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Short Story

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The Shadow: Issue #1 (Part 3/5)

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Part 1: Chapter 90
Part 2: Chapter 96
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3rd Pony POV

As the moon soared over the sky, carts were still wheeling along the roads all over Goatham. The roads didn't particularly have too many lights save for the light that came from the buildings, but each car usually had a lantern or some form of light that was more than bright enough.

Sadly, with how dark the roads were, there were bound to be some accidents. Not crashes or anything that was dangerous like that. But like the rest of this town, crime was always an issue.

Sure there were tons of patrol cars to try and combat this, but it never always seemed to work out too well. Especially if there was something like an armored wagon transporting something valuable.

Like this for instance:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As an armored wagon began to travel through a tunnel, a sudden explosion lit up the entire area with flame. The tunnels such as these were usually the most well lit parts of the roads, so you can probably imagine many ponies that were pulling their own carts and wagons were very surprised when the explosion nearly hit them at the same time.

"Hey, get back here!"

Once the smoke began to hide whatever was going on, the guards pulling the armored wagon managed to spot a few unsuspecting ponies jumping out from inside the wagon with bags balanced on their backs.

Soon, several of the thieves made their way to the side of the tunnel. All except for one, however, who stayed and took something out of his overcoat pocket. Dropping it on the edge of the wagon for the guards to find. It being a small, card shaped piece of paper with a very show-offy question mark written in glowing green ink on a black card.

As the final thief turned his attention back to where the rest of his pals were going, he began making his way behind them as well. Looking around carefully to make sure that no wagon was about to come running him over in all the confusion.

Then, the smoke began to clear. And for anypony who was still inside the tunnel, they stayed right where they were and tried waving away whatever smoke was left. Meaning that all the carts and wagons had stopped moving. Thankfully avoiding any collisions, but this sadly led to a chaotic traffic jam.

But whereas most ponies were having trouble navigating around, one easily swerved around all the carts and screeched to a halt directly behind a tunnel. It had made a few close calls to the dazed ponies that were standing outside their vehicles, but aside from some angry bystanders, it wasn't a bother to anypony.

"Well, looks like I found where the 'odd sights'..." As she looked around, Robin quickly thought over all of what was going on around her. The guards were looking around, trying to call over any pony that was near them.

Ugh. These fools are hopeless. Robin thought to herself as she secured her scooter in place. Without her magic, it was as useful as a rock. So there wasn't concern of anyone stealing it while she wasn't looking.

"What are you three doing?" She asked as she walked over to the guards. They probably spotted the thieves, but with all the screeching of the carts around them, they probably lost wherever they had gone. And to them, the thieves could've been anypony in this whole tunnel.

"What the-? Who are you?!" One cop questioned, readying his horn to fire an incapacitation shot. They weren't deadly, nor did they hurt, but they definitely put an emphasis on the term 'freeze.'

"Easy there, Trigger Hoof," A second cop, and who seemed like the oldest of the three, dismissed. "She's just a little foal."

"Pssh. A little foal that knows more than you three do." She retaliated. She instantly saw them all glaring at her, before she held out a hoof. "Commissioner Justice Guard sent me here. He told me that stuff's been goin' on." She explained to them. Remembering to stay calm.

"I thought he sent that report to The Shadow," The head officer said.

"Yeah. I work with him." Robin told him blankly before trotting over towards the back doors of the wagon. "So what happened?" She asked them as she looked over everything carefully.

Trigger Hoof stopped pointing his horn at Robin and huffed slightly. "We were being put in charge of transporting some money from the bank. We had heard that something's been going on around the Northern District, but since this was safer compared to going anywhere else, we went this route anyway."

"Why not just have the Pegasi deliver it by air?" Robin asked, making a note as to how the back doors of the wagon were in very bad shape. The metal lock was literally twisted off as if it was putty, and all the rivets were missing and replaced with burn marks.

Upon closer inspection of the inside of the wagon, Robin noticed that two holes looked to be drilled in the roof from the outside inwards. The metal was similarly twisted like the doors, but there weren't any remains. It was as if the roof had been turned into a material other than metal altogether.

"There was too much of it. The weight of the wagon would've been impossible for a pegasus to fly across the city." The third officer, who had remained silent up until now, answered.

"The weight? If it's just an average delivery of bits then it won't be that...I see," Robin dismissed the question from there, knowing that line of questioning was pointless from this point. "The explosion. Do you recall anything weird about it? Like the smell?"

"The smell?" All three of them asked at once. Completely oblivious to where I was going with that idea.

"Yeah, the smell." She repeated before finally turning her attention to the card that was sitting right there. Basically screaming for her to look at it.

