The Mailmare (No. 88)
The gray earth pony stepped out of his carriage before the Royal Canterlot Academy. He tipped his wide brimmed hat and tossed the driver two bits.
“Don’t wait up,” he joked, a smug grin playing across his face.
The pony wore a fashionable black trenchcoat which matched his hat. The coat was long, obscuring his cutie mark. His mane was white and cut short, giving the impression of age. He trotted up the short stairs to the Academy doors and opened them into a large atrium. A pink unicorn receptionist stood behind a desk in the center, a red military uniform adorning her torso. The room around them was quite busy and the older pony waited patiently in line to speak to the receptionist. When his turn finally came he stepped up and leaned against the desk, removing his hat to dust it off.
“How can I help you?” the pink mare asked with a smile.
“Yes,” the gray pony replied nonchalantly. “I’m here to see Captain Shining Armor.”
“I’m afraid the captain doesn’t reside in Canterlot anymore, but I can get a message to him.”
“Don’t worry,” the pony grinned and winked. “He’s going to want to drop everything to see me. Why don’t you tell whoever is in charge that Rayleigh Redwood is here to see them. Oh, and he’s unarmed.”
The pink mare gave the stallion a confused look before turning to the papers on her desk, hoping to find something about an appointment. Suddenly a picture on her desk caught her eye. A wanted poster, the reward 50 million bits. The pony on it was the same as the one before her. The name Rayleigh Redwood scrawled underneath the picture.
The mare shot to her feet, knocking over her chair and aimed a glowing horn at the stallion. “Don’t move! Let me see you’re hooves!”
The royal guards and soldiers around them caught sight of the commotion. While some were perplexed, other older ones immediately drew their swords or aimed their horns at the black clad pony before them.
The gray stallion simply grinned, placing his hat on the desk and calmly sitting down to raise his hooves above his head. “So I take it this means I’ve got your attention.”
---
“Talk to me,” Shining Armor called to a green earth pony stallion in a red uniform as he entered the long narrow hallway of the Royal Academy. The stallion ran to his side and produced a file for him to read.
“Rayleigh Redwood,” the stallion said calmly but quickly as they walked. “Previous Captain of the Royal Guard. Earth Pony. Wanted on nearly seven hundred counts of theft, two hundred counts assault, bribery, blackmail, etc., and wanted in nearly twenty different countries.”
Shining examined the file then placed it under his arm. “We’ve been after Redwood for decades, he’s a ghost. Just who brought him in?”
“That’s just it, sir.” The two stopped at the wide double doors at the end of the hallway. “He turned himself in.”
A moment later they were in the Canterlot Royal Operations room. Unknown to most ponies outside the academy, this room was one of the only things that stood between Equestria and Chaos. Here ponies magically monitored the movements and dealings of some of Equestria’s worst criminals and monsters. Shining stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked down at the CRO. Lines of desks were arranged in view of a large screen projected by a unicorn. Each member at the desks wore a red uniform and operated a crystal orb that allowed them to peek at criminals or help them find wanted fugitives. Pegasi flew through the air of the large room delivering messages and communiques. The entire room was windowless and magically sealed. Nopony, not even the princesses, could spy on what goes on here.
“He gave himself up?” Shining asked, turning back to the green stallion.
“Yes, sir. Said that first of all he wanted to talk to you.”
Shining narrowed his eyes and returned his attention to the large screen before him. Redwood’s mug shot was plastered across it with details of time and place regarding his arrest. “What does he mean first of all?”
“I’m not sure, sir. Maybe you can ask him.”
“I’ll go to the detainment facility immediately.” He turned to go.
“Actually he’s here, sir.”
Shining stopped and turned back once more. A shocked look on his face. “He’s here? Why in Celestia’s name would you bring him here?”
The green stallion gulped and stammered, “Because… Because he already knew about.”
---
“Captain!” Redwood smiled happily as Shining entered the small interrogation room. “I see you got my message. So sorry to pull you away from your beautiful wife. Cadence, was it?”
“Don’t try to threaten me Rayleigh,” Shining swore as he slammed a hoof on the table before him. “You’ve already done enough damage. Those rookies out there might not have known what they were getting into bringing you to CRO, but I know you’re after something. Just what information are you looking for and how in Tartarus did you know about this place?”
“Oh, please,” Redwood replied with a dismissive wave of his shackled hooves. “You think I care about your little intelligence experiment here? I’ve known about this place since it was founded. What was that, a little over twenty years ago? The thing I’m fuzzy on is just why you’re predecessor created it in the first place.” He gave the stallion a smirk that said he was being sarcastic.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your mouth!” the prince shouted and the gray pony went silent, his uncaring expression unchanged. “Why did you turn yourself in?”
“Finally,” he lifted his hooves and head to the sky in a thankful posture. “We’re getting to the point of this little visit. And that’s all it is really, a little visit. I actually have an appointment to get to by…” he checked his hoof but there was nothing there. “Well, they took my watch. But I’m pretty sure I’m still on time.”
“You’re stalling.”
“No, just getting a little off topic to distract you from the severity of the words I’m going say next.”
Shining leaned in closer and glared at the stallion. “And what’s that?”
Redwood leaned back in his chair and steepled his hooves before his chest. “I’m not speaking to anyone but Twilight Sparkle.”
---
“Achoo!” Twilight sniffled as she blew her nose.
“You alright there, Twi?” Applejack asked, stopping in the process of planting seeds.
“I’m fine, Applejack,” the alicorn responded. “I think I might just be getting a little cold.”
“Well, I’m happy you volunteered to help me with these chores but I wouldn’t want you to get a cold so close to your birthday.”
“I’ll be fine,” Twilight waved a dismissive hoof. “I mean it’s not like it’s the end of the world to be sick on your birthday.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Pinkie screamed, appearing from nowhere between the two mares. “Getting sick on your super special most awesomest day is the worst awfullest baddest thing to happen to anypony ever!”
“Which is why you should probably just go home,” Applejack smiled and gave her alicorn friend a friendly smile.
Twilight frowned. “Okay, I guess. But I promise to help out later, okay?”
“You got it, sugar cube!”
“Bye!” Pinkie and Applejack waved until Twilight was out of sight, then put their heads together conspiratorially.
“So what do we have planned for Twilight’s birthday tomorrow?” Applejack asked Ponyville’s premiere party planner.
“First of all,” the pink mare replied. “Rainbow Dash is going to take her out for a flight. While their out, Rarity and I will decorate the castle. You and Fluttershy are in charge of rounding up ponies for the party. I wanted this to be a super special surprise so I didn’t risk any invitations.”
“Sounds like a plan, Pinkie.”
The two hoof bumped and dispersed, their minds abuzz about tomorrow.
---
Twilight trotted home a little bit slower than usual. She could have flown, but this cold had just been affecting her balance and she didn’t want to risk it. She sniffed as she opened the front gates to the castle she called home and walked in to a groaning voice echoing through the halls.
“Spike?” she called.
“Over here,” the baby dragon replied weakly from around the corner.
Twilight followed the groans and found Spike lying on the floor clutching his stomach, a pile of letters beside him. He burped and another popped out.
“What are these?” she asked, grabbing a sealed letter.
“I don’t know,” Spike moaned. “But they’ve been coming all day. I tried to go find you but every time I try to stand up they keep-“ Spike was interrupted by another letter appearing.
Twilight opened the letter in her hand and read it.
“’Poor little Twilight, sitting by the moonlight. When the water’s just right, I will show you a real fight’?”
She picked up another letter and unrolled it. “This is pretty much the same.” She read more. “They’re all weird poems and threats.”
“That’s weird,” Spike groaned.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight helped Spike to his feet and placed him on her back. “Princess Celestia should be the only one able to access the fire message system. Just who’s doing this?”
Suddenly the sound of wing beats could be heard from outside. At first Twilight thought it could be her friend Rainbow Dash, but when she looked outside she was surprised to see an overwhelming number of Royal soldiers. Pegasus, Unicorn and Earth pony were all lining up outside her castle. “That’s odd,” she whispered. “I don’t see the Princess anywhere. What do you suppose they want Spike?” She turned to the baby dragon but he’d already begun to throw up another letter and moan on the floor.
