//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: DownFall 
// by Redback Spino 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash licked her lips as she dozed in her bed. Her eyes closed, she let her mind wander as the voices of ponies inside and outside the hospital flow upon the air. She could hear the clatter of the carts outside, the chattering of doctors in the corridors, the voices of the ponies in her ward muttering to themselves. 
Her ears twitched as she heard the familiar thump of a leg in a cast, and the scraping of a small chair being dragged across the floor. Opening her eyes, she craned her neck and saw a familiar brown and white pony smiling up at her. Just the pony she wanted to see.

She smiled “Hey kid.”

“Hiya, Rainbow Dash!” Pipsqueak said chirpily “Are you feeling any better today?”

“Hmm…yeah, a little. It’s nice to have a new visitor.” She replied, propping herself up with a foreleg.

Pip smiled back “Heh, well it’s nice having somepony to visit too. Oh, I got you something!”

Her ears perked up “Oh yeah? What’d you get me?”

Pip winked knowingly “Something to eat. Open your mouth and close your eyes, and you’ll get a big surprise.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes as memories floated to the top of her brain of that old rhyme. She had heard it many times in her childhood, and not once did it ever end well. But, humouring the little colt, she obeyed, opening her mouth wide.

She felt something placed on her tongue. Crusty, chewy and light. Simple, plain bread. “Mmm…not bad…where’d you get it?”

“The chapel. They were handing it out, so I thought I’d bring some for you.” Pip replied.

“The chapel?” Rainbow swallowed, opening her eyes again “Heh, trying to save my soul, eh kid? I didn’t know you were a Faustian.”

“A what?”

“A Faustian.” She replied “Y’know, they worship Faust, the red-haired Alicorn? It’s what that chapel’s used for.”

Pip nodded “Oh, is that what it’s for? Huh…well, no I’m not a Faustian.”

The pegasus cocked her head “Then why’d you bring me that bread?”

“I just thought you might be hungry, so I got some for you.” Pip shrugged.

Rainbow lay back “Ah, ok…well thanks for it anyway. I was a bit hungry to be honest…The chapels just downstairs, isn’t it? Next to the supply room?”

Pip nodded as he chewed thoughtfully on a chunk of the bread he had saved for himself “So, d’you think maybe I could hear more of the story?”

Rainbow sighed “Sure… so, where did we leave off?”





Napalm rubbed his temples in frustration as he sat on the ridge, watching Clover. The unicorn would wander back and forth, looking one way, then the other, nervously checking his map over and over again.

Clover shook the sweat from his brow as he tried desperately to discern any sort of path or marker from his map. But as he peered up through the gaping hole in his map at a disapproving Black Bandit, his fears were confirmed.

“We’re lost aren’t we?” the Black Bandit called.

Clover shuffled on the spot, like a foal caught with one hoof in the cookie jar “Sorry, Captain…I’ve no idea where we are.”

“Didn’t I tell him?” Napalm muttered in the Black Bandit’s ear “Didn’t I warn him not to keep the map with his bugs? And did he listen? Oh no sir, he did not!”

“You can berate him later, Napalm.” The rainbow-haired pony coolly replied “Right now, let’s just focus on finding our way, okay?”

The six bandits scanned the dry landscape around them, desperate for any kind of landmark or indicator. But to no avail.
“Useless thing!” Clover muttered as he threw the map to the ground. Sitting back on his haunches, he sighed glumly as he stared up at the sky. However, when he stared back down, only a few scraps of parchment indicated that a map had ever lain there. Sitting there instead, chewing away on the map, was the Mystic. “What are you doing?!” Cover cried, as he tried to yank the remaining bits of parchment from the Mystic’s mouth “Hey, you can’t eat that thing, the ink’s poisonous!”

The Mystic pushed him back, gulping down the last scraps of the map and smiling at Clover, who simply frowned back. Suddenly, the blue pony keeled over, clutching his stomach. Twitching and quivering, the Mystic lay at Cover’s hooves.
“Ah great…come on, breath! Try not to move, the poison will only work faster if you move…GUYS!” he shouted to the other bandits. The other four came running to his side.

“What’s going on, Clover?” Askari asked “What’s happened to the Mystic?”

Clover shook his head in confusion “I dunno…He just grabbed my map and started eating it for some reason, then this happened! It looks like he’s been poisoned!”

Froth began to pour from the Mystic’s mouth as his body shook and flailed. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. His muscles relaxed, and his body was still.

