//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: One Step Ahead // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Anarchy // by Simply Anarchy //------------------------------// With determination in her heart, Twilight travels to Canterlot accompanied by Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Meanwhile, an evil plot is already unfolding within the walls of Canterlot. Simply Anarchy and two of his crew are currently en route to the home of Twilight Velvet and Night Light. "Sir, with all due respect, shouldn't you have brought more of us? This is the mother of two princesses we're dealing with." the bald stallion questioned nervously. Anarchy chuckled a bit at the stallion. "Getting cold hooves, are we?" He quizzed deviously. The henchpony shook his head fearfully. Anarchy gave a wicked grin. "Good, because next time you question my authority, I will personally cut those hooves off, deep fry'em, and serve'em to your family." The white stallion winced at the thought. "Sorry, sir. It won't happen again." "Excellent. We're here." Anarchy approached the front door of Twilight's parents' house and knocked on it giddily. The group waited about a minute before the front door opened. "Hello there. How can I help you, gentlemen?" Twilight Velvet asked sincerely, looking at each pony carefully. Anarchy put on a innocent smile. "Hello, Miss Velvet. My name is Simply Anarchy, and I am a personal friend of your daughter, Twilight Sparkle." "Oh? I don't recall her ever mentioning you." Twilight stated unaware. "That's probably due to the fact that she has been sooo busy lately. I hear, she's been dealing with quite the troublesome pony in Ponyville as of late." Twilight Velvet nodded in agreement. "I do remember her mentioning that. She had said that some pony was wreaking havoc out there, but she hasn't talked to me in a few days since." Anarchy looked to his crew with an evil grin. "That's unfortunate to hear. I could probably fill you in, if you'd like." He declared devilishly. Velvet smiled innocently. "That would be wonderful! Night Light and I have been wanting to hear more about it. Come on in." She stepped aside, allowing the villain access inside their house. Velvet hummed to herself as she lead the gray pony and his pale associates to the living room. "Night! We have guests!" She chimed merrily. Night Light was sitting on the couch. He looked up happily. "Hello, gentlemen! And who might you be?" He asked curiously. Velvet stepped over to her husband. "This young stallion is a friend of our daughter's! His name is Simply Anarchy. And those two are... who again?" She quizzed the gray villain. "Oh, where are my manners? To my right is Domino. To my left is Ace. They are brothers, but more importantly, they are my chauffeurs. They are friends of Twilight as well." Simply introduced casually. "Nice to meet you all! How can we help you today?" Night Light asked cheerfully. "Actually dear, they were about to tell me more about what is going on in Ponyville!" Velvet inputted. "Wonderful! I was beginning to worry a bit about that." Night Light said with relief. "Well, it is a very troubling tale, indeed." Anarchy ensured glumly. He looked at the couple sitting on the couch in front of him. He took a seat in the armchair across from them. "This pony has been causing soooo much chaos in Ponyville. From what I understand, he is targeting the princesses and trying to convince them to see things from his point of view. Of course, you know better than I how Twilight was going to take that." He picked up a picture of Twilight and her brother from off of the coffee table in front of them. "She has always been very defensive, especially for her teacher, Princess Celestia." He scanned the picture he was holding. "I almost forgot that she wasn't born an alicorn. And... who is this with her here?" Anarchy pointed at the pony in the picture with her. Velvet smiled at the picture. "That is her brother, Shining Armor. They have always been so close." She replied memorably. "Oh, this is the Shining Armor she speaks so fondly of. I had no idea she even had a brother. Where is he now?" Anarchy questioned eagerly. "He is in the Crystal Empire, where he serves as captain of the royal guard. He is married to Princess Cadance, and together they have a beautiful baby girl they are raising." Velvet responded proudly. "Wow. He certainly sounds like he has his plate full. Captain of the royal guard, a prince, and a father... he should be proud. And so should you two." Anarchy praised. "We are." Night Light spoke for them both. The couple smiled to one another. Then, they turned their attention back to their guest. "But enough about us. I do have a question, if you don't mind." "Not at all!" the gray stallion claimed. "You have a very unique name. How does such a well-mannered pony receive such a name." Night asked out of curiosity. Anarchy smirked wickedly. "Now that is an interesting story! My specialty is demolition, and you know very well how chaotic that can be." He claimed never losing his smile. "I can only imagine! You must have interesting stories to tell about a job like that!" Night Light commented. "Oh, you have no idea! In fact, just last night I had to destroy an old farm. It had been in the way for so long. My superior demanded that I level it right away." Anarchy recalled coyly. "Sounds serious." Velvet added with interest. Anarchy smiled once again. "That's the nature of the job. I don't question my orders. I just carry them out. My boss knows