Lost Summer

Sweetie Belle floated the shampoo bottle to her mouth and sang into it under a downpour of hot water.

“Secret Kirin~ Secret Kirin, I love you but I can't understand the things that you do~”

Her astringent sounding punk styled vocals devolved into unintelligible muttering as she tried to workshop lyrics in realtime to the tune in her mind.

“Something something, never gonna stop~”

Sweetie turned the knobs with a squeak, shutting off the shower. She shook herself off and hopped over the tub side, onto the fluffy rug and threw a towel over her back.

She reared up at the sink and smeared an opening in the fogged up mirror. Then she smiled at herself, admiring the damp, lion-like mane around her neck. One of her favorite distractions of late was transforming in private and exploring her new form. She didn't get much time to do it at the Apple's house except while bathing.

“Secret Kirin, gonna make you mine~” she continued. “Gonna hear your song all the time~”

“Ugh,” grunted Sweetie, noticing the soapy residue still clinging to her mane. Washing all the shampoo out was a little more challenging in this form. She climbed back into the shower and fiddled with the knobs. She yelped and jumped back, accidentally turning the heat up too high. After actually adjusting the water to a manageable temperature, she bowed her head unusually low beneath the spray to make sure her mane got completely rinsed this time. A bit of soap dropped into her eye before she could clench it shut safely and water began to pour down her muzzle.

There came a knock at the door followed by Apple Bloom yelling irreverently.

“Sweetie, hurry up. Breakfast.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” she sputtered back, quickly spinning the shower knobs the wrong way again before actually getting them to shut off. “I'm coming,” she added, hopping into the already wet rug and dripping everywhere. Her eye still stung a bit. She whipped Apple Bloom's dry towel from the rack and sloppily tousled herself with it before tossing it back and hurrying out the door. Sweetie bounded down the hall but was more cautious while descending the stairs. She pranced into the kitchen and took her usual spot at the table next to her friend Apple Bloom.

“Ooh, raisin oatmeal. Don't mind if I do.” She picked up her spoon with her magic and was about to dig into her steaming bowl when she noticed how quiet the table had become. She paused to look around and discovered that the whole Apple family appeared to have been replaced with ponnequins wearing horrified expressions.

Sweetie flipped her spoon over to check her own reflection, finding that she had unfortunately forgotten to change back to unicorn form before exiting the bathroom.

“Oops.”

“Sweetie Belle?” began Applejack hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“What in the hay is goin’ on here?”

“Um, you mean why do I look like this? Uh, I'm… half Kirin and I can change forms. It's nothing to worry about.” She grinned weakly.

Apple Jack scratched her head. “Yer half what now?”

“Kirin. They're like ponies but… not.”

“Yeah, Ah can see that,” she muttered, looking her over from bifurcated horn to wiggling bush tail.

“Can Ah touch yer tail?” asked Apple Bloom, eying Sweetie’s fluffy whip.

Granny Smith whispered suspiciously behind her hoof. “Aliens. Ah told ya they was real. And already among us too. Makin’ halfbreed experiments.”

“Granny, please,” grunted Applejack dismissively. before turning back to the strange filly. “Ah ain't never seen or heard a no Kirin before. Where they come from?”

Sweetie screwed up her face and shrugged. “Kirinland?”

Apple Jack frowned. “Ya don't know?”

“Uh, no, actually. I still have a lot of questions about it myself because I just learned about all this right before I got back to Ponyville from Manehattan.”

“Ya just learned that you're half Kirin and that you can change form?”

Sweetie shrank in her chair. “It's a long story but the short version is that apparently my mom ran away from… Kirinland a long time ago with baby Rarity who wasn't even hers and then they started a new life together hiding out in Equestria. She married my dad and that’s where I came from but Rarity doesn't even know her biological parents. She just learned about all this like me.”

The table was stunned back into silence.

“Why were ya keepin’ this a secret,” pried Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

Sweetie set her spoon down and sighed. “My mom and dad didn’t really get mugged but they did really get beaten up bad. They were trying to protect Rarity. Some bad Kirin came and tried to kidnap her.”

“More Kirin in Equestria? What did they want from her?”

“We don't know but it looked like they were sent by a Kirin princess. Oh, yeah, Rarity is a Kirin princess by blood so that might have something to do with why she was targeted.”

