The Time Ponies (Fail to) Take a Vacation

It was a beautiful morning as Cheerilee’s class waited with great anticipation for the bell. “And that’s just one more reason why you should never enter the Everfree forest without a qualified adult. I know, you all already know this, but it never hurts to be sure!” Behind her the bell started ringing, prompting the students to start packing up their desks. “Don’t forget to pick up your test reports on your way out!”

Thorax got in line behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders and followed them as they grabbed their reports and filed out. Scootaloo unrolled hers first. “C. Eh, I guess that’s okay.”

“Maybe if you’d actually paid attention in class you’d a got that B you were hopin’ for,” Apple Bloom pointed out as she unrolled hers. “Speakin’ of, I got a B!”

Thorax gulped as he slowly started to unroll his. “I just hope I didn’t get an F.”

“Cheer up!” Sweetie Belle encouraged. “You’ve got to have at least a C after all that studying we did.”

“You really think so?” Sweetie and Apple Bloom nodded. Hesitantly he looked at the report. “I got a B!”

“We knew you could do it!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“Yeah, you and Sweetie actually seem to like this stuff,” Scootaloo added. Then she smiled slyly. “Or it was a great chance to spend time alone together.”

Sweetie snapped her head towards Scootaloo. “What?”

“Sweetie and Crystal sitting in a tree-”

“No!”

Thorax put a hoof to his muzzle in thought. “I’ve never tried sitting in a tree, but it could be nice.”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Oh, that’s another one of those… Um… Cultural recollections?”

“Recontextualizations,” Sweetie corrected automatically.

“Right, Scoots means-”

“NO! We’re done talking about this.”

Thorax tilted his head in confusion. “But-”

Sweetie shook her head violently. “Nope!”

He shrugged. “Alright. Well, I’m off to Hairy’s. See you later!”

“Have fun!” Apple Bloom said with a wave.

Thorax waved back and headed off at a brisk trot, smiling cheerfully. Today he was hoping to finish his most complicated work yet, and he couldn’t wait until he could show it off to all his new friends. And oh, how many wonderful friends he had made since coming to Ponyville. There was Spike, obviously, and Tumbleweed, even if she had eventually left she’d promised to be back before the Summer Sun Celebration. And the CMC had been very friendly, if sometimes a bit overeager. Hairy Potter tried to seem gruff, but inside he was near bursting with love, and he enjoyed having a new apprentice. Fluttershy and her animals liked having him around, even Angel, which he’d been told by a few ponies wasn’t normal. Big Mac didn’t say much, but Thorax could feel his gentle affection. Discord and Inky were both scary in their own ways, but he’d eventually been convinced that neither of them meant him any harm.

Scarlet Heart stepped onto the Ponyville station and took a moment to look around. The town was busy, but it definitely felt like a small country town, rather than like a big city. She could practically taste the love seeping out of the very earth. She always loved it when her job took her to places like this.

She began whistling a tune as she headed toward the center of town. True, she could have asked the ticket salesman for directions, but she felt like stretching her legs a bit anyway. As she walked, ponies would sometimes notice her and wave, at which point she would return the gesture. Some might have been bitter that they got reassigned from Canterlot to Ponyville, maybe whined that such a little job was beneath their talents, but not her. Sure, maybe it was beneath her talents, but it was also such a lovely trip that she didn’t understand why the others hadn’t been lining up to make it. She shrugged, putting it down to some combination of greater ambition and not knowing how nice these middlish sized towns could be.

After a little while she reached the town square. She looked around and saw a pair of vested unicorn mares chatting and decided they would be a good choice for directions. As she approached them she caught the brown one replying to something her companion had said.

“I still don’t understand why you’re so set on this. Didn’t you say they already got Twilight’s letter?”

The mention of Princess Twilight immediately grabbed Scarlet’s attention, and she hoped they wouldn’t notice her for a while, but the gray one turned to face her nearly as soon as she’d had that thought. Ah well, it probably wasn’t important.

“Hello miss, what can we do for you?”

Scarlet put her wandering thoughts aside and donned a charming smile. “HI! I’m looking for Crystal hoof. Some friends and I put together a care basket to remind him that no matter how far he roams, his family will always be thinking of him.” She patted her saddlebags for emphasis.

The brown one cocked her head in suspicion and started to say something, but her friend cut her off. “Now Timing, this isn’t the time for you to delve into your theory about how the Crystal Empire is plotting the overthrow of Celestia.” She turned back to Scarlet with an apologetic expression that couldn’t quite mask her disappointment with her friend. “This time of day he should be at Hairy’s place, just down that road. If not, try waiting at the cottage at the Eastern tip of town.”

