//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Midnight Mares : Tall Tale Trouble! // by ThatOneVolcarona //------------------------------// “What do you mean we can contact the royal guard? I am the mayor of Tall Tall for Celestia’s sake!” Grumble was mad, real mad. This day was going to be perfect, he was going to earn millions of bits from selling soon-to-be empty lands to some of the worst criminals of Equestria, he would get rid of what to him, was the scum of the town, and he would end the day with a nice bottle of wine and a grin on his face. So far, the only thing he had gotten was chaos, chaos, and more chaos. It started when some idiot stole the demolition crew’s tools and equipment and used them in his very own mansion. Then came the shouts of revolution all over the town, followed by that annoying urban music that filled the streets. Then, oh boy what a surprise, half of the police force joined the riots after a certain Diamond Cloud convinced them to do so. Oh and there was also the fact that about a dozen thugs were outside Town Hall trying to break in by any means necessary. “They have control over the postal office, as well as the train station.” Angel Wings sighed, this was not looking good for any of them. Grumble groaned out loud, punching a painting out of sheer anger. “This is incredible… this is it, we’re done for! Even if we somehow manage to take control of the city again, this will definitely reach the Princesses’ ears, and oh you better believe they’re going to look more into things.” He tried to relax, yet failed miserably. This was just too much to just ‘relax’, “At least tell me Drop Dead did his job.” Angel Wings shifted uncomfortably, he didn’t want to give him even more bad news, yet he had to, “I am afraid our friend has… perished in action. There have been reports of a magical explosion on an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. He most likely did not survive” “Then you’d be wrong pardner.” Both ponies looked in shock the image of a bruised, singed and slightly beaten, yet otherwise perfectly fine Drop Dead walking into his office. “H-how! But, the explosion!” Angel Wings couldn’t help but ask. “Ahm hardier than the Appleloosan desert, pardner. I have survived way worse than that.” He chuckled. “Unlike you idiots, I have further use for this one,” a well-dressed unicorn entered the room. “I would have thought that the mayor of this town could at least control his citizens. And yet, two mares and two mares alone have undermined your entire operation. I’d say this was the very picture of pathetic, but that would be too generous.” Grumble’s eye twitched, if there was something he really, really hated, it was being blatantly insulted, “What… did YOU SAY!?” “Grumble, stay calm please.” His pegasus ally sighed, “This is no moment to fight with quite possibly our only ally left. Mister… Valiant Heart wasn’t it? Leader of the Orphanage from Manehattan?” “Oh look, one of you has two braincells to rub together,” Valiant clapped his hooves slowly and patronizingly. “And you heard what i said Mr. Mayor. You have been utterly undermined by two little females. They have over half the city against you, as well as most of your guard. If you can salvage this… well, I have doubts that you actually could. So, I’m withdrawing my offer and I’ll be leaving. Have a wonderful day gentlecolts.” “W-what! Wait, no, Mister Heart please wait. We can still-” “Shut it, Angel Wings. I’ve had enough. After all that has happened today, I refuse to let anyone else buck me over. You think you’re so tough, huh?” With a sinister grin, the old mayor walked around his desk, grabbing a small knife he kept around for occasions like this one, before turning to him and chuckling coldly, “Well honestly, I think you’re all barks and no bite.” And pushing Angel Wings who had tried to stop him away, he rushed towards the unicorn. But when he struck? The knife snapped against the stallions coat, leaving not a mark against him. Valiant turned his head and then his eyes stared coldly at the mayor. With a move that was too fast to track, he had the stallion against a wall, holding him up with a single hoof. “The only reason you aren’t dead is because your pathetic attempts amuse me,” he said to the gagging earth pony. “But if you try that again, and I’ll stab out your eyes with my horn!” “Mister Heart, sir please. I shall keep him under control. I ask for forgiveness in his honor.” Angel Wings said quickly, kneeling down as his body trembled ever so slightly. “Just let him go, pardner. Ah’ll try to keep him from messin’ up even more. Besides, as much as I’d love to return to Manehattan with ya, I gotta stay around and deal with our least favorite mares. They owe me a new warehouse.” Dead Drop growled, “Ye sure you don’t wanna stay with me? Finally get rid of that mare of yours?” “All in due time,” Valiant smiled as he dropped the whimpering mayor. “Things will become… difficult here soon. I’ll depart before that happens hmm?” He turned to Dead and sighed. “Try not to get scared by a foals tale this time hm? She isn’t a vampire.” His horn flared with emerald light and he Teleported from the room, leaving Grumble and Angel to their fates. “Ah swear, if he wasn’t so scary I’d shoot his brains out.” Dead Drop sighed, “Now you two, we gotta get ready for dem mares ya hear? Before it was just business but now, now it’s personal. So ya better follow every single bucking detail of what I’m gonna tell ya…” As much as Pockets loved being close to Midnight Song, she loved the feeling of solid earth under her hooves even more. If unicorns were meant to fly, she’d have been born an alicorn. “Yo, motherbucker!” Midnight called out to a certain stallion beating down some guard. She pulled Pockets into a hug and held her up. “You lose this? I found it for ya!” “Fo’ Celestia’s motherbucking sunny butt… child!” Urban Spirit gave one final punch to the now unconscious guard before rushing to hug the unicorn, “I’m so bucking happy to see you mah lil’ thief. Wait… did that motherbucker do anything to you? I swear if he did I’m gonna stab that bitch.” “Hey Papa Spirit, good to see you again, and yeah he tried… but let’s just say I got a guardian angel… or rather a guardian demon mare looking out for me.” She giggled, returning the hug. Urban raised his head and smiled at Midnight, “Thanks, in da name of the Chivalry and mahself, we owe ya big time.” “Nopony steals my thief,” Midnight nodded and kissed her again once Spirit had released her from the hug. “Now… you look like you’ve been having fun here.” Urban blinked, several times, before shaking his head and pointing at Pockets, “We talk ‘bout this later. First, we take down that motherbucker Grumble.” Pockets in return kissed Midnight’s cheek and then shot him a taunting smirk. “I swear lil’ pimps these days…” He sighed, before grinning as he recalled what Midnight had just said, “And ya bet your butt we have! I knew bringing dem thirty six speakers here from back home was a phat idea.” “You mean this awful music is your idea?” Midnight groused as her ears flattened against her head. “I can’t hear a bucking thing out here except for that!” “Did yo dirty ass just say ‘awful mus-” He was soon interrupted by Pockets, who forcefully kept his muzzle shut in order to prevent an even bigger hell to break loose, “You do not speak of his music like that,” Pockets bit her lips, before mouthing an “As bad as it is” that Urban did not see. “So! Changing topics, why are you guys outside and not inside?” “‘Cuz that motherbucker Green Lead has tha doors locked with some high security shit.” He angrily pointed at the door, “Da only way we could git up in that place is blowing dat shiz up!” “An explosion?” Pockets grinned mischievously and looked at Midnight with an ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ look. “Oh Sexy Sphinxy?” Midnight cooed and turned to the