Twilight picked up her number one assistant with her magic and laid him on his stomach on her back. A large knock came at her door and Twilight tentatively walked over to it. She gulped as she opened the door. Two large unicorn guards in golden armor greeted her. They were flanked by a smaller dark purple Pegasus mare in a red uniform. “Princess Sparkle?” the mare asked.
“Yes?” Twilight replied. “Can I help you?”
“My name is Cloudy Gust. Your brother has sent us to escort you to Canterlot,” the mare replied.
“My brother?” Twilight asked skeptically, looking at all the guards and soldiers present. “Why couldn’t he come here himself?”
Cloudy Gust didn’t respond to the question. “He’s instructed us to bring you to Canterlot, ma’am,” she said in a serious tone.
Twilight was about to just close the door on them and write a letter to her brother herself, but then she remembered that Spike was pretty incapacitated at the moment. She bit her lip and took a step out of her home. “Alright, fine.” The guards began to reach for Spike who seemed to have lost consciousness, but Twilight pulled away from them. “Stop! What are you doing?”
“Orders are to bring you and only you, princess,” Cloudy said without emotion.
Twilight furrowed her brow at Cloudy angrily. “I’m not going anywhere without Spike, he’s sick!”
Cloudy stared at Twilight for a brief moment before whistling to a couple of pegasi attached to a chariot. They flew in her direction and set themselves down at the bottom of her steps. “These soldiers will escort you then. But I’ll be right behind you.”
For a brief moment, Twilight thought she could see a flash of anger in the pony’s eyes. But then it was gone once more, replaced by her unemotional expression. Twilight boarded the chariot and set Spike down beside her. She watched the baby dragon sleep to try to distract her from whatever her brother could be doing to need her to come to him with quite literally an army.
---
“Good to see you, Twily,” Shining said as he greeted her in the lobby of the Royal Academy. Spike had fallen asleep once more on her back. Twilight merely gave her big brother a stern look before approaching him and getting in his face.
“What was that?” she asked indignantly. “You couldn’t come see me yourself so you send the entire guard? You’re not even the captain anymore! What would the princess say if-”
“Celestia is the one who authorized the ponypower,” Shining interrupted before his sister could get into a long winded speech. Twilight was slightly taken aback by this news. Shining pulled his sister in close and whispered to her. “You should also know that the reason you’ve been brought here is top secret. Nopony, not even your friends, should know you’re here.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, you didn’t exactly make that easy to do.”
Shining smirked. “As I said, not my call.” He nodded toward the guards that had escorted Twilight and they bowed dismissing themselves. Cloudy began to follow them but Shining turned to her as well. “Cloudy, you’re dismissed as well.” Cloudy stopped short and looked between Shining and Twilight before reluctantly bowing and walking away.
Twilight looked up at her brother as they continued to walk down the hallways of the Academy. “Do you know what’s up with her?”
Shining sighed. “Cloudy is very… serious about her job. She was just starting as a cadet when I retired to live in the Crystal Empire. She’s got a lot of experience under her belt though and rose pretty high after I left.”
“So what rank is she?” Twilight asked. But her question was drowned out as Shining opened two large doors at the end of the hallway they had been walking down. She took a step into the large room and had to hold up a hoof to her eyes. Almost every bit of wall was brightly illuminated with pictures of ponies and mosters as well as maps of Equestria.
“Just what is this place?” Twilight asked, her mouth agape at the enormous room in front of her. She looked down over the edge of the steel balcony and saw the lines of ponies at their desks looking through crystal balls. “Are you spying on ponies?” she asked hesitantly.
“Twilight,” Shining reassured his sister wrapping his hoof around her shoulder. “Believe me when I say that each and every one of the ponies in those images are bad news.” Twilight frowned but nodded her head. “And I’m sorry to say but you have to meet one of the most dangerous of them all.”
They proceeded to walk through the CRO until they came to a series of detention rooms. Shining opened the door to one for his sister and she walked into the tiny space. She looked around expecting to see somepony but the room was empty.
“Uh, are we in the right room?” she asked.
“Don’t worry,” Shining replied. “We needed to take a little bit more caution with this one than most.”
He pressed a hidden brick in the wall and the entire opposite wall pushed in, beginning to spin around. When the wall completed its rotation, Twilight stepped back in shock at the sight of an older gray earth pony sitting in a comfortable easy chair surrounded by a magical glass dome. A small table sat beside him with a cup of steaming tea. He seemed to be in the middle of reading a newspaper with most of the words redacted. The gray stallion looked up from his paper.
“You know if you’re going to black out nearly every article you think is a coded message, why give me the paper at all?” His red eyes caught Twilight and he turned his attention to her. “Ah, Miss Sparkle, now the gangs all here.”
“Just who is this pony, Shining?” Twilight asked concerned.
Shining trotted over to his sister’s side and held a hoof out toward the gray stallion. “Twilight, meet Rayleigh Redwood. Number two on Equestria’s Most Wanted list.”
“Charmed,” Redwood gave the two a compliant grin.
Twilight’s expression darkened as she turned to her brother. “Shining, just what is this about?”
“You know, I’m so glad you asked,” Redwood interrupted. “Would you like to take this, Shiny, or should I?”
Shining shot the imprisoned stallion a glare and sighed, turning to Twilight. “You’re in grave danger, Twilight.”
“Extremely grave,” Redwood continued getting the attention of the room, Shining clearly glaring at him. “Close to 48 hours ago a bounty was placed on the head of our little princess here. 800 million bits. You’re being hunted.”
Twilight held a hoof to her chest, her breathing heavy and worried. She gulped and tried to put on a brave face. “Why would anyone want me dead?” she asked, her voice seeming to crack.
“Oh, I never said they wanted you dead,” Redwood’s grin never wavered. “The stipulations of your bounty were quite clear. They want you humiliated, you’re life and reputation torn apart… Then they want you dead.”
The room went quiet once more. Shining was the first to speak up. “This just doesn’t make any sense, Redwood. Just who would have such a grudge against Twilight?”
“Who knows,” Redwood shrugged. “The point is that over a hundred of the most depraved and cruel monsters and villains you haven’t even imagined are on their way here.”
Twilight felt her blood run cold, the letters she received through Spike’s message system. The cryptic threats. If this was all true then…
Twilight’s gaze stiffened on Redwood who continued to sit in his easy chair nonchalantly. “Just where do you fit into all this, Mr. Redwood? Are you after me too?”
Redwood grinned. “Please. I have more important business to deal with than killing an alicorn. Plus I really don’t need the hassle.”
Shining turned to his sister. “Redwood offered himself up to the Canterlot authorities willingly.”
Redwood waved a dismissive hoof. “Just so happens that it would be very detrimental to me and some of my business partners if a princess of Equestria were to die. Thus I’ve come here to offer my aid.”
Twilight frowned and raised an untrusting eyebrow. “You. Want to help me?”
“That’s the plan,” he leaned forward in his chair eagerly. “So tell me, Sparkle. Anything strange happening lately. Maybe a new friend come to town or strange messages in your cereal?”
Twilight pursed her lips and turned to her brother for support. His face was no less worried but he nodded an affirmative. “My assistant has been receiving letters from an unknown sender. This is impossible since only Princess Celestia can send letters through him.”
Redwood smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Then we’re just in time.”
“Time for what?” Shining asked.
“Time to save a couple lives. The Mailmare’s in town.”
---
“Just who is the Mailmare?” Shining asked the green earth pony from before who now sat at a crystal ball station. The stallion pushed his hooves over the spherical orb as lights began to dance across it. A picture came into view and the stallion motioned to a blue unicorn that stood to the side. The unicorn’s horn lit up and illuminated the crystal ball, projecting the contents onto the large wall of the CRO base. It was a collection of newspaper clippings and letters all marked “suspect.”
“The Mailmare is a name that’s appeared in several unsolved cases. Victims believed that they had been scammed by phony letters or magical messages,” the stallion scrolled further through the pictures revealing a few crime scene photos. “The name has even appeared in several murder investigations as an intelligence source used by the criminal underworld.”