A green question mark. I should have known. That freak and his mutants are the only ones possible of doing this.

"...Now that you mention it," The two other guards turned towards Trigger Hoof. "It smelled kinda like plastic. But for some reason, I don't smell it anymore."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't smell anything now." The head officer admitted before sniffing around.

That explains how the metal was twisted so easily. It was transformed into some kind of plastic. Meaning that ponies could've easily pull holes open to go through and break the lock. It also explains the smell of burnt plastic because of the explosion.

The smoke faded quickly though. Meaning that the plastic itself didn't explode. That was probably just a normal spell that did it. But that doesn't explain the rivets missing…

Knowing that the card had more to it than simply the symbol, she flipped it over and read the back to herself.

"Money is worth it's weight in gold, but the walls are as cheap as toys."

"Toys…" Robin thought the word over before looking back at the plastic. Cheap toys...Building blocks, action figures, dolls, toy trains, TranShaper Robots...

"Plastic." She spoke out loud before turning towards the wall closest to the wagon. Simply dropping the note beside on the ground. Ignoring it entirely.

With any average glance, anypony would just see the entire wall as the side of the tunnels. All made of concrete, metal, and paint. As well as lights to light up what would be a very dark and dangerous tunnel to go through.

Slowly, Robin started walking over towards it. Her magic rolling her scooter along with her as she kept her eyes trained on the wall ahead. "You three start clearing up the traffic. Go tell the Commissioner that The Shadow got his message."

"Mam!" The three gave a salute almost on instinct before going forward and doing as she instructed.

Soon enough, Robin stopped at the wall and looked it over once more. "Rivets," She noted. She noticed how there were rivets pinned down around only a small section of the wall.

Looking behind her and seeing how the guards weren't looking, Robin quickly turned her attention back to the door. My favorite part of being a superhero. She smiled to herself before her horn slowly began to charge with a bright purple aura.

Robin wasted no more time as she fired a beam of heat towards the section of wall, watching in satisfaction as the plastic it was made out of began melting in front of her within seconds. And in doing so, one by one the rivets started to fall out of place and drop to the floor. Now having similar burn marks that the indentations back in the truck had.

Robin backed up a few steps and admired her melted piece of work with a huge smile on her face.

Being allowed to destroy public property and not get in trouble for it. Almost makes up for having to act like a girly rich foal on a regular basis.

Not wanting those cops from earlier to catch her red-hoofed with her handiwork, she hopped on her scooter and took off down the secret passage that was hidden behind the fake wall. Now on the hunt to catch the thieves and return what they had stolen.

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And that's part three of the short story! Real quick as a reminder, all stories are canon to the main one. It's just that this is the first comic book that Button Mash and the others made.

Something you might want to remember for later.

Also, I wanted to tell you all something real quick. I've decided to try out a new small style of writing. So whatever entire paragraph is in italics 'You know, if the whole thing looks like this', that'll be their thoughts. Kind of like what I did with the short story above.

Tell me what you think at the end. I'd love some feedback on this. I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own MLP. All I own are my characters and the ideas in the story. And even them, some of those ideas are a thanks to all of you.

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Enter the Mane Humans!

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Introducing: The Honorable Thieves!

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Twilight's POV

"These books are amazing! How's come Equestria never has anything like this?!" I cheered out quietly

"Twilight!" Spike called out in a forced whisper. "Keep it down! Joe said-"

"I know what Joe said, Spike." I waved away his worry. "Besides, we've only been here for twelve minutes. We're allowed to at least think everything out first." Besides, I didn't want a reminder about what Joe said.

It wasn't really this whole test that made me angry. If anything, I'm not really against it myself. Mostly because Big Mike let me read over the list of rules he kept with him. It explained that everything they didn't keep, they gave to charity for free. And if they just took regular currency, they donated twenty-five percent. Thirty-five percent was put back into funding their thievery, and the last forty percent was split between the three of them.

It was the most civil I've ever heard about crime. And that was only how they handled the money itself! No doubt it was much more elaborate than...Wait, no, no, no, I'm getting too absorbed in that! If this Morgue guy is anything like Big MIke, then that means Joe organized everything. And I can't give him any credit. If I do, he'll use it against me.

"But all you've been doing is reading through all these old books." Spike argued. "Are you really planning anything?"

"Of course I am Spike. It's not too hard to read and look around at the same time." I told him as I closed my current book.

It wasn't that old of a literature as the rest, but in was in the section of 'Modern Classics'. It was published in 1967, and was on a feud that divided two socially different classes. I told Spike the summary and asked if he had ever heard of it, but he said Romeo and Juliet.

Whatever that book was, I suppose it must've been similar to this. But there was no characters by that name. The main character's name was, and I almost laughed at how ironic it was, Ponyboy.

