“Have you got the goods?” spoke a gruff voice. The torches in the Manehatten sewers made small patches of light for ponies to move. Against the walls, three shadows moved like a puppet show.
“Yeah, I’ve got it,” spoke another voice. It was gravelly and scratchy, yet lighter than the other. “When have I not?”
“Let’s just get this over with,” a third voice piped. Unlike the other two, this voice was feminine, yet monotone. “The sooner this is done, the better.”
“Right,” the first voice agreed. In the light, the shadows began to move. The silhouette of griffon brought down its talons and placed a small box between them as the other two shadows, two ponies, placed down a large sack. “There’s your cut, check it if you want,” the griffon muttered, lifting the sack before leaving, their silhouettes disappearing from sight.
The two ponies stayed still for a short while before a held breath was released. “Damn, thought we would be goners! Those eyes sure are piercing,” the gravelly voice spoke.
“Now’s not the time, Lock,” spoke the mare. “We still have a job to do. Take the box, we need to leave before the guard patrol returns.”
As the stallion placed the box on his back, the two silhouettes began to trot in the opposite direction, leaving the sounds of water to echo across the sewers.
~=~
At a small office, two ponies entered the room of a dark blue stallion, his hooves placed together at his desk. The first to enter was a brown stallion with a short, ginger mane and a keyhole for a cutie mark. He was soon followed by a lime pegasus mare. Her violet mane was straight and slid down one side of her head. It had been carefully cut straight to shoulder-length while her tail showed lots of time had been spent keeping it groomed and clean. Lastly, her own cutie mark was a row of books in a wheel.
A smile graced Lock’s lips as he cheerily spoke, “Hey boss, we’re back!”
“Lock, Stop, welcome back. I see you have the payment,” the blue stallion exclaimed.
“Of course,” the mare, Stop, answered. “The griffon at the rendezvous was much more to the point than the others, something I can respect.”
Lock lifted the small box from his back and placed it on the desk for the blue stallion. Opening it, inside was a large sum of bits, placed in small bundles for easier transport and organizing. After a short time of the stallion at the desk inspecting the payment, he gave a slow nod, removed some of the money and pushed it across the desk for the two in front of him.
“Look like we got paid properly, no signs of mishandling or lack of care from the griffons, good work,” he congratulated, a small smile at a job well done. His demeanour quickly became more sombre however as he spoke again. “Now then, before you leave with your payment, there is something I must discuss with you both.”
“What is it?” Stop asked. “Do you have another job for us?”
“Indeed. I’m sure you both know about Keen Gaze and Cold Tang, yes?”
Those two? What about ‘em?” Lock asked, brow raised.
A sigh left the stallion, placing his chin against his hooves. “They have seemingly vanished. The last I heard from them, they were collecting payment from some of our debtors. That was two days ago, I have not heard from them since.”
“Is it not possible they decided to lea-” Stop began to ask before being interrupted by Lock. His voice was lower, more calculated than before and his smile had vanished.
“No, they wouldn’t do something like that. I used to work with them and while they may value money, they always finished their work. Those two wouldn’t just run off with the money, they’re loyal and reliable,” he posited.
“Not once have those two failed to finish a job,” the boss acknowledged. “Keen Gaze’s speed and durability made him particularly effective at hit and run tactics or pushing an offensive, his experience as a guard also gave him quite dangerous in combat. Cold Tang was adept with quick casting. Specifically, shield spells. Her defensive abilities made her a powerful defence in dangerous situations and her knowledge of long-range combat spells gave her a powerful range of counterattacks. Together, those two would be difficult for anyone to defeat and made them a perfect team for dangerous missions and escapades. It’s hard for me to see them losing a fight.”
Opening a cabinet beside him, the blue stallion placed a small note on the desk, moving it forward for his two compatriots to see. The note was blue with a golden border. The symbol of an open book placed on the back. Reading the note, Lock and Stop’s expressions changed from one of curiosity to one of confusion.
“Why are you showing us this?” Stop asked, bemused.
“Read closer,” Lock pointed. “This place doesn’t call itself a library, it calls itself The Library. Seems if you want any books though, you have to complete some sort of ‘ordeal’.
“Indeed,” the boss nodded. “What’s more, look at the books of the day.”
Stop’s eyes widened as she read the final words on the bottom of the invitation. She was quickly joined by Lock as the words stared up at them. Book of Keen Gaze and Book of Cold Tang. Looking back to their boss, a frown had crossed his face.
Lock was the first to speak. “Boss, no, Cobblestone, what are you saying we do?”
“I’m sure you both have figured it out,” Cobblestone answered. “We are going to try to save them. They were the only ponies who could get things done across Equestria, our work will be greatly reduced without them, and I’m sure those griffons aren’t going to like that.”
“Are you sure?” Stop questioned. “We don’t have to save them, there must be some other ponies who could take this sort of work and I’m sure the griffons would be able to help us, they can be lenient.”
“Not in this case. The griffons will just assume we are wasting their time and they have other companies working for them. Any sign that we can’t do our job and we become the weakest link. They don’t have to work with us if they think we are failing. That’s why we need to go there,” Cobblestone explained.
