//------------------------------//
// Fourth Lesson- More Talk 
// Story: The Magnificent Six 
// by Paradise Oasis 
//------------------------------//

Fourth Lesson- More Talk

As the sun set over Fort Rainbow Dash, Wish Shine and Lucky were trotting their way to the Whispering Whirlgig, eager to meet up with the colt's slaver contact. While Lucky had told her that she didn't have to come along to witness this unsavory scene, the filly had insisted she wanted to get a meal at the Whirlgig.

"Nobody's hay fries are as good as theirs!" Lucky's moll had insisted. "That what I was ordering when we met there a week ago!"

As the two ponies sat down at the table, a small, pathetic pony-like figure hobbled up to meet them. The creature had insect wings like a flutter pony, and a horn on it's head like a unicorn, creeping out everyone that it drew near to. It approached Lucky and Wish, its hooves out in a begging gesture, and a pleading look on it's face.

"Oh, you want a handout, huh?" Lucky snarled down to the beast. "Well, let's see ya do a few  tricks, huh?"

The creature nodded eagerly, and morphed into Lucky, snaring and pointing a hoof at the couple. Then it morphed in Wish, striking a pose and rubbing it's side up against Lucky, while cooing suggestively. Finally, the creature morphed back into it's normal form, and begged again, like a hungry dog after doing a trick.

"Okay, here ya go- stupid Changeling!" He tossed his dinner roll to the beggar, who caught it in its mouth and trotted away with it like it owned the world. "Ugh, I wish the city would clean that scum outta here!"

"Remember Lucky, very few ponies are involved in crime," Wish reminded him. "If the city cleaned up slime like that thing, you'd be out of a job."

"Aw, stupid broad," Lucky snorted, glaring at her. "What do you know?"

Looking away from the colt mobster, Wish stared at the pathetic creature trotting from table to table, begging for scraps and morsels. The Changelings had once been a proud race, their hive making several attempts to conquer Equestria over the years. But now the shape shifters were little more than a scattered rabble, feeding off of the few scraps of food and love the other races tossed their way. They worked as beggars and mercenaries for various warlords and criminals, trying to eke out an existence in a world that has passed them by.

"So, have you reconsidered our offer?" The Apple cross goblin's voice startled her, bringing Wish back out of her thoughts. "You can get good rewards for helping in the pony trade!"

"I'm telling you, ya wormy goblin... it's still too risky!" Lucky snorted angrily. "That business youse guys are running down by the docks is too risky! I or my boys wouldn't be caught dead down there!"

"Is a shame, we get many, many of those foals out by river down there!" The goblin sneered. "The city guards will never catch us!"

"Ugh, goblin stink!" Wish snorted, wrinkling up her dainty nose. "I gotta get away from that putrid stench!"

"I's told ya not ta come along on this meetin' doll!" He smiled at the filly, kissing her. "Youse head back to the mansion, I'll meet ya there after I do wit some business!"

As the two continued to argue and haggle over details, Wish Shine quietly slipped away, trotting back towards the entrance to the Stickleway. She had to get this information about the dockside warehouse to the ponies that needed it most. But who could she deliver this information to? Wish Shine strained her brain as she trotted, trying to remember some glimmer of information that could tell her who to go to, until a single name floated up through the miasma of her brain.

"Twilight," Wish thought finally. "Twilight Shine'll know what to do!" Breaking into a gallop, the underworld filly made her way back up into the streets of Fort Dash and took off into the direction of the Citadel's library. Twilight would most likely be there, and that's where the filly would be able to quietly tip the pink unicorn off without making her presence known...

...

"Thank you so much for this conversation, Tornado." Twilight Shine smiled at him as the two unicorns trotted through the library. "I really needed it."  

"Sure, Twilight, anything for you!" The stallion grinned, nodding his head towards the door. "But we'd better get back to the castle, the others are probably waiting for us."

But as they were passing the fantasy section again, Twilight suddenly raised her head, staring into space. A glass overlook appeared in the pony's eyes, as if she were half asleep.

"Twilight, what is it?" Tornado asked, noticing how she was distracted. "What's wrong?"

"Something... calling to me..." the pink unicorn replied, trotting off into a side aisle. Levitating a few books aside, Twilight Shine pulled an envelope off of the shelf. Opening it, the shocked pony's eyes went wide. "Hey Tornado, come take a look at this!"  

"What? What is it?" the stallion asked. Trotting up, he looked over the filly's shoulder at the letter from the envelope. Peering down, the unicorn read the note scribbled on the paper;

"Dear Twilight,
I am sorry to interrupt your life again, but I thought I should make you aware of a most foul deed happening right under your nose here at Fort Rainbow Dash. A slavery ring, funded by the Dark Lord who dwells within Midnight Castle, is kidnapping innocent ponies and selling them. To make matters worse, the fiends are making it look like the city's ponygan population are responsible for the disappearances, trying to get the populace to blame them for sacrificing the foals to the spirits of the alicorn sisters. You and your Harmony Bearer friends need to get to the Stickleway's dockside district as soon as you can, you'll find the kidnapping operation being run out of a warehouse there. Good luck, Twilight Shine, and may fortune smile upon you.