And almost right away I noticed just how different it was to Equestrian Literature. It was so much more edgy and dangerous than our writing. The violence, the illegal action, and the possibility that the character could die within any chapter.

It was amazing!

"Ashley!" Spike called out loudly beside my ear.

"Huh?!" I snapped back into reality. "What, what is it?" I asked him, quickly looking around in worry. What was I doing again?

"You started blanking out again." Spike told me before he fell back into his own chair. "You always do this whenever you're reading something you like."

"Oh. Sorry Spike." I told him, only able to smile in my embarrassment.

"What's so great about that book anyway?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it's just how interesting it is." I excused holding the book towards him. I've only been reading for eight minutes, so I was only halfway done with the book. I would've been finished already if I was allowed to use magic.

"It looks like any other book to me." Spike shrugged.

"Like every human book." I corrected him. "Human's have been through much more than ponies have." I clarified for him, still trying to stay quiet enough so no one could hear. But since not too many humans were sitting around us for some reason, I didn't have to worry so much as usual.

"Really? Have they been attacked by a Spirit of Chaos, chased by Hydras, and fall from thousands of feet in the air almost on a regular basis?" Spike asked.

"Well...The third one's debatable?" I tried to defend, only for him to just frown. "You know what I mean Spike. Besides, it's just that there's so many controversial things just in this one book alone that ponies have never dared try to write."

If I told the others that I really loved these books, they'd probably think I'm joking, but it was true. In the end, I still knew that this was a book. A story that hasn't actually happened. And to see something so adventurous or interesting unfold is something I always love. And I know that I wouldn't be the only one.

After all, most of Ponyville loves stories like these. I always see little colts and sometimes fillies coming by asking for comic books and having to just accept that I only have Daring Do books. Plus there's that forest survival book series that Blitz found back with that whole mind-swapping incident.

And finally, there was that new comic book that a few colts and Sweetie Belle were, and still are, making. It was actually a little violent and interesting, which was why so many ponies like it. Blitz and Scootaloo like it especially.

So if every pony liked that kind of different reading, I think human writing would be even better. Which is exactly why I need to bring these books back to Equestria.

"Excuse me, do you two need help with anything?" As I finished thinking it all over, one of the store's salesmares, or saleswomen maybe, asked us with a frown. Obviously, she didn't like us doing whatever we were doing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We were being a little too loud weren't we?" I asked as I stood up. Putting the book I was currently reading, along with about seven more, all onto a pile before picking them up.

"Yeah, a little bit I'm afraid." The lady said, easing her frown a bit. She probably thought that this was going to be a little harder to pull off.

So seeing that we were a little more reasonable than she thought, she looked outside of our small area and walked closer to us. "Some mother walked over and started complaining about a ditzy teenager and her little brother bothering her and her daughter."

"Hey, Twi-Ashley's not a ditz!" Spike defended with a frown. "She's the smartest person I know!"

Kind of funny since he doesn't know so many 'people' really.

"I didn't say that." The lady said with her hands raised in defense. She looked to be about my age, but probably cared a little bit more about looks than I did. "In fact, you don't look like a ditz at all! If anything, that sweatervest looks great on you!" She told me, sounding a bit desperate not to seem too rude. But it sounded genuine either way.

"Oh, uh, thank you!" I said, standing up. "And again, we're really sorry that you had to come over! We're just having a small issue finding something."

"We are?" Spike asked, not sounding at all convinced himself.

"Yes." I said, ignoring his look. "My little brother, Spike, needs to find something to write a report on."

"Wait, what?" He asked, now caught off-guard.

"Yeah, you thought I forgot about that, didn't you?" I asked him, giving him a quick wink to tell him to go along with it.

"Uh...Oh, yeah…" He said, pretending to be disappointed. "I need to write a report about classical stuff from Greece."

"You do realize that Classical Greek literature is just Greek Mythology, right?" She asked, looking at him with a knowing smile.

"Uh, y-yeah. Ahehe, I was hoping I could get that past Ashley." He excused. "Could you show me where that part is? I've never been here."

"Yeah, I know. I'm pretty sure I'd remember seeing a middle schooler with a green mohawk and a fake mustache." She joked, about to laugh at how he looked.

I told him that moustache looked silly when he was a human. And I don't have a spell to get rid of it right now.

"Hey, this is a real moustache!" Spike defended before nervously straightening out.

"Sure it is, Mr. Handlebar. Now come on, I'll show you where the myth section is." She said politely before turning to take him over to where the place was.

"You go on ahead Spike. I'll wait for you at the exit." I said, letting him be led through the store while I simply took my eight books and made my way for the exit.

