“Here you go, two daffodil sandwiches.” Spike placed the plates on the table, one for each mare. Twilight sat at the edge of one corner with Fluttershy next to her. The poor yellow pegasus had been in tears for well over an hour, and it was almost lunch time. Twilight had one hoof wraped around Fluttershy’s shoulder, gently consolidating in any way she could.
Fluttershy took the sandwich within her hooves. The kind gesture slowed her sobbing almost immediately. “Thank you, Spike.”
The young purple dragon waved his claws at them as he left the room. “Aww don’t mention it guys.” He left the room, off to do who knows what.
But he didn’t concern Twilight. She trusted the dragon not to do anything bad. Besides, right now Fluttershy still needed her attention. Only recently was Fluttershy able to tell her what happened between sobs.
Twilight and Fluttershy both ate several bites of their sandwiches in silence. Twilight did not motivate Fluttershy to continue her story and instead left her to speak when she was ready. After several minutes Fluttershy continued.
“R-rarity threw in one of those cans of green gas the town guard sometimes use. I could tell Dave breathed some in because he started to wobble on his hooves. Even after the gas he still tried to fight. Rarity and Rainbow Dash came in, but Dave charged at Rainbow. Her forced her to the ground and kept beating her. There was more blood on the ground and-and IT WAS HORRIBLE.”
Fluttershy threw her head onto Twilight, sobbing even more. Twilight rubbed her mane again, calming her down. Shortly after, Fluttershy continued, “A-and he finally collapsed on top of rainbow dash. And then Rarity picked everypony up with her magic, a-and they took him away.”
Twilight looked down at Fluttershy, “Well, maybe it was for the best. Dave is a really dangerous animal.”
Fluttershy looked up from the shoulder she held unto, new tears flooded her eyes. “But-but he isn’t!! He isn’t a monster, Twilight! I can tell; he was just trying to protect me. I saw it in him; there were the guards, and he was just trying to help me.”
Fluttershy looked at Twilight strait in the eye, her watery gaze brought unbeknown sadness, “Please, Twilight, we have to help him.”
Twilight smiled. It doesn’t matter how or why; a friend needed her help, and she wasn’t going to deny it. “Of course,” Twilight stood up from the table, lifting Fluttershy with her. She opened her wings. “Let’s go.”
Fluttershy finally stopped crying, and for the first time all day, she was grinning ear to ear. She got up on her hooves, her eyes full of hope. “Thanks Twilight.”
Both of the mares began to walk out of the kitchen and into the hallway when a familiar dragon’s voice caught their attention. “Twilight, somepony’s at the door for you!”
“Coming!” Twilight called out. She trotted ahead of Fluttershy towards the library. As she made her way to the top of the stairs, she nearly fell over them. At the door, to her utter surprise, was the solar princess, Celestia.
Twilight quickly recollected herself and more carefully walked down the wooden stairs. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing here?”
Celestia gave a warm smile. “Well, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I’ve received your letter on the newest visitor in ponyville, and I felt as though I had to meet him.”
“B-but what are you doing here all of a sudden. I mean, did I miss the announcement. Oh-no-oh-no, I didn’t set ponyville for a princess arrival. You probably think ponyville’s a mess. Oh-how did I not get the announcement?! Spike, did you not give me a letter?!”
The purple drake turned around at the mention of his name. “Huh-what about a letter?”
“I knew it! You didn’t give me a letter on the princess’s arrival, did you?”
“What? No. There wasn’t a-“
“And I bet this is all some-“
“TWILIGHT!” Both the librarian and the dragon froze in place. Celestia had raised her voice, this couldn’t be good, “I came to ponyville unannounced.”
Twilight looked up at her in confusion, “But why?”
“Remember that parasprite problem?”
Twilight lowered her head. “Oh, yeah, right.”
