“No! I know I’ve followed you on everything so far but this I where draw the line!” Lyra shouted.

The crowd looked on at the heated argument in the road between the two unicorns and a pair of changelings. They were shouting quite loud and heatedly but nopony knew what about, except that it seemed incredibly important.

“You’re just saying what you want without considering us!” Maze countered.

“It is you who is being inconsiderate! Trixie agrees with Lyra, ours is the best course of action! Trixie has done considerable research and has personal experience in the matter!” Trixie proclaimed.

“You’re not the only one who’s traveled Trix! I’ll have you know I’ve done my own research and experienced it myself, and you’re greatly over selling it!” Crystal matched the showmare.

The crowd grew as the fight seemed to reach a climax, baited breath as they grew quiet in anticipation.

“I’m telling you! The best place to eat in Baltimare is-”

“The Corner Fleet Street Grille!” The Changelings interrupted in unison.

“The Alta Woodberry Kitchen!” The unicorns shouted back.

Exasperated sighs and many rolling eyes swept through the rapidly dispersing crowds, muttering and complaints of wasted time heard more than once. The arguing group however remained steadfast, either not noticing or not caring as Lyra shouted again,

“They have a wide variety of delicacies! Exotic fruits freshly imported and meals prepared by top notch-!”

“And NO MEAT! We can’t live of grass and flowers Lyra! We need protein!” Maze cut her off.

"*Tch* Carnivores!” Trixie huffed, turning her head in disgust.

“You have any idea how hard it is to get a hold of dragon meat legally?! Let alone someone who actually knows how to prepare it?!” Crystal countered.

“Dragons are intelligent creatures!” Lyra scolded them, shocked at their barbarity.

“Yeah and they taste really good too! Besides not all of them are intelligent, most sea dragons are just destructive beasts!” Maze countered.

“What about that Steven fellow always traveling around Equestria? He’s a sea dragon!” Trixie asked.

“He’s a sea Serpent, they’re classified as sea monsters, not dragons!” Crystal corrected.

“Alright that’s enough!” Maze suddenly stepped forward, trying to lower her voice to a more diplomatic volume “Obviously we’re at an impasse, why don’t you two go to your little kitchen and enjoy your steamed oats or whatever and we’ll just meet up later?”

“Fine! We’ll do just that! Enjoy your bloody flesh! Come then Lyra, let us get some civilized food” Trixie accepted less than graciously as she and Lyra went their own way before calling back “You can find your own hotel tonight too!”

“Fine!” they shouted back.

“*Tch* herbivores” Crystal added.

Wolf merely sat there as the two pairs stomped off.

"I do not require the ingestion of organic material for energy" he stated to no one in particular before wandering off to entertain himself.

“In all honesty it’s not a bad likeness” Maze said, examining the wanted poster with her face sketched on it. “And they even did it in color; they must want me bad to shell out for colored wanted posters.”

“You realize any changeling will see straight through your ‘disguise’ with nothing more than a second glance” Crystal mentioned, referring to Maze’s octocamo disguise of just changing her skin color grey and slightly altering her features “You don’t even have a horn.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not trying to fool changelings then isn’t it? Besides, I’ve seen changelings without horns before and most ponies are embarrassingly unobservant anyways” Maze answered before releasing a little squee as their food arrived “And we can’t all be as lucky as to just have a black silhouette with a question mark, Miss ‘Unidentified Changeling’.”

“That does help” Crystal replied with a small smirk as the two dug into the smorgasbord of exotic dishes, with several very content and vaguely suggestive sounds following.

“So, if changelings need to eat normal food too then what’s with the whole feeding on emotions thing?” Maze asked curiously, cutting into a straight forward, but no doubt delicious dragon steak wrapped in tatzlwurm bacon.

