Just Us Little Ponies

by GrassAndClouds2

Vigilante Justice

The airship docking facility was a plush, opulent room extending deep into the Canterhorn. Its floor was covered in thick red carpet, its walls were painted with fantastic murals depicting the history of Equestrian flight, and even the ceiling had been glamoured to give the appearance of an open sky. Excepting a few small cabinets for tools on the sides, and a series of maintenance catwalks on the ceiling, the entirety of the room was devoted to two massive empty bays for airships. There were two lanes for airships to park in, and the lane between them was comprised of a single row of tall, ornamental columns that almost reached the height of the catwalks. Each column had carved into it a famous figure involved in the pioneering of Equestrian aerial glory--Wonderbolts like Purpleheart and Firefly, mages like Star Swirl and Red Magician, and industrialists with airship lines like Bobbing Fisher. Also, on top of each column was a pony.

There were a lot of ponies on top of those columns.

Raindrops couldn't help but stare at the column in the exact center of the room. It was a huge marble edipiece with Easyglider's face chiseled into it, and on top of it, a foot or two below a catwalk, stood an old, withered stallion. His brown coat and pea-green mane were in total disarray, and his wings were tightly bound to his sides with what looked like wire. A thick iron chain ran from his neck up to the catwalk above his head, such that if he fell off the pillar, the chain would hang him. A few wires also ran around the pillar and connected to some boxes near its middle that read 'Fisher Mining.' Those might be explosive charges, Raindrops thought. So...

"When those bombs explode, the pillars collapse and the ponies will be hanged," Cheerilee murmured. The teacher craned her neck up to look at the captives, none of which seemed to have noticed their sneaky entrance yet. "Does anypony see a timer?"

"Or a ladder?" asked Max. His head darted around as he looked through the room. "Come on, we need to find a way up there."

"Let's look for a way to cut those chains first," whispered Cheerilee. "There's no point in going up if we can't actually free those ponies."

"Point." Max began rumaging through the tool cabinets on their side of the room.

"This is.. this is completely insane!" Raindrops muttered, still staring at the ponies trapped in the gorgeous room. "It's like something a six-year old would come up with!"

"I suppose they let Goliath design the method of execution, then," said Cheerilee. "It makes sense; hanging is the traditional 'just' way of killing a bad pony, and Goliath thinks these are all bad ponies."

"And he knows how to use explosives," said Max. "So that's the mechanism to knock out the pillars."

Raindrops stared. "This is nuts," she managed. "I don't believe this." She found herself reminded of Snails' bug amusement park, which had been similarly inventive, if smaller-scale and involving fewer high-yield explosives and death traps. What's wrong with this guy?

The pony on the column nearest the front entrance glanced over. "Oh my... Cheerilee?" she gasped. She was a tall, cream-colored earth pony with a frazzled red mane and the remnants of glasses still perched above her muzzle. "Cheerilee? Thank the Stars!"

"Duty!" called Cheerilee. "I--"

"HEY!"

A unicorn ran out from a door on the opposite side of the room. He was of average size and build, utterly nondescript, and even his cutie mark seemed to blend into his gray coat. His horn was also unremarkable; while bigger than the mortar pony's, it wasn't quite as long as the crane operator's. The only really distinguishable thing about him was his big, trembling eyes. "You're not supposed to be here!" he yelled as he approached them. "This is private! This is--"

"You must be Agent Sneak Attack," said Cheerilee, as the prisoners above looked down and began to whisper hurriedly to each other. "No need to introduce yourself. Twilight told us about you." She smiled thinly. "Twilight survived, by the way. I wonder if she'll be able to pick you out of a line-up?"

"Nopony was supposed to get hurt!" The Shadowbolt, sweating, abruptly reversing and backing up against a pillar showing Red Magician's imperious face. "That wasn't the plan! I only wanted to capture her!"

"Nopony's supposed to get hurt?" Raindrops swept a hoof at the ponies who were about to be hanged. "Then what in Equestria is this all about?"

"Just scaring them! They're criminals, thieves, they got away with it, we only wanted to show them that they couldn't keep doing bad things to innocent ponies! I didn't want anypony to die!"

"Really?" said Max. "Because I heard about trains--"

"Not my idea! That was the third guy! I don't even know his name!" The Shadowbolt looked almost sick. "All I did was get information on where the criminals were, maybe distract some doorponies, hush up neighbors that heard scuffles! I never hurt anypony! Look, none of this was supposed to--"

Cheerilee held up a hoof. "I understand. You just wanted to scare them, not kill them. I'm sure these executions were all Goliath's idea."

"Goliath and the other guy, the one who threw the trains at you!"

"Of course," said Cheerilee. Raindrops followed her as she approached the Shadowbolt; Max stayed behind and frantically hunted for a tool that they could use to cut the chains and free the trapped ponies. Cheerilee discretely glanced behind her, then said, "Goliath knew that hanging was the proper way of eliminating the bad ponies in Equestria. It's how Luna does it, after all."

