. 

“Stop glaring at the dragon, Waters.” Storm front chided, “Your fur will grow back.” 

“Easy for you to say. He wasn't latched onto you, burning your fur away!” He snarled, grinding his hoof into the ground in frustration, “I'd break his neck right now if Thorn wasn't so insistent about not letting us 'add another body to this op'.”

“And who's the spy here?” She commented from her own seat, “I still have to figure out how to take out Trixie since she didn't take the necklace and that other pony was wearing it during the show. So, as we will already have an extra dead pony, you will not hurt that dragon.”

“So, run over the plan again.” Storm Front commented, motioning with a hoof, “You actually think that they'll make the exchange?”

“Of course they will. Twilight won't let anything happen to her assistant and friend. She'll either bring the documents herself, or talk the others into going along with it.” 


- - - - 


“You want to WHAT?!” Trixie thundered, “I will not have what I worked for just get handed over for your secretary!” 

The mood in the guard post was tense, with Trixe and Twilight locked in a face off, over the nature of Spike and the demand made. 

“Spike is more than just my assistant!” Twilight shot back, “He's family!” 

“You think that you're the only pony who's lost family members? If they get this evidence, than Bayou Runner won't be able to go be arrested and he'll just keep going!”

“We aren't going to let them actually take your evidence.” Bullwark interrupted, a commanding edge in his voice, “But I am not going to allow a citizen of Ponyville to be held hostage, either.”

Trixie clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes closed as dark thoughts danced through her brain. After a few moments, she hissed through her teeth. “Tell me your plan then.” 

“They want you and I to make the hand off.” Roseluck explained, “They have a location in mind east of town, early in the morning, no guards or they kill Spike.” 

“You? Why do they want you involved?” 

“I have my theories.” Roseluck frowned, “But nothing that I can confirm right now.” 

“The plan right now is for you two to be the face. The guard and our volunteers,” Bullwark motioned to Twilight and her friends, “Will hang back. You two will make the exchange and then we'll all swoop in and restrain the targets. Nice and straight forward.” 

Trixie shook her head. “Unacceptable. They could destroy the documents as soon as they're exchanged.” 

“Why not play to our strengths?” Skitch commented, “Twilight can teleport, I'm another illusionist. Can't we use that somehow?” 

Bulwark rubbed his chin, mulling over Skitch's suggestion. Then he cast his gaze towards Twilight Sparkle. “Think that you could grab Spike with a quick teleporation?” 

“YES!” Twilight quickly snapped out, “I can totally do that!”

“Skitch? Can you hide the rest of us?”

“Heck, give me a stack of papers the same size as the documents and I'll give Trixie a set of fakes to hand over.” 

Trixie shook her head. “And maintain the cover at the same time? Forget it. It's another point of failure anyway. Just stick with what we have.” 

“And we have a plan.” Bulwark nodded.
> The Pies (Bonus Chapter)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A shudder ran through Pinkie's body, strong enough to make her bounce along the ground for a few feet, her Pinkie Sense kicking into overdrive for a moment. Swiftly as it snuck up on her, the sensation vanished, leaving Pinkie blinking as she stood on the empty road. 

“Wow! That was a real doozy!” She gasped, picking up the pace towards her family farm, “I hope that everypony is okay!” 

A light cover of fog was hanging over the rolling green contours of the Platinum Hills, draping over the other farms of the region like an ethereal blanket. The sound of Pinkie's hooves on the long road echoing in her ears as she ran. 

Normally, Pinkie wouldn't be concerned at such a reaction from her Pinkie Sense. But the events of the last few months had made her a little more weary. Not that she would let it ruin her natural cheer of course, but she would feel better once she was sure her family was fine.

Cresting the next hill, Pinkie's wide smile returned to her muzzle as she saw the farm of her birth. It sat quietly, not consumed by flame, parasprites or other ickyness. The farmhouse- sporting a new light blue with white trim paint job- sat in the middle of the four fields, which were in turn surrounded by a neatly maintained rail fence.

The spring back in her step, Pinkie skipped the rest of the way home, bouncing right over the rail fence in one smooth motion. 

Pinkie grinned as she walked through the fields, feeling the familiar way the soil churned under her hooves. Slabs of rock poked out of soil all around her; it was granite and marble, mostly sold for construction purposes. 

Continuing to walk closer to the farm house, she noticed that they all seemed to be small. It was like they had been planted recently, but there was no way her family would just plant the stone all at once. 

Coming up on the farmhouse, a strange sight (for most ponies at least) greeted her eyes. Her sisters, Marble and Limestone Pie, had assembled a collection of seemingly random items at the head of the main field. 

Marble was almost lost in the mist, her gray coat acting as natural camouflage. Her cutie-mark, three square blocks of her namesake stood out proudly from her flanks as she painted symbols upon each of the growing slabs with honey. 

Limestone's purpleish-gray coat helped her stand out from the background more, as she balanced herself on one hoof, a series of wind chimes hanging from her forelegs as her sister worked. Three rock chisels, arranged in a fan pattern was her cutie-mark. 

Beaming, Pinkie slid her saddlebags off and bounced to her sisters' collection of items. Without a word, she grabbed a large bag of salt, ripped it open and began to pour a winding line of the mineral through the rows of rock. 

Finishing up the pattern at Marble's hooves, she exchanged a warm smile with her sisters. Limestone began to hum a tune as Pinkie and Marble launched into a chant. 

Spirits of the earth, we call to you
Bless our stone, grow it anew

There was no immediate visible effect on the rows of rock. Earth pony magic was subtle, even when invoking the more advanced rituals known as “hedge magic”; at least that's what Twilight Sparkle had told Pinkie at any rate. 

Limestone dropped the wind chimes, joining both her sisters as they trotted through the rows again, getting a feel for the soil under their hooves and the magic that saturated the ground. 

Pinkie wasn't much of a rock farmer anymore, but she still remembered some things from her fillyhood. Everything felt weird, stiff and unyielding. In fact there was no indication that the hedge ritual had even worked.

“Wow,” Pinkie blinked, shifting from hoof to hoof, “The ground feels all supery dupery strange.”

“I know.” Marble frowned, idly kicking one of the stones, “It's been like this all week now.”

“And the timing just couldn't be worse.” Limestone sighed, “Mom and Dad are coming back in for our birthday tomorrow. We were barely able to convince him to let us take over the family business and now something's stopping the stone from growing. He'll want to take over again, I just know it.” 

“Awww! Don't worry!” Pinkie comforted, pulling both her sisters into a full hug, “We'll fix this before mom and dad get home!”

Hopping back over to the head of the field, she began to rummage through the stack of items. “Headdress!” She grinned, sliding an impressive construction of multicolored feathers and cloth streamers onto her head.

“Live chicken?” Marble asked, offering the confused fowl to her sister. 

“Yes! Live chicken!” 

Grabbing the bird, Pinkie bounced back over to the edge of the field and began waving the chicken back and forth over the slabs.

“Boom-swah-tee-ooooossshhhh!!!”


- - - - 


“Boom...s-swah-tee...” A yawn momentarily interrupted the chant, “Oooosh....Anything?”

Marble and Limestone did a few more laps through the rows, while the moonlight beat down upon them from its position high in the sky. Pinkie's mane and tail were flat and droopy, her eyes full of exhaustion from hours upon hours of trying hedge magic remedies on the fields. This particular one involved standing on a block of stone harvested from a previous year on one hoof...and using the chicken.

Marble and Limestone were likewise exhausted, their hooves heavy as they tested the ground. Limestone lifted her tired head Pinkie's direction, shaking it. 

“It still feels the same, Pinkie. I don't think we're doing anything.”

Pinkie frowned, shaking her own head. “I'll just have to try it again.” 

Marble trotted over to her sister, placing a hoof on her withers. “Pinkie...it's okay. We should get some sleep.” 

Pinkie shook her head. “No! We can't give up. We can fix this!”

Joining her sisters, Limestone likewise put a hoof on Pinkie's back. 

“Come on Pinkie. It won't be that bad to have dad in charge of the farm again. You need sleep anyway, you'll need your rest if you're going to be baking tomorrow.”

Pinkie dropped the chicken to the ground, nodding slowly as she let her sisters lead her into the farmhouse. 


- - - -
 

Tossing and turning in bed, Pinkie could not sleep. Her sisters' plight remained firmly lodged in her mind. Rolling over onto her barrel, Pinkie took a deep breath and then hopped out of bed, heading out of her old bedroom and back to the fields. 

The chicken was pecking and scratching at the floor of it's cage when Pinkie returned. Sliding the headdress back on, Pinkie opened the cage and picked up the bird again. Collecting a few good luck charms, she draped them around the chickens neck and stalked back over to the edge of the fields. 

“Boom-swah-tee-ooooosh!” 

She taped the ground with a hoof. Nothing. 

“Boom-swah-tee-ooooossshh!”

Another test. Still nothing.

“BOOM-SWAH-TEE-OOOOOSSHH!” She practically shouted, trying to illicit some form of response from the fields. But yet another test of the ground revealed no change in the feel of the local magic. 

For once, Pinkie's usual upbeat attitude was stumped. Her older sisters were in trouble, and she couldn't help cheer them up with just a simple party. Unlike Pinkie, Marble and Limestone liked being rock farmers and watching them thrash helplessly against fields that would not grow broke her heart. 

“Dumb rocks!” She growled, pressing her snout right next to one of the slabs, “My family has always treated you well, and now you just sit there like lumps?”

Pinkie could feel something squirming and twisting in the pit of her stomach. An angry, burning sensation that gnawed and thrashed for release. 

“Why don't you just GROW!”

A shower of white hot sparks jumped from her body, raining and flowing over the fields in an angry cascade. A moment later one of the marble slabs shuddered, exploding up and out, scattering dirt like a clumpy rain. Bangs echoed through the fields as the process repeated itself from slab to slab, the shower of clumpy rain turning into a torrent. 

Pinkie's jaw dropped for a moment before she recovered. 

“I DID IT!” She leapt into the air, back flipping and prancing through the risen columns and pillars, beaming at the fruits of her work, her mane and tail normal again. And then she blinked. She looked at Marble's hoof-painted runes, still sitting fallow. The headdress, thrown aside when she got mad.

“I...did it?”

Turning, she bolted back towards the farm house, shouting the whole way. 

“MARBLE! LIMESTONE!” 


- - - -
 

The next morning, Pinkie was whisking a full bowl of cake batter the oven preheating while Marble and Limestone prepared other snacks for the party. Pinkie nattered away happily, further elaborating on the events from last night. 

“I mean, it was just so weird! I was yelling at the rocks and then all of a sudden they were all 'woosh' and 'boom' and growing big!”

“Probably a surge of magic down the lay-line, or all of our hedge magic rituals exploding at once.” Marble commented, taking a sip of the punch she was working on, “Mmmm. This is a good recipe Pinkie.”

“Thanks! Are you sure though? I mean...it only happened once I became super-duper mad.”

“Pinkie?” Limestone commented, tilting her head slightly, “We're earth ponies, remember? We don't cast like that. Even our hedge magic is just kind of tweaking what's there to begin with.” 

Pinkie shrugged. “Well...if you say so. I still think I'll ask Twilight about it when I get back.” 

A sturdy voice called from the door. “Marble, Limestone, were home!” 

The events of last night were pushed from Pinkie's mind as her father and mother trotted into the kitchen. Squeeing with joy, she hopped over to her parents and threw her forelegs around both of them. 

“Hey mom! Hey dad!”

She couldn't help but grin at their appearance, still as she remembered them; her mother with her narrow glasses balanced on the end of her nose, her father with his impeccably cared for hat. The tropical flower pattern shirt was new though. 

Party preparation was momentarily forgotten while hugs were exchanged. Pride was etched on Igneous Rock's features as he looked over his daughters. 

“Mighty fine crop outside.” He said, voice full of energy, “Seems like I was concerned for no reason. The farm is doing just fine without me.” 

His warm gaze fell on Pinkie next. “And you're still making headlines. Glad you could pull yourself away from Ponyville for your sister's birthday.”

“Like I'd ever forget it dad.” Pinkie grinned back, “Now, let's finish cooking and get this party started!” 


- - - -
 

The collected Pie family sat on the front porch, taking in the warm summer afternoon sun in the aftermath of the party. With full bellies and happy hearts, Pinkie and their family enjoyed a moment of silence and unspoken approval. 

Had Pinkie's friends back in Ponyville seen her now, they probably would have done a double take at the sight of their exuberant companion sitting quietly. But the party had been the time for talking, laughing and dancing. Now the rest of her family wanted some time for quiet contemplation and Pinkie would oblige. 

The silence was suddenly shattered, however, as Pinkie began to bounce along the ground, her tail and ears twitching at the same time. The explosion of Pinkie Sense bounced Pinkie from one end of the porch to the other before it faded. 

“Pinkamena! Are you okay?” Cloudy Quartz gaped. 

“Y-yeah mom. It's just my Pinkie Sense.” Pinkie shakily responded, getting to her hooves, “I...I need to go!” 

“Why?”

“My friends are in horrible danger!” 

> The Sting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shining Armor's expression was as dour as his mood as he rolled out of bed. Today was the day where one of Equestria's untouchable crime bosses would fall, if everything went according to plan. 

He had to be ready. He had to be on guard and prepared to take down his thugs at a moment's notice. He needed to protect Equestria and his family members from those who would seek to hurt them...

“Shining? You're doing that thing again.” 

Glancing back at his fiancée, Shining raised an eyebrow. Cadance smiled right back as she laid on her side, a few locks of her mane playfully falling over one eye. 

“What thing?” 

The pink alicorn grinned, rolling out of their bed and striking an upright “at attention” pose, complete with military salute. “That 'I am the law', 'Yes princess, whatever you say princess!' thing you do whenever you're fixated on a problem.” She pointed out, throwing her voice deeper in a bad impression of Shining. 

For his part, Shining just glared right back at her, doing his best to maintain a properly intimidating figure. The cosey inn room was quiet for a few moments as both ponies stared each other down.

Cadance was the first to crack, the edges of her lips twitching before they broke into a wide smile and then laughter. Her laughter in turn broke through Shining's mask of annoyance and soon the couple were laughing as they rested their necks against each other. 

“Seriously Cadance, you know that this is a big deal.” 

“I know honey.” She responded, playfully tussling his mane with a hoof, “But you get tunnel vision when you're like this, and then you miss important things. So, calm down, and take a deep breath.” 

Shining rolled his eyes, but listened to the council of his fiancée all the same. 

“All right. Let's go meet our task force.”


- - - -
 

Skitch-Sketch's stomach was busy doing back flips this morning. Despite having been dragged into some life and death situations since arriving in Equestria, she still wasn't quite used to the calm before the storm. And all she had to do was to hide three guards, Shining Armor, and Equestria's third alicorn princess from at least two kidnappers. 

No pressure. She thought to herself, scanning the room. 

Town Hall had been the chosen meeting place for the all the ponies involved in operation “Get Spike Back!” (name by Twilight Sparkle). Bulwark, being the nominal head of the town guard, was naturally there; as were his two siblings Bastion and Barricade, fellow members of the guard. 

As they looked like they could have easily broken a minotaur in half, Skitch had come to dub them the “siblings of slam”...in her own head at least. She had not yet worked up the nerve to tell them that to their faces.

They were joined by the ponies who would actually make the switch. The self proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie, and Roseluck the changeling. Neither one seemed to be in a good mood, though she suspected for different reasons. Trixie was sulking over a cup of coffee, Roseluck sitting alertly on her haunches, not even bothering with her disguise. 

Roseluck's presence was another major disconnect in her mind. She had been told about friendly changelings back when she first arrived in Equestria, but seeing one this close was something else. Changelings allied to Equestria. That would certainly make the royal wedding interesting. 

“Ya all right Skitch?”

“Yeah, sorry AJ.” She nodded, “Just contemplating the nature of expectations vs reality.” 

“Well contemplate later. We got a job ta do.”

The door to the town hall clicked open, Shining Armor striding in, the very model of a discipline. Bulwark and his siblings immediately snapped to attention, complete with neat salutes. 

Cadance, by contrast, trotted along with a lightness to her step that made her look separated form the rest of the world. Her ethereal nature made Skitch wonder if she was immortal like Celestia and Luna were. 

Twilight was fidgeting, concern marring her features. Before anyone could stop her, she had rushed forward, jabbing a hoof at the pink princess. 

"What are your intentions regarding my brother!"   

A shocked silence filled the room for a moment, Cadance's eyes going wide at the accusation.

But a half chocked back snort drew the room's attention back to Trixie. Having bit down on the brim of her hat to avoid breaking into laughter, her eyes shifted back and forth, aware of all the gazes that were now locked on her. Coughing, she quickly stuffed her hat back on her head. 

“Don't look at me like that! It was funny! It's not the kind of accusation you see thrown at a princess.” She said, poking Roseluck for support, “Come on, don't you agree?” 

“Huh?” She blinked, “Sorry, I got distracted. Incidentally? Princess, you smell delicious.” Her eyes went wide, “Nice! I mean nice! Definitely not that other thing!”

“Well...we're off ta a great start this mornin'.” Applejack sighed. 

“All right everypony,” Shining spoke up, stomping a hoof to bring the attention back to him, “Let's focus here. I've been brought up to speed, so we will be heading to the rendezvous point. Trixie, you and Roseluck will head out slightly ahead of the rest of us engage their attention while the rest of us approach under the cover of illusion.”

Trixie nodded, shooting a glance Skitch's way. “I just hope this homegrown illusionist of yours is up for the task.” 

“Don't worry about me.” She smirked, rearing up, “I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself!”

“Please Skitch,” Twilight sighed, “Can you save the quotes for after Spike is free?” 

“Right...sorry.”  

“Let's just move out.” Shining nodded. 


- - - -
 

“So, a friend of yours is involved in extorting me?” Trixie asked as she and Roseluck trotted through the outskirts of the Everfree. 

“I'm not friends with changelings who do that kind of thing to creatures.”

“Come on. She obviously knows you, otherwise why would you be involved in the drop?” 

“I knew a lot of changelings Trixie.” Roseluck sighed, “We live in hives and ours was more insular than most before we ran.”

Trixie sighed, pulling her cloak a little tighter against the morning dew. “Running. That's something I'm familiar with. But if your hive was so tight knit, then what's going on here?” 

“Our brood is more individualistic than the rest of the swarm.” Roseluck explained, her eyes roaming over their surroundings as they walked, “We can form our own wants and goals and drives instead of just being slavishly devoted to the queen. But that same individuality comes with a price. And some changelings decided they wanted to use their abilities to get paid rather than build our hive.” 

“Spies for hire?” Trixie frowned, kicking the ground, “Suddenly the way Bayou Runner has been able to dodge every accusation thrown his way makes a lot more sense.”

“He's playing with fire either way.” Roseluck muttered, “I helped capture a cell of these rogue changelings in Venexia once. Learned how they worked. I'd put bits on them having copies of the evidence they buried, somewhere in their bolt hole.” 

“Really?” Trixie mused, raising an eyebrow, “Interesting.”

The pair lapsed into silence, save for the occasional nervous buzz of Roseluck's wings. Both resisted the urge to look behind them, lest they were already being watched and gave away the fact they weren't alone. 

A few yards behind the pair, the rest of the group were following along. Shining, Bulwark and his siblings in the front, Skitch and Applejack in the middle, and Twilight and Cadance in the back. The whole group was wrapped in Skitch's illusions, as she kept shifting them about to match the current terrain. 

A throbbing headache had descended on the human turned unicorn, and she winced with each step she took. She wasn't sure what was causing it. She didn't think she was over channeling. Twilight had taught her to recognize the signs. The current situation was important though, so she turned her focus on maintaining her spells and pushed on.

As they approached the location of the drop, the Everfree's underbrush opened up forming a wide circular clearing beneath the canopy. An old dead tree was perched on the edge of a ravine, it's branches precariously leaning out over the drop. And standing on one of those branches, holding Spike in her aura, was...Trixie. 

“Trixie! Roseluck!” The double beamed, “Right on time. Shall we conduct this transaction so that we can both be on our way? Places to go, ponies to see and all that.” 

At the sight of her twin, Trixie's expression had turned into an angry scowl. “It's bad enough that you extort, but you mock me too?”

“What, you were expecting me to show you what I actually look like?” Not-Trixie grinned, waggling a hoof at the original, “Please. I'm not an amateur.”

“You're something all right.” Trixie grumbled. 

“Why yes! I'm The Great and Powerful Trixie!” She crowed, rearing up on her hind legs, “Can't you tell?”

“I don't talk like that!” Trixie snapped.

“Stop talking and just let me go!” Spike snapped, twisting in her grip and lashing out with his claws. 

“Little guy's got fight in him, that's for sure. Though he's going to fight himself right off the cliff if he doesn't shut up.” 

“You're still the one who kidnapped me.”

Thorn waved a dismissive hoof as Storm Front and Muddy Waters walked into view from the edges of the clearing. “Just be a dear and hand over your evidence to my associates.”

The frown on Trixie's muzzle was as deep as the gorge Spike was suspended over, her brow furrowed into a glare that was doing it's best to set her double on fire. Never the less, she slowly walked forward, head held high. Once she got close she flipped her hat off, pulled out the documents and passed the stack to Storm Front. 

As the documents changed hoof several things happened at once. 

Muddy Waters rushed forward, tackling Trixie to the ground and wrapping his forelegs around her neck. 

“What are you doing, you idiot!” Not-Trixie shouted, her eyes wide in shock.

