The Final Element: The Guardian of Equestria

The Ninth Chapter

9 Hours Earlier

Apple Bloom sat in her living room, waiting on the timer to go off on the oven. Granny Smith had left shortly before that to fetch a few things from the market, and had insisted that Apple Bloom stay behind and keep a watch on the baking pie. Of course, it had everything to do with keeping her from over-exerting herself, that Granny had decided to make the trek into town.

Running a hoof over her stomach, and then up to her forehead, Apple Bloom frowned. What the heck did the doctors know about being sick anyway? She felt fine, and she didn't even have to throw-up her lunch.

Apple Bloom wished more than anything she could have gone with Applejack, but both Granny Smith and Big Mac had freaked out when she suggested the very idea to them after breakfast the morning before last. Eli was the only one that didn't protest, but then he was a human and Applejack hadn't filled his head with her big sisterly ways yet.

The timer rang, and Apple Bloom went into the kitchen to retrieve the pie from the oven, using pot holders to carefully remove it and place it on the window sill for cooling, just as Granny had instructed her. Stupid pie, she mentally admonished. If it wasn't for her having to wait, she could have already been off playing with her friends.

Well, enough of this. She tossed the pot holders onto the counter top, and with a quick glance at the clock over the kitchen sink, she skipped out of the apron, and bolted out of the front door.

Apple Bloom was cleaver, though young, and like most fillies her age, she still let her youth dictate her actions. Her goals for the past few years had been the gaining of her cutie mark, and while it seemed at times that she was ready to abandon the drive, and accept her fate as being a late bloomer(no pun intended mind you), she would give in to the siren song of misadventure and let loose with the typical Apple family streak of stubbornness.

The town was in an uproar, everywhere Apple Bloom went there were areas marked off with caution tape, and ponies digging up everything that looked like a hill. All the while, Apple Bloom took it as some big game that she wasn't let in on, simply because they thought she was too small, or just too young.

One good thing to come from all the fuss at least, was that school had been canceled, and according to Miss Cheerilee, they could be canceled for several days. Not that any of that bothered Apple Bloom in the least; it would just mean more time for her to work on getting her cutie mark, and that required at least two more things, or as the case may be, two more ponies to pull off.

Walking past one of the vender carts, Apple Bloom heard a familiar voice.

"Took you long enough," Scootaloo said stepping from behind the cart, followed by Sweetie Belle. Both of them dressed in camouflage. "Are you ready to earn your cutie mark?"

"Yes Sir!" said Apple Bloom excitedly striking a salute.

~   ~   ~

"I can't hear YOU!" yelled Scootaloo inside the Cutie Mark Crusader's club house, pacing the front of the room with her hooves behind her back, and wearing a military jacket with way too many stars on the sleeves.

"SIR! YES SIR! WE ARE READY!" yelled both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in unison.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were at attention in the club house, both wearing their fatigues and each with a grim hardened expression of resolve on their pony faces.

"Crusaders," began Scootaloo as she came to a stop from her pacing at the window and gazed out dramatically, "our world is in peril, and it has fallen to us to save it!"

Turning swiftly to face them she added, "This mission will be wrought with peril, and danger! And we will each probably have our hides and guts scattered from one end of Equestria to the other!

"Um Scootaloo. Does it have to be our guts?" said Sweetie Belle sticking out her tongue in disgust at the thought.

"Of course it does Sweetie Belle," said Apple Bloom. "That's why it's called warfare. Guts has just got to be all over."

"Attention Privates!" Scootaloo yelled. "We need to focus."

"Sir! Yes Sir!"

"Right now, at this very moment, the enemy is planning to conquer and destroy Equestria, and they have sent their spies ahead of them for just such an attack."

Walking back to the middle of the room, Scootaloo faced each of the Crusaders. "Fillies and... fillies. Their spies are already here."

There was an audible gasp from Sweetie Belle.

"They look like us, and they talk like us," said Scootaloo, "but they are not one of us!"

"Behold the face of the enemy!" said Scootaloo, pulling down a retractable white-board with a photo of Ditzy Doo on it.

"That's not the enemy," laughed Apple Bloom. "That's jes Ditzy Doo."

