"Get back here!" A guard shouted as he struggled to stand after running into a stack of barrels.

A hooded figure kept running while breathing heavily. With impressive athletic skills, they weaved through countless ponies, bumping into a few of them in the process.

"Hey!" A mare yelled angrily as she was shoved away.

The figure purposefully rammed into a market stand to collapse it as they continued to sprint. Visibly searching the vicinity, they made a sharp turn to run into an alley.

"Halt!" Another guard suddenly came out the other end.

With a sigh, the figure leaped and kicked off the walls as they jumped over the guard. Landing with a roll, they instantly started to run away again.

"What the? How did he do that?" The guard was both awed and confused.

"Snap out of it soldier!" Another guard slid out of the alley as he smacked the other as they ran off.

Sprinting at full speed, the figure tried to make a sharp turn as they brought out a claw and slammed it into the ground, scratching the surface. Sufficiently slowed down, they took off, only to be met with a hoof to the face.

"Ugh!" They grunted and held a claw to their face.

"Criminal Gilda! You're under arrest for assault! Please make this easier!" He declared loudly.

She replied by lowering her body, in a fighting stance. A small, but noticeable pressure came from her stare.

Taking the sign of aggression, the guard raised a spear as others started to pour in.

"You are severely outnumbered! Do not resist!" He shouted the command they slowly started to push her.

Trying to run back, she stopped as several more guards, along with two panting guards came out. Looking around, she couldn't find an exit. With an exhausted sigh, she started to dig around her robe.

"Stand down, Miss!" The main guard shouted again.

"Oh, fuck off!" She replied angrily and raised her claw, showing only the middle talon.

In an instant, the guards tried to rush in, only to be met with a cloud of smoke.

"Where is she?!"

"Get her!"

"I got her!"

"It's me you moron!"

Using the chaos, Gilda started to run away again. Punching another guard in the face, she pushed them away and ran off. Right as she got out of the smoke, she rolled to the side as an arrow whished by.

"OW! Who the buck just shot me?!" A voice called out.

"Ah! Sorry!" The one who shot the arrow focused on apologizing.

Only for him to get punched so hard he rotated in the air. Grabbing the bow, she rolled away to dodge another arrow and held it up as a spear came down on her. Grunting slightly under the pressure, she laid further down and rotated, swiping the guard on his hooves. Picking up the unconscious archer, she held him in front of herself.

"Don't shoot! I repeat! Stand down! Don't shoot!" Another of the guards shouted out loud.

With the smoke starting to disappear, one by one, the guards started to emerge. Several dozens of eyes all stared at Gilda as she carefully took steps back. The bow still tightly held in her grip as a tense look appeared on her face.

"Fucking hell. What am I supposed to do here?" She mumbled to herself as dozens of different actions appeared.

Yet, she couldn't find an escape.

"That was the last one he gave to me." She grumbled and looked around.

With the guard starting to close in, she chose the barbaric way and took an arrow from the archer. With the tip close to his neck, every other guards stopped as they stared.

"Alright! We understand! Just don't hurt her!" One of the guards shouted.

Gilda raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the clearly male archer.

Smacking the one who shouted in the back of the head, a more experienced looking guard stepped forward.

"Weapons down!" He yelled as the guards reluctantly lowered their weapons to the ground. "Gilda! I'm First Lieutenant Heavy Hooves ! We are no longer holding weapons! Please let go of him!" He shouted from a distance.

Nervously looking around, she couldn't make up a plan.

"Don't come closer!" She shouted back and took another step back.

With a quick glance, she noticed a wall that was slightly taller than her.

"Alright, yeah, that works." She mumbled and took another step back.

"Gilda! We need to capture you! But, we also need our archer alive! So! Maybe we can come to a middle ground!" The lieutenant yelled and tried to take a step, only to stop once he saw Gilda glaring at him.

For him, she was absolutely ready to kill the archer.

"It's simple, I'm going to leave! And, I'll let this one live!" She yelled a fake threat as a bead of sweat ran down her side.

"Gilda! You're currently a wanted criminal in the eyes of the law! If you come with us, we can talk this out!" He still tried to get something.

"What do you want?!" She yelled and almost reached the wall.

Suddenly hearing flapping behind her, her already heightened senses took over. With a grunt, she rotated and threw the archer at a pegasus guard and took flight. Using the bow, she smacked another pegasus and with a burst of speed, went over the wall.

Nocking the arrow on the bow, she took a random shot. And as luck would have it, it hit the third and last pegasus on the leg as she went below the wall.

With a few seconds for the guards to climb over the wall, some looked down as the rest started to tend to the injured. With a dissatisfied sound, the lieutenant sighed as he jumped back down.

"Too late, she's gone over. Move it guards! Two will carry one injured! Now move!" He started to shout orders.

"Sir!" Another guard ran up whilst panting.