Each of the eight books were around fifteen bucks each. And since fifteen times eight equalled one-hundred and twenty, that meant I had already gotten the minimum of books I needed. Now all I had left to do was make my way out of here without getting detected.

Of course, that's easier said than done. This place is so advanced in technology that I don't even need to be spotted by a store clerk.

Before I got to the checkout counter, I looked over everything once more. After I walked inside, Spike told me one or two things about how stores worked. How there were security cameras and small alarms at the exit. Add to the fact that there was still one more worker at the front, and there wasn't a chance of me simply walking out with a pile of books.

But there was something interesting about cameras. If they were anything like how cameras worked in Equestria, then that meant that they couldn't detect magic. So I could use my magic, just as long as I didn't physically manipulate anything the cameras could see.

I could cover the cameras, and then that'd mean that I'd have free range to do whatever spell I needed and get out undetected. But it's not like 'security' cameras have lens caps. And the only way anypony could get up there was if they had wings.

...Or not any 'pony' exactly…

"Excuse me." I walked up to the cashier with a calm look on my face. Or at least, as calm as I could manage. "I don't mean to bother you, but do you have a small piece of paper and a pen I could borrow? I need to write something down."

"You're gonna 'borrow' a piece of paper?" The lady asked with an amused look. "Does that mean I'm getting it back?"

"Getting...Oh, hahahaha!" I started laughing as she got a small piece of yellow paper and a pen. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine." She told me, laughing herself. "I just love confusing people with that. Here ya go." She stuck the piece of paper on top of the pile of books as if it was a piece of tape, and slid the pen underneath the paper.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." I told her before walking off with my head rested on top of the books.

"You too. And nice sweatervest." She complimented as she rested back at her station.

"Oh, thanks!" I called back, a nice smile on my face. Why does every human like my sweatervest so much? It's almost like they know I'm up to something and that they're trying to make me feel as bad as possible. And it's almost starting to work.

I pushed the thought in the back of my mind and kept to my plan. Keeping my head rested on my books, I was able to look to the ceiling casually. Spotting all the security cameras as I did so. They were pretty spread out and more focused on what was probably the more popular sections. Like the tables next to this coffee store, or this shelf that had nothing but comics. Seemed a little silly, but if it was supposed to stop crime then I guess it's doing its job.

In the end, I found the only secluded spot I could find without any cameras that could see me. The 'Kid's Book' section. Where the carpet was jigsaw puzzles, the books had colorful pictures, and not one kid to be seen anywhere. For a second, it was kind of sad to see, but after a closer look I saw how some kids were going towards the other sections of the stores. More than I could say for some of the colts and fillies who barely wanted to read with so much going on around them.

I refocused my attention on the paper and pen as soon as I set the books down beside me. The paper was cut into small little yellow squares, and the upper part was like tape in a way. Which explains how the lady was able to just put the paper and pen on the stack of books without them falling off.

And upon closer inspection, it looks like she gave me a few of these pieces of paper. Which was probably a good thing the more I think about it. After all, having three figurines would give me a better chance at pulling this whole plan off.

First I levitated the first piece of small yellow paper between my hands. Levitating it in midair as I kept my focus on it. The color of it. The shape of it. Just what it was made out of. Every aspect of it.

That was the first step to the spell. Or at least, the way Rarity told me how she did it. Once a week, me and her, and every once in a while Sweetie Belle would come too, we'd swap spells. I may have known tons of them. Most of them that would take Rarity weeks to learn just one, but she had a fair amount of spells too. Mostly party spells. Ones that were more for pony's entertainment than anything else.

Color changing spell. Mane styling spell. Changing hoof writing styles spell. Singing notes spell. And the one she shared me three weeks before we came here?

Origami spell.

Concentrating back on the paper, the spell made the paper fold itself. As long as you knew what the object you were trying to make looked like, the spell would do all the steps for you. You didn't need to know what fold to do next. What to tear. What to straighten. None of that.

Rarity showed me by making some quick but elaborate paper airplanes. Then we spent some time making origami figures of our friends. Making replicas like that were hard, even with the spell. Origami can't look dead-on accurate. So you have to imagine an origami version of what you're making if it can't look the same.

So for the end result, the figures had pointed hooves. They lacked detail for manes. And it was all just one color each. Except for Applejack and Blitz. We made a separate hat and tail for them respectively. So two colors were the max.

Rarity was a bit disappointed, but I really liked them. So to this day, they're on my windowsill. At least until I can find an empty shelf to put those on. Maybe I'll have some space after reshelving day.

As I thought it all over, I looked over the finished product of my origami spell. Using spells as a human was really different than a pony. I had to transfer the spell from my horn to my hands. And from there, I had to make my magic try to act normal.

