Twilight’s world was turned upside down in that moment. She had heard what the guard had said, but could barely comprehend it. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute as she tried to process what had just been revealed to her. Eventually, she managed to croak out, “C-Could you repeat that?”
The guard nodded and said, “Three young foals have been foalnapped. Their parents and legal guardians have received no ransom note and no demands. Have you heard anything that might be pertinent to the search?”
This snapped Twilight back into action. “No, sir, I haven’t,” she said, “but I could help with the search.”
“This is a matter for the guard, miss Sparkle,” the guard said.
“Do any of your guards know about tracking spells?” Twilight asked, feeling antsy now and wanting to help. There were things in her past that she wanted to make up for, and her treatment of the CMC during the Gabby Gums incident was one of them.
The guard’s professional demeanor faltered a bit and a look of uncertainty passed over his face. “Well, nopony in our regiment knows anything of that sort, but-”
“I know a tracking spell that can find them!” Twilight took a step forward. “Let me help!”
The guard took on a stern expression. “With all due respect, miss, you’re not a princess anymore. You’re a civilian.”
“I can still help with tracking them before they get hurt!”
The guard continued staring back at Twilight, his stern glare being returned by her determined and frantic one. The stare down was interrupted when a voice asked, “What if you hired us to help?”
Twilight looked behind her to see a smirking Sunset Shimmer now standing there, looking at Twilight. The guard looked at her and asked, “And who are you?”
“Who I am isn’t important,” she said, “but what is important is that we’re not civilians. My comrades and I are a mercenary group who will gladly help…for the right price.”
Twilight saw Tobias quickly rushing up to Sunset’s side. From behind, the masked Revan stood a few steps away, arms behind his back as he watched the current proceedings. The guard frowned. “Mercenaries…I thought those were illegal.”
Sunset shook her head. “According to the Royal Guard Bylaws as set down by Princess Celestia Solaris over nine hundred years ago, ‘In times of duress, outside assistance may be procured.’ We’re outside assistance, and we’d be willing to help for the right price.”
“I don’t have the authority to make that decision,” the guard said, and Twilight could see that he was tensing up at the sight of the abyssinian and masked figure.
“Then take us to someone with the authority,” Sunset declared. “We can help, and there’s no time to waste. I know the same tracking spell as our disgraced princess here, and-” She was immediately stopped when someone came up behind her and smacked her on the back of the head. “Ow!”
“Behave yourself,” Revan snapped, looking down at her.
Tobias took the lead and stepped forward, inclining his head to the guard. “My companion’s harsh words aside, she’s right. We can track down the kidnapper and help deal with them.”
The guard looked at Tobias, then after a few moments he sighed. “I can’t make that decision, but my sergeant can. Come with me.”
“Give us some time to collect our things and we’ll be right out,” Tobias said, and in a single motion, he and Revan moved as one to the stairs. Sunset followed close behind.
The guard watched them go and shook his head. “Mercenaries…we don’t need their scum…”
“They saved me yesterday from being attacked,” Twilight said quickly in their defense.
The guard looked a bit taken aback by this. “So, you’re the mare that got attacked by those group of hooligans yesterday.” She nodded in response. “I had no idea.”
A few minutes later, the three came back down, now all geared up and ready to go. “We’re ready, sir,” Tobias said.
The guard nodded. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…alright, follow me.” With that, he turned and began trotting down the path.
Twilight wasn’t sure why, but on an impulse, she decided she would tag along. She quickly told Maple what she was doing before she rushed out of the house after the four. The guard didn’t say anything about her tagging along, so the five of them walked down the street, and quickly they reached the guardhouse near the center of town next to the town hall, the only building that was modeled nearly identically to the one in Ponyville. They entered, and the guard told the group to wait while he got the sergeant. Sunset sat in one of the lobby chairs while Twilight did the same. Tobias and Revan stood nearby as the chairs here wouldn’t fit them.