griffoness. “Would you be a dear and make those pesky doors go Boom?” Sphinx couldn’t help but let out an excited childish giggle, trying to play it off by covering her beak with her claw, “Sure, I could do that.” They soon regretted their decision. Thing with magic bombs is. Unlike your regular bomb, magic bombs are far flashier, far messier, and according to Sphinx, far prettier and deadlier. So even with a small charge the explosion was so powerful many were almost blown away, literally, by it. It did look quite pretty though~ “Remind me to never ask Sphinx for an explosion, ever again.” Pockets’ now raspy voice said between coughs as the purple magical dust resulting from the explosion dissipated. Yet in the end, it did the trick. “I dunno, I thought it was pretty cool,” Midnight nodded and then her ears flattened. “Oohh… that’s… that’s a lot of guards.” At least thirty remaining guards were on the other side, all still loyal to Grumble. Midnight took a small breath and stepped forward. “I am Specialist Midnight Song,” she announced in a loud voice. “Stand aside and allow us to arrest Mayor Grumble and his compatriots. We have enough evidence to arrest and convict. As Guards, that should be your duty. See to it that you assist us, and you may yet keep your jobs!” Yet none said anything, with the sole exception of a really annoying deep toned laugh. Green Lead stepped out of the shadows with a wicked smile across his muzzle and a massive scar on the left side of his face, he had clearly been busy, “Good try, Specialist Midnight. But these ponies ain’t gonna leave my side. There’s a reason why they’re the only ones I have left. Every single one of them have been involved in one form of corruption or another. From bribes to blackmailing, these ponies won’t go to jail without a fight. And believe me, we’ll give you a fight. So you and your lawbreaking friends should just stand down and let us take control of the city that’s rightfully ours.” “Fine, then here’s my second offer,” Midnight said. “While Specialist is my title, do any of you know what my job actually is?” This might make her friends, or a target. “And why would we care?” Green Lead chuckled, “We’re going to kill you anyways!” “I am head of Princess Celestia’s Honor Guard!” Midnight said and took a step forward. “Swear fealty to me, and I will make sure you don’t see the inside of a cell. That you get a second chance at life.” The mumbling of several guards could be heard, mumbling that got Green Lead extremely nervous, “If any of you dares to leave my side, I shall make sure you’re shot on the spot!” “Wow dude, really?” Pockets grimaced, “And you guys are seriously following this guy? While we’re giving you guys a chance for freedom, he’s giving you a death threat. What kind of leader is that? Yo, Firefly.” She looked at a pegasus mare who stood on the second floor. “Pockets, please, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” The shaky mare begged. “No, but listen me here. I know Lead made you take the bribes from a gang that was involved in the robbery at your aunt’s place. I know you, and you ain’t a bad mare. So why don’t you come down here and help us out, hm?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, extending her hoof towards her. “Pockets… I…” “Serenity,” Pockets looked at a young unicorn who was trembling of fear, “You were forced to stay shut when an old lady was beaten up by some thugs just ‘cuz they had payed Lead their protection quota. I know you still have nightmares ‘bout that. Do you wanna keep feeling guilty, or are ya gonna take revenge in that lady’s name?” “Well… I mean…” “Ember,” A timid earth pony colt, “Ocean,” A buffy yet lovable pegasus stallion, “Eclipse,” an insecure yet intelligent unicorn mare, “I can call out names all day long. Yet I know most if not all of you have one thing in common. You have been forced to do things you are not proud of. Well I don’t know what Lead threatened you with this time, but I’m sure of something. I trust this mare with my life, and if she says that you will all be free of charges, then I assure you that you will be. Don’t trust her? Then trust me instead.” The room was silent for several seconds, until the metallic clank of a helmet falling to the ground was heard, followed by the clopping sound of Serenity Breeze walking towards them, a decided look on his face. Then came Firefly, followed by Ocean, Ember, Eclipse, and several others who held similar looks on their faces, forming a line right behind Midnight and Pockets. “You fools… you’ll all get yourself arrested for life! But don’t worry, I’ll kill you before that happens. Shoot your arrows, now!” Yet much to Green Lead’s surprise, there was no response. He had no ponies left, not a single one. “D’aww, poor Greenie, you’re all alone now.” Pockets pouted tauntingly. “This is what you get,” Midnight said as she stepped closer to the stallion, now a few feet away from him. “Loyalty can’t be bought or gained through fear. It must be earned! You are barely a stallion, let alone a guard. You are horribly outnumbered, give up now and I can try to see you get a lighter sentence.” “Y-you! I’m not buying your crap. I’ve worked too hard to see this empire fall down to the hooves of the likes of you. I’m going to bash your head until there’s nothing but tiny bat pieces!” He growled. And this is when Pockets realized just how dumb he really was. After all, if she had learned something, that was that you did not just try to tackle the batmare and expect to win. But he did it anyways. He tried to tackle the batmare. Midnight sighed as the stallion charged. “I tried to give you an out. I really did…” She moved to one side and as he passed by, her hoof tripped him, sending him sprawling across the ground. “You honestly think you can beat me? Please give up. I’ve had enough fighting for one day.” “N-never!” He grunted, trying to stand up. Only to be bucked back down by a whistling innocent-looking Pockets. “Oopsie!” “You filthy thief..” He growled, before trying to tackle the unicorn instead. Or rather he would have if it wasn’t for an incredibly painful electric charge storming every single muscle in his body. When he managed to stand up, he realized his neck was feeling rather stiffy and uncomfortable, “What the…” Resting on his neck now was a metallic collar with a single gem encrusted on it, the same collar he used to arrest unicorns. Pockets grinned as he walked around the stallion, “So, fun fact Greenie. Turns out your little collars only need to detect magic in order to zap you up. In other words I just need to do this~” She smiled as a bolt of magic left her body to land on his coat, resulting in a pained scream coming from the stallion. “Y-you…” He stuttered angrily. “Nope!” And then another beam of magic and another zap. Pockets giggled as the stallion simply gave up, letting his now pained body rest on the floor, “Oh, I will never get tired of that.” “You’re terrible,” Midnight rolled her eyes and looked at him. “I tried to give you an out lovey. This is all your doing.” She stood up and looked out at the crowd. “Okay guys. This party is just about done. Mind cleaning up a bit?” “Sure thing Miss.” Firefly nodded, and so did everyone else. “We’ll keep guard in case anything happens.” “Thanks, ‘Fly. And hey, I’m proud of you.” Pockets winked, causing the Pegasus to giggle with a soft blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. “So, batty. Ready to have a nice good ol’ talk with our favorite mayor?” “Oh yes, I have a few choice words for him,” Midnight nodded as they walked inside. “I do hope he’s up for talking. I’ve had my fill of stupidity for the day.” She looked around and hummed to herself. “Now, where do you suppose he’s hiding?” “Eh, I don’t know. Maybe the sewers, or a rathole, or the dump, maybe even the moon, or ya know his office.” She pointed at the second floor and the flashy door that lead to Grumble’s office. “No need to be a smartflank,” Midnight said as her tail whipped the unicorn’s Cutie mark. “Now… do we want a dramatic entrance? Silly me, of course we want a dramatic entrance!” Inside, Grumble and Angel heard the sounds of the riot die off. In fact, it had become eerily quite out there. “What’s going on!?” The mayor shouted, “First the fucking explosion then nothing! Nothing! I swear if Green Lead is fooling around I’ll kick his arse into the ocean.” “Perhaps he actually did something right for once and got rid of the nuisance.” Angel chuckled, “Oh who am I kidding, that good for nothing brute would never be that effective. But I guess one can dream, eh?” “Oh shush you bird-brain.” Grumble shot him an angry stare, anxiously tapping the ground, “I hope this works. I’m not going to prison anytime soon!” *Sssssshhhhink!