What You Are in the Dark
(Original Idea by Darth Wedgius)
*****
It was like any other day. The sun was high and the citizens of Canterlot were engrossed in their daily routine. However, there were two ponies who rarely frequented the castle town: The fashion diva, Rarity, and the all-star athlete, Rainbow Dash. They were sitting at a table under the shade of a large umbrella. The two mares had just finishing ordering their lunches, and after the waiter had gone, Rainbow rested her chin on her hoof as she observed the daily traffic passing them by. Rarity leaned her muzzle closer to Dash and cleared her throat.
“Rainbow, my dear, you do you know it wasn’t necessary to accompany me to Canterlot.”
The pegasus turned her attention to her friend. “Nono! I wanted to go. The weather’s pretty lame during the summertime so I had nothing else to do.”
“Well, I appreciate you coming along. Even though I wish you would at least dress appropriately for a change.”
This got a haughty chuckle from the pegasus as she quietly dismissed the topic. Instead, she slowly became more interested at what she was seeing on the streets.
“Hey, Rarity. Is it just me or… does Canterlot look different to you?” She kept her voice low.
The unicorn raised a brow. “Why whatever do you mean?” She looked around curiously.
“I always remembered Canterlot having nothing but prissy ponies like you prancing around this place.” She turned her attention to the crowd once more, spotting a group of gryphons chewing the fat. “See? Like those gryphons.” Then she saw a huge minotaur nonchalantly strolling past. “And him…”
“Hm. You’re right. The city has certainly opened its doors to some… rougher types.” Rarity pulled down her hat slightly to cover her gaze.
“Celestia must be getting more comfortable with letting other races around Equestria.”
“I, for one, welcome the change. It adds an element of diversity to the city.” She lightly fanned herself. “A quality respectable of a ruler’s city.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes as she looked around some more. What she saw next made her eyes widen and breathing seize in a soft gasp. “Rarity! Rarity!” She attempted to get her attention in a high-pitched whisper. Her gaze was locked on what she had found.
“What now? You’re acting like a foal, Rainbow Dash.”
“Look over there… by that jewelry shop!”
Rarity followed Rainbow’s eyes until she too saw what made the pegasus excitable: A pack of diamond dogs eyeing up the jewelry behind the windows. “Oh, dear.”
“Are those the same mutts that ponynapped you before, Rarity?”
“I’m looking… No. Those are not the same three that I encountered. Besides, I heard they were imprisoned for thievery shortly after we took all of their gems from them. I guess we must have ruined their hideaway when I was rescued… and they had to resort to petty theft.”
“How sad.” Rainbow scoffed. “But those over there don’t look any better. I mean they’re hanging around a jewelry shop of all things.”
It was around this time that their food arrived. The waiter precariously placed on the table exactly what they had ordered a few minutes ago. The two mares mouths watered as the suspicious pack of dogs were shoved away from their worries.
“Let’s eat, Dash. I have an errand to run before we head over to the castle.”
“Yeah, I know. You told me already on the way over here. Something about a check?” As she asked, she took a bite off a hay fry.
“Yes, that’s correct. My latest client couldn’t pay me up front so she gave me an IOU for the cost of the designs.”
“How much are we talking here?”
This question made the unicorn grin as she brought her voice as low as she could, “Over two thousand bits.”
Rainbow’s eye twitched as she dropped the fry. “You’re kidding… Wow, Rarity! What do you do with all that money?”
“Dressmaking isn’t cheap, you know. This kind of sum would allow me to make even better dresses with even more sophistication!”
“Sophistication, huh? Yeah, I’ll pass that up for a Wonderbolts show any day.”
The unicorn lifted a tiny piece of food into the air and daintily placed it into her mouth. After a short chew and swallow, “You know, I know somepony who could get you a VIP seat at the Wonderbolt races here.”
“Really? Awesome! You would do that for me?”
“Yes, of course, Rainbow Dash, but you may have to change your name. Aheh…” Her cheeks flushed as she remembered her little white lie to Fancy Pants.
*****
After lunch, the two made their way to the Canterlot Bank, a large structure with tall marble pillars and a long stairway. Ponies were pushing their way back and forth out of the entryway. Rainbow kept out of the situation by hovering overhead while Rarity slowly made headway into the bank’s interior.
