The bartender had been having a rough evening. First things first, he barely had any customers. Business was slow, and not only was he looking at pretty meagre profits, but he was getting bored. He started to pass the time by playing cards with himself, as he usually would when he wasn't very busy.
Secondly, those two ruffians, Belt Blasé and... the other one, whoever she was, had been lounging around all afternoon. Inoffensive though they were, they gave him a bad vibe. They had tried shoving him around upon their first meeting, and hadn't become any more civil over time. At least they had given up trying to manhandle him.
It was a good thing that criminals didn't last long in these parts, he thought. If they kept up that attitude, they'd end up thrown out faster than they could say 'knife'.
That was if Rainbow Dash was still in the mood to uphold the law. He knew that ponies had been speaking pretty badly about her these past days, and it must be wearing thin. The worst thing was, he wasn't even sure if they were lies or not. It wasn't just those two scoundrels that were repeating the rumours: there was another stallion who claimed to know her from way back, too, and a dozen or so ponies that swore they saw her beat up a couple of ponies in the street, and abandon her job, and wreck some store down on the other side of town. It didn't look good.
Thank goodness there was always the other—
The doors opened with a bang. He quickly shoved his cards to the side, and feigned cleaning the bar as he examined the three ponies entering his premises. His jaw dropped.
The first pony he saw, who was by far the most recognizable, was Rainbow Dash. It was difficult confusing her with any other pony: she was just so very distinctive. The second pony almost caused him to panic. Princess Twilight Sparkle, the only alicorn he had ever seen up close and personal, was in his bar. He swallowed nervously. "Eh, good evening, ladies," he blurted out.
The last pony to pass through the doorway was another pony he couldn't miss if he tried. It was the hat, really. You just couldn't miss the hat.
"Evening," Twilight greeted without even an ounce of cheer. The bartender swallowed. "We're looking for two customers of yours."
"Oh... them," he said, instantly guessing which two she was referring to. Rainbow flew in his face, quick as a flash.
"Bullit! Rattle! Where are they?" she demanded. "Let's get this over with!"
"Calm down, there, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Remember what rushing into things got you last time?"
Rainbow Dash backed down. "I told them, I told them they should just leave," the bartender babbled. "I even warned them about you, Rainbow... and I was about to warn them about—"
"Warn them? Why'd you do that?" Rainbow asked. "We could have got the drop on them!"
"I was trying to make sure nopony got hurt! You know how... you are with gangponies."
Applejack nodded with approval. "He's right... we all know what ya'll did to them before."
Twilight raised her eyebrow, looking back at Applejack. "Mayor Mare mentioned something about this. Didn't she—"
"Kick 'em out," Rainbow finished. "I was in a bad mood when I got here, and I didn't like the idea of being surrounded by gangs again."
"She wasn't alone, either," the bartender began, but was interrupted by Twilight.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"You can just call me barkeep," he replied. "I prefer to keep things formal."
"Okay... where's Bullit, barkeep?"
The bartender looked around the room, scanning the place for any sign of his unruly customers. There were nowhere to be found. "They were here an hour ago, I swear... Are they causing trouble?"
"Lots of trouble," Twilight said, losing herself in her thoughts. She turned back to her friends. "Do you think we should wait here?"
"Well... I dunno', Twi'," Applejack said. "Maybe we should explore around Ponyville? If they're out there, somewhere..."
"This is ridiculous!" Rainbow exclaimed. "If they're not here, then where are they?"
Bullit threw the metal pipe up in the air, whistling all the while. It was pitch black, and nopony was around. He allowed himself to relaxed, and had a jaunty skip in his step. Rattle had the cans of paint, and he had his weapon of choice.
"I wonder what her name is?" he asked. "Ah well... it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I can get a good swing at her legs, don't you think?"
"Or head," Rattle retorted. Bullit sighed.
"Well, no. You know how the guard gets when bodies start piling up. Let's keep this nice and mellow for now." He caught his pipe and tucked it under his wing. "Shock the townsponies, but not attract the guard. They have more important things to do in Canterlot, anyway."
