The massive airship soared at a timely pace through the sky towards its destination. Tempest Shadow stood at the bow of the ship, looking out into the distance. The barren landscape extended seemingly infinitely out towards the horizon, but Tempest knew that Klugetown was out there, getting closer by the minute.
Tempest didn't move or break her gaze when a hippogriff clad in gold armor approached. He walked over and stood beside her, also looking out into the distance.
"General Seaspray," Tempest said with a nod, still looking out into the distance.
The hippogriff general nodded and said, "We should be arriving at Klugetown in less than an hour."
"Indeed," Tempest replied.
General Seaspray let out as sigh, and then he said, "I really must voice my appreciation of the fact that you insisted to include the Hippogriff Kingdom in this campaign. We are all deeply ashamed of hiding away like cowards instead of fighting the Storm King, but this battle might begin to earn back our respect."
"I insisted that we inform the Hippogriff Kingfom of this campaign," Tempest said, "It was Queen Novo who decided that her army would take part in it."
Seaspray's face twitched with the ghost of a smile, and he said, "You have a very stony and hard disposition, Tempest Shadow. If it is mask, I must say that you have started to become it. Yet, Princess Twilight has informed me of your past, so I do believe that there will come a time when you will be able to truly tear down the walls you've built around yourself. Perhaps the abolition of the Klugetown slave trade will be the just the thing you need."
Seaspray then finally turned to look at Tempest and said, "There is more to life than combat, you know."
Tempest had a pensive look to her as she thought about the general's words. Then, he finally turn to meet his gaze and replied:
"We will see."
The eyes of the hippogriff general and the disabled unicorn met for a long while. Two pairs of blue eyes stared into each other. One pair was curiously searching the other for any signs of release, whether it be of pain or of guilt. The later pair was in turn searching the former pain for any reason as to why it was spending any time or effort on them in the first place. But during all this, both creatures began to understand that they both had their own reasons to be ashamed of themselves, although they couldn't agree that other's reason was as shameful as their own.
They were so busy silently analyzing each other that they didn't notice the ramshackle pocket of civilization for a good few minutes.
Verko had a few favorite pastimes: looking over new batches of slaves to be profited from, teasing caged rare animals, disciplining his own slaves, and other such similar tasks. However, his absolute favorite one was what he was currently doing at the moment: sitting at his desk in his counting house/place of residence while counting his money. Stormbucks might have lost their value after the Storm King's death, but Verko already had plenty of gold and gems stashed away even before then. Also, he was able to swiftly convert much of his Stormbucks into goods with actual value before anyone was any the wiser, all thanks to his contacts outside of Klugetown. Verko even figured that if he had lost everything when the Storm King made his one way trip to Hellgates, he would have made back his money quite quickly through the glorious slave trade.
However, not even these thought combines with the joy of counting money was able to keep Verko happy for long. His teeth clenched and his eyes twitched as the ghost of an electric shock shot through his nervous system. The mole-rat had been able to get a new suit, hat and bow-tie, as well as a new pair of goggle-glasses. However, no amount of money could fix what that blasted crippled unicorn had down to his body when she had electrocuted him.
Verko stopped counting his money and clenched his fists, before slamming his right fist down hard on his desk. "I would pay at least one million to have her in my grasp," the silk-clad mole-rat said in a dangerous tone, "I'd rip out the rest of her horn and shove it down her throat. Then, I'd put her through so much pain that she'd be begging me to kill her."
Verko suddenly became a bit more jovial and said, "Hmm. I'd best get onto that. I'm sure I'll get plenty of down on their luck guttersnipes eager to claim a bounty that size."
The door to Verko's study suddenly opened, and in came Sola, one of Verko's slaves. She was an Abyssinian, with fur that was once pure white, but was now dirty from countless hours of slave labor. She had red eyes that were once piercing, but now downcast and hopeless. Her small ears were constantly folded back with the eternal stress and fear that came with being a slave. Around her wrists and ankles with iron shackles painted blue, signifying her status as a slave.
