DownFall

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

The little colt gazed out into the gardens that sprawled out in front of Ponyville Hospital, his dour mood unaffected by the flawless sunny day outside. Sighing glumly, he rested his chin upon the windowsill. One week down, one to go.

He looked down to his left hind leg, held firmly in place by a large bulky plaster cast. It itched as if ants were crawling up and down his leg, sometimes tugging at his white and brown fur, and made walk feel like lugging around a ball-and-chain like a prisoner.

“Didn’t I tell you not to go climbing that tree?! Didn’t I?!” his mother had said to him, as she held him tightly less than an hour ago. She had been angry at him for disobeying her and Pipsqueak felt a little confused as to why he had to apologise when he was the one suffering, but deep down, he knew she was just worried about him. He saw it in his mother's eyes when she hugged him, the last time she and his father had visited. She was just trying to keep him safe.

Pip hobbled over to his bed and sat down on the side in thought. He wanted to be a good little colt for his parents’ sake, but he couldn’t help it! He was born for adventuring! He knew it, and his parents knew it too. It was even in his blood: His great-grandfather had been the leader of a team of explorers and adventurers, famous for their forays into the darkest regions of the Everfree Forest, discovering countless new species of animals and plants, and all kinds of fierce monsters. He had always loved sitting down in front of his old great-grandpa’s rocking chair and listening to him relay another epic adventure tale from his own youth.

Good old Great Grandpappy, Pipsqueak thought to himself as he gazed around the foal’s ward. Maybe I really did get it from him. Not that it’s good for much right now, though. His latest escapade had led him to try clambering up the tall silver-birch trees in the Whitetail Woods, and on a whim he made a daring and very dramatic leap from the branches of one tree to another. Big mistake.

When he had regained consciousness, he was surrounded by half a dozen very worried looking ponies, with pain shooting through his leg. As he was hoisted into the air on the magic of some unicorn nearby, his senses once again faded to black, just as he felt his back touching the canvas of an ambulance gurney.

And now I’m stuck here, Pip mused to himself. A boring room with boring other foals who spend most of their time sleeping. Yucky food, yucky smells everywhere, and I gotta stay here for another week!

Grunting as his cast bumped against the floor, he lowered himself off of the bed and hobbled towards the door. He really didn’t understand why he had to stay any longer, he could walk fine now. Nudging the door open, he headed out into the corridors on his routine wandering around the building and the grounds. He hesitated for a moment, before hurrying back to his bedside table, grabbing in his mouth a small wooden box. Its contents rattled as he limped out the door and closed it behind him, heading off.

As Pip wandered through the corridors between wards and clinics in the hospital, he was greeted by about a dozen other ponies he bumped into along the way. The kindly, if tired-looking nurse pony with the pink mane. The grinning, muscular zebra shooing him away from the fresh delivery of baked goods (The only good food they ever served) as he stopped to sniff at the delicious aroma of fresh bread. The ever-silent red and ginger stallion, smiling at him as he hauled a cart filled with apples to the ‘deliveries’ door. The unicorn in the strange red, black and white cape, who sat out in the gardens, his medicine by his side as he levitated a paintbrush to a sketchbook, painting a study of a bright little butterfly in the bush before him.

But as Pip rounded a bend, he saw a shadowy, intimidating figure approaching him round the corner. Beneath the strange masked helmet, heavy gloves and black apron it wore, he could just about see the beaked face and clawed forelegs of a griffon. He froze on the spot, his breath caught in his chest. His instincts told him to run, and this was a time to heed their warning. Ducking back around the corner, Pip held his breath, hoping the fearsome figure would pass him by.

The griffon paused as he saw the tiny colt peeping around the corner at him, whipping his head back as soon as he spotted him. The masked griffon merely shrugged and adjusted his lead-lined apron, continuing on to a room labelled ‘X-RAY MAINTENANCE’ and locking the door behind him.

Continuing his exploration, Pip passed an open door on his right. Doubling back he saw a ward he hadn’t noticed before. Above the white double-doors, he saw a sign that read “LONG TERM/PSYCH WARD - MIN SECURITY”.

Peeping in, he saw a small room with only four beds, much smaller than the foals’ ward, and only two ponies inside. One was an elderly stallion with a greying indigo mane, lying in bed and muttering to himself in his sleep. The other was a sky-blue pegasus with a stunning multi-coloured mane, her head buried in a weathered old book. A wheeled trolley stood at the foot of her bed, laden with a good twenty or so books.

Pip squinted as he read the title of the book the pegasus was reading. His face lit up as he recognised the name, “D-Daring Do and the Equestrian Gardens…?” Hobbling tentatively into the ward, his cast making little clunking noises on the linoleum floor, he approached the pegasus. Standing by her bedside, he coughed loudly “Ahem…excuse me…miss?”

The pegasus’ magenta eyes looked up from the pages of the book and peered down at Pip. “Oh…hi there. What’s up, kid?”

He reached up with a forehoof, pointing to the pages of her book “I-is that a Daring Do book you’re reading there?”

She turned the book over, looking down at the cover. There was the titular heroine, sprinting down a pathway flanked by flowers and plants of ridiculously large sizes, with hordes of skeletal monsters chasing after her “Heh, yeah it is…just about the only good books they got to read here. Why, you a fan?”

Pipsqueak nodded enthusiastically “Oh yeah, I love Daring Do’s adventures! She’s just so cool and adventurous and brave and, and…”

The mare chuckled again, a smile gracing her face “Heh, ya got that right. As a friend of mine put it: adventurous, fierce and undeniably, unquestionably unstoppable! Glad to see some other kids still read this stuff.”

“Yeah. Most other kids I know read either Harry Trotter books or…blecchh, Moonlight!” Pip grimaced as he forced out the name of that book series he abhorred the most.

“Hah, couldn’t have put it better myself, kid! My folks made me read the first one of those Moonlight books back when I was a filly. Pretty much put me off reading up ‘till I started reading Daring Do…by the way, you look kinda familiar. You live in Ponyville?”

Pip nodded again “Yeah, my parents and me moved here about a year ago, just before the last Nightmare Night…”

He jumped as the pegasus rapped her forehooves together “Nightmare Night! I knew I’d seen you around before. You were with that group of little fillies weren’t you? Dressed as a pirate, right?”

“Yeah, that was me!” He replied “My name’s Pipsqueak. What’s yours?”

“The name’s Rainbow Dash! I was the one on that stormcloud that night…” The pegasus replied.

Pip pointed an accusing hoof “So that was you! You were the one zapping everypony with lightning!”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck as she smiled sheepishly “Heheh, yeah…I might have gone a bit too far with that…but it’s not like it was totally out of line! I mean, it was Nightmare Night for pony’s sake! Best night of the year for pranks!”

“I guess so.” Pip said as he shrugged “And it was really fun at the time too. Scary, but fun!”

She chuckled at the foal’s comment at the end, before she faded into silence. For about a minute, the only sounds were the gentle snores and inarticulate mutterings of the old pony in the bed opposite, and the gentle thuds of fruit falling to the ground in the orchard outside. “So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s in that box of yours?”

Pip held the box up, placing it on Rainbow’s bed. She opened it and saw that it was an old box that cigars used to come in. But instead of cigars, the inside of the box’s lid was covered with all manner of stickers and stamps of animals, plants, and old pictures of great sweeping landscapes. Inside the box itself was an assortment of trinkets and doo-dads: A tiny figurine of a unicorn pony in silver armour. A sheet of card cut into a fancy pattern around the edge, with a drawing of a pirate-ship in the middle. A photograph of Pipsqueak and a pair of older ponies, smiling as they stood outside a small cottage. A tiny chunk of driftwood, carved to look like a sea-serpent.

“This is pretty cool…where’d you get it?” Rainbow said, holding the tiny wooden serpent up to the light.
Pip pointed out the window “One of the ponies down in town. A big red guy with a thing around his neck. He carves them out of bits of wood, and he gave me one when I visited his farm with my parents.”

Rainbow turned the model over in her hooves “Big Macintosh? Huh, who knew he’d have spare time to do carving like this? I gotta see if he could make one for me sometime. And I’m betting this is you with your parents, right?”

Rainbow held out the photograph in her teeth. Pip nodded, smiling warmly at the picture “Yeah. Me, my mum and my dad outside our house. Well, our old house, back in Trottingham.”

“Huh…” Rainbow placed the photo back in the box “Your dad totally looks like you. Same spot over your eye. So, why’d you move to Ponyville then? Just need a change of scenery?”

The colt’s smile suddenly faded “Actually, our house got…burned down. We couldn’t live in Trottingham anymore, so we moved to a new house in Ponyville.”

Rainbow’s chest clenched up for a moment. “Ooh...er, sorry…”

“Oh, it’s alright… I mean, I like it here in Ponyville. Everypony’s so friendly here, especially to me!” He grinned widely, his ears perking up again.

Rainbow smiled back, hesitating with her next question. “So…um, if it's alright to ask, what happened to you? How did you wind up in hospital?”

“I was…I was climbing a tree and I fell. I was trying to jump to another branch and I kinda…slipped.” Pip answered, his ears falling flat once more. His leg ached just thinking about it. “What about you, miss Dash? Did you fall too?”

Rainbow Dash lay back on her pillow “As a matter of fact, yeah, I did…it’s got me grounded for a few days.”

Pip cocked his head “You really fell too? But you’re a pegasus! Pegasi can’t get hurt when they fall, I mean, you can fly, right?”

“Heh, nah, we can fall just like anypony else. In fact, ‘cos we can get higher than other ponies, we can fall harder and faster. I was…trying a new trick, things didn’t go as planned, and you can see how it turned out.”

“Gosh…” Pipsqueak muttered. She must have really landed badly, he said in his mind. Looking over her, he saw bandages wrapped around her middle, pinning her wing to her sides. Looking her in the eyes, he shuddered slightly as he noticed how tired she looked, her gentle content grin not matched by her eyes. Why did her eyes look so sad?

Rainbow sighed “I just wish they’d get some new books in sometimes! I mean, I love the Daring Do stories and all, but I can only read ‘em so many times!”

Pip sat himself on the little wooden chair that stood nearby the pegasus’ bedside “What about the other books? Aren’t any of them any good?”

She shook her head “Nah. They’re all non-fiction. Biographies, science books, poetry, all that boring stuff! Only thing that was even kinda interesting was this book all about the history of the pegasus tribes. Y’know, before all the different pony tribes started living together?”

“You mean like the story we hear about at Hearths Warming Eve?”

“That’s the one” Rainbow nodded “You know I was actually in one of those pageant plays, over in Canterlot. I played Commander Hurricane.”

Pip’s eyes grew wide with awe “You performed in Canterlot?! Wow!! What was it like?”

Rainbow closed her eyes “Oh, it was awesome! Nothing gives you a bigger thrill than having thousands of ponies watching you performing like that. You really felt like you were back in those days, during the blizzard…but the character I played, Commander Hurricane, it turns out she’s got a bit of a story herself. The book I was reading about pegasi history had a whole chapter all about her.”

“Gosh, what was she like?”

“Kinda like Daring Do, now that I think about it,” Rainbow said “adventurous, brave, bold, and a great leader. This one time, she led an entire battalion of pegasi warriors on this campaign into the Griffon Kingdoms, up north, y’know? There was some sort of war between the griffons and the pegasi, or something…I skipped that bit.

Anyways, this one time, she got separated from her army, while they were going through this huge desert. She was totally alone, just her and a dozen other pegasi. So there he was, in this huge sandy desert, totally empty, with no water for miles…”

Commander Hurricane pulled the heavy helmet from atop her head, tossing it aside, its mighty plume sweeping a cloud of dirt and sand into the air. Sweat poured from her brow, dripping into her eyes as she gazed up at the blazing sun in the sky. Catching a few drops on her tongue, she winced at the rancid taste. But she relished in the sensation of moisture in her mouth. It had been days since she and her troops had had any fresh water or seen any of the rest of her army.

The rest of her pegasi troops who were lost with her sat or lay around, tongues lolling out as they desperately tried to fan eachother with their wings. Nothing to do but sit back and conserve energy until their messenger returns. For the Commander had sent their fastest and fittest pegasus to fly out and find the rest of the pegasus army, wherever they may be.

“Hey, look!” cried a voice from behind Hurricane. She turned and saw one of her troops pointing out towards the horizon. Following his pointing hoof, Hurricane saw a tiny speck in the sky above the high orange dunes in the farthest distance of the desert.

As the minutes passed, the speck became more distinct. It was their messenger pegasus, carrying something in his forehooves. After what seemed like an eternity, he touched down, exhausted, before the Commander. In his forehooves he carried a helmet, filled with…

“WATER!” Came the cry from the pegasi around Commander Hurricane. They surged forwards, like a group of wolves charging forth to get the first mouthful of food from the kill.

But the pegasus withheld the helmet, carefully trying his best to not spill a drop. “Wait! I have something important for the Commander to hear!”

