Kickass: A Quest for Treats

Chapters

A Quest for Cat Treats
The Idea
Heist Fail
The Talk
The Song
Attack on Firesteed - Part 1
Attack on Firesteed - Part 2
Not Goodbye

A Quest for Cat Treats

Author's Note

Warning, this story contains mild spoilers.
PS: Stupid author should have put this sooner

A Quest for Cat Treats

Authors:
Dustchu
Flygirlll26262
A collab between two friends.
We own nothing except our OC's, the plot, the universe, and the master key to hell.

An orange coated, red maned pegasus, flew through the sky towards Ponyville, her curled mane being pushed back by the wind. A cat sat in a saddle bag on her back, enjoying the wind against her face, while a spectral cat floated alongside the pegasus. “Don’t worry Emerald, we’ll get you that food~” The pegasus’ sing song voice chiming in the wind. The cat in her bag meowed back, and the town they were looking for came into view through the clouds. “Look, we’re already almost there~” She tilted her wings to descend at a nice and easy angle, and made a gentle landing.

Upon landing, the pegasus trotted over to a building with a cupcake sign on the front. “Ooo~ Maybe they have some food, I’m pretty famished,” She looked at the ghost cat that circled around her head. She then entered the building and looked around, seeing all the different pies and cakes everywhere on display. The smell of baked goods filled the bakery with various ranging from cinnamon, apples, and other smells.

The sounds of pots and pans clanging together sounded from the back, and anyone with a trained eye could potentially make out a pink blur zipping back and forth. But they wouldn’t have had the time to do so, as the pink blur stopped in mid air, eyes locked on the pegasus who entered the shop. A sudden drawn out gasp left the pink pony’s mouth before she darted over to the pegasus with speed fit for a Wonderbolt, stopping just short of touching noses and skidding on the floor. Once she stopped however, her body started springing back and forth, and one could hear a comical noise emitting from her before she came to a stop.

“You’re new in town aren’t ya!” She asked, smiling brightly.

Looking at the pink earth pony with surprise, she stared for a second, then smiled, “Yup~ I’m here to get a snack, then try to find something for Emerald here~” The pegasus pointed at the cat in the saddle bag, who then meowed followed by the mare's ghost cat laying on the top of her head.

Pinkie’s nose twitched, followed by her eyebrow going up and down a few times. “Nose twitch, eyebrow acting funny...” She gasped again, “There’s a ghost!” She cried, bolting off and leaving a trail of smoke in her wake. She vanished upstairs, only to come back down wielding a red vacuum cleaner that read Poltergust 3000 on it, and wearing a green shirt and blue overalls, with a green hat with the letter L on it. “Where are you ghosty goo!”

“Wait! I have a pet ghost!” The pegasus cried out, trying to stop the crazy pink pony. “Don’t hurt my buddy!” Her wings flared out in panic, as the ghost cat hid behind the wings.

The pink pony made an ‘o’ face, then smiled. “Well why didn’t you say so in the first place!” She ripped off the clothes and the device before throwing them off screen… yeah… off screen. “Silly filly~”

The pegasus let out a small sigh of relief, her wings relaxing back into place, “I-I would’ve, but you didn’t really give me a chance~” The pegasus awkwardly chuckled.

The pink pony laughed, ending it in a snort. “My bad! Have a cupcake~” Quick as a flash, she shoved a Red Velvet cupcake into the Pegasus’ mouth. “I’m Pinkie PIe! Nice to meet you!”

The pegasus chewed up the cupcake, smiling and murmuring, “Mmm, red velvet…” After the cupcake was swallowed, she held out a hoof and smiled back, “I’m Firefly, nice to meet you as well~ And you’ve met Emerald, and here’s Ghost.” The ghost cat flew in front of Pinkie pie, “I named him before he became a ghost, so I guess it works out,” Firefly laughed.

Pinkie nodded happily, glad that the young mare enjoyed the cupcake. “Nice to meet you Emerald!” She then looked right into Ghost’s eyes, “and you too Ghost!” She smiled brightly, despite no one else being able to see said ghost cat except for Firefly and Pinkie. “Did you say you wanted to find something for little Emerald?” She asked, tilting her head.

Firefly nodded, “Why yes I did~” As she looked back at Emerald happily.

Pinkie bounced up and down, saying, “I know just the place!”

“Oh great, where is it?” The pegasus smiled and looked at the bouncing pony.

“I’d take you, but Mr. Cake has a big order I need to help with… wait! I know just the pony who could take you!” Pinkie grinned, vanishing in a puff of smoke once more upstairs. It took a few seconds, something crashing, followed by a string of colorful curses from an unknown voice before Pinkie came back downstairs, this time, she had a filly riding on her back who looked like she was put through a wind tunnel. The filly stared at Firefly, hooves gripping onto Pinkie’s body.

Firefly looked at the two curiously, as Emerald meowed again, “Oh, hello~ I’m Firefly.”

The gold colored filly rose an eyebrow at Firefly, pushing her fiery colored mane out of her bright red eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

“She just told you silly!” Pinkie giggled, looking back at Firefly, waiting for her reaction.

Firefly just smiled at the filly, “So, are you a helper of Pinkie’s?”

The filly scoffed, hopping off of Pinkie before landing on the floor with a soft clop of her hooves. The filly barely came up to Firefly’s chest, but she just stared up anyway. “I’m Filly C,” She poked the older mare’s chest, “you best remember that!”

“Of course I will, Filly C~” Firefly looked down at the smaller filly, even crouching down a little to be eye level with her.

“Can you take Firefly to the petshop?” Pinkie asked sweetly, swaying back and forth as an Alligator popped its head out of Pinkie’s mane.

Firefly looked at the alligator with interest, “You have a pet too?”

Pinkie nodded as Gummy blinked an eyelid, then the other as he stared at Firefly with a look that spoke of intense thought and observation. “This is Gummy!” She giggled as the alligator climbed out of Pinkie’s mane and bit down on her nose, and started gnawing on it with his gums. Pinkie only giggled happily, patting him on the head.

Meanwhile, Filly C watched with great disdain, frowning. “I seriously have to take her?” She asked, obviously not wanting to.

Pinkie nodded. “Yep!”

“Don’t wanna.” Filly C pouted, sitting down.

Pinkie gave her a big eyed looked. “Come on, pretty please?”

“Nope.” the filly responded.

“Please~”

“No!”

“I’ll even bake you that special cupcake you like~”

Filly looked up, eyes twinkling before she shot up onto her hooves. “Deal!” She quickly ran towards the back of Firefly, grabbing her tail in her teeth and pulling. “‘Ome on ‘ady! ‘Et’s ‘o!”

Firefly laughed, “Alright, alright, I’m coming. Thank you Pinkie~” She called back to the pink pony, before following Filly C.

As the two got outside, Pinkie ran back into her kitchen as Filly C led the mare to the left of the shop. “The heck you wanna go to a petshop for?” She asked, snorting as she spat out

“I wanna get some treats for Emerald~” Firefly answered happily.

Turning her head back, Filly C chanced a glance at the cat. “Couldn’t you have gone somewhere else?” She questioned, wondering why she would stop in this town. “In case you haven’t heard, this town is one hell of a magnet for trouble.”

Firefly shrugged, “Eh, that’s no big deal, I had heard that the best cat treats were here. And I would do anything for my kitties~” She smiled, shifting her wings into a more comfortable position.

“Kitties? As in more than one? I only see that one.” She pointed at Emerald.

“Oh right, most ponies can’t see you Ghost.” Firefly said, looking at the ghost cat that flew by. “I have a ghost cat as well.”

The little filly rose an eyebrow, “A ghost… cat?” A sigh, followed by a shrug. “Eh, I’ve heard weirder shit.”

“Well, I had raised Ghost when he was a kitten, and when he sadly got sick, he didn’t want to leave me, so after his body gave out, his spirit lived on. Now he won’t leave me alone, the little goob~” Firefly giggled happily, looking at the cat as he tried to rub up against her face.

Suddenly, without warning, the bakery’s front door that they had just left exploded. Prompting both to look behind them to see not only pies, but cakes flying up into the sky. Pegasi who were unlucky enough to fly nearby were pelted by delicious red velvet cakes, scrumptious apple pies, and tasty tangerine tarts. Those that weren’t hit, yelled, “Look out below!”

Filly C groaned, “Fffffffffffffuuuu-!” She didn’t get to finish as she was, unfortunately made a casualty by an Apple pie baked into a cake.

Firefly began to laugh, looking at the now pie covered filly. The pegasus then flew over to the bakery, wanting to make sure everyone was okay, “You all okay in there?”

Gummy was floating on a pie tin, his unblinking eyes staring at Firefly as Pinkie floated on a wooden door. “I’m fine!” She said, as a massive amount of cake mix and treats began to float out of the bakery. Then an explosion rocked the ground, followed by Pinkie getting pied. “Still fine!”

Firefly quickly took flight, getting out of the way of the batter and treats, “Where did that explosion come from?” She asked more to herself, but was still loud enough to be heard.

Filly C sat on the ground, wiping the baked food off of her face. “Ugh, she needs to stop trying to make a cannon that shoots pies.”

“Who does?” Firefly looked at Filly C from the sky, her wings flapping lazily.

“Pinkie Pie!” Filly told her, shaking her body and sending giblets of food flying. “Ever since she got that idea from Tipo, ugh!” Looking behind her, Filly blinked her eyes to clear her vision.

Firefly smiled, and looked back into the shop, “You sure you’re okay Pinkie?”

“Yep!” Another explosion, “I got this! You two can continue with the story now!”

Firefly looked confused, then shrugged, and flew back over to Filly C, helping her wipe some pie off of her back. “There ya are, Filly C~”

Shaking her body once more, Filly C started forward, “yea yea, thanks, let’s move please~” She said, moving behind Firefly to push her forward. “Preferably away from the crazy pink pony!”

“Okay, okay,” Firefly then thought of something devious, and suddenly flew up, having Filly C fall forward. She giggled, and landed back beside the filly, and helped her up.

Trying not to blow a fuse, Filly C kept moving forward. The two made their way through the town, passing by friendly ponies who waved at the pegasus and unicorn with smiles.

“Wow, everyone is so smiley here! It’s quite different from Canterlot~” Firefly smiled brightly and waved back to everyone who waved to her.

“That’s how this town is,” Filly commented, hiding behind her bangs and keeping her gaze forward. “Everyone’s all friendly like, Celestia’s little project for equality between the three pony races.” She scoffed.

“Is there anything wrong with that?” Firefly asked, genuinely curious on this filly’s point of view on the subject. Personally, she loved it.

Filly C leveled her gaze at the pegasus, not stopping her stride as she began speaking, “Sure it seems nice, but like my uncle says. Behind every smile, there’s a sneer.” She told her, “The one time a zebra comes into town, everyone flips their shit and hides. Same thing with the Minotaur, and a Griffon!” She scoffed again, “most of Ponyville’s residents are racist bigots, pony only assholes if you know what I mean. Like those stuck up fuckers in Canterlot that are all about Unicorn supremacy.”

Firefly frowned a little, “W-well, it takes a while to get used to change, I’m sure you know that. And for some ponies, it can take longer than others. I’ve personally never met any other race besides ponies, so I don’t know how they might act. I know everyone’s different, even within their own race, so I’m sure most of them are very nice~” Firefly’s smile returned.

“Whatever you say,” Filly C conceded, not entirely believing her but otherwise not disagreeing. Eventually the two crossed town and eventually came upon the pet shop, where a cloaked zebra was just leaving with full saddle bags.

“Thank you Filly C, I hope we do meet again in the future,” Firefly said, nodding to the filly.

Filly C just shrugged, “knowing my luck, we probably will.” Turning around, FIlly C headed back to the bakery, waving a hoof behind her. “Don’t get killed and stuff!” She said, walking off down the road.

Firefly then walked over to the entrance of the pet shop, then watched as Ghost floated over to the cloaked zebra, and float in front of her eyes. “Ghost, come back over here!” Firefly trotted over to the ghost cat, then smiled at the zebra, “Hello~”

The zebra turned to the pony, smiling as her eyes drifted to the ghost cat. “Hmmm, a spirit is near, dare I ask, is it yours that is here?” She asked Firefly.

Firefly nodded, “Yeah, he’s mine, don’t worry, he’s no harm to anyone.” She smiled at the zebra.

“I can tell, he is not dangerous,” She chuckled, holding out her hoof, “prey tell, what brings you to a town so prosperous?”

Firefly smiled, “I’m just here because I heard of the best cat treats here~ And Emerald here wanted to try them.” The cat in the saddle bag meowed, and began to loudly purr shortly after.

“I see,” She chuckled again, pointing to the shop. “Look no further than here, for now, I must flee.” She then started off, offering a quick goodbye.

Firefly nodded, “Bye!” She then entered the store, looking around curiously.

The store was filled with different pets and different treats and toys for said pets. Entering the store, she was greeted by a green earth pony, “Hello, welcome to Pets Galore, how may I help you today?”

“I’m here cause I head the best cat treats were here~” Firefly explained, making sure that Emerald wouldn’t leave the saddlebag.

“Of course! We have just that!” The green pony lead the way down an aisle of cat supplies. “Does your cat like crunchy or chewy treats better?”

Firefly thought for a bit, “I believe crunchy.”

The earth pony grabbed a bag of salmon flavored crunchy treats, “Here you are, I’m sure she’ll love these.”

“Thank you so much~” Firefly smiled, then followed the pony back to the counter, “How much do I owe you?”

“15 bits,” The pony smiled as she rung up the treats.

Firefly had to move Emerald out of the way, and grabbed a small coin pouch. She counted out the necessary bits, and set them on the counter. “Again, thank you so much~”

“It’s no problem deary!” The green pony responded, flashing a wink.

Firefly walked out of the store, and opened the bag of treats. Emerald came out of the saddlebag and began to wail loudly, wanting to get her treats. “Calm down you goob~” Firefly lifted a treat out of the bag, and then dropped it into the awaiting mouth of her cat. Emerald chewed it up, and began to purr extremely loudly, and opened her mouth for more. Firefly gave her three more treats before closing the bag up and putting it back into her saddlebag.

As Emerald jumped back into her saddle bag, Firefly looked up and saw a white pegasus flying over head.

“Do you see it yet!” A mare called out, on the ground there were was a unicorn following the pegasus, orange/black mane bobbing along as she trotted forward.

“Nope!” The pegasus yelled, eyes locking onto Firefly’s form before he, to the utter glee of the unicorn, smacked into a bird and lost his control. “AWW SHIT! FUCKING BIRDS!” He bellowed in anger as he ended up crashing down, smacking into the the pet shop roof before sliding down and falling onto the ground, head first near Firefly. “OOF!”

“HAHAHAHAHA!” The unicorn guffawed as she trotted over, tears in her eyes.

Firefly pranced backwards, not wanting to get hit by the falling pegasus. “A-are you okay?!” She asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

The pegasus groaned, sitting up and rubbing his blue/black mane, clearing it of the dirt. “For fuck’s sake,” He cursed as he looked up at the bird, who seemed to be laughing as it flew away. “I’LL GET YOU BACK ONE OF THESE DAYS, CARL!” Shaking his head, he looked towards the other pegasus, “Sorry bout that miss.” He apologized, his voice considerably softer than before as he offered her a heartwarming smile to her.

“It’s okay, I’m just curious as to if you’re okay or not,” The orange furred pegasus looked at him with worry.

Trotting over to the two was the unicorn, who was wiping the tears from her eyes. Metallic leg clanking ever so slightly as she made her way over. “Hehehe, he’s been through worse.”

“True,” He agreed, winking at the pegasus, “I’ll be fine.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good~” Firefly then smiled brightly, and offered him a hoof to help him up.