"Yes!"

"And explosions? Well, every adventure book from Daring Do to The Young Adventures of Starswirl the Bearded show that explosions are the best way of getting rid of evil monsters."

"Exactly!"

Cheerilee nodded, but when she again glanced back Raindrops, the weathermare recognized a hard glint in her eye. "But there's one thing that confuses me," she continued. "I can't help but notice that on the ponies closer to the door, the knot of the noose is under the chin, so they'll die instantly when the pillars collapse. But on the ponies further from the door, the knot's at the back of the neck, so they'll asphyxiate, which is a more painful way to die. Granted, I suppose a pony like Goliath might like the idea that 'worse' ponies suffer more. But my question is, how did Goliath know how to position the knots like that? Not the kind of thing a mining specialist with mental disabilities picks up." She tilted her head. "Any ideas, Agent Attack?"

"What--that's absurd!" said Attack. "Why would you think the knot position means anything? You read too many--"

"Oh, I dated a hangmare for a while," said Cheerilee. "Now, answer the question."

The Shadowbolt was silent for a few moments.

"You wouldn't be trying to lull us into a false sense of security by pretending that you're not as homicidal as your colleages, would you?" Cheerilee's grin was sickly sweet. "Well?"

When Sneak Attack spoke again, all nervousness was gone from his voice. "Goliath," he called. "There's bad ponies in this room! Get them!"

From behind another door, this one labeled 'STAFF BREAK ROOM', a huge roar bellowed through the cave. The prisoners screamed and cringed, and even Raindrops was taken aback. Woah, she thought. That pony's got some lungs.

Cheerilee looked back at Raindrops and Max. "Get to the prisoners. I'll handle Attack--"

The door to the break room burst down and a titantic pony stormed through. Raindrops saw a black coat, a red mane, a pair of heavy boots on very thick legs, and a crumpled face that looked like he'd taken a few too many of his own mortars to the head. His horn was still short, angular, and flat at the top, and Raindrops wondered if the tip had actually been cut off at some point. Then the pony bellowed again, and dug a few deep divots into the carpet with his hooves, and all other thoughts fled her mind.

"Cheerilee!" Raindrops turned to see Max, who was holding a pair of heavy boltcutters by means of a loop of wire attached to the handles and wrapped around his neck. "I've got cutters!"

"Good. I'll fight Attack, and--"

"I'll rescue the prisoners, got it," said Max, hurrying towards the nearest wall. "Raaindrops, take Goliath!"

"WHAT?!" screamed Raindrops as Goliath's horn began to glow and Cheerilee ran towards Sneak Attack. "Why do I have to fight Goliath?! I can fly! I--"

"Because you're the only one of us strong enough to actually hurt him," said Cheerilee. "And--" Her next sentence was cut short as Sneak Attack struck a hoof at her muzzle that would have broken it had she not dodged. "Just do it!"

Raindrops looked at Goliath and knew the next few minutes would be painful. She would suffer, and maybe even get badly hurt, for the sake of criminals, thieves, and pony scum. And for a moment she could feel nothing but blinding hate towards the vigilantes and towards the criminals they had attacked, to the point where she sympathisized with the desire to just blow up the cave and ensure that nopony had to deal with them again.

But the moment passed, and with a low growl, she leapt at Goliath.

***

It was like no fight Raindrops had ever been in before.

Goliath wasn't an intelligent fighter. He acted on impulse, striking direct blows at Raindrops with no sense of strategy. He didn't seem to know any martial arts and instead used simple kicks and bucks that Raindrops, slow as she was, could ususally dodge. And, though Goliath was a unicorn, he didn't use any magic, not even his mortar spell, after Raindrops got close enough that Goliath would likely be caught in his own splash damage. But he didn't need to be smart, or strategic, or magical. He was strong, with more physical strength than any opponent that Raindrops had ever gone hoof-to-hoof with except for Corona Herself. Even the necromatic monstrosities of Grogar had nothing on Goliath.

A kick slammed past her barrel and smashed through the carpet and concrete of the cave floor, sending chunks of rubble everywhere. Raindrops dodged to one side and then unleashed a blistering one-two combination on the brute's face, slamming both of her front hooves into the sides of his muzzle in rapid succession. Goliath just roared again in inarticulate anger and smashed his head at Raindrops. It barely clipped her, but she still found herself stumbling away, and she had to throw herself to one side before Goliath's follow-up mashed her into the ground.

"Goliath!" yelled Sneak Attack, who had dropped into a martial arts stance and was circling with Cheerilee. "On the wall! There's a very bad pony up there who makes foals cry! Blast him!"

Goliath snapped his head up, and Raindrops looked too, to see that Max had given up on his search for a ladder and was climbing straight up the cavern wall towards the catwalks. As Raindrops watched, Max reached for a crack that was barely half a hoof wide, slipped, almost fell, but then regained his balance--

And then Goliath's horn hummed as the pony charged up for another shot.