Commander Hurricane stepped forth, forcing her troops to stand back with her outstretched wings “I am here. What is the message? And for that matter, where is the rest of my army?”

The messenger bowed down before Hurricane “My commander, I’m afraid they are currently being besieged by the griffons. They are actually in a similar predicament to us, stranded far out in the desert wildernesses. They gave me this note to give you.”

The pegasus took off his own helmet and retrieved from inside it a small sheet of paper, passing it to his Commander. Hurricane held it up, examining the paper, noting with some curiosity the strangely-cut edges and the picture of a great galleon drawn on the back. Flipping it over, she read aloud of the note:

“My Commander. Court-Martial me as you will for saying this, but I feel that your mighty army is on the verge of defeat. Not, however, from the swords and spears of the cruel and brutish griffon armies, but from our own greed and thirst.

This helmet contains our last supply of water in the entire army. The griffon armies have us pinned down and blockaded, with all other supplies at their limits. So, we entrust our final supplies of water to you.

O Commander Hurricane, I believe that your wisdom shall save us all.”

The pegasus commander lowered the note, casting an eye over the small crew of two-dozen pegasi that gathered around her. Her eyes fell upon the helmet that sat on the ground before her, the water glistening and shimmering in the sunlight. All eyes were upon her as she stepped forwards, infinitely slowly, and lifted up the helmet, carefully trying to not spill a drop.

The messenger licked his lips as he anxiously watched his commander’s face, her gaze giving away nothing. But as Commander Hurricane lifted the helmet to lip-level, she tipped it over, letting it fall to the ground.

Time itself seemed to slow down as the helmet thudded into the sand, the spilled water vanishing into the sand, staining it a dark orange colour.

Silence reigned over the troops who watched in shock as the water evaporated into the air. Finally, the messenger pegasus spoke up, in a voice far too young to be his own:

“Why?”

“Well, it was…” Rainbow hesitated, as she mimed Hurricane tipping the helmet of water over “It was so that nopony would feel inferior. Y’know, left out. It was…it was her way of showing that all her troops were equal and…”

“It’s stupid.” Pip said.

Rainbow folded her forelegs, raising an eyebrow “Oh yeah, squirt? Well what would you have done?”

Pip sat back, tapping his chin with a forehoof “Well, I would’ve just given each soldier a tiny bit, like a drip of it.”

“I dunno,” Rainbow replied “One helmet of water for over a thousand thirsty pegasi, I just don’t see that working.”

“Hmm…when you put it like that…Yeah, you’re right.” He relented, gathering up his box of trinkets and sitting back down “It was a pretty cool story though. You’re really good at telling stories, miss Dash.”

Rainbow was slightly taken aback “Heh, just Rainbow is fine. Miss Dash makes me sound like some old maid. You really think I’m good at tellin’ stories?”

Pip nodded enthusiastically again “Oh yeah! Tell me another, please?”

The pegasus sat back, thinking hard for some story she knew to tell him. It was obvious the kid was a fan of adventure and fantasy, but the only stories she knew alike that were Daring Do stories, and he no doubt knew them already.

Luckily, she was saved by the arrival of Nurse Redheart, who came through the door as she spotted Pip “Oh there you are, Pipsqueak! C’mon you, it’s time for supper. High time you were back in the foal’s ward.”

As she tried to usher the tiny colt away from the bedside, he turned back to Rainbow “C-can I come back to see you tomorrow, and hear another story? Can I?”

Rainbow once again found herself grinning warmly at the colt’s enthusiasm and energy. He reminded her alot of herself as a little filly “Sure thing, kid. Tell you what; I got somepony coming in to see me around lunchtime. Come by here after you’re done with your lunch and I’ll tell you another story. An epic tale of swashbuckling, adventure and revenge! It’ll be awesome!”

Pip gasped with excitement, looking up imploringly to the Nurse. Redheart sighed and smiled, unable to say no to the charming young colt “Well, I guess it’s okay. Just don’t be too big of a hooffull. Miss Rainbow Dash needs her rest if she’s going to recover. And same goes for you, miss Dash! Make sure little Pip doesn’t over exert himself."

Rainbow jokingly saluted “Sure thing. See ya tomorrow then Pip.”

As she watched the young colt and the pink-haired nurse going round the corner, she lay back for her nap. Honestly she had very few ideas exactly what kind of story to tell Pip tomorrow. But she had an idea. The little guy could prove to be helpful for her. She just needed a story. Something to keep him coming back. Some kind of romping adventure…ideas…ideas…

Thoughts of the story drifting about in her head, she relaxed further into her pillow and let herself drift off to sleep. No doubt her dreams could provide some ideas.

Chapter 2

Putting snout to the air, Pip wrinkled his nose as he smelt the familiar odour of medicine, disinfectant and hospital food. No doubt lunch was just being cleared up. He could still taste the strange flavour of alfalfa and cheap jelly in his mouth. Downing it as quickly as he could, the little colt was too excited to slow down. He was finally going to hear Rainbow Dash’s story!

Rounding the bend, he hurried down the corridor, tentatively sneaking past the room labelled ‘X-RAY’. As silently as possible he scurried past the door, lest he alert the fearsome, armoured griffon that had entered the room the previous day.

As he approached the ward where miss Rainbow Dash was staying, he heard her voice, muttering something indistinct. But there was another voice. Somepony male, with a deep and somewhat gruff voice. Hiding by the doorframe, Pipsqueak peeked round the side of the door and listened in:

“…I mean really, Dash! A terminal-velocity belly-flop into a lake?! You were lucky you only cracked a few ribs!”

“Quit rubbing it in! Things didn’t go as planned, alright? I was meant to go straight down into a dive into the water. Not my fault that tailwind decided to change right then…”

“Yeah, well, you were still darn lucky to get away from it alive! And if you were trying to impress a certain somepony…”

Dash seemed to grunt a moment, and Pip could hear the bedsprings creak as she sat up. “I wasn’t trying to impress anypony…you should know why I did it. You know what happened between me and…her.”

“What are ye…oh, right, her.” The male voice replied “Come on, Dash! Yer still not over her?”

Pip peeked round the corner into the room. The first thing he noticed was that there was a new patient in one of the beds. A rather uptight-looking palomino unicorn stallion, with tan fur and a blonde mane. He popped a few white tablets into his mouth from a jar, before levitating the jar into his cabinet and returning to his book.

But Pip's eye was then caught by a middle-aged stallion, sitting by Rainbow Dash’s bed. He was a boisterous looking fellow, with a short, wispy orange mane, topped off with a bushy handlebar moustache and beard. But the young colt’s eyes were drawn straight to his right hind leg. Or rather, the lack thereof. From the knee down, the stallion’s leg was completely gone, with only a stump below the thigh. A long wooden stake carved in the shape of a leg lay on the floor beside him, with three short leather straps attached to the top.

“What do you know?! She wasn’t your marefriend! She didn’t run out on you, did she?” Rainbow lay back down and rolled over, hiding her face from the stallion.

“Now don’t give me that!” The colt said, “Every cloud’s got a silver lining, that’s fo’ sure. A pegasus like yerself should know that. I mean take me, for instance.” He waggled his stump of a hind leg. Rainbow grimaced at the strange sight. “Before I got this, I was just ‘generic stuntpony guy’, barely makin’ ends meet. Then I had me accident and lost me leg. Now, I’m gettin’ more jobs than ever before! I’ve been run over by chariots, torn to bits by monsters, chopped up by mad scientists, shot with arrows…”

“So what’re you saying?” Rainbow cut in.

The stallion fitted his wooden leg to the stump of his thigh, looping the straps onto three hooks that fitted to a harness around his thigh. “I’m just sayin’, ye shouldn’t let something as small as a breakup ruin yer life like this.”

“AH-CHOOO!”

The stallion and Rainbow looked up at the sudden sound, just in time to see Pipsqueak duck back around the doorframe. The old pony smiled and got to his hooves “Well, I've rambled long enough, so I’ll leave ya be. Looks like ya got another visitor. Just keep in mind…regardless of what she might’ve been like, nopony is worth suicide. Think over that.”

Patting her multi-coloured mane, the stallion turned and headed out the door, his wooden leg clunking against the floor. As he passed Pipsqueak, he grinned again and tousled his hair with a forehoof, then headed down the corridor and round the corner without another word.

Readjusting his hair, Pip watched him go, before entering the ward and approaching Rainbow’s bed. She was still rolled over, facing the empty neighbouring bed. Dragging a stool from the corner of the room, he set it down next to her bedside and perched atop it.

Rainbow Dash rolled over, hastily wiping her eyes and flashing a quick smile to the tiny colt. “Hey kid.”

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Pip replied happily “So, who was that pony with you just now? He kinda looked like a pirate!”

“A Pirate…?”

“Well, y’know… the wooden leg!”

Rainbow gave a hollow chuckle “Heh, nice one kid. Well, yeah, sometimes he’s a pirate. Other times, he’s a cowpony, a knight, an explorer, all kinds of stuff…He’s a stuntpony, y’see. He does stunts for action flicks.”

Pip tilted his head in confusion “Flicks? What’s that?”

“Y’know, movies. Films. Filmmakers get him to do the tricks and stunts that the real actors can’t do.”

“Huh…I’ve never seen a movie before.”

“Eh, you’re not missing much.” Rainbow said nonchalantly.

“Is that what you do? The tricks and stunts I mean. Is that how you hurt yourself?”

Her smile faded “Nah. That was…somethin’ else.”

An awkward silence hung in the air between the two ponies. The only sound came from the old pony lying in his bed, humming cheerfully to himself.

“So, “It was Rainbow who finally broke the silence “I’m guessing you’re here to hear that story, huh?

Pipsqueak instantly sat up straight, nodding vigorously, “Ooh, yesyesyes!”

Rainbow smiled again, sitting up and resting on an elbow “Heh, alright then! So, for starters, I want you to close your eyes.”

Pip obediently did so, clamping his eyelids firmly shut.

“Now try to picture the darkest night you can imagine. Like, no lights at all but the stars in the sky. And even then, just a few stars, two or three. As dark as you can picture.”

In Pip’s mind, he saw everything as if in front of him.

“The story begins on a night just like this… On a tiny island, in the middle of the sea, surrounded by calm waters… But that calmness was deceiving. Because at that moment, five ponies were sitting on the island, desperately planning some way to escape. Now, the first pony was a big, tough stallion, a paladin,”

“What’s a paladin?”

Rainbow paused for a moment. Now that was a question and a half. What exactly is a paladin? She only knew the word from those weird board-games Twilight convinced everypony to play, with those little figures, books full of confusing charts and numbers, and endless dice-rolling.

“Well…it’s like a…like a knight. Yeah, they’re like a kind of knight. Anyway, this silent paladin was a huge, strong guy, once married to the most beautiful mare in the world. Or at least, that’s what everypony said about her. Now, word about this mare eventually reached a guy called…Lord Sinistar.” She finished, coming up with the most evil sounding name she could think of in a hurry. “Lord Sinistar wanted to kidnap this mare and make her his own wife. But the mare was seriously shy, and never left the Paladin’s house. So Lord Sinister disguised himself as a beggar and went to the house, askin' for food. And when she answered the door, and he saw her face, he instantly fell for her.

That night, the Paladin did his usual guarding the house, patrolling the outside and inside. But what he didn’t know is that he was guarding an empty house, because Sinistar had already kidnapped her!

So the mare was kept in Sinistar’s palace as his prisoner. But every time he came to see her, she hid her face from him, 'cos she was determined to be loyal to her husband. So, he locked her away in a huge maze, telling her he’d only let her out if she agreed to marry him.

She wandered around the maze for days, totally lost. After a week, she gave up hope of escape. But she never agreed to marry Sinister, and instead, took her own life, jumping from a high tower in the maze to her death.”

Pipsqueak gasped, holding a hoof to his mouth.

“So, the mourning Paladin swore a silent oath that day, to never love another mare again, and that he would be responsible one day, for Lord Sinistar’s death!” Rainbow finished, dramatically punching the air with a hoof.

“…Wow…I like him!” The colt said, settling down in his seat “Go on!”

Rainbow smiled “The next pony was an explosives expert, named Napalm. Napalm Fireball. He was one of the best ponies in the business of explosives and bombs, and he was known through the whole land as an expert. Now, Lord Sinistar heard about him too, and hired him to build the most powerful bomb he could! He agreed, and built the bomb, powerful enough to demolish an entire building in one go. Problem was, that was exactly what Sinistar planned to do with it: He was gonna use it to attack a building that refused to pay rent to him!

When he found out, Napalm personally hid the bomb, refusing to even show it to Sinistar. As punishment, Sinistar had him banished, makin' it a crime to even speak to him. When his own family refused to talk to him, he swore an oath to be the one responsible for Lord Sinistar’s death!”

Pip nodded “I like him too!”

