Trixie and Rags trotted down the sidewalk. While Rags pressed directly forward, Trixie dodged and ducked around the oncoming traffic. The other ponies seemed to avoid Rags without asking, allowing him to progress without ceremony. When there was a lapse in the traffic, she slid over to Rags. "How do you do that?" That was a magic trick she wanted.

Rags lifted his shoulders faintly. "Respect. They know me. Maybe it's better they don't know you, huh?"

Trixie considered that with a frown before nodding. "You have a point. Harder to be sneaky when everyone knows you." On the other hoof, she was the Great and Powerful Trixie, and ponies should already know her!

"But they don't," placidly noted Rags.

Trixie went red instantly. "I said that out loud?" She closed her mouth against further outbursts and rushed ahead. "We're coming up on it, right?"

Rags inclined his head, motioning subtly for a building as they came up on it. It was an abandoned building, taken over for the purpose. It looked like it was some kind of small office, like a travel agency or something before it closed down. Wood covered two of its three large exterior windows. Trixie could see through the last one into the gloomy interior.

Besides matching the map she saw, there were ponies inside. Trixie squeaked faintly and rushed to catch up with Rags, who had stopped.

There was another pony in front of him. Two. Both stallions, they grunted at Rags with unhappy sounds. One of them, the larger one, puffed up, chest thrown out. "Whatcha doin' here?"

Rags shrugged softly. "Walking in my own damn neighborhood, what's it to you, pal?"

"Uh uh." The stallion shook his head as the other started to circle around. "Ain't your neighborhood no more. You just go away and don't come back, capiche?"

Rags glanced off, not at the stallion circling him, and not away from the stallion in front of him, not specifically. He looked to Trixie.

Trixie realized he was asking if she was ready to help him if needed. Trixie froze. That was exactly what they said she wouldn't be doing, but the others weren't there, and they were. "N-now, let's calm down." she suddenly blurted out. "No reason for ponies to be hasty. Walking's not a crime, right?"

The smaller, but still considerable, stallion suddenly lashed out a hoof, knocking Trixie against the building she had been trying to scope out. "Stay outta this, toots. You his mare? We'll show you a good time after we're done."

Rags suddenly leaned forward against his forelegs as his hinds shot out in a lashing that'd do Applejack proud. The smaller stallion yelped in pain as he crumpled backwards, unprepared for the kick. The larger stallion threw a mighty punch, slugging Rags across his face. His balance, already precarious from the kick, was compromised, and he fell with the momentum of the punch.

The fight was on, and Trixie began to breathe hard despite not actually doing much. The fight was going on just in front of her startled eyes. She had to help. She had to run? She had to do something! She had to do anything! Why was she frozen?! A thousand ideas came and left her mind, and she remained locked in place.

The door leading into the target building slammed open as three more stallions poured out, looking ready for a scrap. Rags was already rolling, narrowly avoiding a stomping hoof as he jumped back up to his hooves. He was a fighter, but Trixie didn't like the odds with three more combatants ready to join the struggle.

She screamed. It was a piercing wail, long and unending. All the ponies but Trixie flipped their ears back, trying to ward away the dreadful noise.

One of the new three approached her with a scowl. "Shut yer face." He didn't hesitate, driving a hoof into her shrieking face in a dizzying slam of hoof against cheek. Trixie spun on the way to the ground, her shout dying with the violence. He wasn't done, stepping closer. "Stupid mare. You wit' him? Don't matter." He clopped his forehooves together, looking ready to teach Trixie a lesson or two.

Rags' odds were busy decreasing with three ponies on him, and the fourth recovering from his kick. He ducked under a swung hoof, just to catch the next in his ribs. He lashed out a hind leg, but only clipped a shoulder.

"Let's show 'em who's turf this is," taunted one of the fresher fighters, suddenly charging in, barreling into Rags in a full-body tackle. The effort sent them both to the ground, but one of them had backup still standing, and the other had Trixie.

Speaking of her, she scrambled away from the angry stallion, narrowly avoiding a hoof to her belly. "N-now let's calm down!"

"Nope." He moved with her, easily keeping up with her awkward scramble. "Gonna add some black to go with your blue." He drove a hoof down, compensating for her awkward retreat. Pain exploded as he landed a solid punch/kick (which was it when the enemy had hooves?) in Trixie's chest, knocking the air free of her. "Ain't nobody 'llowed to shout in mah ear."

Rags snarled at the mare-beating stallion, but couldn't do much for Trixie, wrestling with the pony that had crashed with him. Hooves rained down in in a violent storm, but he managed to avoid getting his head stomped. With a sharp pull, he drew his brawling partner into the path of an oncoming hoof, forcing them to stomp their own teammate. Satisfaction was fleeting as the blows kept coming. He was losing, badly.

Trixie's eyes filled with tears. She could teleport! The idea suddenly jumped into her head. She could leave it all behind and get out of there! But would she actually end up where she wanted to be? Even when she was calm, it took concentration and effort to land in the right place. There was also Rags. She'd be entirely abandoning him. She could teleport in a tizzy, show she was a coward, and leave Rags to be beaten, possibly until he was maimed or worse.

Snot running down her face, she curled a little on herself. "I'm sorry..."

"Yeah?" The stallion leered down at her. "There are ways to prove that."

A yelp drew both of their eyes. One of Rags' assailants was stepping back, a hoof to his head. There was blood escaping around where his hoof pressed. What had happened?

With a quiet noise of something sailing through the air, a rock slammed into the pony menacing trixie, catching him in the chest. He was less startled than the first one. "Bloody hell, they're throwin' rocks!" He turned away from Trixie, forgetting her instantly. "Get 'em!"

The momentary reprieve was enough for Rags to scramble to his hooves, eyeing his combatants warily. Two of them had fled, looking for the rock-equipped sniper. "I like these numbers better."

Trixie squirmed away even as she got her hooves under herself. She was standing! She was running! No, wait, that was the wrong way. Instead of fleeing the scene, she was rushing for Rags. She jumped at him, wrapping her hooves around him tightly even as he backed up a step.

The three remaining stallions laughed at the display. The one that had roughed up Trixie stepped forward with a smirk, closing the distance. "So she is yours. Look at her, ready to be saved by her shining knight or whatevers."

With a great rush of magic, she pulled both of them away from it all. Magic exploded in a shower of sparkles and a few licking flames on the ground where they had been standing, leaving the ponies with nothing to fight.

It hurt. They were traveling through sandpaper. It was one of her least skilled jumps. It was a relief when they escaped that terrible place, spilled out onto the sidewalk, but what sidewalk? Trixie could smell something cooking. No, wait, that was her. She fell from Rags, the impact putting out the spot of fire that was merrily caught on her cape.

Rags wobbled in place, blackened with the char of the terrible teleport. "The... hades was that?" He shook his head, sending bits of ash and dust flying. "Nevermind, uh, thanks. Long is probably already bookin' it." He looked left and right in quick sweeps. "And... we're on the other side of town. Where were you aimin'?"

"Away," weakly murmured Trixie from the ground. "Just... away..."

Rags clenched his teeth a moment before reaching out a hoof. Trixie winced, but he didn't hurt her. He gently ran the hoof over her cheek. "That your first fight?"

"Yeah," she weakly admitted, not moving. "I was... kinda bad, huh?"

Rags nudged her shoulder with the same hoof. "Can you sit up?" As she rolled up, he patted her down. "Don't think you broke nothin'. All we got is bruises. Coulda been worse. So, uh, thanks, right?"

Trixie smiled a little despite her mental and physical discomfort. "Why are you thanking Trixie?"

Rags booped her on the nose, pressing his hoof against it briefly. "Because she saved our rumps, even if I coulda maybe turned that around. That wasn't the plan anyway. We weren't supposed to get in a huge brawl until you were already takin' all their stuff, remember?" He glanced around, seeing very few ponies about. "This ain't a good spot of town. Let's get outta here."

Trixie started to follow him, even if her stepping was awkward and stiff. She could feel the ache of where she had been hit, her face stung and her chest was bruised. When she breathed too deep, it hurt in a different way, but normal breathing was alright, so she assumed she hadn't busted anything too badly. She shuddered as she followed Rags, thinking of the stallion that had been attacking her.

Of all the ponies, she decided he was the lowest. He punched a mare for the 'high crime' of screaming, and was... He was using abuse to get what he wanted. Trixie drove a hoof onto the sidewalk in a sudden fit of anger. She had, as a man, laughed at the idea of 'the freeze'. What kinda person would just stand there and let themselves be abused?

And then... she did it. It all happened so fast. Her shock was giving way to an increasing amount of anger. Part of her wanted to teleport back to that stallion and magic him in new and interesting ways. Rage boiled with every step. Rage and... shame. She had almost cost Rags so much. "Are you alright?" she asked with a timid smile. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Rags waved it away, continuing his steady walk. "Everyone freezes up their first real fight. Everyone. Anyone tell you otherwise, they're a damn liar." He glanced in her direction. "Once you realize, shoot, this is real. Ponies are getting hurt. I might get hurt... That ain't easy to face, especially not the first time."

"Did... you freeze?" Trixie hurried up to be at his side. The idea of even someone as big and tough looking as Rags freezing up like a deer in headlights was comforting. "How did you stop?"

"When they kicked her." One of his ears twitched as if it wanted to turn, but his bandanna kept it pinned. "My trainer, good mare. They had her pinned, that's when I started movin' again. Whooped 'em good after that."

Trixie smiled a little. "I can imagine that... I guess it was the same for me. I had to... I couldn't just run away without you."

Suddenly, Rags threw a leg over Trixie and pulled her closer. "Thanks. I didn't think of you like a, you know, student or nothin'... but yeah, thanks. That really means somethin'." He let her go. "Just, next time? Maybe practice that jumping thing you did. That was almost as bad as the fight."

Trixie laughed nervously, a hoof behind her head. "I'm still practicing it. It's a lot smoother when I'm alone and not freaking out, promise."

Author's Note

Yay action scenes! How'd I do? Were there any plotholes lurking beneath the typos?

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