Taming the Wild Horse

by SFaccountant

Spark

Taming the Wild Horse
a My Little Pony/Ranma 0.5 crossover fanfiction
by SFaccountant

Chapter 6
Spark

---

It had taken mere days to locate the artifact lab. It had taken longer to restore it to some level of useful function.

So much had been lost in that crucial, agonizing moment. A flash of pique, a surge of magic, and the tower had been ripped apart. Much in the way of supplies and basic infrastructure, obviously, were annihilated by Swan Song's catastrophic magic attack or ruined in the aftermath. Decades of carefully accumulated knowledge and research, some of it entirely unique the world over, was gone or irretrievably buried. Miraculous feats of magic and critical observations became dust in an eye blink, never to aid ponykind.

The artifact lab, carefully separated into the very top of the tower and protected by special barriers, had fared slightly better. Launched from the rest of the collapsing tower like a rocket, it smashed itself to pieces miles away from the blast. Some of the all-important devices and artifacts within were shielded or hardened thanks to their magical properties. Most were not. Irreplaceable treasures had been reduced to mere debris, barely distinguishable from the bits of stone wall and shattered furniture. Most of the books from that room had survived, however, and were mostly legible after being dug out from the rubble.

It was a small fraction of Blood Rite's research. A great many of his plans and options were gone now, closed off to him thanks to the intervention of a mysterious vengeful warrior, a meddling stage magician, and the boneheaded lust of his very own partner in revolution. The way forward was narrow now, and the future it rewrote would be uglier.
But there was still a way forward.
There could still BE a future.

"... The calculations are correct. The spells are ready. This... This could work. But there is so much more to do."

Blood Rite stood over a small table littered with torn, dirty notes and various glittering jewels. The pony's fur was matted and filthy. He had dark bags under his eyes, and he had lost a considerable amount of weight as well. His cloak, magically reinforced as it was, bore several new burns, stains, and tears. He was visibly exhausted and weakened; a shadow of the stallion he had been on that fateful day that Swan Song had inadvertently crippled his rebellion. But he was not defeated.

Behind the table was a pile of large rocks. Some were boulders larger than a pony, while others were small stones carefully carved into strange shapes. All were sanded smooth and eggshell-colored, with runic inscriptions cut into rings and lines over much of the surface area.

"So much effort and study, and yet even now the greatest weapon I've ever built is still just an inert lump of rubble," Rite groused. "I'll need to deploy it at the right time and place, when Equestria's defenders have their guard down. But before that... I need a power source."

Blood Rite closed his eyes. The MacGuffin Stone was to the southeast. Waiting for him. Just like yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.

The sorcerer felt anger swell in his chest, as it usually did when he stopped his work to detect the artifact. The inexplicable MacGuffin Sense was crucial to his success now more than ever, and yet he could honestly say he hated this ability. To be an eye blink away from seeing the means to his triumph at any time when it lay so far out of reach was a unique and altogether brutal psychological torment.

Even now, after weeks of planning and recovery and rebuilding, Blood Rite didn't know how he might recover the MacGuffin Stone. Havoc, or whatever his name was, was too strong. Too wily. Too unpredictable. He could tell it was the stallion who had the artifact, too; had Celestia recovered the stone, it would have been carried to Canterlot and locked in some arcane vault protected by magic Blood Rite had long ago mastered and guards whom he could overcome with minimal effort.

The martial artist was different. Even after so many battles Rite had witnessed, and having personally felt the crushing strength of his hooves several times, somehow Havoc still remained a wild card. Blood Rite suspected he only had the barest idea of what the stallion was capable of. In truth, the reverse was also true; Rite had hardly unleashed anything close to his full power against the transformed primate. But Blood Rite could only escalate their conflict so far. Although his sheer frustration and lack of better options could eventually lead to an all-out assault against the rogues meddling in his revolution, doing so could permanently cripple him and ruin his ultimate efforts at reforming the Equestrian royal order. And that was if he won.

Blood Rite swept several pages of notes to the side of his desk, and then paused to rub his eyes. He looked around his workspace in a miserable daze. Broken crystals, shimmering lenses, and dirty laboratory equipment was stacked on bookcases salvaged and hammered together with wooden debris. To the other side, huge wheels and misshapen chunks of enchanted metal lay against the wall. Behind him, cheap sacks of grain doubled as both food and bedding. All of it packed tight into an ebony cave smaller than the bedchambers of his last residence.

"To think, there was a time in which I considered my exile from Canterlot to be the nadir of my life and the highest possible humiliation," Rite groused. "I'll need to make my move soon. Everything hinges on the MacGuffin, now more than ever. And just as before, that accursed ape stands in my way... Havoc..."

---

Trixie hummed happily to herself while her wagon trundled down the road, her magic wrapped around the stem of a feather quill.

For the first time in weeks her mood was cheerful and her outlook impenetrably sunny. She had done it. The Great and Powerful Trixie had actually passed through a region without causing a tremendous mess and stirring up a new batch of bounty hunters and guards, and she had done so at a tremendous personal profit. The Morning Star gang was shattered, the citizens of Venom Valley had funds to rebuild, and the raiders' ill-gotten loot would be put to much better use as a personal investment for Trixie's convenience. Ranma had (as usual) recovered from being beaten half to death with a single night's rest and was towing the cart again. The bandits she had been using as temporary labor had slinked off without incident the moment they were no longer needed. Her plan had worked. A complete, unqualified success.

Trixie levitated a coin pouch into the air, and her eyes gleamed as a trail of shining gold bits spilled from one bag into another. The clinking of bits was musical, and the numbers she was writing down in her personal records made her feel giddy. So many problems had been crushed beneath the swift tactical application of muscle and explosives! And to think; the loot that she had scavenged from Morning Star's room was merely a chunk of the gang's total wealth, most of it abandoned due to the limited carrying capacity of her travel wagon! And even the gang's collective possessions were probably worth less than the combined bounties of all the thugs she had left in various states of injury and humiliation. She almost envied the bounty hunters' trade! Such generous rewards for defeating such cowardly and feeble-minded targets could easily be a pony's ticket to early retirement.

Then again, those same bounty hunters were also tasked with hunting down Ranma Saotome and bringing him to justice, a job she wouldn't envy even with an army behind her and every bit in the world for reward. The revisions made to the bounty on her bodyguard made the task less deadly, at least; insisting that Ranma be taken alive and including a warning that magic was ineffective would warn off the less experienced or less discriminating hunters. But the jump in the reward total made it clear that Canterlot wasn't even close to giving up on securing the martial artist even as they revised the list of crimes down to something more reasonable (and more difficult for him to deny).

Trixie sighed happily and rolled onto her back, levitating her papers to hover over her. In a way, it would be disappointing to finally purchase her new wagon and get back to putting on magic shows for random townsfolk. Her time as a for-profit adventurer had been lucrative, and her illusionist skills had proven quite useful in duping random villains. Combined with Ranma's brawn and his penchant for stumbling upon enemies, they'd made quite a team.

She shook her head, snickering at her own foolishness. As exciting and profitable as fighting evil could be, Trixie preferred mortal danger to be confined to the stories she lavished upon her adoring audience. As great as it felt to break the back of a criminal operation, she could also feel the faint echo of pain from taking a hoof crossbow bolt to the hip. It was the most minor of combat wounds, literally the least she should expect for taking a stand against a small army of bandits. It was also a reminder that when facing hardened criminals she was often a single muscle twitch away from losing a leg. Or an eye. Or, as almost happened against Morning Star, her entire head. Trixie didn't hesitate to play the part of the haughty, invincible wizard when the situation called for it, but constant mortal danger just wasn't what she was looking for in a career.

The cart stopped. "Trix?"

Trixie instantly steeled herself, and a dozen spells flitted through her mind that may or may not be useful depending on whatever hazard was in front of them. Was it bounty hunters? Guards? Brigands? Monsters? Traps? Rough terrain? Outwardly she didn't flinch or start searching her surroundings, but casually shifted her position atop the wagon to make herself a smaller target for any incoming projectiles. "Yes? Is something wrong?"

"Looks like the next town's up ahead. Is this where we're headed?"

Trixie deflated, shaking her head while she pushed herself up. She always felt slightly silly nowadays when she caught herself on edge over nothing. She wasn't worried about becoming paranoid, as half the time she really WAS attacked by villains or weathering random explosions, but overreacting was bad for her image of casual superiority.

Standing up, Trixie saw that they had reached a split in the road. A signpost was planted at the crux of the intersection, listing the nearby settlements and regions and pointing in their general direction.

"Let's see, that way is where we came from on the way to the valley, so that sign must say 'Fillydelphia,'" Ranma mumbled, squinting at the proper arrow. Then he tilted his head to see the other sign. "Uhm... Luh... La? Lam? Lamb-something? Is this a sheep city?"

"It says 'Lancanter,' Ranma," Trixie said with a sigh. "Really, we have to get you some school textbooks or something. To be unable to read at your age is just embarrassing."

"I CAN read! I'm not illiterate!" Ranma bristled angrily, rounding on the unicorn. "You can't blame me for not being able to read and write a foreign language! It was ridiculously convenient enough that you all speak English! I can't even tell if you guys are writing English too, or write it the way humans do, or... or whatever!"

"Okay, okay. Give it a rest," Trixie grumbled. "Anyway, we're going to Lancanter. It's a trade town, so they must have wagon carpenters."

Ranma turned onto the correct path and picked up speed again, still sulking. "Is there anything I should do while we're there?"

"Yes. Stay quiet and stay out of trouble," Trixie drawled. "Trixie may have to commission the wagon rather than simply picking one out of a lot. Meaning we may have to stay here for weeks, so Trixie can't afford to get driven out of town."
Ranma groaned, and his ears flipped down. "C'mon Trix, you know I'm not TRYING to get into trouble in town..."

"Trixie knows, and that's why Trixie trusts you to come along rather than setting up a camp here in the woods and making you wait until it's all done," the magician said in a tone usually reserved for mothers chiding troublesome colts. "With all this treasure in the wagon it will be a prime target for thieves, but try NOT to start any fights! Are we clear?"

"Yes. Clear," Ranma mumbled.

"Good." Trixie nodded sharply. "Things are actually looking up after taking on the Morning Star gang, so Trixie hopes our good fortune lasts at least through our next stop. With much of this money spent and a decent place to sleep that isn't patrolled by guards, we might actually avoid a lot of scrapes in the future, too."

Ranma didn't respond while he trotted down the road. Trixie went back to studying her earnings, but the martial artist's thoughts were equally preoccupied.

Am I losing track of what I'm doing here? I'm trying to get home, right? But how? What am I even supposed to be doing now? Hunting down Blood Rite, maybe? Would that even help?

It was a topic that often came to mind recently when he was between harrowing battles and random labors. Ranma was, ultimately, a human lost on an unfamiliar world. In theory, this was a temporary arrangement. He had the MacGuffin Stone, which is what sent him to Equestria in the first place, so now it was just a matter of finding out how it could be used to send him back. That's how these things worked.

In theory.

I don't know where Blood Rite is, but if I did manage to catch him, could he even help me get back? Does anyone else know anything about the MacGuffin Stone? I feel like I'm wandering totally blind, here. And Trixie is...

His expression darkened. Ranma couldn't tell when he had started taking it for granted that he would be traveling with Trixie indefinitely. Trixie, for her part, seemed to have reached the same unspoken conclusion; she now planned their travels around their food stores and the concentration of local guards and mercenaries, and considered every stop in terms of how long they could stay before they were forced to retreat from town.

The food stores that he ate through at thrice the pace that she did. The guards and mercenaries that he attracted with his outrageous bounty. The retreats that were necessary because he would get into fights, or be discovered by the law, or explode, or be subject to some other completely random act of fate that nonetheless would never had happened had Trixie been on her own.

Ranma felt guilty about it. It was an unusual reaction, for him. He was used to freeloading and occasionally flat-out stealing to get by. Trixie made him work for his keep, which meant this arrangement was far closer to a real job than he'd ever had in the past. Even causing constant grief and property damage for his host was a time-honored Saotome tradition that had never bothered him before. Yet somehow, it felt... different this time.

Maybe it was because Trixie had initially volunteered her aid out of reluctant empathy and benevolence. Maybe it was the way that helping him had rapidly escalated from giving him food to conspiring against her country's laws and soldiers. Maybe it was her increasingly common brushes with injury and death. Maybe it was how Trixie complained about all those things frequently to remind him of her burdens, even while she kept helping him.

Ranma had started ruminating on this topic regularly since fleeing Fillydelphia, ever since Trixie had walked away from a stallion who she'd once described as her ideal mate. Trixie had rejected Blueblood and, as far as Ranma could tell, had completely forgotten about the Prince who only days ago had offered her a life of luxury and royal companionship. This was enormously convenient for him, and Trixie herself had shrugged off the entire incident as a meaningless whim, but it kept gnawing at Ranma regardless. What did it mean that she had turned down Blueblood but seemed committed to making her living with him? Trixie no longer acted as if their partnership was a temporary arrangement of (in)convenience. Was it something more now? Was their relationship still a strictly professional arrangement? Did she expect anything more of him? Would she still let him pursue a way to go home if he got a lead somehow?

Did he even want to go home anymore?

The question made him distinctly uncomfortable. Ranma wasn't the introspective sort, as anyone who had spent more than a day in his presence could attest, but this issue gnawed at him. He felt like he could easily settle into his current circumstances: lost on another world, being supported by a snarky, egotistical magician, getting into fights, and being persecuted by a very annoying but frankly ineffective royal order. Pony form aside, it didn't even compare unfavorably to his life on Earth, honestly. He rather preferred to have explosive pain delivered upon him as unintentional happenstance from a magic allergy rather than the willful misunderstanding and vengeful anger of his fiancée.

But that wasn't right. He couldn't just give up on his home world and his home family because he'd made a friend here in Equestria. It wasn't fair to his parents. It wasn't fair to his fiancées. And it definitely wasn't fair to Trixie.

Then again, I don't know if everyone back home would even want me back like this. Ranma grimaced to himself, staring down at his hooves. I mean, they should, since a bunch of the idiots back home turn into animals anyway, but I'm pretty sure Pops would sell me to a racetrack or something. Maybe turning back to human should be priority one? Not that I have any more clue how to do that than get home.

"Ranma, is something wrong? You've been making that 'trying hard to think and failing' face for a while now. Trixie is worried you'll walk us into a ditch if you're not paying attention."

The martial artist flinched, surprised at the interruption to his thoughts. "N-No... I, uh... I'm just... hungry! Yeah. I could really go for a snack right now! I barely had anything for lunch!"

"That was an hour ago, and you ate every last scrap of food that we took from the bandit den," Trixie deadpanned. "Trixie realizes it must take a lot of calories to recover overnight from being beaten within an inch of your life, but surely you can wait until we reach town."

Ranma shrugged, jostling the harness over his withers. "Okay, sure. Is this Lancanter place a fort town, or another one of those little border villages full of criminals?"

"Neither," Trixie replied curtly. "This region isn't part of the far-flung frontier or adjacent to any dangerous forests, so it's pretty big and normal. Low crime, not too many guards, and lots of money. Just as Trixie likes it!"

Her horn glowed, and she levitated Ranma's cape out of her wagon. "It might be as full of bounty hunters as any other town, though, so keep a low profile. You're still as valuable as ever to any stray vigilantes looking for an early retirement."

Ranma stretched his neck up as the cape and hood settled over him. A thread of glowing pink light straightened the fabric over his back, and then fixed the clasp under his neck. The MacGuffin Stone, still mounted on the fabric clasp, gleamed in the early afternoon sun.

"Thanks, Trix."

"You're welcome, Havoc."

Ranma cringed. "Trix, you don't have to call me that anymore. Even the bounty posters are using my real name, now."

"Which is why we need it more than ever!" Trixie explained firmly. "How many other 'Ranma Saotomes' do you think there are in Equestria? Nopony's going to forget a name like that! There's no point in disguising you if we're just going to give away your extremely conspicuous name to anypony in earshot. They'd track you down in hours! As long as you're wanted, you still need a second identity!"

The stallion groaned. "Why do we have to use Havoc, though? I can come up with a new name! Like... uh... Swift Fist! Or Rocket Punch! Yeah, I like Rocket Punch!"

"Ew, no. We're sticking with Havoc," Trixie insisted. "It's short, unremarkable, punchy - no pun intended - and highly descriptive. Some of Trixie's best work!"

"I hate it, though!"

"Lots of ponies hate their names, Havoc. But our names are a part of us." Trixie's tone shifted as she lectured him, sounding like a tour operator showing off an exhibit. "Pony names aren't just idle, arbitrary identifiers, like they are among, say, the griffons. They're a piece of our destiny just like our cutie marks! You noted yourself that ponies have names that seem to be connected to our skills and careers. Wagon Thief, Blueblood, Morning Star, and even Twilight Sparkle herself are all very clear examples!"

"I don't get the Twilight Sparkle thing," Ranma admitted.

Trixie paused, frowning. Then she suddenly perked up and smirked. "Twilight is the period connecting day and night, and so our fair Princess united the Princess of the Sun, Celestia, with her long lost sister and Princess of the Night, Luna. As for Sparkle, it no doubt refers to her being Equestria's glimmer of hope during the onset of dark and troubled times. Or maybe she really likes glitter or something. One of those."

"Huh... I don't really know what you're talking about with the sisters, but I guess it sounds right..."

Trixie nodded happily. "No doubt you're also wondering about Trixie's name! Well-"

"No, I'm not. I get it. It's really obvious," Ranma interrupted, much to Trixie's annoyance. "But anyway, I don't see what any of that has to do with me! I wasn't born as Havoc or Calamity, it's something you started calling me because you thought my real name was weird!"

"And it fits," Trixie insisted. "That's the key. I mean, your actual name doesn't even mean anything."

"In my language it does!" Ranma retorted. "It means 'untamed horse'!"

Trixie blinked repeatedly in surprise. Ranma huffed irritably and picked up his pace as he spotted buildings down the road.

"......... Well, that's a little TOO on-the-nose," Trixie mumbled. "Besides, nopony but you even speaks your crazy human language. We'll stick with Havoc."

"English is a human language too," Ranma grumbled.

"Pipe down Havoc, the town's just ahead."

In comparison to the other towns Ranma had visited and explored, Lancanter seemed an idyllic, untroubled place. Small garden fences seemed to mark the town's border rather than heavy wooden walls. The roads were worn but well-maintained cobblestone and the buildings ranged from straw-thatched cottages to multi-story buildings as one got closer to the town center. Ponies were everywhere, either going about their daily business or socializing in the public spaces. The place was alive with the sounds of equine civilization, from the clatter of busy hooves and barking dogs to the bells attached to various carts and trolleys.

The atmosphere was palpably different from the other large pony towns Ranma had visited, to say nothing of the bandit-infested villages they'd been forced to cross through. The air seemed alive and energized, and Ranma's martial senses seemed to relax for the first time in what felt like weeks. Everything about the town exuded safety and a gentle peace.

"There. That's perfect!" Trixie announced suddenly. "Havoc, take a left."

Ranma did as instructed at the next intersection, and he soon saw what Trixie was referring to. A sheet metal warehouse occupied an entire block on its own, and scattered in front of it were numerous large wooden furniture pieces of various shapes. A fenced yard sat to the side, and Ranma could see the roofs of small structures within.

