BridgeWorld

[994AB Day 297]
"That's the last of the null-stone dust!" Lucius reported as he and Robin stepped out of the shielded room's airlock chamber. The griffon carried Matchbox's folded suit and helmet on his back. They all headed for the stairs back up to Lucius' control center on the entrance level of the cavern.

The cast for his broken leg was gone, but Lucius' limp was but still noticeable. His injured tail no longer needed to be constantly supported by his magic, but it was still too sore to function yet. As a result, Lucius was constantly complaining and scowling over being an "even-tailed kitsune" of late.

"Thank Celestia!" Buck sighed. "Let's get all that stuff, along with their trackers and recorders—minus the crystals, of course, packed back into the portable shielded box and deliver them back to the Guard." They looked at him incredulously. "They paid for all that equipment. We're not thieves, after all," he added, shrugging his shoulders. "We were just taking back what belonged to us."

"Sounds fair," Robin muttered as Lucius grinned.

"We should just fly over the precinct house and dump all of it out of the box onto their roof," Lucius suggested. "If we put the trackers into the same bag with the null-stone, the dust will delay the magic in the trackers from going off until the bag breaks on impact, giving us the opportunity to fly away. No reason to leave them our shielded box. We paid for it after all, and those things aren't cheap!"

"Exactly," Buck agreed.

"What do we do with Matchbox's suit?" Robin inquired. "Set it up as a memorial to him?"

"As much as I would like to, the suit is too valuable to retire," Buck said, shaking his head. "We'll repurpose it for our operations, but we'll make sure to track it, so that whoever is wearing it knows its significance and knows to take special care of it to honor him, as well as the suits for all the others who were killed. We'll put up a formal memorial to him, Red, Fred, Highflyer, and my parents up here," he said as they arrived back to Lucius' station. There, they saw Alfalfa waiting for them. "And your parents and sister, too, Robin!"

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Buck, my family weren't involved in trying to dispose of the mushroom joke," Robin said.

"True, but they did train you in most everything you currently know," Buck insisted. "Whether they were formally part of this operation or not, they contributed in an enormous and invaluable way that can never be forgotten. Whatever we can contribute to improve your training, we're only building on the shoulders of giants." Robin could only stare at him.

"Too sappy?" Buck inquired, and Robin burst out laughing.

"Too sappy!" the griffon agreed, nodding through his mirth. "And—greatly appreciated," Robin added soberly, to momentarily grasp Buck by his shoulders. Then they broke apart and turned to Alfalfa.

"You got something for us, Alfalfa?" Buck inquired.

"Yes, sir," she responded. "You've gotten an invite to a social gathering this evening being hosted by Pony Stark."

"Sorry Alfalfa. Dad was the one to always attend those things," Buck waved it off dismissively. "I've got no time for society what with all that's happened. We're still cleaning up from the mess we had to make of our own offices to cover the involvement at the warehouse. Plus, we need to rebuild the communications network to cover the gap created when the explosion ripped through the city as well as increase the redundancy of the network so that kind of disruption won't knock the system down like that again. We were spread out at the maximum range of the relays because we didn't have time to make the system more robust while looking for Jack Black."

"Pardon me, Master Buck!" Alfalfa sternly scolded him. "But your father would make the time! He always ascribed to the notion of 'time management' for his duties, and you had better learn to do so, too!" Buck blinked and stared in shock at her sudden forceful manner. "He kept up with such social gatherings, alongside his work at Mane Industries, and all the time he was making for this little venture! Did you recall what Princess Celestia told us when Judge Flake was arrested? She said that information was our greatest asset and our greatest weapon! That we are to guard it jealously for all our lives will depend on that information! Well, just where do you think you're going to find out what's going on unless you put your own eyes and ears out there to gather that intel!?"

Buck slowly got over his surprise as he digested what she had said.

"So, you're saying I should accept?" he asked.

"How do you think your father was able to keep up with ponies of the likes of the Hoofthors, Duck Stark, and Trotter Queen?" Alfalfa challenged. "By attending their gatherings and listening to their ideas. He then comes back here and works out a way to get the jump on them!"

"But—didn't they also listen to Dad and try to get the jump on Mane Industries?" Buck challenged.

"Of course, they did," Alfalfa said, grinning. "It's a chess game for everypony involved! You just have to learn how to play. You do know chess, by now, don't you!?"

Buck just stared at her.

"You do have a sense of the game, after all, Master Buck," Alfalfa said, baiting him once more. "You just tried a move on me to counter the one I made, only for me to counter that move! Are you game for more of this, or do you give up and concede? My advice: give up this match because you are already checkmated! But learn the game, so you don't lose so easily next time!"

"Very well, then, I'll attend," Buck said, sighing in defeat. "But don't expect me to drop any hints as to what we're doing to them."

"Wise move, Master Buck," Alfalfa agreed. "Novices shouldn't engage grand masters until you've learned the game. But the winning move for you right now would be go ahead and use this very excuse you tried to give for not attending: that you're still cleaning up the mess left behind by Matchbox and his accomplices. It is the truth after all. The best lies to drop on somepony is not to lie. It's just a dishonest truth!

"Fortunately, for you, Pony Stark is nearly as much a novice as you," Alfalfa stressed, "what with him having recently taken over his family business after his parents' deaths, too. As are Ollie Queen and Lipizzan Hoofthor."

Buck grinned at that.

"There's still the Tawleeds, Prince M'bayar of the Walkaloosas, as well as Doctor Destiny and Water Riwoche to contend with," Lucius spoke up.

"True, that," Alfalfa agreed. "So, just watch yourself, Master Buck!"