"Your hard-boiled eggs, master," Sola said as she approached the mole-rat's desk, holding a large bowl of the freshly made food. Even as she set the eggs on Verko's desk, she couldn't help but stare at them. The eggs glistened in the light like pure-white gems, speckled with freshly ground pepper and tiny salt crystals. As Verko began gobbling them up greedily, Sola's entire body seemed to ache as tried to not think about how much she wanted one. For years, all Sola and the rest of the slaves ever ate was boiled, overcooked gruel that looked as bland and unappealing as it tasted. It seemed to just slide down one's through, giving absolutely nothing to even chew on.
Sola shuddered at the thought, but put it out of her mind as she focused on the hear and now, waiting to be dismissed by her master.
Verko chewed a mouthful of egg and swallowed. "Not enough salt," he said flatly.
Knowing very well what this meant, Sola's eyes widened in terror and she said, "M-master! Please! I can fix it! I-."
"Turn around and kneel."
"Please, master! I-."
"You want a quick punishment or a longer, more painful one!?"
This silenced the Abyssinian, and she proceeded to turn around and kneel on the floor as she was ordered, albeit with a look of utter despair stamped on her face, her eyes becoming even more sunken and despairing.
A look of pure wickedness was on Verko's face as he got up from his chair and pulled out a long scourge. The whip was as long as Verko was tall, with a handsome leather handle with a diamond at the bottom. The end of the instrument of punishment came apart into four small strands, each with a sharp bit of stone tied to the end.
A gleeful smile was on Verko's face as he swung the scourge back for the first strike.
SLAM!
A large shark-like Klugetowner known as Mori suddenly burst into the room and shouted, "Boss! Boss! There's a huge airship headed over here! This could mean big trouble for us!"
Verko's smile vanished as he carelessly dropped his scourge and said, "Why must there always be something! I suppose I had better see what this is all about."
Verko glared at Sola and said, "Stay here until I come back. Or else." He and Mori then left the room. Verko wasn't at all concerned about leaving the slave in the room. He had made sure to let all of his slaves know that he knows if anything he owns is stolen, and that a thieving slave is even worse than dead.
Verko stood at the edge of Klugetown with Mori, the two of them looking at the approaching airship, which also appeared to be steadily loosing altitude. Before either of them could comment on this, their attention was suddenly taken by a multicolored streak heading away from the airship. In about ten seconds, the streak shot right up to the pair, stopping right in front of them and knocking off Verko's hat.
Verko stumbled a bit, but gasped as he recognized the pegasus hovering before him. "YOU!" he shouted as he pointed at her, "You're one of those ponies that stuck their noses in here a while back!"
Rainbow Dash winked cheekily at Verko and said, "That's right! And we've brought. . .eh, a few more friends with us. See, I'm here to deliver a message, big guy!" Rainbow folded her forelegs and said nonchalantly, "It's really simple, really. All ya gotta do is free ALLLLLLLLLL of the slaves in Klugetown and make sure that slaves are never bought, sold, or owned in Klugetown ever again. If ya don't? Well, then I guess you're gonna have to deal with a pretty huge army that really doesn't like slavers like you. So, whatdya say?"
Verko stared at the pegasus for a moment, but it wasn't long before he started chuckling, and then laughing uproariously. He turned around walked towards Klugetown, sweeping his top hat off of the ground and putting back on as he called out, "You hear that, slaves!? Do you hear the cute little pegasus!? She says you're all to be freed! Come now! Come out into the streets so that your little pony may free you!"
Verko continued laughing for a moment, and then turned glaring at Rainbow Dash saying, "Curse that crippled unicorn! If it weren't for her, you and your little friends would be slaves right now! Or better yet, dead! It's pathetic how you thought in your tiny little mind that you could- why are you smiling!?"
Indeed, Rainbow Dash was smiling, quite widely in fact. "I was hoping you wouldn't agree," she said eagerly, and she flew off back to the airship, which had come to a landing not too far from the edge of Klugetown.
"Uhm, boss?" Mori asked with uncertainty in his tone, looking back and forth dumbly between Verko and the airship.