“Now, the third pony was actually a zebra, like Zecora. But he was a stallion, named Askari. Askari once lived in a village in an awesomely beautiful valley. Lord Sinistar thought so too, and tried to buy the land. But the zebras refused to sell it. So, he decided that if he couldn’t have the land, nopony could! He sent his soldiers to attack the valley, and they invaded the zebras’ village, killing everypony. The only villager that survived was Askari, who swore to never stop until he had personally killed Lord Sinistar.

Then, there was…there was…” Rainbow hesitated again, her mind drawing blank as she came up with characters.C’mon, think, her mind whispered Think! Old story, classic characters, who could….aha! “There was the unicorn, Clover the Clever.

Now Clover was a total egghead, one of the smartest guys around. He knew hundreds of spells, and studied all sorts of subjects.”

“You mean she.”

“Huh?”

“She.” Pipsqueak said “Clover the Clever was a mare.”

Rainbow grinned “Actually, Clover was a colt. He’s just played by a mare in the Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageants. Y’see, back in the old days only girls were allowed to perform in the pageants, so even the guys were played by girls. Nowadays stallions and colts can be in the play too, but the main characters can only be played by mares. Tradition or something.”

Pip paused to digest this new information, before nodding in understanding.

“Anyways, Clover the Clever. One of his favourite things to study was plant and animals. And he was always followed by his pet, Bumpkin the rabbit. Clover loved all living things, but especially, erm…”

Rainbow once again found herself at a loss. Glancing around the room for inspiration. Movement outside the window caught her eye, and she turned to see a small insect fluttering past the window. A fluttering little creature, with blue and yellow wings.

“…Especially butterflies, yeah. It was his dream to own a live butterfly of every kind. And he and Bumpkin did pretty well at it too; he kept thousands of butterflies of all kinds. Except for one: The elusive Equestriana Exotica!” Rainbow said, her mind going back to a name she remembered from when Fluttershy forced her to join her in watching the Great Butterfly Migration.“The only known butterfly of that kind was owned by Lord Sinistar in his private collection. Of course, Sinistar didn’t care about something as small as a butterfly, so just to make him mad, he sent Clover the ultimate insult: a dead Equestriana Exotica.

So Sinistar banished the heroes to a single tiny island. He kept them here, hoping they’d finish eachother off. But instead, they joined together, vowing to find Lord Sinistar and destroy him.”

Pip’s eyes grew wide with awe at the backstories of the characters “Lord Sinistar sounds like one bad pony!”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Rainbow Dash sad with a grin. “So, the last of this band of buccaneers…”

“What’s a buccaneer?”

Rainbow frowned slightly at this new interruption “Well, it’s sorta like a pirate. Pirate, Buccaneer, they’re basically the same. I’d expect you to know, I thought you kinda had an interest in pirates.”

Pip shook his head “Well, yeah, but can’t they be something else instead? I’ve heard so many stories about pirates, I wanna hear something new!”

Rainbow was slightly taken aback, but continued her story afresh “Well, a-alright then, they’re not pirates. It’s a..a bandit story. In fact, the final hero couldn’t even swim. That’s what made Sinistar’s banishment so good. But apart from that, not much was known about the mysterious Masked Black Bandit. All that was known about her was that she and her brother, the Red Bandit, had escaped execution by Lord Sinistar’s minions. The brother and sister knew their chances of survival would be better if they split up, so they separated, both swearing to kill Sinistar for what he did to them!”

Clover strained and grunted as he channelled his magic, his horn glowing a bright red, a small red pendant held in his hoof. Within his mind, he followed the trace of the Red Bandit, tracking him to his exact location. He had performed the tracking spell many times in the past, while tracking rare specimens of animals, or trying to find Bumpkin after he had scampered off for the umpteenth time. However, as he learned the Bandit’s location, his eyes snapped open.

“Good heavens!” He cried, panting from the strain. His shout drew the attention of Napalm, who hurried to his side.

“Clover! What did you see?” he muttered. Casting a furtive glance to the Black Bandit, standing on the other side of the tiny island “Any news of her brother?”

Clover gulped, “The worst news.”

The masked mare turned and approached the two stallions, her masked eyes revealing nothing “What is the worst news?”
Clover and Napalm glanced nervously at eachother, neither willing to speak up.

“Tell me!” The Bandit shouted.

Clover flinched under her shouting “Erm…I-it appears that your b-brother, has been, ah, captured, by Sinistar…They p-plan to execute him in the morning.”

The Black Bandit sunk to her knees as the news hit her like a thunderbolt. Taking her wide-brimmed black hat off, she ran her hoof through her mane of many colours. She prided herself in her rainbow-coloured mane, but it wasn’t exactly useful for stealth missions.

“Well then, it’s all the more important we get off this island! I can’t let my brother be executed! Besides,” The Black Bandit took the red pendant from Clover, looping it around her neck. “I promised I’d give this back to him.”

“Well, that’s all fine and good, but there’s no way we could get off this island! None of us are that good at swimming, and there’s no other land for miles!” Napalm replied, sitting down on the white sand.

The five bandits sat on the shingle, each thinking of some new scheme to leave the island. Askari paced up and down the sand. The Paladin sat silently on a piece of driftwood. Napalm brushed at his orange mustache and beard anxiously. Again and again, Clover consulted a ragged and dog-eared map, as if hoping for some new causeway to spring up or some indicator of Sinistar’s location. But once again, he resigned to the fact that his map was useless at the moment and put it back in his little wooden box, pining for the days when the box had been filled with rich, plump cigars, now home to scraps of notes, a sketch of a pirates’ galleon on crimped paper, a tiny wooden model of a sea-serpent, and a few live beetles. Bumpkin, the tiny white rabbit, scampered up to Clover, squeaking and chittering in his ear. The unicorn nodded “Hmm…yes, I know…Well, if it was to carry us, it would need to be a pretty big turtle, and anyway, how would we get it to come to…”

Suddenly, the red-furred Paladin silently stood up. Staring out to the open sea, his orange tail swished up and down as he sniffed the breeze. The Black Bandit stood by his side.

“What is it, my friend? Something out there?” she asked, following his eyes. Beneath her mask, her eyes became wide with disbelief as, as if on cue, the green segmented shell of an enormous turtle emerged from the waves barely twenty feet away from the island.

Hastily the Paladin drew his sword, gripping it tight in his jaws. The other heroes followed suit, drawing all manner of weapons, both of black powder and cold steel, standing ready in case of attack from the colossal beast.

But the turtle calmly floated up to the shingle of the tiny island, resting its enormous head on the sand. It lay still as there was a stirring on its back. One of the segments of its shell seemed to break off, rising up to reveal a bizarre sight.

Standing at ease, segment of shell strapped to his back, looking for all the world like he did not realise he had just emerged from the inside of a giant turtle’s shell, stood a strange old earth pony. His once light blue coat and long indigo mane, now greying with age, drippied with seaweed and was encrusted with salt.

Stepping down the turtle’s neck, the old pony approached the bandits, and began mumbling some strange words, made up of chitterings and odd clicks.

“How sad.” The Black Bandit said, turning down her belt-mounted pistol. “The tortures of this world have driven the poor pony mad.”

But Clover shook his head “No no, not so. I know this language! He’s trying to say that…he had sensed our, our presence in his land, and offers to ferry us to…to Sinistar’s outpost fortress!”

But before anypony could say anything, Clover continued “But, but he has one request: that he may join us on our…our quest to defeat Lord Sinistar.”

The old pony swept a forehoof over the watery landscape, chattering away as Clover translated “Apparently, this whole area was actually once a lush forest, filled with birds and sacred trees, with him presiding over it as the mystic chief…but Sinistar had the trees burnt down and the land flooded…”

Beckoning, the old pony mystic clambered back up the neck of the enormous turtle, perching back atop its shell. The others followed suit, slipping on the wet fleshy neck of the turtle, before taking their seats on the turtle.

Once Askari had taken his seat on the shell, the turtle raised its head from the sands of the island, and turned around, cutting a swathe through the calm waters with its massive flippers.

The Mystic looked expectantly to the Black Bandit, who turned to Clover. “Please tell him that while we are thankful for his offer to take us to the fortress, we have no use for a mystic. We are on a dangerous mission to rescue my twin brother.”
Clover nodded, and began speaking in the same strange dialect the Mystic spoke. As he received his answer, the Mystic’s face fell. Bowing his head, he silently turned his back to Clover and the Black Bandit, facing out to the sea to sulk. Clover and the Bandit turned to eachother, shrugging silently.

Askari, meanwhile, peered down into the water around them, teeming with all manner of marine life. Everything, from the tiniest minnows to large, bulky koi and even catfish swam in the water around them. The zebra was suddenly struck with an idea. “Clover?” He called to the unicorn “Griffons are meat-eaters, are they not?”

“Well, actually they’re omnivores, so they’ll eat plants or meat, but yes. Why?” He asked.

Askari smiled as he gripped a javelin in his forehoof, poised to throw at a particularly fat pair of catfish “Well, Sinistar’s soldiers are all griffons…and now, I may have an idea how we can get into his fortress.”

Mere hours later, Askari hauled a small wagon on his back, up from the docks of Sinistar’s fortress. Stopping by the steps up to the gates, he stripped the harness from his back, gripped a pair of freshly speared catfish in his tail, and called at the top of his lungs “GET YOUR FRESH FISH! FREEESH FIIISH, RIGHT HEEEEEEERE!”

The gate creaked open, and from within the fortress emerged four griffons, each decked out in a massive black helmet, long cloaks and a thick black armoured apron on the front, as well as dull metal gauntlets on the arms. Each wielded a fearsome-looking battleaxe in a clawed arm, except for the largest, which held a flintlock pistol in its claws.

“FISH, SIRS! THE FINEST IN ALL THE LAND!” Askari called up, holding up the fish for all to see. Behind the wagon, the Black Bandit, Clover and Napalm waited with baited breath, as the Paladin snuck up the side of the stairs, as quietly as his bulk armour would allow him.

Growling and snarling in a way most uncharacteristic of a griffon, the lead guard beckoned for the zebra to bring his wares inside. Askari placed the two fish back in the wagon, readying a large bundle, containing a trio of short javelins with leaf-shaped tips, his trademark weapon. Hoisting the bundle upon his back, he heaved it up the high steps to the gate, as the other three bandits waited hidden behind the wagon.

But as he reached halfway up, Askari's hoof caught on an uneven step and he stumbled, his bundle falling of his back. The bundle unwrapped, and the javelins clattered out onto the steps. The lead griffon hurried down the steps to help the zebra up. But the moment it saw the javelins lying on the ground, he raised his pistol with a snarl, pointing it straight at Askari’s head.

But before it had the chance to fire, the Griffon reeled back, a bleeding bullet hole in its chest. Pistol smoking, the Black Bandit charged up the steps, followed by Napalm, hurling a smoke bomb to the ground to cover their attack, and Clover, simply trying to not get shot.

The other three griffons staggered trough the thick smoke, trying to repel the attackers. But their attention was drawn by the sound of a blade scratching along the ground behind them. Turning, they found themselves face to face with the Paladin, his sword gripped between his teeth.

His blade flashed through the smokescreen. Like lightning, he was upon the griffons, parrying blow after blow of their axes, and countering with slashes and stabs of his own sword. He was like a whirlwind among the first crops of spring, the sheer force of the gale winds blasting the plans from the ground, shredding them to pieces in mid-air. So was the Paladin, as he made short work of the griffon guards.

But as he slashed at the neck of the last guard, it staggered back through the gate, its last ounce of strength used to bar the massive door shut.

The five bandits stood before the door, as the cries of griffon guards within rang out loud and long. Napalm stepped forward,
a lit bundle of dynamite in his hoof. “Stand back, everypony. Before you can say ‘kaboom’, I’ll have this door wide open!”

“No need.” said Clover as he rummaged through the armour of one of the fallen griffons. Around its neck, he found a string with a large iron key. Shoving the key into the lock, he paused suddenly as he heard a new sound from within: Shouing still, but shouts of shock and pain. Quickly he twisted the key and pulled back on the door, heaving it open.

Galloping down the path through the bailey to the keep, the bandits were stopped by a strange sight. Piled high in the middle of the path were a hundred armoured griffon guards, slain and piled high like the stones of a cairn. Atop it, head held high, stood the old Mystic, breathing heavily from exertion.

Awestruck, the five bandits bowed low. Napalm hastily stamped the fuse out on the bundle of dynamite, before it could burn any further.

The Black Bandit was the first to speak “Forgive me, wise Mystic, for my disrespect earlier. It looks like you have a bit of a flair for fighting after all! I would be honoured if you would join us on our quest.”

She turned to Clover, who proceeded to translate for the Mystic. When he had finished, the old pony nodded respectfully bowed back before climbing down from the pile of bodies to join his newfound comrades.

“So, with that taken care of…” Askari muttered in the Black Bandit’s ear.

She nodded “Right! Let’s move! Every moment we waste, my brother moves closer to his execution!”

