Canterlot Knights

"Okay, so I've heard that you're the pony to talk to if I want to find somepony," Saber said to the sleazy stallion he was dangling off the edge of a very tall building. The stallion was about to cry out for help, but Saber realized this. "If you scream, I'm just going to drop you. I don't see too many pegasi around to catch you." Saber wasn't the type who looked very intimidating so he used his words and the height of the building to compensate.

"Please please, I'll do anything you want, just don't drop me."

"Fair enough. A family was attacked and killed about three months ago. One of the wealthiest families in Canterlot. Do you know any of the guys who did it?"

"I don't know anything about that. I heard about that from the news, that's it."

Saber, now standing on his hind legs, pulled out the sketch he had drawn. "How about him? Do you know who he is?" The stallion hesitated before saying "No. Why would I know who that is? I don't know who that is." 'So that's a yes,' Saber thought. "Okay, you're going to tell me his name and where I can find him, or I drop you."

"Please, I don't know anything." Saber's grip loosened and the stallion slipped a little. "Okay, okay. I know who he is. I know him. I met him a while back, his name's Thunder Flames. He's a pegasus that always hangs out at that one bar, The Golden Goblet."

'The Golden Goblet?' Saber thought. 'That's that club that all the off duty Royal Guards hang out at. So I get to hang out with my favorite ponies in the world. Yay. Why would somepony like Thunder Flames be hanging out at a place like that?'

"Alright, I really appreciate your cooperation...you. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I never learned your name."

"Really? You're dangling me over the side of a building and you haven't bothered to learn my name."

"Well I did learn that you have worked with the mob in the past, have gotten into the drug trade, and you are the primary suspect of two ongoing murder investigations."

"Oh, yeah, there's that."

"Yeah." Saber let go and the stallion fell a few stories to the ground below. There was a short scream from him, a splat, then a much more dramatic scream from a mare he landed next to.

A Few Minutes earlier...

Shining Armor walked down the street accompanied by the six young mares. They walked on mostly unnoticed, except for the occasional citizen who saw Princess Twilight and would bow in respect. "Oh, wow. Everypony's so polite to me now," Twilight said with a hint of nervousness. Rainbow noticed this, and couldn't tell why Twilight said it like that, so she just ignored it.

"Well Twiley, you're a princess now. Everypony's practically required to treat you with the utmost respect."

"I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to."

"Don't worry, after a while you won't even notice it. Cadance and I can hardly walk around the Crystal Empire without it happening and it doesn't bother either of us."

"Speaking of Cadance, I've been meaning to ask you when I'll get to be an aunt," Twilight said, her tone changing from serious to sly.

Shining stopped in his tracks. "Woah woah woah, what?!"

"Yeah Shining," Rainbow said, "when are we going to see some miniature Armors and Cadances running around?"

"Look, girls, Cadance and I have hardly been married for a year. Give us some time, alright?"

"Fine, sorry I asked," Twilight said, laughing.

The light mood was suddenly dampened by the sound of a pony screaming. That very same pony landed right in front of them. Rarity let out a scream, Fluttershy nearly fainted, and Shining Armor looked up to the roof to see an orange pony turning and walking away. "Wait here," he told the mares as he teleported up to the roof. Saber saw this and immediately started bolting away. 'Just my luck,' he thought.

"Come on," Twilight said, "we have to help him!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash both flew up to the roof, where they saw the vigilante pony running from Armor and, by the looks of it, about to get away. "I've got him!" Rainbow yelled. She flew as fast as she could right at Saber, but, misjudging her ability to stop at such a speed and also misjudging Saber's own speed, they were both sent flying several blocks away.

They both landed very hard on a roof and they just lied there for a few seconds. Saber was the first to get up. "Wow, we actually traveled a few blocks. Good hit, okay, that actually really hurt. I think I'll just sit down for a second." He collapsed onto the roof while trying to catch his breath. 'That was a good hit,' he thought. 'Haven't felt something like that since the spear.' Saber remembered the spear very well because it was incredibly painful. He was stabbed by that and after having to run away from the guards following the stabbing he couldn't get up from the ground for an hour. Since Rainbow hit him while going at such incredible speeds he had a similar feeling, just less extreme.

After a few moments of rest both ponies were able to stand on their hooves. "Guess I don't know my own strength," Rainbow Dash said, "So, you're the vigilante pony I've heard so much about?"

"The one and only. I'm guessing by the fact that you only call me 'The Vigilante Pony', the guards still haven't found out who I am yet."

"No, they know exactly who you are, it's just that I haven't met you yet."

"You know, you're a terrible liar. Doesn't matter, I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually. Especially after they give you my description." Saber realized his situation and how dire it was becoming. He then realized that he didn't care either. He just learned the identity of one of the ponies he was searching for and had almost all of his attention on that. Still, there was no harm in trying to act like the dashing rogue from his favorite story books as a colt.

"Does that mean you're going to kill me?"

"What? No, of course not. Other than you hitting me, I have nothing against you. Besides, I would never dream of hurting a lovely young mare such as yourself, miss..."

"Rainbow Dash, and your name?"

"Maybe another time, but for now, I have something I need to do. Good-bye." He turned and started walking, and Rainbow quickly dashed in front of him, blocking his path. "Ha, that's cute. Now if you don't mind, would you please move."

"No." He tried moving to the left, and then to the right, and both times Dash moved to block his path.

"Okay, this isn't funny. Move."

"No."

"I said move."

"I heard you. Then I said no."

"Look, if you don't think I'd hit a mare if I had to, the you are sorely mista-" Rainbow punched him in the face. Again, Saber found himself surprised with how much Rainbow was able to hurt him. "Okay ow." He stepped back a little.

"Okay, that was for being an idiot and thinking I'd be a push-over just because I'm a mare."

"Okay, alright, I'm sorry." Saber punched her and she fell on her back. She then swept her hind legs and they took out his front legs. She then got up and jumped to deliver a hoof to his face, but he rolled out of the way before she landed. He honestly didn't expect her to fight back, but that just might have been due to the earlier hit. Now that he knew she was serious, he started to read her movements and dodge her attacks, although she was till able to land a few good hits on him. Saber might have be fast, but he can't avoid everything.

She hit him in the face and the side, but he managed to duck out of the way of her next strike and land his hoof right in her stomach. He had more power in his strike than she could handle and she fell down, breathing heavily. Saber took this opportunity and disappeared across rooftops and alleys. Seconds later Twilight flew in, followed by Shining Armor teleporting across each roof. "What happened?" Armor asked.

"Well," Rainbow said while getting on her hooves, "we landed here, talked a bit, then we fought, and he got away."

"Wait. You fought him?"

"Yeah. I don't have special training like the Royal Guards but I was able to hold my own."

"Oh...okay...well I'm glad you're alright."

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little bruised."

"That's good, for all we know you could have been killed." Rainbow didn't think of that very much while the fight was happening. She was even shocked by how quickly she had reacted to the whole thing, and how well she was able to fight him off. Granted, she lost, but it was still an accomplishment. "I just wish I could have helped catch him."

"While you were fighting and talking, did you get a good look at his face?"

"Yeah. Yeah I did."

"Then Rainbow Dash, you might have done more to help catch him than you realize."

Saber found himself in a very familiar situation. He was standing alone in an alley, thinking about the most recent attempt to capture him. Only this time, instead of Royal Guards, he squared off against Rainbow Dash. 'I like her,' he thought, 'I hope I run into her again.'