"Really?” said Scootaloo with a twisted grin. "Then tell me, why is it that Ditsy Doo is seemingly everywhere around Ponyville, and yet nowhere? Why is it that she works two jobs, and a third in Cloudsdale? Why is it that sometimes when she's pretending to be a doofus and walking around all brain-tarded you find her secretly looking at you?"

Sweetie Belle was nodding her head in total agreement, but Apple Bloom just rolled on the floor laughing at the two of them. With material as good as this, Apple Bloom could go on tour as a traveling comic-pony.

"The reason Ditzy Doo works three jobs is 'cause the Post Office only delivers mail once a day," said Apple Bloom still laughing. "She only works for the movers and the Weather Service, when ponies is out sick. And that bit about staring at ya, is 'cause she's cockeyed, she can't help but look in two places at once."

Apple Bloom finally stood up, and wiped at a tear from her eye from all her laughter. "Trust me," she said, "Ditsy Doo is no spy for the enemy."

"If that is true," Scootaloo said, still smiling, "then perhaps you'd care to explain this," she said, tossing a photo ID on the floor with Ditzy Doo's picture, though bearing the name as that of one Derpy Hooves.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both gasped loudly as Scootaloo threw her head back, laughing triumphantly as her eyes seemed to flame over in victory.

~   ~   ~

An hour later the trio of crusaders were silently huddled together in the bushes along the path where Ditzy Doo would be delivering mail.

Now before anyone comes to any wrong conclusion concerning Miss Ditzy Doo, and the obvious harassment soon to ensue from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it's worth noting that were there no identification card, or seemingly spurious employment from Miss Doo, the three fillies would regardless come to a similar conclusion of suspicion regarding some other pony in the town; as it was in their nature to fabricate their own adventures, should fate choose to take a break from constantly provisioning them with makeshift mayhem and chaos.

As it happened, Ditsy Doo was perfect fuel for the three, as her mannerisms, her general expressions, and overall oddness of being, made for the formulation of randomness in the three fillies' heads unlike most things that had passed that way before.

"She always comes this way," said Apple Bloom, jerking her head to avoid a hoof to the muzzle, as Sweetie Belle shuffled inside the bush. "This is her last street."

"She's coming," said Sweetie Belle in a whisper, as she spotted Ditzy in the distance. "And she's got the mail bag with her."

Down the ways, trudging along the path to the set of houses, Ditzy swaggered and trotted, with an almost comical expression on her face: her mail bag swinging lazily at her side—not that her expression gave away any notice—swaying with each clumsy step.

When she arrived at the first house, she walked up to the mail box on the side of the post and paused. She looked around swiftly, and then as if an after thought, she dug and dug in her bag until she finally had the desired envelope. Placing it in the box, she proceeded to the next house on the path.

"I don't see anything suspicious about her," said Sweetie Belle as she brought a pair of binoculars up to her eyes and fixed them on Ditzy. "She just looks like she's doing what she always does."

"That's what she wants you to think." Scootaloo scolded as she shoved on Sweetie Belle to get her off of her. “It's a tactic, I tell you.”

The three of them watched Ditzy deliver all her letters to the houses on the path, and then watched her return back to the Post Office to return her bag, and pick up her pay.

An hour later, feeling defeated, and looking down and frowning, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered around the cafe in town, and slurped on berry smoothies. Caution tape, shovels, and the random hole complete with mount of dirt were everywhere.

"I still don't understand what this has to do with getting us our cutie marks," said Apple Bloom as she rested her chin on her hooves on the edge of the table, shifting her eyes from the cold glass, to the hole next to the cafe, and back again.

"Think about it," said Scootaloo. "If we can prove that Ditzy is really this Derpy pony, then we can save the town, and that's got to count for something."

"Hey Scoots," said Sweetie Belle. "Where the heck did you get that picture of Ditzy, or Derpy?"

"I found it in Sugar Cube Corner," she said. "Since then, I've been watching her like a hawk."

Bringing the ID out once more and setting it on the table, the three look at it with a sense of new found resolve. Certainly their had to be something to this picture. It couldn't be a coincidence that they both Ditzy Doo and the pony in the picture had the same cockeyed expression, and the the same colored fur, and yet have two totally separate names.

Apple Bloom was about to pick the picture up from the table to examine it closer, when the sounds of Twilight and Fluttershy's voice wafted across the cafe to them, and Scootaloo snatched up the ID and put it away.

