//------------------------------//
// Heartbreaker, Skullcracker 
// Story: Taming the Wild Horse 
// by SFaccountant 
//------------------------------//

Taming the Wild Horse

a My Little Pony/Ranma 0.5 crossover fanfiction

by SFaccountant



Chapter 5

Heartbreaker, Skullcracker









Trixie's brow furrowed beneath her horn. She stared across the mining cavern at the other mare, studying her features. Her eyes lingered on the ridiculously oversized greaves that the bandit queen wore. She looked back and forth at the numerous other rogues who patiently waited behind barriers of wood and iron.

"What the HAY is going on, here?!" she shouted.

Morning Star looked up at the magician, and her expression cooled considerably. She had regarded Ranma with flirty joy and false petulance, but it all seemed to drain away when she was forced to address another mare.

"Ah. You must be the unicorn we were told about. Trillby, or something?" she asked impatiently.

"TRIXIE!" Trixie corrected. "You're standing before the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Yes, fine. Whatever." Morning Star sat back onto her haunches, and the sound of rattling steel bounced through the cavern. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Trixie gaped, briefly finding herself unable to answer. She and Ranma had assaulted Star's minions, forced their way into her home, and made little secret of their opinion of thieves and raiders. What did Star THINK they wanted?

"We're here to put a stop-" Trixie began, only for Star to click her tongue and interrupt.

"No," the bandit leader said pointing an armored foreleg at the unicorn, "not 'we.' I asked why YOU'RE here and what YOU want. Not Havoc."

"What?" Ranma tilted his head to the side, confused. This wasn't going at all as he had expected it would.

"Do you want money? Are you here for something that was stolen?" Morning Star asked, her voice sounding increasingly irritated. "If I can throw a sack of bits or something at you to send you out the front door, I will. I'm not interested in you. Take what you want and go away."

Trixie, naturally, was furious at the dismissal. "Trixie isn't going anywhere! You're a brutal, ruthless outlaw and your days of stealing from innocent ponies is over!" she barked. "You can either give up now, or you can find out firsthoof why Havoc's bounty outpaces yours by a good fifty thousand bits!"

Morning Star laughed. This didn't help to lessen Trixie's anger, obviously.

"Oh, my! You really came here to defeat me? Like the Equestrian heroines of old! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Her laughter was like a crystal bell; crisp and high-pitched and almost obnoxiously feminine.

"What's funny about that?" Ranma asked, arching an eyebrow. "You think we can't?"

Star's laughter melted away, and she gazed at Ranma with a smirk. "Maybe you can. More likely you can't. But it's such a pointless question. Why should we fight?"

"Because... you prey on the weak and kill innocents and we hate that?" Ranma said. "Also, we kind of need some money for a thing. So after we wipe you guys out we'll take some of your booty, too."

"If Miss Trixie wants money, I can give her money. I don't care. I just want her gone," Morning Star said with a shrug. Then she fixed a smoldering grin on the martial artist. "But my booty is all yours, Havoc."

"............" Ranma stared in befuddled silence for several seconds, trying and failing to come up with a response to that. Then he turned back to face Trixie, gesturing to the bandit queen helplessly.

Trixie rubbed a hoof against her forehead, sighing in exasperation. "Mother of Celestia, not again..." the magician grumbled to herself. Then she addressed Morning Star directly. "Okay, Trixie thinks she understands what's happening here. Except it's not happening at all. Havoc isn't going to be your stud, much less join your gang of cutthroats. We're here to put a stop to your pillaging, and we won't be bought off!"

"Yeah! Exactly! What she said!" Ranma was reasonably discouraged to realize that Morning Star had been flirting with him, but at least he didn't have to feign interest back this time.

"Why not?" Star asked, pouting. "Why would you want to hurt us and risk harm to yourselves when we could all walk away with something we want, instead?"

"And what about what the townspeople want?" Ranma demanded.

Morning Star blinked. "Who cares? They're a bunch of dim, hapless wretches. If they weren't being fleeced by me they'd just fall under the sword of some other rogue. Or even - Tartarus forbid - end up paying taxes to those royal layabouts in Canterlot." She made a disgusted face. "Ignorant sheep like that aren't worth the effort, Havoc."

"That's not true!" Trixie shouted.

Then she paused.

"To clarify, Trixie actually agrees with all of that, but still finds your behavior indefensible." She tapped a hoof onto the ground. "Havoc, she's just wasting our time. Kick her around a little, would you?"



Ranma bolted into action, galloping head-on toward the bandit queen. He was expecting the other rogues to attack immediately, and was reasonably surprised - and slightly suspicious - when they didn't bother.

"You really want to do this, then?" Morning Star asked with a sigh.

Then she kicked out a foreleg.

Ranma had already been prepared to make an emergency dodge, and he immediately rolled hard to the side. A heavy metal weight smashed into the spot he had evacuated, tearing through the floorboards and kicking up a spray of dust and wooden shrapnel.

The weight was a horseshoe. Specifically, one of the massive, battered horseshoes from the bottom of Star's greaves. It was attached to a length of chain on the middle of the arch, and that chain led across the room and up to Morning Star's front-left leg.

"Nice moves," she cooed, lifting her hoof sharply. The horseshoe flew back to her, its chain rapidly snaking around the metal sleeve around her leg. Then it struck the front edge of the piece of armor, snapping back into position with a hefty, metallic clang.

"So that's what those are for," Ranma mumbled, his eyes narrowing. Trixie was still shocked to see the disguised flail, but the martial artist was quite used to bizarre weapons and his mind was already picking them apart. Weight, range, speed, impact power, and likely weaknesses were all considered in seconds, and then expanded into the most likely counters available in his repertoire of techniques.

"Do you like them?" Morning Star chirped, turning around and posing. "The Heartbreaker Greaves are my signature magic weapon! A set of legendary monster-hunting gear passed down from my father!"

"Magic weapon? UGH." In an instant, Ranma discarded every estimate he'd made as probably useless, and his expression soured.

"Of course they're magic! Even I wouldn't be strong enough to wear them otherwise!" Star laughed, turning her head around to smile at the martial artist. "And I definitely wouldn't be able to do something like THIS!"

She almost casually kicked a rear leg back, and the attached horseshoe flew toward Ranma like a cannon shot. He jumped away, and the iron weight crashed into the floor beneath him and tore a meter-long trench in the floor.

"And another!" Star hopped up onto her forelegs and then kicked out again, sending her other rear horseshoe sailing toward the pigtailed stallion. Ranma dodged again, rolling away before the missile smashed a dining table into little shards of wood.

Morning Star pulled her hind legs back, and both chains flew back to her and snapped the horseshoes into place under her hooves. She fell back onto all fours, and then turned back around with a coy flourish.



"So you see you don't have a chance now, right? You should really just give up. What I'm offering you is a LOT more fun than having your skull smashed open with iron weights!" Morning Star smiled eagerly and then sat down again, fluttering her eyelashes at the pigtailed stallion.

Ranma stood up straight and arched an eyebrow. "Don't have a chance? What are you, kidding me? You think I'm going to back down over some fancy footwear?" He snorted and brushed a hoof against his chest fur. "Lady, this isn't even CLOSE to the most dangerous magic thingy I've had flung at me. I'm not giving up!"

"But whyyyyyy?" Morning Star whined, pouting. "I don't wanna fight! Let's go make out, instead!"

"No! No making out!" Ranma snapped, a vein popping up on his head. "I'm here to bring you to justice!"

"Justice? You? You're a criminal, too!" Star pointed out, frowning. "Hay, your alleged crimes are MUCH worse than mine! Why would you put yourself in harm's way for the weaklings in Venom Valley? Any one of them would put you behind bars if they got the chance!"

"The bounty thing is besides the point," Ranma said, waving a hoof dismissively. "You've been abusing the ponies around here, and they don't deserve that. Taking you out is the right thing to do!"

Morning Star frowned more deeply, tilting her head to the side. "...... I see. 'The right thing to do,' eh?" She stood up again. "Let me tell you a little story about somepony who spent way too much of his life doing 'the right thing.'"

"Will this story be conveyed in a musical number?" Trixie interrupted, much to Ranma's confusion.

"No, I don't really have a head for lyrics. And these guys are TERRIBLE at choreography," Morning Star scoffed, gesturing to her fellow bandits. They all looked embarrassed, their heads sinking and their ears pinning back. Which just made Ranma more confused.

"Anyway, like I said, these greaves came from my father. He was a skilled monster hunter living on the edge of the badlands. Powerful. Capable. Humble. Kind. Just. Everything a hero should be." She sighed, slumping and staring up at the cavern ceiling. "He worked at the behest of the border settlements, driving off threats and occasionally hunting down and destroying nests when necessary. He wasn't famous. There are no statues of him or pretty windows in Canterlot celebrating his victories. He wasn't rich, either. He lived in a small shack in the middle of nowhere, charging the ponies whose lives he saved just enough to buy what he needed but couldn't grow or make himself."

"He sounds like a swell guy," Ranma murmured. "So what went wrong with you?"

Morning Star shot him an annoyed look. "Eventually Father did manage to find a mate and sire me. Mother was... nice, I suppose, but not quite as selfless and spartan as Father. She disliked the life she had taken up. Poor. Dangerous. Isolated. Unappreciated. She wanted Father to use his skills and power to do something more lucrative and slightly less deadly, like bounty hunting or soldiering. But Father had moral objections to those jobs, apparently. Mother was unhappy, but she stayed with him. She still loved Father, despite her difficult life, and it was 'the right thing to do,' after all."

She lowered her head, glowering at Ranma. "Guess what happened to Mother."

"She died, right?" Ranma asked without missing a beat. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but you were obviously leading up to that."

"Definitely," Trixie agreed. "It would be a terrible anti-climax if she didn't, frankly. You already eliminated all the less serious tragic outcomes from the narrative. It's just a matter of how and why, at this point."

"Yes. She died," Morning Star said, her ears flipping down and her eyes shifting away. "She was killed while out of the house one day, by some monster Father had annoyed. I don't know much more than that; I was still very young, and all I remember was that Father came home from looking for her in a horrible, sorrowful rage. He ranted and cried, prepared his weapons, and then ordered me to stay home. Then he left."

"Twenty bits says he died too," Trixie interrupted, glancing down at Ranma.

"No way I'm taking that bet," Ranma snorted. "Also, you have all my money, remember?"

"AHEM!" Morning Star cleared her throat loudly, glaring at the two intruders. They fell silent, waiting patiently for her to conclude her tale. "You are correct. Father died too. I eventually went out to search for him only to find him in the middle of a devastated battlefield, completely torn to shreds. There was barely enough of him left to bury, and most of that was stuffed inside of his greaves." She banged one of her forelegs against the other. "Father died a painful death. Heartbroken. Alone. Poor. Miserable. And forgotten. Aside from me, nopony else even knew he died until they eventually came to our home looking for help, only to find a pair of graves out in front. They didn't grieve for him or try to find out what happened or help me, a newly orphaned filly. They left to find someone else to help. Because all my parents' years of doing 'the right thing' was worth nothing to anypony else in the end," she scowled.