It was like transferring power to a satellite. The power was weaker and distributed in a different way. And from there I had to figure out what changed and how much more power I needed to transfer than before.

Trial and error. If I was to adapt my magic, then I had to do just that. But something like that was normally too reckless for magic. But that was a problem I had to keep up with. No matter how stressful it was to accept.

Quickly, I started to work on the other two pieces. Shifted them into origami as well. They were a bit off, but with what I was planning to do, I doubt anyone would be able to tell.

Next, I looked at the plastic pencil the lady gave me with the paper. I knew there wouldn't be quills in this world. Too ancient a tool. But this pencil was something else. It had a blue cap on the end, and the tip looked like it was made of copper or something like that.

Testing it out, I wrote a small line on my arm. Studying the black line the pencil made. It didn't look like graphite. In fact, as I ran a finger over the line and intercepted it, the line smudged.

Definitely not graphite.

"Ink." I concluded. Smiling at my luck. "Perfect."

Looking around one more time, still no one near me, I put the odd pencil in both hands and starting snapping it in half. A task that I, I'll admit, had to use magic to pull off.

Probably just a stubborn piece of plastic, hehehe…

Still, with the pencil snapped in half, the ink almost immediately started to leak. I wasn't worried about the mess though. I quickly used my magic to levitate as much of it as I could and put just the right amount in the right places to put the finishing touches on the origami.

It didn't take too long to do. So after using another spell to quickly dry the ink, I put the pen aside and held the three small pieces of origami in my outstretched hands. Quickly admiring my craftsmareship before putting my plan into action.

I just hope no one sees me and ruins the whole thing.

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Spike's POV

"So, what's the report on again?" The saleslady asked once we got to the Mythology section. It took us a few minutes since I kept getting 'sidetracked' by looking at whatever we were passing by. And this lady is either really used to people acting like this, or she was just as interested as I was because she spent a good minute talking about everything we stopped at.

We even stopped at a shelve of calendars. Calendars! And all the ones with cool pictures were gone! The most interesting one was a calendar with flowers on every month, and she still found something to say!

As a matter of fact, I think I know everything there is to know about sunflowers now. And...I'm somehow fine with that.

"I dunno." I said, hoping to buy Twilight as much time as I could. "I think my teacher just told us to pick something and write about it."

"Oh, cool! I think my sister has a report like that!" Almost immediately, she started looking for a book. "Is there a girl called 'Valerie' in your class?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?" I asked as I walked over besides her.

"Well you look like you're her age. Well, except for that fake moustache." She giggled before pulling out a book. To which I just rolled my eyes. Girls never understand how awesome mustaches are. "Besides, you look her type."

"Wait, what?" I asked, not too sure just what I heard.

"Oh, whoops! Guess I should not have said that." She said out loud, sounding completely unbelievable before laughing some more. "Still, yeah. Besides, Mr. 'Stache Man," She said with a big 'burly' voice. "I think you and her would be some kinda friends or something. You both act the same."

"Uh, thanks, but," She handed me the book. Snickering at my blushing expression "I'm, uh, okay." Hoping that Twilight would hurry up, I looked at the front of the book.

"...Oh!" She said with a snap of her fingers. "You like someone already!"

"What?!" I shouted, accidentally dropping the book. "N-No I don't!" I said, trying to pick up the book so I could get out of here.

"Oh yeah ya do." She nodded, a huge smile growing on her face. "I kinda have a skill to figuring this stuff out. Lemme guess…" She crouched down a little so she was eye-level with me. Studying my every move like I was some kinda ant on a sidewalk. "You know her, she knows you, friend-zone, and...She's older than you. Am I right?"

"..." Book now in hand, I looked at her with my mouth wide-open. "How did you-" "Ha! Yes, called it!" She cheered out, keeping a little quiet for the people in the store.

"How did you do that?" I asked, still in awe.

"Call it a gift." She told me with a cocky smile. "So, how much older anyway?"

"Uh...Six years." I admitted. It was only fair seeing as how she figured that much out already.

She whistled softly before standing up straight. "That much, huh? Yeah, that's kinda tough." She nodded, thinking to herself while I just frowned in sadness. "But not impossible...I guess." She said, seeing how depressed I was starting to look.

"Really?!" I asked. Already cheering up as I just gripped the book in my hands. Hoping she had some kinda advice.

"Yeah, sure. There's been…" She muttered something else, but I couldn't tell what. "Just, uh, don't act too immature." She told me with a smile.

"That's what my friend Bl...Zeke. That's what my friend Zeke always tells me." I said, remembering the lessons he and Twilight always teach me. Blitz is the one that does most of the tutoring though. Twilight's usually just there to make sure Blitz doesn't try to back out of it.

