Things went downhill pretty quickly after we got to Rarity's boutique. Said mare seemed to be running on fumes and desperation. I swear she almost burst out crying when she saw us duck into her shop before Carina calmed her down. I wasn't quite sure what to do, and I never got to decide. I was waiting for Rarity to gain her composure before asking if everything was okay, but by the time that happened, Twilight ended up shoulder-checking the door behind me open.

"Twilight! What the-" Heaving and snorting from exhaustion, she must have made a full dead-sprint all the way here, she interrupted me by smacking me in the face with a letter.

"Princess... Letter... You and Carina... Castle... HEUGH... Now...!" And then she just walked right back out the door.

"... Right. Swaddle-Dee? Hey, there you are, take care of Rarity for a bit would you? And check up on Twilight afterwards, you would think she just ran laps around the whole town instead a straight line here with how dead on her feet... hooves she was. Celestia wants to see Rina and I right now. Ready?" I directed that last part towards my partner, and when she nodded I portaled us both to the Canterlot Castle throne room. A quick look around showed Princesses Celestia and Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and, most surprisingly, Delta Knight. His distinct letter 'D' on his pauldron shone in the light, and it seemed to shimmer as he tried to take deep breaths. "Delta? Did something happen at the Hive?" Carina's breath hitched as he simply nodded to me. It was Celestia who spoke to us from her place atop her throne.

"Indeed. It appears Princess Chrysalis has disappeared, though it would be more appropriate to say she ran away. As you could imagine, this poses a problem. The invasive sister is running free." Damn it. "I brought you two here first and foremost so that Carina is not left in the dark about her family. If either of you have anything to offer to help us with this dilemma however, be it information or resources, we will not turn you down. Both of you officially have more experience with changelings than everypony else in this room combined." Luna picked up after her sister.

"Thou art not required to fulfill this request, we respect thy needs and thy wishes to try to live a more mundane life. There shall be no repercussions, nor anger incurred, should you deny us this." The look on the captains face said that he would be angry, but I chose to ignore that.

"Ooooh, Chrysie, why do you do the things you do?" Carina bemoaned. "I'll tell you guys what I can about her. I don't think it will be helpful, but it's what I can do." I decided to excuse myself for a moment.

"Can Delta and I converse with ourselves for a moment?" The Princesses nodded before turning their attention to the pink changeling as she started speaking.

"So, the first thing to know about my sister is that she's a massive-" I didn't hear the rest as I portaled the Knight and I to the Castle Gardens.

"Are you okay Delta?" He gave a very deep sigh before answering me.

"Yes sire, I am okay. It is simply a long and arduous flight from the Hive." I had my own sigh of relief.

"Good. I'm glad you're okay." Now onto business. "Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do? Do you think you could track her down?" He just shook his head.

"No. I was actively tracking her when she disappeared." Shit. It's one thing to escape Meta Knight's notice when he has his gaze turned somewhere else, it's another thing entirely to vanish while he's on your tail. Did I know of anyone better than Meta Knight at hunting? I couldn't think of any, my mind was in turmoil.

"How do you find someone who doesn't want to be found, can disguise themselves as anyone, and can just disappear at the drop of a hat?" Delta just glared through his mask. "I don't know either. I'm trying to think of different artifacts that might help, but you and your brothers are meant to be the best pick against changelings. There aren't any characters I can think of who do what you do but better. With the exception of Kirby and being a powerhouse."

"I think, that we may simply have to keep our eyes peeled and our swords sharp. We will have to wait for her to try to steal away with a pony for sustenance. The guard may-" I snapped my fingers.

"That's it! Oh, not what you were saying. Or rather- Pffft. Sorry. You are one-hundred percent right about keeping an eye out and being prepared. What I mean is that I might have thought of someone. You reminded me of him when you said 'steal away with.' Let's go inside and talk to Celestia and Luna about it."

We had chosen to walk to the throne room this time, and the opening of the doors caught the rooms attention.