Celestia put on a small smile. She gently lifted Twilight’s head with a hoof. “Now don’t be like that. It’s not the parasprites I was talking about. On that day, there wasn’t a holiday or a special occasion; I just wanted to visit you. But even then, the town ended up putting so much effort in making a good arrival for me. I don’t like seeing ponies spend so much time and energy for me when it’s unnecessary. I came here unannounced because I wanted this visit to be causal. There is nothing on my schedule and the rest of my day is free; so I wanted to spend some of it with you, and meet that new friend you wrote to me about.”
Twilight rubbed behind her ears with a hoof, “He-he, about that. I think we might have to ask Rarity about where Dave is.”
Celestia raised and eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“Oh, you know. She was the last one to see him.”
Celestia’s smile returned, “Well, if you’re not busy, why don’t we give Rarity a visit. The dress shop is called ‘Carousel Boutique’ if I’m not mistaken.”
Twilight dropped her hoof, “Oh, it is. You don’t mind if Fluttershy comes with us, do you? We were actually planning on going already.”
“Not at all, but where is she?”
“Huh?” Twilight looked around the library. Surely enough, Fluttershy was nowhere in sight. Twilight turned around, “Excuse me for a moment.” She trotted up the stairs.
Fluttershy wasn’t in the kitchen nor was she in the bathroom. She was in the last place Twilight looked, the bedroom. Fluttershy was lying down on a few pillows and reading a book on the floor.
As the door opened, she turned her head towards Twilight. “Oh, hi Twilight. I hope you don’t mind me reading one of your books up here?”
Twilight stepped in, “Not at all Fluttershy. But come on, we were going to see Rarity, right?”
“Oh yes, that’d be nice. So, um, are you done with your guest?”
“Actually, it was Princess Celestia, and she’s coming along with us.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock, “Oh-oh-no, Princess Celestia? Oh my!” Fluttershy rushed towards the nearby dresser, looking into the mirror. She jerked her head side to side, making a quick inspection of her face. “My mane! Is it okay? Ooh, I hope there’re not any knots in it or any loose ends.”
Twilight shook her head at the silliness. She walked over to friend and the dresser. She levitated one of her brushes and started to brush Fluttershy’s mane. She didn’t need it, but its the thought that’s counts. “You look fine, Fluttershy. No come on, we don’t want to keep the princess waiting, do we?”
Twilight slowly made her way towards the door, and Fluttershy started to follow, “Oh, no, I guess not.”
They both made their way to the main library, where they saw a patient princess entertaining herself with a book. As Twilight and Fluttershy made their way down the stairs, Celestia lifted her head to their presence. As the two ponies reached the foot of the stairs, Celestia had already put the book where she found it and got up to meet the ponies.
“Well hello, Fluttershy”
The shy pegasus made a crude attempt to hide behind Twilight. “Um, hello ... princess.”
“Are we ready to go?”
Twilight responded, “Only if you are, princess.”
Celestia started walking towards the door and opened it in a yellow aura, “Then let’s go.”
====
Fluttershy, Princess Twilight, and Princess Celestia all casually made their way though ponyville. All the while, any other pony that caught sight of them immediately bowed to their presence. Celestia paid no mind to the gestures, but Twilight was uncomfortable with it. To her, it didn’t feel right, bowing was just something she felt she didn’t deserve. As for Fluttershy, she was well aware that none of the bowing was towards her, but the attention was still nerve racking. She tried to hide behind twilight most of the way to avoid any gazing eyes.
The trip to the Carousel Boutique was short and uneventful, but Celestia kept a faint smile on her muzzle the whole way. Twilight could tell Celestia was happy just to spent time with her, which in turn, made her happy as well. When they finally found the small path to the dress shop, Twilight stopped and turned around to address the princess, “Do you mind if I speak first, Rarity can be a bit…overdramatic.”
“By all means.” Celestia stepped aside and stood her place by the door, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy to make the introductions. Twilight opened the door, and the bell above it rang to announce her.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is unique, chique, and fantastiec!” Rarity had her back turned to the supposed customers, working on another dress. Various pins, threads, and fabrics hovered the space around her within sky blue aura.
Twilight called out, “Rarity, it's me!”
