Chapter 8:
No Honor Amongst Thieves
After a long trek through the maze of a hideout, Asterius and Trigger arrived in a room with large cell. Trigger opened the cell door, and Asterius threw the Crusaders in.
"Y'all are very lucky Trigger's taken a likin' to ya," said Asterius as he closed and locked the cell door. "Personally, I don't see a reason to keep y'all alive."
"Somepony has to be looking for these kids, Boss," said Trigger, wringing his claws. "If we play our cards right, they'll fetch us a pretty penny. Ehheh... Ehheh..."
Asterius snorted. "I don't think anypony would miss these troublemakers."
"Hey, that's mean!" Sweetie Belle protested. "I'll have you know my sister would kick your butt if she found out I was ponynapped!"
"So would mine!" Apple Bloom added.
"An' mine!" Babs Seed chimed in.
"Rainbow Dash would kick your butt into next Tuesday!" shouted Scootaloo.
Asterius raised an eyebrow and stroked his chin. "Well well, Trigger. Seems I was mistaken. We can hold these here ponies for ransom."
"You do that, an' I'll make ya regret it!" Babs barked, gripping the bars of the cell with her hooves.
Asterius chuckled. "I'd like to see you try, bigmouth," he said smugly. "An' by that, I mean I'd like to see you run away screamin' like a little girl again."
Babs's cheeks became as red as her hair as she gripped the bars tighter and pouted. Asterius merely chuckled again.
"Trigger, let's see if they have anythin' of value in that little red wagon of theirs," said he.
"On it, Boss," said Trigger, sifting through the Crusaders' saddlebags. "Hmm... Apples, canteens, a compass, sunglasses... No, nothing of particular interest."
"Add it to the hoard, anyway," said Asterius. "If these fillies get any bright ideas for escapin', they won't get far without food an' water."
"Got it, Boss," said Trigger. "Ehheh..."
"I think we're doomed," Sweetie Belle said with a gulp.
"What kinda attitude is that?" said Babs, blowing back her combover. "We can't just let these guys walk all over us!"
"Not like we have much of a choice, Babs," said Apple Bloom glumly.
Just then, there was a curious noise coming from below. Trigger titled his head.
"Hey, Boss. I hear something," he said, placing his ear to the ground.
"It'd better not be who I think it is," Asterius groaned.
A split second later, a burly Diamond Dog popped out of the ground and flung Trigger into the wall. Asterius was also startled.
"Gah!" he exclaimed. "Toro, how many times do I gotta tell yas not to do that?!"
"Sorry, Boss," said the Diamond Dog sheepishly. "But you must understand. For a Diamond Dog, this is the fastest way to travel."
"Apparently not," said Asterius, folding his arms. "Y'all were supposed to report back hours ago. What took ya?"
"We, took a little detour, Boss," said Toro, pulling himself out the the hole.
"A detour?" Asterius parroted.
"Yes, Boss. You see, we held up these potros, and..."
"Spare me the details, Toro. I don't care what happened as long as ya got some loot," said Asterius. "Now, where the heck is Needles?"
As if on cue, a small yellow dragon crawled out of the hole with a bowl of topaz in her claws and a parasol under her arm. She was munching on the topaz one by one.
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm~! Delish," she said blissfully as she popped another gem into her mouth. She then looked up at Asterius. "Oh, hey Asty. Sorry we took so long."
"Ah, Needles. Welcome back," said Trigger, finally recovering from being thrown into the wall. "Ooh. Is that your haul?"
"Part of it," said Needles. "My part, at least. An' no, I ain't sharin'."
"Oh, Needles~. You can be so cruel. Ehheh..." said Trigger in a melodramatic fashion.
"Spare me," said Needles, rolling her eyes as she popped another piece of topaz into her mouth. "Mmm~. I'm tellin' ya, Asty. This is the dragon equivalent of high-class fudge."
"I don't care what it is," Asterius said with a snort. "Toro jus' said y'all took a detour, so the loot better be worth it."
"It is, it is. Simmer down," said Needles. "Toro, show 'im what we got."
Toro reached into his cloak and pulled out two sacks of different sizes. Asterius swiped them from the Diamond Dog's paws and peered inside the smaller one first.
