Post by Bardigan on Nov 5, 2012 18:01:10 GMT -5
Skyheart's house is boarded up. That much has been obvious since the changeling attack. Ever since, he's told all present he's not coming out for any reason via a hole in the boards at the door. Oddly enough the boards are on the OUTSIDE of the house and it looks like pieces of the door are missing due to there being holes in the boards once can just barely see through. (re)
Solar_Solstice happens to trot past this oddity, his head turning to peer at the boarded-up house. Hmm...that wasn't like that the last time he was on this street! Was it because of the Changeling attack? That would make sense, what with the sudden proliferation of guards wandering about town. The whole place was so tense and strung out, like a rock formation eroded to the breaking point, ready to crumble into dust. Perhaps that tension was also affecting Skyheart. He stops and looks at the house, wondering.
Match_Maker is lounging near the fireplace, staring into the dancing flames. She's cleaned herself up a bit, and looks much nicer in her less scary battleform.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. Somepony, please..." Fluttershy's eyes are squeezed shut from the strain and her words are barely audible through the panicked heaving of her lungs. She dashes into town and skids to a stop, nearly whipping Angel off her back. Fluttershy huffs and puffs, sweat streaming down her face; she glances back and forth...
Bardigan is standing just outside, rubbing his chin as he ponders the state of things. He has a chest next to him, a big old wooden thing that has seen better days, and is probably a prop from when he played a pirate. But tonight it will serve a much more useful purpose: storing his gear for the greatest act of subterfuge he's performed yet. The chest is overflowing with costumes, some of which seem to be *glowing* in the right light... which isn't much, since the moon is hidden behind clouds and this street isn't the busiest in Ponyville. "Don't worry," he mutters. "I've got your number, Skyheart. If you think outside is terrifying... wait till you see what I've got." His ear perks as Fluttershy and Solar come into view. "Oh! My friends! Come over here! And keep your voices down!"
No sounds come from Skyhear'ts house. The boarded up windows keep the view out entirely and all entrances appear barred. There is smoke coming out of the chimney.
It just starts here, and will culminate at Nettleglum's place, which is already spooky enough."
Solar_Solstice turns his head and stares at Bardigan dumbfoundedly. Friend? Didn't he just...run across Bardigan a couple of times and eavesdrop (kinda)? He feels undeserving of such a privileged title, and a part of his mind generates thought of suspicion at the notion of somepony holding such poor standards of friendship. Much of it evaporates, however, when his common sense (which, contrary to the opinions of others, is quite strong) contests this account, and delegates a far, forgotten corner of his memory as a place for the thought. "Oh, hey Bardigan. Hey Fluttershy." He bows to each of them in turn. "So, uh...what are we all doing here, exactly? Is Skyheart doing a haunted house for Nightmare Night?" Well that /seems/ like a sensible deduction.
Huff. Puff. "B-Bardigan..." Wheeze. "S-solar...i-it's terrible, y-you have to listen..." Fluttershy stops to catch her breath. "W-what's going on here?"
"Terrible? What's terrible is that Skyheart here has locked himself in his house and won't come out!" Bardigan declares theatrically, pointing up at the boarded house. He turns back and begins stage whispering, meaning it really isn't very secret. "Fortunately... I have devised a plan. Skyheart, you see, is scared of the outside right now. He believes it's safer to be in there with changelings about. So what better way to make him come out again than make him so utterly terrified of the *inside* of his house that he'll have no choice but to come out again?" he asks them with a big grin, the tone in his voice declaring that he see absolutely no way this could backfire. "I won't *traumatize* the poor colt, just... give him a shock. Let him remember how silly it is to let fear rule him so by making him confront it here and now!"
Skyheart hears voices and looks to his guest who, for reasons he still can't fathom, he allowed inside. "Stay quiet and put a disguise on..." He hunkers down behind the table trying to stay out of notice.
Solar_Solstice thinks that this is a positively stupid idea, but he's far too polite to say so out loud. The temptation to frown is turned upside down! "That sounds like a plan!" he says, smiling and completely honest. Well, it was /a/ plan. "I'm guessing this'll involve sneaking into his house wearing silly costumes and scaring the Celestia out of him?"
Match_Maker smiles and stretches. She decides to have a bit of fun... Her form dwindles, shrinks, and her horn with draws... Soon enough, there's a female version of Skyheart standing next to him, quite as alike as two peas in a pony pod.
