Visitors from an Alternate Depths

Chapters

The Stranger
The Delinquent
The Plant Golem
The Militia

The Stranger

There was trouble in Ponyville, which wasn't a surprise. The town was notorious for strange occurrences, be they mundane or magical. It probably wouldn't surprise them if an alien just randomly showed up one day. Well, it would surprise them but it probably wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

What was a surprise though was the new and dangerous monster that had arrived. It was first spotted inside the Everfree Forest by Zecora who said that she had spotted it gliding towards the town. She said it looked like a cloak flying in the wind with a bright red light in the hood. It had been inside the town for a good several minutes before Zecora had been able to convey what she saw, but nopony was panicking or even saw remotely what Zecora had described. While it was possible that Zecora could have been lying, Twilight and the other girls believed her. Zecora had no reason to lie to them, but the implication was worrying. Whatever this monster was, it could either hide really well or it could pass for a pony.

For several days there had been no sign of any such creature, they all thought that it may have moved past Ponyville, but there had been reports of ponies being in multiple places at once. At first the girls thought it may have been a changeling but nopony was being replaced nor looked drained of love. The only suspect left was the creature Zecora saw. It would explain why it had been able to hide for so long. However, if it was a shapeshifter, then it would be difficult to track down. Twilight had told the Princess's about it and they replied that they would look into this matter. They also mentioned to keep the Elements of Harmony close, for just in case. So until the Princess's got back to them in the matter, they were on their own.

Then, without warning, things began to escalate at an alarming rate. Whatever this creature was, it began to torment them.

First, Applejack had run herself ragged looking through her whole orchard because she heard Applebloom crying out for help. Saying that a timberwolf had got her and was dragging her away, but no matter how fast Applejack ran or how far she searched she could find nothing. She went home to get Big Mac to help form a search party but Applebloom was there helping Granny Smith. At first she thought it was some elaborate prank on Applebloom's part but Granny Smith confirmed that they had been together the whole time and suggested that Applejack was hearing things.

Second, Rainbow Dash had tried to get a decent nap on one of the clouds but each time she would start to drift off, something would poke and shove her. She looked around for anypony to be responsible but she was the only one there. She had shifted locations several times but each time she was bothered again. The issue only got worse. At night, when she was in her own home trying to sleep, she would hear something hissing and growling. Whatever it was, it had sounded like it was getting closer. When she opened her eyes, the sound was gone. It would return immediately after she closed them again. Since then, she hasn't been able to sleep alone and frequently goes to Fluttershy for company.

Speaking of Fluttershy, Third. The poor mare was jumping at every little thing after her experience. Whenever she was alone, in her peripheral vision, she would see a claw, tentacle, or some other appendage begin to reach around her. Whenever she looked towards it though, it would disappear. This had made her paranoid of every shadow, branch, or whatever she came close to. When Rainbow Dash came to her for comfort, she was quick to welcome the other pegasus.

Fourth, Twilight probably got the least worrisome torment out of the rest of the girls. It was more annoying than horrifying. Any time she would look away from a bookshelf more than a few seconds, two or more books would be rearranged out of order. She had gotten dizzy from trying to keep track of them all at the same time.

For some reason though, Pinkie and Rarity had remained untouched. Although, Pinkie did mention that some pastries had gone missing mysteriously, but that was hardly noteworthy. Rarity confirmed that she had no misfortune happen upon her. That is, until today.

Spike had ran up to Twilight and said that they had finally found the shapeshifter. Oddly though, it had practically pranced up to the two in the form of Rarity. At first they were shocked at it's sudden arrival but Rarity quickly told Spike to gather the girls while she kept it here, somehow. Spike had initially denied her request, not wanting to leave her alone with the monster, but her insistence and a promise to keep away from the creature made him change his mind. Twilight told Spike to stay at the library until the matter was sorted out, the less ponies and dragons that it could duplicate, the better.

Unfortunately, when they had arrived, things had taken a turn for the worse. Both Rarity's were in an argument and none of the other girls could tell which one was the real Rarity. Twilight had brought the Elements to put an end to the creature's torment but she hesitated on which Rarity to give it to.

"Girls you have to believe me! I am the real Rarity," said one of the twin mares. The girls glanced between the two uncertainly, which brought a tear to the mares eyes.

"Don't listen to her! I'm the real one," the other insisted.

"I-I'm not sure," Twilight admitted. "They look, sound, and feel the exact same," she observed further. It seemed this creature was an expert at replicating another pony.

"Oh, wait," Pinkie suddenly cut in, "What if we ask her things only the real Rarity would know?"

"That's, actually a good suggestion. Alright Rarity, what is the name of your pet?" Twilight asked.

"Opalescent," the real and fake Rarity said together. It also seemed like the creature had thorough knowledge of it's impersonation.

"That was an easy one. Ok, what's your little sisters name?" Rainbow Dash added in.

"Sweetie Bell," they said together again. This time they glared at the other look alike.

"Ah got one, on Tuesday me an Rarity had a heated debate about how I practiced my sales. What did we argue about?" Applejack asked.

One of the Rarity's had a confused frown while the other had a confident smirk. "What? But we never had an arguement," said the confused one.

"Au contraire, we did. I was trying to offer my assistance by giving advice on how to better display her apples," the confident one said.

"They don't need to be in any fancy schmacy display," Applejack said. She pointed to the one that answered correctly, "There's the real Rarity."

The signified mare smiled gratefully at the farmer and walked over to stand next to the other Elements of Harmony. She accepted her element without hesitation and they all turned to the other Rarity who was outright crying with a look of utter betrayal on her face. "It's no use, fake! We got you cornered," Rainbow Dash taunted.

The elements began to glow but unexpectedly, it was snuffed out immediately. The girls looked down at their necklaces confused. The Rarity that Applejack picked out walked away from them with her head held high. She turned towards them and played with her mane with a hoof. "Terribly sorry, dears. But you guessed wrong. Thanks for the souvenir though," as she said that, Rarity's Element of Harmony sunk into her body and disappeared beneath her flesh.

