"Are you sure this is the dragon you saw a few days ago?"
The young, green maned and blue eyed stallion looked at the picture of a young, purple dragon standing along Twilight Sparkle and her friends. He looked quite happy as he was besides a purple unicorn. After looking at the picture for another while, the stallion looked back at the purple unicorn in question and answered.
"Yeah, I'm certain, he was wearing some clothes, but the eyes and scales make him easier to recognize. He used to come here at least once a week to buy a new comic, but he hasn't shown up lately."
Twilight deflated as she heard this, another chance to find information about Spike dashed once more.
"Well, thanks for the information" -, she looked at the store, noticing the price of some of this comics, and wondered, - "say, could you please tell me who payed you for the comics he was buying?"
"If you mean as who pays me, well, the dragon, but if you're asking as from where did the dragon take the money" -.The stallion shrugged. - "Every time I asked, he told me 'his uncle' gave him the money to spend."
"His uncle?" - Asked Twilight as one eyebrow of hers started to rise.
"Yeah, that's what he said."
Twilight gave it some thought before deciding that she had enough.
"Alright then, thanks."
"Thanks to you" -, answered the stallion, - "if you see him, please tell him that our new edition of Supermare vs Batmare has arrived and I have one copy saved for him."
Twilight nodded and left the comic book store, with a young royal guard waiting for her.
"Did you find what you needed to see, miss?"
Twilight rolled her eyes as she answered with an annoyed tone of voice.
"Yes Flash, you don't need to call me miss. How many times do I have to say it?"
"You may say that" -, answered the young cadet, - "but I'm certain your brother wouldn't like it if a soldier under his command talks to you in a casual way, miss."
"Ugh, Shining and his over protectiveness" -. She then saw the sun as it was getting closer to the sunset and determined it was time to get back to her temporal residence. - "It's getting late, we must get back with the rest of the girls."
Flash Sentry nodded and escorted her back to the residence where Twilight and her friends were living. She moved past the guard watching her room, with Flash Sentry joining him after a small salute, and she opened the door to her room, being greeted by her room mate.
"Twilight, dear, how was your day out? Did you find what you were looking for?"
Twilight looked at Rarity with a dissapointed face as she gathered he thoughts.
"Well, yeah, I could only confirm what my brother told me. Spike has been seen in many places around the city, for weeks, to the point of even being a normal customer in some comic book stores."
Rarity was confused about that.
"But, from what I can recall, you said Greed was the one in control of the body, right? Then how come Spike has been able to move around?"
"The only conclusion I can make" -, responded Twilight with slight confusion and sadness, - "is that he must have struck a deal with Greed, so he could move around freely from time to time. But, if so, why he hasn't tried to communicate with me?"
"Oh Twilight" -, Rarity tried to alleviate her sorrows, - "knowing my Spikey Wikey, he probably tried, but I doubt that hooligan of Greed would've allowed it."
Twilight thought about it and considered what the comic seller said today.
"You're right, Rarity, Spike must have tried, which is why Greed didn't allow him to leave in the last few days."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, all the ponies who knew Spike going to the places where he has been seen told me that he hasn't shown up in the last few days."
"Oh" -, said Rarity with a tonality of tragedy, - "poor little Spike. I cannot fathom the kind of atrocities Greed must have been doing with his body."
They both shuddered at the idea itself, especially if he was working with Chrysalis, as Shining Armor and the rest of the Royal Guard suspected. Who knew what kind of plan was Greed making, but if his name was anything to go by, that bar he must be working on has to be only the first step on his plan.
"Yeah, which is why I'll try my best to separate those two as soon as I can."
"And how do you plan to split Spike from the meanie Greedie?"
"GAH!"
Twilight shouted as she saw Pinkie Pie appearing on the room out of nowhere, the door never knocking nor sounding being open.
"Pinkie! From where did you enter the room?"
"Silly Twilight, I was allowed in!"
"Pinkie, dear, that doesn't make sense."
Pinkies giggles said all the two ponies needed to know, it was better to not ask, so Twilight preferred to focus on answering the first question.