"Zeke?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Uh...Does this 'Zeke' have a...No, nevermind." She waved away whatever she said. "Anyway, good luck with the report Spike. That book should be able to…" She slowly started to trail off. Spotting something that was behind me.

In almost no time at all, she went from friendly to terrified. Her pupils shrinking to specks of dust, her arms shaking, and her legs locking up. All while she didn't dare to move a single muscle. "Oh, no…"

"Oh no what?" I asked, turning around. Spotting it the second I turned around to see just what was going on behind me that was so scary for this lady to freak out so much. And I jumped even more than she did. Probably because it was right in front of my face.

"BEEEEEEEE!" The lady shrieked behind me, spotting the bee buzzing around like nuts. And acting probably as ticked off as an angry bee could possibly be.

Now, I wasn't really that scared of bees. My thick scales pretty much kept myself from really getting hurt too much by them. But that didn't mean that I was about to let one sting me. Because just the thought of its stinger trying to stab you in the shoulder or something…

"AAAAAAAHHH!" The lady didn't let up her fear as she took off running in the opposite direction. Leaving me here with this bee that was moving too fast for anyone to really keep an eye on.

That is, until it stopped in mid-air directly in front of me.

I backed up a step, but swallowed my fear just long enough to look at it. And since it had stopped moving so much, I saw just what it really was. A piece of yellow paper, painted with black ink, and surrounded in a small wisp of purple aura.

"Twilight." I said, figuring it all out right away. The piece of floating paper then started to bob up and down, I guess trying to nod or something, and took off flying towards the tables somewhere else. And seconds later, a few screams came from there. Followed by one or two 'Ow's too. Which probably didn't hurt at all, but since they all thought they were being stung by bees, they probably thought it hurt more.

With no one around me, I took off running towards the front of the store. Where I saw Twilight running up to the counter with her pile of books, a man quickly walking out of the store with a shopping bag, and a very stiff mom walking out of the store with a confused daughter. The mom holding the back of her neck because of a bee sting.

I chalked that up as Twilight having a small grudge with her and ran up beside Twilight.

"Oh crap, Sandra's allergic to bees!" The cashier yelled out before taking off to where the other worker ran off to. Probably going to help her co-worker be safe of the bees.

"Good thing the bees aren't going to hurt her." Twilight said with a smile. He hand glowing purple from aura underneath her glove. "Oh Spike, you found a book for your report." She said, acting as if nothing was wrong as she placed her pile of books on the counter.

"What's going on?" I asked her as I put my book on top of the pile.

"Oh, nothing much. I just made a few friends to help me clear the bookstore for a few seconds. Matter of fact, one's blocking the camera right now." She said as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the camera on the ceiling.

And though it was hard to see, I was able to make out a small yellow and black dot covering the camera with a purple aura. "So the camera can't see you stealing the books." I put together.

"Not stealing. Just checking them out myself." I turned back towards her to question just what she meant, but I already saw what when she started levitating books over the scanner. Making the cash register scan the books as if she were buying them. Without any money.

"And that's how we're getting past the alarms." I said, watching the exit just ten feet away from us. "But what if-" "Someone tries to get out through the entrance?" She finished my question. "Nope. I figured out the Come to Life spell while I'm a human. The origami's alive and it's mission is to keep everyone in here busy until I leave."

"It's mission?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's how the spell works. Everything needs a meaning in life. So when you bring something to life, you have to give it a mission. Remember?" She asked as the last book scanned through. All of them floating into two decorative brown bags with the stores logo on them. Along with a receipt that made it all come together.

"Right. I forgot that's how it worked." She can't really blame me though. After all, the only time she used that spell was that snow plough. And that snow plough was pretty out of control. Probably because she forgot the mission part.

"Alright, all set." She levitated the bags over and handed me one of them while she took the other. "Once I leave the store, the bees should either lose their magic or fly off like normal bees, so let's go." She told me, walking quickly to get out of here. Me following right behind her with a quick look back.

And just like she said, mere second after we left, the bee on the camera flew off on it's own. And the small screams in the back faded away. The bee attack stopping just as Twilight said it would.

"Whew. Am I glad that's over." Twilight said, breathing out what looked like a huge sigh of relief as she calmed down and allowed herself to ease up. It was hard to notice, but she looked pretty stressed compared to how she looks now. "So what book did you get anyways?" She asked, desperately hoping to change the subject.

"Uh…" Not wanting her to be so upset, I quickly looked in my bag and saw that my book was second to the top. So it was easy to pull out as we kept walking towards a few benches. One of which, were entirely empty.