Roseluck retaliated. Immediately pouncing, she sunk her fangs into Waters back, pumping the sleeping venom unique to the Venexian hive into her target. Trixie forgotten, Waters began to buck, trying to dislodge the changeling. 

Trixie sprang back to her hooves, growling as she rushed Storm Front her horn leveled right for his chest. The pegasus dropped the stack of evidence, twisting out of the way of Trixie's charge as he took to the air. 

Twilight appeared on the branch next to the false Trixie, her features twisted into a mask of rage. 

“Give me Spike back!” 

Not-Trixie recoiled, wings flashing into being with twin snaps of emerald flame. Throwing her body backwards off the branch, she made to escape. She and Storm Front didn't make it very far, however. A maroon colored bubble shield snapped into place, locking them in. The illusions that Skitch had kept in place fell away, Shining Armor stepping forward. 

“Now, as you are all trapped, and we completely outnumber you. I'd suggest surrender.” 

“I still have the dragon!” Thorn hissed, the bravado she put on while imitating Trixie slipping, “I can still drop him unless you let us go!”

“Oh, I wouldn't recommend that either.” Cadance smiled sweetly, “Since I'd be able to teleport right underneath him and fly. Which leaves you with no bargaining chips at all.” 

Thorn winced, glancing from the shield, to Muddy Waters, who was beginning to get woozy. Shining Armor smiled even wider. 

“So, what's it going to be?” 


- - - -
 

“Well,” Trixie beamed as she watched the forms of her tormentors be lead along, “Looks like I underestimated Ponyville. Not only did you save my evidence, you actually managed to catch these ponies that have been chasing me since I left Neigh Orleans.” 

“Can't believe you had us surrender.” Storm Front snarled at Thorn. 

“Tell you what.” Thorn growled back, forced back into her natural changeling form, “Next time we get caught, you can fight the group that has the alicorn in it. Yourself.”  

“Great work knowing all about Ponyville by the way.” Storm Front snapped, pointing a hoof at Twilight, “Forgetting that one of the movers and shakers in town is related to the head of the royal guard? And that said member of the guard is dating a princess? That's a really big lapse in intelligence for a professional spy!”

“I did not forget! I figured that the princess would actually have princess stuff to do, instead of following her wild stallion to a little town like this!” 

“It's important for couples to share time together.” Cadance said simply, allowing that explanation to speak for itself.

“You're datin' that?” Muddy Waters grinned loopily, “Score, buddy! That's a real catch, her plot is...”

“Quiet!” Bulwark shouted, stopping the lewd descriptions of Cadance in their tracks, “I don't want to have to listen to your belly aching all the way back to Ponyville.” 

“Yeah, they're just annoyed because we're awesome.” Spike grinned.

Skitch grunted in agreement as she trudged along. The headache had, if anything, gotten worse since she had stopped channeling. Now it felt like knives were being drilled into her brain, and her hooves felt like they were made of iron; heavy to lift and dragging her down. 

Shuffling along, the tip of her hoof caught a divot in the road and she stumbled, bumping into Applejack's side. 

“What's wrong sugarcube?” 

“I...I don't know. Head hurts. Pain all over. I...I...” 

Skitch's sentence was cut short by a startled scream of pain, the necklace she had been wearing since yesterday pulling tight and digging into her flesh. The illusion on it's surface fell away, revealing it's true black crystalline and silvery metal construction.  

Falling to the ground, she began to convulse, continuing to scream as she grabbed at her head. The stabbing pain from before had morphed into burning hot pins and needles that seemed to be probing every inch of her mind. 

“H-help me! It's in my head! IT'S IN MY HEAD!” 

Roiling bubbles of black and purple energy began to dance along her horn. Cadance and Twilight ran to her side, the alicorn princess already beginning to channel. 

Their surroundings began to flicker and ripple, half formed images called into being, hanging there for a moment before new ones replaced them, causing a clashing kaleidoscope of illusions. 

The effects intensified, shimmering spheres of light and sound leaping from Skitch's horn and flying every which way like iridescent missiles. Bulwark and his siblings scattered, throwing themselves to the ground, one of the spheres whipping right past them. 

Thorn took advantage of the chaos to dive forward, grabbing Bulwark's saddlebags and the files contained within before taking to the air. Storm Front followed suit, grabbing his partner and shooting off after Thorn.

“They're getting away!” Trixie screamed. 

Before Shining could react, the world shifted around them, the effects of the amulet intensifying as a whole industrial factory snapped formed around them. Rivers of rainbow color flowed and dripped from machines, the sound of gears grinding against each other echoing in their ears.

Pressing the tip of her horn against the necklace, Cadance surged magical energy into it, her horn blazing like a pink beacon. The factory began to flicker, fading in and out. Gritting her teeth, the princess of love put even more energy into her spell. With a loud groan the sound of the gears stopped, and the illusion faded away.

Skitch groaned as the pain ended and her eyes returned to normal, flopping onto her back. 

“What...the fuck...just hit me?” She moaned. 

Cadance didn't answer, instead staring intensely at the necklace. “Skitch-Sketch? Where did you get this?”'

“Trixie...she gave it to me.” She groaned, weakly pointing a hoof at the show mare as Applejack helped her up. 

Cadance whirled about, facing Trixie down with an intense glare. “And where did you get it?” 

“It was given to me by an admirer!” Trixie huffed.

“Considering that you were on the run, perhaps you should have been more suspect?” Twilight asked, eyebrow raised, “I mean...it is kind of suspicious.”

Trixie glowered, tugging the brim of her hat over her eyes.

“Anyway?” Twilight asked, “What is that thing?”

“It's called a Spell-bite Necklace.” She frowned, “Unfortunate, I thought that we had destroyed them all.”

“We?” Skitch blinked. 

“Oh, Celestia, Luna and I.” Cadance explained, poking at the necklace again, “We spent many years tracking and destroying these and other creations after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire.” 

“Crystal Empire?” Skitch asked, her mouth suddenly very dry. 

“Yes...I'm afraid that you've been struck by a creation of King Sombra.”

“What?” Skitch, Twilight and Trixie shouted in unison. 

Skitch immediately began yanking at the necklace with her magic, trying to rip it away but it stubbornly refused to move. Panicking, Skitch reared, grabbing at it with her hooves and pulling even harder. 

“Get it off! Get it off! I don't want to be mind controlled or turned into a crystal golem pony or whatever he does in this reality!”

Cadance grabbed the sides of her head, forcing the unicorn to look her in the eyes. “Calm down.” She ordered, keeping her voice steady and calm, “I've clogged it with magic to shut it down for now, but if you keep pulling at it, you'll only turn it on again.”

Skitch nodded, gulping at the implications. 

“Now, I'll be able to get it off with time.” Cadance continued, “But you need to tell me what you were thinking while that amulet was active. Help us work out what that factory was.”  

“Why?”

“Oh please.” Trixie snorted, rolling her eyes, “You really haven't figured it out yet? That necklace is making things from your mind 'real' though your illusion magic. It would explain how that clockwork horror vanished. Illusions just vanish when they're disrupted or their duration runs down.” 

Skitch took a shuddering sigh to calm her nerves before beginning to explain. “I could feel it...crawling through my head, like it was looking for something. It...whatever it was...dug into my memories. There were flashes of creatures and stuff...” She shuddered, “And then it dove into my fears.”

“And that was the factory.” Shining nodded, rubbing his chin.

“And if this thing is making things from my mind real. We need to find Rainbow Dash. Now.”

“Well, as Dash is up in griffin lands,” Applejack observed, “Least we won't have to worry about grabbin' the wrong one.” 

“All right.” Shining nodded again, “Cadance, can you stay out here with Skitch and work on getting that thing off of her? I don't want to risk illusion creatures appearing in the middle of Ponyville. Barricade,” His eyes fixed on the guard pony, “Stay with them.”

Bulwark's sibling saluted neatly, Shining turning his gaze to the rest of the gathered ponies. 

“The rest of us will head back to Ponyville, find these illusions and deal with them.” 

“You can all do that.” Trixie snorted haughtily, “I'm going back to my cart. I have my own problems to work out now.”

“But, Trixie...” Twilight began. 

“No!” She barked, whirling on Twilight, “This stupid town has you, your friends, your older brother, and an alicorn princess in it's corner! You should be able handle this! I need to figure out how to salvage months of work in bringing my family's killers to justice!”

Trixie didn't wait for a response. With a dismissive flick of her cape, an explosion of white smoke erupted from the ground. Obscured by her flash bang, Trixie bolted away, leaving the group alone and confused for a moment before Shining Armor sighed and shook his head.

“Forget her. We need to deal with the situation as it is. Let's get moving.” 


- - - -
 

Meanwhile, unaware of what chaos had erupted in the Everfree, Ponyville was going about it's daily routine. Shops were open, ponies went to their jobs to earn bits and, perhaps most importantly, the foals were at school. 

Cheerilee smiled from her position at the head of the classroom. Her students were studiously scribbling away at a math test that she had presented them. 

“Miss Cheerilee!”

Well, they were. Now they were all looking at Silver Spoon. The filly's eyes were wide, she was standing on her chair and her hoof was stretched towards the ceiling. 

“Yes Silver Spoon? What is it?” 

She pointed towards the window, her whole foreleg shaking like a leaf. 

“I...I saw a monster!”

While she kept her expression neutral, Cheerilee mentally rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time Silver Spoon had tried to derail a test with some kind of random observation or story. 

“Now, Silver...”

CRUNCH 

The door violently buckled, then caved completely off it's hinges as Silver Spoon's monster squeezed its way into the school room. A scuttling monster with the lower body of a spider, and the head of an eel, it's front two arms were tipped with wicked looking grabbing claws. In those claws, it held an ornate pony catcher. 

Cheerilee was already moving as her students screamed, scrambling over each other to get away from the monster. Grabbing her pointer in her mouth, Cheerilee charged like she was brandishing a mighty sword. Lashing out with her chosen weapon, the school teacher rained down a flurry of stinging slaps on the side of its serpentine neck. 

“Brave, equine-slave!” It hissed, knocking desks askew as it whirled to face her, “But very stupid.”

“Leaf mhy students awrone!” She growled through her teeth. 

With surprising speed, it lashed out with the pony catcher. Cheerilee yelped in shock, dropping the pointer as she felt the cold metal of the weapon wrap around her neck. Its prey snared, the monster yanked her closer as it pressed it's face right into her's. 

“Brave.” It observed, a tone of happiness still evident in it's screechy, growling voice, “Teaching of young ones indicates educated background and matronly attitude. Quadraped species build also suitable for beast of burden. Yes. I can ask a fine price for you.” 

“Leave Miss Cheerilee alone ya big bully!” 

The monster twisted its head towards Apple Bloom, who had hopped up on one of the desks that hadn't been knocked over when it turned around. 

“Ah said, leave her alone!”

“Yeah! What she said.” Scootaloo joined in her wings buzzing angrily. 

“We won't let you hurt our teacher.” Sweetie Belle added with a note of finality. 

A hissing laugh escaped the monster's teeth as it raised a clawed hand a small glowing sphere of red light beginning to form just in front of it. 

“NO!” Cheerilee shouted, “I'll go with you quietly! Just leave them alone, please!”

“But Miss Cheerilee!”

“Apple Bloom! Just listen to me and stay here. I...I'll be okay.” She finished with a reassuring smile. 

“Come slave.” The monster grinned, dragging Cheerilee towards the door, “You will lead me to a suitably plant cover free hill so that I can contact my ship.” 

The students of the Ponyville schoolhouse just watched on, as their teacher was dragged away. 


- - - -
 

To the south, in a tree shaped cottage, another pony was playing the role of doctor. Fluttershy  carefully dropped a pair of white tablets into a steaming hot cup of tea, stirring it a few times before picking up the tray with her mouth and trotting back out into the living room. 

Cherry Berry laid on the couch, her head still swaddled in bandages, but she was conscious and mobile again. 

“You sure this stuff will help?” She asked, eying the tea tray as Fluttershy placed it on the low coffee table. 

“Oh yes.” Fluttershy nodded, “They're a mixture of vitamins and glucose. I use them to help my critter patients with damaged exoskeletons. If yours is made the same, it should help.”

“Do you...get a lot of patients with exoskeletons?” Cherry Berry blinked, picking up the tea and taking a long drink. 

“Oh...no, not really. But the sales pony was so nice and I figured that it would be useful to have, just in case.”

“Well, the tea is nice and my headache feels a little better at least.” Cherry Berry smiled, “Thanks Fluttershy.”

“It's no trouble.”

A knock on the door caught their attention, Fluttershy trotting over to answer it. Pulling it open, she smiled at the sight of the pony on the other side. 

“Oh! Hello Rainbow Dash, are you back from your trip already?”

Rainbow Dash smiled back. 

> Spiders, Rainbows and Shadows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trixie couldn't be in a worse mood if she tried. 

The buildings and ponies she passed were a blur as she angrily strode through town’s streets. She was putting extra force into each stomps, as if each hoof fall was somehow transferring her displeasure into her surroundings. At this point, all she wanted to do was head back to her travelling cart, leave Ponyville and find some way to salvage this disaster.

Her mood lightened slightly as she entered Ponyville’s town square, her cart still parked next to town hall. Ponies passed through, trotting to and fro as they chatted about their daily lives, and the big talking point of the day, the presence of Princess Cadance. 

Trixie clenched her teeth, pushing down the stab of bitterness that rose in her throat. 

Some help the vaunted Princess of Love was for me. She mentally grumbled, kicking open the door to her travelling home and slamming it behind her. 

Letting her gaze absent mindedly wander across her belongings, her mind just drifted away. She could almost hear her grandpapa commenting on her current situation. 

They tried their best, Trixie. It wasn’t their fault. Her brain argued in her grandpapa’s voice. 

“Doesn't change the fact that I’m back to square one.”

And you’re smart enough to find a way out of this. Roseluck had mentioned something. 

Trixie perked up, a grin spitting her muzzle. Of course! The changeling’s comments about the propensity for her renegade kin to hoard their own evidence related to past contracts had been temporarily forgotten after the loss of her documents; her anger had gotten the better of her. 

“I just need to pick her brain some, find out exactly what I’m dealing with.” She planned, pacing the length of her covered wagon, “Maybe I can even convince her to come along...after I called everyone in this town stupid. Damn it.” 

Swearing again, she kicked the wall. She’d have to dust off the plan that she had used to get her evidence in the first place. Infiltration. A frown crossed her muzzle as she mulled over the full implications of that plan, however. 

Last time, she had the benefit of Bayou Runner’s ignorance. At the time, the crime boss had no clue that Trixie knew that he had been involved in the death of her mother. He had viewed her as just another pawn. 

And then she had stolen the pages from his hidden ledger. 

Trotting over to the small mirror that hung next to the bed, Trixie peered at her own reflection, possibilities running through her head. Channeling, she began to layer illusions on her coat and mane. 

The former was darkened, moving from her usual azure color to a deep navy. For her mane, she strayed from it’s light blue entirely, making it a pale green color instead. Glancing at her flank, she wove another illusion, making her wand cutie-mark a flower instead. She looked back in the mirror, nodding to herself in approval. It was a serviceable disguise, simple enough that she’d be able to maintain most of it through mundane means (some fur dye and a wig), leaving her magic free to keep her cutie-mark hidden. 

Letting her illusions fade, Trixie pulled her money box from under the bed, checking its contents. She did the math in her head, carefully counting out each coin, like doing so would somehow cause more to appear. By her estimation a batch a fur dye and a wig would leave her with three bits left. Three bits that she had promised three young fillies. Sighing, she emptied the contents into a coin pouch that she slung around her neck. 

Never leave town with debts unsettled. That was a mantra that both her mom and grandpappa had sworn by. 

“Pay the kids, get supplies, get out of town.” She nodded, trotting for the door again.


- - - -
 

Approaching the Ponyville schoolhouse, Trixie could already tell that something was wrong. It was far too quiet for a school approaching lunch time. The playground should have been full of young ponies playing and enjoying the near mid day break. Instead, the grounds were empty. 

Then she spotted the gaping hole in the front of the building where the front door should have been. 

She picked up the pace, moving into a full gallop. Drawing closer, she could hear the sounds of some foals crying, others arguing, a rather bossy female voice rising above the others. 

“We should stay here!” She shouted, “Eventually our parents will come and find us.”

“But what if that monthter cometh back!” Another voice exclaimed, with a pronounced lisp. 

Trixie strode into the classroom, the foals instinctively shrinking back before they realized that she was a pony and not some horrible creature come to claim them. 

“What happened here?” She asked, keeping her voice even to try and keep them calm. Her eyes darted from pony to pony, searching for the self proclaimed Cutie-Mark Crusaders, but they were nowhere in sight. 

“Some big spider monster!” The haughty voiced filly from before exclaimed, in a tone reminiscent of somepony whose cutesenera was rained out, “It came in and kidnapped the teacher! Then those blank flanks went off to try and rescue her!”

Trixie’s jaw dropped, her mind already racing ahead of itself, cooking up a veritable mental buffet of fates that a giant spider could inflict upon three young ponies. Fates that her cynical side said that she would most likely be blamed for, somehow. 

She could picture it now. The three girls, strung up in a giant web, drained of their fluids, their rictus expressions looming over her…

Cutie-Mark Crusader Grave Fillers, yay! 

“Ummm…Miss Trixie?” One of the colts interrupted, cutting through Trixie’s morbid fantasy like his cutie-mark, “What should we do?”

Trixie bit her lip. The sea of eyes looking up at her were wide and confused, the shock of having lost their teacher still quite evident on their faces. 

“You’re going to get out of here.” She waved a hoof towards the door, “You,” She swung that same hoof around to point at the scissor marked colt, “And you.” She pointed at a taller colt next to him with a snail cutie-mark. “I’m putting both of you in charge of this group. Go straight to the town hall. They’ll be able to help you there.” 

“What about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?” The lisping filly asked. 

“Don’t worry! The Great and Powerful Trixie will save them! Now, line up and go, quickly. It’s not wise to hang around the site of a monster attack.” 

Their nerves allayed, the foals lined up, the snail and scissor marked ones at the lead. “Alright everypony!” The scissor marked colt nodded, “Let’s go!” At his command, the line of ponies trotted out the door and down the road the Ponyville. 

Satisfied that they would be able to find their way, Trixie stepped outside herself, already channeling her magic. The most likely explanation for a sudden monster was Skitch-Sketch’s out of control illusions. Weaving together the threads of a Detect Magic spell, a grin crept across her muzzle as an ethereal light blue trail of magic became evident. 

It lazily twisted around the left side of the building before trailing its way north towards the hills outside of town. Trixie smirked. Illusions powerful enough to be physical couldn’t help but leave a trail. 

“Not so clever, are we King Sombra?” Trixie grinned, galloping after the trail. 


- - - -
 

“Harvest leader Xilthreka to Sun’s Bane.” The monster growled, into the device on one of it’s grabbing arms. It resembled a purple crystal set into a circlet of leather. Cheerilee was doing her best to keep her wits about her but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from her captor. It? He? The hissing, growling voice sounded masculine enough, so he seemed good enough for her. 

They were standing atop one of the larger hills to the north of Ponyville, surrounded only by a few clumps of bushes. Supposedly, the clear sky would help him contact his fellows, a process that had produced no results so far. And he had been trying for about half an hour by Cheerilee’s estimation. 

He was growing more and more angry with each failed attempt, his dark red eyes constantly darting back to her in an almost accusatory manner. His grip on the pony catcher was still quite firm in his free claw, so breaking loose didn’t seem probable at the moment. 

“Harvest leader Xilthreka to Sun’s Bane! ANSWER!” He shouted at his communication bracelet. Cheerilee winced when no response came, the spider-eel...thing, twisting its head around to glare directly into her eyes. 

“You will explain your planet’s space defenses.” 

“Space...defenses?” Cheerilee blinked, nervously shuffling her hooves. “Well, Princess Luna raises the moon each night, if that’s what you mean.”  

Xilthreka jerked his eel like head back in surprise, an angry hiss escaping his needle like teeth. He rapidly recovered, however, leaning back in his expression now curious. “Explain Princess Luna.” 

“She’s one of the co-rulers of Equestria. Luna oversees the night, while her sister, Celestia, watches over the day and raises the sun each morning…” 

“Gods.” He interrupted, his hiss a mixture of anger and fear, “Equine things ruled by gods?”

Cheerillee’s normal teacher instincts were to correct improper perceptions. But considering the nature of her current predicament… 

“Oh yes!” She lied, rapidly nodding her head, “They’re very powerful! And full of vengeance towards those who are hurt their little ponies!” 

“Gods aren’t here.” Xilthreka hissed, “Gods can’t help you.” 

“Celestia is the sun!” Cheerilee fired back, “She can hear any prayer I send her way.” 

He was on the back hoof (or back spider leg in this case) now, twisting his head every which direction, like he was expecting Celestia to leap out from behind one of the nearby bushes to do him in. 

“Oh Celestia on high,” She rhythmically intoned, trying to scare the monster away with the fear of being struck down by a celestial fire, “Please come and assist your humble little pony.”

“Silence!” He hissed, tugging on the pony catcher, “You will not summon the sun god!”

“Cast him down my goddess! Incinerate him with your holy flame!”

Xilthreka released the handle of the pony catcher, the weapon clattering to the ground, flexing his claws as he searched for the arrival of Celestia. A small crimson bead of light flickered to life, suspended neatly between its two grasping hands, the weapon forgotten.  