"So... that's it? That's why you do this?" Ranma asked, furrowing his brow. "Look, Star, I'm really sorry about your parents, and I get that you had a bad childhood, but-"

"Make no mistake, Havoc," Morning Star interrupted, "I'm not telling you this to explain why I live the way I do, much less to get you to feel sorry for me. Father was stubborn, dim-witted, and unlucky; I know it doesn't always go like that. Some heroes DO get the fame, and the riches, and the stained-glass windows in some fancy royal hall. Good for them."

She snorted, and then hopped down off the platform she was standing on. She landed heavily, and the floorboards shook slightly from the impact of her greaves.

"I don't worry about right and wrong. I'm not like my father," Morning Star continued. "But you? You ARE."

One of the bandits leaned over to whisper to another. "He reminds her of her dad? Yeesh! No wonder she wants him so badly."

A horseshoe promptly crashed through the raider's barricade, and he screamed before he was slammed into a wall. The bandit next to him yelped and jumped back as the chain reversed momentum, pulling the projectile back into place.

The horseshoe clamped back onto Star's armor, and she coughed self-consciously before she spoke again. "As I was saying..." She pointed a hoof at Ranma, who almost jumped into a dodge by sheer reflex. "Here you are, fighting for what's right. Doing good where nopony asked you to. Vanquishing evil with hardly a thought for your own safety!" She started circling the martial artist while staring at him with a pitying expression. "And for what? What has it gotten you? Money? Power? Friends? Mares? Fame?"

She paused. "Well it's gotten you fame, certainly. But I doubt you wanted the kind of fame that comes with a two hundred thousand bit payout for your murderer."

"I was framed! That bounty is all fake!" Ranma groused.

"PARTIALLY fake," Trixie interjected.

"Not helping, Trix!" he snapped back.

"I believe you, Havoc," Star said, nodding at Ranma.

The martial artist blinked repeatedly, confused. "You... You do?"

"Of course I do. Why would you lie to me, a shameless thief and raider, about whether or not you're a criminal? There's no reason for me to care if you're innocent." Morning Star stopped walking around Ranma, and her gaze hardened. "But you know who SHOULD care? The ponies in the town. The bounty hunters. The guards. The royal alicorns trusted by their millions of servants to uphold justice and order in the kingdom that pays them tithe and deference. And how have THEY treated you, Havoc?"

"Not great," Ranma admitted. "I mean, there've been some bright spots, but in general? One star. Would not get flung across time and space to travel this kingdom again."

Morning Star started approaching him. "Exactly. You work. You fight. You bleed. You suffer. And your reward is to be the single most hated pony in all of Equestria. Even Father was luckier, brutal demise notwithstanding; he was completely ignored by those who could reward and help him, but never persecuted. Hay, I exploit and hurt ponies for a living, and they haven't even sent a full platoon after me yet!"

She raised an armored hoof and gently placed it against Ranma's shoulder. He flinched at the contact, feeling the hairs on his back standing up; a sure sign, as if any more were needed, that the greaves were absolutely seething with magic.

"If that's the case, then why bother? Why fight for what's good and right if 'good' and 'right' turns around and plants a spear in your flank at the first opportunity? Join me! Fight for fun and profit! The fat layabouts in Canterlot can't do anything about it that they're not doing to you already!" Her expression again shifted to a smoldering grin. "And I promise, working for me has some VERY pleasurable benefits..."



Ranma swatted her armored hoof away. "No."

Morning Star recoiled, looking offended. "Why not?"

"Same answer as before. Because cleaning up you jerks and closing down this operation is the right thing to do." Ranma's eyes narrowed. "And yeah, it probably won't make me popular or rich or even get Princess Loony to call off the bounty on my head, which sucks, but I'm going to do it anyway. Because it's the right thing to do."

Morning Star backed away, glaring petulantly at the martial artist. "That's ridiculous! What's the point of doing good if you're constantly punished for it? Why be a hero when everypony hates you anyway?!"

"Because I am a hero. I protect the weak and take down the bad guys that hurt them," Ranma said, as if it should have been obvious. "That's just how it is, and everyone else's opinion doesn't really matter much."

The bandit's expression turned exasperated. "Are you being serious?"

"Don't get me wrong; it'd be great if more people actually appreciated what I did, and I hate having my reputation ruined by misunderstandings and random explosions," Ranma admitted with a shrug, "but at the end of the day the only person who has to feel good about what I've done is me. And I have no regrets."

"Not even about all the buildings you accidentally destroyed?" Trixie asked.

"And I only have a few regrets," Ranma corrected, "but my answer is the same. We're not joining your gang. We're not leaving you alone. We're going to stop you, here and now! Right, Trix?"

"Trixie is still thinking it over."

Ranma crashed onto his face, causing Morning Star to wince.

"What?! What do you mean you're thinking it over?!" the martial artist demanded, bouncing upright again.

"Morning Star made a very persuasive case," Trixie admitted, rubbing a hoof against her chin, "Trixie actually does care if she risks life and limb constantly without benefitting. Trixie cares a lot. All this good karma hasn't been very good to Trixie's quality of life recently."

"Trixie!" Ranma shouted, using her real name for the first time in weeks. "We're not joining the gang! Besides, you're getting money out of this fight, remember?"

"Oh, fine," the magician grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Halfway into an explosive assault on a thieves den is probably a poor time to start questioning Trixie's moral grounding anyway." She briefly pushed her hat back far enough to expose her horn. "Morning Star, we refuse your offer and instead propose the following: take off those fancy combat socks and order your stallions to give up! If you do, Havoc won't have to mess up your face before you get to prison!"

Morning Star leapt backward, gaining some distance between her and Ranma. The impact of her greaves shook the floor when she landed, rattling the floorboards and kicking up a shallow wave of dust.

"You're making a grave mistake," the bandit queen warned Ranma, standing up straight. "Don't think for a second that just because I'd rather be rutting than fighting that I'll go easy on you. If you start this, then I'll end it."

"You're not the first overpowered villainess to threaten him for nookie," Trixie scoffed. "No holding back this time, Havoc! Take her out!"



The opening salvo came before Trixie even finished speaking. A horseshoe cut through the air at double the speed as before, spinning on the end of the chain. Tables in its path were ripped apart like so much paper, and even after Ranma dodged aside he felt buffeted by the air pressure alone.

Morning Star pulled her leg to the side, and the chain swept across the room in a wide arc. Ranma rolled underneath it, then jumped upright into a gallop.

"Neat boots!" he taunted, hopping into a flying kick.

Star met his hoof with her own, blocking the attack against the thick, enchanted metal of her greaves. Ranma bounced off, landing behind her, and then had to dodge away before the bandit queen bucked him.

His evasions were successful, but Ranma was honestly shocked that he hadn't landed a hit; he could move faster than most ponies could even track. This mare was actually quick enough to follow and react effectively to his techniques, AND while wearing something like twice her own weight in metal.

Morning Star bucked at him again, and Ranma had to duck before a horseshoe rammed into his face. While chains rattled loudly over his head, he bolted forward while his opponent had her leg extended. Ranma kicked the bandit in her side, and then hopped away just before her projectile returned and snapped into place.

"Is this all the infamous Havoc has to offer?" Morning Star taunted, launching another horseshoe at the martial artist. She hadn't even staggered slightly from the kick to her ribs. "Surely you didn't amass a 200,000 bit bounty just for being hard to hit!"



A vein popped up on Trixie's head while Ranma flipped out of the way of the horseshoe-flails. "Hey! What did Trixie say about holding back?! Stop playing around, Havoc!"

"I'm not!" the stallion shouted back while twisting around the deadly chains. "I mean... well, a little, maybe, but that's not the problem! She shouldn't have been able to shrug off the hit THAT easily!"

Morning Star pulled her horseshoes back, and each of them clamped into place with a metallic crash. "These greaves are more than just unconventional flails. Their enchantments improve my speed and strength, too! They even make my lustrous, flawless coat as tough as stone!"

"Meh. A bit dull, actually. Probably from the bad air down here. Six out of ten," Trixie retorted.

Star flashed a glare at the unicorn, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Boys? I don't think we need a guest audience for this showdown. Show the lady the door, would you? And then show her a six foot hole somewhere out front." She kicked out a leg again, throwing another horseshoe flail Ranma's way.

The stallions whirled about, raising their crossbows to aim at the other intruder. Trixie blinked in surprise, holding an expression of shock while a half-dozen bolts were launched toward her.

The bolts slashed straight through her, sailing into the main tunnel leading up to the mining cavern. The magic mirror vanished, exploding into glowing sparks that rapidly faded to nothing.

The bandits recoiled in surprise, and then quickly started scanning the cavern around them.

"It was a decoy?"

"Where'd she go? She was really there when we turned on the light, wasn't she? When did she move?"

"I dunno, I was watching Havoc!"

"Find her!"



The cavern was, unfortunately, quite large and cluttered. Stalactites, furniture, and stacks of containers provided ample hiding places and spots to cover from projectiles. There were also several tunnels that branched off from the cavern, and even spaces under the floorboard deck easily large enough to hide a mare.

It really didn't help that there was a furious melee going on in the middle of the room, either; Morning Star's horseshoes ripped long furrows in the flooring, kicking up clouds of dust and making a distracting amount of noise. The attacks seemed to be ineffective, too; Ranma stayed at long range, giving him ample time to dodge each attack and relocate.

One of the bandits stumbled when the martial artist leapt on top of him, balancing gingerly atop the raider's back.

"Hey! What do you think you-" Ranma jumped off before he could complete his complaint, and the bandit was promptly struck in the side by a horseshoe-flail. He was knocked clean across the room, screaming, and eventually crashed into a pile of grain sacks in a corner.

"Tch! Stay out of the way, you useless goons!" Morning Star snapped while her chain retracted. She kicked out another horseshoe, sweeping in an arc toward her opponent.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" the bandits froze when laughter came from another corner of the cavern. "You idiots fall for the magic mirror trick every single time!"

The rogues zeroed in on Trixie's voice, pinpointing the source among a pile of barrels partially covered in canvas. Giving the combatants in the middle of the room a wide berth, they galloped over to the supply cache and encircled it with blades drawn.

"Hey. H-Hey, quit it!" Trixie's voice emanated from beneath the tarp while the bandits advanced. "If you think the mirror is the full extent of Trixie's power, you've got another thing coming!"

