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SteelEagle

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Argh, that was the trouble with deception and elliptic behavior; you had such a hard time keeping your story straight! Changeling though he was, Kahz was much more used to open and friendly dealing; it was so unusual in the Hive that even the most double-dealing of the Loyalists were practically defenseless against it. Plus, he was still new to this whole "undercover" thing.

"I think it was at, what was her name, Rarity's house? She was offering kisses for donations?" He scratched his mane with a hoof, apparently thinking, "Or maybe you've seen me play onstage, though I hardly think you'd remember me there. Too mediocre." He laughed, turning back to 'Spring' and Red.

Hm, it seemed he set off warning bells with the stallion; this wouldn't do. He took his hoof and shook it, though it was apparent that Red Cedar was well capable of shaking his like a doll. "Heart Sight, and I do beg your pardon, sir! It's just... well, got a little excited at seeing familiar faces while I'm a stranger in a strange land, however lovely it is." Kahz could tell by the feel of the hooves that this was a real pony, at least, though he was sure by now the other two were changelings as well. This would make things furtherly awkward, especially as he had no idea if they were deep-cover agents, defectors, or just AWOL like himself!

"Well, I think we must have missed each other while I was in Ponyville, but I thought I knew you from before. I suppose it doesn't matter."
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Although Aquaria seemed a bit defensive when Derecho asked if she could leave her post, she did admit that it would be fun to wander the city with him later. He was okay with that answer, and was about to take his leave when one of the young ones who had been playing with the griffoness lost track of her mother. Then he saw her go into lifeguard mode. "Rule four! Foals aren't allowed to leave unsupervised! Tripp I can help you find mom, just give me a second." He sat back and observed as she went through all the protocalls, advising her coworkers that she would be leaving to help the lost little filly. She hoisted the pony up on her back, which he found surprising. Another young filly offered her assistance as well. The group was about to go off on a search and rescue mission when Aquaria turned and asked Derecho if he would accompany them? Well, how could he say no?

"Of course, kitten, I will escort you and these children. Tell me," he asked the little filly on the griffoness' back, "what does your mother look like? What is her name? We will find her for you, very happy."

Meanwhile, a few yards away...

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Marzipan giggled as her friend went into a fangirl frenzy. It was kind of adorable how she squealed and danced around. All for some fancy flier in a uniform. Even though she was a pegasus, Marzipan was not a big Wonderbolts fan. Sure, the aerial feats were kinda neat to watch, but it was not a thing she aspired to do herself.

Purple pulled the three of them into a huddle, and announced the play. Sunrise was to say the flowers were "Love Blooms" and that they would have to... snog? What? or bad luck something. "I'ma sorry, what is 'snog'? Is thata like a hug?" Most likely it was not like a hug, but sometimes the earth pony's accent was difficult for the little filly from Itaily to understand.

Purple had also mentioned nibbles and recipes, before looking a bit distracted herself. "Wow... those are gryphons, right? Oi nae seen one b'fore!" Marzipan looked over by the petting zoo. Sure enough, there were two griffons, a striped one and a spotted one, both with dark feathered heads. "Oh, si, gryphons. Mi cuzzins learn to fly fancy from one, in Cloudsdala." She had not gone to flight school, so she had never met that particular griffon. Very rarely a griffon would come through Roam as a tourist, or a treasure hunter. Mostly she had seen them as statues or gargoyles on the sides of buildings.

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"Um...okay. Sure. Her name is..."

...what WAS her mom's name? Tripp knew she HAD one, everypony had some kind of name besides 'parent' or 'mister', but she was so used to just calling her 'mom', that sort of had become her name in Tripp's eyes. What a great time to forget--OH! Right!

"Berry Sunrise! It's Berry Sunrise. And, she's got this--this darkish pink coat, and her mane's white and done up in this twisty way." Tripp chanced removing her front hooves from Aquaria's back to gesture and vaguely articulate around her own head. "She was carrying these saddlebags, they were...orange, I think? With pink stripes? Yeah, I think that was it. Oh, and she's an earth pony like me, obviously," she added in as an afterthought. Fat lot of good it would do if they found another pony like she'd described, only it was a unicorn or pegasus lookalike of the one they were looking for.

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Sunrise Beach gave her friend, Purple Haze and incredulous look with one eyebrow raised, “like, duhhhh, you know I like him! Like, how many times have I told you how much of a bodacious hunk he is, helloooo?!” Sunrise’s annoyance didn’t last long though as her bestie had a plan and pointed out some unfamiliar crystalline flowers hanging in the banners over the Wonderbolt’s head, which she claimed were ‘Love Blossoms'.

Sunrise had never heard of 'Love Blossoms' before and was rather suspicious about her friend’s knowledge of such things as well. Although the story her friend told about the tradition regarding to flowers involving ponies having to kiss if they found themselves under some to avoid bad luck filled little Sunrise’s head with all sorts of juvenile romantic fantasies. Still, it sounded like a stretch, would he go for that? Or would he just say she is too young as if she was some foal? She rubbed her right forehoof behind her left in fretted nervousness. It was one thing to fantasize, but to actually approach and strike up a conversation with Soarin’? Let alone ask for a kiss??