Cheerilee took a large step backwards, freezing when Xilthreka turned his head to face her again. His smile was triumphant and he cackled with glee. “I see no gods, equine slave. You lie!” 

“WHO DARES DOUBT MAH PRESENCE!” One of the bushes shouted, with a distinct drawl, its branches shaking at her captor like a rattlesnake. Cheerilee suppressed the urge to facehoof, recognizing the voice for what it actually was. 

I really need to have a talk with Applejack about her sister, next round of teacher conferences. She thought, the monster turning to face the offending bush. How did they even find us without that thing seeing them?  

“RELEASE MAH SUBJECT!” The bush demanded, wagging a branch like a stern mother, “AND BEGONE FROM THIS LAND, NEVER TO RETURN!” 

At least she’s trying for the Royal Canterlot Voice. Cheerilee thought, crouching down and picking up the catcher in her mouth as Xilthreka scuttled over to the offending shrubbery. Three shocked squeeks burst from the green leaves, the Cutie-Mark Crusaders dragged fully from the bush a moment later, pinned to the ground by their necks. 

Cheerilee charged, aiming the pony catcher like a lance. 

The grabbing prongs of the weapon weren’t designed to be used in such a way, but the school teacher didn’t care. Something was threatening her students. The tips of the grabber caught the monster where the neck met the spider body, the impact making her jaw go numb. But Xilthreka reared all the same, knocked askew, his grip slipping from the girls. 

Tossing the weapon aside, she charged forward, pushing the Crusaders along. “Run!” 

Scrambling past the bush, the four ponies charged down the hill, wincing at the enraged howl that escaped from the monster’s maw. Rolling back to his spider legs, Xilthreka rushed after them, shrieking out a high pitched staccato chitter that sent chills down their spines. 

The nature of the neogi body served them well in their home universe. Spelljammers, the enchanted ships that traveled between planets, were the targets of most neogi slave raids; and much like the sailing ships of both Earth and Equis, were constructed with cramped decks and tight living quarters. 

Their spider like bodies allowed them to move across ceilings and walls, in addition to floors, giving them increased maneuverability in such conditions. But in a foot (or hoof) race, they were at a marked disadvantage, doubly so against a species of horses. 

The distance between Xilthreka and the ponies he was trying to catch grew greater and greater, his frustration growing. With a snap of his claws, the small rose sphere of light returned. Throwing his hand forward, the ball of light lept from his talon, unfolding into a crackling ball of flame that streaked for Cheerilee and the Crusaders. 

The teacher could feel the heat on her back as the fireball drew closer. Grabbing the fillies, she threw them to the ground, laying her body across them as an impromptu shield. The explosion hammered her ears, the plunging into silence as she buried her snout into the grass. It felt like an oven was hanging directly overhead, threatening to swallow her whole. 

But, the next moment it was gone, and Cheerilee dared to raise her head and look around. They were laying in a small ditch in the side of the hill, which seemed to have provided cover from the explosion. Much to her confusion, the grass around them looked untouched. 

The sound of galloping drifted to her hears, an azure colored unicorn rounding one of the other hills. Her eyes narrowed as she realized who it was from her recent performance in town.

“Trixie?”


- - - - 


Relief flooded through Trixie at the sight of the teacher and her students alive, undrained and seemingly unhurt. Glancing up the hill, she could see the spider monster rushing down after them. It’s appearance elicited a raised eyebrow, as she recognized it from her and Skitch’s pre-show preparation. 

“Well, it did come from her head.” She muttered, galloping over to their side. The teacher’s face was scrunched up in confusion over her presence, one eyebrow raised. The Cutie-Mark Crusaders, however seemed to remember her from the other day. 

“Get around that next hill.” She ordered, raising a hoof to cut off any questions, “I’ll deal with the monster.” 

The teacher didn’t seem to need much convincing, pushing her charges back to their hooves. “Come on girls!”

Trixie stepped forward, tilting her hat back slightly as she fixed the beast before her with an even glare. It scuttled to a stop, cocking its eel head to observe her. She suppressed the urge to shudder at it’s bloated spider body and twitching segmented legs.

“And who are you supposed to be, equine slave?” 

Snorting, Trixie flared her cape, rearing on her hind legs. “I,” She boasted, “Am the Great and Powerful Trixie! Vicereine of Neigh Orleans, and the personal student of Princess Luna!”

He snorted, his wide almost mocking smile showing off his needle sharp teeth. “You bark loudly equine slave. But the neogi run from no creature.” 

“Well then!" Trixie smirked, tugging the brim of her hat low, "Show Trixie what you got!”

The monster began to weave a spell. Illusionary, like himself, but pushed into the realm of semi-corporality by the nature of the amulet. Trixie galloped to the right, keeping her eyes on the creature and the way it wove and shaped its spell, an old memory playing in her mind.

“Now,” Quartermoon elaborated, pointing to the large stuffed model spider, “Giant spiders might look scary. But the important thing to remember is that their legs can’t reach their backs. So, if you ever find yourself fighting one…”

“Get on their back.” She smirked, throwing herself back to the left, a crackling blue lightning bolt hitting the ground where she was a moment before. Tapping into her own magic, Trixie wove together a Mirror Image spell and split into three ponies. She went right, one of her copies went left, and she sent the second image right down the middle. 

Recoiling, the creature began to weave another spell, five shimmering marble sized spheres appearing on the tips of it’s claws. Sweeping it’s strange hand in a wide arc, the magic balls hissed and snaked across the field. The first sphere blinked out Trixie’s first image, the second blinked out her second, and the last three smashed into Trixie’s side. 

She stumbled, gritting her teeth, eyes watering from the pain that lanced through her body. The punch of magic felt like a prizefighter had just worked her over. But her illusions had let her get close enough. 

Kicking off, she landed on the monster’s abdomen. With a round of high pitched shrieks, the neogi began to thrash and buck, trying to throw the pony from his person. Trixie shifted her position, wrapping her front legs around the wriggling eel neck. 

“UNHAND ME, VILE THING!”

“Takes one to know one!” Trixie fired back, placing her horn against the back of the creature’s neck, “And it’s time for you to go!” 

Reaching out with her magic, she probed the form of what was essentially a living spell, searching for a weak point; not an easy task when said spell was also trying to throw you off its back. 

The weave of the spell was tight too. She had to give Sombra some credit for being an exquisite spellcaster. She’d have to force a hole into the spell weave and introduce the dispel enchantment. 

The negoi’s serpentine neck twisted downwards its teeth digging deep into the flesh of her right cannon. Grunting through the spikes of pain, Trixie pulled her grip a little tighter and pushed another surge of magic through her horn. Turning the probe into a scalpel, she sliced into the magical weave. Wincing at the tingle of magic that lashed back against her horn, Trixie quickly wove together her dispelling charm. 

With another push of magic, she shoved the spell right into the form of the creature. The grip on her leg vanished, the neogi falling apart into mist, and Trixie thudding to the ground. Pushing herself back to her hooves, her wounded leg wobbled, threatening to give out from under her weight. Wincing from the pain, she noticed that her hat was gone, knocked loose during the scuffle. 

“Trixie!” 

Cheerilee and the fillies were rushing back towards her, the schoolteacher’s eyes locked firmly on Trixie’s wound. Drawing close, she leaned down to inspect the bite mark more closely, the young ones hopping in place around Trixie.  

“That was so awesome!” Scootaloo cheered, rapidly flapping her wings, “You jumped right on that things back!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom echoed, “Where’d ya learn to fight like that Miss Trixie?”

“My grandfather.” She smiled softly, before glancing at Cheerilee, “What’s the verdict ‘Doc’. Will the Great and Powerful Trixie be able to shuffle cards again?”

“Well, it doesn’t look that bad…” Cheerilee shrugged, “But we should probably get you to the hospital anyway. Just in case, whatever that thing was is poisonous.” 

“I like that idea.” Trixie nodded, taking a shaky step forward. 

“Stop that.” Cheerilee chided, stepping alongside her, “You’re wounded, let me help you.”

Trixie blinked, but shrugged, throwing her wounded leg across Cheerilee’s withers. “Thank you.” She glanced around again, “Anypony seen my hat?” 

“I got it!” Sweetie Belle declared, the headgear tilting precariously on her head. 

“Thanks Sweetie Belle.” Trixie sighed, “I just hope that’s all there was.”


- - - -
 

“Fresh tea’s almost ready.” Fluttershy called from her cosy little kitchen. 

“Thanks Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash smiled, “You always make the best tea.”

Cherry Berry smiled a thin, almost painful smile, from her corner of the living room. There was something about the blue and rainbow maned pegasus that made her stomach churn. Perhaps it was the way none of her smiles reached her eyes, or the way that she hadn’t even batted an eyelash at her own appearance.

“So, Cherry, how long have you been a changeling?”

The question sounded casual, but Cherry knew a probing question when she heard one. 

“Oh,” She responded with a cheerful tone and wave of a hoof, “Not that long. Thought it would be a nice change of pace. How about you? Weren’t you off to the north in griffin lands?”

“Oh, you know. Finished things up there. Came back.” 

“Rather quickly...didn’t you leave yesterday?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t go that far in. Nice crack on your head.” She nodded towards the bandages, “I imagine that’s slowing you down some.” 

“Oh, less than you’d think.” 

“Tea’s ready!” Fluttershy chirped, trotting back into the room with a tray balanced on her head. A perfect picture of domesticity. The room exploded into motion, Dash throwing herself at Fluttershy like a blue bolt of lightning. Before Berry Punch could react, the pegasus had wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy’s neck, her tea set rattling as she was pulled into a lock. 

For her part, Fluttershy stood stock still, her eyes wide as her mind tried to process what was happening. 

“R-Rainbow?”

“Thought you could escape, living down here?” Rainbow Dash hissed, her eyes wide and expression crazed. Her gaze kept flicking from Fluttershy to Cherry Berry and back again, even as she tightened her grip. 

Cherry Berry crouched down, her dragonfly like wings thrumming with angry energy, every muscle in her body poised to spring forward.  

“Let her go.”  

“Stay out of this bug. This is Cloudsdale business. She failed her flight test, she pays the price.”

“Rainbow, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Fluttershy stammered, “What flight test? What consequences?”

“The Rainbow Factory, Fluttershy. We’ll use you to help make rainbows!”

“Fluttershy…” Cherry asked, her eyes flicking away for a moment, before they locked back on Rainbow Dash, “Do you trust me?”

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes closed, but nodded. 

“Get ready to run.” 

“Don’t try anything.” Rainbow Dash growled. “I’ll-”

Whatever she was going to do, they’d never know. With a blur of white and a screech of lepus indignation, Angel Bunny threw himself at Rainbow Dash’s face. The pegasus, unprepared for such an assault, let go of Fluttershy as the rabbit latched on. 

The tea set crashed to the floor as Fluttershy took a few steps back, her eyes bugging out in shock. Roaring in anger, Dash reared up on her hind legs and pried at the bunny who was doing his level best to not be removed. 

“Run!” Cherry shouted. 

“No!”

Fluttershy charged, headbutting Rainbow full on in the barrel. The pegasus was sent tumbling backwards with a startled yelp, Angel dropping into his owner’s mane. Fluttershy blinked, but then turned on her tail and bolted for the door. Dash recovered quickly from her fall, rolling back to her hooves and springing up in one smooth motion. 

The tea tray, snatched up by Cherry Berry, impacted into her face, turning her charge into another stumble while her prey slipped outside. 

“Fly straight for Ponyville!” Cherry ordered, once again taking up a defensive stance, planting herself on the cottages’ winding path, “I’ll hold fake Dash off!”

“You’re still injured!” Fluttershy almost shrieked. 

“And I can’t let her catch you!”

The door slammed open, the imposter rushing at both of them like a runaway train. Wings humming, Cherry twisted to avoid the strike, Dash’s hoof impacting off the side of her barrel with a sickening scrape sound. She countered by lashing out with her forelegs, grabbing Dash’s outstretched limb and twisting it. 

Dash yelped in pain, as she was flung away, but with a flare of her wings she slammed the breaks the cartwheel and came shooting right back at Cherry. The ex-spy twisted again, wings buzzing at top speed in a desperate attempt to avoid the charge. 

This time, however, Dash held out a foreleg, catching the changeling around her middle and slamming her to the ground. Cherry lashed back, burying her fangs into Dash’s shoulder. Pulling back a hoof, Rainbow Dash prepared to deliver a punch to her bandaged head. 

Fluttershy pounced on her from behind, locking Dash’s front legs to her side. 

“Dash! Stop it!”

“Cloudsdale...must be purged...of weakness!” 

With a surge of motion, Dash flung Fluttershy from her body and shook Cherry Berry off of her. A buck sent the changeling sprawling, and Dash turned her attention back towards her would be friend. 

“You’ll make a great yellow!”

“LOOK OUT BELOW!” 

A flying contraption hammered together from wood and metal, and flown by a familiar pink pony, dropped from the sky like an out of control rocket. The machine impacted into Rainbow Dash, sending her and it tumbling over and over in a shriek of metal and wood. Pinkie landed next to Fluttershy, forehooves raised as if she were some manner of martial arts master, her whole body swaying. 

But the bags were evident under her eyes, and it was quite obvious to Cherry and Fluttershy that she was swaying from exhaustion. 

“I don’t know who I am!” She declared, “But no one hurts my pancakes! Especially not...not…” 

Her face scrunched up, her mind searching for the proper word. 

“Meanie-Replacement-Dash!” 

From the pile of wreckage, an explosion of small spheres of light flared up, floating high into the air before fading away. Blinking a few times, Cherry slinked her way forward, preparing to strike again if need be. But the wreckage was devoid of Rainbow Dash or Rainbow Dash body. 

“She’s gone.”

“I knew she wasn’t real!” Pinkie declared with certainty, flopping back to her hooves and almost toppling over in the process, “If Dashie had gone evil, that would have been a headache, tail-swish, both knee pinchy….”

“Pinkie?” Fluttershy interrupted, suddenly at her side to help support the wobbly mare, “I thought you were visiting family?” 

“Pinkie sense!” She shouted, rearing into her hind legs again, “I knew you were in trouble, so I pulled my old flying machine together from the barn and I flew aaaaaallllllll through the night to get here!” 

She giggled, toppling backwards with a thud, asleep before she hit the ground. Fluttershy and Cherry exchanged a glance, a tired smile playing across the muzzle of the latter.

“She’s completely crazy.” 

“Maybe.” Fluttershy smiled, “But would you want her to be different?” 

“Not on your life.”  


- - - -
 

Skitch-Sketch was starting to get why most ponies were freaked out by the Everfree. 

Some of it made sense from the beginning, admittedly. The things like the timberwolves and that bastard cockatrice who had turned her to stone a little while back. But the general sense of dread that most ponies felt in regards to its weather moving on its own and other random strangeness, didn’t really affect her. 

Save for when an alicorn was trying to remove a dangerous magic item from her person. 

“Are you sure the weird magic around here won’t mess with what you’re doing?” 

“Yes Skitch, I’m sure.” 

“You've just been working on it for a bit now….” 

A pink glow engulfed the necklace as Cadance worked, face screwed up in concentration, tongue sticking out in an expression far too adorable considering the seriousness of the situation. 

Barricade paced back and forth nearby, her tail swishing, sharp eyes scanning the horizon; though she did keep glancing back at her every now and then. Like her brothers, her dark brown coat was contrasted by a light gray mane and tail, that she kept pulled back in a short pony tail. It reminded Skitch of a mixture wood and stone fortifications, moulded into a pony form.   

Skitch glanced back down at Cadance. “I mean, it’s just that you said that you’ve destroyed a lot of these things and it feels like this is taking forever….” 

“Skitch?” Cadance calmly responded, “Please stop back seat casting. It’s not easy to take apart an enchantment like this.”

“Okay.” She sighed, “Okay.” 

“I’m tellin’ ya,” Barricade drawled as she continued her guard, “Ya really should have seen this coming.” 

“How did you work that one out?” 

“Well, for one, you live in Ponyville. And as much as I love this town, we attract strangeness like a plate of honey attracts flies. I mean, of all the mountains in Equestria a dragon could have picked to move into, he picked the one not far from here?” 

“Good point.” 

“Plus, you’re friends with the Element Bearers. Strange comes with their job description. Also, you’re an alien.” 

“I prefer the term ‘Interdimensional Visitor.’” She responded, sticking her tongue out for emphasis. 

“The point is, you are bright torch of weird against a night sky of normal. You really should expect this.” 

“Alright Skitch.” Cadance nodded, “I think I just about got it…”

With a sound not unlike metal gears grinding together, a sphere of black energy shot from the necklace like a bullet. Crashing against Cadance’s chest, the alicorn was pushed back, her hooves digging into the ground. The dark magic twisted about, pulling tight around her neck. Cadance struck back, her own aura coiling into the attacking one. Skitch fell to the ground, convulsing and screaming as the necklace cleaved into mind and life alike. 

Caaaaadaaaaannnceee! A dark, male voice hissed. 

Rearing up, Cadance clenched her jaw, extending another tendril of magic, grappling with both the offensive spell and the necklace itself. Their surroundings began to flicker, trees and dirt replaced by strong granite pillars and a polished stone floor, before beginning to cycle between the two states. 

To the princess, it felt like she had just grabbed a lightning bolt. The current of dark power lashed back, thrashing and digging at her skin. She could feel the malice behind it. The hatred of a half awake mind. 

“Sombra.” She growled, before looking to Barricade, “Hold her!” 

The guardspony lept to the command, pressing her hooves against Skitch’s back and pinning the unicorn to the ground. Throwing caution to the wind, Cadance coiled up another tendril of magic sharply jabbing at the gem and the necklace clasp simultaneously. 

Sparks flew from the stone, the dark magic instinctively coiling in upon itself to protect the enchantment. The secondary strike, however, sliced against the latch, cutting through the metal. The necklace popped loose, dark tendrils arcing from the metal, to Skitch’s body, the unicorn doubling over with a horrible screech of agony. 

Cadance pitched the necklace away, putting as much magic as she could into the telekinetic throw. Satisfied as it tumbled away into the under brush, she turned her attention back to the trembling form of Skitch.  

“Son of a bitch.” She moaned, her whole body shaking, “I...I thought…” 

“I know.” Cadance soothed, “That you were going to die. But considering what I felt.” She shook her head, “It was best to get it away from you as quickly as possible.” 

Opening her mouth to respond, Skitch paused as the forest turned to stone carved mountain halls once more. 

“It’s still active!” Barricade snarled, “I thought it needed a host to work?” She drew her blade, gripping the hilt firmly in her mouth. 

The great stone pillars didn’t last for long, falling back into trees. But unlike the previous times, a reddish light was casting its rays through the branches and trunks, a low, deep growl echoing from the point as it moved through the forest. 

“Skitch-Sketch.” 

Cadance’s voice was calm, but her expression was hard, body coiled like a whip ready to strike. Barricade was as her side, looking just as determined to oppose whatever was coming their way. 

“What monstrous thing did it summon from your mind now?” 

Skitch stared at the light that was moving towards them a feeling of dread, washing over her. The design of the stone pillars had kindled a memory from a dark movie theater many years ago. 

“A balrog.” She gulped, “A demon of the ancient world.” 

Her heartbeat quickened with each snap of a branch, with each impact of a foot on the ground, she remembered the music sting that had harkened its appearance in the film. 

“We need to get out of here. This foe is beyond any of us.”

Cadance opened her mouth to object, the remains of her magic still shimmering around her horn. But with a final crack and splinter of wood, the trees parted and the fire and shadow was upon them. 
> Ponyville Throwdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since becoming an alicorn, Princess Cadance’s mind had become open to a great deal of possibilities. She had learned magic that, as an earth pony, she never would have been able to do. She had gained the ability to fly, and soared through the sky like a natural born pegasus. And perhaps, most importantly, she had been ushered into the ruling class of Equestria. 

But, she was forced to admit, that the current situation was something of a new one for her. 

Smoke, burning embers, and flickering tongues of flame coiled around the towering figure that Skitch-Sketch had called a balrog. Sombra’s cursed amulet was embedded directly into its cracked, almost rock like flesh, bleeding dark magic like water. 

It charged forward, a long whip of crackling flame appearing in one of its thick hands in a moment. Cadance flitted backwards, shoving Skitch and Barricade away as the weapon lashed across where they had all been standing a moment before. 

She could feel the power flowing off the creature, tinged with a familiar undercurrent of loathing. It had been there when she delved into the amulet, flaring up into an angry snarl of hatred for a brief moment. 

Sombra’s magic always did have a distinctive taint to it. 

Charging again, the balrog called a sword of flame into its other hand, swinging it straight down at Cadance’s head. A pink bubble sprung into being, stopping the attack in its tracks. 

The alicorn princess smirked. 

And Shining was worried I wouldn’t be able to use this spell. 

Her attacker didn’t take that lying down however. The barlog’s whip struck out towards Skitch-Sketch, the unicorn’s legs still wobbling from the amulet’s assault. A strangled shout escaped her lips as she tried to run, but they gave out and she fell with a shout. 

Shining Armor’s shield spell sprung into being again, blocking the strike. But a moment later Cadance felt a heavy strike crash into the side of her head, the world going topsy-turvy as she skidded along the forest floor for a few feet. 

“Cheap shot.” She spat, pushing herself back up. 

“Victory by any means.” It responded with a mocking grin. 

The princess could feel the waves of heat radiating off its form. The temperature spike around the beast was causing twigs and fallen leaves to burst into flame at its feet.