Eventually, an older, surly looking unicorn stallion with light lime colored fur and pale blue mane and tail stepped out of the room where the guard had entered. He looked over at the four and scowled. “Alright, which one of youse is da leader of dis here mercenary group?” he asked in a semi-thick Manehattan accent.
Twilight watched as Tobias gently put a paw on Revan’s back, pushing the masked being forward. “This is our leader, sergeant,” Tobias said. “Revan.”
The sergeant looked up at Revan with a stern expression, looking him up and down before he said, “And what can youse do to help us?”
Tobias turned and pointed to Sunset. “She can use a tracking spell to find them.”
“My guard tells me youse like teh get paid fer yer services,” the sergeant said. “Why shoulds we? Youse mercenaries are as dishonest as dey come.”
“Why you little piece of-” Sunset began, but when Revan held up a hand, she stopped.
Tobias then looked the sergeant and took a step forward, his expression hardening. “Let me ask you something. Have you ever been unable to have a guaranteed meal? Have you ever had to ration your own food to the point of malnutrition? Being in the Guard, I expect you could get paid by just sitting on your rears and doing nothing. Our time is precious to us. The longer we’re without work, the more we have to spread our money thin. We’re offering a service for a price, and it would seem you’d ignore a means of finding these foals just because you look down on mercenaries. Or is it because, like Jason Wright, two of us are not ponies?”
The sergeant’s score turned into pure rage. “How dare youse accuse me of being like these Ponyville rats?!”
“We have expenses to pay, same as you!” Tobias snapped back, tail puffed behind him as he took another step forward. To her surprise, Twilight saw the sergeant take a step back. Tobias pointed a finger at him in an accusing manner. “You can hate us all you want, but we don’t want any harm falling to those foals! Our rates are not as high as you might think!” He pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket on his coat, slamming it down on the desk and causing a crack to form on the wooden surface. “See??”
The sergeant hesitantly took the paper and looked over it. He pursed his lips, then looked up at Tobias. “And does your silent leader agree wid dis?”
Revan then stepped forward, his heavy boot ringing out as he stepped beside Tobias. “Fifty bits for an emergency hiring fee, no refunds on that, two hundred to get the job done, paid out half now, half upon completion. Any expenses we incur are also paid for. And the Shadow Dawn group guarantees that until the contract is complete, we won’t betray our employers. Even if one of your princesses offered us all the power and wealth in the world to stop, we wouldn’t.”
Twilight thought about it, and could actually see things from their point of view. Mercenaries did odd jobs; that’s how they lived, after all. In a way, the stereotype about mercenaries ditching other clients for a bigger paycheck made sense. Which is what made Revan’s last sentence so jarring to her.
She decided to speak up for them. Standing, she walked over and stood next to the two. “These three saved me from assault yesterday,” she reminded the sergeant, “and they didn’t ask for anything in return. Why not take a chance? I failed to do that with Jason, and Ponyville did too. Why not be better than we were?” Truthfully, she was playing on the guard’s belief that they were better followers of Harmony than she was.
“And this way, if it is a trap, why risk your own guard?” Tobias mentioned. “From what I’ve seen, you’re spread thin enough as it is. Not enough of a budget to bring in fresh meat?” He grinned slightly at this.
Time passed as the sergeant seemed lost in thought. A half minute later, the sergeant nodded. “Fine, we’ll hire youse teh help.”
Tobias nodded and presented the paper to the sergeant. “Just sign here, and we’ll start. One hundred and fifty bits upfront. If we fail, you get the hundred back and you don’t have to pay us the two hundred.”
The sergeant mumbled something under his breath, and picked up a pen.
Sunset sat at the bottom of the now destroyed tree house, focusing her magic. Nearby, she heard the angry country accent of Applejack muttering something while the posh accent of Rarity was also speaking with worry. Aside from them, a single pegasus guard, her fellow mercenaries and Twilight were waiting silently. Sunset continued to search, looking through the magic left behind by the foalnapper to try and lock onto its current location.
Whoever had come here, however, must have been earth ponies because their magical presences were always the weakest out of all the tribes. She’d always struggled with them, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t succeed here. She was stronger now, her ambition to be better driving her to reach new highs in her personal magic training.
