After tracking down their gear, Rain and Navaja had almost made it out before they were stopped by hospital staff and forced to listen to a long speech about leaving against medical advice. After about half an hour, Rain had had enough and politely reminded them that she was a doctor, and that she knew more than them. As they stepped outside, she turned to Navaja. "So, who is this pony that can fix my horn?" ***************************************************************************************** Two left. Silver sighed, reaching for the blades of Light and Darkness... which were no longer in his bag. "What?" He heard the clashing of metal behind him, and turned around to see Luna and Celestia in a sparring match with the blades. "WHAT?" ******************************************************************************************* As Silver tried, unsuccessfully, to convinced the princesses to let somepony else fight in their place, Nightshade studied the sword. She already knew how they worked. "So... basically, when we're all in position, we say the incantation. Stella... Lapis... Disponere... Furantur... Vitae... Perdere." She laughed. "That's the easy part. Then we need to hold that position, to within a fifty yard radius, for as long as it takes to drain Apophis's immortality. Could be thirty seconds, could be thirty minutes. And that implies we can somehow get him to stay in one place for that long."
"A married couple I spent some time spying on," Navaja answered, looking for a carriage to borrow. "And... nice job handling the hospital staff. Very persuasive with your words." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What if..." Maya tapped her chin, sword now balanced on her back. "What if we get inside him, then do it?"
"You'd die." Nightshade said flatly. "Too fast to do anything about it, but slow enough that you'd feel every bit of it." ************************************************************ Rain shrugged. "It wasn't hard. How about that one?" She pointed to a Royal Guard carriage that was parked a block down the street.
"You sure? I've been inside monsters before." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm sure they won't miss it." Navaja started for the carriage.
"This isn't a monster," she said. "It's a god. A real one. Power beyond comprehension." Nightshade shook her head. "Besides, the spell is a draining field. It wouldn't work from inside." ************************************************************************* As they drew closer, they realized that the carriage was occupied. The driver had gone around to the front to stow the belongings of the passenger, who Rain recognized instantly. "Prince Blueblood."
"Maybe we can get somepony to play chicken with it, then, but in a tiny area, keep the snake close, but also keep it from eating us." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Should we kill him?" Navaja asked seriously. It was clear that Blueblood had a 0% approval rating.
*The shadow thing that had grabbed Rep's power a while back, had cleverly hidden itself. And was now trying to find a way into the tented areas protected by the shield.* Rep: (continued towards the command tent.)
As he continued to drop, Raven's hoof connected with his muzzle, causing him to groan and fall on his back with a wince.
Rain shook her head. "Nah, where's the fun in that?" Grabbing the prince roughly, she tossed him into a pile of goat manure which was totally there the whole time. The Guard sighed, drawing his weapon. "Ma'am, while I'm sure he deserved that..." "I have a message from Sorrowbird," Rain responded. "'The red manticore vanishes at dawn.'" "Oh. Oh dear. Yes, of course, ma'am. Where do you need to go?" ************************************************************************************* Nightshade grinned. "Good plan. That's exactly what Spitfire suggested the Wonderbolts do."
Wasting no time, Raven mounted him and attempted an elbow strike, aiming for his temple. ~~~~~~~~ "Spitfire?" Maya looked to Dusty for a possible answer. This old mare had no idea who Spitfire was. Dusty simply shrugged in response. ~~~~~~~~ "I'm going to guess they're gathering at Maya's Bar," Navaja said as he carefully balanced one of those pepper spray bombs on Blueblood's horn. "Be careful with that one, amigo. They tend to, ah... burst when handled with unicorn magic. Terrible design, Lo sé, perdóname. Idiota."
The Guard sighed as he stepped into the harness. "I'm going to be in trouble for letting you do that. Like, a lot." Rain shrugged. "Does the prince know your name?" "Um... no." Rain grinned. "It'll be a shame when they investigate this and find the driver's name... smudged... and illegible. But I'm sure they'll be thrilled when they see how much help you were today. Maybe you'll even get a promotion out of it!" The Guard beamed "Yes Ma'am! On the way, sir!" They were soon sitting comfortably in the carriage, moving as fast as the Guard could carry them. ************************************************************************************** Nightshade stared at them incredulously. "Spitfire! Captain of the world famous Wonderbolts? One of the best fliers in Equestria? How do you not know who Spitfire is?!"
He began to kip up, but in doing so, he managed to get himself an elbow to the temple. "F*yay!*!" he groaned, falling on his back again.
"We're old," Dusty said plainly. Maya nodded. "Yeah, and we don't really do flight shows much. Sooooo... Spitfire's good? That's good. "For some reason," Dusty conversed with his wife, "I imagine this Spitfire being orange." "Sounds about right. And fast." ~~~~~~~~ Raven then attempted to grab Blackened's foreleg, fall back and lock him in an armbar. ~~~~~~~ Navaja slouched back in his seat. "Blueblood... I hate that pony."
Instead, he took this opportunity to grab one of her forelegs and flip over her onto his hooves again, in a surprising display of agility. "It's not over yet...!"
Raven quickly rolled back to her hooves, gained a smile that said her heart was beating a million miles an hour in a good way, and got nose-to-nose with Blackened. "What's up, afraid a little bat's gonna make you tap?"