“So, I finally sent the letter to the princess, and I'm just waiting on what she's going to say about it.” Apple Bloom could hear Twilight speaking to Fluttershy, from behind her.

“Oh, dear, is she going to be angry you suppose, now that the key is gone?”

“I don't expect she's going to be happy about it . . .” Twilight broke off as they reached the table with the three fillies.

"Hello girls," said Fluttershy. "How are things with your cutie mark adventuring?"

"It's crusading," said Sweetie Belle indignantly.

"Oh my, my apologies," said Fluttershy, "any luck with your crusading?"

"Not yet." Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo a hard and stern glare as she said it. She was beginning to seriously question the reasoning behind this particular adventure, that is to say, crusade.

Twilight sat down at the table with them, and exhaled an exhausted sigh from her supervision of the excavations. "Well, girls, like I've told you before, these things take time. You have to find your talents and then you'll understand what we've been saying."

While Twilight was speaking, Scootaloo rolled her eyes, and let her head fall back with a heavy sigh. If they'd been lectured on the patience of getting their cutie marks once, they'd been lectured a thousand times.  Then as Scootaloo brought her head back up, pretending to nod and feign agreement, her eyes grew wide as she spotted Ditzy near the Town Square, looking as if she was searching for something.

"That sounds great," said Scootaloo, fumbling for a way to interrupt the conversation, “but I think we need to get going. Right Apple Bloom?"

Using her tail to slap at Apple Bloom's leg, she got her attention and nodded in the direction of where Ditzy Doo was at. Apple Bloom instantly took the hint, and followed Scootaloo's eye-line, and reacted on cue.

"Right," said Apple Bloom, "we gotta go, something terrible important has come up. Ain't that right Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom raised her eyebrows at Sweetie Belle and subtly nodded to get her attention toward Ditzy, who already seemed to be moving away from them.

"No, we don't have anything important to do, except follow after Ditzy Doo," she said, looking into her smoothie cup at how much smoothie was left in there. "Ow!" she yelled as Apple Bloom kicked her. "I mean, no . . . I mean yes . . . we gotta go."

Twilight just shook her head as the three of them scurried off in the direction of Town Square just as Fluttershy came back with a tray of sandwiches. "Oh, they left already?"

"Looks that way," said Twilight digging into her lunch. She didn't want to say it, but she was very worried for her friends. It must have shown, because after a few bites from her sandwich, she caught Fluttershy looking at her with concern.

Adjusted the sound-stone on her neck, Twilight almost considered checking in with Eli, but thought better of it. After all it had only been the evening before, when they last spoke, surely there wasn't much that could happen in that short of time.

"They're young," said Fluttershy, breaking the awkwardness of Twilight's thought process, "once those little fillies do some more growing up, I expect that we'll be hearing great things from them."

Taking a tentative sip at her lemonade, Fluttershy let out a loud sigh. "We're never going to find the stone at this rate," she said, fearful of Twilight's reaction at her negativity, but pressing the matter. "It seems as if we've been digging up the whole town, with nothing but holes to show for it."

"It can't be that bad," said Twilight looking around and noticing the dozen large holes nearby, just as an absent-minded pony with a top-hat wandered right into one with a dramatic yell, and a thud.

"Okay, so it is that bad," she said, sighing in frustration. She didn't want to imagine the worst of it, but she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they couldn't find the key, or what if Eli couldn't make good on his promise, or if worse, somehow the enemy came through the portal completely enslaving all of pony-kind, and there's a Parasprite invasion to top it all off. These were just a few of the thoughts she had to constantly keep from entertaining, and getting the better of her sanity.

~   ~   ~

Ditzy Doo seemed completely indifferent to the town's efforts at digging up Ponyville to locate the lost key, and wandered almost aimlessly around various places sniffing at this, and looking at that, as the three young fillies followed close after her, careful not to attract her attention.

One moment, she was in the park leisurely strolling, while the crusaders were hidden in three separate locations blending in with the background—Apple Bloom painted to match the water fountain, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo disguised as shrubs; and another moment she had taken them to the fruit stands, while she pored over the contents of the day's variety.

Unbeknownst to Ditzy, she lead the three fillies on a town-wide chase. One moment at the spa, the next at the record store, then as deft as a ninja, she seemed to vanish.