Applejack shook her head in dismay. “This just keeps soundin’ worse and worse.”

Sweetie tried another tentative smile. “Well it's possible that it was just her royal parents trying to contact her. That's why Rarity went to Kirinland.”

Applejack's eyes bulged. “She just went there by herself after gettin’ attacked? Is she nuts? She didn't even tell us.”

Sweetie gritted her teeth. “Uh, yeah, that was kind of on purpose. I wasn't really supposed to tell anyone about any of that stuff yet.”

Applejack froze with her mouth hanging open for quite a while. “Ah gotta tell Twilight about this.”

Sweetie raised a hoof. “Can we maybe not do that?”

“No. Yer sister is an Element of Harmony and a good friend. We can't just let her run off alone into somethin’ that's so potentially very dangerous. Twilight should at least know what's really goin’ on and yer gonna help me tell her.”

“But I have to go to the last day of school,” she groaned.

“It's only a half day; we'll go afterwards… Eat yer breakfast… and change back to a unicorn.” - - -

“Now we're not going to do anything beyond what's necessary for success and we're going to be on our best behavior,” said Rarity, hovering over Autumn's shoulder. The dethroned fire princess had a pale powdered coat and mane. It achieved the desired coloration of an ice Kirin but was much less permanent than Rarity's dye so she had to be careful with it.

Autumn sighed and led her around a corner off of White Glade’s main strip. “I know, you already said that,” she muttered.

“I just want to make that clear. Even if the proprietor is ice. These Kirin may be obnoxious obstacles today but in the future they may be neighbors and subjects.”

“You have a lot of faith in our ability to restore order, don't you?”

“I just believe that building bridges instead of burning them is usually the best policy. Also so is never using a cannon to swat a fly.”

“Hey, c'mon, I'm not a psycho. Oh this is it right here.” Autumn pointed to a storefront coming up on the sidewalk. The sign read Sweets & Treats.

“I'll go in first.”

Autumn went ahead and pushed open the door prompting a little bell to jingle overhead. She disappeared inside while Rarity hung back out of sight. She scanned up and down the streets, taking in the nearby Kirin and hoping to be able to execute their plan without drawing the attention of bystanders. Her heart began to race as she considered what they were about to do and how starkly it clashed with her personal value system.

She waited a few moments more and then entered the sweets shop. The bell rang.

“Welcome,” greeted the old mare behind the counter.

“Hello, chimed Rarity automatically, forgetting to scan for sincerity. The mare who ran the shop was indeed an ice Kirin. There were two other Kirin in the store, a mare coming to the counter to make her purchase and a stallion still milling about. Rarity occupied herself, humming as she looked at a rack of brightly colored lollipops. She waited and waited. The first customer left and the stallion went to the counter. Rarity drifted slowly along the wall keeping one eye on the transaction, the other searching for something to bring to the counter herself.

It wasn't long before the stallion exited the store with his bag of goodies and vanished from sight. Autumn's eyes flicked expectantly to Rarity who nodded back at her. She took her position near the front door, pretending to browse in the window display while Rarity approached the counter, floating a little bag of caramel corn. She set it daintily on the counter.

“I would like this, please. But also I’d like one of those boxes of ribbon candy. She pointed at the shelf directly behind the mare.

“Of course.” The shop owner turned her head and then spun around to face the wall. Rarity flipped open her satchel. Just as the mare snared the designated box with her magic, Rarity struck, yanking a big cloth sack over her head. The old mare yelped in surprise allowing rarity an easy followup with the makeshift gag which consisted of a rag tied in a knot around a length of rope. She slipped the midpoint into her open mouth and quickly tied it around the back of her head, both securing the bag on her head and handily muffling her cries for help.

Autumn flipped the window sign to ‘closed’ and locked the door. Rarity was over the counter and had the mare on the floor where she began to panic and struggled but Autumn was at her side in a flash with the rope. She held her limbs and soon they had her hogtied and limp on the floor.

Rarity bent down over the heaving mare. “Sorry, madam, can you hear me?” she asked. “Nod if you can hear me.”

The lumpy sack gave a lethargic waggle that she interrupted as a yes.