"Stop here and guard the wagon," Trixie ordered once Ranma rolled up next to the entrance. "Trixie has no reason to expect thieves in a place like this, but it would be just Trixie's luck to lose our funds right outside the store." She started climbing down the side of the wagon.

"Hey Trix, what's that?" Ranma asked, pointing a hoof down the street.

Trixie paused, checking his line of sight. Further down the road was a huge striped tent surrounded by small shacks, stalls, and crowds of ponies. Balloons swayed in the mid-afternoon wind, and she could hear the faint sound of peppy music.

"That's called a circus, Havoc. It's like Trixie's show, but much larger and tackier. Did they not have circuses in humanland?" Trixie explained.

"Yes, I know that's a circus," Ranma clarified. "I was asking about the cages."

A block up from the circus were several large iron cages built into wheeled carriages. Within the cages, as one might expect, were various dangerous animals. There was a timberwolf, an enormous Venus flytrap, a crocodile that appeared to be made out of rocks, and a saber-toothed tiger with fur of icy frost or something (Ranma was trying not to focus on that particular beast).

"That's the menagerie. You know, exotic and terrible creatures that are forced to do tricks for our amusement? Is there something odd about that?" Trixie asked impatiently.

"Animals made out of wood and rocks are pretty odd, yeah. Is that safe?" he wondered aloud.

"Those cages look sturdy enough to Trixie, but don't go banging on them," Trixie warned. "In fact, you probably shouldn't go near those things at all. Just sit here and keep watch, okay?"

"I wasn't going to go mess with them or anything," Ranma protested.

"Trixie is sure you weren't, but you're not always a willful participant in catastrophe," the magician retorted. Then she smirked and pressed a hoof against his nose. "Stay here and be good, Havoc. If you manage to last this whole evening without getting in a fight, Trixie will treat you to dinner!"

Ranma thought it was odd for Trixie to speak as if she didn't buy all of the food he ate anyway, but at the mention of dinner he perked up and his bubbling irritation evaporated. He nodded curtly, and Trixie winked at him before trotting up to the warehouse.

"... We really have gotten close, haven't we?" Ranma sat down next to the wagon and sighed after the door shut behind Trixie. "Would it really be so bad, even if I had a choice? To just... keep doing this, day in and day out? This place sucks, but it... isn't really any worse than Nerima. Hmmm..."

---

Down the street, next to the iron cages containing the various circus animals, a pony dressed up as a clown was pulling a cart stacked high with slabs of meat before a crowd of wide-eyed spectators. A metal ring bounced against his hip while he walked, the attached keys jingling just loudly enough to be heard over the rumbling growls of the trapped predators.

The ponies watching generally backed away to give the circus worker space, but one stallion wearing a long robe and obscuring hood did not. Once the clown set his cart, he stopped to look around and noticed the hooded figure standing apart from the rest of the ponies.

"Pardon me, Sir! Please back up a few paces! It's feeding time, and it could get a bit messy!" The clown chuckled, grinning widely and slapping a hoof against the bright red steaks stacked up next to him.

The hooded pony hesitated, and then slowly did as requested, backing away into the group of mostly younger equines. "Are those real steaks? From what source?"

"Nah, they aren't real." The clown pony squeezed his hoof against one of the meat slabs, demonstrating the lack of blood or fatty residue. "It's all soy-based meat substitute. Otherwise we'd rack up quite a body count trying to keep these guys fed! Ha!"

The hooded stallion tilted his head to the side. "Meat substitute? The animals don't mind that?"

"Well, I can't say they wouldn't prefer the real thing, but we try to avoid that for obvious reasons! I assure you they're all quite healthy, though!" The clown wagged a leg at the spectator. "The important thing is that they're nice and full by the time the shows start! Don't want them snacking on the ringmaster! Or the audience! Ha ha!"

"Ah, I see. That would be quite unfortunate, yes." The slightest glimmer of light seemed to come from beneath the stallion's hood. "Still, I'm surprised that such vicious beasts could be controlled. Especially if held on a vegetarian diet."

"Eh, these guys are all instinct. Learn their moods and they're honestly less trouble than most customers!" The clown leaned forward with a wink. "Lemme tell ya, I've met plenty of colts that would be well served by an hour or two in a cage."

He chuckled to himself for a few seconds, but then a nervous yelp interrupted him.

"M-Mister! The c-cage!" one of the other ponies was staring forward, slack-jawed, with a foreleg rigidly pointed toward the cragodile cage. Several others were either frozen in abject horror or slowly backing away.

The clown blinked in confusion, and then twisted his head around. Both his eyebrows jumped when he saw his key ring floating in the air next to the heavy iron lock of the cragodile's cage, surrounded by glittering white magic. His ears pinned back to his head when one of the keys plunged into the lock, settling into place with a sharp click.

"Um... th-this isn't how we f-feed the..."

The key twisted. The door opened. The screams started.

---

"... but the feature in particular that Trixie is looking for is a hinged siding. It needs to open to the wagon interior, and rest over the ground to form a raised platform. Ideally it folds twice, for a larger platform; Trixie could use the extra room."
Inside the warehouse, Trixie floated several drawings in front of an earth pony mare with a hacksaw for a cutie mark. All around her were stacks and conglomerations of carved wood and small pools of sawdust, and the air smelled persistently of varnish.

"So what are you looking for as far as dimensions? Is fifteen feet long enough?" the carpenter asked, speaking around a nail clenched in her jaw like a toothpick.

"Fifteen is probably enough, so long as it contains a decent bed. Trixie has a very capable wagon colt, but she doesn't want it to be too heavy to move without him in case he's knocked out or explodes or something," the magician mused, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

"Knocked out... or explodes? Pardon?" the carpenter mumbled, her brow furrowing.

"It's nothing. But on that note, if there's any kind of extra frame reinforcement or fire-proofing that Trixie can buy as an extra feature Trixie would love to hear about it," the unicorn said, rolling up her papers.

"Well, there is a special magic varnish we can use to fire-proof it, but it's mighty pricey."

"Magic varnish? Is it magic-reactive, or is the spellwork only involved in the product mixing?"

A droplet of sweat rolled down the carpenter's head. "Uhh... I, um..."

"Trixie's sorry to get so technical, but it's likely a matter of life and death," Trixie continued. "If you don't know, then we'd better not risk it. It would be quite a hazard to have a wagon he couldn't touch."

"He?" the carpenter asked. "Your wagon colt?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it, but okay. If there are two of you, are you going to need room for an extra bed?"

"No. One bed is enough."

The other mare's lips pulled into a smirk. "Aaah... so that's why you're looking for some extra frame reinforcement."

"Hah hah," Trixie drawled, rolling her eyes. "It's nothing like that, not that it's any of your business. Trixie just doesn't want to have to pay for redundant living space. Trixie already has to carry around ten times the amount of food stocks thanks to him."

The carpenter mare chuckled for a few more seconds, and then rolled the nail between her teeth to the other side of her jaw. "Well Miss Trixie, I think we have what you're looking for. A few of our craft wagons open up on the side for additional working space; we have a few in stock right now, although they might not be quite what you're looking for. If they don't meet your needs, then we can whip up a custom order."

A series of muffled shouts came from outside, followed by a crash.

The carpenter's ears perked up immediately. "What was that? Did you hear something?"

"Oh, for Celestia's sake," Trixie hissed under her breath. Then she quickly cleared her throat. "Why don't we look at those wagons now? Trixie would prefer not having to order a custom item."

"What? Oh, sure," the other mare was staring at the door, along with the other employees in the room. "You did hear that, though, right? I thought-" A pink glow suddenly pushed against her rear, and the carpenter squeaked as she was shoved toward the display yard.

"Trixie is a very busy pony and doesn't have time to deal with random adjacent catastrophes," the magician insisted firmly. "Hurry! Hurry!"

Trixie threw a pair of double doors open at the end of the warehouse, leading the carpenter out into the yard. There were several projects out on display, from carts to sheds to elaborate cigar store bison carvings. There was also a considerable amount of panicked yelling audible from the other side of the fence that separated the yard from the street.

"These are your travel wagons, right?" Trixie quickly turned toward the corner, spotting several large, enclosed wagons parked in a wide semi-circle. "How heavy is that big one? Is it too much for a single pony to pull?"

"What the blazes is going on out there?" Despite Trixie's efforts, the carpenter was quite distracted by the ruckus. "It sounds like somepony's in danger! I should call the police!"

"Before you do that, could you at least demonstrate the platform feature you mentioned before?" Trixie's tone shifted from anxious and demanding to almost pleading. "This is important!"

A hefty thump came from the street, followed by a feral snarl.

"Get offa me, you ugly rock pile!"

Trixie firmly suppressed a scream when she heard Ranma's angry shout, followed by another impact. The carpenter pony narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Do you know something about this, Miss Trixie?"

"Nothing but errant speculation, Trixie assures you!" Trixie shouted. Her protests sounded awkward and unconvincing even to her, in no small part because she had to shout over the noise. "But surely somepony else has contacted the authorities by now and they're already on their way to resolve whatever it is going on out there so there's no serious impediment to conducting business as usual and selling-"

"HI-YAAH!!"

The shout startled Trixie out of her breathless rant, and she winced when she heard a heavy impact from the street. Her ears pinned back when the fence on the yard perimeter shattered and an angry cragodile tumbled across the ground. Then she slapped a hoof into her face while the injured beast rolled over several display objects, ranging from sheds to outdoor furniture, crushing them to splinters. Her teeth clenched after the carpenter screamed and began scrambling away in terror.

The cragodile skidded to a stop on its back, and then thrashed about wildly for several seconds. Its tail whipped back and forth, demolishing several other woodworks, and then it finally managed to flip itself upright. It swiftly turned its body around to face the new hole in the fence, and Trixie barely ducked before its huge, stone-covered tail whipped over her head, swatting off her hat.

The reflex came easily enough that she wasn't especially panicked by a gigantic, rocky tendril nearly smearing her across the ground like an obnoxious insect. She was absolutely livid, however, when the tail clipped the side of the wagon she had been looking at and smashed in part of the paneling. The entire structure shook from the blow and rocked back and forth, and Trixie detected several ominous cracking noises from its wheels and axles.

"HEY!" Ranma appeared outside the hole in the fence, looking somewhat ragged and sporting a few gashes on one leg. "Get away from her!"

The cragodile snarled and lunged, crossing the yard with terrifying speed and snapping at the stallion with jaws larger than Ranma's entire body.

Ranma jumped, letting the circus animal's maw snap shut underneath him. He twisted into a kick, striking the cragodile's back hard enough to break through the rock layer, and the maybe-reptile growled in pain.

"HAVOC!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Ranma couldn't help but wince at the scream, but he didn't let up his offensive. "Little busy, Trix! Yell at me later!" He started slamming his back legs into the back of the cragodile's head even as it angrily thrashed about.

"Trixie can't take you ANYWHERE!" the magician shouted, shaking her hoof at the scuffle. "Trixie told you not to go near the animals!"

"It broke out of its cage and started chasing people! What was I supposed to do?!" the martial artist retorted.

The cragodile, irritated and increasingly dizzy from the multiple serious blows to the head, suddenly rolled over onto its back. Ranma shifted with the motion immediately, running along the moving body of flesh and stone to stay on top of it, and soon he was standing on the beast's belly. A shed that had been so far unscathed in the battle was destroyed when the cragodile's tail crashed into it, but neither combatant seemed to notice.

"Its belly! Of course! That's gotta be a weak spot!" Ranma decided. Really, the smooth, dark plates of stone under his hooves didn't seem any softer or more vulnerable than the rest of it, but so far much of this world seemed to operate on video game logic and he didn't see any reason for it to stop now.

"Havoc, wait! First lead it out of-"

Trixie's shouted advice went unheard, and Ranma flipped into the air before slamming both hind legs down into the cragodile's stomach. A loud crack issued from the animal's abdominal plates, and its eyes bulged.

Then it went into an absolute frenzy, rolling and thrashing wildly from the pain. Ranma leapt off before he could get trampled, landing a safe distance away while the cragodile lashed out blindly.

"Ha! Bet you felt THAT!" Ranma taunted. "Want to head back to your cage now?!"

The cragodile, predictably, didn't answer, and instead plowed into a small clubhouse built on stilts. The wooden legs shattered, and the entire structure tumbled down into a splintered mess before the beast moved on to bash its head against a collection of rocking chairs.

"... Wow. He really did feel that," Ranma mumbled, a droplet of sweat rolling down his head.

"Don't just stand there!" Trixie barked. "Finish it off! If you don't knock it out it's going to tear this entire place apart!"

"Erm, okay. Just, uh, let me think for a sec," the martial artist grumbled, lightly kicking out his legs. "Hitting that thing hurts, you know? And even at full strength it just seems to make it mad."

The cragodile stumbled into a pile of logs, knocking it over and scattering them underfoot. Its tail flipped one up into the air, sending it spinning toward the nearby ponies. Trixie flinched, but Ranma brightened.

"Idea!" the martial artist jumped straight toward the log, and landed on the end while still in mid-air. Taking a moment to aim, he then kicked it back toward the escaped circus animal.

The log flew like an arrow, smashing into the beast's head in a spray of gravel and wooden shrapnel. The cragodile was bowled over, its eyes spinning in its head; it listed drunkenly to one side, and then slumped onto the ground in a daze. The damaged log bounced off and rolled over several sets of lawn furniture, reducing them to scraps. The fence beyond the furniture display finally stopped it, but not before the wayward timber smashed a hole in the barrier.

Ranma watched his handiwork with a smirk, and then perked up when several ponies wearing clown makeup and extravagant suits rushed into the yard. "Looks like the circus guys are here to pick up their animal! Better late than never, right? Hah!"

He turned around, and found himself nose-to-nose with Trixie's furious - if blessedly silent - glare. Behind the performer, the terrified carpenter pony slowly stumbled out of her hiding spot, still quivering.

"Okay, look, before anyone says anything, this is NOT my fault," Ranma said, pressing a hoof to his chest. "I swear, I was just minding my own business when the screaming started, and before I knew it that rock alligator-"

"Cragodile," Trixie corrected, her voice perfectly icy.

"Yeah, that. It was going to eat some guy, so all I did was kick a mail box at it! You know, to distract it long enough for the ponies to get away! And then it went berserk! I had to fight it!"

"M-My yard..." the carpenter pony whimpered, staring at the damage with a forlorn look. Her rear dropped to the ground with a thump. "It's all gone..."

"No! No, it isn't all gone! There's still plenty of stuff we didn't wreck!" Ranma replied, flailing a leg at the largely untouched area behind her. "We barely hit the wagons! Didn't you say we were here for a wagon, Trix? The wagons are still intact!"

Trixie's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"... Anyway, I think we're moving a little off-topic here," Ranma coughed. "The POINT is that none of this is my fault."

"Excuse me!" Much to Ranma's relief, one of the circus ponies rushed up to them and quickly bowed his head. The stallion was an earth pony with a large handlebar mustache and a bright red suit and top hat, and after bowing he removed said hat and held it against his chest.

"My name is Ringlin, Ma'am. May I assume you're the owner of this enterprise?" he zeroed in on the carpenter, casting a brief but wary glance at the other two ponies.

"I... I am. You can call me Nails," she replied, still obviously dazed.

"Huh. Okay, I get 'Nails,' but 'Ringlin?'" Ranma mumbled to himself, scratching his chin.

"I cannot apologize enough for what's happened! We're not sure how he got free! And I've never seen Rockjaws in such a foul mood! This is an absolute nightmare!" He sighed deeply, his ears drooping. "I will, of course, pay for all the damaged property! Nopony was hurt, were they?"

Ranma raised a foreleg.

The ringleader recoiled in alarm when he noticed the gashes on it. "By Celestia! He bit you?! You're lucky to be alive!"

"Huh? Oh, this? Nah, this is from when he hit me with his tail. Lucky shot, but some of those scales are really sharp." Ranma put his leg down. "I was just wondering if you had a last name."

"My... last name?" Ringlin blinked. "Barnem. Ringlin Barnem. Why?"

"Ohhhh, NOW I get it!" Ranma laughed, much to the other ponies' confusion.

"... Right. Good," the ringleader mumbled, slowly turning to Nails again. "Anyway, if you can produce a list of the damaged inventory, I'll have you compensated immediately!"

"Trixie doesn't suppose she can order her wagon, first?" Trixie interjected. "Trixie realizes this has been quite a harrowing and stressful day for everypony here, but Trixie REALLY needs to be back on the road as soon as possible!"

"Huh? Oh, uh..." the carpenter pony looked over at the wagon in question. The cragodile had swiped it with its tail early during the fight, tearing open the wooden siding. The greater part of the structure was undamaged, but the drop-down platform - the very feature Trixie had insisted upon - was useless in its current state. "It will take a day to do the repairs if you want that model. And if you want any modifications-"

"No modifications necessary! No repairs is fine too! Trixie will take it as is, please! Immediately!" the magician said anxiously. "Well fix it ourselves! In fact, we'll take a stack of lumber, too!" Her hat floated off, hovering in the air within an aura of pink magic.

"Now, just hold up," Nails said with a frown. "There's something fishy about all this. Besides, I can't just let you trot out of here with a damaged wagon! You could get hurt! That's a liability issue!"

Trixie's hat swelled, and then four big sacks of bits fell out. One after another, the heavy bags fell onto the ground with a muted jingle of metal, and a few coins spilled out the top.

Ringlin quirked an eyebrow. Nails recoiled slightly in surprise.

"I, uh... well, that... would certainly cover the wagon and lumber," the carpenter said, stumbling over her words slightly, "but-"

A fifth sack dropped out of the hat, striking the ground on its side and spilling its golden contents across the dirt.
"That much should cover the 'liability issue,' right?" Trixie asked, setting her hat back on her head.

"...... They DO say that the customer is always right!" Nails chirped, her mood visibly improved from a mere twenty seconds ago. "So do you need a receipt or-"

A clunking noise came from behind her, and she whirled around to see Ranma already pulling the damaged wagon toward the hole in the fence.

"Thank you for your business so sorry about all the violence Trixie will just be on her way now please keep your giant monsters better secured in the future thaaaaaanks!" Trixie followed Ranma at speed, levitating a stack of wooden boards above her.

The traveling ponies rushed through the cragodile-sized exit and turned onto the street, leaving behind a dozen confused ponies and one severely concussed reptile.

---

Trixie's magic swirled around a length of rope, curling and twisting it around a metal hook on the rear of her new wagon. On the other end was her old wagon, tied securely between the traces of its travel harness. Trixie finished the knot and bit onto the end of the rope, giving it a firm tug with her teeth. Once she was satisfied, she jumped into the back door and into the cabin.

"All right, it's ready! Go! Go! Go!" the magician barked, rushing to the front and pushing open the front window.
Ranma surged into action, and both wagons jumped forward from his sudden acceleration. Trixie was actually a bit startled at how easily the martial artist moved to galloping speed despite carrying along something like three times the weight he was used to, and she nearly lost her footing before she sat down properly.

A few seconds passed while Ranma raced down the street, and then the stallion spoke. "Hey, Trix?"

"What?"

"Why are we running, exactly?"

Trixie glared down at the back of his head. "Why do you THINK?"

