> One Tin Pegasus
>  by GreyGuardPony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. The Gathering of the Lodges
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle. The massive towers and walls of the complex loomed over the other buildings of The Heartlands capital city. It was both social and political anchor for Canterlot, visited by hundreds of ponies a year seeking royal favor.

And right now it felt like the very walls were closing in on Lightning Dust.

The turquoise coated pegasus nervously picked her way through its halls, a chilly tingle of doom running down her spine. She wasn’t the only one. A smattering of other ponies trudged along with her, their moods a mixture of dour and nervous. Together, they were the motley remains of the once mighty Everfree Rangers. For centuries, the various lodges of the order had protected Equestria from the beasts that lurked within the forest’s darkened boughs. But then had come Chroma. The ancient alicorn had turned so many of the rangers against their homeland, promising glory and a true purging of the brutish caprataurs and other vicious monsters of the forest.

Lightning’s mood grew darker as she did a quick count of her fellows. While the heraldry of all the lodges were present, some more numerous than others, the numbers were woeful compared to the last great meeting of the lodges she had attended. That glum feeling clung to her like pond scum as she shuffled into the throne room. They had all been called by royal summons to learn the fate of the Rangers in light of the mass treason of their fellows. It was an uncertain future they were staring down, which made Lightning Dust all the more nervous. One thing that was clear to her as she stepped into the room, however.

King Sombra had prepared.

Banners bearing the heraldry of each lodge had been hung from the ceiling, forming a half circle around the empty royal throne. Above the throne was stretched the flag of the Heartlands, a quartered shield in black and jade green. To represent its rulers, the lower left quadrant showed a black sword on its jade background, and the lower right showed a jade chrysalis on black. The upper left, meanwhile, showed the six-pointed Star of Harmony and the upper right a rearing stallion, echoing the heraldry of Old Equestria. It was a setup that Lightning Dust had seen before, at the last meeting of the lodges.

Dutifully, she walked to the spot of the floor under the Black Rook Lodge’s banner. It depicted the full heraldry of her lodge. The red silhouette of a shield signified the fact that they were warriors, always ready to heed the call of battle. Yet the green bar that divided the shield diagonally had its own dual meaning; that they were defenders of Equestria’s freedom. The shield was flanked by a pair of crows, symbolizing both the permanence of their post and the actual colony of crows that called their lodge home. Finally a sturdy anvil sat at the bottom of the shield symbolizing their honor and pride as an order of the Everfree… or at least it used to.

Yet now Lightning Dust stood alone, the last of the Black Rooks.

As the other Everfree Rangers filed into their their spots, Lightning Dust nervously tugged at the one thing that probably saved her from the dungeons. The Element of Laughter. One of the ancient relics of ponykind and she was wearing it. Despite the severity of the situation, that was a fact that she felt an undeniable amount of pride about. The necklace may have been a little tight but she wore it and the full ensemble that it had provided her all the same. The sky blue cloak, the gleaming tatzelwurm leather armor and the enchanted crossbow that hung at her side.

While they waited for King Sombra to arrive, Lightning took stock of how the other lodges had fared. There were fourteen of the mighty fortified lodges, running in an unbroken line from Equestria’s southern coast- where the Everfree thinned into a rough stretch of scrubland and brush- all the way to its northern reaches where mighty pine trees held sway.

The lodges closest to hers were suffering the most. To her right, she could see the grim faced ponies of the Horn Breaker Lodge. The hulking form of their lodgemaster, Primal Fury, was nowhere to be seen. Lightning Dust wasn’t surprised at the red maned mare’s absence. Her hatred for the caprataurs was unmatched and it defined the tone of the Horn Breakers. Shattered horns, taken from their culled foes, bedecked their tatzelwurm armor. Lightning Dust shivered slightly. Yes, they were a grim lot to be sure and most probably jumped at the chance of a great culling, rather than a defensive position.

But the further away from the Black Rook Lodge one went the less the tendrils of rebellion had spread. The lodge most intact seemed to be the Wolf Heart Lodge, at the most northern end of the fortress chain. An insular lot, they were adept at winter survival and tracking mighty beasts across the wilderness. They waited for King Sombra in silence, standing stock still all the while.

They didn’t have to wait long.

There was a flash of magic and a billow of shadow that filled the room. The enchanted torches on the wall flickered and danced as Sombra’s darkness casually battered at the flames. As quickly as they appeared though, they vanished again.

King Sombra stood before his throne with one wing raised, his stern glare washing over the assembled ponies. The ruler of The Heartlands never failed to cut an imposing figure, with his dark gray coat, black mane and ermine trimmed red cloak. The presence of an annoyed King Sombra would have been bad enough for the assembled rangers, but he wasn’t alone.

The snow white form of Queen Chrysalis stood beside him. The queen’s expression was much harder to read than that of her husband’s. Neutral and non-threatening, most ponies wouldn’t think much about her presence. Lightning Dust wasn’t most ponies though. Weeks ago, before this muster, she and her new friends had claimed the Elements of Harmony. And during that adventure Adagio Dazzle had seen a vision of Equestria before the fall. In it she had seen a Queen Chrysalis wrapped in black beetle-esque chitin, with wicked green eyes and an equally wicked attitude. Even now, Lightning found herself nervous in the queen’s presence. Could it really be true? Was there a monster lurking behind that beatific smile of hers?

Those conflicting thoughts almost made Lightning overlook the last two ponies present. The first was clearly noble, judging by her ornate purple dress. An earth pony mare with a short blonde mane and brownish-orange coat, she sported a very sour look as she glared at the assembled rangers. And there was no question that it was a glare at that. She seemed genuinely angry at their presence and it was likely that King Sombra was the only thing holding back a vicious tirade of some manner.

A hulking mountain of a stallion was at her side, managing to match the two alicorns he shared the room with. Dark brown in color- save for a white stripe down the front of his face- a patched and worn green cloak was the only clothing he wore. But he also had a maul, nearly the size of his whole body, strapped across his back. Lightning nervously licked her lips. He certainly had the muscles to use the thing. Despite his clear warrior build however, he seemed almost exhausted. At least Lightning couldn’t work out how else to describe the exasperated expression he wore.

Finally the incredibly awkward silence was broken by King Sombra. “Everfree Rangers!” he barked, with a stomp of his hoof. “What are you?”

The response was immediate. “We are the necessary evil!”

“And why are you necessary?”

“To shield the Heartlands from the worst of the Everfree! To break the hordes of monsters and caprataurs upon our bodies!”

“And why are you the chosen few, ordained by this crown to undertake this inharmonious task?”

“BECAUSE NOPONY ELSE WILL!”

The hollow echo of what once would have been a thunderous response hung in the air. King Sombra looked them over again with the hint of a smile. But as fast as it appeared, it fled again and Sombra sank into his throne.

Queen Chrysalis, however, rolled her eyes. “So full of valor and vigor! But you’ll have to forgive our lack of enthusiasm considering how many of you are currently locked away in the dungeons!”

Sombra sighed heavily, now slumping like a mighty weight was resting on his back. “The truth of the situation is that the mass defection of the Everfree Rangers has put the lodges in a precarious position. The nobles whose lands your lodges lie within are pushing for direct control, citing the incidents of treason as the need for greater...oversight.”

The throne room immediately exploded into a chorus of furious shouts and curses.

“Damned foolish dandies!”

“Perhaps we should let them handle the next caprataur invasion themselves!”

“Are they trying to prove Chroma right?”

“To Tartarus with them! We will stand forever free!”

Lightning was probably the only ranger not currently shouting. She already knew that this move was coming, as Adagio had warned her that it was going to be a likely powerplay by the more ambitious Heartlands nobles.

“ENOUGH!” Sombra bellowed, rumbling the room with the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Considering recent events, you’re all lucky that the entire order was not dissolved outright and your lodges rightly claimed by those ponies willing to hold to their oaths!”

A round of muttering swept the room, a few of the rangers recoiling from Sombra’s admonishment. But others didn’t, including the lodgemaster of the White Pine Lodge, Gloriosa Daisy.

“With all due respect your highness, the traitors have have been arrested. We all remained loyal. We didn’t listen to Spitfire. Yet now the very nobles that always dragged their hooves when coming to aid us are now threatening to take our lodges! This is unjust!”

While another round of muttering followed Gloriosa’s impassioned statement, Chrysalis whispered to Sombra.

“Listen?” he asked, suddenly leaning forward in his throne.

Gloriosa blinked. “M’lord?”

“You said ‘listen’. Lodge Master Gloriosa...did you speak to Spitfire? Did you not warn your king of impending acts of treason?”

“I...no! I mean...I didn’t think it was real! Chroma was supposed to be locked away with all the others! I thought it was just talk!”

Sombra smiled dangerously. “Just talk? Then perhaps it is also ‘just talk’ that the dungeons aren’t quite full enough at the moment!”

Tendrils of shadowy magic rose behind his throne, swirling and thrashing with an anger that matched the furious expression on Sombra’s face. But then Chrysalis placed a hoof on his side.

“There has been enough blame cast about on this matter for now. They are here and I suspect they are willing to fight for their lodges. Let us take that and move forward.”

Everypony quickly fell silent as Sombra deeply sighed, letting his magic fade. “My wife is correct, of course. Now is the time for the Everfree Rangers to rebuild. To prove what they can offer to the Heartlands once again. And there is one pony you can thank for the fact that you are even receiving this opportunity. Ranger Lightning Dust.”

Now all eyes were on her and a confident smirk played across her face as she puffed out her chest. If only there had been a convenient breeze to make her cloak flap dramatically to punctuate the moment!

Chrysalis nodded towards her. “As one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Lightning has proved her steadfast resolve to the Heartlands and provided a useful counterpoint to some of our nobles demands. However, there are still some concerns.”

She glanced towards the ill tempered looking mare. “Baroness Harshwhinny?”

Baroness Harshwhinny coughed once to clear her throat before speaking. “If the Everfree Rangers are to be rebuilt and maintain their independence, the courts require assurances that this time the lodges will maintain a proper sense of...professionalism.”

Lightning really did not like how she emphasized that word.

“In three months time, your efforts to rebuild your respective lodges will be subject to inspection. With particular attention being paid to your training program,” she said. For a moment, Lightning was sure that Harshwhinny’s glare had lingered on her in particular when she said that. But then it was back to berating the group as a whole.

“Make no mistake, that the future of your little organization hangs on a razor’s edge. If it were up to me, we’d disband the lodges and build something new in their place. But King Sombra has convinced me to give you a chance.”

Sombra nodded and raised a hoof. “Now go, Everfree Rangers! Reclaim your stolen honor!”


- - - - 


A day and a half later and Lightning couldn’t be happier to see the town silhouette on the horizon.

Ponyville.

Jewel of the Dazzling Barony. Primary holding of House Dazzle. Bulwark against the Everfree Forest. And, perhaps most important to one Lightning Dust, it was her home.

Swooping low to the ground, she skimmed just above The Great Western Road following it through the fields that radiated outwards from the town in wheel like rings. During harvest time they were a riot of browns, greens and oranges as the grain, vegetables and fruit reached full maturity. At the moment though, they were more of a tableau of muddy browns from the near apocalyptic storms that had swept over the area almost two weeks ago.

Zipping between some of the farmers on their way out to continue their repairs on the fields, Lightning Dust exchanged some half-hearted waves before soaring higher to shoot over Ponyville’s sturdy stone walls. The tightly packed buildings beyond teamed with activity, as ponies of every walk of life put the finishing touches on what had been a frenzied reconstruction binge. From her aerial vantage point Lightning Dust could see the last bits of thatch and wooden shingles being lowered into place, all to a chorus of hammers and saws at work.

Angling her wings slightly, Lightning passed over the main square and the site of town hall, planning to cut a little time off her trip to the Black Rook lodge instead of going the long way around Ponyville. Being a pegasus had its perks, after all. But a familiar orangeish blob in the crowd below made her pause and then transition into a dive with a large grin on her face.

To see Baroness Adagio Dazzle, current head of House Dazzle, devoid of her usual finery was quite the bizarre scene for Lightning Dust. Even the dark and foreboding Everfree Forest had not stopped the unicorn from wearing a dress during their daring search for the Elements of Harmony. But save for the five purple gem spiked mane band that was the Element of Magic, Baroness Dazzle only wore only her natural coat today. The reason why floated beside her. A fresh bucket of lilac colored paint. Hovering just slightly behind her, Lightning watched with a bemused smirk as Adagio gingerly coated her brush and began dabbing at the door frame of the rebuilt town hall.

“You missed a spot,” she said simply.

Adagio jerked about, a streak of paint splattering against her side from the sudden motion. Lightning had to admit, few ponies could pull off a withering glare quite like Adagio’s. There was just something about the way her brow furrowed that helped convey the maximum level of disdain for her target.

“What?” Lightning Dust grinned back. “You really did miss a spot! Since when do you do manual labor anyway?”

“Since I decided that I needed to interact with my subjects some more,” Adagio answered with a sigh. Carefully placing the paint down, she helped herself to a rag from a nearby pile and set to cleaning her coat. “We’ve been working on this all week. How did your trip to Canterlot go?”

Lightning fidgeted slightly, but kept a cheerful smile up. “It went well enough. King Sombra met with all of the rangers and laid out his expectations for the future.”

“And just how many are left?”

“Hey, shouldn’t Suri be out here helping you?” Lightning asked, scanning the crowd and not at all avoiding the question.

Adagio glanced up from her cleaning efforts. “Lightning...how many Rangers are left?”

“Not enough,” she answered with a sigh and a hoof scuffed against the boards of the porch. “Right now the Wolf Heart Lodge has the most. But they’re the furthest north from us, isolated from Spitfire’s big mouth.” Lightning didn’t let the down mood stick around though, as she snapped back to cheerful almost immediately. “Though, just between you and me, they’re a little on the weird side. What with their winter wolf cloaks and howling before going into battle!”

“Lightning.”

“I mean, come on! We’re ponies, not wolves! Timber or otherwise!”

“Lightning!”

“Then again, the Fire Falcon Lodge is kind of weird too…”

“Lightning Dust!” Adagio snapped, stomping a hoof. “You don’t have to smile your way out of this!”

Lightning Dust fell silent. The admonishment fell heavily upon her back. Last of the Black Rook Lodge rangers. A title she now held, that came with certain painful obligations and truths. Now rebuilding the Black Rook Lodge was her responsibility.

Picking up on her friend’s nerves, Adagio placed a hoof on Lightning’s withers. “I imagine King Sombra made a proclamation for recruits?”

“He did,” Lightning nodded. “I also passed out leaflets in most of the neighborhoods before I left.”

Adagio blinked. “Even the poorer districts?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Poor ponies can join the Everfree Rangers too! Just because you’re a noble-”

“I…no, that’s not what I meant! I was wondering how they were going to read them. Not everypony has access to books and an education.”

“Ah,” Lightning blinked, before nervously rubbing the back of her head. “I used a lot of pictures for those leaflets. My fetlock was really sore when I got done with them all.”

“What of the lodge itself? Is it ready for new recruits?”

“Aside from Aria, nopony’s been in there since Chroma’s attack,” Lightning Dust mused while rubbing at her chin.  “It probably could stand a thorough cleaning. ...And a sweep to make sure Spitfire didn’t leave us any nasty surprises.”

“The girls and I can help with that. Tomorrow then?”

A wide grin crossed Lightning’s muzzle. “So eager to jump into more manual labor? You better be careful, or the Canterlot crowd will revoke your ‘detached noble license’.”

“Oh, hush,” Adagio chided back with a smirk of her own. “You’re our friend, Lightning. ...Besides, Ponyville needs the Everfree Rangers.”

Lightning Dust couldn’t argue with that. High walls were only so much defense against what lurked in the Everfree.

“Tomorrow then,” Lightning said. “Bright and early. Right when-”

“I know what bright and early is,” Adagio sighed, wincing slightly. “But I’ll make sure we’re all there.”


- - - - 


Sleep had not come easy to Lightning Dust that night. Even after a full dinner, she had taken to pacing around the now empty barracks of the Black Rook Lodge. She wanted to get started! She wanted to fix things! She wanted to put the last bit of unpleasantness that came from Chroma’s attack on Ponyville behind her. ...Behind her friends too.

After pacing for a while Lightning huffed in frustration and wandered out of the barracks. Slowly crossing the lodge’s wide open courtyard, she headed for the largest of the buildings on the compound, which contained not only the kitchens and feast hall, but the offices of the lodge’s leadership.

Spitfire’s was the largest of course and was much the same as it had been a week ago. A massive map of the Everfree Forest and its surrounding environs dominated the right wall, nestled between a pair of short, hoof hewn shelves that contained what few manuscripts and books she had owned.  Armor stands, stripped of their raiments, were lined up before the opposite wall. Lightning allowed herself an amused smirk. They almost reminded her of knights standing in waiting for a command. Undoubtedly, that had been Spitfire’s intention.

Her desk was straight ahead, positioned to take advantage of the windows facing the courtyard and drill yard. It had been one of Spitfire’s favorite tactics to let those under her command receive a thorough tongue lashing while training, usually at random, just to keep them on their hooves. Lightning idly wondered if that was a practice she wanted to continue. This was her office now, after all.

“This is my office now,” she muttered to herself.

Becoming the head of a lodge...that had quickly become one of her goals after joining the organization. They had been her lifeline out of poverty and encouraged her to be the best pony she could be! To be standing here, in what was now her office, was everything she ever wanted.

“And I’m going to prove that I deserve to be here.”
> 2. The Gathering of the Recruits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Dust had always been an early riser, even before she had joined the Everfree Rangers. Landowners always made sure to chase poor, wandering ponies like herself off of their farms, so waking with the sun had become par for the course to avoid angry pitchforks and the like. It had been convenient for when she joined the Rangers, for it had saved her having to adjust to getting up early for the order’s training.

Thusly, it was something of a surprise to find Aria Blaze’s hawk perched outside the barracks window. Lightning blinked, cocking her head at the bird’s hunched over form. Hawk body language wasn’t exactly her strong suit but if Lightning didn’t know any better, she’d swear that Deathclaw was sulking.

“Hey there little guy..,” Lightning said, trotting over to the window. “What are you doing here? Where’s Aria?”

Deathclaw glanced her way. “Kreeeeeeeeeeeeee," he rasped out in a display of avian disdain.  

“...Okay, you’re angry..,” Lightning muttered to herself.

It didn’t take long to guess where Aria might have gotten too. The door to the raven tower was wide open. The dome roofed tower was where the Black Rooks kept their flight of ravens. The birds acted as both mascots and messengers for the order and were generally allowed to come and go as they pleased through the tower’s open windows. They always came back. They knew how good they had it here. Lightning flew over to the doorway, pausing as she saw one of the strangest sights she had seen since joining the rangers.

Queen grump Aria Blaze was cooing over a raven like it was a foal. She was hovering in the middle of the room, ravens flitting back and forth from between their perches, swirling around her and generally engaged in an enthusiastic bit of morning ruckus. Even more surprising was the fact that the room was spotlessly clean, a few wooden buckets of now dirty water and stained rags piled up near the doorway.

“I know little guy,” Aria said. Her voice was soft and gentle as she lightly stroked the back of a raven perched on the edge of her hoof. “A sore wing can be a real pain. But just take it easy for another week or so and you should be fine.”

The raven in question cawed in response.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a cutie. I’ll make sure you get fed a bit better.”

With that the bird took wing, quickly becoming lost in the larger mass of ravens. Lightning smirked. “A cutie, huh?”

Aria stumbled in mid air, her wings actually forgetting to flap for the barest of moments. Slowly and surely she turned to face down Lightning with a truly bone chilling glare. “You breathe so much of a word of this to anypony else and I will kill you!”

“Awwww! But smoopshie-poo, what about us? Us and our dozens of bird children?”

“Lightning!”

“We’ll need to start planning for their futures! Do you think there’s bird universities we can send them to? Then again, apprenticeship might be the better option.”

“...That’s it!” The next thing Lightning realized, Aria had tackled her to the ground and yanked her into a rather effective headlock. “Am I still your smoopshie-poo now? Huh? Huh?”

Lightning giggled, going limp in her friend’s grip. “Darling, please! Let’s not fight in front of the kids!”

“I...just… Argh! Do you take anything seriously?” Aria huffed.

“...Very little. Or did you forget what element I have?”

Aria sighed and let Lightning go. “Hmmph. Then let me give you a bit of honesty. You’re not going to be able to laugh your way out of your current situation. You’re in charge now. You have to be willing to lay down the law.”

Lightning sat up, taking a moment to brush herself off. “Aria? No offense but of the two of us, I’m the actual ranger. I survived Spitfire’s training regimens. I know what to do.”

“And no offense back but of the two of us, I’m the only one here who has been in charge of other ponies. Your recruits need to be able to follow your lead.”

“Alright, alright. I get the point,” Lightning sighed. “Way to take the wind out of my sails Aria.”

Aria shrugged. “Sorry,” she said though her tone said that she was anything but. “But since we have some time before everypony else shows up, I wanted to talk to you about your birds.”

“What about them? ...Your hawk is sulking by the barracks, by the way.”

Aria smirked at that. “Ahh, he’s just jealous that I’m spending time with other birds. He’ll deal. But your ravens...you aren’t feeding them right.”

Lightning looked across the way to the stone bins that were still full of grains and dried fruit. They had always used the ravens as a mixture of mascots and messenger birds. As far as her memory went, the rangers had always fed and trained their birds well.

Picking up on her confusion, Aria continued her explanation. “You can’t just feed them grains and fruit, Lightning. Sure, they can live off just that. But ravens aren’t ponies. They need protein. Bugs, eggs or meat. While they could- and probably are- foraging themselves, you might want to just add some to their diet yourself.”

Of those three things, eggs would probably be the easiest to get in bulk. Just a simple question of buying them from Ponyville’s local farmers. With a plan already in her mind, Lightning glanced towards Aria. “You really like birds don’t you?”

“Yup,” Aria said, shrugging. “They’re cool. They make nice sounds and calls and junk. ...But I’m not kidding. You tell anypony about me cooing over your ravens and I will kick your flank!”

“Alright tough girl. My lips are sealed.”

Aria nodded. “Good. Now let’s get ready for everypony else.”


- - - - 


Adagio and the others arrived a little while later and the work to make sure the Black Rook Lodge was up to snuff began.

They split off to tend towards their own specialties. Sonata went to the kitchens and storerooms to take stock of the lodge’s food supplies. Meanwhile, her assistant Sugar Coat would do a tally on the lodge’s medical supplies. Suri and Iron Will went to examine the armory and see if there were any armor repairs they could cobble together if needed. The former would mend any broken seams she could on the suits of tatzelwurm leather, while Will concerned himself with the chainmail and all things metal. Starlight, along with her assistants Night Glider and Sugar Belle tasked themselves with cleaning out the main barracks. The mess hall was Aria’s responsibility, though she insisted that someone join her as soon as they finished their section, as she had already cleaned the rookery herself. That left the officer’s quarters and offices for Adagio and Lightning.

The work proceeded at a steady pace as items were tallied, chambers were swept and gear inspected. Despite the size of the complex, due to the discipline of its previous occupants the task was less work than it could have been and they finished their first pass through the complex by what was about noon.

Sonata, having shown a bit of foresight, had brought along some of her own cooking spices and had made lunch around midday. So the group sat down at the mess hall for a bit of a refreshing lunch.

Lightning smiled, taking a deep whiff of the spicy vegetable stew that Sonata had whipped up. “Thanks again for the help girls. I probably could have gotten this done myself, but I appreciate the extra hooves.”

“Awww. Like we were gonna let you get this place ready all by yourself,” Sonata chirped. “You’re still pretty well stocked in food by the way. Probably won’t need to restock for another few weeks, assuming you have the same number of rangers here as last time.”

“We’ll probably have some more at first. A lot of ponies try to make it in and a lot wash out. Out of my group, I was one of two successful recruits. And ten made the attempt.”

Iron Will chuckled dryly. “Ahh. The high standards of the Everfree Rangers.”

“You’d think that they’d struggle to get recruits,” Suri observed. “But aren’t there like...fourteen of these things?”