“That’s not even the half of it.” Everypony turned to Redwood who had been transferred from his imprisonment to the open atrium of CRO, shackled to a chair. He slumped over in it staring up at the wall of pictures. “Imagine, if you will, an entire world dependent on written communiques and magical faxes to survive. Now don’t imagine because it’s right here. Our world couldn’t work without the postal service or letters, however that is a weakness that the Mailmare exploits wholeheartedly. She began as a simple forger and worked her way up to con man. Before long she was offering her services as an expert mail forger and spell hacker to the highest bidder. Criminals would use her to entice their enemies into ambushes. Wealthy businessponies would be tricked into making lousy deals because their hot tips from trusted advisors would actually be bogus. Write something close enough to somepony else and they’ll never question it.”
Shining looked back at the wall, placing a safeguarding hoof on his sister. “I don’t understand, just what does this pony think she can do to Twilight?”
Redwood cricked his neck and hummed thoughtfully, “Well, let’s see. She’s already incapacitated her assistant.” He rolled his eyes at the sleeping dragon on Twilight’s back. “Probably has read most of her private mail, so she knows the events that are coming up in her life. Tell me, princess, is there any event coming up that the Mailmare could use to hurt you?”
Twilight gasped. “Shining! My birthday! What if all my friends are in danger?”
Shining turned to a pink unicorn who stood to the side. “Get soldiers to Ponyville by tomorrow morning. I don’t want anything happening to those citizens.” The pink mare saluted and ran off to relay the orders. Shining turned back to Twilight. “In the meantime, you’re staying here in CRO.”
“What?” Twilight shouted.
“No arguments!” Shining grimaced. “A killer is after you. I will not let you put yourself in danger.”
Twilight got in her brother’s face. “If my friends are in danger, it is my business to be with them.”
“Damn it, Twily! Be sensible here!”
Twilight rushed out of the room in huff. Shining let his back legs fall and sat, gripping his head with a hoof.
“You know mares can get quite feisty at that age,” Redwood joked from his shackles. “You’ll have to deal with it a lot longer when you’ve got your own filly.”
Shining snarled and waved a hoof. “Get him out of here!”
---
Twilight tossed and turned in her small cot in the holding cells of CRO. Shining had been successful in stopping her and Spike from leaving when a squad of armored ponies intercepted them before they could leave. She tried teleporting as well but Shining explained that the walls of CRO we’re made of a super rare stone that absorbed magic.
Shining assured her that everpony in Ponyville would be fine without her. Still she just couldn’t stop thinking of her friends and the danger they were in. Just how would this Mailmare strike? Would she hurt the citizens of Ponyville just to get to her? When Princess Celestia had made Twilight a princess she warned her that there would be more responsibility on her shoulders, she never mentioned anything about death threats.
Twilight turned again in her uncomfortable cot, facing Spike curled up at the foot of her bed. She frowned in thought and came to a decision. She decided Spike would be safer off here with her brother, but she needed to get back to Ponyville and there was just one way since her brother had no intention of letting her leave. After a quick check that any guards were posted at the end of the blocked hallway, Twilight snuck down the hall. She came to the cell she remembered Shining showing her and to her surprise found the door unlocked. “I suppose since it looks empty from the outside they thought it would be more believable to have it unlocked,” she surmised under her breath.
She entered the empty room and felt for the wall, searching for the loose brick that Shining had used before. Her hoof collided with a brick that jutted a few centimeters from the wall and she pushed it in. The wall opposite her swung around and Redwood sat in his easy chair, clearly awake and a black hat on his head.
“Glad you’re finally moving,” he said smugly. “I’ve been waiting for a good few hours now.”
“You were expecting me?” Twilight asked in disbelief.
“Indeed I was,” he answered. “You’re worried about your friends. I can understand that. I don’t have any friends myself, only acquaintances. But in my line of work that’s pretty much the best you can have.”
Twilight looked into the pony’s red eyes and saw no hint of joking. “You seriously think that?”
“Don’t get me wrong, miss Sparkle. Friendship is Magic and all that. But every body you attach yourself to just adds to the area of flesh that can be cut and taken away from you.”
Twilight wanted to leave in disgust at that comment but she needed this pony’s help if she was going to get out of here. She grit her teeth. “You swear you’re not trying to kill me yourself?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Redwood replied, reciting the famous Pinkie promise of her beloved friend.
Twilight shuttered at the thought that this stallion knew such a promise but she had to shake it off. “Fine, now how do I get you out of there?”
Redwood pointed to the brick below the one she’d just used. “Pull that one outward.”
Twilight used her magic and pulled on the brick. It made a clicking sound as it receded and the glass dome surrounding Redwood opened up. He took a few steps off his chair and stretched. “Ah, nothing like a little leg room.” He sauntered past Twilight to the door. “Now we’ve got to hurry, we only have a small window of time to get past the guards during their shift switch.”
“You know their shifts?” Twilight asked in a hush as she followed him outside. “And how do you even know what time it is?”
Redwood tipped his black hat and smirked. “Trust me, I know.”
------
Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been working diligently to make the castle look as festive as possible. Though the two ponies styles may clash sometimes, this was an area where they both excelled immensely. “Oh, darling, don’t you think that should be to the center of the room?” Rarity asked as Pinkie pushed a giant crystal fountain of melted chocolate to the side of the big ballroom.
“No way!” Pinkie replied with a smile. “We need this room for the dancing and games.”
“Yes but couldn’t we simply work around it?” Rarity asked as she held up her hooves like a camera and looked around the room. “The fountain is the centerpiece of the room that all eyes will be drawn to and I couldn’t imagine a better place than right here.”
Pinkie laughed. “Well, I suppose if it gets in the way we can move it.” She began to heave the large fountain once more just as a familiar blue Pegasus streaked in through a window.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be keeping Twilight busy.”
“I know!” Rainbow shouted. “But I can’t find her anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.
“I mean I came here early like you said and knocked on the door but nopony answered. So I let myself in and checked around but I couldn’t find her. I’ve been flying around looking ever since!”
Rarity and Pinkie looked at each other dubiously. “Come to think of it,” Rarity muttered. “Spike wasn’t here either.”
“Does anypony know what the hay is goin’ on?” Applejack’s voice came from the hallway. Everypony turned to see her enter with Fluttershy. “We’ve been all over town lookin’ for ponies to invite but can’t find a single one!”
“There’s nopony in town?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod.
“Well then why are we here?” Rainbow asked. Everypony was silent as the sound of hoofbeats and wingbeats could be heard from outside.
Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the front doors. “Oh, see? They were probably just all on their way here. A little early though.”
Rainbow flew up to a high window and looked out. “Uh, Pinkie, I don’t think that’s the townsfolk.”
Pinkie threw the doors to the castle open with a smile but it deflated when she was greeted by the stern look of a purple Pegasus in a red uniform. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, I presume?” the Pegasus said in a serious tone.
Pinkie nodded as the others came over to the door. The purple Pegasus bowed to them. “I’m Cloudy Gust of the Royal Academy. We’ve been sent here to protect you and the town of Ponyville.”
“Gonna be pretty hard to do that when we don’t know just where the town is,” Applejack said with a frown.
Cloudy turned to the town and squinted her eyes as if scanning the horizon. She gave a nod and motioned a few other ponies off to the town with her hoof. Several soldiers ran off towards the seemingly abandoned town.
“Um,” Fluttershy muttered. “Could you tell us just why you’re here to protect us?”
Cloudy looked back to Fluttershy with a serious glance which made the yellow Pegasus shrink in fear. “That’s classified.”
Rainbow frowned at the mare and flew into her face before poking her in the chest. “Hey! If you’re gonna just show up out of the blue the least we deserve is an explanation!”
Cloudy stared at Dash, her eyes narrowed and serious. “Do. Not. Touch. The. Uniform.”
Rainbow felt slightly shaken by the heaviness of the words but she steeled her resolve. “Make me!”
Cloudy’s eyes widened for a brief second and she looked as if she was going to round house kick Rainbow, but a soldier cried out from the town line and stopped her. “We found something!” the soldier shouted as he raced back to the steps of the castle. He handed Cloudy a slip of paper and she read it silently. After she was done she looked up at Pinkie.
“Miss Pie,” she began. “Is this your hoofwriting?”
Pinkie looked at the paper and saw it to be one of her custom invitations, complete with illustrations of balloons and stars. Pinkie smiled. “Yup! That’s mine alright!”
Cloudy narrowed her eyes. “Can you tell me why you would be preparing a party at Princess Sparkle’s castle and yet advertise the party location for the outskirts of the Everfree Forest?”