Then, a mark formed. It was a small mark, like the dot of a quill pen, just on the end of his snout. It grew larger, before stretching off into a line. The bandits watched as the line stretched and wriggled across the Mystic’s fur, branching off in all 
directions, swirling and curving.

Within minutes, these black lines criss-crossed all over the Mystic, snaking over his chest and back, down his legs, around his face, even streaking a few hairs of his tail and mane black. Then, he began to move. Small at first, a few twitches. Then, each leg stretched out and lifted him into a stand. His eyes were rolled back in his head, and his mouth hung open, his tongue lolling out. It was as if his body was suspended by the strings of some unseen puppet-master.
Groaning and muttering, the Mystic began to shuffle on the spot, pointing with a hoof to the East. The bandits looked on as he began to stagger forwards, stumbling over rocks and ridges.

“He’s showing us the way.” Clover whispered in awe. Without another word, he took off after the strange pony, his comrades not far behind.

For hours they followed the Mystic as he ran ahead, his eyes wide and wild, foaming at the mouth. Over hills and through valleys they ran, panting for breath under the hot sun. But the Mystic pressed on like a pony possessed, never stopping or tiring.

Finally, as they came to the top of a massive ridge, the Mystic collapsed to the ground, still pointing with a foreleg out into the distance. Panting and wheezing, the bandits came up onto the ridge to behold a welcome sight.

“Look! Sinistar’s flag!”

The Black Bandit smiled grimly as she peered down onto the flat dusty plateau that stretched out from the base of the ridge. Fluttering in the breeze down below, a standard emblazoned with a yellow star on a black field billowed out from the top of a mighty red carriage that trundled along, pulled by dozens of yoked and bridled ponies and flanked by armoured griffon guards. The cracks of the guards’ whips and the creaks of the wheels were audible even on the ridge.

“That’s Sinistar’s carriage alright.” She muttered. “Only he’d be cruel enough to use slaves. C’mon, we won’t get another chance like this!”

But as she reared up to charge down the ridge, she found Clover standing in her way “Hold on a moment! What about the Mystic?! We can’t just leave him here!” He pointed to the prone form of the old blue pony.

But the Black Bandit pushed him aside “Fine! You stay here and take care of him. I have a score to settle.”

Without another word the Black Bandit charged down the ridge, pistols cocked and ready. Behind her came Luigi, Askari and the Paladin, weapons drawn and bloodlust in their eyes. Clover watched them go as he bent down to tend to the unconscious Mystic.

His mouth foaming around the hilt of his sword, the Paladin was the first to reach the plateau, followed shortly by Luigi, the Black Bandit and finally Askari. His heavy iron barding did little to slow him down, so great was his desire for battle. Luigi sprinted up alongside him, his bombs clattering together in his bag. The Black Bandit began to slow down to a canter, allowing the others to gain a lead on the race to the carriage.

Finally coming to a halt, she said aloud “Hey Pipsqueak, you can read, right?”





Pip shuffled restlessly in his seat “Hey, you can’t stop the story there! It was just getting to the good part!”

“I just wanna know if you can read well.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Well…yeah, I guess so. We started learning last year at school. Why?” Pip asked.

In reply, Rainbow took a scrap of tissue paper from her bedside table and, pen gripped between her teeth, scrawled something out on the sheet “Well, here. What’s this say then?”

She passed the paper over to Pip. The pegasus’ handwriting was scratchy and thin, but legible enough.

“I’m, uh…I’m getting kinda tired.” Rainbow explained “I’m having a hard time remembering the rest of that story. I need you to get me some medicine.”

“Why can’t you ask one of the doctors? Can’t they get it for you?” Pip asked.

Rainbow shook her head “No, they won’t do it. I need you to do this for me.”

Pip fidgeted a bit, twiddling his hooved nervously. On one hoof, he knew the doctors knew what they were talking about, so they would know whether she needed medicine or not. But on the other hoof, he did want to find out what happened next! The story was just too good to pass up! “Hmm…well, what do you need me to get?”

Rainbow tapped the paper again “I need you to go down to the supply room and get me a bottle of pills, with this word written on it. They’re to help me sleep, so I can remember the story better. Can you do that for me?”

Pip scratched the back of his neck “I dunno…”

“Oh c’mon.” Rainbow said, nudging him playfully “Be a good little bandit.”

Pipsqueak tapped his chin thoughtfully. If they’re just to help her sleep, they can’t be that bad, right? “Alright, I’ll do it.”

The pegasus patted him on the head “Atta boy. Once you got them, bring them back to me, and I’ll tell you the rest of the story! ‘Kay?”