With that, the bandits sprinted down the path towards the massive keep. The Black Bandit, however, hesitated a moment as there came a strange odour.

“Hey, do you suddenly smell…apple juice?”

Pip sniffed the air. Aside from the usual hospital odours, he did smell the distinct sweet tanginess of apples “Yeah, I do.”

“Where’s it coming from, d’you think?” Rainbow asked sitting up and looking about the ward. “Oh, it better not be…”

“Erm…Rainbow Dash?”

The pegasus looked down to the little colt, who had his head peeked under her bed. She didn't like the way he just said that.“Yeah?”

“I think I found it…” he said, timidly holding up a small, empty glass bottle, labelled with an image of an apple. “Um…I think when I pulled the chair over to here, I might have…spilt it.”

For a moment, Rainbow felt a twinge of anger. But it subsided as she looked into Pip’s apologetic eyes, and faded to mere frustration “Ah geez, Applejack brought me that specially, back at breakfast. That’s her fresh pressed fizzy apple cordial, that stuff’s not exactly cheap!”

Pip hung his head, biting his lip in shame “Oh…sorry. I-I didn’t mean to, it was an accident…”

Rainbow sighed in annoyance, unable to stay mad at a child for long “Ah, it’s alright…I’ll get her to give me some more after I get outta here.”

Both ponies were silent a moment longer.

“Erm…so, did...did they reach the Red Bandit?” Pip asked quietly, still half-expecting the pony to lash out or shout at him.

Rainbow made to continue, but as she drew up the next scene of the story, something changed. Maybe it was side-effect from her medication, or maybe it was some reaction to her brief moment of anger. But as she thought more and more about it, the story began to morph and change in her head, taking a sudden negative turn…

“…sadly, no. The bandit sped into the main hall of the keep, but Sinistar wasn’t there. Instead, they found the Red Bandit lying on the ground. He’d been tortured and shot in the head….”

The Black Bandit stood still as a statue, her multi-hued hair flowing in the wind of the plains outside Sinistar’s outpost fortress. Beneath her red mask, tears streaked down her face as she faced the body of her fallen brother, now wrapped in a white cloth and placed on a flat rock, his red pendant resting atop his chest. As she placed a hoof tenderly on her brother’s still form, the white wrappings slowly began to fade to a dark red as his blood stained the fabric. The other five bandits stood behind her in reverent silence, as she fought back her sobbing to say a few words:

“That which has been taken from me can never be replaced…my dear brother.” She muttered darkly, running her forehoof over the wrappings “I could have saved you, but I was weak. But now, my grief…has gone blood red with revenge. I’m stronger now.”

Standing, she held up the red cloak of her brother, as she called out to the heavens “By the Red Bandit’s honour, I swear I will track Lord Sinistar down, and annihilate him!”

Turning, she faced her bandit companions, who stood to attention, weapons at the ready. Fumbing with the strap a moment, the Black Bandit ripped the red mask from her eyes, revealing a pair of magenta eyes, burning with hatred and a desire for revenge.

“In the name of my family and my hometown, I WILL DESTROY HIM!!”

Her anguished, furious cry echoed through the plains, fading far into the distance.

“What is her hometown, Rainbow Dash?” Pip asked, literally on the edge of his seat at the story’s sudden dramatic turn “Was she from Ponyville, like you?”

But Rainbow Dash shook her head “Nope. He was from Phillydelphia…”

The Black Bandit faced her comrades, looking each one squarely in the eyes. Loading her pistol and slipping it back into its strap on her belt, she wiped the tears from her face and stood tall.

“Are youse with me, bandits?” she barked in her Philydelphian accent that she definitely didn’t just suddenly start speaking in.

The response was loud and unanimous “WE’RE WITH YOUSE!"

But before Rainbow could continue, there as the distinct sound of a book slamming shut from across the ward. She and Pipsqueak looked up and saw the uptight blonde pony getting up out of his bed and shuffling over towards them.

“Alright! That’s enough!” He barked. “Get back to your own room kid! Storytime’s over. This is a ward, not a kindergarten! I’m not feeling very well, and need some rest and quiet! Go on, shoo!!”

With a squeak of fright, Pipsqueak hastily hopped off his chair and hurried out of the room, casting an apologetic glance at his pegasus friend. Rainbow grabbed the unicorn by the scruff of his hospital-gown. “You leave him alone, got it?” she growled, pulling his face close.

He sneered back at her and brushed her hoof away. Shuffling back to his bed, he lay down and returned to his book, taking a moment to scowl at Rainbow over the top of the pages before going back to his reading.

Rainbow lay back, closing her eyes. A part of her wished she hadn't thrown such a dark twist in her story onto Pipsqueak. But somehow, it felt right. It added a new level of interest the story and prolonged it a bit, which she needed. Besides, he kinda deserved it after spilling your present from Applejack said a tiny voice in her head. She frowned as the unwelcome thought penetrated her brain, and tried to force it out as she devised more parts of the story ahead.

Her mind racing with ideas, she snuggled own into her pillow for a nap. She knew the story would have to be great if she was to keep that kid’s interest. She knew he would probably come back to hear the rest of the story, and deep down, she hoped he would. She needed him to help her.

Chapter 3

Rainbow Dash licked her lips as she dozed in her bed. Her eyes closed, she let her mind wander as the voices of ponies inside and outside the hospital flow upon the air. She could hear the clatter of the carts outside, the chattering of doctors in the corridors, the voices of the ponies in her ward muttering to themselves.
Her ears twitched as she heard the familiar thump of a leg in a cast, and the scraping of a small chair being dragged across the floor. Opening her eyes, she craned her neck and saw a familiar brown and white pony smiling up at her. Just the pony she wanted to see.

She smiled “Hey kid.”

“Hiya, Rainbow Dash!” Pipsqueak said chirpily “Are you feeling any better today?”

“Hmm…yeah, a little. It’s nice to have a new visitor.” She replied, propping herself up with a foreleg.

Pip smiled back “Heh, well it’s nice having somepony to visit too. Oh, I got you something!”

Her ears perked up “Oh yeah? What’d you get me?”

Pip winked knowingly “Something to eat. Open your mouth and close your eyes, and you’ll get a big surprise.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes as memories floated to the top of her brain of that old rhyme. She had heard it many times in her childhood, and not once did it ever end well. But, humouring the little colt, she obeyed, opening her mouth wide.

She felt something placed on her tongue. Crusty, chewy and light. Simple, plain bread. “Mmm…not bad…where’d you get it?”

“The chapel. They were handing it out, so I thought I’d bring some for you.” Pip replied.

“The chapel?” Rainbow swallowed, opening her eyes again “Heh, trying to save my soul, eh kid? I didn’t know you were a Faustian.”

“A what?”

“A Faustian.” She replied “Y’know, they worship Faust, the red-haired Alicorn? It’s what that chapel’s used for.”

Pip nodded “Oh, is that what it’s for? Huh…well, no I’m not a Faustian.”

The pegasus cocked her head “Then why’d you bring me that bread?”

“I just thought you might be hungry, so I got some for you.” Pip shrugged.

Rainbow lay back “Ah, ok…well thanks for it anyway. I was a bit hungry to be honest…The chapels just downstairs, isn’t it? Next to the supply room?”

Pip nodded as he chewed thoughtfully on a chunk of the bread he had saved for himself “So, d’you think maybe I could hear more of the story?”

Rainbow sighed “Sure… so, where did we leave off?”

Napalm rubbed his temples in frustration as he sat on the ridge, watching Clover. The unicorn would wander back and forth, looking one way, then the other, nervously checking his map over and over again.

Clover shook the sweat from his brow as he tried desperately to discern any sort of path or marker from his map. But as he peered up through the gaping hole in his map at a disapproving Black Bandit, his fears were confirmed.

“We’re lost aren’t we?” the Black Bandit called.

Clover shuffled on the spot, like a foal caught with one hoof in the cookie jar “Sorry, Captain…I’ve no idea where we are.”

“Didn’t I tell him?” Napalm muttered in the Black Bandit’s ear “Didn’t I warn him not to keep the map with his bugs? And did he listen? Oh no sir, he did not!”

“You can berate him later, Napalm.” The rainbow-haired pony coolly replied “Right now, let’s just focus on finding our way, okay?”

The six bandits scanned the dry landscape around them, desperate for any kind of landmark or indicator. But to no avail.
“Useless thing!” Clover muttered as he threw the map to the ground. Sitting back on his haunches, he sighed glumly as he stared up at the sky. However, when he stared back down, only a few scraps of parchment indicated that a map had ever lain there. Sitting there instead, chewing away on the map, was the Mystic. “What are you doing?!” Cover cried, as he tried to yank the remaining bits of parchment from the Mystic’s mouth “Hey, you can’t eat that thing, the ink’s poisonous!”

The Mystic pushed him back, gulping down the last scraps of the map and smiling at Clover, who simply frowned back. Suddenly, the blue pony keeled over, clutching his stomach. Twitching and quivering, the Mystic lay at Cover’s hooves.
“Ah great…come on, breath! Try not to move, the poison will only work faster if you move…GUYS!” he shouted to the other bandits. The other four came running to his side.

“What’s going on, Clover?” Askari asked “What’s happened to the Mystic?”

Clover shook his head in confusion “I dunno…He just grabbed my map and started eating it for some reason, then this happened! It looks like he’s been poisoned!”

Froth began to pour from the Mystic’s mouth as his body shook and flailed. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. His muscles relaxed, and his body was still.

Then, a mark formed. It was a small mark, like the dot of a quill pen, just on the end of his snout. It grew larger, before stretching off into a line. The bandits watched as the line stretched and wriggled across the Mystic’s fur, branching off in all
directions, swirling and curving.

Within minutes, these black lines criss-crossed all over the Mystic, snaking over his chest and back, down his legs, around his face, even streaking a few hairs of his tail and mane black. Then, he began to move. Small at first, a few twitches. Then, each leg stretched out and lifted him into a stand. His eyes were rolled back in his head, and his mouth hung open, his tongue lolling out. It was as if his body was suspended by the strings of some unseen puppet-master.
Groaning and muttering, the Mystic began to shuffle on the spot, pointing with a hoof to the East. The bandits looked on as he began to stagger forwards, stumbling over rocks and ridges.

“He’s showing us the way.” Clover whispered in awe. Without another word, he took off after the strange pony, his comrades not far behind.

For hours they followed the Mystic as he ran ahead, his eyes wide and wild, foaming at the mouth. Over hills and through valleys they ran, panting for breath under the hot sun. But the Mystic pressed on like a pony possessed, never stopping or tiring.

Finally, as they came to the top of a massive ridge, the Mystic collapsed to the ground, still pointing with a foreleg out into the distance. Panting and wheezing, the bandits came up onto the ridge to behold a welcome sight.

“Look! Sinistar’s flag!”

The Black Bandit smiled grimly as she peered down onto the flat dusty plateau that stretched out from the base of the ridge. Fluttering in the breeze down below, a standard emblazoned with a yellow star on a black field billowed out from the top of a mighty red carriage that trundled along, pulled by dozens of yoked and bridled ponies and flanked by armoured griffon guards. The cracks of the guards’ whips and the creaks of the wheels were audible even on the ridge.

“That’s Sinistar’s carriage alright.” She muttered. “Only he’d be cruel enough to use slaves. C’mon, we won’t get another chance like this!”

But as she reared up to charge down the ridge, she found Clover standing in her way “Hold on a moment! What about the Mystic?! We can’t just leave him here!” He pointed to the prone form of the old blue pony.

But the Black Bandit pushed him aside “Fine! You stay here and take care of him. I have a score to settle.”

Without another word the Black Bandit charged down the ridge, pistols cocked and ready. Behind her came Luigi, Askari and the Paladin, weapons drawn and bloodlust in their eyes. Clover watched them go as he bent down to tend to the unconscious Mystic.

His mouth foaming around the hilt of his sword, the Paladin was the first to reach the plateau, followed shortly by Luigi, the Black Bandit and finally Askari. His heavy iron barding did little to slow him down, so great was his desire for battle. Luigi sprinted up alongside him, his bombs clattering together in his bag. The Black Bandit began to slow down to a canter, allowing the others to gain a lead on the race to the carriage.

Finally coming to a halt, she said aloud “Hey Pipsqueak, you can read, right?”

Pip shuffled restlessly in his seat “Hey, you can’t stop the story there! It was just getting to the good part!”

“I just wanna know if you can read well.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Well…yeah, I guess so. We started learning last year at school. Why?” Pip asked.

In reply, Rainbow took a scrap of tissue paper from her bedside table and, pen gripped between her teeth, scrawled something out on the sheet “Well, here. What’s this say then?”

She passed the paper over to Pip. The pegasus’ handwriting was scratchy and thin, but legible enough.

“I’m, uh…I’m getting kinda tired.” Rainbow explained “I’m having a hard time remembering the rest of that story. I need you to get me some medicine.”