"Canterlot isn't like Cloudsdale," Rattle warned. Bullit shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. We'll have what we came for soon anyway. No way will Dashie stay in hiding after this... you know how angry she can be." He chuckled to himself. "Tearful, too. She was always a whiner."
They walked up to their chosen house. Bullit grinned, and ran the pipe along the wall, creating an awful racket. It wouldn't be long before the mare inside would get up and see what was going on... and that's when they'd strike.
"You hold her down," Bullit instructed, "And I'll do the beating." He licked his lips with anticipation, running it over his teeth.
Nothing could go wrong.
"...excuse me?"
The tiny, inconsequential voice came from seemingly nowhere. Both ponies stopped in their tracks. Rattle was the first to turn around.
"Hello?" she asked, peering into the darkness. To Bullit, she added, "Watch out. We don't want anypony crying for help."
Bullit nodded, and followed suit. "Yes? Can we assist you?" he asked, putting on his best smile.
From the darkness crept a small, painfully timid pegasus. In the gloom it was hard to make out her face, but she was very definitely yellow, with a very large pink mane covering half her face. She had a whistle tied around her neck. "Yes, um... I'm part of the new Neighbourhood Watch..." she said, and held out a small card. Bullit narrowed his eyes, suspicious, and trotted towards her.
The card was very elegant, made by someone with a lot of care and artistic ability. And it did say 'Neighbourhood Watch of Ponyville', written in highly precise calligraphy. Bullit narrowed his eyes even more. "Yes, all right," he said, feigning ignorance. "Is there a reason you're here?"
"Well... I thought that you looked, well, I hate to say it but..." the pegasus winced, as if expecting Bullit to explode. "Suspicious."
Bullit thought quickly. Rattle, still hovering by the door, widened her eyes in mock outrage. "Suspicious? Us?"
"Well, you're out at night..."
"We're plumbers," Bullit argued, holding his pipe out. "Night shift."
"And painters," Rattle added, gesturing to her paint cans like they were a badge of honour. "We multitask."
"Well... I..."
Suddenly the door opened, taking Rattle by surprise. She dropped all three cans on the floor, spilling all the paint they had brought everywhere. A middle aged pegasus mare was standing in the doorway, a large, heavy wrench in her hoof. "What in the hay is going on out here?!" she demanded.
Both Bullit and Rattle sprung into action as quickly as they could. Rattle rushed to grab a hold of her, and Bullit flared his wings, shooting towards the mare with the speed of lightning.
Before he made it two feet, the young neighbourhood watch mare had wrapped her hooves around his tail. He grunted and fell to the ground. "What the—"
"Help!" the mare shouted. "Rarity!"
Rattle had managed to grab a hold of the older mare's mane, but hadn't accounted for the wrench she had with her. With a dull clunk the metal tool struck the side of her head, and her vision became filled with dazzling stars. She stumbled back, unable to see.
"Who the hay are you?" the old mare demanded, getting ready for another swing. "And why are you attacking Fluttershy?!"
Bullit threatened the pegasus holding him down with his pipe. When she flinched, he released himself, throwing himself at his would-be-victim. His pipe locked against her wrench in dramatic fashion.
"You're going down!" he growled. Unfortunately for him, he felt something hit the side of his head, sending spikes of pain up his skull. He toppled to the side, dodging the old mare's clumsy swing.
"Not one more step, ruffian!" came a new voice. To Bullit's dismay, he saw a third mare appear out of nowhere. Some prissy looking unicorn, no less, tossing rocks at him with her magic. "The Neighbourhood Watch is here!"
"Are you for real?!" he screamed, swinging his pipe around. He felt blood trickling down the side of his face where the rock had hit. "Where do you dumb mares come from?!"
Rattle groaned as she crawled back to her hooves, holding the side of her head. One of her eyes was glued shut. She didn't look like she was in any condition to fight.
"You're the two who've been slandering Rainbow!" the old mare growled. "You know how much trouble you've caused for her? For my daughter?"
