Redemption of the Fireheart

by Your Antagonist

4: Bad Colts! Bad Colts! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

After Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders escaped from the burning Middle District Marketplace, they found themselves in an area that was slowly filling up with law enforcement knights, all racing to off to combat the gradually spreading fire. The fillies were taking this opportunity to remain out of the view of any superior officers, while they attempted to get a grasp on their situation. “What are we gonna do?” The question had been posed by none other than Applebloom.

“Well obviously we can’t tell them what really happened, otherwise Silver Spoon and I would totally get in trouble, I mean we disobeyed a direct order. Lady Rainbow Dash doesn’t take too kindly to that,” Diamond Tiara hissed.

“Well,” Sweetie Belle began her rebuttal, “maybe if you’d have listened to her in the first place, then we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we saw what happened and we know who was involved so it’s our job and our duty to report it!”

“You are so lame, you know that?” Silver Spoon scoffed.

“Well, I’d rather be lame than a liar and a lousy knight!” Scootaloo’s comment pierced right through Silver Spoon’s armor, and lodged itself directly in the filly’s ego.

 “What did you just say, blank flank?”

“You heard exactly what I said, now what’re you gonna do about it?”

“Why you—”

Silver Spoon’s line of challenge came to an abrupt halt as a familiar voice carrying heavy traces of irate frustration filled the street and drew closer. “Wonderful, this is just bucking wonderful! First Blueblood shows up at my investigation site and kicks me off the case I’ve been working for six months, then Pinkie runs off some-bucking-where, and now I come to find out that the Middle District Marketplace has been destroyed again, thanks to my shortsightedness.” The knights in training turned to face the source of the noise and quickly found themselves staring down the barrel of a loaded question, aimed by none other than Lady Rainbow Dash. “You three! What the hay happened here, and why are you not by the gate like I ordered!?”

All five fillies swallowed nervously and simultaneously because they knew that if they answered this question honestly, then the only thing that would await them was corporal punishment. If they chose to lie about it, they would escape any form of immediate reprimand, but it would only be a matter of time before they found out via investigation. Diamond Tiara was a live-in-the-now type of filly, and as a result she chose to condemn herself and her comrades to path of the silver tongued perjurer. “Well you see, Lady Rainbow Dash, we were on our way to the Lower District gate like you told us to, and we decided to take a detour through the marketplace. But when we got there, there were these three crazy colts with, like, a ton of fireworks and missiles, and they just started shooting up the place for no reason! We didn’t stand a chance against their arsenal, so we ran away as quickly as possible.”

Rainbow Dash was not impressed with Diamond Tiara’s story, and to prove it, she challenged the filly’s integrity. “Do you know how I know you’re lying to me Diamond Tiara?”

“Ly-lying to you Lady Rainbow Dash? I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, I would hate for the quality of your sleep to degrade for something that you’re actively doing right now.”

“What do you mean?” The filly’s eyes darted around nervously inside her skull, and she cured her lips up in the toothiest grin she could muster.
 
Lady Rainbow Dash decided to answer Diamond Tiara’s question with a pointed inquiry of her own: “Where’s your weapon, Diamond Tiara?” The pegasus watched as Diamond Tiara reached for her empty scabbard, feeling about for a sword that wasn’t there. Almost instantly all of the blood and color flushed itself from Diamond Tiara’s face, and turned to ice in her veins.

“Ummm... I—”

“I’m lying to you Lady Rainbow Dash? Is that what you meant to say? Because I have your sword right here,” Rainbow Dash gestured to the rapier that she held in her curled wing, “and guess where I found it.”

“B-by a—”

“By a demolished cart of illegal fireworks. So, if you ran away like you claimed you did, then there wouldn’t have been much of a need for you to draw your blade, now would there?” Rainbow Dash stated as she averted her eyes to Applebloom. “Knight in Training Applebloom.”

“Y-yes Lady Rainbow Dash?”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“Me?!”

“Yes, it seems I can’t trust my own subordinates to be honest with me for even a fleeting moment, and after working closely with your brother and sister, I know just how deep the integrity of the Apple Family runs. So, I’ll ask again: what happened?”

Applebloom’s throat suddenly dried up like a drop of water in an desert. Lady Rainbow Dash had not only put her on the spot, but also challenged her family’s integrity. The nervous filly   turned to scan the faces of her peers in hopes that one of the four would have some kind of magical answer written across their foreheads, but all she could find were the same nervous glances that were reflective of how she felt at this moment. What would Applejack do? What would Big Macintosh do?

“I’m waiting K.I.T”

Applebloom steeled her resolve, took a deep breath and looked Rainbow Dash straight in the eyes. “Lady Rainbow Dash ma’am! Knight In Training Applebloom will now give a report on the precedin’ events that led up to this here fire!”

“Let’s hear it K.I.T.”

“Yes Ma’am! Twenty minutes after you told us to head down to the gate to the Lower District, Knights in Training Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who were headin’ the patrol informed us we would be makin’ a detour through the marketplace, against your orders. When my team an’ I voiced our concerns about it, they called us and I quote: ‘Wet blankets’ after acknowledging that they were preparing to disobey you.”

Rainbow Dash glared daggers at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who cowered under her wrathful gaze, before addressing the pair directly. “I guess it seems that the two of you have some issues following simple instructions, but don’t you worry about it, I’m sure that having you two clean every toilet in the middle district headquarters with a toothbrush will fix that, won’t it?”

“Yes,  Lady Rainbow Dash,” the two downtrodden fillies replied simultaneously.

“Hmmm... I’ll think of some more punishments for you two later, but in the meantime, please continue Applebloom.”

“Yes, Lady Rainbow Dash. Shortly after that, there was a robbery being committed by two colts, one we’d never seen before, and the other was with that two legged fella from the middle district.”

“He was with the bi-ped?”

“That’s correct, Lady Rainbow Dash!”

“Well, what happened next?”

“Well, you see, we told the one we saw with the two-legger to stand down, but he attacked us, so we had no choice but to engage him. After we finally chased him down and caught him, one of them colts from earlier and another, somehow got themselves a fireworks stand and they threatened to burn down the whole district if we didn’t let our captive go. Knight in Training Diamond Tiara identified the pair as the colts who were banished seven months ago for destroyin’ the Marketplace, and she also attempted to apprehend the criminals herself.”

Rainbow Dash rose a questionable eyebrow at Applebloom’s sudden appraisal of quite possibly one of the worst knights in training she’d ever seen, and studied the fillies features for any sign of dishonesty. Having once been a K.I.T herself, she knew just how tight-knit the junior knights could be, but the unwavering look in Applebloom’s eyes made it clear that she wasn’t just lying to protect Diamond Tiara. “ Heh,” The senior knight chuckled before turning her attention to Diamond Tiara.  “I’m actually impressed with you, Diamond Tiara, confronting two heavily armed criminals by yourself. Maybe you’re not totally spoiled like I thought. But don’t think that’s going to get you off the hook for lying to me earlier.”

“Of course not, Lady Rainbow Dash,” Diamond Tiara replied her voice a mix between relief that Rainbow Dash didn’t think she was completely worthless, and mild disappointment towards being stuck with some degrading cleaning duty.

