This fella was really difficult to track down. As we followed his trail north then east along the Rein River, I lost him probably a dozen times. He used every trick in the book to mask his progress. He buried his camp fires, dipped into the river, and made a few little wild goose chases for us to follow. But after a while he dropped stealth and focused on his destination, Baltimare.

I ain’t been to Baltimare before, but I really wish I had. The city didn’t feel like a city in any way. None of the buildings rose above five stories and all of them had a colonial charm that remind me of those hundred year old photos my folks keep in the attic. Unfortunately, going into town meant we lost our target’s trail in the winding cobblestone streets.

Without any more leads Buck and I headed to the center of town. There we found a busy market square. Dozens of stalls were lined up like corn before a massive courthouse with a clock tower that rose above the rooftops. Buck whistled, “That definitely beat our grandfather clock back home. Guess folks round here don’t need to buy any watches. So what’s our plan of action Ranger?”

“How bout we ask around for any sightings. A metal hoofed unicorn is surely bound to turn some heads and you know what Jubilee says.”

“Darn it Buck stop stuffing bombs down the toilet?”

“No the other thing.”

“No dessert for you?”

“Ugh, no the thing about sales ponies.”

“Oh, that one! Ahem, a sales pony is a more reliable news source than any newspaper. You don’t really believe that do you?”

“Well, this is the best opportunity to find out.” I approached the nearest vendor, some middle aged earth pony mare selling various flowers, and said, “Howdy.”

“Hello there sir,” she replied, “and what a magnificent morning it is. Will you be purchasing some of my fantastic flowers today? I’ve got beautiful blue bells, romantic roses, terrific tulips, perfect pansies, majest…“

“Actually ma’am, we were wondering if you know anything about any interesting ponies passing through recently.”

“Ah you want a taste of the scandalous scoop eh?” the gal leaned over the stall counter and whispered, “What is it you want to know?”

“Why are you talking so weird?” Buck asked before I could ask the real question.

She smiled and replied, “It’s my stupendous shtick. With this shtick I stick out compared to my stinky competitors. You get it?”

Buck looked completely confused, “your stupendous stinky shit stick helps you shtick… what? Ugh, I hate tongue twisters.”

I cleared my throat to gain the sales pony’s attention, “actually we’re looking for some pony, a unicorn with a metal hoof. Have you seen him?”

The sales pony’s smile vanished like a candle in the wind. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she was afraid of being watched. She nervously attempted to smile again and said, “Oh… um… I’m sorry I don’t know anypony by that description. No pony does. You should probably just give up searching for… who ever that is.” She glanced up at the clock tower. “Oh look at the time! I really need to close up shop. Maybe you can get you tulips tomorrow.” She hastily packed away her things and put up a closed sign

“But it’s only One in the afternoon,” Buck replied incredulously.

“Uh… yeah I close early because… reasons. Goodbye.” With that she took off at a brisk trot, never looking back.

“Hey, wait,” I yelled after her, but she just kept going. “That was strange.”

Buck nodded, “The way that gal was acting I would of sworn she just saw the Headless Horse. Then again she didn’t seem there to begin with.”

It was clear to us that our tin legged friend was much more than we initially thought. A couple conversations proved as much. The instant any pony heard mention of this metal legged unicorn they would clam up like their own hometown chowder.

We were asking around for maybe a half hour when some pony yelled, “stop thief!”

We turned to see a young earth pony colt running as fast as he could from a unicorn sales pony with an apple in his mouth. He might have gotten away if the unicorn didn’t grab hold with his magic.

The colt dropped his apple, yelling, “Hey no fair! Magic is cheating! Come on let me go. It’s just an apple.”

“It was MY apple you little rat,” The unicorn replied, “Nopony steals my produce and gets away with it!” From the look on his face, the unicorn intended something much worse than a slap on the wrist for a crime so petty. I decided it would be best for some cooler heads to intervene or at least some heads that have no business there.

“Whoa there buddy,” I called to the unicorn, “what the hay is going on here?”

“This doesn’t concern you mister. I’m just teaching this thief a lesson he’ll never forget.”

“Beg your pardon but seems to me you’re over reacting a smidge. Apples are dirt cheap and it ain’t like you can sell it now anyways.”

“Hah! You don’t know a thing! This punk has been stealing from me for ages. Now I’ve had enough of it.”

“Only because I have to eat you pinhead,” The colt exclaimed, “Do you think I would do this if I could afford it?”

The kid certainly looked like a needy soul. His yellow coat was grimy, his mane looked like a rat’s out house, and he was much too skinny for his own good. I looked over to Buck and adjusted my hat to signal him to follow my lead, a trick we’ve been doing since we were foals. When Buck returned the signal I asked the unicorn, “Ya’ll get yer fruit from the Apple family right?”

