G5 Adventures in The Bad Guys

If you previously thought that the Mane 6 had gotten themselves into some wild situations before, you better think again.

The six ponies, Allura and Twitch had been sent to the city of Los Angeles, California, where they had been captured by five ravenous animal criminals, known as the Bad Guys (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Ms. Tarantula, Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha) and their five Mythix Tiger cub apprentices (Reva, Gretchen, Oran, Carmine and Zari), who were in the middle of a wild police chase with the entire Los Angeles police department on their tails.

If they didn't find their mission soon, who knows what might happen?

All they could do now was sit back quietly and wait for this car chase to be over so they could escape

XXXXXXXX

But as the music blared from the speakers, our heroes found it to be ANYTHING but quiet… especially when the Bad Guys and their apprentices started singing/rapping along to the music.

Bad Guys and Mythix Tigers: Hooked on hip-hop phonics

Yeah, it works for me
So jump aboard, yeah, this train is free
The conductor, let me toot my whistle
The instructor of the funky uncle fizzle

We be dancin’ on a lake when it ain’t froze over
We be walkin’ on water while you’re sinkin’ your rover.
If you step any closer, you’ll be eatin’ some teeth.
So please step back…

Izzy couldn’t help but laugh at how catchy the music was, but then noticed her friends looking at her with disappointment. “What? You can’t help that their music is catchy! Even if they are criminals!”

“You don’t think they’re the people we’re supposed to help, do you?” Allura asked. “I mean, I was a criminal once, and then you ponies helped me and Twitch, so…”

“Maybe, Allura, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet,” said Zipp with a bit of caution. “We need to get out of this car chase first!”

“And I think we better hurry!” Pipp said as she watched out the back window. “Those officers do NOT mess around!”

At the same time, Chief Luggins was at the head of the pack of police officers, laughing in happiness at being close to catching the Bad Guys and their little feline companions once and for all. “I’m gonna put you guys away for so long, your fleas will have fleas!”

The chief quickly put her nightstick on the pedal and carefully climbed out of the car before she leaned out and grabbed the Bad Guys' car, pulling them close and causing those inside to scream. “Carmine!” Reva cried out. “Do your thing!”

“One little potion spritz, coming right up!” Carmine said, getting out a bottle and spraying the contents into the chief’s face. “AGH!!! My eyes!”

“Oooh…” Misty groaned under her breath. “That’s gonna sting in the morning.”

“Chief. You want some cake?” Mr. Shark asked, offering the chief some cake that they had gotten for Mr. Snake’s birthday. “You seem a little hangry.”

While Allura and Zipp groaned under their breath at the cheesiness of Mr. Shark's statement, Twitch and Izzy merely giggled at this joke. “Hangry… I get it!” Izzy giggled. “Hungry and angry!”

The chief, however, was not amused. “Get that thing out of my face before I…”

“Um, excuse me?” Oran tried to get the chief’s attention. “Chief?”

“What?!”

That was when Mr. Wolf pointed to a bus that they were heading for, causing the chief to scream and get back to her car, narrowly avoiding the bus as it passed by. Chief Luggins nearly fell out but scrambled back into her car, drifting a bit in the process. “Phew…” Zari sighed in relief. “That was close.”

“So… how often does THIS happen?” Pipp asked the Bad Guys sarcastically as they continued to jam out. “Oh, just about every week, posey pink,” Ms. Tarantula said, booping Pipp on the nose. “We kinda like to rile the chief up before things get serious.”

“And you bring cubs into this without telling their parents?!” Hitch practically shrieked. “Oh, when I get out of this, you’re gonna be in the hot seat with some very angry mom and dad tigers!”

“Uh, there’s no need to tell the folks, Mr. Earth Pony,” Zari said politely before looking at the floor, a bit downcast. “Cause, uh… t-t-that’s a sensitive subject.”

Mr. Piranha rubbed her head a little bit as the crew moved along in their car, jamming to the same song until Misty yelped upon seeing something dead ahead. “Guys! More police cars heading your way!”

“Uh, isn’t that a good thing?” Izzy asked. “We do want them to get us out of here, right?”

“Not yet, Izzy-- we still have no idea what our exact mission is or why the Unity Crystals wanted us to meet these... unique characters,” Sunny whispered to the lavender unicorn. “We’re just gonna have to hold on for the ride until we know for sure!”

At the same time, Chief Luggins saw the other police cars in front of the Bad Guys’ car, causing her to chuckle wickedly. “You’re mine.”

Then, to the surprise of the others, Mr. Wolf slammed right onto the pedal, speeding up toward the cars and making Reva a bit nervous. “Uh… Wolfie? W-What are you doing…?!”