Raindrops flew at the brute and wrapped her hooves around his neck, swinging around him so that she was on his back and then bending upwards with all her might. Slowly, by pitting the entirety of her strength against Goliath's neck, she managed to crane the roaring Goliath's head up just a little bit. His horn flashed and a mortar blasted at the wall--

To strike just above Max, knocking a hole in the mural and erasing Luna's face from the painting, but missing the Baron's body by inches.

"AAAARGH!" Goliath flung himself backwards, almost crushing Raindrops under his weight. The weathermare managed to roll to one side, but this time, Goliath flailed a hoof at her and caught her on the upside of her head. It was just a glancing blow, but Raindrops' head still slammed back into the concrete and she saw stars. For a moment, she lay stunned on the ground and felt nothing.

But then the pain hit her, cutting through the numbness caused by the blow, and Raindrops jerked herself away from the next attack and struck back at the beast with a blow that caused even Goliath to stumble backwards. Her vision had taken on a reddish tinge, as the pain fed into her anger and fueld it even more. I don't care what's wrong with you. I'm taking you and all you bastards down! She dropped under the next blow, then kicked upwards and smacked Goliath in the chin, earning a roar of pain.

Goliath slammed down at her with his massive boots, and the battle continued.

***

"Why did you betray the government?" asked Cheerilee, snapping a hoof out in a feint. "You're supposed to uphold the nation's laws!"

"Uphold the laws?" hissed Sneak Attack. "Don't talk to me about the laws! You sit in your rural hamlet, where the worst crime that ever happens is when your drunken Representative vandalizes the town fountain. You know nothing about what goes behind the scenes in Canterlot!"

Cheerilee leapt at him, striking at him in a move designed to flip him onto his back. Sneak Attack deflected the first two blows, then grabbed Cheerilee's hoof on the third and flipped her, threatening to break her shoulder if she landed badly--but she didn't, she twisted in the air and slammed another hoof into the side of Attack's head, knocking him to the right and causing him to lose his grip on the teacher. In a moment, both ponies were back up and circling agan.

"I worked as a Shadowbolt for thirty years! I tracked down all kinds of bad ponies--smugglers, forgers, thieves, hitters, all of them. I sent a lot of them to prison. And then our idiotic government kept letting them out!" Attack swung at Cheerilee. His attack was a hair slow, but Cheerilee saw in his stance that he was trying to bait her into exploiting the 'flaw', and so just twisted aside. "I've lost count of how many ponies I caught were sentenced to 'house arrest', or even worse, 'probation!' Because they were 'sorry' or 'didn't mean it' or they only committed crimes because they were 'desperate.'" His face twisted into a snarl. "And while our judges and our nobles and even our princess are so concerned about being 'kind', about giving 'second chances' and trying to 'rehabilitate' and 'not ruin a pony's life for one bad deed', crime goes on! Every criminal knows that, if they're caught, they just need a sob story and they'll get out in a week with a stern warning and a slap on the fetlock!"

He struck at Cheerilee with a lightning-fast blow to her head. Cheerilee ducked, only for Sneak Attack to cast a quick grappling spell at her front leg that pulled her closer. The teacher tried to evade, but Sneak Attack struck a very fast blow at the side of her head, in just the right spot so that--even if it wasn't a very hard blow--it reverberated through Cheerilee's skull and sent her reeling backwards. She was disoriented, her vision swam, but she knew--because she knew the second half of this particular technique--that he would know she was blind for the moment and so would step up and fire a kick into her face while she couldn't see. So she struck forwards, hoping against hope that she had predicted his move correctly--and even as her vision cleared, she felt her hoof slam into a pony's face.

Sneak Attack sprang back and began circling her again, now with a trickle of blood flowing out of his muzzle. "What we're doing is right. When the public sees what happened, they'll be scared. They'll think twice before they defraud a business, or steal from a shop, or assault a friend in an argument. And we'll keep doing this until all the criminals are gone, all the victims are avenged, and all the other ponies know better than to break the law!"

Cheerilee dropped back, then pistoned her back legs and sprang forwards, absorbing Sneak Attack's attempt to knock her aside and headbutting him. The Shadowbolt staggered backwards. "And all these ponies deserve to be hung for what they did?"

"Just look at them!" Sneak Attack jerked his head at the furthest pillar form the door, which was unlike the rest in that it held two ponies instead of one. Both of its ponies were rough-looking stallions. "The Luca brothers. Mobsters who smuggled salt, weapons, and everything else across borders. Put rival operators in the hospital. Complete monsters through and through. Last week I learned that the government's backing off on their life sentences. They'll get off with fifteen measly years each, because they'll ask their griffin friends to help us deal with Corona." Sneak Attack's eyes flashed. "You know what I think? Slap them around until they give us whatever information we need to make the griffins work with us, then lock 'em away forever, or hang them! Isn't that more likely to get results? Deter crime? Avenge their victims?"

