Legacy of the Howlite Howler

by JNKing

Chapter 2: The Heist

The worst part about plans going wrong is when they start off going rather well.

With Logan’s shovel-like claws, it was child’s play for Sunny and Izzy to get behind the thrones that Queen Haven and Zipp would be sitting on for the youngest princess Pipp’s performance. And as the pink pegasi flapped about, her wires hidden by the lighting and everyone bedazzled by their song, the pegasus’ voice drowned out the sound of Logan’s drilling, allowing him to carve a hole clean through to Queen Haven’s crown.

Acting fast, Sunny snatched the crown while Izzy replaced it with her decoy. Logan resealed the hole with the very dirt he had collected, and Sunny once again resisted the urge to ask how he was able to accomplish such a feat without magic. For now wasn’t the time for questions; it was the time for taking the first steps to unity.

The trio looked to Zipp, and the pegasus nodded; no one had seen them, and the coast was clear. With a grin of triumph, the trio hopped back down Logan’s hole, and made their way back towards the outside.

Unfortunately, Logan chose to reseal the tunnel the same way he had resealed the throne. And while it did wipe out any trace of their entrance and exit, the shuffling and digging was picked up by a pair of ears. Ears belonging to a certain winged pomeranian.

#

Cloudpuff sensed the tremors under his tiny paws, and followed the feeling of Logan’s digging to the outside. As he passed by the crowd and nudged open the door, he found himself in front of the most handsome looking stallion he had ever seen. Sure, his wings looked kinda fake, and he had no idea how a pony already covered in fur could have a mustache, but Cloudpuff didn’t care. This stallion was just as worthy of protection and love as Master Haven.

#

Hitch Trailblazer blinked down at the pomeranian as it gazed up at him with adoring eyes. Looking back up, Hitch scanned the crowd for his target, Sunny Starscout, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Now some pegasi might have thought that dogs were only good for keeping as pets, but Cloudpuff was much smarter than the average dog. Connecting the dogs, he butted his head at Hitch, regaining the sheriff's attention.

“What is it, boy?” Hitch asked.

Cloudpuff dug at the ground where Logan’s digging was coming from, and scampered after it, yapping at Hitch to follow.

Hitch gave a cautious look back at the crowd, but something in his gut warned him that the dog was trying to help. Turning away from the pegasi, he followed Cloudpuff to the outside.

Sure enough, Hitch’s instincts proved right, as he watched Sunny Starscout and the unicorn she had harbored climbing out of a hole in the wall, followed by easily the biggest dog he had ever seen in his life.

Gathering his courage, Hitch approached the trio, as they cackled in glee.

“That was almost too easy,” Sunny noted, gazing with gratitude at Logan. “Thank you so much, Logan.”

“Let’s just make it count,” he replied. “Should we book it for Bridlewood now, or wait for Z?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Hitch replied, stepping out of the shadows, with Cloudpuff growling at his side.

Sunny gasped, backing up behind her friends while Izzy just gave the stallion a curious look. Logan glanced between Sunny and Hitch and casually put himself between them.

“What d’you want, colt?” Logan growled.

Swallowing down his shock at a dog talking to him, Hitch held himself higher.

“Sunny Starscout,” he stated. “She - that is to say, you,” he added at Sunny, “Are under arrest for the harboring of a fugitive, disruption of the peace…”

Cloudpuff yapped, drawing Logan’s attention.

“Hey,” Logan snapped at his fellow canine. “It’s for a good cause. Your master’s not using that crystal for its intended purpose!”

Cloudpuff growled.

“I’m serious!” Logan shot back. “She’s using the key to saving the world as a glorified head piece!”

Cloudpuff barked.

“I WILL talk about your master that way!”

Sunny and Hitch blinked at the odd argument as Logan devolved from English and the two dogs began barking at each other. Izzy just giggled, watching the whole thing like it was a big show.

Shaking her head, Sunny turned back to Hitch. “Hitch, please listen to me,” she insisted. “We learned the truth: Izzy doesn’t have magic. The unicorns and pegasi? They have no magic! They were never a danger.”

Hitch blinked at her, still partially distracted by Cloudpuff and Logan’s argument. “W-What?” he asked.

