"Ok," Darkfang growled, kicking another pegasus off the side of The Inconceivable, "this is getting annoying."
"Agreed," Crimson murmured, deftly parrying a clumsy sword stroke with her spear before unloading her pistol into the unlucky bandit's chest cavity.
"Oh, I dunno," Gadgets called from the command deck, where he was fending off a dozen burly pegasi...with a spork. "I find their attempts at robbery quite flattering."
The Inconceivable had been under attack by these ruffians for the better part of the last hour, ever since the crew had accidentally killed their leader when he flew too close to the giant airship's port side fans. They were ill-equipped, dirty, and obviously suffering from malnourishment, as were most criminals in the 4th Glorious Griffon Empire.
They were also having their flanks routinely handed to them by the far-superior adventurers.
"I feel kind of sorry for them," Minion said, dodging and weaving beside Feathers, who was surrounded on all sides yet completely untouched. "I mean, they're so outmatched and outclassed, it's a wonder there's still any left."
"Stop ignoring us!" Shouted a particularly large specimen of equine flesh attempting to sneak up behind Darkfang.
"Oh, we're not ignoring you," the dragon told him, absently picking up the pony in one claw and hurling him across deck into the group harassing Gadgets. "We just really don't care."
"You missed the group," Crimson told him, impaling another bandit on her spear.
"Yeah, looks like he's dead-on for the Chief, though."
Everypony on deck winced visibly as the pegasus made contact with the tiny automaton, promptly exploding in a fountain of red sludge. The leader of the buzzbots (as they were now being called) stepped forth from the muck, his steel body completely spotless, brushing his hands as if to say "a job well done".
This unnecessarily brutal display finally drove the attackers over the edge. Screaming, pushing, and cursing, the bandits dove over the railing and out into empty space.
"Rude," Gadgets said to nopony in particular, strolling down the steps to join his friends on the main deck, "they didn't even take the bodies."
Darkfang shrugged and began heaving corpses over the side, "I'm more worried about the mess. You loose your bowels when you die, you know."
Feathers shivered and stepped around a steaming pile of something, making his way to the prow and the relatively fresher air blowing away the scents of battle. The sounds of retching quickly followed.
"Oh, Feathers, not into the wind!" Minion cried, dashing forward to lay a hoof around the griffon's heaving shoulders.
Crimson chuckled drily, she'd always found it ironic that a blood mage would also have a blood phobia. Letting the unexpected smile play awhile longer on her lips, she joined her lover and the crew in clearing the deck of bodies. Attacks such as this were not common to Imperial territory, the military made certain of that, yet they were not unheard of, either.
This particular group of ruffians, for instance, should have been destroyed utterly and without mercy long ago, yet they had been allowed to grow large and powerful enough to threaten an airship. Granted their leader's initial attempt at halting them had ended with him being turned into soup, but the feeling was there. These bandits had not been afraid of over-whelming retaliation.
Crimson was darkly certain of what that meant. Gripeye's redirection of resources was having an adverse effect on law enforcement, and she shuddered to think of the consequences that would mean for helpless civilians. But that was why she was here, aboard The Inconceivable; while she may no longer have an official role to play in the defense of her people, the role of an adventurer meant she would always have plenty of chances to help.
********
The small town of Moon's Eye had been built in a ravine between two sand mountains, so deep that sunlight barely reached it, thus shrouding the town in eternal twilight. It had been built from bright grey stone around a massive natural lake, its waters black and still in the absence of wind and sun. A thousand lanterns burning in a thousand colors covered the town, making it resemble a massive, circular rainbow from the air as The Inconceivable made its way through the mountains.
Crimson had visited this place several times before, due to its popularity among soldiers for its saucy reputation and lax laws regarding bordellos; it was not the kind of place one traveled when in polite company. However, it was the perfect place when one wanted to obtain information on the workings of the underworld...or high society; many a noble enjoyed visiting this place in disguise.
She looked back at her well-armed friends wearing varying expressions of excitement, trepidation, and indifference. Feathers had never been permitted to travel here before, and his blushing cheeks told her all she needed to know about what he'd heard of it. The others, with the exception of Darkfang, looked positively giddy at the prospect of a “pirate town”.
"Welp, time to hit the whore houses," Gadgets said brightly, jingling a full purse of bits.
