The Inheritors of Friendship

by NgKQ

Chapter 21

The siblings returned to the house earlier and stormed inside. Luckily for them, there was still no one inside the house.

“Now what?” asked Thunder.

“Hmm, we need to look for something so that we can sneak into the place quietly,” replied Greenie. She looked everywhere until her eyes caught sight of a small flashlight. She turned on the switch. It was working perfectly, illuminating a bright light which its brightness can be adjusted.

“Cool…”

“Now that’s the one I’m looking for!” exclaimed Greenie as she found a multi-purpose gadget. She opened each of them to see if they work well.

“Whoa, that’s sharp,” said Thunder as Greenie took out the penknife part.

Greenie searched all over the house. She returned with a medium-sized pouch.

“I think that’s all we need,” concluded Greenie.

“Nothing else more?”

“All we have to do is to wait until midnight. Then we can act.”

Soon the moon was well above the night sky. The siblings, armed with only the two tools headed back to the fortress.

They reached the fortress only to find it guarded by two henchponies.

“So how do we get rid of them?”

“Here goes…” said Greenie softly as she took out a rounded thing from the pouch. She tossed it towards the guards.

“Okay, cover your nose!”

The guards saw the rounded object being thrown towards them but just as they went to see it, it exploded in a puff of smoke. The guards instantly went out cold. The object was no other than a smoke bomb.

“That should keep them asleep until daylight,” said Greenie.

They flew quietly past the snoring guards and entered the fortress.

The fortress wasn’t very well-lit, but the siblings were able to hover smoothly above the ceiling to prevent themselves from being busted. They need to get to Fearless Fray’s cell without being noticed.

“It’s risky,” whispered Thunder. “Good thing that you’ve got this idea.”

“Who’s there to help you when you don’t have your big sister?”

The siblings continue wandering until they came across a remote corridor. They entered it and to their surprise, they found Fearless Fray’s cell, with a disheveled and a sleeping Fearless in it, tied by ropes to his hooves.

“Ha! Found him!” exclaimed Greenie softly. “Looks like he just had a hard time.”

“Now how do we get him out?”

“Let me see…” pondered Greenie as she neared the iron bars. It was so dark that Fearless couldn’t realize the siblings approaching. As Greenie stopped a meter away from the bars, she spotted a hole fit for a pony to slip inside.

“Okay, all we need to do is to get outside to relocate the hole. Follow me.”

Quietly, the siblings managed to make their way out unscathed. When they reached the entrance, the guards were still asleep, unaware of everything happening around them. They went around the fortress until they saw a hole.

Greenie checked whether it was the hole that led to Fearless’ cell.

“Bingo! That’s it!” said Greenie after she peeped through the hole.

“What’s next?”

Greenie handed him the multi-purpose gadget.

“All you need to do is to cut the ropes using the knifey in there,” instructed Greenie, taking out the penknife. “I’ll be holding the ropes. When he falls, I’ll grab him.”

“Roger, Big Sissey!” saluted Thunder.

In no time, the siblings were in action. As Greenie held onto the ropes, Thunder started slicing through them. Incredibly, the penknife was sharp enough. In less than a minute, Thunder finished slicing the ropes.

“Kay, can you hold them?”

Thunder tried lifting one. “I can handle it.”

“Excellent. Watch what I’m gonna do.”

Greenie flew to head level with Fearless.

“Wakey-wakey…”

“Huh?” Fearless opened his sleepy eyes, but before he could react, Greenie covered his face with her hat, causing him to mumble.

“Hush, pal. I’m getting ya outta here.”

In a flash, Greenie tossed him out of the hole before dashing outside to catch him. She then carried him to some place far away from the fortress. Thunder followed.

“It’s you two again!” growled Fearless when Greenie removed her hat. “I am so pissed off. Why do you two have to help me? I’m in a state of business now and how many times I have to tell you two that I-”

Angered, Greenie gave Fearless a heavy slap on his cheek. He fell to the ground, holding his cheek and staring at her with shock.

“What do you always mean by ‘I work alone’, huh? Don’t you ever know the concept of teamwork and cooperation? It’s a shame, you know that? You’re tarnishing the names of your parents! Give me another ‘I work alone’ this and ‘I work alone’ that and I’ll never forgive you!”

Then, an expression of guilt emerged on Fearless’ face.

“I… I’m sorry…” wept Fearless. “My father died when I was seven, therefore my mom had to make amends to keep us surviving. Somehow, I loved my father, and I attempted to follow his hoofsteps. Of course, my mom didn’t mind me doing all those adventures, but lately I seem to have a conflict with her.”

“What is it?” asked Thunder.

“She’s been overprotective. She fears that one day I would’ve been kidnapped. I don’t believe that! I kept insisting her that I’ll be alright but she just won’t listen! So today, while we were going to a town for some supplies, I had a row with her and I stormed off. It would’ve been better if my father was alive.”

Hearing his story, Greenie proceeded to give him a lecture.

“Listen, your father may seem important to you, but you’re not the only one to lose fathers. I have a friend who’s a princess, and guess what? She lost her father on her birthday. Yet, she still remained cheerful and optimistic, and she’s eager to learn a lot from us. That’s because we have the spirit of friendship! Doesn’t this make sense to you?”

Fearless pondered for a moment.

“You’re right,” he said at last. “You… you’ve given me a great lesson. I guess… I have to make things right.” He hugged her. “Thanks… big-eared pony…”

“Err, call me Greenie Hats.”

“Oh, Greenie Hats. Who’s that colt over there?”

“Thunder Clash’s the name!” he introduced.

“Man, how nice to know you two.” He shook hooves with them. “You’re from somewhere called Ponyville, huh?”

“Nice guess.”

“I would say, your ears are… special. It’s like you can hear things clearer.”

“Oh gosh, you just praised me!” gasped Greenie. “I was often bullied because of my ears.”

“At least, you can fly well, huh?”

“Yeah, we’re enrolled in the Wonderbolts!” said Thunder.

“That’s a prestigious one.”

“Now back to the topic,” said Greenie. “How shall we do with this Ahuizotl guy?”

“You see, I was finding a way to destroy the whole place just to show my dad’s legacy. Guess that I really need help now after all.”

“Now you’re talkin. Let’s get inside and save the day!”

“I’m with you!” added Thunder.

“Let’s get started!” said Fearless. “But first, can you cut off the remaining ropes on my hooves?”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll do it now.”