Target Acquired: Tickle Time!

by NightFurySpeedey8156

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Other, Original Character, Comedy
Length: 21497

A deviously executed plan consisting of feathers, paws and other tricks.

Night Fury is a good friend to many, his especially cheery attitude being a big factor in his popularity. But that's not all he's good at. Being a feline, he has a few instincts that he can't fight. Laziness, Low tolerance for annoying things, the like. But one he loves to embrace from time to time is his cheeky nature and troublemaking tendencies. And with his recent plan to give his friend some surprise tickle attacks, he's going to be busy for a long while.

Note: Thank you to Ghost Rider for being an amazing Co-author!

Published 2024-03-13 01:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-04 01:38:28 UTC

Target Acquired: Applejack

Night Fury woke up early the next morning, intending to go to Sweet Apple Acres. His plan was to possibly help Applejack with whatever work she needed to do, and in return, surprise her with his tickle attack.

He himself was never really an early riser, especially after he let go of all his past stress from home and learned to relax. But, he knew that AJ was a different story with her working the orchard before anypony else in town even cracked so much as a yawn.

“She’ll never see it comin’!” He chuckled to himself. “And, who knows, it might help her relax afterwards. Win-win, either way!”

He pulled out his list and circled AJ’s name.

“Target Acquired!”

—

Night Fury was walking up to the little farm house at Sweet Apple Acres. He looked around to see where Applejack was, but had no luck. He did notice Big Mac loading hay bales into a wagon, possibly headed to feed their cows. Perhaps he knew where AJ was.

“Hey there, Big Mac.” Night Fury greeted, walking up to the stallion. Big Mac had just loaded the last bail when he heard his name, and turned to acknowledge the call.

“Howdy, Night Fury,” he greeted, politely. “How’re you?”

“Doing well. Is Applejack busy?” Fury asked, getting straight to the point without giving the details. “I wanted to see her today. You don’t know where she is, do you?”

He noticed the stallion expression became more solemn, and it worried him.

“Did… something happen to AJ?” Fury asked, concerned. “Is she okay?”

“She’s upstairs in her room, Friend,” Big Mac admitted. “Bucking trees earlier this week left her with a pretty nasty sprain. Doctor Whooves gave her some pain killers, but told her to stay off of her legs until further notice. She told me this morning that she’s about to implode with boredom.”

“Dang! That sucks. I've had some broken bones myself, so I know how that feels.” Fury admitted. “Is she okay with having some company? I’d like to help her out however I can.”

“Ah’m not sure how much you can do, but Ah’m sure she wouldn’t mind the company,” Mac said with a smile. “Why don’t ya see for yourself? Door’s unlocked. Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks, Mac.” Fury replied, heading inside the farmhouse.

He found his way to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. As he approached AJ’s room he could hear what sounded like soft sobbing, and it made him sad.

“Knowing how busy and helpful she usually is, it doesn’t surprise me that she’s kinda upset. I hope this works,” he said to himself.

He gave three quick knocks on AJ’s bedroom door, and waited for a response.

“C-come in,” he heard Applejack say from the other side.

Fury gently pushed the door open, and he noticed the atmosphere become a bit lighter, as Applejack gave a sincere smile when she saw him.

“Night Fury,” she sighed, happily. “Good to see you, Partner.”

“Hey AJ! You look like you’ve seen brighter days. What happened?” Fury asked, hopping onto the bed and nuzzling her neck.

“Doctor Whooves said I sprained it pretty bad during my exercising.” She admitted, solemnly. “Nothing’s broken, but it still hurts like crazy. To be honest with you, this has been really hard on me, not being able to help my family with everything like I usually do. And sadly, Twilight and Starlight are away for the time being. So… I’m gonna have to let this heal naturally.”

Admitting the reality of the situation caused the farming mare to start sobbing again, feeling bad about not being able to help her family and friends like she’s so used to doing.

Fury’s heart broke, seeing his friend so sad. He knew he had to do something. Then he had an idea.

“AJ, I think I know how I can cheer you up some,” he stated.

“R-really?” she hiccuped. “H-how so?”

He dried her tears with his tail, before heading over to her hooves.

“Uhh… Night Fury? If you haven’t noticed, I can’t do much with my hooves, at the moment. What with my leg being busted and all, you know?” She stated, confused as to what he was planning.

“That may be true,” Fury stated, before smirking. “But you can still feel things, right? No damage to your nervous system, correct?”

Applejack raised a confused eyebrow at that question, completely forgetting how much pain she was in.

“Uhh… yeah,” she stated, plainly. “Where’re you going with this?”

Fury answered her by taking hold of her injured leg and began to massage her muscles. This caused Applejack to start to groan and squeak. It was painful, but she quickly realized that her injured leg was becoming increasingly less painful.

“Oww… oh, my… AHH!” She began to squeak, as he relieved some of her pain. Within five minutes, it felt completely painless. AJ sighed contently as he walked back towards her resting head.

“Feeling better?” Fury asked politely.

“Yeah…” She admitted, with a blush.

“Nice! That’ll make the next step that much sweeter.” he said with a sly grin.

“Huh? Next step?” Applejack asked, confused. “What in tarnation are you talking about, Fury?”

“Oh nothing, just a little trick I cooked up to cheer you up. Now hold still…” Night Fury moved up the apple farmer’s body until he was nearly face to face with her, smiling sinisterly before he chuckled darkly and went in for the gold.

“AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Applejack burst out, laughing hysterically as he tickled her tummy. “FUURHRHRHRHREEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!”

“Cootchie Cootchie Coo!” Fury teased. “You sure look like you’re having fun.”

“Ahhahaahahaha! It tickles! Hahahahahahahaha!” Applejack squealed as she continued laughing hysterically.

“Yeah, that's the point, cowgirl. Now, let's move on to the weak spots. Apple Bloom had a lot to spill about you earlier this week.” He said cheekily.

Applejack’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she let out an audible gasp. Her cheeks turned the color of her famous Red Delicious Apples.

“Oh no! Fury, don’t you dare! Yer gonna pay if you do it!” she said, beginning to panic.

“Oh I dare, and I've got a big bet running on this one!” He said, slyly.

“Fury, please no!” Applejack pleaded, desperately.

Fury ignored her as he began to gently stroke his paws up and down AJ’s injured hoof, causing the farm mare to completely lose it and laugh hysterically.

“GYAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Applejack exploded in ticklish glee, tears of laughter flooding out of her eyes. Fury smiled proudly, knowing that his plan was working.

“Yeah, there we go! Apple Bloom really wasn't lying, your hooves really are your weak spots. And to think with all that bucking, you'd be impervious to this. Looks like I owe the CMC some well needed immunity from my attacks. For now…”

“OHHOHOHOHOHOH C’MOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHONHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!” Applejack bellowed, continuing to laugh hysterically.

“Oh come on nothing, AJ. You know you can't fight this!” Fury said, effectively calling upon the unforgiving forces of karma to come forth. Applejack then felt a sting of pain in her leg, getting her to immediately stop laughing and moan a pained grunt.

But it looks like her leg can, and what a fight it's putting up!

Fury immediately stopped his tactics and checked on his friend. “Woah woah, you okay AJ?”

“Ice… needs ice.” Applejack moaned. Fury nodded and opened her window to sound the alarm.

“Apple Bloom, Big Mac! The pain is getting worse for AJ! Need some fresh ice up here, double time!”

“Horseapples! On the double, Fury!” Apple Bloom hollered back.

Big Mac didn’t even respond. He quickly ran to the ice chest and filled some buckets, the two quickly climbed the stairs and ran to Applejack’s bedside. Apple Bloom and Night Fury quickly began to spread ice all around her leg. Fortunately, the pain didn't last long as the cold ice calmed down her nerves.

“That oughta do it. How ya holdin’ up, sis?” Apple Bloom asked, concerned for her sister's health.

Applejack’s breathing began to steadily become more regular, and her facial expressions relayed the relief that she was now feeling.

“Ahhhhhhhhh,” she sighed, contently. “That feels much better!”

“Glad you're all good now, AJ. Sorry if I triggered the pain, I was just trying to keep your spirits up.” Fury said, feeling a little guilty for what he thought was something he started. The orange earth pony quickly shot that theory down.

“Fury, that wasn’t your fault by any lick o’ the word.” She said, reassuringly. “Ah understand you were wantin’ ta help me feel better. And ya have, you can’t do anything to hurt me.”

“AJ’s right. We all heard ya making her laugh to try and cheer her up. It's nothing to be worried about, you were just tryna make her have a good time.” Apple Bloom said.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac added. “And if’n anypony thinks otherwise, ya got us to back ya up.”

“By the way, I’m still safe from gettin’ targeted for a while, right?” Apple Bloom asked quietly, blushing as she did so. “N-not that I don’t want it ta happen, though.”

“For now, but just until I get around to it. Don’t think your little info dump will save your little brigade forever.” Fury said, slyly.

“I didn’t think it would, to be honest,” Apple Bloom giggled, sheepishly. “Sweetie Belle’s looking forward to your visit, too. Scootaloo… not so much.”

“Just about the same way your sisters reacted. Can't say I'm too surprised.” Fury chuckled. “Well, I'm glad you guys thought I was in the right here. I'm just doing what I can to make my friends laugh, and that's what I love to do. Well, besides Pinkie, of course.”

The Apple siblings had a good laugh at that statement. Fury chuckled too as he once again pulled out his list and crossed off the apple farmer.

“Target Down.”

Target Acquired: Twilight

It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. Birds were singing, kids were playing and a certain black feline was plotting something dastardly. Night Fury, a Speed Shifter and good friend to the well known Mane Six and princesses, was in his large house, planning his next stint of trickery. Though he never truly admits it (and honestly never has to with how often he does it), he loves to make trouble and give in to his cheeky childish thoughts. It helped him stay young. And with his most recent plan, he was on the verge of a massive spree.

Night Fury knew his friends very well, some saying almost too well. And with that came a trust that no other could acquire without months of effort. With his welcome presence in a multitude of ponies' lives, he's learned a lot of secrets from them. And while some were fairly tame, one similarity stuck out among them all when he moved to Equestria.

It seemed all ponies were extremely ticklish. And he was going to exploit it in every way he knew how, especially on his closest friends.

“Okay, everything is set up for my next leg of trickery. I know to some, this may come off as naughty. But hey, when your coat color brings along a legend that you're bad luck, why not put it to the test?” He said to himself as he put the last pin on his well put together target board. On this board sat pictures of all his closest friends surrounding a picture of himself, less prominent individuals spread out around the board. Each picture came with a set of information written on sticky notes such as daily walking patterns, house layouts and most importantly, the weak spots of the pony.

The “weak spots” weren’t places where he knew he could hurt them, he’d never do that to anycreature. However, he did know his friends were all insanely ticklish, some more than others. And he loved to laugh and make his friends laugh (probably only rivaled by Pinkie Pie).

Looking over his masterpiece of a mission board, he smiled to himself, congratulating his own efforts to make this plan so thorough. But now was not the time to admire his craft. It was the time to act.

“Okay, time to put this plan in motion. Now, who to target first?”

After a few minutes thought, he decided to sneak up on Twilight Sparkle.

“Grape Juice has been working hard all week. She could use a little break, whether she likes it or not. And… laughter IS the best medicine.” Fury said. With his target chosen, he took a red marker and circled Twilight's picture, solidifying his first attack.

“Target Acquired.”

–

A few minutes later, near Twilight's Castle…

Fury looked up at the castle from the path below, taking in the sheer size of the structure. Fury remembered the moment the chest that spawned from the Tree of Harmony sunk into the ground and grew into this castle after Tirek was defeated. It was a beautiful moment, both for the view of the new castle and Twilight finally breaking through the little identity crisis she was having as the newly crowned Princess of Friendship.

Though now was not the time to reminisce about the past, he had a job to do. Walking up to the front door, he snuck his way in and began making his way through the narrow halls of the castle.