The little colt nodded and scampered off, note held between his teeth. As he rounded the corner, he took another look at the note. “Let’s see… M-O-R-P-H-I-N…” He paused as he reached the final letter. The ink had run at the last letter, reducing it to a vague smudge. It kind of looks like an E, he thought. Or maybe a 3? It would make sense, she’d just need a few pills to help her sleep. That’s it then, it must be a 3!

Moments later, he was passing the doorway to the chapel and found himself facing the big wooden door, labelled “SUPPLY ROOM”. But no matter how much he tried, the door would not budge. He pushed, he pulled, he tugged, he kicked, but to no avail. Resigning to the fact that the door would not open, he slid down to the floor, sitting with his back to the wall.

“Morning, Pip. Out for another walk, eh?”

His ears perked up at the sound of his name. He knew that voice. Looking up he saw the smiling face of a pink-haired nurse pony, her mane tied up in a bun. “Oh, hi miss Redheart.” He said, smiling “Yeah, just…exploring.”

Nurse Redheart nodded “Well, don’t go getting under anypony’s hooves, alright? I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m a bit busy at the moment.” Placing a key into the lock, she pulled open the door of the supply room and entered, returning moments later with a small cardboard box balanced on her back. Grabbing the key from the lock, she pulled the door to with a hind leg and trotted off down the corridor.

As Pip watched her go, he noticed something. Shouldn’t the door have clicked shut by now?

It was all he could do to stop himself from jumping for joy as he saw the door to the supply room, closed but not all the way. It bounced off the latch and slowly creaked open again. Giggling at his own luck, Pip pushed it open and slipped inside.

Within was a dimly-lit room, lined with endless shelves and cabinets, each lined with all manner of boxes and jars and bottles. Each shelf was labelled with a letter, and Pip headed straight for the ‘M’ shelf. Clambering up onto the worktop, he craned his neck and sought out the bottle labelled “MORPHIN”. After a moment’s searching, he triumphantly grabbed the tiny brown bottle at the back.

“Well, it says Morphine and not Morphin, but that’s close enough I guess.” He said, as he popped the lid open.





“Wait, is this really all they had?”

Rainbow held up the bottle to the light, peering at the three white tablets inside.

“Well, no, but you said you only wanted three.” Pip said, taking his seat again.

Rainbow frowned “What? When did I say that?!”

Pipsqueak held up the sheet of tissue paper “Right here, see? M-O-R-P-H-I-N-3. Three pills, just like you asked.”

The pegasus put the bottle on her bedside, putting it down a little harder than was necessary. “E, that was an E, not a three, you little…What did you do with the rest of them?”

“I, uh, threw them away.” Pip said nervously.

Rainbow slumped back down in her bed. Rolling over away from Pipsqueak, she glared in frustration at the adjacent bed. Once again an awkward silence presided over the ward, so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“So…um…” Pip finally spoke up as he peered over at Rainbow “Did…did they reach the carriage?”





The poor slaves staggered along, heaving with all their might to pull the mighty carriage, all the while ducking to avoid the whips of the sadistic griffon guards. But a new sound upon the air caused them to raise their heads once more.

As one of the griffon guards turned to locate this new arrival, it saw a blinding flash before its vision was clouded by a thick white mist. Hacking and spluttering, the griffons stumbled about, bumping into the slaves and the carriage Through the mist, two of them saw the glint of sunlight upon steel. And that was all they saw before the Paladin’s sword sent their heads rolling in the dust as their headless bodies were trampled underhoof by the army of slaves.

The remaining guards fled, some taking to the air, some sprinting on the ground, all rushing to the edge of the dusty flatlands. But they all fell, pierced either by lead shot or wooden javelin. As the dust cleared, the bandits looked over the carnage, cleaning the gore from their weapons.

“Askari! You and Napalm cut the slaves loose.” the Black Bandit said “Paladin, you go fetch Clover and the Mystic.”
Not long after, the slaves whooped and cheered as they galloped across the plains, free of their shackles at last. The bandits, meanwhile, gathered at the front of the carriage, weapons poised as they faced the doorway.

“Well gentlecolts - and mare -, looks like we have a bit of a dilemma.” Clover said “Six of us, and only one target. Furthermore, a doorway only wide enough for one. Now, I’m sure there is some diplomatic way we can decide who gets to…”

“Dibs.”

“Huh?”