Fluttershy raises her tired eyes, blinking away the sweat. "Oh, no, Bardigan, there's no *time* for that. T-there was just...I mean, this weird pony came from the forest - i-it wasn't Nettleglum - "
"Well, there are many weird ponies near the forest," Bardigan says, trying to wave off Fluttershy's concern for the more pressing and immediate matter of Skyheart's lock-in. "You probably just met a traveler, Fluttershy. What we need right now is help to get Skyheart out. And to do that we need to get *in.* Now. For reasons I have yet to understand, Skyheart's house is boarded up from the outside, which we can use to our advantage. We'll simply pull away the planks from our chosen entrance..." He points up at the attic. "Along with some handy costumes from my younger days." He pulls out a cloak with his teeth, and with a flick of his head, it turns invisible. "Enchanted to help with the stage magic. Not very impressive nowadays, but it'll serve its purpose as long as we keep quiet... now, everypony choose a costume!" He reaches in and pulls out some old rags, throwing them over his head and adjusting his posture until he's the spitting image of a gnarled, bent over spirit of yore. "Let's have a little fun."
( "...Isn't that exactly what I said earlier?" says Solar, wondering if Bardigan has become deaf to normal speech because of all the singing and drama he does. He's not particular the rhetorical flourish; he's an earth pony, after all! He walks over to the chest and rummages around until he finds the costume of a knight...a ghost knight, that is! "Well I always did like stories of chivalry," he says to himself, shoving the spooky ghost knight's helm on his head. )
Match_Maker frowns as she starts to go towards the stairs. "I'll take a look-see from upstairs, see who it is." she says, kissing Sky's cheek tenderly.
Fluttershy chews her lower lip. "Ohhh, I know this isn't going anywhere good..." Closing her eyes again, she jams a hoof into the chest and stick a jester's crown on her head. "Now will you listen? Please, before it's too late, I think something happened to Nettleglum."
"And get the Eye-Spy cloaks on too, we can't reveal ourselves too early," Bardigan whispers as he throws his cloak over himself and goes invisible. "Fluttershy! Distract them at the front door. Scratch around the walls and knock on the windows, or the like. Just make it convincing. Remember: we are ghosts. We are not being polite! We're here to scare them. Once we're inside, pick a room and *quietly*..." He whispers the plan to them all, then picks up a hammer in his teeth. He zooms into the air and goes to work removing the nails and boards over Skyheart's bedroom window, one by one, until they're done. After that, it's just a short lift of Solar's earth pony girth through the window... and lights (Bardigan blows out a candle), camera, action. Bardigan creeps to the bedroom door and gives it a loud rap, then goes to hide in a shadowed corner.
Solar_Solstice will gladly listen to Fluttershy once Bardigan ceases to take so much of his attention. He heaves Bardigan through the window and tries to clamber after him. Despite what Bardigan might think, Solar is actually fairly spry for an earth pony. "Are you /sure/ this is gonna work?" he whispers loudly.
Match_Maker blinks as she hears somepony knock at the door. "Hello?" she whispers. "Who's there?" comes the dulcet tones of a pretty mare that Bardigan is QUITE familiar with!
Skyheart panics as Match talks to the door. "Who's where? What's going on!? Did something get in? Get away, it's not safe!" He practically shoves Match Maker away from the door.
"W-w-what?" Fluttershy finds herself left all alone at the front door, prancing in place nervously, if invisibly, which just makes her even more nervous, thinking about it. She paces back and forth, throwing up little plumes of dust as the cloak swishes around, when there's a scuffle from inside--
Bardigan chuckles when he hears Skyheart begin to panic behind the door. He was too focused on his objective to really take in the state of the room, which... actually is pretty bad. Furniture is overturned everywhere. Was Skyheart taking care of himself in here? He looks back to where Solar should be and shrugs, then remembers they're invisible... and he happens to look up at the ceiling. And his jaw drops. "Wait," he whispers to Solar. "Wait. Oh. Celestia..." He stares in numb shock at the sight of what appears to be Skyheart himself, suspended from the ceiling, hanging in a dumb and catatonic state in some kind of green, glowing cocoon. He whips his cloak off and takes to the air, pretenses forgotten as he struggles to comprehend what he's seeing. Skyheart. In a cocoon. A... real one, judging by the way his hoof touches it and comes away slimy. "Solar," he says with a gulp. "I think... we have been bamboozled."