Verko's whiskers twitched a bit, then one of the aftershocks from Tempest's electrocution shot through him. He grunted and said, "Liars. Liars and bluffers, all of 'em. Bluffing weaklings. They gotta be-."
Verko's musing were interrupted by a loud trumpet blast, and much to his shock, he could see a large number of pegasi, thestrals, and hippogriffs taking off from the air ship in flying towards Klugetown. What's more, a large number of earth ponies and unicorns were coming out of the airship and charging towards Klugetown as well.
"We're under attack! We're under attack!" Mori shouted as he jumped and up and down in a panic, repressed memories of being taken out by Tempest Shadow coming back in full force.
Verko slammed his fist onto Mori's head and shouted, "I'm aware of that, blubber brain! Now listen! I need you to spread the word than an army of stinkin' ponies and hippogriffs are coming to take away our slaves! Also, tell them that there's a big fat bounty on ever single pony and hippogriff slain by a Klugetowner. Add all that to the hired muscle I already have in this town, and those idiots out there don't stand a chance. Now go! Move yourself!"
And with that, Verko and Mori parted ways. Mori to spread the word, and Verko to hide in his home until the fighting was over.
It was the last time they would ever see each other alive again.
For The Battle of Klugetown had begun.
Naturally, the aerial forces arrived at Klugetown first. Hippogriffs swooped down on the enemy, dodging sword swipes and spear thrusts as they slashed at the foe with their claws. The pegasi and thestrals dive-bombed their foes, shouting battle-cries in the name of the Day Guard and Night Guard.
The Wonderbolts had split up, each taking a section of the aerial forces so that they could spread out across the entire town.
Rainbow Dash had partnered up with Soarin, and she was clearly enjoying the way things were going.
"HAH! This is too easy! These landlocked losers don't stand a chance," Rainbow said with a cocky smirk.
Soarin had a far more serious expression, and he warned, "Don't get cocky, Crash. This is war!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, Clipper! These guys are wimps! They have slaves so they don't have to do any work."
A pegasus solider flew up beside the two Wonderbolts and saluted, "Things are going down smoothly, sir and ma'am! We'll soon have control of all the rooftops, and then- Auuuuggggggh!"
Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide with horror as she witnessed the solider get taken out by an arrow to his heart, his body falling lifelessly to the ground below. Rainbow looked down and saw a skinny shark-like Klugetowner snickering as he reached for another arrow for his bow. Before he could even pull back the string, he was slammed out of the balcony he was standing by a roaring Rainbow Dash flying at speeds only slightly slower than Sonic Rainbow velocity.
As more of the enemy got in position with bows and arrows, the fight just got a bit tougher for the forces of good.
Thanks to the aerial forces causing some confusion, the forces on the ground were able to get a head start in pushing their way into Klugetown. A line of foe spear bearing creatures stood blocking the way, and a line in front charged forward with their spears out and ready. However, this front line did not expect Starlight Glimmer to teleport in behind them and entrap one of them in a large crystal. This sent this front line into slight disarray, and goaded the second line to charge into to take out Starlight. However, this second line did not expect Twilight Sparkle, with Spike riding on her back, to teleport behind them. The pair then split up and went to work, Twilight ripping spears out of the enemy's hands and Spike toasting the enemy's backsides.
"EVERYPONY, GO!" Twilight shouted, utilizing the Royal Canterlot Voice, "WE AND THE UNICORN SOLDIERS I HOOF PICKED WILL TAKE CARE OF THE ENEMIES ON THE TOWN'S EDGE! EVERYPONY ELSE, HEAD IN TOWARDS THE CENTER OF TOWN!"
The rest of the army charged into Klugetown as Twilight, Starlight, Spike, and their battalion took on their foes.
A frilled-lizard like Klugetownian jumped out of the shadows and ran a unicorn guard through with a spear, laughing as the unicorn cried out in pain and died. However, his laughed was cut short as twenty or so razor sharp sewing needles to his face.
With two saddlebags filled with more needles, Rarity averted her eyes from the gruesome spectacle and ran forward along with the rest of the army, frantically looking around for familiar faces. She had lost sight of Pinkie Pie, Tempest Shadow and Applejack had already pushed up ahead as per the plan, and as for-.