Rainbow Dash’s exposition was cut short as a male voice she didn’t recognize overpowered the hustle and bustle of other knight’s going about their duties in the background. “Lady Rainbow Dash! I bring urgent news from the Lower District gate!” announced a lightly-armored knight who galloped up to Rainbow Dash, and rendered an immediate salute as he huffed and puffed the stale air from his burning lungs.

“Well, be out with it Knight, I have other matters to attend to.”

The knight nodded and dropped his salute, making sure to establish direct eye contact with his superior before speaking. “Lady Rainbow Dash, there’s been an attack on the Lower District gate, and according to the guard detail from the Lower District, as many as seven intruders may have broken through ”

“Buck... do we have any positive identifications on the intruders?”

“Affirmative ma’am! Among the seven we have identified two, via eyewitness accounts and from some of the now-conscious guards.”

“Two is better than zero in my book, alright let’s hear it.”

“The first intruder who the guard detail was able to identify was Lady Trixie of the Lower District.” Rainbow Dash grimaced at the sound of Trixie’s name, but steeled her composure for the continuation of the report. “Her motives are unknown at this time, but we are one-hundred percent certain that she was the one leading the attack.”

“It just had to be Trixie, didn’t it?” Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. Trixie would be a bit of a hoof-full to deal with, but the mare could be managed. “Alright, who was the other intruder?”

“The other intruder we were able to identify was the wanted criminal: Captain Gilda of the Diamond Dog Pirates.”

A silence overtook Rainbow Dash as she digested the identity of the second intruder. She began to tremble all over as a wealth of negative emotions and memories flooded her mind. “Is that all, knight?”

“Not quite, Lady Rainbow Dash.”

“Then be out with it and go on your way.”

“Of course, ma’am. There have been a few Mare-Do-Well sightings that were reported just after the fire started.”

“Mare-Do-Well!?” The mention of the vigilante had Lady Rainbow Dash gritting her teeth with such immense pressure that she chipped part of her tooth clean off.

The guard shrank away from his now-enraged superior and managed to squeak out the rest of his report. “Several eyewitnesses claim they saw an equine figure with the same armor, cape, and mask as Mare-Do-Well run into the Marketplace after the fire began, and there are more bystanders that claim to have seen her dragging three colts and a Pink mare into the back alley of a local inn.”

Rainbow Dash’s wings flared up, and she was now shaking violently yet again on the verge of chipping yet another tooth. All these criminals in my district doing whatever the hay they want... who the buck do they think they are!? This is my district, my reputation, my pride, and I’m not about to let them trample over it as they see fit! Rainbow Dash was tense for only a moment longer before she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, though her body was still tense. “All right, Knight!”

“Yes,Ma’am?”

“I want the name of that inn, and a squadron surrounding it, and I want it yesterday! do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The knight saluted his compliance to her command.

“Good, then get to it!” The knight turned and galloped as quickly as his legs would carry him. “You five, on me!”

“Where are we going, Lady Rainbow Dash?” Sweetie Belle asked.

The room that Spike and company resided in was reasonably well furnished with a couple of tables and chairs lying about along with two medium sized beds, one of which was currently lulling a lazy Diamond Dog to sleep, while the other bore the weight of several sets weapons and armor. The room itself was certainly big, but it wasn’t big enough to house the egos and tensions that were flaring about inside, emanating from a testy blue unicorn and a frustrated gryphon. “Gah! How you can you even suggest such a thing, bird!? Trixie will not degrade herself to a common sewer-dweller! Dragon, speak some sense into her!”

Spike opened his mouth to mediate Trixie’s concerns, but Gilda was much faster on the uptake and in a flash invaded Trixie’s personal space via beak to snout contact. “Well, I’m so sorry that my crew didn’t exactly have the luxury of constructing a four star resort befitting of a picky diva like yourself, but necessity drove them to the sewers, and fortunately for us those same sewers offer a route into the Upper District.”

Trixie returned Gilda’s glare ten-fold. “Trixie... will not... go into that disease-encrusted manure hovel!”

“We don’t have any other flocking choice you ignorant mule! It’s our only guaranteed route into the Upper District, or perhaps you’d like to take on the entirety of the Law Enforcement Knights?”

“Umm... you guys—” Spike attempted to interject, but his voice was drowned out by the enraged shrieking of Trixie as she made it clear that her anti-sewer travel stance was adamant and unyielding like a mountain of stubbornness.

“If the bird wishes to go stomping through the filth and waste of everypony in Canterlot, with that unwashed rogues gallery of creatures she calls a crew, then let her do it alone! Trixie will have no part of it!” The mare shouted as she turned her nose up at Gilda, who in turn rose her talons and balled them in anger. A light sensation on Gilda’s forearm distracted her from the thousands of violent epiphanies to Trixie’s attitude racing through her mind.

“Gilda, let me try,” Spike suggested as he stepped between the two warring females.

“Pffft, fine. There’s no reasoning with that dandy landlubber,” Gilda hissed with one final glare before retrieving one of her flintlocks and a rag from the bed, retiring to a nearby chair.

“Trixie,” Spike spoke the mare’s name consolingly but sternly as he used to do when he had K.I.Ts of his own.

“What is it, dragon?” Trixie snorted.

“I understand that the sewers aren’t exactly the most ideal place for us to traverse, but it’s our best shot of making it to the Upper District undetected. The only alternative is to charge straight through the gate, and let’s be honest: seven of us versus thousands of guards doesn’t really add up to a victory for our side. On top of that, have you even stopped to think of your situation at the moment? You abandoned your post—”

“Trixie was abducted,” the mare argued while pouting.

“You’ve been travelling with and assisting wanted criminals—”

“Against threat of death by the buzzard.”

“I’m a gryphon!” Gilda shouted from the chair.

“And to top it off you’ve assaulted and robbed Knight Corps soldiers under your command.”

“Now that Trixie thinks about it, those were Trixie’s knights. Perhaps Trixie could have ordered them to stand down.”

“But you didn’t, and now you’re kind of stuck in the middle of it with us whether you like it or not.”

“Trixie supposes you’re right, but really, though a sewer?” Trixie asked with a grimace, even though she knew precisely what the answer would be.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to go either, but it’s our best bet, and besides, I’ve been in worse environments.”

The Great and Powerful fugitive took a moment to ponder her situation, and sighed when she couldn’t come up with a better alternative. “Trixie will cede to this decision, but only on the grounds that the bird carries Trixie once we are in the sewers.”

 “Uhh, Mr.Former Knight, will you please talk some sense into that one?”

“It’s a deal,” Spike stated as he shook Trixie’s hoof.

“What!?” Gilda squawked. “You can’t just—”

Spike cocked a challenging eyebrow at Gilda as though to say: ‘do you see any other alternatives?’

“Uggh.” Gilda rolled her eyes as she came to terms with the fact that there would be no other way to convince the stubborn mare “Fine, fine I’ll carry her, but she better not complain about a flocking thing when we’re in there. If bellyaches even once about the smell, I’ll dump her in that crap river, faster than you can say ‘help there’s a large avian drowning me in pony excrement.”