“Why can’t you ask one of the doctors? Can’t they get it for you?” Pip asked.

Rainbow shook her head “No, they won’t do it. I need you to do this for me.”

Pip fidgeted a bit, twiddling his hooved nervously. On one hoof, he knew the doctors knew what they were talking about, so they would know whether she needed medicine or not. But on the other hoof, he did want to find out what happened next! The story was just too good to pass up! “Hmm…well, what do you need me to get?”

Rainbow tapped the paper again “I need you to go down to the supply room and get me a bottle of pills, with this word written on it. They’re to help me sleep, so I can remember the story better. Can you do that for me?”

Pip scratched the back of his neck “I dunno…”

“Oh c’mon.” Rainbow said, nudging him playfully “Be a good little bandit.”

Pipsqueak tapped his chin thoughtfully. If they’re just to help her sleep, they can’t be that bad, right? “Alright, I’ll do it.”

The pegasus patted him on the head “Atta boy. Once you got them, bring them back to me, and I’ll tell you the rest of the story! ‘Kay?”

The little colt nodded and scampered off, note held between his teeth. As he rounded the corner, he took another look at the note. “Let’s see… M-O-R-P-H-I-N…” He paused as he reached the final letter. The ink had run at the last letter, reducing it to a vague smudge. It kind of looks like an E, he thought. Or maybe a 3? It would make sense, she’d just need a few pills to help her sleep. That’s it then, it must be a 3!

Moments later, he was passing the doorway to the chapel and found himself facing the big wooden door, labelled “SUPPLY ROOM”. But no matter how much he tried, the door would not budge. He pushed, he pulled, he tugged, he kicked, but to no avail. Resigning to the fact that the door would not open, he slid down to the floor, sitting with his back to the wall.

“Morning, Pip. Out for another walk, eh?”

His ears perked up at the sound of his name. He knew that voice. Looking up he saw the smiling face of a pink-haired nurse pony, her mane tied up in a bun. “Oh, hi miss Redheart.” He said, smiling “Yeah, just…exploring.”

Nurse Redheart nodded “Well, don’t go getting under anypony’s hooves, alright? I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m a bit busy at the moment.” Placing a key into the lock, she pulled open the door of the supply room and entered, returning moments later with a small cardboard box balanced on her back. Grabbing the key from the lock, she pulled the door to with a hind leg and trotted off down the corridor.

As Pip watched her go, he noticed something. Shouldn’t the door have clicked shut by now?

It was all he could do to stop himself from jumping for joy as he saw the door to the supply room, closed but not all the way. It bounced off the latch and slowly creaked open again. Giggling at his own luck, Pip pushed it open and slipped inside.

Within was a dimly-lit room, lined with endless shelves and cabinets, each lined with all manner of boxes and jars and bottles. Each shelf was labelled with a letter, and Pip headed straight for the ‘M’ shelf. Clambering up onto the worktop, he craned his neck and sought out the bottle labelled “MORPHIN”. After a moment’s searching, he triumphantly grabbed the tiny brown bottle at the back.

“Well, it says Morphine and not Morphin, but that’s close enough I guess.” He said, as he popped the lid open.

“Wait, is this really all they had?”

Rainbow held up the bottle to the light, peering at the three white tablets inside.

“Well, no, but you said you only wanted three.” Pip said, taking his seat again.

Rainbow frowned “What? When did I say that?!”

Pipsqueak held up the sheet of tissue paper “Right here, see? M-O-R-P-H-I-N-3. Three pills, just like you asked.”

The pegasus put the bottle on her bedside, putting it down a little harder than was necessary. “E, that was an E, not a three, you little…What did you do with the rest of them?”

“I, uh, threw them away.” Pip said nervously.

Rainbow slumped back down in her bed. Rolling over away from Pipsqueak, she glared in frustration at the adjacent bed. Once again an awkward silence presided over the ward, so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“So…um…” Pip finally spoke up as he peered over at Rainbow “Did…did they reach the carriage?”

The poor slaves staggered along, heaving with all their might to pull the mighty carriage, all the while ducking to avoid the whips of the sadistic griffon guards. But a new sound upon the air caused them to raise their heads once more.

As one of the griffon guards turned to locate this new arrival, it saw a blinding flash before its vision was clouded by a thick white mist. Hacking and spluttering, the griffons stumbled about, bumping into the slaves and the carriage Through the mist, two of them saw the glint of sunlight upon steel. And that was all they saw before the Paladin’s sword sent their heads rolling in the dust as their headless bodies were trampled underhoof by the army of slaves.

The remaining guards fled, some taking to the air, some sprinting on the ground, all rushing to the edge of the dusty flatlands. But they all fell, pierced either by lead shot or wooden javelin. As the dust cleared, the bandits looked over the carnage, cleaning the gore from their weapons.

“Askari! You and Napalm cut the slaves loose.” the Black Bandit said “Paladin, you go fetch Clover and the Mystic.”
Not long after, the slaves whooped and cheered as they galloped across the plains, free of their shackles at last. The bandits, meanwhile, gathered at the front of the carriage, weapons poised as they faced the doorway.

“Well gentlecolts - and mare -, looks like we have a bit of a dilemma.” Clover said “Six of us, and only one target. Furthermore, a doorway only wide enough for one. Now, I’m sure there is some diplomatic way we can decide who gets to…”

“Dibs.”

“Huh?”

But before anypony else could react, the Black Bandit had rushed forwards and bucked down the door. As the others surged forwards to enter, they heard the telltale bangs and saw the flashes of the Black Bandit’s pistol. But the screaming they heard was that of a young mare, before there was silence.

“Guys!” Came the voice of the blue mare “Get in here!”

Pushing and shoving, the five bandits squeezed through the doorway into the elegant carriage interior. In the middle of the small room sat the Black Bandit, her pistols smoking at her sides. But lying on the ground before her was not the cruel and heartless Lord Sinistar, but a young white mare.

She lay on her back, her face hidden by a veil of blue silk drawn across her face. She wore an elegant magenta dress with a yellow trim and a broad red ribbon tied around the waist. A barrette clipped into her light pink hair, adorned with a metal butterfly of blue and yellow. And around her neck, a lead bullet lodged in the front, hung a solid gold locket, shaped like a heart.

“C’mon guys, help me out here!” the Black Bandit cried as she struggled to lift the mare up off the ground. The other bandits hastily came to her aid, lifting her up onto the Paladins strong back and carrying her out of the carriage.

“Who d’you suppose she is?” Napalm asked aloud.

Clover nodded “Who indeed. And why was she in Lord Sinistar’s carriage?”

“I dunno,” the Black Bandit replied “But she’s still alive, so let’s get her to safety. We can use the old hideout.”

So she led the way, her mind abuzz with the new discovery. The other bandits followed behind, flanking the Paladin and his semi-conscious cargo “But how’s she still alive? You shot her!” Askari called.

The blue pony nodded “Yes I did, but I missed the first shot, and her locket somehow stopped the second one. She’s a lucky mare to be alive!

“So she and the rest of the bandits carried the mare away from the plains, and into a valley nearby. The Black Bandit’s hideout was there, on an island in the middle of a lake. She and her brother used to play there when they were foals, and it was a safe place from any of Sinistar’s soldiers. So, the bandits decided to rest there for a while…”

The mare wandered through the small fort that sat in the middle of the lake, built long ago on an island. The walls of timber and mud rose high above, shielding all within from any outside attack. As she walked up the stairs to the ramparts, she caught sight of the silent Paladin as he sat in the courtyard, tending to his sword. As he looked up, his eyes met hers for a moment, before he checked himself and shielded his eyes with a forehoof.

The mare carried on up the stairs to the rampart; she had seen a similar reaction from the red stallion every time he saw her. At the top of the stairs she found the Black Bandit gazing out over the lake, her hair fluttering in the wind.

”Tell me, “the mare asked “That big fellow down there in the armour, why does he cover his eyes whenever he sees me.”
The Black Bandit turned her masked face to the mare “Ever since his wife was killed, he took an oath to never look at another mare ever again. Poor soul.”

“But a pony cannot show what is in their heart if they hide their face.” The mare replied, holding a hoof up to the veil covering her face “Who, may I ask, are you?”

“To most ponies, I’m simply known as the masked bandit.”

The mare gasped. She had heard stories of such a bandit! Her family and friends would relate great tales of the Black Bandit’s adventures; robbing from the rich to give to the needy, battling injustice and evil, saving the fair maiden. Much like myself she thought, a flush of crimson appearing on her cheeks. “You’re the Black Bandit? The scourge of evildoers everywhere?!”

The masked pony began to approach her “The very same. But that’s only when I wear the mask.” With one fluid motion, the Black Bandit undid the strings and removed the mask from her magenta eyes. “And what about you?”

Hesitantly, the mare raised a hoof to her head, and unhooked one of the clasps connecting the butterfly barrette to the silky veil. Undone, the veil hung from her head, revealing her face to the bandit. Her blue eyes met the Black Bandit’s, and she grinned as she saw the first telltale signs of a blush forming on the blue pony’s cheeks.

“My name is Princess Red…Red…heart…Ooh…wuh…wah…” She stammered as she sniffled, trying desperately to hold back what was coming, but to no avail.

“WAAH-CHOO!”

“Gesundheit, Pip.”

“Heh, thanks Rainbow Dash.” Pipsqueak said, rubbing his snout with a forehoof “Sorry, I’d been holding that in for ages now…so, anyway, what happened then?”

But Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively “Ah, sorry, your sneezing made me lose my train of thought there. Tell ya what, they’ll be bringing lunch around in a sec. Go get yourself somethin’ to eat and come back after lunch and I’ll tell you the rest then.”

“Oh, come on! Tell me the rest now! I promise I won’t sneeze again, promise!”

But the rainbow-haired pegasus would not back down “Sorry kid. Like I said, I lost the flow there. Let’s both of us take a break and we can carry on with it after lunch. Okay?”

Pip relented, sliding off his stool “Okay then. See you later, Rainbow Dash.”

As she watched him trot off towards his own ward, she lay back to relax as she awaited today’s ration of overcooked alfalfa
and pre-packaged jelly. Glancing about the room, her attention was caught by the entry of the palomino unicorn again. He cast a quick dirty look in her direction before crouching down by his bed, and opening the cabinet in his bedside table. He popped a couple of tiny white pills in his mouth from a little brown bottle, before putting it back in the cabinet.

“Keep yer eyes to yourself, you!” The palomino sneered at Rainbow as his eyes met hers, before rising up again and heading back out into the corridors.

Rainbow Dash never thought she’d adopt the mannerisms of a pony as prissy and vain as Rarity, but in that moment, she could not help herself as she whispered in a sing-song voice:

“I-deee-aaa!”

Pip licked his lips as he hobbled eagerly from his ward, intent set securely on returning to Rainbow Dash’s room to hear the rest of the story. Through the corridors he hurried, out the main wing, and through the courtyard. But as he waved to the cheery zebra as he brought in a new delivery of bread (“No sniffing the bread today, Pip?”), he came to a halt as he saw somepony new.

A young filly, walking down the path outside the hospital, came to a halt outside the entrance. A sleek young pegasus stallion walked alongside her, one of his wings draped over her shoulders. As he came to a halt by the filly, Pip got a good look at him: Navy blue fur with sleek grey mane, and the cutie mark of a bright yellow star.

But Pip’s attention was caught more by the filly by his side. She looked about Rainbow’s age, with pale lavender fur and long silvery blue hair tied in a pink bow. As she looked up to the hospital building, Pipsqueak noticed a tiny locket on a chain around her neck. A solid gold pendant shaped like a heart.

She gazed at the hospital wistfully, and for a moment, the tiny colt thought she was about to enter. But the filly turned away and continued walking with the stallion, not giving a second glance at the building.

Putting the scene out of his mind, Pipsqueak hurried back to the building.

As he sat down by Rainbow Dash’s bedside, the pegasus rolled over to face him with a gentle smile. “Hey kid.”

“Hiya Rainbow Dash!” Pip replied “So, can you tell me the…”

But Rainbow Dash cut him off “Actually, I need another favour first.”

Pip cocked his head “Huh? What kind of favour?”

The pegasus pointed to the bed opposite “You know the unicorn who sleeps in that bed? The palomino guy?”

“Yeah” Pip replied before shaking his head “I don’t think I like him.”

Rainbow chuckled “Heh, yeah I don’t like him much either… In fact, I think he’s been stealing stuff from me while I’m asleep.”

Pip’s eyes grew wide “Really? Wow, that really is mean! Stealing from somepony in hospital, that’s just cruel!”

“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow replied, nodding “I think he stole some of my medicine a while ago. It’ll be in his bedside table if anywhere. Could you go check for me?”

Pip folded his forelegs “Promise you’ll finish he story then?”

Rainbow smiled, tousling his hair “Promise. I’ll bet you’ll be out of hospital soon, and I’d hate for you to be wondering how the story ends all your life.”