Once inside, the place was somewhat packed. There were about a dozen lines leading to tellers. The place was so noisy a pony couldn’t even hear themselves thinking. Rarity made her way into one of the lines. Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she first caught sight of the huge lines.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” She mumbled to herself as she landed next to Rarity. She let out a grumble and gave the unicorn a disgruntled glare.
“Oh, come now, Rainbow. It won’t be long. These lines move quicker than you think.”
An hour later…
The two finally made it up to the teller. However, the transaction was taking just as long. Dash was rolling a pen back and forth on the counter. Her eyes were partially closed as the intense boredom was killing her.
“Is there any way to hurry this up? My time at the hospital didn’t take this long.”
“Quiet, Rainbow.” Rarity snapped, “You’re being a drama queen.”
The pegasus smirked at her comment as a chuckle rumbled in her chest. She turned her head towards the entrance to the bank. Out of the corner of her eye…she saw…them. Immediately, she fixed her attention to the diamond dogs…the ones they saw earlier. There were around a dozen of them, and through all the noise, Rainbow could hear them ordering ponies to lie down. She knew what was about to happen.
“Rarity, I’ll be back in a second.” She calmly told her. The unicorn gave her a slight nod in between conversing with the teller. Rainbow immediately left her friend and sifted slowly through the crowd of ponies. Her ears were listening carefully for those distinctive, gravelly voices.
“They’re not listening to us. I told you this wouldn’t work.”
“If these ponies won’t listen… we’ll make them listen.” She could barely make out two conversing with one another. “Take one and gut it in front of the whole lot!That’ll make them tremble.”
Rainbow gasped, wondering if she heard correctly. Closing the distance, she realized that they were quicker than she was. They had already snatched a random pony and holding it hostage. Slowly, the crowd was noticing the threat and inching away from the group of dogs.
“Hold it, pony!” Two dogs had caught Rainbow’s advance and obstructed her path. “Don’t be a hero! We’re taking what’s ours! We’ll avenge our brothers and teach ponies to fear the diamond dogs!”
“Might?! Ha! You mutts have some guts trying to steal from a bank in Canterlot! How do you expect to get away from this?” She could see a large dog holding a Canterlot pony tightly to its chest. There was a very sharp knife pressed firmly against the base of the pony’s neck.
A medium-sized diamond dog revealed himself from behind the two dogs in front of her. His demeanor was meaner than the rest and appeared to be the leader of the pack. A jewel-encrusted collar around his neck bore the name: Max. “Quiet, pony! We mean business and no goody-goody pony’s gonna stop us dogs! We let that white, annoying pony walk over us last time… but never again!”
“White pony?” Dash gritted her teeth as she knew who they were going on about. It then struck her…this could turn out horribly for Rarity if they realized she was here. Could she stop these dogs? Rainbow took another step forward, triggering many growls from the pack.
“Stop! See? I told you they never listen! Just gut the pony!” Max signaled the hostage-taker who nodded. Dash’s whole being was almost too slow to react.
Rainbow gasped and yelled, “Wait!” Her voice was loud enough to attract the attention of everypony inside. The commotion almost died immediately with all eyes on Rainbow Dash. The hostage almost cut by the dog’s blade. “Everypony listen! Just…give the dogs what they want! If we don’t, they’ll hurt somepony, but don’t worry…They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
The hostage-taker relaxed his knife. The other dogs were grinning as they spread out among the crowd. Two of them began coaxing the tellers to give them the money while the others grabbed ponies for hostages.
“That’s a smart pony…if any of you ponies move, a pony will feel the consequences!” Max barked and laughed maniacally
Rainbow looked back where Rarity was supposed to be and couldn’t find her. The pegasus frantically searched through the crowd.
“Rainbow, what’s going on?!” She heard a voice whisper into her ear. Beside Dash was a pony crouched low and a big hat covering her face. She recognized the pony was Rarity immediately. Fortunately she wore a dress and would be disguised enough to avoid the attention of the diamond dogs.
Dash crouched down beside her. “The dogs…” She whispered, “…the ones we saw earlier? They’re here…they’re gonna rob the bank.”
Rarity stamped her hoof lightly. “How utterly cliché of them. This is Canterlot! How can they expect to get away from the Royal Guard?”
“I…I don’t think this is just about the money, Rarity.” She gave her a troubled look. “I think they want you.”