"Your Majesties? I may have an idea, even if it is a bit of long shot." Their ears perked up slightly as Celestia responded.

"What do you have for us Elfilis?"

"A new phantom. His progenitor is a master thief, and he might have keen enough senses and wit to track down Chrysalis." It was Shining Armor who objected at this point.

"You want to hire a criminal to chase down the changeling princess? That sounds like a bad idea."

"I know it does, but he isn't malignant or evil. He wants shiny things and does what he can to get them. Would you rather a kleptomaniac who steals jewelry or one who steals the lives of ponies?" He didn't look very ensured by this.

"Obviously I would prefer the jewel thief, but that doesn't mean I like it. It's a slippery slope to ride." And that, that pissed me off for some reason.

"My whole god damn existence is a slippery slope!" ... "That's... I'm leaving it up to you whether or not I create him. Okay?" ...

... Would someone else fucking say something already-!

"We will take whatever thou can give us, Sir Elfilis." Thank you Luna.

"It is as my sister says. We trust you if you say this new Phantom of yours will not be malicious." Carina chose this moment to hug me. Damn, she nearly came up to my neck at this point. "Do you wish to do this now?" I nodded stiffly.

"No time like the present. Give me a second to dream up Daroach." I closed my eyes and ignored Shining Armor's softly spoken 'Daroach?' as I tried to imagine what it was that made the thief who he was. He wasn't the most popular of characters, but what most don't know is that he actually has the most dialogue of anyone else in the franchise. Kirby Mass Attack would hopefully give me everything I needed to create him. When I made Toby, it was the revelation that Kirby was a FRIEND that pushed my dreams into reality. The Meta Knights were more complicated, and were a mix of chivalry and determination. So what was Daroach, at the heart of things?

... I couldn't remember most of his dialogue. It was mostly hints and exposition about the areas in the game. The most telling blurbs were when he was describing the rest of his group, The Squeak Squad. He defends Storo, the big blue mouse, saying he's more than just a brute, not to judge him. He speaks of his admiration for Spinni, of his style and unmatched skill in sniffing out treasures. His care for Doc, the UFO and airship engineering genius, and how he treats him as just as much an equal as everyone else in spite of his advancing age. The Squeakers, the most numerous and most timid of the group, and yet they would still take on Kirby for Daroach.

'... My crew is my family, and they're the best around.' I realized I was pulling far more energy than what I needed for just Daroach, but I couldn't bring myself to care. He was, at his core, the heart of a group. I was literally incapable of creating him without his crew. And I don't think I would if I could at this point. The sounds of shocked gasps let me know that I had succeeded, and I opened my eyes to the tightest knit group of thieves this side of the universe.

"My my, it appears these poor pony's need our professional propensity for pilfering. I give you all a fair warning, we prefer to be paid, so you best have a proposition so we do not part with your priceless possessions as a proper payment package. And do not think to pacify us with a paltry parcel of your no doubt preposterous pile of palace properties, we charge a premium, for no treasure can escape us. Padlock or hidden panel, we are the Squeak Squad, and we are without peer!" Carina was more focused on keeping her lover standing than she was on this so-called 'Squeak Squad,' but she gave enough to hope that these oversized mice were worth whatever it just took out of Elfilis. And she was also distantly impressed.

She knew he created Toby, that he created three 'Meta Knights,' and that he had created their latest roommate Swaddle-Dee in a panic, but she didn't get to witness any of it. To see one of his star-shaped portals open up wider than any she had seen before, and watch it proceed to dump a metric ton of glowing light-purple rodents in various states of dress into the throne room was an experience. This Daroach dude was a total showboat though, and she liked him.

"You... are Daroach I'm assuming?" Celestia and Luna looked amused by the mouse's antics as well. "Yes, we do have a job for you and your group, and we would not dare to pinch pennies with anypony we wish to work with." All of the mice started chittering in excitement, and Daroach smiled from underneath his coat collar.