“Well, every lodge has its own standards for recruitment. The Black Rook Lodge is one of the oldest of them, so Spitfire set the bar as high as she could go. On the other side of spectrum you have The Horn Breakers. The only standard that Primal Fury set was that you had to have been hurt by a caprataur somehow.” She paused for a moment, idly tapping her chin. “Hmmm. I wonder if that’s one of the reasons Sombra has this Harshwhinny mare-”

Adagio almost choked on her wine, sputtering as she spewed half the glass of red across the table. Everypony stared as she tried to recover her dignity. “Harshwhinny?” she croaked, gasping for breath. “The Bloody Battleaxe is in charge of this inspection?”

“...The Bloody Battleaxe?” Lightning blinked. “W-why is she called that? Does she torture ponies or something? Bathe in their blood to stay young?”

She laughed, hoping to lighten the mood with her usual sense of humor. But Adagio’s expression didn’t lighten. “No. She doesn’t do anything like that. In fact...I’d almost say that she’s one of the few incorruptible ponies in Sombra’s court…”

“...I’m sensing there’s a but coming on…”

Adagio squeezed her eyes closed. “She’s completely uncompromising. You either meet her standards, or she wants nothing to do with you. And those nobles stupid enough to actively cross her, deceive her, or run scams in her territory? She eviscerates them with the law. She knows every loophole, every proclamation, every decree and every precedent. And those that she can’t get with the pen? For them she has her judicial champion.”

“A judicial champion? Like...trial by combat style judicial champion?”

A curt nod was Adagio’s only response.

“Who still does trial by combat? I mean, besides us and the knighthoods I guess,” Lightning said with a deep frown. “But even for us it's more of a duel kind of thing. Lets members vent off steam with each other. I’ve never seen it go lethal. Don’t we have magistrates and courts these days?”

Starlight sighed. “While The Heartlands has been moving towards a more independent judiciary, trial by combat is still technically legal. I tried petitioning Sombra and Chrysalis to finally overturn the stupid law last year. I mean, it’s like you said. Nopony really uses it anymore.”

“We worked so hard on laying out the reasons why it needed to go too,” Sugar Belle said, visibly slumping. “We spent days writing that proposal.”

“I thought we had a real chance too,” Starlight said, patting her assistant on the back. “The head of the Royal Guard...what’s her name...Gleaming Shield? She wasn’t keen on trial by combat either.”

“Then why is it still a thing? What happened?”

“Your boss happened,” Starlight grumbled. “The Grand Marshal and the leaders of most of the knightly orders all pulled strings to keep the laws intact. Citing ‘ancient rights of honor’ and other complete nonsense. And of course, since no one really uses it outside of specific circumstances, Sombra didn’t see the harm in letting them hang on to it. What a load of cr-”

“That’s not important right now Starlight!” Adagio snapped. “If Sombra is using Harshwhinny and the nobles pledged to her directly, then this is bad for Lightning!”

“How bad?” Lightning asked.

“Incredibly bad! She’s not going to give you any wiggle room. She’s going to want to see this place run with absolute precision and professionalism. She’ll be probing your training techniques, the ponies you take on as recruits, even your own character for weaknesses.”

Adagio slid off the bench and began to pace. “Which is the point, of course. If the Everfree Rangers are going to remain independent and not the pawns of whatever duke, baron, or viscount they’re unlucky enough to be near then they need to be cleared by somepony whose own reputation is practically unblemished. If Harshwhinny says that the rangers meet her standards, then the nobles trying to take control of the lodges won’t be able to use the rebellion as an excuse to try and do it. Which then gives Sombra and Chrysalis stronger grounds to deny their claims.”

A sigh hissed through her teeth. “Admittedly, the Black Rook Lodge would be okay, as it would be mine, but the others-”

“Wow,” Sugar Coat interrupted. “Did you just admit that you’d take control of your friend’s lodge right in front of her?”

Adagio blinked, the implications of what she said settling over her. Then she frowned and shot Sugar Coat an annoyed glare. “Yes. I did. Because if that situation happens, I’m clearly the best option for Lightning Dust’s sake. Especially compared to that buffoon Count Copper Coin-”

Lightning squirmed in her seat. “Can we not talk about that unless it actually happens?”

“...You’re right,” Adagio said, rubbing the side of her head. “I just don’t want to see you trapped under the hoof of some uncaring baron like I was or worse.”

Nothing that there were two possible ways to interpret that sentence, Lightning groaned. “Ugh, I hate nobles.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow.

“...Present company excluded.”

“Of course. But I do hope that you have an actual plan for training your replacement lodge?”

Lightning allowed herself a wide smile. “Oh, I think I can scare something up. In fact...can I count on you all for some help at certain points?”

“Of course!”

“Not a problem.”

“Whenever I have time, sure!”

“Good! Now, for this first bit, I’ll need some buckets of paint and Iron Will,” she said, smiling at the minotaur. “Up for putting some newbies through their paces?”

Will grinned back.


- - - - 


“This is…a lot more than I had been expecting,” Adagio muttered.

“Me too,” Lightning gulped.

Over the course of the following week, ponies had begun to filter into Ponyville from Canterlot and the surrounding areas. As Lightning had expected they came from all walks of life, from the very poor who were looking for a better future, to the sons and daughters of nobles seeking the boost in prestige that would come from being part of the esteemed Everfree Rangers. It seemed that despite the mass betrayal of its members, the idea of the Rangers still held pull in The Heartlands. Or perhaps the nobles were desperate in their own ways.

Whatever the case, the trickle of arrivals had rapidly become a flood. With the inns filled up by the early arrivals with money to their name, those who didn’t have enough golden livres or silver sous to cover the bill or who had simply arrived too late resorted to camping. A sprawling tent city had rapidly sprung up along either side of the section of the Great Western Road closest to the lodge. Starlight had been keeping tabs on the number of potential recruits and as of her last counting, there were a hundred ponies clambering for the thirty beds that the Black Rook Lodge now had open.

This, combined with the strained tensions that came from so many ponies of different classes staying so close together, had lead to a brawl within their first day. So now Ponyville’s militia patrolled the winding streets of the tent city. Ponyville’s merchants certainly appreciated the influx of ponies seeking wares though and they prowled the canvas corridors as much as those who came to join the rangers.

“I hope that you’re ready to start your trials,” Adagio muttered. She had joined Lightning Dust as the two wandered the haphazard rows of tents. “I hate how they’re just kind hanging out in the open here. If the caprataurs decide to get uppity, it’ll just be the militia to defend them.”

She paused, her eyes lighting up with a sudden idea. “What about the militia? Can’t we tap them for recruits first? They’d be better than this rabble.”

Lightning shook her head. “Any who want to try out are welcome, but I can’t give them preferential treatment.”

“Why not?”

“Adagio...I had nothing before joining the Rangers. The original ranger lodge was founded by refugees fleeing the fall of Roam by a mixture of commoners, nobles and soldiers. It’s written into the original charter that ‘all are welcome to prove themselves’ and I’m not going to throw away that keystone of an organization I’m trying to save.”

Adagio chewed on her lip for a moment before sighing. “Alright Lightning. If that’s important to you, I’ll trust you to get this done.”

“I’ll work as fast as I can. But they won’t be alone. Sombra’s leaning on the Everfree adjacent nobles to step up their patrols until the Ranger ‘crisis’ is done with.”

“When do you start the training then?”

“Tomorrow morning. That should give any remaining stragglers time to file in.”

Adagio nodded and frowned. “Just...be careful with Will then. I know that he looks healed up from Chroma’s attack, but he still took an alicorn-charged lightning bolt head on. Don’t…”

Lightning lightly bumped her flank against Adagio. “I won’t push him too far. Trust me, alright?”

“I’m not worried about you pushing him too far. I’m worried about him pushing himself too far.”

“And that’s why I’ll stop him well before that.”

“...Thank you.”

“Any time.”


- - - - 


The next morning the crowd of prospective rangers- now sitting at one hundred and twenty four- had gathered around the doors to the Black Rook Lodge. Lightning stood just outside the doors, flanked by Adagio and Starlight. Adagio’s horn glimmered with magic and musical notes softly escaped her lips as she wove an enchantment over the trio of them. As the spell settled into place, Starlight stepped up onto a wooden platform they had constructed.

“Good morning everypony! I would like to thank you all for gracing Ponyville with your presence on this fine day!” she said, Adagio’s spell carrying her voice clearly across the crowd.

A light rumble of agreement rolled through the crowd.

“You’re all here to try and join the prestigious Everfree Rangers! Baroness Dazzle and I are happy to have you all here. We just ask that you please keep things orderly and calm while undergoing your trials! We’re all friends here after all.”

While most of the assembled crowd laughed, Lightning noticed a few nasty glares fly between some of the applicants. That could easily wind up being a problem.

Adagio took the stage next. “While it is true that we are all friends here, allow me to make one thing clear. I don’t care what social rank you have come from. While you are within the walls of the Black Rook Lodge, this mare is in charge.” She motioned towards Lightning to make her point. “Her decisions will be based on merit and merit alone. Do not come to myself or Mayor Glimmer expecting us to overrule Lodge Master Dust’s decisions.”

More than a few ponies grumbled at that, most of them the lesser nobles present.

“House Dazzle wishes all of you luck. May the odds ever be in your favor!”

Now Lightning Dust took the stage. “Alright you bunch of sniveling wannabes! I need everypony to line up in front of the gates! We will be conducting the initial round of screenings in groups of ten. And since we have a whole lot of ponies to get through, we need to get moving! Let’s get to it!”


- - - -


“Alright everypony! Grab yourself a paintbrush on a stick, pick a paint color and load up your brush!” Lightning shouted.

The first group of recruits looked utterly baffled as they trotted over to the ten different colored tins of paint, lined up in a row along the far edge of the practice field from the barracks. This group was mostly lower class ponies. Though there was a pale yellow coated pegasus with a two toned blue mane that carried herself like she was more important than anypony else here. Once everypony had managed to put paint on their brushes, Lightning began to fly back and forth along the line.

“Alright everypony! The Everfree Rangers have to be brave! Brave enough to fight whatever comes out of that forest!”

“I’m plenty brave!” A cerulean coated pegasus stallion with a short cropped light green mane declared. His bravado was not shared by the mare at his side, an incredibly pale green almost to the point of white pegasus.

“Then you’re going to have to prove it!” Lightning declared, spinning to face the barracks. “Iron Will!”

The doors to the barracks slammed open and Iron Will came barreling across the field, a paint soaked mop in both of his hands. Lightning dropped back behind her recruits with a lazy flap of her wings.

“Mares and gentle stallions?”

“I WILL BEAT YOU LIKE A DRUM!” Iron Will bellowed at the recruits.

Lightning Dust grinned to herself. “Defeat that minotaur!”
> 3. Fire and Fury
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iron Will’s long legs carried him effortlessly across the inner bailey, his sturdy hooves churning and kicking up dirt and grass in great clods. He snorted and bellowed as he came, looking for all the world like the kind of forest dwelling monster that would send ponies scurrying to hide in their homes.

I have to admit, he certainly committed to the act, Lightning thought as she hovered above the battlefield.

Most of her first round of recruits were frozen in either shock, fear, or both. The cerulean stallion from before was a notable exception however. He charged, paintbrush clutched firmly in his teeth.

“Sky Stinger, wait for me!” the pale green mare shouted, shooting after him.

Iron Will twirled his mop defensively, casually smacking aside Sky Stinger’s strike. He fluttered backwards, throwing himself into what looked like was an attempted flipping loop. It was an ugly little thing, technically effective, but quite capable of leaving his belly wide open if he didn’t finish it quickly. But before Will could exploit the opening, the pale green mare who had called after him swooped in, stabbing at Will’s own belly.

He took a casual step back, letting her fall slightly short of the swing. Still, it had been an effective distraction, as he was barely able to raise his brush up in time to block Stinger’s swooping, over the head strike.

His mare friend came in again, nipping at Iron Will’s legs. But he countered, dancing around her jabs with surprising nimbleness for his size. The pale yellow coated pegasus Lightning had noticed before took the opportunity to call out to the crowd.

“That’s the spirit! We must confound our opponents at every turn!”

Now she charged in, cackling around the handle of her paint brush. She twirled through the air in a corkscrew, aiming right for Iron Will’s head. It was impressive but perhaps a bit to overly flashy in Lightning’s opinion. It was an assessment that quickly turned out to be true as Will turned, swung his mop like a club, and swatted her from the sky. Meanwhile Greenie looked ready to try a new tact, but Will brought his mop down on her head, knocking her away with a splash of lilac.

Sky Stinger came about again only for Will to twirl his mop and block the swing. “Try harder, little pony!” He mocked.

“Try harder? I’m one of the best fighters there is!”

“Maybe,” Iron Will said. He lashed out with a sturdy arm, grabbing the handle of Sky Stinger’s brush. Yanking him forward, Will swung upwards with his mop, striking Stinger in the underside of the barrel. With an absurd amount of ease, Will smacked Sky Stinger to the ground. “But I’m better.”

The other applicants were beginning to shake out of their funk now. The pale yellow coated mare with her previous rallying cry tried to sneak in on Will’s right hand side, crawling low to the ground.

It was the absolute wrong thing to do. Will didn’t even slow his stride, simply twirling his mop about to catch the pegasus on the end of her chin with the handle. The strike sent her toppling away with a surprised yelp of pain. The felling of her seemed to push the others to consider charging, but a bit too late as Will was already among them.

A green coated stallion took a heavy stroke of lilac paint across his right flank. “You’re down,” Iron Will declared. “Club strike across your ribs, crushed them into your lungs.”

“What?” he gaped, but Will was already turning to face a dark blue coated pegasus mare and a sunflower yellow coated earth pony mare.

“You heard him,” Lightning called down. “Take five newbie.”

While he stalked off the field grumbling under his breath, Lightning turned back towards the battle. The blue pegasus was down, having taken three quick thrusts from Iron Will’s mop. The sunflower colored earth pony however was showing a bit more fight. Paintbrush clutched between her teeth, she had latched onto Will’s back and was trying to clamber her way up to his shoulders. Not that Will was going to let that go unchallenged. He whipped his body about, throwing everything he had into dislodging her. The rest of the applicants took advantage of the distraction and came charging in at a full gallop.

Lightning chuckled to herself. Their form was absolutely terrible! But, it was nice to see some enthusiasm beginning to work its way into their efforts. Not that it was doing them much good at the moment. Iron Will remained a flurry of pigment based destruction, striking down attackers with smacks and swipes.

“Stab to the chest, you’re not the best! Paint to the head? You’re already dead!” Will shouted, as his mop caught another attacker across his muzzle.

“Gah! I think that some of it got in my mouth!”

“You’re down! Take a seat!” Lightning shouted.

Not that Will was untouched at this point either. He had picked up a half dozen streaks of different colors in the charge, including two large streaks across the back of his neck from the sunflower coated pony.

“For the glory of house Mist!”

There was that pale yellow pegasus again. A whole new look of determination blazed in her eyes as she swooped in. Iron Will whipped around to face her, finally managing to dislodge the sunflower coated pony from his back in the process. He rushed to meet her, bringing the mop down in an over the head strike. She grinned back, twirling her own paintbrush in a mocking challenge.

“House Mist technique, Flashing Blade!”

She threw the brush right at Will.

It was a fast throw as well. More of a quick snap that zipped past Will’s defenses and dragged a wide red stripe across his belly.

Not exactly a technique, but a nice little trick at least. And she showed enough guts to come back after panicking. Lightning thought as she landed. “All right everypony! I’ve got your scores for this round!” she shouted pointing to a few of them. “Mist, sunflower, Stinger, quiet green! You four, front and center.”

They dutifully trotted forward. “Okay,” Lightning said. “Give me your full names.”

“Icy Mist of House Mist mam,” the yellow one said with a bow.

“Sunflower,” the earth pony said. “Just...Sunflower.”

“Sky Stinger!” the cerulean pegasus said, holding his head high.

“Vapor Trail,” the pale green mare smiled softly.

“You four showed some guts out there today. Keep up that hustle and you’ll be staying with us.”

“Yes!” Sunflower cheered.

“Looking forward to thrashing the trash of the Everfree Forest with you mam!” Icy Mist declared.

“Head on out for now, but don’t go too far.” She raised her voice for the next part. “And no one breathe a word of what you did in here to anypony! You do and you’re out, effective immediately!”

While Will dropped back into said barracks to clean off and prepare for the next round, Lightning followed the first wave back out the gates. Over a hundred pairs of eyes immediately fixed on her.

“Right then! Who’s next?”


- - - - 


“Get off of me you unwashed peasant!”

“You’re the one who crashed into me!”

“You impudent cur-”

Lightning rolled her eyes. The noble in question, one Custard Creme, had been casually thrown back into the group after a particularly ill chosen charge. And as he had landed hard on one of the farmers a fight had immediately broken out.

WHAP! WHAP!

Two quick strikes from Iron Will’s mop put an end to that argument. The rest of the group fell backwards and split off in two separate directions, trying to come in on Iron Will from both sides. He whipped about and charged the group coming at him on the right. The group scattered, the momentum of their assault lost. Most fell with heavy paint strokes spread across their bodies, each one a wound that would be fatal in a real world situation. One pony proved a little more resistant however.

She was a pegasus with an orange coat and wild purple mane and tail. What really caught Lightning’s eye though was her cutie-mark, that of a lightning bolt imposed upon a wing. Admittedly, the cutie-mark wouldn’t have been all that remarkable if not for the fact that she wasn’t actually flying.

Sure, she was moving fast, using her slightly smaller than average looking wings to propel herself around Iron Will’s swings. But she rarely took wing and left the ground, instead relying on flips, twirls and other dance-like moves. Will already had a collection of stripes and strikes down his legs from her acrobatics.

But even as she came back around for another round, Will had finally managed to get her measure. When swung her paintbrush in, Will stomped down on the tip of her weapon and thwacked her across the muzzle with his mop.

Lightning waved her over. “What’s your name, recruit?”

“Scootaloo... mam.”

“Good hustle out there. You might go far around here.”

Scootaloo smiled broadly. “Thank you... mam!”

Another few notes were added to Lightning’s mental tally.


- - - - 


“AHHHHHH!!!”

“YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ME LITTLE KNIGHT!”

This round wasn’t going well.

Bit of Coin had been all talk when he first strode through the gates, wearing the sturdy plate of a knight. The crowd that had entered with him was mostly made up of commoners and had hung off of every word about what kind of quests he had gone on and the creatures he had banished in single combat.

Lightning had been skeptical from the beginning, noting that the stallions shimmering white coat and wavy blonde mane were both- somehow- more well kept than the gleaming armor that had clearly never seen a day of actual combat in its life.

The minute Iron Will made his appearance, Lightning found that her guess had been correct. Bit of Coin had promptly shrieked in fear and taken off at a full gallop. Now he was being chased around while Will kept laughing at the pony’s cowardice. Even worse, the rest of this round just watched the end effect with jaws hanging open.

“Hey!” Lightning snapped, finally reaching her limit. Jabbing a hoof at those ponies stuck gaping at the display. “You actually have to try and tag Will if you want to go anywhere around here! Will? Stop torturing the poor fool.”

Will gave up the chase, smirking as Bit of Coin collapsed to the ground, chest heaving as he gulped for air. Lightning rolled her eyes again. “Bit? You’re done. Get out of my yard.”

“Ahhh...ahhh..,” he panted. “Just...give me a minute...once this...stitch in my side….”

Before Lightning could yell at him again, one of the other ponies took a step forward. Lightning was pretty sure that she had seen this mare around Ponyville before, with her light tan coat and tannish mane streaked with crimson stripes.

“Mister Minotaur? I challenge you to single combat!”

“The name’s Iron Will,” he responded, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to do that, miss…?”

“Angel Wings. ...And no, not really...but it seems like it's what knights do in the books I’ve read. It just...seemed like the right thing to do.”

“Technically speaking, we’re not really knights here. We take a little more of a pragmatic view when it comes to combat,” Lightning said.

Iron Will held up a hand before giving Angel Wings an eager grin. “All right little one, Iron Will accepts your challenge!”

With a sweep of his mighty hand the crowd parted, settling into a loose circle around minotaur and unicorn. Will hung back, loosely holding his mop in one hand, keeping his stance loose and fluid. Angel Wings hesitated for a moment, nervously biting her lip. Lightning could tell that she was nervous about how casually Will was handling the situation. It was a good sign. There was a fine line between being brave and being reckless, and the latter tended to get ponies killed.

Eventually though, Angel Wings grew tired of waiting and rushed at Will, twirling her paintbrush through the air before bringing it down in a sweeping strike.

Will caught the handle with his free hand. “Not bad,” he chuckled. “But ponies who aren’t used to fighting tend to swing a bit too wide.”

He thrust back with a straightforward “kill” jab, aimed right for Angel Wing’s head. Lightning was convinced that she was about to be struck down, but to her surprise Angel rapidly shifted her position and rolled under the head of Will’s mop. Angel landed on her back and kicked the handle with all four legs. With the shock almost knocking the mop from his grip, Will was forced to drop Angel’s brush. He jumped back, leaving the two of them staring each other down.

“Ha! Nice improvising! That’ll take you far.”

“Oh! So...I get to stay?”

Will shrugged. “Not my call, but it's a good start.”

Lightning nodded. “A good start indeed.” She shifted her glance towards the rest of the recruits. “What are the rest of you waiting for? Get back in there!”


- - - - 


“Yaaaah!”

Will stumbled back as the pink coated pegasus zipped in like an angry hornet. Her blue mane whipped in the breeze as her paintbrush lashed out in flurry of strikes, brilliant yellow paint marks appearing on Will’s blue-gray coat almost faster than the eye could see. Regaining his stance, Will began swinging his mop in sweeping figure eight strokes that forced the pegasus back for a moment.

She barely hesitated before zipping back into the fray, shooting around Iron Will to take a swipe at the back of his head. She was fast too. Will was barely able to swing the handle of his mop around to block the incoming strike. But the pegasus was already planning ahead and flipped over him with a single flap of her wings. She lashed out with a hoof as she went, striking Will on the tip of the snout. Twisting in mid air, she gripped her paintbrush between her forehooves and dragged it down Will’s front as she fell. It was a strike that would have been absolutely mortal if done with real weapons. Yet she didn’t let up, jabbing at the scars and patchy fur sections left by Chroma’s lightning bolt with a ruthless, soldier grade intensity.

“That’s enough,” Lightning said. “You’ve made your point Miss-”

“Firefly,” the pegasus said, her voice low and scratchy. Nodding simply at her own performance, she glanced back at Iron Will. “You okay big guy?”

Iron Will was panting and huffing for the first time since the morning’s training began. Sweat poured off his frame and his limbs were shaking as he rubbed at his tender snout.

“I’m fine. Just been a while since I’ve seen someone fight like that. You have combat experience?”

Firefly chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “You could say that. I’ve done some fighting here and there.”

Lightning landed in front of Firefly, giving her an appraising look. She had a lean, speed flyer’s build, her cutie-mark a pair of blue lightning bolts. “Mercenary huh? Surprised to see you looking to join our group. We run things a bit tighter than most mercenary bands here.”

“I know. But I don’t like the work I used to do. Looking to start over. This seemed like the place to do it in.”

Lightning smiled to herself, the memories of her own very similar arrival to the Rangers floating to mind. “Well, this is a place for it. Hopefully you’ll find a place here.”

“I think I’d like that.”

“Everypony! This round is done.”

As Firefly lead the most recent round of recruits out of the lodge, Will began to walk back to the barracks to prepare again. He didn’t get far before Lightning flew to his side, falling into pace alongside him with even wingbeats.

“Hold up Will. I think that we’re going to call it for today.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “Excuse me?”

“Adagio is going to tan my hide if you over exert yourself. We’ll finish round one of the training tomorrow morning. Get some rest.”

“When the going gets tough, Iron Will gets rough! I’m not some charity case Lightning,” Will growled, crossing his arms.

“Who said anything about you being a charity case? You took a lightning bolt thrown by an alicorn head on! I don’t know anypony who’d still be up and walking around after that, let alone being able to fight! It was one of the most amazing feats of endurance I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“But you want me to take the bench.”

“I want you to not be a dope! Or is your pride so fragile that you can’t take an afternoon break? Besides, Adagio needs her bodyguard to not run himself into the ground.”

Will snorted, then sighed. “Fine. I’ll take a breather. For Adagio’s sake.”

Lightning watched him stomp off again, shaking her head as he went. “I wonder if all minotaurs are that stubborn?”


- - - - 


Laughter filled the air. 