A sudden  Knock! Knock! Knock!  emanating from the door, put the three warriors on edge instantly dissolving any hostility that resided from their prior squabble. Gilda aimed the flintlock she was holding towards the door, while Trixie’s horn was ablaze with a furious shade of magenta. Spike looked at both females and gestured to himself, then the door. The two nodded to let him know that they would keep the door covered, and Spike eased himself to the doorway cautiously. As he rested a claw upon it, Gilda cocked back the hammer on the flintlock for good measure, and Trixie began conjuring small storm-clouds with her magic. The only discernible sound that broke the tense atmosphere aside from Spike slowly turning the knob, was the snoring of the completely oblivious Rover.

Click! The lock was now disengaged, and Spike felt a single bead of sweat drip down his forehead as it rode down his chin and became a stain on the hardwood floor. Spike threw the door open instantly, and in the hallway there stood a cloaked equine-figure that none of the party recognized, prompting Gilda to squeeze the trigger of her pistol releasing the bullet with a mighty Bang! and Trixie to release a bolt of lightning from one of her clouds in tandem with her Gryphon counterpart. The figure ducked both projectiles and dove into the room, tackling and pinning Spike to the ground as it did so. As the attacker stood up it kept a hoof on Spike’s chest, further restraining the dragon to the ground which afforded Gilda and Trixie the opportunity to identify the entity that wore a purple-hued full-body suit of armor, and a black iron mask with two reflective mirrored surfaces where the eyes should have been. “‘Fireheart” the figure spoke in a heavily distorted mechanical voice.

“Mare-Do-Well,” Spike breathed from under the pressure of the figure’s armored hoof.

“Get off my salamander before I fill you full of grapeshot, you Nightmare Night reject,” growled Gilda as she picked her Blunderbuss off the bed and aimed it at Spike’s attacker with one talon.

“Trixie advises you listen to the parrot before you find yourself on the receiving end of three hundred million volts of electricity.”

“Whoa!, Whoa! Trixie, Gilda, she’s cool!” Spike shouted from his position on the floor.

“I’ll put my gun down when this costumed candy-ass steps away from you, how’s that for cool?” Mare-Do-Well wordlessly lifted her hoof from Spike’s chest and took two steps back into the hallway. “Well she’s certainly compliant, isn’t she?” Gilda lowered the Blunderbuss, while Trixie likewise dispelled the storm clouds. “Who are you?” The pirate demanded.

“Mare-Do-Well,” The disguised mare responded in her distorted voice.

“I meant who are you under that armor?”

“A friend.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Gilda, please,” Spike held a claw up to silence the testy gryphon, as he stood up and faced the masked mare. “Why are you here, Mare-Do-Well?”

“Because I know you’re innocent, Fireheart, and I know who poisoned Queen Celestia. I want to help you clear your name, so that the real criminal can be brought to justice.”

“How do we know if we can trust any of this bilge you’re spitting?” Gilda asked.

“That’s a good question, but allow me to answer your inquiry with an inquiry: what will you do after you’ve dealt with Blueblood?”

“What the—” Gilda aimed her pistol at Mare-Do-Well again. “How did you know about that?”

Mare-Do-Well ignored Gilda’s question, and began to strengthen her own argument. “You’ll march up there, dole out vigilante justice, but then what? In the eyes of ponies everywhere it’ll just look like a rogue assassin and his gang of fugitives claiming another victim.”

GIlda scratched her chin thoughtfully at this sentiment, and even she had to admit Mare-Do-Well’s logic was solid. “I see your point, but I still don’t trust you.”

“Trust isn’t an issue here, if you don’t let me help you, you’ll simply be grasping at straws in the dark.”

“What can you possibly do for us that we can’t do for ourselves?”

“What haven’t I done for you already?” The masked- mare stepped into the hallway, and returned with three familiar but bruised and battered colts on her back. “I believe these belong to you?” she asked as she trotted into the room, and slid the colts from her back onto the bed that housed the still unconscious Rover.

“What happened to the dweebs?” Gilda pressed, as some semblance of a maternal instinct began to manifest at the sight of the bruised colts.

“This one was attacked by five Knights in Training, and managed to fend them off for a short time,” Mare-Do-Well gestured to Pipsqueak, “and these two set fire to the Middle District Marketplace with a cart full of fireworks,” she explained while nodding to Snips and Snails.

“Okay, Mare-Do-Well, so you’ve brought back a couple of Trixie’s flunkies, big deal. That doesn’t mean you’ve earned our trust.”

“Then it’s lucky I have one more present for the Fireheart in the hall isn’t it?”

Trixie rose an eyebrow at the vigilante before herself, as Mare-Do-Well trotted back out into the hallway and reappeared while pulling a length of rope that was tied to her forehooves. A metallic scraping could be heard as she rounded the corner with it. In due time,  the three conscious members bore witness to a fully grown mare clad in silver armor, with a bouncy pink mane, and what appeared to be a giant pink swirl lollipop strapped to her back as she was dragged into the room bound and gagged.

“You captured a Knight and brought her here!? Are you crazy!?” Trixie asked in a panic.

“Not exactly you see—”

“Was she following us? How much does she know? We might have to kill her to cover our tracks,” Gilda pointed out almost in as much of a stupor as Trixie.

“To answer your questions, no I didn’t capture her and I don’t know what she was doing or thinking in the first place. Also please refrain from killing her.”

“If you didn’t catch her, then why is she tied-up like that?” Trixie asked.

“To be honest with you, she kind of ran into me, begged me to take her with me, and then tied herself up on the spot as a show of trust or something.”

“You honestly think Trixie is going to believe that load of parasprite bile?”

“I can believe it,” Spike stated as he walked towards the restrained knight.

“What do you mean, dragon?”

“I just have this feeling that we can trust Mare-Do-Well, and I have never had a reason to distrust my good friend Lady Pinkie Pie the Mad.” With a swipe of his claw Spike cut the ropes from around the Knight, and took a few steps backwards as Pinkie Pie rose unsteadily to her hooves and pulled the rag from her mouth allowing it to float gracefully towards the floor.

“Spikey!” Pinkie shouted as she charged the dragon, locking him in a tight embrace as she nuzzled his head with hers vigorously. Spike put up some token resistance as he attempted to kick and claw his way out of the vice grip like hug, but he eventually gave up the charade and went limp in her grasp.“Dashie always said you were guilty as a minotaur is ugly, but I never lost faith in you! Please tell me you didn’t do it!”

“Agh!” Spiked yelped as he felt his ribs crack under the pressure of the embrace. “I didn’t do it! Now please loosen up, you’re crushing me!” Pinkie accepted the words at face value and tightened her embrace around the dragon who was slowly turning scarlet udr the immense pressure.

“Ahem,” Trixie and Gilda interjected simultaneously.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” Pinkie Pie stood up and made direct eye-contact with Trixie and Gilda, while she continued to crush Spike with her foreleg wrapped around his waist. “ I’m Lady Pinkie Pie the Mad, I’m an investigator of the Middle District, but don’t think I’m a workaholic like Dashie and AJ, I love to parrrr-tay! Pleased to meet you!”