"I guess it's because of that rock-lizard thing tearing up the place, right? But the circus pony said he'd pay for that! So we're in the clear! ... Right?"

Trixie's expression grew more irritated. "In the clear? Do you really think the only problem was who was going to cover the damage you caused?!"

"Hey! The cragodile caused the damage, not me!" Ranma protested.

"And who moved the fight into the carpenter's yard in the first place?!" Trixie snapped.

"Look, I had to get it away from the crowd, but it-"

"That's not the point, Havoc!" the unicorn seethed. "We can't afford the kind of attention you keep bringing, whether or not Trixie has to directly cover the costs of clean-up! You're supposed to be keeping a LOW PROFILE. Do you think there's a single pony in all of Lancanter that isn't going to know about the stallion that walloped an escaped circus monster by tomorrow evening?"

"Oh. Right," Ranma hung his head, and his pace slackened slightly. "Dammit, this time I was saving people, too. I hope all the good stuff I'm doing is canceling out at least some of the bad stuff I'm accused of doing."

"That's not how laws work, Havoc! Take the next right." Trixie braced herself as the wagon rumbled into a turn, worried that their speed would unbalance them. To her satisfaction it handled quite well, and once they were on a straight road heading out of town Trixie leaned out of the window to berate her companion further. "Trixie warned you about reckless heroics! Nopony with your luck should be tempting fate!"

"So what am I supposed to do? Just let the monsters eat everyone?" Ranma grumbled.

"Ugh... No, Trixie supposes you can't just sit and watch a massacre because it's troublesome to stop it," she relented. "But if you're going to intervene and cause a spectacle then you have to plan for a swift exit afterward! Also, you really could put a little more effort into keeping the collateral damage down. Trixie is probably going to spend all day fixing this wagon, and it's brand new!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry..." Ranma sighed, approaching the city limits.

"Apology accepted," Trixie said with a huff. "Now trot up a mile or so into the woods and find a clearing where we can park this thing. Trixie is going to see how bad the break is."

The magician ducked into her new abode, and Ranma trotted down the path in silence. He got the occasional impressed stare from random townsponies just due to the sight of him hauling two wagons behind him without obviously straining, but the trip out of Lancanter was uneventful.

After perhaps ten minutes of travel, Ranma spotted an area where enough trees had been cut down to form a clearing. It was small, but easily large enough for a few wagons, and a circle made of scorched rocks suggested that others had stopped here and used it as a camp site.

"Hey, Trix! This space looks pretty good! Are we far enough out from town?"

Trixie moved back to the window and poked her head out again, looking over the area. "Yes, that will do. Stop over there."

Ranma broke sharply to the side to head into the aforementioned space, but to Trixie's confusion he didn't slow down. After a moment she gasped, and her eyes widened.

"NO WAIT SLOW DOWN BEFORE-"

Ranma's hooves dug into the ground, and the travel wagon jumped slightly from suddenly braking. It landed lightly enough, which was testament to its construction and perhaps suggested that Ranma wasn't just being reckless with Trixie's new vehicle.

Either way, it didn't stop Trixie's old wagon being towed along behind it, which promptly crashed into the new wagon ahead of it. Ranma's ears twitched at the sound of splintering wood and falling objects, and his fur paled to a lighter shade before his ears flipped down against his head.

"...... Oops," he whispered, cringing.

Ranma didn't dare look behind him, but he clearly heard Trixie's none-too-gentle hoofsteps as she stomped through the travel wagon and opened the back door.

"Well. It seems Trixie won't be selling the old wagon. What a shame."

Her voice was flat and quite matter-of-fact, but each word was like an icy needle into Ranma's back. He heard her drop down to the ground and double back toward him, stopping at the base of the harness that secured him to the travel wagon.

Trixie stared at the martial artist, who had his head tucked to the side with his eyes squeezed shut. A single foreleg was propped up on his head as well, as if to shield it.

"... What are you doing?" the magician asked, one eyebrow arched.

"Um... bracing?" Ranma hesitated. "Are you... gonna hit me?"

Trixie tilted her head to one side. Then she looked away, scratching her chin with a hoof. Clearly she was considering the prospect now, if she hadn't been before.

"... No," she said after several seconds, dropping her hoof. "Trixie is hardly above meting out a good swat on the head to those who deserve it, but you already look plenty chastised. Seriously, the bandits back at Metalleus weren't so cowed." She snorted. "Besides, corporal punishment would be wasted on somepony who fights off wilderness monsters like it's an aggravating chore. If Trixie really wanted to punish you, Trixie would just withhold your dinner."

Ranma's fur, which had been slowly returning to its ordinary shade of gray, instantly whitened again. "You wouldn't dare!" he gasped, finally turning to stare at the unicorn with wide, terrified eyes.

"Shape up or you'll find out for sure," the magician said sharply, turning around again. She began heading down the road, back toward Lancanter. "Most of the supplies are fine, although you spilled one of the oat sacks. Whatever. Trixie was going to go back to town anyway to buy nails and glue for the repairs. May as well make a full shopping trip out of it." Her horn flashed, and her saddlebags floated from the wagon and dropped onto her back.

"Okay, sure!" Relieved that he wasn't going to suffer immediate retribution, Ranma started wiggling out of his towing harness. "But we should make sure to-"

"WE aren't doing anything, because WE are not going back to town," Trixie interrupted. "Trixie is heading back. You're staying here."

"What? Why?" Ranma asked, sounding surprised and somewhat hurt. "Trix, it's dangerous around here! We were barely in town for ten minutes before we were attacked by a giant monster!"

Trixie halted and twisted her head around, her eyes narrowed to slits.

Ranma paused, and then his ears pinned back again. "Okay, fine, so we weren't really attacked directly, but still-"

"But still NOTHING. Trixie told you to stay out of trouble and you couldn't do that, so now you're staying here where you can't break anything important," Trixie said firmly, stamping a hoof on the ground. "While Trixie's gone, you can make yourself useful by moving the supplies into the new wagon. After that, you may as well break the old one into firewood."

Ranma groped for something else to say in protest, but Trixie turned away again and trotted down the road. After a few seconds he sighed and hung his head. He thought she was overreacting, but he couldn't really claim she was wrong. He DID tend to find himself in some sort of conflict every time he was on his own, and often even when he wasn't. Ranma thought nothing of it and rose to every challenge; Trixie had done her best to avoid catastrophe and defuse potential chaos.

Her approach was probably better.

He trotted behind the new travel wagon and winced at the wreckage of the old one. One of the wheels had come apart, and the siding had cracked open and spilled Trixie's illusionist knick-knacks over the ground. It wouldn't take long to clean up and move, but Ranma considered himself lucky that the one thing he'd totally destroyed in the accident was something Trixie had already replaced.

Trix will be fine. Give her a few hours to blow off steam and think without crazy monsters causing a ruckus and she'll be in a better mood and we'll be on our way. She'll love her new wagon! I can even get lunch started for us while she's out!

Ranma started tossing objects from the old wagon into the new, starting with the large, less breakable things. Rugs, blankets, chests, books, and sacks flew into the travel wagon's back door, forming a neat pile within the more spacious vehicle. Once he was out of "chuckable" items, Ranma took up the more sensitive things: lamps, fuel and water casks, and a few things that weren't easily identifiable but looked too brittle to risk throwing.

He was in the process of transferring the firework rockets - not sensitive to damage, as far as he knew, but still worth handling carefully - when he noticed something in the distance, flying far above the treetops. He paused and squinted, peering through the sparse branch cover obscuring that angle of view.

"...... Huh. Guess they have dragons just flying around out in the open around here. Wild," he mumbled to himself before returning to work. "Crazy pony planet..."

---

Blood Rite lounged on a bench, sulking quietly to himself while slowly eating through a bag of roasted peanuts. Young ponies laughed and played around him and equine couples trotted past the gloomy hooded figure without notice. No magic hid the sorcerer from their attention; any pony that took the time to memorize major bounties could have picked him out if they glanced at him from a good angle. But none did.

It was almost galling. Almost.

Rite levitated a peanut from the sack next to him, crushed the shell within his magic aura, and then popped it into his mouth.

In retrospect Rite didn't know what he was expecting from his improvised plot to unleash a cragodile on the town. Things had gone perfectly according to plan, with Havoc or whatever the ape's name was being alerted immediately and intervening before any innocents were harmed. Blood Rite had been able to slip away to a safe observational distance without anyone suspecting him of causing the incident. The fighter had engaged the menagerie escapee with gusto, hamstrung by a responsibility to keep random bystanders safe from harm.

And then Havoc thrashed the beast and left, because OF COURSE HE DID.

Rite levitated a peanut from the sack next to him, crushed the shell within his magic aura, and then popped it into his mouth.

He didn't know what to do. He came up with little ploys and under-hoofed diversions, and the accursed stallion disposed of them with infuriating ease. The ponies hadn't even bothered to investigate the escape after the fact, just accepting that for some reason a vicious circus animal had gotten loose at the precise moment they were there to stop it. They'd fled the city, true; but that was neither Rite's intention, nor was it even because they feared for their lives.

What was he supposed to do? Lie back and wait for a stupidly convenient opportunity to seize his prize with minimal resistance? He really couldn't see any other option. All his previous plans had fallen apart on contact with Havoc and Trixie. The only other time he'd managed to steal the MacGuffin Stone was when circumstances had contrived to get the pigtailed nuisance to surrender it ahead of time. Would such a circumstance ever arise again? Could he afford to tag along and pester Havoc until it did?

Rite levitated a peanut from the sack next to him, crushed the shell within his magic aura, and then dropped it onto the ground in shock when he spotted a blue unicorn with a wizard's hat walking down the sidewalk across the street.
The mare looked annoyed, which could be the result of any number of circumstances, but more importantly she was alone. Trixie hadn't spotted him, and in fact didn't seem to be carefully observing her surroundings at all.

That last detail bothered Rite somewhat. He still felt like his targets should have their guard up after fighting off a cragodile. Whatever. He calmly stashed his peanuts and hopped off the bench, looking deliberately unhurried. Then he headed down the street at a casual pace, his eyes locked onto the magician from under his hood.

A plan began to form in Blood Rite's mind. He didn't really understand the relationship between Trixie and Havoc, but the nigh-unstoppable primate seemed to have a frankly bizarre level of respect and deference to the stage magician. He also seemed interested in the MacGuffin Stone mainly as a means to spite the ponies who had polymorphed and ditched him rather than the object of inestimable power it was. Would Havoc surrender the artifact to save Trixie's life? Probably. Of course, if that wasn't the case, then a hostage situation was perhaps the worst strategy he could devise. And even if it worked he'd have to have a perfect exit strategy to escape retribution. His current workshop wasn't shielded against the strange MacGuffin sense as his tower had been. Havoc would hunt him down within days, depending on just how angry he was.

Blood Rite could work with a window of a few days. But he wasn't ready to take the plunge just yet.

He continued following Trixie at a distance, letting his gaze wander frequently to check for any other suspicious ponies. He was mostly watching for Havoc, of course, in case the two travelers had merely been separated briefly and he was rushing to her side. Thanks to his abundance of caution, however, Rite spotted someone just as interesting zeroing in on his prey.

"... Princess?" Blood Rite mumbled under his breath, stumbling to a halt.

He blinked, almost unable to believe his eyes. Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with two more of the Elements of Harmony and her attendant dragon, were walking down the street at a brisk, determined pace. They were much further behind Trixie than he was, having no doubt spotted her distinctive hat at a distance, but there was no question as to their intention. The pegasus, Rainbow Dash, hovered over the others at speed and pointed a hoof at Trixie. She was asking a question, apparently, because Twilight shook her head and then gestured for the other mare to come down to street level. All three ponies were trotting quickly through the scattered pedestrians, positioned to overtake the unsuspecting magician.

Trixie, for her part, turned toward a general store and pushed through the front door, apparently oblivious to the ponies tailing her.

Blood Rite clicked his tongue irritably. He had overcome Twilight Sparkle before, but he didn't take it for granted that he could dispatch her again even if he had the element of surprise. He didn't consider any of the other ponies a serious threat, but with Twilight Sparkle nearby and Havoc... somewhere to the West, the risk was far beyond tolerable.

The sorcerer turned into an alley and settled in to watch. The appearance of more foes was unfortunate, but the last time this had happened it had also generated a crucial opportunity. Rite's enemies were many, and they were powerful, but they were not united.

"Let's see where this leads..."

---

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all paused outside the general store. Steely-eyed glances were shared. Determined smiles cracked. Atop Twilight's back, Spike leaned forward and braced himself as if he was charging into a combat.

The ponies opened the front door and entered, with Twilight as their spearhead. The interior was fairly small, with shelving dividing the limited floor space into aisles and a checkout counter at the back of the building.

"Howdy, Miss!" chirped a stallion next to the register. "Can I help you find something today?"

"I'm not looking for a thing, no," Twilight quipped, stepping deeper into the shop. Applejack and Rainbow moved in tandem at her flanks. Their eyes scanned the aisles one by one, and their expressions wilted when they found each one decisively empty. "What? Where did she...?"

"Looking for somepony, then?" asked a voice from behind them.

Twilight's heart leapt into her throat, and Rainbow Dash jumped high enough that she almost took flight again. They whirled around to face the entrance, and then watched as Trixie Lulamoon gently pushed the door closed behind them. Apparently the unicorn had been hiding behind the door as it swung open, although it escaped Twilight's immediate understanding why she would do so if she was just going to announce her presence anyway.

"If you're going to be stalking ponies in the streets, you should try to be a little less conspicuous about it," Trixie continued as soon as it looked like Twilight was about to speak. "Trixie spotted you three blocks ago. Could have lost you, too, but Trixie is actually halfway interested in what you're here for. Well?"

Twilight gulped. This was... not how she had anticipated this encounter unfolding. Applejack and Rainbow Dash also seemed perturbed, but their reactions were less cautious.

"As if you could lose me! Who do you think you're talking to?" Rainbow Dash laughed, jumping up to hover just under the ceiling.

"And whaddya mean, stalkin'? We ain't stalkin' nopony! We just need to talk to ya," Applejack said, her voice cool and firm.

Trixie glanced at each of them briefly. "Sure," she drawled, dismissing them with a word. "So what did you want? Trixie is in the middle of shopping and has a lot of chores to do."

"Y-Yes! Right! Sorry," Twilight stuttered. "Um... we're looking for Ranma Saotome."

"Lots of ponies are," Trixie replied with a shrug, "and a fair share of less friendly creatures, too."

The store fell silent for a few seconds as the magician failed to elaborate. Twilight was getting more and more confused.

"Okay... can you... help us with that?" Twilight asked.

"Trixie would rather not. Surely you're aware that he's not on the best terms with Canterlot right now. It's probably best for Ranma - and DEFINITELY best for Equestria - if he doesn't cross paths with any more Princesses for a while."

Twilight gaped, but Spike quickly piped up. "You've got it all wrong! We want to find Ranma so that we can clear his name and keep Equestrian guards from fighting him! His bounty keeps going up and Princess Celestia is trying to hunt him down to figure out what happened to Blood Rite and the MacGuffin Stone! If we don't clear things up he's going to end up cornered and somepony is going to get seriously hurt!"

"See, where our points of view differ is that you think bringing Ranma in to explain himself will avoid that outcome, whereas Trixie believes it will make it a certainty," the unicorn drawled. "But feel free to convince Trixie otherwise."

"Aw, c'mon! He saved Twilight's life, didn't he? That's basically a ticket to a free pardon right there! Princess Celestia said so!" Rainbow protested. "All we need to do is actually bring him to Princess Celestia and apologize for all the arson and beating up our soldiers and stuff."

"Also if he's got the magic thingamajigger he'll hafta give that up," Applejack noted. "The Princess wants to make sure it ain't gonna be used fer evil."

"You could plausibly get an apology out of Ranma, MAYBE, so long as he has some scrap of respect for the pony demanding it. But the last Princess that tried to get the MacGuffin Stone from him ended up tearing up half a forest fighting him. And STILL didn't win," Trixie deadpanned.

Twilight's ears perked. "So then he DOES have the MacGuffin Stone?"

Trixie's attention again focused on Twilight, although she didn't answer. Her expression was bored and dispassionate, as if she didn't care in the least about any of this. But Twilight was beginning to suspect she cared a great deal. Still, this whole encounter felt strangely twisted about. What had started as a race to corner and question Trixie to get her to give up vital information now seemed like an ambush where they begged her for clues.

"Princess Celestia told me that you and Ranma were found outside of Coltson and surrendered me to Equestrian forces. You saved me from Blood Rite, didn't you?" the alicorn pressed.

Trixie smirked. "Well, apparently it's become some sort of state secret, so Trixie isn't totally sure it's okay to tell you... but yes! Trixie DID foil Blood Rite and save your life!" She brushed a hoof against her chest. "You're welcome, by the way."

"I thought so." Twilight took a deep breath and stepped forward, her head bowed. "Thank you. But that's why I need to do this, Trixie."

Trixie's smirk vanished, and she arched an eyebrow. "Pardon? Do what?"

"I need to clear the record between Ranma and Canterlot. Things can't stay as they are," she pressed, staring hard into the magician's eyes. "If we let this escalate further it can only end with some kind of showdown. Either Equestria will corner Ranma, or..." she gulped. "Ranma... will corner Equestria. So to speak."

Trixie furrowed her brow. "Trixie isn't sure what you mean..."

"I mean he's been the target of Lunar Guard assassins before, and he's not nearly as hard to find as a wanted fugitive from justice should be," the alicorn explained. "In addition, from his perspective... If he wants to stop Equestria from hounding him, there aren't many plausible means to do so other than stopping Princess Celestia. If he decides on his own to confront her..."

"Don't be ridiculous! Trixie wouldn't allow it!" snorted Trixie. Her reaction was dismissive, but with an undercurrent of genuine agitation. Her lofty facade was starting to crack.

"Why would it be up ta you?" Applejack asked.

Trixie sat back on her haunches and brushed her mane aside with a hoof. "Ranma works for Trixie, of course. He's a bumbling, violent alien who reacts explosively to magic exposure and can barely read. Ranma wouldn't get anywhere without Trixie, and he knows it!"

Twilight gently placed a hoof on Trixie's shoulder, much to the unicorn's discomfort. "I believe you, Trixie. You wouldn't let Ranma do something so foolish. But what if something happened to you?"

Trixie's eyes narrowed. "Something? Something like what?" she asked suspiciously.

"With all these dangerous creatures and sorcerers and entire armies hunting for him, you're in danger too, aren't you? What if you get hurt? Or what if you just get so sick of living on the run from the authorities that you abandon him? Do you plan on staying by Ranma's side forever?" Twilight asked.

Trixie recoiled at this question, her eyes widening slightly. Then she coughed and quickly returned to her earlier annoyed expression. "That's none of your business, Sparkle. Trixie will handle Ranma and keep him from going on any catastrophic regicide quests. Is that all? Trixie really does have other things to be doing right now."

Twilight restrained a frustrated groan. Trixie was closing herself off again, and Twilight wasn't sure how to get through to the unicorn. This was a vastly different engagement than the last time she and Trixie had conversed, where the wandering magician was nervous and seemed acutely aware of her limited authority. Now Trixie talked down to her like she was doing an Equestrian Princess a favor by hearing her out. It was like she was dealing with a completely different pony.

