“Leverage?” Heavy Roller asked. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been in the game, you know exactly what I mean.” Cheerilee replied. “Stone Wall has every advantage and he’s using that to apply as much pressure as possible to get you to comply. If you simply push back it will end badly for you and Scootaloo. What we need to do is find some angle we can use to either get him to back off or make him no longer an issue. To do that we need to get information and a plan but before that we need a team.”
“But you’re a school teacher.” Heavy Roller said in disbelief. “What do you know of the game?”
Cheerilee paused before giving him a knowing smile.
“I wasn’t always a school teacher..”
Cheerilee - Teacher
The Governor of Maris stepped into the office, clearly furious. "Put her there."
One of the security guards stepped into the office with a teenage mulberry mare. Her mane was in pigtails, she wore a short dress that seemed to be doing a better job drawing attention to her hind legs than actually covering them. She was forcibly pushed into a seat.
"Young lady, you are in a whole lot of trouble."
The mare looked up at the stallions in dismay. "What's the big deal? I was invited to this party."
"You were found in the west wing of the manor. That area was out of bounds."
"I was looking for a bathroom."
"You defiled a hundred year old fountain."
"I didn't find one in time."
Ex-Party Mare
"What is she even doing at this function?" The governor asked.
"Your son invited her." The guard answered.
"Well go get him, NOW!"
As the guard left, the ambassador turned back to the mare. "You both are going to learn that actions have consequences."
"What, like a govenor stealing a copy of the Gryphondus Codex from a widow in Fillydelphia and hiding it in his estate?"
Before the Governor could react, he was knocked out by a hoof to the jaw. Satisfied the ambassador was down, Cheerilee wasted no time locating the Codex, then stripped her dress away to reveal a climbing harness. She put the codex in a specifically made pouch and anchored her line to the deck.
"Always told Berry Punch the Prench knew how to throw a party."
She then jumped out the window.
Retrieval Expert
The two earth ponies arrived at the Sweet Apple Acres farm to find Big Mac, a stallion easily recognised by his bright red coat and his large stature, mending a fence in preparation for the harsher winter weather that was expected to come in the next few weeks. With the last harvest gathered and the bounty all stored and shipped, there was time for maintenance around the farm before the winter snow came in.
He was busy using a big hammer to knock the final post in. The post was a third of the way in of what it needed to be when Cheerilee and Heavy Roller caught his attention.
“Eeyup?” The farmer asked.
“We have a problem that I was hoping you could help us with.” The teacher explained, “Can we talk?”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac replied as he lined up the hammer for another shot.
“Some Manehatten scum bag is trying to strong arm Heavy Roller and is trying to use Scootaloo and his dead wife to do it.”
The red stallion stopped mid swing. Realising this was not a conversation that could afford his attention being divided, he dropped the hammer he had been holding in his mouth and lined up his bare hoof. With one mighty swing, he knocked the post all the way into place.
Despite the grave reason for her being there, Cheerilee took a moment to stare blankly at the post. “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”
“Splinters.” Big Mac replied. He started to suck on the side on his hoof as he waited for them to explain.
To the teacher’s credit, she was much more succinct in explaining the situation than Heavy Roller had been. She finished with asking, “Will you help us?”
“Eeyup.”
Big Mac turned back to make quick work of the fence before he started to prepare.
“Great. We’ll leave on the first train tomorrow.” Cheerilee declared. “Though would you mind asking him for help? You know him better than I do.”
Big Mac paused for a moment then shrugged. “Eeyup.”
“What ‘him’?” Heavy Roller asked. “Who are you talking about?”
“One thing at a time.” The mare replied as she started to walk off.
Heavy Roller followed and waited until they were out of earshot before voicing his concerns.
“Yes, let’s look at one big thing. No offence to Big Macintosh, but is an apple farmer really the type of help we need?”
“Maybe not.” Cheerilee admitted. “Which makes it a good thing he’s more than just an apple farmer.”
Big Mac - Farmer
The crimson stallion paused to look at the sign of bar to make sure he was in the right place, confirming that it was in fact the "Cordial Conductor". After only a brief of scan of the not so cordial patrons, he found his target in the form of a beige earth stallion sitting at the bar. Big Mac walked up to the beige pony and pointedly cleared his throat. The beige pony looked up and sneered.
"What do you want?"
Big Mac pulled out a wanted notice for "Bobbing Boxcar" with a picture of the beige stallion at the top.
"Let's keep this civil," Big Mac said. "Finish your drink and come quietly."