"I'll be careful," Buck replied.

"You'll be dead!" Alfalfa shot back. "The Tawleeds and Doctor Destiny are no joke and not to be trifled with! Those are some very dangerous ponies!"

"Is something bothering you, Jackie?" Celestia inquired as they walked alone down the hallway. Ever since the meal was finished and the others were dismissed, the cheetah had been quiet and looking pensive about something. Jackie, who had been holding her paw to tapping her chin as she walked, evidently deep in thought, was startled out of her contemplation.

"What? Oh, um, no," she muttered, going back to her mulling. "It's just—I've heard that phrase before, somewhere—I'm just trying to remember when. And where—?"

"What phrase?"

"What you said back in the dining room: 'my little ponies'. I know I've heard it said like that before! I just can't recall where from."

"Is it important?" Celestia asked. "Something signifying danger?"

"I—don't know," Jackie grumbled. "I don't think it's a warning or anything like that. It's just—just out of my reach to remember it!"

"You may have heard me saying such while you were running from town to town," Celestia suggested. "There were at least three or four sightings of you while you were looking at a VAD."

"'VAD'?"

"Visual-Audio Device," Celestia explained. "They're pretty much ubiquitous around Equestria, showing news, sports, plays, and other entertainment."

"Oh, like a television?" Jackie asked, only to get a head tilt in response from the tall equine. "Probably something similar to our televisions," she replied. "Your description fits them to a 'T'. But, no, I don't think it was any broadcast of you saying the words. It wasn't your voice, that much I do remember. It's just frustrating that I can't recall it."

"If it's something was erased from your mind through arcane forces or from trauma, I do know some memory spells that might be able to help," Celestia offered. "We can try after you get checked out," she said as they came to a door that she opened. Inside, Jackie saw it was just like any hospital reception room that she had seen before—only manned by ponies dressed in physician and nurse's garb.

"…Then a pinch of this, and a dash of that, blend them all together, and goes into the vat!" the recorded image of the zebra rhymed in singsong while working.

"Ugh!" he groaned in agony. "That's the WORST rhyming in HISTORY! A three-year old racing pony could do a better job! AND JUST WHAT ARE THOSE FUCKING INGREDIENTS YOU'RE PUTTING IN THERE, YOU BLOODY PRISON-MULE!" he screamed.

"It was a wasted effort to steal all those VADs," he grumbled, clicking the remote to shut down the display. "We know even less about what was put into the mixture to keep it stable than we knew before the damned thing blew up!"

"Well, we know how much was being put in there," she pointed out. "And the colors of the stuff."

"It could be just like the crap inside those 'Equation of Harmony' pills, for all we know!" he yelled at her in exasperation. He sighed, and clicked the remote, reawaking the VAD. "At least we have this," he muttered.

"You know what I'll bet, these mares will understand me. Savvy? Savvy Confuscious?"

"Why bring sex into this?"

*slap!*

"The Three Studs!" he giggled. "I just love these guys!"

"There's plenty of good news, Your Highness," Doctor Przewalski reported as Princess Celestia and Jackie Valentine sat in his office. "There's not a trace of Dark Magic remaining in her. Moreover, from what we can tell, she doesn't seem to be aging from her superspeed. There were no detectable changes to her telomeres during any of those test runs. Oh, and thank you again for keeping the treadmill from melting! Naturally, we have no baseline to measure from, but from what we can tell by comparing her to diamond dogs and other similarly built creatures, Jackie appears to be in perfect health."

They both sighed in relief and smiled at each other at the news.

"That said, there are numerous abnormalities in her genetic makeup," he went on, snapping their attention back to him. "There are—best I can describe them—what looks like remnants of—something—in her DNA."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Jackie worriedly asked.

"Mind you, for the most part, what we were able to analyze of your DNA, the genetic code reads just as you are: a bipedal creature with features greatly resembling that of a female cheetah—are you okay?" he paused when she nervously flinched.

"I'm—I'm okay," she said sighing. "I—I—seem to have a nervous reaction whenever I hear that word—'cheetah'—" and she flinched again.

"It could be from what you suffered while cursed," Celestia told her. "Your initial reaction was brought on when the Guard were interviewing you at the restaurant and everytime they spoke that word at the jail, you went into screaming fits. I've noticed you still get this look of horror on your face whenever your species is mentioned since then."

"Like PTSD?" Jackie inquired.

"'PTSD'?" Doctor Przwalski asked.

"Post traumatic stress disorder," Jackie explained. "It's an ailment that was identified in people who survived sudden disasters like wars and violent crimes and become jumpy at things like loud noises or surprises. In the past, it was called 'shell shock' or 'being gun shy' and was often considered a sign of weakness and cowardness among my people."

"Hmm—'post traumatic stress disorder'? 'PTSD'?" Doctor Przwalski muttered. "Hmm—quite an appropriate descriptive in a nicely concise term. Very clever of whomever came up with it!" he said, nodding his head.

"Anyhow, what we are able to read from your genes, they show that you are supposed to be a—as you are—" he amended what he was going to mention. "But the remnants—they show a completely different creature. Still bipedal, much like you are now, but with considerably different proportions of bone lengths in almost all your body parts—no tail, long phalanges at the ends of your forward limbs, short stubby phalanges for your rear, none of them with claws, very little fur, small teeth but from an omnivorous creature, much weaker muscles, and far, far, less stamina. Something—quite oddly—a closer relation to apes—gorillas and chimpanzees are the nearest genotype I could find in our records."

Jackie stared at him in stunned amazement for several moments before she burst out in hysterical laughter.