* “What the buck was that?” Grumble quirked an eyebrow. Angel Wings narrowed his eyes, just as confused as Grumble, “That sounded like…” *Ssshink, sliceslicesliceslice!* The door creaked, then exploded into countless pieces as Midnight sheathed her wingblades and nodded at Pockets. “Told ya I could do it. You owe me ten bits babe.” “Pfft, show off.” The unicorn chuckled, before giving the two now shocked stallions a lazy salute, “Sup. We’re here to kick your buns and chew some gum, and we didn’t even bring gum.” The two stallions remained immobile, one of them shocked and the other one trying to not burst out into angry screams. “Hmm, sorry bout the door, but in my defense, it was a really ugly door,” Midnight nodded. “Now, all your guards are on our side, Dead is dead and Green is in our custody. Sooo… this is the part where you give up.” “Give up you say?” Grumble chuckled coldly, “Please. You foolish mares. You are the ones that should probably give up.” Just then, Pockets felt something. A shiver running down her spine something she had felt all morning long. Yet even though she didn’t know why she was feeling that, she knew one thing, it meant danger. Quickly, she tackled Midnight out of the way just as several crossbow bolts flew into the room from behind them. “Good mornin’ pardenrs! Guess who’s baaaack!” Came Dead’s loud, maniacal cackle as the sound of several bolts being fired at once filled the room, “And ah got mah toy back together!”. Midnight turned her eyes as her eyes flashed red again. “I thought I told you to give up!?” She yelled at him in that terrifying voice again. “Well sorry to disappoint Missy, but ah ain’t gonna go down just like that.” He smirked, slowly walking into the room as his now far more powerful, yet far heavier device kept firing endless rounds of bolts. “Ya see, mah buddy, the one who helped me rebuild this thing, he made me realize that ya are nothin’ but a showoff! Ah dunno how I felt into yer trap, but believe me I ain’t no longer scared, y’hear?” “Maybe we should hide?” Pockets suggested in alarm. He was getting far too close. This could… be better. While the immediate threat was Dead Drop, she wasn’t going to discount the earth pony and pegasus behind them either. “Take Nutball and Pidgeon Wings, I got ‘can’t aim for shit’ here!” She raced forward, already lashing out with her wingblades at the stallion. The endless barrage of bolts caused her to veer away though. “New plan, that one sucked,” MIdnight said as she grabbed Pockets and dove out of the window. “AND HOW IS THIS ONE BETTER?” Pockets shouted in fear as she saw the ground getting closer and closer. “...I have wings dumbass,” Midnight deadpanned as she spread said appendages and soared away from the ground below. “That does not make it better, at all.” Pockets gulped as she saw the ground now get further and further away from her. “So if you could just fly us down that’d be-” Her words were cut short when a strafe of bolts flew right next to them, a cackling Dead Drop firing into the sky. The unicorn eeped and hugged Midnight tight, “Nevermind! Keep flying, keep flying!” “Time to hit two mares with one bolt!” He shouted, before turning to both Grumble and Angel Wings who sneakily tried to escape, “Hey, you two! Get out dere and bring them down.” “Are you insane!? What if you shoot me instead?” Angel gasped. “If ya don’t go out dere, I’ll shoot ya here mahself!” Dead growled. Angel Wings quickly nodded and grabbed Grumble against his complaints, before the duo followed after Midnight, trying their best to dodge the line of dangerous darts that was being shot. “Dumb and dumber coming at our six.” Pockets pointed out, “I could try to shot them down but I should warn ya, I’m a terrible shot.” “Then I have an idea,” Midnight said and looked down at her. “Do you trust me?” Pockets didn’t even think it twice and nodded, “Always.” Midnight flew in a large loop, arcing upwards and back behind them, and once she was above Angel and Grumble… She dropped the Pockets Bomb. “I’M SUDDENLY HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT THIS PLAN!” Pockets shouted as she saw the glimmering darts fly past inches away from her. She landed with a thud on Grumble’s back, causing the Pegasus to lose a lot of balance. “My back! Get that filthy thief out of my back!” Angel shouted as the ground came closer and closer to him, or rather, the other way around. “You…” Grumble grunted. “Uhm, sup?” Pockets blinked, before dodging an incoming punch with an eep. “I’m tired of your foolishness! Every, freaking, time you’ve messed up my plans!” Then punch after punch that were, much to her own surprise, easily dodged by Pockets. The unicorn went from scared to confident as she realized that his aim was probably worse than her own. After all, she was freaking on top of him and he still missed, not even she was that bad. “Eh, what can I say. Your reactions when you find out you’be been pwned are just the best, old coot.” And then, a punch of her own… which missed, “Well it’s official, I suck.” Then they engaged in the most civilized ways of battling. Trying to slap each other with random hoof-waving and grunting sounds. Meanwhile, Midnight saw how Dead Drop’s shots came closer and closer to her. His aiming getting better and better as time went on. She angled back towards the building and then suddenly tucked in her wings and dropped like a stone, disappearing from sight. Not even bothering to turn his weapon off, Drop Dead turned around to go bat-hunting, destroying a good portion of the office’s furniture on the process. “Come out, come out, wherever ye are you annoying bat-lady! I ain’t gonna play around no more, not gonna give you that benefit.” His eyes wide open, he searched the room, going towards the outside to check the lower floors as well. Then something grabbed his back leg, as Midnight had come in through the window. “Wanna know the big difference between you and me?” She smiled and then threw him out the window. “I have wings motherbucker!!” Dead Drop grunted as he quickly grabbed a piece of rope from his belt, forming a quick lasso before tossing it at the broken window. He grunted in pain as the lasso stopped him from falling inches away from the floor. Cutting the rope with a knife, he dropped to the ground and took a look at his weapon, “Darn thing, why ain’t ya firing no more? Ah buck me, it’s stuck!” He took off the device and threw it on the ground, keeping the crossbow part of it and a few bolts, “Guess we’re doing this th’ old way, Missy. Just like when ah first shot you all dem years ago.” “Why does everyone wanna punch me?” Midnight complained and waved her wingblades. “You really think I’m gonna play fair after all that crap you’ve pulled?” “Missy, ah never said we gonna play clean.” He chuckled, taunting her to come down there with him. “...seriously?” Midnight deadpanned. “You really think I’m dumb enough to fall for that?” “Come on Missy!” He smiled, tossing his crossbow away, “There, ya happy now? Just a good ol’ hoof-to-hoof combat!” “Fine,” Midnight tossed her