“Alright, count me in then,” Lock smiled. “If we’re going to save those two, I can’t wait to give them a good ribbing.”
“It doesn’t seem I have much of a choice in this,” Stop muttered. “I will join as well. I am expecting to be compensated for this, however.”
“Very well,” Cobble nodded. “Let’s show them what we’ve got.”
~☁~
“So those last two were working with these guys?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“It seems so,” Angela responded, “Though these three don’t seem quite as violent. I wonder why they are working for the griffons though, would it not be more lucrative to do any other work? I’d assume with their skills, they would be able to find more effective work elsewhere.”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.
“I found out a small amount of information about ‘Cutie Marks’ while reading through the books. My understanding of it is limited but from what I can see, Lock’s cutie mark shows he has some knowledge and skill in regards to keys and locks. Could he not find work making such?”
“Well, he probably could, but ponies usually don’t want to hire criminals.” Rainbow explained. “If he has any sort of record, he may have had more trouble getting a job. That or there’s just a lot of locksmiths around already,” Rainbow snickered.
“Same goes for those other two. I’m surprised they decided to do this though, the royal guard is usually very strict about this sort of stuff. How long have they been doing this and how have they been able to get away with it?” Rainbow questioned. Rainbow Dash landed back on the ground, her body had since returned to its original state since taking the book of Keen Gaze.
A curious look crossed Angela’s face as she looked at the cyan pegasus. “You seem much calmer, miss Dash,” Angela examined.
“Yeah,” Rainbow acknowledged, “I took some time to think and I got a reason to fight now.”
“I see. I suggest you head up and prepare to greet our guests,” angela dismissed.
“On it,” rainbow replied, quickly flying off with a rainbow blur.
A sigh left angela’s lips, left with a thought. ”what is that pony planning?”
~א~
A loud snap crossed the entrance of the library as three ponies entered. A whistle broke through the hall as Lock surveyed the area. “Quite a lot of books, aren’t there? Boss, think we could take a few of these with us as well?”
Cobble simply huffed, “perhaps another day, for now, we must get Keen Gaze and Cold Tang.”
Investigating more closely, Stop picked up a book before responding, “there is no point in taking them, most of them are just gibberish.”
Another snap pierced the silence of the room as the three ponies all looked to the now occupied front of the room. In front of them stood a strange bipedal creature, its one hand holding a book while its other hand hung limply by its side. The creatures skin was icy pale like porcelain and its sky blue hair helped to contrast its yellow eyes, which seemed to pierce through their souls.
“Greetings, dear guests and welcome to The Library. I am angela, the director and librarian of my role’s namesake.”
Cobble was the first to speak, clearing his voice as he looked up at the creatures face. “Hello, I am Cobblestone and these are my associates. Your invitation said you know of two ponies, Keen Gaze and Cold Tang. I believe you know what happened to them, am I correct?”
“That is correct,” angela nodded. “They were here recently in fact. If you wish to gain their books, I suggest you head onwards to earn them.”
“What the hell are you?” Lock spoke up, a scowl adorning his features. “What kind of creature are you meant to be? I mean, you have some of the features of a minotaur or monkey, but then other parts of you look like some sort of doll. What are you? No, that doesn’t matter, what I want to know exactly what you did with Keen and Cold. Where are they and what did you do to them?” Lock interrogated.
Angela’s frown hardened as silence reigned. Taking a moment to look to the other two ponies, they had gone quiet, looking between Angela and their cohort. “If you must know, they failed to beat their ordeal and were turned into books as is stated in the invitation you were given, if you wish to acquire them, then you must succeed where they failed.”
“And what if we don’t do that, what if we just fight you here?” Lock argued.
Sighing, Angela leered at the brown pony. “May you find your book in this place,” Angela answered before disappearing.
~☁~
Standing at the ready, Rainbow Dash stretched her wings as she stared at the entrance. Her brow furrowed as she watched. She had done this before, and two on one no less, however, she had only been able to do so after pushing herself to the edge and almost died in the process. This time, she was not only fighting three ponies but three ponies who knew what they were doing. Three ponies who knew what it took to win, three ponies putting their lives on the line for their friends.
”Stop it,” Rainbow chastised as she shook her head. ”There’s no point in thinking about that, if we’re getting out of here, we have to win.”
Looking back to the entrance, Rainbow Dash’s muscles tensed as Lock, Stop and Cobblestone entered the floor. As they looked around, seeing the cyan pegasus in from of them, Cobblestone smiled.
“So you’re the person we have to fight?” Lock inquired. “Doesn’t seem like this will be too hard. Just got to beat you up, get those books and head home in time for supper!”
“Don’t expect it to be that easy,” Rainbow grinned, spreading her wings.
“It seems I will have to counter her flight,” Stop exclaimed. “Prepare for my signal, you know what to do.”
Silence filled the room as they all waited, muscles tense and minds concentrated.
Taking the initiative, Rainbow Dash was the first to act, flying forwards towards Lock before being intercepted by Stop, who quickly moved to stomp at Dash’s chest. Rainbow dash responded quickly, however, pushing herself upwards before the attack could collide. With a huff, Stop quickly followed suit into the air as Rainbow Dash flew for the brown earth pony.