Thanks to the color of his fur, he blended with the shadows all too well. He did have to dodge Starlight and Spike on his way through the castle, but they didn't notice him at all.

“That was close! Can’t let them spoil my fun,” he thought to himself, suppressing a childish giggle. “Now… where would Twilight be, right now?”

Remembering how much of a bookworm the mare is, he decided to head for the castle library. If she wasn’t there, the search would be much more difficult. Cracking the door open and peering in through the gap, his mischief tree bore a sweet purple fruit that was currently occupied reading a book on terrain manipulation.

“Oooh! That gives me an idea!” Fury thought to himself, a sly grin spreading across his lips. Taking the opportunity to slip inside, he slowly and quietly closed the door behind him and snuck his way around the massive piles of books stacked around the room. Fury always found it funny that with how orderly and neat Twilight was with acquiring and sorting data, she never seemed to care about how sloppy she could be if she was really into it.

“Well, I think that’s enough studying for now. Maybe some fiction will help me relax,” Twilight said to herself, as she finished her book and went to put it away. As she neared the book’s place on the shelf, she noticed a small black carpet-rug near where she was headed. She thought nothing of it, thinking Spike or Starlight had placed it there. As long as it didn’t harm her books, she didn’t mind. She made a mental note to ask them about it later though, just in case.

She took a few steps over the rug and calmly placed the book back where it was. She turned around to grab another, but she then came to find out that her hoof seemed to be stuck on this strange rug.

“Huh?” She said, surprised, giving her leg a few more tugs. “Was there glue on this? Tar maybe? How’d my hoof get stuck? And… where in Equestria did this carpet come from anyway?”

To answer her question, she did not have to call for anypony or consult a book. The carpet answered that for her.

“From the long lost world of Nunya Business, bookworm!”

“Nunya Business?” She repeated. “Never heard of it, maybe I have a book about… WAIT A MINUTE! I know that voice! Come on out, Night Fury.”

“With pleasure…” In one fell swoop, Fury snatched Twilight's leg from under her, tripping her up and got behind her.

“WOAHHHHH!” Twilight screamed.

“Surprise! Looks like that carpet wasn't all you thought it was!” Fury said with a chuckle.

“That’s for sure.” She replied, giggling. “What brings you here? No friendship issues, I hope. Although, if that is the case, you’ve come to the right place.”

“Oh no no, far from any problems. For I have snuck my way past your student and pseudo brother to bring a gift. A gift that all shall receive on my accord.” Fury said dramatically.

“Oooohhh!” Twilight giggled, clapping her hooves. “That’s very kind, thank you! What kind of gift is it? May I see it now, please?”

“Oh, this gift is very special, believe me. But it's not exactly what you think.” Fury explained. “I've recently come to the realization that you ponies have certain… sensitivities. And one of them I've come to experiment with. Now all I need to do for this is move my paws over here…”

He carefully moved his paws over to Twilight's rear hooves, her weak spot.

“Make contact aaaaaand… coochie coochie coo!”

“What?! Waihihihihihihihihihihihit!” Twilight screamed, realizing what he was doing. “GYAHHAHAHAHHHHAHHHAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!”

“How does that feel, Grape Juice?” The cat asked.

“AHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! IHIHIHHIHIHHIHIT TIHIHIHIHIHIHCKLES!” Twilight said, bellowing uncontrollable laughter.

“Well… that was my plan,” Night Fury chuckled. His toes scribbled over her rear hooves with vigor, getting to every part of it in a good stretch before he set his sights on her rather succulent looking wings.

“Ok, I think I’m gonna wing it now!” He quipped.

“What?! Nohohohohohohoohoho!” Twilight yelped, as he switched from tickling her hooves to her wings. She knew from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that Pegasus’ wings were particularly ticklish, and, somehow, her wings were even more so, making her reactions much more delightful for her attacker.

“Awww, look at all those wiggly movements. So tantalizing and cute. You're very smart, but not very strong, even for an alicorn.” Fury said.

“IHIHIHIM STILL TRYIHIHIHIHIHING TO GET MY STRENGTH UHUHUHUHUP!” She managed to squeak out through her laughing fit.

“Well… a strong mare wouldn’t be laughing like a fool. And, for some reason or another, I think you’re enjoying this. Are you, Grape Juice? Huh?” He teased her.

“NOHOHOHOHO!” She tried to get defensive about her feelings about this surprise tickle attack, but Night Fury could see right through her. Not that her already fragile state hid much from plain sight.

“I wonder how many times you received this treatment from Celestia when you were younger. Not to mention Shining Armor, Cadence, and your parents. I bet they absolutely adored tickling you crazy. Especially with how sweet the music of your laughter is.” Fury commented, which made her blush. “I thought so.”

“Okay okahahahahay, I admit it! It does feel a lihihihihitle good!” She squealed.

“Good, that's all I wanted to hear.” Fury said, satisfied with his efforts and finally letting off on his attack to give her some breathing room.

“(Gasp!)… (Gasp!) Wow! That… (gasp) was (gasp)… intense!” She said, trying to catch her breath. “You are an evil tickler, you know that?”

“Oh I know, but it's fun! It always makes me feel young whenever I start causing trouble.” Fury chuckled deviously.

“That’s for sure,” Twilight giggled. “Thank you, Fury. I didn’t realize how much I needed that today. I haven’t laughed that hard in a while.”

“Happy to oblige, my Princess.” Fury said, with a bow. Then, his strong hearing picked up the sound of rushing steps and two familiar voices heading this way.

“Nuts, looks like your nerd squad caught the noise. Okay look, I'm making a stretch to do everyone I know and get them good too, you're just my first target. Don't let them know what the deal is! Starlight's already on my list and the last thing I need is a potential opportunity getting blown. Can you keep things silent?” Fury asked quickly. Twilight now understood that this wasn't just some random occurrence nor an act of targeted mischief just towards her. He had a full operation going.

She now knew that he was in a league of his own, setting up every potential target with the best of his smarts to get them where they least expect it.

“I can keep a secret, I'll make sure that your operation is well kept under wraps. But before you disappear, I recommend heading for Canterlot. The other princesses are grouping up there tomorrow and that would be a golden opportunity for a three-for-one deal.” Twilight said.

“Thanks for the tip!” Fury stated happily.

“Before you leave, though, I’d like to ask something from you, in return.” She quickly added.

He turned his head back, a worried expression on his face.

“What would that be?” he asked.

“Another round. And soon, please.” She said with a smile.

Fury smiled back.

“I’ll put it on my to-do list. See you soon, Grape Juice!” He chuckled before leaving. Just as he left, the other door swung open, Spike and Starlight standing in the frame.

“Twilight! We heard you laughing like you'd lost your marbles, what's going on?” They asked.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” she answered, shaking her head, before adding a sly smile. “But I’m sure either one or both of you will find out soon enough.”

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Starlight asked, slightly afraid.

–

Night Fury soon returned home and got back to his mission board in his room. He looked up at the many pictures and began rearranging the three other princesses to be grouped together with a new picture of Canterlot Castle pinned next to them.

“Okay, now that I know these three will be in the same spot at once, I'll be able to narrow down a few things. Thanks to Twilight's brilliance, I can now take out three targets in one go. Looks like I'm headed for the big city tomorrow. But first, I have to make sure I have my information up to date.”

He then looked over to his picture of Twilight, took his red marker and crossed her out, indicating that she had been dealt with. Fury was proud that he managed to pull this off, all of his work coming together in one beautiful web of mischievous acts and friendly games. But he would get to sip on that sweet taste of victory later. For now, he had a trip to plan tomorrow and three new targets to take down. All thanks to Ponyville’s local bookworm.

“Target Down.”

Target Acquired: Cadence [1 Of 3]

It was the next morning on the train to Canterlot, ponies already starting to get the gears turning for the day ahead. And Night Fury was no different. If it weren't for his body practically forcing him to sleep, he would have been out the door at the crack of dawn. But, being a cat and all, he couldn't resist the thought of being lazy. He eventually did wake up and got some well deserved breakfast before heading back to his room on the train to check the journal he kept as a mini version of his planning board for on the go use.

“Alright, let's see here. Twilight: Already done and dealt with. Next up: The three other princesses. Let's see… let's go from youngest to oldest, that oughta be good.” Not to mention, buy me some time so other ponies in town don’t get too suspicious.” Fury said to himself.

He is and has been good friends with the elder princesses ever since they first met. They bonded over jokes and past experiences and the occasional bit of gossip. He may not be a mare, or a pony at all for that matter, but he had to admit, the drama was juicy around these parts. He had especially grown close to Cadence, not only because they were around the same age and had much in common, but by the fact that she was the one who gave him the chance to come and live in Equestria when he got an airdropped invitation to her wedding after the defeat and surprising reform of the Changelings and their queen.

“Never a dull moment here,” he said to himself. “Oh! Here already?! Time flies when you’re occupied.”

His train pulled into the station in Canterlot, allowing him to step off and take in the smell of the surroundings. Canterlot was much more on the high society side of things as this was the Capital of the nation. Many high ranking officials, celebrities and other well-known figures resided here. But there were only three that mattered to him as he walked along with his journal in paw, marking Cadence with a circle to confirm.

“Target Acquired.”

–

Princess Cadence had just retired to her room. It had been a long and stressful day, setting new trade deals, settling border disputes, among the many other duties of being royalty.

“Ugh! I feel so tight.” She whined, as she took off her regalia. “I wish Shining were here to help me relieve some of this tension. Perhaps a hot bath might help me think of something else to do in the meantime.”

Just then, she hears noises.

“OoOoOoOo…” The noises sounded ghostly and echoed.

“Who’s there?!” She yelled, summoning a rod to defend herself from a possible intruder.

“Be not afraid, young one. For I am but a friendly ghost. A ghost of childish delight and endearment.”

“And… how do I know I can trust you?” She asked, showing the benefit of the doubt, but still keeping her guard up. “Where are you?”

“I am nowhere. I am everywhere. I am what is and isn't. What is happy and what is sad. You say you have a certain tightness within you. Pain from the overabundance of work as a Royal figure perhaps?” The voice asked.

Now she was suspicious. Just who was in the room with her?

“And… you’re not trying to blackmail me, or anything?” She asked, cautiously.

“But of course not, my dear. Please, lay down your weapon. I am not armed, and I have no ill will towards you.” The voice answered. She did as she was asked and remained still, keeping a passive eye on the darker areas of the room. Meanwhile, below the bed she was now sitting on, Fury was trying his best to not laugh and give away his position.

“Man, this ghost trick is working beautifully. Alright, time to make my move.” He whispered, continuing the facade.

“So, my ghostly roommate, what exactly brings you into the mortal realm?” Cadence asked, keeping her guard up. “If you aren’t here to attack, why have you come? And what do you want with me, exactly?”

“Why, I have come on my own accord to give you relief. You see, in a previous life, I was a fan favorite for my experience in making ponies laugh. I was known as the best friend everyone wanted and needed. And I believe you are another that requires my expertise, even in the afterlife.” The voice said, its “physical form” now climbing up behind Cadence and setting its appendages next to her sides.

“Ooookaaaay. But… what’s that got to do with me? I’m still confused.” She stated, now tense and afraid. “Why do I have the feeling that you’re going to jump me?”

“Oh, I am, Cady. Just not in the way you expected!” And just like that, Fury was on her and giving her the works..

“GYAAHHAHAHAHA!!” She screamed, as he began tickling her hips. Thankfully the room was soundproofed. Pinkie Pie could’ve done her one-pony-band routine in the room, and no other patrons would’ve heard a sound.

“WAHAHAHAHAIT A MINUTE! FURY, IT'S YOUHUHUHUHUHUHU!”

“Yes indeed,” he chuckled. “And you’re still just as ticklish as I remember.”

He hopped off of Cadence and took a seat in a nearby chair, allowing the Alicorn to catch her breath.

“You're no ghost… you little… sneak…” She huffed.

