The whole city of Baltimare was in havoc, citizens rushed to their homes, locked their doors, and shut their windows. Some ponies even went to the extreme to swallow their keys. There were ponies hyperventilating and even weeping silently. Why were they so frightened? Because there’s a foal-napper, or foal-nappers, somewhere in Baltimare. Every day, another child would go missing. So far, five foals have disappeared, three fillies and two colts, all around the ages between nine and eleven. There were wanted posters scattered everywhere, on the wall of every building. The posters revealed the nappers names, appearances, and how much they were all worth. There was one building that had all three posters of the wanted foal-nappers.
One poster read “Night Fang” and had a picture of a mossy green pegasus stallion with a short white mane and tail. Another poster read “Dagger Tail” an ash grey earth pony mare with a long red mane with white highlights, she even held a small knife with her teeth. Between the two was the ugliest of them all, “Shadow Hooves”. His appearance was by far creepiest and strangest. Not only were his eyes multi-colored and really shifty, but his fur was an odd creamy orange color and he had a pitch black bowl cut, the thing that made him stick out though was the purple sore that was on his chin. His horn was also pointed, which added more points to his bizarre appearance.
While every pony else was running to their homes, two mysterious strangers had stopped in front of the wanted posters. Every pony could see the strangers from their windows, a wave of thoughts kept on pouring into their minds.
“Who are they?”
“I’ve never seen them before.”
“Are they really thinking about going after those three?”
“Who knows what will happen to them.”
No pony could see the two ponies faces, because they were facing the wall with the wanted posters, and because their heads and faces were almost completely concealed. One of the strangers was a tall and muscular unicorn stallion, though no one could tell what he really looked like, because his face and body were concealed by a hooded navy blue cloak with an appealing rose thorn pattern on it. What made his cloak stand out even more, was that it was held together by a single gem in the shape of a blue rose.
The other stranger next to him, on the other hand, was easier to identify. She was a pegasus mare with a slender figure and a large wingspan. Her long cherry red mane and tail were blowing in the wind as well as the violet scarf wrapped around her neck. Her white fur was glimmering in the sunlight along with her cutiemark, which was a simple mask with a knife blade sticking out of the right eye. She was also carrying a pair of purple white saddlebags in which each one had a lavender gem embedded on the side. Although not as covered up as the stallion, no one could tell what her face looked like because it was concealed by an emerald green masquerade mask.
The duo were examining the wanted posters, to see how much each pony was worth. Night Fang’s poster read that he was wanted for 2,000 bits while Dagger Tail was worth 4,000 bits. However, Shadow Hooves had the highest price of them all, racking up a bounty of 8,000 bits. The stallion raised an eyebrow from their bounties, thinking that they’d be reasonable prices.
The bounties, however, wasn’t what caught their attention. What intrigued them, was the notice that was written in big bold letters underneath their bounties. Dead or Alive. They knew what this meant for them.
“Dead or Alive, huh?” Spoke the stallion. The mare just nodded in agreement and starting rubbing her chin, deep in thought.
“I assume you have some kind of plan?”
“Somewhat,” She responded as a small smile crept onto her face.
At the edge of Baltimare was an abandoned factory, covered in rusty metal and broken windows, a typical hideout for thugs, thieves, and even foal-nappers. Inside of the factory was filled with cobwebs, dust, and other broken parts. It felt like a blizzard inside and the air was unbearable, reeked of sweat, beans, soil and other fluids.
In the back corner where the captive foals, all shaking with fear and holding onto each other, not knowing what might happen to them. Guarding them were two of the wanted ponies, Night Fang who was wearing a black jacket and Dagger Tail who was twiddling a knife with her hooves. The two bastards just snickered to the foals cowering whimpers and cries.
“Oh shut it, will you!” Barked Night.
“Crying isn’t going to help,” sneered Dagger.
“W-what do you want?” stuttered a terrified filly with a long green mane.
“What do we want?” Asked a sudden voice.