"Well, I've been planning on first figuring out the nature behind Greed. My first guess is that he is a spirit possessing the gem, so once I discover the components making said gem, I'll use alchemy to separate the two of them by removing what binds them together."
"And will that hurt? I don't want to see my Spikie wikie any more than he already is suffering by being near that dreadful Greed."
Twilight thought about it for a moment before asking.
"Well, maybe... I'm not too sure, but I'll try to make it as painless as possible."
In that moment the door was knocked.
"Miss Twilight" -, Flash's voice was heard, - "your friends, Miss Applejack, Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Fluttershy are here, do you want to let them in?"
Twilight rolled her eyes as she told him to let them in. As they entered the room, Rainbow noticed Pinkie.
"There she is Fluttershy, I told ya she was with Twilight."
Fluttershy gave a deep sigh of relief as Applejack decided to enter into the conversation.
"Well, that's good to know, now Ah would like to know what were you talking about, Ah think Ah heard you talking about Greed."
Twilight smiled at this and decided to add the rest of her friends on her plans.
"Well, I was talking about my plans to separate Spike from Greed once we manage to capture him."
Rainbow grinned at the thought of getting back to Greed for stealing Spike, punching her hoofs against each other.
"Aw yeah, that would be sweet, I've been training to show my awesomeness to that uncool thief."
Applejack looked at her bare legs, mentally preparing to show Greed a buck he would never forget.
"Ah cannot wait either" -, she then turned towards Twilight, - "so how do ya plan to bring that feller in?"
Twilight thought about for a brief moment before answering.
"Well, I think my brother's plan to capture him and his followers is good enough but, just in case, I've learnt a few tricks with alchemy that, I'm certain, will allow us to capture him. Once we have him, we'll bring him back home, where we'll be searching for a way to separate Greed from Spike's body."
"I can't wait to have Spike back" -, added Pinkie, - "he's been missing so many parties that I'll compensate it by throwing him all the parties he has missed at once and then I'll give him all the sweets he hasn't eaten and I'll then invite him to more parties I've been doing and then..."
"Pinkie!" - Shouted Rainbow Dash. - "We get it, we all want Spike back and we'll make sure that Greed pay for all he has done."
"Yeah" -, agreed Pinkie Pie, - "just because he saved us from being conquered by Queen Chrysalis, probably deposing her, and probably reforming the changelings doesn't excuse him of taking Spike with him and then stealing from us, that's of such a meanie pants."
All of Pinkie's friends were looking at her with slight shock as they tried to understand what she just said.
"You think he deposed Queen Chrysalis?" - Asked Rainbow Dash.
"I mean" -, added Pinkie, - "if what Twilight's brother said is true and there are changelings working with him, that probably means that he must have removed her, does that mean I have to throw him a 'congratulations for defeating Chrysalis for the second and penultimate time' or a 'congratulations on giving changelings a second time'? Oh, I know, maybe I could throw him both along a 'we hope you reform in prison' party and-"
"Pinkie!" - Shouted Twilight, with an annoyed tone of voice, as she ignored Pinkie's antics. - "Not now. We must first capture Greed and separate him from Spike before determining what to do with him."
"Um" -, added the timid voice of Fluttershy, - "does that mean that we'll keep Greed on his gem form?"
Twilight and the rest of her friends remained in a slight shocked as that detail was reminded to them, while Fluttershy almost flinch from becoming the center of attention.
"It's not that I don't think he doesn't deserves to be punished, it's just that I don't think it's fair to keep him on that state. I mean, I don't think I would like to live as a gem, as pretty as I could be."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at their wings and hooves respectively, understanding what Fluttershy was trying to say, after all, what could be a worse prison than being removed of any kind of physical body beyond a small gem, unable to even breath, just stay inside as a thinking mind, probably unable to detect what happens on your surroundings.
At least Discord was unconscious but it seemed Greed was sentient enough to tell what happened around him.