“We can bring the magic back,” Sunny insisted, pulling out the crystal. “We can reunite ponykind. We just need to unite this crystal with the unicorn…”

Before she could say more, Cloudpuff’s eyes alighted on his master’s crown. Abandoning his argument with Logan, the winged dog made a lunge for the crown. Logan spun to stop him, but Hitch was faster, catching Logan with his hooves while Cloudpuff snatched the crown from Sunny’s hoof.

“No!” Sunny screamed, Izzy diving to catch the pomeranian… and failing. As the two girls chased after the dog, Hitch tried to untangle himself from Logan.

“Hey! Freeze!” Hitch called, only for Logan to grab him by the tail.

“Figures,” Logan snarled, Hitch shivering as the diamond dog rose up - six feet of angry muscle. “Another scrub with a badge, thinking he has the authority to screw me over.”

Hitch kicked out with his back legs, but Logan took the blows with barely a flinch, catching his hooves at the expense of his tail.

“Well, not today ‘sherriff!’” Logan snarled, spinning the sheriff and hurling him away from the castle.

But Hitch’s time as a sheriff had not been spent eating donuts and lazing around like his partner Sprout. And as he flipped through the air, he landed on a wall and ricocheted himself off. Logan yelped as Hitch kicked him into the wall, and with the dog apparently down, Hitch raced into the castle after Sunny and Izzy, only to hear Logan barking as he pursued.

Hitch saw several guards chasing Sunny and Izzy away from the courtyard. Checking that his fake wings and mustache were still in place, he raced towards them.

“Guards!” he called. “Guards! Monster!”

The guards spun, their eyes widening under their helmets as Logan barreled towards them.

“Holy Haven!” one of them yelped.

The guards desperately charged the dog, but he lunged at them like a bowling ball. Several pegasi went flying with the first strike, but plenty more were able to hold their ground. Logan snarled in defiance, but the pegasi had the numbers. And the last Hitch saw of the diamond dog was him going down in a pile of feathers and armor.

Turning his gaze forward, Hitch focused on where Sunny and Izzy had gone. Hoping that he was not too late, Hitch raced through the nearest door he could find… and found himself back in the auditorium. Pipp was still singing, and no pony seemed to realize what had happened. They didn’t even seem to notice that Zipp had left her throne, and was now struggling with Cloudpuff over the crown.

Though, to be fair, it was hard to tear his eyes away from the pegasus flying above. Hitch almost started dancing to the beat, before he got control of himself.

Have to find Sunny, he reminded himself, heading into the crowd. Have to find…

“ROAAAAAAAAAAA!” A voice howled from behind.

Hitch spun as the doors burst open. A pile of pegasus guards screamed as they were forced into the room, Logan barely visible underneath them as he bulldozed his way in.

“MONSTER DOG!” several ponies shrieked.

Hitch yelped as he realized Logan was coming for him. But just before he could turn and run, Logan wrenched a guard off him and threw him.

#

Mere minutes earlier, Sunny and Izzy’s desperate race for the dog had led them right into the technician handling Pipp’s wires.

At first, the technician stared at them in horror. Sunny lifted her hooves.

“It’s okay,” she tried to assure him. “Don’t be scared.”

Izzy started to chime in, but just before she could speak, a roar ripped through the air.

All heads spun as Logan surged into the room, a pile of pegasus guards hanging off him. With a mighty roar, Logan spun and hurled a pegasus into the crowd.

Soaring like the magic had been returned, the guard shrieked as he went in a perfect arc over the crowd, over Sunny and Izzy, over the technician… and right into the technician’s control pad.

Sparks flew. Pipp was suddenly yanked into the air as the controls went haywire. With Logan panting, and stumbling on his paws and Pipp being flung around like she had been possessed, Zipp was able to pull the pegasus crystal from Cloudpuff’s jaws and race to Sunny and Izzy’s side.

“I got it,” she reported. “Now let’s...” she paused, spotting Logan as he struggled to stay on his paws. “Geez! Logan!”

Lunging out from the crowd, Zipp and Sunny pulled Logan along, only for more screams to sound.