Returning the smile, he took hold her hoof and stood up, ruffling his larger than normal wings before spreading them, giving them a quick shake to loosen any dirt that may have been caught in between the feathers.

“I’m glad you’re okay though,” Firefly said, then looked between the pegasus and unicorn, “I’m Firefly~”

Smiling again, he held out his hoof. “Nice ta meet ya Firefly, hehe.” He greeted, “I’m Dustchu, welcome to Ponyville.”

She smiled back at him, shaking his hoof, “You too, Dustchu~”

With a chuckle, he gestured to the unicorn who was standing near them, staring off into space. “This is my friend, Blast Powder.” He told her.

“Nice to meet you too, Blast Powder,” Firefly held out a hoof to the unicorn in front of her.

Blast Powder, however did nothing, only staring off into nothing with a blank look on her face, mouth open slightly in an ‘o’ shape as her eyes glazed over.

Before Firefly could do anything, Emerald jumped up and climbed on top of Firefly’s head, and batted at the bottom of Blast Powder’s mouth, claws retracted.

Dustchu just sat by, looking on as Powder did nothing to stop it, instead she kept staring.

Emerald put her claws out and clawed at her open bottom lip this time, hissing slightly for lack of attention.

Suddenly, Blast Powder’s eyes shot towards Emerald, and before the cat could do anything, Blast Powder stuck her tongue out and licked the cat’s face, dragging her tongue across the cat’s head and making a ‘Nyaaaah’ noise.

Emerald’s back went up as she fluffed up, a hiss escaping her, as she darted back into her saddlebag. Firefly looked at Blast Powder with confusion, then back to Emerald.

“Yeah, she uh… she does that...” Dustchu told Firefly, leaning in next to her ear and whispering to her as Blast Powder looked up into the sky with a dazed look.

“Uh, okay… so uh, earlier I heard Blast shout, did you find it? What are you trying to find?” Firefly asked, trying to change the subject.

Stepping to the side, Dustchu tilted his head slightly as he tapped the ground. “We’re trying to find a little thing that fell from the skies a few days ago when we came into town, think it might be dangerous.” He told her, in a quiet voice as a small group of ponies walked by. “I trust Twilight and all, but… this might be more than she can handle.”

“Princess Twilight asked you to find this object?” Firefly looked at him with wide eyes.

A half shrug. “Sorta, she told us there was something spotted and she wanted us to find it, but I’m worried about what it might be, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” He told her, eyes drifting towards the skies to their right where several weather pegasi were moving clouds. Among them, was a cyan colored pegasus, directing them with precise instructions.

“Huh, that looks like fun~” Firefly said, looking up at the pegasi above.

Now focusing on the group of pegasi, he sighed softly through his nostrils. Unknown to him, Powder was now focusing on him, watching his expression intently. “It’s a hard job, managing clouds, but they do it pretty well.” He commented, expression dropping to a subdued one, “takes guts to handle the big stuff...”

“I can imagine that being a hard job,” Firefly looked back at Dustchu, unsure of the expression on his face. “What you thinking Dustchu?”

Blinking, he shook his head before clearing his throat. “N-nothing,” turning to Powder, he said, “we should find that thing.” He turned away, trotting off and leaving Powder with Firefly.

“Huh, that’s odd, but anyways, I’ve got nothing to do, so do you think I can join you?” Firefly asked Blast Powder.

Giving a sad look towards Dustchu, she nodded. “Sure, just… give him some space for a bit, eh?”

“Okay, I can do that~” Firefly smiled, then began to walk towards the direction Dustchu did, but kept her distance. Blast Powder followed her, trotting by her side as they began their search.

After a time, Powder turned her head to the pegasus, “So...”

“Hmm?” Firefly looked towards the unicorn, seeing Ghost floating around out of the corner of her eye.

“Where’re you from? You don’t seem like a Cloudsdale type.” Powder noted, clearing her throat before flaring her magic, the black magical aura surrounding her horn before she retrieved a small box from her mane.

“Nope, not Cloudsdale, I’m actually from Canterlot~” Firefly smiled happily.

“Really?” The unicorn opened the small box, and pulled out a tube from it before popping it in her mouth, putting the box back in her mane before casting a quick fire spell to light the tip of it. “You don’t see many Pegasi out of Canterlot.”

Firefly’s eyes widened, as she pranced away, “U-uh, what’s that?” The pegasus eyed the stick with a little fear.

Powder raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t put a stick of dynamite in my mouth again and light it did I?” She wondered aloud. Rubbing her head as she pulled it out, spotting it wasn’t an explosive, she put it back in her mouth before inhaling. “Nope, its a smoke, they don’t have those in Canterlot?” She asked as she puffed out some smoke.

“Well, I’m sure the more wealthy ones do, but I was never around those, so I wouldn’t know,” Firefly shrugged, looking relieved, as she moved back over by the unicorn.

The unicorn nodded her head, “Rich jerks, stealing all the good stuff.” She held the cigarette in her magic away from her mouth, puffing out more smoke before using her magic to deftly shape it into a little ship and sent it flying away with a puff of air. “I’ve never been, personally. I’m from up north, like way north out of Equestria, with my sister and them.”

“Oh? That’s cool~” The pegasus smiled, watching as the ship flew away, with interest. The ship then dissipated due to Ghost going through the ship.

“Yep, if you like zero degree weather and blizzards, and all that.” She laughed, which devolved into a coughing fit that resulted in her banging her metal leg against her chest. “Fuck me.”

“A-are you okay?” Firefly looked at her with worried eyes.

Powder waved her prosthetic hoof, “Yeah yeah,” She coughed again, shaking her head before spitting onto the ground to their right away from anyone. “My lungs are just made of crap.”

“They wouldn’t be like that if you stopped smoking.” Dustchu quipped from up ahead, his eyes darting back to look at them both.

“Hey since you’re from up north, I bet it’s easy to, chill out~” Firefly giggled, along with Emerald beginning to purr.

Dustchu shook his head with a chuckle, Powder joining him. “Ohhhohoh,” Dustchu grinned, his blue eyes locking on Firefly’s, “That joke was cold.”

Firefly began to laugh, “Maybe you should take a chill pill.”

“Heheh, I would but I’d probably get frostbite.”

“It seems you’re giving people, the chills!”

“Tends to happen when people give me the cold shoulder.”

“Well, you need to not get cold hooves on me.”

Powder was laughing next to them, but shook her head and said, “Ooooh goddess stop it, you two are horrible!” She snorted and giggled, walking ahead of them. “You two should get a room.”

“These are snow joke, heh?” Firefly giggled, getting in one last one.

Determined to be the one with the last laugh, Dustchu replied to Powder, “Well, we would but we’d probably get snowed in.”

“It may also hail upon us, those weird weather patterns, you know?” Firefly countered.

The male pegasus made to reply, but stopped. “Uuhh… crap… I’m out of puns.”

“Good!” Powder cackled, cigarette clenched between her lips. “You two are horrible.”

“Ha! Ha!” Firefly went up on her hind legs, and kicked her front legs out in victory, her wings going out for balance. “Don’t worry, Dustchu, I’ve beaten everypony with my punny jokes.” She dropped back down onto all four legs again.

A chuckle from the snow white pegasus, “hehehe, alright I concede to you.” He told her, shaking his head as they continued walking.

“So, do we even know what this thing looks like?” Firefly then asked, looking between the two.

A brief moment of silence, which was eventually broken by their leader. “I… have a hunch as to what it looks like,” he told her.

“And what might that be, if you don’t mind me asking of course~” Firefly smiled, looking at him.

“A steel case, about as big as a briefcase.” Dustchu said, eyes darting back and forth to the alleyways of the buildings. “Bulky, chrome colored, probably has an umbrella symbol on the front of it.”

“Okay~” Firefly then spread her wings, seeming to be stretching them out, before curling them back up against her flanks. Ghost decided to rest on top of Dustchu’s head, the pegasus not able to feel the ghost, making Firefly laugh a little.

The sound of wings flapping caught their attention, and upon looking they noticed a light gray mare flying towards them. She landed in front of Dustchu, wings flared outward. The mare was about his height, with a bright yellow/black mane and tail that was spiky, and messy but in a way that made her look good. Down one side of her face was a long braid that reached her chin, and bright yellow eyes locked on his blue ones.

“Find it yet?” She asked, her voice almost like Blast Powder’s, but lighter and more tomboyish and less gritty.

He shook his head, much to her dismay. “Nope, you?”

“Nada,” she sighed, folding her wings to her sides before casting a look at the two ponies behind him. “Hey sis!” She then looked at Firefly, then back to Dustchu, then back to her, “finally took my advice and got a girlfriend?”

Firefly’s eyes went wide, “O-oh, n-no! I’m just helping to try and find the thing!” She quickly explained.

The only male of the group sighed heavily, “Fusey, can you not?” He asked, in an almost pleading voice.

Fuse just chuckled, trotting over to the mare and giving her a look over. “Mmm, I won’t lie, she’s kinda cute.” She admitted, “got a boyfriend?” She asked Firefly, a teasing tone to her voice as Powder watched on.

“U-uh, no, I don’t,” Firefly’s orange ears pressed against the back of her head, as she took a small step back from the other Pegasus. Her own orange-red eyes looking on with some fear as well.

Dustchu however came to her rescue, grabbing Fuse with his wing and pulling her aside to have a few choice words with her. Powder made her way over to the mare, patting her on the back.

“Sorry about my sister,” She whispered as Dustchu and Fuse spoke to one another out of earshot of the two.

“Uh… i-it’s okay, just didn’t expect it, that’s all,” Firefly awkwardly laughed it off, her ears returning back to their normal positions.

An understanding nod. “She’s just trying to help Dustchu is all, can’t fault her for that.”

The pegasus shook her head, “Well, it’s nice of her to help him, but why would he need a girlfriend, he seems to have friends~”

Powder bit her lip, putting out her smoke before saying, “It’s… complicated, I shouldn’t tell.” She looked at Dustchu, who was frowning at a dejected looking Fuse. “He might tell you, maybe, if he trusts you that is.”

“Okay~” Firefly smiled, “I won’t force you or him to tell me, so no worries there~” She looked over at the two pegasi, curiously.

After finishing up, both made their way back over, Dustchu nudging Fuse forward. She sighed, looking at Firefly. “I’m sorry for acting like a weirdo.” She said, puffing out her cheek and kicking a small pebble across the ground.

Firefly smiled, “It’s okay~” Emerald then meowed from her saddlebag, and she looked back at the cat, happily.

A thrilling noise sounded, almost a bit too quiet to hear except for those gathered together. And it was coming from Dustchu’s head, specifically his mane. Slowly, a small blue round head popped out, followed by a pair of wings and a pair of big lime green eyes.

Firefly looked at the head and wings with intrigued curiosity, “What’s that?!” She asked, sounding excited.

The little critter popped out of his mane and flew towards the mare, Dustchu chuckled. “Well Firefly, this is my buddy,” He gestured to the small bug, which was bobbing in the air happily. “Navi!”

“D’aawww! He’s so cuuuute~” Firefly cooed happily.

Navi buzzed happily, smiling as he darted around Firefly’s head. Making happy thrilling noises.

Firefly held out a hoof to the little parasprite, while Emerald tried to swat at the bug. “Emerald, sit down.” The cat looked angry, but reluctantly went back into the saddlebag.

Navi landed on Firefly’s hoof with a smile as Dustchu grinned. “Friendly little bugger he is.”

“Shame more people don’t try to keep them as pets, or friends,” Fuse muttered sadly.

“Why’s that?” Firefly asked, as she booped her nose against the parasprites head.

“Parasprites don’t have a good reputation around these parts,” Powder told her, smiling at Navi. “Mostly cause if they eat a bunch of stuff, they reproduce like crazy and can end up destroying entire crops in a night.”

“I still remember how Twilight messed them up, hehe.” Fuse laughed.

Firefly looked at the parasprite with curiosity, “You can do that, little one?” She asked the parasprite.

Dustchu shook his head, “not this one,” The pegasus sat down on his haunches, “He was kept in a lab and experimented on, some ponies in Canterlot,” he spat, venom in his tone, “tried to find a way to kill em all off.”

Firefly’s ears went back against her head as she looked away from the little parasprite. “I’m sorry…” she whispered, before gently nosing the parasprite off of her hoof, then put her hoof down.

“Should have seen Dustchu when he heard about it,” Powder chimed in, nudging Firefly gently. “He was so pissed, I thought he was going to set the lab on fire.”

A dry chuckle from the pegasus. “I contemplated it, actually.”

Firefly murmured to herself, “good thing I ran away from home…”

“Heheh, it’s not your fault they did it,” Fuse told her, as Navi landed on her nose, as if to say it was cool and she shouldn’t worry about it.

Firefly gave a small sad smile, happy that Navi didn’t know of her past.

“I FOUND A SHINY!” BP cried suddenly, giggling madly as she spun around in an alleyway near them. The mare having wandered off shortly after Navi landed on the pegasus’ nose.

Firefly tried to look to where the cry came from, but couldn’t see past the parasprite on her nose, “Huh? What is it?”

Dustchu and Fuse looked over as Navi perched himself on Firefly’s head, BP spun herself out of the alleyway with a large steel case in her magic. “Shiny shiny shiny~”

“You found it!” Dustchu cried, grinning as he galloped over to her.

Firefly followed after Dustchu, trying to make sure that Navi didn’t go flying off her head. “I wonder what’s in it…”

As the three made their way over, Dustchu had taken the case from BP, much to her dismay as she pouted, and placed it on the ground carefully. His hooves shook slightly, and his blue eyes blinked as he eyed the umbrella symbol on the case. To anyone else, it would have looked odd, given its size and material, as well as the symbol.

But he knew... exactly what it was

“What is it, Dustchu?” Firefly asked, having caught up to the stallion.

Fuse and BP backed off to one side as he slowly felt around the sides, eventually finding a sort of release. Once he hit it, there was a loud snap-hiss noise as the case lid slowly opened up. And inside, there were four containers, made of glass with metal caps on the ends, and inside of each one, were two intersecting lines of a bright blue going from top to bottom in a twisting circular pattern.

Dustchu sucked in a breath sharply, hoof trembling as he quickly closed the case. Slamming it shut and placing his hooves on the lid in a way one would do if they were scared something would escape.

“What was that?!” Firefly asked with fascination deep in her voice, her eyes sparkling slightly.

Shaking slightly, he turned to look at the mare standing beside him. And if anyone looked him straight in the eyes, they would have seen many things, but out of all of them was one that stood out… fear. “Something… that in the wrong hooves, could very well destroy this world.” He uttered darkly, his mind flashing back to the past as he shook.

Firefly’s ears pressed against her head upon hearing that, “B-but how? I don’t understand…”

Dustchu didn’t answer, instead only standing up and throwing the chest on his withers before quickly trotting away. Fuse and Powder watched him go, standing by FIrefly’s side with somewhat troubled looks on their faces.

“What was that about?” Firefly looked confused, unsure of what to think.

“He’s… he’s had some tough times, kid,” Powder told her, pulling another cigarette out and hoofing one over to her sister.

“Oh…” Firefly watched him trot away, wanting to go after him, but thinking against it.

“We should go after him, make sure nothing goes wrong with the Princess.” Fuse told her sister. The latter nodded and followed after her friend, Fuse waited and turned towards Firefly as Navi fluttered between the two. “Hey, uh… thanks for, helping and talking to him.” She said, “I appreciate you helping him out.”

“Well, I try to help everypony out, but do you mind if I hang around a bit more? I’m interested as to where this will go. But I mean, if you can’t, I understand,” Firefly gave a fake cheery smile, trying to not look bummed.

“Ehh, sure I guess.” Fuse shrugged, “you don’t have to.” She said, flaring her wings as Blast Powder winked away, disappearing in a puff of black smoke.