A unicorn peeled the tarp away with his magic, tossing it aside. Nothing was underneath, except more barrels. The unicorn frowned, but the rest of the stallions started scrambling over the containers, searching for their target.

"Go away! Trixie isn't here!" the mare's voice barked angrily.

"From the barrel! She's in the barrel!" one bandit shouted, rearing back with his sword.

"Um... I don't think..." the unicorn wasn't so sure, but his companions weren't listening. They started hacking into one of the barrels, digging their blades into the hardened, sealed wood. Dark fluid started spilling out of the breaches and onto the floor around them, but a cursory inspection revealed it definitely wasn't blood.

"What? What is this?" asked one rogue, stepping backward and almost slipping on the wet floor.

"It's lamp oil. All those barrels are full of fuel for the lanterns and stuff," the unicorn said, his brow furrowing. "She couldn't be in one of those unless she dumped the contents out and climbed inside."

A bandit stabbed his sword into the top of another barrel, and then pried the lid off. "More oil! Open the other ones! She has to be in one of them!"

"I... I'm not sure that... guys?" the unicorn frowned while his compatriots started unsealing the rest of the containers. They were spilling oil and loose bits of wood all around them, careless of the mess they were making among the supply stores.

One of the fuel barrels was knocked  over, dumping its contents into a large puddle over the floorboards. That was bad enough on its own, but what attracted the unicorn raider's attention was a small carved coin sliding through the oil spill and bumping up against his hooves.

He probably would have dismissed it as a loose bit, but a second later Trixie's voice came from it. "Quit it, you idiots! Leave Trixie alone!"

Then a torch attached to the cavern wall lifted itself from its mounting, wrapped in a shroud of pink magic. The raider's eyes shrunk to pinpricks.









"Rrrrgh! Stop jumping around like a flea, you coward!"

Morning Star snarled in a rage while her flail retracted itself, the chains whipping and rattling around in the air. The cavern - which she often considered the "den" of her subterranean home - was now rife with splintered wood, shattered stone, and dented hunks of metal. Her opponent remained untouched; the closest she had gotten to hitting the stallion was when she had blocked his attack directly.

Then again, he also hadn't attacked her again, and it was starting to make her mad. She was sour enough at being spurned and having her home invaded, turning what was supposed to be a happy occasion full of sexy debauchery into a desperate battle to determine her immediate future. But even worse, her opponent wasn't even taking it seriously!

The horseshoe snapped back into place, and Star spun around on one hoof. Both of her hind legs lashed out, and those flails crossed half the length of the cavern in an eye blink.

"WHOA!" Ranma twisted into another dodge, and the enchanted iron passed closely enough to brush by his fur. The air pressure struck him in mid-air - albeit with much less force than the metal would have - and the martial artist stumbled awkwardly on his landing.

The horseshoes snapped back, and Morning Star spun around again. "Are you really the same pony feared by Canterlot's finest soldiers? How did you overcome so many of them? By running away until they got tired of chasing you?!"

"That... isn't completely wrong, actually," Ranma admitted, scuffing the floor with his hoof. "I figure you can't keep this up forever. You're definitely not used to long fights. Then it'll be easy to hand you over to the townsfolk."

"Are you stupid? You DO remember that your little marefriend is being cut apart right now, right?" Morning Star huffed.

"Yeah, well... the thing about that is..."



The explosion from the far corner of the cavern briefly blinded both combatants, and Morning Star stumbled from the sudden noise. Ranma, who wasn't nearly as surprised by the sudden inferno blooming nearby, immediately closed the distance and tried to sweep Star's leg.

His hoof struck metal without budging her leg, and the martial artist had to leap back when Morning Star swiped at his jaw. Whether a from a magical effect or sheer brawn, the bandit queen was almost as tough as her armor. Ranma clicked his tongue and hopped out of range again.

"What the hay was that?!" Morning Star howled, whipping around toward the explosion. She was horrified to see a tower of fire on the edge of the room where the fuel barrels had been stashed. Multiple bandits were galloping around in a panic with their tails or manes on fire, while some lay on the floor nearby, coughing and nursing burns.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you mess with Trix," Ranma chuckled. "So much for your boys cutting her apart. Now-"

"What are you chuckling about, you maniac?! There's a fire! That crazy unicorn is going to kill us all!" Star shouted. "Even if it doesn't spread and burn up everything, the smoke alone will choke everypony to death in here!"

"Oh. Uh... I guess that's true, actually," Ranma admitted, furrowing his brow. "Well, if you give up, then me and Trix will help drag your bandit buddies to safety before that happens. How about that?"

"Shut up, you psychotic cretin!" Morning Star clenched her teeth, and then looked up at the cavern ceiling. "I'm not giving up Metalleus that easily!"

She kicked high, and a horseshoe flew up into the rock ceiling above the blaze. The enchanted iron weight struck rock, crushing the outer layer to gravel and sending a rain of stone down into the flames.

Ranma wasn't sure what that was supposed to accomplish, but as as soon as the chain retracted, Morning Star did it again. And then again. And again. The enchanted flails crashed into the ceiling with an accelerating rhythm, and with each blow more and more stone cracked and tumbled free onto the burning oil, smothering it.

"Yowch!" one fist-sized piece of stone dropped onto one of the wounded bandits, and he yelped in pain from the impact. A much bigger boulder landed right next to him, burying a stretch of fire but coming quite close to crushing him flat.

"Hey! Watch it! You're going to bury your own guys!" Ranma complained.

"Oh, what do you care?" Star growled, kicking out another leg and smashing loose another pile of rock.

"Uhm, well, we care, though," offered a scorched rogue scrambling away from the massive downpour.

"Then get out of the way, idiots! I'm not giving up my home and treasure for you losers!" the bandit queen snarled. She whipped around and bucked up toward the ceiling, launching both rear flails into the air. They punched through the cracked rock and ore, drilling deep into the stone, and then ripped free back toward their user.



Ranma's eyes widened when he saw pony-sized boulders break free of the cavern ceiling, and in an instant he was sprinting across the floor and leaping into the air. He struck the side of one rock, cracking it in half, and then bounced off to slam into another and shove it off into the wall. The martial artist became a gray blur, zig-zagging between the pieces of deadly rubble quicker than the eye could see.

Not that the bandits wasted time watching. The ones who were already on their hooves scrambled for the exit tunnel, wailing in terror. Those who remained and weren't totally unconscious scrambled away from the raining shrapnel as best they could, with some of them simply curling up into a ball and covering their heads to protect them.

Ranma kicked off the last stone to tumble from the breach in the ceiling, breaking it apart and knocking it away into the center of the room. He flipped backward, and then landed lightly atop the pile of stone rubble that had buried the oil spill.



Morning Star had done a good job, putting aside the utter lack of concern for her underlings. The fire had been completely covered, with nothing but a few thin smoke trails leaking from the smoldering rocks. A fair bit of smoke had collected in the top of the cavern, but the room was large and surprisingly well-ventilated; Ranma didn't even feel the urge to cough as he checked around the debris pile for casualties.

"Is everyone okay? Well, not okay, I guess, since most of you were on fire a minute ago, but like, alive?" the martial artist asked.

Several groans came from the floor around him, which he considered a good thing.

An earth pony limped out from behind a shattered barricade, his eyes wide and disbelieving. His fur was badly burned on one flank, and sharp bits of stone had cut into his legs. He wobbled slightly when he stopped below Ranma, but carefully shifted his stance so that he wouldn't fall over.

"You... saved us? Why would you...?" he trailed off, his lip trembling.

"It was the right thing to do, obviously. A martial artist's duty is to protect the weak after all," the pigtailed stallion said with a smirk. He spent a moment buffing a hoof against his chest. "Besides, you're supposed to turn in bounties alive, right? Gotta do this by the book if we want to help the towns you ruined!"

He was still smiling down at the bandit when the horseshoe smashed into him.



Ranma's vision exploded into stars as he sailed through the air, and then spun wildly when he slammed into a stone wall. His teeth rattled in his head from the impact, and he felt the wall crack behind him before he slumped onto the floor with a pained gasp.

However bad he was expecting a direct hit from Star's greaves to be, the reality was far worse. Ranma staggered upright and almost fell over from the sheer pain in one of his legs. Was it fractured? He couldn't tell.

Another horseshoe shot toward him, and Ranma darted out of the way, pushing through the waves of agony. The previous hit had been brutal, but not especially worse than being flung a mile into the air in a tornado or explosion and slammed into the ground. He'd certainly had enough experience fighting wounded, at least.

This time the iron bludgeon bounced and spun, and Morning Star wrenched her leg to the side. Rather than swiping the horseshoe at him, the chain snaked around his foreleg, wrapping tight when the iron arch pulled into place around his knee.

Morning Star twitched her leg again, and Ranma was yanked into the air. She flung him at a support beam, and the martial artist managed to strike it with a kick before impact, deflecting away. He couldn't reorient himself in time avoid a bad landing, however, and he slammed into the floor on his side.

When Ranma scrambled upright and started kicking his leg to get the chain off, Star quirked an eyebrow. "Still moving? My, my, you ARE a tough one."

She snapped her leg back, and the chain started retracting itself rapidly. Ranma was again yanked off of his hooves and into the air, flying straight toward the bandit queen. "If you won't taste my lips, then taste my greaves instead! IRON CRASH!!"

Morning Star spun on one leg, rotating while her opponent was reeled in to leg's reach. She bucked with both legs, driving the armored hooves straight toward his head.

A tremendous clash rang through the cavern. Every one of the other bandits winced, their ears pinning against their heads from the sound. Ranma flew through the air again, this time in a high arc away from the armored mare.

The stallion backflipped, and then landed on his hooves several meters away from his foe. Trickles of blood ran down the side of his head and leg, but if anything he looked smug while he stared at the head bandit.

Morning Star fell back onto all fours as well. She looked back at Ranma and frowned. "That wasn't a clean hit. What did you...?" She glanced at her loose flail; the one that had been wrapped around the stallion's leg. It was lying on the floor around her, and the horseshoe now had a deep dent in the front.

"I blocked your kick with the horseshoe you were using to snare me! Sorry, it's going to take a lot more than that to take me down!" Ranma laughed. Then his legs quivered in pain. One of them buckled, spilling the laughing martial artist onto his side.

"Incredible. Your endurance is nothing short of super-equine," Morning Star admitted. She snapped the loose horseshoe back into place. "But this is over. Even if you didn't take full damage from that last hit, you can barely move. I could finish you in an instant." A grin crossed her face. "Do you want to convince me not to?"

Ranma grimaced. The other bandits started limping out of their hiding spots.

"Whoa, hold on, Boss! The guy did save some of us!"

"Yeah! He's had enough! Let's just tie him up and hand him over to the Royal Guard or something!"