Bounty Hunter
Bobbing responded by spitting on the wanted notice and giving a meaningful look to some of his comrades. Soon, Big Mac found himself surrounded by a group of burly rail-road workers.
"Tell you what," Bobbing replied smugly. "I finish my drink and my friends rearrange your face."
30 seconds later, Big Mac was still standing where he had been before but now the floor was littered with bruised and unconscious ponies. He didn't say anything when he turned back to Bobbing and instead just raised an eyebrow. Bobbing quickly downed to remaining part of his drink.
"I'll come quietly." He answered meekly.
Urban Combat Specialist
Cheerilee and Heavy Roller made it back to town in relative silence. Cheerilee because she was still formulating a plan, Heavy Roller because the reality of what was happening seemed to have jammed his brain.
“I’m going to send word to a friend of mine to see if she can help us. You sort out a place for Scootaloo to stay while you’re away. We’ll meet up tomorrow at ten to take the first train to Manehatten.”
“Cheerilee just stop.” The orange stallion ordered. “What exactly are we doing here? Getting together a group of your acquaintances, heading to Manehatten and getting Stone Wall to back off through some crazy scheme you’ve just concocted?”
“Actually we’ll first head down to Manehatten, get a better idea of what we’re up against. Then we’ll concoct some scheme to get him to back off.” She grinned. “The crazy part is optional.”
“And why would any of the others go through with something like this?”
“Because we asked them.” Cheerilee realised that Heavy Roller didn’t seem convinced. “Just trust me, okay? I care about your daughter too and I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could help her.”
“Even if it means doing something deceitful?”
“If it comes to it, yes.”
“Cheerilee, I appreciate that you’re trying to help.” Heavy Roller finally said. “But I can’t do this.”
“Can’t or won’t?” The teacher asked in a mild but deliberate tone.
“I was not always a good pony but I put all that behind me.” He stated. “I’m an honest stallion now.”
“And I’m an honest teacher.” Cheerilee replied. “And Big Macintosh’s whole family line is built on honesty. But we know that sometimes honest ponies are forced to do dishonest things. Now I teach to my students the value of honesty but I know that I will put mine aside if I have to in order to protect them.”
She turned to leave. “I won’t act as if I know the best way for you to protect your daughter but a student of mine has been threatened. I can’t let that go unanswered. I will be on that train tomorrow, whether or not you’ll be is up to you.”
Heavy Roller was finishing the last of the dishes while Scootaloo was finishing clearing the table, all the while chatting animatedly about her day. He tried his best to pay attention to what she was saying but his mind was elsewhere.
Quite unintentionally, his gaze fell upon two pictures on the wall. Both had Nocturne in them but were special for different reasons. The first was a picture of her in full Guard uniform, wearing an expression that seemed to say ‘mess with me and I will thrash you in eighteen different ways’. The second was her lying in a hospital bed, looking exhausted but unbelievably happy. In her arms was a tiny orange foal.
He had always kept those pictures together because to him that had encompassed the mare she had been. She had been a wonderful mother and a far better wife than Heavy felt he had deserved but at her core she was also a fighter. No matter what the cause, be it her family or the safety of Equestria, she would not back down.
If she had been in Heavy Roller’s position, he knew exactly what she would do.
“And then Applebloom is all ‘I don’t think those were spare parts...” The young filly trailed off as she realised Heavy Roller wasn’t paying attention.
“Sorry kiddo, I was miles away.” He said apologetically. “Listen, some urgent business has come up at the last minute so I’m going to be out of town for a week or so. I will be leaving tomorrow.”
Scootaloo tilted her head but then shrugged, as outside of the norm as that sounded, she didn’t have any reason to doubt him. “Okay, Dad.” She then realised something. “Wait...you’re not going to leave me with Mr. Zippo again are you?”
“I still don’t understand your grudge against him.” The wagon repairer stated.
“Last time you left me with him he mistook me for his pet parrot, Crackers.” The filly replied flatly.
“While his eyesight may being failing him, he means well.”
“He tried to stick me in Crackers’ cage!”
The big clock at the station showed ten minutes to Ten. Cheerilee and Big Mac were sitting at one of the few tables at the station’s cafe, waiting for the rest of their company to show up.
“So you’re sure he’ll be here?” Cheerilee asked.
“He said he would be.” The farmer replied. “And your friend?”
“Got word this morning, she’ll meet us is in Manehatten.”
“Why aren’t we bringing in any of your other Ponyville friends?” He asked.
“I’d like to but some of them wouldn’t be right for this sort of job. And the others…” Cheerilee paused as she tried to find the right words. “This would place them in a moral dilemma that I don’t really want to force upon them. I mean I appreciate that this is already colouring further outside the lines than you usually like.”