Lightning joined with it and the laughter of her friends as they were paraded down the central streets of Canterlot. The euphoria that came from cleansing the corrupted alicorns was still flying a fever pitch. She and her friends would be honored for generations and the mirth that flowed through The Heartlands at being free from the danger they represented. Now they’d be free. Free to laugh and frolic under the sun and- 

The tone of the celebration shifted. 

All of a sudden the cheering began to increase in speed and intensity, a discordant tune floating through the air. All around her, the crowd and her friends began to throw themselves into a frantic dance that seemed to have no end. Faster and faster they cavorted, strained, rictus grins stretched across their muzzles. 

“Girls! Stop it!” Lightning shouted. She ran to Aria’s side, throwing her forelegs around her in a desperate attempt to stop the dance. But the chaotic throws of Aria’s movement flung Lightning away. 

Onward and onward they went, hooves beginning to crack and muscles twitching with pained spasms as the madness refused to end. It wasn’t long before ponies began to drop. One after another they collapsed, their bodies just giving up from the strain. 

But the tune did not stop. It burbled and jabbered onwards, even as a dark shadow fell over Lightning Dust. 

HeeehheeehhaaaHEEEheee! 

The discordant giggles sent chills down Lightning’s spine. Slowly she turned, craning her neck  to stare up at the giant pink shadow of an alicorn that danced and cavorted through Canterlot’s skyline.  She was, at once, beautiful and horrible. A figure that inspired mirth and happiness until it literally killed somepony. Lightning clamped her hooves over her ears, trying to drown out the horrible tune and horrible laughter. 

It had to stop. It had to stop!

Lightning’s eyes fluttered open.

“That...was a strange dream,” she muttered to herself.

Rubbing her eyes, she flopped out of her barracks bed, stretching her wings a few times to work the kinks out. As she wandered out into the Black Rook courtyard, the details of the dream kept tumbling around her mind. The emotion, the despair...they had been palatable. Real. The despair still clung to her like a foul stench.

She jumped skyward with a flap of her wings, falling into some loose laps around the outer edge of the lodge. She kept gnawing on the question of just what that dream was as she swooped and dove around the buildings. Flying always helped her think. There was just something about the freedom of the wind rushing through her feathers, mane and tail that also freed her mind. Even now, in the depths of the night, it was still exhilarating-

Magic had spoken with Adagio.

This hadn’t been a conversation, true. But the sorrow that had come from the Element of Laughter was unmistakable.

“Poor thing,” she whispered, rubbing at the spot on her neck where the Element normally rested. “It must have really hurt when Harlequin went crazy huh? I’ll have to tell Starlight about this tomorrow.”

With that revelation tucked away for now she turned to head back to the barracks when a scent drifted across her nose. It was the unmistakable smell of burning wood and fabric. She spun about, diving for the tent city. Already, she could see the unmistakable glow of embers along the edge closest to Ponyville.

“Fire! Fire!” she bellowed, skimming just above the tent tops. “Somepony has set the tents ablaze! Everypony out! Fire! Fire!”

Shooting between two of the larger tents, Lightning came upon the edge of the encroaching blaze. A few applicants were rushing ahead of their blaze, the crackle of the flames doing a fine job of chasing the sleep from their eyes as it did them from their beds.

“Create a fire break!” Lightning shouted. “Tear down the tents, rip up the grass! We need to make a gap! Pegasi, get me any clouds you can!” Without waiting for an answer, she threw herself at the closest bit of flammable canvas. Grabbing it with hoof and teeth, Lightning yanked up and beat her wings as fast as she could. Her target tore free, the pegs popping from the ground in a flurry of soil. The offending tent was thrown away and Lightning dove for the next one without missing a beat.

Her efforts were beginning to inspire the other recruits, smaller groups of ponies rushing to throw tents aside and tear at the ground. Soon the sounds of hooves hammering against the ground mixed with the roar and crackle of the fire.

From her vantage point in the air, Lightning could see the advancing blaze as a long serpent of yellow and red. It coiled in a near crescent shape, the wings on the right and left having already slipped past the firebreak they were struggling to put in place.

“Ascarids!” Lightning cursed. “Shift the line! The fire’s moving around the sides!”

More of the crowd were falling in to assist now, though whether due to altruism or sheer self preservation Lightning couldn’t tell. All sense of time was quickly lost in the heat, smoke and sounds of desperate work. With sweat and tired hooves, the new firebreak was ripped into place and they fell back to watch for loose embers or other jumps across the line.

It was only now that Lightning had a moment to truly comprehend the sheer size of the blaze facing them. The wall of flame just across the way roared with an intensity far beyond the fuel sources that had fed it. Three times it surged forward as if fed by an unseen wind, almost managing to jump the hastily constructed gap. It was after the third failure to surge forward that a new sound entered the chaos, rising above the snapping and popping of flames. Bright and brazen, the frantic tolling of a bell reached their ears. Then it was joined by another and yet another. Soon all the watch bells of Ponyville were pealing as those ponies on the walls recognized the blaze for what it was.

Wait...what about the militia that were supposed to be guarding the camp? Where the buck are they? Lightning thought.

She didn’t dare voice those concerns though. She couldn’t let panic spread through the recruits. All she had to do was keep everypony calm until help arrived-

“You!”

Pain exploded across Lightning’s back as something shattered against it. A flood of liquid followed suit, soaking her coat as a familiarly bitter smell filled the air. Alcohol. The pain throbbed both up and down her back, but Lightning pushed through it and turned to face the voice that had, presumably, thrown it.

Bit of Coin stood in a gap of the crowd. Barely stood, at any rate. Judging by the way his legs were swaying, he had clearly indulged in a great deal of drink recently.

“You shtupid mhare! Your training ish gonna kill us all!”

“Training..? You think that this is part of training?”

“You surprish...surprish...tricked us with a damn minotaur! He could have killed ush!”

“Will had a mop! And he’s a professional bodyguard! What exactly are you implying?”

“Come on! Everypony knowsh about the legendary bloodgreed of the minotaursh! One taste...one taste is all it takesh. I was the smart one! I ran away lest I awake hish fury!”

Lightning had no idea what this drunkard was going on about and was quite sure that this was just leftover sour grapes for not even bothering to take a swing back.

“Sit down, Coin. In case you noticed we have a fire to deal with right now!”

“A fire that you caused!”

“Sit. Down,” Lightning growled. Without even realizing it she had already shifted into a dominant stance; head down, wings spread wide, ears pulled back and muscles tensed for a fight. “Before you do something stupid and get a lot of ponies hurt!”

“I am a knight and will be treated with the resphect I deserve!”

“You want respect? Then act like a knight. Step up and help, or at least stop making things worse!”

Bit of Coin blinked drunkenly for a moment, his brow furrowing as he clearly tried to work out if he had just been insulted or not. Then his expression turned hard again.

“You piece of filth!” he roared, before charging.

Clearly, he had figured it out.

Lightning dodged to the side with a flick of her wings, Bit of Coin stampeding past where she had been in a drunken bull rush. It was nowhere near as graceful as it could have been however, as her back screamed with agony from where she had been hit by Bit’s bottle.

“That was a cheap shot you hit me with for a self proclaimed knight!” Lightning spat.

“Oh yeah? I was aiming for your head!”

“...How is that a come back?”

Bit of Coin charged again, this time with a bit more of a drunken spring to his step. Unlike before Lightning wasn’t quite able to avoid the oncoming rush. The impact of Bit’s body into hers sent Lightning stumbling backwards into the crowd. To her surprise, a strong pair of hooves caught her and pushed her upright again.

“You need to put a stop to this and fast,” a deep, raspy voice whispered in her ear.

Lightning blinked, glancing at the pony that had caught her. “Firefly?”

“Come on! If that fire gets out of control again, we can’t have that fool making things worse. Knock him out if you have to! Now go!” she hissed in Lightning’s ear.

Lightning nodded and strode forward, circling Bit. “Come on ‘knight’. Show me what you can really do!”

Bit’s response was more of an inebriated bellow than anything else. This time though, Lightning didn’t even try to dodge. Instead she rolled backwards, dragging Bit of Coin with her as she locked her forelegs around his neck.

“Unhoofsh me!”

Lightning squeezed instead. It was an old hold that Spitfire had taught her when she had first joined the Everfree Rangers. Bit of Coin squirmed with all his might, hind legs kicking out in a desperate flurry, trying to find purchase on anything.

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep! Lightning thought.

Slowly, Bit of Coin’s struggles grew weaker until they eventually stopped completely. With a disgusted sigh, Lightning let Bit drop to the ground, pausing only long enough to make sure that he was still breathing.

A scream rose from the crowd as the flames surged forward again. This time it managed to sweep across the improvised firebreak and began to bare down on them with a horrible roar. Lightning rushed to start ripping up tents again. She had barely taken a few steps however, when the skies opened up above them.

Rain came down in buckets, dousing the oncoming flames. Lightning Dust could just make out the shapes of clouds being pushed by pegasi illuminated by the parts of the fire that had yet to be quenched.

“Spread out those clouds! I want every inch of this fire out and I want it out yesterday!”

“Aria?” Lightning asked, squinting into the darkness for her friend.

Ponyville’s weather captain landed at her side, wearing a confident smile despite the chaos of the situation. “Heck of a situation you got here. Don’t worry, I got your back.”

“I’m guessing you heard the bells?”

“Yup. Cracked open the cloud silo to come save your sorry flank.”

Lightning opened her mouth to object but Aria raised a hoof, one of her elemental gauntlets glittering in the dying firelight. “Don’t even try it. Soaking up all that extra moisture from Chroma’s little rampage left us with a surplus. Also, this was clearly an emergency.”

Other hoofbeats were coming their way now. A moment later a dozen members of Ponyville’s militia came cantering into the ruined campsite. They stared, wide eyed, at the devastation that spread out all around them and the last few bits of fire being put out. A mixture of fear and embarrassment was evident on their faces. Somepony had screwed up and screwed up badly.


- - - 


It had taken hours to get those ponies who lost their tents new places to stay. Adagio had ended up having to pull rank, commanding both the local inns and a few of the owners of the town’s larger homes to take on the extra ponies for the duration. Bit of Coin would be spending the next few days locked up for assaulting Lightning Dust unprovoked and would be facing heavy fines afterwards for causing a general mayhem during a crisis situation. Though Lightning was pretty sure that Adagio had tacked that last bit on out of sheer spite for attacking a friend of hers.

I’ll talk to her about dropping that once we’re done here, she thought. He might deserve it, but I really don’t need Count Copper Coin angry at me. And Adagio even less. He might own the lands around the lodge, but he’s Adagio’s actual liege. Not the the pony you want to force to pay good bits for his idiot relative’s folly.

Carefully, she picked her way past the charred remains of a tent frame. Her head was low to the ground as she examined the ashen ground for any clues. Starlight advanced behind her, her staff glowing as she swept the area for any lingering magical residue.

So far Lightning had found a lot of hoof prints baked into the ground from the fire. The vast majority were from those panicked applicants running away from the advancing wall of fire. But she was convinced that there had to be a set belonging to whoever started this fire somewhere in this mess. It was far too much of a coincidence for her to believe that it could be some kind of random accident.

“Find anything yet Starlight?” she asked.

“Well... it was a magical fire. The ground is practically shimmering with leftover magic,” she said, sweeping her staff left and right like a dowsing rod. “Not that it really means much in and of itself. A bunch of those nobles brought enchanted lanterns with them. I’m just trying to pinpoint the starting...point.” She paused as her staff swung back towards the right and in the loose direction of Ponyville. “Over there!”

Lightning flew towards the spot Starlight pointed towards. It was right on the edge of campsite and would have been easy to overlook without a trained eye or magical detection. Doing a lazy circle around the spot, Lightning smirked to herself as she picked up the glitter of something shiny amongst the pale gray ash. Once again taking caution to not destroy whatever it might be, she brushed the ash aside to reveal...glass. Melted lumps of glass and silver. There were hoof prints as well, moving directly away from the tent city and back towards Ponyville.

“Ah ha!” Lightning declared, jabbing a hoof at the melted lump. “That looks like the remains of a magical vessel to me!”

“You mean like an enchanted lantern?” Starlight asked, peering over Lightning’s shoulder. “...I mean, it could be a bomb or some other kind of magical device. But I’d need more time to examine the remains.”

“Why wouldn’t it be a bomb? That fire last night was really intense! We do know that some ponies were willing to sign on with the Fallen.”

“We still don’t have evidence of that though!”

Lightning glowered. “Somepony’s trying to make sure that my efforts fail! Why? So that a bunch of stuck up nobles can just...destroy a legacy hundreds of years old? So that they can get more land for themselves? Those-”

Further venom was cut off by the sensation of Starlight’s hoof on her back. Lightning looked over at her friend, blinking at the sadness she could see in Starlight’s eyes.

“Come on,” Starlight said after a long stretch of silence. “Let’s go see if Adagio has made any headway interrogating the militia.”

“She’s questioning them?”

“Well, her and Aria. She’s taking this seriously.”


- - - 


“How in the name of Scorpan’s twisted tail did you think I’d want that!” Adagio’s voice roared from behind the sturdy wooden door.

Lightning and Starlight exchanged glances.

“She sounds mad,” Lightning said.

“Very mad,” Starlight agreed.

The guard station’s mood had been subdued the moment they entered, so Lightning suspected that each and every member of the militia within its walls had suffered the wrath of Adagio’s current bad mood.

Starlight stepped forward to knock on the door. The door was quickly yanked open, to reveal a very disgruntled looking baroness, a terrified looking guard captain sitting behind a table, and an amused looking Aria sitting in the corner.

“What did we miss?” Lightning asked.

Aria’s grin turned positively catlike. She waved a hoof towards the still shaking guard. “It’s great. Rump for brains over here was slow responding to the fire because he assumed that Adagio was behind it!”

Lightning blinked. “What?”

“He thought that Adagio was behind it! That it was all part of some noble ploy to take control of the lodge for herself!”

Lightning looked at Adagio. Her friend’s anger momentarily melted away when their eyes met, Adagio almost tripping over herself to get the words out.

“You know that I’d never-” she began.

“Come on Adagio. If you were going to stab me in the back, I’d trust you to have a much better plan than this!”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “Thank you for your confidence in my devious nature. But I still want to know why this one thought I’d do that!” She jabbed a hoof at the guard, the fury from before roaring back like last night’s flames.

“Because he’s read ‘your’ laws,” Starlight said.

“I want him clapped in irons!” Adagio growled.

“On what charges?” the guard exclaimed. Lightning had seen him around town before with his sturdy build, simple brown coat and wall based cutie-mark. Barricade, that was his name.

“Not doing your job!” Adagio shouted.

“I am deeply sorry for the mistake Baroness. But it is as Mayor Glimmer says. I’ve seen the laws passed in your name. How was I supposed to know this wasn’t some plot of yours?”

“Because!” Adagio snapped. “Why would I want to do that to my friend?”

“...To take personal control of the lodge’s lands and fortress.”

Adagio’s eyes narrowed. “...You really think I care so little for Lightning Dust?”

Barricade nervously licked his lips and fell silent. Lightning was pretty sure that was exactly what he thought. Judging by the vein throbbing on Adagio’s forehead, Barricade was about to get a firsthand taste in just what kind of legal problems a baroness could cause for a guard captain.

“I know you’re mad Adagio but let’s take a deep breath,” Starlight said. “It was a bad impression that lead to a bad decision. I’ve known Barricade for years. He’s a good pony.”

Adagio huffed but jerked her head towards the door. “Get out Barricade. Starlight bought you a reprieve. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you and if you ever derelict your duty again, I will be more than happy to act the tyrant that you think I am!”

He did just that, pausing onto to nod to Lightning Dust as he passed. “I’m sorry we failed you Ranger. Your work has always been appreciated by my command.” He then slipped out of the room before Adagio could change her mind or unleash another tirade upon him.

Aria chuckled, glancing over at Adagio. “That was impressive. You dragged me in here to look tough, but handled all the anger yourself!”

“Oh, shut up! It was an insult to think that I’d hurt a friend of mine like that! And I’m getting seriously tired of ponies thinking I passed those moronic laws Fancy Pants kept sending out,” she grumbled.

“That’s because he doesn’t know you,” Lightning said, patting her friend on the back. “Just gotta keep working on that reputation.”

Adagio sighed. “In the meantime, we still don’t have any solid leads on who did this.”

“If somepony did this,” Starlight added.

“Either way, I can’t stop the training.”

“We’ll have to keep our guard up then. And Lightning-”

“Work fast. I know.”


- - - -



The final rounds of the Iron Will challenge went by quickly and just didn’t quite have the impact Lightning Dust had been looking for. Thanks to Bit of Coin’s loud blabbing during the fire had completely spoiled the surprise of having an enraged minotaur charging you down. Still, she had been able to weed out a few more ponies that just weren’t suited for the lifestyle. Between those she had cut loose and those who had decided to up and run after the fire, they were down to forty six odd recruits. But if shock was no longer an option, there was always the long, slow grind of hard work.

And so, forty six ponies found themselves standing before forty six bags of rocks.

“Good morning everypony!” Lightning called out. “I’m sure that you’ve all noticed the bags of rocks.”

Sky Stinger raised a hoof. “Why are there bags of rocks?”

“Because you’ll be carrying those rocks. While we run laps around Ponyville.”

“...What?”

“Rocks on backs everypony!” Lightning shouted.

Grunts filled the air as everypony hauled the stones onto their backs. Lightning did a few laps around the assembled group, making sure that the bags were properly balanced and unlikely to fall off.

“All right everypony! MOVE OUT!”
> 4. A Creeping Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forty six ponies had started the run.

Thirty eight managed to limp across Lightning Dust’s finish line. It had been a grueling run. Three long laps, starting at the Black Rook Lodge, circling Ponyville and then coming back to the Lodge again.

Thirty eight ponies had managed to pass the physical trials. Now it would be time for them to train as a unit and for her to weed out those hopefuls who couldn’t work well with others. For now though, it was time for kudos.

“Congratulations!” she declared, flying back and forth before the exhausted crowd. “You have all managed to pass the first round of the trials. I want you all here tomorrow morning with your gear to move into the lodge. That’s when the real work begins.”

Packs of rocks were chucked aside to a chorus of relieved sighs before the crowd began to disperse. Lightning Dust watched them go, when a realization settled into her mind.

“...I need more beds.”


- - - - 


Lightning’s hoof falls echoed off the walls of the sloped corridor leading to storage, the hooded lantern she carried casting odd flickering shadows as it lazily swung in her grip. Surely there had to be some extra beds tucked away in all the extra gear and junk the lodge had acquired over the years. Or some cots at the very least.

The edge of her light began to wash over barrels and crates as she stepped into the cavernous room. The more practical and readily needed gear was stored near the front of the room. Crates of crossbow bolts, coils of rope, tents (both hanging and otherwise) for longer term deployments, one box of spare compasses and a few boxes of coins from the other Equestrian successor states (for the rare occasions they had to visit other countries) were all neatly arranged at the front.

Beyond that though was a tangled mess of other crates, bags, and random piles of junk from past endeavors, random events and Harmony knows what else. Finding beds in that mess was going to be horrible. She sighed.

“Might as well get started.”

Placing her lantern on one of the ordered boxes, she began to shuffle through the piles. After shoving her way through a few boxes of snapped bolts and broken crossbows that Fleetfoot had insisted on keeping for her tinkering purposes, Lightning almost tripped over a box of papers.

Grumbling to herself, she sat down and began to rummage through it. What was a stack of random papers doing in the basement? As her eyes roamed over the text though, she recognized the hoofwriting of Soarin and a growing collection of recipes. All for pies.

Lightning smiled softly to herself. “Heh...Soarin did love his pies. Still not sure that spinach and cheese really worked as a filling though.”

But her smile immediately faltered. Soarin wasn’t here anymore. And he’d probably not be eating pies again where he was right now.

“Damn it guys...why did you have to do it? Things weren’t that bad.”

She pushed the box aside and moved deeper into the tangle, but the hits and memories just kept coming. There were Fire Streak’s old scarves that he wove between missions crammed haphazardly into a bag. Another box had wind charts that High Winds doodled here and there. Lightning Streak’s collection of whittled figures. An eye.

“Gah!”

The caprataur eye was preserved in a square block of glass, peering outwards at her in a silent judgement. It took Lightning a moment but the memory of what this thing was slowly began to come back to her. Spitfire had taken this eye from the caprataur warleader that had almost taken hers. She used to keep this thing on her desk until everypony had come to her as a group and told her it was too morbid.

“No need for you,” Lightning said, shoving it into another box. “Seriously Spitfire, what the got into your head sometimes?”

There were some other shadows looming just at the edge of her light, so she moved the lantern a bit closer. As the shadows parted from the lantern, Lightning’s eyes lit up. Spare beds! A nice collection of them shoved in a corner right underneath….

Lightning grinned. She was going to enjoy his bout of training.


- - - -


The prospective rangers dutifully arrived the next morning, gear in tow. The gates were wide open, inviting them inside the compound. Lightning stood at attention just inside the bailey, wearing the sternest expression she could muster.

“Welcome, applicants,” she began. The speech she was about to give was the same one that Spitfire had given when she had tried out for the Rangers. “You are here because either through drive or chance, you’ve decided to throw in with the Everfree Rangers. You are all here because you think you have what it takes to fight in the Everfree Rangers!”

She paused for a moment, giving the group a moment to think about that. Then she unleashed the next round, stomping forward till she was almost nose to nose with one of the recruits. “Well, let me tell you, none of you have what it takes! If you did have what it takes, you’d already be a ranger! Or fighting in a knighthood! Or doing anything but begging for entrance to this lodge!”

She began to pace the line, glaring all the while. “And let me tell you, if you thought that it was hard to get to this part, it’s about to get a lot harder. Hard like a block of granite, or a big log of oak or something! It’s my job to forge the lot of you into a group that can survive the darkest depths of the most evil forest in the world!” She paused again, considering that statement. “...Not that we have that many evil forests to compare it with, but still. Rangers need to be able to do more than just work together. We watch each other’s backs, fronts, sides, tails and manes. We aren’t going to have any repeats of betrayals, understand?"

"No, ma'am, err… yes, ma'am!"

"Wherever you came from before, whatever social class you were part of before, none of that matters here. I mean, if I can be friends with a prissy baroness then we can all get along here, right?” she chuckled. “What matters now is what you’re here for. We protect ponies. We fight the monsters of the Everfree. And if you’re not willing to fight, there’s no place for you here.”

A few of the applicants shuffled their hooves. Most of the others looked confused.

Okay, maybe I didn’t quite nail the Spitfire tone with that one. Lightning thought. Gotta try harder.

“Okay maggots! Stow any gear you have in the barracks, then head over to the mess hall for breakfast. After that, it’ll be time to work your sorry flanks off!”
She watched them go as they shuffled towards the barracks, slumping once they had passed her. Playing the hard mare really was not her style. Biting wit, light hearted jokes, cheesy puns...those were all her tools. But now she had to be the tough pony in charge.

She took a deep breath. It was time to focus. “I can do this.”


- - - -


A few hours later after bellies were full and applicants moved in, Lightning Dust broke the remaining applicants into two large groups of nineteen. Then she walked them through morning exercises and stretches. They were a mixture of muscle building and flexibility exercises, designed to give the Rangers an edge in the tangled growth of the Everfree. It was slow going today with the mix of different skill levels, but that was expected.

After another round of rest, Lightning moved on to the next bout of training.

“The crossbow is the Ranger weapon of choice,” Lightning explained as her charges overlooked their new weapons. “Once, long ago, we used recurve bows. But we ditched them after too many restringing accidents began to drive our eyepatch budget through the roof!”

A round of nervous laughter rippled through the crowd.

She plucked a crossbow bolt from a pile, balancing it on the edge of her hoof. “We use reinforced iron bolts. The monsters of the Everfree have hides and bodies tough as year old biscuits! We also barbed ones for particularly nasty targets, blunt ones for when we need to knock a pony out, a few other varieties we’ll get to later. Now...load up!”

The sounds of dozens of crossbows being drawn taut filled the air. A mighty target had been drug from the depths of the hold’s stores, one of the very ones that Lightning had trained on. It was a wooden mockery of a giant spider, of which the Everfree had many varieties. The weak points on a living specimen’s shell- on the leg joints, near the eyes and along the bottom of the bulging abdomen- had been marked by bullseyes. Every other inch of the creation had been covered in metal plates, mimicking the thick shells of those monstrous arachnids. What couldn’t be seen from here was the collection of complex levers, pulleys and ropes within the shell that made it useful for training.

