- tab With his beloved on vacation, there was nothing to distract the captain of the royal guard, Just Lance, from the military parade for the spring market. His heart ached that Blind Love could not be here, but… wasn’t that a part of love? Doing your best for one another, even when they weren’t there? Sure, she was waylaid in her travel plans, but Lance would persevere without her.
tab The parade was at its zenith. Ponies of every kind assembled in the streets of Drizzletown, watching the baton twirlers as they proceeded. Lance waited in the wings with his troops, surprisingly chipper despite the heartache. Perhaps there would be a recording of the show for his darling Blind Love to see later. All that was left were the last few twirlers, a sword-swallower, and his troops would be up.
tab The stallion turned to speak with Step in Time, asking for her readiness report, when it happened. The sword swallower’s magic glitched out, a single blade slipping from her hold and spun through the air. It was just a shallow nick, something easily patched up with a bit of magic. Still. Just Lance leapt into motion, grabbing his second in command’s leg to inspect.
tab There was an unsettling quiet over the market as a gentle trickle of rich, blue blood flowed onto Lance’s hoof.
tab Time seemed to stand still. With surprising calm, the unicorn general wrapped a bandage around Step in Time’s limb, making sure it was secured. Then the world exploded.
tab Several things happened at once. Step in Time was bound in shimmering, magical bonds and fell to the ground. Her skin seemed to vanish completely, revealing a dark carapace in place of fur. The insect-like creature stared up at the unicorn, fear and fury whirling in its buggy eyes.
tab “Where,” Lance said, voice low and dangerous, “is my second in command?”
tab “I—I won’t tell! Our numbers are strong enough that we will persevere! Your second in command and your little love battery—“
tab The environment turned cold.
tab “Where,” he started again, but this time his horn crackled with furious energy, “is my wife?”
tab The intruder stilled, and very suddenly, went quiet. A single blink, and their eyes were replaced with slit pupils.
tab “Don’t you dare hurt my children,” a new voice spoke through the bug, furious and hateful. Just Lance scoffed, raising his chin in defiance.
tab “You tell me what you’ve done with the ponies you’ve replaced, face to face, and nothing will happen to your ‘children.’ There’s more of you, aren’t there?”
tab The vessel gave a quiet, angry hiss, pinning its ears back.
tab “They’re more clever than all of you combined. You won’t find them to hurt them, even if you wanted to! Lay a hoof on any of them, and you’ll answer to me!”
tab The changeling stilled. Breathing, still alive, but perfectly still.
tab Just Lance stood, and closed his eyes. From his horn there was a great surge of light, spreading over the entirety of the town. Around Drizzletown, there was now a glimmering magical barrier. There would be no ponies entering and no ponies exiting.
tab “LISTEN UP!” Just Lance called, voice booming over the town. “AS OF NOW, THIS TOWN IS ON LOCKDOWN. NOBODY COMES OR GOES UNTIL MY SAY SO. DRIZZLETOWN IS OFFICIALLY IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY. I NEED ALL PONIES ABLE TO COME TO ME, NOW.”
tab It was hard to say what was happening, but whatever it was could not be good.
tab With everypony assembled, Just Lance paced along the stage. His demeanor had gone sour, nervousness radiating off the unicorn. He turned his one good eye to the crowd, inspecting them.
tab “There are, as of now, intruders in our midst. I don’t know how many there are, but we need to find them. They’ve taken our friends and loved ones for reasons we don’t know. We need to work together to figure out who they are and what they’re up to.”
tab “But—but they haven’t done anything, yet!” A pegasus in the crowd called, garnering some murmurs. Just Lance nodded, thoughtful.
tab “True. They haven’t done anything yet. But our friends could be missing. We don’t know where they are or what’s happened. We can try to find the intruders, and what they’re up to, or choose to let them be. I’ll leave that up to you, but we have to make a decision either way.”
tab On that, the crowd seemed to agree.
tab “I can only assumed we’re on a time limit, until that voice arrives. We’re going to have to make a decision before then. I’ll… be seeking some of you out on my own for your help. But no matter how we do this, we’re doing it democratically.”
tab And that was that. The stallion left no room for debate or question, descending down the stage.
tab The search was on a countdown, and was starting now.
Cherry jumped when a booming voice hit their ears dropping the other cherries they had been about to place in their display stand. Looking around trying to see what was going on they caught sight of the amassing crowd. They stared at the grounded fruit a deep frown etched in their face. Sighing they left the cart to pick up the downed fruit and to see what had happened in the short time they had set to sorting their display stands.
Darling felt bad that Delicate was now crying. She pulled out a packet of tissues, offering them to the other pony.