"Well," said Scootaloo, exhausted and out of breath, as she collapsed on the ground, "that Ditzy sure has good instinct. We can't find her anywhere!"

"I'm beginnin' to wonder if that pony in the picture really is Ditzy," said Apple Bloom allowing her frustration to rise at Scootaloo for the near day-long chase. "Maybe she's got a twin sister or somethin'."

"Hey wait I see her!" Sweetie Belle said, waiving her hooves to get her friends' attention. "She going towards South Gulch!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both looked to see what had Sweetie Belle excited, and sure enough Ditzy was trotting along, heading out of town toward the South Gulch, a place with a few houses, and nothing really big enough to call a town anymore.

"We've gotta go after her!" said Scootaloo with fresh energy.

"Okay fine, but this is the last place we go," said Apple Bloom still looking peeved at Scootaloo. "If she doesn't do something amazin', and I mean dang right spin ma'self around and do a dance of glory and hallelujah, amazin', I'm gonna go back to the club house and hide all your Buck Against the Machine records!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's just go already."

They had barely made it out of town, when Sweetie Belle commented that it was already starting to get late, and that Rarity would scold her if she was out past dark. Looking up, she could see that the moon was already starting to make its rise over the land, and while it didn't occur to her that it was moving on its own volition, Sweetie still had reservations about the three of them leaving Ponyville.

"We aren't going to be that late," said Scootaloo. "If Ditzy doesn't do something amazing, and hallelujah-like, we'll go back soon."

By the time the trio reached the beginnings of South Gulch, Ditzy was no where to be found, and the sky was already bleeding its rays of light far off into the distance, leaving behind wispy trails of red and gold from the dying day.

As nightfall seemed to be an inevitability, the three fillies soon discovered that South Gulch wasn't just an abandoned part of the outskirts of Ponyville, it was a ghost town. What few houses and barns were there, were long since deserted in favor of Ponyville, and it only just now occurred to them that this was the reason no one in town really ventured South anymore. They didn't need to; all the life was North.

"Maybe we shouldn't worry with finding Ditzy Doo anymore." said Sweetie Belle, jumping at the shadows, as they hastily formed from amongst the houses, and carts, and trees.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were nodding their consent to this idea, and were just about to turn around, when a gentle humming was heard from down the trail into South Gulch. Instinctively the three girls hugged each other, wide eyed and trembling, as a long figure emerged from the old abandoned town.

At the exact moment they were about to scream, and run in panic, Apple Bloom stopped and squinted. "Why that's jes, Trip Trap."

"Who?" asked Sweetie Belle, still visibly shaking.

"He's the colt that sometimes works out on the farm with Sis and Big Mack," she said, nodding her approval. "I wonder what he's doing out here in South Gulch though? Last I saw him, he's back at Sweet Apple Acres helping Big Mack with some plantin'."

The humming stopped as soon as Trip Trap noticed the three fillies in the road, and approached them slowly. "Hello there," he said. "It sure is late for three young fillies like yourselves to be wondering around South Gulch."

Apple Bloom noticed that Trip Trap had a rather large bag on him, as she explained to him that they were out exploring, to gain their cutie marks.

Trip Trap narrowed his eyes, and laughed slightly. "Cutie marks huh?" he said nervously looking around.

"That's right, our cutie marks," said Scootaloo getting defensive. "Is there a problem with us not having them yet?"

"Not at all," he said. "Say, does your folks know that you three are out here this far away from town? I'm sure they'd be awfully worried, seeing how it's this late."

"It's okay," said Apple Bloom. "Sis is off with Rainbow Dash and that Eli feller."

"Well, it's not safe for you sweet fillies to be out here all by yourselves after dark," he said, smiling broadly. "I think it would be best if I walked you back into town before ponies started getting worried about you."

The three looked disappointed that their search for Ditzy had to be called off, and nodded reluctantly as Trip Trap shook his mane and started trotting again. Falling in behind him, the three looked equally downcast, but were relieved that they didn't actually have to wander into South Gulch.

"You know," Trip Trap said, stopping suddenly. "I think I know of a sure-fire way for you girls to all get your cutie marks. Right now as a matter of fact." He paused and then looked around. "But I think it might be too late, since it is practically night."

The three were too excited to care. "Really?" asked Scootaloo. "Where? How? Will it take long?"

