//------------------------------// // Nightwatch: Hired Help // Story: Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories // by Piccolo Sky //------------------------------// By the time Rarity had gotten to the train station, she only had time to prepare, what she considered, the “essentials”. That included changing into a stylish traveling dress complete with hat and accessory parasol, rearranging her hair style, retouching her makeup, and packing only two bags with enough clothing and accessories for four changes at the most. Nevertheless, her faithful employees had gotten the train ticket and she was soon off for Appleloosa. The earliest train that she could get was seats only without sleeping arrangements or even private compartments, and the displeasure on her face from trying to sleep in her seat that night was more than evident, but she made the best that she could of it knowing that beggars couldn’t be choosers. On the good side, the train was only half full. Not too many people were wanting the line she was taking and even fewer would risk it at a time like this. She had a whole seat row to herself the entire trip. The next morning found her mostly in the same neat, prim, and proper state she had been in that day before. She had one of her small books of poetry open and was reading it over as she waited (and hoped) that she would be able to catch breakfast by the time they arrived. Missing meals was terrible for her waistline and she preferred to be at her best before discussing business. Yet as she kept reading, she became aware of the train slowing down. She thought little of it at first, figuring it was a narrow turn, but it slowed further than that, and was soon running the slowest it had been since they left the station. By the time she lowered her book and removed her reading glasses, the train was just about to halt. She looked outside at a rather simple, wooden, and run-down station as the locomotive gave out a hiss of steam to signify it stopping. She blinked in puzzlement as the door to the front opened. The conductor walked in. “End of the line, folks. All off.” Most of the other passengers in the car seemed to be common laborers or homeward bound. Many of them gave grumbles or sighs as they slowly began to stand up to get their things. Rarity alone remained seated. It was true she rarely took these smaller lines; definitely preferring the more luxurious expresses when she could afford them. As a result, she didn’t know exactly how they worked. She glanced outside again at the sign on the station and looked confused, and turned back to the conductor; who was already hurrying people out so he could join them. “Um, pardon me sir, but…I couldn’t help but notice that the sign on the station out there read: ‘Neighagra Falls Station’.” “That it does, miss,” he answered without batting an eye. She blinked once. “But, you said it was the end of the line…” “And so it is. On that note, you need to get your things and clear out.” “Um…please forgive me if I’m mistaken, but…I heard that this train was going all the way to the Macintosh Hills…” “That was before the latest telegraph from the Appleloosan army. We were passed the message when we crossed the last waystation. They believe the next wave is going to come somewhere through the country ahead. Effective immediately, all rail and road traffic this close to Equestria between here and there is shutting down. This is the last stop.” Rarity’s pupils turned into dots. She was nearly struck dumb. “L…Last stop?” “Yes ma’am. Please get off. We have to get this to a rotary station to make it back to Manehattan.” “But…but-but-but it can’t be the last stop!” she half-cried. “I have to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days! How far did we still have to go?” He shrugged. “Seventy…maybe eighty miles.” “Eighty miles?!” “Sorry, lady. Happens all the time this close to Equestria. Now are you getting off?” By this point, one of Rarity’s eyes was twitching and she was looking progressively more disheveled. Taking a moment to compose herself but still rather frazzled, she began to get out of her seat. “Um, good sir…I don’t think you quite understand. When I said I have to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days, I meant I HAVE to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days. Is there any way, any way at all, you could make an exception?” The conductor frowned. “Look missy, I already told you this train is turning around. The government is shutting down these tracks. It’s completely out of my hands. You’ll just have to deal with it.” “How am I supposed to deal with it?!” she hoarsely cried, before she quickly composed herself again. “I mean…that is…are you certain there’s no other way to get to the Macintosh Hills?” The man looked like he was getting annoyed with this conversation, but he sighed again. “Why don’t you get out and see if you can hire a Huntsman to take you? There’s plenty passing through the area.” “…‘Huntsman’?” He frowned. “You must be from Manehattan… The Huntsman Guild. Mercenaries that act as hired hands. Officially licensed in most countries so long as they’re prohibited from committing federal crimes. For the right price, one of them will do whatever you want. Are you going to disembark or not?” “Just one more question…where would I find these ‘Huntsmen’ around here?” “Good grief, Rarity. What have you gotten yourself into?” The station at Neighagra Falls looked empty enough, but it wasn’t long after huffing and puffing her bags and parasol off of the train that she saw such wasn’t the case. The entire surrounding area was rapidly filling up with refugees from the East and stopped passengers from the West. Not just people, either. Farm animals, wagons, one or two steam-powered carriages, and entire freight cars worth of cargo. It was a mad house and she found herself bumped and jostled several times as she made her way through it. Not the most pleasant of experiences, because in addition to being a dusty and underdeveloped part of the country lacking the niceties of plumbing, gaslighting, or even paved roads many of the people in the area were rather unsavory looking. Several tried to intentionally “bump” into her to relieve her of her bags, and many others gave her none-too-pleasant leers and stares. She was grateful that the Huntsman Guild had set up a temporary waystation not far from the platform because she wasn’t sure how far she could walk between the crowd, her load, and her heeled dress boots. Amid a large pile of scattered freight from train cars piled high almost in a series of walls or pillars, a large banner had been set up with the emblem of a pair of brass single-shot rifles. According to the conductor this was the spot. As she wandered in, in spite of the thinning of crowds she didn’t feel much better. The various Huntsmen, each one wearing badges matching the banners and lazing about on crates, standing around in small groups chatting, or making the occasional deal with another citizen, were all rather unpleasant, dirty, and rugged looking. Definitely not the kind of people she was used to dealing with and, in many cases, worse than the crowds she had just pushed through. It didn’t help that a lot of them had weapons on them. She had to take a deep breath before she walked into their midst. Considering that she was dressed clearly better and cleaner than all of them, she garnered many stares. One Huntsman in particular, a hunched over, wide-mouthed one with a sickening green tint to his eyes, gave her a leer she wasn’t at all comfortable with. She made straight for the nearest group that looked reasonably clean, although she balked a bit when they looked up and spotted her coming. “Pardon me,” she managed as she came to a stop. “I am looking to hire a Huntsman from this…fine guild.” The nearest guild members continued to stare at her without expression. The green-eyed one continued to leer. She cleared her throat. “It’s for a trip to the Macintosh Hills. Starting today. I need to be there and back in six days.” Several of the guild members broke out in snickers at that. Others rolled their eyes and turned away. In moments, the