Upon arrival to the market, Blitz was speechless. The overwhelming magnificence radiating from the market left him in a shocked state. A long narrow path with stalls to either side made Blitz wonder how he was going to find two stallions out of hundreds. Blitz felt hopeless. “Just look for a pony with a trench coat,” he said to himself. He wandered the street, prowling for that light brown trench coat. The pain in his leg was almost nonexistent save a few instances of tightness here and there.
“Better find them before this magical pill wears off,” Blitz reminded himself. Ponies were trotting to and fro from stall to stall. Blitz felt as if there were more ponies than there really were. It was just clusters of ponies everywhere, he squinted his eyes to get better looks. After about five minutes of searching, Blitz came to the conclusion that he needed help. He spotted a particularly large stallion shooting looks at multiple ponies. He seemed to be focused on each pony before moving to the next.
“This is a horrible idea.” He walked up to the stallion and immediately noticed the 5 o’clock shadow. He also noticed the tiny bluish hat covering his mess of a blond mane. His bloodshot eyes and reminder of a particular ticket vendor only gave Blitz the impression that he was going to have trouble. ‘Greeaat, reminds me of that greaser back at TrolleyGo’s Station…’ thought Blitz bitterly.
“Hey you!” the stallion barked. “Yeah, you!” He pointed straight at Blitz and gave him the death stare. “Get over here!” Blitz silently walked over, shuddering as he approached the stallion.
“Uh-“
“You look like a fine fellow with a bit of bits. How much will you pay for this cherry?”
“Wait…what? I don’t want any-“
“Did I hear 100 bits?”
‘A 100 bits? 100 Bits? 100 BITS!’ “Tell me, mister, have you seen a stallion walking by in a trench coat by any chance?” Blitz said calmly.
“Did I hear a raise to 110 bits? the stallion said ignoring Blitz’s question.
“Answer me and you’ll be 200 bits richer,” Blitz said with a smirk.
“That way, now pay up!” the stallion said pointing toward more stalls.
“Yeah, thanks,” said the blue stallion as he started to walk away.
“Hey wait, you promised me 200 bits!” the stallion screamed raising his hoof at Blitz.
“I didn’t promise anything, mister," Blitz yelled back
There was another shout that sounded like an insult, but Blitz gave no attention to it. ‘I will not be subject to another greedy stallion!’ Blitz thought triumphantly.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Whoowhee!” Vice shouted at the sky. “Holy crap! And I thought that AppleBran thing was good!” he said throwing a hoovefull of Grass Gummis into his mouth. The taste was sour at first and tickled Vice’s tongue. Then, the luscious sweetness seemed to take over as the candy melted in his mouth.
“These are pretty good,” Enzo said plopping one into his own mouth.
“There’s that pretty again,” said Vice smirking at Enzo.
“Please stop,” Enzo said with an annoyed face.
“Maybe,” Vice said with a gulp. “Lighten up, Enzo, take this short break we have to just chill.” Vice sat down on a nearby bench and threw the saddlebag next to him. He had his hooves wrapped behind his head. Enzo filled the spot next to Vice and started to fiddle with his hooves. He stared straight into the ground, lost in thought. The two stallions were still within the market even though there were considerably less stalls than there were before. However, the bright demeanor did not die down as ponies still were enjoying themselves around the colorful stalls. With Vice’s eyes now closed and Enzo in a muse, the two were paying no attention to anything around them.
“FINALLY!” Both Vice and Enzo simultaneously looked up to see a very familiar stallion. “I’ve caught you!” Blitz pointed his hoof in the general direction of the two stallions. “Now would you kindly GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF!”
“Oh heeey!” Vice spoke up, “I know you; you’re that guy who broke his leg!” he said chuckling. “Say, how did you manage to get all the way over here-“
“That doesn’t matter, just hand over my bag!” Blitz stated as he walked toward the duo.