But before anypony else could react, the Black Bandit had rushed forwards and bucked down the door. As the others surged forwards to enter, they heard the telltale bangs and saw the flashes of the Black Bandit’s pistol. But the screaming they heard was that of a young mare, before there was silence.

“Guys!” Came the voice of the blue mare “Get in here!”

Pushing and shoving, the five bandits squeezed through the doorway into the elegant carriage interior. In the middle of the small room sat the Black Bandit, her pistols smoking at her sides. But lying on the ground before her was not the cruel and heartless Lord Sinistar, but a young white mare.

She lay on her back, her face hidden by a veil of blue silk drawn across her face. She wore an elegant magenta dress with a yellow trim and a broad red ribbon tied around the waist. A barrette clipped into her light pink hair, adorned with a metal butterfly of blue and yellow. And around her neck, a lead bullet lodged in the front, hung a solid gold locket, shaped like a heart.

“C’mon guys, help me out here!” the Black Bandit cried as she struggled to lift the mare up off the ground. The other bandits hastily came to her aid, lifting her up onto the Paladins strong back and carrying her out of the carriage.

“Who d’you suppose she is?” Napalm asked aloud.

Clover nodded “Who indeed. And why was she in Lord Sinistar’s carriage?”

“I dunno,” the Black Bandit replied “But she’s still alive, so let’s get her to safety. We can use the old hideout.”

So she led the way, her mind abuzz with the new discovery. The other bandits followed behind, flanking the Paladin and his semi-conscious cargo “But how’s she still alive? You shot her!” Askari called.

The blue pony nodded “Yes I did, but I missed the first shot, and her locket somehow stopped the second one. She’s a lucky mare to be alive!





“So she and the rest of the bandits carried the mare away from the plains, and into a valley nearby. The Black Bandit’s hideout was there, on an island in the middle of a lake. She and her brother used to play there when they were foals, and it was a safe place from any of Sinistar’s soldiers. So, the bandits decided to rest there for a while…”





The mare wandered through the small fort that sat in the middle of the lake, built long ago on an island. The walls of timber and mud rose high above, shielding all within from any outside attack. As she walked up the stairs to the ramparts, she caught sight of the silent Paladin as he sat in the courtyard, tending to his sword. As he looked up, his eyes met hers for a moment, before he checked himself and shielded his eyes with a forehoof.

The mare carried on up the stairs to the rampart; she had seen a similar reaction from the red stallion every time he saw her. At the top of the stairs she found the Black Bandit gazing out over the lake, her hair fluttering in the wind. 

”Tell me, “the mare asked “That big fellow down there in the armour, why does he cover his eyes whenever he sees me.”
The Black Bandit turned her masked face to the mare “Ever since his wife was killed, he took an oath to never look at another mare ever again. Poor soul.”

“But a pony cannot show what is in their heart if they hide their face.” The mare replied, holding a hoof up to the veil covering her face “Who, may I ask, are you?”

“To most ponies, I’m simply known as the masked bandit.”

The mare gasped. She had heard stories of such a bandit! Her family and friends would relate great tales of the Black Bandit’s adventures; robbing from the rich to give to the needy, battling injustice and evil, saving the fair maiden. Much like myself she thought, a flush of crimson appearing on her cheeks. “You’re the Black Bandit? The scourge of evildoers everywhere?!”

The masked pony began to approach her “The very same. But that’s only when I wear the mask.” With one fluid motion, the Black Bandit undid the strings and removed the mask from her magenta eyes. “And what about you?”

Hesitantly, the mare raised a hoof to her head, and unhooked one of the clasps connecting the butterfly barrette to the silky veil. Undone, the veil hung from her head, revealing her face to the bandit. Her blue eyes met the Black Bandit’s, and she grinned as she saw the first telltale signs of a blush forming on the blue pony’s cheeks.

“My name is Princess Red…Red…heart…Ooh…wuh…wah…” She stammered as she sniffled, trying desperately to hold back what was coming, but to no avail.





“WAAH-CHOO!”

“Gesundheit, Pip.”

“Heh, thanks Rainbow Dash.” Pipsqueak said, rubbing his snout with a forehoof “Sorry, I’d been holding that in for ages now…so, anyway, what happened then?”

But Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively “Ah, sorry, your sneezing made me lose my train of thought there. Tell ya what, they’ll be bringing lunch around in a sec. Go get yourself somethin’ to eat and come back after lunch and I’ll tell you the rest then.”

“Oh, come on! Tell me the rest now! I promise I won’t sneeze again, promise!”