swords and jumped down. “I am going to enjoy beating your ass again, and again, and again...” Yet before she could say another ‘again’, they both shifted their attentions to a weird… buzzing sound? And was that someone humming? From the skies, a white blur came closer and closer to them, a blur that soon became white, brown, and a lot of navy blue. Then Midnight realized. The humming was most definitely coming from Pockets, who was… riding Angel Wings? And then there was Grumble’s seemingly semi-unconscious body, he still had his eyes half-open. What was she trying to do? And then she realized. She was going down, and fast, towards Dead Drop. “For Equestria, and for Celestia!” Pockets shouted, and it was then that both Angel Wings and a now more conscious Grumble realized what she was doing, and the only thing they could do was scream, a lot. Drop Dead’s eyes widened up and his ears lowered as the Pegasus-missile came closer and closer, whimpering like a puppy before letting out a soft, high-pitched, “Momma.” And then, dust everywhere. As soon as it dissipated, a cocky-grinned Pockets with a dramatic victory pose looked at  Midnight, three now unconscious stallions under her hooves, “Hey gorgeous,” She winked at  Midnight, “Come here often?” Midnight stared blankly at her now decidedly insane marefriend. She just… she just knocked out a stallion… with two more stallions. From the air. “Un-bucking-believable,” Midnight sighed and looked at Pockets. “Now what am i supposed to do? You totally stole my awesome fight scene!!” Pockets chuckled as she stuck her tongue out, “Sorry not sorry hun. You had your time to shine at the warehouse, so I took the epic final showdown all for my little sexy self.” “Stupid sexy Pockets,” Midnight muttered and sighed. “Fine. But I’m calling dibs on the next one smol action pone.” “Fineee, ya attention whorse,” Pockets rolled her eyes as she looked at the crumpled stallions. “Ya know, I think i’m starting to like flying! Oh hey! Ya think the Princess could make me an Alicorn? Princess Pockets, Alicorn of Thieves!” “Yeeaaahhhhno.” Midnight said and rubbed her head. She saw somepony approach and smirked. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Midnight cooed as Starry Skies approached them, along with Sphinx and Urban. “Wait… whatcha mean?” Pockets blinked in confusion, before chuckling, “Hey, I know Urban’s cool and all, but he ain’t a Princess ya silly batty.” Midnight facehooved as the trio stopped in front of them. “Well, you certainly know how to make a vacation interesting,” Starry said as she looked around. “Also, we are going to have words about you Miss Sphinx. Long, careful words, mostly about your… hobby of pyrotechnics.” “Guilty.” Sphinx giggled, “Oh do not worry dear. If anything you should blame these mares for letting me have too much fun. Perhaps leaving Quick Step back in the house was not such a good idea, she keeps me in check most of the time.” “Hey there sexy-butt, I had no idea you had these crazy-ass explosives so don’t go blaming me.” Pockets chuckled. “In any case,”  Sphinx quirked an eyebrow, “Why should I respond to you, Miss Skies?  Are you perhaps going to reveal us now who you really are? Some high-rank officer of the guard? A student of the princesses perhaps?” Starry’s form glowed, her mane lengthening and taking a wavy appearance, specked like it was taken from the night sky itself. Her horn grew longer and a pair of wings sprouted from her back as her form took a larger, more regal appearance. Her Cutie Mark warped, changing to a crescent moon against a dark blue, almost black spot on her rump. The only thing that hadn’t changed were those amazingly beautiful teal eyes. “When thou Us sent that letter,” Princess Luna sighed and looked at Midnight. “This was not We were expecting.” A collective jaw-drop was heard coming from Pockets, Sphinx, and Urban alike. “Motherbucker… I did not expect that no sir.” Urban whispered outloud. “P-p-p-princess Luna,” Sphinx chuckled awkwardly, “Your highness I am so sorry. I did not mean to be so rude!” Oh she was in so much trouble now. Pockets chuckled softly, eyeing Luna in disbelief, “My...bucking...Celestia. No offense Princess Moonbu- I MEAN Princess Luna.” She giggled nervously, rubbing the back of her head, before looking at Midnight with narrowed eyes. Luna chuckled and walked over to Pockets. “I am sorry you got upset over my presence,” she said and nuzzled the little unicorn, before leaning down to whisper in her ear. “You didn’t need to jealous Miss Pickett. If anything, I should be jealous that Midnight got you first~” Pockets’ entire face went as red as a tomato, if not even redder, “He-he… Ahhhh I need a rest.” She dropped her rump and just sat down. She had never been so confused, weirded out, and… slightly aroused in her entire life. Midnight looked at Luna and smirked. That was just too funny. “So,” Luna looked at Sphinx and nodded her head. “Do not worry. The whole point of Our disguise was not to be recognised. But, We shall have to apologise to fair Quick Step. We have given her much to be concerned about.” “Oh she must be horrified.” Sphinx sighed, before letting out a sly grin, “I do hope you at least helped her calm down.” “Oh yes,” Luna licked her lips. “Though, I dunno how calm she was since she was screaming out my name like that~” “Oh she’s quite the screamer alright.” Sphinx chuckled devilishly. Seeing things, Pockets immediately leaned closer to Midnight with a smirk on her face, “So, you Miss Flirty weren’t able to tap that booty, but a maid she just met today was. Guess you gotta step up your game, huh?” “I hate you so much right now,” Midnight grumbled under her breath. Pockets giggled and kissed the thestral’s cheek, “Hey, I may not be a sexy Princess, but ya still got me.” “You’re right,” Midnight smiled and looked her in the eyes. “You’re far more beautiful than any Princess.” “Oh gosh that’s so cheesy, I think I just became lactose intolerant just because of that.” She grimaced playfully, a wink leaving her eyes, “Real talk, I’m seriously loving romantic/cute-you, so why don’t you show me more of that, huh?” “Maybe later,” Midnight said with a smirk. She paused and thought about it before shrugging. “Ah… buck it.” She grabbed the unicorn and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. Pockets gasped, then giggled, and then hummed in delight as she locked herself in the thestral’s warm embra- “Oh, no hell naw!” And then they were separated by Urban, who was still not fully happy about all of this, “No smooching or-” He was quickly shut by the glares of the two mares, glares that told him that they were this close to kicking his butt, “Okay, fine. I’ll bucking leave…” He sighed, going to check how his children were doing. Pockets turned to Midnight and shrugged, “He’s kind of like my dad, so get used to it.” And with that, she kissed her once more, with as much passion as before if not even greater. Only to be separated, this time by Princess Luna’s magic. “There will be time for that later, but we have more pressing matters to get to.” She turned towards the three stallions that Pockets had crashed into the ground. “Now… what do we have here?” She lifted them with her magic and woke them up as she glared at them. “You little foals are in a great deal of trouble.” Former Mayor Grumble, unsurprisingly enough, simply grumbled under his breath, not wanting to look into her eyes. On the other hoof, Angel Wings was shivering, he didn’t want to go to prison! Bad things happened in prison! Specially to pretty little flanks like his own! “I- I pledge guilty for reason of insanity!” He splurted out. Except he was clearly not insane. “Yer an idiot.” Dead Drop sighed, just giving up. This was extremely humiliating for the deadly mercenary. “Insanity hmm?” Luna stepped closer as her horn flared with power. Enough that small stones started to float into the air. “I know