"I thought we were all done with all this mushroom joke business when it blew the city to smithereens!" Commissioner Friesian Cob bellowed at them as they stood outside the crime scene.

"Jack Black and most of his crew may have been wiped out, Commissioner," Gordon said as he watched the forensic team remove the victims' bodies and load them into the morgue carts, "but he still had plenty of accomplices who weren't caught in the blast. They're evidently still in business, as you can see," he added, holding up the test tube still full of the bright lurid liquid. "Tested positive for mushroom joke."

"Of all the—" Cob started grumbling, but uncharacteristically cut himself off before he exploded with another of his usual rages.

"Oh, and you'll like this even more, Commissioner," Paddock spoke up. "This was evidently just a cover for a typical robbery." Cob blinked at them in shock.

"That's—a pretty expensive murder weapon to use!" Cob whispered in awe. "How much did they get away with?"

"Twelve high-end home entertainment VAD systems and computers, total cost of thirteen thousand two hundred and seventy-three bits," Gordon reported. "In addition, there were the security system and recorders removed that cost another thirty-four hundred bits along with the evidence on the crystals. They could have paid in cash four times over for all that with what they would have made from selling the amount of mushroom joke they used to kill those ponies."

"Not our usual MO, then," Cob softly muttered, also considering the implications. "These sorts of criminals are normally motivated to get rich quick. That's a Tartarus' worth of a net loss to use that sort of thing to pull off a simple robbery. Good work, you two!" Cob grumbled. "The Mayor's not going to like this news."

"That was not a nice thing to do to Doctor Przwalski, Jackie!" Celestia sternly admonished her.

"Don't you get it!?" Jackie yelled at her. "Those 'remnants' of DNA he was talking about—that was ME! They were who and what I was—a human! Not—THIS thing!" she spat in disgust as she waved her paws over herself. She looked down at her own body as she held her paws where she had been moving them, and she was reminded of something. She moved her paws up to her upper chest and held them there, half-a-hoof over her pectorals.

"I used to have tits—out to here! They weren't much as tits go, but they were mine!" she snarled. "If there was still anything left of them to read in those 'remnants', I'm sure he would have eventually found them, too! Now? Now, I've got these useless things running down my belly!" she gestured to the four sets of small bare patches of skin on either side of her chest and abdomen. "Now? Now, what I used to be—now, what I was—I'm—I'm just pieces of trash! Torn up, shredded, and tossed—scattered about and left littering the room—while I was replaced by something else!

"I'm being told all the time, oh, and in so many not-so-subtle ways, that I'm better than I was—better—stronger—faster! Like I'm supposed to be some sort of six million dollar bionic cat-bitch!? Except, I'm not even bionic! This is all organic, and it hurt like all kinds of fuck while they changed me! Those monsters turned me into another monster! Changed us ALL into monsters! At least me and the other girls of my band are somewhat humanoid in shape—which can't be said for any of the others! WE'D ALL GIVE ANYTHING TO BE HUMAN, AGAIN!!" she finished screaming. Then she was gone.

Celestia blinked, then muttered a curse under her breath as she flew after Jackie.

Oh, yes! She remembered! Celestia inwardly groaned as she tried to follow, but Jackie's lead was steadily pulling further and further ahead. This time, she remembered I'm nearly just as fast as her, so she's running flat out!

Jackie was heading for the Canterlot Railroad Station and the route off of the mountain, so Celestia decided to cheat—she flew down the mountain and waited for Jackie there where the tracks leveled out. It didn't take the cheetah long to get there.

"JACKIE! PLEASE STOP!" Celestia yelled, but Jackie executed turns so sharp, she neatly traced out half of a perfect square path to get around Celestia hovering there, and the race between them was on once more. They zipped across the countryside and Jackie was still following the railroad. Jackie was steadily improving her lead over her, now reaching eleven furlongs out of her reach and still growing. The alicorn princess looked ahead and her eyes widened in alarm.

Just ahead was Ponyville.

"Ugh! I tell you, rookie, I never, ever want to look at another bowl of guacamole, chopped Brussel sprouts, pudding, or the insides of a carved pumpkin for as long as I—" Paddock suddenly stopped and urped, and was quickly rushing for the door of the restaurant to go through another series of dry heaves outside.

"I guess it's just hayburgers and fries for at least a week with him," Lieutenant Gordon muttered as he took another sip of the apple cider. He looked over at his partner, then had to look up to watch the sunset through the window because it was too painful to keep watching Sergeant Paddock lurching through his convulsions.

Odd, it's a little late going down, Gordon considered as he frowned at the sun still hanging in the sky.

"I must say, you're looking quite dashing in this outfit, Master Buck!" Alfalfa complimented him as she helped him get ready.

"I feel like a clown," Buck muttered.

"A clown outfit, I could do," Robin said, with similar sentiments. "And I've proudly done! This—is even more ridiculous!"

"Now! Now, you two!" Alfalfa scolded them. "Behave! I'll have you both know these tuxedos are the custom work of Hoity Toity!"

"Hoity Toity? Wasn't he one of the clowns in your circus, Robin?"

"Absolutely NOT, Buck!" Robin angrily shot back. "Our clowns are experts and professionals! And better dressed!"

"Hmm, must have been another circus, then," Buck muttered.

"IF you two are finished, then you can both enjoy a double workout session with me in the combat simulator!"

"I can go for that!" Robin happily chirped.

"Me, too!" Buck instantly agreed.

"AFTER we get back from tonight's gathering!" Alfalfa growled at them. Their faces instantly dropped.

"Yes, sir," they both meekly muttered with a salute.