Once they were all loaded up, Lightning flew to the training spider and opened the hatch on the side. The controls were ready for her and she slid into the seat with ease. Placing her hind hooves on the odd petals, she began to pump and the spider shuddered to life. Hidden wheels groaned and lurched into action, pushing the creation towards the first group of recruits. A tug on a rope made the artificial forelegs begin to wave back and forth in a vaguely threatening manner.

The solid ping of a crossbow bolt ricocheting off metal echoed through her strange vehicle. Sunflower had taken the first shot, as wide as it might have been. Smirking to herself, Lightning leaned over to a wide brass tube hanging at head level.

“Roar! I’m an angry giant spider! I’m going to drink your blood! ROAR! Somepony better shoot me and quick!”

Rather than fire at her, the rest of the group just stared with slack jaws and stunned expressions. Then somepony began to giggle, it spread like wildfire through the group and soon enough almost everypony was doubled over with laughter.

Lightning Dust frowned and bellowed into the speaking tube. “You’re supposed to fire at the target you sorry excuses for ponies!”

Now came a true volley of bolts as everyone unloaded on the advancing “monster”. While many more bounced off the edge of the contraption’s various surfaces, she could also feel the more solid shakes of bolts biting into the wood.

“Roar! It’ll take a lot more than that to stop this spider! Roar!”

“I’m pretty sure that spiders don’t roar!” Angel Wings called.

“Who cares?” Sky Stinger snapped. “Shoot the damn thing!”

“You shoot the damn thing!” Angel Wings shouted back. “I’m reloading!”

“Both of you shoot the damn thing and stop arguing with each other!” Sunflower exclaimed.

“Don’t talk to me like that! I’m not going to be talked down to by a pony who can’t hit a perfectly obvious target!”

“You missed too!”

“No I didn’t! That’s my bolt sticking out of that target on the right leg!”

“No it isn’t! That was Vapor Trail’s shot!”

Vapor Trail winced. “Please...don’t argue on my account!”

Icy Mist rolled her eyes. “Come now everypony! Monsters won’t be vanquished if we’re all squabbling like foals.”

Lightning pumped a bit faster, accelerating into the mob. Quick as a whip, she spun a wheel mounted on the wall and pulled another rope. With a creak and a groan, the entire upper section of the spider spun around, its heavy limbs wildly swinging at everypony around her. A collection of surprised shouts and yelps rose from her applicants as they were scattered by the flailing legs.

It was an engineering marvel and one of Fleetfoot’s greatest training creations. Every inch of it was perfectly tuned and balanced. A scattered collection of shots rattled its body again, most of them rolling off its back and due to its sturdy construction. For a moment the only thing that ran through Lightning’s mind was the thrill of the training and the joy at the thought of the Black Rook Lodge rising from the ashes. They’d come back from it. They’d come back from all of it!

“Get around the side!”

“Shoot the legs!”

“No, shoot the big butt!”

“It’s called an abdomen!”

“Shut up!”

“No, you shut up!”

“Roar!” Lightning shouted through the speaking tube. “Giant spiders eat ponies that don’t work together! Roar!”

The next few minutes where a whirlwind of activity. Bolts whistled through the air, gears creaked and cracked, wood groaned, ponies shouted and cried out in pain. When all was said and done, group one was scattered about her on the ground.

“Good first effort everypony! Group two! You’re up!”

She wheeled back to the start position, eager to see what this group could do. It had that Firefly mare in it and she had done quite the job in the melee. Once she had settled into place Lightning peered through the viewing slits.

Firefly was at the head of the group, radiating a sour expression as she yanked the bow string back into place. The weapon was unsteady in her hooves as she was clearly unsure with the weapon. It was an odd sight, considering how confident she had been facing down Iron Will.

Shrugging to herself, Lightning began to peddle again.

A volley of crossbow bolts hissed through the air, most of them clattering uselessly to the ground a moment later. Deciding to cut to the chase this time, Lightning pumped even faster, accelerating straight towards the heart of the crowd. Firefly cursed under her breath and fell back, struggling to reload her weapon.

While most of the crowd scattered to take up new firing positions, one pony lept into action. Scootaloo galloped forward, darting between the spider legs with those same dance-like acrobatics she'd displayed the other day. With buzzing wings giving her an extra boost just short of true flying, she jumped into the air, and a loud thunk echoed from the roof of the spider’s “head” a moment later.

Fore one brief moment Lightning Dust wasn't sure what that sound was, not a crossbow bolt, but then the next moment she heard the telltale twang. There was a splintering sound and an iron tipped bolt managed to bury itself halfway through the wood before coming to a stop.

Must have fired point blank, Lightning thought. Leaning over to the speech tube again she opted to make a point. “Watch it rookie! I appreciate the enthusiasm, but this is a training exercise, not the real thing.”

The only reply Lightning heard was the ratcheting sound of the young recruit's crossbow being reloaded.

She moved like the wind, yanking ropes, spinning wheels and pulling levers. The spider wheeled and bucked in response, limbs thrashing in a whirlwind of activity. With a shout of surprise, the pegasus recruit was sent vaulting from the surface of the spider. Lightning slammed her hooves on the pedals, surging forward in a burst of speed. Another round of bolts rattled off the spider before the shooters scattered again to avoid the oncoming contraption.

Lightning had seen enough for today.

“We’re done,” she called into the speaking tube. “Everypony stand down.”

Throwing the entrance hatch back open, Lightning scrambled out to address her aspirants. “Wow, some of you squabble worse than a bunch of angry cats! That being said, it wasn’t a bad first round. But you all need to put in a lot more work before you’re Ranger material!”

She looked right at Sky Stinger, Angel Wings and Sunflower. “Fight with each other like that in a real combat situation and you could get yourselves killed. Stinger, you have a long way to go. I think that a blind mare could have hit more shots than you did. Angel Wings, Sunflower? If you rise to every bit of flank busting you get like that, you’ll get absolutely no where, understand?”

“Yes mam,” Sunflower and Angel sighed.

“Hmmph,” Stinger grunted.

“Firefly, you were struggling with your weapon there. What happened?”

Firefly wouldn’t look her in the eyes when she answered. “Just not used to crossbows mam. More used to using my hooves.”

Lightning nodded back. “More practice will see to that. Speaking of which…” She jumped into the air, hovering above both groups again. “Time for some more exercise!”

Everypony groaned.


- - - - 


By the time the sun began to set, Lightning Dust had worked her recruits through a full day of what the Everfree Rangers were all about. At least in terms of training. Showing them the actual Everfree would come later, once she was convinced they were up to the task. But for now, it was time to rest...for some of them, at least.

“We’re done for the day! But, we have watches to deal with. Angel Wings, Sunflower, Sky Stinger…”

She kept rattling off names until she had picked ten out of the group. “You have first watch tonight. Find a nice spot on the wall, grab your blankets and keep your eyes open. After six hours, team two will take over and that’ll be Scootaloo, Firefly, Vapor Trail…”

Once the watches were arranged for the night, a chorus of relieved sighs and annoyed groans filled the air as everypony split up to attend to their duties or get some sleep. Lightning watched them go for a moment, before zipping towards her office. Sliding into place behind the desk, she helped herself to a few pieces of paper, a bottle of ink and a quill. Soft scritches filled the air as she jotted down notes and plans for the next day. She’d mix up the teams tomorrow, experiment with different pairings and partners.

But there was a larger concern in her mind right now.

She grabbed her elemental crossbow and soared to a point on the main building’s roof. There was a crook there, where the section above the barracks met the section above the kitchens and mess hall. That was where Lightning took up position, dropping a few cases of bolts at her right side, and a heavy coil of rope on her left. Of one thing she was determined as she loaded her weapon. Her applicants may have been patrolling the walls, but they were green and could easily be fooled or bypassed by a more experienced pony. And that would not do at all.

Any assassins or saboteurs foolish enough to try follow up strike would have to deal with her. Once her crossbow was loaded with blunt tipped bolts, she chose her spot. Laying flat on her barrel, Lightning squirmed her way right to the roof edge and took up a sniping position. She’d stay up all night if she had too. It wouldn’t be the first time she pushed her limits for the sake of her lodge.

Time crawled by as night fully swallowed the surrounding countryside, pale moonlight casting its own illumination in addition to the lanterns on the walls. For quite a long while nothing changed in the grounds. There was just the flickering of the light, the call of the nighttime insects and the idle movements of the rangers in training. She was glad that none of her friends were here to see this. Mostly because she was sure they’d nag at her for being reckless.

The night stretched on and on in an unending slog of darkness. The flickering of the light began to cast odd looking shadows and half formed shapes along the strong stone walls. More than a few times she had started to raise her crossbow to shoot at a perceived attacker, only to realize that it was one of those shadows. Fatigue was beginning to settle in, the long hours grinding away at her Ranger trained fortitude. Stifling a yawn, she set her focus on the walls again. No pony was going to tear the Black Rook Lodge out from under her.

More time crawled past. Just how long had she been waiting around at this point? Despite her efforts, her eyes were beginning to grow heavy.

She had to stay up. She had to...protect...the lodge.

Sleep claimed her before the sun began to rise.


- - - - 


Lightning awoke to the sound of muttering.

Ascraids! She mentally cursed. I fell asleep?

Flopping onto her side she peered up at the roof peak of the barracks, where the muttering was coming from. It was that orange coated pegasus that had so strongly attacked the training dummy the other day. Lightning couldn’t quite make out what she was saying as her back was turned, her body hunched over something. Frowning, Lightning sat up, keeping one hoof on her crossbow.

“So...interesting conversation you’re having with yourself?”

Her guest started, something shiny tumbling off the edge of the roof with a loud clatter. Lightning took her weapon in both hooves now, her eyes narrowing at the pegasus.

“What’s your name recruit?”

“...Scootaloo, mam.”

“And what are you doing up here?”

Scootaloo responded by pointing skywards. “Looking for you mam. It’s almost mid-morning.”

Slowly, Lightning followed Scootaloo’s outstretched foreleg, shielding her eyes at the sun which indeed hung in its mid-morning position.

“Celestia’s flaming teats!” Lightning exclaimed. “We’re already behind schedule for today!”

With the question of Scootaloo’s presence blasted fully from her mind, Lightning Dust lept from the roof to wake the rest of the recruits and get them moving for the day. Scootaloo watched her go with dumbfounded expression before shaking her head.

“How would that even begin to work?”


- - - - 


“...Are you feeling alright?”

Lightning’s eyes snapped open to find her muzzle an inch from her half full plate. Straightening back up, she looked around at her friends and smiled. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

The dinner had been Starlight’s idea. According to her message, there was something that she wanted to give to Lightning. That worked out fine for her, as she wanted to talk with Starlight and Adagio about a few things herself. On her list was arranging for some reading and writing tutoring for her recruits. While literacy was only a strict requirement for a lodges leadership, receiving an education on such matters was a perk of membership she desired to continue. But she also wanted to check in on the hunt for her saboteur. So far, he (or she) hadn’t moved against the lodge again and Lightning was starting to get concerned about when the next attempt would be made.

Starlight rolled her eyes, waggling a carrot at Lightning disapprovingly. “Should I really dignify that with an answer?”

For a moment the beginnings of a sarcastic joke bubbled to life in the back of her throat. But then exhaustion from a week of training and all night stake outs tamped it back down. The chair was comfortable, its cushions seemingly determined to drag her off to sleep. Wordlessly she looked to Adagio for assistance but the stony expression and single arched eyebrow told Lightning that there would be no help coming from that side of the table.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ve been staying up all night for the last few nights. Keeping an eye out. Just in case whoever burnt down the tent city decided to follow up with an attack on the lodge itself.”

“By yourself?” Adagio asked, her one eyebrow somehow raising ever higher.

The disdain of the plan was clear in her voice. Lightning Dust frowned right back. “It’s my lodge,” she declared. As far as she was concerned, that was the only justification that she needed. “But no, not completely alone. My trainees have watch duty after all.”

“Perhaps,” Adagio responded. “But considering that you asked us for help before, why not now?”

Lightning didn’t have a good answer for that. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, in the embers of the tent city. It was her lodge now! She was the last pony standing from the old guard and it was up to her to make sure it continued on. Now in the same room as two of her friends, it just felt silly to perch on a roof all by her lonesome while her charges patrolled the walls.

She sighed. “Okay…I may not have thought the details though on this one.”

Starlight chuckled. “Don’t worry Lightning. I’m one step ahead of you. It’s the reason I invited you over tonight in fact. Just let me get it from my lab.”

Pushing away from the table, she trotted out of the room, leaving Lightning alone with Adagio. Her friend and baroness hummed to herself, lightly tapping a hoof on the table edge.

“I’m going to have my guards help watch the lodge and have the militia patrol out that way once a night.”

Now it was Lightning’s turn to raise an eyebrow, a bristling stab of annoyance running through her. The situation wasn’t that dire and her lodge wasn’t that helpless! Sure, not everypony had taken to the lifestyle yet, but Scootaloo and Firefly were good in a fight. She had her pride, damn it!

“What about your own protection?” She asked. Perhaps playing to Adagio’s selfish side would help nip this in the bud.

“I’m not the current target. Besides, I’ll keep Will for myself. If you don’t mind of course.”

“I’m not-”

“How are the recruits shaping up so far?” Adagio asked, idly swirling her goblet of wine.

Lightning was taken slightly aback by the sudden change in topic but answered all the same.

“One week of training so far...hard to tell. I’m going to have to start making some choices soon though, decide who will cut it as an actual ranger and who might be better working support. There are a few that show some real potential. I like this Firefly mare in particular. Showed a really cool head during the tent city fire.”

Adagio’s brow furrowed at the mention of the name. “Firefly….Firefly...that name sounds familiar. ...Where have I heard that before?”

“Something I should worry about?”

“...Maybe. I’ll do some digging and get back to you.”

The door to the dining room swung open again and Starlight marched through, proudly brandishing a polished wooden box. She proved quite incapable of hiding her wide grin as she slid it across the table and opened the lid.

“And there it is,” she declared.

“It” ended up being a small crystal. No one color dominated its construction, instead being a mixture of red, yellow and orange that swirled about like an ongoing rush of flame. Little sparkles of magic glittered within the larger swirls of color, catching and refracting the lamp light across the room. A light silver chain was set into its top, effectively making a pendant.

“Huh...sparkly,” Lightning observed. “What’s it do?”

“I managed to collect some of the lingering magical residue at the burn site and wove it into this gem! That let me identify the magical ‘hoofprint’ of that container!” Starlight declared, her grin threatening to split her face. “Now, while I’m still not convinced that it was intentional sabotage. But if it was and that magic gets anywhere near you, this little charm will blaze nice and bright! I also worked in a standard alarm charm. Just tap it before going to bed and it’ll give you a mental ping if anypony comes within twenty feet of you.”

Lightning slipped the necklace on. “Nice!”

“Now, promise me that you’ll go and get some rest. You won’t be any good to the lodge if you’re unconscious.”

Lightning gave a tired grin back. “Going to pack me a lunch too mom?”

“Only if you want one dearie.”

“And on that note, I think we’re done for the night,” Adagio said. “Though Starlight, I’d like to talk to you about something before I go.”

Lightning waved goodbye to her friends and headed out. Content with her new trinket she lazily took to the air and slowly wound her way through Ponyville’s buildings. All the while, her mind mulled over her next moves. A few more weeks of training and she’d start to take them into the edges of the Everfree for more hooves on training. Then-

Something slammed into her from off of a nearby rooftop above.

The force of the impact smashed her into the wall of a nearby house. Stars exploded into her field of vision as she plummeted towards the cobblestones below. The heavy weight pressed harder on her back, driving a stabbing wedge of pain directly between her wings. She hit the ground hard, tumbling head over tail. There was a distinct crack sound and a fresh round of agony in her side as she came to a rolling stop.

Tears streamed down Lightning’s muzzle as she pushed through the pain and sprang back to her hooves. A figure dressed in a voluminous, body obscuring cloak stood a few feet from her, its body crouched in a stance that screamed “attack”.

“Don’t suppose you’re just an over eager fan of my exploits?” Lightning asked, forcing a grin.

The figure charged, its cloak flapping in the breeze, revealing the slight glint of a weapon strapped to its side. It drew it with its mouth in one smooth motion swinging it right for Lightning’s throat. Despite her wounds, Lightning wasn’t a slouch when it came to melee combat. As the edge of the blade came swooping in, Lightning pinned it between her hooves and wrenched. The dagger went clattering away, shooting down a side alley.

“That’s a no then?”

A hoof collided with her sore side, eliciting a silent scream from Lightning from the fresh round of agony. Blinking back a fresh round of tears Lightning threw herself forward, slamming her head into her attacker’s. While this brought a fresh round of pain in a stabbing headache, Lightning grinned through it. Nopony won when a headbutt was involved, but at this point she truly didn’t care. Burning the tent city down didn’t work, so they sent an assassin?

Her whole body quivered with anger. This had become personal and her pride wouldn’t allow the attempts to destroy her or the Rangers go unanswered.

By now the attacker had recovered and was circling for an opening. Lightning rolled her neck, popping a few kricks from it before fixing the cloaked pony with her most Spitfire worthy glare.

“So, who sent you?”

Silence.

“The strong and silent type are we?” Lightning asked, keeping her tone light and conversational. “That’s fine. I suppose that fits the whole deadly assassin look you got going for you.”

“I am not an assassin!” her assailant shouted, stomping a hoof. Whoever the pony was, she was effecting an absurdly gruff voice. “If I was so underhoofed to strike you down for money, I would have taken you when you slept! You deserve to see your death coming for what you did!”

Lightning chuckled. “Says the pony with her face covered. So, tell me oh mysterious murderous mare, what horrible thing have I done that has marked me for death?”

“You vanquished Lady Chroma! Prepare to die!”

Oh, right, I did help do that. Lightning thought as the cloaked pony launched herself forward. She moved like quicksilver the edge of a fresh dagger glittering in the moonlight as she vaulted right for Lightning.

Lightning took a few steps backwards, tucking into a backwards roll as she locked hooves with her attacker. As they tumbled over each other Lightning kicked out with full force and almost immediately regretted it. While the cloaked pony was sent skyward, her side screamed in agony again from the sudden movement.

Before she had a chance to recover she was jumped from behind, a repeated rain of strikes landing on her pain wracked flank. The cloaked pony had seized upon her wound and was trying to cripple her with the pain. This had rapidly descended into a gutter fight. The kind of knock down, gritty, battle that played out in grungy taverns on disused stretches of waterfront. Lightning snarled, throwing her whole body backwards. The cry of pain from the mare being smashed against the alley wall brought a smile to her face. She did it again, eliciting another cry from her attacker. Lightning prepared to slam the mare one more time, only to feel her hooves press down and then kick off her back. The cloaked mare flipped over Lightning’s head, landing near where her dagger had fallen. She plucked the weapon from the ground, preparing to whip it Lightning’s direction.

And at that exact moment, Starlight’s necklace began to glow. In the next moment, a heavy twang echoed through the alley. The knife was knocked from the cloaked pony’s mouth. It had been a very close call too, an inch closer and the projectile would have probably buried itself in the pony’s head.

“Halt, criminal scum!”

Barricade came hammering down the alleyway, his mail armor clinking in time with the impacts of his hooves on the cobblestones. Two more militia members were at his side, while a third hung back, the crossbow he had fired still in his hooves.

The cloaked cultist didn’t hesitate. She drew a small sphere from her cloak and whipped it at the ground. A bright flash filled the air, followed by a billowing cloud of smoke that rolled forward like a great cloud beast. Lightning was just able to take a deep breath before the cloud swallowed her and the militia. Its acrid scent filled her nose all the same, but at least she wasn’t reduced to coughing and hacking like Barricade and his stallions were.

As quickly as the smoke came though, it faded away. But it had lasted long enough. Her attacker was gone.

Lightning cursed. “Damn it! Damn it!

Barricade came stumbling over to her, wincing at her cursing. “Sorry Ranger Dust. We’ll spread out and keep-”

“Don’t bother. I’ve seen how she moves and fights. She won’t be anywhere near here by now.” She sighed, shaking her head at the bitter feeling of failure coursing through her. “I suppose I was lucky that you happened to be out tonight.”

“Luck only had so much to do with it,” Barricade answered. “That baroness made her feelings clear. I was...highly motivated to put out extra patrols tonight.”

Thank Harmony for Adagio’s vindictive side.

Barricade eyed her flank for a moment. “We should get you to the healing house.”

Lightning wasn’t in the mood to argue. Her side was still throbbing from her crash and it was being joined by the end results of smashing one’s face against the side of a house and a headbutt. Resigned to the reality of the situation, she sighed and nodded to Barricade.

“Lead on.”
> 5. Fall Apart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Two weeks,” Lightning Dust grumbled, rubbing her side. “Why do bones take so long to heal?”

“Because they’re bones. They’re hard and take a while to fix,” Aria answered matter of factually.

“Do I want to know how you know that?”

“Probably not. Let’s just say that I’ve taken some hits in my life.”

“You mean aside from getting your wing broken by Chroma?”

Aria grinned. “I’ll consider that one to be my greatest scar, thank you very much. Just consider this one of yours.”

Lightning grumbled under her breath again as she flapped towards the Black Rook Lodge. “Yeah, well, training is going to take a hit. Can’t be out there, kicking their flanks myself while I’m wounded like this.”

“You have the training means. Just tell some of your recruits what to do. They aren’t all idiots are they?”

Lightning bit her lip as she landed on the lodge walls. Her recruits were taking a bit of a load off at the moment, generally lounging around and enjoying the fact that their lodge master wasn’t currently busting their flanks. There were a few among the lot that she could probably trust to run the training spider without breaking it.

“Of course, there is the whole assassin to worry about as well.”

“That’s why you’re going to take Adagio’s guards, right?”

“I don’t think I really have a choice now.”

Aria patted her friend on the back. “I’m pretty sure that the mare that had the spine to take a shot at Chroma can handle a bunch of green recruits.”

While Lightning was sure of that under normal circumstances, these were hardly normal circumstances what with an assassin running around and super strict baroness coming to pay her a visit.

At least she could count on her friends to back her up.


- - - - 


“Have you completely lost your mind!” Starlight shouted.

“Have you?” Adagio roared back. “Or did you forget that somepony tried to kill Lightning?”

Oh, right. Two of my friends have egos the size of Canterlot, Lightning thought.

“You still can’t search every house in Ponyville without any evidence of wrongdoing!”

“I absolutely can! It is my right as the baroness of this territory!”

“Sure, if you want to keep making everypony in this town think you’re a tyrant!”

“Ladies, please, no need to fight over me,” Lightning said, her tone as dry as a desert.

“We aren’t!” both mares shouted at once.

Lightning sighed, idly letting her gaze wander around Adagio’s sitting room. “Could have fooled me.”

“I refuse to feel guilty for taking the attempt on your life seriously,” Adagio huffed.

“You think I’m not taking it seriously? I’m the one she tried to kill! But if you land on Ponyville with both hooves, all you’re going to do is let this jerk know we’re coming. Even with your guards, we don’t have enough ponies to search every house in Ponyville at once.”

“Assuming she’s even hiding in town,” Starlight said. “For all we know, she snuck in with Lightning’s recruits.”

Lightning froze an icy chill running down her spine. It hadn’t occurred to her at the time, but the assassin could have easily slipped in with her recruits. She took everypony who was willing to come and make the necessary sacrifices. A perfect environment for an assassin to operate in.

“I’m giving you Will too.”

Lightning looked up to find herself staring into Adagio’s intense glare. Very little escaped her friend’s eye when it came to a pony’s emotions.

“Adagio-”

“No arguments Lightning. Will has saved my life in the past and there’s no one I’d trust more to protect a friend.”

Lightning squirmed in her seat. “He’s your bodyguard Adagio.”

“I insist. I’ll be traveling out of The Heartlands for a bit under guard anyway.”

Lightning raised an eyebrow. “Where to?”

“The Lunar Kingdom. In light of Chroma’s attack and Echidna’s freedom, King Sombra has felt the need to remind some of our neighbors of old bonds and shared struggles,” Adagio said, idly swirling a goblet of wine in her magic. “So I’ll be traveling to Queen Luna’s realm to make nice.”

Lightning smirked back. “Try not to accidentally start a war while you’re there.”

