Den of Thieves: 2. The Sons of Erebark
Anonymity was a luxury Twilight Sparkle hadn’t been afforded in several years.
It was her own fault, really. One could hardly go around boasting that she was the Princess of Thieves without attacking a bevy of attention—hay, that alone would be enough to get some raised brows among the nicer populations of the criminal community, and perhaps a few paws, hooves, or claws drifting to touch the handle of a favored knife or sword.
In the not-so-nice populations, it would most certainly have meant those blades free of their scabbards and a quick flight for the exit. At least, it had before she got a bit more experience in actual fighting under her belt.
But, oh, how lovely, sweet anonymity had been that first little while.
The onset of her career was such a happy, simple time. One without Celestia sending her off on jobs to atone, those annoying lectures from that little nag, Sunset, an unfortunate incident with a changeling, another with a gryphon that didn’t even have the grace to be enjoyable at first, a pack of diamond dogs no doubt itching to chew on her bones, and, the latest development, a teasing lover and giggling friend. All her fault, if she had to be honest.
Admittedly, that last point was just a small piece of a rather big positive, so she couldn’t quite complain too much.
She could, however, feel a rather cold chill running down her spine almost the instant she stepped hoof into the market square of Nomad’s Vale. Not to mention a few stares on the back of her head. Worse, no matter how she rubber-necked about, how she stole a quick glance out of the corner of her eye or “checked” to make sure Angel was still in place, Twilight couldn’t find the source. But she knew that feeling. Instinct didn’t lie.
Every thief had that innate sense of being watched. The good ones, anyway.
One didn’t exactly become a reputable thief—an oxymoron if she’d ever heard one—by not having that sort of awareness of their surroundings. Without that, well, kinder places simply stuck them in a prison cell. Places like Griffonstone? Their practices made Twilight shudder so much Angel leaned over to look upside down into her eyes with a tiny frown upon his furry little face.
He chattered something low and fast, indiscernible, yet clear in meaning.
Twilight smiled and reached up to pat between his ears. “I’m fine, Angel. Just a few bad memories.”
His ears drooping, Angel hopped down to land on her shoulder. With another unintelligible chatter, he reached over to gently pat her cheek.
“I appreciate you thinking of me.” She leaned into his touch, careful not to knock him off his perch. Skittershy’s words echoed in her ears. Like me, does he?I wonder if I rate high enough for slingshots and pebbles. With a little nudge, she coaxed him to move to stand between her shoulder blades. “Why don’t you ride back there? It’s a bit safer.”
Another smattering of chatters came in reply, a questioning tone to his little voice. Enough that she could actually understand him asking, “Safer from what?”
At that moment, she could feel another set of eyes join the rest in tracking them as they walked into the market square. Definitely watched.
And not by somepony or some creature looking to barter.
“From karma,” Twilight deadpanned in reply. “And whatever jerk writes the mess that goes on in my life. Come on.”
The young princess weaved her way through the crowd with her head held high and the smallest of frowns upon her face, her eyes fixed dead ahead and locked upon her goal. With this, she was the very picture of a mare who knew where she was bound, full of confidence and purpose. Any lesser mugger or pickpocket would certainly think twice before trifling with her.
The latter group would find a rather unfortunate surprise awaiting if they tested the enchantments on her pouches.
She came to a stop before a rather large table decked out with jewels and gemstones, and littered with sacks of gold which covered a pair of tables behind the burly minotaur who stood behind the counter. Twilight took a step nearer, pausing to spare a nod to a rather haughty pair of cats dressed in matching black cloaks, then waited as he turned to set a modestly sized sack of gold atop the rest.
The minotaur took a moment to eye his stacks, and said in a deep, rumbling basso, “Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Thieves. Didn’t think I’d hear from you again in this lifetime.”
Twilight most certainly didn’t preen hearing him say it. “You remembered our wager,” she replied with a winning smirk. “I believe you said you figured the only thing heard from me if I found my way into that mountain would be shrieks of pain, no?”
He turned slowly, eying her with a critical look. “I did,” he said after a moment.
“Then you’ll also remember the small matter of gold I’m owed in return.”
“And just how do I know you didn’t just wander west, skulk about and turn over a few rocks, and come back once it was convenient?”
“You really think I’d want to go wandering around that place as long as I did?” The mare’s smirk turned pitying. “Hard Tack, I know you’re not a minotaur to go back on your word. What ever happened to honor among thieves?”
Hard Tack loomed over her and placed his massive paws on the table. “You tell me. Word on the street is the so-called Princess of Thieves doesn’t have a shred of it to her name.”