"What-But, you low down imposter!" Applejack yelled, charging that's other mare. Before she could connect though, the fake disappeared. Applejack slid to a halt as the girls looked around for the shapeshifter. The fake reappeared next to the still crying Rarity.

"I may be an impostor. But at least I didn't betray a close friend," the being said, giving Rarity a mock hug. The mare didn't even move, too upset to acknowledge the fake pony. "Poor dear, her friends couldn't tell the difference between the real Rarity from a Stranger. Oh well. Farewell darlings. Better luck next time," she taunted before disappearing again.

The girls glanced guiltily towards the crying mare. What had they done?

This was bad. This was really, really bad. A new villain, appearing to call itself Stranger, had arrived in Ponyville and they successfully acquired an Element of Harmony. Without it, they had no means of defeating the shapeshifter. More importantly though, Rarity had locked herself up in her shop and refused to let anypony in. They had really messed up.

"I'm telling you! It really did happen," Applejack insisted. The farmer felt the most guilty of all of them since it was her quick decision that lost them the element.

"We believe you Applejack," Fluttershy tried to calm her down.

"It's just this creature is more cunning then we thought," Twilight agreed. Twilight was going over Pinkie's 'Pony's of Ponyville' list to try and determine who the creature would impersonate next. Pinkie and Spike were trying to help Rarity feel better but so far, they've made no progress. Spike was beside himself when he heard of how terrible she was feeling.

Rainbow flew in from outside, slightly out of breath, "I flew all around this town maybe 20 times. Either that thing is still invisible or it's in a disguise that's not a duplicate."

"I was afraid of that," Twilight said while bringing out a rough sketch of a floating cloak of what seemed to be for a hornless minotaur. Blackness on the inside of the cloak with the exception of a single red light. "Whatever this thing is, it's adamant on remaining in Ponyville. What it's plans are, I haven't got a clue. I can't imagine it can stay invisible forever, or else it wouldn't have bothered to disguise itself as Rarity to steal her element," she pointed out. "So it needs a unique disguise in order to pass by suspicion. We'll have to keep an eye out for anypony who might have been replaced. However, I believe that it may be disguised as possibly one of the new ponies in town. Unfortunately, they came at roughly the same time, so we have no definite clue." Twilight pulled out four sketches of the suspicious ponies. The first one was of a brown pegasus with a wild blue mane and tail. Her wings we missing several feathers and it didn't look like she could fly well. Her cutie mark was of a leaf with vibration lines around it. "Twitchy, the unstable coward."

Twitchy glanced around nervously, her body twitching every few seconds. "Twitchy clear?" she asked herself but immediately hid behind cover as soon as somepony passed by. "No, no, no," she answered herself. She waited a few seconds and peaked out again. Seeing nopony, she slowly took a step out of her cover and snuck past a few buildings. "Safe? Yes, yes," she continued to talk to herself. She passed by the Carasol Boutique and peaked a glance inside the building. She looked around at the dark room, "Opal cat? No no. Filly Bell? No, no, no." She glanced around herself and whispered, "Take again?" She immediately shook her head and smacked her skull repeatedly, "No, no, no! Twitchy is good mare, no bad. Good mare," she insisted to herself.

"Who's there?" she heard somepony call. Twitchy immediately panicked and ran away from the building.

"Happy place, happy place," she cried to herself. Spike rounded the corner just in time to see the mare disappear from sight.

The next image was of an earth pony mare with an, almost white, light blue fur and bright yellow mane and tail. She seemed to be wearing a dress that looked like a dining table. A plate around her neck and a cup around the base of her tail. Her cutie mark was of a single dandelion."Marribelle, the oddly dressed."

"Um, nice dress?" Roseluck said uncertainly. She stared at the mare wearing the weirdest dress she's ever seen. What kind of pony would wear something you'd put on a table?

"Thank you! I commissioned Rarity to make it for me. She did splendidly," Marribelle gave a little twirl to show off the dress. "I was actually heading over there now to see if I could add to it by having a teapot hat."

Roseluck's weird look intensified. This mare was out of this world. "No offense, but you have odd tastes in clothes," Roseluck admitted.

"No offense taken! I prefer it to be odd. Normal types of dress are so bland. I like to find beauty in the things we pass off or annoyed by. You should have seen me when I was younger, oh the fun I had searching through garbage for hidden treasures."

Roseluck couldn't help but feel flabbergasted. This fancy lady willingly looked through garbage? She couldn't decide on whether to be impressed or disgusted.

The next picture was of a large stallion with dark brown fur and an equally dark gray mane and tail. His cutie mark was a block of solid gray steel. He was probably the tallest earth pony Twilight had ever seen, "Hast, the foreign builder."

Big Mac stared at the larger pony from across the road while minding the apple stall. The other pony was building some large metal thing but it didn't look like anything he's ever seen before. "What is that?" He finally asked.

Hast took a step back from his work and looked up towards the thing he was building, "It is not done yet. But when it is, Equestria will see something truly amazing. However, it needs a special something to work."

"Which is?" Big Mac urged him to continue.

"That is a secret I won't tell. However, I will say this. It is a precious jewel and I know the mare in this town is perfect for the job," with that, Hast went back to building the thing.

"You came all the way to Ponyville just to build this?" Big Mac couldn't help but ask.

"Believe me when I say, this is something incredibly important to me and I will not tolerate anything that will keep me from finishing it," Hast said in an almost threatening tone. Big Mac went quiet after that, not wanting to antagonize the other stallion anymore.

The last sketch was of another pegasus. This one was a dark blue pony with a red mane and tail, but oddly, up to his knees, his legs were covered in soot for some reason. Over his eyes were a pair of goggles that kept them safe. His cutie mark was of a ring of fire. "Speedster, the reckless thrill seeker."

"Hey, hey dude," Speedster elbowed the pegasus next to him.

"What?" Open skies asked.