Adagio responded with a chuckle. “Accidentally? Please Lightning. If I start a war, it will be entirely intentional.”

Lightning laughed at the joke, helping herself to their shared bottle of wine. But as she poured it Starlight’s observation hung in the back of her mind. Was her assassin in her midst?


- - - -


“Move it you maggots! Do you think the monsters of the Everfree care if you’re tired or not? They’ll eat you up without a second thought! So you better get running!”

It was another rock pack run to build muscle and endurance. Icy Mist was at the front of the column, doing her usual round of encouragement.

“Come now everypony, step lively now! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! I know you can do it! Don’t let a bunch of stupid stones get you down!”

Lightning couldn’t help but like the crazy mare. She was a different kind of noble from some of the others she had met. While Adagio was defined by her ambition and Starlight her causes, Icy Mist was a bit more...gallant. Or at least she chased some strange personal idea of what gallantry was. She made for a refreshing change of pace and a rock of positivity for the other recruits to anchor to.

But as she watched the recruits continue to run their laps, dark thoughts began to squirm into her mind. A smiling face and goofy attitude could easily had a poisoned dagger or two.

“Icy Mist! Front and center!”

She came trotting over with a wide smile. “Yes ma’am?”

“You’ve been doing good work out there. Always nice to see a bit of positivity on the field.”

“Thank you ma’am!”

“I am curious though. House Mist. I’m not too familiar with that one. What part of The Heartlands does it hail from?”

A strange transformation seemed to overcome Icy Mist at that point, her smile becoming strained and her eyes taking on a thousand yard stare. “With all due respect ma’am, I don’t know you well enough to discuss my house so frankly.”

“But-”

“I’mgoingtogetbacktoworknow!” she almost shouted, before running back to the crowd.

Note to self. Ask Adagio if she’s heard of House Mist at all, Lightning thought.


- - - - 


A day later and they were doing another round on the spider training dummy.

Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger were at the lead, weaving through the mechanical strikes that Scootaloo was throwing out. The two of them were like a well oiled machine, the strikes just swishing through empty air where they had been a moment before.

Vapor Trail had shown the most improvement of her recruits so far. For a little while, Lightning was concerned that her tendency to hold back was going to lead to her dropping out of the whole effort. Now, Lightning fully intended to keep her if possible. One thing she was concerned about though was her tendency to stay right by Sky Stinger’s side. While having partners in the Rangers wasn’t unheard of, there was a fine line between that and becoming dependant on each other.

On the plus side though, she could rule out Sky Stinger as the assassin. Still, best to nip a possible problem in the bud. As the groups switched to give the other half of the trainees their go, Lightning flew over to Vapor Trail’s side.

“Hey Trail. Got a moment?”

She smiled nervously. “Of course ma’am. What do you need?”

“Tomorrow, I want you to train in a different group from Sky Stinger.”

The effect was immediate. Vapor’s pupils shrunk to near pinpricks and she began to pant.

“What? ...No! I can’t. I...I’m not ready on my own!”

Lightning raised an eyebrow. “Vapor Trail...you’re not that bad. In fact, you’ve been showing a lot of improvement! You can’t just hang on Sky Stinger forever!”

“I’m still not ready!” Vapor pleaded. “Just...just give me another week! I’ll be ready then. I promise!”

“Uhhh. Alright then....”

As Vapor trotted off, Lightning could only blink at what just happened.

What was that about? 


- - - - 


It was a few days later when another bit of strangeness came to Lightning’s attention.

The day’s training had come to an end and she was working in her office, planning out the group’s first training session in the Everfree. Those training sessions were always among the most dangerous, what with the threats of monsters and caprataurs. Yet they were also amongst the most necessary as Ranger’s needed to learn how to survive in the depths of that cursed forest.

Then came the scream from the barracks.

Lightning threw open the windows and shot for it at top speed. Bursting into the barracks she was presented with an utterly bizarre sight. Sunflower was perched on the headboard of her bed. She was staring down at a hoof sized scarlet colored spider that was futilely trying to escape a glass jar. Said glass jar was held in place by Firefly. Scootaloo was glowering at Firefly while sitting on her bed. The rest of the recruits were staring at the strange tableau with as much confusion as Lightning was feeling right now.

“Does somepony want to explain to me what in the name of Equestria’s flowing fields is going on here?” she exclaimed.

Sunflower pointed a shaky hoof at the jar. “That thing was in my bed!”

Flying a little closer, Lightning recognized the species. It was a Scarlet Striker, well known for the paralyzing nature of its venomous bite.

“Give me the lid Scootaloo,” Firefly growled.

“Sure you don’t just want to take it from my trunk without asking!”

“I saw the spider and caught the glint of glass out of the corner of my eye! Did you want me to just let it bite her?”

“I would have passed it to you! You didn’t have to just rummage through my stuff like a burglar!”

Lightning rubbed her temples, sighing very deeply. “Recruit Scootaloo? Give her the lid.”

Scootaloo acquiesced, tossing the circular lump of cork over to Firefly with a grumble. In one smooth motion, Firefly tipped the bottle back, scooping up the spider and capping it.

Sunflower shuddered. “How did that thing get in here anyway?”

“Well, they’re a species native to the Everfree, so one of them wandering their way here isn’t out of the question,” Lightning mused, tapping the glass.

“Why were you even carrying that around?” Firefly asked.

Now that Firefly had brought it up, it was oddly convenient that Scootaloo just happened to have an empty jam jar in her trunk.

“What? It’s a useful container. I wasn’t going to just throw it away after shelling out good livres for it!”

Sunflower blinked. “Livres? Just what kind of jam was it?”

“Zap Apple!” Scootaloo said cheerfully.

“Oooo!” Sunflower cooed, suddenly much more interested in the jar.

A similar round of appreciation rippled through the recruits. Even Lightning felt her mouth starting to water at the thought of zap apple jam and all of its richly layered flavors. It was expensive enough to be a yearly treat at best for most ponies.

“Alright everypony, that’s enough excitement for the day. I’ll deal with our spider friend,” Lightning said.

But as she flew off to release the creature with the paralyzing bite, Lightning could only wonder if there was a little more to its presence than met the eye.


- - - -


Later that night, Lightning crept back into the barracks with a lantern hidden under a blanket.

Those recruits that weren’t on watch duty at the moment slept deeply in their beds. The antique clock on the wall softly ticked away as she slinked across the floor, towards Scootaloo’s trunk. The thought of the spider had remained in the back of her mind, skittering around like the creature itself. Though it wasn’t alone, scrabbling around back there. It had a friend in the form of a realization. A realization that had crept up on her, vice like with its dread. Scootaloo’s fighting style was very acrobatic. The assassin’s fighting style was also acrobatic. And a paralyzing spider would be a very easy thing to help with an assassination.

Coming to Scootaloo’s trunk, Lightning carefully lifting the lid. The collection of items inside were sparse. There were a few cloaks, a collection of dried fruit and nuts, what looked like a water skin and a small book. No daggers or other weapons from what she could see. Turning her attention to the book, Lightning ducked under her blanket and flipped the book open.

Poetry.

Rather bad poetry at that, judging by its overuse of lavender unicorn syndrome.

Dropping the book back into the trunk with a sigh, Lightning closed it back up and snuck back out of the barracks. Maybe she had been mistaken.


- - - -    


The rest of the next two weeks practically crawled by for Lightning Dust. The healing still felt like it was going particularly slow from her point of view. The presence of Iron Will standing at her side didn’t do much to help her mood. Not that she didn’t appreciate his efforts but he was a constant reminder of her current situation.

Lightning sighed and rubbed at her side as she watched her trainees do their daily training on the spider. The numbers had dropped by now from thirty eight to twenty seven. It was a bitter pill for Lightning, as their numbers had dropped under the full complement for the lodge.

I just know that Harshwhinny will hold that against me, she thought. Of course the fact that I’ve not been able to refill the ranks will land on some damnable checklist of hers that’ll be used to hang me! I bet that she’s got some plan of her own to take control of the Rangers. I don’t care what Adagio says. No pony could exist in that den of vipers that is Heartlands’ politics without also being at least a little corrupt themselves. Even Adagio slips into scheming on occasion, and she’s been chosen by Harmony itself. I-

Something bounced off the side of her head.

It took a moment for the reality of what just happened to sink in. She glanced down to find a rolled up scroll laying at her hooves. Looking around revealed no ponies, ravens or other means of delivery in the immediate area. Now thoroughly confused she stooped down and unrolled the message.

Friend Lightning Dust, 

      There are matters of great importance that must be discussed. Meet me at the edge of the Everfree Forest tonight.

-Master Tirek

Lightning blinked a few times at the name. She hadn’t really thought about the wild old centaur who lived in the depths of the Everfree since she and her friends had claimed the Elements of Harmony. She had assumed he had gone back to wandering the world now that he no longer had to guard six of the most powerful artifacts known to ponykind. But if he was still lingering in the area…

Matters of great importance. Did he know about the attempts to ruin her lodge? Was it Echidna up to some new plot? Or was he speaking about some new threat in the Everfree? Were the caprataurs on the march again? Whatever the case, her actions were clear enough. She’d be paying the Everfree a visit tonight.

“I don’t like it,” Iron Will said.

Apparently, Will had been reading the letter as well.

“You don’t trust Master Tirek?”

Will shrugged. “Haven’t met him. I’d be inclined to believe his intentions based on what Adagio told me about your meeting with him. I’m just not sure it’s actually from him.”

“You think it’s the assassin drawing me out?”

Iron Will nodded, crossing his massive arms. “It’s possible. ...I won’t stop you from going. But I insist on coming with.”

A loud cry of pain pulled their attention away from the missive. Sky Stinger was laying on the ground and clutching at his snout with both hooves. It seemed that Scootaloo had managed to catch him with a solid blow. But he was glaring not at the training spider and thusly Scootaloo within, but at the form of Sunflower.

“You stupid pony, you screwed up my shot!”

“What? No! I’d never try and do that!” Sunflower exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“Maybe not intentionally, but you got too close to me and threw off my balance!”

Sunflower looked crushed. “But...I could have sworn I was moving to give you some room.”

Sky Stinger threw up his hooves. “Well, you clearly didn’t! I mean, why are you even here? You were afraid of a spider! A spider of all things!”

While Sunflower recoiled and pressed her hooves to her muzzle, Icy Mist coughed to catch Sky Stinger’s attention. “Pardon me Sky. But we were all watching what happened. I don’t think it was any pony’s fault. You took a hit. It happens sometimes.”

“It doesn’t happen to me! I’ve fought monsters before! Have you ever clashed with a bandersnatch?” He waved a hoof dismissively at the massive wooden spider. “Those things move way faster than this training dummy!”

Vapor Trail placed a hoof on her side. “Sky, that still doesn’t mean you’re perfect-”

“It wasn’t my fault! It was hers!”

Sunflower, now quivering with a mixture of anger and sadness, snapped back at Sky. “Oh, go b-buck a b-beehive!”

Sky Stinger whirled about to glare at her. “What was that?”

“Y-you don’t do a-anything here without Vapor Trail b-backing you up!” Sunflower shouted, jabbing a hoof at her. “If I didn’t know any better.” She took a shaky, deep breath before shouting again. “I’d say that she’s carrying you!”

Lightning grit her teeth. Sky Stinger’s attitude that was getting under her coat today. Two weeks of listening to his self important preening without seeing any of the supposed combat brilliance he had was beginning to take its toll on her mood.

“Carrying me? If anything, I’m carrying her! I could beat any of you here! Even Lightning Dust!”

That tore it. Sure, it was just another little bout of bravado from a pony that had done nothing but bravado. But between the assassin and hearing Adagio and Starlight yell at each other Lightning Dust was on her last nerve.

“Prove it,” she snarled.

Immediately, she felt one of Will’s heavy hands on her withers. “Lightning, be careful.”

“...What?” Sky Stinger asked.

“I’ve been listening to you talk about how great you are for weeks! But Sunflower’s right. You’ve always had Vapor Trail at your side. If you’re so amazing, come over here and prove it!”

Now Sky Stinger was nervously glancing around at his fellow recruits. All eyes had suddenly landed on him, the question of whether or not he’d have the guts to actually face down Lightning hanging in the air like a vile curse. Lightning was honestly unsure if he’d rise to the challenge or not. He was full of himself, but was he so completely stupid as to not recognize when his commander was laying down the law-

“All right teach. I’ll take you on. Nothing personal of course.”

Stupid it was!

“Let’s get to it then,” Lightning spat.

Sky Stinger swagged forward with a smug smile. “So, what are the rules teach? Hooves, weapons, what?”

Vapor Trail ran after him. “Sky! Don’t do this! You can’t just fight your boss! Even Queen Chrysalis got ambushed by Chroma! Taking one hit to the snout isn’t the end of the world!”

Icy Mist nodded in agreement. “Really! Show some sense my good stallion! You’re going to get thrown out of here at this rate!”

Sky ignored both of them, instead fixing his glare on Lightning Dust. “What are the rules?”

“Hooves. First to three falls. And let me make something clear here, Stinger. I am not ‘teach’. You address me by Lodge Master or ma'am. Or I’ll have you scrub every floor in this place for a week!”

“Heh. Like you’d really take your best pony off the line for that long.”

“You haven’t proved that yet,” Lightning practically growled.

That was a half lie. He was one of her best recruits. But at the moment, there was no way she was going to let him know that.

“Well then, perhaps you’ll like...this!”

He sprang forward bringing both his forehooves down in an over the head smash. Lightning snorted and shot to the side with a simple flap of her wings.

“Free piece of advice. Don’t signal your attacks by shouting ‘this!’ like a rank amature!”

She charged. Grabbing Sky Stinger around the neck, she threw her weight forward, transitioning into a martial throw. The move came fast enough that Stinger hadn’t had time to react beyond a strangled cry as he was slammed to the ground.

“And don’t stand around like a slack jawed idiot when you’re in a fight!” she shouted.

Sky Stinger grunted and lashed out with a hoof. It was a dirty, wild strike but it clipped Lightning’s wounded side all the same. She grit her teeth through the pain and bodily yanked Sky Stinger back to his hooves. After all, this utter waste of time wouldn’t actually be over until the damn fool fell three times.

But this time, Sky Stinger proved to be a bit more willing to move. Giving his right wing a flap, he seemed to be trying to throw his body into a twisting roll. But it was a pathetic little squib of a flap, that propelled him absolutely nowhere. Lightning practically roared as she threw him like a rag doll across the grounds. He bounced and rolled across the grass, pathetically trying to spring back to his hooves before he came to a stop. It was only after he came to a stop that he managed to stumble back to his hooves.

“That’s two,” Lightning said. She took the moment to circle Sky, glaring down at him with all the anger and frustration she could muster. “Care to yield now and save yourself the embarrassment?”

“Never!”

Stumbling for a moment, he shook his head to clear it and charged again. His stance was absolutely horrible, more of a loping shuffle than a true charge. Lightning moved to meet him, her hooves hammering hard on the ground as she lowered her head in a true battle stance. At the last second before they collided, Lightning kicked off with her hind hooves and shot to the right, Sky’s clumsy strike passing through the air where she had been a moment before. Spinning neatly in place, Lightning lashed out with her hooves again in a powerful buck. The strike sent Sky sprawling to the ground with a pained groan.

“That’s three! Yield!”

“I will not!”

Sky jumped into the air, wings beating furiously as he tried to transition into a loop. Lightning assumed that he was trying to swoop in behind her, but he was clearly not going to make it. As hard as he was pumping his wings, the loop was still in danger of falling apart. It was sad, really. Clearly he had been coasting on his own ego for long enough that he had completely neglected the basics-

A gust of wind cut across the field and surged up under Sky Stinger.

In a moment, Sky was propelled through the air and slammed into Lightning from behind. The impact sent her sprawling forward, her snout ripping up a few tufts of grass as she face planted right at the hooves of her other recruits.

“Ha! That’s one!” Sky Stinger crowed, practically hopping around the parade grounds.

But Lightning wasn’t focused on him. Instead she was focused on the form of Vapor Trail and her outstretched wings.

“Was that your breeze recruit?” Lightning asked.

She realized that her voice was calm. Unnervingly calm in fact. Yet despite that calm Lightning Dust felt ready to explode. Her own recruits wouldn’t even let her discipline one of them without undermining her? Vapor Trail was decidedly not looking her in the eye. Lightning hauled herself up and glared at her all the harder.

“I asked you a question recruit!”

“Leave Vapor Trail alone,” Sky Stinger shouted. “I keep telling you, that I don’t need her help!”

For a moment, all was quiet. Then Icy Mist spoke.

“We all watched her do it.”

Sky Stinger blinked. His eyes flicked to Vapor Trail, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now. “Vapor? Why?”

She looked about, searching for some manner of support from her fellow recruits but most of them just looked away, unwilling to dive into the brewing conflict they saw rising. Vapor Trail looked back to Sky Stinger, biting her lip nervously.

“Vapor?”

“You’re not as good as you think you are!” she shouted before slapping her hooves over her mouth.

Now Sky Stinger rocked as if he had been struck. Vapor Trail immediately began to qualify her statement, almost tripping over her own words. “I’m sorry Sky! But you’ve been coasting on your laurels for years now! I’ve been trying to help you the best I can-”

“How? By making me look like a fool in front of everypony?”

“You needed help! Lightning is wounded and she was still kicking your flank all over the place!”

“Well thank you for that! Now I look like I don’t belong here at all!”

“Your words, not hers,” Scootaloo chirped in.

Sky Stinger glared at her before storming off for the barracks. Vapor Trail galloped after him shouting apologies that fell on deaf ears. Scootaloo watched them both go with a smug smile on her face. At least until Firefly poked her in the side.

“Way to make things worse!”

“What? We all know that he didn’t belong here! His arrogance was grating beyond belief!”

“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t!” Firefly snapped. “But that’s Lightning Dust’s call to make.”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed. “I think Lightning made her stance clear, when she beat him like a sack of potatoes.”

“That’s enough recruit.”

Scootaloo shrugged, but fell silent. Sunflower looked on the verge of tears, while Icy Mist was just gnawing on her lip.

“With all due respect ma’am,” Icy said after a few moments of very awkward silence. “Perhaps it would be best for us to stop for the day? I’m not sure how much more progress we’ll be making today.”

Lightning nodded. “Agreed.”

“What?” Scootaloo exclaimed. “We barely got started! Just because Sky can’t handle things, doesn’t mean that we should stop!”

Icy turned towards her with a frown. “With all due respect Scootaloo, I don’t see how pushing things are going to help us today. Let us take some time to clear our heads and-”

“Oh, drop it you stuffy windbag!”

Icy blinked. “...I beg your pardon?”

“The way you throw your weight around here, you’d swear you’d think that you’re in charge!”

“...I just feel that as a member of House Mist, it is my duty to provide an example for the other recruits.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Yeah...House Mist. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it.”

A twitch ran through Icy Mist’s right eye. “I would stop right there Scootaloo.”

“I mean, we only have your word to go on that you’re a member of a noble house.”

Icy Mist snorted fury creeping into her eyes. “I would be very careful about your accusations!”

“All right! Enough from the lot of you!” Lightning shouted. “You’re Ranger trainees! Not a squabbling group of foals!”

“If we’re a squabbling group of foals, it’s because you’re doing a bad job training us!” Icy Mist snapped at her. “The Black Rooks were so united that they almost all played follow the leader to betray The Heartlands! I don’t think that any of us actually like each other! And you’re a horrible leader! Are you a tough mare or a joker? I have no idea!”

“Maybe you’ll figure it out after you scrub every inch of the barracks by yourself with your tooth brush!”

Icy recoiled in horror. “I am a noble! I’ve been trying to help you!”

“Birthright means nothing here, or did you miss that part when you first showed up? If I tell you to clean, you will clean!”

A mutter rummaged through the crowd of recruits, more than a few backing away from Lightning and Icy Mist. Lightning grit her teeth, jabbing a wing towards the barracks.
“We’re done for today! You’re all dismissed!”

She didn’t even wait to see if they went back to the barracks, instead turning and storming for her office without another word. Her head was swimming as she slammed the door closed behind her, hard enough to make it rattle from her rage. As she slid into a seat behind Spitfire’s...her desk, her emotions were storming through her head like one of Chroma’s monstrous creations. It felt like everypony was against her now. Even her friends weren’t doing much to help her situation, with Adagio and Starlight more concerned with arguing with each other!

Tears were leaking from her eyes before she even realized it to stop it. Her lodge was falling apart again and before it even had a chance to pull themselves back together. The legacy of the organization that had helped raise her up was going to end here...and nothing she was doing was going to be able to save it. She slumped, resting her head against the desk as sobs began to wrack her body.

She did not know how long she sat there, venting her misery against the hardwood of her desk, before a new sound reached her ears.

Somepony was knocking.

She took a few deep breaths to clear her mind, wiping the remains of the tears from her eyes. Then holding her head high, she trotted over to the door and yanked it open.

“Go screw a knot hole!” she snarled.

“Permission to enter ma’am?”

It was Firefly.

“Uhh...sure,” Lightning said after a few stupid moments of silence.

Firefly trotted in, kicking the door closed behind her before following Lightning over to her desk. Lightning took a few more moments to shuffle and arrange her collection of papers and quills before finally looking Firefly in the eye.

“What can I do for you recruit?”

Firefly stood at attention. It was almost enough to make Lightning smile again. The mare before her was still the most professional of all the recruits she had gotten so far.

“Permission to speak freely ma'am?”

“Sure. Firefly away.”

Firefly slammed her forehooves on the edge of the desk. “With all due respect ma’am, you need to get your shit together.”

“...Why is it that everytime a pony says ‘with all due respect’ it ends up coming across as ‘go buck a beehive’?”

“I’m serious! Scootaloo may be an irreverent ass and Sky Stinger may be a lazy, vainglorious fool, but these ponies need you to pull them together, not tear them apart!”

Lightning glowered back. “I’ll point out that you weren’t exactly doing anything to diffuse the situation out there.”

Firefly shook her head. “Not my job. It’s your job. That’s why you’re sitting behind that desk right now. Though in light of that performance out there, I’m seriously questioning if you should be.”

Lightning stood up, slamming her own hooves down on the desk. “Are you saying that I shouldn’t have disciplined him?”

“Don’t play obtuse with me! That wasn’t enforcing discipline out there. That was a frustrated commander, beating one of her recruits because she let the situation get out of hoof! I’ve been watching you since I joined this lodge and do you know what I’ve seen?”

“Enlighten me,” Lightning hissed.

“I see a pony so desperate to rebuild her surrogate family that the minute things didn’t go well, she lost her damn cool! You are either going to drive away these recruits with that tainted attitude of yours, or you’re not going to pass inspection thanks to your confused training!”

“That is rampant speculation at best!”

“You do know that Chroma drove large swathes of her own army away from her with similar tactics, right? Her paranoia crippled her!”

Lightning actually did know that particular part of the legend. Equestria’s legions had fractured over who to support in the civil war that would go onto fracture the country itself, but the mass defection of Chroma’s own legion to the Republic’s forces was a particularly striking moment in that conflict. The defecting legionaries had left in the middle of the night, leaving their swords buried point down in their tents to represent the way Chroma had metaphorically stabbed them all in the back.

“Really, history lessons are a bit more Starlight’s thing-”

“Stop dodging the issue!”

“I am not dodging the issue! He needed to be put in place! And, I will point out, that it's not paranoia when an actual assassin has tried to kill me!” Lightning threw up her hooves. She was beyond shouting now. She was bellowing. Venting every bit of fury she had on the pony in front of her. “I’m trying to save my damn lodge! What in the name of Equestria do you know about any of this? You’re a mercenary! When have you ever had to try and rebuild something that meant the entire world to you?”

Firefly sighed. “Now.”

Firefly reared back, spreading her wings as wide as they could be. Then she brought her forehooves down again, smashing them an inch from Lightning Dust’s. And as they impacted against the wood, she changed. Colors swirled and fitted about her, the blue mane giving way to a multicolored hue, the pink coat giving way to a sky blue coat. In that moment, all of Lightning’s anger melted away and she stumbled back from her desk with a strangled, mouse like cry.

Chroma glared down at her, jaw set in a mixture of determination and anger. “And since the moment you and your friends freed me.”
> 6. The Rainbow Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Dust stared across the desk in complete shock.