“The emotions are for our magic, we don’t NEED to feed on them parse; we can survive and even use magic without, but it’s… not a pleasant existence. We also don’t need as much as most ponies think; passive feeding is enough for most changelings unless they plan on using a lot of magic. Why do think I insisted we sit near the family showing off their new foal?” Crystal answered, examining a ‘Dragon spring roll’ before popping it in her mouth, a not entirely innocent sounding *mmm* escaping her just after.

“Excuse me ladies” A rather large griffon pardoned as he approached “I represent a very influential party in town and you two seem like you are certainly more than capable of handling yourselves; I don’t suppose you would be interested in making a large some of bits for some off the record work, would you? I know food like this isn’t exactly cheap.”

“When were done eating, and if he picks up the tab maybe” Maze answered simply and continued eating, Crystal ignoring the griffon as if he weren’t even there as Maze addressed her “Ooo, you wanna split the basted Jackelope?”

“Oh, I uh… Okay I suppose I’ll just uh… go wait in the lobby?” The griffon asked to get no response, shortly retreating to wait slightly dejected.

“Those two don’t know what they’re missing” Lyra smiled happily as the waiter placed the Mint raita chickpea burgers and Artichoke Barigoule before her “Oh this looks soooo good!”

“Trixie agrees, those two would not know a fine meal if they prepared it themselves even!” Trixie agreed as she also hungrily eyed her stuffed portobellos and ratatouille terrine.

“Excuse me my fine mares, but if I may have a moment of your time” a surprisingly well spoken diamond dog politely interrupted as he approached their table in almost wizard like robes.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie always has time for her fans, but her journey has been long with few luxuries such as this meal, so she asks you make any autograph requests and praises as expedient as possible” Trixie requested, irritated but not about to alienate a fan.

“Actually madam, I work for a rather important individual with much influence over the ports. He’s looking for capable individuals to help with a… unique matter. I believe with your reputation, you and your friend would be most able. You would of course be compensated, my employer can be quite generous indeed” the diamond dog propositioned.

“Well we only just got our food so he’ll have to wait” Lyra answered unapologetically, savoring the first bite “MMMm, oh Trixie you just have to try a bite of this!”

“Uh… very well, I will… just... meet you out front I suppose?” The bipedal canine mumbled, withdrawing to the door.

“So you mean you’re empathic then?” Maze asked.

“To a certain degree yes, all changelings have some ability to sense emotions. It’s usually not sensitive enough to tell of someone is lying or anything advanced like that, but we wouldn’t know what we were really eating if we couldn’t sense it at least a little” Crystal responded informatively.

“Ahem, ladies? As Mr. Smith was saying…” the griffon interjected, confused as to why one changeling was asking questions about her own race, but figuring that maybe they were just from different hives.

“My name is Rail Smith, as my body guard has no doubt informed you. You’re here because of a pony named Shady Port who owes me for a lost wager, and has refused to pay” The mansion owner explained in a deep, if somewhat nasally voice. He was a slightly shorter stallion, plump with a large mustache and a thinning mane, a very typical railroad tycoon look to him.

“So you just want us to be debt collectors then? Couldn’t you just bring this dispute to the guards?” Maze asked, wondering why he would hire them “Honestly with what you’re paying us, it must have been one hell of a wager.”

“Oh this is no longer about the money my girl, it’s about respect and the lack he has shown me! That little whelp even accused me of cheating! An insult I simply cannot stand!” the angry tycoon ranted as he paced about the office.

“So you want us to kill him?” Crystal asked bluntly, not entirely clear as to if she was for or against the idea.

“Oh no, nothing that extreme” the griffon answered “Mr. Smith has been embarrassed by Mr. Port and he seeks to even their standing; hopefully once Mr. Port has realized his error this will all blow over.”

“I’ve heard he’s been looking for mercenaries of his own to embarrass me further, so we must strike first! What I want you to do is find his ruffians of his and…”

“Oh this it simply awful- JUST AWFUL! First I lose my friend and now he seeks to destroy my reputation?! He set me up! A friendly wager indeed, the backstabbing cheater!” the tall, lanky stallion fluttered about the room, flamboyantly exaggerating his gestures “I simply cannot let him think he can just do this to someone like me! I Cannot!”