Marizpan’s question about “snog” was a momentary if awkward distraction. “Oh, see, like, Purple has that far-out accent from Fet Loch, it like, takes time to get used to what she is really saying, ya know? Anyway, when she says snog she means kissing; it took me a while to figure it out too after the first couple times I heard it; at first I thought she meant making babies!” Sunrise blushed at the end of the explanation, as it served to refoucs on Purple’s audacious idea involfing the so-called 'Love Blossoms'; one that the normally bold turquoise filly was reluctant with shy nervousness to actually try.

Fortunately Sunrise had to focus taken off of her when her bestie drew their attention to a couple nearby griffins. For the turquoise unicorn, griffins were a rare sight but she had meant several before during the numerous times she had to move when she was younger due to her mother’s itinerant life of moving from place to place for employment. She shrugged, “they’re like, a bit more common if you ever lived in Roughrider Ridge or out near the Painted Pinto Desert, I always remember seeing a few in the towns out there and junk. I like, never realized it ‘till now but I like, never see any around Ponyville and junk now that I think about it, crazy huh?” To Sunrise griffins were just these rather grumpy and aggressive creatures, probably because they were predators and that was just how they normally acted. Still she supposed they be surprising to any pony who never seen one before.

Sunrise looked back to peek at Soarin’ again and caught the light blue stallion waving his wing in their direction. Squeeeee! Excitedly she grabbed each of her friends and pulled them in close her with her forehooves, “Like, did you seeee that!! Ermahcerlerster he liked waved to meeee!!!! Er, I mean like, us, he waved to us!!!! Isn’t he just the biggest hunk of a stallion you like, ever seeeeeen?!”

Maybe Purple’s idea would work after all…

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The striped 'tigress' giggled lightly to herself as she lead the group out of the petting zoo into the crowded streets of the crystal empire. She pictured this as some sort of epic adventure in search of the mythical 'lost' mom. The mom must have been trapped in some dangerous dungeon and the party was going to burst into the fray and save the day. "Mom, Tripp is looking for you," Aquaria cheered playfully before realizing that mom was a bit of a broad thing to call to. Aquaria was glad to see that her mom's name was quickly declared, helping the group in their search for the lost pony. She looked over to Haymaker warmly and pried ever so slightly at the identity of the griff. "I was telling Echo here that he was my fifth-ish, griff I ever met. We apparently are super rare or something. Was the griff you met named Rippy? I met him at the beach once and he showed me how to crash off a surfboard. Probably not though, you probably met some fancy griff if your sister was so lovey dovey," she teased playfully, the lifeguard prone to wild guesses that were usually wrong.

"Berry Sunrise, we found Tripp. Please report to the petting zoo or the sound of my voice," she spoke loudly, the train of griffons and fillies snaking through the streets as she took in the sights and sounds. Aquaria quickly realized all the fun she could be having outside the petting zoo, games and booths abound! She winced and looked away as two ponies practically impaled each other on their toy lances while jousting, the combatants knocking each other down. The only fighting Aquaria liked at all was wrestling. She loved real and pro wrestling, the lifeguard good at hooking up her unfortunate 'victims'. That would have to wait until later though, more important things like mom searching had to be done!

Her rose colored eyes scoured the pavilion for lost mothers. She was expecting the mom to be distracted, the young hybrid knowing that anything could catch your attention, for hours at a time! "Orange bags, pink stripes, earth pony, pink coat," she muttered lowly to remember for herself. And after a few minute of chanting, she pictured Berry as pink pony with pink stripes, the griffon giggling as she realized she completely forgot the description of the mother. That was okay for her though, she knew that her friends would remember, and it was always great to count on your friends. She heard a few nearby ponies murmur a thing or two about the pair of griffons, the excitable lifeguard barely able to contain herself as she waved back at her curious counterparts! "Hi yellow peg, and green pony, green uni" she cheered vaguely while waving over at Marzipan, Purple Haze, and Sunrise, Aquaria not having the time for a friendly idle chat!

And of course, like the easily distracted lifeguard she was, Aquaria forgot this personal rule and looked over to Derecho. "Do you have any ideas on how to find a lost mom pony? Maybe you can fly around and spot her. Unless the ponies here are scared of you. That might actually be a bad idea. Maybe I should leave the strategy to you," she suggested with a giggle, leaning over as she gently booped his beak with one of her black talons. "Thanks for the the help 'tiger', she teased with a smile, complimenting him as they looked for Tripp's mom.

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"Well Tripp, from what yur tell'n us, yur mom shouldn't be too hard ta spot!" Haywire neighed in a positive tone, trying to reassure her new friend. "If'n we could gitta good look from above, I'm sure we could find her fast!"

Soon, the 'gears were turning' inside the fertile mind of the blank flank filly. Looking all around the fair grounds, Haywire soon spotted a very tall pole that held up streamers, pennant flags and some lanterns. Instantly, an idea sprang into her blonde head.

"Betcha I could climb up on that thar pole an' go high enough ta see everythin', Tripp!" Haywire neighed as she walked over to the base of the pole. "See? It's got a little ladder thingie runnin' up it! I kin git up thar lickety split!"

In a matter of seconds, the rust colored filly had made it half way up the pole. This was no problem for an experienced tree climber like Haywire. As she glanced downward, the pole started to wobble a little.

"I'm lookin' down, Tripp! Don't see her so far!" Haywire shouted down, "reckon I better go up higher!"

The higher the determined filly climbed up the pole, the more it began to wobble and sway. When she was near the top of the pole, the swaying began to get worse, the sound of the wooden pole beginning to crack could now be heard.