a thing or two about that… and you know, I hear the moon is lovely this time of year.” Moon, or jail. Moon, or jail. “D-do, do I get to listen to my radio on the moon?” He really wanted to keep his butt intact. That… was not the reaction the Princess was expecting. She sighed and dropped them as another thestral guard clapped some cuffs on them. Oh yeah, seems that a few dozen of the batponies had shown up in the last few minutes. “Make sure they get the deepest part of the dungeon,” Luna said and looked at the three prisoners. “That’s where we keep the bigger stallions.” “So… many… thestrals...” Pockets whispered out loud, “Must resist… making bat joke.” “Are you alright Miss?” One of them approached, wearing silver armour with a red cross on the flanks. And… oh sweet Creators, he was gorgeous~ Those golden eyes, that chiseled jawline, and those flanks~ “Well I’ll—” Pockets started, but… then a Midnight Song happened. “She’ll be fine…” she cooed. “Though, I bet she might need an injection~ Fifty cc’s of your big bat~” “....Dammit Midnight,” the stallion sighed and walked off. Though, his tail was noticeably lower than before. “Oh come on! Not even a little three-way?” Pockets pouted and Midnight licked her lips. “So…” she started and nibbled on the mare’s ear. “What would it take to get you to hang around my belfry tonight?” “That was even worse than the pickup line I was gonna use.” Pockets chuckled, nuzzling her playfully, “And that’s saying something.” “Your fault,” Midnight replied and nuzzled her back. Luna cleared her throat from behind them. “Pickett Midnight? A word if you will.” Luna sounded… unimpressed. “From one to ten, how much trouble am I in?” She asked Midnight with an actual worried expression. “Let’s see,” Luna said as she stepped closer before Midnight could respond. “You have countless charges of petty theft and pickpocketing, which you have freely and constantly admitted to. Then there’s inciting a riot, coercing a Royal Guard into illegal activities, assault against another pony, reckless endangerment, fraternizing with other known criminals…” She took a moment to glance at Urban Spirit. “That’s not counting your outstanding charges from Manehatten…” “Uhm… I promise to do better?” She half-grinned uncomfortably. “Midnight Pickett… you would not see the outside of a prison cell for the rest of your natural life,” Luna started, before something she did not expect, hell nopony expected it. Midnight Song placed herself between Luna and Pockets. “If you touch her,” Midnight said, her eyes flashing angrily. “Well, you won’t. Because I won’t let you!” “Hey, hey, batty chill.” Pockets rushed to her, “It’s alright. I…we’ll figure something out, ok? I don’t want you losing your job because of me.” “Losing your job? You would be tried for treason,” Luna stated. “And forget jail, you will be lucky if banishment is your lightest sentence…” “If I save Pickett, then it’ll be worth it,” Midnight replied, not moving an inch. “Bullshit.” Pockets teleported behind Luna, “I refuse to get the mare of my life freaking banished! My crimes may be plenty but they’re still low-tier. Midnight, we’ll figure something out ok? I trusted you back there, and now I want you to trust me.” She said with a pleading look, obviously not able to withstand the idea of Midnight suffering like that because of her. “You two are rather overdramatic, aren’t you?” Luna chuckled. “I am merely stating the facts… I never once mentioned anything about acting on them.” Both Pockets and Midnight remained speechless, while Sphinx couldn’t help but let out a loud, yet somehow still lady-like laugh, “Oh dear, I so adore you, your Majesty. You don’t see this side of royalty on the news.” “Ah, Miss Sphinx,” Luna turned to her. “Now you, you’re a different story. A foreign spy acting on Equestrian soil. Unidentified employers and you’ve engaged in multiple acts of terrorism, murder and countless others…” “Goodbye dearies.” Sphinx smiled at them, before an extremely dark cloud of smoke covered the area, forcing everyone to cough and close their eyes. Once they were able to open, the griffon was gone, a simple piece of paper with clawdrawn heart on it, the words ‘Until next time~’ written underneath. “Yeah, adorable isn’t she?” Pockets snorted. It was far funnier when they did it to someone else. “Too bad… i was going to offer her a job,” Luna shrugged. “Oh well.” She turned back to Pockets and stood over her. “Back to you.” “Do we have to?” Pockets shrugged. At Luna’s glance, her shoulders slumped. “Well, it was worth a try.” “Midnight Pickett!” Luna said as her horn shone. “Due to the evidence I have seen, I shall pass my judgement upon you.” “Woo! Go team Pockets” She smiled, and then the smile turned into a deadpan, “Wait… so my talent is being a thief, but now  I should probably stop stealing, and Grumble’s whole operation is down… what the heck am I supposed to do with my life now!?” Luna sighed and facehooved. “Take all the fun out of it why don’t you?” “She does that apparently,” Midnight grumbled, still sore about not getting a cool fight. “Eh, I’ll figure something out.” She chuckled, bumping Midnight’s butt with her own, “As long as I have my favorite batty around, I’m gonna be f- OH!” She blinked when the truth hit her, “Wait, so like. My record’s clean? All of it?” “As a Princess of Equestria, the mare known as Pickett Midnight, AKA Pockets, is hereby pardoned of all her existing crimes,” Luna announced. “On one condition~” “Please say that I have to sleep with you, please say that I have to sleep with you.” She whispered under her breath. “....God-freaking-dammit Pockets,’ Midnight muttered and facehooved. “I am a terrible influence.” “Not quite,” Luna rolled her eyes. “You are to be placed under house arrest as it were. And you will be drafted into the Royal Guard until such a time that your debt to society is paid.” “... wait what.” Pockets blinked, “The… Royal Guard? Y-you mean the… the freaking Royal Guard?” She could not believe this, and now she was in that weird state between shouting from excitement, fainting, hyperventilating, or doing the three consecutively. Yet then she realized something, and narrowing her eyes she shot Luna a smirk, “Okay, but I have one condition myself.” “Do tell,” Luna said with a bemused smirk. It took some serious balls to bargain with her of all ponies. “I want a partner. Someone awesome that can kick some major flank, and maybe even good looking… something I’d tap…” She hummed as she purposely avoided looking at Midnight, her eyes running through all the other guards around. “Did I not mention the house arrest?” Luna said. “Oh, and Specialist Midnight, you have a new assignment. You shall be her parole officer.” Midnight swooned dramatically. “Urrghhh, if I have too…” “Oh don’t you ‘urgh’ me batty. I’m the one that should be ‘urgh’-ing! I wanted that hot stallion from before.” She mimicked Midnight’s own expression and let out an even louder, “Urrghhh” “Red Cross? Nah, he’s married,” Midnight shrugged and smiled. “So I’m guessing I have to train our newest recruit as well Princess?” “Perhaps, we shall see if she’s to be useful for more that cleaning barracks and scrubbing toilets,” Luna smirked and gave her tail an idle flick. “Now, I shall leave it to my Night Guard to clean things up here. I shall await your return to Canterlot.” With one last bow of her head, Luna’s horn shone and she vanished in a crack of bright light. And that’s when Pockets remembered something, something that should have probably been important to remember before the Princess left, “Wait… did she say something about ‘house arrest’?” “She did,” Midnight nodded. “So… seems like you’ll be staying with me in Canterlot for a while hmm?” The unicorn chuckled, shooting her a wink, “Eh, could be worse. And hey, I don’t see no pesky motherbuckers or princesses with a moon on their butt around.” She huskily pointed