The fake smile turned into a real one, as she prepared to take off with Fuse, looking excited, “Thank you~”

With a grin, Fuse took off as Navi perched himself in Firefly’s mane, settling in so he wouldn’t end up being thrown out by their flying. The orange pegasus flew after Fuse, after making sure Navi was good, easily able to catch up with the other Pegasus.

The Idea

Author's Note

Note, if you're going to Downvote this, please explain why it earned such a vote.
Thank you, and god bless.
:heart:

Enjoy.

The Idea

The two pegasi managed a steady carefree flight to the castle, passing by clouds and other pegasi on their way to the two ponies who left them for the castle.

After a bit of time spent flying, Firefly looked over to Fuse, and asked, “Do you think Dustchu will be alright?”

“You want the truth, or half truth?” Fuse asked, swaying in flight as her keen eyes took in everything around them.

“I would prefer the whole truth,” Firefly answered honestly.

“Well… I’m not sure,” Fuse admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “Dusty’s… well… he’s been through some pretty tough times before coming to Penta, couple of years ago.”

“Penta?” Firefly asked curiously.

Fuse nodded, “Its a region up north, by the coast past the Divide.” She explained, “Cold place, lots of mountains and ice.”

The orange pegasus chuckled as she remembered the ice pun war, her and Dustchu had earlier, “I bet it’s a cool place to visit~” She couldn’t help herself.

Fuse just shook her head, but smiled anyway. “Why do I get the feeling you and Dusty had a pun war?”

“Because I’m punny~” She continued to giggle.

A sigh from Fuse, but she nodded, “I can tell, anyway. The guy, he may not look it, but… he’s been through some things that nopony should go through, the scars healed… but the pain and fear remain.”

Firefly mumbled to herself, “I know how that is…” then said in a louder voice, “D-do you think we’re almost there?”

“Shouldn’t be too long now.” Fuse informed her, gesturing with her head towards the sparkling castle that belonged to none other, than Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh wow! It’s so pretty~” The orange pegasus cooed happily.

The castle hadn’t changed much in the years it has been standing, save for the contingent of guards who patrolled the grounds around the structure, and various banners placed through. Looking closer, towards one of the shining balconies one could make out the outline of BP, who was leaning on the balcony railing and smoking, next to a few other individuals.

“Do we just fly down there?” Firefly asked Fuse, unsure of what to do, never having been near a castle before.

“Just stick with me, my team and I have permission to be on the grounds at the moment.” Fuse informed her in a different tone from before, this one was a bit more authoritative, like that of a leader.

“Okay,” Firefly said, not really noticing the different tone of voice, as she focused on staying with Fuse.

The two angled their wings and flew towards the castle balcony, landing on the outside with BP who waved. Once they landed, a small group had made themselves known.

“Heard ya’ll found that case that fell from th’ sky.” A sea blue coated earth pony chimed in, stalking over to Fuse before sitting down, eyes glaring. “Bout danged time, Ah’m sick of stayin’ in this castle.”

“It is not all bad,” A zebra spoke up, the lean built stallion glanced over at the new mare before looking at the earth pony. “You are just disappointed cause you cannot steal anything.”

“... no comment.” the earth pony huffed, the mare trotting off to glare at the ponies down below.

Firefly just looked around, trying to see if she could spot Dustchu in the throng of ponies.

Out of the small group stood a pure snow white stallion, almost like Dustchu, however he was a unicorn and far older, and donning a robe of sorts. He offered Firefly a friendly smile as he trotted over to her. “Well, who do we have here? Somepony new?”

Firefly smiled back, “Hello, I’m Firefly~ It’s nice to meet you~”

“Friendly and well mannered, a pleasure to meet you Miss Firefly.” He nodded to her, blue eyes twinkling in merriment. “My name is Freeze Frame,” He introduced himself, “You’ve already met Fuse and Powder no doubt.”

“Yeah she did Grampa.” Fuse said sweetly, smiling brightly.

Freeze Frame gestured to the earth pony who was currently glaring off the balcony. “That mare is Heartlock, she’s the courier slash thief of our group.”

Firefly looked down at her own flaming heart cutie mark, before looking back up at Freeze frame.

A hum from the stallion. “My, that’s quite ironic, you two have pretty similar cutie marks,” he noted, looking between the two and their marks.

“Ah doubt she got hers from stealin’ shit.” Heartlock commented pointedly, turning to face the stallion.

A chuckle from Freeze. “True,” He locked his icy blue orbs on her own orange red ones. “Unless your mark involves theft to some degree?” He asked, a gentle smile on his face.

Firefly shook her head, “No, it actually appeared when I talked a friend out of killing himself.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Freeze however noticed, and smiled wider. “A kind and noble heart, ponies like you are one in a million.”

If the fur covering her cheeks wasn’t there, Freeze Frame would’ve seen a deep blush overcome them. “Th-thanks… that’s really nice to hear…” Her voice had gone quieter.

A nod from Freeze, as he chuckled. “Of course,” He pointed to the Zebra who was standing nearby. “That fellow is Tipo, an expert in stealth, and a former assassin who worked for the Caesar’s elite forces.” The assassin question nodded towards FIrefly, only offering a sort of grin her way.

“Nice to meet you… wait, Tipo… Oh yeah! You’re the one who suggested a pie cannon to Pinkie!” Firefly then smiled back happily.

A nod, followed by a stoic, “Yes, I did, how is she coming along with such a device?”

“Well, let’s just say I nearly got coated in cake batter, so pretty well I think~” She smiled at him.

Speaking of the pie cannon, a distant explosion sounded, followed by an extremely loud. “I’m okay!” And a string of violent curses, and a scream of terror that slowly closed in on the castle like a missile.

“Oooh dear,” Freeze said as he spotted a distant blot closing in. “I do believe MIss Pinkie Pie blasted Filly C out of her cannon somehow.”

Firefly was already in the air, and managed to catch the filly before she slammed into the wall of the castle, but she had her side get slammed instead a slight snapping sound coming from her left wing. She luckily fell back on the balcony where they were originally. She opened her right wing and released Filly C from her grasp. Emerald had jumped out of the saddlebag as soon as she had heard the explosion, and now ran over to Firefly.

“I’m gonna kill her! I SWEAR!” Filly C screeched, fuming in anger.

“You say that with everypony who pisses you off.” Fuse commented as she made her way over to FIrefly.

“I mean it this time!” The filly retorted, stomping her hoof.

“You said it to Dustchu, I believe,” Freeze Frame commented lightly, straightening out the wrinkles on his robe. “You said, and I quote, 'I’m going to kill that damned stallion if it’s the last thing I do.'”

Literal steam left the filly’s ears before she stormed off, biting her lip to keep from screaming in anger and releasing the mother of all tantrums on the unsuspecting town.

The older stallion chuckled as he slowly made his way over to Firefly, who had Fuse examining her. “How is her wing?”

“Fractured, snapped in the middle.” Fuse winced, her own wings ruffling at her sides.

Pain was obvious on the orange pegasus’ face, “I-it’s better… than have Filly C get hurt…” She tried to smile through the pain, as she stood up, her wing hanging limply beside her.

Moving closer, Freeze lowered his head until his horn was pointed at her wing, he gave her a look and said, “hold still, this might sting.”

“Wait, gramps, are you sure about that?” BP asked worriedly. “That spell...”

“I’ll be fine,” The older pony informed her, horn glowing with an icy blue aura that filled the room with a slight chill.

“W-wait! If there’s repercussions, then I don’t want you to heal it!” Firefly looked horrified to think that she could potentially hurt Freeze Frame.

Freeze Frame offered her a smile, “at most, I’ll be exhausted.” He told her as his spell was cast, tendrils of white snaking from his horn and hitting the mare’s wing. “I won’t be hurt, so do not worry yourself.”

Firefly flinched as she felt the bone get put back in place by the spell, not saying anything else as she swallowed the pain.

Soon the spell was done, and Freeze Frame blew out a plume of icy air, white smoke leaving his mouth as he sat down on the floor. BP and Fusey made their way over to him, Filly C still fuming in the background, biting her hoof and rocking back and forth. “See, nothing to worry about, you two fret over me far too much.”

“Well… you’re old and stuff!” BP countered, pouting.

“Am not, I’m aged,” Frame snorted, “like a fine wine.”

Before even checking her wing, Firefly asked, “Y-you’re okay though, right?”

To her relief, he nodded his head. “Like I said, at most, I’ll be tired. Do not be sad, it was worth it to help the one who saved Filly.” He told her, smiling softly as he pointed to said Filly. “Speaking of which, the little filly is our little mascot.”

Firefly smiled a relieved smile back, then test flapped her left wing, finding it good as new. “Oh really? I wouldn’t have guessed that.” She responded, surprised.

An almost in-equine growl sounded from the filly, “I am not the mascot! I’m an important member! I’m the fucking brawn and brains of this outfit!”

“You have a brain?” BP asked, sounding genuinely shocked.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Filly C bellowed as she charged at the unicorn.

Firefly smiled at their interaction, somehow knowing that Filly C was unable to hurt the unicorn. Her face then changed to one of worry, “E-Emerald?!” She cried out, then breathed a sigh of relief as the cat rubbed up against her leg, meowing.

Freeze Frame smiled as well, rubbing a temple with his hoof. “There are more of our number, however they are absent at the behest of Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Okay,” Firefly smiled, then put a hoof up to her head, “You okay, Navi?”

Navi thrilled happily, bobbing in a way that looked like he was nodding.

“I take it you’ve made friends with Dustchu?” Freeze asked, titling his head as silvery bangs fell in front of his right eye.

Firefly nodded, “Yeah, I did, I wonder where he’s at though…” She looked around again, as though trying to find him.

“He’s probably talkin’ to th’ princess.” Heartlock answered her, obvious disdain in her voice as she spat off the balcony. “Probably bout the case.”

“Oh, I’ve never actually met a princess before, nor have I been in a castle before~” Firefly smiled as she looked at the decor with a bright smile.

“Yes, it’s quite a sight.” The older stallion commented, but before anyone could say anything else, a loud shout sounded from somewhere in the castle.

“THE FUCK!”

Navi whirled around to the shout, hovering worriedly before landing on Firefly’s ear, giving a small whine.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Navi?” She looked at the small parasprite, as Emerald jumped back in her saddlebag.

As one, the group turned towards the door as it was bashed open by a fuming white pegasus. The stallion looked angry, unkempt mane spilling in front of his eyes, behind him trailed none other than the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. Both trailed into the room as a pair of guards stood outside the door, keeping guard… obviously.

“I honestly don’t see any problem with this.” Twilight commented to the stallion, who stood an easy six inches taller than she did.

Dustchu whirled around and stared at the mare, he stared right at one of the most powerful alicorns in existence. “No problem you say? You see no problem with sending a world ending virus to a lab for study!” He yelled at her.

Firefly’s ears pressed against her head, as she watched the two. She was unsure of what to think about this situation.

Twilight stared right back at him, unfazed by his outburst. “Regardless of what you say, I’m still going to send it to Firesteed Inc for their opinion.” She proclaimed, “The Princess asked that, when the case was found, that it be sent to a lab for study.”

Firefly’s eyes went wide, and her wings flared out, “N-No! Not that lab!” She flew over to the two, looking at the princess with horror. “Send it to any other lab! I beg you!”

The princess turned to look at FIrefly, looking down at the smaller mare. “Who is this?”

“She’s a friend, helped me find the case that you’re wanting to send to some idiots in Canterlot!” Dustchu fumed, not bothering to ask about Firefly’s outburst.

“Please, Princess, I know I’m in no right to correct your decision. But please reconsider where you send the case though!” Firefly continued to beg.

The Princess frowned ever so slightly, not showing any other emotion other than a brief rustle of her alicorn wings. “I’m sorry, but the decision has been made.” She turned around and began walking away from the two, “stay in Ponyville, or leave… it’s up to you.” She offered Dustchu and his friends before disappearing down a hall, the door closing behind her.

Firefly looked horrified, “Oh goddess, my parents are going to destroy the world…” She accidentally let slip as to where she was from and who her parents were.

While most of the group gave Firefly looks, Dustchu had stormed over to a table, wings flared in agitation before he smashed his hooves onto it, sending a few things falling and crashing onto the floor with a yell of anger. Grabbing a chair, he proceeded to throw it against the wall and nearly hit Fuse, who luckily ducked.

Firefly looked horrified as she laid on the ground, her hooves covering her head, as she hyperventilated. Emerald had hopped out of her saddlebag, and began to rub against the orange pegasus, trying to help calm her.

Slowly the snowy pegasus stopped his tirade, staring at the group before him as everyone stared back at him, mostly in worry. He gave a shuddering breath before folding his wings at his sides and trotting away to one of the adjacent rooms and closing the door behind him.

Fuse gave a look at the broken chair, and gulped before making her way over to Firefly. “Hey, you alright?” She asked softly, nudging the pegasus.

Firefly’s hyperventilating stopped after a while, “I-I don’t know…” she answered honestly, as she sat back up, and wiped away the tears that had accumulated in the corners of her eyes.

Everyone was silent for a time, which was only broken by a distant yell, or the sounds of birds singing their soft songs. The group of mercenaries were unsure of what to say, mostly in regards to what Firefly let slip not a few minutes ago.

The orange mare’s ears were drooping sadly, as she looked at the ground. After a minute of sitting there, her ears flicked forward, and she turned to the group. “We need to get the case back.” She proclaimed, a fire burning in her eyes.

Filly C was the one to question the pegasus, the filly latched onto BP’s ear like a dog. “‘ow do ‘ee do that exactly?” She hissed through her teeth, BP pushing her and making her swing back and forth.

Firefly then thought, “Do we know when they’re gonna transport the case, or if Princess Twilight is going to just wink it there?”

“No idea,” Heartlock said, her devious mind plotting before she grinned a toothy smile. “Even if it’s already on th’ way, we could easily snake it from th’ poor sods who got it.” She chuckled.

Fuse looked at the group, saying, “If… we’re going to plan something… we need Dustchu, he knows more about what’s in that case than anyone.”

“Well, for now, the contents of the case don’t matter, we just need to keep it away from my… uh I mean the scientists at Firesteed,” Firefly said, not even realizing that she had let it slip earlier.

“Even if it’s at th’ lab, we could break in easy peasy,” Heartlock grinned, pulling out a small rectangular wallet like object from her mane. “You got th’ world’s best thief with ya.”

Fuse and BP nodded, the latter casting a look back at the door where Dustchu had gone into. “We still need him though, he knows how to destroy it without letting it loose...” BP explained to Firefly.

“Okay, well… he needs to calm down…” Firefly looked at the door, unsure if he was okay or not yet.

“Hey, can you… talk to him?” Fuse wondered as Navi floated by the door where Dustchu was. “Me and the group should get ready in case the case… hehe, gets out of the castle.” Without waiting, Fuse grabbed her sister and Filly C before flying towards the exit, followed swiftly by Heartlock, Freeze and Tipo, who offered the pegasus a stiff nod before closing the door behind him.

“Oh, okay, guess I get to talk to him.” Firefly said to herself, trotting over to the door, and gently knocking before saying quietly, “Dustchu, you okay?”

No answer, and Navi still worriedly buzzed near the door before trying to push on it. However, his small size made it impossible.
The pegasus sighed, then slowly pushed open the door, hoping that she wouldn’t be interrupting too soon. She watched as the parasprite flew in, and landed on the white pegasus. “D-Dustchu?”

Slowly, Dustchu looked up at FIrefly, and she could see he had a tired hollow look about him. He looked down at the table he was in front of, holding his head in his hooves. “I’m… I’m sorry about.. earlier.”