Morning Star raised an eyebrow at the martial artist. "I could go for tying you up. And then maybe we can put that endurance of yours to... better use."

"Pass," Ranma said immediately, his muzzle scrunching up.

Star's expression promptly soured again. "You may want to be more agreeable, Havoc. I don't know why you're so frigid, but a pony in your position can't be choosy."

"It's not happening, lady. Give it up already. Yeesh." Ranma rolled his eyes, which looked slightly ridiculous while he was on the ground and bleeding.

"Well, then... it would seem I'm out of reasons to keep you alive," Star said darkly, walking toward the pigtailed pony.

She raised her armored leg to crush the stallion, and her lackeys suddenly lurched forward. "Wait! Whoa! What about saving us?" shouted one of them.

"Oh, get over it!" Morning Star snarled. "These idiots were the reason you were almost killed to begin with! Are you really going to throw a fit because one of them was too squeamish to go through with it?!"

"He didn't just 'not go through with it,' he stopped the rocks from crushing us!" one of the rogues protested.

"Yeah! It wasn't even his fault! You were the one who broke apart the ceiling!"

Morning Star growled and stamped her hoof on the ground, narrowly missing Ranma's face. "I did that to save ALL of us, morons! And the mine! I already explained this! Besides, that was all the fault of that... that..." she trailed off, her brow furrowing. "Wait... what happened to the unicorn?"

"Trixie has a name, you know! Does Trixie not bring it up often enough? Because Trixie can do it more!"



Several of the bandits looked up from the confrontation in front of them, and their fur visibly paled. Considering that they had already suffered a violent invasion, an oil fire, and a minor cave-in, Morning Star felt her nerves rattle slightly to imagine just what the obnoxious blue magician was doing now.

She turned her head, and her heart leapt into her throat. "You crazy blue lunatic! You're going to kill us all!!" she shrieked.

Trixie was standing on the platform at the end of the cavern with the large brass braziers, where Morning Star had initially made her entrance. On her back, at her feet, and floating in the air in front of the magician were explosives. Not rocket fireworks or mere fuel, either; dynamite sticks, round ball bombs, and black powder blasting charges packed into small barrels were scattered all around her. One such charge floated above the unicorn's head within a haze of pink. The charge's fuse hovered close to the flames of the nearby brazier, close enough that it slowly but visibly darkened from the heat.

"Trixie couldn't help but notice all the hazardous materials you have stockpiled around here! Flammable oils, mining explosives, loose weapons... Somepony could cause some serious damage if they started rooting through your stuff!" The unicorn grinned, and her horn pulsed dangerously.

"Don't you DARE!" Morning Star seethed. Then she turned back around to glare at her terrified underlings. "What are you worthless colts gawking at?! You found her! There's no way that's an illusion! GET HER!!"

The rogues - still beaten, scorched, and bruised - paused to look at each other. None of them had their weapons handy, and they were hardly in any shape to rush the platform. A few of the stallions that were healthy enough to run broke for the exit tunnel instead, fleeing the scene while wailing in terror.

"You... impotent... pitiful... cowardly... RRRRRGH!" Star's fur bristled, and she whirled back around. "Fine! Eat steel, brat!"

The moment Morning Star kicked her leg out, Ranma rammed into her side, taking the bandit queen by surprise. Star hit the ground with the martial artist on top of her, and her flail brushed by Trixie's head closely enough to knock off her hat.

Trixie yelped and recoiled, and the levitation magic around the blasting charge wavered. The explosive dropped onto the edge of the brazier, dipped its fuse into the fire, and then bounced off onto the platform. The barrel-shaped bomb hit the ground and then rolled along its side, and the burning tip of the fuse touched those of several dynamite sticks scattered at Trixie's hooves.

"YEEP! No! Wait! Trixie wasn't serious!" the magician screamed, backing away from the hissing explosives.

"Then why did you show up with a bunch of bombs?!" Star shrieked, swinging a foreleg at Ranma. He jumped off of her, evading the blow and landing a few feet away.

"Trixie was bluffing! What do you think Trixie is, some kind of madmare?!" the magician screamed back, kicking away the blasting charge.

"You tried to burn my gang to death in an oil fire, you psycho! How would I reach any other conclusion?!" Morning Star rolled upright, and then turned to face Ranma. "And YOU! You weren't even able to move a second ago! What does it take to stop you?!"

"Dunno. Nobody's managed it yet," Ranma replied with a weary smirk.



The blasting charge detonated in the middle of the cavern, nearly deafening Ranma and Morning Star from the noise. Trixie mostly ignored the confrontation, flinging away the other explosives with desperate kicks or bursts of magic. Most of the bombs weren't lit, but in her panic she didn't spend the time to check each fuse before tossing it away to a safe distance.

"You idiots are going to blow yourselves up and bury the entire mine! And for what? Those worthless dirt farmers and their decrepit, half-abandoned slum?" Morning Star snarled at Ranma.

"WHAT?" the stallion shouted back. "SORRY, MY EARS ARE STILL RINGING! WHAT ARE YOU-" He flinched when two more explosions rattled the cavern, blasting wood and stone shrapnel into the air. "LOOK, IF YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO SEDUCE ME, I'M NOT INTERESTED!"

"RAAAAAAUGH I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

With an enraged howl, Morning Star charged the martial artist directly. She reared back a foreleg to bludgeon him, and Ranma spun on one hoof and kicked out his back legs, imitating her own earlier technique. Morning Star caught both hooves in her face and staggered, barely catching herself from falling down.

Another explosion buffeted the two ponies, but Ranma didn't slow down. A spin-kick smacked Star's head to the side, and a sweep knocked her leg aside, forcing her onto the floor. She surged upright again, only for a two-legged buck to strike her chest with enough force to launch her into the air.

"Gah! Quit it!" she shouted, landing heavily on all fours. The floorboards shattered under her greaves, splintering and folding upwards around the enchanted horseshoes. "That one really hurt! What the hay got into you?! You weren't fighting like this before!"

"STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Ranma announced with a grimace. "ARE YOU GIVING UP? RAISE YOUR LEGS IN THE AIR FOR YES, SHOOT A HORSESHOE AT ME FOR NO!"

He darted to the side, barely avoiding the iron flail before it whipped past. "OKAY, THAT'S A NO, THEN! I THOUGHT SO!"

Ranma leapt to the attack, reaching the bandit queen just as her flail did, and with similar force. Hooves struck Star's jaw, neck, and then her side in a flurry of blows that sent the armored mare spinning across the ground. She slammed a hoof against a crate to steady herself, and then launched another horseshoe at her opponent.



Atop Star's platform, Trixie wiped a leg across her forehead and sighed in relief. The explosions had stopped, and in the end she had been unharmed. The same couldn't be said of the bandit den. Scorched holes littered the flooring of the cavern, revealing jagged rock and piles of waste gravel below, while great sheets of smoke gathered in the jagged ceiling. Numerous crates and barrels, thankfully full of supplies other than fuel, lay in ruined heaps next to shattered card tables and wrecked barricades. Many unlit bombs and dynamite sticks were scattered around the room now as well, as Trixie hadn't been very careful throwing them about.

Feeling her immediate situation was stable, the unicorn regarded the fight. Morning Star was in an absolute frenzy, screaming bloody murder while firing the Heartbreaker Greaves again and again. Either her anger or the last few blows to the head seemed to be affecting her aim, though, and the flails kept shooting off-target and carving splintered trenches into the floor.

That was lucky for Ranma, who was barely dodging at half the speed of before. The stallion seemed as casually nimble as ever at a glance, but Trixie could tell that his reflexes were hesitant and he was trying not to put pressure on one of his forelegs.

Could Ranma lose? The question seemed preposterous. Sure, Morning Star had a powerful magic weapon and seemed quite capable in a fight. But Ranma Saotome was a force of nature. An unstoppable warrior from beyond their world, forced into the form of a mere pony by the foolish hubris of malevolent sorcerers. He couldn't lose.

Then again, he asked Trixie along for a reason, and it wasn't to watch him do all the work, she mused to herself, levitating her hat back onto her head.



"Stand still, you blasted mule!" Morning Star snarled, lashing out with her armored hooves at close range.

Ranma galloped in a circle around the bandit queen, and enchanted iron crushed crates and barrels around him into splinters. Chains rattled through the air, tugging the flails back in preparation for the next barrage. In two quick breaths the Heartbreaker Greaves attacked again, blowing past Ranma's head like a cannonball.

A barrel was ripped in two, and a cloud of flour burst into the air all around the martial artist. The horseshoe flail flew back to Morning Star, slamming into place over her hoof, but she hesitated to attack again. The flour was still spreading like a smoke bomb, obscuring that section of the room in a dusty white cloud.

She probably should have attacked anyway, considering her luck so far when aiming properly, but in that moment the opportunity passed. Something burst from the cloud and flew toward her at high speed, and her reflexes took control.

Her armored hooves smashed into the small treasure chest, shattering the reinforced wooden container into little pieces. She was instantly pelted by a spray of golden bits from within the chest, and she flinched away as coins pelted her face. The bits did no harm, of course, but that split second was all the time Ranma needed to close the distance between them.

A flurry of hooves struck once again Star's cheek, neck, chest, and side in rapid sequence, and the bandit queen was sent stumbling across the floor. Ranma jumped after her to finish the combo, but then found himself staring at the bottom of a rapidly approaching horseshoe. His kick met Star's, and the stallion was sent arcing back to where he came from.

"Geez! Magic or not, you sure can take a beating!" Ranma complained as he landed.

"I get that a lot. Mostly at night," Morning Star quipped, turning to face her opponent. "You can buy time with your stupid little tricks and evasions but you won't change the outcome, Havoc. I can tell you're struggling by now. You're going to lose. I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp, and then I'm going to feed your special somepony to the valley's buzzards."

Ranma tensed. "You're going to feed who to the buzzards? You mean Trix? We're not a couple!"

This seemed to surprise the bandit queen. "You're not? Then why won't you join me? Or at least stay the night for a little-"

"Because I don't like you!" Ranma snapped. "You're a bad pony! Why is this so hard for evil mares to understand?"

"I'm not really seeing a problem here."

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We're still fighting!"

"I'm trying to meet you half-way on this," Morning Star huffed. "This would be so much easier if you would just... what's that noise?"



A crackling hiss reached Star's ears and her sense for danger - carefully honed from years of violence, back-stabbing, and the occasional stallion that got too pushy - went on high alert. Her head snapped around, and her pupils shrank when she spotted a single stick of dynamite rolling toward her with its fuse lit.

Without further hesitation she leapt toward the explosive, planting a leg on the stick and then biting onto the fuse. She ripped it out of the dynamite and quickly spit it out, and then continued spitting and coughing from burning her tongue on the flame.