out, half-lid eyes and a soft smile on her muzzle, “So… wanna go back to what we were doing?” “I think we could, but let’s find a better place to do it,” Midnight nodded. “Urban might come back and I’m outta Princesses to throw at him.” “Nah.” Then with an amazing speed worthy of a thief like her, she grabbed Midnight and stole yet another kiss, closing her eyes and humming from delight while her magic kept Urban’s mouth shut and legs in place, much to the stallion’s annoyance. Breaking the kiss with a giggle, she decided to point something out, “Hey, you didn’t notice but I just stole something from you, again.” “Huh?” Midnight looked over her form. All her armour and her swords were in place, and she wasn’t carrying her wallet. “What?” “Your heart.” She whispered with a nuzzle, “Oh, and a few bits this morning as well. But let’s focus on the cheesy part ‘kay?” Midnight shook her head and smiled. “Fine, I suppose I’ll give you that much at least.” The two mares nuzzled once more, while poor Urban Spirit was forced to watch the whole thing… Back at Sphinx’s house, they’d found that both she and Quick Step were gone, but at least they left Midnight’s possessions behind. Collecting those, the thestral turned to her marefriend. “So, are you sure you wanna come to Canterlot with me?” Midnight asked her. “I mean, we have only known each other for a few days, and, my family can be a little weird and-” “Nope.” Pockets chuckled, her magic shutting Midnight’s muzzle before letting it go, “You’re cute when you ramble, ya know?” She giggled, bumping her butt against Midnight’s, “And ok. First of all, you make it sound like I have a choice, ya heard Moonbutt, I’m stuck with you. And even if I wasn’t, there’s the fact that I’m hopelessly in love with you. And, so what if your family’s weird? The closest thing I have to a father is Urban and you can’t possibly get weirder than that. And about moving with you? Eh, this town doesn’t seem to need the Midnight Thief anymore, and I don’t really have a house or anything. So yeah, as long as I’m with you, I’m a happy smol mare.” “I think if I kissed you now, you’d taste like cheddar,” Midnight smiled sweetly and booped Pocket’s nose with her own. “Well, I’m not complaining if you are. And hey, I always take risks way worse than this. So…” She grinned wickedly and spread her wings. “It’d be a shame not to give lovely house a… parting gift,” she said and looked at Pockets’ flanks. “You get a five second head start~” “Oh boy…” Pockets gulped, before running like she had never ran before. “HAVE I EVER TOLD YOU YOU’RE KINDA NUTS?” She shouted from the distance just as the five seconds passed. “Have I ever told you you’re kind of cute?” Midnight said as she lazily flapped just above Pocket’s head. “Just ‘kind of’? Wow, rude!” Pockets laughed, before teleporting away and reappearing right on top of the thestral, “Hi ho batty away!” She exclaimed happily, hugging her tightly. “Okay, one, that is horribly offensive, but you’re cute so I’ll let it slide… for now~” Midnight’s wings opened. “And two… remember, you asked for this!” And with a burst of speed, she shot off through the halls at blinding speed, somehow knowing when a turn was coming up before she even got to it. “I REGRET EVERYTHING!” Pockets shouted. She would never get used to those levels of fast. “I regret I can’t fly faster in here,” Midnight said as she lapped the house before flying into the bedroom, the drag she created slammed the door shut behind her. “Now… Where were we~?” Pockets would be kept flying high for a while yet~ The train gave a shrill whistle as Midnight finished loading the last bag onto the carriage. While Pickett may not have had many possessions… the sheer amount of gifts the townfolk had given her more than made up for that. And now said folk had turned up to see her off… like, half the freaking town! “Thanks everyone! Yeah, yeah I’ll write from time to time and stuff!” She chuckled as there was no way to understand anything the crowds were saying. “Make way, police department yada yada.” Came a familiar, cold voice from the crowd. Diamond Cloud made his way through the crowds with Summer Breeze under his wing, “Hey. Would you look at that, you actually did something.” “Yup, solved all your problems for you,” Midnight nodded. “You’re welcome by the way.” Diamond snorted, “What, for taking Pockets away? Yeah, for that I am forever thankful.” Pockets blew him a raspberry in return, “Ya coltcuddler besterd.” “Look who’s talking.” He smirked, before turning to Midnight and chuckling, “Yeah, whatever. Thanks for saving our ass. Now that the entire political system of Tall Tale is down I’m now unemployed.” He deadpanned. “Well, at least you don’t have to listen to Greenie anymore,” Midnight said and leaned against Pockets. “There’s that.” “Eh, wasn’t planning to do so for much longer anyways. I’m taking this sweet bastard for a trip to wherever the rails take us.” He smiled softly as he nudged a now blushing Summer Breeze. Pockets’ eyes widened up, “No way… you two?” “Whoo, nice!” Midnight smiled and licked her lips. “Give us a call when you wanna spice the bedsheets up a little. Once you go Middy, you never go back~” “And that’s exactly why I’m not jumping on that bandwagon.” He deadpanned, before chuckling, “In any case. Just take care, eh? And if you get tired of dealing with Pockets just give us a call and we’ll put the toddler back in her crib for you.” “Aww, don’t worry, I love foals,” Midnight smiled and ruffled Pocket’s mane. Pockets grumbled with an angry blush, “Friggin tall ponies and their bad jokes. Just wait till I grow up!” She said playfully with her tongue out. “That ain’t happening you midget.” Diamond chortled, before grinning, “Well, we got some train tickets to buy. See ya later girls.” “Bye Pockets, Bye Miss Midnight!” Breeze said chipperly, as they left towards another lane. And just as they were leaving came the sight of a sobbing Urban Spirit who just wasn’t ready to see her child leave home. “Oh boy... “ Pockets sighed. Midnight waved to Breeze and Diamond before she saw a rather heart warming sight. Full Steam and his family walked towards the two mare, wide grins on their faces. “Hey, guys, you made it!” Pockets chuckled. “Of course we did. After all you’ve done for us, Pockets? We couldn’t miss it.” Steam smiled, greeting Midnight with a nod, “And I must thank you too, Miss. We know this couldn’t have happened without you… and there’s someone who’s dying to see you.” He stepped to the side to reveal the small figure of Seashell, a wide heart-warming grin on her face. “Little Seashell!” Midnight giggled and pulled the filly into a cute. “Ahh, now this I have this cuteness, my life is complete.” “Hey, I’m cute as well!” Pockets mock whined before smiling, “But yeah, there’s no better cute than Seashell cute. Just look at those gla- Wait… are those what I think they are?” Midnight looked at the filly in her pair of new glasses and her chest tightened. “Too… cute… can’t breathe… bleh!” She fell back, hugging the adorable filly. “Here lies Middy. Dead by Cute.” “Ahh, I killeded the Tickle Bat,” Seashell gasped. “Nuuu, I’m too cute.” “Nah, you’re no- gah… wait… oh boy.” With her eyes rolled back and her tongue all out, she leaned on Midnight and let out a raspy, zombie-like, “Gaaaaaah… RIP.” “Nuuu, now I killeded Miss Pockey as well!” Seashell gasped. “Now I’ll be banisheded.” “Extra Life!’ Midnight sat up and looked at Pockets. “Aww, Pockey is dead. But… I know a secret to waking her up~” She smiled clicked her teeth together. Then, Pockets resurrected. Only to narrow her eyes and look at Midnight with a ‘don’t you dare’ look. As much as she loved/hated being bit on the butt, she would not allow that in front of Seashell’s innocent eyes. “And cuteness revives us!” Midnight decaled. “Yaay, I leveleded up!” Seashell giggled as Midnight tickled her. “Oh I’ll miss you, little ‘shell.” Pockets chuckled, messing with the giggling filly’s hair. “So,” Seashell’s mother leaned in and whispered to Pockets. “When am I going to become an aunt hmm?” Pockets’ face went red, a really awkward giggle leaving her mouth as she kicked the air, “W-well, I… I mean. We just started dating and...