"So who do you choose, Sunset Shimmer?" asked King Craw.
Sunset looked at both Felix and Craw, who were both standing next to one another, occasionally shooting glares at each other and nudging one another with their wings.
"That's something new..." thought Sunset. "Guys fighting over me...instead of because of me."
"We will not force you to make a decision you wouldn't be comfortable with." said Felix.
"Speak for yourself, Saddle Arabian." snarked Craw. "She's known me longer than she knows you, so she'll probably be more comfortable with me."
"At least I'm not some..." Felix began.
King Craw cocked his head, as if expecting Felix to say something.
"Stalker." said Felix.
King Craw sighed a little.
"For a moment there, I thought you were going to berate me for my species." he said. "Not that it would've mattered much to me."
"I don't discriminate one by their species." said Felix. "I discriminate one by their behavior. You, Changeling, are an--"
"Guys, will you stop arguing?" asked Sunset. "We need to get to the fort, and pronto! Craw, since you know where we'll be going, I'll ride on you."
"Excellent choice, my lady." said King Craw, grinning devilishly.
He bent his long, holey legs so that Sunset could ride him, but Felix quickly rushed to Sunset's side.
"Miss Sunset, are you sure about this?" asked Felix.
"Don't worry." said Sunset. "He wouldn't try doing anything to me if I'm riding on him. Besides, he looks satisfied enough to not do anything sinister to us."
Sunset got onto King Craw, who closed his red eyes and chuckled quietly to himself.
"I knew she couldn't resist me." he thought.
King Craw and Felix Summerset flew off into the sky. Teddy, who was listening in on their conversation from behind a nearby gate, exhaled uncomfortably.
"Boy, I hope Sunset knows what she's doing." he said.
Then he paused and thought for a moment.
"Wait, why didn't anypony else go with them?" he said. "I mean, if the Changelings are all there is to help her...this is ridiculous!"
Later that evening, Frosty, Nose Nip, Maud Pie, and Sunflower were sitting together at a table at Donut Joe's shop. They were all having milkshakes.
"So, how's your milkshake taste?" Nose Nip asked Maud.
"Vanilla." said Maud, blankly.
"Oh...really." said Nose Nip. "Well, at least Joe got you the right flavor."
On the outskirts of Baltimare, a group of Changelings were waiting together by a wanted poster depicting a tall unicorn covered entirely in black armor.
"Yo, what's this say?" said one of the Changelings, looking at the poster.
Another Changeling went up to the first, and started reading the wanted poster...badly.
"Ziiib-yibwobbermontercuffin!" babbled the second Changeling incomprehensibly as he perused the description.
"Oh, shut up, Glitch!" shouted the first Changeling, swatting the second in the face with his hoof.
"Break you up!" shouted Glitch, banging the first on his shoulder with his own hoof. "Yop, yop!"
"You wanna fight, then meet me somewhere!" shouted the first Changeling.
"Kengu! Glitch!" shouted a third Changeling. "Will you two quit acting like idiots?"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry..." muttered Glitch, before saying it three more times in reverse: "Yrros, yrros, yrros."
"Why'd yo pair me up with this stupid pest?!" demanded Kengu. "I'm about ready to give him the whoopin' of his life! I can't even understand a stupid thing's he's sayin'. And I just wanted to know what this wanted poster said!"
Glitch turned and pushed his hoof towards and away from Kengu while shouting, each time in a different pitch:
"Yod, yod, yod, yod!"
Translation: "You're the pest here, you violent buffoon!"
"Glitch, go check to see if those royal guards are here." said the third Changeling.
Glitch sped off, reversing himself in mid-air every so often as he did, like someone rewinding a videotape. Kengu and the other Changeling looked at the wanted poster, which had a picture of a tall pony. They were unable to see its face, which was fully-helmeted, nor its coat color, since every inch the pony's body was either in shadow or covered in black armor. However, its mane was long, red, and braided in twin tails.
"Think maybe it's one of 'em renegades?" asked Kengu.
"I doubt it." said the other Changeling, reading the poster. "'Wanted: The Dark Paladin. Reward: six hundred bits, dead or alive. Wanted for vigilante-based activities, including the unauthorized assault of six criminals, resisting arrest, and subsequent wounding of three royal guards. Last known location: Unknown. Note: Has not been seen in twenty-five years; rumored to still be active.'"
"A vigilante?" said Kengu. "Maybe we should be lookin' 'round for him, might help us with these renegade guards!"
"Kengu. I doubt the Dark Paladin, whoever he is, would help us Changelings."
Radiant Dawn and the rest of the team of royal guards, night guards, and Shadowbolts was traveling to Baltimare, and were halfway down the road.
"I have a bad feeling about this." said Skywater, who was trotting next to Radiant Dawn.
"We're all afraid to fight our own commander, too." said Radiant. "So you don't need to feel singled out."