“Calm yourself Mr. Port! The great and understanding Trixie is here to assist you! She too knows what it is like to be set up for failure over a mere wager!” Trixie assuaged the lord of the manor, Lyra rolling her eyes at her partner’s delusion.

“We have word that Mr. Smith, the trickster behind the bet has hired a pair of goons to attempt to further diminish Mr. Port’s reputation, you will stop them” the diamond dog explained “Do not kill them of course, this could get very messy legally speaking that way.”

“Stop his mercs and make him back off; got it. Come on Trix” Lyra summed up and dragged the magician from the room, Mr. Port continuing to swoon and complain even after they left.

Wolf sat on atop a tall roof, watching as each pair of his companions passed each other on different streets on their way to the others’ employer’s home. He found a better vantage point where he could see both homes and settled in.

“This is proving to be a most interesting turn of events.”

“Yeah, that bitch queen Chysalis really screwed the orthros when she invaded Canterlot. I know there are rumors that her hive can live off emotions alone, but she just got greedy. Love isn’t even the best source of power; sure it tastes great but damn it, did she ever make life a lot more difficult for the rest of us” Crystal vented at Maze’s latest question.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit a sore spot” Maze apologized as they reached the manor’s gates.

“No, it's not you; we’ve never really been welcome in pony lands as it was, she just made it more irritating” Crystal calmed down as a diamond dog jumped over the gate, stance low and ready.

“Cease and desist, servants of Smith! You will not besmirch my employers name so long as I stand at his side!” The dog announced as his paws became engulfed in a fiery brown aura “That is right dishonorable shape shifters! Magic is no longer the sole domain of unicorns and changelings! With my nano magic I can weild far greater than-URK!”

The diamond dog rocketed back into the gate, a kinetic pulse from one of Crystals tentacles nearly breaking it off its hinges as it carried the dog into the metal. The bodyguard slid down, tongue lolling out of his mouth and his eyes rolled back.

"Wasn't this supposed to hard or something?" Crystal asked, a note of irritated disappointment in her tone.

“You didn’t kill him right?” Maze asked as the poked the body guard with a twig, a small whine escaping the still unconscious canine “Yeah, he’s still breathing. That should be good right? Let’s head back.”

“You shall not best me in combat tiny ponies! You are not even Pegasi!” The griffon boasted as he took to the sky above the showmare and engineer “You cannot hope to match my speed and agility when I fly, now feel my wrath dive down upon… you?”

The griffon jerked to a halt mid-dive, a light blue glow enveloping him. He suddenly met the ground hard, and then met it again 5 more times. He was knocked out by the third drop, beak to the ground and plot in the air as the two mares just glanced at one another.

“He really wasn’t too bright was he?” Lyra asked rhetorically.

“Of course not, all are inferior to Trixie and her allies! This one was a particularly evident example though, Trixie agrees” the stage magician turned and the two went to collect their pay.

“Took care of it?! You took care of nothing! Just look at my body guard!” Mr. Smith berated his new hires as his guard lay unconscious and heavy bandaged on the couch “You call that embarrassing the enemy!?”

“Hey calm down, so we just missed them in passing” Maze said casually “We’ll just head back and wreck their shit, easy-peazy.”

“Well then go do it! I’m not paying you to sit around here!” Rail Smith shouted as they left the mansion and Maze summoned one of the few tools the princesses didn’t take from her.

“What’s with the Musket?” Crystal asked, eyeing the ancient firearm.

“Well first off, this isn’t just any musket, it’s a Tanegashima; and you’ll just have to wait and see what that means!” Maze answered with a mischievous grin, leaving the changeling to wonder.