But the rainbow-haired pegasus would not back down “Sorry kid. Like I said, I lost the flow there. Let’s both of us take a break and we can carry on with it after lunch. Okay?”

Pip relented, sliding off his stool “Okay then. See you later, Rainbow Dash.”

As she watched him trot off towards his own ward, she lay back to relax as she awaited today’s ration of overcooked alfalfa 
and pre-packaged jelly. Glancing about the room, her attention was caught by the entry of the palomino unicorn again. He cast a quick dirty look in her direction before crouching down by his bed, and opening the cabinet in his bedside table. He popped a couple of tiny white pills in his mouth from a little brown bottle, before putting it back in the cabinet.

“Keep yer eyes to yourself, you!” The palomino sneered at Rainbow as his eyes met hers, before rising up again and heading back out into the corridors.

Rainbow Dash never thought she’d adopt the mannerisms of a pony as prissy and vain as Rarity, but in that moment, she could not help herself as she whispered in a sing-song voice:

“I-deee-aaa!”





Pip licked his lips as he hobbled eagerly from his ward, intent set securely on returning to Rainbow Dash’s room to hear the rest of the story. Through the corridors he hurried, out the main wing, and through the courtyard. But as he waved to the cheery zebra as he brought in a new delivery of bread (“No sniffing the bread today, Pip?”), he came to a halt as he saw somepony new.

A young filly, walking down the path outside the hospital, came to a halt outside the entrance. A sleek young pegasus stallion walked alongside her, one of his wings draped over her shoulders. As he came to a halt by the filly, Pip got a good look at him: Navy blue fur with sleek grey mane, and the cutie mark of a bright yellow star.

But Pip’s attention was caught more by the filly by his side. She looked about Rainbow’s age, with pale lavender fur and long silvery blue hair tied in a pink bow. As she looked up to the hospital building, Pipsqueak noticed a tiny locket on a chain around her neck. A solid gold pendant shaped like a heart.

She gazed at the hospital wistfully, and for a moment, the tiny colt thought she was about to enter. But the filly turned away and continued walking with the stallion, not giving a second glance at the building.

Putting the scene out of his mind, Pipsqueak hurried back to the building.





As he sat down by Rainbow Dash’s bedside, the pegasus rolled over to face him with a gentle smile. “Hey kid.”

“Hiya Rainbow Dash!” Pip replied “So, can you tell me the…”

But Rainbow Dash cut him off “Actually, I need another favour first.”

Pip cocked his head “Huh? What kind of favour?”

The pegasus pointed to the bed opposite “You know the unicorn who sleeps in that bed? The palomino guy?”

“Yeah” Pip replied before shaking his head “I don’t think I like him.”

Rainbow chuckled “Heh, yeah I don’t like him much either… In fact, I think he’s been stealing stuff from me while I’m asleep.”

Pip’s eyes grew wide “Really? Wow, that really is mean! Stealing from somepony in hospital, that’s just cruel!”

“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow replied, nodding “I think he stole some of my medicine a while ago. It’ll be in his bedside table if anywhere. Could you go check for me?”

Pip folded his forelegs “Promise you’ll finish he story then?”

Rainbow smiled, tousling his hair “Promise. I’ll bet you’ll be out of hospital soon, and I’d hate for you to be wondering how the story ends all your life.”

Wincing slightly as his bandaged leg hit the ground, Pipsqueak hobbled over to the bedside table. In the main body, there was a small hatch on the front. Most ponies would have to crouch down low to get it open, but a pony of Pip’s size could reach it easily. With a gentle tug on the doorknob, it swung open. Inside were a few knick-knacks, some books, and ontop of them all…

“Right there! That brown bottle.” Rainbow called from her bed “Those are mine!”

Pip grasped the bottle in his jaws and hurried back to Rainbow’s bedside “I Shoughk You alreageh hag shome medishing…”

The pegasus could not help but laugh at Pipsqueak’s garbled voice as he tried to speak around the bottle “Sorry, what?”

Pip deposited the bottle on her lap “I said, I thought you already had some medicine. Y’know, that bottle I brought you.”

“There weren’t enough in there to make me go to sleep. But these should do fine, thanks Pipsqueak” she replied with a grin. 
“So, as the Black Bandit and Lady Redheart spent more and more time together, they found themselves growing closer and closer. Neither pony could admit it, but they were in love with the other. They would spend whole days wandering through the fort talking about anything that came to mind. Sometimes they would take a boat out on the lake together, far from the prying eyes of the other bandits. One evening, as they sat up on the ramparts telling stories to eachother…”





Redheart and the Black Bandit sat together on the ramparts of the fort, looking out at the sun, as its last golden rays played 
across the horizon, dyeing the blue sky a deep pink. The conversation between the two mares had lulled into silence as they watched the sky. Breaking the silence, the Black Bandit got something out from inside her jacket.

