Living on the run wasn’t something Lightning Dust ever thought she’d have to do with herself. She had always imagined herself in the limelight. Somepony to look up to. She thought she’d end up as one of the most famous ponies in the history of ever and that she’d be able to go anywhere she wanted. Well, she was going to be famous alright. Just not for the reason she had hoped for. She sighed, ‘Life isn’t fair sometimes.’
Lightning looked over to see Suri tending to the passed out Crowland’s injuries, “Is he going to be alright?”
Suri gave her a reassuring smile, “Absolutely. The bruising isn’t that severe and given a few days of rest, he should be back to tip top shape. I’m just glad this is all of it. I thought Trixie would have been more severe, but then again, she was planning to execute him. It wouldn’t do to rough him up too much for the show.” She snarled.
“Hey,” Lightning put a comforting hoof onto Suri’s shoulder. “Calm down. We’ve got him out safely. Now we just have to wait for Sunset to sort this thing out.”
Suri quirked an eyebrow, “Do you really think she would help us? I mean, last time I checked you two had a nasty conversation.”
Lightning waved it off, “It wasn’t that bad and hey, I’ve argued with Redheart a lot over the years and we’re still friends. Friends argue and hate each other now and again, but I shouldn’t hold one argument against her forever.”
Suri blinked in surprise and gained that much more respect for her friend, “Lightning, that’s-”
“It’s also good to guilt trip your friends about arguments and stuff they were wrong about,” Lightning grinned and smoothed out her mane. “Maybe I’ll get her to pay for my spa treatments or a lifetime supply of ice cream.” She cackled and rubbed her forehooves together as she thought about what to get herself.
Suri sighed and smiled, “Same old, Lightning. You haven’t changed.”
Lightning Dust laughed, “Guess I haven’t. You haven’t either. You might be a badass, but you’re still the same Suri I called my friend all those years ago.”
Suri blushed, “That… That means a lot, Lightning.”
“What are friends for?” Lightning said before mulling over her thoughts. “So… what happens now?”
“We can’t go back to the house, nor yours since they know you helped.” Suri stated. “We’ll just have to hold out in Whitetail Woods until your princess friend sorts this out.”
Lightning nodded, “Gotcha, shouldn’t be too long. Still, if those guys show up to take you guys in, they’ll have to go through me first.”
“Don’t count me out so quickly,” Suri smirked. “I think I can take them just as easily as I did before.”
“Before I had to save your butt, you mean?” Lightning chuckled at the slight glare. It felt right being able to joke around with Suri again. ‘I promise you, Suri. I won’t let you down.’
_________________________________________________________________________
Sunset Shimmer couldn’t help but tap her hoof in anticipation. She and her friends had been brought to the town hall. She hadn’t been told exactly what this was about, but she could hazard a guess it wasn’t anything good. She knew Trixie would never try anything on her. She was far too loyal to her mother to try it and so were all of the guards and such present. It was just… she had a bad feeling about this.
“What…” Coco gulped. The poor mare was trembling as Pizzelle held her comfortingly. “What do they want with us?”
“Nothing serious, I assure you.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Don’t worry, Coco. I’m still a princess. They can’t do anything to you or anyone without my say so. Besides, we’re Elements of Harmony. The worst we’ll get is a scolding and we haven’t done anything wrong, so there’s not even that.”
“I wouldn’t say you haven’t done anything wrong,” Dot spoke as he entered the room. He quickly shut it behind him as he stared down all six elements in the room. “So the gang’s almost all here. Great.”
Sunset blinked in confusion, “What’s so great about that? Aren’t we going to wait for Lightning?”
“Yeah,” Fiddlesticks piped up. “Don’t know why ya want to start without her. She’d get riled up something fierce if she found out ya did.”
“And then we’d have to avoid sparks of lightning,” Quickfix huffed. “Bad enough when it’s just me but when my equipment is around…” She snarled.
Dot held up a hoof, “This meeting is about Lightning Dust and what we’re going to do with her now that she has turned traitor.” When all of the mares present stared at him in shock, he sighed. “Well I wasn’t going to dance around the issue. So-”
“WHAT?!!” They all shouted.