Firefly gave a small smile, and walked over to him, she took a seat by the sad pegasus, “It’s okay Chu, I don’t know what’s in that case, but it obviously needs to not go to my…” She shook her head, not finishing the statement.

“... your parents, you mean?” The pegasus asked as Navi hopped onto the table, looking up at the two pegasi curiously. “I heard...”

Her ears drooped, “Y-yeah… them…” she looked away, ashamed. “There’s a reason I ran away from home,” The orange pegasus tried to laugh it off, but ended with a small sigh.

Dustchu looked at the mare, and sighed himself. “Bad parents?”

A sarcastic laugh came from the mare, and her tone turned harsh for the first time, “No, they were the best parents, always poking me with needles, trying to get me to do things that hurt. Oh yes, they were the absolute best.”

The stallion said nothing, only patting her on the back lightly with his wing. “Well… they sound just lovely.” He replied dryly.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be putting this on you, it’s my own problems, not yours,” She sighed lightly, then glanced back at the door. “So… if you’re willing to tell me, what is in those bottles?”

Silence permeated the room, and to anyone else it may have felt like it had grown colder. Slowly, he turned to look her in the eyes, and that same look of fear had over taken him. “Those vials you saw… could very well end all life on this planet,” he told her bitterly and quietly as Navi pressed up against his chest. “And… I had to experience it… not once… but twice.”

“Twice? How come I’ve never heard of it before then? If it’s so deadly?” She tilted her head to the right a little in curiosity.

“You… you wouldn’t understand, fully if I told you.” He said, his tone cold and distant as he looked down at his hooves, holding them both up as if they were alien to him. “Do you truly want to know?” he asked, setting his hooves back down.

“Well, if you’re willing to tell, I am curious.” She admitted, but then quickly added, “But if you don’t want to, then I understand.”

A closed mouth sigh before he looked towards the window nearby, patting Navi on the back gently before saying, “To make a long story short. A long time ago… I lived another life,” He started, “It was a simple, tedious lifestyle but I managed. But that all changed when I found myself in a city known, only as... Raccoon.”

“Raccoon? Like the animal?” Firefly asked, looking at him with wide and curious eyes.

“It may sound silly at first… but that city...” He rubbed his eyes with a tired sigh. “Was a nightmare, and that virus… came from that city.” He turned back towards her, eyes cold and hazy. “You haven’t experienced true horror until you’ve been to a city that belonged to the dead.”

Her eyes widened with horror, as she looked at him, “The dead?!”

A stiff nod was her answer. “And I don’t mean the ones that stay dead...” He shivered, body shaking as images flashed through his mind. “I mean the ones that… get up, and eat the living.”

A shiver ran through the mare’s body, and even the cat in her saddlebag hissed to emphasize the fear from them both.

“Hundreds… thousands of them, filling the city, around every corner, every alleyway,” He continued, “Moans filling the air as they lumbered after you with outstretched arms...” He looked down at the floor. “Me and one other, survived that horror more times then I can count, and I promised myself I wouldn’t let that happen, not here… not to… her...” He shivered again, closing his eyes.

Firefly looked down at the ground, “I’m sorry to hear that Dustchu… I’m sure you did your best to protect her though.” She tried to cheer up the sad stallion, while wrapping her own wing around his back.

“She’s still alive,” He corrected her, “And I did do my best, even though she despised me every second of the time we spent in that damnable city.”

“Oh, well at least she’s still alive?” She tried to take back her mistake as she pulled her wing back against her flank.

“At least… but, that city is gone, destroyed after we escaped.” Dustchu informed her, “But even though it was destroyed… the virus spread, and kept spreading until...” he trailed off.

Firefly knew where he was going, and she was silent for a minute. Suddenly standing, she started to trot over to the door, “Then we better go and get that virus~”

Navi looked up at his owner, and cooed softly before gesturing towards Firefly. The stallion grinned a little grin, “alright then little guy… let’s stop an apocalypse.” He told him as he stood up, looking over at the mare and giving her a smile. “Well… let’s rock n roll.”

She looked back at Dustchu, holding the door open for him to walk through, along with a bright smile back on her face. “I think the others must be ready to leave by now~”

With a smile of his own, Dustchu exited the room, followed by Firefly and Navi. All three determined to stop, what could possibly end the world.

Heist Fail

The pair of pegasi made their way out of the room, their sights set on finding the mercenaries and finding the case. Exiting the room, they turned down the hall heading right to where the mercenaries were allowed to stay, as Dustchu informed the mare beside him, mercenaries were not exactly a common sight in Ponyville.

Obvious reason being Ponyville had no use for them, or certain parts of Equestria for that matter.

Eventually, after passing by several doors they came across an archway that led to what appeared to be a large hangar for airships. Over on the far right side there was a massive opening that led into the skies of Ponyville where one could see several pegasi flying about. In the hanger itself were some small airships, made of wood and were sitting off to the side waiting to be used.

However, one airship stood out among them all.

The airship Dustchu was leading Firefly to was large, larger than the ones that belonged to Twilight Sparkle, and was made of different material such as metal and had a large balloon held together by ropes and chains, and two large propellers each on two wings that jutted out from the sides for propulsion. The length of the craft was easily seventy feet, and thirty feet wide, it was a sleek craft built for speed and agility.

It looked fucking awesome.

“Is that where the others would be?” Firefly asked Dustchu, looking at the aircraft with wide and curious eyes as the craft hovered in place, held down by ropes to keep it from floating off.

Dustchu nodded his head as he gazed at the craft, “Mmhmm, that’s The Howling Pearl.” He smiled, chuckling slightly as if he remembered an old joke.

On top of the ship, one could see Filly C chasing around BP. “DIE YOU HARLOT!” The tiny filly bellowed, once again.

Firefly giggled upon seeing the tiny filly chasing around the older mare. “I have a feeling that Filly C has a small anger issue.”

A laugh from the stallion next to her. “Yeah! Me and her are alike, we both got major anger issues… are you no doubt witnessed back there.” He coughed awkwardly after finishing his laugh, his stomach hurt but in a good way. “Anywho, we should see if they’ve got a bead on the case.”

“Okay,” The pegasus spread her wings and began to fly over to Filly C and BP, wondering what had made the filly angry this time.

“Oi!” An older mare’s voice suddenly cried from the helm of the ship, “No killin’ anybody on my ship ye little twat!” She yelled. “Sick of th’ blood stains getting on my deck!”

The orange pegasus landed on the ship as the duo ran by, sweeping her red, slightly curled, mane past as the older mare glared at the two.

“Hi Firefly! Bye Firefly!” BP hollered as she ran by, Filly C in hot pursuit. For a pony with short legs, the filly was keeping up quite well.

“I’m going to skin you alive! and eat your insides!” Filly screamed as the mare at the helm sighed, rolling her one eye.

Firefly grabbed the filly as she tried to run by, “Calm down Filly C, what did Blast do?”

Filly C growled and struggled against the mare’s hold as Dustchu flew onto the ship’s deck, landing near the two. “She threw a firecracker on my mane and ALMOST SET ME ON FIRE!“ She screeched as BP hid behind the older mare who had the look of someone who wished they didn't have to deal with this crap.

“Oh come on now Filly~” Firefly tightened her grip slightly, making sure the filly didn’t escape, “I’m sure she didn’t mean to~ Right Blast!?” She said the last words loud enough, to make it clear that she wanted an answer from Blast.

The darker grey mare made a humming noise, then cackled before winking away, her last words being. “lol nope!”

“LET ME KILL HER! I’LL MAKE IT QUICK!”

Firefly had to put all her weight on the tiny filly, as the pegasus tried to hold her down. “What the-?” The orange mare asked, as she started to float off the ground.

Filly C huffed as her horn started to glow a brilliant golden color, and lifted not only herself, but the pegasus on top of her. “REVENGE IS MINE!” She cried.

“Filly C! Calm down! She’s not worth it!” Firefly tried to calm the small unicorn, as her legs flailed in terror, not used to being moved by magic.

In a puff of jet black smoke, the mare that was at the helm of the ship appeared next to Filly and the pegasus, the heavily garbed mare stared at Filly and frowned. “Put down th’ lass, fer ya go and splatter th’ both of ya on one o’ th’ masts, I ain’t cleanin’ it up!” She ordered.

With a growl, Filly’s magic dissipated, dropping both herself and Firefly to the deck. “FINE! GAH!” The young filly stormed off, fuming all the while.

Firefly landed heavily, and breathed deeply as she calmed down, “I definitely did not like that…”

The mare chuckled heartily, “Aye I could tell,” She said, grinning as her one blood red eye locked on Firefly’s. “Fer a wee six year old child, she’s volatile with her magic.”

Letting out one more breath, Firefly was finally able to answer, “I could tell. I’m Firefly~” She held out a hoof to the older mare.

With a chuckle, the mare took her hoof, Firefly’s becoming somewhat cold after taking the mare’s. “Aye, nice ta meet ye, name’s Captain Black Pearl.” She introduced, the mare was dressed in heavy pirate like clothing. A large thick looking black coat covered her body, under the coat was a crimson red shirt and a necklace wrapped around her neck, where a few scars were visible amidst the black coat of her fur. An eyepatch obscured her right eye, where a long diagonal scar was seen under her tri-pointed hat which also matched her coat, and a black horn poked through under the large unicorn’s hat.

Firefly didn’t mind the cold feeling she got from the mare’s hoof. “Are you the one who named this awesome ship~?”

A hearty chuckle as Pearl retracted her hoof, “Nay child,” She told her, a few more titters leaving her as Dustchu smiled at the two, eyebrow raised. “This ship named herself, for th' wicked song she sings in th' cold of night amidst th' darkened skies~” She grinned.

Firefly tilted her head a little, not understanding one bit what she had just said, so instead of admitting that fact, she smiled and said, “Cool~”

Another chuckle, “Ye did not understand a word I spoke did ye?” Without waiting for an answer, she said, “You’ll understand in due time,” Turning around, the mare stalked towards her cabin, saying, “Welcome aboard lass, mind your step~”

“Oh, thank you~” Firefly responded, while prancing around some of the bumps on the ship. She looked around for Dustchu, unsure of where to go now.

Dustchu came up beside her, nudging her with his wing. “Best head down below deck with the others,” He told her, gesturing to the open hatch in the middle of the ship.

“Oh! Thank you again~” The orange pegasus then fluttered over to the hatch, and after peering down into it, trotted down.

Dustchu followed her soon after she descended, casting one last look at the vanishing form of the captain before heading into the depths of the ship. The two ventured down the steps, coming into an open room that had two halls to the back leading to different rooms, and another pair of steps leading further down. Ahead of them on either side were two open doors, where light conversation could be heard.

Firefly looked around, her wings shuffling awkwardly, unsure if she liked being in such an enclosed area. Looking back at Dustchu, she asked, “Where to?”

Dustchu pointed ahead of them with a wing, “follow me.” He started forward, his hoof steps sounding somewhat loud on the wooden floor of the ship’s innards.

“Okay,” Firefly responded, her ears pressing against her head slightly to the noise of their hooves. The orange pegasus followed, but had a sense of dread overcame her as it seemed the walls were closing in around her.

Heading into the room, Dustchu and Firefly entered the room where they came across the rest of the mercenaries. Freeze, BP, Fuse, Filly C, Tipo were gathered around a large table in the room, and there were three other ponies in the room Firefly did not recognize. Upon coming into a larger room, Firefly let out a small sigh of relief, then looked at the three ponies she didn’t know, and smiled.

“Where’s Heartlock?” Dustchu asked, looking but not seeing any sign of the mare inside.

BP pointed to the large map they had sprawled out on the table, and at first glance it didn’t seem that important… until Firefly glanced down at the map, only to find it’s a layout of the castle they were in, “Huh? Why do you have a map of the castle we’re in?”

BP grinned, then a buzzing noise sounded, followed by a voice. “Heartlock here, I found out where their keepin’ th’ case!” Her voice declared.

Firefly looked around the room, unsure of where Heartlock’s voice was coming from, she looked almost freaked out by the voice.

Freeze Frame tapped a moderately sized box device sitting on the table, gesturing to it for Firefly’s convenience before he grabbed a small corded object and pressed the button with his magic. “Do you believe you can get to it?”

A crackle. “They don’t call me Heartlock fer nothin’!”

“Radio.” Dustchu whispered to Firefly, “let’s us talk to people who are really far away.” He explained as Navi hovered above the table.

“Oh, thanks~” Firefly whispered back, looking relieved.

Freeze Frame looked up from the map, smiling at Firefly. “Welcome aboard Miss Firefly,” He greeted. “To answer your question, we are attempting to steal the case from where the princess is keeping it.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense,” The mare answered with a small smile, but to those who knew her long enough, it was obvious she was tense.

“While we wait for our thief to obtain our objective, how about I introduce you to the three other members of our group?” Freeze asked in a fatherly tone as Filly C punched BP in the foreleg.

Firefly nodded, glancing at Filly C and BP. “Sure~”

Nodding his head, Freeze pointed to the lone pony standing in the shadows. At first glance, it appeared to be a dark colored pegasus. “That is Blade, Captain Pearl’s first mate, and the only one she trusts to head the ship in her stead.”

Said pony nodded, stepping into the light and revealing, that, it was in fact, not just a pegasus, but a lunar pegasus. Or, in other terms, the pony was a bat pony. The bat pony was cloaked in a mask, and had piercing golden slitted eyes that peered out at Firefly. At the mare’s side, there were three long looking blade sheaths tucking under her leathery wing, almost the length of her body.

Firefly smiled at the bat pony, nodding in greeting to his own nod, “Nice to meet you, Blade~”

“...” Blade said nothing, only nodding before stepping back.

Freeze then nodded his head over to another pegasus sitting by Fuse’s side. This one was a sky blue coloration, and surprisingly enough, had a tri colored red, blue and yellow mane. “That fellow is Prism, he’s one of our fast attack fliers.”

Firefly said again, this time to Prism, “Nice to meet you, Prism~”

Prism smiled, smiling broadly. “Howdy ma’am! Nice ta meet ya!”

The mare smiled even brighter, as she nodded back to Prism. Her head turned to the last pony, curious as to who she was.

“And finally,” Freeze started as the final pony stepped forward, this pony being a very very tall Unicorn. At first glance, she could have been an alicorn with her height, and horn length, but she lacked the wings. The tall purple coated, brown maned, mare eyed the pegasus. “This is Bobbi.”

Firefly nodded, then tried to think of a new greeting, “Uh, um… Hello Bobbi~” She tried to change it up.

“A pleasure.” Bobbi smiled before stepping back.

“The pleasure’s all mine~” She responded, happily.

The radio crackled once more, followed by, “Son of a bitch!” Heartlock cursed into the radio.

“Heartlock?” Freeze asked into the radio, worry in his tone.

Firefly piped in, “You okay?” Worry also in her own tone, as she shifted how she was sitting.

“Guys, we got a problem.” Heartlock spoke, obviously ticked off.

“What is it?” The orange pegasus asked.

Everyone leaned in as Heartlock said the one thing no one wanted to hear.

“The case is gone.”

Dustchu cursed under his breath, muttering something about Twilight and a steel chair. BP frowned, saying, “Great!” Before shaking her head. "Fantastic."

Freeze Frame sighed, saying, “Looks like we’ll have to go to the lab then.” He told them all. “Heartlock, come back before you get caught.”

“Yeah yeah, just lemme grab a few things~”

“Heartlock...” Freeze started, his tone flat.

A sigh, followed by, “fine, Heartlock out.”

Firefly sighed, and crouched down slightly, her ears drooping as she realized that she may have to see her parents again for the first time in over 7 years.

Everyone began to disperse, beginning their preparations for departure. While they trusted Heartlock to not muddy up her escape or leave any trail, they wanted to be able to leave as soon as possible.