"Trixie, you can't possibly think it's safe or wise for Ranma to remain on the lam forever! What do you think is going to happen? Do you think Canterlot will just decide the cost of bringing him in is too great and give up? He's carrying an artifact that could very well decide the very survival of the entire royal order!" Twilight protested.

"Trixie doesn't think that. Trixie merely thinks it's preferable to bringing him to Canterlot, which can only end in explosions and tragedy," the unicorn drawled. "It doesn't help to avoid a disaster by precipitating an even greater one."

"I want to save Ranma!" Twilight shouted, her voice getting heated. "And Celestia does too!"

"Ranma Saotome doesn't need 'saving.' He just needs a level head to guide him and enough food to supply a medium-sized caravan," Trixie countered, rolling her eyes. "While Princess Celestia could surely provide the latter, Ranma doesn't trust the Princesses - present company excluded, for some reason - and at this point Trixie honestly can't blame him."

Twilight's frustration jumped several notches at the suggestion that Celestia wasn't trustworthy, and she started sputtering incoherently again.

Then someone cleared his throat nervously from behind the Ponyville residents. The mares turned to look and found the cashier pony standing in the aisle directly behind them.

"Hi! Uh... not to interrupt... I'm really not clear on the context of this conversation at all and it seems SUPER IMPORTANT and everything, but..." he chewed his lip for several seconds before finishing, "are you ladies going to be buying anything? Because you're blocking the entrance..."

The Ponyville mares had the grace to look embarrassed, while Trixie just smirked.

"Yes, Trixie will be buying. Terribly sorry about the disruption." She didn't seem very sorry as she brushed past Twilight and started peering at the goods on display.

Twilight Sparkle grit her teeth, fighting a desperate internal battle not to continue arguing with the magician. After a few seconds, her expression relaxed and she headed toward the exit. "Sorry. We'll be going now." She didn't look back at Trixie as she left, nor did Applejack or Rainbow Dash as they followed.

"Well, shucks. That didn't go well. Now what're we gonna do?" Applejack asked as soon as they were clear of the store entrance.

Rainbow Dash gave her a look. "What do you mean? We're going to go find Havoc and take him back to Ponyville, of course!"

Applejack seemed surprised at this, for some reason. "But Trixie just said-"

"Yeah, yeah, but who cares?" Rainbow waved a hoof and snorted. "Trixie's his boss, not his mom. Besides, it's not like we need her help to find him. Twi's got that covered! We even confirmed that Ranma still has the MacGuffin Stone and saved Twilight's life!"

"Yeah, but... I dunno," Spike interjected, wringing his hands. "If Trixie is against this, then convincing Ranma is going to be HARD. He takes her seriously. Way more seriously than he should."

"It doesn't matter," Twilight said firmly. Her voice and eyes were frosty, staring at a point of light in the distance only she could see. "I wish Trixie was more helpful. But she doesn't want to be and I'm not going to force her. That doesn't change what we have to do here." Her eyes narrowed. "Ranma Saotome has to have his name cleared. He has to let us secure the MacGuffin Stone. We can't let this disaster continue, no matter what. Too much is at stake."

"Okay, that's all true. But... y'all don't think Trixie might have a point?" Applejack said uneasily. When she had the others' attention, she continued. "This feller destroyed yer home, mah barn, and a good chunk o' mah orchard in the couple o' hours he was in Ponyville. Ever since he's been runnin' around the country leavin' scorched buildin's and beaten guards behind him. Trixie's had a front row seat to all o' this bedlam, so maybe she ain't just puttin' us on when she says we're bringin' a lit match to a powder keg."

"Pff! If just being around Havoc is that bad, then why does she bother? Trixie would have left him in the dust long ago!" Rainbow Dash countered.

"Well, judgin' by what Spike said, Ah'm guessin' she's sweet on 'im," the farmer replied, shrugging. "But that ain't really the point."

"You're right, Applejack. It's not the point. The point is that if we leave things be, they're guaranteed to get worse," Twilight said firmly. "Ranma needs my help, no matter what Trixie says. He deserves forgiveness, no matter what Celestia says. And I can't be afraid of simple proximity to him, no matter what... well... everypony says."

"Yeah! That's the attitude!" Rainbow Dash cheered, pumping a foreleg.

"Also, we still need to warn him about the dragon trying to hunt him down," Spike said, while staring up into the sky.

"Yes! Definitely! He..." Twilight trailed off when several nearby ponies gasped and shouted in surprise, and then slowly tilted her head up. "... Oh. Oh dear."

Kamikazan flew over the forest just outside of town, swooping over the forest in long, soaring dives while scanning the ground. The dragon prince was still far away from Lancanter, and wasn't heading in the direction of the town, but the very appearance of such a large dragon within spotting distance was unusual and frightening enough that the town's citizens started to scatter and rush to their homes.

"Ya see? This is what Ah'm talkin' about," Applejack groaned. "Soon as we start catchin' up to Sow-toh-may, BOOM, dragons. This won't end well."

"Oh, come on! You can't pretend like this just came out of nowhere! We knew this dragon was coming for Havoc, remember?" Rainbow protested.

Applejack squinted into the distance, watching the flying serpent dive again. "Ya sure that's the same one? Ah can't tell from here, and the fortune teller lady said the varmint was s'pposed to be headin' to the wrong place."

"I can't really tell either, but it's the right size and the right color. What are the odds that two red dragons are after the poor guy at the same time?" Rainbow asked. Then, after a few seconds, she turned to Twilight. "Seriously, what are the odds? This IS the same dragon, right?"

"Girls, I think we'd better hurry up and intervene," Twilight said grimly, speeding into a gallop. "That's definitely Kamikazan. And he's definitely headed right for the MacGuffin Stone!"

---

It didn't take very long at all to find his target.

Even Kamikazan was somewhat suspicious about how well his hunt had gone. He was hardly surprised to find that the mysterious gray chaos pony was no longer at Metalleus after Kamikazan had been directed there, but his prey left quite a trail behind him. Physical tracks interspersed with badly wounded, terrified bandits who were none too happy with the mystery stallion made for easy tracking. Oddly, they all referred to the stallion as "Havoc," but a basic physical description, plus a description of his fighting prowess, made his identity clear.

Soon enough Kamikazan was searching the roads outside Lancanter, checking every camp and wagon for his target. There were a fair number of them - Lancanter was a busy hub town, and the forest was full of loggers - and most of the time they screamed and fled in panic. Which was fine; Kamikazan preferred such a reaction. The lack of terrified compliance was one of the things that bothered him about Ranma Saotome in the first place.

"Hey, do I know you? You look sort of familiar."

Case in point: the pigtailed stallion staring up at him next to a big pile of broken wood.

Kamikazan didn't land right away, stopping in the air to stare hard at the pony. Ranma looked exactly as he remembered, although he was wearing some kind of ridiculous-looking cape now. He didn't see any other ponies around, either. The circumstances were perfect.

"You don't remember me, pest? Our encounter may have been fleeting, but you stand before one of the immortal rulers of his world!" Kamikazan snarled. He hovered in place over the camp site, his wings shaking the branches underneath with every beat. Glittering sparks floated from his jaws while he spoke, turning every word into a subtle promise of blazing annihilation.

Ranma suddenly looked exasperated. "Oh, right. Now I remember you. That guy from Rite's tower. Kamikazan, was it?" He had a broken wheel on his back, and he walked over to the firewood before tilting over to let it fall onto the pile. "How's your eye?"

Kamikazan suddenly lurched to the side, moving over the empty road before lowering himself onto the ground. This area was cramped for a creature of his size, but he refused to change to a smaller body; this stallion already had the gall to defy him in his natural visage. It wouldn't do to address such insolent rabble without at least towering over them.

"My eye is fine, vermin. No others have been so crass as to lay hoof or claw upon me since our previous meeting," Kamikazan growled.

Ranma started walking back toward the wrecked wagon, not bothering to keep eye contact with the dragon prince. "Neat. So what do you want now?"

"Straight to business, then." Kamikazan folded his wings up and stuck out his chest. "I've located you as a mere means to an end, Ranma Saotome."

"Mm hmm," Ranma said noncommittally, flipping some more broken planks onto his back.

"Yes, that's right. I know your name now, equine. You've made some powerful enemies, and though none of them equal myself in power or majesty, one of them happened to have... other assets that interest me." Kamikazan grinned, his tongue flicking out of his mouth like a snake tasting the air. "Count yourself lucky, scum. Your cooperation may yet spare you of my wrath!"

Ranma walked by the dragon and then tilted to the side, spilling the wood onto the pile. "Uh huh."

Kamikazan's grin soured. "The female I have chosen to be my mate has demanded a certain treasure before she would be mine..."

"Ah. Engagement problems, huh? Yeah, I've been there," Ranma interrupted, walking back to the wreck. "You want my advice, all these 'reach the goal and marry the princess' quests are never worth it. Even if you really like her, it never works out just because you managed to be the first one to get the treasure or whatever."

Kamikazan scowled. "I did NOT want your advice. Tell me where the MacGuffin Stone is, Ranma Saotome, or I shall reduce you to smoldering ruin here and now!"

Ranma flipped some more wood onto his back. "You see, this is just what I'm talking about." He started strolling back across the clearing again. "This chick sent you to get the MacGuffin? No way is she worth it. Is she going to send you on doomed chores after you're married, too?"

"Watch your tongue, equine!" Kamikazan snarled, slamming a giant claw down in Ranma's path. "You dare slander my beloved Princess Celestia?!"

Ranma blinked up at the dragon. "Princess Celestia? ... Wait... isn't she the one that's supposed to raise the sun or something? She's out to get me too? What's HER problem?"

Kamikazan grimaced, glancing to the side. Giving away Celestia as his source had been imprudent. Not that it really mattered, but he didn't owe the stallion any explanations and there was no reason to pin this affair on the Equestrian diarch.

"Also, isn't she supposed to be a horse? I don't think you're her type," Ranma continued.

Kamikazan's claw rose and fell, aiming to squash the pigtailed pony flat. Ranma hit the ground and rolled under it. The plank he was carrying fell off, crushed to splinters under the gigantic dragon hand, but Ranma cleared the danger zone and calmly hopped back upright.

"SILENCE, PEST!!" Kamikazan snarled.

"Don't kill the messenger, buddy! I'm just saying: your relationship is going to be hard enough if she sends you on these dumb fetch quests. What's the point if you can't even cuddle without flattening her?"

The dragon's claws bit into the dirt and then raked across the ground toward Ranma. He leapt away, vanishing into a gray blur before landing out of the serpent's immediate reach.

"WHERE. IS. THE. MACGUFFIN STONE?" Kamikazan hissed, flames puffing from between his teeth.

"Not telling," Ranma said simply. He idly touched the jewel attached to his cape's clasp.

Luckily, Kamikazan didn't seem aware of such subtle body language. "Then where is the Sorcerer Blood Rite?!" he demanded.

"Dunno," Ranma said with a shrug.

Kamikazan trembled, and the leaves on the nearest branches started to wilt from proximity to the rapidly rising heat.

"If you will not tell me, then your life is forfeit!" the dragon prince roared.

"Yeah, I kind of get the feeling you were going to do that anyway," the martial artist said. He walked away from the wagon, keeping his facing toward the dragon prince without taking up any sort of clear combat stance. "Come on, let's get this over with. I don't want Trix to come back and find that I've attracted ANOTHER scaly freak less than an hour after the last one."

Kamikazan reared his head back and spread his wings, taking up a classic draconic combat pose. Flame licked the edges of his jaws, and magic power sang within his veins with every heartbeat.

And yet, the dragon prince hesitated. Those parts of his brain not drowning in rage - particularly the aspects concerned with his potential future nuptials - couldn't help but consider that murdering the infuriating stallion would be murdering his only real lead to the MacGuffin Stone. In theory, of course, he could hunt the treasure himself by interrogating various creatures and demanding the service of more scryers, but that approach was scattershot and tedious. The pony before him clearly knew where his objective was. All he had to do was find the right key to force the information.

But what was that key? A loved one? He didn't know anything about Ranma Saotome aside from his slightly impressive combat skills and stubborn defiance of his betters. A bribe? Kamikazan couldn't imagine he had anything the stallion would want, even if he'd lower himself to such a thing. Threats were his favorite tactic, but one he had already tried repeatedly. What more could he do to convince the equine that his life was in danger?

Then, an epiphany: Ranma Saotome may well believe that he could weather the wrath of a serpent king, but others were far more vulnerable. Threatening his loved ones would have required learning who and where those equines were - Kamikazan vaguely remembered some blue pony being with the pest at the site of his awakening - but he could easily try less discriminating methods. Ponies were soft-hearted and weak-willed; how much devastation would Ranma allow just to protect a magic rock?

"This is your last chance, scum," the red dragon growled. "Tell me where the MacGuffin Stone is, or witness retribution beyond your darkest nightmares."

"Nah, I'm good." Ranma reached the road, almost opposite the direction of Trixie's new travel wagon. "Come at me when you're ready." He stopped and sat down on the bare ground.

It enraged Kamikazan for the stallion to speak so confidently, as if a combat between them was some kind of chore. But he clamped down on his fury and slowly turned his head away.

"Come at you? Why? What good does it do me to reduce you to cinders now?" His lips twitched up into a smile as he faced away from the stallion. "No, vermin. It won't be you that bears the toll of my fury. Not YET, at any rate."

Ranma blinked, surprised and increasingly concerned. "Wait, what do you-"

Kamikazan tilted his head down, toward the wagon parked by the side of the road. Then he vomited a searing red fireball at it. The projectile smashed the roof in before it exploded, completely consuming the vehicle within a swirling inferno. Chunks of burning wood were flung into the air, leaving streaks of dark smoke in their wake. A second later the fireworks within the wagon exploded, briefly overwhelming the initial blast with bright, vibrant bursts of colorful sparks. A few rockets even shot out of the devastated vehicle, whistling into the air before popping into flowers and glittering stars.

Ranma's fur paled several shades while he watched the display, and his jaw dropped open. "You..."

"I hope there was somepony in there," Kamikazan mused with a smile. "If not, that's okay. I spotted many other equines on my search for you just here in this forest. I think I'll start with them before I move on to the town."

Ranma's body trembled, his eyes still bugging out. "You..."

"I won't raze it entirely. Celess wouldn't like that. But surely a few ponies wouldn't be missed in the pursuit of a beloved treasure. Maybe a school? Oh! Or a hospital! If anything it would help the kingdom to be relieved of some of their sick weaklings." The dragon turned toward his target. "Or... you can tell me where the MacGuffin Stone is. Tell me, equine: how many lives are worth protecting this treasure?"

Ranma's aura exploded, blasting a shallow crater in the dirt around him. The ghostly, pale blue light quickly retracted to a more subdued level, but was still entirely visible as the martial artist clenched his teeth. He glared up at the dragon, and the aura pulsed. "YOU..."

Kamikazan blinked. Something about the stallion's gaze made him feel substantially less angry than before as new, uncomfortable feelings crept into his thoughts. "What? What's wrong? Wait, was there somepony in that wagon after all?"

At the mere mention of the wagon, a vein popped up on Ranma's head.

"Look, all you have to do to save all these ponies is tell me where the-"

Ranma's body became a cyan blur across the ground, and then Kamikazan knew pain.

The first impact struck Kamikazan in the arm, causing him to flinch back. Then a kick to his opposite elbow unsteadied his stance, dropping his chest and head lower to the ground. A brilliant arc of blue light and angry pony flipped up in a jump and impacted the side of his head a moment later, smashing the dragon's face into a tree.

"OW! BRIMSTONE!" Kamikazan cursed, spitting up a puff of fire.

Ranma dropped under the serpent's chest, facing away, and then started slamming his back hooves into Kamikazan's more vulnerable underside in rapid sequence. Every kick felt like a ballistae bolt into the dragon's ribs, and his current awkward footing forced him to lean into the attacks.

"Knock it OFF, pest!" Kamikazan roared, using his wings to recoil from the stallion. He swiped a claw across the road, but Ranma back flipped over it, and then leapt into the air again. Kamikazan went for a bite, only for a hoof to smash into his jaw, knocking his head aside and fracturing a tooth. Ranma landed on his neck and kicked off, striking with strength and precision enough to crack a scale in his departure.

"Flames alive, what's wrong with you?!" Kamikazan tried to back away, but found his wings striking against the surrounding branches. Ranma, on the other hand, bounced off and between the trees and branches with impossible ease and terrifying speed. The dragon prince was only able to track him thanks to the inexplicable blue glow that stuck to his form and trailed along behind him. "Why are you so mad?! What did I do?!"

Ranma actually relented in his assault, landing on the side of a tree trunk and sliding down the side toward the ground. "You torched Trixie's wagon, you stupid lizard!" he snapped, still trembling with anger.

Kamikazan waited for the stallion to get to the part that upset him. After a few seconds of silence, the serpent blinked. "I... torched the wagon? That's it? There was no one inside it? No irreplaceable treasures? You're beside yourself with fury because I burned down some crude, fragile transport?"

Ranma's aura pulsed again, and the dragon flinched back. "YES, I'm mad about the wagon, you idiot! Do you have any idea how hard we worked to get that thing?! Do you know what Trixie is going to do to me when she gets back and sees you destroyed it?!"

Kamikazan was flabbergasted to actually see a tear visibly crawl down the stallion's cheek during his angry shouting. "I... uh... no?"

"She's going to KILL ME!!" Ranma screamed, slamming a back hoof into the tree behind him. The entire tree shook from the impact, and a scattered shower of leaves was blasted aside by another pulse of the martial artist's aura.

Kamikazan frowned and scratched his lip. "I'm not sure I understand, but... What if I agreed to kill this 'Trixie' before she finds you? THEN would you tell me where the MacGuffin Stone is?"

Surprisingly, this extremely reasonable offer only seemed to make Ranma angrier.

Kamikazan lurched back after a bright blue comet slammed into his chest. "Agh! All right, I have had ENOUGH of th-OW!" He started to flap his wings to get airborne after taking another sharp hit to his elbow. "Let's see how you-GAH!" His head pitched to the side from another kick. "You won't be able to-OOF!" He wobbled in the air from a strike to his wing socket before Ranma bounced away again.

"STOP IT!! STOP HITTING ME!!" the dragon prince screeched. He launched himself further upward, and then blasted a jet of flame down across the road. Then he twisted around in the air and spat a fireball into the forest.

Ranma wasn't even in the path of the attacks; Kamikazan was simply so enraged and desperate that he was beginning to spit fire everywhere. Checking his approach path, Ranma leapt from one tree and landed hard on a thick branch underneath the dragon, using it to vault up onto his tail.

Kamikazan noticed immediately when something was crawling on him, and start whipping his tail to try and fling the pony away. "No! Get off me, insect!" he roared, twisting and thrashing every which way.

Ranma dashed up his tail regardless, keeping a steady pace until he could jump up onto the dragon's back. Kamikazan roared and flew higher, trying to spin around fast enough to dislodge the pony.

Ranma was all but undisturbed; the dragon prince's rough, iron-hard scales made for excellent footing, and the crested spines along his back gave the martial artist something to push and pull against to counter the motions. Once the serpent was upright again, he dashed up to his shoulders and then bit onto a wing, clamping his jaws firmly around the fleshy membrane that stretched between the bones.