“Little pony princess.” It growled, amulet flaring, “You stand before Durin’s Bane. Feller of the kingdom of Moria. I will break you.” 

A mad laugh escaped Skitch-Sketch’s lips. 

“It’s talking! They aren’t supposed to be able to talk!”

Cadance glared right back at the beast, flaring her wings to make herself look larger. 

“I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, protector of Equestria and last of the Crystal Empire. I will not yield.”

“Then fall.”

It threw itself forward again, sword and whip whirling through the air in a chaotic blur. Cadance summoned forth the shield again, the fire crackling and sparking against the magical energy. The strength of the strike sent ripples cascading through its form, and strain back into her horn. 

It lashed out with both weapons again, the pink magic visibly bowing towards the alicorn’s form. Snuffing out the whip with a gesture, it raised the blade high above its head, preparing for a powerful downward stab. 

Cadance let the shield fall, hopping backwards as the tip gouged into the ground where she had been standing a moment ago. Throwing together a spell in response, Cadance called upon the icey winds of the north, and smashed the magic into the balrog’s face. The blast of magic and cold forced Durin’s Bane back slightly. 

It recovered in an instant, snapping the whip back into existence and swinging it in a wide arc. Cadance blocked again, a small rectangular chunk of energy popping into view, only to be shattered by the strike. 

“We can’t stay!” Skitch shouted, horn glowing in an attempt to assist, “This thing tore through an entire kingdom!” 

“Then we need backup!” Barricade shouted. 

“And if this thing- ugh - “ She winced as she blocked another strike, “Really did destroy a kingdom, I’m not leading it back to Ponyville!” 

Groaning, Skitch flung a sphere of light at the balrog. It raised a wing, the sphere exploding into a shower of light motes as it fell apart. Durin’s Bane rushed Cadance again, lashing out with a kick that barely missed her. Skitch moaned, rubbing her temples and wracking her brain for a way out of the situation. 

“Froggy Bottom Bog!” She shouted, “Can we get there?” 

“I know the way!” Barricade nodded, “My brothers and I would play there all the time when we were younger.” 

“GO!” Cadance shouted, scooping Skitch up and throwing the unicorn onto her back, charging after Barricade. 

Skitch squeezed her eyes closed as she clung into Cadance for dear life, the roar of the balrog echoing in her ears, the princesses’ body bouncing under her.

“There is no where you can run, where I can’t find you!” The balrog roared, storming through the Everfree after them.

From Skitch-Sketch’s perspective, the journey to Froggy Bottom Bog was a jumble of confused motion and sound. Durin’s Bane yelled and cursed and roared as it chased after, smashing a path through the Everfree that Cadance and Barricade were galloping full force to stay ahead of. 

“Don’t get too far ahead.” Skitch whispered to Cadance, “You need to lead him there.” 

“We’re doing our best. I hope you have a plan.”

“I like to think I do. Back on earth we call this a Mob Train.” 

“And how, pray tell, does this ‘Mob Train’ work.” 

“That depends what’s on the other end.” 

“You don’t even know what might be waiting for us?!” Barricade hissed, “What kind of insane plan is this?” 

“I call it the John Crichton.” Skitch grunted, “Yell at me if it fails” 

Froggy Bottom Bog turned out to be a subsection within the Everfree, to the south and east of where they had entered, and by the time they reached its banks, Barricade’s flanks were heaving from the effort of the run. Cadance, perhaps due to her alicorn strength, seemed to be doing much better. 

Hopping off of Cadance’s back, Skitch splashed into the water until it was up to the tops of her cannons. Sparing a glance at the onrushing balrog, she began to channel with a panicked energy too her motions, firing off blasts of light into the water. She could hear each angry footfall of the beast, each roar, as it closed in.

“You better be in there you overgrown terrarium pet!” 

“Skitch….” Cadance frowned, turning to face the balrog, “Where’s that thing on the other end.” 

“COME ON! WAKE! UP!” 

The murky water bubbled, churned, then erupted in a horrible geyser. Four angry serpentine heads hissed through the air, glaring down at the ponies before them, a massive trunk like body rising out of the water after them. 

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake.” Barricade shouted, “Two monsters?”

“Get us out of here!” Skitch shouted, back pedaling towards the pink alicorn, “The bear has been poked!” 

The balor pounced.

The hydra struck.

Cadance teleported. 

The hydra’s bites collided with the side of the balrog. Roaring, a blade of flame appeared in the demon’s other hand, a solid strike delivered to the flank of the multi-headed reptile. The hydra struck back with equal fury. 

Snapping two of its fanged maws down on the shoulders of the fiery demon, its other heads snaked around its midsection. Ignoring heat that seared and tore at its scales, the hydra began to resolutely walk backwards, dragging its prey along with it. 

The balrog dug in its heels, great scorched furrows getting burned into the swamp side plants as it tried, and failed to stop the forward motion. Its sword flashed through the air, slicing through one of the necks that held fast. The severed head splashed into the water, the balrog roaring its affirmation of success. 

The victory was short lived, however. 

The severed neck suddenly split into two, the fresh heads locking back onto the demon. With another surge of moment, the hydra began to drag the balrog beneath the surface of the water, the flames on its body snuffing out with soft hisses as it vanished inch by inch under the surface of Froggy Bottom Bog. 

With a snap of energy, Cadance teleported back in, powering up a blast of energy. Aiming for its side, just between two of the grappling heads, the princess unleashed a compacted lance of ice and wind. The attack carved through the body, forcing the balrog to its knees and giving the hydra the opening it needed. One final yank and the balrog disappeared, the surface churning for a moment, before going still.  

From their vantage a dozen feet away, Skitch and Barricade watched the remains of the battle fade into peace and quiet again. Cadance reappeared at their side a moment later, looking quite pleased with herself. The group of ponies stood on the bluff, watching the muddy brown surface of the water remain smooth and still as the minutes ticked by. Only when Cadance had counted out a half hour in her head did she visibly relax.

“Alright.” Barricade gaped, turning towards Skitch, “How did you know?” 

“Well...I was guessing that it was there, pretty much….”

Cadance turned about, her eyes questioning. 

“You may have known about a hydra near Ponyville and you didn’t say anything?” 

“Well,” Skitch nervously rubbed a foreleg, “I didn’t know for sure. Nothing’s been matching up to the show I watched.” 

“But Skitch.” Cadance frowned, “Hydras are among the most dangerous creatures on Equis. You should have said something.”

The human turned unicorn dragged a hoof along the dirt, tracing out a swirling pattern in the dirt. 

“I’m sorry. I just...you saw what happened the last time I tried to act on previous knowledge. I’m trying not to do that anymore. I’m just trying to be...part of things.” 

Cadance shook her head and sighed. “I do...understand that desire. But...well, this is something that I think we will need to discuss with Celestia. But later. For now, let us return to Ponyville and see how the others fare.” She glanced towards the quiet swamp, “Shining and I will return for the amulet later. Once the hydra has settled.” 

Grabbing the two ponies with her aura, Cadance teleported back to Ponyville. 

The swamp bubbled. 


- - - - 


Trixie flexed her bandaged foreleg a few times. It was hurting less, at the very least. 

“So, am I good to walk on it?” 

Doctor Stable nodded. 

“Your wounds looked worse than they actually were. More of a bleeder than any deep muscle lacerations or bone damage.” 

Nodding, Trixie hopped down from the examination table, taking care to not put extra weight on the wounded limb. 

“Thank you doctor.” 

Trotting for the front door, Trixie just sighed and grumbled to herself the whole way. Maybe now she could get out of this crazy town. And away from its crazy ponies. 

“Trixie Lulamoon!” 

Turning and taking the extra time to curse under her breath, Trixie found herself face to face with the white coated form of Shining Armor.  

“What do you want now!” She exclaimed, flinching from the commander’s intense gaze, “Am I not going to be allowed or something?” 

Shining blinked. 

“No. Quite the opposite in fact. I just got done speaking with Miss Cheerilee and the foals you helped rescue from one of the illusions.”

Following his gesture, Trixie did allow herself a smile at the sight of the three fillies rapidly waving at her, Miss Cheerilee resting a hoof on their backs. 

“Considering that we were unable to assist you.” The guard captain continued, “What you did was very selfless.”

“Oh...well. I suppose it was.” 

“I just wanted to extend my thanks.” He floated a small bag over to her, “And give you both a reward and an apology.”

Cracking the bag open, Trixie’s heart soared at the golden bits that glittered within. Money to get back to Neigh Orleans, and fund her next attempt at revenge. She swept her hat off into a gracious bow. 

“I thank you guard captain. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to take my leave.” 

“Of course Trixie.” He sighed, “But I want you to know, that I’m not going to give up on Bayou Runner. I’ll find a way to bring him in.” 

A strained smile crept across Trixie’s face. “Of course you will.” Not waiting for anymore words from the captain, she swept from the building. 

Working her way back towards town, the bag of bits jingling in her grip, another thought wormed its way into her mind. It would take her some time to make it back to Neigh Orleans as it was, and for the first time in quite a while, she had some money to her name. 

“Food and a drink. I earned it.”


- - - -
 

Berry Punch’s was much more packed than usual this time of day. Aside from her usual customers, a few extra guests had come through the doors. 

First, the show mare known as Trixie had arrived, taken a seat at the bar, and ordered a double bourbon with a large salad for a main course. After that, she had lapsed into silence, concerning herself with booze and food, responding to most of Berry’s attempts at small talk with grunts. 

Maybe half an hour after that, Skitch-Sketch had shuffled in, followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack. This had elicited an eyeroll from Trixie. For a moment, the bartender was afraid that some kind of fight was about to break out, but the Element Bearers plus one had taken a seat far away from Trixie. 

And then, not to long after that- and much to her surprize- Princess Cadance and her handsome male guard, who had taken one of the smaller tables in the corner of the room. 

At the Element Bearer table, Skitch-Sketch still felt crappy. She nursed a cold beer, and smiled softly as Fluttershy explained what had happened at her cottage. 

“And then Pinkie showed up.” The pegasus softly explained, wiggling her hooves like a pair of wings, “With her flying machine. And I guess it...popped the other Rainbow Dash. And then she fell asleep. She said she flew through the night.”

“That pony,” Skitch smiled, before taking a sip of her beer, “Is something else.” 

“Goodness.” Rarity gasped, “That sounds horrific.” She turned her head to Skitch-Sketch, a raised eyebrow asking the question before her words did, “And that version of Rainbow was pulled from your mind?” 

“Eyup.” Skitch drawled in a scarily accurate imitation of Big Mac.

“Why was she in there?” Twilight asked, leaning forward, “It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d think about.”

“You know I don’t like talking about this stuff Twilight.” 

“And you know it’s not fair to hold things back when they directly affect us like this, darling.” Rarity countered. 

Skitch-Sketch sighed, leaning back slightly. “All right. I’ll tell you about this particular one.” 

She took another sip of her beer, a far off look settling over her eyes. 

“I’ve already told you all that a fanbase cropped up around your show. With that, comes those fans who want to write their own hypothetical takes on what might happen.” 

“Oh!” Twilight blinked, “You mean fan fiction?” 

“...Actually, yeah.” Skitch blinked back, “How do you know what that is?”

Twilight laughed, nervously tapping her hooves together, “Oh, well. I may have written some fan fiction for the Roanian series back when I lived in canterlot….” 

“...Roanian?” 

“Oh! I should totally loan you those books! They’re about a mare named Jasmine Coral who’s transported to a planet-”

“Twilight, darling. Please let her finish telling her story first.” 

“Okay, well.” Skitch continued with a wave of her hoof, “Someone decided one day to write a story about Cloudsdale’s rainbow factory but, with a very dark twist. Where in the Spectra used to make rainbows was…made from ponies. Specifically, foals who failed their final flight test at flight school.” 

The room got very quiet, even Cadance, Shining and Trixie turning towards them. 

“Cloudsdale would never do that.” Fluttershy whispered, “Ever. They use magic to capture a the prisms of light and make them liquid-”

Skitch held up a hoof to cut the pegasus off. 

“Flutters...I know that. Our Cloudsdale never would. But, I read the history books Twilight left me when I was recovering from our fight with The Collector. Ancient pegasai used to be a lot more wild and prone to raiding. Warlike.”

“So,” She continued, “Picture a universe where a thousand minor things line up so that the pegasai never really lose that edge. And in such a culture focused on strength and unity, a Rainbow Dash is born. One who embraces those cultural aspects.”

This time she took a very long drink of her beer. 

“I have to assume that she went after you, Fluttershy, because of how you got your cutie-mark. Falling to earth like that...I imagine that would be a failure in her warped mind.” 

“Do you really think something like that exists?” Trixie called from her seat at the bar, “A murder Cloudsdale universe?” 

“Maybe.” Skitch shrugged, “If you assume that the multiverse really is infinite, then everything that is, or could be, could be out there.” 

Trixie frowned, tapping a hoof on the bartop. “You’ve brought a whole new flavor of crazy to this world.”

Skitch shrugged. “I didn’t choose the pony life, the pony life chose me.” She fired back with an angry glare, “Just be glad that amulet didn’t grab some of the real weird stuff from my memories. You’ve never seen something like the borg, or a dalek. Be grateful for that.” 

Snorting, Trixie looked to Twilight. “Does she always use words that make no sense, and then act superior about it?” 

Twilight cringed, searching for support from her friends. But Skitch-Sketch spoke up first, an angry glare settling across her features. 

“I am not acting superior! I know what those things are, and I never want to meet them face to face!” 

A series of panicked screams interrupted the burgeoning argument, a loud impact slamming into the building the next moment. 

“That…” Applejack blinked, “Doesn’t sound good.” 

“Pink pony princess.” A deep, guttural voice ground out, “We have unfinished business.” 

“No, damn way.” Skitch breathed, her eyes going wide. 

A hulking shadow landed with an impact before the wide glass windows. The next moment they exploded inwards, patrons scattering and throwing themselves to the floor as the flaming whip cut through the air. 

Berry punch shrieked, toppling backwards over a bar stool, Trixie likewise scrambling towards the back wall of the taproom. Cadance and Shining rushed forward, charging up their own magic, wrapping the figure of the balrog in a double layer of a shimmering defensive bubble. 

“Push it away!” Shining bellowed, “Help me roll it!”

“I’m working on it honey!” Cadance smiled through gritted teeth, horn flaring brighter as she pushed more energy into the weave. It buckled and stretched as the balrog thrashed about within, “On three?”

“Three!” Shining shouted.

The alicorn and the guard captain pushed, their magic auras propelling the monster along and away from the bar. Twilight, her friends and Trixie rushed after, staring as the monster was quickly pushed through the streets. 

“Can you teleport us?” Shining hissed. 

“Can you keep the shield spell up?” 

“I can try.”

“I think not.” 

The balrog lunged, throwing the full of its bulk against the edge of the bubble. The magic popped, spilling the beast of fire and smoke into the town square. Looming to its full height, it cackled as ponies bolted from it in a pure panic. 

“And now, I shall make this quaint town burn.”  

“Twilight! I need you!” Cadance called, summoning her magic forth again. 

Twilight lept to action, rushing to the princesses side. Cadance wove her spell, threading a connection between her and Shining Armor, and then from Shining to Twilight. The balrog sprung forward, calling its flaming blade back into its hands. 

“Bubble!” Shining snapped out the command. 

Shining and Cadance summoned the shield spell again, the princess wrapping hers around the balrog, the guard captain sculpting his around the three of them. The bubbles struck against each other, flares of light flying from their arcane forms. 

The spheres fluctuated, buckled, then shot apart from each other like magnets with opposing charges, their forms collapsing as they went. With a crack and wood splintering, the balrog was sent careening through Trixie’s parked cart, a cry of anguish escaping the illusionist’s mouth. 

Shining quickly shifted the crumbling remains of his spell, swinging the shield around to arrest his and Cadance’s backwards travel. Durin’s Bane snarled, slamming a foot down upon the remains of Trixie’s cart, and launching into another pounce. 

Shining moved the shield again, Cadance adding her own power as the bubble engulfed the balrog again. The connection that ran between her, her fiance and his sister suddenly blazed to life, snapping both bubbles around the demon, solid and strong. 

Snarling, it slammed it’s sword against the magical sphere, howling in anger when it refused to budge. Defeated, it began to pace inside the bubble, fixing its blazing yellow eyes upon the forms of those who had him trapped. 

“How the hay did that thing get here?” Applejack frowned, her tail angrily thrashing, “Ah thought you saw it get dragged into the swamp?” 

“I-I did see it get dragged into the swamp!” Skitch stammered, “We waited around for half an hour and the swamp was quiet!” 

“Fantastic job you did there!” Trixie snarled, her eyes blazing, “Because now you cost me my last home!” 

“Oh...but Froggy Bottom Bog is far away from us.” Fluttershy blinked, “It must have flown here.” 

“If it can fly.” Shining gritted his teeth, “Then keeping it contained outside of town is going to be difficult.” 

“And most of your buildings are wood and have thatch roofs to boot.” Skitch observed, “The town is kindling.”

“Then we fight it here.” Applejack declared, “Town hall has slate tiles. We don’t let it leave the square! Skitch, what else can ya tell us about it?”

“I...I don’t know! Tolkien didn’t write much about them!” She licked her lips, “They used to be good spirits before they were corrupted by Melkor-” 

“Not that!” Trixie snapped, “How do we kill it! What are its weaknesses!” 

Skitch squeezed her eyes closed, wracking her memories for what little had been written on how to deal with a balrog. All the while, Durin’s Bane paced within its bubble, waiting.

“When it fell into the lake below Moria,” She explained, “The text described the water quenched its fires, reducing it to ‘a thing of slime’. And the swamp water was hurting it.”

“That’s your plan?” Trixie gaped, “Water?!” 

“It’s all I *got* Trixie! Tolkien was writing a story, not a scientific treatise on the nature of balrogs! Which, I will point out, weren’t real!” 

“Ah’ll right, enough ya two!” Applejack growled, “Fightin’ isn’t gonna do us any good right now. Princess!” She waved at Cadance, “How long can ya hold that shield?” 

“Quite a while. Princess of love, remember?” She winked, “I can use emotional connections to boost my spells. So long as Shining and Twilight are with me, I should be able to last for hours.”

“Ah’ll right. Fluttershy!” Applejack shouted, working out a course of action, “Ah need you to round up every pegasus you can! We need the sky fit to burstin’ with stormclouds!” Quickly turning to the rest of the group, she continued, “Ah need the rest of you to run through town. Anypony who wants to help send here, anypony who doesn’t needs to hightail it to the farms until its safe! Now move!” 

She finished with an angry stomp of her hoof, which was enough to make the group scatter. Applejack sighed, giving an apologetic nod towards Shining Armor. 

“Hope I wasn’t standing on your hooves or anything.”

“Actually, I thought you did rather well.” He grinned, “But if you could help rally the troops?”

Nodding, Applejack took off into the streets, Shining Armor turning his attention back to the trapped demon. 

“Not one more step.”


- - - -
 

The sky was growing heavy with cloud. 

They stretched over the center of Ponyville like a heavy gray blanket that was occasionally marked by dots of color as pegasi flitted to and from its mass, adding more stormclouds and electrical charge to the mix.

Fluttershy hovered above it all, resolutely focusing on the progress of the growing thunderstorm and not on the ground. The effort seemed to be going well. While she didn’t know the flow of air currents and moisture like the weather ponies of Ponyville, even she could feel the growing tingle of static, and chill of moisture at the base of her feathers. 

Cloudchaser waved her down from her own perch on the edge of the cloud mass, and Fluttershy dipped that direction, landing neatly beside the wild maned pony. 

“This storm’s pretty much at capacity.” She patted the churning mass below them, “Tell Applejack that she better move soon, or this storm’s going to start without her.” 

“Okay.” Fluttershy nodded.

Hopping off the edge, Fluttershy let herself glide over the empty town square- where her friend Twilight continued to help hold the monster back- to the connecting street where the impromptu command center had been pulled together. 

Applejack was locked in conversation with Bastion, the rest of the guard and Trixie. The show mare was still looking livid, but determined all the same. 

“You’re sure that you can handle it?” Bastion asked her, his expression grim.

“I know illusions.” Trixie almost snapped, “Get that thing down, I’ll disperse its form and then the princess can break the amulet.” 

The herd of ponies- and a few of the cows that lived in Ponyville as well- that had volunteered to assist mulled around behind them, nervously waiting for the plunge. Fluttershy recognized a few of them. 

Lyra was standing near an electric blue maned unicorn sporting magenta tinged glasses, her lyre floating in her magic aura. Roseluck was standing near Spike in her natural form, eyes nervously darting to the ponies and cows around her, while the baby dragon stared at Twilight with worried eyes. 

Landing behind Applejack, Fluttershy softly tapped her on the side. 

“The storm’s ready.”

Applejack nodded, glancing towards the shimmering sphere. “Ah’ll right then. Now if Filthy-”

“I’m here!” 

The owner of the self titled Barnyard Bargains came down the street, dragging a large cart of supplies himself, his hooves digging to find purchase against the ground. 

“I brought chain, instead of rope. If that thing is as big as you say it is….”

“Oh, it is.” Bastion frowned, “Much obliged. We’ll make sure you’re reimbursed.”  

Filthy nodded, waving a hoof towards the the cart. “I also hammered a few hale bale hooks to some chain lengths. Should help you grapple it down.”

“Alright Fluttershy.” Applejack nodded, “Tell them to let it rip.”