“Blade, see to it the captain is informed of what has transpired.” Freeze asked nicely, the lunar pegasus nodded and walked away, heading towards the captain’s cabin.

Noticing her discomfort, Fuse fluttered over and landed next to her. “Problems?”

“Uh, n-no…” Firefly made a terribly obvious lie.

Fuse rose an eyebrow, looking at the others she nudged the fiery pegasus until she stood up. “Come on.” She said, urging her to follow.

Firefly nodded and stood up, following Fuse out of the room, looking back once to the larger room, before heading into the smaller corridor.

Fuse turned around to face Firefly, her look morphing into one of slight concern and curiosity for the younger pegasus' actions. “I can tell something is bothering ya, what’s wrong kid?”

The pegasus sighed, “O-okay… just please, don’t take it upon yourself and worry too much, okay?”

Fuse nodded, saying, “Okay, now what’s bothering you? Is it the lab or something?”

“Well, that’s a part of it, and the feeling that these walls are starting to crush me, and the fact that I haven’t seen my parents in over 7 years…” Firefly looked away, her wings shifting uncomfortably.

“I know that feeling,” Fuse nodded, “claustrophobia, feeling like the walls are closing around you… suffocating you… But they’re not, it’s… just a psychological thing.” She explained quickly. “And your parents, for 7 years?”

“Still doesn’t make the walls stop closing in…” Firefly murmured to herself. “Yeah, it’s been 7 years…”

“Ouch,” Fuse winced. “You a runner?”

The pegasus nodded, “Yeah, I ran at age 10, I just couldn’t handle the experiments anymore.”

Something snapped in Fuse’s eyes, the mare flared her wings out suddenly before forcing them close, she shook slightly before uttering, “Experiments?”

Firefly jumped back, “Y-yeah, the parasprites weren’t the only guinea pigs, per say.”

Fuse realized she must have scared her a little, and sighed. “Sorry, I… let’s just say you and I… as well as my sister have something in common.”

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that,” Firefly looked down at the ground, gently kicking the floor, unsure of what else to say.

“There’s a reason my sister is covered in scars and has a prosthetic leg.” Fuse muttered darkly as said unicorn passed by them, happily trotting without a care in the world as her metallic leg seemed to sound louder than a normal hoof fall. “Bastards...”

“I got more of the medicinal and psychological experiments. And it seems she’s taken the same approach as that I’m trying to do,” Firefly looked enviously after the unicorn.

Sighing heavily, Fuse watched as Powder entered one of the rooms, closing the door behind her. “It was physical for the two of us, a training program for special soldiers. Tried to turn us both into unstoppable killing machines,” Fuse looked down at her hoof. “They failed, of course… we managed to escape, been on the run since we were little fillies… younger than you even.”

“Well, I’m glad they failed, you guys are really nice~” Firefly smiled at Fuse, trying to cheer up the other pegasus.

“Hehehe, don’t get me wrong… we both have some screws loose, just ask Dustchu.” Fuse chuckled, “We’ve almost killed him a few times, but...” A sigh. “He’s always forgiven us… he cares too much.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet. But everyone has a couple screws loose, oh man if you could see me alone, I can never keep anything clean. My… uh… bad days, I don’t have a room to return to, since it’s destroyed.” Firefly rubbed the back of her head, as she smiled awkwardly, realizing she’s never even dared to tell anypony this before.

A smile broke out on Fuse’s face, “Well… you’d be welcome with us, we’re all just a bunch of misfits to be honest.” She told her. “We all have some kind of problem or thing that makes us stand out too much in a crowd, Dustchu brought us all together.” She added, grinning as she sat down on her haunches.

“Yeah, the only problem is this ship… It’s a really nice ship! Just…” Firefly glanced at the walls, and shifting her weight from hoof to hoof to hoof to hoof.

“Close quarters don’t do it for ya?”

Firefly shook her head quickly, then closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

Taking pity on the mare, Fuse took Firefly’s hoof and led her out of the hall and eventually to the stairs. Once they arrived at the stairs, Fuse carefully led the younger pegasus up the stairs until they were topside on the deck. “Well, let’s stay up here then, you look like you’re about to pass out.” She chuckled.

Letting out a sigh of relief, the younger mare took deep breaths of the fresh air, and even flared her wings. “Thank you, Fuse~” She looked a lot better now, being out of the somewhat tight confines of the ship alleviated her claustrophobia to a degree.

Fuse cast a glance over to Firefly.l “Hey listen,” The mare started, pushing yellow/black bangs out of her eyes. “Don’t worry too much about the lab, just stick with us and you’ll be fine, eh?”

Firefly let out a small sigh, “Okay, well good thing is, last I heard they kept my room window unlocked all these years, just in case I decided to come back.” She shrugged, looking away and gazing at the ship's deck. It was smooth, polished black wood that almost had a shine to it. She idly wondered who kept it this clean.

“Huh… weird, but whateves, I can work with that.” Fuse told her before heading towards the hatch, “I gotta go gear up, I’ll be back in a sec.” She told her, disappearing below the depths.

After the pegasus disappeared, Firefly was looking around when a flash of beige fur darted up to the mare. After the blur solidified, a beige furred, dark brown maned colt sat in front of her. “Hello Fly! I’m Peaky!” The earth pony colt said in a childish tone of voice that was just oh so adorable.

Blinking, the mare regained some of her composure to greet him. “Oh, hello there,” Firefly looked at him curiously.

“Are we gonna be takin’ off soon? Cause I need ta know, just to make sure that I don’t get caught sneakin’ around!” Peaky told the very confused pegasus. “Oh! Someone’s comin’, gotta go!” And so he went, going just as fast as he came, leaving Firefly even more confused somehow.

Advancing up the steps, Fuse reappeared up top, this time donning an odd pair of saddles. Upon seeing Firefly’s confused face, Fuse asked, “something wrong? Ya look like you saw something weird.”

Taking a moment, Firefly turned to Fuse. “Uh… how do you guys feel about stowaways?” Firefly answered her question with a question from herself.

“Stowaways?” Fuse hummed as she walked over. “Heheh, truth be told, Pearl gets a bit wonky bout em. Actually, a little story, me, Powder and Dustchu were Stowaways on this ship once, that’s how we got Cap on our side. Course, she was pretty cool about it after we bribed her with several kegs of rum… hehe.”

“Oh, alright, and yeah, I’m fine~” Firefly returned to normal, acting as though nothing happened.

As soon as Fuse sat down next to Firefly, Heartlock appeared near the entrance of the hanger bay, and she was galloping like a bat outta hell. She ran straight for the ship, and in a surprising feat for someone of her species, leapt up twenty feet into the air before grabbing onto the edge of the ship. “Fuck fuck fuck pull me up an’ get this bitch movin’!” She cried, scrambling to climb up top.

Firefly was already flying over, her need to help her friend driving her to help. She wrapped her arms around Heartlock’s waist and lifted her up before she placed the pony on the deck, “There ya are~”

Fuse was about to ask why Heartlock was running, when she spotted several guards at the entrance. “Son of a fat mother-” Fuse turned to the unicorn at the helm and bellowed, “Cap we gotta go!”

Pearl looked down off the side, and murmured, “Eh? Oh shite!” With a blast of her magic, the ropes holding the ship down snapped in half as the guards started for the ship. “Batten down th’ hatches an’ get yer arses away from th’ edges ya twits!” She yelled as a few pegasi guards tried to fly on board. Firefly looked down at the hatch with some fear, then looked back at the guards, unsure of what to do in such a situation.

“Halt!“ One of the pegasi guards yelled, brandishing his spear towards FIrefly, Heartlock and Fuse as he landed nearby.

Fuse however leapt in front of Firefly, and deftly reached into her saddlebag before throwing down a small ball in front of him. Before anyone could even begin to wonder what it was, the object exploded in a flash of bright light, Fuse blocked the light with her wings so Firefly and Heart wouldn’t be blinded and closed her own eyes.

Cap wasn’t so lucky, however. “OI YE TWAT! YA TRYIN’! TA BLIND ME?” She yelled as she rubbed her eye. “I only got th’ one eye, an' I kinda need it!”

Turning, Heartlock glared. “Just get this thing movin’!” Heartlock screamed as she shot up and darted away.

Fuse turned to look at Firefly. “Firefly! You don’t have to go down but you shouldn’t be out in the open!” Fuse told her as one guard threw a spear, which grazed Fuse’s cheek and would have impaled Firefly, if it had been thrown a bit higher. “AHHH!” Fuse cried as she held her cheek, which now had blood covering it.

Firefly pranced backwards, then flew upward, closing Emerald’s saddlebag and making sure the cat wouldn’t go flying if things got rougher. She looked at the guard who threw the spear at her friend, and was able to dart behind him, and slam her body into the guard. The guard however, did not move and turned towards the smaller pegasus, who looked at him terrified. She then quickly darted away before he had a chance to grab the orange pegasus.

Slowly but surely the ship began to move, lurching forward as the propellers started to spin rapidly and propel them forward. The captain held the wheel tightly and steered them towards the exit, her one red eye glaring with a slight glow. “Come on girl.” She urged the ship quietly as Blade, Dustchu, Filly C and Prism made their way up top.

“Fuse! Firefly!” Dustchu called out, looking for the ponies, Fuse winced at her new wound, turning to face one of the other guards as she waved Dustchu off.

Firefly was up high, above the ship. “A little help!” The pegasus, Firefly, then cried out, and upon looking up, Dustchu could see that she was being chased by the guard she had tried to ram into.

“Shit.” Dustchu flared his wings out and took flight as Prism, Filly and Blade took to fighting off the guards who landed on the ship. Dustchu flew towards Firefly and the guard, and once he was close enough, he spun in mid air and slammed his leg into the guard’s neck before grabbing both of his fetlocks and spinning him around, ending the attack by throwing him towards a small group of other pegasi.

Firefly looked back at Dustchu, looking embarrassed, “I-I tried… but he didn’t move…”

“No worries,” Dustchu chuckled with a grin as he took her hoof and led her back to the ship. “Just stay next to Pearl, she’ll keep ya safe, stay out of the fight.” He told her, a bit worried for the younger pegasus.

“A-alright,” The mare nodded, and flew back down to the ship. She managed to land with no incident luckily, and was soon standing next to Pearl.

The older mare in question looked over at Firefly. “So ye can’t fight eh?” She asked, steering the ship to the left and finally exiting the castle hanger, soon enough the ship began to ascend into the skies.

“N-no, but I’ve never needed to before,” Firefly explained, still looking embarrassed at her attempt at fighting.

“Hahahaha! I was like that once my lass,” Pearl commented happily, her accent somewhat soothing when she wasn’t screaming your ears off. “But that was a long time ago,” Looking out ahead, she spotted a small airship blocking their way bearing the mark of Twilight. “GET OUT OF TH’ WAY YE BASTARDS!” She yelled, and then slammed the bow of the ship into the side of the other.

Everyone on board lurched forward, except for Pearl. Filly C head butted the guard she was fighting, on accident, and screamed. “YOU’RE ON MY SHITLIST PEARL!”

“Again?” Pearl questioned with a tilt of her head, ”I thought I was already on it lassie~”

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Firefly giggled at that, covering her mouth with a hoof. She looked back at the closed saddlebag as a muffled meow came from it. “Hang on Emerald, just stay in a bit longer,” The pegasus reassured her pet.

“Oi, who’re ye talkin’ to?” Pearl questioned, narrowing her crimson eye at the pegasus beside her as she blindly drove the ship into yet another ship, crashing into it and sending Filly into another intense rage fit.

“Oh, just my pet cat~” Firefly answered after laughing a little bit.

“Ye have a cat in yer bag?” The captain seemed confused, but shrugged it off. “Aye, strange that be, but I won’t say nothin’.”

“Well, she’s the main reason why I came to Ponyville to begin with~” Firefly explained with a small smile.

"Ahh, interestin'." Pearl nodded as she side scrapped a small patrol airship.

Filly C had taken to using her magic, and was lifting herself up and slamming herself into the other guards on board, screams of rage leaving her tiny lungs and sounding like an enraged child who lost her favorite toy. “I’M GOING TO EAT YOU ALL!” She bellowed.

Prism and Blade were fighting side by side, one using three different blades at once in a deadly dance of steel, using the flats of her blade to deflect attacks and counter others. And the other doing some form of pegasi boxing, throwing swift punches, bobbing and weaving, he fought like a champ. Dustchu was flying fast, darting in and around the ship and delivering swift strikes to some of the pegasi guards, albeit they were not fatal hits, but they were still enough to send them packing.

Firefly watched the battle, sighing a little as she wished she could convince the guards to stop fighting.

Soon, the fight had dulled down until both sides retreated. Most of the guards were on one side of the ship, and the mercenaries on the other. And they were about go at it again, intent on ending the fight... that is, if a rainbow hadn’t shot out of nowhere and landed on the ship, in the form of a cyan colored pony with a striking rainbow mane that belonged to one pony, and on pony only...

“Oh buck.” Pearl cursed under her breath. “An Element.”

“An element?” Firefly asked, as she looked down at the rainbowed maned mare, unsure as to what Pearl meant.

“Element of Harmony, agents o' th' crown o' Equestria.” Pearl hissed as she saw the Rainbow mare standing tall on the ship, magenta eyes locked forward in a glare befitting one who was used to dealing with many a threat. Many of the guards had backed away, giving the mare space to work.

“Oh! I know of them~” Firefly said, and suddenly flew down towards the cyan mare, a smile on her face. Pearl tried to stop her, but was abit too late.

"Balls." Pearl hissed under her breath.

The rainbow mare turned to glare at the Fiery pegasus, giving her a quick look over before turning her attention back to the group in front of her… specifically Dustchu.

“Hello~” Firefly said, trotting in front of the rainbow pony.

“Who are you?” The rainbow mare questioned, her tone a bit icy as her eyes switched from Dustchu to Firefly.

“I’m Firefly, and you’re Rainbow Dash, right?” The smaller pegasus wanted to make sure.

Rainbow Dash nodded stiffly, turning her gaze back to Dustchu. “I am...”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?” The fiery pegasus tilting her head to the right slightly, curious.

Rainbow did not answer at first, instead staring. But after some time she said, “I’m here because of the group you’re with.” She said, growling slightly.

“Firefly,” Dustchu started, his tone different then before, it sound dark. “Get back, okay?” He told her, worry and concern in his eyes as he locked eyes with Rainbow Dash. “This is between me and Rainbow...”

“Well, I had heard that you’re pretty fast,” Firefly smiled, not answering the stallion behind her. “I was hoping for maybe a quick race~”

A snort from the mare as she flared out her wings, “Sorry, but I have things to deal with first!” Without waiting for an answer, Rainbow Dash moved with such speed she blew past Firefly and after Dustchu, who had already taken off, leaving behind an static laden trail of smoke in his wake. Panic flared in Firefly, as she took off after the two.

“Surrender yourselves!” The head guard yelled, brandishing a spear.

Not surprisingly enough it was Filly C who charged at them. “EAT MY ASS!” She bellowed as she blasted a somewhat weak but still potent wind spell at them, the rest of the group charged with her, fighting off the guards.

Meanwhile, up in the skies, two trails were intersecting back and forth next to one another, one of rainbows and the other a sort of wispy static trail. In the background was Firefly, as she watched the two fly at speeds she could barely comprehend. They moved like a blur, and it’d require a trained eye to make out the forms of two pegasi fighting it out above.

Realizing there was nothing she could do, Firefly began to fly back down to the ship, glancing up at them every now and again, a feeling of helplessness overcoming her.

The fight raged on, with most of the guards being the victim of Filly’s rage, Blade’s swords, or BP and Fuse’s combined explosive attacks. Eventually, after a time they all flew away, leaving only Dustchu and Rainbow the only ones left fighting in the sky. But now that fight, was too coming to an end.