"Well I guess that depends on how much you struggle," he said, turning to give them a wink before heading back into South Gulch. "We'll need a place to work."

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could barely contain their excitement as they followed Trip Trap to an abandoned house, and went inside.

Going to a dusty table and taking a match, Trip Trap lit a lantern, and placed his big bag on the table next to it.

"Now then," Apple Bloom said, "hows about you give us our cutie marks."

"Certainly," he said. "I'll just reach in my bag here, and get them for you."

Sticking his muzzle into his bag, he pulled out the end of a rope with his teeth, and looked at the three of them with a silly expression. "Oops."

"That's not a cutie mark." said Scootaloo, giggling at his antics. "That's just a piece of rope."

"Well, we are going to need it so that when the cutie mark appears, you don't get bucked away by the force of the mark," he said, pulling the rope out and walking over to Sweetie Belle first. "Hooves please.”

After a few minutes all three fillies were tied at their hooves, and both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were blind folded. Apple Bloom however was tied differently, as she was to be the first to get her cutie mark.

Her front hooves were tied close together and folded in a front kneeling position, with the rope looped through a large eye-bolt in the floor, while her back hooves were tied in such a way that forced them apart about as a foot and a half. Apple Bloom felt a little awkward with her back legs open, and her rump out, but just figured that Trip Trap knew what he was doing; and besides, he was going to get to her flank, to put the cutie mark there.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" asked Apple Bloom. "We've already tried durn-near everythin', and it didn't work at all."

"Oh, I'm not going to be using magic," he said securing the rope a little more. "You are definitely going to be earning this yourself."

"Well then, how am I gonna get my cutie mark if you got me tied to the dang floor?" said Apple Bloom, pulling against one of the ropes on her back hoof.

Due to the unfamiliar surroundings, and being blindfolded, Sweetie Belle started crying when she heard Trip Trap began breathing hard. Scootaloo tried to reassure her, by telling her that it was just a way to get their cutie marks, that the blind folds were there to keep what Trip Trap did a secret, until the surprise.

Moving up behind her, Apple Bloom jumped when Trip Trap ran his hoof across her back flank, and her instinctive reaction was to kick, only with her hooves tied, she couldn't do that very well.

"Now then," Trip Trap said, leaning close and breathing in her ear, "this is going to be amazing. Oh my dear, sweet filly." His breath sounded ragged as he rubbed on her back and slowly moved his hoof down her flanks.

Apple Bloom was not understanding at all how this was going to get her a cutie mark, or help her to find her true talent. And after a few minutes of listening to Trip Trap breathing hard, she finally asked what exactly it was that he was going to do.

"First," he said, letting out a laugh, and putting his front hoof on her back once more, "I'm going to mount you, and you and me are going to find out if yours is as nice of an ass as I'm constantly seeing on that tomcolt sister of yours."

"Are you nuts?" she asked, still not fully comprehending as she tried to look back at him. "How is that gonna help me get a cutie mark? I'm not even wearing a saddle yet."

Laughing once again, Trip Trap allowed himself the luxury of taking in the simple yet ignorant question. It was almost more than he could bear. He loved little fillies, and their innocence.

“Oh, my dear, I'm not going to ride you, I'm going to rape you.”

Clearly, Apple Bloom was unfamiliar with such terms, and as annoyed as she was by the breathing, and the rubbing, she was too ignorant and uninformed to be truly scared.

“And that's how I'm gonna get a cutie mark?” she asked, as she craned her head as far to her left as she could, to glimpse Trip Trap from her side vision.

"Cutie mark?" Trip Trap, was at his limit now. “Cutie mark!? Is that all you can think about!?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both were crying silently now, scared of what they clearly didn't understand, and couldn't see.

"If all you care about are cutie marks, well than I've got a few of them for you, right here!" Going over to his bag, and dumping it over on the floor, a sickly assortment of colored fur swatches landed in a pile.

"Which one would you like? I've got some that have Arrows, and some that have Candy, or ones with Flowers . . . well you won't be needing any flower when I'm done."

Going back over to her he ran his hooves over the back of her flanks, and she jumped again. "See I've got a secret," he said, almost at a whisper. "I've been collecting ponies' cutie marks for myself, and since you want one so much, I'll be more than happy to sew one onto your hide when I'm done banging the shit out of that rump of yours."