rest were going back to their tasks, whether it be cleaning weapons, chatting, or simply lounging. “Please, it’s very, very important!” she immediately insisted. “I’m willing to pay handsomely!” “Lady…” She turned, seeing one of the guild members—a thick-jawed and intimidating one with tinted lenses on his glasses—nearly covering her with his shadow as he addressed her. “You’re asking someone to take you across country to the Macintosh Hills without transportation right when this part of the country is about to either get overrun by Nighttouched or, barring that, Griffonstone soldiers. Maybe Trottingham ones if they decided to join in. Right now, everyone is moving away from here, not toward it. The Macintosh Hills are on the other side of the off-limits zone that Appleloosa set up. No one’s crazy enough to try and go against three governments and a hoard of monsters just to take you 80 miles.” “But I simply have to! It’s a matter of my company’s survival!” Hearing that only made the big man snort and turn away, while a few others muttered and moved away from her to try and drown out her requests. Not giving up, she continued to look around imploringly. “If I don’t get out there and back within this week, I’ll be ruined! I thought I heard that a Huntsman will do anything for the right price!” No response from anyone. Most were back to their own little worlds. She nearly let out a cry of agony. “Isn’t there anyone willing to help a desperate young lady in her time of need?!” “None of these joes.” Rarity looked up on hearing someone respond, but on glancing around herself she saw that no one was paying attention to her anymore. Nevertheless, the voice called out again. “They’re all just interested in the ‘easy’ jobs.” Realizing it was actually coming from above her, Rarity looked up. One of the towers of freight containers was nearby, piled up in a tall stack. Lying across the top of it, arms behind her head and legs crossed, enjoying the air and breeze, was one of the shoddiest-looking Huntsmen she had seen yet. Nevertheless, she could make out the badge on her loosely clad, old jacket, and her rainbow streaked hair stood out shockingly from the rest of her. Her eyes were closed but a smirk was on her face. “Now, me, on the other hand… I’m what folks like to call the ‘best of the best’. Kind of a celebrity around here, really. I do the jobs no one else will do with a smile. Your little trip to the Macintosh Hills? Heh. Easy peasy, cider squeezie.” Rarity blinked. “Um, excuse me, but…who are you?” She grinned, eyes still closed. “Who am I?” To Rarity’s surprise, she uncrossed her legs, kicked them up in the air, and then used the reverse momentum to swing herself up and onto her feet. As she landed, she pumped a fist in the air with bravado and at last opened her eyes to beam down on the lady. “Only the fastest, toughest, and most dependable Huntsman there is! Who laughs at danger, sneers at doom, kicks peril in the balls, and leaves hopelessness naked and running home crying to its mother! You’re looking at the one, the only, Sonic Rainboom!” At once, she leapt off of the top of the crates, causing Rarity to gasp. However, the woman did a nimble forward flip three times over herself while twirling through the air, before sinking to the ground in a straight dive. Rarity quickly pulled back in alarm, but right before landing, the Hunstman snapped around one final time and touched down in a perfect squat, lowering to put one hand to the ground and smirking dangerously the whole time. She held there for about three seconds, leaving the Manehattanite in total awe, before her smile faded as she turned a little green. “Ugh…” she moaned, rising much more slowly and unsteadily and putting a hand to her head. “Still hung over…” She got to her feet, only to immediately stumble backward and into the crates. She was soon leaning on them to support her weight. “You can call me Rainbow Dash, though…” For a brief moment, Rarity stood a little perplexed at this sudden turn in behavior, but what she had said soon made her forget all about that. “Pardon me, but just so that I’m perfectly clear…did you just say that you were willing to take me to the Manehattan Hills?” It took Dash a moment or two, but she finally stood up and, with a bit of effort on her part, smiled once again. “You bet. I’m your Huntsman. I’ll get you where you need to go along with my personal guarantee: I never quit a job until it’s done.” Rarity sighed in relief and began to smile. “Oh, what a lifesaver… Thank you. Thank you ever so much. You truly are a godsend.” She began to draw herself up, readying to go. “Shall we be off? Like I said, I am really pressed for time…” “Uh,” Dash held up her finger. “Just one sec… You said something else a little while ago too, didn’t you? Something about being willing to ‘pay handsomely’?” She shrugged. “Not like I do this just for the money or anything, but I got bills to pay just like everyone else.” “Oh…” her smile ebbed a bit. “Yes, yes, of course. I’m a businesswoman myself. I understand perfectly.” She set her bag down and began to reach for the side pocket of it. “Now, how much will it be for your services?” “Mmm…about fifteen.” Rarity blinked, then let out a small airy laugh. “Oh, come now, darling. I appreciate you understanding my plight, but there’s no need to knock off so much from the price for that. Surely your services are worth more than fifteen dollars.” Dash crooked her eye at her. “I, uh…didn’t mean ‘fifteen’ dollars. Huntsman Guild members charge a bit more than that.” She held up her hands and pinched her fingers to her thumbs, creating a pair of zeroes in midair. Now Rarity’s smile really did fade as her pupils began to shrink again. “Fifteen hundred dollars..?” Dash, looking a bit uneasy about how this was going herself, shrugged. “Well, I only got two hands…not four.” Rarity’s jaw nearly unhinged. “Fif…fifteen…fifteen…” her voice suddenly turned into an overwhelmed cry. “Fifteen thousand dollars?!” Another shrug. “Hey, I don’t like it much myself, but it’s supply, demand, and I unfortunately got a lot of debts to pay.” By now, Rarity was clasping her mouth in horror; not only at the price tag but the fact she realized she shouldn’t have yelled that last amount surrounded by mercenaries. Several were staring at her now, so she quickly stepped up to Dash. “I don’t have fifteen thousand dollars on me!” She whispered harshly. “Just because I dress in style doesn’t mean I’m silly enough to bring that much money on a trip to the countryside!” “Oh, no problem. You can owe me,” she coolly answered. “Just so long as you come up with 10% up front. Standard Huntsman Guild policy.” “Sta…stand…?!” Rarity was nearly aghast at this point. “You said you have your own business, right?” “I can’t come up with that much money!” Dash shrugged. “Sorry then. Can’t take you.” Rarity suppressed the urge to scream. “I have to get to the Macintosh Hills! This is a business deal! If I can secure this contract, I’ll be able to pay whatever ridiculous price you want! But I have to get there first!” “Well, I’ve got to see fifteen hundred first. I’m broke myself. Take it or leave it.” Rarity flustered a moment, extending her hands in a gesture as if she was ready to strangle the rainbow-haired woman in front of her, before she relented and groaned. “I suppose it’s too much to ask if you have an account with the Manehattan Exchange that I can wire my business to transfer the funds to, isn’t it?” Dash stared at her puzzled and scratched her head. “I’m not even sure what you just said.” “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Listen…” She bent down next to her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out her handbag. She soon went into it for her fountain pen and checkbook. “All I have at the moment is 300 dollars for food expenses and the train ticket I planned to buy to take me back to Manehattan. I can write you a personal check for your fee and then-” “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dash put her hands up. “Uh-uh. I don’t do checks. Way too much trouble for a Huntsman Guild member. Cash only.” “Oh, come on!” Rarity half-whined. “This