"Now this is just ridiculous," says Solar Solstice, dropping all pretense of propriety now. "Wait wha-" He steps into the room and gapes at the big cocoon on the ceiling. Very suddenly he feels like a colt again. "Oh boy, uh...oh boy..."
Match_Maker is growing more suspicious by the moment. Bardigan, sneaking into Skyheart's house she could see happening any old day. Brining along another handsome young stallion just makes it even more yummy... But FLUTTERSHY? Out and about on nightmare night? or close to it. Skyheart, actually SHOVING her? Something fishy is going on. She very casually restrains Skyheart (the one with her, by the simple expedient of pressing her superior bulk against him and the wall. "NONSENSE! Your friend
Bardigan is in there, and I'm sure I can handle it if it's some imitator. Go on and let's go see your friends!" she says, still genuninely hoping that what she's been dreading all along hasn't happened.
Skyheart shakes hsi head frantically. "What if it's one of /them/? What if they're just trying to trick us? The real ones wouldn't break in like that! I boarded that window up! AND I locked the door!" Meanwhile, the real Skyheart appears as if he couldn't have been in there for but a day or so. The materials are still somewhat... fresh.
Fluttershy draws herself up. "O-okay, Angel," she says to the bunny hitching a ride on her mane, "w-we have to stop this...fooling around. I-if anything is happening, our friends need our help *first*, right? So...here goes." And sincerely hoping that it isn't the worst mistake of her life, Fluttershy turns and leaves the big, dark, lonely street behind, trotting in-- and shrieking when she sees the ceiling. Poor Angel is nearly thrown from her back.
"He locked the door," Bardigan mutters, Fluttershy's shriek going almost unnoticed. "He boarded the windows. But *Skyheart* didn't do it. *He* did." And everything just sort of clicks from there, and the pegasus jumps into action. "Solar, watch the door! I'm getting him out of there!" With that, he starts going about ripping and tearing at the membrane of Skyheart's trap with his bare hooves... and teeth... and whatever else is around that'll cut, really. "Don't go anywhere," he mutters. "I'm coming for you after this, changeling..."
It about clicks for Solar at the same time. "Right, I've got it!" he shouts, stepping back - no, /surging/ back - and slamming the door shut, keeping it held tight with his 'earth pony girth'. "Say, wasn't there somepony in the next room?" he says, trying to be heard over the din.
Match_Maker'ss eyes narrow for a moment, and she then gets a proper hold on Skyheart. "Skyheart. Is that true? You acted rather strange today. Letting me in, feeding me, showing me kindness..."
Skyheart seems a bit confused. "What do you mean? Why /wouldn't/ I-" Then there's the scream. Trying to pry free, the imposter starts to struggle for the door outside that still happens to be boarded shut.
Bardigan at last tears the last of the membrane away, wincing as the gloop inside comes free... along with Skyheart. Bardigan plucks him out and lays him on the ground, slapping his face. "Skyheart. Get up! It's me, Bardigan! WAKE UP!" He looks back up at the door Solar is bracing. "Fluttershy, watch over Skyheart! Solar, break down that door! We're apprehending this rapscallion if it's the last thing we do!"
Fluttershy jumps backward reflexively, bumping her hindquarters against the wall as goop splatters on the floor. "O...o-okay," she answers, and, using a nearby (and confirmed blank) stack of papers, starts trying to scrape the scum away without actually touching it. There's no telling what it'll do to a pony, but - "H-hang on, Skyheart. Can you hear me? Oh, please be okay." She puts her ear to his chest, like one would a drowning victim.
Solar_Solstice hears Bard loud and clear. "One hole in the wall coming up!" he shouts, rearing back and rushing right into the door, breaking it apart into splinters and hinges. "Whoa!" he cries out, choking a bit on the dust. Maybe that was /too/ direct.
Once the crash hit, the fake Skyheart was launched away and down the stairs in the side. Laying amongst the rubble is now the changeling that hoped to take his place. Now disoriented and hopelessly outnumbered, it gasps in defeat and then bolts for it, colliding with the door frame in a comdeic fashion before busting through the boards. From the inside it's clear the door was broken into and then rebuilt from the outside.