In a while, she had something. A small strand of hair had been left behind, and she locked onto it. Picking it up with her magic, she wrapped it around her horn’s grooves and concentrated. Instantly, the presence of the individual was found. She opened her eyes and stood. “Found them.”
“Where??” Rarity asked.
Sunset turned with a scowl towards the unworthy former element bearer. Still, she realized she had to behave here or risk losing the new money they’d be getting. “North,” was all she said as she got up and trotted away, heading in said direction.
Her two new companions swiftly took up positions beside her on either side. Sunset was surprised at how swift Revan was, especially when he was wearing such thick clothes for a warm early summer morning. He seemed light on his feet and used his surroundings to his advantage quite well. Of course, Tobias was much lighter and moved much swifter. She could see that Revan received his movements from Tobias, probably as some sort of training.
The group ran through the streets of Maretime Bay, making their way down the large boardwalk. Sunset almost ran into a smoothie stand at one point because she was so focused on following the source of her tracking spell. Once she was close enough to the general location, she pointed towards a large building that loomed over the town. “There. They’re in that unfinished building there.”
“What in tarnation is that building?” Applejack asked.
“Canterlogic,” Twilight explained. “A few ponies are trying to make Maretime Bay more profitable by creating a startup business by combining their resources. I think Filthy Rich has been funding most of it-”
“We can get lessons later!” Tobias interrupted as he looked over at Revan. “I’ll scout ahead!” With that, his speed increased and he leaped onto the tops of the houses and buildings, running deftly on the rooftops while making his way towards Canterlogic.
“My, isn’t he limber?” Rarity pondered.
“He’s an abyssinian, what did you expect?” Sunset snapped back.
“Enough,” Revan chided her sternly.
Soon they approached a chain link fence that surrounded the Canterlogic building. Sunset now realized that this was meant to be some sort of factory, but for what she had no clue. The gates had been busted open with a broken chain lock on the ground. Tobias was waiting nearby, arms behind his back. In a quiet voice he said, “Someone is in there, and they’re talking constantly.”
“Constantly? What about?” Revan asked.
“Sounds like they’re rambling on and on,” Tobias said.
Sunset watched as Revan looked back at the others who’d come with them. She did as well, trying to see what he was seeing. So far, she only saw a ragtag group of ponies, such as Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and the mercenary group. “Did you get a good look at the kidnapper?” he asked
“Earth pony mare, older, pink fur, frazzled purple mane and tail, with a diamond ring for a cutie mark,” Tobias quickly said.
“That sounds like Spoiled Milk!” Applejack said.
“Who’s that?” Tobias asked.
“She’s the ex-wife of Filthy Rich,” Twilight explained.
“Why in the world would she foalnap our sisters?” Rarity asked, an angry expression forming on her face.
“We’ve had some trouble with her,” the mare guard, a dark brown furred and black maned pegasus named Quick Pace, finally spoke up. “We’ve had been investigating her for possible drug use. Rut or Bronco, we can’t be sure.”
That elicited a reaction from the other ponies, specifically various looks of horror and disgust. Tobias, however, simply nodded. “If my knowledge of pony narcotics is any indication, it sounds a lot like she took Bronco. She had dilated pupils, was talking nonsense, and she was pacing back and forth.”
“Did ya see our kin?” Applejack asked.
“No, but I thought I heard someone crying, and it sounded like children,” Tobias replied.
“It sounds like she’ll be hard to reason with,” Revan said in a thoughtful tone.
Twilight nodded. “If she’s on Bronco, she’ll be behaving erratically and she won’t be able to think too much.”
“She couldn’t have acted alone,” Quick Pace said.
“I didn’t see anyone else, but they could be hiding,” Tobias said. “There’s a lot of wooden boxes in there and other places to easily hide.”
“Hired help?” Rarity asked, giving a sideways glance towards Tobias and Revan.
“She did get a nice settlement in the divorce, I heard,” Quick said.