With that, Twilight allowed herself a frown. Those stares she felt made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, the words made every muffled conversation around them, unintelligible though they were, seem about her.
Her ears swiveled about. “And dare I ask who would accuse me of such?” she mused casually.
“You know how stories spread in our world. Some creature talks, word gets passed around.” Arching a brow, Hard Tack stood up straight. “Seems you’ve slighted the wrong folk somewhere along the line since coming from the East.”
Twilight bit back a curse. That didn’t exactly narrow things down. Why did she have to be so acutely aware of every look, every word right now?
It was time to skip to business and get out. “What would it take to prove it?” she murmured just loud enough for him to hear.
Hard Tack folded his muscular arms and grunted, “The crown.”
Her blood ran cold in her veins. A thousand questions raced through her mind in a blur, none more prevalent than how had he known. Who would’ve told him? Had that diamond dog pack circled back and spread word? Or were they still searching for her further north, near the Silent Moor where she’d lost them previously?
All questions she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to. And yet, she did. “Who said anything about a crown?” she asked, arching a brow.
“Like I said before, word gets around.” Hard Tack leaned in close. The stench of tobacco on his breath was thick enough to make her wrinkle her snout. “Unless you’re gonna walk me through Erebark’s halls yourself, it’s the crown or you can forget our deal and get lost. Won’t get a single coin out of me.”
Were they anywhere else but Nomad’s Vale, Twilight just might have let him try his luck. Why, she was half a mind to dangle him upside down and shake him until every coin fell out of his pockets, just to prove a point before she took her rightly won winnings! But, she took a deep breath and calmed her smoldering temper, and reminded herself that, in fairness, Hard Tack did deserve some proof.
He wasn’t exactly losing a small sum of money.
All the same, she couldn’t just whip out Platinum’s Crown in the middle of the market in freaking Nomad’s Vale, of all places. She might as well shoot off fireworks that formed her name in lights. Maybe one could form her face, too.
Either way, not an option. With a frown and a heavy sigh, she shook her head. “Half hour, inside,” she said. “You’ll promise not to say a word about this?”
Hard Tack didn’t reply verbally. He turned and spat a discolored glob of tobacco spit off to the side, notably away from his bags of gold, then stuck out one of his massive paws for her to shake. “Half hour. Not a soul.”
Twilight accepted the gesture with a nod. Not what she wanted out of this, but it was something. “See you then. Also got a couple other things I’m looking to sell off.”
“Course you do,” he sighed. “I’ll take a look. Half hour.”
She turned and trotted off to find something to busy herself with in the meantime. Something that would keep her out of trouble and give her the chance to rub it in Hadkhûna and Skittershy’s smug faces!
Maybe something for them. Just to add to it a little bit.
And, well, they couldn’t actually visit towns and go shopping for themselves. Not without horrifying the populace and, in a certain she dragon’s case, immolate every living thing, at least.
Well, we are in a place with plenty of rare jewelry and such. Twilight grinned. How else would the Princess of Thieves entertain herself in a town full of thieves, con artists, and merchants?
Again, she began to weave her way through the crowd, this time searching out each stand and shopkeeper’s stall to see what might be worth a look. Food? Skittershy would probably prefer more than a live chicken or two, and Twilight had a feeling Hadkhûna would take it as a shot at her hunting prowess. Oh, there were some nice blankets! Maybe Skittershy could have one for the trip, it did get colder on the water. And, just maybe, she could buy a second and try to convince the spider mare to cocoon her in that instead of webbing.
Then again, Hadkhûna was too big for any blanket to cover. If she were lucky, one might cover the tip of her snout. It would take a hundred to cover her body, which, admittedly, wouldn’t work with how she shifted while drifting off to sleep.
So, clearly that was right out. Gold? Well, Hadkhûna might like that, but Skittershy wouldn’t care. And it wasn’t as though she could just buy any old necklace or jewelry for them to wear. She would have to actually bring them into town and have them custom fitted.
Which would then beget that whole immolation, possible spider mare draining of a few ponies who might threaten her ordeal.
But that notion of giving them something to wear was rather appealing. If Twilight could find a suitable gemstone, one that could be set upon a fasten with a cord thread through it, she could make it work. She could have something nice and sparkly for her lover, and perhaps something to gift Skittershy just as a token of their friendship.
It was during this that her awareness and focus on her surroundings lapsed for a bare second. Just long enough for her to collide with some passer-by who couldn’t have come up to her nose at most, but stood sturdy enough to send Twilight falling back onto her haunches with a startled yelp and flare of her wings.