"Creatures of Greek Mythology." I read outloud. "Woah, and there's a cool dragon on the front!" I said, looking at the cover of it. "Two of 'em."

"Let me see that." Twilight said before I handed her the book. After looking around us, she held it out in her free hand and and used magic to flip through it quickly. "Woah. Spike, look at these pictures."

She held it in front of the two of us for both of us to see. She then started flipping page to page, naming off the pictures that were drawn out. "Griffons. Minotaurs. Manticores. Pegasi. This is a list of creatures from our world!"

"Wait, what?!" I yanked the book away from her and flipped around the book myself. Keeping her from seeing the pictures or what was written just in case it said anything about the show.

The book wasn't exactly new, so I knew that the generation that humans were watching now wouldn't be on here, but the book looked at least newer than the very first one.

After I checked it over, none of the pictures looked like anything too much like our world. The detail and everything was off. The Pegasi all looked like the horses in this world, and the heads of the Griffons looked more more bird-like than usual Griffons.

"Uh...Is there anything on dragons?" I asked, hoping to cover up just what I was really doing. Twilight was holding the bag of books in her hand like normal, but mine was in the bend of my arm, so I could hold the book in both my hands.

"Well if a dragon's on the cover, than probably. Still, I wouldn't get your hopes up Spike. The facts on those 'Mythological Creatures' probably aren't too accurate." Twilight told me, trying to dismiss the books worth.

"I don't know Twilight. Listen to this," I flipped around the book and stopped at the Manticore page since it was the closest. "Manticore. This creature is very similar to an Egyptian Sphinx. Having the body and head of a lion, bat-like wings, a scorpion or dragon tail, and a triumphant voice. It's a carnivorous creature that was said to have eaten its prey whole. Pointing more towards this creature being heavily quick-tempered."

"What?!" She yanked the book back away from me and flipped around some more. "Lernaean Hydra. An ancient, serpent-like, reptile that was told to live in a swamp or other watery locations. It possessed many heads. So much so that it was joked that it had too many heads for vase-painters to paint. And for each head...Severed, ugh," She shivered at the thought. "Two more would -grow back in its place!" Twilight exclaimed.

"That's terrifying!" She shouted as she just flipped to another page. "I don't even think we have that much information on hydras, and they actually exist in our world." She said, remembering not to cause a scene.

"Maybe they used to exist here?" I pitched the idea.

"Well, I'm just glad that they're not around at the moment." She said, shaking the thought away as she focused on the new page. "Oh. Here's the dragon page you were looking for." She handed me back the book as we finally approached the benches.

"Thanks." I took the page and looked over it anxiously. "If they have that much stuff on Manticores and hydras, then they have to have something on dragons here." I said before sitting down next to Twilight. Who spotted a small notebook beside us on the bench.

"Hey, who left this here?" She asked before picking it up and flipping it around. "A few pages are written on, but I don't see a name." She acknowledged, flipping to the back.

But I just shut her out and focused on reading. "Dragons." I said, starting at the beginning of the summary. "These creatures have been told in stories and legends all over the world. Most people remembering them as flying, fire-breathing reptiles originating from Greece. But contrary to popular belief, Greece has very little mythology on dragons…" My smile slowly fell.

"In fact, most of what people assume are dragons are more serpent-related than anything." I read on. "The most famous and closest to being a 'dragon' is the Lernaean Hydra..." I closed the book and dropped it back into the bag I was carrying. Sighing in defeat.

"It's okay Spike." Twilight tried to reassure. "I mean, maybe it's for the best you didn't know. After all, remember how rude those teenage dragons were?"

"Yeah, I guess…" I knew she was trying to cheer me up, but it wasn't working. "What's the notebook for?"

"Oh. Well, I was gonna ask if you could send a letter real quick, but-" "You need a pencil, right?" I finished her sentence as I reached in my pocket and took one out.

"Uh, well, yeah. Sure, thanks." She said as she took it. Giving me a sad smile. "Since I'm not used to using this phone thing yet," she opened her book and started to write on a new page. "I want to get this message to Celestia as soon as possible."

"Sure. We can try it." I told her sitting up to get ready and send it. After they turned me human, I tried seeing just what I could still do. My skin may have still been scaley, but I wasn't sure if I could still breathe fire like before.

"Thanks." Twilight said before tracing a square shape around her message with her index finger. Using magic to make a perfect cut. She then handed me the piece of paper. "It's ready."

"Okay. All we gotta do now is wait for no one to be looking." I said, spotting two groups passing us by. But everyone was about to be looking the other way in a few seconds.

---

Twilight's POV

The wait took a bit longer than we anticipated, but after a few more minutes, Spike tested out his fire on the paper. And to our relief, the message didn't just burn up. Instead, a small wisp of smoke evaporated the note and it slowly rose to the air and disappeared into nothing.