Looking up into the skies, they could see the rainbow blur had tackled the white blur, and they were both flying towards the ship. Sensing a crash, the captain yelled. “OI, HIT THE DECK YA WANKERS!”

Firefly looked up, and saw that they were headed directly towards her, an inner battle raged in her, but she decided to do something selfish for the second time in her life, and got out of the way, barely making it in time.

The two pegasi crashed onto the deck of the ship with enough force to crush bones, making it rock violently as the intense gale force winds of their speed sent the ship sailing forward much faster than it did in cruise mode. The ropes holding the balloons creaked, and a few of them snapped loose as dust flew into the air, and smoke covered the scene of the crash.

Fuse shot up from where she was knocked over, looking over at the standing form of a pony standing over another. Eventually the smoke dissipated, and it revealed it was Rainbow Dash was the victor. Dustchu was lying on the deck, being held down by the rainbow mare, the former having several cuts and a bleeding nose.

“You’re not him.” Rainbow hissed, pushing down on his throat. “You’ll never be him!” She growled, murderious intent in her eyes.

Seeing this, Firefly darted down, using the force of gravity to propel herself forward and add onto her attack as she slammed into Rainbow Dash, protecting her friend from Rainbow's intent.

Falling back, Rainbow crashed down onto her side before quickly recovering with a quick flap of her wings. She glared at Firefly, wings flared out in anger before she snorted in defiance. She gave one last look at Dustchu, who was looking over at her in hurt. “Don’t ever come back to my town... you'll regret it...” She threatened, taking flight and flying away, leaving behind a battered crew.

Firefly had been standing between Rainbow and Dustchu, with her wings flared out, and her breathing deep and ragged. After Rainbow had left, the smaller pegasus looked back at Dustchu, and held out a hoof for him. Shakily, Dustchu took her hoof and was helped up, the stallion groaning in pain before spitting up blood on the deck. Fuse and BP worriedly made their way over, along with a somewhat battered Filly C.

“Are you okay?” Firefly was the first to ask, as she looked at him worriedly.

A wince as he held his chest, he looked like he had been thrown down a hill and into a tree. “I’ve been through worse,” He admitted as Fuse gazed at him with a scared and furious expression.

But, before she could say anything, Pearl had made her way over to the pony. “Aye lad, that ye have.” She told him, frowning at the pegasus. “Go get yerself cleaned up in my cabin, lad, yer a mess.”

Firefly looked at him, “D-do you want some help?”

Dustchu groaned again as he stood, body shaking. “I-I think I can manage… but thank you, Fly.” He told her before limping off, head hung low as he made his way over to the cabin.

Firefly watched him leave with concern deep in her eyes, wishing she could have done something more to help.

The Talk

Hours had passed since the ship left the Ponyville skylines, and was steadily soaring through the night skies under cover of the clouds. The crew had gone to sleep, most of the mercenaries were asleep in their own quarters and resting their wounds after the fight, Dustchu was still in the captain’s cabin, however, still tending to his wounds.

Firefly on the other hand had stayed outside, while everyone else went inside to sleep. She had taken to pacing around the ship, and she had walked by the captain’s cabin, and overheard Dustchu and Pearl talking to one another. Her curious nature got the better ofher, and she listened in.

“Lad, yer a mess ye know that?” Pearl told the stallion, who was currently wiping his face of the blood still on it.

“I know I am.” He replied, wincing in pain.

Some time passed before Pearl spoke again. “Why weren’t ye throwin’ any punches back at her?” She questioned.

Silence… Firefly rose an eyebrow at that. He wasn't?

“Well?” Pearl continued.

“I was,” Dustchu told her, his tone suggesting otherwise.

A scoff, followed by, “Boy, I may be without an eye, but I’m not daft.” Pearl told him in an even tone. “Ye were only blocking, an’ even that was shite.” She poked him, hitting one of his wounds and making him hiss.

Firefly knew she shouldn’t be listening in, but her interest was now peaked, and she laid down by the door to listen in further.

“I...” The pegasus started, but didn’t finish.

He knew exactly why he didn't...

“Ye can’t keep doin’ this to yerself lad,” Pearl told him in a soft tone, almost like that a mother would use to a hurt child. “Yer goin’ ta have ta defend yerself if she fights ye again.”

A shuddering breath, then Dustchu slumped down. “I can’t...” His voice was subdued, quiet… defeated…

The longing to go and console Dustchu overwhelmed Firefly as she laid by the door. She somehow was able to keep that side of her subdued though.

But then Pearl said something that was quite shocking.

“You still love her… don’t you?”

More silence, that seemed to stretch into hours, but in reality was a few minutes. Eventually he spoke, “I don’t know anymore… things have changed, ever since...” he didn’t finish, instead going back to fixing his injuries.

Pearl sighed softly, turning towards her desk before saying, “Yer going ta have ta come to terms with what yer heart tells ye, boy… don’t make the mistake I made.” With a puff of black smoke, she disappeared from the cabin.

Firefly then stood up, and waited a while to make it seem like she wasn’t listening in before she knocked on the door, “Dustchu, you feeling better?” She asked him.

Looking up from where he was staring into a bowl of water, he replied, “little bit...”

“Do you mind if I come in?” She asked once again, biting her lip.

“Sure,” A shrug as he rubbed his head.

Firefly opened the door and entered the room, spotting Dustchu, she walked over to where the white pegasus was sitting, and sat beside him. Upon seeing the true extent of his injuries, she held in a gasp. His body was covered in bruises, cuts, welts, and his left eye was bloodshot, with a hoof shaped mark around it.

“... how much did you hear?” He asked after wiping some of the blood off of his nose, tired blue eyes looking into her own fiery ones.

Firefly went silent, wanting to lie to save him from embarrassment, but the slight hesitation that turned into silence told the whole story for her.

Dustchu turned back to the bowl of water, dipping his rag into it before saying, “I see...” He sighed softly.

“I-I know I shouldn’t have… but…” she sighed a little, looking down at the bowl of water as well.

“Can’t fault you for listening in,” He assured the younger pegasus beside him, watching as the blood seeped out of the rag and into the water, becoming cloudy. “I would have to...”

“Would have what?” Firefly looked at him now, wondering what he meant.

“I’m a nosy pegasus, Firefly.” He commented wryly, grinning despite the pain he was in. “It’s more or less how I ended up here in this place to begin with.”

Firefly nodded, halfway understanding what he was saying. “I’m not usually, unless if it has something to do with my friends…”

“My being nosy is more dangerous,” He admitted, smiling wryly once again. “Almost got me killed more than a few times in the past… actually...” he trailed off, shaking his head.

She looked at him curiously, not quite sure how being nosy could get you almost killed. She let out a small breath, looking back at the water in the bowl, “Do you want help bandaging up?”

Looking at his cuts, he winced. “Probably… I have no idea how bad they all are… they’ll heal though so...” He looked at his fetlock, which had a deeper cut on it. “Shite.” He cursed, hoof shaking.

Firefly got up and grabbed a roll of the bandages, and Dustchu noticed that for once, she wasn’t wearing her saddlebags.

“You’re not wearing your saddlebags for once.” He commented, stifling a wince.

“Yeah, they gave me a room to leave them and Emerald in it. Don’t worry, Emerald has food and water in the room~” The mare responded, as she returned with the bandages.

Nodding, he held out his hoof, blood dripping off of it steadily and onto the floor below. She then deftly started to wrap the bandage around the upper part of his hoof, being as gentle as possible, while also making sure it was tight. She was concentrating so hard she didn’t make a noise, and her face was that of one with such concentration that it would take something serious to get her out of it.

Dustchu waited patiently as she bandaged his hoof up, barely making any noise himself except for his steady breathing, and the occassional wing ruffle.

It didn’t take her long to finish the bandaging, soon enough Dustchu's hoof was wrapped tightly and the blood stopped. “There, that should hold for a while~” She smiled at him sweetly.

Examining the bandage, he nodded with a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem, anywhere else that seems to feel bad?” She asked, inspecting the pegasus before her.

He shook his head, sighing as he looked towards one of the windows, a forlorn look overtaking his features. “I’m… fine...” Dustchu told her.

“W-well, if you ever need anything, or wanna talk, I’m here, okay?” Firefly offered, just wanting to see him happy again, as she walked over to put the roll of bandages back.

After some time, DUstchu had begun to think. Mostly about his past, soon enough a question made itself known in his mind. And he had to ask it.

“... Firefly...”

She looked back at him, “Hmm?”

The pegasus took a moment before speaking, as if composing himself for what he was about to say. “Have… you ever, loved someone so much, it hurt knowing there wasn’t anything you could do about it?”

The younger mare looked down at the ground, thinking, after a time she then shook her head, “No, I haven’t.”

Dustchu turned back to look at her, his eyes glancing at the corner of hers. “I have… I still do...” He looked away again, focusing on something on the far end of the room in deep thought, his mind wandering back to a different life. “I hate myself for it.”

“Well, you can’t really help the way you feel, Dustchu, our emotions are something that are just that. I have yet to find a way to control the constant… let’s call it itch, to help, even if it may cost my life… Today was the second time in my whole life I feel that I did something selfish, and it physically hurts to think back on it…” Firefly then went quiet looking at Dustchu.

The pegasus next to her nodded his head, understanding perfectly what she meant. “I understand that… I’ve had plenty of selfish moments over the past five… six years I’ve been here.” He rubbed his foreleg, rolling his shoulders before adding, “Some of those moments… almost cost me a friendship too many times.”

Firefly nodded, she then rested her head on Dustchu’s shoulder, “I’m just glad to have met you all.” Her tone was softer and more serious than her usual tone.

The stallion didn't flinch from the contact, only nodding his head. “I’m sure the others feel the same,” Dustchu told her, sniffing as he looked towards the window and out into the sky.

She nuzzled her head a little closer to his, whispering, “I hope they do~” She smiled happily, enjoying the closeness of the moment they were sharing.

Some time passed by as the two sat in a comfortable silence, both friends enjoying one another’s company in the dimly lit cabin of the Howling Pearl. The ship calmly rocked back and forth, gently swaying in the breeze amidst the skies. And almost an hour passed before the mare whispered again, “I’m scared…”

“About what?” Dustchu asked, wrapping a wing around her barrel and hugging her close.

“Going to the lab…” She admitted, looking up at him now with the tiniest hint of fear in her eyes.

“... cause of your parents…?” The pegasus turned his gaze towards her now, curiosity in his eyes.

She nodded, not saying anything as she looked at the ground, the fear growing in her eyes.

Dustchu tightened his hold on her, whispering, “You got us on your side kid, so don’t worry ‘bout it none.” He told her in a soft friendly tone.

She smiled, but it was obvious she was still scared to be headed towards her parents. “I’m glad for that. And you now have someone who knows the layout of that place like the back of my hoof, along with secret passages~”

A grin came on his face. “Well, I can easily say, you’d be welcome with Kickass.” He chuckled, the two sharing a nice moment together…

But was soon interrupted by a voice outside.

“Are you two banging yet!?” Filly C yelled, banging on the door impatiently.

Firefly’s eyes went wide, and it was obvious she was embarrassed by the filly’s interruption. “Uh…”

Dustchu sighed heavily, throwing a hoof over his face. “Filly!” He groaned as the filly outside cackled.

Filly continued laughing. “Well, are ya?” She asked innocently, no doubt smirking.

“Of course not!” Dustchu yelled back.

A new voice made itself known, “I knew it!” BP cried. “You owe me twenty bits Filly.”

“DAMN IT!”

Firefly glanced at Dustchu, “I-is this a normal occurrence?”

The voice only Firefly knew, shouted out, “They were about to~” The small colt shouted from next to the cabin.

SIlence sounded… until it was broken by Filly C, Fuse, BP, Prism and Pearl who were all gathered outside, no doubt listening in on the two talking. The group outside all laughed loudly, cackles and giggles filling the air around the ship. Dustchu just groaned under his breath, wondering what he did to deserve this.

Another sigh from the pegasus. “Yep… welcome to the family.” He said, answering her question.

Firefly smiled a slightly embarrassed smiled, “At least they all mean well~”

“True.” Dustchu nodded.

More silence passed by, before Pearl spoke up. “Wait, who said they were about ta bang!” Pearl yelled, winking into the cabin in a puff of black smoke.

The colt’s voice sounded again, “Uh, no one!” And the sound of light hooves running away quickly sounded.

“Oh alright.” Pearl started, trotting away, only to stop. “OI YA WANKER!” She cried, galloping out of the cabin. ”I’ll find ye, ya varmint!”

Firefly was giggling, as she watched Pearl gallop out of the cabin.

“I take it, that’s a friend of yours?” Dustchu asked as Pearl galloped around the ship.

“I actually have met him once, for about a minute~” Was Firefly’s response, as her giggling died down.

“Who is he?” Dustchu questioned as Pearl continued rooting around the ship, winking to and fro as the others watched on, still laughing.

Firefly shrugged, “He’s a colt named Peaky, but I’m thinking that’s more of a nickname. He also outright admitted that he was a stowaway.”

Blinking, Dustchu turned towards the door and said, “Stowaway eh? Well, not much we can do about that now, can’t exactly drop him off anywhere. We’re pretty high up.”

“You’re right about that, Chewy~” A beige colt dropped in through the back window, smiling brightly as he pranced over to the two pegasi.

The white pegasus chuckled loudly, holding his stomach as he looked over at the colt. “Tha brings back memories.” He murmured softly to himself. “Say kid, where’d you come from?”

“I’LL FIND YA SOON YE STOWAWAY!” Pearl bellowed from outside, somewhere near the bow of the ship away from the cabin.

“I’m from Ponyville~ I got kicked out of my job cause they were tired of all my nicknames for everyone, and my pranks~” Peaky smiled, looking between the two.

A hum. “Odd, but… eh,” Dustchu shrugged as he looked towards Firefly. “I doubt he’ll be able to stay hidden for long, so I suggest that, when the time comes you take care of the kid.”

“Okay~” Firefly said, not minding at all.

“Yay! The Fly is gonna take care of me~” The colt began to bounce around happily. He looked towards the door, ready to dart again.

The door soon opened, and in walked, not Pearl, but Filly C. “I bet you two were banging!” She cackled, turning to face the two pegasi who were still sitting rather close together. However, her eyes drifted towards Peaky, and she rose an eyebrow. “The fuck’s that?”

“I’m Peaky! It’s nice to finally talk to you, Seven Seas~” The colt said, bounding over to Filly.

The young filly’s eyelid twitched, “Seven Seas?”

“Yup! Since you’re Filly C, you’re nickname is Seven Seas~” Peaky explained, his light brown mane bouncing around with him.

Another eyelid twitch. “Fffffffffffff-!” She started, only to be stopped by Dustchu.

“Filly, calm thy nips, and accept this.” He told her, not even realizing he was still pressed up against Firefly.

Firefly didn’t notice either, when Peaky looked over at the two, “Awww~ You guys are so cute~” The colt bounced over to the two pegasi.

“I am not cute!” Filly fumed, stomping her hoof onto the floor as she blushed.

“Well, I wasn’t talking to you, Seven Seas~ I was talking about them!” Peaky pointed at the two adults pressed up against each other.

“Well… good!” Filly C snapped, turning away with a huff, flicking her tail and trotting away from the three.

Firefly giggled, then noticed that her and Dustchu were still pressed against each other rather tightly. She blushed and moved away slightly, as Peaky was laughing. The stallion beside her seemed to notice it as well, and coughed awkwardly before retracting his wing and looking over at the window again.