“We do apologize for the abrupt accommodations but unfortunately we do need to commandeer your store for a while. We are not robbing you. We will do our best not to damage anything and when we are done we hope to set you free unharmed… Understand?”

The sack wagged again.

“Fabulous. We're just going to move you to your supply closet and hopefully make you as comfortable as we can, situation permitting.”

Autumn opened the door behind the counter and walked into a smaller room, a semi industrial kitchen that housed ingredients, cooking supplies and more candy in barrels, bins and crates.

Rarity floated the bound mare into the room and laid her on the floor. “Here we are. Just lay there and try to relax. Hopefully this will all be over soon and you can go back to your regularly scheduled life.”

She looked over the room, running scenarios in her head of what she'd do in this situation and if there was a way out if left unsupervised. She couldn't move any limb independently or effectively use magic while blinded to her environment. She was weak. The knots would hold but there were too many tools and sharp surfaces to rub ligatures on. There was another door in the back which would make a handy escape for someone able to walk. They'd just have to keep an eye on her. At this phase of the plan staying in the building undetected was paramount.

“Counsel,” beckoned Rarity as she opened the door back into the shop.

Autumn joined her on the other side.

“We just tied up an old lady; I feel sick.”

Autumn shrugged. “You wanted bloodless, this is our best shot.”

“Yes, as long as she doesn't have a cardiac event.”

“I told you everything I knew about this place. You know how to zap a heart, right?”

“What?”

“It's a lightning thing. At least I've heard it is.”

“Uh, no. No lightning spells at all unfortunately.”

“Seriously? Whatever, she'll be fine. And if all goes to plan we can make it up to her later. Just don’t think about it right now; we need to focus.”

“I need to take up my position outside so we don't miss our opportunity,” declared Rarity.

“I think we have some time. She usually hits this place around noon or like after lunch.”

Rarity checked her watch. “That gives us in the neighborhood of an hour. Hopefully she shows because we've got only one pass at this.”

“She'll come,” nodded Autumn adamantly. “She needs her fix. We just need to be ready.”

“Why doesn't she just ship everything to the castle?”

Autumn shrugged. “Because she likes going to the candy store.”

“Okay, I'm going to set up. You watch the captive and keep the shop looking vacant and shuttered.”

“Will do.” She gave a mock solute before dipping back into the kitchen.

Rarity rearranged the store a bit to accommodate their plan before she left out the back and set up surveillance on the candy shop roof. The vantage point offered a modest view of the street but the important thing was that she had early warning for anything or anyone coming.

Rarity watched the mostly normal looking neighborhood below from amongst the wispy grass of the living roof. Potential customers would come by and leave disappointedly after seeing the store shuttered. She could hear them conversing but it was difficult to make out what they were saying.

The sun rose higher. Rarity checked her watch and sighed. When she looked back up the road she saw something big and white in the distance. She put the monocular to her eye and confirmed that it was the royal carriage rolling their way. This was it; it was happening. Rarity put her eyepiece away in a flash and scuttled to the roof's edge where she teleported to the ground. She slipped in the back door. Where Autumn sat bored against the wall.

“Showtime in two minutes,” alerted Rarity as she rushed by. She hurried to the windows, flipped the sign with her magic and then flicked the lock open. They were ready for their first and only customer.

Autumn took her place behind the counter and carefully stroked a wayward lock of mane behind her ear.

“Remember to disguise your voice.”

Autumn rolled her head with a smug crack. “Alright,” she growled boastfully. “I'm gonna be the most authentic looking candy store cashier you've ever seen.”

Rarity took her gear and hopped inside a large wooden crate shed moved into the store space. Then she set the lid loose on top. The box provided a hiding spot with a pair of knot holes to watch what was happening.

“Sounds like I'm about to pull off a caper with Rainbow Dash,” she muttered, squaring up to the hole facing the front door.

“What was that?”

“Shh. You're in character now and I'm not here.”

Much to her chagrin, Rarity was out of smoke bombs but had developed what was hopefully an adequate alternative making wadded up newspaper projectiles containing a mixture of sand, silt and spices such as chili powder to provide a little extra sting. They were sure to incapacitate any combatant but on the downside required a more accurate throw than the smoke bombs.