"They're not all like that," said Cheerilee, deflecting a series of attacks and striking back at the Shadowbolt, who slipped to one side before the blow could land. "What about me? I was a hellion in my youth, but if I'd been in jail, who would stop the Tyrant Sun?"

"I'm sure they could find some other mare who represents laughter without resorting to a former criminal." Sneak Attack ducked under Cheerilee's next blow. "This thing ponies like you want to push, where you're so important we have to overlook your crimes? Lies. Other ponies can do what you do without leaving destroyed lives in their wake."

Cheerilee scowled. "What about Twilight Sparkle? You also tried to kill her, and she never destroyed any lives. She--"

"She almost razed your village!"

"Yes, and we forgave her for that. Not only did she help defeat a world-killing abomination that overpowered three separate alicorns, but she's shown herself to be genuinely repetant. She's worked hard to make friends and repay the community for the debt she incurred, and she'd become a brilliant teacher, a skilled librarian--"

"Who cares?" yelled Sneak Atack. "She's a criminal. If you hicks want to forgive her, it just means you don't understand anything about justice." His horn glowed and telekinesis pulled at Cheerilee's legs again, and she had to throw herself back to break his grip and avoid being tugged close enough for him to pummel her. "Maybe it's not fair to her, but was she fair to the ponies whose buildings she wrecked? Is it fair to all the innocents in Equestria that they're at risk of being victims of crime, because we don't prosecute the bad ponies harshly enough? I'd rather be fair to them, than some dilettante heiress who plays with forbidden magic."

Cheerilee said nothing for a moment as she set up her next attack. When she was ready, she said, "For your sake, I hope Luna adjucates your case according to her standards, not your own."

She attacked in a flury of hooves, and the two battled across the room.

***

Max neared the top of the room and then pushed off from the wall, plummeting through space for a moment before he crashed into the side of the catwalks. The impact knocked the breath out of him, but he forced himself to climb upwards and crawl onto the thin paths extending out above the cave. "Okay," he muttered. "Just gotta free these guys--"

A blast of energy sliced over his head and burned into the wall behind him.

Turning, Max saw the pony who had been abducting Snails before--tall, lithe, with a long and pointed horn. His face was still blurred by some spell, as were his coat and mane, but Max could tell from his build it was the same pony. "Hey," said the other pony. "Wanna go for round two?"

Max grit his teeth and ran at the pony, but the catwalks were so narrow he had nowhere to dodge when the enemy shot another blast of magic at him. He took the shot right in the shoulder and was almost blasted off the catwalk, clinging on through sheer force of will. "I'm stopping you," he hissed. "No matter what."

"Big words for a little pony." The enemy fired another blast, which Max managed to dodge by throwing himself backwards. "You're lucky I didn't run you over back in the freight tunnels."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Max, gritting his teeth, pushed himself to his hooves. His blasts hurt, but they aren't strong enough to throw me off the catwalks, and I'm faster than him. I might be able to just chase him down. "You've hurt innocent ponies of this nation. I'm bringing you in."

"Oh, is that so?" The pony blasted another shot at Max, who cried out in pain as it struck him, but advanced as soon as it was gone. "You're screaming in pain, and you can barely stand. Give up now and I might let you walk away."

"Not going to happen." Max stepped forwards, ignoring the painful, buring feeling from his coat. I hope I'm not actually on fire. He took another few steps forwards, this time pushing through the next energy blast. "Once I set my mind on something, I never give up."

The enemy pony limped backwards a few steps, continuing to fire at Max. "Your funeral."

"Or yours."

When the next blast of energy hit him, Max didn't even flinch as he smashed through it.

***

Raindrops finally launched a perfect shot that hit Goliath in his knee joint, and the pony roared in pain.

"Got you!" hissed Raindrops as she flew over the monster. Then, more loudly, "Stand down! Give up or I"ll destroy you!"

Goliath made no sign of having heard. His horn began to glow, and Raindrops' eyes widened as the mortar blast appeared and then fell at their hooves. Oh no.

The mortar blast sent Goliath rocketing to one side, where he skidded into the ground but got to his hooves in a moment. Raindrops tried to fly away, but she was slow, and while the blast itself didn't hit her she was battered by the rubble it kicked up. Reeling, she crashed to the ground... and heard the familiar hum of another mortar being summoned.

Desperate, she clawed her way back to the air and took off, dodging and weaving in an effort to throw off the shells. She tried to wheel around and get closer to Goliath, but he was filling the air with smaller, weaker blasts that he could summon quickly and were still strong enough to keep her away. She backed, up, working out her next move, then flew through the room as the shells chased her. "COME ON!" she roared.

