//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Catching the Gold Stealer // Story: Element of Balance // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// Fire, the mares, Vine Archer, and Silver Javelin all sat on the train going to Canterlot. Spike had remained behind as someone needed to watch Twilight’s library. The same went for the rest of Fire’s guards. "We're going to need a plan for this," Twilight said. "If anything goes wrong and Gold Steel realizes what we're doing he'll teleport away and we'll never be able to find him.” Fire nodded. "You're right." "Eh, let’s just break his horn and he'll be able to use magic," Rainbow said. "Right?" "Umm... that seems a bit extreme," Fluttershy said. "Yes, Steel maybe a thieving and killing ruffian but we shouldn't maim him in such a horrendous way!" Rarity agreed. "Then what should we do?" Applejack asked. "Why are they even here?" Vine Archer asked from the guard’s corner of the train. "This is a job for us royal guards!" "They may wield the Elements of Harmony but that doesn't give them law enforcement badges," Silver Javelin muttered in agreement. "They should only be used against VERY serious threats!" Fire heard them mutter something and looked over. "You guys have something you want to add?" "Oh um, we were just thinking it might be better if these mares were to stay out of this. No need for them to recklessly endanger themselves," Vine said. "Thank for your concern good sirs, but each of us are capable of defending ourselves," Rarity said with a charming smile. "I'm not!" Fluttershy said timidly. "Most of us are anyway," Applejack replied. Fire put a hoof on Fluttershy. "Don't worry, Flutters. I'm to protect you." She smiled at him. "Thanks Fire." "If you would prefer to sit this one out it's okay. I know you're not a fighter." "I still want to help," she insisted. "But I don't know how." "Well, you know how to care for ponies right?" Fire asked. "I've treated animals," she said. "And ponies aren't too different." "Okay, if anypony is injured you can hopefully patch them up. Until we get them to the infirmary." She smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Fire.” The yellow Pegasus pressed her head against the neck of the white alicorn with a blush. Fire smiled and returned the nuzzle. All their friends smiled, except for Rarity who frowned. They soon arrived in Canterlot and made their way up to the castle where they found Celestia on her throne. "You are sure this is one of the royal guards?" the ruler asked seriously. "Yes Mother," Fire said. "Twilight's spell detected him!” Twilight lit up her horn and showed an image of the pony that her spell detected. "He teleported right at the same time. There are few ponies in Equestria that are capable of doing that spell." Celestia nodded. "And Gold Steel is one of them. He's probably one of the most skilled magic user, in the royal guard Twilight. I suppose even my royal guard isn't perfect. If Steel is indeed this thief, then we will need to detain him. That will prove difficult since he can teleport." "We need to find some way to disable his magic!" Rainbow Dash said. "There are magical dampening rings that can prevent that when put on a unicorn's horn,” Celestia said. “I keep them in the armory for when we have to deal with unicorns like this.” She led them into the Royal Guard Armory. “Wow! So Awesome!” Rainbow Dash said as she admired the many pieces of armor and weapons on the walls. “A bit of a ruffian room, but still sophisticated,” Rarity said as she too admired the golden armor while narrowing her eyes at most of the weapons. “Spears and axes are just so primitive. A truly elegant weapon… now that’s a sword!” Fire Sword chuckled at the indirect praise. “Swords are the most versatile they say, but others have their purpose. Axes chop wood much better than swords.” “I suppose,” Rarity acknowledging while rolling her eyes. “Still not as graceful though.” Celestia then stopped at a case containing a number of rings. She opened and levitated several rings out that she gave to each of them. “I’ll check the guard records find out where Steel is stationed. Then you can all approach him. You have the tracking spell ready?” Twilight spoke now. “Uh… I don’t I actually know the spell yet!” Celestia smiled. “Well, you should have no problem finding it in the library or the castle archives. Though I might recommend you visit the former!” Fire looked at her in surprise. They headed to the Canterlot library and asked for a tracking spell that would allow them to follow their target no matter where they went. As they climbed a bookcase with the librarian. As they walked to the spell book section though, Fire noticed a yellow unicorn with a red and purple mane. “Moondancer?” he asked. The unicorn looked up. “Oh! Fire! Twilight!” She bowed her head and got up from her seat to give her two Canterlot friends hugs. “So good to see you! What brings you to Canterlot?” she asked them. Fire hesitated. “Uh, law enforcement business. We found out who the unicorn thief who can teleport is.” They quickly told her. “Oh my! A traitor to the royal