Fluttershy took the air and waved a hoof at Cloudchaser. And then, all of the pegasi who had built the cloud, jumped on it at once. The peal of thunder rolled through the constructed storm, the balrog looking skyward as the heavy drops of rain splattered against his prison. 

The volunteers scattered, grabbing lengths of chain, taking side streets and alleyways until they surrounded the the open square. Night Crescent took wing, taking a perch on one of the surrounding buildings, heavy crossbow lowered at the demon. Bastion and his siblings, ground bound as their were, took up their own sniping positions on the connecting streets.  

The balrog looked away from the rain, and to the creatures that stood against him. And then the rain was washing over him like acid. 

A moment later a hammer of ice and wind slammed into the side of his head, sending him stumbling. Then another slammed into his side, and another, and another, the rain of strikes smashing him towards the ground, the princess once again unleashing her fury. The crossbows twanged, adding to the chaos, as bolts peppered his rocky hide. 

Falling to one knee, tendrils of shadow began to flow from the amulet set into the his chest, washing across the smoldering remains of his flames. The touch of the dark magic rekindled the fires, each one roaring to life again with a distinctive snap-crack. 

“Rain won’t save you!” He bellowed, edge of shadow appearing in hand. 

Cadance, Shining and Twilight scattered, the sword of darkness impacting where they just were. Ignoring Cadance for a moment, he stomped towards Twilight, waving a whip of blackness above his head in an intimidating challenge. 

Twilight vanished, teleporting across the square. Applejack and Big Macintosh charged in, each dragging a hooked chain along with them, suddenly splitting as Trixie and Skitch-Sketch called illusions into being. The balrog brought his sword down in an over the head arc, aiming for one of the Applejacks. The strike slashed through one of the illusions, making it vanish in a puff of blue smoke.       

The siblings threw their hooks. Applejack’s wobbled through the air, impacting against its rocky hide, but failing to find purchase, clattering back to the ground with a thud. Big Mac’s, however, flew true catching the creature on the shoulder. They immediately began to pull, trying to drag the creature off its feet.    

The balrog lashed back, thrashing his whole body about, and flinging both ponies into the charging forms of Cadance and Twilight. Not hesitating, he charged after, whip lashing out to scoop the ponies up. 

Twilight and Cadance teleported. Shining Armor threw the shield forward again, engulfing Big Mac, the whip bouncing off its shimmering surface. The balrog shifted, lashing out with the sword and buckling the bubble again. 

With a yelp, Twilight rushed back towards her brother. 

“I’m coming!” 

The whip came snaking back her direction as the balrog turned. Illusionary Twilights sprung up around her, but the balrog swung the whip wide, cutting through both of the figments and wrapping around Twilight’s barrel. Reeling her in like a fish, he raised the sword high, preparing a finishing strike. 

Thunder pealed across the town, the sky suddenly split by a bolt of lightning that lept from the thunderhead above. The electricity slammed into the balrog’s back, toppling him forward and past Twilight, the black furred pegasus that threw it that way cheering at his well aimed shot.

The balrog reached for Twilight with a clawed hand, only for a high pitched whine to tear through the rain drenched air. A lance of sound slammed into his side, making him bellow in pain and giving Twilight time to scramble away.

“Aww yeah!” Vinyl Scratch shouted from her position on the edge of the street, bobbing her head to a tune that only she could hear. A shimmering curtain of magic hovered above her head, matching the glow around her horn, “You don’t come into my town and try to wreck the place! Lyra! Give me another!”

The mint green unicorn behind her strummed another tune across the strings of her lyre, a rain of sonic notes flowing from her hoof and through Vinyl’s magic curtain. They accelerated and amplified, growing into sonic missiles that tore into the balrog’s side, collapsing him to the ground.   

“GO!” Bastion bellowed.

All of the chain bearers charged, their payloads arching through the rain, hooks latching into his skin, metal links lashing across his body. Rarity joined in as well, weaving whole lengths of chain around the balrog’s body. 

“Pull!” Applejack shouted, “Don’t let it move!” 

The chains were pulled tight, hooves digging into the dirt as they tried to keep the mountainous strength of the balrog contained. 

“Trixie! Yer up!” 

“Sparkle! Help me out!” 

The illusionist and the librarian swooped in from behind, horns glowing as they charged up their dispelling enchantments. Dodging a thrashing leg, they pressed their horns against its hide, ignoring the pain of the heat that radiated from its surface. 

“No! I will not-” 

“Oh, please do completely shut up!” Skitch-Sketch snarled, casting a beam of light directly into his eyes, “Go back to the shadows!” 

His entire form suddenly convulsed, then collapsed back into the necklace, which hit the muddy ground with a wet squelch. A moment later, two gold shod hooves impacted against the necklace, shattering the gem in half, and bending the metal. Cadance took the time to slowly grind the remains of the Spell Bite Necklace into shards. 

A cheer rose from the assembled crowd of soaking wet creatures. 

“Haha!” Skitch crowed the loudest of all, “We did it! We beat Durin’s Bane! What a bunch of dwarves couldn’t do, we did! Take that Morgoth!” 

“Skitch, darling.” Rarity softly sighed, placing a hoof on her side, “Not now.”

Blinking, Skitch followed her gaze to the remains of Trixie’s travelling cart. With the danger passed, Trixie had shuffled back to the remains of her home on the road. Her hooves prodded and shuffled through the splintered and charred wood, searching for something. After a few moments of searching, she pulled the burnt remains of a book. Her expression was ashen and she hugged the book to her chest like a last desperate lifeline. 

And then, she began to weep. 

> The Plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The toaster popped a pair of golden brown slices into view. 

Spike snatched them up with a claw, throwing two more pieces of bread into the machine before buttering the warm toast and adding them to the small stack on the plate before him. 

He spared a quick glance at the stove, where a trio of vegetable laden omelettes fried away. Hopping up on his small step stool, he took a deep whiff, considering their scents as they cooked. Scanning his spice rack, he plucked a small bottle of tapirian paprika from its fellows, and sprinkled the barest dash in each pan. 

Satisfied, he crossed to the other counter and began to slice a collection of fruit for a fresh fruit salad. 

Cooking was a skill that most ponies assumed he didn’t have. After all, being a good cook isn’t something one would usually associate with being a librarian’s assistant. But Spike had taught himself the art when he was young, mostly due to Twilight’s own tendency towards tunnel vision in her studies. 

He had eaten enough daisy sandwiches to last him a lifetime. 

Turning at the sound of hooves on wooden flooring, he smiled at Twilight as she trotted into the small kitchen, mane, tail and coat neatly brushed, as usual.  

“Morning Twilight. Breakfast is almost ready.” 

Twilight paused, taking a deep breath, and savouring all of the lovely smells that came with cooking. 

“Thanks Spike. I’m sure that Trixie will appreciate it too. She could use the pick up.” 

“That bad?” 

“She’s been laying in bed, hanging onto that book for dear life.” Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes towards the bedroom, “I think that all the years of pressure going after Bayou Runner finally got to her. She’s...lost.”

“She has to be feeling pretty lost. Two days she’s been in your bed. Aren’t you tired of sleeping on the floor yet?” 

Twilight winced, instinctively rubbing at her sore back. 

“She needs the rest more than me.” Was the quite emphatic response none the less. She nodded towards the dining table, where a newspaper rested, “Did you pick that up?”

“Yeah. I figured that since the guys who kidnapped me got away, I’d keep an eye out for any strange news stories.”

“Anything stand out?” 

“Oh yeah.” He nodded, “Check out the Arts and Entertainment section.” 

Blinking, Twilight picked up the paper and flipped to the proper section. The sub section- like most in the paper- began with what was the “big story”. 

Historic Neigh Orleans Theatre To Reopen with Royal Performance 

The legal issues surrounding the historic Civic Theatre- 

Twilight groaned at that bit of information. 

-have recently been resolved. The theatre, whose ownership has been in question since the death of Crescent Starshine, has been purchased by local noble, Bayou Runner. 

“It’s with great pride that I bring this grand old theatre back into service. Its been rather unfortunate that its been out of commision since that unpleasant accident a decade ago.” 

Said accident was the collapse of the theatre’s scaffolding, which crushed the poor mare in front of her daughter, Trixie Lulamoon. 


Twilight sighed, just quickly shifting through the rest of the article. The Canterlot Royal Orchestra would be playing, and Celestia and Luna would be in attendance. It was a standard bit of noble showing off. 

“Good eyes Spike.” 

“He has good eyes on what, now?” 

Trixie had shuffled into the kitchen. Her appearance couldn’t have been more of a contrast to Twilight’s. Where Twilight was neatly groomed, Trixie was disheveled, mane and tail sticking out every which way, her coat matted down in many places. She blinked at them, bleary eyed and confused.

“Oh, nothing!” Twilight nervously grinned, teleporting the paper into the oven with a quick flick of her magic, “I was just talking about breakfast.” 

“Do you take cheese in your omelette, Trixie?” Spike asked, waving a claw towards the pans. 

Tixie blinked for a moment, but nodded slowly. 

“That sounds...nice.” She admitted, sinking into a seat and picking up a piece of toast, “Thank you again, for giving me a place to stay.” 

“Its the least we can do.” Twilight ginned, helping herself to toast as well, “Have you…?”

She trailed off, letting the question ask itself. Trixie shrugged, idly chewing as she mulled it over, “I...don’t know Twilight. I really, really don’t.” She sighed in the end, “I’ve spent the last four years of my life trying to get revenge on Bayou Runner, and from where I’m sitting right now, it looks like its done nothing but cost me.” 

“Wait...I thought your mother died when you were a teenager?”

“Well, she did.” Trixie shrugged, adding a bit of jam to her toast, “I didn’t know the truth until my grandpappa died later.”  

“Was he…”

“No. He was just old.” Trixie sighed, full glass of orange juice floating its way across the table to her, “He went peacefully in his sleep, but made sure to tell me what actually happened to my mother first. That it wasn’t an accident.” 

Twilight tilted her head slightly, considering her next question.

“So, you’re thinking about giving it up?”

Trixie shrugged helplessly. “Part of me really doesn’t want to. Bayou Runner murdered my mother. He and the rest of his noble friends run that city like their own little fiefdom and have the guard so thoroughly under their control that there’s never any evidence of their crimes.” She sighed, “Save for what's in the hooves of an organization that’s in the business of dirty business.” 

“I’m sure Cadance will tell Celestia and Luna all about what happened.”

“And you know as well as I that we have nothing that they could hang an arrest on. I gave your friend the necklace. There’s more evidence on me.”

“Well, as I’ve always told Twilight when she’s been stuck on a problem.” Spike interrupted, dropping an omelette filled plate before her, “Eat first. Worry later. You can’t properly worry on an empty stomach.”

Trixie opened her mouth to argue, but the scent of the breakfast put a stop to that. 

“...You are a wise dragon, Spike.” She smiled slightly, and beginning to dig in. 


- - - - 


Soft singing mixed with the light hearted chirps of song birds, the chattering of woodland creatures, and the other assorted sounds of nature. At times Fluttershy’s cottage seemed almost a part of the Everfree itself to the denizens of Ponyville; the amount of wildlife she looked after was staggering at times. 

Most of Ponyville also didn’t realize just how much work Fluttershy did each day. Like Applejack, she tended to wake with the rising of the sun, and immediately set to work. Gathering food for her creatures, feeding them, and then checking on the injured ones that she was talking care of. 

This morning, however, she was repairing the damage done to her critter fence by Pinkie’s flying machine. With a little bit of help. 

“Okay, now hold it steady.” 

Manny balanced the long piece of wood in his paws, keeping the ends even with their supporting posts. Gripping the hammer in her mouth, Fluttershy began to nail the fence section back in place with delicate little taps, one bit at a time. The hulking manticore stood quite still while Fluttershy saw to the repairs at a speed that most ponies would have found slow, at best. But he waited, all the same, letting her work at her own pace. 

As she finished taping the last nail into place, the soft spoken pegasus dropped the hammer, testing the repaired fence with a hoof. 

“Thank you Manny. I’m not sure I could have done it myself.” 

<”Think nothing of it Fluttershy. I’m just glad you’re okay.””> He frowned, <”I wish I had been there to show these...shadows, what for.”>

“Its okay. We stopped them.”

A rumbling sigh rippled through the manticore. <”Just please...be careful. You are an Element Bearer...this is what you do. But I would be sad if you didn’t come back one day.”>

Fluttershy blinked as her friend walked back into the forest. 

“...What I do?”


- - - - 


“Rose…”

The ex spy looked up from the pot she was hovering over. She had come to her friend’s house to help her finish getting back on her hooves, and had set about making a fresh batch of vegetable stew. Both changelings were in their normal forms, as they tended to when nopony else was around.  

“What is it Cherry?” 

A nervously pained smile marred her partners features, her eyes flicking from pot to changeling. 

“I appreciate that you want to help, but I am mostly recovered by now….” 

She motioned to the side of her head, sentence trailing off into an awkward pause, her gaze drifting back to the pot. Roseluck frowned.

“What’s wrong Cherry?” 

“Can’t we go to the cafe or something?” 

“When I’m already making stew?” 

Cherry frowned, sitting back on her haunches, wings buzzing in agitation. 

“I’m sorry Rose, but you can’t cook.” 

“...What?” 

“You put like...a wagon load of spice in what you cook.” Cherry sighed, throwing her hooves up, “Isn’t love spicy enough for you?”

“It’s a completely different flavor than physical spices and you know it!” Roseluck pouted back, “And I’ll have you know that I worked hard on this!” She finished with an angry hoof jab towards her culinary creation. 

“Can we please just grab some sandwiches? I’ve already been stuck in my house for two days.”

“Can you change yet?”

“I can.” She shrugged, “But I’m not going to bother. Everypony knows we’re changelings now.”

“We could take another form…” Roseluck winced, like the statement had physically hurt her. 

Cherry frowned. “Roseluck...what’s wrong? You’re usually not this jumpy.” 

“You almost died, and you’re asking me that?” Roseluck sighed, “I’m your partner. I should have had your back. And now our quiet little life here is wrecked.” 

“It’s not wrecked.”

“Changelings aren’t considered normal yet, Cherry. And you see how the press bugs Skitch.”

“And I’m not going to hide. Its not illegal to be a changeling in Equestria. Now,” She lightly tapped Rose in the side, “Sandwiches. Cafe. Let’s go!” 

Roseluck sighed. 


- - - - 


Pinkie Pie was on a mission.

She slowly lowered another cupcake- with light blue frosting- into the box. She then considered the rows of sweets. They looked alright, freshly baked and full of sweetness and yummy goodness. But...

“Something’s missing.” 

Then it hit her. 

“Sprinkles!” 

A glass jar was plucked from a shelf, and a liberal application of of lighter blue sprinkles was scattered across the dozen bakers treats. Once that was accomplished a wide grin split the baker pony’s muzzle. 

“Perfect!” 

Sliding the box onto her head, Pinkie Pie trotted out the door. “Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes!” She chirped, hopping along towards Twilight’s and, for the moment at least, Trixie’s home. Ponies on the streets cast glances her way as she passed, but didn’t offer much comment. They were quite used to the party pony’s antics by now. 

Drawing close to the tree-library, Pinkie spied the illusionist mare shuffling out the door. 

With a burst of speed that would have put Rainbow Dash to shame, Pinkie was suddenly nose to nose with Trixie, her grin all the wider. Trixie let loose a half yelp-half shriek of shock, jumping backwards a few feet in an impressive display of sudden athleticism. 

“Discord’s mismatched horns, what is wrong with you!” 

“Aww, don’t be like that Trixie!” Pinkie grinned, “I brought something to help cheer you up!” 

With a quick flick of her head, the box landed at Trixie’s hooves, the lid popping open to reveal her frosted treats. 

“Cupcakes?” Trixie blinked. 

“Uh huh! They always help me when I’m feeling down. Plus, its kind of your mini ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party until I can pull together a real one!” 

Trixie visibly winced, flinching away from both the cupcakes and the prospect of a party. 

“I’m sorry Pinkie but...no. Not now.” 

Pinkie’s smile faltered for a moment, before snapping back into place. 

“Oh, okay. Well, how about some games? Games always help me feel better!” 

“No Pinkie. No games. I’m going to go to the bar.” 

“Oh.” Pinkie’s smile faltered again, “But didn’t you go there last night? And the night before?” 

“Yup. And I will drink tomorrow and the next day, until I figure out what to do with my life.” 

“Aww. Come on Trixie. That doesn’t sound like a way to be happy!” 

Trixie smiled sadly. “Probably not.” 

She trotted off, Pinkie rushing after her.

“Come on Trixie! There’s gotta be a way I can help you smile again!” She giggled, bouncing from one side of the unicorn to the other, “I am the Element of Laughter, after all.”

The unicorn turned about, pressing a hoof against Pinkie’s muzzle. 

“Pinkie...I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t think that parties and cupcakes can help me right now.” 

She turned and walked away again, Pinkie slumping to the ground, the usual bounciness to her mane and tail falling flat. 

“But...I make ponies smile.”


- - - -
 

Trixie took the same seat at the bar that she had taken over the last few days. Tapping a hoof against the bar, she motioned to Berry Punch. The local bartender had gotten used to her orders, and set to pouring a glass of bourbon, and mixing up a garden salad. 

She ate and drank, savoring the way the bourbon burned as it went down her throat. 

“You look as sad as I feel.” 

Trixie glanced over at Roseluck, as the changeling sank into the seat next to her, wearing her earth pony guise.  

“What do you want?” 

Roseluck didn’t answer at first, gazing slightly past Trixie, tapping her hoof on the bar in thought. 

“Do you still want revenge?” 

Trixie blinked. “...What...are you offering?” 

“Retired or not, I’m a spy, Trixie.” Roseluck frowned, “Lies, secrets, betrayal...this is what I do. And I got sloppy, and my partner got hurt. I can’t let this stand.” 

Taking another swig of her bourbon, Trixie considered the offer. She hadn’t gone after Bayou Runner with a partner before. She’d be involving another pony in her business, which could be really dangerous. Then again….

“You really want to join me on my daft crusade? It hasn’t worked out well for me so far.” 

“Trixie.” Roseluck snorted, a slight grin crossing her muzzle, “I’ve been doing this since before you were born.” 

Trixie raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Just how old are you, anyway?” 

“Fifty, give or take a few months.” 

“You’re fifty?” She gaped, “I guess being a shape shifter pays off.” 

“Actually, we changelings don’t really age. We just reach the end of our lifeline and die.” 

Trixie stared at Roseluck for a few minutes after that bomb was dropped, before shaking her head and sighing. 

“All right, if you want in, I can’t really stop you.” She glanced up at a clock on the wall, “A train leaves in fifteen minutes, I believe. Let’s be on it.  I just hope that you can lie and betray as well as you say you can.” She smiled bitterly.  

“Of course I can Trixie.” Roseluck smiled, before trotting for the door ahead of her, “I’m a changeling.” She hissed under her breath, “It’s all I’m good for anyway.” 


- - - -
 

“TRIXIE!” 

The showmare and spy- in the process of stepping onto the train-  jumped back at the same time, Twilight appearing in the train doorway with a brilliant flash of purple tinged light. Her eyes were blazing with anger as she closed in, each hoof stomp impacting on the wooden platform like a thunder clap. 

“How did you get here so fast?” Roseluck gulped, “We left right from the bar.” 

“Berry Punch came and told me what you two were doing!”


- - - - 


Twilight looked up from her books at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Coming!” 

Pulling open the door, she was surprised to see the form of Berry Punch standing on her doorstep.

“Berry?” 

“I think that Trixie and Roseluck are about to do something stupid.”


- - - - 


“So, then I teleported my way here! Multiple ports across town!” She took a calming breath, “You two were going to run off to Neigh Orleans on your own?! Without a plan!”

“Twilight.” Roseluck growled, “I respect that you’re Celestia’s protege, but this is what I do-” 

“No! You don’t pull that with me!” Twilight angrily stomped, “Not with everything thats happened! You could have died, Skitch could have died, we all could have died!” She pressed her snout, right up against Trixie’s, continuing her indignation fueled rant, “ And now you two want to run off to Neigh Orleans without a plan, and without backup! Which might result in both of you getting killed!” 

She jabbed a hoof back down the street. 

“We’re going to turn around and go right back to the library! And then we’ll get friends, make a checklist, and then go take out Bayou Runner with an actual plan of attack!”  

“I-” 

Ignoring the beginning of Trixie’s protest, Twilight shoved both of them off the platform with a burst of telekinesis. 

“March!” 

Trixie and Roseluck followed her back with hung heads. 

“Princess Celestia has made a monster.” Roseluck muttered under her breath. 


- - - - 


After another round of griping, and running about to collect the rest of her friends- and Roseluck grabbing Cherry Berry- Twilight took a seat in the middle of the library. Spike stood at her right side, quill and parchment in claw, ready to take notes. 

“Okay everypony.” She began, looking from pony to pony, “Bayou Runner. He’s hurt ponies, controls a city, and almost got Ponyville destroyed. Trixie and Roseluck intend to go after him again,” She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, “And I’m going to help them.

“Ya sure about that sugarcube?” Applejack blinked, “Goin’ after this fella sounds dangerous.”

“I know it is.” Twilight nodded in agreement, “But considering what happened.” She shook her head, “This needs to end.”

She paused again, her eyes once more sweeping the room. 

“I’d like all of your help. There’s no group of ponies that I’d trust more to have our back.”