"We're sorry, sir," Buck said.

"Won't happen again, sir," Robin moaned.

"We promise to behave, sir," Buck continued.

"Griffon's honor, sir," Robin added.

"I think I liked it better when you were insulting the tuxedoes," Alfalfa darkly growled. "How about a triple workout after we get back?" Both Buck and Robin winced and nervously gulped at that threat.

"So, before we all got rudely distracted with discussions of fashion, you were about telling us about what you knew of the Hoofthors, and the rest of the expected guests?" Buck prompted. The return to their previous subject caught Alfalfa up short.

"Alright, Lipizzan Hoofthor inherited his griffon stepfather's holdings when Lion Hoofthor died in an explosion and fire while inspecting a cluster of apartment buildings the family owned," Alfalfa explained to them. "Official inquiries determined that a faulty magical power tap had blown up and set the place ablaze."

"Odd," Buck muttered, frowning. "Those things almost never have problems like that. That's why we're using them in our relays."

"Indeed," Alfalfa agreed. "Nevertheless, that's the reigning theory. Soon after, Lipizzan had the burned out remains of the tenant block torn down and built the offices of ZzanCorp on the site. He also greatly expanded his dual-purpose manufacturing research into magitech and weapons ventures to supply the Guard, thus putting his family businesses into direct competition with the companies started by Duck Stark, Trotter Queen, and your father."

"All of which are now being ran by their offspring," Buck muttered.

"Yes," Alfalfa acknowledged. "Pony's parents were killed over five years ago by an assassin, who's never been identified, as they were coming home from a social gathering. Ollie and his parents were shipwrecked on an island for several years and his parents didn't survive. And we all know what happened to your parents."

"That covers the business tycoons. So, what about the others that we can expect to be there?" Buck inquired.

"What we know of Doctor Destiny is that he's an independently wealthy inventor, as is Water Riwoche, whom they both went through college together. Supposedly, they're friends, but Destiny is rumored to be a Latvian activist intent on liberating his homeland from the spheres of influence of Germaney and Stalliongrad. He's a very bitter pony with a big axe to grind. So far, Riwoche is the only pony who's known to be a moderating influence on his activism. How long that might last is anypony's guess. Both of them are brilliant, and quite possibly each are smarter than Duck Stark or your father ever were, but they've never shown much desire in starting business ventures. Their interests seem to be more geared for pure research and inventions. Some of your own father's products were originally created by Riwoche and your father bought the patents he held. Rumor is, the Starks did the same for some of their work."

"What about the Tawleeds?" Buck asked.

"They're a bit of a mystery," Alfalfa said, frowning. "Their wealth goes back several centuries, as do the Hoofthors and the Queens, and their bloodlines and social connections are frequently intertwined with both families. Yet, despite never having created any sort of business venture like the Queens and Hoofthors did, their wealth has managed to keep up with the others. The rumors are—considerably darker with them, too. The current head of their house, Genevieve, is expected to be attending tonight."

"Hmm. Several ponies to keep an eye on," Buck said, nodding. "You were right to insist I go, Alfalfa. Jack Black may have started us on this job, but there seem to be plenty of other customers who should stand for a closer look. And it's going to be a chore to separate them from the honest ponies."

"At least you won't have to deal with any of the Canterlot nobles," Alfalfa stated.

"Thank the Princess for small favors," Buck muttered as he frowned, checking the time. The sun was supposed to have set by now.

"But there still will be plenty of Manehattan socialites in attendance, so you're not getting that much of a break." She also looked over to the clock. "Hmm—the Princess seems to be running a little la—ah, there it is! Lucius is already downstairs waiting by the carriage with the box and your other outfits," Alfalfa informed him. "It should be well into the night by the time we get there."

"Good," Buck said, nodding. "Once the Guard are alerted, they're going to be very busy looking for anypony trying to get out of town as fast as possible. Instead, I want us to simply slip out of view on the way to the party so that we can deliver the goods and slip back into traffic and continue on as if we had nothing to do with it."

"Well, then try not to wrinkle the tuxes when you suit up, sir!" she admonished them.

Sure enough, she got away! Celestia fumed as she overflew the village, crisscrossing the sky above it hundreds of times, hoping to catch sight of Jackie again. With them out in the open, Celestia at least had a chance to keep Jackie in her view, but with the numerous houses and other structures available and her agility, Jackie was able to evade her just as she had in Manehattan. Now, her only option was to keep searching around and hope to catch sight of the elusive cheetah, but she was quickly concluding this was all in vain. For a creature who could move unbelievably fast, Jackie was equally adept at holding still and hiding. Distressed, Celestia kept flying over the town.

What if she went into the Everfree? she began to wonder.

"Hey, Princess Celestia!" a raspy voice beside her suddenly blared out. "Are you trying out for the Wonderbolts, too? Or are you just looking for a rematch?" Surprise made her snap her attention away from watching the ground and toward the brash sky-blue filly smiling back at her.

"Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed. Then a new thought just occurred to Celestia. "WAIT! I need you!" she yelled, screeching to a halt to hover in the air. Surprised, the filly overshot Celestia's sudden stop and had to fly back a dozen furlongs to speak with her.

"Yes, Your Highness?" she inquired with a military precision salute.

"I'm looking for somepo—someone—she's a bipedal cheetah, and she's pretty quick," Celestia explained. "I could really use another set of eyes to help find her."

"Oh, is that why you haven't lowered the sun yet?"

"WHAT!?" Celestia exclaimed, first glancing at the sun near the horizon and then at the tower clock on Ponyville's townhall. When she realized what time it was, she facehooved.