Meanwhile, the real Skyheart is coming to now that he's no longer stuck in changelingland. He coughs up what's left of the goop and looks at himself wearily. "Ugh... What happened? Orpheus...?" A large goop pile is moving, finally freeing itself, the dove is also rather preturbed to have been stuffed in a coccoon. They both seriously need a bath or something. He looks around the room. "Oh, that's right! I was attacked by that... whatever the heck that was... He shakes his head. He's still not aware of who else is here yet.
"O-out with the good, in with the - no, out with the bad, in with the good," chants Fluttershy as she pumps Skyheart's chest up and down, trying to expel any goop he might - "Skyheart!" she exclaims. "Oh, thank goodness. We thought you might be..."
Bardigan tumbles down the stairs after the changeling, flailing his hooves in a vain attempt to catch it before he zooms away. "Get back here! Criminal! Blackguard! Thief! BODY THIEF! I'll... graaah!" Bardigan stamps the ground outside the doorway for a moment, forgetting himself for a moment. And then he turns and zooms back upstairs, snatching Skyheart in a weird cross between a hug and a firepony carry. "Skyheart! Are you all right? Do you need help? I'll get you to a hospital! Or bandages! Do you need bandages?!"
Solar_Solstice shakes his head as he tries to rid himself of all the funny colours he's now seeing, whoa. "Hey Bard-" But the pegasus is already on the move, rushing out to chase the fake Skyheart, and then rushing back in to help the real one. It's all very bewildering for Solar, who just yesterday was more worried about his latest shipment of tropical fruit than changelings and subterfuge. "Stop shouting! By Celestia!"
( "Stop shouting! By Celestia!" Solar cries out, his big, booming earth stallion voice echoing throughout the room. "Skyheart needs quiet right now. Let's get him to the hospital. Fluttershy, you get all the...gunk out of his mouth?" )
Skyheart shakse his head as he tries to orient himself. "Ugh..." He looks to Fluttershy, still dripping in that strange goo. "What day is it? How long was I...? Last I remember... There was that election and then... everything just... happened. Then I feel asleep."
( At the point Bardigan hoists him over his shoulder he seems a bit more himself. "I need a /bath/." )
"I think so," Fluttershy says to Solstice, and then to Skyheart, "The election was just yesterday. E-everypony panicked after the invasion...they all thought you just shut yourself up in here. And there's something really weird going on," she says to the room at large. "This - this strange pony and a...rabbit came to my door - t-they said they lived at Nettleglum's place, but Nettleglum doesn't have any relatives living with her..."
"Bath sounds good," Bardigan blurts out, beginning to drag Skyheart off, determined to take care of his friend. That's two failures now: one voting for Chrysalis, and two not noticing Skyheart was a monster! But Fluttershy catches his attention again, and he turns back. "Nettleglum?" he wonders. "She actually left *to* see her relatives, I heard it through the... grapevine..." He blinks slowly. Is it just him, or is the night suddenly a little darker than it should be? "But... if she's gone, nopony should be in there... anyway..." He shivers involuntarily. More weird things are ahoof, it seems.
Solar_Solstice points out what is becoming increasingly obvious. "You know...it's too early for it too be /this/ dark," he says. Looking up at the sky. "This doesn't look good..."
Skyheart looks down at Bardigan with a bit of trouble. "I can handle myself... I'm regaining my senses." He comments. He looks to the writing mass of Orpheus still stuck in a gunk ball.
Fluttershy's yellow coat doesn't make her any easier to see in the unnatural gloom that's falling. "N...Nettie's not there?" She actually sounds relieved - that's one friend out of harm's way, at least...probably. "...b-but then - and the rabbit, i-it moved like it was...it was..." Fluttershy gulps, and
Bardigan looks back and forth nervously. "... You screamed," he whispers to Fluttershy. "Does that mean...?" There's a groan of wood from the house settling, but to Bardigan it's another ghoul waiting to pounce. He twitches his ears and looks at Match Maker, scooting over to pull her closer to everypony else. "Um... what... else did this pony say?"
Solar_Solstice tries to help Orpheus out of the gunk, but he only gets his hooves gunky. He lets Bard handle the talking for now.
Skyheart heads back to the room to pick up the gooey bird in his mouth. He mumbles something incoherent only to head into the bathroom with a door slam. It opens again. "Help yourselves to anything potentially left in the kitchen. This whole place needs to be rebuilt so I'm not worried about food right now." He says. The door closes again and the sound of water is heard.
