A bush shifted slightly as Gerardo crept to the edge of a clearing, Maple and Starlight at his back. It seemed to be a wide point in a woodland road, the packed dirt surface elevated so as to be less muddy. A wooden, three-pony cart sat immobile, surrounded by a ring of masked ponies wielding various forms of weaponry, though mostly heavy artillery.
Atop the cart, a gray unicorn with a curved muzzle was ranting furiously. "You idiots have caused incalculable economic damage to Sosa! You think you're saving it? Saving morale!? Regular, hardworking ponies like me have had it with our products being stolen, so get out of our way!"
The two other ponies on the cart, a larger stallion and an armored orange mare, watched the exchange with almost bored expressions, and the three stallions still hitched to the cart watched resignedly as a masked bandit held a sledgehammer to one of the cart's wheels. "You can give us the boxes," the hammer bandit droned, "and go on for free. Otherwise I'll break this wheel and you'll be stuck here, and we'll take everything you leave behind when you walk away. We're very patient."
"No! You... Gah!" The ranting stallion nearly tugged at his mane. "How can you think you're in the right? You're stealing from the ponies you say you're trying to help! It's asinine!"
The hammer bandit stared back up at him, and probably blinked beneath his mask. "Those boxes are full of weapons, and you're taking them to the enemy. Better to keep them here, in the hooves of ponies loyal to Sosa." Around him, the circle hefted their cannons for emphasis.
"Interesting..." Gerardo whispered to himself, only Maple and Starlight close enough to hear. "They steal weapons? That explains why they're so well armed, then, even if those cannons are hardly appropriate for close combat. Does that mean they... bring stolen goods to future robberies as a means of showing off? These bandits have some odd intellect governing them. I wonder what they would do if those ponies fought back."
"The yaks are not Sosa's enemy," the larger unicorn on the cart interrupted. "Their business contracts with Sosa are lucrative and the source of the money keeping the region afloat."
"Yeah! What he... Hey!" The smaller stallion angrily pointed a hoof at his companion. "Dorable, the yaks are jerks and do not need defending! They're the reason we're in this mess in the first place!" He turned and glared back down at the masked bandits. "But this doesn't mean you aren't in the wrong, either! Stop interfering with ponies' work!"
Gerardo eyed his companions. "I don't suppose this is making sense to either of you?"
Maple shook her head, and Starlight followed suit.
"I agree..." The griffon leaned forward, pressing through the bush. "This has to be the most unusual robbery I've ever seen, and at a glance it seems very politically charged... yet among members of the same side. Something tells me the situation in Ironridge is more complex than I would like to get involved in..." His talons itched toward the hilt of his sword. "Yet, going blind may be the more dangerous of the two options. I am highly inclined to step out there and get some information."
"Staying out of trouble..." Maple hissed worriedly. "Running in there is not how to do that!"
"I'm aware of what I said and what was asked of us," Gerardo replied. "The fact remains that something incredibly fishy is going on here. If robberies can be carried out like business transactions, which seems to be the intent of all but that one pony, I need to know why. And besides... if we save that caravan, there is a good chance they will give us a ride."
Maple folded her ears in protest. "I really do not think that's a good idea! Isn't the Stone District supposed to be safe? All we have to do is get there and we can not have to deal with... this!"
Uneasily, Gerardo shuffled, but didn't draw his sword.
"Tell me," Maple whispered, "if you ran in there, who would you even fight? How do you know which ones are good, or if they're both bad?"
Gerardo shrugged. "An unarmed economic convoy is being held up by bandits with sizable guns and full facial masks. What does it seem?"
"I've read a few books," Maple whispered back. "More than a few! And I haven't read a single one where the weapons dealer isn't the villain!"
"Hmmm..." Gerardo tickled his chin. "You have a point. Here, hold this."
"What are you doing?" Maple asked, noting the griffon's offered sword and taking it warily.
Winking, Gerardo retreated toward the forest. "A tried and true method of testing the moral fiber of opposing parties."
"Good evening, gentlecolts," Gerardo loudly announced as he strolled down the road, approaching the circle around the cart. "I was wondering... erm..." His eyebrows both raised in a well-practiced act. "What is going on?"
From the bushes, Maple silently groaned. The bandits and cart ponies looked at him with a mixture of incredulity and suspicion, but he received an answer nevertheless. "My name is Dorable," the larger stallion announced, "and my companions are Shinespark and Nimwick. We are making a delivery."
"And we're presently being held up," Nimwick added, grumbling darkly.
"I... see." Gerardo blinked. "Well, I apologize for interrupting. I find myself lost, you see, and was wondering if anyone could furnish me with directions?"
"Hey." A bandit waved his oversized launcher at Gerardo, trying to get his attention. "Maybe you should leave Sosan affairs to the Sosans, buddy? Whatever your deal is, you'll have better luck looking after yourself and leaving us alone."
"No! No!" Nimwick waved his hooves, flailing. "Don't listen to him! We're under attack and you look tough, so do something because these buffoons won't!"
The bandits ignored him, turning to each other after the first had spoken. "Hey..." another chided. "He's, like, lost, dude. No need to be so harsh!"
"Yeah!" A third nodded vigorously. "Wouldn't be very nice of us to just leave him in need, you know. We should do something!"
"Nice?" another loudly scoffed. "We're here to smite infidels and save the world, not be nice! You kids are too innocent for this line of work!"
"Save the world?" Another's eyes rolled beneath his mask. "Someone's got an overinflated opinion of their own ego, here. Sosa is at the bottom of the barrel! All I want is to give those scumbags up in Skyfreeze a little payback for how they've treated us!"
"Oh, shut up. They probably pay your wages for your day job!"
Another lifted a hoof. "Hey, doesn't he have wings? Why not fly wherever he's going? You can see everything from the air!"
"Hah! Ha ha ha... You think Ironridge is covered in flying address posts? Probably all looks like forest from up there! How'd you like to try finding something from the air?"
"Wow, no need to be rude..."
Gerardo stared, perplexed, as the bandits bickered... and his eyes were eventually caught by Shinespark's. She didn't speak, but her message was clear: don't get involved in this mess. He bowed his head. "Suddenly, I feel I've remembered a route I never tried before! Farewell, and may you have a pleasant morning."
Rather than walking back to the bushes, he spread his wings and lifted off, skimming the canopy in a random direction until he was sufficiently out of sight to loop around and find his friends without alerting the Sosans. In his wake, Nimwick resumed ranting, though his target was unclear.
He settled quickly into the bush behind Maple and Starlight, who were both waiting crossly. "Well, that was uneventful," he sighed regretfully. "Still, it could be for the best."
"It's definitely for the best!" Maple hissed. "What were you thinking? Don't you remember what Arambai said? We're not supposed to look for trouble! That includes walking in on robberies!"
"I am aware." Gerardo's headcrest drooped. " And in case you weren't, I was the only one there who possessed wings. Had I needed to make a retreat, I could have done so with ease. I did my best to act without suspicion and confirm the presence of any reasonable ponies... even if all I found was a pack of buffoons. However, it seems clear that this conflict is and should be none of our business, so let us prepare to depart..."
"Uhh..." Starlight tapped both of them on the shoulder with a pebble held in her aura. "Look."
A short distance up the road, two bandits had emerged from the forest, lugging a pair of muddied crates. "Hey, look what we found on recon!" one gloated to the rest. "Free loot!"
Gerardo's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he drew his sword with a muffled shhiiing. "This conflict has just become our business."