"Well" -, Twilight thought, - "I suppose I could build him a body, it shouldn't be too hard after all. I just have to see what a body is made of and then put Greed's soul in there."
Twilight's friends gave a wary look, a part of their mind telling them that, most likely, it wasn't that simple or easy to make a new body, but unable to think of another alternative, they just nodded.
"Oh, ok" -, added Fluttershy, - "I suppose that, after that, we could try to teach him to be more friendly towards others?"
Twilight's friends gave it a thought for a brief while, after all, he did defeated Chrysalis and saved Equestria, heck, he told Twilight that he never intended to harm Applejack, so maybe Greed wasn't evil per se, he just didn't know how to act like a proper pony.
"Well, while his name may be as dreadful as greed can be" -, responded Rarity, - "I suppose he could be given another chance. Perhaps I can even teach him how to properly dress."
Rarity's friends giggled at the thought of a creature named Greed being taught by the element of generosity to properly behave, but it would be fun to watch.
"Alright, sure" -, added Applejack, - "perhaps after Ah teach him a lesson of being responsible, and make him work for his wrongdoings, then I can probably give him another chance."
"Meh" -, added Rainbow Dash, - "that means I would have the time to show him who is the best pony around here, and, I could get back at him for knocking me down in Canterlot."
Twilight smiled at her friends, and eventually laughed with them, as they are always seeing the best potential outcomes from any situations.
With friends like this standing with her, anything was possible for there was nothing impossible for the magic of friendship.
And so, as the day came, Twilight and her friends started to move around to the bar belonging to Greed, the one known as the 'Chimera's Den', in order to move ahead with Shining's plan to bring him into custody. They never expected the place to look so...
"Twilight" -, asked Rainbow Dash, - "are you sure it's here?"
All of the element bearers were looking at the entrance of the bar, it was in the back of an alleyway, practically unnoticeable if it weren't for the signpost showing its location, with the entrance having a set of stairs going downwards, giving the sense that they were going down to Tartarus as the lack of illumination made it seem like they were getting into a bad place.
"Yep, my references say it's here" -. She added as she read the indications given to her by her brother. - "It must be here, even the name of the bar is there."
"It's just that" -, Rainbow said with an almost unnoticeable tone of disappointment, - "I was expecting something more 'villain looking', you know?"
"Yeah" -, added Pinkie Pie, - "there are no red carpets, or dark tones, or big meanie henchmen guarding the entrance."
"It just looks so... uncool..."
"Not only that darling" -, added Rarity, - "the illumination is so poor you can barely see the entrance, said entrance has no contrasting colors to give it a proper decor, there is nothing surrounding the entrance that gives a magnifiqué style, everything with this entrance is such a drab it would be hard to think this is a villain lair."
"That's probably why it looks like that, so nopony suspects of this place" -. Twilight thought as she remembered the instruction given to her by Shining Armor. - "Alright girls" -, she said, - "remember, we enter, we look for places they could be hiding Spike, and wait for the guards to show up."
"Then we start kicking flanks" -, Rainbow said as she smashed her own hoofs, - "right?"
Twilight thought about and simply nodded, hoping that it is that simple.
"Alright girls" -, said Twilight with slight doubt on her voice, - "let's do this."
Twilight then knocked the door, and waited for a few minutes before noticing no one was going to open them.
"Not even somepony to open the door?" - Asked a disappointed Pinkie Pie. - "That's so lame."
Twilight opened the door, expecting to be greeted by an intimidating pony but, instead, she saw that nopony in particular was watching them. She noticed the pony at the bar noticed them entering, and it seemed it peeled its eyes after seeing them, but overall it didn't seem like security was important in the place.
As they looked around the place, Twilight decided to take note of the bar looked on the inside, a large red carpet below them, all the walls were covered in white stone (or at least it looked like it was painted) and with many chandeliers but with low lighting. They noticed a lot of ponies in the place, drinking and seeming to enjoy the relaxing music while the stage seemed to be performed by a very fat and a very thin pony. As Twilight watched, she and her friends decided to seat on a table located between the entrance and the stage show, picked the four menus located at the table and started to decide what to order while listening to the duo making their comedy skit.