“ She winced and looked at Steam with eyes that begged for help. “Don’t look at me,” he shrugged and then pulled Pockets into a bonecrushing hug. “You take care you little scamp. And don’t be afraid to ask for anything. We owe you.” “Aww, thanks Steamy. Now, if you could… you know, let me go because I kinda need my lungs to breathe.” Pockets half-chuckled, half-gasped for air. “Miss Middy?” Seashell asked and Midnight looked down at her. “Guess what?” “Hmm, what’s up?” Midnight asked. “When I grow up,” Seashell said and smiled brightly. “I wanna be a cool Royal Guard. Just like you!” Midnight Song had no idea how to respond to that. She just blinked and then hugged her close. “Yeah, you can be whatever you want,” she smiled and rubbed the filly’s head. “No matter what anypony says.” A grin appeared on Pockets’ muzzle, those words hitting close to home, “Yeah. Just look at me, I’m a street thief the size of a teen, and now I’m gonna become a Royal Guard myself! So, don’t let anything stop you, eh?” “You’re gonna be a Guardy-Guard too?” Seashell stared up at her with an expression of wonderment and then smiled. “Then, when i grow up, we can be Guards, and protect the Princesses and kick bad guy butt!!” “Heck yeah I will!” Pockets laughed, nooging the little filly. “Well. We should get going.” Steam chuckled, pulling Seashell closer to him, “Take care you two, and remember to write!” “I’m looking forward to the wedding invitations!” Breeze called out. Pockets facehooved as an embarrassed blush took over her face, “She’s relentless.” And just as they left, the sight of a familiar, sobbing motherbucker came to view.  “Aww, what’s wrong Papa Spirit?” She asked him and pet his head. “You know wuddup! Mah child, she gonna go to Canterlot and be one of dem guards! I'm both happy and angry at the same time!” He cried out. Pockets chuckled and gave him a comforting hug, “Don’t worry Papa, It isn't that bad. I'm gonna write every week and maybe they'll let me visit from time to time. ‘Sides…” She leaned closer to him so Midnight couldn't year, completely forgetting that she had some amazing sense of hearing, “You know being a guard is like a lost dream to me. It'll be fun!” “I know, I know mah child. Still… take care out dere eh? And you,” He looked at Midnight, sighing, “I know we didn't start with th'right hoof but… I just wanna ask you to look out for her. Got et?” “Well of course I will,” Midnight nodded and pulled Pockets into a winghug. “I’ll watch her very, very closely~” “Halp!” Pockets mouthed out. Urban narrowed his eyes, “Ya watch your hoof motherbucker, if I hear anythin’ funky Imma deliver three dozens of full blastin’ speakers up in your place.” He growled protectively. “Aww, don’t be like that,” Midnight chuckled and nibbled Pocket’s ear. “She likes where I put my hooves~” Urban blinked, several times, “OH YOU MOTHERBU-” The magical bubble now placed on his muzzle kept him from startling the entire station. And a few minutes passed as he screamed into the bubble, until he finally calmed down. Once he did, he was hugged by a giggling unicorn who owed him the world. “Thanks Papa Spirit, for everything.” Pockets whispered, causing the stallion to chuckle. “Anytime child. And hey,” He lowered his gaze and made sure that nobody, not even Midnight could hear, also not remembering (or rather not knowing) of her amazing hearing sense, “And remember what we talked ‘bout. Ya gotta try to remain calm and don't stress up. And also, ya gotta tell her at some point. You ain't no freak, got it?” “Yeah… I know. I'll tell her soon enough.” She sighed. Midnight tilted her head at the two. They were mumbling about something, so she turned away to give them some privacy. Wait! Was that?... She could have sworn she saw Quick Step in the crowd. Aww, she missed that snarky little maid already. Oh well, she still had her cute little thief. The train whistled again, signalling that it was time to leave. “Well, Papa Spirit, time to go.” Pockets giggled, kissing his cheek. “Take all the motherbucking care in th'world, child!” He exclaimed as the two mares boarded the train, “And remember to hear some blastin’ hip-trot so ya don't end up a snobbie!” “I will!” Pockets shouted back, before looking at Midnight and shaking her head, “I won't.” “I’ll show you some decent music later,” Midnight smiled as they boarded the train. It gave one last whistle as the doors closed and the train started to pull away from the station. The two mares waved good bye until the station was out of sight, and they eventually took their seats. “I am really looking forward to some peace and quiet,” Midnight groaned as she flopped onto the seat. “I wonder if I can take a vacation from my vacation?” “A vacay-ception?” Pockets chuckled and sat down next to her, “And I thought I was the lazy one. And hey, at least you had fun, saved the town, defeated the bad guys, and got the mare. I don't know why you're complaining.” “Because you still ruined my epic fight scene!” Midnight pouted. Yes, she was still complaining about that. “You better believe I’m punishing that bouncy butt of yours for that.” “Geez, such a whiny little bat baby. Get over it.” The unicorn stuck her tongue out, “And hey, I told you already that if we see another baddie, he's yours.” She leaned on Midnight and sighed as the the sight of the slowly disappearing town planted a smile on her muzzle. “I’m gonna miss this little town… Hey, whatever happened to Sphinx and Quickie? I heard they never found her.” “Dunno,” Midnight sighed and shrugged. “For a foreign spy that might or might not have been a badgal as well. She was tons of fun, and so was that little snarky maid of hers. I think I’ll miss them.” The thestral hummed to herself. “D’aww, did you hear that dear? They'll miss us.” Both Pockets and Midnight looked at each other in confusion, “Did… did you also hear that or am I just going crazy?” Midnight’s ears flicked. “No… bucking… way…” She looked a few seats down. “I swear, if that’s Sphinx and Quickie… I will not have sex for a week!” “Well good  thing they are not.” Came that so familiar smooth voice from behind Midnight, a pleasurable stinging sensation taking over her left ear as Sphinx nibbled it playfully, “Hello dearies.” “Sphinx!?” Pockets exclaimed in shock and surprise, “W-what are you doing here?” She chuckled as her arms surrounded Midnight, her head resting on the thestral’s own, “Well now that my mission is complete, I shall be relocated to a new city of course. But of course, first I must go to Las Pegasus to meet with my superiors. They are not too delighted with my behavior yesterday.” The griffon sighed, before letting out a soft smile, “Quickie found out that this train goes to Las Pegasus after its stop in Canterlot, so she made the arrangements.” Then, the head of the unamused vanilla pegasus popped up from the seat right next to Sphinx’s, “You have no idea how hard it is to get train seats at the very last minute. I almost had to blackmail the lady at the boot.” She grunted. “Luckily, a couple of tourists got extremely sick all of the sudden after a certain friendly griffoness offered them a drink” Sphinx giggled, “Poor dearies, such terrible luck they had.”” “I’m sure,” Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes. “You know… Princess Luna is looking for you Miss Sphinx.” “Well then good thing ‘Sphinx’ is going to disappear from the map soon.” The griffon replied with a sigh, “One of the many ‘perks’ you get from being a spy, a new identity for every new city. Albeit if I must be sincere with myself, I was really growing fond of this name, partially because of you two, dearies.” “Imma be real for a moment,” Midnight said to her. “Are we friends Miss… Whatever your name might be?” Sphinx hummed in thought, “Well. You could say that. We have the same objective and in the end work for the same cause. Yet as you can probably tell my methods are far more… extreme to say the least. So you don’t need to worry about me turning against you, because even if for some strange reason I was ordered to take you down, I would simply go rogue again and blow something else up instead.” She winked to Midnight, “So relax dear, I’m not evil if you’re thinking that. Does Celestia agree with our methods? Not in the slightest. But we are on the same side.” “And for the strangest reason. I believe you,” Midnight nodded and patted the arm that hugged her. “Well, I won’t turn you over to the Princesses at any rate, but do try and visit sometime. I still have plenty of moves to try on little Quickie there~” “Please don’t.” The Pegasus deadpanned, “Never before have I had so much to clean until you two came along. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of those… ‘special stains’ on the floor?” “She’ll love it.” Sphinx chuckled. Pockets hummed and quirked an eyebrow, “Hey, Quickie. Is that even your real name or do you also change it like feather-butt here?” The Pegasus shook her head no and shrugged, “Never had the need to. I’m not really an agent, just her companion.” “Besides, I change my name for protection purposes. There are dozens of ponies out there with grudges against my former personas. Yet with our dear Quick here, anyone who ever had a grudge against her… well let’s just say that if they’re somehow still breathing, they will not want to see her face anytime soon.” Sphinx smirked, “After all, she was the one that decided to be my companion to teach me the ropes and keep me in check under the whole ‘maid’ facade, which surprisingly enough stopped being a facade shortly afterwards. But when I first started working, she was actually my superior.” “And you just had to say it, didn’t you?” Quick Step rolled her eyes. Middy gasped and looked at the pony maid, who was apparently a badflank spy in her own right. “Hmm, that explains the daggers I kept finding under your skirt,” Midnight hummed, her hoof idly tapping against the floor in a rhythmic beat. “And here I thought you just wanted me to stop groping you~” “I despise you sometimes...” She grumbled, turning around to go back into the newspaper she was reading, “Yes, yes. I’m a former spy. Big deal. Now if you excuse me, I’ll read these comic strips until I fall asleep.” “Oh she’s adorable.” Sphinx giggled, “Well. If you need us, we’ll be cuddling together back here. Have a wonderful journey dearies.” And with a warm smile, she went back to her seat. “Well that was… something.” Pockets chuckled, before noticing the pretty nice beats her marefriend’s hooves were making. With a grin, she followed the beat as well with her own hooves, her head bobbing to the rhythm, “So, are ya finally gonna tell me what that buttmark means? I swear if ya say you’re a drummer or something ridiculously out of place like that.” “Hmm, my Cutie Mark?” Midnight looked at her flank. “Oh… I suppose I never did tell you did I? Well, it’s fairly self explanatory really.” She started to refine the beat as she took a breath... And then Midnight Song started to sing. “Holy Celestia…” Pockets’ jaw dropped, a smile growing on her face as she followed the beat with her hooves. She was good, real good, and oh it just made her love that batmare so much more. The thestral stood up and started to dance as well, timing her steps and creating a rhythm to her song. And when she hit the second verse, she nuzzled the unicorn to let her know it was about her. Even behind them the usually grumpy Quick Step let out a soft smile, humming along the song while Sphinx pet her head and caressed her hair softly, “Well my dear, a new adventure awaits us.” “Yeah, but at least I know that without you it won’t be a dull one.” Quick chuckled, “And you know… I’m feeling like coming back to the force, perhaps aid you on a more direct way.” Sphinx hummed, “Is that so? Well now this will be an interesting thing to see. Celestia bless whoever is our next target. Now bring your marvelously cute head here dear and let me pet you some more” The pegasus replied with a deep sigh, getting a bit closer to secretly enjoy what she would otherwise claim to hate. Sphinx was too good at petting, much to her annoyance. Meanwhile back in Tall Tale, Urban Spirit laughed and rejoiced as he and his children celebrated the start of a new Grumble-free era. The rumors of an old beloved officer running for the next mayor giving everyone hope about a brand new future.  And now that their records were completely clean, the possibilities were endless. “Heck! I may even become a hip-trop rapper!” Nobody was happy with that decision, yet they still supported it nonetheless. Far away in Canterlot, deep underground in the ancient dungeons, three unamused ponies served food in a rusty old jail filled to the brim with the most wicked criminals around. The white pegasus in particular kept his eyes wide open all the time, not even able to sleep and even shouting at any stranger that got remotely close to his flank. At least he had his radio to calm him down, playing his sweet classical music to help him relax, much to his two cellmates’ annoyance. And so, their new journey began. The street thief and the royal guard, now ready to take on whatever destiny had prepared for them. And judging from past experiences of both mares, they knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, but they also knew it was going to be a blast. After all, with two mares like themselves? Life could never get boring. “... And because of these thousands of lost fillies who did not have the pleasure of growing up with loving parents, is that we are happy to announce our brand new Miss Wide Heart’s Orphanage for lost Children branch here in Canterlot.” The sound of clapping hooves filled the massive hall, every single pony in the room standing up from the heart-warming speech. The tears and ‘Bravos’ from the invited nobles gave the tall blue-coated stallion a warm, thankful grin. “Thank you all kindly! If you wish to donate to our foundation, Miss Sparks will be waiting in a stand outside for you. Let’s all work together to make a better Equestria!” The hall slowly emptied itself, all the nobles leaving it with the widest grins possible as the sensation of helping those in need warmed their chests. “Poor fools…” The stallion sighed as he got rid of the uncomfortable suit with a flash of his horn, shuddering as the ‘snob-stench’ as he called the intoxicating expensive perfumes reached his muzzle. “Yo, Heart.” A slim light blue pegasus walked into the room with a bag full of bits, “Amazing job as always dude, you killed their wallets with that speech!” “Tch! Appealing to their base nature is foal’s play… hmm, speaking of…” he looked at the Pegasus. “How goes the training of our newest, recruits?” “The Canterlot branch’s ready for action. Those five you found? They have some talent. Yeah it took some… convincing to do with most of them, but I think they’re ready for their first job.” She nodded, before stretching her wings with a sigh, “This is sooo dumb. I prefer regular stealing way better. Also, what’s up with that dull blue you got going on? It’s ugly as heck.” “Agreed,” Valiant nodded as his form flashed with emerald flames, altering his appearance. He was now a slate-grey Thestral stallion with a cobalt mane and tail with piercing red eyes. “Ahh, this is more my speed. A little… inspiration from recent events.” “Geez, edgy much?” Spark chuckled, shaking her head, “Whatever floats your boat dude. Well then, let’s go cause some ruckus, shall we?” “Indeed,” the now-batpony nodded and licked his fangs. “We have much work to do.”