“This is…your bag?” Enzo peeped. “We’re terribly sor-“
“We?” Vice said looking at his partner. Enzo simply shrugged. “I mean, ya did lose it right? Finders keepers, losers-“
“Don’t give me that crap! It was my bag in the first place which makes you both thieves. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” said Blitz trying to get into an intimidating stance. He kept his glare, but it was instantly turned into a face of pain as he felt tightness in his leg. Vice raised his eyebrows humorously at the mess of a stallion Blitz was.
“Really,” he said considering his options. “If that’s the case then I choose the hard way!” Vice got to his feet and darted off towards a crowd of ponies. Before Blitz could react, Enzo had already disappeared and was lagging behind Vice. Blitz prepared to dash after them, but felt something wrong with himself. A sharp pain temporarily stunned him in place then went away.
‘Great, the pill is wearing off,’ he thought with worry. He gathered his strength and ran after the duo, all while dragging his bandaged leg.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Think we lost him?”
“This is a bad idea, Vice.”
“Yeah, I know,” the pony said with a smirk. “Just like old times, eh?”
“Just like old times,” Enzo repeated with a slight smile.
“HEEEEYY!”
“Shoot here he comes, let’s go!” Vice said running off. Enzo followed quickly behind as his companion sifted through various ponies. “Great, more ponies!” He had a very hard time trying to not hit anypony. He clumsily trudged past mares and stallions alike. Enzo, however, seemed to be maneuvering easily around. He waltzed past everypony, dodging them with ease. Vice almost resorted to pushing aside ponies, but considering his situation, he decided not to get into any more trouble.
“I don’t see him," Vice said looking back behind him. “Maybe we-oh NO!” Vice turned at the last second to see a small, yellow filly bouncing right in front of him. He barely had enough time to perform a leap over her head. The bright pink bow in her darker pink hair swayed in the direction of the jump. Vice landed with a large thud, did a small roll and kept on galloping away.
“Woah…what was that?” the filly squeaked.
“Get back here, Apple Bloom!” an orange mare said from behind a stall. It was full of various apple products. Ranging from apple pies to AppleBran Bars to simple apples, there was everything apple littered and labeled on the stand. “What in tarnations are ya doin’, lil sis?”
“Sorry, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said half ignoring her. She was too focused on the crazy stallion that had almost trampled her. Just then, Enzo came rushing by. Before he could catch up to Vice, the yellow filly known as Apple Bloom stepped right in front of him. Unlike Vice, Enzo came to a complete stop without tripping or falling. Apple Bloom was staring intently into Enzo’s eyes as he stood there wondering what she wanted.
“Um...hi?” he said nervously.
“Hiya there, mister!” Apple Bloom said with enthusiasm. “Wanna buy any of our apples?” she asked motioning toward her sister’s stand.
“Oh, uh, well I can’t really-“
“Aw c’mon, please,” she pleaded. “Pretty pleeeaaase,” she said now pouting her lip.
“…” Enzo didn’t know what to say or do for that matter. ‘How can I say no to a face like that?’ he thought staring at Apple Bloom’s innocent face.
“ENZO!” a voice pierced the awkward stare off. Enzo broke his gaze as he recognized the voice. “What the...hay, I thought you were right there behind me!” Vice said stumbling toward Enzo.
“Hey there, mister.” Apple Bloom started changing her sad expression to a more joyful one. “Wanna buy-“
“No,” Vice spoke cutting her off as if he knew what she was going to ask. Her pouty face returned which caught Vice off guard. He stared into her orange eyes, mesmerized by the sadness. Quickly recovering, he broke his stunned state, grabbed Enzo and took off with him.
“Wait, Vice,” Enzo said as he was dragged away.
“Enzo, you already cost us a lot of time,” Vice said cruelly. “Who knows where that blue guy could be lurking.”
“…sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Vice released his grip and let go of Enzo. “Let’s just ge-aahh.” Out of nowhere, a small pellet had nailed Vice in his left cheek. He lifted his hoof to rub his somewhat cold cheek. “…snow?!” Vice said bewildered with his teeth clenched.
