Target Acquired: Tickle Time!

The time was 10:30 in the morning. Business was in full swing with the hustle and bustle of both the castle staff and the city below. And while this would be a good sign for the usual resident of Canterlot, a certain feline wasn't as enthused. As his royal trio takedown was nearing its final target, he was determined to make this all worthwhile. But with all the business going on, it was greatly hindering his efforts.

As an extra challenge for his little Top Secret Tickle Assassination plot, he wanted to stay out of sight of all those who were not on his list to prevent them from leaking the info and busting his whole operation wide open. And while the interaction he had with the Night Guard was to be hidden from the public news feed, as Luna's Thestrals never indulged in common drama, the Solar Guard, on the other hoof, was much more prone to being nosy. Especially the females.

And along with that, he had to keep his efforts hidden away from the deadliest creature of them all: Celestia's Royal Advisor.

Raven Inkwell was practically the definition of ‘Attached at the hip’. She went everywhere the solar sovereign walked, even to those private audiences to alert her of recent events in case of emergencies. And if he wanted to get this done and get out of the city just as quickly as he showed up, he had to get around her.

Fury sat at the top of one of the castle's external towers, looking through his journal while passively watching the ant-sized ponies walk below as they went about their day, while thinking as to how he could get this done without alerting the masses to his intentions.

“Hmmm… Now how am I going to get Sunbutt alone? That Raven Inkwell will be so close to Celestia… even asking for a private audience with the princess wouldn’t get her to break away.” Fury said quietly to himself. There was not much that could separate the two, mostly because of the fact she was the most in the know about Celestia's duties.

In his early days, Celestia demonstrated how she had created a sort of Hivemind among the unicorns on her staff. Every confidential detail was shared among only those approved through a line of telepathic connections both Royal Sisters had come to create, and through this link did Raven receive updates on things such as meetings or public appointments. If he wanted to keep her from finding out, he needed to break Raven's connection to that telepathic signal. He needed her out of the castle.

As he was thinking, the sound of flapping wings caught his sensitive ears. Thinking it was Celestia, he jerked in a fit of shock and turned to see who was coming. To his relief, it was just his previous two targets coming to check on him.

“Phew, you two scared me for a second.” Fury sighed. “I thought you were Celestia coming to bust me.”

“Trust me, Fury,” Luna stated, quietly. “My sister has been working rather hard lately, and your services are just what she needs. Cadence told me she has an idea on how to get you a private audience with her.”

“Well, that's what I've been thinking about. Even if we get that audience sorted out, there's one brown haired, semi-circle glasses wearing problem I have to work around to make sure nothing gets leaked.” Fury said.

“We are aware of that.” Cadence replied. “However… I overheard Celestia saying that she'll be sending her off to Neigh Orleans for some diplomatic business. Raven will be out of the castle for at least a week.”

Hearing this news, Fury lit up like it was Heart's Warming Eve. “Perfect! That'll not only get her out of the castle, but leave her disconnected from that telepathic link! She'll be out of my way for sure!”

“Precisely!” Luna stated, happily. “And… I overheard Tia saying she’ll be in her chambers once Raven’s gone. And I just happen to know a spell that can allow us to get there undetected. Cadence and I would be happy to get you set up.”

“The spell would be a nice touch. But you guys have got to remember, I can turn into any creature I want, remember? And I can permanently disappear from the scene…”

Fury then turned into a Chameleon and went camo.

“At a moment's notice.” He finished.

“We are aware of your abilities…” Luna stated.

“But, we have some ideas to make Celestia’s tickle trap a bit more fun for both of you,” Cadence added.

“Ohhhh, so you want in on this too? I guess I can make that work. Let's do it!” Fury declared as he opened his journal.

“Wow, you have a lot of ponies on your list. Starlight, Spike, Mayor Mare, the Crusaders… Flurry Heart, too?” Cadence wondered aloud.

“Of course, she's my niece after all. Well, at least by her words. I still can't believe she's already talking now too. But either way, I've got my work cut out for me. And this trifecta of tickles is gonna be one for the record books.” Fury said, flipping to Celestia's page and circling her photo.