“Of course not. I’m alive as can be.” He said with a chuckle. “Now… I heard you say that you felt tight. Did that loosen you up a bit?”

Cadence stretched out her muscles, slightly. She was surprised to find out that she did, indeed, feel loosened up.

“I… do feel an improvement.” she admitted. “But it's not as much as a full massage.”

“Well then, looks like you'll need something a little more intense. Say, where do you feel the most tight?” Fury asked.

“I'd say around my chest and my tummy. I've been holding back a lot of my strength with how… infuriating some of this job can be.”

“Fair enough. Please, allow me to ease some of that tension for you.” Fury stated, as he sat himself next to her stomach. Then he noticed the look in her eyes. “Don’t worry. I intend to give you the best massage I can, it might tickle a bit in places, but I’ll be as gentle as I can. I promise.”

Cadence took a deep breath, then nodded her affirmation before allowing herself to relax. After which Fury began his work, finding the tight areas in her stomach and gently kneading them to release the pressure. Cadence groaned as he did his work, releasing a few giggles when he hit the more ticklish parts on her stomach.

“Starting to feel better?” Fury asked.

“Yes, I- EEP!” Cadence tried to answer, when he hit a particularly sweet spot on her stomach.

“Sorry.” he apologized.

“No, no! It’s okay,” she reassured him. “This is helping a lot…(sighs deeply)… I’m starting to feel a lot better.”

“Good.”

…

“Because I'm done playing nice. Kitchi kitchi koo!”

“What?! Waihihihihihit!” Cadence attempted to say, before falling apart in her giggles yet again.

“That never gets old,” Fury said to himself. “Come on, Cady, you know me. I never let an opportunity to mess with you go to waste, and this is no different.”

He began to tickle her hips mercilessly as he said this. She couldn’t tell whether or not he was attempting a pun, but regardless, it was pretty funny.

“FURYHEHEHEHEHE! Stop it! HAHAHAHAHA! I’M GONNA WEHEHEHEHEHET THE BEHEHEHEHEHEHED!” the pink Alicorn pleaded.

“Uh oh! Don’t want that.” Fury panicked, abruptly ending the tickling.

Cadence made a mad dash to the bathroom, but returned shortly thereafter. Crisis averted.

“I apologize for that, Cadence.” Fury apologized. “I hope I didn’t go too far.”

“No no, it’s okay.” Cadence reassured him. “I can’t tell you how many times Auntie Celestia did the same to me when I was a filly. Shining’s even tickled me to that point once or twice, Twilight too. So, it’s nothing that I’m not accustomed to.”

“I see.” he said. “So… are you feeling better?”

She nodded, affirmingly. Then she began to stretch her legs again, and a yawn escaped her lips.

“That was very fun,” Cadence stated. “But… (yawn) I think it’s time to hit the hay. You’re more than welcome to stay the night, if you want. I have plenty of room, and I’d be happy with some company. Shining and Flurry are away on a Daddy/Daughter trip.”

“I’d be happy to. Thank you.” the cat stated.

And after arranging enough soft pillows and blankets on the bed, the two laid themselves down for the evening.

“So… who else have you tickled recently?” Cadence asked curiously.

“Only Twilight and you, so far.” Fury admitted. “Although, I do plan on getting Celestia and Luna while I’m here. And, when I return to Ponyville, get the rest of my friends, and… possibly a few others.”

“Sounds like fun.” Cadence stated. “(yawn) Good night, Fury.”

“Good night, Cadence,” Fury said. But before he fell asleep, he quietly got out his journal and crossed Cadence off, taking one more off the list.

“Target Down. 1 Down, 2 to go.”

Target Acquired: Luna [2 Of 3]

The Next Morning…

The sun rose over Canterlot with a brilliant shine of orange-red. While there might not have been as many birds chirping their songs in the big city, the silent warmth of the coming day was enough to serenade the masses into waking up. In the castle above, a pair of good friends were still sleeping. Princess Cadence, the Princess of Love and Night Fury, Speed Shifters and current tickle expert.

After having a successful session with his pink pony pal, he was well on his way to giving all of his Equestrian friends the good tickle treatment. And today was no different, for today, a certain moon pony was on his drowsy mind.

The black cat silently stretched out his limbs and licked his chops, looking around at the room. Having spent the night cuddled up with Cadence in her room, he was currently tangled in a web of hooves and wings that kept him very still. But, he had to get up. He was ready to take on the day and more importantly, he had another victim to catch.

He tried to squirm his way out of his friend's grasp, but she tightened up and nuzzled into his chest fur. She seemed to enjoy his company.

“Okay,” Fury said to himself, “as sweet as this is, I do have a schedule to keep. And I know just the way to wake up Lovebird, here.”

With a smug grin, he stretched his paws out to the base of her wings, and gently wiggled his toes to begin tickling her. Her reaction was explosive, as he expected, and Cadence let out a very loud squeal while wiggling in ticklish glee. Once again, Night Fury was thankful the castle's rooms were soundproof, or else a certain royal advisor would have an ear full of reprimand for him.

“Furehehehehehehehey! Why did you wake me up like thihihihihihihis!?” She asked as Fury took the opportunity to slip through her loose grip and get away.

“Because you seemed to like keeping me hugged close to you like a teddy bear. Seriously, with the way you practically dug your muzzle into my chest fur, I'd have thought you were in the mood for dumping Shining for me.” Fury said, eliciting a horrified gasp from the married mare in the room.

“How dare you! I am nothing but loyal to my dear Shiny! You have no right to say we would ever separate when you can't even build up the courage to ask out a bug!” Cadence said, a little too bluntly as she quickly covered her mouth and gave Fury a wide-eyed look of regret as he eyed her like a skeptical salespony looking at a teen trying to buy a new furniture set.

“Wow. A little too deep of a cut, eh?” Fury said.

“Eeyup!” Cadence replied, in a perfect impression of Big Mac. “Sorry about that. Admittedly, I get a little… too defensive over my love for my husband. It's almost impulsive.”

“No biggie. I mean, you're the Princess of Love, Cady. You are the embodiment of everything that has to do with love. The nerves of the first date, the sweaty hooves at the first kiss, the oh so tingly butterflies in your tummy when you finally make the connection. It's all what you represent. Although, I'm sure there are… other parts of love you represent not so openly~” Fury said, smirking a devilish look.

“Oh you dirty feline! You should be ashamed of yourself, talking about such risque topics! How scandalous.” Cadence said in a mock disgust.

“Oh please, when have you ever known me to shy away from a joke or be ashamed of saying it?” Fury asked as he walked into the bathroom for a shower. Cadence opened her mouth to return an answer, but then she realized he had her there. He was no slouch when it came to capitalizing on a possible joke.

“Anyway… who do you plan to tickle next? Auntie Tia or Auntie Luna?” Cadence asked, changing the subject.

“Well, I'm going from youngest to oldest, so Luna's next. But it isn't as easy as you think. We're talking about the same pony that has seen my dreams on the constant. She could know I'm coming already as we speak! So, I have to be ready for anything. But Celestia should be easy to deal with.” Fury said, getting the pink princess’ attention.

“Really? The older of the two is easier?” Cadence pondered aloud as she took the time to brush her coat.

“She may be older than Luna, but she seems to be more oblivious to tricks and schemes nowadays. Perhaps all the time Discord has gotten under her skin has sort of made her numb to catching sneaky tricks since she's had such bold attempts made on her so many times.”

“Well… that might be true…” Cadence admitted. “But, she did wield the Element of Laughter prior to Twilight and her friends. That might have something to do with it, too.”

“Heh, I can only imagine. You think the Element of Laughter is why Pinkie is so wacky all the time?” Fury asked, making his exit from the bathroom with a good cloud of steam and a towel around his neck to boot. Cadence looked over and saw his mostly damp form, drops of water rolling over his rather athletic body and the steam making his fur shiny. All of this combined with his half-lidded expression and side glare made her turn a particularly bright shade of red.

“Quite possibly,” she said, attempting to keep from giggling. “With that mare, you never know.”

“Cadence, don't think I didn't see you blush right then. What? Do I look… Delicious?” He purred. At that statement, Cadence collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“Bahahahahaha! You are terrible!” She squealed through fits of giggles.

“Well, I do have a way of making things break down.” Fury said as he reached for his bags and grabbed his journal. Flipping to Luna's picture, he circled her with red and claimed her as his next target.

“Target Acquired.”

–

Luna was lying on her bed, quietly crying to herself. While joining Shining Armor on his rounds the night before, a member of the guard made an off-hoof comment about her time as Nightmare Moon. He didn’t know that she’d overheard him, but Shining did. Although he promised he’d handle it and told her not to worry, she couldn’t help reminiscing about who she used to be.

“It seems I won’t ever escape her shadow,” Luna sobbed. “Oh, how I wish Tia or Twilight were here… (sniffle)… I could really use a friend, right now.”

In the shadows around her room, a figure of feline descent watched in heartache as she bawled her eyes out at her grievances. Night Fury had been made aware of Luna's past only a few times in conversation with Celestia herself, her words being very vague as the mental toll on her was just as drastic being the one having to do the banishing. But even though the very odd wording of the stories told, he was able to piece together that things were very difficult back then for both ends.

“Will I ever be free from her?” Luna asked, rhetorically. “Why must I deal with this alone, right now?”

“Who says you’re alone, right now?” Another voice asked, startling her.

“Who is there!? Show yourself!” She commanded.

“No need to fret, Luna. I'm just a friend coming to help. You said you wished for a friend, correct?” The voice asked. Luna was now more curious than startled as she began conversation with the strange being.

“Yes… who are you?” She asked.

“You will find that out soon. But first, I must address your woes. You seem to be contemplating your worth after becoming Nightmare Moon. A back-hooved comment, perhaps?”

“How’d you guess?” Luna asked, sarcastically, before continuing to cry. “And how exactly do you plan to help me? Who are you? Please, show yourself.”

“That requires that you give me your undivided attention and trust. Can you do that for me?” The voice asked. Luna was still skeptical about this mystery helper, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“I s-suppose I could. What do you require from me?” She asked.

“Just for you to lie on your back and close your eyes. Only then can I truly help you.”

“V-very w-well,” Luna stuttered, wiping some tears away as she adjusted to the stranger’s request. Once she was comfortable, she took a slow, deep breath before shutting her eyes. “You may fire when ready.” she exhaled.

“Okay then… Ready or not, here I come!” Within a few seconds a large amount of pressure dropped onto Luna's belly. But before she could even wonder what it was, a tingling feeling replaced the pressure accompanied by a now familiar voice.

“Wait! Waahhihihihiihit!” She squealed. “Fuhuhuhuryhehehehehehe you johohohohohohkherhehrherhehreh!”

“It amazes me that you ponies never seem to get used to this side of me,” he stated, ending his assault.

“Try comparing that statement with Pinkie Pie, the embodiment of the word ‘impossible’,” Luna countered.

“Touché,” Fury calmly replied. “By the way, did that help cheer you up, any?”

“A little,” Luna said, quietly, with a smile. Her cheeks turned red because she was a little embarrassed to admit it.

“Mind if I continue?” he asked, specifically looking at her hooves, hopeful that she’d agree. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

She nodded and put them in his lap, stammering as she remembered just how sensitive her hooves are. But that didn’t stop her from going through with it.

Fury then incapacitated her hooves by gently wrapping and securing them in his tail. He then removed her slippers, and began to gently stoke his paws up and down her frogs, causing Luna to start giggling uncontrollably. She placed her forehooves over her lips to try and conceal her laughter, and was just barely succeeding.

“That’s it, that’s it,” Fury encouraged her. “Just keep giggling.”

He then noticed a few of Luna’s feathers on the floor, nearby. He picked them up and used them on the Princess’s hooves.

This caused Luna to explode in gleeful laughter. She’d always been feather ticklish, a fact that Celestia and her pet Phoenix, Philomena, had taken advantage of ever since their fillyhood.

“BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!” Luna screamed with laughter.