Tobias had ignored the look Rarity had given them and was instead looking at Revan. “You got any ideas, boss?”
Revan was looking at the unfinished Canterlogic building, and while Sunset couldn’t see his face, she guessed that he looked thoughtful underneath that mask. After a bit, he spoke. “If this Spoiled Milk is indeed inside and high on some sort of drugs, we can’t go in weapon’s blazing.” He turned quickly to Sunset and pointed at her. “Sunset, do you have a spell that can detect living beings?”
Sunset nodded, a bit surprised that Revan had spoken to her. “I do, but at this range I might not be able to tell if it’s a sapient being or a sentient one, only if it had some sort of pulse.”
“There shouldn’t be animals on the premises,” Twilight said. “I saw some animal repellent stakes just outside the perimeter.”
“Use the spell, Sunset,” he ordered briskly.
Sunset bristled a bit at the tone of his order, but complied, turning towards the building, closing her eyes, then casting a spell that expanded to the unfinished building and several meters beyond. Immediately, she could detect several heartbeats. Three were together in a basement, which was probably the foalnapped fillies. Their heart rates were elevated. One had a dangerously high heart rate, and she figured that was the pony called Spoiled Milk. However, there were eight other heartbeats inside the facility. Their heartbeats were a lot steadier. Two of them were in close proximity to the three elevated heart rates.
She opened her eyes and turned back to Revan. “Twelve total,” she reported. “The three fillies I believe are in the basement area of the building. I believe Spoiled is in there, but she’s got six others working with her. They’re scattered throughout the building. Two are near the fillies.”
Revan nodded as he absorbed this information. “You can’t tell what the status of the fillies is from here?” he asked.
“They have a bit of an elevated heart rate. That’s all I know.”
“They’re probably scared shitless,” Tobias muttered.
“What’s their specific location?” Quick asked.
“Northwestern side,” Sunset replied.
“Shouldn’t we be bustin’ in there and gettin’ our kin back now?” Applejack asked with a scowl.
“We can’t risk the fillies in there,” Quick said. “If this mare’s right and there are two ponies standing guard over the fillies, the moment we ‘bust in’, they could harm the hostages.”
“Stay back and let us handle things,” Revan said sternly to the family members of the foalnapped teens.
“You cannot simply expect us to stand by and do nothing while those three are held prisoner by somepony!” Rarity exclaimed testily.
“That’s exactly what I expect you to do,” Revan replied in a calm tone, although with his mask distorting his voice it was a bit harder to tell.
“You’re a civilian, ma’am,” Tobias explained further, “so if you interfered, you could put your family members in danger. We and the guards here can handle this. The guards are professionals, and we’re experienced mercenaries.”
Rarity was about to say something, but Applejack pulled her back. “Let ‘em be, sugarcube. They’re right.”
Sunset inwardly smirked a bit before she turned back to Revan and Tobias. “Anyone got a plan?”
Revan and Tobias glanced at each other before the latter picked up a stick and began quickly drawing something in the dirt. Sunset quickly realized that he was drawing an outline of the building. When he was finished, he offered the stick to Sunset. “Where’d you detect the other heartbeats?”
Sunset took the stick and quickly drew circles where she’d detected the heart rates. “The fillies and two others were in a lower part of the building like I said, right here,” she further explained while she drew a larger circle around the northwestern portion.
“There is a set of stairs in that general direction,” Quick said.
“Tobias, think you can sneak over in that direction and take out the guards before getting to the fillies?” Revan asked.
Tobias grinned, showing his sharp feline teeth which made Sunset shiver. They were the teeth of a predator about to go on the hunt. “Consider it done.”
“What are we gonna do?” Sunset asked.
“We go in stealthily and distract the hired help,” Revan explained. “We give Tobias enough time to get the fillies to safety.”
“I’ll go with him,” Quick said, stepping forward. “I’m well trained in hoof-to-hoof self defense and can disarm an opponent easily.”
“Good, always nice to have backup,” Tobias said, flashing a grin to the mare.
Revan nodded, then turned to Sunset. “Limits of teleportation magic, go,” he said authoritatively.