"Sergeant Copper? Report." Hooves stated.

"We got a message from the Crown." He said and took off his helmet. "Gilda was cleared of all crimes." Copper, now revealed to be mare, spoke.

"What?" Hooves was confused.

Gilda, despite not exactly being overwhelming, was the slippery sort. She had the athletics to back her up, along with tools and items that an assassin would usually have. If the history books are to be believed.

"She had over a thousand bits on her! What do you mean she's cleared?!" He couldn't believe it.

"I don't know Lt. I only just got the letter." Copper replied and held up a letter.

"This is unbelievable." He muttered as he read the letter a few more times.

Whilst this conversation was going on, Gilda had her claws dug into the dirt and stone as she caught her breath. With a shake of her head, she threw the hood off and took a deeper breath.

"Seriously, all this for some fucking plant. Wait, when did I even start saying fuck instead of buck?" She grumbled to herself. "I guess, I'll actually visit Ponyville if he asks next time." She said and sighed as she started to plan her flight path.

*Whish*

"Uph." Instantly pulling her body back, she stuck to the cliffside under the wall, successfully hiding in the shadows as a few pegasi flew by. "Phew, close." She said and held up the bow. "Huh, this feels kinda right." She muttered and finally let go, gliding through the air.

In the royal castle, Celestia's private chambers. Two alicorns were having a conversation. The tea was letting out a fragrant scent as the air sent a nice breeze through the opened balcony.

"Cadence, could you repeat that?" Celestia said with a slight nervousness to her tone.

"Yes?" Cadence replied. "Shining said he sent quite a few teams to capture her." She explained as she felt that something was wrong.

*Bang*

"SISTER!" Luna yelled as she slammed the door open. "Why are there wanted posters of Gilda around town?" She asked as she slammed a wanted poster on the table.

"Eleven hundred bits. That's quite worrisome. What's the charge?" Celestia asked.

"Assault, I believe. I think she broke the legs of quite a few residents in Ponyville. Also theft, though, that's under investigation." Cadence replied as she thought back on the report her coltfriend told her about.

"Oh, for fuck sake." Luna groaned loudly as she dragged a hoof over her face.

"Princess!" One Shining Armor ran in through the door. "Princess! -es?" He added on as he saw Luna. "Hi Cady." He gave a short greeting as he stepped closer. "Why is the criminal Gilda cleared of all charges? My guards were about to capture her." He stated.

"Well, Captain, you see, we've already talked this over with the one responsible for Gilda currently. Though, if you want to talk to him yourself, I won't stop you." Celestia said calmly.

"Celly? Is this really wise?" Luna asked.

"I don't see why not. It's not like Remedy would kill over a conversation." She simply stated.

"Kill?" Cadence asked form the side.

"Fine, I'll gather my forces and head over. Where does he live?" Shining was adamant as an attack force plan was already etched out.

"Captain, your forces aren't trained enough to have a fight with him. As reliable as you are, Remedy is on an entirely different level when it comes to combat skills." Luna interfered on the side.

"Wait, I don't get it. Who's Remedy? And is he so strong that he can scare you two?" Cadence asked again.

"Well, when it comes to it, I'm not entirely sure I could take him in a one against one." Celestia murmured as she imagined how the fight could go. "He's certainly strong enough to escape my magic, I'll tell you that."

"What?"

"Unbelievable."

"Believe what you want, he's not one to be defeated as easily as you may assume. Not to mention the help he would get from both Moon and Gilda. He's experienced enough to make the two move exactly where and when they need to be." Luna gave her thoughts and gave a sigh. "If you really intend to go, ask either Twilight, or one of her friends in Ponyville. But I'll warn you. Don't, under any circumstances, go on the offensive against him. You will be dead before you even know it." She warned and left.

"Princess?" Shining turned to Celestia for confirmation.

"Luna is correct." She gave the verdict. "Remedy far outscales your guards in both strength and skill. Although I'm not entirely sure whether he could take the entirety of the royal guard, he will make sure to take at least ninety percent of your forces to the grave before falling. Then, as Luna had said, he has help, on a level enough to rival him." She warned.

Cadence took a nervous glance between the two as an interest started to rise.

"May I visit?" She innocently asked.

"Cady!" Shining was instantly against the idea.

With them going into a potential fight with an incredibly strong opponent, he was worried.

"I don't see why not." Celestia was happy on the other hoof. "As long as you don't create conflict, you'll find him good company."

"Princess!" Shining was shocked a bit.

"You'll see Shining Armor, he's a good stallion. Though, for his backstory, that's something you'll have to hear from himself." She said calmly as she took a sip from the now lukewarm tea. "Hmm, it's still not as good as the one he makes." She mumbled to herself. "Well, off you go. You wouldn't want to travel in the night, would you?"