is all I have!” Dash shrugged yet again. “Guess we don’t have a deal then. Later.” She turned back to the tower of crates, and after a moment moaned and scratched her head. “How did I get up there again…?” “Well…well…” Rarity stammered, trying to think of some way to salvage this. None of the other guild members were giving her the time of day. “What if I made it out for the whole amount…?” Dash ignored her as she reached up and tested the edge of one crate. She half-pulled herself up before she moaned, looking dizzy and going back to the ground. “Ugh… Last night must have been really wild…” Rarity winced anxiously, trying to think of something. In the end, only one painful idea came to mind. She closed her eyes and half-choked out: “I’ll make it out for twenty thousand!” Dash stopped trying to climb the crates. She slowly turned around to Rarity, looking in a bit of disbelief. “…Really?” She sighed as she pinched her temples. “I am desperate to get to the Macintosh Hills. My business will be sunk if I don’t secure this contract. Right now, I don’t care if armies, Nighttouched, or even Light Eaters stand between me and there. I have to sign. I’ll do anything for you to get me there. Will you please accept my offer?” The Huntsman turned fully back to Rarity and crossed her arms, looking her over and seeming to consider it for a moment or two. Finally, she smiled. Her arms uncrossed and she put out her hand. “Ma’am…you gotta deal!” Rarity sighed in relief, although not nearly as much as she would have if she had not just lost twenty thousand dollars she truly hoped she’d have after the contract was finalized, and put out her hand to take Dash’s. After a moment of hesitation, on seeing the exposed parts of her fingers were rather dirty and grimy, she maintained politeness and shook before trying to locate a surface to wipe it off on. “Just need to get a thing or two and we’ll be on our way. Macintosh Hills, here we come!” She instantly ran off into the guild crowd, almost immediately tripping and falling on the first crate that was in her way, but picking herself up soon after and running on with undiminished enthusiasm. As for Rarity, she let out another strained sigh and reached for her pocket handkerchief to dab her brow. She barely had it out when she heard a mutter from nearby. “Poor dumb out-of-towner…” She turned her head, and saw a number of guild members with their backs to her in a small group. However, they were speaking loud enough for her to overhear. “She must be from the city if she didn’t hear about the ol’ ‘Sonic Rainboom’ before she got here…” “Going east? I bet this time she gets her client killed and eaten by Nighttouched…” Rarity’s look grew uncomfortable all over again, and she began to dab her brow a bit more rigorously. Rarity may not have been nearly as tough-skinned as the people around her, but she wasn’t so out-of-touch as to think she would somehow be able to get away with dragging her bags eighty miles. With a heavy heart, and having serious doubts as to whether she would ever see them again, she left all but the bare essentials for the contract (transposed to a handbag) by the layover office at the station. However, that didn’t stop her from being woefully underprepared. Both sets of shoes she had brought had some form of heels, and her “traveling dress” was more for the traveling aesthetic than to actually be practical. She was already trembling at the thought of the dirt stains when she finally met up again with Rainbow Dash. The “thing or two” she had spoken of apparently wasn’t getting any sort of luggage at all save one item…assuming you could consider it. She had fetched a rather large flask and, after making the rounds about several of her fellow guild members (many of whom, at least to Rarity, appeared to chase her off), she finally managed to talk up to the green-eyed one into filling it up from a large jug. Again, Rarity wasn’t so separated from lower social classes to not know liquor when she saw it, and the fact that by now she realized Dash had been hung over when they met began to make her wonder if she had hired an alcoholic. That did nothing to comfort her growing unease about this arrangement. “Are…you quite sure that is all the, ahem, luggage you require?” she asked when she met back up with her. “Ha!” she laughed, patting the flask. “This is just a little something for the road. Don’t need all that heavy gear weighing me down. A real Huntsman knows how to get by with nothing but the clothes on her back. ‘Sides, it’s only eighty miles! Not a problem!” Rarity rolled her eyes at the thought of “only eighty miles”, but said nothing. She gave a bit of a start a moment later as Dash clapped her on the back roughly. “Now come on! We can stick to the road for a little bit, but then we’ll be roughing it across country!” She took off, leading the way. Rarity glanced behind her one more time, seeing the green-eyed Huntsman grinning at her, and quickly gulped and turned to follow. Dash was right about them not staying on the road for very long. There was a fairly well-maintained path running right along outside the station parallel to the tracks, but they didn’t spend more than a half mile on it, still well within the ranges of crowds surrounding the station, when they saw the roadblock up ahead. It was maintained by a tank, of all things, as well as a garrison. From there, Dash turned and led them off the road. That was bad enough as they went right through a drainage ditch for starters, permanently ruining Rarity’s boots. She moaned at the thought of what the next few days would be like. An hour later, and Rarity’s feet were already killing her. She made a mental note to herself to definitely emphasize practicality in future footwear purchases. The worst part was that they weren’t even in a particularly rough part yet. Dash had led them to side roads for the most part, until they were finally forced to cut across already-abandoned farm fields. Rarity had expected that they would be as even as she always saw them from trains, only to realize that they were full of soft soil and quite ridged from plowing on reaching them. “Corn certainly looks flatter from the rails…” she moaned aloud as they kept walking. “Um, excuse me, Ms. Dash?” She was ahead of her, taking the whole thing rather casually. “S’up?” “How far would you say we’ve gone? Five miles? Ten?” “Huh? You kidding? Maybe three.” Rarity moaned. “I hear that,” Dash echoed back. “Nothing but boring country around here.” She looked up. “Pardon me, but did you say ‘boring’?” “Yup. Nothing exciting out here. None of the bandits or highway robbers have moved in. A bunch of farms with no wild animals around. Country’s nice and open. Don’t worry, though. We’ll be getting into much rougher territory before nightfall.” She grimaced. “Rougher?” She spun around on her, smiling almost devilishly as she walked backward. “Oh yeah… Some real rough stuff. Just a few more miles ahead and we get to the forests. All sorts of animals in those. Some of them rabid. Some of them maneaters. And some of them? Nighttouched hiding out while the sun is up. You step in one wrong shadow and a Nighttouched’ll pop out and bite off your leg!” She gulped. “And get outta that alive? That’s where the roaming bandit gangs have moved in. They’re the ones who eat their victims do they don’t leave any traces.” The color drained from her face. “Then the country gets rough. Got to watch out for twisting your ankle, cutting yourself on rocks, putting your hands on nettles or poison oak, and of course all the spiders, snakes, and big bloodsucking horseflies! Wouldn’t even matter if you had repellent. You just sweat it right off! All the bites lead to so much blood loss you get loopy and start losing your way. And the humidity? Oh, it’s a killer! Like you’re drowning in a swamp!” Rarity wasn’t sure which she hated more in that statement, but her mind kept turning to thoughts of her white traveling dress permanently stained a sickly yellow… Dash grinned further. “And then comes night. That’s when the Nighttouched come out roaming…stalking…looking for the teeniest, tiniest bit of light…and as soon as they find