"Then let's talk prices. What do you need?" Elfilis spoke up from here.

"Daroach, hi. Big fan and stuff." He was still acting out of breath as he leaned on Carina to stand up. His ears were drooping, and they almost never did that. Usually only to walk into the ponies tiny doorways. "Someone doesn't want to be found. Can you guys find her, before she causes any damage?"

"That depends. Who is she and what kind of hubbub could she create?" Hubbub? Who says hubbub?

"A changeling princess named Chrysalis. She can look like anyone and can disappear right in front of your faces." Carina took over for a second.

"My sister can't look like anyone, size is difficult. If she really really pushes it, she might be able to look like shades over there." Said mouse swirled his cape as it began to sway in the wind. The wind... in the throne room? "She can't hide as one your smaller friends there. A transformation would fall apart and any illusion would be broken and inherently obvious as she would probably have to hop on one hoof to try to match their gate." Elfilis shook his head.

"Didn't know that. But yeah, she's tricky. As for what danger she causes? She eats Love." Daroach and the big guy with an eye-patch frowned hard at that as the small ones froze in shock. "Yeah, and we don't knows if she knows how to do it without killing ponies, or if she has any compunction about killing ponies. We have reason to worry though." He was beginning to catch his breath at this point.

"That is quite the problem. Doc? If we took this job, do you think you could scrounge something up to find this broad?" The mouse with swirling eyes in a flying device didn't respond for a moment.

"... If I were to see a transformation in action, I may be able to create a function in my saucer to detect the energies involved... You there." Carina jumped as the elder-sounding Doc spun around to look at her. "You said this... changeling, is your sister? Do you share in this... talent for shape-shifting?"

"Oh, uh, yes! She's much better at it than me, but I can do it too. I should probably also say, that me and my sister look nothing alike outside of our disguises. She'll be black and shiny with holes going through her legs." Doc hummed in thought.

"That is good information..." A small hatch opened in his vehicle, and an arm with what looked like a tiny camera at the end popped out. "... Would you please show me... So that I may get started on my device?" The pink changeling shyly nodded before transforming into her Frontline disguise. She noted that it was more difficult than it used to be to turn into the orange-maned mare, no doubt because of her considerably larger bulk since meeting Elfilis. Halfway through her shift, the camera-looking device flashed rapidly before retreating back into the Doc-mobile. Seriously, what was that thing?

"Hey Frontline, it's been awhile." Carina lightly socked her smartass in the knee with her compressed hoof. Daroach made himself the center of attention again.

"Well, Doc has what he needs to make his gizmo, but I still haven't heard anything about compensation. What can we expect?" Luna stood up and gestured for him to follow her.

"Follow us, Sir Daroach. We shall discuss the value of a bit here in Equestria, and come up with a plan to make sure thou are well paid." Shining interjected at this point.

"Are you sure we can afford to employ all of them? We-" Celestia cut him off with a light shake of her head as her sister led the merry band of thieves out of the throne room.

"If you would recall Captain, we have had many openings in the royal guard and castle staff since the mass 'retirement' of our changeling members not too long ago. I do not doubt that Daroach will be expensive, but the royal coffers will not be emptied by his paws." After that, they all sat in comfortable silence. Then Elfilis had to go and kick the hornet's nest.

"Princess?" The solar diarch hummed in acknowledgement. "You said something earlier that I can't help but wonder about. You said you would not 'pinch pennies'? What are pennies?" Celestia looked bemused by this.

"It is merely an expression. It means-"

"No, I know what it means. What are pennies?" ...

"... I don't follow." Elfilis half-growled.

"Something is going to start making sense eventually. I refuse to believe otherwise."

Author's Note

You have no idea how much research I had to do to make sure all the p-words I used made sense in that alliteration.

Also, Phantom Squeak Squad. If you don't know what they look like, just look them up and imagine them glowing and neon-punk. That's what most Phantom characters look like in Forgotten Land.

Finally, I am officially less sick than I was a week ago.