“Jackpot!” Fury thought to himself, quickening the pace at which the feathers were caressing. This continued for another twenty minutes before Luna finally broke.

“BLUEBERRY!” She finally screamed.

Fury ceased the tickling and released her immediately. Luna and Fury had become fairly close over his time in Equestria, so close that whenever they were having fun or messing around, they came up with a safe world just in case things were getting out of hoof. He then stepped back to look at the mess he’d made of the Princess of the Night.

“So… feel any better?” He asked.

“Much…” she breathlessly answered, still trying to regulate her breathing and giggling.

“I knew that’d work,” Fury said, with a smile. “By the way, when will Celestia be free next? Because she’s my next target.”

“Give me a few hours. I’ll get you an audience with her,” Luna said, happily. “I saw in her dreams last night that the Canterlot Elite have been particularly stressful for her recently. I’m sure she’d welcome some ‘Playtime’.”

“As would I.” Fury said with a smile. Saying goodbye, he left the princesses room and tipped an invisible hat to her guards. They mostly knew the drill when it came to his pranks, leaving the princesses alone and not bothering them while he ‘Did his work’. It had basically become an unwritten protocol among both the day and night guard. Either way, he still had one more to hit. And this one, was going to me the biggest prize of them all.

Pulling his journal out, he crossed off Luna's photo and prepared for his next move.

“Target Down. 2 Down, 1 to go!”

Target Acquired: Celestia [3 Of 3]

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!”

Target Acquired: Fluttershy

It was late in the night in Ponyville. Lights were off, crickets and owls made their tunes heard under the moon’s silver glow and one last train was pulling in for the night. After a long day of tickling and random shenanigans, Night Fury was ready to hit the sack and think of his next strategy in his dreams. Stepping off the platform and onto the dirt, he made a slight run before jumping into the air and turning into an owl himself.

Thanks to his ability to turn into any animal he desired, he was afforded multiple advantages when it came to his everyday life. Chameleon for camouflage, sharks and fish for underwater travel, bugs for smaller operations in the wild. But for tonight, the silent flight of an owl was perfect for gliding above the town without disturbing anyone.

He'd made the mistake of using his powers during the night only once, and while it was received as an innocent slip up, it was a very embarrassing moment to figure out just how heavy his species slept. Luckily, he had a work around and used it to his needs whenever necessary.

Gliding down towards his house, he landed at his front door and unlocked it as he walked in with a yawn. His house was relatively quiet outside of the odd hoot or chirp, but he liked it that way as it allowed his mind to roam without much difficulty. Walking up to his room, he set his bags aside and put his journal back on his desk as he went back to his much more detailed planning board.

“Okay, back at home base. Got the four princesses in the bag, now I can get back to local hits. Next up on the list… Fluttershy!” He said with a determined feeling.

“Now, how to get at her? I know for a fact that I'll need to be careful with her, she is a gentle soul after all. But what to do with my technique…”

Then he remembered something he’d overheard/witnessed on his flight. He saw Fluttershy leaving Rarity’s boutique and overheard her saying something about their next spa visit being tomorrow and something about her desperately needing to get her hooves done.

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect,” he said with a smile. “And… who knows? Maybe this’ll add a bit more cheerfulness to her day. I guess my plans are set then. But first… time for me to catch some Z’s.” He yawned, circling the yellow pegasus before hopping in bed and lazily saying…

“Target Acquired.”

–

The Next Day…

After a good night's rest and a bit of breakfast, Fury was back out and about in Ponyville. During his walk to Fluttershy’s cottage, he saw Twilight going through her usual affairs. Passing by, he saw a wink come in his general direction. He smiled and went on his way, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this little plan may bloom into something more.

Could my little pranks be making something happen between me and my friends? Something more than just a usual friendship? Something… romantic?

He wondered about the possible outcomes of this little escapade, but just laughed it off.

Come on, we may be friends, but that doesn't mean we're going that far. Besides, a lot of them just aren't my type. Maybe finding somepony else would be a good idea. Might have to catch Cadence up on that discussion.

He thought to himself as he walked out past town and towards the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. It didn’t take him long to reach a little cottage right on the edge of said forest, the place he knew Fluttershy called home.

Hope she’s not too busy, right now. Well, here goes nuthin’. Wait… what’s that?

He noticed a feather of orange and scarlet stuck in the cracks of the small bridge leading to the house. It didn’t take him long to realize it was a phoenix feather. He knew that Celestia’s pet Phoenix, Philomena, had taken quite a liking to Fluttershy since they’d met, and Fluttershy enjoyed the phoenix’s company just as much. He smirked as he hid the feather under his tummy, and continued to the cottage. Once he reached the front door and gave three quick knocks. He didn’t have to wait long for an answer, as Fluttershy opened the door just seconds later.

“Oh! Night Fury,” she giggled, happily. “What a pleasant surprise. Come on in.”

Fury happily walked in. “Hey Flutters, I just figured I’d stop by and say hello.”

“That’s very kind of you,” The pegasus replied. “I was just about to fix myself a small salad. Can I offer you some milk, or anything?”

“That does sound appetizing, right now. Thank you.” he replied. As the yellow pegasus disappeared, Fury racked his mind on when to start his plan.

“I could get at her during a conversation, but I want to play nice for a while. Probably after a few snacks and a chat. I haven't seen her in a while, so I'll give her the pleasure of giving her some company before I execute my attack.”

A few minutes later, Fluttershy returned with a tall glass of milk for her guest and a few cat treats. Some would say that her bringing him cat treats would be a bit offensive, but he actually liked them. Then she went back and retrieved her salad and brought it to join him.

“So… what have you been up to lately?” Fluttershy asked, casually, as she began eating her salad. “I haven’t seen you in a while. I’ve been meaning to come visit you.”

“Oh y'know, just being me. I've mostly been helping my mom get her business up and running. She's thinking about starting a hybrid restaurant/bakery to show off her skills.” He explained, digging into the treats.

“Oooh. I bet Pinkie would love that,” Fluttershy said. “I actually just got back from the Spa with Rarity. I needed a bit of relaxation, the animal care this week was rather… strenuous, to say the least.”

“Angel getting a bit huffy again? I can give him a spook to set him straight if you need me to.” Fury said.

“Oh no, not him,” she giggled. “He didn’t do anything necessary for that. It’s more like… everything, everywhere, all at once, if you know what I mean. I ended up slightly injuring one of my hooves during that hustle and bustle, but it was nothing a hooficure couldn’t fix.”

“Oh you poor thing, that sounds terrible. But I'm glad you got that fixed up quickly.” Fury said with a comforting smile.

Okay, now might be the time to make my move. And as a bonus, I can make her forget about that little mishap. Win win!

“So… umm… was there anything you wanted to do here? Anything you want to talk about?” Fluttershy offered. “I… don’t really have any ideas for what else to do, right now. Sorry.”

“That’s fine. And yes, I do have something that I’d like to do.” he replied.

“Ohhh, goodie!” she said with a smile. “What is it, exactly?”

He hopped up on her couch and beckoned her to sit next to him, which she did. He then asked her to place her hooves in his lap. She raised a confused eyebrow at this request, but she complied nevertheless. He then proceeded to wrap his tail around her legs, tight enough so that she couldn’t get away but loose enough to be comfortable.

“Umm… Night Fury?” Fluttershy said, starting to get worried. “W-what are you g-gonna do?”

“I’m going to tickle you.” He replied.

“Huh?!” She replied, blushing.

“Sure! Laughter is a great stress reliever,” he replied. “I know just as much as Pinkie Pie how much laughter can relieve almost anything. And… I found this in your yard.”

He then revealed the Phoenix feather to her, making her smile at the memory of Philomena’s recent visit. Fluttershy took a few deep breaths before nodding her approval and lying back down on her couch.

“Okay, Fluttershy. If it gets to be too much, just say ‘Blueberry’, and I’ll stop. Sound good?” Fury asked, for reassurance that she’d be okay. She nodded, and he then began to slowly swish the feather back and forth across her hooves. The mare squealed like a pig before placing her hooves over her lips and blushing in embarrassment. The giggles bubbling up in her belly just begging to be released.

Fury smiled at this and after a few minutes, decided to switch things up a bit. He began to only tickle her right hoof with the feather and tickle the other one with his paw. This caused Fluttershy to let out some real laughs.

“Gyahahhahahahahahaah! Fury, that tickles hahahahahahahah!” Fluttershy said through her laughter.

“Good, it’s supposed to.” he said with a smile.

He continued this technique for about five minutes before switching hooves, causing Fluttershy to start laughing even more hysterically.

“NOHOHOHOHHOOHHOOHOHOHO!” She screamed, once he’d made the switch.

“That never gets old.” Fury thought, with a smile.

After another five minutes like this, he went back to tickling both of her hooves with the feather. Fluttershy tried every maneuver she could think of to break away from the tickly feather, but she was unable to do so. She finally broke after a whole hour of the maddening gentle tickles.

“Hahahhahahahhahahaha! BLUEBERRY!” She squealed.

True to his word, Fury removed the feather and let her go. He took a moment to relish the giggling mess he’d made of the shy Pegasus. The blush on her cheeks just made her giggles that much sweeter to him.

“You look cute like that, ya know?” He told her. “And your giggles are always music to my ears.”

“Hehehe… thanks, hehehe.” Fluttershy said, attempting to calm herself down. “That was fun, Fury. Thank you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” he replied, with a bow. The gesture made her giggle, again. “By the way, you really should laugh more often. Your laughter is simply divine.”

“Maybe I should come visit you after every time I go to the spa.” she said, with a sly grin. “Rarity and I get our hooves done every visit. It’d be the perfect time to do it.”

“Careful,” he countered. “I just might take you up on that.”

“That’s the idea.” She giggled, setting herself upright. “So, am I your only target?”

“Nah, I've gotten Twilight, Cadence, Luna and Celestia before you, and I don't intend on stopping here.” Fury said cheerfully.

“Well, I wish you luck in your crusade of tickling. It was nice seeing you again.” Fluttershy said.

“You too, Fluttershy. But I have to ask you to keep this under wraps, I wouldn't want anypony on my list to know I'm coming. Can you do that for me?” Fury asked.

The yellow pegasus nodded. “Nopony will know your plan. I'll keep it to myself, I Pinkie Promise!” She said, doing the usual signs to signify her loyalty.

“Good, I'll be off then. I'll catch you later!” Fury said, waving to his friend as he left. He pulled out his list and, once again, crossed off another victim.

“Target Down.”

Target Acquired: Pinkie Pie

Later on in the day…

Fury was having a walk around town after his little get together with Fluttershy, looking for his next target and thinking about how to execute his plan this time. With nothing coming to mind, he decided to stop off for a little snack at Sugarcube Corner. He’d heard that there was a sale going on for half off a baker’s dozen cupcakes, so he seized the opportunity to grab something sweet.

Walking down the street towards the small bakery, he heard something from the upper levels. It sounded like a pony he knew.

Sounds like Pinkie’s upstairs, and she doesn't sound happy. Something must be wrong.

Not wanting to leave a friend in a bad state, he used his claws to scale the outside of the building until he got up to one of the windows to Pinkie's room. Staying out of sight, he listened in on a conversation that she was having with Gummy, her toothless pet alligator.

“She was such a big meanie pants, Gummy.” Pinkie sobbed. “I did everything right and it still went wrong.”

This was followed with even more sobbing.

Oh no, Pinkie must have gotten tangled with a bad sport. Ugh, what's with ponies feeling so entitled just because they're the one handing the bits over? There's still a thing called respect, people!

Fury thought about how he could help her before realizing he had her on his list.

Well well well, looks like I found my next target. And just like Fluttershy, this'll be a win-win since I'll be cheering her up after a bad day! But no sneaking in this time, I'll do this the regular way. Now seems like the time to be sincere rather than cheeky.

He dropped back down to ground level and pulled out his journal, circling Pinkie's picture. “Looks like I've got another bit of friendly therapy to get to.” He said, walking inside to get his plan in motion.