"So who's on the third table?" - Said the fat pony.
"No, Who's on the first table" -. Said the thin pony.
"What?"
"What is on the second table."
"I don't know what is on the second table" -, the fat pony then looked around, - "nor where it is."
"Well, Where is on the third table"
And as the skit moved on, the ponies were laughing, it even seemed Pinkie was enjoying the show while Rarity seemed interested on the menu itself, trying to find something suitable to drink. In the meantime, Twilight tried to look around, searching for clues of where Greed may be hiding. As she looked around, she noticed a very familiar griffon on one of the corners of the bar.
"Rainbow" -, asked Twilight on a low tone of voice to the pegasus who seemed more interested on the comedy show than the operation itself, - "isn't that Gilda?"
Rainbow turned around and, to her surprise, Gilda was effectively there, she also seemed to notice them since she avoided looking at them while giving a vibe of not really wanting to be there.
"What is she doing here?" - Asked a confused Rainbow.
"My brother told me they had someone telling them information about the place" -, she inferred, - "so she probably is the one helping us."
"Does that mean Gilda is no longer a meanie?" - Asked a curious Pinkie Pie. - "I could throw her a party to be sure."
"We'll think about that later Pinkie dear" -, responded Rarity, - "for now, I think it would be best if we try to look less suspiscious by asking something to eat and drink."
She then made a gesture to indicate a waitress passing by to come and take their order.
"Hello!" - Said the earth pony stallion in a confident tone of voice. - "I'm Serving Principle, your waitress as you stay here" -, he then took out a note and pencil from his pockets. - "May I take your order?"
"Well, yes darling" -, Rarity then looked at her menu, - "for drink, I would like some sparkling soda, please."
As the stallion wrote down Rarity's order, Twilight's other friends started to look at the menus with more detail.
"Well, Ah would like some appletini before taking something strong."
"You're going to like it!" - Said the waitress with enthusiasm. - "Our batch of Appletinis are home made with apples grown on the Apple Farms."
This made Applejack to rise her eyebrows.
"Oh really, well, let's see if you can use mah family's apples well."
The waitress peeled his eyes as he understood the implication.
"Wait, you're a member from the Apple Family?" - Seeing Applejack nodding and presenting herself, the stallion looked exhilarated and remarked. - "Oh, what an honor, I hope you like how we treat your apples."
Applejack just smiled as Pinkie Pie came next.
"Oh, I would like to try this chocolate milk shakes, they sound yuppironi."
"We make them with some very special cocoa beans we cook on our own secret way here, I'm certain you'll find the taste unique."
"Uhm, well" -, said Fluttershy, - "I think some vanilla milkshake mixed with strawberries sounds fine, if you don't mind."
"Oh, excellent, we just started to make those, you will be among our first clients tasting them."
Hearing that made Fluttershy blush as she hid behind her mane, meanwhile, Rainbow decided to take her pick.
"Let's see, I want something strong" -, she then smiled as she found something that picked her interest, - "what is this 'rainbow fruit mixer'? Sounds interesting."
"That's one of our special drinks that we offer only once a week, it's a mixture of 7 special fruits that we secretly pick and blend together into a special shake that gives a color set similar to the rainbow."
Rainbow thought about it.
"What does 'once a week means'? That you'll only serve it today?"
The stallion nodded.
"Yes ma'am, after today, you'll have to wait another week before having the chance to drink it again."
Rainbow snickered as she heard this.
"Alright then, give me one."
Twilight, meanwhile, looked at some of the foods offered at the menu.
"Uhm, excuse me" -, seeing the waitress looking at her, she decided to ask, - "why do you have meat on the menu?"
For the first time, Twilight noticed a drop of sweat going through the stallion's muzzle.
"Well, we've been noticing that there are more than just ponies on this city, so we're trying to add meat-based food into our menu for potential new customers."
Twilight thought about it, it made sense, she has been noticing more griffons on Vanhoover lately.