“Here…I tried my best to repair it after the, er, incident back at the carriage. Sorry about that, by the way.” She said bashfully, holding out in her hoof, the golden locket.

Redheart took it from her, looking over the pendant. The bullet had ben dislodged, but the dent remained.
“Me and the boys tried to fix it, but none of us are really that good with something that small, heh.”

“It’s fine.” Redheart replied “And thank you for trying to fix it…And don’t be sorry for what happened at the carriage. You saved me from a terrible fate by taking me with you. And if it weren’t for this locket, I probably would have died anyway.”

A blush played across the Black Bandit’s face “Heh, well, you’re welcome…What do you mean, terrible fate?”

The white pony sighed “I was on my way to Lord Sinistar’s palace. His soldiers kidnapped me and were taking me to…It’s open.”

“huh?”

“The locket…It’s open.” Redheart gently prised the halves of the golden heart apart from its hinge.

“Well, yeah, lockets do that.”

“But I’ve never been able to open it!” Redheart replied, stunned “Nopony’s ever been able to open it. You’re the first.”
Looking closely at it, she saw an inscription on the inside. Clearing her throat, she began to read aloud “’My dearest daughter. As you go out into the world, remember this: Never be with somepony or marry somepony for material gain…Not for money, power, fame or security. Always follow your heart… Your ever-loving father…’”

“It really says all that on that tiny locket?” The Black Bandit held the locket up to the light to see for herself. As she did, her face flushed red as she felt her hoof touching that of Lady Redheart.

Their eyes met. Magenta against cerulean, just like the sky behind them.

“Yeah…it does.”





“So right there, right then, they knew that they wanted to be with eachother. The Black Bandit knew that she was the mare she was supposed to love.” Rainbow said, pausing her story for a moment. Popping the brown bottle open, she emptied out a hooffull of pills and began swallowing them one by one.

“Ew, why’d this story get so sappy all of a sudden?” Pip grimaced.

“Heh, well, it’s a pretty important plot point. But anyways, so the two decided that they should be married…”





The bandits stood reverently in a circular chamber, hats off and weapons removed. In a ring they stood around the Black Bandit, who stood gazing at Lady Redheart, who stood in an elegant white dress, her face veiled. Between them stood the mystic, who chattered the traditional words of the wedding ceremony.

Turning to Clover, he nodded, and the unicorn levitated forth a silk pillow, upon which rested two bands of woven gold, a diamond embedded in the side. The Mystic took the first band and took the Black Bandit’s foreleg in his own. Raising it up, he began to slide the shining bracelet onto her wrist.

But just as it touched her hoof, he froze. His eyes rolled up in his head and he began to murmur incoherently. Dropping the wedding band he grabbed the Bandit’s head in both hooves, staring intently into her eyes.

“Clover! What’s he doing?!” The Black Bandit cried anxiously to her unicorn friend.

Clover listened intently to the inarticulate babblings of the old pony “The…the Mystic spies danger in your eyes…you’ve taken too many pills! Death is near!”

“Danger?” Napalm echoed as he looked around the chamber, as if expecting some enem to spring out at any moment.

“He says that suicide is not the answer…” Clover continued, but paused as he saw a shadow moving in the doorway.
As the Black Bandit tried to shake off the Mystic’s grip, she looked to Redheart and saw her walking slowly back towards the doorway herself. “Redheart, what’s going on?!”

As if in answer, from within the doorway came endless waves of armoured griffon guards. Snarling,  barking, shrieking, the horde swarmed into the room, surrounding them. Forming ranks, they menaced the bandits with pistols and axes, poised to attack.

The bandits gathered together, unable to fight back. “Who thought it was a good idea to leave our weapons outside?!” Napalm shouted “We never leave our weapons!”

But all the Black Bandit could focus upon was her fiancée, as she walked towards the ranks of the griffons. “Redheart, stop! Come back, they’ll kill you!”

But the white mare kept walking. Just as the Black Bandit rushed forward to pull her back, her jaw dropped as the armoured guards parted ranks, and Redheart walked through them. As she gave one last malevolent glance in their direction, the Black Bandit felt the butt of a griffon’s axe slam into the back of her skull, and everything turned black