Wincing slightly as his bandaged leg hit the ground, Pipsqueak hobbled over to the bedside table. In the main body, there was a small hatch on the front. Most ponies would have to crouch down low to get it open, but a pony of Pip’s size could reach it easily. With a gentle tug on the doorknob, it swung open. Inside were a few knick-knacks, some books, and ontop of them all…

“Right there! That brown bottle.” Rainbow called from her bed “Those are mine!”

Pip grasped the bottle in his jaws and hurried back to Rainbow’s bedside “I Shoughk You alreageh hag shome medishing…”

The pegasus could not help but laugh at Pipsqueak’s garbled voice as he tried to speak around the bottle “Sorry, what?”

Pip deposited the bottle on her lap “I said, I thought you already had some medicine. Y’know, that bottle I brought you.”

“There weren’t enough in there to make me go to sleep. But these should do fine, thanks Pipsqueak” she replied with a grin.
“So, as the Black Bandit and Lady Redheart spent more and more time together, they found themselves growing closer and closer. Neither pony could admit it, but they were in love with the other. They would spend whole days wandering through the fort talking about anything that came to mind. Sometimes they would take a boat out on the lake together, far from the prying eyes of the other bandits. One evening, as they sat up on the ramparts telling stories to eachother…”

Redheart and the Black Bandit sat together on the ramparts of the fort, looking out at the sun, as its last golden rays played
across the horizon, dyeing the blue sky a deep pink. The conversation between the two mares had lulled into silence as they watched the sky. Breaking the silence, the Black Bandit got something out from inside her jacket.

“Here…I tried my best to repair it after the, er, incident back at the carriage. Sorry about that, by the way.” She said bashfully, holding out in her hoof, the golden locket.

Redheart took it from her, looking over the pendant. The bullet had ben dislodged, but the dent remained.
“Me and the boys tried to fix it, but none of us are really that good with something that small, heh.”

“It’s fine.” Redheart replied “And thank you for trying to fix it…And don’t be sorry for what happened at the carriage. You saved me from a terrible fate by taking me with you. And if it weren’t for this locket, I probably would have died anyway.”

A blush played across the Black Bandit’s face “Heh, well, you’re welcome…What do you mean, terrible fate?”

The white pony sighed “I was on my way to Lord Sinistar’s palace. His soldiers kidnapped me and were taking me to…It’s open.”

“huh?”

“The locket…It’s open.” Redheart gently prised the halves of the golden heart apart from its hinge.

“Well, yeah, lockets do that.”

“But I’ve never been able to open it!” Redheart replied, stunned “Nopony’s ever been able to open it. You’re the first.”
Looking closely at it, she saw an inscription on the inside. Clearing her throat, she began to read aloud “’My dearest daughter. As you go out into the world, remember this: Never be with somepony or marry somepony for material gain…Not for money, power, fame or security. Always follow your heart… Your ever-loving father…’”

“It really says all that on that tiny locket?” The Black Bandit held the locket up to the light to see for herself. As she did, her face flushed red as she felt her hoof touching that of Lady Redheart.

Their eyes met. Magenta against cerulean, just like the sky behind them.

“Yeah…it does.”

“So right there, right then, they knew that they wanted to be with eachother. The Black Bandit knew that she was the mare she was supposed to love.” Rainbow said, pausing her story for a moment. Popping the brown bottle open, she emptied out a hooffull of pills and began swallowing them one by one.

“Ew, why’d this story get so sappy all of a sudden?” Pip grimaced.

“Heh, well, it’s a pretty important plot point. But anyways, so the two decided that they should be married…”

The bandits stood reverently in a circular chamber, hats off and weapons removed. In a ring they stood around the Black Bandit, who stood gazing at Lady Redheart, who stood in an elegant white dress, her face veiled. Between them stood the mystic, who chattered the traditional words of the wedding ceremony.

Turning to Clover, he nodded, and the unicorn levitated forth a silk pillow, upon which rested two bands of woven gold, a diamond embedded in the side. The Mystic took the first band and took the Black Bandit’s foreleg in his own. Raising it up, he began to slide the shining bracelet onto her wrist.

But just as it touched her hoof, he froze. His eyes rolled up in his head and he began to murmur incoherently. Dropping the wedding band he grabbed the Bandit’s head in both hooves, staring intently into her eyes.

“Clover! What’s he doing?!” The Black Bandit cried anxiously to her unicorn friend.

Clover listened intently to the inarticulate babblings of the old pony “The…the Mystic spies danger in your eyes…you’ve taken too many pills! Death is near!”

“Danger?” Napalm echoed as he looked around the chamber, as if expecting some enem to spring out at any moment.

“He says that suicide is not the answer…” Clover continued, but paused as he saw a shadow moving in the doorway.
As the Black Bandit tried to shake off the Mystic’s grip, she looked to Redheart and saw her walking slowly back towards the doorway herself. “Redheart, what’s going on?!”

As if in answer, from within the doorway came endless waves of armoured griffon guards. Snarling, barking, shrieking, the horde swarmed into the room, surrounding them. Forming ranks, they menaced the bandits with pistols and axes, poised to attack.

The bandits gathered together, unable to fight back. “Who thought it was a good idea to leave our weapons outside?!” Napalm shouted “We never leave our weapons!”

But all the Black Bandit could focus upon was her fiancée, as she walked towards the ranks of the griffons. “Redheart, stop! Come back, they’ll kill you!”

But the white mare kept walking. Just as the Black Bandit rushed forward to pull her back, her jaw dropped as the armoured guards parted ranks, and Redheart walked through them. As she gave one last malevolent glance in their direction, the Black Bandit felt the butt of a griffon’s axe slam into the back of her skull, and everything turned black

Chapter 4

As she came to consciousness, the first sensation the Black Bandit felt was an intense dry heat. She licked her dry, cracked lips with her equally dry tongue, desperate for some semblance of moisture.

Forcing her eyes open, she snapped them shut almost instantly in the harsh glare of the sun high above them. Cracking them open again, she peered through squinted eyes and saw around her a vast desert of yellow sand, with high mountains in the distance.

Her face burned with scratches and cuts all over. A throbbing pain coursed through her head as she looked around, and saw each of her friends, the Paladin, the Mystic, Askari, Clover and Napalm. They were sat in a line before her, each with their forelegs lashed firmly to their sides, tied to a wooden stake stood up in the sand.

As the Black Bandit tried to stand up, she stumbled and fell back, her forelegs also tied to her sides. Looking behind, she saw the rope tied round her terminating in a wooden stake planted firmly in the ground.

Too weak to stand or struggle, the mare simply sat, trying desperately to keep her eyes open as she pieced together the memories of what led her and her friends to this predicament. The sharp blow of a pommel to the back of the head. A massive round hall. A wedding. Lady Redheart.

Lady Redheart! If she’d had the strength, the Bandit would have leapt up, the name stirred such anger. She’d played them all for fools, and then sold them out when they were their most vulnerable! How long had she been working for Sinistar? From the wedding? From the very start?

But the Black Bandit had little time to use upon these questions as two of the black-armoured griffon guards approached the group of captives. Between them, the guards carried something large and heavy, draped over by a white cloth. Setting it down before the Black Bandit, they snarled at her in some mocking greeting.

One guard approached Askari, holding in its claws a helmet. Gazing down through bleary eyes, the zebra saw the welcome sight of glistening water. The griffon swirled it and teased it under Askari’s snout, before drawing it back and chucking the water to the sand. Both guards whooped and giggled at their own cruelty, their laughter like the feral baying of hounds.
As if trying to up the ante, the other guard whipped back the white cloth, revealing the massive heavy form to be a huge block of solid ice. Kneeling down, the guard maliciously began to lick and lap at the ice block, its tongue snaking out through the gap in its helmet.

The Black Bandit looked away in disgust, unable to watch the cruel taunting display.

“But they were saved then, right? One of them broke free or something? Maybe one of the guards was one of their friends in disguise?”

But Rainbow’s heavy eyes betrayed no sudden plot twist.

“…M-maybe one of the slaves from…before…?”

The pegasus shook her head groggily, as she began to feel the Morphine kicking in “Nope…There was…there was nopony left to save them…”

Pip stood up in his seat “But that can’t be right! How did they escape then?!”

“They didn’t.” she replied, “They were too weak to do anything but wait until…until the end.”

Rainbow was beginning to find it difficult to keep her own eyes open, or her head up. Pipsqueak watched in dismay as she began to fall asleep. It can’t end like this! The bandits need to escape so they can finally defeat Lord Sinistar!

But how? They were tied up in the middle of a desert, alone and defenceless, guarded and unable to move. Nopony was around to help, and nopony even knew where they were.

Then, an idea struck Pipsqueak like a thunderbolt. A brilliant, crazy, ridiculous idea. There was one other pony who knew where they were and what was happening to them. A pony who had followed them ever since they escaped Butterfly Island! And even now, he was close by…

Clover watched in defeat as the griffon guards teased and taunted each of his companions. Leaning his head back upon the
stake he gazed up at the sky, begging in his mind for some sort of relief.

Suddenly, there came a strange scrabbling noise from behind him. He could feel something tugging at his bonds as they became looser and looser, until they fell down around the stake, undone.

“Hmm…Bumpkin?” He murmured through dry lips “Is that you?”

“No, it’s me!” said the whispered reply. Funny, thought Clover. It almost sounded like a child…a young colt?

As the mysterious rescuer went from pony to pony, undoing their bonds, he came into Clover’s line of view. At first glance, it appeared to be his boss, the Black Bandit, only half the size. But as the newcomer tipped his hat back, Clover saw that it was indeed a young colt, no older than five or six, wearing the same black jacket and split-skirt as the Black Bandit, as well as a
matching mask and wide-brimmed hat.

Brushing his brown mane out of his eyes, the tiny bandit snuck his way around the guards, who obliviously continued to tease the bandits, licking at the block of ice before them. The colt reached the Black Bandit and swiftly undid her bonds, before looping her forehoof around a small shortsword.

“Go get ‘em!”

The griffon guards froze on the spot as they heard the stranger’s voice. Their head whipping around, they found themselves looking down the blade of a shortsword, wielded by the Black Bandit, who now stood tall once again.

“Go on! Get them!” The tiny colt by her side said again.

But the mare did not. Swaying on the spot, she just stood, pointing the sword at the guards. Not wanting to waste any time,
the guards turned tail and took to the sky, flying off towards the West.

The Black Bandit stumbled and staggered before collapsing to the ground again. The miniature bandit was by her side immediately. “Are you okay?”

She peered up through bleary eyes at the newcomer “Who…who are you…?”

“It’s me! Don’t you recognise me?” The tiny colt sat down beside her face “It’s Pipsqueak!”

“Pipsqueak… It is you…”

“Yeah, you recognise me!” Pipsqueak hugged the mare around the waist, before sitting back down by her side. Holding one of her limp forehooves in his own, Pip removed the sword from her grip.

“Of course…Pip, my baby brother…I didn’t recognise you with that…that mask.” The Black Bandit said hoarsely.

The colt smiled, but his smile faded as his long lost sister began to keel over, landing face first in the sand “…You’ve grown so much…It’s…it’s good to see you…” she whispered as her eyes finally fell shut.

Gently, Pipsqueak nudged the Bandit “C’mon sister, you can’t fall asleep out here! Let’s get back to the hideout.”
There was no response “Hey…c’mon, let’s go! Get up, no time to sleep.”

As he nudged and tugged at the Black Bandit, Pip failed to notice as, behind him, the Mystic also began to keel over, before he slumped forward into the sand as well.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!...C’mon, wake up. You can’t fall asleep now…Wake up!”

But it was to no avail. No amount of poking, prodding or funny faces would coax the mare wake up. Finally resigning to this fact, Pip slipped off the bed to leave Rainbow to rest.

As he hobbled away, his cast bumped against the bedside table. He flinched as he heard the clatter of something hitting the floor. Turning back, he sighed with relief as Rainbow lay, fast asleep and undisturbed by the noise.

Pip stooped and picked up the offending item in his teeth. It was a small set of photo-frames, each connected at the side with another frame by a tiny hinge. He peered at each photo and saw that each contained a picture of Rainbow Dash, with another mare. A mare with pale lavender fur and silvery blue hair, tied with a bright pink bow.

His eyes grew wide as recognition flooded his mind. It was the same mare he had seen earlier, passing by the hospital. She had known Rainbow at one time or another, maybe they had been friends?

Oh come on, Pip’s inner voice said. Aren’t the heart-shaped photos a big enough giveaway?

Smiling at the cheerful faces that stared back from the photos, Pip closed the triptych of photos and put it back on the bedside table, before hobbling out the door and back to his own ward for the night.

Mid morning, the same routine. After downing his gross breakfast of hospital food, Pip headed out of the ward on his usual walk. He knew the way round so well, he could have done it blindfolded.