“Oh, my! I’m terribly sorry, darling!” a mare’s melodious voice kissed her ears with its song. “I was just lost in conversation—here, let me help you up. The dirt is no place for a lovely mare like yourself.”
Her ears burned at the compliment. Twilight ran a hoof through her mane and checked to make sure Angel hadn’t fallen off her back, then looked up. Before her, she saw a pair of mares who looked … well, gorgeous, certainly, but terribly out of place.
They wore no pouches or satchels, there wasn’t a sign of makeup or a hint of perfume the seductresses and pickpockets favored to help draw their prey in and entice them to drop their guard. The first was a rather small, shy pegasus. Her coat was a pale yellow, the type that seemed to just warm Twilight’s heart just by the sight, and a trio of butterflies fluttering emblazoned upon her flank. She wore her dusty pink mane long so it seemed to frame her face and drew attention to her sky blue eyes.
Her friend nearly stole Twilight’s breath away. The mare’s coat was white, with just a touch of gray. Her mane and tail, a purple which flowed into immaculate curls that bounced and curled in on themselves with her every move, and a rather slender build with curves in all the right places, so sunlight washed down her form and drew them to a trio of sky blue diamonds on proud display. But most striking of all were her eyes.
Twilight had only seen such beautiful, sparkling sapphire eyes once before. “Hadkhûna?” she murmured.
The mare tilted her head. “Sorry? I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that.” She stepped closer, cocking an ear as she offered a delicate hoof. “You’re not in pain, are you?”
“No, no. Sorry.” Twilight shook herself. Honestly, how silly of her. The very idea! Granted, if her lover were a mare, she would have to be this one. Stunning, impossibly beautiful, enough to make a town full of thieves, the world around them, just fall away. And her friend? Why, Twilight could almost imagine her to be Skittershy.
Utter ridiculousness. Just her mind playing tricks on her.
With a sheepish smile, Twilight accepted the offered hoof and rose to stand. “I wasn’t paying much attention myself. We’ll call it even.”
The mare’s smile was pure perfection. “I’m relieved to hear that.” She gave a little hum, then lit her horn a brilliant, shimmering sapphire and began to dust off Twilight’s cloak. “I suppose we should both be more mindful around these parts, shouldn’t we? Not that I frequent this place much, mind, but word does get around.”
“That, I believe. I heard of this place long before I ever set hoof here.” Twilight’s eyes flitted toward the other mare, who let out a little squeak and unfurled her wings as if she might hide herself. Oh, a shy one. Anywhere else, precious.
Here, a mark.
Her smile faltering, Twilight spoke in a low murmur, just loud enough for both to hear, “You might find it more prudent to take care of whatever business you have here, then leave before they notice.” She cast a meaningful look to a few supposed loiterers. “New ponies, especially skittish ones, are their favorite.”
The little pegasus shook her head. “We can’t.” Though her face told the tale of anxiety and discomfort, there was just a hint of resolution flashing in those eyes. “We’re here looking out for a dear friend of ours.” She paused a beat, then ducked her head and mumbled, “If we can find her, that is.”
Twilight’s ears twitched. Several of Celestia and Luna’s lessons on unity flitted through her mind at blinding speed. She should help them, their voices whispered in either ear. It would only be right that a princess help a pony in need, after all.
It would. Except, she needed to get her business taken care of quickly, lest she test fate and run into whoever had that axe to grind enough they would spread word of the crown.
Who the hay had she even told?
At this rate, she couldn’t take any chances. Following her teachers’ example would just have to go on hold. Again.
“I’d advise staying out of the alleyways and more heavy crowds, then,” Twilight said. “Less chance of getting robbed that way.”
“Oh? Well, you do sound like you know your way around.” The unicorn bowed her head in thanks. “Thank you for the advice, friend. If we can repay it in any way, do let us know.” Her piece said, she turned to her friend with a smile. “Come along, dear! Moonlit probably wandered off to find the tavern, knowing her.”
Her pegasus friend offered Twilight a shy little smile and mutter of thanks before she allowed herself to be guided along the way they’d been headed, back toward those stands selling stolen wares.
The slightest nagging to follow and make sure they were safe entered her mind, but Twilight had to silence it. She’d offered advice, that was all she was obligated to do. Besides, there was a nonzero chance her presence would’ve made them greater marks.
That feeling of being watched hadn’t left her once during the exchange. Those piercing stares bored into the back of her head.
Twilight turned and trotted over to the blanket stand. Skittershy would love one, she could get this taken care of quickly, collect her winnings, then get out. And, as fortune would have it, one of the attendant’s works caught her eye—thick, fluffy, and as soft as cloud. The little patterns of dogs and cats sewn in would almost certainly be a hit.