Then he started kicking the joint that connected the wing to the shoulder, slamming a hoof into it again and again.

"OW! AH! ACK! URK!" Kamikazan's flight wobbled again as his right-hand wing became increasingly painful to move. "Stop it! Stop that at once! ARGH!"

Predictably, Ranma didn't stop, so after a few more seconds of agony the dragon prince began to concentrate. Magic flowed freely from the serpent's body, manifesting in a series of floating, glittering embers that washed up over him and then coalesced to form solid lines of hot, glowing light. The lines stretched and met other lines at sharp angles, circling, spinning, and bending in on themselves to form an arcane pattern in the air. A six-pointed star, ringed by torch-like flames and stamped over a single, indecipherable rune of power.

The magic circle flashed, and Kamikazan exploded. His scales evaporated, his flesh turned to fire, and the entire form blasted outward in all directions like a massive dynamite stick. Ranma went flying with a surprised yelp, thrown through the air on a scorching wave without the benefit of wings. The martial artist flailed about within the flames and landed gracelessly within the forest, slamming through several branches before he finally landed amongst the trees.

Up in the air, a swirling morass of bright crimson broke from the fiery blast, pulling back to its origin point. The energy seeped together into a sphere, and then inflated rapidly, expanding back to the form of the mighty red dragon. Within seconds Kamikazan flew once more above the forest of Lancanter, this time without his unwanted passenger.

"Now, then. Time to end this," snarled the serpent. More magic coalesced around him in motes of angry red, drifting in an invisible wind to be collected in front of his nose. The magic grew into a swirling orb. Barely the size of a basketball, the boiling sphere yet contained enough explosive force to pulverize a city block and enough raw heat to engulf the blocks adjacent in a merciless inferno. It was a laughably wasteful attack to use on a single pony-sized target, but the dragon prince was enraged beyond the point of restraint.

"MY CLOAK!! YOU SCALY BASTARD!! YOU BURNT MY CLOAK!!"

Kamikazan paused mid-spell, leaving the sphere of power hovering in the air above him, just so he could stare incredulously at the ground below. Ranma was glaring up at him, absolutely livid, with the scorched scraps of his purple cloak and hood still tied around his neck. The stallion's fur was burned as well, but he hardly seemed to notice. In his upraised hoof the stallion held the gemstone clasp that had held the cloak in place.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" the serpent asked, exasperated. "Yelping like a wounded animal over that hideous scrap of cloth..."

Ranma's aura pulsed again. He shifted the leg holding the clasp, putting it... somewhere. It wasn't clear where the accessory went, but Kamikazan didn't really care.

"But no matter. If you wish to spend your final breath wailing inanities to your betters, I can grant you that small favor." Kamikazan moved upward behind the quivering fire orb, and clutched it gently within his talons. "Be grateful, wretch!" He flung the magic bomb down into the forest, directly at the pigtailed stallion.

Ranma didn't move as the projectile plummeted toward him, silently working out its course and analyzing the various angles in his head.

Then, once it was merely ten feet away, he launched himself at it with a jumping somersault. One hoof lashed out, impacting the flaming bomb with a flash of crystalline blue light. Then the bomb rocketed back up toward its source, trailing brilliant red and blue sparks behind it.

"Wait, what," Kamikazan mumbled as the screaming crimson orb sailed up at him.

The serpent squeaked and lurched out the way, barely making room for the magic explosive to shoot past his neck and upward to a safe distance. The sphere quivered and started to glow white as the spell containing it slowly unraveled, and then exploded several seconds later. A hollow roar washed over the forest in all directions, shaking the treetops and sending flocks of birds scattering even before the shock wave of hot air buffeted them from above.

Kamikazan himself flapped harder to remain stable as the pressure wave struck, and he twisted around to watch as the blazing nova from his spell expanded and then rapidly collapsed into a small shower of embers. It was a fairly unique sight; he had never seen that attack detonate in the air, absent a solid combustible to consume. Given that he had just watched a pony kick it back at him like a hoofball, it occurred to him that he might want to pay closer attention to the unique mechanics of his magic attacks in the future.

With that observation troubling him, and still slightly stunned at what just happened, the dragon prince turned his attention back onto the ground.

"... Huh? Where did he go?" Kamikazan's eyes narrowed. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised at losing track of the stallion amongst the tree cover, but he was quite surprised that Ranma had run away. Certainly the insolent pony had ample reason to do so, but retreating at this point, after attacking in an enraged frenzy and driving him into the sky, was quite a reversal of tactics. Was the stallion trying to lure him back down?

The trees directly underneath Kamikazan shook, and the dragon heard the curious sound of hooves striking wood with great speed.

"YEEP!" Kamikazan yelped and jerked upward when Ranma shot up out of the forest as if he had been launched by a catapult. The serpent's wings beat furiously, trying to eke out a few more feet of altitude in a panicked frenzy, and he curled up his legs and tail as close as possible to keep them out of reach.

Ranma's ascent slowed, reaching the apex of his incredible leap mere feet from the terrified dragon. The martial artist swiped his forelegs above him repeatedly, kicking at the air and growling incoherently for one tense, terrifying moment. Then he fell back down.

Kamikazan rapidly ascended some more, putting an additional fifty feet or so between him and the ground. Heart thundering in his ears, he started nervously scanning the forest again for his target. This time it was less to find a bombardment point and more to keep track of the pest in case he tried something else. Kamikazan had never met a creature so tenacious as the pigtailed pony before; what kind of monster had Celestia sent him to hunt down?

After several seconds the dragon prince failed to find his target, but also started to feel reassured that he was out of the stallion's reach. The tree cover meant that finding a single pony that didn't want to be found was nearly impossible if he wasn't willing to venture within kicking distance, but it also created an offensive opportunity for someone with fire magic.

"Beams only though," Kamikazan muttered to himself, "no magic missiles."

He began gathering his magic, and swirls of crimson sparks gathered in front of him. Sparks became lines, lines became shapes, and shapes became runes. Ancient magic thrummed through the dragon's veins, giving life to his will and powering destruction far beyond that of a simple breath weapon. The magic circles multiplied, spreading and tilting outward to aim at different parts of the forest.

Scorched Earth it is, then. We'll see if a few decimated forests calms the pest down. A high-pitched whine filled the air, and motes of bright crimson energy gathered in the circles' centers.

Then a ray of purple light slashed across the magic circles. Three of them collapsed instantly, and the others destabilized when Kamikazan whirled around in a panic.

"That's enough!" Twilight slowed her flight through the air, making sure to stay well out of arm's reach when addressing the fire-breathing serpent. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but you're going to hurt somepony at this rate!"

It took a few seconds for Kamikazan to swallow his relief that Ranma Saotome hadn't somehow grown wings and snuck up on him. Once he was properly composed, the dragon prince sneered. "That's precisely the point, lesser Princess. Don't interfere, or you'll become one of those 'someponies.'"

"Lesser Princess? The hay is that?" asked a voice behind him.

Kamikazan screeched, snapping to the side and quickly whipping his entire body around. Rainbow Dash, who had descended behind him, blinked repeatedly as the serpent took up a defensive aerial posture, only to suddenly recover and relax. Clearly the dragon was terrified, and she had no idea what to make of it.

"The ascended mare is a lesser Princess, given the gifts of the alicorn race out of favor or pity rather than birthright," Kamikazan explained calmly, as if he hadn't just shrieked like a decade-old wyrm from an animal one hundredth his size. "But you waste my time! Begone, mares! This does not concern you!"

"A dragon bombarding the forests outside an Equestrian town DOES concern me," Twilight said grimly. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Kamikazan began to growl and consider the best spells for incinerating aerial opponents. Then he reconsidered. He still had no reliable means for getting the location of his objective out of Ranma Saotome. But maybe these mares did? He knew nothing of these ponies, but his current strategy of threats and violence had so far been largely ineffective on this particular quest.

"What I want is the MacGuffin Stone!" Kamikazan boomed, surging higher so that he could properly look down on the winged ponies. "I demanded that Ranma Saotome reveal its location or face judgment. He chose judgment." The dragon prince paused. "That judgment has been... delayed, somewhat. But if the gray pest will not accept a compromise, then his fate is sealed."

"REEEEEEALLY," Rainbow Dash drawled, looking unconvinced.

Twilight pursed her lips. "You're looking for the MacGuffin Stone? Why?"

Kamikazan snapped his jaws angrily, causing the alicorn to flinch back. "When a Dragon King demands treasure, mare, you do not ask 'why.' The artifact will be mine. It's up to you equines how many bodies are left in the funeral pyre by the time I find it."

"That's... not much of a compromise," Twilight admitted.

"It is testament to my restraint and comportment that any of you ponies may yet leave this place alive," Kamikazan snorted. "Now find the pigtailed fool and locate my treasure, lesser Princess!"

---

"Damn it! I can't believe I missed! TWICE!!"

Ranma paced back and forth along the ground beneath the treetops, seething angrily to himself. Every few seconds he passed under a break in the forest canopy, and he glanced up at the distant red blur in the sky.

On this particular pace, there was a little purple blur next to it, and a light blue blur as well. He stopped, his jaw hanging open.

"What is that? Is that... Sparks? What's she doing here?" From here he couldn't make out anything other than the color and size, and really he imagined there were plenty of other winged purple ponies in Equestria, but he figured it was a strong guess. Apparently Twilight had been searching for him for some reason, and the alicorn was considered a heroine of Equestria. What other pony was going to fly up to a dragon and start a conversation in the middle of a rampage?

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it..." Ranma's pacing increased in speed. "Can Sparks take on a dragon? What if she tries to talk him down but can't because I made him mad? DAMN IT I can't believe I MISSED!"

"There ya are! Hey, Sow-toh-may! Over here!"

"Sssssh! Can everypony just stop shouting, please? Dragons have pretty good hearing!"

Ranma whipped around on the spot, and he was reasonably surprised to see Applejack peeking around a tree with Spike on her back. The young dragon had a claw to his lips, and was nervously glancing upward.

"Spike? And, you're... Applejack, right? From that orchard? What's going on? Why are you here?" the martial artist asked, feeling some of the tension draining from him.

"It's kind of a long story, but fer now we're here to get you away from that scaly varmint up there," Applejack tilted her hat back and gestured to the side. "Dash and Twi're distractin' him right now. How 'bout we skedaddle?"

Ranma's eyes hardened, and in an instant the tension was back. "No way. I'm not running. Not this time," the stallion hissed. "I owe that lizard freak way more than I've dished out already! Besides, he said he'd start torching the place if he couldn't get me!"

"Aw crud, really?" Spike groaned, hanging his head. "Man, why do all the other dragons have to be jerks?"

"Well that is a problem, ain't it?" Applejack mumbled. "Maybe we can lure him away from here?"

"I don't want him to LEAVE, I want him to come CLOSER so I can hit him some more!" Ranma complained, stamping a hoof on the ground.

"All right, cowpony, just calm down," the farmer said sternly. "Ah know yer not shy about fightin' the bigg'uns, but ya ain't gettin' to him without wings. Cool yer apples and let Twi do her thing."

Ranma blinked repeatedly. Then his eyes locked onto Applejack's saddlebags. "Hey, do you have a canteen on you?"

"Huh? Yeah, Ah do. But we should-"

Before Applejack even finished the sentence, Ranma was next to her and digging through her bag. By the time she recoiled in surprise, he had the canteen clasped between his hooves and was unscrewing the cap with his teeth.

"Whoa! Wait! Ranma, you don't have to fight him!" Spike exclaimed, his eyes bulging. Applejack just looked confused, but Spike had figured out the martial artist's plan immediately. "Let Twi talk to him first! We might be able to work this out!"

"Sorry, Spike." Ranma tilted the canteen over, draining the water over his face. Brilliant red flooded over his mane, from the roots all the way to the tips of his braid, and a pair of gray wings sprouted from his back with a soft popping noise. "Sparks can't work this out. Not this time."

Applejack's jaw was hanging open in shock. It had been mentioned before that the martial artist could change bodies, but amongst everything else she had honestly forgotten all about it. Seeing that the mare was stunned, Ranma tossed the empty canteen to the young dragon on her back instead.

"Thanks for the water." Ranma vaulted up at an angle, kicking off the side of a tree. Then she spread her wings and took off into the sky.

---

"Okay, fine, we'll find Ranma Saotome," Twilight said, setting her jaw. "But what if he doesn't have the MacGuffin or know where it is? Are you going to start burning down the countryside anyway? For that matter, do you promise to leave without hurting anypony if you get what you want?"

"Don't test me, lesser Princess," Kamikazan hissed. "The pigtailed vermin had the opportunity to surrender and avoid my wrath. He chose to defy me instead."

"Is that why you're so beat up?" Rainbow Dash asked, peering closely at a patch of broken scales on his neck.

Kamikazan whirled on the pegasus, teeth bared angrily. "SILENCE!" he roared, knocking her back with a wave of hot (and frankly, vile-smelling) breath. "He dared to raise a hoof against me, and he will suffer for that!"

A deep growl came from the dragon, and then at once his anger seemed to recede. "However... it is in my immediate interest to spill as little equine blood as possible. Ranma Saotome is quite willing to let innocent ponies perish to protect the artifact, it seems." His lips curled into a toothy smile. "Are you?"

Twilight grimaced. Rainbow Dash smirked.

"You mean he kicked your tail rather than letting you hurt anypony for your dumb treasure! If you want the MacGuffin so bad, why aren't you on the ground fighting him for it?" Rainbow taunted.

A jet of flame swept through the air, and Rainbow casually dipped under it to dodge out of the danger area.

"I said BE SILENT!" Kamikazan snarled. "Would that I could FIND the wretch, I would teach him his place! But he fled into the woods after taking a cheap shot at me!" Another growl issued from the dragon prince, accompanied by a plume of dark smoke from the edges of his mouth. "... Not that I can question his wisdom in doing so. I assure you that his skill at retreat is the ONLY reason that equine worm doesn't lay below us in a pile of glowing cinders!"

"HEY!" shouted another mare's voice from behind the serpent. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!"

Kamikazan, having already twice met flying mares with embarrassing panic, merely groaned this time and slowly turned to see what new annoyance deigned to demand his attention.

He was reasonably surprised to be met with a screaming gray blur that slammed directly into his left eye.

"AAAAAH!! ARRRGH!! MY EYE!! BURNING BRIMSTONE, MY EYE!!" Kamikazan lurched back, clutching one side of his face with a claw.

Twilight's eyes bugged out in shock. Rainbow Dash snickered at the sight of the massive creature's wailing, and then glanced over at his attacker.

"Wait... gray coat... braided mane and tail... arrow-wheel-thing cutie mark..." Rainbow mumbled.

Kamikazan overheard her musing through his own agonized seething, and his good eye widened.

"Ah-ha! Twi said you could turn into a pegasus! Nice!" Rainbow laughed. She would have flown over and given the martial artist a high-hoof, but the way Ranma was staring at Kamikazan and seemed to be glowing an icy blue dissuaded her from any movement that could accidentally place her between the two.

"Turn into... a pegasus...?" Kamikazan said, his voice cracking slightly. The gray pony bore an unmistakable resemblance to the stallion that had been kicking him around before; at the very least he'd guess they were siblings. The livid death glare, however, from the pony he had never otherwise seen before seemed to be conclusive evidence. This was Ranma Saotome. With wings.

His eyes darted back to the other mares hovering around him, and then back to the furious shape-shifter. "Y-You..." his voice cracked again, and he paused to clear his throat. "You've appeared at last to face me, Saotome! Good! Now-"

Ranma launched forward suddenly, smashing her front hooves into the dragon's throat. A cloud of ash blasted from his maw, and he started coughing painfully.

Ranma bounced away to avoid a swipe from the dragon's claw, and then back flipped under Kamikazan's chin, slamming a hoof into his jaw. The dragon recoiled, but this simply gave his assailant extra room to accelerate before ramming into his stomach.

"STOP!! STOP IT!!" the dragon prince howled, flailing.

"YOU TORCHED TRIXIE'S WAGON, YOU SCALY FREAK!!" Ranma shouted back. She flipped away yet again, and then dove into another kick the moment her flight stabilized. “NO MERCY!!”

Twilight watched the battle in dumbfounded silence. Her first instinct was to call for an end to the fighting, but she couldn't really come up with a good argument for NOT attacking a malevolent dragon that was threatening pony lives if he didn't get what he wanted. She had originally hoped to intervene to save Ranma, but from here it looked like the cursed pony was holding her own just fine.

"Whoa, he is MAD," Rainbow Dash observed, floating up next to the alicorn. "Or she? He's a she now, right? Whatever. I remember how he was fighting the other dragon and it was nothing like this!"

A beam of light and fire blasted from Kamikazan, sweeping across the sky aimlessly. Twilight grimaced and flinched away, despite it coming nowhere near her.

"What was she saying about Trixie's wagon?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash spun in the air and raised a hoof to her brow, scanning the ground below. "I'm guessing she's talking about that big pile of burnt wood down in the clearing? That looks like the remains of lumber, not trees." She rubbed her chin with a hoof. "It also doesn't look like Kami-whatsit set the general area on fire, so yeah, if that used to be a wagon it looks like he burnt it down specifically. What a jerk."

Twilight furrowed her brow. Ranma kept landing hits on Kamikazan by diving at vulnerable points at top speed, and then kicking off into flips or leaps to evade retribution. She made as little use of her wings as was possible in an aerial battle, letting gravity lend extra strength to her attacks and using pure leg power to evade attacks and accelerate into flight. Twilight would almost say Ranma fought like an earth pony, except she'd never seen a pony of any species or profession fight like Ranma Saotome.

Kamikazan, for his part, was at a complete loss trying to defend himself. His sheer size, normally quite an asset for a dragon wishing to annihilate upstart ponies, gave Ranma dozens of possible angles of attack and ensured he couldn't turn or accelerate easily. His wings worked hard just to keep him aloft, but were also very large, vulnerable points that acted as convenient platforms for the equine hopping around the serpent's back. And of course the dragon prince was still clutching at his left eye.

"I guess this is what that fortune-teller meant when she said that we would have to save Kamikazan rather than Ranma," Twilight mumbled.

"Yeah, except the hay with that: I wanna see her knock this guy out!" Rainbow Dash said with a grin. Then she flew up higher and cupped her hooves around her muzzle.

"C'MON HAVOC!! TEACH THAT UPPITY ROYAL JERK A LESSON!!"

Ranma deflected off of the back of Kamikazan's head with a two-legged buck, somersaulting through the air and then stopping suddenly in a hover.

Then she turned to the winged ponies watching the altercation, looking exasperated. "Aww, not you too! You KNOW my name is Ranma!" she complained.

"See? I told you!" Twilight admonished her rainbow-maned friend. "Nopony wants to be called 'Havoc!' It's just rude!"

"But Havoc is a great name! You're a pony outlaw fighting off evil dragons and hiding the world's most powerful magic thingy! It's perfect!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"But it's NOT MY NAME!" the martial artist retorted firmly. "You can't just YIKES!"

A blast of flame struck Ranma in the air, and the pigtailed pony started flailing and plummeting after his wings caught fire. Kamikazan grinned from the sudden reversal of fortune, and then started building altitude again.

"Ranma! Oh no!" Twilight's horn started to glow, but the alicorn hesitated to actually cast a spell. "I can't use magic on her! I could just make things worse!"