"No," Minion told him, smacking his head lightly and pocketing the bag when the stunned pony dropped it.
"Aw, you just want to keep them for yourself."
"...Yes."
Crimson rolled her eyes, not bothering to ask if they were serious, and not wanting to know the answer if she did. The two teenage ponies had a habit of being more serious than they should be in situations like this. She also knew any prostitute unlucky enough to catch their eye would find themselves on fire, frozen, or covered in marzipan. Weird things happened around those two.
"You guys do what you want," Darkfang muttered, "I'm going to the library; I want to look some stuff up about the Forgotten."
He fitted his own allowance into his belt, kissed Crimson's cheek as goodbye, and dove over the edge. The griffon blushed slightly and readjusted her own gear, including a bag of bits courtesy of Gadgets seemingly inexhaustible supply of gold. Not that she had any intention of spending it, however; she preferred to make her own money, and there was always a million ways in a town like this, especially for somepony with her skills.
"So, meet back here at dusk; which is in," Gadgets glanced at the ship's clock, "twelve hours."
Four heads nodded, the inventor smiled, "And if anypony isn't here, we raze the town until we find them."
Four wicked smiles played on the faces of four dangerous individuals, quickly joined by a fifth as Darkfang (who had been hovering beneath the deck) popped back up over the railing. A moment later they were all jumping over the edge, wings of flesh and bronze allowing them to glide safely to the ground to the startled (and a little bit awed) gasps of the various petty criminals, prostitutes, and lazy citizens of Moon's Eye.
The adventurers shared one more nod then separated in five different directions to explore the town; their pockets jingling with enough coin to draw the eye of every cutpurse in the vicinity, and bristling with enough weaponry to kill those thoughts in their gestation.
********
The asassin stepped forth from the black waters of the Moon's Eye with neither sound nor the slightest ripple, emerging out onto the docks and scaring several lazing laborponies, a pair of lovers, and a number of prostitutes halfway out of their skin. The clattering of hooves and talons on stone, the shrieking of rather high-pitched voices and the fading sight of several varieties of tail was the only greeting she received.
Smirking at the fear she inspired, the assassin adjusted the dark hood which hid her face from view, the rifle on her back, scratched her furry chin, and dipped a paw inside her pockets for the letter...simultaneously. Each of her four arms moved as if they possessed minds of their own.
A quick scanning of the scroll bearing her current contract and a glance at the sky told her all she needed to know. The massive, flying ship high above the town matched the description of her mark's vessel perfectly, which meant her targets were somewhere in the town.
The assassin put the scroll away and placed a hand on her furry tummy as it growled obnoxiously; her duties to the Black Hoof would have to wait. Scanning the docks quickly, her eyes settled upon a particularly seedy-looking building from which her sensitive nose and ears could detect any number of appetizing smells and arousing sounds.
Letting a cruel smile play on her lips, the assassin strolled over to it, moving with all the lithe lethality of a natural predator. First she would slake her physical thirsts and hungers, then she would satisfy the Tenets of her Order. Glory to the Dreamer, glory to the Forgotten!
********
Darkfang was bored. He had never been to Moon's Eye before, he had never wanted to, and now he understood why. There really wasn't anything here that a dragon would care for. No gem stalls, the food was mediocre at best, and the prostitutes lining the streets did not interest him. Pony flesh never had, and any griffon flesh that was not connected to his beloved was equally unappetizing.
The library was worse; a dingy little building crammed with moldy texts (most of which could not be read), stuffed into a terrible corner of a tiny back alley, and utterly devoid of life. Ponies did not come to this town for literature, after all.
He was just turning onto the street which would lead him back to The Inconceivable, and the nap he needed after this pointless venture when a group of grimy ponies huddled in the corner of an alleyway caught his eye. Curious, he headed towards them, keeping quiet as a mouse so that he could overhear what they were saying.
"You owe us big, pipsqueak," one of them, a blue unicorn with a greasy mane and oil stains on his coat, said. He appeared to be addressing something in the center of the group, something small and obviously pressed up against the wall.
"Hehehe, pipsqueak," a very stupid-looking Earth Pony slightly bigger than Crimson was saying over and over again, his voice low and thick, "widdle birdy not gunna fwy away home?"