A guttural growl from behind distracted Rarity from her thoughts, and she turned to see a massive tortoise like Klugetowner charging towards her. Unicorns did their best to stop his advance, but he used the rhinoceros-like horn on his nose to plow through them.
Rarity slid to halt and turned, sending more needles out towards the brute. The enemy saw it coming, and swiftly turned around to block the attack with his massive spiked shell. This left Rarity in a state of panic as the beast ran backwards at her, then swiftly turned to deliver a crushing blow to the unicorn mare.
"I don't think so!" a voice cried out.
A dark cloaked figure dashed between the Klugetowner and Rarity, neatly cutting the attacking brute's throat with a single swipe of his rapier. The beast let out a gurgle before falling down on his back, and the victor tipped his hat to him.
Rarity let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Capper Dapperpaws had agreed to lend a paw in the campaign and boarded the airship.
Capper smiled and swept his cloak majestically as he said, "I must say, my dear Rarity, that this outfit you gifted me suits swordplay quite well."
Rarity smiled bashfully and said, "Well, I would say it simply suits an Abyssinian of cation like yourself quite well, if I do say so myself."
"So, this is what Capper gave up being the greatest thief in the land for: being a dressmaker's dummy for an air-headed unicorn. How sad," a new voice remarked.
Capper closed his eyes and sighed, then he opened and looked towards the source of the voice. Walking out a building was another rapier wielding Abyssinian, this one was azurish-grey and white, with black stripes and brilliant cornflower blue eyes.
"Hello, Chummer," Capper said with a frown.
Chummer smirked and said, "What? Not surprised to see me?"
Capper shrugged and said, "Something told me that you weren't unlucky enough to go down in a flaming airship and die in the desert, even if I never wanted to see you again. I'm kinda confused though. I wouldn't think Verko would allow you to live here after you double-crossed him with the Misfortune Malachite."
"It was simple," Chummer said with a slick smile, "I just duped some suckers into helping me patch up my airship, tricked them into coming to Klugetown with me, and then gave them to Verko as slaves. He liked my initiative, was sour over how you turned out, and all was forgiven."
Capper expression was cold and disgusted as he responded, "First a double crossing backstabbe, and now a slaver. You kept getting worse and worse."
Still smiling, Chummer raised his rapier and said, "How about an assassin? You owe Verko quite a bit, and you clearly have no intention of paying him back, so I'm sure he'll be pleased when I present him with a fine brown rug."
As the battle continued to rage around them, Capper raised his rapier as well and said without taking his eyes off of Chummer, "Rarity, go on ahead with the rest of army. Stay close to them and stay save."
Rarity shot a nervous look towards Chummer and started to say, "Capper, I simply cannot-."
"I need to do this. I have to settle this by myself," Capper said with a level of seriousness rare for him, "If I don't, I'll never be able to live myself or have any peace. It's a long story, and I promise to tell you later if you just let me do this and stay out of trouble."
Faced with a stubbornness that rivaled that of Applejack's, Rarity breathed out and nodded before leaving the scene.
Chummer chuckled and said, "Wow, isn't she nice. I'm gonna have to track her down after I've killed you. She'd make a perfect slave. I could use a cap and hat like the one you're wearing."
Capper hissed as he held his rapier at an angle. "En garde, Chummer."
Chummer smiled mockingly and said, "What happened to 'I like being with you, Chummer'?"
Capper snarled and lunged forward, only to be defied by a swift block from Chummer. A flick of the blade sent Capper stumbling backward a few steps, and Chummer leapt forward to take advantage of the opening. Capper hopped to side, narrowly avoiding Chummer's forward thrust, and swung his rapier at him, only to once again have it blocked.
"Why are you so angry at me anyways?" Chummer questioned, "It's like I said back then; you were going to leave me eventually, so I made the smart choice by leaving you first!"