Night and Dagger stepped aside to let through a maniacal Shadow Hooves. He was wearing rubber boots and was wearing a bloody apron. He grew a wide smile as he got closer to the foals.
“You’re a smart filly, shouldn’t you know he answer?” His voice was just oozing with malice.
The scared filly just nodded violently, not wanting to talk anymore.
“You don’t know?” He snickered. “How bout I give you a little hint. Take a good look at your friends. Maybe you’ll find something in common, no?”
The green mane filly looked left and right at her frightened companions. They were trembling with apprehension and it was hard to tell what he was getting at.
“You still don’t know? Ok, take a good look at their eyes,” he sneered.
The filly took a good glance at her friend’s eyes, she didn’t notice much except their pupils were red and overflowing with tears. The filly’s eyes then perked up as she realized what the answer was. She turned back at Shadow Hooves who had a nasty smile on.
“T-t-t-t-they’re all…red?”
“BINGO!” he yelled which made all the foals jump back. “You’re correct little lady. They’re all red. Crimson to be exact. Tell me, do you know why I asked you that?”
“N-no,” she stuttered.
“Here’s another question, what color are all of our eyes? Hmm?”
The filly took a good look at Shadow’s eyes, and noticed that they were both different colors, one blue and the other green. He then turned towards Dagger, whose eyes were light yellow. Finally, she turned to Night and noticed his eyes were grey.
“N-Not red?” the filly asked.
“BINGO, BINGO!” He yelled in excitement. The foals cringed in fear once more, holding one another even tighter.
“You see my little filly, crimson eyes are really rare around these parts. Very few ponies are born with this stunning gene. Ponies say that crimson eyes are some of the most exotic treasures out there, the way they’re gorgeous color shines and the way they make anypony stand out. Rumor has it that they’re more precious than diamonds. It’s so beautiful,” he finished as he licked his lips.
“Heh, if that’s the case, then they must be a huge deal,” continued Night.
“A real jewel if you ask me. They’re worth big bits,” added Dagger. “What do you say we, get down to business?”
“Not before we have some fun with our new friends. What do you say? You’ll come with us, right?” Hissed Shadow as he licked his lips some more. Then he spotted a blue mane earth pony filly with a pink bow in her hair. “You’re especially pretty. You remind me of that other mare I once saw,” he laughed as he twiddled his scalpel.
“T-That mare was… my mommy,” the blue mane filly wept.
“Really? So does that make it worse, seeing how she’s no longer with us?” He teased. The filly then let out a stream of tears and covered her face.
“J-Just let us go, you creep!” Yelled an orange mane pegasus colt. Shadow looked at the colt in disgust. The colt’s face dropped of all confidence, regretting his outburst.
“Eh?”
SLAP!
A big red mark was left on the colt’s left cheek. Some tears escaped from his eyes as he held his face from the stinging sensation. As he cried, Night and Dagger just laughed at his pain.
“What an idiot, trying to act all tough,” mocked Night.
“Dumb kids,” added Dagger. “Learn your place, will ya.”
Meanwhile, the figures from earlier just arrived to the abandoned factory. They could hear the foals cries from the outside. The stallion prepared to get his weapon out as the mare put her scrolls and books away into her bags.
“This is the place?” Asked the stallion.
“Yeah. I can smell their disgusting stench for miles,” the mare answered. “You remembered the plan don’t you? Element of su-“
Before she could finish, the stallion levitated his large double edged sword with magic and charged right for the doors. He rammed right through them like a train and spotted the foal-nappers inside. The three thugs just turned and stared at the cloaked stallion, frozen with doubt. The stallion then spotted the cowering foals, backed up against a moldy wall by the bowl cut pony. He then point his sword at the trio.
“Time to di-
KICK!
The stallion was met with a back kick to the face before he could finish his sentence. He stumbled, staggered, and struggled to get back up. When he did, he noticed the mare floating next to him lowering her back hoof. Even though it wasn’t visible, the stallion could tell the mare was upset.
“Moron! You blew our cover! What happened to the plan?!” She scolded.