Pinkie’s eyes widened as she grabbed the invitation and gave it a more thorough look. “What?!” she shouted. It looked like the mare was right. Come to think of it, she hadn’t even made invitations for this party. “But… But that’s impossible!” Pinkie lifted the invitation to the sky. “It even has my watermark!” The ponies all looked as the sun showed through the paper and revealed an image of Pinkie’s cutie mark.
“You watermark your invitations?” Applejack asked incredulously.
“You don’t?” Pinkie asked back.
“Regardless,” Cloudy slightly yelled over the two mares. “If this is where the rest of Ponyville has gone then we must go as well.” She turned and began to fly in the direction of Everfree.
“Wait!” Rainbow shouted as she caught up with the pegasus. “We’re coming too.”
Cloudy didn’t turn to look at Dash but simply said. “Fine, but do as I say.”
---
Twilight was amazed with how smoothly she and Redwood had gotten through the security of CRO. It was almost as if Redwood knew every little movement that anypony was going to make before they even made them. At times they would stop at a corner and he would do a countdown under his breath. When he reached one the guards would move out of their way, clearly on some sort of schedule. They made it back to the appropriate locations of the academy with no sweat.
“How did you do that?” Twilight asked with amazement.
“Even an Earth Pony can have his own magic,” Redwood replied with a smirk. He straightened his coat and began to walk down the hall. “It’s called being observant.”
“I’m observant!” Twilight shouted slightly louder than she anticipated. She closed her mouth and looked around before catching up to Redwood who seemed to be walking briskly with no fear of being caught. “I’m pretty observant too, you know?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Redwood replied. “You are observant. Just not observant enough to realize that you’re being watched.”
Twilight growled. “How was I supposed to know about somepony like the Mailmare?”
“I wasn’t talking about the Mailmare,” Redwood replied seriously.
Twilight stopped walking for a moment. “What are you talking about?”
Redwood stopped walking as well and turned around, his face no longer as disinterested as before. “You’re problems began long before this bounty, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve been a target for far longer than that.”
Twilight wanted to ask him what he meant by that but Redwood suddenly threw a hoof over her and pulled her around a corner. She squealed in surprise but Redwood shushed her and pointed down the hall they had just been through. Some ponies she recognized from CRO were darting around frantically looking around. He let go of Twilight’s mouth and she glanced at him nervously. “What do we do?”
Redwood looked at her and she felt slightly intimidated by the closeness of his blood red eyes. “Teleport.”
“What?” Twilight asked.
“Teleport,” Redwood repeated. “We’re outside of CRO which means no more magic dampeners. You can use as much magic as you want.”
Twilight frowned. “But I can only teleport a few hundred hooves at most. Plus I’m not familiar with the academy. We could reappear in a wall.”
“Then think of someplace you are familiar with,” Redwood replied hastily as the guards began to grow closer. “Like Ponyville.”
“What?!” Twilight asked again. “I just told you I can only teleport a few hooves.”
“First it’s a hundred and now it’s a few,” Redwood replied angrily, grabbing Twilight by her cheeks and pulling her close to his face. His eyes were narrowed to slits at her, making him look like a beast of prey. “Get it together, Sparkle. You are an alicorn. One of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Concentrate.”
Twilight felt scared as the criminal held her head but she nodded and closed her eyes. She focused every bit of her mind on one thought. Home. The word resonated within her and she could soon feel it erupt from her horn. She opened her eyes as they let out a blinding light and the next moment the two ponies were gone.
Twilight and Redwood reappeared inside a familiar surroundings. Twilight panted as she dropped to the crystal ground of her castle home and smiled. She rolled over on her back and checked her hooves. “I… I can’t believe I just did that!” she yelled happily.
Redwood got up before her and brushed his coat. “Congratulations. Now I think we have a party to save?”
Twilight nodded resolutely and struggled to her feet. Redwood offered a hoof to her but Twilight pushed it away. “I’m fine,” she muttered.
Redwood shrugged and went to the door. “Suit yourself.” He opened it and the two looked up at the sky. It was beginning to get late in the day. Twilight looked back down at her steps and saw a piece of paper lying on the ground. She picked it up and scanned it.
“Oh no.”
---
Outside Ponyville hundreds of ponies had gathered into a picnic area just outside Everfree. The first to arrive found a well decorated hillside with picnic tables, balloons and games. The only thing missing was Pinkie Pie. “Honeybunch,” Mister Cake said as he, his wife and their twins arrived early, “Are you sure this is where Pinkie is throwing the party?”
Cupcake pulled out an invitation she had found slid under the door. “It’s what Pinkie’s invitation says.”
Mister Cake glanced nervously at the dark and imposing forest just a few hooves away. “It just seems… dangerous for her is all.”
Cupcake frowned and nodded. “It does seem odd. Hmm?” She walked up to one of the tables and picked up a letter, this one in Pinkie’s hoofwriting. “To whoever arrives first, sorry I’ll be late. Just preparing the most super, stupendous, astounding, amazing, wow-eriffic…” She turned the letter over and continued to read until she flipped the page over and turned to another stapled sheet of paper. “And it just kind of goes on like that.” She reached the end of the letter and looked all over it. “I think she forgot what she was writing about.”
Mister Cake smirked. “Yup, that’s Pinkie.” They stood on the hillside as more and more ponies began to arrive, the neighborhood foals beginning to play the various games set up around. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stay a little.”
“Yeah.” They set the twins down and allowed them to crawl around for a little while the parents indulged in some cake.
From high atop a cloud, a sinister Pegasus watched the guests arrive one by one. In his hooves was a list of specific ponies to which Princess Twilight Sparkle knew personally. He checked off each one as they arrived and grinned. “Looks like the gangs all here,” he chuckled. He got up and cracked his neck before rearing his legs back and driving them down on the cloud he was on. A lightning bolt shot out and hit the Everfree below, setting the trees on fire. “Hehehe!”
---
Rainbow couldn’t quite believe it but she was having trouble keeping up with Cloudy Gust. The purple Pegasus’ short lime tail billowed in front of her with Rainbow having trouble passing her up. Suddenly a cry of panic echoed out from the area by Everfree. Cloudy started to fly even faster. “Wait!” Rainbow found herself shouting. It actually made her pause midflight for a moment. She was shouting for somepony to wait up for her? She grit her teeth and flew as fast as she could making it to the scene just moments after Cloudy. The mare not looking at all tired, unlike herself.
“Just how did you do that,” Rainbow panted, “without getting winded?”
Cloudy didn’t look to her so Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey! I’m talking to you!”
Cloudy turned and grabbed her hoof with both hers, twisting them around Dash’s body. “Hey! Ow!”
“Get your head out of your plot!” Cloudy yelled. “There’s a situation here in case you can’t see.” She angrily shoved Rainbow off and flew towards what appeared to be a fire. Rainbow rubbed her hoof as she finally caught a sight of her surroundings. The trees on the edge of the forest were ablaze with several dangerous creatures running out and causing chaos among the gathered citizens. She saw Cloudy kick a Timberwolf into splinters just as it was about to attack an unprotected filly.
“R- Right,” Rainbow muttered shakily still nursing her hoof. One thought going through her mind: Who could have done this?
“Rainbow!” Dash turned and saw her friends as well as most of the guards that had accompanied Cloudy Gust. Applejack was the first to reach her. “What’s happening?”
“W- What’s it look like?” Rainbow said a little offensively. She didn’t know why she replied harshly like that.
“Okay?” Applejack raised an eyebrow but shook it off. “What do you need us to do?”
Rainbow shook her head clear of any lingering thoughts she might have had. This was a situation and her friends were looking to her for guidance. Not Cloudy. “Start taking care of the monsters! I’ll see if I can whip up some rain!” In a flash of blue she was gone and Applejack was left. She turned to the others.
“Alright, you heard her. Let’s get a move on!” The four split up and began to fight off the beasts that were threatening everybody.
A large crocodile was had cornered the Cakes. Cupcake and Carrot Cake cowered under a picnic table as the twins cried in their hooves. The giant crocodile raised its massive body up and slammed it back down on the wooden table, showering splinters everywhere. The Cakes all screamed in terror as it felt like the furniture would buckle underneath the weight. Then with the sound of a high velocity kick the crocodile flipped over and was knocked out cold. Mr. Cake opened one eye and breathed a sigh of relief. “Alligators are better!” came a familiar voice.