"Uh oh...."

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Flux didn't recognize the strange stallion that approach them either, which was a curious development. 'Spring Breeze' a little suspicious, though she felt she shouldn't condemn him just yet. It was entirely possible that Flux made friends she didn't know about. And despite not recognizing him, Flux both thought he seemed familiar and seemed perfectly okay with his presence.

Red was perhaps a little less comfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, 'Spring Breeze' caught a faint look of uneasiness as Red watched the newcomer. He wasn't overly concerned though, as he still smiled and introduced himself.

'Spring Breeze' watched the newcomer as he brought up possible places where Flux had seen him before, and introduced himself as Heart Sight. Though he was very strange, the stallion didn't come across as particularly dangerous. That left 'Spring Breeze' with two possibilities: either he was hiding something that wasn't dangerous, in which case the only way to learn more and sate her curiosity would be to keep with him, or she'd misread him and he was just odd. Either way, she was inclined to be friendly with him. That was the spirit of the Faire after all.

Heart Sight guessed they must have missed each other at some point in Ponyville, but also expressed that he thought he knew 'Spring Breeze' from before.

That would be quite a feat, she felt. “Ha! I doubt that,” she replied with a grin, “where I lived before Ponyville, I was pretty unmemorable until I got cast out. I probably just look like somepony you knew. You know, pure chance,” she offered.

It was out of pure curiosity that she followed it up with, “Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what is your special talent?” She'd never seen a cutie mark quite like that before, and was wondering at just what it signified.

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Flux thought over the places the pony offered for where she could have met him. She remembered being at Rarity's before, though she didn't really remember seeing him there. The mention of seeing him on stage further cemented the idea of this pony being Kahz in disguise though, as the first time she had seen him, in her memory, was as he was performing at the club in the Changeling Kingdom.

"I think I remember you now... You were filling in for one of the musicians, right?" She said, trying not to blow his cover by saying his real name or where she had seen him play. Spring asked about his special talent, which was strange as she had never asked about her own, despite the strange-looking mark she used in her favorite, and current, disguise. Oh well, not that it really mattered anymore, as Spring knew it was a false cutie mark anyways.

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Red relaxed a little as Heart Sight shook his hoof, offering a warm smile. "That's all right," he said. "Everything here is a sight to behold, that's for sure."

'Spring' explained that she wasn't the most memorable where she had lived before Ponyville. Accurate, perhaps, but Red wondered if telling another she had just met that she had been thrown out was wise. Of course, in retrospect, that was what he had first remembered about her, too, and it worked out well for him, but it did seem awkward in context.

Ever direct, however, she then asked about Heart Sight's cutie mark and what it symbolized. Glancing down at it himself, Red did get the impression that it was one of the more unique ones he had seen. In his experience, the most cryptic cutie marks tended to be sported by unicorns, so there must have been an interesting story behind this one being on an Earth Pony. He smiled, looking interested in the reason himself.

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Purple rolled her eyes at Sunrise. "Oi knew ye loik him! Oi dinnae know he was gaen be here!" She shook his head, and was glad that Sunrise answered Marzi's question. A snog was a snog, what was everypony's problem with understanding that? It was just simple Equestrian. And the both of them had seen Griffins before now? Why hadn't they mentioned how gorgeous they were? She bit her hoof as she glanced over her shoulder at them again, then refocused. Comon, Purple, what was wrong with you?

"Go, go!" she pushed at Sunrise's flank. "Ye'll miss yer chance if'n ye nae ta seize it now! Hie tae it!"

She smirked at Marzipan. "Ye'd think she dinnae actually want tae meet him!"

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Having gotten a description of the missing mare from the little filly, Derecho began looking around the square. However, even the raptor's keen eyesight was no match for the sea of colorful bodies. Aquaria was calling the mare's name, but so far nopony was answering her. He tried to look for frantic adults, but that too was hampered by the sheer number of ponies around.

"Maybe you can fly around and spot her." the striped griffoness suggested. Getting an aerial view was a pretty good idea. Unfortunately, the other little filly helping them had the same idea, and was shinnying up a pole before Derecho could say anything in response. The pole began to sway under the weight of the red filly and make distressing cracking noises. "Uh oh...."

Leaping straight up with feline grace, Derecho snatched Haywire from the flagpole before it snapped into kindling. Spreading his wings, he glided down to the cobblestones, holding the filly to his fluffy chest with his foretalons. "That was very dangerous. You could fall, hurt yourself or other pony." the griffon scolded. Placing all four of the filly's hooves on the ground, he leapt up again and flew a lazy circuit around the square. Pink pony, white swirly mane. Hmmm... where could she be?

Not over here...

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Sunrise answered, "When she says snog she means kissing." Marzipan made a face, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth. Ugh, why was it always kissing? Bleh, gag. She wasn't still a foal who thought 'boy germs' were a real thing, but she still felt that colts were rather unpleasant in general, and could never imagine wanting to kiss one. "...at first I thought she meant making babies!” Marzipan's ears flushed as red as her mane at the suggestion. That was definitely not something for fillies! As romantic as Itailian ponies were known to be, making babies was reserved for married adults only.