it, it’s all over!” Rarity swallowed again. “Yes, and…on that ‘cheerful’ note…what precisely will we do if we happen to encounter a Nighttouched? I happened to realize you didn’t seem to have a weapon with you, Ms. Dash…” “Weapon? Ha!” She made a fist and flexed her arm. “I am a weapon! Trained by the best! I’ll have you know the ‘Sonic Rainboom’ is the one and only Hunstman in the guild who can take apart a Nighttouched with her bare hands!” She swiveled around. “I only hope we run into a nice big one so I can show you how awesome it looks…” “I think that’s one lifetime event I can wait a few more years on to check off my ‘bucket list’…” Rarity muttered under her breath; glancing around as she did so as to not let Dash hear it directly. However, on looking about, she stopped in midstep. Dash noticed she had halted and looked behind her. “S’up?” She didn’t answer at first. She looked behind them, into the fields of corn they were moving through. Her face was uneasy. “Nothing, I suppose… I just…thought I saw something. Or someone.” “Heh, let ‘em come. I’ll set anyone straight who tries following us.” “Yes, well…what if they have a firearm?” “Huh? Oh yeah…that might be a problem…” The Manehattanite moaned as she trudged along. Unfortunately for Rarity’s feet, the country only got worse as they left the farm fields behind for meadows of open country. That’s when the insects started to buzz and bite, making her uncomfortable all over. Around midday, she got another shock when she asked if there was any chance they could stop for lunch as she hadn’t had breakfast. She expected Dash to show her fishing, trapping, or maybe picking some wild berries. Instead, she found the nearest rock and pried it up, revealing multiple insects interspersed with fat grubs. “Perfect! Lots of protein in the big green ones. I once lived off of those for three weeks!” Needless to say, nausea soon caused Rarity to lose her appetite. In early afternoon, the two reached a forest planted on the edge of a township and began to make their way through. The way was worse than ever now. Rose vines with hook-like thorns that tore the hem of her dress and deep, rough ravines cut through it, and Rarity was soon mumbling to herself about the “things she did for her profession”. Worst of all, however, was that she kept thinking she saw things behind them every time her head glanced around. “Eh, relax,” Dash waved off her latest one as she reached for her flask. Taking it up she began to unscrew it. “Nothing to worry about so long as you’re with me.” Rarity frowned uneasily as Dash took a swig. “I’m not quite sure it’s late enough in the day to start drinking…” “What, this? Ah no…I never get real sauced on the job. This is just to ease the hangover a bit. Plus I can never say no to cider season.” Rarity sighed again but kept walking. She only got a few more steps before Dash called behind her again. “So, you’re headed all the way out here for your job, huh?” She exhaled as she stepped over the latest root in her path. “Yes.” “I have to say you’re the first person I ever saw who thought getting killed by Nighttouched was worth saving some clothing store.” Rarity quite visibly frowned at that; although Dash couldn’t see it. “First of all, it’s not a ‘clothing store’. We are a large scale outfitter. We provide custom designs of the latest and most artistic fashions on both the individual and large-scale level. We ran one of the bigger establishments local to Manehattan proper, but recently we expanded to try and go throughout all of the province. However, the upgrade cleaned out our bank accounts. We need to secure this contract in order to keep our business afloat long enough to woo new investors and to gain legitimacy on the market.” Dash scratched her head and looked behind her. “Making some deal with some Podunk farmer out on the east side of Appleloosa is going to keep some shop in Manehattan afloat?” She was incensed yet again at how Dash blew off her establishment, but she held it back and remained calm. “This is a deal with a material supplier. We need their fabric to secure the real contract, which is to be the outfitter for the Manehattan Armed Forces.” This actually got Dash to turn her head around more. “Wait…are you saying you’re going to make uniforms for the Manehattan army?” “Why yes,” she answered, feeling a bit pleased for the first time now that she had opportunity to boast. She reached into her handbag soon after and pulled out a folded up sketchpad. “These are only my earlier concepts, but some of them approach close to the final design. Have a look.” Dash finished stopping her flask and put it away, then walked over as Rarity cheerfully showed her the designs. For a few moments, she merely looked them over. Yet after a bit, she saw Dash’s lips curl up. They pursed as her cheeks grew. She snorted once or twice before she burst out laughing. And not just a little. She actually grabbed her middle and staggered back all the way against a tree trunk laughing her head off. Rarity was rather confused and even just a little uncomfortable. “What…what’s so funny?” “Aw man! I should’ve known! Look at that ridiculous getup!” she roared. “That’s just perfect for someone from Manehattan!” That last part actually struck a bit of a nerve in Rarity. “Excuse me?” “What’s that on those shoulder pads? Or up and down the middle? And those hats? They look like they belong in a marching band, not an army!” Rarity’s jaw tightened as she took a deep breath and held her head higher. “I’ll have you know this is just the dress uniform for officers, and that I take immense pride in making sure that my designs are not only fashionable but durable and motile for the customer’s needs. Furthermore, this design was approved by the Manehattan military heads themselves. The trim on the right shoulder is seventeen tassels, representing the-” “Well of course they would,” Dash snickered, cutting her off as she leaned up again. “They don’t plan on fighting in those uniforms. Everyone knows that Manehattan’s a bunch of gutless cowards.” Rarity’s eyes widened. She nearly let the sketchpad fall from her grip as she forgot what she was saying. Dash crossed her arms behind her head and casually went on. “I mean, look at you. Rest of the world is scraping by with whatever they can get, while Manehattan lets Fillydelphia deal with everything so folks like you are free to wear fancy dresses like that and worry about dumb stuff like clothes.” Rarity’s eyes stayed wide, but one of them began to slightly twitch. Dash closed her eyes and shrugged. “I mean, I don’t judge. If you think some fancy, schmancy uniforms you’re making for your sewing shop are worth going over some war zone that’s gonna be flooded with monsters pretty soon, so long as you’re paying me I don’t care. It just cracks me up how Manehattan’s living in a different world from the rest of us.” At once, Rarity’s jaw tightened. Her hands balled into fists. She began to stomp right up to Dash as she continued to casually stand there. “Alright…that is enough!” she shouted with a surprising lack of previous restraint. “Just because an outfitter and the livelihoods of those associated with it clearly mean nothing to you…who, I might add, is hardly in a position to judge considering the leather rags she’s wearing…does not mean that I don’t take a great deal of pride in my work and my business!” Dash just kept standing there, eyes closed and smirking. It only made Rarity more livid. “I may not be a fighter or mercenary or suffer from an incredible lack of tact and cleanliness, but I do my job incredibly well and I’ve worked incredibly hard to get it where it is! Considering that this ‘sewing shop’ is what’s going to be paying your exorbitant bill, I would show a bit more respect!” Dash still didn’t change. Nearly turning red-faced, Rarity got right in hers. “And furthermore, you haven’t the slightest right to accuse me of being detached from what’s going on in the world! You don’t know anything about me or what the Lunar Fall has done to me and my family! Who do you think you are for daring to suggest such a thing? At this point I’m almost tempted to walk the rest of the