Gilda gave Pinkie Pie a quick once-over before introducing herself. “Name’s Gilda." Gilda sat back down in her chair grabbed her rag from the ground, and resumed polishing her pistols as she spoke. “Hmmm, I’m still not too keen on having a Knight in here, but I suppose I could let it slide for now, given how friendly you’re being with my lizard. Just don’t get any funny ideas.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t you want me to try anything funny? Don’t you like to laugh? I love to laugh, I mean if I didn’t love to laugh then I’d be grumpy like all the mean ole’ gryphon knights—” Pinkie took note that Gilda was growing increasingly irritated with the mention “I-I don’t mean all gryphons are grumpy, just the majority of you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Gilda resumed wiping down the barrel of her pistol.

“Trixie would like to know the nature of your... relationship with the Fireheart.”

Pinkie Pie completely ignored the question as she sat down on her haunches cuddling Spike even closer to herself. In place of Pinkie’s silence, Spike opted to answer the inquiry “She’s my longtime partner—”

“Marefriend.” Pinkie corrected, eliciting raised eyebrows from Trixie and Gilda.

Gilda set down her weapon having recognized a higher priority issue at talon. “Ohhh, so this is the damsel you’ve come to rescue from the clutches of Blueblood, eh, Romeo?”

Spike blushed at Gilda’s deduction, and attempted to defend his stance. “Not exactly, you see there’s another mare—”

“Another mare? Trixie is intrigued, dragon!”

Spike made a last ditch effort to change the subject before it was set in stone “Do we really have time for this?”

Pinkie threw Spike to the ground and stood up, glowering at the dragon before her. Even though she was only a couple of hooves taller than him, she cast a shadow that dwarfed him completely.  “You bet your scaly little tail there’s time for this! Who is this other mare, Spikey!?” Pinkie Pie shouted with a mild rage building in her tone and growing stronger with every-syllable.

As Pinkie Pie began to bore down on him for the misunderstanding, Spike’s mind wandered to a quote that he’d read in one of Twilight’s books before: Tarturus hath no fury like a Mare Scorned. It was oddly fitting to his situation. “Uh, Pinkie I—”

“Tell us!” Gilda interrupted

“Tell Trixie!” The mare demanded with a cheshire grin.

“Tell me now!” Pinkie shrieked

Mare-Do-Well, who had up until this point been watching Spike unintentionally dig his own grave from the relative safety of the hallway, turned to look outside a nearby window where she noticed several knights had begun to surround the inn. “Fireheart, the knights must have followed me here, they’re surrounding the inn.”

           Spike ducked out of the pressuring gazes of the three females, enterprising on the situation Mare-Do-Well had brought to light as a means to break the current conversation.
 “Ladies, I think there are more pressing issues to attend to, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gilda muttered as she and Trixie moved to wake up Rover and the colts.

Pinkie narrowed her eyes at Spike, instantly wiping the relieved grin off of his mug. She trotted over to him and planted a convicting hoof on his chest “Don’t think this is over Spikey, you still owe me answers after this is over,” the angry mare hissed before she trotted out into the hallway.

“Ooohhh, Spikeys in trouble!” Trixie and Gilda taunted in unison.

Ignoring the gossiping females, Spike returned his attention to the still fuming Pinkie Pie. “When this is over? What do you mean?”

“Well, duh, obviously I’m going to help you clear your name, Spikey. Sheesh, try to keep up,” Pinkie Pie teased with a grin and a swish of her tail before she disappeared around the corner of the hallway.
 
“Bird! Why you wake Rover, and why there so many ponies! There used to be four ponies and purple freak now there is pink pony, and cape wearing weirdo?” Rover asked as he groggily moved off the bed.

“Oh just shut up, grab your sword and come on, we’ve got knights to deal with,” Gilda ordered as she began poking each of the colts next to Rover.

“More weak ponies for Rover’s sword to crush? Count Rover in!” Rover jumped out of the bed and giddily ran into the hallway.

“Well what do you think we should do?” Spike asked as he turned to Mare-Do-Well

“We?”

“Well, aren’t you coming with us?”

Mare-Do-Well chuckled softly to herself before answering Spike. “As much as I’d love to, Fireheart, I’m afraid this is where we part ways for the time being. I can’t risk being captured by the knights, otherwise all of my hard work will be for naught. Perhaps I’ll join the fun further down the road, but for now my place is in the shadows. Don’t worry though, you’ll see me around.” Without another word, Mare-Do-Well trotted to the window, and pushed it open gently, promptly jumping out into the street below.

Pipsqueak and Snails all came to just in time to catch a glimpse of the caped crusaders eccentric escape. “Whoa! That was cool!” Snails exclaimed as he sat up.

“Who was that?” Pipsqueak inquired.

“Gahhh! Fire! I’m on fire! Curse you Snails, I always knew you’d be the end of me!” Snips screamed as he woke from a nightmare. The disoriented colt took a moment to absorb his surroundings, and as opposed to calming down, his mind only pumped out more questions  “What’s going on? How did we get here? Are we dead!?”

“Not yet, colt,” Trixie started, “but if we don’t do something about the situation outside we may as well be. By the way, where is Trixie’s food?”

Ignoring the latter question  Snips’ curiosity began to take over his thought process. “Outside? What’s going on outside?” Snips wandered over to the window next to the bed. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes were treated to the sight of what appeared to be a hundred knights, all sporting full or partial equine armor, and stone faced demeanors. Snips observed that they were unwavering, imposing, and above all else patient. Patient and presently being yelled at by a blue pegasus mare about half the size of every stallion present.

Spike joined Snips by the window and let out a low whistle as he took in the sheer volume of suits of armor glistening in the sunlight. “Well this’ll be fun if nothing else won’t it?” Spike chuckled as he playfully slapped Snips on the shoulder.

“Fun?” Snips’ eyes widened in concerned terror as he seized Spike by the shoulders and shook the dragon violently as one might a snowglobe. “Fun!? You think this is fun!? What is wrong with you!?”

With a quick swipe of his claw, Spike slapped away Snips’ hooves and concerns before brushed his shoulders off. “Well, it’s not like we have any alternative route into the sewers, right? On top of that I’ve never gone up against Rainbow Dash before.”

“And it’s going to stay that way just a little while longer, Rainbow Dash is mine.” Gilda scowled as the mare’s name slid off her tongue.

“Grudge match?”

“Something like that,” Gilda muttered as she began holstering her pistols. “You’ll find out soon enough. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to keep my first mate from doing anything stupid before I get down there.”

“Hold up, pidgeon, Trixie is coming with you!” The mare telekinetically snatched her trident and hat from their resting places on the bed affixing the articles to herself as she galloped after Gilda.

“Then move your flank, braggart!”

As Trixie and Gilda’s bickering disappeared into the hallway Spike turned to take his leave as well, making sure to snatch his cane from its resting place on the now empty bed as he gestured for the Pipsqueak and the two salescolts to follow him downstairs.