“Well, shoot.” Applejack grinned, tipping her hat back slightly, “Ah suppose I can’t turn ya down now.” 

“I’m in!” Pinkie chirped, practically bouncing in place, “I’ll always help you out Twilight!” 

“Count me in darling!”

“I suppose,” Fluttershy smiled softly, “That this is kind of what we do. Right?” 

“My partner’s in,” Cherry Berry grinned, “Then I’m in. We’re a package deal.” 

Everypony turned their heads towards Skitch-Sketch, who had remained quiet until now. The unicorn blinked at the combined gazes, suddenly feeling very nervous. 

“Why’s everyone looking at me?” 

“Well, you are coming to help, aren’t you darling?” Rarity asked, waving a dismissive hoof, “You were hurt as directly as any of us by this.” 

“But...I’m not sure that I can really be a help.” She blinked, “Trixie’s a better illusionist. And I’ve always kind of...reacted, when my back’s against the wall. Going out and after someone, well, that seems more like a hero thing.” She shook her head, “I’m no hero.” 

“Nonsense.” Rarity sniffed, “You fought the Collector. I think I speak for us all when I say that we’d be happy to have you at our side.” 

Skitch looked around the room again. 

“You do all know that if you’re looking for some kind of insight on these events, that I can’t help. We’re so far off the rails that this train is going off road.” 

“Another body is always useful.” Trixie dismissed. She looked Skitch over for a moment, her expression appraising, “Besides...you aren’t completely untalented at the craft for some extra worldly alien. It’ll be a two day train ride back to Neigh Orleans. I’ll teach you some tricks on the way.” 

“What about gear?” Skitch asked, “My dad’s works for the district attorney of Chicago and he’s worked a decent amount of mafia related cases. With wiretaps and surveillance and everything.” 

“Well, I’m not sure what a wiretap is.” Cherry Berry shrugged, “But leave the tricks and traps to me. I saved some things from before when I retired.” She nodded towards Trixie, “You’ve been chasing after Runner for years, what’s he like?” 

“He’s a thug, wrapped in the skin of a noble.” Trixie shrugged, “Completely convinced that he’s the smartest stallion in the room. Which I guess isn’t entirely incorrect. He’s managed to avoid Celestia’s reach for a long time.”

Humming to herself, Roseluck considered that information. 

“Unless we can get the evidence from the Lernerians, tricking a confession out of him is going to be our only option.” 

“That’ll be a problem, considering that he controls the guard.” 

“What about Celestia?” Spike interrupted, looking up from his scribblings. 

“What about her?” 

“She’ll be in the city this weekend. She and Luna for the grand re-opening of,” He nervously looked at Trixie, “Her families theatre.” 

“Not a bad place for a sting.” Roseluck said, running through the possibilities in her mind, “We’d need to control the scene though. Hard to do with employees walking around.”

“Fluttershy...do you still have all that money that your mother sends you?” Skitch perked up, a wide grin crossing her muzzle, “Cause I have an idea.” 

“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy nodded, “Its still there.” 

“Good. If that city is as rife with corruption as Trixie says it is, then we offer the staff a big pile of bits to take a night off, and have our own ponies in place. If we need some more bodies, I’m sure that there are more in town that’ll be glad to help.”

“Okay.” Roseluck nodded, “Skitch, I’ll let you handle that. There’s already nine of us, so we only need a few more.”

“I got some ponies in mind.” 

“Then the rest of us will gather up Cherry’s old gear, bits, and we’ll catch the six o’clock train.”

“All right everyone.” Skitch-Sketch grinned, “Let’s go steal ourselves a theatre!” 

“Do ya have to put it like that?” Applejack sighed. 

“Yes. It sounds cooler.” 
> The Neigh Orleans Job (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The private car thrummed with the anxious optimism of her cargo. Pastoral fields galloped by as far ahead, the train's engine drove them all on their winding southward path.

Which was why everypony was currently clustered in a loose circle around Cherry Berry; Lyra, Bon Bon and Thunderlane having joined the group for this expedition. The changeling, once again forgoing her disguise for her natural form, was resting a hoof against the lid of a case she had pulled from a trunk. 

“So, we have three days before the grand opening.” She explained, “It’ll take us two days to get there, which means we’ll have to move fast and stay in touch with each other. Which is why I dug this out of my basement.” 

With a flourish, she lifted the lid, revealing a small collection of amber colored ovals each one about the size of a pill. 

“Unlike other changelings,” She continued, “We don’t have that hive mind they do. A side effect of being individuals I suppose.” She chuckled, “Anyway, being able to mentally communicate is still a neat trick, so Queen Magnolia tried to recreate the effect magically.” 

She carefully balanced one of them on the tip of her hoof, sliding it into her ear, before tossing another to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight stared at the capsule for a moment before nervously sliding it into her ear. 

Can you hear me now? Cherry Berry’s voice echoed in the unicorn’s head. 

“Oh, wow.” Twilight blinked, her nervousness turning to a wide and curious grin, “That’s a very impressive feat of magical creation! How far can two users be away from each other?”

“About two hundred feet.” Cherry admitted with a frown, “Compared to the real thing, it’s pretty weak. But it’ll work for us inside of the theatre.” 

“Our plan is still trick him into a confession right?” Skitch asked, tapping her hoof on the floor, “I kind of feel like we need some more.” 

“What do you mean?” Lyra exclaimed, throwing her hooves up, “It’s Princess Celestia! She’ll totally shut him down.” 

“Look, Equestria still has laws, right? A concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty’? All I’m saying is that if we’re smart, we’ll pad this as much as we can.”

“How?” Thunderlane challenged, jabbing a free hoof towards the unicorn, “I mean, I agree with you in theory…” 

“Well, if we could get those magic items he’s stolen and smuggled there, or get the evidence from Thorn.” Skitch shrugged, leaning back slightly, “But I’m not really sure where where to begin there.” 

Roseluck hummed, tapping her chin, staring at Skitch as she considered what had been said. The contemplative look then cracked into a wide smile, an idea forming within the ex-spy’s mind. 

“Skitch...I noticed you brought your saddlebags of holding...did you give back everything The Collector brought?” 

“I did keep a piece or two. Nothing that wasn’t somewhat mass produced in their home world.” 

“Great! We’re going to use that!” 

Motioning everypony closer, she began to explain her plan.


- - - - 


Trixie flopped over in her sleeper bed, staring out the window, the sound of the train clattering over the tracks softly echoing in her ears. The dark of the night obscured the features of the countryside, but she was pretty sure that they were past the Hoofington by now. 

With a sigh, she fumbled around under her pillow, and dragged the burnt remains of her family photo album from its hiding place. Most of the photos in it had been charred to a crisp, but a few pages towards the back the book, had survived. And there, some of her most cherished pictures were kept. 

The first and closest to her heart remained the photo of her and her mother. She was young in the picture, no older than fourteen. Her mother, Crescent Starshine, had just placed the star studded hat and cape that would come to be her trademark on her. She had said that it marked Trixie’s graduation from an apprentice, to a performer on her own right. 

The other, and perhaps more telling picture, was one of her and her grandfather. It was after some monster hunt, deep in the bayou. She honestly couldn’t remember which one, there had been so many, but this one was against a Rockadile. Her grandfather was resting a hoof against its great head, wearing the same dour expression that he always wore. Trixie was looking just as annoyed, but that was more from the black flies and horse flies and mosquitoes. Always the black flies, horse flies and mosquitoes. 

You thought you could hide from the mess that you made.
All the promises broken, your best plans relayed.

Trixie blinked. Somepony was singing. Very softly, but she could hear it all the same. Peeking past the edge of the bed, and softly lighting her horn, she glanced up and down the length of the car, spying Skitch-Sketch sitting in the lower bunk, catty-corner to her own. She was staring out her own window, softly singing to herself. 

So you travel in circles, and that much is fine.
But trouble will follow ya, into the brine.
And sooner or later, a ship comes ashore.
It’s here I can bet ya just wanted more.
And you find there’s nothing left to begin.
And you can’t go home again.

“You sure know how to lighten the mood.” Trixie snarked, eliciting a started jerk from the unicorn. 

“Can’t sleep either, can you?” She asked, once she composed herself. 

“Nope. Though, I know what’s eating me. What’s got your coat on end?” 

“I’m just...thinking.” 

“Oh, well that’s clear.” Trixie smirked, “What about?”

“Life, the universe, and everything.” 

“That-”

“I’m being serious Trixie.” She turned, cutting Trixie off, “I’ve just found myself thinking about where my life’s gone since you showed up.”

“Since I showed up? Am I special or something?” 

“Kinda.” Skitch shuffled nervously in place, “As much as I’ve been trying to get away from it, I still have a whole mess of pre-conceptions about this world. And you’re...not what I expected for Trixie. And your life situation got me thinking about my life situation, which got me thinking about what could have been and if the current direction of my life was destined or something.” 

Trixie blinked a few times, tilting her head to stare at the unicorn. A moment of confusion ticked by before she shook her head and trotted over to Skitch’s bunk, plopping down next to the unicorn. 

“Explain.” She curtly demanded, waving her hoof for Skitch to continue, “I’m not letting that pass without details.” 

“You mean aside, from the obvious bit about how we both had normal lives and families before a random jerk with power decided to wreck everything?” 

“No, I worked that out already. But if that was all that was on your mind, I doubt you’d look so agitated. So, what’s really going on?” 

Skitch didn’t answer at first, instead looking out the window again and towards the star studded night sky. “The stars, Trixie. What are they in your world?” 

“A manifestation of Luna’s magic. At least the ones that we can see.” 

“See, in my universe, they’re massive, luminous spheres of burning hot plasma, thousands of times bigger than the planets that orbit them.” She explained, ignoring the shocked look on Trixie’s face at the comment that the planets orbited the stars, “And for as long as I’ve been alive, there has been one very large question that has dominated the minds of human astronomers. Are we alone in the universe?”

“Okay, but I’m not-” 

“Earth isn’t like Equis, Trixie. We don’t have a bunch of sapient species on the planet. Its just humans. And so, we look at the stars and dream. We send probes to study and scan space with powerful telescopes. But now?” She shook her head, “It feels...irrelevant.”    

“I’m sitting in a train, on another planet, in another universe, as it travels towards a city whose name is one word off from a city on my home world. Even if my universe has no other intelligent life in it, just hop one universe over and find one that does, and there’s so, so many questions to ask!” She beamed.

But then she slumped, Skitch’s head hanging. “And I feel totally unqualified to be here. I’m not a scientist, or a historian. I’m not qualified to comment on the cultural similarities, or the scientific implications of this world’s very existence. Seven billion people on the planet earth, and I’m the one The Collector grabbed?” 

“And then I think about the original Skitch-Sketch. The pony whose body I’m now wearing. What would have happened if she had never died? Would she have been where I am now? The seventh pony of the band? Or would she, with her pulling Twilight out of her shell, cause the doom of the world? If Twilight had friends before she went to Ponyville, would she have never made friends with the other Element Bearers? I just….” She sighed, slumping even lower, “It feels so overwhelming.” 

“Tell me.” Trixie raised an eyebrow, “Are all humans this neurotic, or is it just you?” 

“Just my subgroup.” Skitch half smirked, half frowned back, “I can also do your taxes and tell you what a nine percent tip on a two hundred bit bill is.” 

“Look, Skitch.” Trixie sighed, shifting in place herself, “I’ve never been much of a deep thinker, so I’m probably not the mare to try and address those questions. But if you focus on those questions too much….” 

The showmare drifted off into silence for a moment, staring up at the star filled sky herself. 

“When my grandpapa told me that my mom was murdered, I was...furious. He had been hiding the truth from me. To protect me. All I wanted to do was make Bayou Runner pay.”

“Why’d Bayou Runner do it?”

“My mom was a firebrand and a community organizer. She was basically interfering with his business back when he was just starting to make a name for himself. She was a threat….”

She trailed off, misery settling deep on her features as she kicked at the bedspread. 

“I’m sorry.” Skitch winced, “My dad told me stories about things like that happening, but I never met someone who had it happen to them.”

“I imagine that gaining control of the family theatre is the final crowning moment for him.” Trixie sighed, her voice hitching slightly, “Anyway. The point of all of this, is that, when I think back on it, I was too obsessed. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t visit my extended family. I just chased Bayou Runner. And when I do look back on it all, there’s plenty that I missed in my life. You...and I...need to focus on what will make us happy.” She waved a hoof at the stars, “So forget everything else for a moment, and tell me, what’s the dream for Skitch-Sketch.”

Skitch considered that for a moment, rubbing her chin with the back of her hoof. 

“I want to matter.” She admitted, after some careful thought, “I want to have a job, a home, and people I care about and who care about me in my life.” 

Trixie laughed, quickly stifling her giggles when some of the other sleeping ponies began to stir. “Screw you.” She lightly punched one of Skitch’s forelegs. 

“Screw me?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded, “Screw you. Skitch...you’re already living the dream.” She pointed to the sleeping forms of Twilight and the others, “They care about you, you try to help them with whatever they do, and you’re willing to come and help me. You matter.” 

Skitch’s ears flicked back as she followed Trixie’s outstretched leg. 

“But I stole them. I stole this life. We met over at attempt to destroy the world and then bonded so fast. I don’t deserve-” 

“To tartarus with that!” Trixie hissed, “ Worry about you...and me of course. This is my journey of revenge after all.” 

A smirk crossed Skitch’s muzzle, the unicorn giving her own good natured punch back. “Now that’s what I expect to hear from the Great and Powerful Trixie.” 

“Oh, get some sleep. Tomorrow I’m going to teach you some of my tricks.” 


- - - - 


The next day, the train car was full of the bustle of preparation. At least, what preparation could be done before they arrived in Neigh Orleans. Trixie and Skitch sat in one corner, the former teaching the latter what she knew about auditory based illusions. 

“It’s about projecting the memory of the sound.” Trixie explained, “You focus in on it, hold it tightly in your mind and then push it out into the world. Picture, focus, push.”

“Okay. Picture, focus, push.” 

Roseluck was running over the plan again, going from pony to pony and having them repeat their role back to her. Most of the group would be taking the place of ushers and either making sure that stray ponies didn’t walk into the line of fire when things went down, or waiting for their individual parts to play out. 

And Twilight Sparkle watched all of this from her bed, unable to keep the slight frown off of her muzzle or to shake the twist of anxiety and fear that squirmed its way through her body. Because there was one realization that she just couldn’t shake.  

What they were doing was dangerous. 

That, in and of itself, was hardly a new thing. Going into the Everfree to stop Nightmare Moon was dangerous. Fighting The Collector was dangerous. The nature of being an Element Bearer seemed to make danger a factor in their lives now.

But so far, she was the only one who had dealt with the reality of death.

The recollection of being in Skitch’s mindscape, of sitting next to the spirit of the original Skitch-Sketch, while she slowly faded on to the afterlife….Well, she wasn’t sure that memory would ever leave her own mind. 

“Never again.” She muttered under her breath. 

“What was that Twilight?” Spike asked from his position next to her. 

“It’s nothing Spike.” She smiled, “Just thinking.” 

They still had a long way to go. She turned her attention back to the two books that were spread out before her hooves, a tome on Equestrian law on her right, and one of her spell filled books on her left. She needed to be ready. 

“Hey Trixie.” Bon Bon asked her, peeking around Roseluck, “Where are we going to stay once we hit the city? I’ve heard that Neigh Orleans has nice hotels. Though,” She glanced towards Fluttershy. "I don't want to keep draining your bits. You already covered this car."

"Oh, its no problem." Fluttershy smiled back. "I don't really use it."

"Well, its still very nice of you."

“Either way." Trixie interrupted. "It's no good.” She shook her head, “Bayou Runner tends to keep eye on them. We’ll stay with a friend of the family. It’ll be safer.”

“Who’s this friend?” Twilight frowned. 

“His name is Jambalaya. Owns a restaurant down in The Quarter. Not quite the place that it used to be, but the food is still fantastic!” Trixie licked her lips, “Fried mushroom Po’Colt sandwiches with a poison joke spread on top! Fantastic!” 

“I’ll take your word on that one.” Twilight shrugged. “I still can’t believe you eat poison joke.”

“Hmph.” Trixie sniffed, “Perhaps someday you’ll understand true culinary genius, Sparkle.”

Rolling her eyes, Twilight looked back to her books.


- - - - 


Jambalaya sighed, his old bones creaking in protest, as he shuffled past the rows of empty tables. Another long day of serving ponies was coming to an end, and all that was left to do was to close up for the night. 

Pausing at the door he stared out at The Quarter, Neigh Orleans’ tourist district; at least in name. But for a section of the city that logically should thrive on nightlife and large crowds, the streets were mostly empty. 

As usual. 

Neigh Orleans was turning increasingly inward in recent years. Ponies and creatures from other lands visiting less and less as the nobility and Bayou Runner’s little crime family tightened control. Jambalaya sighed and shook his head. It was enough to drive a pony to madness. Perhaps it was time to move to Canterlot or Manehattern, or some other city that wasn’t dealing with the grip of corrupt. 

“Dad!” His son, Rare Find, shouted from the kitchen, “We all got company back here.”

With a roll of his eyes, he flipped his sign over to closed, and trotted back towards the kitchen. 

“Tell ‘em we’re closed!” He growled, even as he stomped right past his son and over to the door. “Ah don’t know who’d be wandering over here-” 

“Oh, drop the fuss Jambalaya.” A familiar sounding mare chided, tilting her distinctive star studded hat back. “Or would you really turn me away?” 

Jambalaya blinked, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t somehow hallucinating. 

“Trixie?” He frowned. The last time he had seen the mare, she was running off to Canterlot after grabbing some food from him, “I thought you left.” 

“I did.” She nodded, “But now I’m back, to finish things.” She motioned a hoof back down the alley, “And I brought friends.”

Glancing towards the gaggle of ponies behind her, Jambalaya blinked again, but then sighed. 

“All right. Come on in. Rare, fire up the flat top again. We got company.” 

The large group of ponies, and one dragon, shuffled into the restaurant and then to the dining room. Jambalaya followed after, fixing Trixie with a questioning gaze that said all it needed to. For her part, Trixie coughed, motioning from her group to Jambalaya and back again. 

“Everypony, this is Jambalaya, old friend of the family. Jambalaya, this is Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, the Element Bearers. The dragon is Spike, assistant to Twilight Sparkle. And then we have Skitch-Sketch, former human. And Lyra, Bon Bon, Thunderlane, Roseluck and Cherry Berry of Ponyville.” 

Jambalaya looked from pony to pony blinking, before turning his gaze back to Trixie. 

“Just how many ponies are you going to drag into this?”

“Jam-”

“Trixie, I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want these other ponies to get hurt. Maybe it’s time to admit that Bayou Runner-”

“Mister Jambalaya?”

Twilight stepped forward, her own expression serious. 

“Bayou Runner can’t be allowed to continue. He hurts this city, he almost hurt Ponyville. The girls and I have faced danger before. And the rest of us from Ponyville? They’re willing to stand up and help. So don’t be hard on Trixie.”

The aging restaurant owner stared right back into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight didn’t flinch away, glaring right back at him.  

“All right.” He sighed eventually, “You all can stay here for now. I do owe Trixie’s family plenty. I just hope that you know what you’re doing. Rare!” He called, turning towards the kitchen, “Let’s rustle up some grub!” 

“Relax. We have it under control.” 

“Don’t jinx us Trixie.” Skitch sighed. 


- - - - 


You ready for this Skitch?  Cherry Berry’s voice echoed in her mind. I can always take your place if you want.

No. Skitch thought, sparing the barest of backwards glances towards the changeling’s hiding spot, I can do this. 

It was the only choice, really. 

The plan depended on Bayou Runner being willing to engage in illicit business and if there was any pony in the group who would have been the most likely to do it, it was her. Being an outsider lent plausibility that she had items to sell, and her ongoing feuds with certain members of the Canterlot nobility would be easy for Runner to verify. A disgruntled alien, isolated from home, willing to sell whatever she could for comfort was the front. 

There was a certain amount of verisimilitude in that story. And so, the morning after their arrival, Skitch would play her part.

The neighborhood that contained Bayou Runner’s place- the Garden District, according to Trixie- was right out of some period movie, with rows of gentile looking two story manors, surrounded by lawns and gardens that appeared to be maintained by ponies with OCD. The rows and hedges were that neat and exactingly edged. 

The manor house of the crime lord rose in the distance, continuing Skitch’s opinion that she was walking through a set from Gone With the Wind. She wore a cloak, the hood currently pulled over her head, the cape part hiding her saddlebags, along with a metal sphere, decked out in blinking lights. 

Okay Skitch. It’s just like being a game master. She gulped. You’ve played villains before. Just slide into the role. 

The grounds were growing close now. 

You’ve been screwed with by nobles...which is pretty true. You’re angry, you want revenge. 

Walking right up to the front door, she knocked as loudly as she could. 

Just channel your inner Ben Browder. 

She let an angry frown fall across her muzzle, pulling the edge of the hood a little lower. The door swung open a minute later, a confused looking servant blinking at Skitch’s presence. 

“I’m here to see Bayou Runner.” 

“I’m sorry, but he’s having breakfast-”

Skitch pushed right past her, trotting for the dining room, based on what Trixie had told her of the layout. The servant chased after her, raising objections all the way.

“You can’t just-” 

“Quiet.” She growled, continuing onwards. Approaching the dining room, she could begin to hear the sound of ponies talking. 