way to Macintosh Hills by myself! If you still want that money then you are going to have to apologize this instant! Do you understand?” Rarity’s last word slowly echoed through the forest. There she stood, glaring daggers at Dash, and there Dash stood, still smirking, still eyes closed, and still standing there. At long last, it broke. Dash let out a long nasal snore. The designer recoiled; anger turning to puzzlement. “What?” A moment later, Dash completely collapsed to the ground like a puppet that had its cords cut. It was so abrupt, it made her leap back and cup a hand to her mouth. Yet she hardly had a moment to think about what just happened when she heard a twisted, high-pitched snicker behind her. “Hee-hee…stupid Fillydelphian!” Rarity snapped around in fright. She really did gasp soon after. Directly behind her was the green-eyed Huntsman from before, looking just as hunched over and creepy as last time. He had two friends with him that were taller but didn’t look much better. They likewise were grinning as they approached. “She’d take drink from outhouse if say it’s cider!” the one on the green-eyed Huntsman's left cackled. Rarity didn’t have time to put two and two together. She was exclaiming in fright instead as she saw the woods around her come alive with an entire squad of goons. Each one was ugly, smelly, heavily armed, and unpleasant to look at, but apparently all had been hiding in ambush waiting for just this moment. Cringing, she began to step back, but there was no escape. Even if she could run in her current footwear, they had been planning on the two coming this way and had them surrounded on all sides. Now all were closing in at once. Her only hope was Rainbow Dash, but on spinning around and looking at her she saw she wouldn’t be helping anyone anytime soon. The smirk was still on her face as she snored away on the forest floor. “Time for your nap too, pretty lady!” The designer heard the voice of the biggest of the three right behind her, but didn’t even have a chance to turn around before something heavy and hard struck the back of her head and all went to black. “Uh…” It was the sound of her own voice that awakened Rarity some time later. She was brought fully back to her senses, however, by realizing she felt rather constrained and in pain at the moment. And not just from the soles of her still-throbbing feet. A rather radiating and tender pain was in the back of her head, but she pushed through it and slowly opened her eyes up again. It took some time for her vision to clear and for her brain to remember where she was, but as soon as she recalled her last memories her vision revealed her situation had not improved. They were still in the clearing, only now she found it filled up with the rough men from earlier. They were so dirty and uncouth the area actually stank from them crowding together in it. The three she had initially spotted were ransacking her handbag while the others looked on with weapons exposed. As for Rainbow Dash, she was still snoozing away against the trunk of a tree nearby. She hadn’t gotten there of her own accord, however. They had actually chained her to it. And it didn’t take her long to realize she wasn’t in much better condition. Just inhaling a bit deeply made her feel a pain across her chest, and on looking down at herself she saw she was similarly tied to a tree. They had only used ropes with her, but they had tied her hands behind her as well as bound her chest and waist separately. Her anxiety immediately began to rise. She gave her bonds a pull, but even if she was the sort of person to put real effort into a struggle she couldn’t have budged. They were far too tight. Furthermore, she only got to try for a moment before she heard an angry yell. “Bah!” In alarm, she looked up and spotted the green-eyed Huntsman throwing her bag to the ground in disgust. “No money! Stupid Manehattan woman only have paper book!” The bigger of the two others, the one who had apparently knocked Rarity out, spoke up mildly. “You mean checkbook?” “Checkbook like money,” the third one shrugged. “Fool!” the first snapped back. “Paper can bounce!” The two stared back at him curiously, neither quite grasping what he was saying. After a moment, the smaller of the two reached out, took up Rarity’s checkbook, ripped out one, crumpled it into a ball, and then dropped it to the ground; as if indeed expecting it to bounce. The first hissed before smacking him over the head. “It mean not worth anything! Stupid Manehattan have no money and no jewels! Waste of time!” “That not true,” the third one spoke up again. “Got rainbow-headed girl. And Manehattan woman real looker, right?” The big one glanced at her. Rarity let out a gulp on seeing him stare, but he did nothing but evaluate her a moment before turning back to the others. “She don’t see better than us.” The third growled. “I mean she get good price!” The first thought this over for a moment, then began to smirk. “Yes…Manehattan woman is very pretty. Good shape too. Maybe worth more than money.” “Maybe…” the third one ventured, sounding almost hopeful. “We get to use her first? Goods only…slightly used?” The other two stared at him in puzzlement. He winced. “Er…low damage? One size fit all? Two hands?” The first one smacked him again. “Stop saying stupid words!” Rarity, by now, had more than the gist of what they were saying, and she was completely aghast to hear it. She would have thought of telling off the conductor for ever getting her involved with these mercenaries if she wasn’t petrified about what they were talking about doing to her. In spite of this threat, however, her mind couldn’t help but pick up on other details. One was that the three men who were currently arguing seemed to hold some sway over the others in their group, who were doing little more than standing around and staring at them as they argued. What more, based on their near infantile level of speech and accents, they were from a variety of the smaller city-states and provinces that had been overrun from the Lunar Fall, but most of them didn’t speak the languages of the others. They were having to rely on the Manehattan dialect for commonality and none of them were that well versed in it. And the fact they were so easily being confused, and even more easily getting irate over it, meant to her they weren’t exactly that intelligent. Finally, she glanced to Dash. She had put enough together at this point to realize the only reason the green-eyed Huntsman gave her any cider was to drug it for the sole purpose of ambushing them once they got there and that was the reason for her passing out. However, she was no longer snoring. As she looked at her now, her nose wrinkled once; perhaps catching the scent of the men around her. She had no idea if all of her boasting was nothing but idle words, and even if it wasn’t how that would do against chains and a dozen men, but the very fact she was chained instead of tied meant they had to fear her. With that in mind, Rarity decided on her gamble and hoped it paid off. She looked back to the three men, trying to think of this like any other affair where she had ever had to deal with someone “difficult”. “Ex…excuse me? Gentlemen?” The three turned to her in unison, although only the leader seemed to realize what “gentlemen” meant. “I couldn’t help but overhear just now… You don’t truly mean to sell me into some sort of slave ring, do you?” This made the lead one grin wider. “No…no slave ring. They not pay nearly as much as underground bath house…” Rarity felt her blood curdle a little at that, but somehow managed to keep her normal business demeanor as she looked a bit astonished. “I don’t suppose I could persuade you to rethink this, ahem, business transaction, could I? I mean, I am someone of means and I have connections in Manehattan. I might be able to make letting me go free more worth your while.” The biggest one snorted. “No lady! A bush in the bird is worth two in the hand!” “Quiet!” the first one snapped back, having looked immediately intrigued by the proposal. He quickly grabbed the big one by the ear as well as his companion and spun them around. As soon as he