 “All right everypony, I want you all to listen up, because I’m only going to say this once: Failure will not be tolerated today. There are several wanted criminals inside this inn, the Turncoat  head of the Lower District Lady Trixie who as of earlier today: abandoned her post, turned on her own knights, and led several criminals into my district. Among those she has led through are: the wanted criminal Captain Gilda of the Diamond Dog Pirates. The Vigilante: Mare-Do-Well wanted for repeat counts of espionage, tampering and removal of crucial evidence regarding the Fireheart investigation. The terrorists responsible for the destruction of the Middle District Marketplace on this day and seven months ago: Snips and Snails. We also have reason to believe they may be harboring the prime suspect for the attempted assassination of Queen Celestia, and may also be holding one of our own hostage. We will not allow these vermin to escape, and we will show them the iron tight defense that is the pride of the Middle District!” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath to make up for all the air she’d expended addressing her soldiers, and she was rewarded for her efforts with a thunderous applause.  

Applejack trotted up to Rainbow Dash as the cheering began to die down. “Rainbow Dash, don’t y’all think this is a bit much for a couple of wanted criminals and a deserter? We’re already spreadin’ ourselves mighty thin between puttin’ out the marketplace fire, but what if there’s a sudden influx in crime around the city? We won’t have the pony-power to do anythin’ about it!”

“AJ, calm down.” Rainbow Dash waved Applejack’s concerns away with a confident hoof. “We still have plenty of patrols in the area, besides one-hundred and fifty knights is barely even twenty percent of our districts pony power, it’s more like... seventeen and a half percent.”

“But what if somethin’ else comes up? How are we gonna handle it?”

“AJ, AJ, AJ... you worry too much. Just calm down and leave the long-term thinking to me.”

“I’m worried to leave any thinkin’ to you...”

“What was that AJ?”

“Lady Rainbow Dash, somepony has exited the tavern ma’am!” shouted a guard behind Rainbow Dash.

“Well, that’s great to know, but why are you wasting time telling me instead of preparing to apprehend them?”

“Well, ma’am it appears to be Lady Pinkie Pie—”

“Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash was bewildered and relieved to hear that her partner was in at least relative safety. “Is she alright?”

“She seems to be more than fine, Lady Rainbow Dash.”

Applejack cocked an eyebrow at the knight’s interesting choice of words.“What do y’all mean more than fine?”

“She’s currently attacking the search team we sent into the inn to insure her safety and well being. We’ve tried reasoning with her, but she keeps shouting something about protecting her ‘precious little Spikey’ along with outright gibberish. I think it’s best if you it’s best if you see for yourselves.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, exchanged glances and began galloping towards the front of the inn, where sure as saltlicks they saw Pinkie Pie standing atop a small pile of beaten and bruised unicorns pumping her forelegs in a victorious fashion “Who else wants to try and assist me!? Come on I dare any you chumps to try and give me medical attention! You there, you wanna help me!?” Pinkie Pie shouted at a particularly scrawny knight wearing glasses.

“Pinkie, what in tarnation do y’all think you’re doin? They’re on your side!”

“On my side? Pffft, try under my hooves, AJ!” Pinkie cackled as she bounced up and down giddily on the pile of unconscious knights.

Applejack face-hoofed before responding to her now officially cracked partner. “That’s not what I meant Pink. Why are you attackin’ us instead of helpin’ us catch the criminals loose in this here inn?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Pinkie Pie beamed at her friends before resuming her explanation. “Because I’m a turncoat now!”

“Turncoat? Do y’all realize what you’re sayin’?”

“Well turncoat means traitor right? Although that doesn’t make a whole lotta’ sense because if you turn a coat around the you’d just be wearing the back on your chest and then there would be no way to zip it up, but if you turned it inside out then you would just look silly, so wouldn’t just be easier to say traitor?” Pinkie Pie immediately furrowed her eyebrows and growled at the surrounding knights “Anyway, where was I?” Pinkie pondered this with a hoof on her chin.  “Oh that’s right! Rawr! Come and get some!”

  “Gyahaha! Rover likes the pink pony, she funny!” Rover cackled to himself as he slowly descended the stairs, dragging his sword behind him. “But now it Rover’s turn to show these weak knights who is strongest!”

“Hold it right there, dog!” Trixie shouted from the porch of the tavern, successfully drawing  the attention of Rover and several knights. “You’ll not upstage or outshine...” Trixie’s horn glowed brightly with an aura of magenta magic that began sparking as she began to harness and giving shape to “Lady Trixie the Great and Powerful!” Trixie released her pent-up energy and the resulting spell was a burst of multi-colored fireworks.

Rover rolled his eyes at Trixie’s intro, having heard many times before. “We get it, pony, you are braggart. But enough with the show, captain will chastise us if we don’t

“Oh, that wasn’t a show, dog, that was a distraction.” Trixie grinned and cast her gaze to the lingering smoke from where the fireworks had detonated, and Rover followed her gaze as well. He observed that the smoke wasn’t dissipating but rather began agglomerating into one massive cloud, more specifically a storm cloud crackling with electric energy. “And this is a first strike!” With a sudden flare from her horn, Trixie summoned multiple bolts of lightning that erupted from the cloud and dispersed into the mass of knights below, scattering ponies left and right with each impact.

“Hmph, you not bad, for a knight, but Rover is better fighter!” Laughing maniacally, Rover hefted his sword above his head, and leapt into the mass of knights bringing his blade down hard on some nameless, unprepared soul.

Rainbow Dash watched in a mix awe, anger, and humiliation as her soldiers were thrown about like ragdolls by two fighters. Had it been a small army, she would have been able to understand, but to have two combatants overpower her finest soldiers, it was a debilitating embarrassment.  Fed up with the display, Rainbow Dash decided she would personally step into the fray. “I won’t let you do as you please in my district you scum!” With single powerful flap of her wings, she took off like a diamond dog seeking rocket, skimming low to the ground with Rover in her sights and her hooves in front of her face.

Tunnel vision began to set in as she beat her wings again, rapidly closing the distance. She was so focused on tackling Rover that she failed to notice Gilda closing in from the side until it was too late. Gilda seized Rainbow Dash by the mane, and with a herculean swing, threw the pegasus skidding across the ground as one might a stone across a body of water.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you interfere with my first mate. I don’t let him off his leash very often, and I think he’s deserved his play time. But if you’re looking for a fight, I’d be more than glad to indulge you, Dash.”

“That voice” Rainbow Dash picked herself off the ground and glared at the smirking gryphon before herself. “Gilda.”  

“Been a long time since I’ve seen you face to face. How’ve you been, life treating you well?” Gilda began circling Rainbow Dash in a predatory fashion. “I see you landed yourself a promotion since the last time we saw each other. How many of your friends did you have to send up the river for it? One? Two maybe? How about an entire crew?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about or why you’re here, Gilda, but what I do know is that I can’t allow you to run rampant in my district.”

Gilda’s face suddenly flared red under her white feathers, and the daggers she’d been staring at Rainbow Dash turned to machetes. “Oh cut the crap, Dash! You know exactly why I’m here! You sold me and my crew out to Blueblood, just so you could save face in the eyes of your superiors. You betrayed me!”

“I never betrayed you Gilda! I would never betray a friend!"

