Strangeknot's silvery-blue short mane streamed out behind him as he ran into the town hall, sandwich still in mouth, monkey perched on his back. Inside, he saw a few other ponies had gathered, one of which was an eerie looking unicorn stallion with a green coat and a purple mane that Strangeknot didn't recognize.
One of the others was a cute blonde earth pony that Strangeknot recognized as the mare with the freakishly long prehensile tail. He didn't know her name, but he had seen her on occasion spending time with his old acquaintance, Water Strider. Water and Strangeknot had attended the same university in Manehattan, and both had studied alchemy there. But Water had left after his... accident, and Strangeknot had left after... well, it's not really important anyway.
Water had become reclusive since the.. since coming to Ponyville, so Strangeknot hadn't really seen much of his old classmate. When he did, he was frequently accompanied by this mare. Now, the simplest and most logical assumption was that they were siblings. I mean, when you see a mare and a stallion spending lots of time together and looking at one another fondly and occasionally giving each other hugs, 'siblings' is the first thing you think, right? But of course the world isn't so simple. No, the more likely explanation was that she was a mare from his past when Water Strider had worked as a super spy for the Equestrian government, infiltrating the Zebra nation and disabling their giant robots armed with megaspells, terrifying machines known as... Metal Steer. It must be
so cool dating a pony with a prehensile tail.
Strangeknot shook his head to dislodge a train of thought that could be summed up in the word "cyberpony". It was probably a better idea to actually learn about a pony's background than to fabricate one, even if it might be much more interesting. Still, Strangeknot held secret hope that "Solid Strider" might just turn out to be real after all.
One of the others present was the energetic handymare with a propensity toward attracting aggravated avians. He knew he shouldn't laugh, but he couldn't help a repressed snicker at the thought. Watching her getting mobbed by a flock of birds was just too funny. But she was also a fellow alchemist, and a mare with firepower is a mare to be respected.
The last was a pony Strangeknot actually knew to some degree. Sun Flare was a priest of good old Celly, Mover of the Sun, Princess of the Day, and Queen of the Cake. Sun had visited the library on occasion, being a scholarly sort, but wasn't really given to talk much, a trait that suited Strangeknot just fine. Strangeknot didn't know much more about him, but he seemed an okay guy. Apparently he had once wanted to be a paladin.
Of course, with a sandwich still in his mouth, Strangeknot was unable to converse with his fellows. At his approach, the others just stared awkwardly for a moment, before returning to their quiet conversations with one another. After a few moments, another stallion galloped into the town hall and started rambling about changelings. Of course, it made so much sense! None of the others were the mayor, that was for sure, but the mysterious green unicorn stallion was someone Strangeknot had never seen before. So this was what a changeling's true form looked like! Wait, no, that was stupid. He was obviously a changeling that had
kidnapped the mayor and...
Just then, a terrifying bat winged pegasus in black armor descended from on high, bearing the judgement of the gods. Strangeknot screamed like a little filly, his eyes going wide, the pupils shrinking in pure terror, and pointing in different directions because... that's just what they did.
"I dropped my sandwich," Strangeknot mourned. "Oh well, I didn't really like it anyway."
Strangenknot fished his glasses out of his saddlebags with his telekinesis and set them in place on his head. His eyes immediately snapped to and aligned with one another. Looked back at the newcomer to get a better look. And screamed again. Nopony could hope to beat Strangeknot in a scream-off, he was simply the best there was.
"Sorry, it's the-" he brought a hoof up and moved it in a circular fashion in front of his muzzle. "...Beard."
As he glanced over at the mysterious unicorn who was now turning toward them, as if he had been waiting for this moment, Strangeknot noticed that his eyes were a milky white. He would have screamed again, but nopony seemed to be paying him much attention, so there was really no reason for it. No point in telling a joke if no one hears the punchline, right?
-----
As the mysterious unicorn, who called himself Arcana, gave his little speech and answered a few questions from the others, Strangeknot just glared at him. At last he could tolerate it no more.
"Alright, who are you, and what have you done to Mayor Mare, you changeling son of a draconequus!" he shouted. "That's right, you thought we would activate your trap card, didn't you? Well, your little card tricks don't fool me, and your little shpeel about things getting 'too harmonious' is nothing but a pack of lies roaming the Forest of Deception on the Planet of Misinformation! You know something you aren't telling us. Why? Because you don't want the truth to come out, that's why! See, I know a thing or two about magic, and I see right through your deceit. Now, I want some real answers, or so help me, I'm going to shove this key down your fat face!"
During his rant, Strangeknot sent a telepathic command to Zerubbabel. The monkey acknowledged and slid off the unicorn's back. The simian's soft feet made hardly any noise as he walked otherwise nonchalantly up to Arcana and grabbed the apparently blind unicorn's cowl from off the floor and brought it back to Strangeknot. It was on Strangeknot's head moments later. Blind or not, stealing his enemy's hat would surely strike him a resounding blow.