“What do you mean she’s turned traitor?” Redheart spoke up, standing up as she did so. “Lightning Dust is the loyalist pony you could meet. She’s the Element of Loyalty, for Celestia’s sake. So I do not appreciate you commenting about her in such a… dirty manner when she is not present. Please, explain yourself or I will rip off that blasted raised arm and smack you with it. You know I can. I'M A NURSE!”
Dot, and everyone else, gaped at the glaring and huffing mare. “Uhhh… First of all, don’t kill me.”
“No one’s killing anyone,” Pizzelle stood up. “Redheart, I know that Lightning is basically family but I don’t think this is going to help her.”
“Why do we need to help her?” Redheart kept glaring at the changeling. “She’s not a traitor. How could-”
“She helped the griffon escape last night and attacked Inquisitor Trixie,” Dot interjected.
All of them stared at him.
“Come again?” Fiddlesticks rubbed her ears. “Ah don’t think Ah heard that right.”
“Last night, she aided the one known as Suri Polomare in freeing her master from prison. Multiple guards were injured, thankfully there were no casualties.” Dot explained. “Still, this is an act of treason if I ever saw one.”
Redheart blinked in utter confusion, “But… but that doesn’t sound like her at all. She has to have a good reason for doing this.”
“Could be somethin’ goin’ on between ‘em,” Quickfix chewed on that thought. “Met ‘em once when they passed by. That Suri mare had that look in her eyes whenever she saw Lightning. It was obviously a crush. Maybe Lightning found out and love blinded her.”
Pizzelle smiled and sighed in bliss, “Awww, young love~ That’s so precious.”
“Just like aiding a murderer,” Dot scowled.
Sunset frowned, “I don’t remember murder being among the charges.”
Dot cleared his throat, “You wouldn’t. The incident was covered up. However, not long ago a small caravan was cut off and attacked. The drivers and personal present were killed and the contents stolen. This incident and the ones happening in town are too close and too soon to one another that it is entirely possible they were committed by the same parties. Therefore, Inquisitor Trixie has no choice but to arrest Lightning Dust for her crimes.”
“I will not allow this,” Sunset glared at him. The room growing hotter and hotter by the second.
Dot nodded, “She will just be locked up until this whole mess is cleared up. No harm shall fall upon Lightning Dust. Her compatriots are another story.”
“I still believe there is more to it,” Pizzelle frowned. “It just doesn’t add up to me. If he was behind all of this, why come into town at all? Why buy a house? Why be so open with his weapons? It doesn’t seem like he’s the one that did any of that.”
“He could have his reasons,” Dot explained. “Trying to look inconspicuous or he just didn’t believe we had any real evidence to convict him. Besides, griffons are usually armed so that isn’t so unusual. At least for foreign born griffons. Still, for now we shall treat him as the culprit unless some out of the blue evidence comes along.” His voice indicated he doubted that would happen. “I just wanted to know if-”
“We did not know Lightning would do this, nor did or would condone such actions.” Sunset spoke for everyone, before sighing. “Fine, you have my permission to capture her but I swear, I will tell my mother if harm should fall on Lightning Dust.”
Dot gulped softly, “Understood, Your Majesty.” With that said, he quickly made his way out of the room.
The mare’s traded nervous glances, “Umm…” Coco, of all of them, broke the awkward silence. “What do we do about this, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I… I don’t know,” Sunset answered, feeling a little hollow. None of the other mares knew what to do except hope that everyone made it back safely.
___________________________________________________________________
“But Master,” Cato started.
Trixie cut him off, “No butts, Cato.” She lightly glared down at him. She was in front of their temporary home in Ponyville in full armed garb. Several armed guards were waiting around for her orders. He could count a few dozen with her. “These people are far too dangerous for you. Besides, they are only three strong. I’ll be back soon. Dot will be back from talking with the other Elements soon to look after you.”
Cato stomped a foot down, “But I can help you. I’m good at magic.”