She parted with seven bits and found herself plus one fluffy blanket, which she happily slipped into her enchanted bottomless pouch for safekeeping. One down, one to go.
The young princess turned to survey the lay of the land. She had about twenty minutes, by her count, to meet up with Hard Tack. Plenty of time to check out a few of those stands laden with gems and avail the owners of something sparkly.
Legitimately, for once.
But as she made to step away from that stand, the hairs on the back of her neck bristled and stood on end as though she’d been hit by a bolt of lightning. On her back, Angel let out a nervous little chitter, drawing her to start and turn.
She heard a low, canine growl before she took a step. “None of your nasty pony tricks this time, Twilight Sparkle,” the diamond dog spat. “Today, you pay for what you did to the True King’s pack!”
Her ears flicked. Twilight felt a cold claw grip her chest and twist her lungs. She knew that voice well, and there was only one pack who would dare call their alpha the True King.
Swallowing a lump, she turned slowly, affixing an uneasy smile upon her face as she met the muscular doberman with a little nod of her head. “Clifford, it’s been a while!” Twilight greeted with false cheer. “I haven’t seen you since … oh, my, I can hardly recall!”
His glare only grew more heated. The only thing that hid the blood coloring his face was a thick coat of red-brown fur. He wore a long, gray cloak and faded green coat with a patch bearing the peak of the Solitary Mountain and the Great Gate of Erebark set upon a golden background. Around his neck, he wore a black collar with jeweled studs—typical of his pack. “Since the nasty pony princess left the True King and his loyal servants lost in the Silent Moor, wandering the Endless Fog!”
“Riiiiiight.” The young mare took a step back. Her eyes darted about, both searching out an escape route and trying to spy out which direction the pack might flank from. Diamond dogs never traveled alone. “I’d wondered where you’d gotten to. I just turned around and you were all gone,” she lied. “How did you lot find your way out of that mist, anyway?”
“No prey escapes our noses.” Clifford bore his fangs in a wicked grin. “If you think the True King’s loyal servants will fall for your tricks again, you’re a fool! Your trickery is known to all who wear Erebark’s colors!”
Well, that was a lovely thought. All the diamond dogs and “respected” allies who swore fealty to Erebark over the centuries? Twilight wouldn’t miss this continent in the slightest. But first, she had to escape.
Her instincts screamed at her, a tingle down her spine alerted her to the presence of Clifford’s packmates, each creeping up on either side in classic flanking tactics. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see the dull glint of well-worn steel. Sharp enough to bite into her side, but dull enough to make it hurt like no other.
That certainly complicated matters.
And by the way Clifford was waggling his digits, his paw drifting near his belt, he fully intended on being the one to lead any such fray.
Twilight flicked her tail. “Trickery? Me? Clifford, I’m wounded by such accusations!” She brought a hoof to her chest to milk the act. She just needed a window. “What ever happened to the wise Kings Under the Mountain who broke bread with enemies to strengthen their kingdom? Or has your King let their legacy falter since?”
The slight should’ve sent them howling. It should’ve set off a trio of snarled denials and a frenzied leap to pounce her, easy prey for a quick burst of shielding magic to the face.
Instead, Clifford’s smile grew sharper, dangerously so. A low, rumbling laugh, like a persistent cough mixed with a bark through a mouthful of gravel, sounded from within his chest. A laugh shared by his fellows.
Oh, Tartarus, what did I just step into?
One of the diamond dogs flanking her snickered and said, “Nasty little pony princess can ask King Fido IV himself.” The way his beady eyes glinted like his curved dagger sent shivers down her spine. “The True King has been howling to meet you again, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Invited to dinner, he said,” the other chimed, a wicked looking cutlass clasped in his paw. “Eager to meet the guest of honor again, he is.” His eyes flitted to her passenger, a rivet of drool ran down his chin. “And she even brings an appetizer to go with her.”
She barely heard Angel squeak as she registered the words. Guest of honor.
Oh, hay, no.
So much for no trouble. Then again, that ship had sailed as soon as they’d walked up.
Twilight took a low, challenging stance, her wings unfurled and ready to go. “If you think you’ve got the gumption to try it, pup!” she spat. Her mind raced, a plan to turn their advantage into hers already forming. Time to put that insolence to use. “You won’t be the first I’ve thrown around by their stupid collars.”
They snarled and spat curses, drawing a dangerous smirk. Insulting a diamond’s dog collar was tantamount to insulting the mother who bore their litter—just a step or two away, in fact. It was the one constant in each pack, even on the Equestrian continent in the East. One simply didn’t comment on them unless they had a death wish that took the form of frothing, raging dogs.