“Ahem! Anyway...” Dustchu started as Filly proceeded to jump onto Dustchu’s back, biting onto his ear. He didn’t seem to care that much, only wincing slightly before asking, “Why are you on board the ship?”

“As I said, I was fired from my job, and had nowhere else to go, so I thought this ship looked cool~” Peaky said happily.

“Ahhh, odd that you managed to get into the castle and not get caught.” Dustchu commented with a suspicious tone, but at the same time, curious. “And that you weren’t found by Pearl, she’s… good at finding things that don’t belong on her ship… trust me.”

“Well, Pearl knows me actually~ I was a chef in training! That’s why I was able to get into the castle without getting caught.” Peaky turned to the side, showing off his cutie mark, which was a chef’s hat with silly glasses beneath it. “See, I’m a professional chef! Well, almost~ Pearl actually has tasted my food before~” Peaky giggled.

Speaking of the mare, the door busted open with the heavily clothed mare standing there. Her one eye locked on the colt, and it narrowed. “Aye… I found ye at last my little stowaway~”

“Gotta go!” Peaky said, and began to dart out of the back window.

“Ya little wanker!” Pearl cried as she gave chase, Filly C letting go of Dustchu’s ear and hopping on Pearl’s back.

“CHARGE!” She yelled.

“GET OFF MY BACK YE TWAT!”

Peaky poked his head back up and into the window, “Don’t worry Patches, you’ll never catch me anyways.” He giggled.

Firefly looked at the colt, “Oh dear, it seems that Peaky really wants to provoke Pearl…”

“So it seems.” Dustchu agreed, watching the exchange with an amused eyebrow raise.

“My name ain’t Patches!” Pearl cried as Filly C cackled, gripping onto Pearl’s red/black mane as she ran towards the window. “GET OVER ‘ER!”

“Nah, I’m good Patches~” Peaky then disappeared again, the sound of his hooves quickly disappearing.

“Gaaah!” Pearl then suddenly winked over to the other side, however Filly C lacked that spell and ended up flying into something that sent her bouncing off the wall and towards the ceiling where she screamed curses, and then hit the ceiling with her horn. A loud thunk sounded as her horn became buried in the wood, effectively keeping her stuck as she hung from above.

“Uh…” Firefly flew up by the small filly, wrapping her hooves around Filly’s barrel, and began to pull.

Filly just growled, tail between her legs as she felt somewhat exposed. “I… am… going to kill… everyone...” she promised, conviction in her tiny voice.

“She says, for the hundredth time.” Dustchu chuckled as he flew up to help.

Eventually Firefly just stopped flapping and tried to pull Filly out with her weight and gravity combined.

Slowly, Filly’s horn started to slide out of the wood until gravity and the pegasus’ weight finally freed her. “NOW LEMME KILL SOMEONE!” She yelled.

To keep them from slamming into the ground, Firefly flapped a little as she floated to the ground. Once they hit the ground however, she didn’t release the filly.

“You need a psychiatrist.” Dustchu told her.

“I need a knife!” She retorted, struggling to get out of Firefly’s hold once more.

Not releasing her grip, the mare quietly said, “Don’t you dare use your magic again! It freaks me out!”

The filly glanced up at Firefly, and then she grinned evilly as her horn suddenly lit up. And suddenly the filly’s golden magic reached out, and ended up touching her flank… among other intimate areas.

The pegasus yelped, releasing the small filly and backing away quickly, in which she ran into Dustchu. The stallion barely caught her, but the surprise of her sudden movement ended up knocking them both down, whilst a certain filly just galloped away, cackling evilly all the while.

Firefly was breathing deeply, and somehow Peaky poked his head up at the window, “Hey! You two are cuddling~” He chimed in.

The orange pegasus began to freak out again, and tried to get off of Dustchu, obvious embarrassment set upon her face.

“Oi oi oi oi.” Dustchu groaned as he pushed FIrefly off of him, not roughly, but gently so she could stand back up on her own. The pegasus himself couldn’t hide the blush that was currently turning the snowy white fur on his cheeks blood red.

Suddenly, Filly C popped her head back in, saying, “Hey Firefly!”

“N-no! I’m not answering you!” She shook her head quickly, grateful for her red fur.

“You got a nice flank!” Filly C cackled, turning towards Dustchu. “I’m sure Dusty will enjoy them~” She laughed evilly before running away.

Even through her red fur, the blush became so deep that it was now visible on Firefly, her wings shifted uncomfortably.

“Where’d that colt run off ta!” Pearl yelled from the stern of the ship, “GIT’OVER ER YA LILY LIVERED SHITE!”

“Nah! I’m good~” Peaky shouted from the cabin window, before he darted away again.

Dustchu turned towards FIrefly, biting his cheek. “I have the urge to start drinking now… is that normal?” He asked as his eyelid twitched.

“U-um, well drinking isn’t really good for you… but I don’t know if it’s normal or not…” Firefly said, her cheeks still burning.

The male sighed before turning towards the door, limping somewhat. “I need some air before I go insane,” he muttered as the door opened and Fuse was standing there with a smile. “Fuse… just… no.”

She couldn’t help but giggle as he walked by, the pegasus retreating down below the ship.

Firefly sat there, feeling awkward as she looked around at the others in the room. The walls started to close in, even in the bigger cabin, and she slowly began to walk out of the cabin.

The Song

Time passed by for the crew aboard the Howling Pearl, eventually Dustchu had spoken with Pearl about the colt Peaky, and after bribing her with ten kegs of rum she allowed him to stay on board as long as Firefly looked after him. Cause she said she didn’t: 'need another lil trouble makin’ shite running around.'

Firefly had showed the small colt her room, telling him that she wouldn’t be there much, but he was welcome there anytime. Peaky just needed to help take care of Emerald and stay out of the way of everyone else. The bouncy little colt happily agreed, happy to help take care of a pet.

Her claustrophobia getting to her, she decided she would rather stay awake all night outside than sleep in a small cramped room. And so, that’s where she stayed, patrolling the perimeter of the ship in the night with only Pearl to keep her company, silent as she was anyway.

At the helm of the ship, stood the captain of the Pearl, standing a silent vigal over everyone on board and keeping the ship on course. The cold night air was blowing across the ship gently as they soared above the clouds, the sounds of the wood creaking ever so slightly could be heard, along with the propellers that gently cut through the air with a dull thumping noise.

Captain Pearl seemed at home by the helm, one hoof on the wheel while the other was in her coat. She sat by the wheel, looking straight ahead into the nighttime sky as the stars above could be seen, unhindered by any clouds of smog that sat above most cities in Equestria.

It was beautiful.

Firefly went to the front of the ship, her mane being blown behind her. She sat down and watched the sky fly past them at a slow but managable pace, liking that she didn’t need to flap her wings to fly for once. A certain ghost floated into view, seeming to enjoy himself immensely. “Hey Ghost, where’ve you been? Causing trouble?” She giggled as the ghost cat settled down on his owner’s head.

The silence was comforting to those on board, giving them a semblance of safety above the cloudline as they were free to relax. But then, the silence was broken by a soft tune coming from the helm where Pearl was sitting. The mare had let go of the wheel, and was now holding a small and shiny black object in her hooves, up to her mouth as she played a gentle tune.

The melody was a soft one, a gentle tune that carried over the winds filling the air with something soothing, something that felt calming. Pearl herself had her eye close, the wind blowing her mane to the side and making her coat billow slightly. Everyone on board could hear the melody, and couldn’t help but feel at ease.

For one brief moment… everything felt right.

Letting out a small breath, Firefly looked down at Ghost, to see him glowing brighter than normal, and anypony around that happened to glance at the two, they would be able to see the ghost cat. And everypony aboard heard a mournful yowl from the ghost cat. Tears welled up in the pegasus’ eyes, as she gently put her hoof on his head, being able to feel him again for that one brief moment for the first time, in a long time.

The melody continued on into the night, seemingly growing more powerful and yet, keeping its gentle soothing tune and washing over the crew and soothing their hearts and woes. Pearl herself seemed to have a glow about her horn, and the ship’s creaking grew silent as she continued her lullaby, as if wanting to hear the melody in its entirety.

The tears began to roll down the pegasus’ cheeks as she gently picked up her deceased cat, holding him for the first time in three years.

By the hatch stood Dustchu, who had heard the music and wanted to hear it up closer. However, once he came up he found his eyes catching a glance at something Firefly was holding in her hooves, which appeared to be a light of sorts, and her cutie mark was glowing. As though sensing the other pegasus, Firefly turned to look at him, tears rolling down her face, and the light had taken shape, into one of a cat.

Dustchu had a slight look of awe, as he exchanged looks between Pearl and Firefly. He wanted to speak, to say something but found he couldn’t. His throat closed in on itself, so he stayed silent as Pearl played her melody, and Firefly was able to hold her cat once more.

The fiery pegasus looked down at her spectral cat, as he jumped from her hooves, and padded over to Dustchu, unable to float. Ghost sat down directly in front of the white pegasus, eyeing him up. The cat gave a nod, then released another mournful yowl, before going back to Firefly. The song started to end and Ghost began to float again. He circled Firefly’s head once, and began to nuzzle her cheek. The song ended, and so did Ghost, as he fazed back into the world of where only a select few could see him, and none could feel.

Firefly’s tears began to stream down her face, and her head lowered to the ground in sadness.

Pearl’s lullaby ended at last, and she pulled her instrument away, opening her red eye and looking down at the small black object, an ocarina. “Tis the Lullaby of the Pearl,” she spoke gently, in a tone very few heard her speak in. “A song of loss, sorrow, and remembrance.” With gentle care, she put the Ocarina back within the folds of her coat.

Dustchu slowly made his way over to Firefly, and once he was by her side he gently pulled her into an embrace. She allowed him to embrace her, and continued to cry for almost five minutes. Her body was shaking as she sniffled, “That was Ghost… he died of a terrible sickness three years ago... “ She took a shuddering breath, “I never thought I’d be able to feel his fur again… I see him all the time, but I can never touch him… except for then…” Her eyes followed the floating cat in the air, as he floated around again.

The Howling Pearl made a noise as it sailed, although it was only for a brief second before it disappeared into the night. “Things like that… they happen on this ship,” Dustchu told her as the ship creaked again. “Its brief… but...” he trailed off, looking off into the sky as Pearl hummed the same tune to herself softly, gripping the wheel with one hoof and keeping the other in her coat.

Firefly looked up at him, a new determination in her eyes, “I think I’m ready to face them now.” She nodded, “Yeah, I am ready now.”

Dustchu didn’t acknowledge her, only looking out ahead with a grimace, however, Fuse did when she came up. The pegasus having been perched somewhere nearby, she landed next to Firefly. “I’m glad...” She poked Firefly, gesturing out ahead. “We’re here… Canterlot.”

Firefly looked out ahead, “Be prepared Canterlot, we're coming.”

Author's Note

Melodies are always nice.

Attack on Firesteed - Part 1

Author's Note

Double update for you guys, as always, read and review~
:heart:
Brought to you by: Skittles and Cupcakes

Attack on Firesteed - Part 1

The ship had finally arrived at Canterlot, however, due to what happened back in Ponyville, they did not want to take the risk of landing in the city in case of an alert from Princess Twilight. So instead of landing in the city, the ship flew past Canterlot and near the mountainside where Pearl informed them there was a narrow pathway that led into the city that was once used by thieves and escaping nobles a few centuries ago.

No one really asked how she knew that, only going with it and using it.

So, Dustchu, Firefly, Fuse and BP, along with Filly C and Heartlock were currently on the narrow pathway… narrow being an understatement, as it was only a few feet wide, and one wrong move would send anyone plummeting to their death. The pegasi were the only ones not too nervous, since they could easily fly in case of falling, which Firefly was doing, not liking the narrow path. Fuse was gliding next to her, while Dustchu braved the path on hoof, wings held tight against his barrel as Filly C was perched on his back with her hooves wrapped around his neck tightly, and BP and Heartlock were sticking as close to the mountain wall as possible.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking on the path, but was only about an hour or so of slips and near falls, the group made it into Canterlot. “Do you guys wanna be seen by more or less ponies?” Firefly asked the group as they stood near a few buildings in an alleyway, which was only illuminated by the stray light of a few magically lit street lamps, and the moon above.

Dustchu faced the pegasus. “After how we left Ponyville, I don’t doubt Twilight sent a letter ta good ol Celly,” He said, his voice dripping into a slight southern accent before he cleared his throat. “So we should be careful and not be seen, just in case… why?”

“Like the lab, I know this town like the back of my hoof, so I know all the pathways most ponies don’t take.” The fiery pegasus explained, shrugging her shoulders.

“Well let’s get movin’ girl.” Heartlock hissed as they remained huddled in an alleyway, she peeked out into the street and spotted a few guards stationed by a gate and frowned. “Guards are everywhere.”

Firefly, however was already near a sewer grate, thinking, she turned and looked back at BP and Fuse, “Can you guys open this?”

BP and Fuse smiled, both of them were donning equipment and had small packs with them. BP and Fuse reached into both of their packs at the same time. Fuse pulled out a stick of dynamite, and asked, “Lockpick?”

“Or the master key?” BP questioned as she held out a large looking explosive with a smiley face painted on it.

“Or maybe both?” They both asked simultaneously, hoping to blow something sky high.

A blink from the fiery pegasus. “Uh, well, we’re trying not to get attention drawn to us, so the more quiet one~” Firefly said, laughing a little at the sister's wanton need of explosives.

BP and Fuse gave her a look that suggested she was insane. “I’m sorry, a quiet explosive?” BP asked in a quivering, looking incredibly shocked and disturbed at such a notion that there was a silent explosive.

“BLASPHEMY!” Fuse hissed in a whisper, hooves trembling.

Filly C just sighed before hopping off of Dustchu’s back and trotting over to the grate. Using her magic, she reached into BP’s pack and pulled out a large foldable pry bar, and in one swift motion, stuck it between the creases of the grate and the street. “How about… we use the fucking pry bar?”

“Aww.” Both sisters complained, putting their explosives away in their packs with dejected looks on their faces.

They wanted boom boom. 234

Dustchu made his way over to Filly C, and he ruffled her mane a little before saying, “Nice thinking kid.” He praised her as the two proceeded to lift the grate off of the ground. Filly C just smiled, and for once, it wasn’t a devious one.

After the grate had been removed, Firefly jumped down, flaring her wings when she neared the ground below. Flapping her wings, she quickly got out of the way of the rest of the group.

Everypony quickly made their way down into the sewers, Heartlock being the last one as Dustchu flew down with Filly on his back. The thieving mare covered her nose once the smell hit her, eyes bulging out of her skull as she hacked. “Goddess damn it! It stinks down here!” She growled as Fuse replaced the sewer cover above them, sliding it back into place.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it~” Firefly smiled back at her, before taking the lead. The sound of their hooves resonating on the tall walls and dampness. It was obvious that this wasn’t the first time that Firefly had been down in the sewers, as she confidently led the way towards the lab.

“I take it you’ve been down here before?” BP asked the mare leading them as the others held their noses, except Dustchu who seemed at home in the sewers, if his thoughtful face was any indication.

“Mhm, it’s how I escaped detection from the cameras around the lab~” The mare explained, and she jumped over a puddle.

“What exactly went on in tha’ lab of yer parents?” Heartlock questioned, frowning as she saw a rat, sailing down the sewers on something she did not wish to see. Funnily enough, it was wearing a pirate hat, and holding a tiny stick of wood in its paws.

The fiery pegasus thought for a second, “Well, you know of Navi’s poor treatment, so animal testing was a big one, and they’re a psychological and medicinal company. They were trying to cure mental illnesses, along with normal ones.” She didn’t go into the more precise details, opting for silence instead.