"What's black and blue and red all over?" he continued, chuckling a little.

"You?" the other pegasus offered.

"Nah, newspaper, which I'll be a part of one day. Keep an eye out for the front page, I may be on it. Big old letters that spell S-P-double E-D-Ster, Jeronimo!" he called as he leapt towards the Everfree Forest clouds with a cloud board to ride on. Normally you'd only see boarders on a prebuilt cloud, but this reckless pony decided to play on the unstable ones. He cheered loudly as he slid across the uncontrolled storm clouds. His cheer didn't last long as he was suddenly shocked by a bolt of lightening. "I'm ok!" he called back, only to be shocked again. The pegasi that watched him couldn't help but shake their head.

"One of these four ponies has to be this Stranger in disguise and it's our job to expose them and retrieve the missing element," Twilight said with determination. They would fix this, she was sure of it.

The fake Rarity became visible again near the river where nopony was and winced as the element she stole slowly slid out of her body. "Dispicable thing was trying to burn the inside of my body. Too bad, it will never reach the hooves of the other elements. Good effort though." With no further words, she tossed the necklace into the river where it drifted down stream. "Ta ta!" she called to the object before disappearing again.

The necklace drifted away from town quite a bit before coming to a rest in a shallower part up stream. On the bank nearby, Marribelle was sifting through pebbles, talking to herself. "Closed for the day. I know she can do that any time she liked but really. That dragon's attitude was downright deplorable as well. And I so wished to have that teapot hat. I shouldn't whine though, I must get ready for my next dress. Some smooth and round pebbles is all I need." Out of the corner of her eye, Marribelle suddenly noticed something gleam in the water. "Hmm? What's this?" she asked herself. She reached a hoof into the water and pulled out the element. It sparkled from the moisture and sunlight. Marribelle was transfixed by the sight. "My oh my! What a lovely necklace. It's so pretty, but why was it discarded into the river? How peculiar. I must find the owner and return it to them immediately, they must be beside themselves with worry.... After I show it to Rarity, the stone just matches her Cutie Mark so well. Oh, I just know she's going to love it." She put the necklace in her saddlebag and trotted back towards town, not noticing the pair of eyes stalking her.

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Yes, yes, I know I need to finish That Strange Stallion, but this was stuck in my head and I needed to get it out. No, this side project will not take time out of any other story I make, this is just to post random ideas I thought to share. So who knows when I'll post more snippets of a story.
The Stranger would be a mystery style story, focusing on the investigation and happenings of the 4 of ponies. One of these ponies actually is Stranger in disguise but it will be difficult to figure out seeing as Stranger can spread misinformation easily. Can they figure it out before they become completely mistrusting?
It's very heavy handed with Stranger trying to get the girls to think of her as a villain, but there is a reason for that. She drew out the girls to try and get them to use the Elements of Harmony on her so she could steal them. After this one-shot, the torment would cease altogether and the girls would be left to recover while trying to find the shapeshifter. Yes, what she did would be downright horrifying for a normal person and I won't defend her for going too far with her mission. Each of the suspected characters has a viable reason to be Stranger in disguise. Marribelle and their shared origin, Hast and his mysterious machine, Twitchy and her actions in theft she mentioned, even Speedster who seemed to have no connection to Rarity could be Stranger simply being good at keeping away from the crime scene. Trust me when I say you won't get the answer from just seeing this one-shot. I would have to make it into a full story before this mystery could be solved.
But this was a thought dump so, until next time.

The Delinquent

Billy the young goat didn't want a lot in life. Just some food, something resembling a roof, and somepony to say 'I love you' everyday. However, being a homeless orphan made two of those three things impossible. Well mostly impossible. He had been staying in a mining factory for those cold nights during the off hours. He liked to stay near the still warm equipment.

This night, though, would change his entire life in just under an hour.

Billy was jolted awake by the clanging of metal on the concrete floor and somepony shushing the one who caused it. "Oh knock it off," the shushed one said loudly, "This place is empty. Ain't nothing gonna hear us." The one speaking had a deep voice and a bit of an accent.

"That does not mean we won't be heard through the walls," said a more hushed voice. It was more refined and feminine. Billy sneaked around the equipment towards the voices. He peaked around a corner and spotted two unicorn ponies close to the miners most recent dig. Several shovels and picks were held in magical grips, giving light to the ponies. One was a large grey stallion with a white mane and the smaller pony was an equally grey mare but with a blonde mane. The light only revealed their faces so Billy couldn't see their cutie marks.

"Don't back sass me," the larger pony growled. The two of them went down into the tunnel. Billy went up against the wall and listened. It was too risky to try and follow them in. It was too narrow to find a hiding place.

"Is it here?" he heard the feminine one say. He wondered what the shady ponies could possibly be looking for.

"I'm not sure but the seer said it was somewhere in this area and this is the only mining company in a thousand miles," he heard an answer. Billy wondered what 'it' was. "Get to shoveling, we got a lot of dirt to dig."

He heard the tell tale signs of picks and shovels hitting dirt and stone. He briefly wondered if he should run and get Officer Maloney but a sudden loud 'tink' cut off his thoughts. "That was fast," commented the female voice. There was a shuffling of dirt. "Is this it?" she asked.

"Yes," the deep voice said that made it sound like he was smiling. "Yes! Finally we have it!" the voice cheered, "Now Equestria will have it's true ruler." Billy's eyes widened. Apparently he had stumbled across a plot to overthrow the throne.

"Fantastic, now let's get out of this dusty hole. I could use a hot bath," said the feminine voice. He heard hooves echoing towards him. He didn't have a lot of time.

Billy quickly spotted a loose cord and dragged it across the entrance, tying it around a pipe. He ran back to the other side and grabbed the cord with his teeth. He let it lay limp as the hoof steps came closer. "What you need is a cold shower," the deeper voice started as they exited the tunnel. Before he could continue, Billy pulled the cord tight. The stallion tripped over the raised cord, hitting his head. A brown bag that was held in his magical grip dropped to the ground with another 'tink'. Billy took that as a sign and grabbed the bag as he ran by the ponies. "The pearl!" the stallion shouted. "Get that brat," he commanded the other mare. Billy didn't need to look back to know he was being followed.

