The Tales of Firefly and Felix

Seven Days Ago…

One of the main issues plaguing House Stormwing was not war or poverty; it was what to do with all the ponies who couldn’t fly. Though they may be of a lower class, you can’t just leave them out to die. So when one smart lad came up the idea to give the “non-flying” populace their own rights and laws, this was widely considered a bad move.

Ten years later, and after plenty of yelling and cursing, the Archon’s of House Stormwing agreed to the proposal of giving the lower class citizens their own written constitution based off of early Pegasi Law. Unfortunately early Pegasi Law was complete garble, making little to no sense to anypony with half a brain cell.

Trottingham was picked as one of the firsts ground situated cities to take on the new constitution, the residents having little say in the matter. A new court were constructed with jury duty alternating between citizens each week. It was the first real steps towards equality and democracy.

And that is where the story begins, on a lovely Tuesday morning in the local courthouse. The senate and jury sat arguing amongst one another until a case was presented, each under the impression “that’s how the professionals do it”.

“Silence!” The Judge stood up before them, raising his hoof to silence the bickering. “The court recognizes the next case. Bring forth the defendants.”

Two burly Ground Guard marched in through the arched entrance, two rather funny looking figures tailing behind till they reached the stand. The mare was a Pegasus with a pink coat and a deep sea mane, the other was actually a griffon with a dirt brown coat and sandy plumage. Both of them were outfitted with makeshift leather armour, which had obviously seen better days, and worn green travel cloaks.

The jury began to murmur and whisper among one another until the crack of a mallet was sounded. “Firefly Dashing and Felix Gildrif,”

“Your honour.” Felix imitated a bow before Firefly gave him a swat to the head.

Unfazed, the case pressed on. “Both of you have been accused of over eighteen counts of Armed Robbery, Burglary, Attempted Escape from Custody, Escape from Custody, Arsine, Resisting Arrest, and Treason.” A slight smirk could be seen on the old Judges’ face. “How do the defendants plead?”

“Not guilty!” Firefly chimed in.

The Judge raised an eyebrow, but felt safe in the prosecution. “Well since the defendants have failed to find anypony to speak on their behalf-“

“At their rates; fat chance.” Felix cut in.

“-Shut up!” He took a second to regain his composure. “Since you have failed to provide a speaker and the evidence against you is overwhelming, I am authorised by Stormwing law to begin your sentencing immediately and pronounce you both guilty.”

“Horse feathers!” Cried Felix, causing Firefly to face-hoof. “You can’t do that!”
“Enough of your outbursts. My mind has been made and I will proceed to the next stage.”

“But you won’t.” Firefly interrupted.

“And why would that be?” Asked the Judge.

“Because… you’re… such a nice stallion?”

The Judge wasn’t convinced in the slightest. “Moving on then; due to the overwhelming evidence and obvious lack of a defence, I am forced to pronounce both of you guilty of all charges.”

“Well… shit.” Felix exclaimed.

“Sentencing will begin as of right now. Despite your service to the Stormwing Military, the severity of your crimes means that the only appropriate sentence is life imprisonment.”

“And that is…?” Firefly gestured for him to elaborate.

“Life, Miss Dashing.”

“Bugger.”

The Judge was growing sick of them already, even after speeding the case along by a good hour. “Does the jury agree with the given sentence?” He was meet by a sea of nodding. “Then I am forced to pronounce the pair of you gui-“

“Hold it!”

All heads suddenly turned to Firefly, who also seemed quite surprised at her bold move.

“Miss Dashing, I’m about to close the-“

“I call for a Crusade of Repentance!”

There was a sudden wave of groaning and complaining from the Jury, the Judge looking rather annoyed as well. Felix on the other hoof was just confused. “What’s a ‘Crusade of Repentance’?”

“A Crusade, Mr Gildrif,” The Judge began. “is a way of avoiding jail time by preforming a deed in service of the House. It used to be offered to criminals thousands of years ago, and thanks to the Celestia forsaken political reform, is still relevant in this very courtroom.”

“Awesome!” Exclaimed Felix, taking another second to think over what the Judge had informed him. “What kind of valorous deed?”

“That will be up to the pair of you, but until you return with proof of your accomplishment, neither of you will be permitted anywhere near Stormwing or her allies under the penalty of death.” His mallet was brought down with a good deal of force. “Case dismissed; they will remain in custody for another two days before their exile. Now get them out of my sight.”

The two guard began to shove them out of the courtroom, leaving the rest of the Jury to argue about whatever it is they argue about.

Felix whispered across to his partner. “Nice thinking there buddy. I really didn't feel like another breakout.”

“Honestly, I had no idea that would work.” Firefly had gone quite pail during the hearing. “I guess it worked out in the end, aye?”

“Yeah, I guess.” The pair were shoved down a small flight of stairs, leading down into the holding cells. It was rather dark and gloomy, but not wholly unpleasant. They’d gotten used to it after a few visits.

The Guards took them to their cell, shutting the door firmly behind them and double checking to be sure it was locked properly. Their boss would have their heads if they let those two escape again. It is a commonly held value that heads remain attached to their designated bodies.

Firefly went over to her usual spot on the bed while Felix busied himself scratching at the stone walls. “How’d we get arrested in the first place anyway? Last I remember we’d done the job and were heading back to the Old Cider House when we got cornered by the bloody Pegasi Guard.”