But before Reva could get her answer, Mr. Wolf pulled on the stick and the car drifts away before going down some stairs, causing the chief and some other officers to scream before colliding into each other, making a pile of crashed police cars with a few cops flying out.

Meanwhile, the Bad Guys, the Mane 6, Allura, Twitch and the Mythix Tigers soared down the stairs, with a few of the Bad Guys flying out of their seats before the car landed on the stairs and proceeded to drive down as they all screamed... even when the cake landed back in their car, they screamed once again.

Soon enough, they made it off of the stairs and back into the city streets, knocking over two trash cans in the process. And after all that, the Mythix Tiger cubs panted out of terror, causing them and their mentors to put on their seatbelts. “So… this is what it’s like for you guys all the time?” Sunny asked in confusion, slight admiration and slight fear. “Being bad and doing stuff like this around the clock?”

“Well, yeah,” Mr. Shark responded, looking at them as if they were crazy. “What did you think we did all day? Drink tea and ride on rainbows?”

Pipp gasped deeply at this, her eyes narrowing. “I take TOTAL offense to that! We only have tea on Thursdays at Mane Melody.”

Mr. Wolf chuckled and turned to look at the captured ones in the backseat. “One thing you guys need to learn quick-- we may be bad, but we’re so good at it.”

“Um… quick question, though. You’re not gonna be able to outrun the police forever,” said Misty, “especially with us as hostages, so… where are you guys gonna take us?”

“Trust me,” said Reva with a smile. “We have a place in mind.”

And so, the Bad Guys’ car sped away once again, but back with the police officers, Chief Luggins kicked down the door only to see them getting away. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” she cried out, throwing down and stomping on her hat before calling out to the fearless leader of the crew. “Keep running, Wolf! One of these days, your luck is gonna run out!”

XXXXXXXX

The Bad Guys and their apprentices then proceeded to take the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch through the outskirts of the city, trying their best not to be seen by any law enforcement along the way, and after a little while, Gretchen even decided to let them out of the cages, knowing that, for some reason, they could trust their new… associates.

And after a little bit of silence, Mr. Snake turned to those in the very back of the car with an unreadable expression. “So… you guys new to L.A or somethin’? Don’t see many creatures like you in these parts.”

“Oh, we’re just… visiting,” Sunny said after a bit of hesitation. “We’re actually from a world called Equestria, where unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies work together to maintain unity and harmony so our magic flows freely.”

“But… we’ve never seen tigers like your little friends before,” Hitch said, overcoming his unease enough to pet Carmine, who happily purred at the touch. “How long have you guys been able to cast magic like that?”

“We’re Mythix Tigers-- rare tigers that originated in the Valley of Mythix over 1000 years ago,” Oran explained. “When a Mythix Tiger realizes their special magic, that’s when we get these fancy-schmancy cutie marks. See?”

“Ohhh, just like ours!” Izzy said, showing off her cutie mark. “But our cutie marks light up when our sparkle really starts to shine. Do yours do that too?”

“Huh?” Gretchen looked down at her cutie mark before humming. “Not really sure… if it has, I’ve never felt it.”

“Butt marks that light up?” Mr. Piranha looked skeptical at such a claim. “You know how crazy that sounds, right, hermana?”

“I dunno,” Mr. Shark shrugged innocently. “I think it sounds kinda cool.”

“It is,” Misty nodded. “Hopefully, if we stick around Los Angeles, you’ll be able to see it for yourselves.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Allura finally spoke up, clearing her throat. “Listen… I know we tried to stop you back at the bank, but… is there a possibility that we can stay with you all until we find our… reason for being in town?”

“Huh?!” all the Mane 6 members looked at Allura as if she were crazy-- even Twitch seemed a little stunned. “Whoa whoa whoa, hold up,” Ms. Tarantula stopped Allura right there. “You wanna stay… with us? In our hideout?”

“Yeah… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Mr. Wolf said uneasily. “No one’s ever been in it except us, and how are we supposed to know if you out-of-towners can keep your lips zipped?”

“Oh, please, Wolf?” Reva begged. “We’ve never had guests stay with us before! It could be really fun! Besides… if we let them stay, they won’t say anything about us, kinda… kidnapping them. So… that works out too, doesn’t it?”

Mr. Snake looked at his friend skeptically, unsure of what to say or think. “Wolf?”

Mr. Wolf thought long and hard about this. Sure, bringing a bunch of outsiders into their lair was something they had never done before, but… something about them made Mr. Wolf think that the newcomers could be trusted.

Besides… the cubs sure seemed to be growing fond of them, and that was always a good sign.

Also, there was the fact that if the newcomers were allowed to stay, the part about the Bad Guys kidnapping them would fade away, leaving them to go off of just the robbery charges if they WERE caught.