"Alright then, I suppose that would be enough for now, I would like some iced Chamomille tea, please."
The stallion nodded and left the place quickly as Twilight and her friends got closer to speak together.
"So, what do you think?" - Asked a concerned Twilight to her friends.
"8.6/10 Too many liquids" -. Responded Pinkie Pie.
"What?" - Asked a confused Twilight, before going back on topic. - "No, I'm talking about how suspiscious you think this bar is?"
"Well" -, started Rarity, - "the outside may look ghastly, but the customer service is quite commendable."
"Yeah, if this is an evil lair" -, added Applejack, - "this fellas made a good job on looking like a normal bar."
"Yeah" -, added Pinkie Pie, - "even all those black circles looks cool."
Twilight decided to give the bar a second look and noticed that, effectively, all the walls, even the floor, had multiple black circles, all connected with small lines, surrounding them. It was an odd choice that left Twilight perplexed, but it did made the bar look more appealing.
The waitress reached then in that moment with their drinks, which the ponies started to drink with some doubts, just to be impressed at the quality of the drinks.
"Delightful" -, added Rarity as she drank from her sparkling soda, - "I'm quite impressed with the service here and this soda taste amazing" -. She took her time to enjoy her drink, noticing how her friends were also enjoying their respective drinks. - "Oh, I have to give my personal gratitude to whoever made this drinks possible."
"Oh my" -, said a very familiar voice next to Twilight and her friends, - "I must say" -, they all turned to the voice's origin just to see a purple dragon with green spikes, wearing a pair of shades, with open gloves and a very nice jacket covering his body, grinning smugly to them, - "I feel very gratified by being commended by one of the elements of harmony" -, he then took Rarity's right foreleg, while she was still in shock, and bent his head towards it, - "and I feel honored to have you visiting my humble business noble lady."
For a brief moment, Rarity blushed, but she quickly took her hoof back and started to look at the dragon with a frown, emotion that was quickly replicated by her friends.
"Do not try to win favor with your attempts of flattering" -. Rarity said as she was still blushing. - "You know very well you lost your ground in the moment you decided to keep Spike locked inside his own body."
Last time the subject was brought up, Twilight remembered, Greed seemed frustrated as he kept on saying that he was the new owner of Spike's body. Instead, this time, he kept grinning as he picked up a chair and sat between Rainbow Dash and Applejack, right in front of Twilight and Rarity.
"Really?" - Greed asked with a tone that sounded with a mixture of legit curiosity and just wanting to see where would this argument would lead now. - "So it would've been better to let Chrysalis take over Canterlot?"
All the mares scowled at his question, as if the only possibilities for Greed were to let Chrysalis take over or him taking over Spike's body.
"Don't act as if you couldn't share the body with Spike" -. Said Fluttershy in a very stern tone of voice. - "There was no need for you to keep him inside the body and only letting him out if you say so" -. She then gave Greed a stare that, if it affected him, Greed didn't show it, and she added. - "Spike deserves to have a happy life, especially if it comes to use his own body."
"Yeah" -. Added Pinkie, almost shouting, although many ponies, and Gilda, were starting to pay attention to the discussion the mares and the bar's owner were having. - "If you had chosen to stay with us, maybe we would have helped you to adapt to Equestria while I made you a party for defeating that meanie Chrysalis."
"Not only that" -. Added Twilight with some frustration in her voice. - "We would've even tried to help you have your own body, there was no need for you to keep Spike's body for yourself" -. She then added, noticing Greed's smug smile faltered after hearing her say that. - "We could've even been friends, why don't you try to come with us peacefully?"
Greed looked at Twilight's plead for a brief moment, Twilight herself wondering if Spike was trying to reason with him on the inside and, if so, she hoped all of this could be fixed peacefully, without having to resort to violence.
"That sounds..." - Greed started to say, his tone of voice wavering, as if he wasn't really expecting that proposition, he then started to give his smug smile, this time showing his teeth, and responded. - "Really boring."
Twilight's friends were shocked after hearing that, never expecting Greed to reject such offer.