"But-"

"It's fine dear, you heard what they said. Just don't start a fight." Cadence said with a peck on his cheek before walking out.

Still hesitant, Shining Armor reluctantly accepted the proposition. If what Celestia and Luna said are true, he shouldn't have to worry over much.

With that thought over his mind, he gave a small bow to Celestia before leaving.

"Wait, am I talking to somepony's parent or something?" He muttered the question to himself as he left.

"Eugh." Light groaned after cracking her neck.

Hearing the painful pops, Blueblood turned to her with a worried look. "Are you sure that's healthy? Those sounded painful." He asked slowly.

"Eh, it's fine. I've been cracking my bones since I was a filly." She replied casually.

"That's not the part I'm worried about." He stated.

"I'm more worried about you." She said and leaned closer. "You were sorta freaking out about visiting last night. Are you anticipating a test or something?" She asked with a teasing voice.

"It's, uhh, how do I explain it. He gave me an, assignment of sorts. One talk, and he pointed out almost every single one of my problems." Blueblood was, admittedly, nervous about talking to Floral once again. "Well, what he said allowed me to actually talk with you." He said with a smile.

Light gave a chuckle in response. "I'm sure whatever happens, you'll come out just fine." She reassured him with a kiss.

Watching the two talk, Twilight was getting increasingly annoyed as she sunk further into her seat. Even the softness of the carriage the crown gave them couldn't help her awkward situation.

"Is this really my life now? Watching you two flirt with each other?" She asked with an annoyed expression.

"Ah, sorry Twilight." Light replied bashfully.

"If you're so jealous, why don't you get a date of your own?" Blueblood asked genuinely.

Although he would never admit it, Blueblood truly didn't see a reason. Twilight was, strictly speaking, attractive. Already confirmed to be quite successful in life, quite a positive attitude for most things, does actually have a cute side. There isn't exactly anything that would deem her undesirable to the average pony, let alone those of a higher standing. Though, Blueblood figured that she probably wouldn't find most of them to be a romantical interest whatsoever.

"I just don't get why she'd go for a jerk like you." Twilight was rather blunt with her words. "No offence to you, Light. Full offence to Blueblood." She added calmly.

"Wow, I'm so glad." Blueblood was not amused.

"Come on you two, cheer up. We can't go to Remedy's place with all these angry faces, can we?" Light intervened. "Besides, this is a job visit. We must appear professional." She added with a determined face.

"Heh, you're really cute when you're like that." Blueblood didn't hide his feelings at all as he squished Light's face gently with a big smile.

"Ugh." Twilight groaned for the nth time.

She'd been watching this go on for quite some time by now.

"Bluey!" Light complained with fake annoyance.

Seeing how Twilight was acting, Blueblood decided to hit a sore spot. Leaning in, he went in for a deep kiss as pure silence filled the carriage. After an excruciatingly annoying eight seconds for Twilight as she looked away with a frown, Blueblood finally let Light go.

"I, uh, um, uhh." Light couldn't form a sentence as her face slowly started to turn tomato.

Taking another look at Twilight, Blueblood gave a smirk. "Jealous?"

"Of you? Never." Twilight wasn't willing to admit so easily.

"We'll see." Blueblood gave an ominous sounding reply with a bright smile as he looked out the window.

Twilight just wished to leave the carriage as quickly as possible, or die on the spot. Either one worked for her.

"Whoo." One Derpy let out a deep breath as she tried to hype herself up. "Come on, Derpy. You got this. Just, go in and apologize. It's nothing too hard." She muttered to herself and looked into the forest.

Immediately becoming scared, she instantly started to reconsider her decision.

"Yeah, maybe tomorrow?" She talked to the air.

"Derps?" A rough voice called out.

"Eep!" Startled, Derpy instantly turned to the voice. "Rainbow?"

"Yeah, it's me. What're you doing outside of the Everfree?" She asked as Fluttershy emerged from behind her.

"Hi, Derpy." Fluttershy greeted softly.

"Hey, Fluttershy." She greeted back. "Um, I need to go in and apologize, but." She couldn't quite finish her words as she glance at the forest.

"Oh! You must be talking about Remedy." Rainbow realized. "Well come on then, we know where they live." She declared and practically dragged Derpy in.

"Um, not to be rude but, the entrance is more to the right." Fluttershy spoke up.

"Psht, I knew that." Rainbow was quick to reply as she quickly changed directions.

Author's Note

Aight, I know this one is a bit shorter than usual, but I have a reason if you read further.

Come on, you can see it right?

Uploading that image took me way longer than it should have. About an hour of struggle. Anyways, that's supposed to our protagonist, if you couldn't tell. Which I don't blame you for. It was about halfway in that I realized, maybe I should've went for a bigger body. But, what's done is done. You could just take it as him in his teenage years. Lmao.

Anyways, thanks for reading!