Since the smoke was dragon magic, the cameras didn't see the wisp. If anything, it might've seen the small puff of fire but that was it.

"So, what are you trying to ask the Princess anyway, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Well, I can't quite place it Spike, but something just doesn't make sense to me." I sat back and rested my chin on my hand. "She told us that we needed to help the Protectors of Harmony. And from what Joe told us, that means saving Morgue from prison for a crime he didn't do."

"...But?" Spike urged. Knowing that there was more to it than that.

I sighed. "But, that's just it. If that's what Joe and Big Mike need help with, then why didn't she just get Morgue out and bring them to Equestria like she did with Blitz?"

"Well...Maybe she wants you to learn some kinda friendship lesson from all of this?" Spike offered, getting confused himself by Celestia's motives.

"I don't think so Spike." I shook my head. "If anything, it's Joe that needs the friendship lesson. Besides, how could any of us learn a lesson in a world so chaotic, that all of us somehow got talked into stealing?"

"Maybe this world's making us all act chaotic." Spike answered sarcastically, snickering at his own joke.

"Very funny Spike." I rolled my eyes. "You know as well as I do that this world can't do that. There's no magic, good or bad."

Just then, a small jingle started playing underneath me. Making both me and Spike stop talking and get up in confusion. But as we did, the music moved with us. Coming from under me.

"Oh, your phone." Spike pointed towards my front left pocket as I listened carefully again. And realizing that Spike was right, I reached into my pocket and pulled out that small device the Princess gave to each of us. The phone.

The front of it was glowing with a picture of Princess Celestia's cutie mark. And after seeing that picture, I carefully moved my thumb over the green 'Accept' button and tapped it. Making the screen change to show the picture, a timer that was counting down to the second, and a few small symbols. But not knowing what they did just yet, I simply moved the phone towards me so I could talk into it.

"H-Hello?" I tested it out, not sure just how it worked quite yet.

"Thank you for sending a note ahead of time, Twilight." The Princess spoke. "Also, I think you may be holding the phone wrong."

Sadly, her voice wasn't too clear since the phone was a bit quiet. "What was that?"

"Hold the phone up to your ear." Spike corrected me as he moved the phone to the right position.

"Oh, got it." I nodded as I kept the phone in place. "So, did you get my note Princess?"

"Yes. Good thing too. I was holding court at the time, so if you had called me then it would've been very awkward for the ponies that hear it." She told me.

"Wait, you were what?!" I asked her, suddenly getting worried. "I-I'm sorry Princess, I didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright. Besides, your mission is much more important than childish disputes. What seems to be the problem?" Princess Celestia asked me.

"Well, actually, it's the mission I have a question with." I frowned.

"Oh?"

"You said that the other Protectors needed help, but that's just it. If the only help they need is saving their leader Morgue, than why do we need to be here? I don't mean to go against you or anything but...Why us? Why couldn't you just send them here like you did Blitz?"

"That...I was hoping you could realize on your own." The Princess sighed through the phone. "As you may have noticed, they aren't like Blitz is. In fact, they-"

"Are thieves?"

"I was going to say 'have a different outlook on life' but," She giggled lightly. "Yes. They have grown used to their lifestyle, and to bring them to Equestria like Electric Blitz would be...Difficult."

"But we could've helped reform them like Discord...Right?" I was already doubting that idea myself, and the Princess knew it.

"I'm afraid not. I've met with them all myself, and I think that one of them alone would prove very challenging. After all, you've already met Big Mike and Joseph, right?"

"Oh yeah, we've met." I told her with a small growl. But realizing the sound, I shook my head. "And I see what you mean. Joe's too stubborn to change his mind."

"Just Joseph?" She asked me. I could've sworn I thought she sounded a bit amused.

"W-Well, all of them are probably, well…" I couldn't just lie to the Princess. Big Mike was nice enough to be friends with, but Joe was still something I wasn't about to get used to.

"I don't blame you. I didn't think you two would get along all too well. But that in mind, there's a reason why he's acting this way." Her voice started to become less happy and more serious.

"Because we're here right?" I said, remembering everything that's happened so far. "With everything going on, he must be stressed out over organizing everything and getting everything set up to free Morgue."

"That's only part of it I'm afraid." Princess Celestia spoke. "There's another reason as to why I brought all of you there. One that, as I said, I was hoping you would notice right away."

"...Princess?" After a few seconds, I tried to see if she was still there.

"Let me send a message to you through Spike. It'll be some instructions on a spell that may help you understand just what I mean. It's something I had worked on after I used the Elements to banish Nightmare Moon."