So, finally, Mr. Wolf let out a sigh and rubbed the top of Reva’s head. “All right, kid, you and your cousins win the cuteness round. They can stay, but they can’t tell anybody about where we’re hiding.”

“We promise,” said Allura, “your secret lair’s location is safe with us.”

But once they started moving again, Hitch turned to Allura in worry. “Are you sure we can trust them, Allura? I mean, once again, they ARE called the Bad Guys for a reason.”

“And sure, the cubs may be cute,” Pipp added, “but they seem to be taking off with the Bad Guys’ habits.”

“Look… I was a lot like them once,” Allura whispered, “so maybe if we stay with them and keep their secret, we can shed a bit more light on their situation and maybe find a way to help them. Please… let me do something for someone else the way you have done something similar for me and Twitch.”

The Mane 6 spared each other a worried glance before they decided to trust Allura and Twitch’s instincts.

They did have a point.

This could be their chance to help someone else turn to the good side like Allura and Twitch did a little while back.

If they could help the Bad Guys do that in some way, shape or form... that would be a mission well accomplished in their opinion.

XXXXXXXX

Later, the Bad Guys' car drove under a Sixth Street bridge sign and entered a dark tunnel, where Mr. Wolf turned on the headlights and Misty and Izzy helped light up the tunnel further with their unicorn magic. Inside that tunnel was a small elevator, and once the car drove inside, everyone got out of it as the elevator began to rise. It wasn't long after that until they got to the floor where the Bad Guys' lair was...

...and it was filled with more money, jewels, gold and other valuables than the Mane 6 would ever dare to count.

The second the group got to the hideout, our heroes' eyes went wide at all the stolen items around them. “Whoa, would you look at all this stuff?” Misty said as she lifted up a large bag of money with her magic. “It kind of makes you wonder how long the Bad Guys have been doing this sort of thing.”

“From what Wolf’s told us in his stories,” Gretchen said as she stretched, “he and the others have been doing this for years-- long before they took us under their wings.”

Sunny tilted her head curiously to this. “How long ago was that?”

“About a year and a half if I remember right,” Oran yawned. “We were brought to Los Angeles after…”

It was at this that Oran trailed off, looking down at the floor and causing his cousins to look at each other in concern… but it didn’t last long until Carmine let out a soft sigh. “Ever since the Valley of Mythix was destroyed. And with it… all of our parents.”

The Mane 6, Allura and Twitch froze in their tracks when they heard this. “Your valley and families… were destroyed?” Zipp said in sympathy. “How?”

“We… don’t really remember. Pieces of it are kinda fuzzy,” Zari admitted. “But… I guess the less we know, the better… right?”

Allura wished she could tell the cubs what all she had went through when she was their age, but… she was honestly afraid to mention her brother and break down.

What would the cubs and Bad Guys think of the group then? What if they were kicked out?

But before anything else could be said about the matter, Mr. Wolf picked Reva up in his arms and carried her toward the table. “Hey, come on, guys. The party’s just getting started.”

“Well, a party is a party,” Izzy shrugged innocently before prancing over to the table. “Let me at it!”

Mr. Wolf and Mr. Shark cleared off some space on the table to put the cake on top, prompting everyone to gather around before Zari turned to her mentor. “All right, Piranha,” she said as she used her lightning magic to light the birthday candles, “you’re up.”

“Oooh…” Mr. Piranha began to softly vocalize to a very grumpy-looking Mr. Snake before he started to sing the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ song. “Happy birth…”

But unfortunately. Mr. Snake blew out the candles before Mr. Piranha could finish, causing him to gasp in dismay while Oran and Ms. Tarantula glared over at Mr. Snake, appalled by the action. “Seriously?!”

“Snake, come on,” Mr. Wolf tried to encourage as he lifted a glass. “At least make a toast.”

“Yeah, a toast!”

“Come on, Snake!”

“Toast us with your best shot!”

“Please?”

Everyone seemingly begging Mr. Snake to make a toast finally made him relent and grab a glass with his tail. “Fine,” he said, raising the glass slightly before starting his toast. “I’ve made a lot of enemies in my time… I mean, a lot… but out of all the people in the world, I hate you guys the least.”

“Aww...” Ms. Tarantula said, feeling touched by Mr. Snake's words as Mr. Piranha wiped a tear from his eye. “That was actually kind of beautiful.”

“If given the chance,” said Izzy, “you could be a poet!”

Mr. Wolf lifted his glass a bit to toast Mr. Snake once more. “To Mr. Snake and his strange dislike of birthdays.”

This prompted the others to cheer in response before clinking their glasses together, and the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch watched as Mr. Wolf pulled out a camera to take a quick selfie of him and his crew. “Everyone say robbery!”