“Target Acquired.”

–

Fury rang the counter bell a few times and waited for someone to answer, taking the time to browse the display case for his potential order.

“Hello, Deary.” a female voice greeted. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner. How may I help you, today?”

“Hey Mrs. Cake, I was wondering where Pinkie was today. Figured I'd stop by for a chat and a snack.” Fury said, hoping to get her closer.

Hearing Pinkie’s name, Mrs. Cake hung her head in sadness.

“Today was… particularly rough for the poor dear. We had some out-of-town ponies here and… they were… very… belittling to her, to put it lightly,” the mare admitted, sadly.

“Huffy customers, huh? Yeah, I can understand. Well, I'd like to cheer her up and talk to her. Is she here?” He asked, keeping Mrs. Cake in the dark about his real plans.

“She’s up in her room, Deary.” Mrs. Cake said. “She doesn’t really want to talk to us about it, but perhaps you’ll have more luck. You have a knack at making others happy, probably only rivaled by Pinkie, herself.”

“Trust me, Mrs. Cake, I have a plan that will have her like her old self again.” Fury said, giving her a wink before ascending the staircase to find Pinkie.

“Night Fury! Hold on a moment!” Mrs. Cake called out.

Fury came to a halt, and gave Mrs. Cake a questioning look. A few moments later, she came over to him and handed him a box with a fresh batch of a baker’s dozen doughnuts.

“On the house,” she whispered. “I’m sure it’ll help, Pinkie.”

Fury gave her a smile and kept on his way to find his friend. Getting to the top of the stairs, he had no trouble finding Pinkie's room with her very decorated door. Knocking a few times, he made his presence known.

“Hey Pinkie, it's me.”

“Wh-who’s me? I… (sniff)… I thought all of my clones were gone.” she asked,

“Come on, Strawberry mane, who do you know that has unbeatable style and speed?” Fury said, hoping she'd get the picture.

“Rainbow Dash and Rarity?” She wondered aloud, shooting Fury's ego right where it hurt as he deadpanned.

“Besides them…” He said a bit more plainly.

He heard a small thud, and then the clip-clop of her hooves approaching the door. She opened it slightly, and then fully when she saw her guest.

“Ohh! (Sniff)… Hi, Night Fury. Umm… c-c’mon in,” she said, stepping aside. Fury let himself in with the baker’s dozen on his back as Pinkie closed the door behind him.

“Hey Pinkie, you seem a bit down. What's up? Another prank banana peel slip you up?” He said, seeing if the joke would work.

“Not exactly, Fury.” She said, solemnly, much to his dismay. “An out-of-town customer said some pretty belittling things about me, today. It…(sniffs)… hit me rather hard.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Cake told me what happened. Listen, I've got this baker's dozen she gave me. Wanna share? Might cheer you up.”

She gave him a sad smile before nodding her agreement, selecting a strawberry cream-filled doughnut from the batch. She had to admit, as sad as she was right now, she felt better having him here.

“So… um, what’ve you been up to lately?” Pinkie asked. “Hopefully something a bit more cheerful than my recent experience.”

“Well, I just helped Fluttershy with her little mishap not too long ago. Left her a lot happier than she was before.” Fury explained, digging into a raspberry filled doughnut.

“Well, that’s good.” Pinkie said, after taking a bite of her blueberry doughnut. “I could sense something was off about her, I just couldn’t put my hoof on what exactly. How were you able to help her, exactly?”

“Let's just say, I used some patented… ‘Physical Therapy’. Say, what was this out of towner wearing?” Fury asked. Pinkie quirked an eyebrow at that question, but obliged with a description that made everything make sense. Sunglasses, golden earrings, buffed hooves and a ring around one of her feathers.

“Oof, you must have run into a Manehattan mare. And a married one too. Those types of mares always seem to be more puffed up in the chest, like they feel a certain sense of high authority. Rarity has told me stories and I've seen them myself. Whoever she's married to, goddess help him… or her, you can never be too sure. Just look at Lyra and Bon Bon.”

“Mm-hrmm,” Pinkie nodded, before sniffling again, trying to hold back her tears.

“Hey, look at me. Don't let that mare tell you how useful you are. Not only are you the world's best party planner and a good baker, you’re the Element of Laughter! You have everything under your belt that ponies could only wish for! Planning a wedding for a princess, saving the world tons of times, throwing legendary parties and so much more! Who says just because one sale went wrong that you don't have anything to be proud of?” Fury encouraged.

More tears came to Pinkie’s eyes, but not from sadness, this time. They were tears of joy for a friend reminding her of who she really is. Sometimes, you just need that from someone.

“Umm…” Pinkie stated. “Was a little ‘Snack Time’ pep talk the only thing you planned to help cheer me up? Just out of curiosity. It is working, I assure you.”

“Ohoho no, this isn't all I've got, my Pink Pony Pal.” Fury said, growing a cheeky smile. “Okay, in order for this to work, I need you to lay down. Trust me, this'll work a treat.”

Pinkie nodded, and she laid down on her back, trying to make herself comfortable. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what he was planning.

“Okay, there we go. Now just hold still.” Fury joined her and scanned her up and down. Seeing her ripe and plump tummy perfectly exposed, he smiled and raised his paws.

“Uh oh!” Pinkie said in feign fright, her eyes widening as she realized what he was about to do.

“Coochie coochie coo!” Fury dove into Pinkie's belly and started tickling her.

Pinkie placed her forehooves over her lips, attempting to keep herself from laughing hysterically. Her bubbly ticklish giggles just begged for her to release them.

“Oh come on, don't hide it, Pinkie. You're the Element of Laughter, remember? No need to try and hold back, just let that snort laugh loose!” Fury teased, finally breaking the pink pony’s limits.

“GYAAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAH!” Pinkie laughed uncontrollably. “FURHRHRHRHRHREEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEEHEHEE!”

“That's it, let it go! This is exactly what you need to do! Don't let the bad stuff hold you down, just let go.” Fury pushed on.

“AAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! My tummy hurts! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Pinkie wailed in ticklish bliss, as Fury hit every single sweet spot on her body.

“OKAY OKAHAHAHAHAY, I'VE HAD ENOUGH! PLEHEHEHEASE, LET ME GO!” Pinkie finally screamed.

“As you wish,” Fury acknowledged, ending his attack and standing back to look at the giggling, ticklish, mess he’d made of Pinkie.

“Hehehehe... (gasp). Hehehehehehe….” Pinkie breathed heavily, intoxicated by her own laughter.

“So, how do you feel, my little tickle toy?” Fury chuckled.

“Much better,” Pinkie admitted, pulling him in for a hug. “Thank you, Fury. Thanks for caring and being such a great friend.”

“Not a problem, Pinkie. Happy to help.” He said, returning the gesture. “Now that I've got you dealt with, I can look for my next target.”

Fury pulled out his journal and showed Pinkie his list.

“Wowie zowie, you've got nearly everypony in town here!” She said excitedly, looking through the list.

“You bet, and I'm gonna let you pick my next target to tickle. I'm gonna close my eyes and flip through the pages. You tell me where to stop, and that's my next target.”

Pinkie took a look at all the names that showed up, before placing her hoof down on his paw at the name she was looking for.

“There! That one!” She said, gleefully.

Fury opened his eyes, and his mouth widened into a really cheeky grin when he saw the name: Rainbow Dash!

“And what a juicy target you chose! She always says she doesn't like ponies touching her hooves, now I get to figure out why.” Fury said.

“Plus, to be honest…” Pinkie said, looking around before continuing in a whisper. “Her pranks lately have been getting on everypony’s last nerve, including mine. It’s time she gets what’s coming to her. But… you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Hey, you're not the only one with a bone to pick with our resident aerial athlete. Remember what happened last week?” Fury said with a shudder.

“Oooh, the time she swapped your shampoo for pink fur dye?” Pinkie asked, begrudgingly.

“Bingo. Ponies were calling us twins all week before I got Zecora to work up a removal potion! Now, I get to have my revenge. And it starts now.” Fury said, flipping back to Pinkie's page and crossing her off.

“Target Down.”

Target Acquired: Rainbow Dash

Pinkie Pie and Night Fury both awoke early the next day. As worn out as they were from the tickle play the night before, they were abuzz as bees when the sun arose.

“Hmmm… Say, Fury? How do you propose we do this?” Pinkie questioned, referring to their planned tickle attack on Rainbow Dash. “I mean, I want vengeance on Dashie as much as you do, but I don’t want to be cruel to her.”

“Ah, don’t worry. We won’t.” Fury reassured her, scooting out of the sleeping bag he'd been given. “Besides, I thought out everything already. I have an entire planning board back home, so I've had this in the works for a while. Every possibility is at my claws’ grasp, and I know exactly how to do it. Fluttershy's gonna help too, so she'll be a big help too.”

“Ooooooh! I like that,” Pinkie said, happily. “I’m gonna go tell her to bring that Phoenix feather that you used on her. I’ll be right back!”

Pinkie was out the door before Fury could even blink. He had so many questions.

“Did she just take off faster than me? And… I never mentioned the Phoenix feather to her. How’d she know about that?” Fury asked himself. He eventually shrugged it off as Pinkie being Pinkie as he got up to start the day. A shower, breakfast jelly doughnut, and teeth brushing session later, Fury was ready to get his plan under way as he got his journal and circled the blue pegasus.

“Target Acquired.”

–

10:30 AM…

Fluttershy and Pinkie had already made it to Cloudsdale thanks to Twilight's balloon and a temporary cloud walking spell for the pink earth pony. They took a bit of a tour around the city to see what was new and even got to see a new rainbow being made. Though one pony was less thrilled than the other as she began to have flashbacks of her bad experience with rainbows due to knowing what they tasted like, oddly enough.

Soon enough, the black cat caught up to them thanks to his falcon form and transformed back to his usual self, not falling through the clouds much to his friends’ shock.

“Wow, Twilight gave you the ability to walk on clouds too!?” Pinkie asked, but she was quickly proven wrong.

“No magic needed, my powers do all the work. My energy is based on electricity, and my power gives off a negative charge compared to the natural positive charge of the cloud’s static electricity. So, think of it as two magnets facing each other with the same poles pointing together.” Fury explained.

Pinkie’s mouth dropped agape, and Fluttershy collapsed in a fit of giggles at Pinkie's astonishment.

“Yeah yeah, it's a whole lot of science gobbledygook that I couldn't bear to explain in full, but I basically can walk on clouds like any other pegasus no problem. Now, I heard on the way up that RD is supposed to be getting back from Wonderbolts drills in a few minutes, so we'll have to be ready for her to show up.” Fury said in a whisper.

His friends saluted, and quickly found hiding places. They’d remain there until Fury gave them the signal.

Rainbow Dash walked into her house, a few minutes later. She’d worked real hard at her training session today, and was reading to relax with a mug of cider and some Daring Do.

“Maybe I should shower first,” She thought. “I did work rather hard, and I am kinda stiff.”

She went and turned on the water and let it get nice and hot, which relaxed her stiff muscles. After she did a thorough cleaning, she went back into her living area, grabbed the book and her cider, and went back to the couch.

“I still can’t believe Egghead got me into this.” Rainbow chuckled to herself.

She wondered if she should go and invite one of her friends over. It did get kinda lonely after a while in her Cloudominium.

Okay, time to get closer to her. Better mind my words. She may be laid back, but she can be just as perceptive as she is fast.
Fury thought to himself. He signaled Pinkie to do her thing and she went about her part of the plan

“Hiyah, Rainbow!” Pinkie cried, coming out from the lampshade next to her friend.

“Gyah!” Rainbow screamed, as she jumped back. With an amused smile, she shook her head at her friend’s antics. “Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie. You’re so random.”

Rainbow patted the empty space next to her on the couch, and her friend happily obliged.

“What’ve you been up to lately? I’m sorry I haven’t been around for a pranking spree. Training’s been getting tougher and longer,” Rainbow admitted.

