Shadow and Crystal
Chapter 6
Previous ChapterSix ponies stumbled into town, shaking from the cold. The streets were bustling, ponies greeting each other in loud voices, the doors of bars constantly opening and closing. There was an atmosphere of warmth despite the heavily falling snow.
The door to a nearby building swung open and a yellow head topped with a Stetson poked out. “Welcome!” said the pony with a decidedly Appleoosan twang. “Ah saw y’all stumble into town; ya must be freezin’! But don’ take no worry ‘bout that, come on in and warm up!” The stallion ducked back inside.
Each of the ‘newcomers’ stared after the figure, mouths hanging open.
“Tha… That was Cousin Braeburn,” sputtered Applejack. “What’s Cousin Braeburn doin’ out in the middle a nowhere?”
Rainbow Dash closed her mouth with an audible click. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” She trotted after Braeburn, but was stopped by a sharp pull from Twilight.
“Rainbow, we just walked into a town that shouldn’t exist and met a pony that should be miles away. Following said pony alone into a wooden building is not a good idea.”
“Got any better ideas, Twilight?” The pegasus crossed her hooves defiantly.
“Yes, we follow said pony as a group. Come on, girls.”
***
The mares found themselves in a bar, and a rather rowdy bar at that. Ponies of all shapes and sizes joked loudly, held hoof-wrestling competitions and downed drink after drink. Braeburn was behind the counter, watching over all of the activities. He was attempting to clean a dirty mug with a dirty rag, looking like the stereotypical advice-offering bartender.
Twilight gestured to her friends, telling them to press in closer. “Okay,” she whispered, “we should try to be subtle about gathering information. We need to know why Braeburn and all these other ponies are in this town, but we don’t know how he’ll react.” She turned to Applejack. “You know him the best, Applejack, so you should speak to him. But remember, be subtle.”
The farm girl nodded and trotted off to the counter.
Applejack sat down in a stool directly in front of the stallion. “Braeburn, what in the hay are ya doin’ so far from Appleoosa?”
Back in the bar’s entrance, Twilight facehoofed. Admittedly, coming from Applejack, that was actually pretty subtle.
The stallion looked up from his mug. “Braeburn, huh? That’s not a bad name; think Ah’ll keep it.” He took a moment to adjust his hat. “As for why Ah ain’t in Appleoosa, little miss, that’s because Ah’m here. I’ve been here for a while now, actually, though we’ll all be movin’ pretty soon.”
Applejack was thoroughly confused. “Uh… Braeburn? Ya feelin’ alright, sugarcube?”
“Just fine, thank ya for asking!” he replied brightly. “Hey, ain’t ya one of those ponies that just came on into town? What’s your name newcomer?”
The other five mares joined Applejack at the counter, all attempts at subtlety now abandoned.
“Oh, and hey, there’s the rest of ya!” Braeburn’s voice never lost its bright lilt. “Care for a few drinks? Don’t worry; it’s on the house for newcomers.”
Pinkie nodded furiously and the stallion quickly slid a mug of cider to her. It was emptied in seconds.
Twilight regarded Braeburn for a moment. She had been going over all of the implications and had come to a conclusion.
“You’re not Braeburn.”
Not-Braeburn grinned widely. “Well, Ah wasn’t but now Ah suppose Ah am, considerin’ that your friend there,” he nodded at Applejack, “called me by that name.”
“But you’re not a Changeling. Changeling’s almost never talk when they’re pretending to be somepony else.” Twilight’s scientific mind was running on full steam.
“No, ma’am, not a Changelin.’ Come on, you were supposed to be the smart pony.” Not-Braeburn grinned smugly.
“Well, there’s a quick way to figure this out,” said Rainbow Dash.
The stallion behind the counter regarded her with a smug smile. “And what’d that be darl—”
The pegasus punched Braeburn savagely, knocking off his hat and sending him sprawling to the floor.
The other five stared at Dash.
“… What? If he’s knocked out then he can’t keep up whatever disillusionment magic he’s using. I just took the more direct route.”
More stares.
“Well, Daring Do always does it! And I always thought Braeburn was kinda annoying."
Twilight Sparkle shook her head slightly and peeked over the counter. There, where Braeburn should have lain was “Nothing.”