“Robbery!” the apprentices and the rest of the Bad Guys chorused before the picture was taken and developed from the camera. “Oh. Look at those dimples,” Mr. Wolf gushed before Mr. Snake took the photo. “Happy birthday, buddy.”

“So… is it cake time yet?” Zari asked, causing Carmine to nudge her. “What? I was asking for the new guys’ sake!”

“Okay, okay,” Mr. Snake chuckled. “Now, dig in, fellas.”

“YES!!” Mr. Piranha said before cackling and diving right into the cake, scattering icing and cake crumbs all over the place. “Piranha!” Ms. Tarantula scolded. “Eww, eww, eww! Watch the fur!” Carmine said as she tried to avoid the crumbs and icing. “It’ll take forever to get it out of my fur!”

“I got the clean-up under control!” Reva said, splashing a little bit of water here and there to protect her cousins and friends from the mess. “It’s a good think water is definitely my thing!”

As the others were trying to stop Mr. Piranha from devouring the whole cake, Mr. Snake slithered over to the fridge with the photo Mr. Wolf took and stuck it onto the fridge with a magnet, just like all the other photos they had taken together.

It was a good reminder of their friendship... something that we all know that Sunny and her friends value.

Even if it is a strong friendship between criminals and their apprentices.

As the others were continuing to scold and clean up after Piranha, Mr. Snake opened the freezer and found a single orange push-pop laying in the bottom of it, causing him to smile greedily. “Nice.”

Mr. Snake quickly got the push-pop out of the freezer and shut the door, only to turn around and find Mr. Shark eyeing the push-pop hungrily. “Ooh, wow. I forgot we had those Push Pops!” he spoke up as Mr. Snake tried to move the push-pop away. “Man... my tummy is rumbling like a kraken right now.”

“...yeah,” Mr. Snake smirked and held it out to him. “You want it?”

“Aww,” Izzy smiled at the sight. “That’s so nice of Mr. Snake to wanna share!”

“Uh, don’t get too used to it, Izzy,” Oran said with a sigh as he tried to remove some cake crumbs from Carmine’s fur. “He usually tries to dupe Shark with this on a weekly basis.”

“Shark, come on,” Ms. Tarantula tried to persuade. “You know he’s not going to give it to you.”

“No,” Mr. Shark denied the statement. “I believe that deep down, Snake is a kind and generous soul.”

“...why?” Oran questioned in confusion, causing Pipp to shush him so that way she could watch the potential moment. “Here,” Mr. Snake held the push-pop out further. “Take it.”

“Oh yeah!! Pop me, please!” Mr. Shark said excitedly before holding his mouth open. “Ahh…”

Mr. Snake quickly moved the push-pop in the direction of Mr. Shark's mouth, but with the others watching in anticipation, as he slowly put the push-pop to his tongue, and at the very last second... Mr. Snake threw the push-pop into his mouth with a wicked sneer at seeing Mr. Shark's heartbroken face. “Sucker.”

“Come on, dude!” Reva groaned. “Now you’re gonna make Shark go all aggressive again!”

“A-Aggressive?” Misty seemed a bit nervous when Reva said this. “How aggressive are we talking about here?”

But before anyone could respond to this, Mr. Shark lunged at Mr. Snake and started a really intense fight that soon involved Mr. Piranha and Ms. Tarantula, all of them rolling on the floor while Allura used her magic to create an ice dome of protection around the group so they wouldn’t get too involved.

Mr. Wolf, on the other hand, merely walked past his fighting teammates over to the couch, smiling and shaking his head slightly. “Animals.”

“Mythix Tigers, retreat to the couch with Wolf!” Reva shouted to her cousins. “Try and avoid the thrashing around as best you can!”

“Excuse me!” Zari called politely as she started in between the fighting with her cousins right behind. “Coming through! Watch it now! Careful with the teeth, Piranha! I don’t wanna have bite marks in me by the time this is over!”

However, while her cousins dodged the fighting with their regular feline instincts, Reva summoned a small wave of water and leapt right over the fighting, landing beside Wolf on the couch. “Phew… I’ve been working on that one in case we need a beachside getaway.”

“Heh heh, nice one, kid,” Mr. Wolf praised as Reva’s cousins joined quickly them on the couch. “You know, if you guys keep at it, you might be as good as me and my crew one day.”

“What, are you kidding?” Gretchen scoffed. “No one can be better criminals than the Bad Guys.”

At the same time, the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch were watching the others intently, trying to see what they could learn from a distance. “Huh… their relationships are kinda confusing me,” Zipp said as she took down notes on her FlyPad. “On the one hoof, they seem as close as friends, maybe even family. But… on the other hoof… the Bad Guys are criminals, and they're leading those poor tiger cubs into a life of being just as sneaky and devious as they are.”