Bardigan hurriedly goes to lock the window before more talk of the weird pony is mentioned. The strangest thing, though... things suddenly seem so quiet outside for all the ruckus that just happened.
Solar_Solstice happens to trot past this oddity, his head turning to peer at the boarded-up house. Hmm...that wasn't like that the last time he was on this street! Was it because of the Changeling attack? That would make sense, what with the sudden proliferation of guards wandering about town. The whole place was so tense and strung out, like a rock formation eroded to the breaking point, ready to crumble into dust. Perhaps that tension was also affecting Skyheart. He stops and looks at the house, wondering.
Match_Maker is lounging near the fireplace, staring into the dancing flames. She's cleaned herself up a bit, and looks much nicer in her less scary battleform.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. Somepony, please..." Fluttershy's eyes are squeezed shut from the strain and her words are barely audible through the panicked heaving of her lungs. She dashes into town and skids to a stop, nearly whipping Angel off her back. Fluttershy huffs and puffs, sweat streaming down her face; she glances back and forth...
Bardigan is standing just outside, rubbing his chin as he ponders the state of things. He has a chest next to him, a big old wooden thing that has seen better days, and is probably a prop from when he played a pirate. But tonight it will serve a much more useful purpose: storing his gear for the greatest act of subterfuge he's performed yet. The chest is overflowing with costumes, some of which seem to be *glowing* in the right light... which isn't much, since the moon is hidden behind clouds and this street isn't the busiest in Ponyville. "Don't worry," he mutters. "I've got your number, Skyheart. If you think outside is terrifying... wait till you see what I've got." His ear perks as Fluttershy and Solar come into view. "Oh! My friends! Come over here! And keep your voices down!"
No sounds come from Skyhear'ts house. The boarded up windows keep the view out entirely and all entrances appear barred. There is smoke coming out of the chimney.
It just starts here, and will culminate at Nettleglum's place, which is already spooky enough."
Solar_Solstice turns his head and stares at Bardigan dumbfoundedly. Friend? Didn't he just...run across Bardigan a couple of times and eavesdrop (kinda)? He feels undeserving of such a privileged title, and a part of his mind generates thought of suspicion at the notion of somepony holding such poor standards of friendship. Much of it evaporates, however, when his common sense (which, contrary to the opinions of others, is quite strong) contests this account, and delegates a far, forgotten corner of his memory as a place for the thought. "Oh, hey Bardigan. Hey Fluttershy." He bows to each of them in turn. "So, uh...what are we all doing here, exactly? Is Skyheart doing a haunted house for Nightmare Night?" Well that /seems/ like a sensible deduction.
Huff. Puff. "B-Bardigan..." Wheeze. "S-solar...i-it's terrible, y-you have to listen..." Fluttershy stops to catch her breath. "W-what's going on here?"
"Terrible? What's terrible is that Skyheart here has locked himself in his house and won't come out!" Bardigan declares theatrically, pointing up at the boarded house. He turns back and begins stage whispering, meaning it really isn't very secret. "Fortunately... I have devised a plan. Skyheart, you see, is scared of the outside right now. He believes it's safer to be in there with changelings about. So what better way to make him come out again than make him so utterly terrified of the *inside* of his house that he'll have no choice but to come out again?" he asks them with a big grin, the tone in his voice declaring that he see absolutely no way this could backfire. "I won't *traumatize* the poor colt, just... give him a shock. Let him remember how silly it is to let fear rule him so by making him confront it here and now!"
Skyheart hears voices and looks to his guest who, for reasons he still can't fathom, he allowed inside. "Stay quiet and put a disguise on..." He hunkers down behind the table trying to stay out of notice.
Solar_Solstice thinks that this is a positively stupid idea, but he's far too polite to say so out loud. The temptation to frown is turned upside down! "That sounds like a plan!" he says, smiling and completely honest. Well, it was /a/ plan. "I'm guessing this'll involve sneaking into his house wearing silly costumes and scaring the Celestia out of him?"
Match_Maker smiles and stretches. She decides to have a bit of fun... Her form dwindles, shrinks, and her horn with draws... Soon enough, there's a female version of Skyheart standing next to him, quite as alike as two peas in a pony pod.