"Seventeen bits? Is this some kinda joke?" he growled.
"Seventeen bits and a topaz deposit," Needles clarified. "Look in the other sack."
Asterius did so, and sure enough, it was filled to the brim with topaz. He then gave Needles a deadpan look.
"Needles, we made our hideout out of a dragon's nest. I think we've got enough jewels," said he.
Needles chuckled coyly. "Oh, Asty. Don't be like that," she cooed. "You know that to a dragon, there ain't no such thing as enough jewels. 'Sides, this is topaz we're talkin' about." She popped another stone into her mouth to emphasize her point.
Asterius heaved a great sigh. "Toro, what happened?"
"Well, we held up these potros like usual, but then this buffalo said she knew where this topaz deposit was," said Toro. "To her credit, she wasn't lying. There were lots of pretty gems."
Asterius nodded. "I think I get the picture," he said. He then swiped the bowl of topaz from Needles's claws.
"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" Needles protested.
"You are now," said Asterius. "I'm takin' all this as your tribute. Maybe that'll teach y'all to use your brains and not your instincts and stomach."
"Besides, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your, lovely figure, Needles," added Trigger. "That would be simply tragic. Ehheh... Ehheh..."
Needles gave Trigger a bemused look. "Trigger, c'mere."
Trigger did as he was told, and Needles bopped him on the head with her parasol.
"I told ya before, ya creep. You don't ever talk to a woman about her figure," she scolded.
"But Boss, we haven't gotten our share in days!" Toro barked. "No one stiffs Toro the Bulldog!"
"Maybe I'd be more generous if you stopped screwin' up!" Asterius retorted.
"Screwin' up? Now that ain't fair," said Needles, folding her arms. "Toro an' I have been pullin' our weight jus' as much as you and Trigger."
"You talkin' back to me, Needles?" Asterius snapped, leering down at the small dragon. "'Cause I don't like it when people talk back to me."
"Look, Asty. If ya took a second to actually considered this, I'd reckon you'd realize that the topaz more that makes up for the seventeen bits," said Needles. "So don't go around sayin' Toro an' I are screw-ups."
Asterius leaned down to Needles's height and let out a powerful snort that knocked her off-balance.
"My patience has already been worn thin dealin' with some other complications, Needles. Don't test me," Asterius snarled. "Toro, take stock of our jewels while I add your tribute to the hoard. I wanna make sure of something. C'mon, Trigger."
"Coming, Boss," said Trigger as he followed Asterius out of the room.
Toro sighed and shook his head. "I thought you said you knew how to deal with him, Señorita Needles."
"Don't blame me. I had no idea he'd be in such a bad mood," said Needles. "Sheesh, what crawled up his butt?"
Toro looked over at the cell and noticed the Crusaders. "I think I know."
Needles took a look over herself and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I do declare," she said. "Didn't think we were stoopin' this low."
"Since when do you have standards?" asked Toro.
Needles shot Toro a look. "I think a better question is what are you still doin' here? Didn't Nasty-Asty want ya to do something?"
Toro growled. "No need to get testy, Señorita Needles. This whole thing with the topaz was your idea to begin with."
Before Needles could retort, Toro dove back underground. Needles sighed.
"As if I'm happy 'bout this," she muttered before turning to the Crusaders. "So, y'all managed to get tangled up in the affairs of the Bull's Eye Gang, huh?"
"We didn't mean to," said Sweetie Belle sadly.
"Sure ya didn't," said Needles with a knowing smirk.
"She's tellin' the truth," Babs snarled, giving Needles a dark look.
"Hey, hey! Easy there, hon," said Needles. "I'm not the one who locked y'all in there. If anythin', you've got no one to blame but yourselves for tryin' to cross us. Heck, y'all are lucky to be alive."
"We didn't know this would happen, though," said Scootaloo. "Honest."
Needles raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Alright then. How'd y'all get in there if you weren't plannin' on robbin' us?"
"It's a long story," said Apple Bloom.
"I've got plenty of time," Needles retorted. "Let's start with some introductions. My name's Needles. What's yours?"
The Crusaders looked at one another, unsure of how to respond. Needles sighed.