Sunset straightened almost automatically as his tone reminded her somewhat of Celestia’s when she addressed the guards back in Canterlot. “Line of sight only for places I’ve never seen before,” she began, “and I can’t teleport where objects already are.”
“Matter can’t occupy the same space, logical,” Revan said. “How fast is your casting time?”
Instead of telling him, Sunset decided to show off and teleported a few feet away, then a few yards away, then into the air, then back to her original position before she began falling. “That answer your question?”
Revan stared at her, then she heard him sighing. “You wasted precious magic to show off,” he said in a disappointed tone.
Sunset’s pride was instantly hurt by this. She got defensive. “My magic doesn’t run out as fast as your average unicorn, thank you very much,” she said. “I can last a long time!”
“We’ll discuss your theatrics later,” he said. “Now then, while the guards are trying to negotiate with the perps, you and I should go, find the six on the main level, and take them out of commission. And Sunset?”
Sunset, still a bit bitter by being lectured on someone who knew less about magic than she did, looked at him begrudgingly. “What?”
“Lethal force is authorized only if needed.”
That made Sunset’s stomach turn and she fought not to lose her breakfast. She kept her face stony, however, and simply nodded. She’d never taken a life in all of her travels around the world, as she had relied on her magic to subjugate anyone she met without killing. Still, she could only assume that, like Tobias, Revan was a predator species underneath that mask and those thick clothes. “Right,” was all she could say.
“Do you really need to do something so vile?” Rarity asked, having clearly overheard the conversation.
Sunset heard a shift in Revan’s voice, and she didn’t need to be an empath to understand what the tone meant. He was angry. “Kidnappers or anyone working for them will receive no mercy from me. Especially those who are stupid enough to be on drugs. They’re cowards who hide behind the innocent.” He reached down to his belt where Sunset saw him putting his claws around a strange looking metal device that she guessed was a weapon. “I won’t try to kill them, but if there’s no other choice, I won’t hesitate.”
Sunset shivered. She could tell that, aside from that pony from a few nights ago, he had taken his share of lives. Living out in the Badlands, it was kill or be killed. Sunset had learned that for most of the world it was the same. Equestria, for all its flaws, was a rare oasis of peace, even if that peace came at the expense of underpaid nonpony workers and undercurrents of xenophobia and speciesism. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She could do this if needed. “Understood,” she said, and she was dismayed to hear her own voice shake slightly.
“Tobias, you and Quick move out,” Revan ordered as he pointed to Sunset. “You’re with me. Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity, you stay back.”
“Ah don’t like stayin’ back, but alright,” Applejack conceded.
With that, Sunset and Revan split apart from the group while Quick and Tobias went towards the other side of the building. As the former two approached the building, Sunset looked at Revan. “Just so you know, my detection spell is still active, but I can’t cast anything else while I’m doing it right now.”
“You cast and lead me to them, and I’ll knock them out,” Revan quickly replied.
She nodded and the two continued forward. She was once again surprised by how stealthy that Revan was. He wasn’t as good as Tobias, who had appeared to vanish into some nearby brush, but he had good control over how much noise he made, which was very little. A part of her wondered if the mask he wore had something to do with it, seeing as it was the only part of him she could somewhat detect with her magic.
As they walked towards a side door which hadn’t yet been attached, Sunset began hearing an echoing voice coming from the interior of the building, and she knew right away that whoever this Spoiled Milk was, she was definitely on Bronco. She knew the effects of the narcotic, and a lack of a filter was one of them.
“…coming, I know they are, but they won’t find the foals, oh no, no no no. They should be made to suffer like me. I hate them all, hate them all, hate them all! Hush, can’t let them find me, so shut up, mouth! Gah!”
The voice continued to mutter random nonsense after that, but it allowed the two to enter. Just as Tobias had said, there was only one pony visible, and she looked crazed as she walked back and forth on an upper walkway that looked freshly constructed. Despite the crazed look, the mare had a haughty manner about her, looking down her nasty looking nose often at the stacks of full pallets that had boxes piled high on each, creating a maze in whatever warehouse this place was currently.