"Get in close, Raindrops!" called Cheerilee. Both she and Sneak Attack had a few new cuts and bruises, but neither looked seriously hurt yet--at least in Raindrops' snap assessment. Then the weathermare had flown past the duel and headed towards the great big metal door that opened up into the Canterhorn, dodging down just before a blast from Goliath slammed her into the metal. She heard Goliath lumbering after her and circled around the first column from the door to dodge the shrapnel from the next blast. I need to figure out a way to fight this nut. Maybe...

Raindrops swept around, dove under the next blast, and even as it pounded into the column she slammed into Goliath. One hoof connected solidly with the base of his horn, which was starting to glow an ugly brownish-red, and the other punched him square in the throat. Goliath gagged and staggered backwards. Raindrops pressed the advantage, hitting him twice more, and...

And she heard a beeping behind her.

Glancing back, she saw that the explosive charge attached to the column that had been hit was beeping. "Um, Max? I think this one's live!" She flared her wings to rise up and try to rescue the pony, but Goliath tackled her, slamming her into the ground with a growl and shooting pain through her shoulders.

With a cry of pain, Raindrops punched at Goliath's face. "Max! Hurry!"

***

Max had drawn within several feet of his opponent, who was sounding less cocky and more nervous the closer Max got. "You're gonna get it, you hear that?" the pony hissed as he shot off a fast, weak jolt of energy at Max. "You're gonna get it and you're gonna suffer!"

Max grit his teeth as he moved ever closer. The other pony was running out of space to back up. Just a little more. "You're done," he growled. "You're--"

The other pony took another step back, but his injured leg bent and he stumbled. Before he got up, Max had leapt over to him and kicked him down with a direct blow to his face. The pony gasped and his eyes fluttered shut. "Now," hissed Max, knowing that he was probably going to regret taking all those blasts in a few moments. "I'm going to--"

"Um, Max?" called Raindrops. "I think this one's live!"

Max turned and saw that Raindrops was battling with Goliath near a column. The column looked damaged, and Max thought he could hear a distant beeping from that direction. Uh oh.

"Max! Hurry!" Raindrops called.

Knowing the downed pony might be able to attack him again if he woke up, but also knowing that he might not have time to tie up or otherwise secure that pony before the bomb went off, Max grit his teeth and ran towards the column as quickly as he could. When he got there, he bent down and lowered one hoof as far as he could. "Grab on!"

The pony, the cream-colored mare who had noticed Cheerilee earlier, swung a hoof up and gripped Max's. "Thanks, whoever you are."

"Baron Max, of Nulpar." Mounty swung her up, then took his boltcutters and cut the iron chain from around her neck. "Sorry I--"

The bomb exploded below, toppling the column over with a huge crash. Max looked down, but couldn't see either Raindrops or Goliath in the dust and rubble. I hope Raindrops is okay, he thought.

Then the bomb on the next column began to beep.

Max stared. "These things are in series?!" But there was no time to complain. He just ran, dashing over the catwalks to the next column and pulling up the pony--Fetlockson, he saw--before cutting his iron noose. But he had no time to chat; the bomb exploded, the column collapsed, and now the next explosive was beeping. "Get to the end of the catwalks and hide there!" he yelled at the ponies he had rescued before running off again, racing the bombs to the next prisoner.

His body ached all over, he was running on fumes, and there were at least twenty more ponies that needed saving. It looked impossible. But Max just grit his teeth and kept running.

I don't give up, he thought. Not now. Not ever!

***

Cheerilee narrowed her eyes as she saw Sneak Attack's stance. Behind her, columns were exploding, but she had no time to worry about it. That position, he... oh. That little rat. I know what he's doing. She carefully prevented herself from smiling. And how to beat it.

"How can you justify hanging ponies who last did something wrong twenty-five years ago?" she demanded, deliberately leaving herself the slightest opening on her right side.

"How can you justify letting them go?" Sneak Attack feinted left, then attacked right. Cheerilee twisted away, but not fast enough, and the blow struck her exactly at the spot where her front right leg connected to her body. Ponies had a nerve cluster there, and it was as if Sneak Attack had concentrated the full force of a lethal marshal arts blow directly at that nerve. The teacher's world exploded into pain.

"Agh!" Cheerilee didn't have to pretend to be in pain at that one.

Sneak Attack smirked. "Guess they don't teach that one at your weekend dojos."

"I'm still... up..." wheezed Cheerilee. More columns exploded behind her.

"Oh, it might not do too much damage, but I've never seen a bad guy able to shake off that kind of pain." Sneak Attack trotted up. "Here's the damage--"

Cheerilee leapt at him, smashing him in the face with a hoof, knocking him over, and proceding to unleash a flurry of furious blows at him. "Actually," she said, as if correcting a foal who had added two and two and achieved negative twelve, "No, this is the damage. And I do know that move. Fighting through pain is one of the first things I learned at..."

Sneak Attack made no comment; he was too busy trying futilely to deflect Cheerilee's blows.