“Friend? Friend? You have the gall to use that word even now? I’ll kill you!” Reverting to her predatory instincts, Gilda pounced at Rainbow Dash, her talons leaving a small fissure in the dirt road where her quarry once stood before leaping backwards to dodge the attack. Gilda prepared to leap at Rainbow Dash again,  but ceased her fury-driven actions upon feeling a stream of warm liquid trickling down her cheek that brought her back to a rational state of mind. She wiped it off with her talon and held it in front of her face to observe the fresh blood that had begun to flow. “Good to see that even after so many years away from sea, your combat skills haven’t gotten rusty.”

“Well, a pegasus has to keep a few tricks up her feathers, captain.” Rainbow Dash flared her wings up to reveal hundreds of throwing knives tucked neatly into her feathers that were glistening red with the light of the late afternoon sun.

“Well, maybe this won’t be too boring afterall. Let’s do this!” Gilda whipped a flintlock out of its holster, and trained the barrel on Rainbow Dash. With a squeeze of her talon the bullet was expelled towards its multi-colored target with a resounding Bang! Rainbow Dash dodged the shot and took to the air, with Gilda hot on her hooves.

Spike blew out a low whistle as he watched the aerial pursuit unfold before his eyes. “Looks like I’m missing all the fun,” Spike mused as he walked out of the tavern, shifting his attention to the the carnage that Trixie and Rover were wreaking among the ranks of the lesser knights. He walked down the stairs and joined Pinkie Pie just as she slid down her pile of bodies. “Shall we?”

“Alrighty Spikey, but just remember,” Pinkie Pie jabbed her hoof into spike’s chest. “You still owe me an explanation about that other mare.”

“Pinkie, I promise you, the situation isn’t at all what you’re thinking.”

Pinkie Pie’s glare only increased in intensity. “Pinkie Pie promise.”

 “Fine,” Spike sighed and took Pinkie’s hoof in his claw making sure to establish eye contact with the angry mare “I cross my heart, hope to fly and stick a cupcake in my eye. Now can we please worry about the situation at claw?”

“Fine, my hooves are itchin’ to buck some flank anyway.” The air began to

“Now hold it right there, gecko!” Applejack leapt in front of the pair, snorting and scraping the ground.

Spike sighed and shook his head before muttering to himself. “Is it too much to ask for someone to call me by my proper species or name?”

“I don’t know where you found the gall to show your face in Canterlot after what you did, but I swear on my honor as an Apple Family Knight, I’m gonna catch you and bring you to justice!” Applejack declared proudly, stomping her hoof on a nearby rock, crushing it completely.

“Unfortunately you’ve got the wrong idea and the wrong guy. I didn’t do it.”

Applejack spat on the ground and began closing the distance between herself and Spike. “Save it for the gallows, traitor.”

“No, you save it for the gallows, traitor!” Pinkie Pie growled back at Applejack.

“Pinkie, she’s not a traitor,” Spike remarked.

“What?”

“Well, technically speaking, if anyone here is a traitor here, it’s you and Trixie. AJs in the right by trying to catch me, and you joined my side which makes you a traitor by association, though by another technicality, I’m not a traitor.”

“But then what does that make you?”

“A victim of circumstance.”

“Now wait just an applebuckin’ minute there, lizard, how in the hay is she a traitor and you’re not?” Apple questioned.

“Well, for one she,” Spike gestured to Pinkie Pie, “openly declared that she was a turncoat, whereas,” “Spike gestured to himself now, “I have been hiding in the Everfree Forest for the last six months, and during that time I never once made a formal declaration to betray Knight Corps or Queen Celestia.”

“But you tried to assassinate Queen Celestia. You can’t tell me that doesn’t brand you a traitor.”

“But have you ever really proven that it was me that made the attempt? There’s no evidence that points specifically to me is there?”

“Well, there’s nothin’ that says you’re innocent either!”

“And that lack of evidence is what we call ad ignorantium.” Spike smirked and crossed his arms smugly. How about that? All the time wasted in those stupid logic study groups Twilight used to drag me to finally pays off in the real world.

“Ad ig-nah-what?” Applejack ran the word through her mind once more before she shook her head violently to clear her thoughts. “Whatever, I don’t care about your fancy five-bit words, traitor. All I know is that I’ve got my orders, and I’m takin’ you in!” Applejack scuffed the ground once and took off galloping at Spike.

“It was worth a shot,” Spike sighed as he whipped his cane into its staff form, and braced himself for Applejack’s first strike. The earth pony pivoted and released a powerful rear buck  aimed at Spike.

A resounding clang!  filled the air as Applejack’s rear hooves came into contact with a meticulously sized lollipop that was cradled in the hooves of Pinkie Pie, who struggled  to keep Applejack’s powerful hindlegs at bay. “Don’t worry Spikey, I’ve got this!” Spike was in awe as he observed the clash between the two mares. He’d been on the receiving end of one of Applejack’s bucks before in a sparring match, so he could safely say that it was no small feat for Pinkie Pie  to match Applejack so evenly.

 “All right, Pinkie, I’m going to help out Trixie and Rover, regroup with us when you’re done here.”

“Shouldn’t... take... too long!” By exerting herself just a little harder, Pinkie Pie managed to overpower Applejack, flinging the orange  earth pony into the dirt. Spike took this opportunity to dash past Applejack and into the multi-knight brawl to join Trixie and Rover.

Applejack stood up unsteadily and spat blood from her maw, a grave expression overtaking her features as she came to terms with the fact that she would actually have to fight her best friend. “Pinkie, are you sure you really wanna do this? I gonna offer you one shot at amnesty and if you turn it down, I won’t hold back.”

Pinkie Pie twisted her neck until she felt four tension relieving pops, before responding to Applejack. “Never been more sure of anything in my life, AJ.”

“I see. Well if that’s your choice.” Applejack crouched low in a predatory stance, ready to attack again.

“Besides, I don’t do shots and amnesty sounds like a horrible drink.”  

“Wait, what?” The offbeat comment took Applejack by surprise, and Pinkie Pie capitalized on that split second where Applejack’s confusion overwhelmed her focus.

“Your guard is down, AJ!” Pinkie Pie leapt forth and swung the giant lollipop at Applejack’s exposed face, the blow connecting with a nasty thud! and Applejack was sent tumbling back into the dirt for a second time.

The Apple family knight picked herself off the ground. “That was a cheap shot, Pinkie, I wasn’t ready!”

Pinkie Pie planted the head of her lollipop into the dirt, and shook her head disapprovingly as she leaned her weight on the shaft of her weapon. “AJ, AJ, AJ, this isn’t a duel, it’s a battle between a criminal and a law enforcement mare. You’ve got to do whatever it takes if you want to win. Isn’t that what Dashie is always telling us?”

“Pinkie,” Applejack stood up and wiped the blood from her mouth before resuming. “I can’t be like Dash. Her hearts in the right place, but her methods—”

“You’re wide open again!” Pinkie Pie leapt into the the air holding the lollipop over her head, and brought it down in a smashing motion.

“I won’t fall for that twice!” Applejack side stepped the attack, pivoted while drawing her legs towards herself, before unleashing a devastating double legged buck on Pinkie Pie’s chest plate. “I ain’t holdin’ back with you anymore, Pinkie,” Applejack stated as she reached into her hat and withdrew a golden lasso that she quickly placed in her mouth. With a flick of her neck, she sent the rope flying towards a nearby water barrel, and seized the wooden construct. Whipping her head back towards Pinkie Pie, Applejack slung the crude flail at Pinkie Pie with all of her might.