"Damn!" she cursed, and Rainbow's eyes got big, no doubt never imagining that she would ever show such frustration. I'm going to be in so much trouble with the other nations, now! "How good is your nightvision, Rainbow?" she asked with a defeated sigh.

"Okay, I guess," Rainbow happily replied, then her face was etched in confusion. "But—uh—what's a 'cheetah'?"

"Well, that's everything ready that we'll be needing for Winter Wrap Up, Big Mac!" Applejack said as she slouched to rest from hauling the heavy snowplow from its storage closet. "Maybe we'll finally get done on time this year."

"Eyep," the large red stallion agreed.

"Now, don be getting' yer hopes up," Granny Smith cackled. "Ain't nothin' changed from last several years, Ah don see us gettin' more organized this time as we did befer. Ah keep tellin' that Mayor Mare that poor plannin' will get ya a poor harvest."

"Now ya shouldn't be bad mouthin' the mayor, Granny," Applejack scolded her elder. "Talk like that won't help to keep us in their good graces."

"Betcha your share of this season's cider harvest we're gonna be late this Winter Wrap Up, too, AJ," Granny Smith slyly challenged. Applejack nervously gulped. Numerous life lessons had taught her to never bet against Granny Smith when the old mare had that particular gleam in her eye.

"Speaking of late, what do ya think is delaying the Princess?" Big Mac softly inquired, pointing a hoof toward the open door. When the mares looked, they saw the sun was still up.

"Huh? Good question," Applejack muttered. But then, a sound from deeper inside the barn reached her ears.

"Uh—hold on, everypony," she softly muttered as she pulled out her always-ready rope and began twirling the lasso and began stalking the hidden intruder.

She quickly located the noise of occasional shifting of straw on the ground, and a sound that was not-unlike sobbing, was coming from the now empty stall where the snowplow had been stored.

"AH-HA! GOTCHA—ulp!" Applejack exclaimed while throwing the lasso at her target, only to get suddenly yanked off her hooves and slammed into the side of the stall and left in a heap among the newly broken boards. She blinked at the figure, looking all the world like a spotted yellow diamond dog who glared back at her. The creature gave Applejack a little hiss as it contemptuously tossed the rope back at her. Then it—no, she—moved off to the other side of the stall, squatted down and resumed sobbing.

"Heh! You okay, Applejack?" Granny Smith called out with the same tone she would use on any self-defeated victim whenever there was a 'hold my cider' moment.

"A little sympathy, if ya'd please, Granny?" Applejack grumbled as she stood up to dust herself off and rerolled the rope.

"Ya know where ta find sympathy, Applejack," her Granny chuckled. "She don't look like she's fixin' ta do anypony harm. Why doncha go fetch yer yellow pegasus friend ta talk her down a bit? We'll keep an eye on her."

"Better take a torch with ya, AJ," Big Mac muttered. "The sun's gone down now."

Applejack and Fluttershy had just left her cottage after she had explained the situation to the pegaus. Naturally, the animal-friendly pony was eager to meet a new creature and help out.

"Oh! Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy called out and waved after they had been buzzed several times as the blue pegasus had zipped back and forth in the night air. Standing right beside her, Applejack could barely hear the call that was about the level most ponies would whisper. Despite that, Rainbow suddenly stopped and hovered before the two of them.

"Um—I hope I'm not intruding, Rainbow, but isn't it a little late to be practicing for the Wonderbolts?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Oh, I'm not doing that right now!" the blue pegasus exclaimed. Then evidently something just occurred to her if the expression on her face was any indication. "Oh! By the way, have either of your seen a black spotted, yellow diamond dog hereabouts?"

"As a matter of fact, Ah was just taking Fluttershy over to mah barn to speak with the critter," Applejack told her.

"Great!" Rainbow exclaimed, getting ready to fly off, only for Applejack jump up and yank her back with her tail.

"Whoa, there, Rainbow!" Applejack yelled when she had the pegasus' attention. "Didja get yerself lost flying about in the dark!? Mah barn's over that way!" she said, pointing off in the other direction.

"I know that!" Rainbow shouted back at her. "I'm gonna to go get Princess Celestia! She's the one looking for that critter!" Then Rainbow was about to take off in another direction, only to get yanked back by Applejack again.

"Uh—RD? Why're ya flying off that way? First time, ya were going over there!" Applejack pointed in the respective directions.

"Come on, AJ! Will you let me go, already!? I can see the princess!" Rainbow angrily yelled at her, pointing with her own hoof first over one way, then sweeping it over the direction of one side of town and back again. Before Applejack could react, Rainbow shot straight up into the air beyond her reach and took off in a third direction, leaving behind a colorful rainbow contrail.

"Ah think all those highspeed turns has scrambled her brains," Applejack muttered looking after her, to which Fluttershy just giggled.

Oddly, when they reached the barn, Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia were there speaking with Granny Smith and Big Mac just outside the door.

"I think we just need to give her time and space so as to let her calm down," the princess was concluding her conversation as they got into hearing range. Then the tall alicorn noticed their approach. "Ah! Applejack! I hope you didn't get hurt earlier. And Fluttershy, maybe just the pony I need! I understand you are very adept at calming creatures down?"

"I hope I can help, Your Highness," Fluttershy said.

"I hope so, too," Princess Celestia said. "She's been through a lot of trauma. She's told me how she and several of her friends had been tortured before she ended up here in Equestria somehow."

"Sh-she spoke t-to you!? Oh, my! I—I'm not sure I can be all that helpful," Fluttershy stammered. "I—I'm much better with animals than with ponies—or—I mean—other intelligent creatures."