Rarity lifter her head from her work, and turned to face her friends. “Twilight, Fluttershy, what a pleasant surprise.” All of the floating supplies flew into the nearby basket. Rarity turned her entire body so as to better address her friends. “What are you two doing here? Need a new hat?”
“Actually, Rarity, Princess Celestia is here and-“
“Princess Celestia?!! What could she be here for? Oh, does she need adjustments to her royal attire? Or does she need a new one entirely? Or does she-“
“Rarity!! I’m getting to that.” Twilight drew in and let out a deep breath. This was going to be tough. “The princess wants to meet our new friend.”
“New friend? Darling, I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You know, the one Fluttershy tells me you were the last one to see.” Rarity slightly shook her head. Twilight rolled her eyes, “Along with Rainbow Dash and a few of the local guards, if I’m not mistaken.”
Rarity’s eyes widened and her irises shrunk at the sudden realization. “Do you mean that creature?! Twilight, why would the princess ever want to see such a violent and discusting creature?”
“Because he seemed new, and I’m curious about him.” If the air was any stiller, all the heavy heartbeats might’ve been hear by everypony in the room. Their blood froze in place and limbs stiffened. “Now, what was this about some local guards?”
Celestia’s voice was as clam as it always is, put this time it felt life a scyth to the back of all three ponies in the room. Twilight hoped to hide this, but she supposed it was inevitable. Realizing this, Twilight was the first to recover from the shock. She turned towards her former mentor in the room. She took a deep breath, and swung her hoof as she let it and the stress out. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“Princess I have a confession... If you can recall, I did not address how I first met the human, Dave. This is because he…” Twilight looked up for second, searching for the right words, “…made what may have been the worst possible first impression. Because of that, Rarity and Rainbow Dash retaliated with the best intents for their friend’s wellness.”
Rarity stepped forward, “Twilight, I’ll take this,” Rarity spoke with her head high, ready to endure whatever came her way, “Princess, I, with the assistance of Rainbow Dash and two of Ponyville’s local gaurds, attacked the new creature within Fluttershy’s home and apprehended it. He is a lethal creature and I did so because I could not stand by and allow Fluttershy to be a victim of her own kindness.” Rarity let out her breath and hung her head. “I’m truly sorry for hindering any intentions you had for the creature. I did not know you wished to see it.”
Celestia regained her small smile. “Rise, my little pony. I understand why you did what you did and I commend you for you willingness to put yourself in harm's way to secure the safety of your friends. You need not be sorry for you righteous actions.”
Happiness and relief overfilled Rarity. Tears nearly fell from her eyes. “Oh, thank you, princess. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“It’s quite alright. Now you mentioned ‘apprehension’. So where is this human now?”
“Oh, it’s currently locked away at the nearby jail. I thought it'd be the only sure way that it does t cause any more damage.”
Celestia turned and made her way towards the door. “Well then, why don’t we pay him a visit?”
“A-are you sure, princess? It is such a violent creature.”
Celestia made a small chuckle. “Now, don’t worry about me. I can be quite persuasive when need be, and I think I can help change Dave for the better.”
All four pones left the boutique. One was eager to meet the human for the first time. Despite their faith, the others were getting ready for things to go bad fast.
====
Aaugh…
Now this was a more familiar wake up call, a throbbing headache. Wonder what it was this time? Was it flying shrapnel again? Or maybe I met another rush-trained medic that gave me to much of the good stuff? Did the old drill sergeant give me another prime example on how hard the stock of a shotgun is? What was it again? Oh yeah, those ponies gas attacked me. It was… the white and purple one and…the blue one with rainbows.
I let out a sigh. So where the hell am I now? I got up from the floor. With my senses returning to me, I could now tell it was cold and maybe made of stone. Looking around, I noticed the room was like an old jail cell. Grey concrete covered the floor, ceiling and three of the walls. The one was that wasn’t made of concrete was made of vertical metal bars.
Beyond those bars, I could see two more of those combat ponies. One had the usual cloak and metal helmet, but the other’s helmet was decorated with stiff red bristles as well as a horn. It reminded me of a Roman officer. I assumed he was in charge here.