However, as he neared the block that housed Rainbow Dash’s ward, he saw a new sight. And one that he didn’t really expect, nor want, to see. Two doctors, nurses and a gurney. And upon the gurney, a prone and motionless form, concealed by a white sheet.

“Pronounced time of death?”

“Around five PM yesterday. Let’s get it to the morgue. Have the relatives been contacted?”

“Just on my way to do so. Alright, carry on.”

The gurney was wheeled away, leaving behind a stunned and terrified Pipsqueak.

Rushing through the doors, he limped as fast as his cast would allow, up the stairs, down the corridor and towards the LONG TERM/PSYCH ward. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead…

Rushing through the door, he skidded to a halt by the bed where he saw…

“Rainbow Dash!”

There she lay, alive and…peraps not well, but at least alive! As he looked about, he saw that the bed that was usually inhabited by the muttering old pony with the faded blue mane and tail, was empty.

“I dunno, doc.” Said the palomino unicorn in the bed opposite, speaking to his doctor “He seemed fine, talking to himself, playin’ with his false teeth…Never would’ve pegged him as the stroke type…Hey listen, I’m still not feeling very well, do you think we could try something else? I dunno if those pills are working…”

But Pip listened to no more as he rushed up, eagerly standing on his hind legs to peer at Rainbow Dash. Slowly, the mare began to open her eyes, squinting in h emorning light. As she raised herself up on one foreleg, she gazed back at
Pipsqueak with a look of confusion “Pip…what…huh?”

“Rainbow! I…I saw them taking somepony out, and they were saying they were dead, and, and I thought it was you…I’m glad you’re okay” Pip muttered as he hugged the pegasus’ waist.

Rainbow looked around, utterly confused. Then, she noticed a taste on her lips and tongue. Sweetness. “…Sugar.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

“They’re givin’ him sugar pills.”

The doctor approached her bedside “Ah, Rainbow Dash, you’re awake. Good, I have your latest x-rays here, if you’d like to...”

But Rainbow Dash grabbed the x-ray sheets and threw them aside, followed by her pillow. Pip hastily let go and recoiled.

“Oh geez, would you just calm down?!” the unicorn shouted from his bed “I’ve had nothin’ but noise from you and that little runt since I came in here! Just shut up already!”

But Rainbow shouted in reply “No you shut up! You shouldn’t even be here, you’re not even sick! They’re givin’ you sugar pills!”

“Wait, what?!”

“Now, Rainbow Dash, please calm down and be quiet!” The doctor said as he tried to maintain some semblance of order in the ward.

“Whadaya mean, sugar pills? You got me on placebos?!”

“Now both of you, please calm down! Can we get some help in here?” the doctor called. Pip just stood by, frozen by fear as insults and incoherent shouts flew thick and fast

As nurses and orderlies came running to the source of the sound, Pipsqueak found himself whisked away by Nurse Redheart.

“Now, head back to the children’s ward, Pip. Orderlies, can we get some help in here?”

Without another backward glance, Pipsqueak hurried out of the block and towards the main block, until the sounds of shouting were nearly inaudible.

That night, Pipsqueak lay awake, still on edge since Rainbow’s outburst. What had gone wrong? It made no sense to him. The old pony had died, and she wasthe one angry about it? Did she know him? Was he a friend of Rainbow’s? Or was it something else.

Those pills must be really important, said the voice in his head. Why would Rainbow Dash go to so much effort to get them otherwise?

And how did that other mare fit into all this? The one with the silvery hair and pink bow, Rainbow’s friend…possibly, a marefriend?

Pip sat up in his bed as a decision was made. He needed to get those pills to Rainbow Dash. He was tired of seeing her so unhappy all the time.

Slipping silently out of bed, he tip-hoofed his way through the ward, careful not to awaken any of the other foals. As he passed the doorway, he chanced a peek into the nurse’s office. There sat one of the nurses, reading some book. She never even noticed him leave.

Through the silent dark corridors he hobbled, down the stairs and out onto the grounds. The hospital was a little unnerving
at night, even moreso for a foal as young as he, but Pip steeled his resolve. He was doing this for Rainbow Dash.

Finally, he reached the supply room, next door to the chapel. By some divine chance, the door was once again ajar, no doubt left so by some careless intern. Cringing slightly as it creaked, he opened the door and flicked the lights on. Bringing to memory his last escapade here, he remembered exactly where to find those Morphine pills. Clambering up onto the worktop, he reared up and reached onto the shelf, feeling around for the little brown bottle he sought.

So intent was his searching, that it was not until it was too late that he felt one of his hooves step upon the round form of a pestle. It rolled back under his hoof and he found himself tumbling backwards, off the worktop, down into infinity.
There was a splitting pain in the back of his skull as he hit the floor, like the butt of a battleaxe. The bottle of pills shattered next to him, and all turned to blackness.

The fluttering of the bandits’ standard in the dry desert breeze.
A wooden leg, splintered and broken in the sand.

“Mummy…where’s that smoke coming from?”

Lady Redheart’s carriage in flames, as armoured griffon guards fly by.

“The house is on fire!”

“You griffon thugs! Get away from our house!!”

A Trottingham house, licked by fire and pouring forth smoke.
Sillhouettes of griffons rush past the window, flaming brands in hand.
Clouds of black smoke billow into the sky, turning into grey butterflies.

“Daddy, they’re burning our home!”

Strapped down for interrogation.

“Well, the x-ray looks better than we thought.”

“Just a minor crack.”

Head bound in white.
Strapped to a stake in the ground.

“Were you taking medicine to Rainbow Dash?”

Mummy…where’s Mummy?

“I’m appalled at you, Miss Dash!”

Rainbow Dash in a wheelchair. The doctor is shouting at her.

“You're given the privilege of a visitor, and this is how you treat it?!”

Lord Sinistar smiles.

“If you’re going to get through this, you need your own will to live. Think of your reputation, Miss Dash. Think of your friends!”

Images fluttering, like a butterfly’s wing.

Darkness again.

Chapter 5

A thin thread of light in the dark. A slow, muted beeping sound. A tightness around his head.

Pipsqueak slowly opened his eyes as consciousness returned. As his eyes grew accustomed to the sudden light, the blurry mess before him sharpened into the image of a new, unfamiliar room. Craning his neck, he looked down at himself, and saw a small bed, a blanket covering his prone body. To his right was a small stand, where a heart-monitor beeped monotonously, a small wire connecting it to a strap around his foreleg.

When he squinted his eyes, he felt it again: that strange tightness around his skull. Reaching up with a forehoof, he touched tenderly at his temples and felt the linen wrappings of a bandage around his head. He tried to get up, to look around and explore this strange new room further, but his blankets held him down. He felt weaker than before, and every time he moved, a throb of pain coursed through his head.

Any further investigation was interrupted as a door off to the left opened. Pip lay down as he watched a figure enter, their true form hidden by the shadows in the corner of the room. As they stepped closer, he saw a pale blue foreleg, followed by a pair of large, magenta eyes, and finally, a mane of many colours.

“Rainbow…Dash?” He called out weakly as she slowly approached. She did not reply, but simply walked to Pip’s bedside and sat down on her haunches, her head hung low, her mane falling over her face. After a few minutes silence, she raised her head.

“Hey Pipsqueak…” She muttered, giving a small smile. Pip could see the stains of dried tears that had formed tracks down her cheeks. Sniffling a bit, she spoke again, “Glad…glad to see you’re okay.”

“It was an accident.” Pip said “I fell again.”

The pegasus nodded “Yeah, I know…heck, everypony knows now. You’re famous, kiddo.” She added with a half-hearted chuckle.

But the little colt did not smile back. “Are the doctors and the nurses angry?”

Rainbow nodded “Yeah, they are pretty angry. But…not at you.”

“I was trying to get more…more of those pills you wanted, so you’d be able to get some sleep and be happy.”
Rainbow choked back a sob as she held her head in her forelegs. Pip could not hear clearly, but she muttered something to herself. He could discern things like “stupid” and “What was I thinking?”

“So…can you…” Pipsqueak said in a voice barely above a whisper “Can you finish the story now?”

She hesitated a moment, before making to get up “I really should go, I gotta…gotta let you rest.”

“But I wanna hear how it ends.”

Rainbow raised her head, her face an expression of defeat as fresh tears began trickling down her face, “I can’t finish the story.”

Pip tried to sit up “Huh? Why not?”

The pegasus shook her head “I just can’t…find somepony else to finish it for you.”

“But it’s your story!” Pip reasoned.

“Yeah…but right now, you really don’t…don’t wanna hear how it ends. It’s not a happy ending…”

But Pip was adamant “I don’t care, I just wanna know how it ends! You promised you’d finish it!”

Suddenly, Rainbow clasped Pip’s forehooves in her own “Pipsqueak, that story was just a trick, to get you to do stuff for me! I was using you, so I could get more pills!”

Her outburst was punctuated by a moment of complete silence. Pipsqueak's eyes widened with shock “What?”

“I just wanted you to get more pills so I could…I-I could…” But Rainbow’s words were lost in a fresh wave of muted sobbing. Her hooves slipped from Pip’s and returned to rest on the ground. She sighed deeply “You should ask somepony else. They can finish it for you. How about your pal, Nurse Redheart? She’ll tell it better…”

“But she won’t know it like you do… Besides, she was a bad guy in the story!”

Rainbow chuckled slightly, a genuine smile gracing her face at last “Ahh, she’s alright…She’s pretty cool in real life. And besides…Lady Redheart was just pretendin’ to love Lord Sinistar.”

“You mean like your marefriend?” Pip blurted out, remembering what he saw outside the hospital that day.

“…what did you…”

“I saw her yesterday.” Pip recollected “She was walking past the hospital, with this other pony…”
Rainbow’s smile faded “How did you know about her?”

Pip shifted guiltily “I saw…I saw your photos with her. I recognised her from before, when I saw her with this other stallion outside the hospital.”

A ruddy glow of anger shone through in Rainbow’s eyes “I see…”

Clover twisted the focus knob of his telescope as it hovered in front of his eye. From the tall tower the bandits had taken position atop, he could see over the high walls of Sinistar’s palace, and onto the roof of the keep, where he could see two figures sitting together. “Lord Sinistar…with Lady Redheart?!”

He lowered the telescope from his eye “The little colt was right. She really has gone over to Sinistar’s side.”

From behind him, he could hear the swilling of a half-full flask as the Black Bandit angrily took a swig of water “We don’t need her. I never should have trusted her.”

She lowered her head as she muttered darkly “You give a filly your heart, and all she’s after is your money. My bet is that she’ll leave him for a richer pony soon.”

Napalm returned from his vantage point at the parapet of the tower “Well, I still don’t like it. Without the Mystic, plus your little brother, that gives us six ponies, against a whole fortress?! It’s suicide, I tell you!”

Taking another swig, the Black Bandit stood up; pistols cocked and ready “We’re goin’ in.”

Without another word, she sped down the stairs to the bottom of the tower, the other bandits following close behind, reading their own weapons of cold steel and black powder. The Paladin brought up the rear, Pipsqueak the little bandit just in front.

“Hey, Paladin?” Pipsqueak asked “What’s suicide?”

Pausing for a moment, the silent Paladin raised a forehoof and drew it across his neck. Pip gulped; he understood completely.

As they reached the base of the tower, they crossed the first courtyard, hugging close to the walls. Clover came to a stop as the others galloped by Letting his hat fall to the ground, he wiped a handkerchief across his sweating brow. But as he gazed skyward, wishing for a single drop of rain, there came a chittering and squeaking from the ground. As he turned to follow the sound, he saw a white form hopping away from the wall, into the courtyard. “Bumpkin? Bumpkin, come back!”

Abandoning the planned route to the palace keep, Cover sped off after the white rabbit, as it scampered into a gardened cloister, the centre of which held a tall column holding a statue of a dragon resting atop it.

“Please, Bumpkin, com back! This really isn’t the time!” Cried lover, as the other bandits heard his cries and followed in hot pursuit.

But the rabbit would not listen, clambering up the pillar, until he was resting on the foot of the stone dragon. Clover could see him reaching out with his paws at something fluttering in the air before him. He reached out with both paws, and grabbed it!

Suddenly, there was a peace-shattering bang from the high walls, and the white form fell limply from the pillar.

“BUMPKIN!”

Rushing to the base of the pillar, Clover knelt down by the broken form of Bumpkin, blood trickling from a small bullet-wound in the chest. “Bumpkin…Oh Celestia, Bumpkin...What were you thinking? I’m so sorry…”

As he cradled the tiny limp form in his forelegs, the rabbit’s arms came unclasped, releasing a tiny thing. A butterfly, wings as dark a blue as the night sky.

“…Equestriana Exotica…Impossible…” Clover’s eyes grew wide with amazement as the butterfly flapped up into the sky “You found it…it’s so beautiful. Oh Bumpkin, you magnificent rabbit, you…”

But as he looked down at the rabbit, he could see that Bumpkin had breathed his last.