"You should remember, we're all animals, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia corrected her. "Ponies, and even cheetahs, like Jackie Valentine. I'm sure your skills will benefit us with talking with her. She just needs a kind ear to listen and a kind heart to speak to her. I tried to speak with her myself, but she's partly upset with me, even though I tried to help her. I can't get through to her right now."

"Well—I—I'll try, then," Fluttershy whimpered.

Two hours later, the two Equestrian Guard detectives were approaching the entrance to their precinct so that they could fill out the paperwork on the VAD crime scene.

"I just hope I can get through writing the report without losing my dinner again," Paddock grumbled.

"Thus, that's why I was suggesting we get that done before going to eat something!" Gordon said, shaking his head.

"Hey, I was bloody hungry, rookie!" Paddock yelled at him. "I lost both my breakfast and lunch with this job, today!"

"Not that you couldn't stand to miss a few meals, Harv—" Gordon mercilessly teased.

"Just because you've got an iron stom—" Paddock's retort was suddenly ended at that instant when something exploded right in front of the pair, enveloping them in a thick, choking, dust cloud.

"Oops!" a dark figure that would have had a strong resemblance to a griffon had anypony been in a position to see it, although the presence of a horn on its head and bat-like wings would have certainly been confusing for anypony trying to identify it. It was accompanied by another very dark-clad figure, as they held an empty, metal-lined box between them. That other figure, had it been spotted, would have probably been described as a bat-winged alicorn.

"We were supposed to drop that on their roof! Not in front of their door!" its companion growled.

"Sorry, Graywing! I missed!" The griffonoid then looked down at the scene. "Look out, below—?" it quietly offered as compensation.

"Let's get the Tartarus out of here, already!"

And they were quickly gone, flying off back the way they had come.

"Let's get the Tartarus out of here!" Buck hissed as he and Robin quickly wrestled the empty metal container inside, then scrambled to get themselves into the back seats of the invisible carriage, which was parked in the alley off the main road and just across from the front door to the precinct. Alfalfa and Lucius had been in a perfect position to witness everything that happened.

"Problems, Master Buck?" Alfalfa calmly inquired from the driver's seat as the back doors were quickly shut and the earth pony and griffon began stripping out of their modified Guard gear.

"We might hear a few—complaints—about tonight," Buck replied.

"At least two," Robin quipped. That set Lucius off, sitting shotgun, into yipping from hilarity.

Alfalfa sighed as she put the carriage into drive and smoothly pulled out onto the road, calmly watching out for other vehicles. After they had invisibly traveled along the traffic for a block, Lucius used his second working tail to momentarily dowse the streetlights, plunging the entire road into darkness for a few seconds. Then, the lights began working again, and when they were back on, nopony was paying attention to the fact another carriage had appeared among the others on the road.

The billowing cloud of null-stone dust caused both of them to feel nauseated to the point they both were tossing their recent meal onto the sidewalk. A few seconds after their stomachs were finished being completely voided, the night was suddenly filled with the ear-piercing screams of dozens of activated antitheft Lo-Jack alarms.

Fluttershy had initially approached Jackie with a quiet inquiry, and it wasn't long before the yellow pegasus started hugging the cheetah in earnest with her wings. They spoke for hours, but with voices too low for even their own keen hearing to pick up from their position just outside the barn doors. But what they could make out was they were both crying and sobbing for much of the time. While they waited, a Royal Guard pegasus team had arrived with a chariot and stood nearby for further orders.

"What's gonna happen to that critter, if ya don't mind me asking, Princess?" Granny Smith loudly barked out. "She's not in any trouble, is she?"

"No, Jackie hasn't committed any crimes that we know of," Princess Celestia sadly replied. "She's a clearly a victim of whatever creatures had taken her from her home and is a refugee here in this land. It's a concern, though, that the creatures who harmed her may also be here in Equestria. If so, we need to learn what we can about them as quickly as possible. Only Jackie can tell us about them, but the trauma of her torture is intimately entwined with the vital information we need from her. It's an additional torture for her to even remember those experiences, and so she runs from the pain. And—she can run pretty fast trying to get away. Unfortunately, she can never run fast enough or far enough to ever escape those memories. She knows this, but she has still yet to accept the fact."

"Then, what can anypony do to help her?" Applejack asked.

"And how can we get whatever information you need to fight the bad guys!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"The only thing we can do," Princess Celestia said. "Try to be her friend. When she feels she can open up about what happened to her, it will be when she decides, and not before. But we will be here for her."

"Announcing Buck Mane and his Plus One, Robin Thrush, and their assistant, Alfalfa!" the gathering's official announcer called out as Buck, Robin, and Alfalfa waited for their cue to enter. At the doorpony's nod, they stepped through the archway from the foyer and into the main reception room.

They had left Lucius behind to guard the carriage and the portable shielded enclosure. The kitsune did so in his customary manner to cool his paws while sitting back in his seat. With a flick of one of his tails, Lucius became invisible, and not enveloping the carriage and its contents with him into his cloaking field this time. Not that there was much danger of anypony trying to get past the mansion's security staff to riffle one of the several vehicles parked there, but rather it was for the security ponies they were taking those precautions. Besides, with the carriage's dark windows, there was no concern that anypony snooping around would be able to see the container or Lucius in any event.

"Ah, I see Mister Stark's butler, Jarvis, over there," Alfalfa muttered to them. "I'll leave you two to mingle, sir."

"Very well, Alfalfa," Buck replied as he led Robin over toward a group that frankly needed no introduction. They were every bit as well known to the public as Buck was becoming since his parents' demise.