“You! You! You! You didn’t embarrass him at all! So you beat up his body guard! Big deal! They beat up mine and you weren’t even here to protect me!” Mr. Port Screamed at them, his servants doing what they could keep him calm as he floated about the room distraught.

“Trixie regrets the state of your body guard, but we were unaware that our opposition had hired others. It is a simple matter, we will merely have to retaliate” Trixie responded, her tone impressively even despite their employers… eccentric personality.

There was a small pop outside that caused the group's ears to stand on end, a moment later the room became a hurricane. Windows and doors crashed open as ponies were forced to grab on to anything stable, the winds tossing papers, furniture and ponies alike as if they were nothing but leaves.

“Holy Hate! Just how the hell did a musket ball do that!” Crystal exclaimed as she watched house become engulfed in a massive whirlwind as soon as the unassuming lead ball hit the door.

“I can’t say” Maze answered simply as she laughed, thoroughly entertained.

“I’ve been answering all your questions!” Crystal reminded the cyborg.

“No really! I can’t say, I have no idea how! It’s just something it can do!” She answered as the pair ran before anyone in the house could recover.

“Why don’t you use that all the time?!”

“Well A: It causes a lot of collateral damage, B: it takes like ten fucking minutes to load and C: It wouldn’t be as fun if I did it all the time!” Maze answered.

“You’re insane!” Crystal yelled smiling.

“So I’ve been told!” Maze grinned back.

“Hmmm yes, that does sound quite effective! I only wish I could have witnessed it myself!” Mr. Smith announced happily “Now let’s just discuss your paymm-m-m-m-m-OH w-w-when d-d-d-did it g-g-get so cold!?”

The mansions occupants shivered as the air itself seemed as to stick to them, chilling them to the bone. A loud cracking noise could be heard throughout the mansion, the light through the windows growing dim and filtered. When looking out they could see nothing but a solid blur.

“And that my dear Lyra, is how it is done!” Trixie laughed at the mansion now completely incased in ice “Isn’t Trixie just the most clever mage in Equestria?”

“Yeah, yeah good work,” Lyra admitted with an amused smile “Now let’s get going before they figure a way out!"

As the two mares ran off, a muted whirring noise could be heard crying out through the ice as they left earshot and a glowing spot began ripping though the ice. Large block slid out of place as Maze looked down at the red hot chainsaw, glad to have found it useful after all.

“Groovy”

“So, they want to play dirty do they?” Crystal mused menacingly “They should know better than to try and best a changeling at playing dirty...”

“Ahaha! Fantastic! They blow us around so you freeze them in place! Very good!” Mr. Port sung joyously “Now then, we should be ready to arrange your… your… By the sun what is that smell?!”

The gathered ponies all scrunched their muzzles at the increasingly vile smell when the source suddenly burst through the broken windows.

“BY THE GRACE OF CELESTIA!!”

“There’s actually quite a few hives other than the big ones everyone knows about, though most are still just off shoots of those. There’s actually the hagfish hive just along the horseshoe bay near the city here; they’re the ones with little fins and gills, one of the only amphibious changelings hives in the world. A very level headed and pragmatic breed, like their queen. They can come off a little too calm sometimes though, kind of creepy.” Crystal answered Maze’s latest question.

“That’s cool” Maze commented, then looked to the squishy, mucus covered egg-thing in her hand “So what is this stuff again?”

“Y’know those slimy pods you sometimes see or at least hear about when it comes to changelings, the ones filled with all kinds of gooey goodness?” Crystal asked as she poured a few more out of a vial she had been preparing.

“Yeah… I thought those were for birthing you guys though” Maze answered hesitantly.

“Well for hatching the lower castes yes, the higher castes give live births for the most part. These though, are like those pods but nastier failures of alchemy; though in this case, I’d say they’ll be a rousing success” Crystal delivered with a grin most wicked, throwing the first few at the manor as if egging a house.

They chucked the last one, the muted splats against the wood the only signs of progress.