"Huh... Well, that's one way to disable a bomb, Trixie supposes." Trixie was still standing on the raised platform next to the brazier, another (much smaller) collection of explosives at her hooves.

Morning Star whirled on the magician. "WHAT THE HAY?! YOU SAID YOU WERE BLUFFING ABOUT THE BOMBS, YOU MADMARE!!"

"Yes, well... Trixie was, but that didn't work on you. Trixie can't think of any better ideas off-hoof, so here we are." A round, black bomb the size of a baseball floated next to Trixie on a misty bed of pink. It hovered over to the brazier, dipped its fuse into the flames, and then levitated higher. "Here! Catch!"

Morning Star launched a horseshoe instead, and Trixie flinched badly as a loud impact and bright blue flash came from in front of her. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she only dared to peek again when she heard the magic flail snap back into place on the Heartbreaker Greaves.

Ranma stood in front of her on the platform, a thin aura of blue light seeming to cling to his coat. His expression was carefully neutral, posed with one foreleg - trembling slightly, probably from rather severe pain - raised to parry.

Morning Star gaped, slack-jawed. "You... What did... How..." Then she shook her head. "How are you still standing?! This is impossible!" She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "Every time I target that mare, you suddenly find your second wind! And you seriously expect me to believe she isn't your lover?"

"That WOULD be your most immediate concern, wouldn't it? Get your mind out of the gutter," Trixie sneered, quickly recovering from her earlier shock. "It may not make any sense to a pony like you, but-"

"Trix?" Ranma interrupted. "The bomb?"

Trixie's eyes widened, and then snapped up at the explosive still hovering overhead. "Oh! Right! Good call."



With a mere thought, Trixie lobbed the bomb in a lazy arc at Morning Star.

Morning Star had to make an instant decision whether to try to outrun the explosion or hit the bomb out of the air. Her instincts pushed her to the attack, and with a wordless shout she launched a horseshoe to intercept the bomb.

It was the wrong decision.

The bomb exploded, blasting the horseshoe back and destroying the chain attached to it. Star barely managed to squeak in surprise before her own flail slammed into her head and threw her across the floor. The magical runes carved into her greaves flashed, suddenly overloaded by the tremendous force, and her vision exploded into stars while she tumbled across the floor. Eventually she slammed into a stalagmite, yelping in pain once again.

The loose horseshoe skipped across the flooring after her, still smoldering, and eventually skidded to a halt nearby.



"Huh... Trixie misjudged the timing a bit, there. These charges must be old; the fuses aren't as reliable as with Trixie's fireworks."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? DAMN IT, I WAS TOO CLOSE TO THE EXPLOSION AGAIN! MY EARS HURT!"

"Oh, hush," Trixie sighed, hopping down from the brazier platform.



Trixie walked up to Morning Star, silently noting the slight, twitchy shifts in the bandit queen's body. Star was still conscious, and obviously struggling against what had to be a serious concussion. That she had only suffered that much damage while protected by anything less than a proper magical force field was incredible; Star possessed inequine fortitude completely aside from the enchantments built into her family heirloom.

"Such a waste of good magic," the magician mumbled as her horn glowed pink. A similarly colored glow seeped around the Heartbreaker Greaves, slowly surrounding the armored leg sleeves and filling the thin, precisely inscribed runes.

Trixie concentrated for a few seconds, and a series of sharp clicks came from the greaves. Trixie's magic pulled the armor off piece by piece, grunting at the enormous amount of energy it took to lift each one.

"These things are ridiculous! There's no way Trixie can even sell them! What kind of monstrous pony could use weapons this heavy?" she said with a grimace. "Besides Havoc, I mean. Assuming they didn't just explode when he put them on. Trixie isn't keen on experimenting on him with magic items."

Morning Star slowly craned her head up to stare at the unicorn. Her vision was still fuzzy, and her muscles were mostly unresponsive, but she still forced her clouded mind to form a sentence.

"You self-righteous... clueless... meddlesome BRATS," she snarled through her teeth. "Even if you win here... you're living on borrowed time. Ponies that go looking for trouble... tend to find it. Rebel... hero... scapegoat... soon enough you all end up in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere."

"Trixie isn't inclined to take advice on healthy living from a wanted criminal living in a cave and barely clinging to consciousness," the unicorn retorted. "Now go to sleep, Miss Star. It's a fairly long trip back into town, and you'll want to be well-rested for your trial before you get dumped into a dungeon for the rest of your life."

With an enraged howl, Morning Star surged upright, her body quaking from the sudden effort. She staggered forward within arm's length of the other mare, and then swung her hoof.

She wasn't sure if Ranma seeming to materialize in front of her was because of her hazy perception, or if she was right about her theory that the pigtailed stallion was somehow energized every time his companion was endangered. Either way, her attack was swatted aside with contemptuous ease.

The last thing she saw that day was Ranma's hoof streaking toward her face.









"Next stop, downtown Buckton! This is the final stop until Fillydelphia! Make sure you have all your belongings before exiting the train, please!"

Twilight's eyes snapped open, and she nodded sharply. Then she stood up from her seat. "This is our stop, everypony. Let's get moving!"

"Shucks, we almost made it all the way to Filly! Havoc sure makes good time!" Applejack chuckled before she bit onto her saddlebags and threw them over her back.

Twilight's eye twitched while she levitated her own pack into place. "Yeah... I still think we should avoid calling him that, though. His name is Ranma Saotome."

"Sure, but Havoc is a way better name," Rainbow said, bolting out the train exit. She immediately took to the air, hovering just outside the door. "Even if he really used to be some kind of weird alien monkey from another planet, he's a pony now, right? He should have a pony name!"

"A pony name that makes him sound like a villain?" Spike mumbled, exiting the train behind Applejack.

"It ain't warm n' fuzzy, Ah s'pose, but y'all gotta admit it suits him," Applejack said with a snort. "He showed up in Ponyville fer somethin' like an hour, an' we were down two buildin's and some two hundred apple trees 'fore he left."

Twilight groaned while she stepped out onto the train platform behind the others. "Okay, yes. But can we try to look at this from his perspective? Maybe he is an alien transformed into a pony forever, and maybe he is leaving fear and devastation in his wake. But he obviously doesn't like either of those eventualities! We don't need to constantly remind him by using his obsolete cover identity!"

"Oh, fine," Rainbow said reluctantly. "But what if he says it's okay? Then I can call him that, right?"

"I really feel like it would be best not to even mention it, but sure. Whatever." Twilight closed her eyes. "Now give me a moment to get a heading and work out some sense of distance. It's possible he's somewhere in this town, but chances are we still have a long trek ahead of us."

The small group stepped off the platform and halted, and a steam whistle blasted from the train. Other ponies trotted past them, some disembarking from the vehicle while others loaded up.

"... Okay, his position seemed fixed to the West, same as when the train pulled in," Twilight mumbled. "Given how gradually the distance changed as we pulled up, I'm guessing we're still far away. If he's close, then-"

A terrified shriek suddenly cut her off, and the Princess squeaked in surprise and almost fell over.

"DRAGON!! IT'S A DRAGON!!"

"EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF!!"

"OH CELESTIA, WHY?!"

Before Twilight and her friends knew what was happening, they found themselves in the middle of a veritable stampede. Ponies raced past them in a terrified gallop, either fleeing deeper into town or simply bolting behind any cover they could find. Some leapt behind crates, some dove into barrels, and others shoved their way past the train conductors to shelter inside the train.

One mare happened to get bumped during her panicked retreat, and she spilled onto the ground right below Twilight with a yelp.

"Wait! Hold on! Don't panic!" Twilight reached out a hoof to the random pony, sweat starting to bead on her brow. "Everyone, just relax! He's not going to hurt anybody!"

The mare on the ground was obviously still terrified, but she hesitated and stared up at the purple Princess. "You... You know that dragon? Really?"

"Yes! Don't worry! Spike is harmless!" Twilight's wing spread to the side, wrapping around the back of an equally bewildered and embarrassed Spike. "See? He's a good friend of mine! Spike isn't going to hurt anyone!"

The mare looked over at Spike, and then her eyes shifted back to Twilight with a perfectly incredulous expression.

"Uh... Twi? I don't think they're freaking out about Spike," Rainbow Dash said, her voice sounding strained.

Twilight twisted her head around to ask further questions, but her words died in her throat when a shadow from high above loomed over her. Spike sucked in a breath through his teeth. The mare on the ground screamed again and bolted to her hooves before she galloped away crying.

"Oh. Okay. Yeah. That's concerning," Twilight mumbled.



Kamikazan was hardly the biggest dragon Twilight had ever seen. In fact, between her studies and personal adventures, the serpent probably rated just above average in mass. Unimpressive for a dragon, if not still extremely intimidating to a mere pony.

But there was much more to dragons than just their size.

An aura of flame trailed the dragon's wingtips and tail, adding considerable menace to his suspiciously low-altitude flight over the city. A gentle rain of flickering embers floated to the ground below him, occasionally settling on stone or wood and smoldering dangerously as if in warning. The dragon's eyes glowed a bright white, awash with magic power, and greedily searching the settlement below.

Kamikazan barely took more than a second to pass over the visitors from Ponyville, but a single beat of his wings buffeted the ponies with air so hot it was almost suffocating. Rainbow Dash was pushed onto the ground, and Applejack had to hold onto her hat to keep it from being blasted off.

"Well, Ah guess this is one dragon attacks Ah can't blame on Sow-toh-may," Applejack said, scuffing the ground with her hoof. "Twi, do we gotta wrangle this varmint?"

Twilight was still a bit stunned at the serpent's appearance, but she came to her senses quickly. "Okay, wait... it looks like it's... searching for something. It isn't attacking anything," she noted.

"Well shucks, maybe Ah spoke too soon, then," Applejack said wryly. "That sounds like what that dragonspawn critter was doin' pokin' around Ponyville."

"I don't think..." Twilight frowned and squeezed her eyes shut. "... It's not headed in the right direction. Not exactly. And like I said, I doubt Ranma is actually here in this city. We probably shouldn't automatically try to connect every random turn of bad fortune to him."

"True. He's had enough of that recently," Rainbow Dash added, moving into a hover again. "Uh... so, like... should we do something?"



The dragon had flown quite some distance past them by then, sweeping over the town center while constantly scanning the ground. Kamikazan seemed oblivious to the ponies who ran for cover screaming, his gaze darting from building to building. He passed over the square, and then curved around the taller structure that included city hall.

Suddenly, the dragon pulled upright in the air to shift into a hover, his tail swinging under him and scraping the roof of the building directly below him. He seemed not to notice, and the edges of his mouth curled up into a grin. Then he closed his eyes, swept his wings forward to wrap around his body, and concentrated.