made sure Rarity couldn’t see him, he began to mutter loudly to the others, but even if he hadn’t had to eventually raise his volume so high she could get what he was saying she knew full well they didn’t plan on releasing her. However, they clearly thought the possibility of even more money shouldn’t be discounted either. No doubt the green-eyed one overheard the price she sounded out earlier and thought she was loaded. They finally wheeled around. “Ok, Manehattan lady. You pay us.” “Oh, thank you. I’m ever so grateful we could make that arrangement,” she answered properly. “Now then, just how much do you believe my freedom is worth to you?” “Everything.” She looked puzzled. “Excuse me?” “You get us all your money, Manehattan lady,” he answered with a wide grin. “Or we find other way to get more from you.” He licked his lips at this part. Again, Rarity was forced to suppress her revulsion. She glanced to Dash but saw no other change. Sighing mentally, she nodded. “Well, I suppose if that’s the way it has to be, then that’s the way it has to be. If you would be so kind as to give me my checkbook-” “No paper!” he cut off with a sharp sneer. “Paper bounce!” “Um…paper not bounc-” “Stop talking, fool!” Rarity was quiet a moment before making a fake sheepish smile. “Oh…oh yes, of course.” “And if you only have paper…” he began to respond, grinning again and holding his hands up as he advanced toward her. “T-T-Then again…I could always telegraph my associates back in Manehattan to wire you the funds!” she quickly interjected, getting him to stop again. “I only need to write down some proper authorization and you could take it to the nearest telegraph operator and you’d have your money in less than twelve hours!” That was, of course, blatantly false, as none of the ruffians had a bank account linked to the Manehattan Exchange to get the money, but as Rarity had guessed they were too stupid to know any better. After a moment, they looked to each other hopefully. Rarity cast another glance at Dash but saw, other than another nose wrinkle, she was still out and suppressed a sigh. “Fine, Manehattan lady,” the lead finally spoke up again. “You write telegrams.” “Yes, yes, of course. Um…” she paused, before wriggling a bit in her ropes. “I’ll be needing my hands free…” He narrowed his eyes at her a moment, but fortunately looked to the big one among them and nodded. Soon after, he came stomping over, went behind her tree, and unbound her hands. Her upper and lower torso remained tied, but she got enough room to let her fingers flex and move again, as well as was able to hold them in front of her. However, after that, she paused while the thugs stared at her. “I’ll…also be needing some paper of some sort.” The lead huffed and looked to the third. He, of course, was clueless. He had to make the rounds to all the rest of the thugs searching them for any paper they could find. All the while, Rarity continued to look at Dash but saw little improvement. It wasn’t until one managed to turn up a book that one of the lesser thugs had swiped, even though he couldn’t read, that she noticed Dash wince again, this time a bit more strongly than before, but slumped idly soon after. As the book was presented to her, she looked up once more. “And…a pen?” The leader yelled in frustration before they began to rummage among themselves again. However, when he yelled, Rarity managed to catch Dash momentarily wincing again. Apparently, as smelly and rough as the ambushers were, they were being at least quiet enough for her to continue to sleep undisturbed. If they were to make a bit more noise, however… Rarity’s own pen from her handbag being nearly thrown into her chest interrupted that thought, and soon the shadows of all three main ruffians were hanging over her. “Now write, Manehattan lady! Now!” She hesitated again before taking up the pen. She quickly glanced around one more time, looking over those in the group and mentally counting that there were a dozen even. With that in mind, she smiled slightly and took up the paper to start writing. “Yes, yes, of course… Now then…” She began to start scribbling. “I have 130 thousand available to dole out, and I see one, two, three… Oh dear.” She put the pen to her lips in a thoughtful expression. “It seems we have a problem. There are twelve of you and 130 thousand simply doesn’t divide that easily.” She looked up to the leader. “It would be an absolute beast to try and split across all of you. My associates at home would never understand what I was getting at. How about I write out ten thousand to eleven of you and whoever deserves it the most will get twenty thousand?” None of the thugs, as expected, paused to challenge this assumption. Their minds focused only on the twenty thousand versus the ten thousand. It only took moments for their leader to smirk. “Easy. I get twenty thousand. All my idea.” At once, the third one frowned. “Hey! My idea to use drug cider! You have to deal with rainbow head if not for me!” “Bah!” the lead sneered back, jabbing at his own chest. “I’m the one who give stupid rainbow head the cider!” “I also follow them out here!” the third protested further, stepping forward toward the lead. “You get lost at first tree!” “You not even be here if not for me!” “Hey,” the big one spoke up mildly, “I bring chain…” The first snapped to him with a glare. “So?” He frowned back. “I tie stupid Fillydelphian up!” “She asleep, fool! Your chain don’t matter!” “I tie up Manehattan woman too! I do all the work!” “Bah! Any one of blockheads could tie up!” Several of the group around the three clenched their teeth at that insult. This made the third one grow thoughtful. “Hey…why all them get ten thousand?” he muttered, gesturing around. “They do nothing! They just spares!” Now the group around them truly got incensed. “What you say?” The first one ignored them, looking up. “You right! They not need ten thousand! Five thousand good enough for them!” “One thousand good enough for them!” the third corrected. That was the last straw. At once, several of the other thugs began to snarl and step forward. “You try to cheat us!” “You don’t get ten thousand for no work! You just follow us! You all get one thousand…” He wheeled on the big one nearby. “You get two thousand…” Finally, he turned back to the third. “And we decide what to do with rest!” “Sound fine by me!” The other thugs began to close in now, and the big one growled. “I have to pay for chain and rope! You pay me back what I owe!” “Idiot! Chain and rope only cost-” He was cut off as the big one shot out a hand and seized him around the neck. His other hand went out at the same time and seized the other by his own neck. The big one’s teeth clenched as he began to look very angry. “You pay me ten thousand…or we going to have to dig two holes.” A chorus of clicks rang out soon after that--the sound of caplocks. The three looked up and around and saw six of their former companions now had their respective firearms up and were aiming at the three of them. The rest were drawing whatever hand weapons they had. “You pay all ten thousand…or we going to have to dig three holes.” The big one was surprised by the move and let his hands loosen. The other two seized that opportunity to snap free. At once, the leader drew a couple of glaives with hook-like claws from his sides, while the third pulled out a pair of caplock pistols. “Put guns down now or I claw throat out!” “Nobody backstab me!” the third yelled. The second, now recovered, flexed his muscles—not even bothering with a weapon. “I take you all down!” “Ugh…what’s all this racket…? Can’t a girl sleep off a hangover…?” Everyone in the thug’s group froze simultaneously, while Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed in a gesture that could only mean “finally”. They all turned and looked and saw Dash’s head was up again. She was wincing and groggy, but her eyes were cracked open. She blinked and looked over herself. “Aw man…did I get in trouble with the Appleloosan magistrates again…?” She moaned once more. However, after blinking a few times, full awareness of the situation and how she got there seemed to come back to her. She looked