“Long story,” Pinkie said, before becoming serious. “And, speaking of pranks…”

She narrowed her eyebrows, which made Rainbow start to become worried.

“I heard about the one you pulled on Night Fury recently. That wasn’t very nice,” the pink pony said, a tinge of anger in her voice. “And I think it’s high time you paid up!”

“Oh come on, Pinkie. All I did was replace his shampoo with Pink dye. It didn't hurt him at all.” Rainbow defended.

“Maybe not physically, but emotionally, he was crushed! Ponies were calling him ‘Bubblegum’ for a week!” Pinkie narrowed her eyes. “How’d you like it if I convinced the town to refer to you as ‘Crash’ again?”

Rainbow shivered when she heard that name. She hated it, and, as angry as she was at Pinkie for bringing it up again, she knew her friend was serious about that particular threat.

“Uh… hehe… you’ve got a point there, Pinkie.” Rainbow chuckled, nervously. “But… how do you propose I make it up to him? You know I tend to have a big ego.”

“I say, since you embarrassed him, you let him embarrass you,” Pinkie stated plainly. “Does that seem fair?”

Rainbow hesitated for a minute before another voice startled her.

“It does to me,” Fluttershy said, coming around a corner. Her hooves crossed as she cast an angry glare at her friend.

Rainbow now realized that she was outnumbered. So she hung her head and nodded her approval.

“Good,” Fluttershy said, with an evil smile. “And we know just the way to do it. Come with us.”

Rainbow reluctantly followed her friends up to her room. Fluttershy instructed her to lie down on her back, and she did. She grimaced at this position they had here in, it made her feel vulnerable.

“Do you have those cuffs, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, making Rainbow’s eyes widen in fear.

“I sure do.” Pinkie said, reaching into her mane and pulling out two pairs of hoof-cuffs and a pair of wing-cuffs. They quickly incapacitated their flying friend on her own bed. Rainbow squirmed around, trying everything she could think of to get loose. But, to her dismay, nothing worked.

“Now we’re going to bring Night Fury in. And you will be at his mercy. Understand?” Pinkie stated, to which Rainbow just nodded her head, trying to prepare herself for what was coming to her.

No time was wasted as the black cat walked in calmly and quietly.

“Well well well, looks like I've caught an over confident fly in my web. And what a lucky little spider I am.” Fury said sinisterly.

“C’mon, Night Fury,” Rainbow attempted to bargain. “We can be reasonable with this, can’t we? We’re friends after all, right?”

“We are…” Fury admitted, although he didn’t falter. “But, you should’ve known your embarrassing me would come back to bite you. You of all ponies should know what karma feels like, yes?”

Rainbow nodded, a blush appearing on her cheeks. But she didn’t start panicking until Fury revealed his secret weapon: the Phoenix feather he’d used on Fluttershy. The yellow mare made an evil smirk when she saw the feather, remembering how much it tickled her.

“So, this is how this is gonna go down. I'm gonna use this little feather to tickle you. But there's a little special rule. The only way you can get out of this situation is if you admit defeat by apologizing for the pranks. No negotiation, no change ups, no making deals that all three of us know you'll cross your feathers on. Just a simple apology, just like that.” Fury explained.

He then began to lightly swish the feather back and forth across Rainbow’s hooves. The Pegasus mare tried clamping her mouth shut to keep from laughing, knowing she wouldn’t hold it for long.

“C’mon, Dashie!” Pinkie cooed. “Laugh for us!”

She then began wiggling her hoof on Rainbow’s hip, which caused her to begin giggling.

“Okay, my turn!” Fluttershy stated, boldly.

She extended her wing and began to quickly rub her feathers up and down Rainbow’s sensitive tummy, finally getting her to laugh.

“GYAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!” Rainbow screamed.

“There it is, now we've got her! Alright girls, give her the works!”

Fluttershy took hold of Rainbow’s forehooves and pulled them above her friend's head, extending her own wings to tickle Rainbow’s wingpits. Pinkie plopped herself on Rainbow’s tummy and began tickling like there was no tomorrow. Fury just continued to play with the feather on her rear hooves. Rainbow writhed and screamed in ticklish agony from her friends’ tactics. She probably could’ve handled one of them tickling her in one area, but this was really breaking her.

“AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! OKAY OKAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAYHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEH! I’M SOREHEHEHEHEHEHEHE FOHOHOHOHOHOR THE PRAHAHAHAHAHANKHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!” Rainbow finally broke.

“Well, I suppose we can forgive you now. Let ‘er go, girls.” Fury said, ending his tickle assault. Pinkie and Fluttershy pulled away from the Rainbow-maned pegasus and let her breathe. Her mane itself was a mess from all the squirming, her wings wrapped around her body and her legs fully pressed to her body to protect her from another possible attack.

“See, it's all better now that you took back what you did. Pretty easy when you let your ego take the sidelines and give yourself in, huh?” Fury said cheekily, his partners in crime laughing with him.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever!” Rainbow huffed.

“Need a second round?” Pinkie asked, threateningly.

Rainbow’s eyes widened in terror and her already red cheeks deepened in color with a blush. She desperately shook her head “No”.

“Then we suggest you watch your mouth, as much as you keep your pranks in line from now on. Savvy?” Fluttershy continued, to which Rainbow just nodded her head vigorously.

“Good, then you can sleep soundly tonight.” Fury said, cheekily. He pulled out his notebook and crossed out Rainbow’s picture.

“Target Down.” He said confidently.

“So, who's your next target, Fury?” Fluttershy asked.

“Thankfully, this one is closer to ground level. And this one is also gonna need some humbling.” Fury said with a smile.

“Another pony who's giving you some bad vibes?” Pinkie theorized.

“Nope, just a certain pompous drama queen who needs to learn that acting high and mighty will eventually come back to bite her.” Fury said as he exited the cloud house and left for his house to take some extra preparation for his next endeavor.

Target Acquired: Rarity

Fury was headed home after his tickle playtime with Pinkie Pie and his two Pegasus friends. He felt satisfied about getting his revenge and teaching Rainbow Dash a lesson. Hopefully she's getting the picture about harsh pranks and keeping to her word. To be honest, he couldn't be too mad about how she used her expertise. She had just been out through the town's mock up Cookie Zombie apocalypse and she wasn't too happy about the outcome.

Sure, it was supposed to be a lesson on pranks gone too far, but that prank in its own right was pretty harsh considering she was left with tears running down her face after the fact. Either way, he had another target crossed off his list and another in his sights.

It was getting late as the sun was almost gone beneath the horizon. As he made his way home for the night, he decided to check on Rarity and made his way to the Carousel Boutique. Upon reaching the building, he peered through a window and, much to his expectations and disappointment, he saw Rarity, running around the shop, working like there was no tomorrow.

“I know she does take brakes, but she looks like she hasn’t in quite some time. I’ll have to give her some relief from that effort tomorrow. Plus, a lesson can be taught from this as well” He said as he pulled out his list and circled Rarity’s name.

“Target Acquired!”

–

The Next Morning…

Fury was out and about after some well deserved breakfast burritos from Sweet Bean’s stand in the town square and was on his way towards Carousel Boutique, the home/shop hybrid belonging to Rarity.

Rarity's shop was the first one Fury had seen where the owner actually could live above it, the kitchen and living space were just up a flight of stairs along with two bedrooms, each with a private bathroom. It was an experience to say the least, getting to see what ‘Living to work’ looked like in its entirety.

“Hard to‘Get Home After Work’ when they’re one and the same place.”Fury thought, chuckling to himself. “Well… better see how desperate Rarity is.”

“Check, check again. Recheck!” Rarity cried out as she rushed around her shop, making last minute adjustments to her new line of dresses. Sapphire Shores was visiting in just a few days, and she wanted everything in her order to be perfect.

Her work trance was broken when she heard the bell to her shop ring, indicating someone had entered.

“I’ll be just a moment!” She called out, putting the finishing touches on the final dress. “There, perfect! Now to check on my visitor.”

She finished and made her way to the door.

“Hello, welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique.” She called her usual greeting. “How might I… OH! Night Fury! Welcome! How are you, Darling?

“Hello, Rarity. I’m doing good.” Fury answered politely, looking around at all of the new additions to her shop. “How about you? You seem like you’ve been quite busy recently.”

“I have.” She admitted, with a touch of sadness in her tone. “I’ve had lots of big orders for some of my best clients this week. It’s had me running myself about as fast as Rainbow Dash flies.”

“I’m sure.” Fury replied, as they entered her living room.

He looked around the area at the dozens of material boxes and shipping containers that were scattered across the shop. Knowing that Rarity didn’t have any assistants, like Twilight had Spike, he could only imagine how rough it must be working alone. He suspected this was the case because Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s little sister, was usually out and about helping other ponies find their purpose in one way or another.

“A few of them have also put the orders on tight time restraints, so I’ve been going back and forth all week, today especially.” Rarity admitted, falling back on her fainting couch. “Truth be told, this is the most rest I’ve had all week.”

“And it’s only been about one minute. Rarity, hate to tell ya, but you gotta set yourself some ‘Me Time’.” Fury stated. “And… I don’t mean your regular spa visits, either. You need to take proper time to rest.”

“I would if I could. I just have so much work to do, Darling.” She admitted.

“You say that Wword again, I’mma make you regret it,” Fury playfully threatened.

“What’re you going to do?” She asked, slyly. “Dump a pail of water on my mane? It’ll take more work than that to get me embarrassed.”

She then covered her mouth, realizing she’d blown it.

“Alright then, looks like I'll have to take this little visit into my own paws.” Fury leaped over to Rarity and sat above her, his dark fur casting a menacing shadow.

Despite his menacing form, Rarity went with her instincts and went for her high-nosed attitude. It was only afterwards that she realized that that was a mistake, as it was exactly what Fury wanted.

“Well, this is certainly a very unpleasant experience. This is a very improper exchange, I might add.” She said in a very self-centered tone. This was exactly what Fury needed to prove his point right.

“Ugh, and there it is. You seriously have to get that stuffy attitude out of you. But maybe I can help you with that, and I have to warn you, this isn't something you can opt out of, Sweetheart.” He said with a sly smile.

He pounced on Rarity using his front paws to tickle her tummy. Rarity exploded in gleeful ticklish laughter.

“AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FURY, NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” She screamed, writhing in ticklish bliss.

“Too bad, you brought this on yourself, Sweetie!” Fury chuckled, before moving to her hooves.

“No, not there, Fury! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEREHRHRHRHRHE!” She screamed, as he found every ticklish spot on her hooves and gleefully exploited them.

“Yes, here~” He chuckled. “Hey, look at this!”

He reached to the side and picked up one of Rarity’s mane brushes that was nearby. Rarity shook her head pleadingly, but Fury ignored her and began to vigorously scrub her hooves with the brush.

“WAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Rarity squealed.

Fury continued this for five minutes before letting her go.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” He asked, playfully. “It’s okay to take a break every so often.”

“Well… (pant)… (pant)… maybe you’re right.” She admitted. “But, as fun as that was, please use a more dignified means in the future.”

“That's what I came here for. Well, partially. You seriously need to let that snuffy attitude go. You sound like you're constantly whining like a pansy. That type of talk only flies so far before somepony gets the right supplies to shoot it down. And to be honest, you've got holes in you from taking shots from everyone who's tired of it but you still think your tip top. Well, let me tell you. All that talk is like a mangy Chihuahua biting ankles, a tiny obstacle we can kick in the face and not feel sorry about it.” Fury said, bluntly.

Rarity’s face went red, as he’d really embarrassed her with his rant, as well as the impromptu tickling. She hung her head in shame because, deep down, she knew he was right. She had been acting high and lofty, and treating others as lowlifes.

“You have a point, Darling,” Rarity admitted, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I suppose I have been pretty arrogant lately. I never intended to be that way, though. I am truly sorry for this, Night Fury. Is there any way you can forgive me? Please?”