"Oh, one of those weekend dojo places. Did you learn it?" She smiled thinly. "For your sake, I hope so."

***

Raindrops heard explosions from behind her and, abandoning her plan to break away from Goliath, hugged under his body like a shield. He grasped at her, roared, squeezed hard enough to make stars appears in her eyes--and then cried out as the marble column collapsed on top of him

When the rubble had stopped falling and Goliath had gone still, Raindrops carefully extricated herself from Goliath's body and the debris, just in time to see the next column blow up. Her head was pounding, and the explosions didn't help. Okay. Okay, think. Goliath is down. I need to get up there. But her wings weren't cooperating; they felt oddy heavy. Just a minute to clear my head.

She stood still for a moment, watching Cheerilee get the advantage on Sneak Attack and seeing Max racing across the catwalks. He was staying ahead of the bombs, but only barely, and Raindrops could see him stumbling occasionally as he ran. He's at his limit. But if I fly... She flapped her wings and noted that they seemed to be functioning again. I can get up there, and--

"AAAARGH!"

Raindrops snapped her head over to see Goliath clawing out of the rubble. He was battered, bruised, and bleeding--his coat was matted with blood and dust--but he was still up, and though he stumbled a few times as he rose, this didn't seem to diminish his power in any way. "GRRRAW!"

"What does it take to take you out?" screamed Raindrops as another column collapsed. "I'm getting tired of--"

"GOLIATH!" The voice came from up in the catwalks; Raindrops recognized it as the pony who had sent trains at them earlier that day. "ON THE CATWALKS! BLAST HIM!"

Goliath snapped his head up and began launching a mortar. Raindrops flew at him, but he knocked her aside with a booted hoof. Raindrops cried out as the boot connected with her barrel, and before she knew it she was sliding over the ruined carpet into another pile of marble rubble. "Cheerilee! Help!"

Cheerilee nodded and jumped back. Sneak Attack staggered to his hooves--and then Cheerilee slid under him and gave him a solid kick, one lifting him into the air. She rose on her hind legs, grabbed him, and hurled him across the room just as Goliath fired his mortar blast. It arced up...

Right at Sneak Attack.

The Shadowbolt's horn glowed and the mortar slowed, as if Attack was trying to redirect it with telekinesis. But it exploded before he could get far enough away, and while the blast itself didn't touch Sneak Attack, the shockwave sent him flying. The Shadowbolt was hurled into a wall, where he slid to the ground and collapsed in a heap.

Goliath looked puzzled. "Uh?" he said.

Raindrops didn't answer. Staggering to her hooves, she picked up a big chunk of marble, summoned every last ounce of her strength, and then bashed the brute's head with the rubble.

Goliath was still for a moment, and then his eyes rolled up in his head. "Ow," he said, and collapsed.

Raindrops slowly dropped the piece of marble. Everything hurt, but she knew she had to keep going. After all, the worthless scum up there need my help, she thought to herself with a bite of anger.. "Okay. I'll get up there and help Max--"

A blast of energy sounded from above her head.

***

Max ran past two empty columns, relieved that he'd be able to gain a few seconds by not having to stop and haul anypony up, then dashed for the very last one. Two stallions stood on it, both bulky, both scarred, and both shaking in terror. It took Max a moment to place their faces. "The Lucas," he managed, reaching the catwalk over their heads. "You know, half the city's looking for you."

"Get us out of here!" begged Mareio Luca. "We'll tell you everything we know!"

Max knelt down--and a blast of energy smashed him into the catwalk and then bounced him off it. He fell through empty space for a moment before grabbing onto it with one hoof, the boltcutters almost choking him as their wire wrapped around his neck, and the rest of him dangled through empty space. "No!" he hissed. I can't fall off, not now!

"Give up already!" hissed the enemy, dragging himself and his wounded leg over until he was standing over the Baron. "You're pathetic!"

Max said nothing. The one hoof he still had holding onto the catwalk was starting to slip.

"Did you want to be a hero or something?" The pony stomped on Max's hoof, and the noble cried out. "You're weak. You're pathetic. But you think you're a good enough fighter to beat me?" He chuckled as the column behind him, the last empty column, exploded. "If you knew who I was you'd know you were doomed. I'm one of the best warriors in Equestria. But you? You're no fighter at all."

"No, I'm not." Max shut his eyes. This is going to hurt. "I don't fight."

"So--"

"I endure." Max heaved himself up with one leg and grabbed the pony with his other front leg, then pulled as hard as he could. The pony screamed as he was dragged off the catwalk and hurled down, barely managing to grab onto the column before plummeting to his doom.

Max hurled himself backwards and also landed on the platform--saw there was no time to climb back up and save the Lucas by pulling them up--then cut their nooses with his boltcutters and yelled, "Climb up! Get on my back!" Mareio clambered onto his back, leapt, grabbed the catwalk--the enemy attacked him with a savage kick, but Max absorbed it and shoved him, knocking him almost off the column--Manetelli was climbing up, using Max's back as a stepping stool to pull himself to safety--Max reached up, yelling, "Lower your hoof! Pull me up!"