“Pinkie?” Mr. Cake asked.
Pinkie appeared at the table and lifted the splintered wooden remains off of the family. “Oh, hi, Mr. Cake!”
She held out a hoof which he shakily took and helped his wife up as well. “W-W-What’s going on, Pinkie?”
“Not any kind of party I know,” Pinkie said seriously. Her eyes narrowed and for a moment Mr. Cake thought he heard a sound like “dun dun dun” “This is… Anti-Party.”
Applejack and Rarity batted away timberwolves with their magic and bucking skills until some familiar voices cried out. “The girls!” they both shouted to each other.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had found themselves caught between the flames enveloping the forest and a hydra. Its four heads reared back and surged towards the fillies. Two heads were stopped by a wall of magic as their faces planted into levitated tree, while the other two were each dealt a hard bucking by each of Applejacks cannons. Each head cried out in pain as several sharp teeth fell from their mouths.
“Alright!” the three shouted.
The two older sisters turned to them with worried looks. “Are you girls okay?” Rarity shouted as she grabbed Sweetie Belle.
“We’re fine, Rarity,” Sweetie said muffled by her sister’s chest.
Applejack let out a sigh of relief as she smiled and patted her sister on her head. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”
Applebloom’s eyes went wide as she pointed behind her. “Applejack! Look out!”
Applejack turned just in time to see one of the hydra heads get back up and lunge at her. Instinctively she held out a hoof to protect herself. The hydra’s maw snapped shut around Applejack’s hoof and she let out a scream of agony.
Rarity turned from the girls and pushed them back before blasting the head with magic. It relented and let go, slinking to the ground unconscious. “Your hoof!” Rarity exclaimed as she looked at Applejack. The farmpony held her front left foreleg aloft. It didn’t look like any of the hydra’s teeth had dug into it thanks to the earlier hit, but the force of the bite still left her leg at a weird angle. She knelt on the ground and winced in pain. “Here, let me-” Applejack shook her head as Rarity reached for her.
“Go and help the rest,” she said. “I’m no good like this.” She nodded to the crusaders. “I’ll watch them.”
“But…”
“Just go!” Rarity didn’t argue and ran to the pandemonium once more. Applejack and the crusaders covered their eyes as a flame spit from the trees and nearly reached them. “We should find somewhere else to lay low.”
---
Twilight ran to the crest of the hill and panted heavily to catch her breath. She looked on at the horrific sight of fire and carnage with a pale face. “This is all my fault,” she whispered.
“Are you always so quick to blame yourself?” Redwood replied from beside her.
Twilight grimaced and looked at all the ponies running in fear. “I… I could teleport them one by one to safety and then…” She stalled and could feel tears build up behind her eyes.
Redwood sighed and put a hoof around her shoulder. He lifted his other hoof and swept it across the scene. “Look at the situation before you. Look at it like a puzzle.” She looked at him with confusion for a moment but then nodded and focused. “Several pieces are out of place, correct? Parts of a different puzzle?”
Twilight shut her eyes and now visualized the scene as a jumble of jig pieces. “Yes,” she muttered.
Redwood leaned down and whispered into her ear. “You have the power to make it right. The power to change it all.” He slowly let go of Twilight and backed away from her as he noticed her horn begin to glow. “Now separate them.”
Twilight’s mind view flashed with different colors as every piece flew by her and she separated them. In reality, Twilight had opened her eyes once more. An eerie glow erupted from them as every monster disappeared one by one. With a final roar the last of the creatures disappeared and the ponies began to nurse their wounds. On a hillside just next to where Twilight was, a single pony watched it all as the dark cloaked figure next to her whispered into her friend’s ear and Twilight let loose more magic than she had ever seen her do.
“Twilight?” Applejack whispered in amazement.
---
When the Mailmare saw Twilight appear he abandoned his sentry cloud. However moments after leaving his perch he was blindsided by a blue blur. Rainbow Dash stopped and turned to him. “Oh, sorry about that, buddy! I’m in kind of a hurry.”
“No problem,” the Pegasus replied, slightly surprised to see the Rainbow Dash out this far. Hmm, this might not have been a total wash after all. “What’s going on?” he asked innocently. “I heard some ponies screaming.”
Rainbow frowned. “Big fire! I’ve got to get some rain clouds.”
“I just saw them a couple miles back that way,” the Mailmare pointed south. “I’ll show you.”
“Really? Awesome!” she shouted and followed him.
---
Twilight glanced at the fire enveloping Everfree. With another lavender flash of light from her horn and eyes the fire disappeared. Twilight stood still for a moment, making no movement or sound as the power within her seemed to overflow. Then a pair of hooves wrapped themselves around her neck from behind. “Twilight!” Pinkie shouted happily. In her surprise Twilight’s eyes dimmed once more and her horn lost its glow. “I’m so super duper glad your okay!”
Pinkie squeezed a little tighter and Twilight gagged. “I’m fine, Pinkie,” she squeaked out.
“Can somepony please explain to me what’s going on?” Mister Cake said as he and the rest of the ponies came to the hillside to join them. “Pinkie! Why would you throw a party here?”
Pinkie let go of Twilight. “It wasn’t me!”
Twilight coughed slightly and rubbed her neck. “She’s telling the truth, Mrs. Cake. This was all a…” Twilight stopped talking as she heard wingbeats form behind her. Everypony looked up to see a squadron of royal soldiers landing on the outskirts of town. On one of the chariots pulling several of the unicorn and earth pony soldiers was a fully awake and seemingly healthy looking Spike and her brother who didn’t look pleased.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted as he ran to her. Twilight embraced the baby dragon in a hug. “When I woke up you weren’t there and Shining Armor was pretty mad.”
Twilight looked up at her brother who was approaching her. He wore a look of pure fury. “I told you to stay put!”
Twilight furrowed her brow and took a step toward him to get in his face. “I wasn’t going to abandon my friends!”
“We had no idea about the capabilities of this villain,” Shining said angrily. “For all we know this could have all been a trap to lure you out, or even…” Shining paused as he suddenly took stock of his surroundings. He pulled his sister to the side and whispered harshly in her ear. “Where is he?”
Twilight was about to ask who he was talking about but then she realized. She looked around. Soldiers and medics were tending to the ponies that had been injured or trapped. But no matter where she looked she could not see Redwood. “He… He was just here,” she stammered.
Shining stomped his hoof into the ground causing a small shock wave that surprised a couple of ponies milling about. He turned to soldier by his side. “Get a group of six CRO agents. Fan out and find him!”
“Twilight!” The purple alicorn turned and saw two more of her friends approaching. Fluttershy and Rarity embraced her in a hug. “Where have you been, darling?” Rarity asked.
“It’s a long story,” Twilight laughed the question off.
“Ah got time,” Applejack replied seriously. Twilight turned to her friend who had started limping over to her. Her eyes widened when she saw her mangled foreleg.
“Applejack!” Twilight shouted in a panic and ran over to her. “Your leg!” She lit up her horn an approached her. “Here let me help.”
Applejack drew her leg back in a swift movement. “No!” she shouted. Twilight looked at her surprised. “W-What Ah mean is that… there’s ponies here that need more help than me. You should save your strength for them.”
“Alright,” Twilight said hesitantly. For some reason the way Applejack looked at her was odd. She could swear it almost looked like fear.
Rarity was talking to Spike, seeing how he was before a plume of green flame shot out from his mouth. Spike grabbed the scroll that exited the flamed but also his stomach as he keeled over. “Not again,” he moaned.
Spike’s moaning caught her attention and Twilight walked back over to him. She looked at the scroll with a little trepidation and gulped as she pulled it open and read it. Her eyes widened in shock as she finished the letter. “No,” she whispered painfully.
Shining Armor saw Twilight panic and grabbed the letter from her. He scanned it and cursed under his breath before turning to his cadre of soldiers. “I want all available pegasi to scour the area above Everfree! We have a criminal in hiding, be advised there is a hostage! From cumulus to cirrus, leave no cloud unturned!”
“Sir!” Shining turned as he saw Cloudy Gust fly down from above and salute. “What is the situation?”