“But you gotta admit… they know how to look after each other,” Hitch voiced his opinion. “That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Twitch nodded in agreement. “Look… the Unity Crystals do work in mysterious ways sometimes,” Misty argued. “They sent us to where the Bad Guys and those cubs were for a reason, and it’s up to us to figure it out and figure out how to help them before something drastic happens.”

“I agree,” Sunny said, nodding in agreement before turning back to the group's impending task. “Let’s just keep a close eye on them for a while... see how things are working and what we can do to help.”

At the same time, Oran tossed Mr. Wolf the TV remote, which he immediately used to turn on the news. “Let’s see what they’re saying about us today.”

It was then that an image of a black-haired human woman appeared on the TV screen, at the bank where the Bad Guys' latest heist had occurred. “What up? It’s Tiffany Fluffit, Channel 6 Action News. The Bad Guys have struck again…”

“Hey, you guys! Stop it!” Reva cried to the other Bad Guys in excitement. “We’re on TV!”

This caused the fighting to stop immediately, and everyone, even the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch approached to watch the news with Mr. Wolf and the cubs as Tiffany Bluffit continued speaking. “…proving once more that they are the most diabolical criminals of our time.”

“Ooh, diabolical,” Ms. Tarantula commented, seemingly impressed with Tiffany’s choice of words. “That’s a new one.”

“Know what it sounds like? A cologne,” Mr. Shark voiced his opinion. “Diabolical.”

“Ooh, not a bad name, Shark!” Pipp said as she eagerly typed it down on her phone. “I gotta save that for a new Pipp scent line for stallions.”

That was when the news broadcast shifted over to some sort of press conference, and at the head of the conference was a tall, beautiful and pear-shaped anthropomorphic red fox with the basic fox traits (pointed-ears, a pointed muzzle with black inner lip-liner and a dusty-pink nose paws with dark auburn claws, and a bushy tail). Her rather thick fur was a ginger color with fluffy-tufts located and the sides of her face, with pale-apricot patches which are lightly placed around her eyes, muzzle to her chest, insides of her ears, the front of her paws and the tip of her tail. She also had sharp black eyebrows with the left sporting two small round silver piercings, oval-shaped eyes with noticeable green irises and small, yet fluttery-like lashes protruding from them.

In terms of outfits, she wore an elegant business attire which consists of a set of silver thin oval-framed glasses, a gray business pantsuit with the jacket being worn over a white dress-shirt with a skinny dark navy silk necktie, a pair of dark navy high-heels, a diamond necklace and a diamond bracelet that she wore around her right wrist.

And with her appeared to be a young gray cheetah cub with grayish-brown fur with darker grayish-brown spots on his body with a matching tail tip. He has stormy blue eyes, a black nose with whiskers and a cutie mark of a tornado.

As the fox stepped up to the podium, Tiffany finally began speaking again. “To address this heinous crime spree is the newly elected governor, Diane Foxington and her Dark Cheetah assistant, Rogue.”

Mr. Wolf seemed to perk up at this. “Governor?”

“Hey, check it out, cubs,” Hitch said. “Rogue looks like he’s about your age.”

“Oh, uh… yeah,” Reva nodded, her fascinated brown eyes on Rogue. “Totally.”

Pipp could immediately sense what Reva was thinking-- it was the same look Jazz had whenever she tried to deny that she had feelings for Rocky back home. But before she could call Reva out on this, Rogue handed the governor a piece of paper he had in his mouth. “Here you go, governor.”

“Thank you, Rogue,” Diane smiled and patted the cub on the head before turning her attention back to the upset crowd waiting for the press conference. “Okay. Yeah. I hear you. I hear you. Listen, listen. We all know how dastardly the Bad Guys are.”

Mr. Wolf smirked at this. “You bet we are.”

“Um, Mr. Wolf?” Misty whispered with a frown. “I don’t think that was a compliment.”

“But more than anything,” Diane continued with a slight chuckle, “I feel sorry for them and those poor tiger cubs.”

“Wait,” Carmine sat up, not expecting this response whatsoever. “Say what now?”

“These so-called Bad Guys,” Diane continued, “are really just second-rate has-beens. Behind their amateurish antics and, frankly, unoriginal capers… I mean, really, another bank? …is nothing but a deep well of anger…”

“I ain’t angry!” Mr. Piranha said angrily. “You’re angry!”

“...denial…”

Ms. Tarantula crossed her arms at this remark. “Not true!”

“...and,” Rogue added, “don’t forget the self-loathing.”

“The only one I self-loathe is you,” Mr. Snake sneered at the TV. “Besides,” Rogue added, “the fact they drag those five Mythix Tiger cubs into their crimes speaks a lot about their character.”

“Hey! We’re perfectly happy with learning from these guys,” Gretchen growled at the TV, “thank you very much!”