"Look, I know y'all might be a bit skeptical 'bout talkin' to me, considerin' the company I keep," said she. "But it's not like y'all have got anythin' better to do. Except maybe plannin' your escape, but y'all would have to be idiots to do that in front of me."
"She has a point," said Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom sighed. "I guess," she said before turning to Needles. "Well, I'm Apple Bloom, and these here are my friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, an' my cousin Babs. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
Needles stroked her chin. "Can't say I ever heard of ya. Y'all new 'round these parts?"
"Sorta," said Apple Bloom. "Babs is actually from Manehattan, and the rest of us are from Ponyville."
"Well, you're a long way from home then," said Needles. "Does anypony know you're out here?"
"No," said Apple Bloom with a sigh. "We were supposed to leave Cousin Braeburn a note, but we forgot."
"A note?" inquired Needles.
"Yeah," said Scootaloo. "See, we're on a mission to find the Dragon Magi."
Needles's pupils dilated for a brief moment, but she quickly regained her composure before the Crusaders noticed. "What do y'all want with that ole buffalo tale?" she asked.
"We heard that they're very wise," said Sweetie Belle. "We think they know how we can get our Cutie Marks."
"But, that's just a legend," said Needles.
"No, they're real," said Scootaloo. "We met a couple of them just south of here. They said they'd help us if we got some gems from this cave."
Needles paused for a moment, and then snickered.
"What's so funny?" Babs snarled.
"N-nothin'. J-jus' thought of this joke I heard. Nothin' to do with you," said Needles, clearing her throat. "Anyway, it seems like this all was jus' a big misunderstandin'."
"That's what we tried to tell that Asterius guy, but he wouldn't listen," said Scootaloo with a pout.
"Yeah, I don't blame y'all for that," said Needles. "Asterius doesn't listen to anyone but himself."
"And now we got in trouble and broke our Pinkie Promise," said Sweetie Belle, tears in her eyes. "W-we didn't mean to do anything wrong..."
Needles paused for a moment and then sighed.
"Listen, I normally don't do this, but I'm not on good terms with Nasty-Asty right now, an' I wanna pay him back for takin' my topaz," she said.
"Whaddya mean by that?" asked Babs, raising an eyebrow.
Instead of answering, Needles climbed up the wall and used her parasol to pick the lock on the cell door. She then leapt down and freed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle from their bonds with a swipe of her tail.
"Wait, you're helpin' us bust outta here?" said Babs. "What's the catch?"
"The catch is y'all better get a move-on," said Needles. "I can keep Trigger distracted, and I'll find a way to grease Toro's paws so that he'll look the other way. But if y'all run into Asty again, there ain't nothin' I can do to save ya."
"But what about our wagon?" said Sweetie Belle. "We won't get far without our stuff."
"And we don't even know how to get out of this place," added Scootaloo.
Needles scoffed. "Figure that out for yourselves, gals. I ain't that nice."
"Aw, c'mon~! Spike says that noble dragons always help out damsels in distress," said Sweetie Belle, staring at Needles with puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please~?!"
Needles tried to resist Sweetie's cuteness, but her efforts were in vain. "Alright, fine! I'll help ya get your stupid wagon an' show ya the way out! J-jus' stop with the face!"
"Thank you very much," said Sweetie Belle as she beamed. The other Crusaders simply gawked at her.
"Okay, new rule. We let Sweetie Belle handle all negotiations from here on out," said Scootaloo.
"I've got no problem with that," said Apple Bloom.
"Me neither," Babs concurred.
"Right," said Needles, regaining her composure. "So, I'll help ya out. But in exchange, I'd like it if y'all helped me get my topaz back. That sound fair?"
"Sure," said Sweetie Belle with a nod. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shrugged, while Babs glared at Needles
"Just don't try to double-cross us," she said sternly as she blew back her combover.
Needles gave Babs a coy smile. "I'm a lady first, a dragon second, and a bandit third. I'm not one to take advantage of children. Now c'mon, follow me. But keep quiet."
The Crusaders nodded and did as they were told. Needles sighed.
"I hope I don't end up regrettin' this," she muttered to herself.