Chroma, Bringer of Endless Storms, Commander of the 5th Legion and the mare that had attacked Ponyville not more than a month ago glared right back at her. Though she was smaller and less alicorn-y than Lightning Dust remembered. For what felt like an indeterminate amount of time the pair did nothing but stare at each other, neither pony willing to make the first move.

“...So…,” Chroma eventually said. “...This is kinda awkward…”

Lightning’s shocked mind ground back into action. Vaulting over the the desk, she aimed a kick right for Chroma’s snout. Chroma’s hooves were a blur as she blocked the strike, spun about and swatted a wing across Lightning’s face. With her vision temporarily blocked by feathers Lightning stumbled, just enough to give Chroma a moment to act. She snaked in, grabbing Lightning under the forelegs and locking her yanking her close to her body.

“Calm down! I’m not here to cause trouble!”

“Cause trouble? The whole reason the lodge is in this mess right now is because you!” Lightning snarled. She pulled against Chroma’s grip, but with the wound on her side, Chroma’s lock was nearly impossible to slip out of. “Did you come here to finish me off? Couldn’t do it in Ponyville, so you came here?”

“I’m not the assassin!”

“Liar!”

Ligntning snapped her head back, smiling at the yelp of pain from Chroma. Her body lock slipped just enough to let Lightning squirm free and lash out with a sweeping kick. But Chroma was fast, leaping over the strike and landing hard on Lightning again, pushing her to the floor.

“Listen to me! I’m not here to wreck your chances! I’m here to make amends!”

Lightning wasn’t interested in listening though. All she wanted to do in this moment was hurt the mare that had destroyed her comfortable world. She wanted to break the pony that had sent her comrades to prison, while she walked around free.

“Amends? That’s a poor offer to make when all of this is your fault! You destroyed the best home I’ve ever had! Why did you have to pick us in the first place? Weren’t the Horn Breakers more your style?”

“Actually the Black Rooks had more disgruntled ponies-” Chroma began only to pause and shake her head. “I am not having that conversation right now! Not until you calm down and listen to reason!”

Lightning snarled and twisted against Chroma’s pin. Chroma responded by leaning more of her bodyweight against Lightning.

“I will stay here all night if I have to,” Chroma growled. “And no offense, but you’re in no condition to deal with a pony who can actually fight back.”

“I shout loud enough and Iron Will is in here. Think you can take him without your alicorn magic?”

Chroma winced, but didn’t move. “Yeah, and I owe him just as much of an apology as anypony else. But I don’t want to fight him anymore than I want to fight you. If anything, I owe you and your friends for knocking some sense into me.”

Some of Chroma’s words began to puncture the buzzing cloud of anger that had engulfed Lightning Dust. She stopped struggling for now, instead glaring up into Chroma’s magenta eyes.

“So, what...you’re not crazy anymore, so you think you can make up for everything you did by joining the Rangers?”

Chroma laughed in response. It was a dry, bitter laugh, so devoid of any actual mirth Lightning could almost feel Laughter wincing in the back of her mind. “Squirt, I made a legion of widows during the rebellion and talked one of my best friends into damnation. I’m well aware that joining the Rangers won’t wipe my slate clean. But it’s a start. And a better one than just letting the magic healing rainbows speak for my ‘redemption’.”

“...So you really just revealed yourself to me to talk? That’s hard to believe.”

“Maybe. But it's the truth. I couldn’t just sit back and watch somepony make all the same mistakes I did. It’s like going to the amphitheater and watching a production of all your life’s failures.”

Lightning glowered furiously at Chroma. “All the same mistakes? What in the name of Luna’s black abyss are you going on about?”

Chroma rolled her eyes. “Alienating your soldiers, the start of creeping paranoia. Give you a horn and you’d be walking right down the same road as me, squirt.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“You’re three hundred years my junior, I’ll call you whatever I want.”

“You’re not making a good case for me to listen to you.”

“You can ignore me if you want, but losing your lodge could be the price.”

“Which still wouldn’t be a problem if you hadn’t used your dark magic to convince them!”

“Dark magic? You think I used the Rainbow of Darkness to make Spitfire see things my way? I didn’t need to. All I had to do was offer her a chance for glory and a restored Equestria, strong enough to drive the Everfree away.”

As much as Lightning dearly wished that she could believe that Chroma was lying, she knew in her heart of hearts that she wasn’t. There hadn’t been any sign of magical corruption on Spitfire or her other fellow Rangers. She had heard the grumbling about the lack of support from the capital flitting around the barracks like a flock of particularly agitated ravens. Whether it had been a question of ignorance or stupidity, Lightning had chosen to believe that things would somehow work out. But her companions had decided to take a more active hoof in seeing things change.

“So, this is it huh?” Lighting asked, her whole body slumping in complete exhaustion. “This is where the Black Rook Lodge ends? Gutted by corruption and shoved into the hooves of a pony who clearly can’t cut it?”

Chorma snorted. “Oh, drop the self pity already. It doesn’t suit you. But you know what else doesn’t suit you? Trying to be Spitfire. You are not her and you shouldn’t be trying to be her.”

“The Lodge needs a strong leader though!”

“It needs a leader. And strength isn’t just about shouting your head off. It’s about inspiring ponies to follow you into the depths of Tartarus and helping make them the best they can be!”

Chroma finally got off of Lightning, gesturing to encompass the whole of the lodge. “All of the raw potential to make this lodge into something amazing exists within these walls. And it’ll become what you decide to make it. And maybe, just maybe, it needs to be something other than what the Black Rook Lodge was. It needs to be Lightning Dust’s creation. Not Spitfire’s, reheated over half dead coals.”

Lightning found herself unable to do much but stare at Chroma as she spoke. There was an undeniable passion and energy in her words and Lightning found herself suddenly understanding how all of her fellow Rangers could have up and followed this mare. In fact, for just one moment, Lightning could almost see her at the head of one of Equestria’s old legions, red cloak flapping in the breeze.

“...You’re annoyingly good at motivational speeches.”

Chroma grinned back. “Well, yeah. I didn’t go from legionnaire to legatus legionis for nothing ya know. And in case you’ve forgot, I was Loyalty before Scorpan got to us all.” She waved a hoof at the Element of Laughter around Lightning’s neck. “I’ve sure you’ve noticed that the Elements won’t bond just anypony. And holding them only brings out their qualities in you.”

She extended a hoof to help Lightning Dust back to her hooves. “So, you tell me Lightning Dust. What do you want this lodge to be?”

But before Lightning even had a chance to answer, a bright flash filled the room, Starlight Glimmer appearing right behind it. She brandished her elemental staff as she grabbed Lightning about the shoulders.

“Lightning! I looked into Firefly’s name! She was Chroma’s second in command-”

Then she noticed Chroma.

“AH HA! Got you!”

The former alicorn dove for cover, as the beam from Starlight’s crystal capturing spell streaking overhead.  Insults were hurled, explanations attempted, but Lightning wasn't really paying attention to the particulars. Maybe it was just all the sleepless nights and stress finally reaching a breaking point, but the scene playing out in her office was just too absurd to respond in other way... and so she laughed!

Not a bemused chuckle or a playful tittiering, but a full raucous laughter rising out from the depths of her belly and filling the room. It brought everything else to a stand still, both Starlight and Chroma pausing to simply gawk.


- - - -


It had taken a long while to explain the situation, mostly because of how long it took Lightning's laughter to calm down enough for her to even breathe again, let alone form coherent words. Once Starlight had finally been convinced that Chroma wasn’t here as an enemy, her own academic curiosity had come out in full force, and Chroma had found herself assaulted instead by a barrage of a thousand and one different questions.

“....A potion?” Starlight deadpanned. “That’s how Scorpan made you an alicorn?”

Chroma nodded. “Yup.”

“No. Absolutely not! I refuse!” Starlight exclaimed, throwing her hooves up.

Lightning blinked. “...I don’t get it.”

“An alicorn is the perfect mixture and balance of the magic of all three tribes, concentrated into a whole different tier of power! There is absolutely no way you can bottle all of that up into a potion! If it was that easy to make an alicorn, everypony would be doing it!”

Chroma shrugged. “Look, I’m the one that drank the cursed thing. It was a potion. ….The change really hurt, does that help?”

“No! It still shouldn’t be possible!”

“I dunno what to tell ya then. If Twilight were here, she could probably tell you how it worked. She was the real magic user out of all of us.”

“Adagio’s going to hit the roof when she gets back,” Lightning chuckled. “I bet she’s going to have a whole bunch of questions herself. Suri too, since she’s bearing Loyalty.” She paused for a second and cocked her head. “Or actually, is she? Chroma, will you be wanting your Element back?”

Chroma sighed. “No, I’m pretty sure Loyalty won’t take me back. I had my chance and blew it. And I’m not foolish enough to think that any of you could be that kind of friends with me, not for a very long time yet. Anyway, can we hold off on more interrogations till they get back? Some of these stories I’d prefer to only tell once.”

Lightning nodded, taking a moment to glance at the clock ticking away on her wall. “Fair enough. Looks like it’s about time for first watch at that.”

“I’ll get on it,” Chroma said. An ethereal magenta glow settled around the tips of her primary feathers and almost instantly her colors began to shift back to those of Firefly. “I just have a couple of requests from you two.”

“What’s that?” Starlight asked. “...And how did you do that?”

Chroma shrugged. “Dunno really. I guess that Harmony hasn’t completely given up on me. But, don’t call me Chroma. That’s not my name. It’s Rainbow Dash when I’m not wearing this face.”

“And the other thing?”

Rainbow Dash’s wings visibly drooped, while her voice dropped to a whisper. “...Help my friends. None of us asked for this...and Fluttershy, or Echidna as you know her...she’s directly my fault. I’m the one who convinced her to drink. Just...please don’t give up on them.”

Lightning draped a wing over Rainbow Dash’s side. “We won’t. I promise.”

Rainbow Dash nodded back and slipped out the office door. Starlight watched her go with a slight frown.

“Do you really think we can do that?”

“Is it really any crazier than Adagio setting us against possible hidden enemies in The Heartlands?”

“...Point taken.”

“That’s one crisis down for the time being. Here’s hoping that Tirek won’t be bringing another with him.”

“Tirek? He’s still around?”

Lightning passed the old centaur’s letter over. Starlight read it with a frown. “Well, that’s nice and vague.”

“Yup. But he guarded the Elements of Harmony for who knows how long. I don’t think that I can ignore it.”

“Not saying that you should. I’m just saying that you should bring some backup. Will and I should do.”

Lightning was in no mood to argue this point. Going into the Everfree Forest alone was the height of foolishness, even for a Ranger.

“All right then. I’ll see both of you tonight.”


- - - -


Tirek’s letter hadn’t exactly specified the exact part of the Everfree to meet him in. Not that naming landmarks was all that useful in a forest that liked to change its shape every now and again. Still, as she, Starlight and Iron Will approached the edge of the forest, twinkling lights began to become apparent along the edge of the treeline.

“Is that a good sign or a bad one?” Starlight asked.

“Well, it's a sign that he’s here with friends at least,” Lightning said. “Those look like torch lights to me.”

They crept into the edge of the vast wood as a group, the night making the Everfree look all the more foreboding. Will kept his grip tight on his axe as they advanced towards the flickering lights, every muscle in his body tensed for an ambush.

“Master Tirek?” Lightning called out.

A few of the bushes rustled for a moment before the centaur stepped into view. His appearance was one of contradictions. In many ways, he was an old stallion, with craggy lines on his face and a billowing white beard clinging to his chin. But there was also lean muscle lacing his form, speaking to years of being a wandering warrior type. Though the spear and longbow always helped with that impression.

He gave her a friendly smile. “A pleasure to see you again friend Lightning Dust.”

“Glad to see you again too. Though I’m surprised to see you here. I figured you would have traveled on.”

Tirek chuckled, idly stroking his beard. “It was something I considered. But the Everfree has become quite the exciting place since the battle at the Dragon Rib Mountains.”

“What do you mean?”

Tirek motioned for her to follow before turning and heading towards the flickering lights. Lightning exchanged a curious glance with Starlight and Will before following. After a few more minutes of walking, Tirek lead them into what appeared to be a small clearing.

A clearing that was full of caprataurs.

Lightning froze at first as two dozen pairs of eyes fell upon her. She could almost feel Starlight tensing up at her side. But on a second look, she realized that they weren’t exactly warriors. They were mostly women, with a few scattered children and scrawny males through the lot. Most of them looked scrawny and underfed, though a large meal of roots and tubers were spread out on a blanket between them. A meal that they returned to once it was clear that Lightning wasn’t going to attack them. Lightning turned her gaze to Tirek, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“While Rainbow Dash did not realize it at the time, many of the ruling beastlords died in her attack. Now the survivors struggle to see who will come out on top of the tribal totem pole, while others plan and plot against ponykind.”

He waved idly towards the collected caprataurs. “However, it has also opened up opportunities for those who no longer wish to be part of the tribal power structure. I’ve decided to help these folk find new lives outside the Everfree. The Border Princesses, perhaps.”

“Well, I wish you and your charges luck. Be careful heading north though. You’ll have to slip past the Horn Breakers. But what does it have to do with me?”

“I consider this more of a fair warning,” Tirek said. He calmly stroked his beard, delivering possibly horrific news with an unnerving calmness. “My charges tell me that the one eyed beastlord that stalked your predecessor is eager to stretch his muscles. If he were to lead a major victory against ponykind, it would establish him as amongst the most powerful of the surviving beastlords.”

“Great. That’s all Ponyville needs right now,” Starlight grumbled. She began to pace, brow furrowed as she considered the problem before them. “A caprataur invasion right after we almost got washed away by Chroma?...Err...Rainbow Dash I mean.” She shook her head. “The point is, I’m not sure we’re prepared!”

“Well, if Rainbow Dash is once again in her right mind, then perhaps her council should be sought in how to handle a fight with caprataurs,” Tirek mused.

“Having the Black Rook Lodge ready would help a lot too,” Iron Will said.

Lightning allowed herself a wry smile. “No pressure then!”

Triek smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with a mischievous air. “I am quite sure you can handle that friend Lightning Dust. But if there are no other concerns, I must get my charges under way. We have far to travel.”

With warnings provided, Lightning lead the way back to Ponyville. There were a lot of things buzzing around her mind on the way back, but most of it was dominated by the conversation with Rainbow Dash. Perhaps she had a point. Perhaps it was time to make the Black Rook Lodge her own.


- - - - 


The mood was grim in the mess hall the next morning.

Nopony spoke as they chomped listlessly away at their oatmeal. Everypony slumped in their seats, the misery of the yesterday’s events hanging overhead in metaphorical stormclouds. One would be hard pressed to find a more miserable group of ponies in The Heartlands.

Lightning Dust strode into the room with her head held high. Today was the day she was going to turn everything around.

“Good morning everypony! I hope that everypony is ready to get some work done!”

A round of grumbles rippled through the crowd. But Lightning was undeterred. She walked down the lines with a bright smile on her muzzle. “Look, I owe you all an apology. I’ve not been handling your training well. I’ve been far too focused on the idea of what this lodge was. Trying too much to be Spitfire. But you know what? I’m not Spitfire. And this lodge can’t be what it was anymore.”

She stopped at Sky Stinger’s side. “Sky, what I did yesterday was out of line. You have potential as a ranger. It’s just a question of putting in the work.”

“What’s the point?” he sighed, before glaring at Vapor Trail. “If somepony will just be there to carry me!”

“I just wanted to help,” Vapor Trail muttered. “Being a questing, adventurer type has always been your dream. I couldn’t let you wash out.”

“And he’s not. If he puts in the work himself,” Lightning Dust said. “You can support him and lift him up. But he has do the heavy lifting himself.” She turned in place, spreading her forelegs wide. “You all have the potential to be Rangers. And together, we can build a better lodge. A lodge that won’t repeat the same mistakes of the past. The Heartlands are saying that we no longer belong. I say we prove them wrong!”

Icy Mist now stood. “That’s the spirit! We aren’t done yet! I say we redouble our efforts! Really show the ponies in charge what this place is capable of!”

Lightning clapped a hoof on Icy Mist’s back. “That’s the attitude I like to hear! So, what do the rest of you have to say? Are we going to make this lodge the new gem in the Everfree Rangers? Are we going to be the best ponies we can be?”

The room remained quiet at first. But then Sunflower opted to stand, nervously clearing her throat before speaking.

“I think that if you’re willing to try a different tack, than all of us can put in the effort. I know that I believe in this lodge...and I want to believe in all of us. So...does everypony think that they can make one more effort?”

Rainbow Dash, in the guise of Firefly stood now. “I know that I will. What say the rest of you?”

“I will!” Icy Mist called.

“Me too!” Angel Wings shouted.

“I’ll try again if everypony else will,” Vapor Trail said, smiling softly.

“I suppose I will too,” Sky Stinger said.

The rest of the trainees also murmured their agreement. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough for LIghtning Dust. She’d lead by example and build something great.

“Alright everypony! Get you gear! It’s time for us to do some training in the Everfree itself!”
> 7. Spiders and Goats
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monsters lurked in the Everfree.

They flew, crawled, scuttled, burrowed and brachiated through its verdant vastness, ambushing unprepared travelers and occasionally wandering out of its bounds to terrorize ponykind. But as Lightning Dust lead her trainees into it, she had to admit that there was a familiar aspect to it as well. While most ponies viewed the forest with nothing more than a sense of dread, Lightning’s own relationship with it was a bit more complicated.

Sure, it was a dangerous place. But it was also kind of wondrous at the same time. Whatever depths of Bitterroot’s imagination the forest had sprung from, a veritable legion of strange and useful plants had come with it.

There were the crackling zap apples that made the most delicious jam. Glowcap mushrooms that made for cheap and easy lighting for lower class ponies. Snickersnap vines, with their springy state were quite useful when it came to snares and improvised traps. And, of course, there were the dozens of varieties of truffles that always sent ponies and their hunting boars to explore every nook and cranny.

Lightning stopped in a clearing, turning to face her charges. “Alright everypony. Here’s the very first thing you must know about the Everfree forest. It is always changing its layout. That’s why we never go into the forest without one of these.”

She plucked a compass from her saddlebags. “Bitterroot may be able to shift the trees and the landscape whenever she tosses and turns in her dreams. But she can’t change what direction north is in. Never. Leave. Without. Your. Compass. I know I said I’d stop being all Spitfire here, but this is an exception.” She held her little device high. “If you get lost in the trees, one of these, and the memory that Ponyville is to the east of us- which is that way-” she said, jabbing a hoof back the way they came, “will help save your life. Understood?”

With all eyes on their commander, the recruits replied affirmatively as with a single voice. “Understood!” Lightning felt a little surge of hope at the echo of the Rangers’ old unity.

“Good! Now, follow me, we’re going to learn how to track a beast through the undergrowth.”


- - - -


“That’s a print, right?” Angel Wings asked.

Sunflower cocked her head as she peered at the patch of dirt. “I think so...could be a smudge though.”

“Isn’t a print kind of the same thing as a smudge? Just in the dirt?”

After explaining the basics of how to track, Lightning Dust had lead them on for what felt like another hour or so until they had found another clearing among the trees. It was a wide open area, with several fallen trees and trampled plant life that sloped down to a narrow, winding ravine. There she had let everypony split up to examine the area and see if they could pick up any tracks.

Angel Wings rubbed her chin. “Well...if it is a print, what do you think it’s a print of?”

“I dunno...the Mighty Smudge Beast?”

“Nah, the domain of the Mighty Smudge Beast is Sonata’s kitchen.”

Angel and Sunflower jumped at the sound of Lightning Dust’s voice coming from right behind them. She hovered above them with a wry grin and her forelegs crossed.

“Buuuut...yeah, that one’s just a smudge. Or a track that’s been washed out enough by rain that it’s effectively a smudge. Now that one over there?” She pointed to another spot on the ground. “That’s a thorn boar track. There’s quite a few of them in fact.”

Sunflower hummed to herself considering the implications of that. “So, with all the trampled down plants, that probably means this is a regular travel ground for them?”

“Good deduction! For whatever reason, the animals of the Everfree seem to know their way about despite the shifting terrain.”

“Why’s that?” Sky Stinger asked from his position across the way.

“No one knows. Maybe Bitterroot doesn’t hold things against animals the way she does against ponykind. Maybe it’s just that if you spend long enough in the Everfree Bitterroot’s magic changes you a bit. The caprataurs seem to have an easier time finding their way around as well. But the important thing is to remember is that animals and monsters won’t be thrown off by a sudden change in terrain.”

“Just how often does that happen anyway?” Vapor Trail asked.

Lightning Dust shrugged. “It’s completely random. Bitterroot dreams. The forest changes.”

“Does she make the birds stop singing too?” Icy Mist asked.

Lightning Dust frowned, slowly scanning the clearing. “Hmm. No. It means that there’s something dangerous nearby.” Smoothly, she drew her crossbow. “Weapons up everypony.”

Up came the other crossbows. Lightning kept her position in the air above, while motioning with a hoof for everyone to gather up. “Okay, we’re going to slowly back out of the area. Don’t make any sudden movements. If we stay grouped together, most Everfree predators will leave us alone.”

They began to do just that winding their way back down the path they had followed into this area. It was slow going with weapons balanced in hooves, but nopony complained or spoke as they crept along. Their eyes swept the undergrowth for threats, each of them ready to unleash a flurry of bolts at the first beast that showed its muzzle.

That was, until the underbrush shook. Sunflower cried out, spun about and fired. The crossbow bolt passed just over Scootaloo’s head before vanishing into the undergrowth.

“What was that?” Scootaloo exclaimed. She stormed over to Sunflower, almost dropping her own crossbow in the process. “You could have hit any one of us with that shot!”

“I-I’m sorry!” Sunflower stammered. She wasn’t looking at Scootaloo while she answered, instead keeping her gaze fixed on the surrounding plant life. “But I t-thought I saw something! What if it was some kind of blood sucking bat or a badger that eats your bones?”

Lightning landed on her other side. “It’s okay Sunflower. It was much more likely to be something simple, like a weasel, squirrel or rabbit.”

Then came the snicker. Everypony turned to see a white rabbit, standing on a nearby rock. It wore a devious smile, quite uncommon for a bunny. But worse was the fact it was idly twirling Sunflower’s crossbow bolt in a paw.

The recruits all gave sighs of relief, Sunflower even going as far as to coo at the little fluff ball.

“Aww! How cute!”

“...Buck,” Lightning swore.

Angel Bunny, demon rabbit of Echidna, dropped the bolt and gave an unearthly screech before charging into the middle of the crowd. Chaos descended as the little furry beast began springing from pony to pony, bowling them over with surprisingly strong kicks and punches. Lightning could swear that the little bastard was cackling with glee as he sent ponies sprawling.

She dove for the rat, swinging the butt of her crossbow right at his stupid fuzzy face! But Angel just jumped over the strike, landed on Lightning’s crossbow and then cracked her across the snout with a spinning kick. She stumbled backwards, rubbing at the sore spot. 

“Gah! You stupid, little-”

Angel snickered again.

Before Lightning could take another crack and putting him down, soft singing began to fill the area.

Lightning swore. “Ascraids! LEG IT!”

Her charges needed no further encouragement, taking off at full gallop. However, they didn’t make it far before magic lashed across their path. A verdant green color, it cracked and popped through the air, a lashing wall of thorny vines rising up to block their way. An alicorn shaped shadow swooped overhead, followed by another soft round of singing.

“Back the other way!” Lightning shouted, snapping off a shot at the retreating form of Echidna.”We’ll have to find a way around!”

And so they galloped back towards the clearing and the ravine, only to come to another sliding stop at the sight that greeted them.

Massive segmented legs were reaching out of the ravine, hauling a massive form out of the lightless depths beneath the earth. Lightning’s heart sank as the beast finished pulling itself into the muted Everfree sunlight.

It was a spider the size of one of Ponyville’s cottages. The web draped shell was a lurid, clashing pattern of yellow and black that was quite unpleasant to look at. Lightning could only groan as the lumbering arachnid clicked its mandibles at the feast of ponies laid out before it.

An arachnarok spider.

They were one of the most vicious monsters to live in the Everfree, perhaps beaten out only by the mighty ursa majors. Yet they were strong and hungry enough to hunt the major’s cubs, the so called ursa minors. Normally they rarely bothered ponies, as they were simply too small to be worth the energy to catch and eat. Lightning had already realized that this case was far from normal.

“Scatter!” Lightning shouted as the spider charged.