"I got her!" Rainbow Dash was already in motion, dipping down to intercept the cursed equine.

Ranma had actually done a fair job of putting out the fire herself, suppressing the flames with her aura and thrashing hard enough to blow out the remaining embers. She still was still falling though, and the martial artist still hadn't gotten enough flying practice in to recover from a tailspin.

"Careful! Stop panicking!"

Ranma suddenly stopped spinning when something grabbed onto her, and then she realized her descent was slowing. Rainbow Dash had her forelegs wrapped around one of her rear legs, and was falling along with her. The other pegasus didn't seem worried, though, and she grinned as soon as she had the martial artist's attention.

"Don't worry, we've got you!"

A burst of purple light flashed below them, and before Ranma knew what was happening Twilight had taken hold of one of her front legs. The other mares started flapping their wings hard, slowing her descent from dizzying to merely concerning.

"Erm, th-thanks," Ranma mumbled, her cheeks flushing. "I'm not really that great at flying yet."

"It's a little dangerous to be fighting dragons under any circumstances, but much more so if you can't recover from a dive," Twilight admonished.

"Uh... yeah, about that..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "We might want to make a break for it, girls."

Kamikazan was hovering above, runic circles blazing in front of him with the promise of incendiary annihilation. His maw opened, aimed down toward the ponies, and a brilliant glint of crimson started expanding from the circles.

Twilight gulped. "I'll try to make a shield!"

Rainbow shook her head. "Forget a shield! Fly away!"

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Throw me at him."

"What?!" asked the other mares incredulously.

Ranma's aura started to build again, and the other ponies felt a cold chill where they held the cursed equine. "Colorful pony, just hurl me straight up. Sparks, blast me from behind to give me a boost."

"But-"

"How can-"

Kamikazan fired his spell, launching a beam of fiery destruction down at the mares.

"NOW! DO IT!"

Rainbow Dash didn't know what was happening or how likely she was to live through it, but the speedster reacted anyway. She flapped her wings hard, yanked Ranma out of Twilight's grip, and then spun around in a circle before flinging Ranma straight into the oncoming spell.

Twilight wanted to hesitate and think this through. She really did. But in the rush of panic she pushed aside her fears and simply did as requested. A ball of purple force shot up out of her horn and smashed into Ranma's flank, pushing her up further.

Ranma's aura expanded as the fire beam approached, generating icy blue contrails at the tips on her wings. With a sharp flap she barrel-rolled through the air, generating a cold spiral radiating out from the tip of her nose.

"HIRYUU SHOUTEN HAAAA!!" Ranma screamed, punching forward into the stream of flames.

---

Kamikazan had been expecting any number of counters to his assault. A flying dodge had been likely, and probably would have worked. Ranma also could have just fallen the rest of the way and avoided a direct hit; Kamikazan seriously doubted a fall of any height could kill the monstrous equine. The Princess might have even tried a magical counter, like an ice spell or teleport.

The absolute last thing he expected was for the interlopers to launch the insolent, shape-changing pest at him like a furry gray missile.

Or rather, not at him; he was too far away for such meager propulsion to get Ranma so far so quickly. More bizarrely, they had launched her directly into his concentrated beam of magical fire.

And now he was shouting something and glowing blue again.

"Wh... What's h-happening?" Kamikazan mumbled aloud, his voice carrying a slight tinge of fear.

Pegasus collided with fire beam, and to his growing concern the fire beam did not wash over her and scour the pony to the bone with cleansing flame. The head of the beam stopped and unraveled, and then the loose whips of bright red started spinning into a vortex.

Kamikazan wasn't at all sure what happened after that, but within seconds his fire beam was gone and there was a huge cyclone rushing up at him around a core of thundering blue energy.

"All I wanted was a date," the dragon prince protested miserably as the mouth of the vortex reached him. The initial impact felt like he was hit by a catapult boulder - an experience he was unlucky enough to have suffered before - and then the serpent was completely swallowed by the wind. He spun chaotically, completely at the mercy of the inexplicable cyclone, and after a few agonizing seconds it started to diffuse.

"Kachuu tenshin amaguriken!"

Kamikazan could hardly make out the foreign gibberish over the howling winds and his own dizziness, but the advance warning wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. Ranma shot through the center of the vortex like a bullet, smashing into the dragon's side. That impact became a hundred, hooves striking in a furious, impossibly fast blur against the steel-hard scales.

Ranma's cyclone finished unraveling, releasing pony and dragon to calm skies, but it was no reprieve; blissful unconsciousness claimed Kamikazan as his pain finally passed the critical threshold. Released to the tender mercy of gravity, he plummeted to the forest below.

---

"... Right, right. Havoc can make tornadoes. Or... Or whatever that was, exactly." Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side, frowning, while she watched the dragon plummet.

"Wait, where's Ranma? The cyclone's gone but I don't see her!" Twilight was flitting about in a panic, staring up at the sky for any signs of the gray pony.

"I think I saw him, I mean, her hit King Scaly Jerk over there before the twister broke," Rainbow said, still watching the serpent fall.

The dragon fell below the treetops, and then a sizeable cloud of dust and leaves jumped up into the air. Nearby trees shook from the impact, and at least two of them slowly teetered over and collapsed.

"What? A fall like that could be lethal!" Twilight fretted, staring with wide eyes at the distant crash site.

"To Havoc, or Kamikazan?" Rainbow wondered.

"Either! BOTH!! Go get Applejack and meet me there!"

Twilight vanished in a burst of purple light. Rainbow Dash shrugged, and then flipped backward in the air before diving down toward the scorched camp site below.

---

"Ranma? Ranma! Are you okay?!" Twilight called while she glided toward the crash site.

Long before she got a good look past the tree cover, her ears picked up the sound of a heavy, rhythmic thumping noise. It reminded Twilight immediately of the sound Applejack made when she harvested apples from trees. Yet this noise was sharper, and more regular. Drawing from her comparison of Applejack's harvest, it was probably the sound Applejack would make if she were trying to tear down the tree rather than shake the fruit loose.

Gulping, the young Princess swooped down into the forest.

In the middle of a fairly large impact crater lay Kamikazan, utterly comatose. The dragon prince was a complete mess, bearing numerous torn patches of scales, dirt everywhere, and what looked like a possibly broken wing. A humiliating and pitiful state for a dragon to be in, certainly, but it seemed like the serpent was obviously alive.

And then there was Ranma. She was standing next to the dragon's head, bucking it in the cranium. Repeatedly. As if the pigtailed pony was trying to crack it open.

"Don't think I'm done with you yet!" Buck. "You just fly up and start burning stuff down!" Buck. "Who do you think you are?!" Buck. "Dragon King my furry, tattooed ass!" Buck. "Damn it, wake up you bastard!" Buck. "One measly tornado and you pass out?!" Buck. "How am I supposed to explain that I lost the wagon to this?!" Double buck.

Twilight slowly landed at the edge of the crater, feeling extremely awkward but determined to intervene. "Uhm-"

Ranma almost jumped at the sound, quickly turning her head away and rubbing a leg against her face. Then she turned toward Twilight. "Oh, hey Sparks. Thanks for the help back there. I could have taken him on my own, but y'know. Saved me from a nasty fall, at least."

The martial artist's voice was casual, in an obviously forced way. Her eyes never quite met Twilight's, and her legs anxiously scuffed at the ground one by one. Ranma was very nervous, very upset, and possibly even... scared? That didn't seem right.

Twilight took a cautious step forward. "Are you okay?"

"I wasn't crying!" Ranma sputtered, unprompted. "All of the leaves and dust and stuff just got into my eyes, okay?! I'm fine!"

Twilight recoiled slightly, her eyes wide. "I... uh... I meant physically. You must have fallen at least four hundred feet."

"Oh. Oh, yeah," Ranma heaved a sigh, letting her ears droop. "Yeah, I'm good. This jerk took the impact." She lashed out with another back kick, and the dragon's entire body shuddered. "Never better. Hmph."

Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash finally reached the area, each of them stopping short at the sight of the decimated serpent.

Applejack whistled. "Sam Apple's ghost! Yer a right terror, aincha Havoc? This varmint's even bigger'n the one ya dropped on mah barn!"

Ranma pouted, hanging her head at the nickname. "Yeah, well, the scaly freaks keep tracking me down and tearing up the place. What am I supposed to do?" Then she frowned. "Also, what are you all doing here, anyway? You headed somewhere?"

"Nah! We've been looking for you!" Rainbow said, swooping down in front of the martial artist. Then she extended a hoof. "By the way, I don't think we've been introduced! I'm Rainbow Dash!"

Ranma stared at the hoof, and then awkwardly raised her leg to “shake” it. "I'm Saotome Ranma," she said in reply.

"Havoc. Your name is Havoc," Rainbow Dash corrected.

"Oh, COME ON!" Ranma groaned, hanging her head. "You all know my real name! Even the dumb bounty posters are using my real name!"

"But Havoc is an awesome name!" the other pegasus countered, clearly unwilling to give up on the matter.

"It makes me sound like some kind of cartoon villain!"

"Sure, but an AWESOME cartoon villain!"

Ranma groaned again. "Ugh, fine. Call me whatever you want. I don't even care anymore."

"Ha ha! YES! Havoc it is!" Rainbow Dash thrust a hoof into the air victoriously, much to the exasperation of the other mares.

"ANYWAY... I'm sure you're wondering why we're here to see you," Twilight interjected.

"I'm guessing it's for the MacGuffin Stone, right?" Ranma asked, sitting down. "That's what you were looking for the last time you tracked me down." She shook her head. "And the answer is still no. I'm sorry Sparks, but I'm not giving up the MacGuffin Stone. Even to you."

Twilight set her jaw. "I understand, Ranma. But I'm not just here for the artifact. I'm here for you. I want you to come back to Ponyville with me."

The redhead arched an eyebrow, and then she cringed back slightly. "This... wouldn't happen to involve a promise from my pop, would it?"

"What? No. Didn't you say you were from another planet? How would that even work?"

"Just checking. Never mind. Go ahead." She sighed in relief.

Twilight was actually very tempted to explore the bizarre question, but pressed on regardless. "Ranma, I've seen the posters. I've spoken to the bounty office. I've negotiated with Princess Celestia. I can help you clear your name, and I think it's critical that you do so."

The cursed pegasus immediately looked skeptical, but Twilight held out a hoof.

"Please, just hear me out. Princess Celestia is very important to me, as a teacher and a friend, and I take the safety of Equestria very seriously. Which is why I want you on OUR side, rather than pushed away over a misunderstanding!" She raised a wing to gesture toward Spike. "I don't know you very well, but I do know that both Spike and Zecora, whom I would trust with my life, have defended you. And, just as importantly, I know that when I was in danger, you risked everything to help me."

Twilight chewed her lip for a moment. "That... well... it's hard to overstate how moving that was. You saved my life. Yet you didn't tell the newspapers that. Or tell the guards chasing you that. Or even tell ME that! You never asked for any reward or even an acknowledgement, even though it exposed you to danger and brought you into direct conflict with more soldiers. You didn't just challenge Blood Rite to bring me home safe, but every single Equestrian guard that might have stood in your way as well! If the Princesses themselves had tried to stop you, there's not a doubt in my mind that you would have fought them too."

Applejack's brow furrowed. "Wait, how's that a good thing?"

"It's really not, which is my point," Twilight explained with a sigh. "Ranma, I believe you'll always try to do the right thing, or at least what you THINK is the right thing, no matter who tries to get in your way. You already fought Princess Luna to try to keep the MacGuffin Stone out of her hooves, and the panic in Canterlot has only gotten worse since then. If we don't put a stop to this bounty hunt, clear your name, and find a way to secure the Stone in a way that everypony can agree on, then eventually it's going to escalate into a showdown, and a lot of good ponies are going to get hurt." She gently lifted a hoof and placed it on Ranma's shoulder, staring deeply into her sapphire-blue eyes. "I'll do anything to prevent that. Please. PLEASE come back with me. Plead your case before Princess Celestia. I know we can get you a formal pardon and reprieve. It's hardly equivalent to the way you rescued me, but at least let me try to help you this much."

Twilight finished speaking, and Ranma slowly gulped. That had been... surprisingly heartfelt and persuasive. Way more so than Princess Luna's lofty commands, or even Trixie's. She was drawing a complete blank in trying to come up with a reply, but the fact remained: she didn't want to. Ranma didn't want to go back to Ponyville. Ranma didn't want grovel in front of some uptight royal lunatic - who definitely didn't control the sun, no matter what the ponies said about her - for forgiveness. And most of all, Ranma didn't want to have to leave Trixie's side to go resolve the stupid criminal record which wasn't even his fault to begin with. Mostly.

"Aw, geez Sparks... I... I dunno..." Ranma mumbled, her ears pinning back. It was a pathetic refusal, and she knew it.

"Don't be like that, dude! It'll be fun!" Rainbow Dash said, flapping up higher into the air. "Hey, while you're in Ponyville I can give you flying lessons! We’ll have you recovering from death dives in no time!" she chuckled into a hoof.

"Ah guess while yer in town mah family could give ya a room," Applejack mused. She didn't look thrilled at the idea, but felt compelled to help this matter along. "Long as yer willin' to do a few chores to pay yer way. And try not to get mah orchard wrecked by angry critters again."

"It's the least we can do after what you did for Twilight!" Spike added. "And, well... between us, I think you can use a little vacation from this bodyguard thing you're doing for Trixie."

Ranma perked up instantly. "Wait! That's right! My job! I can't just leave! I have a job to do!"

Twilight grimaced, wishing Spike hadn't tried to help. She didn't understand why Ranma and Trixie traveled together or why they wouldn't gladly split if the opportunity arose, but it seems her assistant had been right about the main leg of resistance to bringing Ranma to Ponyville. She'd already tried to talk Trixie into it and been dismissed. If she couldn't even get Ranma to agree, then she didn't know what she'd do.

"We're not asking you to move into Ponyville permanently. Resolving your record shouldn't take more than a week, at the most. If you want to leave after that, you're of course free to do so," the Princess explained patiently.

"A week? Trixie's supposed to be on her own for a week?!" Ranma asked, looking shocked.

"It's, uh, been a while since we last saw her, but didn't she travel on her own all the time?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, she did. Back before she was getting into fights with bandits and bounty hunters and sorcerers and zombie ponies. It's just not safe to travel around here alone anymore," Ranma insisted. "So I'm real sorry that you came all this way to find me, but I just can't-"

"RAAAAAAAANMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Everypony jumped as a howl of rage and loss erupted from the forest.

"WHOA. Was that Trixie?" Rainbow Dash asked, whipping around in the air.

"She sounds madder'n a timberwolf on fire!" Applejack noted.

"What's she angry about NOW?" Spike griped.

Twilight Sparkle didn't offer her own commentary, because she was watching Ranma. The pigtailed pony had turned almost solid white, and the last scraps of her casual confidence were completely gone now. Her jaw hung open, her eyes bulged, and her legs quivered. It was a perfectly absurd expression while she was standing next to the unconscious dragon she had blown out of the sky, but somehow Twilight didn't feel like laughing. Ranma was terrified.

The martial artist seemed to fight some brief, internal battle, staring up at the sky as if she was imploring the gods themselves. Then she closed her eyes, bracing herself, and bolted off toward the burnt campground.

"... Well, shucks. Maybe Trixie ain't gonna be a problem after all," Applejack mumbled, slowly following after her.

"I don't get it," Rainbow said flatly. "What's she screaming about? What'd Ranma do?"

"Ranma was talking about that wagon before… Do you think…?" Twilight muttered, levitating Spike onto her back. "Let's go!"

---

The scene was exactly what Ranma expected.

Trixie was sitting on the ground before a mound of scorched debris. The debris that had been her brand-new (if slightly damaged) travel wagon. The magician had her head bowed, and she was breathing heavily through clenched teeth. A small cart, barely as big as she was, sat abandoned on the side of the road nearby, containing some groceries, nails, and Trixie's saddlebags.

Ranma stopped at the edge of the clearing, trying to work out what to say. She hadn't deliberately made any noise to alert Trixie to her, and had even been extra quiet on the approach.

So it was quite an unpleasant surprise when Trixie suddenly whirled to face her, nearly incandescent with rage.

"RANMA..." Trixie hissed.

Her horn, and then her entire body, was swallowed by what appeared to be pink flame. It was an interesting reflection of Ranma’s own battle aura that she would have been quite excited to observe in very different circumstances. The martial artist froze stiff, and then started stuttering.

"N-Now Trixie, j-just... lemme explain! P-Please! I swear! Th-This isn't my f-fault!" Ranma begged.

Trixie started stomping forward, her eyes twin mirrors of angry crimson. "THE WAGON... IS GONE."

"Y-Yes. Yes it is," Ranma agreed, whimpering slightly. "And I am really, REALLY sorry about that! But it wasn't my fault! A dragon did it!"

"A DRAGON," Trixie sneered.

"Yes! A dragon! And not just any dragon! You remember when we went to Rite's tower, and then it blew up, and then a dragon just appeared out of nowhere and started bugging me and then you shouted at it and it left? It was THAT dragon!" She paused. "I, uh, don't know if that helps or not."

"IT DOESN'T," Trixie assured him.

The others arrived on the scene behind Ranma, rapidly slowing to a stop just beyond the trees. The mares seemed fairly alarmed at the sight of the furious unicorn staring down Ranma, although Spike just groaned wearily.

"Wait! Look! They can vouch for me! They saw the dragon! They helped me beat him!" Ranma said desperately, flailing a foreleg toward the Ponyville residents.

"Yes! That's true! We all saw Kamikazan!" Twilight agreed.

"Plus, y'know, he's still here. He's lying in a heap like half a mile behind us," Rainbow Dash added.

"Ah mean, we didn' see him burn down yer wagon, 'zactly, but it sure looks like a dragon attack t'me," Applejack said with a nod.

"See? See? There really was a dragon! He did it! You have to believe me!" Ranma said, standing up a little straighter than before.

"OF COURSE I BELIEVE YOU!" Trixie shouted. In an instant, Ranma's legs turned to rubber and she shrunk back onto the ground. "EVEN I SAW THE DRAGON! EVERYPONY IN THE WHOLE HAYBLOWN CITY SAW THE DRAGON! THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM, YOU FEATHERBRAIN!"

Somehow it stuck out to Ranma that Trixie was so angry she had reverted to using proper first-person pronouns. That had never happened before, and somehow it leant this encounter a degree of seriousness and gravity that deeply disturbed her.

"THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE WAS A DRAGON IN THE FIRST PLACE! THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE DRAGON IS THE LATEST IN A LONG, LONG LINE OF MONSTERS, VILLAINS, AND ASSORTED THUGS THAT HAVE ATTACKED ME AND MY PROPERTY BECAUSE OF YOU! THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE ONE - AND ONLY ONE - THING I ASKED OF YOU WAS TO KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE FOR A DAY SO THAT WE COULD BUY A NEW WAGON TO MAKE OUR TRAVELS A LITTLE BIT EASIER! AND LOOK AT US NOW!!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ranma pleaded, hugging the ground in front of the screaming unicorn.