Fluttershy raises her tired eyes, blinking away the sweat. "Oh, no, Bardigan, there's no *time* for that. T-there was just...I mean, this weird pony came from the forest - i-it wasn't Nettleglum - "
"Well, there are many weird ponies near the forest," Bardigan says, trying to wave off Fluttershy's concern for the more pressing and immediate matter of Skyheart's lock-in. "You probably just met a traveler, Fluttershy. What we need right now is help to get Skyheart out. And to do that we need to get *in.* Now. For reasons I have yet to understand, Skyheart's house is boarded up from the outside, which we can use to our advantage. We'll simply pull away the planks from our chosen entrance..." He points up at the attic. "Along with some handy costumes from my younger days." He pulls out a cloak with his teeth, and with a flick of his head, it turns invisible. "Enchanted to help with the stage magic. Not very impressive nowadays, but it'll serve its purpose as long as we keep quiet... now, everypony choose a costume!" He reaches in and pulls out some old rags, throwing them over his head and adjusting his posture until he's the spitting image of a gnarled, bent over spirit of yore. "Let's have a little fun."
( "...Isn't that exactly what I said earlier?" says Solar, wondering if Bardigan has become deaf to normal speech because of all the singing and drama he does. He's not particular the rhetorical flourish; he's an earth pony, after all! He walks over to the chest and rummages around until he finds the costume of a knight...a ghost knight, that is! "Well I always did like stories of chivalry," he says to himself, shoving the spooky ghost knight's helm on his head. )
Match_Maker frowns as she starts to go towards the stairs. "I'll take a look-see from upstairs, see who it is." she says, kissing Sky's cheek tenderly.
Fluttershy chews her lower lip. "Ohhh, I know this isn't going anywhere good..." Closing her eyes again, she jams a hoof into the chest and stick a jester's crown on her head. "Now will you listen? Please, before it's too late, I think something happened to Nettleglum."
"And get the Eye-Spy cloaks on too, we can't reveal ourselves too early," Bardigan whispers as he throws his cloak over himself and goes invisible. "Fluttershy! Distract them at the front door. Scratch around the walls and knock on the windows, or the like. Just make it convincing. Remember: we are ghosts. We are not being polite! We're here to scare them. Once we're inside, pick a room and *quietly*..." He whispers the plan to them all, then picks up a hammer in his teeth. He zooms into the air and goes to work removing the nails and boards over Skyheart's bedroom window, one by one, until they're done. After that, it's just a short lift of Solar's earth pony girth through the window... and lights (Bardigan blows out a candle), camera, action. Bardigan creeps to the bedroom door and gives it a loud rap, then goes to hide in a shadowed corner.
Solar_Solstice will gladly listen to Fluttershy once Bardigan ceases to take so much of his attention. He heaves Bardigan through the window and tries to clamber after him. Despite what Bardigan might think, Solar is actually fairly spry for an earth pony. "Are you /sure/ this is gonna work?" he whispers loudly.
Match_Maker blinks as she hears somepony knock at the door. "Hello?" she whispers. "Who's there?" comes the dulcet tones of a pretty mare that Bardigan is QUITE familiar with!
Skyheart panics as Match talks to the door. "Who's where? What's going on!? Did something get in? Get away, it's not safe!" He practically shoves Match Maker away from the door.
"W-w-what?" Fluttershy finds herself left all alone at the front door, prancing in place nervously, if invisibly, which just makes her even more nervous, thinking about it. She paces back and forth, throwing up little plumes of dust as the cloak swishes around, when there's a scuffle from inside--
Bardigan chuckles when he hears Skyheart begin to panic behind the door. He was too focused on his objective to really take in the state of the room, which... actually is pretty bad. Furniture is overturned everywhere. Was Skyheart taking care of himself in here? He looks back to where Solar should be and shrugs, then remembers they're invisible... and he happens to look up at the ceiling. And his jaw drops. "Wait," he whispers to Solar. "Wait. Oh. Celestia..." He stares in numb shock at the sight of what appears to be Skyheart himself, suspended from the ceiling, hanging in a dumb and catatonic state in some kind of green, glowing cocoon. He whips his cloak off and takes to the air, pretenses forgotten as he struggles to comprehend what he's seeing. Skyheart. In a cocoon. A... real one, judging by the way his hoof touches it and comes away slimy. "Solar," he says with a gulp. "I think... we have been bamboozled."