“Sooo… What now, is that- FIND ME IN THE ALPS!” Maze jumped back as the small blobs exploded, large sacks of vicious fluids covered in sludge stretching across the walls and burrowing through broken windows and doors. Maze reeled back with a hand slamming down on her nose and mouth, the stench an almost corporeal threat it was so vile. The house looked more like a gangrenous wound then a dwelling by the time the twisted, bastard child of alchemy stopped spreading.

“Come on! You do not want that smell to get stuck in your hair!” Crystal cried happily as she dragged Maze away.

Trixie and Lyra staggered up to the mansion, still looking rather queasy.

“That was awful…” Lyra mumbled with all color drained from her face, a purely traumatized expression dominating her features.

“Even through the barrier Trixie could smell it, even AGAINST the barrier it was if Trixie could feel it” Trixie shuddered, rubbing her arms as if to wipe away the imagined sensation.

“Thanks again for that, I’d hate to think how much worse that could have been if you reacted even a second later…” Lyra thanked the quick acting magician.

“Not at all my engineer ally, Trixie only regrets that she couldn’t include anypony else… that’s bound to affect our pay…” Trixie trailed off, thinking of how they didn’t even wait for Mr. Port stop retching and tell them to retaliate.

“Alright, nothing clever this time. Just a good ol’ straight forward buck you” Lyra stated as she raised her gauntlet, a large canister popping up and rocketing straight through the wood of the front door. The pair didn’t even look back when the canister filled the entire mansion with tear gas, too tired of this game to even care as they walked away.

The occupants and staff quickly burst through the doors stumbling out of the mansion, coughing and sputtering as they gasped for fresh air. The gas still spilling out of windows and doors, they looked teary eyed upon the still growing cloud as they retreated to a safe distance.

“This is unacceptable!” Mr. Smith shouted as soon as he was able “No! No more of these games! This gets finished here and now! I will issue a challenge; you two will meet his goons in the town square and settle this once and for all!”

“Whoa hang on there, boss man! The squares’ a bit public for that kind of thing, don’t you think?” Maze argued “I’m not sure it’s the best place-”

“You will meet them there or you won’t get paid! End of discussion!” Mr. Smith issued the ultimatum and flagged down a servant to issue the challenge.

“Sorry if all my questions are bugging you, I know I can be pretty ignorant sometimes” Maze offered Crystal in case the changeling felt she was badgering her.

“Surprisingly, they’re not. Truth be told, it’s actually rather refreshing to have someone who’s just genuinely curious in learning about changelings. Most outsiders either don’t bother looking past the stories or interrogate us out of fear and suspicion” Crystal responded truthfully, leaning against a lamppost in the square as they tried to not draw too much attention to themselves.

“I find it refreshing to talk to someone who uses words like everybody instead of everypony” Maze admitted “Not that I hate it or can’t stand it or anything, it’s just a little… eh...”

“Yeah… that can take a bit of getting used to” Crystal agreed.

“Hey!” The pair heard someone shout, seeing Lyra and Trixie walking up though the square as the latter looked to be scanning the area.

“How were your steamed oats?” Maze asked jokingly, no longer upset. She was just glad to see some friendly faces after the day they’d had.

“The food was great! I only wish the rest of the day had been that way…” Lyra trailed off.

“Yeah, ours hasn’t been so great since the meal either” Maze replied “So what’re you doing here?”

“They are here to meet your employer's challenge” A large metal wolf informed as he approached the group.

“Meet our…? - Oh fuck me!” Maze cursed “REALLY?! You’re Shady’s goons?!

”Why I- Trixie might be considered many things but she certainly no Goon!” Trixie looked appalled by even the thought “You two however must be, to ally yourselves with devious ponies like Rail Smith!”

“Wait, so you two tear gassed us?" Crystal demanded then rounded on the cyber dog "And you knew?!”