Sunset took the lead, moving quickly out of sight beneath Spoiled’s high ground. She still had the heartbeat spell on passive casting, and the others with Spoiled weren’t moving, at least not yet. She led Revan quietly into the shadows and waited for him to join, which he did quickly enough. The two then began moving quietly down towards the first location.
The first creature they found was actually a dark green but burly earth pony stallion with a frightening visage. Or it would have been frightening to Sunset if it hadn’t been for her experience in the world. The monstrous Sandworms in the southern deserts near Klugetown were scarier. Thankfully, this pony was looking away from them, so all it took to subdue him was for Revan to remove the strange metallic weapon from his belt and bring it crashing down onto the pony’s head. With a moan, the pony slumped forward, being caught by Revan before he put the pony down.
“I seeee yoooouuu,” the crazed voice of Spoiled Milk came from above, which prompted Revan and Sunset to press themselves against the pallets. They listened as Spoiled continued. “I see eeeeveryyyythiiiing. Hee hee hee. One…two…three…four…five…and six is probably in the bathroom again, that stupid brute.”
Sunset relaxed a bit, although this meant that the other five were in sight of Spoiled. Drugged or not, she could still alert the others here to their presence. If that happened, they’d be in for the fight of their lives if the other five converged on their position.
After the mare’s voice became quieter, the two moved again, approaching a second target. This target was a dark pinkish red pegasus mare who was floating in the air with a bored expression on her face. She passed the two slowly, which gave Revan the opportunity to bring his metal weapon down onto the mare’s head. Once more, he caught her and set her down out of sight before the two slipped into another spot between a pair of large pallets.
They managed to take out a unicorn stallion before Spoiled’s voice came crying out, “Look at that! Some little insects have flown into my little web! They’re here!”
In the distance, a pegasus stallion suddenly flew into the air towards what Sunset realized was a small cloud. He stepped onto it, quickly looked around, and spotted Sunset and Revan. He shouted out a warning, and two pairs of hoofsteps began galloping towards them. The pegasus leaped up on his cloud and came down. A bolt of lightning came out of it, right down towards Revan.
Not needing to cast the detection spell anymore, Sunset dropped it and brought up a shield around the two, causing the bolt to shoot off elsewhere. It struck a window and it exploded in a shower of glass and bits of the metal frame.
Two other ponies came around a corner, one a unicorn mare with a powerful magical presence and an earth pony mare who looked strong. Sunset saw Revan draw out the other weapon from his belt, but before he could do anything with it, another bolt of lightning impacted Sunset’s shield along with a blast of powerful offensive magic from the unicorn.
Left with no options, the two began moving back towards a place where they wouldn’t be in sight of the pegasus and his aerial attacks. The unicorn continued her assault against Sunset’s shield while the earth pony mare jumped at the shield, impacting it hard. All she got for her troubles was her being thrown back. That didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest, though, as she got back up and began to bash heavily at the domed shield.
Sunset was a powerful magic user, that much she knew, but even she had her limits. Three powerful assaults, one from above, was quickly beginning to drain her. Inwardly, she cursed herself for having shown off to Revan earlier. She tried to figure out a way to teleport her and Revan without hurting either of them, but when she remembered how her healing spell had left her feeling even more drained than normal, she knew that wasn’t an option.
“You poor, simple fools!” Spoiled said with a cackle. “Thinking you could defeat me! ME!”
Sunset’s mind raced, looking for any options she could think of. Her eyes darted about while Revan stood there, both weapons in his claws as he simply stood there, his hood now removed to reveal that the mask he wore covered his entire head. He wasn’t moving, which infuriated her, but her frustration turned to confusion when he said, “Open the shield and let me out.”
She looked at him incredulously. “What? Are you insane!?”
“Don’t argue. Do it. And cover your ears when I’m out.”