up and her eyes zeroed in on the green-eyed Hunstman. “Rover…” she groaned. “I should’ve known… Never got over me taking the Baltimare job from you, did ya’? After I beat your butt black and blue, I thought you’d have learned.” The green-eyed Hunstman snarled. “Still don’t sit right…” He grinned soon after. “But ha! Now you in trouble, rainbow haired fool! You chained this time instead of roped! Big contract out by rivals on you! You going to pay me back with interest!” The big one scratched his head. “Interested in what?” The third one smacked him over the head this time. Dash, still seemingly a little out of it, smirked and snickered. “You went and made a contract with someone to take out another Huntsman’s Guild member? Now that’s against the rules, Rover. Not only are you out of the guild, I’m in my rights to take you down right now…for good, if you get my drift.” “Ha! Twelve of us, one of you! And you can’t get free!” Dash looked again at her bindings idly. She pulled against them a moment, showing some discomfort, but other than rattling them didn’t get very far. She gave up after a moment. Taking that as a sign of defeat, the gang began to grin and snicker at her. A moment later, she closed her eyes and sighed. “Well nuts…I got a client, which means I gotta use it again…” Her eyes opened, and she looked past the grinning, cruel faces to Rarity. “I wanted to do this at a really awesome moment so it’d look cooler, but…this is gonna have to do. I can’t get out any other way.” This made Rover frown. “What you saying?” He looked between the two of them. “What you telling her? You passing code? It not matter! Nothing save you now!” For a moment, Dash leaned back, her smile growing wistful. “An old friend might.” She extended one of her hands out, spreading the fingers wide. “Come on out, Captain Spitfire!” The last two words she spoke almost didn’t even sound like Dash’s voice, but something more powerful that actually shook the air and surrounding trees. Immediately, and to the surprise of everyone present, Rarity included, a blue aura began to radiate from all around Dash’s body. From beneath one of her gloves, a light burst forth like a wire frame that had been heated. It traced the image of what looked like some sort of hexagon, but with one of the points on it gleaming bigger and bluer than the rest of it. As Dash continued to glow, faint rays of light, like sunbeams, streamed off of her body and formed over her into some sort of cloud or mist. Rarity couldn’t tell what it was exactly; although, for just a moment, she almost thought she saw it start to take shape into something. It broke before it could, but further changes came around Dash. Her shabby clothing suddenly tightened and mended slightly, becoming more form fitting and less baggy. Her hair, normally wild, was caught up in a wind that came forth from the blue light, and for a moment it looked like it tried to style itself in a different way. However, that too aborted soon after, although Dash was still left gleaming. She didn’t seem to mind. She was now looking fully alert and, more than that, grinning dangerously. She took in a deep breath and tightened both hands into fists as the alarmed thugs continued to look on in surprise. Then she yelled out a sharp cry and flexed. With just the slightest resistance, the chain around her broke in four different places. In an instant, Dash snapped up to her feet, and with a sharp turn of her heel brought her legs together and her hands up into a fighting stance; never stopping smiling. She didn’t stay there long, though. She was off in a snap, and Rarity's jaw dropped at her speed as she shot right into the midst of three of the lesser thugs and buried her fist in the center one’s face. The sound making contact was practically a small thunderclap. His two companions didn’t even know she was there until they saw their friend, blood streaming out of his nose and eyes rolling back in his head, collapse like a ton of bricks. Just as quickly, her other arm’s elbow snapped out and drove itself in under the sternum of the thug on the left. Another resounding smack rang out, joined by what sounded like a rib breaking, and that thug gagged and bent over before falling as well. Finally, she snapped her first fist up by rotating her upper arm and let the upper knuckles embed themselves into the third’s forehead. Rarity almost swore she saw them sink in as he was knocked away head first and spread on the ground. "Three down, nine to go!" Still grinning, Dash’s eyes flicked up to the next nearest group. They were stunned at her sudden display of speed and power, but quickly began to get their weapons ready. Abruptly, she flung herself forward in a half-roll, half-leap, hurling herself into the air and spinning around on her own axis right into their midst. One of them gaped in astonishment at her sudden move, and as a result failed to defend himself as she came down, extended a leg, and slammed it on top of his head. The impact was so hard it was like a giant with a hammer had treated him like an oversized nail when he slammed into the dirt. She touched down a second later, but barely stayed put before she shifted weight to her other leg and swung her opposite one backward. Her timing was perfect. She caught the axe that one of the thugs was wielding as he tried to come up behind her and knocked it clean out of his grip into the air. His partner drew a long knife of his own and quickly tried to bury it in her chest at close range. Dash responded with a snicker. Rarity wasn’t able to tell what happened next; only seeing the ruffian spasm in pain before dropping his knife and then the rest of him to the ground. In truth, Dash had moved so fast one of her fists went in just as the thug was readying his knife and punched him in the underarm. That stunned him long enough for her to give a second blow to his head to put him down. While he was still falling, she snapped her body around and faced the thug she disarmed; still dumbfounded at watching his own axe in midair. Her hands came around and powerfully boxed him across the ears, and while he was still rearing to gag from that her knee came up and struck him in the jaw. His head snapped upward, and soon after the rest of him sank to the ground in a heap. "Gotta keep paying attention in this game, buddy!" she mocked as his axe finally clattered to the ground at his feet. She turned her head to the others, at some distance, but hesitated for a fraction of a second. The next three all had their guns still out and were aimed right at her. Yet rather than charge or dodge, she snickered again and simply faced them. “Never pulled this off from this close…” she muttered as her hands glowed a little more brightly. All three gunshots went off one after the other. Rarity nearly looked away on seeing Dash standing right in their path, but the Hunstman herself responded by extending both arms and moving them even faster than she had before. It made it look as if her hands had been painted on a canvas and then blurred before the paint had a chance to dry. It lasted only a moment, until the last echo of the final shot had gone off. Dash was still standing there; her hands extended but now clenched into fists. She chuckled again as she opened them up. Rarity gasped again on seeing three rifle bullets fall out of them. “Don’t make bullets as fast as they used to, huh?” Two of the thugs, the smarter of them, immediately threw down their weapons, turned, and bolted in terror. The third foolishly began to try and reload in spite of the fact he was still using a powder charge. Dash ignored him, instead nimbly slipping to one side and right past the two swinging claws of Rover as he cried out, giving his position away, and tried to slash her from behind. The pistol-wielding one had also been taking aim at her back and fired at the same time, which wasn’t the best move in the world. She easily ducked and swiveled her head to one side to avoid one shot, but Rover’s shoulder had gotten right in the path of the other one and a small eruption of blood resulted as the bullet tore into it. He cried out as that arm faltered and whirled around in