Darkfang rolled his eyes, whatever was going on it was clear this group of thugs was harassing some poor defenseless filly, and being the gentledragon he was, he was going to have to get involved. His suspicions were proven correct as a very young, very female voice piped up from somewhere around the grown pony's hooves.
"I don't owe you nothin', Big Buck, and shut your mouth Dubbagrin, I ain't no bird! Why, you wouldn't know a bird if he came right up and kicked that tar pit you call brains right outta your head!"
The dragon chuckled as he drew ever closer; the filly had spirit, he'd give her that, but she really needed to learn when it was best to keep your mouth shut, especially when everypony else was ten times your size.
"What did you say ta me, pipsqueak?!" The one identified as Big Buck snarled, lowering his horn threateningly, its tip beginning to glow. It was then Darkfang decided to intervene.
He stepped up behind the ponies, utterly silent, and stuck his head between the two speakers, "I think she said you're an idiot."
The stupid-looking one named Dubbagrin screamed something along the lines of, "Bigger dragon!" and took off running down the street, while the others stared at the massive intruder in dumb horror. Their intended victim's, a tiny pegasus, eyes were filled with amazement and wonder, rather than fear.
"W-We're not afr-fr-fr-fraid of you," Big Buck stammered, his eyes growing large as dinner plates.
"Really?" Darkfang asked, nonplussed, drawing his weapons. "You're really not afraid of me?!"
The unicorn whimpered and began to cast some sort of spell, his horn glowing weakly, the dragon gave them his best evil grin and flexed his muscles slightly, shattering the feeble enchantment as it crept along his body. That was the last straw and five ponies were suddenly galloping down the streets after their companion.
Darkfang chuckled and turned to the filly, who visibly swallowed to regain some of her composure and glared up at him with fiery determined eyes.
"What was that for?!" She shouted, "I didn't need nopony's help, and I certainly didn't need nodragon's help, neither!"
"You have terrible grammar," the dragon in question pointed out, amused.
The pugnacious little filly stamped her hoof in what she evidently thought was a menacing gesture, though due to her diminutive size it came out just looking adorable. "I don't care about that! I was fine handling things on my own, just like always, so thankya very much and good day Mr. Intruder!"
She turned in a huff and began heading out into the street. Darkfang let her take two steps before he plucked her off the ground by the scruff of her neck and brought her to eye-level with him. Buzzing filled the air as the little pegasus flapped her wings madly, kicking and struggling, trying with all her might to escape. After far too much of such hilarity she was exhausted and breathing heavily, hanging limply in the dragon's grasp.
Now that he had her close he took a better look at her. The pegasus's coat was a vibrant shade of red, her face and hooves bright gold; her mane, tail, and wings lined with more of the same. All in all, she greatly resembled the phoenix Darkfang had once encountered during the Centennial Dragon Migration one-hundred years ago.
When the little filly had regained some of her composure she began howling obscenities at the dragon, using many colorful words he doubted she knew the meaning of, and quite a few even he did not know.
"You're quite the little firestarter, aren't you?" The dragon asked when she stopped for breath.
"What did you call me?" she asked, her anger evaporating as quickly as it had come.
"You like it?"
The filly nodded to herself for a few moments, eyes slanted away as if forgetting he was there. Soon, however, she remembered she was trying to escape and resumed her tirade, "Put me down! Put me down so I can bite your ankles off!"
"Unlikely on both accounts; dragons are known for their durability."
"Well," she screeched, "if you're not gonna put me down, what are ya gonna do with me?!"
Darkfang shrugged and dropped her onto his other palm, "You," he told her, "are going to show me around town. I'm bored as Luna on the moon and since you're from around here, you probably know where everything interesting is."
"And what do I get out of it?" She asked, her eyes filling with opportunistic greed.
The dragon shrugged and removed a ruby the size of a goose egg from his dagger, the gem popping out from the metal with a sickening sound. "Does this strike your fancy?"
The little filly's eyes filled with open want and she nodded vigorously, her enthusiasm threatening to send her toppling out of the dragon's palm and onto the unforgiving pavement far below. Chuckling slightly at how much the pegasus resembled baby dragons, Darkfang gently lowered her to the ground, where she hopped off his hand and swaggered out of the alleyway, heading back the way he had come.