“Then why ask me?” The stallion asked.
“I need somepony I can trust to keep everypony safe.” Cheerilee explained. “And to keep me on track.”
Big Mac raised an eyebrow. “On track?”
“To pull this off I am probably going to have to be that crazy, risk-taking mare that I haven’t really been in quite a while.” Cheerilee paused. “Or at least haven’t gone all the way in a while.”
“What about that rumour I heard about you impersonating a judge?” Big Mac asked.
“That was different. It wasn’t my idea and I was just helping out a friend.” The purple mare argued. “I haven’t taken the lead in a stunt this crazy since...”
“The griffin empire?”
Cheerilee grimaced. The less said about that particular trainwreck, the better.
“Just...stop me if I take things too far.”
“Eeyup.”
The conversation paused when they heard the sound of hooves approaching. They looked up and saw Heavy Roller heading towards the table. There was a moment of not quite awkward silence as the three stared at each other.
“So you’re in?” Big Mac finally asked.
Heavy Roller nodded. “Nocturne might have been the Royal Guard in the family but I am not going to stand by and make other ponies fight my battles for me.”
The red stallion simply nodded in response.
“Hope I’m not late.”
The three earth ponies turned and saw a stallion with a brown coat and a slicked back charcoal mane wearing a red tie. Beside him was an elderly butler carrying a suitcase.
“Filthy Rich?!” Heavy Roller couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.
“The one and the same.” The business stallion stated. “I hear that you were given an offer that is frankly unacceptable.”
“You could say that.” Heavy Roller admitted.
Filthy Rich gave the repair stallion a sly grin. “Well then, perhaps I can help you make a counter offer.”
Filthy Rich - Business Stallion
Filthy Rich stepped into the office of a pony named Highroller, one of the biggest collectors in Hoofington, holding a brief case.
"Hello Highroller, how are you today?"
"Spare me the pleasantries," Highroller snapped. "We both know you're here about the Morning Star Tiara."
"Indeed, the piece you somehow managed to convince the owner to sell to you privately before I had a chance to bid on it at auction." Filthy replied. "The same piece I had my heart set on giving Diamond Tiara for her next birthday."
Doting Father
Highroller rolled his eyes.
"Even if I didn't find the idea of you giving such a one of kind piece to a young filly ludicrous, I am a collector, not a seller. So I don't care how much money you have in that brief case, I'm not selling to you and that's final."
"Oh it's not money."
Filthy Rich opened the case, revealing a single book inside, that instantly caught Highroller's attention.
"Is that...?"
"Volume 3 of Northstar's Compendium."
The Ponyville business stallion purposely did not draw attention to the fact that Highrollers current collection of Northstar's Compendium had a special place right in the centre of the book case behind the desk, including Volumes 1, 2, 4, and 5.
Filthy then promptly slammed the case shut.
"I was going to offer a trade but you've made it clear you're not willing to part with the Tiara so I'm not going to insult either of our intellects by pushing the matter. Have a good day."
Filthy made it halfway to the door.
"Wait!"
Filthy made sure to wipe the smug grin off his face before turning back to face Highroller.
"Yes?" He asked pleasantly.
Master Manipulator
Cheerilee then noticed Filthy Rich’s butler had started loading several cases onto the train.
“Isn’t that a tad excessive?”
“I like to be prepared.” Filthy replied. “Now I’m not sure what you arranged for your daughter while you’re away but she’d be more than welcome to stay at the manor. If you give me the address I can get Randolf to go collect her.”
Heavy Roller paused, despite the generosity of the offer, the idea of Scootaloo being let loose on a house filled with very expensive and easily broken items scared him more than this mission did.
“No no, it’s fine.” Heavy Roller insisted. “I left her with some of Nocturne’s old friends, they’ll keep a good eye on her.”
BOOM!
Two armored mares ducked behind a pile of sandbags only to be showed with dirt while their ears rang. The purple mare glared at her yellow comrade.
“I wanted to teach her the basics of swordsmareship, but noooo. You had to go and show her a demolitions demonstration!”
Over the ringing they could hear a young voice shouting: “SO AWESOME!”
A sharp whistle pierced the air.
“ALL ABOARD!”
Heavy Roller looked around at the rest of the table. Together they were a farmer, a teacher, business pony and a wagon repairer. Four honest ponies willing to do what it took to keep his daughter safe.
“Alright then.” Heavy Roller finally said. “Let’s go do something dishonest.”