The pony who has always been your reflection,

Wish Shine"

"Tornado, we need to get back!" Twilight galloped towards the exit, a sense of urgency overtaking her. "Princess Cadence needs to know about this at once!"

"Twilight, wait! Isn't that your cousin you were talking about? What's she doing in Fort Dash?" Tornado called after her, following her out of the door. "How did you know that note was there? Wait!"

The pink filly did not hear Tornado, as the two ponies raced their way back towards the Rainbow Crystal Castle.
...

"Gosh Thunderbolt, I didn’t know ya could fly this fast!" Firefly called out, racing along the track.

"What, you call this fast?" the Pegasus colt laughed back. "I thought we were just warming up!"

Needing to take out some of her frustration at the current situation, Firefly had needed to get away from everything and simply race. Thundercloud had offered to come with her, and the two had flown away together.

"I know the perfect place for us to race!" Firefly had told him. "Follow me!"

And boy, was she right! The Rainbow Dash Hippodrome was the largest stadium Thundercloud had ever seen. Large rows filled with seats rising in a semicircular arena, the structure's marble walls were visible from throughout Fort Rainbow Dash. It's track bore the hoof prints of a thousand earth pony chariot relay races*, and the magic scorch marks of a thousand unicorn gladiatorial battles. The two ponies followed the arena's Pegasus track route, zooming along in circular arcs and keeping pace with each other.

"Whenever I fly, I feel so free up here... like I've left all the troubles on the ground behind me," Firefly said wistfully as the two came to a stop along the track. "Medley and I use to come here to watch the Wonderbolts race when we were foals, then after everybody had left, I'd challenge her to a race... I'd always win, of course!"

"The two of you seem like really close friends." Thundercloud noted, gasping for breath. "You and her must of had a lot of fun together when you were younger!"

"Yeah, whether it was bullies or bad guys, Medley always needed her flank saved when we were fillies." The pink Pegasus sighed. "The poor kid's never had ta look after herself before... I never thought about that when I left."

"She seems to have gotten along well enough by herself," the colt replied, trotting over to Firefly. "Well, until this latest debacle, that is!"

"S'funny, I always dreamed of flying off and going on some grand adventure somewhere... of gettin' away from a mom who would put me in frilly dresses, and a dad who wanted his 'little filly' to stop wrestling in the mud with the colts and to play with dollies like all the other fillies." Firefly's ears drooped. "But protecting Medley always kept me grounded, 'cause she really didn't have any other friends. I'd let her do my mane up in curls, and play tea time with her, because it made her happy."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, Firefly." He laughed at her. "You're girly... but girly in your own way."

"HEY! Some ponies would take that as an insult, ya know!" She scowled at him, then her face turned into a playful pout. "Just try me, and find out how tough I am!"
"Okay then... let’s find out how tough ya really are!" He grinned at her. "There's this move called the double-inside-out loop. It was said to have been invented by the original Rainbow Dash's husband, very dangerous."

"I've seen the Wonderbolts pull off the move yer yappin about, an' I could fly it in my sleep!" Firefly snorted. "But how about let's make this even more interesting! Let's both fly it in opposite directions, and end it by flying straight at each other!"

"You're on!" he replied excitedly, facing away from her.

Trotting ten paces, the two ponies leapt straight into the air, their bodies twisting and turning in high above the stadium in perfect synchronization. But as the two flew back towards each other for the second loop, Firefly slammed right into the colt, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Thundercloud landed squarely on his back, with Firefly landing right on top of him!

"Hey, no fair!" Thundercloud protested as she pinned him down with her hooves. "You got the high ground!"

"Let this be a lesson to ya!" She grinned down at him mischievously. "Firefly always comes out on top!"

Leaning over, she closed her eyes, and passionately kissed the colt underneath her.

Outside, an earth pony couple passing the hippodrome noticed there was a massive dust cloud being kicked up in the arena, accompanied by a lot of whinnying and snorting.

"Well, seems like the Pegasus racers are practicing again!" the stallion snorted. "Wish they didn't have to make such a ruckus, though!"

"Indeed! Who knew a team could be so rude flying around a track." the mare beside him agreed, scowling. "I mean, all that noise and dust! Is there anything more vulgar a pony can do in public?"
...

Just outside the walls of the Crystal Castle, Fireball had taken Glory to a Gyro place that Firefly had told him about. The two were laughing and talking as they waited for their food while Fireball kept watching the time to see when his break was over.