"And you absolutely ruined Rosethorn's shop!" Rarity exclaimed.
"And put Thunderlane in hospital," Fluttershy added.
From inside the house came a small, concerned voice. "What's going on?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah! All that and more!" Bullit growled. "You know, I was going to let you dumb ponies live, but I don't think you're worth the effort!"
That was when the newcomer threw a second rock at him. This time Bullit was ready, and deflected the projectile with a careful swipe of his makeshift weapon. He then darted towards Rarity, screaming loudly.
Then the wrench hit him.
He collapsed to the side, pipe clattering to the floor. One eye had stopped working entirely, and his jaw felt out of place. He gurgled, spreading his wings to try to escape. He had never been outnumbered before, and didn't like it. He felt his damaged eye swimming in his own sticky blood, and he knew he needed to get it bandaged up immediately.
Unable to see straight, he shot up into the air, hoping he could hide in the dark. Rattle, still injured from their encounter with Rainbow, wasn't nearly fast enough, and was caught by the two Neighbourhood ponies. Bullit grit his teeth: she'd have to handle herself.
There was no way he was heading back to save her.
Rainbow and Applejack were both wandering the streets of Ponyville, peering down every alley and street to try and catch a glimpse of Bullit Blaze and his henchpony. Thus far they hadn't had any luck, and Rainbow was becoming increasingly desperate.
"What if we never find him?" she asked. "Then he'll get away, and he'll just go back to causing trouble for everypony!"
"We'll find him," Applejack promised. "Ponyville ain't a large town, and if he keeps on makin' noise, we'll be bound to find him eventually."
"Eventually," Rainbow countered. "I don't like 'eventually'."
"That may be so, but we don't have a choice."
"We can look harder!"
Applejack sighed. "We already are looking harder! Besides, weren't you against finding him yourself not long ago?"
"That was different. I was... well, scared." She jumped into the air, flying just above eye level. "I wasn't thinking straight. And I would have been alone, before. Who knows what I'd have done? Now you're here to hold me back if things go bad."
"Thats... true," Applejack conceded. "Well, we ain't gonna' find nothing tonight. Twilight's watchin' the Barrel, so if they ever go back, we'll know." She yawned. "We might as well go back. I'm still starving, and now I'm tired, too."
Rainbow hesitated, grinding her teeth. "I don't want to give up."
"We're not givin' up: we're taking a break," Applejack said. "A break I need."
With a huff, Rainbow landed next to Applejack. "Fine. Fine!" She took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll keep on looking tomorrow. After I see Scootaloo." She groaned. "By this rate I'm not going to have any free time at all."
"You'll have even less if you spend all your time asleep. Come on: take me home."
As both ponies trotted towards the orchard, they failed to notice that they were being watched. Clutching a serious injury on his head, Bullit eyed them from the shadows.
He crept away from them, hoping that they didn't notice him.
"I can't go back to the Barrel, Rattle is gone, and I can't see out of one eye..." he muttered. "But I know who your 'special somepony' is, Rainbow... and if I can't have your damn mane, well then I'll make damn sure you won't have a shred of happiness left when I leave without it!"
He heard the pair chuckle amongst each other as he stumbled into the shadows. He grit his teeth.
"Stop laughing at me!"
Big Macintosh was only a few moments away from falling asleep, drifting away into pony-dreamland, as Granny had told him when he was a young colt. Only a few brief moments from waking up the next day, alive and refreshed.
That was when his door was slammed open, causing his eyes to snap open in surprise.
"Oh... uh, hey!" Rainbow said, just under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear. "Hope you don't mind... I'm kinda moving in here for a few nights."
Unsure of how to react, Macintosh simply replied: "Nope...?"
"Great! I didn't want to wake Applebloom, y'know... little filly has to get her beauty sleep." Rainbow began shoving a large mattress through the door. "I bet you're wondering why I'm not bunking with AJ any more, huh?"
"Nope...?"
Ignoring his response, Rainbow continued. "Well, we've kinda' reached an understanding, right? It's a pretty sweet understanding, too. Oh, and don't worry, AJ told me that if you asked I could tell you, so I'm not spilling any beans or anything..."