“Target Acquired.”

–

A Few Hours Later…

Celestia was slowly walking to her chambers after sending Raven Inkwell on her way. The diplomatic work that had to be done today had taken quite a toll on her, both physically and mentally. While being a princess meant that she had to do what was good for the nation, that didn't mean it was a fun thing.

“I do so wish that I could be more like Discord, sometimes, and give those stuck-up, entitled brats a piece of my mind.” She muttered. She may have been an enemy to Discord for thousands of years, but after his reformation, she seemed to grow envious of his chaotic powers. Having no restraints and being able to warp the fabric of reality at his will.

Technically, she could do that herself as she was just as powerful. But being in the position she was meant she had to abide by a boat-load of written and unwritten rules to uphold both her rule and her credibility. No subject of hers would take the sight of her flying at supersonic speeds without a care lightly, and she knew that, even if it pained her to remember.

She had also taken a liking to Night Fury, as well. Having seen his attitude towards life and general personality traits, she liked how he saw all of the possibilities in life and never backed out of having fun. She remembered the talk they had after the defeat of Tirek, how even if she was a princess, there was no harm in being honest about how she felt to her subjects and having the guts to say ‘No’ every once in a while.

“Maybe I should send Night Fury a letter… asking him if he has time for a visit. I would really appreciate his company, right now.” Celestia said to herself, collapsing onto her bed. Closing her eyes, she hoped that she could at least dream of a better life. But fate would soon change its course as suddenly, noises filled the air. Giggles and tampering of some kind.

“I wish I could join them… but I’m just too worn, right now,” Celestia said under her breath, a single tear sliding down her cheek. “What to do, what to do?”

A light knocking on her door broke her train of thought, slightly irritating her.

“Please… I just want to be alone, right now.” she hollered, clearly upset.

“Tia, it's me.” A young, male voice came from the other side.

“Oh!” she gasped, opening the door. “Hello, Night Fury. I apologize for the curtness of my voice. Today’s just been rough.”

“Thought so. Dealing with the demands of snooty nobles to replace an orphanage with a 5 Hoof hotel? Disgusting, I tell you.” He agreed.

“So…” she said as she laid back down on her bed, and gestured for him to join her. “What brings you here? Hopefully nothing too serious.”

“Oh not at all, I just wanted to stop by and visit is all.” Fury said, walking to join her. Glancing up, he saw his other two accomplices hiding on the roof. Gesturing them to stay quiet for the moment, he climbed up onto the bed and got comfortable next to Celestia, choosing to use the oh so iconic loaf technique.

“I see,” the Alicorn replied. “Anything you wanted to do, specifically? Any topic you wanted to chat about? I’d do just about anything to get my mind off my work, right now.”

“Well, that's just it. I'm here because I wanted to take your mind off royal duties. I felt a little twinge of despair prick my soul and it guided me here. So, I guess I have somewhat been summoned to help you.” Fury said, struggling to keep his face straight while lying his tail off.

“Well,” Celestia chuckled, “like I just said: I’d do just about anything for relief. Do you have anything in mind? I’m open to suggestions.”

“Well, this little thing involves a trick of mine so just be patient. You know my powers are connected to lightning and electricity, right?”

Celestia nodded her head in affirmation.

“Thinking about giving me a light show of some sort? Sounds intriguing,” she said with a smile.

“Not really. I've been messing around with electro-magnetism and electromagnetic field manipulation, basically meaning a knock-off version of unicorn levitation. But, if I focus on my surroundings instead of myself and use my mind to manifest the feeling of weightlessness…” Night Fury began to glow a red light, static charge running along his body and down onto the floor. That same charge moved along the room and captured everything in it, giving them a similar shine.

“Okay, you’ve piqued my interest,” Celestia stated, amazed by what she saw. “What’s going on?”

After a few seconds, everything in the room began to float, including the occupants themselves. Night Fury had done what unicorns of even Starswirl the Bearded’s caliber took years to accomplish. He had made his own zero gravity field.