"As you'll see over here," she told him, gesturing grandly, "that there is a pile of dirt. Now, it may look like any old pile a dirt...that's just cause it is, but if you look over here, you can see some premium dirt."
Chuckling, he followed her out of the alley, taking one step for every twelve of hers, "So what's your name, squirt?" he asked when she paused at a junction.
"Firestarter," she called back over her shoulder, heading on.
********
Crimson stood at the center of a large plaza, before her an iron pillar covered with parchment; some old, some new, all bearing the likeness of a wanted criminal and the reward for their capture or death. Such bounty boards were common across the Empire, particularly in rough-and-tumble places like Moon's Eye, where the lawless and their hunters gathered.
None of the current marks looked particularly promising; mostly mediocre rewards for petty criminals that had irked some bureaucrat or snotty nobles. One particularly amusing specimen was a fierce-looking little pegasus that had "unlawfully assaulted the son of His Lordship Crustawigon", a noble belonging to House something-or-other, the bounty promised a reward of three-hundred bits. Quite a sum for such a young filly.
Crimson ignored this obvious misuse of power by the ruling class and instead grabbed a poster of a greasy-looking hippogryph that ran some petty guild of thieves in the darker areas of Moon's Eye. At the very least busting up a crime-ring would give her something to do, and the pay wasn't half bad either.
The walk through the streets was uneventful and shameless use of back alleys filled with soon-to-be-dead thugs and gangs brought her quickly to her destination. A ramshackle building made of rotting wood, barely three stories tall, the windows shuttered and the lights out front extinguished.
Without hesitation, Crimson mounted the steps and shoved the doors away, revealing a dark chamber, almost utterly bare of all furnishings. The only decoration a thick mahogany desk behind which sat the hippogryph from the poster, the only light a single lantern resting on said desk, illuminating a small circle in the center of the room. The griffon's night vision was perfect, however, so the numerous ruffians hiding in the shadows were clear as day to her.
Crimson smiled to herself, this was going to be easy.
********
"No."
"Why not?"
"I like my spine where it is."
"What about your liver?"
Minion smacked Gadgets lightly with a hoof, causing him to drop the absurd-looking corset he'd grabbed off a street stall to the muddy pavement. The griffon owner squawked angrily at them, causing the mare to reach inside her coat for the bits to cover the merchandise they'd ruined. Their debt repaid, the couple continued on down the busy streets of Moon's Eye.
"I can't believe you bought it and won't wear it," Gadgets complained, eyeing the golden monstrosity evilly.
"I tell you what," Minion told him, "you wear it then I'll wear it."
"Deal!"
The mare sighed, she should've seen that one coming. As fun as playing dress-up was, the idea of squeezing her internal organs out through her mouth cast a bit of a shadow on things but...such were the games of love. Besides, she'd often fantasized about dressing Gadgets up as a mare; he definitely had the face for it.
Grinning wickedly to herself, she failed to notice the stallion in question staring avidly at a pile of garbage. When she did he was already half-buried in it, only his bottom wiggling in the air could be seen.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.
"Science!" He emerged triumphantly holding a shiny trinket.
Minion stared at him for a moment, then her own face split in a wide grin.
********
"So," Darkfang murmured, looking around at the crew, "just what the hay did you idiots do?"
"The idiots" in question were assembled directly beneath The Inconceivable and all appeared to have come out the worse for their adventures in the shady town. Crimson was bedecked in garish jewelry and shamelessly admiring a diamond the size of an ostrich egg; Feathers was covered in what the dragon sincerely hoped was mud and attempting to hide himself in his wings. Gadgets and Mira both wore crazed grins and were coated in refuse, the fruits of their labors stood between them: a life-size hippogriff made out of garbage and moving under its own bizarre power.
"The city is a fun place," Gadgets said brightly.
"Right," the dragon muttered, sharing a look with Firestarter, whom he'd brought back to the ship with him. The tiny pegasus rolled her eyes at the crew in a gesture that spoke volumes.
"So who's the runt?" Crimson asked, breaking herself out of her self-admiration to glance at the little filly.