"It's not the renegades." said Skywater. "I've heard...rumors...about a vigilante that used to roam the streets of Baltimare."
"You mean the Dark Paladin?" asked Silver Shadow.
"But that's just an old ponies' tale!" said Night Runner, clearing his throat. "Isn't it?"
"What's the Dark Paladin?" asked Radiant.
"It was this pony...a stallion, I think...that roamed Baltimare at night, and battled criminals." said Silver Shadow. "My uncle used to tell me all about him."
"Who is he, though?" asked Night Runner.
"Nopony knows." said Silver Shadow. "He always wore black armor that covered his body, and covered his face with a helmet. He was also seriously good with weapons. I heard he could throw a javelin from forty yards and hit its mark with his eyes shut."
"I wonder where he'd learn to fight like that, though." said Skywater.
"I wasn't even alive back then, but my uncle said that he heard a rumor that the Dark Paladin was either a former royal guard or somepony that desperately wanted to be a royal guard but was rebuked or something."
"Think he might be one of those renegades?" asked Radiant.
"I don't think so, Lieutenant Dawn." said Silver Shadow. "The Dark Paladin hasn't been seen in Baltimare for decades."
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the surrounding trees.
"Do you hear that?" said Radiant. "I don't like the sound of that."
"We're not alone." said Lightning Dust, who quickly came up to them, her head tilted up.
Suddenly, a loud bellowing filled the air, trees were knocked down, and thunderous footfalls shook the ground.
"LOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMM!!!" Radiant shouted as loud as he could to the other guards.
"Scatter!" Lightning Dust yelled.
The guards and Shadowbolts scattered, just as the great armored beast burst through the treeline.
"Circle formation!" shouted Radiant. "Bring him down! Don't let him escape!"
The group circled Long Rim, but the creature made no attempt to fight them.
"Umm...what's going on?" asked Lightning. "Why ain't he attacking us?"
"Because we are attacking him!" said a harsh voice from beyond the circle.
Radiant and several other guards looked around. A lone pegasus stallion in battered armor was approaching them.
"Who are you?" said Radiant.
"Zanzibar Firewing, Commander of the Canterlot Royal Guard." said the pegasus.
"So you're the one causing this trouble?!" said Lightning.
"On King Nelphyn's orders." said Firewing. "But I'm afraid that you have many problems now."
"Why?" asked Radiant.
Zanzibar Firewing made a bird-like whistle, and suddenly all the nearby trees that Long Rim did not already knock down seemed to spring to life, and dark shapes clustered around them. In seconds, dozens of silhouettes of ponies, zebras, and even gryphons were springing out of hiding places in the darkness.
"Did you think we wouldn't anticipate that the princesses would send their own guards to help those wretched Changelings?" said Firewing. "No. I know for a fact that it would be exactly what Princess Celestia would do. She is too soft, even to her worst enemies. And now I will show her how her soft side will be her downfall."
One of the renegades threw a javelin with a metal tip at a royal guard, and it struck him in the ribs. It didn't wound him too seriously, thanks to his armor, but it did knock him to the ground and make him groan with pain.
"Surrender immediately, or you all die." said Firewing. "Right here, right now."
"Sir, what do we do?" Green Aether asked Radiant.
"Forget it, Firewing!" said Radiant. "None of us are gonna be hostages! We won't let you take us prisoner!"
"Fine." said Firewing grimly. "If that's what you choose, then I will be obliged to see it through. However, I think you deserve a headstart, seeing as you fools used to be my comrades."
"A headstart?" Silver Shadow whispered to Night Runner. "What's he talkin' about?"
Several glints of light appeared in the darkness that was the crowd of renegades, which seemed to open up in several places.
"My little ponies..." said Firewing. "Run for your lives!"
Before he even finished his sentence, the air was filled with cylindrical objects with fuses.
"Dynamite!" shouted a guard.
"TNT!" shouted a Shadowbolt.
Radiant Dawn, Long Rim, and the others all burst through the gaps in the army of renegades to evade the ensuing explosions, scattering into the forest. Most of them escaped, but several of them, including Radiant Dawn, Lightning Dust, Crimson Cloud and Night Runner were flung through the air by the blasts and hit the ground, scorched and aching all over.
"The hunt's on, boys!" Firewing shouted to the others. "And it's open season! Hunt down and kill whoever you see fit!"
The renegades cheered wildly, and galloped or flew on after the guards and Shadowbolts that escaped. Firewing himself turned to look at the ones that were injured by the blast.
"As for them..." Firewing said to a few of the renegades that stayed behind. "Take them to the fort! I may have use for them."
Radiant was coughing and groaning where he lay on the ground, trying to fight the incessant ringing in his ears as he crawled to get to Lightning Dust, who appeared to be unconscious.
"Don't...worry..." he panted. "I'll...getcha...outta here!"
Suddenly a pair of armored zebras appeared beside him, and bludgeoned him on the head with their plated hooves. In less than a second, Radiant blacked out.