Celestia was left speechless. She had only ever experienced something like this ages ago in a battle with Discord. But this time, it was under the cheerful guise of innocent fun.

“Fury… t-this is amazing! The unicorns in even the advanced classes of my School of Magic take many months to even understand the mentality of using magic, and you've worked it to your liking in just a few moments.” Celestia stated, impressed.

“It's all about letting the mind roam and grasp its own perspective of the world. It's the lessons the ancients of my race taught for eons. The mind and body are merely a tool and its controls. Using your body to train the mind into understanding the world would only teach a very narrow path to success. But, letting the mind grasp its own answers and turning that into an action will allow for more freedom of movement and better control in the long run.”

Celestia let herself float around, carefree. She couldn’t imagine feeling any better. Occasionally, a stray bolt of the energy field would hit her body somewhere, tickling her on impact. While the solar princess enjoyed the zero gravity, Fury discreetly gave his partners the green flag to put things into motion.

“I might have to ask you to teach me this, someday,” Celestia admitted. “I’d give just about anything to see the look on Twilight’s face when she sees this.”

“Well, things are about to get even better,” Fury stated. “For us, at least.”

“I’m sure they… wait, us?” Celestia choked, catching his wording almost immediately. “Who did you…?”

Before she could finish her sentence, Fury snapped his fingers and Celestia fell back onto her bed, along with Luna and Cadence on either side. Both of the younger Princesses quickly incapacitated Celestia’s wings in their magic, and Luna attached an inhibitor ring to her sister’s horn.

“Have at her, Fury!” Cadence encouraged.

“Make her beg!” Luna added.

“Night Fury, you… betrayed me!” Celestia cried.

“That I did, my lovely little marshmallow. But only for the benefit of your health. And my personal humor. Now, have at thee!” Fury said, pouncing on the captured princess and putting his paws to work on the base of her neck.

Celestia clamped her lips, trying to suppress the giggles that the tickling was summoning. Luna and Cadence added to the ‘Fun’ by lightly brushing their wingtips back and forth along Celestia’s sides. This combined attack against her body was the very thing that got her to finally crack and start laughing.

“Nahahahahahaha! Nohohohohohoho, not my hihihihihips!” She wailed in both joy and embarrassment.

“But Laughter’s the best medicine, Tia.” Luna teased.

“And you wielded that very Element before Pinkie Pie came into the picture. Surely you can take a little tickling.” Cadence added.

“Making the strong ones crack never gets old.” Fury joked as he moved along to tickle Celestia’s tummy, causing said Alicorn to laugh even more hysterically.

“Oooh, so soft and plump. For a pony with such a slim look, you pack a bit of pudge.” Fury joked. Celestia’s cheeks turned crimson at this jab, and the other princesses laughed heartily at these results.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! OOOHHHHOHOHOHOO PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE! I CAHAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAKE ANYMOHOHOHOHOHORE!” The solar princess wailed.

“And I think I've had my fun.” Fury said, letting up. “Alright girls, cut her loose.”

The other princess nodded and released Celestia, who rolled onto her stomach, giggle-panting from the tickle torture.

“That… (gasp)… was… (gasp)… intense,” she panted. “You… planned this from the very beginning, didn't you?”

“Entirely. But just so you know, you were just a drop in the sea of marked targets I have lined up.” Fury said.

“Wait… Targets?” Celestia asked, shocked.

“We were on the list, too,” Cadence admitted.

“And he’s already tickled Twilight completely silly, as well.” Luna added. “She’s been dreaming of how the next session is going to go, and… she has some pretty good ideas.”

“Well, I suppose things could be worse,” Celestia admitted. “Just behave yourself while doing this, Fury. Promise me that, okay?”

“Oh trust me, be lucky I was just doing tickles.” Fury said deviously. “Okay, I promise.”

Fury crossed his claws in secret and smiled slightly.

“Okay,” Celestia said with a smile. “Have fun on your quest, Fury.”

“Oh don't worry, I will. And with my next target… let's just say Angel won't be the only cheeky animal near her.” Fury said, grabbing his journal and crossing Celestia off.

“Target Down. 3 for 3!”