“With this little shindig, I’ll be finally start to be taken seriously by the nobles outside of Neigh Orleans.” A pony that Skitch assumed was Bayou Runner said, “Class. That’s what I’ll finally have. And that’s good for all of us.”

“Heh, heh, heh. And I thought my jokes were bad.” Skitch snarked, striding into the lavish looking dining room. 

Bayou Runner twisted in his seat at the head of a very long table, a plate of eggs and english muffins (equestrian muffins? Something to ask Twilight later.), before him. The two thugs from the exchange, sat in some of the side chairs, looking just as confused as their boss. A nervous looking unicorn stood beside Runner, while the rest of the seats were full of other noble looking types; easily another dozen ponies.

“My, my, my.” Skitch grinned, flipping her hood back, “Isn’t this a charming little meeting.” 

“You!” One of the thugs blinked, “You were helping out Lulamoon in Ponyville.”  

“You neglected to mention the human was involved.” Runner growled, an incensed expression erupting on his features. “I don’t know how ya’ll do things where you come from,” He snarled, slamming his hoof on the table, “But around here ponies mind their own business! Take her outside and show her some manners!” 

“At-ta-ta-ta.” Skitch tisked, pulling up the edge of her cloak to reveal the blinking sphere, “Let’s not blow this out of proportion.”

The thugs froze, shooting nervous glances between the sphere and Bayou Runner. 

“I’m sure you’re wondering what this is.” Skitch said, idly twirling a hoof as launched into an explanation, “This little guy is called a thermal detonator. It packs enough explosive force to reduce this building to a crater. I’ve hooked it up to every dead man switch I know and some I don’t know.” 

She let the cloak fall back into place, slowly walking around the edge of the table, scooping up a bunch of scrambled eggs and two english muffins with her magic. Waving her impromptu breakfast sandwich towards Bayou Runner, she continued. 

“My heart stops? It detonates. My heart beats too fast? It detonates. Too hot, too cold, too acid, too base, or if I just don’t like what I hear, the bomb detonates. Boom, boom, boom. We’re all pushing up daisies. Does everypony understand?” 

Taking a full bite of her sandwich, she counted off a few beats in her head to let the implications of her statement sink in. 

“What do you want?” Bayou Runner grimaced through clenched teeth, eyes blazing, “You storm into my house-”

“What do I want? What do I want.” She shook her head, continuing to pace around the table, “I’m not the one who sent assassins after anypony. I’m not the one who played around with horribly dangerous magic items. You want something!” She shouted, clambering up onto the table and advancing on Bayou Runner, kicking dishes out of the way as she went. Runner’s guests recoiled, shock and outrage playing across their faces, “You want power and influence and magical toys the likes of which pony kind has never seen! After all...why else would you go through so much of this bullshit otherwise?”

“Well then...why are you here?”  

“Because, in the end, despite my pony body I...am an American.” She beamed, beginning to pace the length of the table, eyes sweeping across all in the room as they stared up at her with a mixture of horror and confusion. And so, she kept going, “And what does an American want? Democracy? Capitalism! I want to sell out, and settle down! For one day only its a blue light special on aisle three! Any haul of technology or magic that I can bring down from the multiverse, for what you are willing to pay.” 

“Pay? You want me to pay? For what?” 

“For toys like this!”

With a flourish she drew a weapon from her saddle bags, made of brass and glass shaped like a gun. Before anyone could object, Skitch leveled it at the white coated unicorn. A blast of lightning leapt from the tip, slamming into his body and dropping him to the floor with a chorus of shocked shouts from the room’s occupants. 

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead.” She explained as Bayou Runner’s boys rushed to check on him, “He’ll wake up with a headache and a slight hole in his memory, the Tesla isn’t designed to be lethal...usually. And this? Just the tip of the iceberg.” 

With the proposal and demonstration made, Skitch lowered herself to her haunches, looking around at the assembled ponies again. 

“So, what am I offered for all the powers of the multiverse?” 

“How about you tell us, what you want?” One of the other nobles, a peach colored mare, spoke up. 

“Fine.” Skitch nodded, “First of all, I want bits. Buckets of em. Two, Ponyville and the Element Bearers are off limits. Your boneheaded attempts to kill Lulamoon almost hurt ponies I care about. And I’m not going to let that happen again.” 

“Oh, sure, anything else?” Bayou Runner growled. 

“Yeah, actually. There’s a pony by the name of Nouveau Riche who lives in Canterlot. I want him dead.” 

“You complain about what I did, and you want me to assassinate a pony who lives in Canterlot? Right under the muzzles of the princesses?” Runner glowered. “Are you insane?”

“Quite possibly.” Skitch admitted, wolfing down the last of her sandwich. “Mmm. Not the same as McDonalds, but it’ll do.” 

“I’m not willing to risk my organization by doing something so blatant.” 

“Not my damn problem. You want what I’m selling, this is my cost.” 

“Well, your cost is too damn high.” He snarled back, angrily pointing a hoof towards the door, “Now get off my property before I decide to take the risk on that bomb of yours!”

Cherry! Skitch mentally screamed, the chill of sweat beads beginning to form on her forehead, He’s balking! What the hell do I do? 

Stay with me Skitch, deep breath. Play it cool. Get up and start to leave, but tell him that you have another buyer lined up. Tell him that you’ll sell to the government. That should play on his fears and shake him up.

“Fine.” Skitch shrugged, jumping down from the table and making for the way out, “Plenty of other ponies I can sell to. Maybe Princess Celestia will get all that I can offer….”

“Wait.” 

She paused, slowly turning to face the crime lord again. “Yes?”

The question had just a hint of mocking amusement to it. Hopefully it would be enough to reel him the rest of the way back in.

Runner’s expression was a curious mix of anger, fear and curiosity as he stared at the unicorn. 

“If you were going to do that, you would have done it already.”

“Not true.” Skitch corrected, throwing herself back into it. “First rule of American capitalism, the private sector always pays more than the government. And while I was more than happy to play nice for Celestia, that was before I had a noble who decided to make me his pet project. Libelous pieces in the papers, stealing my home from me? Making it so that every damn day I wake up and wonder why I bothered to help save your species miserable hide?”

She shook her head, letting her voice rise, tapping into the well of anger and frustration that simmered beneath the surface.

“So...somepony is going to pay! They’re going to pay so that every morning I can drown those feelings with all the luxury and avarice money can buy! And, you know what, John Trotti? I’m really starting to not care who’s on the other end of the check! So, do you want my stuff or not?” 

The silence hung in the air for a good few minutes, before Bayou Runner spoke up again. 

“Alright.” He smirked. “I’ll pay. You get the best things in life and I'll get some tools to deal with problems.” 

“Good. I’ll bring a selection of pieces with me tomorrow. We’ll make the exchange at your little grand opening. That way you won’t be stupid enough to double cross me. Make sure you have the money on hand...or hoof, whatever the right term is. Tata.” 

Marching out the front door, she quickly wrapped herself in an invisibility charm. Picking her way through the the backyards of Bayou Runner’s neighbors, she worked her way a few blocks over, where Cherry Berry was waiting. 

Legs shaking like leaves, she collapsed to her haunches next to the changeling, the spell vanishing in a puff of amber smoke. 

“He’s on the hook.” She shuddered, “He’s on the hook.”

“Skitch,” Cherry frowned, resting a hoof on the unicorn’s side, “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” She smiled, wiping the beginnings of tears from her eyes. Plucking the "thermal detonator" from her saddlebag, she let the illusion fade and took a calming bite of apple. “Just tapped that emotional well a little too deeply. But it’ll be worth it to take this bastard down. I just hope that Rarity’s group is having as much luck on their end.” 


- - - - 


Pencil Pusher frowned as he checked the figures for the third time. Years of legal wrangling had left the financials of the theatre in complete disarray. There had literally been no money in the coffers to hire acts and pay the ushers. But Bayou Runner’s people had hired him, bringing him all the way in from Canterlot, to bring everything back up to speed. 

The earth pony had torn into the task with gusto. Some pulled strings had arranged for the Canterlot Royal Orchestra to be the event, which, seemed to have garnered the attention of the princesses. At this rate, this was going to be a night that Neigh Orleans would never forget. 

The door to the theatre’s small office clicked open, one of the new ushers he had hired nervously poking her head into the room. 

“Umm. Sir? There’s some ponies here that want to speak to you? Something about a rental opportunity.”

“Rental?”

It was a slightly odd request, but not unheard of for those of means to rent out a building such as this for a private event.

“Very well. Send them in.”

Two ponies trotted into the room, a unicorn, and a pegasus. The unicorn, with her striking white coat, was in the lead while the shy looking butter yellow pegasus had a chest balanced on her back. 

“Hello Miss…?”

“Glittering Diamond.” She smiled, batting her deep blue eyes. “And you are?”

“Pencil Pusher.” He beamed back.

“Charmed, darling! Now, as I am a very busy pony, I shall cut straight to the chase. My group wishes to rent out your theatre for tomorrow.”  

“Well, I only run the building for the actual owner. And there is already a large event planned for tomorrow.”

“Oh, my dear,” She smiled nodding to her companion. “Perhaps I’m not exactly making things clear.”

Motioning to the desk with a hoof, she took a step back, the pegasus dumping the contents onto its surface. Bags heavy with coin tumbled end over end, piling up into an impressive looking stack. Carefully tugging one of the bags open, Pencil Pusher’s jaw dropped at the golden bits contained within. 

“So, will there be a problem with you and your employees taking a much deserved break?”

Pencil Pusher bit the coin to check how real it was.

“No. No problem at all.”  

> The Neigh Orleans Job (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bayou Runner carefully adjusted his bowtie, making sure that it was perfectly straight. Appearances were important when going to an official function, even doubly so when Princess Celestia and her “dear” sister were to be in attendance. 

He checked his appearance in the mirror. Coat, mane and tail neatly combed and brushed. The red silk bowtie was neatly set around his neck, a black gatsby hat perched neatly atop his head. All in all it gave him the look he was going for; upper class, yet approachable. The kind of stallion with power that could be approached by the everyday pony. 

Satisfied, he turned to face Muddy Waters and Storm Front, who had been waiting patiently near the door to his bedroom. 

“Now. Are we ready?”

“I think so boss.” Storm Front nodded, “I got all the boys together for extra security, Night Shade is on his hooves again and ready to go, and I got the bits.” He tilted his head slightly, “Are you really going to go through with this?”   

“Of course not. I didn’t get ta where I am today by being an idiot. She’s up to something and I’d put that whole bag of bits on Lulamoon being involved.” 

The two lieutenants exchanged glances. 

“Again, we’re sorry-”

“Shoot, Muddy. I ain’t even mad anymore.” He beamed, “In fact, I plan on usin’ this, gods willing.”  

At their confused looks, he grinned even wider. 

“Ya see, it works for us if we can really establish that we’re just normal business ponies. Passing off the magic item smuggling to a scapegoat would help with that. The human and Trixie will make the perfect pair to set up for this.” 

“How’s that?” Storm Front frowned, “We’ve been smuggling a lot longer than that human’s been around.” 

“Which is why we’re using her and Trixie. You moved the crates like I said?”

“Yup.” Storm Front nodded. “The shamanistic masks from Zebrica and the rune imprints from the NCG. From the warehouse to the vault.”  

“Good. That’s some heavy weight.”

He pointed to each of them. 

“Be ready. I want our boys, all lookin’ their best. Like I hired extra security for the night. I want Night Shade to scan every member of staff for illusions. Haven’t had a chance to check em out since we hired that lot  and I don’t want Lulamoon sneaking in via the back door.”

“But boss…” Storm Front spoke up. “They might have more at hoof than illusions. I bashed a changeling in that town. One of those Venexian types. Night Shade can’t dispel them.” 

“Just make sure that all of the employees stay in the areas where they belong during the performance. We got enough ponies after all. Anypony who leaves, we assume is a changeling and take care of.” 

Trotting for the door, he was beaming like the sun itself. 

“This night is going to be perfect!” 


- - - - 


To say that the press of Equestria paid a great deal of attention to the princesses that ruled it would be an understatement. Most viewed it as the natural outgrowth of the love for their monarchs that Equestria’s citizens felt. Some of Equestria’s rivals beyond the borders claimed that the media coverage was a carefully orchestrated dance, conducted by Celestia and her fellows to keep the ponies in a sycophantic state. If someone had asked Skitch-Sketch, she would have responded that people (and ponies) just like celebrities and that princesses were cool now. 

Whatever the actual reason, the Neigh Orleans press were swarming the Civic Theatre like parasprites on a freshly baked cake. The theatre- set at the end of a short cul-de-sac of the The Quarter- had rolled out the red carpet and the photographers lined the edges eagerly awaiting for the arrival of Celestia and Luna. Bayou Runner waited at the end, standing next to the large entrance doors, chest puffed out in pride. The city’s nobles, and other ticket holders also waited, none of them wanting show up the princesses by running inside first. 

They didn’t have to wait long.

Celestia and Luna dropped from the darkness, flaring their wings as they came in for a perfectly smooth landing at the edge of the carpet. In addition to their normal regalia, the princesses wore fine velvet cloaks, embroidered with their cutie-marks. They were flanked by a member of the Day and Night Guard respectively, the white coated pegasus and dark coated thestral keeping their heads held high.

The chorus of flashes rose to greet them as they walked towards Bayou Runner, Celestia smiling serenely, Luna looking pensive. A few of the more astute reporters noticed that Celestia was hanging back slightly, letting her sister take the lead at a public event. 

“Welcome to the Civic Theatre your highnesses.” Bayou Runner bowed, “I’m overjoyed that you accepted my invitation to the grand reopening!” 

“The pleasure is ours.” Celestia smiled, before glancing up at the buildings facade, “I remember when this building was first constructed. It would be quite a shame if Neigh Orleans was devoid of its gifts.” 

Her eyes drifted back to Bayou Runner. 

“I hope that you will do it justice. Its previous owners were fine ponies.” 

“As you say.” Bayou Runner smiled, “Please, let me escort you to the royal box.”

“We can find it ourselves.” Luna brusquely cut across him, “Thank you.” 

Runner kept his warm smile in place as the princesses trotted past him. He fell into step behind them, breaking off towards the far right side of the entrance foyer, where Night Shade, Muddy Waters and Storm Front were waiting.

“Did you check the staff?” He pointedly asked, cutting right to the chase as the princesses took the left staircase up to the balcony seating and private boxes.

“I-I did. No illusions.” The nervous unicorn nodded, “W-whatever Trixie is planning, she’s not here yet.” 

“Alri-” Bayou Runner began, pausing as Muddy Waters took a bite of a muffin that he hadn’t noticed before, “Where did you get that?” 

“From her.” He motioned across the way. 

Bayou Runner’s eyes narrowed at the sight of a white coated, blonde maned earth pony decked out in the uniform of an usher. Expertly balancing a tray of muffins on one hoof, she flashed a wide grin back at him, before trotting over to another one of his ponies and offering a treat. 

“Why is an usher giving us muffins?” 

“Ahh, come on boss.” Muddy Waters smirked, “We get freebies all the time. When was the last time you actually paid at a restaurant in this town? You’re just that kind of pony. And they are running this joint for us now. Probably wanting to make a good impression.” Muddy added.

Bayou Runner rubbed his forehead. 

“You’re a moron. The changelings, remember?”

“...Changelings are going to take us out with muffins? They aren’t poisoned or anything.” 

“And you’re sure about this.” 

“Yup. Poisons and knock out drops leave aftertastes. You’d have to be a world class baker to hide something like that.” 

Bayou Runner frowned, but nodded. Muddy was rather knowledgeable about such things and as one of his most trusted lieutenants, he’d trust his judgement.  

“Alright. Keep your eyes open. I’m sure that Lulamoon will probably show up about the same time as Skitch does. We need to be ready. In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying the show.” 

Trotting around to the backstage area, he took up a position at stage right, watching Equestria’s premiere orchestra do its thing. As it turned out, he didn’t have to wait long for the human to arrive. It was perhaps only twenty minutes into the Canterlot Royal Orchestra’s performance when Muddy Waters tapped him on the back. 

“She’s here boss.” 

Bayou Runner nodded. 

“Storm Front, escort her down to the vault in the basement. Its quiet down there.” 

He had no idea why Lulamoon’s family had build a vault off one of the storage rooms, but it was a pleasant perk to taking control of the building. From his position at stage left, Bayou Runner spared a glance towards the royal box, where the princesses watched the orchestra play. 

“Muddy, wait a few minutes and bring Princess Celestia down.”

“Sure thing boss.”

Bayou Runner took his time walking down to the basement. Let her sweat, wondering what might have already, or could be going wrong. It was a tactic that had served him well for years, as ponies minds were quite apt at reaching for the worst case scenario. Sure enough, by the time he reached the vault, Skitch-Sketch was nervously pacing while Storm Front watched her. 

“Well, miss Skitch-Sketch.” He smiled, “Shall we complete this little transaction of ours?” 

Skitch nodded, her eyes darting from Runner to Storm Front and back again. 

“Yeah, just keep your men leashed. You got the bits?”

“That depends if you got the stuff.” 

“I got a selection. Everything left over from The Collector.” 

With that, she levitated the tesla gun from before, and a pair of wands into view. Bayou Runner raised an eyebrow. 

“That’s it?” 

“That’s all for starters. I’ll need to take a trip off world to get more, and I’m not risking the markets of Sigil until I’m sure this partnership can work. That city sucks.” 

“Fine.” He sighed, motioning to the pieces, “What do you want for them?” 

“Ten grand for the tesla. Five grand for each of the wands. Ya got your web spell here,” She hovered her hoof over the one, “And this one is your magic missile.” 

“Fine, pa-” 

The vault door swung open, the forms of Princess Celestia, Muddy Waters and Night Shade pushing their way into the room. 

“Ahh! Princess Celestia.” Bayou Runner grinned, “How nice of you to join us!” “

“What’s going on here? I had gotten up to stretch my legs when your associate came to collect me.” Celestia frowned.

“Alas, I do regret to inform you that your human guest in engaged in the smuggling of dangerous artifacts. She approached me, and I lured her here for a little civilian sting.” 

“That’s a damn lie!” Skitch snapped back, “He’s the one who lured me down here! I’m being set up!” 

Princess Celestia frowned, casting her eyes towards the items resting on the floor. 

“The problem is, those are items not of this world. And you are the only creature that we know of in the world who has that ability.” 

“No! I’m not going down for this alone! He’s a crime boss! He tried to murder somepony! And just look! These crates? None of that’s mine! They’re his! I bet there’s smuggled artifacts in them!”

“Which you have not a shred of proof of!” Bayou Runner snapped back, “This place belonged to the Lulamoon family before me. Maybe they’re the ones who smuggled!” 

“We most certainly did not!” “Celestia” snapped with a stomp of her hoof. 

Everyone paused, save for Skitch, who groaned and kneaded her forehead with a hoof. “Goddamn it Trixie. Just...goddamn.” 

“He insulted my family!” “Celestia” continued. “I’m not going to let rocks for brains do that when he already killed my mother!”

“NIGHT SHADE!” Bayou Runner bellowed.

With a flash of magic, the illusions around Trixie vanished in a series of pops and puffs of blue smoke. The unicorn laughed nervously, taking a few steps back towards the door as Bayou Runner’s face began to take on a particular shade of purple. 

“LEG IT!” Skitch shouted, already taking her own advice. 

That was all the convincing Trixie needed. Her horn glowed, and the room was engulfed in a blinding flash, the pair of ponies stampeding past the stunned mobsters during the moment of confusion. 

Bayou Runner recovered first, fueled more by his rage than anything else.

“No more plans! Get those two and put em down!” He bellowed, chasing after the two, his men following suit. 

The main storage room was a miss-matched collection or props, old chairs and other equipment that hadn’t been sorted through in many a year. Trixie and Skitch had a head start, weaving and ducking through the stacks. Reaching the doorway, Trixie lashed out with a kick, sending a stack of chairs wobbling, and then toppling towards the ground dragging other piles of junk with it. 

Runner, Waters and Storm Front scattered, avoiding the rain of detritus that Night Shade was unable to. The unicorn yelped in shock, finding himself pinned under the avalanche of random items.

“B-boss! W-wait!” 

But they were already out the door, leaving him alone in the room. Groaning, he squirmed and pushed against the pile, trying to squirm his way free. 

“Oh no, l-leave me behind! And then w-when I’m not t-there I’ll get screamed at.”

The sound of hooves on stone - dainty and confident, opposed to the angry thumps of the chase- drew near. Night Shade twisted and thrashed again, trying to get a view at who was approaching. A moment later, he found himself staring up into the face of one of the most beautiful unicorns he had ever seen. 

“Hello darling.” She smiled, “You and I need to have a conversation.”


- - - - 


Storm Front was angry. 

He had apparently not sent enough of a message to the ponies of Ponyville when he was there. Do not get involved in Bayou Runner’s business. Do not play the hero. Play the hero and bad things happen to you. You get hurt. 

And yet, here they were.  

I think I’ll snap Trixie’s neck. He smirked, putting on a burst of speed, preparing to strike. 

Suddenly, there was a blur of purple and green, something getting tangled up in his hooves. With a startled cry he was sent crashing to the floor, rolling over and over as he tumbled down a short set of stairs and slammed through a pair of double doors.  

Flopping back to an upright position, Storm Front blinked as found himself in the back alley behind the theatre. Hadn’t he been in the basement just a moment ago? 

“What in Tartarus….”

Spinning about as the door creaked open behind him, he frowned at the sight of the orange colored earth pony mare and the black coated pegasus stallion who stood side by side. 