The Lucas looked at each other, then ran.

And then the column exploded.

No! Max felt himself falling, saw the catwalk receeding as if a giant were taking it away. No, no no no, I can't die here! I have so many mountains to climb, and there's Posey, and... Thoughts of the Duchess filled his mind. I can't stop now! I--

Then he felt somepony grabbing him, and then Raindrops was landing with him in her hooves, and he looked up and saw that all the ponies had gotten off the pillars and all the enemies were defeated even as the last column finished collapsing behind him. For a moment, he couldn't believe it. "I'm not dead," he managed. Although, if Posey sees me like this, I might well be... I hope she's not the jealous type...

"Not for lack of trying," Raindrops said.

Cheerilee trotted over. "All bad guys defeated!" she chirped. "Shall we get the prisoners out of here?"

Max smiled. He knew he would hurt very badly very soon, but for now, he'd enjoy the victory. "Sounds like a plan, Dame Cheerilee."

***

Raindrops looked at the defeated ponies before her and told herself that she should let go of her anger.

Yes, she'd been battered and beaten in order to save a bunch of worthless criminals. Yes, the Lucas and several of the others probably deserved, if not to hang, than to suffer much worse punishments than they received. Yes, she'd had to backburner Snails even as the foal suffered from the slings and arrows of his classmates. Yes, it was manifestly unfair. But...

"It's over," she breathed. Goliath and Sneak Attack had been securely bound with wire and thrown into one corner, the same would happen to their third opponent once they dug him out of the rubble of the collapsed column, and Cheerilee had found the recessed stairwell up to the catwalks and was now leading the prisoners to the safety of the ground. "It's over," she told herself. "Just... calm down. Let it go. Get back to Snails."

She heard chuckling behind her and turned to see Sneak Attack looking at her through two black eyes.

"Idiot..." he hissed. "You're the knight with the little brother... do you have any idea whose lives you saved? The Lucas--"

"Yeah, they're terrible, I know. Shut up."

Sneak Attack chuckled, a harsh and violent sound. "I've been watching Stompina today. Y'know what she did once you saw her? She put a tail on you. Knew you'd lead her right to the Lucas."

"If she shows up, we'll pound her too."

"Oh, she won't show up here. Your brother seems to be absent right now, isn't he?" The Shadowbolt grinned. "Stompina'll find him. She's a... trader, you could say. One brother for two brothers. That's how she rolls."

Raindrops shut her eyes to avoid her vision clouding into a sea of red. "Shut up."

"What, upset that the ponies who lives you worked so hard to save are the same ponies who'd attack your brother? Throw him in a cage? Threaten to kill him if you don't give back the Lucas? And then--"

Raindrops brought up one hoof and slammed it into Sneak Attack's head. The Shadowbolt fell silent.

Then Raindrops turned and--without saying a word--trotted over to where the former prisoners were descending the staircase. She nodded briefly to Cheerilee and to Max, who had gotten back to his hooves and was trying to conduct a census of who had been captured and why. Mareio Luca was at the end of the group; when he had climbed all the way down and was back on the ground level, Raindrops waited for the others to get ahead, then grabbed him and slammed him against the wall.

"Does your organization ever take foals hostage in order to force their parents to do something?" she asked.

Mareio stared up at Raindrops. He was a big stallion, but he seemed cowed by Raindrops' presence nonetheless. "Uh..."

"Answer me," said Raindrops, in as calm a voice as she could manage.

"Hey!" said Manetelli, but when he approached Raindrops she shoved him away and he fell over. He was too drained by captivity to fight. "I--"

"Shut up." Raindrops turned back to Mareio. "You: answer me. Now."

Mareio seemed to be debating whether to lie or not. "It's been known to happen," he said at last. "I think Parley tried that in Ponyville. But, uh, I've never done anything like that--"

Raindrops said nothing, but her blazing eyes spoke for her.

Mareio pressed his back against the wall. "Look, if you have some personal greviance..."

Raindrops saw Mareio as if through a reddish mist. She said nothing. She just approached him until they were standing muzzle to muzzle, then gently pressed a hoof against his throat.

Mareio's eyes were wide. "Look, I'll confess to everything! I'll go to jail! No deal or anything! I'll go away forever!"

Raindrops pressed against his throat--lightly, but noticeably. "Look," she growled. "I just fought a bunch of ponies who think it's okay to kill thieves, forgers, smugglers, and bookies. And they're probably wrong about that. But for ponies like you?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"Maybe they had the right idea."

Author's Note:

Sneak Attack would probably be a Kira supporter. I'm just sayin'.