“Well, I’m not holding back either!” Pinkie Pie rose the lollipop to her face, and gave it a solid sloppy lick along the length of the candy portion. As Pinkie’s tongue passed along the weapon, the lollipop began to grow in length, while the width became narrow and edged. When the weapon completed its transformation, Pinkie Pie cradled the pink bladed claymore in her forehooves, and swung it straight done cleaving the barrel in two. “You like it? Twilight made it for me. I call it the Lollipop Lancer.  It can change into any weapon that I want, plus it’s strawberry flavored! You jealous, AJ?”

“Ha! I don’t need any fancy gadgets to beat some sense into you!” Applejack spat the severed rope from her mouth, and stood on her hindlegs, her armored forehooves in front of her face. “Let’s go, Pinkie!” Applejack stepped forward, whipping her hooves in rapidfire jabs that Pinkie blocked using the width of her sword.

Pinkie allowed her blade to take the abuse as she searched for an opening in Applejack’s defenses, and she found it. Applejack deviated from her attack pattern by unleashing a strong right cross that took her off balance. Pinkie Pie rose her confectionary claymore above her head, and slammed the hilt down hard into Applejack’s face. The orange knight reeled backwards from the blow, but shot back into the fray, delivering a flurry of short weak hooks and jabs as opposed to relying on powerful swings. When Applejack’s hooves made contact with the pink knight’s cheek, she could  tell that her newly adopted tactic was taking its toll on Pinkie Pie, who couldn’t stop the swarm of punches, given the mass of her weapon’s current form. “What’s the matter, Pinkie? Can’t keep up with your heavy sword?” Applejack mocked as she weaved beneath a desperate swing from Pinkie Pie’s sword, retaliating with a series of quick hooks to Pinkie’s midsection. “Say good night, Pinkie!” Applejack wound her hoof back as far as she could before throwing it forward in a wild haymaker, catching Pinkie Pie in the snout, flooring the pink pony instantly.

“This isn’t over yet, AJ,” Pinkie Pie huffed as she sank her blade into the ground, using it for support as she stood up unsteadily. As she stood up, her mouth filled with blood, and she spat it on her blade.

“You still got some fight in you?”

“Nah,’ Pinkie Pie admitted. “Just a trick up my sleeve.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?” Applejack noticed that the ground just in front of her began to crack and fissure as if something were going to emerge from it, and it was too little too late when she’d finally made the connection between Pinkie Pie’s weapon being submerged in the dirt to the unstable ground before herself. “Oh horse feathers.” The head of a pink mace exploded from the ground with the force of catching Applejack square in the chin, propelling her into the tavern wall. Applejack pulled herself out of the small abrasion and collapsed on the ground.“That—” Applejack interrupted herself with a coughing fit. “That was a dirty move, Pinkie.”

“Well, duh.” Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes as she pulled the lollipop out of the ground and trotted over to her fallen friend. “How else was I gonna beat you AJ, you’re like ten times faster and stronger than me.”

Applejack smirked at the comment. “Y’all sure you want to sit that close to me Pinie? I’m still your enemy, I might have a trick or two up my sleeve.”

“Nope, you’re far too honest and honor-bound to try something like that.” Pinkie Pie retrieved her lollipop from her back, and gave the candy a solid lick, her face lighting up with joy as her tongue made contact with the sweet surface of the weapon.  “Mmm... strawberry— ewww, dirt!” she cried as she spat a brackish clod of sediment from her mouth. “I can’t get the taste off my tongue!”

Applejack chuckled at her friends folly, but her smile quickly faded as she turned the conversation away from pleasant post-battle banter, to the more pressing issue of Pinkie Pie’s betrayal. “Are you absolutely sure about him though, Pinkie?”

“AJ, I don’t really know if Spike is innocent or not,” Pinkie Pie admitted, “But he saved my life a long time ago, and that’s enough of a reason for me to just follow him blindly, regardless of what happens. And come Tartarus or high water, I’ll find out the truth about what happened to queen Celestia.”

Applejack observed Pinkie’s innocent blue eyes, searching for any lack of determination, dishonesty, or doubt. She found none. Shaking her head and sighing Applejack accepted Pinkie Pie’s decision. “Pinkie, I understand and I respect your decision, but you know Rainbow Dash isn’t gonna like it.”

“I think she has bigger problems right now.” Pinkie pointed to a spot in the sky where two winged figures were engaged in an intense aerial battle.

In a frenzy of talon swipes and rushing wind, Gilda pursued Rainbow Dash. Months of being restricted to the lower district hideout had taken its toll on Gilda’s flight ability and it showed in her wings that were beating overtime to keep up with the pegasus’ speed as well as to assist in dodging the hail of throwing blades Rainbow Dash would hurl behind herself occasionally. “C’mon, G, you’ve got to fly faster than that if you want to catch me!” Rainbow Dash cackled while going into a steep nose dive.

Gilda halted her pursuit, choosing instead to hover in place while she snorted at Rainbow Dash’s remark. “Fly faster? Don’t make me laugh. Why should I catch you, when a bullet does the job all the same?” With a flourish, Gilda brandished two of her flintlocks and fired them both in tandem, aiming for a spot just ahead of her opponent.

The rounds spiralled towards their intended mark quickly and made contact. The first bounced harmlessly off of Rainbow Dash’s spaulders, while the second grazed a few cyan feathers before burying itself in the ground below. “Come on, Gilda, your aim is as bad as your flight ability!” Rainbow Dash pulled out of her nose dive, turning the downwards inertia into the speed necessary for ascent. “Let me show you how it’s done!” Rainbow Dash’s wings spread wide revealing her legion of steel projectiles, as she climbed higher and higher still. The simple brawl had turned into an all out dog-fight, and Gilda knew she was at a disadvantage. While her weapons had longer range and more power, she’d already expended three of her seven firearms. Rainbow Dash however, had quantity and spread pattern on her side, and she wasn’t afraid to abuse that fact either. With one mighty flap of her wings, she sent forth a gust of shrapnel.

“Oh, flock.” Gilda was in no position to dodge the incoming onslaught, so she covered her face with her talons, and curled her up into a small ball as the blades shredded through her wings and cut her body. Throughout the painful ordeal, she never stopped flapping her wings, for if she did Rainbow Dash would be on her in a flash.

“I’m surprised that you’re still airborne after that Gilda, you’re more resilient than I gave you credit for. But I won’t hold back with you!” Rainbow Dash cried as she released another swarm of daggers.

“Still just a one trick pony I see.” Gilda dove underneath the flurry simultaneously whipping the blunderbuss from its holster.

“Attacking from below? I don’t think so Gilda!” Rainbow Dash flapped another wave of daggers straight down, showering Gilda’s flight path with a hail of steel.

“That won’t work twice, Dash!” Gilda whipped around and aimed the short rifle straight up “Suck grapeshot!!” The rifle released its payload with mighty BOOOM! The iron balls ripped through the air, barrelling through the majority of the knives as they zeroed in on their intended target.