The unicorn nodded and I smiled. “Well this here problem is already fixed. From now on every apple this kid eats is on our family.”

The unicorn raised his eyebrow, “you’re Apples?”

“Eeyup,” replied Buck, “right down to the core.”

“Just take yer expenses out of yer payments for our apple and it’ll be done lickety split. We don’t mind.”

Thinking back, that unicorn must have been a moron to believe me. I never so much as asked his name or which part of the Apple family he gets his fruit from in the first place. Not to mention that if he just took a glance at my wings he could plainly see I ain’t an Apple. Instead all his eyes saw was the flash of gold. He began rubbing his chin and asked me, “so your family will really pay back all my loses.”

The unicorn was about as subtle as a buffalo stampede. Even a blind, deaf granny could see that he had no honest intentions in this arrangement, but I had him herded right where I wanted him. Now all I needed to do was to make the shot. “Of course,” Buck said, “There ain’t an Apple alive or dead that would ever cheat their fellers.”

“You have a deal!” the unicorn exclaimed. He quickly dropped the colt, shook my hoof, and ran off.

The colt smirked, “thank you mister for getting me outta that jam. Well, I should probably get going.” He tried to bolt but I blocked his escape with my wing.

“Hold on there kid. We ain’t done with you yet,” I told him.

“You need to help us find some pony and we won’t take no for an answer, “Buck stated grumpily. We’ve both had enough of ponies dodging the question like a rampaging bull.

“Oh you mean Iron Hoof?”

“Don’t you try to deny it! We know something is u- wait what? How did you know we would ask that and, more importantly, why aren’t you running away in fear.”

“One, I overheard you talking to some of the shopkeepers earlier and two, I not scared of Iron Hoof like all the grown-ups are.”

I raised an eye brow at this, “wait a minute. How were your able to overhear us?” the answer immediately dawned on me. I quickly checked my saddle bags and discovered my bag of bits missing. I turned back to the kid to find him holing it in his with a smug look on his face. With a swipe of my wing, I took my money back and stashed it back where it belongs. “Don’t do that! Now who is this Iron Hoof fella and what can you tell us about him.”

“There isn’t much I could tell. Nopony knows if that’s even his real name or not. He sometimes comes through town every once in a while. When he does everypony just looks the other way and pretend he isn’t there. I’m not scared of him, but he’s still… creepy. I never go near him.”

I drew breath slowly. Just what sort of pony were we dealing with here? “Do you know where he went?”

“He came through at about dawn today. Headed straight to the docks. I think there’s some big deal going on down there. Come on, I’ll show you.” The colt run off down on of the side streets and we followed him.

After running through the winding streets of Baltimare we arrived at the docks. A large crowd was gathered the ships moored there. One in particular seemed to have every pony’s attention. It was a beautiful old-fashioned sailing ship ripped straight from one of my adventure books. The hull was painted with blue and silver. Intricate carvings lined the sides leading up to the figure head, an alicorn mare that I didn’t recognize. It is probably some mythical or ancient alicorn the ship builders were familiar with. At the bow of the ship, a group of nobles were waiting for some sort of speech to begin.

“What the hay is all this about,” I asked the kid.

“The shipyard’s been working on some special project for about a year. I guess this is it.”

Buck eyed the vessel, “What’s so special about it? When ya put it put against that battle ship over yonder, there ain’t a comparison.”

The kid shrugged, “maybe it’s a personal yacht for one of those fancy prancers up there.”

Buck didn’t look convinced, “what sort of yacht has cannons? Besides my own dream boat of course.”

We didn’t need to wait much longer for an answer. One of the nobles stepped forward to a microphone and cleared his throat. The crowd went quiet. “My fellow ponies. Think for a moment of what Equestria would be without our beloved Princess Celestia. For a thousand years, we have lived in unmatched peace and prosperity thanks to her guidance. Like the sun she raises every morning, she warms and enlightens the world. Again like the sun, without her it would be a much colder, crueler place. For that we owe her our eternal gratitude.

‘In a few short days, we will celebrate the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. What better opportunity is there to show Celestia how much we love her? So as a gift to her highness, we, the ponies of Baltimare, this vessel. A ship that embodies Celestia’s and indeed Equestria’s greatest strength, the unity of the three great pony tribes. The making of this ship was possible because of the efforts of ponies hailing from all over Equestria. Here they have united to create the world’s first Alicorn class frigate, the Sisterhood.’

Just as he said the ship’s name, the ship’s crew in the masts released the sails. These weren’t your normal kind of sails. They were made of thousands of multicolored feathers creating a mosaic picture of a sun peeking over the horizon. I must it was mighty pretty. But that was not all. As the wind caught the sails, the ship creaked and rose up out of the water like it was lighter than air. The crowd was awestruck by the feat and gave a cheer.