Purple seemed a little let down that the other two of their trio were already familiar with griffons. Well, it wasn't her fault, Ponyville was a small town. Just having a zebra in the neighborhood was surprising. But this seemed as good an opportunity as any to introduce her to them. "They seem friendly, maybe we can go talk wit' dem?" The griffons were surrounded by other little ponies, so clearly it would be okay. One of them even waved hello.

Sunrise squeee'd again and pulled Marzipan and Purple in closer. “Like, did you seeee that!! Ermahcerlerster he liked waved to meeee!!!! Er, I mean like, us, he waved to us!!!!" "Go, go!" "Si, yes, go!" her friends urged. Purple pushed the excited unicorn filly towards the Wonderbolt. "Ye'd think she dinnae actually want tae meet him!" the earth filly smirked. "Ai, madre di Celestia!" Marzipan sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward.

The sky was clear and blue, but troubling clouds were piling up in the north. She frowned a little. Wasn't the weather here supposed to be perfect all the time? Ah, no matter. It would probably be fine. Right now the little pegasus wanted to focus on having fun with her friends. She made little shooing motions towards Sunrise Beach, encouraging her to go meet her idol and crush. And then, perhaps meeting the griffons with Purple Haze, and later, jousting!

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There is a saying about a pony's blood running cold, though for Changelings the stuff might be more accurately called "ichor." That moment had come for Kahz with Red's small moment of suspicion, but a deft answer had turned it away; and the rush of cold through him left him refreshed, like a glass of water on a hot day. No doubt about about it; unauthorized covert ops were living, man!
He grinned, nodding at Flux's question to confirm it, "Yeah, that was me. Been trying to get in some more practice, but it's going slowly."

As for 'Spring Breeze,' well, if Kahz was reading her right, she was pretty skilled undercover work as well. A casual denial that they had ever met, worded in such a manner that signaled where she had come from, and why. How interesting! Now, how best to take advantage of this, so his Queen didn't... take disciplinary steps for his little jaunt up North?
"My talent? Well, it's simple enough. I see into the hearts of things; situations as well as ponies." He nodded back towards Tourmaline. "Until you grasp that, you really can't do much with either. That's how I got her engaged with the world around her instead of her book; I saw she loved mystery and excitement, but was also worried, and detested feeling helpless. So, I... made her look at the world slightly differently. Young ones love it when older ones take them seriously, you know?"

All the time he was speaking, he was thinking furiously. *An exile... well, there were a couple after both the failed invasions. Flux must be her go-between, and this other stallion her food supply. Hm, possibly nothing to be done here, but establishing a kind of friendship certainly won't hurt. You never know; I might be needing some help navigating the same situation if this doesn't go well...*

He looked the mare in the eyes, past 'Spring Breeze' and right into the compound one's of Naj. Pony or not, he did have something like a special talent for this sort of thing. He had to; being an absolute physical weakling; if he couldn't figure out how to charm others and get on their good sides, he would be dead right now. He spoke in a soft voice after seeing what he could. "I... don't see any reason why anypony would cast you out. Treachery alone is unforgiveable, but there's not a scrap of that." That would be pleasing to hear, no doubt, and it was substantially true. Kahz might be flattering himself, but he could not believe that any changeling with treason in their hearts (or whatever they were) could look him in the eyes without shame.

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Aquaria was distracted while searching for Berry, her cheerful eyes scanning the crowd for the pony in question while the filly made a spectacle of herself. The griffoness heard the concerned voice of Haywire and searched for the filly before spotting her on a rocking wooden pole. Derecho had pounced into action, his powerful feline frame snatching the filly from the dangerous spot in one fluid motion. He of course only snatched the filly as the pole gave way, splinters flying everywhere as the wooden pole broke at it's base and fell towards the crowd. The lifeguard jumped action while the distracted leopard scolded the reckless filly. She caught the heavy wooden pole as it tried to sneak attack numerous unaware fair guests.

Her cheeks poofed out as her talons grabbed the heavy pole above her head. Lucky for the lifeguard, she was more of a swimmer than a flier, her forelegs strong from years of swimming. "Shark!," Aquaria called out as she navigated the broken beam towards the ground. With some careful manipulation, she dropped it over her head and onto the ground with a light rumble. After a moment of thinking, she giggled to herself, realizing that her instincts had brought out an inaccurate call! "Uhh, broken pole, no sharks. Sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly while making sure that no ponies were panicking about sharks. The lifeguard knew that crying wolf, or shark in this case, had a tendency to cause panic, but for some reason, the crystal ponies around her didn't seem scared at all. She wrote it off as crystal ponies being brave and not that such a call would have no effect so far from the ocean.

"Are you hurt Haywire? I won't scold you again because I think you learned your lesson. You're a smart filly after all. You probably know all kinds of awesome things I don't know about," she commented with another warm hug on the pony as she tried to calm her down. Not that Haywire was probably too panicked with her personality. The motherly griff blinked as she realized that they were still looking for the mother of Tripp, gasping as she turned to face the lost filly. "Are there any things your mom really likes? Maybe she went to a booth that sells things she likes? If they had a flippers booth, I would totally be there," she explained with a giggle while pulling a splinter from her talon, keeping her upbeat attitude seemingly no matter what! While it was unlikely that any ponies here were selling flippers, it was possible that they were selling other things.

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With her besties essentially daring her to at least talk to Soarin' and possibly use that 'Love Blossoms' fable to get a kiss from him, Sunrise Beach had no choice but to through with it; she didn't want to look like scared little foal instead of the brave little filly page that she was. Besides she wanted to meet him, more than anything, well most things, and this was her one chance! "Like, alright, alright, I'm like so totally going to do it, no need to get pushy and junk!"