Rainbow Dash emitted a strained “Gwoh!” as the iron balls slammed into her armor, denting it and knocking all of the air from her lungs. Rainbow Dash lost her focus, and as a result she was sent spiraling towards the ground below. Rainbow Dash felt something suddenly jerk her armor, and her falling speed fell drastically. She looked up only to find Gilda holding her tail with a vice-like grip. “What are you doing, Gilda, I’m—”

“Shut up,” Gilda instructed, dropping Rainbow Dash to the ground. “I saved you because I felt like it. That and because you’re the only one who can help that Fireheart guy.”

“Why should I help him?”

“He’s innocent, Dash. Guy told me his whole sob story and everything. Besides do you really think that someone who’s been accused of crimes of that magnitude would just come waltzing back into a city that only wants to see him dead if he were?”

“Well... I...”

“Look, I’m not asking you to just pardon him of his charges.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“You’ve been heading the investigation on his case, right?”

“I’m in charge of all investigations in this district!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed proudly.

“Well, I’ve got a new lead for you to look into.”

“And who would that be?”

“Blueblood.” As the words slipped off of Gilda’s tongue and into Rainbow Dash’s ears, the air of casualness that had fallen between the two dissipated in .

Rainbow Dash searched the features of her gryphon counter part for any sign indicators of this claim being some elaborate prank on Gilda’s behalf. The avian maintained a poker face. “You’re serious aren’t you?”

“As the day is long, Dash, as the day is long.”

“All right, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Oh, and Dash one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

Gilda whipped around with her talons balled up in a fist, and she delivered a mighty hook to Rainbow Dash’s jaw. “That’s for betraying me.”

“Didn’t... betray you.” Rainbow Dash sputtered as she hit the ground unconscious.

“You can tell me the whole story another day, but I’ve got minions to manage.” Gilda spat before she stalked off towards the site of the massive brawl, when an unfamiliar voice broke the silence from behind.

“Captain Gilda, it’s been quite a while.”

“Who dares to sneak up on me?”

“Why don’t you turn around and find out?” the voice spoke again.

Gilda whipped a loaded flintlock from her holster and fired at the unfamiliar silhouette that appeared “Oh, it’s you Fido. Well better late than never. Come on we’ve got underlings to save.”

“Right behind you captain! Come on, dogs, to battle!”

“Awwwwoooooo!” Sang the chorus of one hundred bloodthirsty pirates that began to pour out of the woodwork and the ground.

Gilda grinned as she marched towards the battle field, she couldn’t wait to the looks on the knight’s faces when she showed up with her legion

“Purple freak, behind you!” Rover leapt towards Spike and slammed his sword into a trio of knights who gathered around the dragon.

“Thanks, Rover!” Spike shot his companion a thumbs up that was ignored as Rover hefted his sword for another bout.

“If dragon has time for thanks, dragon can dispose of more weak ponies, yes?”

“Good point.” Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sapphire he had left over from his breakfast. He popped the sapphire into his mouth, and spat a burst of green flames into another mass of knights. The fire exploded as it made contact with the knights burning away their armor and weapons, with the exclusion of one knight who was scorched directly, and he would find himself hanging off a clock tower in the Upper District.

More guards poured into the fray, targeting Trixie who had worked up a steady rhythm of beating guards with her Trident and covering her blind spots with random bursts of lightning ad telekinetically thrown objects. A single brave earth-pony knight galloped towards Trixie, a sword in his mouth, and he met the unicorn’s trident with a loud Clang! The unicorn quickly found that the earth pony knight ws no amateur in terms of sword play as he forced the trident closer to its master. “Trixie... needs... her breathing room!” The ground around Trixie was aglow with strange runes, and in an instant, a gust of wind exploded around the mare, scattering the guards as if they were a child’s plaything. But for everyone knight that fell four more rose to the occasion.

“This isn’t good, there’s too many of them,” Spike noted as he put his back against Rover’s and Trixie’s while the guards closed in. I’m probably good for one more blast of fire, and five more guards.”

“Rover can fight all day!” Rover pumped his sword into the air , but lowered it just as quickly as he’d put it up when he realized that reinforcements began pouring in. “Err... maybe we should retreat though.”

“Trixie doesn’t see any way out. Wait, what’s that?” Trixie pointed a hoof at a small fast-approaching dust cloud that tore through the knights. The dust cloud came to a halt after tearing a down a small faction of the knights revealing none other than Pinkie Pie, followed by Pipsqueak,Snips, and Snails.

“And that boys, is how you establish dominance on the battlefield.”

“Wow, Ms. Pinkie, you’re the best!” Pipsqueak shouted exuberantly.

“I thought we were going to die...” Snips grumbled, collapsing to the ground out of breath

“Oh, we still might,” Chirped Pinkie Pie.
   
“Well, if we’re going down, we’re going down fighting.” Spike held his staff taut, and searched around for the first knight to show any sign of hostility, but something else caught his attention. At first he thought it was more reinforcements for the knights, just to make a comically bad situation even worse, but with closer inspection, the bodies were all wrong, they resembled diamond dogs.

In an instant the diamond dogs were sprinting into the battle, brutalizing the blind-sided knights. Like a wave of insanity, the battle washed over Spike and his companions, as the knights turned their attention from the seven vigilantes to focus on quelling the newly arisen riot.

“What just happened?” Spike asked nopony in particular.

“My crew happened, that’s what.” Bragged an all too familiar gryphon as she swooped down from the sky.

“Great timing.”

“I try. Come on, let’s get going, one of my crew members is waiting to guide us into the sewers.”

“Ughhh, please don’t remind Trixie,” The mare complained as she followed along, nodding her head disapprovingly.  

The party arrived at a meticulously large sewer grating in a nearby alleyway, where a diamond dog twice the size of rover stood with crossed arms and a scowl on his face. “Are you ready to go down captain? The crew missed you.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re all a band of softies.” Gilda waved the sentiments off with a talon. “But I’m curious, how did you find us anyway?” Gilda asked Fido.

 “ A masked pony came into the sewers and informed us of the situation, and the witch doctor advised us to come to your aid,” Fido explained as he removed the sewer grating.

“Heh, I guess Mare-Do-Well really is watching out for us.”

“Yeah, well I still don’t trust her,” Gilda grumbled “But she’s all right in my book, for now. Say dragon, don’t you still have some explaining to do about that other mare?” Gilda asked as she hovered above the hole.

Spike glared at Gilda with much disdain. “Fresh out of a battle and that’s the first thing you can think of?”

“Yup.” Gilda replied simply a small smirk playing across her face. She loved making life hard for others.

“Can’t it wait though?” Spike pleaded.

“Nuh-uh, you Pinkie Promised.” Pinkie jabbed her hoof into spike’s chest before she disappeared into the sewer as well.

Begrudgingly Spike took the latter and made his descent into the sewer as well. He knew that the truth about Rarity and his past was going to have to come out at some point, and there was no point in stalling for time any longer. The fate of Canterlot was on the line, and the more his allies knew about it, the better chance they had of saving the kingdom.

Chapter 4 End.