//------------------------------// // 269. Vengeance Ghost // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// The first thing that greeted Rarity and Rainbow Dash as they re-entered the village were clouds upon clouds of that horrid gas that burned Rarity’s eyes and made her skin crawl. It was almost impossible to see anything else through the thick fog of it, but empowered by Autumn Blaze’s magic, Rainbow Dash was able to flap her wings and clear up the clouds in ten seconds flat. The soldiers responsible for the gas of course turned their attention to Rarity and Rainbow immediately. Four of them turning away from the ponies they were in the midst of brutalizing to antagonize the two women instead. Rarity just held out her hand to focus her magic, blue light flowing through her horn and then covering the armor of the soldiers in front of her, ripping it all off of their bodies and crushing it like discarded tin cans. She threw the scraps of armor to the ground without a word and took a step toward the unarmored soldiers, her horn still glowing with the threat of mangling four ponies like she just had their armor, and the soldiers took the hint, running away from Rarity and Rainbow and from the village with their tails between their legs. “That was easy,” Rainbow said drolly, and Rarity nodded. “Of course,” Rarity said, scanning the horizon for other soldiers or the iron wagon. “Without their armor and weapons, they’re just ponies. And the type of person who takes a job brutalizing others that can’t fight back isn’t generally the type of person willing to stick around and have a battle on equal terms.” “Should we chase them down?” Rainbow asked, pounding her fist against her hand. “No,” Rarity said. “We’re here to neutralize the threat they possess and save these ponies. If they want to run back home and cower under their beds, that’s their problem. Right now, we need to focus on saving people, and less on beating up stragglers.” “Fair enough, I guess,” Rainbow shrugged, sounding a little disappointed. Rarity couldn’t blame her. Rainbow pointed to something in the distance, and Rarity’s blood ran cold as soon as she saw it; the iron wagon that the two had been held captive in. Rarity’s legs seemed to carry her of their own accord toward it, with Rainbow following behind. With Rarity’s newfound strengthened telekinesis, tearing the wagon asunder wasn’t difficult, and to her delighted surprise, when she ripped it open it exploded with trinkets like a festive pinata; Rarity and Rainbow’s gear had been stored inside it, and the two took a moment to get properly dressed. Most importantly of all, Rain Shine’s scale was now dangling proudly from Rarity’s neck, where it belonged. “Rarity?” A man’s voice, altered slightly by the heavy mask he wore, tore through Rarity’s ears, and she turned to see that Blueblood was approaching the ruins of the wagon. Rarity could feel the heat rolling off of Rainbow Dash’s body as her blood boiled and she got ready to wring Blueblood’s neck. “Blueblood,” Rarity said coldly as the man stood by, awkwardly gaping at the collapse of his operation. “Are you surprised to see me?” “What are you doing?!” Blueblood yelled angrily, and Rarity just sighed. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, and yet she still felt disappointed. “You’re ruining everything!” “Perhaps Neighsay should have picked his soldiers based on skill,” Rarity said, “instead of on bigotry.” “You wanna freakin’ go, my dude?!” Rainbow pointed at Blueblood and snarled. “Cuz I still owe you a kick in the dick from last time!” “Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said calmly, stepping ahead of Rainbow and putting her hand out in front of the pegasus. “Let me deal with this. Please go and make sure the other village ponies are safe.” “Yeah, okay,” Rainbow sighed and clapped Rarity’s shoulder. “But don’t get captured this time, okay?” “I won’t,” Rarity laughed humorlessly. “That goes for you too though.” “Of course!” Rainbow patted her own forearm. “No way these chumps are gonna get one over on me now!” Rainbow took off and Rarity said a silent prayer for her friend. Rarity had utmost confidence in her, and in the dragons’ magic, but her nerves had been frayed to cinders at this point and if one more thing went wrong, well… well she didn’t know what she would do. For now though, she took a step toward Blueblood. “How are you two still alive?” Blueblood asked, taking a step back. “Are you some sort of horrible vengeance ghost?” “In a manner of speaking,” Rarity said flatly. “Perhaps not in a literal sense, but…” Rarity clenched her fist and let an aura of blue magic spark and flare out from her entire body as she prepared to rid Blueblood of his armor. “What you’re looking at is just a taste of the effects of collective power.”