“It’s the prisoners!”

“Freeze!” Hitch called, but the pegasi only screamed at his appearance, as Logan’s bulldoze technique had knocked his wings off.

“And another earth pony!”

“Forget about them!” another pegasi noted, pointing up as Pipp now hung upside down, tangled in her wires. “She’s a fake! The royals can’t fly!”

Snatching a piece of armor from a guard, Logan hurled it at Pipp, sending her to the ground.

“Go!” Logan barked. “GET OUT OF HERE!”

Not questioning it, Pipp dove into the crowd, as Sunny pulled a battered Logan after Izzy and Zipp. And with Hitch in hot pursuit and chaos reigning through the auditorium, the quartet fled Zephyr Heights' Castle.

#

The group found refuge in an alleyway. Logan was practically being dragged at that point, he was panting so hard.

“Come on, Logan,” Sunny pleaded as she yanked him along. “Just a little further.”

“Yeah…” Logan gasped, forcing himself up and doing his best to push forward. “Yeah… I can make it… don’t worry bout me…” He wheezed as he threw himself into the shadows of the alleyway, Hitch not far behind him.

Hitch checked their six for pursuers, but any potential pursuers were heading, not after them, but towards the castle. Hitch sighed.

“Okay,” he noted. “I think we lost them.”

Logan gasped for breath. “Oh… now… you’re on our side, huh?” He put himself between Sunny and Hitch. “What happened to arresting, ‘sheriff?’”

Hitch scoffed indignantly. “I can’t arrest her if we’re both in jail.” He glanced up and down Logan’s form. “What in the good name of the law are you, anyway?” He looked to Sunny. “Seriously, where did you find this thing?”

“Hey!” Logan barked. “I’m a diamond dog, not a ‘thing.’”

“Plus,” Zipp added, standing loyally beside her canine friend. “We didn’t need your help. We were doing just fine until you showed up.”

Hitch grimaced. “And you are?”

“Her mom’s the queen,” Izzy explained.

Hitch blinked. “So… you’re a princess?”

“Huh, check it out, Logan,” Zipp noted. “The sheriff just became a detective.”

Logan scoffed. “Detective? Sheriff?” He spat. “They’re all just interfering fools in my book."

Hitch narrowed his eyes, but before he could retort, a news jingle drew their attention to a nearby TV screen.

“Breaking news!” the reporter on screen declared. “Zephyr Heights is in turmoil tonight after the shocking revelation that the royals can’t fly.”

As interviewees flashed across the screen, crying about the ‘betrayal’ and ‘how they can’t trust anyone now,’ Hitch gave a small glare to Logan and Sunny.

“So, tell me something, because I’m a little confused,” Hitch noted to Sunny. “How was this going to lead to unity with the other breeds?”

Logan growled at the sheriff, but Hitch merely cocked an eyebrow, silently asking for an answer. Sunny, for her part, lowered her head in guilt.

“We just… need to unite the crystals,” Sunny insisted, reaching to her saddlebag. “If we can reunite the…” she paused, searching her bag. “No… oh-no-no-no… it’s not here!”

“What?!” Logan stammered, sticking his nose in her bag as well… and accidentally ripping it away from her, getting it stuck on his nose. Zipp snatched the bag off Logan’s nose, but her search proved just as fruitless as the others.

“You gotta be kidding!” Zipp cried.

“Well, on the bright side, we had fun losing it,” Izzy noted.

Logan seethed. “This isn’t about fun! This is about proving all these bigots and hate-mongers wrong!” He turned around. “We have to go back!”

“But it could be anywhere!” Zipp protested.

“Then we look everywhere!” Logan replied. “We search every nook, cranny and hidey-hole until we find it.”

Sunny grabbed Logan before he could limp out. “Wait, Logan,” she reminded him. “Let me look. You still need to recover.”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Logan insisted. “We can’t just leave it out there for just anyone to find.”

Right on cue, a can clattered, drawing their gaze. A figure stepped out into the light, the pegasus crystal in hoof.

The others gasped, Logan’s ears rising and falling in conflict. The figure holding the pegasus crystal was Pipp Petals. And she did not look happy with the group.