“You were bloody intoxicated you light weight.”

“Yeah, so were you.”

“Valid point, but we would have gotten away if you hadn't stopped to yell profanities at them! I swear you’re a complete idiot sometimes.”

Felix slumped back slightly defeated. “Well… I could have held my own back there, I just… was distracted by you.”

Firefly let out a sarcastic huff. “Distracted? It was your drunken griffon ass that got us here!”

Felix turned away and faced the wall, realizing he’d just about worn away his claws from his anger induced scratching. Firefly was silent, choosing to stare up at the damp ceiling and let the time pass away.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

“How long is this going to take exactly?” Felix asked.

“You heard the Judge; two days in custody before our exile.” Firefly replied, still facing the ceiling.

Felix wasn't exactly pleased with this news. “Two whole days?” he moaned, hitting his head against the wall before swiftly regretting it. “Are you sure we can’t just make a quick get away?”

“We’re in enough trouble as it is.” Firefly said. “The last thing we need is another attempted escape on our record. Just ride it out, you’ll be sweet.”

“Sweet!” A crackling voice echoed from the next cell. From the shadows crept the decrepit form of an earth pony, a mare by the looks of it. Her mane was once white but had faded to a dirty grey, her lavender coat had worn away till patches of skin showed through. She looked sick, she sounded sick, so why did she seem so happy about it.

Her hooves wrapped around the bars as she looked at the pair with eager eyes. “Did somepony say ‘Sweet’? You have no idea how long it’s been since we've had anything… sweet.” She licked her lips, revealing her misshapen tongue. Felix reeled back a bit while Firefly looked curiously.

“Nothing sweet to be found here,” She replied calmly. “Especially not with this guy around.”

“Hey.”

While the sickly mare looked rather disappointed, the smile still remained etched on her face. “Awww, that’s too bad. We could really use some about now. We might go crazy in here!” She crossed her eyes for emphasis.

“Right, okay… that’s normal.” Felix said so that only he could hear it.

The sickly mare licked her lips again. “So what are you two love birds doing here? On your honeymoon?”

Firefly quickly jumped to her defence. “Hell no, we’re friends.”

“I beg to differ!” Felix cut it.

“Acquaintances then.” She corrected. The mare only giggled in reply.

“He he, we’re only having fun with ya. What you do behind closed doors is none of my business.” She drew herself in closer, her face nearly pressed against the bars. “So why are you in here?”

Felix looked nervously at Firefly, but she seemed to have a lid on the situation. Best just leave it for her to handle, let the mare do the talking.

“We've taken a Crusade of Repentance. A kind of… quest to regain some honour.”

“Oh oh oh, yes, we understand what you’re saying. Brave knights off on a valiant quest, fun! But what to do, where to go.” She pondered for a second, rubbing her hairless chin. “We might have just the quest you’re looking for.”

“I doubt that.” Felix groaned.

Firefly sent a harsh glare his way before replying. “What king of quest exactly?”

The mare giggled with excitement. “We've been many places and seen many things, but one thing we saw was far better than the rest. We saw the end and the beginning.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Felix asked.

“Silly, let us tell you first. There’s a pony, no, a very special pony. She can see things, strange things that even I couldn't think of. She’s so special Moon and Star had to lock her up just to be sure she didn't get away.”

Firefly was rather perplexed but engaged at the same time. “What value does she hold to us exactly?”

“She can see things, far away things that we could never hope to see. She is worth more than the jewels of Whitegold and the Vaults of Earthborn. Find her… you’ll have your freedom.”

It’s safe to say neither was fully convinced of the mare’s sanity, but Firefly pressed on. “Where could we find her?”

“Where else but Hoofington? You can’t miss it.”

Felix moved over to the bed and whispered his concerns. “You can’t seriously be considering this, have you seen her? She's a walking sign with 'Suspicious' written all over her”

“It’s not like you've had any other ideas. This is the best we've got. We might as well head south anyway, anywhere’s better than here. Maybe she could be onto something.”

They both turned and looked at the sickly mare as she seemed to be caressing the bars in an odd manner. “Yeah, she’s onto it.”

“Just roll with me on this one. When have I ever let you down- hey, don’t answer that.” She cut in before he could interject. “Just trust me on this.”

Felix crossed his arms in a huff. “Fine. I trust you sorta, it’s her I'm worried about.”

“What? It’s not like we’re taking her with us.”

“Good.”

Firefly returned to facing the mare, regaining her attention by clearing her throat. “Fine, we’ll check it out and see if you’re not as crazy as you look.” She seemed to find that remark rather amusing. “We don’t exactly have a better plan.”

“Super! You don’t know how great this is!” Her little burst of joy was burst when a sudden thought found its way into her mind. “They’ll want to hear about this…”

Firefly titled her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

The mare snapped back to reality. “Nothing, good luck!” She trotted happily back into the corner of her cell, curling up in a fettle position, giggling at her own thoughts.

“Creepy.” Said Felix.

“But useful.” Firefly rolled back over to face Felix. “You get your wish, let’s get moving.”

Felix instantly lit up at the news. “You mean that-“

“Yup, we’re making an early departure. Why waste another two days in here when we have a job to do?”

Felix sprung back to his legs, pumped and ready for action. “Alright, Firefly and Felix are back in the game!”

"I thought we agreed never to say that again."