“You are good at magic, but good will only get you so far in life.” Trixie sighed and kissed his forehead. “Stay inside until I get back. After that, everything should go swimmingly.” She frowned at his dejected look, “Hey, how about a smile? We’ll go and get your favorite ice-cream if I hear you were a good boy while I was gone.”
Cato sighed, “Okay.” With that, he dejectedly walked inside. He could barely hear her tired sigh before she started to shout at her guards and get them moving. He waited till they were gone before dashing to the armaments. Once there, he started to grab his pistols and armor.
“What are you doing?” A familiar voice spoke up behind him. Cato whirled around and gave a sigh of relief when it was just Hikaru, the local kitsune and his sort of friend. He wasn’t sure if they were friends or not because he wasn’t used to having one.
“Just getting my things,” Cato responded, finishing up doing so.
“I heard what your mom said,” Hikaru spoke. “She told you to stay here.”
“And I’m going to show her I’m useful. I’m tired of being coddled. I want to show my Master that I’m an Inquisitor.”
“So you’re going alone?” HIkaru cocked his head to the side curiously.
Cato nodded, “Yes, I can handle whatever these heretics can throw at me.”
Hikaru blinked for a few moments before grinning, “Then I’m coming with you.”
Cato’s eyes widened, “But you can’t. You have to stay home.”
“That’s basically what your mom said but you’re going anyways,” Hikaru smugly replied as his tail wagged in delight.
Cato sighed and his shoulders sagged. Kitsune were known to get on people’s nerves, “Fine, but don’t get hurt, okay? A good inquisitor doesn’t let his subordinates get hurt.”
“Friend.”
“Subordinate.”
“Friend.”
“Subordinate”
“Subordinate.”
“Friend and that’s final,” Cato smugly replied and then moved forward… Then he stopped and glared at Hikaru. “Hey!”
Hikaru laughed and started off himself.
______________________________________________________________
Pokey Pierce leaned back into his chair as he looked around the chief’s office. His office. ‘Yes, finally. After all this time, I get to have some actual power around here. Not just be lead by some oafs in charge. I can’t believe Equestria is still running with these guys in power. A good sweep of their ranks and numbers should do the trick.’
He had ordered many of the officers home and to take some time off. The only ones on staff at the moment were rather incompetent or on his side. He planned to get rid of the more competent ones soon enough and replace them with his own bunch. With that set in place, no matter what happened with Trixie, he could enjoy some peace and comfort here.
That is, until his drawer started to shake. He quickly opened it and took out a purplish crystal ball and put it on the desk before him. Clouds of purple mist started to move before a voice sounded out from within, “I trust you are doing well, Pierce.”
“As well as I can be, my lord.” Pokey kept his voice respectful, lest something happen to him. “Everything is going as well as we’d hoped.”
“Good, good.” The voice seemed rather pleased. “You have done well. Everything is going well on our part. We should have everything prepared for in a few days lest the Inquisition pops up. I’m sure you kept her in town for that length of time.”
Pokey Pierce blinked for a few moments, then he remembered something. Then he started to sweat, “Uhhhh….”
“...What have you not told me?” The room went quiet. Deadly quiet.
Pokey rubbed the back of his head, “Well, the prisoner escaped and the Inquisitor is going out to search for her. I’m sure she will not-”
“Insolent fool!” the voice nearly knocked him back. “We cannot afford to have our location spotted, nor do we have the numbers at this location to deal with any significant threat. Because of your folly, you must fix it.”
Pokey’s eyes widened, “But… but… I don’t need to. You’re powerful enough that-”
“I need my power for the ritual,” the voice explained as if he was talking to a brain dead child. “I can only afford to expend some of it, but not enough to take them all on. You must either thin their numbers or kill them. Take a few prisoners for the coming sacrifice. If we are to succeed, we must not let this fail.”
Pokey sighed, “Very well, master. It shall be done.”
“See that it is,” the voice responded.
Just then, a cop burst through the door. “Sir I have to report that... “ He looked towards the crystal and took a step back from the foul prescance. “What is that, sir?”
“None of your business,” Pokey sighed before quickly pulling out a pistol and shooting the cop through the head. “Now I have to clean that up. Chaos is great but fickle with its offerings.”