Especially because he was clearly chewing out the other pony. “Wait-wait-wait, Let me get this strait. Rarity and Rainbow Dash came here in the morning, asking for assistance in capturing a creature as well as a few knock-out canisters.”
The younger pony kept his himself calm and collected, “That’s what they told me, sir”
“And the two that went with the mares are Sharp Eye and Rough Feather, correct?”
“Yes sir.”
“So not only did they go out on an unauthorized capture and contain mission, they also gave the civilians knock-out canisters?”
“Yes sir.”
“So I’m now stuck with this-this,” He lifted a hoof towards me, “thing stinking up my jail cell?”
“It appears so, sir.”
“Auugh!” The commanding pony rubbed his forehead with his hoof. "How the buck did this happened?"
"I've heard Rarity can be quite persuasive, sir."
The pony with the decorated helmet brought a hoof to his face and sighed to himself, “When those two idiots get out of the hospital, I might just sent them back in.” The younger pony didn’t respond. The commanding one made his way towards the door. He turned to the younger one, “Keep and eye on it.”
“Will do, sir.”
The commander left he building, as he did, another pony walked in. This one had headgear like the rest, and seemed similar in rank to the other pony in the room. Unlike the other, he had a pair of wings at his sides. I also noticed the younger one relaxed at his presence, and spoke first.
“Hey, Sticks, any news from the hospital?”
“How ‘bout a mess.” He closed the door behind him. Both ponies moved to some cushions at a small table next to one of the walls where they continued talking.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah. Sharp got the worse of it. Plenty of his organs and a few ribs were utterly smashed. Nurses said it’ll take him months to recover. Feather just had a busted wing and a cracked skull.”
The younger one was obviously disturbed, “Ueew.”
“None of the bones in his wings where broken, but the tendons were completely ripped. They say he’d need surgery to get ‘em fixed, and maybe some physical therapy, but he definitely got it better than Sharp.”
“Celestia’s hooves, that thing did all that.” They both turned around to look at me. Their eyes were squinted and serious. They seemed curious but careful at the same. They got up from there spot and moved closer to me. The stood just inches from my giant cage. They tilted their heads, thinking to themselves.
The little pegasus spoke first, “Judging from the report, ponies would think you’d be a manticore or something. You’re a dangerous guy, aren’t you?” He smirked.
I held my tongue and kept my gaze. They don’t think I could talk. They think I’m a dumb animal. Good. I might be able to use that to my advantage.
The regular pony turned to his friend, “Say, how strong to you think he is. I mean, compare it to something.”
“His legs aren’t that big, but I bet he’s fast. I say he’s stronger than most ponies, but not every stallion.”
“Hehee, yeah, I hear ya.” The regular pony tapped his hoof against the metal bars, making a 'tip tip tip' sound. “But this is griffin steel, there’s now way he’s bustin’ out of here.”
He walked to a small cabinet on the nearby wall. I could here jingling of keys as he griped something within his teeth. I was right, it was a set of keys. A metal hoop within his mouth held several large keys.
“Not without these.” He jiggled the keys in front of his friend. He turned to me, holding the keys just outside the cell. “What’s the matter big guy, want some keys?” The pegasus beside him broke out laughing, and other giggled as much as he could while keeping the keys in his mouth.
They keys where mere feet from me, just outside of the cell.
This was my chance.
I launched my body forward as fast as I could, reaching out with my right arm. The pony saw me and tried to jump back. My hand flew between the bars and reached outward. My head slammed against the bars, but it stayed there. Something was pulling at my arm. Yes, I could feel it, the key ring was in my grip.
I lifted my left arm and leg against the bars and pulled back with all my might. I could hear hooves beat against the ground as the pony tried to find better grip. By now, I gained enough inches to lift my head from the bars and I could see what they were doing.
“Hmmmff, Help me out!!” The pegasus hovered in the air and got behind his friend. He put his forelegs under the regular pony’s shoulder and flapped his wings as fast as he could. The heavy gust pushed against my body and irritated my eyes. I had to squint them, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t need my eyes right now; inch by inch, I was winning this tug-of-war.