"You really think I came here just to have a happy life? To have parties, never worrying about the future? To have friends at every corner of the street as I parrot of how you can have a good life if you follow the teachings of friendship as if this was some boring story were everything goes well to everyone?" - He then started to laugh for a bit, after that, he looked at Twilight with a serious look and responded with a grave tone of voice. - "You really don't know me girl."
"Girl?" - Twilight thought, wondering what was that term used for.
"I'm not a simple pony, I am Greed, I want everything that I can grab and that which I can't grab is what I want the most" -. He then looked at the ponies and said while wearing his smug smile. - "You think I stopped Chrysalis because I was some noble hero? That I wanted to beat the bad guy because of altruism?" - He then started to show his fanged teeth and he made a big laugh. - "Ha! Don't make me laugh" -. He then looked at Twilight with a serious face, not noticing Applejack looking at him with a raised eyebrow. - "I only did it because Chrysalis was standing my way."
"Standing on your way?" - Asked Pinkie. - "What do you mean by that?"
Greed kept on grinning as usual, but the mares couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow more sinister as he spoke.
"I have an ambition, a desire, something I want dearly. Chrysalis was in the way of that and I found it far more convenient to take her out" -. He then looked at Twilight directly on her eyes, the scholar unicorn feeling a dark gaze coming from his eyes covered by the shades as he spoke. - "Adding that she reminded me of my brother Envy, who I despise, it wasn't very hard to take her out of the picture."
By this point his presence no longer felt normal, all of Twilight's friends felt as if they were talking to a creature far more dangerous than Chrysalis, and if it was true that he got rid of her, then they had a potentially good indicator of how he could've won the control over the changelings.
"And..." - Asked Fluttershy, now having problems to look at Greed directly to the eyes. - "wh-what is what you want...?"
She hid behind her mane in the moment Greed looked at her, it was the same kind of view a predator gave before going after its prey, and his response felt just as threatening.
"I want everything."
It took Twilight a few seconds to try to digest the simple answer.
But she had to be sure.
"What... do you mean by... everything?"
Twilight would never forget the dreading feeling coming from Greed as he smiled, his fangs showing up, and he started to confirm her fears.
"Every single thing you can imagine, from books, to cities, to jewelry, to even power. I want to own everything I can grasp, including the throne."
Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack moved closer to Greed, while giving him a glare that spoke miles about what they were wanting to do to him, not that Greed seemed to be even shivering of it.
"Do you really think you can defeat Princess Celestia?" - Asked Rainbow Dash on a threatening tone. - "Just because you defeated Chrysalis doesn't mean you can defeat her, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence."
"Not only that" -, added Applejack, - "do you really think everypony is going to accept you as their new prince after dethroning the princesses? They are very beloved and nopony would ever accept them being replaced by someone like you."
Greed just scoffed at this, as if this wasn't an obstacle to him.
"That's not a problem for me, I can just wait until the ponies are convinced that I am their best choice, after all, who do you think could do a better job to protect them, the one who defeated the changelings, or the one who was defeated by them?"
By this point all of the element bearers were looking at him ready to fight, or at least stare him to submission in the case of Fluttershy, but Greed still seemed as if they weren't a threat to him.
"And what makes you think Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would even consider to submit their throne to someone as brute and undignified as you?"
Rarity would never know how many "ponies" were giving her a deathly glare, on that bar, for saying that.
"Perhaps not now" -, responded Greed, - "but with enough time, they would have to do it because the ponies themselves would demand it from them."
"Demand it from them?" - Almost shouts Twilight, in a mixture of shock, indignation and anger at to what Greed was insinuating. - "Why would the ponies would ever consider you as a better choice than the princesses?"
Twilight would never forget Greed's smile as he said that. His fangs were showing up, he held his claws together as if he had control of the situation, his figure seemed to have slightly grown in that moment and it looked like his eyes were shining through the shades.
"Given enough time, they will be convinced, and I have plenty of time to prepare for that moment."