“I’m lucky somepony was selling frozen goods,” said the voice the duo had been avoiding all this time. “They were reluctant to give me the slush…but I won them over with a little persuasion,” said Blitz remembering how he had tricked the other stallion beforehand. Gales of fury passed through Vice as he viciously wiped the snow off his cheek.
“Well if you wanted a good ole’ fashioned fight you should’ve told me,” Vice said as he stood on his two hind legs and raised hooves in front of him. “Put ‘em up, I’ll show you the one, two combo.” He started to do little hops, mini-strafing as he approached Blitz.
“Wait a sec-wait, hold on!” Blitz backed away slowly. His eyes filled with fear as the pony in the trench coat came closer. He did not expect Vice to take aggression towards a little snowball.
“Vice, calm down. This isn’t-“
“Shut it, Enzo. If this boy wants to play tough, he’ll have to learn how to take a hit!” Vice said glaring at Blitz with anger. Blitz forgot about his leg which was literally falling apart. It got to a point where Blitz felt so much pain he collapsed. He fell to his knees and looked up to see a ready stance Vice hovering over him. Blitz was at this stallion’s mercy. ‘If this is the price I pay for my actions, then I’ll have to learn what it’s like to be beat up,’ Blitz thought bracing himself against Vice.
‘Am I really gonna beat up a cripple? He did pelt me with a bullet ball...dammit,’ Vice thought as he slowly came to his senses.
‘Vice, please make the right choice,’ Enzo thought as his worried eyes darted back and forth from Blitz to Vice. Everypony just stood still, nopony moved. Blitz stared directly at Vice, prepared for the worst. Vice simply stood there, jumbled in his thoughts. Before the intimidating pony could reconsider his actions, a large figure had swooped down behind the three ponies. It landed with a loud bang and shouted in a menacing voice:
“STOP, YOU’VE VIOLATED THE SACRED LAW OF EQUESTRIA!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“We didn’t even sell one apple,” Apple Bloom said miserably.
“Ah shucks, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said walking over to her sister. “I guess selling apples really isn’t cut out for you.”
“Darn it, I really though t this second chance would work,” Apple Bloom replied as her sister comforted her by rubbing her head.
“Hi girls,” a soft voice said from a distance. The two sisters turned to see a yellow mare strolling by through the market. Her pink mane was bouncing as she happily trotted by.
“Oh, hey Fluttershy,” Applejack spoke up releasing Apple Bloom from her grip. “What are ya’ shoppin’ around for?”
“Just some special food that I’m picking up for Angel,” Fluttershy said still retaining her soft tone. “I’m also continuing my assertiveness that I’ve been trying out. I can’t believe it’s actually been working. New Fluttershy will make sure nopony treats her like a pushover,” she giggled with confidence.
“Assertiveness?” Applejack said doubtfully.
“New Fluttershy?” Apple Bloom said in confusion. Both sisters watched as Fluttershy kept happily trotting out of view humming some sort of jolly tune.
~~~~~~~~~~
“What in the-" Vice started as he lowered his hooves away from Blitz.
“You there!” The huge figure pointed towards Vice. “You’re in a lot of trouble, mister. You and your friend!” he finished, changing his point to the direction of Enzo.
“And just who do you think you are, huh?” Vice spat walking towards the figure.
“I am one of Celestia’s most trusted, elite pegasi guards. Royalty runs through my muscles!” the pegasus said flexing his arm. Blitz could only imagine the slightly curved, dark blond tail doing a flex as well. “And if this magnificent mustache isn’t enough to prove that, then how about these?” the pegasus said as he flapped his pure white wings open. The three stallions stared in utter shock as the pegasus kept rambling on about himself.
“You can call me Clyde the Guard, or simply Clyde. But, I assure you, nopony else has a mustache with such high valor such as myself,” he said stroking his dark blond, thick, manly stache. The slightly curled handlebar mustache seemed to defy the laws of physics as it seemed to shine brighter than Clyde’s own royal guard helmet. The ponies three sat speechlessly. “Well then, if you two’ll just come with me,” Clyde said motioning the two culprits over.