"Now this is just ridiculous," says Solar Solstice, dropping all pretense of propriety now. "Wait wha-" He steps into the room and gapes at the big cocoon on the ceiling. Very suddenly he feels like a colt again. "Oh boy, uh...oh boy..."
Match_Maker is growing more suspicious by the moment. Bardigan, sneaking into Skyheart's house she could see happening any old day. Brining along another handsome young stallion just makes it even more yummy... But FLUTTERSHY? Out and about on nightmare night? or close to it. Skyheart, actually SHOVING her? Something fishy is going on. She very casually restrains Skyheart (the one with her, by the simple expedient of pressing her superior bulk against him and the wall. "NONSENSE! Your friend
Bardigan is in there, and I'm sure I can handle it if it's some imitator. Go on and let's go see your friends!" she says, still genuninely hoping that what she's been dreading all along hasn't happened.
Skyheart shakes hsi head frantically. "What if it's one of /them/? What if they're just trying to trick us? The real ones wouldn't break in like that! I boarded that window up! AND I locked the door!" Meanwhile, the real Skyheart appears as if he couldn't have been in there for but a day or so. The materials are still somewhat... fresh.
Fluttershy draws herself up. "O-okay, Angel," she says to the bunny hitching a ride on her mane, "w-we have to stop this...fooling around. I-if anything is happening, our friends need our help *first*, right? So...here goes." And sincerely hoping that it isn't the worst mistake of her life, Fluttershy turns and leaves the big, dark, lonely street behind, trotting in-- and shrieking when she sees the ceiling. Poor Angel is nearly thrown from her back.
"He locked the door," Bardigan mutters, Fluttershy's shriek going almost unnoticed. "He boarded the windows. But *Skyheart* didn't do it. *He* did." And everything just sort of clicks from there, and the pegasus jumps into action. "Solar, watch the door! I'm getting him out of there!" With that, he starts going about ripping and tearing at the membrane of Skyheart's trap with his bare hooves... and teeth... and whatever else is around that'll cut, really. "Don't go anywhere," he mutters. "I'm coming for you after this, changeling..."
It about clicks for Solar at the same time. "Right, I've got it!" he shouts, stepping back - no, /surging/ back - and slamming the door shut, keeping it held tight with his 'earth pony girth'. "Say, wasn't there somepony in the next room?" he says, trying to be heard over the din.
Match_Maker'ss eyes narrow for a moment, and she then gets a proper hold on Skyheart. "Skyheart. Is that true? You acted rather strange today. Letting me in, feeding me, showing me kindness..."
Skyheart seems a bit confused. "What do you mean? Why /wouldn't/ I-" Then there's the scream. Trying to pry free, the imposter starts to struggle for the door outside that still happens to be boarded shut.
Bardigan at last tears the last of the membrane away, wincing as the gloop inside comes free... along with Skyheart. Bardigan plucks him out and lays him on the ground, slapping his face. "Skyheart. Get up! It's me, Bardigan! WAKE UP!" He looks back up at the door Solar is bracing. "Fluttershy, watch over Skyheart! Solar, break down that door! We're apprehending this rapscallion if it's the last thing we do!"
Fluttershy jumps backward reflexively, bumping her hindquarters against the wall as goop splatters on the floor. "O...o-okay," she answers, and, using a nearby (and confirmed blank) stack of papers, starts trying to scrape the scum away without actually touching it. There's no telling what it'll do to a pony, but - "H-hang on, Skyheart. Can you hear me? Oh, please be okay." She puts her ear to his chest, like one would a drowning victim.
Solar_Solstice hears Bard loud and clear. "One hole in the wall coming up!" he shouts, rearing back and rushing right into the door, breaking it apart into splinters and hinges. "Whoa!" he cries out, choking a bit on the dust. Maybe that was /too/ direct.
Once the crash hit, the fake Skyheart was launched away and down the stairs in the side. Laying amongst the rubble is now the changeling that hoped to take his place. Now disoriented and hopelessly outnumbered, it gasps in defeat and then bolts for it, colliding with the door frame in a comdeic fashion before busting through the boards. From the inside it's clear the door was broken into and then rebuilt from the outside.
Meanwhile, the real Skyheart is coming to now that he's no longer stuck in changelingland. He coughs up what's left of the goop and looks at himself wearily. "Ugh... What happened? Orpheus...?" A large goop pile is moving, finally freeing itself, the dove is also rather preturbed to have been stuffed in a coccoon. They both seriously need a bath or something. He looks around the room. "Oh, that's right! I was attacked by that... whatever the heck that was... He shakes his head. He's still not aware of who else is here yet.