“Don't weep about it too hard, I’m just trying to make sure you get the point. Don’t act like you’re at the top of the pyramid when you know it isn't a welcome thing to speak of.” Fury replied, seeing himself out. “Until next time, gorgeous!”

“I understand, Fury. And thank you.” Rarity called out, before bidding Night Fury farewell as he walked out her door.

As he began his trek home, he once again pulled out his notebook, and crossed out Rarity's name.

“Target Down!”

Target Acquired: Spike

After an early wake up to catch Applejack in his clutches (and cheer her up in the process), Night Fury was finally ready to take on his next target. Walking through town, he witnessed the rising of ponies finally awakening from their sweet dreams and getting ready for the day.

The sight of Ponyville’s residents getting themselves going was a welcome sight to the black feline, a stark contrast to the more harsh ways of his original home. He'd even grown close to a few and often visited on good days.

“Ahh, another day in the friendliest town in Equestria. Nothing better than seeing your neighbors happy and healthy.” Fury said cheerfully. Just then, his hunger piped up and reminded him of the one grave mistake he made that morning.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I got up so early to hopefully catch Applejack off guard that I forgot breakfast! Well, it's a good thing this town offers the most important meal of the day on the go. Wonder if Scrambled’s place is open yet?” Fury walked his way to the restaurant part of town and looked for that special sign he liked. Getting to the end of the street, he found what he was looking for.

“Scrambled Egg’s Sunny Side Up Diner. Can't beat her service even if it was an actual egg.” Fury joked as he made his way to the front doors. Scrambled Eggs was a good friend of Night Fury's as well as the Mane Six. Though she was more around Mayor Mare's age, she still had that chipper, young stride to her. And it surely made its way into her food. Her diner was the best place in town to grab breakfast while out and about, and Night Fury made himself a regular long before he started this little crusade of his.

“Hmmm…” Fury thought. “Who should I go after next?”

Fury looked over his checklist of potential targets. After tickling the Mane Six, he was in a bit of a pickle as to who to choose.

“Wait a second…” he said, remembering a young dragon that was a close companion, not just to him, but to the Mane Six, especially Twilight.

“I wonder how long it’s been since ol’ Spike had some ‘Playtime’?” Fury chuckled. “Maybe I should find out. Let’s hope Twilight doesn’t have him booked.”

He searched for the name on his list and circled it accordingly as he made his way to the ordering counter.

“Target Acquired!” He declared proudly.

“Who's the target?” Said a female voice. Spooked, Fury looked around and saw Scrambled Egg cleaning a bit of the counter to his left.

“Oh don't worry about it, Scrambled, it's just a little thing I'm doing for myself. Anyway, I need a bit of a pick-me-up.” He said sheepishly, a little embarrassed.

“Skipped breakfast on the way out the door?” The yellow unicorn said, smirking as she saw Fury blush a silent yes. “No problem, bumpkin. We all have those days. So, what can I get ya?”

–

Later on that day…

“I hope Spike won’t be too busy, today,” Fury said, finishing his tuna fish biscuit as he entered Twilight’s castle. He made his way to the library, thinking Twilight would be there. He could ask her where Spike was.

Upon entering the library, he found Twilight relaxing in a chair, reading one of Starswirl’s spell books. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Night Fury. I didn’t hear you come in,” Twilight said, putting away her book. “Is there anything I can help you find?”

“No problem, Twilight,” Fury said politely. “Is Spike around, by any chance?”

“He’s up in his room. The new edition of Power Ponies came in this morning.” She giggled. “I haven’t seen him since he took off with it. Haha!”

“I can only imagine.” Fury chuckled.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the company though. I’ll walk you to his room.” she offered.

“Cool! And thanks for keeping my crusade on the down low. I've gotten to the princesses and the other girls too. It's just Spike and Starlight left before I start expanding to the rest of Ponyville.” Fury said.

“By the way…” Twilight added, looking around before leaning in for a whisper. “Use one of the quill pens I keep around. He usually has a few in his room. He can’t stand it when one rubs against his feet, especially slow movements between his toes.” she said with a sly grin and a wink.

Fury put his paw over his mouth in an attempt to keep from giggling. Just picturing Spike writhing like that was hilarious in its own right.

“Duly noted. Thank you,” he said as they came to Spike’s bedroom door.

Twilight gave three quick knocks on the door to alert Spike of their presence. She gave Night Fury a nod to say “Have fun,” and began walking away. He didn’t have to wait long before getting an answer.

“Hello?” Spike said as he opened his door. “Oh! Night Fury! What a surprise! Come on in.”

They walked in and Spike sat on the edge of his bed, picking up his newest Power Ponies comic.

“If you haven’t read these comics, you really should check them out. They’re almost as good as Daring Do, if not better,” Spike said, before putting the book away. “But, enough about that. What’ve you been up to, friend?”

“Well, nothing that interesting,” Fury admitted. “Wanna tell me a little about what happens in the book?”

“Well, the team has to stop a new psycho villain in this edition. With the Mane-iac behind bars, another big baddie has entered the picture: the Titanic Tickler,” Spike admitted. “He’s almost like a sociopathic combination of Pinkie Pie, Discord, and Cheese Sandwich, all in one. And let me tell you… he is no laughing matter!”

They both chuckled at the little quip, and Night Fury was glad to have another thing that he could relate to Spike with.

“Dang! Sounds like quite a monster.” Fury chuckled. “Speaking of which… that’s actually why I’m here.”

“Hmm?” Spike asked. “What do you mean, Fury?”

“Do you remember the last time I came here?” Fury asked.

Spike started to shake his head “No…” but stopped to actually think before making his final answer. It didn’t take him long to figure it out.

“Wait a minute…” he said. “Starlight and I heard something that sounded like Twilight had a severe case of the giggles, about a week or so ago. We knew something had happened because her cheeks were scarlet when we walked in, and she was also happier than she normally is. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Fury chuckled, with a blush. “Yeah, I decided to come here and tickle her. I wanted to give her a break from her studies, as well as make her day a bit more cheerful.”

“So that’s why she’s been so unusually cheerful recently!” Spike said, approvingly. “Not a bad idea, Buddy!”

“Yeah… hehe,” Fury chuckled. “Umm… would you mind if I… you know?”

“Tickled me?” Spike asked, finishing his sentence for him. Fury blushed, and nodded.

“Sure, buddy.” Spike agreed. “I don’t mind.”

“R-really?” Fury asked, dumbfounded. “O-okay. Umm…”

“Head down the hall. Fifth door on your left. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes, okay?” Spike instructed.

“Umm… okay.” Fury said, confused. But he did as he was instructed.

When he entered the room, he noticed there was a padded table in the middle of the room, almost the right size for some creature as small as Spike or the CMC. He looked around and saw that there were bigger bondage tables and chairs in other places in the room, as well.

“Weird,” Fury said, out loud. “I’m kind of curious as to why Twilight would have this kind of room in her castle to begin with. Then again… maybe I’m better off not knowing.”

Moments later, Spike entered the room, carrying a feather and one of Twilight’s mane brushes.

“How do you want to do this?” Spike asked.

“Umm…” Night Fury wondered out loud.

“Tell you what,” Spike said, opening a pair of stocks and placing himself in them. “Strap me down and then decide. I trust your judgment.”

“Okay, if you insist.” Fury said, as he locked Spike’s legs in the stocks, and strapped his arms down. “Hmm… since you’ve been so cooperative this far, I’ll take it easier on you. How about some gentle feather tickles?”

“Sounds good to me.” Spike said.

Fury selected a fresh pristine owl feather that he found next to the chair. He suspected it belonged to Owlowiscious at one point. Spike began to panic, remembering how feather-ticklish he is. Fury began to slowly drag the tip of the feather around Spike’s scaley stomach.

“GYAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Spike immediately burst into hysterically ticklish laughter. “FFFFFURHRHRHRHREHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!”

“Dang! Didn’t think you’d be this sensitive, Spike! I thought dragons were supposed to be tough.” Night Fury teased, making Spike blush.

“Prohohohohblhem with thahahahaahahahahahat?!” Spike said through his laughter.

“Nope. I’m just fine with it. But you probably won’t be after I explore down here.” Fury said, moving down to Spike’s feet.

Spike let out an audible gasp, and began to desperately shake his head “No…” A lifetime of living with ponies on soft green grass, as well as his frequent spa visits and soft landing techniques, meant that his feet were incredibly sensitive to touch.

“Fury! Wait, please! Can’t we talk about this?” Spike pleaded, desperately.

“Eeeenope!” Fury replied, in a perfect impersonation of Big Mac.

As soon as the feather touched his foot, Spike exploded in sheer ticklish bliss. Fury continued to drive Spike crazy by slowly moving the feather in-and-out between each of his toes, and moving it even slower up and down the soles of his feet.

“GYAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Spike exploded in ticklish laughter. Fury smiled at this reaction.

“Yup, definitely going to keep going like this for a while.” he thought to himself.

After he’d tickled Spike’s feet for a whole hour, Fury decided to let the poor dragon go. He set the feather down and went and untied his friend. Spike’s cheeks were crimson red from all of the laughing.

“You feeling okay, Buddy?” Fury asked, as he helped Spike stand.

“Yeah… (gasp)… I’m okay,” Spike said, trying to catch his breath. “That was… (gasp)… kinda fun, actually. It was definitely relaxing to laugh after all that work I did this week.”

“Glad you enjoyed it, Buddy,” Fury said as he gave Spike a fist bump. He pulled out his list and crossed off another name.

Target down!

Target Acquired: Starlight Glimmer

The night was a crisp, quiet time in Ponyville. Without the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities burning the midnight oil, nothing but the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional cricket broke the silence of the atmosphere around the small town. Ponies of all ages slept well and made not a sound in their place, even the resident Speed Shifter was a rather silent sleeper despite his normally energetic personality.

Of course, being a feline and all, his sleep was much different compared to most. He usually curled up under his blankets and sometimes even purred softly in his slumber. And tonight was a very special night, a night that would bring in another chance to change a life forever.

–

In Fury's Dreamscape…

“Aw, yeah!” Fury cried out, as he passed Rainbow Dash in their race from Canterlot to Appleloosa.

“Show off!” Rainbow playfully teased, before a third contestant passed both of them.

“Slow pokes!” Starlight shouted, giving them a smug grin.

“Oh, it’s on now!” Fury stated, picking up his speed. Fury loved a good race between friends, almost as much as his love for exotic food. Usually, he would race from one side of town to the other with Rainbow or Twilight, sometimes even going cross country if he got one of the other princesses in a competitive mood. But nothing beat making up his own reality bending race within his own dreams.

“Aw yeah, Appleloosa is just ahead! Just in time for my victory party.” Fury said smugly. But as he crossed the line and was about to embrace the cheering crowd, a whirling wind blew them away and picked him up off the ground.

“Woah woah woah, what’s going on!?” Fury said, finally getting set down by the raging wind and grinding to a halt. He watched as a blue mist creeped in from out of nowhere, and the blue sky turned to darkness.

“I never expected a good dream to end this way. I wonder what the deal is,” Fury said to himself, looking around. It was then that he noticed Luna approaching him from behind.

“Lulu?” He said with confusion. Luna rolled her eyes at the name, her memories of his insults towards her childhood nickname returning to her.

“Hello, Night Fury,” Luna greeted, solemnly. “We do apologize for the abrupt conclusion of this pleasant dream of yours. However, we believe a resident of Ponyville might need your assistance.”

Night Fury was still in a bit of confusion at that statement. “Not trying to sound rude here, but why ask for my help? Why don't you just do what you usually do and save them from their nightmares?”

“We assure you, we have already done so,” she stated, calmly. “However, this pony is in a rather deep well, so to speak. We have already banished her nightmare, but she requested your help, personally.”