what he's doing, and I would never question his authority!" "You sound like quite the loyal worker!" Night Light complimented the villain. "I appreciate that." Anarchy bowed his head out of respect. Velvet realized how off topic they had all gotten. "Goodness! I can't even remember what we were talking about before all of this." "I believe we were talking about Ponyville's current situation." Anarchy reminded them. "Which brings me to why I'm here..." He looks to his henchponies, who walk behind the couch that the couple is sitting on. "I have orders from Princess Twilight, herself, to get the two of you out of here. Supposedly, this bad pony is coming for you both, and your daughter has asked moi to guide the both of you to one of my safehouses." He informed them woefully. "Oh my!" Velvet sounded appalled. She looked to her husband with concern. "I know. And believe you me, if there were any other way around this we would have taken it. But unfortunately, this pony seems headstrong about capturing you both. It cannot be allowed for this terrorist to gain any amount of leverage over our leaders. We need to get you far away from here. We must leave now, if we are to stay ahead of him." Anarchy insisted evilly. "Trust me, we are ahead of him." A voice came booming from around the corner of the room. Anarchy stood up and looked back in the direction of the voice. "Don't act so surprised, Anarchy. You had to know we would find you eventually." Swift Justice emerged from the shadows behind him. Anarchy chuckled a bit. "You weren't expected to be here." He stated spitefully. Swift allowed a smug smile of her own to appear across her face. "Obviously. But you'll come to find that I have a knack for that." "You are quite clever..." Anarchy quickly turned to the mare and threw a firecracker at her. "But naive!" He interjected as Justice was blinded by the flash of sparks in her face. He ordered his henchponies to grab Twilight's parents. "Well, so much for doing this the easy way! I would have preferred a more subtle approach, but I guess this will have to do." He looked to his crew as they grabbed their hostages. "Get them outta here! I'll deal with the little lady!" The white stallions bolted for the door, dragging the couple with them. Twilight's parents tried to struggle, but were quickly tied up. The grunts put tape over their mouths to silence their screaming. Another pale pony arrived in front of the house driving a black buggy. They tossed the couple inside the carriage and closed it after they entered as well. As commanded, they took off at full speed away from the house. Anarchy pulled a crowbar out of a bag that one of his henchponies was carrying. Swift Justice rubbed her eyes to regain her vision. "What's with the crowbar? Don't think you can take me on without it?" She questioned coyly. Anarchy gave a vicious smile. "I'm an equal opportunist kind of pony. Why should you get anything less than what I gave Applejack's brother?" Justice glared at him, but gave him a smug smile. "You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?" Anarchy laughed wickedly, before flashing her an evil smirk. "I would never hit a lady... but I won't hesitate to kill a bitch!" He exclaimed before swinging the crowbar at her. She quickly dodged the shot and landed a few of her own to his stomach. Then she hit him with a roundhouse kick to the chin, which sent him over the couch and onto the floor, making him drop his weapon in the process. He quickly stumbled back to his hooves. He growled at her with disdain. She gave him a cocky smile. "What's the matter, big boy? Am I more than you anticipated?" He wiped a speck of dirt that had appeared on his face from the fall. He looked at the remnants of dirt that he wiped onto his hoof, checking for spilled blood. Then, he grinned deviously. "This just got a bit more interesting." He replied complacently. "Well what are you waiting for? Show me what you're made of!" Swift Justice interjected as she jumped at him. She went for a high kick, but got caught and was sent crashing through the wooden coffee table. Anarchy cackled as he quickly scooped her up and threw her at the wall next to the fireplace. She tried to shake herself off, but he quickly kicked her in the gut, sending her into the wall again. "Where is that smug attitude of yours now?" Anarchy inquired as he pinned Swift to the floor. She began struggling, trying to break his grip, but to no avail. He lifts one of his hooves off of her to go for a punch, but she jerks her head to the side and makes him punch the floor instead. "Argh!" He winced in pain. She used this moment to scan the area around her for something that could help her. She immediately grabs one of the fireplace pokers and hits him with it hard on the back of the neck. He immediately falls back off of her. Swift Justice looked at him once again, trying to catch her breath. She let another overconfident smile appear across her face. "I hope you weren't expecting this to be that easy." She huffed smugly. Anarchy made his way back behind the couch and picked up his crowbar. "I can do this all day, my dear. You, on the other hand, don't have quite my range of time." He cackled viciously at his adversary. "By now, my crew has gotten Twilight's parents far away from here! Even if I were to lose here by some divine miracle, I still achieved my goal. In other words, I win, and you lose!" He declared victoriously. Justice laughed at his remark. "I know that you have been trying to distract me. All of you