"Give that back you little twat!" the mare yelled at him. He quickly exited the building and ran around, trying to find somepony to assist him. He would have yelled for help but that would make him drop the bag. Eventually he ran underneath a large object standing on four pillars. "Nowhere to run, little goat," she said as she tried to crawl underneath the object like him.

Without warning, one of the pillars rose up and appeared to have claws on the bottom. It reached down and grabbed the mare by her barrel. "What do you think you're doing underneath me?" said a male voice, slightly lighter than the stallion from before. The mare's horn flared in fright and revealed what the object was. Billy's mouth hung agape as he stared at the largest gryphon he'd ever seen. It had the top half of an eagle and the bottom half of a tiger. It looked as tall as a bipedal minotaur while still on all fours. Maybe even taller. "Well?" he said after she didn't answer.

"I-I was just trying to get back what that kid stole," she answered in fear.

"She's lying!" Billy stepped in and said. "She stole this from the miners and plans to overthrow the government with it."

"Who are you going to believe? Me or that child?" she asked, slightly confident that she would win the arguement.

"How about I say neither of you and give you both to the police," the gryphon answered. His tail wrapped around Billy and placed him on his back. The mare visibly paled and charged a spell but another claw came around and snuffed out the magic making the room area dark again. In the utter darkness Billy heard, "Wrong answer." That was followed by a scream and he felt the gryphon shift as he did something to the mare that muffled her. When his eyes finally adjusted, he spotted the mare with her head buried in the dirt, visibly flailing.

The gryphon then walked calmly towards the center of town. Billy laid flat against he gryphon's back as they passed the mining factory. "Hey, grey stallion," the gryphon called. Billy froze, trying hard to will himself into invisibility. "You friends with that old grey mare?" he asked but didn't give him any time to answer. "You know what? Nevermind, I give her maybe 3 minutes before she suffocates back there. You better go help her, stranger or not." With that he continued on his way, ignoring the growl the stallion made as he ran off in the indicated direction.

Billy didn't risk a glance until they were underneath the lamp posts of the town. The light easily making his white fur visible to anypony looking against the gryphon's orange half. He looked back to where the factory was and sighed in relief when he didn't spot either of the grey ponies. "Alright kid. End of the line," the gryphon suddenly said. The tail once again wrapped around his middle and gently set him on the ground.

The goat child looked up at the gryphon while setting the bag down. "Thanks a lot mister," he said.

The abnormally sized half bird shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever," he said uncaring. He turned around and walked away into the night.

Billy picked up the bag and ran towards the police building. He rapidly knocked on the door, "Officer Maloney! Mister Barricade!" He waited for somepony to answer his call and was rewarded by the door opening. However, the one who answered the door was the grey stallion he had met before. Billy was barely able to give a shriek of terror as he and the bag were dragged into the building. There was only one creature who heard that shriek and he narrowed his eyes at the building.

Inside the building Billy was thrown against the wall, still clutching onto the bag that was trying to be wretched out of his hooves. "Give me the pearl, you dimwitted goat!" the dug up mare said. Her mane was a mess and she was very mad. But Billy just held on even tighter. On the other side of the room was the grey stallion, securing the bonds on two other ponies. One was Barricade, who was a dark brown earth pony with a bright red mane. His cutie mark was a wall of sandbags. The other was Maloney, who was a blue pegasus with a black mane. His cutie mark was of a bird spreading it's wings out. The lights inside the building finally let Billy see the two shady ponies cutie mark. The stallion's mark was of a red book. The mare's was of a flowing yellow mane.

"You get it yet?" the stallion asked.

"Ugh, this kid just won't give up. Help me out here. Break his leg or something," the mare said, frightening the child.

The stallion gave an irritated sigh and began to turn. However, before he could fully face her, a familiar claw burst through the wall and grabbed him by the neck. He had no time to react as he was dragged outside. The mare stopped her attempt at the bag and called "Daddy!" That was all the distraction Billy needed. He clenched his teeth tightly on the bag and made a break for the back door. "Get back here!" the mare called again. He made it just outside the door when the mare dived at him and grabbed his back leg. "Gotcha!" Out in the backyard was a few trees and old rusted parts that nopony bothered to clean up.

His chin hit the ground and the bag bounced away. At that moment, the stallion bounced behind the building close to where they were, he was ruffed up. He stared at them briefly but kept his focus on his opponent, "Forget about him! Help me deal with this gryphon!" He used magic to catch the boulder that was thrown at him but the gryphon ran up and literally punched his way through the rock and decked him in the face. The impact threw him backwards, bouncing once before crashing into a building.

The mare let go of Billy and ran over to the stallion, helping him up. During that time, the gryphon put himself inbetween Billy and the shady ponies. His glare was frightening. The young goat took that time to grab the bag and run back inside. The two ponies gave each other a look and silently nodded. The mare ran forward and jumped up, a lead pipe gripped in her magic. Behind her the stallion remained still but used magic to float a large steel cog underneath her. She stood on it, speeding towards the gryphon. The opponent braced himself, expecting her to continue on her course. However, at the last second, a second cog appeared and she jumped onto it. She jumped off that swung the heavy pipe downwards towards the gryphon. He quickly jumped out of the way and spun in mid air, his wings spread out wide. The extended appendage smacked the mare into the ground. As soon as he was on the ground again, he made a leap at the mare, fist brought back, but she vanished before it connected where she was.

He looked back towards where the stallion was and saw the mare was leaning up against him, clearly hurt. The stallion glared at the bigger creature but immediately became panicked as Barricade and Officer Maloney ran out of the building. Billy had untied the two keepers of the peace. "Stop right there! You're under arrest for assault and kidnapping. Stand down or we will be forced to take you down," Barricade called to them. The grey stallion sneered and lit his horn again. Before anypony could move, the both of them vanished.