Scarlet nodded her thanks and set off. Just before she got out of earshot she heard Timing say “You didn’t have to make my sound like Lyra…”

As Thorax left Hairy’s Pottery he ran into somepony who’d been about to enter. He stumbled and his recently crafted urn went flying off his back. He reached out, desperately trying to grab it before it hit the ground, but he could already see it would land outside his reach. He closed his eyes and turned away, waiting for the shattering sound of a week’s work going down the drain. Only, it didn’t come. Slowly he looked up and saw a yellow mare grinning down at him, his urn held in a forehoof.

“Careful there. This looks like a really nice piece of work, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.”

“Thank you!” Thorax stood up and she handed it back to him. As she did so he noticed that her eyes had the sharp lines of a crystal pony. “And sorry for running into you.”

“It’s no problem. Actually, I was looking for you.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Would you mind if we talked somewhere private?”

Thorax shrugged. “Okay. Did you have somewhere in mind?”

“Well, the nice lady up the street said you were staying at a cottage at the edge of town?”

“Fluttershy’s probably out shopping today, and she said I could bring guests over, but they had to promise not to disturb the animals.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t dream of disturbing the animals.”

And so Thorax led the way, heading back towards Fluttershy’s cottage. “So, I’m Crystal Hoof, what’s your name?”

“I’m Scarlet Heart. Could you tell me about your pot?”

Thorax nodded. He’d already practiced his cutie mark story, at Inky’s insistence, and this was the perfect opportunity to test it out. “It’s a recreation of an urn my first pottery teacher kept on display. One day, after I had messed up and thought I’d never be a good potter, they took me aside and told me that no matter where you started, if you kept trying and did your best, you could improve and go on to achieve great things. That’s when I got my mark. I think it’s less about pottery and more about working to do better. But I did want to be able to recreate that urn, and today I finally did!”

Scarlet nodded, then gazed ahead. “Is that the place?”

Thorax looked ahead, and sure enough, there was Fluttershy’s cottage. “Yep. Oh, your not allergic to animals are you? Or grass, or-”

“No, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Thorax nodded, and when they reached the cottage he opened the door and led her inside. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Scarlet pulled the door closed with her tail. Then she took off her saddlebags and grinned. “Why, I’ve come with a message from your family.”

“My family?” Thorax quickly thought back to his official history. He was an orphan, to avoid questions about why he was alone, but had they chosen an extended family? Was it possible that their pretend relations had mistaken him for an actual family member?

With a flash of green flames ‘Scarlet Heart’ dispelled his scattered thoughts, and with a predatory lunge she scattered them anew. “Tell me you haven’t forgotten your true family so quickly, deserter!”

“Oh, that family,” Thorax whimpered. She had him pinned, her face inches from his own and sporting a cross between a grin and a scowl.

“You are to return with me to the hive. I’m to take you alive if possible, but dead is better than escaped. Is that clear?”

Thorax nodded rapidly, trying to think of a way out of this. She seemed stronger than him, and he’d never been great at fighting, so that was out. He could probably slip free if he turned into something small, but there was no telling if he could escape or if she’d kill him before he made it ten paces.

Just then, ‘Scarlet’ looked up. “Wait, if you’re not the source of nervous anticipation, who is?” Thorax took the opportunity to sniff the air, and beneath the immediate scent of anger there were undertones of confusion and anticipation. He’d smelled the anger as soon as she revealed her true intentions, but without her previous statement he would’ve assumed the other smells were her as well. He didn’t think any of Fluttershy’s animals would be eagerly waiting for the outcome of their confrontation, but who else would be here?

‘Scarlet’ had just started turning towards the open window when Inky jumped through, rolling to a stop and settling into a combat stance. “Lay on the floor with your forehooves spread wide!” she shouted.

‘Scarlet’ snarled. “This is internal-” she began, only to be cut off as the front door flew open and a bright pink beam hit her in the side. Instead of being blasted away or whirling to face her attacker, as Thorax would have expected, she crumpled to the floor.

“Good work,” Inky said with a nod towards the brown unicorn mare who walked in through the door.

“Hey, it was your plan. All I had to do was shoot somepony who was still reeling from the first ambush.” As the newcomer grabbed ‘Scarlet’ and dragged her towards the couch Inky stepped over to where Thorax was still lying on the floor.

“So, when did you realize who she really was?” Inky asked, her eyes nearly boring holes in his skull.

Thorax winced, but decided trying to pretend he’d been more attentive wouldn’t go well. “Well, she started acting funny once we were in the cottage, but I only knew for sure once she dropped her disguise.”

Inky took a deep sigh, and he could feel her annoyance grow, but her voice remained level. “In the future, try to keep an eye out for this sort of thing. The hive clearly knows about you, and they don’t take kindly to defectors. I had the good fortune that they thought I was dead, but you don’t, so they’ll keep coming after you until they decide that it’s not worth the effort.”