Pony Stark was a russet colored earthpony with a golden mane and tail, wearing a formal black tuxedo that just missed covering his cutie mark that was a white colored disk with a depiction of five atomic nuclei about to smash together in the center. Lipizzan Hoofthor was also an earthpony, with a pale coat, shocking red mane and tail, with a green crystal showing for his cutie mark. And Ollie Queen was a dark gray pegasus with a striped green/gold mane and tail, and a bow and arrow cutie mark.

They saw him and Robin approach, and they smiled as they raised their glasses in a toast to them—or at least Pony Stark and Ollie Queen did. Lipizzan Hoofthor, instead, gave them a rather pointed scowl and refused to raise his drink.

"Welcome, Mister Mane!" Pony Stark greeted.

"Please! Call me Buck," he said. "I'm—still getting over my father's death, and he was always 'Mister Mane'."

"But of course," Stark replied. "And please call me Pony, here."

"Ollie," Queen said, offering his hoof to Buck to bump.

"Zzan," Hoofthor flatly said, giving him a curt nod.

"And this is Robin, of the Flying Thrushes," Buck said, introducing his griffon friend. Hoofthor's scowl deepened at that.

"The 'Flying Thrushes'? As in the circus performers?" Ollie inquired.

"The late circus performers," Robin corrected. "My own family was killed a couple days before the Manes, and I'm afraid the news of their demise was overshadowed by the explosion at the harbor and the deaths of the Manes."

"Oh, my deepest condolences," Ollie offered.

"Even worse, we were there when Robin's family were killed," Buck stated. "My parents had decided to adopt Robin so that he wouldn't have to end up in an orphanage."

"Only for me to lose my adoptive parents immediately after," Robin cut in. "It's been a rather rough ride."

"I can only imagine, especially for a griffon so young!" Pony sympathetically said. "Well! I think we should all form a 'Rich Orphan Tycoons' Club'," he then joked to which Ollie choked on his drink and Zzan rolled his eyes.

"That's why we love you, Pony!" Ollie spat when he could speak again. "Leave it to you to come up with the most offensive comment you can and somehow make it seem funny."

"Speak for yourself," Zzan growled.

"It's a gift," Pony said grinning, shrugging his hooves.

"Commander Jarvis," Alfalfa greeted the elderly earth pony stallion with a respectful bow of her head.

"I believe you have me at somewhat of a disadvantage, madam," Jarvis coolly replied.

"Then this must be one of the very few times that I can ever recall having such advantage of you, sir," she said, smiling at him. "Alfalfa Ponyworth, at your service."

"Ponyworth? Ponyworth?" he asked, trying to recall the name. Then his eyes widened, and he looked at her in surprise. "Alfalfa Ponyworth!? You've aged!" he exclaimed, and she laughed.

"We have! Indeed, sir!" she replied, still chuckling.

"Well! Good to see you again," Jarvis told her as she lined up beside him to keep an eye on the goings on in the room. "So, you're one of us, now? As the new butler to Mister Mane?"

"I am, indeed, sir," she said, nodding. "When I retired from the Royal Guard, I applied to work for Thomas Mane, and have stayed on for Buck. But—'us', sir? There was only you standing here."

Jarvis nodded his head toward the metal statue of a horse, and Alfalfa only now noted how much it did not fit in with the rest of the room's décor. It was a "statue of a horse" only in that it was in the rough conformations of a horse. But gapping areas allowing potential access into the body cavity in between curved steel bars representing ribs revealed the view of a hodgepodge of numerous cogged wheels, cables, tubes, wires, and pistons. Most of the components were showing considerable signs of general neglect from all the patches of rust and other corrosion evident in the mechanism. It was very unlike any of the other metal pieces of artwork scattered about the chamber in that those other items were all very well-polished, shiny, and form-fitting complete, and not looking like something cobbled together from a junkyard or two. At the moment, with it just standing there, there was nothing inside the metal horse moving or giving any indication that it was a functioning animatronic.

"That belongs to Doctor Destiny," Jarvis stated. "It arrived with him and apparently is able to function independently of him since the good doctor didn't need to give it any instructions. It's been standing there since they arrived. I can only surmise it's functioning perhaps as the doctor's aid and/or butler."

"Interesting," Alfalfa muttered. "Remarkable technology that must have gone into it, if it functions as you suspect."

"Indeed," Jarvis agreed before turning his gaze back to the event and the guests. Alfalfa joined him in keeping watch. He instantly spotted Buck and Robin, and the ponies they were conversing with. Other guests included the aforementioned Doctor von Destiny, quite the imposing figure with his dull gray plate armor and green horse blanket, complete with iron mask that only showed off a portion of his eyes. He was evidently engaged in a conversation with his former college classmate, Water Riwoche. At least, Alfalfa was able to tell they were so engaged by how Riwoche was animatedly waving his hooves about as they spoke. Doctor Destiny barely moved, much like his pet robot standing beside her and Jarvis. Several other ponies of the local nobility seemed to be interested in trying to follow their discussion. Judging from the glazed looks of most of their faces, however, they didn't appear to be successful.

She recalled reading the news about a magical accident involving Destiny and Riwoche a few years back. Destiny was quite the handsome stallion in his college days, but the incident was said to have left a scar on his face. According to Riwoche, who had been first on the scene when it happened, the wound was a minor one, and none of his injuries were life threatening. But thereafter, Destiny had started wearing the mask, refusing to show his face to anypony.

Such vanity! she sadly sighed. Why is it that the ones gifted with good looks are always the ones ending up getting cursed with tremendous egos? she wondered.