Prepared, Lock tensed his body, turning around right as Rainbow Dash entered his range and kicked back. Too close to the stallion, Rainbow Dash had only enough time to redirect the strike as Lock bucked her in the barrel, sending her hurtling back.
It took a few seconds for Rainbow Dash to regain control of her flight, a few seconds being all the time Stop needed however to attack the dazed mare. Reaching the cyan pegasus, her hindleg struck true as she kicked her barrel, redirecting her momentum towards Cobblestone.
With a smirk, cobblestone pulled back a hoof, waited for Dash to get closer, it punched forward. He was not so lucky however as Rainbow Dash used her momentum to push herself faster. Deflecting the punch upwards, Rainbow Dash Retaliated with her own, pushing the air out of Cobblestones chest before tackling him and pushing him to the ground.
Continuing her assault, Rainbow Dash lifted Cobblestone by the barrel before dropping him back down against the floor. Seeing the danger, Lock ran forward, passing Stop as he did so, and struck Dash’s side, knocking her back and making her falter in her assault. Quickly moving away, Rainbow dash looked behind her before flying backwards, evading another strike from Stop.
Each of the ponies huffed in exhaustion, the attacks and movement beginning to wear on them. The fight swiftly continued however as Lock and Stop moved to help lift Cobblestone back while Rainbow Dash took back to the air.
The fight continued as rainbow flew back down, aiming this time for Stop. The pegasus had too little time to react and was quickly pinned down as rainbow dash struck. Pushing her hind legs against the floor to quickly turn her momentum on Lock.
Blood fell from his lip as Dash’s hoof struck true, striking with a haymaker and launching Lock across the room. With Rainbow Dash still preoccupied on the strike, Cobblestone ran forward, punching her abdomen before grabbing her from behind and tackling her to the ground.
Rainbow Dash quickly retaliated, headbutting the stallion and striking with an uppercut. The blow successfully knocked down the stallion and let him open to attack. Taking the opportunity, Rainbow Dash grabbed Cobblestone before lifting them both up.
As Cobblestone tried to fight back, Rainbow Dash held tight, diving straight down. Panic struck cobblestones mind as he struggled to escape and only as the two were about to reach the ground did Rainbow Dash let go, righting herself as Cobblestone hit the ground with a crash.
Light fluttered up from the crater where Cobblestone once was and both Lock and Stop stared wide-eyed as they saw the pegasus flying closer.
“Move it!” yelled Lock, snapping Stop out of her stupor, as he prepared for the rainbow blur rushing towards him.
Time seemed to crawl as Lock watched Rainbow Dash moving in his direction, her speed creating a visible barrier of wind around her. As Dash came within range, Lock pushed himself, launching his forehooves off the ground and pushing himself out of the trajectory of the speeding blur. At that same time, Locks hoof struck true, striking Rainbow Dash’s flank and pushing off her direction.
The impact was enough to destabilize her, causing Rainbow Dash to hit the ground with a thud and scrape across the ground. Lifting her head, her body was haggard, panting and sucking in air like her life depended on it. Her vision had become blurry and she had difficulty standing up.
Knowing the danger, Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes, pushing her body to keep going. As her last two opponents came closer, she prayed for the strength to continue.
“Looks like you couldn’t beat us all after all,” Lock taunted, breathing heavily but still trudging forward. Stop followed him, limping as her hooves loudly hit the floor.
Looking to Rainbow Dash, Lock saw she was mumbling yet. Tired as he was, he walked forward. “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”
“I said I’m not done yet!” Rainbow shouted. Launching herself forward, she tackled Lock to the ground. Adrenaline coursed through her as she raised her hooves and punched as fast and as hard as she could against the stallion beneath her.
Lock coughed and hacked as he was struck, over and over again, trying to raise his hooved to defend himself, but it was little use. As his hooves hit the ground once more, his body dissipated, light fluttering up into the air as Rainbow dash took deep breaths.
With horror in her eyes, Stop pushed herself up, her wings burning as she flew up into the air and looked down at the cyan monster below. Rage fueled her as Stop flew down, hooves outstretched to strike at the pony below. As she flew closer, Rainbow dash looked up. Her eyes widened as she felt her jaw get pushed back, thrown back by the force of a punch from Stop.
As both pegasi regained their momentum, both flew. Their wings outstretched to strike and both reaching their limits. In one final move, they struck and as the wind settled around them, only Rainbow Dash remained.
~❇~
The quill hastily moved as twilight willed it, writing as fast as she could before sealing a scroll and teleporting it with a spell that Celestia had taught her so long ago, one meant only to use in emergencies. as she let go of a breath she had not realized she had been holding, she wiped the sweat from her brow and returned to her notes. notes that had since become that much more extensive.
Celestia had been caring for the day court when the letter had appeared. She had quickly relieved the court for the day when she received it. Unsure of its contents, but sure of its purpose, her eyes widened as she opened it and read the short message that Twilight had written.
Dear Princess Celestia
I need your help, I fear that a new danger has come to Equestria and I fear they may have kidnapped Rainbow Dash.