Marzipan suggested that herself and Purple Haze go and chat with a couple nearby griffins since they fascinate Purple so much for whatever unfathomable reason. Still if it meant it would distract the pair and make approaching Soarin' slightly less awkward knowing her friends weren't watching, Sunrise was all for it. "Yeah, yeah, you two should like, go talk to the griffins and uhh, learn about griffon culture and junk like that. I'll like, find you guys in a little bit!" Sunrise gave them both a little push in the directions of the griffins before trotting confidently off the other way.

Once she was sufficiently far enough away from her friends, Sunrise beach's once confident trot quickly slowed almost to a crawl as she felt butterflies flying rampant around her stomach. It was hard enough to walk up to the Wonderbolt stallion if he was alone but he appeared to have a small gathering of admirers around him. Oh Luna, why didn't she bring him anything to sign?!? That would at least been an excuse, an opener to strike up a conversation with him! Well there was no going back now, this was her one big chance!

Sunrise stopped a few feet in front of him and looked down for a moment, rubbing the back of one of her fore hooves with the other in a nervous tick while blushing. C'mon Sunrise, at least look at him! Slowly she worked up the courage to look straight up at him, oh Celestia he was even more handsome up close!! At first she just gave a huge nervous smile without saying a word, her teeth and braces clearly showing, her cheeks reddish from her nervousness, she swore even her legs were trembling a little bit. Finally though she worked out that lump in her throat enough to speak up, "haaaallllloooo…." Duhhh at least introduce yourself!! "Oh.. Uhh.. I'm Beach, I mean Sunrise, er, Sunrise Beach! I'm like a suuuuper fan of the Wonderbolts! Er, I mean you, and the Wonderbolts, but especially like, yuuuu, heeee, hiiiii!"

Smooth...

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Fanfillies made the whole world go around. Fancolts too but Spitfire had to deal with more of those. They were the type who would get every autograph and see every show and read every interview. There was an undercurrent of silliness to any sort of fandom but that didn't stop Soarin' from embracing the fact that he was a hero to so many ponies that his mere presence could bring such joy. Waving and acknowledgment? That was the type of stuff that could bring a diary entry to a screeching halt with exclamation points and capital bold lettering. It was a peculiar position to be in but one Soarin' had almost always found himself in. He was completely aware that somewhere out there there was some fan and he was that fan's first crush and first experience for affection, admiration, and intense adulation. He had a responsibility to live up to their expectations of what a Wonderbolt was. Again, he must always be on because being off meant breaking someone's heart and he was not a heart breaker.

And then she approached and her voice cracked and broke against the rockface that was Soarin', her tide spent and shattered. Yeah, she was infatuated and she was a super fan and that was as always fun to see. Vexing at times when they were in their masses and destructive to a day when one happened to be around during a romantic date or a simple relaxing day at the beach, but he figured this was a public enough event there was no way he was getting away from it all. Oh well. It was a better dealing than the Crystal filly who was turning from acidic to just plain rude. Who were her parents? They needed to raise their daughter better. Soarin' was usually not one to judge a pony's rearing methods so sharply but this filly was almost intolerable with how she treated others. Hopefully she'd grow up and get that attitude checked out or she wouldn't get very far. The Crystal Empire and Equestria were nations that ran as much on kindness and relationship as anything else. The quicker she learned that, the better.

But it wasn't Soarin's place to teach that. If she wanted to be biting, let her be biting. Soarin; had a far more fun filly to greet while Sugar Rush and Missus Goggle Filly tended to their own business. Miss Sunrise Beach forced the words out through a grate in her mind and Soarin' smiled in response. “Hello Sunrise! It's very nice to meet you. Your mane is really nice. How are you enjoying the Faire?”

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At first when Soarin’ continued to tease her, Sugar Star’s cheeks brightened to the point where one might mistake her for a large, pony-shaped tomato or strawberry. Then the teasing didn’t stop, and then he put a hoof to her head. At that moment, Sugar would have gladly traded places with the unicorn with the braces-clad smile and the squealing voice. Surely that fanfilly would have been very happy to have Soarin’ touch her, but at this point the Wonderbolt had awoken Sugar’s more competitive side. Unfortunately, she was that flustered from the relentless teasing that she was having a hard time finding her tongue. ‘Use your words,’ her mother always said when she got frustrated as a little filly trying to get her dance steps just so. She always had a knack for losing her tongue when she most needed it. She couldn’t even bring herself to respond to the acidic little filly who, despite her rudeness, Sugar Star was actually quite fascinated by. The sugary specialist simply couldn’t help but be pulled towards the oddball types – probably because she was quite the oddball herself.

Before the winged mare could find her tongue, the squeaky unicorn fanfilly had finally found her courage to come and approach her hero. Soarin’ handled it quite well, all things considered. For a moment Sugar feared he would tease her as well, but it seemed he was a little bit more sensitive than the soldier had supposed and settled for complimenting the unicorn’s mane instead. No doubt that would be written in her diary with a new spin on the story every day for the next two months, at least! The specialist expected there to be much more squealing to be heard in the immediate future for all of the ponies gathered nearby.