“A hostile in Everfree has foalnapped somepony from town,” he replied. “I want you to take your squad and…” He was cut off as Cloudy shot off in a purple blur toward the forest. “Damn it,” he muttered.
A soldier in a red uniform came up to him. “Your command, sir.”
Shining rubbed a hoof on his temple. “All available unicorns take the main path through Everfree. See anything and report it in. I need earth ponies here to help the wounded and still trapped.”
“Yes, sir!”
Shining turned to Twilight. “And Twily, this time I want you to actually…” Once again he was cut off as he saw his sister and their friends were gone. “Mother of Faust,” he cursed.
---
Rainbow groggily opened her eyes as she looked around. “W-What happened?” she muttered.
“Glad you’re awake,” a masculine voice came from left. Rainbow tried to turn but she found herself cemented in place. She looked down and saw that her entire body up to her neck had been encased in hard cloud, the kind pegasi used to build places like Cloudsdale. She struggled by stretching her neck but simply couldn’t get her hooves or wings to move. “You should probably stop struggling. The surface of this stuff may be hard as rock to pegasi but when you’re below the surface it’s like quick sand.” As if to justify his point Rainbow felt her lower legs slip a little deeper and she set her chin on the surface.
“Let me out of here!” she shouted and turned to the voice. She saw a dark green Pegasus with a white mane sitting on a little mound of cloud next to her. “Hey! Are you listening, idiot?”
The Pegasus smiled creepily and pulled out a little mechanical device. Rainbow looked at it with trepidation for a moment before the stallion rolled a switch on the side. A green flame shot out of the top of the device and a paper materialized. He grabbed it from the air and cleared his throat to read it. “Rainbow Dash. Element of Loyalty. Born in Cloudsdale. Moved to Ponyville eight years ago. Recently accepted into the Wonderbolts Reserves, not bad. Likes: Racing, Speed, Competitions. Dislikes: Cheaters, Destructive Behavior, and Being Slow.” He rolled up the paper and sparked his lighter again dismissing the scroll. “Gotta say, that is one week life.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes harshly at him and growled. “Who are you?”
“Glad we get to that,” the stallion said as he stood up. “You can call me, the Mailmare.”
Rainbow stared at him for a moment then raised an eyebrow. “But you’re a dude?”
The Mailmare laughed. “That’s kind of the point, Dashie. Pick a name that implies the opposite gender and immediately anypony looking for you will be inclined to search out a female.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Fine. So you’re a mailpony. What do you want with me?”
The Mailmare grit his teeth a little bit. “I’m not a literal mailpony. But I’m glad you ask. I’m going to wait for your friend Twilight Sparkle to arrive. Then I’m going to kill you in front of her. Let her stew for a while with the guilt. Then launch a nasty rumor that this whole fire and your death were all her fault. Her reputation will be in shambles. I can easily hire some loser pony to off her. Then I get a cool 800 million bits.”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “You’re crazy! And twisted! And nothing you said would ever work. What pony would believe that Twilight would kill me? She’s my best friend!”
“Is she?” the Mailmare asked with an evil smirk. He pulled out his lighter again and summoned a set of papers. “Cause these diary entries I have from her say some pretty mean stuff about you.” He cleared his throat once more and began to read. “Dear diary, Rainbow Dash is so boisterous and annoying. I wish she’d just disappear. Dear diary, Rainbow Dash angers me so much. Always being so prideful and thinking she’s better than me. It makes me sick.”
Rainbow laughed at him. “That’s pathetic. Twilight would never say that!”
The Mailmare smiled and threw the papers on the ground so Dash could read. “Take a look for yourself.”
Rainbow glared at him but hesitantly looked down at the papers near her head. Her eyes gradually widened as she recognized Twilight’s loops and the way she would accidentally dot her “t’s.” “This… this is just fake!” she yelled, trying to convince herself.
The Mailmare laughed out loud. “Yes, and maybe you’ll be able to see through it because your friends and hold some kind of special relationship. But do you think the aristocracy of Canterlot will tell the difference? Do you think all the little citizens of your Podunk town will be able to tell?” He lowered himself and kneeled to her level so he could look into her eyes. “All it takes is a little practice and anypony can become somepony else. I simply have a knack for that.” He moved his saddlebag and revealed his cutie mark. A blank face with an evil grin whispering into another’s ear. “I can take your life and throw it into the garbage with a single letter. I don’t need to know your secrets when I can create them myself. You’re the Element of Loyalty. Meet the Element of Deceit. I’ll screw over anypony that gets in my way. And it just so happens that today that pony happens to be you.”
Rainbow looked into the Mailmare’s eyes and she felt something she’d never felt before. True fear. There was no love or warmth behind those deep green eyes. Only greed and her own reflection. He looked at her as if she were simply bug in the road. And right now that was what she felt like.
---
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Applejack,” Rarity asked her friend as they travelled through the Everfree.
Applejack waved Rarity off with a dismissive hoof and chuckled. “Ah’ll be fine.” She put her hoof down and winced as she tried to put some weight on it.
“You’re most certainly not alright,” Rarity said with worry.
“Ah told you, Ah’m fine,” Applejack replied as she lifted her leg again and they kept on walking. Up ahead Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were discussing the current plan to save Rainbow Dash. Twilight hadn’t explained much before they ditched Shining Armor but she made it clear that she somehow knew that Dash was in trouble. Applejack frowned and turned to Rarity as the two walked alongside each other. “What do you think of Twilight right now?”
“Pardon?” Rarity asked.
“Twilight,” Applejack reiterated. “Something just feel’s off about her since she got back. And she still hasn’t told us where she went.”
Rarity frowned but looked ahead. “She doesn’t particularly seem all that different to me. Plus this probably isn’t the time to be thinking of such things if Rainbow Dash is in danger.”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah, Ah guess you’re right.” Still, what had Twilight been doing with that figure in black? And just where did she learn to use all that power?
“So that’s the plan,” Twilight finished up ahead. “I don’t know just what kind of pony we’re dealing with but we can be sure that they’ll be formidable.”
“Why did they take Rainbow in the first place?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight lowered her head. “It’s because…” She was about to tell them all about the current threat to her life and everyone she loved. About her Brother inviting her inside CRO and about Redwood too and how he might be loose again. But something nagged in the back of her mind. Right now her friend were all innocent in this. They had already suffered enough for whatever grudge some pony had against her. Did she really have the right to bring them into this? If she told them now. No doubt they would want to help. Suddenly the image of Rainbow came into her mind. She didn’t even know if her friend was still alive, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose any of them. If Redwood was right and it was beginning to look like he was, then her life would change drastically. She wanted her friends here. She wanted them to stay as they are, not tainted by whatever evil was now following her around. If that meant carrying the weight of secrecy on her shoulders, then for now she would bear it. “… I don’t know.”
Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all nodded and looked ahead with determination. Applejack stayed a little back, her eye only on Twilight.
---
“Help! Help!” Rainbow shouted. The Mailmare glared down at her a he rolled his eyes.
“Quiet!” he yelled.
“Screw you!” Rainbow shouted back. “Help!”
The Mailmare grabbed his saddle bag and pulled out another kind of device. This one was longer with a forked tip. He made a move to specifically show it off to Rainbow before flipping a switch. Lightning arced between the two prongs of the fork. He lifted himself from the cloud and drove the fork into the cloud. Rainbow shouted in pain as a jolt of electricity coursed through the cloud and through her. When the Mailmare finally pulled it out he grinned and blew on the fork to dispel any lingering smoke.
Rainbow lay there motionless with her mouth open and her hair and body slightly singed. She gradually moved her neck and winced at the Mailmare. “What… was that?”
The Mailmare landed back on the cloud and flipped the forked device between his hooves. “This? It’s a new toy from across the pond in Neighpon. Did you know that since their population is mostly earth pony that they’ve had to develop tools for most of the work that’s performed by unicorns or pegasi? This is a lightning prod. It catches electricity from storms and expels it later on. Now its normal use is for weather control but I like to use it for other things.” He smiled gleefully and planted the prod into the cloud again. Rainbow screamed as the lightning shocked her again and she leaned her head back unconscious. The Mailmare pulled his prod back and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? This is just the lowest setting, you know?”