rage. He began to rant at him, but Dash used the moment to advance. Her arms nimbly went out, braced against his good wrist with one, and then swung down powerfully with the other. The blow had such power that it snapped all three blades off of the glaive on his good arm and wrenched his wrist into a sprain. He wheeled around to her in shock and pain, and saw her right in his face. “Didn’t your mom teach you not to run with scissors?” Two rapid blows flashed out and batted Rover’s head around like a punching bag on a chain, before she drove a palm into his middle. All of the air rushed out of his lungs and his green eyes bulged from his head as he was flung away from Dash like a kicked tin can. She spun around to the pistol-wielder, who was totally at a loss. His pistols were single-shot, so now his small brain couldn’t decide which to dump to free a hand to reload the other. He never got a chance to decide as Dash lashed out with one foot, hooked it under a loose rock, and knocked it into the air. She leaned back, raising one of her legs, and as it came down she kicked the rock and sent it smacking into the pistol-wielder's head. Another stunned cry later, and he went down as well. As Dash straightened herself, the ground around her shook a little. She turned her head and saw the big thug approaching. He had taken the moment to rip his shirt off and show his muscle, which was considerable, and was lacing his fingers together and cracking them as he neared. He towered over her by a good nine inches when he finally pulled back his dominant fist as far as he could before taking a swing at her. Her smile faded into a bored look as she easily caught the fist with one hand, and held without buckling despite the fact it was twice as big as hers. “Why is it you big meatheads never know how to do anything but punch?” Sighing, she threw a single, non-frills punch into his middle. In spite of that, his eyes bulged even more than Rover’s had, and his mouth hung open and gagged for air as his strength left him. She simply released his hand and took two steps back, letting the rest of him slowly collapse to the ground. She dusted her hands for a moment afterward. “Let’s see, is that everyone? Wait, no…one more.” She turned and looked to the last thug, who had only just managed to start putting powder into his rifle barrel. He was so nervous by now he was making a total mess of it and getting it everywhere. He continued to fumble with it as Dash simply rolled her eyes, walked right up to him, and snatched it right out of his hands. “Seriously?” she asked as she crossed the metal barrel over her knee and, with another rapid move, drove it upward sharp enough to bend it at the middle. Dropping his powder, the thug turned and took off after his two friends; yelping like a panicked dog the whole way. Dash laced her own fingers together and stretched them over her head. Her glow died down and her clothes resumed looking looser and shabbier as her hair went wild again. “Man, what a waste… Wouldn’t have needed it if it wasn’t for those dumb chains…” She turned fully around and grinned at Rarity. “But that was still pretty awesome, right?” The woman was still dumbfounded. She gazed around at the aftermath unblinking. “How did…? When did…? You just…? But…but…?” “Speechless, eh? Well, the Sonic Rainboom does have that effect on people, so don’t feel bad about it.” She strolled over to Rarity’s side and bent down to begin untying her. She was halfway through it before Rarity got enough of her bearings to speak coherently. “I…I never saw anything like that before… Did you, um…well, pardon me if being rude, but…did I just see you, ahem…glow?” She shrugged. “I guess so. I kind of always see myself glowing in the middle of a fight, y’know?” “That’s not what I meant. I could have sworn I saw something glowing beneath your glove bright enough to see through it… And that name you said… It was a ‘Captain Spitfire’…?” Suddenly, Dash stopped in the middle of her untying. Rarity, puzzled, looked over to her, and saw she was staring back at her with total seriousness. “Ma’am, as we have a contract I’ll stick with you no matter what…but I would really prefer if we don’t talk about what just happened again, alright?” It was very subtle, but Rarity thought she almost heard a word of warning on that voice. Considering what she had just seen, it was enough to unnerve her just a bit. And considering the fact she was still tied, she silently nodded soon after. “Very well.” Dash stared at her a second longer before going back to untying her. As the last of her ropes came off and she let out an exhale of relief, she seemed to become her old attitude again. Rarity herself got up and began to pull at her dress. “If any of those ropes caused a run in this blouse, I’ll be just beside myself…” After giving it a careful inspection, she turned to start recollecting her handbag, only to freeze on seeing most of the thugs were still there and writhing or moaning. Dash picked up on this. “Eh, don’t worry about them. They won’t be causing any more trouble. When I hit someone, they keep feeling it a week later.” She raised her head a bit to the thugs. “I thought that would have scared someone like Rover off from trying a stunt like this, but apparently not, eh?” Rover let out a weak snarl; all he could manage from the air he had recovered. “By the way, fellas, don’t think I won’t forget about this when I hit the next guild branch. I’d start applying for new jobs, if you get my drift.” She turned to Rarity. “Just pick up your things and we’ll get going. Sorry for this ‘detour’. We got time to make up now.” Rarity ignored that part as she quickly went around and gathered her items. As she was putting the last in her bag, she looked at the Huntsman uncertainly. “Is this…all that we’re really going to do with them? Just leave them here?” “Don’t worry about it. It’s already mid-afternoon. As soon as they can walk they got to worry about getting back to Neighagra Falls or they’ll be out in the dark in country that could get surged any moment.” Rarity glanced to Rover, who in the middle of his pain and breathlessness spared every moment he could to glare at Dash angrily. “While I can see your point, that one over there seems as if he has a vendetta for you and isn’t quite wise enough to know when to leave well enough alone…” She shrugged. “Well, if he tries to attack me again, I’ll just have to beat him up again.” “Yes, but…what if he gets the drop on you again? Or if he does another trick like he did with the cider but with poison-” “Lady,” Dash suddenly cut off, her tone sharper as she crossed her arms, “what are you trying to ask me? Are you telling me to kill him so he won’t bother us anymore?” Having it put out so bluntly took Rarity aback. “N-No! No, I mean…perish the thought! Sure, I am a little worried about him coming back to haunt us…er, you… I would just prefer if there was some way we could be sure he wouldn’t cause any more trouble. For us or anyone else.” That only made Dash roll her eyes. “Look Rarity…I don’t know if folks in Manehattan are so out-of-touch they don’t know what’s going on, but Greater Everfree is kinda in the ‘Last Days’ right now. The Light Eaters are taking over the continent. Maybe only a mile one year and maybe a hundred on another, but they’re coming and nobody’s stopping them. As far as I’m concerned we’re all going to die pretty soon. Part of the reason I use my fists is I don’t really feel like saving them any trouble, get me?” She spoke with such sudden conviction and force compared to her earlier devil-may-care attitude that it caught Rarity all over again. It even made her feel a bit ashamed for suggesting the thing. Dash paused a moment before waving her hand, turning, and beginning to walk. “I’m not stupid enough to think the world’s all sunshine and good feelings, but you better stop and think the next time you want someone out of the way just to make yourself ‘feel safer’. Coming?” Rarity hesitated. This last part made her pause and her expression turn a bit darker and more uncomfortable. “Yes…yes, of course.” Drawing herself up, she took off in a more rapid pace to catch up.