With her blushing finally managed and her tongue acting more like a tongue than a big lump in her mouth, Sugar finally found her words again. Before jumping back into the conversation with the older ponies, however, Sugar leaned her head closer to the crystal filly and spoke quietly.

“There’s more than one kind of hero, little one, and it doesn’t just take brawn and shiny armour to be a champion by any means. The Wonderbolts give a lot of hope and courage to the ponies of Equestria, and they keep our hearts strong – just look at the effect Soarin’ has on the ponies around him!”

With a wink in Soarin’s direction, Sugar Star stood up straight once more and decided that even though she wished to return the teasing treatment tenfold to the famous stallion that it would be better to join in the efforts for brightening the fanfilly’s day. After all, not only would it make Sunrise happy – it might even help the specialist in making her point for the crystal filly as well.

“Sorry to interrupt, Sunrise,” the mare said to the unicorn with a smile, “But I have to say you must be a special kind of pony to receive a compliment like that from Soarin’! I’ve been chatting with him for quite a while now and all I’ve managed is to get him to tease me until I turned a very violent shade of red, as I’m sure you noticed.”

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9DmcOs.jpgHaywire

When Haywire heard the pole she was climbing up crack, the rust colored filly began to rethink the wisdom of her plan to help Tripp find her mom. Before she could start sliding down the pole, it started to fall downward.

"HELP!!!!!"

To her relief, a griffin swooped down to snatch her away from certain harm. Soon, she was safely back on the ground, and very grateful for Derecho for the rescue!

"Thank ya, thank ya, thank ya Mr. Griffin, sir!" the delighted filly shouted, "WOW! I love hangin' out with griffins! This here fair's great!"

Haywire was so delighted that it wasn't until Aquaria spoke to her that she remembered that she was in trouble. Bowing her head low, the blonde filly sadly nodded at the lady griffin's light rebuke.

"Reckon I wasn't thinkin' too well, Miss Aquaria, I'm powerful surry fer all the damage, but I was only tryin' ta help."

Now looking up at Aquaria, Haywire gave a slight smile.

"I still wanna help Tripp find her mom, if'n that's alright with ya."

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As Soarin shared his bit of knowledge about the goggles, Dusty absorbed every word of it. This was amazing! The Wonderbolts, the Wonderbolts' own gear based off a design that she had in her own possession! She couldn't contain her grin. Of course, magic night vision based goggles did sound pretty cool too. If only...

"They should've compromised and made a design off both their ideas, you know? That way they'd be twice as awesome!" As the young mare spoke, something dawned on her. "O-oh! I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Dusty, Dusty Skies," she said, beaming up at Soarin'.

As she finished speaking, Dusty noticed Soarin' looking over at the group of fillies that had recently arrived. The stallion did a cute wing-wave to them, and that turquoise unicorn seemed to hardly contain her excitement, squeeing with complete joy. At least she was keeping her cool enough. Although she had to admit, on the inside the mare felt just like those fillies were acting- overjoyed.

Dusty chuckled. "...I think you have some admirers there," she joked.

And then, the turquoise one seemed to had gotten the courage to walk up to Soarin', awkwardly introducing herself as Sunrise Beach with a high pitched voice that could only come from a true fanfilly. The stallion said a polite hello and complimented her mane, while the REA pony interjected that she was lucky to get that compliment, as she had been being teased and blushing the whole time. Dusty had found their conversation amusing. Oh feathers, she had forgotten how cute Soarin was until right then...

Quickly, she shook the feeling away and turned back to Sunrise. "Yeah, at least you didn't have to be embarrassed by almost bonking your idol's head with your own goggles," she said with a sheepish smile. Truth be told though, at awkward as it was at first, Dusty was growing more comfortable with talking to Soarin'.

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'Spring Breeze' glanced sidelong at Flux. Apparently she just remembered who this pony in front of them was, but at the same time she shifted from confused to cryptic. 'Spring Breeze' wasn't sure what to make of that. She trusted Flux, and this didn't yet shake that, but she had to wonder what the mare felt the need to keep secrets. That, and previous encounters lead her to believe that while trustworthy the mare was naïve, and this made 'Spring Breeze' a little worried about just what sort of friends she'd made.

Heart Sight was happy enough to explain his special talent, which he described as being able to 'look into the heart of both situations and ponies'. 'Spring Breeze' imagined it was a useful talent, though it came across as a little vague. Not that she could complain, given what her apparent special talent was.

He went off on a tangent about his interactions with a filly standing among a group a little ways over. 'Spring Breeze' just nodded. It sounded like a noble effort, but she didn't have much direct interaction with foals or the like, so she couldn't have contributed much to that conversation.

Finally, he looked into her eyes for a moment, before saying, "I... don't see any reason why anypony would cast you out. Treachery alone is unforgiveable, but there's not a scrap of that."

'Spring Breeze's first reaction was annoyance. It wasn't quite enough to make her angry, and the environment certainly helped, but if there was one thing she was still certain of from the time of her exile it was that she was no traitor. Even if he ultimately thought she wasn't one, merely claiming a resemblance was enough to get a rise out of her.

“Hey! What do you think you're playing at? Just what are you accusing...me...of?” She trailed off as she considered considered her own question. Something seemed horribly out-of-place about the direction the conversation just took. She was much more reserved when she continued. “I said I was kicked out of town, why is the first thing you go to-”

Her eyes widened and the pit fell out of her stomach as what was occurring finally clicked. No pony, when hearing another got run out of town, would assume treachery. It would be for some sort of mischief, such as cheating the townsfolk or damaging property or the like. Most towns couldn't be betrayed, because most neither had the central organization nor the active conflict for betrayal to be possible.