I pulled, and pulled, and pulled some more until I couldn't any more. Not because I was running out of steam, but because his face wouldn’t fit between the bars. The keys were inside, but now I had to make him let go of them.
That was the problem. My left arm was still levered against the bar, keeping my chest off of it. If I let go, I’ll lose a lot of ground. I had to find someway to keep the keys in here. It only took me a second just found out how.
With the keys still in my right hand, I twisted my hand so the fingers faced the ceiling. I twisted my arm so my elbow grew closer to the bars, but my finger turned to face the wall behind me. With the key ring now balanced in my palm, I shifted my thumb under the ring. As soon as all fingers were in place, I made my next move.
I let my left arm loose and threw my right arm diagonally skyward. The key ring fell to my forearm and was rapidly pulled it forward. My face and arm slammed against he bars, but now the keys were locked in, and my bones won’t break that easily.
The pony kept his pull on the keys, but his pegasus friend lost his grip and fell backwards on the floor. Even with my face pressed against the bar, I shifted by eyes to my side and stared into his. I could tell he was terrified, and I made one of the biggest real smiles I've made in a long time.
I reached my left arm through the bar and slugged the pony with the keys in the face. I kept my assault, but he was determined, and so was I. Before he could recover, I changed tactics and made a punch for his eye.
“Aaaahhh!!”
Success. He opened his mouth to scream, and that’s exactly what I wanted. I pulled the keys into my cage as fast as I could. I lost my footing and fell to the ground, but I had the keys. Before even getting up, I shuffled through the keys, trying to find one that might fit. I had nothing to make a decision on, so I picked a random key, and got up to test it.
The younger pony was busy nursing his eye with a hoof, but the pegasus had just recovered. He stood at the ready for anything. His hooves were slightly spread, and his wings were unfolded and raised. He held his head down, eyeing me with rage, and snorting his breath.
As soon as I put my arm out to try out a key, he jumped at me, but I knew he would. He aimed for the keys, but like a bad high-five, I lifted my hand up so he’d completely miss. He hit his head against the bars, and I took the change to swing down with my arm. I struck his face with the many bits of metal, scratching them in several places.
He stepped back, gritting his teeth and holding his scream. He kept his eyes on me as I tried for the lock. Without resistance, and both my hands free, I was able to try and switch keys much faster. I tried one, then another, and another. There were well over a dozen of these keys.
Every second I shifted my eyes from my hands to the ponies, ready to counter any other attempt to regain control of the keys. They didn’t try anything else. Instead, they ran for some kind of closet, rummaging for something. That was a wild card, I had to work fast.
Luck was on my side, with a quick ‘chink!’ metal rubbed on metal and the door unlocked. I dropped the keys and threw the heavy doors to my side. I was home free, well almost…
Just I opened the door, the two ponies turned around from their closet. They carried weapons in their mouths, the pegasus carried one of those smooth maces I’ve seen the other first two combat ponies carry. The more wounded pony’s eye had already started to blacken and he held a dagger in his mouth. There faces emanated rage, I could tell they wanted to turn me into a bloodly pulp.
The pegasus jumped first. He launched into the air, ready to swing the mace at my face. Before he could make contact, I grabbed the front his face with my right hand to stop his swing. I then took my left hand and made an uppercut to his sorry gut. I kept my grip on his face and swung him around strait into the ground. He stopped all movement aside from the blood flowing out of his head.
I quickly reached down to pick up the mace just in time. The other pony took the opportunity to try and stab me. He aimed low, but I grabbed the mace just in time. I swung upward and struck the pony in the side of his jaw. His body flew back, blood spitting from his mouth, and landed back on the floor with a thud. A small pool of blood began to form out of his mouth.
I dropped the mace and ran out. It would’ve been too heavy and time was important right now. I looked up for a moment to check the sun. It was either late morning or early afternoon. Luckily, the jailhouse was at the edge of town, and there were no ponies around to witness me.
As I ran, I made a mental checklist.
1. Get my armor
2. Get my knife
3. Get some revenge