“What?! You mean…they know what I did?” The unicorn’s eyes bounced from one dog to the other. She couldn’t believe it.
Rainbow Dash nodded and let out a sigh. “Just don’t move, okay? I’m gonna teach them a lesson.” She motioned to stand, but Rarity stopped her with a quick hoof.
“No, Dash! You can’t expect to face up against all of them…what about the other ponies?”
“They…” She hesitated. “I promise they won’t get hurt.”
“Please, Dash… Don’t…” She felt her hoof being brushed away as Dash stood and was already making her way towards the dogs. For fear of her own safety, Rarity stayed put and covered her face. “Come back!” Her whisper was only a tad louder.
“Hey, you mutts!” Dash yelled at them instantly grabbing all of their attention. “You ready for that beating I promised?”
One of the dogs sneered. “What bea…”
Crunch!
In a flash, Dash lashed the dog across the muzzle with one of her steel-like hooves. The canine tumbled in recoil from the attack, crashing onto his back unconscious. There was a second delay before the other dogs realized what just happened, and a loud gasp of surprise from everypony in the bank. Dash stood her ground with a smirk.
“This one! Hahaha!” She cackled.
“You!!” Max growled in anger. “You’ll pay for that, pony!” The dogs were ready to leap at the pegasus, but were a bit cautious now having seen her strength.
“You think you can just stroll in here and have your way?! You forget that we ponies can fight back!”
She could just feel the anger in the Max’s eyes. His teeth were clinched and rumbling from his deep snarling. “You forget, pony!” He motioned to one of the hostage-takers who again held a knife up to a helpless pony’s neck. “The Diamond Dogs are in control! One more step and ponies will pay!”
It was at this point that Dash’s chest tightened. She gritted her teeth as she swallowed the lump in her throat. “You know, it’s too bad you’re ‘brothers’ aren’t here with you.” She snickered. “Humiliating them was one of the most satisfying moments I had in a while!”
Max’s ears perked and his eyes widened. “What was that?!”
“That’s right, I was there with that white pony when I put them through the ringer! Oh, and I enjoyed every second of it! They were literally kneeling for mercy!”
Dash could see him flare his nostrils. She wasn’t sure if she could make him angrier.
She grinned. “Yeah! Your kind is all the same! All bark and no bite! I don’t think you even have the guts to go through with this revenge! It’s not like I blame ya! I too would be trembling with my tail between my legs!”
Max glared growled angrily at Dash. Suddenly, the hostages were released as they all slowly advanced towards the pegasus. The ones with money even dropped what they were doing. All of their eyes were fixed on her. Their teeth were bared and their eyes were filled with bloodlust.
“Great… I hope this works.” She whispered to herself. Her heart beat against her chest like a drum. There was a small hint of regret lurking somewhere in there. She hoped with her provocation that they would leave the other ponies alone. She stood steadfast…her courage waning as they got closer and closer. There wasn’t any turning back now. She debated whether she should just initiate a fight as soon as they got close. However, there was so many of them…if they began to lose…one could easily attack one of the other ponies. If she took out the leader, maybe it would disorient them and make them flee.
“Grab her!” Max ordered his dogs. Before she could react, one of the bigger dogs had gotten too close and snagged Rainbow right off her hooves. She was clenched tightly in its massive grip. Though she knew she was strong enough to break out of it. “Haha! Now who’s got bark?! Dogs, we got something more precious than any gem in Equestria…let’s go! Take her with us! Grab the money too!”
Rarity in the crowd just looked on in horror. Her friend’s bravery and stupidity was more than she could fathom. She mumbled to herself, “Don’t worry, Dash. This time… I’ll save you.”
The pack headed outside with grins and spouts of laughter. As they made their way out of the front entrance, they all noticed at once what was awaiting them.
“Hold it, right there!” A loud, booming voice put an instant, gripping fear into all of them. It was Princess Twilight Sparkle herself accompanied by a platoon of pegasi royal guards. Twilight gasped as she saw her friend clutched by one of them. “Rainbow Dash?!”
“Hey, Twi… Aheh. Glad you could make it. Could you help me out?” The pegasus smiled meekly.
The dogs were now in complete disarray. With this many pegasi and a Princess in their way, there wouldn’t be any chance of getting out of there in one piece. Max could see it in his brothers. The fear of imprisonment. The long days they would spend in solitude. Apart and away from home. Even now, he could feel a bit of regret lurking in his chest, but he was stuck in this situation and there wasn’t much he could do.