So perhaps one could forgive them for losing the three for how their tempers flared, all sense of awareness and strategy left them, and they whipped their blades at her head, eager to liberate it from her neck and shoulders despite their King’s want to entertain her himself.
Twilight, however, would not. It was just what she wanted.
Her horn flashed a bubbling raspberry, tendrils of magic lashed out and wrapped around their wrists as they each made to swing at her head. Experience trained her not to simply try to stop them in their tracks at such range, they had momentum and weight carrying them forward.
Instead, she adopted the teachings of an old mare she’d met in the Far East. Twilight ducked low, gritting her teeth as she deftly twisted their arms and flung them over her crouched body. The trio of diamond dogs yelped and cried out in surprise, then in pain a half second later when they all banged heads and necks. Before they could fall upon her back, she cast a quick shield spell and thrust it upward like a springboard, striking them with a rather odd sproing! and catapulting the would-be assailants through the air, bound for a meeting with one of the stands across the street.
“Angel! In one of my pouches, now!” Twilight barked as she spun on her hoof, her horn already lit to catch the two she hadn’t seen, but knew to be lingering nearby in mid leap, their claws and fangs bared to tear her apart. With a snort and grunt, she jerked her head left and threw them like a pair of javelins at their pack mates as they tried to untangle and rise from the debris. She could feel the little bunny scramble across her back and fumble his way into one of her pouches, safe and sound.
Time to move.
Twilight galloped through the crowded market square, bound for Hard Tack’s and sanctuary. No one dared steal or spill blood within one of the homes, no matter how seedy Nomad’s Vale could be. All she had to do was make it.
He’d just have to deal with her company a bit sooner than expected.
A whistling through the air made her ears twitch. Twilight threw herself into a forward roll just in time to see one of the diamond dogs’ daggers go spinning overhead. The muffled sound of padded paws drove her to action. She snapped off a bolt of magic that caught Clifford the Big Red Idiot in the chest and sent him head over heels, and landed in a heap on the hard dirt road.
Suddenly, something big, furry, and made of ripping muscles hit Twilight in the side and drove her against the edge of a stand.
A pained cry escaped her lips. She shifted, lashing out with a forehoof to catch the sixth diamond dog in the side of his head, just enough that he let go so she could put her back to the stand and kick out at him again. Around her, pots, pans, and kitchen ware clanged and clattered together. A shrill ring entered her ears.
The newcomer whipped out a cutlass and held it above his head. Twilight snarled and snatched up the kitchenware—her makeshift weaponry—in each hoof, and swung it at his left elbow.
A metallic clang as cast-iron met bone and a sickening crack made her ears splay, but neither could top the agonized shriek that tore its way from the diamond dog’s throat. His arm hung limp, he turned away, dropping his cutlass to clutch at the injured limb.
Twilight gave him no chance. She leapt up and smashed his nose in with a frying pan, then fetched him a blow to the jaw with a heavy pot.
The dog fell to the ground in a heap.
His pack mates took up a howl for their fallen comrade and launched themselves upon Twilight.
The Princess of Thieves fell beneath one’s weight, but quickly looped a foreleg around his arm to keep him from stabbing her with his knife, and turned him to bare the back of his neck for a quick strike with her frying pan. Another approached, she blocked a swipe of his cutlass with the pan, then bashed his knee with a side-swipe from the pot, and greeted his fall with a frying pan to the face.
Two down, she thought, rising to her hooves. Her amethyst eyes glinted, alight with fire even as her other four attackers closed in. She stepped back until she felt her rear bump against the edge of the stand—her own little armory.
Twilight reared up, tossing the pot and pan into the air, and cast a quick banishing spell to send them flying at blinding speed, bound for Clifford and the dog at his side. Clifford managed to duck under his, while his pack mate took the blunt side of the pan straight to his solar plexus.
The other two leaped upon her without weapons, trying their best to pin her.
Tartarus broke loose. Twilight summoned every bit of kitchenware she could and bounced it off their heads and shoulders. Her vision went red.
They were ruining her plan, damn it! How was she going to explain bumps and bruises to Hadkhûna and Skittershy? Especially if Angel told on her! By Celestia, she was supposed to stay out of trouble this time! And she’d actually tried! She’d been good! She was legitimately buying gifts and collecting on a bet!
She snatched a pair of small pans out of the air and lashed out wildly, howling a battle cry that cut through the air. Her pans clanged off bone as she struck their arms, their shoulders, their thick, stupid heads.