“Hold on there, bucko!” Vice interrupted raising his hoof at him. “We did nothing wrong here. If some...pony is to blame then it’s this guy!” he said pointing both hooves downward towards Blitz who started to get back on his feet.
“Are you seri-aaahhh!” Blitz screamed in pain as he felt a crack in his left leg.
“See, he’s acting hostile towards me. It’s obviously-“
“Cut that crap, you know what you did, so fess…up.” Blitz had a hard time finishing his sentence as he staggered through the oncoming pain.
“This guy’s out of control! He’s been chasing us like a mad...pony, ready to tear us limb from limb.”
“Are you serious? Don’t turn this story around just so…you can avoid trouble.” Blitz said trying to shoot down Vice’s crazy claims.
“I ain’t turning anything around. I’m simply stating-“
“Bullcrap!”
“ENOUGH!” Clyde yelled with such force that both ponies shut up immediately. “You, in the trench coat. I saw you hovering over this crippled pony, what was that all about?”
“Oh that’s funny, well-y-ya see...” Vice tried to think of an excuse to cover up his actions, but came up with nothing.
“Hmm, interesting.” Clyde eyed the horrible pokerface that Vice was trying to pull. “You, the one with the blue band and scarf. Do you have a say in this?
“Oh me? Um, well...”
“VERY INTERESTING INDEED!”
“Um, excuse me sir,” a soft voice said countering Clyde’s loud yell. “Could you please move over? You’re blocking my path.” Blitz let out a slight laugh, despite the pain, as he realized that this yellow mare was poking at Clyde’s size. He was the biggest pony Blitz had ever seen so far, bigger than the worker ponies he always passed by in Manehatten. He seemed to take up the whole space between the stalls too, the route Vice and Enzo took to avoid Blitz was unusually narrow.
“Oh, hello there Miss…Fluttershy!” Clyde was barely able to remember the mare’s name. “I haven’t seen you in a while since I was stationed here! Don’t worry I’ll just be a moment.”
“But I really need to get the last ingredient for my Angel bunny,” she pleaded.
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but I must perform my active duty in protecting Ponyville,” Clyde said turning back around towards Vice and Enzo. The joyous look on Fluttershy’s face vanished the moment she was turned down.
‘Why can’t he just fly up? Too fat?’ Blitz thought chuckling even harder than before.
“Clyde.” She was starting to get tense. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Please move aside.”
“Miss Fluttershy, this is very important. I’ve finally caught these ponies in the act of breaking the law of Equestria. Exciting news indeed it is! I have just the evidence to prove that they are very guilty of theft. I simply have to…”
“When somepony tries to block show them that you rock.” Fluttershy said to herself.
“…and then I’ll be able catch the criminal! It’s every guards dream to-waahhh!” Clyde found pain in his lower right leg as he jumped into the air toppling over onto his face. When he opened his eyes, he noticed his mustache was defiled with dirt and grime and desperately tried to wipe it all off. Vice and Enzo stared with their mouths gaping. Fluttershy had taken a nearby stick and actually jabbed it into Clyde’s leg. It was blunt and nowhere close to sharp, but Clyde’s reaction proved otherwise for the pain.
Fluttershy resumed her walk through the market as Clyde was still on the floor despairing over his messed up mustache. Before she left the scene, she came to a full stop. She slowly turned around and faced a hysterical Blitz. He was laughing so hard that he had trouble breathing. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just-no it’s…bwaaahahaha.” Blitz couldn’t stop laughing at Clyde’s poor condition. He had never seen somepony act so high and mighty only to look like a fool the next minute. Unfortunately for him, Fluttershy was taking this gesture the wrong way.
“You laugh at me, I wrath at you.” Blitz finally ceased his laughter only to find an enraged Fluttershy storming straight at him.