“She? Who's got the goosebumps this time? Is Fluttershy having another social mishap scenario? Is Twilight having another one of her ‘Celestia fails her’ fiascos? Ooh, wait! I've got it! Rarity is freaking out about what eyeliner she's gonna wear tomorrow! Eh? Ehhh?” Fury managed to say before Luna placed her hoof over his mouth, stopping his rant.

“We swear, you are just as bad as Ms. Pie!” Luna thought to herself.

“No, Fury,” she stated. “The trouble is with Twilight’s student: Starlight Glimmer.”

“Starlight's asking about me?” Fury asked, shocked. “What for? She hasn't seemed all that troubled over the past few days and Twi doesn't seem to be too in the know herself either.”

“I know,” Luna said, with a sad smile. “Twilight has informed us of that, as well. But I believe you just might have a wild card, so to speak, that might get Ms. Glimmer to open up. If I knew somecreature better suited for the job, that’s where I’d be right now. Please, Night Fury. Starlight needs this. I’m begging you.”

Fury looked on at the desperate looking princess and sighed. If she came all this way to deliver a message from Starlight, asking for his help, then he had to take the job. She was just as much of a close friend as Cadence was to him, and he couldn't disappoint her when she came to him personally.

“Alright, I'll see what I can do.” Fury decided. “I'll find her tomorrow morning and see what the deal is.”

“Thank you, Fury. I know you’ll succeed in this,” Luna stated, happily. “I will inform Starlight that you agreed to help. And I wish both of you nothing but the best!”

Luna then trotted her way back to the moon, signifying the end of the dream.

–

In the Real World…

Fury jolted awake and looked out the window. Morning was already here and the roosters were getting the day going around town. He was amazed that his dream, even though a short one in hindsight, was long enough to get him through the entire night and into the next day.

Wow, time must be really weird in the dream realm if a couple of minutes there can pass for hours out here.

He hopped out of bed and pulled out his list, flipping to Starlight's page.

“Looks like I’ll be getting to you sooner than I planned, Starlight.” he chuckled. “Don't worry, help is on the way!”

Circling her picture, he had his first target of the day.

“Target Acquired!”

—

As Fury trotted his way through the rural streets of Ponyville's shopping market, he kept his eyes peeled for a light purple unicorn in need of help. He even took the time to ask around for any information on her whereabouts. He went to the usual suspects; Maud, Trixie, Ms. Cake, even Sunburst, who was visiting at the time. But with every question came the same answer; nopony had seen her that day.

“Hmm…” Fury thought to himself. “If no one’s seen her today, maybe she hasn’t left the castle. Perhaps Twilight or Spike has seen her. I’ll ask them.”

And he made his way to the castle. Upon entering, he made his way to the library. Since the interior was still much a maze to him, he believed it would help to have a guide. And, just like he’d hoped, he found Twilight lost in a book.

“Ahem.” Fury said, clearing his throat and getting Twilight’s attention.

“Fury? What are you doing here?” She asked, before remembering the previous night. “Oh… right. Luna got the message across, I take it?”

“Like Equestria's most graceful messenger pony. Starlight feeling a little self-conscious lately?” He asked.

“You could put it that way,” she stated. “I’ve tried asking her about what happened, but she’s been keeping her distance from me. From Spike, too. I don’t really know how to help her. Do you think you could get her to talk?”

“Sure, I'll see if I can get her to speak up. But before I do, I think I may have some idea of her problems.” Twilight's ears perked at that notion.

“What do you think it is?” She asked quizzically.

“Let me ask you this: Has Starlight been pushing you to make up more friendship lessons lately?” He asked.

“Yeah… she has. I figured it was just her drive to find out more about friendship, but then it got to an uncomfortable degree. It was almost as if she was desperate for them.” Twilight answered.

“Okay, next question. Has Starlight been jumpy at the mention of the other princesses? Even if it was just in passing conversation?” Fury continued.

“Strangely, yes. It's like the mere mention of Celestia, Luna or even Cadence makes her uneasy. But with all of this in mind, what's the verdict?” Twilight stated.

“Twi… I think Starlight's afraid that your mentorship might not be doing good enough to prove that she's changed to the rest of your royal comrades.” Fury concluded. ”The jumpiness at the mention of their names and the desperate pleading for more lessons proves that she's looking for ways to try and overdo what's already been working in an effort to satisfy what she sees as the least defensive line between freedom and possible imprisonment, if not banishment.”

Twilight’s mouth hung agape and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

“But… why would she think that?” She thought out loud. “Surely she knows that my friends, Spike and I would defend her in case that did happen. You would too, as a matter of fact. Fury, please do whatever you can do to cheer her up. And make sure she knows that we all have her back.”

“I'll try my best, Twilight. You did the same for me when you and the girls helped me with my harsh past. Now it's my turn.” Fury said, turning to leave and find the Princess of Friendship’s pupil.

Then he felt himself begin to levitate, and notice a violet magical hue around him. Twilight walked up to him and gave him a hug.

“I’ll escort you to her room. This castle can be quite a-maze-ing.” she giggled.

“Wow, that was… just wow.” Fury said with an eye roll.

“Well, that’s just the way I roll.” she added, mimicking his action as she led him through the halls.

A few minutes later, they stopped in front of Starlight’s bedroom door. The mare in question could clearly be heard sobbing from inside.

“Oh boy, that isn't good.” Fury said softly. “Better leave this to me and her. I've got a plan.”

Twilight shed a few sad tears of her own, before giving Fury a hug and leaving him to his work.

“Here goes nothing…” Fury thought, as he rapped on the door.

“Y-yes? Come in.” Starlight called.

Fury walked in and made his way to Starlight’s bed, where he could tell she’d been lying down and crying for quite some time.

“Oh… (sniffles)… Night Fury,” she stated in a semi-happy tone. “Th-thanks for coming.”

“Hey, when a dreamwalking moon alicorn comes to you in your dreams to tell you your friend is having some trouble, you might wanna listen.” He quipped, earning a small giggle from the lilac unicorn.

“That is true, I suppose,” she said, before getting to the point. “D-do you think I’m a bad student? Am I unteachable?”

“Of course not, Starlight. You went through so much just to get to this point in your life. Why would you think you'd be unteachable if you've gone above and beyond to prove you're just like us?” Fury asked, sitting next to her.

“I… (sniff)… I’ve just had a pretty nasty week. I’ve been failing a lot of Twilight’s lessons… (sniffs)… and others, like Spoiled Rich, have been talking about me behind my back. (Hic)... It feels like I take two steps back for every step I take forward,” Starlight admitted, sadly.

Geez, she's barely holding herself together. I need to give her some perspective on the matter. Fury thought.

“Come on, Starlight. You're still getting used to having good friends and learning about friendship.” Fury reminded her. “It's all about spending time getting an understanding of what you need to do. And the comments don't matter. Spoiled Rich always gossips about ponies behind their back, it's just what rich ponies do. Do you know how many times I've caught conversations about my… heritage being not suited for proper society? It's nothing I haven't heard before and it's certainly not going to bother me now like it probably would’ve a few years back.”

“Well… (sniff)… you’ve got a point, there,” Starlight admitted. “I suppose it’s the guilt of how bad I used to be that’s caught up with me… (sniff)… I’m not sure what to do. And, truth be told, I’m scared to ask Pinkie Pie for help… even though she’s known for easily helping others find happiness. What would you suggest that I do?”

“Well, I'll tell you this. Don't let the comments get to you.” Fury answered. “That's the easiest way to start circling the drain and eventually falling into a depression. My advice: Take a break and go do an activity. You've been trying too hard to make yourself into the perfect pupil that you haven't given yourself the time to decompress and think things out. I taught the princesses the same thing.”

Starlight snapped her vision over to Fury. “You… taught the princesses? But that's-”

“Impossible? I don't think so. The word itself even says I’m possible. Celestia and Luna are multi-millenia old rulers and Cadence might as well have been doing it for just as long. But despite their age and experience, all three of them had the worst work/life schedules I'd ever seen. And for Celestia and Luna's case, that balance might as well have been non-existent.” Fury explained, snickering a little.

Starlight nodded. “That is true. I’ll give you that… By the way, how did you help them, exactly?”

“I pretty much dragged them away from their paperwork and responsibilities and showed them the side of themselves that they'd basically forgotten about,” Fury explained. “I cleverly disguised a trip to Las Pegasus as a “Business Endeavor” with their advisors and showed them the sights and sounds of the outside world. Did you know that under all that cynicism and dark exterior, Luna is actually more fond of the day than she is the night?”

Fury's words made Starlight's jaw drop. Luna? A day pony? That's basically like saying a snail can move fast like a cheetah if it wanted to.

“I can tell by your reaction that you didn't see that coming.” Fury chuckled. “But it's true. Turns out, she likes some of the day’s activities as much as she does the calm serenity of the night. And also, Cadence is a major foodie! She's just been hiding it under layers of diet restrictions set in by her personal trainer to maintain an, as they call it, ‘Presentable Figure’. But I'm getting off track.”

Starlight snorted, trying to keep herself from laughing at the mental image of Princess Cadance looking like a glutton.

“My point is that you shouldn't let your responsibilities get the better of you. Let yourself have some fun, get some fresh air, be goofy some of the time. It's all about keeping a good balance between getting work done and slipping away from it to clear your head. Not only will it help you feel more energetic, but it will give you a chance to get away from a clustered atmosphere and actually have space to think about your next moves.”

“Wow…” Starlight gasped, impressed by his words. “That’s some pretty good wisdom. I’ll have to remember that. Oh! Speaking of Cadance's eating habits, did you know that ‘diet’ is short for ‘Did I eat that?’ ”

“Hah! You think I don't know!? Luna always preaches to me like a mother that I shouldn't eat so much and that I'll ‘Ruin my appetite’ with all the sweets I get from Pinkie. But she forgets that I can literally turn myself into a fly on the wall, and boy… the amount of apple pie she can scarf down. Let me tell ya…” Fury said with a laugh.

“I hear the same thing from Twilight just as often,” Starlight chuckled. “Spike is just too good a cook. Speaking of which, do you happen to know why he and Twilight have been so happy, recently? Because… I’m kind of jealous.”

With those words out of Starlight's mouth, Fury's mind realigned with his true objective in this little heart to heart moment.

“Well, that's actually the other reason I'm here. You see, those two have been made… targets in my recent endeavors. A little trickery and mischief on my part and I had them singing my praises. And now, it's your turn.” Fury smiled cheekily as he got into position.

“And… (gulp)… how do you intend to make that happen?” Starlight asked, slightly afraid of his methods, even though she knew she was in no danger.

“Oh don't be so scared, it's just a little friendly tickling. Nothing too harsh. But it will have you begging for mercy.”

Starlight’s eyes widened in surprise, and she blushed profusely. But she couldn’t respond before he began lightly scritching his claws all over her tummy.

“GYAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Starlight screamed, writhing in ticklish bliss.

“That’s it. Just laugh,” Fury encouraged her. “Laugh your worries away.”

After a few minutes he decided to move on to her hooves.

“Oh no,” Starlight gasped. “Fury… please… not there!”

“Why?” He asked, cheekily. “Too ticklish her for you? What with how often you get them done at the spa, this should be easy for you to handle.”

He began tickling her hooves before she had a chance to retort his statement. This made her begin laughing and blushing even harder. Because, much to her dismay, his statement was very true. And she had had a visit recently, so her hooves were extra extra soft. And very sensitive to the touch.

“GYAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!” Starlight bellowed, uncontrollably.

After an hour of tickling Starlight’s hooves, Fury let the poor mare go. Starlight’s cheeks were as bright as a red delicious apple, but she was still grinning from ear to ear.

“So… are you happy now?” Fury asked, casually. However, the look on Starlight’s face already told him everything he needed to know.

“Yeah,” Starlight sighed, contentedly. “That was fun, Fury.”

“Glad to be of assistance, me lady,” he said, with a bow.

“Let’s do this again sometime, and sometime soon,” Starlight suggested, watching him take his leave.

“Oh, we will, Starlight,” he said, pulling out his list and crossing off her name. “We will.”

Target down!