“Your plan sucked! You expected me to wait for these creeps to do, Celestia knows what, to these foals?!” He retorted. The masked mare just rubbed her forehead in frustration and groaned.
“Would it kill you to follow my strategy for one minute?!”
“Your plans are always needlessly complicated and hard to follow. Maybe if you just let me do the work, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Don’t blame all of this on me, mister!”
“Let’s just do what we normally do, I kick the fugitive’s asses and you rescue the victims.”
“How many times do I have to say it?! We don’t have assigned roles here!”
As they continued to argue and bicker, the three nappers just looked at each other in utter confusion. They couldn’t decide whether to feel surprised or just annoyed at their presence. They’re glazed faces didn’t show any fear or concerned and just gave them unimpressed stares, even the foals tilted their heads at the sight.
“If I were you, I’d watch that attitude of yours!” the cloaked stallion yelled at the mare.
“And if I were YOU, I’d watch for that board that’s about to hit you!”
“Eh?”
SMASH!
Night Fang had taken a piece of wood and slammed it against the stallions head. He stumbled a bit more and held his noggin. He let out a loud groan, but instead of a painful groan, it was more soft and not as loud, almost annoyed.
“Geez, so much head abuse,” the stallion complained and pulled back his hood.
All of the pony’s eyes shrank when he revealed his face. The nappers just cringed at his intimidating appearance. They could now clearly see his blonde fur coat that was rather dirty and had a few starches on them, and his horn was also now noticeable. He had a big spiky brown mane in which some of it completely covered his left eye, leaving the other one exposed. Speaking of which, Shadow Hooves caught a glimpse at his right eye, his crimson eye, and formed a devilish smile.
However, the other two nappers didn’t pay attention to his eye, since they were too busy staring at the blood dripping down his forehead. The stallion just stood there with blood flowing down his head as if nothing had happened.
“You know, a blow like that could kill an ordinary pony. Were you trying to kill me? Huh?!” the stallion yelled as he threw a punch at Night Fang. However, he was quick to act and blocked his face with his front hooves.
BASH!
The force was enough to send the pegasus stallion back and hit the ceiling of the factory. The impact left a large pony shaped crater on the ceiling. Night slowly slipped out the ceiling and plummeted towards the ground and landed on some broken creates.
The stallion then looked back at the nappers, but when he did, they were nowhere to be found. The cloaked stallion scanned the entire room, but all he could spot were the trembling foals against one of the walls.
“Thick-headed as always, brother,” the mare commented.
“Not now, Violet! Where did those other two goons go?”
SLASH! SWIPE!
Two swift objects flew by their faces and separated the duo. Shadow Hooves was levitating a large hatchet and a sharp scalpel and aiming it at the stallion. Facing the masked mare, Dagger was wielding, well, a pair of daggers. Two were tied to her front hooves and she was holding an additional large bowie knife with her tail.
“I can see why they call you Dagger Tail,” said the masked mare named Violet. With that, she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a rather long weapon. When she yanked it out, it revealed to be a five foot long deep purple Bo staff with a small blue gem at the end of it. She started to flap her wings, floated in the air, and held the staff with her hooves.
“HA! Do you really think some big stick will help against one of these?” laughed Dagger as she waved her knife at her.
“Don’t judge,” Violet shrugged. With that, Dagger lunged herself towards the masked mare with daggers held high and in front.
The other stallion was trying his best to defend himself against Shadow Hooves giant Hatchet. There blades kept on clashing and sparks kept on flying. All the stallion could really focus on was that disgusting sore on Shadow’s chin. Every time their blades clashed, the cloaked stallion cringed in disgust at the sight of that sore throbbing whenever he attacked.
“You come in here acting like a hero with a big sword and you can’t even fight back?! You’re all bark and no bite!” Shadow mocked.
The stallion’s eye began to fill with worry he might lose, on the surface. Deep down, he was secretly smiling. The masked mare kept on poking and jabbing dagger at a distance. She attempted to swipe her knives towards her throat, but to no avail. Violet either deflected them with her Bo staff or simply dodged them. Dagger swung her tail at Violet’s face, which just barely cut a few tiny hairs from her mane. Violet looked over to see the other stallion, and a hidden smile was formed on her face as well.