criminal types are the same. You always think you're in control... that is until somepony comes along and thwarts your plans completely." Anarchy looks at her annoyed. "What are you getting at?" He asks irritably. "We knew you were coming here. Twilight alerted the other princesses and I long before you arrived." Swift Justice stated cleverly. Anarchy's eyes went wide with shock. "It is you who has lost!" Anarchy was beside himself. "No... this... this cannot be..." Anarchy said in disbelief. "You can never beat me!" Anarchy threw his crowbar at one of the large windows in the room. He quickly leaped out of the window and almost began running away, but something was holding him back. "I sincerely hope you were not thinking about leaving." An all too familiar voice came calling out behind him. Anarchy looked back to see Princess Celestia flying towards him. Then, Cadance landed in front of him. Her horn was glowing, which meant she was holding him back with her magic. Celestia touched down beside him. "I've been waiting very patiently to say this. *ahem* Simply Anarchy, you are under arrest for crimes against Equestria. Swift Justice, care to read him his rights?" the princess asked the lawyer pony playfully. "Stuff it!" Anarchy scorned bitterly, as he thrashed about trying to break free of Cadance's grip. Justice giggled at his reaction. "Don't worry Anarchy! If you need representation, I'd be more than happy to help!" She teased, as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Something tells me that even your exceptional law abilities couldn't save him from his punishment. Guards! Take him away!" Celestia commanded as ten guards swarmed in and surrounded him. One of them cuffed him, making sure to shove his head into the dirt in the process. Then, they picked him up out of the dirt and began making the trek back to Canterlot Castle. __________________________________ Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie all arrived in Canterlot shortly after. They made their way to the castle to see Princess Celestia. Although she wasn't there, Princess Luna was, and she was accompanied by Twilight's parents. Twilight's eyes lit up when she saw her parents. She ran in and embraced them both, a tear falling down her cheek. "Thank goodness you are both okay! I was so worried!" She exclaimed shakily. Then she looked at Luna. "Wait.... does this mean..." Luna smiled and pointed back to the front door. The door opened, and Celestia and Cadance entered. They were followed by ten guards, who were surrounding none other than the villain who has caused them all endless suffering. Twilight smirked at the evil pony, who refused to acknowledge her. Twilight walked up to Anarchy. "Looks like we were one step ahead of you for a change." She declared with satisfaction. He huffed angrily at her. "We'll see." He muttered as the guards lead him to the dungeon. Twilight turned back to her teacher. "Thank you for all of your help, Princess Celestia! Without your quick action, he would have taken my parents away to who knows where." She credited her mentor. Celestia smiled gracefully. "I should be thanking you, my faithful student. Without your warning, we never would have known where to go." She reassured the purple alicorn. "Besides, if you really want to thank anypony, you should thank her." Celestia pointed to Swift Justice, who was walking toward them. "She had originally come here for business, but ended up joining in on our siege against Anarchy." Justice grinned at Twilight. "It was my pleasure. I'm just glad we can finally close this case up!" She replied as she rubbed her aching ribs. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked with concern. Justice looked back to her. "Yeah yeah. Just a bit dinged up after my encounter with him, that's all." Twilight hugged the lawyer pony. "You were very brave, and we couldn't have captured him without you." "Oh! I just remembered something!" Swift exclaimed as she turned back to Celestia. "The reason I came here in the first place was to let you know that the Rich family has agreed to drop their case. Once I explained to them the situation, they calmed down a bit. Of course, now, they have a new found hatred for a certain gray pony. I can imagine that they will do everything in their power to make sure Anarchy stays locked up for life." "That's amazing news! You really are good at your job." Twilight praised with excitement. "The best." Justice adjusts her glasses and straightens up her tie. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to work now! There are many cases to be won!" She declares as she bows to the princesses. Then she turns away and walks out of the castle proudly. Twilight looked up at her teacher. "The others will be along shortly. They will all be happy to know that Anarchy has been taken care of at last." Celestia sighs. "It is true that he has been dealt with... but there is still a pony missing. Not to mention, his henchponies are still out there running around. Hopefully, with their leader locked away, they will fall apart without him. As for the doctor, we will need to interrogate Anarchy for more information about his whereabouts." She concluded remaining well-composed. Twilight put on a determined expression. "Once my friends get here, we'll have a little chat with Anarchy. We'll find Doctor Hooves. And as for his crew, they will not last long without his guidance." Celestia smiled at her student and pulled her in for a hug. "Have patience, my student. Have patience."