The obvious implication of course, was that whatever was in front of her looked exactly like a pony but wasn't. And there was one readily available species that met that criteria, and they and 'Spring Breeze' weren't supposed to be talking to one another for the most part.

Still, she was inclined to give 'Heart Sight' the benefit of the doubt. It seemed fairly obvious he didn't know who she was, which meant he'd likely stumbled onto her by accident. As far as she knew, he would be in as much danger if not more than she would if word got back to the hive. And for the moment, she was inclined to be forgiving, due in equal parts to her surroundings and to the fact that he still didn't come across as threatening. He infiltrated a fair, and rather than seek any apparent goals such as guard formations it seemed like he was just milling about talking to ponies. Besides, he seemed to be taking a chance on her.

'Spring Breeze' tried to keep her expression neutral, but a little concern and caution crept into her voice. “Most ponies wouldn't hear something like that and think 'treachery'. It's not really something that comes up very often.” She meant it as a bit of a warning, though she phrased it so that hopefully an outside observer would just think it was a normal continuation of the conversation.

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Flux smiled widely as the pony confirmed what she had thought. It was Kahz! She hadn't seen him since that club, and it was nice to see him again, even in his disguised form. She bounced in place happily as he conversed with Spring. Speaking of her, she still needed to learn her real name, as she doubted it would be Spring. Most changelings changed their names for their pony forms, and she didn't think 'Spring' was any different in that regard.

In any case, their little group now consisted of three changelings and an earth pony stallion. Ooh, that balanced it out between males and females, at least. Really the only reason that she had been so secretive and cryptic with that question was because she didn't think Kahz wanted her blowing his cover, even if only to 'Spring' and Red.

"I think you were pretty good, especially since you don't really play that often." She said happily, still bouncing in place. "You hadn't practiced that much, right? Sorry if you had, but it still sounded good."

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CKK4ndD.png

Purple Haze saw her friend off to Soarin', and then found herself being led towards the griffons by Marzi. She gulped and blushed. "Oi'm sure they're talkin' tae each other an' stuff..." Then there was a cry. Up there, at the top of a pole, was ... oh, Tartarus. There was Haywire. Purple instinctively ducked, expecting things to start exploding or flying through the air or some sort of disaster to happen.

But instead, one of the griffons immediately took off, his wingspread splaying out as he quickly flew through the air to snag the little filly effortlessly, his heroic act against a dramatic backdrop of incoming stormclouds roiling through the sky. Haywire had gotten in mischief and trouble without any disaster happening? And then Derecho winged down through the air, landing right in front of Purple to set Haywire down. Purple stared up at the griffon, jaw dropped, as the powerful muscles flexed under the fur and feathers, and the sun glinted off his beak. And then, suddenly, he was gone again, flying away in search of something or other. No doubt doing some selfless deed for somepony in trouble, she was sure.

Right. So. He wasn't there anymore. But he was just as heroic as he'd looked at a distance. She swallowed, and suddenly found it easier to take Marzipan's advice and wade through the crowd to the remaining griffon, smiling up at Aquaria brightly and offering her hoof. "Ah ... 'ello, miss! Oi'm Purple Haze, nice tae meet ye! Oi've ne'er met a griffon before! That was a roit shinin' thing wot yer coltfriend... er ... special somepony ... uh ... special somegriffon did! Ye must be roit proud of 'im! 'aywire, she's a bad luck magnet, an' no foolin'! Um. If Oi wanted tae learn more 'bout griffons, where would ye suggest Oi look fer stuff?"

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Red had never asked 'Spring Breeze' why she had been exiled. He had never wanted to bring up the subject as she still seemed sensitive about it to a degree. All she had ever told him was that she had made 'a mistake', and he was content to leave it at that until such a time as she had felt comfortable enough to tell him.

So when 'Spring Breeze' got very defensive when the other suggested it was some form of treason that was the reason she was here, he could understand it, even as he had never seen her that way before. Despite her circumstances, nothing about her had ever suggested to him that she wished her former home and people harm. In fact, if anything, it was quite the opposite.

As Red watched her outburst at Heart Sight, however, her demeanor changed noticably in mid sentence, as though coming to a realization, and she then calmly explained, “Most ponies wouldn't hear something like that and think 'treachery'. It's not really something that comes up very often.”

Red listened to her wording carefully. "Most ponies," she had said, and in the same tone of voice that he often used when he was trying to discreetly explain things to her while they were walking in public. It was as though she were explaining things to another changeling.

For whatever reason, however, 'Spring' had decided not to let 'Heart Sight' in on the fact that Red was fully aware of who and what she was, as she had done with Flux. Did she know this particular changeling? Was there something about him that made her more wary in his presence than in Flux's? He couldn't be sure, so he simply decided to play dumb. Turning to 'Heart Sight', he frowned a little and said, "If you must know, there was nothing criminal about it. She was kicked out by her family." he said, exactly the same original story 'Spring' herself had given, one that had itself been crafted to hide certain deeper truths from ponies such as himself, and that might have made others think he was blissfully unaware.