His ears perked up as the Mailmare heard the sound of movement in the forest below him. He had planted his cloud in a particularly misty part of the forest. A place that he was sure only Twilight Sparkle and her friends would be able to find with their connection to the Elements of Harmony. Though he was quite surprised. He wasn’t expecting them so soon.
A gray earth pony in a black trench coat and matching hat walked out of the underbrush and looked up. He caught the Mailmare’s eyes with a confident smile. “Oh, I had a hunch you’d be here.”
The Mailmare raised an eyebrow at the pony before his eyes went wide with recognition. “No bucking way,” he muttered. He sprang back and grabbed his saddle bag, pulling out a few bombs he had prepared in case things got hairy. He snapped the pin off of one and hurled it down toward the older stallion. He merely raised a hoof and swatted it away at the very last second, exploding a tree nearby. The stallion had to grab his hat to keep it from being blown off from the pressure of the blast.
He moved a hoof back and forth in a “tsk tsk” motion. “You should be more sparing with that. Blast powder is kind of hard to come by in Equestria.”
“Buck you!” The Mailmare shouted, still hiding himself above the cloud. “What the hay are you doing here?”
“Can’t a gentlepony be out for an afternoon stroll?” the stallion replied.
“Buck that! I know who you are, Rayleigh Redwood! You’re here to steal my reward!”
The stallion rubbed his chin in thought. “Oh, right. We ran that job back in Istanbull. I must say, I admire your work.”
The Mailmare paused and peeked his head out. “You do?” He froze as a familiar black object flew towards his face from below.
“I did say to be more sparing with those,” Redwood smirked. “Now me I make sure to only bring one or two at most on a job like this.”
The Mailmare ducked back before the bomb could hit him in the face but the blast went off right beside his cloud sending him flying back and off into the forest below. A ringing echoed through his ears as he struggled to his hooves. His vision was still a little blurry but he swore he could see a figure in black approaching him through the trees. “No! Stay away!” he shouted, trying to move his wings but he found one of them to broken in a few places. He frantically grabbed inside of his saddle bag and pulled out the lightning prod. He turned it on and waved it back and forth haphazardly. “Stay back! Or I’ll pump you full of lightning!”
As his vision came back he could finally make out the face of the stallion in front of him. He wore a nonchalant smile and looked straight at his weapon without flinching. “How quaint,” he said. “You know they have a new model of that out. Packs much more punch.”
“Shut up!” the Mailmare screamed and lunged towards him with a wild swing. Redwood took the opportunity to duck under the swing and drive his shoulder into the Mailmare’s chest, knocking the wind right out of him. The Mailmare dropped the lightning prod and fell to his knees. Redwood grabbed the prod and examined it.
“You know I absolutely deplore such barbaric toys,” he soliloquized. “I’ve always preferred the more direct approach to dealing with a pony.” He snapped the prod below his hoof. “Hoof to hoof.” The Mailmare knew he was done for, but thankfully he had one more ace up his sleeve. He went for his saddlebag but Redwood was simply too fast and snatched the satchel from him. He looked inside and began to drop each item out of reach on the ground. “Let’s see what we have here. Several explosives. A backup prod. A dragon lighter? That explains a lot. Hmm?” He looked at the bottom and started to laugh. “No way!” He pulled out a small coin shaped piece of wood with a white piece of paper on top. “A relocation coin. That must have cost you some bits.”
“It’s mine!” The Mailmare shouted and grabbed for the coin. Redwood responded by driving his foreleg into his gut, doubling him over again.
“Is this how you were planning on escaping Twilight Sparkle after you killed her friend?” he chuckled. “I gave you too much credit.” The Mailmare glared at him as he coughed up a bit a blood. Redwood sank to his knee so he’d be level with him. “Let me be straight with you. You don’t piss off an alicorn. This little bobble might have gotten you half way across the country but she’d still be at your doorstep in a second.” He leaned in and smiled as he whispered in his ear. “There’s powers in this world you cannot even begin to imagine. And you’re just in the way.” With another hard punch Redwood knocked the Mailmare on the back of his head and he fell face first into the dirt.
“Redwood!” He turned and saw a purple blur streak down from the trees and land hard in front of him. Cloudy Gust pulled out a long sharp blade from her side holster with her mouth and pointed it at him. “By authority of the Canterlot Royal Guard, you are under arrest!”
Redwood slipped the coin into his coat sleeve and lifted his hooves in the air. “Easy, Captain. I’ll go quietly.”
Cloudy’s face tangled into one of fury and anger as she slowly approached the stallion and pressed her blade against his throat. “Why my predecessor decided to work with you, I’ll never know.”
“Maybe it was my charming personality,” Redwood remarked. He winced as Cloudy’s saber pushed closer and actually drew blood. He looked into her eyes. “Now, Captain, don’t do anything too rash.”
Cloudy grit her sword’s handle in her mouth as her eyes were filled with venom. “I was there, you know? Twenty years ago.” Redwood didn’t respond. “You betrayed the princess, sure. But you ruined a lot more lives than that.”
Redwood’s expressionless face didn’t change. “Do you want me to apologize?”
“No,” Cloudy said. “I want to watch you die.”
Redwood lowered his hoof and slipped the coin back out from his sleeve. Cloudy saw the motion and swiftly brought her sword in but Redwood had already disappeared in a flash of light. Cloudy stood there silently for a minute before letting out a scream of anger and slashing wildly at the air. When she was done she dropped her sword and panted slightly. Her eyes caught sight of the Mailmare. She grabbed a pair of shackles from her saddlebag and tied the still unconscious stallion up, leaving his face in the mud. She looked up at the sky and scowled. “I will get you one day, murderer.”
---
Twilight was surprised to see Rainbow Dash safe and sound. Cloudy Gust had appeared beforehoof and freed Rainbow from what appeared to be a hard cloud. They all rushed to Rainbow’s side as she was supported by Cloudy. Applejack hobbled over as well, Rainbow slightly surprised to see her friend in such a condition.
“You’re not lookin’ too good yourself,” Applejack chuckled. Rainbow tried to chuckle in return.
“Y… Yeah,” she muttered.
“Just what happened?” Rarity asked. “Why would somepony kidnap you?”
Rainbow turned to Twilight for a brief moment before looking back to her friends. “I… I’m not sure.”
Everypony else seemed to accept this answer, except for Applejack, who seemed to be the only one who saw Rainbow’s look. She sighed and decided that Rarity was right about one thing. Whatever was going on should be put on hold, since their friend was safe. “Ah’m just glad you’re alright.” Rainbow smiled in response, though Applejack could tell that there was something off about the way she smiled now.
As they arrived back, only several ponies were still milling about. It had gotten dark and Shining Armor was still commanding the few remaining guards from the hillside. He looked up with relief as he saw his sister and the others leave the Everfree. He ran down to greet them and hugged Twilight before pulling her back and glaring at her. “What were you thinking!?”
“I needed to save my friend,” Twilight said. “If you were in my shoes you’d do the same.”
Shining sighed and simply pulled his little sister in for another hug. “Just… don’t do it again.” He looked past the six friends as Cloudy Gust approached dragging an unconscious Pegasus behind her. Cloudy saluted.
“Sir, this is the criminal known as the Mailmare,” she said.
“It’s true!” Rainbow blurted out. “He… He’s a pretty bad pony.”
Shining nodded and turned to Cloudy again before giving her a salute. “Good work, Captain. I knew I was leaving the Guard in good hooves.”
Cloudy’s face turned slightly red as she returned the salute. “Y-Yes, sir.”
“Take him away,” Shining commanded one of the soldiers to take the green Pegasus as they threw him in a special caged chariot. Shining turned back to Cloudy. “Did you find any trace of…” he paused to look over his shoulder. Twilight and her friends were still there so he didn’t want to risk it. “You-know-who?”
“I did, sir,” Cloudy replied. “He was the one that incapacitated the Mailmare. However… he ran after I arrived.”
Shining lifted his head and sighed. “I trust you did everything you could?”
“Yes, sir,” Cloudy replied without thinking. Shining nodded.
“Very good. Dismissed.” Cloudy began to walk away before she stopped and turned.
“If I may be so bold, Captain. Do we know exactly what he wants?”
Shining was silent for a moment as he looked past Cloudy toward his sister. Despite everything the six had been through today, it still seemed like they were laughing at jokes and having fun. He didn’t want the look he saw on his sister’s face right now to be destroyed by some megalomaniacal pony like Redwood. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I just don’t know.”