“How long is that?”

Inky shrugged. “I have no idea. I was training as an infiltrator, but I never finished. They don’t exactly tell younglings about defectors, lest they start getting ideas.”

After a moment of silence, Thorax spoke again. “Wait, how did you know to come save me? Not that I’m not grateful, but have you been spying on me?” He wasn’t angry, but he was disappointed, since he’d thought Inky had been convinced of his good intentions from the start.

She shook her head. “No, it was as simple as good luck. She had to stop and ask for directions where you were, and we happened to be the ones she asked. The game was nearly up then and there, but I managed to convince her Perfect’s suspicion was because she was a conspiracy theorist who mistrusted crystal ponies, rather than our suspicions of her true nature.”

“Yeah, thanks for throwing me under the cart like that,” Perfect griped, but without any real malice. “Hopefully nopony overheard, or by the end of the week I’ll be squaring off against the Cutie Mark Crusader Crystal Pony Defense Society. Or worse, Daisy and her friends think it’s real.”

“Anyway, we’ll take her away, no point in worrying Fluttershy when she gets home. I’ll leave it up to you whether to tell her.”

By the time they brought the changeling spy back to the office she was starting to regain consciousness. Inky took over levitating her as Perfect went upstairs. As she walked down into the cellar she offered a warning. “Before you try anything, I want you to know that those are bulk purchases, and while I will be upset if you break them, you will regret it far more than I.”

‘Scarlet’ looked into the jail cell, eyeing the large boxes along one side. “What are they?”

“Our second pantry. It’s where we keep things that won’t fit upstairs.”

The spy just looked at her in bewilderment. “You keep your food in your dungeons?”

Inky set her in the cell and closed it, but left it unlocked for now. “No, but this isn’t a dungeon, it’s the county jail. There’s a big difference. Unlike changelings, we ponies don’t all live in the same city, so we need short term holding facilities to take prisoners until transport can be arranged.”

Her prisoner just huffed, before blinking. Inky smirked as she smelled rising fear. “Wait, how did you know we all live in the same place?”

She’s lousy at being interrogated, Inky thought. She shouldn’t have confirmed what might only have been a suspicion. “Oh, we have our ways. You’d be amazed what you can do with a highly skilled transmuter and some high quality gemstones. I’m told they can even hide them under the skin.” Let her think the ponies are everywhere, it’s about time the hive got a taste of the paranoia they spread, and that’s not something the Equestrians are even contemplating. If she doesn’t escape, we get information, and if she does, we get misinformation into enemy hooves. It’s a win, either way. Lying to a changeling was hard, since your emotions had to line up with your story, but her malicious glee could easily be explained if they actually had deep cover agents working in the hive, so she figured she was good.

Perfect stepped down the steps and hoofed over the horn suppression ring that Starlight had generously donated to the Ponyville Sheriff's Department. Inky took it in her hoof and opened the door. “Now are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

“And if I refuse? …Wait, I think I said the wrong line.”

“Then we knock you out, then bind you. You’re already captured, and I doubt you can take both of us together.” To emphasize her point Perfect took a firing stance, which from her vantage halfway up the steps would allow her to fire over Inky’s head at the prisoner. After glancing between them for a moment her shoulders slumped and her head drooped, allowing Inky to place the ring in place. Then she took a moment to close and lock the cell door. “Good. Now the hoofcuffs.” Perfect levitated an old, but rust free, pair of hoofcuffs. “Put your forelegs through the bars.” Instead of complying, ‘Scarlet’ bore her fangs with a hiss. Inky responded by yanking her into the bars face-first, changing the hiss into a groan. Then she pulled her forelegs through the bars and cuffed them before ‘Scarlet’ could recover. “Now that that’s handled, bring me the retainer I bought from the plumber.” Perfect did as instructed, offering Inky a strange metal device. It consisted of a loop of aluminum with slots cut out and a winged screw in a fixture on one end. She slipped the loop over ‘Scarlet’s’ horn until it hit the suppression ring, then spun the screw. ‘Scarlet’ drew back, but Inky continued tightening the screw with her magic, causing the loop to shrink.

“Ow! That hurts! Stop it!”

“One more… Done. That should keep you from taking the ring off yourself. You’ll be spending a while here until we can send you to Canterlot.” She turned around and followed Perfect up the stairs. Then she closed the cellar door and slid a sturdy wooden board into the handles, ensuring that even if the prisoner escaped the cell, they’d have a hard time quietly slipping away.

“You’re not going to wait for this to be settled?” Perfect asked.

“No. I trust you to handle a simple prisoner transfer. I need to make sure the Crystal Empire is prepared for trouble, because given what happened with Thorax I’m not sure they are.”

“Just, take care of yourself.”

“I will. And I expect you to care for yourself as well. I should be back within the week.”