Next time, the answer to all your outstanding questions! Like: what will happen to Twilight? What happened between Notary and Greengrass? Will Luna be displeased by Fisher's rather ineffective response to the crisis? How will Raindrops and Snails reunite? Oh yeah, and, Will Raindrops kill a guy? All this and more in the thrilling conclusion!

Comments

[wolfstorm56]

Gotta agree with Raindrops. Those mobsters are bad news. I really doubt she'll actually kill that dude but she's definitely imagining it lol

[Talon and Thorn]

Big fight scene!

I hope I'm not actually on fire

Got to love someone who can casually think this. More of Max's extremely painful fighting style, I think Fragrant might want him to learn a less potentially fatal way of dealing with problems.

[Monsus]

I've noticed a couple of parallels between some characters over the course of this fic.
First you have Bobbing Fisher and Sneak Attack both of whom focus solely on one aspect of the picture in a nice contrast for each-other. Fisher spends all of his time looking at the big picture to the point where he completely ignores the little picture which is dismissed almost entirely (locking up the Elements for "their own good", what he did to Goliath, his repeated dismissal of Max); he's probably a very good business pony but as it shows he's not all that good a politician. Attack on the other hand is the inverse of this he focuses solely on the small picture while ignoring the bigger picture behind it; he sees ponies that have done bad things "get away with it" all because they flipped for the government and decides to take matters into his own hooves even though those ponies could have helped the government by testifying against a bigger fish he doesn't care their evil and deserve to rot in jail or worse (which may or may not be the case in every case).
The second one is Raindrops and Sneak Attack, the both of them just can't let things go. They both see things in black and white, and if someone does something bad then even if they try and make up (Greengrass) for it that pony is nothing but trash to them. In another universe those two probably could have been great friends (A maybe a ship (RainAttack, Sneakdrops?)) both regaling each other with stories about how evil somepony is and how it's unfair that they got away with it. I hope that somepony calls Raindrops out about how she sees all nobles are evil and should be fired/jailed/exiled and how her line of thinking is very close to Sneak Attacks (I hope Cheerilee does the speech).
Great fic and I can't wait for more (and see Fisher get his comeuppance and for Max to hopefully get his moment to shine (more so then he already has) (and maybe Greengrass to get his redemption; curse you for making me actually feel bad for him )). Also the fight scene's were very well done imho.

[GrassAndClouds2]

4323085 : Well, he doesn't really fight. He endures. But I think it's safe to say that there might be a better way. Perhaps the epilogue will discuss this...

[DreadedCandiru2]

The problem with Rabid Cop's narrow point of view is that he's only got a very limited perspective. Luna's functional immortality means that she can take the long view and see things more clearly than the shorter-lived ponies that surround her.

[Trinary]

Oh wow!!! Max and Cheerilee kick serious flank. I can't wait for the conclusion!

Gawd, those 'vigilantes' are psychos. I hope Luna throws the biggest book there is at them. Well, maybe not for Goliath...but definitely for the guys who wound him up and turned him into a rampaging beast--ie his accomplices and Fisher Industries.

Also--Raindrops is sounding waaaay too much like the vigilantes. "I can't believe I'm risking my life for criminals...wah, wah wah." It's like the sixth or seventh times she's said/thought that and my patience with her has run out. Yes, I get that she's a very honest pony. I get that she has anger issues and is upset that all this horseapples are getting in the way of making Snails feel better and getting him out of harms way. But I've reached my limit. Like Cheerilee said to that agent, most of the ponies committed very minor offenses years in the past and never hurt anyone and either did their time or helped put worse ponies away through plea bargains. There's a reason plea bargains exist. If they didn't, the justice system would grind to a halt.

And considering that Raindrops is a violence prone pony who has no trouble working outside the law, conspired to -poison- a whole group of nobles and basically manipulate Luna into (correctly) smacking them down--she's coming off as more than a little hypocritical and arrogant. For heaven's sake Dropsy, get -over- yourself and put a sock in it.

This is a wonderful story. You're clearly one of the best writers of the Lunaverse, second only to RDD himself. Kudos!

[djthomp]

Another excellent fight scene, and a great climax to the story.

[Fizzy Orange]

That's a ...bizarre design for a docking bay, with pillars that don't support anything. Though the death trap was a nice touch. I think you really should have Cheerilee pick the lock if they are not being heard then it would make more sense than if they just punched their way in.

that scene break between the moment Raindrops jumps at Goliath and the one where the fight properlly begin is a tad jarring. I think you should find something else to break to so that it flows better. Not sure what exactly though.

Maybe replace 'slap on the leg' (and 'slap on the wrist' earlier) with 'slap on the fetlock'?

Raindrops once again goes through hell fighting a monster. She's gonna have so many battle scar... Also you have Sneak Attack stare at 'him', it should be 'her'.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Great fight scene... and I'm on Raindrops' side, here.

[Void Knight]

4343985

I assumed the pillars were put in by Sneak Attack and his minions to drop the criminals off of.