In a flash of fiery crimson light, the massive Dragon Prince vanished from the sky over Buckton.



"... Huh. That could be a good sign. But probably not," Twilight admitted anxiously.

"The, uhm, screaming hasn't really stopped," Spike observed. The shouts of alarm and terror were much more distant now, but still as strong and panicked as ever.

"I'll see what's up!" Rainbow shouted, vaulting higher into the air and then launching herself after the trail of flickering embers.

"Rainbow, wait! It's dangerous!" Twilight shouted in alarm. The pegasus didn't stop, or even slow down. Possibly she didn't hear, but Twilight couldn't tell if that was the case. Nor could she say it would have mattered. "Ponyfeathers! Come on, let's go before she gets somepony hurt!"

"Right behind ya, sugarcube!"









Kamikazan chuckled to himself as screams continued bombarding his ears. He was in his quasi-pony form, not much bigger than any given stallion, and all he was doing was crossing the street. Even still, every equine that laid eyes upon him quaked in fear and fled immediately, such was his terrible majesty.

And their fear was well-deserved, too.

Reaching his target - a single small-ish clay building attached to the edge of a larger complex - he touched one long, curved claw to the front door. The dagger-like talon flashed red, and then the door started to burn away to cinders; first at the point of contact, and then spreading outward in a circle.

"Knock knock," the serpent chimed with a snicker.

As soon as the hole was large enough for him to slip into, he did, leaving the streets and entering the building interior.

Above the smoldering doorway, a small, battered sign was hung up. It said "Madam Kristall's Fortune Telling, Hoof Reading & Tarot."



"Madam, you have a customer!" Kamikazan announced. The entrance led into a tiny lobby, with a second doorway obscured by strings of sparkling beads. Bizarre art pieces and arcane metalworks adorned the walls, giving the office the distinct styling of a professional magic-user.

Some sounds came from the next room, followed by creaking, feminine voice. "A customer? Now? I heard there was some sort of ruckus outside. Is everypony okay?"

"The 'ruckus' has been resolved," Kamikazan declared. "As for everypony being okay or not, that depends largely on your talents, Madam Kristall."

The beads shifted, and an elderly unicorn mare wearing wire-rimmed glasses poked her head through. She had dusty black fur, and a short, wispy mane that was brushed straight back over her head. She didn't seem especially surprised to see Kamikazan, despite his unorthodox body, but her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"... What can I help you with, Sir?" Kristall asked, stepping out past the beads. "Also, do you know what happened to my door? It didn't have a giant hole in it this morning."

"An unfortunate consequence of the ruckus, I'm afraid," Kamikazan said sadly. "As for helping me, I believe you can. I have need of a scryer to locate a certain pony."

"Hmmm... a scry job, is it?" Kristall mused, rubbing a hoof along the underside of her muzzle. "That's one of my more difficult tricks. I'll need an item that belonged to the target. I'll also need to know who this pony is and why you want to find them. I don't lend my assistance to assassins or the like. And then, of course, we'll need to discuss my fee."

Kamikazan chuckled. "I assume your life is worth more to you than the petty fee you charge for your efforts, no? So you find this pony for me, I let you live, and then we can consider the difference in value a bonus for a job well done."

Kristall frowned up at the dragon. "Are you threatening me, Sir?"

"Ah! I see we're finally on the same page! Good!" The dragon prince laughed.

Then he raised a leg and slashed one talon across the adjacent wall. Flames blossomed behind his claw, licking at the wallpaper and threatening to spread. Kristall recoiled, her eyes wide, and Kamikazan finally saw the first slivers of true fear in the pony's eyes.

"I can burn you and your home down in an eyeblink. I won't, because I prefer those who defy me suffer before they perish, but I could! So I recommend you cooperate, scryer." His eyes flashed, and the magic fire suddenly vanished. Wisps of vile-smelling smoke wafted from the divot carved into the wall, and Kamikazan's lips stretched into a malevolent grin. "Serve me well, and I will leave you and your home without further harm. Do we have a bargain?"

"So this is what you're up to, huh? Fine," the mare groused, turning around and stepping back through the bead curtain. "Follow me and have a seat. Let's get this over with."



The next room wasn't much different from the lobby in its decoration, but possessed a small table with a stereotypical crystal ball sitting on it. There was also a bookcase full of old tomes in the corner, and Kristall started scanning the book spines, squinting through her glasses.

"Whether you're paying or not, this sort of spell isn't easy. Finding one pony out of millions requires a focus," Kristall warned. "I assume you have the necessary materials?"

"I know how your craft works, scryer," Kamikazan sneered. "I can assure you, my rage for this pony will be sufficient for your spell."

"If you say so," grumbled the mare. "But I don't want you burning anything because you couldn't provide sufficient focus for the spell. That isn't my fault." She levitated the book onto the table, next to the crystal ball.

"Be silent and get to work," Kamikazan snarled. "There is much that needs to be done, and my patience is short!"

With an exasperated huff, Kristall opened her book and started using her magic to flip through the pages. "All right... Let's begin."

Kamikazan's claw suddenly lashed forward to grab the crystal ball, startling the mare. He clutched the orb within his talons, and then his hand and eyes started the glow. The fur on his back prickled and stood up, and his lips curled into an angry sneer. "The stallion's name is Saotome Ranma. Find him. Now."

Kristall looked disturbed, but after a few moments of hesitation her horn began to glow. Glittering blue light wrapped around her, and the unicorn carefully touched a hoof against the crystal ball.

She flinched immediately, and her eyes flooded with magical light.

"This... This is..." images swirled around her. Old memories, surging emotion, and tiny flickers of fate rejected and forgotten rushed around her perception. This sort of reaction to the spell was unnaturally strong, but not too dissimilar from her previous experiences. With an ease born of long experience, Kristall worked her way through the confusing deluge of information and contextless imagery, ordering certain visions and discarding the rest.

"Well? What do you see, scryer?" Kamikazan demanded. "Can you see him in your visions? The insolent worm who holds the key to my conquest?"

Kristall arched an eyebrow over her still-glowing eyes. "...... I have literally never felt a grudge this intense in over sixty years of doing these spells. And you only knew this pony for what, five minutes? If that? Are these visions accurate?"

"HE HIT ME IN THE EYE!!" Kamikazan roared, nearly knocking the mare over. His grasp on the crystal ball tightened, and a slight cracking noise came from the orb. The dragon snorted and quickly loosened his grip, regaining his composure. "Whatever. You have the spiritual imprint you need. Now FIND HIM."

"Fine. This will do." Kristall's brow creased, and she tilted her head slightly to read off of her spellbook.



The seconds marched on and turned into minutes. Kristall would mumble something softly, and then fall into intense silence. Her face underwent subtle, small shifts in reaction to what she was seeing, but ultimately didn't change much from an expression of tired resignation. Shouts and other forms of ruckus came from outside the building, but both occupants ignored them; the dragon because he was in a hurry to get this next step completed, and the mare because she was in a magical trance.

Finally, almost five minutes later, Kristall's eyes dimmed and she sighed.

"The vision is... clear. Unusually so. I don't think I've ever done a scrying this easy, threats of murder and arson notwithstanding," she admitted.

"I told you. The force of my will is without equal," Kamikazan said with a smirk.

"Oh, it's not that. Your ridiculously potent grudge was surprisingly effective, but there's something else in play, here," Kristall mused, smirking back. "Something about this pony wants to be found. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's quite possible that I could have found him with nothing but a name, although I probably wouldn't have tried that normally." She shrugged. "The pony is in Venom Valley, near an abandoned mine. It's next to an old train track that runs across the valley interior."

"Excellent. I know where Venom Valley is, assuming the maps haven't changed overmuch in the past few centuries," Kamikazan chuckled. "You've done well, scryer. I will keep my part of the bargain, and leave you in peace." The dragon let go of the crystal ball and started to turn away.

"Are you going to fight him?" Kristall asked curiously.

Kamikazan halted. "... Perhaps if he is wise, he will surrender what I desire immediately," he mused aloud. "Under those circumstances, I suppose my elation at having the key to my mate's heart may inspire me to leave immediately, without rendering the fool to soot first."

"According to your memories, the last time he was not wise," Kristall continued. "So you're going to fight him. In that case, I would consider it seeristic malpractice not to give you a cryptic warning that you'll lose."

"What?!" the disguised serpent whirled around, his eyes narrowed into slits.

The elderly mare leaned back in her seat and shrugged. "I have no stake in this affair, of course, aside from some general displeasure at having my business damaged and being threatened. But the visions were so strong that they happened to show a few glimpses of the future. They did not augur well for you."

"Do you know who I am, mare?!" Kamikazan smarled, blasting hot embers from his nostrils.

"I don't, actually. You never introduced yourself. But it's perfectly irrelevant. I'm just warning you. It's... how to put this..." Kristall tapped a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. "... Destiny rushes around this pony like a whirlpool, trapping everypony and everything around him into it and leaving ruin in its wake. It's hard to describe it precisely, but the poor stallion is little more than a walking curse. Finding him in the aether was as simple as spotting a tornado in a placid field. Unwinding his destiny was harder, and rather grim work, at that." She chuckled to herself.

"How does any of that suggest I would lose in battle to a mere equine?" Kamikazan demanded, stamping a foot on the floor.

"I don't know much about you or this stallion you've set yourself to hunting," the unicorn replied with a small smile, "but both of you are far from 'mere equines.'"

Kamikazan looked like he was going to protest again, but suddenly another shout came from outside, this time much more clearly.

"Wait, over here! There's a hole in this door! Don't look right t'me!"

Kamikazan swung his head around, glaring toward the bead curtains. "... Whatever. I have what I came for. I've wasted enough time."

"Thank you for your business. Please don't come again," Kristall drawled while the dragon prince strode into her lobby.









"Aw, geez! How did I miss that?" Rainbow Dash griped, swooping down to hover over Applejack.

Twilight rushed over a moment later, with Spike riding on her back. "Well that's... That's a little small to be a dragon's entry breach, isn't it?"

"Ya think it was just a stray fireball or somethin'?" Applejack asked, glancing around. "Ah don't see no other burns 'round here."

Twilight approached the door to investigate, only to quickly recoil when something emerged from the hole. Kamikazan calmly strolled out in front of the building, surveying the surprised ponies with a silent sneer.

Until his eyes fell on Twilight.

"What is this?" the great serpent asked, his eyebrow arching. "A Princess? I've never seen this one before."

Twilight stared at the bizarre non-pony, taking in the hybrid creature's horns and the claws on its arms. "You... Are you the dragon? We saw one fly over this street earlier..."

"I am! Allow me to introduce myself! I am Kamikazan, King of Dragons!" He grinned, and small jets of flame blew from his nostrils. "What you see before you is a magical hybrid body I use for convenience when in the presence of vermin too easily intimidated by my true majesty!"