“And,” Diane spoke up again, “those are holes that no amount of cash or priceless art can ever fill.”

Sunny could tell that the Bad Guys and the cubs (all except Reva, who had a look of mixed emotions on her face) were getting a bit riled up, and chuckled nervously before moving a hoof toward the remote. “So, what’s on the Food Network?”

“Who is she to judge us?!” Mr. Wolf growled in anger as Diane started speaking again. “So, can we just forget about the Bad Guys for once and focus on more positive things? And what could be more positive than the annual Good Samaritan Awards, where tomorrow night I will present the Golden Dolphin to this year’s ‘Goodest Citizen’…”

But before Diane could finish, Twitch hopped over and pressed a button on the remote, turning the TV off before things could get even more heated. “I can’t believe I voted for her!” Ms. Tarantula said in annoyance, causing Zari to look at her strangely. “You voted for her?”

“What?” Oran shrugged. “Webs told me she’s good on climate change. The polar ice caps are melting, you know.”

“Well… her cub seemed awful nice,” Reva said quietly. “He… seems to care about the world around him, you know?”

“Ooooh… she is smitten like a kitten!” Pipp whispered to Zipp with a giggle. “I wonder how long it’ll take for the two of them to hit up.”

However, as the others were discussing the press conference amongst themselves, Mr. Wolf seemed to smirk as he got a wicked idea, and Sunny immediately caught onto this, a slightly bad feeling rising out of her stomach. “Wolf, what’s going on?” she asked the leader of the Bad Guys rather cautiously. “You look like you’ve got some sort of twinkle in your eye-- the same one I see in Izzy’s eyes as soon as she gets an idea for a new project.”

“Guys, who’s up for another job?” Mr. Wolf asked his friends, ignoring Sunny as he got up. “A big one.”

That was when Mr. Wolf went up to the window and opened the shutters to show a billboard of the Good Samaritan Awards with a picture of the Golden Dolphin award on it, and the other Bad Guys and their apprentices looked shocked. “The Golden Dolphin?” Gretchen asked in surprise. “Seriously?”

“Ohhh…” Mr. Piranha winced. “I thought I was the crazy one.”

“Excuse me for interrupting, everyone,” Allura said cautiously, “but… what’s so wrong with Wolf’s idea? I thought you’ve stolen statues before.”

“We have,” Mr. Snake quipped, “but that job has broken every criminal who’s tried it. The Bucharest Bandits, Lucky Jim.”

“Ooh!” Carmine pushed a newspaper over to the table. “And don’t forget about the Crimson Paw!”

“Actually,” Oran interrupted, “the Crimson Paw was never actually arrested.”

“Yeah, but he never stole anything again,” Mr. Snake pointed out. “Oof… I don’t wanna admit it, but I think your friends might be onto something, Wolf,” Zipp frowned. “If securing the Golden Dolphin really is as dangerous as they say it is, you guys could be treading on thin ice.”

“Snake, Zipp, come on,” Mr. Wolf brushed off the danger with a smile. “What better way to wipe that smirk off the governor’s fuzzy face than stealing the Golden Dolphin from right under her whiskers? This is the Holy Grail of thievery. If we pull this off, we’ll cement our legacy as the greatest criminals of all time.”

“Oh man…” Zari muttered. “I never thought about actually leaving a legacy with our work before.”

“Whoa, whoa, buddy. I thought we weren’t supposed to make things personal,” Mr. Snake still seemed a bit unsure. “Besides, we’ve got a good thing going here. Friends, freedom, and just look at this loot.”

“All right, you’re right. Forget it. The Dolphin job is off,” Mr. Wolf immediately dismissed, and Mr. Snake seemed satisfied with this answer. But as he turned to go back to the couch, Mr. Wolf spoke up again. “I guess the pig will get his trophy after all.”

“Yeah, I guess he would…” Mr. Snake began to say before he suddenly stopped, realizing what Wolf said. “What do you mean, pig?”

“Oh, yes, did I not mention that? That’s weird,” Mr. Wolf said with a slight grin. “I thought I mentioned that it was, uh…”

That was when Mr. Wolf pulled down the rest of the shudders, revealing that the receiver of the Golden Dolphin was an anthropomorphic guinea pig, much to Mr. Snake’s shock…

…and the confusion of the others, with Mr. Shark finally speaking up. “The Good Samaritan is…”

“A guinea pig?” Misty tilted her head, causing Mr. Snake to slurp excitedly, his craving for guinea pigs taking over. “What do you say, Snakey?” Mr. Wolf asked his best friend. “Better than cake.”

The other Bad Guys and their apprentices laughed at this while the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch seemed a bit concerned with the fact Mr. Wolf was still thinking about doing this.

But after a moment, Mr. Snake finally made his decision known. “Okay. Fine. But he better be delicious.”