As the cheering ended, the noble continued, “These sails are made of thousands of Pegasus feather and magically charged to make the ship lighter than air. The Sisterhood is more maneuverable than any sea bound vessel and is far safer than balloons. It can take Princess Celestia anywhere in the world and keep her safe forevermore.” There was another round of applause. “This masterpiece of engineering, this gift to the noblest of rulers will have its maiden voyage on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville to be presented to her majesty just before the dawn. So she may raise the sun standing upon it and usher in a new millennia of her eternal rule. I only hope that, with this, we may contribute to that rule.”

The noble pony finally ended his speech. He returned to his fellows as the crowd began to leave. The gaggle of nobles were shaking hooves with him like he just won the rodeo. That’s when I caught a glint of metal amongst them. Only one of them unicorns was not celebrating with the others. He just stood there unmoving. It was difficult to see him from where I stood. His steel grey coat and lightish colored mane didn’t exactly pop out. I might have missed him entirely if the sun didn’t reflect off his leg in a way that caught my eye, his leg made of metal.

I grinned and said,” Buck I think I found our quarry!” I pointed out Iron Hoof for my brother.

“It’s about time,” Buck exclaimed, “let’s get on up there and introduce him to the business end of a shotgun.” Buck indicate to the loaded shotgun he had slung over his back where he could get it quickly along with all of his ammo. Thank goodness I convinced him not to bring any of his explosives. Ponies already gave us enough suspicious glares as it was.

“Hold on, he’s moving.” Iron Hoof, the speech giver, and some other unicorn stepped away from the group and down below decks. I quickly scanned the ship. The gangway and main deck was guarded by about 5 or 6 royal guards. Fortunately they seemed to be there to escort the nobles and maintain crowd control. Still the main entrance was a no go. “We need to get on board without anypony noticing. If Iron Hoof is friendly with them nobles, I doubt the guards would let us just arrest him. Oh before we go thanks for helping us kid.” I faced where I thought the colt was but he was nowhere in sight. I guess he didn’t want to hang around after he got us here. I checked my saddlebag and found my bit bag once again. “Well shoot. Our guide ran off with our money.”

Buck shrugged, “that’s what you get when you don’t book a vacation with a licensed travel agency.”

“I’ll ask him for a refund after we get the Star back. Now let’s catch our other thief while we can.”

Getting onto the Sisterhood was a lot easier than I thought it would be. All the ship’s gun ports were open so I simply had to fly Buck up and across to them. Thankfully there was Nopony on that level when we entered. We moved toward rear of the ship, looking for Iron Hoof and his companions.

Out of nowhere, Buck chuckled to himself. I shot him an inquisitive look. He smiled and said a little loudly, “I was just thinking about this boat’s name. I mean seriously? The Sisterhood? That has to be the least threatening name for a warship ever. Why not use something cooler or at least something that makes sense as a gift to the Princess.”

I shrugged and responded in a more hushed tone, “Yeah Sisterhood is certainly a weird choice for Celestia’s flagship. There ain’t nopony like her and never was. Humph, unless if you believe in Nightmare Moon.”

“Ooooh the Nightmare. Hah, I’d sooner believe them Daring Do novels are biographies.”

“Or a sonic rainboom!”

“Or that we’re all in some made up world for the sake of some idiot’s entertainment!”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far.”

Suddenly we heard some thumping beyond a cabin door at the stern of the ship. We carefully took out our revolvers and approached it. One we got close enough, we could clearly hear the voices on the other side.

“I hope you made sure that sheriff will not be searching for you Iron Hoof,” said a voice that clearly belonged to the speech-giving noble, “The last thing we need is some gold hearted old hound sniffing around Baltimare or worse Canterlot.”

A deep, confident voice replied, “Don’t worry Minister. Sheriff will not be bothering us anytime soon. That should be plenty of time for us to shift the blame on to one of the usual suspects. We can plant the star there and Nopony would be the wiser. If there ARE any loose ends a few memory spells should be enough to smooth things out. Am I right Professor Lotso Love?”

A third, rather nervous voice responded, “Oh, um, yes yes your that should work quite well Mr. Hoof, provided a little time and so long as the memories will not be missed upon removal.”

I leaned down to look through the door’s key hole. Beyond was a windowed cabin. I couldn’t see Iron Hoof, but Professor Lotso and the minister were in plain view. The professor was a blue coated, white maned stallion wearing a suit and tie that screamed that he was a nerd. The minister looked exactly like I imaged a noble to look, creamy white with impossibly gussied up looks. Everything about said arrogance to me.

“Excellent,” the minister said, “Now we may continue to the matter at hoof. Do you have the star with you?”

“Of course,” said Iron Hoof. A faint glow shone to the right of my field of vision. I smiled. We just caught our thief red hoofed. The next step was just to get in there and get it back, but I was curious about why these ponies wanted it so badly. They definitely weren’t the sort I’d normally peg for thieves.