"So yeah, Lightning and I snatched a horseshoe hot off the blacksmith's forge, and put it into Ice Crystal's bed!" He laughed. "You should've have seen that Pegasus jump and yelp after lying down to get some sleep!"

"Oh, brother! Talk about a colt with a hot flank!" Glory giggled, putting her hoof to her mouth. "My, but you mountain boy ponies do get into some scrapes!"

"Eh, nothing like the adventures you harmony bearer candidates have gotten yourselves into!" the unicorn replied, leaning on his helmet he had set on the table. "My friends and I might be along for the ride, but you gals are having all the fun!"

"Yes... and to think... it almost didn't happen," Glory told him sadly. "If things had gone differently, I wouldn't have been a part of this little group!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Fireball asked curiously. "Why wouldn't Princess Cadence have summoned you?"

"It was my older sister, Sparkler, who was invited to come along on this little adventure," Glory replied sadly. "She's the one who can find gems like our ancestor Rarity could. And it was her the Princess was expecting at the banquet that day."

"Oh, why didn't Sparkler come then?" Fireball asked. "Not that I don't prefer you being here, of course."

"I told her highness that my sister was sick, which she is, but there's more to it than that." Glory sighed again. "Sparkler is a very boastful pony... a little too proud, if you will. While I was helping our mother in the shop and learning how to plan parties, she was busy bragging about everything she did, and telling everyone else that she was better than they were."

"Whoa, it is a good thing you came instead." Fireball whistled. "The princess hates vain braggarts."

It was at that point that the waiter pony brought their plates of food. Fireball licked his chops at the sight of his lettuce, hay, and cheese Gyro, but then paled at the sight of Glory's lamb meat Gyro.

"How does it taste?" he asked her, looking at the odd dish in wonder. "Meat, I mean. I have always wondered."

"I don't know, it's very hard to describe." She thought about it. "Very juicy, and... meat-y. I'm sorry, is my eating this in front of you disturbing?"

"What? Oh no, it doesn't bother me at all." Fireball insisted. "In fact, I'm used to it. Tornado eats meat all the time."

"Wait... Tornado eats meat?" Glory asked in shock. "How in the world can he do that?"

"Oh, we're not quite sure. One of the rumors going around Misty Mountain is that his mother came from Dream Valley," the soldier colt explained. "...another rumor is his parents were human sorcerers who turned themselves into ponies to escape some crime they had committed in Manehatten. Who knows what the truth is?"

"I always thought that stallion was a bit... odd," Glory replied, taking a bite of her Gyro. "But then again, I suppose all ponies are kind of odd, in our own little ways."

...
In the Rainbow Crystal Castle throne room, Princess Cadence was talking to the margrave, discussing the current situation.

"I told you a long time ago Starshine, that letting all of those goblins and griffins form their own ghetto community in Fort Dash was a bad idea!" Cadence snorted. "The stickleway is a haven for crime that otherwise would not exist in a pony community!"

"I know, I know! None of the other ponyland herds have a criminal underworld!" The margrave sighed. "I just thought that inviting them into live among the herds might influence them for the better!"

"Having races like humans, elves and gnomes coming in is one thing. They are good and noble races such as we ponies." The princess took on a haughty tone. "But diamond dogs? Changelings? What the hay were you thinking, Starshine?"

"As usual, you are correct, Princess," the Margrave replied, sighing. "When this madness is over, I'll have to get rid of all those outsiders, and close down the stickleway."

"I am glad you've come to your senses, my dear," the alicorn replied approvingly. "Love and tolerance can only go so far."

"That is something that I have been thinking about." The margrave cocked an eyebrow, looking down at her. "I'm not exactly certain these 'girls' of yours, are the right ponies to save Ponyland!"

"You don't think the harmony bearer's descendants are up to the task?" Cadence snorted indignantly. "The ponies whom I hoof-picked?"

"These ponies are not their ancestors, Cadence... even if you refuse to see that!" the margrave snorted. "I just don't know if they'd be any better than the six princess ponies are now!"

Cadence was about to respond when a unicorn servant levitated a silver tray covered with a lid in.
"Your grace..." The unicorn stallion bowed to her. "Dinner... is served!"

"Great!" the margrave exclaimed, lifting the lid off the platter. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a-"

BOOM! An explosion tore out from under the lid, covering the shocked mare's face in black soot.

"Hahahaha! Gotcha!" Surprise appeared in the doorway, laughing hysterically. "Looks like your lunch blew up in your face! HAHAHAHA!"

As the deranged filly zipped off down the hallway, the disgruntled margrave grumbled to herself.

"I really hate that pet psycho of yours, Cadence," she sighed as Princess Cadence buried her face in her hooves.