While this conversation was going on, unbeknown to Twilight, the comedic duo of the fat pony and the skinny pony was over and they were soon replaced by a pony Twilight's friends would've found very familiar, with her magic wand as a cutie mark, her boasting personality and her always talking in third person. She was making her show by, first, showing basic illusion spells and, by the time Twilight was about to jump at Greed, she was starting to ask for members of the audience for her most impressive spells.
At the same time, unbestknown to Greed, a lot of ponies were slowly entering into the bar, filling the seats. At the start, it was one or two every 5 minutes, then, when Greed showed up and started to talk with Twilight and her friends, it was now one stallion every minute and, by the time Greed's conversation with Twilight was getting to its most important moment, practically all the seats were covered, something Greed's staff (including Gilda) were noticing with lots of nerves.
And while Greed and Twilight were talking, there was a particular duo of ponies besides Twilight's table, one of them was a pegasus stallion with a blue mane and an orange coat, while the other was a red coated earth pony stallion with a green mane. They were both listening intently, waiting for the right moment to give the sign that would start the operation.
"You have plenty of time?" - Asked a confused Twilight. - "What do you mean by that?"
Greed only made a light chuckle and added in a mysterious tone of voice that got Twilight, and her friends', attention.
"Your princesses aren't the only immortals on this world anymore."
In that moment, Trixie was calling for everyone's attention to make one of her especial tricks, the waitresses were bringing the drinks to multiple clients, the bartender was pushing a bottom below the table and both Twilight and Greed were about to make a move right when a single stallion's voice was heard across the whole room.
"Now!"
In that moment the majority of ponies lifted up and started to move against all the other civilian ponies or went behind the doors located besides the bartender. Many of the ponies on the bar, especially the workers, were tackled and arrested while more and more guards started to surround Greed, Gilda herself tackled Trixie and put a ring into her horn while more and more guards went into the back door, shoutings and screamings heard all the while Greed was still seating, smug grin finally gone, and Twilight and her friends were looking at him with a grin of victory on their faces.
"I'm surprised I didn't see this coming."
"Really!?" - Asked a baffled Twilight. - "You take Spike, you harm my friends, you just confessed us that you were planning on dethroning Celestia and you didn't think we wouldn't do something about it?"
"Well, after seeing how easy it was for the changelings to infiltrate on your ranks... yeah."
As Greed looked around, he saw more and more guards now circling him, spears and unicorn horns aiming at him, as one of the guards got close to Greed and took out a pair of hoofcuffs.
"Greed, you are under arrest for foalnapping, conspiring against the crown and working with the enemy."
"Hey, what do you mean by 'working with the enemy'?"
"You have been working with changelings, who are also working with the invader Queen Chrysalis."
Greed gave the guard a good look, he gave the same emotion of a young guard, filled with hope and ready to do his duty. He grinned.
"Well, I guess you have evidence for all of this, right?"
The guard snorted and practically dismissed Greed.
"I have no reason to talk to you criminal."
He then started to push Greed towards the door while the element bearers were showing different emotions, Twilight herself was feeling nice, seeing that no violence was needed, emotion replicated by Fluttershy; Rarity felt proud of being able to help on the recovering of Spike, while both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were showing slight disappointment at not being able to give Greed a good hoof to the face; Pinkie Pie, meanwhile was starting to have a nagging feeling on the back of her left eye, like something was off about this.
"Twilight" -, Pinkie whispered, - "something doesn't feel right."
"What do you mean?"
Pinkie got closer to Twilight and aimed at her left eye.
"I don't know, my left eye is nagging me, like there's something important going on and we're ignoring it."
"Oh, come on Pinks" -. Rainbow Dash responded. - "He has been arrested, there are plenty of guards here how could this possibly turn around for him?"
"What is the meaning of all this!?"
Everyone turned around to the bar's stage to see a very annoyed blue mare with a wand as a cutie mark looking at the Royal Guard with indignation on her face.
"Trixie?" - Asked Twilight, not noticing when did she showed up. - "What are you doing here?" - She then noticed Trixie wearing a nullifying ring. - "And why are you wearing that?"