Chummer then jumped back and took a swing at Capper, and both rapiers clashed several times as Capper forced Chummer backwards. Both Abyssinians were locked in fierce combat with one another, blind to battle going on around them. Their swordplay was so fierce that even the surrounding combatants felt that it would be best to let the two cats alone.
Keeping his composure all the while during the clanging of steel, Capper addressed his adversary, "Listen to yourself, Chummer! First you remark on how I liked being with you, and then you tell me that I was going to leave you no matter what. Make up your mind!"
Chummer clenched his teeth as he parried Capper's attack and jabbed at his neck, scowling when Capper dodged out of the way. "Stop it! You're just trying to trick me!" he shouted as he swung sideways at Capper.
The rapiers clashed yet again as Capper twisted his wrist to catch Chummer's blade. Capper then dropped down onto the ground and swung his blade at Chummer's legs. Chummer jumped to dodge and jabbed down at Capper, who quickly slid backwards and got back onto his feet.
Chummer glared fiercely at Capper and said, "You really should just stand still and let me slay you. Then at least I'd have time to get out of this war-zone. Then at least one of us would live. Face it, Capper, you're gonna die here! Why not let it be by someone you know?"
Capper smirked at Chummer and said, "Oh really? Is that what you think? Oh, Chummer. . . I'm afraid I'm on the winning side here. The ponies and hippogriffs have got it made. The slavers of Klugetown are going down hard, and it looks like you're going down with them."
"Shut-up and die already!" Chummer shouted as he charged forward with his rapier held straight out in front of him.
Capper was ready to knock away Chummer's thrust, but the striped cat surprised him by swiftly strafing to one side and swinging his blade hard at him. This knocked Capper's sword arm to the side, and another swift stab caught Capper's right side.
Capper winced from the pain, and quickly looked down at his wound as he stepped away from his opponent. The attack had drawn a bit of blood, but it was merely a scratch that would heal, assuming he got out of this duel alive.
All traces of humor gone, Capper hissed at Chummer, who was still advancing upon him, and said, "'Die already'? Those words seem appropriate, considering this isn't the first time you've expected me to die!"
"Just the thought of you has kept me up at night!" Chummer shouted back as he renewed his assault.
Capper blocked a few swings from Chummer, and he continued, "Yeah, I still remember that day. Back on that burning airship, with me holding onto the railing, slowing loosing my grip, not sure if I'd die or not from the fall. I said I needed you, that I needed a friend. I begged you to help me, and all you had to pull me up and I would've forgiven you."
Chummer held his rapier longways to block and braced himself as Capper gripped his rapier with both paws and swung hard four times, punctuating each strike with his words, "But! You! Didn't! Did you?!"
Capper's fourth strike actually windmilled around and struck from beneath Chummer's rapier, breaking Chummer's block and allowing Capper swing back down. Chummer attempted to duck and dodge out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough.
Slichkt!
Chummer screeched with pain as Capper's rapier sliced off the tip of his right ear. The striped cat rolled out of the way, but quickly stood back up and said, "See what letting others into your life does? When you're alone, you're free to live your own life!" Chummer's face changed from that of pain to that of sadness and regret, "You don't have worry about being betrayed!"
For a brief moment, in Capper's eyes, the Chummer before him became the Chummer that looked down on him back when he was hanging onto the airship's railing.
"You shouldn't have come after me, Capper! We could've been free! We could've lived our own lives! We don't need each other!"
Then, everything flashed back to the present, and Capper lunged forward shouting, "It was you! It your fault! You ruined our future! You betrayed me!"
As Chummer played defensive, he answered back, "I did what I had to do! Caring about others is too hard! It holds you back from getting what you want! I had to force myself to stop caring about you in order to get somewhere! But then that was hard! I had nightmares for months! I still have them! What is it, regret? It couldn't be! I made the right choice! I still don't get why I felt so bad! What did you do to me!?"
Chummer suddenly kicked out Capper's legs, catching him in the left leg and causing Capper to stumble backwards. However, Chummer made the mistake of swinging his rapier downward, letting Capper lift his rapier up to block it.
Chummer growled angrily as he pressed downward onto Capper's blade with his own. "But if I can just get rid of you. . . " Chummer said, ". . .once and for all. . .then maybe I'll finally be free of. . .caring about you!"