“The one time I try to be straight, and you idiot pups screw it up!”she yelled as she forced a big stew pot over Clifford’s head and drove him onto the counter. Twilight snatched a mallet and beat it as hard as she could, trying to deafen the mighty hunter. “The one! Stupid! Time!”
They stumbled back, one by one. Each clutched their faces in pain, but their resolve was unbroken. Their eyes still shone with savage fury, even as all four tried to leap upon her again.
That was when Angel sprang forth from his pouch, his slingshot drawn and ready. The little bunny let out a shrill war cry and fired four shots in rapid succession and struck each diamond dog in the eye.
If not for the situation, Twilight might just have scolded him for coming out of the pouch. Or complimented his aim.
Instead, she took him in the bubbling glow of her magic and carried him through the air as she pushed off the stand and leapt over the fallen hunters. She hit the ground in full gallop, her eyes fixated upon her goal.
Something tangled around her hooves. Twilight tripped and fell forward in a flail of limbs, tumbling across the dirt road in a rather painful heap. A quick look at her hind hooves saw the reason—a bola.
Terrific.
Slowly, Clifford the Big Red Nuisance rose, his eyes burning bright. He picked up one of the pans she’d bashed him with and began to stalk toward her, flanked by his pack mates. “No more tricks!” he barked. “No more nasty little—”
The pot slipped from his paw and floated through the air, held aloft by a bubbling sapphire aura.
Then it swung low and hit him in a most unpleasant place for any male of any species. Even Twilight had to wince in sympathy as he shrieked and fell to the floor in a fetal position, whimpering like a newborn pup.
Really, though, who could blame him after taking a hit there with the blunt edge of a frying pan?
“Oh, clumsy me~!” that beautiful unicorn’s melodious voice floated through the air.
Every creature turned to stare dumbly at the beauty as she sauntered forth. That mare with no business in such a dodgy took strode to the center of the crowd as though she were taking centerstage, her hips swaying in an enchantingly liquid motion and a smile that told of utmost confidence. Like she hadn’t just nutted a diamond dog hunter in the middle of a fight in which she had no stake.
“You!” Clifford spat, his face redder than any name Twilight could ever hope to invent could possibly match. He struggled to stand, his knees still shaking with the pain as he spoke, his voice pitched an octave or two higher. “You will suffer for this!”
The mare’s smile didn’t falter. She simply turned her nose up at him like a noble in Canterlot. “Darling, believe me, looking at you and your rabble is suffering.” Those eyes glinted with some familiar note, a hint of malice hidden behind their beauty. “Though, I must side with the lovely mare—those collars are simply atrocious.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. She’s insane. More so than me.
A tugging at her hooves drew her attention. The little pegasus snapped the bola with a sharp tug and twist, then offered a little smile. “Hurry to wherever you’re going,” she whispered. “We’ll keep them away.”
“Are you out of your minds?” Twilight hissed. “You two have no idea what you’re getting into!”
“You seemed to be doing just fine. I don’t imagine they’ll be difficult.”
“I fight for my life all the time!”
The pegasus frowned in thought. “Do you now?” she muttered pensively. With a little shrug, she stepped around Twilight and gave her a little nudge with her hind hoof. “Something to keep in mind, then. Get going. We have this.”
“But—”
With a roll of her eyes, the pegasus turned and looped her hooves under Twilight’s arms. Then, in a rather surprising show of strength for one her size, she lifted Twilight bodily off the ground and carried her through the air—with all the speed and natural grace of a Wonderbolt flyer!—and deposited her in the doorway of, of all places, Hard Tack’s house.
“Get inside and stay there until we get rid of them,” she commanded. Quite the change from that shy little thing she’d been, and the light in her sky blue eyes left little room for argument. “We’ll be fine.” Her piece said, she gave Twilight a little shove inside, then pulled the door shut.
Twilight could only watch through a little window, her jaw agape, as the little pegasus turned and stalked over to stand at her friend’s side, casually picking up one of the bola balls while they weren’t looking.
Then she spat something, an insult, at the diamond dogs and threw the ball in Clifford the Big Red Whipping Pup’s face, and both mares turned tails and scampered like Cerberus himself was nipping at their hooves. A good thing, too. For not a half second later, a howling, cursing Clifford led his pack mates on a blind charge after them.
“Those … idiots.” Twilight thumped her head against the door. Why in the world had they done such a foolhardy thing? She could’ve taken those stupid pups herself!
And now, two mares with no business being in Nomad’s Vale, let alone in her fight, were running. Running from King Fido’s hunters.
Again, she thumped her head against the doorway. She’d promised. She’d promised she wouldn’t get into trouble again, and yet, despite her best efforts, she had. And worse.