Apple Bloom managed to turn her head enough to barely see the pile of items on the floor, of what looked like strips of hide with colorful markings, and she wasn't certain but they looked like the hides from ponies.

"No!" she screamed, as Trip Trap moved around behind her laughing to himself, and placing both hooves over her.

Kicking for all she was worth, Apple Bloom began to slowly realize that she was in trouble, as her eyes began to well with tears.

"Are you ready?" Trip Trap said. "This is guaranteed to be . . . amazing!"

Apple Bloom continued kicking, but her hooves were tied securely, and the more she struggled the more they seemed to tighten.

She could feel his hot breath on her ears, as he leaned down to bite on her mane, the smell from his half opened mouth was awful, and though she wasn't sure what he was about to do, she was certain she didn't want her cutie mark that badly, if she even wanted one anymore.

Then, just as Apple Bloom squeezed her eyes closed, she heard a loud voice behind them. "Why don't you try that shit on some-pony that can fight back, you sick fuck!"

A loud thud was heard from behind Apple bloom and the weight of Trip Trap removed as a gray streak landed on him, and the two rolled to a stop several feet away. Apple Bloom couldn't see what was going on, because it was all happening behind her.

"Oh, what have we here?" Trip Trap said, scrambling to his feet. "If it isn't the town retard."

Apple Bloom looked down through her legs to see that the other pony was Ditzy Doo, and she was on her feet pacing around Trip Trap. She could also see that Ditzy had a hoof-blade and was holding it steady at him, while moving between him and Apple Bloom.

“I think maybe you just wandered into the wrong place, little filly,” Trip said to Ditzy, as he cautiously backed up to his pile of pony hides, stepping on some of them as he did.

“I think you just reached the end of the line.”

Taking only a brief second to catch sight of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tied in the corner and blind folded, Ditzy allowed Trip just enough of a time-frame to pull his own blade from under the pile of hides strips and brandish it at her.

Cursing herself for her oversight, Ditzy had to make a choice, the first was no longer an option, and the second may now prove more difficult in the long run.

Trip was behaving menacingly, as he made slicing motions with blade, still wearing that stupid grin on his face. Ditzy knew that the seconds she had to work with were fast reaching zero.

As if the thought occurred to him, Trip Trap made a lunge for Apple Bloom, no doubt to use her as a shield against Ditzy, but she was prepared for it, and charged him, bringing her blade down in a jabbing motion for his shoulder. But his size and his agility were such, that he caught her foreleg with his free hoof, and brought his blade across to slice at her ribs.

Using her free hoof, Ditzy deflected his attack, and pushed as hard as she could with her weight, sending both Trip and herself off balance, where they landed on the floor, next to the strips of pony hide, decorated with their cutie marks.

Trip was sputtering, as Ditzy landed a few well placed blows in his mid section with her hoof, still unable to get a cut on him with her blade.

“You freak! You cockeyed whore!” Trip was scrambling from under her, as he coughed out the words. The strikes to his abdomen coursing pain through to his lungs.

On his feet once more, Ditzy lunged again, but this time Trip was ready. He caught her with his shoulder and sent her falling toward the wooden table, where she collided with it at her mid back, flipping her over it, and sending her blade from her wrist into the darkness.

Next to the table was Trip's bag, and just as he shoved the table away, to take a well arched stab at her, she brought the bag up, and blocked his hoof in the stretched taunt sack, wrapping it around his foreleg, and twisting it behind his back. The pain in his fetlock causing him to cry out, as he shoved backward and rammed her into overturned table.

Ditzy didn't release her hold of Trip as the two of them landed on the floor; she twisted the bag on his leg until his pastern began to crack, and the blade slipped off, Trip was enraged with pain, and began to throw his head back to strike her in the muzzle.

Taking this chance, Ditzy brought her forelegs up and wrapped them around Trips throat, and arched her back as much as she could, to add leverage to the act. Trip's eyes bulged as he suddenly found himself with no air, and frantically pounded on the gray hooves strangling the life from him.

To ensure that she succeeded, Ditzy relaxed one hoof enough to bring up Trips bag, and circle it around his neck, and once done, she secured both ends in her wrists, and flipped over, using her wings to roll the two of them. Now with all of her weight on Trip's back, she pulled as hard as she could bringing his head back, as she leaned with all her strength against his muscly throat.