"You. . .care?" Capper said with wide eyes and through clenched teeth.
"Yes I do. . ." Chummer said, regret once again filling his eyes as he kept pushing his blade down, forcing Capper down onto his knees, "I said you shouldn't have come after me. What I did was for our own good. I don't have a choice anymore. We're better by ourselves. I don't want to kill you. . . but I don't see any other way out. . ."
"You're wrong," Capper said as he continued to push back against Chummer, "My new friends. . . made me better. . . stronger. . .like Rarity. . .She made. . . this cloak!"
Capper used his free paw to grab his cloak, tear it off, and throw it right into Chummer's face. Chummer cried out in surprise, and Capper used this opportunity to knock Chummer's rapier off, and then struck his opponent's sword paw hard, causing it to let go of the blade.
Chummer finally threw the cloak off of him, only to be knocked down onto his rear by a kick to the chest by Capper. Capper kicked Chummer's rapier out of reach and swiftly put his own rapier at Chummer's throat.
With his blue eyes wide with shock, Chummer looked up at the triumphant Capper, who currently had a sad, almost disappointed look on his face.
Chummer blinked his eyes once, and then frowned grimly before saying with as much dignity as he could muster, "Just do it. But make it quick. That's all I ask. Come on, just hurry."
Capper looked down at his opponent, his mouth set in a deep frown as he looked at the defeated yet solemn looking cat sitting before him.
"It's okay, Capper! We still got each other, don't we?"
"Hey c'mon buddy! Long as we got each other, we can make it anywhere."
"We wouldn't have gotten this far without each other. We need each other. Don't we?"
"Chummer an' Capper, best thieves in the land! Yeah. . ."
Capper threw aside his rapier and suddenly lunched forward, catching Chummer in a hug.
". . .Wha-?" was all Chummer could get out.
"It was Verko," Capper said softly as he hugged the other cat as tightly as he could, "His . . .ideals, if you can even call them that. He. . .they. . . It poisoned you somehow. . .someway. You liked stealing. Thieving was a cool talent to you, so you took to his words easier than I ever could."
"You. . .aren't gonna kill me?" Chummer asked dumbly, his brain struggling to catch up with what had occurred.
"I told Verko that you were never my friend. What was I thinking?" Capper said as rested his head on Chummer's shoulder, "We were friends. We were always friends. You just did something really stupid, something that hurt more than anything. You'd ruined our future. . ."
Capper then pulled away from Chummer and looked him in the eyes. Chummer's breath was taken away when he saw that Capper was crying, and yet had a warm smile on his face.
"But that couldn't erase our past," Capper said simply.
Chummer's mouth opened, but he found himself unable to speak, so Capper continued on himself.
"The Storm King is history, and Verko and his slave trading criminal empire are almost through. We'll both be free to start over, and to learn from our mistakes. Rarity and her friends set me straight, so I'm sure that you can be set straight too."
Chummer finally found his voice, and he whimpered out, "But. . .I betrayed you. . .I tried to kill you. . ."
With the warmest of smiles and the most sincere tone he had, Capper said three words to Chummer:
"I forgive you."
The shock-wave of emotions that ran through the striped cat were indescribable. It was only three simple words, yet those three words were some of the most powerful words in all of creation. They represent a power that can save any living soul from the deepest pits of despair to the greatest magnitudes of suffering. The most wretched of beings can find solace and new life in those words, and Chummer was no exception.
What started as a few sniffles was suddenly loud and ugly bawling as Chummer threw himself onto Capper, clinging to him as he cried like a baby, not wanting to let go for anything.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry, Capper!" he wept, his whole body aching as years of trying to forget about his closest companion finally caught up with him.
Capper just smiled and gently hugged him back. "It's okay. It's okay. We're both better now. We can make it better. You said it yourself once, 'a couple of cats like us will always land on our feet.'"
As the pair of Abyssinian knelt on the ground embracing, a troop of medic ponies quickly made their way over to them as the battle raged on deeper within Klugetown.