Rarity awakened groggily, to the sound of banging on the wall next to her. Who was being loud at such an early time in the day? She had plans to wake up at around ten in the morning to go get brunch at Canterlot Gardens, possibly with T.C. and Gustave in tow as well. Much to her dismay, she woke up an hour and a half earlier than she had desired.

“Keep that racket down,” Rarity screamed towards the room adjacent to her. After rubbing her groggy eyelid with her hoof however, she realized the banging on the wall came from T.C.’s hotel room, and she sprung out of bed to see what was up. She left her room, making sure to grab her backs so that she didn’t forget her room key, and sprinted out into the hall. T.C.’s door was open by a crack, and she could clearly hear banging coming from the bedroom. She walked inside his hotel room, which seemed in perfect order, except the bathroom door was shut with a voice inside calling her name. She wanted to check the bathroom, but the constant racket from the bedroom had her more curious. Why was the sound of T.C. coming from two places at once?

She went inside the bedroom and looked up only to see what looked like T.C. flying into the wall by mistake. “T.C.?!” she called to him, but he did not answer, and kept flying into the wall. She used her magic to stop the gryphon from slamming into the wall, and laid him on his bed. However, when she saw what had really happened, she gasped in a terrified shock, holding a scream in.

What was flying into the wall was in fact T.C., but not all of him, as his head had seemingly vanished, his empty neck covered by white feathers where his head should be.

Rarity had never seen such a thing before, except maybe in a trick Discord would pull, but this was an ordinary griffon instead of a spirit of chaos. She let the body rest on the bed as she crept towards the bathroom, slowly opening the door. She looked inside and turned away the shower curtain.

“Rarity!”

Rarity looked down in the shower, where T.C.’s separated head lay upright. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a terrified scream.

“What happened to you?!” she yelled, picking up T.C., who was no heavier than Opalescence at this point.

“I-I don’t know, Rarity! I woke up like this! I couldn’t see the rest of me, no, the rest of me was still in my bedroom! I could feel the bed on my chest, but I couldn’t tell where I was! I tried to get help, but I ended up flying into the walls again and again…”

“It’s okay, T.C.,” said Rarity, “your body isn’t flying into the walls anymore. Maybe we just have to press your head back on your neck?”

Rarity tried putting T.C.’s head back on by levitating it onto his body, but it only slid off and onto the floor. She even thought to tie it on using a scarf, but even the slightest movement sent the head toppling off T.C.’s neck.

“What are we going to do?” T.C. whimpered.

“I’m sorry, T.C., but I’m not sure what to do, really. Perhaps Donnie and Primrose may have some idea on how to fix this,” Rarity said, assuring T.C. would be okay.

“But I can’t let the public see me like this! Besides, what if my body gets lost somewhere?”

Rarity thought long and hard, until she got a wonderful idea. When they got outside, she was lucky enough to run into Gustave, and not in a literal sense this time. The pony and the griffon head explained the situation to him, and passed off T.C.’s room key to him. Gustave was instructed to keep watch on T.C.’s body and make sure it doesn’t bump into anything or break anything within the hotel room. Luckily, as just a head, T.C. was able to take cover in Rarity’s saddle bag, albeit just barely. His head feathers peeked out of the flaps, but no one suspected a thing.

When they had arrived at Griff ‘n Groom, the place was closed due to it being Sunday, but Donnie and Primrose were still there, cleaning the place. However, an equine figure could be seen in the back of the parlor, which made things all the more suspicious. Rarity entered the parlor, only to be stopped by Donnie.

“Hey, miss, the parlor’s closed today. We’re cleaning, can’t you see?” Donnie said in a condescending tone.

Rarity furrowed her brow. “First off, do not patronize me with that tone, and second, do you know anything about this,” she said, pulling T.C.’s head out of the bag with her magic.

Donnie took a look at the head of his co-worker before him, and didn’t even react. “You too, Thomas? I figured you’d know we close on Sundays to clean.”

“You’ve been here for years now, and yet you still make that mistake!” Primrose chimed in.

“Listen, you two, I know both of those facts,” T.C. spoke in an angry tone, “In fact, I’m willing to suspect something is up. Do you two know why this happened to me?”

Primrose tilted her head in innocent confusion. “I don’t think I do!”

Donnie replied, albeit a little more snarky. “Can’t say I do either!”

“Can your smarmy tone, Donald! What happened to me?!” T.C. was furious.

“Well, that’s where I come in,” a voice spoke from the back. Its tone gave all four of them a slight chill.

A zebra, adorned with the gold and magenta collar from before, waltzed in from the back. His coat was a silvery white adorned with dark grey stripes, and his tail was tied with a large, sapphire bead.

“A pleasure it is to meet you two, Miss Rarity and Thomas too,” the zebra rhymed.

“A zebra?” T.C. questioned, “Who are you?”

“I’m glad you asked, griffon of the sky, they call me Lagahai the Trickster…guy,” Lagahai replied, struggling a bit to rhyme.

“Is there a reason you always speak in rhyme,” Rarity asked.

T.C. chimed in, “Yeah, you’re pretty bad at it.”

“Oh, horseapples to this,” Lagahai stomped, “So you want to know who I am? Well, I am a traveler much like yourself, only while you bring relaxation to those you meet, I like to cause mischief. I met your two friends here last night; these poor, unfortunate souls were jealous of your popularity, and incredibly baffled about your generosity! Charging massage services for free? I can’t imagine doing such a thing.”

T.C. dropped to his stern tone again. “Shut your mouth.”

“Why, I myself am quite surprised I didn’t think to take your hands as well. With the power of this ancient zebra meditative collar, I probably could’ve swapped out my hooves for them and taken over your business! Maybe I’d even charge double what Donnie and Primrose charge because your services are top-notch, are they not?”

“That’s IT!” T.C. roared, “If I had my body right now, I would pummel the ever-loving daylights out of you!”

Rarity would normally be alarmed by a friend of hers going into full berserk mode, especially with T.C. considering how calm of a guy she knew him to be. However in a situation like this, Rarity was more than welcome to join in on what T.C. had in mind.

“And since you don’t have your body, leave it to me!” She replied.

Author's Note

Gustave to the rescue…sort of! Anyway, this is the chapter we see a different side of T.C., one more bitter and angry. Perhaps it has to do with his dislike of the “Griffons are greedy” stereotype. Maybe that might be explored in a future story!