The gryphon looked around briefly, "They've fled town." How he was able to tell that, none of the smaller beings knew.

Maloney walked up to the gryphon, "Thank you for your assistance sir." He just grunted in response and walked away from them. "Not a talkative fellow, is he?" Maloney commented to his partner. "Now Billy, I'd like to ask you-" but his question cut short when he noticed that the goat child disappeared along with the bag.

"Mister! Mister, wait up!" Billy called, slightly out of breath. The bag tied with a string around his neck swung wildly. He ran towards the large creature whose long strides made catching up difficult.

The gryphon glanced back at him, "Why are you following me? I already rescued you twice from those crooks. Let the cops deal with whatever your problem is."

"I can't. I just know those ponies will be back for this," he said, pointing to the bag. "They've already been able to take out Barricade and Officer Maloney. So you gotta help us!" he pleaded.

"The answer is no. I'm not sticking around this dump of a town to babysit you sad sacks," he insulted, turning his attention back to the path he was on.

Billy frowned at the insult to his home, "But you have to! You're the only one strong enough. If-if they get this, then the Princess's will be in danger!"

"Like I care," he continued with his attitude.

The small goat's eyes hardened in determination, "Then-then if you won't stay, I'll go with you."

"Absolutely not. I'm not taking care of some brat with a hero complex, I deal with enough of those already," he said as he kept walking.

Billy suddenly sprang up and wrapped himself around the gryphons back leg, "Please! I have to find somepony who can better protect this thing. I can't do it alone."

He tried to shake the goat off him, "Let go of me! I don't care about your stupid problem. I only beat the snot out of those two because they irritated me. I'm not helping you."

"Please," he sniffed, beginning to cry. "I'm so scared."

The gryphon groaned in irritation as he stopped and pinched his beak, "Ugh, alright! Alright, you can come with me. But you had better do exactly as I say, or the deals off."

The young goat let go of his leg and smiled up at, giving a nod. The gryphon continued down his path, going outside of the town. Billy followed close behind with his own quick little steps. He was surprised when the tail wrapped around his middle again and placed him on the tiger-like back of his new friend. "So what's your name mister?" Billy finally asked.

"Name's Jordan B. Crusher, I'm currently on vacation," the now named Jordan stated.

Billy tilted his head at the odd name, "You crush bees?"

Jordan rolled his eyes, "Just call me Jordan. What about you? What's your name?"

"My name's Billy," he answered.

Jordan looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, "So you're... Billy the Kid?"

"Ya?" he said, unsure why that was significant.

He looked back forward with his head low and a glare on his face, "This place is nuts."

Billy wasn't sure why he said that but he was glad to have a new friend. However, he was still worried about those ponies and what they wanted to use this item for.

The two gray ponies teleported into a dark room and immediately collapsed onto the ground, hurt and tired. "You alright?" the stallion said. The mare didn't respond verbally but did give a nod.

"You've returned," said a new voice. The two ponies immediately stiffened and glanced uneasily towards the darkness. Two glowing red eyes peered back at them. "And it seems you've failed your mission. How tragic," the voice continued. Darker shadows crept up to the two ponies.

They shivered in fear at the sight. "Wait, it wasn't our fault. This-this giant gryphon came out of nowhere and just pounded us," the mare pleaded.

"Oh?" the voice said intrigued. "Show me." The shadows crept over the stallions fur and reached into his eyes, covering them in darkness. He screamed in pain as the shadows extracted information much to the mare's distress. "Interesting. I will have to keep an eye on this being. For now, you two will recover. Expect another visit from me soon, my servants." With that the shadows receded and the eyes disappeared. The two ponies huddled together, vowing revenge against the gryphon and goat that did this to them. They would get that pearl back and Equestria would fall.

Author's Note

The Delinquent would be an action/adventure story, following the adventure of Jordan and Billy as they transverse Equestria to find out more about this 'pearl' and how to deal with it. It would be a problem a chapter type of story with Billy's kind nature and hero complex conflict with Jordan's dismissive and sarcastic attitude. Personally, if I actually made this story, I think my favorite bit would be Jordan's banter with other Equestrians, for some reason I love his attitude. Combat would be a factor but I don't think it would be a focus of the story.
Besides that, I hope you enjoyed what could have been the first chapter of The Delinquent.

The Plant Golem

Stok was a rather simple fellow. He was created to be a servant but he had no master. He was allowed to live as he pleased but he had no desire. He was forbidden to wander away from the town or nearby forest but fate would force his hand.

Stok was a pale white skinned, young male shaped creature with his insides composed entirely of plant matter. He had no actual gender or anything that would signify it. He wore no shirt but did wear brown pants, as he's been told having nothing there disturbs onlookers. His 'hair' was bush-like and reached all the way to the ground. His body was constantly hunched over, but only slightly. In his hair hung several plant life that actually grew from it. These plants were all random but edible.

On this day, Stok had noticed a shift in his environment. He still remained in a forest but it did not feel the same. The soil was different. It felt... emptier. His gaze scanned the horizon but he could not spot the twin towers he had become familiar with. He could feel that outside of the forest was a small settlement but he could not sense any creature he recognized. He wondered where he was but was not distressed or worried. He simply sat there and waited. Like he always does.

"Mommy," he heard a small sniffling voice quietly call. Stok looked over and spotted one of the creatures he sensed. It was a small horse-like creature. A colt. This particular colt was not like what Stok was used to. It was brightly colored with an orange coat and a green mane. "Mommy," the colt sobbed, not noticing Stok's presence. It could apparently talk too. Peculiar. Perhaps it was a part of whatever Ricky was involved in.

Stok tilted his head as the colt walked right in front of him, it's height barely reaching his chest while sitting down. It finally noticed him and made a squeak of fear, running into a nearby bush. Stok made neither a move nor a noise. He simply sat and stared. The colt had reason to fear him. He was bigger. It did not move further than the bush though. "Mommy, save me," the colt quietly begged.