“Dammit Zeal! He’s only one ugly stallion! Can’t you take him down?!” yelled Violet.
“I don’t know,” panted the cloaked stallion named Zeal. “Can’t you go on one mission without having to hide your face?”
“Excuse me?!” she retorted.
“Yeah, every time we go somewhere, you always have to wear those flashy masks! What’s the point? No one is going to care who you are!”
“I care! I want to leave an impression!”
“That kind of goes against our purpose! We’re not supposed to leave an impression.”
“Maybe you don’t want to!”
“Seriously, those masks are completely useless and lame. We’d be so much better off without them!”
Violet grew silent. She couldn’t believe what her partner was saying. She just floated there completely motionless. Her own partner, of all times, flat out tells her that her masks are lame and are of no use. Daggers knife knocked her Bo staff out of her gripped and she soon tackled her to the ground.
Before Zeal could say anything else, Shadow Hooves smacked him in the back of his head with his hatchet and pinned him to the floor. The foals were petrified, they were about to witness their saviors about to be killed right in front of them.
“Not so tough now are you?!” mocked Shadow. “You know, I couldn’t help but noticed that crimson eye of yours. Maybe you could be of some use to us after all. You may have injured one of my partners, but I’m sure we can continue on without him. Will you come quietly now?”
He then levitated his scalpel and aimed it directly at Zeal’s eye. His pupil shrank at the sight of the blade getting closer.
Well, this is it, he thought to himself.
“Hey! You really did it this time, brother!” scolded Violet as she was pinned down by Dagger.
“Wait? Your related?” wondered Dagger. “Eh, anything’s possible I guess.”
“However, there is ONE thing you are good at,” continued Violet.
“What’s that?”
A small smile formed across the masked mares face once more, knowing very well what will happen next.
“You’re one hell of an actor.”
Right when she said that, Zeal grew a big toothy grin on his face and gathered up his real strength.
“Eh? What are-
BASH!
A hoof collided with Shadows nose before he could finish, splattering little blobs of blood everywhere. Zeal got back up and levitated his huge sword once more and looked down on the injured foal napper.
“What?!” exclaimed Dagger Tail in shock.
Violet then grabbed Dagger by the neck and threw her off as well, and reclaimed her Bo staff. Shadow got back up, ignoring the fact that a river of blood was flowing out of his nose, and faced the cloaked pony with his huge axe. However, something seemed different. One quick glimpse of Zeal’s grin, and Shadow already felt paralyzed, chills went down his spine and his breathing has stopped.
What is this?! Why am I suddenly afraid of this guy?! he thought.
Zeal smile grew as he aimed his sword at Shadow. The latter finally snapped out of his trance and began to lift his axe again. However, before he could do anything, the cloaked stallion appeared right before him with his sword held high.
Such speed! How did he do that?!
Zeal then swung his sword as Shadow raised his axe to block his face. The moment their blades collide, Shadows hatchet shattered into a million pieces. Fear was written all over his face. He jumped back and looked at his destroyed weapon, then he looked back at the stallion who was standing there, chuckling.
How is this happening? He was so easy to beat before!
Shadow then brought out a large machete blade and readied himself. The moment he did, Zeal charged with great speed that could match a Wonderbolt. Sweat was pouring down Shadow’s forehead.
Dagger Tail, on the other hand, was still struggling with Violet. She kept on swinging her knife tail at her but Violet repelled it every time, and was met with another jab to her chest. Violets Bo kept on hitting Dagger’s blades, making them duller with every hit. The masked mare released a quick hard jab on Daggers front right hoof.
CRACK!
The sounds of her bone shattering could be echoed throughout the abandoned building. The foals just covered their eyes from the sight of it. Dagger let out an excruciating cry as she held her own hoof.
It’s now or never, thought Violet.