“D-Don’t move, pony princess!” Max said with fear in his voice. “Or we will…”
“Will what?!” Twilight scoffed and slowly started to advance on them. “What do you hope to do? You haven’t a single way to escape!”
Max seemed to grasp this more than she realized. He looked around at all of the onlookers. They stared at him with snide expressions. These ponies had everything…power, wealth, protection, and a home. Ever since their home in the mountains was ruined by Rarity and her friends and a good portion of their pack captured by Celestia, he was quickly running out of things to lose. His anger grew greater and greater.
“Gaaah!” He unsheathed a knife at his side and shoved the blade firmly up to Dash’s neck. Her eyes and Twilight’s cracked wide.
“No!” Twilight cried out. Her regality lost in light of her friend’s imminent danger. She stopped dead in her tracks and her horn flared, ready to protect her friend.
“Said don’t move! Won’t say it again!” Max’s paw was shaking. His breathing was unsteady.
Rainbow was sweating at this point. The cold piece of metal against her neck had really opened a possibility that she never considered: did she make a mistake?
“Let her go, diamond dogs!” Twilight demanded, “This isn’t worth it! There’s no reason to harm anypony!”
“Back inside, dogs!” Max commanded his pack. “You ponies take us!”
They all backed up slowly towards the bank, but the furthest in the back ran into something and caused the dog to tumble forward slightly. Seeing their comrade fall, they all turned their heads to see what was behind them. There was a barrier created by magic. Max’s eyes narrowed as he saw the pony behind it. Rarity. The unicorn was visibly straining as this kind of magic wasn’t something she usually practiced.
“It’s… you!! The white pony who-”
“Let my friend go, you ruffians! You’re… ugh… trapped now!” Rarity’s magic was quickly draining her. “I won’t let you back in here!”
Max growled and clenched his paw. Then he saw other ponies gathering behind Rarity…other unicorns who, with a flick of their horn, added to Rarity’s barrier, making it stronger.
“I won’t either.” One pony said.
“Neither will I.” Another one added. Rarity smiled at the dozen or so unicorns who assisted her.
Twilight Sparkle grinned. “Now, there’s nowhere you can go. Just give it up, diamond dogs. We’ll forgive you for what you’ve done.”
The dogs turned their attention back to the Princess. Max was in despair at this point. The more he found his fate was sealed, the more shaky his paw got. “You ponies…you all think you have everything… that your safe… that there’s no danger… well…”
Max gripped the knife tightly in his paw and inhaled deeply. Twilight was waiting for him to finish. Her horn was still flared. Dash was still completely immobilized in one of the big dog’s hold. She figured this would a good time to break loose as the other ponies were now safe from harm. She just needed an opening or aa distraction.
“…you’re wrong.” Max calmly finished before he pulled the knife across Dash’s neck. There was a soft sound of the knife cutting that cyan coat.A droplet of blood hit the pavement below him.
What happened next was all a blur. Rainbow Dash could hear Twilight scream in horror. There was a flash of light that made Max vanish from her sight. She was released by the dog that was holding him as she crumbled to the ground. In her mind, she hadn’t registered what had just happened. Then she realized she couldn’t breatheShe immediately felt like she was drowning in water. Her hooves pushed and dragged at her throat. She could feel something pour down her forelegs. She constantly gasped and gurgled. In just a few seconds, it dawned on her what she had just suffered.A feeling of dread ate at her heart and mind. Her thoughts raced in a panic. Her body tried everything it could to stop what was happening. She felt her strength waning Her hooves fell to her sides as she slumped forward. Her blurred eyes stared down at the ground, red with regret. She could hear the laughter of her friends. She could feel their embrace andtheir love. She felt her heart slow, lamenting in sadness. She wanted to be there with her friends. Her vision began to darken around the edges. The sounds of the world around her faded and were drowned in silence. Her strength was completely gone. She saw something: two giant violet eyes looking directly at her. Despite the silence, she heard her name. A name that nopony could forget. Her lips curved slowly into the tiniest of smiles. Even as her heart beat its last, even as she was consumed by darkness, she felt proud. Proud to be Rainbow Dash. Proud to be a true testament to the Element of Loyalty.
FIN