---
“We should just go home,” Mister Cake pleaded with his wife.
“I’m worried about Pinkie,” Cupcake replied. “She went into the forest ages ago.”
Mr. Cake sighed and looked around at the ponies still gradually leaving the destroyed picnic area. In his saddlebags the twins had already gone to sleep. He frowned and leaned down to his wife’s ear. “About Pinkie. You don’t think that she actually planned this party do you?”
Cupcake looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that was her invitation, no question about it,” Mr. Cake replied. “I know Twilight said she didn’t have anything to do with it, but…”
“But what?”
“Pinkie has… gone off the rocker a few times. Maybe she’s…” Mr. Cake twirled a hoof around his head.
“You think she’s crazy?” Cupcake replied. “That’s ridiculous. We’ve known her for years and she’s lived with us for more.”
“I know,” Mr. Cake replied defensively. “But I read this article about a couple that had been together for years. Turns out the guy had a split personality disorder and had kept it a secret from her for years. He was dating like five mares.”
Cupcake rolled her eyes. “That’s just tabloid trash that rich ponies use to protect their own flanks when they do something like that.”
Mr. Cake shrugged his shoulders. He supposed she was right.
“Hey guys!” Pinkie shouted. Both Cakes jumped back in surprise as they saw Pinkie appear between them with a knife. Mr. Cake screamed like a little girl and curled up into a fetal position, waking up the twins. Pinkie looked at him in confusion. “I just wanted to return your knife. It looks like a lot of the desserts and stuff that got used here were swiped from the store.”
Cupcake took the knife and sighed with relief. “Thank you, Pinkie.”
“Your welcome,” Pinkie replied happily and bounced away.
Cupcake looked down at her husband as he tried to pull himself together, the twins giggling at him. She shook her head and gave a small chuckle.
---
Twilight walked slowly along the dimly lit streets of Ponyville. She had said goodbye to her friends a few minutes ago. Fluttershy offered for Rainbow to stay at her place and surprisingly the tough Pegasus had agreed. Twilight wasn’t surprised though. After going through something like that anypony wouldn’t want to be alone. Spike walked alongside her, his stomach finally settled.
“I am starving,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure,” Twilight chuckled. “With all that was going on I don’t think you’ve eaten all day.” Her own stomach rumbled and Twilight blushed.
Spike chuckled. “Hehehe, looks like your one to talk?”
The two shared a laugh as they approached Twilight’s Castle on the outskirts of the town. Twilight stopped just before the large steps as something flashed in the darkness. She frowned. “Um, why don’t you go ahead, Spike,” she said. “I’ll be right behind you. I just want to look at the stars.”
Spike shrugged. “Okay, don’t wait too long. I’m making quesadillas.”
Twilight shot him a glare and Spike chuckled before walking inside. “It’s clear,” she spoke to the darkness.
From behind her steps came a familiar figure in a black trenchcoat. “Took you long enough,” Redwood said. “I’ve been waiting here for hours.”
Twilight looked the criminal in his red eyes. “No you haven’t.”
Redwood clapped his hooves and smirked. “Very good. He who gets better at lying becomes better at spotting them.”
“I’m not lying,” Twilight said. “I’m just…”
“Withholding certain truths,” Redwood finished for her. “A sin of omission is just as punishable as a sin of action. And let me assure you, we will all be punished for our actions one day.”
Twilight glared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh, “What should I do?”
Redwood raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me?”
Twilight grit her teeth and nodded. “Yes. I never thought to go so far with my magic. I was raised a unicorn so it never occurred to me that I could do more, even when I became an alicorn. In my mind I still feel like that little pony I was before. I… I need guidance.”
Redwood turned to her and smirked. “And you want me to guide you? In case you haven’t noticed princess, I’m not an alicorn.”
“But you know about them,” Twilight responded. “You knew how to get into my head. You knew my limits, or lack thereof. I… I don’t know how you knew them but…” She bowed her head reluctantly toward him. “For my friends, please help me become stronger.”
Redwood looked at her with his nonchalant gaze. “How much stronger do you want to become, princess?”
“As powerful as I can,” Twilight replied resolutely. “Can you do that, Redwood?”
He smiled. “Please, call me Red.”
---
After meeting with Twilight, Redwood waited until the coin could recharge and went back to Canterlot. Shining Armor and the rest of the Guard were surprised to see him walk right back into the Academy. A few minutes later he was back in CRO custody, this time they placed him in a cell that was supposed to hold the most dangerous and powerful of monsters. Locked deep underneath the Canterlot Castle was a large warehouse. In the center was a ten ton metal box lined with magic absorbing metal. Within that was a glass box made out of enchantments of the highest caliber. Within that, Rayleigh Redwood sat on a comfy chair and enjoyed a cup of tea, a small lamp his only source of light.
He wasn’t surprised when he heard the sound of a knock from the walls. The ten ton metal lid slowly lifted up and a pony in a red uniform appeared at his glass box to open it. She slid a key in and slowly struggled to pull the enormous door open. When she finished she wiped her brow and looked at Redwood. “Visitor for you.”
Once again he wasn’t surprised when a tall majestic white alicorn stepped into the cell. Princess Celestia turned to the uniformed pony and nodded. “That will be all. You can shut the door.”
“But princess,” the pony replied but Celestia smiled and she knew that everything would be alright. “As you wish.” The pony took the giant door and pushed it back into place.
Redwood sat across from Celestia for a long moment, it looking like the two were having a staring contest. Finally Red was the first to break the silence. “I’d offer you some tea but I’m afraid I don’t have another cup.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Celestia said. Her face gave away no emotion. “So… I hear you’ve met her.”
Red smiled. “Your pupil is certainly strong willed. I’m sure she takes after her mentor in that regard.”
Celestia smiled a little bit before sighing and looking at him with a serious gaze. “Twenty years. I haven’t seen you in twenty years. And this is what you’ve become.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, Princess, I no longer answer to you,” Red replied.
“And who do you answer to?” Celestia asked, her voice laced with a little mesmer magic.
Red smirked and tapped his head, it made a small metallic noise. “Got something installed just for tricks like that. The cost was pretty high, messed with my central nervous system for a while, but you’d be surprised by how much magical manipulation there is in a unicorn’s words. Do you think it’s an innate thing or do they all just know and don’t say anything?”
Celestia sighed again. “Just as tribeist as always I see.”
“I was never tribeist, Princess,” Red replied. “Everypony just looked down on me so I looked down on them.” He leaned forward in his chair. “And ponies like me are all you’re going to be dealing with for a while. The one’s that compensate their inadequacies through other darker means. The Mailmare was able to intercept your dragon message system through using this.” He tossed a lighter on the ground at her feet.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “How did you sneak that in here?”
“A dragon lighter is a device sold in the not so right end of the street markets of Saddle Arabia,” Red continued without answering. “It uses the combustion gland of a dead drake to imitate dragon fire. That one has been specially manufactured to produce certain types of magical flames. In fact I have no doubt that the Mailmare probably held all his files and records in an undetectable location, the only way to retrieve them with that device.”
Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth. “That’s barbaric.”
“That’s just the beginning,” Red stated. “Every scavenger and monster you could never imagine is coming. You’ve been out of the loop a long time, Princess. The rest of the world has changed quite a bit. It’s either evolve or die.”
“Is that what you were trying to do all those years ago? Evolve?” Celestia asked seriously.
Red didn’t respond. Celestia took that as a sign that talks were done for the day. She picked up the lighter with her magic and knocked on the door for somepony to open it. “CRO will investigate this lighter. If it’s like you say, then this might just be the start of an evolution like you wanted. Make no mistake, I may be a civil and just leader, but you’ve seen the kind of wrath I can bring down on somepony.” The door slid open and she began to step out.
“Wait,” Red called out. Celestia stopped and turned. Red steepled his hooves together. “Have you seen her recently?”
It didn’t take Celestia long to realize what he was talking about. “No, I haven’t.” She walked out of the cell as it closed behind her. She looked down at the lighter and grimaced. Were things like this truly the kind of world Redwood had been a part of for so many years. And now it would all be brought to her doorstep. But that didn’t matter. No matter what threat she would face it head on. And if that didn’t work, she could simply burn them to cinders.