guard?” Moondancer repeated in surprise. “Is there anything I can do to help?” “No! That won’t be necessary miss,” Vine Archer said. “I’m sure the prince, element bearers, and we the prince’s guards can handle this.” “Hold on,” Fire put up his hoof. “Moondancer you’re pretty skilled with magic. Maybe you can help. It will be dangerous though.” She smiled. “Danger, ha! I laugh in the face of danger! Ha ha ha!” “You’re quoting the Cat King!” Fire said with a grin. “Yeah,” Moondancer returned the grin. “Of course that’s not really me! I’m sure you’d laugh in the face of danger though.” “Maybe a little on the inside,” he admitted. "So do I!" Rainbow Dash said. “But I don’t want you to get hurt.” She hesitated then spoke with determination. “If I can use my magic for the good of Equestria like you and Twilight, I want to. If there’s a problem I can teleport, at least a short distance.” “Okay,” Fire reluctantly agreed. He knew that Twilight was skilled with magic, she’d given him a challenge during some of their magic practice. Moondancer had been present at a few of those sessions, but she had gone down rather quickly when it turned to combat. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, even Rarity were all capable in their own ways. He couldn’t speak for Pinkie Pie as she was so silly, she’d probably do something comedic in an attempt to fight. Might be amusing, but he couldn’t guarantee it would be effective. “How can I help?” Moondancer said. “We need a spell,” Twilight said. “With many of us casting, I’m sure at least will be able to get him!” They soon found the spell and after a brief session, all the magic users were able to cast it. Fire, Twilight, Rarity and Moondancer all lit up their horns. Red, lavender, blue, and white all shined and soon. Fire’s spell hit Twilight at the same time Rarity’s hit Moondancer. Twilight and Moondancer returned the favor, hitting the ones who’d caught them with the spells. It did no harm as these were merely tracking spells. “Uh, my horn feels like it’s on fire!” Rarity exclaimed before giggling at the pony with that name. “Uh, no pun intended!” Fire chuckled. “Our horns will get hotter the closer we are to the object… or creature we’re tracking. This was used to tag criminals in case they got away. It can also be shared with other ponies. If just one of us can hit Steel with it, we can share this spell with Pegasi, they’ll get a warm head instead of a horn. Not the quickest option but it can work in the long run if Steel is tagged.” “But isn’t there a way to break this spell?” Twilight asked. “Not without my mother’s permission. That’s a carefully guarded spell that only she and hoof picked ponies access to from the archives. Good thing, cause if Steel knew how to get rid of it, we’d be wasting time,” Fire said. “Well let’s go and get him!” Rainbow Dash said loudly as she had sat around bored at a nearby table. “Shh!” a pony reading nearby said. “Let’s,” Fire agreed. They made their way back to the throne room where Princess Celestia still sat. “We have the spell, Mom!” “We have the spell, Princess!” Fire and Twilight looked at each other in surprise. Then they chuckled. “That’s good,” Celestia said. “But I’m afraid I have some slightly bad news.” “What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Has Gold Steel left the city?” “No, but he’s preparing to,” Celestia said. “He says he’s moving to a place in the countryside. Not too Ponyville but a similar area.” Fire frowned. “He must be using the money he stole to buy a new place.” “So, this is all just about getting himself a fancy smancy home!” Applejack said. “That greedy pony! He threatens little fillies and murders his own friends for that!” “They obviously weren’t his friends,” Twilight said. “He must have just been using them to get what he wanted.” “Well, we better get him before he leaves!” Rainbow Dash said. “I think I have an idea!” Rarity said. They heard her out and Fire didn’t like it. Not that it was a bad plan, but he didn’t it. Mainly because it involved her… flirting with Steel. “It could work,” he admitted through gritted teeth. “I do have a gift for possessing a certain feminine charm,” Rarity said batting her eyelashes and throwing her head back so her mane flew for an instant. Fire had to agree. He felt his cheeks flush as she displayed her beauty. What a mare. But he frowned as he thought of her showing it to that no-good stallion. He approached her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I want you to be careful. That pony has already killed three others! I don’t want anything to happen to you!” “Fear not good prince!” Rarity assured him. “I’m sure with you… and all our other dear friends of course… we will be fine.” Fire looked at the others. Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight all wore confident smiles. Pinkie grinned happily. Fluttershy was nervous, and the two guards stood stoic and calm. “Nothing to worry about!” the party pony said. “We’ve got a plan to seduce and then reduce this thief to a pony behind bars!” “Better have a back-up plan just in case,” Fire said. “Can’t take any chances with this teleporter. If only there were a spell, we could use to prevent him from doing that.” “Maybe I can invent one!” Twilight said. “There might be a stone or artifact or something!” “We’ll worry about that later,” Celestia said. “For now, catch the magical thief my little ponies!” “Right away mother!” Fire Sword said. A moment later, he led the mares and his guards out of the throne room. They headed to where Celestia said Gold Steel was stationed for today. An area on the outside of the castle across from the gardens. Fire flew around from above and looked down, seeing the unicorn was indeed there. He returned and looked at Vine Archer. “He’s there, get into position.” Vine saluted his prince and headed up the stairs of the battlements above. Fire then led the rest of them to the pathway going to the gardens. Soon their traitor came into view. “Go, Rarity,” Fire said reluctantly as he and the others stayed out of sight behind the nearby wall. The white unicorn made her way over to the thief as he stood there in the armor that he had no right to wear proudly, a spear in his hoof. Fire only hoped he would not turn that weapon on Rarity or anypony else. But that was a long shot, he’d already killed his own allies… or pawns… whatever they were to him. Obviously, they hadn’t been much to him, if anything at all. “Hello,” Rarity greeted as she came up to Gold Steel and smiled sweetly. Gold Steel looked at her and couldn’t help but smile even with his dark heart. “Hello,” he greeted. “Can I help you with something Miss?” “Yes, you see I am just hopelessly lost!” Rarity lied dramatically. “Can a good guard such as you help a mare in distress?” “Certainly,” Steel said. “How can I resist a pretty face?” Fire frowned. “Oh, why thank you!” Rarity played along. "Though you are quiet handsome yourself… Mr…” “Gold Steel,” Gold replied. “I’m Rarity!” Rarity introduced herself with a bow. Gold smirked. “You seem quite a mare. Right beauty you are. If you are looking for a stallion of refined taste you won’t find a better one, or a luckier one. You see I’m going to be leaving Canterlot.” “Oh?” Rarity questioned. “Yes, I’ve acquired quite a bit of money recently for my… heroic deeds,” Steel lied. “And I’m able to buy my grandparent’s house. A large mansion that is! They disowned my mother and tried to kick her out. But I vowed I’d get what was rightfully mine! A mare like you, you could live a life of luxury if you were to become mine.” Rarity narrowed her eyes. “How very… intriguing.” Her sarcasm in response to the rude remark was not missed. “Come on Fire!” Moondancer said suddenly as she moved forward. Both Twilight and Fire followed, having been distracted by their own thoughts and feelings. Twilight confusion for the mention of her brother and Fire anger and jealousy. Gold thankfully didn’t notice them approaching. “Well, if you find me uninteresting you obviously don’t know what the right stallions are.” “A true gentle colt always treats a lady like an equal!” Rarity scolded. “And does courteous things! Not simply claiming a mare as his own! Nor does he steal from others!” That set of words caused Gold Steel to look up as three sets of spells came at him from Fire, Twilight and Moondancer. They hit him, tagging him, no they would be able to track him no matter where he went. “It’s over Gold Steel!” Fire shouted. “You’re under arrest for theft, unlawful use of magic, threatening the lives of ponies including fillies, and murder!” "Yeah! We know you're the unicorn thief!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "And we just got you with two tracking spell!" Applejack said. "We can find you no matter where you go! It’s over!" Silver Javelin raised his spear at Steel who gritted his teeth. He immediately realized his cover was blown. "You're going down thief!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew in with her magic dampening ring in her mouth. Gold's eyes widened as the fast Pegasus came toward him, but he managed to recover and put up a golden shield, befitting his name. Rainbow Dash rammed into it and Steel quickly thrusted out with his spear. She dodged and grabbed hold of it before wrestling it out of his grasp. He lit his horn and took her in his aura before throwing her against the nearby wall and knocking her out. "I'm not going down without a fight!" Gold snarled before looking at them with his horn lighting up. "Ha! We got you outnumbered!" Applejack scoffed as she spun her lasso and flung it at her. Gold Steel teleported, fortunately... or unfortunately... he didn't go too far. He appeared right next to Appleajck and landed a smack to her side that sent her to the ground before following up with a gold beam. Applejack screamed as she received a small third-degree burn to her leg. Silver Javelin threw his spear but Steel teleported again and appeared behind him, shooting him as well. "Applejack!" Twilight yelled in concern. “Silver!” Fire said in a similar tone before rounding on Steel. "You'll pay for this!" "Yes! Take this you ruffian!" Rarity called as she and Twilight shot beams at their adversary. Fire looked at Moondancer who was debating