“I have been aware of the coincidence since just after the four of you were hired and have been observing the conflict the entire time” Wolf informed the changeling.

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Lyra shouted.

“It has been a most humorous turn of events, I was curious to see how it would resolve” Wolf stated simply, his usual monotone failing to enforce his amusement.

“I don’t know whether to be pissed off or proud now” Maze admitted, quite ambivalent to the reply.

“So what the fuck do we do now?! We need to get paid here!” Crystal cursed.

“Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? You two go running off and tell your boss the Great and Powerful Trixie whipped your plots and we can move on from this embarrassing affair” Trixie told the non-ponies of the group.

“Bullshit! Why should we give up?!” Maze demanded.

“You’re the ones who had to go and escalate it with that whirlwind and that… that… horribleness I can’t even describe” Lyra argued.

“I was wondering where that smell was coming from” Crystal giggled just a little too proudly “Besides, you got us back with the ice and tear gas.”

“Yeah but I’d still say they got it worse, that stuff you threw at ‘em was pretty fucked up Cryss” Maze relented, only for Crystal to puff out her chest even more proudly.

“MAISIE THE HUMAN!” a shout rang out, several guards rushing into the square and leveling their rifles at the pair of gray humanoids.

“And now this is happening” Maze said dully as she dropped the octocamo disguise, not bothering to waste the energy if she was already found out.

“You and your changeling accomplice are under arrest! Surrender your weapons or we will open fire!” the guard surrounded the group, though keeping their weapons only trained on Maze and Crystal. She gave the two unicorns and Wolf a sharp glare, hoping they got the message to not intervene.

‘The longer we can keep them off the radar the easier our lives will be’ Maze thought as the guards circled them.

“Any ideas Maze? This isn’t exactly a winning scenario” Crystal asked quietly as they met backs.

“A distraction would be nice” Maze mused, the guards inching ever closer.

They all suddenly stumbled however as a building exploded at the other end of the square, ponies running away in a panic straight at the gathered guards.

“That’ll do!” Maze yelled as the group fled in the direction of the harbor, the guards unwilling to open fire and risk hitting the fleeing civilians. They ducked through a few alleyways and past a couple streets and more ponies ran directionless as more explosions and alarm bells rang out.

“What in Tartarus is happening?! It’s not another emotion trigger is it?!” Lyra asked, looking toward the growing smoke and out toward the bay. She could see an unusually high density of ships packed into the harbor, small puffs of smoke as some fired on each other and the city “What the-?”

“PIRATES! PIIIIIRAAAATTTEEEESSSSS!!!” One hysterical stallion screamed as he ran past.

Three surprised expressions met, along with the typical emotionless visage of Wolf. One face however held nothing but joyous excitement,

“PIRATES?!” Maze asked exhilarated.

“Maze don’t you dar- aaand she’s already gone” Lyra lamented as she watched the human sprint off, her sword held high in a dramatic charge and screaming like an idiot.

“PIRATES VS NINJA BITCHES!!!”

Author's Notes:

Going for a little bit lighter fare with this chapter, a little break from The Plot and all that; not every adventure is always epic all the way through after all. Hope you don’t mind. For those of you who may not be familiar with the series, this chapter was heavily inspired by an episode of “The Slayers”- I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. It’s not the best anime around but still definitely worth watching. (Although it does take a while to get going- the first half of the first season is kind of boring and cliché- but it starts getting a lot better during the second season)

What was almost there has now been achieved! Over 400 views! That’s awesome, thank you all so much for reading, and for your likes and comments! I’m still trying to think of ways to get the story a little more exposure but whatever, it’s still fun either way.

Also been thinking of doing some illustrations of Maze and the group, finally get a more solid idea in my head of how they appear; I know a lot of you probably have pictures in your head already though so I wouldn’t want to ruin that, but if that’s something you would like to see then let me know in the comments or something; I can always just post them as links in the author’s notes here.

As always, Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!