The arachnarok barreled through them, scattering ponies left and right with its sheer bulk. Save for Sunflower. She stood stock still, paralyzed by sheer fright of the onrushing beast.

“Sunflower, move!” Lightning shouted, diving for the stunned earth pony.

The arachnarok brought one of its limbs down in a brutal smash. Sunflower tried to dive out of the way, but she was a fraction too slow. There was a nasty crunching sound as the tip of the leg tore through Sunflower’s right hind leg. Sunflower’s bone chilling scream of pain tore through the clearing, making everypony freeze, their blood running cold. Sunflower could only sob as the arachnarok scooped her up, almost gently bringing her towards its dripping fangs.

“TAKE IT DOWN!” Lightning bellowed.

She was already moving, her crossbow spitting an armored piercing bolt right for the beasts multifaceted eyes. The bolt drilled into the depths of one of its eight, eliciting a shriek of pain from the monster. Sunflower toppled from its legs as it lumbered about to face down Lightning dust.

Then came a round of bolts from her Rangers to be.

They raked the flanks of its carapace, more than a few finding gaps where the beast’s crude breathing ports were situated. The rest bounced off the thick shell, or got caught in its sticky web covering, as it took a few angry swipes at Lightning Dust. Lightning dove to avoid the swipe, transitioning into a barrel roll as she shot between its eight massive legs.

The arachnarok turned about again, now facing the largest group of Rangers that had fired at it a moment before. Thrusting its abdomen forward, webbing sprayed wildly across the line of rangers each strand easily as thick as a pony’s foreleg. Ponies collapsed as they were stuck to the ground by the sticky threads. Angel Wings and Icy Mist were part of that group and immediately began to try pushing their way out of the mess. Scootaloo broke off from her position, galloping for the trapped rangers and drawing a knife as she went.

On the other side of the spider, Firefly lead her group of applicants on another sortie. Once more the crossbows twanged their deadly chorus but this time she was calling her shots.

“Go for the leg joints! We need to bring it down!”

A few of the bolts managed to bury themselves in the leg joints, but it was a hard target to hit while it bucked and shifted now turning to face Firefly’s line. Lightning came about again her next shot drilling deep into its bulging abdomen, cutting through its carapace like it was wet paper. Every shot from her crossbow struck with a power that made the beasts armor effectively useless. But when your target was the size of a house crossbow bolts were only so many pin pricks.

“Come on you eight legged freak! Pegasus with juicy flanks right here! Come and get me!” Lightning shouted, practically wiggling her rump in the spider’s face. “I bet that you’re too damn slow to catch a pegasus like me!”

The spider reared up, swinging its tree-trunk sized legs wildly. Lightning spun about and dove, avoiding the strikes by such a narrow margin that her hooves were skimming along the the edge of the shell.

“Shoot it now!” she shouted, even as she banked to the right of the abdomen with all her might, her wings and side screaming from the effort.

Once more the crossbows sounded, the bolts now tearing into the relatively soft underbelly of the colossal spider. It screeched in pain, almost toppling backwards before managing to right itself.

Lightning had a feeling that Echidna’s magic was keeping the arachnarok around. Most predators wouldn’t so doggedly chase prey after being wounded. Wounds risked their ability to hunt and that meant starvation. Bad news for the spider, but also bad news for them, as they’d actually have to kill this thing!

Webbing wrapped around her hind legs.

“Ascr-”

She hit the ground and hard, eliciting a fresh round of agony in her still healing ribs. The shadow of the arachnarok loomed over her and she could hear its fangs grinding against each other, eager to feast. Rolling into her back, she stared up into the cold, alien eyes of the monster that was going to kill her.

“RRRAAAGGHHH!”

There was a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. Then came a blur of rainbow that smashed into the spider’s head. Chitin crunched and bucked. Green ichor flew every which direction as a gaping head wound was opened up by the hooves of an infuriated Rainbow Dash. The spider reeled, almost falling over again. Lightning dove for her weapon.

“Aim for the head wound!” she shouted.

The crossbows of the Rangers...her Rangers, sang a final time. Over a dozen bolts drilled through the gaping hole in the shell, ending their journey in the oversized spider’s undersized brain. With a final, rattling screech, it keeled over, its legs twitching a few times before finally lying still.

For a moment, the only sound in the clearing was the continued soft sobs of Sunflower.

Lightning grit her teeth and limped to her hooves. “Rainbow Dash! Grab Sunflower. Rangers! Get our trapped members out of those webs. Use your utility knives! We are falling back to Ponyville, now!”

The sounds of more crossbows cocking filled the air as every applicant were now pointing their weapons at Rainbow Dash. For her part, Rainbow Dash was keeping her cool, keeping an even stare back at them.

“Weapons down Chroma!” Sky Stinger snapped. “You’re coming with us!”

“Funny...I was already planning to,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

Lightning Dust stomped over to Sky, placing herself between him and Rainbow Dash. “Stand down, Sky Stinger!”

“Have you lost your mind? That’s Chroma! The one that put you in this mess! She helped destroy Equestria!”

“I know exactly who she is and both what she’s done and what I and my friends have done to her! Bur in case you’ve forgotten, we have wounded and anotheralicorn- who has more directly tried to kill all of us- is still in the area! Now stand down! All of you! I’ll explain everything once Sunflower is safe!”

Sky Stinger glared daggers at Chroma, but lowered her weapon. “Fine.”

Everypony burst into action eager to leave the spider and the forest far behind them.


- - - -


Echidna watched the ponies go with a frown.

Clearly, she had underestimated the resilience of them. It seemed that even one element bearer was dangerous on her own. Still, she had gained a few useful pieces of information. One, Lightning Dust could rally ponies to her side. Two, Rainbow Dash was now working for the side she had once hated so much.

From her hidden perch in the treetops, she reached over to pat her faithful companion on the head.

“Oh, Angel Bunny, what are we going to do about these foolish little ponies?”

Angel ran his paw across his throat.

“I know, I know! But we might need some help.”

Angel thumped a foot against his branch. Then, holding his paws next to his head like horns, he stomped back and forth, snarling and growling. Echidna beamed at her little friend.

“That’s a great idea! I’ll set it up tonight! I don’t know what I’d do without you Angel.”


- - - - 


In the depths of the Everfree, the caprataurs held dominance.

They alone were strong enough to survive the monsters and the weather. They alone were resilient enough to deal with the depredations of the constantly shifting forest. They were nothing like the weak ponies, cowering in their cities, behind their walls. Building over ancient hunting grounds. Pitiful ponies, mewling and scrabbling in the dirt. Pretending that they were anything more than worms.

Such dismissive rage coursed through the body of Azrakh as he stalked through his war camp. Change had come to the Everfree and Azrakh intended to be on the top of the pile. His war camp was strong. Great walls of thorny vines had been conjured into being by his chief shaman, all centered around the tribe’s totem. The statue of Jormungandr was likewise made from summoned vines, thorns and wood. It loomed over the camp, a fearsome tower that spoke to their devotion and to their appetite to destroy pony kind. The serpent that would devour the world. His warriors camped around its massive edifice, dwelling in crude tents arranged around equally crude firepits and lit by flickering torches.

Azrakh’s brief good mood faded as he saw two warriors trading blows while one of the does cowered nearby. The two were among his more powerful gors, and each should have easily been able to claim a doe or two for themselves. But now, with so many does having vanished in the upheaval from the rainbow pony’s attacks, they were no longer enough does to go around, even among the elite.

“Rogalor!” he bellowed.

The shaman came hobbling over, hanging onto his crooked staff. The crude fake wings that he clung to like a totem clattered as he dipped his head into a bow. “My lord?”

“Have scouts found does?”

Rogalor shook his head. Azrakh growled, his hands tightening into fists. The ponies were behind this, somehow. He felt it deep in his bones. The weak little filth, stealing their women! He would personally break every last one of the vibrant coated little bugs. He would snap their spines and break their bones. He-

A vibrant flash of light filled the camp.

All around him, his warriors bellowed their rage, scrambling for their weapons. Azrakh shaded his eyes with a hand, keeping his gaze and ire focused on the massive shape that appeared around their totem statue. Long and serpentine, it coiled about the base with a rumbling hiss. As the light faded, the beast that had visited his war camp was revealed in all of its glory.

The serpent was massive, almost as tall as the totem that bore a similar likeness. A massive fang filled maw dominated most of the head, while beady little eyes peered out at the teeming mass of caprataurs around it. Coils capable of crushing boulders draped over each other, easily capable of smacking the assembled warriors aside. The odd thing about its appearance though was its yellow body, giving way to pink on its armored plates.

Rogalor threw himself prostrate before the beast. “Mighty serpent! Why have you come?”

Azrakh was one inch away from striking the superstitious fool, when the serpent began to speak in a soft, sibilant voice. “Your totem spirit demands war! You crouch and hide in the forest, while the ponies plot against you.” The serpent partially uncoiled itself, letting its tail sway back and forth in the air. Six pictures of ponies danced in the air above the serpent’s tail.

Azrakh’s nostrils flared, a furious snarl tearing from his throat. He recognized those ponies! They had attacked his war herd before!

“These six lead their kind against you! You must strike them down before they can strike you down!”

Fury built within Azrakh’s frame. Those little ponies, meddling in his efforts again! No longer did he care about the true identity of this serpent...not completely at least. It was probably a threat, but one that could be dealt with later. No...he would deal with those six first.

“Accept my gifts and conquer in my name!” the serpent hissed. It then opened its mouth, spewing forth a cloud of inky blackness that engulfed one of his warriors. Azrakh watched as the gor grew and swelled, extra limbs sprouting from his frame. Soon the monster that he was towered over the rest of the crowd, roaring in glee at his newfound strength and size.

As quickly as it appeared, the serpent vanished in another flash of light. All around him, Azrakh’s warriors chanted towards the night sky, roaring and cheering at the thought of visiting violence upon ponykind.

“Beastlord! Command?” Rogalor asked.

“Gather war-heads!” Azrakh snarled. “Hunt pony-filth! Kill pony!”

In the distance one of his gors blew the camp’s mighty war horn. Eager for the blood that would be spilled in the future, Azrakh threw his head back and bellowed to the night sky.
> 8. The Battle of Black Rook Lodge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponies paced while the surgeons worked.

The waiting room of Ponyville’s healing house was packed with more than a few members of the Everfree Rangers. Lightning Dust, Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail, Angel Wings, Icy Mist, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash (in her Firefly guise) had all crammed themselves into the small chamber while the rest of the rangers milled around outside. While Lightning paced and fretted about Sunflower, the others kept their eyes firmly locked on Rainbow Dash.

“...I can’t believe you brought Chroma into the Rangers,” Sky Stinger eventually spat.

“I’m just trying to start over,” Rainbow Dash responded. There wasn’t malice or begging in those words. Just a simple statement of fact. “The Elements of Harmony cleansed me of my madness.”

“And that’s it? You just get to claim madness and we’re supposed to just forgive you for everything you did?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Kid...I don’t even forgive myself for what I’ve done. I’ll be paying back my debt for the rest of my life.”

“But why us? Why the Rangers?” Vapor Trail asked.

“There was a tradition among the legions,” Rainbow Dash began with a sigh. “Disgraced legionnaires would take a posting on Equestria’s most remote borders to defend the country against external threats. This...isn’t exactly the same. But it's close enough.”

“So, what...you just work alongside us?” Angel Wings asked. “We just...pretend that you’re Firefly?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Why not? It’s an easy way to avoid the problems that will follow if I just reveal myself to everypony. It’s just...better this way. Besides, I may not be Chroma any more, but I’m not sure I’ve earned the right to be Rainbow Dash again yet.”

Sky Stinger glared at Lightning Dust. “You can’t seriously be willing to go along with this!”

Lightning stopped her pacing to look at him. “I don’t see why she can’t earn a bit of redemption. She used to be one of Equestria’s greatest defenders before Scorpan did what he did. I’m inclined to believe that the Elements did their job, considering she saved our behinds when one of her supposed ‘friends’ tried to kill us. At the very least, I think that she’s earned a chance.”

“Really?” Sky Stinger exclaimed.

Lightning shrugged back. “I gave you a second chance.”

“What I did doesn’t come close to what she did!”

“No, it isn’t. But Rainbow Dash has expressed her remorse and that’s good enough for me to give her that chance.”

All was quiet for a moment before Scootaloo spoke up. “I say we give her a second chance. She did kind of help save us from that spider.”

Sky Stinger looked around at everypony. “We can’t seriously be considering this can we?”

Lightning frowned. “In the end, it’s my call. I intend to allow Rainbow Dash a chance to make up for her mistakes. If that’s a problem, you’re free to go.”

Nopony moved. Though a few of them still seemed uncertain about the presence of the former alicorn. Rainbow Dash looked ready to say something, when the door to the surgery theater swung open. The surgeon’s smock was dirty with the results of his work and his expression was grim.

“She will live, but she lost the leg.” A round of winces and groans ran through the group as the surgeon continued his explanation. “It will take a bit of getting used to, but she will be able to walk with a prosthesis. Combat though…”

Lightning nodded, not needing him to finish the sentence. “Is she awake? I’d like to speak with her.”

“She is. I’m hoping you can lift her spirits. She’s-”

“Thank you,” Lightning interrupted, pushing past him and into the operating theater and then beyond to the recovery room. Sunflower was laying in a cot near the entrance her gaze focused firmly on the wall. Her right hind leg was now mostly missing, and thoroughly wrapped in fresh bandages. Lightning sat down on the cot next to her.

“Glad to see that you’re still with us,” Lightning began. “Walking away from an arachnarok strike is no small feat.”

Sunflower said nothing.

“I know that direct combat roles aren’t really possible right now. But you’ll always be welcome at the lodge-”

“Why?” she croaked. “I can’t fight like this. I’m a useless cripple now.”

Lightning bristled at that. “Just because you can’t fight, doesn’t mean you’re useless! We can get you a replacement limb! You can still help out at the lodge!”

”How? Scrubbing floors? Feeding the birds? Being a glorified maid? ...I could do that at any of the merchant or noble houses in the country.”

“Or you can still help with the training. Or support your fellow Rangers emotionally. We’re…a family. We can’t just throw you out like garbage.” She stood, fixing Sunflower with the most intense gaze she could manage. “And I won’t. Do you understand me?”

“But-”

“Sunflower, there’s a bunch of ponies out there, pacing because they’re worried about you. ...I know that everything looks dark and hopeless right now. But I’m not going to let you throw your future away because things look hopeless at the moment.”

A choked sob shook Sunflower’s body as she threw her forelegs around Lightning Dust in a tight hug, burying her face against the side of Lightning’s neck. Lightning Dust hugged back, letting the mare’s sorrow break against her body. She would sit right here and wait until Sunflower had vented all her feelings. Together they sat, Sunflower’s tears soaking Lightning’s coat until the sobs eventually began to slow and then, eventually, stop.

Sunflower pulled back, eyes red, but with a more determined expression now. “O-okay. If you still want me around…”

“I do.”

“...Then I’ll give it my best.”

Lightning grinned. “That’s what I like to hear. I’ll see you back at the lodge once you’re released then?”

“As soon as I can,” Sunflower said, allowing herself a small smile. “For now though, I should probably get some rest.”

Considering the surgery she had just gone through, Lightning couldn’t blame her for wanting some sleep. Excusing herself from the room, she set her mind to what was going to come next.

It was time to really get ready for Harshwhinny.


- - - - 


A chorus of shouts and the discordant clang of weapons on weapons, rose from the lodge parade grounds in a veritable wall of sound.

With Harshwhinny’s arrival crawling closer with every day, training had become accelerated. This morning the applicants had been squared off against each other, with Rainbow Dash overlooking it all. Now that her secret was out in the open among the Rangers, she was putting some of her former legion training to work. Today’s focus was one of hoof-to-hoof combat techniques.

“GAH!”

Which was how Lightning Dust found herself getting smacked around the parade ground by one of ancient Equestria’s greatest generals.

“This is a basic choke lock,” Rainbow Dash explained. All while she kept her forelegs firmly, but not too firmly, locked around Lightning’s neck. “Basically, it’s the move you want to break out when you need to take somepony down quickly. Put just a little more pressure on the neck and you can knock a pony right out.”

After the first round of morning grappling, where in Rainbow had assessed everypony’s skill sets, she was now demonstrating her moves on Lightning Dust. A fact that she was starting to regret agreeing too.

“Avenge me everypony!” she mock gasped through Rainbow’s grip. “Avenge me!”

...Not that she couldn’t have some fun with it.

Rainbow Dash didn’t react to Lightning’s attempts at levity and instead pushed onwards with her demonstrations. “Now, when you’re dealing with another pegasus or a griffin, their wings are your primary concern. Lock those down and their mobility is hampered. Now, your basic wing grapple-”

Lightning found herself flipped upside down, her wings pinned against the tight muscles of Rainbow Dash’s chest.

“I prefer this one. It’s easy to transfer into a basic body slam, which can be useful to stun or disarm a pony.”

While Rainbow Dash rambled on, Lightning Dust found her eyes drawn to a dark spot on the horizon. A dark spot that was drawing closer and closer. The dark spot ended up banking hard and dropping straight for Lightning Dust, quickly revealing itself as the dark coated form of Night Glider.

“She’s here!” she shouted, coming to an ungainly stop.

“Who is?” Lightning blinked.

“Harshwhinny! She’s shown up early! Starlight is trying to stall her, but I don’t think you have much time-”

A chorus of panicked shouting rippled through the applicants as Rainbow Dash dropped Lightning to the ground.

While panic threatened to break out all around her, Lightning Dust calmly got to her hooves, brushed herself off and gave a sharp whistle. Everything stopped as all eyes locked onto her.

“I’m not gonna lie, this is less than ideal,” Lightning said, beginning to pace as she addressed everypony. “I had hopped to run a final round of trials before Harshwhinny arrived. But it looks like her inspection is going to be those trials. This might not be ideal, but we are going to face her like the Everfree Rangers we aspire to be. Understood?”

“Mam, yes mam!”

“Good! Go make sure your bunks are clean! We want to look good when Harshwhinny arrives!”

As everypony scattered to get ready, Lightning Dust headed for her office. She was going to be ready.


- - - -


Starlight Glimmer had to give Harshwhinny some credit. She was focused on her task in a way that few nobles Starlight had met were. As they and the hulking stallion that was Harshwhinny’s judicial champion marched out towards the Black Rook Lodge, Starlight could only fume as every attempt she had made to buy her friend a little more time had been rebuffed.

“I appreciate what you are trying to accomplish,” Harshwhinny said with a labored sigh. “But if Lightning Dust can not be ready for surprises such as this, then she is not suited for the role of leadership.”

Starlight’s coat bristled at the comment. At least Lightning Dust was out and trying to rebuild the Rangers, rather than passing judgement on them from afar! But on second thought, she pushed the bile back down and flashed the smile she usually reserved for diplomacy.

“While I can appreciate that in theory, you did still give her three months and are showing up after one. There are serious questions about how much training she’ll have been able to do in that time period.”

Harshwhinny suddenly stopped, forcing Starlight into a stumbling stop of her own. “Which shall be taken into account Miss Glimmer. Professionalism is what I expect from those who work for me and I will maintain the same standard.”

Starlight glowered, but didn’t comment further. She spared a glance towards the baronesses’ “judicial champion”. Troubleshoes hadn’t said one word since their arrival, his expression dour at best. Clearly neither were in the mood for it and she wasn’t about to sour the mare’s mood before inspecting her friend’s work.

But her heart rose as they drew closer to the lodge. She could hear the sounds of training rising over its sturdy looking walls and it sounded…good? Admittedly, she hadn’t done much martial combat herself, but all the shouts and strikes seemed to be echoing at a rhythmic pace that would indicate a sense of order. She could even make out a few ponies keeping watch on the walls.

“Hail!” a sunflower colored mare called down as they drew close to the gates. “State your name and your business. Please.”

“Baroness Harshwhinny and associates, here to conduct an inspection of the Black Rook Lodge as ordered by their royal majesties King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis.”

“Hmm. That’s a good answer.”

The mare vanished beneath the parapet. A moment later the gates swung open, allowing them ingress into the parade grounds.

Where in Starlight was greeted by a massive metal and wooden spider.

...I really should have kept a better eye on this place when Spitfire was in charge.

The construct bucked and waved its limbs about in a horrible display. Any one of them looked like they could have bowled a pony over or even knocked them unconcious. But Lightning’s rangers...were doing fine. More than fine in fact.

About half were training on the spider, moving to support each other as they fought. They called out swings when the limbs came barreling towards them, they were aiming for obvious weak points in tandem. They were fighting like a team!

The other half were engaged in marksmare practice on caprataur sized dummies. Again, order seemed to be the command of the day, as they stepped up in neat lines to unleash their volleys upon the targets and even when bullseyes weren’t scored, they maintained their decorum.

And through it all walked Lightning Dust, dressed in her Elemental best as she called out to trainees and gave suggestions.

“Just a little to the left there, you’ll do better next shot,” she shouted to a pony on the archery range.

“Remember, it’s about pacing yourself. Run out of energy facing an Araknarock and you’re a sitting duck.” That was the advice given to another on the massive training contraption.

But then she noticed the presence of Harshwhinny and adjusted her path, striding over to them with a cool and confident stride.

“Baroness Harshwhinny! To what do I owe this early surprise?”

“Simply testing your ability to be ready at a moment’s notice, Lodge Master Dust.” Her eyes roamed across the scene arrayed about them. “Is this your usual training routine.”

“One of many,” Lightning answered. “We recently encountered some hostile wildlife during a training trip to the Everfree, so I wanted to give my ponies a bit of extra practice on the old training dummy.”

“Training in the Everfree? So soon?”

Starlight winced, but Lightning didn’t miss a beat. “It’s where we are meant to operate baroness. With all due respect, the sooner trainees learn to respect that forest the better it is for them.”

Harshwhinny nodded. “Very well. If you would be so kind as to lead the way and give us a proper tour?”

Lightning beamed in that cocky way so unique to her before giving a quick bow of her head. “Right this way baroness.”


- - - - 


It was a simple plan, really. Just show the baroness her lodge.

So that’s exactly what Lightning Dust did. Taking the lead, she walked Harshwhinny through the whole of the lodge, from parade ground, to basement. She was able to rattle off every detail about their equipment and supplies that Harshwhinny threw her way. Now that they were in the moment, all of her previous anxiety about the baronesses arrival melted away. She lived the Rangers, she had dedicated trainees and she was going to show this stuffed up mare exactly what her lodge was capable of!

They stopped just outside the entrance to her office.

“As you can see baroness, we are fully staffed, capable of holding out in the case of a siege for a month and are already conducting operations in the Everfree. I hope that it’s enough to meet your standards.”

Harshwhinny looked out across the parade ground. She was quiet for quite a while as the rangers broke off from their training to stand at attention. Lightning could feel a nervous sweat creeping down the back of her neck. Why wasn’t she saying anything? Was she waiting for her to say something else? Was she going to have Troubleshoes launch into a crazed attack?

Please say something. Please just let me know what’s going to happen one way or another! If the lodge is going to be shut down, just let me know so that I can...deal with it.

Still...go out with a smile.

“Cat got your tongue baroness?”

Harshwhinny snapped out of her reverie. “Mmm. My apologies lodge master. Just...thinking.” She turned and cleared her throat. “I must say Lightning Dust considering your reputation as the Elemental of Laughter, I wasn’t sure that you’d be able to pull a group of traniees together. Yet...while they are not a perfect fighting force yet, I see potential here.”

A smile spread across Lightning’s face. “So, you’ll recommend that we’ll get to continue on?”

“No.”

Lightning blinked. She wasn’t quite sure she had heard that correctly.

“I’m...sorry?”

Harshwhinny sighed. “While I appreciate what you’ve done here Miss Dust, it does not change the fact that the Everfree Rangers, as an institution, have reached their end. I have seen drive and planning here today. What I have not seen is any indication that the Rangers are no longer vulnerable to being swayed by a charismatic individual who can whisper the right words into the right ears. I am sorry.”

Her tone had been conciliatory as she destroyed all of Lightning Dust’s efforts with a word. Then she shook her head. “Besides, scattered knighthoods and independant fighting guilds are a thing of the past. There-”

“Rock!”