Mr. Wolf held out his hand to his crew. “Are we all in this together?”

“You bet!”

“Of course we are!”

“I’m in if you’re in, Wolfie!”

The Bad Guys and their apprentices put their hands/fins/paws/tail on top of each other before Mr. Wolf spared a glance at their guests. “You know… I’ll make you guys a deal. If you cooky kids just help keep an eye out for us tomorrow night at the gala, you won’t be involved with the heist at all.”

“Really?” Hitch raised an eyebrow. “It’s gonna be that simple?”

“Yeah, baby,” Mr. Shark nodded. “Leave the real heist to the professionals.”

“And, once we get the Golden Dolphin,” Carmine added onto Shark's statement, “you guys can stay with us for as long as you want… until that mission of yours is worked out and you can go home.”

Allura spared a glance over at the Mane 6’s leader. “What do you think, Sunny? Do you think we can do that?”

Sunny wasn’t exactly sure what to do-- sure, the Bad Guys and the cubs were actually pretty cool once you got to know them, and Mr. Wolf did guarantee that they wouldn’t be part of the actual heist if they kept an eye out for any trouble, but then again…

…they were still criminals.

It was then that Sunny finally began to piece together an answer.

The Unity Crystals worked in mysterious ways sometimes, and if the crystals really believed it was their mission to help the Bad Guys and the cubs in some way… they had to at least give the crystals the benefit of the doubt.

So, finally… Sunny let out a deep sigh. “Okay… we’ll keep an eye out for you during the award ceremony tomorrow night, but you gotta keep your word and not mention us.”

“Deal,” Mr. Wolf said to the group confidently. “Now, all paws and hooves in here, all right?”

And so, reluctantly, the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch put their hooves/paws into the mix, and once they were all there, the Bad Guys and their apprentices let out a cheer, welcoming the newcomers into their circle.

But… unfortunately… the happiness didn’t last very long.

As Reva glanced away from her friends toward the window, she saw a dark shadow flying toward their secret lair, causing her eyes to widen. “No… no no no no no no no no!!! She’s here already?! I thought we had another day!”

“Who’s here?” Sunny asked in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“You guys gotta get outta here!” Ms. Tarantula warned. “She won’t like it if she finds out you’re here!”

“She?” Zipp questioned. “She who?”

“No time to explain! Just stay out of sight!” Gretchen pleaded. “We’ll tell you when it’s safe to come out again!”

And so, the Mane 6, Allura and Twitch quickly ran into a large closet and Mr. Snake locked the door from the outside.

From the inside of the closet, Misty turned to her friends in concern. “Did anypony else find the way they acted… weird, just now?”

“They looked… terrified,” Allura muttered, her face falling. “Almost as afraid as the auroricorns were of me…”

“Do you think they’re in trouble?” Hitch asked in concern. “Maybe,” Sunny nodded. “We need to get a good look.”

“But we’re locked in the closet!” Pipp argued. “How are we gonna see through a solid wood door?”

“...I have a spell that might be able to help,” Misty said before finding an old mirror in the storage closet, getting it out and setting it in front of her before closing her eyes. “I might seem a little quiet, but my strength is very real. When my cutie mark comes to life, my heart helps me feel!”

Misty then proceeded to send some cutie mark magic to the mirror, and its magic sparkles scaled along the reflective surface before it turned into an image of the Bad Guys’ hideout again. “Nice going, Misty!” Sunny praised as Twitch rubbed the mirror’s surface with his paw. “It’ll be like we can see everything going on from in here!”

“Now, we just sit and wait,” Hitch said, sitting down on the floor, prompting the others to do the same as they waited for something to occur.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the main part of the Bad Guys' hideout, the Bad Guys and their apprentices scrambled to attention, standing in a straight line and trying not to look nervous as the elevator doors slowly opened to reveal another figure, standing and staring ominously at them from the shadows.

The figure finally stepped out into view, revealing herself to be... a dragon, just like those on the Isle of Scaly, but... somehow... she was different.

She was a typical European styled dragon with four legs, wings and horns, but unlike any other dragons that they had met, this dragon had gray skin with purple claws and horns, purple spikes on her back and a purple tail tip, along with blue eyes and a cutie mark of three dark magic wisps.

The dragon stalked into the hideout, looking around suspiciously before Reva gulped nervously and tried to greet her. “H-Hi, Safira. W-We… didn’t expect you until the end of the week.”

The dragon, now known as Safira, let out a scoff after glancing around again. “I saw your little escapade on the news. Another bank robbery, cubs? I'm so disappointed.”

“Oh…” Reva muttered and looked down at the ground sadly, causing Mr. Wolf to rub her head reassuringly. “It’s the deets, kids, that make the difference between mean and truly evil,” Safira said sinisterly, pacing in front of the group. “See, I'm just, just trying to teach you the thing that really counts... how to be me.”