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Tourmaline tilted her head as she observed what the guardspony indicated. She supposed it wasn't too uncommon to find minstrels and jesters in her novels, characters who existed only to inspire and entertain others. They weren't the ones who found the glory though. Is that what this age was? No, it wasn't just this age. Even during the reign of the previous empress, the ponies of the empire had celebrated the victors of meaningless jousts like they were heroes. Was it just pony nature to look to hollow idols for comfort while the true heroes remained anonymous? It was ridiculous.

"I reiterate it. Am I supposed to look at this display and see it as a positive development?" Tourmaline asked, confused. "The effect he seems to have is reducing the ponies who encounter him to shrill, gibbering idiots."

She gave a long and desperate sigh. "Wouldn't it make more sense for ponies to look to the ponies who defend them... or at least to the writers and artists of the world, who have real and important things to say, as opposed to obsessing over some pony who's only talent is for performing utterly meaningless athletic feats?"

It was at that moment that the sound of thunder roared through the sky with great volume. Alarmed, Tourmaline turned her head back, noticing the clouds were much closer now. With a start, she recalled what the strange harbinger had told her and began to scramble about. Time was running out and she still hadn't figured any of they mysteries out. She was wasting time. The fate of all things could very well be on the line!
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Once, when Kahz had volunteered to clean out all the ventilation and waste tunnels (thus earning him the gratitude of all the changelings who would have been press-ganged into the task), he had accidentally discovered a spot where one of the architects had cut corners; and without any sort of warning, he had plunged straight down through three levels, causing much noise and disorientation.

Apparently, a similar conversational mis-step had occurred somewhere, and it knocked 'Heart Sight' for a loop, mentally. "I... thought that I was absolving, not accusing..." He looked between Red, 'Spring,' and Flux in confusion, trying to figure out how they had come to cross purposes. Had he missed a cue? Perhaps he wasn't as good at this as he thought he was.

"If you must know, there was nothing criminal about it. She was kicked out by her family."

"I never said there was. Although, I've never heard of there being any such thing as an irreparable rift in pony families. Can't speak for any others," Here he nodded back towards the pair of griffons, the only other non-pony species, who were currently engaged in repairing such a rift. "Though come to that, never heard of any in griffons, either. You have to admit, it does rather invite questions. Admittedly, not polite ones." Indeed, if he needed any clue that she wasn't a deep cover agent, this would be it. No competant agent would pick a story that stuck out so much from its surroundings.

Never mind that, though; the mood was getting entirely to awkward. "Let's get out of this slough of a subject, never mind with what dislocations. How about music? I've been looking for goals to shoot for in terms of songs, and-"

SHA-KOOM!

The sudden noise caused him to leap in a most undignified manner, coming down all in a heap. A sudden change of expression from shock to pained indicated that he'd come down badly on one of his hooves with an audible crunch, and twisted it... well, twisted it more than before. He didn't cry out, though, and he buried the expression as quickly as it arose. You could not, [could not] afford to show that kind of weakness. The Hive would not stand it, the Hive [would not] stand it. The weak would be abandoned, [the weak would be abandoned]-

Breathing heavily, he tried to smile and bury the secret, shameful fears. He wasn't in the Hive now [He was among the enemy]. No, don't let them back to the front of your mind! "Think... I might... have sprained something..." It felt worse, like there was an actual crack in the chitin. That might actually give him away if he was examined by a doctor...
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From his position in the air, Derecho had a better view of the milling crowds of ponies below. There were a few pink hued ponies, both crystal and non-, but none that matched Trip's description of her mother. He started to widen his arc and fly higher, when he noticed the clouds were looming a lot closer than before. They were dark and angry, too, not a good sign. The griffon was not trained in weather service, but he was pretty certain that it would take a lot of effort to control the storm that was currently brewing. Dropping back down on the ground, lightly landing next to his pretty striped companion, he brought her attention to the sky. "Storm is brewing, could be bad. We should get the young ones to safe place, away from the weather." he suggested.

He had heard Purple Haze's praise of his actions, and was amused by her uncertainty of what to call a griffon's 'significant other'. Not that he was anyones special anything, but he found the filly's assumption cute. Derecho gave her a wink and a wing salute, then continued looking around for the missing mom (and also a safe shelter from the approaching storm).

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Marzipan looked over her shoulder to make certain that Sunrise Beach was actually going to talk to the Wonderbolt, before heading towards the griffons with Purple Haze. She did feel a little bad about abandoning the unicorn to face her crush on her own. Especially since they had convinced her to try kissing the stallion! But they would squeal and giggle about it afterwards if Sunrise was successful. And if not? Then well, she wouldn't have an audience for her embarrasment.

A cry for help and the sound of splintering wood made Marzipan look up in surprise. A filly she had seen around Ponyville, Haywire was it? had climbed up a pole and now it was breaking under her. The spotted griffon leaped into the air to rescue the hapless filly, dropping her to the ground in front of the pair. Oh my, he was big! And fluffy! And his talons, so long and sharp. They both looked up at him, a bit awestruck as he took to the air again, flying a patrol around the square. Purple bounded right up to the other griffon still on the ground and introduced herself. Marzipan stayed by her friend's side, but kept an eye on the griffon in the sky. How effortlessly he glided. How he looked framed against the clouds... that were coming in a bit too thickly. Huh, that couldn't be right, could it? She shivered, like she could feel the temperature dropping by the minute...

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