"O-out with the good, in with the - no, out with the bad, in with the good," chants Fluttershy as she pumps Skyheart's chest up and down, trying to expel any goop he might - "Skyheart!" she exclaims. "Oh, thank goodness. We thought you might be..."
Bardigan tumbles down the stairs after the changeling, flailing his hooves in a vain attempt to catch it before he zooms away. "Get back here! Criminal! Blackguard! Thief! BODY THIEF! I'll... graaah!" Bardigan stamps the ground outside the doorway for a moment, forgetting himself for a moment. And then he turns and zooms back upstairs, snatching Skyheart in a weird cross between a hug and a firepony carry. "Skyheart! Are you all right? Do you need help? I'll get you to a hospital! Or bandages! Do you need bandages?!"
Solar_Solstice shakes his head as he tries to rid himself of all the funny colours he's now seeing, whoa. "Hey Bard-" But the pegasus is already on the move, rushing out to chase the fake Skyheart, and then rushing back in to help the real one. It's all very bewildering for Solar, who just yesterday was more worried about his latest shipment of tropical fruit than changelings and subterfuge. "Stop shouting! By Celestia!"
( "Stop shouting! By Celestia!" Solar cries out, his big, booming earth stallion voice echoing throughout the room. "Skyheart needs quiet right now. Let's get him to the hospital. Fluttershy, you get all the...gunk out of his mouth?" )
Skyheart shakse his head as he tries to orient himself. "Ugh..." He looks to Fluttershy, still dripping in that strange goo. "What day is it? How long was I...? Last I remember... There was that election and then... everything just... happened. Then I feel asleep."
( At the point Bardigan hoists him over his shoulder he seems a bit more himself. "I need a /bath/." )
"I think so," Fluttershy says to Solstice, and then to Skyheart, "The election was just yesterday. E-everypony panicked after the invasion...they all thought you just shut yourself up in here. And there's something really weird going on," she says to the room at large. "This - this strange pony and a...rabbit came to my door - t-they said they lived at Nettleglum's place, but Nettleglum doesn't have any relatives living with her..."
"Bath sounds good," Bardigan blurts out, beginning to drag Skyheart off, determined to take care of his friend. That's two failures now: one voting for Chrysalis, and two not noticing Skyheart was a monster! But Fluttershy catches his attention again, and he turns back. "Nettleglum?" he wonders. "She actually left *to* see her relatives, I heard it through the... grapevine..." He blinks slowly. Is it just him, or is the night suddenly a little darker than it should be? "But... if she's gone, nopony should be in there... anyway..." He shivers involuntarily. More weird things are ahoof, it seems.
Solar_Solstice points out what is becoming increasingly obvious. "You know...it's too early for it too be /this/ dark," he says. Looking up at the sky. "This doesn't look good..."
Skyheart looks down at Bardigan with a bit of trouble. "I can handle myself... I'm regaining my senses." He comments. He looks to the writing mass of Orpheus still stuck in a gunk ball.
Fluttershy's yellow coat doesn't make her any easier to see in the unnatural gloom that's falling. "N...Nettie's not there?" She actually sounds relieved - that's one friend out of harm's way, at least...probably. "...b-but then - and the rabbit, i-it moved like it was...it was..." Fluttershy gulps, and
Bardigan looks back and forth nervously. "... You screamed," he whispers to Fluttershy. "Does that mean...?" There's a groan of wood from the house settling, but to Bardigan it's another ghoul waiting to pounce. He twitches his ears and looks at Match Maker, scooting over to pull her closer to everypony else. "Um... what... else did this pony say?"
Solar_Solstice tries to help Orpheus out of the gunk, but he only gets his hooves gunky. He lets Bard handle the talking for now.
Skyheart heads back to the room to pick up the gooey bird in his mouth. He mumbles something incoherent only to head into the bathroom with a door slam. It opens again. "Help yourselves to anything potentially left in the kitchen. This whole place needs to be rebuilt so I'm not worried about food right now." He says. The door closes again and the sound of water is heard.
Bardigan hurriedly goes to lock the window before more talk of the weird pony is mentioned. The strangest thing, though... things suddenly seem so quiet outside for all the ruckus that just happened.