The tone of Revan’s voice was somehow calm and collected, although she thought she could detect a hint of tension in it. She hesitated for a second, but nodded. A hole appeared in her shield near the back where there was the least chance of being attacked. Revan dove out and Sunset brought the shield back up just in time to avoid a bolt of electricity from another lightning bolt that would have entered the shield had it not been open.
She had barely covered her ears with her hooves when a loud familiar sound rang out. The lightning suddenly stopped and she heard somepony cry out, followed closely by something crashing into a pallet. The earth pony and unicorn briefly stopped and looked back.
Sunset took the opportunity to drop her shield and fire a blast of offensive magic at the earth pony, as she was the closer threat. Her magic enveloped the mare, causing her to yelp briefly before falling unconscious.
However, that yelp had alerted the unicorn, who faced them again. Sunset tried raising her shield again, but part of the enemy unicorn’s blast caught her and sent her sprawling back into her own shield. Her loss of concentration made her drop the shield. Dazed and confused, she moaned as she tried to get up, the impact having knocked the wind out of her. Another explosion rang out and the unicorn screamed in pain.
When she came back fully to her senses, she looked and saw that the unicorn was writhing in pain on the ground, holding her head in her forehooves. Her horn was gone, and Sunset could see blood and bits of horn scattered on the ground. Revan walked past her and made his way to a set of stairs.
Only to stop and aim his weapon up. In a dark voice, he growled, “Let the filly go.”
“Ah ah ah, not gonna happen, you monster,” Spoiled said with what sounded like insane laughter.
Sunset quietly got up and tried making her way to a spot where she could get a teleportation spell off, but the sound of a whimpering filly made her pause. “M-Mommy…why…?” the filly’s voice asked.
Sunset saw Revan’s normally glowing blue eyes turn a menacing red, as did the glowing lights around where she suspected his mouth was. “You monster,” he growled.
“I’m no monster!” she shouted, sounding angry now.
“Mommy, you’re hurting me!” the filly cried out.
Sunset couldn’t believe that anypony could have fallen so low. A part of her wondered if pony civilization was even worth saving at this point. She was quickly running through her options when three other mares came barreling into the unfinished building, looking up in horror at whatever Spoiled was doing. Sunset gritted her teeth as Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all looked slack jawed at the pony above. “Sweet Celestia…” Twilight muttered, eyes full of disbelief.
“Ahaha! Here they are! The architects of my demise!” Spoiled said.
Sunset quickly walked out and moved in front of the three ponies. Here, she got a good view of the scene before her, and she understood what was going on. Spoiled had a knife against the neck of a pink teenage earth pony filly with a tiara on her head. She looked completely terrified and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Sunset turned and whispered, “Get out of here, damn it!”
Twilight, however, ignored her and raised both her hooves, standing on her back legs. “Spoiled, please…you don’t have to do this…”
Sunset looked more closely at the mare, and saw just how far gone she was. Her mane, which had probably at one point been rather well kept, was drenched in sweat, her pupils were shrunken, her eyes bloodshot, and she had a crazed expression on her face. “Look who’s talking, you complete and utter failure!”
“Let the filly go,” Revan demanded.
Sunset was about to attempt a teleportation spell up there when she saw a sight that nearly made her sigh in relief. Tobias had jumped up from a spot behind the walkway where Spoiled held her daughter captive and was sneaking towards them. She also saw Quick moving three filles away, a unicorn, a pegasus and an earth pony. Spoiled looked at the masked creature before her. “I know what you are, freak,” she giggled. “My eyes are opened now! I can see so much more!”
Sunset saw Revan’s hand clench a bit as he raised the weapon higher. “Don’t make me use this,” he said darkly, the color of the eyes on his mask becoming a more menacing red.
She didn’t seem to care as she was laughing. “Take that ridiculous thing off,” she said with a smug tone. “Do it, or she dies!” With that, she pressed the knife to the filly’s neck, drawing a bit of blood.