Darkfang cleared his throat and waved a claw around, "Everypony, this is Firestarter. Firestarter, this is Crimson, my lover," the red griffon bowed slightly, "Princess Feathers, a mage of some notoriety," the sorcerer blushed and waved, "and of course the...miscellaneous." Gadgets and Mira both waved frantically.
"Hello everypony," the pegasus greeted them, waving a cute little hoof. She was glomped seconds later by Mira.
"Squeeeeee! You are the cutest thing ever!" The mare shouted, spinning her around and around and around.
After about five minutes of such hilarity, Darkfang deftly plucked the choking pegasus from the unicorn's grasp, replacing her with a stuffed bunny he'd found earlier in the trash. Mira did not seem to notice the difference as she continued to spin.
"Your friends are nuts," Firestarter gasped.
The dragon nodded solemnly, "That they are but they're good ponies, and they can be your friends, too."
The filly raised an eyebrow, Darkfang shrugged, "That is, if you want to come with us. I know you don't have a family waiting for you."
"How'd you know that?"
"Let's call it 'intuition'."
She blinked and looked at him, then around at the crew, and finally up at The Inconceivable far overhead. "I," she said haltingly, "I don't think I can."
With that, she turned and ran away, disappearing into the crowd. Darkfang watched her go, a number of feelings welling up in his heart, "I don't understand."
Crimson was at his side in an instant, "Not everypony is ready for change, and not everypony is ready for the things we do. Someponies just can't leave what they know."
"I don't think that's it," the dragon muttered, "I think there's more going on here than we know. We need to find her."
"Welp," Gadgets declared, striding up from behind, "I guess it's time for the old fallback."
"What fallback?"
The inventor's eyes glittered with mad fire, "Raze the town until we find our friend."
The dragon's vicious smile was mirrored on every face as the crew turned as one to face the city.
********
"What's going on?" Commander Cairn, head of the Moon's Eye Defense Force, demanded as another explosion racked the city.
"Sir," a private saluted him, "one third of our forces are incapacitated, another is currently pursuing the fugitives through the Rag Sector, and the rest are being eaten out of what appears to be a giant block of marzipan."
"Marzipan, you say...wait, why are they being eaten out?"
The private saluted smartly once more, "Sir, it's really, really good marzipan."
The commander eyed the private up and down, noting the red frosting in his wings and beak. "Right then, private," he crisped, "gather what troops you can and follow me. We've got to rescue those soldiers!"
********
"Listen, haysucker," Crimson growled, shaking the Lucky Old Mare's Orphanage caretaker violently, "you can deal with me, or you can deal with that."
She jerked a talon out the grimy building's smashed front door at Gadgets and Minion, the latter of whom was shouting "It's alive, it's alive!" as their garbage monstrosity stomped through the streets, breathing fire.
The griffon patron gulped and shook his oiled, balding head, a dozen or so emaciated children stared with wide eyes from behind a dresser at the intruders to their home.
"We don't know where she is," he squeaked. "She hasn't returned for three days; I thought she was dead!"
"Wrong answer!" Crimson roared, tossing him onto a sack of rotten turnips heaped in one corner, "And if you don't start taking care of those pups, you'll answer to me!"
"Take care of them with what?!" The caretaker demanded, "We hardly have any money to pay the gangs, much less buy food!"
The red griffon cocked an eyebrow and tore up a floorboard, exposing a secret stash of gold and gems the corrupt patron had been secreting away from the government stipend his business received. The griffon in question gulped noticeably and nodded slightly, smiling guiltily.
"And don't worry about the gangs," she called over her shoulder, heading back out, "I took care of them already."
As she stepped out into the pandemonium of the streets she noticed that Minion and Gadgets were still wreaking havoc, Feathers was watching them, but Darkfang had disappeared completely.
"Oh now where's he got to?" She muttered to herself, springing down the last few steps to the street and heading off, away from the flames.
"I dunno," Gadgets answered, looking at the quickly disappearing griffon, "how'd we get here, anyway?"
Minion shrugged and squealed with laughter as another cart exploded.
********
Darkfang had, in fact, found Firestarter behind a stack of barrels, far away from the chaos his friends were causing.
"Found you," he announced, sneaking up behind her and scaring the little filly so bad she flew into the air instinctively.
Before she had time to fly away using her newfound power, the dragon plucked her from the air and deposited her gently in his palm, "You want to explain to me why you ran away?"