Looking skyward, tears covering his face, Clover screamed to the heavens in anguish and sorrow. His scream was long and loud, long and loud enough to alert every griffon guard within the palace to come rushing into the cloister.

Thinking not for their bereaved comrade, the bandits took to their hooves, running back towards the walls. But Clover remained, stripping off his massive fur coat of red and white and black. Silently, and ignoring the armoured guards who now stood before him, muskets at the ready, he draped the coat over the body of his dearest friend.

He stood tall, face screwed up with rage and sorrow as he faced down the barrels of the muskets.

“Go on, shoot you animals!”

The griffons obeyed, raising their muskets and taking aim.

“They’ll pay you well for the hide of Clover the Clever.”

Four talons squeezed four triggers. Clover fell backwards, two bullets in his chest, one in his neck and one betwixt the eyes.

“And so Clover and Bumpkin died. But at least…at least they finally got their butterfly.”

The now depleted bandits scaled the stone steps to the main wall, the armoured griffons following in hot pursuit. The Black Bandit and Pipsqueak led the way, followed by Askari, the Paladin, and Napalm, who paused to hurl a lit grenade into the mass of armoured beasts. But this moment’s hesitation cost him dearly, as he stumbled to the ground. Looking down at his left hind leg, he noted grimly the fresh bullet-wound in his ankle. Looking to his companions, only the Paladin seemed to have noticed, coming to a halt.

But Napalm shook his head at his voiceless friend. He was beyond help now. “The others need help more! Go on!”

As the Paladin obediently sprinted after his friends, Napalm struggled to his hooves, wounded leg quivering from the strain, as he hobbled along the wall. The mass of guards closed in upon the pony, hounding him at every turn, the sheer force of number finally herding him into one of the many towers that dotted the wall.

As he entered the tower, the griffon’s surrounded him, menacing him with axes and spears. They poured through the doors, cramming the small tower to capacity, with Napalm trapped in the centre.

Glancing about, he saw the guards closing the doors and locking them. No way out now. He reached into his pocket for another bomb; at least he could go out with a bang.

His pockets were empty, save for one thing. A tiny little device. He had hidden it all this time, and he had sworn he would never use it.

“Well, no real point in worrying now.” He groaned to himself. He whipped out the tiny ball, no bigger than a grapefruit, and scraped its abrasive top against the hard, stone floor. The ball sparked, and the fuse lit in an instant.

As he tossed the lit bomb into the air, the growls and snarls of the griffons tuned into shrieks of shock and terror as they scrabbled to unlock the heavy wooden doors. He grinned with grim satisfaction as the fuse reached its end.

“Kaboom.”

The dwindling bandits reached the base of the wall, ready to cross the bailey of the Palace, the most dangerous leg of the raid, since they would be devoid of cover. But all four fell to the ground, hugging the earth as there came from behind them an earth-shattering boom. Looking back, they saw the tower they had just left, explode in a massive fireball, scattering lumps of rock and scraps of black griffon armour hither and yon.

But this moment’s halting cost them dear, as there came a hissing from above. The sun was briefly blotted out as hundreds of arrows whizzed through the air at the heroes. Ducking beneath a nearby piece of debris, the Black Bandit, the Paladin and Pip could only watch in horror as Askari slowly began more and more to resemble a pincushion, as arrow after arrow embedded itself in his back.

“Askari! No!” Pip cried out as he was hoisted up onto the Paladin’s armoured back. The two galloped across the bailey, dodging arrows and musket fire as they headed straight for the walls of the keep.

The Black Bandit paused a moment, looking desperately on as Askari strained to look up at his masked friend. The zebra smiled serenely, gritting through the pain now coursing through his body “It’s okay…Go on. Find Sinistar…Finish him” he said, before his eyes rolled up in his head, and his last breath left him.

Rainbow sniffed loudly as she wiped the tears from her face. Pipsqueak fared no better, weeping openly as the story unfolded in all its gruesome, depressing glory “Please stop, Rainbow! Why are you…you killing them all off?”

“’Cos that’s how it goes!” Rainbow choked “They weren’t good enough to take Sinistar on, and they paid for thinking they were!”

“You’re lying! This isn’t how it goes! Tell it right!” He wailed.

But she shook her head “How would you know?!”

Up the bandits went, clinging desperately to the long, silken banner that served as an improvised climbing rope up to the roof of the keep. The two masked bandits clambered up the banner with relative ease, wrapping their hooves around it and clenching it in their teeth. But the Paladin, weighed down as he was by his heavy armour, fared worse as he struggled halfway up the banner. As the griffon guards caught up with the trio, the Black Bandit and Pipsqueak reached the top of the wall, where they heaved with all their might as they tried to pull their silent friend up.

A few confident guards took to the climb themselves, clinging with their clawed hands and feet. Agonizingly slowly, they scaled the side of the keep, until the Paladin was in reach. The quickest of the guards lashed out and grabbed him by his hind leg. The Paladin bucked and kicked, but the griffon’s grip was like iron.

Gazing up to his friends, who looked on from the walltop, he drew a small dagger from a hidden sheath in his armour. Smiling to the bandits, he spoke to them on word:

“Up.”

Saying no more, he took the dagger in his teeth and sliced clean through the rope, just above his own grip. For the briefest moment he and the guards seemed to hover in thin air, before they plummeted down from the walls of the keep. The griffons flapped their wings desperately, but the weight of their heavy armour pulled them down.

The bandits looked away just in time, but could not shut out the bone-shattering crunch as one armoured stallion and four armoured griffons slammed into the ground, far below.

Pip sniffled again, his tears all run out as he wept dryly. “Please…why are you killing everypony? Why does everypony have to die?”

“It’s my story…” came Rainbow’s muttered reply, her voice cracked with depression and sorrow.

But the little colt insisted “But it’s mine too!”

Lord Sinistar stood on the roof of the keep, personally overseeing the tactics and manoeuvres of his guards. The navy blue stallion watched with a cold glam in his eyes as another platoon of griffons hurried off to carry out his orders. His grey mane, once sleek and expertly combed back, was now frazzled and messed from the stress of the situation.

“And be sure to bring as many of them back alive as you can!” He barked to the guards “I want to personally deal with them myself!”

“Be…My…Guest.”

He whipped around as a furiously cold voice spoke from behind him. There before him was the young masked pegasus, scratched and bruised but very much alive. Beside her stood a tiny young colt, similarly dressed. As the Black Bandit raised her pistol, Sinistar took a step back.

“Rainbow, wait!”

But before she could fire, from the door leading below emerged the pink-haired head of Lady Redheart.

“No, don’t look at her! Focus!”

The brief distraction was all Sinistar needed. Taking to his hooves he ran across the walls that branched from the roof of the keep.

“She’s also with Sinistar…Just like your marefriend!”

“Shut up!”

“She came by the hospital…she knew you were there.”

Rainbow sorrowfully ignored the little colt’s pleas and continued “So the Bandit chased after Sinistar, across the walls, through the castle grounds and into the garden.”

“But she didn’t come to see you. She stayed with Sinistar…”

“But when the Black Bandit ran past his hiding place, Sinistar leapt out and cracked her in the face!”

The Black Bandit staggered back, reeling from the ferocity of the blow, blood dribbling from her nostrils. Sinistar stepped forward, smiling nonchalantly at his wounded foe. Without any warning, he lunged out again, headbutting the Bandit in the chest. She was thrown back, her hooves stumbling to stay steady. But suddenly, the ground ran out behind her, and she fell backwards into a pond.

“So she sank to the bottom of the pool…” Rainbow said between sobs. She wasn’t even trying to hold her tears back anymore “She didn’t even try to swim.”

“You’re making this up!”

“No I’m not!” She cried “And he was starting to sink, and he was dying…”

“Rainbow, get up!”

The Black Bandit could hear the muffled voice of Pip, as she thrashed about under the pool, held firmly underwater by Sinistar’s hoof planted on her chest.

The world came rushing back to reality as she was hoisted back out of the water by Sinistar’s forceful hoof.

“P-please, I’m…I-I’m scared.” Pip whimpered.

“Oh, what a shame!” Shouted Sinistar as he struck the Bandit again and again, punching, butting, kicking. “C’mon, get up!”
He pulled her up by the scruff of her neck, holding the Bandit before Pip’s weeping eyes “Look at her! Look!”

“Please, get up and fight!”

“I c-can’t get up!” the Bandit sobbed.

The stallion shook his dying victim “I want you to see how pathetic she is! Look at her!”

“Please, sister!” Pip wailed “Get up!”

The Bandit struggled in his grip “I can’t get up…I’m not your sister…” Any further words were silenced as Sinistar ducked her under the water again.

“Look at her! Your so-called sister is a coward, and a drug addict! A useless good-for-nothing!”

“She can’t win…” Rainbow continued “That’s because our Masked Bandit’s a coward! That oath she took, that she’d kill Sinistar, she was lying!”

“No, you’re lying!”

“No, really! She’d crossed her wings when she took the oath…Nothin’ but a fake!”

Sinistar grinned with malicious satisfaction as he felt the struggling subside, and the Black Bandit going limp in his hooves. A wisp of blood floated through the water from the Bandit’s mouth. He was finished.

“Not like she had anything left for her anyway.” The pegasus sighed.

Pip shook his head “What about her brother?! What’s gonna happen to him?”

“She wasn’t even his sister, either…she lied about that too.”

“But he needs her…”

“Ah, he’ll survive. He’s…he’s still young. Even Sinistar wouldn’t kill a foal…”

“I don’t want you to die!”

Rainbow was silent for a moment. She could think of no way to reply or respond. She could only look down at the pathetic, sobbing little colt who lay on the bed before her.

“Nopony does. The Bandit’s got friends…I know she does. And she needs to live, so she can see them again! And so what if she only pretended to be his sister? He still wants her to live…He…he just wants her to be happy.”

The colt reached out with a tiny foreleg and wiped the tears from Rainbow’s face. “Please…let her live…” He implored.

The pegasus lay her head on the side of Pip’s bed, exhausted by the stress and sorrow. She could take it no longer. As a

fresh flood of tars overcame her, she nodded.

“Promise? And don’t cross your wings this time!”

Under the water of the pond, a single bubble of air emerged from the Black Bandit’s mouth. Her eyelids fluttered a moment, and snapped open.

Rainbow sat back up, opening her wings, wide and uncrossed “Promise.”

The water of the pool suddenly came to life as, before his eyes, Sinistar’s enemy burst from the water with a roar of triumph.
For a brief moment he stood, dumbstruck by this apparent miracle. But his thoughts were cut short with a mighty thump to the face from the Black Bandit’s left foreleg. A spray of blood shone in the air as Sinistar reeled backwards to plummet into the water, snout broken and out cold. He hit the water with a splash, and did not rise again.

The Bandit leapt out of the water, rushing to comfort her terrified and weeping brother. Holding him in her forelegs, he melted into her warm, if wet, embrace.

“It’s okay…it’s over now.”

Hoisting the little colt onto her back, the suddenly healed Black Bandit trotted back up to the walltop, where she let Pip down and stood triumphantly, gazing over the palace.

“Rainbow!”

The two bandits turned, and saw Lady Redheart rushing from the keep to meet them. She came to a halt before them, scuffing the ground guiltily with a forehoof.

“Rainbow, I’m sorry…you do realise, this was all just a test to see if you truly loved me, don’t you?”

She could not see it, but beneath their masks, both Bandits simultaneously raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh, really?” Said the Black Bandit.

Redheart took a step closer “We're finally free now. We can do what we want, Rainbow. We can follow our hearts now!”

The Bandit smiled. Without a word, she stepped forward, as if to embrace the pink haired mare. But at the last moment, she grabbed in her teeth the golden hanging around Lady Redheart’s neck, wrenching it loose.

Hanging from the chain, lead shot still embedded in the front, was the golden locket.

“Huh...well, by all means.” The rainbow-haired pony said. And with a mighty “Ptooey!” she spat the
locket out, sending it plummeting out of sight far below. “Follow it.”

Pip nodded his approval, silent except for a small “Hmph!”

Rainbow sighed a great sigh of relief, the story finally over. Wiping the last teas from her face, she felt a strange sensation, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She looked down at Pip, who smiled up at her through tears of his own.

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash.” He said. “That… was a really good story.”

She chuckled, the first genuine chuckle she had given in a very long time “No problem, kiddo. And thanks to you too…”

He cocked his head a moment “What for?”

But Rainbow just patted him on the head “Just…just thanks.” There was no real way to say why she was thanking him. It just…felt right. “We’re really a strange pair, huh?”

Pip nodded, before he settled back down in his bed. Rainbow got up, quietly trotting to the door. But just as she was about to close the door behind her, she heard his voice again.

“Are…Are you gonna be okay now, Rainbow Dash?”

She turned back, smiling to him one more time “Well, I guess we’ll find out, eh kid?”

Fin.