“W-We’ll try and do better,” Zari said softly. “We promise.”

Safira glared down at the youngest of the cousins with a stern expression, causing her to hunker down in fright. “Did I ask for your input, you little runt?”

“Hey, you big scaly lizard!” Mr. Piranha suddenly snapped in Zari’s defense, only for Safira to roar in his face. “Say one more word to me,” she threatened, “and I won’t hesitate to turn you to stone!”

Mr. Piranha and Zari gulped nervously and backed up behind Mr. Shark and Carmine, obviously intimidated. “So… tell me of the cubs’ training,” Safira said, turning her attention to Mr. Wolf. “Have they been excelling their spell-casting lessons?”

Mr. Wolf nodded stiffly. “Yep. All of them have gotten As all week.”

“Good. Carmine’s potion creation sessions?”

Mr. Wolf nodded stiffly once more. “She’s been making new potions she would like to show you, if--”

“No time for that. She already knows being beautiful is the only thing that should matter to her. Now… the most important question of all,” Safira said, getting right in Mr. Wolf’s face. “Have there been any… outsiders in the city here recently?”

Mr. Wolf’s ears folded back, hesitating to this question as his gaze trailed toward the closet. He couldn't give Sunny and her friends away... they just couldn't. Not after they had been so friendly.

But then again... Safira was going to destroy them if she had found out otherwise.

Finally, Mr. Wolf gained a bit of courage and took a deep breath. “No-- not that we’ve seen. But if we do, you’ll be the first to know.”

“...very well,” Safira said slowly. “Now… what heist are you planning next?”

“Well… this is a bit of a stretch,” said Oran, “but… Wolf actually wanted us to try and steal the Golden Dolphin tomorrow night.”

Safira stopped in her tracks, her blue eyes flickering dangerously at this. “What did you just say…?”

“He wants to put the governor in her place,” Gretchen added timidly. “And he promised Snake that he would get to eat Professor Marmalade, the guinea pig that is supposed to get--”

“The Golden Dolphin, yes, I’m aware,” Safira rolled her eyes. “Hmm… this might be a good chance to put the cubs’ skills to the test. A good suggestion from you, Wolf.”

The cubs sighed in relief as Safira gave them her next batch of instructions. “You ten are to work together and steal the Golden Dolphin from the Good Samaritan Awards ceremony tomorrow night, and I can see so much more in all of our futures. With my dark magic and all of you bending your backs to my will, I will be able to bond both good and evil to my will!”

However, her sadistic smile turned into a serious frown as she faced the five cubs again. “And if you kids refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your lives.”

“What?!” Reva looked stunned and angered. “No, Safira, that’s not--!”

Suddenly, Safira got down to Reva's level, and the two began an intense staring contest, which began to make their eyes glow bright blue, neither one of them refusing to blink... until Reva sighed heavily and backed out, making her eyes stop their glow. “Fine. Whatever.”

“I win!” Safira chirped sadistically. “The future of the free world rests on your shoulders, my darling little cubs. Don’t mess it up.”

The cubs nodded reluctantly before bowing. “Yes… mistress.”

Safira sighed as she opened up a nearby window in order to fly out. “That’s music to my ears, little ones. Music to my ears.”

And with that, she unfurled her wings and flew off, leaving the Bad Guys and the cubs to sigh in relief. “Sheesh,” Mr. Snake shuddered. “I hate to admit it, but that dragon scares me.”

“I guess there’s another reason we can’t mess this up tomorrow night,” Carmine sighed in worry. “If we do… we’ll never hear the end of it.”

XXXXXXXX

Back in the closet, the others had seen everything through the mirror Misty had enchanted, their eyes wide in tension and terror. “Did you see that?!” Izzy told her friends. “That dragon, she was just…”

“Being a cold and terrifying tyrant,” Allura sighed. “She… she reminds me so much of my father… and who I used to be.”

Twitch sighed sadly and hugged against Allura’s leg, but Sunny was the first pony to come to Allura’s aid. “Allura, you’re not like that anymore. You’re a better creature now, and it shows.”

“But, what are we gonna do about the Bad Guys and cubs having to deal with this Safira character?” Zipp asked. “She’s obviously really powerful, and pretty intimidating.”

“And if she finds out that outsiders, AKA us, are in the area…” Pipp shuddered out of fright. “I don’t wanna think about it.”

“I’m not sure what we’re gonna do about Safira yet. But what I do know… is that, as much as we don’t want to, we HAVE to help keep an eye on things at the awards ceremony so the heist goes off without a hitch,” Sunny said seriously. “For our sake, the Bad Guys’ sake… and the sake of those five cubs.”