whether to attack or do something about their wounded comrades. Somepony had to help them, and he had assigned a certain pony to that task. "Moondancer! Pinkie! Get Applejack, Silver and Rainbow Dash out of the way!" Fire ordered. "Get them to Fluttershy!" "But we wanna help!" Pinkie objected. “You can by doing it!" Fire ordered. The shy Pegasus looked out from the corner that she'd stayed behind while the others charged forward to meet the enemy. Pinkie hesitated then heard a cry from ahead. Gold Steel had put up a shield and charged at Twilight and Rarity as they shot their beams. Twilight had been caught off guard and was hit in the face by a hoof strike. Rarity managed to block the attack aimed at her and retreat. Fire lit up his horn, drawing Gold Steel's attention. But the villainous unicorn wasn't his target. Rarity and Twilight were both forced further away from the traitor unicorn. "You mares stay back!" Fire ordered. "He's mine!" He didn't want them to get hurt... anymore than they already had. A part of him was also intrigued by the challenge of a one-on-one fight. "I can still get up!" Applejack tried to put weight on her wounded leg to no avail. "Ah!" "Come on Applejack!" Pinkie said as she got her fellow Earth Pony on her back. Moondancer likewise took the knocked-out Rainbow Dash and Silver in her magic. Gold looked at Fire who prepared himself. But Gold Steel instead grabbed hold of Moondancer in his magic. She screamed and dropped Rainbow Dash softly on the ground. Moondancer was levitated in between Gold and Fire whose mouth fell open. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. Gold grabbed hold of Moondancer with his hooves. She cringed in fear and lit up her horn, perhaps to teleport away... but before she could, a ring fell on her horn and prevented the flow of her magic. That was either one Gold had for himself or the one Rainbow Dash dropped when she was knocked out. Gold then looked at Fire. "You and the other who got me remove your tracking spells from me! Now!" he demanded. He wanted the immediate threat removed. If he could get the spells off he could teleport away and start anew. But there was one problem. "I can't!" Fire answered honestly. "Only those hoofpicked by my mother know how to remove these!" Gold snarled. "Then I guess this is the last straw!" He aimed his horn which charged brightly at the back of Moondancer's head. Fire gritted his teeth helplessly. His friend whom he was going to take to the Grand Galloping Gala was gonna have a hole blown through her mind which was oh so bright. Then a faint sound came from above and before Gold could release the attack at Moondancer to finish her, an arrow hit him in the shoulder. Gold screamed and lost his concentration, his magic fading and he released Moondancer who quickly backed away. Fire flapped his wings and ascended into the air a short distance. He caught a glimpse of Vine Archer who looked down at the area from the battlements around the castle holding his bow. Fire felt a surge of pride in the leader of his personal guard as he aimed his horn, firing a moderately powered beam at Steel. It knocked the thief and murderer back. Gold grunted and Fire landed. "You're under arrest!" he repeated as he walked forward. ... Gold was soon put in Canterlot Dungeon with a magic-suppressing ring on his horn. Fire watched with satisfaction as the bars closed behind the disgraced guard. "You disappoint me Gold Steel," Celestia said next to her son. "You will be in here for a long long time when we are done gathering all the evidence." Gold's only reply was a silent glare. She and Fire then made their way to the infirmary where the others were being treated. "Everypony okay?" Fire asked. "They will be." the castle nurse, Royal Tender assured him. Just a few minor injuries for the most part, the worst one was this pony’s burn. "Name's Applejack," Applejack said. "Well Applejack you'll be fine after a few days," Royal Tender promised as she motioned to the bandage on the Earth Ponies leg. "Just keep putting the magical healing ointment on that. Same goes for you Silver!" The unicorn that often used a spear lay on his stomach, showing the bandage on his back. "Yes ma'am!" Applejack said. Rainbow and Twilight meanwhile had simpler treatments with just a bandage to Twilight's nose and some ice on Rainbow Dash's head. "Well, we did it! We caught that thief!" Pinkie Pie said as she got out her confetti canon from out of nowhere. "Victory party!" The canon shot its contents and soon all of them helped themselves to some cupcakes. "I think we did well," Rarity said. "Yeah," Fire said before looking at Vine Archer. "Especially you Lieutenant, you really saved Moondancer." "Yes, thank you," Moondancer said gratefully. Vine blushed. "You're welcome, Miss. Just doing my duty." "We may have the Elements of Harmony, but even they will need help it seems," Silver said. "That means we'll have chances to shine as well! I ain't gonna be outdone by you here ladies!" "Ha! Good luck!" Rainbow scoffed at him. They all laughed. Another major enemy had been taken down. Who knew how many more would come?