The filly glared up at the much larger creature, "You want to explain to me just what the hay your friends are doin' to mah town?!"
Darkfang dismissed the question with a wave of his claw, "They're just having some fun, not important. What is important is why an orphan would decline the chance for friendship and adventure through the wide, wide world aboard something as cool as The Inconceivable?"
Firestarter averted her eyes, "You wouldn't understand," she mumbled.
"Then explain it to me until I do," the dragon said sternly, setting her atop the barrels and taking a seat on the pavement beside her.
The filly, realizing the futility of attempting to run, sighed and continued to stare at the ground, "I've never had anything before. I've always been alone, so Ah've always taken care of myself, never depended on nopony.
It's not a good life, I guess, but it's the only one ah've got, and I just can't see no end to it."
"Is that why you ran away?"
She shook her head, "No, I guess not. I grew up in an orphanage, you know; it was dirty and cramped, and there was hardly any food to go around. The caretaker, he'd make us work all hours of the day and night and beat us when we were slow.
Said he was taken care a us, that he was makin' it so somepony'd want to take us for our own. Lyin' bastard. Nopony ever came in that wasn't a part of some gang or business the caretaker was involved in. And all they ever wanted was workers for a day or two, then we'd be right back in the orphanage; starvin' for love and food.
Nopony that ever needed love ever found it, and whenever somepony actually came that was looking for a filly or a colt or a pup why, the one that they picked out just disappeared 'fore they could get to 'im."
"Disappeared?"
"I don't know what happened, and I don't think I want to, either. One night they'd be all happy as can be, the next morning they'd be gone without a trace; sometimes the parents'd come back, lookin' for them, but the caretaker'd always say they just ran away."
"And the Empire never looked into it?"
"Well how were they supposed to?!" Firestarter demanded, looking at the dragon for the first time; Darkfang noted that her eyes were brimming with tears. "We're just fillies, colts, we're little and we don't matter! We don't understand how ta solve our problems or how to contact the ponies who do!
And besides, the caretaker's paid up with the right ponies; ain't nopony ever gonna come and help us. So we took care of ourselves, we made our beds and we kept quiet and we didn't listen to nopony. 'Course...now there's just me, the rest is gone. Gone forever."
"Ah, I think I understand," Darkfang said; the filly gave him a questioning look, which he met with one of kindness and genuine affection, "You're scared that if you escape from that life you'll be letting your friends down."
"How ya figure?"
"You spent so long surviving, trying to get from one day to the next, that you never stopped to realize someday it all might end. You escaped, you're free, but you're too bound up in what you've been doing for so long that you don't see it."
"I still don't understand."
Darkfang shrugged and stood up, offering her his claw, "Maybe you don't right now and you never will if you stay here. But if you come with me, someday you'll realize what I mean."
Firestarter stared at him for a moment, then down at his extended claw, then back into his eyes. Slowly, oh so slowly, she climbed into his palm and the dragon set her on his shoulder.
"Now," he said, "let's go find our friends."
********
A dark figure stepped out of the lakeside brothel, enjoying the feel of fresh evening air rustling through her naked fur. A cruel smile played on her lips as she looked to the sky, and froze. The airship was gone.
Raising an eyebrow she snagged a passing unicorn in one paw and brought him up to face her, his eyes wild with fear as he looked into hers, "Where'd the big airship go?" she asked.
"The-The what?" he stammered.
"Oh, great, he's stupid," she gave the blue pony a violent shake. "The giant-floaty-metal thing in the sky! Where did it go?!"
"It-It-It just turned east and flew away, about an hour ago. I dunno where they went."
The assassin rolled her eyes and looked deep into her prisoner's, who shrank back as much as he could, "If you saw them go east, you saw where they went," she informed him darkly. "You just don't know where they're going; but you've still managed to make yourself useful to me and for that...you get to live."
Without sparing the pony a second thought, she reached deep inside herself to the magic which dwelt at her core, opening the flood gates and allowing its power to suffuse her being. Without sound or any perceivable movement, she stepped into the wind and disappeared.
Leaving behind only a very startled unicorn, a brothel filled with any number of foul smells, and a number of sapphires littering the ground, which the stallion quickly scooped up and pocketed before anypony else could see.