She aimed the gem tip of her Bo at Dagger. The strange thing was that Violets masquerade mask was beginning to glow, Dagger caught sight of this and grew an anxious stare. The gem on Violets Bo also began to illuminate. In the blink of an eye, the tiny gem grew into three large bug-like appendages and began adjusting itself.
The masked mare thrust her claw staff and grabbed Dagger with it. Once the bug claws got a good grip, she began to lift the foal napper into the air. Dagger smacked and banged the claws with her non-broken hoof in attempt to escape, but it was useless. Violet looked next to her and noticed that Zeal and Shadow were still clashing blades with one another, more sparks flew and their swords looked more rigid by the second.
“Heads up!” called out Violet, as she threw Dagger like a lacrosse ball. Zeal noticed the incoming napper and quickly stepped back. Before Shadow could figure out what was going on-
CRASH!
Daggers body slammed right into Shadows, causing them both to crash into some nearby crates. Daggers unconscious body laid there underneath Shadows crippled one. Zeal saw the opportunity and ran right for the two creeps. Shadow saw him coming and held his machete up like a shield. That was also useless, when Zeals sword tore right through the metal blade and pierced right through Shadow and Dagger. Both let out cries of agony and pain that could be heard for miles. The two nappers were impaled and pinned to each other by this massive sword. Shadows eyes twitched and shrank when he looked upon Zeals smile.
The hunter then took out a knife from his cloak and pointed the tip at the place he meant to go for at the beginning. His knife pieced the leaders disgusting sore as purple puss starting oozing from a single squish. The napper let out another cry of pain from the act.
“Finally, that sore has been bothering me ever since I laid my eye on it,” declared Zeal. Then he turned to Violet, whose Bo staff was returning to normal. “Looks like your plan worked after all, sis.”
“Thank you, kindly,” she replied.
“What? You two….were faking?!” questioned Shadow as he coughed up more blood.
“Obviously. I’m surprised you didn’t see it coming. It’s the oldest trick in the book,” responded Zeal.
“W-Why would you pretend to fight…with each other?”
“To throw you off.”
“Huh?”
“Think about it, idiot. If we’ve shown you our true nature from the start, you could’ve gone and used one of those foals to your advantage. Where would that lead us, huh?” stated Violet matter-of-factly. With that, Zeal twisted his sword some more which resulted in Shadow letting out more agonizing whimpers.
“P-Please spare me,” he begged.
“And what was it YOU said to the ponies from which these foals came from, when they begged you for mercy?” Without saying anything else, he violently yanked and twisted his sword around Shadow’s body. He felt something lumpy and figured that was his heart. With one good yank, the sword was out of his now dead body. Zeal whipped the blood off of his sword and Violet turned around and noticed the cowering foals. She flew towards the group in attempt to calm them down. When she got there, they were still sniffling and crying from the sight.
“Shhhhh Shhhh. It’s alright. It’s all over now,” cooed Violet as she wrapped her hooves around one of them. “We’re going to bring you back to town, alright.”
The foals were still unsure and couldn’t move at all. Violet rubbed her chin with her hoof and idea struck her head.
“Hey, its ok. We’re not going to hurt you.” Violet then used her wing to remove her mask. The foals suddenly felt more relaxed when they got a good look at her face. They could clearly see her violet eyes and the small freckles across the bridge of her nose. “See, we’re just normal ponies.”
“H-How did he know that he,” wept the blue mane filly. “That he killed my mommy?”
“We did some research on these guys before we came here, they did some horrible things.” she explained. “Now then, let’s get everypony home.”
Back at the town hall at Baltimare, the two hunters have brought in the three scum bags and returned the captured foals. The town hall was filled with the parents and guardians of the abducted foals. They were hugging and nuzzling their foals and thanking Celestia that they were safe. Zeal, who now had a bandage wrapped around his head, and Violet were speaking with the mayor of Baltimare about collecting their rewards, and they brought three large items with them. A tied up and unconscious Night Fang, and two body bags.
“Here’s what’s left of the group. Two dead, one injured,” explained Zeal to mayor, who had a big mustache along with grey fur and a bit top hat.