“Howdy!” The mare nodded, tilting her stetson back slightly, “Ah understand you’re the pony who assaulted a neighbor of mine. Time you and I had words about that.”   

“Yeah!” The pegasus nodded, angrily flapping his wings, “Ponyville sends its regards!”

The orange mare blinked at that. 

“Thunderlane...was that supposed to be a reference or somethin?”

“...I’ll admit, it sounded better in my head.”

“Well then.” Storm Front snarled, “I guess that Ponyville will have two new gravestones once I’m done with you two!”    

“Bring it on stormy!” 

Under the starlit sky, the three ponies charged.


- - - - 


Muddy Waters frowned. 

“Boss, I think we lost Storm Front!” 

“Find him! Find the others!” Bayou Runner shouted, “I’m going to put these two down!” 

Before Muddy could follow those orders, Skitch-Sketch suddenly came to a skidding halt, turning into a pony sized speed bump that he desperately tried to avoid. But the unicorn had timed it too well, and the two collapsed in a tangle of limbs and air being knocked from his lungs. 

Quickly recovering, Muddy did a double take at the fact they were both in the lobby, surrounded by his fellow syndicate members, and a pair of shocked looking employees. Though more than a few of them seemed to be blinking off the desire to start napping right then and there, he didn’t care. There was over a dozen of them, and one of her. 

“Oh, you’re in trouble now!” He grinned, “I’ve been wanting to teach you some manners since yesterday!” 

He took a step forward, only to pause again as ethereal notes of music began to swirl about the room.   

Come little children, I’ll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment,

“Who the tartarus is singing?” He thought, looking around in confusion.

One of the employees, a mint green unicorn, was gently plucking at a lyre that she hadn’t had a moment before, her eyes closed her horn shimmered. The other usher, a cream colored earth pony mare softly sung. The eyes of his fellows were growing heavy, as were their heads. They stumbled and shuffled as the song continued, the notes seeming to almost drag them down into a deep sleep. 

Come little children the time’s come to play,
Here in my garden of shadows. 

A chorus of thuds rung out as bodies hit the floor, and even Muddy Waters was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Skitch grinned, wide and smug, as the other unicorn continued to play. 

“You really shouldn’t have eaten the muffins.”

“But...I had it figured out….” Waters grunted, toppling to the floor, sleep finally claiming him. 


- - - - 


Trixie slid to a halt, eyes wide at the dead end that she found herself in. 

“Damn!” She swore, spinning about only to wince at Bayou Runner. 

“Well, here we are Trixie.” The crime lord smiled, “I suppose that this was inevitable, when you think about it. You’re just like your mother, no clue when to step aside.” 

“Step aside?” Trixie blinked. “I was just supposed to forget that you killed my mother?” 

“It was just business! That’s what none of you understand. I don’t seek death. I’m not some kind of monster like Discord. But ponies in my city? They need to understand certain rules. You stay out of my way, and out of my business.” He glared, slowly drawing even closer to the trapped spellcaster, “That’s why I’m the kingpin.” 

“You really think that you’ll be able to keep all of this hidden from Celestia?” Trixie frowned, pressing her back to the wall, “All that noise you made up in Ponyville? I’m sure you’re on her radar now.”

“I’ll deal with her. Over a decade I’ve run this operation under that cow’s snout, and she hasn’t seen a damn thing! And it’s going to stay that way.” 

“I disagree.” Came a third voice.

Bayou Runner’s eyes went wide as he was seized by golden tendrils of magic, the rough brick of the basement corridor falling away into the plush furnishings of the royal box. Yelping and thrashing helplessly against the iron grip of the magic, he was spun about to look directly into the intense magenta eyes of the sun princess. 

She was flanked by her sister, who looked quite ready to beat the earth pony into a coma, and her prized student and bearer of the Element of Magic, who had a wide grin on her muzzle and a piece of paper in her magic aura. And the guards the princesses had brought with them stood behind them, keeping their stony expressions in place.   

“P-princess, I-”

“You have the right to silence Mister Runner.” Princess Celestia explained, like a mother to a particularly rebellious foal, “As you just admitted to a murder in front of me, I suggest you exercise it.” 

“You can’t do this to me! This is entrapment!” 

“Incorrect!” Twilight grinned, waving her page in the air, “Equestrian law says that entrapment occurs when the actions of an agent of the crown would cause a usually law abiding pony to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn’t. Trixie is not an agent of the crown, and your actions in Ponyville prove that you’re willing to resort to violence!”

“Furthermore,” She continued, steam building in her argument, “Equestrian law further states that the crown has the right to lay claim to any assets, profits or interest generated by a corrupt enterprise! Which means that all of your businesses or buildings involved in your smuggling now belong to Celestia!”

“And you don’t have enough pro-”

“Confession. Physical evidence.” Twilight fired back. “And right now, my friend Rarity is talking to Night Shade. I have every confidence she’ll be able to convince him to turn evidence against you!”

Bayou Runner’s eyes darted from princess to princess, a growing sense of dread overtaking the crime lord. 

He was stuck. 

There was no way to get out of what Trixie and her stupid friends had managed to trap him in. 

“I want to talk deal.” 

Celestia’s eyes narrowed, ever so slightly. 

“Trixie. This did belong to your family. Is there an office we can use?”

“Of course. This way princess.” 

Trixie lead the group backstage, where a wrought iron spiral staircase lead up to a small hallway, there a pair of rooms waited. Quickly trotting over to the left door, she pulled it open for Celestia, who calmly strode into the room, still carrying Bayou Runner along in her aura. Once everpony had filed in behind her, she casually snapped the door closed and dropped the trapped pony back to the floor. 

“Very well, Bayou Runner. What do you have to say?”

“I want consideration.” He frowned, brushing his coat off. “For what I’m going to say.”

“What do you mean?” Trixie frowned. 

“When I’m gone, this city is going to tear itself apart. Lots of other creatures around here do things just as bad as I do. And the guard? So very corrupt. I know about all of them. And I’d be willing to testify against the whole lot.” 

“I see.” Celestia nodded. “And what would you want for this information?” 

“I walk away.” He nodded. “Simple as that.” 

“What?!” Twilight gaped. “You murdered somepony! You can’t just walk away from that.” 

“I can if Princess Celestia wants to protect the ponies of this city.” He shrugged. “Neigh Orleans has been outside her watch for long enough that it’ll do what it wants. Unless my information helps stop that.” 

“Thou honorless cur!” Luna snapped, a miniature crack of thunder reverberating through the room with a stomp of her hoof. “We should strike you down right here for trying to use the lives of thine fellows for ransom!” 

Further rage was cut off by a raised wing from Celestia. Equestria’s ruler was silent as she stared at Bayou Runner, contemplating his words. But after a moment, she shook her head, and sighed.

“It is a poor idea to engage in a game of brinkmanship with me, Bayou Runner. Here is my counter offer. You will confess and save the nation the cost of a trial and I shall not make the moon your prison.” 

“The moon.” Bayou Runner blinked. 

“Oh yes.” Luna grinned, suddenly almost bouncing in place. “The moon is quite a fine prison! We speak from experience after all. In fact, thine are welcome to the castle we constructed while trapped upon its surface. We believe it is still there.” 

“You wouldn’t.”

“I did it to my own family.” Celestia frowned. “As painful as it was, I still did it. So, by all means,” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Test my resolve.” 

Bayou Runner sputtered, trying to raise some kind of objection to what Princess Celestia had just said. But as he tried to find words to project his outrage, Celestia’s steely and even gaze drained his will to fight, for it was obvious that she did not lack any of it. 

It was as she said. Test it and see what would happen. Which said nothing for what Luna might do, with her more archaic mindset on meting out punishment. Still…. 

“Very well princess. I shall accept your terms. But I will not speak on anypony in this city without reducing whatever sentence you give me.”

“We shall manage.” Celestia frowned, motioning to her and Luna’s guards with a wing. “Restrain him, and any of his ponies that are nearby. Luna, if you could assist, and make sure that everypony on both sides are accounted for?”

“Of course sister.” 

Once they had trotted out the door, Celestia looked to Trixie.

“Trixie, if you can wait outside, I would like to speak with Twilight first.” 

Trixie nodded, slipping out the door behind the others. Ruffling her wings, Celestia lowered herself into a sitting position, carefully observing Twilight. For her part, Twilight looked back up into the eyes of her mentor. It was a familiar ritual between the two, started in the days when Celestia would ask Twilight for a summary of what she had learned that day in Canterlot. 

“The plan...it was well put together.” Celestia began. “Was it yours?”

“Oh! Well…no. It was mostly Roseluck and Trixie.”

“Ahh.” Celestia smiled. “I should have recognized Roseluck’s hooves in this. She has always been fond of ploys where the target does most of the work for her.” She tilted her head slightly. “I have to ask, why did you decide to help Trixie? Did you not think that we’d handle it?” 

“Trixie and Roseluck were planning on coming back here on their own. It was suicidally dangerous! I couldn’t...I just couldn’t let them get themselves killed. I couldn’t face that again. Not after….”

She trailed off, just in time to be embraced in a soft wing hug from her mentor. Twilight hesitated for a moment, almost wanting to pull away and insist that she was fine. But emotion won out and she leaned into the embrace, resting her head against the warm, soft coat of Celestia.

“Oh, Twilight.” She sighed, pulling her wings a little tighter around the unicorn. “I am so sorry. You shouldn’t have to carry this kind of burden yourself.”

“She deserved to have a friendly face nearby as she passed on.” Twilight countered, shaking her head. “I don’t regret doing it. I just don’t want to see it happen to anypony else I care about.”

Celestia sighed, wincing like she had been wounded. “Something that is not always possible, I’m afraid. But that doesn’t make it something unworthy of striving for. Just...please. In the future, don’t leave my sister and I out of the loop on your plans. We can support you.”

“Okay.” Twilight nodded. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Celestia nodded, the refined smile and expression of wisdom returning to her features. “Could you send Trixie in please? There is much that I need to discuss with her.”

“Of course!”

With a spring back in her step, Twilight trotted out the door. A moment later it clicked back open as Trixie nervously shuffled in, like she was expecting to be admonished by a teacher. 

“Princess? You wanted to speak to me?” She grinned, almost manically. “You’re not upset I used you as part of my plan? Please?” She dropped into a hasty bow, almost forgetting proper decorum.

“I will admit,” Celestia smirked, “I am not used to being used in such a manner. But it did achieve results faster than my own efforts would have. So...no, I am not angry. In fact, if anything I am the one who owes you an apology.” 

Trixie blinked in shock as Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, monarch of the sun, took a step back and swept into a bow. 

“I have not watched this city properly. It has festered and turned into something horrible in my shadow. And because of that, innocent ponies have suffered. Your family has suffered. You have suffered. I have failed and all I can do is ask your forgiveness.” 

The showmare stared at the princess for a few long minutes, her mind struggling to understand exactly what she was seeing.

“Princess.” She eventually answered. “I’ll forgive you, if you promise me that you’ll never take up Bayou Runner on his insane deal.” 

“Agreed.” Celestia nodded as she straightened back up. “Which brings me to my next point. Are his claims about how corrupt this city are true?” 

“I think so, yeah.” Trixie nodded. “Nopony trusts the guard, as they’re pretty much in the pocket of every corrupt noble around here.” 

“Then it seems that I will have to appoint some of the Royal Guard to fix that. But in regards to the nobles of this city….” She hesitated for a moment. “Trixie. I have a question to ask of you.”

“Yes?”

“You know this city. You worked against Bayou Runner and helped build this plan. I would ask you to be my agent in this city. To help deal with the corrupt.”

“Me?” Trixie blinked. 

“You. You’re willing. You have experience. And you can be trusted. In this city, that makes you worth your weight in gold. Will you accept this position?”

Trixie gaped again, tapping her ear to make sure she heard what she had heard before bowing her head. “O-of course. I accept.”  

“Very well.” Celestia motioned with a wing. “Kneel.”

Trixie quickly lowered herself to her cannons, bowing her head. There was a warm flash of magic, Celestia calling forth her golden halberd. 

“Do you swear to work to serve and protect your fellow creatures? To work to uplift and assist those who suffer? To stand as a beacon of Equestrian ideals to the best of your ability? And to never let the politics of nations stand in the way of doing what is right?” 

“I swear.”

“Then by the authority of my crown, I name you knight of Equestria, and member of the Golden Ring.” 

Trixie felt the halberd blade gently touch each shoulder, a warm sensation flooding through her core. 

“Rise, Dame Trixie Lulamoon, Knight of Veiled Justice.”  

Trixie rose, raising an eyebrow at Celestia. “Veiled Justice?”

“A knight is worthy of carrying a title. And as you struggled against this corruption yourself, it seemed appropriate.” 

Trixie nodded, but then something clicked in her mind. 

“Princess. Why haven’t you knighted the Element Bearers?”

Princess Celestia winced, hanging her head slightly. 

“A moment of weakness, perhaps? I’ve wished to spare them the worst of what might be coming. Most of them are simple mares, who haven’t dealt with personal tragedy the same way we have.”

“With all due respect, princess.” Trixie frowned. “I don’t think that you’ll be able to do that forever.”

“I am...aware.” Celestia sighed. “But I shall deal with that in time. In the meantime, the ownership of this theatre will be returned to you with all due haste. It’s only right that it’s once again in the hooves of your family. Now,” She began to nudge Trixie towards the door, “Let us make sure that Bayou Runner and his ponies are properly secured. It’s time for his influence to end.” 

Trixie nodded as she followed, unable to keep the grin off her muzzle. Against all odds, she had finally won. 

And it felt good. 


- - - - 


It was later in the night by the time multiple paddy-wagons had been pulled together to collect Bayou Runner and his goons. Trixie and her impromptu crew watched from the steps of the theatre, satisfaction playing across most of their faces as the assembled press snapped photos of the crime lord’s arrest. 

The members of the Neigh Orleans Guard that lead the ponies into wagons for transport did so under the watchful eyes of Celestia and Luna. More than a few of them looked nervous, their eyes darting to Bayou Runner as he waited to be loaded. 

“Ah reckon that some of them are wondering if their time is up.” Applejack scowled, absentmindedly rubbing at her scars. “Hope that they’re sweatin’ a bit.” 

“It’s the end of an era.” Cherry Berry nodded, smirking at the sight of an unconscious Storm Front being lifted into one of the wagons. “I see that Storm Front didn’t give you as much trouble as he did me.” 

“Years of apple bucking. ‘Sides, he was dizzy from Spike trippin’ him up and ah had help.” Applejack grinned, nodding to Thunderlane. “Yer a scrapper Thuderlane.”

The pegasus grinned, rubbing at the black eye that was hidden by his dark coat. “Still, if you hadn’t been there backing me up, I think I would have been badly hurt.”

“I’m glad you weren’t.” Fluttershy smiled.  

“Hey, Lyra.” Skitch-Sketch spoke up. “What was that song you sung to put all his dudes to sleep?”

“Oh, it was an old song and story.” The unicorn shrugged. “It was actually about how Luna looked over some of Canterlot’s orphans post the reign of Discord. Why do you ask?”

“No real reason. Just sounded nice.” She grinned. 

“Well, my spellsong got a big boost from those muffins. I’m still amazed you managed to hide the taste of that knockout powder, Pinkie.” 

“Aww. Thanks!” Pinkie giggled, even as she cleaned the white makeup from her coat. “I’m just glad that all of my years of baking could help.”

“We all played our parts.” Rarity nodded, eyeing Night Shade as he willingly climbed into one of the wagons. “I’m just glad that it’s over.”

“So, Skitch-Sketch.” Trixie spoke up, raising an eyebrow. “Before we left, you said that this whole situation wasn’t anything like your world's stories. How do you think this stacks up to that?”

“Not even close to each other at all.” Skitch admitted with a smile. “But I think that I like this ending better.”

“I think I can agree with that.” Trixie smiled back. 
> Epilouge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The report, easily a dozen pages thick, lay on Celestia’s deck like the world’s worst paperweight. Pulled together by Frolicksome Medowlark, who had been left behind in Neigh Orleans to conduct an accounting of the guard, was not hopeful. By his estimation at least seventy five percent of the guard was corrupt in some capacity, and it was going to take a good deal of time and effort to reform it. 

Celestia sighed, mentally chastising herself again for letting the situation in the city to get this out of control. 

Her office- or her public one at least- was a plain, sparsely furnished affair, suitable for work and very little else. It was one of the reasons she disliked spending a large amount of time in it. But the sparseness helped her focus and was the sole reason she hadn’t attacked it in a flurry of mad decorating. 

In the midst of these thoughts, a knock on her office door pulled her away from the reports and bad news that laid before her. 

“Come in.”

Princess Cadance entered.

“Celestia.”

Cadance’s expression was clear. She wanted to talk. 

“Please don’t tell me that I’ve neglected other cities under my charge as well.” Celestia smiled sadly. 

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s about Skitch-Sketch.”

“I’m guessing this has to do with what you observed during your infiltration of Bayou Runner’s compound?”

Cadance nodded. It had been their plan from the minute things had gone south in Ponyville. It hadn’t taken the Princess of Love long to infiltrate the manor house, finding and replacing a servant who was unsure of the crime lord. 

“When she was making her speech on Bayou Runner’s table…” Cadance bit her lip for a moment before continuing. “I could feel her anger and hatred just flowing off her when she spoke about Nouveau Riche.”

Celestia frowned. 

“Unfortunate, but not unexpected. Her treatment in the press hasn’t exactly sung her praises.”

“That’s an understatement.” Cadance frowned. “As much as what she said at the time might have been an act, well...we both know that ponies have limits. And with all that she has gone through, I fear that the breaking point may be fast approaching.” 

Celestia couldn’t argue that. And yet, if she acted too obviously, it would just feed the nobility’s paranoia that Skitch-Sketch was somehow controlling her. But, perhaps there was another option…

“I seem to remember that Riche was involved in a lawsuit a few years ago.”

“Ahh yes. The banking dispute.” Cadance nodded. “He lost that, as I recall.”

“Correct. Great Writ represented the plaintiff, by my memory.” 

Her trademark ethereal smile played across Celestia’s lips.

“I think I have another case for him.”


- - - -


“That’s the next headline?” Nouveau Riche asked.

The offices of the Canterlot Chronicle were cramped, existing in that state of organized chaos that came from the newspaper business. For Riche, the Chronicle was the perfect paper to invest in. Big Quill’s reporters were rather...enthusiastic in regards to uncovering their unique brand of the truth. 

The fact that he was friends with the owner helped too.  

Big Quill nodded, sliding the rough for tomorrow’s front page across the table, a cigar clenched in his teeth. The centered photo depicted Skitch-Sketch, pulled from a stock file. And the headline tied everything together. 

Ex-Human Unleashes Monsters Upon Ponyville!

“Good. If we keep up the pressure, even Ponyville won’t want to keep her around.”

“Whatever you say Riche.” Big Quill shrugged, brushing some dust from his pale yellow coat. “Truthfully, I’m going to miss it when she eventually is gone. Creature from beyond time and space makes for good copy. My subscription numbers have doubled since I started running stories about her.” 

“Well, ain’t this just quaint.” 

Riche and Big Quill twisted towards the door, where a dark blue coated stallion leaned against the doorway. Fine leather saddlebags rested on his back, and he wore the dark gray jacket of a lawyer. 

Nouveau Riche’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the pony, his lips twisting into a dismissive sneer. 

“Great Writ. What do you want?”

The lawyer sauntered over to the desk, casually examining the rough of the page. 

“Now this is an impressive little bit of journalism. Very...professional, depending on your definition of the word. To bad that ya’ll won’t be publishing it.” 

Ignoring the shocked sputterings from the two ponies, Great Writ pulled a thick stack of papers from his saddlebags, dropping it atop the page rough. 

“This is an injunction, barring you from making anymore libelous statements against my client.”

“Your client!” Riche sputtered. “She can’t even afford a down payment on her house! How in Equis can she afford your fees?” 

“I don’t discuss my clients with the ponies that they’re suing. All you need to know is that this is part of a defamation of character lawsuit that we’re bringing against both of you personally, as well as the newspaper as a whole. Unless….”

“Unless what?” Riche ground his teeth. 

“You give my client her house back.” 

“Absolutely not!” 

“Somehow, I was expecting that.” Great Writ shook his head, turning and making for the door. “Very well. I’m gonna enjoy whipping you in court all over again. 


- - - - 


Trixie took a step back from the doors of the Civic Theatre, wiping the sweat from her brow. 

The brass plaque set next to the door glittered in the morning sun, the light playing off the black raised letters of its new name.  

The Crescent Starshine Lulamoon Memorial Theatre.

“I did it mom.” She smiled sadly. “I caught your killer.” 

The feeling of a friendly foreleg resting on her shoulder alerted her to the presence of Jambalaya, the old stallion giving her a friendly hug. 

“It’s beautiful Trixie. She deserves it.” 

“Thanks Jam.” She took a deep breath. “But, I’m not done yet.” 

“Ya sure you want to do this ma cherie? It will not be an easy road to walk.” 

“I don’t want anypony else to go through what I did.” Trixie shook her head. “I’m not backing down.”

“Alright then.” He nodded, beginning to walk away. “But I think that you’ll need some help.”

“You volunteering vieil homme?” 

“Me? No, no, no. I am far too old, as you say.” Jambalaya chuckled. “But many a creature has passed through my restaurant. Let’s see who we can find. There was this minotaur who showed up a few weeks ago….”