Two mares without business in her mess had just involved themselves.
“Uh, you’re early.” Hard Tack’s voice made her ears twitch. Twilight could almost picture his frown, how he glanced over her to peer through the tiny little window, then down at her again. “You have anything to do with whatever that ruckus was?”
Slowly, Twilight turned to level him with a blank stare. “Clifford the Big Red Twit told you, didn’t he?” At his wince, she pushed off the door, her tail flicking in agitation. “And you didn’t see fit to warn me, why?”
He didn’t answer verbally, but the way he looked away and sheepishly scratched his cheek told the tale.
“You took a bribe? Seriously?”
Hard Tack snorted. “Money’s money. And there was no guarantee you’d come back from that mountain anyway.” He returned his gaze to her once more. With a sigh, he waved her to follow him into his display and appraisal room. “C’mon. Let’s have a look at this crown.”
Blowing a breath through her nose, Twilight followed after him. A heated glare boring into his back. He’d better have her winnings paid in full and if he didn’t give her a good price on that necklace and earrings, there would be problems.
And if that minotaur thought after this she wasn’t going to make him count out each and every bit she was owed, he had another thing coming!
If there was one thing no diamond dog could stand, it was betrayal. If there was another, it was that nigh sacrilegious insult to their collar. But if one had to add a third to that unhappy list, it would have to be the notion of some creature interrupting one of their sacred hunts against an enemy of the pack. And of all the packs in all the lands, those who bore the seal of Erebark upon their chest were the most notorious for their short temper.
So perhaps one could forgive Clifford, snarling and frothing at the mouth as he was, for breaking off his hunt for Twilight Sparkle in favor of chasing the mares who dared interlope.
After all, they had done two of the three things guaranteed to piss off a diamond dog.
Clifford cursed as a thin, whiplike branch struck him across the face. Those mares hadn’t slowed, hadn’t faltered even as they entered the forest. Through the underbrush, over tree roots, and even navigating those sudden dips and mounds in the earth that gave even his pack trouble. A fact made clear as he twisted his ankle and growled a fresh string of curses.
Oh, when he got a hold of those mares, he would be sure to take his time to savor their screams.
Up ahead, he caught a glimpse of a curl of that unicorns purple tail. Clifford sped up, barking a call for his pack mates to hurry along with them before they lost her as they did the pegasus. His efforts won him a chance to see the triple diamond cutie mark emblazoned on her flanks as she took a sudden right turn, quick enough that he nearly skidded past as he tried to follow, and darted into a maze of rocks.
Clifford howled. The rocks were unfavorable to pony hooves. He had her this time. Leading the charge, he slipped in, his paws reaching for one of the daggers still held in its sheath, ready to bury it between her shoulder blades. A little glimmer of light playing along a thin thread out of the corner of his eye made him wince, but he was not to be deterred. No more pony tricks would make a fool him this day!
And he was correct—it was most certainly not a pony trick that ended the hunt.
What pony could possibly stop he and his pack mates in place as if they’d run face first into a net of sticky, tangly thread?
Yelping and whimpering, the dogs began to try to fight their way free. They clawed and bit, trying to reach for their blades to cut themselves from the strange thread that clung to their very body like glue, yet to no avail. It held fast, tangling around their limbs and pulling back, latched onto the rocks around them by those thin strands of thread he’d ignored.
“Marvelous work, as usual,” that damnable unicorn’s voice made his ears burn. Ahead, she stepped out from behind a rock, her smile still splitting her muzzle as she looked to the mare at her side. Neither looked out of breath. If anything, they looked as though they’d just taken a casual walk through the woods! “I daresay, top notch on such short notice.”
The little pegasus didn’t smile back. “Thank you, but it didn’t take much effort. My web back home was far bigger, after all.” Her sky blue eyes were as cold as ice. “So, what do we do to teach these nasty beasts for threatening our little one?”
Clifford blinked. Their little one? “You’re with that nasty princess?” he growled.
The unicorn’s smile sharpened. “In multiple senses of the word, yes. We are.” She approached slowly, her hips swaying and tail swishing in time. Her sapphire eyes gleamed, shining to the brim with some sort of sadistic glee as she reached up to pat his cheek, then let her hoof trail down to race the patch on his chest.
“Well, well, what have we here?” she crooned. “If it isn’t the Solitary Mountain! And the Gate of Erebark! Oh, how delicious—you’re from the rabble of that flea-ridden mutt, Fido!”
Flea-ridden? Clifford thrashed about, spittle spraying forth from his lips. “Slander! Nasty mare will die for such talk! The True King of Erebark will punish you for siding with Twilight Sparkle!”