Slowly, Revan lowered the weapon. He put it back on his belt and slowly began to move his hand towards the front of his mask. Spoiled’s expression turned almost gleeful, and it was due to this distraction that led Tobias to silently land behind her with a nimble leap before he kicked the hoof that was holding the blade away, sending it falling to the ground below. Spoiled turned in shock only to receive a fist to the face, dropping her like a sack of potatoes. He quickly knelt and picked up the trembling teenager filly along with the now unconscious mare, quickly leaping over the railing and landing expertly in front of them, a smile on his lips. “Anyone expecting a delivery of a crazy mare and an innocent filly?” he asked, gently placing the filly down while nonchalantly tossing the unconscious mare to the ground unceremoniously.
As Applejack and Rarity ran up to their sisters, Quick walked up and looked at the unconscious Spoiled. Kneeling down, she opened one eye, then opened Spoiled’s mouth. She slowly stood back up and nodded. “Yep. She took Bronco.”
Sunset looked over at the four foals and two older mare family members. She saw the pegasus standing near the pink earth pony filly, trying to comfort her in some way, or perhaps it was that both of them were trying to find comfort in each other. She felt something on the back of her head, and when she looked up, she saw Revan looking down at her. His eyes and mouthpiece were back to glowing blue. “You did well,” he said.
Sunset stood proudly and nodded. “Of course,” she said.
Revan didn’t reply, but instead he turned to Tobias and nodded at the abyssinian. “Good job to you too,” he said.
“Thanks,” Tobias said.
“Thanks,” Tobias said.
“Abuse of a foal
from a mare with no soul,
your judgement day is nigh.”
“For what you consume
“shall become your tomb
“as a tree may you see with new eyes.”
As the sound of the echoing voice faded away only to be replaced with the casting of magic, Revan removed the weapons from his belt, looking for the source of said magic while Tobias drew the rapiers on his side and Sunset and Twilight both ignited their horns. However, the sound of magic being cast came not from the unicorn and alicorn, but instead came from the unconscious Spoiled. Everyone turned and watched as she was engulfed in a strange glowing white light. Sunset watched in horror as the pony began morphing. The transformation quickly woke the mare who began screaming in utter agony and fear.
The transformation started at her back legs, which quickly began to turn into a pair of strange rootlike appendages. Spoiled tried to run, but seemed to be unable to do so, now rooted firmly in place to the concrete floor. She screamed for help, but the transformation only increased, until finally her scream was cut out when it engulfed her entirely, leaving a small oddly shaped tree in place of what had once been a living, breathing mare.
Nobody spoke for a bit, everyone too stunned to speak up. What eventually broke the silence was Revan taking a step forward, looking down at the new tree with roots and trunk breaking through the concrete. He looked at it, then Sunset watched as he looked up at the ceiling. “It couldn’t be her…”
“Revan, what do you mean?” Tobias asked, placing a paw on Revan’s shoulder. The moment he did, though, Tobias’ tail began to puff. “Revan?! You’re shaking!”
“It’s her…it’s Queen Majesty…” was all that Revan said. The way he said it sent shivers down Sunset’s spine. Because the tone of Revan’s voice was one of fear.
While looking through the mirror, the alicorn raised an eyebrow. She’d been watching the scene at the new building in Maretime Bay, mostly curious to see what kind of creature a human was. No doubt he had some skill, and his weapons were something to behold, but she doubted that he was any threat to her.
But then he’d mentioned her ancient name. The name from when she’d been a unicorn princess long before her ascension, then subsequent capture and imprisonment in stone by an enemy even she hadn’t been able to defeat at the time. She leaned forward and looked at the mask more closely now, something about it feeling familiar. She tilted her head and scowled. Everything about him was unreadable by even her most powerful detection spells, but the face mask that he wore was different. It was as if only the surface of the mask was covered in the same material as his clothes.
“So…it’s your doing…” she said in an uncharacteristically angry tone, her horn beginning to glow. “You were wise to hide from me, my old foe…” She collected herself and faced the mirror again, focusing closer on the human, a smile crossed her lips. Queen Majesty, the former queen of Ponyland and denizen of Dream Castle in Dream Valley touched the mirror serenely. “You’re hiding something…and I’ll find out what it is. My dear human boy…”