Stok's head tilted the other way. This creature wished to be saved. Perhaps he could assist it in finding it's mother. He listened through the trees and did spot a larger horse-like creature but still smaller than an actual horse. It was a similar shade of orange but it had a red mane instead. It was calling for something named 'Sherbet'. Perhaps it was seeking the colt. Even if it wasn't, it could better lead the colt to its mother.

However, Stok needed to gain the colts trust first. He raised his hand towards the colt, who's shivering increased, and held it there, palm upwards. A vine reached from his hair and at the end of that vine, a single apple quickly grew and matured. When it was fully ripe, it detached from the vine and dropped into his hand. The colt's shivering stopped as it stared in wonder at him. Stok gently placed the fruit down in front of him and pushed it towards the bush. It rolled perfectly, with Stok's guidance, towards the colt and came to a stop just before the bush.

Silence hung in the air as he stared neutral at the apple. Then, as quick as a small mammal, the colt snatched the apple and hid back in the bush. Stok didn't mind. He simply waited as sounds of munching ensued. When the noise stopped, the colt finally stuck its head out of the bush and stared at him in wonderment. He stared back at the small creature with the same expression he always had. It seemed to gain some courage and walked out of the bush and up to him. Stok made no move and continued to stare.

It wished for comfort so it stood on his lap and balanced itself on his chest, staring into his eyes. "Can-can you help me find my mommy?" it asked, tears appearing in it's eyes again.

"I can," Stok answered simply.

It gave a gasp of surprise, "You can talk?"

"I can," he repeated himself.

It's head swung around, looking around them. "Where-where is she?" it asked. Stok raised an arm and pointed a single finger in the direction he could feel the mare. The colt immediately made a run for that direction but slid to a stop before it could go out of natural sight. It hesitated in taking another step forward and glanced back at him. "Can-can you come with me? I don't want to be alone again," it requested.

He tilted his head at the request but did nod soon after. Vines sprouted from his arms and took hold of the ground in front of him. The vines pulled him upwards into a standing position, his bare feet easily carrying his weight without discomfort. He took slow steps forward and began to lead the colt though the forest. The small creature made it's own quick steps behind him and stared at all the vegetation in his hair.

It seemed to spot the apple that was growing there. "Can I have another apple?" it asked.

"You may," he answered. The fruit in question slid down his hair and hung in front of the colt. Rather than take the fruit, however, the colt decided to jump into his hair. The sudden change in weight did not disturb him and he continued his path towards the mare. He ignored the sounds of eating as the colt climbed up it.

Soon, he made it to the area, where the mare was. His presence was immediately spotted from his tall stature. The mare's breath caught in it's throat, but before it could scream, the colt appeared from the top of his head. "Mommy!" it called to the mare.

It gasped in surprise, "Sherbert! Get away from there!" it shouted at the child. It flinched when he reached up and grabbed the colt with his hands. Stok dropped onto his behind, his legs folding underneath him, and gently set the colt down.

The colt turned around and waved to him. The mare quickly ran over and grabbed it, dragging it away from him. "Thank you, Mister," the colt said.

Stok's face remained the same as he waved back to the child, even when the mare screamed, "Help! There's a monster in the woods!" He had done what could be considered a good deed. He wasn't sure how he should feel, but he knew that it would have made some of his friends proud. So maybe he should feel that.

He tilted his head when he heard something crash into the woods. It seemed fate still wanted to push him in a direction. He wondered if that direction was good or bad.

Author's Note

This one is a little up in the air about what it could become. It's a slice of life thing, for sure, as it follows the daily antics of the bizarrely dull Stok. But I had two ideas for this. Either the crash was a slightly older Princess Flurry Heart who requests he take her home, while learning lessons about life along the way. Or it could be an even bigger mystery where it would have several groups converge on his location. It could be interesting either way.
This is from Stok's point of view and he does not consider ponies as people and thus calls them 'it' instead of 'he' and 'she'. Just so you know.
It's an interesting thought for a dull creature. Hope you enjoyed.

The Militia

It was a gorgeous morning in Ponyville. The sun was shining, animals were playing, and Fluttershy was humming a lovely tune. Each of the animals around her squeaked, chirped, or made some other noise along with her. Fueling her tune in her own private concert. Said humming was interrupted by some rather loud grumbling, followed by a whisper, and then a loud hiss. "AHHHHHH! Feral ferret!" Fluttershy heard along with some rapid hoof steps fleeing the area.

It seemed like there was trouble with an animal. She had better go check it out. She wasted no time and galloped over to where she heard the hiss. In no time, she spotted the supposed 'ferret'. Whoever the voice belonged to, they got the species incorrect. What she saw was a mongoose. A slightly dark orange fur covered it's majority but it's underbelly was of a lighter shade. Oddly, it was wearing a tiny vest that fit it so well. It also wore a pair of goggles on top of it's head, ready to be pulled down at a moments notice. It seemed the vest was disadvantageous to it because it was caught in a thorn bush. The mongoose struggled against the thorns, hissing loudly, but it was only making it worse.

Fluttershy made sure to keep a fair distance away and cleared her throat to get its attention. The effect was immediate and she was glared at with intensity. It was better to not surprise it or it may injure itself further. "Hello," she greeted softly. "May I please help you?" she requested. The glare eased up and took a more fearful gaze, pressing itself against the bush, attempting to hide from her. The rather swift change in emotion was strange but that may be because it realized that it could not intimidate her. The voice from before was wrong. This wasn't a feral mongoose, it was much smarter. Right now it was scared and hurt. So she will help it.

Slowly she walked over to the creature, who continued to press itself against the thorny bush, and came to a stop in front of it. Mindful to not make any sudden movements, she sat down and reached both hooves towards the mongoose. It hissed at her but didn't strike out with a claw or its teeth. When her hooves finally touched the creature, it completely froze. Without any resistance, she was able to pull each thorn out of its vest and the mongoose was released.