“Beg your pardon?” responded both Applejack and Rarity, albeit from opposite ends of the accent spectrum.
“There’s nopony there. Just… nothing.”
Braeburn put a hoof around Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “Well, of course! Ah ain’t gonna just lay there after taking a hit like that.” He addressed the pegasus directly. “Mighty fine punch that was, too. Allow me ta return the favor.” He headbutted Rainbow Dash, keeping his hat in place with his free hoof and knocking her to the ground.
“Filly, you’ve got a pretty hard head on your shoulders.” He rubbed at his forehead before turning to the other five. “Yah see, fightin’ ain’t somethin’ new ‘round these parts. It’s our source of entertainment, it’s how we make money, it’s how we decided who does what. In fact, fightin’s pretty much the only reason why we’re here, considerin’ what we are.” He paused slightly. “Y’all have figured out what we are, haven’t ya?”
“Varmint is what ya are!” Applejack stepped forward, anger evident in every step. “Ain’t nopony in the Apple family that’d hit a mare like that! And Ah don’t take kindly to imposters.”
Braeburn and Applejack slowly circled around each other, never breaking eye contact.
“Well, missy, it don’t really matter what you take to. I’m starting to think that you ain’t a newcomer. Hell, you may even be a normal pony. That’d be a right treat if it were true.”
Twilight Sparkle looked around. Her plan had quickly fallen to pieces; she needed to come up with a new one.
Every eye in the bar was watching the scene. Many ponies had gotten out of their seats, forming a half circle.
They’re covering the exits, Twilight realized. She glanced up at the wooden roof and then over to a groggy Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had just begun to pick herself up, but Twilight caught her eye. The unicorn gestured with a hoof, telling Dash to stay down.
“Ah’ll tell ya right now, imposter, I ain’t no normal pony.” Applejack bucked out suddenly, aiming for Not-Braeburn’s head. The stallion twitched down at the last moment, his hat flying from the force of AJ’s kick.
He lashed out at the earth pony’s forehooves, intending to knock her to the ground. Applejack pushed up, sending herself over Braeburn’s hoof and grabbing his head. She looked right into the stallion’s eyes. “Headbutts hurt you son-of-a-bitch!” She brought her head down with as much force as she could. “That was for Dash.”
The stallion’s eyes unfocused and refocused. He began to laugh slightly. “Does each of y’all have a hard head or just you t—”
Applejack shut him up with another headbutt. “That’s for looking like Braeburn while acting like an ass.” She let go of the stallion’s head, letting him fall. This time, Braeburn seemed to be fully unconscious.
The room broke out into cheers, repeated shouts of “Good Show!” and “Congrats!” resounding throughout the bar.
A brown earth pony with an hourglass for a cutie mark stepped forwards. “Good fight and congratulations on actually winning. Of course, this one,” he pointed at the stallion on the floor, “isn’t the strongest one around, but it’s not often that a newcomer actually wins her first fight. What’s your name?”
But Applejack didn’t answer. Something was happening to Not-Braeburn. He was churning and stretching, looking rather like a piece of clay a foal would play with. His mane retraced, it looked like it was being sucked back into his head. The hat and vest he wore similarly merged with the body. Any bit of color this thing had had faded away to a dull grey, almost black. What was left was a shadow in three dimensions.
Fluttershy shook violently; she would have screamed if she had the courage to make a sound.
The other ponies in the bar noticed this.
The stallion who had stepped forward tilted his head in wonder. “You’ve never seen that before. You don’t know what we are, do you? And if you don’t know what we are, then you are clearly not one of us. In other words, you’re an honest to Sombra pony. Flesh and blood.” He licked his lips, a hungry glint in his eyes. “We like flesh and blood.”
Twilight decided that it was time to leave. Now. “Rainbow, let’s go!”
Rainbow Dash leaped up, shoving aside the shadow-pony things closest to her. She flew up to her friends in a multi-colored blur while Twilight concentrated her magic.
Flash. Crack.
The six reappeared on the roof of the bar. They flattened themselves, trying to take up as little room as possible. Twilight Sparkle used her magic to bend light around them, effectively making them invisible.
Let’s just hope that magic affects these creatures the same way it affects ponies.
They huddled together as the bar’s customers took to the street, calling others into the search for six flesh and blood ponies.