Fear was a typical response to the threat of meeting King Fido IV around these parts.
A toothy grin was not. Yet, that was the response the mare gave to his comment. “Oh, I was just hoping we’d get to that, poppet. Because, you see, we’d like you six to take a little message to Fido’s little heir for me—a little word from the Queen Under the Mountain.”
He scoffed. “There is no Queen Under the—” his brain finally caught the meaning. There was only one who would dare make such a claim. Only one who would look upon scores of diamond dogs armed to the teeth and laugh.
Smoke burned his nose and made his vision blur with tears. Twin tendrils wafted from her nostrils as she took a couple steps back. Behind her teeth, a bright, deadly orange glow shone through the cracks.
It couldn’t be!
From within her belly, he heard a low, rolling growl the likes of which could never come from a pony.
His pack mates whimpers seemed to come from afar, through a fog as thick as stew. If Clifford were free, he might have curled into a ball and tucked his tail between his legs.
No. Not a pony.
Never a pony.
A dragon.
Their screams were inaudible beneath the shrieking rush of flames.
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
883 users online
568,428 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oho-ho shit! Nice middle chapter!
This chapter had me howling in delight! Clifford should have played dead instead of provoking such a rarity of a specimen. Really he has no one but himself to blame for going out with a whimper. And King Fido IV is going to have to learn that not every dog has his day.
9636954
It honestly does, huh? Only the solo player has some completely game-breaking reinforcements that they can't quite control.
Yeah, screw that person!
Wait, we're getting cameos now? *reads more* ah hah!
mother whore?
Since when can Hadkhûna and Skittershy disguise themselves like this? It's rather convenient in this situation (and I'm sure there will be lots of teasing Twilight afterwards), but still unexpected. Great fight scene, though. Lots of fun to read.
9658118
I think he meant "mother who", but given the term for a female dog......I like to think it still works.
media.giphy.com/media/tCQv89VrByDIs/giphy.gif
bravo
9658133
9658160
what chapter was that from? I don't remember that.
9658164 Den of Thieves: 1. Off the Map
Simply wonderful. And this DOES solve the physical intimacy problem in a most wonderful way. I can barely wait for the reveal, the teasing shall be off the charts
ah yes hadkhuna is well versed in i.imgur.com/ckkXhXt.png
So, when did our Princess of Thieves took kitchenware combat lesson from Rapunzel?
Yesss all my yesss so good. From the dog names to how adorable Angel bunny is with twi. And Ponified Dragon and Spider.
Very good, indeed
And for a moment I thought the Mane6 were a thing, and not just monster-ponies
I like that they can actually disguise/turn into actual ponies, even if they're still physically superior in every way.
9658653 It seemed like a fun idea, though I forgot one crucial detail:
Much to Twilight's chagrin, they are still just slightly taller than her, so she is perpetually the smol in this group. :p
I see what you did there xD
I don’t know if he will deliver the message. It might be inferred if his body is ever found but it will likely not involve any effort on his part.
9658679
I'm afraid Twilight is canonically taller than the Pony-Hadkhuna and Pony-Skittershy. unless you decide you need to retcon that
9658868 A terrible, terrible oversight. Alas.
9658877
For what it's worth, I prefer Twilight being the taller one, if only in this one scenario ^^
9658879 Yeah, gotta give her a couple wins before she realizes ;p
9659109
You could always have them be able to change small things about their Pony-Appearances, like Height, and let them have been smaller only in this case, but always a tiiiiny bit taller later on, when or if Twilight finds out
I alread said said it in Mono's Discord, but ill say it again here. This chaper is awsome!
Careful, Carapace. She's onto you.
Magnificent fight scenes, to say nothing of all the potential applications of that particular little trick. I can only imagine Twilight's reaction when she realizes the truth... assuming she actually does any time soon.
So why are they calling her a traitor? Weren't they originally intending to kill her in the first place instead of helping her, making THEM the traitors?
Also Celestia going and telling everyone what Twilight was doing is a dick move. Did she really send to two ponies there to assign Twilight friends?
I can't wait for more! This needs more! Please don't stop writing the story!!!
9667933
...Those two ponies were Hadkhuna and Skittershy in disguise.
9684416
Doesn't really seem like it to me.
9684642
Uh, no. Rarity and Fluttershy undoubtedly ARE Hadkhuna and Skittershy. Or did you miss the part at the end where Rartiy called herself Queen Under the Mountain and breathed fire, or Fluttershy used spider webs?
9667933
No that was Hadkuhuna and Skittershy in pony guises. Thou, that does sound like something Celestia would do.
Attracting