“Sounds kinda shady, if’n ya ask me.” Heartlock commented, stepping over a soggy newspaper with a picture of fancy pants on it. “Last time we raided th’ lab in Canterlot, this was before Firesteed Inc took it over, Navi was bein’ kept in a tiny jar barely big 'nuff for his tiny self.”

“I remember that, poor little guy.” Fuse shuddered. “I think Firesteed is doing something else in those labs...”

Dustchu suddenly spoke, this time in a very dark sounding tone. “You’d be surprised by what goes on in places like those… sometimes they’re just a front for something bigger...” He turned to look at Firefly, his eyes glowing for a brief second. “Sometimes something more… sinister...”

Her ears pressed against her head as she looked at the ground, “I-I just don’t want to have to remember… okay?” She murmured, showing that she knew more about what did happen there, she just wasn’t willing to tell.

No one pushed her to ask, sensing she was uncomfortable with talking about the lab they were headed to. Instead, they turned to Dustchu for questions.

“So what’s the plan boss man?” BP asked Dustchu, trotting by his side.

The stallion thought for a moment, his mind racing as he conjured up a plan. “We follow Firefly to wherever they might be keeping the case, we sneak in, Heartlock snags it, hopefully they didn’t crack one of them open, and we get out.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy.” Filly commented from his back, where she had her muzzle buried in the back of his mane to block out the smell of the sewers of Canterlot.

“Yeah, probably not, but this should be fun~” The sound of Peaky’s voice heard from behind the group.

Firefly glanced back, and saw the small colt smiling at them. Quickly flying over to him, she said, “I thought I told you to stay on the ship!”

“Oh, I know, but that’s not as fun as coming along~” Peaky smiled back at her.

“Wait, didn’t someone put the grate back on?” Firefly turned to the rest of the group.

Peaky answered before anyone else could, “Oh, someone did, but I removed the grate by myself~”

The Kickass Mercenaries just stared at Peaky, unsure of how to respond to the colt’s claim of lifting the grate. Instead they just sighed collectively. “Alright kid, just stick close to FIrefly and do exactly what she tells you.” Dustchu told him, his tone serious as he turned to face the colt.

“Of course, Chewy~” To emphasize his point, the colt jumped on Firefly’s back, “I’ll stick close to the Fly~”

Firefly glanced back at the colt, before shrugging and taking off again, taking the lead once more. “Well, I would say that we only need to be here for about 15 more minutes at most.”

Dustchu nodded. “Let’s see if we can’t hurry up, I’m getting a gut feeling this won’t end well...”

“Understood,” The fiery pegasus responded, and she picked up her pace, trotting through the sewers now.

About 10 minutes later, Firefly flew up to a different grate, and looked through it, Peaky still on her back. Upon floating back down she announced, “This is it, but there’s a camera nearby, so be careful where you guys step.” The mare flew back up, and was able to push the grate open, this one having been bent in a way that made it easier to lift up and out. After pausing for a second, Firefly then darted out, pressing herself against the wall of the lab.

Dustchu and the rest followed shortly after, mimicking the pegasus’ movements and hugging the wall. The lab looked like it did the last time, however there were a few improvements, cleaner walls and floors, and it brought back horrible memories for Dustchu that made him shiver.

Firefly also shivered, but quickly shook her head to clear it, and after everyone got out of the sewers, she led the way towards a window barely big enough for Dustchu to fit through. “Okay, they probably have the door locked over there,” She pointed at the door, “But we do have a lockpicker, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get in. Also, the room is barely big enough for two of us, except for the younger ones.” Firefly explained, glancing in at the room every now and again.

Heartlock took that as her cue, moving forward towards the window and slipping through with the grace of a cat. She landed on her hooves with nary a sound before creeping over to said door, and deftly retrieving her lock picking kit.

The rest of the mercs waited by the room’s window, however Filly C made her way in and stood by Heartlock as she fiddled with the lock. “How long?” Fuse asked.

“Couple of seconds, tops.” Heartlock responded, carefully moving her picks into the lock.

Some clicks sounded, and Heartlock grinned a toothy grin. “Got it, hehe.” She twirled her pick before putting it back in her little kit. “Let’s rock n roll kiddies~”

After Heartlock gave the cue, Firefly entered the room, shivering as she saw the cot she used to sleep on, it taking up half of the already tiny room. “This must be how my claustrophobia started…” She spoke quietly to herself, and slowly left the room, happy to be out of it.

The group made their way into the room one at a time and out through the door, effectively entering the Firesteed lab. Filly gave one last look at the room before she jumped onto Dustchu’s back and tightened her hold on him, a feeling of unease settling over her mind.

The fiery pegasus waited for everyone to exit the room, a little to the right of the room. Her wings shifted uncomfortably as she tried to act brave, but on the inside, she was freaking out, wanting to fly away at breakneck speeds. “O-okay, the most secure part of the lab is down this hall…” Taking a deep breath, the mare began to lead the way, Peaky walking beside her.

The group made their way down the halls, following the pegasus with trepidation. The halls were clean, the floors having a clear sheen to them, and the lights above giving off a dull hum that made the sisters of the group nervous, and a white pegasus to have horrid flashbacks that made him tense up and grow paranoid.

“You’re all going to die down here.” Dustchu heard in his head, he tried to shake off the feeling, but he couldn’t. The voice repeated it in his head, and he swore he saw shadows moving around his vision.

Suddenly, Filly C leaned in by his ear. “What’s wrong?”

“This place… reminds me of… Umbrella.” He muttered, shivering as Filly hugged him tighter.

She whispered again, “This isn’t that place.” the filly assured him in a soft voice, one that very few heard.

Dustchu sighed through his nose. “I know… but it still brings back memories, Filly...”

Filly didn’t know what to say to him, instead only keeping her hold on him. She may have been an annoyance most of the time, but she had her moments when she showed her good side.

The sound of a different set of hooves coming down from a side corridor could be heard. The fiery pegasus stopped, as a brown earth pony scientist came into view. His eyes were dull and lifeless as he looked at Firefly, “Oh, miss Firefly, we’ve been expecting your return.” His voice was just like his eyes, dull and lifeless. “Your parents are awaiting you to join them.”

“I-I’m not going back to them!” The pegasus shook her head quickly, starting to back away.

“I’m sorry miss Firefly, but you don’t have a choice,” The scientist said, and another scientist, this one a unicorn mare.

The brown coated unicorn’s horn began to glow with a brown aura. Firefly tried to fly away, but the magic encased her, and yanked her away from the group. Before the rest of the group could even react, a wall came from seemingly nowhere and blocked off them from the kidnapped pegasus. The sounds of Firefly’s terrified cries could be heard getting quieter and quieter.

“Son of a bitch!” Heartlock cried as her, Fuse and BP charged, only to hit the door. “Who the fuck were they!”

BP suddenly pushed the others back, pulling out the bomb she had before and throwing it at the wall. It stuck in place as she yelled, “Get back!” The group backed away, hiding behind the corner of one of the halls as the explosive suddenly went off, shaking the entire building and sending a plume of flame down the hall and almost burning BP as she barely got in cover.

After the smoke cleared from the wall, it showed no signs of damage. Firefly’s cries soon died down, and after a good minute of her cries being too quiet to be heard, the wall slid back open, adding insult to injury when they realized they would be here a lot longer than intended.

“Fucking hell!” Fuse cried, “We gotta go after them!”

“We don’t know th’ layout, and that fuckin’ bomb no doubt drew some attention!” Heartlock countered, snapping at the pegasus.

The sound of something hitting the wall sounded, and it was almost rhythmic. “‘Fraid you lot won’t be going anywhere.” Someone spoke up from behind them.

Behind them were several guards, dressed in light but sturdy looking body armor and wielding steel batons. Dustchu growled at them, Fuse and BP just frowned at the guards as Heartlock looked for an escape route. Peaky had already begun to run in the direction he thought where Firefly had gone.

“What do we do?” Filly questioned, teeth bared at the guards as her eyes caught sight of Peaky. “Hey wait up!” She cried, chasing after him.

Dustchu tried to stop her, but was hit by a stun bolt sent flying from one of the unicorn guards. The pegasus hit his head on the wall, and looked dazed for a moment before glaring. “Mmm… yep, I’m going to hurt you.” He said after cracking his neck and flaring out his wings.

The guard took a stance, before sending another bolt at Dustchu. The pegasus dodged his attack, ducking to the side before kicking off the floor and flying towards the guard. “Guys run! Find Firefly now!” He yelled at them, throwing an uppercut into one of the guard’s jaws hard sending them falling back with a cry.

A guard shouted out - “The test subject can not be found by them! Don’t let them run!” - and more stun shots were thrown at the departing group.

Fuse stuck out her tongue at them as she dodged one of the stun bolts. “As a friend of mine once said,” She chanced a look at Dustchu before flashing him a wink, “Suck my dick!” She then ran away cackling, BP, and Heartlock following her as Filly ran after Peaky.

Dustchu only grinned as he dodged a hit by one of the guards, sweeping his hind leg across the floor and knocking two of them over before taking flight and sailing over the guards. “Come and catch me bitches!” He yelled at them, sticking his tongue out in a taunting manner.

Firefly was thrown into a tiny room, after reaching the room where most of the experiments had been conducted on her earlier in her life. The little room she was thrown into didn’t seem to have any windows that she could see. Curling up in a small ball, the pegasus began to panic and hyperventilate as the walls started to close in. “Huh, it seems that our experiment to see if we could get a pony claustrophobia was a success.” An eerily familiar voice said.

She knew that voice... it belonged to a pony she didn't want to see again. “D-dad! Let me go!” Firefly shouted out, her body shaking.

For once, her request got answered, and the door opened, along with a red aura surrounding the mare. “Hello there Firefly, it’s good to see you again,” A red coated, black maned unicorn said. “You know we can’t let you escape, so…” he trailed off, and Firefly cried out in pain, as her right wing began to be pulled and twisted.

“Stop!” She cried out in agony, then wailed as the wing came out of it’s socket, and the bones connecting the bone to socket, shattered.

“There you go, can’t have you running away on us again, now can we?” He smiled eerily and dropped the pegasus to the ground. Enjoying the sound of her cry of pain, her body shaking in agony.

A dark blue pegasus with an orange mane flew down by the shaking fiery pegasus, smiling down at her, before dragging her over to a lab table. Firefly groaned in agony as her wing dragged on the ground, “Don’t worry honey, this is only going to hurt… a lot~”

Trying to drag herself away from the table but couldn’t before her hooves were clamped down to the table. “We’ve just gotta reawaken that little drug again, we’ve found a way to control it better now.” Her father explained, and Firefly’s eyes went wide as she pulled and pulled trying to get away from the needle that was about to be driven in her arm.

The liquid was injected, and a burning sensation went through Firefly, and everything went dark.

Attack on Firesteed - Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Not Goodbye

It was a couple of days after the raid of the lab, and Firefly was sitting at the bow of the ship, her wing in a cast, preventing it from moving at all. Next to her sat Emerald, the cat snuggled up against her leg as she stared straight ahead. Dustchu had taken to sitting next to the mare, staring off into the vast unknown wilds of Penta.

The Howling Pearl had sailed through the past two nights non stop at the behest of her captain and made it to the border of Penta and Equestria. Specifically a small town that sat on the border where the ship could land and restock. The mercenaries had all left the ship, in search of foodstuffs and other supplies.

BP and Fuse had angrily eaten everything edible on the ship, including a few things that were not meant to be eaten after getting to a safe distance. Dustchu still couldn’t get the smell of gunpowder out of his nose after BP had somehow eaten half a can of it and not died from internal injuries.

Firefly had started to leave the ship, going to see if there was a doctor in town, when Dustchu's voice gave her pause.

“Me and the crew, we’re headed back to Penta, kid,” Dustchu told her as a gentle breeze washed over them. “No doubt we’ll be on some wanted posters spread throughout the nation for the attack.”

She frowned a little, “Yeah, that’s true…” She then coughed, turning away from him, as flames escaped her mouth.

“It might be best if you stay here, or keep on the move… you weren’t seen as much as the rest of us,” Dustchu continued. ”Penta’s a lot more dangerous than Equestria is.” The pegasus took note of her flames, but thought nothing of it. Just an odd quirk she’ll have.

She looked down at the ground, letting out a small sigh. She suddenly looked up at him, a small smile on her face, “Who would’ve thought that the quest for cat treats would lead to all this?”

Eventually the crew came back to the ship, hauling various supplies and carts filled with goods. BP and Fuse were hauling a cart filled with, surprise surprise… explosives… enough to start a small war, basically. Dustchu trotted down the ramp to Firefly, “You couldn’t have helped what happened, this all started when we kinda bumped into one another.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was fate that pushed you to help us get that case back.”

She smiled at him, “Probably, but I guess we’ll never know.”

“It all worked out in the end I think,” He smiled back as every one of the Kickass mercenaries loaded up the goodies they purchased, and went about getting the airship underway. “We saved the world~”

“We did~ I’m also happy to have faced my parents again, even if I did get turned into a freak, and my wing is useless…” She kept the smile on her face, even as she talked bad about herself.

A laugh from Dustchu. “You? A freak? Please, I’ve seen a lot of strange things, a fire breathing Pegasus… that doesn’t make you a freak, Fly.” He assured her, then gestured to her wing. “And your wing will heal in a few months, and you’ll be back to flying in no time.“ He grinned.

She smiled back at him, “Just because you don’t see me as a freak, doesn’t mean that others won’t. It is better than when I was first given it though, nearly burned the whole lab down.” She laughed a little at the memory.

“Ehh, true… true.” He chuckled, shaking his head before looking back at her.

“Oi!” Pearl yelled down at the two of them. “We’re cutting off eh? Git yer arse up here Dust, ya shite for brains arsehole!”

Dustchu turned to the captain. “Alright, one second though.” He grinned, turning back to Firefly. “You going to take care of yourself Fly?” He asked with a cheeky smile.

“Of course~ Not the first time I’ve survived on my own,” Firefly responded, as she looked at him.

“Alright then,” He gave her one more cheeky smirk before he quickly closed the distance between the two of them, and planted a kiss on her lips. He lingered for a few seconds before pulling away, flashing her a wink. “Wanted to give you a parting gift, hehe.”

She blushed as she looked at him, “I think that’s the best gift I’ve gotten yet~” She admitted, then hugged him, holding it for about two seconds before pulling away.

Dustchu smiled at the mare, and the entire moment felt nice for him… that is… until…

“Are you two gonna bang now?” BP asked, as she, Filly C, Fuse, Pearl, Blade, Freeze, Bobbi, Prism and Heartlock all watched them from above. Fuse and Filly C smirking deviously. “We can let you two borrow the ship for a few minutes if you want… or an hour, depending on how long you two last, hehe.”

A little colt then appeared from behind the duo, “You ruined the moment! I’m sure they were about to!”

“Oh goddess, Peaky…” Firefly moaned, looking back at the colt.

“Omg,” Dustchu chuckled, looking away as he licked his lips. With a sigh, he backed away and started for the ship. “Well you two... it’s been one hell of a ride,” He winked at them both. “This isn’t goodbye though, it’s till next time.” With a chuckle he flew back to the ship as it started flying off.

Firefly and Peaky waved them off, and in her saddlebag, Emerald meowed loud enough for the departing ship to hear her. “Well, that was exciting, let’s hope that Dustchu’s ‘till next time’ is correct.” Firefly looked down at the small colt, and together, the two turned away from the departing ship and walked into town.

Back with the ship, Dustchu kept his eyes on the small town as his keen pegasi eyes were locked on the two small figures walking away. “Till next time kid, your adventure… has only just begun.” With that said, he turned and walked away.

Little did he know… just how right he was.

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of this story... for now, that is. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Me and my friend Fly would like to thank you all for reading, and for the favorites. Till next time friends, stay awesome!
:heart: