Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

It took roughly an hour to get to Ponyville from Canterlot by train. A little less if it was a particularly fast train such as a royal express.

That hour was turning out to be the tensest period in Twilight and her friends’ lives.

The purple mare and her fellow element bearers were huddled together in a compartment along with Shining Armor, the members of Spirit, and Blue Bolt. Most all of them were deathly silent, and the stress in the air was palpable. Some were able to internalize their anxious thoughts, but others were antsier and unrestful.

Fluttershy in particular seemed like she could barely keep still. She was shifting her weight around almost constantly, with a pale look on her face all the while. “This… this can’t be happening. Is this our fault?”

“No, Fluttershy, it ain’t our fault.” Applejack said, making efforts to keep calm enough to ease the panic in the air.

“I don’t see how it isn’t.” Rainbow chimed in flatly. She had a grim expression on her face and a bit of a waver to her eyes. “That creep obviously did this on purpose just to get back at us.”

Pinkie groaned and dragged her hooves down the sides of her head as she vibrated in her seat. “Are we sure we can’t go any faster?” She whined. “We have to get there before anyone gets hurt!” She said before suddenly growing pale and gasping. “Oh my gosh… what about the Cake’s?! They don’t know anything about fighting monsters!”

“Oh no…” Applejack widened her eyes at her friend’s revelation. “What if they are tryin’ to get back at us? What if they go after our friends and family?!” She lifted up from her seat slightly, thoughts of her brother and Granny Smith racing through her head.

“Everyone settle down.” Glimmer Shine spoke up and gestured for the group to sit back and stay calm. “We’re not gonna let them hurt anyone. Once we get there, we can figure out what’s going on and how to handle this.”

“Glimmer’s right. The guards in town might not be trained for this kind of thing, but they can hold their own. I know that they would do anything they can to protect the townsfolk.” Shining Armor added.

“I just wish we had more numbers to work with.” Blue Bolt chimed in tensely before looking up to the yellow stallion and his team. “Why didn’t you guys bring Raincloud? She could really help here.”

Before any of the four monster hunters could speak up, Rainbow Dash beat them to the punch. “Because we don’t trust her enough for something this important.”

“Yeah. She ran out on us when we needed her to have our backs before, who knows what she would do if we left her unattended now?” Sunspot added.

Blue Bolt sighed and lowered his head as he saw the group’s point. “I guess we are going to be too busy to keep an eye on her.”

“I think a better question is why are you here, Blue?” Sparkplug asked. “The princesses are going after Dusk! Shouldn’t you be with them?” She suggested with a hint of concern in her voice.

The stallion merely sighed as he cast an uneasy glance out of the window at the darkened horizon outside. “I offered to go, but they wanted me here with you. They said they could handle it.”

“I hope they’re alright.” Rarity fretted.

“Hey…” Twilight spoke up, causing the white mare and many of the others to look over. She had a soft look of confidence in her eyes that swiftly garnered their full attention. “If the princesses say they can handle it, I believe them, and you should too. That means they trust us to take care of this so they can focus on Dusk. We need to be strong right now… if not for each other, or for them, then for the ponies that are in danger.”

It took a few moments for the unicorn’s uplifting words to spread a feeling of confidence in the group, but once the spread started, the atmosphere swiftly changed from anxious worry to steely resolve.

“You’re right, Twilight. We’re going to make these creeps sorry they ever messed with our friends.” Rainbow Dash smirked confidently.

“Yeah! We’re gonna show those pointy-toothed meanies who’s boss!” Pinkie cheered.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to roast some vamps!” Sunspot chuckled eagerly.

Soon, the train car was filled with confident cheers and determined smiles.

Meanwhile, Twilight leaned up against the corner of her seat and the wall of the train and stared out the nearby window blankly. Her eyes softened as her mind shifted to the two alicorns and the grave threat they were facing.

Princess… Please be ok.

Elsewhere, soaring across the night skies in a race to reach their destination as soon as possible, Celestia and Luna were mostly silent as they thought about what was waiting for them in New Hoofshire.

Would there be another massacre? Was there even a city left for them to get to? Any number of maddeningly dreadful thoughts were bouncing through their heads, and although they hadn’t communicated much on their hurried flight, occasional glances between each other told them that they were both doing the same thing.

Luna clutched the silver dagger in her hoof, keeping it close to her chest and gripping it tightly against the chill wind surging past. She glanced down at it before looking over to her sister, who was flying slightly ahead.

“You know, it has just occurred to me how spectacularly foolish this decision may be.” The blue alicorn said, breaking the long and dreadful stretch of silence between them.

Celestia turned her head back to see her sister wearing an uneasy frown. “Only just now, sister?” She gave a hollow chuckle as she faced ahead again. “I realized it as soon as we left. Still… we have no choice.”

If they were being honest, they both knew that this was a trap. Dusk wasn't stupid after all. However, they truly had no choice, not when innocent lives were at stake. Twilight and the others needed all the help they could get in Ponyville, and they weren’t about to endanger anyone’s lives by asking them to fight Dusk when they weren’t all together.

“I know,” Luna replied somberly. “I merely wish that this wasn't a one-way trip.”

This made the older mare look back again, only to pause slightly at what she saw. Luna had a sort of sad look in her eyes as she gazed at her sister.

“You think too little of us if you think this is a one-way trip,” Celestia said. “We will be fine. Although… I feel I should remind you that you can head back if you have reservations. This is my fight, not yours.”

“I never said anything about leaving you, Tia,” Luna said sincerely. “However, I feel I should remind you that Dusk has defeated both of us in combat.”

Celestia didn’t look back. Instead, she stared at the horizon ahead with steely eyes and mouth set in a grim line. “This is true… but he hasn’t beaten both of us together yet.”

Luna had nothing to say to that. Part of her admired how optimistic her sister was in the face of such dire odds, but another part of her couldn’t let go of the dreadful pit in her gut.

Eventually, they could spot their destination coming into view in the distance. New Hoofshire was a decently sized hub of civilization, and one of the last settlements in view of Canterlot mountain, though only just barely.

The city was roughly arranged in a circle similar to Ponyville, though it had a square in the center that was reserved for municipal buildings. Being among the more urban settlements in Equestria, most of the buildings were actually made of cement and bricks, and even the few structures made of stone and hay were modeled and painted in such a way to blend in with the rest of the city.

Celestia noticed several windows and lamp posts that were aglow. There were no flames, and no bodies lining the streets. This was a good sign, though she still wore a troubled expression as she looked down and noticed a gathering of ponies on the very edge of town.

“It looks like the guards have rounded up some of the townsfolk,” Celestia noted.

“Thank goodness they are still alive,” Luna said. However, she raised an eyebrow as she noticed that most of them were all staring in a single direction. “Perhaps they can tell us where Dusk is?”

With a nod of agreement, Celestia started to descend toward the ground. Luna quickly followed after her sister, and soon enough the two of them approached the small crowd on the ground.

Many confused ponies were doing their best to weather the cold as they stared at the guards ahead of them and muttered among themselves. Some of them wore pale faces and trembling eyes, seemingly indicating that they had run into the cause for their sudden gathering.

One pony looked up and noticed the two alicorns coming in for a landing, and as more and more of the crowd shifted their gaze up and recognized the royal sisters, they all parted like a school of fish.

A unicorn guard, most likely the highest ranking officer present at the moment judging from his armor, turned and saw the two rulers of Equestria making their way through the crowd and up to the makeshift barricade they had created to protect the civilians.

“Your Highnesses… I didn’t expect you to be the ones to answer our signal.” The unicorn said, stiffening his posture and giving a brief salute before returning to all fours.

Celestia glanced at the guard and flashed a slight smile before her eyes were drawn ahead. The street was completely empty, save for a lone figure sitting a fair distance away. A lone figure with glowing red eyes, making it easier to make him out against the dark buildings.

It was Dusk, and he wasn't alone. There was another silhouette on the ground in front of him, but this one wasn't moving, and it was far too tall to be a pony.

“What’s the situation?” She asked, somewhat urgently, as she returned her gaze to the unicorn guard, keeping ready to react if she so much as spotted a hint of undue movement from the pale stallion.

The guard glanced behind him in a paranoid manner for a moment before looking to the alicorn sisters with a bit of a confused expression. “He walked into town about half an hour ago with some kinda bug monster. We kept our distance and started getting folks away, but he just ignored us.”

“That body he’s sitting by… is that the monster of which you speak?” Luna asked, lifting a curious eyebrow. She thought she recognized the deformed shape and brown coloring of one of the monsters Dusk summoned back in Unicorn Ridge, but this one seemed far more docile than she would have expected.

“Yes.” The guard turned to look at the distant pony with a wary stare. “But he killed the thing right after he got here. Then he sat down and started drawing something on the ground with its blood. He’s been like that up until now.”

“And he hasn’t harmed anyone?” Celestia probed, receiving a head shake from the guard. “No demands? No threats?”

“No ma’am. He hasn’t left that spot.”

Celestia didn’t like that. Not one bit. She knew that Dusk was planning something, but she couldn’t fathom what it was. Even when he was her student, she always felt like she could never get in his head or predict what he was thinking. She suppressed a shudder as she thought about all the dark desires he kept from her from the very start.

“If he’s drawing something on the ground, we must assume it is magical in nature.” Luna cautioned.

“Yes… the question is, what kind of magic?” Celestia tensed her jaw and exhaled through her nose sharply. She thought for a moment before turning to the guard once more. “How many ponies are still unaccounted for?”

“We’re still evacuating as we speak. Most of the buildings in the immediate vicinity got cleared out pretty fast, but it’s been hard to get folks out without being seen. I’d say there’s still a few dozen in a block radius… probably more further away.” He explained, a twinge of concern in his voice. The princesses could sense that he, much like all the guards present, were stressing out underneath their disciplined exterior from having such a cold-blooded monster so close to their fellow ponies.

Celestia stiffened her expression and looked to the unicorn with steely eyes, causing him to straighten his posture ever so slightly. “Get the civilians to a safe distance, and tell your men still in the city to get as many ponies out as fast and as discreetly as they can. If something goes horribly wrong, send word back to Cadence and run for your lives.”

There was a moment of hesitance before the stallion nodded. “Y-yes Princess.” He said before turning to the other guards. “You heard her, let’s get these ponies back, on the double!”

With that, all the guards saluted their leader before springing into action. Like a diligent dog herding sheep, they corralled the anxious crowd and slowly but surely got them moving out away from the town.

The unicorn guard started walking away to join them, though he stopped for a moment and stood like a statue briefly before turning around. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna…”

Both alicorns turned to see the hardened stallion wearing a soft frown and a concerned look in his eyes.

“Stay safe.” He said after some effort to get over talking so freely with his rulers.

The two sisters couldn’t help but smile, and Celestia gave him a confident nod. “Thank you.”

With another salute, the guard was off, leaving them to themselves and the task ahead of them once more.

Turning back around, Celestia pulled her mouth tight as she stared at the lone figure down the street. Somehow, a twinge of fear was working its way through her body, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. Still, she eased the tension in her limbs by thinking of everyone that was relying on her to win this fight at any cost.

“Sister… Do you recall the last time we almost died fighting a single opponent?” Celestia asked, more curious and lighthearted than the blue alicorn was expecting.

Luna gave the matter some thought before wrinkling her expression. “Goodness… I believe that was a few millennia ago. Wasn't it Discord?”

“Ah, yes… now I remember.” Celestia nodded to herself, her expression still flat and her gaze still fixed on the pale stallion. She turned to her sister and softened her features ever so slightly, and for the briefest moment, as they locked eyes, they both understood just what was about to happen. “Shall we… for old times’ sake?”

Luna felt a pang in her heart as her eyes trembled ever so slightly. She took an even breath and leveled her gaze forward, her expression shifting and hardening as she tightened her grip on her silver weapon. “For old times’ sake.”

And with that, they started walking.

Meanwhile, back with Twilight’s group, tensions lifted as the train neared their home. Mere hours ago, the six mares were looking forward to the time that they could finally return to Ponyville, but now the sight of the sparsely lit town only filled them with dread.

As they pulled into the station, everyone was already on their hooves and ready to go. Twilight and the others had silver daggers and strobes, while Shining Armor carried a silver shortsword in a sheath around his hips.

Blue Bolt was standing near Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, offering them some comforting confidence if they looked his way. On the inside though, he was just as tense as they were.

The members of Spirit had all of their gear ready to go, and they were ready and willing to do whatever it took to protect their fellow ponies.

Once the train came to a full stop, Twilight and her friends led the anxious rush toward the exit. They could already spot a few guards waiting for them on the otherwise empty platform as they stepped out into the night air.

One of the guards walked up to the group and saluted as Shining Armor stepped out.

“What are we looking at here?” Shining asked immediately, voicing the urgent tension of the group before they could explode into a series of panicked voices all asking the same question at once.

The guard seemed to understand the unease the group was feeling, as he and his men were also sporting grave expressions. “Sir… I’m afraid that we’ve been overrun. A group of those pale ponies came and attacked a few civilians before splitting off. We’ve tried to push them back, but they’re dug in… and many of them have hostages.”

“Hostages?” Twilight inched forward and let her jaw drop as she stared at the guard.

“Oh my word…” Rarity brought a hoof up to her mouth partway.

Shining Armor drew air between his teeth as he realized how bad things were. He struggled with his racing thoughts for a moment before coming back into focus and looking to the guard with a more serious expression. “How many are there? And how many hostages?”

“Our estimates put their numbers at around two dozen, and they have about as many hostages put together.” The guard explained. “Most of them are holed up in town hall, but they also have positions in three other locations.”

“What other locations?” Rainbow Dash chimed in impatiently.

“Sweet Apple Acres, for one.” The guard said, much to the horror of a certain orange mare.

“Sweet Celestia… No…” Applejack’s face lost all color as she stared ahead blankly. She nearly stumbled to the side, her legs growing weak at the mere mention of her family home. Glitterball and Rarity helped steady her and offered her what little comfort and assurances that they could.

“Where else?” Shining Armor prodded grimly.

The guard hesitated and cast his eyes around the group uneasily as he saw the orange mare’s reaction. He could tell that they wouldn’t like what he had to say next. “A smaller group of them have apparently dug in over at Sugarcube Corner. Unfortunately, the Cake’s were still closing up at the time. We’ve also gotten reports of a group of them out on the outskirts of town by Ms. Fluttershy’s home.”

Hearing this, Pinkie immediately widened her eyes and gasped. “Oh no, it’s worse than I thought!”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy felt a rush of alarm as she thought about all of her animals back at home. However, it took her a few moments to remember the worst part, whereupon her pupils shrank. “Oh my gosh, Lyra! I almost forgot she was watching my house for me!”

“Has anyone gotten hurt yet?” Twilight asked, her soft eyes holding a bit of desperate determination to them.

“Other than a few of our men in critical condition from the first scuffle and some folks getting roughed up, not that we know of. We can’t get close enough to confirm the status of every hostage… they’ve threatened to start killing ponies if we advance. We managed to kill one or two of them before they split off, but they were just too strong and too fast.” The guard explained regretfully.

“We need to get in those places and get close enough without them hurting anyone.” Glimmer Shine stated before exhaling sharply. “I think we need to split up if we’re going to have any chance of saving everyone.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Agreed. Question is, who do we send where?” He looked around at the group with a conflicted expression.

Applejack stepped forward. “I’m goin’ to the farm, no if’s or and’s about it. I’ll take any help I can get, though.”

“And I’m going to save the Cake’s.” Pinkie stated. “But… I don’t know how much I can do by myself…” She deflated slightly as she fidgeted with her strobe.

“No one’s going by themselves,” Glitterball said. “In fact, I think one of us should go to each location. That way, each group can keep in touch with each other at all times if things change or someone needs more help.” She suggested, looking to her teammates and tapping a hoof to her ear pointedly.

Sparkplug smiled at the unicorn’s quick thinking. “Good idea, Glitter.”

Twilight bit her lip in thought briefly before exhaling and raising her head. “You said that the largest group of them is at town hall?” She asked, looking to the guard and receiving a nod in response. “Ok. I think that Blue Bolt and I should go down that way.” She suggested, unsure of whether or not that would be wasting their most useful tool, not that she thought of the pegasus as a tool.

“Works for me.” Blue Bolt said. “With how fast I can fly now, I can be across town in a few minutes if anyone needs help.”

“I’ll come with you.” Glitterball volunteered, moving closer to the purple mare and their resident slayer.

“I think it’s safe to say we should keep even teams.” Sunspot chimed in. “In that case, I’ll head with Fluttershy to go save Lyra.”

Rainbow Dash immediately stepped closer to her yellow friend. “Me too.” She stated. Fluttershy was just glad to not go it alone. After all, she put Lyra in that situation to begin with, so she felt responsible enough to go no matter what.

However, before discussions could continue, Pinkie groaned anxiously and darted her head off toward the town, seemingly contemplating something briefly before bolting off. “I’m sorry, but I need to go help the Cake’s!” She called behind her.

“Pinkie, wait up!” Shining Armor reached after the pink mare before sighing in frustration and taking a few steps outside of the group. He then turned back to the others and singled out the gray mare standing among her teammates. “Sparkplug, you’re with me. Let’s go after her.”

Sparkplug seemed a bit nervous to be called into action so directly, but she nodded stiffly before following the stallion. “O-ok!”

“Stay safe! We’ll keep in touch!” Shining Armor said, briefly turning to look at Twilight in particular before running off to catch up with Pinkie.

“Guess that leaves us with you, Applejack.” Glimmer Shine said as he glanced between the orange mare and Rarity, who was the only other unassigned member of the group other than him.

Rarity stepped closer to her friend and flashed a reassuring smile. “They’ll be fine, darling. We’ll make sure of it.”

“Thanks… both of you.” Applejack said with a warm smile tugging at her lips. “I couldn’t ask for better ponies to get in a tussle with.”

“I’m… not so certain about that, but I will do what I can.” Rarity waggled her strobe, unable to hide a bit of a nervous jitter in her limbs. Glimmer Shine seemed anxious as well, but he was hiding it better than most behind a wall of determination.

“Alright, everypony! Let’s move it! We’ve got a town to save!” Twilight rallied her friends with a repeated wave of her hoof. Soon enough, her group split off into their respective teams and galloped toward their destinations, hoping to reach them in time to stop anyone from getting hurt.
.
..
…

“Pinkie!”

A voice called from behind the pink mare as she sprinted through town at a dizzying pace. She dug her hind hooves into the dirt and skidded to a halt, leaving a bit of a rut in the ground as she turned her head to see Shining Armor and Sparkplug following after her.

The stallion came to a stop before her and panted briefly, having been given a thorough workout just to keep up with her. Sparkplug seemed even worse off as she lurched to a stop behind Shining.

“You can’t just…” Shining lifted a hoof to signal that he needed a minute to breathe. “You can’t just run off on your own like that. This is a dangerous situation!”

Pinkie frowned a bit. “I know. I’m sorry, but… I couldn’t stand still any longer while the Cake’s were in danger!”

“Well, we’re here now. The least we can do is help you out.” Shining said with a slight smile. “Right, Sparkplug?”

The pair turned and paused in surprise as they saw the gray mare looking like she was about to keel over. Her tongue was lolling out of her mouth and her legs were wobbling as she panted heavily.

“How… do you people… do this so often?” Sparkplug muttered, utterly exhausted. It wasn't necessarily the distance they ran, though they were in the market area already. With how fast Pinkie was going, they might as well have just run a marathon. And while Shining Armor was a royal guard, captain thereof, in fact, Sparkplug had no formal training whatsoever to help spare her now combusting lungs and leg muscles.

Pinkie felt a little bad from forcing the gray mare through such an ordeal. Still, she allowed her expression to brighten as she looked to her friends, who were willing to risk their lives just to help her and her second family. “Let’s go.” She suggested before taking off again, thankfully at a bit of a slower pace.

Shining Armor quickly followed after, and after some recovering, Sparkplug begrudgingly followed as well.

A few minutes of trotting later, the trio could spot Sugarcube Corner coming into view up ahead. The first thing they noticed was a small gathering of guards and other shocked onlookers camped out a healthy distance from the building.

Pinkie Pie immediately rushed up to the first guard she could reach and got far closer than he was perhaps used to before flying off the handle with a series of questions that almost blurred together.

“What’s going on?! Are the Cake’s ok?! How many are in there?! What are they doing?!”

The guard gently pushed the frantic mare back to a more respectable distance and tried to gather the high-pitched gibberish she was spewing into words. He started to ask her to stay back when he noticed Captain Shining Armor of all ponies walking over alongside a uniformed member of the newly christened royal monster-hunting team. Pinkie wasn't just here to worry, she was here to get things done.

“Erm… It’s hard to say how many are inside. There are at least three that we’ve seen. As for the Cake’s,” He paused uncomfortably, which only made the pink mare’s heart pound faster, “we know Cupcake is still alive, as they’ve threatened us with her life and the lives of some customers a few times when we tried to get close. We haven’t seen Carrot Cake since we’ve gotten here.”

“What about the upper floors?” Shining asked, glancing up to the colorful mess that housed Pinkie’s living quarters. “A team of pegasi could get up there and sneak inside.”

“We thought of that already, sir. Unfortunately, it seems as though one of them is up there keeping an eye on things.” The guard explained, turning along with the others to look up at the nearest window. It was hard to make out in the dark, but the ponies could see a silhouette moving away from the window in Pinkie’s room.

“You said that they were threatening to kill Mrs. Cake and some customers if you got close? How many customers were in there when everything went down?” Sparkplug asked, trying to get every piece to this delicate puzzle before they came up with a solution.

Before the guard could speak, one of the ponies off to the side perked up a bit and took a step forward. It was an earth pony mare with lime green fur and striped orange and yellow mane. Pinkie recognized her as one of their regulars at the Corner.

“There’s two!” The mare chimed in before quieting down and looking a bit sheepish. Once she saw that everyone was putting their attention on her, she took a shaky breath before continuing. “I was in there with a friend of mine. Other than us and the Cake’s, there was one other stallion. I stepped out right before those monsters came and forced their way in. Please, you have to save her and the others!”

Seeing another pony in as much distress as she was, Pinkie forced a calmer expression to her face and even put on a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Team Spirit is on the case!” She gave Sparkplug a forceful pat on the back to draw attention to the gray mare and her very official-looking tactical vest.

After lurching forward a bit and cringing, Sparkplug smiled wider than was probably necessary. “T-that’s right. No vampires are going to hurt anyone on my watch.” She chuckled nervously, hoping that the mare didn’t realize that she was effectively the rookie of the team.

“Your friend is in good hooves. We handle this kind of thing all the time.” Pinkie assured.

“R-really?” The mare asked, looking at the trio all dewy-eyed.

“You bet.” Shining Armor nodded confidently. “Just keep back and let us work our magic.”

The green pony and even some of the others watching all shifted from fearful stares to excited smiles. “Thank you!” She called after the trio as they walked toward the building, offering them a wave along with the gathered crowd so as to not make any excess noise and alert the pale ponies inside.

After smiling and waving at the crowd behind them for a short ways, Sparkplug turned to her two comrades and leaned in closer to them. “Guys, do we have a plan? Because all of those ponies think we have a plan.”

Shining Armor pulled his mouth back stiffly and took in a whistling breath before looking ahead at the proud bakery. “It’s going to be tricky getting in there without them noticing. We can’t give them time to react, or they might hurt someone.”

“They’re probably watching the front door.” Pinkie pointed out, a bit disheartened.

“Upstairs would probably be our best bet, but we can’t get up there. Even if we could, there’s a guy watching the windows up there.”

“We can get up there.” Pinkie stated casually.

Shining skewed a brow. “Really?”

The pink mare nodded plainly.

“How?”

Pinkie merely pointed a hoof toward the side of the building. “Simple. I have a shortcut down from my room. I usually use it to sneak out if it’s too busy downstairs, but it can go both ways.”

The stallion lingered on the odd factoid the pink mare just laid on him for a moment before choosing to just go along with it. “Oookay… That takes care of getting up there, and we could probably take out that guy in your room if we had a distraction.”

“How are we gonna distract a vampire?” Pinkie ventured.

Sparkplug twitched her brows downward before raising them slightly. “Actually, I think I can take care of that.”

“You can?” Pinkie asked, drawing in an excited breath. “I knew you were good at this stuff, Sparkplug!”

“Uh… thanks.” Sparkplug said. “Although, you should probably wait until we don’t die horribly to start throwing around cheer.”

Hearing a sudden crash and a high-pitched yell from inside the building, the trio turned their heads toward the Corner with mounting concern. They couldn’t identify the source of the crash or who the voice belonged to, but they could hear a faint animalistic growl before that too faded into uneasy silence.

“Come on. We need to hurry and get in there.” Shining Armor suggested. The two mares nodded before Pinkie led them around the side of the building and toward the back. They could only hope that they weren’t too late to save those trapped inside.