The ponies scowled, none too happy at being referred to as "vermin." Spike frowned.

"You're a king? Of dragons? We have a king?" he asked.

"Yes, little one. You stand before your liege," Kamikazan snorted. "Of course, it has been... some time since the reign of my family, and in the intervening centuries it seems my kingdom has been forgotten. Or something. I didn't really check; I've been pretty busy since I woke up." He coughed, blasting a small cloud of dusty soot from his mouth. "Also, there are SOME who would contest that I merely hold the title of crown prince, but those individuals are wrong, and also dumb." His eyes narrowed, once again focused on Twilight. "Now speak, alicorn. Tell me your name and lineage. Has Princess Celestia borne a foal after all?"

Twilight looked shocked at the suggestion. "Wh-What? Me, her daughter? No! I'm Twilight Sparkle! I'm just her student!"

"Ah. And nowadays her students are gifted with immortal bodies? How disappointing," Kamikazan said with a grimace. "The mighty alicorns dilute their majesty with the ascension of lesser creatures to their esteemed class. Celestia, as always, is far too kind to her servants."

"Hey! Watch it, weirdo!" Rainbow Dash said hotly, circling around him in the air. "We're not Celestia's 'servants,' and Twi's not 'lesser' than anypony!"

"Ya got quite a mouth on ya fer dragon royalty," Applejack drawled, tilting her hat slightly while she regarded Kamikazan with a glare. "What're ya buzzin' pony towns and burning down doors fer, Mr. Prince?"

"That is none of your concern, equine," Kamikazan replied with a sneer, turning away and heading down the street. "Now begone; I've more important matters to attend to."



The mares bristled, but as the dragon prince vaulted into the air none of them moved to hinder him. Kamikazan built his altitude above the roofs of the town, and then curled his body slightly before an aura of flame exploded around him. A few seconds later, the massive red wings of his true draconic body spread over the streets, prompting another wave of shouting and needless panic. Kamikazan curved around in the air, and then soared past the city's limits.

"What a jerk," Rainbow Dash said, staring angrily after the enormous serpent. "What did he even want? Did he just show up to give ponies a scare or something?"

"I'm a bit more interested in the existence of a putative draconic royal order, but for now we really should make sure he didn't kill anypony," Twilight admitted.

Applejack was already strolling toward the damaged door, but before she could step through the scorched hole, the door opened ahead of her. An elderly mare stepped out, grimaced at the black-rimmed hole, and then looked up at the sky.

"Excuse me! Hi! I'm Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight scurried in front of the unicorn and gave her an awkward wave. "Do you need any help? Did that shape-shifting dragon hurt anypony?"

"Him? No. He didn't damage anything that can't be replaced," Kristall batted the door closed with a disgusted grunt. "Thanks for checking on me though, dears. I'm sure the local guards locked themselves in the barracks as soon as somepony shouted 'dragon!' Hmph."

"What was that varmint here fer? Ah didn't see him holdin' nothin' when he left," Applejack said, frowning toward the sky.

"Oh, he didn't steal anything. Aside from my time and expertise, I suppose." Krystall glanced over at Twilight, hestitating. "You're Princess Celestia's student, aren't you? The new Princess? Are you here to hunt that animal down?"

"Yes, I'm Twilight Sparkle, but we're not here for anything like that," Twilight assured her. "We're searching for somepony. We just happened to arrive when he did. As long as nopony's hurt, then we should be heading out on our way."

The three younger mares turned away and started to trot off. Krystall's horn flickered suddenly, and she tilted her head to the side curiously.

"This pony you're looking for... would it happen to be a stallion named Ranma Saotome?"

The mares jerked to a stop, and Spike whirled around on one foot.

"What? You know him?!" Twilight asked, moderately afraid of where this conversation was going.

"Not exactly," Kristall chuckled, "but that's what the lizard wanted. It was just a hunch that you were after the same thing."

"Ah knew it," Applejack groaned, shaking her head. "Ah just knew this was all about Sow-toh-may somehow."

"By the way, we call him Havoc," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Havoc is his pony name."

"We do not call him that!" Twilight protested. "His real name is Ranma!"

"In any case," Kristall said loudly, taking control of the conversation once more, "if you're looking for this lad, then I can help. Using the dragon's magic - and rather obsessive personality - I was able to pinpoint him."

"What? You can tell us where he is?" Twilight beamed, clapping her hooves together.

"Better than that," the seer said with a smirk. "I told the lizard that he's in Venom Valley, but the vision was so powerful I caught a glimpse of where he's going. If you leave now, you can probably head off the stallion while the dragon is still poking around the old mines."

"Yes! Thank you!" Twilight almost jumped for joy, happy that she had a better lead than her MacGuffin sense. "Where can we find him?"

Rather than answering the question, Kristall stared at her door. She reached a leg into the burnt hole in the middle of it, running a hoof along the scorched circumference.

"What a chore to have to clean up fire damage today," the elderly pony said with a tired sigh. "Bad enough that the dragon made me do the scrying for free, but with everypony so jittery from his appearance, I probably won't get any real customers today... Pity."

Twilight stared at the unicorn, uncomprehending. Applejack caught on immediately, however, and started rooting through her saddlebag.

"Yeah, yeah, we know the drill. Ain't nothin' fer free if yer NOT a ten-ton, fire-breathing varmint, Ah guess." She tossed a small bag through the air, and it was caught in a cloud of pink magic. The bag jingled while it hung in the air, presenting a strong clue as to what was inside.

"Why, thank you, dear!" Kristall chirped, grinning. "While I would be plenty happy just knowing that you got to the stallion before said varmint, spite doesn't put food on the table." She floated the money onto her back and then cleared her throat. "Right now, Ranma or Havoc or whatever is rooting around in Metalleus, an old abandoned silver mine in Venom Valley. But it looks like he's already getting ready to leave; I got the definite sense that he stirred up some trouble while he was there."

"Ah can only imagine," Applejack drawled.

"He's heading for a town just a short trip West of Fillydelphia. Lancanter, I believe. I don't believe the dragon will be able to find him before he gets there." Kristall paused. "Or at least, I don't believe the dragon will be able to stop him from reaching it."

"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What's the difference?"

"... I'll just give you the same warning I gave fangs a few minutes ago," the unicorn said. "This stallion is a veritable walking curse. Where he treads, devastation follows and destiny itself is rent apart."

"Destiny? What?" Twilight recoiled slightly and furrowed her brow around her horn. "What does that mean?"

"... Hmm, I suppose I can't properly describe it," Kristall sighed. "It's something that hardly made sense even to me as I witnessed it. And I do this for a living." She stepped forward and placed a hoof against Twilight's shoulder. "Just be careful, young one. I know you've seen your share of danger, but... this one is something else."

"I know," Twilight said firmly, patting the older mare's leg. "We've met this pony before. We'll be fine."

"Yeah, he's cool! And if Havoc gives us any trouble Twi can just blow him up like she-"

"THANK YOU RAINBOW DASH WE WILL BE FINE LIKE I SAID," Twilight interrupted through clenched teeth. "Ahem! What's the fastest way to get to Lancanter?"

"You'll be best served taking the overnight train to Fillydelphia. From there you can make the route on hoof, or join a caravan." Kristall backed away, and flashed the mares a crooked smile. "You should go now. You'll need to hurry if you want to save that lousy punk."

"I'm not so sure Ranma will need rescuing, actually, but you're right," Twilight agreed, turning around. "Thank you for your help!"

Kristall snickered and headed back into her shop. "You're welcome, dear... but I was talking about the dragon."

Her magic aura reached out to the broken door, and the fortune teller pulled it shut behind her.



"...... What?"









For the first time in months, laughter and music came from Trotter's Gulch.

It was late evening, and Celestia's sun had long since passed beneath the mountains that straddled Venom Valley. Light poured from the interior of the town's unnamed tavern, along with the rhythmic stamping of hooves and off-key piano music. Hooting and shouting fequently rose above the sound of music, creating a cacophany of joy that had been absent from the bandit-ravaged territories for a long time.

Inside the tavern, ponies danced and guzzled dandelion ale with reckless abandon. Many of them frequently tripped or had coughing fits, reckless in their blissful celebration and heedless of the vile quality of the booze. It didn't slow any of them down; the ponies here knew that their triumph may last only slightly longer than their drinks, and they eagerly took advantage.

In the middle of the room, on a large table, was a pile of golden bits. The payout for the bandits had been quite generous, especially as a few of the veteran thieves had unique criminal records and notoriety beyond being members of the Morning Star gang. Between the broken, impoverished remnants of Trotter's Gulch, the reward would be easy to split across the entire town.

The question remained, however, how the money would best be spent. Would they restore the town or flee it? Hire guards and more bounty hunters? Send a messenger to petition Canterlot for help? None of the ponies knew whether morning would bring aggrieved criminals or their cowardly mayor to their door, and at the moment they didn't care.



"Ha ha HA! And then-AND THEN! I told the guards that the bandits had been defeated by the Great and Powerful Trixie! You shoulda seen their faces! It was priceless!" laughed a stallion, his ale mug shaking as his hoof banged the counter.

"Turns out the mare has a reputation for something other than bandit hunting 'round there! They say she's some kinda shady showpony!" chuckled another. "'Magine that! A stage magician taking on a bandit gang!"

"They didn't even believe us! Started grillin' ol' Bootstrap on what really happened! Hee hee hee!"

"End of the day, though, they had their criminals and they paid out!" the pony crashed his mug against several others, splashing droplets of ale over himself and his friends. "Mighty generous of our conquering hero to leave the crooks to us rather than collecting themselves!"

"I still think we should have turned in Sour Grapes with 'em!" mumbled another stallion, frowning into his drink.

"Don't be daft, colt! He doesn't have a bounty, and we can't prove he did nothing!"

"If he ain't locked up though, what's to stop him from just ratting us out to the rest of the raiders?"

"Are we sure there are any?"

"Look, I'm as impressed as anypony that Miss Trixie and... uh... her friend managed to take down that last bunch, but we all know they're walking into a death trap if they're really trying to track down Morning Star by themselves. I hope those two backed off and got out of town before that prissy tyrant got her hooves on them..."

"Prissy tyrant! HAH! Sounds like their bravado is rubbing off on you! That or the ale!"

Another wave of laughter rolled through the tavern.

And then the door opened.



Only a few ponies glanced over at first, barely distracted from their drinks and chatting, and their eyes widened. A few gasps attracted more attention, and within a few seconds the music unceremoniously halted. Soon all the bar denizens were staring at the entrance, eyes narrowed.

A single earth pony stallion stood in the doorway. His coat was dirty and ragged, and he had bandage wrappings around his head and one knee. None of the civilians recognized the pony, but they had all long since learned to pick out the signs of bandits and thieves among those equines that didn't happily advertise their allegiance.

Putting aside the clear injuries, however, this one also appeared to be unarmed. The new pony's ears pinned back as he looked over the tavern interior silently, scanning the room from end to end. The townsponies said nothing, simply glaring at him silently. A few of them pushed away their mugs and stood up straight, readying themselves to rush the newcomer if necessary.

It was not necessary. Visibly cowed, the bandit wordlessly moved to the side while holding the door open. A moment later a second stallion - also bearing the signs of a criminal lifestyle and recent injury - entered the tavern nervously. At this, all the ponies in the room gasped in shock.

Slung over the stallion's back was an unconscious mare whose visage graced thousands of bounty posters. Morning Star was limp and unconscious, her front and rear legs were bound with rope, and a prominent lump poked through her golden blond mane. Her family's artifact and signature weapon was nowhere to be seen.

"Is... Is that...?"

"There's no way... by Celestia..."

"Okay, fine, it's Morning Star. Does anypony want to explain why a couple of bandits are carrying her in here?"

The confused muttering stopped when yet another pony entered. This mare was bright blue with a star-spangled hat and cape, and her expression of haughty satisfaction was the polar opposite of the smoldering humiliation that came from the bandits. The few townsponies that had seen her before brightened immediately.

"Good evening, mares and gentlecolts," Trixie said with a toothy smile. "Can Trixie leave this with you, by any chance? Trixie has quite a long trip ahead of her and doesn't really need another mouth to feed."

"It's Trixie!"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is back! She did it!"

"She actually defeated Morning Star! Incredible!"

"Let's hear it for Trixie! Heroine of Venom Valley!"

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY!! HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!"



Trixie didn't say anything while the tavern's patrons cheered her on, simply smirking while brushing off a foreleg nonchalantly.

One of the bandits accompanying her frowned, and then leaned in closer to the unicorn. "Hey, uh... you gonna mention that it was Havoc who did most of the work down there?"

"Of course not," she scoffed, lowering her voice so that the cheering ponies wouldn't hear. "Trixie has enough trouble with bounty hunters as it is. If Trixie just announces who her bodyguard is, she'll have even more mercenaries and probably the Royal Guard hounding her within days."

"Hey! Miss Great and Powerful!" shouted somepony from the back.

Trixie spotted the bartender approaching her, and she quickly stepped away from the subdued criminal. "Yes? Did you need something? Trixie will have to leave town immediately, unfortunately, so we won't have time to stay for any festivities or extended compensation. Many of the Morning Star bandits escaped when Trixie attacked their base, and they may be looking for revenge."

"Sounds like a good call. We'll take Miss Star off your hooves, and thank you for the opportunity!" The pegasus stopped right in front of Trixie, briefly giving hostile glances to the injured stallions next to her. "Anyway, I never introduced myself earlier, and I apologize for that; I try not to get too attached to new faces." She chuckled and then swept her wingtips forward to touch her chest. "My name is Sweet Sauce, and I'd like you to have a little something. Why don't we take this outside?"

"Very well." Trixie reared up and then bowed to the crowd of patrons, who responded with another round of whooping and cheering. "Farewell, Trotter's Gulch! Though it pains Trixie to abstain from further fawning gratitude and helping you spend the reward money, the Great and Powerful Trixie must leave you now!"

"Goodbye, Trixie!"

"We love you, Trixie!"

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!"









"I want to thank you again for what you've done here. From the looks of things you're profiting plenty from your efforts, but getting rid of these mules is worth a lot more to us than just the knick-knacks that they steal."

Sweet Sauce stood outside her bar, looking up at the wagon that Trixie had trotted into town with. Although it was still packed with supplies as before, now there were several new sacks piled on top and strapped to the sides and back. The defeated bandits meekly walked up to the front of the wagon as she spoke, and then started strapping themselves into a pair of harnesses. Meanwhile, a certain pigtailed stallion laid in the wagon bed in an exhausted heap, snoring loudly.

Sweet Sauce clutched a tall, vaguely cylinder-shaped bag under one wing, and she turned around and carefully placed it down in front of Trixie. "Here. It ain't much, but it's something. After you left I dug through my special stashes that I have hidden under the floorboards. This is the best I could find."

Trixie looked over the bag curiously, then tugged the drawstring loose with a flicker of magic. Within was a tall glass bottle wrapped up in a page of parchment. The parchment was fairly new, and it seemed to be blank on the side currently exposed to view.

"That there is pear wine. Again, nothing special, but it's my favorite and I've been protecting it for a special occasion. Having a 150k bounty dropped off on my doorstep is quite an occasion, so here you go." She chuckled briefly, and then stepped closer. "I also found something else that I want you to have. The boys that left to redeem the bounty brought that parchment back, and I thought that it would be more useful in your hooves than tacked up on my wall."

Trixie hesitated, looking over the bottle, and then used her magic to pull the wrapped parchment loose. The other side, it turned out, was not blank, and the magician flinched when she realized that she was staring at a bounty poster. A new bounty poster, specifically, featuring Ranma's face, his real name, and a revised 250,000 bit reward.

On the plus side, it had "wanted alive" at the top. That was a substantial improvement.

Sweet Sauce smirked and glanced up at Ranma. "That's quite a valuable stallion you've managed to bag, Miss Great and Powerful. Congrats!"

Trixie gulped. "W-Well, it's not that he... uh, that is, the poster doesn't really-"

"Hey now, relax," the bartender chuckled. "I'm no bounty hunter or lawpony. Hay, by now I barely consider myself an Equestrian citizen. I didn't tell nopony, and I'm not gonna tell nopony. And if I hear anypony try to spread any salacious rumors about our Great and Powerful Hero traveling with a dangerous criminal, well, that's just crazy slander, and I'll have to set 'em straight." She winked.

Trixie blinked, and then quickly recovered her earlier haughty expression. "Your discretion is appreciated, Miss Sauce! This is, of course, all a terrible misunderstanding with the law, but Ranma has a way of turning terrible misunderstandings into giant, burnt-out piles of flame and rubble."

"He sounds like a catch, all right. No pun intended," the pegasus said with a grin. "You're gonna want to skip town right quick. With the gang crippled and with some fresh bits in town, we can expect plenty of new bounty hunters and peacekeepers to flood into the area soon."

"Naturally. Thank you for the gift and for your help. And for your silence." Trixie floated the wine bottle up into the wagon bed, and then jumped up next to Ranma. The movement jostled him considerably, but the stallion simply rolled over in his sleep and slumped against Trixie's legs.

She was about to shout at the bandits hooked to the wagon, but then she experienced a sudden and very unusual whim. Trixie frowned, her thoughts swimming, and then turned and called out to Sweet Sauce. "Hey! One more thing!"

The bartender had been turning around to return to her tavern, but quickly brought her attention back to Trixie. "Yeah? You need something else?"

"No, it's... Well..." Trixie pursed her lips, glancing over at the unconscious stallion lying next to her. "... Look, as long as you know about him anyway, and you're not telling anypony, Trixie just thinks you should know..." Her ears turned down, and she flushed slightly. "It was actually Ranma here who beat Morning Star and saved you. Much more than Trixie, at any rate."

"Heh. Yeah, I figured he might have done the heavy lifting. He whupped those local punks before, and he has an even bigger bounty than Star," Sweet Sauce chuckled.

"Yes, but... not just that. It was Ranma who wanted to fight the bandits and help you all, and he talked Trixie into it. Trixie wanted to just pass through the valley while avoiding trouble, and if Trixie had gotten her way... well, HE'D be in better shape, obviously, but other than that, Trixie supposes we'd all be worse off." She shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "So while Trixie deserves SUBSTANTIAL credit and adulation for our efforts in saving you all... Ranma deserves most of it. Or half, maybe. Some, at least. Trixie still did a lot!"

Sweet Sauce arched an eyebrow, and Trixie turned her eyes away, her face burning. For the life of her, Trixie really didn't understand why she'd felt the sudden urge to credit the martial artist. It wasn't as if anypony other than the bartender would ever know, and frankly if anypony did, it would only cause more trouble.

"Well, shucks... that's mighty kind of the infamous rebel Havoc," Sweet Sauce said, causing Trixie to flinch again. "I don't imagine I have much to offer him as a gift that he'd want. So I'll tell you what: next time you two get some private time together, give him a smooch for ol' Sweet Sauce, y'hear?" She winked and turned around again.

Trixie's blush darkened tenfold, and she started sputtering indignantly. "Wh-What? A smooch?! What do you think we are?! We're not a couple! He's my bodyguard!" she shouted after the bartender.

"None of my business, Miss Great and Powerful," Sweet Sauce replied on her way back into the tavern. "My request stands, though."

She pushed opened the door and trotted back inside.



Trixie's face kept burning as she turned to face the road, and she released an irritated snort. "The nerve of some ponies... and after she talked about 'crazy slander.' Bah!"

The only other ponies around who were awake to hear her complaints were, of course, the two bandits strapped to her wagon. When she looked down at the road, both of the stallions were staring up at her with skeptical expressions.

"Aren't you being a little too defensive? It's not THAT unreasonable a conclusion."

"Frankly, I'm not buying it. You two totally seem like a couple. And why else would he turn down Morning Star so easily?"

Trixie glared down at the bandits, and her horn flickered beneath her hat. "Trixie would like to remind you both that the only thing keeping Trixie from leaving you in a broken heap next to your ex-boss - arguably the morally right and just thing to do, by the way - is the inconvenience of having to pull the cart until Havoc recovers. You're becoming quite the inconvenience yourselves."

The stallions cringed, and then quickly turned away.

"Okay! Okay! Mouth of the valley, and then we get to go free, right?"

"I'm sorry! I don't care if you and the monster pony go for hay rides! Please don't turn us in!"

Trixie growled. "Then CAN IT and get moving, you losers! GO!"



The bandit ponies lurched forward, straining against their injuries to accelerate the cart. Soon they were moving at a good clip through the devastated town, and fast approaching the border of the settlement. The cart wheels rattled and the various new sacks and boxes of treasure jingled, which was all barely audible over Ranma's restless snoring.

For a while Trixie endured the ride in sullen silence, glaring at the backs of the defeated bandits and planning out how precisely she would beat them down if they decided to try to turn on her while Ranma was still asleep. Every once in a while, however, she glanced down at the martial artist nestled against her side. Ranma was curled up against her in his sleep, cat-like, apparently oblivious to the vibrations and the numerous hard, uneven objects he was sleeping on.

"Just a bodyguard," Trixie mumbled to herself, snagging a rolled-up blanket with her magic and unrolling it over her back. The other end she levitated over Ranma before letting it go to cover both of them.