Rarity watched the front of the store as the carriage rolled to a stop. Her muscles tensed. The bell jingled as a pair of armed guards entered first to case the building. One held the door open for Princess Winter Wind to enter alone.

Autumn looked up from her fake project on the counter. “Hello,” she chimed. Then she blinked in faux surprise. “Oh, you're majesty, welcome.” She bowed. “So nice to see you.”

Winter stopped hesitantly just after crossing the threshold “Oh, where's Glacial?”

“She's at home sick today… Sorry, my name is Permafrost. I'm just a friend who got work permission to help her out for the duration since she needs the money.”

“Oh, that's nice. I mean it's too bad she's sick.”

“Yes…” Her thoughts returned to the old mare tied up on the floor of the next room. “Well, please let me know if I can assist you in any way.”

“Yes, of course,” smiled Winter. With introductions taken care of, the ice princess pranced around the store with a foal like gleam in her eye.

“What looks good today?” she asked herself.

Autumn and Rarity tried separately to size up the guards and princess. There appeared to be no one of concern monitoring the situation from outside and perhaps that wouldn't be a problem if they struck like lightning and vanished just as quickly.

Autumn had the responsibility of subduing the princess, Rarity had the guards but would only strike after Autumn's signal.

Autumn let her frolic through the store for a while. The two guards stood as watchful sentinels on either side of the front door. The situation was about as auspicious as they could reasonably expect.

“Oh, princess,” called Autumn abruptly. “I just remembered that Glacial told me to point out to everyone her brand new treat.” She tapped the glass counter with a smile. “They're marble chocolate almond clusters if you're interested. You can try a free sample.”

“Ooh, that sounds amazing,” sang Winter as she hurried over giddily.

Winter bowed her head to look into the case, naturally presenting her horn and distracting her eyes. In an instant Autumn had the little anti magic cuff she used to wear clamped securely around the base of Winter's horn. The abduction was officially on.

Winter gasped in surprise and straightened up.

“Now,” shouted Autumn, already following up with a burlap sack for Winter's head. Before she could back away she teleported her behind the counter to continue the assault from cover.

On cue, Rarity sprang from the box with two readied blind bombs. She hurled the first at the closet guard, scoring a devastating hit in the face before he could even draw his sword. He recoiled, turning away and grasping at his face in pain. The second guard managed a partial evasion, the bomb bursting on her neck, only getting a bit in one eye.

Rarity reloaded for another volley but the guard riposted quickly, slashing with her sword. Rarity raised the wooden lid of the crate to block the onslaught with a staccato of thwacks. This was already not going the way she'd planned. She didn't want a fight, especially not a prolonged one which would give time for backup to arrive.

The first guard groped around helplessly, bumping into displays. Autumn kept the ice princess pinned as she looped coils of rope over her, going for quantity over quality.

“Princess,” called the guard, teleporting behind the counter. She raised the sword over Autumn's head but Rarity teleported her back, up in the air to drop her. She landed off balance, tumbling over on her side.

Rarity picked up the unused bomb and hurled it at the downed mare but she was already rolling to the side and back on her hooves. The bomb exploded inertly on the floor.

The guard maneuvered to flank her and shot an ice beam from her horn, striking Rarity in the upper left foreleg. An intense chill gripped her flesh, numbing her leg and paralyzing her muscles. She stumbled forward. The guard recalled her sword which came whirling with a swish. Then she raised it for the coup de grâce.

Suddenly a blind bomb slammed into the assailant’s face. A horizontal plume of soil obscuring her head. She cried out, stumbling back. Her sword fell to the floor.

“C'mon,” called Autumn desperately from over the countertop. She turned and burst through the rear exit with a thoroughly bound Winter floating in tow. The princess gave a muffled protest. Rarity followed, limping with a curled foreleg. She shot a glance at the mare on the kitchen floor and quickly flicked a knife across her bonds before departing full throttle. The two kidnappers wove through a jagged back alley, Rarity trying to work the feeling back into her leg. Once they got a clear view of the edge of town they teleported beyond the fence with their wailing hostage. Then once more, deeper into the woods.

“We did it,” squealed Autumn in wild euphoria. “I can't believe it.”

“We haven't done it yet,” retorted Rarity breathily. “Don't stop running.”