"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!" Trixie boomed, causing the others to flinch. "THIS ISN'T A LITTLE SCRATCH ON THE SIDING, OR A CROSSBOW BOLT IN MY FLANK, OR THE UNNECESSARY DESTRUCTION OF SOME RANDOM BUILDING! ALL OUR POSSESSIONS WERE IN THAT WAGON! EVERYTHING WE EARNED IN METALLEUS! OUR BOOKS! OUR FIREWORKS! OUR PROPS! OUR NOTES! OUR FOOD! OUR MONEY! OUR THINGS! WE WERE ON EASY STREET THIS MORNING AND NOW WE HAVE NOTHING!!"

Applejack frowned and took a step forward. "Hey now, ya still got yer groceries, at least. Let's jus' calm-" Her hat promptly lifted up off her head in a cloud of pink and then covered her face, muffling her.

Trixie hadn't even looked up, her wrathful gaze still burning into the cursed pegasus on the ground beneath her. "TELL ME, CALAMITY, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KEEP US FED WHEN EVERYTHING WE OWN VANISHES IN A PUFF OF DRAGON BREATH? HOW LONG DO YOU THINK WE CAN LAST BY LOOTING RANDOM BANDITS AND ANGRY ASSASSINS FOR A LIVING WHEN IT JUST ATTRACTS MORE OF THEM? WHY SHOULD I EVEN KEEP YOU AROUND AS A BODYGUARD IF YOU CAN'T PROTECT ANYTHING?! WHAT GOOD ARE ALL YOUR STUPID MARTIAL ARTS IF-"

"All right, that's enough!" Twilight shouted, interrupting the magician. Her horn flickered, and Trixie's attention finally broke away from the pigtailed equine on the ground.

Ranma was balled up on the ground, quivering, and pale as a sheet. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her forelegs curled up over her head, as if shielding herself from blows that never came. It was honestly hard to imagine that this was the same pony who had beaten a great red dragon halfway to death only minutes before, now shaking and choking back sobs before the anger of a mere stage magician.

"Ranma already fought Kamikazan to avenge your wagon, and screaming isn't going to bring it back," Twilight insisted, stepping up next to the cursed pegasus. "Although if you'd like to cut down on the number of bounty hunter attacks in the future, I can help with that..."

Trixie's glare bored into the Princess, but Twilight didn't flinch. Eventually her angry stare returned to Ranma, who yelped and covered herself again.

Then Trixie turned around and started stomping away.

"Trixie? Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"Away," Trixie snapped, still walking toward the woods.

Rainbow Dash started to float after her. "But, what about-"

"Shut up," Trixie snapped again, passing between the trees. “Trixie needs some time to herself right now.”

She kept walking, and nopony else said anything to stop her. Within minutes, the unicorn had disappeared within the forest.

Nobody quite knew what to say after that. Ranma had stopped shaking on the ground, at least, but now stared forlornly in the direction that Trixie had wandered off. The small cart that contained Trixie's recent purchases and apparently the last of her money still sat by the side of the road next to the great heap of cinders. Minutes passed, broken up by the occasional clearing of a throat or awkward shuffle of hooves.

Finally, the redheaded pony stood up from the ground. With great reluctance, and no small amount of heartache, she turned around to face the various Ponyville residents.

"Hey... Spike? Can you write a letter for me?"

---

"Well, well, well. Isn't this a sight?"

A young griffon swooped down from the branches of a tree, whistling to himself at the sight next to the road. Piles of scorched wood lay within a blackened crater. Streams of dark smoke stretched upward into the sky. Huge furrows had been clawed into the dirt. Trees sat at unusual angles, with their roots partially torn from the ground and portions of their branches burned, shredded, or broken. It looked every bit the battlefield, which isn't all that surprising given that a dragon had passed by very recently.

And bizarrely, in the middle of all of it, was a little wooden cart loaded down with food and supplies.

The griffon crouched low, his eyes scanning for danger and his talons on his dagger's hilt while he dashed across the ground. He generally tried to avoid thievery around Lancanter; the economy was good enough that he could easily earn an honest living. But a single untouched trove of goods in the middle of a wasted battlefield was just too weird and too good to pass up. Surely if he didn't take advantage, the next random passer-by would. The cart's owner was almost assuredly ash and dust by now anyway.

He reached the cart, took a last look around, and then started sifting through the contents. It was mostly filled with sacks of grain and vegetables, although there were other items piled on top. Blankets, an empty canteen, a box of nails, and most conspicuously, a small sack with a rolled-up piece of paper tied to it.

"Finders, keepers!" Scooping up the sack generated the delightful sound of jingling coins. The griffon didn't spare much thought about the scroll attached to it, and started digging through the cart further. There was an awful lot here, and if there was anything completely worthless he'd rather ditch it right away than lug the cart around only to dump it later. Near the bottom of the supplies he found a pony's saddlebags, and he started pulling it up to the top of the pile so that he could check inside.

About at the same time, a gentle pink glow wrapped around the hilt of the dagger secured at his belt. It started to slide free of its sheathe, and the griffon froze.

"Hm? What was thAAAAAAH!!" the thief screamed as his own blade stabbed into his thigh, and he sprung into the air in a desperate panic. The coin bag dropped to the ground during his flight, landing upon a thin splash of blood across the dirt.

Whirling around, he immediately noticed a blue unicorn plodding toward the cart. Her head was hanging down, obscuring her face under a big, star-spangled wizard's hat, but a residual pink glow revealed the source of the sudden assault.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to kill me?!" he snarled, pulling his blade free of his leg.

Trixie stopped. Then she tilted her head up to stare at the griffon. Her expression was pure, icy contempt; she may as well have been staring at a rodent rather than an armed outlaw.

"Useless," the unicorn snorted. "Keeping petty thieves away from Trixie's things USED to be the one thing he was still good for. Where is that lazy weirdo?"

The griffon didn't understand most of that, but he did understand that this mare was apparently claiming the cart for herself. He might have backed off under normal circumstances, but wasn't feeling too charitable with his leg bleeding.

"This is your cart? Prove it! I found it sitting here after that dragon attack! For all I know the owner died and you're just trying to snatch it from right under my beak!"

A vein popped up on Trixie's head. Rather than responding, she pushed her hat up slightly higher, fully exposing the pink glow of her horn.

From the nearby pile of burnt-out wreckage, several smoldering chunks of wood levitated into the air. Most of them were thin and narrow, forming crudely pointed sticks and planks that all turned to point at the hovering griffon. Dozens of improvised projectiles spread across the road, each one pulsing with levitation magic.

The thief quickly decided that perhaps the charitable response was warranted after all. "Okay, you know what? Why don't we call this a wash? Not my stuff, not my problem. You can have it."

Trixie's eyes narrowed. "You have a purse. Leave it."

"Wh-What?" The griffon's eyes bugged out. "Wait, are you ROBBING me?"

"You tried to rob Trixie first," the unicorn snarled. "Consider this a penalty fee."

The thief rolled his eyes and started to turn away. "Yeah, whatever. Get bent, you nutty unico-"

The clasp around Trixie's neck flashed, and then her magic turned from pink to furious crimson. Flames burst around the tips of all of the wood pieces, turning each one of them into a fiery missile.

"OKAY! OKAY! I get it! Here! I'm sorry!" the griffon swiftly cut his own purse off of his belt in a panic, letting it fall onto the road. "Take it! Just let me go! Please!"

Trixie's horn dimmed, and the flames at the ends of the wood planks fizzled. The griffon took this as an agreement to his terms, and he immediately whirled around and zipped up into the air.

Trixie shuffled miserably toward her supply cart. It was a tiny, pitiful thing, smaller than a wheelbarrow and boasting four little wheels that struggled to navigate anything rougher than paved roads. She had bought it with the intent of transporting it within the travel wagon, perhaps using it to help Ranma run some errands. Now its contents were everything she owned aside from her hat and cape.

As she approached the cart, however, she noticed something odd. There seemed to be a few things there that she didn't remember buying or bringing with her. Had the thief started adding his own possessions to hers with the intention of transporting all of them?

Trixie noticed a small coin sack and scroll sitting in the road, and levitated it into the cart. With a grimace, she then pulled the scroll open and floated it in front of her.

"Dear Trix," she began aloud. Instantly Trixie felt a sense of unease welling up in her stomach. "By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to Ponyville with Sparks. After everything that's happened I figured it was the only real option left. I begged Sparks and the others for the supplies and money they brought with them, and left them in your cart. I'll work it off when I get back to Ponyville, but I know it doesn't come close to replacing everything I've cost you."

Trixie paused to rub at her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I know you're tired of hearing me apologize, and it's not really my fault anyway, so instead of saying sorry again I'll just say thank you. You saved my life and taught me a lot, but all I've done for you is put you in danger. Maybe with Spark's help I can at least get this stupid bounty off my head and things will settle down. Maybe I can find a way to make it up to you, earn enough to pay my keep, and meet up with you again in the future. B-But..." Trixie's voice started to break, and the magic holding the paper in the air started to waver. "But until then I'm not going to burden you anymore. Thanks for being a friend, Trix. Signed... uh..."

The parchment slowly floated to the ground. Trixie's gaze followed it, staring down at the indecipherable symbols at the bottom of the page. They were written in a wobbly scrawl, like a young colt's scribblings when they were first learning to write with a pen in their mouth, as opposed to the crisp, practiced script of the rest of the letter. Trixie could only guess that the bizarre sketches were supposed to mean "Ranma Saotome" in his native alien language. Frankly, they made her more skeptical than ever that the martial artist was literate.

After several seconds, Trixie's horn lit up again. The parchment rolled back up and then floated into the cart.

Without another word, the unicorn hitched herself up to the cart and wheeled it onto the road.

Then she started walking down the path. The heaps of burnt wood soon disappeared behind the trees, abandoned at the end of a trail of wheel tracks and wet spots in the dirt from falling droplets.

But there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

---

"...... What a completely bizarre conclusion. These ponies are absolute lunatics."

Blood Rite sat behind a large tree, idly crunching on a peanut. Hovering in front of him was a hazy image of the devastated camp site, now finally abandoned by everypony involved. He had been observing the area from a distance ever since he saw the mid-air cyclone that swatted Kamikazan from the sky, waiting to see if any opportunities arose to intervene.

No such opportunity arose, sadly. Merely some sort of extended drama that finally pried Havoc from the haughty blue unicorn that considered herself his master. Unfortunately that separation ended with the MacGuffin Stone being escorted by three of the Elements of Harmony as well as the mystery stallion, which hardly made his task any easier.

Rite briefly considered approaching Trixie, but decided against it. He couldn't gauge the mare very well and she had proven obnoxiously clever in the past. Even if he could convince her to replace Swan Song and help him steal the artifact, he'd constantly have to be on the lookout for betrayal and subversion. Bad idea.

There was another potential ally left behind by this mess, however...

Closing the scrying mirror, Rite wiped his mouth and stepped over the pile of discarded peanut shells. Then he trotted up through the forest toward the site of a catastrophic dragon crash.

Kamikazan was an odd creature. Mercurial, yet uncomplicated. Intelligent, yet short-tempered. Violent, yet mostly beholden to less destructive passions. Rite had mainly learned about him as the source of the residual magic energy in Flamehearst, and then as a potential means of unlocking the MacGuffin Stone's true power. In the past he'd considered at length the possible ramifications of awakening the dragon prince, and how it might affect the greater balance of power across the world.

Seeing the great red serpent now, in a broken heap curled up in an impact crater, made the whole thing seem kind of silly, though.

"Time to wake up, Prince," Rite said, his horn flickering white. "You've been through enough, but there's so much more to do..."

Rite's magic reached out to the dragon, carefully administering a jolt of energy directly into Kamikazan's nervous system. The shock would have been intensely painful to a pony, but to the massive serpent it qualified as a gentle nudge.

"Uuuhmm... Urgh... Uhhn?" Kamikazan twitched, his arms curling and his body shifting on the ground. His eyes fluttered open, but then instantly squeezed shut again under the pounding within his skull. He tried to stretch his wings out and fold them into a resting state, but the tremors of agony it sent up his spine rendered him instantly immobile.

"Everything hurrrrrts," the dragon prince moaned. A tear as big as Rite's head welled up behind a swollen red eye, and then slowly rolled down his cheek.

Blood Rite was honestly embarrassed for the creature, although he was very glad the serpent had lost. He had only witnessed the parts of the battle easily visible from a safe distance, but it seemed clear that Kamikazan had intended some degree of collateral damage. While Rite obviously wished to recover the MacGuffin Stone, ideally from atop a pile of Havoc's smoldering ashes, such an outcome was only worth so many innocent pony lives.

For now, though... "Hello, Prince Kamikazan. Please forgive my presumption in waking you, but we have some things to discuss, I believe."

Kamikazan turned his head the very minimum degree possible so that he could squint at Rite through the pain. "Who...?"

"My name is Rite," the sorcerer said, bowing his head. "No need to introduce yourself, Prince; I know who you are. I won't bore you with my life story, but in a nutshell I've been tailing that obnoxiously agile shapeshifter that knocked you down here."

"K-King," Kamikazan stuttered. "I'm a KING... not prince."

Rite diplomatically avoided rolling his eyes. "Why don't I simply call you 'your Majesty' and dispense with any confusion as to your precise royal claim? You seem to be in a tough spot, Majesty."

Kamikazan shifted his body slightly closer to an upright position. "Ac-c-cursed... pest!" he stuttered. "H-How... dare he! ... She? Dare she? I... I don't know!"

"Yes, well... the precise gender of our mutual enemy is questionable, although I first encountered him as a male. The more important thing, however, is that he or she has triumphed. You are broken, and the Equestrians may even now be preparing to attack and detain you." Rite started walking along the floor of the crater, staring up at the sky in thought. "I too have felt Havoc's wrath, although he's never attacked me with quite so much fury. It may be that as a fighter, Havoc is beyond any single creature to defeat." He reached the upper lip of the crater and then turned around, pacing back across.

Kamikazan shifted again, though he dared not lift his head from its current resting place. "Havoc... No. His name... is Ranma. Ranma Saotome. And I would have HAD him... if not for those blasted mares!"

Rite continued pacing. "That may well be. But hindsight does not serve you well from down here, your Majesty. I'm not certain why you wish Havoc, or Ranma, or whatever the ape's name is, dead. But I'm certain I can help."

"I don't want him dead," Kamikazan grumbled. "Not really. All I want is..." The dragon prince hesitated, and then his eyes narrowed. "Wait. Your name. What was it?"

Rite grimaced while he continued his pacing. He had assumed that the dragon wouldn't care about his identity, but he decided to be honest. If there was some conflict he'd rather be aware of it now while it was still easy to flee. "My name is Rite, your Majesty."

"Rite? Blood Rite?" Kamikazan pressed.

Blast. The fool has heard of me. Better prep a teleport... "Yes, your Majesty. The same," Rite confirmed.

"Then YOU are my target!" Kamikazan bellowed, lifting his head from the dirt. "Surrender the... the... urgh..."

His cheeks swelling as if he was choking back vomit, Kamikazan collapsed back onto the ground. It wasn't much of a fall, as the dragon had barely budged from his previous position. It was still an utterly humiliating sight, however, and Rite hadn't even slowed in his pacing across the crater.

"... Yes? Surrender what, exactly?" Rite asked, eyebrow arched. "Why are you looking for me? And if you are, how did you manage to end up fighting Havoc, of all ponies? We're not on good terms."

Kamikazan coughed, spitting a cloud of embers from his maw. "Ugh... The MacGuffin Stone. I... I demand the MacGuffin Stone."

Rite stopped in his tracks. In his mind, several puzzle pieces clicked into place. New questions and scenarios arose. "Hmmm... I see. Then we have a problem."

"Do not think... you can escape..." the dragon prince wheezed. "Even if I cannot... stand right now... I have your scent. You will not escape me for long."

"Yes, yes. Very intimidating when you're not beaten and gasping in a big dragon-shaped hole, I'm sure." Blood Rite started his pacing again. "The problem I was referring to is that you're mistaken. I'm not your target. Because I don't have the MacGuffin Stone."

Kamikazan growled, although even that agitated noise sounded weak and unintimidating. "Then who DOES?"

"Why, our little friend Havoc-slash-Calamity-slash-Ranma does, of course," Rite clicked his tongue. "Really, that much should be obvious. He was wearing the blasted thing right out in the open. You didn't notice?"

Kamikazan blinked. "Wearing it? But... all he was wearing was... wait... that clasp? That was the MacGuffin Stone?"

"You came all this way, challenged a cursed ape, and nearly burnt down a forest all for this gemstone and you didn't even know what it looked like?" Rite was trying not to talk down to the prideful serpent, but it was impossible to keep all the scorn out of his voice.

"I didn't think... he would wear such a thing like... like some petty amulet!" Kamikazan snarled back. Then he calmed, and a puff of smoke blasted from his nostrils. "But no matter... I will recover my strength, then I will lay WASTE to that insolent equine. And then... at last... I will have the key to Celestia's heart... and she... will... be... MINE!"

Again, Blood Rite stopped in his pacing as more questions were suddenly answered. "Celestia? You're... seeking the MacGuffin Stone for Princess Celestia?"

"I am," Kamikazan growled. "And I will let NOTHING stand in my way!"

The great red dragon surged to his feet, lifting himself off the ground and into a proper sitting position.

Then he whimpered, coughed up some more sparks, and slowly lowered himself back down onto his belly.

"... That is, nothing will stand in my way once I've had time to properly recover from this setback," the dragon prince amended, settling into his current position. At least it was more comfortable than his previous pose, if nothing else.

"Ah. Yes. About that," Rite mumbled. "You mentioned those 'blasted mares?' I presume you're referring to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends? They're with Havoc now. Do you know why they're here?"

Kamikazan arched a brow. "No... why?"

"They're here for Havoc. Specifically, they're here for Havoc for the same reason you and I were here for Havoc," Rite explained.

"The artifact..." the dragon prince hissed.

"Yes. And since they had the foresight not to try to kill him for it, it seems they succeeded, too."

"It matters not," Kamikazan spat. "However many ponies must become dust and ash, none will stand between me and my goal! For now, that is the MacGuffin Stone, but it is but a means to secure my precious mate! I will destroy these usurpers, and return the artifact to Princess Celestia!"

"Uh huh..." Rite sighed. "Your Majesty, do you know WHY Princess Twilight sought the MacGuffin Stone to begin with? Do you know where she's taking it?"

"... No. Why does that matter?"

"We have much to discuss, then. Things are not so simple as either of us had hoped." Motes of light gathered at the tip of Rite's horn, spinning into a small magic circle. "But if your Majesty could find the strength to transform into a less... imposing body, I think I may have a safer, more comfortable setting in which you could recover."

Kamikazan tilted his head as much as he could without causing lightning bolts of pain to shoot into his skull. "It is good that you know your place and serve your betters, equine. However... I am curious. What were you talking about? What do we have to discuss?"

"I think we can help each other, your Majesty." The sorcerer smiled, and his horn pulsed. "But first... let's see to that wing, yes?"

Author's Note:

Really should have sprung for the fire-proofing, Trix.

I really didn't intend for this one to be so long. I just kind of thought "well shucks there's no reason to leave the dragon fight out of this." Then I thought "no way can I just leave the aftermath for the next chapter. That's an agonizing cliffhanger for something that would be very easy to explain." Finally it was "well I guess I should explain what happened to the giant monster lying in a huge hole right outside of a major city, at least in the short term" and then it was all huge and here we are.