As soon as it realized it was free, it sprinted away from her and around the bush. "Wait, you still need help!" she called after it, but it was already gone. She sighed sadly and made her way back towards her cottage, praying that the critter was okay.

The mongoose made its way through the Everfree Forest, weaving over and under roots as he needed. When he came to a stop, he stood up on his his hind legs and gripped his chest. "Good gravy, that was too sickly sweet for my taste," the mongoose unexpectedly spoke.

"You could use a bit more fat on those skinny bones of yours," the voice from the beginning called out. Out from behind a tree came a white stallion with a brushed turquoise mane and tail. On one side of him was a gold sheathed sword and on the other side was a gold shield. Against his barrel lay two gray mechanical wings. His Cutie Mark was of the mentioned tools, crossing over with each other but at the center was a mysterious box that hadn't been seen.

"Pft, that much sweetness wouldn't fatten me up. It'd just straight up give me diabetes. Why do I gotta be the one to deal with her? Can't you get Spot? He'd love that kind of attention," the mongoose complained.

The stallion rolled his eyes, "Because Spot isn't that smart and can't talk. Unlike you, Ricky. It will be easier for you because you're an actual animal."

"Rude," the apparently named Ricky said, pulling an eyelid down and sticking his tongue out. "Speaking of animals, how are you holding up? Get those legs working yet?" he asked.

The stallion raised a leg and looked at it, "Yes and no. Director's implants are helping me along but HQ is more or less the one controlling my limbs. She just follows my thoughts and makes me go through the movements."

"Handy," Ricky said with an unamused voice. "Anyway, I have my report. So far I think she's convinced that I'm just another animal. Although, she may be suspicious of my equipment," he mentioned, pulling at his vest.

"As long as she doesn't make any connections or try to take it off, it's fine," the stallion dismissed.

"You going off to do your part, Sven?" Ricky asked.

"That's right," the now named Sven said, running a hoof through his mane. "You have your way of spying and I have mine." Sven walked away from the mongoose, "Good luck with your mission." With that, Sven's form blinked and disappeared.

"Show off," Ricky commented before scampering off back towards Fluttershy's cottage.

Rarity thought she was going to have an easy day. She had gotten her supplies without hassle, she had a rather open commssion prepared that would let her creative genius flourish, and she had plenty of time to get it done. However, her day took a strange turn when he arrived.

"Is that the magnificent sun, come to walk among us?" a sudden voice pierced the air. "No, it's a shining star that glows even brighter than the bringer of day," the voice continued. Bemused by the rather loud praise, Rarity turned and came face to face with a stallion with a peculiar set of equipment. She'd never seen this particular stallion before. One of his front hooves was placed on his chest and he had this wistful look on his face. "Oh, her gaze has fallen upon my unworthy self. I should shy away from such a lovely gaze, but I cannot have my eyes part from such beauty. It is like tapestry, stitched into perfection. Truly a visage that deserves praise. But your eyes, they glow. They glow like a crown jewel that treasures would give anything to be just as beautiful. I thank you for turning them my way." he finally finished by bowing to her.

Rarity and everypony in the immediate area stared at the stallion. Rarity gave an uneasy chuckle for being the center of a rather... Colorful praise. While she would say that she enjoyed the compliments, the way he expressed it for everypony to hear was rather odd. This stallion apparently had no shame. And why did he have such equipment on him? "Well thank you for the compliment, sir, but I don't have time to dilly dally with a stranger. Good day," she said making her way back home. His words were too well practiced, she highly doubted she was the first mare he's used those lines on.

However, he did not let her leave in peace. "Oh, where are my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sven," he gave a rather peculiar name. "Yes, I am aware that it is rather odd but my father came from a remote country and that's how their names went." She did find the name interesting but she didn't want to hear his life story. "May I have your name?" he asked.

She decided to be polite and return the favor, "I'm Rarity. It's nice to meet you, but I really must return home." She hoped he would finally leave her in peace.

"Very well. I wish you a good day. Perhaps I may see you again?" he requested. This stallion was being a little pushy.

"Well if you plan to remain in Ponyville for a while, we will most likely see each other again," she pointed out.

He smiled brightly, "Alright, until we meet again." With that, the pushy pegasus finally left, spreading his mechanical wings and taking flight. For some reason, Rarity felt that something wasn't right with him, but she couldn't put her hoof on it. Besides the fact that he was a flirt, it felt like... he wanted something. She'd best tell the other girls to be careful.

Sven teleported onto a cloud out of sight from any pony that could be nearby. He tapped it a few times to make sure it was stable. "Ha, cloud walking. I've got to get some boots that will let me do that," he said to himself. He reached a hoof up and tapped a metal device in his ear. "Nothing to report. So far, being friendly with the locals has amassed negative results," Sven spoke loudly at nothing.

"I think getting shot down by a bunch of mares is technically a report, doofus," Ricky's voice came through the device.

"No one asked you, rat. Shouldn't you be getting cuddled or at a tea party right now?" Sven spoke again.

"Bleh, don't remind me. I'm going to wait until dark before I do anything. Probably rummage through her stuff to get her attention," Ricky said.

"Pretty sure these ponies don't wear lingerie," Sven pointed out.

"There are other things to go through, you pervert!" Ricky yelled through the microphone.

"Quiet," a new and much deeper voice came through the device, silencing them both. "Continue as planned. We need the intel of this world if we hope to protect our town. Ricky, continue to monitor. Keep your cameras and sensors on anything that may be useful to know. Sven, continue to question these ponies. Tone down the flirting, it's making you suspicious."

"Yes sir," both Sven and Ricky said together. "What about you, Director?" Sven asked.

"I will be going for the head of this snake. Keep communication to a minimum. No distractions. Move out," the now named Director said.

Sven tapped the device and gave a tired sigh while rubbing his neck. "Well, this is going to go from zero to a hundred fast," he said in a resigned tone, giving a glance towards Canterlot.