They slowly stepped out from the dark spacious interior of the barn, Jackie pressed close to Fluttershy, who held a wing over Jackie's lower back.

"I want you to know, we heard you talking out here," Jackie softly muttered, staring at Celestia. "It—it's still—too much for me to speak of it right now. But—but I did tell Fluttershy all about it," she said, glancing down at the yellow pegasus. She nodded to the equinoid. "Everything that's happened to me. And to my friends."

"She'll tell you what I said to her. But I can't be there," Jackie said with her ears laid back, shaking her head, looking back at Celestia.

"We understand, Jackie," Celestia told her. "If you're okay with it, I have a chariot to carry us back to Canterlot. I think we both ran a little much today and we can both certainly use the rest."

"Yes! Of course!" Jackie chirped a laugh.

"I will debrief you tomorrow morning then, Fluttershy," Celestia told the timid pegasus. "And—thank you so very much for helping us both."

"What are friends for, Your Highness, other than to be there for each other?" she inquired.

"Indeed, that is what friends are for, Fluttershy."

"Zzan seems like he doesn't like Robin, for some reason," Buck softly muttered to the others after the Hoofthor decided to wander away and socialize elsewhere. Pony looked after him as he continued chewing on the bite he had taken from his sandwich. Ollie stayed quiet.

"Rumor has it his griffon stepdad—wasn't exactly a nice pony," Pony finally stated in similar volume after swallowing his mouthful. "And after Zzan took over, any griffons still working for them—well—they either soon left the company—or had accidents."

Buck and Robin shared a look between them.

I'm not the only one who needs to watch their back! Buck darkly thought to himself as Pony motioned for them all to follow him to another cluster of ponies. Most of these were ponies known as part of Manehattan's elite nobility, but they were attentively focused on the debate going on between Water Riwoche and Doctor Victor von Destiny.

"…But it's clear that Nightmare Moon will soon be returning in just over three years, Victor!" the dark blue furred earth pony with a black mane and tail was saying when Buck got close enough to hear them. "And the prophesy and legends state that 'the stars will aid in her escape'. There can be no doubt in my mind that the prophesies are warning us of a Dark Magic event! We have to try getting to the moon and head that off. I could use your help in finishing the rocket in order to get there in time!"

That Destiny could visibly flinch under all that armor told Buck that Riwoche had evidently struck a nerve in the metal-clad figure.

"If you will recall, trying to seek out and destroy Dark Magic is what ruined my face, Riwoche!" Destiny's artificial voice boomed out from his mask. "You know that I have turned my back on those sorts of foalish endeavors! I will not help you!"

"But I know you developed a practical shield against wild magical fluxes, Victor! Please!" Riwoche pleaded. "All my tests so far tell me that there are numerous wild and chaotic ley lines above the atmosphere randomly sweeping about out there between us and the moon. If our rocket gets hit by any of them, the results could be catastrophic to the mission!"

"A so-called 'shield' is what did this, Riwoche!" Destiny's snarl in his voice came through quite clear despite the artificial modulation as he waved an armored hoof at his own mask. "It was a failed experiment that ended up in the trash where it belongs! If you need a shield to protect your ship, then design and build it yourself. Or, better yet, give up on this endeavor and save your own life by not getting involved! This conversation is ended!" With that, the armored figure turned and stalked away.

"All's not lost, Water," a unicorn mare with fuchsia-pink fur and blonde mane and tail, said to Riwoche. Her gown hid her cutie mark, however. "We'll find a way to get there and stop Nightmare Moon's return, with or without a shield."

"He was our last hope, Air," Riwoche replied to her. "I struck out with Princess Celestia and every other pony I could think of. He turned me down months earlier, but I had at least hoped that I could convince Victor to again take up the goal we used to have."

"He's become—rather bitter, of late, Water," she told him. "And, I'm also worried that his concerns over his homeland has become a full blow obsession of his."

"Water Riwoche, Air Storm!" Pony took that moment to speak up, "I'd like to introduce you to Buck Mane and Robin Thrush."

"Thomas Mane's son?" Riwoche inquired when he turned to look. "My condolences, sir! He paid us very handsomely for several of my inventions. I trust he found their functions and usefulness satisfactory? I always appreciated his patronage. And my condolences to you, as well, Mister Thrush! You family were quite the talented group. It was such a tragic loss!" he said, offering his forelimb to bump and shake theirs in turn.

"Thank you for such kind words," Robin replied as Buck nodded.

"And this is Fire Storm, Air's brother, and Ben Ground, our associate," Water said, gesturing to a red pegasus, also with a blonde mane and taile, nearby who nodded to them, and an orange earth pony with dark brown mane and tail in turn.

"Mister Mane," the deep voiced heavy earth pony greeted with a nod of his own and reached out with his hoof. "Nice meeting you, sir."

"Please, call me Buck," Buck told him returning the hoofshake. "Nice meeting you, too."

"Your father always treated us warmly, too, sir," Ben Ground said in return. "He was a very down-to-earth pony. He'll be sorely missed."

It was about this time that Buck noticed their cutie marks seemed rather odd. Ben Ground's cutie mark was a profile of a feathered wing. Fire Storm's was a flaming tornado. And Water's cutie mark was strangest of all, looking all the world like a blob of something with several protruding pseudopods of different lengths, as if supposedly giving a shape to something that was supposed to be shapeless.

A short distance away, Zzan Hoofthor was having a quiet conversation with Genevieve Tawleed. Meanwhile, the armored pony stood alone and glowered back at the ponies he had left and those now speaking with them….