Harshwhinny, Lightning and Starlight looked to the battlements as one, where Sunflower had made the call. They looked just in time to see the mare dive over the edge while a gray lump tumbled through the air-

The massive boulder that was said gray lump crashed into the spot where she had been standing a moment before, firing granite shards of shrapnel in all directions from the impact point before it teetered drunkenly on the edge of the wall and toppled over into the parade ground, just barely missing crushing Sunflower again.

“To arms! We’re under attack!” Lightning shouted. She was already flying for the wall to see who was attacking them...but somehow she already knew. Hooves touching down on the stone, her stomach plummeted at what she saw.

Caprataurs were pouring from the tree line, swarming across the grounds towards the lodge. They howled, screamed and bellowed, waving crude axes above their heads. Others were carrying ladders, crudely lashed together from tree trunks. At their head was a familiar looking brute. The one eyed warlord they had rescued Aria from and that had given Spitfire her scar. Even worse was the giant creature standing next to a crudely cobbled together sled, packed to the rim with boulders. Each one was easily the size of the crude monolith now resting in her courtyard.

“Just our luck,” Troubleshoes drawled

“Sunflower! Send a raven to Ponyville! Icey Mist! Bar the gates! Everypony else, on the walls!”

Ponies rushed to the walls and soon volleys of crossbow bolts were raining down on the advancing caprataurs. They raised their crude shields in response, batting and swatting at the quarrels as they closed in. Some managed to block the hail of shots. Others stumbled and fell as the iron jacketed bolts bit deep. Yet onward they came, screaming and bellowing in a furious rage.

But even as they did, the sky above them began to crackle and spit. Dark clouds gathered heavy and leden with power. Lightning watched as they opened up and glittering shards of ice and sleet bgan to pelt down upon the onrushing horde.

Lightning spared a glance down the wall, smiling to herself at the sight of Starlight channeling the spell.

The caprataur advance slowed under the relentless assault of ice and snow. Those with shields were using them to protect their eyes, while those without snarled and raged while resolutely stomping forward on shaky hooves. Most of the caprataur horde had fallen short of the road by now, giving the Rangers a golden opportunity.

“Fire!”

Another volley of bolts rained down on the caprataurs. With the ice and cold tearing at them, they weren’t as alert when it came to the stinging steel that now scythed through their front ranks, and their shieldbearers were mostly holding their shields over their heads instead of in front of their bodies. About half of the front rank collapsed, some clawing at the bolts that felled them even as they died.

While she was quite proud of her Rangers, Lightning didn’t join in the general volley of bolts. No, she was aiming at one caprataur in particular. Picking the one eyed leader out of the crowd, she drew a bead on his ugly mug and let her bolt fly.

One Eye sliced the quarrel out of the sky.

“...Ascraids.”

But in the next heartbeat of the battle, that was hardly the worst problem that they were facing down. The hulking monstrosity had picked up another boulder. Another caprataur was at its hooves, and it was another one she recognized. The shaman from One Eye’s tribe with those ridiculous looking fake wings of his. He was pointing towards the section of the wall where Starlight was casting.

Where did they even get that thing? It was like a caprataur blown up to giant sized proportions. Dark magic had to be involved somehow.

“Starlight! Look out!” Starlight shouted as the monster hurled another monolithic shard of stone right for her.

Starlight looked up just in time. She vanished with a flash of magic, appearing next to Lightning a moment later. But with her concentration broken, the storm of ice and snow ended and the caprataur horde surged forward again.

“...We need to stop that thing,” she said.

“No argument here,” Starlight said, nodding in agreement. “Don’t suppose you have any ideas there?”

“I’m pretty sure I can take him down with magic. But a few hundred yards? I don’t think I can hit him from here.”

Starlight nodded. “Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail! Front and center!”

Both snapped off another round of shots before galloping over to her.

“Yes mam?” Vapor Trail asked.

“I need you to help Starlight take down the giant back there.”

Vapor Trail gulped. “That thing? I-it’s huge!”

“...Usually, I’d be up for the challenge but considering the circumstances…” Sky Stinger muttered.

“Look, I’ve watched you two in action together. Sky, you’ve been trying hard over the last few weeks. There’s nopony else I’d trust to help Starlight take down that monster!”

Vapor Trail glanced at her friend. “Well...if you trust us, I think we can do it.”

Sky Stinger shook his head. “This is crazy...but when everything’s going mad around you, I guess it's best to just go with the flow.” He clapped Starlight on the back. “Hope you don’t get sick from sudden movements.”

“I’ll deal with it one way or another,” Starlight said. “Let’s go!”

With orders given, they grabbed Starlight under her forelegs and took off for the tree line. Starlight turned her attention back towards the caprataurs now.

They swarmed in on the walls, one group approaching the thick double doors and setting to them with axes, the rest shoving their crude ladders into position. As each ladder clattered against the crenulations, her Rangers shoved them back. But with the amount of caprataurs present, they simply shoved them back into place, multiple taurs then bracing their muscled forms against their bases to hold them in place.

For a moment, Lightning considered giving the order to abandon the walls and take to the air where they caprataurs couldn’t follow, but she quickly dismissed it. While most of her recruits were pegasi, there were a few earth ponies that had made the cut. Taking to the air would leave them and Troubleshoes to hold the wall themselves. They’d get overrun quickly on their own.

Cursing under her breath, Starlight charged the nearest ladder, smashing the butt of her crossbow against the first caprataur over the wall’s muzzle. The brute toppled backwards, but there were easily a half dozen more ready to scramble up in his place. On this ladder alone.

“We need to dislodge those things!”

“I have an idea!” Icy Mist shouted, taking a moment to pause in her bucking of another caprataur. “Sunflower! Can you get me some rope and weights from the store room!”

“On it!”

She galloped off on her three remaining legs and, to Lightning Dust’s surprise, Harshwhinny followed suit.

While they was gone, the battle at the walls descended into the swirling chaos of combat. As more caprataurs pushed their way into the walls the advantage of the Ranger’s crossbows were cancelled out. The rhythmic volleys of crossbow bolts had given way to the swirling, chaotic melee of hoof to hoof combat, success or failure being determined by a dozen individual fights. The caprataurs had the weapon advantage with their heavy axes, but the rangers had the armor edge with their chainmail. The caprataurs mostly didn’t bother with the stuff for reasons that were never entirely clear in Lightning Dust’s mind. Still, if they didn’t dislodge their access to the walls, the Rangers were in danger of being overrun.

There were two exceptions in the swirling melee. Rainbow Dash and Troubleshoes.

Rainbow Dash was a blur in her Firefly persona, lashing out with strikes that were hard to follow. Every blow was expertly placed, drilling into weak points on their bodies. Joints, the soft spots on the neck, the stomach. She was holding off a whole ladder on her own.

Almost like she’s used to fighting these things, Lightning Dust mused.

Troubleshoes was on the other end of the combat spectrum. His double headed axe swung out in glittering arcs, cutting through caprataurs like a scythe through wheat. Felled caprataurs were piled up around his hooves. He cut a hulking and intimidating figure in the midst of the chaos. So much so that he was actually dragging more caprataurs away from others on the walls and towards him, each warrior eager to fell such a mighty foe and take the glory for themselves.

Lightning was vaguely aware that the boulders had stopped hitting the walls at least, but she couldn’t spare the time to look as she sniped a caprataur warrior trying to attack Scootaloo from behind.

“We’re back!” Sunflower called.

She hobbled along with a massive chord of rope slung across her back, while Harshwhinny floated along a collection of six spare iron plates meant for repairing the spider training dummy.

“What do you want us to do?” Harshwhinny asked.

“Tie the plates to the end of the ropes. I require as much slack as you can give me!” Icey Mist shouted back.

Harshwhinny and Sunflower set to work, moving as quickly as possible as they began to lash the heavy slabs of metal to the ropes.

“Done!” Sunflower exclaimed.

Icey Mist took to the air, dragging Angel Wings along with her. The two hauled the heavy and ungainly contraption into the air, moving it into position to just on the other side of the wall. A few quick words were exchanged and Angel held the one end of the ropes, while Icey grabbed the other ends and flew upwards and diagonally from her. As she reached the zenith of her flight and the ropes were drawn tight, Icey Mist let go and dove for Angel’s side.

The heavy iron plates swung along the edge of the wall like a pendulum. With the momentum from the drop, they smashed through the ladders, splintering wood and sending the shattered remains raining down on the heads of the caprataurs below.

Lightning gave a cheerful whoop and shot into the air, letting her crossbow sing as she plugged shot after shot into the mulling mass below. If they could just hold them like this, they might be able to win!

But then she noticed the form of One Eye pushing his way through the crowd and towards the gates. In one hand, he carried what seemed to be a gourd that had been hollowed out and capped with a wax seal. While she had no clue what might be inside said gourd, Lightning Dust was quite sure it was bad.

Frowning, she lined up a shot and let it fly.

One Eye yanked another warrior in front of him with his free hand.

Lightning could only gape at the warlord’s supernatural instincts. He had to be getting support from magic somehow! Gritting her teeth, Lightning dove for One Eye aiming to get a shot at a closer range.

But One Eye had already pitched his gourd at the gate.

Lightning watched helplessly as it tumbled through the air, before smashing itself against the sturdy wood of the lodges’ gate. Small black seeds burst from the ruined remains, before clattering to the ground.

Then the ground exploded.

Vines, slick black, spiked and easily as thick as a pony’s body lashed forward shattering stone and tossing the broken remains and defenders every which way. Where a moment before there had been a gate there was now a gaping hole. The caprataurs bellowed in glee, swarming forward and into the courtyard.

Before Lightning could fly to assist, she felt something wrap around her hind leg. A sharp yank dragged her from the sky. The minute she hit the ground, she threw herself into a roll, One Eye’s heavy blade impacting carving into the ground where she had been a moment before. One Eye snorted and cracked his multi-headed whip.

“...This was not the way I wanted to follow in Spitfire’s hoofsteps,” Lightning muttered.

One Eye charged and survival became the only thing on Lightning’s mind.


- - - - 


“Left!” Starlight shrieked.

The boulder whistled past them by inches, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail just barely managing to avoid the incoming missile.

“He has pretty good aim for his size,” Sky Stinger grunted.

Vapor Trail glanced up for a moment. “I say we go higher! Approach from the direction the sun is shining!”

“Works for me!” Sky shouted.

As they changed direction Starlight focused on her magic. A creature that size would be tough. There was just a lot of meat and muscle to deal with once you became a literal giant. If she was going to take this beast down, she’d have to hit him in the exact right spot, with the exact right spell. After a moment or two of consideration she settled on a lightning bolt right between the beast’s eyes. Even if it didn’t fell it, maybe she’d hit it hard enough to deter it from continuing the assault.

As she draw upon her own reservoir of arcane might she could feel another rising swell of magic. The shaman was calling upon magic of his own, brandishing a gnarled staff at her while muttering in his dark tongue. The magic of the caprataur shamans was strange. Unlike the magic of pony kind it didn’t seem to be internal at all. Rather the caprataurs seemed to leech magic from their surroundings through strange rituals and chanting.

Opening his mouth, an earth shaking bellow tore from the shaman’s throat. The wave of sound shrieked through the air, almost faster than Starlight could weave a counter. She threw out a crude blast of magic in return, the two forces colliding in mid air. For a moment, the two opposing forces of magic crackled and pushed against each other, each one trying to overwhelm the other. Then they detonated, sending waves of concussive force in every direction.

In the next moment, Starlight found herself tumbling through the air, the impact having blasted her right out of Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail’s grip. Instinctively, she channeled again. Vanishing in one moment, she appeared on the ground behind the shaman in the next. He whirled about, staff glowing with power as he began to chant again. Taking the barest of moments to see how Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail were doing, Starlight could see that they were zipping around the behemoth, drawing its attention away from her and the shaman. But then he was casting again and Starlight’s attention was drawn back to him.

Magic once more crackled between combatants. The shaman intoned vile words in his guttural tongue and slammed the end of his staff into the ground. A tide of filth and crawling critters rolled forth in a repulsive carpet of biting spiders, centipedes and undergrowth beatles. Starlight countered with her own spell, wrapping a crackling circle of flame around her hooves to burn the spell away.

For a moment, all was silence between the two mages, their eyes narrowing in equal anger towards each other. Then came a flash of magic and the two were launching a fresh arcane assault.


- - - - 


“Look out!”

Vapor Trail looked to her right and just barely rolled barrel rolled aside in time to avoid the swipe of the lumbering monster. Its slowness was the real thing saving their hides at the moment, as she and Sky Stinger ducked and weaved around its clumsy strikes.

Their initial plan had crumbled thanks to the presence of that mage. And with Starlight Glimmer locked in combat with him...they’d have to deal with his pet monster.

Winging about she lashed out with a hoof for the creature’s eyes. It was a wild swipe, more intended to distract than wound. The beast roared back in response, a wave of nauseating breath almost knocking Vapor Trail from the sky.

“Ugh. Disgusting,” she muttered to herself.

“Vapor! This way! I have an idea!”

Zipping around the monster’s head, Vapor Trail shot after Sky Stinger, who was heading into the branches of the Everfree.

“What’s the plan?” she asked.

“Use the trees for cover, smack em in the face with a branch, shoot him while he’s down?”

“Seriously?”

“Best plan I got right now!”

While Vapor Trail wanted to argue-

“GROAR!”

It was probably the best option they had right now.

“Alright, I’ll find a branch-”

Sky Stinger shook his head. “I’ll do that. You’re the better flyer than me.”

There wasn’t time to argue, so Vapor Trail banked about again, shooting between two of the mighty branches to catch the beast’s attention again. It roared at her approach, swinging a fist the size of her whole body through the air. She flared her wings to stop short of the strike, shifted right, flapped her wings again and shot past the beast’s muscled neck. Once she was past it, she landed on a nearby branch and snapped off a shot at the back of its head.

The bolt sank into the creature’s head but it barely even slowed down as it lumbered about and swiped at her again. Vapor Trail dove for her life as massive branches smashed through thick branches like kindling.

“Over here Vapor!”

Reacting on pure instinct, she bolted for the voice of her friend. The beast charged after, smashing his way through the undergrowth in a blind rage. Shooting between branches, she rushed past where Sky Stinger was pulling back a decently branch and spun about to line up a shot. As the beast crossed the line Sky Stinger let the branch go.

It raked across the monster’s slobbering maw and face, eliciting a bellow of rage and confusion as it clawed at its eyes. Sky Stinger didn’t wait though, instead diving forward and throwing his body weight against the creature’s chest. With a howl of fury, the monster toppled backwards, shaking the ground with a mighty crash.

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail unloaded their crossbow bolts upon the fallen creature. Bolt after bolt was pumped into its form as it struggled to get back to its hooves. For a moment, it looked ready to fall, but then it managed to get back to its hooves and go tearing off into the depths of the Everfree, eager to get away from the pair of flying gnats and their stinging attacks.

Vapor Trail blinked for a moment before embracing Sky Stinger in a hug. “Hey! We managed to beat it! We actually defeated a monster on our own!”

Sky Stinger smiled. “Yeah...I guess we did. But come on! The rest of the battle isn’t done!”

“Right!”

And so they flew back towards Starlight and, hopefully, the lodge beyond.


- - - - 


Baroness Harshwhinny was frozen in place as the horde of caprataurs stormed through the shattered remains of the lodge gate. Whether she had underestimated the strength of the caprataurs or overestimated the strength of the gates, Sunflower didn’t know. What she did know is that if she didn’t throw out the usual conventions of noble politeness, the Bloody Battleaxe was going to see her last day. She doubted they could get to the barracks or other buildings before the caprataurs could overtake them, but there was a closer option.

Shoving the baroness towards the training spider, she spat out a command without a second thought. “Baroness! Move your flanks!”

Harshwhinny snapped out of her shocked stance and followed Sunflower to the training spider. Sunflower glanced behind her as she shoved the baroness inside.

The fighting had moved off the walls and into the courtyard. Troubleshoes had waded into the middle of the mob again, while the other rangers were struggling to hold back the wave from the sides. She watched as one of the recruits she hadn’t talked to as much- Swift Breeze she thought his name was- went down as a caprataur axe managed to cleave through his chainmail.

“...Time to do something crazy.”

She scrambled into the depths of the spider, closing the hatch behind her and pushing Harshwhinny out of the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Something crazy.”

She planted her hind legs, fake one included, on the petals and began to pump. The spider lurched into action, grinding forward on its wheels. Sunflower grit her teeth and pumped all the faster, putting every bit of power she had into aiming the thing right at the rampaging horde of caprataurs.

The training dummy crashed into the sea of caprataurs like a boat cresting a wave. Sunflower immediately threw herself into pulling the levers and switches, sending the arms lashing out in every direction. Disorder quickly set into the horde as caprataurs were sent flying by heavy wooden strikes and soon they were being pushed back towards the shattered gate.

Sunflower allowed herself a smile. They just might win this battle yet.


- - - - 


Lightning ducked under another vicious strike from One Eye, only to catch a brutal kick to her side. Sent sprawling to the side, Lightning kicked into the air with a flap of her wings, snapping off another shot at the beast.The enchanted bolt punched right through One Eye’s right shoulder, forcing him to drop that damned whip of his.

One Eye responded by gripping his sword all the tighter and charging at her again. Lightning flitted backwards with a beat of her wings, but One Eye moved with a speed not hinted at by his muscled form and lept into the air, twisting his body about to lash out at Lightning’s face with his blade.

She cried out as the sword’s razor sharp edge sliced across the bridge of her snout. The sting of blood splattered across Lightning’s eyes, temporarily blinding her with crimson. In the next moment, she was smashed to the ground, a heavy hoof pinning her to the dirt.

“Pitiful worm,” One Eye growled in broken and thick Equestrian.

Lightning squinted through the blood and tears, watching the outline of One Eye’s thick blade rise into the air for a killing strike.

“Oh no you don’t! She’s mine you walking carpet!”

An orange blur slammed into One Eye’s side, knocking him to the ground. The two shapes rolled across the ground, while Lightning wiped the blood from her eyes. Scootaloo had partially pinned One Eye and was unleashing a flurry of dagger tipped punches upon the caprataur. He roared back at the pegasus, snapping his head forward and slamming his gnarled horns against Scootaloo’s head. With Scootaloo sent tumbling away with a cry of pain, One Eye stood again snatching up his sword.

Then a horn call rang out.

Looking back up the road, Lightning’s heart rose at the sight of Ponyville’s militia charging into action. Aria and Sonata at were at the lead, brandishing their elemental weapons as they rushed to the aid of their friend.

One Eye snorted. Briefly, his eye locked on Lightning. But then he reached for a gnarled horn of his own on his belt, sounding it in a series of short blasts even as he began running for the Everfree. The sound of hooves hammering on the ground soon followed as the caprataur horde followed suit, flowing around Lightning and Scootaloo like running water. Just as suddenly as the battle had begun, the field was empty of caprataurs.

Lightning slumped in place, letting loose a long sigh. The wound on her snout still burnt and stung, but they had managed to turn back the horde. Everything was going to be okay.

“Lightning!”

She was locked into a iron tight hug from Sonata. “Oh my gosh! Your bleeding! Help! She’s wounded!”

“Calm down Sonata!” Aria exclaimed. “Are you trying to break her back too?”

It took a bit of effort for Lightning to resist shaking her head and thusly splattering blood over her friend. “It’s okay Sonata. It looks a lot worse than it actually is. Head wounds are always gushers. I need to check on my recruits.”

“Okey dokey!”


- - - - 


Lightning shuffled back into the remains of the Black Rook Lodge. The Ponyville Militia followed right behind her, immediately heading for those Rangers who were wounded. Fallen caprataurs were scattered about the grounds, a large number of them piled up around the wheels of the training spider. Starlight, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail also returned, thankfully intact.

The hatch popped open on its side and Sunflower came flopping out, Harshwhinny right behind her. The baroness looked around the courtyard, before settling on Lightning Dust.

“Lodgemaster...can we speak in private please?”

“Of course.”

She followed Harshwhinny back to her office. ….Well, for as long as it would remain her office at least. If this was going to be the end of the Black Rook Lodge, at least they went out giving the caprataurs a black eye. While Harshwhinny closed the door behind them, Lightning walked over to her desk, dug out a handkerchief and pressed it against her wound.

“My apologies for having your inspection interrupted. But those caprataurs really aren’t one to respect deadlines and the like,” she smiled.

Harshwhinny licked her lips. “...Your ponies performed admirably, I must say. They seem quite dedicated to your lodge.”

“Thanks. We’ve been working hard.”

Harshwhinny sighed, then took a deep breath. “Perhaps...I have been a little close minded in terms of what the Everfree Rangers are capable of. You’re professional, dedicated...even your wounded member didn’t hesitate to fight when when the situation seemed dire.”

She nervously tapped a hoof against the ground. “I...believe that I will recommend for your lodge to retain its independence.”

Lightning blinked. “Really?”

“I may have dismissed you out of hoof because you are the Element of Laughter. But your ponies are well trained and you commanded under fire. I am willing to see what you can make of this.”

“...Eeeeeeee!” Lightning squealed, leaping back over the desk to embrace Harshwhinny.

Harshwhinny sighed in Lightning’s grip. “Please Miss Dust, some professionalism is all I ask.”

“Sorry, sorry. Professionalism. Right, I can do that.”

“Good luck lodgemaster. The future of the Black Rook Lodge is in your hooves.”

With that, Harshwhinny untangled herself from Lightning’s hug and trotted out of the office. Lightning slumped against her desk, letting loose a long sigh of relief. She’d have to tell the rangers- her rangers- the details, begin the repairs and clear the bodies away. But for just a moment, she closed her eyes and smiled.

The Everfree Rangers would continue.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few days since the battle and night had settled over the lodge. Construction had begun on repairing the broken gates and the walls were still patrolled by Rangers, just in case the caprataurs would make another attempt upon the lodge. So far though, the forest edge remained empty and quiet.

Yet all was not well in the Black Rook Lodge, for a figure crept its way across the bailey. Cloaked, it clung close to the buildings as it snuck towards the commander’s quarters. With the other rangers focused on the exterior, they were completely oblivious to the shadow that slipped its way into the section of the compound that contained the lodge master’s office and quarters. It slipped down the short hallway to Lightning Dust’s room, pausing only to squirt a few drops of oil into the hinges of the door before swinging it open.

The lump that was Lightning Dust slept in her bed, oblivious to the doom that was stalking towards her. The cloaked figure slid over to the side of the bed, drew a dagger from its cloak and plunged it deeply into the sleeping pony. Again and again the dagger came down in a flurry of stabs, until a cloud of feathers were floating above the mattress. Throwing back the blanket the cloaked figure froze at the sight of the ruined pillows that had been piled up in a loose pony shape.

“Now that was just uncalled for. What did those pillows ever do to you?”

The cloaked figure turned to see a spell shimmer away into nothing, revealing the forms of Lightning Dust, Starlight Glimmer and Rainbow Dash. Lightning Dust had her crossbow in her hooves. The figure began to move to escape but Rainbow Dash took a step towards the door, blocking the figure’s exit.

Lightning didn’t take her hooves off her crossbow but she nodded towards the figure. “Alright Scootaloo. Let’s talk.”

The figure threw back her hood, revealing the orange coat and purple mane. She glowered right back at Lightning. “How’d you figure it out?”

“You let your guard down in the caprataur battle. ‘She’s mine!’. Got me thinking as I realized that your fighting style and the assassin’s were rather similar.”

Scootaloo winced. “I suppose that’s what I get for letting my emotions get the better of me.” She looked from Rainbow Dash, to Starlight Glimmer. “You got me dead to rights. So...what happens now? I get shipped off to the dungeons like the rest of your former members?”

“Honestly, that depends on you.”

“...What?”

“I don’t think that locking you up will accomplish much. After all, I’m giving your idol a second chance.”

“You denigrate Chroma’s-”

“Don’t,” Rainbow Dash growled. “Don’t even try to justify what I did in the past. I don’t know what lies you’ve been fed but nothing I did back then was worthy of admiration.”

“But you tried to make Equestria strong-”

“We broke Equestria!” Rainbow Dash roared. “You want to be devoted to me? Stay here and get to know the actual me. Not the pony that was drunk on dark magic and her own delusions.”

Scootaloo shifted her hooves. “You’re seriously willing to give me a chance after I tried to kill you? Twice?”

Lightning Dust grinned back. “I’m willing to take that chance.”

Scootaloo glanced at Rainbow Dash before sighing. “...Fine. If anything, I want to see where you’re going with all of this.”

“Wherever it is, it should be a fun trip.”