The day court was a time for everypony to be able to speak with the Princess of the Sun personally. Where you can take their worries, suggestions, and grievances directly to the highest order. Said princess was sitting upon her throne staring down at a local sweet maker who had a rather unusual request.

"Your highness, I must reiterate that this business won't get off the ground if you do not show your support," Mrs. Pieces requested of Princess Celestia.

"Mrs. Pieces, I do not know if I can approve of your proposal. You are asking me to give you the ability to legally use other brands of big name candies, turn them into packs of tinier versions, and sell that for even more bits. I fail to see how this is fair to all of my other little ponies," Celestia pointed out.

"But think of the possibilities!" she said loudly. "No longer will we chew through bars and bricks, but perfectly sized sweets of the same amount, just easier to eat."

Celestia was about to respond but a loud voice came from beyond the doors at the end of the room. "You can't go in-!" but it couldn't finish for some reason. A foreboding feeling came over the whole room. Mrs. Pieces started shivering in fear while the princess and guards around the room tensed up. Without warning, the doors were kicked open.

In stepped through a rather large dark grey earth pony stallion, whose height was comparable to that of the princess. He was a slightly muscled imposing figure. His cutie mark was of a metallic hand, gold in color, with different colored orbs indented into its side. However, that's where things were normal. The stallion had no mane. Instead he had shining black metal cover his forehead, branching out on each side of his snout but not over his mouth. The metal ran along his spine and towards his 'tail'. It was difficult to actually call it a tail because it was of segmented metal that was able to bend at each joint. Every other segment had a glowing orb inside, none of them being the same color. At the end of a tail was a pyramid shape that had lines going down each edge, presumably it could open. For what purpose, nopony knew.

Everypony was tense as he walked forward. Sounds of metal against metal rang through the air as the tail moved. One of the guards looked past him and noticed that the sentries at the door were frozen solid with looks of horror on their faces. He walked right up to Mrs. Pieces and glared down at her. The mare quivered under his gaze. The stallion lowered his head to her height. "Get out," the stallions voice rumbled. Mrs. Pieces didn't need to be told twice and practically disappeared, running so fast away from there. The stallion stood to his full height and glared at the guards who stood protectively in front of the princess. "That goes for all of you," he told the smaller ponies, "Your princess and I will speak. Alone."

The guards didn't move or relax their stance. The stallion's frown deepened. His tail rose up and the end of it split open slightly. It began to spin and sparks could be seen coming from inside of it. All of them could feel the air around them intensify as it was filled with an electric charge. Before anything else could happen, Celestia raised a single wing. The movement immediately put all attention on her. "Leave us," she commanded. The guards looked among themselves nervously but did bow to her and all left the room.

She used magic to close all of the doors, leaving just the two of them inside the room. "You attack my guards and threaten my subjects," she pointed out as she rose from her throne and stepped down towards him. "And yet you ask for a secure audience with me. Why should I allow this to happen?" she asked for a reason for his actions.

"Whether you allow this to happen or not is irrelevant. I am not here to ask or give complaint. I am going to speak and you will listen to me," the stallion said with no reverence for the diarch. However, the tail did lower and the end closed, the sparks disappearing and the air returning to normal.

"If I don't?" she pressed.

"Then what happens to your ponies will fall on your own inability. I am here to make sure you remain neutral for any coming endeavors," he told her.

"Endeavors?" she asked, curious.

The stallion looked away from her and out the window, not immediately answering. Celestia relaxed slightly, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. It did not seem like this stallion was outright evil. His actions were rather crass, but if he was seeking neutrality, then he wishes to leave Equestria in peace. "A connection," he started, "Has been made between your country and my town. How and why, I'm not sure, but your realm is now known to mine."

She looked at him in surprise, "'Your realm'? Exactly who are you?"

"I am Director, leader of the Militia and initiator of this diplomatic meeting between our two realms. My only desire is to sever this connection before any of such mishaps happen," the now named stallion said.

Celestia completely relaxed at that statement. He only wished to help both his home and Equestria. He could have asked better but if that was his intention, then she would listen. "Go on," she urged him to continue. Even though she was surprised that he was not of their world, it was best to act professional.

"Until this is complete, I ask that you do not take any actions against me or my employees. There is fear of something passing through the connection from either side. We will deal with whatever it is and return it to where it rightfully belongs," he explained further.

She gave him a confident smirk, "I thought you said you weren't here to ask me anything." She couldn't help but smile further at his unamused stare but he didn't take any other actions. It seemed he wasn't as stiff as she first thought.

"Do not twist my words," he told her.

Her grin did lower but didn't disappear, "I am willing to listen to your request but you are asking a lot out of Equestria. Telling us to not act while complete strangers search our land."

"I am willing to debate with you some terms of agreement. We can negotiate what we can and cannot do and what you will get for agreeing. I have one week before I must demand an answer," Director stated.

"Then we have no time to lose. I shall rouse my sister," Celestia said.

"The less that know about this connection, the better," he told her.

"We are a diarchy. I cannot make such decisions without her consent," Celestia fibbed a little. She didn't need Luna to make this decision, but she would still like her input.

"Very well," he consented.

"Would you like some tea and cake?" she suddenly asked, wondering how stiff he actually was.

He rolled his eyes, "If that is your desire." Celestia couldn't help but chuckle. The meeting had a rough start but now that she knew where they stood, she knew it was going to get more interesting. Now to awaken Luna and start the negotiation.

Author's Note

A rather serious start, but this story would be light hearted. It would be broken up into 3 segments. Ricky and him trying to survive Fluttershy's loving and girly nature. Sven going ham on every lady he comes across, though mainly focusing on Rarity. And the interactions between the comically serious Director and the royal sisters. Sven's flirting would have 0 results, so no worries about him hooking up with any pony. Sides, I'd probably be terrible at the romance genre.
It'd be interesting to have fun with Fluttershy being overbearing, Rarity deflecting or playing with Sven's advances, and general fun the royal sisters could have with Director.
If nothing else, it's another idea. Hope you enjoyed.