Ditzy, could feel his body flinching and twitching, as he desperately struggled to breath, and to resist, but one last pull, and Ditzy could feel the air passage in his throat collapse, and his struggle decrease.

After Trip had stopped moving, Ditzy, still pulled on the sack. Long enough to ensure she had finished her job.

Breathing heavy, and sagging from her spot on top of the now dead pony, Ditzy ran her hoof over her nose, where a steady stream of blood was running. No doubt Trip had landed a few head blows.

Apple Bloom had closed her eyes when the fighting started, too scared to open them, and she jumped and screamed when she felt Ditzy untying her.

“It's alright, it's me,” she said to her. “You're alright, you're perfectly safe.”

Together they released Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who proceeded to hug on Ditzy as hard as they could and cry, and sniffle.

Ditzy led them outside of the shack, careful to avoid the scene of Trip's body, and patted them, and reassured them more that everything was alright, smiling her best Ditzy smile behind her cockeyed expression.

"I'm sorry, Ditzy Doo," said Apple Bloom, she was so confused about what happened, and what almost happened. "I guess Trip Trap was a bad pony."

"Yeah, he was a very bad pony," she said, stroking Apple Bloom's mane.

"We're sorry too, Ditzy," the other two said, as they hugged her more.

"How did you know we were in there?" asked Apple Bloom, looking up at Ditzy's odd set eyes.

"I knew you three had been following me all day, and I thought that I had given you the slip that last time," she said, exhaling slowly. "I had been following Trip Trap, and thought I him in the Gulch, but I lost sight of him. It wasn't until I saw the light on in that shack that I investigated, and saw the three of you were in there."

"You knew we were following you?" asked Scootaloo, feeling ashamed for underestimating Ditzy's intelligence.

"Not only that, but you three have something that belongs to me don't you?" said Ditzy, eying them sternly. "As in, my government ID tag?"

Their eyes went wide at the revelation that the ID was hers, after all.

"What?" said Sweetie Belle. "You mean you really are this Derpy Hooves pony?"

"Well, girls," she said taking a step back. "I guess I can trust the three of you to keep this a secret, since you did sort of help with my investigation, and since whatever is happening with that gateway is likely to be far worse than that trash in there on the floor."

She cleared her throat, and stood tall. "I'm actually a Wrangler; Derpy Hooves is my codename. I'm a special agent in her Highness's Secret Service."

The three were speechless. They just sat there with their mouths open in shock.

"Now girls, you have to promise to keep my identity safe," she said looking at them sternly. "When I'm not working for the Princess, it's important that ponies think I'm just goofy Ditzy, that messes up the mail, and drops pianos, and likes muffins. Can you three promise me?"

They nodded their heads in unison, and looked at Ditzy with new found admiration and revere.

“Do y'all really like muffins as much as every-pony thinks?” asked Apple Bloom.

Smiling, Ditzy just shook her head. “No, I can't stand them.”

At that moment, overhead in the dark night sky, a rumbling was heard, and little drops of rain began to fall. The four of them looked up at the sky, as the light shower slowly turned into a downpour. The weather it seemed was now operating on its own.

"I sure hope those three find that gate, before this whole world goes blazes," said Ditzy.

Bringing her wing up to her face, Ditzy spoke into a small stone amulet clasped around the wrist, above the feather line. “This is Agent Hooves to HQ.”

“HQ, we read you.” A crisp small voice sounded from the amulet.

“I'm going to need a clean-up crew at South Gulch, and tell Princess Luna, 'Mission Complete'.”

“Acknowledged, mission complete; there on their way.”

Turning back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Ditzy could tell, that they were going to be fine. They were unaware of what was happening, and she knew that their hearts were strong. These events would have to be explained, but only after she could come up with a plausible explanation.

"How's about, we get you fillies home,” she said, smiling at them, as they hugged on her more.

~   ~   ~

Deep inside Everfree Forest, miles from where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were being led to safety, Rainbow Dash was charging through the woods. Covered in sweat and breathing hard, she only had one thought on her mind.

Save Pinkie Pie at any cost.

As she ran, she could hear thunder in the distance, and from the sound of it, it was going to be a bad storm.

Another crash of thunder, and rain began to fall.