"Well, Sparkle" -, responded Trixie, while saying Twilight's name with a level of venom that Twilight never heard on her life, - "after losing my credibility, thanks to your friends, Trixie tried to keep making shows from town to town, but in everytown Trixie went, she was mocked and ridiculed" -. She then looked at Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity with deep hatred. - "It took Trixie months to start recovering her audience, all thanks to this gentledragon, who decided to give Trixie a chance worthy of her might."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already starting to give Trixie the stink eye while Rarity tried to argue with her.
"Dear Trixie, have you listened to what the guard said, this... thing, has been accused of conspiring against Princess Celestia, can't you consider that something suspiscious has been forming while you were performing here?"
Trixie just snorted.
"Ridiculous, The Great and Powerful Trixie has been extremely careful with who to deal with and Mr. Greed hasn't done anything of the sort."
The guard that arresting Greed moved towards Trixie and asked.
"If that's so, would you then come with us to give your testimony on the matter?"
For a brief moment, Trixie gave a look that showed doubt, but she nodded.
"Trixie agrees, there is nothing to worry about here, sir...?"
"Flash Sentry, ma'am."
"Oh, Trixie sees you're quite the gentlestallion."
Twilight's friends rolled their eyes at the exchange, certain that Trixie had some kind of deal with Greed, they just had to figure it out.
"Now, lady, would you please come with us?" - Flash then turned to his partner. - "Go inside the establishment and see why the guards are taking so long to come back."
Right as his fellow guard was going to enter, Trixie stood on her barelegs and practically shouted.
"But before we leave, The Great and Powerful Trixie will end her show" -. Rainbow Dash was going to shout but, before anypony could say anything, Trixie followed her statement. - "For The Great and Powerful Trixie is a professional and she will end her show."
She then clapped her hooves, causing Greed to smirk, with only Trixie and Gilda seeing, and brought then to the floor, her hooves touching the circle on the stage.
In that moment, the circle on the stage was filled with light, which then moved towards the lines connecting all the circles on the bar, turning them all on, creating a chain reaction that shocked all the ponies in the place, not giving any of them time to react, as the circles started to form smoke, reshaped the walls and floor, or even even created small hooves that grabbed any guard close to the walls and captured them.
By the time Twilight opened her eyes, she saw Trixie trying to remove the nullifying ring on her horn, and shouting to Gilda.
"Help Trixie take this ring out! Was it really necessary to put it?"
"If I didn't the guards would've suspected me, now shut up and stay still!"
Twilight, who was still trying to make sense of what just happened, quickly looked back at Greed, who had the cuffs broken with extreme ease and was moving towards the back of the bar. He then looked back at Twilight and said with his usual smirk.
"Well, this was an entertaining reencounter, but if you excuse me, I made a promise of never allowing my property to ever be taken away from me again, and I plan to follow through."
But, before he could even get past the door, the ground took shape and lifted itself up in the shape of bars, surrounding and trapping Greed from passing to the back of the bar. He then turned back, with an actual face of shock on his face, with Twilight smirking at that as Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood besides her.
"What did you just do?" - Asked a still shocked Greed.
"That was alchemy" -. Said Twiligt with complete pride. - "Don't you recognize it? It is what was discovered in ancient equestrian history" -. Applejack cracked the bones in her neck and legs while Rainbow Dash cracked the bones on her wings, both ready to charge at Greed while Twilight continued her speech. - "It was the result of Spike's help and it will be what help us stop you right now, so this is your final warning Greed: surrender now!"
"Or prepare to get your tail kicked" - Said Rainbow Dash, bravado filling her at the chance of getting back at Greed for the hit he gave her back at Canterlot.
Instead of seeing him afraid, Greed did what Twilight expected of him, he smirked, as if she and her friends weren't a threat to him, and, as his black scales started to grow from his arms, broke the jail like structure created by Twilight. He then started to move towards Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, black scales covering now both arms completely, as he said with complete confidence.
"Bring it!"