Update: Formatting improved

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

I'd hope that something good happens to Ranma, but it would be invoking Murphy again.

[Curtis Wildcat]

Eh-heh...

Eh-heh-heh...

YAH-HAHAHAHA! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I love it!

[Leo Archon]

I would say 'same shit, different day' for Ranma... except Trixie is one of the few people in his life who's been genuinely, if reluctantly, helpful to him. Her property being destroyed because of his proximity probably really does hurt him emotionally, and he was already in turmoil thanks to his pondering earlier.

That being said... I wonder what will happen when Ranma learns the truth; that he can't go home, even if he does decide to.

[EverfreeSparkle]

Something appears to have gone awry with the paragraph spacing for a good chunk of this chapter. Formatting can really be a bitch sometimes, huh?

[Bahamuttone]

but I'll I've done for you

all [may be an error on Ranma's part]

[HatePlow]

Twilight watched the battle in dumbfounded silence. Her first instinct was to call for an end to the fighting, but she couldn't really come up with a good argument for NOT attacking a malevolent dragon that was threatening pony lives if he didn't get what he want.

wanted.

Great chapter. I always forget about this fic until it updates. That dragon fight was fantastic and I'm starting to want to go back to reading Ranma 1/2 now.

[Crescent Pulsar]

Another great chapter.

The length was understandable, and I'd be fine with it anyway, although I worried I might not finish reading it by the time Hurricane Florence got here and knocked out the power.

[Si1verHunter]

please tell me that Trixie is going to Ponnyille

[gagaking]

Thanks so much for writing this. The question I have now though is why would blood rite do things (such as try to get the dragon to intercept twilight)that might make it less likely for celestial to get the Mcguffin stone? If she has it, he can bypass her security and get it. Wouldn't that be less risky than trying to get it away from Ranma?

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[SFaccountant]

9170429
This is an excellent question that will be explored at some length in the next chapter.
Put simply, Kamikazan can fill a hole in Rite's Celesia-capturing plan, and probably needs some back-up muscle regardless.
But in any case, he isn't going to be sending Kamikazan after Twilight; the lizard would just get thrashed again

[HurricaneBomber]

Could you update the paragraphs because I read on my phone and it only breaks a couple of times.

[Maelaeran]

A very underrated and extremely well-written story on this site. I just love everything about it!

[RTStephens]

Told ya. Hiryu Shouten Ha to the face.

Ouch. And things were going so well at the start, too. A lot of characters went through the high's and low's in this one and really, nopony is very happy. Well, Rainbow Dash is, but she didn't have much to lose and got to see a fantastic battle.

Trixie finally hit Akane levels of angry. Only, less violent and more tragic.

Darn it, so much to talk about here, but a few things that stuck out were the humorous exchange between Kamikazan and Ranma before the fight, particularly the bit about fiancees. Oh, and this little gem:

"All I wanted was a date"

I feel ya, prince. I feel ya.

So now the question is where the characters go from here. Rite is starting to come back into the game and has proven to be crafty in his dealings. The dynamic between Ranma and Trixie has changed and it'll have to be one hell of an event to patch the wedge made there. I suppose Twilight and the others can help with that but, then again, they aren't exactly happy with Trixie, either.

Dunno, dude. I'm looking forward to see how this all gets straightened out. Let's just hope Ponyville survives till then.

[badninja]

Poor Trixie. I hope she has safe travels until she re meets up with Ranma again, and I mean safe travels as she defines them prior to meeting Ranma.

[Neece]

I can't but imagine Trixie was, after calming down, sad not only for losing Ranma, but also for his reaction. Colt's got severe trauma from domestic abuse, that's for sure.

That parting was heart wrenching, though. So much sadness in Ranma, and I bet Trixie too. She did suffer a lot for him, that's true, but he also cares for her - and that such abusive (in Trixie's behavior) relationship is the healthiest he's ever been in is telling on how screwed up his life is.

Dude needs a break and a peaceful life. And as Celestia is utterly incompetent in actually securing things, that ain't gonna happen while Twilight doesn't see her flaws and gets shit done herself.

[Crescent Pulsar]

Now that I've gotten some rest, I'm wondering how Twilight will react to Celestia enlisting the dragon's help. At least, I'm kind of hoping that it comes up and puts a fine hair on the lens Twilight uses to see Celestia with.

Oh, and I appreciate that Blood Rite didn't try to use Trixie as leverage. That would have been super cliche.

(I'm also secretly hoping that Trixie returns in the role of a hero who arrives late to a scene and performs a crucial action, with or without drama involved. And makes the excuse that she contracted some of Ranma's do-gooderness. "It's a sickness, you see!" )

[EverfreeSparkle]

9170629
Same here. I'll have to hold off reading until it's fixed. Which sucks, because I reaaaally want to read this!

[RanmaChaos]

Another fantastic chapter. Thank you.

[D48]

First, this was an amazing chapter. There's so much that you nailed so perfectly that I can't even go over it all. That said, there was one significant logical failure with Blood Rite at the end that I think you may want to think about going back and revising (or pushing it to next chapter).

Specifically, his goals are completely at odds with Kamikazan's so it makes no sense for them to work together. I think it would have made far more sense for him to get the full story, see that it means Celestia was directly responsible for what happened (which gives him emotional leverage over Trixie), point out that his opposition to Celestia means it wouldn't be good for Kamikazan to work together, and then give legitimate advice about how to get on Celestia's good side (i.e. don't fight). If memory serves his plan wasn't actually going to hurt Celestia so Kamikazan would have a much better shot romantically after she's off the throne which means it's in his interest to go get Celestia teach him how to play nice, refuse to fight (easily justified by this beating), and wait it out, but if Kamikazan instead sides with Blood Rite against Celestia it's virtually guaranteed to kill his already slim chances of landing a date.

As for Blood Rite, he'd be much better off talking this over with Trixie because Kamikazan's attack and it's emotional fallout effectively makes Celestia the direct cause of everything bad that happened. Throw in her general problems with the guards/government thanks to her recent travels with Ranma and an explanation of how his plan isn't awful, and it's easy to see how he could get her to provisionally agree to stick together at least until Ranma meets with Celestia. Considering that meeting is basically guaranteed to end in disaster (I'd be surprised if he doesn't wind up in a fight with her one way or another), Blood Rite should be in a good position to get Ranma on his side and, by extension, the MacGuffin stone. Of course, with Ranma on board it's basically guaranteed that Murphy will wreck his plan twelve different ways, but he doesn't really know that yet so he'll get to learn it the hard way.

9170714
Yeah, that was superbly handled. That said, I think you missed an important detail at the very end of Trixie's last bit.

Then she started walking down the path. The heaps of burnt wood soon disappeared behind the trees, abandoned at the end of a trail of wheel tracks and wet spots in the dirt from falling droplets.
But there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Trixie was crying as she walked away. She is emotionally devastated by the fact that she drove him off, and those feelings are going to get worse and worse as she stews on it. She's going to head straight for Ponyville since she knows that's where he's going and she'll be desperate to fix this, and when she finds him she's not going to be able to hide her feelings about what she did so the makeup will be quick (I anticipate more crying). I also expect this to be a huge point of growth for her as she has very clearly realized how badly she was treating him and how she was taking him for granted, so their relationship should be a lot healthier as a result of this.

[Emperor]

Ranma is going to Ponyville.

I hope Applejack and Rainbow Dash are at least savvy enough to take out an emergency insurance on their home and all of their possessions

Anyways, what a wham jam of a chapter. Then again, when they clock in over 25k words, I would hope a lot of stuff actually happens. This isn't Sunset Reset, after all . It's good to see Ranma lay the mother of all beatings down on Kamikazan, considering you were building up to it last chapter. If Kamikazan and Blood Rite are able to work together, they might actually be able to threaten Ranma. Key word being 'might', of course. Hopefully Trixie works over her feelings and comes to Ranma's rescue as the Big Damn Heroine sooner or later. Too bad she never hung around Ranma long enough to pick up some of his tricks, but she's at least able to defend herself against most threats. Just not the Big Threats.

"Alas, poor wagon. I knew ye well."

Anyways, since Kamikazan revealed he was sent by Celestia, I imagine if Ranma meets Celestia again he'll get into a shouting match with her. And then we could maybe get a no-holds-barred hoof fight between him and Celestia to top the duel with Luna. And lay waste to half of Canterlot in the process

[Ryunaker]

You know, I half expected, when Kamikazan saw the pegasus form, that he'd end up another Kuno. Especially with the pining for two girls. That went right out the window, however...hehe.

Side note, for some reason, I always thought Pegasus Ranma was completely red, not just her hair. Dunno why I got that stuck in my head.

[Bugsydor]

Oof. That fight scene was brutal.

The bit with the dragon was just a warm-up in comparison.

Seriously though, I hope Trixie and Ranma get back together soon. It's so sad to see them separate.

[Kencolt]

I find myself uncommonly satisfied with the fight scene. Poor ol' Kami-whatzit has taken a rather different tack than many of Ranma's more severe antagonists, perhaps-- and a downright preposterous reason for it-- but there's that classic bit of "I am a noble being, far above you, capable of destroying you without a thought and damn it will you stop hitting me so I can destroy you without a thought?"

And Ranma's equally classic response, which all boils down to "No. I'm going to keep hitting you, and I don't know when I'm going to stop, because you're a massive jerk." Which, actually, is rather common for him.

As to the name argument, I personally was waiting for one bit-- nomenclature clarification... to wit...

"Calamity."

Rainbow blinked, uncertainly. "Well, yeah, there's a lot of damage, sure, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to call--"

"No. My name. If you're gonna keep calling me the wrong name, you could at least call me the right wrong name."

The blue pegasus stared at the gray one. "I don't get it."

"My name is Ranma. Ran-Ma. But they keep calling me Havoc--"

"Which, I note, is still awesome-cool."

"Arrgh. When I'm a guy. Stallion, I guess. But when I'm a mare I'm Calamity. Well, I'm not, but..."

"So... you're Havoc when a dude, and Calamity when a girl?" Rainbow could be surprisingly quick on the uptake when the topic was of interest to her. And this was.

"No. I'm Ranma Saotome no matter which, but they call me Havoc when a guy and Cal--"

"That's even cooler!"

Ranma groaned. "Is not."

"Sure it is! You got two awesome names, one for being two awesome ponies! That's almost as awesome as I am!"

"Yeah, well, glad you-- what do you mean, almost?"

And one can guess how that follows from there...

Excellent chapter, once again!

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

I personally feel that Rite coming back is kind of annoying. Even if he is kind of inevitable. But drawing focus back to him trying to put plans together does signal the tone shifting towards the inevitable 'It all comes down to this' that occurs as part of the Ranma formula.

That is, we're in the process of setting up the infamous 20 Xanatos Pileup.

What I'm personally looking forward to, however, is the inevitable news getting back to Celestia.

"Wait, he did WHAT to Kamikazan?!"

"Uh.... Broke him like a twig?"

"Dropped him like a bad habit?"

"Snapped into him like a slim jim?"

"Utterly crushed him in an awe inspiring display of martial prowess?"

"Beat the stuffing out of him!"

"I'd really rather not describe it."

Also looking forward to Ranma meeting Luna again. I'd like to think she'd be elated to once again meet the person who gave her such a FUN battle.

[the other sans]

It's belly! Of course! That's gotta be a weak spot!

1. Its.

Surprisingly the paragraphing only occurs with each well, I'd say 'major' scene and perspective change since that's what I could make out otherwise there wasn't really any spacing in between the continuous scenes. Is it because you type normally using a double spacing format on say, Word or something similar? It doesn't translate properly here, just treats it as the next line.

But now... AUGH, MY FEELS! Ranma, you're a heart breaker. A real heart breaker even if you never intended for it to be so. I just hope he won't be too devestated that he's been well, flung into the future isn't accurate but more like woken up from a magically sustained stasis that destroyed humanity how many times over (probably once I'd guess) and is now ruled over by sapient talking magical animals. But hey, the process of evolution right? Least the destruction of humanity before wasn't so devastating as nuclear fallout all over the place. I think. More economically friendly I think.

[SFaccountant]

9170629
9171300
9172684
Although I actually prefer single-spacing, I know that some people find it hard to read. The trouble is that FIMfiction's formatting options and mechanics have changed over time that I don't know what the rules are anymore. Also complicating the problem is that I use different word processing programs, and my favorite is simple Wordpad. This site doesn't seem to like rtf format.
I'll see what I can do, though.

[EverfreeSparkle]

9172803
Maybe importing to gdocs and then exporting to fimfic would work? I haven't uploaded anything for over a year, but I do remember gdocs being pretty good about retaining formatting. Things may have changed on the fimfic side of things, though.

[EverfreeSparkle]

Just finished reading this chapter, and boy is it great! So much happened! A 'smashing' (heh) time, for sure! I even got a bit emotional at the end.

[geomease]

For some reason i want discord to theow chaos magic at Ranma and it changes his curse again. Now he can be an equestrian stallion, or a female equestria girls style human, Forever deny him his original form in new hilarious ways.

[SFaccountant]

9169868
Actually not sure how to play that eventual revelation.
I mean, it feels cheap and shallow to hand wave it and pretend it's no big deal, but writing heavier drama definitely isn't my thing. Scenes like the "break-up" at the end of this never seem right to me.

9170095
Thank you! Fixed now.

9170172
Thank you! Fixed now.

9170302
I mean, eventually, sure. Just got to break a few more things before then.

9170635
Not sure about underrated. Crossovers are rarely very popular and Ranma 1/2 isn't exactly in vogue nowadays. But thank you very much

9170714
Most of the characters have their immediate goals and motivations well in order. The problem is that they're all mostly impossible.
Twilight+friends: secure whacko space alien and his magic rock and integrate him into civilized society with Power of Friendship
Trixie: rebuild shattered remnants of her life and avoid chasing reckless martial artist in a tsundere rage
Rite: get MacGuffin > overthrow Princess > fix sun > party
Kamikazan: bang the tall horse
Ranma: return to human form and go home

9171239
That... actually gives me a good idea. I did need a reason to hold up the transfer of MacGuffin to the royal Canterlot order
Thanks!

9171582
Their ultimate (and even immediate) goals ARE in conflict, and Rite knows this.
He believes he can manipulate Kamikazan into helping him anyway; the next chapter explains it at length.

9171648
Celestia would never attack Ranma. She has ponies for that.

[D48]

9173973
Yes, that's why I say it seems like a dumb move when Trixie and Ranma's goals are more or less in line with Rite's now. Ranma wants to be Human, Rite is the only one who could possibly make that happen. Rite wants to work with the stone Ranma has, Trixie wants to get Ranma back. Rite wants to work with the stone, Ranma isn't necessarily opposed to that so long as he's there as well. Throw in a unifying dislike of Celestia thanks to her stunt with Kamikazan, and you have the ground work for a functional alliance of convenience.

In contrast, while manipulating Kamikazan is obviously possible, with such obviously conflicting long and short term goals it seems highly likely he'll catch on and try to eat Blood Rite before it's all said and done. This all seems like stuff Blood Rite should be able to think through, so while it's obvious you have him trying to manipulate Kamikazan, it seems like a strangely stupid decision for the character to make to me.

I mean, it feels cheap and shallow to hand wave it and pretend it's no big deal, but writing heavier drama definitely isn't my thing. Scenes like the "break-up" at the end of this never seem right to me.

For what it's worth, you nailed the drama quite thoroughly. The only point I'm not 100% sold on is Ranma not telling the group Celestia was the one who sent Kamikazan after him because that's a very important point, but it's certainly a plausible detail to leave out in the heat of the moment, especially for Ranma, so I'm definitely not willing to call it wrong, especially considering the potential for drama down the line since he can surprise Twilight with it when he meets Celestia.

Celestia would never attack Ranma. She has ponies for that.

And that's why he's going to kick her ass. Seriously, given the shit she's pulled on him one way or another she'd need to make a spectacular effort to appease him which I just can't see happening. She's going to give some trivial "sorry" for Kamikazan coupled with what's going to sound like an excuse to him and then politely demand an explanation and major apology from him which isn't going to fly. Throw in the fact that it doesn't get much hotter than "sun", and he'll blow half the palace apart when he turns their fight into a Team Rocket exit for at least him and Celestia.

[SFaccountant]

9174735
It's objectively true that Rite and Ranma have more basis to ally as far as their immediate goals and feelings about the Equestrian state, but things have escalated to the point that neither would even contemplate teaming up with the other. Blood Rite is smart, but if he were able to put his personal grudges aside and avoid unnecessary conflict he wouldn't be on a personal crusade to dethrone a Princess to begin with.
This is a deliberate progression; Ranma is becoming such a wrench in everybody's lives that characters can form a working relationship based on wanting him dead and sorting everything else out later.

[D48]

9174789
...Well, that's an impressive amount of spite, but to be honest it wasn't really coming across on either front in the story. His plans against Celestia seemed to be more about his belief in the goal than a personal vendetta against her, and his issues with Ranma seem to be consistently focused on the stone rather than a personal vendetta. That's obviously not to say there's no emotion there, just that Rite seems to consistently put logic and his goals ahead of his feelings about the opposition which makes it seem odd that he's failing to do so here.

Also, it's important to remember that Rite would be approaching Trixie here, not Ranma. She's a lot less likely to attack on sight, and once he gets a tenuous understanding with her he can get her to talk to Ranma for him to bypass that emotional hurdle.

[JohnIsOffline]

Didn't saw it comming. Great chap and thank you

[Dreamer of Dragons]

Okay that was good that was fun I feel so sorry for Trixie. Okay this was a very good chapter I enjoyed it.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

9196863
Which means there should be a huge guard but their isn't she is a failure of a leader

[Nopetrain]

1. Trixie crying for Ranma: awww...
2. Better than a competent evil villain succeeding is a competent evil villain struggling to succeed. Blood Rite is an excellent villain and an even better character.

[xbox432]

9196897
Yeah, I'd have to agree with Celestia being a terrible ruler. What with all the towns that she's let be overrun by bandits... or just be RUN by bandits.

Also, great emotional turmoil there between Ranma and Trixie. I find myself really looking forward to seeing how they can reconcile.

Also also, I concur with others in the comments. I am SOOOO waiting for Ranma to mention to Twilight that Kamikazan was sent after the him and the stone on Celestia's orders. She put her desire to have the stone over the safety of her subjects. Something tells me that will both devastate Twilight as well as enrage her in equal measures.

[Zer-Author]

9175104
I'll admit that its subtle, Blood Rite is very good on coming across as a reasonable person, but that doesn't change the fact that his entire plan seems to be based around both taking away something important to Celestia (the sun), and proving her (and everyone else) wrong about him.
If this was really about fixing the world, then he'd be telling people about it. He'd be attracting the other 'Blood Rites' and 'Swansongs', and start an entire movement about bucking destiny.
Instead, he's not just trying to win, he's trying to make Celestia lose, and he's doing it in as personal a way as he can manage to make it.
And that, friend, is incredibly petty.

[SFaccountant]

9236371
This is a very subtle but important point and I'm glad it got across.
Blood Rite tries to be humble and acts like he's the well-intentioned extremist... but this is a lot more about him than it is the fate of ponykind.

[TheUltimateBalanceChaos]

Oh my what a wonderfully heart touching scene I was in tears when Trixie found Ranma's letter