"E-yup?" Once he had figured out what Rainbow meant by 'understanding', he had to admit he was hardly all that surprised. Their hoof-holding at dinner last... two days ago now, hadn't been very subtle. He shrugged, and wrapped himself in his sheets even more.
"But, see, we kinda' want to do it right, and not rush into anything or... anything. So, uh... I'm here now!"
"E-yup." Big Macintosh could see that.
"It's just too tempting, y'know? You know what I mean, right?"
Big Macintosh harrumphed and tried to ignore his talkative guest. Rainbow continued talking, regardless.
"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be here all that long, really."
Despite growing increasingly uncomfortable, Big Macintosh sighed. "E-yup." Applejack wasn't always a very patient pony.
Rainbow laid the mattress down on the floor and bounced on it twice to make it more comfy. Each time she did, it made a loud, horrible creaking noise that made Macintosh flinch every time he heard it. Rainbow then laid down on her stomach and closed her eyes, becoming perfectly silent.
Big Macintosh closed his eyes.
"Oh, and by the way," Rainbow added, "I hope you don't mind snoring."
Macintosh sighed. "E-yup," he muttered darkly.
He most certainly did mind.
Rattle was tied up in a corner, being inspected by Fluttershy and Rarity. The vicious looking mare had stopped struggling, and was just glaring at the pair with a mean look in her eye, as if she could burn through them just by staring. Twilight was keeping watch on Greased Lightning, even though the tough mare seemed more than capable of handling herself.
"Gangponies..." she muttered under her breath. "Here... unbelievable."
"They were trying to muddy Rainbow's name even more," Twilight explained. "They were just out to hurt her, not you."
"You think that makes it better?" Lightning asked. Twilight shook her head.
"No... it make it worse."
Greased Lightning shook her head. "Not sure this can get worse. Y'know, if your friends hadn't stepped in when they did, I might be in the hospital. I'm not as spry as I used to be, and these ponies were tougher than I remember..."
"They ran with Rainbow back in the day. They're used to being in tough situations."
"So am I," the old mare replied with a snort. Scootaloo was there too, sitting in the corner. Greased Lightning rubbed her eyes. "I have to go talk to my kid," she said. "Scootsie' has seen a bunch of scary stuff, but they never came and found her in our own home." Twilight nodded understandingly.
"Of course, I understand."
Greased approached the young filly, stretching out to her full height. It was important, she thought, to look as authoritarian as she could, like the event hadn't even rattled her.
"Hey, mom," Scootaloo replied. "Were they burglars?"
"No, Scootsie'. They were only here to hurt us," Greased replied. "But they're gone now. They're not coming back."
"How'd you know?"
Greased shrugged. "Well, 'cause there are a couple of brave ponies out there who're going to catch them." She smiled. "I think you know one of them very well."
Scootaloo frowned. "Everypony at school is saying she's with—"
Greased stomped her hoof on the ground. "None of that!" she snapped. "Rainbow Dash is most certainly not with these ponies, and you should know better. I'll not have you whining about this any longer: tomorrow, I'm bringing you to Rainbow and you two are going to talk."
Scootaloo widened her eyes, panicking. "But—"
"No buts, Scootaloo. These ponies were here to make sure nopony would even look at Rainbow again, and I'm not about to let them win. Are you?"
Scootaloo went quiet. Greased Lighting put her hoof on her head, as reassuring as she could be. "You're safe, and so is the town. Rainbow's a brave pony, and if she were here tonight, she'd have been fighting them, instead of fighting with them. And I think you know—"
"I get it, mom," Scootaloo replied. Greased chuckled. She always had a tendency to go on, she remembered.
"Fine, fine. Now, back to bed." She turned back to Twilight. "I'm staying to make sure this lout get's her comeuppance."
Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "I can't tell whether Rainbow will be happy she was caught, or just plain furious that Scootaloo was attacked." She yawned, fatigue kicking in. "I suppose we'll find out tomorrow."