Professor Lotso raised his eyebrows in interest, “dear Celestia! The accounts were correct. That is indeed a fallen star. It’s more beautiful than I imagined.”

“Will it serve our purposes?” asked Iron Hoof.

“Well, uh, theoretically, the magical bond between this star and its brethren should still exist. Thus, communication can be facilitated via the bonds. I will conduct whatever tests I can, but without any staff or equipment I cannot make a 100% accurate prediction in such a short amount of time. Perhaps with a few of my most trusted graduates-”

“No! I will not risk this operation so close to the conclusion. Everything we do from now to the Summer Sun Celebration must be careful and precise. We all know what will happen if we fail.” The other two nodded grimly. Iron Hoof moved on, “Prime Minister, I assume that Celestia is still blind to this?”

“She remains optimistic that her protégé will be able to find and use the elements of harmony on her own. To be perfectly frank, I think I would see a dragon breathe ice before that happens. I’m afraid young Lady Sparkle’s social skills are rather nonexistent.”

Somepony may have responded to that but I was getting bored of the conversation. I turned to Buck and adjusted my hat. Quick as a jackalope, we kicked open the door and stormed into the cabin with our weapons cocked. “Alright everypony freeze! Yer all under arrest,” I yelled.

“What is the meaning of this?” the prime minister said angrily, his face turning red.

I pointed my gun at Iron Hoof, who seemed completely unfazed by the surprise intrusion. In fact, all I could see in grey eyes was smug confidence as he quickly sized us up and the reflection of our Star caught in his magic. It honestly creeped me out a little. It was as if he knew everything about us in a single glance. I tried my best to match his attitude as I responded. “Ain’t it clear? Ya’ll are under arrest for theft, probable conspiracy, and hurting my Pa!”

The prime minister glanced at Iron Hoof, “Care to explain this Iron hoof?”

Iron Hoof grinned, “It appears that old dog sent his pups after me. Now they’re here to bring me to justice.”

I tried to ignore his observation, “Look, ya’ll could do this the easy way and come with us quietly or we can do this the hard way and we’ll force you to come with us.”

“Please choose the hard way. I really want to try this new gun out,” Buck added.

“Sweet Celestia, you are actually serious,” the prime minister said.

“You bet we are!”

The professor and noble looked a little nervous, but Iron Hoof remained as cool as a sundae. “I don’t suppose you two could be persuaded to forgive and forget this situation. I am deeply sorry for the grief I’ve caused your family and will give you whatever compensation you may need it put your minds at ease.”

I snorted, “I don’t care for any of your compensation. Give me the Lucky Star now!”

Buck was on a different page. “How much are we talking here?” he asked.

“Buck, remember who sent us here.”

“Oh, right Ranger. Forget about what I said creep and put ‘em up. We don’t care what you have to offer.”

Iron Hoof passed the Star to Professor Love, who backed out of the way along with the minister. Iron Hoof focused on us and said, “Good. I wasn’t offering in the first place. Now, let us see if you are more of a challenge than your father.” He dropped into a battle stance ready for our attack.

Buck and I made the first move, rapidly firing our guns at Iron Hoof. He quickly diverted the bullets with his magic. We only managed to get two shots off before his horn flashed and Buck’s shotgun fired on his back, injuring him. Taking advantage of our surprise, Iron Hoof grabbed Buck in his magic and threw him across the room. I opened fire again, but as soon as I pulled the trigger, he teleported. He was doing the exact same trick he pulled with Pa. I spun around and fired as he tried to attack me from behind. He teleported again and I fired at him again and again and… he wasn’t there? Just as I noticed the change in the pattern, Iron Hoof’s hoof came down on my back. I collapsed felt a searing pain in my wing. I struggled to get Iron Hoof off of me, but I couldn’t. It was Buck that finally tackled him off me. However, the wounded Buck didn’t last long against him. Iron Hoof reversed positions with Buck and started beating him. I had to end this now if we were to win and get out before Somepony investigated the gunshots. I picked my pistol up, cocked the hammer and aimed at Iron Hoof’s head. The bastard must have heard me because he faced me immediately

I hesitated. Iron Hoof didn’t move a muscle. His horn never glowed. He just stared at me calmly. It was like he was testing me. Then he said, “You won’t do it.”

But I did. I couldn’t force Iron Hoof to surrender now. He had all the advantages. The only way for me to win was to shoot him and damn me to Tartarus I was not going to let him win. So I pulled the trigger, the gun clicked on an empty chamber, and I had just enough time to curse myself for not counting my shots before everything went dark.

Author's Note

Well that took a lot longer than I wanted. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope to finish more in this story and Love and War in the near future. Please like and comment if you want.