“Thank Celestia you two showed up. Who knows what would’ve happened to these precious foals. But I must ask. Why were they captured in the first place?”
Zeal began to tell him the story about their crimson eyes and how they’re really valuable in some parts of Equestria. The mayor was stunned and dumbfounded about this information and noticed Zeal’s very own crimson eye.
“That must be tough, since you have a crimson eye, yourself,” wondered the mayor.
“It’s not so bad. But now you know why these foals were taken.”
“Who cares!” called out a teary eyed mare. “I’m just so glad to have my baby back!”
“I’m glad to have my niece back too!” wept the blue mane filly’s aunt as she nuzzled her face.
The mayor let out a small chuckle and faced the two hunters. “Well, as promised, here’s the reward.” He pulled out three tan bags filled with bits. “Here’s 2,000 thousand bits for Night Fang. 4,000 for Dagger Tail. And 8,000 for Shadow Hooves.”
Zeal levitated the three bags and took out a single bit. He then gave it a hard biting to check if it was real. When he noticed that it didn’t bend, he knew it was the real deal.
“Thanks,” spoke Violet.
“By the way? What are your names?” asked the mayor.
“Zealous Strike,” replied Zeal. “And the pegasus mare with the mask is my sister, Violet Visor.”
“I see, so you’re related. You know, if you want. You could stay here and become Baltimare’s personal bounty hunters,” the mayor offered.
“Thanks, but we have other plans,” Violet replied.
“Well, if you change your minds, you know where to find us. And you’re both welcomed back in Baltimare anytime you’d like!”
Zeal and Violet both gave a ‘yes’ nod and collected their things. Violet stuffed the reward money in her saddlebags as well as her and Zeal’s weapons. As they were making their way towards the exit, they were met with a crowd of ponies who were constantly thanking them and patting them on their backs. As they made their way through the crowd, someone else called out to them.
“Wait!” they both turned around and noticed it was the same blue mane filly with the pink bow.
“Will you ever come back?” she asked.
“Maybe. If we feel like it,” replied Zeal as he ruffled the filly’s mane, playfully. He turned around and made his way out the door. Violet then approached the filly.
“Here,” said Violet as she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a pink masquerade mask. The filly’s crimson eyes beamed and gave a big smile at the sight of it. “Something to remember us by,” she finished as she handed the mask to the filly.
She gladly accepted it and instantly put over her face and smiled, which made Violet smile as well. The filly wrapped her tiny hooves around Violet and gave one last goodbye hug, to which Violet returned the gesture. After that, she got up and went outside to follow her brother. The filly’s friends gathered around her and started to admire her new gift. Violet finally caught up with Zeal and removed her mask, revealing her eyes and freckles once more.
“Did you give her a mask?” asked Zeal.
“Yeah.”
“That’s nice.”
As they were walking towards the train station, Zeal had something on his mind that he needed to get out. He didn’t feel proud for doing it and felt like he needed to apologize.
“Sorry.”
“For what?” wondered Violet.
“For all those things I said to you at the factory. About your plans and masks being stupid,” he explained somberly.
“You’re hung up on that? C’mon, you gotta learn not to take things so seriously. It was part of the plan, remember. Besides, its not like you meant any of it, right?”
“Of course not. But I don’t….” was all he could say.
“I understand you don’t want to hurt me. But sometimes, you have to do whatever it takes to get the mission done. You know.”
“I suppose. But still,” he then looked up at the sky. “I don’t want anyone close I know, to get hurt because of me.”
Violet understood what he was coming from, that unfortunate event. The memory still haunts her and Zeal to this very day. They wanted to forget about it, but they couldn’t, because that memory is what’s making them move forward. They can’t stop until their destination has been reached. They arrived at the train station and bought two tickets. After that, they waited on the platform for the next train to come.
“So, where do we go now?” asked Violet. Zeal looked down on his ticket, it read Ponyville on it.
“Wherever this train takes us.” As if on cue, the Ponyville express came steaming into the station.
